Supernatural: Empaths and Viruses
A/N: Hey guys, here's the final chapter, and there's going to be a bit of insight into Later-day Saint culture when the Winchesters and the Idris twins return to Utah.
Read, review, and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from Supernatural or Criminal Minds; I just own the characters that I happen to create.
CHAPTER NINE: THE TRUTH
"Behold, because of their belief in me, saith the Father, and because of the unbelief of you, O house of Israel, in the latter day shall the truth come unto the Gentiles, that the fulness of these things shall be made known unto them."
3 Nephi 16:7
Thirty minutes later, they all were back in the lab with Sam sitting on the examination table with a bandage pressed to his chest; his eyes were down, and he was near tears. Both Ricky and Hannah were huddled in a pair of chairs nearby, clinging to each other, their wounds stitched and bandaged up. The others were surrounding him, Liz was hovering near Sam, and Dean was pacing angrily.
"Doc, check his wound again, would you?" he requested, and looked at Dr. Lee when she didn't make a move. "Doctor!"
"What's she need to examine him for?" Mark demanded, his expression was cold. "You saw what happened."
"Did their blood actually enter your wounds?" Dr. Lee asked them.
"Come on, of course it did!" Mark snapped.
Dean faced him angrily. "We don't know that for sure."
Duane was with Mark on this one. "We can't take a chance."
Mark nodded. "You know what we have to do."
"Nobody is shooting my brother or my friends," Dean retorted.
"Yeah," Liz agreed, her expression going hard.
"He isn't gonna be your brother much longer," Duane pointed out. "Same with your friends. You said it yourself."
Both Dean and Liz glared at him. "Nobody is shooting anyone!"
"You were gonna shoot me!" Duane pointed out.
"You don't shut your pie-hole, I still might!" Dean threatened and Duane backed away, terrified.
"Dean, they're right," Sam said quietly. "We're infected; just give me the guns and we'll do it ourselves."
Dean shook his head. "Forget it."
"Don't talk like that, Sam," Liz protested.
Sam sighed and looked at them both seriously. "Dean, Liz, we're not gonna become one of those things."
"Sam's right," Ricky agreed, speaking up finally. "We've been infected and it's gonna end badly if we don't stop it right now."
Dean looked between them, pained. "Then do a blessing, Ricky," he suggested, trying to keep his emotions under control. "Sam, we've still got some time-"
"Time for what?" Mark cut in. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and the twins are your friends, and I'm sorry, I am. But we gotta take care of this." And he pulled out his handgun.
Dean pulled out his own gun and got between the sergeant and his little brother, Liz doing the same. "I'm gonna say this one time," he said coldly, "you make a move on them, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? I mean, do I make myself clear?!"
Mark stared at them, a mixture of shock, confusion, and angry on his face. "Then what are we supposed to do?!"
Surprising his siblings, Dean took out his car keys and tossed them to Mark, who caught them. "Get the hell out of here, that's what," he said, having made his decision. "Take my car. You've got the explosives, there's an arsenal in there. Liz, you, Dr. Lee, and Duane go with him. You've got enough firepower to handle anything now."
"What?! No!" Liz protested, realizing what Dean had in mind. "I'm not leaving you guys."
Mark looked between them, now just confused. "What about you?"
Sam stared at his big brother, realizing what he was wanting to do based on his emotions. "Dean, no," he protested. "No. Go with them. This is your only chance!"
Dean fixed Sam a look. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy."
"No, he's right. Come with us," Mark offered, but Dean just shook his head. "Okay, it's your funeral." Taking Liz by her arm, he led her, Duane, and Dr. Lee out the door.
Dr. Lee stopped in the doorway and faced them. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "Thanks for everything, Marshals."
Dean gave her a weak smile. "Oh, actually we're not really Marshals."
Dr. Lee blinked. "Um. Oh." She then left, and Dean shut the door behind her; he then turned slowly to face Sam, who started to cry, Ricky, and Hannah; the Idris twins were gaping in shock at this sudden twist of events.
