Death in the Mountains

The Supernatural & McCrumb elements are not mine.


Hunter Laws and Priory Secrets

Hearing footsteps, Jane Arrowood was happy to see Dean returning to the kitchen. "Dean! There you are. I put together some lunch for you, Jay and Sam like you asked. I put it all on trays since I’m sure they’re not ready to come down yet. Pascal!" she ordered, "Come help Dean get all this upstairs."

Pascal finished putting away some plates and walked over, smiling tentatively at Dean.

Dean gave her a genuine smile and a wink. "I appreciate all your help Mrs. Arrowood. Will you be coming back?" Dean looked around in amazement at the counters covered in trays and platters of food. He’d seen them all earlier, but he was trying to figure out how Mrs. Arrowood cooked it all.

"No trouble at all," Jane smiled back, amused that Dean flirted with everyone no matter what their age. "Mizz Bonesteel and I will be going home for a bit, but folks have been coming by to drop off food and help with the farm.” Dean had to swallow past another lump in his throat. He was used to getting run out of small towns after jobs, not being brought hams, cookies and casseroles.

Jane gathered up her car keys, "I'll be back to help put supper together. Pascal will keep the kitchen while I'm gone." she explained, letting him know that she trusted this Comacine not to poison them

Dean nodded relieved. He felt outnumbered, "That's good to hear. I’ll see you soon." Jane smiled and patted his arm before leaving.

"Is Jay awake yet?" Pascal asked timidly, lifting a tray heaping with two platefuls of food.

Dean picked up the other tray, "Yeah, they’re both awake, too upset to come downstairs."

"I'm sorry I didn't convince Mike sooner," Pascal blurted out an apology.

Dean frowned, "What do you mean? Convince him of what?"

"I knew Vera was a Guardian when I saw Jay. I couldn’t get Mike to believe me. I," he paused as if he was reluctant to continue, "I used to be a Guardian here."

Dean stopped and looked at Pascal totally mystified. "Excuse me? How can you ‘used to be’ a Guardian and how did you know Vera and Jay were?"

Pascal looked very uncomfortable, "In a past life, I was a Bonesteel. Ma tante Nora recognized me, I was a Guardian here. I knew Jay was a Guardian as soon as I saw him, and then he told me Vera was as well."

Dean had heard lots of strange things before, but reincarnation? He scoffed, "How Shirley MacLaine of you."

Pascal looked upset, then resigned, "Do you know Ravenmocker?"

Now Dean got nervous, "I've seen him. I take it you have as well." Pascal nodded. Dean took the stairs slowly, balancing the tray and trying not to put too much pressure on his sore ankle. "He gave me some good advice. What did he tell you?"

Pascal kept pace with him, "Not much, more like feelings, visions. He told me he couldn't help me anymore and I saw him with Vera last night."

Dean sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Why did he always get surrounded by Seers? They were always telling him things he didn't want to hear. He knew Ravenmocker was there because Vera was dying. "Was there something you wanted to tell me?"

Pascal looked puzzled, "I already said it. I'm sorry, and I was hoping to tell Jay too."

Dean paused when he reached the top of the stairs. "Thanks, Pascal, for the apology." He thought of all the Comacines Pascal had the least reason to apologize. Mike was the one who had screwed up this and it looked like he was trying to put the blame on Pascal.

Pascal gave a sad smile, glad his apology was accepted.

Dean went into the bedroom and sat down with his tray of food and propped up his bad ankle on the bed. "Dig in."

Sam was lying down on the bed, curled around Jay who looked even worse, his bruises were blossoming. Sam sat up and eagerly took the tray from Pascal. Jay sat up more slowly, staring at Pascal with mixed emotions.

Sam sighed, "God, these look good." He dug into the sandwiches, eating like he hadn't eaten for days. Dean watched; happy Sam found his appetite. Sam started pulling apart one of the sandwiches, giving the meat and cheese to a ravenous Starlight. It was kind of funny seeing such a little kitten attacking a piece of cheese while growling. Griffin politely pawed Dean’s wrist to ask for his share.

"Jay," Pascal said hesitantly, "I'm sorry about leaving you alone with Zip last night."

Jay looked more confused than angry. "Why?" he asked.

"Well this is the first time for him in the field. He hasn't finished his training and he was rough on you. Plus he was so excited about you discovering his ability. Thank you for that. We never guessed Zip was a booster," Pascal explained.

"I still don't know why y'all make such a big deal over it," Jay replied slowly.

Pascal looked surprised. "Are you kidding? You and Zip have an extremely rare ability. There are only three known boosters in the world, well with you, Vera and Zip, now it's six.

Jay looked skeptical, "You're kidding, right?"

"You think so? Can you think of any other boosters?" challenged Pascal.

Jay considered, "Well, no, but Aunt Vera didn't act like it was anything special."

Right then, LaShonda breezed into the room looking for Pascal, "There you are! Greg has left, so you can stop hiding in the kitchen."

Pascal gave a small grin. He looked relieved. "Well I got a few days reprieve then. Did you need me for something?"

:::

While LaShonda was threatening Jay with a cool bath and cold packs, Dean brought the trays back to the kitchen. His ankle was more stiff than sore, but he felt restless and needed to move around. Griffin followed; he must not have liked the idea of getting near a bathtub full of water. The poor cat had enough of water and rain yesterday.

Now that the drugs in his system had worn off he was agitated. Seeing Vera and Jay in this condition made him angry, but the Comacines had healed him and Sam. He was conflicted. These arrogant Comacines had been lying, manipulating and scheming ever since they arrived in Wake County. Dean still wanted them off the farm and out of his territory as soon as possible, despite their healing.

When Dean entered the kitchen, he saw Cheryl making a jug of iced tea. Dean remembered her phone call from the station and his frustration boiled over, “You lied about knowing my father.”

Cheryl watched Dean's every movement carefully. She shrugged, “True, I never met him personally, but the Order tracked him for many years and offered our services.”

“I saw you shoot at Vera last night! Then you people were talking about kidnapping Sam!”

Cheryl’s eyes narrowed. “It is my job to hunt down psychic terrorists and rogue psychics. We knew Sam was untrained and is a very powerful psychic, it was a matter of time before he went rogue. We had to find and contain him before he hurt anyone.”

Dean was unmoved, “And Vera?”

Regret flashed in her navy blue eyes, but she looked steadily at Dean, “I was told she was a psychic terrorist and I follow orders.”

Dean’s eyes widened, it was the only response that he could have accepted, or respected. He thought about how he had followed his father’s orders all his life. Dean nodded, his jaw working tightly. He was lashing out at the wrong person.

