Title:
Memory In Motion
Chapter
Title: Moments Of Weird
Author:
Restive Nature
Disclaimer:
I do not own the rights
to BtVS. They belong to Whedon & Mutant Enemy. I also do not own
the rights to Supernatural. They belong to Eric Kripke and The CW.
Some dialogue was used from Supernatural Episode 1.18 “Something
Wicked” written by Daniel Knauf. All recognizable dialogue in this
episode belongs to the writer and show. It's use is not intended as
infringement as is only as the rest of the story, meant for private
enjoyment.
Rating:
PG-15
Genre:
Crossover
Type:
Humor, Angst
Pairing:
DaddyDean/ WeeWillow
Summary:
Through a magical mix-up, Willow ends up in the Impala, disoriented,
terrified, facing the barrel of a gun and somehow... only six years
old.
Spoilers/
Time line: Post series for Buffy and late season one of Supernatural.
Feedback:
Always welcome!
Distribution:
Ask first please.
A/N:
This is a challenge response to pezgirl's The Little Demon Hunting
Challenge at the Twisting the Hellmouth site. Please refer to chapter
one for challenge details.
Memory
in Motion
Chapter
Five
Moments
Of Weird
Their
meal passed slowly, as Willow was determined to chew every bite
thoroughly. Dean, usually the impatient one, seemed to be with Willow
on this. He was sure that there was a way through this all, but
wasn't ready to take a step forward. Sam on the other hand, wanted to
get these things figured out. The sooner the better. Because all they
were getting, or at least how he felt, was more questions, instead of
answers.
At
last, Willow declared that she was full, after eating the majority of
her meal. Dean ordered her a piece of cake and some pie for himself,
to go and they finally left the restaurant. It was after they had
climbed back into the Impala, that Dean brought up something that
hadn't even entered Sam's mind.
“We
should probably stop, get supplies,” his brother intoned, his eyes
darting back to glance at the little redheaded girl that was
studiously buckling herself in.
“Right,
yeah,” Sam agreed instantly, figuring that Dean probably didn't
want to talk about these things in front of the little girl. Which
was fine by him, because there were times that he wished he could
have gone through his childhood, hell, his whole life without ever
knowing this stuff.
It
almost completely flabbergasted him though when Dean, instead of a
ready mart or grocery store, pulled into the parking lot of a Target.
“Okay Willow, c'mon,” he announced as he turned off the ignition.
“Dean?”
Sam's voice may have inferred a question, but there was a warning
note as well, that only a brother could recognize.
“Gotta
grab a few things,” he replied. “If we're gonna head to Bobby's
with her, she'll need some stuff. Pj's and a change of clothes. That
sort of shi- stuff.”
“Oh,
right,” Sam frowned. With a sigh, deciding that he wasn't needed,
Sam leaned over to reach for his laptop. He was pretty sure that he
had some charge left on it and wanted to look over the research that
he had manged to do so far. He didn't think he'd be lucky to be in
the middle of a WiFi sight. He knew that Dean had already told him
how to kill the thing they were hunting, but as his brother had also
mentioned, sometimes things went wrong. It'd be good to have a back
up plan. So the more information they had, the better.
Sam
was up to his eyeballs in reading when he heard the back door open.
He glanced up, blinking owlishly to see his brother and Willow had
returned. He glanced at his watch, surprised at the amount of time
that had passed without him really realizing it. The girl clambered
in and then eagerly accepted the bags that his elder brother passed
to her. He waited for Dean to shut the door and return to his
position in the driver's seat before he teased, “geez Dean, how
much did you buy her?”
“Enough,”
Dean grunted, reaching for the ignition. “You find anything
useful?”
“Just
more stuff on the you know what, things we already knew,” Sam
concurred. He glanced back at the several bulging bags that Willow
was already digging through. To his startlement, the girl pulled out
a novel and started reading. “Anna Karenina?” he questioned once
he had deciphered the title.
“It
was on sale,” Dean gruffly defended himself. “Kid's smart. She'll
be fine.”
