Chapter 6
One week later…
Sarah sat in the hotel room she was sharing with the boys trying to research the history of the comic book shop that Sam and Dean were investigating when they walked in.
"Hey." Dean said as he walked in. "You'll never guess what we found."
"What? Did you finish the case already?" Sarah asked tiredly.
Sam walked over to her and dumped a bag full of books out in front of her. "Nope. But we did find another case."
Sarah looked at the pile of books and said, "Ah, thanks for the thought but I don't read crappy romance novels."
"No. Look at them." Sam urged. Dean disappeared into the bathroom to change out of his FBI suit.
"Alright. This one's titled 'Home', um… 'Sam has a dream about his old home. The dream is so vivid he insists they go back to Kansas to check on the house. Once there, Sam, Dean and Sarah discover not one, but two spirits now inhabit the house, and one is intent on killing the new owner.' What the hell?"
"I know. They are all like that. Cases we've done."
"Where did these come from?"
"We don't know." Dean said rejoining them, "Let's all take some and see how much is in them."
Dean and Sarah grabbed some to look through, while Sam started researching online. After a while, Dean huffed, "This is freakin' insane. How's this guy know all this stuff?"
"You got me." Sam answered.
"Everything is in here. I mean everything. From the racist truck to… to me having sex. I'm full frontal in here." Dean said then got up and joined Sam at the table. "How come we haven't heard of them before?"
"They're pretty obscure. I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh, started in '05. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one – 'No Rest For the Wicked.' Ends with you going to hell." Sam said turning the laptop toward Dean.
"I reiterate. Freaking insane." Dean said browsing a website. "Check it out. There's actually fans. There's not many of them, but still. Did you read this?"
"Yeah."
"Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this – Simpatico says 'the demon story line is trite, clichéd, and overall craptastic.' Yeah, well, screw you, Simpatico. We lived it."
"Yeah. Well, keep on reading. It gets better. There are 'Sam girls' and 'Dean girls' and whoa there are even some 'Sarah fans' and even more 'anti-Sarah' people. Sorry Sarah. What is a 'slash' fan?" Dean asked.
"As in… Sam-slash-Dean.' Together." Sam explained with a disgusted look on his face.
"Like, together together?"
"Yeah."
"They do know we're brothers, right?" Dean asked just as disgusted.
"Doesn't seem to matter."
"I need to get some air." Sarah said jumping up from the bed she was laying on and hurrying out the door.
"Should we go after her?" Sam asked.
"I'll give her a little bit, then go find her." Dean said.
A little while later, Dean found Sarah sitting in a bar.
"So, what's going on?" Dean asked sitting across from her in the booth.
She stayed quiet and signaled to the bartender for another drink and waited for the waitress to deliver it.
"So, you ordered me some too?" Dean asked when he saw two drinks.
"Yeah."
"Is it that bad?" Dean asked about her mood.
"Well, let's just say, I now know the truth." Sarah said staring at her glass.
"What truth?"
Sarah placed one of the Supernatural books on the table and pushed it over to him.
"Is this the one where I go to hell?"
"Yep."
"And does it have… when we…"
"Yep."
Dean gulped down his drink and opened the book. "And… uh… what does it say that has you upset?"
"It says… It says…" Sarah started then yelled over to the bartender, "Could I get some Whiskey over here? Bring the bottle."
"Sarah, tell me." Dean said reaching to touch her hand. Sarah moved her hand back, out of his reach.
"It says that you had 'pity sex' with me. It says that you only looked for me because you felt bad and after you apologized, you were going to go see a girl named Lisa, one last time. I believe you liked her because she was the best you ever had." Sarah spat out, stopping when the waitress brought over the whiskey and two empty glasses. She quickly poured herself a double shot and downed it.
"Sarah…" Dean started, not knowing what to say, "I'm sorry. I don't know…"
"How about you tell me if that's true." She said taking another shot.
"Well, uh…"
"The truth, dammit!"
"Alright! Yes, it's true that I was planning on going somewhere else after seeing you. But that's only because I didn't ever think that we would… ya know. You left me so mad after the devils gate that I thought you'd never forgive me. But let me tell you, the time we had together was anything but pity."
