7 – Karma Police
This was exactly the kind of shit that made Sam's head hurt.
Okay, accepting that the Gorgons were gods, that they were around, and had a death cult dedicated to them he could do. He had accepted loonier stuff in his lifetime. But why would one of those Gorgons kill the parents of one of their vessels? That made no sense at all. How did this benefit them? Why would they do such a thing?
Cassie was a sobbing mess, and Dean was trying to comfort her, mainly with an arm around her shoulders. It was weird, but it was also Dean. His soft spot for kids again. Even if he hadn't somehow been recruited into this cult, he would be looking out for her, because that's what he did. The Mark of Cain wasn't robbing him of his big brother tendencies, or at least not yet.
He and Cass looked around for some sort of clues about the cult, but they didn't find much. Sam found a book hidden behind a few hardcover self-help books, one with a green leather cover and the head of a snake haired woman on the front. He'd need time to completely interpret it, but a cursory scan proved it was some kind of cult handbook. He slipped it in his pocket, and hoped he had time to completely read it before it all went to hell.
Cass did find something interesting, though. Hidden behind a cabinet in the dining room was a curved blade, almost like a hand sickle, tarnished green, with another of those snake headed women on the handle. He thought it was ceremonial, possibly used for sacrifices, which was undoubtedly true. Sam wondered what would happen if they tore apart this neat suburban home. Would they find more knives and possibly skeletons under the floorboards? Sam bet there was a whole bunch of ugly secrets here, just waiting to be uncovered.
But they couldn't stay. Cassie didn't want, and it was probably for the best. There was no telling when they'd be back, if they'd be back, and if Cassie was somehow a target in all of this. But they didn't know if she was, or what the end game was here. They had a lot of fragments that didn't add up to a coherent whole yet. And what had they done to Dean, and how did they undo it?
There wasn't much choice. They returned to the motel, and tried to figure out their next move. Sam gave the cult manual to Cass, because he was an angel and could absorb and translate the information a lot faster than he could.
Dean called the strange number from the night before, the one which lead him to the minotaur, because they had an idea. This time, the message said they were to meet him at pier twelve at two in the morning. So they kept time and place moving. That was probably smart. Should have changed the number too.
They got Cassie a room next to Dean's under a fake name, and left her sleeping. They didn't feel great about leaving her alone, but they didn't have much choice. They salted the room on the off chance it would do any good, and Cass added some sigils that would, at least in theory, hide her from the view of gods. He just didn't know if it would work on the Greek pantheon.
Cass had read the manual, and gave them the highlights. Apparently it was all about being able to find the chosen vessel for Medusa, and what signs to look for. Cassie apparently checked all the boxes. Of course the Sannas were not her biological parents – they had adopted Cassie from China when she was an infant. This meant that one of these days, they might have to tell her her parents adopted her because they were cult members, and all omens pointed to her being the vessel. Sam thought maybe they could avoid telling her that. It was bad enough that her parents had always been in the cult, and were grooming her for this. To learn she was being groomed for this from day one, and maybe they only adopted her as a means to an end? Awful. He thought they should leave her with good memories of her parents, assuming she had any.
Dean was right about there being something off at the docks. There was a darkness and silence that seemed unnatural, and that was long before the man Dean called the Michelin Man (a fairly accurate description, really) walked out onto the pier. Sam ventured out, with Dean right behind him. "Why are you here again?" the muscle man said, turning to face them.
"What did you do to me?" Dean demanded.
"You were deemed worthy."
"Yeah, I figured out that part," Dean replied. "What did you do to me? I know you put something in my head."
"You were made one with the cause."
"Unmake it," Dean said.
"What cause?" Sam asked.
The muscle man eyed him with a kind of lazy disdain. "Guarding the goddess on Earth."
"Goddess? Medusa?" Dean asked, probably just for clarification.
"Of course. Who else?"
"Why does a goddess need guardians?" Sam wondered. "Can't she take care of herself?"
"Not until she's matured."
Sam tried to parse that in his head. Gods generally didn't mature. They just showed up as adult as they were ever going to be, even if that curdled into childish petulance over time. "Who are we supposed to guard her against?" Dean asked. That was actually a very good question.
"Those that killed her last incarnation."
Interesting. Did the minotaur manifest ahead of Medusa? Were they a package deal? "Who's that?" Sam asked.
"Euryale."
Dean frowned, like he didn't recognize it, but Sam did, because he'd been doing the research. "Medusa's sister?" She was one of the two.
That made Dean raise his eyebrows. "This is a family spat?"
