Dean's eyes cracked open into very dim light. In fact it was so dark, Dean wasn't sure he'd opened his eyes until he saw what looked like a flame licking the textured walls.
A cave. He was in a cave. The cold soaked through his jeans as he tried to move his hands but was stopped by some twine binding him.
"There's no need for that Dean," a robust voice boomed.
He looked around and saw out of the corner of his eye a figure. It moved into his sight line swiftly. Once exposed by the light, Dean saw its face matched that of the hipster college student but his grease and ill-fitting clothes had vanished. Instead, he was taller, slender, like Adonis. With a pair of protruding antlers where his beanie had been earlier in the day.
"Different, I know. No hat! But where are my manners? I am Cernunnos, god of all that is natural. The wild things, if you will." He introduced.
"So you're the big man on campus, forest edition?" Dean jibed.
"It's actually a rather all-encompassing title. There's no limit to what is deemed natural, really. Fertility, for instance, is basic human instinct, i.e. 'natural'. Hunting, completely natural. Falls under the basic human instinct to survive. I am a huge fan you and you brother's work by the way. I've been watching you for a while."
"Always nice to meet a fan. But I'm gonna have to cut the meet and greet short. I don't do well with murderers."
"Murderer, please Dean you've got me wrong. Those were just to get your attention. We need to talk."
"About what?" Dean grunted in discomfort.
"Trees." A wide smile split Cernunnos's face, revealing a set of fangs.
"You're crazier than I thought," Dean said struggling against his bindings. Cernunnos glided over to Dean and kicked his fidgeting arms to stop them moving.
He moved away to face Dean on the opposite side of the cave as he spoke. "Trees are quite important in Celtic tradition, as you may know. They occupy all manner of positions. They are shelter, some are warmth, some are even made into weapons. I happen to know of a very particular weapon. One that could end Rowena for good." he explained carefully. Dean didn't let it show on his defiant face that he was surprised by Cernunnos's knowledge of Rowena.
"Shouldn't you worship her, siblings in darkness and all?" Dean spat sarcastically in response.
"Try the other way around. She may be tapping into the reserve energy of evil that the Darkness spread around the world after the Mark of Cain was immaterialized, which is what's allowing me to have…a tenth of my previous power. I do not want that witch laying waste to the natural world in the name of a vendetta."
"So if I were to believe you…this weapon would be…?" Dean trailed off. He wanted to keep the creature talking in the hopes that something would slip.
"I happen to know that the spear Lugh used to kill Balor is here in the United States and is the only thing that can kill Rowena." Cernunnos allowed smugly.
"That's it, that's your big play? You don't even have an exact location?" Dean's voice was filled with malice as he enticed the god's more wrathful attributes.
This did not sit well with him. He stood gracefully and in an instant he was hovering an inch above Dean's face, voice lowered to the decibel of a whisper
"I like you, Dean, I really do but you are incredibly obtuse sometimes. I am a mythical being; therefore, I understand we are predisposed to despise each other. I'm willing to forgo that and help you, and you spit it back in my face. Now that is not very sporting," he hissed.
Sam had been wandering the wilderness for hours. He had found nothing but caked mud and signs of a struggle at the work site in his search for Dean.
Kat had taken the news Dean was missing with a sarcastic remark and ferocious tenacity that genuinely intimidated Sam.
The mud had led them to believe that Cernunnos lived near a body of water. There were many tributaries that lead to the large lake in the center of the forest. Sam had walked along the closest one until he lost cell reception.
They were operating under the theory that like legend said there would be an oak tree. It wouldn't be hard to spot the odd one out among the expanse of pine trees but Sam was losing hope.
The way to kill Cernunnos, however, was shrouded in ambiguity. Kat again went on an educated guess that "that which is created by him, is his weakness" was literal. Sam suggested a branch of the oak tree or even an antler from the elk to act as a stake, and at that point, it was their best shot. So he had managed to steal and sharpen the antler from lock up. The absurdity of it all was highly maudlin but he didn't care. It was difficult to remember that no one was watching him. The life had lead to the development of an underlying insecurity in his actions on hunts. Most days Sam was able to acknowledge its irrelevance but it had resurfaced on this hunt.
The silence in the forest was overwhelming with Kat's presence on the phone gone. He heard only the sound of his feet crunching the leaves, the air becoming crisper as he moved inland. He couldn't shake the feeling that though there was silence there was so much life surrounding him and that something alive was watching him.
In another ten minutes, Sam saw a faint light coming from behind an odd shape. The shadow was different from those of the surrounding trees and Sam knew it must be the oak. He started to sprint toward it until his large form was felled by creeping root.
"So if my brother decides not to kill you when he gets here, why would you help us?" Dean asked cockily, even thought he had garnered a few bleeding cuts because of this attitude.
