Sam and the Librarian – Chapter 7

More 'Revelations' in this section.

We all know what happens in the show, and how the boys find out about each piece of information. It's obviously different here. So if anything seems like they shouldn't have known it, or they're coming to conclusions too easily, please let me know.

Also, this is the first weekend of a long Christmas break. The campus should be largely empty.

At the restaurant Sam sends Dean and Bobby ahead to get a table. Once the others are inside, he leans on the trunk of the car and pulls me in against his chest. "So, crazy morning."

"Yeah," I say, "Dude your brother is in the bible! That is some next level shit."

"I know. I thought pursued by a demon your whole life was over the top, but this is something else." He meets my eyes. "Is it too much? Like maybe this-" He gestures between us, "Is not worth being on hell's radar?"

I want to scoff and dismiss his concerns out of hand, but I can tell he won't accept that. So, I do think about it. I close my eyes and picture confronting an actual demon. During the morning's research all three men, I assumed deliberately, had described their worst demon encounters in (sometimes) gory detail. Worst, like there were some demon encounters that weren't that big of a deal! Currently, it was a toss-up between the police station encounter, and Sam himself being possessed, as to which disturbs me more. I look up into his multi-colored eyes and it's no contest. "Yeah, I'm good."

He blinks, "Seriously?"

"Sam don't make me go all mushy on you."

"Mushy!? There's nothing gentle about demons, B."

"I'm not talking about demon encounters; I'm talking about being with you!"

"Are you saying I'm worth risking demon encounters?" He smiles just a little, the smug bastard.

"Yeah, isn't that what you were asking?"

The smile fades. "I can't watch what happened to Jess…happen to you." It's not an offhand concern, I get that, but-

"It's too late Winchester. It's been too late for two weeks now." I put a finger under his chin and lift it, so our eyes meet. "I wanted you to bend me back over one of the tables in front of God and everyone the first time I saw you. But when you pretended to drop that Vincenze book, and then got me to laugh at myself? I never wanted to let you out of my sight."

"Ah, Damnit B." He bends and kisses me, and the amazing kiss we shared just that morning is no better than the fumbling of untutored thirteen-year-olds in a broom closet in comparison.

Just before it can turn into something huge, in the middle of a parking lot in broad daylight, Dean throws cold water on the proceedings.

"Hey! What the hell man? Bobby and I have been waiting for 20 minutes! I'm gonna waste away!"

Sam laughs and lets me go, but then takes my hand. "Wow Dean, way to ruin a moment."

He blows a raspberry and scrunches up his nose in my favorite expression so far. "Oh please. You've got fifty or sixty years of moments to look forward to! I need my cheeseburger now!"

Bobby finds the next clue less than ten minutes after we get back to the library.

"I knew it! I knew I'd read something about Angels and vessels somewhere!" He picks up the book he's looking at and looks at the spine. "Compendium of Angel types!? How do you get your hands on all these books I've always thought were myths?"

Mrs. S shrugs. "The MoL's not only worked hard at collecting everything they could find pertaining to the supernatural, they weren't picky about the methods used to do so, and enjoyed starting rumors or laying false trails."

"Knowledge for knowledge's sake, and never mind who might get hurt or need that knowledge they kept locked away?" Dean raised an eyebrow. "Nice."

"I'm not defending them, most of them were amoral at best, deeply greedy at their worst." She takes a sip of her tea, "Mr. Singer, what did you find?"

"That angels need vessels. Listen to this, 'Only when he claims a holy vessel may an angel leave heaven and visit the earthly plain. The vessel must be strong in his body and mind, as well as devout in his soul.'

"Wow, that doesn't sound one bit creepy." I shudder to give my sarcasm emphasis.

Bobby nods, "Oh if you liked that, you're going to love this: 'A vessel for the most high, the Archangel, must be bread to this purpose.' Well…"

A cold spot, like a drop of water in a still pond, hits the base of my spine and spreads, ripples move north and south at a steady pace. Beside me, Sam makes a terrible sound -something between a sob and growl. Even though I have never heard an animal make this sound, I know for certain this is the sound one makes when it realizes That it's trapped and it's not getting away.

He shoves his chair back and stands in one motion, then tears out of the room. Dean is only a step or two behind him.

"Are you implying what I think you are, Bobby?" My stomach is doing somersaults.

He sighs. "If Dean is in hell, Sam's not going to handle it well."

"That was their plan." Mrs. S nods to herself. "I wondered why Dean was alive at all. Much better to kill off the family and have Sam to raise by themselves."

I just barely keep my lunch down. "But it's so much better to have their father raise them as hunters."

"Right," Bobby says. "They learn all the lore, learn to fight, grow up tough and strong, but with only each other to depend on. Kill off their dad and Sam only has Dean to support him."

"Ruby!" I shout, jumping to my feet, "She's been leading Sam on, telling him she can help him save Dean, but she's also been saving them both, AND playing them off against each other."

"Dean dies and goes to hell, and Ruby continues to pour poison in Sam's ear so that by the time they break enough seals, he's ready to do anything to get revenge on the demon that killed Dean…" I find I can't say it out loud.

I stand and walk down the hall to the women's restroom. I make it into a stall with only moments to spare before everything I've eaten in my entire life gushes forth. I cough and spit and have just enough strength to stand and flush before I collapse against the wall.

