Disclaimer: 'Supernatural' is the property of Warner Brothers, the CW, and other associated parties. I claim no ownership of the franchise, characters or settings, nor am I affiliated with the above parties in any way. The following is a fan-work, written for my amusement, and not for material or monetary gain. Please support the official releases. (I don't own this).

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Coalescence

By Payce D. Elui

Chapter 7: React

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"What the hell are you doing here?" he narrowed his eyes at the way Dean was dressed- to the nines, it seemed, in a suit of charcoal grey. "And what are you wearing?"

Dean's smirk shrunk down a notch. "What- no 'long time no see'? 'How you doing, Dean, did you stop the apocalypse'? Kid- that hurts."

Adam blinked, the question of the apocalypse throwing him for a moment. "...Did you stop the apocalypse?

Dean grinned. "Eh. I'm working on it."

For having appeared seemingly from thin air, he was being much too cheerful; it was off-putting. Adam sighed, leaning against the bookshelf and crossing his arms. "What are you doing here, Dean?"

"What- a guy can't check in on his little brother now?"

No. Adam had seen how the Winchesters worked. He'd seen how easy it was for Dean to leave him behind. They wouldn't leave the apocalypse for Adam. Dean wouldn't leave the apocalypse for Adam. His irritation grew.

Adam glared. "By spying on me from behind a bookcase? Yeah, ok." His words were lilted with derision. "Why are you here? I didn't think I'd see you again. Not so soon."

He hadn't expected to see them again, ever.

"...Probably would have believed that line if it were coming from Sammy, right?"

After the wall of silence between them after he'd sent that text a while ago? Adam scowled. "Yeah, not really."

Dean was frowning now and he stepped forward. "Too bad. It's the truth- take it or leave it, kid."

Adam pulled himself straight and squared off with the oldest Winchester. He wasn't about to let himself be intimidated by Dean.

Dean was lying. He knew it.

"You're full of crap, you know that?"

Dean laughed. "I'm gonna pretend I didn't hear that."

"You heard it. You know it's true. You're not here to see me- so why are you here?"

Out of the corner of his eye, Adam saw one of the other students head over to the librarian. The two were looking over in concern. Evidently the discussion between Adam and Dean had gotten more attention than they wanted. He bet Dean saw it too- the quick glance over his shoulder was enough to verify that.

"I don't have to listen to this," Dean growled. "We came to see how you were doing- we saw- we're going. Have a great life, Adam." He strode away towards the exit, but Adam wasn't going to let him go so easily.

The apocalypse, the apocalypse, what could bring Dean to the University of Wisconsin if not something to do with what he did for a living? He thought about it, and it took only a second for the connection to be made. He wondered how he hadn't seen it before.

It was starting to get darker outside the library. Dean made it three more steps before Adam caught up with him, grabbing his shoulder.

"What?"

"Jenny. Jenny Tanner."

"Who now?" Dean's face was a mask of irritation.

"That's why you're here. Something got Jenny Tanner, right?"

"Kid, I got no idea what you're on about or who this chick you're talking about is." There was not a single break in his facade, and Adam stared.

Dean was a very, very good liar. He knew that. He'd seen it before- at the hospital when Dean was backing up his story, but he'd never had the skill aimed at him. Rather, if he had, he had never picked up on it. It was almost scary. Adam's lips pressed into a hard line.

The oldest Winchester's nostrils flared a split second before he wrenched his shoulder from Adam's grasp and went back to walking away. Adam followed him.

"You do know- why the hell didn't you tell me? What- you didn't think I'd want to know if there was some- some monster this close to me- to my friends? I lived in E. Waters up until a few weeks ago- most of my friends are still there! The woods are right behind them, Dean, everyone goes out there to walk- what the hell-?"

"Ok, you know what?" Dean stopped, turning on his heel and squaring his shoulders. He was Adam's height, almost exactly, but the move made him seem larger and Adam felt a stab of forbidding. He quashed it down, matching Dean's anger. The two were almost chest to chest, but Adam knew he was the scrawnier of the two. It didn't matter. He would not be cowed.

Dean glared at him. "Cut the crap. Don't even act like you didn't know there was something here. Just stop."

