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The Supernatural characters belong to Kripke Enterprises and the CW, not me. No money is being made from this story. It is for entertainment only.
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A Wandering Boy
Chapter 5
A Different Life
"I'm not going to go through this crap every morning, Dean." Sam grumbled. ""Get out of that bed or I'll dump you out of it. Get dressed and get downstairs. Don't make me come back up here."
Dean cracked an eye and peered up into Sam Winchester's stormy face. "This school thing wasn't my idea." The boy snapped back. "We wouldn't even be having this conversation if you had just let me stay home."
"Enough." Sam snapped back. "This is your only warning. I expect you down stairs in five." The big man stomped out of the room.
The boy rolled over on his back and folded his arms under his head. On one hand there was the possibility of really getting Sam Winchester's goat; an enticing idea even with the threat of damage to a sensitive area of his body. On the other hand there was the possibility of lulling these guys into believing that Dean was going with the program. He might be able to use that to his advantage later and the smell of frying bacon made that idea even more attractive. He could get his bacon and then ditch school behind Sam's back.
For just a moment Dean considered that this might be a dangerous idea. He wondered what kind of life he had been living before when planning an escape from adult supervision seemed like a natural thing to do.
Distracted by the thought he got out of bed and got dressed. He picked up the brand new and almost empty back pack that Sam had bought him yesterday and headed downstairs to breakfast.
Sam was sitting at the kitchen table reading another newspaper. Bobby was at the stove turning the bacon and buttering toast as it popped out of the toaster. The scrambled eggs were already on plates. The whole scene was as domestic as all get out. Dean snickered.
Dean couldn't control it. "Hey Bobby," he smiled. "Don't you have an apron?"
Sam lowered his newspaper and peered at the kid over the edge.
Dean smiled big. "Hey Daddy, have you ever heard of something called the internet? They have newspapers there too."
Bobby came to the table with two loaded plates. "Kid, let an old man give you some advice. Sit down, shut up and eat. We're both bigger than you and I guarantee that Sam's a lot meaner." With that bit of advice Bobby started distributing the food.
Sam put his paper down as soon as Bobby was seated and waited for the older man to get a couple of mouthfuls down. "Before we take you to the school, Dean, there's a couple of things we should get established." Sam reached into his shirt pocket and pulled out a cell phone.
"The Angel warned that demons were after you. He said that he's carved some kind of Angelic Sigil into your ribs that would hide you from the demons and other Angels. He said that you were hidden even from him. Even so, you need to be very aware of what's going on around you. Stick with groups of people, don't wander off and try not to get caught alone." Sam was using a very serious tone of voice to lay down these rules. Dean felt the walls closing in around him. Somehow though, the whole thing seemed really familiar.
Sam went on. "You can tell if someone's a demon by speaking the name of Christ in Latin, "Christo". If the person is possessed for just a moment their eyes will go completely black. "
Bobby then made a contribution. From his pocket he pulled what looked like a liquor flask. Bobby laughed at the look on Dean's face. "No kid, it's not whiskey. It's Holy Water. If you throw it on a demon it burns them like acid. Sometimes you can surprise them with it and get away."
Dean reached out for the flask. When he picked it up he was surprised at how light it was. Bobby laughed at the look on Dean's face. "It's plastic, kid. The schools all use metal detectors now. I can't give you a classic flask. They'll take from you right at the door.
Sam chimed in. "Another thing, take this." He passed over the cell phone to Dean. "Put this deep inside your back pack. You're not supposed to carry them into class although the teachers generally will overlook it as long as it doesn't ring and you don't use it in class. Student cell phones have proved to be very useful in emergency situations. Useful enough that the schools pretty much ignore them."
Bobby put a hand on Dean's arm. "Is this stuff freaking you out kid? What's with the weird look on your face?"
Dean shook his head. "It's probably nothing but I seem to remember someone else telling me the same things; someone else giving me the same speech. Maybe I'm remembering something. I don't know."
