Okay so this is before the event in the prologue. So don't get confused. I finished this much more faster than I thought I would. Hmm, crazy. I would like to take this time to thank KeepCalmandDoltLikeAFanGirl for being Skipping Stone's first reviewer, follower, and favorite-r. And I encourage others to leave reviews as well. Let's me get a feeling for my own story. Well, let's do this.
Dumping my bag onto the couch I heaved a sigh, ready to call it a day. Work had been particularly difficult with grouchy clients who thought they knew more than I did and all I wanted was to take some meds for my gnarly headache, eat some ice cream, take a hot shower, and sleep.
Eyeing the clock on the living room wall, I knew I couldn't let go of the day just yet. I still had to go get Zane from Kate's place. I gave another sigh, heading back out the door and taking the path that would lead me to the apartment several doors down.
Moving from Colorado to Washington had been interesting. I had my job to take into consideration but also Zane. He had been the deciding factor. Most of the apartments had not been what I was looking for the four year old and myself but finally, finally, I found Autumn Valley. Lori the manager was fantastic and the fact that Zane really liked her helped. I heard somewhere that children and dogs could tell if someone was sketchy or not so I was very happy with Zane's reaction.
After a few minutes, I was knocking on apartment C7, the sound of excited feet and Kate's voice asking for Zane and Molly to back away from the door. With a click of the doorknob and a whoosh, Zane's brown eyes and head digging into my stomach greeted me first, Kate's red hair second. Good to see that Zane listens.
"Hey Angie. Geez, you look like crap."
One arm hugging Zane to me, my other hand rubbed at my forehead, trying to rid myself of the pulsing pain I had endured for the better half of the day. "You're not so hot looking yourself."
Kate gave a chuckle but really all I could muster was a smile that morph into a grimace and then a really ugly yawn.
"Bad day?"
I grunted my confirmation, feeling the puffiness under my eyes, my body starting to ache. I couldn't feel any of this pain earlier but with my inactivity, it was attacking with vengeance.
"Thanks for taking Zane today." The both of us looked over at the four year old who had gone back to playing with Molly, chasing the little blonde around the living room.
"It was fine, we went to the park. Zane did give some lip to Mark though. Pretty sure he hates the guy."
Yeah, well I wasn't so keen on the guy either, gave me the creeps. Maybe that was why Zane reacted the way he did to the thirty year old. Honestly, Mark didn't look creepy, kinda handsome actually. He had moved in about eight months ago but right off the bat most of the neighborhood dogs and some cats disliked him. He didn't take it to heart but there was something about him that I felt was deserving of the attitude. I didn't spend my childhood, adolescence, and early adult life with an ex-military father and two protective brothers to ignore things like that. Dad had always told me to trust my gut, my instinct, and it told me that Mark was more than a pretty face, and not in the good way. That and the fact that Zane hated him. I wasn't stupid enough to doubt him.
Jared and Donny had also taken it upon themselves to teach me all the different types of men, which ones to avoid and, upon Mom's insisting, which ones were Angie-worthy. Apparently their standard for worthiness was impossible. Creepy Mark, who lived across the apartment community, fell into the avoidance category.
"He ain't the only one. Come on Zane, let's go."
Zane came bounding toward me, already out the door as I followed, waving good bye to Kate and heading back towards our own home.
Walking with Zane, having to call him back to me every time he wondered too far, I was anticipating the three week long vacation I had lined up in a few days. At heart, I was a homebody and, with the occasional visit to the parks and mountains for Zane, I was at my happiest when lounging around my apartment, reading novels or fan fictions while listening to music. Hmm…
"What should we watch when we get home, Zane? Oh, how do you feel about a marathon? Some Bones maybe? We'll throw in some Supernatural for spice."
Of course Zane ignored me, eyes tracking the leaping of a grasshopper, lurching forward every time it landed.
"Don't you eat that, little boy." My order got me a wide grin but Zane didn't go after it, instead choosing to run ahead of me, the door to our apartment within sight.
