Dagger

HELLO BROOKLYN

As the song ends I slowly make my way towards the edge of the stage, handing my microphone to Hannah as I go. She takes it without a word and I feel the eyes of everyone in the room as I
move. I reach the brothers and begin to climb slowly and painfully down from the edge of the stage, I wince unvolountarily but I know that they are the only ones who have seen me. Each man
reaches out a hand and grasps my upper arms on either side. They pull me gently down so that I am standing in front of them as I reach into the pocket of my skin-tight black jeans. From the
pocket I remove two folded photographs.
I pass them both to Dean and lean towards him, "Meet me backstage after the show. I'll explain everything then," I whisper to him, confident that no one else can hear over the
mutterings of the crowd. He nods, the only indication that he heard my whispered words and I turn to climb back onto the stage. I place my hands on the splintered wood to pull myself when I
realise that Dean has dropped to his knees. He holds his hands cupped, obviously offering to give me a boost. I smile at him in thanks and place my foot in his hands and he easily propels me up and
towards the stage.
The chords of Hello Brooklyn by All Time Low fill the room.

THIS CITY
SO PRETTY
UNDER MOONLIT SKIES
WE'LL BE HANGING LIKE A CIGARETTE
SO STUNNING
START RUNNING
TONIGHT'S LIKE A KNIFE
WOULD YOU CUT ME WITH YOUR KISS

I watch the brothers as they move away from the stage. They move close together as they reach the bar and I can see Dean whispering into Sam's ear. He's probably repeating my
earlier words to him. Sam frowns for a second and then looks up at me. He notices that I am watching him and there is a question in his eyes. I nod slightly to him, letting him know that the
invitation includes him. He nods back to me slowly and the two brothers fall back into conversation. I continue moving around the stage, performing to my audience, not one of them realising that
all of my attention is focused on the two men at the bar.
I see Dean reach into his jacket pocket and pull out the two photographs that I handed to him earlier. Each picture has a beautiful ornate dagger drawn on the back of it and the men
study the ilustrations before turning the paper over. There eyes widen as they see the photograph; it shows a beautiful woman with flowing blonde hair that hangs in waves down her back and
piercing green eyes. Next to her stands a man with dark hair and eyes, his arm is around the woman next to him and he has his hand on the shoulder of the larger child stood before the couple
and his eyes fixed on the younger boy cradled in his mother's arms.
That photograph shows the Winchester family only weeks before Mary; the blonde woman was murdered. The man is her husband, John and the two boys are her sons, Sam and Dean.
The men stare at the photograph for a long time eyes filling with tears that they fight not to let fall. Dean looks down at the other photograph in his hand, obviously reticent about revealing it.
Dean takes a deep breath and turns over the other photograph; it shows John, about ten years older than in the previous picture with a stunning child perched on his knee. The girl is
about six years old, her hair is thick and black, hanging down to her waist, poker straight but here eyes are the pale blue of the sky on a summer day and already wise beyond her years. The little
girl in the photograph is me.

I BREATHE
RED LIPS YOU'RE UNBELIEVABLE
CAN'T MISS THIS CHANCE TO TAKE YOU
OUT HERE'S MY INVITATION

The set draws to a close but it seems that everyone has Hello Brooklyn stuck in their heads; including the band. We all head backstage waiting for Sam and Dean and I grab my phone,
flicking through the songs until Hello Brookln stars to play through the speakers. It's not our version though; I'm not that concieted, I play the original. As soon as we pass the curtains Sean
immediately disappears. Within seconds he has returned with a wheelchair and I sink into the soft leather. I smile gratefully at him and reach into my pocket. I pull a tobacco tin out of my
pocket. I pop the lid off of the tin as Sean pushes me toward our dressing room; which is actually just an out of order toilet with all our gear in it. I take out two cigarettes; one with a roach
and one without.

HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
TAKE THE STREETS ALL NIGHT
CAUSE WE SLEEP ALL DAY
WHEN THE WORLD COMES CRASHING DOWN
WHO'S READY TO PARTY??
HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
COAST TO COAST
I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN IN FLAMES
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
WE CAN LET GO
EVERYBODY KNOWS THERE'S A PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

I sense more than see or hear the two brothers walk towards us as I hand the cigarette witha roach in it to Sean. They hesitate at the door; obviously not knowing whether to knock
or just walk in. I smile gently to myself as I fit my own cigarette between my lips. I motion for Hannah to open the door as I pass her a cigarette and reach into my pocket. She does as I ask
as I pull a lighter from my pocket. Hannah stands to the side as I light my cigarette. The two men move into the room as I throw the lighter to Sean. They stand awkwardly in the centre of
the room. I motion them further inside as I take a long drag on the cigarette. Alex and Xander stand as I blow out a long plume of smoke.

THIS CITY
IS YOUR CITY
HEELS ON THE SIDEWALK
BEGGING FOR A BACK BEAT
DON'T WORRY
I FIGHT DIRTY
TONIGHT'S LIKE A RIGHT HOOK
KNOCK YOU OFF YOUR FEET

Hannah, Alex and Xander look at me questioningly as motion for Sean to put the ashtray on my knee to save him from holding it. I nod in ascent to the rest of the band as I tap the ash
from my cigarette. The two men and the woman leave the room quietly as I stub out my cigarette. They shut the door securely and I try not to wince as a lancing pain shoots it's way through my
legs and back. I turn to face the brothers, my brothers; for the first time in my life I am face to face with my brothers in a one on one basis; I know that Sean is here but that's because I want
him to be.