"You're right," he agreed in way of apologizing for his outburst. To Dean's surprise Griffin walked up to Cheryl and started rubbing his head and side against her bare legs.

"Is he your cat?" she asked bending to pet Griffin, "he's so sweet." Dean leaned forward to get an eyeful of her cleavage, her simple vee-necked t-shirt and shorts was more appealing than some of the dressed to kill women he was familiar with from bars.

Cheryl looked up in time to catch him looking and grinned. Dean cleared his throat, "His name is Griffin. He's my familiar."

Cheryl nodded and stood up again. "He's very devoted. He stayed outside with me and Vera last night in all that rain." Her lips twitched, as if she was trying not to smile. “He took a few chunks out of Atin last night defending you and few more out of him this morning. I think Atin is hiding from him while he tries to figure out a way to make a truce with him.”

Dean shuddered slightly, remembering her strange ability to slow time down. Now he understood why she stayed with Vera in the Circle last night. He looked down and smiled fondly at Griffin. "He's one of a kind.”

"Sorry about lying, is there anything I can do to make it up to you?" Cheryl was smiling suggestively; she had caught him looking and now was flirting. Dean grinned; the day was definitely taking a turn for the better.

"Well," his gaze lowered back to her cleavage. "I'm sure you can think of something."

She took a step closer, "It can't be in the house," she said.

Dean's quickly thought of his options. "Uh, the carriage house, I had Joe park my car in there."

Cheryl stepped away "I'm off duty at 10 tonight." Her smile was enigmatic. Dean blinked as she left the kitchen. Did he really just score a booty call with a psychic cop?


:::

Women. It always came down to the women. They were the glue that held families together. They were the nurturers, they were the ones who usually cared for the young, raised and shaped them. There was a reason why so many faiths considered motherhood sacred. Never underestimate the power of the female. Destroy the women and you destroyed families and whole communities.

Look at Sam Winchester. Mommy died when he was just a baby. Daddy became obsessed with vengeance, dragging poor little Sammy and his tough-but-tender older brother all over the countryside. No childhood, living with no structure, no security, often not knowing when he’d eat again, always hiding. Daddy did a great job of almost breaking him. Sam was almost where he wanted him. The way his mother had died had shaped his entire life. It had warped his father’s mind with revenge, forced his brother to grow up far too fast, becoming his protector at the age of four and put a burden of guilt on Sam that wasn’t his.

All of this pain, grief and madness with just one death.

Then Sam ran away from that life. He’d given him the slip for a little while, but he found him. It was simple, and then it was just a matter of checking back in on him from time to time, waiting for the right opportunity.

Then he came back one night and found pretty little Jess. Jessica. Another woman Sam loved, perhaps the only one besides his mother. A mother he couldn’t remember, his love for her was idealized, but Jess was real, flesh and blood he’d held in the night. Sam had nightmares before it happened of course, but that was part of the beauty of it all.

It was perfect, almost too good. The look on Sam’s face as he watched Jess twitch and bleed before she burned was a beautiful thing. He’d just found out that daddy had died, and now Jessica burned above him. So he waited again. Sam began losing control, Dean was confused and desperate. Just a little more, and Sam would break. Such a powerful rogue psychic would create a wonderful amount of damage and destruction. It was so much easier to track down powerful psychics and their families and drive them mad or kill them before they had a chance to join one of the Orders or Lines. If they went mad, all the better, the Lines and Orders would have to use resources to deal with them rather than fight the real enemy.

Never underestimate the power of the female. Now two women were interfering in his plans for Sam; an ancient, decrepit Seer on a mountain and a witch priestess, both Guardians. More women whose deaths would damage a whole community and help drive Sam and maybe even a few other psychics over the edge. The witch priestess was both the most dangerous and the most vulnerable right now. Killing her under the noses of not only Sam but a Major Order would be a triumph. The amount of fear, grief and destruction with that one death would be great.

The demon watched and waited, calculating with glee how many lives he could damage with just one strike.


:::


Atin, usually relaxed and easy going, was irritated. He was striving hard to restrain the impulse to snap at the team; most of them didn’t deserve it. Mike, the one who did, was untouchable due to his exalted status as the only known healer in the world, or at least he was before he found Fawn. Atin was a close personal friend of Hradani Tudor, but Mike was above reproach, no matter how incompetent he was as a team leader.

After this disaster, Atin was the one left to clean up the mess. This mission was so bizarre that even the locals coming out to help with the farm work and bring food made him twitchy. They had this look in their eye like they all knew much more then they were acknowledging.

He was taking a break, lounging on the couch in the living room. LaShonda took it upon herself to tend to Jay, a thankless job since he was a fussy and bad-tempered patient. Sam was hovering over both Dean and Jay. Dean was taking another nap probably to escape Sam's smothering attention. Vera was in critical but stable condition. The situation was as under control as it could be right then.

There was a knock on the door and he groaned. More locals with food? Atin knew he shouldn’t complain, the locals had been an invaluable help, but it was getting more and more difficult shooing them off. They all wanted to see Vera, Dean, Sam and to a lesser extent Jay. He began to drag himself to his feet when he heard the door open.

Atin stepped out into the great hall to see Will Woodfin, the Head of the Priory of Nyx and his entourage blithely walking in. “Thanks for saving me the trouble of opening the door,” Atin let the words fall sarcastically from his mouth, “come in.” Normally he would have been respectful to the head of another Order, but this was Will.

It was the mark of the odd relationship between their two Orders that Will only grinned. “You're welcome! The Comacine's hospitality has always been impeccable.” Atin noticed that the Nyxians were casually dressed. He guessed it was to put the Winchesters at ease. Hradani had told him to expect Will, but he assumed to receive a call letting him know when he would come by. He should have known better.

“I see you brought enough players to field a baseball team.” Might as well keep this light; Will certainly would. The Priory was always easier to deal with if you played along with them. “Is this business or pleasure?”

“Business,” Will said with a genuine smile. Atin got along with him fairly well, unlike Mike. “We always win the inter-Order tournament at the Conclave, but the Maccabeans did have me worried last year. Rad told you to expect me?”

Atin frowned. “For some reason I thought that she meant your representatives. Well don't stand there letting in the bugs, bring in your crew.”

“I understand Dean Winchester is the Hunt leader?” Atin knew that Will knew that…Atin shook his head. Why did Will always play these games?

“You got our message that he wanted to speak to Red Dog?”

“Yes, Rad is just a tad nervous about the idea of a three-way war, she practically begged us to come as soon as possible once Dean made the request. Well, the Knights won't have much of a claim here in a bit.”

Atin raised an eyebrow and decided the less he knew about the Knights failure to claim Jay as their kin, the better. Atin wouldn’t bet on Jennifer Greer surviving the next 24 hours. Was Rad right about Jay being Will and Vera’s son? Atin invited them to have seats in the living room while he sent Pascal to wake Dean.