"I don't know what to say about that Dean. Sam said slowly. "Maybe you're right. It could have something to do with your other life. "In any event, if you see a demon or even suspect there's a demon around, call me. Also listen for the sound of wings. You have to also watch out for Angels. That's something no one else has most likely ever told you. No matter, either one, demon or Angel, call me and I'll come as fast as I can to get you, I promise."
"There's one more thing." Sam said and reached down beside his chair. He laid a Bible on the table. It has bound in black leather and the Hunter pushed it over to Dean. "Open it up," he said.
Dean flipped through the first half inch of thin pages and then came to a place where the pages had been hollowed out. A silver dagger laid snuggly in a cut out made to fit it exactly.
"After you go through the metal detector at the front of the school I'm going to walk back in and try to hand this to you over the counter. Hopefully the security guard will just see a Bible and let it pass. If we pull this off, put it in your locker and keep it there. I don't want you walking around anywhere without access to a weapon. A silver dagger is a type of all-purpose tool. There's lots of fuglies that can't handle silver."
"Whoa, guys." Dean said. "Good talk. Most kids get the first day of school talk about do you have pens, a notebook, graph paper, and colored pencils. I get magic words, Holy Water and a silver dagger. I feel real special and scared pissless. Thanks."
Bobby burst out laughing. "You'll do alright kid. Don't worry. I have a feeling that your Angel also might be around."
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The Impala pulled up in the street across from the school. Bobby was driving. He pulled to the curb and both Dean and Sam got out; Dean had his back pack and Sam was carrying the Bible. They joined the line waiting to get into the school and pass through the metal detector. Sam was the only adult in the line. Most kids were getting dropped in the 'kissing' lane then joining the line. The little group around Sam and Dean was quiet only because there was an adult standing there. Dean was gathering quite the smirking audience.
He could hear whispering and stifled laughter. Sam's head was too high in the air to hear the little muttered remarks. Finally they had their turn at the metal detector. Dean threw his backpack on the conveyor and walked through the arch. No trouble. No blaring sirens or flashing lights. Everything went smoothly.
At the last moment Sam turned back "Oh, Dean! " he said. "Sorry. Here's your Bible." The tall guy held out the leather bound book and glanced apologetically at the security guard. The guard took the book from Sam and hand It over to Dean and the danger swanned past. Dean took his book and smiled sweetly at the guard. "Thank you so much Officer Sweeny." he said, reading the man's name tag.
"Good bye, Dean." Sam waved. "Either me or Bobby will pick you up outside at 3:30. See you then. Be good."
That did it. The crowd of kids behind Dean thought they had him pegged. He was a Bible thumper's little brother or cousin; fresh meat and most likely a complete wimp. Dean turned to walk down the hall and the older kids almost lined up to bump into him.
The first kid to approach was surprised by a swift moving elbow to the Adam's apple. His fat ass hit the floor with a splat and he was choking and gasping for air. Dean turned and looked down at the kid, his green eyes hooded like a snake's. "Stay away from me. I don't like you." Dean hissed.
The rest of the kids, who had been waiting their turn to establish a pecking order, backed away. It was like suddenly finding out the cute helpless little bunny rabbit you were about to kick had fangs and venom. The oldest kid was only eleven. They had no idea of what evil lived in the world and what some people had to do to protect themselves.
Dean wandered on down the hall looking for his locker number. He was shocked himself at what he had just done. Yes, it looked like a proper response and it was most likely going to keep the other kids away but he wondered how he had learned the move. He had done it without thinking. It had been a practiced maneuver. Even more he wondered just exactly what his other life had been like and who he had lived with in that life.
His first class was English with a Mr. Martinez. Dean huffed. He looked down his list of classes and found Spanish. The teacher was Mr. Grove. Go figure. Sam and he had gone over the schedule last night and mapped out the school. Dean was simply looking not to get lost. Sam marked up the school map with color coded exits, highlighted the fire extinguishers and marked out safe zones like the chemistry closet that was loaded with stuff that could be used as weapons.
