Mad World Part 1
THIS BLOG AND THE PAGE IT WAS ON WAS HACKED AND DELETED. BUT DIANNA HAD EVERYTHING BACKED UP, SO HERE (AND IN THE FOLLOWING POSTS) ARE THE FIRST 38,750 WORDS OF THE STORY. IT THEN CONTINUES IN THE BLOG COMMENTS, READING TOP TO BOTTOM. THE STORY CONTINUES IN THE MAD WORLD PART 2 BLOG. Faith The case in Coldwater had drawn to a close. The next one would be waiting just around the corner. The work of a hunter was never ending. There was always something waiting in the wings. Evil threatening the lives of the innocent. In the morning they would begin to look searching for signs of the unordinary, tonight though was time for a bit of down time to think about something other than monsters. It was a time for personal time. The group was divided. Rachel had gone out for the night. They assumed to blow off a little steam. This line of work could be hard. Sam had settled into his room alone claiming to be tired. There was more to it than that. He was still hurting from a recent case. He had met a phenomenal woman who had changed his world. There was a unique bond between the two of them, but she was gone now having to return home. It felt he was in mourning afraid he never see her again. A part of him was missing now but it wasn't something he could explain to the others. He had kept these emotions to himself. Dean and Faith were in their hotel room trying to unwind. The couple had settled in watching a Jack Nicholson movie. Although it was one of his favorites, it was really just an excuse to cuddle up together. Faith lay there with her head on his shoulder staring at the screen his arms wrapped around her, her body draped over his. There was such comfort there in his arms she was afraid that she was about to doze off. "Beer. Babe you want one," she popped up slipping off the bed to make her way over to the mini fridge. The door swung open only to reveal that it was devoid of contents. She looked back at him with a frown on her face. "There is a station across the street. I'll go grab us a six pack be back before he gets his axe on," a smiling gracing her lips once more as she nodded towards the tv. "Or we could just ditch the flick. I could give you a real show, " she tugged her boots on. She glanced up at him with a raised eyebrow and a playful smile on her lips. Grabbing her jacket she was out the door. The trip to the store would give her a chance to wake up. She was tired but it was rare anymore they got any time alone together. The sky over head was beginning to dim, night was about to fall. She wandered down the walk way of the hotel towards the parking lot. The lights of the gas station began to flicker on lighting up in the distance. She reached in her pocket pulling out her cigarettes deciding to get a quick smoke in. Dean didn't care for it in the hotel room. A strange red headed woman walked past her. The chick's arm slammed in to hers, causing her to scowl. "Watch it," she shot a glance behind her at the woman walking towards the hotel. Dianna Remington "Sorry..." Dianna mumbled distractedly. She still wasn't sure why she had agreed to come this far north. It wasn't like there weren't plenty of monsters in need of killing in her hometown, Kansas City. But it was a family thing. Her young cousin had called her out of the blue and asked her to come to Maine. There were some odd goings on she had told Dianna. By the time Dianna finally finished the case she was on and made it up to Coldwater the case had apparently been resolved by other hunters. Dianna was irritated at the thought of having come so far for nothing, but she was also glad to see a case resolved, as all hunters always were. Dianna had begged off from staying with her cousin. It wasn't due to any estrangement between the two women, but rather it was because Dianna was afraid she might bring monsters or demons to her family, and she refused to take the chance. So she had rented a room in a small cheap motel just outside of town. She was distracted by her thoughts as she made her way back to the tiny motel room. Her sister, Sami, was holding down the fort back home at Wallis' Place. It was unusual for Dianna to track a case alone. She had always insisted on the safety of pairs when hunting. She was a master in 12 martial art disclipines though and was confident in her abilities to take care of herself. There didn't seem to be anything left to investigate though, so she planned on heading out early to begin the drive back home. Dianna shifted the small bag that she held to her left hand as she walked past her Mustang. Three spaces down sat a classic Impala. She had admired the vehicle on her way to the convenience store across the way. The young woman with whom she had bumped arms was making her way to