Yin Yang Chapter 7 Around the Fire, a supernatural fanfic

Hello everyone,

Songs you'll need: Praise You by Fatboy Slim and RHCP with Universally Speaking, hope you enjoy

Chapter 7: Around the fire

After breakfast the lot decided to hit the road, Sam and Julie couldn't wait to get back home and pick up their daily routine, and now Julie came to think of it, she had dozens of tests to grade before the Easter break came to an end. And Sam was going to get a head start on the weddingplans, they didn't want anything big but still something decent and not just run off to city hall in a mini-skirt and a pair of jeans. Though Dean had objected that he had to put on a tux, and Lena, being maid of honour, wasn't looking forward to one butt ugly, pink, fluffy dress, but the good friends they are, they folded to the wishes of the happy couple, well at least after Sam and Dean had resolved the issue the old fashioned way.

'Thanks again Bobby for a lovely evening and breakfast,'

'Aw Julie, you know you're always welcome here, it was my pleasure, don't be a stranger now,'

Julie was the third to leave the house as Sam and Lena were packing the cars.

'Can I talk to you for a minute?' Dean asked.

'Sure, what d'ya need?'

'Hunny I'll be right out,' he yelled while going back inside for a quick minute.

'Bobby, can you lend me the books on Dark Angel lore?'

'Dean what are you planning?' he asked shaking his head disapprovingly.

'I just want to know more that's all, I need to know Bobby.'

'Why? This girl is dead, she killed herself. And yes it is likely that one of those bastards was after her, but she could have just as easily been depressed by what she had done 10 years ago. Whatever the reason, she's gone and there's nothing more you can do.'

Dean didn't like to hear that there was nothing he could do, he could do anything if he put his mind to it. The fact that Bobby uttered those words only made the challenge bigger for him.

'Bobby, she was my friend, I need to know what happened to her, and god damned I'm gonna kill whomever did this to her! Don't you understand?'

Bobby sighed in defeat and handed him three books and some papers.

'This should tie you over, don't do anything stupid, don't ruin what you got out there,' Bobby said nodding towards the window where they saw the three others chatting and fooling around, 'don't be as foolish as your dad.'

The words hit home with Dean, he had tried so hard not to become like his father but now it seemed his stubbornness and obsession would do just that.

'Thanks Bobby,' he said before walking outside putting up a smile.

All of a sudden Dean did something that surprised everyone, maybe even himself, but he threw his keys to Sammy.

'What are you doing?' Sam asked stunned.

'I am letting you drive, I don't know if you noticed but it's like 80° and the Mustang is a convertible.'

Lena smiled as she laid the last hand in putting the hood down.

'Oh man,' Julie said in disappointment, 'I wanted to go with the Mustang.'

'Julz!' Sam said astounded by her reaction.

'Fine! I'll go with the Impala.'

'Well don't hurt yourself in excitement!'

'Woohoo I'm going with the bad airconditioned car where food has been living a life of its own under the seats for years, I am so glad to ride that last 7 hour stretch in the blistering heat without getting a tan. Hurray.' She said dryly and sarcastically making everyone laugh.

When the radio came on, on Lena's favourite radiostation, she switched it to the old 80s rock one. Dean noticed but also knew her well enough not to comment on it, he appreciated the gesture with all of his heart though. He looked at her with her hair tied in a rubber band and her shades on, enjoying the music, the sun and the drive.

'So, we got some time to kill,' Lena said.

'What did you have in mind,' he said lifting his eyebrows.

'Oh Dean, please like I can do that while driving! I am not as bendy as I seem you know!'

'Fine,' he said disgruntled.

'Tell me, what happened two nights ago, what you talked to Bobby about and what the hell happened to that poor girl.'

'I don't really want to get into it,'

'Dean, I dropped the subject yesterday because I didn't want to ruin the atmosphere but what the hell is going on. I demand to know, I'm the one that practically drove her to her death.'

'Well I got some good news, you didn't kill her, if I had gotten the call we wouldn't have made it on time. She called too late and was already far gone by then.'

