In His Court - Part 2 of 4
Masterpost~*~*~ Part 1
On the drive to Spokane, Sam tells Jody how to take care of demons. Garth has a lot of questions too as he hasn’t dealt with too many yet. Sam describes what Meg and Kevin look like in as much detail as he can, just in case they get split up.
“I don’t know what to expect exactly, Cas described it as a big house. I looked at Google maps and from the street view it might be a mansion, but it’s pretty far back off the street, lots of trees all around it. The other houses closest are huge estates, all pretty old.”
“Did Cas say how many demons will be there?”
“He said that at noon there are only 3 or 4 left behind, sounds like a shift change or something. That’s all I know.” Sam answers.
“Sam, you think these super soakers are gonna work?” Garth asks from the back seat.
“Yeah, I don’t see why not. Just don’t use it all up at once. And remember, it doesn’t kill the demon, just hurts them and distracts them for a while. That’s when you come in with the exorcism, right Jody?” Sam points over at Jody riding in the passenger seat.
“Does it hurt the people?” Jody finally asks the question she’s been holding onto for the last hour since Sam told her about how demons will be possessing people who may or may not be alive or severely injured.
“What exorcising? No, it’s a relief, a huge relief, like a black, oily cloud is gone from your body and your mind all at once. As long as you’re not too injured from something they’ve done, the person is usually just fine.”
“You sound like you’re speaking from experience Sam.” Garth notices.
“Uh, yeah, I was possessed once, a long time ago, by Meg actually.” Sam winces at the memory.
“Why are we rescuing her again if she did that to you?” Garth asks, wondering about all the shades of grey in Sam’s morality he’s suddenly discovering.
“Oh God, it’s all wrapped up in the whole Lucifer/Apocalypse and Angels story, I swear I’ll tell it to you all of it when we’re done. Can you just trust me that she’s worth rescuing? One of the last things she said to us when she was helping get rid of Dick Roman was that her way of living boiled down to ‘you find a cause, and you serve it’. At the moment she was taken by Crowley, her cause was Cas and us. Me and Dean.” Sam trails off, suddenly thinking of that last desperate day that he and Dean had together. Making out like it was maybe the last time in the back seat of the Impala. It can’t be the last time, I won’t let it, Sam vows to himself.
They’re silent the short rest of the time until they get to the address Cas gave them. They drive by slowly, trying to spot anything useful about the layout of the house and grounds. Sam parks around the corner out of sight. “Well I noticed no cars, no cameras. You guys?” Sam asks.
“No fence or dogs in sight.” Garth answers.
“Not many doors visible.” Jody adds.
“Okay, you guys got all the things we talked about? Oh, crap, I almost forgot, hold on “Sam riffles through all the necklaces hanging from the lid in the Impala’s trunk and finds two anti-possession amulets.
“What the hell are those?” Garth asks.
“Anti-possession amulet. If you’re wearing this, the demons can’t get in you. Don’t take it off no matter what.” Sam answers, placing one around Jody’s neck, and then Garth’s.
“What about you Sam?” Jody asks, ever the concerned mother.
Sam pulls his shirts aside and shows his tattoo. Jody and Garth look at each other with eyes that couldn’t go wider in surprise.
They approach the big mansion from the side where there aren’t as many windows and there’s more shade and cover from the trees. Sam gets close to the first window they see and peers in. He motions them around towards the door near it. It opens easily, surprisingly unlocked; no alarms seem to go off. Once they’re inside with the door shut they let out their held breaths. Sam takes lead again down the hallway towards where he thinks the kitchen probably is, passing each room checking as they go along; they see and hear no one. Finally, they freeze in place near the main entrance hallway when they hear footsteps coming towards them. Sam grips Ruby’s knife and raises it, slashing and stabbing down when the demon goes past the corner. He covers the demon’s mouth, trying to muffle the sound of screams as he flashes out.
