Chapter Nine "The Almost People"

Having Charlie around was beginning to change Sam's outlook on just about everything. He found that he was more focused on making sure she was okay than spending his days thinking about everything he had lost. He was able to step outside of himself for a while every day, and it was refreshing. He still had to face his nightmares every time he closed his eyes, and he still expected Dean to show up every time he heard footsteps in the hallways or smelled food cooking.

There were always bad moments, but there were good ones too. Charlie let Sam open up in a way he hadn't been able to in a very long time. She made him laugh, and she let him cry with her.

Meanwhile, Cas stayed distant, and Sam realized that it wasn't all his own doing. It had seemed that they were getting closer before Dean died, but since then, they had both shut each other out. Maybe because of Dean. Because he was the one thing they had always had in common, and now he was gone. Sam knew there were other things, but they were mostly painful things, the regrets they shared and the way they both felt so useless most of the time. Sam knew they needed to talk it all out, but it was easier to play normal with Charlie. To act like she really was his little sister, even though he had known Cas far longer.

Jody continued to visit from time to time as well, and Sam started to realize that the ways she reminded him of Dean had nothing to do with Dean and everything to do with her maternal instincts. But Sam had so little experience with mothers that he hadn't initially recognized it. But she cooked and cleaned and asked him how he was feeling, if he was sleeping okay, if the garden was coming along. It made Sam miss Dean, but the ache was almost a pleasant one in this case. He missed something that Dean tried to be, but never fully could: their mother. It also made Sam appreciate everything Dean had done all the more. He'd done his best to fill in the spaces their absent parents left, and really, he did a good job. He was some kind of superhuman, and Sam wished he could have told Dean that before it was too late.

The weeks went on, and Charlie started compiling a document of everything they knew about vampires and everything in the many books the bunker library held on the subject. She was especially concerned with the Alpha. Sam took on the role of her assistant most of the time, finding books, reading and summarizing information for her so she could put it all into a coherent format. In some ways, it felt a lot like college again. Dean would have teased them about being such nerds, and Sam would have laughed it off because he was having so much fun.

It was late one evening, and Charlie had passed out at her computer again. Sam had just carried her back to her room and closed the door when he noticed Cas coming down the hallway from the records room. The funny thing was, Cas didn't seem to notice Sam standing there. His gaze was fixed at some point further down the hall. Sam turned to see what Cas was looking at; there was nothing but an empty doorway.

When he looked back, Sam saw that Cas was moving more slowly and his eyes didn't seem right. As if in answer to Sam's confusion, Cas stumbled forward, apparently unaware that he was about to fall on his face. And he would have if Sam hadn't rushed over to steady him.

"Cas?" he said. "You okay?"

Cas looked up at Sam with the confused expression he often got. As if he had no idea why Sam would bother asking. But his eyes were dull, and he was breathing heavily, and he hadn't let go of Sam's arm.

"I'm fine," he said between breaths.

He wasn't. Sam knew that much. "You're falling over," he said, guiding Cas down the hallway toward the library.

Once Sam got Cas settled into one of the large chairs, he noticed that it was ever worse than he expected. Cas was shaking; his face was drawn and pale.

"What's wrong?" Sam asked, hearing the worry in his own voice.

"It's nothing," Cas said. "I'll be okay in a minute."

Sam crossed his arms and gave Cas a hard look. "Angels don't get sick."

"No, they don't," Cas agreed. "But are we so sure that I'm an angel anymore?"

For a second, Sam couldn't say anything. That was the last thing he'd been expecting to hear. "What do you mean?" he finally asked.

"When I stole that angel's grace, it turned me into something else. And it's running out. Sometimes, I almost feel normal, but these weaker moments have been growing more frequent. It's as if... as if I've lived too long.

"Cas, are you telling me you're gonna die?"

"Eventually."

"How eventually?"

"That is a mystery. I don't have any previous experiences to compare with mine. As far as I know, no one has ever stolen an angel's grace before."