Though Lena was sad to hear that there had been no chance of saving her at all, she also felt relieved for not having a hand in her death. In the back of her mind she still felt awful for making that woman's last two days a living hell.

'So what happened to her? Why did she kill herself?'

Dean sighed,

'Come on Dean you have to tell me, I don't ask much, never, but now I demand to know.'

Lena played a card that she had only used twice in their relationship. She never blamed him for not sharing and though she felt shut out she knew he dealt with things in a different way, every once in a while she could use it to her advantage. One time it was taking her out on a proper date with the whole shebang and the second was going with her to a high school reunion, Dean had hated both but had made sure that she had had a great time.

Dean looked down in shame, knowing his problems with intimacy.

'Fine, she was being chased by a dark angel,'

'A what now?'

'A mind manipulating thing, a high-levelled demon, Lucifer's right hands, angels gone bad. From what Bobby told us they apparently go after people focussing their minds on the bad things they had done in their lives and push them towards suicide, sending their souls straight to hell.'

'So where to was the detour?'

'Crossroads...'

'You made a deal??!!!' Lena yelled as her heart started to race.

'Will you let me finish, please!'

'Sorry,'

'We summoned a crossroads demon,'

Lena was shaking her head and pressing her lips together in one fine line out of anger.

'She told us that she was some sort of chosen one,' Dean went on, 'Allie made a deal ten years ago, a deal that shouldn't have been made because she is special or something and to rectify their mistake and still get her soul in hell they sent a dark angel on her ass.'

'What does that mean being a chosen one?'

'That part we haven't figured out yet, Bobby is working on it. The demon said they were like untouchable, made out of pure goodness or something.'

'So how do you kill the bastard?'

Dean was surprised at her reaction, he had expected the same reaction as Sam and Bobby from her but instead she was willing to fight for this girl, she had only talked to once, just because she knew what it meant to him. He was astounded at her bravery though he thought it was foolish just the same.

'Actually we're letting the case rest, Sam and Bobby think it's unnecessary to go after this thing. We can't safe her now.'

'What? So what? We can at least make sure that no one else falls to the same prey as that poor girl!'

'True but we don't know where it is, how many there are and how to kill it or even recognize it.' Dean surprisingly argued for the other side.

'So those books you brought in the car from Bobby without Sam noticing, has nothing to do with the dark angel?' she asked rhetorically.

'Yeah fine, I want to kill the SOB, you just don't mess with the Winchester's friends,'

Lena smirked, she knew he was thinking the same things as her but just wanted to keep her out of it.

'So, get cracking, come on, do some research while I drive.'

'Yes ma'am' he said with the biggest grin on his face, glad to have someone who supported him in every way. He got the books that were lying in the backseat.

'Dean, can I ask you something?' she asked carefully.

'Go ahead,'

'You and Allie, did you guys ever had a thing?'

Dean sighed, he knew he should have seen this one coming but he just hadn't thought about it.

'No, we kept in touch but she generally thought I was a nutjob, she thought the whole thing with the djinn was a bad dream. We had a moment when she was recovering in the hospital but it passed, I went and I never saw her again,'

'Too difficult?'

'Yeah you could say that.'

Lena decided to drop the subject as she heard the underlying tone in his voice, he had never loved talking about the djinn or the alternate reality. It still hurt him to think he could have been happy for those last years of his life and eventually die, not having to see his brother go darkside, not having to deal with Lilith, Henricksen, Bela, Ruby or the Twilight-hype... Every time he saw his brother exorcize a demon with his mind, getting a bloody nose and a headache he had wished he had taken the easy way out. Lena knew this subconsciously but she figured he would talk to her when he was ready.

She turned up the tunes while Dean was reading the ancient myths of dark angels.

'That's not 80s rock,' Dean remarked.

'Shut up and read, you might just want to listen to the lyrics,' Lena said smiling.

Dean smirked and read on.

We've come a long long way together,

Through the hard times and the good,

I have to celebrate you baby,

I have to praise you like I should

I have to praise you

I have to praise you like I should

**********

Sam didn't escape Julie's questioning either, though he tried so very hard, she wouldn't budge. He explained everything and left her baffled by the story.

