A/N: This is going to be a series of one-shots. I will add more when I get further through the Supernatural series (I know I'm late to the party). This one is set not long after CoHF and during Ep2.05 (the phone call from Ellen is the one they receive in the episode). Sorry the timelines don't match up, but I'll probably mess them up even more later. Obviously I own nothing.
Sam and Dean were walking down a dark corridor. Their flashlights had flickered out a few minutes ago. A sure sign that they were getting closer to their quarry. It was an ugly one, best described as a cross between a lizard, an insect and an alien. As they cautiously made their way along the corridor, they passed under a vaulted ceiling. Sam sensed a movement behind him, but before he could turn, a strong hand clamped down on his mouth, a knife held to his throat. Something, presumably a foot, connected the back of his knee and he dropped to the ground. He glanced sideways at Dean, who was stuck in a similar position.
Pissed off, Dean bucked to try to flip his attacker, but he didn't budge. Shit, this guy is strong, he thought. Two figures dropped out of the rafters to land in front of them, one holding a shining stone.
"You can let them go, guys," one of them, a blond teen said, "It's just a couple of Mundie thrill seekers." Dean's attacker released him, and he whirled around to take him out. The attacker, who he saw now was only a boy, no older than eighteen, effortlessly caught him punch with one hand, and swept his feet out from under him. Dean was flipped by the action, and landed heavily on his back. Groaning, he tried to stand, but there was a boot on his chest, holding him down.
"Don't try anything else," the black-haired teen said. "It won't end well for you."
Sam watched as the teenager, easily took out his brother. "You know, you guys really shouldn't be here. It's dangerous."
"Precisely why we are here, and you shouldn't be. We're just doing our jobs. Now, let me be the first to congratulate you on finding the real thing, before I tell you to get out of here before you get yourselves killed and leave this to the professionals," the blond one said.
From the ground, Dean scoffed. "Professionals? You're just kids."
"Kids who have probably killed more demons each than the two of you combined, fought in two wars you didn't even know about, and travelled through hell and back." The blond kid stared at Dean disdainfully, "and one of us had you on the ground in about two seconds," he added.
It was then that Sam noticed the movement behind the blond and the redhead next to him, who up until now had done nothing but look at them quizzically. Sam opened his mouth to warn them when the demon lunged. Before he could speak, the blond spun, shouted 'Eremiel' and threw a knife that Sam was certain hadn't been in his hand before. The knife sunk deep into the demons skull, stopping it in its tracks as it collapsed to the floor, dead. At seemingly the same time, Sam heard the crack of a whip, and the redhead pushed of the wall, somersaulting over his head saying, 'Saraqael'. Moments later a head rolled past him. The blond nudged it away with his foot, a disgusted look on his face.
"Really, Isabelle," he said, "you had to behead it."
A tall, dark-haired girl came to stand next the blond and shrugged. Sam realised that this must be the one who had come up behind him.
"Ooh, they're cute," she said. "Can we keep them?"
Someone nudged Sam. He looked over to see Dean. His attacker had vanished. Dean looked at the tall girl, Isabelle, out of the corner of his eye and smile slightly at him. Isabelle must have seen this because she said, "sorry, honey, I have a boyfriend. I just want something to look at."
"Well clearly, they can see us, so we should take them back to the Institute, right? Maryse can deal with them," the redhead said.
"Of course we can see you," Dean said. They all ignored him. "Why wouldn't we be able to see you?
Before they had a chance to respond, which Sam doubted they would have done, three arrows passed through the space between his and Dean's heads.
"You missed one," a voice shouted from the rafters, before Dean's attacker appeared next to the tall girl. Sam thought they were probably related. "It looks like we're taking the subway, then," he added.
"I have a car," Dean said.
"Perfect. Alec and Isabelle can drive you to the institute. Clary and I will meet you there and let Maryse know that you're coming," the blond kid said. He nodded to the redhead, who pulled some kind of stick-thing like a wand out of her pocket and drew a symbol in the air with it. A shimmering blue window appeared out of nowhere. They stepped into it, and it vanished along with them.
Jace and Clary stepped out of the portal in front of the Institute. They went inside and found Maryse in the study.
"Uh, head's up," Jace said, "we found a couple mundanes skulking around that Dahak lair, and they could see us so Alec and Isabelle are bringing them back."
"The demons?" Maryse asked.
"Dead," Jace said. "But back to the mundanes. Do you want to talk to them?"
"At Dinner." Maryse still hadn't looked up from her desk. Jace and Clary shared a look and slowly backed out of the room, where they met Isabelle and Alec, with the two mundane men.
"So, two hours until dinner. Training?" Jace said.
"What about these two?" Alec asked but Jace just shrugged. "They can watch. Maybe it'll show them how there not cut out to be going anywhere near any demons," he said.
