Adult-FanFiction.org : Television / Streaming

Hunting Humanity VII	By : greenwizard11 Category: Supernatural > Slash - Male/Male Views: 1262 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Supernatural universe. No money is being made from this story.

Chapter List
- 20
- 21
- 22
Dean came downstairs into the kitchen and started making a cup of tea. Natalie was standing at the counter cutting up a slice of pizza. “How’s the patient?” she asked.

“Better,” Dean answered. “At least he didn’t end up in the hospital this time.”

“You heard what the doctor said. He has a very low resistance to that kind of infection. Just a mild cold could make him go downhill real fast.”

“Yeah. Add that to the fact he resists taking care of himself unless I constantly pamper him. Seriously, we were trying to work and he insisted on working with us. Come back here and become his man servant and cuddle toy, he stays in bed no problem. God, he drives me crazy sometimes.”

Natalie chuckled softly. “The ones we love tend to do that. But Dean, you do realize he has a deep need to feel valued and loved. It’s pretty common with people who were abused as children. He spent his very impressionable first chunk of life having it ground into him that he was lower than garbage.”

Dean sighed while he poured the hot water into the mug with a bag of tea and set the timer. “I know. Those wounds are so deep… I try, I really do, but I feel like I’m not making any difference. He’s a needy little love sponge that soaks up everything I give him and then he cries for more. Will the cycle ever stop?”

“Maybe one day. Just keep reminding yourself that he doesn’t mean to torture you. He’s just insecure and afraid. It’ll take time for him to even out a little. He does really love you though.”

The timer went off and Dean pulled the bag out of the cup and tossed it before adding a little bit of sugar. “I really love him.”

“Dean, if I ask you something, will you be honest with me?” Natalie paused and leaned against the counter.

“Uh oh, this sounds serious. What do you want to know?”

“Is Sam coming down with the nasty cold Liam had, or is something else going on here? He’s been acting very strange lately.”

Dean’s head fell. “I don’t wanna lie to you. It’s the trials. Believe me, we didn’t know what was going to happen when Sam kinda stepped in and completed the first one. I mean, I wasn’t expecting anything good, which was why I wanted to do it, but Sam, he was a lot more optimistic. But then after the first one he started coughing up blood and having minor weak spells. Now that the second one is done, yeah, he’s worse.”

Natalie was quiet for a minute. “And then what happens after the last?”

“We don’t know. That’s why he didn’t want to tell you. He didn’t want to add to your stress.”

She took a deep breath, but seemed very upset. “I see. Well, I guess we hope for the best then. I’ve got kids to feed. Why don’t you take some pizza to Liam and Sam?”

Dean nodded. “I can do that. And Natalie, believe me, I’m hoping for the best too.”

Dean went into Liam’s room first. “Okay, here is your orange cinnamon green tea,” he set the cup down on the nightstand. “And Natalie sent up some pizza. You good?”

Liam nodded. “Yeah, I guess.” He grabbed Dean’s hand. “Hey, thanks for taking such good care of me. I know I can be demanding, and a pain in the ass. It means a lot that you don’t just dump me on a curb somewhere.”

Dean gave him a little smile and brushed a lock of hair out of his face. “You’re welcome. I know you don’t drive me up a wall on purpose. Natalie and I were just talking about that actually.” He kissed Liam’s forehead. “And now I need to go check on my brother, but once he’s settled, I’m all yours to cuddle with.”

Dean went down the hall into Sam’s room. He was snuggled up in bed with the laptop open on the nightstand while he went over some documents. “Hey uh, Natalie asked me what was going on, and I didn’t lie.”

Sam sighed and let his head fall back. “Yeah, thanks.”

“Sammy, she’s not an idiot. She’s noticed. The bloody handkerchiefs, the fever, the shaky legs... this is not good.”

“Well, I'm not good. And I'm not going to be good until we can start moving again. Until I can start the third trial.”

“Trial? I wouldn't let you start a moped. We're on the rails with this thing, okay, and the only way out of it is through it, believe me, I know. And you know how bad I wanna slam the door on all those sons of bitches. But you gotta let us take care of you, man. You gotta let us help you get your strength back.”

