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

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[cholesterol]

Then there's nothing left but to hit the road.

( until they get proper answers. )

[braveandstupid]

Okay.

[She glances over his shoulder to her parents and Sam as they approach and offers them a smile.]

Everything okay?

[Miranda nods with a smile of her own. "We're fine. Road snacks have changed quite a bit."]

[founderscouncil]

Are they saltier or less salty?

( this is probably the banter she misses. more like the game trash talk she'd remember from one of the last nights they were alive. )

[notjustamom]

["Probably a little of both."

And with that they will pile back into the Impala and resume their trip to the bunker. Once they arrive, Elena will help arrange rooms, get changes of clothes, and otherwise get people settled. After a certain point it becomes fuss that's more about nerves than purpose, but it's keeping her busy.

Sam hits the books, with Abernathy up on FaceTime as Sam shares pictures of the runes carved into both Elena and the Sullivans. Michael and Evelyn take advantage of the appearance of alcohol and retreat to their own corner. And into all of this walks Mary, having been warned of the happenings, but her eyebrow raises at the somber feeling in the air.]

That kind of day?

[praevaricatio]

( She gets a beer for her observation, courtesy of her son.

Across the way by the globe, the "patients" wait when Ezra is finished with each one of them. Lucas is the last to be checked. Ezra's 6 gets them the basics, though he hasn't shared anything. He uses everything he knows about the rune and runes themselves. He finds the tell-tale signs of a soon-to-be-made vessel on all of their backs, confirming that piece to the puzzle at least.

But, no solution.

He finishes with Lucas, lets him go, and then emerges and rejoins Sam and -- (17) is that Daniel Abernathy?

Dean fills his mother in.

"Elena's parents. Lucas, the Sullivan's son. And Sammy's on the line with Daniel Abernathy," he explains.

Ezra perches on the table by Sam, leaning over and grabbing a beer. )

Daniel.

[notjustamom]

[Mary knows nothing about Abernathy beyond his reputatuion (7), so her eyebrows go up as she takes a sip of her drink.]

Bringing in the big guns, I see.

[Not that this doesn't merit it.

Daniel glances over when he's addressed by Ezra, before ... turning and looking right back at Sam. He does not have time for Colony witches or Colony sympathizers who married said witches. He does, however, recognize the runes (16). "This is an rune for vessels, but it's an ancient version of one. Think of it like a 1984 Mac versus a MacBook Pro."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means you have a loophole."]

[cholesterol]

( Dean leaves his mom when he hears the L-word, and pops up behind his brother in the window as well. )

Just the L-word we're looking for.

( Ezra stays silent, because he uncovered nothing new. So, maybe it's great the big guns were brought in then.

Dean doesn't call Elena over just yet, unless she hears the latest. He wants to know the loophole before he says anything. )

[imnot_likeyou]

What kind of a loophole?

["The link can be severed - but only if one of the vessels is the one to kill Hernandez themselves."

Sam's mouth sets into a grim line, before looking over at Ezra.]

It has to be one of the vessels? And just one of them it doesn't have to be all?

["Yep. And yes, just one."]

[praevaricatio]

( "Nice one and three chance, then," Dean says, looking back over at the others across the way.

Ezra inhales and exhales. )

That's what I couldn't read. There was something unrecognizable in Hernandez' spellwork. My father's family left theirs behind and my mother learned hers, so the foundation I had to go on... ( Was one Daniel wouldn't appreciate. ) But I confirm, they all have the sign they've been prepped as vessels. The marks are along their backs. They're also all alive. And, if, like Abernathy says, one of them succeeds, they will all - stay alive.

[imnot_likeyou]

I think we know there's really only one choice for that.

[Sam's voice is pitched low so that the others in the room don't hear it. The Gilberts probably have some vampire self-defense but if they're going to be taking down a Colony Inner Circle witch, they need the big guns.

Which means asking the Sullivans to put their recently resurrected son in the line of danger. Again.

Abernathy glances between the two of them and reaches for his phone. "Well, I'm gonna go. You owe me one, Winchester."

Sam nods.]

Yeah, man. Thanks for the help.

[cholesterol]

( Dean takes a pull from his beer, lowering his voice.. )

How do we wanna' go about this?

[imnot_likeyou]

I dunno.

[Sam rubs the back of his neck as he leans back in the chair. They need to plan for this sooner rather than later. He glances over at Ezra.]

Will you be able to go vouch for him?

[praevaricatio]

For... Abernathy? He's to be trusted, yeah. I can - I can speak for him. As the resident expert witch by-proxy. How do you think they're going to take it?

( He's not looking forward to it, that's for sure. )

Never mind, how can they.

[imnot_likeyou]

[He shakes his head.]

That's not what I meant. I mean can you go so that your witch friends don't kill Lucas because they would rather take the shot themselves.

[He doesn't need someone to vouch for Abernathy, Sam can do that. It's the Colony witches that he's worried about.]

[praevaricatio]

( Oh. He's - great. The last place he wants to be is in spitting distance of another Inner Circle witch. But, Elena's parents. Lucas' life. He needs to do this. It's not just him, not just every witch on the line. )

Yeah. I can - I'll make sure he gets there. I'll make sure he gets the real chance.

[imnot_likeyou]

Okay.

[He rubs a hand over his face, before glancing over at Dean.]

Maybe we should start with Elena, Evelyn and Michael? See what they think?

[praevaricatio]

( He has other thoughts, that it involves the others, but this isn't his circus, or his monkeys. Though, Lucas will become a monkey in due time, so he pulls himself out of the decision, holding his hands up.