“Okay,
but what about the rest?” Sam asked worriedly. They weren't going
to be able to return kids clothes, even if they had the inclination
to return, to this town, or even the chain store. And someone must
have been wondering why Dean would have to buy his kid a whole new
wardrobe.
“I
had a grow spurt,” Willow offered helpfully. Dean grinned and
waggled his eyebrows as Sam quickly considered that. He shook his
head, helpless in the little girl's artless demeanor.
“Okay,
let's get back to the motel and get this shi-stuff figured out,”
Dean censored himself again and Sam was almost wondering if it were
worth the hassle to keep the kid around for a little longer than was
right. He knew really, that it wasn't, but the change in his brother
was astounding.
“So,
uh, we know it was the doc,” Sam offered quietly, glancing at
Willow, but she didn't seem to be paying attention to them. “Which
obviously, is the perfect disguise. He's perfectly position to
control the whole thing.” He glanced at his brother and added, “I'm
surprised you didn't draw on him right there.”
“Yeah,
well...” Dean shrugged in frustration, “first of all, I'm not
gonna open fire in a pediatrics ward.”
“Good
call,” Sam agreed, tilting his head consideringly.
“Second,
it wouldn't have done any good,” Dean added. “'cause the thing's
bulletproof unless he's chowing down on something. And third, I
wasn't packing. Which was probably a good thing, 'cause I probably
would've burned a clip on him off of principle alone.”
“Daddy
pulled a gun from under his seat at me,” Willow reminded him
helpfully.
“I
said I was sorry about that, sweetie,” Dean grinned tightly up into
the rear view mirror at her. “Just had to be sure you weren't a
nasty bad thing.”
“i
know,” Willow nodded. But then after a moment, asked wondering, “so
who is?”
“What's
that?” Dean grunted.
“Who
is the nasty bad thing?” she wanted to know. “What's his name?
The doctor. Maybe my Mommy knows him.”
“He's
not that kind of doctor kiddo,” Dean explained while Sam listened
quietly. “He's only pretending. Like us. But he's not pretending to
keep other people from getting upset, or hurt. He's pretending so
that he can hurt other people without getting caught.”
“So
you and Uncle Sammy have to stop him?” Willow questioned. Dean
nodded and Sam could almost see the lump in his throat. There was
something about this case and about Willow that was affecting his
brother much more than it usually would. And it tugged at Sam's mind,
that he should know why, without having to ask his brother, what it
was all about. “How?” she breathed out.
“By
making a plan once we're back at the motel,” Dean pronounced. Sam
smirked as Willow, realizing that she was being dismissed from the
conversation, went back to her book.
“You're
getting wise in your old age, Dean,” he teased.
“Damn
straight,” his brother whispered, not sounding pleased or annoyed,
but something altogether different than Sam was used to. “'Cause I
know just how we're gonna get it.”
MiM~MiM~MiM
"Okay
Dean," Sam grunted as he carried in Willow's bags that had been
purchased right before they'd gone back to the motel. Dean had given
the little girl the honor of carrying their desserts and had grabbed
Sam's laptop for him. So it was left to Sam to grab the rest. There
was one that was fairly light and when he had glanced in it, he saw
that his brother had also purchased the girl a back pack, which would
be perfect to put the assorted new purchases in for ease of
transport. He used his foot to push the door shut behind him. "We"re
here, so now can we figure out this plan?"
"Yeah,
sure," Dean nodded as he took the bags from his brother and laid
them on the bed next to where Willow was sitting. "Why don't you
go through these and take the tags off? Then you can put them away."
he suggested the instructions, rather than just barking them out as
their father would have.
"Yes
sir," Willow nodded and turned on her perch to begin doing
precisely that. Dean motioned his brother to the other side of the
admittedly small room.
"So?"
Sam promoted as Dean watched to make sure that the girl was engaged
in what she was doing.
"Okay,"
Dean grunted. "You know how this thing is going after kids?"
he reminded his brother in a soft voice.
"Yeah."
"And
it goes after siblings?" Dean prompted. "And
last night, it went after Asher," he noted, reminding his
brother, as if he needed it, of the boy of the motel owner's that had
fallen ill. It had been he that Dean had been visiting in the
hospital, on the ground as it were, to see what the hell was going
on. If this case that was hitting even closer to home, was connected
to the shtriga or not. "So tonight, it'll be going after…"
"Michael?"