that store it seemed. She unlocked the door to room 103 and let herself in. She pulled a sixpack from the bag and dropped to the center of the bed with a weary sigh. She popped the tab on the first beer and pointed the remote control at the old tv across the room. Dianna flipped open her cell phone and dialed Sami's number Her sister answered almost immediately. "Hey, Sami. How's everything there?" Dianna smiled when Sami reassured that all was well at home then inquired about the case. "Nothing happened with the case. It was all over when I got here. Apparently some other hunters got an earlier alert. I'm heading home tomorrow morning. All right. See you when I get there." Sami disconnected and Dianna dropped her cell on the nightstand. Dianna finished her first beer in three long pulls and opened a second one then settled back to watch the7 o'clock news. The news item that got her attention and made her hand freeze on it's journey to her mouth. It was an oddity for sure. It seemed that people's pets were disappearing en masse in a particular neighborhood in the town next door. The anchorman stated that authorities believed the pets had been victims of animal attacks. Dianna would have nodded and ignored it but for one detail. The neighborhood also housed a small psychiatric hospital. She had seen too many cases spawn from such institutions, so she was unwilling to dismiss it without first investigating. Dianna dialed Sami's number once again. "I take it all back. I don't think I'm coming home tomorrow after all. In fact why don't you have Nate hold down the fort and come join me here." Dianna gave Sami the motel's address and her room number. Then she finished two more beers and went to sleep with a nice little buzz. Briana "The worms crawl in the worms crawl out" the little girl sang and laughed "they crawl up your stomach and out your mouth." She toyed with the tail on her imaginary cat giggled again and went running off down the hallway, ducking behind open doors. "Ready or not here I come!" It was a game she played every night at exactly 8:03 pm in the lower level of the hospital, where it was believed to have been the exact time and place the young girl died. Briana hiked her drab pale yellow night dress above her knees and scurried about looking for her best friend Pierre. They had been slaying ugly fire breathing dragons earlier that day. Princess Sunshine aka Briana as she was known at that time of the mornings dubbed her knight in shining armor, Sir Pierre as the bravest boy in all the land. "Who are you?" the girl stopped suddenly. "Come out! Come out where ever you are, we have newcomer Pierre!" Bri jumped up and down squealing with excitement "we have a new friend!" Briana seemed to rule the roost of the idle wanderers in the hospital. The ones that were stuck in this dimension, that couldn't get out and go on to the next level. "You missed your train!" the young messy haired brunette gave her a Shirley Temple-esque pouty smile. "My puppy, have you seen my puppy?" A sad freckled filled face with big blue eyes looked up at her "I've lost my puppy and can't go anywhere without him." Briana's head tilted oddly to the side "A little cocker spaniel with hair the color of yours? NO!" She giggled just as oddly and her head turned sharply. "Have not seen him." She rather smugly pushed her nose into the air and walked past the girl eyeing her pink frilly dress and matching ballet style shoes. Bri slipped her thumbnail between her teeth when she saw Pierre peeking from behind a heavy oaken door. "Don't be shy Pierre! This is our new friend, her name will be Annie." Sir Pierre wandered sheepishly to the center of the room, his fingers pushed deep inside the pockets of his nickers. "Oh it's a good name you've picked, nice to meet you Annie." Although he was very tall and lanky, towering over the girls, his voice was boyish. He would never disagree with Briana, or her personalities, he was as passive as they come. "She likes your dress" his smile curved upward, only on the left side. Pierre pulled his hand from his pocket and touched over the white lace on Annie's sleeve. "It's time to go they're coming" she announced abruptly, with a look of fear in her eyes, the playfulness always disappeared at this time. Pierre took Annie away and Briana faded into an interior wall and watched. It was 9pm, a patient was being wheeled on a gurney into the scary room. Bri stepped quietly, not that her footsteps could be heard; she was a ghost but didn't quite understand what had happened to her. Her fingertips rest against the small sill of the window to the door of the room, using them as leverage to hold herself in position. It was the familiar girl, the one she could hear. Claudia Claudia