Supernatural
Season ...
Disc 2
Episode 6
"Unforgetable"
Chapter 1
Laney was on the trail of some nasty demon activity and she had tracked one of the black eyed bastards to Dryden, Ontario. She'd seen a demon carrying what looked like a body into a nice home in a nice neighborhood and no one even looked twice about the situation.
To a normal person even a normal hunter that would have seemed odd. Not Laney, not when she could see the damned demons under the skins of what would look like mere people to anyone else.
The whole area was infested with the blackeyed scum.
Laney was good at what she did though, a little to good.
She climbed into the backseat of her 1970 Plymoth Road Runner and changed clothes, she'd have to play meter reader today to get in undetected.
She'd parked up on a hill overlooking the area in a nice little spot hidden by trees and shrubs and had been scanning the steets below with a pair of high power binoculars when she'd caught sight the swarm of demons in the small neigborhood below.
Swarms like this weren't uncommon nowadays and Laney had gotten used to taking out up to fifty demons in one hunt. It was getting old fast to be the only person on the defensive from the never ending shitstorm of demons and other creatures that kept coming out of the wood work.
Now the damn things had taken over a nice neigborhood full of innocent children and that severed Laney's last nerve.
Laney stole a local utilities truck and drove down and parked in the cul de sac of the infested street she'd been staking out. She strutted out armed with nothing more than a clipboard and pen in hand (or so it would seem).
She walked up the street going door to door telling the "people" that there was about to be some pressure loss in the water faucets for thirty minutes or so.
She did this so that, she could get a look in each of the houses, to get a final headcount on the demons, and to throw off suspicion for her wandering around the yards and for when there was a real loss of water pressure.
On each porch Laney would kneel "to tie her shoe" or "pick up her pen" once the demon shut the door and could no longer see her. When really she was marking a devils trap under each welcome mat placed right outside each homes front door.
Then Laney went to each water meter on the street and turned the pressure down in all of the water lines, she opened up the small access covers to drop in salt, iron and a couple of blessed rosery beads and she set little remote controlled devices on the controls all timed to turn the pressure up at the same time.
She did both sides of the street then went back to the truck. She had set the devices to turn the pressure so high that it'd make the pipes in the homes rupture and spray the holy water everywhere.
All Laney had to do as the nice homes were flooded was sit and wait for the demons to come running outside to escape the burning liquid.
Casting exorcisms over the frenzied demons one by one as they blindly rampaged from the houses was no easy task. Some of the demons had decent amounts of mojo and Laney found herself getting flung in various directions as they broke the devils traps and fought to stay in control of their meatsuits.
Luckily there had been only a total of five demons with mojo strong enough to put up a real fight so Laney was well within her comfort zone. She smoked them out without recieving much more than a few cuts and bruises.
Checking each of the people, she found to her relief, that they had all made it alive and without severe injuries.
Laney went through every house on the street finding them all cleared out except for the one she'd seen a demon carry a person into.
Chapter 2
She could see the thing under the large unconcious man's skin. Whatever it was didn't look like the demons she normally fought.
Laney knew demons had their own hiarchy. This one was definatly up the ladder on the chain of command and it resembled a demon that still crossed her mind every time she looked in the mirror.
What she couldn't figure out was why it was tied up.
"Have they started turning on eachother?", "Maybe started hunting their own?" Laney thought confused.
Even more perplexing was the fact that whatever type of demon this was, was obviously bound to this human by something stronger than a lock and it was just as unconcious as the person it was riding.
Laney used, all of the tried and true methods, of salt, iron, holy water and every exorcism she knew, but the thing wouldn't so much as flinch.
She couldn't just leave the guy, not with him being still posessed and she wouldn't kill an innocent person on purpose. She'd have to take him with her and get him secure.
After cutting him free, Laney heaved the giant of a man onto her shoulder in a fireman's carry.
"GEEZ!" She groaned as she got his weight balanced enough to move forward.
Her extensive and continuous training had made her able to lift and carry almost any sized victim from a dangerous area, but getting this, over six foot tall, two hundred somethin pound guy to safety, was proving to be a true test of the strength in her one hundred ten pound frame.
Laney was relieved to get the man all the way to her hotel room without either him or the demon coming to.
It was dificult enough for her knowing that this guy was helplessly tethered to the demon inside him and it was made worse knowing that it was the strongest demon she'd seen in over twenty years.
