Remember, only Sam has the psychic dreams of deaths so I have to change it up a little bit. And Ashlee won't be immune to the disease because she's not psychic like Sam, the disease will clear up because Pestilence (the horseman it came from) will be gone too. I hope that made sense, I just want it to be clear that Ashlee isn't psychic like Sam is :) Shout out to TheMorbidGal, Bree, Tesla424 and SassyGirl23 for reviewing! TheMorbidGal, Sam and Dean will be coming back in next chapter actually! You'll see some Sam and Ash family bonding too :) Bree, you're talking about 'Devil On My Shoulder'? Where Veronica made the deal, right? I saw your review on that fic and i'm sorry I broke your heart, I have a bad habit of doing that :3 Tesls424, i'm glad it proved it :) Sorry you got choked up though! I just love writing deep feelings but I know you guys enjoy reading so it's okay :) SassyGirl23, they will eventually! I did warn you it'd be painful slow but it's coming up in the future! Stay strong! Enjoy this chapter lovelies!
Croatoan 2x09
Ashlee's p.o.v
I wake up when the door's opened and closed.
"Ash?" Derek calls out. That's when I realise i'm not in the bed, i'm on the floor, one leg still up on the bed. I catch my breath, damn nightmares. I sit up, taking deep breathes. "Oh. Uh..are you busy?" Derek asks awkwardly.
"What?" I ask him. Derek peeks over the bed at me. "Wait..you think..?" he gives me an awkward shrug. "Dude, you were gone for like 10 minutes? How could I find someone, bring them back here and..in that time?" I ask him. "And the floor? Really?" I say, getting up.
"I've seen you work other miracles before" he grins.
"You're gross" I say.
"You love me" he says smugly.
"I'm sure I do" I say, falling into the chair beside him at the table with a grin. "So breakfast?" I ask, looking at the brown paper bag he brought in excitedly.
..
We drive into Rivergrove Street, looking for something to snack on before we keep driving. We haven't got a case so we're just driving. But we're hungry again so we need food. We get out, walking towards the grocier. Derek grabs my arm, stopping me. I look at him, confused.
"Why does that look familiar?" Derek asks, showing me a pole where the word 'Croatoan' is carved into the wood.
"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, 'round late 1500s. Only thing left was that word carved into a tree. They were alot of theories about what happened. Indian raid, disease, noone knows what really happened though. They were just gone, overnight, all of them wiped out" I tell him.
"How the hell do you cram all that and everything else you know into your head?" he asks.
"No clue" I chuckle. "I'll give Bobby a call" I say. I try to but no signal. "Or not" I say, putting it away. "I'm still hungry"
"Me too" Derek nods. We go into the grocier. I stand in front of the cold cabinets, wondering what I want to eat. Then I notice a young kid, knife dangling from his belt. I narrow my eyes, following him out. Why the hell does a kid his age have a knife like that, a dagger? He can't be older than 16. Derek sees me and walks out too. "Ash, what are you doing?" Derek asks, catching up to me.
"Look" I say, nodding to the kid. We fall back a little when he goes into a house, looking around to make sure noone's around. Suspicious. Once he's inside we go to the window, looking inside. Something's definitely off with..crap. We run around to the front, kicking the door in. The kid just cut into his arm and then bled into his mother's wounds. The father comes at us with a knife so Derek shoots him when he doesn't stop. The kid jumps out the window, taking off. I try to shoot him but I don't have a good shot and he gets away.
..
We take Beverly to the local clinic to get her wounds stitched up. Derek comes in behind me, Mr Tanner slung over his shoulder. Doctor Lee comes out and we follow her into the the room. Derek comes in a little later, he had to deal with the uh..body. Beverly tells Dr Lee how her husband and son bet her and tied her up. We have to explain to the doctor that all the phones are down and the shrieff's nowhere to be found at the moment.
"Alright, i'm going for the next town, see if I can call someone. My partner will stick around, keep you guys safe" Derek tells her. She nods and goes back in to see Beverly. Derek looks at me once the doors have closed, pleading. I was about to give him the whole 'we're not splitting up, it's dangerous, blah, blah, blah' but by the look on his face, he just wants to go and come back quickly. "You will, right?"