'So, you all decided to let it go 'cause there's pretty much nothing you can do about the whole thing?'

'Yes.'

'Dean let it go?' she asked scrutinizing Sam's honesty.

'No of course not, he said he would but he thinks we just met, like I don't know that man like the back of my hand.'

'Yeah that sounds more logical, Dean letting something go, it almost cracks me up.'

'Look I don't care what he does, I am done, it's sad about the girl, really I feel for her but there's just nothing more we can do, we can't exactly bring her back to life now can we?'

'True, just do me a favour,'

'Anything,'

'Just keep an eye out for him, I don't want him doing anything stupid without some sort of back-up.'

'Of course, that's a given but I wont bring it up again until he does.'

Sam signalled at the turn-off, there was a small dinner and a gas station. Four hours in the Impala made him yearn for some fresh air. He saw in his rear-view mirror that the Mustang followed them off the exit.

**********

When they had eaten a fairly decent meal and Dean had had his beer they were heading back to the cars when both Lena and Julie's phone went off. That could only mean one thing.

'Hey Katie,' Julie said cheerful, glad to hear a voice that had nothing to do with hunting.

'Chris, how are ya?' Lena said just as cheerful.

The girls both chattered as Dean and Sam looked annoyed but still amused, perched on the Impala.

'I'll have to check, hold on,'

'Wait Chris, just have to check with Dean,'

Julie and Lena looked at each other, making sure they were talking about the same thing, they smiled in confirmation.

'The girls and their hubbies want to know if we'd like to go camping until the end of the weekend.' Julie said.

'I thought you had tests to grade?' Sam asked squinting his eyes.

'They can wait.' She said and Sam laughed in agreement.

Lena looked at Dean, who signalled her to give him the phone.

'Chris hold on, Dean wants to talk to you.' She said handing him the phone.

'Katie? Sam and I are in, yeah she's right here. I think she wants to come but apparently Dean wants to talk to Chris first. Hold on I'll give you the live feed,' she said setting the phone to speaker.

'Hey Chris, babe, you do know you have to bring liquor 'cause I want a rematch!'

The whole gang laughed remembering Dean's defeat to a poor, defenceless woman. They could even hear Katie's laugh through the phone.

'Yeah, sure, uhu,' Dean went on, 'I think they're in too, Katie's on the phone as well. Say can you pass me Andy for a second?'

'Hey Katie I guess you heard, we're all in see you in a couple,' Julie hung up the phone.

'Hey man, say I think our tents are still in your truck. Yeah that's what I thought. Can you bring another 'cause we wont be able to go home first. Yeah I bet Sam and Julz will appreciate that.' Dean laughed for an unknown reason, 'yeah sure, I'll see you in two hours, oh no, scratch that, we're driving behind Sam so make that three hours. Yeah sure, will do.'

Dean finally hung up the phone and all four of them were really looking forward to one of their infamous campingtrips.

I have to praise you

I have to praise you like I should

'Oh my God, this is so exciting, we haven't been all together since,' Lena paused, 'I think since the Christmas holiday. Christina totally whooped your ass with the eggnog.'

'Yeah yeah yeah, I remember!' he replied annoyed.

'So what have you got?'

'Not much actually, nothing we don't already know anyway. I did found a summoning ritual, but everything else is pretty obscure and there are languages that I just don't understand.'

'Like what, English?'

'Oh, are we being funny today?'

'Sorry, so that summoning ritual?'

'Well it requires a bunch of candles, some herbs and a chanting,'

'I feel a 'but' coming,'

'It needs eight people,'

Lena and Dean traded looks, they shook their heads.

'We can't ask them that, no no.'

'No, I agree. We wont ask them.'

They let the subject for what it was mulling over their own thoughts for the rest of the drive.

**********

When the three cars and the truck arrived all the women jumped out hugging each other, though they were an odd bunch they were a family on their own. The women had known each other for a long time now and the men looked at them in aw, they didn't understand this strange ritual where they hugged and kissed. They shook hands courteously.

'Didn't they see each other just two weeks ago?' Sam asked.

'Yeah, they did,' Chris, Katie's husband said.

'Then why all the commotion?' Dean wondered.

