The first thing Sam noticed was that the air around him was suddenly hot and arid, the second thing was that he was sitting on the ground and the third...was the wallaby staring him in the face. "What the hell?!" he said as he scuttled backwards away from the curious animal. He heard a laugh and turned to his right to see a boy about fifteen or sixteen years old standing there. The boy had light brown hair and green eyes.
"It's alright, Sam," the boy said with a slight Australian accent, "she won't hurt you."
"Who are you? How do you know my name? And...am I in Australia?!" Sam demanded.
The boy smirked. "Yeah, we're in Australia. I guess you wouldn't recognize me. I mean, the last time you saw me I wasn't much taller than Lilly over here," he said as he scratched the top of the wallaby's head. "I'm Jesse. Five years ago you told me I'm half demon."
Memories came flooding back to Sam and he smiled. "Jesse." He stood up. "I'm so glad you're okay. What happened to you?"
"Well I'm sure you guessed already, but I came to Australia to hide out. It was rough at first but a nice couple took me in. I've been livin' here ever since."
"And your powers?"
"Strong as ever. But at least I'm able to keep myself hidden from the bad guys."
"You don't need to hide anymore. Lucifer's back in his cage," Sam informed him.
"Yeah, I know."
Sam was confused. "Then why didn't you go back to your parents?"
Jesse sighed. "The demons know who they are. If I went back my parents would be in danger."
"Do they even know you're alive?"
"Yeah. I send 'em emails every couple of days." Jesse laughed a little. "They're trying to get me to think about college. Can you believe it?"
Sam let out a short laugh through his nose. He back up under the shade of a scraggly tree behind him. "So did you bring me here?"
"Yep," Jesse said proudly.
"Why?"
"Cause I felt an insanely strong blast of power and I thought it might be someone like me. I wanted to meet 'em and help 'em. I traced the power to its source and found you. I didn't know you were half demon too," Jesse said with a smile.
"I'm not."
Jesse's expression became confused. "But, that power..."
"I do have demon blood in me but I'm human."
"Then why...? I've never felt anything that strong before."
"Another hunter came up with a poison that kills demons. They dumped it in the water supply where I live and it made me sick. You remember that guy you turned into a doll when we were at your house?"
Jesse nodded. "Yeah."
"Well he's an angel and the hunter who made the poison came up with the crazy idea that drinking angel blood would help and it did but I guess it had...side effects? I don't really know." Sam's eyebrows rose for an instant like he'd just realized something. "But you need to send me back. I'm sure Dean's freaking out right now."
"Oh jeez. I didn't think about that. Let's go." And with that, Jesse snapped his fingers.
It had been about five minutes since Sam had vanished and all Dean and Wendy could do was sit and wait while Cas tried to use his powers to find the younger Winchester.
Dean had to do a double take when Sam reappeared right before his eyes. "Sammy!" He hugged Sam. "Where the hell were you, man?" He broke the hug when he saw Jesse. "And who the hell is that?"
Cas' face was a mask of concern and deep thought.
Dean was tapping his fingers impatiently. "Well?"
"Honestly, Dean I have no idea. No human has ever ingested angel blood before and I'm sure the fact that it's also mixed with demon blood further complicates things." Cas looked at Sam. "But if the power that came from Sam reached far enough to alert Jesse then we have to be extremely cautious."
"Can you...do anything, Sammy?" Dean asked with trepidation.
It took Sam a moment to get what Dean was saying. "Uh...I don't know," he said uncomfortably.
Jesse picked up a mug from Sam's nightstand. "Here. Try moving this to your hand," he suggested.
"Okay," Sam replied with uncertainty. He put out his hand and the cup shot toward him like it was fired out of a gun. It smashed into his hand and he cried out in pain. His fingers had been broken.
Cas quickly put his hand on Sam's fingers and with a small pulse of light they were instantly healed.
Sam flexed his hand experimentally. "Thanks, Cas."
Cas gave a small smile. "Of course."
"Holy shit," Dean commented.
Sam immediately looked ashamed. "I'm sorry, Dean."
"For what?" Dean asked.
"I promised I'd never use my powers again...and now they're worse."
Dean sighed. "I know, but this is different. You're not drinking demon blood this time and..."
"Drinking demon blood?!" Wendy repeated with wide eyes. "That wasn't in the books."
Sam gave his brother a look of displeasure. "The books. Really?"
Dean cleared his throat. "Yeah, I didn't have time to mention it before, but she's a fan," he said with a wince.
Sam eyed Wendy warily. After his experience with Becky he wasn't in a hurry to be around more female fans.
"You don't hafta worry, Sam. I promise I'm not a psycho," Wendy said, praying Sam would believe her.
Sam thought for a moment. She seemed sincere enough so he smiled. "Okay. But to answer your question, yeah, when we were trying to take down Lilith I was drinking demon blood to amp up my powers. It...it made me crazy. It got to the point where I was a total junky."
Wendy frowned. "But you don't do that anymore, right?"
"Right," Sam confirmed. He ran a hand over the top of his head and sighed. "This is crazy," he said as he looked at his hand. "I wonder what else I can do."
"If this is permanent I don't think there's anything wrong with exploring your new powers. Because the blood is mixed together the combination is neither angelic nor demonic. It's something completely new. And I know you'll use these powers for good," Cas said with a smile.