"That's a rather grandiose claim, Winchester. But, my counter is: I don't believe Rowena has the right to command living things. We all have our own modus operandi. An autonomous purpose on the earth. I will not answer to her, and neither will the rest of the living things. Yourself included. Your girlfriend, especially." Cernunnos had returned to the opposite side of the cavern but he looked over his shoulder as he added his last comment. A feisty spark found a place in his eye.
"You leave her out of this." A rage filled Dean and he pulled once again futilely at the bindings.
"There is no way to leave her out of this Dean! Her family were once warrior rulers of Ireland and Scotland-wonderful people by the way-excellent conversational partners. She is at the very center of this fight, she is integral to its victory." he said incredulously. He tapped his temple for emphasis as he spoke.
At that moment, Sam was thrown through the opening of the cave, wrapped up in thick roots that seemed to move of their own fruition.
"Sam!" Dean growled
"Oh, the matching collectors set, how quaint," cooed Cernunnos.
Sam attempted to stand and break his superhuman bonds but stumbled back to the ground. His own bones seemed to make direct contact with the hard rocks the lined the cave floor. Cernunnos backed away warily and landed a kick to Sam's gut.
"That is for rudely inviting yourself to our lovely little picnic Sam. Gentleman, I fear, I must take my leave. But before I go I have something for you, Dean." He moved with the quickness and agility of a mountain lion to Dean's side and knelt down. He opened his hand and wrapped it around Dean's throat.
Dean gritted his teeth against the pain that exploded into his body, with his throat acting as the conductor. It seemed to travel through his veins. It could only be described as fire but it was more purposeful. It was not only just the pain but a sense of longing, a direct need to do something that Dean couldn't find the word to name. Once the sensation settled there it became less a painful burn and more a bubbling warmth like effervescent water.
The god removed his hand and murmured into Dean's ear, "It seems you needed some more natural instinct. We can't have our prize stallion getting broken," and he vanished. Leaving the cave black and all of the roots of the oak tree above them retracted up through the ground. It sounded like the mast of a ship crumbling and crashing down onto the
deck. Their absence created a plethora of different sized holes in the roof. Moonlight shone through them, giving the false illusion of stars that were close enough to touch.
"Dude…" gasped Dean, "guess we're Back in Black," he joked with a wince that turned into a gasping laugh.
Kat had been unable to sleep all night. She tried picking at her guitar which now leaned abandoned against a chair.
She'd managed to get through the organizational stage of her compendium and had drafted an introduction. She usually enjoyed thinking, solving puzzles, getting to the truth of riddles. Language provided Kat with the ability to construct revelations. It was an adventure. Albeit a much safer one than the track, she was currently on.
She paced now across the floor of the antique computer room, not even attempting to hide her anxieties in activities.
A flutter behind her told Kat, Cas had appeared. She turned and smiled at him broadly.
"Come to join my party?" she joked.
Cas scrutinized her. Her hair was lacking its usual volume and hung like limp noodles in its ponytail. Her full brows seemed to be permanently furrowed. This sight and her words conflicted in his mind. "This does not seem jovial at all," he said flatly.
"That's so kind of you to point out." Kat's words bit at the tension that was radiating from her. "Let's go ahead and make it 'jovial'. Have you ever been drunk my celestial friend?" The second statement amended her original attitude, as a smirk spread across her face.
"Many have tried," He responded curtly.
"Well tonight, I will succeed." She rushed forward and grabbed his hand.
Sam and Dean arrived at the bunker in the wee hours of the morning. The threat that Cernunnos was still lurking around loomed over them and drove them towards home. He had promised Dean that the killing would stop because he had achieved his purpose, whatever that actually was. Dean had been forced to take him at his word. They called Jody to tell her to call them with any news from her sheriff friend in the area as a precaution.
It felt like somewhat of a loss but in the grand scheme of things Cernunnos's intel might save infinitely more lives than he'd taken.
"Kat?" Dean called repeatedly as he dropped his bag at the door and began looking around for her. It occurred to Dean that he had never had someone to come home to after a hunt, the prospect of this made him eager to see Kat. For his hands to wrap around her face and kiss her. "Kat?" he called again, driven by the relentless desire to be near her. She didn't answer. He saw her papers strewn around on the table and her discarded guitar.
A slight panic rose in him and he called out a little louder this time, "Cas?"
Sam moseyed into the room and said, "No sign of her. She probably went for a drive or something."
Dean said once again, even louder, "Cas?" This time, he was greeted by a flutter, and…a hiccup.
Kat stood swaying slightly in her spot and Cas stood straight as ever but with a stupid grin on his face. Sam burst out laughing at the sight of the pair of them. Dean crossed his arms like a father admonishing his mischievous children who tried not to smile as he did it.
"I think I got Cas buzzed. Lots of shots…" Kat seemed to think that was an appropriate recap of their outing.
"Well, Castiel how do you feel…?" prodded Dean.
"Jovial," he replied simply. Kat smiled wider and her eyes became absurdly excited. She pointed at Cas clumsily.