The shorter of the two men opened his mouth to object, but Jace cut him off. "Watch us for twenty minutes and if you can do half of what we do I'll shut up," he said.
"Look," the taller one said, "I'm Sam Winchester, this is my brother Dean. We're grateful for the help back there, but we know what we're doing. We grew up as Hunters."
"Sure you did, but you're human," Jace said.
"And you're not?" Dean asked.
"Long story," was all Jace said. They had reached the training room now. "Clary and Isabelle, hand to hand. Alec, bow, fire at me. Sam and Dean, stay out of the way and try not to get hit with an arrow."
Dean was about to object to being told to stand and watch when the blond kid dropped into a crouch, looking up at the rafters. The girls, Clary and Isabelle, were already engaged, but Dean's focus was on Alec who had nocked an arrow and was aiming straight at the blond kid.
"I think he's actually going to shoot the irritating one," he whispered to Sam. His brother ignored him, he was staring at the blond, an incredulous look on his face.
"I think-" Sam started to say, but he was cut off by the sharp twang of an arrow being loosed. The arrow hit the wall, behind the blond, except he was now in the rafters. He'd just jumped thirty plus feet up from a stand still. Alec fired another arrow and the blond shifted to one side, the arrow passing harmlessly by. The next arrow came barely a second later, the blond leaning back so that it flew over him. Righting himself, he jumped off the rafter, over another arrow, and swung himself under another beam, somersaulting and landing neatly behind Alec, who turned and began to fire at him in rapid succession. The blond had drawn a long knife, and swatted each arrow aside as it came towards him. When he was three paces back from Alec, the older teen stopped firing.
"I'm out," Alec said.
Jace turned to face the Winchester brothers. "That's why you should leave the demon hunting to us," he said. He looked over to see that Clary and Isabelle were still sparring, Clary now holding an arrow. "Hey, I said hand-to-hand," he said.
"If I fighting hand-to-hand with a demon, I'd use a weapon if it became available so why shouldn't I do the same in training. Keep it realistic and all that," Clary responded, not taking her attention away from Isabelle. Jace tried to think of something witty, but he came up short.
"You know she's right, Jace," Isabelle said.
"Don't you start," he warned, stepping slightly closer. He caught a moment of eye contact between them, but before he could decipher it, they both tackled him, Isabelle taking his feet out from underneath and Clary landing on top of him.
"Seriously?" Alec said, but Jace ignored him, rolling him and Clary over so that he was on top. He leant down to kiss her, but felt a sharp pain between his legs. Wheezing, he rolled to one side, and lay on his back.
"I suppose I should complement you on a good strike," he said between breaths, struggling to stand. When he did, he looked Dean, who had been laughing at him, straight in the eye. But before he could say anything, an alarm sounded. Alec ran to the window and swore.
"More Dahaks," he said.
"Son of a bitch," Jace said, "someone's controlling them."
"How do you know that?" Sam asked.
"Dahaks are tough and mean, but they're really not very intelligent. They certainly wouldn't be able to coordinate an attack like this on their own," Jace said. "Grab some weapons kids. It's time to fight."
"We'll help," Sam said.
"We will?" Dean said, at the exact time that Jace said "absolutely not."
"I know you think we'll get killed, but this is what we do. It's how we were raised. As Hunters," Sam said.
"I haven't got time to argue with you, so take these," Jace said, tossing each of them a runed knife. "These will help you hurt the demons," he explained.
"Can't we use the shiny ones?" Dean asked.
Jace rolled his eyes and tossed a seraph blade. "This ones called Camael," he said. Dean tried to activate it but nothing happened. "No you can't use the shiny ones," Jace said when Dean looked at him questioningly. "You're not like us." Dean tossed the weapon back to him, which he deftly caught a slid into his belt. "Now are we all ready to go?" He was answered by a series of affirmatives.
They met Maryse by the elevator, her naginata in hand. "What exactly are we dealing with?" she asked.
"About twenty Dahak demons out front, but they may have us surrounded and there's no sign of whoever's controlling them," Alec said.
"Surely they would be nearby, to make sure everything goes to plan," Dean said.
"Not necessarily," Isabelle responded, "Dahaks may be stupid but they're very good at following orders. In fact, it's because they're so stupid that they can't think of anything better to do. They're not likely to tactically retreat."
"You guys certainly know your stuff," Sam said.
"It's how we're educated."
"Enough chit-chat," Maryse cut in, "I've called on the conclave so hopefully it shouldn't be too long before we have back up. Jace, you're running point. Clary and Isabelle, back him up. Alec, cover fire. I'll move around as needed. You two," she pointed at Sam and Dean, "stay back and out of danger. We don't want dead mundanes on our hands. Questions?"
