The story takes place right after the season 10 finale, after Dean killed Death, the Mark of Cain was removed and Darkness was released into the world. I mentioned before, new characters will be added and thrown in the story and I will bring back several former characters from the show in the upcoming future.
Chapter 65 Reunion
The drive to St. Paul, Minnesota lasted for hours and took longer than usual due to police dressed in military gear guarding the roads just in case chaos happens in the streets. For Sam, the ride seemed like forever but then again he was looking forward to seeing Gwen again after all this time. He had to admit after getting her call and hearing her voice brought back memories of their time in the alternate world and made him remember just how much he missed her. Despite their short time in that place, he felt a real connection to her like he hadn't felt with a woman in a long time. He even missed her grandmother Madame Bess even though he knew the old lady was skeptical of him getting close with her granddaughter but he understood her concerns.
Of course once they arrived in St. Paul, they did get a bit lost and had to call Madame Bess to give them directions. When they managed to find the neighborhood and rolling down the window, Sam used his flashlight on the houses to get a better look on the numbers on the houses. They made a turn and finally found the address they were looking for as he had his flashlight on a white two-storey house with gables attached to the front porch and two nice chairs sitting on the left side of the porch. Outside of the porch gable were two large flower pots with nice looking plants inside sitting on each side and the front porch lights were on.
"Wow, this house has such an old-fashioned look about it, something out those old time period dramas" said Dean.
Sam didn't respond as Dean pulled their car into the driveway next to the women's car in front of the garage. Then the two jumped out of the car and Sam turned off his flashlight and left it in the car. They walked up to the front porch and then to the front door which had a screen door. Dean rang the doorbell and within several seconds, a door opened and Madame Bess greeted them. She was still dressed like a stereotypical Medium now wearing a red and black gypsy-like long blouse and black trousers with exotic jewelry.
"Oh Sam and Dean I'm so glad you two finally made it, come in boys, come in!" she cried her face now filled with joy.
They entered the house and were standing in the hall as she looked them over.
"Oh boys it is so wonderful seeing you two again com here and give me a hug" she said as she went over and each hugged the brothers in a grandmotherly way.
"It's good to see you too Ma'am" said Dean.
"Yeah, Same here" Sam replied.
"Well I'm sorry you had trouble finding us but at least you're here now safe and sound" she said.
"It wasn't too much trouble Madame Bess, anyway how is Gwen?" replied Sam.
And upon hearing her name, Gwen entered the hall looked at the two and just smiled. Sam couldn't help notice how beautiful she looked then again she always looked beautiful to him. She was now wearing a simple long-sleeved blue blouse and a knee-length black floral skirt with blue and red decorations and nice jewelry. She and Sam were now locked in eye contact as they glared at each other like two old lovers who hadn't seen each other in a while.
"Gwen" Sam cried out.
Then Gwen rushed over to Sam and gave him a light hug.
"Oh Sam I'm so glad you made it" she said.
"Yeah me too" said Sam.
He paused a bit and then spoke up again.
"I say Gwen, you look great" he told her.
"Thanks, you too" replied Gwen as the two continued to glare at each other while Madame Bess had a slight disapproving look on her face and Dean slightly coughed to snap Sam out of it.
"Anyway Madame Bess, Gwen called us regarding you two having visions of a witch using a book that will cause harm?" Dean said wanting to get down to it.
"Well dear before I tell you all that I saw, we have another surprise for you two as somebody else is here" said Madame Bess.
"Who?" asked Dean.
Just then Ava walked into the hallway and now it was Dean's turn to stare as if he was seeing his old fame once again. Ava looked great now wearing brown long-sleeve Patty Boutik deep V neck blouse with a white t-shirt underneath and black jeans and ruby red lipstick and nice ear rings. Dean couldn't help not only shocked at seeing her again but mesmerized by her beauty. Ava just glared back with the same look on her face thrilled at seeing him again after all this time.
"Ava, Holy I wasn't expecting you'd be here" said Dean.
After the shock wore off, he suddenly looked serious again.
"I mean what are you doing here?" he asked her.
"Oh, well you see I called her up too yesterday" said Gwen with an awkward look on her face.
"You what?" asked Dean.
