Phantom Traveler | Supernatural Series Rewrite | Dean Winchester x Reader
Pairing: Dean Winchester x Reader (Eventual)
Warnings: canon violence, canon gore, namecalling, typical Dean and reader
Word Count: 8289
A/N: Hi guys. I've been overwhelmed with love these past few weeks. Just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading. You guys are fucking awesome; I'm so grateful. I hope y'all enjoy this week's episode! Asks/requests/taglists are open!!!
Series Rewrite Masterlist
You were sound asleep, curled up into yourself when a knock on the door brought you out of your slumber.
“(Y/N)?”
‘Sam.’
“I got coffee, thought you could use some,” he called through the door.
You pushed yourself up out of the bed as you yawned, and walked over to the door of your motel room to open it for Sam.
“Dude, you realize it’s six in the morning, right?” You scratched your head as you let Sam into the room.
“You sound like my brother.”
You playfully glared at him. “Don’t compare me to him.”
“Here.” He handed you a coffee and a bag of what you assumed was a pastry.
“Thanks,” you replied, sitting on your bed with your stuff in hand.
Sam sat on the chair across from you. “Still haven’t warmed up to Dean, huh?”
“Well, he hasn’t exactly warmed up to me,” you reminded him, thinking of the fight you got into yesterday over his reckless driving.
“Guess that’s true,” he conceded. “It’s weird, though, you guys are so much more alike than you let on.”
“Tell that to him. He started it.” You took a big bite of your pastry.
“Seriously?” Sam laughed, “ ‘He started it’?”
You shrugged, smirking.
He seemed to remember his original intention behind disturbing your slumber. “Hey, he found a case, though.”
“Oh, yeah? What’s up?” You licked the pastry cream off your thumb.
“We don’t know. The guy on the phone didn’t say.” Sam raised his coffee cup to his lips.
“Guy on the phone?” You took a sip of your coffee as you let Sam answer.
“Yeah. Some guy my dad and Dean worked a case for a while back’s got another one for us. He called Dean.”
“Ah—” you nodded, “—gotcha. So, where’s he live?”
“Pennsylvania,” Sam responded.
“Okay, not too far,” you noted. “I’ll be ready in fifteen.”
***
“Thanks for making the trip so quick,” a short older man named Jerry told you and the boys. “I ought to be doing you guys a favor, not the other way around. Dean and your dad really helped me out.”
You were walking beside Sam as you followed behind the man who was having you do this job. You were being led through a warehouse past planes as well as their parts and people hard at work.
“Yeah, he told me. It was a poltergeist?” Sam asked the older man.
Someone walking in front of your group was eavesdropping on you. “Poltergeist? Man, I loved that movie.”
“Hey, nobody's talking to you. Keep walking,” Jerry stated authoritatively to the man. He turned his attention back to the conversation. “Damn right it was a poltergeist, practically tore our house apart.” He addressed Dean. “Tell you something, if it wasn't for you and your dad, I probably wouldn't be alive. Your dad said you were off at college. Is that right?” He’d turned to Sam.
“Yeah, I was. I'm— taking some time off,” Sam explained.
“Well, he was real proud of you. I could tell. He talked about you all the time.”
“He did?” Knowing what you knew about Sam’s relationship with his dad, you found this surprising, too.
“Yeah, you bet he did,” Jerry nodded. “Oh, hey, you know I tried to get a hold of him, but I couldn't. How's he doing, anyway?”
“He's, um, wrapped up in a job right now,” Dean lied.
“Well, we're missing the old man, but we get Sam and— what’s your name again?” he asked you.
“(Y/N).”
“(Y/N). Even trade, huh?”
“Eh, I wouldn’t say that,” you laughed.
“Say, (Y/N), how’d you get wrapped up with these two?” Jerry asked.
“Oh, uh—” you began, searching for an abridged version of the truth, “—I met them on a hunt in California. They decided to drag me along with them.”
“Well, I’m glad you’re here. The guys are gonna need backup with this one,” Jerry said.
“Why?”
He did not give a direct answer to your question. “I got something I want you guys to hear.”
He led you to his office where you and Sam took the two chairs and Dean stood behind his brother.
”I listened to this. And, well, it sounded like it was up your alley,” Jerry stated, putting a CD into a drive. “Normally I wouldn't have access to this. It's the cockpit voice recorder for United Britannia flight 2485. It was one of ours.”
A frantic voice immediately rang out from the speaker as soon as the recording started. “Mayday! Mayday! Repeat! This is United Britannia 2485—” the recording cut out with a static sound, “—immediate instruction help! United Britannia 2485, I copy your message—” and cut out again, “—May be experiencing some mechanical failure—” and then cut out one last time. The man’s voice was completely drowned out by static, whooshing, and growling sounds.
“Took off from here, crashed about two hundred miles south,” Jerry continued. “Now, they're saying mechanical failure. Cabin depressurized somehow. Nobody knows why. Over a hundred people on board. Only seven got out alive. Pilot was one. His name is Chuck Lambert. He's a good friend of mine. Chuck is, uh… well, he's pretty broken up about it. Like it was his fault.”
“You don't think it was?” Sam questioned him.
“No, I don't.”
“Jerry, we're gonna need passenger manifests, um, a list of survivors,” Sam listed.
“Alright,” the man replied.
“And, uh, any way we can take a look at the wreckage?” Dean inquired.
“The other stuff is no problem. But the wreckage… guys— and gal— the NTSB has it locked down in an evidence warehouse. No way I've got that kind of clearance.” Jerry shook his head.
You frowned.
“No problem,” Dean declared.
You gave him a questioning look to which he shrugged off.
***
“How fucking long does it take to make a fake ID?” you groaned, falling back across the backseat of the Impala. You and Sam had found a way to isolate the EVP on Sam’s computer, having gotten a copy of the tape from Jerry.
“I don’t know,” Sam responded. “But I’m gonna lose it if it’s much longer.”
“Same here.” At that moment, Dean walked out of the Copy Jack the Impala was sitting in front of as a pretty woman walked into the store. They greeted each other before Dean walked over to you and his brother.
“Dude,” you started, “You’ve been in there forever.”
“Wah-wah,” he whined, mocking you. “You can’t rush perfection.” He held up three IDs.
“Homeland Security?” Sam questioned as he took one of the IDs. “That's pretty illegal, even for us.”
“Yeah, well, it's something new. You know? People haven't seen it a thousand times,” Dean pointed out as he got into the car.
“Alright, so, what do you got?” Dean asked his brother as he flicked your ID back at you. It hit you square in the side of the head.
“Dude, really?” you hissed, aggravation clear in your tone.
“Shh,” the older Winchester hushed you as he waited for Sam to answer.
“Well, there's definitely EVP on the cockpit voice recorder,” Sam explained.
“Yeah?”
“Listen.”
The isolated voice of what you were dealing with came through the recording scratchy and backed by demonic growling sounds. “No survivors!”
“ ’No survivors’?” Dean asked. “What's that supposed to mean? There were seven survivors.”
You shrugged.
Dean let out a sigh. “So, what are we thinking? A haunted flight?”
“There's a long history of spirits and death omens on planes and ships, like phantom travelers,” Sam began.
Dean hummed in affirmation. “Or remember flight 401?”
“Right. The one that crashed, the airline salvaged some of its parts, put it in other planes, then the spirit of the pilot and copilot haunted those flights.”
“I don’t know, guys,” you stated skeptically. “Ghost just doesn’t feel right.”
“Well, thanks for your optimism, sunshine,” Dean quipped.
“It’s not about optimism, you asshole, it’s about being right and dealing with whatever we’re up against properly,” you pushed back.
“Know-it-all,” the older Winchester replied.
“Fuck off, Winchester.”
He let out a breath and turned his attention back to the case.“Alright, so, survivors, which one do you want to talk to first?”
"Third on the list: Max Jaffey,” you said.
“I wasn’t talking to you, but why him?”
You glared at Dean. “Because if anybody saw something weird, he did. I talked to his mom while you were spending forever in the store. She said some pretty weird shit and told me where to find him. He was so screwed up, he checked himself into the hospital.”
