To The Victor Go The Spoils
By: Ridley C. James
Beta: Tidia
Disclaimer: Nothing Supernatural belongs to me.
Timeline: Pre Season
Three; Follows directly after the story Temporary
Remedy. I suggest reading that one as well as the Prologue to this
Paper Tiger.
RcJSnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsNRcJ
Chapter 6/11
November 11, 1840
Word came early
this morning-though I knew the ugly truth long before. I was not spared
details in my dreams. Their pain, their suffering was my own. And now
they are gone. My brothers are dead. And I am alone.
-Excerpt from
Samuel Colt’s journal.
Dean awoke slowly, awareness slipping over him like low-lying fog on a
pond. His body felt sluggish, as if he’d been asleep for days. A dull
pain thrummed behind his eyes, reminding him of too many hangovers. He
reached a hand up to touch his head, jumped when someone caught his
wrist and guided it back to the floor.
“Don’t move too quickly.”
Dean forced his eyes open at the voice. “Sammy? What…”
“Take it easy, Dean.” Gideon Lane suddenly leaned over him, wielding a
penlight. “You’ve been unconscious for a little while.”
“Back off,” Dean growled, swatting at the EMT’s hand.
“Dean,” Sam said. “Let him look you over.”
Dean moved his head to the side where Gideon was kneeling, a black
medical bag beside him, stethoscope around his neck. “What? Why?”
Gideon placed the stethoscope against Dean’s chest, listening for a
moment. “Something happened to you when you manipulated the rock. You
collapsed.” He checked Dean’s pulse. “Your stats have leveled out now.
That’s good. Your heart was thundering like you had raced a marathon.”
“The rock?” Dean remembered the rock, the silver. It all seemed like
some bizarre dream. He hoped he could discount it like his run-in with
the Lady of the Lake.
“Elijah thinks it was some kind of metaphysical exhaustion,” Sam said.
“Whatever you did to the silver pulled too much energy. Your body
wasn’t prepared for it.”
Dean glared at Gideon. “I didn’t have my Wheaties. Whose fault was
that?”
“The lack of nourishment probably didn’t help. How are you feeling now?
Any dizziness or pain?”
“Tired,” Dean said. He was tired of all the freakiness and surprises.
He looked around, searching their surroundings. He could hear the rush
of water somewhere below them. It echoed off the limestone walls and
high rock ceiling. “Where the hell are we? Where’s Caleb?”
“When he found out you were stable, he and Ethan took a look around,
scout which passage we should take next.”
Dean struggled to sit up. “You let him go? By himself?”
Sam helped his brother. “He’s in charge. Remember?”
“They haven’t gone far,” Gideon said. “And he’s not alone. He’s with
Ethan.”
“We’re not with him.” Dean had no reason other than Jim’s consideration
to trust Ethan Mathews, any of them really. It wasn’t enough.
“Ethan is the most trustworthy person I know.”
“That doesn’t reassure me.”
“So, you think he’s okay?” Sam broke the stalemate.
Gideon nodded. “I believe he’ll be fine. Stubbornness can be an
advantage on some fronts. He should eat and drink something to get his
strength back. If need be, we can let him rest awhile longer before
continuing on.”
“He’s right here. And I’ll be fine, Sam.” He had to be fine. He
couldn’t take care of Sam while dealing with Guardian weirdness. Dean
shrugged off his brother’s grip as proof of his recuperation. “We
shouldn’t waste anymore time.” Dean didn’t have time to waste.
“Suit yourself.” Gideon stood, taking his bag with him.
“Thanks,” Sam said.
Lane nodded once more. “We have some energy bars in our packs when Eli
and Joshua return with them.”
“Are you sure you’re okay, Dean?”
Sam had yet to release Dean. He looked at his brother, understood he
wasn’t merely inquiring about his physical health. Dean forced a
half-grin. “Peachy.”
Sam’s scowl deepened, but he let his hand slide from Dean’s shoulder.
“You scared the crap out of us.”
“Wasn’t exactly fun for me either, you know.” Dean looked around them.
“So we’re inside the canyon now?”
“Yeah.” Sam gestured to the large cavern. “The water flows from the
Popie Agie into the first cavern that the entrance opened into. Then a
narrow passage, like a floodgate, funnels the water through the
mountain. At least that’s the theory. We’re sort of on the second
floor, away from the water. Caleb and I carried you up here. This room
is pretty large, but from here it branches off into several narrow
passageways. That’s what Ethan and Caleb are checking.”
Dean touched his head, but jutted his chin to Sam. “Can you tell if
he’s okay?”
“He knew the minute you woke up. He’s on his way back.”
