Part Three. Still writing my way out. :)
Special thanks to Jenmm31, go check out her unbelievably amazing stories.
Part 3 of a 3 part story. Natalie is 18. Please see profile page for disclaimers.
"Wot the FUCK," Taron hissed, wide eyed and stunned. The Wendigo slowly walked forward, its arms outstretched, just waiting for either teen to make a move. It seemed to be enjoying the thrill of the hunt, which in and of itself was terrifying. The way Taron saw it, they were both dead.
Lucky for him- he was with someone who didn't see it quite that way.
He nearly choked in surprise as Natalie suddenly snatched his jaw in a vice like grip, twisting his head about and yanking him down to her eye level. "I need you to trust me," she whispered urgently. The wild, raging fire behind her green eyes was both alarming and alluring. He had never seen anything quite like it before.
"I do," he managed to get out with her still gripping his jaw so hard the bone might shatter. She nodded once, let go, and then immediately turned her attention back to the monster. But he could feel a strange heat radiating off her, like she was a time bomb that was set to blow any second.
"When I give the signal run like fucking hell towards that tree that's split," she hissed, jerking her head towards their left. "And DON'T follow me, don't freak out. Just go. I'll be right behind you, you hear me?"
"Understood," he said firmly, his own hunting instinct kicking in as he dug in, ready to take off at her signal. He'd watched this woman pull a fucking monster out of her own neck- he was sure as hell gonna do whatever the fuck she wanted now.
But he didn't expect her to walk towards the damn thing.
"Wot the-" was all he got out.
"SHUT UP," was all he heard back.
Taron was torn- he couldn't let her sacrifice herself, which is what it looked like she was doing. But she said she'd be behind him, right? What the hell was she-
Before he could finish the panicked thought, Natalie suddenly raced towards the wendigo, feinting to its side at the last possible second. Taron had never seen a human move so fast before in his life; it was almost supernatural. The wendigo spun around, lashing out at Natalie with its razor sharp talons. Taron heard the tearing of fabric- but not of flesh. A whir of silver sliced through the air, and the screech of pain from the creature was enough to make his eardrums want to burst.
"GO!" Natalie screamed over the sound. How he heard her, he would never know. But a lifetime of training and being taught to follow orders in a deadly situation kicked in. He bolted the way Natalie had indicated before, looking for the split tree she mentioned.
He couldn't help himself- he turned and looked over his shoulder as he bolted. He had to know that she was okay. He saw Natalie scale a tree next to the thrashing monster like she was a freaking monkey, then whip around to see the creature. One of her silver throwing knives was sticking out of the wendigo's eye socket, and it was lashing around wildly in her direction. Without missing a breath she had extracted another knife from her boot, throwing it with deadly precision and impaling the monster's other eye. The wendigo howled in agony and fury, lurching towards her. Taron's heart stopped for a moment as Natalie's leg flung out- he was terrified that it had managed to grab her. But he saw her connect with the creature's face, knocking its head backwards. She launched herself off the tree over the howling monster, caught a branch and swung to the ground. Then she took off like the wind towards him.
Taron felt his heart start again, which was really very convenient seeing as he was running harder than he ever had in his life. He suddenly spotted the split tree Natalie was talking about- inconspicuous amongst the other trees other than the split up the center. Despite the fact that she had been further away from it than him, Natalie beat him to it by three seconds. She planted her foot in the center of the split and reached up into the clump of leaves on the right fork of the tree. Her hand closed on something and she pulled with all her might. A trapdoor suddenly sprung open behind the tree, flinging the dead leaves and forest detritus that had been covering it all over the forest floor.
With that strange heat still radiating off her and almost subhuman strength, Natalie snatched the front of Taron's shirt and practically threw him into the mouth of the trapdoor. His hands quickly found a ship's ladder leading down, and he gripped the sides, sliding down the railings as fast as he could to get the hell out of her way. She was right behind him, the screams of the creature echoing around the short trapdoor tunnel. It was horrifying, but still in the distance. As soon as she was under the forest floor, she yanked the trapdoor shut, spinning the wheel in the center. Taron heard metal lock into place and expected Natalie to stop and take a breath. But she was still scrambling down the ladder as quick as she could.
"Wot the FUCK," Taron gasped, his side aching as the adrenaline receded. His muscles were rigid with shock at the sudden mad dash and he tried to slow the beating of his heart.
"We're not out of the woods yet," Natalie replied grimly, her eyes wide and scanning the rock walls for something. As she twisted, Taron couldn't help but notice the front of her shirt was slashed to strings from where the monster's claws had torn it. His skin turned to ice as it registered just how close Natalie had actually come to a fatal blow.
