Title: Witches, Demons and Hunters - Oh My!
Authors: Rachel/princessschez and Claudia/gidgetgal9
Rating: PG-13 for language and violence; AU
Fandom: Charmed/Supernatural
Summary: Does contain spoilers for Supernatural S3. So if you don't wish to be spoiled, don't read any further.
Dean's deal comes due and it has dire consequences for the Halliwell family in the future. Will the Halliwell family be able to change the past in order to protect their family?
Pairing: Sam/Melinda
Characters: Sam and Dean Winchester; Bobby Singer; Piper, Leo, Wyatt, Chris, and Melinda Halliwell; Ruby; Lilith; and Missouri
Disclaimer: We own nothing from either Charmed or Supernatural. Everything belongs to their respective owners. We're merely having fun with them.
Author's Note: This was a collab effort between me and my wonderfully talented co-conspirator, Claudia/gidgetgal9.
There are also some things we would like to point out regarding this story:
1. It was stated after Charmed's series finale that Piper did have a third child, the long-awaited Melinda.
2. Most of Ruby's history has been changed to fit the plot of the story.
3. Chris Halliwell still has memories of what his "past life" (when Wyatt was evil) was like, even though he changed the future at the end of Charmed's S6.
4. Plot takes place after Malleus Maleficarum
Chapter 10
He should have known they would run. It was exactly what those goody-two-shoes did, and entering this dangerous game of hide-and-seek highly amused him. Dean looked around at the vacant house that in a former life belonged to his friend Bobby. He smirked, taking in the surroundings around him. By the looks of it, they had left in a hurry.
Wyatt was peering around at the empty bookcases and surveying the general messiness of the place. "All the books are gone."
Dean smirked. It was just like them to try and do their research on the run. They couldn't just simplify things for him. Oh no, they had to complicate everything.
"We will find them," Dean sighed.
"When we do, they will be wishing for death when we get through with them," added Wyatt. "Chris may be difficult to break, and Melinda will be just as hard --"
Dean smiled. "She'll be no problem for me."
-0-
Chris was in one of his - as she called it - "angsty/emo" moods after almost getting into a fight with Dean. She shifted in her seat, wondering how everyone was supposed to work together if her brother and Dean were going to be at each other's throats. Her mom and aunts had some unusual team match-ups, but this had to trump them all while the saying "Divide and conquer" kept replaying in her head.
Trees passed them by as they drove on, finally noticing a small cabin out in the boondocks. Her jaw nearly dropped when she saw how big - or rather small - it was. Chris stared at it, dumbfounded.
"Are - are we going to be, like, sleeping in the same room or something?" Chris asked. Bobby mumbled something incoherent, something he took as "yes." It was one of his worst nightmares coming to life. The thought of having to sleep in the same room with asshat Dean only made his mood worse. Melinda patted her brother on the shoulder.
"It'll be all right."
He grumbled a response, leaning in closer to Melinda so only she could hear what he was about to say. "You'll be fine; at least you can cuddle up with Sam."
Melinda looked shocked, stuttering, "I - I never - I - wouldn't --"
"Don't tell me you don't know what I'm talking about. You kept grabbing hold of him. I saw you," he hissed in her ear.
Melinda leaned up and looked out the back window. Sam and Dean were a car length behind them; they looked as though they were having a rather interesting conversation. By the looks of it, she thought she might have seen Sam blush. A tiny smile formed on her mouth. Was he thinking about her?
"I was just trying to be nice," she whispered.
Chris snorted in disbelief. Yeah, nice. If that's what she wanted to call it...
-0-
Bobby's car stopped in a dirt driveway that lead to the tiny cabin. Chris jumped out of the vehicle as Melinda slowly climbed out the other side, holding the Book of Shadows. Dean and Sam pulled up right beside Chris, missing hitting him by mere inches. He turned and glared at Dean, who gave him a mock innocent smile. Chris gave him the middle finger salute. This was going to be a long night.
Upon entering the cabin, Chris swore heavily under his breath. It was tinier than it appeared from the outside. This whole day just kept getting worse and worse. He was afraid to ask how much more worse it could get. Little did he know...
Dean came in through the door, holding a load of books in his arms and bumping into Chris. "Oh, sorry, didn't see you there." Dean smirked. Following him in was Sam, who was also carrying a stack of books.
"Put those over there," Bobby said before heading out of his car.
