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DJ and Alex walked into the dimly lit bar and scanned the room for an empty table. There were none but DJ saw a couple of hunters he knew. He raised his hand in greeting and they both waved him over. As they walked toward the table, DJ looked at Alex, “You realize we won’t have to buy drinks for a year. With all the stories we have. Leave it to me and we’ll get drinks and dinner paid for too. Maybe enough money for the hotel.”
“Gary. Wayne. Meet Alex recently got into the business.” He gestured to Alex. “How’re you doing?” Gary and Wayne both shrugged. We’re on the trail of a Rugaru but we lost him. Trying to pick him back up. What are you up to?” Gary took a sip while DJ waived the waitress over. Alex and DJ both sat at the same time and DJ sighed, “just finished off a large nest of vamps. We think the Northeast region will be clear for a while unless some move up from the south.” He took a drink. Both Gary and Wayne burst out laughing as the waitress got to their table. DJ smiled as did Alex, and said, “Laugh it up. We teamed with the Winchesters and took out about 44 vamps. Most vamps I’ve ever killed at once.”
Gary’s bottle froze mid sip and Wayne coughed in surprise. The waitress even froze with a gasp, “Wait! You hunted with the Winchesters? I thought they were a myth or at least lived a while ago! I’ve heard so many stories of how they’ve died! How did you hunt with them?” Jane was flabbergasted and didn’t remember to keep her voice down so was quite loud. All the tables near them heard and silence suddenly spread outward from their table.
Alex, not noticing the quiet, nodded at the waitress, smiling shyly, “We cleared out 44 vamps with 7 people: 3 Winchesters, the Angel, DJ, a trainee named Jack and me!” Alex nodded to emphasize his point. Gary looked skeptical but took another sip. “How did you hook up with the Winchesters and more to the point, how did you come out alive? Seems to me that only women hunters come out of hunting with them alive. If you’re a man, you’re shit out of luck.” Wayne nodded grimly. Jane, grinned at Wayne, “What about Bobby, Rufus, Caleb and Lee Chambers told me he was saved by Sam and Dean. I think you’re just jealous about how Ellen and Jo went on and on about Sam and Dean even when they were younger.”
Wayne, looking disgruntled, turned to DJ and Alex, “Well?” DJ smiled and said, “Jane, can we get a couple of burgers with our beers? My throat is a bit dry.” He looked at Gary meaningfully. Gary sighed and said, “I’ll buy one round and the burgers for the story, especially if you can prove it true.” DJ smiled and said, “not only can I prove it, my proof will make hunting vamps much easier.” A couple of hunters stood and moved closer to their table intent on listening to the story.
“Have any of you ever heard of the darts filled with dead man’s blood or lotion to make sure a vamp can’t smell you? On this hunt not only did the Winchesters share that with us but also a cure for Vampirism and they are working on a way to trap vamps like you do with ghosts.” The hunters surrounding the table settled in for a story.
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It all started with a call DJ made to Garth. “Hey G-man, I need some heavy backup – I thought I was just chasing a small nest – maybe 3 tops of vampires. I tracked them back to their nest. It’s about 10 vamps and I overheard them talking about connecting up with another nest of about 15 towards Brownsville, about 4 hours from here. I’m going to keep on their tail but I need at least 10-11 other hunters to take that out.”
Garth, sounding calm, “Dude, thanks for calling it in. We knew both groups were combining. They’re actually meeting up with another group of 5 coming up from Yakima, who Alex is tracking. I’ll have yours and Alex’s back up meet you at 99’s Grill off of Route 5 near Brownsville.”
DJ, sounding relieved, “great – how many will you be able to round up - 15/16 others? Just meet in the parking lot so we don’t draw too much attention with the number of hunters?”
Garth replied, “no need for that many, I’m in touch with the strike team of 4. Maybe 5. They might have a trainee with them.”
“Uh…Garth, we’re going to need more than 4, especially with a trainee.”
“Naw man. Dean, Sam, Castiel and Mary can handle the entire nest – no problem. They’ve been driving the smaller groups of Vamps together so they can take them all out in one sitting. Clear up the Northwest region, at least for a while.”
DJ was silent for a moment, “You mean the Winchesters? Dude, I thought they were myth, that the stories about them were exaggerated.”