She felt horrible for tying the poor man down again, but it was for his own good untill she could figure out what to do to help him.
Knowing that a devil's trap probably wouldn't hold a demon with as much mojo as this one probably had didn't matter to Laney when it came to covering her bases. She put one both under the bed and on the ceiling over the bed, just in case anyway.
Laney then had to strip the man to search for injuries and a place where a lock may be located. When she found nothing out of the ordinary she was left wondering what powers the demon had to make it strong enough to successfully remain locked inside this man.
Chapter 3
Laney wasn't surprised in the slightest that the man panicked when he came to. She would to if she woke up in a strange place tied naked to a bed.
"Easy." Laney said going to his side.
The man flinched away violently.
"It's alright.", "I'm trying to help you." Laney said extending her hands for him to clearly see that she meant no harm.
The man relaxed a little so Laney moved closer.
"I need you to understand that I can't untie you." She said calmly punctuating each word. "It's to dangerous."
The man nodded looking scared.
"What do you remember?" Laney asked.
The man's voice was raspy as he spoke stating matter of factly "Nothing before two weeks ago.", "Nothing after yesterday."
"Okay." Laney whispered calmly. "Do you understand anything that happened yesterday?" She asked.
The man shook his head and rasped out weakly "I saw a man's eyes turn black, like SOLID black, even the white parts.", "And Even though I don't remember ANYTHING I still know enough to know that's not normal."
"You're right.", "That's not normal.", "For a human.", "What you saw was a demon." Laney told him.
"What's a demon?" The man asked sounding confused.
"Don't worry to much about those sort of things right now.", "Can you tell me your name?" She asked.
"Name?" He asked back looking tired. "I don't know it."
"That's alright.", "That IS actually kind of normal." Laney stated. This wasn't the first time she'd seen a person's mind completly wiped by the trauma caused from demon activity.
"Hopefully it'll all come back to you." She said. Then she realized the man hadn't really struggled at his bindings despite the fact he was terrified out of his wits.
"Poor guy." She thought. "He doesn't even know waking up tied naked to a stranger's bed is definatly NOT normal." But as uncomfortable as it was for her, Laney had to leave him in the buff so that she could more easily bathe him and take care of his bodily functions as needed. Thankfully the man didn't seemed phased by his complete exposure other than the thin hotel comforter pulled up over him .
Just to make herself and the man feel more at ease Laney talked to him, she moved slowly and spoke softly so not to elicit more random startled behavior from him. She knew It had to be frightening for him to be so vulnerable on at least an instinctual level and she felt nearly exposed as he because she wasn't used to having to care for someone in such a manner.
"Are you hungry?" Laney asked holding out an offering of a saltine cracker, figuring something light would be best at first so that he wouldn't get sick.
"You really need to think of a name for yourself." Laney said smilling. "To go by just temporarily till you remember who you are.", "I feel kinda bad not having something to call you."
"I don't know what I should call myself." The man said vacantly.
"Well in a situation like this, authorities would call you John Doe or John Smith.", "But that's a little to cliche.", "So...","How about Ian?", "It's still simple, yet WAY less cliche and it seems it would fit you a little better than John would."
The man thought for a moment. He actually LIKED the sound of John but as much as he liked the name, this girl was right, somehow it didn't feel like something that fit HIM.
"Ian...", "Sounds nice.", "Okay", "I can go with Ian." The man said.
"Nice to meet you Ian." Laney said.
"I'm Laney." She said kindly.
Ian smiled. Having an actual name to go by was nice but it would take some getting used to.
Over the next week Laney cared for "Ian" and he began to trust her fully.
During that time she explained what was happening to him and how she believed he was possessed, hence his being bound for both of their safety.
She was there for him EVERY night when he screamed out from awful nightmares. Doing what she could to comfort him from the nightly traumas she held him when he cried and eased his mind when he lashed out.
Laney's best guess was that he had SEVERE Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and that it was bad enough to probably trigger his memory loss. She knew his past must be horrific for him to display such pain and fear from just a bad dream.
It was a struggle for him, she could tell and sometimes he could barely speak about the things that plagued his dreams when he woke.
Most of the things he spoke of made no sense to Laney. Ian constantly described being locked in a cage, in a pit of excruciating, humiliating, pain, hopelessness, hatred, anger, sadness and fear.