"I'd go claim us a couple of bedrooms, but there don't seem to be any of those," Chris mumbled, looking around at what might have been a life-size dollhouse.
"'Fraid there's only one. We might as well just have ourselves a right little campout here in the living room," Bobby replied as he locked the front door.
Chris narrowed his eyes. Say hello to the day now worsening by the second.
Over in the tiny living room, Dean punched Sam in the arm, giving him a knowing look, but Sam just rubbed his arm. It hurt like heck, but he knew what his gutter-minded brother was trying to tell him.
"Oh, and boys," Bobby continued, now looking at the two Winchesters, "there's some salt in the basement. We'll need to batten down the hatches in case --" He looked at Dean. He just couldn't bring himself to say, "in case you attack." Instead, "In case there're any problems," he added quickly. The sly smile Dean gave Sam was gone only to be replaced with a look of concern.
"I can think of one problem," Melinda spoke up. "How are we going to protect ourselves? We need crystals and lots of them."
"Salt can protect us from any, uh, demon attacks," answered Sam. "I've never heard of using crystals before."
"You wouldn't have. It's a Wiccan thing." She smiled. "One more protective charm around the place probably couldn't hurt. We don't know what kind of powers Demon Dean possesses or just how much damage Wyatt could do. Better be safe than sorry."
"She's right," agreed Bobby. "But I don't have any crystals here."
"How far are we from the next big town? There might be a Wiccan store where we could buy some supplies."
"There's a town not far from here, and speaking of supplies, I'll need to get some food." Bobby looked around at the group. "I'll take the siblings into town; you boys better get crackin' with the salt."
"Just to make sure we're not recognized," Chris added, "we should change our looks again ... yours too." He nodded in Bobby's direction. "And any kind of identification should be left here, too."
-0-
Once the altered appearances of Bobby, Melinda, and Chris left, Dean - much to Sam's protests - went snooping through Melinda's purse.
"What?" Dean asked as he began rifling through the contents. A hairbrush, makeup bag, a small wallet, some loose papers, and something that looked quite feminine in nature fell out. "Just checking to make sure there's no evil hoodoo or whatever in here. Hunter's prerogative and all. All in the name of safety."
Dean scanned through the papers, and finding nothing useful written on them, he opened her wallet and pulled out a well-worn photograph. It was of Melinda's family: her, her brothers, mom, dad, aunts, and assorted family members - some looking a little more transparent than others. He knew that at least two of the people staring back at him were people he killed in the future. He looked at the picture again and deduced that the two people behind Melinda must've been her parents. He felt a small twinge of guilt.
He moved past the photo and came upon her driver's license. "Melinda Prudence Halliwell," he read. "Well, at least she is who she says she is. Nice picture of her, too." He waved it in front of Sam's face. "Though I can't image what was going through her parent's mind when they gave her the name of Prudence."
Sam was at a loss for words. He couldn't believe his brother had the audacity to go through someone's purse. "Dean, I --" He sighed, shook his head, and left Dean to his task, ignoring him for rest of the hour.
"Now let's go see what her Gloworm for a brother has."
-0-
Sam still wasn't speaking to Dean when the trio arrived a couple of hours later. Once Dean was done snooping through Melinda's purse and Chris' wallet, he finally went and helped Sam with spreading the salt on the windowsills and doorways. They heard the front door open as Melinda said, "Thanks for the loan."
Bobby grunted. "No problem. As long as it keeps everyone safe and the demons off our trail."
"What's that you've got?" Dean asked, eying the strange wooden box Melinda held.
"Oh, wouldn't you like to know," she grinned, as her strawberry-blond hair turned back into her normal shade of dark brown. "Crystals," she added, noticing the scowl etched on Dean's face. She opened the box to reveal five roughly cut rocks. "Oh, and your face will freeze if you keep it like that."
Sam and Bobby had to cough to keep from laughing as they emptied the grocery bags. Chris, meanwhile, unrolled a map and pulled out a tiny amethyst crystal on a long sting.
"So we can keep track of whomever we need to," he said.
-0-
The group had settled down in the tiny living room, preparing for what might be an uncomfortable evening. Clearing his throat, Sam was the first to break the silence in the tiny room.
"We should probably get down to business," he said.
