DISCLAIMER: I am neither the ecstasy nor the agony behind the original concept of Supernatural. I am merely attempting to return the show to its former glory ((I had to stop watching after a while. I may try again. It went too Charmed for me far too quickly.)) and I hope you all enjoy my efforts. BTW, I got a surprising amount of congrats on the lemon. I was happy. Nobody seemed to really enjoy my Bebop lemon. Poo.No sense of adventure.
A/N: I didn't write the fragment of lecture. That is copied from... I forget where now. Dang. But it's not mine. It's from an actual lecture on gargoyles. Thought you'd like to know.
Anna stumbled into the kitchen and made a beeline for the coffeepot. Sam watched her slow movements, noticing her new bandages and damp hair before registering the anime t-shirt and boxer shorts. Sam had been awakened by the sound of running water at an ungodly hour, and being unable to use the shared restroom had made his way to the guest bath on the first floor. On his way down the stairs, though, he had heard Anna's shower come on and his Spidey senses had gone off. This morning Dean had slept in and Anna looked like she had a hangover.
"Rough night?"
"Dreams," she grunted. Anna turned around and leaned against the counter to savor her first sip. After a minute, she spoke again. "Such weird dreams. It felt so real. I seriously thought… but only at first. I… it- we- and…"
Anna sighed in frustration and shook her head, crossing the kitchen toward Sam. As she took a seat at the table, he noticed the quote scrawled beneath the image of a handsome man in a white tuxedo surrounded by flowers and busty women.
"I'd like you to be the mother of my children," Sam read aloud.
"Did I come in at a bad time?" Dean asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Nope," Sam answered. Anna just blushed and looked down at the table, blushed again and excused herself, escaping with coffee in hand.
"What the hell was that about?" Dean mused as he took her seat, watching Anna's legs disappear up the stairs.
"Don't know," Sam answered. Dean shrugged and Sam narrowed his eyes at his brother as Dean now stared down at the tabletop and blushed. Instead of leaving, though, he reached out to the floral arrangement in the center and pulled a small bunch of baby's breath to twirl between his fingers.
"Did I miss something?" Sam demanded. "What happened after I left last night?"
"Nothing much," Dean smiled. "I told her about St. Louis and went upstairs."
"Is that why the shower went on at four this morning?" Dean stayed silent, staring at the small flowers and Sam pressed on. "And is that why she took a shower at the same time?"
Dean's head snapped up and Sam's eyes held a glint of satisfaction at the response. Now he had Dean's attention.
"With you in our bathroom I had to go downstairs, and I heard her shower going too. Want to try again?"
"I had a dream," Dean leaned forward. "It was… different. It was so real I swear I had no idea it was a dream until I woke up in my room again. It felt real, and I-"
Dean broke off, unable to say more. Sam watched his brother try to express himself, but the blush that spread across Dean's cheeks, the hungry look that entered his eyes, told Sam more than he wanted to know, and suddenly Anna's stammering made more sense. They had shared a dream. Gross.
"Okay, forget I asked. What are we doing about St. Louis?"
. .>. .>. .>
Anna was positive she would die of embarrassment, but Sam said nothing about this morning and Dean, oddly enough, was giving her some space. She supposed he was still upset with her, but he didn't act angry. He acted almost like a man giving a new lover her privacy the morning after, as though he were trying not to frighten her. she squeezed her eyes shut and tried to force her brain to focus on the hunt. This was rather difficult to accomplish, though, with the pounding headache that had begun when Dean resolutely refused to fly.
"Why are we driving again?" she asked from the backseat. The five hours to the state line from San Antonio were nowhere near over, and Anna hated long road trips.
"No caves, no airplanes," Dean counted out with his fingers. "Those are the rules, sweetheart."
Anna's heart fluttered at the endearment, but she frowned at the sarcasm in his tone.
"I wasn't aware that this arrangement allowed you to randomly make up more rules as we went along." Anna arched a brow and met Dean's eyes in the rearview mirror.
"I can make up a few more rules, if you like. I'm trying to be nice here. Now shut up and take a nap."
Anna had an almost irresistible urge to pout and say "make me" but that was beyond juvenile and Sam was already fighting laughter. Instead, she scowled and plugged her mp3 player into a cassette adapter and leaned forward to commandeer the radio.
"What the hell are you doing?" Dean shouted, swerving a little as her breasts pressed into his shoulder.
"Passenger gets the radio. Shut up and don't kill us." Anna pressed play and turned the volume up before returning to the back. As she settled in to read one of the several journals she had found before the Den had called, the Cardigans' "Iron Man" came on and Sam burst out laughing.
"That's not right," Dean muttered.
"Shut up," Anna replied.
Sam hid his grin by staring out the window.
. .>. .>. .>
The parapsychology department of Washington University's Religious Studies Department building was nothing like Dean expected. The fact that it even existed was beyond his expectations, but Anna, always three steps ahead it seems, went straight past the offices to a classroom and entered quietly as a middle-aged man stood at the front of the small room and lectured. Heads turned to see who had come in, but for the most part the trio was ignored. Dean looked around, studying the students and watching Sam and Anna as the rest of the room gave the short man their full attention.