"That's right, Gwen thought it would be a good idea to invite you all since the three of you being hunters and this thing seemed to be right up your alley" Madame Bess answered.
"Ava arrived here last night and we told her we had called you guys as well and we all have being waiting for you two, I know I should have told you that when I called you Sam but I guess I sort of wanted it to be a surprise" she finished.
"Surprise!" Ava cried out in an attempt to be sarcastic.
"Yeah, a real surprise" said Dean awkwardly.
"It's good to see you Dean after all this time" said Ava.
"Yeah, good to see you too Ava you look fantastic" said Dean.
"Thanks so do you" Ava said.
Sam just smirked as he watched his brother now acting like an awkward lovestruck teenager seeing his crush which isn't usual for Dean the long-time ladies man.
"Okay, now enough of the reunion, we need to get down to business on why you we called you all as we already filled Ava in on everything we know" said Madame Bess.
Later, all five of them now settled in the living room sitting on the couch and chairs having gotten over their reunion as Madame Bess was explaining to Sam and Dean about the visions.
"Like I said before, both me and Gwen saw her in our visions using this ancient looking book called the Book of Damned which I sensed was not good and when I talked to the spirits it told me this was book was evil and will lead to even further destruction in the world and then I saw the images of these people like in some kind of trance like zombies" she finished.
"I just wonder who is this woman and why does she have this book?" asked Gwen.
"We can tell you exactly who she is, her name is Rowena and she's a witch" said Dean.
"A witch, but how do you guys know, do you two know her personally?" asked Gwen.
"As a matter of fact we do, we have cross paths with her before and I will say she's been or this earth for a very long time centuries if believe and is quite evil" said Sam.
"Oh, I can believe it dear, I can believe anything right now" said Madame Bess.
"I've come across witches in past but I never met one that is centuries old, I mean is she immortal or something" asked Ava.
"Yes she is and now that she has that book she is even more dangerous" said Sam.
"But what is exactly this book of Damned, I mean I could feel that is dark and evil and all" replied Madame Bess.
"Yes, even in my visions I could tell that when she uses that book something very bad is going to happen" said Gwen.
"All we can tell you is that the book is indeed evil and we had possession of it before but lost it to Rowena" said Dean as he and Sam turned to each other exchanging awkward glances.
"What does she want with it?" asked Ava.
"Well it is an ancient book written many centuries ago that contains a lot of dark magic spells and has been used by a cult members and a coven of witches before being in the hands of an evil and dangerous family. A friend of ours got possession of the book and we had it in our hands for awhile until well you know and we have been hoping to find her and retrieve the book" said Sam with a bit a sad look on his face as it made him think about Charlie and him forcing Rowena to use the book to find a spell to remove the Mark from Dean which led up to all the chaos that is happening right now with the Darkness.
"I sense she already used this book because of the images of those people who seemed to be under her spell" said Madame Bess.
"We're worry about that when the times right but anyway can you describe in your visions where Rowena is?" Dean asked.
"Well, I know she's right here in this city, because I saw visions of the Pembroke Hotel which is in this city and even the number of the hotel suite 312" said Madame Bess.
"Gwen why didn't you tell me this when you called me?" asked Sam anxiously.
"I wanted to wait until you got here until we tell everything we know" she said.
"Yeah, they told me this last night but I agreed to wait until you get here to make a move so we can work in this case together" said Ava.
"Well, it's good you're here we can use the extra help" Dean found himself saying although it still felt so weird having her around again but he wasn't sorry to see her again and use her assistance instead he was looking forward to more than he wanted to show it.
Ava just glared at him and smiled.
"Well, I think we have enough of this discussion of this witch Rowena for now, I know you have to find her and all but I think we can all have a bite right now before any of you makes a move okay" said Madame Bess.
"Yeah, well I could use another bite, talking about all this stuff has suddenly made me hungry" said Ava.
"Okay everybody lets go to the dining room" said Madame Bess and soon everybody got up and followed Madame Bess into the dining room.
Sam and Dean were the last to follow her and Dean turned to Sam and murmured, "Well, I say it's good to have the whole gang back again".
"Yeah, seems like old times huh" replied Sam.
