4

I promise. Anne had heard those words before. The winter her mother died, she had promised them a holiday at the seaside in the spring. When their father died, he had promised their inheritance would not be burdened by debt, but the bank had come to collect anyway. Anne did not trust promises.

She shifted sideways toward the bed where Thomas lay and placed her hand on Thomas' forehead, then his neck. His pulse was weak, but his heart was still beat. There might even be a little color creeping back into his cheeks. She leaned forward to examine the needle and tube the stranger had stuck in her brother's arm.

She had heard of letting blood out, but she had never heard of putting something back in a person.

"It's called an I-V." More strange words came out of the taller man's mouth. What was his name? He had said it, but then she had forgotten it because of his next words. We are your great-grandchildren.

These men claimed to be from the future.

Anne had heard her father speak of another Man of Letters who had a theory that magic could open doors in time. She had thought it was nonsense. Magic can do a lot of things, but not that.

Could it?

Yet here she was with two strangers who had not been on the ship earlier today, who wore clothing that did not belong, and who had technology and knowledge that did not exist yet.

"Your name is Winchester." Anne fixed her eyes on the taller brother, the one who had tried to comfort her. "Are you Men of Letters?" What else would explain this knowledge they had?

"Sam Winchester, and we are Hunters, but our grandfather was a Man of Letters."

Beside him the Hunter, Isaac Campbell, made a strangled sound. "Surely not."

"Oh, yeah. We're Winchesters, but our father was a Hunter and he taught us to hunt." Now the other one spoke. Dean?

"And to heal," Anne said. She could feel Thomas shifted under her hand, and her heart fluttered with relief. He was getting better. "How could a Hunter have such knowledge?"

"He learned it in the Marine Corps, actually. It's basic field medicine in our time."

Hunters. Two Hunters with tools and knowledge far better than her own. Anne shifted her eyes to the bowl full of spell ingredients, which sat half-forgotten on the floor. An idea was forming in her mind.

"Anne?" Thomas' voice was soft but there was color in his cheeks again.

"Thomas! How are you feeling?"

"Not—bad." Thomas frowned, puzzled by the thought. "I was bitten, but I feel no pain!"

"That would be the codeine we gave him." Dean was wearing a very charming smile, one that said 'you can trust me.' How often did he use that smile to spin the lies Hunters had to live by? Anne had grown up as part of a secret society; she knew better than to trust an expression like that. "We dosed him with antibiotics too, so there shouldn't be an infection."

"You can keep him from getting an infection?" Isaac sounded like he was not quite ready to believe these strangers either.

"We can help prevent it," Sam said hastily. Ah-ha! There is was, the caveat. They could, maybe, sometimes, help, but sometimes...sometimes not. Anne squeezed her brother's hand tight.

"Anne, who are these people?" Thomas moved his head, trying to get a better look at all three strangers.

"Hunters. They are Hunters here to help us." Anne knew it was true, even if they didn't know it yet.

Dean shook his head before the words had left her mouth. "No, no we are not here to help! We have to get back home. I'm sure that this will all work out just fine. After all, nobody died on the Mayflower." He glanced at his brother. "Right?"

Sam just shrugged. "I don't know."

"William Butten died a month ago and another poor soul died yesterday," Anne said. She had seen death before. Her mother had died when Thomas was born. Her father had died five years ago. But those deaths were natural. William Butten's body had been cold, drained of blood, face frozen in fear. The memory of that sight still made Anne shiver.

"Well, you've got a Hunter here to take care of it!" Dean slapped Isaac on the back, making Isaac jump like a startled rabbit. Dean just grinned. "I'm sure a Campbell will know how to handle this. After all, everyone remembers the Mayflower so that means that everything worked out fine."

It was easy for him to say, when his brother was not the one lying half-dead in his bed. "Mr. Campbell is hunting a witch, Mr. Winchester." Anne moved across the room again, the pistol still keeping the men at a good distance. "My brother was attacked by a vampire."

"So now he's hunting a vampire. Am I right?" Dean said.

Isaac frowned. "This still does not make any sense. A vampire could not survive on board, and I know there is a witch-"

"What are you doing?" Sam's tone was sharp, his eyes narrowed, and Anne finished her trip across the room in one swift movement, scooping up the bowl full of half-finished spell.