Actually, this made more sense now. Cassie's parents were probably killed by Euryale, who maybe didn't want her sister coming back to Earth. That also meant Cassie was indeed a target. "It happens," muscle man said.
Cass suddenly appeared behind the minotaur guy, and raised his hand, which started to glow with angelic power. "Undo what you did to Dean," he commanded.
Was an angel enough to take out a minotaur? Even Cass didn't know, but it was one of those things that they had to try. The muscle man glanced back at Cass without much concern. "I can't. He killed all the others. He's the prime now."
"What does that mean?" Dean asked. A fleeting look of guilt passed over his face, but it was one of those blink and you miss it deals.
"It means you must protect her until she returns."
"She is not returning," Dean insisted. "Let the girl live her life."
The muscle man cocked his head to the side, much like Cass when he didn't understand something. "Once the process has begun, it can't be stopped."
Oh shit. "What are you doing to her?" Sam asked.
Muscle man shook his head. "Nothing. She is becoming what she was always meant to be."
Sam shared a look with Dean, and knew they both weren't sure what to do now. If they couldn't save Cassie from what was happening to her, were they supposed to just stand back and let it happen? That didn't sound like them. It was possible he was lying, but with the loaded gun that was Cass behind him? Probably not.
"So how do we kill a Gorgon?" Dean asked, jumping right to the chase.
He shrugged. "A full blood Gorgon? It's never been done. Let me know if you succeed."
Dean looked confused, but Sam understood, because, again, research. The reason Medusa was mortal was because she was part Human, or at the very least not completely god-like.
"What happens to Dean when this all over?" Cass asked. Another great question.
"He is released."
Well, that was something. The one bit of good news in all of this.
The muscle man actually started walking off the pier. "Wait a sec," Dean said. "What was that thing in the water?"
"A Triton. They're pests."
Dean nodded, like he had any idea what that was. "Okay. All I wanted to know." He then pulled out his gun and fired.
It happened so fast it took Sam by surprise. Dean simply shot the muscle guy in the head about five times (great grouping), but the muscle man simply glared at Dean, as the holes in his face healed over almost instantaneously. "You can't kill me," the minotaur said. "But I can still kill you."
"Bring it on," Dean said, hastily reloading.
"I wouldn't," Cass warned.
The minotaur looked back at Cass, eying him carefully, and nodded. He wasn't worried, but he had enough doubt about facing off with an angel that he decided not to chance it. He continued walking, and disappeared into the weird shadows that cloaked the pier.
Cass lowered his hand. "That could have gone better."
"Shoulda tried to blast that son of a bitch," Dean replied.
Cass grimaced. "Judging from his energy signature, I don't think I could have killed him either. I might have barely been able to hurt him."
"I'd have settled for that."
"So what's our next move?" Sam wondered.
Dean stowed his gun, and ran a hand through his hair. He looked both wired and tired, which was a bad combination. "We protect Cassie, and try to figure out how to kill a Gorgon."
Sam shook his head. "That's a shit plan, Dean. We still have to get that energy out of you."
He shrugged. Sam hated to see this. He was actually considering giving up, wasn't he? "Yeah, I know, but until we figure it out, we gotta do something." Dean turned his gaze away, towards Cass. "Maybe you should get me the First Blade."
Cass looked horrified at the suggestion, but before he could say anything, Sam exclaimed, "Fuck no. Are you crazy?"
"I bet I could take out a minotaur with it. And maybe a Gorgon."
"And give the Mark more of a hold on you? I don't think so, Dean. We're not that desperate yet."
He raised an eyebrow at that. "I think we're getting close."
"Sam's right," Cass said, as Sam thought he would. Giving the First Blade to Dean felt tantamount to suicide. "There's no guarantee the First Blade will work on them, but we know what it will do to you."
Dean met his gaze fearlessly. "I'm not sure we have a choice."
"We do," Sam insisted. "Let's just go back to the motel, and I'll figure something out."
"What?"
"I don't know. Give me a chance here." Sam walked back towards the car before Dean could press him further. Yeah, his research was going poorly, but he wasn't going to agree to Dean getting his hands on the First Blade again. He was lucky not to lose himself last time, and they all knew it was a minor miracle he didn't. He didn't understand why Dean was willing to risk it. He was being so cavalier about it.
And Sam circled back to the thought that Dean was giving up. Since that wasn't his normal state, he had to assume that Dean was just tired of fighting it all the time. He remembered what Cass had told him about Dean dying in his dreams, and wondered how much of that he'd take before he was ready to pull the plug. No matter how tough you were, everyone had a breaking point. He hated to think Dean had already reached his.
