Chapter Text
“Sam!” Claire ran into the main room of the bunker, waving her phone over her head. “I have a case! We need to leave, like now!”
“Woah, there.” Sam caught Claire as she slipped on the corner of the rug and almost crashed into the table. “Calm down and tell me what’s going on.”
“It’s a case. Like I said. I can explain on the way.”
“Claire, you haven’t even told me where we’re going.”
“Pennsylvania.”
Sam raised his eyebrows at her. “PA’s pretty far away, like a 15 hour drive at least. I’ll call Garth, and he can send a hunter that’s closer.”
“No, we have to go.”
“What’s so important?”
“It’s a demon case. 3 attacks in two days, and the first dead person just surfaced. Please Sam? This is a big deal, I can feel it.”
“Claire, I’m going to call another hunter. If it looks like they need backup, Dean and I will start driving immediately.”
Claire chewed on her lip. Sam looked at her. “There’s something else going on, isn’t there?”
Claire let out a breath. “Yeah. My ex, Sierra, goes to college in the area right where the demon attacks are occurring.”
“Did you text her to see if she’s ok?”
“Yeah.” Claire frowned. “I think she’s investigating them.”
“What? What do you mean?”
“She’s a chemist, and she specializes in environmental analysis. So when these freak storms and cattle deaths started, she was the one they called in. She’s already figured out how to track the sulfur levels and electromagnetic waves from the storm, and it just made the news. Which means the demon is going to come after her, because…”
“She could predict where they’re going to be. Any hunter worth their salt would know what those signs mean, even if she doesn’t.” Sam finished.
Claire nodded. “It’s only a matter of time before someone gets to her.”
“Ok, well, we’re going to be the first. Dean!”
Within ten minutes, they were ready to get on the road. Jack had offered to teleport them, but he was still regaining his strength, so Sam left him at the bunker with Claire, who grumbled endlessly about being left home. “Someone needs to take care of Jack, and besides, your feelings could make the situation more complicated.”
Claire opened her mouth, about to shoot off some quick words about how Sam and Dean had both dropped everything and gone cross-country road tripping at the slightest hint of danger to one of their exes, but a cough from Jack made her eat her words. Claire still side-eyed Sam, but she held up her hands in surrender. “Fine. But only because Jack and I need to finish season 3 of Sex Education. And only if you promise to text me about every. Single. Update.”
“Every single one?” Sam waggled his eyebrows.
Claire shoved him. “You know what I mean, now go!”
Fifteen hours and 42 minutes later, Dean screeched into the visitors lot at Emanuel College. “Here we are Sammy, let’s go save Claire’s ex-girlfriend.” They were already in their FBI getup, having changed into suits a few miles down the road. Badges ready, they strode into the information center of the college.
“Agent Taylor. Agent Styles.” With the ease of a well-practiced routine, Sam and Dean flashed their badges at the student at the welcome desk. Her eyes went wide and she stammered out, “how…how can I help you?”
“We’re looking for a student. One Sierra Lachlan?”
“Uh…yeah, right away.” The student clicked around for a minute. “She should be in her lab now. It’s room 304 on the top floor of the science building.” The girl handed them a map and circled a building on it. “Just head up the path behind this building and you should run right into it.”
Sam and Dean thanked her and then headed up the path quickly. Their fake badges easily got them access into the sciences building, and they were soon striding up the stairs to the chemistry department. When they found the correct lab, Sam knocked. “Sierra Lachlan?”
The head of a short blonde researcher snapped up. She injected her pipette tip into the waste container and slid her protective glasses onto her head. “Who’s asking?”
“FBI.” Fake badges flashed. The girl looked scared.
“Is she in trouble?”
“No, we just want to talk to her. She may be in danger. You’re her right?”
The girl shook her head. “No, I’m Lena. Sierra’s my girlfriend. She just left.”
“Where did she go?” Sam had already moved into the room and was glancing at the table where pushpins were pushed into several places. He picked up a ledger and leafed through it, noting the places and intensities of the sulfur concentrations.
He followed the push pins, mentally connecting them. The fifth location should be “here.”
Lena’s finger landed on the map exactly where Sam would have predicted. With the fifth point, a perfect pentagram would be made, primed for big demon activity.
“Let’s go.” Sam gestured to Dean, but Lena held up a hand to stop them. “Bring me with you. I have her location shared with me.”
Sam and Dean exchanged glances. They were not about to bring a young girl into a potential demon trap.
“Listen, agents. If Sierra’s in danger, I’m coming whether or not you want me to. That area is pretty big, inaccesible by car, and all trees, so good luck finding her without my help.”
“Damn, I think gal might have a type,” Dean whispered. Sam laughed. Lena was so much like Claire it was scary.