***
You and the Winchesters walked beside Max Jaffey, who hobbled on a cane, through the Riverfront Psychiatric Hospital’s garden.
“I don't understand. I already spoke with Homeland Security,” Max told your trio.
“Right. Some new information has come up,” Dean lied. “So if you could just answer a couple questions...”
“Just before the plane went down, did you notice anything… unusual?” Sam questioned.
Max looked confused. “Like what?”
“Strange lights, weird noises, maybe. Voices,” Dean offered.
“No, nothing.”
Seeing as no one was getting anywhere with this investigation, you tried your hand at it. “Mr. Jaffey, you checked yourself in here, right?”
He nodded at you.
“Why?”
“Uh, I was a little stressed,” he said sarcastically. “I survived a plane crash.”
“Uh-huh,” you nodded. “And that’s what scared you? That’s what screwed you up so badly?”
You could tell you were close to the answers you were after as he swallowed uncomfortably. “I— I don't want to talk about this anymore.”
“I know, but I also know you saw something up there,” you continued. “We need to know what.”
“No.” Max shook his head. “No, I was… delusional. Seeing things.”
“He was seeing things,” Dean half-mocked him.
You shot a warning glance at Dean, hoping to get him to shut up.
“It's okay,” you coaxed. “Just tell us what you thought you saw, please.”
“There was… this—man. And, uh, he had these… eyes—these, uh, black eyes. And I saw him—or I thought I saw him...” he trailed off, stopping as he recounted the events.
“What?” Dean asked.
“He opened the emergency exit,” Max explained. “But that's— that's impossible, right? I mean, I looked it up. There's something like two tons of pressure on that door.”
“Yeah,” Dean confirmed, clearly confused.
“This man, uh, did he seem to appear and disappear rapidly? It would look something like a mirage?” Sam asked.
Max quirked his head at the younger Winchester. “What are you, nuts? He was a passenger. He was sitting right in front of me.”
***
“I think we can rule out phantom traveler,” you noted as you got out of the car in front of the Phelps’s house. You were going to visit the wife of George Phelps, the man who opened the emergency exit.
“Why?” Dean asked.
“You heard Jaffey. He said the dude had black eyes. Opened a fucking emergency exit on his own. ‘Black eyes’ points me to demon.”
Dean’s eyes widened. “Demons?”
“I mean, it makes sense,” Sam shrugged. “He could be a demon. He might be some kind of a creature, too, in human form.”
“Does that look like a creature's lair to you?” Dean questioned as he gestured toward the house that was representative of the essence of suburban houses. From its beautiful garden to the cobblestone steps to the beige paint coating the outside of the two-story building.
Sam shrugged and began leading your trio up the steps of the house.
Once inside, you three sat across from Mrs. Phelps on the couch while she sat in an armchair.
Sam picked a picture of Mrs. Phelps and an older man up off of the side table. “This is your late husband?” he asked.
“Yes, that was my George.”
“And you said he was a dentist?” Dean questioned.
She hummed in affirmation. “He was headed to a convention in Denver. Do you know that he was petrified to fly? For him to go like that...”
Sam asked another question. “How long were you married?”
“Thirteen years.”
You could tell Sam was contemplating how to ask his next question. “In all that time, did you ever notice anything… strange about him; anything out of the ordinary?”
She paused for a moment. “Well, uh, he had acid reflux, if that's what you mean.”
You nodded, clicking your tongue. “I think that’s all we have for you, Mrs. Phelps. Thank you for your time.”
She showed all of you out, and you piped up as you walked down the stairs outside of the house.
“Demon’s sounding more and more correct all the time,” you smiled, trying to joke around.
“Jesus, you’re annoying,” Dean groaned.
“And you’re a misogynistic dick that can’t handle women with brains,” you responded.
“What, are we gonna duke this out now?” Dean stopped by the door of the car, facing you.
You stood by the backseat’s door. “You started it,” you taunted childishly, crossing your arms over your chest as you stared back at him.
“Really?” he leered. “You’re gonna pull that card? Mature.”
“You act like you’re any better.”
“Guys—” Sam tried to cut in, but Dean continued to fight with you.
“You’re such a bitch.”
“Wow, haven’t heard that one before,” you drawled.
“Guys! You can fight later. Wrong place, wrong time to sort this out,” Sam chastised you and Dean like you were children.
You got in the car and slammed the door behind you.
“Don’t hurt my baby ‘cause you’re pissed,” Dean scolded you as he started to pull the car away.
“Just drive, asshole,” you grumbled in frustration as you slumped down in your seat. The rest of the car ride to the local outlet mall was silent.
***
You had never felt more confident. Despite the fact that you could have worn the one dress you already had to pose as homeland security, you decided to treat yourself to a new outfit to distract from your aggravation with Dean.
The boys had gone to a suit shop called “Mort’s for Style,” and you went into a dress shop called “Betsy’s.” It was a cute little shop with a lot of great dress and pantsuit options.
You had picked out a navy blue pantsuit. You wore a white button-up underneath the blazer with the top two buttons undone to accentuate your breasts. The blazer was unbuttoned, and the high-waisted, straight-legged pants you wore matched the black color of your blazer. With the white button-up tucked into your pants and the small amount of makeup you threw on to draw attention to your eyes and lips, you felt good.
Once you had paid for your clothing, you walked out of the shop and back to the Impala. Surprisingly, the boys were not there waiting for you.
You leaned your back against the car, picking out the grit from under your nails.
You looked up when you heard Dean’s voice. “Man, I look like one of the Blues Brothers.”
Both of the boys were dressed in sharp, black suits. You almost lost your breath at the sight of Dean, but fought yourself to keep your composure. You would not give him the satisfaction of knowing you found him attractive.
“No, you don't,” Sam told him. “You look more like a seventh-grader at his first dance.”
You laughed at the younger brother’s jeer. “What took you girls so long?” you asked once you got in the Impala. “I thought you two would’ve beat me out the store by a long shot.”
“Dean wouldn’t leave the dressing room,” Sam said dryly.
“Seriously?” you droned.
You and Sam both looked to Dean, who did not answer immediately. When he finally spoke, he complained, “I hate this thing.”
“Hey,” Sam stared. “You want into that warehouse or not?”
Dean rolled his eyes as he continued to drive along.
You steeled your nerves as your black, pointed-toe pumps clicked across the warehouse floor. Your trio was headed to the security guard that would allow you in to see the wreckage.
You held the clipboard you had stowed in your bag close to your chest, acting as some sort of a recorder for the boys. The three of you flashed your badges at the security guard, who nodded and allowed you into the hangar where the wreckage was being kept.
There was a large map of what the plane should look like painted onto the floor, and the parts that corresponded to the different portions of the map were laid in their proper spots. There were wires hung on fences and broken interior parts of the plane laid on tables. The most heartbreaking things for you to look at were the torn passengers’ seats because most of the people who had been in them were now dead.
You looked over at Dean, who had earbuds in and was moving a small box over the tops of the wreckage.
“What’s that?” you asked him.
“It's an EMF meter. Reads electromagnetic frequencies.”
You got closer to him, noticing what the object appeared to be. “I know what an EMF meter is; I’m not stupid. But why does that one look like a busted-up walkman?”
“ 'Cause that's what I made it out of. It's homemade,” he grinned.
“Yeah, I can see that,” you quipped.
His grin disappeared. “Bitch.”
“Dick.”
You once again fought the pain in your chest when he called you a bitch. In all honesty, you thought his homemade EMF meter was cute. However, you were too far gone in your war with him to surrender now.
Dean ran the Walkman over a piece of the wreckage with black spores and yellow dust on it. You could hear the faint sound of a spike on the meter through Dean’s headphones.
“Check out the emergency door handle,” Dean called to Sam.
Sam came over to where you and Dean stood as the older brother scratched at the dust to get some on his hand.
“What is this stuff?” Dean asked.
One way to find out.” You saw the younger of the two brothers start scraping some of the dust into a small bag.
“We need to go,” you told the boys. You weren’t sure what told you that, but you just suddenly felt unsettled. The hairs on the back of your neck stood at attention, and every muscle in your body tensed. You started off toward the exit in the back of the warehouse.
