Title: Sequestration
Author: Moonfairyhime
Rating: M
Disclaimer: I don't own Supernatural.
Summary: The future isn't tomorrow, it's today, and this future isn't what anyone had expected. Humans stand between Vatic and Shade. Both brothers walk the path they believe is correct, but who knows what is right and wrong anymore?
Feedback: I'd really appreciate it.
"You're right, Dean," Sam said softly as Dean bandaged his arm. Sam could go to the MedHut, but for reasons known only to Sam, he utterly refused. "I don't want to be a tool anymore. I don't want to die like Eric, I want to die like a true hunter, not someone's pet. I want to be Sam again."
Dean looked at his little brother. "Would you mind being Sammy again?"
"Only if you call me that," Sam said, a familiar grin on his lips, "However, we've got a small problem. I'm pledged to Vatic, I just can't walk out. They'll hunt me down like I hunted down Chessa."
Dean looked thoughtful. "Are you sure you can't break the contract, Sam?"
"No one has ever tried, Dean. It's a safe place here, and unless you go crazy, you don't want to leave it," Sam said, rubbing his temples, "Besides, I don't think they'll let me go."
"Why not? You said yourself Vatic has other seers than just you."
"When Eric said I was one of the best, he wasn't lying. They get flashes of what is to come. I get full-blown accounts." At Dean's confused look, Sam elaborated. "It's like you seeing that the Impala was a beautiful machine that deserved to be waxed every Saturday and it deserved only premium gas and someone else looking at it and seeing something with four wheels and a transmission. And if Vatic was willing to kill members of the younger sect for whatever reason, I'm sure they would have no qualms about keeping me here against my will just for my visions."
"Okay, then. What about breaking the necklace, Sam?"
"Good idea, but the necklace is tied to a psychic's life force. The gem in the middle isn't a gem at all, it's some of our blood. If we break the necklaces, we die. The necklaces are a damn good controlling device." At Dean's incredulous look, Sam sighed. "Look, Dean, when I agreed to the necklace, I wasn't planning on leaving. It was the first home I'd found since I left you and Dad."
"Are there any spells do remove it?"
Sam looked thoughtful. "I don't know, but I can check. Like I said, no one has ever tried to leave Vatic unless they were insane. I could try asking Conner, though. Make up some lie about needing the information or something like that. He'd help me, I think.."
Dean smiled at Sam. Even though they both knew the Elder would never let Sam leave, Sam still wanted to ask Elder Junior on how to get the hell out of Dodge. If Sam's honesty was a car, it'd be, well, it'd be the Impala. "Can you shield your mind?"
It was Sam's turn to look confused. "I'm sorry? Can I do what?"
"You know, like put a mental block on your mind?"
"I perfected a mental block against Shade, but I never tried one against Vatic. I could try though." Sam looked thoughtful, "But no matter what, we're going to be on the run for the rest of our lives. We'd be fighting against not only Shade, but Vatic too."
"And how was that different from before?"
"Touché".
At his brother's worried look, Dean grinned. "Don't worry, Sammy. I'll get you out of here."
Vatic was made to be a haven for all of those who lived there. While it wasn't as good as Earth had been, it was better than the Earth that was now. Fresh food, running water, and clean huts made it hard for people to want to leave. It was safe, no creature from Shade would ever try to take out such a fortress, unless of course, properly bribed. But the humans (and most of the psychics, for that matter) believe it to be safe and that was all that mattered.
No psychic had even tried to leave before, and for that matter, no human had ever. Dean would have no trouble leaving Vatic (and even though he had only been there roughly three days, a few would be glad to see him leave), but Sam would have a little bit more trouble. Once a psychic chose to live in Vatic, they were there until death. Those who wanted to leave were designated rogues and hunted down and killed. No psychic lived outside of Vatic for more than a week, unless on an official job from Vatic.
Of course, as the old saying goes, there's a first time for everything.
A day after Eric's death, Conner cornered Sam in one of the hidden libraries of Vatic. "Sam, what's going on? After Eric died, I noticed you left the battlefield."