He talked about it like it was a real place outside of his tormented mind and it had Laney concerned for the well being of his mental state.
Other than the nightmares and their aftermaths Ian was the picture of sanity and health.
He took things in stride whereas NORMAL people would be seriously flipping out if they found themselves in his shoes. Laney was contnuously impressed by the way Ian held it all together.
Out of all the time she spent with him, she hadn't seen so much as blink from the demon slumbering inside him. She knew the thing wasn't dead in there and she knew it didn't control Ian's behavior in any way.
Slowly Laney came to the conclusion that the demon may very well be a PART of "Ian" that was only repressed.
Laney looked in the mirror wondering "Is that what I'LL look like someday?"
Whatever lay within Laney was still faint enough to barely be noticible to her. But who knew what it would progress to as she aged?
"Maybe I've made a mistake.", "Maybe he's NOT posessed.", "Maybe he's like me." Laney thought as she evaluated herself in the mirror.
As hard as it was to accept that this man may be a demon human hybrid, she knew that she couldn't kill him just because of what he was.
Whatever rested inside "Ian" was completly dormant (for now anyway) and Laney couldn't keep him tied to the bed forever. Especially since she'd eventually have to get back on the move soon. Staying put to long was just to dangerous for a hunter these days.
But she also couldn't just let him go off on his own.
"Okay." She said abruptly turning away from the mirror.
Taking a deep breath and praying with everything she had that she wouldn't someday regret this she went over and started to untie Ian saying "I'm letting you up.", "Then we have to talk."
Ian came to sitting position rubbing his wrist and ankles where the ropes had wrapped around them. Suprisingly there were no marks from the ropes and he didn't have any numbness in his extremities. He found himself aware that somehow he knew what kind of skill and finese it would take to bind someone in such a secure but gentle manner.
"Get dressed." Laney said tosing him the clothing she'd removed from him.
Unabashedly, Ian stood, completely unaware that most people did not so openly share their nudity.
Laney was a modest person who had indeed seen her share of nudity but only in a medicle sense. Politely she turned away allowing him privacy that he didn't know a person would normally want in a situation like this.
"Um..." Ian said hesitantly.
"Are you fully dressed?" Laney asked.
"Yeah." He answered. "Why?"
"I'll explain about things like privacy and modesty later.", "But first...", "Let's talk about where we go from here." She said turning to face him.
Ian looked at her confused.
"I'm not just gonna leave you when you don't even know your own REAL name.", "So you're gonna have to come with me."
"I'll take good care of you.", "Okay?"
Ian knew from everything Laney had told him that there was kind of two different worlds.
One where "NORMAL" "HAPPY" people lived there lives under the illusion that there was no such thing as monsters.
The other was the REAL world where ALL monsters were usually more than just scary stories. In that REAL world a person like Laney fought the hoards of creatures that tried to bring harm to the human race alone on a daily basis and that whether he liked it or not that REAL world was something he could not ignore.
The thought of saving the world everyday was actually very appealing to him.
"Okay." Ian said shrugging. "But I want you to teach me how to do what you do."
"Are you sure?", "You CAN come with me and not do the work I do.", "I'm not going to force this life on you.", "I just wanna watch out for you." Laney said assuringly.
"I want to do what you do.", "It would be wrong to know that sort of evil exist and not do anything to help stop it." Ian remarked.
"Alright then there's going to be rules." Laney stated. "And they don't get broken by me or you.", "Okay?"
Ian nodded.
"First one is I'm in charge while on hunts.", "IF I EVER feel ready to take you on a hunt you do what I say when I say."
"Second while we're together you can ALWAYS trust me no matter what.", "Same goes for you I need to be able to trust you no matter what."
"That brings me to the third rule, honesty.", "We DO NOT lie to eachother EVER about ANYTHING.", "Got it?"
Ian looked at her. "I'll follow the rules, I promise." He said crossing his heart without really knowing why.
"That's good." Laney stated. "I promise to teach you how to survive in all this mess and you don't get to go on a hunt till I know FOR A FACT that you can handle yourself."
"Okay." Ian said. "When do we start?"
Laney had stated that they be honest with eachother and she told Ian about what she saw inside him and that it had been why she thought him possessed at first. She told him about how she'd been born with the ability to see the "things" she hunted no matter what guise they wore. She told Ian about the demon blood she knew flowed in her veins and how she now believed he was like her only his was in a more advanced stage.