Once in my humble dwelling I downed a couple of Advil's and decided no ice cream, replace the shower with a bath, and settle down for a few episodes of Supernatural. Bones had been a close second but really, nothing helps a woman's soul more than a nice hot bath and two good looking guys. I mean David Boreanaz was one of those ruggedly handsome guys, in my opinion, but there was only one of him. Supernatural, on the other hand, was a two-for-one deal. Can't really compete with that. All I needed was some Ferrero Rocher chocolates and my evening would be complete.
After a good forty minute soak, my body was loose and relaxed, ready for my bed. I could hear Zane in the kitchen drinking water while I stood in my bedroom, pulling two DVD cases off my wall of movies. Hearing footfalls behind me I turned, showing Zane the two covers.
"What do you think? Lucifer?" Holding up season five then holding up the second choice. "Or The Fall?" Jensen and Jared were staring at Zane, Misha in the background with angels falling from the sky behind the trio.
Zane gave no indication of his preference, instead he clambered onto my bed, collapsing on his side of the mattress.
"Well you're no help at all." I ended up putting in season five, picking a disk at random and letting the DVD play.
Considering that Zane was sleeping on top of the covers, it took some maneuvering for me to get settled underneath the blanket. I loved Zane with all my soul but being over a hundred pounds of fur and muscle, not to mention dead weight, made such a task difficult.
Finally I found a comfortable spot, upper body positioned to watch the TV just right. The only down fall was Zane's hot breath and loud snores next to my head. I managed to get through an episode and a half before my head grew heavy and I wasn't sure when exactly I fell asleep but I did.
~~~SPN~~~
Jack-knifing from my position on the floor, my eyes squinted around the darken room, picking out a couple book cases, a coffee table, a lone fancy looking chair along with a matching loveseat. This room looked like it belonged in a multi-million dollar home. Oh yeah, definitely not my apartment.
Looking myself over, I was still wearing the gym shorts and Jared's old college shirt I had put on for sleep. A whisper of a possible abduction popped into my head before I dismissed it. There was no way I wouldn't wake up for that and not fight back. Add in the fact that Zane would take on whoever so much as sneezed in my direction (I had to admit that that sneeze had been quite aggressive) and the idea of being abducted was near impossible. Chances are I was dreaming.
Getting up off the floor, I paused, catching sight of something winking at me from underneath one of the book cases near the door. I tiptoed over, hunkering myself lower but cautiously. I wasn't stupid. Hand curled into a fist, I was ready to lash out just in case as I took a peek at what had drawn my attention. I could feel just how wide my smile grew. Freaking. Awesome. Still with caution, I reached a hand out and pulled back with my prize in tow.
"Shut. Up," I silently mouthed, a vision of Woody Harrelson as Tallahassee from Zombieland flashing in my mind, my eyes bright and smile wide. An angel blade. Best. Dream. Ever.
Feeling the weight in my hand I gave the heavenly sword a couple twirls between my fingers, a habit of Donny and mine whenever something pointy was in our hands. Mom was not excited about that.
I stopped mid-twirl, my body rigid and head tilted as voices filtered through the closed door. Maybe I wasn't as alone as I thought.
Inching forward, hand gripping the hilt, I grabbed the door knob and turned it silently but flinched when a woman's angry voice rang out.
"You are disgusting! Just get the hell out of here!"
Now why did that sound familiar? Easing out of the library I inched down the dark hallway toward a staircase. A deep voice floated up from the first floor, the female yelling back her response. "Calm down? What is wrong with you?"
Making my descent, I heard the male voice bark back loudly but this time it was very familiar. "What's wrong with me? What's wrong with you?"
Reaching the bottom of the staircase, I hurried to my left, down a dark hallway toward the soft light source at the end, angel blade at the ready.
I could hear someone moving around before the woman spoke, "I'm calling the police."
Wall at my back I peered around the corner, my mouth dropping open as Dean Winchester (or was it Jensen?) stood up, hopped over the couch, and pulled the cord from the wall. I knew it was weird watching this kind of violence, considering it was Dean Winchester being violent. The funny part was that I was so sure I'd watched this episode a few days ago on TNT. Yep, this was a dream.
