A/N: Oh my friggin' GAWD. Eggs. All the eggs. I'm going to be drowning in eggs for a year. Sorry about that, guys. Well, ish. Anyways, another chapter up! Sorry it took so long- I've been hanging out in Cali (which is the opposite end of the country for me) for two weeks, and for much of that I didn't have internet. And then was largely uninspired. Right. I'm working on this, I swear! I'll get the next chapter up soon.
Chase was already sitting at the table by the time Sam turned around, holding his plate of eggs. They smelled absolutely delicious, and Sam suspected Chase must have added something when he wasn't paying attention. It didn't smell like anything suspicious, just spices, but, well...he's seen the Princess Bride before. He wouldn't have put it past Chase to have used spices to cover something up.
Chase must have noticed him watching the eggs intently, because he laughed. "What, do you think they're poisoned, or something?" All of his earlier tension around Sam seemed to have vanished. "Here, look." He scooped up a forkful and shoved it in his mouth, swallowing exaggeratedly. "Better?"
Sam took a bite, watching Chase for any signs of deceit.
Almost instantly, a wave of heat swept over him, bordering on unbearable. It passed as quickly as it had come, but it left Sam feeling nauseous and drained.
"What...what was that?" He looked at Chase slowly, movements sluggish, only to notice Chase already watching him, studying his reaction. "You...you put something in there." Smaller flashes of heat hit him, kind of like aftershocks.
"No." Chase said. "Well, yes, salt and stuff, but only 'cause I hate plain eggs and I planned on stealing your food."
Dean marched into the kitchen, glaring at the back of Chase's head.
Sam pushed the eggs at Dean. "What does this smell like to you?" He asked.
Dean, looking confused, obligingly took a sniff. "World's best plate of eggs?" He asked. "Seriously, those smell amazing. Wow."
Chase rolled his eyes. "Yeah, and now they're mine, since Sam over there looks like he's about to hurl."
Dean looked at Sam, who, though feeling slightly sick, was getting better. Sam waved him off. "I'm fine." He took another bite of the eggs to prove it, bracing himself for the heat waves.
He was startled when he felt nothing.
He eyed Chase suspiciously, and kept eating them, wondering if somehow he had imagined it all in the first place. Chase smiled innocently at him, and Sam didn't trust him, but he didn't think Chase had poisoned him.
Dean resumed glaring at Chase, and Sam noticed. What had happened between them? There wasn't even a lot that could have happened, considering they'd been sleeping most of the night.
Chase turned around to face Dean again. "Dude, what? Did you eat a lemon or something? 'Cause your face looks a bit scrunchy..." Sam fought not to smile, because the sarcasm was hilarious. But he was reminded of Percy, and what little smile there was fell. The more he thought about it, though, the more Chase seemed so much like Percy, in all his various mannerisms and speech. Sam stared at Chase critically, trying to recognize any facial features, anything at all that would indicate he was related to Percy.
There was still nothing.
"Oh, screw you." Dean said, in response to Chase. He sat down grumpily on a chair and took out a half-finished beer.
Sam sighed, and finished the last of his eggs.
Chase pulled what looked like a Ding-Dong out of his pocket, and stared at it distastefully for a moment, before biting into it. He muttered something that sounded suspiciously like "Thanks, Iris," (was he trying to come off as sarcastic?) before shoving the rest of it into his mouth and grimacing.
Sam swore he could see a very faint rainbow hovering near Chase's head.
Chase finished off the Ding Dong, and leaned back in his seat. "So." He said. He seemed to be thinking about his next words.
Sam wondered what he could possibly say. There was so much to cover, really, so much had happened since yesterday. Yet Chase seemed intent on avoiding as much as possible.
"So." Chase said again. He seemed to finally settle on a topic. "You mind filling me in on what the heck is happening here? I wasn't actually told much."
Sam sighed. "Yeah, I don't know. Chase, what are you supposed to be doing here, anyways?"
"Helping you." Chase answered. "Which is why I need to know what's going on."
"Who even gave you the authority to stick around?" Dean challenged. "We've been doing fine on our own for a long time, thanks."
