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 9: The Hook
† † †
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On the plus side, he wasn't feeling sick anymore. The shaking hadn't subsided completely, but it was on its way to leaving him.
Twenty minutes was the length of time it was before Sam made it back to the car after leaving him there while he covered the grave again. He had tried to get the sick off of his shoes, but when Sam shut the door to the driver's side behind him after he climbed into the Impala, an unpleasant smell still lingered.
Sam- Sam had taken it pretty well.
Still, Adam rolled down his window as subtly as he could.
"I think I'm ok now," he commented, staring straight ahead. "I don't need the hospital."
Sam started the car. "We'll go anyway. Just in case, man." The car peeled out from next to the pavement, and a silence settled over them. Contrary to just a little while earlier- contrary to how he'd been feeling for a long time, Adam felt utterly calm.
"So- was that what you thought it would be?" Sam asked.
"I didn't really... think about it," replied Adam hesitantly. "It was just something I needed to do."
"You didn't know that girl, did you? The one who died?"
What did that have to do with anything? "No. But that doesn't matter. I still- she didn't deserve to die like that."
Sam shot him an appraising look. "No she didn't," he agreed.
Adam fidgeted in his seat. "I should have known. I knew about this stuff and I still didn't see it and she died. That happened because of me- because I didn't know." He felt better because the spirit was gone, eradicated by their own hands no less, but what did his 'good feelings' get Jenny? She was still dead.
Sam slowed the car, glancing over at him and trying to catch his eye. "What happened to her wasn't your fault, Adam. None of it is your fault. You haven't even known about this stuff that long, and even if you did, it still wouldn't have been on you, man."
"It feels like it is," Adam said quietly. So much so that he'd even felt the need to explain himself to Sam. How long had he been avoiding doing something like that?
"But it's not," Sam relied firmly.
The rest of the drive went by in silence.
† † †
So wrapped up in the events between himself and Adam, Dean had slipped from Sam's mind completely while he sat on a metal chair in the hospital relatives room, waiting for Adam to be done.
At least they'd ruled out concussion pretty much immediately. The hysteria could probably all be related back to the come down off of adrenaline, but it was always better to be safe where your siblings were concerned...
His cell rang.
"Yeah?"
"Sam?" Dean's voice sounded crackly over the line. He was probably still in the woods... waiting for Sam's call. Sam nearly groaned. He had completely forgotten.
"Dean? Sorry man, I-"
"It's done?"
"Yeah, it's done."
"Halle-freaking-lujah, Sammy, I was getting worried, man. Salt and burn jobs don't take that long- what, were you having a nap? Where are you? I need a pickup."
"I'm at the hospital, Dean," Sam said without thinking. The words tumbled out of his mouth faster than his brain could stop them. He swore under his breath.
"Hospital?" Whereas Dean's words had been in his standard drawl a few seconds ago, now they were as sharp as razor wire. "Why- you all right?"
"Yeah- no, Dean, I'm fine-" the small cut just below his own hairline had already been dealt with by a pretty blonde nurse and even if it hadn't been, the injury wasn't anything Sam couldn't deal with himself. Sam wasn't at the hospital for himself, after all.
He was there for Adam.
And Dean didn't know that Adam was with Sam.
Dean didn't know that Sam had taken Adam on a hunt.
"Really, I'm fine- you should go back to the motel," Sam tried futilely. It took all his willpower to keep desperation from colouring his words, but he managed it.
"What?" Dean sounded offended at the very idea. "No- I'll meet you at the hospital. Sit tight."
Leaving no room for argument, Dean hung up.
Sam leaned back, allowing his head to thump into the wall.
Stupid, stupid, stupid-
This time, he really did groan.
† † †
Dean strode into the hospital on a mission. He went straight up to the receptionist at the front desk, a no-nonsense frown on his face, and asked to be pointed in the direction of 'David Webber'.
The receptionist took no notice of his tone, and replied that 'Mr. Webber' had been discharged already, and was currently waiting in the waiting room.
Waiting? Well he must have been waiting for Dean, or he would have called him on his way out. Sam's injury really must have been a minor one. Good.
