Fic: The Road To Heaven Bestrewed With Amaranth (6/??)
Rating: overall R for language, violence, blood and sexual themes;
Genre: romance, adventure, time travel;
Pairing/Characters: Dean/Castiel (pre-slash), Bobby, Sam, Jesse Turner, OFC;
Spoilers: The fic starts from the middle of season 6 and alternates the end of it, but also has spoilers for 7x1;
Word Count: WIP (3880 this part);
Beta: eridanie;
Chapter Disclaimer: This chapter is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
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Masterpost
“There’s another question: why would you fall? Why would you wanna be one of us?”
Chapter 6
A Song of a Banshee, Part 1March 2011;
Bloody Run County Park. Iowa;
The web of thick tree branches was entangled above Dave’s head. It was getting dark, really dark, although the guy was pretty sure it was a middle of a day no more than half an hour ago. Dave wasn’t a person who would usually believe in all the scary-stories about magic and ghosts, he wasn’t a person who could be scared easily by creepy places either, but there was something in here that was making the blood freeze in his veins - a dark feeling he was neither able to understand nor control.
“Chris? Steve? I’m going to kick your asses when I find you!” He yelled into the depth of the forest but didn’t receive even an echo in reply.
Dave stopped for a second trying to look around. He was considering simply turning around and giving up on the stupid bet he made with his friends, even if it probably meant that now everyone in school would consider him a chicken, but then he realized that there wasn’t any way back. The forest around the guy was dense and somber and it was impossible to understand which direction he had come from in the first place. Dave fished his phone from the pocket of his jacket trying to pinpoint his location on a GPS map, but the stupid device didn’t have any kind of signal out here.
The panic inside him was progressively rising, it seemed that it was difficult to hear anything because of how loudly Dave’s own heart was beating in his chest. Panic was unreasonable, and he knew it. There wasn’t anything around him that could make him feel this way. Yes, the forest was dark and creepy, yes it really looked like he was lost but other than that, there was nothing. Dave was a very smart guy, despite all the stereotypes of football captains one could have, he remembered from his Boy Scout training how people should behave in a situation like this, how to survive in a forest when you got lost. He knew that panic was the last thing to do, that he had to calm down and calculate his next move with care, but he couldn’t bring himself to do it. All he wanted right now was to run as far as his legs could carry him.
Taking several deep breaths he closed his eyes trying to relax, but it didn’t help. Not sure what else to do he continued to move forward wrapping his arm around himself, like he was cold. Several times he saw shadows lurking behind the trees but was trying to convince himself that it was only his imagination playing dirty tricks on him. Each time it was more and more difficult.
After several long minutes Dave finally reached a small opening in the forest which looked brighter than the forest cover he had left a second ago. From here he could hear a roar of rushing water coming from the left. This could be his way out, because finding yourself near a river was the best thing if you were lost in the forest - not only would you not need to worry about water, but all rivers would take you somewhere in the end if you stuck with it. Without second thought the guy moved towards the sound of the water, feeling surprisingly relieved about finding a potential way out of this trap.
When the sound of the river was so close Dave was sure he could reach it any moment, a very quiet song reached his ears. It was a beautiful melody, familiar as a lullaby he heard from own mother as she sang it to Dave’s younger sister when she was just a toddler and he was five years old, but at the same time it was alien, unfamiliar and filled with so much sadness that the guy felt tears starting to roll down his cheeks. Every emotion mixed inside the teenager’s head, all the fright he felt moments ago disappeared to be replaced by a beautiful sad song luring him closer and closer to the river which he could now see but couldn’t hear, as every single sound around him but the melody disappeared.
Several more steps closer to the sound and Dave could see the source of the song - a middle age woman was sitting on the shore on one of the rocks bending to the water as she washed a piece of cloth. She was pale, dressed in a white dirty dress with her long chestnut hair falling on her shoulders and sang, not paying any attention to Dave’s appearance.
“Excuse me, ma’am?” The teenager called, “I think I got lost what is the direction of a nearest town?” He asked.
The women stopped to sing and turned her head looking Dave right in the eyes. The air around the guy suddenly became so cold that Dave exhaled a puff of steam, the feeling of dread and fear suddenly returned and now it was even stronger. He tried to shake it off, but it really was impossible. The woman tilted her head, then she pulled a velvet jacket from the water holding it out and started to cry. The jacket was covered in blood and looked exactly like the one Dave was currently wearing. The teenager couldn’t resist hiding his hands in the pockets of his own jacket but suddenly realized that he wasn’t wearing it any longer.