“This isn't a cold. Or a fever, or whatever it is you're supposed to feed. This is part of it all. Those first two trials... they're not just things I did. They're doing something to me. They're changing me, Dean.” He was interrupted by a new email alert. It was from Kevin. “Finally,” Sam opened it up.

It was a video of Kevin. “Sam, Dean. I've set up this message with some software on a remote server so it'd send itself to you if I didn't reset it with a command once a week. Which means I didn't reset it this week. And there's only one reason I wouldn't. Which means if you're watching this, then I... then I'm dead. I'm dead, you bastards! So screw you, screw God and everybody in between! Crowley must've gotten to me. And the one thing I know is that I won't break this time. Not sure how I know, but I do. I've been uploading all my notes, the translations, I'm sending you the links so you can get all of it. You guys are gonna have to try to figure out the rest. I'm sorry,” he started to tear up. “I know it was my job, but I couldn't... I'm sorry.”

“Damn it!” Dean shouted.

Sam got up and went into the study to start printing out Kevin’s notes. Dean started making a few phone calls. “Yeah, I know you haven't seen him, Keel, nobody has. Alright, well, if you talk to Garth, well, just have him call in. Yeah.”

“Garth still MIA?” Sam asked.

“Yeah.”

“How about the other prophets in line? I mean if Kevin is, uh... is dead, then won't one of them be activated?”

“Nothing, no, not a peep. Here we are. No lead, no tablet, squat.”

“Well, I mean, we got all this,” Sam picked up the stack of notes. “And someone who might be able to make sense of it all if we can just coax him out.”

“Sam, I don’t like doing that.”

“I know it shakes him up, but think what’s at stake. Give him a good dose of that cough syrup with codeine, make him take a nice nap, he’ll never be the wiser.”

“Except for the same migraine he got last time that lasted like a week straight. No Sam, last resort. We really should’ve moved Kevin to the bunker.”

They spread everything out on the table and got to work. Sam was studying a page. “There it is again, every time.”

“What?” Dean looked up.

“This symbol. I know it. Now, Kevin has it down as, as sort of like a signature, for the Scribe of God. It appears every time Metatron makes one of his, uh, like, editor's notes.”

“Okay…?”

“But I think I've seen it before. I mean, it was a long time ago, it was one of my, uh, humanities courses at Stanford.”

Dean raised an eyebrow. “They taught Word of God at Stanford?”

“No, uh, it was an overview of Native American art, I think it's a petroglyph.”

“A what now?”

Sam started typing away on the laptop, then turned the screen so Dean could see. “This one belonged to a tiny tribe in Colorado, more of a clan, really. It says here they held on to their scrap of mountains when all the other tribes fell to the white men. So this glyph was a territorial marker, closest translation: messenger of God. Messenger of God. Dean, we have to go there!”

“On that hunch? You can barely function.”

“I'm only gonna get worse. I mean, until we get back to the real job, until we find the third trial; we're out of prophets! We're not gonna figure out what Kevin couldn't! I'd say we go to this messenger of God who wrote it in the first place!”

“And you think this Metatron is hiding out in the mountains with a bunch of Indians.”

“Yeah! Yeah, I do. You're not really supposed to say Indians, it's... We should go.”

“You're delirious.”

Dean went up to get Liam. Sam went into the sitting room to see Natalie. “I’m sorry,” he frowned.

She didn’t look at him. “You’ve been saying that a lot, especially lately.”

“I know. This just isn’t… I think you deserve better than to be stuck here with a bunch of kids while I’m hardly ever home. And lately...”

“Sam, how many times do I have to tell you that you didn’t force me into anything? I’m not an idiot. What we’ve got is a whole lot different than what we planned, but I’ve been with you and I married you because I loved you.”

Sam frowned. “You say that like it’s past tense.”

She sighed and turned to face him. “Sam, it doesn’t really feel like there’s an us anymore. I’ve been swallowed up by motherhood. I love the kids, I do, even Nathan. And when you three are home and two of you aren’t sick, well you help out and it’s great. But I can’t remember when we last sat in bed together and talked like we used to, without one child related thing ever being brought up.”

Sam sighed. “We can work on that. Once these trials are done life will be better, you’ll see. And then we can try. We can hand the kids over to Dean and Liam maybe twice a week and really try. I’m sure they won’t mind.”

She stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. “If you make it one piece.”

Sam was quiet a minute. “I know I should’ve told you, but...”

“I know,” she put a hand on his chest. “You were trying to protect me. And you came in here because you’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“Yeah. We have a lead to the last trial. It’s a shaky one, but it’s all we’ve got.”

“Well then, in case I don’t see you again-”

“Natalie...”

“I’m just being realistic here.” She leaned up to kiss him softly. “I do love you, Sam. Your brother and Liam love you dearly too. So do your sons. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t. And I love all of you. I still fondly remember the night we met. I will see you when all is said and done.” He hugged her and then went to gather his things.

The next afternoon they were in Colorado walking into a pretty nice looking hotel. Dean walked up to the desk. “Afternoon. Hi. Uh, we'd like a room.”

Sam wandered away while Dean was signing them in. “Did you hear that?” Sam asked.

“Hear what?” Dean looked at him strangely and turned back to the manager. “He has the flu.”

They took Sam up to the room, and then Dean and Liam went to have a look around. When they returned Sam was on the bed drinking a glass of water. Dean sat down on the other bed. “Regular tourist mecca we got here. We're the only guests in this whole place. Last entry in the registry was in '06.”

“Hey, you remember when uh... when Dad took us to the bottom of the Grand Canyon, on that pack mule ride?”

“The what?” Dean looked confused.

“And you're, uh... your mule kept farting, just letting go, like, gale force?”

“Dude, you were like, four years old. I barely remember that.”

Sam started laughing while Dean and Liam exchanged worried looks. “You rode a farty donkey.”

“Okay. Uh, we’re gonna go check out the Two Rivers Tribal Museum and Trading Post.”

“Yeah!” Sam sat up. “I'm gonna, uh. I'm gonna follow the hotel manager, Dr. Scowley-scowl. He's like a villain from Scooby Doo.”

Dean put a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “No, hey, uh, little big man? You should get some rest.”

“Yeah, I can do that too,” Sam nodded as he fell back on the bed.

Dean and Liam went down to the museum to talk to the clerk. “The people of the Two Rivers tribe came to this land centuries ago. A land that was harsh, and stony. But the mighty leader told his people that they must stay here. He claimed that this was the home on Earth of the great spirit's sacred messenger, and that if they'd make offerings, their blessings would be many.”

“What were the offerings?”

“Huh?”

“Uh, what did the great spirit's sacred messenger ask for?”

“Stories. He asked the people to tell him stories.”

Dean nodded. “Right. Okay, thanks. That was very interesting.” He walked with Liam out into the lobby. “Your famous gut telling you anything?”

“Only that we’re in the right place.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I do.”

Dean’s phone rang and he picked it up. “Sam?” There was no answer. “Sammy, you there?” Still silence. Dean grabbed Liam’s wrist and they pretty much ran back to the room.

Sam was passed out on the floor. Dean felt him, then pulled a digital thermometer out of his pocket. “When did you start carrying that?” Liam asked.

“Between the two of you it seemed like a good idea,” Dean answered as he put the device to Sam’s temple. He looked at it when it beeped. “Holy… Liam, go get lots of ice, like now!” he shouted as he ran into the bathroom and turned the cold water on in the tub.

Liam did as told and when they had an ice bath the two of them dragged Sam over to the tub. “You know, I really hated it when you did this to me,” Liam commented.

“Yeah, well, if it keeps him alive I don’t care of he likes it.”

They put him in the tub and it only took a minute for him to wake up and jump out. “Take it easy, Sam. Hey, whoa, take it easy.” Dean wrapped a towel around his shoulders. “Found you on the floor passed out, your temperature was a one hundred seven. I had to force it down or you were toast.”

“He's here, Dean. Metatron is here, I know it, I can hear him.”

“What're you talking about?”

“All I know is that I'm connected to it somehow.”

“What, like you got a link to him, like a prophet?”

“I don't know! I just know he's here. Metatron is here.”

“Okay, where?”

“I can show you. The manager. He was delivering books to him.”

“Books?” Dean raised an eyebrow.

“Books. Hardcovers, paperbacks, novels… books.”

“Stories,” Liam said as he and Dean looked at each other.

“I should be taking you to the ER,” Dean commented as they followed Sam.

