Summary: Now that Dean's life hangs in the balance, Sam and Blaire try to find ways to get their brother out of his deal, as well as coping with the thought of losing their brother to Hell. Blaire tries to deal with new abilities, and while help comes from an unwanted source, the Winchesters know they need all the help they can get to save Dean's soul. Please R&R!
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural or its characters. I only own Blaire Winchester. I don't own any script used in these chapters either.
A/N: Wow, I'm sorry I haven't updated this in so long. I just sat down today and wrote it. YAY! I hope to get this done as soon as possible to move on to seasons four and five. I have some amazing ideas for those seasons in particular. Thanks for the support with this series so far, you guys are awesome!
Happy reading!
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The Paths We Tread: Going Under
Chapter Two
As the Impala pulled up outside a small, apparently empty house the next morning, the sound of cicadas buzzing filled the air, only disturbed by the purr of the classic car's engine.
The siblings had arrived just on the outskirts of Lincoln, and found Bobby already there waiting to meet them. Blaire loved the older hunter so much. He'd been there for her through so much in her life and he was always so helpful when she and her brothers were working on cases. Dean climbed out while clutching the burger he'd been scoffing while driving, and Sam and Blaire shared concerned looks as the constant buzzing surrounded them.
"Hear those cicadas?" Sam asked as Blaire moved around the car and squinted in the sunlight.
"Well, that can't be a good sign." Dean replied, watching his sister run up to Bobby and embrace him.
He watched the exchange and he knew that if anything should happen to him in a year, Blaire would have someone there to take care of her and Sammy. He knew that they weren't kids any more but they always would be babies in his eyes. He'd raised them and grown up with them, and he'd gotten them through so much in their lives, so it reassured him that he could leave them behind and that Bobby would be there.
"So, we're eating bacon cheeseburgers for breakfast, are we?" Bobby asked as he let go of Blaire.
"Well, sold my soul. Got a year to live..." Dean said around a mouthful of his breakfast, "I ain't sweating the cholesterol."
"So, Bobby, what do you think?" Sam asked, trying to ignore Dean's attitude to his last year on earth, "We got a Biblical plague here or what?"
The buzzing unnerved Blaire. She had always had a weird thing about bugs. She hated them but the buzzing and the chirping sounds just drove her crazy. The way they moved made her feel sick, the look of them did that enough too, but hearing that sound just made her want to grab her shot gun and blast them all dead.
"Well, let's find out." Bobby said, walking them towards the house, "Looks like the swarm's ground zero."
As they headed up the steps, Dean banged on the door, forgetting his manners entirely and shouting at the top of his lungs. Blaire rolled her eyes and punched him between the shoulder blades for him.
"Candygram!" He yelled, earning yet another punch, "Ow!"
"Jesus, Dean, you gotta be so loud?" She asked, "You're giving me a damn headache."
"Oh, shush." Dean muttered, taking a bite out of his burger, which Blaire just took from his hand and flung over her shoulder, "Shrimp! I wanted to finish that."
"Look, there's no answer, so...I guess we gotta do what we do best." She muttered, "Move. Keep watch."
Bobby and Sam did as she asked while Dean watched her pick the lock on the door. He studied her technique, and he grinned to himself. She'd used his technique and it worked perfectly, which made his chest swell with pride. He'd taught her how to pick a lock when she was five, which was how she'd found John's books, guns and other supernatural related items in the trunk of the Impala. The group armed themselves with guns and carefully, Blaire opened the door, instantly recoiling at the scent that filled her nostrils. Something had to have died in that house. The buzzing of flies were enough to indicate that.
"Holy mother of God..." She muttered, covering her nose and mouth, "Wow..."
She gagged slightly as Dean coughed and Sam let out an uncomfortable groan. Bobby just winced and covered his mouth as Blaire had, while she stepped in first and tried not to vomit at the stench.
"That is awful..." Sam breathed, "Jesus..."
"That so can't be good sign." Dean breathed, looking over his sister's shoulder at the interior of the house.
"Ew..." Blaire breathed, "Okay, prepare to find something very dead."
Bobby headed to a room just by the front door, while Dean and Sam, led by their sister, began to move into the building. The buzzing of flies just grew louder as they approached a doorway, and they moved one after the other, aiming their guns ahead of them and scanning the area. They moved into the kitchen, hearing nothing but buzzing until suddenly, the sobs of a woman caused them all to stop where they were.
"You hear that?" Blaire whispered, earning nods from her brothers, "Let's go."
They arrived at the nearby door, Sam and Dean by the sides of it as Blaire kicked it open and they all moved in, recoiling instantly again at the smell. The sound was coming from a television, and three people were sat on the couch staring at it. The siblings pretty much figured that they were probably dead.
"Fucking jeez..." Blaire breathed, hiding her face in her arm, "I'm gonna be sick..."
"We don't need any more bad odours in here, thanks." Dean said, earning a punch on the arm, "Would you stop beating me, woman?"
"Shut up." Blaire complained, moving around to study the bodies, "Oh, my God..."
They looked like zombies from night of the living dead. A father, mother and son, dried up and wrinkled, clearly decomposing while flies walked over them, making Blaire seriously want to vomit right there and then. Bobby walked in and winced at the sight, while Sam, Dean and Blaire all looked to him for some kind of explanation. He was the wisest out of all of them, so if there was an explanation, it would come from him.
"What the hell happened here, Bobby?" Blaire asked.
"I don't know." Bobby replied, "Check for sulphur."
Dean leaned close to a window to inspect the sill in order to check for any traces of sulphur. With sulphur came demons, and demons were never anything the group liked to deal with. The deck outside creaked, and Dean's hunting instincts kicked. He whistled to the others to get their attention and signalled to them, each moving into a position to attack whatever was outside. Dean moved out first followed by Blaire, who noticed movement in the bushes.