'Don't look at me, you know how they get! I have been trying to figure it out for years but these four, I have no idea.' Andy replied.

'Come on, man, help me get the tents out of the truck,' Andy slapped Dean on the back in a friendly way but Dean still had to put one foot forward to keep his balance.

The men put up the four tents in a circle and they were done when the sun was about to go down.

'Here, my big strong hero,' Julie handed Sam a beer and he accepted while the drips of sweat were roling down his face.

Dean was dragging logs to the campfire as Andy was setting up their invented barbeque.

'Who brought the meat?' Dean yelled hungry like a horse.

'I did!' Christina said in her velvet voice, parading in front of Dean with her cooler.

'Oh Chris, you're breaking my heart,' he growled.

Andy and Lena were used to the flirting between their partners and most of the time it was more amusing than threatening for the both of them.

'Sure you want to stay with that big bear?' He said nodding towards Andy.

'This bear will knock you out of your boots if you're not careful, small fry!'

'Hm I love it when he gets protective like that,' Chris chirped at Andy.

Lena turned on the engine of her car.

'You leavin' babe?' Dean asked innocently.

'Not yet, but I'm close,' she replied winking at him with a big smile.

When the radio came on she turned the engine back off and let the tunes accompany their meal in the woods.

Still I waited the chance of a lifetime

Go and get her I got her on my mind

All the better the feeling it goes fine

Simply put I saw your love stream flow

Come on baby cause there's no name for

Give it up and I got what I came for

Universally speaking I

Take it back and you make me nervous

Nothing better than love and service

Universally speaking I

Went in the long run

Sam and Julie had been quiet and were patiently awaiting dinner, while Sam was tousling around her hair and just enjoying the ambiance. He felt like he was at a free dinner theatre.

Chris and Katie were the same, they enjoyed each other and the ambiance. They were a special couple, Katie's eyes might wonder once in a while but they always ended up on her hubby. And Chris' eyes didn't wonder, not even for a second to other women, he would hardly get them off her as it was. There was so much love in them, he looked at her like he had won the lottery, like she was the most precious jewel in the box. They didn't had children yet, though they all figured that it was Katie's choice, she wanted more time just to enjoy her hubby. They resembled Julie and Sam as couple in many ways.

Christina and Andy had two beautiful girls, and she was supermom. When her youngest had found one her stepfather's books she had salted all the doors and windows, Chris didn't get mad, she just remarked that she had forgotten the back door, making her laugh as she exited the house on her way to work. Chris and Andy had found each other some what late in life, but nonetheless it was very apparent how they felt about each other.

Lena found it humbling to be around such perfect couples and always, always doubted her own relationship. She knew she and Dean had something special but frankly they didn't have much in common except for the hot-headedness; she liked nice things, travel and culture. She wasn't the outdoorsy girl you'd expect with Dean, she was a writer and not a very successful one and she hadn't had a meaningful relationship before him. She would try to suppress those thoughts, 'cause everything was going so great, but she couldn't help it and once in a while that box was opened.

Lena groaned as two big pieces of meat hit the bbq.

'Don't worry hun, I brought you a vegi one!' Christina said.

'And I brought fish!' Katie replied triumphantly.

'Oh! You guys are the best,'

Katie and Christina looked at each other; 'We know,' they said in unison.

There was more than enough food and even more booze to go around, after a couple of hours they were all pretty light-headed, even Julie who never really drank a lot. As requested Dean and Chris had their drinking competition, Dean did prevail eventually but more because of the fact that he had eaten twice as much as her to absorb the alcohol. She eventually gave up, to the grave disappointment of Julie, Katie and Lena, who liked seeing Dean get his ass kicked by a beautiful blonde who defied all prejudice against blondes. They all decided to switch to water and soda else they would have a very short and unconscious holiday.

'Okay Dean, come on you can't hold off any longer, you've tested my patience long enough!'

Dean laughed rolling his eyes at the guy's enthusiasm.

'Okay Andy, calm down, what do you want to know? We've got wendigoes, pagan gods or dark angels for ya'

'Your last hunt of course? Where did you just come from?'