Jody’s eyebrows are wide in fear as she’s realizing that Sam just killed someone. Garth nods at her reassuringly. They’re still in it with him though, no backing out now. Sam gestures for them to continue with him down the hall, the lights are on in the kitchen they can see just ahead. Someone is humming to themselves loudly. It’s a demon sitting at the kitchen table with an iPod on full blast, Sam raises the knife again and another demon is dead. There are three doors in the large kitchen, one goes outside, one when opened shows a walk-in pantry, and the last leads to the basement. Sam opens it slowly hoping against hope that it won’t creak. It’s pretty quiet, they all get in on the first few steps and Jody closes the door as quietly as she can. Sam leads them creeping silently down the stairs until they’re all on the same level, the basement is huge, as big as the house is. The only sounds are coming from the right so they head in that direction, Sam first, then Garth with his super soakers filled with Holy Water, crisscrossed over his body like bandoliers, and Jody bringing up the rear with a regular knife and a newly memorized demon exorcism.
Around one corner, a large man with jet black eyes, stands up in surprise yelling, “Hey!” before Sam can get to him with the knife. Sam’s struggling with him, trying to slash in with the knife when another big guy runs out of the last room, yelling “Brett what’s going on?”
The second demon sees Brett fighting off a big guy, but he notices that there’s a much smaller guy and a woman trying to stay out of the way, so he decides to handle those two.
s soon as he’s within range, Garth hits him with a steady stream of Holy Water. The demon howls in pain as white mist smokes up from his body, he falls to the floor writhing
“C’mon Jody, go!” Garth yells.
Jody rallies herself and starts the exorcism incantation in as loud and steady a voice as she can manage, “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus” and before she can get much further, the demon stands up, still smoking, “You trying to exorcise me bitch?”
Jody tries to ignore him and keeps going, while Garth empties the last super soaker out on the demon, the demon collapses writhing and screaming in pain. Before Jody can finish, the demon flings Garth against the wall hard, he falls into a heap and doesn’t move
The demon is turning towards Jody who is on the last sentence, “omnis congregatio et secta diabolica.” She yells, finishing just in time as the demon boils out of the man in a thick oily black stream of smoke
“Garth!” Jody darts over to the wall and turns Garth over, he’s bleeding profusely from the back of his head and one of his legs is at a very wrong angle. Jody turns to ask Sam for help just as she sees him far across the room, finally stabbing the demon he’s been fighting with the knife, it flashes out in orange sparking light. And then all is calm, except for the two of them breathing heavily.
“He okay?” Sam gestures at Garth.
“Yeah, well he’s alive at least, but he’s knocked out, and I’m pretty sure his leg is broken.” Jody answers.
“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Sam tries to appear as reassuring as possible, but he knows she’s got to be more than freaked by seeing all the demons dying.
“Okay, you got it Sam.” Jody replies, nodding as if to reassure him that’s she’s okay enough to leave for now. She starts searching through her small backpack for something to splint Garth’s leg with
Sam approaches the last doorway that remains in the basement and is relieved to see that only Kevin and Meg are inside. Both are knocked out, whether by supernatural or other means he doesn’t know. Suddenly he hears Dean’s sarcastic voice in his head, Great so somehow he and Jody have to get three unconscious people out of the house and off the grounds before Cas can come help. Yeah Dean he answers, that’s what I’m doing, wanna help? And now he’s creeping himself out talking to a Dean that only exists in his head. Sam shakes his head to put an end to that conversation.
“Jody they’re in here, alone. I think we’re good. Just have to figure out how to get them out.” Sam yells back towards where he left her.
“Sam, I’ve got Garth’s leg splinted, so he can be moved, I’m pretty sure I can manage him.” Jody calls back.
“Okay, you get up and ready, I’ll get these two, luckily they’re small.” Sam answers, preparing himself for the task ahead.
Meg looks to be in really bad shape, covered in bloody cuts from head to toe. Kevin just looks traumatized, slightly bruised on his cheek. The stone tablet is lying on a backpack next to him with a notebook and pen. Sam throws it all back in the backpack and slings it over his own shoulders, letting the weight settle, and adjusting the straps to their maximum. Then he reaches down and slings Kevin over his shoulders easily. Kevin flops around a little loosely but doesn’t fall as Sam scoops up Meg into his arms in a fireman’s carry. Ducking out the doorway he motions for Jody to follow him. Using every ounce of energy he has left to make it up the stairs and kick open the door at the top. Wary that more demons may have arrived, he walks slowly towards the door they originally entered through. “c’mon Jody, we gotta get out of here!”
“Okay, Sam, I’m right behind you.” Jody struggles along with a semi-conscious Garth, who is just barely with-it enough to be hopping helpfully on one leg, his face pale and drawn in pain.