:::


Everyone stopped talking when Dean entered the living room. He surveyed the mob of people counting eight not including Atin. They were casually dressed in jeans and t-shirts or short-sleeved shirts. The jeans were designer and most of the shirts were silk. They looked like they were slumming, especially in the crumbling farm house with scarred and mismatched furniture. He had asked to see one guy and got a gang. All but one man had stood when he came into the room, making Dean uneasy wondering if they were going to attack him or if they were just being polite. He decided not to waste any time on etiquette. “I'm Dean Winchester. Which one of you is Red Dog?”

A tall, skinny redheaded man raised his hand. "I'd like to speak to you," Dean grunted and glanced at Atin, "alone."

A very short, slender man with pale skin and dark hair who had remained seated smiled and stood up. “That is what I negotiated with the Head of the Comacine Order; we get welfare visits, which include private meetings.”

Red Dog deferred to the shorter man. “Dean, this is Will Woodfin, Head of the Priory of Nyx.” Will walked over to Dean and offered his hand, his warm smile never faltering.

Dean eyed Will's hand for a moment wondering for a second if Will wanted him to kiss his ring or something. Dean grasped the offered hand and shook it. "Are all of you from the Priory?"

Will's expression suddenly changed, becoming grave. “Yes. I brought an entire medical and psychological team for an independent examination of all of you.”

At that particular comment Atin grunted and said, "I'll be on the back porch if you're looking for me." He left shutting the door on the group in the tiny living room.

Dean looked at Will and the others suspiciously. "What do you mean by welfare visits?"

Will looked Dean in the eye, something he appreciated. “The Comacines have claimed this territory as the first Order or Line on the scene. I demanded welfare visits to check on you, to give you an outside voice and to confirm their reports on the situation. Basically I'm here to keep them honest.

"Keep the Comacines honest?” Dean snorted. “Let me know when they started. Why don't we go into the library, there's more room to talk there." Since Dean hadn't taken a seat, the others were still standing. Dean led the way to the library followed by Will and the others; he noticed that the door to Vera’s room had been shut. He’d ask about that later. It was probably just so she wouldn’t be disturbed.

Will’s voice called Dean’s attention back. “She hasn't changed much I see,” the Head of the Priory said fondly, looking around the library before taking a seat.

“You know Vera?” He asked surprised. He was sure if Vera had known about these Orders she would have told him, wouldn’t she? Dean was suddenly struck by how little he really knew about her and how short a time they had known one another. The past few days had felt like years. He all but collapsed into one of the chairs. The rest of the Priory members found seats or leaned against bookshelves. For a split moment Dean felt like getting up and sitting down over and over again just to drive them crazy.

“She was my first teacher, and I was her first student.”

Dean felt himself starting to warm up to Will, there was something about his voice when he talked about Vera. Maybe Will could remove whatever Ben had stuck in Sam's head. "What do you know of the techniques the Comacines use to control psychics?

“Which one?” Will laughed. “That’s one of the things they specialize in, controlling and training rogue psychics.”

“Ben is controlling my brother somehow.” Dean leaned forward a little, and his hopes rose; he knew he couldn't deal with Sam on his own, not when he went into one of his fits or rages. Vera was near death and Jay was too traumatized to help keep Sam in check. He hated that Ben had this control over his brother. Maybe Will could offer him some other alternative and a way to get rid of the Comacines. “He didn't say what it is only that it enabled him to calm him down.”

Will sighed, knowing what Dean wanted and knowing he couldn’t give it to him, mainly for Sam’s sake. “As much as I hate to say it, the Coms are very good at helping rogues. They use certain techniques to control them while helping the untrained psychics learn to control their abilities themselves. They always gradually stop the monitoring as the psychics improve.”

Dean felt the floor drop out from under him. Will said he was here to check up on the Comacines, and yet he was condoning their actions? Just whose side was Will on? Dean could feel a subtle attempt from Will to soothe him. He pinched the bridge of his nose, he was getting a headache. He did not need another psychic trying to mess with his head. Griffin jumped into his lap and tried to comfort him. Dean glared at Will and projected back his irritation and a single thought jab. Stop!

Will and some of the other members of the Priory flinched, one actually jumped in surprise. Will stopped projecting. Everyone hushed.

Dean sighed; maybe they would be more help for Jay. "The reason I asked for Red Dog was he interrogated Jay this morning." He turned to look at Red Dog. "I know Ben and Atin interrogated Jay before you arrived; and now Jay is terrified of them." Dean paused; he hoped Red Dog knew what went on. "What do you think they did to Jay?"

The redhead scowled, and Dean could understand why Jay thought the dude was scary. “He's been beaten and terrorized. He was still drugged when I saw him, he wouldn't let me touch him and I spent less then three minutes with him, so I don't know much else.”

Dean shifted, feeling his own features sharpen. Touch. These psychics learned a lot about you from touching. Briefly Dean wondered what Will found out about him when they shook hands earlier. It was bad enough he couldn't pretend in front of Sam anymore, but to have strangers privy to his emotions, well that just blows. Dean let out a breath and tried to calm down. He really didn't want to let the Priory know how helpless he felt about the situation. “Do you think they psychically tortured him?”

“No," Red Dog replied slowly, "but I do think that they were negligent in their physical care of him.”

Bruises were the least of Jay's problems. "Vera trained Jay from birth. He was very proud of the fact he never lost control before. Now that the Coms are here he says he can't control his abilities. They must be doing something to him.”

Will shifted in his chair, his expression serious. “I understand Jay has had a lot come down on him over the past few months. I think his problem is most likely due to stress. It sounds like he’s on the edge of breaking.”

Dean agreed about the close to breaking part, but thought there was more to it than just stress. He had learned to trust his instincts and they were telling him that some of the Comacines were up to something. "That's a big part of it. The Coms have been bullying him since last night. Ben wanted to do some mind healing on him, but I’m not going to let them mess with his head anymore. Jay is terrified of them." Dean's instincts also told him he could trust Will's people with Jay. He also knew Jay would never let Ben touch him but could he cope with a stranger touching him? Dean didn't see there was any alternative. "Is there one of your people that can look at him?"

“Yes, we brought two of our best mind-healers with us. Red Dog thought they might be needed.”

Dean chewed on his lower lip a moment; he had to let Will know how grave the situation was here. “Jay was there last night. He knew they were here to execute Vera and he saw – too much."

Will’s dark eyes were unreadable. “Is he that bad? Where is he?”