Sarah sat quietly trying to process the new information.
"Now if you're done drinking. We have a lead on the publisher. Let's see if we can track down this Carver Edlund and get some answers from him." Dean said signaling the bartender to bring the check.
After getting Sarah some coffee, they ventured over to the publishers office for answers.
The publisher turned out to be a young woman who appeared a little nervous and somewhat skeptical of their intentions.
"So you published the "Supernatural" books?" Sam asked.
"Yep. Yeah. Gosh. These books... You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know – "Doctor Sexy, M.D."?" the publisher scoffed, "Please."
"Right. Well, we're hoping that our article can... shine a light on an underappreciated series." Sam lied.
"Yeah, yeah, because, you know, if we got a little bit of good press then m-maybe we could start publishing again." The publisher said hopefully.
"No, no, no, no. God, no." Dean said without thinking then tried saving the interview, "I mean, why – why would you want to do that? You know, it's, uh, such a complete series, what with Dean going to hell and all."
(getting very emotional)
"Oh, my god! That was one of my favorite ones, because Dean was so... strong... and sad and brave. And Sam... I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry. You know, like in – In "Heart," when Sam had to kill Madison, the first woman since Jessica he really loved. And in "Home," when Dean had to call John and ask him for help." The publisher said emotionally. "Gosh... if only real men were so open and in touch with their feelings."
"Real men?" Dean asked, earning a light chuckle from Sarah.
"I mean, no offense. How often do you cry like that, hmm?" the publisher asked.
"More often than you'd think." Sarah mumbled.
"Well, right now, I'm crying on the inside." Dean said sarcastically and throwing a glare at Sarah.
"Is that supposed to be funny?" the publisher asked defensively.
"Lady, this whole thing is funny." Dean said without thinking.
"How do I know you two are legit, hmm?"
"Oh, trust me. We, uh... we're legit." Dean answered. Sarah inched closer to him, ready to step in if he messed up the interview any more.
"Well, I don't want any smart-ass article making fun of my boys." The publisher fired back.
"No! No, no, no. Never." Sam said stuttering.
"No, that's..." Dean started saying before Sarah grabbed his hand and squeezed it hard.
"We – We are actually, um... big fans." Sam said quickly.
"Hmm. You've read the books?" the publisher asked skeptically.
"Cover to cover." Dean answered.
"They're my favorite books." Sarah said as Dean squeezed her hand and not letting go.
"Um-hmm." Sam chimed in, diverting attention from Sarah and Dean.
"What's the year and model of the car?" the publisher asked.
"It's a 1967 Chevy Impala." Dean said proudly.
"What's May 2nd?" the publisher asked quickly.
"That's my – Uh... that's Sam's birthday." Sam answered.
"January 24th is Dean's. January 26th is Sarah's." Dean said smugly. Sarah looked up at him in surprise.
"Sam's score on the Lucifer SamAT?"
"One..." Sam struggled trying to remember, looking over at Dean, "Seventy-four?"
"Dean's favorite song?"
"It's a tie. Between Zep's "Ramble On" and" Dean answered with a smile.
"And Traveling Riverside Blues." Sarah finished for him.
"Okay. Okay. What do you want to know?" the publisher asked, much more willing to answer their questions.
"What's Carver Edlund's real name?" Sam asked.
"Oh, no. I – No. Sorry, I can't do that."
"We just want to talk to him. You know, get the 'Supernatural' story in his own words." Sam angled.
"He's very private. It's like Salinger."
"Please. Like I said – we are, um..." Sam said before unbuttoning the top of his shirt and revealing his demon protection tattoo, clearly uncomfortable. "... big... big fans."
The publisher stared at Sam's tattoo, awestruck before turning to Dean. Dean looked over at Sam, having a silent conversation with him. Sarah reached up and pulled his collar down enough to show the woman his tattoo. Dean looked down at Sarah upset. Sarah rolled her eyes and let go of Dean's shirt to lower her jeans a little to show her tattoo as well.
"Awesome. You know what?" the publisher said with a slight smile before turning around and hiking up her skirt to show her own tattoo. "I got one, too."
"Whoa. You are a fan." Dean said as he ogled her.
