This story gets a bit Winchester light at times. So I decided the Winchesters needed a chapter every once in a while. Say hello to the first Winchester centric chapter. Of course that means this is a Harry light chapter, but I think Harry needs a chapter to recover, don't you?
He'll be back next time and we'll be exploring Jo's death a bit more.
A few points I'd like to address after I got a fair number of very similar reviews this time 'round.
A)Harry is powerful, but he's not omniscient. He CAN be taken off guard. It has nothing to do with the thing the caught him off guard being stronger than him.
B) Harry is evolving. His emotions and reactions as a character are changing constantly as others worm their way into his life.
C)There are no filler chapters. Everything has purpose regardless of the degree to which that might be.
D)Just because you don't see where I coming from with the way I address an issue doesn't mean I won't explain it later. Please stop jumping to conclusions. It's irritating and it makes you look like an ass when two chapters later I finally explain what's going on.
If it's not obvious to you after more than twenty chapters that I don't show my whole hand every chapter I think the story might be lost on you anyway.
I'm not directing the above at any ONE reviewer. If you feel as though I've singled you out perhaps you should listen to the song 'you're so vain' while you read through the reviews and realize how many of you guys responded nearly identically.
That said. I still appreciated even the most infuriating of those reviews, so thanks for them. And I hope you all continue reading.
Many, many thanks to my reviewers, and to my doctors at the Methodist hospital in Houston.
Eren Whitaker thought this day would be like any other. He boarded a bus bound for school. He conversed with his friends on the bus. He slept through mathematics. Everything was completely average.
When school ended he went to his robotics club as usual. Everyone chatted and did virtually nothing that day because the teacher who ran the club never showed up. They shrugged it off. Teachers had lives too. It was more than possible something had come up and he simply hadn't had time to relay the message to anyone.
Eren and the others left around six thirty when it was obvious Mr. Henries wasn't going to show. It was a shame to waste a day when they were so close to regionals.
Eren walked part of the way home with his friend Lance before they split so they could go in the direction of their own homes. Eren lived in one of the few apartment complexes in town. He'd always hated the place because of how close together the buildings were. When you went walking in the morning or at night it made it hard to see if there was anyone waiting between them. Nothing had ever happened but Eren was the paranoid type when it came to what ifs.
His family lived in the sixth building down the long rectangular lot. Eren quickened his pace as he approached the first building. The narrow strips of light playing through the gaps between buildings were making him more nervous than usual. He let his eyes shift to the first gap. Nothing was there. He let out a sigh of relief and then bumped head first into someone directly in front of him.
"Ah, sorry!" Eren said taking a step back. He'd only had his eyes off the sidewalk in front of him for seconds. He hadn't expected anyone to be able to get in front of him in that time. He lifted his head and saw the blank face staring down at him. "Mr. Henries?" he said mind reeling with confusion.
Then all went black.
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Dean drummed on the steering wheel in time to the beat of another Styx song as Sam ignored him and flipped through the papers on his lap. "Come on Sammy!" Dean said with a grin. "It's Styx!"
Sam sent him an unimpressed stare and flipped off the radio.
"Dude!" Dean complained reaching to turn it back on.
"Dean we're five miles out of where we're going." Sam reasoned. "Don't you think we should talk about the case?"
"We've already talked about it Sam. I'm talked out. I need music to restart my brain." Dean argued and flipped the radio back on blaring the endless queue of rock.
They reached their destination Crockett, Texas within a few minutes and set about finding a motel. Crockett wasn't much of a town. Two blinking red lights, a few food places, and a Walmart were all that seemed to comprise the small town. They seemed to have one of those town squares that every old Texas town did too, complete with ninety percent antique shops.
They found a motel next to a truck stop and stopped in to get a room. When they had the room painted with every kind of demon sigil they knew they loaded back into the car and sought out somewhere to eat. They drove toward the small town center. They stopped at some place called the Moosehead.
Sam immediately reared back at the sheer amount of Republican propaganda plastered on the walls when they stepped inside. Dean seemed unperturbed.
"You can seat yourselves." The young lady at the counter said when she realized they were waiting on her.
Dean shrugged and chose the booth at the very back of the room. Sam followed with his bag in tow.
When they reached the table Sam immediately rifled through the bag retrieving the case files.
"Think they have pie?" Dean asked flipping through the menu as if on a mission.
"I'm sure they have pie Dean." Sam replied distractedly.
"Ooh! Apple!" Dean said finally finding the desserts section.
"Can I get you something to drink?"
Sam and Dean both glanced up at the young blonde girl holding a pen and notepad and staring at them in a very blatant 'hurry up' kind of way.
"Uh, water for me thanks." Sam said finally finding his notes.
Dean ordered something or another after he was assured they didn't keep any alcohol on the premises and the girl walked off. "Wow, I've met friendlier people in a bus station."
Sam shrugged. "She probably has a reason."
"Right." Dean replied simply as the girl came back over and offered them their drinks.
"Do you know what you want?" she asked eying the menu Dean had been pouring over.
"I'll take the house salad." Sam said offering the menu back to her with a smile. She took it and jotted down Sam's choice before turning to Dean.
"Cheeseburger, extra onions with a side of onion rings." Dean said jovially. "And could I get some apple pie too?"