“We just have to get to the property boundary, then Cas will help.”
Sam scans the yard, hoping against hope that no demons are outside, and they’re lucky for once, the one demon who notices them is way down by the water, and can’t even come close to reaching them in time. As soon as they’re past the hedges at the street Cas is there and blinks them one by one back to the motel. Sam is last to arrive, and Jody’s already got Garth on one bed and Meg on another, Kevin is in one of the chairs slumped over the table.
“What do you need Jody?” Sam asks as soon as he shakes off the momentary dizziness from being angel-transported.
“Clean towels, hot water and bandages if you’ve got ‘em.” She answers.
Cas is leaning over Meg, stroking her face gently, a serious look on his face. “Sam I must use my last energy to heal her, she’s near death. I will not be of any use to you for some time. Garth will have to heal on his own, Kevin should awaken soon, I’m sorry I don’t have enough to heal both after moving everyone and your car.”
Sam smiles at his friend’s forethought in bringing back the car, “Okay Cas, do it. We’ll take care of Garth and Kevin.”
“Thank you Sam.” Cas answers seriously, and Sam knows he really truly means it, because Meg, for whatever reason, is very important to Cas. Sam’s not sure exactly in what way, romantic or what, and he really doesn’t care, but she helps Cas stay grounded and he needs her.
Sam watches as Cas places both of his hands at the top of Meg’s head and slowly moves them down her body, a greenish blue light coming out in the small space between his hands and her body
“Sam, can you help with Garth?” Jody asks loudly, which snaps Sam out of his trance watching th healing so closely.
“Yeah, uh sorry, here are the towels; I’m running the water so it gets hot, hold on.”
“Thanks, I just want to stop the bleeding.”
After a while, it becomes obvious to Jody, that Garth needs a hospital, “Sam, we’ve got to take him in, his head wound won’t stop bleeding, and he’s showing a lot of signs of a bad concussion, his breathing is slowing down and his heart rate is becoming erratic.”
“Okay, I’ll get the car ready.” Sam pulls one of the bedspreads out from under Garth and takes it out to the car with several of the pillows. He arranges it all and runs back in the room for Garth, picks him up gently, like he weighs close to nothing, because he doesn’t weigh much at all. “Cas we’re going to the hospital. I’ll leave Kevin here since he’s still sleeping. You okay?”
“Yes Sam, that is fine, I’m almost done with Meg.” Cas replies, not really looking up from his close examination of Meg.
Sam pauses at the door, “She going to be okay?” he asks kindly.
Cas smiles that new half-smile at him, “Yes Sam, she will recover, thank you. You must hurry though, we’re running out of time to retrieve Dean.”
After Garth is checked in and settled in a room, Sam lets Jody know he needs to leave.
“I’m really sorry to have to run out like this, but Cas told me that our time is almost up to save Dean.”
“I figured as much, don’t worry about it Sam, I’ll just hang her until Garth’s better enough to be able to kick me out. After what I saw today, I don’t think I’d be much use to you. Just keep me posted, okay?”
“Jody, thank you for everything, Dean and I will make it up to you somehow, I swear.” Sam means it with everything he is, that he and Dean will repay Jody’s kindness no matter what it takes. Finally he gives in and pulls her into an impulsive hug.
“I’ll hold you to that Mr. Winchester, now go save that brother of yours wouldja.” Jody hugs him back, and smiles up at him. They step back from each other and she nods firmly dismissing him from lingering a minute longer than necessary.
For a second there, Sam’s sure she’s about to call him an idjit, and his heart contracts on itself remembering Bobby. Jody smiles at him again and waves. He takes off then, runs back out to the hospital parking lot and slides easily into the Impala’s driver’s seat. All of a sudden it all catches up with him in the quiet of the car, their Home, and a frustrated sob escapes from deep in his chest, a few tears drop down his cheeks, hitting the steering wheel. He’s struck with the enormity of what’s at stake, the possibility of his brother never coming back to him, and everything he’s done so far being for nothing, risking their friends, he tells himself that he’s got to pull it together and finish this.
Back at the motel, not much has changed, Meg looks a little better, Kevin seems to be stirring, and Cas is lying unmoving on the bed next to Meg with his eyes closed. Sam comes in quietly, bearing some food he’s picked up from the diner they’d had breakfast in yesterday morning.
