Gimme Shelter – chpt 11.
By: sifi.
OOooOO
"Are you sure it wasn't one of these Foenwyn creatures?" Sam asked levering down the last marker at their last stop, Airport Mesa, while Dean closed the circle.
"No Sam I'm not sure," he huffed and told himself yet again that it was the energy of the vortex that was stirring his pot. At CrowHawk's suggestion they took several small breaks while finishing their endeavors and only broke out in two more fights, neither of them pulling weapons these times. "but those corpses, I mean if Shep and Caleb hadn't been ready to work that binding ritual," he shook his head, "Dad coulda turned out lookin' like that. But I thought we took care of 'em."
"That's the summer you broke your trigger finger?" Sam tested the waters, he knew that those few days in Dean's 13th summer had changed his brother forever.
The elder hunter scowled, "Yeah." And made his way around the exposed circle of minerals in the trough, dousing it with lighter fluid.
"You were on your way back from the vortex when you ran across..."
"YES SAM! THAT's The SUMMER." Dean snarled.
"Sorry."
"Mm."
"How come you never told me about these things before?"
"I thought they were done." He crouched and struck the fire starter knowing the heavy quantity of magnesium in the powder would burn hot enough to melt the iron shavings and seal the area for a good while. The heat would penetrate even under the markers and whatever didn't melt would keep under the weight of the rock and the seal would remain unbroken. All they had to do was wait for the fire to die, then bury the ring. "It didn't occur to me that there could or would be more."
"So what do these things want?" He asked already feeling the effects of the seal. The itching frustration that burned inside was starting to cool and just like his brother, they both began to breathe easier as the tension seeped from their shoulders.
"What do any of these things want?" Dean shrugged and started packing up their tools while Sam moved around the circle, sweeping sand gently over the mineralized band, "They try to make you do evil things, they get inside your head and push your buttons, they fire up your hate, stoke your insecurities and feed rage..." noticing that Sam had stopped what he was doing and was looking at him he stopped, looked at the younger man and shuddered, "...and they look like pixie-rats."
"So you keep saying... I mean I get the thing about the rats... but Dean have you ever even seen a pixie?" Sam asked, "Do they even exist?"
"Why not?" the older brother shrugged, "Sidhe exist, why can't pixies... and unicorns..."
"...that shoot rainbows out their asses," Sam added.
"Exactly... can't forget that part."
"And dragons that bind the universes apart," Sam listed.
"Yep, them too."
"Y'know I used to think our lives were weird."
They slung their belongings after burying the seal and headed back toward the road and the patiently waiting impala.
"And now?" Dean asked.
Sam shook his head, "S'good to have confirmation."
Dean smiled and shouldered the younger man, "Anything else?"
"Nope. That's pretty much it." He grinned, "Oh wait... one more thing."
"What's that?"
"I'm friggin' starving!"
Dean smirked, "Thank God I'm not the only one... so food while we find out who our trio of agents are?"
"And a really big cup of ice..." Sam groaned adjusting his jeans before dropping the bag with the last couple pounds of their mixture into the back seat then sliding in beside his big brother, glad to have left Laura's car at the motel.
"I really am sorry dude..." Dean chuckled, "You know I didn't do it on purpose right?"
Off to the west the late afternoon sun caught the older brother's attention. When would it get dark in Illinois? Did that psycho keep her there or did she take his girl somewhere else? Would Imdugud be able to find her in time?
"Mmm," Sam nodded reading the look on his brother's face far too easily, "He'll call once he's got her somewhere safe Dean. He'll find her and save her."
"Speaking of which," Dean nodded sliding the car into drive and pulling out on the highway, "we need to finish our conversation Sam, there are some things you still need to know."
OOooOO
Wake up! Spencer's eyes popped open as that damned shadows up in the corner tried to crawl down toward him. Try as he might though his eyes fluttered closed and this time the patch of gray waited just a little longer before moving out of the corner and starting on its cautious crawl toward him.
OOooOO
"This way," Dean nodded to the left. In spite of the clock on the wall he checked his watch then looked outside, maybe trying to determine if the sun was moving faster than it should be. He even pulled his cell and checked for messages. Sam noticed there weren't any yet.
"Right there," he patted his big brother on the shoulder and pointed to the corner room, trying to keep his mind on the job instead of where it wanted to go. A split second later the older man was tearing down the hall.
"Sam!" pointing at patch of gray slithering over the sleeping agent's sheets.