Chase pointed at Sam. "He died. Actual, literal, death. I don't think that constitutes 'fine.'" Chase smiled smugly. "As for why, well...You could say I've been sent by the gods." The way he phrased it seemed like he was referencing a joke.
Sam caught the 's' at the end. "Gods? Plural?" He ignored how uncomfortable he felt at the fact that Chase knew about his death.
"Yeah, you know. Zeus, Hades, the whole shebang." The sky rumbled when Chase said 'Zeus,' and Sam jumped. Chase seemed to take it all in stride. "Yeah, yeah. You're touchy. We know!" Chase shouted at... the ceiling? The sky rumbled again, but Chase ignored it.
"Anyways, the point is, I've been sanctioned by higher powers, so really you should all be praising me on your knees and all that." He waved his hand absently, then checked himself. "Geez, I'm acting like Mr. D."
"You mean pagan gods?" Dean asked. "The monsters that live off human sacrifices?"
Chase looked horrified. "Hell, no! Ew!"
"Then what?" Sam asked. "The only kind of gods there are, are like that."
Chase shook his head, waving his fork at them. "And that, that right there, is exactly why you need my help."
Dean crossed his arms. "Seriously? You think you know everything?"
Chase rolled his eyes. "That's not what I said. But I do know that you two would never survive a Cyclops. You can't just go firing guns at everything."
"Cyclopes are real?" Sam asked. "I've never even heard of them, except for in the stories and Greek myths and such."
"Oh yeah." Chase said, absently. "There's one in the Bermuda triangle. A few in Detroit? I don't really know."
Dean snorted. "This is absolutely ridiculous. There's no such thing as Cyclopes, or Zeus. You're just making this up."
"Am I?" Chase asked. "Alright. You want proof? I can do that." He pushed his chair away from the table and stood up. "Come on." He said. "We're going outside. We're gonna need space for this."
Sam couldn't help but be interested, and he stood up after Chase had started moving, already following him, when Dean grabbed his arm for attention.
"Do you really think this is a good idea?" He whispered, too quiet for Chase to hear. "He could be heading us out to kill us."
"Calm down." Sam said. "He doesn't even have a weapon."
"What if it just turns invisible, like that other kid's?" Dean countered. "This isn't a good idea!"
Sam shrugged it off. "I want to see what he uses as proof."
He turned to the door Chase had gone through, and stopped when he heard an incredibly loud whistle. It rang in his ears for a second, and Dean shot up.
"This is exactly what I was saying!" He said. "It sounds like an ambush." He pocketed his gun, and ran outside, Sam on his heels.
They stopped short when they saw Chase just standing there, staring at the sky, one hand over his eyes to block out the sun. He turned when he heard their footsteps, and grinned, until he saw they came armed.
"Oh, drop those. I mean, they wouldn't work, I don't think, but still. They're not necessary."
Instinctually, Sam turned his eyes to the sky, trying to spot whatever Chase was watching for.
All of a sudden, a black dot appeared, and began rapidly growing larger.
Apparently, Dean had seen it too. "What the hell is that?" He cried.
Sam squinted as it began to get clearer, and he was able to make out wings. It seemed abnormally large for a bird, though.
Chase glanced at the sky for a second, then smiled again. "Okay, guys, don't freak out." He said placatingly, as if he was already trying to calm them down. Maybe that was a good idea on his part.
When Sam finally made out what was approaching, he took several steps back, so he was half-hidden and no longer immediately obvious.
Dean glanced at the sky, paled, and did the same thing.
A large black horse slammed into the dirt next to Chase, and Sam blinked. It was a pegasus. A large, winged...horse.
It was glossy and smooth, maybe five feet tall, and somewhat intimidating. The wings were huge. Absolutely massive, and even folded up they only added to the horse's size.
It made an irritated noise, and Sam noticed it was panting slightly.
"Yeah, yeah." Chase said. "Look, I'm sorry for making you come all the way down here, but I had no choice, really. Tell you what, you can hang out for a bit."
Chase paused, as if he was listening to it. "Maybe later."