She looked between the two as if trying to puzzle something out before taking Dean's menu and giving a breathy "It'll be out in a few minutes." And sashaying her way back to the counter.
"I feel like I've seen that look before." Dean said frowning. He turned back in his seat and groaned.
"What?" Sam asked nonplussed.
"Dude, antiques." Dean said motioning to the back of the shop where there were indeed antiques on sale. "She thinks we're antiquers. She was totally giving us the 'why are the good ones gay' look."
"There's a look for that now?" Sam joked.
"Why does this keep happening?" Dean hung his head.
"Dean, I think if they thought we were gay we'd be standing on the wrong side of a lynch mob considering the settings." Sam reasoned gesturing to the posters he'd noticed on the way in.
"Dude no one in their right mind would attack you. You look like you could crush them if you blinked hard enough." Dean said shaking his head. "Besides, I know that look. We got the same one when we stayed at that haunted hotel with the creepy dolls."
Sam shrugged. He could handle odd looks. He slid the top paper from his notes over to Dean's side of the table along with a picture. The picture showed an apartment complex. "I still don't know why Bobby sent us here." Dean complained as he eyed the picture.
"His friend needed the help and Bobby couldn't make it." Sam supplied. "He's busy researching for us remember?"
"Right." Dean said sulkily. "Still, how do we know this lady isn't just hearing things or something?"
Sam shrugged. "We may as well check it out." Sam retorted. "It couldn't hurt."
The waitress approached again carrying their food and Dean's eyes lit up in anticipation. She set down the plates and turned to Dean. "We're out of pie."
"All of it?" Dean asked in despair.
She nodded. "Someone called in a few minute before you got here and bought us out for a catering event.
They finished their meals with Dean looking sulky about the lack of pie. Sam checked his watch as they pulled into the motel parking lot. "It's about four thirty." He said opening his door and standing with a stretch. "We can head over a little before sunset."
Because they were investigating an apartment versus a secluded house like they were used to they'd have to be more careful about not being seen too much lest someone think they were burglars. Fortunately the owner knew they were coming and had left a key for them so at least they wouldn't have to break in.
Sam passed the time waiting by looking through old records on the apartments. There'd been several deaths, but none of them in the specific apartment they were investigating. The most recent death caught his attention though. Six months ago a high school senior was found dead on the sidewalk outside of the apartments. No one had been able to figure out the cause of death. It had been labeled as simply 'death by medical complications'. Friends and family claimed the kid had no major illnesses or anything of the sort though. Odd.
"You ready to go?" Dean asked duffle bag slung over his shoulder.
"Yeah." Sam closed the laptop and slid it back into its bag.
The ride over to the apartments took only a few minutes. In a town this small though that was to be expected.
The complex itself had a sort of daunting feel. The buildings were made of old red brick and dark painted wood. The doors to the individual living spaces were put at a slant and met up right next to each other in a sort of alley that was half taken up by a concrete stair case. The numbers to the apartments were next to the doors so Sam had to keep stopping at each alley to gaze into the unlighted gloom and see if they'd reached their destination.
"Found it." Sam said spotting the number '400' and approaching. Just as they'd been told there was a key hidden behind the burnt out lamp. Sam dislodged it and opened the front door.
The inside of the apartment was sparse. Then again the friend that had phoned Bobby had said they'd only just moved in when stuff started happening so maybe they hadn't had all the furniture to furnish the place yet. In fact there was little of value at all. The only furniture was a dining room table and a few lamps. No wonder they hadn't had an issue with leaving a key. There was nothing to steal.
"EMF?" Dean said looking at Sam expectantly. Sam nodded and pulled the EMF detector from his jacket while Dean locked the door. Sam flipped it on and it went haywire.
"Right…" Sam said glancing at the lamp. "We need to cut eh power."
"Bobby said the apartments upstairs are being renovated so we can probably cut the power up there too without anyone noticing." Dean said moving toward the back of the apartment where there was a sliding door.
Sam shrugged. "Go for it."
Dean unlocked the sliding door and stepped out eying the balcony above him. They were at the back of the complex so this was the best option of getting in unseen.
Sam moved through the place looking for the breaker box. He located it in the master bedroom's closet. He flipped the switch and then tried the EMF detector again. It was still acting up but the levels weren't reading as high. He waited another few minutes and it stopped reading altogether in that spot. Supposedly that meant Dean had successfully turned off the power upstairs.
"Right." Sam flipped the small device off and moved back into the living room where they'd entered waiting on Dean, but it took his brother a solid fifteen minutes to return and when he did he was wearing a triumphant smile.
"You wouldn't believe our luck." He said holding up a small paper. On it were the words 'Thanks for taking care of the cats. See you next Saturday.' Under that in loopy handwriting was 'Checked up on them Monday, be back Thursday after work.' It was Tuesday now, that meant that whoever was in the apartment next door wouldn't be back at least until this weekend and the person checking on their animals wouldn't be back until Thursday. That gave them two days of being the only people in this small apartment block so any abnormal noises would likely go unnoticed and to top it off, "I turned off the entire buildings power. They had a main breaker outside." Dean said taking the note and tossing it to the side. "So let's get ghost busting."
