The bedroom felt almost ten degrees cooler once Dealia had left the room, her fingers wound so tight around Derek's phone, he worried it might break. Derek heard Seth question his mother as she passed before the teenager popped his head into the bedroom, the obvious question written on his face.
"You seriously expect me to believe you didn't know we work together?" Dealia waited until the back door clicked quietly behind her before she allowed herself to respond.
"I don't expect you to believe anything." She let every ounce of anger and resentment she'd reserved for her brothers to bleed into her tone. "To be perfectly honest Spencer, you and I are strangers at this point. The only time you every really cross my mind is when one of my kids sees you in a picture and asks who you are." The silence on the other end only added to her anger.
"Do you really think I got with him to somehow pull one over on you?"
She almost demanded that he answer her before she heard him, "…no." He sounded tired, his change of tone allowed for some of the hair that had been standing straight up to lay flat. "I…I'm sorry." It was her turn to be silent, that wasn't a response she'd been anticipating. "I was just caught off guard." She couldn't hold back the scoff that escaped her lips.
"Well," she took a deep breath, her arms wrapping themselves around her as cool air began to seep through the blanket of anger that had been keeping her warm, "-for what it's worth, I'm sorry you and Derek work together, but him and I are in a bit to deep to turn back now."
There was another awkward pause, "I'll um….I'll let you get back." The words sounded forced, and he continued before Dealia could respond, "do you think we could talk? When you get home I mean?"
"Let me get through Christmas….and I might let you buy me dinner, but I'm not arguing with you, we can talk like civilized adults, or we will grin and bear one another for Derek's sake, kapeesh?"
"I understand." The siblings sat in silence for a moment, neither one of them having expected the call to go as it had. "Merry Christmas." Spencer said as the silenced thickened.
"Merry Christmas."
0000
"I…" Alex took a deep breath as he searched for a response to his grandfather's idea. "-that sounds like a terrible idea." The look on John's face immediately soured, Sam cleared his throat as John went to snap back.
"Alex is right Dad." Sam interjected, "we have no way of knowing if they tampered with the car or not."
"Exactly!" Alex echoed. "At least if we wait until morning, we'll be able to see if the tires have been slashed or not."
John still wasn't a fan of waiting around, "the longer we wait, the more likely they are to bust down the door."
"Well, if the car's fucked, then our options are wait until they bust the door down and make 'em work for it, or we can go outside and roll over." Bobby pipped up from his spot at the kitchen table. John didn't have a response.
"Waiting is our only real option." Dean said, "We're not going to risk four kids." Alex felt his own anxiety calm as his father agreed with him.
"Alex." Mel stood at the foot of the stairs with Ayla a few steps behind her. The young girl had changed into a pare of Gracie's black leggings a long sleeved pink sweater.
Ayla was standing directly behind the women's legs, her face peering out around them at the men.
"Now might not be a good time to have her down here." Alex said, he could see the fear on the girl's face, but Dean already started moving in her direction, doing his best not to scare her.
"Sweetie," Mel gently stroked the young girl's hair, "why don't you tell them what you told me about mommy's job." The five-year-old glanced between Mel and the rest of the room, but mainly Dean as he was the closest, just then having crouched down in an attempt to look less scary.
"My Mommy works for the FBI." She said it like a rehearsed statement. It caught Dean off guard, he'd never told his kids he worked for the FBI or was a cop, having a kid repeat something like that could really mess up a case if the wrong person heard, especially if they weren't using the FBI cover in that location. It wasn't until the kids were old enough to understand the grey-area they lived in that he explained the fake badges and what each of them were or meant.
"FBI huh?" Dean tried to think of what to ask, "that's really cool." He cleared his throat. "Do you and mommy travel a lot?"
"No, mommy doesn't anymore. She got a promotion." Though the young girl mistook the 'o' sounds for a 'w' causing a smile to tug at the corner of Dean's lips.
"That landline works right?" It was Sam who asked the question.
"Yeah, but all the phone numbers we tired are all out of service." Bobby said, "I guess ten years is a bit long to hold onto a number."
"But if Dealia works for the feds, if we call a field office, we might be able to get put through to her or at least someone she knows."
"Who's to say she works for them though? She could just be hunting and telling her kids that as the cover." Alex said.
"Come on Alex. The cover you tell the kids is sales, not law enforcement." John countered.
"So, you wanna just call the FBI and ask for Dealia Winchester. The daughter and niece of famous serial killers. No, you know what? that sounds like a great idea. Let's put our names back on top of their list!"
Sam blinked at his nephew for a moment before relenting, "He's got a point." .
"Just ask her if she knows Dealia's number. Obviously whatever info on her she's got is newer than anything we have." Bobby interjected; the older man was growing impatient with all the cooks in the kitchen.
Dean scolded himself for not thinking of that on his own before repeating the question to the little girl who recited the number without any problems.
Mel took the young girl back upstairs as Alex punched in the cell number. "Let me call her." Dean told his son.
"Dad, you're dead." Alex deadpanned. "We want her to help us, not think it's a trap." He said as he pressed the phone to his ear, as the phone began to ring, Sam put it on speaker. Before Alex had a chance to react, a frustrated Dealia came over the landline.
"Winchester," was her greeting followed by a very irritated, "what?"
"Thank God." The words left Alex's mouth before he had a chance to think. "Dealia, I know you're probably really pissed with me, and uh, I know it's gonna take a while to make it up to you and stuff, but I could really use some help."