It was with a lighter step that Dean made it to the waiting room. Sam was sitting hunched in his chair, head held in his hands. He hadn't noticed Dean's arrival. Tired, headache or head injury? Dean narrowed his eyes, crossing the room in three easy steps and shaking his brother's shoulder.
"Sammy?"
Sam startled.
"Dean!"
First Dean took note of the small bit of gauze taped to Sam's head. Then he noticed the expression. Sam looked... guilty? Or maybe Dean was just seeing things.
"How did you get here so fast? You only called like-"
"Twenty minutes ago, I know." Dean smirked. "Trade secrets, Sam, if I told you I'd-"
"Have to kill me. Right." Sam laughed.
"You done here? Everything-?"
"-Everything is fine, yeah. I'm fine, Dean, really, it was nothing."
"Atta boy." Dean clapped him on the shoulder. "Let's get outta here."
And suddenly Sam was looking uncomfortable again.
"Yeah, about that-"
Dean had barely enough time for a question to flash through his mind when the door ahead of them swung open and the last person he would have expected strode out.
Adam still hadn't seen Dean.
But Dean had seen Adam.
"Oh you have got to be freakin' kidding me," Dean growled.
Sam grimaced.
† † †
The ride back to the motel the Winchesters were staying at was a quiet one. The Impala roared away, but the occupants of the car were silent.
Dean was angry. That much Adam knew for certain. Then again, as far as he'd seen, Dean only came in a few shades- jackass, smartass or angry...ass. (It sounded better in his head.)
Still, he hadn't said anything to Adam. Which was weird, because he'd been furious when they'd found Adam in the woods, too. And before that, he'd had no problem knocking Adam on his ass when he thought Adam was going to do something he disapproved of.
Adam guessed that Dean was waiting until they were all behind closed doors before anything too drastic happened. It was the reason he was being dragged with them to their motel rather than back to university, after all.
And so, the ride to the motel was quiet.
...Until Sam sucked in a breath and very earnestly said "Dean-"
"Can it, Sam."
Ouch. Even Adam grimaced at that abrupt shut down.
Sam didn't try again, and Adam wasn't feeling suicidal enough to open his mouth.
And so, the ride to the motel was quiet.
† † †
"All right, kid, pick a bed. Get some sleep. Sam, you're with me." Dean deposited a duffel bag onto a table in the motel room. Adam took in the tacky wallpaper, the cramped room, and glanced back at Dean, who was already on his way back out of the room. Sam was still hovering outside the door.
"Wait- where are you going?"
Why had Dean bought him here if not to give him a 'stern' talking to?
"Out."
Adam made a face. He was starting to get real sick of this guy. "Then I got no reason to stick around."
"Yeah? How about you just do." Dean blocked the exit merely by turning around.
"How about no?" Adam snapped. If Dean was raring for a fight- this time Adam would be prepared.
"Adam-" Sam tried.
"No, Sam," Adam said, cutting his half-brother off, "he has something to say, he should just say it. I'm not staying here while he goes off playing intervention- or whatever the hell he's trying to do."
Dean let out a harsh bark of laughter. "I've been saying it- the both of you don't want to listen, though, do you?"
"He did good, Dean," Sam said quietly from outside the door. Dean threw him a dark look, evidently not ready to forgive Sam this newest betrayal yet, and Sam frowned, crossing the threshold and shutting the three of them into the cramped room.
"Look at him, Sam," Dean said, sounding far too tired for the hour. Dean was certified nocturnal, after all. But it was true that Adam didn't look well, for his face was still bruised from his first encounter in the woods, and the back of his head from the second. His clothes were dirty with sweat and blood, and his skin a tad too pale for normal.
"He looks like we do after a hunt, Dean," Sam said, "better, even. It's not- it looks worse than it is. No concussion- it was just shock- adrenaline-"
"I don't care! He shouldn't be looking like that- he shouldn't have even been there, Sam, we talked about this-"
"No, you talked, Dean. You need to let Adam decide what he wants for himself," Sam countered.
"Maybe," Dean accepted, "but so do you."
