C37
-oOo-
Lucenda opened her eyes, and instantly wished she hadn't. Clamping both hands over her face she gave a muffled squeal from behind them.
"Nooo! Go away. Don't look at me!"
Bobby turned to where Sam and Dean were both hovering by the couch in Missouri's lounge where Lucenda had been placed.
"I think she means you two...Go on, gitt! Go wait in the kitchen."
Dean was going to try to stay put, until Sam placed a hand in the centre of Dean's back and physically pushed his older brother ahead of him and towards the kitchen.
Bobby's tone was reassuring.
"Alright lass. They've gone now."
Lucenda's fingers parted and she peered between them, only lowering her hands when she was satisfied that the two good-looking brothers had really gone. Missouri was already holding out a glass of water.
"Here. You need to drink this, and then the rest of the jug, otherwise you're going to find yourself with one mighty painful headache."
Missouri waited until Lucenda had finished the first glass of water and was starting on the second one, then she held up the gold overlay jar, seeing Lucenda flinch when she saw it in Missouri's hand.
"What is it child? Tell me. What happened when you touched this?"
Lucenda's gaze remained fixed on the jar and its contents.
"I...I felt...Oh! But there's too much grief! Their sorrow, it hurts...They've been separated from their family for so long now, so very long ... Please, we have to help them!"
Lucenda was begging as the tears slipped freely from her eyes and trailed down her flushed cheeks. Missouri took hold of her hand.
"You feel them, don't you child? There's your mother's gift to you little one. You feel what others feel. You're empathic, and that's both a blessing and a sadness...But of course we will help them. I would never dream of leaving them this way."
-o-
Bobby was looking from one woman to the other, completely puzzled by their exchange.
"Wanna clue in the clueless here?"
"Bobby. Be a dear and put on those gloves of yours then go bring the Bible into the kitchen. We might as well do this now."
Bobby still felt like he was on the outside staring in as he slipped on the gloves and moved to go to the study.
"Do what now for chrissakes?"
Bobby waited, but still Missouri ignored his question, focusing instead on Lucenda.
"Child, you go on to the kitchen. I need to gather a few items and then we will begin, alright?"
Helping Lucenda up from the couch, Missouri gently shooed her back out of the lounge and toward the kitchen, before turning to Bobby and motioning him to follow her. In the study, Bobby hefted the large bible off the table, even though the book was sizable, he was still surprised by the weight of it.
"Feel like sharing just what the Hell we're about to do yet?"
"Once we're all together, be patient Bobby Singer."
-o-
In the kitchen, Dean looked confused.
"I don't get it. Why did she want us out?"
Sam rolled his eyes.
"You know, for someone who's supposed to be such a lady-killer, you're real dumb sometimes."
"Hey!"
"She was embarrassed, idiot. She just didn't want either of us seeing her like that."
"Ohhh. I get it now. Thanks for the relationship education. Good job you're around to clue me in, Mr. Sensitive."
"You're welcome."
"That wasn't meant as a compliment you know."
"I know."
After a moment's silence, Dean nudged Sam with his elbow.
"Wanna join the fun and sneak into the study to see what's in that journal?"
"Ok, Yeah. I do."
"Great. Oh, a piece of advice for you bro'? Don't smell the thing, unless you wanna be upchucking all over Missouri's nice clean carpet."
Sam gave his brother a 'what the hell are you talking about?' look.
Dean lowered his voice.
"Dude, its box is made of human skin! Whoever it was, I don't think they'd seen a hot tub for a few weeks. The thing stinks, an' I mean really stinks, like buried for decades in a sewer stinks!"
"Crap Dean! Nice imagery. That's just gross and nasty."
Sam frowned, trying to get the picture of how Usagi got the skin off her victim out of his mind.
-o-
Sam and Dean quietly headed out of the kitchen and into the hallway. They hadn't got more than a couple of feet when Lucenda hurried out of the lounge, coming to a halt when she saw them, her skin pale and her eyes still glistening with tears.
"Oh...Hi guys, where'er you two sneaking off to?"
Caught off guard, Sam attempted to look casual, first starting to cross his arms over his chest, then changing his mind half way through and, instead, altering his movement to start shoving his hands in his jeans pockets, but that didn't feel right either, so he went back to crossing his arms over his chest. All the while Dean looked on, amusement twinkling in his eyes at his brother's awkwardness. Dean turned and gave Lucenda a warm smile.
