Chapter Three
"You alright?" The man asked gruffly as he picked up his gun and walked slowly over to Veronica. She nodded, her movement very staccato. She rushed across to her gun and bag suddenly and lifted her shaking hands to direct it at the man. "Calm down doll."
"I just saw you decapitate one man, and shoot the head off another. I think I'm happier with this gun up facing you," Veronica said taking a deep breath in, trying to compose herself.
"I'm not gonna hurt you girl," he growled as he took a knife out, which appeared to be covered in blood, and took it over to the man whose head had been shot off, and thrust it very quickly into the dead body. Satisfied, the older man put all his weapons away and held his hands up to Veronica.
"Who are you?" she asked, refusing to lower the gun.
"Roger. I'm a hunter."
"What were those things?" She said shakily.
"Vampires." One word. Matter of fact. And it turned Veronica's world upside down.
"Vampires." Veronica snorted. "And I guess Buffy was unavailable?"
"You got any other explanation for the damn bloodsucker's girly, 'cause I'd love to hear it! Hate to break it to you, but the things that go bump in the night, they exist alright!" The man was blunt, and Veronica appreciated it. She lowered the gun suddenly, exhausted. If the man wanted to hurt her, she doubted her gun would stop him anyhow. She let out a strangled laugh, and picked up her bag, and the discarded FBI badge and phone. She slowly made her way to the door, Roger falling into step beside her.
"How did you get involved in all this?" Veronica asked, curious as they left the building. In front was a large four by four parked to block the doorway. She assumed that this was Roger's car.
"My wife was killed by a werewolf. Seeing her mangled body clued me in pretty quick. I've been trying to catch up with this nest of vampires for weeks, since they killed four prostitutes in a town west of here." He hauled open the trunk of his car and pressed button releasing the hidden floor. He pulled it up, and Veronica saw symbols etched into the underside of the fake trunk.
Veronica stared at the symbols etched into the trunk of Roger's car, with a sinking feeling in her stomach. She reached slowly into her bag and pulled out a file of photographs.
"Can you take a look at couple of photos for me?"
The old cantankerous hunter grunted, which Veronica took to be in agreement, and handed the file to him.
"Do you recognise any of the markings on the body?"
"I've never seen symbols like this before, but I'd take a bet and say that it's old Enochian."
"Enochian?" Veronica asked. It wasn't a language she had ever heard of before. The old man nodded.
"Language of the angels." Veronica lifted an eyebrow. She had accepted the vampires, after she had seen them with her own eyes, but angels? Really?
"Right. Angels." Sarcasm filled her voice.
"Don't take that tone with me girl. If I say angels exist then you bet your ass they exist." Roger snarled as he pushed the trunk closed and walked around his car.
"How the hell do I get hold of an angel?" Scepticism still coloured her voice.
"Your best bet would be to find one of the Winchester brothers. Word is they know some angels who can translate the symbols."
"And where can I find a Winchester brother?"
"Harvelle's roadhouse in Nebraska. Tell Ellen that Roger sent you; She'll tell you where to find one of them. Now, do you need a ride any where?" Veronica nodded mechanically and walked around to the passenger side door.
It seemed that what had begun as project to distract her from Logan was inexplicably linked to his death. Finding Dean Winchester had become personal now.
Chloe looked at the Harvelle roadhouse with some trepidation. It had clearly been rebuilt at some point, but had retained a sense of being part of the landscape. It was meant to be there, on the roadside of central Nebraska, waiting for weary travellers. Yet Chloe was sure that the majority of people who would travel this road would instinctively avoid it, waiting for the next trucker stop to go to the toilet and grab some food. And those brave souls who did choose to enter the roadhouse would undoubtedly receive a frosty welcome. All Chloe had been able to find on the internet about this place was its location and a brief insert in a website about the best places to stop on a long journey. The review had not been glowing to say the least:
Harvelle's may seem like a blessing on a long journey, especially when you are lost, as I and my wife were on a cross country journey. However, the bar staff are terse at best, and downright rude at worst. The regular clientele are few and far between, but seemed strange and overly hostile. Even a request to use the bathroom was met with disdain. If I were anyone else, I would miss Harvelle's and travel on to the next trucker stop. At least there you might get a semi decent cup of coffee and a smile.
The review didn't leave Chloe with much hope. She squared her shoulders and lifted her chin, walking forward before she could convince herself out of going. This is for Mia she reminded herself as she pushed through the door. Ignoring all of the other clientele, Chloe walked straight to the bar and looked at the middle aged woman who stood behind it, looking her up and down slowly.