“Wait, (Y/N), what if we’re missin’ something?” Dean questioned, clearly aggravated you were ready to ditch already.
“Too bad, we gotta go.” You kept walking toward the exit, making it out of the door and around the backside of the building.
At that moment, an alarm started blaring through the area surrounding the warehouse.
You turned around to look at the boys as you gloated, “I’m not gonna say, ‘I told you so’!“ Not bothering to rip your shoes off of your feet, you took off running to the gated exit.
Sam and Dean were quick to follow you and soon passed you up. The older brother took off his suit jacket and threw it over the barbed wire at the top of the fence. You did the same with your blazer. After quickly taking off your pumps to avoid hurting yourself when you jumped from the top of the gate, you threw yourself over the fence. The other two did the same.
Sam grabbed your blazer that you were too small to reach from the top of the fence as Dean found it within himself to remark, “Well, these monkey suits do come in handy.”
You ran after the two boys, heels and blazer in hand as the jagged rocks in the cement cut into your feet. As soon as you shut the door to the car, Dean slammed on the gas pedal.
He tore out of the warehouse’s parking lot, speeding down the road to head toward Jerry’s workplace.
"(Y/N),” Sam started, turning in his seat to face you with a curious expression on his face, “how did you know that?”
“Honestly, I don’t know. My intuition’s just always been pretty sharp.” You were being honest; there had been a few times on hunts previously when you’d known it was time to get the hell out of dodge.
“Hm.” You could tell Dean still didn’t trust you.
“Dude, I don’t know what else to tell you. That’s the truth,” you countered. “I’ve been helping you guys with your dad for almost two months now, and you still don’t trust me. I don’t know what more to do for you.”
“Maybe because I don’t know you,” he responded, never taking his eyes off the road.
“Maybe if you tried to know me, you’d find it a little easier to trust me,” you answered.
“Not interested,” came Dean’s grumbled response.
You tried your best to ignore the pang that went through your chest once more. “Of course not.”
***
You refused to speak to or even look at Dean; your frustration with the fact that he had no desire to know you and his general existence boiling to the surface. You could feel his stare burning into the side of your head as you focused on Jerry, who sat in front of you. He was looking through a microscope on his desk at the yellow dust Sam had collected.
“Huh,” Jerry remarked. “This stuff is covered in sulfur.”
“You're sure?” Sam asked.
“Take a look for yourself,” Jerry offered, getting up from behind the desk so Sam could take his place.
Banging sounds along with a string of curse words caught your ear as Jerry sighed.
“If you guys will excuse me, I have an idiot to fire,” he dryly stated, walking out of the office.
You got up from the chair you were sitting in next to Dean. “See?” you started excitedly, gesturing toward the sulfur, “Demons.”
“That would explain how one guy had the strength to open up the emergency exit,” Sam added.
“This goes way beyond floating over a bed or barfing pea soup. I mean it's one thing to possess a person, but to use them to take down an entire airplane?” Dean put his hands on his hips as he stood. “You ever heard of something like this before?”
Sam looked over at his brother, who responded, “Never.”
“Well, I have,” you said simply.
They both looked to you to continue.
“In NYC a couple years back. Some cabbies had gotten possessed and were takin’ girls left and right.”
“Those were demons?” Sam asked, standing up from behind Jerry’s desk. “That was a huge deal on the news while I was at Stanford. Police thought it was a serial killer. You took ‘em on all by yourself?”
“I’m a big girl, Sam,” you chuckled. “I can handle a few demons. But, yeah, that was me. That was probably the toughest case I’ve ever been on. Finding where those demons had taken those girls after they drugged them in the cabs... where they were raped and murdered...” You shook your head, your cheery expression gone.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Sam told you gently.
Your eyes were glued to the floor, hands on your hips with not a bit of life in your voice as you muttered, “All in a day’s work.”
Sam had asked you to tell him and Dean everything you knew about demons once you got back to the Winchesters’ motel room. Sam sat at the table close to the window while Dean sat on the bed closest to his brother. You stood in front of the two as you spoke.
“Demons exist in every religion in every world culture. With the ones that I was dealing with up in New York, they were most similar to Incubi from early Christian religion. Incubi raped sleeping girls. These demons drugged the girls to put them to sleep, then they raped them, and then they murdered them. What I’m thinking for these demons is that they’re most similar to certain Japanese demons. I had to look into these when I was trying to figure out how to kill the NYC demons. The Japanese believe demons cause certain disasters, whether it be natural or man-made. Some cause earthquakes, others cause disease—”
“And this one causes plane crashes?” Dean deadpanned, cutting you off.
You ignored him. “Demons are having to find new ways to ratchet up the body count. Like with me in New York, Incubi can’t go about their old methods anymore. This demon probably evolved with the times like the Incubi did, and so it figured plane crashes were the best way to get its job done.”
Dean snorted, getting up from. the bed and turning away from you and his brother.
“What?” Sam asked.
He turned around, scratching the back of his neck. “I don't know, man. This isn't our normal gig. I mean, demons, they don't want anything, just death, and destruction for its own sake. This is big. And I wish Dad was here.”
“Yeah. Me too,” the younger Winchester admitted.
Dean’s phone rang, and he answered it. “Hello?... Oh, hey, Jerry… Wha— Jerry, I'm sorry. What happened?... Where'd this happen?... I'll try to ignore the irony in that… Nothing. Jerry, hang in there, all right? We'll catch up with you soon.”
He hung up the phone.
“Another crash?” Sam questioned, already knowing the answer.
“Yeah. Let's go.”
“Where?”
“Nazareth.”
‘Ah, there’s the irony.’
***
After leaving the horrendous scene of Chuck’s plane crash, you and the boys went back to Jerry’s office. Once again, Jerry confirmed that the dust you had taken from the steering wheel of Chuck’s plane was, in fact, sulfur.
“Well, that's great,” Dean sassed. “Alright, that's two plane crashes involving Chuck Lambert. This demon sounds like it was after him.”
“If that's the case, that would be the good news,” you chimed in. You looked up to the sky, addressing the pilot. “No offense, Chuck.”
“What's the bad news?” Jerry asked you.
“Chuck's plane went down exactly forty minutes into the flight, just like 2485,” you informed the older man.
“Forty minutes?” Chuck inquired. “What does that mean?”
“It's biblical numerology. You know Noah's ark, it rained for forty days. The number means death,” Dean said.
“I went back, and there have been six plane crashes over the last decade that all went down exactly forty minutes in,” Sam explained.
"Any survivors?” the older Winchester questioned his brother.
“No. Or not until now, at least, not until flight 2485, for some reason.” Sam turned to you after thinking for a moment. “On the cockpit voice recorder, remember what the EVP said?”
“ ‘No survivors,’ “ you realized. “It's going after all the survivors. It's trying to finish the job.”
Dean drove the Impala down an empty highway.
Sam was on the phone with one of the survivors from the plane crash, the conversation almost over. “Really? Well, thank you for taking our survey, And if you do plan to fly, please don't forget your friends at United Britannia Airlines. Thanks.” He hung up the phone. “All right. That takes care of Blaine Sanderson and Dennis Holloway. They're not flying anytime soon.”
“That leaves the flight attendant, Amanda Walker,” you commented.
“Right. Her sister Karen said her flight leaves Indianapolis at eight P.M. It's her first night back on the job,” Sam told you and his brother.
“That sounds like just our luck,” Dean grumbled.
“Dean, this is a five-hour drive, man, even with you behind the wheel,” Sam said worriedly.
“Call Amanda's cellphone again, see if we can't head her off at the pass,” Dean tried.
“I already left her three voice messages. She must have turned her cellphone off.”
“God, we're never gonna make it,” you shook your head, leaning back in the seat as you scrubbed a hand through your hair.
“We'll make it,” the older brother countered, slamming his foot on the gas.
Somehow, someway, Dean had managed to get to the airport at ten minutes to seven.
You jumped up out of the car, taking your gun out of your pants and stashing it under the backseat.
“What are you doing?”
You still did not feel like talking to Dean but answered him shortly nonetheless. “We’re going into an airport.”