"And you didn't, I don't know, think you should mention this before?"

"It's not as if there's anything you can do about it."

"It doesn't matter! We're supposed to look out for each other. Like Dean said."

"I know he would have tried to find a way to save me, but I'm not even sure how long this will go on. If I don't use any of my powers, the grace could last indefinitely."

"That's the problem. It's indefinite. Couldn't we fix it? I mean, there's so much lore about angels, we could at least try."

"Any reliable information we had access to passed away with Kevin and the destruction of the tablet. Only a prophet can repair a tablet, and there are no more of those. Metatron was very thorough."

"We can't just give up and let you die."

Cas shook his head. "I'm not giving up. I just don't see any options at the moment."

"Maybe Charlie can help me find something in the library. It's worth looking into."

"If you must. I think it would only be a distraction from our current goal. Killing the Alpha, remember?"

"I remember. And Dean would have wanted to get to the bottom of this too. If he were here, that's what he'd say."

"Actually, I think he would say to stop talking and get back to work."

Sam smiled, thinking that maybe he and Cas weren't so far away from each other anymore. "You're probably right," he said.

Then he returned to the table where all of Charlie's research was spread out and picked up the nearest encyclopedia. It was going to be a long night.

~oOo~

It was a cold morning, as most were in Purgatory. Meg took it upon herself to wake everyone up by jumping down from the tree in the middle of them. It was only the vampires sleeping because Emma was taking her turn at the watch. Dean looked about ready to bite Meg's head off, which he was probably able to do, but she didn't let it bother her. It only took a few minutes for everyone to get up and be on their way. To Meg it didn't feel all that strange, but she was sure the more human-like ones found it odd not to need to eat or clean up the way they used to.

They began heading in a westerly direction for no apparent reason. That seemed to be the way they operated. They would travel throughout the day, sometimes stopping if they needed to repair weapons or bury a body. Mostly they were left alone. It went on like this for days and weeks on end. Sometimes, they talked about their lives or what passed for them. Meg couldn't really remember when she had been alive. Sometimes, she couldn't even recall her real name. So she stayed out of those conversations.

After a while of this dull routine, they finally ran into something interesting one day. Dean smelled it before anyone else noticed. Meg was certain that he had some kind of superior abilities to the other vampires, but he didn't seem to want to admit it. They were coming upon a flat area of woods with a wide swath of open ground going out into the horizon. That in itself was unusual, much more so was the thought of anything spending much time here. It was far too exposed to be safe.

"There's a group of them," Dean said.

Well, that would explain it. Groups, except theirs, had a tendency to be more careless because they thought they were stronger. Dean always said they didn't need to get into unnecessary fights. Meg questioned his definition of "necessary."

"I'm getting more than a dozen," Benny said as they got closer.

"Twenty-seven," Dean clarified. "Not exactly fair odds."

"What are you talking about?" Benny said with a sarcastic grin. "It's just a few monsters, and they don't have a demon."

"Thanks," Meg said, not sure whether it was meant to be a compliment. She did want to take these monsters if only because she was bored and they were arrogant.

"Then maybe it's not fair to them," Dean said, also smiling.

Meg let her hopes rise. A fight. A real fight. Wasn't that the point of Purgatory anyway?

"What could bring that many together?" Lenore asked with a look of scrutiny in her eyes.

"Groups only unite for a common purpose," Benny said. "Usually to kill someone."

"Unless they're Leviathan," Dean said. "But they aren't. Who do you think they're after?"

"Do we have to guess?"

Dean looked out across the open ground and seemed to come to a decision. "Okay," he said. "Meg, can you still zap in and out?"

Meg was surprised to hear her own name first. "Yeah, why?"

"Once we get close, I want you to use that. They won't be expecting it. Emma, you're the strongest, so do your best to kill on contact. Don't anybody let the group out of your sight. If we sense anything new, we won't be able to let you know if we can't see you. The best way to take a group like this is to hit fast and don't give them the chance to fight back. We've got a few seconds for that first rush, so use them."