had been fixated on the exterior of a tall, somewhat dilapidated building across the street from where she watching next to an oak tree. She pulled down the pair of binoculars she was using to spy on the hospital. This wasn't the first place that she wanted to be and when Mrs. Frederick insisted that Claudia be sent on this solo mission she was hoping that Artie would have put his foot down and said 'no. not going to happen'. Unfortunately it didn't happen despite Artie's deep look of sympathy. It became quite clear why the Regents wanted Claudia to come here. Her history often spoke for itself. Growing up, Claudia didn't have the easiest life. She lost her parents at an early age so for quite a few years it was just her and her older brother who took her under his care. However it took a turn for the worst when Joshua Donovan, Claudia's 19 year old brother began experimenting with teleportation. The experiment went wrong and for a good 8 years Joshua got stuck inbetween dimensions. Due to Claudia losing her guardian she went into foster homes for the rest of her childhood and then after seeing images of Joshua coming to her for the first time since the incident, Claudia had checked herself into a psychiatric hospital because she thought she was going crazy. During that time she swore to herself to track down Artie Nielson, the man responsible for the teleportation experiment going wrong to help her save her brother. This resulted in her hacking into the mainframe of the Warehouse where she now works. After breaking in she got Artie to help her, they saved Joshua via artifact and in order to stay alive Claudia agreed to work at the top-secret organization because she knew too much to remain a civilian. As a much beloved member of the Warehouse team, she became the tech geek for the group. She could hack into anything and even invent different items that became really useful. Handcuffs that sent out a 20,000 volt shock to whomever wore them, a Tesla Grenade and mini-Tesla. These items became useful towards anyone that became a problem. It would electrocute them and they would be passed out for a few minutes. These were just a couple of items that Claudia packed with her when she agreed to this mission. The problem is she had no idea who she was supposed to go talk to regarding her being there. Pulling her laptop out of her bag, (thank god for wireless internet) she turned it on and began pushing several buttons leading her into the main webpage of the psychiatric hospital she was watching from afar. She clicked a few more buttons to see if there was a way to shut down the security cameras so that breaking in would be easier. There were alot of things she wouldn't be able to do until she got inside the hospital. An encrypted screen popped up and then Claudia smirked, trying a few different passwords until she broke the code. "Silly little hospital people. You are all the same. And once again, I win." She clicked on the spot of the webpage that said 'disengage security system'. She heard a winding down sound come from the hospital itself. "And we're in. Now it's time for stealth mode." She closed her laptop, putting it back inside the bag before zipping it up and stayed low to the ground as she approached the hospital. Still uncertain of how to deal with this place, usually if it didn't involve locating an artifact, Claudia didn't know what to do, she figured that she would wing it and get as much information out of the hospital, their files, etc. without getting caught. Sam Winchester "Meep! Meep!" The indefatigable, perky, and always oblivious roadrunner zips down a dusty Southwestern dirt road on its way to some destination known only to its pea-sized bird brain. Meanwhile, Wily Coyote lies in wait up the road, just beyond a sharp bend where, with a murderous gleam in his eye and a smirk overlaying his toothy grin, he has ingeniously strung piano wire across the road at Roadrunner neck level. This will finally be the day, the day that will bring Coyote's long spell of impossibly horrendous luck to a final and absolute end. He waits behind a scraggly creosote bush, its few nearly leafless branches providing just barely enough cover to conceal him from the keen vision of his feathered prey. A rapidly-approaching trail of dust announces the imminent beheading of Mr. Roadrunner. Wily Coyote rubs his paws together and licks his canines in predatory anticipation. Then in the blink of an eye, Roadrunner appears around the bend in the road, zips straight for the piano wire and...dips his head at the last moment and accelerates into the desert afternoon with a defiant and victorious "Meep! Meep!" Coyote looks at the camera, his face a study in incontrovertible defeat and despair. Then a