“It still freaks me out that you two communicate like that.”
“Yeah, well, what you did out there was pretty freaky, too. I don’t
think either one of us have ever performed an alchemic feat with our
mind.”
“Excuse me?”
“That’s what Elijah compared it too. You changed the make-up of a
metal, turning it into another entirely different element just by
touching it. I’ll warn you-he’s very excited about it.”
“So, I’m King Midas now?” Dean sighed. “It could have been a fluke.
Right? I mean, maybe any hunter could have put the whammy on that
thing.”
Sam’s mouth twitched, a hint of a dimple showing. “You just don’t want
to admit you’re special.”
“I know I’m special.” Dean snorted. “I look in the mirror everyday
thank you very much. I just don’t want to be you and Damien ‘special’.”
Dean didn’t have the luxury of being burdened by some kind of gift. He
needed all his energy to watch out for his brother, who was blessed
enough for both of them.
“That hurts my feelings, Deuce,” Caleb said, jogging up behind them.
“There was a time when you wanted to be just like me.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “Please. I went through one weird phase at a very
impressionable age and your ego just won’t let it go.”
Caleb clasped his hand and pulled him to his feet. Dean glanced up at
him, but the world seemed to shift at that same moment, he felt himself
sway dangerously forward. “Whoa. Head rush.”
Caleb grasped his shoulders. “Hey? You okay? Maybe you should sit back
down?”
Dean kept his eyes closed, breathing carefully through his nose.
“No…I’m good.”
“Dean?” Sam’s hand wrapped around his wrist.
“I just got up too fast.”
“Are you sure? No playing around here, Dude. We need to know if you’re
not okay.”
Dean smirked. Caleb was doing a damn good impression of the John
Winchester solemn tone and sober face. “I’m good.” Dean straightened
his shoulders, regained his balance. “Really.”
“Gideon said he should eat and drink something.”
“We’re listening to Gideon’s advice now?” Dean asked.
Sam let him go. “He’s the closest thing to a doctor we’ve got.”
“Josh is going to be pissed he doesn’t get to use his alter ego,
Homeopathic Boy during this gig. We’ll hurt his feelings and he’ll
tattle to Mac.”
Caleb snorted. “We’ll let him make you some tea, just to save face.”
“You trying to make me feel better or worse, Damien?”
“Better.” Caleb gave him a slight shake, released his hold. “But if you
try the dramatic fainting again, Sammy and I will so kick your ass.”
“Because you two have never given me anything to worry about? Try being
in my shoes during a vision sometime”
“He has a point,” Sam said, a small smile lifting the corner of his
mouth.
“Yeah, well, he’s had time to get used to it,” Caleb said. “I had a
hard enough time keeping him safe when he was normal, pain in the ass,
Captain Onehelluva Big Brother, Dean Winchester.”
“I’m still normal.”
“You’re still a pain in the ass. What you did out there wasn’t normal.”
Caleb grinned. “It was fucking cool, Deuce. You finally got some real
super powers to go along with the cape.”
“Cool?” Sam grunted. “He passed out.”
“Scary as hell.” Caleb winked at Dean. “But still very cool.”
Caleb was practically bouncing on his toes. “You’re just tickled pink
to prove that you’re right-for once. One step closer to your Three
Musketeer Agenda.”
“Damn straight.” Caleb glanced to Sam and then to Dean. “We’re the
Triad. Us. There’s nothing standing in our way now.”
Dean lowered his voice, even though they seemed alone. “Did you forget
about the three Boy Scouts waiting to take our place? Or how about the
two hundred plus demons running amuck? Then there is the whole reason
we’re even on this job-weapons of mass destruction, Meg and her new
multiple personality disorder.”
“Any of this ringing a bell, Damien? I think we have bigger things to
think about than getting name plaques engraved for our office doors.”
“You just live to bring me down, don’t you?”
Dean wanted to buy into Caleb’s ideal future, at least for his friend
and brother. But he wouldn’t be a part of it-super powers or not. “It’s
called being realistic.”
“It’s called being a buzz kill.” Caleb jerked his thumb towards Sam.
“And it’s usually the runt’s role.”
“Leave me out of this,” Sam said. “From now on, consider me
Switzerland.”
His brother had never given him that particular luxury when it came to
arguments between him and their father. Dean looked at Caleb. His best
friend was still grinning like a fool.
“Will you take off the rose-colored glasses, Pollyanna? Weren’t you
just ranting about how everyone in our lives had lied to us? Now you
want to embrace their plan?”
“I’m not excusing how Pastor Jim and the others went about things.”
Caleb sobered, ran a hand through his hair. “But being The Triad has
its advantages, man.”