“Fine. You can come. But stay back. Things could get dicey.”
“If you say so, boss.” She snapped off a jaunty salute.
“This doesn’t look like an FBI car.”
“How do you know what an FBI car looks like?” Dean snapped back.
“Don’t worry about it.”
Twenty minutes later, they pulled up to a large forested area and Dean clicked the keys out of the ignition. “Which way, Lena?”
Lena tapped on her phone. “Hmm there’s no signal out here, but she should be close.”
“Can I see?” Sam reached out to take the phone from Lena, but as soon as his fingers hovered over her hand, he twisted his wrist and slapped a pair of handcuffs around her wrist. He connected her to the car door in one smooth motion, slamming it shut behind him.
“Hey! Let me out!” Lena banged on the car door, but Sam ignored her. He motioned to Dean, and they split off to search the surrounding forests.
Sam ran toward the break in the trees, blinking as he ended up on a path. “Sierra!” He looked down each direction and picked one at random, hoping it was right. Wait, what was that? There was a small scrap of fabric hanging on a thorn bush, and when Sam got closer he could see a smear of blood. Shit.
Sam dropped into full tracker mode, thanking Bobby for all the hunting lessons. He sent off a quick text to Dean before creeping up the path.
He peered out from behind a tree, seeing a girl kneeling on the ground. She shook her short, dip dyed hair out of her eyes as she took a trowel out of her bag and scooped dirt into a plastic baggie.
“Sierra?” Sam stepped out from behind the tree, trying not to frighten her, but she dropped her bag anyway.
“Who are you? Get away from me!”
Sam held up his hands. “It’s ok. My name’s Sam. Claire sent me and my brother to look for you. She thinks you’re in danger.”
Sierra barked out a short laugh. “Of course she does. She always did worry about me, but not enough to stay.”
Oh shit. They had ended up smack dab in the middle of lesbian drama. Sam had listened to Claire explain enough of the Jojo Siwa lesbiantok drama to know that when girls liked other girls, it got messy real fast.
“Um…well, she still cares about you enough to check on you, if that means anything.”
“She didn’t even come herself.”
“She wanted to, trust me. I wouldn’t let her.”
“Who are you, her dad?”
“One of them, yes.” The intensity in his own voice surprised him, and clearly took Sierra back too.
She held up her hands. “Okay then. Let me finish my sampling and then I’ll come with you.”
She bent down to the ground, taking two more soil samples from an area of about three feet, and then she set up a small instrument to measure the electrical frequency in the air.
Sam didn’t need an instrument to tell him the demon storm was almost upon them. His hair was fully standing on edge. “Sierra, come now! We need to get out of here!”
The wind whipped around them as the sky went dark, but still Sierra struggled to hold her instrument. “I’ve got to get this measurement!” She yelled at him. “It’s the last one I need and then the research should be publishable!”
Sam grunted and ran forward, grabbing Sierra by the arm. “Research isn’t worth your life!”
“You know, Si, you probably should have listened to him.” The wind calmed around them as Lena stepped into the center.
“Lena? What are you do-argh!” Sierra asked as Lena raised her hands but her question was cut off with a groan as her wrist was wrenched backwards out of Sam’s grasp. A stabbing pain shot through her arm, and the whole world went blank in an instant. Distantly, Sierra was aware of herself crashing to the ground, and she could hear yelling.
“Get away from her!” Sam yelled, hoisting the demon knife.
“Sam Winchester. Imagine my surprise when you waltzed right up to me. It’s almost too good, practically poetic. I’m going to enjoy killing you.” With a lazy flick of her hand, Lena sent Sam flying backwards into a tree.
“Lena, please! What are you doing?” Sierra pushed herself off the ground with her good arm, trying to swallow back the nausea that rose as she saw a spear sticking out of her upper arm. She gasped as the pain came over her in waves. She tried to gasp for air, but breathing felt like being stabbed repeatedly. Maybe it was the shard of glass sticking out of her chest.
“I’m not your Lena. Haven’t been for a while, but you were too busy to notice. But like that doesn’t mean that all of it was fake- anyone ever tell you you’re just a marvelous girlfriend - to your research? You know, I’ve loved playing second fiddle to a bunch of data. Even when we’re kissing, you’re somewhere else. It’s pathetic really. Oh isn’t it wonderful?” Lena clapped her hands together, bouncing on her toes as Sierra writhed in pain. “Now your research gets to be what kills you. You see, I’m the one you’ve been hunting.” Her eyes clicked black, and Sierra screamed.
“What are you? Please don’t hurt me.”
“I’m a demon, sweetheart. And you, my love, are a sacrifice. With your blood spilled, we will freely roam the earth again!”
