Part 6

Sam wished it had been as easy as destroy the music box and the Pied Piperess would disappear. Nearly an hour earlier Caleb had left Sam outside the building, disappearing from Sam’s limited sight as he was waved upstairs after talking his way past security.

They needed to see if the girl was the one from Caleb’s vision. Sam had texted him about the destroyed music box. With Caleb’s reply came a wave of worry for Sam, stilled only by the fact that he could feel that Caleb was calm.

'Lesson is over. She's on the move.'

Sam called his brother. "She's fine. The music box wasn't connected. I'm going to follow her."

'When you get to the next destination let me know and I'll meet up with you.'

Caleb sent another message.

'Confirming if it’s this girl & not another student. Going to stay bit longer, u follow N., will catch up..'

Sam liked following, blending in with the crowd trying not to be noticed. Like this in a big city, the demon tainted blood; Lucifer's body was all distant. He knew his brother was the opposite--looking at big open spaces to get lost in.

Through the crowd and down stairs to the subway station, Sam followed his target . He silently thanked himself for filling a Metrocard with twenty dollars to get through their time in New York City. On the train he grabbed a newspaper to hide himself in the car.

Thankfully, with each stop there was a steady stream of people coming in, and less leaving, packing the car. The train rolled out of Manhattan and into Brooklyn before Nancy got out, leaving Sam to keep a few steps behind. She entered a half brick, half clapboard building. When she did not emerge Sam checked the names on the mailbox finding one with N. Pichler.

He called his brother and reported the address then texted the same to Caleb and waited for them to arrive. A pizza place lured him in just long enough to buy a few slices to tide him over. Across the street from Nancy’s building, Sam stood with the pepperoni-covered triangles, folding them in half to eat more quickly.

Dean pulled up in the Impala. "Just hung up with Caleb--he's staying around the girl. He thinks whatever is going to happen, happens tonight and he wants to be around to protect her. That leaves me and you."

"It's nice to have the man power to cover all the angles," Sam said, before joining his brother in the car. He was happy to have its comfort rather than the openness of an inconspicuous corner.

They played cards to pass the time, till Sam folded for good in favor of a short nap. Keeping watch was boring but he had the company of his brother, unlike Caleb who stayed in the vicinity of the apartment building by himself and kept sending texts. Dean let Sam wake on his own but quickly took advantage of his brother’s open eyes to grab a bit of sleep for himself. Within minutes Sam recognized the soft snoring of actual rest.

Day passed to evening and the acidic remnants of more pizza bullied Sam’s stomach. He was distracted from it when, in the cover of darkness, he saw a familiar shape emerge from the apartment building. While his brother enjoyed a second bout of sleep, Sam had watched as the other occupants passed in and out; but Nancy, once inside had remained, until now. He smacked his brother’s arm. "Dean!."

Dean was alert with his hand on the ignition. "Shit, she's heading to the subway."

Sam opened the car door. "I'll keep you updated."

"I'm crossing the bridge," Dean replied, talking about the Brooklyn Bridge which would lead back to Manhattan. "You let me know as soon as you know where she is going- she might be heading to Caleb and the girl."

With fewer people to mingle amongst in the late hour, it was difficult for Sam to keep as close to Nancy as he had before.. He hunched, making himself smaller and blending into the grayness of the surroundings. He was separated from her by a car and trained his eyes onto movements. They were crossing over the East River.

Sam watched the stops go by and then it hit him. He opened his phone as soon as they were above ground and was thankful when Dean answered on the first ring. "We're heading to Central Park. I'm sure of it."

"She's going to check on the kids. That's where they told us they were hanging out." Sam heard his brother hit the steering wheel. "All right, look, I’m gonna call Caleb and let him know. I'll meet you by Strawberry Fields."

A few stops later Sam praised Dean’s intuition when Nancy exited the train in the part of Central Park closer to Lincoln Center.

“Strawberry Fields it is,” Sam mumbled, as he worked to keep his target in sight without putting himself at risk for detection. He was tempted to try to connect with Caleb for reassurance, but felt he was not ready to use his abilities even if it was concerning a hunt.

Nancy kept an unnatural speed, almost blurring at times. The shadows of trees danced in Central Park as a breeze picked up. Sam looked around for a moment as a strange sound caught his attention, but he saw nothing unusual. Nancy crossed past Strawberry Fields and Sam sought his brother as he had to bypass their meeting place.

He kept her in view as she raced northward beyond the Conservatory Water to a huge bronze sculpture. Sam wasn’t sure which was more surreal--the characters of the Alice In Wonderland statue or the woman who scrambled atop the metal mushroom to stand in front of Alice.

Sam found a hiding place, sliding to the ground near a large tree. Dean came up next to him, causing him to start. He hadn't seen or heard Dean in the park and briefly wondered if Dean had placed a tracker of some sort on him. But, he was unable to ask as both brothers were mesmerized by Nancy who stood tall amongst Hatter, Hare, Cat, and Rabbit with her arms held wide.

"Quit it," Sam whispered as Dean repeatedly prodded him.

"You stop it," Dean retorted, then flinched back as a rat dropped in front of them.

Sam turned his head slowly and swallowed. Rats scurried over their bodies. Sam covered his mouth, making Dean take a look.

"You got to be kidding me!" Dean said with a shiver, but remained in place like Sam.

The rats filled the area around the statue, but there was space left which they avoided. With her hands still out, Nancy began to sing and the children materialized to form a circle around the statue that Nancy stood a top.

Sam turned to his brother, willing him to look over. He mouthed, 'I can see the kids.'