“Hey I’m back, I got us some dinner.” Sam sits down as quietly as he can at the table where he sets the bags next to the head of the not-quite-awakening Kevin.
“I do not need to eat, but Kevin will need something when he awakens.” Cas answers without opening his eyes or really moving.
“You were right, Garth’s going to be fine, they reset his leg and his concussion isn’t too serious. Jody is staying there with him for a while. How’s she doing?” Sam asks, gesturing at Meg.
“She will recover soon.” Cas says in a tired monotone.
“Why couldn’t you heal Garth really?” Sam asks, he can’t help himself being curious about Cas’ varying level of abilities.
“My powers were drained almost completely because Meg is a demon, and angels are not meant to use their energy to heal demons. I knew from examining Garth that human doctors would be sufficient.”
“Angel triage, how about that.” Sam comments mostly to himself.
“Sam?” a sleepy voiced Kevin asks, lifting his head up off the table slowly “Is that really you?”
“Yeah, hi Kevin, how ya doin’?”
“Feel like I’ve been sleeping for weeks, I’m starving.” Kevin leans back and stretches his arms out wide, yawning.
“Here, got you a veggie burger.” Sam hands over one of the containers out of the bag.
Kevin smiles in surprise, “How’d you know I’m a vegan?”
“Just a good guess.” Sam smiles back at him, glad that he’s gotten something right today.
“So where are we anyways? Who are they on the bed over there? I can’t really see their faces; it’s so dark in here.”
“You’re in Seattle, and you already know those two, that's Cas and Meg.”
“Yeah, I saw Meg before, when I was with Crowley, he sure doesn’t think much of her.”
“Cas tells me that they’ve always been on opposite sides, and always for them means thousands of years.”
“Didn’t Cas disappear with Dean when he killed Dick Roman?”
“Yeah. They both got sucked into Purgatory along with Dick; you might say they were standing too close to sucking Dick.”
“Sucking Dick, oh that’s hilarious Sam.” Kevin says dryly and grins through a mouthful of veggie burger.
“Sorry, bad habit I got into with Dean, those Dick jokes were practically the only things we laughed about the last few months.” Sam smiles sadly, mostly to himself, one of those internal jokes that are unexplainable to anyone else.
“That’s okay, I can take it.” Kevin states, not really minding having to endure a few bad jokes from his rescuer. “So where’s Dean?”
“Uh, still in Purgatory, only Cas got out. We’re working on it.” Sam can’t look at him when he says it, sure that this is the time he’ll burst into tears, and he’s the leader now, can’t show anyone how far gone and desperate he really is.
“Well, thanks for taking time out and saving me.” Kevin says sincerely, finishing his drink with a loud slurp, hoping to get Sam’s attention so that he can see if his thanks is accepted or welcomed.
“You’re welcome, I’m glad it worked out.” Sam answers, not sure when is the right time to ask if he’s translated the Purgatory spell yet.
“I’m betting you need the spell from the tablet.” Kevin offers.
“What spell?” Sam asks, heart in his throat.
“The one about how to get someone out of Purgatory, it came right after the one we used to put Dick back in there. Crowley had me translating the rest of the tablet while he had me, wanted to know if there was anything mentioned about demons. I didn’t tell him that that’s on a different tablet.”
Sam raises his eyebrows in surprise at that, “A different tablet? One just about demons?”
“Yeah, don’t ask me where it is, it’s just mentioned in the index thing on the tablet we have. I mean, we do have it right?” Kevin points towards the backpack hanging off the chair.
“Yeah, it’s in there, didn’t think you’d be too thrilled if I left it with Crowley. So the spell, what’s it say?” Sam asks, grinning at Kevin’s quickness even under such duress.
“It’s in here, written out.” Kevin gets up and digs around in the backpack, retrieving the notebook, flipping through it until he finds the right page. “Here it is, check it out.”
Sam reads through it quickly, seeing that it’s as Cas had said, same bone weapon required, but some words that have to be said by: ‘A Being Older Than I.’ “What does that mean Kevin?” Sam points at the sentence.
Kevin shrugs, “I don’t know, this is God’s word, so who’s supposed to be older than Him?”
Thinking about it for a second, Sam remembers a conversation he’d had with Dean, right after he’d saved Chicago from being wiped out, by sitting down with Death and eating pizza. “Death, it means Death. He told Dean once that he was older than God himself and would reap him eventually.”