There was a brief pause. "Alex?"
"Yes."
"What the fuck man, one weekend. That's all I fucking asked for." Alex was taken aback by the response. "Can it wait till after Christmas? I'm trying to have a vacation here."
"Um, no it can't. My house is surrounded by monsters, and I have a living room of dead relatives. I was kind of hoping for something a bit quicker."
"You what?" Alex could almost hear her blinking at the phone as she processed what he said. "Dead relatives?"
"More like brought back to life relatives." He would have waited on that, but he figured if his sister was as mad at him as he thought she'd be, he would have to present the lives of people she liked. "Listen I don't know what the fuck is happening."
"Whose back? Did you clear them?" Her question caused Alex's eyes to scan the kitchen. She sounded surprised, but it didn't sound earth shattering to her, not like it had felt for Alex.
Dean was getting irritated at the speed in which is son was getting information across. Hearing his daughters voice helped ease the ache in his chest. While it hadn't felt like ten years had passed for Dean, he'd been waiting to see his children and the fact that he'd only stumbled upon one and the dead child of another felt like a cruel joke.
Dean wasn't the only one having issues not jumping in. John was the farthest removed from the current time. Half of the things everyone had been talking about, to him were things of nursery rhymes, angels in particular, the ones Mary would speak over the boys' beds at night. The idea of Purgatory felt even crazier to the old hunter. It didn't help that he wasn't one to just step in line, but he really didn't have a clue where to start other than getting the hell out of there.
"Hello? Alex?" Dean pushed his son slightly away from the phone as he forced his way closer.
"Dealia." He heard the intake of breath over the speaker, and it was her turn to pause. "We don't have a lot of time-"
"What the hell is going on? Dad?" Dean went to say something, but her voice cut him off. "Hey, pack our shit." The phone sounded like she was holding it away from her ear and slightly muffled. Dean heard a male's voice in the background but he couldn't make out what was said. "We're leaving." She said in response. There were sounds of shuffling and a door opening. "Seth, call uncle Weston we're leaving." She didn't come back on the phone until they all heard another door open and shut and the sound of a shower turning on.
"Okay, go ahead." It took Sam elbowing Dean in the side to realize she was talking to him.
"Your Uncle Sam and I never died; we were in purgatory." He waited for her to respond but she didn't, and he continued. "We've been trying to get out, and we heard about someone opening a door, well doors actually. But we finally made it to one before it closed, somehow, we came across your brother and his family as we were trying to get away."
" A door? The fuck you mean a door? Was there mistletoe hanging from the top of it?" Alex snickered at the question earning a glare from his grandfather.
"I mean someone tore a goddamned hole and its open for anything on the other side to hop on over, its bloodier than a Saw movie."
"Okay, so let me get this straight. Alex, who has been actively ignoring me for a decade does have my cell phone, and the two of you just so happen to come back to life all while I'm taking my first vacation in like, forever." She didn't give Dean time to answer, "this sounds like a trap." And the phone went dead.
The men blinked at the phone until John was the one to break the silence. "Call her back." Dean was already putting the number back in before his father finished.
000
Dealia couldn't allow herself time to digest let alone begin to process what that phone call had been. She immediately called the satellite phone she'd assigned to Caleb. She ignored the buzzing that was her brother and crew calling back as she waited for an answer.
She was about to hang up and call another number when the call answered, but it wasn't Caleb, it was Sophia. "Hey, we've got a problem here." Her voice was shifty over the phone. She couldn't quite make out what was happening in the background, or if the signal was just that awful. The tone of her voice made Dealia's heart sink into her stomach.
"What's going on?"
"I've never seen this many monsters. All different species working together." Each word was spaced out between the woman's panting. "We've almost got the property secured." She sounded like she was about to speak again but was interrupted by the sound of yelling.
There were a million questions running through Dealia's head, but she didn't want to distract them anymore than she already was.
"How are you securing it?" She had to trust that Sophia had enough control of the situation to know when to hang up.
"We're trying out the hex blood method. That's the only thing that keeps everything out."
"And who's blood are you using?" She was trying to think of how big Alex's cabin was. Either way that was way too much ground to cover. "That's not meant for big areas like that Sophia! That spell will mean nothing if the person powering the spell bleeds out!"
"We've got it covered." Her tone didn't sound as sure as her words. "Let me call you back when it's safer."
"Wait!" But she'd already ended the call. Dealia's fingertips tips filled themselves with pins and needles as the blood from the top of her body drained towards her feet. The phone vibrated once again with her alleged brother's phone number, and she forced herself to answer it.
"Yes?" Her voice sounded strained even to her.
"Ayla is here too." The statement slammed against her ear like a punch from a drunk man in a bar. She found herself pressing her back into the bathroom door. "Dealia?"
"I heard you." The words came out like generated phrase. She couldn't form together thoughts for an articulated response. The bathroom tile was all her eyes seemed to be able to focus on. The dated white and pink floral accents that took up every fifth tile brought her back to some of the little old lady motels they'd stayed in. This bathroom was cleaner though.
"Dealia." Deans voice pushed through her head again, "where are you?" As he spoke, someone knocked on the door behind her, the handle shook the moment the rapping ended, somewhat pulling her from her trance, allowing the panic to seep in as Derek's voice spoke over her fathers.