He wondered at Will’s concern. Why was he so upset by all of this, even if he was an old friend of Vera’s? “He's been hiding with Sam up in our bedroom all day.” He looked at Red Dog. "After you left, Jay heard someone named Greg threaten to overdose Vera on morphine and ship us out.” The entire Priory team went very still, and Dean could imagine a cold anger rolling around the room. Their concern was a relief. "So Ben got Greg shipped out and put Atin in charge. Even if they are supposed to help Hunters and Guardians, they have almost killed Vera, intimidated and beat Jay and put some kind of mind control device in Sam’s head.”

Total silence reigned in the library for a few moments. Dean began to wonder if this group in front of him was really here to help them. They didn't seem anxious to remove the Comacines. Will finally spoke again. “I don't understand how the Coms screwed up so badly. They could have helped all of you, should have helped all of you. Atin is a good team lead; he should have been on lead from the beginning. Things would have gone better if he had been in charge instead of Mike.”

Dean petted Griffin trying to reign in his anger and despair over the situation. None of that mattered now. "Maybe, but that doesn't help us now. The area is now open season thanks to them. At least we took out the demons before the idiots destroyed my team."

Will looked frustrated. “Unfortunately we have to work with the situation we have. I can't remove the Coms from this area. Mike is the only one that can put Vera back together enough so that she can walk again if her condition is as bad as I’ve been told. It also sounds like Sam needs help with Vera injured as badly as she is.

His anger rose, what the hell did he mean by 'we'? He was the one who was left to deal with all the crap. Alone. Dean jutted out his chin stubbornly. "I was managing Sam before they showed up, and I've been trying to keep both Sam and Jay with it all morning. If it weren't for Vera, I'd have run their sorry asses off the farm by now."

“If Vera was up and around,” Will said gently. “I'm sure between the two of you there wouldn’t be a problem.”

That was a given. No point in continuing this discussion. Will offered him a mind healer and Jay was in desperate need of one. Dean got up as Griffin jumped off his lap. "I don't want to freak Jay or upset Sam. Could you pick one of your mind healers to come upstairs with me?"

Will summoned one of his members with a motion of his hand, a young woman with brown curly hair, grey eyes and a very sweet face. “This is Elizabeth.”

The woman Will Woodfin indicated smiled and Dean noticed that she was about Sammy’s age. Elizabeth was also the most non-threatening looking person here along with Will, clear skinned with a mass of out of control, curly hair. Good, Jay was freaked enough as it was. Dean nodded for her to follow him.

:::

As they started down the hall and up the stairs Dean noticed her well-endowed profile and realized that it’d been a damned long time since he’d gotten laid. He thrust those thoughts out of his mind when they reached the top of the stairs and paused, turning to Elizabeth, "Let me tell Jay and Sam about you first. And a word of warning, my brother is very protective of him."

She frowned. “Okay.”

Sam was sitting on the bed while talking softly to Jay. The teen was laying on his stomach with cold gel packs on his back and various other parts of his body. There was other evidence of LaShonda’s treatment, Jay’s hair was damp and there were bottles of pain reliever on a bedside table. Dean winced when he heard Jay’s spine crack as he stretched, but his face showed relief and not pain.

Dean grinned at the look on Sam’s face. Sam had that geek boy romantic look in his eye that passed as red blooded lust for him. He didn’t know how Jay could manage a roll in the hay right now, farm boy or not. Hell, Sammy would probably want to read him poetry for a month first. He was relieved that Sam could look at anyone like that after his ordeal. “Dudes, we have visitors. There is another Order, called the Priory of Nyx. I asked them here to keep an eye on the Comacines. One of them is here to help you Jay, she's a mind healer.

Jay looked at him nervously. “What is she going to do to me?”

Sam stirred on the bed, his expression wary as he shifted slightly closer to Jay. Dean didn’t like this, he felt like he needed a choke collar for his brother. How could Sam seem better in some ways but still fucked up in others? He decided to keep his attention on Jay for right now. “Heal you. Be sure you don’t go postal after all the crap that has gone down the past few days.” He glanced at Sam. "Something like what Ben did for Sam but without the additions."

His brother just shrugged; it was obvious he didn’t think Ben had done anything bad to him. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Elizabeth peek around the door. Her curly dark hair was frizzy and he saw it before he noticed her face.

“Do I have to?” Jay asked anxiously. Sam reached for him and gently eased him onto his side, taking the cold packs off of him. Jay flinched and gasped at the movement, looking like he was having a back spasm.

Dean frowned. Will did say some of his members were on a medical team. Jay didn't look any better after LaShonda was here earlier, but first he had to get Jay’s head straight. “Yes. It is either Elizabeth or Ben. Choose.” Jay flinched again, looking cornered. Sam gently stroked his back.

Elizabeth slowly eased into the room, looking shy and actually blushing a little. If anything, she looked like she was almost as afraid of Jay as he was of her. “It isn't anything bad. You'll feel better.”

Sam rolled over and lay beside Jay, not quite touching him. “It helps. Dean and I are here. Ben did it for me, are you sure you wouldn't rather have him?”

“No!” Jay responded, alarmed at the thought of Ben touching him.

“It won't even hurt,” Dean added for Jay’s benefit, “will it Elizabeth?”

She smiled and her face lit up. “No, usually the opposite.”

Jay settled a little more comfortably as Sam moved closer and curled around him. Elizabeth gently touched Jay's head as his eyes fluttered closed and his face went slack. Dean could see the some of the stress slowly leaving Jay's face.

The familiars were both intensely interested in what Elizabeth was doing. Star and Griff sniffed Jay’s hair and face, and Elizabeth’s hands. Star nuzzled Sam’s face after a moment, wanting attention. Dean watched the familiar’s reactions, remembering Vera's instructions to trust them. The two cats seemed very interested and curious but not upset.

As much as Dean tried to avoid chick flick moments he knew psychics felt better when someone they trusted touched them. Dean wasn't sure why Jay trusted him so much, they hadn't known each other for very long. But, he had made a promise to take care of Jay for Vera, so he moved closer and held Jay’s hand, letting Jay feel his concern. Sam smiled at Dean and placed his hand on top of Dean's hand, linking all three of them. Dean knew he couldn't hide the way his stomach was churning from Sam. The whole situation was out of his control and he was just reacting to it instead of using strategy. Sam gave him a puzzled look and tightened his grip on Dean’s hand.

Elizabeth slowly withdrew from Jay as he began to cry softly, unlike the harsh sobs of his earlier hysterics. Griffin began licking Jay’s swollen face slowly while occasionally butting his head gently against him. Star continued to nuzzle Sam until he released Dean's hand and picked her up and settled her in the small space between his and Jay’s bodies.