Dean averted his eyes but Andy didn't take the silent hint from him, so Dean decided to give it a cheery spin.

'Alright so last week, we got a mysterious phone call from a girl named Allie,' Dean didn't say that they knew each other and he managed to make it sound so exciting that even Julie, Sam and Lena propped up to listen to this hero's story.

'When we got back from the wendigo, we called her back, but she didn't answer her phone. A million thoughts were running through our heads so we decided to take a roadtrip up to her house. The girls tagged along to do all the leg work for us,' he said smirking.

'What?! You took them and not me?'

'Look man, you don't have the power to kick us out of bed, we didn't exactly had a choice. By the way aren't you way too busy at work now?'

'Yeah, but I don't care! Those fuckers on the set can wait for their super electrician when I can do something important,' Andy had been working on sets for various movies and shows for years, he was very wanted in the biz and he liked his job very much, but when he heard the stories about the supernatural he knew those brothers were actually making a difference. He looked at them like two modest heroes, which they actually were.

'Okay fine next time I'll call you instantly,'

Upon hearing that, Christina was already devising a plan and an alliance to Lena, she'd give the head's up and Chris would disconnect every phone. She smiled at her own devious plan, and let her hubby think that he would ever go hunting.

'Good, so what happened to the girl?'

'Well, when we got there our brilliant research gal Julie, swiftly discovered that we were just in time for the funeral.'

Katie and Chris now completely enticed by the story too gasped. Katie made eye-contact with Julie, who confirmed the horrible events.

'What happened?' she asked.

'Sam and I went to the morgue and apparently she killed herself, which is pretty unusual in our line of business. We think she was just a very troubled young girl who could no longer take the pressure.' He said casting down his eyes.

'Then why did she call you? And what do dark angels or whatever have to do with this?' Andy asked confused, he had expected something special.

'You better tell the truth hunny,'

'Sam?' Dean asked making his brother continue the story.

'After some digging we ran into some inconsistencies, things didn't add up. We took a small detour, tortured a crossroads demon,' smiles returned to everyone's faces when they heard about the torture. Somehow when they heard stuff like that they imagined it like it was some horror-flick instead of really picturing Dean and Sam in a dangerous situation, torturing. Some part of their brains still didn't think those two loveable brothers were capable of torture.

'She told us that a dark angel was sent after her. And through mind manipulation he made her kill herself. That's pretty much it, we decided to drop it, since there's nothing more we can do.'

'What?' Andy asked in disbelief, 'nothing more you can do? This poor girl is dead and no one is looking out for her or getting whatever this thing is?' It hit home hard with Andy, his stepdaughter, Chris' daughter was about the same age and it just broke their hearts. You could see the fire in Chris' eyes that there was this thing forcing people to kill themselves.

'Look there's nothing more we can do, we don't know what they look like, how many there are, how to kill them.'

'That's not exactly true,' Lena said interrupting Sam softly.

'What?' he asked confused at why she was interrupting with six pairs of eyes on him instead of saying this in private.

'Lena, not now, it's not the time,'

'You're right,'

'No, no the cat is out of the bag. What the hell is going on and is there a way you can get this son of a bitch before it strikes again?' Katie surprisingly asked.

Lena looked at Dean pushing him to tell what he read instead of making her do it, he sighed and continued.

'We didn't found a lot of info but we did found a summoning ritual.'

'So why didn't you summon it?' Christina added.

'Cause it needs some stuff which we don't have.'

Sam was looking at his brother, he had no idea what was going through that mind of his at this moment. He had expected this from Dean but he hadn't expected it so soon, if anything he had hoped this trip would get his mind off of Allie and maybe even forget the whole ordeal.

'Like what,' Chris, who had been quiet for a long time now, asked.

'Nothing special just some herbs, candles, spraypaint.'

'Dean what aren't you telling us, I can see it your eyes!' Julie remarked now anxious to know what it was that Lena and Dean had been hiding from them for god knows how long.

'Okay fine, the summoning ritual needs eight people! You all happy?'

'Last time I checked, there are eight of us right here,' Andy said.

'I'm in,' Christina and Katie said at the same time.