Ian trusted that Laney was a genuinely good person that would stay true to her word and he was greatful for her honesty.
Chapter 4
Laney had purchased a large beautiful home in Cloverdale, Oregon two years ago and she knew that vast extent of land she owned to go along with it would provide the perfectly controled training grounds needed to get Ian ready for the work he was going to be taking on.
To Laney's surprise Ian was a natural to this life. He had apparently been one tough guy before losing his identity.
Ian had obviously great muscle memory. His reflexes and realized fighting skills showed Laney that there was plenty of potential for him to make a great hunter.
Ian was also brilliant and proved nerds could be buff with his nack for doing research on the mock jobs Laney set up for him.
He also had a penchant for the criminal activities that were sometimes needed in this line of work. Picking locks, hotwiring cars, foreging I.D.'s and believabley passing himself off as who his I.D.'s said he was were just to name a few.
Ian was also really good at poker, pool and darts and he proved to be a more worthy match than any other of Laney's usual opponents.
She taught Ian her other UNBREAKABLE RULES these she actually held in upmost importance even above trust and honesty. They were: NEVER purposely harm a real child even if it was fully a creature they'd normally hunt, NEVER purposely kill another human because people weren't their's to deal with no matter how crazy they behaved and to ALWAYS get demons out of a person with as little harm possible to the human.
In Laney's eyes all children desrved a pass because they were ALL innocent. Some children couldn't help how they were born and she wouldn't allow their fates to be sealed by whatever they were born to be. Laney would never harm any child unless given absolutly no other choice such as in an act of self deffense.
Laney taught Ian how to manage such feats as: Rescuing what may be a hostile to humans child. , How to deal with the random insane people they'd incounter from time to time. And. How to cast successful exorcism, while feeling no guilt or shame, for a humans incidental death, because demons sometimes purposefully insured the people they rode would die just to fuck with a hunter that dared exorcise them.
All in all he was shaping up to be a good partner that felt the same as she did when it came to saving innocent lives. Soon Laney agreed to take him along on a hunt. But only as an observer under strict orders to not get in the way.
The small poor desert town of East Fork, Arizona had recently come into sudden blossom as a big producer of all kinds of crops which was suspicious on it's own. But add in the fact that a large number of children had been disapearing daily for hundreds of miles around the area told Laney that this was a job that couldn't wait and she wouldn't leave Ian to fend for himself while she was gone.
Putting Ian's ability to follow orders to the test Laney questioned key town's people as he followed quietly behind her only speaking when spoken to. Laney had to admit tht Ian had a gift for persuasion. Because when he did address other people as needed they seemed to buckle under those puppy dog eyes and they poured out valuable info to him like bursting levies.
Noticing Ian's useful empathatic ability to get emotional people to speak she realized that he was even more suited for this life than she'd previously thought.
"You're a natural." She said patting Ian on the back.
"Thanks." He said truly gratful for the praise.
Settling down in their hotel room Laney set up the usual protections in the window pains and entry way while Ian set to the task of researching.
When Laney was finished laying salt lines and drawing the devil's trap she joined Ian at the table and and started helping with ideas on what they may be dealing with.
Ian had pretty decent computer skills for someone that didn't know what the internet was just a month and a half ago.
Checking for the usual patterns of the big contenders showed that spiritual activity or witchcraft were the most likely suspects.
Something that enraged Laney about this case was that the disapearances of the children seemed to be directly linked to the growth of wealth in the town. She was blinded by hate and anger as she told Ian that she believed the children were being offered up as sacrifices to please a witch or spirit in return for the recent financial success of the town.
Going on this theory Ian searched the web for a creatures motives that would match what Laney had said.
A result that matched closely was something called Dzunukwa. This was a monsterous witch that devored children and bore wealth to those that controled the flow of her meals.
The legend about her said that she could heal from any wound and that she could continuously resurect from the dead. Supposedly the only way to really kill her was burn her alive untill there was nothing left to piece back together.
It looked like she had faked her death to protect her offspring sometime during the age of the Kwakwaka'wakw tribe that once resided on the island of Vancouver, Canada. According to the story of her death the tribe's people burned her (or believed they burned her) to nothing and that during the ritual Dzunukwa's ashes turned into a swarm of mosquitoes that flew away into the night.
