Disclaimer: Me no own, you no sue.
Arch One: Goggles
Chapter Nine: Your Mom
The great advantage of traveling by angel was the reduced travel time. The great disadvantage of traveling by angel was the loss of thinking time. Nadine glanced around at the cheery little town, took in the kids on their bikes and the clear toll of a church bell. The sun was shining. All seemed well with the world.
One minute, they'd been in Bobby's living room, the next, they were on the other side of the country. Less than an hour before that, they'd been in the basement, filling shotgun shells with phoenix ash. And chatting it up with old vampire buddies of the Winchesters. Well, one old vampire buddy, anyway. They'd needed a monster, a proper monster with ties to Eve who could tell them where the Mother was holing up that particular afternoon. So Castiel went out searching and brought back Lenore, the Winchesters' ally from way back when. She told them what they needed to know. And she told them how she'd fallen, how she'd killed, how she'd killed again. She told them she really was a monster. And then Cas iced her.
And so, in less than an hour, they were ready to face the Mother of All Monsters.
Nadine was not ready for this. She had been, but then Lenore had popped into the basement, and they'd all discussed monsters and turning and the need to die. And, although the boys knew the difference, they kept glancing at her when they uttered the word 'monster,' like she might transform, like they almost hoped she would. Even Bobby. Because they needed a real monster at the moment, not some screwed up changeling with a talent for arts and crafts. She worked so hard not to be a monster, and it was confusing. They'd never even seen her without her glamour. But they must sense it was there, just under the skin – her true self. But it wasn't supposed to be her true self. She didn't want it to be. She didn't want them to think it was.
And Cas. "We needed to move this along." He'd killed her. He smote Lenore, just as he tried to do when he first met Nadine. All business, no remorse. And it occurred to her for the first time in a long time that she really ought to be more afraid of Castiel than she was. He spared her for a reason, she knew, but she had no idea what it was. Sure, he didn't want to upset the Winchesters, but he was more involved than a third party friend should be. Even Balthazar could see that.
Did he need her to be a monster, too?
She took a deep breath and sank beneath her pack, watching the world press on, clueless, as they raced to save it. Three hunters, an angel, and a monster in sheep's clothing.
There had only been time to grab a bag. Most of her weapons were too bulky – too obvious – and she'd had to leave them behind. No sword, no bow. Now she felt naked and vulnerable, only a pair of daggers in her backpack with some holy water and potent herbs. And, of course, her goggles. In a direct fight, she might be more of a burden than a boon.
When she looked up, she realized they were moving. Bobby led the way across the street to a local diner. Nadine closed her eyes for an instant, fighting back the rising tide of doubts and questions, and hurried after them.
Then things got awkward. The four men slid into a retro vinyl booth, fitting neatly into the four available seats. Unless she pulled up a chair, Nadine's only option was to sit on Dean's lap. She hovered at the end of the table for a minute, clutching the strap of her backpack, tossing sideways glances at the local townspeople (all blissfully unaware of her predicament), and trying to redirect Dean's attention away from his menu. Bobby finally elbowed the dunce, and he looked up at her, startled, like he'd forgotten she was there.
Some days she just felt so valued.
"Uh…" He looked down, like he could magically extend the booth through sheer force of will, then glanced at the available chairs, then back down. "I could, uh…" He half rose, still clutching the menu.
Nadine shook her head and waved him back down. "You know what – forget about it. I'm going to take a stroll, get a feel for the area. See if I can pick up anything fishy."
"Are you sure?" Sam asked. He held up his menu. "You don't want to eat anything?"
With the way her stomach was clenched, she doubted she could swallow more than a mouthful and keep it down. "Nah. Not really hungry."
"Meet back here in thirty minutes," Dean said. It was a direct order, and Nadine rolled her eyes. "You have your cell phone?"
"Yes, dufus."
"Pfft." Dean relaxed back in his seat and returned to the menu.
Bobby squinted at her. "You alright, girl?"
"I'm fine." She shrugged. "Just tense, I guess. I miss my bow. And my sword. And, you know, all the other useful crap you made me leave behind."
"Stop whining and take your walk," Dean said. "Big baby."
"Be careful, Nadine," Castiel said.
She smiled. Tight. Quick. A cute little lie. "Of course." She sounded so chipper when she was trying to throw them off the scent. She wondered how long it would take them to read her like she was learning to read them. "See you in a while, then."