"Hey, Weston's here, let's go." Her body didn't feel like her own as she unlocked and allowed for him to push the door open. She could hear the sounds of the twins crying but it sounded as if they were being carried away as the crying got softer until she was unable to hear it. "They're packing the kids up; our stuff is already in the car."
He must have been able to see the shock on her face as he gently pulled her from the bathroom towards the front door of the cabin after shutting off the shower. It was then that she noticed the M16 that was strapped around his chest, and she froze. They hadn't come into the cabin with that.
"Weston gave it to me."
Before she could question him more, Seth barreled back through the front door. "Mom!" His voice fell over her like a bucket of ice water. Weston was close behind him. "What's going on?"
"In the car." Was her immediate response.
"But-"
"No, I will explain what I know when we are safe. In the car, now." Derek's hand that had been at her lower back fell as she moved from him to direct her son back outside.
She all but forgot about the phone call until she heard the muffled sound of her name again after settling in the front seat of the suv that Weston had directed her to. She wanted to argue when he put her in a different car then Derek and her children, but he was quick to remind her she wouldn't want them to hear whatever it was they needed to speak about.
"Sorry, sorry. I'm back." She pressed the phone back against her ear. "You guys aren't alone out there. I've got people outside. They've been keeping the monsters out of your hair." Weston pulled out onto the highway, the car with the kids in front of them.
"How long have they been out there?" She could tell by Dean's tone that he hadn't expected her to actually answer him.
"Since earlier this afternoon." Her eyes shot to Weston. "Can you get the director on the phone for me?"
She heard a different voice in the background, "That explains why no one's busted down the door."
"Bobby?" She felt crazy for even asking but the other end was silent for a heartbeat too long. "I want a headcount of everyone in that goddamned cabin."
Alex was the one to answer. "So far, its, dad, Uncle Sam, Bobby, grandpa and your daughter."
"I swear to God, if this is some kind of sick joke or trap. I will…. I don't even know yet, but it will be slow and-"
"Hey, Dealia." Weston cut her off, offering her his phone.
"Give me a second." She put them on speaker before muting them on her end, ignoring their protests as she took Weston's phone.
"What's going on?" George questioned her the moment he heard her voice.
"That's a good question. So far what I've been told is that someone opened up a portal to purgatory and monsters that have already been killed are flooding back over onto this side. Essentially coming back to life. On top of that, apparently my father and uncle have been trapped in purgatory this entire time." She half expected him to remain silent on the other end, but he surprised her.
"What do you need me to do?"
"I need people. The national guard maybe, army reserves?" She pinched the bridge of her nose as she tried tuning out her family trying to get her attention. "Um, Um. We need to shut down the state completely. No one comes in or out without being being cleared. I don't know how long they've been crossing over but the more we can contain, the quicker we can take them out."
"How exactly are they going to keep the borders secure? They aren't trained for this type of offender."
"Tanks and serious fire power. They said this isn't the only door that's been opened. There's a very good chance that this is going to get very bad very fast."
"Do you have any idea the kind of public panic that will generate?"
"Right, cause vamps and werewolves running around and ripping people's throats out wont cause panic. This is going to be, if it already isn't, a blood bath like you've never seen before. We need to do everything within our power to contain this. Otherwise, we run the risk of not only being outnumbered, but surrounded at that. Either way, we have agents fighting for their lives outside of my brother's, we will at the very least need some type of armored vehicles to get them and everyone inside the cabin out safely."
"That I can do for sure. But Dealia, I can't just wave a magic wand and call on the army reserves. That's going to take time. Have you verified any of this information?"
"I've spoken to Agent Green. She verified that they are under attack by several different species of monsters who are all working together. Which corroborates what Alex told me over the phone. Agent Green said she'd call once they secured the area to give me a clear update on what's happening. I have contact with my brother and everyone inside, but I can't be sure they are who they claim to be until the agents can get inside and check everyone over."
"Okay. I will contact the closest armory to you and see what I can get to you. In the meantime, I will start what I need to do in case we need to shut the state down." Dealia tasted the blood in her mouth before she felt her teeth slice through her cheek in her attempt to mind her tongue. Instead she switched.
"My dad and uncle aren't the only ones back. They said Ayla is there too." She saw Weston's head snap in her direction, but she couldn't acknowledge him. She closed her eyes tightly as the images of the last time she'd seen her daughter fluttered through her head. "And Bobby and my grandfather John. This- "she couldn't stop the hiccup from cutting herself off.
"Take a deep breath." George ordered her over the phone. He waited a few heartbeats before continuing. "Let your agents do their jobs, we cannot get ahead of ourselves. If they are who they say they are, we will get them out of there, the agents you trained will make sure of that. And if they aren't then we will make an example out of them." She found herself nodding, almost unable to answer him verbally until she realized he couldn't see her.
"Okay."
"Give yourself a moment. Call me when you get to the field office."
"Okay."
"Pass the phone back to Weston." She did so without further response. He answered a few yes or no questions before hanging up. She went to go unmute her phone, but Weston gestured for her not to.
"Ayla?" She could see he was trying to keep his face neutral, but his eyes were wide, and his jaw was tight.
"That's what they said."
"They all just came back to life?"
"Everyone but dad and Uncle Sam. Other than purgatory I don't know where the others came from." It was an important distinction that they were in another realm. That was different than being dead.
"What the fuck is going on?"
"Tell me about it." She didn't take the phone off speaker but took it off mute. "Okay I'm back again. What was I talking about before?"
