[a/n: tacked an extra bit onto the end. starts at the second /space/ . enjoy :)]
DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN CRIMINAL MINDS, SUPERNATURAL, OR ANY COPYRIGHTED MATERIAL HERE IN..
Bobby sat in silence as the giant fans in the panic room whirled around and around. He knew a hospital wouldn't do any good. This was powerful voodoo magic going wrong, he could feel it in his gut. He'd seen similar things happen in the past with lesser enchantments, but never this severe. It wouldn't have been as bad if she had just been unconscious and unmoving. Then, at least, his worry would be on a level. But it wasn't so. she shivered in her restless sleep, and whimpered helplessly at whatever was haunting her dreams. Her borrowed eyes flashed relentlessly against her closed lids, and her fever spiked and waned at unpredictable intervals.
Bobby squeezed the rough hand he knew so well as it shook with a fresh tremor. He silently prayed to whoever was listening to bring her back to them. His concern wasn't just for the condition of Dean's body any more. He had become rather attached to Penelope herself over the short time she had been living in his house. She was always inquisitive and cheerful and hilariously funny, despite her current predicament, and never tired in her search for answers. He admired the gusto with which she took to researching and was impressed by how thoroughly she could dig into this or that fact. He found it amusing how she polished the impala almost as much as Dean would have and constantly talked to it while she worked just like him. Bobby might have liked a daughter like her, although she would have likely been a handful.
The tremor subsided and Bobby loosened his grip with an exhausted sigh. It was no use trying to sleep while Penelope was like this. When he closed his eyes, all he could see was the utter terror in her borrowed ones, moments before the seizure or attack had occurred. The power of that silent bid for help had nearly done him in right then and there. It had been like death had sprung up and was going to swallow her whole and she knew it, but it was far too late. Of course, she seemed to be alive, but that did little to comfort him. Perhaps it was only a matter of time.
There was a gentle knock on the door frame and Bobby turned in his chair.
"Hey", Sam greeted, bringing Bobby a bowl of hot stew. "Any change?"
Bobby shook his head sadly. "Nothin'.."
Sam gave the old hunter's shoulder a sympathetic squeeze, pulling up a chair along side him. "She'll be alright", he tried to convince them both.
"I hope so", Bobby sighed, gripping Dean's body's hand as a tremor struck yet again. "Any word from the idjiot?"
"Yeah, actually", Sam answered to Bobby's great surprise. "He called a few minutes ago. He's ..um.. in that quarantined town.."
"What?", Bobby barked, nearly leaping from his chair in anger.
"He's fine. Everything's fine", Sam rushed to explain as Bobby's eyes became hot coals of fury. "There were just a few things he had to take care of and it wiped him out a little bit, so now-"
"What was it?", Bobby interrupted with an angry growl.
Sam just blinked at him stupidly.
"What was it that he had ta take care a'?", Bobby hissed in frustration.
"Um..", Sam didn't really want to say, because he knew it would only make things worse, but he figured Bobby might just beat it out of him anyway. "...Wendigos..?"
"Wendigos!", Bobby roared, spraying Sam with a thin shower of spit. "Plural! As in more than one?"
"Well... yeah..", Sam winched, bracing himself for further anger. "He said he could handle it though!"
If Bobby had been a cartoon character, steam would have been pouring from his ears. His face was scrunched up and reddening, and the veins in his head were throbbing crazily. He sat there for a moment just staring at Sam in livid disbelief, before charging from the room and slamming the door shut behind him.
"Hey!", Sam called out, hearing the locks auto-click into place. But Bobby was long gone. Sam slumped in his chair, arms folded in a huff. He regarded the stew he had brought to comfort the man that had just abandoned him. "Well, at least I won't starve.."
Just as Sam was finishing up the stew, Bobby returned unexpectedly.
"That damned idjiot!", Bobby fumed, slamming a copy of an old maniuscript on the small side table in the room. "If he's not dead before he gets here, I'm gonna kill 'em myself!"
"Dead?", Sam sputtered, alarmed and confused. "He sounded fine on the phone."
"Yeah, but he's gone n' drained his batt'ries", Bobby growled, flipping the old book open and finding the page he was looking for. "Penelope n' I were lookin' inta the connection she felt ta Dean when Dean went n' had a shower in her meat suit. Turns out, curses placed on marital objects are very powerful n' aren't ta be messed with. Even most priestesses refuse ta cleanse marital objects for fear a' the things they tend ta do ta anyone that goes near 'em. In the idol's case, some really heavy bondin' magic is used, n' a priestess can't risk becomin' attached ta someone with a regular mortal life span."