The horse made another noise, and Chase rolled his eyes. "At least I'm not saying no!"
He turned to face the brothers. "Sam, Dean... Meet Blackjack. My annoying pegasus."
The pegasus whinnied, and Sam took a step forwards. Dean did too, albeit with his gun out.
Chase rolled his eyes and quick as a blink, knocked it out of his hands. "Don't shoot the pegasus." He said, as if he was speaking to a toddler.
Sam grinned, and the pegasus made a noise as if it was laughing.
Chase turned his head sharply to it. "Dude. Really?"
The pegasus fluttered its wings, and Sam could swear he and Dean were being mocked.
Chase grinned. "He likes donuts. So, if you have any..." When neither Sam nor Dean made a move, Chase nodded. "There you go, Blackjack. I asked. Now could you quit it?"
A stray thought crossed Sam's mind.
Donuts.
His eyes widened when he realized that that wasn't him. Was he seriously hearing the horse?
He shook his head, and pretended he had imagined the whole thing.
Chase grinned at them both smugly. "So, now do you believe me?"
Dean gave Chase a skeptical look.
"Oh, come on!" Chase groaned. "Have you ever seen a pegasus before? I mean, seriously! You guys should be all, 'Wow, Chase, that's amazing!'"
Sam noticed there was a slight stutter before he said 'Chase.' Like he was about to say something else.
"Wow, Chase, that's amazing." Dean mocked sarcastically. He appeared to have gotten over his initial fear of it, and looked like he was itching to shoot it again. "Get rid of it now."
Chase pouted, and patted the pegasus's side. "You're just jealous that Blackjack doesn't like you."
"W-what?" Dean sputtered. "No! It's freaky, man. Horses aren't supposed to have wings."
The pegasus neighed, and Sam got the feeling Dean had just been grievously insulted, even if neither of them could understand that.
Chase slapped Blackjack lightly. "Dude, really? You have got to stop hanging out with Arion. You're lucky neither of them speak...horse."
So Sam was right. Although, who was Arion? Just another question added to the pile about Chase and his mysteriousness. And it didn't look like any of them were going to be answered anytime soon.
Sam sighed. "Look, this has been great, Chase. I like the pegasus, but-"
Dean cut him off. "But that horse is absolutely creepy. It's staring at me." And it was, like it was intentionally trying to psych Dean out.
It probably was.
Chase took the hint. "Okay, well, Blackjack just flew over thirteen hundred miles, freaky teleportation powers aside—like one time he showed up in Topeka and while that was great I still don't know how he managed it—so, he's a bit tired. So he's gonna hang around a bit, maybe pester some locals for donuts."
Dean looked horrified, and Sam felt the same way. Chase was planning to just release the pegasus onto an unsuspecting town? At best, nobody died, and the pegasus got dissected. And that was only the best possible outcome.
Chase must have seen their expressions, because he laughed. "No, no. I have a heck of a lot of stuff to explain to you. Here, go inside. Blackjack'll be fine."
To the horse, he said, "You're free to go." He waited a beat, and then yelled out as the pegasus was getting ready to fly off. "Don't call me boss!"
Chase went back inside, following Sam, who still didn't understand how the pegasus (the highly-visible-in-the-daylight-pegasus) was going to remain unseen. Chase seemed fairly confident in its abilities, though.
And that was another thing! Why was Sam so trusting of Chase already? He didn't know Chase all that well, but Chase seemed okay with the pegasus, so now he was, too. It didn't make sense, but somehow, Sam was just so...calm around Chase.
And that was worrisome.
A/N: I got a lot of reviews telling me that there were some problems with the formatting, that something had gone wrong. I dunno what the problem was (I mean I saw it with my own two eyes but like I have absolutely no clue what caused it but whatever it's fixed now), but I think that since I just copy-and-pasted from a Word Document (I've never had this problem before, though, so?) it didn't come out right. Anyways, hopefully there's none of that "p-(what is even happening)" stuff. So, uh, thank you to all the gorgeous people who brought this to my attention and let me fixed it, 'cuz honestly I woulda never noticed otherwise. Happy trails! Hope it's all working now...