Before anyone could suggest the obvious, Nadine pushed her way out the door, setting the bell ringing. A girl behind the counter sang out, "Have a nice day!" and Nadine forced herself to be polite and give a grimacing smile over her shoulder. Stupid perky people and their stupid perky manners.
"Yeah…you, too." Nadine wondered if the girl even realized she wasn't a paying customer – nary a bite had been eaten, nary a cent paid.
It was undeniably pleasant outside, which was weird, all things considered. This was supposed to be purgatory on earth, but all Nadine could see was a butt-load of excessively normal people doing excessively normal things. Like shopping. And working in shops. And driving cars – past shops. She remembered shopping – back in the days before she made most of her own junk and visited odd little holes in the wall where they sold interesting and generally illegal components of said junk. She stopped in front of a book shop with a window full of young adult novels and self help books. Once upon a time, she thought she could pretend to be normal and not face the consequences. Her forehead came to rest against the glass and she shut her eyes. Pretending like she was now.
Her gut still said staying with the Winchesters was the wrong decision. Someone would get hurt, and it would inevitably be her fault. They were more prepared for the ugly things that followed in her wake, but her integration in the foster system had been due to something worse than crack-head parents. And she got to relearn that lesson in high school. How many times did fate have to teach her? She was more than bad luck. She was a walking death sentence.
It wasn't the first time she'd considered leaving. Just a few months – then it would be safe… or at least safer. But she'd let them get close, and now, monster or not, they actually needed her. It would be so easy to just walk away, find a bus station, pick up her stuff from Bobby's while they dealt with the Mother of All, and just vanish. She could do it. Hiding from the angels might be tricky. Castiel had touched her soul. Twice. There had to be some kind of connection from that. Or maybe she just wanted there to be. Any tether to the world of Winchesters and angels and grumpy old hunters was precious. And that was the real problem. She valued them, and she was too selfish to just let go again.
Pushing away from the window, she continued down the street, peering down dark alleys that promised scum and villainy of the roughest kind, hoping to find a good monster or two. But the only monster she bumped into stared back at her from a broken mirror propped against a dumpster. More than bad luck.
After that, her search went from anti-climactic to downright boring. Her thoughts kept chewing on themselves, but that was the only action to be had. Everything was so calm and regular, she began to wonder if the town made its living selling prunes. It was too calm, really. It triggered a flight instinct deep in her psyche, but she was on a mission, and she knew things were supposed to be janked up, so she ignored it.
She arrived back at the diner just as Bobby and Sam stepped out.
"Cas is being blocked," Sam said. "He's completely powerless." He shoved his hands in his pockets and nodded at her. "Any… similar problems?"
Nadine blinked, cocked her head, and planted a fist on her hip. "What could block Castiel? He's an angel."
"The Mother," Bobby said. "Don't know how, though. So…? Problems on your end?"
She puckered her lips. "Haven't tried." She glanced at all the pedestrians and gestured to a nearby alley. "Let's go somewhere a little more private. Too many people out here."
"Right," said Bobby.
They trooped around the corner, and Sam hovered near the mouth of the alley watching for inconvenient passersby while Bobby stepped farther down the narrow lane with Nadine. She shook herself out, loosening up for the big show, and winked out at the first try.
"Looks like everything's still in working order," Bobby said as she winked back to visibility.
"Yeah." She ran her fingers along the strap of her pack, considering. "I don't get it. Why would the Mother of All be able to block angels, but not fey?"
"No idea." Bobby dug in his pocket and fished out a slip of paper. He handed it to Nadine and she scanned the address written there as he explained. "Doctor called in an unidentified disease. We're going to check his place. Dean and Cas are investigating the office. Think you can handle the victim's house? Guy had roommates. Do us a favor and take a peek. We'll rendezvous there and you can fill us in."
She pocketed the note. "Sure."
Bobby's face scrunched up in that adorable way it did when he was trying to deal with something sappy, and Nadine realized he was about to ask the inevitable: Are you okay? But she really wasn't, and she didn't feel up to constructing a feasible lie, so she beat him to the punch. "I'll see you there. Don't dawdle, now."
The awkward face (so similar to Dean's) twisted into the more comfortable sarcastic leer that was Bobby's de facto facial arrangement. It suited him, Nadine thought, much better. It was a much safer sort of face. "Don't do anything stupid before we get there. My hands are full enough with the rest of these idjits."
Crisis averted, she gave him a quick smile. "No problem." She grabbed her goggles from her bag and slipped them on. "I'm a ninja. Now you see me…" she winked out, "… now you don't."
"Cute."
"I thought so."
.O.O.O.