"Wish we had a deck of cards, or a foosball table or something," he joked, moving to sit on the counter, which had Sam, Ricky, and Hannah's guns on it.
Sam couldn't believe that this was happening; he knew that Dean was tired of the way they've had to live, but this was too much. "Dean, don't do this," he begged. "Just get the hell out of here."
Dean shook his head. "No way."
"Give us our guns, and leave," Hannah pleaded.
Dean shook his head again. "For the last time, guys. No."
Sam stood the table and slammed his hand on the table. "This is the dumbest thing you've ever done."
Dean chuckled. "Oh, I don't know about that. Remember that waitress in Tampa?" and he then shuddered at the memory.
Sam weakly smiled, but it didn't cover the fact that they were screwed because of the demonic virus. "Dean, we're sick. It's over for us. It doesn't have to be for you. I mean…Liz still needs you."
"Liz can look after herself," Dean stated.
Sam shook his head. "Maybe, but you can keep going."
Dean sighed, rolling his gun between his hands. "Who says I want to?"
Sam was confused. "What?"
"I'm tired, Sam," Dean confessed. "I'm tired of this job, this life…this weight on my shoulders, man. I'm tired of it."
Sam sighed. "I already figured that out, bro. So what, so you're just going to give up? You're just gonna lay down and die? Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad has-"
"You're wrong," Dean interrupted. "It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure, but…"
'Is he going to tell me the secret now?' "What is it about?" Sam asked.
But the moment passed when they heard a noise outside; a moment later there was a knocking on the door. Dean picked up the handguns and crossed to it; Dr. Lee was there, Liz at her side, and he opened the door.
"You'd better come see this," Dr. Lee told them, and that was when both Sam and Hannah realized that something had changed outside…they couldn't sense the infected people anymore.
Soon they all were standing just outside the clinic, staring in utter confusion; everything else in sight was deathly silent.
"There's no one," Dr. Lee told them. "Not anywhere. They've all just…vanished."
"Just like the Roanoke Colony," Ricky whispered and stared at the telephone pole which still had "CROATOAN" carved on it.
Not wanting to take any chances, they all remained in the clinic until the sun rose over the mountains and spilled on the empty town; inside, Dr. Lee was looking through the microscope once again, and Sam, Ricky, and Hannah were seated on the exam table.
"Well, it's been five hours and your blood's still clean," she announced, looking up at them. "I don't understand it but I think you three all managed dodged a bullet."
Sam, Ricky, and Hannah exchanged perplexed looks."But we were exposed. How could we not be infected?"
Dr. Lee shrugged, even she couldn't explain it. "I don't know," she admitted. "But you're just not. I mean, you compare it with the Tanner samples…" she looked through another microscope. "What the hell?"
"What?" Ricky asked.
"Their blood," Dr. Lee responded, looking up with a stunned expression. "There's no trace of the virus. No sulfur, nothing."
After sharing the news with the others, it was decided that they all had best get out of Dodge before anything else happen.
Mark and Duane were loading up a truck, and the Winchesters and the Idris twins were loading up their things into the Impala, too; Dr. Lee was standing in the doorway of the clinic, having packed her own bag and still needed to get a few things from her office and also her house, which was just outside of town in the direction that she needed to go.
Duane walked over to her. "Hey, the Sarge and I are getting the hell out of here, heading south. You should come," he offered.
Dr. Lee shook her head kindly. "I'd better get over to Sidewinder, get the authorities up here," she told them. "If they'll believe me. Take care."
Mark waved to her and to Dean, Liz, Sam, Ricky, and Hannah, who were leaning against the Impala.
"What about them?" Dean asked, nodding to Sam, Ricky, and Hannah.
"They're going to be fine," Dr. Lee said reassuringly. "No signs of infection." And she went back inside as Mark and Duane pulled away in the truck.
"Can we go now?" Liz asked and Dean nodded before turning to Sam and the Idris twins.
"Hey man, don't look at me," Sam said, raising his hands. "I got no clue."