Garth chuckled, “I don’t know what stories you’ve heard but they can handle it. Don’t be intimidated by their looks, they’re just softies inside. Good luck. Gotta go, that’s Alex and I have to let him know the meeting location.”
DJ objected, Wait! Wait! What do you mean their looks?”
Garth chuckled again, “They’re both tall and have strong jawlines. Kinda intimidating. Don’t worry about it.”
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Bob’s Diner – Brownsville
DJ met up with Alex first, having seen his car at the no tell motel last night as he was checking in. They all decided to meet for breakfast to talk about the hunt and fuel up before doing the deed. Alex, a relatively new hunter, was more nervous about meeting the Winchesters than facing all those vamps with just 6 hunters and a trainee. “Did you know that Mary Winchester was dead for like 30 years before she was resurrected? I heard she’s hot! She didn’t even know about computers and phones. Now, I heard she’s hunted with like at least 10 other hunters, backing them up. She’s ruthless but doesn’t really talk.” DJ grunted. “I bet Charlie’s the other hunter – she’s hot too,” Alex stated.
DJ shook his head, “I dare you to tell those boys that their mom is hot.” He snorted, “Anyway, I heard Charlie went up in smoke before the Darkness came, so about 3 years back. She wasn’t here for the sun dying; good hunter; smart as a whip. I still use her database of monsters. Not her, but maybe Jodi, or her girl, Claire.” Alex shrugged his shoulders, not knowing who Jody was.
They had driven to the diner together and showed up 15 minutes early, so sat in the car, each quietly dealing with nerves. A blue sportster roared into the parking lot and skidded into a parking space, followed by the Impala and much more slowly by a brown and white pick-up. The Impala’s doors creaked open and two muscular forms unfolded from the seats. To Alex, it seemed like they opened the door, started to get out and just kept on going. At 5’11, he was used to being taller – hell, he was about 3 inches taller than DJ; than most men but these guys would tower over him. He looked at the sportster and was surprised to see a woman step out of it; he would have thought Mary Winchester would ride with her sons. DJ was focused on the pickup – a man in a trench coat and a fresh-faced boy in jeans and a windbreaker stepped from the truck. “He looks too young and the guy is in a suit. That can’t be the other hunter,” he concluded as he opened his door. Alex’s gaze went to the truck and he gasped, “I think that’s the angel!”
The boys and Mary came together and both hugged her long and hard. DJ and Alex held back as the Winchesters greeted each other. They were a bit bemused for both large, tough intimidating men seemed to soften, lines disappearing from their foreheads upon seeing Mary, who looked like their sister instead of their mother. As the shorter one, Dean, finished his hug, the larger man turned and smiled at the man in the trench coat and the young boy, “I thought we might have lost you on that hairpin curve Dean insisted needed to be taken at 70 miles an hour,” Sam called out. The man replied, “I will always be able to find you, Sam. I thought you knew that.” Sam looked nonplussed. Dean finished hugging Mary, smiling down at her softly. Mary turned her head and said, “Cass, I think they know that. Sam is greeting you and asking you to share in his reprimand of Dean’s driving at the same time,” she smiled softly. She moved to hug the young boy and patted Castiel’s chest in greeting.
The five of them turned as one and watched Alex and DJ walk up. Sam stepped forward, “DJ and Alex?” DJ reached out nodding and shook his hand, “I’m DJ. This is Alex.” Alex exchanged handshakes with Dean, “I’m Dean and this is Sam. Mary,” Dean gestured to his mother, “Cass and Jack.” He gestured at the man and boy. While Mary exchanged handshakes with both Alex and DJ, the other two hung back with the boy raising his hand, fingers spread out and smiled. They all turned and walked toward the diner, Dean clapping his hands together, “Ready for some pancakes. I need to EAT!” Jack responded, “You are always eating.” Sam smirked, “he’s a garbage bucket.” Dean scowled, “I’m a warrior, I can’t eat any of that prissy shit you eat.” Mary smirked at the exchange.
