Chapter 8
When Sam woke the sun was still high in the summer sky but he could tell it was well past noon. He turned to Amelia's bed and saw she was not there. He jumped out of bed and found she wasn't in the bathroom or small kitchenette. He frantically put on his clothes and was heading toward the door when it opened. He had his gun half drawn when Amelia stepped in. Her arms were loaded with two bags of groceries. She saw the distressed look on his face. "I'm sorry, Sam. I didn't mean to frighten you."
"Where the hell did you go?" His voice was raised but he wasn't sure if he was angry or scared.
"I went to get food to make us something to eat." She said as she walked past him into the kitchen area. After she set the bags down she turned back to Sam. "Now, about that tone of voice." She added soundly extremely mother-ish, mad mother at that. "I've let you take some liberties since we met, but make no mistake, I DO NOT like being addressed like I am some misbehaving child. You forget, I am the elder here."
With that she turned back to the kitchen and added, "I hope you like salads. There was a delightful market just down the street." Her voice was now light and friendly, all mistakes forgotten. "Come help me unpack and clean vegetables." See added.
Sam couldn't decide if he was still upset after finding her gone, scared at her stern warning or confused at how quickly she forgave him. But he was hungry and did like fresh salads. He started pulling food out of the other bag and found a six-pack of cold beer at the bottom of the bag. He and Dean had determined it was safe to drink beer after they had discovered the Levi additive didn't survive the fermenting process. It had been one of the few bright spots Dean had had in the last few days before Omaha. He lifted up the carrier and turned a questioning gaze to her. "You drink beer?"
"Not often. I just thought it would go well with this." As she was talking she pulled a roasted chicken out of the bottom of her bag. He wasn't sure about the chicken, even though it had been weeks since the Leviathans had been able to add their additive to animal feed. She saw him looking at the chicken with concern and pointed to the 'free range, no artificial additives or antibiotics'. "It also helps I could sense if there was anything wrong with the food." Fresh salad, nothing deep fried and cold beer, he wondered if she had read his mind again.
Amelia smiled at his thoughts but said nothing. She put together a huge salad and set the chicken out on the table. As they sat down to eat, Sam wondered how, or if, she had paid for all the groceries. He hoped she hadn't used her 'powers' in such a public place. They were trying to stay under the radar.
"Ask me." She said, staring intently at Sam. "Sam, you need to talk to me when you have questions." When he just stared back at her, she added. "If you ask your questions and share your thoughts, I wouldn't read your thoughts." She smiled warmly at him and added, "Amelia Stone had money in her pocket when I arrived."
He hadn't wanted to think about the real Amelia, the poor girl being possessed by the goddess. But he took Mother Nature at her word and asked. "So, you are possessing Amelia Stone? Or she's a vessel, like for Angels?'
"A bit of both, really. And thank you for trusting me enough to ask." Her smile seemed genuine as she added, "It's kind of hard to explain."
"Harder than being the Devil's true vessel on earth?" He asked.
She had forgotten she was talking to one of the few human beings with personal experiences that might be close to Amelia Stone's. "Your right, of course. And it's almost the same. Except Amelia was hoping she might be my vessel some day. Her mother's family has been raising young women to be ready for my coming for generations. There is at least one family doing the same on each continent."
Sam took in the information, glad that at least this girl knew what she was getting into. But if all these families spent their lives preparing for her possible coming he wondered, "So what was all the angst yesterday morning about not being remembered? It sounds like a lot of people remember you."
"Yes, I'm truly thankful for the devotion of all the families. But you must remember, I used to be worshipped by throngs." She paused and then added. "Maybe I'm not so different from the descendents of mine you've dealt with, vain and missing the good old days"
An uneasy quiet settled on them. She had been honest with him, or at least it felt like the truth. Sam decided it was time to try to lift her spirits. "Listen, so far, you're not anything like the other gods Dean and I have met." When she didn't look at him, he went on. "Look, don't beat yourself up over longing for the way things used to be. Been there, done that."
She finally looked at him, with a very confused look on her face. "It's an expression. It means I understand what you're going through." She nodded her head and remembered seeing a great many lost opportunities and regrets in his memories.
They shared a sad smile. She took a deep breath and picked up her fork. "Let's eat then, shall we?"
They both realized they were very hungry and dug into their meals. After they had finished their meal, Amelia started to pick up the dishes. Sam stopped her. "You made dinner, let me clean up." She stood with a surprised look on her face. "Welcome to the 21st century, mom." Now it was Sam's turn to tease Amelia.
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"What do you mean the places aren't important?" Sam was frustrated. "I thought we were looking for a place to get Dean out?"