"Wait- you think I knew?" Adam was incredulous.

"Mythology and folklore, Adam? All those notes you've been taking- you didn't think we'd find out? What, you wanted to have a go at this yourself, right? How could you be so stupid? You said you wanted to finish school, not- not get into this-"

"What are you even talking about? Who have you been talking to?" Adam snapped back in mix of both anger and confusion at Dean's sudden accusations. Who the hell did Dean think he was?

"It doesn't matter, Adam. What matters is you- you throwing your life into this! What, your mom's death wasn't enough for you?"

"You- don't you talk about my mom-" Adam hissed.

"You think she would have wanted this?"

"Shut up, Dean! You- shut. Up." The urge to punch him was so strong his fingers twitched. Dean saw, smirked, but there was no lightness in it. He was just daring Adam to try, an excuse for him to take out his own frustration- frustration at what?-, but Adam wouldn't fall for it.

"Don't bring my mom into this- she has nothing to do with anything." He scrubbed a hand down his face and took a step back, urging himself to calm down. They weren't getting anywhere sniping at each other. "I don't care what you think you know, you're wrong, ok? I- I didn't know- that Jenny was something you'd be interested in. I would- I would have called, texted- or something! I'm not an idiot. I don't want to fight these things! I sure as hell wouldn't wanna do it on my own! And I don't know how the hell you know about my notes, but what the hell is wrong with knowing how to fight these things? You- you and Sam said that this stuff- these things are everywhere. Hell, you taught me about some of it yourself. If they're there, I should know how to stop them; they caught me off guard once, Dean- that's never going to happen again. I won't let it." Adam's chest was heaving at the end of the speech, his nerves completely on edge. His whole body felt wired.

"So you're what?" Dean asked, his lips curled up as he shook his head disbelievingly, "Studying in advance?"

"Something like that? I dunno..." Adam mumbled, suddenly feeling foolish. "If something comes at me again- I'm gonna know how to take it out. I'm not letting what happened... happen to me again."

He would never again be so helpless.

"And it ends there? At research?" Dean had him under careful scrutiny, had seemingly calmed himself down from whatever he'd worked himself up into.

"Well, yeah," Adam shrugged, "Unless, you know- something happens where you guys can't help me. Then you can bet I'll kick its ass. Or I'll die trying."

Because if anything came for him again, he wasn't going down unless it was swinging with every fibre of his being.

Dean's eyes narrowed further at the last remark. "...You really didn't know there was a case here?"

"No. No, I didn't." He frowned at the admission, his gaze drifting to his feet. It seemed all his researching- all that time spent in front of books and web pages and at lectures all amounted to nothing. He had failed to see the pattern and the monsters right under his nose. And Jennifer Tanner had died because of it.

The first thing he should have done on coming back to school was make sure the place was 'safe'. What good was proofing his room to the people around him? They'd been in danger the entire time and he hadn't known. He swallowed, and finally croaked out, "What is it? What's in the woods?"

Dean sighed, turning and walking away. Adam fell into step with him. He would get his answers. "We think it's an angry spirit. Some schmuck who died or got murdered however many years ago and couldn't stay dead- but the pattern is... weird. We need to check it out and make sure it's what we think it is."

"But you think it's an angry spirit? So... we need iron and salt and stuff, right?"

Dean shot him a dark look. "Yeah, we- Sam and me- not you, need iron and salt and 'stuff'." He made a face at that, and Adam pursed his lips

"You gonna kill it?"

"Yeah, we'll waste it."

"And it's just... that easy for you to do that?" He slowed down a little, unable to help the tone of disbelief that seeped into his voice. Dean was talking about it like he wasn't even worried about the fact that he was going to be face to face with some supernatural freak that could turn him into a pin-cushion. Then again, his mind supplied detachedly, Dean grew up with all this- it probably didn't surprise him at all anymore.

Dean shot him another look, and sped up the pace of his steps. "Yup." Cockiness, confidence, bravado, or just an assurance that he knew exactly what he was doing?

"The woods- they're right behind my old halls," Adam said slowly. How close his friends were to danger. They walked through the woods at least a few times a week. Jenny Tanner could easily have been Imogen or Dominic. Or Adam himself.