Sam looked a little confused at that- but Dean knew. Knew that Sam wanted Adam in, knew that maybe he wasn't the only brother trying to enforce his will on Adam, even if he was more heavy handed about it.
Still, could anyone blame him? Hunting was death and they'd all lost enough. Why the hell was this so hard for Sam to see?
"He's just a kid, Sam."
"I wanted to be there," Adam said loudly. They were arguing about him he sure as hell wasn't going to stand there as ignored as a piece of furniture. Maybe he hadn't got everything he'd wanted from the escapade at the graveyard; closure still eluded him, and the guilt still sat thick, but Sam had tried to help him and even if Adam thought his half-brothers were full of it, it was only right he stood up for someone who tried to do him a favour.
Dean scoffed, looking away from Sam as he rounded on Adam once again. "No, you don't even know what you want. You need to make up your mind, kid. You want in or you want out, you don't get to choose both."
They didn't have time to run between Adam and the apocalypse. When he'd made the decision to have them teach Adam some tricks, it had been so that if anything did happen, Adam knew enough to get the hell out of dodge and to safety long enough for the Winchesters to deal with the problem. He had thought Adam understood that. Hell, Adam's own admissions seemed to back that up, but when it came down to it- when there really was problems, Adam had plans of his own.
Enough.
"It doesn't matter, anyway," Dean continued. "I told you already, the decision's been made- you're not in, you're out. You're not doing this anymore."
"Dean-"
"If something comes after me, if something comes near me- I'm gonna deal with it!" Adam cried heatedly. "I told you I'm not-"
"We were here," Dean shouted over him, "we were here to deal- you didn't have to get involved! You had to just sit back-"
"I sat back and someone died!"
"Adam, that wasn't your fault," Sam interjected.
Dean had his eyes narrowed as he glanced between the two younger men. He visibly reigned himself in, letting out a quick hiss of breath before affirming what Sam had just said. "He's right- it wasn't your fault." Hell, if that was why Adam was being stupid, it was better to hit that problem on the head before it got any worse. "But you going out there, man- you could have ended up like that Jenny chick. You could have got in the way- and someone else would have been eating dirt because of it. Then what? You can't just-" he trailed off into a frustrated sigh. "Sam, you should have known better than to take him out there."
"He wanted in, Dean," Sam said defensively.
"And that had nothing at all to do with you, right?" Dean countered, making a face. "I mean, it's not like you wanted him there with you, is it? I'm sure you tried your damn best to show him why this is such a bad idea, right, Sam?"
The flash of guilt in Sam's eyes was enough to let Dean know his jibe had hit the mark.
"Not just me, man," Sam said lowly. "You're the one who told him what this was. You're the reason he was out there to begin with. He was gonna go whatever either of us said, Dean. And that- that is not on me."
"He could have died," Dean growled.
"Yeah," said Sam, "he could have."
They were talking about different things.
The two were staring hard at each other. Adam felt as if they were so caught up trying to one-up each other that they'd forgotten he was there. They had their own issues with each other, he realised, something that extended past Adam. He narrowed his eyes.
They were using him as an excuse...
Still, Sam had a point. He owed it to Jenny to be out there. His laziness had gotten her killed. Once he realised that...
"Sam's right. I would have gone- figured it out myself. I owed it to Jenny."
"You didn't know her, we checked," Dean said irritably. "You're not responsible."
"Oh- De-" Sam sounded supremely frustrated and Adam narrowed his eyes.
"What is that even supposed to mean? You checked? And- what-? How am I not responsible? I know about all this stuff now- how can I not feel responsible when it happens and I could have stopped it?"
"That's not what I-"
"Because it's not up to you to save everyone- that's not how it works," Sam explained. "It feels bad not being able to do it, sure, but it's not on you-"
"So dad wasn't responsible for what happened to my mom then?" Adam cut in bitterly, "because I don't care what you say- the only person I blame here for that was him."
There was silence, the Winchester's looking unsurprised at that admission. Sam settled himself on the bed, his hand shoving his longer hair out of his face and letting out an aggravated sigh.
