SIX

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Dean walloped into the floor so hard his head bounced. He grunted in pain and rolled to his side. He squinted around the room. Cold, stone, dim, it told him nothing about his predicament.

"Dean?"

He whipped his head over his shoulder to find Sam sitting against a stone wall. A small girl was sitting next to him, holding onto his arm.

"Sam!" Dean got up quickly, coming closer and crouching down. "You ok? Is this Lily?"

"Yeah," Sam said quietly. "She's scared."

Dean looked at the five-year-old, her brown hair braided messily behind her, her eyes watching him with barely-repressed fear. "Hey, Lily. I'm Dean," he said with his best, warmest smile, "and I don't mind telling you, I'm a little worried myself."

"Any idea how you got here?" Sam asked his brother.

But Lily twisted and looked up at him. "The lady put me to sleep," she said. "I don't like her. I think she wanted to hurt me."

"Is that right?" Dean said. "Well she's been taken care of. She can't hurt you now, ok?"

She nodded once. "Have you come to take us all home?"

Dean noticed Sam's hand rub her arm reassuringly. "Yeah," he said.

"That's what Sam said, when he fell from the ceiling," Lily sighed.

Dean smiled. "Sam was… was... just waiting for me to get here too," he said quickly. "Once we find a door we'll all go home, ok?"

"Ok," she said. She looked up at Sam, and then leant into him. She closed her eyes and Sam continued to rub her arm slowly.

Sam looked at his brother. Dean shook his head and got up, walking around the room to check all the walls very carefully for any sign of a hidden door. He looked up to see the stone ceiling just as impenetrable. He checked all of the floor, then put his hands to his hips and looked back at Sam. Lily was apparently in the act of falling asleep against his right side.

They heard an angry shout, as if from the walls themselves. Dean stepped back, looking up, but there was nothing. Lily opened her eyes and clutched at Sam's arm. "Here we go again," she whispered.

The shout got louder. It echoed.

A lump of beige and black flashed into existence at Dean's head height. It pummelled into the stone floor, right in the middle of the room. Sam and Dean exchanged a glance.

The mass of raincoat and shoes groaned in pain. "Bloody hell," it heaved, before unfolding itself to reveal John with a face that could put the fear of spoilage into the largest joint of ham imaginable. "Arseholes," he coughed, pushing himself up on his elbows. "Oh. Hello Sam, Dean. —Lily!" he cried, getting to his hands and knees.

The girl blinked at him. "Hello. Have you come to get us out too?"

"Yeah," he grinned, getting up and wiping his hands together. "You alright, love? Has anyone hurt you?"

"No," she said. "The lady made me fall asleep. I woke up here. She didn't throw me from the ceiling. How did you all get here? Are any more men going to fall from the ceiling?"

John brushed himself down and pulled his coat straight. "It's just us. And I know how she got us here, sweetheart - trust me, she didn't get away with it."

"Will you explain what's going on now?" Dean said from behind him.

John looked around the room, then backed up to the far wall. He slid his back down the stone to sit on the floor, getting comfortable. He pulled out his cigarettes but then his eyes flicked to Lily. He cleared his throat and pushed the packet back inside his coat. When his hand came out again he had his lighter in it. "Right so… Here we go. It so happened that I was going through this little town, right?" He flicked the lighter open and shut slowly, his eyes on the metal. "I had occasion to, uhm… get arrested. I was let out the next morning, just getting my gear and signing out, you know." He straightened his shoulders, his eyes firmly fixed on the lighter being flicked open and shut, open and shut, by his thumb. "Then the sergeant bird in charge got a call right in front of me from her husband - little Lily here hadn't turned up at school. They thought they were looking for some kind of dirty pedo that hangs around playgrounds, and you know how them witch hunts go. I saw the photo of young Miss Lily here on her mam's desk. Reminded me of someone I know." He paused to snap the lighter closed. He pushed it back inside his coat pocket. He looked up at Dean. "I sneaked a peak at the report. I went down to the site that Lily was supposed to have been taken from. The entire place was drenched in bad magic, really nasty juju magumbo. It smacked of dragon, the whole thing."

"Dragons?" Lily whispered in awe.

"We've met dragons," Dean said. "Go on."

"So I tracked her down - the dragon." John's face hitched up at the side in a cynical smile. "I did her a deal. She could just up and leave with no recriminations in exchange for the one thing she really wanted. I just needed a few days to get it and bring it back."

"Our book?" Sam realised, his voice angry. "You let her have our book?"

"Did I bloody hell as like," John chuckled. "She set terms - she wanted a soul, a last snack for the road like, and she wanted me into the bargain. I'd give her the book, myself and one meal, and she could get her proper dragon form back, and she'd leave our world. Seeing as it was that or let her go on a child killing spree in every town she came across, I agreed."