Dean waited until they were back in the car to give him the stink eye. "You don't think I can handle it."
Sam sighed. He so didn't want to have this discussion now. "Dean, we have time. We should use –"
"You don't."
Sam shook his head, but could feel his temper starting to get the best of him. "What do you want me to say?"
"The truth. You don't think I can handle it."
"No, all right? No, I don't. It's killing you, Dean. Do you really think you're successfully hiding that? 'Cause let me tell you, you're not."
Dean glared at him, and Sam knew he was about to get ugly, when Cass, who never officially got in the car, suddenly poked his head in from the back. "I think we have more pressing concerns at the moment." They both glanced at him, and he pointed out the windshield.
There were eight people standing around the front of the Impala. Some of them had guns, others had bats and machetes. They didn't look particularly happy, but for the moment they were just staring at them. "You could take care of all these asshats," Dean said to Cass.
"Yes, but since they're cult members, I thought you might want to talk to them first."
Sam opened his door, and got out cautiously. They didn't make any aggressive moves, but the air was pretty tense. "Where is she?" a woman asked. She was a solidly built soccer mom type, holding a sawed off shotgun.
"Who wants to know?" Dean asked, getting out on his side.
Upon seeing Dean, the cult members exchanged looks that Sam mainly interpreted as puzzled. Finally, one man, who looked like he could have been a long lost brother of Bobby's, said, "Ain't you her protector?"
Dean shrugged. "That's what Bullhead tells me. So don't you think you should let me do my fucking job?"
The soccer mom held her gun down at her side. "We wish to help. Cassandra must be made safe until the new moon."
Sam started doing mental calculations, but Cass piped up. "Two nights from now."
"That's not so bad," Dean said. It wasn't. It could have been much worse.
"Euryale is killing us off one by one," Pseudo Bobby said. "She's closing in on Cassandra."
"So you should clear off and let me get back to her, yeah?" Dean said, getting back behind the wheel. "You guys should scatter, act as a distraction, see if you can lead her away."
"And get turned to stone?" Soccer Mom replied.
"You knew the risks when you joined a death cult," Dean said, starting the car. Harsh, but fair.
Sam scowled at her. "What did you do to her? You know she's just a teenage girl, right?"
Soccer Mom got this rapturous look on her face that Sam always associated with religious zealots. "She's the Chosen One. She's Medusa incarnate."
"How do we stop this?" Sam asked.
He got a wide assortment of blank looks. "You can't stop it," Soccer Mom said. "Why would you want to?"
"Get in, Sam, we're done here," Dean said, revving the engine.
He hated to admit it, but he was right. He got back in the car and slammed the door, and the cult drifted away from the car so Dean could drive through without hitting them. Although just from the way Dean was looking at them, Sam knew Dean had been thinking of fishtailing just so he could hit a few, Luckily, he didn't.
"So how does it work exactly?" Dean asked, once they were on the road back to the motel. "A god taking a vessel? Is it more like the demon or angel variety?"
Cass, still in the backseat, shook his head. "Gods generally don't need vessels. They are fully formed entities, or are capable of making themselves so. Medusa is clearly different."
Dean glanced at Cass in the rearview mirror. "You're telling me this is new for you too?"
"I'm afraid so."
"Fantastic."
"We have two nights to figure something out," Sam said. It wasn't much of a silver lining, but it was all they had at the moment.
Sam started running a search on his phone, but he was running out of ideas on exactly what he was searching for. He hated drawing so many blanks. There should have been something, but even the Men of Letters didn't have much on the Gorgons. Other Greek gods, sure, but knowing about Dionysus wasn't helpful. (Although from the description alone, it sounded a lot like Gabriel, and he wouldn't have been surprised if he had spent some of his time on Earth under that guise.)
They were two blocks away from the motel when they first heard the sirens.
Sam didn't attribute it to anything except normal late night stuff, maybe a car accident, when he realized they weren't police sirens but fire engine sirens, and there was a bunch of smoke pouring up into the night sky. "Cass," Sam said, and pointed in the direction of the motel. Which was also the direction of the fire.
He didn't have to tell him twice. Cass disappeared from the back as Dean craned his neck, and saw it for himself. "Son of a bitch."
It was entirely possible it was mere coincidence that the motel where they were staying with Cassie caught on fire. But Sam wasn't willing to bet on it.
And now he found himself wondering if Euryale had her own cult.