"That was different," Dean said finally
"The hell it was," Adam argued. "I get that you've been doing this for a long time, ok? But so had dad, right? I needed- I needed to make sure this was done properly. I need to know how. Because what happened to me- if I can stop it happening to others than I will, I don't care what you say. I told you- I'm not gonna hunt these things down but if they come near me, then I'm gonna be there to see them burn."
Dean sighed, running a weathered hand down his face. "Look kid, I get it, ok? I get where you're coming from, I do- believe me, I do." And there was something in that that Adam did believe, despite how much he'd clashed with Dean lately, but Dean wasn't done. "But you need to understand- it's not as simple as dipping a toe in the lake to see how cold the water is, all right? I don't know- Sam probably drilled you already on what doing this means for you, right?"
Sam was quiet.
"Sam?" Dean asked, and the middle brother fidgeted. An air of amusement overtook Dean's weary frame, and he straightened up. "No? No speeches on losing connections? On putting your loved ones in danger?" Dean tutted, tilting his head condescendingly. "Sam."
Adam looked between the two Winchesters. "What are you talking about?"
"I wanted to ease him into it," Sam said, eyes boring into Dean's.
"Wasn't like that last time," said Dean, and Sam bristled.
"Now that- that was different."
They were doing it again- so wrapped up in trying to needle each other that Adam was in danger of becoming as ignored as a piece of background furniture.
"What are you talking about?" Adam repeated louder.
"What I'm talking about," said Dean, "is that this isn't something you do when you feel like it. The deeper you get into this- the more attention you draw to yourself, the less chance you got of getting out. The more you put people who know you in danger because one day- something will follow you home- and yeah, you know exactly what I'm talking about."
Adam glared. "If you're talking about my mom again, I swear I-"
"You're an amateur, kid. I get it- something hurt you- hurt your mom, and you don't want other people to get hurt the way they did if you can do something about it, but you have got to get this through your skull. The more you do this, the more chance you have of getting yourself killed- getting your friends- getting your girlfriend killed because you drag them down while you're too busy trying to prove something. This- today- it has to be end of it. You have our numbers- you can call us, man- you don't have to do this- you don't want to do this-"
If Adam didn't know better, he would have thought Dean was desperate- he seemed a step away from pleading with him.
Sam hadn't told him about any of that. Then again, after what happened to his mother, Adam wondered how he hadn't inferred the obvious outcome for himself.
"Dean," Sam said, cutting his brother off, "don't-"
"Ok," said Adam. "Ok."
"Wait- ok?" asked Sam.
Adam nodded. "Look, I told you- unless it has something to do with me- I'm not gonna get involved. I don't think I'm cut out for doing this like you guys are," he said, shrugging. "Tonight taught me that much, at least." Sam looked set to disagree with him- vocally at that, but Adam ploughed on. "But Dean- this was too close- I couldn't not do anything- I can't be that person. And if something like this happens again- I'm gonna be there to do something about it."
Dean was staring at him blankly.
"In what way is that remotely 'ok'?" he asked. Adam had just disagreed with pretty much everything Dean had said.
"Look, Dean," Adam continued, "after my mom, and now Jenny? I guess that's it for my quota on the supernatural, right? I mean, what's the odds of me meeting something else weird, right? It's not like I'm looking for it. And after Jenny-" he scoffed at his own stupidity. "It's not like I'd recognise it even if it was right under my nose- not unless it was obvious. I'm gonna be at school- I'm not on some- some crusade, ok? I don't want to get people hurt. And I told you I'll call you guys if I need to. And if something happens near me and I figure it out, I'll call you- I won't go it alone, but I will come with you when you come to deal because I have to know it's done, all right?"
"You don't know what you're doing," Dean said, sounding frustrated.
"If you need to you can teach me- you've done it before."
"What- we're meant to Mr. Miyagi you from the sidelines when we go on hunts? Didn't you learn anything from today?" Dean demanded.
"I'm a fast learner," Adam replied steadily. "I'm not promising you more than that, Dean, sorry. I'm not that person."
He wasn't sorry.
This was something he had to do. He couldn't hide if something came knocking at his door. Especially if he could help spare others the pain he had felt at the hands of the monsters. He wondered if Dean understood that.