Dean advanced on him. "You little—"

"Whoa there, John Wayne," John said wearily, his right hand up in a gesture that Dean had seen before on people who were either about poke out both eyes or name and command a demon. Dean rocked back on his heels, both hands out to show they were empty. John looked over at Lily, and his hand folded into a completely different gesture. "See this?"

Lily clapped her hands. "You had your fingers crossed! That means a promise doesn't count!"

John grinned and winked at her.

"So what, then?" Sam asked. "Because when we found you—"

"Yeah. Not my best angle, I have to admit," John said. "I went to meet her. I asked her to give me Lily and then leave in exchange for the book. She refused. She was going to take Lily, and me, and use the book to slip her human form and go back to terrorising our world, but this time in her real body."

Dean leant back against the wall, watching him. "And?"

"So I didn't hand over the book," John said. "I'd spent all morning reading it. Used a passage out of it to send her home anyway - her lot will sort her out. She's been a bad, bad dragon, and she'll get a good going over now she's home amongst her own. Avalon doesn't take trespass onto hallowed ground lightly."

"You… used a passage," Dean said. "A passage."

John looked at him. "Poor choice of words, maybe, considering how you found me," he smiled. "I recited a passage, but it had to be at the right time. It's dirty, that book - proper dirty magic. It gets its power from bodily fluids, like blood or—." He paused to look at Lily but his eyes darted away again.

"Like coffee?" Lily asked innocently. "Daddy says coffee is pure magic in the morning."

John smiled at his shoes. "Something like that, love. Anyway, she's gone home - most likely to prison. Lily's safe, and the dragon won't be eating me any time soon either, so I'd call it a win."

"A win?" Dean demanded. "Don't get me started on the delay you're causing me and Sam. And we don't even know where we are!"

John looked up at him. "I know where we are. I should have realised what the house was when I first went in, but you know, I was a bit distracted with a dragon that could rip my throat out if she didn't like the next thing I said."

"So where are we - and can we get out?" Sam asked.

"I don't want to upset anyone," Lily said quietly, "but I am getting hungry. I was on my own all day yesterday."

"They just left you in here?" John asked, his face turning angry. "That's against the rules." He stood up. "Whatever happens, do not eat or drink anything until I say so."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"Because this isn't America, pet," he said kindly. "This is Avalon, where the faeries and all their kind live. If we eat their food, we'll be stuck here forever."

"We're in Avalon?" Sam asked, but something about his voice was ever so slightly awestruck.

"I might like to be a faerie," Lily said.

"What about your poor mam, back at home?" John asked.

She let her head tilt. "Yeah. I want my mommy now."

"Right. So no eating or drinking, right? Nothing at all. Do not put anything in your mouth," John said. Dean opened his mouth and his finger went up in a question. John nodded at him. "I do mean anything."

Dean pursed his lips and his hand dropped hastily.

"You were going to smoke a cigarette," Lily said. "Which is very bad for you, you know."

"Oh I know," John smiled. "But I brought them with me. Now then, are we all ready to leave?"

Lily clapped her hands delightedly. "I am!"

"Then I'll open the door," John grinned.

Sam got to his feet, getting Lily up too. "What do we need to do?" he asked.

"When I get the exit open, you two keep her safe. They want her, not us. We're expendable."

"Why?" Lily asked.

"They're faeries, love. They're horrible, spiteful little things that will bite your finger off if you go near them," he said. "They don't have mams to tell 'em off, see? No mam or dad to stop them doing naughty things."

"No mommy or daddy?" she asked, aghast.

"Exactly. Which means no baby faeries. They steal little kids like you - the nicer, the better. They make them eat their food so they get stuck here. They turn into faeries. But can you imagine how much you'd miss your parents? Of course faeries are angry little bleeders - it's unfair, what's happened to them."

Dean swung his hands out. "Ok, man. Let's go."

"When the door opens, they're not going to be happy. We might have to fight our way out. Only, that's not my strong point, so just keep Lily with you, alright?" he said.

"Not a problem. I got a bone to pick with a few faeries," Dean grunted.

John snapped his fingers and pointed at Dean's jacket. "Open the book, Dean. I need you to read from it."

Dean pulled it from inside his jacket, then opened it up and flicked through. "Whereabouts?"

"Page three-seven-nine," John said. "Second passage."

Dean flicked back and then raised the book. He balked. "Are you kiddin' me? This is gibberish."

"It's Welsh," John sighed. He looked at Sam. "Can you read it?"

"I've seen it before - I can try," he said.

"Swap," John said.

Sam took Lily's hand, walking her over to his brother. "Dean's going to look after you, ok?"

"Ok," she said, her face tilted down in shyness. Dean handed Sam the book, then picked her up and sat her on his arm. She pulled at the knee of her dark blue dungarees in worry.

Sam's eyes scanned the book quickly. He nodded. "Yeah, I think I can do this."

"It doesn't have to be perfect - just close," John said. He took his lighter from his pocket and pulled the bottom off. He poured a little of the resulting lighter fluid over his hands, then realised Lily was watching with wide eyes. "Never, ever do this, alright?"