"Can I help you?" The woman asked, her frown fixed on her face as she leant forward onto the bar.
"I got a recommendation to come here for some supernatural help," Chloe said as she put her folder of papers onto the bar and sat on a stool. The woman scrutinised her for a second.
"You hack the hunter's journal?" She asked neutrally as she started to wipe down the bar, avoiding the files.
"Yeah. I would apologise, but hey," Chloe shrugged. "Desperate times and all."
The woman let out a laugh, shaking her head.
"I'm impressed. Ash said that thing was darn near impossible to hack. So who are you?"
"I'm Chloe."
"Alright Chloe, I'm Ellen. Follow me, and we'll see if Sammy can help you. He's probably your best bet."
Chloe nodded and walked through the door on the wall that Ellen indicated. She followed the older woman down the hall, past several offices and rooms.
"Call Dean, Sam. If you don't I will!" The tall blonde shouted as she swung angrily through the door.
"Stay out of it Jo!" an angry voice shouted back as the door swung back and forth. The blonde, presumably Jo, snarled as her face tightened. She looked at Chloe, glancing up and down at the new girl before turning to Ellen.
"Maybe you'll have better luck with him. He could do with a kick up the ass," Jo said as she walked behind the bar. Ellen chuckled appreciatively for a moment, before opening the door Jo had just left.
"C'mon, Sammy is your best bet after all," she said to Chloe's raised eyebrow. "He's a teddy bear really."
Ellen pushed her way through the door and after a short time of deliberation Chloe did the same. The scene she met was not unsurprising. She did, after all, work with a team of men, who while they might be superheroes, were hardly the most organised type. She stood at the doorway of a small sitting room slash office which had a sofa pulled out into a bed. The whole room was cluttered with food wrappers, notebooks, large tomes and scraps of paper with writing all over them. At the far edge of the room sat a man with his back to the doorway, hunched over a desk writing. He didn't turn when they entered.
"Sammy," Ellen said as she walked into the room. She seemed almost cautious, which appeared at odds with what Chloe had seen of her previously. "You know that case I told you about? Well there's someone here to talk to you about it."
As Ellen spoke, 'Sammy' turned in his chair to survey the interlopers. Chloe could see that he was not best pleased at the interruption. She was slightly taken aback by the expression on his admittedly handsome face, though she tried not to show it. Sammy was clearly very tall, and well built, with strong shoulders and a broad chest which his loose shirt did nothing to conceal. His hair was long, reaching halfway down his neck, framing his face and he gave off the impression of being a nice person who had been beaten down by the world.
"What do you want," he said rather rudely as he took Chloe in. She lifted an eyebrow at his uncouth behaviour but said nothing. Ellen, however, clearly took offense to the man's manners.
"Now Sam Winchester, just because you're moping in this room, don't mean you get to treat strangers like that. Now apologise," she said firmly as she threw her towel at him. He easily caught it with one hand, and Chloe could see the hints of a smile appearing on his lips. Clearly Ellen played the mama bear card pretty often with him.
"I'm sorry," Sam said as he stood up and walked across the room. Chloe was struck by how much taller than her he was. He could give Clark a run for his money in the height department, and that was a little unnerving, considering Clark's status as Superman.
"You better be sorry boy!" Ellen said. "You two talk. I got customers to deal with."
With that Ellen left the room, leaving Chloe and Sam staring at one another inquisitively. Neither moved for several moments.
"Do you want to sit down?" Sam asked suddenly. "Tell me why Ellen seems to think that I can help you with your problem."
Chloe nodded her assent, and moved to sit on a chair by the desk, the other one which Sam had not previously occupied.
"You already know my name from Ellen, but I'm Sam. Who are you?" Sam asked gently as he none too subtly moved several papers from the desk and closed one of the books.
"Did you see my message board post?" Chloe asked, trying to ascertain what Sam knew previously.
"Ellen showed me it. You said that it was about a friend who had very unusual symptoms, including sulphur found in parts of her body, right?" Chloe nodded and Sam continued his gentle questioning. Chloe wondered idly if this was because he thought that she would break down crying or because of her relative newness to the situation and the supernatural world. "Is your friend exhibiting unusual behaviour?"
"Unusual how," Chloe asked, confused slightly by the question.
"While no one has ever been able to get near enough to a demon possessed person in order to check, I hypothesise that due to the unique makeup of the demon the human host body would become saturated with sulphur. That being said, most possessed people don't act like their normal selves, as the demon takes control of the body," Sam explained. Chloe took it all in calmly, and went over the behaviour that Mia had exhibited in the time that Chloe had seen her since the incident at the 33.1 lab.