Sam snorted, but he flipped on the EMF again. The thing whined to life then went down to one bar. Sam nodded and they began their walkthrough of the apartment.
Only one spot in the house spiked high enough to be of any consequence. In the smallest bedroom of the four no matter where they stepped there was feedback, but the closer they got to the window the louder it got.
"What did Bobby say was happening here?" Sam asked flipping off the EMF now that they'd located the ghost hotspot.
"The guy's kid saw an apparition, but they thought it was his imagination." Dean said sounding a bit muffled as he knelt next the closet trying to see if there was anything interesting in there. "Until their dishes started floating all over the place when they badmouthed the maintenance from the previous renters." Dean snorted a laugh.
"So apparitions and poltergeist activity." Sam said with a frown. "It seems more like one of those ghost tv shows than an actual hunt."
Sam put away the EMF detector.
"So, the ghost has only shown itself to one person and it hasn't ganked anyone. I'm not really sure what we're supposed to do." Sam continued. He turned at the lack of witty retort.
Dean was still kneeling in front of the closet door, but he wasn't moving.
"Dean?"
No answer.
"Dude, that's not funny. Why aren't you saying anything?" Sam said walking across the room and nudging his brother. He got a startled jump in response. "Did you zone out thinking about Busty Asian Beauties again?" He joked, but Dean didn't seem in the least bit amused.
"You can see me?" Dean said disbelievingly.
"Of course I can see you…" Sam replied, weirded out.
"No one else could see me." Dean said standing and suddenly he seemed to have a bout of vertigo because he stumbled back to the floor.
Sam had his shotgun out and pointed at Dean in a second. "You're not Dean."
"Of course I'm not Dean. Who's Dean?" Dean replied.
Sam was thrown by that response. "Who are you?" Just a beat passed before he asked. "What are you?"
"Eren Whitaker." Dean replied. "I'm a senior at Crocket High School. I don't know what else you want me to say!"
Sam would have been amused to see those expressions on Dean's face usually, but right now he was panicking in his mind. Eren Whitaker was the name of the boy that was found dead at this apartment complex six months ago, and now he was somehow inside of Dean? Either that or Dean was playing a massively unfunny joke right now. "How did you get inside Dean?"
"Who the hell is Dean?!" the kid inside of Dean yelled back.
Sam glanced up and down the room before grabbing Dean's jacket and tugging a flailing body behind him to the bathroom and shoving it in front of the mirror. Dean froze. A single hand lifted to the slightly stubbled chin.
"That's not… that's not me."
"No, that's Dean. You're inside of him. Get out." Sam re-leveled the shotgun.
"I… I don't know how! What's going on?!" Panic pulled at Dean's features and his eyes were trained on the gun fearfully which told Sam that whatever was inside Dean thought the gun could kill it.
"Were you by the closet?" Sam said anger starting to ebb from the other's panic.
"Yes." The person who claimed to be Eren said hesitantly. "And I tried to walk past… him." Dean's hand lifted to point at himself. "And I sort of touched his arm. I think… I think I walked through him."
"Then walk out of him." Sam suggested.
"I can't!" The desperation was back. "I don't know how. How do you even walk through someone in the first place? I don't know what's going on."
Sam narrowed his eyes. This ghost, if that's what it was, wasn't acting like the ones they typically dealt with. He could take the shot and maybe dispel the ghost. Neither Dean nor the ghost would be happy about it in the long run though as the bruises from the rock salt would most definitely linger for a while, and if the kid was removed it would be rather violently as he'd gathered from past experience with spirits. This might be the only way to contact the ghost as well. If it was the ghost.
Sam rifled in the pocket of his coat for a half a second and came back with a flask of holy water. He skillfully unscrewed the top with two fingers and splashed the man in front of him gaining a surprised splutter as the water harmlessly hit his face.
"What was that for?"
Sam lowered the gun and Eren took a shaky breath.
"You know who you are?" Sam asked, relieved that a demon hadn't found some way past the tattoos he and his brother had gotten to prevent such a thing from happening.
"Eren Whitaker." Eren replied again. "I live here with my family." He glanced around. "But all our stuff is gone and… and there were these people here and I kept trying to ask what was happening but no one would answer me."
Sam didn't really know how to break the news gently. "Eren Whitaker has been dead for six months."
Dean's eyes went comically wide. "Wha… but I… I'm right here!" Eren protested from inside Dean. "I can't be dead… I can't be…" Things in the room started to shake.
"Hey, calm down." Sam said eying an unopened box near the corner that was dancing from side to side as if something were trying to escape. Eren didn't respond so Sam set aside the gun and grabbed his brother's shoulders shaking him just enough to gain Eren's attention. "Calm down. You're going to cause something to explode at this rate."
Eren caught sight of the rattling toothbrush holder that was way too close to the edge of the sink. "What's happening!" Eren panicked. Everything rattled more intensely. The little ceramic toothbrush holder fell to the floor and shattered.
Sam slapped him. "Calm down." Sam reiterated.
Eren took a deep, shaky breath obviously willing himself to calm down.
"Alright." Sam said offering the other his hand. "I need to make a few calls. We'll try to figure out what's going on."
Eren took the hand and pulled himself from the floor. "T-thanks, I guess." After a moment he seemed to decide on the most pressing question in his mind. "Who are you?"