"You were threatening to kill us." Her father's voice came back over the speaker.
"Right, did I get my point across, or do I need to repeat myself?" The look Weston shot her was almost enough for her to smile.
"You were pretty clear, are you actually free to talk?"
She sputtered for a second, "Bitch! You've been dead for ten years. I've been trying to figure out how the hell to get you out, my bad that in the last 30 minutes I've had to make like four different phone calls." She took a deep breath. "How is Ayla?" She almost didn't want to ask, she wasn't sure if she could handle getting her hopes up only for the girl to be a monster of some kind. But she couldn't not ask. On the slim chance it was her daughter, the idea of her being out there, surrounded by unfamiliar people, monsters outside, she couldn't imagine how scared she was, confused.
"She's upstairs playing with my kids." Alex said.
"Has she said anything? Does she-" she forced herself to swallow the tears that were building in the back of her throat. It took her a second to finish the question. "Do you know if she remembers what happened?"
"She said that the last thing she remembers, was coming out of her bedroom to you and her father arguing, she said she remembers a loud bang but that's it." Dealia's eyes closed tightly as that night came back into her head, the only time she'd 'allowed' herself to dwell on it were in the confines of her own nightmares. "She's not injured and She doesn't seem traumatized." Alex added after Dealia didn't answer, his tone softer. "Well, considering she woke up alone in a cabin with Grandpa and Bobby, I wouldn't go as far as saying she's not somewhat traumatized after that experience." She knew he meant it as a joke, but he was right. Ayla had always been very shy and mistrustful of new people.
"Wait. So the three of them woke up together in the cabin? Where did dad and Uncle Sam come in?"
"They ran out in front of my car while we were on our way here." Dealia's lips pursed as she shot Weston a sidewise glance. "I made them follow me back to the cabin, we saw there were lights on, Dad demanded to go in first and he found Bobby and Gramps and the girl was hiding upstairs."
"And I take it they have no idea who put 'em there?"
"Sounds like you're all caught up." Bobby's voice cut through the background. "Now, what is the plan?"
"The plan is for you guys to hold tight while my guys get you out."
"Hold tight?" Now it was John who was speaking.
"Yes. My people told me they had it covered. Hold tight. Things are different now and if you go out there, they will probably shoot you on sight and they have pretty big guns."
"I'm confused." Dean said. "You already had hunters out here?"
"Yes. When I realized that Alex and I would be in the same state, I brought people with me just to be safe. I had hunters with me and I sent some to watch over Alex and his family."
"But why?"
"Like I said earlier. Things are different now."
"How did you even know we would be here? We switch it up every year." Alex interjected.
"Alex, you literally posted what y'all were doing on Facebook."
"You're on my facebook?"
"You have it set to public dipshit. And even if you didn't, I hacked your email and shit like 5 years ago." She could hear her father laughing on the other end while both Bobby and John were asking what Facebook was.
"What about Spencer?" Dean spoke again, the laughter seemingly gone from his tone.
"He's fine." She said dismissively. His name did remind her of him and his team now being possible hostages and her attention turned back to Weston, her phone once again going on mute. "Speaking of him, Wes, can you have him and his team taken into to protective custody? Like immediately." She continued to process the other possibilities. Like this just being one big distraction. "Derek's family too."
"Are you sure?" She knew he was referring to the last group of people she mentioned.
"Call Derek first and ask him the best way to tell them. Let him know the danger level for them is very low but I can not take any chances of someone that has an emotional hold over me or the people close to me getting taken. If we protect the inner circle they will go after the outer rings." He nodded as he did as she requested.
"Dad, can you hear anything happening outside the cabin?"
"No, we've been trying to figure out where your guys are."
"They were given orders to not be seen by Alex. There's a good chance they're closer to ground zero."
"Baby, these woods are crawling with monsters. Sam and I would have come across them if they were close enough to stop the monsters from getting this far." His logic made sense, but she still didn't trust that he was who he said he was and she couldn't exactly bounce ideas off of the enemy.
She settled on, "They said they had it covered."
"You still haven't answered why you have bodyguards with you on vacation." Alex pipped up again.
"I'm not explaining shit to you until I know for a fact, you're you. Why is that hard for you guys to get?"
"And we're just supposed to trust that your "people" aren't actually monsters themselves? The only reason we even got your number was because the 5-year-old none of us know told us it was your number." Alex shot back. "For all we know, whoever brought everyone back put her here as some kind of…spy."
"He's got a point." Weston said from the driver seat, his phone pressed against his ear, though his face told her, he was in fact speaking to her. She shushed him with a pointed glare. "If they are bad guys, just tell them what they would already know. You being in the FBI isn't new news to anyone who hasn't died in the last decade, if it was then they would have brought back a fake Spencer as well." She opened her mouth to retort, but it made sense.
"Fine. My boss wouldn't allow me to leave the state without bringing people with me."
"Your boss?" Dean questioned.
"Long story short, when I was 18, I got caught up in some shit and when the FEDS found me, they offered me a job or prison. They needed someone to train people how to hunt who also knew their way around the already established hunters. Basically, being a hunter is a real job now and because I'm high up in the chain of command, my boss didn't feel comfortable with me going so far away from home without backup. Especially since he knew that Alex and his family would be out here as well. Too many coincidences, and it looks like he was right."