“They can't do anything for me. You know, I've been remembering things, little things, so clearly.”

“What, donkey rides?”

“You used to read to me, um, when I was little, I mean really little, from that old, uh... Classics Illustrated comic book. You remember that?”

“No.”

“Knights of the Round Table. Had all of King Arthur's knights, and they were all on the quest for the Holy Grail. And I remember looking at this picture of Sir Galahad, and, and he was kneeling, and light streaming over his face, and I remember thinking, uh, I could never go on a quest like that. Because I'm not clean. I mean, I was just a little kid. You think... maybe I knew? I mean, deep down, that I had... demon blood in me, and about the evil of it, and that I'm, I wasn't pure?”

“Sam, it's not your fault.”

“It doesn't matter anymore. Because these trials... they're purifying me.” They reached the end of the hall and Sam stopped in front of a door. “They were here, the books, the boxes! They’re gone.”

Dean pushed the door open and they entered a room full of thousands f books. They turned a corner and came face to face with what looked like an older gentleman pointing a rifle at them. “Who're you?” he demanded.

“This is Metatron?” Dean looked skeptically to Sam.

Metatron suddenly appeared behind them. “Sit down.” They lowered themselves into chairs. “Who sent you?”

Liam’s eyes went red. “Don’t be like that, sugar.”

Metatron’s eyes widened. “You!”

“Yes, we meet again. The archangels, they all kinda destroyed each other, with a little help from us. And really, even if they still were roaming around, do you honestly think I would have anything to do with them?”

“You were pretty chummy with Lucifer.”

“That was a very long time ago. If you’ll remember, he royally screwed that up.”

“Yeah, I remember. I remember that you’re trouble. It was you who set all those drow loose in the offices.”

Astiratu laughed. “Yeah, that was pretty funny. Hey, they eat humans, not angels, and it was only the little ones.”

Dean looked confused. “You sent little black skinned elves running around? And they eat people?”

“Sweetheart, mixing up dark elves and drow is a common mistake. Maybe I’ll explain later. For now, Metatron, we’ve just come to have a little friendly chat. These are my companions Sam and Dean, and we just need a little information.”

“Hey, can you turn that down?” Sam half shouted.

“Turn what down? Oh. You're resonating.” He lowered the rifle.

“Resonating? What do you mean, resonating?” Dean asked.

“You've undertaken the trials. You're trying to pull one of the great levers, aren't you? You're pretty far along, too. You get that far along, you start resonating with the Word. Or with its source on the material plane. With me.”

“So uh, why are you holed up in here with all these books?” Dean asked.

“I'm not one of them. I'm not an archangel. Really more run of the mill. I worked in the secretarial pool before God chose me to take down the Word. Anyway, he... seemed very worried about his work, what would happen to it when he left, so he had me write down instructions. Then he was gone. After that, the archangels took over. And they cried, and they wailed. They wanted their father back. I mean, we all did. But then... then they started to scheme. The archangels decided if they couldn't have Dad, they'd take over the universe themselves. But they couldn't do anything that big without the Word of God. So I began to realize, maybe they would realize... they needed me.”

“So you get a ruffle in your feathers and just decide to disappear? Go stick your head in the sand forever? You have no idea what's been going on out there.”

“Nope. That's the whole point.”

“So you have been holed up here, or in a wigwam, or before that in some cave, listening to stories, reading books?”

Metatron grinned. “And it was something to watch. What you brought to His Earth, all the mayhem, the murder. Just the raw, wild invention of God's naked apes... it was mind blowing. But really, it was your storytelling. That is the true flower of free will. At least as you've mastered it so far. When you create stories, you become gods, of tiny intricate dimensions unto themselves. So many worlds! I have read as much as it's possible for an angel to read, and I haven't caught up.”

Sam stood up, getting angry. “All the time you've been hiding here, how much suffering have you read over? Humanity's suffering! And how much of it has been at the hands of your kind?”

“Come here, hey,” Dean pulled his brother back down. “You want a story? Try Kevin Tran's story. He was just a kid. He was a good, straight A kid, and then he got sucked in to all of this angel crap. He became a prophet, of the Word of God. Your prophet. Now, you should've been looking out for him, but no! Instead, you're here, holed up, reading books.”