After drilling Dean in all the particulars Sam had leaned back in the kitchen chair and laid down the law. "Don't make waves if possible but don't get pushed around either. Both behaviors will get you noticed. Keep an eye on the teachers. The kids might see some weird stuff but no one will believe them. The teachers will get you in trouble."
"Here, take this money." Sam pulled out his wallet and handed Dean a five. "Only buy stuff that's factory wrapped. Check for pin holes. Only buy drinks in glass bottles with metal caps. Be careful. Keep your head down and don't get thrown out of school on your first day. All clear?"
Dean remembered every word. It seemed to be an important conversation like the short one he'd had about the Angel.
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First period English with Mr. Martinez wasn't all that exciting. It was a lot of bookkeeping. Mr. Martinez passed out a sheet that outlined what they would have to do to pass the class; the books, the assignments, the teacher's expectations. Mr. Martinez had a list of books he expected the students to obtain either through purchase or from the school librarian if purchase was not possible. At the end of the introduction to his class Mr. Martinez spent time with the individual students answering questions. Dean was all the way in the back of the room since he was a "W" and no one bothered him. He stuffed Mr. Martinez's sheet into his back pack and waited for the bell to ring.
When the bell rang the room erupted. Dean stood to the side, waiting for the bulk of the students to leave. A few of the kids glared at him. They had seen his take down of Larry Ross and they circled him like he was some kind of snake. Mr. Martinez noticed.
"I haven't seen you before," Mr. Martinez said pleasantly. "Are you new to the area?"
"Yes," Dean answered. "My house burned down and now I'm living with my Dad at Singer Salvage out of town."
"I'm very sorry to hear that, Dean." Mr. Martinez said after a swift look at his seating chart. "I hope you will come to like Sioux Falls. Welcome to the area."
Dean stared at his teacher. He seemed to be a nice man, concerned and interested in his students. Dean's heart just was not in the same place. Dean wanted open spaces and silence. He wanted to learn to track and hunt, not write essays. For now he would make his way but no matter what his newly acquired Father, Sam, decided, Dean was not interested in the academic life.
However there was no reason to get on the wrong side of this man who seemed to genuinely like his students. Dean shook the man's hand, smiled and fled to his next class, checking first to make sure that the halls were clear of grumpy fifth graders.
His next class was Physical Education and this one he could get behind. By the time he arrived most students had changed and were out in the gym bouncing basketballs and trying to impress the girl's class at the other end of the gym. Dean stripped down to his T-shirt and pulled out a pair of shorts Sam had stuffed in his backpack. The black shorts looked good with his black AC/DC shirt he thought and he zipped up his bag and hit the court.
Most of the boys were milling around in the school's colors, Orange and White. Dean stood out like a wolf among sheep. Two of the bigger boys looked at him and decided they should show him his place in the pecking order. As they approached Dean looked around and found he was standing next to the climbing ropes.
He swarmed up one and ended up 30 feet off the ground in a minute. Clutching most of the rope to his chest he quickly folded the rope into a looped pattern. The Phys Ed teacher turned around at the noise the other kids were making and was stunned to find one of his ten year olds thirty feet off the ground.
Swiftly flipping through the signup sheets Mr. Marcus found out quickly enough that the name of the student suspended thirty feet off the ground and in imminent danger was one 'Dean Winchester'.
"Dean", the teacher yelled. "Hold on, we'll get you down." Dean's response was a laughing "Don't bother." And he descended in a perfect gymnast's fall, flipping and turning as he released his three foot sections of rope.
Once the kid was on the ground, Mr. Marcus started breathing again and clamped a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Don't ever do that again in my class." The teacher gasped.
