*Donovan "Van" Lancaster belongs to the ever so lovely Andi (Selah25). I recommend you read her fic "Thirty Days or Less" on here!*
Chapter 12
Run For Your Life
She was horrifically lifeless Dean's arms.
Tears spilled from his eyes, breaking their way through the barricade he set in place so many years ago. "Andie..." he whispered her name and ran his hand over her beautifully pale face. Her gorgeous eyes were wide open, frozen and staring into nothingness. He clutched her to his chest and pressed his cheek against her temple. "Please..." he begged, his voice shuddering. "Don't leave me here, I'm beggin' you..." She didn't reply; she couldn't. "I'm sorry... I'm sorry," He repeated. "I'm so sorry, Andie..."
36 hours earlier...
"I'm gonna snap your neck," Sam sneered at Andie.
"I'd like to see you try, bitch," Andie retorted.
"Ha!" Sam expertly ran his fingers over the remote control in his hands. "You wish!"
"Hey!" Andie cried with a smile as she watched their game of Tekken III play on the TV. "Leave my torso alone!"
Dean wandered into the motel room with a dinner, take-away burgers, and watched them with curiosity. Andie was on her feet while Sam seemed quite comfortable sitting on the couch. "What are you two doing?"
"Dude, you can rent PlayStation's at the front desk," Sam replied, not taking his eyes off the game.
"I hate this!" Andie tossed the remote to the floor as Sam ripped off her character's head.
"That's 'cos you suck." Sam said, unsuccessfully trying to duck out of the way as she ruffled his hair into a mess.
"Still; this place is definitely a step up from where we usually stay." Andie commented as she hungrily snatched a burger from Dean's hands before he could even put it on the table.
"Are you sure there's no reason where here?" Sam questioned as he sat beside Andie.
"We've been kicking apocalypse ass for months now, we're still avoiding our vessels," He frowned. "Why can't we just have a day off?"
"I'm with you." Andie agreed as she devoured her burger. "Time off is gooood."
Dean's cell phone buzzed in his jacket pocket – his father's phone. Van. He excused himself from the table; Sam and Andie were discussing her thoughts of his apparent cheating in their game so they didn't seem bothered when he ducked into the bathroom to answer the call. "Yeah, Van," He answered. "What did you find?"
"Man, you were not kidding about this stuff." Van replied. She'd been home from Montana for a week now, and researching all she could on Qeres. "I didn't even have to look far to find information – that means you're right; someone is dealing in this poison."
"Great," Dean leant back against the wall. "So, who? Where?"
"I'm not sure," Van sighed. "Sorry, I know that's not what you wanted to hear. But whoever is dealing with this stuff is keeping it under wraps. But I did discover something"
"Ok, great," Dean said pulling a pen and scrap of paper from his pocket, prepared to write whatever she said.
Van had phoned him two days before with a notable ingredient of Qeres; the blood from the Apis Bull. They were worshipped in the Memphis region of Egypt, and within the past century there had been a church built near Memphis, Tennessee in honour of that fact. In a town called Egypt. Dean had almost laughed when he discovered that fact; it seemed to sickly ironic to be true; but it was. Fifty years before, it had been home to a cult that had since been said to have disbanded, but Van suspected they had just gone into hiding. And it was there, in Egypt, Tennessee, that Dean, Sam and Andie were currently staying.
"The cult, I found out the leaders name was Seth." Van said. "He died about sixty years ago, and he was buried in the town cemetery. Another ingredient for Qeres is the bones of a severely devout man."
"How can you be sure it's the right guy?" Dean asked as he scribbled down the name and ingredient.
"Because he's buried at the Osiris Cemetery." Van said, impressed at her own genius. "Osiris is the God Egyptians believed that the Apis Bull embodied."
"Dammit, Van," Dean said in awe. "I owe you one."
"Just stop them, Dean," Van pleaded. "They can't make this poison."
"They won't." He assured her, thanking her again, before he hung up.
"Dean!" Andie hollered. "I'm eating your food!"