black Hummer rounds that blind corner, that bend in the road. The Hummer plows right through the piano wire, which snaps where its attached to a mesquite on the opposite side of the road from the coyote. After the vehicle passes, the piano wire whips back across the road, wraps around Coyote's neck, and then flings him into the center of the road where he is squashed flat by a Beer truck. Sam reached for another Genuine Draft from the cooler next to the motel bed upon which he was sprawled, wearing nothing but a pair of dancing Snoopy boxer shorts (don't ask) and watching cartoons on the old-style 19-inch television perched atop a dresser opposite the bed. He put another quarter in the Magic Fingers coin box still hoping those sorcerous mechanical fingers would massage the blues away. Sam Winchester was in a funk. He commiserated with Wily Coyote. So close, ladies and gentlemen, but no cigar. It took him back to when he, Dean, and Rachel were kids. The carnival had come to Lawrence. This wasn't Barnum and Bailey, boys and girls. This was one of those carnivals that sets up in about 6 hours with five trucks and a dozen shifty carnies on some vacant lot on the outskirts of town. The bearded lady, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, a rusted Merry-Go-Round, stale popcorn, and cotton candy. But there was this booth where you toss these little rubber rings at coke bottles. For 50 cents you get 5 rings, and if you can toss three of them so they slip over the neck of the bottle, you win these big stuffed animals. There was a Tyrannosaurus rex that was so rad! Sammy didn't know whether he'd keep it or maybe give it to Rachel, but he knew he wanted it, and it looked so easy. He'd spent 10 dollars of his allowance - every cent he had on him - and the only thing he won was a goldfish in a bag. He never got more than two of the rings over the neck of the bottles. And what the freakin hell was he supposed to do with a goldfish? Drinking beer while being Magic Fingered and watching Roadrunner cartoons was a big let down from flying on the back of a dragon. They'd resolved things in Hobart and gotten Dracora back home, where she needed to be. Everybody needs a home, right? Sam glanced around his surroundings, which was about as much home as he'd seen in 10 years. He finished his beer and reached for another. The bond he and Dracora had forged was everlasting and acutely potent, and even now he could sense her in that other world. She was happy and fulfilled there, which was as it should be. Sam was gladdened for her; truly he was. But at the same time, he missed her terribly. So he watched as the hapless Coyote got blown up, buried in his own pitfall trap, squashed by a boulder, blasted by a misfiring shotgun, and launched to the moon on an Acme rocket that he was supposed to ride to keep pace with the Roadrunner. Why did Sam watch these mindless, ridiculous cartoons? Because he couldn't muster the motivation to do anything else. Dracora Dracora came awake with a definitive snort. For one moment she thought she was once again in her secure little cavern above the forest. Then reality and the present day came flooding back to her. She was many leagues from that cavern. She heard no naiads here, just the gentle rumbling of her mate, Graco, as he slept. They were in the main sleeping cavern of the royal cavern network. Unlike humans, dragons didn't live in structures built from materials pulled from Father Earth's crust. They utilized what was already provided. The draconic royal grounds covered 120 sqaure leagues of mountainous caverns, forests and glades. Their Majesties, Queen Dracora and King Graco inhabited the roomiest corner of the larger network. Others of the royal household inhabited the rest. It was Dracora's childhood home in fact. Her husband now occupied the seat her father had been murdered for. She was the primary monarch though. Graco was of the alternate royal line, and though he was King and had the powers of his station, Dracora ruled. It was her royal line that held the throne. When the pair clutched, the two royal lines would become forever one, changing a tradition as old as their race. Everything seemed peaceful, and Dracora was at first unsure of what it was that woke her. Then she felt it. Her bond companion, Sam Winchester, calling to her from his own world. She listened and realized that she was hearing his thoughts, experiencing his lonliness from across the boundaries of their two worlds. He was not consciously calling to her. There was a portal in the small forest glade next to her old cavern keeping both worlds connected. It was what allowed her to hear him from such a distance. She had felt Sam's melancholy before. It was part of his nature. But this