There was a long silence. She wasn't sure how they would take it. Part of her was a little worried her father would be pissed but she was trying to focus on the millions of other things happening. The car ride at that point had only felt like a few minutes, but they were pulling into the back of the Tennessee field office. The moment their SUV pulled in through the gate, it was being closed behind them.
As her car door was pulled open and there were several agents surrounding their cars as they filled out and were rushed into the building. As she tried to locate whoever was currently in charge, her phone started vibrating again with Sophia's satellite number taking up the screen. "Hey, I'll be right back." She didn't wait for a response before answering the other call.
"Dealia. I don't know how else to describe this, but we have a hole in the middle of the woods." The agent sounded tired and breathless, but the sounds of fighting and chaos were no longer taking up the background.
"It's a door to purgatory." Dealia explained.
"So you know what the hell is happening?" She almost sounded relieved.
"Not exactly, my brother called me from the cabin."
"They have cell service?"
"It's probably a landline. That doesn't really matter, give me an update of what you guys are currently looking at."
"I….we fought our way to the…door. We managed to secure that with the hex bags."
"So you weren't doing it around the cabin?"
"No, you were right. Way too much area to cover. But the monsters that are already out don't seem to care about us or your brother."
"What do you mean?"
"Like, they didn't attack us outside of defending themselves until we started trying to keep them in. And now that we finished, they all took off. The agents who were left to watch the house haven't reported anything." Dealia wasn't a fan of that answer, it just put further weight on this all being some big distraction.
"Okay, we can figure out the monster part in a second." She tried to explain everything going on in the cabin as concise as possible to Sophia.
"I'm sorry, did I hear that right?"
"Yes."
"How many agents do you want me to leave with the door?
"My dad said the other doors closed eventually. Leave half. Take the others back to the cabin and check everyone over. If they're human, then you have a decent number of hands. Let me know what happens."
"Okay." When she brought her family off hold she could hear them arguing, well John and Dean arguing. Weston started leading her down a hall way.
"We're just supposed to trust them?" It was John who was seemingly raising the issue. "You don't think it's weird that she already had all these things set up?"
"Dad, you've been dead since the triplets were 10. It's weird, I've got just as many bells going off as you, but even at 16, Dealia's always been a Boy Scout when it comes to being prepared." Dean said, she heard John retort in the background, but she couldn't quite make out what was being said.
"Honestly, if they wanted to kill us, they could have just done it already." Sam interjected.
"Why would they do that if they just went to all that work to bring us back to life?" She could hear John again.
"That's assuming they are the same people, if everything Dealia's saying is kosher, she's got more access to information then we ever dreamed of having." She could tell Sam was starting to get a little excited. "Not to mention, who knows just how much the technology has advanced over the last 10 years."
"Yeah, what Einstein said." Dean said.
"We aren't exactly in the position to be choosers." Bobby said, though she had to strain to hear him. "I say we just see what happens and go from there."
She decided to put them out of their misery. "Okay boys. Help is headed your way." Her voice stalled any conversation on their end.
"Like you're coming or you're sending people?" Dean asked.
"My guys secured the hole." She said briefly. "Now before they get to you, I'm going to tell you how this is all going to play out. There should be at least three people coming inside. A girl and two other guys. They might have four more people around who are watching the cabin but they shouldn't need to come inside unless something changes."
"So you have six people out here? How did they secure it?"
"10, but the others are making sure no other monsters get through, listen, after everyone is accounted for, I promise I will answer any questions you have, but I don't have time for it right this second." She continued on before anyone else could complain. "When they knock on the door please cooperate. The way we clear people is different than the typical, salt, silver and iron routine. They will do it for you if that's what you need to feel comfortable."
"What do you mean different?" Bobby asked.
"You remember how cops would test for meth? Drop the rock in the bag, shake it up and the color changes depending on what it is?"
"Yeah…"
"Just like that, just with some blood and the color will change based on the species you are. Vamps turn red, shifters turn blue, so on and so forth." They came up on what looked like a conference room with about six other agents who were all crowded around the phone on the desk. The director's voice emanated around the room, the men not even noticing the newcomers, at least until she began speaking again. "I have to go. They have orders to call me after they get settled."
"No, no, no, stay on the phone." He used the same voice from when she was a kid.
"Dad, I need to figure out where all the bad guys who made it out went." She argued. "I promise you are in good hands." She didn't wait for a response before hanging up.
000
"Well, she doesn't listen any better than she used to." Alex said after watching the vein on his forehead head pulse for a solid four seconds. His father shot him a look, his teeth digging into his tongue. Dean shook his head and walked towards the front door. He slowly pulled the curtain away from the window on the front door.
Alex wasn't sure how things were going to go down. He couldn't imagine any of the men in the house just allowing people in. He wondered if Dean would try and question them from the door. Maybe throw out some silver and iron like Alex had done from the car. That seemed more likely than Dean rolling out the red carpet.
Bobby, John and Sam were silent, like they were waiting for Dean to report something. "They're coming up." Dean pulled the pistol he'd taken from Alex out from behind his waist band as unlocked and opened the door.
"Dad!" Alex barely managed to get out before his dad's shoulders moved through the door frame.
"Fuckin' idgit'." Bobby grumbled out as he moved after Dean, John close behind.
"Hey, Dealia said not to approach them."
"They're here. We've done as we were told." John argued back.