The waitress led them to a round table with 7 menus and they all sat, Alex sitting next to Mary and DJ. DJ was flanked by Sam, then Dean, Jack and Castiel, who had Mary on his left. Sam immediately pulled out a laptop. Dean, Mary and DJ perused the menu and Alex tried to not stare at the angel. Dean, turning to Jack and Cass, “So as I was saying, Billie the Kid’s real name was Will Bonney.” Jack turned to Dean with a slight inquisitiveness and Cass turned his attention to the menu, desperately trying not to look Dean in the eye. Cowboys were a singular passion of Dean’s one of many that Cass didn’t understand. Mary smiled at the byplay – she remembered when Dean would not take off his sheriff’s vest and cowboy hat even for naps.
They were watching the exchange between the Winchesters (Alex had no doubt that both Cass and Jack were accepted as family despite the lack of blood tie) and trying to connect that to all the stories of Dean as ‘an unforgiving, blunt instrument of death’. The blunt instrument was on a long and enthusiastic discourse about cowboys and the lack of cleanliness in the old West. AJ had always pictured Dean as taciturn and though Dean was irate about the lack of authenticity in the way Hollywood had depicted the old West, he didn’t seem menacing.
DJ looked at Sam and thought that his reputation all came from his size though he was smart. Book smart didn’t always translate to hunter smart. Dean and Mary must have to pick up a lot of slack. He looked over at Dean and thought the same as AJ about Dean. Those stories must be exaggerated by a lot. Mary, aware of the uncomfortable air that surrounded both DJ and Alex, turned to Alex, smiled and asked, “How long have you been hunting?”
Alex’s attention had turned to Cass. He couldn’t see anything ‘heavenly’ about him. He looked like a tired man who was definitely on the autistic spectrum. He tore his eyes away from Cass, “Is he the angel?” he whispered. Mary smiled at him, nodding. DJ, not wanting to get into beliefs; he wasn’t sure he wanted to believe in a god that allowed monsters to devastate people’s lives, turned to Sam. He took a deep breath to calm his nerves. “Where do you think they’re headed?” Sam smiled softly, “I’m pulling it up now.” Cass leaned forward and looked to Alex and in a very deep voice said, “Yes, Alex. I am an angel of the Lord.” DJ gasped softly. He swallowed. “You get used to it,” Sam reassured him and changing the subject said, “I hope we have Wi-Fi here.”
Both DJ and Alex continued to try to pay attention to all the conversations going on at once in the first few minutes before the waitress came to take their order. The Winchesters, it seemed, carried on multiple conversations with different people in the group at the same time. DJ noticed that both Cass and Jack oddly leaned towards the waitress and sniffed her then exchanged inquiring glances. Jack gave a little nod and shrugged his shoulders. Dean flashed a flirtatious smile at her, glanced at his mother, then toned down his dimples when he ordered. Alex noted that Sam did indeed order an egg white omelet and Dean, Jack and Mary all ordered double orders of bacon with their egg breakfasts. Cass didn’t order anything but coffee with lots of cream while Alex ordered steak and eggs and DJ got pancakes.
The seemingly aimless discussions continued until their orders were delivered. When the waitress set down the last plate, Mary called for silence, “phones and screens down; silence and all eyes on Sam.” Sam cleared his throat, pulled up a map on his laptop (they did indeed have Wi-Fi), and circled an area that looked like a deserted industrial park. “They’ve holed up in an abandoned building and will start to reinforce their position soon. We need to get there before that happens.” Sam looked towards Dean. Dean gave a small nod. “Alex and I will come in from the southeast. The entrance is here,” Sam enlarged the picture of the building and pointed to a large door that looked to be one of several loading dock doors. He pointed to the northwest, “Cass, Jack and Mom will enter in the front and start sweeping them towards the back. Before they go in, Mom will lay charges at the other front door.”
Dean interrupted, “Mom, you’ll have to set the charges here and here,” he pointed to key points in the building structure, “to bring down the ceiling and block the exit.” Mary nodded, “Did you get the wires I like?” Dean smiled slightly and nodded. Alex and DJ looked at each other. Mary Winchester knew her explosives so well she had favorite wires? Sam continued, “Dean and DJ will go in on the other side of the docking bay. We will be the cleanup team.” Dean nodded to Cass and the angel pulled out a syringe dart and placed it in the center of the table. Dean pointed to the dart, “This dart’s been modified and has dead man’s blood instead of tranq drugs. We have three dart guns and about 60 darts.” He looked to DJ and Alex, “how good are you with guns?” DJ and Alex shrugged. These were the Winchesters they heard about – focused, strategic and willing to go all out.