I'LL BE
YOURS TRULY UNBELIEVABLE
CAN'T MISS THIS CHANCE TO TAKE YOU
OUT SO HERE'S MY INVITATION

"I know that you have a lot of questions and we are here because I want to answer them for you; the best that I ca at any rate. I may as well start with basic introductions, my name
is Dagger." My words hang in the air as the two brothers stare at me, trying to work out if there is an alterior motive behind my words; obviously sensing the power within them. Damn it! I should
have forseen this. I wish I had waited to smoke that cigarette, I need something to occupy my hands, to at least attempt to disguise the tremor in the extremeties but I know that if I take
another one I'll get in trouble.
"My name is Sean. I'm Dagger's botfriend by the way. I can tell that you can hear the power in her voice just as easily as I can. Don't worry. She's not doing anything to you. She just
can't turn it off." Sean moves first to Dean and then to Sam shaking each of the elder mens hands before crossing back over to me and leaning over the back of my chair, his arms crossed over
around my neck in a loose embrace.
"OK. I can tell just by looking at you that you're still confused."
"I am. I don't know about Sam but it's your name that's really confusing me. Dad named both of us, he likes traditional names, I can't imagine him naming you DAGGER, no matter how
influential your mother was to him." I smile and slowly nod to Dean as he speaks, I thought that my name would come up eventually, I did not, however, expect him to believe that Dagger is my
real name. I thought that line of questioning would go along the lines of why my nickname was Dagger not while our father named me Dagger, which he obviously didn't.
"He didn't. My real name is Alyson but no one calls me that. Most people call me Dagger because they're my weapon of choice and I'm famous for my use of them. A few people call me
Aly." My hand comes up and I absently begin to rub up and down the length of Sean's forearms as he gently rests his chin on the top of my head; THIS is what I needed, something to do with my
hands. Sean always seems to know what I need without me even telling him, especially when I'm this stressed out, he's the only one that can sense my nerves; the two older men are completely
at ease. They wouldn't be if they could tell how anxious I am right now.


HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
TAKE THE STREETS ALL NIGHT
CAUSE WE SLEEP ALL DAY
WHEN THE WORLD COMES CRASHING DOWN
WHO'S READY TO PARTY??
HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
COAST TO COAST
I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN IN FLAMES
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
WE CAN LET GO
EVERYBODY KNOWS THERE'S A PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

"How come we don't know about you?? Why sis Bobby's clues lead us here?? Why are you in that chair?? Yu can walk fine, although it obviously causes you pain. Sorry. You don't have
to answer that." I smile patiently at Sam as this flood of questions bursts from his lips, waiting for a few minutes before I respond, trying to work out the best way to explain everything to
him. He looks irritated to begin with, but then he seems to realize what I a doing and that I'm not ignoring him and he visibly relaxes, moving to lean against the wall as he waits for my reply.

KISS IT ALL GOODBYE
TONIGHT YOU'VE NEVER BEEN
MORE ALIVE
YOU'RE SO ALIVE
YOU'RE NOT AFRAID TO DIE
I CAN SEE IT IN YOUR EYES
YOUR EYES

"I'll tackle these one at a time. They might raise more questions than they answer and I'm sorry about that, such is the nature of these things unfortunately. The first answer is
simple." I don't even have to tell them both sets of eyes widen in surprise and then are averted in shame as they realise that they should have worked it out straight away, I obviously wasn't
born in America. My mother lived in England and so that's where I grew up, my Dad always thought that his lifestyle was too dangerous for me and as a result he left me with my Mum,
believeing that I would be safe there. Little did he know that Mum was also a hunter; just like him.


HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
TAKE THE STREETS ALL NIGHT
CAUSE WE SLEEP ALL DAY
WHEN THE WORLD COMES CRASHING DOWN
WHO'S READY TO PARTY??
HELLO BROOKLYN
HEY L.A.
COAST TO COAST
I'LL TAKE YOU DOWN IN FLAMES
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL
WE CAN LET GO
EVERYBODY KNOWS THERE'S A PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

"As I can see you have worked out that we are both English. John died before he had a chance to tell you about Aly. As for Bobby, he knew because we've met him. Only once, and the
meeting was brief." Sean stands straight behind me, stretching his back and clicking the bones in his neck and back before reaching down towards me once again, only this time he lifts me from
the chair. He cradles me in his arms, placing a chaste kiss on my forehead before settling down into an overstuffed sofa with me cradled in his lap and motioning for the other two to take a
seat. They do and I realise that I have been rude, not offering it to them before now.
"That's right. It turns out that Dad told Bobby about me before he dies and he was expectng us. I left him the clues that he gave to you then. I'm sorry he's dead; he was a nice old
man." The two men nod and look down towards the ground, eyes shining with unshed tears, making the green of Dean's eyes even more instense and for a second I am lost in their beauty,
knowing in a moment of instant clarity that I have made the right choices where this man has concerned. Though neither of them know it I have played significant parts in both of their lives,
even sweet talking angels and demons alike to follow my plans. In many cases they have even lied for me, taking credit for deeds that I have done; like pulling Dean out of hell, and Sam out
of the cage.

LONDON
TOKYO
BOSTON
FRISCO
D.C.
CHICAGO
BALTIMORE
TORONTO
MEMPHIS
RIO
DUBLIN
MEXICO
PARIS
HERE WE GO
EVERYBODY KNOWS THERE'S A PARTY AT THE END OF THE WORLD

"Sam was serious by the way, I know that you're answering the questions in the order that they were asked. You don't have to tell us what's wrong with you?? That's completely your
choice." I stare at the two men for a few seconds reaching into my pocket. I look away from them as I take my tobacco tin from my pocket. I stare at the floor as I remove three cigarettes.
I know that the men in the room can all see my pain as I pass a cigarette each to Dean and Sean.