Sam glanced back from where he'd been rifling through the dufflebag for Dean's phone. They rarely carried them in their pockets on hunts because they had a tendency to get smashed or dropped or any other number of terrible things. "Sam." Sam said locating the phone and pulling it out triumphantly. He dialed Bobby's number and hoped the man would pull through for him like he always did.
Bobby answered on the second ring. "Can't you idjits handle a simple haunting without calling me?" Bobby ranted.
"Yeah, um." Sam hesitated. "We've got problems Bobby. Big problems."
Sam and Eren sat on the front bench seat of the Impala in awkward silence. There'd been a bit of a scuffle getting Eren to leave with Sam but he'd succumbed to the logic that he was walking around in Sam's brother's body so he'd eventually consented.
They were on their way to Bobby's. If Sam's conclusion was correct Eren was the cause of the supernatural goings on at the apartment. With him gone everything should cease. Long story short, they were taking the problem with them. They'd have to sort it out on top of figuring out a way to restore Dean to his usual mentality.
"So uh," Eren started then cleared his throat. "What exactly do you do?"
Sam could tell the kid had been dying to ask the question all along, but the need probably ramped up a notch when he'd seen Sam carrying out the duffles full of weapons when he'd checked out of the motel.
Sam glanced over.
Eren caught the glance and sort of stammered through an apology. "S-sorry, it's just how'd you know to come looking for me if I was a… a ghost? You know?"
Sam sighed. "My brother and I, we're called hunters. Whenever there's something out there killing people and it's not human we take care of it."
Dean's face paled dramatically. "I was…. I killed people?"
"What?" Sam said. "Oh, no. We took this job as a favor to a friend. The worst you did was startle some people." Sam finished with a bit of a smile, but only the faintest hint. Worry for Dean is making him much too tense. It certainly was different, this job. From the get go it was weird that someone had phone Bobby over something as small as some plates moving. Then again, to an ordinary family that might be a frightening event. Sam wouldn't know, he'd never belonged to one. Still, the kid looked relieved that he hadn't hurt anyone.
A persistent ringing broke the more comfortable silence then and Sam dug into his back pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "This is Sam." He said by way of greeting.
"Sam? Hey it's Jo."
"Jo? What's up?" She sounded a bit harried.
"Uh, not much. We just… we could use a bit of help on a hunt."
Sam glanced over to Eren who was obviously trying not to intrude on the conversation as best as he could from three feet away in the passenger seat. "It's not really a great time Jo." Sam said eyes focused on the road. "We have a bit of a situation here."
"Well shit." Jo said eloquently. "You guys already on a hunt?"
"Sort of." Sam admitted. "We're heading up to Bobby's right now."
"Will you be done any time soon?" she asked. It didn't sound to Sam like she had a whole lot of options.
"I don't know Jo." Sam replied sincerely. "We can try to get done as fast as we can, but it could take several days." I hope not, Sam thought.
"Right, you wouldn't happen to know Harry's number would you?"
Sam blinked. "Yeah, but I wouldn't get your hopes up. He hasn't answered any of my calls today so he might be busy."
"I'll try my luck." Jo said with a laugh. "We don't have too many options right now anyway."
"Right, can it wait about an hour?" Sam asked glancing at the clock and gauging mileage. "I was gonna make a pit stop then and I can text you the number."
"Sounds like a plan. Thanks Sam." Jo said. "Oh, and why isn't Dean answering? I called him first."
"I think we threw his phone in the trunk." Sam answered honestly but evasively. He really had thrown Dean's phone in with the duffles after he'd retrieved his own.
Jo laughed from her end. "Smooth." She said and he could hear the grin in her voice. "You guys be safe out there."
"You too, Jo. Say hi to Ellen for me."
"Will do. Do the same with Dean. Talk to you later."
The phone disconnected and Sam shoved it back in his pocket. He glanced over at Eren. "Getting hungry?"
Dean's stomach chose that time to vocalize. "Er, I think that's a yes."
"Figures." Sam said and a little bit more genuine smile came out at the thought of Dean's eating habits. "Dean eats like a linebacker."
Eren let out a startled laugh. "He doesn't look like it."
Sam shrugged. "Looks are deceptive."
Eren laughed. It couldn't be truer for him. He was masquerading around in a thirty year old's body when he himself was a dead high schooler.
"Any place in particular you want to eat?" Sam asked.
They stopped for food at the first place Sam ran across that was still open and looked like it offered salads. When they finished they loaded back into the car and started their slow journey once again.
Sam was both thankful for the lack of Dean's usual music and apprehensive about the implied repercussions of finally having silence in the car.
"So I died yeah?" Eren said suddenly startling Sam from his thoughts.
"Yeah." Sam agreed hesitantly.
"How?"
Sam glanced over. Eren had Dean's shoulders hunched and a determined yet slightly anxious set to his face. "No one's sure." Sam replied. "The autopsy didn't show much. They think you had an aneurysm."
Eren looked down at the hands that weren't his own resigned. So it hadn't even been something he could control. He'd been lucky to get the seventeen years of life he had. "So is this what death is like for everyone?" he asked. "Do we all just die and become ghosts and then walk around not knowing what happened?"