"You better not be!" He yelled back, shoving the paper into his pocket and collecting himself before heading back out into the living room. She wouldn't know why they were here; he wouldn't let her know. Qeres would kill her; take her away from him. He wouldn't let that happen. Never.
After they ate, Andie and Sam went another round on the PlayStation and then both went to bed. Dean took a long, long shower, making sure they were both asleep before he exited the bathroom. He grabbed a beer from the fridge, crept outside to his Impala and climbed up on the hood, staring up into the black night sky.
"You shouldn't be here." Castiel said.
Dean was so used to him popping up out nowhere it didn't make him jump anymore. "So, you know?" He guessed.
"About your mission; yes." Castiel replied. "But I did not know beforehand; I assure you."
"It's okay, Cas," Dean smirked. "Maybe I should have asked you before..."
"You shouldn't be here." He said again.
"Well, funnily enough, you saying that makes me feel like I should be here." Dean pursed his lips together and took a long look at Castiel. "I'm in the right place, aren't I? Van was right about the bull and everything?"
"Yes, she's right." Castiel confirmed. "But it is much too dangerous for Andie to be here. And it's careless of you to have brought her here."
"She doesn't know anything about this."
"She may not, but that doesn't clear her of any danger." Castiel pointed out.
"You can't tell her." Dean slid off his car and was nose to nose with Cas. "Andie, or Ellie. You can't. I'll find whoever's making this-this Qeres drug and stop them." He swallowed hard. "I am not going to get her die, Cas. I won't do it. Not when I can save her." He ducked down, resting his beer bottle on the ground. "You know if I..." He trailed off. Castiel was gone; disappeared mid-conversation as he was so fond of doing.
"I knew it was something." Sam spoke up from the front door of the motel.
Dean sank back against his car. "How long you been there?"
"Long enough." Sam wandered over to him, pulling his coat around his body as he did. "Did you really think I wouldn't catch on? You bring us to a town in the middle of nowhere saying it's for a 'vacation'? I'm surprised Andie went along with it. At first I thought maybe the both of you were keeping something from me."
"You can't tell her, Sammy," Dean rubbed his temples; a migraine was throbbing into his forehead. "You gotta promise me; you can't. She finds out, she'll go after it and it's gonna kill her."
"Where's all this coming from?" Sam shuffled up onto the bonnet of the Impala beside his brother. "How'd you find out about this thing?"
Dean drew in a deep breath, and then divulged it all. He told his brother everything about the time he and Andie spent in 2014. He told him about the Croatoan virus, Annie, Andie's death, Qeres; everything... except for Sam's future. He didn't need to burden his little brother with the knowledge that there was a future that he said yes to Lucifer.
Dean talked until his voice became tight and strained due to the chill in the air, and Sam listened. And after his big brother finished speaking, he promised to help him. Andie was their family; a threat to her was a threat to them. Last name or not, she was a Winchester. And they weren't going to take another life from this family; not if Sam had his way.
xxx
Andie slept well; but woke with an ache in her stomach. Ugh, that cheap burger, she cursed as she belched and tasted that horrible processed meat across her tongue. She went straight to the shower and gargled with Dean's mouthwash until it burned her mouth before retreating to the shower. Another good thing about this decked out hotel was the excellent shower. It could easily fit two people in it, as Dean and Andie had confirmed, and the water was piping hot. It was so comforting that first night she used it she'd wanted to sleep in there.
Not one for technology, Andie had managed to figure out Sam's iPod and he'd let her buy some songs on iTunes. She didn't really get the concept of it; but it was fun. He'd put a stop to her buying music after she'd purchased 100 songs within a half hour. The radio in the bathroom had an iPod dock, Andie had asked Sam to keep his iPod connected to it so she didn't have to figure it out; but she managed to get through the music library easily enough.
Feeling somewhat more content than she had in awhile, she scrolled through the music library and settled on a song before she climbed into that heavenly shower.