"I'm gonna take that as a win." She laughed. "Oh, it's wonderful to see you alive, Winchester," She added, her voice dripping deliberately with sarcasm.
She made her way over to the crumpled papers and started pushing them haphazardly into a trash bin. She glared at him quickly and noticed a tomato red burn creeping out from under his collar.
"What the hell is that?" she demanded.
"What?" he said in a tone that was too innocent
"Don't play coy with me Dean, your neck," Kat said more forcefully.
"Oh nothing just a little light choking…bit of bondage," Dean said returning her sarcastic tone from before.
"That is so not funny. Let me see it."
It took twenty minutes of Kat being fended off by Dean who's reflexes were almost cat-like compared to hers drunk, for Kat to actually get him to sit and let her bandage the burn on his neck.
Sam was eying them bemusedly. He found it hilarious that Dean was actually letting Kat treat the burn like it should be treated, not just some water splashed on it and dried with a rough bandana.
"I feel like this is the 1950's and you're like, a beat cop who fights gang crime. As I, the housewife sit and wait for your return. This is so backpedaling feminism. I'm coming on the next hunt."
"Sure you are." Dean evaded.
"I'm, like, so tough." Kat stuttered.
"Mhmm."
"So teach me, then."
"I will" offered Sam, just to upset Dean who glared at him from around Kat.
"Thank you, Sam. In return, I will….teach you…" she searched.
"How to play guitar" offered Cas.
"I think you should play right now, Kat." pitched Dean in an attempt o get her to stop poking at the raw skin of his neck. He gestured his hand out in a grand sweeping motion and added, "By all means maestro."
The four of them shared a moment in time where everything beyond the bunker dissolved. Kat made a fool of herself playing guitar, mixing up chords in her drunkenness. As Sam and Dean drank more, they hummed along in the wrong key. They shared stories of old hunts, and Kat had told them about growing up in piano bars and then the firehouse, and the time she met Billy Joel. She learned of the time Dean took Cas to a strip club and he'd offended the stripper. They laughed fully and for a long time.
Eventually, Cas drifted off to wherever he went when he wasn't with the boys, and Sam started falling asleep in his seat. Kat had woken him up with some playful slaps on his face and sent him to bed.
Dean stayed. He sat across from her and watched her return to the chair opposite. He thought it was the strangest thing that she was so small should curl up in the wooden chair and made it seem comfortable.
To fill the silence she plucked out a tune absentmindedly. Kat looked up at him eyes round with sadness. Her mercurial mood startled Dean.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately.
"Nothing. Well, nothing you did, really," she said, almost embarrassed that she'd been caught. It only took her a moment to realize she couldn't avoid his question. She took a deep breath. "
I guess I've just been contemplating mortality lately. I don't like, have friends or relationships, really and I'm out of my depth. It's just my own weird issues, don't worry about it."
"Well, I do worry about it because I worry about you. All the damn time." Dean admitted.
"That's all well and good but I need you to worry about yourself too. I need you to value your own life as highly as I do. Because that's what love is."
"Woah," muttered Dean.
"Batten down the hatches folks, cuz I went there," she waved her hands loosely for emphasis. "Can you blame me? You could've died yesterday and it's supposed to be no big deal?"
"And you couldn't have? When you, I don't know…went after the caldron and burned your house down. Instead of waiting for Sam and me? Don't try to play that hand. You'll lose. This life is dangerous Kat. I can't promise you anything about safety. Yours or mine." Dean blurted out.
"Doesn't that just mean how I feel about you is irrelevant? If it can just end at the drop of a hat?" Kat attacked.
"No, it means we need to enjoy it while we can." he parried.
"Ever the pessimist..." she laughed, "Can't you just lie to me for posterities sake?"
"Well, lying is something I'm very, very good at." He laughed and took a swig of his last and probably twentieth beer of the night. Dean suddenly felt like Kat was so far away from him and all he wanted to do was be near her. "Come here," he said.
She did; slowly padding her bare feet across the wood floor. The sweatpants she'd changed into dragged along under the heels. When she reached the other side of the huge table she stood in front of him, slouched and looking slightly defeated. He reached for her hand gently and intertwined his fingers in hers, all the while pulling her into him. She was so small her hips fit between his thighs in the chair and hers hung over his right leg. She leaned her shoulder into his stomach and her head on his chest. Letting their breathing sync up like a string orchestra. It reverberated between them deep and strong. The sound unified them and Dean gently kissed her forehead.
"You wanna do something normal tomorrow?" he asked.
"Like stay in bed all day and nurse the monstrous hangover I'm going to have?" she replied.
"Exactly like that," he agreed.
A/N: Hello friends! I got so much work done during Blizzard Jonas so expect more regular updates! The song that inspired me for the latter half of this chapter is Bob Dylan's Times They Are A-Changing, if you're interested. Poor Dean and Kat are going to get into the thick of it in the next few chapters, so stay tuned. Kelly.