Her assignment was more interesting than she'd thought it would be.
The boys didn't take long, and Nadine trotted towards them, still invisible, as they gathered at the corner. She could tell the second they saw one of the house's occupants by the way their faces froze.
As she winked visible again, she hit the mental reset button for them.
"Dude, it's like Star Wars in there. The prequels. I think the Mother is trying to start the Clone Wars again."
It worked. "Oh, really? Really? The prequels?" Dean sneered. "Come on, Goggles, I thought you were classier than that."
"I'm sorry," she grinned, "is my geek showing?"
Attempting to redirect the conversation to a more professional level, and still staring fixedly at the house, Sam asked, "So, what, shifter?"
"I don't know what we're looking at," Bobby admitted.
"Alright," Sam said, still waiting for another duplicate to appear. "Dean and me are gonna go in. You three stay here and watch the door. If something comes out, shoot it."
"Eh, best guess – silver bullets," Dean said, reaching into his coat.
Voice soft and uncomfortable, Cas confessed, "I'm fairly unpracticed with a firearm."
Dean looked at the group, letting his eyes fidget through his frustration. Turning to Cas, he said, "You know who whines?" He looked down at the angel with a condescending face. "Babies."
Castiel opened his mouth to further explain himself, but the brothers were already in motion, and he was left to swallow back his words and watch the door with the old hunter and the fey. Beside him, Nadine smirked fondly at the brothers' backs. Then she shook her head. Shit. She hadn't even left yet and she was getting all sentimental. In order to distract herself, she turned to the angel. "Sam said Eve's giving you some trouble."
He glanced at her briefly before letting his eyes sweep the neighborhood, alert for any trouble. "Yes." His voice was lower than usual and a bit rougher. His chin was tilted up, a physical compensation, Nadine realized, for his lack of confidence. "I am…blocked."
Now she regretted bring it up. No one liked to be reminded of their limits, temporary or otherwise. She should've pestered Bobby instead. But what was done, was done, and she did her best to fix it as best she could. Resting her hand on his arm, she warmed up her best smile and said, "Hey, think of it this way: it's my turn to take care of you, alright?"
He started to speak. Reconsidered. Closed his mouth again. He looked down at the hand on his arm, bemused. For a minute he seemed stumped, unsure how to proceed. He knew there was a protocol here, but he had no idea what it was. Taking mercy on him, Nadine softened her smile and said, "It's a joke, Castiel. You will always be more bad ass than me, and that's a fact. Though," she glanced at the house, letting her hand fall away naturally from his shoulder, "I'm still here to help. Don't forget."
"I won't forget," he assured her. He sounded relieved to have finally answered her, and his voice was a shade lighter. In her efforts to distract herself, she must have distracted him, too.
"Here they come," Bobby said, nodding to where Sam and Dean were emerging from the house.
.O.O.O.
"I don't get it. A bunch of regular Joes wake up shifters? What the hell?"
Bobby huffed, frustrated and befuddled. "Shifters usually run in families. This looks like an infection." He paused and glanced quickly between his two boys. "Nobody touched nothin'?"
Dean rocked back. "I'm bathing in Purell tonight."
"So they said they met a girl," Sam said.
"It's gotta be Eve," said Dean.
"Well how would she do this?" Castiel asked.
"Um," Nadine raised her hand. "Mother of All Monsters?" She shrugged, letting her hand drop.
"Mommy monster," Bobby said, shrugging. "Make more."
"No, no, no, no." Dean frowned at the grass. "Cas's got a good point. I mean, if she's gonna make a shifter army, why make one that's sick, gooey and dying?"
"Add that to the pile a crap that don't make sense," Bobby said.
"So should we hit the bar?" Sam asked.
.O.O.O.
They kicked their way into the bar where the first victim had spent his last night on earth and immediately stumbled on one of the grisliest scenes Nadine had ever encountered. Bodies were everywhere, each in a different state of shredding. Hardly any furniture remained unbroken, and blood was splashed liberally over all.
"Well, the sheriff's a mook, but still," Bobby said, surveying the carnage, "you'd think he'd notice this many missing folks."
Each member of the team drifted towards a different body, automatically dividing to cover the most ground. Nadine stood over a young man in a shredded football jersey. "Either Eve's having some fun," she said, "or somebody's fiancé found out what was really happening at the bachelor party."
Bobby made a noncommittal snort.