Laney guessed that the old hags death had been a powerful illusion woven by her undeniable powers as a witch. So that meant they had to know for a fact that they really had a hold on the witch before they burned her to insure this time she really died.
The problem was figuring out who and where the witch was and who was performing the sacrifices.
There were several old hags in the town who could easily pass for the discription of Dzunukwa and plenty of people who were benefitting from the town's recent increase in income. Laney was going to have to delegate more responsiblity to Ian than she wanted. So now came the perfect test of trust.
"I'm going to actually need an extra set of hands on this case." Laney said looking at Ian.
Ian looked confused as he asked "Meaning?"
"It means we're going to have to seperate, cover two sides of town at once." Laney said. "I can't just allow another child to get snatched.", "I want to know that we have that witch turned to ash by nightfall.", "No more kids are dying on my watch."
"Our watch." Ian spoke up. "If I'm in this then I'm in all the way."
Laney nodded. She understood the sense of responsibility that Ian had and she was glad that he had the same ideals as her.
Setting out Ian "obtained" his own set of wheels while Laney kept watch. They planed to meet back up in four hours which would hopefully give them plenty of time to find out something that would lead them to Dzunukwa and whoever was offering up innocent children to her.
What Laney didn't know was that she and Ian weren't the only hunters left in the world and that this job had caught the attention of someone else in her line of work.
ONE AND A HALF MONTHS AGO... ... ... ...
Sam and Dean were in Hot Springs, Arksnsas and the job they were working looked like it was taking them back into the still shaky territory of demon incounters.
Sam's research turned up that they were probably up against a chimera.
"A demon that breaths fire.", "Nice to have time to realax." Dean complained from his bed.
"Yeah.", "Maybe you can cash in your vacation hours after we work this job." Sam joked.
Dean rolled his eyes. At least Sam had a sense of humor right now.
Dean had been noticing his brother's ups and downs for a little over three months now.
One second Sam would be able to joke and cut up and the next he'd be humorless and nothing could make him laugh.
Although it concerned Dean that Sam was having noticible mood swings he thought "Well it could be worse." And he was just glad that Sam hadn't gotten out of hand and that his real "problems" seemed to be left by the way side as Sam's nightmares had been significantly calmer for months.
Finding the chimera turned out to be a complicated task because as a very powerful demon it could hop body to body in seconds so cornering it would be tough.
The details were in the pudding as the brothers somehow managed to lure the demon to an isolated area with no one around that it could hop into within miles.
But the chimera put up a hell of a fight. It opened up it's mouth and let loose it's fatal breath almost engulfing Sam in it's flames.
In the fire Sam was frozen. Real memories of hell flooded his mind completly and he was paralyzed.
Dean vanguished the demon and ran to his brother's aid. Sam hadn't gone down he just stood there unmoving.
Physically Sam was uninjured but Dean could see by the vacant expression on his brothers that "Sammy wasn't home right now."
Dean tugged his brother's arm and Sam complacently followed the vacant expression still on his face.
Sam was completly on auto-pilot right now and all Dean had to do was steer Sam in the diretion he needed him to go.
Sam's seemingly catatonic state had Dean in a panic. He couldn't take Sam to a hospital, Doctor Robert was over a days drive away no matter how fast he drove and he was only getting the doc's voicemail when he called.
Dean guided Sam into their hotel room and sat him down on one of the beds. Kneeling in front of Sam he tried to get through to him.
"Sam?" Dean aked pleadingly giving his little brother a shake.
"Sam?" Swallowing hard Dean did something he hated above all things in this world but he told himself that it had to be done.
SSMMAACCKK! The sound off the violent slap echoed around the room.
At first Sam hadn't even flinched as Dean's open hand made contact with his cheek. But then his eyes rolled back into his head and his nose started to bleed.
Dean hauled his brother to a stand and started dragging him toward the door screaming "DON'T DO THIS SAM!", "PLEASE HOLD ON!"
Sam jerked away from Dean's hold his expression still blank and just wildly started throwing punches.
Dean evaded most of the hits as he tried to grab Sam's wrists. "Most" being key word because the next thing Dean knew was he was waking up with a badly bruised face on the opposite side of the room from where he last remembered standing and Sam was gone.