Sam returned the smile. "Thanks, Cas. That means a lot."
"I have an idea," Jesse said. "What if I trained him? I mean, I've been dealing with super powers since I was eleven."
Both Sam and Dean's eyebrows went up. "It might help me avoid a lot of mistakes," Sam said to Dean.
"Yeah, but let's make somethin' to eat before we do anything else. I'm freakin' starvin'," Dean replied.
Wendy watched Sam as he worked in the kitchen making turkey sandwiches. Now that the craziness was done with and she'd had time to feel better her mind was able to focus on the fact that Sam was the most beautiful man she'd ever seen.
Her heart pounded in her chest while he worked. She hadn't told the boys but she was in love with Sam and had been for years. Seeing how good looking he was only amplified her feelings. She hadn't told them because she was afraid they would tell her to get lost; that, and Sam didn't really know her so a love confession wouldn't have done much good.
Unfortunately Dean had noticed her staring. "Jeez, Wendy, take a picture already," he said quietly so Sam wouldn't hear.
Wendy's eyes widened before she could stop them. "What?" she said in a pathetic attempt to seem innocent.
Dean gave her a look that clearly said 'I'm not falling for it'.
Wendy sighed. "Sorry. He's just really good looking," she said with a blush.
"So say something. He's weird around girls. He won't know you like him unless you beat him over the head with it."
"See, that's just the thing. I don't wanna beat him over the head with it. He barely knows me."
Dean snorted a laugh and smirked. "Never stopped me."
Wendy rolled her eyes. "Of course it doesn't. I mean, no offense, Dean but you're kind of a giant man-whore," she said with wince.
Dean's eyebrows went up a bit and he seemed to think about it for a moment. He finally shrugged and smirked again, this time adding a lecherous leer to his expression. "Guilty."
Wendy sighed as Sam came to the table with a stack of plates. He set one down for each of them then got a tray of sandwiches and put them down in the center. "Okay, guys. Dig in."
When Sam chose to sit next to her Wendy thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. "Thanks, Sammy," she said with a shy smile, which quickly vanished when she realized what she'd just called him. Dean and Sam stared at her while Cas, who was oblivious, just started eating his sandwich. "Sam. I meant Sam. I'm sorry!" she sputtered.
Sam cleared his throat. "It's okay. It's not as big a deal for me anymore. It was just a surprise," he said with a reassuring smile.
"Thanks," Wendy said. She grabbed a sandwich and began to eat.
"So how long have you been a hunter?" Sam asked.
"About six years now. A hunter saved me from a ghost and I learned everything from him. I tend to stick to cases that are within a couple hours drive though. I don't have the gas money for major travel."
"We could show you how to get some fake credit cards," Sam offered.
Wendy shook her head. "Thanks, but what I'm doing is workin' so far. I find a couple cases a month. It's enough for me."
Sam nodded. "Fair enough. So, you're a fan of the books, huh?"
Wendy winced. "Yeah. Another hunter introduced me to 'em. I know it sounds weird but you guys kept me from being lonely. After Brian, my hunting partner, died the books were all I had."
"It's not weird," Sam said. "It makes sense actually. Hunting without a partner can be hard."
"Do you mind if I ask you something personal?" Wendy asked.
"Depends on what it is," Sam replied.
"How are you back? At the end of 'Swan Song' you went to hell."
"Cas rescued me."
Wendy smiled and turned to Cas. "You're awesome."
"Thank you," Cas replied with a polite smile.
Wendy turned back to Sam. "You have no idea how much I cried at the end of that book. I'm so glad you're okay."
Sam and Dean smiled.
"What books are you talkin' about, mates?" Jesse asked.
"It's a long story. We'll tell you later," Dean answered.
Jesse looked around the main room with skepticism while Dean and Sam moved the meeting table off to one side. "You sure you don't wanna go do this in the outback? This place could get pretty banged up if you lose control," he said to Sam.
Sam nodded. "We're fine here," he said as Cas leaned against a wall.
Dean looked at Wendy. "Ya know, now that Sam's okay you can go if you want."
"Actually, do you mind if I stay for a couple of days? I'd love to get to hang out with you guys," Wendy asked hopefully.
"I think it might be too dangerous right now," Sam replied.
"I'm a hunter. Danger is kinda normal for me." The boys still looked unsure and that's when Wendy remembered the way to Dean's heart was through his stomach. "I can make pie."
Dean's head turned toward Wendy in the space of a heartbeat. "You can make pie?"
"Yup. And apple pie is my specialty," Wendy added with a smirk.
Sam saw the gears in Dean's head turning and gave him a look. "Dude," he said with disapproval as his head tipped to one side.
"Sammy. She can make pie," Dean said with determination.
Sam rolled his eyes and sighed heavily. "Alright. I give up."
Wendy grinned. "Yes!" she said balling her hands into triumphant fists in front of herself.
"You guys should take cover just in case something goes sideways," Sam said.
Dean, Cas and Wendy moved to the top of the staircase where they could be safe but still watch and Jesse put a pillow on the floor for Sam to work with.
"You ready, Sam?" Jesse asked.
Sam nodded. "Let's do this."