Chapter Eight
~California~
Mark peeked into the other room where Sam, Dean, and Castiel were working. He wasn't sure of what all they needed to do, but he left them to it. Mark had called Amy a few minutes ago to fill her in and ask if she could come on home. She hadn't seemed too interested in coming home, but she said she would be there when she could.
Her odd behavior about it all was understandable. She was probably just worried that whatever happened here might be what brought Dark back. And after the last time he and Dark had shared a body, Mark didn't want a repeat of that.
Because it was so easy to give in. And so far, Mark hadn't been strong enough to not give in. He had given Dark control, he had given in the the dark power in the World Between Worlds... What would he fall prey to now?
"You okay?" Sam asked, stepping out of the room to join Mark. "We're all set if you're ready for this."
"I know we might be racing against the clock here," Mark said. "But can we wait for Amy? Nothing against you guys, but she's kind of my emotional support. Plus, I keep getting flashbacks of getting stabbed by Castiel, so I need to work that out." He hadn't meant any offense by it, and it looked like Sam had expected that reaction from Mark concerning Castiel.
"If it means anything, what happened then is bothering him too," Sam said. That only made Mark feel partly better about it. "He didn't know it was you. No one did. We all fell for Dark's tricks."
"I get it," Mark said. "But I want to wait for Amy."
Sam thought for a moment then nodded. "All right, we'll wait for Amy," he said then went back into the other room.
"We don't have time for this," Dean said when Sam informed him of Mark's suggestion about waiting for Amy. "She should've already been here! She knew we were coming. Mark wouldn't have kept that from her."
"Look at it from her point of view, Dean," Sam said. "Every time we've been around, Dark has been there. Dark might have it out for Mark, but she's been getting the bad end of the deal every time."
"But we're here BEFORE Dark," Dean said. "To keep them safe FROM Dark."
"We're waiting for Amy," Sam said. "In the meantime, we'll go over our plan." He looked at Castiel, who would be in charge of the entire thing since he was the one with the spell that would put them into Mark's dream.
"Shouldn't we go over that with Mark?" Dean asked. "It's his dreams you're gonna be in."
"Mark will be asleep," Castiel said. "And unless he has perfected the art of lucid dreaming, he won't have any control over it. Our control will even be limited."
"How limited?" Sam asked.
"We won't be able to control where the dream goes, we can only follow," Castiel said. "But we'd have control over the immediate surroundings. Not that much different than what we're doing now in this place."
"And if we find a mirror, what then?" Sam said. "Mark said the mirror didn't seem important so if we can't control where the dream goes..."
"That's where Dean comes in," Castiel said. "We can't control it, but Dean can plant the idea in Mark's head about the mirror by talking about it. If I'm right, Mark will subconsciously hear the suggestion and seek out the mirror."
"If you're right," Dean said. "And if not, we'll keep trying until he gets it."
"Is Mark aware of the risks involved?" Castiel asked, looking up at Sam. "Once we're in, there's no privacy for him. So if we end up in a dream that's not about the mirror..."
"We'll talk to him about it when Amy gets here," Sam said. "I'm sure the risks won't surprise him. He's already had his privacy violated by Dark."
"If I were him, I'd say no because of that," Dean said. "Nothing worse than being mentally raped."
"We need him to agree to this," Sam said. "There's something about that mirror. If we have to, we'll go into my dreams as well."
Dean looked past Sam. "We'll talk about that later," he said. "Amy's here."
Sam turned to see Mark walk into the room with Amy behind him. She gave a small wave, but otherwise said nothing. Sam had expected the usual hug she gave him, but this particular reunion was anything but usual, so he didn't dwell on it.
"Are you ready for this?" Sam asked. "We can always give you time to think it through." He expected Dean to protest, but he was leaving it all up to Mark. This was his choice.
"I'd rather get it over with," Mark said, reaching back to grab Amy's hand. She laid a supportive hand on his back.
The look on her face, though, gave Sam the feeling that it was more possessive than supportive. She wasn't about to lose Mark again.
"There's just some things we need to cover beforehand," Sam said. "We may have to go in more than once. We probably won't get the dream we need every time."
"So you'll be seeing whatever I dream," Mark said. Sam nodded. "I don't think I dream anything too embarrassing, so I'm not worried."
"They'll be in deep corners of your subconscious," Dean said. "No privacy."
Mark looked at Amy then back forward. "You guys already know a lot about me," he said. "I'll take whatever risk may come if my dreams provide answers."
"All right," Sam said. "Then let's get started."
~World Between Worlds~
"Mark."
"Yes," he said, stopping in front of Amy. "And no. It's complicated."
"You stole Damien's body."
"I guess it's not too complicated for you."
"Have you been here the entire time?" Amy asked. She was relieved that her Mark hadn't turned out to be this Mark, which was something Sam and Dean were probably thinking still.
He shook his head. "I haven't been here that long," he said. "Been trying to find a way out."
Amy remembered the dreams Mark and Sam had both been having. "You sent the dreams," she said. He didn't deny it, so that was enough confirmation for her. "Why him?"
"I learned about him from Celine and Damien," he said. "Or whatever Damien is now."
"Do they know you're here?"
"Finding me is the last thing on their minds," he said. "I can hide in plain sight. They seem to care more about you and your Mark."
"Is Dark going after him?"
"Dark?"
"Damien," Amy said. "Dark is controlling him." Did part of her still want to see the good in him?
"That's not what I've seen while I've been here," he said. "Damien's in full control. With the power I could've had. Instead, I ran."
"Dark's not a demon or something that possessed Damien?"
"That power physically changed him," he said. "He's the thing that does the possessing."
"What about Celine?"
"She had the power to do what she wanted, make Damien see what she wanted him to," he told her. "But now? She's just as normal as you were."
"She's powerless? He sent her into my body like that? Does she know?"
"It sounded like he's got plans for her," he said. "She more than likely doesn't know."
And everyone thought Celine was Amy! If Dark did something to her...
"I need to get back."
"You think of anything I haven't?" he asked. "Those messages I sent..." He stopped abruptly.
"What?"
"Mark's dreaming."