No one said anything. Jace was surprised that Dean seemed to have nothing smart to say. "Let's move out," he said.
Jace went out in front, Clary and Isabelle flanking him. Clary drew Heosphoros as Isabelle's whip appeared in her hand. They made brief eye contact as the crowd of demons rushed toward them. The battle passed in a blur. She always had Jace in the corner of her eye as he ducked, slashed, twisted and thrust with his sword. As usual, he was a vision of grace and agility. Not that Clary had much time to appreciate the aesthetics. She was just as busy fighting for her own life, side by side with Isabelle. Though they were not parabatai they had fought together on sufficient occasions that both knew how the other thought during battle. Clary block and parried with Heosphorous, cutting down three demons before she lost her grip. She immediately reached for a seraph blade, naming it Israfiel, she seamlessly shifted into a closer quarters fighting style, owing to the shorter blade. The seraph blade made short work of another couple of demons, before she became aware of Kadir's arrival, and that of other members of the conclave. The battle didn't last much longer.
Sam and Dean stood back as they were instructed. Shortly into the fight, Sam realised that he was glad he wasn't in the thick of it. Jace, Clary and Isabelle seemed like blur of gold, red and black respectively, the girls' hair whipping round as they spun. Not to mention the arrows flying into the fray, some passing barely a handspan from the teens heads. But as formidable as they were, the demons began to swarm around them, and the Winchesters had no choice but to join in. While Sam used the knife that Jace had given him, Dean initially tried to use his gun, but he soon realised that it was pretty ineffective, especially given the close quarters of the fight, and he began to use his knife. Sam was shocked by how effective the knives were. Blows that he wouldn't expect to harm a demon had them screeching in pain, though they kept coming. Sam buried his knife into the chest of one of the demons, only to realise that the fight was over. It was then that he notice the ten other people, all dressed in the same black leather had arrived. Presumably the 'conclave' that the older woman had mentioned. They followed as the others began to move back inside the institute, gathering in a large library.
"Now seems as good a time as any to hear the story of earlier today," the older woman said. She was clearly in charge.
Jace stepped forward and Sam had to nudge Dean as he inwardly groaned. "Maryse informed us of a potential Dahak lair this morning," Jace began. "Alec, Isabelle, Clary and I travelled out to Harlem to investigate. When we arrived, we quickly realised we weren't alone, so we took cover to assess the situation and determine the number of demons we had to face. That was when these two mundanes wandered in. We stopped them and told them to leave but then we were attacked by two Dahaks."
"Were you not glamoured?" an older Middle Eastern man asked.
"We were," Jace said, "But it became apparent soon after Isabelle and Alec jumped them, intending to scare them into leaving, that they were able to see us. They also didn't seem particularly surprised to see the demons. Once we had dispatched the Dahaks, we brought them back to the Institute and the rest you know," he finished.
"Thank you, Jace," the older woman, who Sam figured must be Maryse, said. She turned to the brothers. "Can you tell us what you were doing in a demon lair?" she asked.
"I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean," Sam said. "We are Hunters. We hunt and kill the supernatural. From ghosts and spirits to demons. We were following a lead on the demon that killed our parents, which led us to the building where we met Jace and the others."
"You say you're Hunters, but how do you see the supernatural? Glamours hide the shadow world from the eyes of mundanes," Maryse said.
"Our father was a Hunter as well. It was how he raised us. We don't know how he came across the shadow world as you call it," Dean said. "Now, we've told you about us, but we don't know anything about you."
"You are in no position to make demands," Maryse said sternly. Dean looked slightly taken aback, but Maryse carried on. "You have no intention of giving up, despite the obvious danger to your lives?" she asked.
"Certainly not as long as the demon that killed our parents is out there, and probably not after," Sam said, calmly.
Maryse motioned for the Middle Eastern man to stand next to her. They exchanged a whispered conversation. "Since you will not give up on your quest, we have decided that is in your best interest, and in accordance with our mandate to defend humanity, that we share with you our secrets, so that you may call on us if you ever need our help. But you must say nothing to anyone, not even to others who know of the existence of the shadow world. Do I make myself clear?" she said to them.
"Absolutely," Sam said.
"We are Shadowhunters," she said, "a race of humans created by the angel Raziel to defend humanity from the demons. These marks we all bear on our skin are called runes. They increase our abilities far beyond that of an ordinary human. We are supernatural police, for want of a better description."
It was at that point that Dean's phone rang. 'Ellen' he mouthed to Sam, and stepped away to answer it.
"Sorry, it's a really important call," Sam said.
Moments later, Dean reappeared. "We're leaving, Sammy," he said. Turning to the assembled Shadowhunters, he said "we got another lead on our demon and we have to get there quickly. So bye, and no offence, but I really hope we never see you again." He left the room of shocked faces, dragging Sam by the arm.