"Yeah, so?"

"...I want to come with you when you kill it." The words came quickly, rushed in an exhale of breath, and Adam almost cringed, wanting to take them back.

Dean stopped short. Adam almost ploughed right into the back of him.

"After everything you just told me, I'm gonna pretend I heard you wrong," Dean finally growled. It was not like the tone of just a few moments ago, wild in its baseless accusations. It was focussed, rough, and Adam felt a shiver of wariness run down his spine.

"I need to know how to do this," said Adam steadily. "That ghost- it could have gone after anyone. I didn't know that this was 'supernatural', but I do now. And I'm here. You- you're both gonna be there, right? I'll-"

Dean grabbed him by the arm and practically tossed him into the door of the building they'd just arrived at. The door shuddered under his weight, but stayed firm.

"What you're going to do," Dean cut in icily from a few feet away, "is go and forget I even told you that this was a case. We're dealing with it."

Indeed, finally taking note of where Dean had led him, he noticed that the oldest Winchester had practically escorted him back to Barnard Hall. The question of how he even knew Adam was housed there briefly flashed across his mind but was forgotten under the weight of Dean's glare. His tone brokered no room for argument, but Adam stared up at him defiantly. "You can't stop me from coming with you."

"Oh-ho, is that right?" Dean looked supremely amused, but there was a dark edge to it, and Adam leaned back into the door. "You're not going. Wanna know why? Because I'm not letting you. Researching- that is it for you. That's where it ends, you understand me? I am not having more people die because we were busy babysitting you. Now, way I see it, you got two choices, Adam. Choice number one," he held a finger up- "you go back to your room by yourself. Choice two," he held up a second finger- "I drag you there myself and I tie you down until we're done here." The amusement had dropped off of his face, and he advanced towards his youngest brother. "Well? I hope for your sake that you picked the smarter choice, kid."

Adam was trapped.

And judging by the expression on Dean's face, he wasn't joking about dragging Adam back to his room like some stupid kid, either. He knew for a fact that Dean had the strength to do it. He glowered at Dean, recognising his defeat, and abruptly turned on his heel and stormed back to his room.

† † †

The blood was thundering in his ears and he could feel his face burning as he rounded the last corridor and reached for the door to his room. He was breathing hard, but it had nothing to do with the climb of the stairs.

Dean Winchester had no right. He had strolled back into his life, brought with him terrible news, then refused to let Adam even help right the wrong that had been committed.

Jennifer Tanner. He had never met the girl, but she had died, like his mother only a month before, because Adam had done nothing. Only it was worse this time; he had knowledge now, and he was still doing nothing. God, what if it had been Imogen in the woods? Or Dominic, or Max?

The door to his room popped open and Adam shut it behind him, forgoing the bed to pace the length of his living space.

Dean had no right.

Yet here Adam was, sitting in his room like some errant child when he could be out helping. Who knew how many innocent, clueless people were in the woods in danger right this second?

So caught up in his thinking, he forgot that the drawers under the wardrobe were still half open, and cursed as his foot collided with them. A sharp spike of pain ran up his leg and he swore, reaching down to rub the now throbbing area.

That was when he caught sight of it. Nestled hidden under some of his clothes, his collision with the drawer had caused the bottom of it to peek out.

The gun. The gun with iron bullets. Definitely enough to handle a ghost.

Adam reached for it and straightened up, the pain in his leg forgotten. He glanced from the gun to the door, and back again. Less than a second later his decision was made and he tucked the gun into the back of his trousers, under his shirt. Pulling a jacket over the top of his shirt, he strode out of the door.

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Over the course of the days they spent coaching him, Dean had assured him (more than once) that he was the closest thing it got to a professional in the hunting business. For someone so confident in his own skills, Dean sure was blind to his surroundings.

He had been nowhere to be seen when Adam first exited Barnard Hall, though he had half expected Dean to still be there, guarding the place or something, waiting to catch him out. That hadn't been the case, though, and Adam had jogged back the way that he'd come with Dean. It was back near the science block that he finally caught sight of him, shoulders slouched as he strode forward, phone pressed to his ear.