"Okay." The publisher said as she wrote on a piece of paper. "His name's Chuck Shurley. And he's a genius, so don't piss him off."
They thanked her and made their way over to Chuck Shurley's address.
After ringing the doorbell, Sam, Dean & Sarah waited impatiently for the door to open. A short man in a bathrobe opened the door and looked up at Dean & Sam uneasily.
"You Chuck Shurley?" Dean asked abruptly.
"The Chuck Shurley who wrote the 'Supernatural' books?" Sam asked.
"Maybe. Why?"
"I'm Dean. This is Sam and Sarah. The Dean, Sam and Sarah you've been writing about."
Chuck closed the door in their face. Dean rang the bell again and Chuck reluctantly opened the door again. "Look, uh... I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's, uh, it's always nice to hear from the fans. I'm impressed you actually found a girl to play Sarah. Most fans don't know any girls. But, uh, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life." He tried to shut the door, but Dean put out a hand to stop it.
"See, here's the thing. We have a life. You've been using it to write your books." Dean said sarcastically, shoving the door open and entering Chuck's house.
"Now, wait a minute. Now, this isn't funny." Chuck said nervously.
"Damn straight, it's not funny." Dean growled.
They spent a few minutes talking in circles with Chuck inside the house but weren't able to convince him of who they really were. So Dean grabbed Chuck and pulled him outside to the impala. Dean opened the trunk and displayed his arsenal.
"Are those real guns?" Chuck asked, shock etched on his face.
"Yup. This is real rock salt, these are real fake IDs." Dean heckled.
"Well, I got to hand it to you guys. You really are my number one fans." Chuck stuttered, still very nervous. "That's, that's awesome. So, I-I think I've got some posters in the house."
"Chuck, stop." Dean commanded.
"Please. Wait. Please, don't hurt me." Chuck pleaded.
"How much do you know? Do you know about the angels? Or Lilith breaking the seals?" Sam interrogated.
"Wait a minute. How do you know about that?" Chuck asked confused.
"The question is how do you." Dean reiterated.
"Because I wrote it?" Chuck insisted.
"You kept writing?" Sam asked surprised.
"Yeah, even after the publisher went bankrupt, but those books never came out. Okay, wait a minute. This is some kind of joke, right? Did that – Did Phil put you up to this?" Chuck asked.
"Well, nice to meet you. I'm Dean Winchester, and this is my brother, Sam. And over there is Sarah Reynolds."
"The last names were never in the books. I never told anybody about that. I never even wrote that down." Chuck said shocked.
Once back inside Chuck poured himself a large glass of whisky and gulped it down. He turned around and saw Sam, Dean and Sarah and groaned.
"Oh! Oh, you're still there."
"Yup." Dean replied.
"You're not a hallucination."
"Nope." Dean said popping the 'p'.
"Well, there's only one explanation. Obviously I'm a god."
"You're not a god." Sam said flatly.
"How else do you explain it? I write things and then they come to life. Yeah, no, I'm definitely a god. A cruel, cruel, capricious god. The things I put you through – The physical beatings alone." Chuck rambled then looked up at Sarah with a grief filled expression, "Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry… all the horrible things I've put you through…"
"Well, we're still in one piece." Dean cut in.
"I killed your father. I burned your mother alive. And then you had to go through the whole horrific deal again with Jessica."
"Chuck..." Sam mumbled.
"All for what? All for the sake of literary symmetry. I toyed with your lives, your emotions, for... entertainment." Chuck said not listening to anyone else.
"You didn't toy with us, Chuck, okay? You didn't create us." Dean interjected.
"Did you really have to live through the bugs?"
"Yeah." Dean stated. Sarah shivered at the memory.
"What about the ghost ship?"
"Yes, that too."
"I am so sorry. I mean, horror is one thing, but to be forced to live bad writing... if I would have known it was real, I would have done another pass."
"Chuck, you're not a god!" Dean yelled. Chuck snapped out of the daze he was in and looked at Dean.
"We think you're probably just psychic." Sam said in a soothing voice.
"No. If I were psychic, you think I'd be writing? Writing is hard." Chuck whined, freaking out again.
