Prophecy -- Chapter 17

Disclaimer:  The TV shows Dark Angel and Supernatural, all of the characters that appeared on them, and everything else that has to do with the shows belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Dylan/X6-175, etc.).

Notes:  Takes place at the same time as chapter 16.  Also, I’d like to apologize in advance if it seems like Dean and Sam are getting across the country too quickly.  Somebody once told me that it takes about three days to drive from coast-to-coast, but I don’t know if that included stopping for the night.  Oh well.  Enjoy!

“Where are you going?” Sam asked Dean as he took some clothes out of his duffel bag and put them on his motel room bed.

Dean shrugged.  “Just down the road to the bar for a drink or two.  The place is so close that I’m gonna walk over and not even bother to take the car.  Don’t worry, I won’t be too long because I know you want to get an early start.”

Sam looked skeptical.  “When has that stopped you before, Dean?”

“Whatever, Mom,” Dean grumbled.  “Don’t strain anything while I’m gone.”

“Have I ever told you how much I love having a comedian for a brother?” Sam remarked.

“Only about a thousand times, Sammy,” Dean said, smirking.  “Have fun.  Go easy on the porn.”  He laughed when Sam flipped him off and left.

That’s Dean Winchester for you: you’ve got to either love him, strangle him, or both.  Usually both, Sam thought.  That reminds me.  I should call Sarah and the kids while I have the chance.  He reached into his jeans pocket for his cell phone and quickly dialed his home phone number.

“Hello?” Sarah said.

“Hey, sweetheart, it’s me,” Sam told her.

“Hey, baby,” Sarah said happily.  “How are things going?”

“We’re hoping to get into Washington State tomorrow,” Sam replied as he moved the clothes aside and sat down on the bed.  “With the way that Dean drives and maybe a little luck on top of that, we’ll get into Seattle itself tomorrow night before it gets too late.  I’m still not sure what we’re going to do once we get there.  How are the kids?  They doing okay?”

“They’re fine,” Sarah assured him.  “They’re all in bed right now.  Robby was at his friend Jason’s house for most of the day and had dinner there.  I took Alicia and Marie shopping this afternoon.”  She sighed in exasperation.  “I really could have done without Marie pointing out to the salesgirl how incompetent she was being.  The woman really didn’t have a clue as to what she was doing, but Marie…well, she really is Dean’s child.  Your daughter wasn’t any help.  She was giggling the entire time.  Which, of course, egged Marie on.  I got those two out of there as quickly as I could.  Now I think I know the real reason why Dean used to refuse to take Marie to sit on Santa’s lap around Christmas time when she was younger.”

“I told you that Marie smarted off to the mall Santa Claus that one time when she was three years old,” Sam said smugly.  “It was actually pretty funny.  It’s too bad your morning sickness was rough that day and you didn’t come with me, Dean, and the girls.  Dean wasn’t sure whether to be mad at Marie for behaving like that or relieved that it almost gave him an excuse to go shopping even less.  And you’re right, it pretty much is genetic.  Dean once told me that he did the same thing the Christmas that he was three years old.  He says he remembered the look on Mom’s face and almost cried, but that he remembered sneaking out of his bed that night and hearing Mom laughing about the incident to Dad.”

“Children.  You just love them to pieces, but sometimes you wonder why they say the things that they do,” Sarah commented.  “And then you’re amazed that you were once like that.”

“Tell me about it,” Sam agreed.  “Man, they’re just growing up so fast.  It seems like yesterday that Robby was in diapers or Alicia was starting to toddle around the house.”

“They can take their time hitting puberty and adolescence, believe me,” Sarah groaned.  “I am not looking forward to that at all.  A:  It means that they are that much closer to being completely grown up and B:  I remember what I was like at that time in my life.  It wasn’t a picnic.”

“Well, they could have been me,” Sam pointed out.  “My childhood and most of Dean’s was something out of a sci-fi novel.”

“True,” Sarah conceded.  “But don’t forget the occasional bit of mystery novel here and there.”

Sam laughed.  “Yeah, how can I forget that?”

“Where’s Dean?” Sarah asked.