"Spencer WAKE UP!" he shouted sliding into the room, his stun gun in hand. He plunged it into that mass of gray just a couple inches above the young man and discharged it.
"Hold this!" the taller stranger pressed a piece of paper against his chest and slid a mirror under the wad of gray air. A split second later the young agent felt his eyes grow impossibly wide as the electrical arc moved through the wholly insubstantial looking blob of actually it's kind of an un-color he thought. The arc skipped down to the mirror and bounced back up. A split second later an ear piercing shriek had each of them wincing as the entity squirmed out from under the green eyed man's hand and raced out of sight.
"You alright?" he asked while pocketing the stun gun. At the same time the taller one pocketed the mirror he also tapped the sheet of paper on Reid's chest.
"Fold that and keep it on your person," he directed while digging through his pockets.
Spencer looked from one to the other, something catching his eye out in the hallway. He thought for a second that it might be the shadow but instead was faced with a scowling nurse, "Sorry..." he called waving apologetically then assessed the men again, the shorter one was inspecting the area around his bed and in the corners while the other finally found what he was looking for and pulled a small coin sized amulet out of his pocket threaded on red silk.
"Put this on and don't take it off till we get rid of that thing." He directed then met the other's eyes, "Still here?"
"Up in the corner I think, hard to say unless it moves."
"So there really IS something up there?" he asked sitting up straighter to examine the spot, he glanced at the piece of paper, remembering the symbol from some of the boundary markers, "You're the ones who started the ring around the vortex..." he looked back and forth between the two, "Who ARE you?"
"Put that on." Sam directed again.
"It's a St. Quirinus medal." Spencer looked at it and shook his head before sliding it on, "Considered a martyr he was beheaded after he witnessed miracles and after converting to Christianity refused to execute three other saints. There's some speculation that his martyrdom wasn't really about that, but actually about an ancient Pagan secret he wouldn't give up, even under threat of dismemberment. Eventually his medallion was used to ward off evil spirits while soldiers were off at battle."
The older one smirked his eyes wide, obviously impressed, "He's good." Then offered his hand, "I'm Dave, this is Neil."
"You obviously already know my name... I'm Spencer Reid," he shook their hands in turn then asked, "What was that? And is it really real? Uh and if so... How'd it get in here and why is it hanging around me?" in spite of the seriousness of his questions, his expression was open and brightly curious as he glanced at the medallion again while the older man pulled up a chair and leaned in, his own expression bright and his smile absolutely huge as if he'd never spoken with anyone curious before. He looked reflexively over his shoulder at the younger man who also pulled up a chair on the opposite side of the bed.
"He's gonna love this," he smiled then turned back to Spencer, "That... was a wraith, and it's trying to attach itself to you, most likely because it wants to use you for something."
Spencer couldn't help but chuckle, "A wraith? As in mythical supernatural harbinger of death type wraith."
"Well it sure wasn't the Stargate Atlantis type now was it?" Dean asked, then turned to Sam, "Kid's almost as smart as you."
"Smarter." Sam nodded extending his hand, "It's a pleasure to meet you Doctor Reid. I read your thesis on the transference of ethics and morals across cultural boundaries and its affect on the lawmaking process. Your observations and insights were incredible and the way you were able to trace threads of current law back to ancient Mesopotamian cultures was... mind blowing." Sam looked at Dean, "He wrote it in his Senior Year of High School."
"Ancient Mesopotamian cultures?" Dean spocked his eyebrow at Sam, the curiosity on his face easily read.
"Yeah." The younger hunter nodded.
"Is there anything that's coincidence?" he asked barely believing the likelihood of it.
Sam shook his head and shrugged helplessly, at just as much of a loss as his big brother, "I don't know."
Not understanding what passed between the two men, the agent shrugged.
"Are you a lawyer?" Spencer asked eyeing Sam, he'd be surprised if he was. He knew they were brothers and the younger one was letting the older man lead the way. He also knew they'd purposefully not used their last names which indicated that it was likely the first names they gave were fake. The only thing that had the young agent keeping them in his room was that they'd obviously come to help him, whether they'd created the problem or not they were serious about not seeing someone hurt, and they had... if he could trust his own eyes and senses... quite possibly saved his life.
"I was pre-law before real life got in the way." Sam smiled.
"By real life you mean chasing down non-existent death omens?" he looked between them and saw the older one give a quick shake of his head.