"No, she has just appeared to be unwell. She is memory loss for long stretches of time." Sam looked unduly interested in that thought.
"She may be possessed by a demon, but still be in control of her body. Demons normally take control completely, so this one must have a reason to be letting her take the reins. Maybe to survey the situation around them, and get to grips with the new body. The periods of time which she cannot remember may be when the demon is taking control." Sam grabbed a leather bound book from the desk in front of him and began to flip through it. As he did so he asked, almost negligently:
"What's your friend's name?"
"Mia." Chloe replied quietly.
"What happened just before Mia started exhibiting this sort of behaviour?" Sam continued to look through the book intently.
"There was a man trapped in a room full of what I assume to be Enochian sigils. I have a picture of the room in my file." Chloe pulled the file of papers from where she had returned them to her bag, and opened it. She flipped a few pages forward and took a photograph out. She wordlessly handed it to Sam.
"I know that can all seem so surreal and hard to understand..." he started. Chloe gave out a sharp laugh.
"Believe me Sam; I've been dealing with crap on this level since I was in high school. The supernatural is just another step along the crazy road," She said in a cynical tone which belied her 23 years of age. At that moment Chloe Sullivan sounded like she was 40 years old.
"How did you get involved in this?" Sam asked as he studied the photograph.
"Have you heard of meta humans?" Chloe asked. At Sam's assenting nod she continued. "I work for an organisation made up of Meta humans who help to track down and stop Meta's who have gone rogue, or people beyond the police's normal jurisdiction."
"You mean you work with superheroes?" Sam asked curiously as he looked at Chloe for the first time after she had handed him the photograph.
"Yes," She said simply, thinking about her boys who were at home all frantically trying to figure out what was wrong with Mia. Sam frowned, caught in thought.
"Why are you so concerned?" Chloe asked, slightly worried.
"If this is a possession, and the demon works out that the people around him have particular skills then we could all be in trouble. I'd hate to see a demon with super speed, or super strength for that matter, on top of the powers they have naturally. I have some anti possession amulets which we have to make sure to get to your whole team."
"Not a nice thought." Chloe shuddered.
"Okay, I need to see your friend to be sure. If she is possessed we need to perform an exorcism." Sam's tone was grim, but Chloe felt a surge of hope arise in her.
"You'll help?"
"Yes, I'll help."
Veronica walked purposefully across to the door of the 'Harvelle Roadhouse', twisting to the side as a petite blonde woman and a tall brunette man walked out of the doorway. The man nodded to her and the woman murmured a quiet thank you as they continued past. Veronica scrunched her face up as she tried to remember where she recognised the woman from, but paused when she realised that she definitely knew the man. The picture she had studied for hours had been a few years old, the hair had grown longer and he had bulked out, but it was definitely the same man. Sam Winchester. She spun away to see them race out of the parking lot, before she could get any number plates, or even the make and model of the car. She cursed under her breath, angry at herself for missing out on such a big lead. The only thing she could do was follow the lead the angry old hunter had given her. She walked into the roadhouse.
Suspicious faces turned to the door as she pushed her way through. Several men were polishing firearms, and looked like they knew how to use them. Veronica walked through the room towards the bar, making sure to move fairly slowly and cautiously. These people were wired, and it didn't seem like too much would set them off.
"Two new customers in the same day," A pretty blonde girl commented as she threw a towel down on the counter of the bar. Veronica felt a pang of grief as she looked the girl straight in the face. She looked like a harder version of Meg Manning, a girl who had died when Veronica was a senior in high school.
"Well Roger pointed me in this direction. Said I might find information about Dean Winchester here if I asked." Veronica said neutrally as she slid onto a barstool. "I'll have whatever beer you have."
"What's a girl like you got to do with Roger?" the girl said as she pulled out a beer and pulled off the bottle top. She handed it to Veronica. Veronica took a quick drink, appreciating the cold beer as it slid down her throat. She had come to like beer a couple of years into her relationship with Logan, after realising that it was the beverage most likely to be in the house consistently.
"He saved my ass from a nest of vampires. When he found out I was looking for Winchester he pointed me in this direction, very reluctantly," Veronica commented, and took a long drink from the beer. She noted that less faces in the bar were turned towards her and the other girl. The men had clearly gone back to their own business, whatever that was.
"What do you want with Dean?" A protective edge entered the girl's voice. Veronica idly wondered if this was an ex girlfriend, or fling.