"Yeah, course I will" I agree, nodding. He looks suprised. "You should go before I change my mind" I say and he chuckles.
"There's the Ash I know" he says, scruffing my hair. He kisses my head quickly. "I'll be back soon, be careful alright?"
"I will, you too" I say. "Don't be gone too long, I will come looking"
"I didn't expect any less" he grins. "Okay, get in there with them. I'll be back soon" I nod and we part ways. I go back into the room with the others, worry settling in my gut like it does every time he leaves my side.
"Huh" Dr Lee says. I go over to her. She's looking at Mr Tanner's bloodwork. "His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high" she says.
"His body was fighting off a viral infection" I realise.
"How'd you know that?" Dr Lee asks, sounding surpised.
"What I have up here" I say, pointing to my head. I shake my head. "It's a mess but some of it's useful" I say. She smiles. "So what kind of virus?" I ask her.
"Can't say for sure" she says.
"You think the infection made him act like that?" I ask.
"Some infections cause dementia but none have I heard of cause that kind of violence" she says. "And i've never heard of one that does this to blood"
"Does what?" I ask.
"There's a weird residue. I think..I think it's sulfur" she says.
"Great" I sigh to myself.
..
Dr Lee talks to Beverly about the possiblity of her husband having a disease. After she told us about the blood to blood contact..i'm a little more worried now I have this new information about the virus. Dr Lee asks for a blood sample and Beverly flips, attacking Dr Lee. I grab the fire extinguisher, knocking her out with it when she turns to attack me. Well..I think she has it too. Dr Lee goes back to looking at the blood while I put Beverly in the storage closet and shut the door. Pam, the assistant, tries to leave to go after her boyfriend. I convince her to stay as help's on the way.
"Ash! It's me, let us in" I hear Derek knocking on the door. I run over and let him and another man in. "He's Mark" Derek tells me. I nod before hugging him tightly. He makes a strained breathing sound. I pull back.
"Sorry" I say sheepishly.
"It's okay" he chuckles. "Everything okay in here?" he asks.
"Uh..did you find a phone?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Road block" he tells me. He turns to Mark. "Doc's inside, give us a minute" Mark nods and goes inside."Don't change the subject. What happened?" he asks me.
"Doc thinks it's a virus. Mr Tanner and Beverly had it. Beverly's in the storage room, she attacked the doctor" I tell him.
"Did she hurt you?" Derek asks.
"She did try. But I took her down easily enough" I tell him, smiling innocently.
"Oh jeez" he sighs fondly.
"I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood to blood contact. And, it gets better"
"Of course it does" Derek says.
"The virus, it's leaving traces of sulfur in the blood" I tell him.
"A demonic virus? Are you kidding me?"
"It's like a biblical plague" I say. "I've been going through Dad's journal and found something about the Roanoke colony" I tell him. Derek motions for us to sit down in the waiting room chairs as he sees this is going to be informative. I nod, sitting down with him. "My Dad always had a theory about Croatoan. He thought Croatoan was the name of a demon. Sometimes it's known as Deva or sometimes it's known as Resheph. He pretty much thought Croatoan was the demon of plague and pestilence. Sort of like a horseman, disease, pestilence"
"Why here? Why now?" he asks.
"I have no clue. Dude, we have no idea how far this thing is going to spread or how fast. We gotta warn people"
"They've got one in here!" I hear Mark yell. Crap. We get up and run into the room. "We've gotta take care of this. We can't just leave her in there. My neighbours, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get" Mark says.
"Is there any treatment? Any cure?" I ask Dr Lee. She doesn't answer, looking nervous.
"Can you cure it?" Derek asks her.
"I don't even know what 'it' is!" she says.
"I told you, it's just a matter of time before she breaks through" Mark says, gun trained at the storage closet's door.
"Just leave her in there, you can't shoot her like an animal!" Pam objects.