"We tell them, then we tell everyone else," Dean says. "We have our loophole. They need to know."

Dean knows his vote, it's Lucas - but, everyone deserves to be in on the conversation eventually.

"Sammy, grab Elena, I'll swing the Sullivan's into the kitchen for another round," he says. And he does just that, trashing the empty beer cradle asking them to join him, Sam, and Ezra in the kitchen, and in a second, Elena, too. )

[sullivansr]

[Sam's reasoning is that they don't need the living folks with stake in the game adding their reactions on top of it. If they already know, then when they tell the recently resurrected, it's less chaotic.

That said, Michael will glance to his wife curiously when their attention is drawn to the kitchen and raise an eyebrow.]

I lied, we just finished dinner

[cholesterol]

( once everyone is gathered. )

They're alive. Honest to god, not that God, alive. They were brought back as replacement bodies, but there's a loop hole one of our contacts tracked.

( "One of your contacts, you mean, not Ezra," Evelyn questions, knowing he did his "diagnostics."

"I know runes, I know that rune, I did not know that rune bound like that. This magic is older than me and my family. So, they brought in someone they trust and that I highly regard."

That sating her, she gets quiet again. )

They're all spared, they all go on living, if one of them is the one that offs Hernandez. Themselves. ...Personally.

[abad_influence]

So me.

[Lucas' voice cuts through and probably everyone but his parent jumps. He can do the math, look at Elena's parents and know that they aren't up for this.

It's him or it's not going to happen.

Elena glances back at him and she starts to open her mouth, but he gives her a look before she can get too far.]

I'm sure your parents are perfectly respectable people, Elena, but I don't see them going ten rounds with a super witch.

[founderscouncil]

( Elena and the Sullivan's heard it first in the kitchen:

"One of them has to," Evelyn asks, clarifying.

"Be the one to kill Hernandez, the member of the Inner Circle who set this trap," Ezra confirms. "Because they were created by it, only they can do it without triggering the transfer."

Evelyn looks to her husband, and back at the group.

"Are you... asking our opinion? Wanting our take? You know our take, not that we're going to like it, we just got him back," she rants, slamming the beer down.

"We're telling you because we wanted you to hear it first. Because we wanted this reaction out of you now before we're all face to face." Dean interrupts, trying to keep his volume and tone in check.

After that, they brought everyone together and Dean broke the news. Evelyn needed a little more clarification, but she at least held it together, and stayed quiet.

And then Lucas volunteers. )

With all due respect, we don't know what it will take to kill... the super witch.

( Grayson tries, knowing he's out of his element, but he can't let this kid lay his life on the line without... something else said. And he's not going to let his wife. In his eyes, it's Lucas or him. )

Correct me if I'm wrong, but a hunter-on-witch fight isn't like boxing?

[abad_influence]

No, it's not. It's about getting around their magic.

[Or at least that's his experience. Never mind that it's a grieving witch that killed him the last time.]

For that, we have things like magic killing bullets. Kill their magic and they're just another human.

[And he happens to be very good with a sniper rifle.]

[cholesterol]

( Nobody knows the full story behind Lucas' death, but Lucas, his brother, and Mickey. Sullivan was kept out of the debrief, Mickey explained what he could, but shit hit the fan and the cracks in Monroe's armor were what mattered most at the time. She used Lucas' death to embolden the others. It only did the opposite for Lucas' family. )

Don't forget witch-killing bullets.

( Though, he'd bet there'd need to be a special cocktail. They might have to make something of a different flavor.

Which sparks an idea. )

Odds are, one that takes down a member of the Inner Circle would have to be a la carte - but - what about using Lucas' blood. We could stack the deck with Lucas being the one to pull the trigger, but if his blood is in the bullet cocktail. Think that adds oomph?

( He's just thinking out loud here. )

[sullivansr]

[Michael tips his head to the side as he considers Dean's question.]

If they have to be the weapon, then maybe that's more literal than we're currently considering.

[Elena doesn't necessarily love people having to bleed for a plan to succeed, so she does look somewhat uncomfortable with that prospect, but Dean has a point. If there's a chance that they could increase their odds with having more triggermen on the ground that's also more people at risk.

Still, given her history she glances to Lucas and says: "You don't have to if you're not comfortable with it. It's you call."

Lucas' head tips at her curiously, before giving a shrug. "Blood is blood. So long as I'm still breathing, I could always make more of it. I think it just matters if this is a loophole Hernandez planned for or not."]

[disputable]

This isn't exactly the same thing, but, Lucas' blood could represent Lucas. ( She turns to her husband, and back to her son. ) Dawn Summers.

( "As in Buffy Summers?" Dean asks, sharing looks with Elena and Sam. )

It's a long story. And, it's not one to one. But, Buffy's death, specifically, her blood, closed a portal to a Hell dimension. Because Dawn -- because they shared the same blood. Summers' blood. ( She very quickly adds to make clear ) I'm not saying Lucas or Elena are substitutes here, but, the concept could be the same. Dawn was made for a purpose. And Lucas, you and Elena's parents, you were all made for a purpose. And, the other purpose is to kill the witch who brought you back. I don't know if Dean is far off in his assessment of what might work.

( and, desperately, she would love to keep her son out of the crossfire. but, she knows Lucas will still volunteer himself. )

"And he wouldn't spill quarts of blood," Dean adds. "Ounces, if that. And we can do more research. If it's not about his blood, if it physically has to be him, maybe we can slow her down, or like Lucas said, shackle her magic."