"We get it on, most every night," Andie sang to the one-hit wonder as she danced a little into the shower. "When that moon is big and bright; it's a superna-tur-al delight. Everybody's dancing in the moonli-ight..." It was a nice feeling, she decided. Not having a case, not having a threat. For once, life had slowed down and let her take a moment to breathe.
She sang a few more songs in the shower; took her time washing her hair, shaving her legs; it was the closest she ever got to 'girl time', and even that was pushing it. Whilst humming the chorus of an old John Mellencamp track, she turned off the taps and stepped out of the shower. Her calm day was over; she wasn't alone in the bathroom.
"Good, grief," She didn't bother to cover her naked body and instead placed her hands on her hips. "Don't you people have any class?"
It was a woman standing before her, she looked ragged; desperate. She wore a short red leather skirt, torn black stockings and an oversized sweatshirt. Her hair was a faded pinkish colour, a cheap rinse, and unhealthily thin and frail. She muttered something under her breath; something inaudible.
"What's that now?" Andie stepped fully out of the shower; and suddenly an arm grabbed her around the neck. A sharp pain jabbed her skin, and then blade slicing into her wrists, making her let out a gasp of pain.
"Andie?" Dean's voice called from the other side of the door.
The stinging in her wrists continued a moment longer, and then she was free. She fell to her knees, blurred vision but still seeing the legs and back of the head of a man as he grabbed the desperate looking girl and climbed through the open bathroom window.
The smack of Andie hitting the floor caused Dean to bust in. "Sam! Window!" He called to his brother, who immediately took off after the intruders.
Dean fell beside Andie and wrapped her wrists in a towel. "What happened?"
"They stuck me with something." She pulled one hand, which she had been holding at her neck, back and showed her wound to Dean.
All he saw was blood. "Crap," he grabbed a handtowel and pressed it against the wounds. "Demons?"
"How many demons do you know who climb through windows?" Andie pointed out.
"How many slash people's wrists?" He countered, tearing the handtowel into two and wrapping them securely around her wounds. Then he inspected her neck; there was a definite needle mark and the beginnings of a bruise. "You feel okay?"
Andie leant up off Dean's chest, getting her bearings. "Yeah, I think so." She grumbled in frustration. She really did feel okay; but could she ever get a day without weirdness?
"Come on," Dean kept a strong arm around her, just in case, and led her from the bathroom.
Sam was back a few minutes later. "They had a car waiting," He panted. "Took off before I got a good look at them. No number plates on the car; but it was an old pickup."
Andie, feeling much better now that she was in some clothes, made a displeased face. "Why would they attack me? I mean, they didn't look like demons."
"I dunno," Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Why didn't you use your power on them?"
"I didn't have a chance," Andie argued. "I thought it was just that girl, I didn't see the guy."
"We'll find 'em," Dean assured her as he swigged nervously from a beer bottle. "Don't worry."
"I'm not worried." Andie replied, and she wasn't. But he was; that much was obvious. He was avoiding eye contact with her, he kept pacing... something had rattled him.
"I could give Bobby a call?" Sam offered, also noticing the change in his brother. "Maybe this is an apocalypse thing?"
Dean was taking another long drink and waited until he'd taken a little more liquor until he answered. "Yeah..." He nodded. "Ok; yeh, that's a good idea."
Andie smacked her hands together. "Alright, the mood in here is way too tense and you just drank our last beer."
"So?"
"So, I just got attacked; I need a drink, too. Bar; down the street. Take me, m'kay?" She was already yanking on her boots.
"Whoa, hang on a sec, Andie, you just got attacked, maybe you should take it slow?"
"I feel fine. And I'll have you there to protect me." She gave him a toothy grin. "Just like you like to." She found his car keys and twirled them in her fingers as she moved passed him for the door.
"Whoa, whoa whoa, stop! Dammit, Morgan," Dean took her shoulders roughly in his hands. "You almost died in there," His eyes flashed to the bathroom where blood-stained towels in pools of translucent scarlet water littered the floor. "What would I have...?" He left the sentence hanging there; it was too hard to comprehend that here, of all places, he might have lost her in a friggin' bathroom. "Why don't you take care of yourself for a little bit, huh? Just for a little bit."