"Ash" Derek says, looking to me for a solution.
"We can't risk it" I say reluctantly. I go over and open the door. Derek and Mark get in front of me, guns up.
"Mark, what are you doing?" Beverly asks Mark, panicing. "Mark, it's them! They locked me in here, they tried to kill me! They're infected, not me! Please Mark! You've known me all your life! Please!" she begs. Mark's on the verge of tears, hands shaking.
"Are you sure she's one of them?" Derek asks Dr Lee.
"She attacked me, her blood's infected" she tells him.
"Everyone out" Derek says. I go to object but he shakes his head.
"Come on Mark" I coax the older male. He leaves with me. Derek shuts the door with him inside. We hear Beverly make an angry shouting sound and she's getting up. Then there's 2 loud gunshots and everything falls silent. Derek comes out, shutting the door so noone can see her body.
"She tried to attack me, she was infected" Derek assures us.
..
I look through there supplies, thinking of an effect offensive. There's a frantic knocking on the door and Derek and Mark go over, guns raised. It turns out to be Duane Tanner, Beverly's son.
"Doc, give him a good once-over, would you?" Derek asks the Dr Lee. She nods and takes Duane into the room. We follow them in, listening to Duane's story of where he's been and how he got the cut on his leg.
"Has anyone seen my Mom and Dad?" Duane asks.
"Awkward" Derek says quietly to me, screwing his face up. He sort of..kind of..killed them both. Mark suggests we should tie him up. Dr Lee tells us it took 3 hours for Beverly to turn. But Duane ends up tied up anyway, just in case. Derek and I go into another room to put together some explosives with rags and the glass medicine bottles. "How'd you come up with this?" Derek asks me, talking about the explosives. I shrug.
"Just saw the ingrediants, remembered an old recipe" I say.
"You're actually a genius" he says.
"And you're actually a suck-up" I shoot back, making him chuckle. "What you're trying to get out of me is still a mystery to me though"
"Maybe I just like being in your good graces" he says. The Doc comes in, interrupting our banter.
"It's been over 4 hours, his blood's still clean. I don't think he's infected. Can I untie him?" Dr Lee asks. I nod.
"Yeah, go ahead" I tell her. She nods and leaves the room.
"We need more alcohol" Derek says.
"I got it" I say, getting up. I go into the small room, finding Pam in there. I give her a soft smile, I can tell she's scared. I grab the bottles I need and turn around to find she's locked the door, she's staring at me. "What are you doing?" I ask her. All of a sudden, she runs up me, tackling me to the ground. She straddles me, cutting along the top of my boob. I try to throw her off but she's strong. "DEREK!" I scream. She slices across her palm, pressing it into my new wound. The door's kicked open and Pam's shot dead, 3 shots in the back. Derek rushes over and helps me up.
"What happened?" Derek asks, eyes darting over me in panic. I sigh, moving my hand so he can see the cut on my chest.
"She bled on her. She's got the virus" Mark says. I back away from everyone, sitting on the bed. Derek glances at everyone before coming to my side. He gives me a bandage to hold over it. I give him a weak smile, using it. I feel tears burn my eyes. I'm going to turn, and someone's going to have to kill me otherwise i'll infect others. The doctor comes over.
"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" she asks me.
"Of course it did!" Mark yells.
"We don't know that for sure" Derek says, glaring at the man.
"We can't take the chance" Duane says.
"You know what we have to do" Mark says, looking at Derek.
"Nobody is shooting Ash" Derek says.
"She's not going to be 'Ash' much longer. You said it yourself-" Duane says.
"Nobody is shooting anyone!" Derek snaps at them.
"You were gonna shoot me!" Duane objects.
"If you don't shut your mouth, I still might!" Derek bites out.
"Derek, they're right. I'm infected..just give me the gun..i'll do it myself" I say quietly.
"No, forget it" Derek says.
"I won't become one of those things" I say.
"We still have time" Derek says to me.
"For what? Look, I understand she's important to you, and i'm sorry, I am. But we gotta take care of this" Mark says, drawing his gun. Derek pulls his, cocking it.