Sarah got up and walked into the messy kitchen and hunted around for a glass. She ended up rinsing out a semi-dirty one and filled it with whiskey. Returning to the room with the boys and placed the glass in front of Chuck as he said, "I wrote myself, at my house… confronted by my characters." She looked over at Dean and Sam and saw them staring in shock at the newly written Supernatural chapters.
-
They left Chuck's house and returned to their hotel room. Sam and Dean grabbed their laundry and headed for the Laundromat with a promise from Sarah that she'd meet them there after her shower.
Sarah tried to wash away the creepy feeling she had from this case. Meeting Chuck made this whole book thing more real and thinking that people had read some of her most private moments just felt so wrong.
After she finished with her shower, she got dressed in the only clean clothes she could find. Unfortunately it wasn't her most respectable attire. And something she hadn't worn in front of the boys, ever.
Walking into the Laundromat, she saw that the boys weren't there yet. She sent Sam a text.
'Where r u?'
'Stopped for food. Be there soon.' He texted back a few minutes later.
She sighed and threw in her clothes in a couple of washing machines, including her jacket that was in desperate need of a good cleaning. After that she sat down and flipped through a magazine, waiting for the boys to join her.
A few minutes later, she heard the familiar sounds of the boys arguing.
"Dean, I still think we should be watching this guy." Sam said.
"I know. We'll go back when we're done here. Where's Sarah? I thought she was here already?" Dean asked looking around, walking right past her and not realizing it was her that he was checking out. Well not until his gaze reached her face. He walked over to her and snatched the magazine away.
"Hey boys." She said coolly then noticed Dean's pissed off expression, "What?"
"What are you wearing?" Dean asked.
"What? I ran out of clean clothes, hence being at the Laundromat. And what the hell is wrong with what I'm wearing?" Sarah said sarcastically before snagging back her magazine.
Dean glared and mumbled as he threw a load of his laundry in a washing machine, "Nothing unless your looking to make some dirty money."
"What was that?" Sarah snapped standing up and moving next to him.
"Nothing. Nothing. I said you look lovely." Dean said sarcastically then added in another mumble when she turned to start moving her clothes into a dryer. "For a street walker."
Sarah threw the wet clothes in her hands forcefully into the dryer before pulling out her wet jacket. She flung it out and hit him in the back of the head before pulling it on to hide her shirt.
He stiffened then slowly turned around and said, "Oh you will pay for that." Before he moved closer, he noticed that she was now wearing her sopping wet jacket.
"Alright chill out you two. Can't we go 5 minutes without you two getting in a fight?" Sam interjected. "Can we get back to the case?"
Dean sighed and sat on one of the counters, pulling the pages he had gotten from Chuck out and starting to read them. Sam and Sarah continued working on their laundry until Dean said, "I'm sitting in a laundromat reading about myself, sitting in a laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts." Dean whined.
"There's got to be something this guy isn't telling us." Sam said then turned to continue his task.
"Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth." Dean read aloud.
"Stop it." Sam said.
"'Stop it, Sam said.' Guess what you do next." Dean asked then looked up to see Sam glare at him. Sarah started to chuckle. "Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive.' I mean, I don't know how this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your brooding and pensive shoulders." Sam sighed, exasperated. "You just thought I was a dick."
Sam turned around looking impressed. "The guy's good."
Sarah burst out laughing at the look on Dean's face, causing him to glare at her. "Shall we see what you are thinking, Fanny Hill?"
"Just give it a rest Dean." Sarah warned.
Dean started to read again, "'Just give it a rest, Dean.' Sarah warned Dean. She couldn't take much more of his sarcasm. He was making it harder for her to stay with them. Soon it wouldn't matter what ..." Sarah snatched the paper away from him. She then stormed out of the laundromat.
She walked around the town. Dodged the impala once and about an hour later, ended up back at Chuck's house, just as he was walking out the door.
"Hey Chuck." Sarah said trying not to startle him.
"Hmm.." he mumbled pulling himself out of his thoughts. "Oh. Hey." He noticed her rumpled and damp jacket.
"You, uh… got a minute to talk?" She asked.
"I'm going to the store." He said then sighed, knowing he wasn't going to shake her. "Come on."