The young Guardian’s crying calmed down pretty quickly; he blew his nose and seemed to be drifting off to sleep. Sam looked drowsy eyed himself under his shaggy bangs.

Sam and Jay seemed to want to sleep a lot. "Does this make him tired?" Dean asked Elizabeth in a tense and somewhat irritated undertone.

She smiled and looked a little tired herself. “Yes, especially considering how upset he's been.” After a moment she added “any type of healing drains the patient. They’ll both sleep a lot the next few days, up to 12 hours, but that’s normal.” Dean blew out a sigh of relief.

Dean gingerly clasped Jay on the shoulder, afraid of hurting him. "Get some rest Jay. Sam will stay with you." Jay mumbled a bit, but seemed to be happy with the order. Griffin chirped at Dean, still curled up on the bed next to Jay’s chest. Dean smiled at Griffin, glad his familiar was sensitive enough to know what he needed and seemed to be asking to do it. “Griffin will guard you two. Griff, come get me if they need anything. I'll make sure you get some more ham later." The grey-and-white cat trilled enthusiastically before snuggling Jay.

The empath/healer was silent until they were out of earshot of the bedroom. “He'll need more work later,” she said softly.

"I thought so. He’s had too much crap come down on him."

Elizabeth nodded. “He's a heck of a fighter, though. He never stopped fighting, he never gave them anything.”

He looked at Elizabeth curiously. Ben said almost the same thing. "Were you able to see what happened to him?"

Elizabeth's shy demeanor that she used to calm Jay disappeared into the competence he’d seen earlier. “He's afraid of everyone leaving him, either dying or throwing him out of their lives. The Coms, he knew they were here to kill Ms Kesterson, people trying to shoot her, Sam cut up, both you and Ms Kesterson hit by the demon, a woman who’d been raped and tortured. He was almost drowned in the mud last night, saw his aunt just left lying in a muddy field, dying, being kept away from her, having a gun pointed at his head..." Her voice trailed off as she shuddered hard enough to rattle her teeth. “That’s a lot for even a Guardian or Hunter, all in a few hours. Especially one so young and with no experience.”

Dean felt a renewed sense of anger at the Coms but he was relieved he was hearing part of what happened to Jay. “Did they do anything more to him this morning?”

“One of them attacked him psychically, but Jay did something, I don't understand what. He felt it, but it didn't touch him, couldn't hurt him. It scared him though; he didn't think there was anybody out there that powerful.” Elizabeth’s face was clouded, like she was trying to explain something she didn’t have words for. Huh, looked like Jay’s little tricks were a mystery to this new Order too.

Dean's eyes narrowed. "I knew something else happened. Oh, and its Doctor Kesterson, Vera has a PhD." Dean fondly remembered Vera correcting him in the library.

She looked a little embarrassed. “Yes sir.”

Sir? That just killed off any sexual interest he had in her. "No sweat, sweetheart." When did he become a ‘sir’? Oh, yeah, that Hunt leader thing. He desperately hoped that didn't mean he couldn't have fun anymore. At least Cheryl didn't call him sir.

:::