Sam didn't bother looking up from his book. "Conner, do you know a way to remove the necklaces?"
If Conner was surprised by Sam's question, he didn't show it. "Sam, I asked you a question. What's going on and why do you want to know how to remove a necklace?"
"Conner, I'm trusting you to keep this secret. I'm leaving Vatic."
"Your brother has convinced you to leave, hasn't he?"
Sam finally looked up from his book. "I can't be a tool anymore, Conner. I want to have a life again."
"Sam, are you sure there's a life for you outside of Vatic? You've seen what's out there. People live primitively. They don't take baths, they don't have decent clothes anymore, and they don't have books," Conner said, trying to get something to appeal to Sam. "You aren't a tool Sam. You're a critical part of Vatic. Can you make a life out there, knowing what you know? People are going to find out that you were a part of Vatic and they aren't going to like you."
"I want to try to make a life." Sam said, eye filled with defiance.
"I'm not Eric, Sam. I can't give you kind words when you wake up from a vision, but I'd be there for you."
"Conner, I appreciate your offer, but I need Dean. I need my big brother."
"You leave Vatic and you will never be offered its sanctuary again." At Sam's nod of understanding, Conner signed. "I'll ask the Elder, tell him that I ordered you to hunt down a rogue or something ridiculous like that."
"That's all I ask Conner." Sam smiled as he watched Conner walk away. As soon as Conner was gone, Sam frowned. "You lying bastard."
Conner didn't want to betray Sam, but his ingrained sense of loyalty was screaming for him to do it. Conner paused outside the door to Elder's private rooms, where he was scheduled to discuss the outcome of the battle. Vatic needed Sam, he was one of the most powerful seers ever. His second sight grew more and more accurate with each vision. Sam also wasn't too shabby in a battle. Although Sam's Gifts were mental, Conner trusted Sam to have his back with his long knife in any battle. Conner ran his fingers through his hair; the younger sect was his responsibility. Did he want to trouble the Elder with the idea that Sam might defect? Did Conner want to listen to the little voice that told him to let Sam go?
Conner didn't have Sam's precognitive abilities, but something told Conner that Sam would leave Vatic one way or another.
The Elder smiled as Conner walked in. "Ahh, Conner. How did the battle go?"
"We lost twenty-five psychics before forcing Shade to retreat due to Vlad's death." Conner said.
"Easy, boy. You may sit," the Elder waited until Conner sat down. "Now, what are you hiding from me?"
"Sam approached me today, Sir. He asked me how to remove the necklaces. He wants to leave Vatic, Sir."
"He does now, does he? You didn't tell him how to remove the necklace, did you?"
"Of course not, Sir."
"We can't have Sam leave, Conner. His visions are a powerful asset to Vatic and he will be a powerful asset to you once you take over Vatic in a few years."
Conner looked thoughtful. "May I ask you a question?"
"Of course, boy."
"Sir, if Sam is such an asset to Vatic, then why is he a bounty hunter? Why does he have one of the most dangerous jobs in Vatic?"
If the Elder was surprised or annoyed by the question, he didn't show it. He merely smiled at Conner. "Why, we all have jobs that we are good at; and Sam's niche just happens to be bounty hunting."
If Conner had anything else he wanted to add to the question, he didn't say. He merely nodded a good-bye before walking out of the door.
One of the visions that the Elder received once he moved the psychics to Vatic was that Sam would bring about a great change. His vision wasn't specific as to when, but when Sam went to hunt down Chessa, the Elder knew the time of change had to be soon. Contacting Vlad to kill Sam may not have been one of his best ideas, but the Elder liked being in charge.
The Elder didn't know what kind of change Sam would bring about in Vatic, but, nonetheless, he was trying to make sure that the change was never brought about.
"You told Conner," Dean said, his face a mask of disbelief, "about wanting to leave? Are you stupid?"
Sam tilted his head. "Something big is about to go down."
"Did you have a vision?"
"It's hard to explain."
"Well, try."
"It's not a vision, per se, more of a feeling. I know something big is about to happen and Conner plays an important part. I knew he would tell the Elder, Dean, and I knew he was lying to me during the entire conversation."