Dean sighed and headed for the driver's side. "I swear, I'm gonna lose sleep over this one," he complained. "I mean, why here, why now? And where the hell did everybody go? It's like they just friggin' melted."
Sam had his own questions. "Why were we immune?" he wondered.
"Yeah. You know what? That's a good question," Dean agreed. "You know, I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away."
"Maybe because that's what the demons wanted," Liz suggested, realizing something.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
Liz gave her brothers an exasperated look. "Think about it, guys. Azazel has Andrew working on some sort of medical project, involving human testing down in Brazil somewhere," she pointed out. "And then Sam just happens to have a vision that leads us up here, where there are people infected by a demonic virus that leaves a sulfuric stain on the blood that has to be transmitted by blood contact, and the vision also just happens to have Ricky and Hannah in it, too."
"Oh for the love of-" Ricky didn't finish the sentence and smack his forehead instead. "We walked into a blasted trap!"
Dean also groaned. "Great, and yet one more piece of the puzzle that is Azazel's plan falls into place. He wants to make sure that his future soldiers are immune to some kind of demonic virus."
Hannah sighed. "Great, as if our lives aren't difficult enough." And with that, they got in the car and pulled away from town.
Around noon, they stopped at a motel somewhere in Idaho to get a some much-needed sleep and to also let Ricky and Hannah call their parents to let them know that they were still alive.
`"Hello?"`
"Mom, it's us," said Ricky, his phone was on speaker and he was so glad to hear his mom's voice, and Hannah was glad, too. "We're finally heading home."
`"I'm so glad to hear that, Ricky,"` Dorothea said, relieved, but it was obvious from her voice that something was going on. `"Your dad and Lloyd are here and are coming over to talk to you, guys."`
"All right," Ricky agreed, while raising his eyebrows toward his twin and the Winchesters. What was going on back home?
`"Ricky?"` Elvis asked once he was in range of the speaker on the home phone.
"We're here, dad," Ricky responded.
`"I'm glad to hear your voice, son,"` said Elvis. `"Dorothea tried to call you a few times yesterday an this morning, but she couldn't get through, and the GPS on your guys' phones weren't working either."`
"Yeah, sorry about that," Ricky apologized, and quickly updated his parents and grandfather on all that'd happen yesterday. "And so, Sam called their FBI friends, who are going to contact some people they know to investigate what'd happen to the population, and we now have a new theory of what happen to the lost colony."
Elvis sighed. `"More demons. You know, if I ever meet this Azazel, I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind to choke on before you find a way to kill him, Dean."`
Dean chuckled. "I'll be sure to remember that, Elvis. Dorothea, you're sounding stress about something. What's going on?"
`"Well, it's only a theory right now, but I'm suspecting that Kat might be possessed,"` Dorothea told them, clearly upset. `"She – she was here yesterday asking about your guys' location, but there was something off about how she asked the question and how she was acting."`
"Dorothea, if she is possessed, then it must be recent," said Sam, frowning; they'd meet more members of the Idris family, including extended family during the twins' birthday, and he hadn't sensed anything demonic from the flashy Kat. "We're currently at a motel to get some rest, but we can head back to Provo right now instead," he offered.
`"No, no, you guys need to get some food and sleep into you first,"` Lloyd ordered. `"And we'll hold the fort here, so don't do anything foolish before then."`
"Yes, sir," Dean grumbled, getting some chuckles from the others before they all said goodbye and closed the phone.
"I bet dad and grandfather are going to gather up the bishop and other ward members to help out if Kat is possessed," Hannah predicted, getting a quick flash of insight.
"Wait, are you saying that your church can do exorcisms?" Liz asked, surprised.
Ricky grinned. "Well, let's just say that the catholic church has their way of getting rid of demons, but we prefer the way that Joseph Smith was given by God after restoring the true church."
Dean exchanged a bemused look with Sam and Liz. "Well, I can't wait to see how this turns out…providing this demon hasn't broken Kat's body in any way." It wasn't the most reassuring thought, but they knew it was possible, and they had to cling to some hope that it wouldn't end up going horribly wrong.