"As you can clearly see by my brother's casual reactions, we weren't sneaking off anywhere, really. We, er, we were on our way to check how you were doin' is all."
Lucenda looked from Dean to Sam, who looked a little pink in the face.
"That so? Well, as you can see I'm back on my feet. I think Missouri wants us all to wait for her and Bobby in the kitchen. There's something we need to do."
-o-
Bobby walked into the kitchen, pausing when three pairs of eyes turned to him expectantly. The brothers and Lucenda all fixed their gaze on to the large bible Bobby was carrying. Dean and Sam recognised it as the one from Usagi's trunk and Dean frowned. Something big was about to happen.
"What's going on Bobby?"
"Sorry son. Not really sure, Missouri'll have to explain this one."
Bobby looked back over his shoulder for her, feeling slightly irritated when he didn't see her.
"Now what's that damn woman up to?"
Bobby came over to the kitchen table and hesitated, not certain whether to put the Bible down or not. Lucenda stared at the book in his hands. She was still pale with signs of dried tears on her face. Sam saw her looking at the book, and noticed how nervous she had swiftly become.
"Lucenda you ok?"
Not trusting her voice at that moment, she nodded yes, trying to give him a small smile. Sam, however, could see right through the guise. Before he could comment, Missouri hurried into the room, a selection of objects in her arms. She glanced around.
"Good everyone's here."
She first directed her attention onto Lucenda, giving the younger woman a reassuring smile.
"Here sweetie. I want you to put this cloth over the table, it's ok, it's mine, you don't need to worry, and you don't need gloves."
Despite Missouri's confidence, Lucenda still hesitated before taking the cream silk from Missouri. Missouri watched the girl carefully. Lucenda looked down at the folded cloth she was holding, automatically stroking a hand over the soft, warm silk. Her head jerked up, and she looked at Missouri in surprise. Missouri nodded.
"Go on girl, cover the table with it."
From the outside, nothing appeared to be off, but for Lucenda, she felt like she was moving slowly through a dream, and it was a good dream, touching on all her senses. She could smell the sweet scent that was honeysuckle on a warm summer's evening. As she opened up the cloth, it appeared to shimmer and glow as though lit by flickering candle light. Holding one end of the cloth, she flicked it open, watching mesmerised as the fine silk billowed fully open and drifted in slow motion, down over the table. When it gently covered the table, she somehow felt it covering her, wrapping her in a soothing warmth, sliding over her bare arms, lazily fluttering across her shoulders and softly stroking over her hair, calming her, reassuring her, offering protection. Her hearing seemed almost hypersensitive, and the whispering of the of the silk's movement as it settled sounded to Lucenda like a mother's hushhh, hushhh. Carefully straightening the cloth, Lucenda's hands ran over some of the sigils embroidered onto it, and each one felt like it was adding further to the welcome and growing sense of peace that washed through her. Stepping back, the sounds of voices in the kitchen returned and Lucenda gradually came back into herself, expecting once again to find that everyone was staring at her, confused to find that they weren't. Only Missouri specifically glanced her way, giving her a satisfied smile and a wink, whilst continuing to direct Bobby on where to place the Bible.
-o-
Addressing Sam and Dea, at the same time Missouri placed an object onto the central sigil.
"Now boys. You both need to concentrate and do exactly what I tell you. I don't want either of you takin' no short cuts or giving me any adlibs. Got it?"
Noticing the jar of angel feathers now sitting in the middle of the table, Dean answered for both of them whilst giving Sam an unsure look.
"Yes Ma'am."
"Good. Now, these here are not just angel feathers in this jar. Whoever it was who stole these feathers, also captured a portion of each angel's grace too. In doing this, they were able to trap the angel's essence in there, along with each angel's feather."
Dean stared at the jar, and back at Missouri.
"Want to run that by me again?"
Sam interpreted for him
"She means there are angels trapped in that jar. Is that right? Is that what you're telling us?"
"Yes Sam, that's exactly right. And we're about to set them free."
Bobby's gaze went to the jar, and he looked impressed.
"Damn! You certain we can do this?"
Missouri's smile broadened.
"Not only that, Mr Singer...but we will."