(Disclaimer: Don't own anything; following story is mine)
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Forsaken.
Chapter Ten.
The four hunters made their slow and deliberate way up the mountain; conversation had slowly petered out as the effort to push through the ever thickening mud at their feet and the howling wind that was increasing in intensity made them concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other and not a lot more. They kept their heads down as small twigs, pebbles, dirt and other bits of debris that was slowly freed from the mire, struck at them; tiny stings to any exposed flesh.
Riley buttoned her jacket around her, the wind buffeting her as she pushed herself up next to her friend "It's gonna be a bitch to find suitable camouflage" she looked at the demolished trees that surrounded them.
"We work with what we're given, you know that" said Dee, her eyes constantly scanning the area around her.
"No shit" she pulled Dee to a stop and looked behind her "Dean, stop checking out my arse and get yours up here" she grinned.
Dean raised his eyes from her ass and returned the grin "You don't mean that"
Riley laughed and looked at Sam "Sam, you want to stop your weather-watching for a minute and join us?"
Sam lowered his gaze from the skies to her and Riley felt Dee nudge her lightly in the back, she'd seen it too. A sudden blue flash in his eyes…if they'd have blinked, they'd have missed it. Sam seemed to regain his composure, nod and trudge his way up to them.
They moved behind a large grouping of boulders to get some shelter from the stinging wind; all of them with their hands in their pockets, their shoulders hunched and their chins down as they huddled together. Riley looked at Dee and she nodded.
"Okay, understand you got a bit of a problem with me and Riley and how we work…" started Dee.
"Not a problem…per se…" started Sam.
Dean turned and stared at his brother and chuckled "Dude, did you just say 'per se'?"
"Cut it, Dean" he said and turned his attention to Dee "Dean and I aren't stupid. We know a damn sight more than you fucking well think! So instead of just dismissing us, how about listening to what we have to say? You might be surprised"
Dee nodded "Never said you or Dean were stupid, Sam. I'm just trying to explain to you about me and Riley. For us to work together effectively, you need to know how we operate"
"And you need to know how we operate" said Dean.
"Your Dad explained it a little to us" said Riley "Obviously not everything…so whatever you want to tell us…" she nodded "do it, we'll listen." Dean and Sam just stared at her "Okay then, we'll start shall we?" she looked at Dee and the woman nodded "Alright, Dee's ex-army; six years in the SAS, specialised sniper…" she smiled "among other things. Me? Kinda fell into hunting, met up with Dee a while ago…we worked together in Australia before she took me back to the UK for a bit and then to the States. That's when we met your Dad. So…I guess the way we operate is …" she pointed to Dee "Military style… and me...not so much"
"What she means" started Dee "Is that she trained differently and tends to work outside proper operating procedures" she looked at Riley "Fortunately for us, it tends to work for her" she looked at Dean and Sam "We don't want to come across as running the show, far from it; you two have valuable information and your Dad told us how skilled you were…we believe him. He's not prone to exaggeration even if you are his sons and if you're even half as good as he is…was…sorry, then …" she nodded at them.
"We need to work together if we're gonna get out of this…just bear with us, we've been hunting alone for a really long time" she grinned "It's hard to adjust sometimes, is all"
"As long as you understand that me and Sammy do things our own way as well...we'll be fine" both women nodded "So Dee is the sniper…you are?" asked Dean as he looked at Riley.
Riley grinned "Blades" and Dean laughed. She looked at both the men "So we're right?"
Dean nodded slowly, he knew there was a lot more to it; that they'd just given him and Sam the bare bones of their history, but considering their predicament and the time constraints…it was gonna have to be enough. "For now. More info later though" he said evenly.
"Fair enough" said Riley. "Sam?"
Sam had listened to everything they'd said, he believed them…but there was still some niggling doubt about them; that they were keeping something important from both him and Dean; but pushing them now wasn't going to accomplish anything. And he had the beginnings of a mother of a headache and he just couldn't be bothered arguing. He rubbed his hands over his eyes, ignoring the pain that felt like fingers pushing through his skull, sinking into his mind…probing…searching for something…"Like Dean said. More info later" he stared at them "A lot more"
Dee nodded as she watched Sam. She knew Riley had seen the change in his eyes and that something was seriously going on with him, She'd keep him close, maybe take a quick peek into him and see if she could find out anything "Okay, we can't exactly do a straight run …well no run at all really…up to the cabin, so " she pointed to her rifle "This baby here will help us" she looked at the Winchesters "I need to know of any high spots around the cabin. Trees are gonna be out, so I need any kind of rock formation or something that may have held some of the debris up. I need cover"
"For what exactly?" asked Sam, his curiosity now taking hold.
"There was a rise on the left-hand side of the cabin, maybe a half-mile away. It was covered with shrubs and shit but it might suit you" said Dean.
Riley looked at Dee and raised an eyebrow "Half a mile? You can do that in your sleep" she turned to Dean "Scope?"
"Over the cabin. There'd be a blind-side…but the rest of the damn valley…" he looked back the way they'd come and the others followed his gaze...open ground with very little cover.