Dean gave him a thumbs up.

Whatever Jim had initially done, to entice Dean to take this case to show he was The Guardian, had lifted and now Sam could see clearly without Joshua's spell. But the victory was short-lived.

A rat broke away and came to rest on her shoulder. She frowned, but gave the rat a pat as if rewarding it. "I have been told there are those present that do not belong. Come out."

Dean looked at Sam as a hush came over the area. The children were turning to seek out what Nancy meant.

"Dude,” Dean spat, “she's either talking about us or Caleb got here faster than I thought he would."

"What do we do?" Sam asked, trying to edge back.

"Follow my lead," Dean said and then stood. "Way to call us out."

Sam also rose, unfolding himself from his positionand dusting off the feeling of rats crawling on him. He waved to Nancy. There was whispering amongst those children they had met; loud enough for Sam to hear, for Dean to wince and for it to draw the villain's attention.

Nancy stood high over everyone like a queen with subjects.

The brothers went forward; the children near the tree parted the way for them while the rats skittered away. Sam kept his eyes straight ahead, not acknowledging the kids he knew.

"What have you done?" Nancy rounded on the children who shirked back in fright.

"Lady, isn't that the question we should be asking you?" Dean kept his hands out, but Sam saw he had strapped a blade to his back. The rats did too and moved closer to protect Nancy.

She was theatrical with her hands, making sweeping gestures with a rat on each shoulder now. "He cursed me to this with Requiem. He knew it was his ending, his song, but he didn't think about me."

"Wait. Are you talking about Wolfgang Mozart?" Sam was trying to connect what the woman was saying.

"My husband," she wailed. "Curse that it was his funeral, not mine. I needed my own song. There's no song for that. The children have no song for me. . ." She looked with disgust at the young faces. "All that promise and no song for me."

"You take them; kill them for their musical ability so you can be what? Set free?" Sam swallowed. He was doing the same with people possessed by demons, but instead of freedom and power he got a cage of his own creation.

"I need a song to move on from this, and until then they are mine." A rat scurried near her ear.

"Well, honey, I can help you move on, and Sammy can hum along." Dean pulled the blade from its hiding place.

Sam had taken a smaller blade from the Impala, one that could stay hidden by his jacket while he used the New York transit system. They tried to plow forward, but Nancy flew down taking the form of their mother; blonde hair, white nightdress and soft imploring eyes.

Sam was thrown back to the agony of the detox. His mother's presence telling him he was right, Dean was weak. It should have been mesmerizing, but the family that was important to him was standing next to him. "You're not my mother!"

His yell seemed to cause her to morph into her true form and she flew back to her perch to be replaced by a wall of rats. The children shrieked and Nancy howled with her mouth opened as if she was singing opera. The sound wasn't musical, but harsh and Sam was thrown back a few yards, sliding in the gravel.

The children were cringing. Dean had lurched forward and anchored the blade in the ground, using it to stretch to one of the bronze mushrooms. Her voice was blowing them back with its cacophony. The rats saw what he was doing and fought back. Dean could not spare using his other hand to throw them off.

Sam struggled to get up, battling his own rodents. He sent out a call for help to Caleb, desperately hoping their friend was close. He winced at the application of their rarely-used link.

Where the kids had cringed, they now regrouped their bravery and clasped their hands together in a straight marching attack toward the rats. In response, Nancy changed, blurring into a gray, human form.

Caleb charged in as Sam struggled to stand. The Knight’s attention was locked on Dean’s attempt to reach the Piperess.

"Deuce!"

However, upon seeing Sam fighting against a swarm of rats, Caleb shifted his attack. He hacked at the rodents while pulling Sam to his feet. Sam retrieved his own blade, ready to help his brother.

Dean stood, shifted to the top of the mushroom, and then leaped.

In that leap Sam saw all the images, expectations he had of his brother, thoughts about not only Caleb's expectations of Dean but also those of the other hunters of The Brotherhood. Nancy’s weapon was to take the form of everyone's mother, yet it was an illusion. Dean was The Guardian, and people saw what they got even though Dean didn't see it.

Sam held Caleb back, stopping him from rushing forward. They wouldn't make it in time to help. Dean was going to kill the Piperess by himself. Dean, sword high, cut off Nancy's head. It was not a finesse landing, he had to find purchase on the pocket watch held by the bronze rabbit, but he did.

Dean looked at them with relief. Sam's attention was diverted by the disintegrating presence of the Pied Piperess.

"The kids are disappearing." Caleb said, he patted Sam on the back. The small figures were wisping away. Dean jumped down, walking to them, but watching as each child vanished in a glimmer.

"Where's Matty?" Sam asked.

The remaining children parted for the boy from Maine wearing the Red Sox hat. He lifted his hand to Dean, then turned to the boy next to him whom Sam assumed was Billy. They disappeared.

Caleb kicked away the carcass of a rat. "Too bad these things are’nt just vanishing."

Sam rubbed his nose at the bloody rats they had killed. Without their leader, the survivors scurried to be absorbed by New York City. In the shadow of the Alice In Wonderland statue in the midst of Central Park it was just the three of them: Dean, Sam and Caleb. Sam smiled. "Saving people, hunting things."

"I guess 'One For All and All For One' has already been taken," Caleb commented.

"And it's not original," Dean replied. "And don't you want to be the best Triad ever?"

Sam nodded his agreement. Dean had accepted his role--The Guardian. There was no hint of protest in his comfortable stance, which Sam recognized in its rarity. It gave Sam confidence, too; they would surpass everyone's expectations, even their own.