Adam had hung back, sidestepping into the cover of a small alcove, not wanting to be spotted. From there, he'd followed Dean as he made a sharp right, heading straight for the Elizabeth Waters Halls. Aside from a near miss when Dean had unexpectedly turned around- probably to make sure he wasn't being followed- the path had been clear, and Adam ran into the halls, making his way through the building to the back door, through which he saw Dean make his way past the halls and towards the woods. He disappeared into the foliage, and Adam bit his lip as he considered his options.

It would be harder to follow Dean in the woods, and it would certainly be harder to follow him without being seen. Still, he had to try. He fingered the handle on the door, was just about to push it open when he saw the taller, broader shape of Sam jogging forward in his peripheral vision. His fingers relaxed their hold on the handle as he watched Sam disappear into the trees.

A full five minutes passed before Adam steeled his nerves and pushed the door open, following the route his half-brothers had taken into the woods.

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"What the hell took you so long?" Dean snapped as Sam finally made an appearance.

Sam raised an eyebrow at his brother's bluster. "Well, you did park the car pretty far, man. Here." Under the cover of the shallow end of the woods, he handed Dean a shotgun before zipping up the duffel bag at his feet once again and slinging it on to his back.

They were pretty sure that it was a ghost they were dealing with, but just in case... It never hurt to be prepared.

"Thanks," Dean grumbled, making sure the safety on the gun was on before he slid it under the flap of his suit jacket. It wasn't hidden as completely as it would have been under his leathers, but it would do. No need to make it clear to anyone who stumbled upon them that it was obvious they were armed. "Let's hurry it up here- I wanna be as far away from this place as quick as possible."

"Yeah, sure," Sam said, wondering what had got his brother in such a foul mood. "Pretty much all of the murders happened on or close to the longest trail over there. Guess that's the logical place to start." He pointed at the area of trees that were cordoned off with police tape.

"Gotcha," said Dean. He waved Sam in front of him. "Ladies first."

Sam rolled his eyes.

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He was an idiot. He'd never have thought of himself as that before, but here he was, alone in woods that he knew to be haunted. If he was being honest with himself, he was terrified.

It was darker in the woods, surprisingly darker than it had been out of them, the tall trees restricting light and leaving visibility low. As soon as he'd passed through into the trees he'd been looking for Sam and Dean, but there was no sign of them to be seen. Instead, he followed the lines of police tape, keeping an ear out for anyone (or anything) that didn't fit.

The gun was a weight on his waist that he was ever conscious of, and the further he got into the woods, the more every noise, every stir of branches in the light breeze seemed to jump out at him.

His heart was thudding in his chest. He could practically hear the rhythmic thumping of the rush of blood in his ears, feel it pumping faster than usual in his legs as if they were preparing him to run.

Crack.

He spun to face the noise, eyes narrowed in concentration, but there was nothing there. Just another branch creaking in the wind.

The hair on the back of his neck prickled.

God, it was getting chilly. It was meant to be April.

He pulled the gun from his waistband and carefully zipped his jacket up.

Still no sign of Sam and Dean.

That... Probably was a good thing, his mind supplied. After all, Dean would probably kill him faster than a ghost would, if he found him here. Adam had his gun; he had his knowledge. It would not be like the time with the ghouls. He would be fine.

A sudden shrill ringing filled the woods, and he jumped, gasping at the noise. The gun loosened in his grip as he fumbled for the phone in his pocket, rushing to turn it off before it attracted undue attention. He wasn't sure if it was the ghost or his half-brothers he was worried about right then, but he dashed further from the tape-laden trail into a thicket, out of view.

Stupid, stupid, stupid-

He cancelled the ringer, letting out a slow sigh of relief when silence fell all around him once again.

Another moment of silence drew to end, and with no-one rushing towards the noise, Adam crept back towards the trail.

-And that was when he slipped onto his backside. A jolt of pain ran up his tailbone.

"Urgh- sonofa-!"

He grunted, fingers reaching for whatever it was that tripped him. His brow creased in disgust as his fingers came back sticky.

"What the hell-?"

It was a puddle; cold black liquid that looked more like wet tar than anything else. He grimaced, feeling whatever it was he'd just slipped in dampen the leg of his jeans.