“So, you’re on a power trip? That’s not you, man.”
“If it’s the kind of power that protects you, protects Sam, then yes it
is.”
Dean should have known. It all came back to that. “It didn’t protect
Dad. Or Jim. And look what happened to Wilmington and Tanner. Dude,
there are no guarantees.”
“It’s better than the alternative.”
“Which is?”
“We’re cast in the role of the enemy, shunned by The Brotherhood. We
would be fair game. And for me and Sam, that doesn’t offer a pleasant
ending. I’m guessing we’d move to the top of the most-hunted list.”
Dean licked his lips. “True.” He worried about the same thing happening
after he was gone. He only hoped he could do something to secure their
protection before that time came. If that meant finding another
Guardian, then so be it.
“It’s good to see you awake.” Elijah entered the cave, Joshua trailing
behind him.
“I believe it all might have been a ruse to avoid bringing in the
gear.” Joshua huffed, pausing for a moment to catch his breath from the
climb. He dumped Sam and Caleb’s bags at their feet. “At least you two
could have made yourselves useful. It wasn’t an easy task bringing the
supplies up those rocks without a sturdy pack mule on hand.”
“I was on search and recon.” Caleb cut his gaze to Sam. “And Sammy was
doing bedside vigil. Besides you’re the best jackass I know, Josh.”
Joshua didn’t have a chance to reply as Elijah moved around him to take
a step closer to Dean. “What happened back there at the Sinks?” he
asked.
Dean flinched under Mathews’s intense scrutiny, recognizing the dogged
look of curiosity. “Sorry to disappoint you, Professor. But I don’t
remember much after touching the rock.” Dean wouldn’t be willing to
share with Elijah even if he could remember what exactly it was he did.
“Perhaps it will come back to you. It would be fascinating to know the
dynamics of what took place.”
“I bet you tried to statistically disprove the existence of Santa when
you were a kid, didn’t you?”
“Guilty as charged.” Ethan joined them, followed closely by Gideon.
“Eli can analyze the fun out of almost anything. You should have seen
the chart he made for his first date.”
Gideon stepped forward, offered Dean a Power Bar and a bottle of juice.
“Eat this. Then we should see how much territory we can cover before it
gets much later.”
Dean took the provisions with a lifted brow. “Doctor’s orders?”
Gideon frowned. “I’m not a doctor.”
Dean glanced to Ethan. “He doesn’t even get The Three Stooges does he?”
Ethan shrugged. “G nips fun in the bud before it even gets started.”
“Did you two decide upon a path for us to take?” Gideon asked.
“There were three possibilities,” Caleb said. “One of them a dead end,
the other was narrow as hell. The path of least resistance makes sense
to me.”
“It’s trial and error then.” Gideon picked up one of the packs, looked
at Caleb. “Is there any need to try and cover that entrance down there?”
“It’s almost dark, no tourists in the area. I doubt if any camouflage
will work for Ian and company.”
“Will you be able to sense them if they try to follow?” Ethan asked.
Caleb exhaled heavily. “I’m not sure. It all depends on whether Meg
wants me to or not.”
Joshua cleared his throat. “Rose.”
Dean snorted. “Uber bitch.”
“Whatever.” Caleb lifted his and Dean’s packs. “We have to be on guard
for anything. Ethan, you and Gideon take point. Sam and I will pull
flank. We’ll spread out so not to give such an easy target.”
The twisting and turning passageway made for arduous terrain. Some of
the tunnel required stooping to avoid the low rock ceilings, while
other parts opened into cave-like spaces. It was cold inside the
mountain, wet and damp. At some points the faint echo of water could be
heard stirring beneath them, giving Dean an impression of what it might
have been like for Jonah in the belly of the whale. He felt the tug of
exhaustion as his muscles strained against the uphill grade they were
traversing. Dean stumbled, Caleb’s arm shot out to steady him. “Do you
need to stop?”
“No.” Dean didn’t mean to snap, but he wasn’t enjoying the closed in
space or Caleb and Sam’s constant chatter about his new found ability.
The fact he felt weak, nauseous and completely off his game wasn’t
helping his mood either.
“So, do you think you can do that same thing with a ring as you did
with that rock?” Caleb asked.
“Dude.” Dean sighed. The older hunter obviously didn’t get the hint.
“Could we just drop the silver talk?” Dean was trying hard not to think
about the implications of what he had done. The current discussion was
not making it easy for him.
“I always wondered how Jim got the rings,” Caleb said. “Do you think
they come from the water? Special water or can it be any kind of water?”
Sam, who was behind them, obviously felt the need to reply. “Riley and
Bradley theorized that the ‘B-Bomb’ could destroy the source of the
silver. That would go along with the idea that there is a specific
location for the water.”