Indeed, Dean was considering something, his green eyes focussed on Adam with a startling intensity, and Adam fought the urge to fidget.
"That's the best I'm getting out of you, isn't it?" Dean asked almost offhandedly, rolling his shoulders.
Adam nodded.
Dean sighed, rolling his neck and striding over to his bed. "I can't make you stay away from all this," he finally said. "I'm done telling you what a bad idea this is. So you know what? Fine. That's what you wanna do? Do it. But the consequences- kid, that's on you." Dean's eyes were fixed on him, steely pools of emerald that held his gaze. There was no hint of a smirk left on his face- much like he had been in the crypt when Adam had first seen him, Dean was utterly serious. "If we're done with this..." Dean said, finally turning away, "you can have the other bed- Sam here is takin' the couch."
By the surprised look on Sam's face, that was news to him. Then again, Adam figured Dean was more pissed at Sam for taking Adam to the cemetery than at Adam for being there. On that front, he really just seemed worried. It was weird.
"We'll take you back to school tomorrow," Dean said.
And just like that, the discussion was over. The 'fine' Dean had given him was bordering on sullen, but it wasn't disagreement, so Adam had that.
It was nearly three in the morning.
The excitement of the day seemed to catch up with him all at once, and his eyes felt immediately heavy. He carefully measured his steps and did his best not to stagger to the bed- Dean and Sam were both watching him, and he didn't want to embarrass himself. Dean already thought him incapable of looking after himself- Adam knew it. He barely had enough strength to pull back the covers before he flopped down, kicking his shoes off and not caring where they landed.
His eyes fluttered shut.
...The bed was lumpy.
Adam frowned.
Great.
"You sure that this- staying here- is what you really want?" Sam asked quietly from somewhere in front of him.
Sam wasn't talking about staying in the motel room.
There was silence across the room. Dean had stopped doing whatever he was doing, and was obviously listening. Adam didn't bother opening his eyes.
"S'what my mom wanted," he all but slurred. "Bed's better too."
Dean snorted.
"All right," said Sam. "If that's what you want." He sounded disappointed.
"Mmmuh," Adam murmured. He sighed, letting sleep take him.
† † †
And so, early the following morning, the Winchesters left Adam at university once again. It was Saturday- and not even eight yet- the campus was dead. Adam himself wasn't feeling much better, his sleep the night before uncomfortable, even if he hadn't woken from as many nightmares this time.
As he settled into his bed, he comforted himself with the fact that he had no lectures to go to, so he could sleep for as long as he wanted.
Then, just as he was starting to drift off, a knock sounded at his door.
He groaned. He wasn't getting it.
"Adam! Open the door!"
"Go 'way," Adam grumbled, turning onto his side.
The knocking grew more frantic.
Adam sighed. This had better be good.
Throwing the covers off, he got up and stumbled to the door.
Max rushed in. "Oh good, you're up!"
Adam squinted at him. "Yeah- now."
Max beamed back at him.
"What?" Adam asked warily. It was too early to be that happy.
"I finally finished them! Man, oh man, you have got to read them-"
"Wait- you're here this early over a book?" Adam groaned. "You serious?"
"Not just a book, the books," Max explained, brandishing the one he'd bought with him wildly.
"Get out," Adam said flatly, slumping back into bed. He pulled the covers over his head.
Max was still talking. Oh for the love of-
"Come on, man- you're the only one who hadn't kicked me out yet-"
"Not for a lack of trying," Adam muttered. His words were muffled by the blankets covering his face, and Max carried on blithely.
"I was up all night finishing the last one- Adam, man, you have got to read them-"
Adam let out a pitiful moan. "Max. Go."
"They're about these brothers who go around the country saving people and hunting monsters. And yeah, I know it sounds lame, but really, it's cool, trust me on this."
Ha. Funny. Adam knew brothers who did that for real, what did he need books for?
"Look, Max-"
"Anyway, they got into hunting the supernatural when a demon pinned their mom to the ceiling and set her on fire-"
Grisly.
"- in front of their dad when they were kids. So the brothers and their dad, John go around fighting evil-"
John? Huh. What a coincidence.