was different, more intense. It felt more like grief, as if Sam somehow believed that their bond was in danger. Dracora knew that she must respond. Dracora was in her red aspect. She had adjusted to sleeping in this form because Graco liked to wind tails. For such a fierce creature he was very affectionate. Dracora teased him about it, but she liked his propensity to cuddle in the dragon manner. She tapped the tips of their wound tails on the floor. Graco snorted and slipped back into his slumber. Dracora rumbled in light laughter. She pounded their tails a bit harder, and Graco came fully awake with a start. "Wha...????" He shook his head sending hot embers scattering across the stone floor. Dracora's rumbling deepened into out right merry laughter. Graco tilted his head at her. "You think that's funny, do you?" Dracora could only nod. A few embers flew from her own snout, and Graco laughed back at her. "What is it that you need, My Queen?" "It is not my need that requires attendance, My Love. It is my bond companion's need. I must go to him." Graco sighed. "You have an appointment with the human King today, Dracora. This new alliance is still very delicate. It must be nurtured." "Sammy helped create this new alliance. The human king must be made to understand that the strength of that bond goes beyond the power of even the greatest rulers." Dracora shimmered into her moon aspect and gazed into her mate's fiery eyes. "And besides that, Graco My Love, You are the King, are you not? If the human becomes offended because he deals with the King rather than the Queen then he is not ready for a draconic alliance." She smiled knowingly. "Just point out to him that what I do is demonstrate the lengths we dragons are willing to go to protect our human friends." Graco shrugged causing his scales to ripple down his body. "Do I tell him why you are absent?" "Of course. We must start this new relationship with the humans on solid ground, and that requires honesty. I suspect the human monarch can and will understand why I must do what I do. He is very wise for someone less than half a century old." The human King was in fact 48 years old. Dracora herself was just 100 years old and was considered among her people to be a very young adult. She had not even had her first clutch yet. Graco shimmered into his human aspect. It was the only way he could speak and understand the human language. Graco had adopted the visage of her bond companion for his human aspect, and seeing Sam renewed Dracora's urgency. Dracora smiled and assumed her own human form. She reached up to gently stroke her husband's cheek. "You are a kind and just King, Graco. There is no one better suited to represent dragon kin. My faith in you is profound. I must go to Sam. I will return when I can." Dracora sat in the small glade beneath her old cavern. The naiads sang happily. Their numbers were increasing now that the legions of minor demons who had insisted on feasting on them had been tricked by Dracora into following a high level demon named Crowley into subserviance to the demon from Sam's world. The portal was only a few feet in front of her. It was nightime on Sam's world. She could see from the gray horizon that the sun had just set. She assumed her black smoker aspect and watched until the gray line disappeared and a velvet black settled over the sky broken by the bright twinkling of the stars around his world. Then she launched herself through. She blended into the night becoming virtually invisible if you didn't notice the lack of stars where her body had blacked them out. This time was much different than the last time she had come through such a portal. She had been in her frost form then, and she had been severely injured and unable to transform. Sam had found her stricken form where she lay in what turned out to be a corn field in a place called Hobart. Their bond had happened accidentally, but had become stronger than any previous dragon/human bond. This time she came through the portal with her health and faculties intact. She came to answer the call of her bond companion. His mind touched hers and their connection amplified and clarified. Sam could not help but know that she was back in his world. She nudged his location from his surprised mind and turned to fly off in his direction. Barely one hour later she found him in one of the small human domociles that he had called a motel. She transformed to human as she landed before the door that was now the only thing separating her from her bond companion. "I hear your call even when you do not mean to call, Bond Companion. I am here." she projected into his mind. Then she knocked lightly on the door as was the human custom and waited for Sam to open his door. Rachel