Gross.

He let out a sigh of annoyance...

...And froze as the breath puffed out of his mouth, crystallising into an icy cloud.

Sam... Sam had said something about extreme temperature drop in relation to ghost activity.

His heart caught in his throat and he stumbled up onto his feet.

Shit.

† † †

It had been boring. Not a single sign of anything in the woods that shouldn't have been there; there were only the sounds of the twigs crunching under their feet. Sam hadn't tried making conversation- Dean was unusually irritated and withdrawn, and any attempt Sam had made was shut down almost immediately. Particularly when he brought up Adam.

That didn't stop him prodding.

"What, you really don't think we should swing by and see him at all?"

"No."

"But we're here."

"And?"

Sam bit back a groan of frustration. "I'm gonna go see him when we're done here."

"Are you." It wasn't even a question.

"Yeah. Yeah I am. He's my brother, Dean. And he's yours, too."

"Thanks for making the matter clear, Sam, for a second there you had me confused." The words were delivered with saccharine sweetness, and Sam frowned.

"I really don't see what your problem is with this."

Dean snorted indelicately. "No, you probably wouldn't."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" And what was Dean even implying?

"Nothin', Sam, forget it." Dean followed the torchlight away and back again, before finally adding, "I can't make you stay away from him, Sam- just don't be surprised if he's not happy to see you. Just sayin'."

Dean fell quiet and Sam grimaced, beginning to wish the ghost- or whatever it was- would hurry to show itself. Sadly, from the looks of everything so far, all the signs were there that it would be a long night, and he silently resigned himself to the fact.

And then the EMF scanner blipped, beginning to whine as the lights along the top lit up.

"Dean."

A gunshot echoed through the woods.

Sam shot a wide-eyed look at his brother a split second before they both took off, sprinting in the direction of the noise.

Someone was in the woods.

Dean pulled the shotgun from the inside of his jacket, and Sam followed suit.

They heard a shout; a grunt- the sound of a body being thrown into a tree and they finally caught sight of it.

Dean had been right- it was a ghost. A tall man with blood drenched across his stomach and trailing from his mouth. He was advancing towards the body on the ground- he had a knife.

"Sam-"

"I got it."

"Hey!" Dean roared. "Eat some of this, you-" the rest of his words were drowned out by gunfire and Sam rushed forward to the body on the floor, hand reaching for the guy's shoulder as he tried to pull him up.

"Hey- hey man, you're all right. Still with us?"

"It came back," the guy grunted and Sam froze. He knew that voice.
"A-Adam?"

The air grew even more frigid and Adam dropped back to the floor, groping for- his gun? Smart kid. Sam kicked the weapon to him, watched as he picked it up, then tried to hoist him back up. Adam helped, leaning into Sam and practically using him as a ladder to get to his feet.

"Sam, it's-"

"Sam!" Dean yelled.

"I got it-!" Sam levelled the gun at the ghost that had reappeared much too close and shot it in the chest. It dissipated once again, spectral knife and all, and Dean rushed over. His eyes widened in disbelief when he caught sight of Adam.

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me-"

The ghost, persistent bastard that it was, flickered back into view and Dean shot it in the face with renewed vigour.

"Now is not the time," Sam grumbled, hefting Adam higher. "Here, help me out. We gotta get him outta here."

Dean grabbed Adam's other arm none too gently and the three of them pelted for the tree-line as fast as they could.

† † †

"That's quite a cut you got there," Sam said, pressing an old shirt to Adam's face.

Adam winced at the motion, the sting running from the cut above his eyebrow running to his cheek and jaw. He looked, once again, like he'd been in a brawl with Rambo. Just his luck, really. "Yeah."

His heart was still beating a mile a minute.

God. Ghosts.

They were back in Adam's room, the space seeming to have shrunk to uncomfortable levels with the weight of three grown men within it. Sam's duffel and Adam's gun lay messily atop the bed. Dean had taken the chair by the desk and had yet to utter a word since they'd left the woods. Hell, he hadn't even looked at Adam since making it back to the room.

Adam was just waiting for him to explode.