"I'm gonna say this one time. You make a move on her and you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? Do I make myself clear?!" Derek snaps at him, getting in his face, gun at his side.
"Then what are we supposed to do?!" Mark asks. Derek looks at me and then looks back to them. He tosses Mark his keys.
"Get the hell out of here, that's what" he says, much calmer. "Take my car. You've got the explosives, there's an arsenal in the trunk. You two go with him. You've got enough firepower to handle anything now"
"What about you?" Mark asks him. Derek comes and takes a seat beside me.
"No, Derek, no" I shake my head, realising he wants to stay with me. "Go with them, this is your only chance" I plead, eyes watering.
"You're not gonna get rid of me that easy" Derek says.
"She's right. Come with us" Mark says. Derek shakes his head. "Okay, your funeral" Mark sighs. He gives me a small apologetic smile and I nod. Him and Duane walk out with Dr Lee. Derek goes over and closes the door once they're gone. I start to cry.
"Don't do this. Just get the hell out of here" I say. He sees my tears and still shakes his head. "Give me my gun and leave"
"For the last time Ash, no" Derek says. I kick the table in front of me, making him turn to me.
"This is the dumbest thing you've ever done" I say, weeping. "Derek, i'm sick. That's it for me, it doesn't have to be for you too"
"No?"
"No, you can keep going" I say.
"Who says I want too?" he asks.
"What?" I ask, suprised.
"Without you, I don't want too" he says, looking right at me. "I already told you this, I go where you go"
"Please don't do this" I plead. Derek pulls me so i'm curled up in his lap.
"It's okay" he soothes.
"No it's not" I say, fully crying now. Derek wipes my tears like he usually would. He holds me, letting me cry, both waiting for me to turn. "Derek please. You mean too much to me for me to let you stay, please just go" I plead. Derek looks down at me with a sad smile.
"You mean too much to me for me to walk away without you" he says. He pulls me to his chest and I grip his shirt tightly, crying. He kisses my head and rocks me softly. "I won't leave you here alone, I just won't" he whispers. "So i'm staying okay? Weither you want me to or not, I am"
"Okay" I say, nodding. It's not like I can force him to leave anyway. It's quiet as we continue to wait for me to turn. There's knocking on the door. We both look up as Dr Lee comes in.
"You'd better come see this" she says. Derek helps me to my feet, holding my hand as we walk outside with her and where the others are. "There's noone here. Not anywhere. They've all just..vanished" she says.
"Croatoan" I say, thinking about the story. Derek looks at me hopefully. It came and the next day, it was gone. Maybe..
"Doc, run her blood again" Derek says. We go back inside and Dr Lee does as asked. She pulls back from the microscope with a smile.
"You're not infected" she says. I smile, Derek squeezing my hand. "I don't know how but even the other blood is clean now" she says. Oh my god. Croatoan must be over, wiping out the infection. Pestilence is gone.
..
The others begin to leave. Duane and Mark leaving together. Dr Lee's going to Sidewinder to get the authorities. Mark and Duane wave as they leave. We both wave back. Dr Lee goes back inside, leaving Derek and I leaning againist the camaro. Derek hasn't let my hand go, I haven't even loosened my grip on his.
"It's over. The Croatoan thing..done. And you're okay, you're clean" Derek says, sighing in relief.
"You're nuts, you know that?" I ask him. He turns to me with a soft smile. I hug him tightly and he hugs me back just as tight.
"You'll never be alone, I won't ever let you go through anything by yourself" he assures me. I hug him tighter.
"Thank you for being here" I say, muffled againist him.
"I'll always be here" he promises me, kissing my head. We pull back. "Come on, let's get the hell out of here" he says. I nod and we both get in. He pulls out quickly, taking off.
"You know Laura would have killed you if they took your car" I say, smiling. Derek grins.
"That she would have" he nods, chuckling. When we pass the 'You Are Now Leaving' sign, I sigh in relief. That was the worst snack stop we've ever had.
..
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