Dean rubbed at his eyes and continued walking, pulling slightly ahead
of Caleb to leave the two chatter-boxes.
“But where?” Caleb asked.
“Anyone’s guess,” Sam replied. “How many generations of Brotherhood
have failed to unravel that particular mystery?”
“Then how can destroying one body of water end the entire Brotherhood,
destroying all the rings made from countless generations?”
“I don’t think that it’s that specific or literal. Maybe the weapon
doesn’t actually taint the water, but destroys something in the water.
Or someone?”
“The Lady of the Lake?” Caleb shook his head. “That’s so incredible-how
can she be real?”
“Vampires are real. Fairies are real,” Sam said. “Merlin was obviously
real.”
“You know what else is real?” Dean stopped, bracing his hands on his
knees to catch his breath. He wasn’t able to tolerate the theories any
longer. “The headache you two bitches are giving me with your
jabbering.”
In all honesty, a part of him longed to share his own experience with
Sam and Caleb, but innately he knew it was a moment meant only for him.
It was a Guardian thing. “Can’t we just concentrate on the job at hand?”
Sam frowned. “Are you sure you’re alright?”
“Will you stop asking me that, Samantha?” He glanced ahead of them,
unable to see the other hunters who had disappeared around a turn. The
place was a freaking maze. “I’m just sick of the topic of discussion.”
Caleb stopped beside him. “Deuce, this is your destiny we’re talking
about.”
“Right. But you see Obi-wan, I don’t want a destiny.” The Lady of the
Lake spoke of his destiny and look where that had gotten him. A one way
ticket to hell.
He held Caleb’s gaze. “I prefer to stay the Han Solo in this group. Han
flew the kick-ass Falcon, pulled Luke’s ass out of the fire, and got
the hot chick with the honey bun hair in the end. I like that future.
You didn’t see Yoda passing down any knowledge to him or making him
levitate the Falcon out of a swamp. He didn’t have any ‘great destiny’
planned out for him. He just made sure Luke got to fulfill his.”
Caleb reached out a hand and placed it against Dean’s forehead. “Do you
have a fever?”
Dean slapped him away. “I’m good! Freakin’ great! Now get off.”
Caleb removed the water bottle clipped to his belt buckle and shoved it
towards Dean. “Then what the hell did all that spiel mean?”
Dean reluctantly took the water and gulped a few swallows before
passing it to Sam, who also happened to be staring at him as if he
might pass out at any moment. “It means maybe I don’t want this job.”
Being The Guardian should have afforded him the opportunity to protect
those he loved; instead he would be abandoning them all too soon. What
the hell was changing water into silver going to do for him? Dean was
pretty sure water was a scarcity down south. “I don’t want to control
the silver and decide who does and who doesn’t get to be in our club.
Jim picked the wrong guy.”
“I don’t think Jim was the only one calling the shots,” Sam said. He
screwed the cap back on the bottle and tossed it to Caleb. “There’s
another aspect to this.”
“He’s right, Dean. You being the next Guardian isn’t something Jim
could have proclaimed on his own.” Caleb returned the water to his
side. “It sounds like there are safeguards in place. It’s not just an
appointed position like with The Knight and The Scholar. There’s some
kind of supernatural connection to it.”
“Of course there is, Damien. This is my life we’re talking about! The
supernatural lives to screw me over.” Dean wondered if Lancelot and
Arthur ever felt like puppets on a string.
“This is your chance to exert some control, man. Don’t you see that?”
“All I see is a ball and chain tying me to something I never asked
for-like Elijah said- an arranged marriage.”
“You don’t mean that,” Caleb said.
“Yes I do.” Jim had staked his life on him, believed in him. Now Dean
was going to disappoint everyone who had ever cared about him, both
living and dead. He would have to fix it before the inevitable
happened. Maybe Jim had left him a loophole.
Dean lowered his voice. “Look, Gideon isn’t that bad of a guy. He’s the
type to memorize the entire rule book. His grandfather was a Guardian.
I think The Brotherhood needs someone who knows what he’s doing,
someone who isn’t seen as some kind of outcast or intruder.”
“Where the hell does that leave me and Sammy?”
“I want you two to have the chance to be The Triad, but…”
“But what? If you think an outcast isn’t good for The Brotherhood, then
maybe I should just step aside and let Ethan do the job.”
“That’s not what I meant and you know it.” Dean could feel the
conversation spiraling out of his control, taking a direction he did
not plot.