Dean sighed and ran his fingers through his short hair. "Man, Sammy. I understand that you trust these feelings of yours, but dammit, it's hard for me to trust something that I can't see."
"I'm asking you to trust me, Dean, not my sixth sense. You do trust me, don't you?"
"Absolutely, little brother."
Sam nodded, seemingly pleased with Dean's sincerity. "You packed my stuff?"
"I'm glad to see you don't own as much black as I thought you did. I thought Vatic turned you into Goth Boy, too."
Sam couldn't help but grin. "We, Vatic, whatever, wear black just when going out on missions."
Dean was going to say something else, but Sam put his finger to his mouth. Dean frowned, and watched as Sam withdrew his long knife. One of these days, Dean decided, he was really had to ask where Sam stored that thing. Sam frowned. "Come out Conner."
Conner nodded as he walked into the hut. "Sam, I am going to ask you this once and I expect you to answer me honestly…"
Dean actually snarled at Conner. "First, you betray my little brother to your damn Elder and now you want Sam to answer your questions. I don't think so."
Fire began to dance around Conner's fingertips. Sam put his long knife away and sighed. "Conner, what do you want?"
"What do you know of the future?"
"Something big is going to happen. Something big involving you and the Elder." Sam said sitting down. "After that, it's foggy at best. I know this isn't set in stone, it can be changed by one minor thing or another."
"Sam, if you help me do one thing, I promise I will break the necklace you wear and release you and your brother from Vatic."
"Let's hear what you have to say," Dean said, standing behind Sam.
"Help me organize a coup." When Sam's eyes went wide, Conner quickly continued his explanation. "You're right, Sam. The younger sect is just a tool to the older sect. We're playthings at best. I told the Elder that we lost twenty-five good psychics today and he didn't bat an eye. I told him you wanted to leave, and he mentioned how important your visions are and then I asked him why he made you a bounty hunter. He had no answer."
"He didn't bat an eye because he staged the battle. He wanted us killed," Sam said.
Dean looked like he was beginning to see the big picture. "People like Sammy, don't they?"
Conner nodded. "A lot of the humans like him. He spends a lot of time working with them when he's not out hunting rogues. Older and younger psychics like him because he's a bounty hunter."
"Sam is also sitting this room right now," Sam said, frowning at the two older men.
"People also know that Sam's a seer and if he foresees something, they'll most likely go along with it. I've heard a lot of the humans becoming annoyed with the segregation between us when it's not even needed any more. Some of the younger psychics don't like the old rules, like the ones on leaving Vatic. They don't like how things are done and how all rules are made by the older sect. No one from this sect has a say in the rules."
"And you're willing to change all this?" Dean asked.
Neither Conner nor Dean noticed the distant look appear on Sam's face. Conner nodded. "I am. Things need to change around here. Earth will never go back to the way it was before Below came Above, but psychics can do more to help the humans who chose to not live in Vatic."
Dean nodded his approval. "I'm in. What about you, Sammy? Sam? Oh shit, not again."
Sam gasped he came out of the vision and Dean was immediately on he knees next to Sam. "Hey, Sammy. Keep breathing. There you go. In and out. Now what was that all about?"
Sam took a calming breath, and smiled at his brother. "Everything will go as it should."
"Thank you, Master Yoda," Dean said, rubbing his temples.
Conner, however, took it as it was meant. "Should we rebel Sam?"
"Conner, look into your heart. Do what you feel is right, not what other people want you to do. You've made logical reasons to organize a coup, but does your heat believe in them?"
Conner spent most of the night alone in his hut thinking. He had been loyal to Vatic and the Elder since the night they came and took him from his bed on the Marine base. He took orders from the Elder, always ignoring how wrong some of the orders made him feel, but he always carried them out in proper Marine fashion. As a Marine, he was trained to follow orders, but he technically wasn't a Marine anymore. He was a solider of Vatic. When he was given the power of leading the younger sect, he vowed never to let anything happen to them. Marines don't leave people behind.
