Disclaimers: I don't own Supernatural or its characters, Maggie and Lola are original characters created by me and bubblegumthai.
Theme: Drama, Angst, Supernatural
Authors note: This is a prequel for a trilogy of AU fictions; they are all collaborations which me and bubblegumthai wrote together, Hope you all enjoy.
Blessing in disguise
Chapter One
Maggie cried out in pain, her eyes red raw with warm tears streaming down her cheeks. She tried to peel herself off the wall she was pinned to, only to be held back by an invisible force, "NO!", She cried as she suddenly slumped to the floor.
Sam's eyes sprang open, sitting up with a start, his chest tight with terror. His with t-shirt clung to his back wit ha cold sweat. Rubbing his forehead soothingly with his fingertips, Sam moved his legs to the edge of the bed and pulled himself up. Moving slowly across the room so as not to wake Dean, who was wrapped up on the bed next to him, he made his way to the bathroom. The bright light stung his eyes as he shut the door softly behind him before moving over to the white ceramic basin and turning on the taps. Sam cupped his hands and splashed water on his hot face; he closed his eyes and remained bent over the sink for a few seconds, trying to compose himself after his disturbing dream. Or was it a dream, with the way his head was throbbing it could have been a vision. But over the past few years there was no way to be sure, all he could do was let Dean know and keep his eyes open.
The next morning, Sam woke up to the smell of fried onions and greasy burger meat. With a cringe he lifted his head from the pillow, looking to his left he saw Dean sat on his bed, tucking into a large burger, a smudge of ketchup staining the corner of his mouth. Sam looked at the clock on the bedside table before looking back at his brother in disbelief, "Dude its 7:30, how can you eat that?" He asked with a moan,
"Easy." Dean answered, stuffing another large bite. Sam let out a heavy sigh before burying his face into the pillow. Dean smirked at his brother's reaction, his cheeks filled with burger. Just at that moment a quite muffled tone of 30 seconds to mar's The Kill, rang from his leather jacket. He fumbled around in the pocket before pulling out his phone, sliding it open he looked at the display screen. Not recognising the number, he answered the call with a puzzled frown. "Hello?" He mumbled, still chewing on his last bite of burger.
"We've got another job for you Dean." A low voice came over the line.
Dean swallowed hard, recognising the voice as a dull disconnection tone rang in his ear. He stared ahead in silence, sliding his phone shut just as Maggie walked into the hotel room,
"Morning." She beamed, but her smile soon faded as soon as she saw Dean's pale expression, "Hey are you okay?" She asked with concern in her voice, causing Sam to sit up and take notice.
"Dean." He said as he sat up, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes,
"He's back…the demon I did the deal for to get back Lola…he's back." Dean answered seriously, looking back at his siblings who in turn looked back in shock,
"Are you sure it was him?" Sam questioned, pulling a baseball shirt over his head,
"It was him Sam." Dean answered firmly.
"What did he say?" Maggie asked, her voice was slightly calmer than the middle brother,
"He said that he had another job for me." He answered as he paced the hotel room, holding the phone to his lips,
"Did they elaborate on that?" Sam enquired, following his brother with his eyes as he wore a hole in the carpet,
"No…just that they needed my help again.
"You said no right…please tell me you said no!" Sam exclaimed,
"Of course I did Sam, I'm not stupid!" Dean replied, his voice raised in defence, looking his brother strait in the eye.
"So he didn't say what the job was?" Maggie asked, sitting on Dean's bed,
"No." He answered quietly as he leant against the dresser that sat at the opposite wall, "And I don't care what they want, there's no way in hell I'm going to help them again." Dean straitened up and walked over to pick up his black jacket from the bed, "I'm going to get a paper, see if I can find a case." He informed his siblings before leaving the hotel room.
The tinkle of a bell rang from above the door as Dean entered the poky little café. The place was empty apart from a small podgy man, sat at the long narrow counter that stretched to either end of the eatery. The middle-aged man wore a red and white checked flannel shirt, tattered at the hems. A silvery grey pony tail poked out from under a worn black truckers hat.
A slim waitress wearing a pink and white tunic brewed a fresh pot of coffee before turning to Dean, placing a white mug in front of him, "Coffee?" The thirty-something blonde asked sweetly,
"Please." Dean answered with a sharp nod, he sat down on the backless red stall at the end of the long counter, the old gentleman was sat a few seats down from him.