“Wow, Dean’s really met Death?”
“Yeah, he has, a few times. I have too, but just once, he’s actually pretty cool. Wicked sense of humor and he loves junk food more than Dean does.”
“Sam, are we going to talk to Death?” Kevin asks, with no little awe and maybe a little fear in his voice.
“Looks like it.” Sam grins again, thinking that only in his weird life would talking to Death be something to look forward to.
After much discussion, Sam, Cas and Kevin decide to take a chance and summon Death with the binding spell that Sam, Dean and Bobby had used when they were trying to help stop the god Cas had become and close Purgatory the first time. Cas has to zap out and retrieve some of the items for the ritual. When he returns with the crystalized lightning bolt and all the other arcane items, Cas remains on the bed by Meg’s side, hoping that Death will ignore his presence and not remark on their last meeting. Sam is surprised that he’s stayed as long as he has, and reminds himself to tell Dean of Cas’ bravery in possibly confronting Death once again.
Kevin stands at the small table with Sam assisting with the ritual which goes quickly once they start. And soon, they are joined by a new silent presence.
“You! The last time you tried this I told you it wouldn’t end well. What makes you think I won’t follow through?” Death says, incredulous that they’ve done this again, and with that puffed-angel who would be God. He moves his wrists restlessly making the magical chain binding his wrists jingle and chime.
“The Balance.” Sam answers with more assurance than he feels inside.
“You’ve guessed correctly, I know you’ve been trying to find a way to return your brother from Purgatory, Samuel. Our aims are the same. He does not belong there, and it is a problem for the Balance of All. The creation of Purgatory did not include provisions for live humans being there.”
Sam takes a deep breath and asks as forcefully as possible, “Can you get him for me?”
“Unfortunately no. If I had been able to, I would have done that already. As God created the dimension of Purgatory I am not allowed to interfere.” Death answers with a hint of sarcasm and pettiness.
Not able to give up, Sam asks a final time, “But if I make the weapon, will you wield it, and pull Dean back here?”
Death nods regally and replies in a tone that indicates a significant promise being made, “Yes, Samuel I will wield the weapon and retrieve your Dean for you. Show me the words; it has been a long time since I have read them.”
Kevin stumbles forward with his notebook and points to the translated phrase. “Thank you prophet.” Death says, nodding formally at Kevin.
“I don’t want to do this binding spell on you again, how can I contact you when I have it?” Sam asks.
“Thank you for your courteousness. Your prophet will be able to tell you. I will see you soon Samuel.”
Sam nods and releases him from the binding spell. And with a no-sound, inaudible popping sort of sound, Death is suddenly just not there. Sam whirls around and asks Kevin, “Do you know? Is there something about contacting Death?”
Kevin takes a lot longer than usual to answer, still sort of stunned from encountering the actual being, Death. He shakes his head as if to clear his thoughts, “Yeah, it was in the index, almost like a contingency plan, if you can’t deal, call him kind of thing. I’ll write it out for you.” He moves to sit at the table, turning to a blank page in his notebook, quickly writing out the directions. Kevin rips the paper out and hands it to Sam, “Good luck dude, you’re going to need it.”
“Yeah, thanks Kevin. Hey Cas? You got someplace you could take Kevin so he’d be safe from Crowley?”
“Yes Sam, I will take him there with Meg. Once they are there, I will not be able to return for quite some time as I will need to rest. Transporting is difficult when I am not at full strength.”
“That’s good you have a place for them, just keep them safe, okay Cas?” Sam says, seeing Cas’ solemn nod as the promise he needs.
Kevin stands up from the table, putting the tablet and everything back into his backpack; he extends his hand to shake Sam’s, “Bye Sam, thanks for getting me.”
“You’re welcome Kevin, you hang tight with Cas, everything should be fixed pretty soon.”
Letting go of Sam’s hand, Kevin picks up his backpack, “Thanks for saying that, I know it’s never going to be the same for me though. I’m strangely okay with that now though. After seeing what I’ve seen, I couldn’t go back to what I was before.”
Sam thumps him on the shoulder, “That’s way too well-adjusted man, good for you.”