"No!" Both brothers shouted at the same time. They surged forward, but stepped back again when Anne raised her pistol.

"We need that to get home!" Dean's friendly grin was gone now, replaced by a grim look of fierce determination.

"You aren't going home until you bring me the vampire's head." Anne held the bowl closed to her side and leveled a look at Dean to match his own. "My brother nearly died. If the vampire is not stopped, he will try something foolish again, and this time it might kill him. I cannot take that risk."

"He is a Man of Letters," Isaac said. "Men of Letters are not trained to hunt or kill."

"I am aware. That is why Thomas nearly got himself killed!"

"Trying to study a vampire-"

"Trying to kill it!"

Isaac blinked, as if the idea that Thomas would try such a thing would never occur to him. "Why would a Man of Letters try to kill the vampire?"

"Because people are dying, Mr. Campbell. But my brother is the only family I have left, and I am not going to lose him." Anne lifted the bowl and turned it upside-down, dumping its contents on the floor.

"No one is going home until you bring me that vampire's head and I know these people are safe."

Sam and Dean Winchester were tall men, but they both suddenly seemed to grow taller. They loomed over Anne, twin expressions of anger in their steely eyes. Anne felt her knees tremble, but braced herself to meet their glares. She was not sorry she had done it, and she would do it again.

"I have what you need to build the spell again, and I will give it you when I have the vampire's head." Anne hoped that her voice didn't sound as small as she suddenly felt. She looked down to where her gun lay on the floor, wondering if she could reach it before them.

But neither man lunged for his gun. Dean drew in a deep breath, and lowered his clenched fist his is side. "We saved your brother's life!"

Anne's guts twisted. They had, and this was a poor way to thank them. But they had been about to leave, and Anne couldn't have that.

She couldn't lose Thomas.

"Yes, and all your good work will be in vain if the vampire is not stopped."

"Dean-" Sam said.

Dean held up a hand to silence his brother. "We bring you this vamp, and you send us home. I want your word as a Woman of Letters."

"You have it. When the ship is safe, I will help you get home."

Dean nodded and held out his hand. His grip was strong and firm. Then he turned to Isaac. "Alright, do you want to work together on this or do your own thing? 'Cause I'd hate to get in your way, but you heard the lady. The price of a ticket home is one vampire head, and I intend to collect."

"You may join me, but you will follow my lead. I know this ship and these people." Isaac poked at the strange gold star on Dean's chest. "Perhaps you should change clothes, before you leave the cabin. After that—I have a plan."

o0o

Dean had thought he was used to the dark. After all, most of his work took place at night. But there was something different about the darkness here. Even out camping, there was always a glow on the horizon from a distant city. Here, there was nothing but stars—more stars than Dean had ever seen before. They seemed so bright up in the sky, but Dean could barely see his brother even though they stood shoulder to shoulder on the deck.

The poop deck.

Sam had leveled a glare at his brother the first time Isaac mentioned that term, making it clear that any and all toilet humor was unwelcome.

"You know we could go home." Sam leaned against the railing of the high deck oh-so-casually. As if there wasn't a ten-foot drop beneath them. As if the ship wasn't rocking back and forth under their feet.

Dean resisted the urge to hold a hand over his stomach, and swallowed against the bile rising in his throat. His insides were sloshing around, turning somersaults, and generally making him feel nauseous. He had been air-sick before. Apparently, sea-sick was exactly the same.

"We have a second set of ingredients for that spell." Sam patted his pocket where the packet was secured close to his chest in a water-proof bag. "We're not stranded. We don't need Anne to help us get home."

Miss Winchester had promised that she had all of the ingredients they would need for their spell, and she would hand them over when she was satisfied that the hunt was completed.

"Yeah, I know." Dean put a hand to his mouth as the ship tilted again. "But you heard her. That's her brother, and she's probably right. He will probably do something else to get himself killed if we don't help take care of this. Besides. People are dying."

For a brief moment, looking into Anne Winchester's steely eyes, Dean had almost felt as if he was talking to his father. This woman made no compromises, did everything she could to protect her loved ones, and said the three magic words in the same sharp tone.

People are dying. So we hunt. Period. End of story.