Conner had promised himself that he would work himself into a position to be able to change things in the Marine Corps, and as a the leader of the younger sect of Vatic, he was in a position to change things.
And change things he would.
If the older sect knew of the coup that was going on right under their very noses, they never said anything. Of course, with Dean and a few other humans drugging the older sect's seers, the older sect probably never knew what hit them.
Conner had found more support than he thought he would. Sam and all of the younger sect backed him on the coup, they all thought it was time for a change. Many humans also joined the coup, stating that they lived in Vatic too, so they should also get a voice in what goes on. What surprised Conner the most (although Sam didn't seemed phased by it, the bastard), was that a few members of the older sect joined the coup. Other members of the older sect chose to stay out of the coup, knowing what the Elder did was wrong and not wanting to admit that they were part of the Elder's plan.
Conner looked out at the assembled group. "We all know why we're here. We want a better life in Vatic. We've accepted that we'll never have the life we had before, so we have to make our lives now as good as we can. If anyone has any doubts to why they are here, leave now. I only want people who are dedicated to Vatic and to making this place a better place to live. I don't care if you hate me, work with me on this coup and we'll work something else out later."
When no one moved, Dean walked up next to Conner. "Some humans and me, along with Sam and a handful of other psychics good at sensing things, will distract the guards around the Elder's glorified hut."
"The older sect is in charge of keeping some of the more powerful leaders… busy. Others will be keeping humans safe. While we appreciate your support, we don't want any of you to be hurt in battle." Conner said. "I'll be going in to deal with the Elder, along with a group of people trained with a physical Gift. We move in five hours. Any questions?"
The government of Vatic was a simple and complex thing. It consisted of the Elder, who lived in his splendid two level hut, and his group of trusted Advisors. The Advisors numbered nine total, but they existed for show. All decisions were made by the Elder, "voted" on by the Advisors, and then carried out by the younger sect of Vatic. The government worked just fine as long as no one asked questions and everyone followed what they were told to do.
Oh, times were a changin' in Vatic.
Dean nodded as he led his small group of ten humans and six psychics through the narrow walkways towards the Elder's hut. Sam was by his side and Dean grinned to himself. If only their dad was here, it would be just like old times. Sam halted as two guards walked towards them and Dean watched as two humans silently brought them down. He nodded his approval and watched as Sam opened the door. Guards begin to file out and Dean cursed his luck.
"You thought you could get past unnoticed?"
Dean nodded. "Well, yeah. That's the whole idea of a sneak attack."
Another guard looked at Sam. "And, you, Sam Winchester, going against the Elder like this?"
Sam shrugged. "Seemed like the thing to do."
"Attack!"
Dean watched as Sam dug his long knife out again, pulling his own knife into the ready position. "Dude, where do you keep that thing?"
Sam neatly slashed a guard, disabling him but not killing him. "You don't want to know, Dean, believe me. You'll live longer."
It didn't surprise Dean that he and Sam still fought in almost perfect sync. As Dean knocked out one guard, Sam would wound another one. Their ballet was nearly perfect, they only missed a few steps that were easily rectifiable. Although the brothers had spent six years apart, it's hard to erase sixteen years of training.
The first thing the Elder noticed when he stepped out of his evening bath was that it was too quiet. He thought about when he knew and cursed; some days it was a pain to be right. He called all the guards he could, and was almost shocked when almost half of his guards didn't show up. When he questioned some of them about the missing, there were no answers. The Elder cursed again as he sent half of the guards out to defend the perimeter of the hut and ordered the other half to stand either outside the room or in the room.
The Elder wasn't going down without a fight, even though he wouldn't be doing most of the actual fighting
As soon as Sam and Dean and their group finished their work with the outside guards, Conner and his group moved in. As Conner watched his group knock out and occasionally maim the guards, he walked towards the Elder.
The Elder greeted him with a smile. "Why, Conner, it's pleasant to see you. However, the hour is late and I would like to retire."
"You're going to retire all right." Conner's eyes flashed as fire danced on his fingertips. "You let those psychics die and you didn't care about them at all."