"Gimme your hands! Shut Up!"
So…I had a shifter in the next room and an angel blade in my hand. It wasn't silver but it was an angel blade, capable of killing angels. I'm sure a shifter would be no problem.
For now I ignored the muffled screaming, instead focusing on the items around myself. Which wasn't any. Well, guess I'd try to use the skills that Dad and my brothers taught me, though I wasn't sure if they would do any good against a shapeshifter. I remembered the rest of the episode and I was sure that if it could overpower the real Dean and beat up on Sam, then I was sure to be easy enough to defeat. But still, hearing the terrified cries of what's-her-face, I had to try.
Taking a deep breath, I entered the living room, conscious of the glow from the fireplace messing with my shadow, silently stalking toward the Wannabe-Dean as he finished tying the woman's hands.
Of course she just had to look over his shoulder at me and give me away. The shifter spun around just as I was bringing the blade down at him and he swatted the weapon away out of sight toward the fireplace, but alas I was ready. Now I wasn't super tall, about five-six or five-seven, but I had some long power logs for legs and I used a (Sparta!) kick against his chest.
I was quite proud of myself as the shifter lifted off the ground and sailed over the woman, Rebecca my brain supplied, landing in a heap. So far so good.
Not bothering to begin the releasing process I grabbed Rebecca's legs, dragging her back into the living room and away from Wannabe-Dean. It wasn't long before the shifter was back on his feet though, striding toward us, hazel eyes dark in anger.
"Where the Hell did you come from?"
Dropping Rebecca's lower extremities, I stepped over her, my game face on and my fists held up. Dean's face smirked at me and suddenly pain blossomed across my cheek, sending me crashing to the floor. God I hated shifters with their freaky super strength and freaky super speed. I'm surprised I didn't jolt awake from that blow.
The shifter ignored me, heading back to the struggling Rebecca so I did the one thing I knew would get his attention, if his confession from earlier in the episode was anything to go on.
"Hey, fugly!"
He froze, turning slowly on his heel back toward me. I gave him a smug smile, a sharp metallic taste telling me my teeth were bloody. "Yeah, you heard me. This whole killing thing you're doing is just a big temper tantrum, right?"
A low growl started as Fake Dean charged forward at me. Ducking down and dodging to the side I avoided his wide swing, sloppy from his emerging anger, and in one swift movement I had my hands pulling him down as I drove my knee into his abdomen.
Shoving his wilted form to the floor, I continued my taunting. "You're just pissed that you got rejected by some woman and now you wanna take it out on happy couples because your so-called woman rejected you. And you thought you could use Dean as a way to get what you want. A little human touch right?"
At this point in the game I knew he would leave Rebecca alone, his focus on me now. I needed to either kill him or hold out just until SWAT pulled up. That shouldn't be long.
I only heard the angry growl a second before I found myself pinned against the fireplace's stone wall, the heat close enough to be uncomfortable against my bare legs. The shifter was using Dean's large forearm to press across my throat, his other hand curled into a fist and currently shoving itself into my stomach repeatedly. A headache I was sure came from the air loss started pulsating behind my eyes.
When the Hell was I gonna wake up from this dream? My adrenaline was pumping, allowing me to push at the shifter's forearm, giving me just enough air to keep poking at him. "Bet she called you ugly, huh? She ran off screaming, a disgusted look on her face, am I right?"
The dancing orange glow from the fireplace added shadows to Dean's face, making his pissed off face look more like his You-touch-Sammy-You-Die face. Of course all my teasing was just a distraction. That's why you never fight angry. Time to pull out a classic.
Letting my body become boneless allowed for the right amount of space to drive my knee up and into the shifter's crotch.
As expected of the male species he immediately released me to comfort himself, falling to his knees in pain. I knew I had to be quick so I dove for the coffee table in front of the couch, grabbing the angel blade tucked underneath that I had spied when falling to the floor after getting punched.
Not bothering with finesse, I rammed the blade through the center of his back, making sure to hit just slightly to the left, piercing through his heart. A gasp came from the shifter before he gave a wet gurgle, jerked, and slumped forward to the floor, angel blade sticking out his back.