Sam glanced over at the spiteful tone that had crept into his voice. "For the most part… no. The only ghosts we've really met are the ones who ducked their reapers. They usually have a reason for wanting to stay."
"Reaper?" Curiosity replaced the spite. "What's a reaper."
Sam blinked wanting to watch the kid's face for his reactions, but needing to keep his eyes on the road. "You know, the guy who stops by to pick you up. Tells you your time is up and then carts you off to wherever it is souls go…"
Eren shook his head. "I don't… I never saw anyone." He said quietly.
Sam's mind raced a mile a minute. "Well at least we have a starting place then." Sam sounded more sure than he felt. He'd have to ask Bobby if there was some way they could contact a reaper.
Eren seemed a bit wary as they approached Bobby's salvage yard. Sam figured it was his 'stranger danger' mentality from still being a kid mentally and in a car with someone he'd known for approximately thirty six hours now. After all, Bobby's place didn't exactly look reputable. Sam could admit that and it was the closest thing he had to a home.
Bobby was waiting for them on the porch presumably having spotted their headlights as they pulled up the long driveway. As Sam parked he turned to Eren. "He's probably gonna run some tests." Sam said offhandedly. "Holy water, silver, I'm sure he has more. Don't freak out. It'd probably just set him off."
Eren nodded nervously opening the door on his side of the car.
Sam could see the flask in Bobby's hand. "Bobby." He heaved a sigh of relief. He needed a bit of normalcy right now and Bobby might be able to provide that.
Bobby nodded in his direction but his gaze was fixed on Dean's body lumbering awkwardly from the car. Sam reckoned Dean's limbs were longer than Eren was used to and that was why he kept hitting things.
When Eren made it to the porch Bobby offered him a shot glass filled with what Sam knew to be holy water. Eren eyed it. "I'm not really thirsty, but thanks."
"Take the glass kid." Bobby said still holding it out.
Sam nodded. Eren took the glass eyed it for another minute then threw back to the liquid grimacing. He blinked several times. "Water?" he asked surprised.
"Holy water." Bobby amended.
Eren gaze traveled to Sam as well perhaps linking the shot glass to the water Sam had thrown on him in the apartment. "Is this all some sort of elaborate joke?"
"I wish." Sam said turning for the house. Bobby stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. Sam turned back to see a shot glass of his own. Sam took it and downed it handing it back to a satisfied Bobby.
They all headed inside and Sam pulled Bobby to the side once Eren had been shown to the couch.
"Did you think of anything that could get him out of Dean?" Sam asked a bit anxiously.
"Besides a buckshot of rocksalt?" Bobby asked skeptically. "Or burning his bones. There's not much we can do."
"Maybe we can find some way to send him on." Sam offered hesitant to burn the kid's bones when he'd never hurt anyone.
Bobby raised an eyebrow. "What makes you think the kid wants to get gone?"
"He never saw a reaper Bobby." Sam supplied.
"Well that's new." Bobby replied glancing over at the kid.
"Is there some way we can get a reaper here? Maybe all he needs is someone to show him how to pass on and he'd leave willingly."
Bobby gave Sam a long hard look. He had no idea how Sam saw so much good in people despite his life. Bobby was sure anyone else would have been more jaded than had they lived Sam's situations. He gave a great sigh and moved past the tall hunter. "I'll see if I can find something. No guarantees it'll be easy though."
"It almost never is." Sam said with half a laugh watching Bobby do a small number of standard tests on the kid and then grab a few books and bunker down at his desk. Bobby had already been researching this before they'd shown up though. Hopefully his efforts would pay off soon.
Sam grabbed one of the book labeled 'Et Spirite' and headed for the fridge. He almost grabbed two beers before he stopped himself and instead grabbed himself a beer and checked the expiration date on a large carton of orange juice. There wasn't much else in the fridge that was edible. Sam saw several jars containing what Sam knew to be different types of blood. He had no idea how Bobby told them apart.
Deigning the juice to be of acceptable quality Sam poured a large quantity of it into a clean glass and made his way back to the living room where Eren was looking about nervously from his place on the couch.
"You're welcome to a beer if you want one." Sam said holding out the juice. "Technically speaking you're in an adult's body so it's not illegal."
Eren accepted the juice and took a sip. "No thanks. I had a beer once at an after party. It was gross."
Sam couldn't help but laugh at those words coming from his brother's lips. He pulled out the book he'd grabbed and opened it to begin skimming the pages. He'd learned basics in Latin for precisely reasons like this. Being able to help with research would cut their time in half. Well, that and John was a hard ass about stuff that came to hunting.
A few hours passed in relative silence. Eren had offered to help read anything that was in English, but after his first book had held a bit more detail about certain aspects of disembowelment than he'd been expecting he'd politely declined to go any further. Sam hadn't blamed him. It wasn't a pleasant aspect of their job. Sam told the kid to get some shut eye while they worked. It would make the time pass quicker. Had had consented when the body he was residing in began to grow weary from the sitting around despite his anxiety to waste any time he had left 'alive'.
Sam read through book after book looking for anything of reapers or ghosts that could help them. Bobby was eventually the one who found something.
He'd called Sam into the study and showed him what he'd found. Sam had given him a blank stare as most of it was in Japanese. Bobby had then translated as best he could for Sam into English.