“I don’t know anything anymore, Deuce. Everything I thought I knew is
coming apart. And now you suddenly aren’t sure about things. Maybe
you’re not sure about me? Maybe you’ve realized exactly what it means
for me to be Noah Seaver’s great grandson?”
“You’re twisting my words, Damien. You don’t understand. This isn’t
about you.”
“Then level with me, Deuce. Do you want to be The Guardian?”
Dean glanced to his brother. Sam looked away. Fucking Switzerland
wasn’t going to be any help. “It really doesn’t matter what I want.”
“It’s your future, Dean. What you want is the only thing that matters.”
Dean wished that were true-that he could toss a few pebbles in the
pond, send forth a wish making everything right. Where was the mythical
Lady of the Lake now? “Not when you don’t have a future, man.”
Caleb’s brow furrowed. He stepped forward, mouth opening in protest,
but Ethan skidded around the corner, interrupting him.
“Dean, Gideon found something he wants you to look at.”
RcJSnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsNRcJ
Caleb watched Dean turn and go before looking to Sam. “What the hell
was he talking about?”
“It’s a long story.”
Caleb pinched the bridge of his nose, exhaled heavily. He was so sick
of long stories, especially the kind with a really screwed up ending.
“One you’re not going to share. Right?”
“It’s something he needs to do in his own time, in his own way.”
Caleb brought one hand to his temple and winced. “I’m not going to like
it. Am I?” He could feel the beginning of pressure behind his eyes,
willed it to be just a sign his blood pressure was off the chart.
Sam hesitated. “Caleb…”
The older psychic knew Sam well enough to know he was keeping something
from him, and whatever it was, Sam wasn’t able to discuss it. “Never
mind. Just forget it.”
Sam stepped forward, a sympathetic look on his face. “Are you okay?”
“Headache.” Caleb clenched his jaw. “Or not.”
“Another vision? Do you want me to see if I can stop it?”
Caleb licked his lips, breathed in through his nose to control the
pain. “No. Not unless it gets bad-as in stop breathing kind of bad.
There has to be something important I’m missing.”
“Or resisting?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, the time with Dean and that serial killer…didn’t Mac theorize
you were blocking it out because you subconsciously didn’t want to know
Dean was being targeted?”
Caleb squinted against the building force in his skull. “Something like
that. But I’ve had visions of Deuce being hurt before. It’s kind of in
the job requirement. If I know what’s going to happen, I can stop it.”
He narrowed his gaze, pinned Sam with a hard look. “I want to know if
something is going on with Dean. I have to know before I can help.”
Sam rubbed his chin, glanced away. “Then, maybe it’s not about Dean.
Maybe it’s about you.”
“About me how?” He was tired of things being about him. Caleb was much
more comfortable focusing on the people around him.
“Maybe your abilities are trying to tell you that you’re in danger.
What about when those hunters jumped you in Texas? Did you have
anything like this happen?”
Caleb brought his hand to his head. He vaguely remembered having a
bitch of a headache during the hunt with Fisher. “Maybe…I don’t know.”
Sam was trying to help, but the only thing Caleb wanted was for the
damn vision to come, or not to come, and be done with it.
Lights flashed before Caleb’s eyes, the cave wavered in and out.
Suddenly Caleb was standing beside Dean, watching him trace his fingers
over a symbol etched on the cavern wall.
“The symbol of The Brotherhood.” Dean turned to look at Gideon. “But
I’m not picking up any sense of silver. Did you?”
Lane shook his head. “No. But it has to mean something. This passageway
is a dead end. But they wouldn’t have marked it without reason.”
“Perhaps it was to throw intruders off the actual trail,” Joshua
postulated.
“We could double back and try one of the other paths,” Ethan offered.
“One-potato-two-potato isn’t exactly a scientific method of
elimination.”
“I think you and Caleb were right in choosing this one.” Gideon laid
his hand flat against the symbol and sighed. “I just don’t understand
what the past Triad was trying to tell us.”
Dean looked around them. They were at the end of the tunnel, no other
openings or exits. “They just couldn’t have left detailed instructions,
could they?”
“I suppose they feared that their journals would someday be found,
perhaps by the wrong people.”
Dean looked at Joshua. “Imagine that.”
“Maybe you should try the same thing you did out at the Sinks.” Gideon
removed his hand and looked at Dean. “Perhaps the silver is concealed
in a different manner. Concentrate on an opening.”
Dean shrugged. “Why not? I’m batting a hundred today.” He placed his
right hand over the symbol, closed his eyes. ”Open Sesame.”
Caleb felt the ground shift beneath his feet, what had once been firm
footing now felt like thick mud. The dirt turned cool, oozed up around
the lips of his boots, soaking his socks. He glanced at Dean to see if
he felt it too, but the younger man still had his eyes closed, lips
pursed in intense concentration. Then they were falling.
