there are prizes all around you if you're wise enough to see

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[cholesterol]

( first Dean shines a light on the wall where her hand was, inspecting nothing but rock, and then turns it back to shine on Elena's arm again. )

I don't know, because she was in front?

( ish?

he sets the flashlight down and then drops to the ground to search through her bag, pulling out a roll of gauze. he grabs the flashlight again and returns to their side, holding the flashlight up. )

And why just up and torch her body? Does she want to preserve it?

[braveandstupid]

Maybe it isn't the real body.

[She takes the gauze from him and moves to wrap her arm.]

Maybe the real one is somewhere else and the body here was part of the trap?

[Sam gives a small shrug. "Wouldn't be out of the realm of possibility."]

[cholesterol]

Or, maybe it's down the other tunnel.

( Asking the question of 'Why mark her,' won't help anyone, so he doesn't. )

You okay? Anything... happening?

[abad_influence]

[Elena shakes her head. "It hurts, but getting your skin sliced open hurts. I don't feel ... weird?"

Lucas Sullivan, on the other hand, is feeling weird.

He jerks awake with a gasp in a dark hole, hands immediately scrambling for his chest where part of him knows a hole should be. But there is no whole. There isn't even a hole in his shirt. He yanks it up and nothing but clean, unblemished skin is disorienting, to say the last.

He's dead. He should be dead. Why is all of the sudden not?

One hand moves to his neck and he feels his heartbeat under it, and the panic continues to rise. He needs to get out of here, to find Cooper and Mickey, to figure out how long it's been, though he has a sneaking suspicion that he's not in London anymore.

Slowly he draws himself to his feet, patting himself down to see if he has any weapons on him at all, but the answer is no. He picks up voices coming from another part of the cave system(?) he seems to have found himself in and moves slowly, quietly (19) to try and get a better look at what he's dealing with.

No familiar faces, two men and a woman, one of them bleeding. The men are armed, he can't tell if the woman is. The taller one's back is to him, and he can see the gun tucked in his waistband. Charge, grab the gun, leverage his way out - it's a plan he's handled before.

But he doesn't actually know if these people are at fault for his sudden resurrection. The woman is bleeding, but that could mean any number of things. So he holds, and waits.]

[cholesterol]

( Dean's far too focused on the mark on Elena's shoulder to see Lucas behind her and Sam (9). The mark raises concerns. He was marked once and it didn't end well. He knows this doesn't send Elena on the run, but he doesn't know anything else beyond that, and it's killing him in this moment. )

We should get her out of here, I'll call the other side.

( Turning to shoulder Elena from the back, to help her down the tunnel if she needs it, his holster faces Lucas as he pulls his phone back out and calls Sullivan. )

[abad_influence]

[Sam senses something is off (14), but can't seem to tell what, while Elena is just confused and in pain (6) so her attention is elsewhere.

They're turning to go, and Lucas knows he should let them. But he doesn't want to just keep sitting out in this cave unarmed, and the gun in the holster is too tempting. He slowly creeps forward, trying to delicately get his fingers around the hilt (19) and slowly begin to draw it.

Elena is still oblivious (3), but Sam stops on the way out (17), an itch scratching at the back of his neck.

"Something about this doesn't feel right."]

[cholesterol]

( (4) Dean doesn't feel Lucas' professional-grade stealth attempt. )

Sullivan's not picking up. I don't like this.

( Dean uses his free hand to grab for his gun just in case and finds no gun. )

Get Elena out of here.

( He turns right then and sticks his hands up. Pay attention to him and not these two behind the curtain, Lucas. )

[abad_influence]

[The gun comes up immediately when Dean turns, gritting his teeth as he holds his stance steady, but not ready to shoot, not yet.]

Ah-ah. Don't go yet.

[Sam does put himself between the gun and Elena, drawing his own weapon to add to the Mexican standoff happening, but Lucas just darts his eyes between the two of them, wanting to see if he can figure out where the attack will come from first.]

Not until you tell me what the fuck is going on.

[cholesterol]

( Dean flinches, feeling his brother beside him, but keeps his hands up. He steps closer, too, to fully block Elena behind him and Sam. )

You tell me, Quickdraw.

( he squints, though, one hand still wrapped around the call he hopes is answered some time soon. )

Where'd you even come from?

[abad_influence]

Fuck if I know. I woke up in the back, and all that was here was a body on fire and she's bleeding which kind of screams ritual to me.

[He glances between the three of them, and he tries to reprocess the previous conversation before Dean turned around.]

Did you say Sullivan before?

[cholesterol]

Not our ritual, buddy.

( But, this guy is in the know, so it means maybe they can find common ground. Narrowing his eyes, he weighs his options. )

Michael. Sullivan.

( He keeps back Evelyn for now. )

Why? ( Wait a second. There's a family resemblance there, between Evelyn and Michael and Cooper. ) What's your name?

[abad_influence]

[There's a moment where he's thrown because his father shouldn't be here. His father wouldn't have done this. Not the man who browbeat into them their entire lives that no life was worth a demon deal.