'Fine,' Chris said a bit annoyed by the mysteriousness Dean had presented the situation.

'What? No, forget it. No one is summoning no one here. Dean what the hell are you thinking!!'

'Sam, hunny calm down.' Julie tried.

'What? No? What is wrong with you!' Sam got up yelling at his brother.

'Can it Sam, I'm not asking them to do anything. I agree with you we shouldn't do this!'

'I think we should,' Julie said silently, having observed everyone's reaction.

'We don't know how powerful this thing is and hell we're not doing this half-cocked!'

'We still have the knife,' Lena told Sam.

'And the colt,' Julie added.

The entire group knew what they referred to. They knew both weapons were very powerful against demons, and they had had the pleasure to admire the colt on different occasions, most of them Dean being drunk and showing off. Non timebo mala had been their toasting phrase.

'Both are not demon proof and you know that,'

'Yeah Sam, we do, we know a lot more than you give any of us credit for. For god's sake you met Julie on a hunt! Don't treat us as normal civilians. We deserve better. I don't see the danger, I only see the solution.'

Sam was gobsmacked for some reason he had hoped Lena to be on his side on this.

'We're all consenting adults here, you should let us make up our own mind.'

'Ever heard of informed consent Andy?' Sam was using his height to intimidate him but when Andy got to his feet they were about the same height and they were standing eye to eye., their noses almost touching. 'Because you are not informed, you don't know what is out there! You have no idea what we have seen, and please what you read on the internet doesn't hold a candle to what we see on a daily basis. We have been in this business for over two decades, so don't, please don't give me crap like consent 'cause that's like writing a blank check to a shady contractor.' Sam said with an attitude that made Andy shrink until he was just as big as his own thumb.

'Okay, okay, Rambo back off there,' Dean got in between the two men who both had a feet on him. Sam and Andy backed off and went to sit back down, while Dean took centre stage.

'Look, I appreciate all of your commitment, I do, but Sam is right. You need to know what is out there. Let's see we have both died at least once, apparently I have died over a hundred times but I don't quite remember, we have lost girlfriends, both our parents, some good friends. We have been in jail, we had to close the gates to hell and we saw the four horsemen bare-chested. Did I leave anything out Sammy?'

'Besides from dealing with angels and hell spawn at the same time you pretty much got it covered.' Sam said confidently but he forgot that they already knew most of the things the brothers had gone through and were pretty much set on thinking that they're indestructible. After all what they had been through, they were still here walking, talking, drinking and hunting. If Sam and Dean wanted to turn them off of summoning this thing one of them should have been death, for now they seemed perfectly alright to go forth, they were with the best hunters that had lived after Samuel Colt, that should count for something.

'Okay then let's take a vote,' Dean said.

'Christina, my favourite girl, don't let me down and more importantly don't let your children down.' He continued putting up his most charming face.

'Sorry Dean, I'm doing this for my kids and all the other children out there. We have to, she was just a girl.' She said averting her eyes, trying not to think about her eldest daughter and if she bestowed the same destiny as Allie. Dean sighed knowing she had a point.

'Katie? You have your quiet life in Boston, going out with friends, steady job, you don't want to jeopardize that now do you?'

'Actually, if I can handle a night on the town, drunk and in heels, this should be a walk in the park. I'm in.' She said laughing.

'Chris? Don't disappoint me, my man.'

'Sorry, I go where she goes.'

'I don't think I need to ask you,'

'Nope I'm in.' Andy said.

'Julz?' he said with a quiet voice rubbing his forehead, not liking where this was going at all, why did he have to hang out with such stubborn and strong-minded people.

'I am in,' she said with an apologetic look on her face.

Dean turned his back to the onlookers as he squatted down and came eye to eye with Lena, pleading silently to vote no.

'Hunny?' he asked in a scared little voice.

'I'm sorry,' she said putting a hand to his cheek, making him look down in disappointment.

'The I's have it, we're summoning this SOB and making sure he doesn't hurt another innocent.'

Though Dean was disappointed by the vote he knew that he had to be a leader and believe in every one of them otherwise they would all fall to prey to whatever was coming that night. He also knew they needed to prepare.

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