“Goodbye Sam, remember, you must hurry, Dean needs you to help him right away.” Cas says as he zaps out with both an unconscious Meg and a wide-eyed Kevin the Prophet of the Lord, the wing fluttering slightly louder than usual.
Left all alone, Sam sits on the bed and puts his head in his hands, just breathing deeply for a while. There isn’t much he can do, except follow through and summon Crowley to get his blood. But first he allows himself a second to picture Dean in one of his favorite memories, all beaten up, lip bleeding, talking to him across the roof of the Impala. The sun setting behind him, lining his face in gold as he smiled and told him he was a pain in the ass and thanked Sam for sticking around. He’d never seen Dean as beautiful before that day and he remembers how hard it was not to just walk around the car and kiss him senseless right then and there.
Shaking off the weight of memories, Sam assembles the ingredients for summoning Crowley. Before he can do the spell, his Blackberry chimes with a new message from Charlie,
“Harry, we’ve stopped Voldemort’s plans completely, hope your vacation with Ron is hot fun. Love, Hermione”
Sam laughs a little to himself, Charlie had confessed to being a Harry/Ron Best Mate shipper when they’d been talking Harry Potter fandom the first time they’d met. Funny that she’d consider him and Dean to be like that too. Maybe they are more obvious than they think they’re being, if someone who’s only met them once would come to that conclusion.
Finally, this is it, his last best chance to save Dean, his friends far enough away, and the ingredients and the words of the Purgatory spell are there at hand. Sam knows dealing with Crowley is a huge risk, but it’s one he’s willing to take. Hoping that the price he asks for his blood won’t be something Sam can’t afford. He has no idea what he has that Crowley would even want, but who knows, the King of Hell is one tricky bastard. He admits to himself that he is worried that Dean won’t forgive him for making another demon deal, but tells himself that they’ll deal with that when he’s back here. Out of Purgatory
Sam doesn’t have too long of a wait this time before the smirking demon appears near the motel room doorway, just outside the devil’s trap Sam had drawn. Crowley wags his finger back and forth at Sam, “Nunh, unh, unh, still don’t trust me eh Stretch? Guess you’re smarter than you look after all. So, got all the goodies already?”
Standing up as tall as possible, Sam answers with all the bravado he can muster, “Yeah, got it all, just need your contribution Crowley. What’s the price you’re asking?”
“Just a week Moose, that’s all I ask, and I’ll give you your tiger back. You two can get back to stinking up the Impala ‘til it smells like a Paris whorehouse again.” Crowley wiggles his eyebrows unnecessarily, trying to get a rise out of Sam.
Sam ignores the jibe about Dean and his unusual relationship, “What exactly do you mean by a week?”
Crowley walks closer and runs a hand up Sam’s arm proprietarily, “A week of your time, in my service. During which you will be at my beck and call. To use as I see fit.”
“Doing what exactly?” Sam asks, shaking him off, wary and full of suspicion
Crowley laughs and says grinning with a predatory smile that scares Sam down to his core, “That’s the whole point darling, anything and everything, all up to me, and you can’t refuse. But once the week’s up, you’ll have the Purgatory weapon all ready to go and you can get that brother of yours back one more time.”
“Let me read the contract.” Sam demands.
“Have a seat there, just one second.” Sam sits at the table and looks suspiciously at Crowley. With a flourish and a small popping sound, a handsome looking scroll of parchment is in Crowley’s hands; he unrolls it and tosses the end over to Sam. He reads it for a while, running a finger along the fountain pen scrawl.
After reading through the whole thing, Sam says firmly, “Alright, I’ll do it.”
“Really, how surprising. Alrighty then, you sign here, and here. Oh, and initial there.” Crowley produces a fountain pen and watches as Sam etches his name. He rolls up the scroll and tucks it into his jacket, “I assume you want to do this soon Sam?”
“Yeah, as soon as we can.” Sam answers, itching to get this over with, and Dean back.
Crowley looks him up and down slowly, as if he’s checking out the merchandise he’s buying, “Fifteen minutes enough?”
Sam stands, “Yeah, I’ll be ready then.”
“I sincerely doubt that.” Crowley poofs off out of sight, and Sam’s left alone in the dingy motel room, with fifteen minutes to pack, check out and call Jody to let her know where the car is and what he’s doing.
Masterpost~*~*~*~*~ Part 1~*~*~*~* Part 3