everyonelives | the ground could open, he could still say please

( "It's the Men of Letters," Ryan says, familiar with it after being around for months.

"He's right. They keep records like this, they house artifacts, they track the supernatural. Just - less patriarchal." Is she sending that in the Winchesters' direction? Maybe. She gives an indication to Lydia that of course she can come.

"There's no 'Women Keep Out' sign," Dean say. "Mom was in the Men of Letters." Granted, she was isolated and brainwashed for her efforts, but that is irrelevant to this conversation. )

Checking The Armory and the Bennett grimoire sounds like a good next step.

( Allison interrupts, holding the proceedings together. "Lydia should go with you." She sees you, sister. If only because she is also a supernatural Geiger counter, so she will be able to alert the group to prevent another -- well, prevent any of the other attacks. In theory. Allison wishes she could go, too, but Sam is staying and she is higher profile than some of them. Dean is a pill, but he is Sam's brother. Making an effort is what she's always done since high school. She also has work to do. )

In the meantime, I'll give it a few days and make contact with David.

( They all need to work together on this. )

Edited 2022-12-03 19:36 (UTC)

Be careful, with David.

[Isaac points out only because he knows that Allison still owes him a favor, at least to Isaac's knowledge.]

I know you gave him rules but the playing field has changed. A lot.

[David may be looking out for a kid, but Allison is a full grown power player in her own right, and he might not be as courteous.

Sam blinks, before looking over at Allison. "What's he talking about?"]

( Thank you, Isaac. )

David got us to New Orleans. I needed to be there.

( There's more, her look says. )

It wasn't a favor and he might want to collect. I can handle him.

Are you sure?

[Do you want me to stay? is what underlines the question, because as much as he's growing to care about Bonnie, Allison always comes first. At least, at the current place they are in their relationship.

Maybe that will change, and his feelings will balance out their history, but for now, he trusts that Bonnie's in safe hands with Caroline. They almost lost Allison twice now. He's not going to let it happen again.]

Isaac. I'm sure. Go with Bonnie and Lydia and Caroline.

( She and Sam should have a conversation, anyway. )

He's in the middle of this, which means we are, too.

( Sort of by proxy, but that is their lives, isn't it? )

[Isaac nods, before looking over at Sam. There are a number of threats that sit on his tongue, but he knows that there's only so much people can do. So he swallows it down and nods.]

Okay. We'll see what we can find out in Mystic Falls.

[It is their lives, but he doesn't like that Allison is the one taking the hits. Even if it's a position she put herself in.]

Can Sam and I have the room?

( They should talk away from the others. She wasn't keeping this from him, but everything happened so quickly. She was 'dead' and then she was on-the-run. )

["Of course." And Elena will take Dean's arm and pull him away from the table, giving the two of them a chance to talk. Slowly the various couples will filter off, leaving Allison and Sam alone in the library.

He leans back against his chair, just wanting to get the important information up front:]

Tell me about this deal.

I owe him. He opened a door to New Orleans and he said he wasn't a taxi service. I don't know what he's going to need, or why, but I told him I wouldn't kill for him.

( She also said she wouldn't sleep with him, but she has since learned he does not swing her way so that can be left out of the explanation. )

I've owed more.

Edited 2022-12-06 02:30 (UTC)

[He nods slowly, because at least she set terms. That's good.]

Has he reached out to you about anything since?

Not yet. I assume if I make contact again, it's only a matter of time before he comes to collect.

( And she wants him to collect sooner rather than later. )

I wasn't trying to keep it from you.

I didn't think you were.

[Would he have liked to have known? Yes. But things have been crazy since she left Mystic Falls, so it would make sense that there are higher priorities.]

My family just has a long history of bad deals, though this doesn't seem like it was one.

[He hasn't met David, so he can't say for sure, but she set the terms she could live with, so that's something.]

Isaac's just worried about you. Which, given the last few days, I can't say I blame him there either.

You don't have to be worried about me.