Casting a look at Rebecca, who was just getting her hands untied, I declared her safe while tiptoeing forward, easing my body sideways to see the shifter's face. Hazel eyes were frozen wide, mouth agape as blood dribbled out, staining the floor underneath his face. One side of my lips curled in distaste. That blood's gonna suck to get out. But he didn't move and I was confidant he was dead. Despite the sore stomach, neck, tender cheek and terrorizing headache, I was pretty proud of myself. DJ Qualls' face filled my mind causing a small smile. You've just been Garthed.
"What the Hell?!"
I ignored Rebecca's frantic voice, head tilting as the shifter gave off a sizzling sound. My ears and eyes looked him over and decided it was coming from his back wound. Crouching down, I grabbed the blade's hilt and yanked, a slick yet crunching sound echoing in the quiet room.
Rebecca gagged but my curiosity was powerful as I used the tip of the blade to push away the shifter's shirt, revealing the puncture wound I had given him.
"Wow…" Well, that's interesting. Blue web-like veins had started to branch out from the hole in the shifter's skin, the patterns disappearing under the rest of his shirt. I'm sure an autopsy would reveal the network that was no doubt spreading across the creature's back. That'll be a surprise for the medical examiner.
"Tell me what the Hell is going on?! Dean tried to kill me and then you killed Dean!"
I don't remember her being this annoying. Certainly wasn't helping my headache. I looked up at Rebecca, her eyes wide and filled with tears that refused to fall, her hands shaking at her side. Well, she did just almost get killed so I guess she gets to freak out.
"That…" I pointed my angel blade at the shifter. "…is not Dean. Dean, and Sam for that matter, should be on their way here from being tied up in the sewer after this guy got the drop on them. Also a SWAT team should be here any moment."
"Sewer? Wait…SWAT?"
"Yeah, Dean and Sam were getting too close for comfort, came really close to catching him, so Homeboy here had to take them out. Grabbed them and stashed them in the sewer where he'd been living. I intercepted a call to the police from them, saying that Dean Winchester was here, attacking you."
Seemed convincing enough. Before standing, I took a second to wipe the blood off my angel blade with my gym shorts then marched out of the living room, Rebecca right behind me.
"That doesn't make any sense. He looks just like Dean."
Time to lie. I had always wondered what Rebecca told the police in the original episode and I had come up with my own theories for both the excuse and, because I watch way too much Criminal Minds, why the shifter starting killing.
"You heard what I said to him right? He was rejected by his girl because of the way he looked. And when she moved on to someone else, someone better looking than him, he snapped. That was his trigger. So he "became" these specific men so he could hurt those women that, in his mind, represent or even substitute for the woman that rejected him. He wants these women to be hurt both emotionally and physically by someone they care about, like he was. That's why he changes his features as close as possible to the men. Just talk to Sam and Dean when they get back."
Where the Hell is the kitchen in this place? I passed a second closet before turning another corner and finding the spacious kitchen. I let her digest my spiel, eyes roving around for a knife just as long as the angel blade. Not seeing any in the open I reached for the closest drawer and started searching. "Listen, there's the FBI, CIA, NSA, agencies like that, right?"
"Yeah, but-"
"Just listen. There are those agencies but there are also agencies, branches, that no once knows about. Technically those people, those agents, don't exist. Like Detectives from Bisbee, Arizona."
"Wait, are you saying Dean is some kind of government agent? Is Sam?"
Finally! I pulled the gleaming knife from the drawer, studying it. Long, kinda thin, serrated edge. Perfect. I would just need to be messy about the puncture and it'd blend fine. "I never said that."
"But you hinted."
"Yeah, well that's not an admission." Putting that little seed of conspiracy in Rebecca's head would do most of the work for me. I marched back to the living room, glad to see the corpse right where we left it. Wouldn't that be trippy.
Rebecca gave a startled cry as I jammed the knife into the angel blade's left over mark, jerking side to side and in small rotations, trying to destroy the pattern left behind by the angelic weapon.