Apparently it was a summoning spell for a reaper, quite similar to one that Bobby had already known of, but with added benefit of not having to be on the verge of death, or disembodied, to see said reaper. That had been the biggest hurdle to overcome. Last time Sam and Dean had gone spirit to find a reaper someone had been badly hurt. Granted, they hadn't known Pamela well, but that scenario still weighed heavily on all their consciences. She'd nearly died trying to keep that demon out of their room.
"Do we have everything we need?" Sam asked glancing at the instructions listed below the block of text Bobby had just read him.
The older man skimmed through. "Looks like." He assented. "I even got more goat blood just the other day."
Sam didn't really want to know how Bobby had acquired more goat blood. "I'll go wake him up then."
Bobby nodded as he began pulling down various boxes and what not looking for the items they'd need.
Eren looked both weary and wary as he entered the study to find Bobby drawing out a summoning circle in chalk. He followed the diagram in the book to the letter.
"What are you doing?" Eren asked taking a seat in Bobby's desk chair since the man seemed busy anyway.
Bobby glanced back at the kid, but didn't answer. Instead he added a star like symbol to the middle of the circle and etched what looked like katakana around the edges.
"Don't mind him." Sam supplied entering the room with a silver bowl. "He gets that way when he's focused."
Eren shrugged, but he didn't seem convinced by Sam's explanation of the man's behavior.
Bobby stood taking the bowl from Sam and sending him an annoyed glare that told him the man had taken conflict with what he'd said. Sam just gave him a measuring look.
Bobby set the bowl on his desk where a second circle had been etched and began filling it with the various, odd, combinations of ingredients that would hopefully summon a reaper for them. It only took a moment and then he was moving around the desk forcing Eren to wheel back in his chair to avoid the man.
"Ready?" Bobby asked holding a matchbook and looking between Sam and Eren.
Sam nodded and Eren followed suit hesitantly.
"Shoukanshi anata ni meijiru. Kono en no nakani hyouji sa re mirareru." Bobby recited fluently striking a match and throwing it into the bowl. Something inside the bowl caught fire and sparked causing a whoosh of acrid smoke to rise.
The smoke cleared and for a solid minute they saw nothing. The circle on the other side of the desk remained empty. Then, quite suddenly someone seemed to be materializing out of thin air. Their form started out hazy like viewed through an unfocused camera and then seemed to focus in to reveal a familiar frowning face. Well, familiar to Sam at least.
"I know you." Sam said eyebrows raised in surprise. "You're the reaper that Alistair tried to kill."
"Tessa." She reminded.
"Tessa." He assented. He supposed it was a bit unkind to label someone by a traumatic event rather than using their name.
"I'm starting to think you guys have really complicated lives." Eren bit out.
"You have no idea." Bobby supplied while Sam examined the reaper stuck in the circle.
"I wasn't expecting you to show up." Sam said looking at her inquisitively. "Aren't there any other reapers out there?"
"Plenty." Tessa supplied. "I'm here about the message."
"The message?" Bobby cut in. He recognized the name Tessa from the boy's stories.
"You didn't know about the message?" she asked genuinely surprised. "Why did you call me here then?"
Sam gestured over to Eren who waved sheepishly.
"Dean?" she said then paused and seemed to stare harder. "No, not Dean."
"Yeah, not Dean." Eren said sounding a bit uneasy again.
"How did you get inside of him?" she asked looking like she wanted to walk over and touch him, but was forced not to.
Eren shrugged Dean's shoulders. "I don't know. It just sort of happened."
Tessa stared hard at Eren. Sam was pretty sure she could see past Dean's body to the spirit inside. She seemed surprised by what she saw.
"Is something wrong?" Eren asked after a minute or two of silence.
"Nothing is 'wrong' per se." she said shaking her head. "You haven't met your reaper yet, have you?"
"What do you mean 'yet'?" Sam asked curiously. "I thought you were supposed to meet your reaper as you were dying."
"Normally, yes." Tessa supplied. "But when someone dies before their supposed time it can throw off the balance."
"I thought you guys knew when everyone died." Bobby said with a huff.
Tessa turned her gaze on him momentarily. "For the most part, yes." She acquiesced. "But occasionally someone slips through the cracks. When that happens it can take years before the reaper finds the soul again and gives it the choice to move on. We call them lost souls. The moniker is a bit self explanatory."
"And the whole time they're here walking around not sure of what happened?" Sam asked sounding almost disgusted.
"Occasionally. Other times they do remember their death and are aware they're in the afterlife but have no way to move on. Very rarely are they able to find a reaper to take them since most people aren't aware of our presence."
"So you can help him?" Sam asked a bit of relief creeping into his words.
"I can." She nodded. "If he's willing to be helped. Otherwise I will have to mark him the way other souls that wish to stay behind are marked, and he will be forced to walk this plane until… well." She looked knowingly at Sam and Bobby.
"Until he becomes a hunt." Sam said with a small frown.
Sam turned to Eren noticing the way the kid looked frightened out of his mind. By which part of the conversation Sam was unsure.
"Will you go with her?" Sam asked not unkindly.
Eren seemed tentative. "Where do I go?" he asked eying her with no small amount of awe and fear.
"I can't give away the punch line Eren." She said with a sad smile. Eren seemed concerned that she knew his name.