"An appealing idea for explaining medieval gargoyles is as a reminder or warning to the populace of the evil all around outside and the safe sanctuary inside the church. Evil takes many forms, from women carrying the devil on their backs – very symbolic, very unenlightened and non-PC," he paused for the twitter of laughter that ran through the room. Anna and Dean alone remained deadpan. "To bug eyed human faces twisted into monstrosities, to demons, dangerous beasts, hideous human horrors, and hairy men who have descended terribly into the brutal and frightening level of the beast. Better the beauty and serenity inside. Come on in and forget the trials of the world outside for a while and pray for your soul and salvation from the horrors shown outside."
The professor looked past his students to the strange trio at the back of his class. The girl he knew, but who were the other two? It didn't matter really. Anytime Anna MacKeary came to call, Phineas Bowen knew something was going on that he didn't want to know about.
"Of course," he continued his lecture without breaking stride. "It could be as much a case of the gargoyles saying – metaphorically- 'Hey you, Jimmy!'" Bowen dropped into an impression of his father's Scottish brogue. "'Yes You! Who do you think I mean? Watch yer step, laddie. We've got our eye on you. One step out of line and you've had it. You're meat, with our teeth in it!'"
Bowen smiled as the class erupted into laughter and decided to end the lecture on a high note. Anna, Sam and Dean remained seated as the students filed out, Anna and Bowen locked in a staring contest. Anna won when a student distracted Bowen with a question about something obviously irritating.
"Why don't we make an appointment to discuss that," he sighed. "I'm afraid I have a previous engagement at the moment."
When the room was at last clear, Anna and the Winchesters moved to meet Bowen halfway across the room.
"Where's Bill?" Bowen asked by way of a greeting.
"Living the suburbs and minivan life," Anna shrugged.
"And Lawrence? I haven't seen him in a while."
"He's well," Anna smiled weakly. "He's been… busy." Bowen studied Anna's face, surprised at the change in her since he had last seen her. He had heard of Geoff's death but had been unable to attend the funeral, so he had no way of knowing if the weight loss was a natural progression into womanhood for the girl or if she was just not eating. Anna had always been thin, but the girl looked almost gaunt.
"I'm Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean."
Bowen looked up to the men beside Anna and took in the appearance of her companions for the first time. He shook their hands and introduced himself.
"Dr. Phineas Bowden. You're John's boys, then?" Bowen smiled at the surprise in their expressions. Even Anna quirked a brow, a rare treat from the young hunter. Bowen wondered briefly what she would look like with an actual expression on her face.
"You know our dad?" Dean asked at the same time Sam spoke.
"Anna said you might be able to help us."
Anna and Bowen shared a dry smile before the professor turned away to retrieve a folder from his desk.
"I found what I could. I'm surprised your own search didn't find anything," Bowen mused as he handed the file over to Anna. Dean's jaw worked in frustration. Anna had changed from the Annie the girl to Anna the hunter, and her chameleon mood swings were irritating to say the least.
"The Texas warehouse is in a state of disarray, but even our French database held nothing. This is the first time I've never had anything to go on."
"Excuse me," Sam broke in. "I'm lost. What's going on?"
"Gargoyles, Mr. Winchester," Bowen answered in his best professor voice. "Anna tells me you're hunting a gargoyle. I happen to be the world's foremost expert on gargoyles, in mythology as well as architecturally speaking."
"We're not really sure what we're hunting," Dean responded. "We haven't even been to the site yet. Annie wanted to stop here first."
Anna shot Dean a warning look at his casual use of her name, and Bowen was intrigued.
"Well, that file is for your use. Take it and come back if you have any questions."
. .>. .>. .>
As the trio bid the professor farewell and left the room Dean looked up to catch the eye of a pretty redhead down the hall. She flushed prettily before ducking into a computer lab. Without another thought he followed Sam and Annie into the elevator, more than ready to leave the collegiate atmosphere that his brother and his girl seemed so comfortable with.
He paused a moment at the stray thought, grateful they were in an elevator. His girl? Somehow, he was surprised but not scared at the thought. When had Dean taken possession of Annie? He smiled to himself as the answer glared out at him. The same day he had watched her making dinner. The same day she had somehow wrapped him around her little finger.
They all stepped out into the sunshine, Dean trailing behind Sam and Anna. From the third floor of the building a Venetian blind was pulled down just enough for a pair of gray eyes to peek out. She followed the blonde man's figure as he moved along behind his two brunette companions. She had waited a long time to find the one who could break her curse. Soon, she would be free, and she would have a new love. A new love and revenge on the ones who had done this to her. The Pastor Bowen's descendent would soon feel the full fury of her suffering. Soon he would know the depths of her pain and she would escape into the bliss of her future.