DJ said, “I can hit the target 7 times out of 10,” and Alex shrugged, “I’m better with a machete.” Dean nodded. “Then Sam and I will take point in the back and shoot vamps full of dead man’s blood as we go. Alex and DJ will come behind us and take heads. In the front, Jack will do his thing and Mom will take the point with the darts. Cass can you clean up with a machete?” Cass looked uncertain. Dean smirked at him, “remember slice, not jab. Whoever is cleaning up with a machete, before you continue in, make a line of these herbs,” he brought out 3 sachets of herbs and 3 vials of blood, “across the doorways and then on one end of the line, pour the contents of this vial and say ‘Ut nullum malum hoc limine transire’.” DJ and Alex repeated the phrase several times until Sam and Cass gave a nod that it was correct with the correct pronunciation. Sam nodded towards Jack, “Jack, after the initial push, you need to get to the outside walls and work your way to the middle. We need those vamps in the middle of the building to freeze until we can get to them and we all work ourselves in to the center. Then we chop their heads off. Questions?”
DJ and Alex looked at each other. So many questions. Alex started, “How is Jack going to make the vamps freeze? How long does the old man's blood incapacitate vamps? What do the herbs do and where did you find the spell?” DJ butted in, “Why have you split the teams the way you have? Why does it seem like Cass has never gone against vamps before? What happens when we run out of darts?”
Dean looked to Jack and nodded. It looked like Dean was running the show but let the others talk about their specific topic. Alex wasn’t sure if that was reassuring or not. The Dean he and DJ listened to before the food arrived did not seem like a tactician. Jack looked at Mary and Cass, who both smiled reassuringly then he looked back to both DJ and Alex, “Dead man’s blood will slow older vamps down but totally incapacitate younger vamps. Vamp nests usually have the younger vamps on the outside and the father/mother of the nest in the center with the oldest closest to the center.” DJ butted in, “Where did you hear that?”
Sam interjected, “We got all the research, guns and instruction manuals from the British Men of Letters offices before we burnt the place down. They not only studied movements but also behaviors of monsters. That was in one of the briefs. A lot of this information is cobbled together from a lot of disparate sources; we’ll be here all day if you ask about every thing you hear. I’m happy, however, to give you all the sources and access to the information after this is over.” Sam nodded to Jack to continue, “I believe that Dean and Sam want hunters who know each other in each group to ease communication and anticipate each others’ movements. Dean placed me with Cass and Mary since I’ve fought with Mary before; she’s seen what I can do and Cass won’t be surprised with what I can do. For your question about Cass, I can only think that since he usually uses his grace to kill and not a machete, Dean might want Cass to save his grace and it might take too long to get thru the number of vamps we need to unless he uses a machete. Finally, I’m trying to learn how to control my powers which can hold people still for a while.” He smiled an innocent smile.
DJ and Alex looked taken aback. DJ cleared his throat, “You can hold people still? How?” He risked a short glance at Dean, Cass and Sam before looking back at Jack. Dean stepped in, “It’s something he found he can do and is trying to hone it. Garth told you trainee – right?” DJ and Alex nodded hesitantly. Dean went on, “Now, the herbs you’re laying down with the spell is an experiment. Sam is essentially combining the dead man’s blood with a spell that not only multiplies the amount of the liquid but also vaporizes it so it becomes a thin wall of mist made up of dead man’s blood. Some nerd shit he’s come up with. So, when we get to the center, remember to try to keep one or two vamps alive so we can test if this will work.” Dean smirked at them. DJ and Alex looked distinctly unhappy at the thought of leaving a vamp alive but nodded.