By the bar, Dean was taking a more handsy approach the investigation, using a rag to push back the victim's lips. "Got a vamp over here," he said. Reaching down the corpse, he plucked up the dead woman's hand and revealed a long spike. "Nope. Scratch that. We got a wraith." He stood up, unable to take his eyes off the monstrosity at his feet. "What the hell?" He looked at Bobby, utterly baffled. "What has teeth and a spike?"
"Never seen that in my life," Bobby said, equally surprised.
Outraged, Dean said, "Okay, so Eve's makin' hybrids now?"
"Looks like," Bobby said. He was almost breathless, and he seemed so openly amazed, glancing around at the bodies, that he seemed vulnerable. Nadine crouched on the balls of her feet and let her wrists dangle over her knees as she surveyed the victim before her. She knew the pieces were there. It was just a question of putting them together.
"Well, the question is why," Dean said. "I mean what would she want with a… whadda you call these things?"
"Well congrats," Bobby said with a little more of his usual sarcasm. "You discovered it, you get to name it."
"Jefferson Starships," Dean announced. Sam looked at him, disbelieving, and Dean grinned. "Eh? Because they're horrible and hard to kill." He swaggered in place as he said it, pleased with his joke, but he got nothing except blank frowns in return. It didn't faze him in the least.
Shaking her head, Nadine tuned out their conversation, focusing instead on the unnatural oddities before her. Thoughtfully, she donned her goggles and adjusted the lenses. The monster was a strange piece of work, tied together with wisps of things that didn't blend at all. It was like Frankenstein's monster, judging by the tangled auras clinging to it. There was a fresh human soul, of which only the faintest glow remained. Then there was a cocktail of ugly magic and corrupted power. It was almost as if the monster had been put on the human like a patch-work coat – only it was a very evil patchwork coat that grew into the wearer. She'd never seen anything like it.
"Hands where I can see 'em!" Nadine, crouched behind a table, shoved back her goggles and peeked over a chair to assess the newest threat. It was the mook. And he was armed. Not such terrible trouble, except for the fact that he had back-up, also armed.
Dean, out of Rent-A-Cop's line of sight, crept behind the bar while the other three men raised their hands. Nadine did the practical thing and winked out.
"Now this is not what it looks like," Castiel tried to explain.
"Look," Bobby said, "we're the feds."
"Yeah?" the cop asked, moving in with his gun drawn. "Feds are not allowed to do this." Addressing his two back-up singers, without taking his eyes off his catch, he said, "Cuff 'em." Then, "Turn around."
Bobby and Sam both looked peeved. Human authorities were a hassle with which they were well acquainted, and, as always, law enforcement chose the opportune moment to burst in, make all the wrong assumptions, and make their lives that much harder. Castiel looked like his frustration was being completely overruled by his helpless confusion. He wasn't used to being bossed around by the police, and it seemed he didn't know quite what to do with himself.
For all their bumbling, the cops were efficient when it came to making arrests, and they had their three hostages hustled out the door in no time at all.
Dean crept out from behind the bar and peered around, eyes wide. "Nadine?" he called in a stage whisper. "You still here?"
"I'm your magically invisible sidekick," she said, appearing a foot away from his shoulder. "Of course I'm still here."
He jumped sideways and immediately tried to cover for it, bending over and hunting around for the weapons bag. "Well, good," he said once he'd found his target. "Here." He dug through it and, grinning, fished out his prize. "Have a machete." Still smiling, he handed it over.
"Thanks," Nadine said, pinching the handle and holding the nasty metal thing at a distance. "I think."
"You'll be grateful once we catch up with the Jefferson Starships."
"Oh my word, Dean. That name…" She paused. "And you call me a dork."
"That's because you are."
"Well, then, you're a nerd."
"You're delusional."
"How's the caterpillar? Seen him recently in your journey through Wonderland?"
"Dork."
"Bitch." She had to glance away to hide her smile. There they were, trying to keep the world from ending, and they were going at it like a couple high school girls. "Come on. Let's go rescue the damsels in distress."
.O.O.O.
As expected, the cops took their prisoners back to the police station. The cop car was crap, though, and it took Dean less than a minute to catch up with them in the nice little ride they 'borrowed' from outside the bar. He watched with Nadine from the corner as the rest of their team was marched inside. Nodding towards the soon-to-be chain gang, Nadine asked, "Should I…?" She winked out.
"Yeah," Dean said. "Go on after them." He grabbed his own weapon. "I'll be right behind you."
Nadine nodded, realized he couldn't see her, and scoffed at herself. "Sure thing." She stepped out the car, rejoicing in the disturbed look on Dean's face as the door swung open and closed without a corporeal hand to guide it. She would never get tired of that. "See you inside."