“What the…” He swore and his voice trembled in panic.
He took several careful steps back then turned and started to run. The fear inside him had become unbearable and he could hear his own blood pounding in his ears, but along with this noise he could hear something which sounded like strikes of thunder behind his back. The teenager turned his head and saw a large wave of water rushing in his direction.
This shouldn’t have been real, it simply couldn’t. Dave was sure he was asleep and it was simply a nightmare. Not sure what else to do he stopped looking at the water coming closer and closer with each second.
Dave prayed. His Christian family had taught him to, taught him that Heaven had mercy and angels were looking after him - after all good people. And even if it happened that several times he and his friends had pulled stupid pranks on people in school, even if it happened that he locked someone in a bathroom or bullied someone, he still believed that he was a good person…
***
March 2011;
Sioux Falls. South Dakota;
“He will go down he will drown drown, deeper down
The river wild will take your only child”
Bobby’s old computer was trying it’s damndest to play a heavy sounding song which in Sam’s opinion was even worse than what Dean usually listened to.
“He will go down he will drown drown, deeper down
The mills grind slow in a riverbed ghost town
He will go down he will drown drown, deeper down.”
As Bobby’s old set of speakers blared out the distracting music Sam was trying his best to concentrate on the book of Genesis he was reading. Yes, they were on a square one once again and instead of looking for clues and lore about the Mother of All, they returned to looking for information about the heavenly squad and the creation of the world. And it wasn’t actually something Sam would be against, because he really never minded helping out angels, unlike his brother. Well, good angels of course. It was just everyone suddenly dropped all their businesses and started to dig information for a clue about the Logos Mary had given them. Even Castiel himself had agreed that it might have been something to check out after Mary had shown him a page from Castiel’s own journal from the future. And if the angel decided that it was something worth looking into, then Sam was on his side.
So, apparently there was some sort of a book or a manuscript which belonged to God himself, and which was used by him to describe the universe he was going to create. It was something like blue prints of the world, and the book itself had the magical properties of a great artifact you could use to change destiny. Mary had no idea about any details or ways of getting a hold of the Logos, but at least it was a start.
And once again if even Castiel, who at first had said that the story was nothing but a myth, changed his mind, then Sam was more than happy to help a friend. But what was really annoying the younger Winchester was Dean’s blind trust in Mary. Yes, he understood that Mary was his unborn in this time daughter, but she still didn’t tell them everything, Sam was sure of it. It wasn’t that he didn’t like the girl, he was simply afraid for Dean, that he could get hurt by his blind trust and Sam didn’t want his brother to suffer.
“What is it you dream of, child of mine?
The magic ride, the mermaid cove?
Never met a kinder heart than yours,
Let it bleed
Leave a footprint on every island you see”
“Mary, could you please turn it down?” Sam yelled from the couch. Mary was sitting in the same room, but the music was too loud to speak in a normal tone.
“Sorry!” the girl responded and turned the song off. “Any luck on finding anything?” She inquired.
Sam sighed and closed his book since there was nothing in it about the magical world’s blueprints. Plus the hunter was simply tired, he had spent the whole day trying to dig anything up.
“No, nothing…” He confessed.
Mary gave him a sad look and turned her head back to the screen. The next moment she closed the internet page she was looking at and said: “Me neither… It’s like no-one ever even heard anything about it, even angels.”
“Don’t worry, we will figure it out. We always do.” Sam reassured her. May be he still didn’t trust her as much as Dean, but he could see that the girl was honestly trying to help.
Not sure what else to do, Sam picked a remote control from the couch and turned on the TV - at least he could check news stories to find out whether there was anything supernatural going on.
The first program that appeared on the screen was a soppy soap opera of some kind so he quickly switched to another channel.
“The cheetah is a carnivore, eating mostly mammals under 40 kilos, including the Thomson's gazelle, the Grant's gazelle, the springbok and the impala.”
Sam gave a weak smile at the mention of the impalas and switched the channel again.
“I have never believed in angels before,” a woman with short dark chestnut hair who looked no older than thirty years old was saying, “But he came to me, he said he promised my cousin to take care of me, I had cancer and he healed me…”
Even knowing that the angels were actually real that sounded like the wobbling of a crazy person to the hunter. In fact, knowing that angels were real made it sound even crazier. In the background Mary made an amused sound and turned back to the computer screen, trying to entertain herself now with a click-and-go game.