When they were back to the library, Dean let Elizabeth give her report. Will nodded and then asked one of his people, Jason, to find who is running the kitchen and bring in drinks and some food. “We're going to be here for a while. Red Dog, Ace, stay with us, everyone else is excused.”
Then Will turned and looked at Dean. “Well, I need to discuss a lot of things with you; do you have any questions first?”
Dean finally asked the question he'd wanted to ever since Will showed up on the doorstep. “So why are you here? What are you getting out of this?” His experience with people was that they didn't offer their services freely without getting something in return.
The Priory's leader's mouth quirked up at one corner, “Vera was my first teacher.” He sounded as if he wasn't sure Dean would understand. “I was her student years ago, when I was a freshman in college and she was a second year senior. I joined the Priory right after she graduated and became the Head of the Order last year.”
“You just decided to drop by for a class reunion?” Dean snorted.
Will looked thoughtful. “No, my wife had a vision.” Dean shifted uneasily. More visions. “I was planning on contacting Vera again, but with the Coms and this situation..." Will broke off, looking hard and angry for a moment. “I wasn't going to let the Orders take anything more from her or let any of you become pawns. I wish I would have known sooner. Believe me, this might seem bad, but you have no idea how bad it could be. I can't make the Coms leave, they've claimed the territory and they are the first Order in. I threatened to go to war against the Coms if Vera died or if they removed Jay from the farm unless you agreed.” He nodded towards Dean. “I also negotiated welfare visits so you had someone outside the Coms who knew what was happening here and could represent you at Conclave if it was needed.”
All of these Orders seemed to have two or three reasons for everything they did. "So what do you get out of this?"
The Head of the Priory of Nyx sighed. “I can see you don't understand. Dean, I owe Vera and her current students and family a debt. Vera was my teacher, my first teacher. When I was about to lose my mind due to my untrained abilities, she sought me out and told me what was happening. I'd probably have been dead long before now if it wasn't for her.”
Will was a small, but self-assured and obviously strong and healthy. It sounded like what Vera had been doing for Sammy. Dean felt a surge of hope. Nora said they'd all have a chance to heal and be whole again, even his brother. “And Vera is Sam's teacher; she's saved his life twice now. She knew she might die yesterday, but helped find him anyways. I decided to take care of Jay, I wanted to promise her, but I didn't have the time.”
“Do you understand now?” Will nodded sadly.
Dean swallowed. “Yeah, we'd both do anything for Vera.”
“Maybe not anything,” Will laughed; “but pretty damned close most days.”
Jason came in with a tray of food and left it on a desk before retreating. “So what are my options here?” Dean snagged a cookie and nibbled it nervously.
Will's voice called his attention back. “Not too many. Jay is underage and Sam's untrained. Add the fact that they are the only ones who can heal Vera, there's not much we can do. They have us by the short hairs. I'm here to provide any support I can legally give you and monitor for any signs of abuse or torture.” Will raised his hand to stop Dean from interrupting him. “They're saying Jay's injuries are due to him resisting. I'm sorry, but I can't do anything about that. The Coms can do just about anything to keep him in their custody. Jay needs to stop trying to fight them. He won't win.”
Dean wished Sam was here with him. All this legal talk, he didn't understand half of what Will was saying and he was talking to him as if he should know all this already. He felt like he was about a heartbeat away from a rage. “So you are saying we just have to take whatever the Coms give us, and let them ship us all to Hawaii?”
“That depends. Now, I need your version of what is happening here.” Will's look was suddenly penetrating and Dean knew he couldn't bullshit this guy.
“Okay, but that's going to take a while.”
Dean touched on everything he knew; meeting Jay in Chattanooga, killing the Uktena, his broken ribs, finding refuge at the Rice's campground, Sam losing control of his abilities and seeing Katie Wyler, meeting Nora, Vera, Rattler and Ravenmocker. The last name caused Will to grunt in recognition; apparently his Order had dealings with whatever Ravenmocker was. The Head of the Priory waved for him to continue.
They heard running steps and Sam burst into the library looking around wildly for Dean. As soon as he saw him he rushed over to grab him. “You okay Dean? I could feel you getting angry, what's wrong?”
Dean was so surprised, all he did was wish for Sam to be there and here he was! He quickly reassured his brother. “I'm fine Sam, I'm not hurt; but I'm glad you're here. I was just telling Will what's been going on here.”
Sam looked at the other three men suspiciously, “Who's Will?”
Will and the other two men got up to introduce themselves. After they made introductions, Will sat down and asked Dean to continue his story. Sam listened intently, he had missed most of these events and no one had found the time to give him details.
Dean explained how he and Sam came to move in, Jay rejoining him, his arrest which led to the Coms coming to Wake County, the demons, Deputy Martha Ayers and Old Rattler being slaughtered, being made a deputy sheriff. Sam just about choked, he looked at Dean in amazement, “You're a deputy sheriff?”
He winced at the disbelief in Sammy’s voice. “Well Spencer needed someone to go find you and Kathy Wyler. Especially after the Comacines kidnapped the only search and rescue person in the county!”
If things weren’t so serious, the look on Sam’s face would have been funny. Geek boy looked confused and stunned; and Dean suddenly noticed he had bed head. Stifling a nervous giggle, Dean continued with telling them about Vera's premonition of her own death in detail, how she knew someone had broken into her office, Joe joining them, the Coms firing on Vera as she began her Circle. Sam looked angry but then he got that curious blank look on his face. Damn it, that thing Ben put into his head was working again. Dean rushed to finish the story of the chaos last night after the Circle, Sam being healed, Jay beaten and Vera left to die. The Stargills nearly being kidnapped by the Knights. As he wound down, Dean was shocked to realize most of this happened yesterday and today.
After he finished, Sam sat there brooding, looking partly guilty and partly furious. Will was silent for a long moment. “That woman continues to amaze me even after keeping tabs on her for about 20 years.”
Dean's suspicion flared up again, they had been watching her? "I get being a secret society you couldn't keep in touch, but why didn't you recruit her? She would have had some back up here."
Will's gaze looked beyond Dean and out the windows overlooking the garden. “I tried to get the Order to when I first joined, but one of our most powerful seers said no, she had another path. I just became Head of the Priory a little more than a year ago. I've been trying to get settled in before I contacted her. Many of her former students joined our Order, but they all had to cut ties with her when they did.”
“Ouch. That's nasty.” Dean actually flinched; he knew what it felt like to be abandoned. “No wonder she didn't want to take on Sam as a student.” Sam looked guilty again.
“No,” Will agreed, “it hurt her a lot, I'm sure.” It was obvious that Will was speaking from his own guilt now and not responding to Dean's comment about his brother. The older man seemed to snap back to the present moment. “There are other things we need to talk about, what do you know about the Laws?”
“Laws?” Dean looked at him blankly; Sam leaned forward with an intense look on his face.
As Will began his explanation, it became obvious that everything seemed to hinge on him and Sam becoming a recognized Line. To be recognized he had to inform a Conclave and they voted on it. If you got a majority vote, presto, you were a recognized Line. The Conclave which sounded like a convention for Hunters and Guardians was an annual event that took place one week before and one week after the Winter Solstice.
Sam's expression was one of rapt attention but Dean's was totally blank. Will stopped citing paragraphs of the Laws and told Dean to just start firing questions at him.
Dean's mind was whirling, so he took a breath, "Okay, what do you mean the Coms have claimed this territory as the first Order on the scene?"
"In cases where a Guardian can no longer defend their territory, due to injuries or age, the first Order or Hunt Line that arrives in their territory can take over their duties for up to six months. That's what the Comacines have done.
"The problem is that legally, there is no recognized Guardian Line here. Unofficially, the Comacines and we acknowledge Nora Bonesteel's right to claim this territory since she was acting in the Guardian capacity for all her life."
"What is the procedure for becoming a legally recognized as a Line?" asked Sam, he had found some paper and a pen and was busy writing everything down.
"There are two ways. First, you must notify the Conclave that you want to be considered by the Autumn Equinox or you can have an Order put a petition on your behalf before the Conclave without notice. The only problem here is that you can't put a petition before the Conclave when you are under the Com's jurisdiction."
Dean groaned, this sounded like a Catch-22 situation. There was nothing he could do but Will did say an Order could petition for him.
As the thought struck him he looked at Will hopefully. "Any Order? Or does it have to be the Coms?"
"Any Order, but we'll probably have to fight the Coms over it."
Dean snorted in disbelief, "You actually think the Coms will petition for us? They seem to like us under their thumb too much." Sam's head jerked up and he looked at Dean surprised.
Will actually laughed. "With the Coms it is a matter of honor."
Honor. Dean had not seen much of that among the Coms. The exceptions seemed to be with their younger members. He didn't want to debate their ambiguous morals and ethics. There were more practical matters to consider. "So what are my chances of getting approved?"
"How old are you Sam?" Will asked.
Sam caught the implications and looked relieved, “I'm 22.”
"Then you should have no problem getting approved. It's the Kestersons and Stargills that will have problems. The underage members of an established Line are protected. The age of majority is 21. Any psychic under 21 that is not part of a Line is vulnerable to forcible recruitment. Many in the Conclave would vote against them in order to have the chance of recruiting Jay and Kayla, Jay especially. He has a very rare and powerful ability.
Sam stopped writing and looked intent, “So you are saying the Comacines can legally keep Jay until he turns 21?"
Will looked irate. "Yes, I've requested that he be transferred to my custody after Vera is healed but I doubt the Coms will let him go. Hopefully your Line will be approved and he can come home in December."
Dean rubbed his head in confusion. "Wait, I'm missing something here. Even if I become the head of an established Line how does that help Jay or the Stargills?"
"There is a way around it. You can have their unrecognized Lines merge with yours once your Line is approved.
"Does that have to be approved by the Conclave too?" Sam asked.
Will's grin suddenly looked diabolical and Dean could see political intrigue was his specialty. This man was an assassin, thankfully he was Vera's former student or he would be very worried right now. "No. It's a little known clause that hasn't been used in over a century. I've had our legal experts working on it since last night."
Sam wanted to see a copy of these laws and Red Dog dug one out for him.
The newly christened Hunt leader suddenly yearned for the simpler years when all he had to worry about was break, enter, kill and leave with the usual rounds of grave digging and bone torching. Another random thought struck Dean. "This six month business, if this was January instead of August, what would have happened to us since the Conclaves are only held in December?"
"Then it would have been open season on your underage members." Will looked serious, as if he was trying to impress Dean with the level of danger that the young psychics faced.
Dean's jaw worked, he thought he'd ought to be grateful for the Coms protection, but then again if they hadn't showed up in the first place...then Sammy would be a tortured, insane wreck…but Vera probably wouldn't have been hurt and Jay wouldn't have been all but tortured himself… Dean felt a little guilty, but he was glad that Mike had healed Sam so much, even if Vera was on the verge of dying. Even Jay being tortured was worth - he cut off that line of thought. Not for the first time that day he had to fight the impulse to just throw Sam and Jay into the car and flee. "Well I hope it goes smoothly at the Conclave. Is there anything else I should know?"
Will shook his head, “That about covers it.”
Sam had fallen asleep over his notes and the Laws book. Dean looked back to Will, “Is that normal?”
Will nodded, "Considering how much healing he's had, yes, absolutely. Do you think Jay will be up to meeting with me?"
"He fell asleep quickly after Elizabeth healed him, so I don't really know how he is. Hopefully he'll be up to a meeting, but not an interrogation. I really don't want you asking him more questions about what happened."
"No, no, nothing like that," Will assured him, "Just curious. I need to check Vera now. Where is she?"
"Just across the hall," Dean got up to lead the way.
Dean quietly opened the door to see Mike reading while sitting at Vera’s bedside. He looked up and his face twisted. "I hope you paid attention to your hygiene this morning Woodfin, the slightest germ could finish her off."