That night back in Oregon, Mark was driving his pickup down a dark two-lane road, and Duane was in the passenger's seat.
"You mind pulling up ahead there?" Duane requested. "Mother nature's calling."
"All right," Mark agreed as he pulled onto the shoulder and stopped the truck. "Don't go too far and don't take too long."
"I won't," promised Duane as he got out of the car and disappeared into the bushes; as soon as he was out of sight of the road, he paused when a dark figure stepped out into the moonlight. "Hi, Brady."
"Dude, relax already," Brady told him. "The test is over and the Winchesters are heading back to Provo with the Idris twins."
Duane took a shuddering breath and shut his eyes briefly before opening them, only they were solid black now. "So, the test was successful, like the lady doctor said?" he asked.
Brady nodded. "Yeah, Sam Winchester and the Idris twins are immune to the virus, and I'll be informing Andrew soon." He then nodded to the road. "Did anyone else survive beside the guy in the truck?"
"Dr. Lee is heading for Sidewinder," Duane told him.
"Well, I got someone watching that road so she'll be taken care of," Brady said reassuringly. "So, let's deal with your tagalong and then we can contact Andrew and get out of here."
"All right."
Soon, Mark was dead and they had used the same bowl that Meg had once used to contact Andrew, who would be reporting the results to Azazel himself, and on the other road, a silent shot killed Dr. Lee, and her car disappeared into the trees. Rivergrove was now a ghost town.
Back at the motel, Dean was brushing his teeth and was about to head off to bed when there was a knock on the door that connected their room to the one that Ricky and Hannah were using; finishing up quickly, he glanced over to the two beds, where both Sam and Liz were already asleep, and then went over to the door.
"Hey, Hannah," he said opening the door to find the petite auburn-haired woman standing on the other side, "come on in." and stepped aside so that she could come in.
"Thanks," said Hannah, stepping into the room and faced him while absently rubbing the bandage on her arm. "Dean, I know that both you and Liz are keeping a secret from Sam."
Dean blinked, surprised by this and then sighed. "Let me guess…your empathic ability picked up on that."
Hannah nodded. "Yeah, and Ricky talked to Sam about it, and we both think you and Liz should tell him before anything else happens."
Dean sighed and looked over at his sleeping siblings; after talking with Hannah and Ricky's parents and grandfather, he and Liz had gone out to get some fast food, and they'd debated about whether to tell Sam about the promise that their dad had made them keep or not. "I know we should," he muttered. "Liz and I have already talked about it."
"So, what is this secret?" Hannah asked.
Dean sighed and nodded to the table and chairs, and they both sat down, making sure to keep their voices low. "Before our dad died, he had both me and Liz promise that if Sam should ever go dark side, then we would have to…well, I think you can guess what we would have to do."
Hannah nodded, cringing slightly. "Yeah, I can. So will you and Liz tell him?"
"We will after we get back to Provo and have taken care of Kat's possession problem," Dean promised, "and I'll let Liz know in the morning."
"Okay."
Dean shut the door after Hannah left the room and went to bed, having a decent night sleep for once.
It was 10 am when the Winchesters pulled up into the driveway of the Idris home and Dorothea ran out the front door when the twins got out, questioning Dean's insane way of driving, and promptly hugged them both.
"I'm so glad that you all made it back safely," she wept, almost overwhelming both Sam and Hannah with her emotions. "Now let's get you all inside so I can look at those cuts," she added, releasing her son and daughter.
"They've been taken care of, Dorothea," Sam said reassuringly, but it was obvious that she wasn't going to take no for an answer as she insisted they all go inside, where Elvis and Lloyd was waiting.
Once they all were inside and Dorothea was satisfied with the health of her oldest children and that Sam would be all right, they sat down in the living room and talked about what to do about the demon that was most likely possessing Kat.
"So, you're certain that Kat's possessed?" Dean asked.
Elvis nodded. "Pretty certain," he confirmed. "I stopped by the salon that Kat works at yesterday after you called, and talked with her a bit; I don't need to be an empath to tell me that I wasn't talking to my niece. And she's stopping by today, so it'll be our best chance to get rid of that demon."