Winchester Every hunter had a secret. Something that they kept very close to their chests, guarded and locked away at all times. Sometimes, that secret was a love of baking. Or a love of reading old poetry. Or a love of watching trashy TV shows. Those loves, their secrets, were the thin piece of string that prevented a hunter from going mad. Hunters could not be bad-asses all the time. Despite their knowledge of demonology, spells and all things weird, they were still human. They needed an outlet, a chance to be normal every once in a while. Rachel Mary Winchester's secret, was her passion for dancing. Latin, to be exact. The way that the dancers moved together, so passionately in time with the guitars and the percussion instruments thrilled her to the very core. It was, quite possibly, the only dance that existed where a male and female could get hot and heavy without, well, getting hot and heavy. Each dance held that spark of danger that the twenty-two year old blonde craved on a daily basis. Each dance sizzled with romance and lust and sexual energy. This secret was a part of the softer side of Rachel that nobody knew about, not even her beloved brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester. This secret was her only chance of escaping the world she lived in, even if it were just for a couple of hours. Another secret that she kept, wasn't much of a secret - nor had it been for a few months. Her rather large and rounded stomach was as plain to see as was the light of day. At seven-months pregnant, Rachel was confined to the research department of the job. That had been the only compromise that both of her older brothers had been willing to make, if she were planning on continuing to tag along with them. There was no chance they were willing to risk the life of their unborn niece or nephew, not to mention that the very sight of their younger sister waddling with a very full belly never failed to send both brothers into fits of hysterics. But, they had to hand it to her, Rachel settled into her new role quicker than what they would have ever given her credit for. The blonde acted as Mission Control. She coordinated her brother's movements, found new information with regards to whatever they were hunting, did those all-important phone verifications and provided a point-of-call with all other hunters in the area, not to mention the first-aid she gave whenever either Sam or Dean returned to her injured. Basically, whatever her brothers needed, she made sure they got by whatever means necessary. Rachel felt just as part of each and every hunt as she would have done if she had been pounding the pavements with her brothers. Tonight, though, was her first night off in a good month or so. It felt like such a relief to be able to finally leave the motel where she, her brothers and Faith were staying. The blonde wore a thin materialed cream skirt which snuggly fit against her swollen stomach and a black V-neck vest. On her feet, she wore a pair of plain brown leather roman-style sandals, as her ankles had swollen a little too much to even dare try and pull on her usual boots. Her blonde hair bounced in soft curls around her shoulders with every step she took down the pavement. Her white gold crucifix that Castiel had given to her the Christmas just passed hung around her neck. It felt wonderful just to feel fresh air whispering against her bare arms. The night was cold, but thanks to her increased body temperature, Rachel did not feel the need to wear a jacket. The club was meant to be the hottest new venue for Latin dance in the city. It had recieved many brilliant reviews in it's opening month, the blonde Winchester simply had to check it out and see what the hype was about for herself. Maybe, she should have checked to see if Sam wanted to accompany her, just to get him out of his motel room for a couple of hours. It would have been nice to see a smile on his face, rather than the constant broody-scowl that seemed to be permemanty glued to his features these days. There was no point in asking either Dean or Faith if they wanted to go with her to check out the venue. The two were most probably making with the happy, and would snap the neck of anyone who dared to disturb them. A shuddering thought entered Rachel's mind, as she flipped out her I.D for the club bouncer to inspect, who had given her a rather dirty look when she had stepped up to him - obviously disgusted with the fact that a young and heavily pregnant woman wanted to go out clubbing, when she should be at home getting ready for the new arrival. Granted, she would not be able to get up and dance, but to sit at the back of the club drinking bottle after bottle of sparkling mineral water and muching on Jalopeno Pretzels as she watched the dancers would suit her just fine. Her eldest brother was never one from learning from his sibling's mistakes. One pair of tiny feet would be hard enough to deal with, let alone another pair. She had given both of her brothers 'that talk' after the shock of discovering her pregnancy had taken it's course. Okay, sure, perhaps buying Dean a year's supply worth of condoms for his birthday hadn't gone down so well, but he would thank her when that terrifying test came back negative. Whipping out her cell phone, her nimble fingers went to work pressing at the keys. Rachel had never liked texting, it was so inpersonal and boring, but sometimes it was necessary. 