Will’s face split into a malicious grin. “Mikey! I see you're in top form today. Decided to put her back together again since you almost killed her?” Dean glanced at the short, pale man, almost stunned by the venom in his voice.

Mike stared at Will insolently with a disaffected coolness, "You heard wrong, I didn't throw her into a chunk of stone."

“She was in the middle of an exorcism, which she was rushing through while you were shooting at her.” Dean would have been nervous with that much malice and viciousness directed at him by the head of a supposedly powerful Order, but Mike looked unconcerned, although Dean could see an undercurrent of anger in the healer.

The healer gently touched Vera’s wrist. "If you really cared about her, you’d stop projecting so hard, can't you see she has no shields! She’s feeling your,” his voice became gently taunting, “concern for her."

Will twitched and took a half step towards Mike. “You need to leave.”

Everyone in the room was startled by an eerie, spitting hiss from Shade, who slowly rose to her feet and arched her back, her hair standing up stiff along her spine. The black cat’s ears were pinned back and her eyes slanted and distorted, her nub of a tail bushed out into a perfect ball of hair. Dean stepped back involuntarily and reached for the gun he didn’t have, for a moment he wondered if another demon had gotten in and possessed Shade.

“Fine, but only because Rad said I have to.” Mike’s snarl was almost as frightening as Shade’s. “You so much as disturb my patient and you’ll hope her cat finishes you off by the time I get to you.” The healer turned and dramatically stalked from the room, making a point of gently closing the door, as if to rebuke Will for losing his temper. Shade calmed down but still looked unhappy and watched all of them intensely.

Will ignored Mike the second he closed the door and slowly moved to Vera’s bedside and looked down at her for a moment. Finally, he reached out a hand and gently touched her cheek. Dean suddenly remembered he could communicate with her and quickly moved to her side, touching her hand, trying to let her know who was here and reassure her, keep her from being frightened. She moaned and mumbled; nothing he could make out. "It's okay Vera; Shade would have scratched their eyes out if they were doing something bad to you."

Dean almost stopped Will when he moved the light blankets and gown aside to expose Vera’s bare ribcage. He laid a light hand there and closed his eyes, Red Dog resting a hand on Will’s back. Dean suddenly recognized the look on Will’s face; it was the same as Mike’s when he was working on Sam last night. A wild hope erupted in his chest, Will was a healer too?

Vera began to stir and mumble again, but Dean quickly tried to calm her, afraid her agitation would interrupt Will. "Relax Vera, you can tell me later. I'm not going anywhere. Sam and Jay are fine."
Vera mumbled a little more before going still; it seemed as if she had fallen into a deeper sleep, but her color was a little better.

“Dean, no one else needs to know, understand?” Will shook his dark hair as he stopped healing and slowly straightened from where he was leaning over her.

"Yeah sure. No problem. Can I thank you? Can’t you take over here?" The new Hunt leader was desperate, hoping for a way out from under the Comacines.

Will smiled tiredly. “I’m not nearly as strong as Mike; I don’t even have half his ability. I can speed things up a little over the next few days, that’s why I insisted on coming myself instead of just sending a delegation. Yes, you can thank me; just don't be loud about it. No one outside the Order knows, except for maybe Vera.”

Dean smirked; glad he had a secret from the Coms. This was better than nothing for Vera. "Thanks,” he whispered, feeling like a smart ass, “from all of us. Are you going to be around for awhile?"

“Not too much longer, but I'll be back at odd times. I need to speak to Atin about a few things.” By the look of Will’s grin, Dean had the feeling that the times he would be turning up were going to be very odd, to say the least.

:::

Ruby Wyler was worried as she drove in from the hospital in Johnson City to the sheriff’s station. A message had been left on her cell voicemail to report to work in the morning. She wasn’t supposed to take over as dispatcher for Kelly Stargill until the end of this month. For the past few days all kinds of weird things had been going on, then her cousin Kathy had been kidnapped, raped and beaten. Ruby’s hands clenched the steering wheel. She’d love to have fifteen minutes alone with those two sons of bitches and a shotgun. She’d start at the crotch then work her way out from there. The Good Lord may have said turn the other cheek, but the Bible also said an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.

The entire Wyler clan planned to thank the Winchesters and Kestersons for saving Kathy. Word was all of them had been hurt looking for her. She heard that Wake County folk were helping out at the farm. The Wylers would have been there before now, but they had to see to Kathy first. Pulling her car into the parking lot of the station she hit the ground sprinting, worried about Kelly's sudden absence. Was something wrong with the baby?

Ruby slowed as she reached the station doors and found Spencer and LeDonne looking serious and grim, their eyes bloodshot. Ruby winced in sympathy, everyone these days seemed to look tired and grieving, and with good reason. Ruby could hardly wait for this summer to be over; it was the worst in her entire life. Things just had to get better.

“What happened? How’s Kelly?” Ruby blurted out.

LeDonne and Spencer exchanged a look, like they were trying to decide what to tell her. She almost threw the phone on the desk at them. If she was going to be filling in for Kelly, they shouldn’t keep secrets from her. Damn it all, she’d already heard and believed more of Kathy’s story than most of the county.