"Why not?", Sam asked, not really seeing how that was bad.
"Though the souls've switched bodies, there is still a major cause n' effect that goes down", Bobby explained. "What happens ta one, happens in a lesser extent ta the other, n' vice versa. Or, at least it's supposed ta anyway."
"What do you mean?", Sam asked. He understood cause and effect, but it didn't seem to fit what Penelope and his brother had been experiencing.
"The evil spirit in the idol we had must 'a messed up the mojo", Bobby answered, flicking back and forth between a few pages, checking his theories. "If the spell is sour, then it tends ta put a strain on the ones it has under sway. It takes more energy ta perform ordinary tasks, n' if one soul becomes the dominant, ya get major problems."
"How?", Sam still didn't fully understand.
"The dominant can control the flow a' the energy along the connection they share", Bobby continued. "Whether they realize it 'er not, they can drain the other soul dry. It think that's what happened here. Dean needed energy ta fight the wengidos, so once he used up all his new body could give 'em, he started stealin' from Penelope herself through their connection without even knowin' it."
"But he's rested up now, so they should be okay, right?", Sam worried, glancing at the twitching Penelope.
Bobby shook his head. "Don't work that way, Sam. He's got part a' her soul livin' inside a' him now. I don't reckon it's somethin' you can just give back without a cost a' some sort."
"But there's a chance?", Sam refused to believe Penelope would just fade away like that.
Bobby shrugged. "Could be. I really can't tell. Somethin' tells me we've crossed inta territory that hasn't been covered a lot before now."
/space/
"How's he doing back there?", Emily asked as she swerved around another tight turn in the road.
"Passed out", JJ answered, flicking a quick glance to the back seat of the suv. "Like I wish I was right about now", she added pointedly, hanging onto the frame of the vehicle for dear life.
"Dean said he needed to get to this Singer's Auto Salvage as soon as possible, so that's what we need to do", Emily countered, decelerating a little as a kind of compromise.
"And you believe all the things we talked about?", JJ asked, still very much in doubt herself.
Emily hesitated, thinking her answer through. "Well.. the creatures we destroyed seemed real enough. That I am almost completely sure of. Even though part of me wishes this was all some terrible nightmare and I'll wake up and laugh about it later, it feels real. As for Penelope and this Dean guy having switched bodies magically... I'm still on the fence. I mean, monsters is one thing. They were tangible. I saw them snarling, I smelt them burning, I had their blood on my clothes. It's hard to deny that. But.. she still looks like Penelope, sounds like Penelope.. maybe some things are a little off, but even still.. I'd like to see the others involved in this before I make any solid decisions."
JJ nodded. "I feel the same. Probably more so, because I didn't see whatever it was you guys fought. To me, everything's still the same as it was before you called me. I need physical proof."
"What ever happens, we should be prepared", Emily hinted meaningfully.
JJ nodded, glancing back at the sleeping Dean again. "I was as soon as you called me."
/space/
Emily was parked in the drive way to Bobby's house just staring at the mountains of old dead cars. It was a verifiable graveyard of wrecks, parts, and some gutted machines. The air smelled of rust and metal, and the glassless gaping windshields seemed to glare ominously down on them.
"Creepy..", Emily whispered, half in awe.
"Home sweet home-away-from-home", Dean grinned groggily. Never had he been more happy to see Bobby's distant front door. He felt like he'd been through the ringer and that everything would be alright now that he was back to familiar turf. "They're expectin' us, so just honk twice to let them know we're friendlies."
JJ gave Dean a questioning glance. "Or what?"
"Ah.. Bobby's a little paranoid- Well, we all are really", Dean explained as delicately as possible for JJ. "Just honk", he insisted for Emily.
Emily honked Ester's horn twice and checked that the gps she had taken from her suv was turned off properly. Dean had insisted they shut the thing off as soon as they passed over the state line.
The three companions and Ester crept slowly up the drive to the old house. It looked in need of repair and the stained wood siding was more stained from weathering than artificial methods.
Dean instructed Emily to pull into the garage off to the side of the house, and grinned widely despite the woozy pain he was in as JJ and Emily helped him out of the car.
"Did ya miss me, baby?", Dean cooed fondly to the impala as they passed by on their way to Bobby's front door. "'cause daddy missed you."
JJ exchanged a bemused glance with Emily before they continued on their way. Some things really didn't change no matter what body you were in, they supposed.
Just as they were climbing Bobby's front steps, the front door opened, and Sam appeared.
"Sammy!", Dean beamed, tears welling in his borrowed eyes at the sweet sight of his brother. He guessed it was the hormones finally kicking in. He didn't approve.