Lucas was dead, he was supposed to stay dead, that's what dead things do. He glances from Dean to Sam to Elena, poking her head out from around the corner and they all seem sincere.

He relents, but he doesn't lower the weapon.]

Lucas.

[Sam's eyes widen in recognition. "Shit."]

[cholesterol]

( Dean looks back at Sam. )

You think Sullivan and his wife relived his death, too?

( he shares a look, 'what do you think is waiting in the other tunnel. is it possible? do they have marks, too' he regards Lucas again. )

My name is Dean Winchester, this is my brother Sam. My girlfriend, Elena. Our dad and I worked with yours when you were young. He's here with your mom. There's a twin tunnel going in the other direction. We can take you to them.

[abad_influence]

My mom's here?

[It comes out of him involuntarily. He should probably try and play it smarter, but it's been a long time since he's seen her, and she's also the last person he expects to be considering.

He's also realizing that he stole a gun off a Winchester, and he probably should just be grateful he hasn't gotten shot yet.

Elena, on the other hand, is doing the math, and when two and two eventually gives her four, her eyes widen. "Oh, god."

And she turns and takes off down the tunnel, trying to find her way to the other side.

In the meantime, Sam will be the smart hunter and fish out the holy water silver flask and toss it to him. "You know the drill."]

[cholesterol]

And your dad. Not your brother.

( Because he does know your brother. Tried to step to him, but, he's a good kid. )

Sam.

( Dean knows the drill, too, but he'd bet money it's more complicated than shifter or ghoul - and either way, Sam will get his gun back because Dean turns tail and follows behind her. )

[disputable]

( Sam and Lucas make it out of the first tunnel as Evelyn darts out of theirs. She stops short, briefly, at the entrance, because it's her son, and he's alive, and standing there. She laughs, tears welling up under her eyes, as she closes the distance between them completely and she holds her first born close.

Her laughing cascades into a cry as all of her emotions crash out at once. )

[abad_influence]

[Sam tested to make sure he was human and once it was settled that they were on the same side, he gave Sam Dean's gun back. Sam wasn't likely to let him keep it, even if they don't seem out of the woods yet.

He doesn't like it, feels a little naked without a single weapon on him, but then they round a corner and his mother is right there, in front of him, just like Sam said she was.

His breath hitches and he can barely get a word out before she pulling him in, and he can't but melt into it, feelings that he has no idea how to process surging to the surface as he buries his face in her shoulder.]

I'm sorry, Mom.

[disputable]

( she gains her composure back, because he's in her arms. she turns her head, giving him another squeeze before leaning back. )

No. You have nothing to be sorry about. You hear me?

[abad_influence]

[It kind of feels like he does. That he was stupid and got himself in a situation that ended in his death - that feels like it should be his fault. He promised her he would come back and he didn't.

You should apologize when you break a promise to your mom, even if it's one he didn't have control over whether or not he kept it.]

Is Coop okay?

[He remembers slipping his brother the address because something just didn't feel right but if he got Coop killed too ...]

[disputable]

He's okay. He survived, he wasn't - I don't know everything, only that he saw it happen. But, he's good. He's good now. He's doing really good. He misses you. We all do.

( she can get into his personal life later. and they need to tell him. )

And nobody blames you.

[abad_influence]

[Lucas nods at that, not really sure what to say, or how to even process if this is real. He feels like he's trapped in some kind of fever dream, and you're not supposed to have those when you're dead. Instead, he just looks back at Sam, because he's the only objective party in the room.]

What next?

[Sam takes a deep breath. "I'm going to check and see if we need to obtain another car, and we're going to get the hell out of here." He then nods to the space behind Evelyn. "And you're going to see your dad."

Lucas isn't sure he wants to see his dad right now, but it's too late and Michael rounds the corner, laying eyes on his son and finding himself frozen in his tracks, not sure what to do next.]

[disputable]

( She steps aside. )

Go.

( She watches as Lucas manages to make it over to him. In the meantime, she has amends to make, so she finds Ezra leaning against the wall between the two cave openings.

"I owe you an apology," she admits.

"It's okay. I understand," he makes sure to add. "I've been slapped before," he says, brushing it off. Evelyn then moves forward. He flinches before being embraced. Oh. Okay. That he can, do. And he pats her back. )

[imnot_likeyou]

[Sam also steps away to give Lucas and Michael some privacy, and as he looks over the car options they have, he tips his head towards Evelyn with a frown.]

How many can you seat in your truck?

[disputable]

( Evelyn sniffs, wiping the her nose with the back of her hand. She rubs it against her jacket, clearing her throat. Right. )

Three in the front, up to five in our truck bed if we were on the backroads of Texas. Not across state lines.

[imnot_likeyou]

[He nods because yeah, this going to be a tight fit. Sam then pauses, and turns a curious expression back to Ezra:]

Do you have a spell that could ... make more room?

[Can you make a TARDIS car? Curious minds would like to know.]