Dee nodded "Dealt with worse"
"Again with the 'for what'…" said Sam as he dragged his eyes away from the desolation below them.
Dee crouched "We need a map"
Riley, Dean and Sam crouched down and Dean pulled his knife from his boot and started to carve in the mud "Cabin's here, front door, windows. The rise is just over here…like I said, about a half-mile. Not sure exactly what's behind the cabin or how far up it goes, but it was pretty dense, I'm guessing not so much now"
Sam shook off the tiny jabs that were slowly working their way into his mind as he switched into business mode "There was a cluster of rocks, large ones…I remember them from the maps we were looking at, just here" Sam drew in the mud "Might work a little better"
"How far away are we? Estimate'll be fine" said Dee.
Sam and Dean looked at each other and turned to Dee "Maybe three miles up, a little more" said Sam.
Riley reached into the ammo bag and pulled the scope for the rifle out and passed it to Dee. The woman had the rifle off her shoulder and the scope attached in seconds. She stood and scanned the mountain ahead of her and dropped down moments later. "The next mile or so looks clear. There's an outcropping on the right about two miles up…" she looked at Riley and nodded.
Riley removed her boots and put them in the ammo bag and passed it to Dee "Back in a bit"
Dean grabbed her arm and pulled her back down "Whoa…what do you think you're doin'?"
She grinned "Reccy"
"Oh no" he laughed and shook his head "We stick together, the four of us"
"Not this time" said Dee "Let her go, she knows what she's doing"
"Was that a compliment, Dee?" she shook her head at her friend "You're slipping" she grinned "Go'orn! Give us a hug!" and Dee made a slap at her "Ha! Missed!" she grinned again.
Dean turned to Dee "You're just gonna let her go out there by herself…"
"She won't be by herself…" and Dee raised the rifle "I got…" she looked at Riley and grinned "'Scary Spice' covered"
The smiled dropped from Riley's face "On pain of death" she said seriously and Dee laughed.
"Scary Spice?" asked Dean. He looked at Riley and saw her glaring at her friend as Dee chuckled to herself "Oh, this I gotta hear"
"Don't you do it" said Riley "I swear Dee"
Dean looked between the two women …oh this was something he just had to know. He turned to Dee "What'll it take? Whatever it is…tell me and I'll do it" he grinned at Riley "If it's pissing her off, I want to know"
Sam laughed softly, his earlier anger at them, now forgotten "How many damn nicknames do you two need?"
Dee chuckled again "Oh this ain't a nickname, Sam"
Dean pounced "Her last name? What is it? Tell me. Tell me" he grinned at Riley "Told you I'd find out"
"You know her last name" said Dee "It's Riley"
"I swear to Christ, Dee…you tell them…and…" started Riley.
"What?" laughed Dee "Wotchya gonna do…Cinnamon" and Dee laughed her arse off.
"That's it! I'm leaving you on the freakin' mountain!" she stood, checked her pistols and glared at the three hunters who were sitting in the mud, tears of laughter rolling down their cheeks.
"Cinnamon?" laughed Dean "Cinnamon Riley? Are you fucking serious?"
"Cross my heart and hope Riley kills me" said Dee as she put her head in her hands and laughed hard.
"Cinnamon' you mean" laughed Sam, wiping at the tears in his eyes.
"Oh, very fucking funny" said Riley as she glared at them.
"What was your mother thinking?" asked Sam as he tried to get to his feet. He struggled but the laughter got the better of him and he sat back down, his ass squelching into the mud, making him laugh harder.
"She wasn't! She was on an acid bender and …and…argh! You SUCK!" yelled Riley as the three of them laughed hysterically. God she hated her name! And Dee was gonna get it for telling Dean and Sam.
"Tell 'em what your Dad did for a living!" said Dee, unable to stop the laughter. She loved seeing her friend's reaction to people finding out her christian name; and they sure did need a laugh right now.
"Yeah! Tell us!" snorted Dean "Cinnamon!"
"Fuck you!" and she turned and started to trudge off. Dean threw himself at her, tackling her into the mud "Hey!"
"Oh, come on! It can't be any worse than being called …Cinnamon…" he laughed again.
She pushed him off her "Really?" he nodded and cracked up again. She looked at Sam and Dee who were slowly starting to calm themselves…then caught each others eye and cracked up again.
"Come on…look at Sammy, he needs a good laugh, we all do. And really, how bad could it be?"
Riley looked at him, got to her feet and turned towards the top of the mountain, she looked over her shoulder at him "He was a fucking 'Elvis' impersonator" she glared at them and trudged up the mountain, the sounds of their laughter echoing in her ears as she muttered to herself.
She was about midway between the boulders and the outcropping, the wind whipping around her, tiny pieces of debris stinging her face and hands and catching in her hair. She chanced a quick look up, squinting her eyes against the wind, the wind that was getting worse; she needed to get moving. She pushed herself forward, moving as quickly as she could through the mud, from broken tree to broken tree.
When Dean caught up with her and she was still swearing under her breath "Oh, come on" he grinned "It's not…" he laughed.