The blue eyed waitress tipped up the glass container and poured a serving into the mug before giving Dean a friendly smile and turning towards the kitchen situated at the back of the restaurant.
Dean picked up a newspaper from the pile that was stacked beside him; he dropped it next to his coffee cup and began to scan through the obituaries, taking a sip of his hot beverage as he did so,
"Just passing through?" A raspy voice spoke to the right of him; Dean looked up from the paper and turned his head to the direction of the voice,
"On your way someplace else?" The silver haired man continued, his voice a muffled tone, keeping his head down, hiding under his cap,
"Uh yeah…just catching up on world affairs." Dean answered politely,
"It's a mess isn't it…the world." The man continued, Dean nodded in agreement,
"Too many evil sons 'a' bitches trying to cause hell…isn't that right…Dean."
Taken aback by the old man's statement, Dean looked up from his paper with a frown, only to come face to face with him. But gone was the silver pony tail, in its place was a short black cut. His chubby unshaven jaw was now slim and smooth; the two hazel brown eyes morphed into oil black orbs and were now looking strait into Dean's olive greens,
"What the hell do you want?" Dean asked, his nose just inches away from the demon's,
"We didn't get a chance to finish our conversation." The demon answered with a sly smile,
"Well I'd love to stay and chat, but I'd rather have a conversation with Attila the Hun." Dean smiled sarcastically, scooping up his paper before placing a dollar down for the coffee,
"I'm going to tell you what I want Dean." The demon called after the hunter, "And you will listen."
Dean back to face the man, liking his lips in frustration, "Don't hold your breath." He said his voice dead pan, "Actually…do you hold your breath." He smirked before leaving the café.
"Sam, are you okay?" Maggie asked her brother who was still sat on the hotel bed, pinching at the bridge of his nose soothingly, his head still throbbing from the vision,
"Yeah…it's just a headache…" He replied quietly,
"Headache as in…a vision or… Dean ranting about his car again?" Maggie replied with a smile,
"No…" Sam laughed half heatedly, "…I just had a rough night that's all," He lied,
"Okay…but you let me know if it's anything else okay," Maggie added, giving a comforting smile. All the good it did, she was the last person Sam could tell his problem to. He let his head fall in despair as Maggie disappeared into the bathroom. He hated lying to her, but before he knew for sure what it all meant, he would keep it quiet.
Suddenly Dean came bursting through the hotel door, making Sam jump as the door slammed shut,
"We're out of here." Dean stated, "Where's Maggie?" He asked, throwing his things into their green duffle bag,
"She's in the bathroom…Dean what's going on?" Sam answered, watching his brother dart around the room,
"The demon's here." He replied, moving over to the bathroom, "Maggie get out here!"
"How did he find us?" Sam enquired, pulling on his shoes,
"How the hell should I know!?" Dean exclaimed, "MAGGIE!" He repeated, pounding on the door with his fist,
"What?!" Maggie shouted as she thrust open the bathroom door, slightly annoyed my the banging,
"We're leaving…right now!" Dean informed before picking up the bag from the bed and charging out the door, Maggie looked at Sam with a confused frown, "What the hell?"
"The demon found him." He answered, throwing his jacket and leather laptop bag over his shoulder,
Maggie now understood the urgency and pulled on her black converse shoes, picked up her bag and followed Sam out the door.
Down stairs Dean had just slumped into the driver's seat of the Impala, when his two siblings emerged from main entrance of the hotel,
"I hat to say it, but he seems…scared." Maggie observed as they walked down the concrete steps, Sam tilted his head slightly, saying nothing although he knew what his sister meant, whatever was going through his brother's mind it wasn't good.
Maggie slid into the back seat of the car and Sam into the front,
"Get in the back." Dean ordered,
"What?" Sam replied, taken aback by his brother's request,
"I just…" Dean began, tapping his hand lightly on the steering wheel, "…I need some space right now."
With a frown, Sam did as was requested and sat himself next to Maggie in the back of the Impala. Maggie looked back and forth between her brothers, first at Sam with a look of confusion, then at Dean with concern. She couldn't understand it, she had seen Dean uptight, but never to this extent, she'd never seen him so closed off. One thing was for sure, this demon rearing his ugly head had certainly rattled him.