The demon stepped forward and lifted her hands, chanting in a foreign language. She bent down and took the bloodied earth in her hands, smelling it deeply before spreading in over her face and arms. The ground began to shake, and the demon lifted into the air, and then a horrendous shriek broke through the air and the demon glowed brightly before crashing to the ground.
Sierra screamed as the dead, demonic body of her girlfriend slammed into her, driving the spear further down. “Help! Help!” She couldn’t move, and the panic was fast setting in as the blood from the demon mingled with the blood from her wound.
Dean threw the knife down and ran to her side, grabbing the body as Sam put his hands under the girls arms and pulled backwards. She grunted in pain as her injured shoulder was moved, and Sam tried to stabilize her against him.
Sam leaned down to assess her. Her pulse was rapid and uneven against his fingers, and her breath came in panicked gasps. Moving to examine the wound, he wrapped one large hand around her upper arm and gripped the spear with the other. “I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, and then he broke the spear off above the would, leaving only a short piece impaled in her arm.
“Arghhhhhhhhh!” Sierra screamed and wrenched against him, but Sam didn’t let go. He pushed his arm against her shoulders and upper chest and reached out with his other hand to probe the would as best he could around the spear. The all-too-familiar sticky sweet smell of demon blood assaulted his nostrils. Even though it has been several deaths ago that he was addicted, and had been angelically purified multiple times since then, it still called to him. He gasped. The demon blood was sizzling as it touched her wound, and the pure red blood suddenly glowed a hue of blue that Sam would recognize anywhere. Shit shit shut. This wasn’t just demon blood, it was mixed with djinn poison. Shit. And Sierra was already closing her eyes. Double shit.
“Dean! Get over here! She’s going into shock, and the demon bloods getting into her system! We need to get her to the bunker now!”
Dean screamed in his mind. “CAS! JACK!” There was a flash of light followed by the flap of wings, and then Jack was standing there, eyes glowing gold.
The glow faded from his eyes and Jack stumbled. Dean rushed forward to catch him. “You good buddy?” Jack nodded against Deans chest.
“I don’t think I can heal her…” jack whispered.
“Do you have enough mojo to teleport her and Sam back to the bunker?”
Jack closed his eyes. “I think so.”
Dean supported his arm to help him straighten up, making sure Jack wouldn’t crash to the ground. Normally, they would never push Jack’s powers, but this was an emergency. And with the demon/djinn blood coursing into her veins, normal emergency services weren’t an option.
Jack pushed back from Dean. “I’m ok. See?” He walked over to Sam, with Dean following.
“You go back to the bunker with Jack. Take care of her. I’ll get Baby and be there as soon as possible.”
Sam scoffed, knowing Dean was about to break about 45 different traffic laws to cut the drive time, but they didn’t have another choice. Dean wouldn’t leave the Impala, and Jack didn’t look strong enough to transport all of them anyway. And since Sam was the one with the medical knowledge, the choice was easy.
Sam scooped Sierra up, being careful to support her injured arm. He nodded to Jack, who placed one hand on Sam’s shoulder and the other on Sierra’s leg. With a “woosh,” the field disappeared and seconds later, they were back inside the bunker.
Instantly, Jack released them and stumbled. Cas, who was waiting, caught Jack and laid them on the bed before their head could hit the floor. Claire skidded into the room and stopped short, her face going white as she looked between Sierra and Jack. Seeing Sam setting Sierra on the examination table and frantically running around to grab supplies made her decision. She sat down on Jack’s bed, reaching one hand out to caress their head. “Cas? Jack is burning up.”
Cas placed his hand on Jack’s forehead, grimacing as he did so. “He burned through almost all his grace. He needs an infusion now.”
Claire gulped, but she knew what to do. Sam had trained them all, in case he was hurt or otherwise occupied, as he was now. She ran to the refrigerator where labeled blood samples from each of them hung neatly in a row. She grabbed two bags of Jack’s blood, which was easily distinguished from the others by the glowing blue tint that cut through the red. When depleted, grace would eventually replenish itself naturally in the body, so taking blood regularly was a way to stockpile large quantities of nephilim grace, which had a lot of great qualities.
She grabbed the IV pole and wheeled it next to Jack’s bed, hanging the bags. Cas was already reaching for a tourniquet, wrapping it around Jack’s arm decisively. He slapped the crook of Jack’s elbow to bring up a vein and skillfully inserted a needle. Jack didn’t even stir. Castiel frowned. Jack hated needles being put under his skin, but if he wasn’t responding to that, he was further gone than they thought. Cas quickly opened the stopcock of the bag and let the liquid flow, setting it to the highest permissible setting. He placed his hand over Jack’s forehead again, ensuring the grace was properly flowing into them. There was really nothing to do but wait, so Cas turned his attention to the other patient.