"If we rush them, I would shoot us too." Sam said, his tone almost casual. Alex had a small 'I told you so' moment in his head as his father slowly backed into the cabin with his hands raised above his head, a look of clear annoyance on his face as a women's voice instructed him to move slowly.
"Okay, if everyone would just line up against that far wall, don't reach for a weapon, no sudden movements or outbursts and everything will work out alright." She leveled her assault rifle as her eyes scanned the men in the room who obviously weren't happy to do as they were told. "Where are the kids?"
No one answered her.. She made eye contact with the man to her left while the man to the right shut and locked the front door again. They wore the typical dark blue FBI Kevlar vests with black long-sleeved shirts and tactical pants.
"I don't know how much you got to talk to Dealia so I'm just going to explain how this is going to go. I'm Sophia, that's Caleb and This is Ryan." She pointed out the men in turn. "I have a silver knife, but if you guys prefer we use yours that's cool too. We'll check you guys out, make sure everyone is good and then we'll call Dealia and see how the rescue plan is coming along, sound good?" They still remained silent. She took that as an answer and pulled her own knife out, passing her gun to Ryan, Caleb still had his at the ready, pointed towards the floor.
She ran through the routine, pulling up the sleeves for the other two and slicing them also. None of the Winchesters looked convinced but they were a bit less tense. "Now, what are these meth test things my daughter was going on about?" Dean broke the silence. The agent introduced as Ryan made an audible sigh at the question, his gaze turning towards Caleb.
"She's got to stop calling them meth tests."
"She compares them." Caleb said, the grin he was trying to cover up peeking out from the corners of his mouth. "Just so they have an idea of what to expect."
"It's unprofessional."
"That women doesn't have a professional bone in her body."
"Shit talking your boss in front of people you haven't cleared yet seems a bit more unprofessional." Sam piped up from his spot on the wall. Caleb's grin fully emerged.
"Careful Ry." Sophia joined in, though her tone was significantly less playful then Caleb. "Basically," she turned her attention back to the Winchester's as she pulled out a small plastic box with two metal latches on the side to open it, "I have a small lancet, like they use for checking someone's blood sugar. I use that to take a small drop of blood, drop it into the little test baggie, and whatever color the liquid at the bottom turns will tell us if your human or something else." She's opened the box, pulling each item out as she explained the process. "Easy peasy?"
Dean and the rest of them looked between one another before Dean spoke again. "I'll go first." He went to step forward but even with the grin on his face, Caleb rose the rifle a bit to remind the older hunter of the previous instructions.
"I'll come to you." Sophia offered, moving as she did so. Dean didn't look happy about it, but he gave her hand over when she asked for it. The small click from the lancet as she pushed the button made him jump more then the actual needle did, earning a chuckle from his brother, Dean shot him a glare. The interaction went somewhat unnoticed by the agents as Sophia squeezed the tip of Dean's finger enough for a few drops to fall into bag. She stepped away slightly as she mixed up the contents. The tightness in her shoulders almost seemed to disappear as the color blue began to overtake the plastic.
000
Spencer felt his head almost lull back against the headrest while his ears tried to make out the words of the unfamiliar agents sitting ahead of him. They alternated between silence and hushed whispers. Spencer almost didn't want to know; he couldn't force himself to ask questions from the moment they dropped his sister's name.
They'd introduced themselves as Agent Sullivan and Agent Everett but would not provide a department name.
He lived roughly 10 minutes from the bureau, but with the lack of traffic and led foot, the arrival time was cut in half. Something must have happened in the small amount of time it'd been since Dealia hung up.
Spencer was led through an entrance he'd never used, they stepped inside an elevator, but instead of the floor numbers going up, they went down. The agents, two men, stood silently as they descended two floors below ground level.
The doors opened to a narrow hallway that led into a small lobby. There were no chairs, no metal detectors, just a small ten by ten room taken up by a reception desk and the door behind it.
"Another one?" The agent who took up the desk questioned. Spencer was told to stay put as they moved closer and began speaking in hushed whispers.
Spencer didn't try to hear; he was too focused on the room. The lack of windows made the already cramped room seem claustrophobic. There seemed to be a small amount of effort towards the décor, a large bright blue candy dish taking up the corner of the desk, several pieces of art hung from the walls, but none of that mattered once he saw the cast iron gate that covered the door behind reception. No number of bright colors or paintings would ever dull the anxiety he felt at picturing what the purpose of that gate was.
"Hey, you good?" Agent Everett asked. Spencer had to swallow the lump in his throat as all the different reasons for an iron gate ran through his head.
"Can I talk to my sister?" He tried to keep his tone calm as the agents looked between themselves.
"Our orders are to bring you here with the rest of your team." Agent Sullivan said. He turned back to the agent at the desk and motioned for her to let them through. "Imma be honest with you," he turned back to Spencer as he nodded for him to follow. The motor on the gate began to whine and crank through the room as it was pulled across the wall to reveal another elevator. Agent Sullivan waited until the room went quiet before continuing, "we're not 100% sure what's going on ourselves." Spencer had to force his legs to move into the second elevator, this one numbered from 10 to 1 in descending order.
"Is that gate to keep things in or out?" Spencer couldn't keep the question from falling out of his mouth.
"Both." Agent Everett answered without a beat. He seemed to be analyzing Spencer as much as Spencer was the two of them. "So, you're one of Dealia's brothers?"
"Yes."
"Eric." Sullivan cautioned the other agent. Eric dismissed the warning with a quick click of his tongue.