After dinner, they had sat at the table and Amelia had asked about all the places that had earthquakes the night she had arrived and the leviathan killed. He had gotten out his laptop and showed her all the locations. She had him tell her what he knew about each spot. The time loop Gabriel had opened in Florida. The four places Purgatory had been opened, Omaha, Providence, Portland and Bootbock twice. He didn't know what barrier Lucifer had brought Death through, but Carthage also had an earthquake that night. And the three places he knew Hell had been breached, the Devil's Gate in Wyoming and where they had used the Horsemen's rings to open Lucifer's cage, Detroit and Lawrence.
She had listened intently and occasionally asked for more details. "Those places are not where we will find Dean. But their seals might still be weak." She paused and pointed to the notes Sam had made during his month of searching for information. "But nothing unusual has been seen, correct?" She paused again and he nodded. "Are your fellow hunters watching the locations?
"My fellow hunters?" He asked. "I don't know how hunters worked in the past, but we don't exactly have a central command or anything. And the few 'fellow hunters' I do know are pretty busy hunting down leviathans."
"Well, I don't think it will matter. The barriers are weak but it would still take a lot to break through them." She looked unsure if what she just said was true. "Just in case, is there any way you could spread the word to keep an eye on them until we repair the barriers?"
"What? We have to repair all those barriers? Is that how we get Dean back?" Sam couldn't say he didn't care about sealing all the weakened barriers, since they had apparently caused the weaknesses when they killed Roman. But all he really cared about was getting his brother back.
"No. The barriers will repair themselves when we get Dean and his friend out of Purgatory."
"What?" He was having an increasingly difficult time following her declarations. "First, what do you mean 'they'll repair themselves and second, what has Cas got to do with this?" He had told Amelia all about Cas. He had also told her he wanted Dean back no matter what, even if it meant the Angel was left behind.
"Sam, the barriers are weak because of Dean and Castiel. They don't belong there." She tried to think of a way to explain it to him. 'The seals, or barriers, are like zippers that can't fully close because threads are caught in them. Dean and Cas are those threads. When we remove them, the zipper will function normally."
That actually made sense to him in a weird way. "Okay. I get the idea. That explains why the barriers to Purgatory are weak, but what does that have to do with time loops and the seals to Hell?"
She knew Sam was an intelligent man, and a Hunter; but multiple plains of existence occupying the same physical space was difficult to explain to three dimensional, linear-thinking humans. But if there was anyone who would be able to grasp this, it would be him. "Sam, it is very hard to explain. You're probably the only human being who can understand this fully, at least partially from your personal experiences." She paused to see if he was following her. "You've been through an alteration in linear time, the time loop the angel created." Sam nodded.
"But only you were experiencing those days. You were in a, I believe the phrase commonly used is, a parallel plain of existence." He nodded again, so she continued. "All the other plains of existence are always moving, shifting and crossing into the others." He didn't nod his head this time but she went on anyway. "I can use a weak barrier to one plain of existence to reach another."
He was pretty sure he was following her explanations. As much as he wanted Dean back he knew they couldn't risk opening any barriers, portals or friggin' zippers to Lucifer's cage. "There's no way we can risk letting Michael and Lucifer out of the cage."
"No, of course not."
"But if it's not about finding the right place, if you can reach through any portal to bring Dean out, why do we need to go to Lawrence?"
"There are two reasons. I want to try and contact Dean again, so you can tell him we're coming for him."
"Again, why Lawrence?"
" Lawrence is the weak barrier most personal to you and Dean. It's where you both were born, your mother died and you sacrificed yourself to save your brother and the planet. And where he was willing to sacrifice himself to be with you." She paused to let her words sink in before adding, "He won't know why but he will feel pulled to the area."
"Why am I sensing there is more to this that finding the best place to contact Dean?" He slumped back in his chair, waiting for the other shoe to drop.
"Sam, we have the key." She said as she touched Dean's amulet. "When it's prepared, it will pull Dean home."
And there it was, the other shoe. "And it is prepared how?"
Amelia reached for the string hanging around her neck and removed the necklace. "Well, to start with, you should wear it." She said as she held the necklace open and reached for Sam.
"I thought you were using it. You know, to focus your power, or something?" She gave Sam a questioning look. "I saw you grab it back at Bobby's when you killed the demons."
"Yes, I probably did.' Amelia looked down at the talisman hanging in front of her. "But that had nothing to do with what I did, or how I did it. It was strictly for my comfort. I think you would call it moral support?"
Sam stared at the amulet. He had worn it while Dean was in Hell but that had been a long time ago. Dean had quit wearing it when he lost his faith in him. Maybe if he had faith, the amulet could do what he needed it to do. He ducked his head and leaned forward. Amelia easily slipped it over his head and let it fall to his chest. It felt warm; he hoped it was from being around Amelia's neck not whatever had made it glow earlier. He reached up to touch the strange little face he knew so well. He wasn't sure but he could swear it felt like it was vibrating. And there seemed to be a very faint noise, like it was humming, too.