"It's got to be better than this though." Sam gestured to Eren's current predicament. "Because kid, I don't think you're evil or anything, but you can't stay in there."
Eren nodded slowly. He knew he couldn't keep this body. It wasn't his and the person it belonged to had people who cared about him. Like his family cared about him. Tears sprung up unbidden. And moving on had to be better than hanging around when no one could see him right?
"Will Dean be back to normal?" Sam asked eyes flicking between Eren and Tessa. "Once Eren is gone. I mean, Dean's still in there right?"
"Not that I'd usually call your brother normal." She said with a smile. "But yes. He should spring back. He has an abnormally strong attachment to life that one."
Sam snorted.
"A-alright…"Eren stood having made up his mind. "W-what do I have to do?"
Tessa smiling warmly. "Just walk over here." She gestured toward herself. "I 'd come over there, but…" The nodded toward the circle binding her at the moment which she was taking rather coolly all things admitted. Most of the time when they summoned something it didn't take it too well.
Eren walked slowly around the desk and into the open space of the room. Tessa coaxed him closer with smiles each time he stopped and met her gaze. Finally he stood just inside of the circle. "Brace yourself." She warned. "This will feel a bit odd."
She placed a hand on his forehead and immediately Dean's body collapsed with a groan. Standing in exactly the same place was another person though. He was of average height and thin, in that undeveloped way teenagers had, with light brown hair. He gasped as Tessa removed her hand.
"Oh wow." He said with a voice very different from Dean's. "You weren't kidding. That felt weird."
Tessa smiled.
A loud groan issued from Dean followed by him rubbing his eyes. "Uuuuugh…" Dean rolled onto his side. "Sammy… what did you let me drink?"
"Long time no see Dean." Tessa said glancing down at the man with amusement as Eren turned to see him as well.
Dean froze where he was laying. It was obvious he was trying to gauge the situation without opening his eyes.
"Dean…" Sam said with relief. He felt a weight that had been haunting him for the past two days lift from his shoulders.
Dean relaxed a little upon hearing his brother's voice, but he sprang upwards still wary in case there was a threat. His eyes landed on Tessa and his determined gaze transformed into one of confusion. "The hell?" He saw the kid standing next to her and then he seemed to take in the fact that he was in Bobby's house and his confusion grew from 'why is she here' to 'what the fucking hell happened?'.
Tessa gave him a knowing smile before turning back to Sam and Bobby.
"What were you saying about a message?" Bobby asked.
Tessa sighed. "We were hoping you'd have the person the message was meant for with you. Death'd heard you were hanging around him these days." Tessa said with a frown. "All the same, I suppose it's for the best. He's never been particularly fond of we reapers."
"Who?"
"Wait Death?!" Dena cut in confused.
"Yes, Dean. My boss." Tessa said in a way that silently pleaded for him to keep up with the class.
"Who exactly are we associated with that would have Death's interest?" Sam said wide eyed.
"You can't think of anyone who fits the bill?" Tessa asked.
Something clicked in Sam's mind. "Harry?"
"Bingo. You're a bit more level headed than your brother." Tessa said offering Sam a smile. "I could grow to like that."
"Hey!" Dean complained.
Eren snickered from beside Tessa until she sent him a reproachful look.
"The message." Sam said thinking back. "It's ah… 'Boy who lived savior of none a debt must be repaid'?
"Yes." Tessa nodded. "That's the one."
"Yeah," Bobby cut in. "I have to tell you, that one didn't really make a crap load of sense."
"It wasn't meant for you, so I doubt it would." Tessa replied a bit too quickly making Bobby scowl. "Harry would have understood it, but Death think he might have misinterpreted the last bit."
"A debt must be repaid?"
"Yes," she replied seriously locking eyes with Sam. "It's quite possible he believes he owes the debt."
"And the person who actually does?"
"That's between Harry and my boss." Tessa replied shaking her head. "Even I'm not really sure what it means."
"Then what exactly are we supposed to tell him?"
"That he's not the debtor." Tessa answered. "And that Death would like a word."
Sam and Bobby shared a look. That didn't sound fantastic for their ally.
"So is that all?"
"Actually no." Tessa said glaring at Dean who'd said the words even if they had been laced with confusion about his current settings. "He sent a few things for you three as well."
"Like what?" Sam asked genuinely curious.
"A way to seal Lucifer in hell for one." Tessa said meeting Sam's eyes. Every human in the room tensed.
"Lucifer?" Eren said eyes wide. "Like the devil?"
"No, like Santa Claus' mom." Dean spat. "Yes, the devil! Who the hell is this guy?"
The room went momentarily silent as everyone in the know exchanged looks and Dean just seemed to grow more irritated because of it.
"Er… It's not really important Dean." Sam said glancing between the two. He would explain later, but Dean would probably say some choice words if he found out now and it wasn't really the kid's fault. "I'll tell you later. How do we get Lucifer back in the pit?"
Tessa turned her gaze back to Sam all too happy to play along so she could get out of there. "The box he popped out of is still there. All you have to do is get him back in it."
"Oh yeah, we'll just ask him to walk back in." Dean scoffed.