"Its just a question." Spencer watched the discomfort filter over Sullivan's face as Eric turned back to Spencer. "We don't hear much about the two of you." He continued. "I wouldn't have thought you were this close to her…location wise."
"That makes two of us." Spencer said back. "Is she okay?" Eric opened his mouth, but it was Sullivan who interjected.
"She gave the orders to bring you and your team in. That's all we know." Spencer looked to Eric as he's been more forthcoming, but his lips didn't twitch. Spencer opened his mouth to speak again but the doors opened to another hallway and his question died in his throat. He hadn't been expecting anything in particular, but they came out onto a breezeway that overlooked a rather large cubical farm. The partitions were made of glass and only seemed to come up about 5 feet. The outskirts were lined with with an assortment of offices and conference rooms. The breezeway they stood on extended around the perimeter of the room, another round of doors and name plates mirroring the bottom level.
Eric cleared his throat, nodding for the agent to follow once Eric had caught his eye. Spencer was led to the left around the breezeway to the fourth door down the row, passing three doors with name plates, Sophia Green, Noah Long, and Gage Myers. Not one of those names rang a bell for Spencer. They ushered him into the conference room they had filled with furniture, making it more of a holding room.
JJ with Will were seated on one couch Henry sleeping against JJ's chest, Hotch sat catty corner on a loveseat with a small table filling the corner between the two. There was another couch along the other wall where Jack was curled up with a blanket and pillow. A recliner took up the corner. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" JJ questioned immediately, her tone was a thick mixture of panic and frustration, not that Spencer could blame her due to the time they'd been pulled from their beds.
"No." He turned back to the agents.
"Someone will come explain what's happening as soon as they tell us we can." Eric assured her. Sullivan had already left the room. "From my understanding, Dealia and your guy, her kids, they are fine." That made Spencer feel a little better but he knew his sister wouldn't have sent for them if it wasn't serious. "I wish I could tell you more." The door shut quietly behind him before JJ turned on Spencer.
"Spencer I know you know more then we do." She gestured between herself and Hotch, her tone hushed.
Spencer took the empty seat next to Hotch. "I spoke to Dealia a little over an hour ago." He licked his lips, "everything seemed fine, she agreed to let me take her out to dinner after Christmas." He searched their conversation for any sign or warning but came up empty.
"Then whatever happened, happened immediately after you two hung up then." Hotch joined.
"She might have been tipped off about something, her being out of town might have given someone confidence to do something." Spencer was grasping at straws. "Rossi probably knows….i was 16 the last time I spoke with her, this." He gestured towards the door, "this wasn't a thing when I was a kid. The police weren't involved other then the ones dad would meet while traveling." For the first time in as long as he could remember, he really didn't know what to say.
"Did she call you?" JJ asked.
"No…I called Derek to apologize." Spencer said. "She…I guess she walked in when he was talking to me and took the phone." He saw the look on her face, but he couldn't figure out if her expression was more sympathetic or disappointed.
Before she could respond, the door opened again where Eric led in Emily and Garcia before shutting the door behind them. "What is happening?" Garcia's panicked voice was directed to anyone with an answer while Emily gently pulled her to where the other were seated. Will and JJ made room for the two of them.
"Has anyone heard from Derek or David?" Emily questioned.
"They said Derek's probably fine. But David hadn't been brought in yet." Will offered the women.
"Probably?" Garcia's tone rose higher than it had been previously, Emily placed her hand on the panicked woman's arm and brought her attention to the sleeping children in the room. Garcia made an audible gasp before physically going through the motions of trying to keep her mouth shut.
"I don't think they know much." Hotch said, nodding towards the door as Spencer began explaining the little bit of information they'd acquired.
"So we just wait then?" Garcia whispered.
"There's nothing else we can do." Spencer stressed. "We are going to let Dealia and her people do whatever they need to."
"Spence, you being so freaked out about this, isn't helping." JJ said as gently as she could. "What aren't you telling us?"
"I…" He didn't know what to tell her. "My family was involved in….things that are worse then what we deal with." He said it as a statement. Matter of fact. His father may not have agreed but Spencer would choose serial killers over the monsters any day. People were predictable, they walked to a beat, might be different to the individual but if you could learn the notes you could write the rest.
"But," he continued, "I really have no idea what's happening. If…if Dealia never stopped hunting, then there is no telling…." He took a deep breath and sighed.
"Hunting?" Emily asked and Spencer's nose wrinkled when he realized. He didn't even know where to start.
000
Dealia paced the length of the small office she'd been given. They'd done what they could, well it was more like she'd given her orders and was waiting on everything to be completed and for an update.
The director was informing those that needed to be informed. Half her agents at the field office were showing the available agents the basics until she gave the orders to fetch those in the cabin. The other half split themselves amongst the two police stations on either side of the cabin in case calls started going out. Stretched thin was an understatement.
She was still waiting for an update from Caleb or Sophia. She couldn't face Seth until she knew if Ayla was real. She couldn't go in there to his questions unless she had that fact, even if Ayla was real, Dealia wasn't sure how to explain this to her children. Or Derek even, a whole new wave of anxiety washed over her at the thought of him.
"Dealia?" Her name was followed by a few quick knocks before Weston popped his head in.
His voice had made her jump. "What?" The door opened wider as he came inside, Derek close behind. She sputtered, "uhh- I." Derek nodded at Weston who left, the door shutting behind him. "I can't." She almost pleaded to him.