Suddenly, an African American guy jumped out and attacked Dean, knocking him flat on his back. Blaire ran over and kicked the guy in the back, holding a gun to his throat while pulling a knife out and threatening the woman who followed him with it.
"Move one inch, and you're both gonna be dead before you can even blink, am I clear?" She asked, raising an eyebrow at the woman who nodded and raised her hands in submission, "Look, we aren't here to cause any trouble, I promise you. But you threaten my family, I'll kill you."
"Isaac? Tamara?"
Blaire looked up to see Bobby moving towards them, moving herself away from the two people to go and help Dean to his feet. If Bobby knew them, it was good enough for her, and she knew that these people were safe, not there to hurt them. She stood Dean up and brushed him down, as well as herself before returning her weapons to their right places.
"Bobby? What the hell are doing here?" The woman asked with a confused smile.
The British accent made Blaire wonder if the two people before her had flown out to deal with this or if they actually lived in the states. Bobby obviously knew them quite well, so Blaire felt confident that they could be of some help.
"I could ask you the same." Bobby replied, shaking hands with Isaac.
"How are you, Bobby?" He asked, looking to Blaire as she snapped at her brother who was whining like a baby about his bleeding nose.
"Dean, quit it! Hold still and act your age or I'll let you bleed all over the place, huh?" She scolded him as he squirmed away from the handkerchief that Blaire was trying to clean him up with, "Dean Winchester, you hold still this instant!"
Bobby broke into a laugh as Blaire grabbed Dean's ear and twisted it to make him hold still. He looked to Isaac and Tamara who were just plain confused and he smiled softly at them.
"You'll get used to it."
While Dean was busy sweet talking some poor woman on the phone, everyone else was examining the amazing items in Tamara and Isaac's house. Sam and Blaire raised eyebrows at one another as they realised how rare some of these items were.
"Honey, where is the Palo Santo?" Isaac asked Tamara who was arranging some items on a table.
"Well, where'd you leave it?" Tamara asked, causing Isaac to roll his eyes at her.
"I don't know, dear, that's why I'm asking." He replied, turning his back on the group.
"Palo Santo?" Sam asked, earning a nudge on the arm from his sister.
"Holy wood from Peru? You don't remember me teaching you that?" She asked, watching him shake his head softly, "Well, that's a little depressing."
"Yes, it's toxic to demons, like Holy water." Tamara explained, "Keeps the bastards nail down while you're trying to exorcise them."
She fumbled around in a draw while she spoke, pulling out a stake which the Winchesters assumed was the Palo Santo and handing it to her husband. Sam was about to bring up Blaire's exorcising ability but he thought it best to leave it. He didn't know if people would be okay or not with hearing about Blaire's astonishing ability to perform exorcisms with a simple touch to the forehead. It was something that most hunters would find unnerving to say the least.
"You'd lose your head if it wasn't for me." Tamara smiled as her husband thanked her.
"So, how long you two been married?" Sam asked with a smile on his face.
The couple were cute together. The bickering was sweet, as was the typical arguing and the awesome teamwork, but it made Sam miss Jess a hell of a lot. He was hoping to have married that girl and that had made getting over her all that bit tougher.
"Eight years this past June." Tamara answered, allowing Isaac to kiss her forehead.
"The family that slays together." He added, causing Sam and Blaire to chuckle.
"Ah, we're with you there." She giggled.
She saw her brother approaching, and became aware of the uncomfortable atmosphere as Sam asked how the couple got started hunting. It was clearly a touchy subject, just like their reason for hunting was, and they decided to let it go, thankful for Dean's interruption of the conversation.
"That was the coroner's tech." He said, looking to the group.
"And?" Blaire asked.
"Get this. That whole family, cause of death...Dehydration and starvation." He told them, hearing his sister whistle in response.
"Lovely." She muttered, "Can't imagine anything worse."
"There no signs of restraint. No violence, no struggle." Dean continued, causing Isaac and Tamara to share looks, "They just sat down and never got up."
"But there was a fully stocked kitchen just yards away." Bobby pointed out.
"Right, so what is this?" Sam asked, "A demon attack?"
Asking Bobby was the best shot because there weren't many hunters out there more knowledgeable than Bobby Singer. He was one of the best. He'd taught Blaire a damn lot, like her dad had, but without Bobby, Blaire wouldn't have half the knowledge that she did, and wouldn't have a clue where to start on a case if it hadn't been for people like Bobby.
"If it is, it's not like any I ever saw." Bobby answered, "And I've seen plenty."
"Well, what now. What should we do?" Dean asked.
"Uh...well...We're not gonna do anything." Isaac said, causing Sam to almost glare at him.
"Why not?"
"You guys seem nice enough..." Isaac began, "But, this ain't Scooby Doo. We don't play well with others."
"What a shame." Blaire said sarcastically, glaring at the man in front of her.
"No offence, but we're not working with the damn fools who let the Devil's gate get opened in the first place."
Now Isaac was getting pissy at them for a making a mistake and trying to get rid of the creature that had killed their mother? Oh, no. That wasn't gonna wash with Blaire at all. Or with Sam and Dean.
"Oh, that's fine, darlin'." Blaire snarled, "We not good enough for you, Mr Perfect? We work hard to make sure that people are kept safe across the country. We trail back and forth, case after case, and we slip up and that's not good enough for you? Like you've never made a mistake?"
"Yeah, locked my keys in the car." Isaac replied snootily, "Never brought on the end of the world."
Dean and Sam eyed their sister warily, but nobody could stop Blaire before she just punched Isaac full on in the face. And she never felt as damn good about anything in her life.
-TBC-
Hope you enjoyed!
Thanks for reading so far!
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