Dean finally caught onto what you meant and took all of his weapons off of him, too. “I feel naked.”
You fought the smile threatening to creep up your face.
You rushed into the airport just behind the boys, squeezing your way through the crowd of people to get to the departure board.
“Right there,” Sam pointed out. “They're boarding in thirty minutes.”
“Okay. We still have some cards to play,” Dean paused, thinking for a moment. “We need to find a phone.”
He found a courtesy phonw on the wall, picking it up. “Hi. Gate thirteen… I'm trying to contact an Amanda Walker. She's a flight attendant on flight, um… flight 4-2-4.”
He waited impatiently for Amanda to pick up the phone. When she finally did, he began speaking again.
“Miss Walker. Hi, this is Dr. James Hetfield from St. Francis Memorial Hospital. We have a Karen Walker here… Nothing serious, just a minor car accident, but she was injured, so—” His face fell, his eyes widening a touch. “You what?... Uh, well… there must be some mistake—”
Sam went around his brother to try to get a closer listen.
After a longer pause, Dean let out a sigh of relief and smiled. “...Guilty as charged… He's really sorry… Yeah, but… he really needs to see you tonight, so—... Don't be like that. Come on. The guy's a mess. Really. It's pathetic… Oh, yeah… No, no. Wait, Amanda. Amanda!” Dean slammed the phone back onto the receiver. “Damn it! So close.”
"Alright, time for plan B. We're getting on that plane,” you stated firmly.
“Whoa, whoa, now just hold on a second.” For the first time since you met him, Dean looked scared.
“Dean, that plane is leaving with over a hundred passengers on board, and if we're right, that plane is gonna crash,” Sam argued.
“I know.” He looked conflicted.
“Okay. So we're getting on the plane, we need to find that demon and exorcise it. I'll get the tickets. You and (Y/N) get whatever you can out of the trunk. Whatever that will make it through security. Meet me back here in five minutes.”
Dean looked at Sam blankly, evidently a little anxious.
“Are you okay?” the younger Winchester asked.
Dean hesitated. “No, not really.”
“What? What's wrong?”
“Well, I kind of have this problem with, uh...”
“Flying?” you cut in.
“It's never really been an issue until now,” he told you.
“You're joking, right?” Sam huffed.
“Do I look like I'm joking? Why do you think I drive everywhere, Sam?” he spat.
For the first time since you met him, you didn’t feel like mocking him about his fear of planes.
“Okay, then (Y/N) and I’ll go,” Sam proposed.
Dean shook his head. “What?”
“We’ll handle this one.”
“What are you, nuts? You said it yourself, the plane's gonna crash.”
“Dean, we can do it together, or I can do this one with (Y/N). I'm not seeing a third option, here.”
Dean scratched his head. “Come on! Really? Man...”
Dean walked much faster than you did toward the car to get supplies, clearly trying to leave you in his dust.
“Would you slow down a bit, please?” you asked.
“Why should I?”
“Because even if you get to the car before me, you’re not gonna have a fucking clue what to use to deal with a demon,” you reminded him, your words a bit more venomous than need-be.
He stopped, turning to face you. “Are you calling me stupid?”
“No,” you told him. You truly weren’t.
“Definitely sounds like you are.”
You walked past him to the trunk of the Impala. “I wasn’t, I’m simply pointing out the fact that I’m the one who knows how to deal with demons, and you don’t.”
“There you go again. Acting like you know so much better than I do.” His attitude was truly exhausting.
Your voice rose as you defended yourself. “Because I do! In this case, at least!”
“But it’s not just this one time that you acted like you’re better than me,” he argued. “Do you realize how frustrating it is to deal with your smart ass?”
“Do you realize how frustrating it is to deal with yours?” you threw back. You sighed, putting aside your anger for now. “Look, we don’t have time to talk about this.” You shoved holy water, a rosary, and the EMF Walkman into Dean’s hands. “Now, let’s go.”
You shoved past Dean and headed back to the airport.
***
You sat between Sam and Dean, completely at ease. Dean, however, was losing his mind.
"Just try to relax,” Sam whispered from the window seat
Dean’s voice came back harder and slightly louder. “Just try to shut up.”
“Oh, don’t be a baby,” you scolded playfully.
“Don’t be a bitch,” Dean clapped back using the same tone with you that he had with Sam. He took in a sharp breath when the plane began moving a second later.
You gathered your courage and grabbed his hand. He jerked away from you and looked at you in surprise. When the plane took off, though, his hand rejoined yours, squeezing tightly. You giggled to yourself.
“I’m so glad this is funny to you,” Dean hissed.
“It’s not,” you answered simply.
“Then why are you laughing?” His grip tightened once again.
“It’s just,” you considered your next words carefully. “It’s kind of cute, that’s all.”
Dean was caught off-guard by your response. He eyed you quizzically, unsure of what to say. You just shrugged, settling the back of your head against your seat with your hand still in Dean’s. It was much larger than yours, and you fought the urge to run your fingers along the calloused ridges.
Moments passed in a bit of an uncomfortable silence before Dean spoke again, not a trace of bite in his tone. “Why are you doing this?”
You rolled your head toward him. “Everybody’s scared of something,” you quietly replied. “It helps me to know I’m helping you. Even if you do hate my guts.”
“I don’t hate your guts.” He spoke so softly you almost couldn’t hear him.
“Pfft, could’ve fooled me,” you answered.
“You just…” he started, “...get on my nerves. ‘S all.”
You giggled.
A few minutes later when the plane had fully gotten up in the air, you heard the familiar sound of a song you had heard many times before in the Impala coming from the man next to you.
“You're humming Metallica?” Sam asked Dean monotonously.
“Calms me down,” the older brother replied.
“ ‘Some Kind of Monster’? Really?“ You raised a brow at him.
Dean did not respond to you.
“Look, man, I get you're nervous, all right? But you got to stay focused,” the younger Winchester reminded his brother.
“Yup,” you chimed in. “We only have thirty-two minutes to track the bitch down and full-on exorcise it.”
“Yeah, on a crowded plane,” Dean commented. “That's gonna be easy.”
“Just take it one step at a time, alright?” Sam said calmly. “Now, who is it possessing?”
“It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can worm through. Somebody with an addiction or some sort of emotional distress,” Dean stated.
“Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash. If I were her, I'd be pretty messed up,” Sam told Dean, who hummed in response.
Dean sat up stiffly, his body still tense as he turned to the blonde flight attendant walking past.
“Excuse me. Are you Amanda?” he asked her.
“No, I'm not,” she answered with a smile.
"Oh, my mistake.”
The flight attendant hummed in agreement.
He peered into the back of the plane, finding the other blonde flight attendant. “All right, well, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state.”
“What if she's already possessed, genius?” Sam asked.
“There's ways to test that,” Dean responded, pulling the holy water out of his jacket. “I brought holy water.”
“Correction, I brought holy water—” you leaned forward, gently taking the bottle, “—And that’s for when we try to exorcise the demon. She’ll flinch at the name of god if she’s possessed.”
“Yeah, I know that,” Dean replied, getting up from his chair. You could tell he had not. You already missed the feeling of his hand in yours.
He turned to go, but you stopped him.
“Dean!” you whispered.
“What?” The annoyance in Dean’s voice was back.
“Say it in Latin.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“Then what is it?” you smirked, quirking a brow.
“ ‘Christo!’ I’m not an idiot!” he hissed back. Dean turned away from you and headed to the back of the plane.
You slumped down in your seat, closing your eyes as the copilot began speaking. “Ladies and gentlemen, this is your first officer speaking...” you tuned out the rest of his message.
A few minutes went by before the older brother returned.
“Alright, well, she's got to be the most well-adjusted person on the planet,” he sighed as he flopped back into his seat.
“You said ‘Christo’?” Sam asked.
“Yeah.”
“And?”
“There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her.”
“So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone. Anywhere,” Sam explained.
The plane shook, causing Dean to tense up. He grabbed your hand once more. “Come on!” he whined. “That can't be normal!”
“Hey, hey, it's just turbulence,” you coaxed.
“Sweetheart, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm fucking four.” He went to drop your hand, but you tightened your grip.