Caleb jerked, emerging from the vision with a lung-expanding gasp. He
was on his knees; Sam crouched in front of him. The younger psychic
reached out to touch him. “Caleb? You back?”
“Shit.” Caleb drew in a shaky breath. He blinked, tried to gain his
bearings. “Dean…”
“What about Dean?” Sam helped him to stand. “What did you see?”
Caleb met Sam’s gaze, then looked towards the passageway Dean had
taken. “He’s in trouble, Sam.”
They ran into the room finding Dean's hand over the symbols.
“Why not? I’m batting a hundred today.”
“Dean!”
“Deuce!”
Caleb met Dean’s eyes when the other hunter turned at the sound of his
and Sam’s voices. Everything seemed to slow, as if time had been hit
with a deep freeze ray, instantly snapping it to a crawl.
The law of inertia, Newton’s principle suddenly became very important
to Caleb, somewhere beside the pool table. A body at rest stays at rest
unless acted upon by a force. Dean would never be able to move in time.
Caleb slammed into him like a human cue ball, sending him flying
towards the cave wall like a perfectly executed bank shot.
Caleb would have continued to move in a straight line if not for the
force of the impact with Dean. The collision slowed his momentum,
altered his course by seconds-long enough to leave him suspended in the
position Dean once filled where the law of gravity intervened.
Where once there was solid footing, there was nothing. Caleb went into
the void with Dean safely on firm ground.
RcJSnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsNRcJ
“Caleb!” Sam yelled, diving towards the hole that had just swallowed
the older hunter. There was a muffled shout followed by a loud splash
from below.
“Careful!” Elijah grabbed Sam’s belt, keeping him from tumbling through
the opening. “This entire area could collapse.”
“Get off!” Dean struggled out of Ethan’s grip, “What the hell just
happened? Where’s Caleb?”
“The silver was beneath you,” Gideon said, near the opening with Elijah
and Sam.
Ethan pointed a finger at him. “You. Stay.” He shot Dean a glare. “Both
of you. The Guardian can’t be risked.”
Sam looked back at his brother, seeing the dread on his face. “Oh,
God…” Dean circumvented Mathews and made it to Sam’s side. “Damien?”
“Caleb!” Half of Sam’s body was hanging over the opening as he strained
to see into the blackness below. “Give me a flashlight.”
Elijah turned to dig in his pack, retrieving one of the hand held
lights, which he handed to Sam. “It sounded like he hit water.”
Sam panned the light below them. “It goes straight down. I don’t know
how far the drop is.”
Dean braced his hands on the ground around the opening. “Caleb!” He sat
on his butt to ease himself over the side. “I’m going in.”
“What? No!” Ethan grabbed his arm, effectively stopping his descent.
“What the hell do you think you’re doing, Winchester?”
Gideon edged forward. “He took your place; I don’t think he would
appreciate you taking that so lightly.”
Dean glared at Lane. “Fuck you.”
“Dean, listen to reason.” Joshua stepped closer. “Caleb would not want
you to do anything to jeopardize your life.”
“Ethan, we need a rope.” Gideon skirted the hole to stand by Elijah.
“Time is working against us.”
Sam intervened. “I can sense him.”
“And?”
“He’s unconscious.”
“We’ll get him, Dean.” Sam looked up at Ethan. “Elijah said you brought
small diving tanks.”
“We did.” Ethan nodded. “But Gideon’s not going down there until I
secure the situation.”
“I know he’s not.” Sam stripped off his jacket. “I’m going with you.”
“The hell you are!” Dean said. “I’m going. That’s an order.”
Sam shook his head. “No, Dean. Joshua’s right. Caleb wouldn’t want you
risked. Me neither.”
“So you think I’m going to sit on the sidelines.”
“Sometimes that’s the hardest thing to do.” Gideon looked at Dean. “But
the Guardian must think of the good of the many, not the needs of the
one.”
“Don’t talk to me.”
Sam sensed his brother was ready to jump, and latched onto Dean’s arm.
“If you get hurt, we’re going to have to divide our attention between
the two of you. You’re not a hundred percent, and you know it. I can
sense him, Dean. Now do you want to help us save Caleb or do you want
to be a stubborn ass?”
“Goddamnit, Sam.” Dean grabbed his brother’s shirt. “He’s not fucking
dying on my watch. Do you understand me?”
Sam looked down at his hands and Dean released him. “I understand.”
Gideon leaned near the hole, turned his ear towards the opening. “I
don’t hear any water. If that’s what he hit, then it must be sedentary,
like a pond.”
