Full Plate
Rowan had locked herself in Sam's room. He knocked on the door, but she wouldn't answer. They had given her some space for a couple of hours, until the brothers got too tired to keep their noses in those useless books. Sam didn't want to bother her, but it was his room.
"Rowan, can I have my bedroom back?" he asked and waited a few seconds. The door unlocked and she slipped out so quickly, it surprised Sam. She was making a beeline to her room just down the hall. "Rowan, we didn't mean to upset you. We just –" he began, but she slipped into her room and slammed the door behind her, cutting off his sentence.
Dean came up behind his brother with a bit of concern in his eyes.
"So not used to have a girl live with us." Dean said and Sam cast him a glare. "You know, I was thinking…" He added and Sam's glare disappeared with a slight grin.
"Dangerous." He said, but Dean chose to ignore him.
"Wouldn't it be better to let her forget?" he asked and Sam frowned in confusion.
"What do you mean?" he asked and when Dean turned to him, he could see his brother had already thought about this.
"If she's really Loki's kid, and she doesn't remember, she's living her life like any normal person, why change that?" he asked and Sam knew where this was coming from. Dean was always trying here and there to make sure that those affected by monsters could live a normal life, unlike them.
"Dean." Sam said, bursting his brother's bubble. "If she's Hel, she's going to know at some point. Eventually, the truth comes out and when it does, it's going to be ugly. If we can at least be there for her when it happens, she might be able to handle it." Sam added and then didn't look convinced.
"What's going to be ugly is when she discovers that Hel, the Ruler of the Dead, is half human and half corpse. No magazine in the world considers that a fashion chic." Dean said and Sam narrowed his eyes at his brother's lack of taking this seriously. "Don't look at me like that." Dean said, as if knowing what Sam was thinking. "Let her forget because I can guarantee even if she could remember, she probably doesn't want to." He concluded and as Dean entered his bedroom, Sam was left alone to realize that Dean probably had a good point.
Rowan's behavior suggested she didn't want to know anything about Jormungand.
Sam closed his door and turned off his television, falling fast sleep once he collapsed into bed.
When he opened his eyes later, after what left like only an hour of being asleep, he was woken up by Dean who had turned on the light above Sam, blinding him.
"C'mon, get up. We got to go see Kevin." Dean said. It seemed he too only slept for an hour. His hair was messy and the only thing he seemed to have on was his gray bathrobe and his brown slippers.
"What?" Sam asked. He wasn't fully awake enough to understand why they had to rush over to wherever Kevin was held up. He glanced at the clock by his bed to find out it was seven in the morning. They had actually been asleep for about five hours. Sure didn't seem like it.
"Kevin called. He needs our help. Something about Castiel finding something that might help undo Metatron's spell." Dean said and Sam sat up, rubbing the sleep off his face.
"Okay." He said and Dean walked out, looking like he too was still half asleep.
The Winchesters got dressed, packed up a few things, and made themselves some coffee before driving out. While Dean took care of the caffeine, making sure it was strong, Sam decided to let Rowan know that they had to leave. She wasn't going to like getting woken up at seven in the morning, but they couldn't leave without saying anything.
He knocked gently on her door, but when he heard nothing but silence, he knocked again with a bit more force. He heard the springs of her bed, followed by some shuffling. The door opened and she was combing her fingers through her hair, squinting at him.
"It's too early, Sam." She said and he gave her an apologetic smile.
"I know, but Dean and I have to go." He said and she opened her eyes with a bit of worry. "A friend needs our help. We wouldn't want to leave you alone, but we don't really have a choice." He added and she nodded. He expected her to argue that they could bring her along, but she stayed silent. It seems she didn't want to go anywhere but back to bed.
"Yeah, sure." Rowan said, trying not to yawn.
"We'll lock the door. No one comes around here anyway, so you're safe." He said and she nodded.
"But there's some house rules." Dean said as he walked up. She popped her head out more to look at him, rubbing her right eye. "No snooping around. You're a guest in our home, so have some respect. Don't break anything. And, most important of all, if you hear a voice, ignore it." he added and Sam glanced at him with a bit of worry on his face.
"What?" Rowan asked, too tired to understand.
"And, whatever you do, don't open any doors. The place is haunted." Dean said and then Sam widened his eyes. What was his brother thinking? She had gone into a sort of trance with Brad at the sonority house, not sensing any ghosts in the house. And Dean tells her not to pay attention to hearing Crowley from the dungeon because the bunker's haunted?
When Rowan glanced over at Sam, he lost his expression before she could notice and he gave her a small smile.
"You can watch TV in my room, log into my computer for the Internet, go to the kitchen and bathroom at the end of the hall. You can even go through the books on the shelves if you want. That's what Dean means to say." Sam said and when she nodded her head, stifling a yawn, Sam quickly shot Dean a glare.
"So, we're off. Remember what we said." Dean added and then took off.
"You got a paper and pen in your room?" Sam asked and she nodded, turning away from the door, turning on the light and walking over to the nightstand next to the bed. With the light, Sam was able to make out her pajamas had little monkeys and bananas all over them. He didn't think college girls wore T-shirts and pants to bed. It was nice to know, actually.