"Your shirt…" he choked out, unable to shove the horrific image of the wendigo disemboweling her from his mind.
"Hey!" Natalie snapped at him, whipping around to look at him, her green eyes still infernos. "We are going to NOT DIE right now! We'll deal with THIS-" she roared, gesturing to her torn clothing, "-LATER!" She went back to examining the walls with a furious intensity. She finally spotted what she was looking for.
"Get behind that rock and towards the wall!" she ordered Taron, throwing the command over her shoulder as she darted towards the dark rock.
Taron whipped around, determined to follow her orders. He spotted the rock she was referring to about a hundred feet away, down the tunnel that led off from the one that had just saved them. He sprinted towards it as fast as he could. He threw himself behind the rock and turned to see what the hell she was doing. He saw her assess that he was safe, then slap her hand down on the wall. She then began tearing towards him, and he heard the unmistakable beep of a electronic countdown.
A wave of fury passed through him as he realized that she had waited to trigger whatever this was until he was safe but she was not. That melted away the instant she flung herself into his arms, ducking her head into his chest. He followed his instincts, curling in around her and pulling them both closer to the wall. Then the beeping stopped.
The world exploded into rocks, dirt, and dust as the escape hatch they had come down collapsed in on itself, blocking the entire tunnel down behind an impenetrable layer of rock. Not even a souped-up wendigo could make it through that. Taron felt Natalie gasp out a huge breath in his arms, and he knew it was over.
*SPN SPN SPN*
"Dean, did you hear that?" Sam said suddenly, interrupting his brother mid word as his head cocked towards the north. "Was that an explosion?" The brothers' eyes met for a split second, reading each others' minds in that way they always did, and they both bolted out of the kitchen. Reginald was hot on their heels.
They had just gotten to the area of the bunker where the smooth tan stone gave way to darker, rough rocks when Natalie and Taron staggered towards them. Both of them were covered in dirt, grime, and sweat. Natalie was wearing Taron's tee-shirt and the boy was bare chested.
"What the hell happened to you two?!" Dean said, his eyes nearly falling out of his head at the sight of his daughter. He rushed forward, grabbing her by the arms and wildly scanning her face to make sure she was okay. Reginald rushed to Taron, putting one hand behind the boy's head and the other on his shoulder.
"What happened?" Reginald said in a voice chocked with strangled emotion. Taron took a deep breath and looked his father in the eye, never flinching.
"Dad, it's here. The Wendigo. It's right here, right now."
Reginald paled. "You can't be serious." Taron just shook his head grimly. Reginald was at a complete loss for words. He listened as Taron quickly recounted the tale, and by the time he was finished, all of them were wearing identical masks of shock.
"It must…it must have followed me," Reginald whispered almost to himself in horror. "It must have followed me all the way from home."
"How in the hell did it do that?" Dean burst out. "It ain't like a wendigo can just hop on a freakin' plane. You'd think he'd get stopped by customs at least," he spat out sarcastically. Knowing he wasn't going to get an answer, he turned back to Natalie. "You blow the north tunnel?"
"Yes, sir," she said, nodding like the good soldier she was. He nodded back.
"Good job. Now why the hell are you wearing his shirt?"
Natalie bit her smart aleck retort back just in time. There was no freaking way that she could respond to Dean's stupid accusation after a wendigo attack without words that would make him skin her alive. Taron jumped in with the assist. "Trying to help her out, sir," he said, turning his head towards Dean. Dean's eyebrows shot up in surprise as he turned his head to look at Taron, but he didn't say anything. "Monster tore her shirt up pretty bad. Didn't seem respectable for me to have a shirt when hers was in tatters." Dean turned his head back to his daughter for confirmation. Natalie gave Dean a knowing smirk as if to say See? He's not terrible.
"Well…thanks for that," Dean mumbled, hating that he couldn't come up with some justification why this chivalrous gesture was actually some underhanded trick to corrupt his perfect little angel. Taron was blissfully unaware of Dean's mental state and chuckled to himself.
"Saved by Natalie Winchester," the teen said, shaking his head slowly. For two seconds Natalie was horrified at the idea that he was going to suddenly turn into one of those misogynistic assholes that couldn't handle when a woman had been the one doing the saving. But Taron suddenly pumped his fists in the air, once. "Just WAIT till I tell the boys! Natalie freakin' Winchester saved me! Oh, I'm gonna get so many pints outta braggin' about this to the boys."
