This is my first time writing an action sequence for a fanfic - hope you like it!
"Hey, time to get up," Dean said, shaking Sophie's shoulder.
He'd chucked a shoe at Sam a few minutes earlier and his younger brother was currently in the bathroom having a passionate fight with his hairbrush.
Sophie rubbed her eyes and nuzzled into Dean's chest, towel bundled up tidily and held up against her stomach.
"Still dark out," Sophie complained, pushing back a strand of hair that had escaped from her bun.
"Yep," Dean replied, "Perfect time to go catch a monster. If you get up now I will make you coffee."
"Will it be good coffee?" Sophie opened both eyes at the mention of caffeine.
"I promise," Dean kissed her head and pulled back the blankets.
They got to the trailhead and 5:13AM. Sophie dangled her feet out the side door of the Impala, humoring Dean and letting him tie her hiking boots. She wore a haphazard combination of dark green and tan, vaguely mirroring the uniform of a Canadian National Parks ranger. It was passable, especially in the dark.
"Can you explain to me, one more time, why you have to tie my boots and pack my bag?" Sophie asked.
"Because if anything happens to you there needs to be a single neck to choke and it needs to be mine," he said simply, "That feel tight enough?"
Sophie flexed her toes and rolled her ankles.
"Yep," she confirmed, "Fine by me."
"So you have your bat," Dean said - checking in Sophie's pack and pockets to confirm everything was in place as he went, "You also have your switchblade. You also have a liter of water, your Relpax, a bag of salt in your pocket, three flashlights, extra batteries, and a lighter. Are you warm enough?"
He adjusted her scarf where it tucked into her coat for what must have been the fifth time.
"Yep," Sophie said.
"You took your anticonvulsants? And the divalproex?" He asked.
"Yes and yes," Sophie answered, "You going to make sure I took my birth control next?"
Dean's face went white.
"You have been taking that…right?"
Sam stifled a laugh.
"Of course I have," Sophie replied.
Dean fastened the chest strap of her backpack and tucked a stray curl up into her beanie.
"Stay between me and Sam at all times," he instructed, "And hit anything that moves with that bat. We clear?"
"Clear," Sophie nodded.
—
They reached the clearing almost an hour before dawn, and to everyone's surprise they found a family out backpacking along the tree line. Sam and Dean stopped short before they broke through the trees, not wanting to cause alarm.
"Sophie," Sam instructed, "You're the least threatening. Go tell them what's up and ask them to leave."
"Tell them there's a tree monster?" Sophie asked.
"Use the Park Service Badge," Dean clarified, "Tell them there's a controlled burn starting this morning and they have to clear out now."
Sophie fumbled through her pockets, found the badge and made her way over to the bright orange tent.
"Knock, knock" she said cheerfully, "Park Service here. Need just a few quick minutes of your time."
A woman in her mid forties unzipped the tent and behind her Sophie could see two boys around eight or ten.
"I have the proper permits ranger," the woman said, almost automatically.
"Oh I'm sure you do," Sophie enthused, "Unfortunately we just got orders in from headquarters and we're going to have to start a controlled burn in the area this morning. So I'm going to need you to clear out now."
"You're doing a controlled burn in November?" The woman didn't look convinced.
"Lower overall fire risk and the jet stream profile is favorable this week," Sophie said quickly and authoritatively. That meteorology degree was coming in handy again.
"So you need us to leave now? We can't wait until sunrise?" The woman asked in disbelief.
"I'm very sorry but they've got planes coming in to douse with fuel at first light. Can't have anybody in the area," Sophie lied.
"Okay, I guess," the woman turned away and shook her sons awake.
"Come on guys," she said, "Park service said we have to go back. Trail work this morning means it won't be safe."
"But mom!" Sophie heard the kids complain as she walked back to Sam and Dean.
"Well done," Sam said when Sophie returned.
"We should have considered the tactical advantages of having someone that looks particularly wholesome come and hunt with us a long, long time ago," Dean muttered.
"Now what?" Sophie asked.
"Now we go start poking around while we wait for them to clear out," Sam said.
"And you do not leave my side," Dean instructed, "Got it?"
"Got it," Sophie confirmed.
They scoured the meadow as they waited for sunrise. But they found little. Half melted snow made it difficult to find footprints and the hurried retreat of the backpacking family further complicated matters. That is until Sophie saw something white peeking through the packed mud and leaves.
"Hey Dean," she said, wishing her voice wasn't shaking like that, "Is that a bone?"
He knelt and pushed back the leaves, revealing a human-sized radius and ulna.
"Well if we were wondering, this is definitely the place," he said, getting back to his feet.
Then the sun started to peek over the horizon and all of them stopped in their tracks. A monster loomed at the far end of the clearing: nine feet tall if it was an inch, arms and legs made of twisted wood, a human ribcage, and a deer's skull.
"It's a leshy," Sophie said quickly.
"A what?" Dean shot her a confused glance.
"Eastern European folk legend. They kill people lost in the woods," she said.
"You know this how?" Dean asked.
"I read a lot of Polish fantasy novels…" Sophie shrugged.
"So how do we kill it?" Sam asked.
"Hack it to bits," Sophie replied, "At least that's what they do in the books."
Dean pulled a machete from his belt.
"That we can do."
Things went well, at least at first. They got a couple hard hits on the Leshy before it grabbed hold of Sam's arm and pulled. Sophie watched as blood welled up around the monster's root-like fingers and could have sworn she heard his shoulder pop out of the socket. So she did the only thing that make sense at the time. She hit the Leshy as hard as she possibly could with her bat. And stumbled back in shock when it took the creature's arm clean off.
Noting that Dean seemed to have the situation well in hand and absolutely positive she wouldn't be able to duplicate what just occurred, Sophie knelt next to Sam and pried the wooden fingers from around his arm. She went to pull off his jacket and get a better view, but he hissed in pain, holding his bad shoulder still with the opposite hand.
Sophie stopped for a moment and dug through her bag.
"Take this," she handed him three pills got out a bottle of water.
"Sophie I don't think migraine medication is gonna help with a shoulder dislocation," Sam protested.
"It's Midol. Which is mostly acetaminophen. It's a bandaid. But I'm positive Dean has something stronger and this will keep you conscious until he can get over here," Sophie insisted.
"Thanks then," Sam said, swallowing the pills, "I guess."
"Dean can pop it back in?" Sophie asked.
Sam nodded, "Should be able to."
"I see how we kept getting hikers with missing limbs," Sophie muttered.
She turned back to Sam, trying to think what else useful she could do.
"Sit tight for a minute, okay?" She said, walking towards the tree line.
"Don't wander off," Sam called feebly.
"I'm not," Sophie assured him.
She took off her hat and scooped handfuls of snow into it.
"This will melt pretty quick but it should feel good at least," she said, pressing it up against Sam's injured shoulder.
Both of them turned to look at Dean when the crack of bone split through the morning air. He was unharmed, thank goodness. The Leshy, however, was swaying where it stood - machete embedded in its skull.
Not a second passed once it hit the ground before Dean was sprinting towards them.
"You okay?" He asked frantically, "Sammy?"
"Dislocated shoulder and some lacerations," Sam said, "It'll suck, but I'll live."
"You alright?" Dean turned to Sophie.
She nodded.
"You saved his life," Dean said, looking back and forth between his two companions.
"Yeah," Sam said, "I think she did."