"And on the off chance they don't want to kill us?" Emma asked.

"They do. I recognize one of them."

"An old friend?" Meg asked with a smirk.

"Yeah, and we didn't exactly part on good terms if you know what I mean. Let's go. They're gonna smell us coming, so do your best to stay down wind."

Dean took off first, sticking to the edges of the forest on the west side of the open space. The group spread out through the trees, keeping each other in sight, but maintaining enough distance that the enemy might not be able to tell how few of them there really were.

Meg wasn't at all surprised that they were following Dean's orders so seamlessly. He had been in more fights than any of them, probably hunting since he was big enough to hold a gun. It was almost funny that a human had killed far more than any of the monsters in Purgatory. He'd even killed more than Meg herself. She would have thought that becoming a vampire would turn Dean into a mindless animal, but it almost seemed to make him more careful. He killed less than he did before.

It was a long way through the woods. It would have been easier to move through the open area, but not remotely safe. Meg, could have "zapped out", as Dean said, but she didn't want to show up to the party too early. She didn't really know what would happen to her if someone tried to kill her. She didn't have a physical body, but her true form was weak. Considering that everything here was in soul form, they might be able to do damage.

So, she played human for the moment. Many of the monsters they encountered might not even know what it meant when they smelled sulfur. She had used that to her advantage before. Not letting them see the things she could do, saving her big tricks for later. She also had trouble focusing on more than two or three at once. She could keep a couple of attackers at bay telekinetically, but she couldn't maintain a hold on more than that.

Looking to her right, Meg could see the other four running in formation. Dean was furthest ahead, then Benny to his left, followed by Lenore and Emma, and finally Meg herself. They all moved deftly through the dense woods. It was impossible to be entirely soundless, but they did their best, stepping over branches and fallen logs, letting their feet land on moss and ferns, ducking under low hanging boughs.

The open space to the east of them came to an end in a sort of cul-de-sac where all the monsters were gathered. Their leader seemed to be a vampire male who stood roughly at the center of the group. There were bloodstains on his clothes, and he carried a long blade with a jagged edge. The rest of the cohort were no nicer looking. Meg began to realize that she had teamed up with probably the least monstrous people in this whole place. At least, the only ones who hadn't been killed off already.

As they came upon their enemies, Dean rushed at the leader first. It made sense to try to take him out quickly, but he was surrounded by his followers. For all Dean's talk, he wasn't actually that careful. But he had said something about knowing someone here. Maybe the leader was the one he meant.

Soon enough, Meg had her hands too full to keep constant tabs on everyone. She watched Emma though, because no one else seemed to. Of the five of them, the vampires definitely had their own clique. Which was fine. Meg preferred not to have to care about more than one person at once.

Teaming up with Emma made things a little easier on Meg as well. She could pop in and out to gain the element of surprise while Emma kept other monsters occupied. They never let themselves get surrounded.

When a vampire took a running jump at Emma while she was busy fighting off a shapeshifter, Meg appeared in front of him with her spear pointed out. He landed on the head, burying the stone blade deep in his chest. As he hit, Meg stepped to the side so he wouldn't knock her over. He hit the ground with blood gushing out of him. He wasn't dead, of course, but Meg quickly yanked out her spear and brought it back down on his neck.

Just as she did so, a werewolf ran at her from behind. Meg flung him against a cottonwood tree, impaling him on a broken branch.

By that time, Emma had dealt with her shapeshifter and encountered a couple more vampires. They both came at her at once, so fast that Meg barely had time to react. One more second and the would have torn Emma to shreds with their bare hands by the way they were looking at her. Meg's hand twitched and they jerked backward with more force than even she expected.

"I had it under control," Emma said as they approached the defenseless enemies.

"Less talk, more killing," Meg replied, pulling back her spear and beheading one of the vampires.