Sam realized. "Well then, we've gotta get him out of here,"
the panic in his voice was recognizable and understandable.
"No,
no, no," Dean protested. "That would blow the whole deal."
"What?"
Sam winced at his brother's shifted attitude.
"Yeah,"
Dean nodded. Realization dawned in Sam as he read the apprehension
and fear in his brother's eyes.
"You
wanna use the kid as bait," he verbalized softly what he had
realized.
Dean
gave a jerky little head motion as if to ask what was wrong with the
idea. He couldn't agree with his brother that it was a horrible idea,
even if he did think that they could have done better. But he needed
to get this done.
"No
Dean!" Sam argued. "I'm not gonna let you dangle that kid
like bait for-!"
"Then
what do you propose we do?" Dean exploded, gesturing to the
side. "Use her? That'll take too long. She's not in the
shtriga's sights. And if this thing gets away? It might be years
before we get another chance! Dad didn't send me here to-!"
"Dad
sent you?" Sam repeated. "Dad didn't send you, he sent us
Dean."
"This
isn't about you Sam," Dean snorted as he turned to pace away,
momentarily forgetting the little girl that was sitting, staring at
the brother's wide eyed. "I'm the one that screwed up. I'm the
one that needs to fix this!"
"A
shtriga?" Willow's quiet voice suddenly exploded, her head
twisting back and forth as she stared between the brothers. Glancing
at one another, they realized their mistake in letting emotion take
them over as they had gotten too loud. "You're fighting a
shtriga?" she repeated once she had both of their attention. "Is
that why you have the guns?"
Raising
one eyebrow at his brother, Sam turned to approach the little girl.
Leaning over slightly as she looked up at him, Sam asked, "Willow,
what do you know about shtrigas?"
"They're
bad," Willow shuddered. She was quiet for a moment as Dean
slowly shook his head. Fighting with Sam and introducing a new
argument in the midst of that was just not going to accomplish
anything. "They're a form of witch, very old," the girl
replied at last, sounding like she was reciting something from
memory. "They disguise themselves as human, but feed off the
vitae, the life force of the young. The only time that they're
vulnerable is when they're feeding. People in the old days believed
that the only way to kill them was by shooting them with consecrated
iron rounds. But there's something…" she trailed off as she
looked down at her hands, Shocked, Sam fell back onto the other bed
across from the girl and glanced at his brother, who was just as
shocked. She looked up then, her eyes wide. "Whoa. That was
weird."
"What
was weird honey?" Dean asked carefully.
"You
said streega, shred," she tried to correct herself. "And
all of a sudden… it was weird," she repeated. The brothers
exchanged glances and as one, both repeated the word that was
forefront on their minds.
"Cristos!"
they intoned in unison.
"Yahweh,"
she responded instantly, though she didn't show the amusement and
humor that she had before. "What does that mean?"
"It's…"
Sam faltered, at a loss to explain it to the child. Dean however,
approached and knelt to take her hand.
"Honey,"
he began gently, "when we say that word, it's a magic word that
can show us if the bad things around us are making you sick."
"A
magic sickness?" the girl asked and Dean grinned widely and
nodded.
"Exactly,"
he beamed.
"But
a bad one," Sam felt compelled to add. "When we say it
Willow, it's only because we want to make sure that you aren't
susceptible to…" here he faltered, looking once more to his
older brother to explain things.
"Possession,"
the little girl whispered with another shudder. Dean reached forward
to touch her arm.
"Willow,
what do you know about this stuff?" he wondered aloud. "You
seem like a normal kid and then bam!" The girl shrugged
helplessly.
"It
was, it was," she struggled to explain. "I don't remember,"
she added suddenly and Sam wanted to groan and roll his eyes. "I
don't remember and then suddenly the words are there. I don't know
how or where they come from. Do you… do you think I'm bad?"
There were tears forming in her eyes that both brothers hastened to
quell.
"Not
necessarily you Willow," Sam assured her as Dean stroked at her
hair. "But maybe there was someone in your life that… I mean,
it could be one of your teachers," he listed.