"I wouldn't have had to if those two guys hadn't tried to make a move on me." Dean pointed out the two boys who had tried to approach him. Dean leaned into the teacher's side and whispered. "I don't know what they thought they were going to do to me in public and now I don't want to get in the shower with either one of them."
The rest of the school day Dean spent alone. His reputation was moving in front of him like a bow wave and the kids simply decided to stay out of his way. The teachers couldn't pinpoint anything that Dean had done but the feeling that a new kind of student had arrived was spreading throughout the school.
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Bobby left to get Dean from school in his blue pick-up at a little after 3. He had a little assignment after corralling the kid. Sam asked Bobby to find out if there was a bus that Dean could take home every day. Sometimes Sam would be out on a job and Bobby did have a business to run. It would be best for everyone if the kid had an alternate mode of transportation. Bobby had promised to look in to possible bus schedules.
Sam watched as the older Hunter took off down the driveway and turned back into the house to continue to research a hotel in Lodesville, North Dakota. Bobby had given Sam a new assignment. It looked like a simple hotel haunting but Sam knew that sometimes such things were tricky. Hauntings in public places had been known to turn into sort of spirit 'group hugs'. Investigating one spirit often activated one or two more. Sam was thinking he might need a partner.
He returned to the living room library or, alternately Bobby's library with a couch and T.V., to continue learning all about Lodesville. He had just started his computer search when the rustle of wings interrupted him.
Turning around he found he had earned another visit from Castiel, the Angel.
"Good afternoon, Sam." The Angel ground out in his low voice.
"Castiel," Sam acknowledged with a nod of his head.
Castiel looked around. "Are we alone in the house"
"Actually, yes," San answered. "Dean's in school. Bobby just left to pick him up."
Castiel moved to sit opposite Sam at Bobby's desk. "I see that Bobby has not as yet added the Angel proofing to the house. After thinking about it I realized that since Angels are generally a low priority for Hunters that Bobby may not have immediate and easy access to the proper Sigils. So I brought you this."
The angel pulled a roll of thin papers from inside his trench coat. "Each Sigil consists of two sheets of thin translucent paper. I, of course, could not draw nor carry a completed Sigil without banishing or immobilizing myself. Tell Bobby to draw the Sigils in the house sight lines.
Sam looked at the Angel quizzically.
"I'm very sure that Bobby knows exactly what those lines are here in his own house. Perhaps you should ask him about them. I do request, however, that a path inside be left open for me. I can, of course, break through the warding as I know the Sigils used but I would rather not. Using force would give the other Angels clues about which Sigils are in use and then they could also force an entrance."
Sam picked up the thin sheets. "How does this work?" he asked.
"Each sheet is marked and pairs have the same identifying symbols. Laying one on top of the other will allow the completion of the Sigil. It is a fairly common method for transmitting drawings of powerful symbols. You need both sheets to create the complete design." The Angel paused.
"Well, thanks for this." Sam said. "Now, when we last talked you were in a bit of a hurry. It seemed to me you were worried about some kind of attack. Do we have time now for you to explain this situation? Why have you brought Dean to me? Why is it so important to protect him and keep him hidden?"
"First, you need to know that neither Dean nor I belong to this place." The Angel paused. "This is so hard to explain. Let me say that there are multiple plains of existence. Those plains can cross each other, can mirror each other or can be so separated that they create different versions of history."
"Your plain and the plain that held Dean until yesterday were relatively close together. Dean and you, Bobby and I all exist in both plains. So do a lot of other beings. The two worlds are very close together. In the other world you and Dean are brothers."
"Really," Sam laughed. "Dean is my little brother?"
"Actually," Castile said seriously, "in that other world Dean is your older brother. You are both highly regarded Hunters who are important pieces of a Heavenly plan that has been prophesied since the beginnings of man. "
The Angel continued. "Dean is a manifestation of the Righteous Man, the Archangel Michael's perfect vessel on earth and his weapon, The Michael Sword. You, Sam Winchester, are also a manifestation however you are Lucifer's perfect vessel and the long foreseen Boy King of Hell."