"You saw it, you heard it scream... my guess is you've been seeing that thing all damned day, at least since you got here and you haven't said jack squat about it cause you're scared to death that someone's gonna think you've gone round the bend... I mean there is that whole fine line between genius and insanity..." his smile told Reid everything he needed to know.
The young agent felt his shoulders fall and took a deep breath wondering just how this new dimension of information was going to be wedged into his slightly more solidly fact based world. He did find it oddly amusing however that no matter what they were hiding, the one thing he would want to lie about, the wraith itself, was the biggest truth they were telling.
"Then there's the whole fighting against going to sleep thing..." Sam interjected, "You know that's when the victims were attacked." He leaned back, "Wraiths are... rare but when they're created they feed on life energy... just like those space Goths from SGA and leave mummified corpses behind."
"There's more truth in fiction than you'd think." Dean interjected.
"Did you know that the original communicators from Star Trek were actually modeled after something similar from... I think it was a Dick Tracy storyline..." he shook his head, "Oh, uh not that I actually read it or anything but, but someone once told me that," he sighed finding that he was getting a kick out of the look of bright joy on the older man's face, "Okay, so they're real." As soon as he admitted it Reid felt the blood rush out of his head as his stomach flipped over.
"Uhp!... here y'go." Dean reached across and handed the young man the pink plastic bucket, both he and Sam recognizing the sudden pallor with a tinge of green.
He moved quickly to the bathroom grabbing a handful of paper towels and soaking them with cold water while Sam poured a cup of water for when he was finished dry heaving.
"Lean up," Dean ordered rearranging the pillows behind him so they would hold the paper towels against his neck when he leaned back, "back...good." he nodded curtly and smiled then caught a glimpse of Sam smirking on the other side of the bed. "What?"
"Nothing." He shook his head. It'd been a long time since he'd watched Dean take care of someone. Aside from what little Laura would ever let anyone do for her, lately it had been him and Dean needing the most help. The last time he could remember seeing his big brother really in full-on caregiver mode, at least from the outside was the last time John had a concussion before Sam even went to college. Why do I keep forgetting that it's really his nature to be kind?
"Thank you," Reid breathed and sipped.
"Man you got six staples! Last time I got 'em, I got 8..." He looked at Sam who nodded that he remembered Eddy Jay's attack almost four years ago now, it seemed so far away, "Sucks doesn't it? Can't scratch 'em and it's all you wanna do!" the elder hunter smiled easily.
"To be honest I hadn't thought about it till you brought it up..." he winced and reached for the back of his head.
"Tap 'em... it's the best you can do... and it does help at least a little." Dean suggested leaning forward.
"So these wraiths..." Reid shook his head, "they're not supposed to exist."
"But they do." Sam nodded sitting back down.
"Why'd it kill those people?"
"It was working its way home. Here."
"How does something like that... how... I mean, I understand that for all the species we've encountered, identified and cataloged that there's still potentially a surprising amount that we've never seen before, many of which may actually be the basis of so many of not just our cultural mythos but literally on a global scale..."
"They exist. You'd be surprised," Sam cut him off not unkindly but definitely curious about the look of pure joy on his big brother's face. It was exactly the same kind of look he'd get back in High School when Sam would race to him with some new bit of information he'd picked up in school. But he got so used to it that later it couldn't be just ANY bit... he remembered and blushed deeply, What'd he call it?... Oh yeah the 'light of discovery' face. He could still feel Dean's fingers on either side of his chin, those bright green eyes shining into his, inspecting him and saying with a knowing smile, "Oooh you discovered something good today didn't cha Sammy? Was it about girls?" another brief inspection, this time of the red creeping over the boys' face, "It WAS! She kiss you or you kiss her?" and depending on the depth of the blush Dean's grin could grow impossibly huge, "You kissed HER!... that's m'boy!" and he'd sigh like a proud father, "Wait till you learn about the bases... mmm home run..." with a wistful smile on his face before he sobered and pointed at his little brother, "You just wait on that... make sure you're at least 14 or 15 or something... gotta be able to keep control of yourself... that's important, for the girl." I think I ran into the bedroom and slammed the door right after that... Sam huffed a chuckle with the memory.
"Dude!" Dean grinned at his brother, "This is awesome!" then sobered just a little with Sam's faint shake of the head. He leaned in toward Spencer and started what would turn into a more than two hour long conversation on the literal nature of energetic manifestation, "In the case of wraiths, believe it or not, it's a matter of physics..."