Rowan returned with a pad of paper and a pen. The paper had her name on it from the Humane Society, which made Sam smile. He quickly noted his laptop username and password, then his cellular number.
"Just write down your number and I'll call you when we get back." Sam said and she nodded, writing her number at the bottom, and then ripped that off the note pad. Sam took her number and placed it in his pocket. "Right, so we'll see you soon." He added and she nodded, closing the door and shutting off the light.
Sam didn't like the idea of leaving her alone in the bunker with Crowley chained up in the dungeon. He couldn't feel comfortable with that. He'd have to call Rowan a few hours later to see how she would be doing. If she discovers Crowley, he'll catch a ride back to the bunker.
They left the bunker and rushed out to find Kevin.
Rowan had returned to bed and stayed asleep for a moment longer. Having Sam wake her up at seven in the morning sort of ruined it. She slept for about an hour or two and was wide awake. There wasn't much to do in Sam and Dean's huge bunker, but she couldn't stay in bed all day.
She had stuff to do. Rowan wanted to transfer out, like Veronica had suggested, and with all the drama, see if she could take the rest of the semester off. If she didn't do that, she'd probably end up crazy. She needed a normal life again so she could forget the snake and the two brothers that walked around imitating federal agents so they could kill monsters everyone thought weren't real. Heck, Rowan wasn't even sure if she completely believed them.
Nothing made sense and if it wasn't for seeing a giant snake coiled in front of the sonority house, she really would have thought Sam and Dean were insane. She would have called the mental institution, but then she'd get thrown in too. Everyone thought she was a freak.
Rowan got dressed and left her room, grabbing her cell phone and stuffing it into her pocket. Everything was so quiet and it bothered her. She'd hook up her iPod to a sound system if she could, but Dean said no snooping. She was restricted to Sam's room, the halls, her room, the bathroom, the kitchen and where they were doing their research hours ago. And the place was huge! Couldn't she explore a little?
Don't break anything, Dean said. You're a guest, have respect, he said. The two brothers couldn't be any more different. Sam was sensitive where as Dean was rough around the edges. If she was attracted to either of them, which she wasn't, it would be Sam. However, if she could take Dean's gorgeous features and place it with Sam's sensitivity, she'd have the perfect man!
Not that she thought of the two brothers that way.
Rowan walked into the kitchen and began making herself some coffee, opening the fridge to fix something to eat. The silence of the place still annoyed her. She didn't want to walk around with ear buds in her ears and she didn't want the noise to come from just one room. Rowan wanted music throughout the whole place.
But that required exploration.
As Rowan made a sandwich similar to what Sam had made, and prepared her cup of coffee, she began her quest to find a sound system. Screw what Dean had said. There weren't any cameras where they could watch her and even if they did, she'd tell them she wasn't a child.
She just wouldn't break anything or go snooping in Dean's room. He actually might have cameras in there.
With her sandwich and her coffee, Rowan began roaming down the halls, looking for equipment that could be a sound system. She was certain of that because here and there she could see old fashion speakers. That made her more determined to find the machine that would allow her to play some music throughout the bunker.
She ended up entering new corridors without a clue where she could be. She could just hear Dean telling her not to open doors. Who says that? The place is haunted? Yeah right. But there was something odd about the place, not that Rowan knew how she knew that.
Rowan had stuffed the rest of her sandwich in her mouth and gave the doorknob of a random selected door a slight turn. When it opened, she took out her sandwich and smiled.
"Oops, Dean, the door was slightly open. I closed it for you." She said and pushed the door open. It was so dark she had to search near the doorframe inside for a light switch. When she did and the light in the center illuminated, she was confused. Filing cabinets with a table in the center? How boring.
Rowan closed the door and continued opening doors. She just found more rooms with boring things. There were filing cabinets, boxes, weapons of various types and even a training room. She continued down to another corridor where at the end, it turned at an angle and there was a small door. Rowan skipped all the rooms to get to that small door. She opened it and there was a huge machine she didn't quite understand.
However, there was a note on the interior of the door. It seemed Sam and Dean didn't understand it either, which made it easier for her. They had labeled the switches and which one does what. There was one switch that turned off all the lights, another that controlled the temperature, another that locked down the whole place (as if it wasn't already) and then the jackpot. The sound system.
Sadly, there was no way to hook it up to anything modern. However, there was an old fashion radio with a dial. As soon as Rowan turned it, she could hear it at a low volume in the corridor. It was classic rock, which she didn't mind, but she wanted to find something a little bit more of her style. Eventually, she found an alternative rock with a bit of indie rock thrown in. Perfect. Rowan turned up the volume and let out a laugh as she danced around a bit, out of excited and pride.
It was probably the first time since the Winchesters started asking questions that she'd been happy. The proof was that she was dancing with a cup of coffee. A wonder she didn't spill any of it.