“Okay,” you started, changing tactics. Your tone became harsh. “You need to calm down.”
“Well, I'm sorry, I can't,” Dean sassed.
“You didn’t want to be treated like you’re four, so stop acting like it,” you commanded. “Be a man, Winchester. If you’re a basketcase, you’re wide open to possession. Get your shit together. Right now.”
Dean took a deep breath.
You smiled. “Great. Onto the Rituale Romanum.”
“The what?” Sam and Dean asked in unison.
“The exorcism ritual,” you elaborated. “It's two parts. The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes it manifest, which actually makes it more powerful.”
“More powerful?” Dean questioned, his voice strained and eyes wide.
“Yup.”
“How?” He was starting to get panicky again.
“It’d just be able to wreak havoc on its own without a vessel,” you informed.
“Oh. And why is that a good thing?”
“ 'Cause the second part of that sends the bitch back to hell once and for all.”
“First things first, we got to find it.”
“There ya go,” you chuckled.
“Shut up,” Dean grumbled, getting up from his chair with the EMF Walkman.
You and Sam let him walk down the aisle by himself for a few minutes before the two of you got up to go talk to him.
You tapped his shoulder.
“Ah!” Dean jumped back, wheeling around to face you. “Don’t do that!”
“Anything?” Sam asked.
The older brother shook his head. “No, nothing. How much time we got?”
“Fifteen minutes,” Sam told you and his brother. “Maybe we missed somebody.”
“Maybe the thing's just not on the plane,” Dean shrugged.
“No way. Dean, it’s gonna be here,” you protested. Just as you spoke, the EMF meter spiked.
You looked up to see the copilot coming out of the bathroom.
“What?” Sam asked. “What is it?”
You stared at the copilot. “Christo.”
The man’s head slowly turned toward you and the boys, his eyes black.
You wheeled around to face Sam. “We gotta talk to Amanda.”
“She's not gonna believe this,” Sam contested.
“You’re probably right, but we only got twelve minutes,” you reminded the younger brother. You walked ahead of the boys into the concessions area where Amanda busied herself.
“Oh, hi. Flight's not too bumpy for you, I hope,” she smiled politely, clearly caught off-guard by your presence.
“Actually—” Dean began, “—that's kind of what we need to talk to you about.”
Sam closed the curtains behind you as Amanda answered Dean. “Um, okay. What can I do for you?”
“Alright, this is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole ‘the truth is out there’ speech right now,” Dean rushed out.
She looked confused but kept her smile painted on her face.
“Alright, look, we know you were on flight 2485,” Sam continued for Dean.
Her grin disappeared. “Who are you guys?”
Sam ignored her question. “Now, we've spoken to some of the other survivors. We know something brought down that plane and it wasn't a mechanical failure.”
“We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again. Here. Now,” the older brother told her.
“I'm sorry—” she started, attempting to move past you, “I— I'm very busy. I have to go back—”
“Chuck Lambert’s dead, Amanda,” you cut in, effectively stopping her from leaving. “The pilot from 2485.”
“Wait. What?” She turned to face you, her eyebrows furrowed. “Chuck is dead?”
“Yeah,” you said quietly. “He died in a plane crash. That’s the second plane crash in two months. Doesn’t that strike you as weird?”
She shook her head in complete disbelief.
“Look, there was something wrong with 2485,” Sam added. “Now maybe you sensed it, maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too.”
Dean made a last attempt to drive the point home. “Amanda, you have to believe us.”
The blonde looked to the ground. “On… on 2485, there was this man. He… had these eyes.”
“Black eyes?” you asked.
She nodded.
“That’s exactly what we’re talking about,” Sam clarified.
“I don't understand, what are you asking me to do?”
Dean answered before you got the chance to. “Okay. The copilot, we need you to bring him back here.”
Amanda looked between the three of you, confused. “Why? What does he have to do with anything?”
“Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him. Okay?”
“How am I supposed to go in the cockpit and get the copilot—” You could practically see her mind running a mile a minute.
Even Sam was getting impatient. “Do whatever it takes. Tell him there's something broken back here, whatever will get him out of that cockpit.”
“Do you know that I could lose my job if you—”
“Babe, you're gonna lose a lot more if you don't go get him right now,” you remarked.
She looked at you and nodded, turning to leave for the cockpit.
As soon as Amanda made it out of the curtains, you fished the holy water out of your hoodie’s pocket, moving to press your back against the wall next to the closed blue curtains.
A few moments later, you heard the copilot say to Amanda, “Yeah, what's the problem?” Just outside the curtains. As soon as the demon ducked into the small room, Dean punched him in the face. He then shoved the demon to the ground and slapped duct tape over his mouth.
“Wait,” Amanda protested as you got down on the ground beside Dean, “What are you doing? You said you were just gonna talk to him.”
“We are gonna talk to him,” Dean replied simply as you splashed the copilot with holy water.
The demon groaned under the duct tape, his skin sizzling and burning holes through his shirt.
“Oh, my god. What's wrong with him?” Amanda cried.
“Look,” Sam started calmly, “We need you calm. We need you outside the curtain.”
Amanda’s breath quickened. “Well, I don't underst— I don't know—”
“Don't let anybody in, okay? Can you do that? Can you do that? Amanda?”
She gave herself a pep talk before heading outside of the curtains.
“Hurry up, Sam,” Dean groaned. “I don't know how much longer I can hold him.”
The demon went to kick the older Winchester in the back, but you dove to grab his legs.
Sam began reciting the Latin ritual written in his father’s journal. “Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino—”
The demon kneed you in the forehead, causing you to fall back and got a few good swings at the boys in as well. You clambered on top of the copilot, sitting on his stomach with his arms pinned by his sides under your legs.
Sam continued with the ritual before the demon threw you off of him. He ripped the tape off of his mouth and turned to Sam. “I know what happened to your girlfriend! She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!”
You attempted to recover from getting slammed into the wall while Dean focused on attacking the demon.
Sam sat there in shock, so you grabbed the journal and tried to finish the ritual.
The demon hit Dean again, effectively getting the young man off of him and knocking Dean into you. The book fell from your hand, and the demon kicked it out into the passenger’s cabin.
A cloud of black smoke flew out from the copilot’s body and into a vent while Sam went out into the aisle to find the journal.
Suddenly, the plane shook violently and took a nosedive. The lights in the plane flickered and you and Dean were thrown to the back wall of the concession’s area.
You and Dean screamed as the plane went down. Dean held onto the emergency exit door for dear life as you pressed yourself into the corner opposite from the older Winchester.
Your yelps were cut off when the plane leveled out following a surge of electricity coursing through the aircraft. You assumed Sam was able to finish the ritual and the pilot was able to regain control of the plane.
You shakily stood up from the ground and dusted yourself off, tugging on the sleeves of your large hoodie.
You stepped out into the passenger’s cabin, heading to Sam as people began asking their neighbors if they were okay.
You wrapped Sam in a short, tight hug as you thanked him for keeping his head level enough to finish the ritual and trying to comfort him after what the demon had said. When you had made your way back to your seats, a slight rumble went through the aircraft. Dean grabbed your hand once again, and kept it there for the rest of the flight. A small smile tugged at your lips.
After landing back at your original airport, you stood beside Sam and Dean as you watched the swarms of EMTs, FBI agents, and FAA agents go from person to person. They questioned or looked over each one, and your focus bounced between them.
You found Amanda in the crowd talking to an FBI agent, and she turned to the side to mouth “thank you” to you and the Winchesters.
“Let's get out of here,” Dean said firmly.
You began to head to the exit when Dean asked Sam, “You okay?”
You turned back to Sam, who reminded you and his brother, “Dean, it knew about Jessica.”
“Sam, these things, they, they read minds. They lie. Alright? That's all it was.” The older brother attempted to brush Sam’s concerns off.
“Yeah.” The brunet didn’t sound convinced.
“Come on.”
***
The next day, you and the Winchesters visited Jerry at his workplace to give him the final mission report. Jerry showed you and the boys out and escorted you to the Impala parked outside of the warehouse.
“Nobody knows what you guys did, but I do. A lot of people could have been killed,” he acknowledged. He shook your hand before turning to the boys. “Your dad's gonna be real proud.”
