The Dark Side of the Moon: 02 In A Crisis
/Sometimes I feel like there's just not enough John Brown fic in the world. So I wrote one! It's not my best work but I really wanted to put something out there for John! Enjoy! (and review) /
If there is one person on this team whose confidence never seems to waver, that was Naru. However, if there is one person that they would want in a crisis, that would be John Brown. He isn't the largest presence among the core SPR group, no that is definitely Naru, or even Takigawa sometimes. Nor has he the most powerful skills at dispelling evil spirits, although that isn't to say that John is weak. His Catholic exorcisms are powerful and among the best in the country, however, he does happen to keep company with some of the best spiritualists around.
What John has that sets him apart is a seemingly endless well of comforting energy. When the young priest arrives at a case, everyone relaxes even just slightly. There is something about how he manages to keep calm, even in the most dire of situations. Others may lose their cool, but John, even terrified out of his mind somehow appears to always keep calm. Mai swears she's never seen him angry, which she can't say for anyone else in their group. "He may actually be a saint." Monk had said on more than one occasion.
There was one case in particular where John had been targeted above all of the others, specifically because he was a foreigner. Naru had been able to fool the spirit with his Japanese heritage, and Lin had never gone too far from the base, which was well protected by Ayako's paper protection charms. However, John had stuck out like a sore thumb.
By the second day, John had been pushed down stairs, had narrowly dodged six knives that had flown by him in the hallway, and confessed that he had a constant feeling of someone watching him. By noon the second day, he had gone missing.
Monk was livid at how John had just vanished, right before him. The two had been making some rounds, checking out a room with a slight drop in temperature, when John had simply disappeared. Mai was worried, as she hadn't received any relevant dreams and Masako was very upset, recalling how the same had happened to her on the Urado case. Naru, Lin and Yasuhara were working as fast as they could trying to uncover any history behind the house that would help their case, but they were coming up with nothing. Ayako busied herself creating more protection charms, but they all knew that the one they needed to protect was already gone.
Then suddenly, John's image appeared on one of the cameras, specifically the one taping the room that he had disappeared in. He stood, back to the wall, facing what appeared to be a dark cloud, a shadowy and evil-seeming entity. Takigawa sprinted to the door, but nothing he could do would open it. On the camera, John stood calmly as the spirit hurled obscenities at him, cursing him and everyone who dared enter the country. He insulted his character, his powers, his faith, and through it all John remained calm. That isn't to say that John was not scared shitless. He was absolutely terrified, however he is better than even Lin and Naru at repressing his emotions in favor of rational thought when he needs it most.
When the words flying at John did not appear to hurting him, the spirit began with furniture instead. The group at the base watched this all unfold on the screens, unable to do a thing to help. As John's dodging grew slower, and he began to get hit increasingly more, he still did not cry out in anger or fear. He seemed to be calculating both his and the spirit's timing. Then, somehow, in the midst of this bludgeoning, he was able to manage a small rite, not enough to exorcise the spirit completely, but enough to silence him and weaken his barriers on the doors. John collapsed on the floor, just after the Monk managed to break the door down.
The next night, Mai did have a relevant dream, and it turned out the spirit was that of a mentally unstable squatter who had lived there while the house was in disrepair many years ago. With that information, the team was able to successfully cleanse the spirit, as John recovered. He was surprised, and maybe even slightly embarrassed when everyone praised him on his ability to handle the situation, when he was so isolated. He brushed off their compliments and smiled despite the huge bruises covering his face. "No big deal," he had said, as if he had been kidnapped by angry and violent spirits a hundred times before. And smiling in his bed, John's comforting energy made everyone else feel just a little bit better about the whole ordeal.