( Neither of you do, she wants to say, but she's not lumping in Sam with Isaac. Isaac and her were a long time ago. That respect never wavered, even after Isaac moved away. It had been her most amicable break-up. )

Would it make you feel better to come with me?

[Sorry, Allison, you're dating Sam "My Love Interest Doesn't Usually Make it Out of the Season Unless They're Evil" Winchester. He's going to worry about you whether you want him to or not. But he's usually pretty good at keeping that to himself.

But he will point out, in Isaac's defense:]

You just almost died.

[But he'll leave it at that, and not push further.]

Yes, it would make me feel better to go with you. I'd like to get some sense of this guy myself. But before we go, let me talk to Rowena. See what she knows about the Colony and how they operate.

( She did. She almost died. But it's not the first time it happened.

(19) because who doesn't know who she is... )

Rowena MacLeod?

( Your have friends in ... places, Sam. )

You trust her?

Yeah, I do. She basically taught me everything I know about magic, and she's majorly saved our asses on more than one occasion.

[Plus she and Sam have always had an understanding, even when he didn't want to admit it.]

She's also old enough that I'm willing to bet she crossed the Colony once or twice and managed to get away clean.

That's what Rowena does best. But, getting away clean usually means she got away with something. She's a good bet. ( She can do this. ) She's our best bet.

( Who knew they were entering the season of the witch. )

I didn't know you were a student of magic.

[He shrugs, because he doesn't dabble as much as he used to.]

I think practice is a stretch but ... I have a little natural talent. Sometimes it comes in handy.

How did you discover your... natural talent?

( Allison stumbled into hers and then her family brainwashed her. She'd always been a gymnast and an archer, but she was an exceptional part of her hunting family - and then after, Scott's team. )

Well, I found out about a decade ago that I was fed demon blood as a baby and it gave me psychic powers. And in the process of learning how to use those powers I wound up drinking ... a lot more demon blood.

[They had not gotten around to this part of his history yet, but ... now's the time, he guesses. It was bound to come out eventually.]

Turns out the powers weren't exactly healthy for me to use, but the damage was already done, and I got left with a lot of residual ... energy. Channeling it into magic is both productive and easier to control.

Edited 2022-12-06 04:13 (UTC)

Are you still psychic?

( Or, is that residual energy draining into his magic studies. )

I haven't had a vision in a long time. And if I had access to a massive amount of demon blood, I could probably use them, but ... withdrawal's a bitch, so I really would rather not.

[He's putting that part of his life far into the rearview, because going back there again wasn't good for him or his relationship with Dean. He can't imagine that his mother would be fond of it either, never mind the fact that it's her fault he could.]

I wouldn't ask. I wasn't - asking. Just listening. Thank you for telling me.

( It feels like they're building something real here. And a part of that is sharing their darker parts. )

[He nods because it's still never easy to admit to, the things he did when he was in such a dark place. But it's also still a part of him, and he can't run away from it anymore. He learned that a long time ago.]

Thanks for listening.

[He offers a small smile.]

Let me get a hold of Rowena, and we'll figure this out from there.

( Allison did dark things herself, on behalf of her family and then her own revenge. She crawled out from under that darkness with the help of Lydia and her friends. Growing up meant she had to make harder and darker calls. Not everyone could be saved.

"Sam," she says before he goes to make his call. "I'm going to do my best not to die."

It's the promise she can give at the moment.

Since sacrificing herself and helping Sam fulfill his destiny, Rowena tired of Hell. Being Queen was unlike anything else, but like she explained to the boys, she missed her creature comforts. Like she always does, she finds her way back. She doesn't crawl, however. She emerges a swan. Very few know she's been topside for a few years, but the Winchesters and her have always been close.

... Maybe not always. But, recently. They've come to be like family to her. Her boys, the nephilim Jack and the handsome angel.

Sam Winchester's call is one she'll always answer. )

If it isn't the youngest Winchester. To what do I owe this pleasure, Samuel?

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