Sam gave him an awkward, tight-lipped smile. “We'll see you around, Jerry.”
You turned to the car, as did Dean before he turned back to the older man.
“You know, Jerry—" he began.
“Yeah.”
“I meant to ask you, how did you get my cellphone number, anyway?” the young man continued. “I've only had it for like six months.”
“Your dad gave it to me,” Jerry explained simply.
“What?” Sam exclaimed in shock.
“When did you talk to him?” Dean questioned.
“I mean, I didn't exactly talk to him, but I called his number. His voice message said to give you a call.” He took a pause. “Thanks again, guys— and gal,” he grinned.
“Bye, Jerry!” you called after him as he headed off.
“This doesn't make any sense, man. I've called Dad's number like fifty times. It's been out of service,” Sam told his brother.
Dean dials what you assumed was his father’s number. However, instead of the out-of-service message Sam had described, a voicemail began to play.
The two boys leaned into the phone so they could hear it better.
You leaned over Sam’s shoulder, the voice hard to hear, but you were still able to make out the words. “This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 785-555-0179. He can help.”
Sam fumed, shaking his head in frustration as he got in the car. He slammed the door behind him. You looked over to Dean, who did not meet your gaze. He got in the car following his brother. You took one last look at the setting sun as a plane flew over your head.
“I fuckin’ hate flying,” you muttered.
Series Rewrite Taglist: @polireader @brightlilith @atcamillanorrman @jrizzelle @insomnia-bookworm @procrastination20 @mrs-liebgott @djs8891 @tiggytaylor @staple-your-mouth @iloveshawn @jesstherebel
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WELCOME BACK!!! That’s right fellow humans, it’s the second episode of
Bedtime Stories With PCE
And man did I enjoy writing this one, my sweet boys, Stan with the broken ribs and struggling with being hurt for the first time since running dry, his super awesome sponsor, Kyle w the solutions, Moose being the best lil cat ever, just!!!!! And this one is really important to me, because it is SMACK DAB in the middle of Broken Bottles From Apartment 2 after our beloved vet tech Stan gets kicked by a scared horse at work, setting the ball rolling for the rest of that story. Essentially I wanted to address more of his mentality following that incident, and to have y’all meet his AA sponsor! Iconic. Here’s
•coconut yogurt•
“Jesus, dude, that looks bad.”
“I’m-“ Stan cut off with a sharp *schh* as Kyle helped him the rest of the way out of his scrub shirt. “Fuck, I’m okay.”
Breathing fucking hurt. More than that, he was seriously bummed that not only was he on bed rest for two weeks (something that his partner would no doubt enforce with an iron fist), but he was gonna be stuck to paperwork once he could finally go back to work. And it wasn’t like he could quell the boredom by slipping away to the clinic for a few hours while Kyle was at his own job, because Wendy ran the front office and would not hesitate to rat him out.
“Baby, they’re only a little cracked.”
Kyle rolled his eyes and carefully helped him ease to a more comfortable laying position on the couch, gently resting one of the big ice packs they always kept on hand over his side. “Where’s your discharge shit?”
“Front pocket,” he muttered.
Kyle grabbed the papers and scanned them quickly. “Hairline fractures… bone bruising, sweetheart, how on earth are you breathing?”
“Carefully?” His partner didn’t seem to like that response. “Ky, I’m okay. You know how much worse it could’ve been?”
“YES! Yes, I do, Stan! Don’t fucking-“ his face softened. “Don’t smile like that about broken ribs, dude.”
“I’m not smiling about that; I’m smiling about you.”
“You’re hopeless,” Kyle laughed. “The hell am I supposed to do with your hopeless romantic ass when you say sappy bullshit?”
Stan might’ve been a little foggy from the pain. Maybe. “Aww, babe, C’mere,” he struggled to open his arms, which was annoying, yeah, but he wanted to hold Kyle.
“Dude, I am SO not laying on you.”
“Just a little?”
“No.”
Kyle went to read the paperwork again, fully ignoring Stan’s efforts to get cuddled. “Babe…”
“Your prescription should be ready, dude.” Kyle knelt down to kiss him. “Gonna be good if I’m gone for a few?”
Stan pouted, knowing damn well he was being dramatic, but not caring. “I don’t want it.”
“We went over this, sweetheart. You had a problem with alcohol, not pills. Is it just because you don’t like taking stuff anyway?”
“…yeah.”
“Okay.” Kyle kissed him again. “You’re sure?”
Honestly, he wasn’t. There were a lot of feelings coming up right now. Kyle noticed, because of course he did. “Stan, I know that face.”
Against his will, tears started trailing from the corners of his eyes.
“Oh, dude, I know.” Kyle took Stan’s face in his hands. “Look, I really don’t want you to hurt, okay? I know you’re emotional right now. I’ll give you your meds when you need them, and you don’t need to think about it. I can ask the pharmacy about the info too. Hon, we’re gonna know exactly what you’re taking, and you’ll be just fine.”
“I- I always heal fast.”
“You do,” Kyle assured him. “And there’s nothing wrong with needing a little help, okay?”
“Uh huh.” Yeah, he would call his sponsor. He needed to talk this out, with someone who got it. Kyle understood for the most part; he literally had a degree in psychology and had been firsthand through an eating disorder, which was its own form of addiction, but, well, specifics. “I’m- *hic*- gonna text Mark, maybe zoom into tonight’s meeting.”
“Sounds like a plan.” Kyle rose and ran his hand through Stan’s hair. “Ten minutes, hopefully.” He glanced at the corner and laughed. “Oh, poor thing doesn’t know what to do! It’s okay, Moose, c’mere, keep your dad company.”
Their cat slowly crept up to the couch, perching on the arm like a sentinel and making a cute little “mrrmm”.
“Good boy.” Kyle spun his keys once around his finger, and put on a serious face, staring down at Stan with one eyebrow raised. “Now, don’t you move.”
“Just stay where I can see you douse the lights.”
Kyle laughed. “You’re incredibly lame. I’ll be right back.”
That laughter seriously helped so much. “Okay, dude, you know where to find me.”
Moose had started purring, asleep next to him by the time Stan worked up the motivation to get his phone and send Mark a “yo I got the fuck kicked out of me by a horse I won’t be there tonight”. The old man immediately called him.
“Hey,” Stan answered, trying not to laugh at how fast that call was, because he knew that would feel awful.
“The hell do you mean, “hey”, Superman? How’d you get kicked by a damn horse?”
“Oh, you know.” Just hearing his sponsor’s voice helped. Some of the older crowd at AA had taken to calling him “Superman” too, which was objectively funny, and also comforting to hear, especially right now, when he was feeling vulnerable. “Went to give him an antibiotic shot, he got scared and bucked around, broke my ribs.”
“Christ.” He could practically hear Mark rolling his eyes through the phone. “Leave it to you. How ya doin’ with all of that? Gonna be able to come chair tomorrow?”
Judging by how much he was hurting, definitely not, even if Kyle would let him leave the apartment. “I was thinking I’d Zoom in. Will you, uh, do you think that’d work?”
Mark chuckled. “Well, I don’t know much about the video callin’ you young folks do, but I’ll figure it out. Might need ta get Laura to help me. She’s good with technology.”
Laura was a woman even older than Mark, who was not good with technology. Oh yeah, this was gonna be fun.
“Seriously though, kid, are you okay?”
Stan sighed. “It’s- I’m nervous,” he admitted. “About the feelings this is gonna bring up. We’ve talked about my coping mechanisms before, like how I like to move, when I start feeling down, instead of drinking? But I…”
“You can’t go for a hike or work out with busted ribs,” Mark finished. “I know being injured, havin’ to stay put, that’s a trigger for you. Like the bender you told me about in high school, after you broke your arm.”
“Yeah…” Not even Kyle knew how bad he had spiraled that time. He knew it had been bad, but not to the extent that it had gotten to. Getting hurt because of something he loved, combined with the timing and completely changing his career path senior year, all of that had led to a full depressive episode, complete with binge drinking and attempting to cut his cast off with bolt cutters. “I still could’ve been scouted in the spring,” he muttered dejectedly.
