Other Halves

Present

“DEAN! HEADS UP!”

Sam was lying in a heap on the dusty barn floor, strewn with loose hay and other various debris. But he still managed to expertly throw Dean’s favorite Colt M19 in his direction.

The witch was slowly advancing to Dean’s side. She was carrying a handful of some kind of powder while chanting something unknown under her breath.

Crawling towards his gun, which was on the other side of the barn, Sam was listening faintly to the witch’s chant. Her voice was gradually getting louder as she was nearing the end of the spell, signaling that Sam didn’t have much time to gain momentum and get himself upright and over to Dean.

Sam’s leg was killing him and his head felt dizzy. Trying to crawl in his state was a struggle, sore arms and weak legs weren’t the best for movement. Whatever spell she had going on would be completed before he could even get vertical again.

Then, because he really is the huge nerd that Dean says he is, Sam caught one word and knew something horrible was about to happen.

She was now at least 20 feet from where Dean stood. He was struggling to pick up his weapon; although, he had gashes slashed across his stomach, forearms, and hands from where the witch clawed him. Before the whole chanting-and-flinging-Sam-across-the-room crap, they had been wrestling on the ground when she got the jump on him and gave Dean a good clawing with her long, perfectly manicured, pointy nails.

The witch was almost yelling as she neared the end of the chant, “-cum in potestate cristallo-” Dean had no clue what any of those words meant, but a very quick look at Sam’s face told him it wasn’t good. Not at all.

When Dean finally got his grip on the gun, he stole one more quick glance to check on his brother. With a brief nod from Sam, he planted his feet, squared his shoulders, and took aim right at the witch’s heart. “TAKE THIS, BITCH-” Dean’s index finger reached to pull the trigger as the witch finished her chant, but before he could get a shot in, ”- asportabit te in locis desertis mundi magicae, quae in terra!” She took a breath as she opened her fist and blew the mysterious orange powder towards Dean, unaware of Sam quietly looming up behind her.

“HEY!” The witch spun around with wild eyes. She started sprinting toward Sam when he took aim and effortlessly pulled the trigger in quick succession, each bullet straight to the heart. With a thud to the ground and a bit of left over powder floating out of her grip, the witch fell lifeless at Sam’s feet.

Sam took a moment to peer at the witch. Even though she was corrupted on the inside, you wouldn’t be able to tell just by her appearance. She was beautiful. She had natural curly black hair, which reached just past her shoulders. Her skin was a spectacularly gorgeous tanned color. She looked like she had just spent the whole year at the beach, her skin practically glowing with radiance. When looked more closely, he was a little stunned to see she looked very similar to Dean’s first love, Cassie. She could definitely pass for her twin, no doubt. They had the same curly, black hair, plump lips, and slim yet curvy figure. He absentmindedly wondered if Dean noticed the similarities between the two women as well. Probably. This is Dean after all.

He was pulled out of his daze and back to reality when Dean began coughing up a storm. Sam’s head jerked up only to see his brother collapse on ground, surrounded by a cloud of orange and grey smoke.

******

Some Time Earlier

The weather was clear with not a cloud in the sky on the ride back to Lebanon. With the open road and the wind rushing through Baby’s windows, Dean was content to sit in silence whilst listening to Sam type away on his laptop.

Sam huffed, rearranging his laptop so he could balance it on his bent leg. He was scrolling through whatever article he had come across when Dean looked over. Eyebrow raised, he glanced at his brother, “Hey man, you good over there?”

Rolling his eyes, Sam nodded his head “Yeah, it’s just… I’m not finding any good cases in the area. I mean, there were a few cattle mutilations down south, but Harry and Randy are taking care of them. There are a few missing bodies up in Seattle, which Garth said he’s dealing with…” Sam gave a dramatic sigh and slammed the laptop shut, throwing it in the backseat.

“Come on Sam, you wanna jump straight into another hunt? We just ganke’d a whole nest of vampires. Don’t ya think we should take a little break and maybe hit up a bar? Scope out the pretty ladies? You might even get lucky this time, bitch.” Dean chuckled, turning his attention back to the road.

Sam threw what Dean calls ‘Bitchface #4’ in his direction, huffing, “Jerk. Fine, you want to try and pick up lonely women then be my guest. But I’m not going to sit around taking shots when I could be doing something productive. Like actually look for another case, for instance. We’re not on vacation just because there’s no big bad on our radar right now.”

“Okay, Sammy. You go do your nerd thing and when we get home I’m going to crack open a couple beers, take a nap, and when I wake up I’m going to take Baby out to enjoy the night life like normal people do.” Dean spared a glance towards the passenger seat, seeing ‘Bitchface #4’ still stuck on his little brother’s face.