"It's not my problem how you do it." She replied almost venomously toward Dean. "But you'll need the keys. Well, 'rings' is the more appropriate word. When you put them all together they'll open the cage."
"Rings?"
"Yes, four of them. From the horsemen." She said brusquely. "I understand you already have two."
Sam blinked back his surprise. He supposed Death had told her, and he would know being a horseman himself.
"And going on gathered rumors, Harry may have a third."
This time everyone seemed taken aback. "Does he know what they do?" Dean asked, first to snap out of his stupor.
"There're rarely things he doesn't know." Tessa answered tersely. Something about Harry seemed to strike a chord with her. Tessa shifted, her head tilting. "I can't stay here much longer." She said eyes roving between each of them. "That's the gist of it, and I'm supposed to give you this."
She reached into her pocket and retrieved a small box made of polished wood. She tossed it in Dean's direction and he caught it reflexively.
"Would you mind breaking the circle now?" she asked kindly enough, but it was less of a request and more of an order.
Sam walked around the desk and rubbed away part of the circle. Tessa gave them all one last look before she and Eren disappeared.
No one said anything until they all had a beer in their hand and Dean was seated on the couch in the living room. Dean seemed to think it was important that he be relaxed like he was about to be told some universal truth. Sam was sure he'd be disappointed once he'd explained what had happened.
"So." Dean said gazing between Bobby and Sam. "Enlighten me."
Bobby looked unimpressed. "There's not much of a story to tell if that's what you're expecting."
Dean frowned a bit and switched his gaze to Sam.
"What's the last thing you remember?"
"We were in Texas on a hunt."
"Right…"
"We got into the place…" Dean said thinking harder like the memories were getting harder to recall. "I turned off all the power… we were walking through… that's about it. Didn't I get zapped by a ghost or something?"
Sam shook his head. "You were possessed Dean."
"Possessed?" He said eyes wide. "But what about the anti-possession tattoos?"
"Apparently they don't work against ghosts." Bobby offered with a frown.
"Dude…" Dean said scrunching up his nose. "I feel so much less safe now." He downed the rest of his beer in one go. "Sammy get me another."
Sam shook his head and laughed, but he moved to grab another beer since he was next to the door anyway. He was relieved to have his brother back so he wasn't even going to complain about Dean's over indulgent drinking habits.
"So I was possessed." Dean said with a shiver. "How'd we get here? And how'd you get the son of a bitch out of me? Best yet, tell me you ganked him."
Sam and Bobby shared an amused look.
"Dean, the kid next to Tessa, that was him."
"What?"
"The kid next to Tessa was the ghost that possessed you."
"The scrawny kid? He couldn't have been more than sixteen!" Dean denied.
"Seventeen." Sam offered.
"Son of a bitch!" Dean yelled frustrated. Then he turned to Sam. "Tell me I didn't say anything stupid."
"No more stupid than usual." Sam assured him with a laugh.
Dean ignored him, thoughts already moving to his next question. "And we're here because?"
"Needed Bobby's help getting the kid out of you." Sam supplied mirth dying down. "We found a summoning ritual and brought Tessa here. She separated the two of you. That's really about all that you missed. Well, that and driving."
Dean seemed to be thinking on the revelations.
"More importantly…" Bobby said shifting. "what do we do about the reaper's message?"
"Which one?" Sam asked seriously.
"All of them." Bobby replied caustically. "We might have just been handed a way to end this apocalypse mess wrapped up in a little package and tied with a bow."
"Or it could be a trap." Dean countered, ever the pessimist.
"Call me a realist, but I don't think Death needs to set up a trap if he doesn't want us around kid." Bobby replied.
Dean shrugged. "Just thinking out loud." He muttered and his hands went to the small box Tessa had thrown him.
"I don't know about the rest of it, but we definitely need to get Harry's portion of the message to him." Sam said thinking on their conversation.
"I'll have to agree with you on that." Bobby said with a frown. "There's no telling what might happen if we hold off."
"And what the hell is this thing!?" Dean said angrily eying the box. He'd tried prying it open and he'd looked for a latch but nothing seemed to open the damned thing.
Sam deftly snatched the small box from his brother. He eyed it noticing the small line on the smooth wood where it should have opened. "Maybe there's something specific that triggers its opening." Sam offered. "There can't be much in there." And it was true. The box was miniscule.
"I guess we'll find out eventually." Bobby said moving to take a seat and started clearing away the books they'd been using to look for reaper and spirit stuff. "One of you get on the phone and call our favorit hoo doo man."
I'd just like to point out that I'm not fluent in Japanese. Not even freaking close. I subsequently should point out that I have no idea whether or not that translation program worked. Lol
That pointed out there I'd like to say I hope you enjoyed the chapter. It was odd writing without Harry really even being there. He had a few notable mentions, but not a single line of dialogue. And there were several points that would have been perfect for Harry's keen wit. *sigh* I kept trying to substitute Sam's name for Harry's subconsciously. I even started typing it a few times.
Oh, and yes. There was a Jo teaser in there. I'm cruel. I apologize for my cruelty.
I have an angiogram on the fifteenth and from there I'll be having some sort of brain surgery. I don't know how this will effect my progress in writing. So enjoy the next two updates I provide like a starving man for they may be the last ones you get for a while.
Well, 'til next time.
~Kanathia