“But you chose to quit football,” Mark reminded him. “You’ve said you don’t regret that. You remember why you don’t regret it?”
Reaching up to pet his cat, the little creature who had been the driving force to him actually applying his degree, Stan was reminded that he really did like how his life was turning out.
“Yeah. I’m where I’m supposed to be, right?”
“Not for me to say, Superman,” Mark said. “You’re a damn good vet, and gettin’ hurt because of your job happens.” The smile was clear in his voice. “You’re more worried about the horse, ain’t ya?”
Stan once again had to force himself not to laugh. “Dude, he was scared. I was literally coming at him with a needle.”
“And what would you do if you were in his horseshoes?”
“Mark, dude, please don’t make jokes, laughing hurts like a bitch.” He checked the time. Kyle would be back home any minute. “Same thing, though. Ky’s gonna be on my ass about painkillers. That’s… uh, kinda why I needed to talk.”
“Hmm. I gotcha. You’re worried about the addiction potential? Combined with being home alone until you go back to work?”
Hit the nail on the head. Stan nodded, then remembered that Mark couldn’t see him. “Pretty much. I’m just… I haven’t been hurt this bad, since running dry. I’m not sure what to do to distract myself, honestly.”
“Alright.” Mark could be pretty straightforward, when it came to a course of action, a lot like Kyle. “You like them video games, right? And reading your fantasy books? Bet you got one downloaded on your phone right now.”
As a matter of fact, he did. “Uh, yeah, Atherton, I think”
“I don’t know what the hell that is, but you catch my drift?”
Moose had moved down to drape over him like a scarf, warm and little and soft. Sweet little guy; he always took care of his dads. And Stan had a support system. He’d be okay. “I’m picking up what you’re putting down, dude,” he said into the phone. “Distractions that aren’t physical, but keep me engaged, right?”
“And bingo was his name-o,” Mark confirmed. “Good to think of some that you can do when you’re my age, anyway. You ain’t gonna be Superman forever, right?”
“Dude-“ Stan heard the security door open, finally. Kyle.
Mark interrupted. “I know you got that whole thing about age, kid, sorry. I know you’re strugglin’ so how’s about we just focus on today. That boyfriend of yours taking care of ya?”
“Mhm. I’m pretty sure he just got home.” Yeah, definitely, because Stan could hear the voice of Sheila Broflovski through the door, and Kyle probably didn’t even have her on speaker. “Yeah, he’s home, and on the phone with his mom.”
“Uh oh,” Mark laughed. He had heard many a tale. “She’s gonna give you an earful. I’ll let ya go, then. You can call me anytime, okay? It works if you work it.”
“It works if you work it,” Stan repeated. “Thanks, dude. I’ll probably skip tonight, but I’ll call into the meeting tomorrow, okay?”
“Gotcha. Tell Kyle and y’all’s critter I say hi.”
“Will do.”
Right as he ended the call, Kyle burst in, arms full of Walgreens bags and his phone sandwiched between his ear and shoulder, looking hilariously frazzled. “Oh my GOD, Ma, look okay, he is literally right here just- OKAY, Jesus, yes I’m putting him on-“ he gave Stan an expression that clearly was asking if he was up for this. Stan nodded and grabbed the phone so Kyle could get everything set down.
“I’m here.”
“STANLEY!!! Are you okay?! Oh my GOODNESS I can absolutely drive up- do you need anything?! Have you told Sharon?”
Kyle mouthed “don’t blame me”. Stan shifted a little. He’d been talking a lot for the past half hour and he was actually starting to have trouble catching his breath. “No ma’am, I- wait, how did you find out?”
“Your friend Bebe’s gossip list! She posted to Facebook and said “a certain vet got kicked by a horse” and I just KNEW IT WAS YOU! Kyle said he was picking up your medication?”
“Fuckin-“ Kyle took the phone back. “Ma, okay, I’ve got him. I’m going to take care of him and- Ma. I’m not putting Stan back on the phone. It hurts him to talk. Yes, I’ll tell his mom. No, he’s on bed rest. Do you seriously think I’m letting him out of my- okay, okay, sorry, no- oh my God, I’m not making chicken noodle soup, he’s been vegetarian for twenty years, Ma. Alright. We love you too. Christ, yes, I’m eating. Please don’t start right now. Alright. Yes. We got it. Okay. I’ll keep you updated. Yeah, love you. Bye.”
Kyle slumped over the kitchen island, groaning. “If you say anything about me being exactly like my mother, I’m gonna be super annoying and not run interference next time she calls.”
“Pretty sure you’re not beating the Sheila allegations, baby.”
“Ughhhhh.”
Stan reached his hand backwards, eyes closed, waiting for his partner to take it. “Talked to Mark.”
Kyle took his hand, kneeling by the couch and kissing his forehead. “Good, sweetheart. Do you think you’re okay to get some medicine in you? I know it hurts.”
He was always so thoughtful, so gentle with him, and not in a condescending way, either. No wonder Kyle was so good at his job. He could handle a grown ass man emotional over broken bones; angsty preteens were probably a cakewalk to him.
Stan bypassed the cat across his chest, lifting the ice pack from his lower torso. “How’s it looking?”
“Oh, honey.” Kyle sounded genuinely distressed, and Stan opened his eyes to see his partner actually genuinely distressed. “Stan, I can see the hoof print!”
“…damn.”
“Jesus, dude, you poor thing. ” He stood back up and grabbed the prescription bag from the counter, along with a snack sized yogurt from one of the bags. “Solution time.”
“I’m listening.” He’d take just about any idea. It hurt.
“Here’s what I’m thinking. I got a few things of that coconut yogurt you like. I checked with the pharmacist and she said we can crush up your painkillers into it if you want, if you’re not feeling the swallowing pills. I can keep up with your dosage schedule so you don’t need to think about it.” He tilted Stan’s face up to make sure they were seeing eye to eye. “But if you want to take them less often and stick to ice and over the counters, that’s okay. I’ll handle the thinking about shit, and you handle the taking it easy.”
Stan eyed the bottle. “Are they gonna make me sleepy?” The thought scared him.
“Oh, dude.” Kyle could strategize incredibly, though. “We can start with half, okay? It isn’t likely that they’ll knock you out, sweetheart. You’re not a small guy, and I asked. Dosage isn’t high. And you say the word; we work something else out. First priority is keeping you comfortable so you can heal, okay? Does that help?”
“I’m gonna be okay.”
“Yeah, you are,” Kyle assured him. “I’m right here, you know how to deal with this, and you’ll be better before you know it. Now, some meds and I’ll help you upstairs? We can take a nap? I’ll be right there, dude. Keep you from moving around too much.”
He knew damn well Kyle wouldn’t be sleeping a wink. But he nodded. “You’re for real gonna feed me my painkillers in yogurt like I’m a puppy?”
Kyle grinned. “Whatever works.” He reached over to pet Moose. “Whatcha think, young nastyman? Do I have good plans or what?”
Stan slowly sat up, an arm around his midsection and definitely not comfortable, but that was alright. Pretty soon he’d be able to breathe a little better. “What would I do without you, Ky?”
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i dont want to talk about scrutiny
WHATEVER, FINE, OKAY, WE'RE DOING SCRUTINY, OR SOMETHING, FINE, WHATEVER, WHAT EVER
i love scrutiny, i do, but in the way that i love threshold, and nothing beside remains, and seeing it through, and a guest for mr spider. meaning I really do, but I also hate it with vitriol. Not really? It's complicated. I have Some Feelings Towards it. Yep. Look this podcast makes me feel happiness and sadness and anger at the same bloody time, but it's all confused because it's overridden by being Very ADHD about it, so like, they're all rattling around in there. I hate it (affectionate), I love it (derogatory), you get it?
Anyway, y'all know how I feel about Jon already, and if you don't, it's love and only love, so uhm, yeah, let's just get on with it already, rambling and mostly rambling, attempts to set aside my undying love for the Jarchivist for like a day, etc.
@a-mag-a-day
Firstly, I'd like to draw attention to the posts I made on my instagram story about this when I was first listening to TMA, because I was Not Alright.