"Holy crap!" Sam gasped. "You aren't just making this up, right? You're serious?"
"In Dean's time line this is the most serious thing to have happened since the creation of the Garden. Your births have been long fortold and eagerly awaited by the Host of Heaven. The battle between Dean as the vessel of Michal and you as the Vessel of Lucifer will destroy a lot of the planet, kill off the human race and grant the angels Paradise."
Sam sat with his mouth open. "What? I can't even begin to understand this. We're two regular guys from Kansas, hanging out in Bobby's Salvage Yard in South Dakota, not pieces in a game of Heavenly chicken."
Castiel tilted his head to one side. 'I really do not understand what poultry has to do with the Apocalypse."
"The Apocalypse? That's what this is about? The Apocalypse?' Sam was stunned.
"Yes, exactly," Castiel said. "When I pulled a ten year old Dean Winchester out of his time line and brought him here to you the Prophesy collapsed. For some reason that, as yet, I do not understand, you were not infected by demon Blood in your cradle, Dean did not trade his soul to bring you back to life, he did not go to Hell as part of the Deal and The Righteous Man as never spilled blood in Hell."
Sam sat back and stared at Castiel. "I don't suppose you can wait to go over all this with Bobby, can you?"
"I would rather not." The Angel answered. "I am creating problems for all of us just sitting here. Heaven may notice me at any time. After Bobby gets the Sigils up I may be able to stay for longer periods of time under their protection. "
"I am here because I was seriously disturbed to find that when I tried to return to my own time line that it had collapsed. Evidently removing an important piece of reality such as the child who will grow into the Righteous man seriously damaged that reality and it has now melded with this time line."
"The melding was naturally accomplished and all would be well except I was in this reality when the other collapsed and now there are two Angels called Castiel here. Since Dean evidently died in a nursery fire as a child he slotted in quite nicely to this new life and is not causing the same problem."
The Angel smoothed his trench coat over a knee. It almost appeared to be a nervous gesture. "I must not be found by Heaven. There is most likely already much concern over the failure of the Apocalypse and finding a second Angel Castiel may allow the hierarchy to discover my plan. They could conceivably seize Dean , poison you with demon blood and get the whole plan back on track."
"As much as I can grasp," Sam interrupted, "that would be a really bad thing."
"Yes," Castiel responded almost eagerly. "I think you understand. Taking a ten year old child to hell and torturing him would seriously weaken Michael's Sword from the Angels' point of view, almost guaranteeing that Lucifer will win and the earth will become not Paradise but Hell."
"So it would screw up their plans," Sam responded angrily. "What about the ten year old child? Isn't he just as important as the Michael Sword?"
"From our viewpoint, even worse, but we must defeat the will of Heaven to prevent it." Castiel replied. "The first step is making sure that discovering my existence does not lead them straight to Dean. I must be concealed. The Angel stood up."
"Wait, Castiel," Sam said. "Once Bobby has the Sigils up can you hide here?"
"Yes, it would be possible with great care." Castiel answered. "But I cannot be discovered right now and I feel the eyes of Heaven searching for an unusual chord in the communication of Angels. That would be me."
"I have an idea." Sam said. "Down in the basement Bobby has a panic room. It's made of pure iron, and salted. Would the iron cut you off from this Angel Radio thing? Do you want to see it? Maybe you can hide there."
Castiel stared at Sam, his bright blue eyes unblinking. "Perhaps, can we go see this panic room?"
Sam put out his band. "Hold on a minute there, Castiel. If you don't mind, I want to take some notes while all this is fresh in my mind."
For the first time Castiel appeared to smile. "You have no idea how 'Sam Winchester' that sentence is."
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When Bobby returned with Dean he was greeted by the news that he had an angel hiding out in his panic room.