'Dean, whatever you do tonight, remember, it is better to be safe than sorry! R xx' Faith Faith tugged the door to the gas station open walking straight past the front counter. She was a woman with a mission taking a straight path to the back of the back of the store. The store wasn't very big but it had quiet a collection of beer in its coolers. It was probably the most popular good in the place. She stood there evaluating her options as if the decision really mattered. Most of the time beer was beer with her. She grabbed a six pack out of the fridge and headed up front plopping them down in front of a freckled face young man at the register. She cocked her head looking past him at the cigarettes. Might as well get another pack of those while she was out. "Pack of marlboro lights," she nodded to the carton. The greasy haired man flashed her a cocky grin and began to attempt to strike up a conversation with her. "You these things are bad for you," he place them down in front of her. "Yeah I heard they kill you. You only live once," she stuck them in her front pocket then went digging through the back ones for the cash. He started to go into a round of what was a pretty girl doing out by herself? Why was she buying all that beer? Blah blah blah. She looked him over. He wasn't really a bad looking guy. He could spend a bit more time tending to his appearance straightening his clothes and putting less of that gel in his hair. Normally she would have taken the opportunity to flirt or taken the next level scratch an itch. Relationships were for suckers. All men did were use you. It was best not to be on the receiving end of heartbreak. Get in get out. It wasn't like anyone had ever gotten her before. This was before Dean came into her life. Someone understood her for once. He was like her in many ways. This understanding meant something to her. There was a bond there. She had faith in him opening up for the first time in over a decade with the believe he would never break her heart. "Save it man nice try though," she shook her head tossing the case under her arm as she headed out of the store. It was time for one last smoke before going back to the hotel room. The afternoon breeze was nice. She sat the beverages down on a bench while right outside the establishment's doors while she took the time to light up. As she exhaled blowing out a puff of smoke she stared up towards their hotel room. She knitted her brow together couldn't really see it from here. She wondered if he had fallen asleep up there. She had already been gone longer than she intended. Sam Winchester His fourth Genuine Draft and it wasn't even noon yet. Sam had come to the realization that the Roadrunner-Wiley Coyote cartoons were like lead weights as his mood darkened and circled the toilet bowl. He needed some flippers. Either that or some scuba gear. Or maybe it was time to change the station. He opted for the latter. With the remote pointed at the TV, he began surfing through the gazillion and one stations. Game shows, reality TV, paid advertisements, and long dead TV series. Hadn't Springsteen done a song - '57 Channels and There's Nothin' On'? That was the case here, except it was more like 250 channels with nothin' on. His surfing came to a stop - at least for the moment - on a movie where bikini-clad girls with abnormally large bosoms were being eaten alive by swarms of particularly toothy piranhas. This was all happening in some sun-drenched bay crowded with legions of party boats. The shipside girls and their boyfriends were trying to pull the victims and would-be victims from the water, but the mischievous fish were too fast for them. Usually they just pulled screaming, legless torsos from the increasingly red and turbid waters. Cool. Then someone knocked on the door of Sammy's mind. Someone was reaching into that toilet bowl to pull him out before he spun like a dead goldfish down, down, down into the inky and smelly blackness of the sewers. Where there were probably legions of hungry piranha awaiting his hapless arrival. It was