Later, they were all in the dining room eating tuna sandwiches that Madame Bess fixed with some potato chips and a drink of pepsi for Madame Bess didn't have beer in her home. In fact, the only alcohol beverages she did have was bottles of wine coolers which she normally saves for dinner as she was one of those folks that didn't think it was proper to drink alcohol until the evenings. While eating their food, the gang didn't talk about Rowena or the Book of Damned but instead decided to catch up on what the other was doing. Madame Bess and Gwen continued with their Psychic business despite the Darkness as a matter of fact, their business boomed a since the Darkness as they received even more clients. Ava was with her family for about three weeks but decided to return to hunting and her recent case was in California involving ghosts despite her parents protest before she got a call from Gwen about this case.
Sam and Dean told them about being reunited with their long lost half-brother Adam who now stays in the bunker with them. They didn't tell them all the details of their brother being dead and resurrected or that he was trapped in Lucifer's cage for several years while an archangel possessed his body just that they met him only once some years ago and got reacquainted again and that his mother is dead so they're now all he has. They also told them about resuming hunting again and did a couple of cases since. Ava and Dean got a bit friendly as well as Sam and Gwen while Madame Bess just watched their interactions with a cautious look. Afterwards, Dean and Sam decided to call Adam to check on him while Ava called her parents. Adam was doing fine. He grew bored so he decided to use the shooting range in the bunker to practice his shooting rather than go outside this time. He also watched a movie on some of their dvds and plans on going out to the store to get few snacks and call Darcy after she gets off work that evening. They both engaged in brief conversation with him and promised to get back as soon as they finished with this latest case and Adam wished them good luck before saying their goodbyes then everybody went back into the living room to continue their discussion on the Rowena business.
"Okay, we need to come up with plan on how to handle this" said Sam.
"Well, for one thing, we you me and Ava have to change for our case and head to the hotel" said Dean.
"You mean disguise yourselves as FBI agents or police officers. Ava already told us about how she works her cases and even showed us her fake badges" said Gwen with a grin.
Dean and Sam just glanced at Ava who simply shrugged her shoulders.
"What? They were curious on how I do my job and I told them even showed them few other fake IDs I use" said Ava.
Dean just slightly coughed embarrassingly and said, "Well anyway we head to the hotel and go to that room, me and Sam have a iron chains that will make her vulnerable".
"Iron chains?' asked Madame Bess.
"Yes ma'am" replied Dean.
"Yes, I think a read up upon the lore of witches and iron does in fact make them powerless" she replied.
"But then why disguise yourselves as FBI agents if you already know where to find her?" asked Gwen.
"That's just in case anyone gets suspicious, regarding capturing Rowena, we can say we're the FBI" replied Sam.
"But wouldn't they become suspicious upon seeing iron chains on her rather than handcuffs?" Gwen asked again.
"Yeah, that's why I got some tranquilizers in my bag. Bev, my old mentor carried them for some of our cases and they can be quite handy including in this case. Once you got the chains on her I inject her than you can remove the chains when we escort her out of the hotel so nobody will get suspicious and if they do we're just say were the FBI and she's a wanted fugitive show off our badges and all and they usually don't question anything afterwards" replied Ava.
"Good plan" said Dean impressed by Ava's idea.
"Anyway, me and Sam will head to motel now to change and drive back here to pick up Ava before checking out that hotel to find Rowena" he continued.
"Yeah, I need to change into my professional gear as well" said Ava.
"Why do you need to go to a motel when you can stay right here doing your stay" said Madame Bess.
With that, everybody except Madame Bess looked awkward and uncomfortable.
"Stay here?" asked Dean who still taken aback.
"Yes why not? I have two guest rooms upstairs, the second one was once my late husband's study but now that he's departed I turned it into an extra guest room and it has become quite handy. It has a king-sized bed rather than double single beds but I'm sure you brothers can handle that" Madame Bess replied.
"Well, that's nice of you but we couldn't…" replied Dean but Madame Bess cut him off.
"Oh, nonsense, after everything we've been through I consider us all friends and couldn't here of any friends visiting sleeping in a mere motel when I have plenty of room right here" she replied.
This time Sam tried to speak up.
"Well, ma'am like my brother said…" but Madame Bess cut him off too.