Sam nodded. "Good idea, and we have everything that we need in order to do the exorcism."
"Thanks for the offer, Sam," said Lloyd, smiling slightly, "but we already got that covered as I'm sure both Ricky and Hannah told you. Bishop Miles and his counselors will be here in about ten minutes so that we all can set up and plan what needs to be done beforehand."
Dean didn't look convince, but he agreed to do their version of an exorcism. "At least let us set up a Devil's Trap somewhere."
"Don't worry, we got a room for you to use."
At twelve sharp, 'Kat' showed up in one of her usual outfits and looked for all the world like she was perfectly normal, but both Hannah and Sam could sense the demon within her, and yet they had to give the demon some credit for its' performance.
"Hey, Hannah!" said 'Kat' cheerfully.
"Hi, Kat!" Hannah responded, doing her best not to reveal the truth there and now. "I got my costume in mom's crafting room, wanna take a look?"
'Kat' nodded. "Sure thing."
'I can't believe this is happening,' Hannah thought as she led the way, even though everyone in the family knew where the room was; after Bishop Miles arrived with his counselors and a few other ward members, all males and all holders of the priesthood, and they had talked over the plan, the Winchesters had gone to the room that Dorothea used as an office, but was also known as the crafting room since a lot of art-related stuff was done in there, and it was the only room, beside the garage, that had a cement floor, and had drawn a Devil's Trap under the rug. "Here we are."
'Kat' nodded as Hannah opened the door to the pale green room and she strolled right in, heading for the table on the opposite side, which had an outfit on it, but froze when she reached the center of the rug and found that she couldn't move. "What the-?"
"Sorry, but I don't like demons possessing members of my family," Elvis said as they all stepped into the room with the ward members. "So, stop pretending that you're Katherine."
'Kat' snarled as her eyes went a solid black, but she couldn't move from the spot. "How did you figure it out?"
"Mom told us that Kat was acting differently when we called yesterday," Ricky explained, using his ability to force her into a chair that Sam brought over, "that and Sam could sense you the moment you pulled Kat's car into the driveway, plus according to both him and Hannah, your attempt at human emotions is good, but not good enough."
'Kat' huffed. "Big deal, so I'm guessin' you all are gonna just send me back to the pit with one of the exorcisms that the Winchesters have memorized? Boy the things I could tell you all about the Winchester family."
"Actually," Lloyd said as he, Elvis, Ricky, Bishop Miles, and the other ward members stepped forward and formed a circle around the trapped demon, "we're gonna do our version of an exorcism."
'Kat' froze, suddenly looking more uncertain. "Y-your version?"
Lloyd nodded as he pulled out a vial of consecrated oil and placed a drop on her head, making the demon hiss in pain as he gently rubbed it in. "Yes, despite what some people might think about our religion, we can expel demons just as easily as the Catholic Church can, but our way is more humane and less Exorcist like." He then nodded to the other priesthood holders and they each drew in closer, ignoring the screams and threats of the demon as they placed their left arms on the shoulder of the man in front of him, and rested their right hands on her head.
"I'll rip Kat's body to shreds!" the demon threatened, struggling against Sam and Ricky's telekinesis powers, but couldn't get free. "I swear that she won't survive the experience! Let me go!"
The priesthood holders ignored the demon as Lloyd began the blessing. "Katherine Martha Idris, I am acting by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood and I anoint you with oil that has been consecrated for anointing and blessing the sick and afflicted, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
"Amen," the others echoed, including Dorothea and Hannah while Winchesters just watched.
Lloyd and the others raised their hands for a moment and then placed them back on 'Kat's' head again. "Katherine Martha Idris, I am sealing this anointing by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood…Katherine, I know that you are a strong person and that you are terrified by the demon that is currently controlling your body, but I also know that you are a strong and loving woman who can be misguided sometimes, and that you can fight this; the Lord loves you and wants you to be well. The Lord is sad that this dark spirit is seeking to harm both you and those who love you, and he is making sure that you will recover from this ordeal with the help of your loving family and friends. And as for you, demon…I order you to leave my granddaughter's body and never return. I seal this blessing in the Jesus Christ. Amen."