"Or
maybe your babysitter," Dean interjected as he poked gently at
the end of her nose, "though I'm pretty sure that if she
magicked you away, it was by accident. Don't worry little girl, as
soon as we take care of this shtriga, then we're gonna find you a way
home. I promise."
"Okay,"
Willow nodded. "But…" she paused and Dean moved up to sit
beside her on the bed.
"But
what?" Dean asked mock angrily. "You don't believe me?
Sweetheart, this is what Sammy and I do with our lives. We save
pretty little girls and defenseless boys and even teenagers and
adults whenever and wherever we can."
"I
believe you," Willow assured him promptly. "It's just…"
she paused again and when Dean bit his tongue and tried to patiently
wait for her questions, she swallowed heavily and then seemed to
gather the courage to ask. "Why do you hate it so much? Why does
it scare you so much?"
Dean
grimaced as Sam's gaze turned to him as well. Scooping the child up,
feeling somehow like she was a shield against his brother's
disappointment that was sure to be coming his way at any moment after
he explained, Dean began relating the tale, keeping it as simple as
possible for Willow's benefit.
"When
we were little, Sam and me," he began, "our Dad had the
same job that we do. But he didn't want to put us in danger, so he
would leave us behind with friends or in a safe place." The girl
nodded in all seriousness, staying quiet as he worked his way through
the hard memories that this case brought. "Well, there was one
hunt, not too far from where we are right now. Sammy was about your
age and I wasn't much older. Our Dad told us to stay in the motel
room and all sorts of other instructions. The most important one was
to keep an eye on Sammy. And he was right. There was a shtriga there
and it went after Sammy." There were identical soft gasps from
brother and girl as Dean swallowed heavily. "Now, I know I'm a
pretty awesome big brother, but even I made mistakes when I was
little. My dad told me not to leave the room, and I did," he
admitted with a lump in his throat. "I got so bored, sitting in
that room all day, watching cartoons with Sammy and eating the same
old stuff. So when Sammy was asleep, I left the room. I went over to
the arcade, just to have some fun and relax. When I got back…"
"The
monster witch was there?" Willow asked, but it was obvious that
she was correct.
"Yeah,
Dean whispered. The old feelings of pain, inadequacy, of
disappointing himself, more importantly his family, his dad, welling
up in him again. "Yeah," he said a little more strongly
now. "And my dad had let me a gun. Just in case of an emergency.
But I didn't… I had a chance and I didn't take it."
"But
how did Sammy be okay then?" Willow asked with obvious confusion
tingeing her voice.
"My
dad showed up," Dean smiled sadly. "Right in the nick of
time. He came in and shot at the thing, but he didn't have the
consecrated iron rounds, or enough of them, I'm not sure. That thing
flew out the window. It disappeared."
"Did
your daddy hunt it?" the girl asked next.
"Well,
first he made sure that Sammy was okay and then he grabbed us up and
took us to a very good friend to take care of us," Dean
explained "But when he came back, he couldn't find the shtriga
at all."
"Wow"
Willow breathed in and then looked over at Sam. "So, if he had a
friend, why didn't you go there first?" she wondered. Sam
couldn't answer, his eyes on his brother. No wonder Dean was feeling
this so strongly, he realized. He, Sam had been in danger, Dean had
felt that he'd shirked his responsibilities, endangering him,
disappointing their father and if it was the same shtriga, was
probably feeling responsible for all of the victims it had found
after that time.
"I
couldn't say honey," he finally answered, as he realized that
the girl was waiting for a reply. "I… we haven't talked to our
dad for a while." He paused for a moment, swallowing the rest of
his pain before turning his face upwards. "So
now you see why we have to do something?" Dean questioned of his
brother.
"Yeah,
Dean," Sam agreed, "but asking Michael…"
"His
brother was hurt?" Willow piped up again, though her voice was
meek. There were nods from both men. "But… but Asher is his
brother. Even if brothers an' sisters don't get along, they still
love each other. Right? Michael, he'll help right?"
"I
think," Sam finally allowed, "that we should go find out."
Chapter 06- Getting It Done Right