"-but there was this big fallout between the baby brother, Sam and his dad, and Sam went to college and left. But then a few years later the dad goes missing and the older brother Dean shows up, and he's all 'dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days-'"
Ok, what-?
Adam sat up. "Give me that," he demanded.
Max grinned, handing the book over. "See, I figured you'd like it- you're into that 'forces of evil' stuff, right? And these books- they're really heavy on mythology and stuff- you're into that. I know you'd like them-"
Adam ignored Max, who was still talking, and studied the book. The cover was uninspiring, white text on a black cover. The image on the front was even more off-putting, but there it was, the Impala, and he guessed that was Dean and Sam too- and hell, Sam's hair looked a lot like that, even if Adam would rather have not have seen him topless.
Just how much of a coincidence was this?
The blurb was simple enough- 'Along a lonely California highway, a mysterious Woman in White leads men to their deaths... A terrifying phenomenon that may be Sam and Dean's first clue to their father's whereabouts.'
He couldn't shake the feeling that this was wrong. John, Sam, Dean- they were all common enough names, but add the theme of the supernatural and the Impala, and even illustrations at the front that looked far too much like the Winchesters for Adam to be comfortable with? There were too many similarities for this to just be a coincidence, right?
He got out of the bed.
"Can I borrow this?" Adam asked distractedly.
"Yeah- I have the whole series so far-"
"Cool, thanks." Adam said, pushing Max out the door.
"Let me know what you think-!" Max called as the door was shut in his face.
Adam flipped the book open, ambling back to his bed and taking a seat.
'22 Years Ago: Lawrence, Kansas
If someone were to ask him about it later, John would have said the signs were all there. Electrical storms. Cattle mutilations. A number of other strange happenings that most would have passed off as odd but inconsequential.
As it was, on that night, John hadn't known any better. He watched with a smile on his face as his wife, Mary, carried their oldest son into the baby's nursery.
"Come on let's say goodnight to your brother," she said, flicking the lights on and bathing the nursery in a warm light. It only made her blonde hair shine more brightly. Wreathed in her white nightgown, Mary looked like an angel-'
Adam reached for his phone.
† † †
His phone was vibrating. Sam reached over and turned the music down, shaking the phone in Dean's direction when his older brother threw him a questioning look.
"It's Adam," Sam said.
"Already?"
Sam shrugged, raising the phone to his ear. "Yeah?" Adam said something and Sam frowned. "What did you just- how did you- yeah it's- no, wait- ok, stay there, we're- in your room? Right, we'll be there in a little while. Ok. Ok, later."
He ended the call, looking far too troubled for Dean's liking.
"Let me guess," Dean drawled, "'we have to go back'?"
"...Yeah," said Sam quietly. He was looking at his phone with an odd expression on his face.
"All right." The tyres to the car screeched as Dean turned her around. There wasn't even an argument about it. Sam guessed that between all the arguing the night before, Dean really had been listening to what Adam was saying. "What's he got?" Dean asked, as the car sped back in the direction it came. No way Adam would call them back for anything but the job.
"Did you ever tell him about mom?" Sam asked instead. "I don't mean that she was killed- I mean- how it happened?"
"Uh- no," said Dean, looking at Sam like he was insane. "Why would I do that?"
"What about the Woman in White- you tell him about her?"
"No."
"He knew," said Sam, his brows furrowed in thought. "Said a book had it written down."
"A book?"
"A book," Sam repeated with a nod.
"A book," Dean said, a frown settling over his features. "Huh. Guess... that is our sort of thing."
Goddamnit, Adam.
† † †
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Heh heh, Adam, you've not met your supernatural quota so fast- you're not that lucky, kid.
And next chapter will be out... probably late. I'll try for next Wednesday, but this is where I really mean life gets busy as hell. I have maybe... 2000 words written so far and I haven't even got past the first ten minutes of 4x18: The Monster at the End of the Book, yet. With any hope the next chapter will be mega long again so I can split it up again and give you guys some consecutive chapters. Wish me luck!
I'll see you when I see you, dears! Thanks for all the feedback, from the bottom of my heart- I really mean this: you're all wonderful.