OOooOO
"I'm sorry," the pretender shook her head while stirring the irons in the fire, "I've tried everything to get this demon out of you. I wanted to be able to ease his pain, I wanted him to know you went to your rest at peace and free..." she sniffed back her tears, "but I guess I'm just not good enough yet," she turned and kissed Laura's forehead, "I'm sorry."
"They won't accept you." Laura gasped, her voice near a whisper as the energy she'd reserved by not struggling began to coalesce deep inside, you don't touch what's mine.
She nodded, her eyes weary but bright, "Of course they will. They'll grieve for you but then when they see what a wonderful wife I'll be for them both, they won't have any choice."
"No one can serve two masters. You cannot have them both and still hunt."
"Yes!" she nodded frantically, her eyes wide as if convincing Laura of her capability meant everything, "Yes I will... maybe you couldn't but I can, I will! And I won't have to leave them, I won't have to abandon them... don't' you know it's family that counts most? I will NEVER leave them to SUFFER ALONE!" she stormed suddenly while the same energy Laura needed continued to gather and slowly, the same power that enabled her to destroy the crossroad demon gently stretched itself awake.
OOooOO
"You think he'll call?" Sam asked slouching down in the hard plastic chair and sipping at the coffee, grateful that the cafeteria was on the lower level so there were no windows to look out of.
"If he'd found her he would have by now..." Dean answered into his cup.
"I meant Spencer." Sam reflexively checked his watch, "It's still summer Dean, sun'll be up for another couple hours."
"Here. Not in Illinois." He looked up, his eyes red and drooping with exhaustion, "If he doesn't... so help me God I will kill that psychotic bitch." He shook his head and gritted his teeth, "I learned a whole lotta new ways to carve..."
"Stop it!" Sam hissed pouncing forward, "You're not gonna do anything! She WILL survive, if you think for one second she's gonna let go of this world knowing that some psycho like that is aiming to get her mitts on either one of us then you don't know her!"
Surprised Dean looked up and met his little brother's eyes, "That's a good point... that's a damned good point!" he nodded grasping once again for that tiny straw of hope at the same time his cell rang.
OOooOO
"You know you shouldn't be doing this." The nurse scowled deeply at Spencer while she tucked his AMA forms into his chart, "Your friends are right, you need to rest."
"I will. Just not here." He assured her with a smile.
"Reid where're you gonna go?" Morgan asked frowning, he didn't like this very uncharacteristic behavior from the young man.
"There's a Red Roof Inn just across from Bell Rock, I'll check in there, stay over night and in the morning go out and get some rubbings from the boundary stones. The glyphs are fascinating," he looked between Morgan's frown and Emily's 'I don't understand him' face, "There are symbols from at least seven different tribes, some of which aren't even indigenous to the area, as if multiple shamans came from all over to try and contain the negative energies there. From an anthropological point of view the cooperative efforts of so many..."
"Okay okay I get it," Derek stopped him, "I mean I don't get it but... Do you want us to stick around? Make sure you're okay?" he asked, his eye catching a glimpse of red around the younger man's neck, "What's this?" he pointed to it.
Spencer drew the medallion out of his shirt and let Morgan and Prentiss each look at it while he tried his very best to not notice the deepening of the shadow at the top of the wall, "Oh," he smiled shyly, "Someone from the chapel brought it up, said they go through 'em like crazy cause of the vortices."
"And you decided to buy into all this hokum?" Morgan asked.
"I decided to placate her." He corrected smiling just a little smirk-ishly while somehow forcing himself to blush.
Finally Derek smiled wide, "Ahh I knew there was something... so did you make a date?"
"No." Spencer looked at him the same way he did every time Morgan asked that question, as if to say, 'what's the point?'
Shaking his head and feeling oddly let down Morgan sighed, "Alright, so you don't have a hot date but you want out badly enough to sign out AMA, Hotch isn't gonna like it y'know."
"Hotch would be the first one to sign himself out if the situation was his."
"Good point."
"Besides," Reid sighed slinging his bag over his shoulder to walk with them toward the elevators, again, it was all he could do to keep from watching behind him, somehow he knew that damned thing was following them. "When was the last time anyone got any decent rest in a hospital?"
"Now THAT is the truth." Prentiss smiled.
"You don't want a ride?"
Reid shrugged apologetically, "I called a cab," as the elevator doors closed.
Once they reached the ground level the trio exited the elevator, "...if I can gather enough information together then maybe I'll write a speculation piece around my findings."
At the reception desk an extremely tall man with longish dark hair under a "Red Rock Taxi" cap turned at the sound of voices.