"Dear God, WHY!? The Devil, Satan, fucking Lucifer inside my sweet Sam? Never!"

In an instant I am made of rage. White hot, molten, steam coming out of every pour fury suffuses my being, and I'm on my feet in an instant. I need to destroy something.

I don't realize I'm outside until I find myself heaving the lid off the dumpster behind the library. My jeans are soaked to my knees and my hands are two blocks of ice, but all I can think is to break, smash, rend, tear. I'm in luck, parties in the nearby dorms last night must have been spectacular, because the dumpster is full of bottles and cans providing me with ample ammunition. I grab a bottle and hurl it at the brick wall of the library. It explodes with a satisfying crash. The next one hits the fence. I put my whole body into it and glass flies thirty feet away, shattering on the concrete.

When I go for the next one, Sam is beside me. I don't ask where he went or how he found me, I just hand him his own missile. His bottle goes over the fence and out to the road but instead of breaking, it buries itself in a snowbank. He tries again, and this bottle disintegrates against the fence. Before I can reach for another, Dean hands it to me.

He lobs a can past me to his brother and says, "Sammy Pull!" In a feat of such athletic grace that it shocks me back into myself, Sam bends backwards almost in half, and hurtles the can into the sky. Dean whips his gun out, flicks off the safety, and shoots the can a half dozen times. What lands is an unrecognizable piece of tin.

"Holy crap! That was amazing!" I look back and forth between them, blown away. "Sam there's an NFL talent scout somewhere crying his eyes out with no idea why. Dean, Billy the Kid called, he wants his mojo back."

"Fuck him, it's mine now." Dean snarls. "And that talent scout will just have to get used to disappointment, Sammy's gonna have to save that arm for cracking demon skulls."

When we return, Bobby and Mrs. S have laid out several books with corresponding notepads.

"Feel better princess?" Bobby asks Dean.

Dean gives him a cheerful smile, "Actually, yes, and we didn't burn anything down."

"That's a win in my book." Bobby points to the books open on the table. "Each of these books have information about our most important topics. Take a book and start reading."

At 5:30 Mrs. S calls time for the day. Dean, who should be the most desperate of us, sighs with relief and sags in his chair. I grab my coat off the rack, stop to flick him on the head, and hurry after Mrs. S.

"Ma'am, wait!" She stops outside her office door. "The guys are staying with me and I'm making them dinner tonight, I'd like it if you'd come too."

She gives me a genuine smile instead of her professional one. "Thank you B dear, but I'll be fine." When she goes into her office I follow and shut the door behind us.

"Are you sure you'll be safe by yourself?"

"Your concern is appreciated. But I've been hiding from a whole host of supernatural beings for more than 50 years. I'm invisible to most of them." She looks over my shoulder, and then reaches into her desk and pulls out a little blue drawstring pouch. Whispering a few words that sound like Latin almost, she takes a pinch of the powder inside and blows it into the air above our heads. "There, now those nosy men won't be able to hear a word we say." She sits in her desk chair. and I take the other one. "I know it's too late to tell you not to fall in love with that boy, but please, save a little of yourself, will you?"

I feel as though my eyes are going to pop out of my head. Mrs. S is casting spells, has extensive knowledge of demons, and now cares about my personal life? "Who are you and what have you done with my boss?"

She makes an actual dry chuckle. "I've been here this entire time. I held back because…well, I can't really tell you why. What I want you to do is stay true to your own ambitions. Don't just become the hunter resource with benefits."

We've spent all afternoon researching how to stop the real, biblical, apocalypse, and my boss discussing my work/life balance feels like more of a twilight zone moment than anything else I've talked about the entire day. "I threw him out of the house last night because I thought the three of them were using me. I think I'm pretty safe."

"Did you really? How marvelous. That's an excellent way to set the tone for your relationship." She squeezes my hand, smiles again, and then gets up to get her coat. "You ensured that he knows you value honesty, your self-worth, and that you won't be played for a fool. Well done!"

I stand too because I need to get out of here before things get any weirder. If I stay longer she'll probably hug me. That's the stuff of nightmares. "You'll teach me how to do that trick you did with the powder, right?

"And everything else I know. That big red book on the top shelf behind me contains all the useful spells I know. Just in case you need something and I'm not available." She turns back to the desk and pulls out another pouch. Dipping in two fingers she lifts out a necklace and holds it out to me. "Wear this. Don't take it off. It protects you from possession, and it's pure silver so you can use it against other creatures if needed."

The guys wait for us just outside the door. Bobby offers to help Mrs. S with her coat, and they precede us down the stairs. Mrs. S says goodnight in the parking lot and even though he says nothing out loud, Bobby walks with her to her car.

I follow the brothers to their car and climb in the back. Dean doesn't wait for Bobby, just heads out of the parking lot towards my house.

"Do I need to make extra, or should I not expect to see Bobby until tomorrow?" Dean grins wickedly, but Sam gives him the 'have some fucking manners' face.

"He went with her to give her protection. He just texted that she agreed, so he'll go with her, and we'll take you home." Sam smiles.

I nod, "And if he also gets lucky, good for him." Dean laughs as Sam stares at me in shock. I roll my eyes, "Honestly Sam, you went to college. Professors get up to all sorts of trouble when they're not lecturing. Besides, it's not like he can get her knocked-up or give her an STD."

They both look at me in shock, and then bust up laughing.