"Ok," she said.

John looked at Dean. "Make sure she doesn't hear or see what happens next. Please."

Dean put his hand to her head and held her close. She put her arms round as much of him as she could. "We'll be ok, Lily," he said.

"Yeah, everything's going to be fine," John said. "Uncle John'll get you home." The smile slipped off his face like heat from sunshine dying in a frozen pond. He cleared his throat quickly, his eyes safely on the floor. "Right. You read that good and loud, Sam. Once the flames start, you lot head for the door."

"Where's it going to be?" Dean asked.

"No idea till it appears. Avalon is a pain in the arse like that."

Sam began to read, stumbling at first, but getting louder as he grew more confident.

John closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, and then flicked at the lighter.

Bright flames spread over his hands. He lifted them both out, his eyes still closed, as he muttered something. Sam read louder. The room began to smell of oil, dirt, stagnant water. John's voice got louder. Sam matched his volume. The flames went from blue-yellow to bright pink. Dean kept a good hold on Lily as he looked around them, searching for anything that looked like a way out.

There was a pop. He turned to his left and saw a hole in the wall, its edges sparkling green. "Hold tight, Lily," he said. "Sam! John! C'mon!" He went for the portal.

Sam was right behind him. They clambered through, the light suddenly leaving them.

Abruptly there was another pop. It went pitch black.

Lily whimpered. Dean squeezed her closer. "You're ok, sweetheart," he breathed. "Close your eyes, ok? Keep them shut for me."

"Ok," she whispered.

"Dean? Is that you?" came a voice.

"Sam," he realised. "Yeah, we're ok. Where's John?"

"Behind you, squire."

Dean turned. "I can't see a thing. Anyone got a light?"

There was a spark and they looked at the tall, wavering yellow light of a Zippo lighter. Every single thing around it was still pitch black. No dim light, no fall-out from the flame cast any luminescence at all. "Well we're out of the room," John said. "This looks like the road home. Ready?"

The lighter moved away, and Dean hurried to catch it up. He heard Sam behind him. "You do know where we are, right?" he asked John.

"I do. This is No Man's Land - the gap between Avalon and our world," he said. "We walk."

"Until?" Dean asked.

"Until we hit something."

"Awesome," Dean groused. He kept up with the light, hearing another set of boots to his right. "Stick close, Sam."

"Just keep walking," Sam replied.

"Watch out for things pulling at you. Do not stop walking," John said quietly.

"Gotcha," Dean said.

"Dean? I'm scared," Lily said. "I want my mom now please."

"Hey - you know any good songs, Lily?" Sam asked. "Dean does."

"I know the ABC song," she said. "Do you know the ABC song, Dean?"

"You know what? I forgot," he said in the pitch. "Why don't you sing it for us, Lily?"

"How about you don't," John interrupted. "We don't want anyone to hear you and follow us, now do we?"

"Oh," she said. "Whoops."

They paced along faster, but as they did, Dean felt Lily's tiny hands squeeze tighter at the material of his jacket. He began to hum - very softly, very low. A few bars of Rock and Roll Ain't Noise Pollution later and Lily had relaxed her grip.

Dean felt something at his elbow. "Ok - they're onto to us."

"They've tracked us," John said. "They've tracked us and they've come to take her back."

Lily squeaked and threw her arms round Dean 's neck. "They're not taking you anywhere," Dean said firmly. "Not without me."

She buried her head in his neck. Something grabbed at his free arm. He pulled it back.

"Do you know how much longer we got to go?" he asked.

"Can't tell," John said. "Why?"

Something pushed at Dean's knee. He stumbled but kept his balance. "Cut that out!" he cried angrily. It pushed at his back, clawed something sharp over his cheek.

"Walk faster," John said.

They followed the lighter, the single point in the darkness. Sam reached out and grasped at Dean's sleeve. "Is that you?" he asked.

"Yeah it's me," Dean grumped. "I'm getting cut up here."

Sam felt something on his arm.

"It's only me, Sam," John said. "I'll keep a good hold of you and run. Keep a bloody good grip on your brother - and Dean, you hang onto Lily. If we lose her—"

"We won't," Dean said. "She ain't going anywhere without me."

"Thank you," Lily squeaked.

John yanked on Sam's sleeve as he took off running. The flame from the lighter stood straight up, as if the passing air had no effect on it at all. Sam fell into step and Dean hurried along behind, pulled ever onwards by Sam's hand. Lily clutched at Dean with all her strength, little breaths bumped out of her as they tore along.

"I'm scared," she whispered.

"Just keep looking at the light," Dean managed as they swept along in the darkness. Something thumped at Dean's shoulder. He felt steely claws down the back of his calf. "They're testing for weak spots here," he warned.

"They won't attack when there's light," John said, sounding out of breath.

They ran on, four pairs of eyes fixed on the flame coming from the lighter in front of them.

Until it went out.

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Thanks for reading! Glad you're enjoying it so far. :)