[AU] two worlds, a lot of demons, and a new set of problems

[gavemea_45]

It's still hard to believe it's over; that the yellow-eyed demonic bastard they'd spent their whole lives hunting is finally dead.

Sam figures it'll sink in eventually. Given everything else -- right now he's still pretty numb.

He's also desperately tired, but that doesn't matter. There's something he needs to do, and he can't afford to delay.

He waits until they've settled in for the night, and then waits still longer. Once Dean's been asleep for half an hour, Sam picks up his messenger bag -- already stuffed with books and his computer -- and heads straight for the bar.

He orders black coffee and snags a table with a good view of both doors and the stairs, then pulls out the first of the old texts and starts to search through it.

There's work to do.

Comments

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Yeah," Waverly says, a laugh in her voice. "It was hilarious."

She shakes her head at Sam. "That, I don't know. I only know for sure about the revenants."

[gavemea_45]

"What about other haunts or ghosts? Any idea?" Dean asks. Sam grins ruefully at Waverly. "I hope it's okay that we're picking your brain like this, but in turn I promise you can ask us anything you want to know about how things work where we're from. Maybe we'll find stuff that can help."

[totalitarstupetballs]

Waverly crosses her arms and gestures with one hand. "It's fine, but I don't see what it has to do with the problem at hand," she points out, tipping her head toward the skull. "Can we maybe focus on my dead friend, first?"

[gavemea_45]

"It depends a little on what kind of supernatural resonance Yorick's exhibiting," Sam explains. "So, like, if it's something that could be affected by this ammolite, then there might not be bones on the homestead. It narrows down the search area."

"Could just cart him out there and find out if he gets to play slingshot," Dean points out.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Hilarious as that would be, why don't we try asking the only other person who might know?"

She goes back to the table and lifts the note from Uncle Curtis, then waves it at them. "The Blacksmith?"

[gavemea_45]

Sam eyes her. "I still say you shouldn't go alone."

Dean eyes Sam, in turn. "Why not?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Well, you can come," she points out, then gives them both a considering glance. "But you might need coats."

In the weeks since Wynonna returned, the tail end of summer had given way to winter, and there's snow on the ground and frost on the windows. "It's pretty cold out there."

[gavemea_45]

"Right," Dean drawls. "Canadian."

"How far away is it?" Sam asks.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Too far to walk."

She glances at the stairs that lead up to the second floor, thoughtful. "But if you don't want to go back for coats, I might be able to scrounge something up for you."

[gavemea_45]

Dean shrugs. “We’re not fussy. I’ll be impressed if you have something that fits Sasquatch here, though.”

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Just give me one minute," Waverly says, holding up a finger, before she turns and scurries up the stairs towards the second floor.

[gavemea_45]

Sam braces as Dean rounds on him. “Seventy-seven revenants? And you were going to come alone? What the hell, Sam?!”

“We’re not looking for them, just the blacksmith,” he argues. “Who's a witch, but not the big problem witch. It’s fine.”

[totalitarstupetballs]

Waverly's steps can be heard moving across the upper floor as she searches through first Champ's room and then the rooms where Shorty would stay on the occasional very late nights turned early mornings. A few moments later, she comes trotting back downstairs with her hands full of a couple barn coats and scarves. Champ's she tosses at Dean; she holds Shorty's up to Sam with a considering glance, then hands it over.

"It might be a little short, but it should fit everywhere else."

[gavemea_45]

“We’re gonna be talking about this later,” Dean promises him, and catches the coat. “Thanks.”

Sam gives his brother an expressive look, then turns to Waverly with a smile. “It’s great. Thanks.”

[totalitarstupetballs]

Waverly glances back and forth between them. "Talking about what?"

[gavemea_45]

“Dean’s just grouchy when he gets woken up,” Sam says, with a wry smile. “He likes to complain.”

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Boy, he really is like Wynonna, isn't he?"

Waverly grins a wrinkled-nose little sister smile at Dean, then bustles over to pack the skull back into the box in which she'd found it. After another moment's thought, she heads behind the bar and grabs a bottle of white wine. "Maybe this will soften her up."

[gavemea_45]

“He sure is,” Sam agrees.

Dean kicks Sam in the ankle and otherwise chooses to ignore that. “I’d bring a bottle of Jack, but it’s your call.”

[totalitarstupetballs]

"To be honest, I'm hoping she won't want it and I can drink it," Waverly admits. She sets the wine down by the box and tugs on her own coat and scarf and hat, then picks up the items again and takes a deep breath before she tips her head toward the door. "Okay. Let's go see the Blacksmith.'

[gavemea_45]

“Does she have a name?” Sam gets the door for her, while Dean brings up the rear of their little group.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"I would guess so, but I don't know what it is."

The brisk early winter air is cold and refreshing as she leads them out of the saloon and towards the battered old blue and white pickup parked on the street. Purgatory stretches around them, lonely streets and old buildings. Past the town limits, the empty white fields of the badlands disappear off into the horizon, ended only by the towering teeth of the mountain range. "All I know about her is that she's a loner and an artist and she knows a heck of a lot about the Ghost River Triangle."

[gavemea_45]

Dean keeps watch out to one side, while he keeps an eye on the other. They do it as automatically as breathing.

“Huh,” Sam says. “How long has she lived around here?”

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Always, as far as I know."

Waverly unlocks the truck and pushes the front seat up for one of them to get in the back. "People don't really leave Purgatory all that often."

[gavemea_45]

"Doesn't look like there's all that many of them here, either," Dean notes. "Pretty empty place."

It's only then that Sam realizes why both he and Dean are on such high alert - besides the obvious, of being in a strange world with revenants and other threats about.

The last ghost town they were in was Cold Oak. Even if Purgatory's not a ghost town for real, it sure feels like one.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"It's winter," she points out. "Most people are inside or at work."

But it's true that Purgatory doesn't have the largest population in the world. She circles the truck to get into the driver's seat and turns the engine on with a roar, then glances at the brothers. "Buckle up, please."