*SPN SPN SPN*
The next morning, the Wendigo was still angrily stalking outside the bunker, hunting for the entrance. The knives that it had painfully extracted out of its eyes must have been made of silver- it was the only explanation why its healing properties hadn't fully restored its eyesight yet. The kick the female had given to its face had temporarily halted its ability to scent out the prey, but that had healed overnight. It was clear that the female prey was just as dangerous as the male prey had been, and knew a thing or two about Wendigos. Not that they had expected to run into a vengeful one hellbent on killing them all, the monster thought viciously. And it would. It had followed the older male all this way in order to exact revenge. And there was no hope for anyone who stood in the way.
Then the world exploded into flames.
Sam's face contracted in determination as he aimed the flamethrower at the beast, the thick layers of caked on mud and leaves melting and dripping off him from the heat of the fire. Taron had been right about covering their scents with mud since the wendigo would probably be healed by now. The thing hadn't smelled them coming. He had to give the kid credit- Taron was smart.
Sam was jolted back into the immediacy of the moment when a sudden splashing sound came from the pillar of fire that was trapping the wendigo. Something horribly wet and hot smacked Sam's face, and he instinctively dropped the gun, extinguishing the flames. He batted at his face, scraping the burning goo off, and looked up just in time to see the monster darting away from him.
It didn't get too far before it let out a roar of defiance. Reginald and Taron had managed to lasso the monster's wrists, stretching its arms out to the sides. The thin, metal, silver rope had been fascinating to Natalie; she'd never seen anything like it when the Paynes pulled it out of their gear last night and had spent at least an hour drooling over it. A couple barked words of command from Dean had made her refocus on their game plan. Dean had also kept her away from this particular task so as not to tempt her to lose focus again.
Reginald displayed some impressive knife work himself, sending a huge silver machete through the air and making it look as easy as tossing a crumpled up piece of paper in a wastebasket. The machete sliced through the monster's right leg, causing it to lose balance. Reginald redoubled his grip on the slick metal rope as the creature thrashed about in a rage. Taron secured the other line through the steel clamp on the tree, praying that the beast wouldn't just uproot the whole thing in its fury. He had to move fast.
Sprinting behind the monster, he spun the crossbow he had strapped to his back around and into his hands, igniting the tip by pressing just one button. He took aim and fired directly into the wendigo's lower back, sending the burning arrow right into the base of what used to be its spine. The monster arched his back in pain- just like they'd been hoping it would. Taron grinned lopsidedly to himself as he patted his crossbow lovingly. He'd have to thank Mick for sneaking this little gem to him when he got back.
As the wendigo's back arched and its chest became a wide-open target, Natalie flew towards it with the speed of a thousand horses. Her silver knife firmly in her grip, she tore a huge gash, naval to throat, in the beast's chest as she passed it. Dodging under the silver rope (she had wanted to try to jump over it but Dean said absolutely not because she was still too short- which pissed her off to no end, mostly because he was right) she kept running- she needed to get clear and NOW.
Dean stepped out of the shadows, his sadistic grin painting his face as the grenade launcher hummed to life in his hands. Reginald saw Dean and took off as well, getting clear. Satisfied that everyone except the monster was well out of range, Dean grinned evilly, and said exactly what he'd always wanted to say in this situation.
"Yippee Kay Aye, Mother Fucker," he growled, then fired.
The grenade flew straight into the open wound on the beast's chest, lodging itself firmly in its oozing guts. Five seconds later, the wendigo exploded, painting the forest in black blood and dripping gray skin.
Dean just held the grenade launcher up to his lips and blew away the smoke.
*SPN SPN SPN*
After some much needed showers, second showers, and a round of brandy for all those of drinking age, the Paynes were quietly sitting on either side of the war room table as the Winchesters cleaned and restocked their gear. It was like each group of hunters had their very own post hunt ritual, and even though this happened in their backyard instead of technically out on the field, old habits were hard to break. For the Paynes, however, this ritual took on a bit more poignancy that usual.
"I'm sorry, son," Reginald said quietly but sincerely.
"D'you believe me?" Taron replied just as quietly. "Do you believe me AGAIN, I guess is the real question here." There was no animosity, just a boy wanting his father to trust him.
"I do," Reginald said. "And…there's something you need to know, something I didn't want to tell you before…" he trailed off, but then sighed and looked his son straight in the eye.
Taron sat up straight, ready to listen.
*SPN SPN SPN*
"Where do you think you're going?" Dean asked, his eye following his daughter as she made her way out of the weaponry.
"Gonna go find the Paynes and see if there's anything they need," Natalie replied, halting to a stop at Dean's words. "That…okay?" she asked, a little confused why Dean's eyebrows were narrowed at her.