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking, G?” Ethan tossed one end of the
rope to Elijah, who tied it off to some large boulders.
Gideon nodded. “The underground lake.”
“I don’t give a fuck if it’s Dozmary Pool, where Excalibur lies. Get
your asses down there before I do it myself.”
Ethan tossed Sam a strap-on tank and face mask. “You know how to use
one of these?”
“I’ve been diving before.”
“Good.” Ethan took the other tank and mask from his brother. “We need
to hurry.”
“Take one of the water-proof lanterns,” Gideon said. “Hopefully, there
will be a bank or something. Leave it for us to follow you. The sooner
we can triage him, the better.”
Sam took hold of the rope and jerked it twice to test its hold. He
turned on the flashlight clipped at his hip and met his brother’s gaze.
“We’ll get him, Dean. I promise.”
The descent was bumpy. It wasn’t a clear fall as Sam had originally
thought, more like a water-slide shoot without the slick surface. He
eased himself down the natural tube, bracing his feet against the
jagged rocks. He hoped Caleb had avoided the sharper ones.
Sam had gone about fifteen feet when he saw light. It wasn’t a huge
difference from the pitch black of the tight space he was navigating,
but the change was enough to alert him of the upcoming opening. “Ethan.”
“I’m here.” Ethan was only a few feet above him. Sam could see the
bottoms of his boots.
“I’m at the end of the shaft.”
“What can you see?”
Sam panned the flashlight out into the gray void. “It’s a lake.” He
played the light along the silver surface, hoping to catch sight of
Caleb. He closed his eyes, still sensing the other psychic. The link
was dull, not thrumming with energy. Sam held onto that as he opened
his eyes.
He spotted a large outcropping of rock directly below him. Caleb’s
momentum coming out of the sluice must have shot him right over it,
throwing him into the water. “Part of the cavern is free of water. I’m
going to have to drop to that before going in.”
Ethan removed the two lanterns from his side, turning them on and
placing them on the ground beside them. “Fuck me.” He whistled. “This
is unbelievable.” He brought his fingers to his lips, sent out a loud
sharp whistle. One echoed to them in response. “Ready for a swim?” He
pulled the diving mask on and motioned towards the water. “Lead the
way. You’re the one with the scent.”
Sam waded in, ignoring the shock of the frigid waters. He closed his
eyes to concentrate on Caleb. It took a heart-stopping moment to locate
the silvery thread that connected him to the other psychic. But once he
found it, Sam latched on. Taking a shallow breath of the cool oxygen,
he dived under, letting his sixth sense take over.
RcJSnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsNRcJ
Dean was the first one down after Ethan had signaled the all clear.
Gideon insisted that Elijah or Joshua should go, but Dean was hearing
none of it. As it was, he was feeling beyond guilty that he let himself
be talked out of going in for Caleb first.
The lanterns Ethan left cast a shimmering glow on the lake due to the
fairly low dome-like ceiling. It created a moonlight effect Dean had
always loved at the pond. The lake was huge, shaped like a teardrop,
the narrow end disappearing in a small cavern off to Dean’s right.
Light ripples played across the surface, and he strained to see any
signs of Sam or Ethan beneath the misleading calm.
“You going in there is not going to help him,” Joshua said, quietly.
“It would only hamper their efforts.”
Dean hadn’t heard him come down, but he pulled his eyes from the water
to meet Sawyer’s blue gaze. “It should have been me.”
“He obviously had a vision. Therefore, it wasn’t meant to be you.”
Dean didn’t like Sawyer’s damn logic. “How long has it been?”
Joshua looked at his watch. “Four minutes and forty-three seconds.”
Dean returned his eyes to the water, ran a hand over his mouth.
“Goddamnit.”
“The temperature is cold.” Gideon kneeled by the water. He dipped his
hands in the lightly lapping waves again. “No more than forty-five
degrees I’d say.”
“The mountain run off must feed it,” Elijah said. “It’s part of the
water from the Popo Agie.”
Gideon stood. “That fact and the dive reflex will be our ally.”
“What?” Dean frowned. “Why?”
“The body is smart. Drowning suffocation causes a lack of oxygen…”
Dean huffed, lifted his hand to halt Elijah’s explanation. “I know what
the dive reflex is, Professor.” He turned to Lane. “So, you think he’ll
be okay?”
Gideon shifted out of his pack, started to remove instruments from his
black bag. “The key is getting to the victim before they completely run
out of oxygen. We can hope for a dry drowning.”
“Drowning is drowning.” Dean moved closer to the edge of the water. “He
hates the fucking water.” The idea of Caleb suffocating while he stood
aimlessly by tore at him. He took off his jacket, tossed it aside.