The walked to the store in silence. She stayed quiet while he shopped for more liquor. When they left the store Chuck couldn't hold it in anymore. "Are you going to ask your questions?"
Sighing Sarah asked, "Is everything you wrote in the books exactly the way you saw them happen?"
"No." Chuck admitted. Sarah looked over at him, "I sometimes have to edit for the story."
"So, um…. the uh…"
"The night you and Dean were together, he truly didn't think that would happen. He honestly thought you hated him, but I can tell you that it was exactly what he wanted."
"What? To make me another one of his conquests?"
"No. To show you how much he loves you. At that moment, staring down death, he wouldn't allow himself to hid his true feelings."
"Really? Well what about…"
"Yes. He still loves you." Chuck replied cutting her off as they climbed the steps to his house.
"One more question." Sarah said stopping him from opening the door. "What Zachariah told me, about what he would do if I didn't stay with Dean… Would he really do that to me?"
Chuck sighed, "I don't know. I haven't seen that yet."
Sarah nodded, then added, "Do you happen to know what my role is in this whole destiny crap?"
Chuck just shook his head as he walk inside, only to find Dean sitting on the couch.
"Dean." Chuck said nonchalantly.
"I take it you knew I'd be here." Dean said not noticing Sarah.
"You look terrible."
"That's because I just got hit by a minivan Chuck." Dean growled.
"What?!" Sarah exclaimed walking into the room.
"Oh." Chuck replied.
"That it? Every damn thing you write about me comes true; that's all you have to say to me is 'oh'?!" Dean yelled at Chuck before turning his attention to Sarah, "And where the hell have you been Sarah?"
"Please don't yell at me." Chuck mumbled.
"Dean calm down." Sarah warned.
"Why do I get the feeling there's something you're not telling us?" Dean said angrily.
"What wouldn't I be telling you?"
"How you know what you know, for starters." Dean growled.
"Dean, come on. Relax." Sarah tried again. This time touching his arm.
"I don't know how I know, I just do!" Chuck cried.
"That's not good enough." Dean growled grabbing Chuck and throwing him against the wall. Sarah tried to pull Dean away. "How the hell are you doing this?"
"Dean, let him go!" someone commanded from across the room. "This man is to be protected."
Dean let Chuck go then asked, "Why?"
"He's a Prophet of the Lord." The stranger replied.
"Who the hell are you?" Sarah demanded.
"You… You're Cas… aren't you?" Chuck stammered.
"It's an honor to meet you, Chuck. I… admire your work." Cas said picking up a book and paging through it, before looking up at Sarah, curiously. Sarah moved a little more behind Dean trying to get away from the angels gaze.
"Whoa, whoa, what? This guy, a prophet? Come on, he's… he's practically a penthouse forum writer." Dean said skeptically. Then added to Chuck, "Did you know about this?"
Chuck stumbled into his arm chair and grabbed a nearby bottle of whiskey. "I, uh, I might have dreamt about it."
"And you didn't tell us?" Dean growled.
"It was too preposterous. Not to mention arrogant. I mean, writing yourself into the story is one thing, but as a prophet? That's like M. Night – level douchiness." Chuck admittedly gulping down more whiskey.
Dean looked over at Cas and said, "This is the guy who decides our fate?"
"He isn't deciding anything. He's a mouthpiece. A conduit for the inspired word." Cas explained.
"The word? The word of God? What, like the new new testament?" Dean asked.
"One day, these books – they'll be known as the Winchester gospel." Cas said.
"You got to be kidding me." Sarah, Dean & Chuck said in unison.
Chuck stood up, clutching his bottle and said, "If you all would please excuse me one minute." Then he disappeared upstairs.
"Him? Really?" Dean asked.
"You should've seen Luke." Cas interjected.
"Why'd he get tapped?" Dean asked.
"I don't know how prophets are chosen. The order comes from high up on the celestial chain of command."
"How high?" Dean asked.
"Very." Cas answered.
"Well, whatever. How do we get around this?" Dean asked.
"Around what?" Cas asked with a puzzled look on his face.
"The Sam – Lilith love connection. How do we stop it from happening?" Dean asked.