"Gonna find one Payne in particular?" he shot back, his Dad voice coming through. Natalie rolled her eyes. Seriously? After yesterday and today and seriously?!
"Fine, if you must know, I am fully planning on finding Taron, stripping him naked and having my wicked, wicked way with him in the middle of the afternoon in a very echo-y stone bunker surrounded by my father, my uncle, and his father," she shot back sarcastically. Dean's face contorted in disgust.
"UGH, you are the worst," he growled at her. "Fine, point made. Just…don't tell him what I said earlier about him. You hear me?"
"Don't snoop on my conversation with him, then."
"Go away before I kill you."
"Love you too, Daddy."
"Find out how he got in."
"UGH LET IT GO, DAD."
*SPN SPN SPN*
"Hell of a good job back there," Natalie said, finally putting the silver rope down on the dungeon table after Taron had let her play with it for the better part of twenty minutes. "Even my dad was impressed, although don't ever tell him I told you that, because he'd kill me." Natalie shook her head in exasperation. Earlier today when Sam had dropped off the sample vials of the goo that had exploded from the wendigo at Taron's request, he'd made it clear that the Paynes were welcome back at the bunker at any time, and could always count on the Winchesters for help. Dean had just glared at Taron instead.
Taron chuckled. "He still don't like me, eh?" he said, grinning to beat the band. "Thinks I'm gonna make off with his precious daughter and drive her into the sunset on the back of a motorcycle or sumfing?"
Natalie snickered. "Yes, but don't flatter yourself," she sassed. "He thinks that about anyone who's within a five year range of me and doesn't wear a dress."
Taron laughed. "Well, he's got reason to worry love, you being as gorgeous as you are and all that."
Natalie rolled her eyes, but turned her head so he wouldn't see her smile. "See, it's shit like that that makes him think that any compliment you pay me is gonna make me run away with you."
"Oh damn, run away with me? Already?" Taron's eyebrows arched up, and he smiled, sickeningly pleased with himself. "Wouldja look at that. I guess I'm even faster than I've lied about."
It was Natalie's turn to laugh. There was something about his self-deprecating humor that…well, it was fun and interesting, that's all it was. "You're a damn fine hunter, I'll give you that," she said, biting her lip as she boldly made eye contact. Might as well give credit where credit was due.
Taron smoothly sauntered over to her, letting his index finger trace along the edge of the table she was standing next to. "I'm damn good at other things as well," he said, tilting his head at her, piercing her with his baby blues.
She turned to him, shyly tucking a piece of long black hair behind one ear. "Yeah?" she said in a soft, flighty voice.
"Yeah," he said, stepping up closer. "You wanna reminder of just how good I am at other stuff too?" He held his place, wanting her to make the next move. Natalie slowly raised her face to his. She could feel his warm breath, the heat radiating off him. She moved in ever so slowly, just until her lips were a millimeter away from his.
"Taron," she whispered breathlessly.
"Yeah?" he replied hoarsely.
"You're….gonna have to try a LOT harder than that," she whispered back. As his face cracked into a grin, she leaned forward and pecked his lips quickly, then pushed away from him playfully. "See? Not as fast as you've lied about, boy."
"My mistake," Taron said, rubbing his lips and grinning like an idiot. He LOVED the thrill of the chase and she…well, she was worth any chase she wanted to give him.
"Gonna take a lot more than some slick moves to impress me."
"I see that now."
"Step up your game, guv'nor," she said with a little shrug and a grin. That made him burst out laughing, and Natalie took that as her cue for the perfect exit. She skipped light heartedly out of the room and around the corner. Her joy was cut short however, as she slammed right into Dean.
She stumbled backwards in shock. As she got her balance, she watched Dean's face go from white to red. Probably felt the same as hers, as she knew she was doing the exact same thing.
"You said you wouldn't snoop on our conversation!" she hissed accusingly.
"YOU said you wouldn't tell him that I was impressed by him!" Dean retorted in a hushed voice.
They both pointed their fingers at each other's faces. "I'm telling Sam!" they both said at the same time. Then they both jerked backwards, surprised. It had been a long time since they'd been that in sync. They both bit their lips, wheels grinding in their brains as they weighed their own options and the possible retaliation from the other one. After a solid minute of silence, Dean spoke.
"I take you into town to that new ice cream store and we forget this ever happened?" he asked gruffly.
Natalie's eyes narrowed. "Let me drive Baby and you've got a deal."
"I know where Sam is right now and my legs are longer."
"FINE- No driving, but as many toppings I want."
"Deal. Get your jacket."