“Yet another teenager who went missing last week around Prairie du Chien, Wisconsin, found drowned this morning in the north-west part of the Bloody Run County Park in Iowa.”
Sam listened to the report on the next channel but didn’t find it in any way supernatural so he turned the TV off.
“I’m gonna go check on Dean.” He said, as he started to stand up but at this moment Bobby appeared in the doorway. He stepped toward the younger hunter throwing a folder onto his lap. “Wisconsin, get ready, you will leave tomorrow morning.”
***
“Do you understand that we currently have bigger problems on our plate?” Inquired Castiel, who appeared in the middle of the case discussion.
As it happened the mysterious disappearing teenagers did actually look more supernatural than Sam originally thought. Not only were all three children going to the same school, but it also happened that the bodies of the two who were found were covered in blood even though they didn’t have any injuries. In addition all the blood in their bodies was replaced by river water, if this didn’t sound supernatural Sam wasn’t sure what did.
“Since when did you start commanding us?” Dean replied with annoyance. It looked like the angel wanted to snap back at the older Winchester but in the middle of opening of his mouth he stopped and reconsidered: “I… apologize,” he replied instead, “I understand that saving people is your priority, but the information we were able to find may be important and save the lives of more people than you could imagine.”
“Ca… Cas,” Mary made several steps towards the angel, putting a hand on his shoulder. Sam noticed that this made Castiel visibly flinch and take a small step backward, eyeing the girl like she was about to stab him or something. If Sam was trying to be cautious about Mary, it looked like Castiel didn’t trust her even a little bit and wasn’t trying to hide it. “We spent three days trying to find any information. I’m sorry that I’m not able to provide you with anything better than we have, this journal of yours and several stories you and Dean have told me was everything I had.”
Sam wondered for a moment why Castiel was among the people telling Dean’s daughter stories about past deeds, but the air suddenly shifted as the angel surged toward the girl, facing her now nearly nose to nose. “Do you have more pages of this manuscript?” He asked with an irritated note in his voice.
“Well… yes, I do…” Mary nodded. The girl didn’t even flinch under the angel’s gaze.
“Give them to me!” Castiel commanded.
“I’m sorry, I can’t… I think you already know what kind of consequences that could cause.”
Now the air felt like it was pressurized, the lights in the room started to flicker and…
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, Cas!” Dean interrupted, and the room immediately returned to its previous condition. “Relax, dude! Mary has a point here.”
This time Sam couldn’t help himself from interfering. He knew that his brother would protect Mary no matter what and he honestly didn’t have anything against it, but in this situation he seemed to be the only person less involved in the current dissent. He also understood that Mary didn’t want to show much of the journal because it could (and probably did) contain something about the hunters’ own future, but was it really that bad that Mary was ready to risk their trust?
“Really Mary, If you were at least to explain...” Sam started.
Mary and Castiel simultaneously turned their heads toward him and now two pairs of bright blue eyes were staring at him and... oh… oh!
Words stuck in Sam’s throat not able to leave it. No… it couldn’t be anything but a simple coincidence that the angel and Dean’s daughter had not only an absolutely identical color of eyes, but their shape as well? Add to that picture the fact that the form of their lips was really similar?.. No, it had to be nothing but a coincidence.
“Sam?” Dean called “Man, are you all right over there?” The older Winchester asked.
Sam shook his head: “Yeah…” he nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine… I just… forgot what I wanted to say, that’s it. Probably too tired.”
Dean rolled his eyes and turned toward the kitchen. Sam followed his brother with his eyes until Dean disappeared behind the door. When Sam returned his gaze to Castiel and Mary, he found only the girl standing in the middle of the study.
“I should probably hit the sack.” Sam murmured and hurried from the room.
***
“No!” Dean nearly yelled turning on his heel to face his daughter. “There is no way in hell we are taking you on a hunt with us! I told you last time!”
“But it’s so unfair!” Mary protested. “I’m an experienced hunter, my knowledge of supernatural lore is the same as yours!”
Mary was bald faced lying. It wasn’t ‘an evil monster who wants to dominate everyone’ kind of lie but more of an ‘I’m a little teenage brat who used to tell shit to my overprotective parents to get around’ one.
Dean’s eyes flickered and to Sam it looked like he was an inch away from actually considering taking Mary to the hunt.
“Very well!” Sam got up from the couch he was sitting on and moved towards the girl.
“Wait, what?” Dean surprised. “You actually want to take her?”