"STUPID!" Dean screamed hitting the steering wheel as he drove like a bat out of hell. He had to find Sam. He couldn't help feel like shit because he should have known better than to hit a head case but he had really thought it would have snapped Sam out of it and now he was paying the price for his ignorance.
"HOW FAR COULD HE HAVE GONE!" Dean screamed as he couldn't get the tracking chip he had implanted in Sam's signal.
Scared and frustrated beyond comprehension Dean dialed Doctor Robert's number over and over again reaching the same annoying recording every time and it pissed Dean off so badly that he nearly chucked his phone, but Sam might call him if he came out this on his own, so he didn't.
Chapter 5
TWO DAYS AGO... ... ... ...
Dean had been searching every inch of the continent for Sam for over a month now after finding out the tracking chip Doctor Robert implanted in Sam only had a signal range of ten miles. Past that Dean would have to hope someone would scan Sam and find the chip and call the number it was registered with and the chances of that happening were zero.
Dean had to stop for gas when a couple of newspapers blew off the counter as he was checking out. Always polite Dean knelt to help get them from the floor. He saw these words : ARIZONA STATE POLICE STILL SEARCHING FOR FIFTEEN MISSING CHILDREN.
"Can I get one of those to?" Dean asked the attendant pointing at the paper.
When he got back into the car he started reading over the article and knew right away he needed to research what may be happening in the town of East Fork, Arizona.
He could imagine how Sam would nag him if he didn't take this job "They're kids Dean." he heard Sam's voice say and he imagined how those puppy eyes would've pushed him to act.
"I know Sammy." Dean whispered to himself as he drove west. He was far from giving up on his search for Sam but he just knew Sam would never let him live with himself if he let another child disapear.
Laney was nervous and hoped Ian had done better than she had. Sunset was in an hour and any minute after another child could fall victim to the sick human being that was giving Dzunukwa an all she could eat buffet every night.
When Ian's car came into view Laney was able to take a relieved breath. Grateful that he made it back okay.
Ian shared the suprisingly abundant and relative information he'd obtained from a few locals at the Farmer's Market on the outskirts of town.
Although Laney was slightly peeved that Ian had left the perimeter she'd set she understood that Ian had a lead to follow so she let it go because duty sometimes trumped orders.
Laney adorned Ian with praise for his good work and it made him blush with an "Aw shucks" look on his face. Ian felt really good knowing he was helping to save lives and knowing that Laney had trusted him fully with the tasks she'd set for him.
When Ian told Laney where he believed their witch to be located, she didn't question it she just simply said "It's better than what I turned up.", "Let's go."
Dean had come to the conclusion that he was up against the work of a powerful ancient witch and he had an idea of where to find her. What he hadn't expected was that the bitch had two spawn that were just as powerful as she was.
He knew the hag had to be burned and he hoped torching her offspring would work as well.
Dean threw a Molotov Cocktail at the three witches and watched them burn.
Ian and Laney arrived at the abandoned house that Ian suspected Dzunukwa had taken up residency in.
Discovering that six children were still alive and locked in the cellar Laney gave Ian the task of getting them to safety while she went to take care of Dzunukwa.
Laney saw a human man running through the back field and three firey creatures giving chase.
She knew she had to get the civilian out of harm's way and she ran full speed to get to him before he could be harmed.
Laney pushed the man out of the way just in time to avoid the charging firey monsters.
"STAY DOWN!" She ordered as she set about taking on the three creatures on single handidly.
She sprayed the witch and her spawns with gasoline and their shrieks filled the night as the flames around them grew bigger.
As the witches turned to cinders Laney turned to help the civilian that she knew was probably in shock from what he'd just seen.
"Are you alright?" She asked offering a hand up to the man.
"WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?" The man snapped at her, jerking away from her hand.
Laney looked at him calmly. "Sir, I know what you saw was scary.", "But I can help you if you let me."
"What the hell?" Dean thought. This chick was talking to him like he was a civilian caught in the wrong mess.
"I think there's been a misunderstanding of an EPIC nature." Dean groaned as he came to his feet.
"Huh?" Laney asked looking confused.
"I was here on a job." Dean stated. "Like you were... obviously... on the SAME job."
Laney looked at him awestruck. "I thought Ian and I were the only ones left in our line of work." She said in a shocked breath.
"Apparently not.", "I'm Dean." Dean offered in a civil tone. He felt bad for yelling now. This girl had probably just saved his life.