"Relax, this'll help a bit. No one actually owns the same weapon as I used on him. At least anyone that's not suppose to." I let that hang out there, hoping she would catch on. Rebecca didn't disappoint.
"You said intercepted. And you know things. You know Sam and Dean. Are you…?"
A loud crash from another part of the house had our heads turning sharply in the direction I had entered from and I knew back up was here. Taking the knife out of the shifter, I tossed it haphazardly, letting the placement be as natural as possible. I thought for a minute to kill the fire, the bright flames hurting my eyes and agitating my headache but I left it alone.
"That'll be the SWAT team. You should probably go get them." I collapsed onto the couch, the pain from my fight coupled with my now migraine being too much to bear. Man I hope this meant I was leaving this dream for another. Or even waking up. That'd be nice.
Slumping across the cushions my eyes shut on their own, hands pulling the angel blade close. My hearing started to fade as Rebecca's shouts for help grew further away. Feeling myself shutting down one thing was certain; despite everything, this had been a fun dream.
~~~SPN~~~
Jolting awake, my cell phone's ungodly loud alarm, which was kinda the point, told me it seven thirty in the morning. Time to get ready for work.
Turning over, I flinched at Zane's large head a few inches away from my face, eyes boring into my own. His large body was stretched out, cuddling as close to me as possible. Seeing his clinging attitude reminded me of what had happened a few hours earlier.
Waking up in the middle of the night from the shifter dream had been interesting. I was alone in bed, the digital clock on my dresser telling me it was three twenty-two in the morning. I wondered about where my bed companion had gone but his whines coming from somewhere in the apartment answered that quickly. He actually sounded pretty frantic. Calling for him brought a very surprising reaction. A hundred and fifteen pounds barreled into the room and launched itself straight at me. The boy acted like he hadn't seen me in months.
After twenty minutes of crying and licking on Zane's part, he managed to calm down enough for me to venture out of bed and use the restroom, although he did camp out right outside the door.
After doing my business I examined my face in the mirror, finding no trace of blood or a cut in my mouth. My cheek also remained blemish free, not even a hint of violence. Lifting my shirt also revealed the same results, no damaged ribs or discolored skin. My lips twisted in thought before shrugging. Oh well. I had managed to fall asleep quite quickly after that.
My phone's alarm blared again, reminding me that I need to start getting ready, and I fumbled for it, shutting the device off. I looked over at Zane, his big brown eyes watching me closely, like I was gonna disappear.
"Well Zane, it's seven forty. We got work to do."
~~~SPN~~~
Outside the vast home, the doors of the classic car creaked shut in synch, encasing the two men in metal. Both were silent, their thoughts distracted.
The younger spoke first. "You think another hunter caught wind of the shifter same time we did?"
"Maybe, but it doesn't explain how she knew about us being trapped in the sewer or calling the cops."
"You think she was watching us?"
"Yes and no. She was here when we got loose. Chances are she has a partner. Probably was tailing us."
"Using us as bait?"
The older man's eyes hardened at the thought of intentional harm coming to his sibling. Although he did admit that her quick thinking with Rebecca had led to slightly less legal issues for him. "We'll keep an eye out for her and her partner, maybe ask around to see if any one knows of a brunette hunter who went to the University of Denver."
The younger man nodded. "I'm actually curious about the weapon she used to kill the shapeshifter. Becca said it was a little more than a foot long, pointy, and shiny. Too shiny to be silver or at least completely silver. Kinda curious where she got it from or what it's made from."
Starting the muscle car's engine, the older man was thinking, looking out the windshield as he thoughts circled around the mysterious female hunter and their missing father. He glanced over at his brother.
"Well, we'll keep an ear out but either way Sam, we still got work to do."
I hope everyone knows where this chapter is from. If not, it is actually a rewrite of the episode 6 from season one called Skin. Now fun fact: The title of this chapter, False Brother, is actually the French title for the same episode. Oh and if anyone hasn't noticed Zane is a dog and Jared is her brother's name but it's not Padalecki. Anywho, let me know what you people think. -Mez