"What?!" Sarah exclaimed. Both men looked at her a moment. Sarah moved more behind Dean to get away from the angels gaze.
Cas returned his intense gaze back to Dean and stated, "What the prophet has written can't be unwritten. As he has seen it, so it shall come to pass."
Dean growled and stormed out of the room, leaving Cas staring at a very uncomfortable Sarah.
"You understand, right, Sarah?" Cas asked her.
"Uh, um… s… sure." Sarah stuttered as she inched away.
Cas's brow furrowed. "Why are you nervous?"
"I, uh…" Sarah managed before she bolted out the door. Running all the way to Dean as he waited for her.
"Whoa! What happened?" Dean asked grabbing her shoulders to steady her. She looked up at him and then fainted.
Dean managed to keep her from falling and set her gently on the ground with her back against the impala. "Sarah?" Dean said trying to wake her unsuccessfully.
He picked her up and placed her in the front seat of the impala then quickly ran back inside Chuck's house to see what happened.
After checking the house over and checking on Chuck, Dean couldn't find anything wrong. So he returned to the impala. Once inside the impala he looked down at Sarah sleeping on the seat next to him. He gently stroked some hair away from her face, seeing for the first time how much she had changed. He saw small scars on her neck and face. He saw the worry lines. He also saw that despite everything, she still looked so young and innocent. He stared for a moment longer before snapping back to reality and remembering that Sam was still in danger.
Sarah woke a little while later, looking around confused as to how she ended up in the impala at a different hotel than earlier. Looking around she spotted Dean at a soda machine across the parking lot. She started to get out of the impala when the angel from earlier appeared behind Dean. She watched, rooted to her seat, as Dean spoke angrily to the angel then after a minute he pushed past him, walking back toward the impala.
The angel stopped Dean and they spoke for a minute more before the angel disappeared and Dean walked hurriedly back to the impala.
"Sleeping Beauty's awake." Dean teased getting into the driver's seat.
"What's going on?" Sarah asked as Dean sped out of the parking lot.
"Why don't you tell me. You fainted after running out of Chuck's house. What's up with that? Since when do you faint at anything?"
"I, uh… I'm not sure. I just got spooked." Sarah said evading the truth. "Where are we going?"
"Back to Chucks. And don't change the subject. Why were you spooked?"
"I thought I saw something. But clearly it was just a trick of the mind. Nothing to worry about."
"Nothing to worry about? Sarah, I've seen you stand up to not only me and Sam but to my Dad and Bobby. I've seen you stand up to every monster we've encountered. And every demon. What could you possibly have seen that would terrify you like that?"
Sarah sat quietly, not wanting to answer. They pulled up to Chuck's house a moment later.
Dean turned to look at her and said, "Just stay here, I'll be back in a minute. And don't think this conversation is done. We'll finish it after this whole Lilith situation is over." He then got out of the impala and ran up to the house.
A minute later Dean returned with a very frightened Chuck. He placed Chuck in the passenger seat making Sarah move over to the middle, because the backseat still had broken glass on it. He then got into the driver's seat and took off like a bat out of hell causing Sarah to be pushed into him. She tried to move back to the middle but Dean placed his hand on her leg to keep her next to him.
After returning to the motel, Dean quickly shot out of the impala and ran to the passenger side.
"Wait! Wait! I changed my mind! I want to go back home!" Chuck yelled as Dean pulled him out of the impala.
Dean just ignored Chuck and dragged him to the motel door. He then kicked it open and dragged Chuck inside. Sarah scrambled after them.
They saw Sam on the bed with a thin blonde woman straddling him. They were fighting and she was about to stab Sam with the demon killing knife. The looked over at the three intruders.
"I am the prophet Chuck!" Chuck yelled.
"You've got to be joking." Lilith grumbled getting off Sam and approaching Chuck.
Dean stepped forward and said, "This is no joke." The room started to shake and tremble and a great white light poured through the windows as Dean continued, "See, Chuck here's got an archangel on his shoulder. You've got about 10 seconds before this room is full of wrath and you're a piece of charcoal. You sure you want to tangle with that?"
Lilith turned to look at Sam then smoked out of her meatsuit. The room returned to normal and they gathered their belongings and left the motel.