“He's dead now. Because of you.” Sam accused.

Metatron paused. “I don’t know what to say.

Astiratu looked him in the eye. “You could at least tell us what happened to him. Maybe even give us a heads up on who the next prophet is so we can get to that person before Crowley.”

“Who’s Crowley?”

“The King of Hell, and a giant pain in our asses. Look, Metatron, like me, or don’t like me. Personally, I don’t care. But you of all angels know what I do. Yes, I cause mass chaos for amusement, but when I’m given a job to fight for the greater good, no one fights harder than I. Right now I’ve got a dead prophet who stashed half the Demon Tablet we don’t know where. The King of Hell has the other half of the tablet. Then there’s Sam here who has done the first two trials, and we think it’s killing him. I never in a million years thought I’d see the day, but I actually happen to care a lot about these two humans, so Sam’s condition has me stressed to hell and back. I’m asking for your help here.”

“Can’t be easy for someone like you to admit you need help, especially from an angel.”

“Oh, believe me, it’s not. Thing is, I’m really stubborn, yes, but not stupid.”

Metatron gave a little chuckle. “No, you are far from stupid. Your prophet isn’t dead, by the way. He’s hidden in some alternate reality, probably on the orders of this Crowley.”

“What?” Astiratu blinked. “Can you get him back for us? Pretty please with sprinkles on top?”

“Well, since you asked so nicely, and since I actually do like your spirit… You might want to shield your eyes for this.”

Metatron closed his eyes and concentrated. There was a bright flash of light, and then Kevin was unconscious in a chair with bruise marks around his neck. Metatron touched him with a glowing hand and the bruises faded. “Is that it? Is he good?” Dean asked.

“Give him a minute.”

“How did you get past Crowley's angel warding?”

“I'm the Scribe of God. I erased it.”

“But you saw, right? I mean, you're caught up on everything that's been going on. All the crap that your brethren's been doing to humanity all this time?”

“I saved the boy, didn't I?”

“But are you in? With us, I mean.”

“You really intend on closing the doors of hell?”

“Seems like the thing to do, don't it?”

“It's your choice. And that's what this has all been about, the choices your kind make. But you're gonna have to weigh that choice. Ask yourself; what is it going to take to do this, and what will the world be like after it's done?”

“Dean!” Sam called to his brother as Kevin started to come around.

Dean turned his attention back to Kevin. “Kevin? Hey. I thought we lost you, kiddo.”

“I'm good,” Kevin assured them as he pulled a tablet piece out of his jacket. “Second half of the tablet. And I got it. Third trial. I didn't tell Crowley.”

“So what is it?” Sam asked eagerly.

“To cure a demon,” Metatron answered for him.

“Yeah,” Kevin nodded. “Who are you?”

“The original author.”

“Seriously?”

“Curing a demon,” Astiratu moved to stand by the window. “Never tried to do that before. I’ve always found it much easier to hack them to bits. Although, you know what would be awesome? As soon as we figure out how, capture Crowley and cure him.”

Metatron motioned to him. “See what I mean? Trouble!”

“Yeah,” Dean nodded. “It can be crazy making. Although, I have to admit, also kinda hot.”

Astiratu blinked and was Liam again. He looked around before his legs gave out from under him and he was on the floor. “Hey...” Dean raced over to him. “It’s okay. It was only a few minutes this time,” he said as he wrapped his arms around his lover from behind and picked him up.

“That doesn’t make me feel better.”

“I’m sorry. Look, we need to go. We’ll fill you in, okay? Things are looking up now, sort of.”

They packed everything up and got into the car. “Cure a demon. Okay, ignoring the fact that I have no idea what that actually means, if we do this, you get better, right? I mean, you stop trying to cough up a lung, and bumping into furniture?” Dean looked to his brother.

“I feel better, yeah, um, just having a direction to move in,” Sam nodded.

“Well, good, cause where we're headed doesn't sound like a picnic.”

“But we're heading somewhere. The end.”

Dean suddenly saw someone lying in the road and he slammed on the breaks, the car skidding to a halt. Sam and Dean got out to discover it was Castiel. “Cas?” Dean looked down in disbelief.

The angel looked up at them. “A little help here?”
- 20
- 21
- 22
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Hunting Humanity VII