"Will I see you?" Dean asked.
"If you ask nicely."
She pulled her goggles down and set off for the station. As she trotted toward the door, she realized she could see the same patchy weave of auras that she'd seen in the bar trailing into the police station. Human tangled with ugly, tangled with uglier. And that must mean… "Aw, crap." She doubled her speed and pushed past the doors just as Sam stuttered, "J-Jefferson Starships!"
The room was thrown into chaos, and for half a second Nadine couldn't pick between targets. There were three boys who needed saving, each with his own personal Starship going for the throat. But Bobby and Sam both had experience fighting in handcuffs against an opponent with superior strength – at least enough experience to let them last another second or two. Cas on the other hand… well, she might not say it out loud on account of his feelings, but without his powers… he really was a damsel in distress. The cop who'd been escorting him shoved him against the wall, baring his teeth, and Nadine leapt into action. She struck out with the machete, chopping the monster's head in two with one clean stroke. As the top of the head fell back, she turned visible again. She'd taken one out with the element of surprise, but she needed the others to pay attention. If they recognized her as the immediate threat, they'd back of the victims at hand. As it turned out, there was no need for her dramatics, because even as she appeared before Castiel's eyes, Dean crashed into the room and offed the monster going for his brother. The sheriff was quickly subdued, saved for interrogation, and Nadine handed her machete off to Castiel with relief.
"So," she said, sidling up to Dean as Sam and Bobby wrestled the remaining monster into a chair, "admit it – I was kind of awesome just now."
He shrugged as much with his face as he did with his shoulders. "Meh. You were okay. I have great timing, though. I know how to make an entrance."
Nadine refused to let it slide. It wasn't often she could one-up a Winchester, and life with Dean was a constant arms race. Swinging around so they were toe to toe, she looked up at him, chin up and smirk sharp. Both of them crossed their arms. Shit just got real.
"Dude, admit it – you've been owned."
Dean gave her a smile full of teeth. "Not today, Goggles."
"I do not understand," Castiel said, glancing between the two. "Whenever I… 'get in your space'," he provided the air quotes, "you inform me of the violation. But Nadine is in your space, and you haven't rebuked her." His expression grew more confused. His own confusion annoyed him. "Am I missing a reference?"
Dean's grin was wicked. He lifted his index finger. "First difference: she's a girl. I like them in my space. Second difference," he raised the next finger, "you're intimidating. She's like an angry kitten. Cute, but harmless."
"How about I use your pansy ass for archery practice and we'll see how harmless I am," Nadine said.
"How about the two of you put the ruler away and try bein' useful for a change," Bobby groused. "We're on a job here, in case you forgot."
Nadine stepped away from Dean and sank her hands in her pockets, properly chastised – for the moment. "Sorry, Bobby." She peered at the trussed-up Jefferson Starship and the knife Bobby was toying with. "Uh, speaking of being useful…"
When she didn't continue, Bobby looked at her over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows. "Yes? Being useful? Please continue."
She smirked. "I'm gonna see if I can track down anymore monsters in the area. MaybeI can follow them back to Eve."
"How and why?" Dean asked gruffly.
Nadine counted off the answers on her fingers. "Goggles. Creepy gross auras. Because I can."
The guys looked at each other, and Sam broke the stalemate with a shrug. "She's still got her powers. The deputies sure didn't see her coming. I actually think she'd be safe enough on her own to do some recon for us."
"Going solo on the enemy's home turf is never a good idea," Dean argued.
"Sam's got a point," Bobby said. "No point wasting one of the only aces we've got left."
Dean played his last hand. "Cas? What do you think? Is sending Goggles here on a solo monster hunt a good plan?"
The angel, suddenly the center of attention, shifted under so many stares and fixed his gaze on the floor. "No, I don't think it's a particularly good plan."
Dean looked at them and smiled.
"But I think it's our only plan," Castiel amended.
Dean spun on him with utter betrayal scrawled across his face. "Really, Cas? I thought you had my back on this."
"He is right, you know," Sam said. "It's not like we've got a lot of other options to choose from."
"Well one of us should go with her," Dean insisted. "Nobody goes alone."
"Er, just saying, but the whole point of this is that I'm invisible. Unless you've suddenly gained wicked awesome super powers similar to my own," Nadine shrugged, "then I'm really better off solo on this one. I don't even need to take a wookie with me."
Rubbing his face, Dean took a slow breath, and Nadine knew she'd won. "You just get nerdier every day, don't you?"