Sam cut off the girl’s shirt around the wound, wrapping her arm in sterile sheets and wiping it with an antiseptic. Sierra had fully passed out a while ago, so he didn’t bother with painkillers for now. “Cas, c’mere. We need to get this out of her.” Sam gestured at the spear still stuck in the ever-darkening wound.
Cas nodded and took up a position at the girl’s shoulder, pressing her into the table and giving Sam the best access. With his other hand, he reached out to her neck, making sure she was still alive. Her pulse beat fast and erratically against his fingers, but she was still there. Sam grabbed the large pincers and dunked them in alcohol before running them through the flame of a Bunsen burner he had set up nearby. He waited until they glowed brightly, and then reached into the wound. Despite being unconscious, sierras heartbeat accelerated even more, bordering close to 200bpm, Sam estimated. The wound wasn’t nearly over an arterial point, but she was under so much stress that it could be clearly felt in any part of the body. He took a deep breath and steadied the clamps around the remainder of the spear, before pulling it striaght out. The hot clamps had the dual effect of stopping the bleeding from the wound, and Sam quickly pressed them on again before he began the stitches.
With the major wound no longer bleeding profusely, Sierra’s heartbeat stabilized slightly. Cas took his hand off her neck and reached for the pulse oximeter, blood pressure cuff, and electodes so they could see all her vitals at once. He reached out to put the leads on Sierra’s chest, but a hand stopped him. Claire looked up at him determinedly. “I’ll do it.”
She took the leads from him and deftly moved to arrange them on Sierra, angling her body so that neither Cas nor Sam could see any part of her chest. As she pulled what was left of the shirt down, she gasped. “Sam give me the antiseptic.”
“What is it?”
“There’s glass shards in her chest.”
“Move over, Claire. Let me look.” But Claire didnt move even with the gigantor man put his hand on her arm to push her over.
“Let me do it. If anything’s close to her heart or lungs I’ll let you take over. But… she doesn’t like being touched there, especially not by people she doesn’t know, even if it’s for a medical reason.”
Sam looked at her, his heart abruptly filling with pride. Claire really was a Winchester. “Fine, but I’ll be right here, checking her other vitals.”
Claire nodded distantly, already laser focused on picking glass out of the girl she used to - and still did - love. She wouldn’t be the reason she was hurt even more.
“There.” Sam announced as he tied off the last stitch. He checked the monitors, placing his fingers on her wrist to make sure everything was in agreement. He pulled out a penlight and lifted Sierra’s eyelids, checking one than the other repeatedly.
“Cas, get me an IV and two bags of my blood. She’s lost a lot and needs a transfusion.”
Minutes later, Sam had placed the cannula in the crook of Sierra’s uninjured arm, and the life-saving blood was dripping into her. Satisfied that she was stable for now, Sam moved to check on Jack. Claire took Sierra’s hand almost unconsciously, bringing it to her chin as she settled herself where she could see both Sierra and Jack.
Jack was stirring, and Sam placed one hand on his forehead and the other on his wrist. Jack’s eyes fluttered at the touch. “Wha…?” He whispered.
“Shh. Don’t try to talk. Just regain your strength. You’re ok, that’s all that matters.”
But Jack had to ask. “Is she…?”
Sam ran his hand comfortingly through Jack’s hair. “She’s going to be fine, thanks to you getting her here so fast.”
“Mm, good,” Jack mumbled as they let the darkness swirl around them again.
“What’d I miss?” Dean called out. Sam jerked to look at him.
“How…?”
“I stashed Baby in a barn and called Rowena. I figured I needed to be here.”
Wordlessly, Sam pulled him into a hug. He explained both Jack and Sierra’s condition in a whisper before pushing back his brother to look at him. “Are you hurt?”
“No, but you are.” Dean tapped his fingers on the cut on Sam’s forehead. Sam flinched, trying to push his brother away, but the motion aggravated the cut and blood dripped into this eyes.
“They’re ok for now right?” Dean asked. Sam nodded. “Then let me take care of you.” Deans voice left no room for argument, so Sam let himself be led to another bed so Dean could dab ointment on the cut.
Cas had picked up running his fingers through Jack’s hair, and Claire was still holding on to Sierras hand as if she would fly away.
And then Sierra jerked, her limbs shaking. Sam was across the room in two steps. Sierra shook her head back and forth, screaming as she did.
“No! Nonono! Get away from me!”
Claire gasped. “What’s happening? Is she seizing?”
Sam pulled up her eyelids again, looking carefully before shaking her head. “No, she’s dreaming. They’re djinn induced nightmares.” He gritted his teeth, clearly remembering his own experiences. “We need to wake her up.”