Rowan began exploring the rest of the corridors and opening doors. Behind one door was a bigger room, but what looked like prehistoric computers. Boring, since dabbling with it probably would lead to breaking it. And Dean said not to break anything.
She continued and when she opened the door, there were shelves of boxes and filing cabinets. She'd have to go looking through the files to see just what big bad monsters these two brothers had faced. The problem though is that all this stuff seemed too old, older than the brothers.
Rowan recalled Dean saying something about them being legacies. They must have been a new generation to what he also called Men of Letters. Interesting.
But it got better. At the back of the room were two very solid looking doors with a lock. Now that was interesting!
"Hello." Said a smooth and rich male voice. Rowan was certain there was some sort of interference on the radio, but that voice came from behind the door. She was even more certain of that. Dean's words began to echo in her mind. If she hears a voice, ignore it. Don't open any doors. This is what he meant. Only, he lied about the place being haunted. Of course she had known that, but what was behind that door? If Dean didn't want her to open the door, than that was going to be the rule she was going to obey. Whoever that guy is, he must be dangerous.
"Hello?" Rowan asked, wanting to hear that voice again, for some strange reason. Of course, Dean said to ignore whatever voice speaking, but between not opening the door and ignoring the voice, not opening the door seemed the most important.
"So nice to have some company. And something other than silence." That voice said and she could pick up a sort of accent. Something about his voice sounded sinister, but intriguing. Not to forget to mention sexy. Naturally, once she gave into her curiosity, she wanted more. For some strange reason, she wanted to talk with him.
"I bet." Rowan said as she approached the door, looking at the huge lock. Why would they lock someone in there? He must really be dangerous. Why else would they lock him up?
Maybe they were trying to get him to remember something about giant snakes named Jormungand too.
"Don't be shy. Come on in, no use talking through a door." The voice said, his words echoing a little, and she let out a laugh, hearing Dean's voice in her head. Yeah, so not opening the door.
"I'm not even supposed to be talking to you." Rowan said and she could have sworn she heard a snicker behind that door.
"And yet you are." The voice said.
"Yeah, well I never followed directions very well." Rowan said, nearly pressing her ear against the door. She wasn't sure what information she could get out of that, but she was indeed curious. "But I'm not opening this door." She added and she heard him snort, like he wasn't surprised.
"I don't bite, Darling." He said and she smiled, never having a guy call her a term of endearment such as Darling. It was so sexy.
Why the Hell was she so titillated by this guy? Gross! She should be appalled and walk away!
Only she couldn't. Her mind was rationally telling her this was a bad idea, but everything else wanted to continue the conversation with this guy.
"Then why are you locked up here?" she asked, waiting with a smile.
"Haven't you met Squirrel and Moose?" he asked and her smile turned into a frown of confusion.
"What? You mean Sam and Dean?" she asked and he let out a small laugh.
"Isn't it an accurate description?" he asked and she was now the one to let out a laugh.
"You named them after Rocky and Bullwinkle?" she asked, actually finding it an accurate image, as her mystery guy had said. However, the tall one wasn't the one that lacked a bit of intelligence. "That's funny." She concluded.
"Finally someone who understands my sense of humor." He said and she smiled. "By the way, doesn't that hurt your neck?" he asked and Rowan's smile vanished as she pulled away from the door. He had gone silent for a brief moment, as if he could see her through the door. "You should just come in, have a seat with me." he added and Rowan stepped away, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"No." she replied with conviction in her voice.
"Aw, where's the rebellious spirit?" he asked and she crossed her arms over her chest, glaring at that lock.
"If Dean doesn't want me to open this door, I won't." Rowan said and was about to walk away to leave.
"Surprising that the Winchesters brought you here." He said, making Rowan stop in her tracks. She glanced over her shoulder, but he remained silent. He was baiting her. She would have ignored him, but he naturally wanted to lure her back in with something that would peak her curiosity so much. It was working.
"What does that mean?" she asked, not moving from her spot.
"They never bring anyone here, besides their friends or their captives." He replies and fell back into silence. He didn't specify who exactly the captives are. She was insinuating that he was referring to her as a captive because she hadn't known them long enough to be a friend. However, he probably said that just to make her think this very thought.
What a cunning mystery guy.
"Goodbye, captive." Rowan said, stepping towards the door of the room. Whatever he meant by that, at least she wasn't locked up, so that had to make her a friend, even if she didn't feel like it.
"You'll be back." he said, baiting her once again. Rowan wanted to ask why he'd say that, but that's exactly what he wants. "Why do you think they keep me here? I'm useful." He added and she had a grin on her face.
"Or dangerous." Rowan replied and walked out of the room, closing the door behind her. In that moment, she felt pretty good. However, he had said something that was true.
She would be back.
The fact that the Winchesters didn't have guests very often made her curious. Yes, Veronica had told them she didn't have anywhere to go and Sam said she could stay for as long as she needed, but they were trying to get her to remember what she had said to the snake. Why would they do that?
He probably knew. He seemed to want to help, but with a price. She wasn't doing that until she had done a bit of research. Sam and Dean kept talking about Jormungand. That's where she was going to start.