"Of course I cared about them, boy. You don't know what it's like to have power," the Elder glared at Conner. "I saved all of their asses when I learned that Below would come Above, but when I learned that this coup d'état would happen, do you know how shocked I was? I saved you all and you would all betray me."
"You're purposely killing the younger sect of psychics. It wouldn't surprise me if the reason you declared so many psychics rogues is just to thin out the ranks of the younger sect," when the Elder said nothing in return, the fire dancing in Conner's fingertips grew, "You did. I may have sworn allegiance to follow you, but I swore to protect the younger sect. I swore I would do what's best for them and that is one promise I will keep."
Both the Elder and Conner ignored the body that came flying though the door. Most of Conner's group stood unharmed by the door, waiting for a command from Conner. Conner absentmindedly waved his hand and they quietly walked back into the other room.
"You say you don't want to become like me. Who is going to stop you from doing that?" The Elder sneered.
The fire dancing around Conner's fingertips died away. "Everyone will. I'll run Vatic fairly; everyone will have a vote. We'll protect everyone, not just those who live here."
"You don't have the power to defeat me, boy," the Elder sneered, "There's a reason I became the Elder. I'm the best damn psychic ever."
"Maybe when Vatic was first created, you were the best damn psychic ever. You've become complacent, you let your power as the Elder become you. When was the last time you had a clear vision of the future?"
The Elder slapped Conner's face and ignored Conner when he smirked. "Insolent bastard! My Gifts may only be the mental, but I can still predict the future accurately and I know you're not going to defeat me."
"What temperature does blood boil at?"
The Elder looked momentarily confused. "Why would I know a thing like that, boy?"
"You may want to find out," Conner said as the chair the Elder had been sitting on caught fire. "Because, when you hit me, you left your hand in contact with my face long enough for me to heat your blood. Your blood is going to continue to boil until you, more or less, pop like a balloon."
"You can't do this to me! I'm the Elder," the Elder looked worried at his own statement.
The edges of the room began to catch fire and as Conner began to walk out the door, the Elder shouted to him that he was a coward. Conner turned around and the robes the Elder had been wearing caught fire. "Do not call me a coward. I didn't send innocent psychics into battle just so I could stay in power. This building will be burned to the ground. Maybe we'll make this ground a memorial for all of those you killed, however indirectly."
Outside, Sam and Dean had the pleasure of watching the building burn to the ground as Conner and his group stood nearby. Dean turned to Sam and grinned. "I wish we had marshmallows."
In the week that followed the incident at the Elder's hut, Conner was put in charge of Vatic and he carefully selected advisors to actually do their job. He picked both humans and psychics to be his advisors, and he also began to create a more democratic system, though there were many kinks that needed worked out of their plans. However, everyone was ready for change and this time they wanted Vatic set up so that everyone was treated equal. If it took time, that only meant that there were going to get it right this time.
The day that Conner destroyed Sam's necklace was the same day that a makeshift memorial was erected to those who died because of the Elder's orders. Two days later, Sam and Dean bid goodbye to Vatic. Sam was sad to leave Vatic, after all, he had lived there for over two years. However, his heart was telling him one thing. He finally made it home.
And if home was a dusty highway with a brother who called him Vision Boy, then so be it. Sam was happy.
"It's a long ass walk to the next thing that resembles a town," Dean said, squinting at the sky.
"I miss the Impala." Sam said, adjusting his grip on his bag.
Dean nodded in agreement before turning serious. "Sam, what was the vision you had before Conner took over Vatic?"
Sam smiled. "Do you really want to know?"
"If I didn't, I wouldn't have asked."
"It was of this very moment. It was us walking down this old dirt road, continuing on the Winchester hunting tradition." Sam sighed.
Dean nodded, satisfied with that answer, but he had one last question for his younger brother. "Why did you go into that battle against Vlad, knowing what you did?"
"Because I'm Sam, Dean. I do stupid things like think with my heart and not with my head, which is better than you because you think with your dick."
"Bitch."
"Jerk." A true smile lit up Sam's face; easily brighter than the sun that now hid behind the fog.
The brothers Winchester were back.