Dracora! She knew he was missing her! She was coming! Flying across New England right now! Sam bolted from the bed. He couldn't let her see him like this. The room looked like a whirling dervish had been hired as a maid. Sam looked in the mirror and saw bloodshot eyes, mussed hair, and those Snoopy boxer shorts. He smelled, too. Gathering his resolve, Sam headed for the shower. Half an hour later, his mind still acutely aware of Dracora's imminent arrival, he was dressed, hair combed, eye drops in to mitigate the effects of four beers, and he started in on making the room presentable, even if it meant shoving empty beer bottles, an empty pizza box, and dirty underwear under the bed. When the knock finally came on the motel room door, Sam was more or less ready for his bond companion. That dragon scale under the skin of his hand was humming with warmth - something he hadn't experienced since Dracora disappeared through the portal back in Hobart. He swung open the door and there she was. Although it had only been three weeks, he was positively thrilled to see her. She was even more beautiful than he had remembered her, if that was at all possible. "Dracora, you are radiant! Dazzling. Returning to your home world has been good for you. That is plain to see." Sammy's return to his comparatively mundane life of motel rooms and greasy diners, punctuated by the occasional monster, had not had the same effect on him. And that was plain to see, as well. Dean Winchester Dean stretched out on the bed and entwined his fingers behind his head. Faith had taken off to get more beer. "Hurry back." He called to her as she left. "You don't wanna miss the best part." They rarely took down time from hunting. Dean was fond of telling everyone to remember that monsters don't take down time. But this time they all needed it, and Dean had no problem saying so. Sammy was alone in the room next door despondent over Dracora's absence. Dracora was busy putting her kingdom back in order. The battle for her throne had been fierce, and experiencing a world filled with dragons had been absolutely amazing for all of them. But it had been hard for Sammy to come home in spite of the portal connecting the two worlds. Dean had made an empathic bond to Dracora, and he was willing to admit that he missed the dragon woman. But Sammy's bond went so much deeper. With the exception of Sam's grief for the loss of his beloved Jessica, Dean had never seen his brother so lonely for someone. It was so profound that it scared Dean a bit. He had been concerned from the instant the bond had been forged between Sammy and Dracora. He had been afraid that something like this might happen when Dracora returned to her own home. But he didn't know what to do to fix it for Sammy. On the screen Nicholson menaced Talia Shire on the broad winding hotel stairway. "You killed me you Bitch!" Nicholson snarled as he ascended the stairs toward her. Dean sighed. There dammit. She had missed the best part after all. If she missed Redrum he was shutting the thing off and making her give him the better show she had offered earlier. But he might do that anyway. He grinned at the thought. What the hell was keeping her anyway? Dean rose from the bed and went to open the door and gaze out into the quiet parking lot. He didn't see Faith. In fact all he saw was the only other car in the parking lot. Several spaces over from his Impala sat a dark blue '66 Mustang. The Mustang looked as well cared for as his own Impala. If he got the chance he intended to tell the owner just that. The guy probably liked classic rock too. The door of the convenience store across the street opened, and Dean thought he saw Faith emerge. He had just returned to the bed when he felt a sudden sensation of Dracora near him. She wasn't of course. He went to splash some water on his face. Once again when he sat down he felt her essence nearby. He finally gave up trying to shake the feeling and closed his eyes. She was still there. In fact the feeling was getting stronger. She had to be back in this world. He wondered if she felt as concerned over Sammy as he did, and the decided that she must because he was now sure that she waited just outside Sam's door. Dean wasted no time exiting his own room and turning to Sam's. And there she was, patiently waiting for Sammy's door to open. Dean grinned broadly and swooped her off of her feet in a giant bear hug. It was an uncharacteristically emotional outburst for Dean, and he was immediately embarrassed over his lapse. He set her down gently. Dracora smiled warmly at him. "It is good to see you too, Dean." The door in front of them cracked open and Sam's smiling face poked itself outside.
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