A glowing moon bounced off the shining black surface of the Impala, a cold rain fell hard on the windscreen, falling too fast for the squeaking wipers to keep up.
The three siblings sat in silence and had done so for the past ten miles, the only sound to break the tension was the collection of classic rock, Maggie lulled her head against the cold window, having fallen asleep about five miles back, Sam sat with his hand held to his lips, chewing on his fingertips in frustration as he watched the shadows of the passing trees dance across the black tar road.
Dean kept his eyes to the misty road ahead, squinting as he tried to focus through the rain; he felt his eyelids grow heavy. Shaking his tiredness off, his eyes closed for a split second before a familiar voice forced them to spring open,
"Don't fall asleep."
Dean looked up to his right to see the dark haired demon sitting in the seat next to him,
"HOLY!" He yelled as he swerved to the other side of the road, the wheels spun out of control on the slick wet ground, forcing Dean to slam on the breaks, finally the car came to a screeching halt, ending up across both sides of the road.
"Easy tiger, you don't want to kill us all do you?" The man said, his eyebrows raised,
Dean whipped his head round to the back of the car, "Sam…Maggie" He shook his brother and sister in an attempt to wake them from their sleep, but to no avail,
"Aw don't they look cute when they're asleep." The demon taunted,
Dean crew his gun and held it up to the demons face,
"Whoa…whoa!" The pale faced man exclaimed, holding his hands up in defence, "I just want to talk."
"You really think that I'm interested in anything you have to say?" Dean replied sternly, his eyes fixed on the demon's black orbs looking back at him,
"As a matter of fact I do."
"Sorry to disappoint you." Dean replied before firing his weapon right into the demon's face, before it disappeared in a blast of black smoke.
Once again Dean felt everything around his grow hazy as his eyes fell shut for a few seconds until snapping open again, He was back on the road, speeding ahead,
"Hey what's up?" Maggie lent in from the back seat, startling Dean. He looked into the rear-view mirror; Sam looked back at him with a frown. Licking his lips, starting to panic, Dean threw the car into a turn and pulled into the nearest lay-by. He pulled himself out of the car and walked to the edge of the road, without even closing his door,
Sam and Maggie looked at each other before looking out at the figure standing before them. With a sigh Sam kicked his door open and heaved himself out, He edged up to where Dean was standing, he was shaking all over, from the cold or fear, Sam couldn't tell, but when he saw his brother's troubled face, now dripping wet, he knew something was wrong,
"Dean what is it?"
"That son of a bitch screwing with my head, that's what!" He answered, barely audible over the rain pelting down on the roof of the Impala,
"What do you mean?" Sam asked, sweeping the soaking wet hairs from his eyes,
"I don't know…it's like I blacked out or something."
Sam looked back at his brother with a confused frown,
"He just appeared in the car." Dean continued, holding his arms out dramatically,
"And what did he say?"
"Just that he wanted to talk…I told him that I wasn't listening and then he…"
"What?"
"He said that I would listen…it was like he was threatening me."
Sam's face fell; suddenly his vision was making sense, "What if it was a threat." He suggested sternly,
"What?" Dean replied, moving in closer so that he could hear his brother over the downpour,
"I had a vision last night…about Maggie."
"What did you see?"
"I don't know for sure…just that she looked like she was in trouble."
Dean looked back at Sam, squinting through the heavy rain, not knowing what to say,
"Guys what the hell is going on?!" Maggie called from the window of the car,
Sam and Dean looked at their sister then back at each other with looks of worry,
"We say nothing…about any of this okay." Dean said adamantly, Sam nodded in agreement before they returned to the Impala,
"What the hell was that about?" Maggie asked as the two dripping wet boys fell into their seats,
"I think we should go to Bobby's for a couple of days." Dean replied, shaking the rain of his hair with the palm of his hand,
"What…why?" Maggie asked with a frown,
"Because it's the safest place to be right now!" Dean snapped, turning to look at his sister with a stern look, Maggie returned his gaze with a sour frown before moving it to look outside her window, Dean looked at Sam in despair then turned to look back to the road ahead, Starting up the engine the wheels squelched in the mud as they pulled away and off down the road.