“He walked over to this bar just down the road from the motel that we’re staying in for the night,” Sam replied.  “He said that he wouldn’t be too long, but how much do you want to bet that I’ll be driving for the first couple of hours tomorrow morning while Dean sleeps off his hangover?”  He sighed.  “Just like old times…of course, the last time that happened when I joined Dean on a hunt was two months ago.  But he doesn’t drink as much as he used to, not that he was an alcoholic before.  I swear, Marie really is the best thing that’s ever happened to my brother.”

“A daughter is better at keeping a man in line than a wife any day,” Sarah agreed.  “I’m willing to admit that.”  She laughed.  “I know the face that you’re making right now, sweetie, and you know that I’m right.  Alicia has you wrapped around her finger so badly that it’s almost ridiculous.  She has from the second that she was born.”

“Dean said that it’s sickening and we should all be grateful that Alicia has your eyes and not mine otherwise it would be worse,” Sam recalled.  “Which, of course, is the pot calling the kettle black.”  He grinned.  “Of course, the same applies to you and Robby.  I used to be disappointed that neither of the kids had my eyes, but if either of them did…well, they’d be two spoiled children, wouldn’t they?”

“On top of how much my dad spoils them already,” Sarah agreed.

Sam sighed.  “I really miss them.  I hate being away from them like this.”

“You’ve got no choice,” Sarah reminded him.  “You never experience anything psychic without a reason.  There has to be a big reason why you found your way into those memories of that transgenic and you have to find out why.  I’m not angry with you and neither are the kids, even if they don’t have all of the details the way that I do.”

“Yeah, you’re…”  He put a hand to his forehead and winced.  Damn, not this.  “…absolutely right.”

“Sam?”  Even through the phone connection and the growing pain in his head, Sam could hear the concern in his wife’s voice.  “Are you okay?”

“I will be,” he said.  The pain increased to a violent throb.   On second thought…  “Maybe not.”

“What’s wrong?” Sarah asked, her voice bordering on frantic.

“Premonition,” Sam managed to say before the vision overwhelmed him…

Dean stood in the middle of an unfamiliar and nearly abandoned street.  The only other person around was a younger man, probably in his early thirties or so, who was looking at Dean strangely.  After several moments, Dean crossed his arms over his chest and gave the other man an annoyed look.  The stranger gave Dean one more odd glance before finally speaking.

“Excuse me,” he said.  “Do you…?”  He let the sentence trail off when a third man approached him and Dean.  The first stranger went pale at the sight of the new arrival.  “What the hell?  Oh, God, I’ve got to—“

“Do nothing.”  The dark-haired man’s voice was as calm and placid as a Sunday morning, but he gave the first stranger such a violent shove that it sent the bespectacled man skidding several feet down the street.  Dean moved forward to attack the guy, but was easily kicked backwards.  The attacker had a surprised look on his face, drew a gun as Dean was getting back on his feet, and fired.  But out of nowhere, a blur came from a nearby building and suddenly Dean was on the ground, another man on top of him.  The man looked identical to Dean, though he appeared to be roughly twenty years younger, and was clutching his left shoulder.

“Damn,” the young man gasped.  Even his voice matched Dean’s.

“494.  You always show up when you’re not wanted.”  The dark-haired man raised his gun again.  The transgenic tried to reach for something, presumably a gun of his own, but was unable to find it in time and the attacker shot and killed him before turning his attention to Dean and killing him as well, laughing.  “So nice, I got to kill him twice.”  He turned around to the first stranger…

Sam gasped as the room began to flash back into focus.  He waited until the last images from the vision disappeared from his eyes before he shakily pulled himself up into a sitting position on the bed.  Oh, God.  Dean died…and the transgenic…oh, my God.  A sudden slamming noise caught Sam’s attention and he winced as the noise made the lingering throbbing in his head worse.

“Sam?  Sammy?”  Dean raced over to his younger brother.  He reached over and picked up the cell phone from where Sam had dropped it.  “Sarah, you still there?  I’m here.  Don’t worry, I’ll make sure that he’s all right.  I’ll call you if something’s seriously wrong.  Okay.  Tell Marie that I miss her.  ‘Bye.”  He disconnected and focused his attention back on Sam.  “Come on, baby brother, I’m here.”

“Dean?” Sam managed to say.

“Yeah, I’m right here,” Dean told him reassuringly.  “It’s okay, Sam.  What happened?  What did you see?”  His eyes met Sam’s and Dean sucked in a breath when the devastated look that he saw gave him his answer.

TBC