"How'd you pick up that there was a hunt round here, anyway?" Sam prodded, pulling the shirt away and wetting a ball of cotton with antisceptic from his bag. Adam hissed as the liquid seeped into his skin. Sam shot him an apologetic smile.

Sam's actions with it all reeked of normality, but Adam was confused. He looked over at Dean, who was still busy trying to burn holes in the wall with his gaze. Hadn't Dean told Sam about their encounter just a few hours earlier?

Finally done with tending to the head wound, Sam backed off, taking a seat on the far side of the bed. "Can't say I'm surprised you were there, but Adam- that could have gone worse. You should have called us, man. We would have helped you. Still- it's good to see you."

They hadn't even told him they were in Wisconsin. And where did Sam get off acting caring when he hadn't even bothered to text back? Days- weeks of complete radio silence. At least Adam had tried.

He stayed quiet and Sam cleared his throat, looking away.

A thought occurred to Adam.

"You said salt or iron were good for ghosts. It- it didn't die." The shot- the only shot he'd made, damnit, had gone right through the ghost- and it had disappeared- but then it had come back. That's when things had gone south. It had thrown him into a fucking tree. His ribs twinged unpleasantly at the reminder.

Dean scoffed, and Sam threw a severe look his way. "Yeah- that- we were teaching you how to get away from a ghost, Adam. Not how to kill one," he explained quietly.

Oh.

Adam stared.

The nausea set in a second later and he swallowed down the panic that bloomed in his chest.

If there was any doubt about it, Sam's words had settled it. He was just as clueless as he'd always been.

"I didn't know," he finally said, feeling wretched at the thought of how badly he'd messed up, "that there was a ghost."

Sam looked confused. "Then what was with the gun? Why were you in the woods?"

Adam looked over at the Winchester seated at the desk. "Dean- Dean said it was a hunt. He thought I knew. I didn't. I didn't know."

"I told you to stay out of it," Dean said loudly.

Adam scoffed. Dean had done more than just tell him anything.

But Sam wasn't looking at him anymore.

"Dean- Dean told you that?" It was said neutrally, but Adam could see Sam weighing his words carefully. He really hadn't known.

Adam nodded.

"Right." Sam's lips thinned and he stood. "Of course he did."

"Oh, it doesn't even matter," Dean groused, also getting to his feet. "You-" he said, jabbing a finger in Adam's direction, "you almost got yourself killed. Really- nice job on that. You get it now? You are done with this, you got that?"

And just like that, Adam was standing too, anger swallowing up the last vestiges of his anxiety. "That thing could have killed any number of my friends. I'll be done with it when that thing is dead," he snapped. "I told you you can't stop me."

So iron and salt didn't kill a ghost. He bet something else would.

He stepped back as Dean pressed forward, but Sam got between them, hand out and sour look on his face.

"You know what, Dean? Just back off."

Dean frowned, a flitter of hurt passing through his eyes before it was replaced by indifference, and the set of his shoulders relaxed.

"You're done with this," Dean repeated. "Go back to your girlfriend and Facebook and whatever the hell else it is you do, kid. You didn't come here to hunt- you came here to learn. Really, I don't know why it's so hard to get- you don't want to get involved with this."

Adam stared him down, and Sam sighed, breaking the tension that was falling over the room.

"We're going. Come on." He nodded towards the door, judging it safe enough to leave the space between Adam and Dean unoccupied as he trudged out.

"Adam- I'll call you tomorrow. We'll get lunch or something- whatever you like. You should... Probably get some rest now. But- man, stay out of the woods until we tell you it's safe, all right?"

Adam stared at him. "...Fine."

"All right then." He nodded, then left the room.

Dean picked up the duffel on the bed and left right after him.

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I swear it's too hot to function these days. Apologies to those I got back to saying that the chapter would be out 'soon'. I did mean on that day, but fasting 18 hour days coupled with wisdom tooth problems has really taken it out of me. On the plus side, this chapter amounted to a whopping 16k and 52 page document. So I had to split it into three. That means next week and the week after, you're guaranteed a chapter!

Thanks so much for all the feedback/comments/kudos/bookmarks/favourites/follo ws/PM's! I don't think you guys realise quite how happy it makes me to hear from you : D Now I need to get ready for work.