"I'm Laney.", "My partner is getting the kids we found to safety." Laney said.
Dean nodded he had no reason to stick around the job was done.
A set of head lights turned up the driveway and Laney ran to greet her partner. "Were they all okay?" Laney asked Ian.
"Yeah they'll be fine." Ian answered. Then he asked "Who's he?" as he looked at the shocked expressiom of the man in front of him's face.
For the first time in five years Dean Winchester could not believe what he was seeing.
His voice failed him and he just stood there gaping silently at his brother.
"Sam?" Dean managed to choke out. It was barely audible.
Laney leaned in closer to Dean looking concerned.
"Are you alright?" She asked.
"Sam..., WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN?" Dean yelled at the gigantic man.
Ian recoiled looking afraid.
"HEY LAY OFF OF HIM!" Laney screamed at Dean as she wedged herself between the frightened man and the angry man.
Dean was seeing red. There was NO WAY this was happening.
"HE IS MY BROTHER!" Dean screamed at Laney. "I'VE BEEN SCARED SHITLESS LOOKING ALL OVER FOR YOU SAM!" He screamed around her to Ian.
Ian looked bewildered and like he may collapse and Laney guided him to the hood of the car and helped him sit keeping the outraged Dean back with an extended hand.
"HE DOESN'T KNOW WHO HE IS!" Laney turned screaming at Dean. "SO CALM THE HELL DOWN!"
Dean stopped instantly. Swallowing hard he looked at Sam then back to Laney. He wanted to cry. He wanted to scream some more. He wanted to grab Sam around the shoulders and hug him tighter than he's ever done.
Dean fell to the ground as crying won out and he let his head rest in his hands to hide the tears from the others. He couldn't even think right now.
Laney helped Ian into the car and then went over and hauled Dean to his feet. "Come on." She said sounding surly. "We have a lot to talk about."
Chapter 7
Laney got Ian settled into their hotel room and went out to the her car where she'd insisted Dean stay till they'd talked.
"Talk to me." Laney said calmly.
Dean told Laney as much as he felt he safely could about Sam.
Laney evaluated Dean's words and knew he was telling the truth but also that he was purposfully omitting alot of details.
She took pity on the man that seemed to place his brother above everything. So she told him everything she felt she safely could about what had happened since she had saved his Sammy's life.
"I don't know how to handle this." Laney admited.
"Easy.", "He's MY family he's leaving with me." Dean said in a comanding tone like the matter was settled.
"I think we should talk to him together.", "Help him learn to trust you." Laney said in a weary voice.
Dean nodded. As much as he hated it this girl had been right to distance Sam from him. The way he'd acted earlier might have only made things worse for the already mentally unstable Sam.
"Ian?" Laney called gently as she opened the door to let him know it was her. Dean cringed to hear his brother called by another name for the reason of not knowing his own.
Sam recoiled in fear and made a small frightened noise, as Dean came into the room behind Laney.
"It's okay, you know I wouldn't let anything bad happen to you.", "Right?" Laney said gently as she reached out to comfort Sam.
Sam nodded. But he still wouldn't look directly at Dean.
"Tell me what you're afraid of." Laney said soothingly.
"Yeah right like that'll happen." Dean thought, knowing HIS Sam all to well.
Then to Dean's shock Sam gave an answer. An HONEST answer.
"He reminded me of what I see in my nightmares." Sam said letting tears flow freely and openly for all to see.
Apparently Dean's Sam had lost a good portion of his inhibitions when he lost his memories and he no longer needed to hide his emotions, keep secrets or tell lies.
"I've talked to him.", "Got to know him a little.", "And I can already tell from just a few minutes that he'd do ANYTHING for you." Laney said calmly.
"You're his brother Ia... Sam." Laney said. "Your name is really Sam and you have a brother that loves you.", "You need to give him a chance.", "Okay?"
Sam looked up at her "Does that mean I have to go with him?"
Sam looked terrified and Laney didn't know what to do. She looked pleadingly at Dean hoping he'd forgive her for what she was about to do.
"No." Laney answered.
Dean made a movement like he was going to do something stupid and Laney shot him a look that simply said "Don't try me".
"NO ONE is going to force you to do something you don't want." Laney said to Sam assuringly.
"I just want you to try and allow him the same trust you've given me." She said softly.
"I'm going to step outside and give you two some privacy to discuss this.", "Can you you handle that?" Laney asked Sam.