Emma took care of the other, and they turned around to see more coming. There wasn't time for thinking or questioning anything. Maybe Emma's pride was hurt, but she was still alive, and Meg counted that a success.

The next wave was more vampires, and Meg adjusted her grip on the spear in anticipation. But before they reached the two girls, everything suddenly stopped. A booming voice echoed across the clearing, bouncing from tree to tree. It was the same voice Dean had used to stop Meg and Emma killing Benny and Lenore. Every single vampire stood still, including Benny and Lenore. It seemed that all the other monsters had been killed by this point. There were about fifteen enemy vampires still alive. including their leader, who was now on his knees with Dean's knife at his throat.

Meg had no idea what was going on, but she could tell the vampires were even more confused. Why weren't they still fighting? There were more of them, and who cared about one vampire enough to stop killing? There was something about the way Dean talked to them. He had some kind of control over other vampires, and even a bit of an impact on other creatures because Meg could feel the difference in his tone. He didn't seem to realize what he was doing, or else he didn't care.

"You can leave," Dean said to the other vampires in the same voice. "All of you. Get out of here and don't come back. Anybody who stays ends up like Gordon here."

Meg realized the connection now. Gordon. The one who tortured Lenore. Dean had stopped him from killing her. He'd been a hunter and then been turned. Meg wondered if Dean had killed him too.

One by one, the other vampires dissipated. Somehow, they knew Dean would be true to his word. That he'd kill every single one of them if they stayed, and it wasn't worth it. Soon it was only the five teammates and the unfortunate Gordon. He seethed, teeth out and covered in blood. Meg saw the stain on Dean's shoulder and realized where it came from.

"You're no better than me," Gordon spat, flinching as Dean's blade dug into his skin.

"Probably not," Dean said, almost disinterestedly. "But I don't think there's room for both of us here. Just consider it payback for everything you did to Sam. And, you know, biting me. That wasn't cool."

Gordon let out a choking, growling noise. "Worst monster is one that thinks it's a hero."

"Yeah," Dean said. "You're right."

Meg could tell that Dean was about to swing his knife back and relieve Gordon of his head when Lenore stepped toward them with her own knife pointed at Gordon.

"Wait," she said. She didn't look at Dean at all as she spoke to him. "I know he hurt your brother. But he killed my family." Lenore seemed to struggle to maintain composure. "Sam is alive and well somewhere, but my nest was destroyed, and all of them are gone. So if it's all the same to you—let me."

Dean almost seemed reluctant, but eventually, he gave in, and stepped away from Gordon to give Lenore a clean shot.

Meg wasn't sure what to make of any of this. For one thing, Lenore seemed the least likely of any of them to want to kill anything. She had tried to kill Meg the day they met, but that was probably more out of self preservation.

Lenore moved closer to Gordon and put the point of her knife at Gordon's throat. "I wish I could make this slow, like you deserve," she said. "But I don't have the stomach for that like you. Whatever happens to you after this, I hope you go on in eternal agony."

Gordon snarled at her, but Lenore had tears in her eyes. She turned the knife parallel to Gordon's collar bone and with one hearty shove, severed his head. It fell to her feet, soaking her shoes with blood.

Then everything was quiet. No one spoke or ever seemed to breathe. Lenore's gaze was still fixed at the point where Gordon's face had been. Her knife dangled from her hand, dripping onto the soft covering of leaves and pine straw on the ground.

Benny was the first to do anything. He came up behind Lenore and took the knife out of her hand. He wiped the blade clean on his sleeve and then handed it back to her.

After that, the three vampires started walking back through the open space between the woods. For a moment, Meg and Emma stood staring at the lifeless body of Gordon. Neither of them really knew what had just happened, but there wasn't much the could do to figure it out, so they too followed the vampires away from the bodies and into the cold sunlight.

Updating early because I'm tired and I don't want to stay up until midnight. On a happy note, got a job today. Woohoo!