Despite the serious situation, Sam couldn't help a small amused smile of his own. "Dude.. are you wearing make up?"
Dean sighed in frustrated embarrassment. "Trust me, it was easier this way. Where's Bobby?"
Sam's brief smile flickered and died. "He's still in the panic room. She's-..she's worse now."
Emily and JJ felt fear grip them tightly round their hearts. The situation seemed to be graver than Dean had made it out to be. Emily now wished she had driven faster.
"You make it sound like she's going to die", JJ choked disbelievingly. "She can't die. She's- she's- she-.. she just can't die. We need her."
"Bobby's workin' on it, but he hasn't found anything that'll stick so far", Sam explained, sadly shaking his head. "He figures fighting the wendigos is what did it."
"What do you mean?", Dean asked, confused. "I'm the one that fought the damn things. With help", he acknowledged when he saw the offended expression on Emily's face.
"Yeah, but you stole energy from Garcia to do it", Sam tried to clarify. "Once you'd burned up the energy in your host body, you automatically drained it from her soul directly through the link you share."
"But.. I didn't mean to..", Dean defended, feeling worse than the lack of energy was making him feel already.
"It didn't matter", Sam maintained. "Your need for survival over powered her. You became the dominant and that gave you the power."
"Where is she?", Emily asked, urgently feeling the need to go to her.
"She's in the basement of the house", Sam answered, just fully realizing the possible failings of letting strangers into Bobby's house who thought monsters and spells were crazy talk. "Um, Dean.. Aren't they FBI?"
"They're friends of Penelope and good people", Dean vowed sincerely. "I wouldn't be here if it weren't from them."
"Special agent Emily Prentiss", Emily offered, unable to shake Sam's hand because she was helping Dean to remain standing. "And special agent Jennifer Jareau", she continued, indicating JJ, who was holding onto Dean's other side.
JJ just nodded sternly. She didn't want to talk any more. She just wanted her friend alive and back to normal.
Sam hesitated before deciding he didn't have much of a choice now that they were here, and leading them all to the panic room.
As soon as they set foot in Bobby's basement, Emily and JJ's concern rose exponentially. There were normal basement objects present to be sure, but then there was an entire assortment of terrifying occult looking objects strewn in amongst them. The one named Sam and 'Dean' seemed completely unaffected by the sight and simply kept walking, unconcerned. The sight inside 'the panic room' as Sam had called it, made them stop in their tracks.
"What's going on here?", Emily asked, trying not to let her fear enter her voice as she stared wide-eyed at the multitude of symbols drawn all over the walls of the room ahead.
"Yeah, it kinda freaked me out too the first time I saw it", Dean admitted, trying to sooth her. "But they're sigils to ward away evil, not to invite them in for tea. Come on.."
But the two women refused to budge.
"I'm not going in there", JJ balked stubbornly, unslinging Dean's borrowed arm from her shoulders, and stepping away. "For all we know, these guys have brainwashed you into performing some freaky ritual for them! I want no part of that."
"JJ's right", Emily agreed, unslinging from Dean's other side, causing him to wobble and fall against the basement wall for support. "This feels like a trap."
"Come on!", Dean wailed, entirely sick and tired of all their suspicion. "I risked my hide to save your life!", he barked at Emily. "If that don't breed trust, than I don't know what the fuck does!"
"And I wouldn't have needed saving if you hadn't lead those creatures to the blockade", Emily argued. "Awfully convenient that."
"You think I can control what a wendigo does?", Dean blistered in disbelief. "You realize how nuts that sounds right?"
"You realize how nuts you sound right?", JJ scoffed, crossing her arms. "Heck, you practically stink of crazy! It kills me to say this, but you have really got some issues."
"Tough love?", Dean snorted in angry amusement. "Right now? Really? Now, when I need you guys most is when you choose to roll out that wagon?"
Emily and JJ stood rock solid and stony eyed.
"Fine", Dean growled, heaving his sorry borrowed hide into a shaky standing position. "I guess I'll walk alone.."
Sam wished dearly that he could help his brother out, but he couldn't bring himself to touch Penelope's body. It was too freaky just yet. He needed more time to adjust.
Dean stumbled over the threshold to the panic room just as he entered through the door.
Two strong arms reached out and caught him just before his rented face hit the floor.
Dean looked up and saw his saviour staring back at him.
"Whoa..", Penelope breathed as she looked into her own eyes.
[a/n: more to come. stay posted. also, they finally meet and 'shit gets real', as the chillens say.]
UPDATE: [a/n: i was right, wasn't i? ;) 'shit got real'. love y'all. peace.]