"If it's a good day, yeah." She punched his arm. "Cheer up. I'll be back."
"I thought you said I was supposed to cheer up."
"Har har." She crossed to the door. "Play nice with the monsters, now, and don't get killed while I'm gone."
Dean rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, honey."
"Alright, dear."
"Now you're just making me queasy."
Nadine laughed, a genuine smile melting over her face as she glanced back at them all, the boys, over her shoulder. "See ya around."
Happy to have the last word, and eager to keep it that way, she slipped out, disappearing as she let the glass door swing closed behind her.
Outside, the world was just as bright and cheery as it had been when they arrived, the little corner of heaven ignorant of the monsters creeping out of the closet and eating their children. It wasn't so different from any other town, at least in that regard, but Nadine had never seen a place so happy. It was alarming like a television show. All an act put on for an attentive audience. And in many cases, it really was an act. The first person she came across – an elderly man with a brown paper grocery sack and a sweater vest – was a Jefferson Starship. The twisted aura oozed from him, and Nadine could practically smell the rush job Eve had pulled on the guy. No one with that kind of experience put together such shoddy work unless she was in a serious hurry. It was flat out sloppy, and Nadine eyed it with distaste.
She followed the man back to his home, where she found a lot of pictures of a younger version of the man with a woman she didn't recognize. After a few minutes watching the man unpack his groceries, she decided to leave the poor widower alone. He wasn't human anymore, and chances were high that he'd kill if he got hungry enough, but he must not be a very successful monster. Otherwise, Nadine was sure, Eve wouldn't have him on a grocery run.
And that meant the Mother wasn't worried about man power. Closing her eyes, Nadine berated herself for not donning her goggles the second they got into town. Untold numbers of Jefferson Starships could have been strolling along, window shopping, and she would never have known. The sheriff's office had been turned so they could be useful, but it looked like drumming up the militia wasn't high on Eve's to-do list. And of course that meant it was about the experiments – screwing around with a new recipe for monster-a-la-freak. Coughing clones and Jefferson Starships. What else was in town?
Nadine was suddenly anxious for the boys. She was the only one with super powers at the moment (unless Sam's incredibly long hair counted), and they would need her if enough of Eve's children got hungry. Maybe she shouldn't have gone solo. They might need her. Decided, she left the widower's place and started back the way she came. The sun was low on the horizon, and the streets were emptying quickly. And so she was surprised when a group of three Jefferson Starships came strolling down the street. No, not strolling – patrolling.
Nadine looked, slowed, and stopped as her mind danced through a series of questions. Why did Eve need a patrol? Was her previous theory incorrect? Were these simply the exception to the norm? Would they head back to headquarters after their round? There was only one way to get answers, and although it forced her to abandon all home of returning to the Winchesters within the hour, she decided it was worth the delay.
She followed them.
They wound their way through town, eyeing small children hungrily and making obvious targets of themselves, and Nadine put a greater distance between herself and her quarry. They were being just a little too obvious. Either they were very lacking in self control, or they were looking for a particular kind of attention. It dawned on her that this might be a trap, but she was still invisible and she still needed to know what was happening. So she ignored her better judgment and followed the three as they threaded their way back to the heart of the town, where they disappeared down the alley backing the little diner where the boys had begun their investigations. Irony. It was a bitch.
But her curiosity was not quite sated. A lot of Starships had been through, and recently. Were they going in the diner or one of the buildings on the adjacent side of the alley? Or was the alley just a short cut to another street? Or was there a secret bunker under the trash bins? Whatever it was, it was drawing a lot of the weird little cretins. The narrow street was awash in wisps of patchy auras left behind by passing Starships. She refused to go back empty handed. Just a few more minutes, and she'd have a definite location of something to toss in Dean's smug face. What could she say? Bad choices were her forte.
She was maybe halfway down the alley when the net dropped on her. Shadows sprang out, and the last thing Nadine was aware of was catching an almighty crack on the back of her head. Then she dropped into the muzzy darkness of unconsciousness.
.O.O.O.
She woke up with a Starship on each arm, one clutching her goggles in his free hand, the other holding her knife. They were in the back alley, standing in front of a door, utterly still as they waited for a command. Under the Mother's influence, Nadine realized, they were almost like automatons, reprogrammed minute by minute as suited the software designer. No wonder Lenore had been so screwed up. As they were standing there, Nadine worked on fishing together the scattered bits of her consciousness and reflected on all the subtle little ways Dean would let her know how many kinds of idiot she was in the coming days.