“Dean…” Joshua said.
Dean ignored him, reaching down to remove his boots. He had to do
something.
Ethan broke the surface first, followed quickly by Sam. Dean quickly
stood, straining to see if his brother had Caleb.
“We got him,” Ethan shouted.
“Sam?” Dean called out to his brother as he waded waist deep into the
lake to help pull Caleb out. “Is he…”
Sam pulled his mouthpiece free, took a quick breath of fresh air. “I
don’t know.”
Dean paled as Sam and Ethan reached him, towing Caleb’s body
horizontally between them. Caleb wasn’t moving, his skin was tinged
blue. He looked dead. “No,” Dean breathed. “No…”
“We can revive him,” Ethan said. “Help us. We need to keep him
horizontal.”
Dean put his hand behind Caleb’s head, helped ease Caleb out of the
pool. Joshua and Elijah joined them, aiding in quickly getting Caleb on
shore where Gideon had spread a space blanket for him.
“Open his airway.” Lane glanced at Dean. He turned to Elijah and nodded
to Sam and Ethan. “Get them some blankets and dry shirts, Eli. All we
need is to deal with three hypothermia victims.”
Dean tilted his friend’s head back. Caleb’s skin felt like ice. He
flashed back to the nightmare he’d had in Caleb’s apartment, the dream
where Caleb had died. He looked just like this before morphing into the
image of Sam when Jake had taken his life. It was all a warning. Dean
should have paid attention. He failed again, and this time he didn’t
have a life to offer up, no sacrifice with which to pay penance.
Ethan nudged Dean out of the way. “Move, Dean. So I can help him.”
It took Sam’s hand to get him moving, but Dean remained close enough to
touch Caleb. He watched as Ethan and Gideon took up the task of
methodically reviving his best friend. They worked expertly in tandem,
switching off compressions and breaths so that neither tired.
Dean felt oddly removed from the situation. He remembered breathing for
Sam, pumping his chest, swearing at him to wake up. Bobby had to drag
him away, tell him it was over. There would be no miracle
resuscitation. The knife wound was fatal.
But this was different. Caleb wasn’t stabbed. There was only the
faintest trace of blood along his hairline. Caleb couldn’t do anything
without a damn head wound. He felt an insane urge to laugh, choked back
a sob instead. “It’s taking too long.”
Sam gripped his shoulder, but didn’t speak. “How long?” He knew Sawyer
in all his anal ineptitude would continue to keep time. “How long,
Joshua?”
Sawyer sighed. “Almost eight minutes.”
“What?” It couldn’t have been that long. “Eight minutes since he went
in?”
When Joshua didn’t answer, Dean turned to glare at him. “Joshua?”
Sawyer swallowed, his Adam’s apple conspicuously bobbing. “Eight
minutes since they started resuscitation measures.”
“Come on, Damien.” Dean leaned as close as he could without hampering
Ethan’s mouth to mouth. “Don’t do this. Not now. Not this way.”
Time seemed both painfully slow and torturously quick. Caleb remained
lost to them. “No,no,no…” Dean had taken up the mantra, rocking
slightly back and forth. He was aware of Sam’s hitched breath, his
brother’s shoulder touching his, their knees brushing up against one
another as they both waited.
Then everything stopped.
Ethan looked up. Gideon shook his head. Joshua’s voice was rough. “Ten
minutes.”
“I’m sorry,” Gideon said. “It’s not likely…”
“NO!” Dean looked at Caleb. Damien would fix this. He would keep the
unthinkable from happening. His friend didn’t move, didn’t offer any
comfort or protection. Nothing.
Dean turned furious eyes to Ethan. “You said you could revive him! He’s
just cold. Hypothermia. That’s all.” Dean shook his head. “It’s not too
late!”
“Dean…” Ethan lifted a hand. “He wouldn’t want…”
“Don’t tell me what he would want. You don’t know him.”
“Sam,” Joshua said.
Dean turned to glare at him, knew exactly what Sawyer was trying to do,
his unsubtle way of telling Dean’s brother to deal with him.
“Sammy.” Dean sought out his brother. Sam’s water-filled eyes were
locked on Caleb.
“Caleb?” Sam choked.
Dean grabbed his shoulder, gave him a hard shake. “It’s not over, Sam.
It’s not over until I say it’s over. Do you understand me?”
Sam finally looked at him, seeming unfazed by his strong words. “He’s
gone. I can’t feel him, Dean.” He blinked, tears spilling over his dark
lashes. “Caleb’s gone.”
RcJSnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsnsNRcJ
Onto
Chapter 7
Home
Uploaded by Majs