She turned to him "See? You can't even finish that sentence" she kept moving "Fucking Cinnamon…" she muttered to herself and she started to move quickly through the mud and towards the outcropping.
Dean pushed forward, struggling a little to keep up with her…his sides were still hurting from all the laughter. 'Cinnamon' he just couldn't marry the name with the woman he was slowly starting to come to know. To understand? He smiled, not even close.
They got to the outcropping, both of them a little out of breath as they leaned against the outcropping, Dean looked at her and smiled.
"If you start laughing again, Winchester" she warned. She rolled her eyes at him when he grinned; she turned and scaled the outcropping quickly, keeping on her stomach as she inched across the top of it. She pulled a small scope from her jacket as Dean sidled up beside her and she scanned the area, finding the cabin quickly "Cabin looks intact…" she turned to Dean "That Chevy yours?"
Dean nodded "Please tell me she's alright" he said as loudly as he dared; the wind was starting to howl down the mountain.
Riley nodded "Looks like she got stuck between two trees. Covered in mud but looks alright" she scanned the area again and frowned.
"What?"
"There's at least one person in the cabin…and four outside in the surrounding area…trying to hide but they suck at it. Moving round too much. You got a flashlight?" he nodded and passed her a small one from his jacket. She aimed it towards where Dee and Sam were, flashing it a few times. "Okay, they're on their way. We move out and up to our right, we've got cover for a while and when Dee's in position we go out in the open and head towards the cabin. Make sure they see us…pretend we don't see them"
Dean stared at her "Are you…"he laughed "Of course you're serious" and they slid back down the outcropping "You've done this before?"
Riley nodded "Worked something similar once…it'll work here" she looked at him "look, just let us do this part, we'll get to the cabin and then you and Sam can have at it" he smiled and raised and eyebrow and she laughed "Do you ever stop?"
He grinned "Nope"
She looked down the mountain, Dee and Sam were just over half-way up, but they were getting more difficult to see because of the debris-filled wind "Okay, lets get moving" she kept low as she pushed forward; and she was moving more easily through the mud now that she was barefoot, Dean having a little more trouble with it. She heard a whistle and dropped into a crouch, pulling Dean down with her, she scanned the area and pointed to a spot and the two commando crawled towards a cluster of broken logs and slid underneath.
"What?" whispered Dean.
"Someone's coming" whispered Riley.
"How ….the whistle?" Dean asked and Riley nodded "Who the hell are you two?"
"Shhh…" she whispered.
They waited, unmoving, barely breathing and they heard the sound of someone falling, then a curse as the wind picked up. It was screaming down the mountain and they could hear the sound of the winds cargo smacking into the remaining trees, the few boulders and logs that were scattered around the landscape. Dean and Riley peeked out through a fractured part of one of the logs and saw the wind. It was a dark cloud, peppered with dirt, twigs, foliage, pebbles…anything it could lay its hands on. It swirled in on itself, building dangerously as it collected parts of the forest as ammunition.
The logs around them started to shudder, lifting a little before crashing down loudly.
"We can't stay here!" yelled Dean over the maelstrom as the logs lifted again, smashing down dangerously close to them "Move!" he dragged her out from underneath the logs and they were pelted by the raging wind. It raged around them, tearing at their clothes, stinging their eyes as it tried to force them back. They crouched, making themselves as small a target as possible. It made little difference; they were being pummelled.
They could hear the distant crash of trees as they were being torn from their moorings and hammered against others, taking them out and adding them to the whirlwind.
"WE NEED TO FIND COVER!" yelled Dean as he looked around. "SHIT!" there was no cover. He looked back down the mountain, to where Sam and Dee should have been, but he could see nothing through the dark, swirling wind. They were cut-off again. Shit, shit, shit and FUCK!
"DOWN!" he heard Riley yell and he was knocked backwards, sprawling on his back, Riley on top of him as a large part of a tree-trunk flew over the top of them, smacking Riley in the back of the head.
"RILEY!" he pushed her up, she was limp. He put a hand to the back of her head and it came away bloody. "SHIT!" he felt for a pulse, it was strong but she was out. "RILEY!" he yelled, shaking her a little…nothing. He heard a sharp crack and looked up and saw a tree crashing down towards them…he moved quickly, flipping Riley over and covering her with his body, closing his eyes and putting his hands over the back of his head as he waited to get hit.
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Sam and Dee had lost sight of Dean and Riley and had started to move as quickly as they could towards where they'd seen them last. Dee had the .338 sniper rifle over her back, Sam the ammo bag as they kept themselves low, trying to stay underneath the raging wind but having little luck. They were being hit from all directions, tiny punches, large jabs, stinging slaps as they were hit by anything and everything the gale threw at them. Dee swore as a large branch scraped across her forehead and she thought nothing of it til the blood started dripping into her eyes. Sam turned to her and pushed her behind a tree, tearing off part of his shirt and wrapping it around her head.
"WE NEED TO FIND COVER!" he yelled at her.
"TOO LATE!" she yelled and pointed.
Sam turned, his eyes widening as he yelled, throwing himself at Dee.
To be continued…