"Now there is no more to discuss, I insist on you two staying here and I won't take no for an answer" she replied.
Dean and Sam just stood there and briefly glanced over to Ava and Gwen who didn't know what to say and finally Dean spoke up.
"Okay, if you insist ma'am" he replied.
"Yeah, thanks that is very kind of you" said Sam.
"Then it's all settled now just get your things and Gwen will show you where the guest room is. Just think this being under the same roof again, it will be just like old times together again you know" Madame Bess finished.
Then Sam and Dean went outside to their car and got the rest of their things for their trip and went back inside. Then Gwen greeted them in the hallway.
"Well, I'll show you to your room now" she said.
Sam and Dean just glared at her awkwardly.
"Okay sure" said Sam.
Gwen could sense their awkwardness.
"Hey look, my grandmother can be quite persuasive, if she really insists on something she doesn't back down and doesn't take no for an answer" she said.
"Yeah, that's obvious" remarked Dean.
"Anyway, I'm glad she managed to convince you two to stay here rather than a motel, it will be great for all us to be on the same roof again you know since that other place" Gwen replied.
"Yeah, one big happy family alright" replied Dean sarcastically.
"Well I agree with Gwen, it's good to have you two here especially with us working on the case" said Ava who showed up in the hallway.
"Well before we work together to cast together we need to fill you in more about Rowena as we have had experiences in dealing with her and know what she's capable of" said Dean.
"Okay, I'm not going to do anything to mess this case up as I said before I've dealt with witches before but I'm willing to listen to any info you give alright" said Ava a tad defensively.
"Hey, lets get this settled after we put our things on the guest room and change and all, okay guys" said Sam.
"Alright" said Dean.
"Okay you two follow me" said Gwen as she headed upstairs as Sam began to follow behind and Dean prepared to follow Sam when Ava called after him.
"Hey, Dean it really is nice to have you here you know" she said with smile.
"Yeah, same here" replied Dean with a smile as they two glared at each for a few seconds until Dean quickly turned to follow Sam upstairs.
They soon wandered into the upstairs hallway and finally Gwen led them to the last room down and opened the door. They all entered a nice but rather small room that had nice beige wallpaper, drawers and in the middle of the room a king-sized bed with brown bedspread on top.
"Cozy" Dean murmured.
"Well anyway, I'll let you guys get adjusted now" replied Gwen who turned to leave.
Then she stopped and turned to Sam.
"Hey, Sam I didn't say it before, I'm really glad you came and not just for the case" she replied.
"So am I Gwen" Sam replied.
The two also glared at each other for a few seconds before Gwen just looked a bit embarrassed and just turned around and left. Sam kept staring and had that same smile on his face like a lovesick teenager.
"Okay Romeo, I know you missed your little girlfriend and all and she missed you but time to get down to business' replied Dean.
"Knock it off Dean" Sam said turning to Dean.
"Hey, I'm serious, your girlfriend still has it bad for you too" Dean teased.
"Yeah, well I saw the way you looking at Ava, looks like I'm not the only one who still has it bad for someone" Sam fired back grinning.
"Okay, okay lets drop the love story and plan our next move which is to change into our suits and head to that hotel" said Dean.
After putting their things down, Dean began looking about the room.
"I will say I didn't expect we would be spending our visit at under this roof with Ava and the two psychic grandmother and granddaughter duo you know it feels so much like a de ja vu" he remarked.
"Hey I wasn't expecting it either Dean, it kind of feels kind of weird but in a good way. Anyway we could least make the best of it" said Sam who deep down was kind of glad that he was staying at house rather than another cheap motel because of Gwen.
Dean still looked about the room.
"Yeah, I know being with them again it doesn't feel so bad afterall. I just wish we had twin beds instead of having this huge bed to share, it's pain sharing a bed with you Sam no offense with you tossing and turning and bumping into me" Dean replied.
"Well it's no picnic sharing a bed with you either with you sometimes hogging up the blanket" Sam fired back.
"Okay, lets not argue about this right now just get settled in" Dean said.
He then went to the bed and decided to sit down on it as the bed felt comfortable better then the beds at the motels they slept in.
"Well anyway, once again home sweet home for now" he said.