Spencer just looked at her for a moment, like he was trying to see how many teeth she had without opening her mouth. “I’ll let Joe tell you.”

The new Hunter looked surprised and then shrugged. “You might want to sit down.”

What Joe told her made a lot of sense. There were stories in her momma’s family, whispered when no one was around, about her several times great grandfather, James Douger. He had been a circuit preacher, riding a route over the mountains, preaching to small communities that didn’t have a minister of their own. The story was that some of those traveling preachers did more then just minister to the souls of those small communities; they protected them from ghosts, demons, and other evil spirits.

Grandpa Douger sounded like these Winchester boys, traveling and killing the evil and unnatural. The Kestersons sounded like some of his kin, who lived over in Virginia, close to Tazewell. Hezekiah Douger, also known as Old Rattler, was a distant cousin.

Ruby waited patiently for Joe to finish. “The Winchesters, the Kestersons,” she asked “they're Hunters?”

Joe raised his eyebrows, looking at her, actually, really looking at her for the first time, like he was remembering something. "Yes, they are, and I've joined them."

“Who says if you're in?”

"Are you planning on joining us?" Joe gave her an uneasy look.

She smiled like a shark. “Who LeDonne?”

Spencer flapped his hands. “I’m having nothing to do with this,” he declared and suddenly found work to do in his office.

Joe scowled after Spencer and folded his arms. "How old are you? Are you a psychic?"

He turned his glare on Ruby, who had thrust her chin out, her light blue eyes glinting. “I'm 20, and I have a bit of the Sight. My family's been here a long while now.”

He ignored the implied insult. “Then you should be safe enough. There are lots of these secret societies. According to their laws if you are under 21 and a strong psychic they can forcibly recruitment you.”

“Great! Good to know.” She was barely paying attention to Joe. “Now who do I see to sign up?”

Joe shook his head, defeated. “Dean Winchester, he's the hunt leader.”

Ruby was half out the door by the time Joe finished. “See you in the morning!”

Time to go find Cousin Maryanne. She was most likely still at the hospital with her sister Kathy. Then they’d go find Dean and tell him he had two new Hunters joining him. The Wyler women were tired of being supernatural punching bags. Besides, sounded like the Winchesters and Kestersons needed some help with these Orders.

:::

Emma was getting more and more worried. She hadn’t heard from Vera in almost a week. Jay had called her Saturday to tell her Vera was sick, but she hadn’t heard anything from the farm since then. She had left messages both on the house phone, Vera’s cell and tried calling her at the library. Beulah Greer could only tell her that Vera was sick, same as the message Jay had left Saturday. She had called a little while ago and a stranger answered and tried pretending he was Jay. When she called him on it, he’d hung up on her. She was beginning to feel frantic as she dialed again and left another message.

“Vera! Pick up the Goddess blessed phone! Last I heard from Jay was that you were sick. Jeremy's mother died earlier today. Sahba and Jeremy need you to help bring his parents’ bodies home. Damn it, we need you!” Emma could feel her voice breaking. The coven had managed their dream of owning their own farm; but now it was all falling apart. Jeremy was injured and his parents killed in an auto accident in France, her daughter-in-law was struggling not to lose her baby, and now Jay and Vera were missing and strangers were in their house.

She was about to call the Wake County sheriff's station when the phone rang, the call display showing the farm’s number. Emma answered quickly and with relief.

“Hello? Vera?”

An unfamiliar male voice answered. “Uh, hi Emma, this is Dean Winchester. Has Vera told you about me and Sam?”

Almost an hour later Emma hung up, shaking. She had spoken with Dean Winchester and another man named Atin Lono who promised to have someone help Jeremy and Sahba in Paris. Now Emma knew why Vera wasn’t returning her calls. She didn’t know if she was mad at Vera for agreeing to teach this Sam Winchester after promising not to take anymore students or relieved she was still alive. She should have known better than to leave Vera alone, she should have known she’d get herself into trouble without someone there to keep her head straight.

After sitting and watching her two-year-old grandson Jimmy playing, Emma decided she had to go home. Tonya’s sister could come and stay with her through the rest of her pregnancy. The farm had been invaded and Vera was hurt. She stood up to make arrangements for the flight back home and to pack.

:::

Sam dozed comfortably, loosely curled around Jay, who was sleeping deeply. Pascal had found him asleep in the library and helped him back upstairs and to bed. Sam was in that soft, fuzzy world of not-quite-awake but not really asleep, either. He was content to nestle comfortably in bed, close enough to feel Jay’s body heat, enjoying the reassuring snuffles of Star playing with his hair.

He’d heard Pascal come get Dean a while ago; he worried about him for a moment before reaching out through their link and touching him. Ever since he woke from his ordeal he found that all he had to do was think of his brother and he could feel Dean's emotions as strongly as if he was touching him. Sam relaxed; Dean was frustrated, but otherwise fine.

It was disconcerting, sorting through two sets of emotions, but despite the addition of Dean’s unsettled emotions, his brother was still the touchstone of his life. Sam knew he could count on Dean to be a rock of stability when he needed him. Sam curled a little more around Jay whose emotional well being was tenuous. Sam hoped by taking care of Jay it would take some of the pressure off of Dean.

Sam felt himself drifting, when suddenly he saw an old, tar-paper shack at the base of a steep hill, a small stream nearby, the beauty of the scenery highlighted the poverty of the pitiful hovel. A black-and-white Border collie dog, matted and hungry looking ran to him and Sam suddenly thought of Jay…

…Dean, bare-chested and barefoot, wearing only jeans, cradling a newborn baby to his chest, looking stunned, the infant still covered in blood and mucus from his birth…

…he felt himself on a horse, two young women and another guy with them. The two women looked vaguely familiar – he thought he may have seen them around town. The guy, very young, short, dark skinned and dark eyes and stocky. They were running from someone, urging their horses over a rough trail…

...Shade lying still next to a wall, her head twisted at an unnatural angle...

…Vera, in a long, flowing black dress, her eyes literally on fire, tiny sparks snapping out of them to make pin prick burns on her cheeks. Ka wahine `ai honua …

…Dean again, on a plane?


“Sam?” He heard an unfamiliar voice hesitantly calling his name. “Sam, are you awake?” When Sam opened his eyes he wondered for a moment if he was still dreaming. The strange young guy from his vision was standing close to the bed.

“Sorry to wake you. I’m Zip, one of the Comacines. There’s a call for you, a lawyer. He says his name is Zek Phillips and he’s calling about the Douger estate. I’m sorry, but you need to come down to the kitchen to take the call. I, uh, fried the cordless this morning.”