"Speaking of," Melinda began, leaving Chris' side and pulling the Book of Shadows toward her. "I found this the other day." She began flipping through the pages in the book until she began to read aloud from a passage:
"Be careful upon approaching the witch known as Ruby Warren. While she is a descendant of Melinda Warren and a blood relative to the Halliwell family, Ruby sold her soul to an unknown Crossroads demon in exchange for power. However, the holder of the contracts never kept their promise, and instead reneged on their portion of the deal, but kept Ruby's soul. On her deathbed, Ruby swore vengeance against the demon that cheated her. I never confirmed the name of the contract holder, but sources have suggested the name to be Lilith, a violent demon with a taste for possessing children. If true, she alone holds all the Crossroads deals ever made."
"If we can prove Great Grams was right in saying that Lilith is the holder of the contracts, then all we'll have to do is find her and kill her. Dean's deal breaks and no more threat, like Bobby mentioned," Melinda said. "The best part is that Sam won't have to die if the deal breaks because the holder will be dead." She looked at Sam, who could barely hold in his excitement.
"This is what we've been looking for, Dean!" Sam exclaimed. He turned and smiled at Melinda. This was the best info they could get at the moment. With a name, they could begin to locate and find a way to kill Lilith. If it weren't for the company of Dean, Chris, and Bobby, he would've kissed her. If only they were alone...
"Is there any other info on her in the book?" Bobby asked. He, too, was looking excited at the prospect of finding a way out for Dean.
"That's the thing," Melinda replied. "There's nothing else about her in here. Lilith's either dead in our time, or she's just that powerful and good at staying off the magical radar. So any attacks we'd do on her, we will be going in blindly."
With the revelation from Melinda, the group set out with a renewed intensity in the plan to break the deal - except for Dean. He still had lingering reservations about the plan backfiring, but reluctantly, he went along with the group and grabbed the first book he could so Sam would stop giving him that look he detested so much.
The first stars had begun to twinkle in the night sky, and there was a bit of a chill in the air. Bobby began lighting the fireplace while Sam, Dean, and Melinda continued pouring over different books, trying to find any shred of info on Lilith that could be useful to them.
After the fire had been lit, Bobby had gone over to see what Chris was doing at the coffee table. He was examining the map he brought earlier, the amethyst crystal in one hand, a small, double-edged knife in the other.
"What ya planning on doing with that, boy?" he asked, eyeing the knife with some curiosity.
"I'm going to scry for the location of Demon Dean, but I need a little of Dean's blood," Chris replied. "Since they're both the same person, using his blood will help us track Demon Dean."
Dean looked up from the book he was reading, as did Melinda. She knew he didn't have to use blood to scry for someone, or even anything for that matter. Though sometimes having something that belonged to the person they looking for helped a great deal in tracking them down. But she knew why he wanted to use Dean's blood. She shook her head.
"You need my blood?" he asked. "I'm not giving you my blood."
"Just a drop, just so we'll know where you are. Give us a head start if we need it," Chris said. He was good, Melinda thought. And convincing, too. But it remained to be seen if Dean would relent and let Chris get his drop of blood.
Dean looked at Sam, who didn't know what to say. "This must be another of their Wiccan things," he said. "If it's just a drop, it shouldn't hurt too much."
"Says you. You're not the one having to get poked and have blood drawn."
"Just give him the drop," Bobby sighed. Chris tried hard to not smile as Dean raised his right hand. Using the tip of the knife, he poked Dean's fingertip, probably a little harder than he needed to.
"Ow! Son of a --" Dean pulled his hand away, glaring at Chris. Chris glared back. Sam and Bobby watched, wondering what was going to happen as the look they gave each other suggested that they each wished one another nothing more than a painful death.
"Thanks," Chris said sardonically, the tip of the knife shining red with the droplet of Dean's blood. He went back to busying himself with trying to locate Demon Dean, but he had no luck. It seemed that Dean's demonic twin had simply vanished, most likely with Wyatt, too.
After a considerable amount of time had passed, Sam closed the book he was looking at in frustration. "Hate to say it," he said, "but I think we'll need to have a little chat with Ruby. She may know something on Lilith if she's dealt with her."
Dean did not like the prospect of having to summon that evil bitch Ruby. Not one bit. "No way," he said. "We're not bringing her here."
He looked over at Sam, who was giving him those puppy dog eyes. He hated it when Sam used them on him; they always made him cave.
Dean rolled his eyes.
"Fine, we'll summon Ruby, but I'm not liking this thing one damn bit."
A/N: Even though I'm a bit behind on editing- I hope to have chapter 11 up in a day or so! Thanks for reading!