Sam could have explained his plan, but instead he sent his brother a cheerful grin that said ‘don’t worry, I know what I’m doing.’
“Here,” Sam tugged a gun from under his belt, clicked the ejector extracting the magazine, then with a quick motion of his hand took off the barrel. He considered disassembling the gun even further, but decided it was enough for a simple test. “How fast can you put it together?” He placed the parts on the table before Mary and stepped aside giving the girl some space.
Mary carefully took the main part in her right hand and the barrel into left, trying to put the two parts together. In about five or six seconds she did figure it out, but any knowledgeable person could tell that it was maybe not the first time she’d held a gun in her hand but she was far from professional.
“What?” She grumbled blushing. “Guns in the future are different, all right!”
Dean raised his eyebrows looking at his brother with a smirk then turned to Mary and nodded. “All right…” he said. “What have you really been doing before the time and space jumping?”
Mary looked away rubbing her neck ashamedly. “I’ve been going to school…” she admitted.
“Perfect!” Dean smiled widely. “It looks like Bobby will have someone to keep him company while were gone.”
***
Several hours in on the trip to Wisconsin Sam pondered sharing with Dean his little discovery about Mary, but he had no idea how to bring it up. To tell the truth Sam wasn’t even sure that he really needed to share it. Yes, Dean’s daughter really had Castiel’s features, but it could be a simple coincidence. Obviously he could see how much Dean and Castiel cared about each-other, but having a kid together was way beyond Sam’s comprehension, he wasn’t even sure if it was physically possible. Yes, Castiel wasn’t technically a man but Sam had no idea how angels reproduced, or even if they did reproduce, and imagining Castiel mojoing a child into existence seemed too ridiculous.
“How did you find it out?” Dean suddenly asked making Sam jerk in the seat.
“Found out what?” He inquired with a little panic, as if Dean had read his mind and had seen what Sam had just been thinking about.
The older brother sized Sam up, raising his eyebrows. “That Mary had never actually hunted.” He specified. “Why, Did you find out something else I should know about?” He asked.
Well that was the perfect chance to bring it up. “No,” Sam shook his head, “I just wasn’t sure what you were talking about.” In the end Sam decided to keep the discovery to himself until he had a chance to research the topic.
“It’s just that she talks about hunting, about the Apocalypse, angels and demons like it some sort of romantic adventure, you know?” Sam started to explain, “did you hear the music she listens to? It’s obvious that she knows a lot, but if she had faced anything a normal hunter faces every week…”
“So… basically the kid just read a lot of fairy tales knowing that they are actually true and decided that she can pull a magic sword from a rock and save the world?” Dean concluded.
“Yeah, something like that.” Sam nodded.
“Well, swords in a stone are big sons of bitches, trust me on that!” Dean pointed out, knowingly wagging his finger in the air.
“That’s why you use dynamite!” Sam laughed.
Dean laughed back and for a moment Sam could imagine that there weren’t any ends of the world, any archangels or mothers of all, it was just him and his big brother in the car moving from one city to another hunting monsters, and saving people. A wave of warmth spread through Sam’s body allowing him to relax and feel happy while he still could.
“You know…” Dean started hesitantly. “I tried to play happy families once with Lisa.”
Sam’s smile disappeared from his face as he gave his brother a chance to open up. It didn’t happen often that Dean talked about his feelings.
“And now it looks like I actually got a family. A daughter going to school, probably a loving wife somewhere too.”
“You talk about it like it’s a bad thing.”
“And is it a good thing? I got a family somewhere in another universe, I put them all in danger, and look what it lead to? A time traveling daughter trying to prevent another end of the world with us. I screwed up! Again…”
“Dean…” Sam tried but he really didn’t know what to say.
The older Winchester sighed and turned all his attention to the road not saying anything else.
Sam turned his head staring pointlessly out the window. The thick forest of pines was rushing before his eyes and it looked like the landscape wouldn’t change for many miles. Sam really wanted his brother to be happy and not drown in guilt, and if Sam’s suspicions had even a slightest chance of being truthful, it could really help Dean.
The younger hunter decided that the first thing he would do when he found a spot with decent Wi-Fi is to do some research. Something was telling him that it would be pretty much useless though. His other impulse was to call Castiel and ask, but that would be even more awkward than talking to Dean about the possibility that Mary could be Castiel’s kid. There had to be a way to find out, and Sam suddenly realized that he actually had someone to ask.
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