Conversation turned to the more mundane; Dean teased Sam, Jack and Cass, equally and they teased back, smiled slightly or ignored him in turns. There was more talking and joking all thru the meal though both DJ and Alex were a bit subdued. They finished eating and all took a moment to steady themselves before driving out to the building. All phones went on silent, dart guns, darts and the sharpness of machetes were tested and the lotion that Sam and Dean passed out was rubbed on. Alex exclaimed, “You found a scent blocking mixture to hide our scent from vampires?” Mary nodded, “It’s an old Campbell family recipe - a set of ingredients, mostly herbs, that you need to burn and fan yourself with the smoke. Because it’s only good for 15 minutes when applied that way, there are problems with the logistics of using it so close to a nest. Dean figured out that by combining the essence of the smoke to a base lotion (the mixture needs to have moisture to retain the properties), we’re able to keep the smell block going for an hour after applying it and the lotion can stay viable for up to 3 months.” Alex looked at Dean who was scowling at the darts and loading the darts from its box into a cartridge. “Dean?!?” he whispered to Mary. She looked at his doubtful face and smiled, “He’s smarter than he looks,” she smirked, “It surprises me too.” She looked at Dean who she knew heard and winked at him. Dean smirked back. Med kits were rechecked and the spell herbs to be used in the mission were checked again.
They parked the Impala about a half mile out and hiked in with the guns, machetes, med kits and herbs in all their duffels. Both DJ and Alex watched as Dean and Sam slowly turned into legendary hunters as the boys checked and packed each item into the duffels they would carry to the slaughter. When they shut the trunk of the Impala, DJ no longer thought that Sam was soft and only got by on his size. He saw the implacable man ready to take whatever steps he needed to. Alex saw Dean turn into a fun loving boy you couldn’t take seriously into a wall of a man you don’t ever want to meet in a dark alley. However, the most chilling of all was Mary, her face and posture didn’t change. She still smiled softly at her family as she took the explosives and leaned over to actually kiss both Sam and Dean and warn them to be careful before turning and leading the angel and the trainee the opposite direction. Hunters didn’t kiss other hunters and warn them to be careful before a hunt! It wasn’t done! Mary vibrated with glee as she stalked toward the front of the warehouse. Alex thought about his mother – she would have been terrified and hiding behind his father. No wonder Sam and Dean turned out to be the legendary men they are with the reputed father they had and the mother he saw in front of them.
DJ silently followed Dean to the warehouse. Dean signaled for him to hold then assessed the location of the middle loading dock doors and swung his duffle off his shoulder. He pulled out a C4 brick and DJ watched him set up charges. This wasn’t part of the plan they had discussed so Dean texted a warning of the explosives to the other two teams. They waited for Mary’s signal. In another 5 minutes Mary signaled it was a go. A minute after that, they heard a large boom and then bricks from the building’s façade falling. Just as Sam and Dean outlined, they all started in. It was the middle of the day so the vamps were all resting in hammocks, sleeping bags and cots. Despite the fact that there were about 10 more vamps than expected, both Dean and Sam made good time to the center of the building. DJ and Alex had a hard time keeping up cutting off the heads of the incapacitated vamps. In the time that DJ had taken the head off of his third vamp, Dean reloaded and emptied the gun 4 times before yelling, “Out.”
Dean pulled his machete. DJ saw him wade in and dance, that was all he could think when catching sight of Dean moving thru the now awake and very lively vamps. He wove and dove, tripped and dipped taking off the heads of another 4 vamps as DJ followed behind him getting to the last of the vamps downed by the darts. In the time that DJ had gotten to his fourth vamp, Dean had confronted and killed three more vamps. As they got closer to the center of the building, there were several vamps standing frozen, mid-snarl. Dean didn’t hesitate and kept on going. DJ followed his lead coming behind him checking that the vamps were permanently down. He caught the last vamp trying to get at Dean from behind. Dean suddenly flew up and hit the half wall to the left as DJ saw Mary and Cass coming from in front of him. The vamp who threw Dean roared and went after him. Cass hurried, caught up to the vamp and restrained him, forcing him down to his knees. Mary turned around, putting her back to Cass and Dean and prepared to defend them against the vamps.
Dean groaned, flicked his eyes open to see that Cass suddenly let go of the vamp, who stayed frozen kneeling. Dean, getting up with a small groan, joined DJ and Cass who had turned to assist Mary with the fight. Alex and Sam made a bit slower progress but waded in to the middle just the same. They met Mary, Cass and Dean in the center after about 10 minutes after entry with a swath of carnage behind them. Jack still had his back to the wall when they all stopped swinging; two vamps were on their knees, held frozen by Jack. Dean and Sam looked at each other, “too easy?” Dean nodded, “too easy.” Dean scowled and his look grew grimmer. He looked at Cass and Mary, “How many did you down?”