Sam looked unsure.
"I'll be right outside the door and if you need me for ANYTHING I'll be back in before you can blink twice.", "Alright?" She said giving Sam a compassionate look.
"I don't want to be alone with him." Sam whispered like a frightened child and he pulled his knees to his chest looking vulnerable.
"Alright.", "If I stay will you talk to him?" Laney asked.
"I don't know what to do." Sam cried.
"Just listen to him." Laney said. "Then I'll back whatever move you want to make." She finished putting a supportive hand on Sam's shoulder.
Laney looked at Dean and gave him a nod.
"Sam." Dean said softly. "I'm sorry I scared you.", "I've also been scared, for these last two months.", "I thought I'd lost you for good Sammy." Dean's voice was cracking and he tried not to cry again.
"I don't want to lose you Sam.", "Please I'll do whatever you want, whatever you need.", "Just don't ask me to leave here without you." Dean begged as he relenquished his tears openly.
It was just Laney's nature to offer comfort for a person in need and she stood to provide comfort to Dean. But the way he looked back at her, with hate filled eyes, told her that it would be unwelcomed.
The second Laney had made it okay for Sam to choose a path that wasn't him Dean had decided to hate and distrust her then and there.
Laney shifted nervously knowing that Dean wasn't going to forgive her easy, even though she HAD done the right thing in being supportine of her friend.
Laney sat quietly, determined not to intervine unless Sam needed her.
Sam listened as Dean talked about the things he wished he could remember. Dean made their lives together sound like it had been pefect and Sam didn't buy it for a second as much as he wanted to.
Dean poured his heart out but he couldn't go the last leg and include the bad things, because he wanted the fresh start that Sam's memory loss could provide.
But somewhere inside he was still as stubborn as the old him had been because Sam's choice couldn't be swayed in Dean's favor.
All Sam could think about Laney and the trust he knew he had in her. There was only one way he was going to even think about going with Dean.
"I want Laney to come with us." Sam said to Dean. "It's the only way I'll go with you."
Both Laney and Dean looked shocked.
"Sam you can't ..." Both Dean and Laney said in unison.
"You said you'd back whatever play I wanted to make." Sam said giving Laney a pouty face.
Laney nodded.
Sam looked to Dean turning on the puppy dog eyes and said "And you said you'd do whatever I wanted or needed.", "This is what I want."
Dean shrugged and said "Okay.", "She comes with us." But he gave Laney a look that told her that he was going to make her pay for this the first chance that he got.
Chapter 8
After Laney got her and Sam's things packed up, the trio headed out to her car.
Dean was insistant on going back for his "baby" which brought on the "discussion" of who's car they were all going to ride in.
Laney was just as partial to her Roadrunner as Dean was to his Impala, but eventually Laney caved.
"Alright I just got to put my car in storage and then we can head out." Said Laney giving Sam an annoyed look "You know I'm doing this for you right." She said with a frustrated sigh.
Dean rolled his eyes as he followed Sam and Laney to the storage facility. His own brother, who he'd die for over and over again, didn't want to ride alone with him because of fear.
Once Laney settled her affairs with getting her car and other things in storage She and Sam piled into the Impala. Sam insisted that he ride in the back seat because he didn't even want to be next to Dean right of the bat and he positioned himself behind the passanger seat because right behind him was to close as well.
"You've got to be kidding me." Dean thought as he saw Sam doing what he could to avoid any distance closer than an arms length from him.
Laney offered to sit in back also but Sam felt more comfortable having her where she could stop Dean from pulling any stunts.
So Sam was calling the shots (for now) and Dean accepted it because it was the only way he was ever going to get his brother back.
The silence between Dean and Laney was thick with tension. Sam had fallen asleep an hour ago and that let the ackward elephant that still needed to be addressed rampage around in that silence.
"I never intended..." Laney started to say.
"Save it." Dean interupted with an icy tone.
"So, there's no chance you'll try to get along with me?" Laney asked.
"Oh I'll play nice for Sam's sake, but we'll never be friends." Dean said giving Laney a chilling glare.
"Well, just so you know, you can trust me no matter what." Laney stated. "Because I have rules that I don't break, whether you think of me as your friend or not."
Dean shrugged. "Whatever." He said sounding annoyed.
No matter where they were heading it was going to be a very long drive.