Andie's searched Dean's for an answer for all this overprotective behaviour. "What are you afraid of?" She whispered under her breath. And at first, she thought he might actually answer. But he didn't. Instead he swallowed hard, smirked and shook his head.
"Let's get that beer." He said to his feet, taking his keys from her hand and ditching the room right then and there.
Andie waited a moment before she followed him. Something was troubling Dean, something he wasn't telling her. He rarely kept secrets from her; because she usually managed to find out anyway. But this? She didn't know what was going on. He'd been different ever since they'd come back from 2014. Yes, it was a weird trip, with Andie being dead, and all. And sure, it had rattled her, but they had talked about it... this was something he wasn't sharing, and to Andie; that was frightening.
xxx
Andie hadn't intended on drinking so fast, but the smooth talking bartender convinced her that tequila and tonic was the way to go. Dean didn't like her drinking tequila; it made her too "overly friendly" in his opinion. So when he went to the bathroom, Andie took on the bartender in a round of shots. She won; granted she downed four before he'd finished his second.
It was whilst making her way back to their booth from the bar that Andie's keen ears picked up a conversation between two women sitting near them.
"God, I wish I could meet someone like Edward Cullen..." The blonde was saying as she twirled a toothpick with an olive stabbed on the end through her drink.
"What?" Andie stopped in her tracks. She knew that name; Cass was way too obsessed with those books "Aw, hell, tell me you're not talking about Twilight." She whined at the women. "Please!"
The brunette at the table glanced nervously at her friend. "Ahh... you don't like it?"
"Lemme tell you a little something about vampires." Andie pulled a chair noisily to their table. "When a vampire lunges at your throat, it ain't all romantic and glittery, okay, it is friggin frightening!" She smacked her palms on the table, causing everything on it to shudder.
Dean came out of the bathroom at that moment and saw her, wildly blurting out their secrets to strangers. He strode quickly to Andie's side and pulled her to her feet; but that didn't stop her talking.
"And the only reason I am here today talking to you two idiots is because my husband," She slung her arm over Dean's shoulder and slapped his chest. "Lopped of that damn things' head before it could get its teeth in me!"
"Andie," Dean said through a tense smile. "You're doing that thing where you act crazy, again."
"Just bringing some realism to these women, Dean." She replied, stumbling a little.
"We just like Twilight," The blonde retorted. "What's wrong with that?"
Andie let out a laugh like the answer was the most obvious thing in the world. "It perpetuates the myth that a woman's life sucks unless she has a man to fawn over!"
"But you're married." The brunette pointed out.
Andie gave her a bizarre look. "I'm gonna hurt you; right now."
Dean had to physically hold her down.
The man behind the bar gave Dean a look he was all too familiar with when Andie got a little drunk; that 'get the hell out' look. So he gathered her up in his arms and led her out to the Impala. "Ok, Morgan," He said as he lifted her into the back seat. "I'm gonna go take care of your tab, and see if I can stop you being banned at yet another bar. Sit tight, ok?" She responded by flipping him off. "Yeh, love you, too." He rolled his eyes and slammed the car door shut.
Andie managed to get herself to sit up, the tequila and tonic doing its magic on her and making everything hazy. She saw Dean by the passenger's side window and thought how quick he was at smoothing things over. He opened the passenger's side door... that was odd... why wasn't he on the other side... he grabbed her arm... was she dreaming? She brushed her hair from her eyes and didn't see Dean before her. It was another man, and from the looks for the dishevelled, faded-pink haired woman behind him, it was the man who'd attacked her in the bathroom. "No!" She tried to scream, but he gagged her with a wet cloth. She tried to use her power but whatever was soaked onto the rag held to her mouth and nose made her instantly drowsy. She remembered being lifted from the car, and the neon lights of the pub from the backseat of a grease-smelling old truck; and then nothing.
Blackness and the sound of an engine roaring, and the faint stinging of a needle in her arm.
xxx