Mary said, “10.” Cass, “6.” Alex, “3.” Sam, “7” DJ, “I got 5.” Dean, “10.” Then a vamp jumped down right on top of Dean and bit down, “Son of a Bitch!” Sam yelled, “Dean!” and reached for the vamp’s collar and yanked, at the same time that Dean shoved and kicked the vamp up. With their combined effort, they separated the vamp from Dean. Jack stepped in and the vamp ‘froze’ in midair. Mary stepped under the frozen vamp and sliced thru her neck. Jack let go and the vamp dropped. Unfortunately, blood flew thru the air and landed in Dean’s gasping mouth.
DJ and Alex looked sick. They all knew that it was inevitable. Hunting ended in blood. Sometimes the blood of the hunter. In this case, Dean. Mary hurried and knelt by Dean. Her head turned to Sam, “Sam – blood. Cass, please grab the antidote from the Impala. Jack, watch Cass’s back and DJ and Alex secure the live vamps and keep watch.” DJ and Alex looked perplexed – there was an antidote? The boys scattered. Mary leaned down to Dean, “You’ll be alright.” He looked up at her and smirked, “I know. Been here, already. This is no big deal.”
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The next day, DJ stumbled out of his room, squinting at the bright morning light. He pulled out his sunglasses and shoved them on his nose. He turned to the door next to his and knocked. Alex opened the door, walking out the room with a duffel. “You want to go grab breakfast?” DJ offered. Alex nodded and put the duffel in his trunk.
They walked slowly towards the Waffle House next to the motel. Alex looked at DJ, “did you stay with Mary and Dean at the bar?” DJ nodded. “Matched Mary and Dean drink for drink. Mistake.” Alex grinned. They walked in the restaurant and saw the 5 hunters in a booth almost finished with breakfast. Both Dean and Mary looked fresh as a daisy though they were silently watching the conversation with smiles on their lips instead of contributing to it. Dean nodded at both the hunters before standing up, “Okay. We should go. Mom, you coming back to the bunker?” Mary nodded but Cass said, “Dean, Jack will ride back with you. I have to finish my errand.” Dean looked like he was going to object but Sam cleared his throat, “Cass – when can we expect your first check in call and what’s the word?” Cass focused on the far wall. “I should be able to call in two days. Bees. Angels are finding free will a hard concept to grasp and combine with duty. I expect that I will need a break by then.” Dean frowned and then nodded. “Text me.” They all stood up and left.
There was a bit of silence after DJ finished speaking. Alex started, “They gave me the recipe for the darts and the lotion and also passed it onto Garth. I do want to warn you that it’ll take up 3 darts to effect an old vamp but if they’re new, then one should do. Sam said he would work on concentrating the formula and if he’s successful, Garth will have the new formula. Sam also mentioned that he’s setting up sort of a training school for hunters – both for learning techniques as well as learning the weaknesses and strengths of monsters and new technologies that can help. You know they brought over a bunch of people from an alternate dimension that they’re helping settle?”
Wayne interrupted, “Wait! Wait, DJ – both Mary and Dean drunk you under the table?”
Gary asked disbelievingly, “They just gave you the formula? Why would they do that?” DJ answered Wayne with a snort and a grin, “That’s what you don’t believe?” Gary answered, “Well, yeah. I knew there was a cure for getting bit if you don’t drink blood right away, just didn’t know the formula/spell.”
Wayne smirked back, “Garth mentioned that vamp activity in the Northwest should be down since the Winchesters got tired of all the bloodsuckers. Just wanted a first hand story. Jane – another round for the guys who survived the Winchesters.”
Alex, not listening to Gary or Wayne, continued, “The lot of them came from a war-torn world that they can’t get back to and want to do something useful here. So, they’ve volunteered to hunt. If any of you want to get info, go to this website. It’ll take you a step closer. You do have to have someone they know vouch for you but it’s just so the information doesn’t get out to the wrong people.” Alex concluded, “The Winchesters – not myths. It’s best to believe all the stories told about them.”