The first was highlighting the description of the episode: "Statement of an unknown bystander, regarding an encounter with The Archivist." "The Archivist." Not "Jonathan Sims," not "Jonathan Sims, Head Archivist of the Magnus Institute, London," not even "Jonathan Sims, The Archivist."
Just... The Archivist.
The second was regarding the first, saying that I knew it was deserved but he should be allowed to eat a few fears. As a treat.
I didn't say anything to my partner (who you should follow by the way, they're scarandjoelenthusiast), cause I think I was still attempting to be spoiler free for vex at that point, lol. And I had no other... friends. At all. Um. Yeah.
So, onto the relisten! Oh boy.
MARTIN
Ah, alright, did he... did he look like he hadn't slept in about a week?
I absolutely love that Jon's descriptors are looking like shit, and looking like Jesus. That's just amazing.
Also uh,,, why did Martin immediately go to Jon? Hm..
Everything, every bit of light or sound or, or anything that changed, that said time was passing. There was nothing. Before that I never really thought about time, you know?
But now… Yeah.
that must have been terrifying
So, it, it took a long time to get over that. I mean, that’s not weird, right? I me— It was a bad time. You know, it, it stays with you. Was signed off, what, I think about six months with the injuries. Had pretty bad, uh, nightmares, claustrophobia, I mean, obviously, right?
But, uh, but, but I did my physio, and, you know, talked, talked with the counsellor they gave me. Look, I did everything I was supposed to and, and yeah, I… I guess I was fine. You know, once the bruises were gone I— Well, it’s easy to blame memory, right? You know, ha-hallucination, coincidence, all the classic shite you tell yourself. Life went back to normal. I— I was fine.
Until about two weeks ago.
Jesus fucking christ, Jon. She was fine, trying to get over it, Floyd was fine and that's just it, because they think they're safe, and-
She was fine, she was okay, and he took that from her, he took that from her, he made it so she couldn't be fine anymore, he made it so every god. damn. night she'd experience that again, the bastard.
There’s this creep in, in the corner. Your guy. He just… keeps staring at me, like, like properly staring. Like, it is super intense and, and real weird. Like he knows me, but I sure as hell do not know him. I— I try to ignore him, look, I just, I just read my book, and every time I look up there he is, watching me.
Girls when they realise oh yes, he's an avatar.
So… Look, I’m packing up, all done and, and I just, I just sorta turn, you know, just, just to check if he’s still there and he is standing right behind— Like, like a few inches from my face. Look, it’s messed up!
That's??? Terrifying?? I mean, look, like, my sisters jump whenever I quietly stand behind them and stare intently, and they're my sisters, they know me, they know I only joke about stabbing them with a knife, Jon, that's freaky, stop being freaky, you have trauma at home. Go eat a stale trauma for gods sake.
Like, okay Mr. "I don't think it's me doing it." Who sat at a bloody coffee shop for an hour.
I. Understand. That there is a certain. Need. To cause and feed on fear. As an Avatar/Monster/Whatever. And I mean like it's pretty hard. To admit you're in the wrong for something. Even if you think you're in the wrong for other things. But like. None of this matters to Jess, to Floyd, to the three other people whose lives he ruined. He can try be better, he can never do it again, but he can't go back and fix it.
And I start to ask him, you know, what the hell, man, you know? Like— But he just starts talking. Slowly. But real intense. He says, he works here, at the, the Magnus Institute, and I say, what even is that and he says, he wants my story. He says he needs to hear what happened to me. And I— I want to tell him to jj-just go away. I want to, to, to kick him and run. But I— (long sigh) I sit down. And I start to tell him everything. About the job, about the collapse, a-about the hand. More than I told you, even, and, and as I do— it’s like I’m there again. Like I can feel it grab my ankle, th-th-that cold, dead hand and I just… I just can’t stop talking. I cannot shut up.
[ID: A blurry photo of CC!GoodTimesWithScar with his head in his hands. /End ID]
And then it was over. And he looked— He looked at me like he’d just eaten, like a perfectly cooked steak. You know what he said? He said, “Thank you.” “Thank you.” Just like that. Like, like reliving the worst parts of my whole life were just a bit of a… a favour that I’d done him. And then he left and I— I just sat there and cried for a while.
i don't know what to say im just sitting here with my head in my hands.
And he’s there the whole time, just… watching me. Watching me scream and thrash and… He’s all eyes. He’s all eyes.
I kinda want to punch him right about now, because how dare he do that to her, how dare he ruin her life just because he wanted to. Whatever, avatar, feed your god or it'll feed on you, I don't care, that's his business, not hers. She wasn't involved, she didn't have to be involved, she was fine and he took that from her, the bastard!
How dare he sit there talking about choice, how dare he feel all guilty for ruining her life, how dare he! He doesn't deserve to feel bad about it. Christ, Jon, what the fuck.
But I feel like I’m seeing him when I’m awake as well. I’ve been… I’ve been having a lot of problems since he talked to me. Since I talked to him. Since I told my... story. The, the claustrophobia, it’s back, worse than it ever was and I can’t do my job. I have these, these screaming panic attacks every time I try and— What am I supposed to do?
Like, feels like, like every time I’m even slightly underground I— Can’t even go into a shop basement more without feeling that… (sniffs) hand. Every time I do, every time I get that panic just rising up my throat, I see him. He’s there. Not when I look properly, but just at the edge. The corner of my eye. Then he’s gone.
(MAG 142 - Scrutiny)
Since then, she said she’d been seeing that woman everywhere she went.
(MAG 6 - Worm Sex Episode Squirm)
✨ becoming what you hated ✨
No, but I have a lot of feelings on becoming a fear entity Avatar and the cycle of violence. Of how Avatars often only became Avatars because of previous trauma, because they had no other options. Of how they often don't see themselves as victims, for example Annabelle Cane describing herself as manipulative, even as she was a child trying to cope in an abusive household. And I think that Jon being like Jane Prentiss, following his victims like her, starting to understand her... that ties into those themes. I love this podcast <3.
MARTIN
No, no, it’s— Thank you. I just—
[Agitated clatter]
For god’s sake, can he not just stay safe for like, like ten minutes?!
DAISY
I don’t think that’s an option for him anymore.
MARTIN
Yeah, I mean, sure. But he just… he doesn’t think! He always just immediately charges straight off into danger with whatever, whatever half-arsed plan occurs to him at the time! I don’t get it!
DAISY
What’s to get?
MARTIN
What?
DAISY
I, I mean, it’s pretty standard stuff.
MARTIN
What?
DAISY
Used to see it all the time back in the force, especially with the sectioned. Not like there’s ‘normal’ trauma, you know, but it’s pretty common. The most important thing becomes control, engaging on your own terms. Even when it’s stupid or dangerous. Anything to not feel helpless.
MARTIN
Oh god…
DAISY
And of course for Jon’s there’s survivor’s guilt in there too. He thinks he’s not human. Makes him very… self-destructive.
PODDED CAST!!
Thank you, Jonny.
Like hgnhhrnhhnr <3 yep. mhhnm there's another post that talks about the meaning of putting that in with scrutiny, I'll tag a mag a day in that.
Like! Aa! Thank you. Don't really have much to add, I mean I said a bunch in other episodes rambles, specifically the MAG 131, 132, and 136 ones.
I mean you know, the whole spider thing, a bit of his self-blame about... the end of season 4... could come from... if he's not to blame, then he didn't have any control, then all of this was out of his control. If he couldn't stop it, if Jimmy Magma's plan was that good then... well, then he was helpless, and there's nothing worse than being helpless.
in conclusion, disregard the above Jon did nothing wrong- no, he's... he doesn't get to be forgiven by Jess, by Floyd, by the others, not unless they choose to forgive him. But he can work on doing better, you know? He's allowed to not wallow in guilt the whole time, he's not irredeemable, he just did bad things -- bad things he can't fix -- but he can work on never doing those bad things again, on mitigating the damage as much as he can. He's not a bad person, just a person who did bad things.
I dunno, I'm more interested in the metaphysics side of philosophy. You know there's a branch of philosophy called metametaphysics? I think it's so funny.
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