"Amen."
The priesthood holders then stepped away and for a moment it seemed like nothing was going to happen, but then Kat shivered and shut her eyes as tears leaked out, and then when she opened them, her eyes were back to normal. "T-thank you."
"Okay, I'm fully convinced," Dean muttered as hugs were exchanged all around.
"Convinced enough to join the church?" Ricky asked slyly and laughed when Dean attempted to noggie him as an answer. "Okay, I guess not."
After cleaning up the chalk symbol and hot chocolate was served to everyone that wanted some; Dean and Liz decided that it was time to tell Sam and they pulled him out into the backyard, where they were almost run over by Adric, who was chasing rabbits out of the garden.
"Sam…there's – there's something that we need to tell you," Dean said as they sat down on some chairs.
"Go ahead," Sam requested, having sensed the uneasy shifting of his siblings emotions moments before.
Dean sighed and exchanged a look with Liz. "A couple of days before Dad died, he told Liz and I something." He took a breath, looked at Liz again, and then looked at Sam. "He told us something about you."
"What? Dean, what did he tell you?" Sam asked.
This was a lot harder than Dean expected it to be, but he had to do it. "He said that we had to save you, that nothing else mattered; and that if we couldn't, one of us would…" he couldn't say it.
"You'd what, Dean?" Sam asked.
Dean groaned. "That we'd have to kill you," he confessed while Liz looked away, swallowing. "He said that we might have to kill you, Sammy."
Sam stared at them for a moment and then sighed, having suspected that it would be something like that, especially based on how they'd acted with the vampires and Gordon's attempt to kill him when they were talking with Scott and Ava a month before. "Know dad to cover all of his bases."
"Yeah, I just wish that he hadn't made us promise in the first place," Liz complained. "I hated keeping that from you, Sammy."
Sam smiled and surprised his siblings by pulling them both into a hug. "I understand perfectly, guys."
"Dude, why are you turning this into a chick-flick moment?"
"Ah, just enjoy it, Dean, just enjoy it."
"So, they're completely immune?" Azazel asked Andrew. "No chances that it's false?"
"Brady tried controlling them several times, and they're completely immune," Andrew confirmed. "Plus there are no survivors among the infected or those who avoided being infected."
Azazel was pleased. "Excellent. Be sure to store it away until its' needed for the final phase, Andrew. The last thing that we need right now is to have it get loose too soon."
"Yes, father," said Andrew and then he left.
Left alone, Azazel sat back in his chair and thought over his plan: despite a few setbacks, mostly minor ones like Scott being killed by a hunter, everything was progressing very well since Chester was certain he was getting closer to finding the gate thanks to his research and Justin's invention, and that grounds for the contest were being set up and would be ready in a few weeks.
'Now if only John would just break.' According to the latest reports from the pit, John Winchester was still resisting and refusing to break, and he was positive that getting Dean downstairs would need to be done after all…of course that still left the problem of Liz since she would make sure that Sam would never drink demon blood. Well, either way, the First Seal would be broken once Lilith was topside and his plans would be fulfilled.
Sam was killing the blonde woman with just his mind, his normally hazel eyes now coal black like that of a demon, enjoying every second of it and was ignoring the cries and screams coming from the dying woman and the faint shouts of his siblings…he'd lost everything that he ever cared about and he was going to end it that very night one way or another.
`"…because it had to be you, Sammy. It always had to be you."`
Hannah opened her eyes and sighed. 'Why do Ricky and I keep having this dream? What does it mean? And why would Sam kill someone for fun?'
A/N: And cut! And yes, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does do exorcisms, and have been doing them since the time of Joseph Smith. My dad, several decades back, once witness an exorcism, and the blessing used is pretty much like the ones used in a healing blessing. Food for thought. R&R everyone!