Who was she kidding? Dean was about as subtle as a strip-tease. He was gonna rip her a new one for this.
All of a sudden her escorts began to move, half dragging Nadine between them as she strung enough coordination together to stumble along. They went inside the diner. Filled as it was with cheap chrome décor, the room did not welcome Nadine with open arms. The iron stink bit her senses the second she was hustled through the door, her sensitivity increased by her recent bout with quasi-consciousness. But the Starships herding her gave her no time to adjust, only continued through the back (full of iron tools and machines) towards the customer seating area at the front. They popped through the swinging doors that led to the kitchen together, and Nadine was surprised to find the diner well-attended. There were people everywhere, and it seemed sort of obvious to just drag her through… but there were her boys, all held by Starships, Sam and Dean at the counter, Castiel and Bobby in the aisle. And everyone in the booths was just watching them… Starships. All starships.
Well…
"Hey, Dean," she said faintly, trying to smile around her mounting headache, "I found the Starships' nest."
"We got here first," he replied.
She nodded towards the kitchen. "I've been out back." With the Starships holding her arms, it was difficult to shrug, but she did her best. "I wanted to make an entrance."
"And you're right not time."
Nadine took stock of the woman who had just addressed her from behind the counter – pretty, blonde, a little old for a waitress, but she wore the uniform well… and she made the hair on the back of Nadine's neck stand on end.
"You must be Eve," she said, trying to disguise the tremor in her voice with a blasé tone.
Smiling, Eve canted her head. "Nadine, isn't it? Take a seat."
The goons holding her didn't give her much of a choice, and they physically lifted her onto a bar stool next to Sam. Where she sat. Very still. Hoping to magically develop powers of teleportation.
"It's been a long time since I've met a fey," Eve said, strolling along the bar. "They locked the door to the tree house. Snobby brats didn't want to play anymore. But you want to play, don't you, Nadine?"
"Hey," Dean snapped, trying to shrug off the goon behind him. "Back off. You've got beef with us? Leave her out of it."
"Just because she's a volunteer doesn't mean she's off limits," Eve said. "Interrupting is rude, by the way." She braced herself against the counter, eyes twinkling as she returned to Nadine. "I assume you haven't told them about Beltaine."
Nadine sat rigidly in her chair, refusing to let the Mother of All Monsters drag her into a conversation. Fortunately, she seemed to enjoy the sound of her own voice.
"Beltaine?" Sam asked.
Steady breaths. Control. It was true. She hadn't told them. She didn't want them to know. They didn't need to. The Mother and her freaky motherly instinct…
"Beltaine," Eve said, turning her attention to Sam, condescending. "The one night when the way to Tir na nÓg is open. The fey have free reign to go back and forth between their hideaway and the human realm. That's the night they collect changelings – like little Nadine here. Now, how old are you, sweetie? Twenty-three? Twenty-four?" She cocked her head, her smile knowing, oozing sympathy. "This is your last year, right?"
"Last…? Nadine. What the hell is she talking about?" Dean demanded.
"Yes, Nadine," Eve said. "What am I talking about? Share with the class now, honey. Speak up so they can hear you in the back." She stood back and folded her arms, looking on expectantly.
Nadine closed her eyes and tried to control her nerves. She felt like she was going to be sick. "It's nothing," she said.
"Oh," Eve said, looking at the two hunters she had trapped at the counter. "Isn't she precious? I see why you keep her. It must be convenient – having someone around to clean up your messes – someone who never shares their messes with you. Isn't that right, Dean? Isn't she convenient?"
"You'd know all about convenience, wouldn't you?" Dean retorted.
Eve shook her head, smiling the serene smirk of a mother dealing with naughty (but cute) children. "She is good," she said to Dean. "Six years dodging the Hunt isn't easy. I can count the changelings that made it a full seven on one hand. You ought to be proud of her."
"So, what do you think, sweetie? Wanna have a cat fight?" Eve leaned down on her elbows, bringing herself down to eye level as she smiled for Nadine. "No? Well, how does that book go? Don't punish the baby for the sins of its parents? I'm not vindictive. Not really." She twirled a lock of Nadine's hair around her finger. "But you've got a strange taste in friends. A pack of hunters? And an angel? You're just busy building bridges, aren't you?" With her finger still wrapped in Nadine's hair, she stroked her thumb along her cheek. Nadine snarled and jerked back, but her hair was like a leash, binding her close to the Mother of All. "They're going to use you up, you know. It might be fun now, you might think they care, but when push comes to shove, you're going overboard." Her lashes lowered, and she nearly purred as she continued. "But I think you already know that. I think…" She leaned in, whispering in Nadine's ear, "…you want to be all gone, so there's nothing left at all. Am I right?"