"Do you think—I mean, Thomas might be our ancestor. He looks a little bit like grandpa Henry, don't you think?" Sam shifted as the ship moved under them again, but didn't seem at all bothered by the constant rocking. "What if we hadn't come here? Would Thomas have died? Would we never exist?"

Dean shook his head and bowed low over the railing. His stomach didn't care about Sam's musings right now. "I don't know, man. Maybe. Do you still think that spell brought us here for a reason?"

"I didn't do it wrong, Dean. I think there is something here that can help us fix the Colt." Sam frowned down at his brother's hunched shoulders. "Are you ok?"

"I just don't think we need to spend any more time on this ship than is absolutely necessary," Dean said.

Footsteps sounded on the deck below and a glowing light approached. It had half the power of a flashlight, but in this darkness it seemed twice as bright. Isaac held the lantern to light the way for himself and his companion, a teenager dressed in the simple clothing of a crewman, with a happy grin that seemed to be fixed permanently on his face.

Too young! Dean grimaced. He didn't want to use this boy as bait, but then, that was the trouble with bait. It had to be someone who looked young or helpless.

"This is Amos. He is to join us on watch tonight," Isaac said.

"Oh! You must be Isaac's friends!" The boy's smile grew even wider, if that was possible, and he opened his arms to wrap Dean in a bear hug that nearly lifted the Hunter off his feet despite the fact Amos was fully a foot shorter than him.

"Oh, I am so excited to meet you!"

Amos released Dean and moved to hug Sam. Dean shook himself like a dog that had just exited the water.

Dean's eyes narrowed as Amos stepped back and finally took a good look at the two brothers. Amos gaped, then covered his mouth. "Oh my gosh! You—how did you get here?"

"They came aboard this afternoon. They are fur traders who have been traveling on the continent-"

Amos shook his head, cutting Isaac off before he could finish his lie. "No! No, I don't mean that." He leaned closer to Dean, head tilted to one side, as if looking through the Hunter. Dean felt his guts twist, and wondered if the kid would stop smiling if Dean threw up all over him. Thankfully, Amos stepped back again. "You're at least three or four hundred years from where you ought to be! How did you manage that?"

The only thing Dean knew of that could spot time-travel in a person was an angel. But this wasn't just any angel. That hug...

"You're a cupid!"

"How did you know?" Amos craned his head to look at his back. "Are my wings showing?"

"A cupid?" Isaac repeated the word as if it was even more unbelievable than time-travel.

"Yeah, a cupid is a type of angel. But they mostly just make people fall in love with each other," Dean explained. Isaac looked even more confused.

"Who are you here for? I mean, who are you getting up?" Sam asked.

Dean pointed to Isaac, then to the cabin below them where Anne waited with her brother. "Oh—it's them, isn't it? Anne and-"

"No!" Amos shuddered. "A Campbell and a Winchester? That's a terrible idea! Actually-" He leaned closer and lowered his voice to a whisper. "I'm not here to set anyone up at all! I'm just here to watch. True love is about to happen on this ship, the kind that doesn't need our help!" Amos closed his eyes and sighed, as if he'd just eating a pound of chocolate and was ready to lapse into a blissful sugar coma. "Oh, and I have to help keep them alive. Make sure they don't starve this winter or get killed."

"Awesome! New plan." Dean clapped Amos on the shoulder. "You can smite the vampire when we find it!"

Amos blanched. "V-v-vampire? Here? Smite? Me? No! No, no, no, no, no! Oh dear, I knew there had to be more to this assignment than they were telling me."

"You are an angel?" Issac asked.

Amos nodded.

"Yet you are scared of a vampire?"

"I'm a cupid! I help people fall in love! I have a bow and arrow. I wouldn't know how to smite someone if I tried!"

"Really?" Dean asked. Amos nodded. Dean rolled his eyes and sighed. "Alright, well, it still can't kill you, so you still get to be bait! Go down there and look harmless."

"Bait?" Amos squeaked.

"You're here to protect whoever is supposed to fall in love, right?" Sam asked. "Well, getting rid of the vampire will help keep your lovers safe, won't it?"

Amos nodded again. "Ok. Ok." He took a deep breath. "I can do this! Act natural! Act harmless!" The angel stumbled back down the stairs to pace the deck below.

Dean shook his head, but immediately regretted it as everything inside his stomach threatened to crawl up and out. "Let's get this over with so I can get back on solid ground!"