"My husband was a hunter. He said if there was any trouble after he died I should get in touch with one of the Winchester brothers and that they were some of the best hunter's he'd heard of in his time hunting." Veronica felt a pang of guilt as she used Logan's death to get what she wanted. She didn't let it show on her face and suppressed the emotion. She was using his death in order to solve it, she told herself.
"Who was your husband?" Clearly this Meg lookalike was inquisitive, and bluntly so. She made no apologies for it.
"Logan Fennell." The name Echolls, was simply too damn familiar to the world unfortunately, and the fact that he had taken her name after their wedding had not been overlooked by the media. Veronica thought that it would be best to avoid any kind of recognition from the other woman which could blow her story to smithereens.
"How'd he die?" Simple question, no treading on glass, no cautious glances. This was a girl who had seen death, and treated it as an everyday thing.
"I'll let you know when I find out." Veronica took another long drink
"Dean's in Virginia looking at some murder's which look ritualistic. One of the guys killed was the son of a couple of movie stars, so it hasn't been easy for him to look into it. If you're desperate to talk to him, then you could head out there and see if he can look at your case." The girl said suddenly.
"How can I get in touch with him?" Veronica asked, not wanting to push her luck. Clearly she had scars which the other girl interpreted as the scars of a hunter's wife. She supposed the scars of her youth and time at the FBI could be interpreted in such a way.
"Lemme give him a call; let him know you're on your way."
"Why are you helping me?" Veronica couldn't help but ask. In her experience people were rarely altruistic. She said as much. The girl laughed a bitter sound which didn't seem like it should be coming from someone her age.
"Hunting is different. We don't do the job for perks; we do it to help others. Besides, when you hunt you learn to read people. You look like you've dealt with plenty of shit. If you need help, better be the best, 'cause it seems to me that its big." She went back to wiping down the bar almost absentmindedly.
"Thanks," Veronica said, pausing as she realised she didn't know what the girl's name was.
"It's Jo,"
"I'm Veronica."
"So, why did you agree to come with me Sam?" Chloe asked as she drove down the road,
"Needed to get away from the roadhouse. Ellen and Jo were driving me nuts, trying to convince me to call Dean." He said, his face showing clearly that he was brooding about something. Chloe almost laughed. It seemed that in all walks of the so called superhero biz there were those who knew how to brood, and did it with almost alarming frequency. Chloe was willing to bet that Sam could give both Clark and Oliver a run for their money. Chloe noted in abstract that since she had met him Sam Winchester had not smiled once.
"Who's Dean?"
"My brother"
"Why do you need to call him?"
"Cause he thinks I'm dead."
They rode in silence for an indeterminate length of time.
"You said earlier that you work with a group of people with powers. Do you have powers yourself?" Sam asked as he turned to Chloe.
Chloe was silent for a moment.
"I used to." She said, trying to stop the conversation at that point. Ignoring her tone of voice, Sam continued to question her.
"What happened?"
"An alien super computer took over my brain and my powers were depleted fighting it off. I haven't been able to heal anyone since."
"You could heal?" Sam sounded surprised. Chloe supposed that out of all of the Meta powers people could get, healing wasn't really something which Meta's would advertise. Normal people wouldn't necessarily expect healing to be a Meta power, although Chloe didn't really count Sam Winchester as normal. There was something about him that reminded her of her superheroes back home.
"Emphatic healing. I took on the injuries of someone and healed myself. Now I only seem to recover from injuries quickly."
They drove in companionable silence for a while, until it was shattered by the ringing of Chloe's phone. She slipped an earpiece in and then accepted the call.
"Hello?"
"Chloe, tell me you have something," Oliver's frantic voice sounded in her ear.
"Ollie, calm down, what's wrong?" Chloe asked, worried by the fear in her usually calm teammates voice.
"Mia really isn't doing well. Emil says things aren't looking good for her."
"I'm on my way back to Watchtower now, with someone who I think might be able to help," Chloe said, glancing to Sam who was doing his best to appear that he wasn't listening in on the conversation.
"Are you still in Nebraska?"
"Yes, Oliver, we're on our way to the airport at the moment," Sam looked startled by this revelation.
"I'm sending the jet over. It just got back from England," Oliver said, distractedly.
"Okay, Ollie, We'll be there soon." Chloe hung up.
"I can't go by plane Chloe, I don't have a passport," Sam said as they continued driving.
"That shouldn't be a problem. One of my teammates is sending a private plane." Sam looked startled by this revelation, then chuckled.
"Your team is a lot bigger and better equipped than I first imagined." Chloe laughed at the slight hint of awe in his voice.
A/N: I'd love to know what you think, leave a review?