Spencer moved directly to him, "Are you here for Spencer Reid?" he asked.
The man looked at his clipboard, "Dr. S. Reid... that you?" he asked looking the trio over. "Hi," he nodded at the other two who nodded back.
"Yes that's me."
"Wow... either they're churning 'em out younger or I'm getting older." He motioned to the door, "Cab's out here, where are we going?"
"Uh...Red Roof Inn just across from Bell Rock."
With a nod and a lascivious glance over Prentiss the tall man took Spencer's away bag and left the hospital returning to the waiting taxi while the young man assured his colleagues that he was fine.
"If it'll make you feel better I'll even call tomorrow and check in."
"Who are we? Your parents?" Morgan chuckled but squeezed the younger mans' shoulder.
"No, but you are my friends."
Morgan shrugged, "Well that's all the excuse you need then isn't it? Do that huh?"
"I will," he shrugged and noted Emily's nod. "Safe flight home."
Together Emily and Derek watched the cab pull away with their friend inside it. What they couldn't see in the darkness was the shadow that slid beneath the taxi, hitching along for a ride.
"Do you think it's following us?" Reid asked meeting Sam's eyes in the rear view mirror.
"If it wasn't I'd be truly surprised."
"Have you heard from your brother's wife yet?"
"No," Sam shook his head, "not that I'm aware of."
"You know we CAN help you... if you let us, this woman who manifested this...wraith," he shook his head.
"I'm not sure if you'll ever get used to saying it," Sam smiled, "besides, I know, it's kidnapping, and stalking, legally we've got her dead to rights on both those charges, but this is the kind of person who won't stop. The escalation is way too fast."
Spencer sat back, "Sounds like you've done some psych studies."
Sam shrugged, "A little, between real life experience, the courses at college, the extra reading... and there's some pretty good procedural shows out there... one of 'em's called Criminal Minds, it's actually about a team of behavioral analysts..."
"I'm aware of it... I actually watched it once, no twice I think..." Spencer nodded, "it's pretty good, it's based on an updated model that Robert Ressler started back when what we did was called Behavioral Sciences... back then it was pretty 'fringe' type stuff."
"So how accurate is it would you say?"
Spencer smiled, "I'd say they use a lot of creative license, but the profiles are sound."
"Good to know. Do you think your friends suspect anything?"
"I think..." he sighed, "they know this isn't something I would normally do, but considering how exciting the carvings on the stones really are, I think they accept it. And when I show up on Tuesday with a nice sampling of rubbings and some solid research they'll be satisfied."
"So you really want to do that?" Sam grinned.
"Oh yeah... once we get rid of this thing, I'm gonna make the best use of time that I can."
Sam shook his head, "The best lies contain truth." As he pulled into the alley next to the Taxi Company he threw the car into park and turned to face the young agent, "How did you know about my brother's girl?" It was something he'd been itching to ask ever since Spencer brought it up near the tail end of their conversation that afternoon.
Reid smiled, "Oh he uh, kept fidgeting with his ring, and since it's on his band finger I figured she's his wife... she is isn't she?"
Sam nodded in a yes/no fashion, "In the eyes of God or in the eyes of the Law?"
"Ahh... anyway... and every so often when he leaned on his hand, he'd rest his mouth against it. Then the compulsive checking of the watch, the sun's position." He shrugged, "the pain... I've seen that kind of pain before. Once we get settled can I look at what she's sent so far?"
"You'll have to ask him."
OOooOO
Hovering over the area that held the last vestiges of Laura's scent the ancient being cast his eyes toward the setting sun and frowned, the act changing the look of his naturally rabid countenance to one of nightmarish ferocity. I will not fail! He held his fists out to the side and upon opening them, unleashed the swarm.
Columns of tens of thousands of locust burst forth from his palms spiraling into the air before diving toward the earth and moving outward in a circle from his current position. On the ground a faintly shimmering bit of air drew his attention and he dove.
In seconds, before that shimmering entry to the veil that separated worlds he knelt before the sidhe warrior the queen called Mustardseed who motioned and gesticulated wildly, his voice churning like rapidly flowing river.
"We can't get through! She set up wards to hide her but we found them but we can't get through! I don't know if you can but you must tell the kings! She is preparing to kill the queen!"
"Where?" Imdugud asked as the warrior grasped his hand and pulled him behind the veil then led the way, taking a shortcut.
OOooOO
Tbc.
Please R&R.
Thanks, sifi.