Pulling away, she looked back at Dean. Her voice resumed its reasoning tone. "Say yes… and I won't have to play mean with your littlest tagalong, okay?"
Dean glowered at her. "Eat me."
Eve shrugged. "Okay. If that's the way you want to play… I'm game." Releasing Nadine's hair, she dragged her fingernail along Nadine's hairline, pausing at her temple and huffing. "I think you need to work things out with your mommy and daddy, kiddo." The nail sank into Nadine's face, and she strangled a scream. Eve drew her finger along, cutting a pattern into the skin, and Nadine loosed a gurgling growl as her own fingernails sank into her palms.
"Goggles!"
"Nadine!"
In another moment it was over, and Eve pulled her finger out of Nadine's skin. She smiled as she licked off the blood. "I hope your boyfriend thinks scars are sexy. Oh, but you probably don't have a boyfriend, do you? The Courts would kill him, hm? Too bad. Looks like you'll never have a chance to get to third base on your own terms now."
"What did you do?" Bobby demanded.
"I marked her," Eve said. "The Hunt will smell that from the other side of the globe. No hiding this year. How fast can you run?"
Nadine reeled in her seat. Without the goons supporting her she would definitely have taken a swan dive off the stool. The Mother's power was thick and heavy, acrid stuff that absorbed itself into her blood. Nadine wanted to rip her own face off, but she was sluggish and heavy from the magical assault, and she was finding it difficult to maintain even a basic glamour under the spell's influence. She was bare to the world, naked in the most vulnerable sense. All she could do was slump toward the counter and hold her precious illusions together. Sam was trying to say something to her, but the fog was too thick for her to understand him. Her eyes were open, but she was too consumed with her inner battles to take in anything they registered.
There was movement and sound, and the weight of the Starships on her arms disappeared, leaving Nadine grateful that she was already up close and personal with the bar. Their acquaintance had been a little more cordial than it might have been if the goons released her while she was still upright and dizzy. In fact, she might have met the floor, but she considered it beneath her to make such acquaintances, so she counted her blessings – which in this case happened to be the counter.
The next thing she was aware of, Bobby's hand cut off her vision, and his rough callouses scratched over her cheeks. A bright light followed, flashing hot through the diner, and a chorus of swiftly-ended screams chorused in response. Bobby removed his hand, and Nadine drew herself together as best she could, leveraging herself upright and refocusing with long, slow blinks. Dean's face slipped into her field of view, eyes tense and focused, as he clapped a hand on her shoulder.
"Are you okay?" He asked it like he was repeating himself, like he'd already asked. But Nadine couldn't remember hearing his voice, even dimly, since the Mother finished her work.
And speaking of the Mother… Nadine's eyes tracked to the floor, where a girl in the same waitress uniform was lying in a pool of black ooze. Disgusting.
"Hey." Dean gave her a shake, and she brought her eyes back to his face. "Are you okay?"
She brushed her fingers over her temple, where the symbol was etched in her skin, and she shuddered, trapped between a nod and a shake of her head. At last she said, "I'm not sure yet."
Dean nodded, understand that this was the best he would get under the circumstances, and backed away so his baby brother could examine the little wound. But Nadine was tired of answering questions she wasn't prepared to explain, and she batted him away, ignoring the disapproving bitch face he leveled at her.
"I just need some time. I need to figure out… I just need some time."
"Sure," Bobby said. "But then we've got some questions. Like what the hell she doodled on your face."
"And all this Hunt crap," Dean added. "Seriously, Goggles. The hell haven't you told us?"
Rubbing the bridge of her nose, Nadine snorted and said, "Books, Winchester. I could fill books with all the crap I haven't told you."
Dean was miffed, and it showed in the clipped way he spoke. "And why haven't you spilled?"
"What? You don't think I have good reasons?"
"Sure. I also know the road to hell is paved with 'em."
"Those would be intentions, Dean. The road to hell is paved with good intentions."
"Same difference."
A/N: I dropped off the map for a while, but I came back with a big, fat chapter for you! And stuff actually happened! Yay! Just a heads up, there might be a delay before I get the next chapter up (depending on how late my muse keeps me up this week), because I'm going to a con next weekend, and I'll be pretty busy getting ready for that.
Thank you so my loverly reviewers! You guys make my day and remind me why I keep writing fics.