Derek didn't say a word as he pulled her into him. She mumbled into his chest, but even she wouldn't have been able to make words or phrases from the sound. He let her ramble on until her breathing got shaky and it took more weight to support her. "Hey." She could feel the warmth of his breath in her hair while while she clung to him. She could feel him moving her, her legs complying reluctantly. He peeled her face from his chest as he lowered her into the desk chair. She didn't want to separate from him, she was worried this would be the last time he held her like that. "Baby." He pushed the hair from her face, using his hands to make her meet his eyes while he crouched down in front of her, his side almost touching the desk's bottom cabinets. "Talk to me. No more secrets."
"I don't know where to start." Her voice broke at the end as she tried downing her anxiety like she would a shot of tequila, tequila always went down smoother.
"Let's start with who you were on the phone with at the rental." She choked out a sob at the directness of his question. He didn't sound angry or upset but she knew his composure wouldn't be able withstand everything he wanted to know.
"My dad." The words came out in a whisper, but he was leaned in close enough to hear her clearly. She watched him through her glossy eyes as he processed her words. She couldn't read his emotions and it made her want to slam her head into a wall. It was like watching a car accident and waiting for the car to explode but it never does. She needed to know what he was thinking.
He clarified. "Dean Winchester?"
She nodded while taking in a shaky breath. "What did Weston tell you?"
Derek let out a dry laugh, "he said "monsters are real" and then gave me a pamphlet and an m16." She winced, her nose scrunching up and the thought of Derek being handed that damn pamphlet. So monsters are real? She honestly hated it, but everyone else seemed to think it softened the blow. Nothing softened the blow.
She swallowed. "I hate that fucking pamphlet." She said it more to herself but it put a small crack in Derek's demeanor, the ghost of a twitch on the edge of his lips. Just the hint of amusement made her relax exponentially. But she couldn't keep anymore secrets from him if she wanted to salvage whatever feelings he had left for her. She wouldn't have had any.
000
He sat through her entire speech in silence. He didn't interrupt, make a noise, he even attempted to keep his face as neutral as possible, like he would in an interrogation. He could tell his demeanor was stressing her out, but he figured this was better then reacting in a way that damaged the little foundation of a relationship they had.
He'd had enough time to read the pamphlet cover to cover, forwards and backwards. Iron, holy water, silver and a shit ton of other things he never once would have thought could turn the odds in a life or death situation. But as she explained her knowledge of what was happening out in the forest surrounding her brothers cabin, it all seemed so much more complicated then what he read. But of course that was the case.
"How often do people just get…brought back to life?" He was trying to wrap his head around it without calling bullshit on the whole situation. He knew it wasn't bullshit. Dealia wouldn't have men armed to the teeth, pull her children out of bed in the middle of the night and then lie to him. Weston wouldn't lie to him. All the agents in the field office, the other officials having been in called were taking her completely serious, even if she hadn't changed out of her fuzzy pajama bottoms and long sleeved top.
"Honestly more then you would think, but it hasn't happened that I know of since my father and uncle came back the last time."
Derek put a note in his mind to circle back to last time. "What about the others? Have they come back before."
"Bobby has come back a few times, but this is the first time my grandfathers made a reappearance. And then….Ayla."
He squeezed her thigh and continued before she got too upset, he understood she was already close to the edge, and honestly he was too. "Who, or what I guess, would have brought them back?"
"I don't know." He could see the frustrated honesty clear on her face, "probably angels or a really higher upper level demon of some kind working with some serious juju." The more she spoke, the calmer she became.
He pretended like she didn't just casually drop angels and demons into the conversation. "Is there anything that isn't real?"
"Santa." She offered meekly. "Bigfoot."
"So all the cool stuff?" It was served to lighten the mood for which it succeeded.
She shrugged, "I mean, angels can be pretty cool when they aren't being self-righteous mega cunts." Derek blinked at her for a moment before allowing himself to laugh almost nervously, like he'd be struck down from the sky for entertaining the comment.
"Does that…" He cleared his throat to make room for the absurdity that was about to clear his mouth, "what about God?" The question to him felt like a loaded gun as he watched her amusement turn to irritation.
She took a deep breath, the broken down woman from a moment ago seemingly no longer in the room. "He's real." She offered Derek a half shrug, "but I can promise you he doesn't give a fuck about what happened or will happen to us." She leveled her eyes with his. He felt his mouth open and close.
He'd grown up in the church, the death of his father had robbed his faith long before he'd met Dealia. But to look at this woman in the eyes, a woman that seemed to answer more questions then he asked every time she opened her mouth, her felt her statement hit him like an ice cold bucket of water.
Her hand reached out for his face, "I'm sorry." Her thumb brushed over his chin as she shook her head softly. "I don't like taking away people's faith." Her thumb and forefinger tightened on his chin while her gaze bore into his, "but I will never lie to you." He could read the promise in the green of her eyes like the fine print of a contract.
"How do you know?"
"That he's real or that he left to get milk and never came back?"
"Dealia! if my mother heard you…"
"You've been reading his FanFiction too much." She laughed. "He's been gone for a long time Derek. He's not even a blip on my radar anymore. We're on our own, we've always been on our own."
"I'm just…"
"Wrapping your head around it?"
"I keep expecting cameras to jump out." He admitted and Dealia laughed.
"Honey, I've been waiting on those cameras since I was five years old."