[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]

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."

[gavemea_45]

"Let me guess." Dean's voice is dry, even as he reaches for the seat belt. "You were a Girl Scout."

Somehow, Sam manages not to laugh.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"In Canada, they're 'Girl Guides,'" Waverly says, primly. "And no, I wasn't."

Mostly because there was no Purgatory chapter, but that's neither here nor there. She sets the truck in drive and pulls away from the curb, heading out of town and onto one of the long, lonely roads that winds through the prairie and towards the woods.

[gavemea_45]

"Pretty remote," Sam observes, watching the landscape as they pass. "I guess that explains why your revenants stick so close. Wynonna mentioned some kind of trailer park?"

He ignores the look Dean shoots him.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"That, and they can't cross the boundary of the Ghost River Triangle."

She makes a turn onto another road, bringing them further outside of town, her jaw tightening. "The trailer park, yeah. Bobo's collected a whole bunch of them out there."

[gavemea_45]

"Bobo?" Sam asks. He can practically see the steam coming from his brother's ears as he fumes, but Dean's keeping it locked down for the moment in favor of gathering information.

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Bobo Del Rey."

Her imaginary friend. She can still hear his whispers. I will never hurt my angel.

She presses her lips together, fingers tightening on the steering wheel. "He's kind of become the leader of the revenants. A bunch of them, anyway. He's been having them on work crews, digging for something."

[gavemea_45]

"Question." Dean's teeth are gritted, Sam notices, and resigns himself to the fight they'll have when they get back. "There some reason he's still walkin' around?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Because every time he's been close enough to shoot, he's had enough backup that they'd kill Wynonna right after."

She glances at Dean in the mirror, her eyes serious. "No offense, but you don't know the lay of the land here."

[gavemea_45]

"Peacemaker's not like the Colt - our Colt, I mean," Sam explains, quietly. "Instead of having limited ammunition, it's limited in who can use it to kill a demon or revenant. Only one person can... Wyatt Earp's heir. And that's Wynonna."

Dean stares at him. "Only one? What happens if someone kills one of them without it?"

[totalitarstupetballs]

"They don't die."

Her voice is quiet and calm, but there's a thread of strain beneath it. "They can get hurt, but only Peacemaker puts them down. And only the heir can use Peacemaker."

[gavemea_45]

"Basically, this curse is a real piece of work," Sam murmurs. "The good news is that there's some kind of barrier around the whole Ghost River Triangle area. Doesn't look like anything else can get in. At all."

Dean lets out an explosive breath. "At least there's that. Jesus."

[totalitarstupetballs]

"Nothing gets in, and nothing gets out," Waverly confirms. "Revenants that go outside the boundary experience hell on earth."

Her voice is quiet, almost sympathetic. "It's awful."