Sam turned to look out the window, finally giving up. He let out the most dramatic sigh he could muster, “Do what you want Dean, but I’ll sit out on the fun tonight.”

Satisfied, Dean reached in the backseat and grabbed the first tape he could get his hands on. Looking at the label, it read ‘METALLICA: THROUGH THE NEVER’.

He shoved the tape in the console and cranked up the volume. ‘Enter Sandman’ blasted through the speakers, drowning out all other noise in the Impala.

Dean took one hand off of the wheel, bobbing his head and imitating the drum beats. Sam chuckled and shook his head at his brother.

******

When the boys finally reached the bunker, they were exhausted. Dean parked Baby in the bunker’s garage, “Because she’s a lady, dammit! She can’t sleep outside!” And they slowly dragged themselves down the steps and into the place they now called home.

Dean went straight to the fridge and cracked open a beer from a fresh six-pack, heading to the TV room. Before he reached the doorway, he noticed Sam’s tense shoulders as he headed to his room. He rolled his eyes and called out, “Sam! You sure ya wanna do your nerd thing right now? How ‘bout we watch a movie or somethin’?”

Sam turned around looking shocked, but Dean was pleased when all he did was nod his head and agree, “Okay… okay, yeah. I’ll just go put my stuff away and grab a blanket.”

Giving a thumbs up, Dean made his way into the room and planted himself on the couch. He huffed when he realized he hadn’t grabbed a movie. He took a swig of beer all while muttering, “Whatever, he can pick a goddamn documentary for all I care.”

When Sam reappeared carrying a small blanket and a cup of who-the-hell-even-drinks-pureed-rabbit-food, he caught the tail end of Dean’s little tantrum, “Dude, documentaries are interesting. And besides, I’m more in the mood for a comedy anyways.”

“Good, ‘cause I’m not watching no March of the Penguins crap. That stuff is for kids.” Dean shook his head and wriggled to get comfortable on his side of the couch.

Sam threw his blanket over the couch and set his smoothie on the table, ignoring Dean’s glare at the offending kale mixture. He then made his way towards the TV stand, where the DVD rack was located. He crouched down and began unnecessarily touching the spine of every DVD his eyes landed on. When he finally came across the perfect one to lighten up the atmosphere, he grabbed it and shoved it into the Blu-ray console.

Dean, not having glanced at the cover of the film, grabbed the remote to turn the TV on and pressed play. He was delighted to see the opening title “Caddyshack” play itself across the screen, “Hell yes! This is a movie classic! Nice taste there, Sammy.”

The movie started and as it progressed, the brothers laughed where appropriate and were silent during serious moments. The whole thing was so normal that for the whole two hours, each of them was able to forget that they were so very far from normal. Well, perhaps it was mostly Dean who was able to believe that. Sam still believed that there was more work to be done; however, he was certain that there was undeniably nothing more important than having some quality bonding time with his big brother.

******

Dean woke up the next morning feeling groggy, sporting a slight hangover from downing that whole six-pack during what he now calls “movie night.” He rolled over onto his side to take a peek at the time on his phone. Seeing that it was already 9:00 am, he grudgingly sat up and threw his feet over the edge of the bed.

Taking slow, cautious steps he made his way down the hall towards the bathroom.  Before he even made past the doorframe, a wave of nausea hit him out of nowhere. Dean ran and slid on his knees, reaching the toilet before the disgusting bile choked its way through his system, filling up the toilet with the disgusting liquid. Eventually the sickness passed, leaving Dean with a spit-covered mouth and horrible morning breath. Slowly he gathered himself, got to his feet and limped to the sink. Armed with toothbrush and minty paste in hand, he scrubbed his teeth clean until there was nothing left of his fun time the night before.

******

Asia’s ‘Heat of the Moment’ began blaring through his phone’s tiny speakers, rousing Sam out of his deep sleep. He blindly reached for his nightstand to turn off the offending song and to check the time. Swinging his gigantic legs over the side, he practically leaped out of bed when he saw it was just after 9:30 am.

He walked towards his dresser, pulling the drawers open frantically. Searching for a decent article of clothing was a chore, but he finally got his hands on a non-ripped, red checkered flannel and a pair of blue faded jeans. Sam grabbed a pair of socks out of the bottom drawer and proceeded to shove them on his feet, while hopping on one leg out of his room.

Speed-walking, he finally got both socks on and his flannel buttoned when he bumped into Dean on the way to the kitchen, “Hey man, watch where you’re walkin'! What’s the rush?” Dean straightened out his t-shirt then fist bumped Sam on the shoulder. Sam huffed, straightening out his clothes as well, “Dude it’s already like, 9:40. We should’ve been up hours ago.”

“Yeah… well, some of us have had a tough mornin’. It doesn’t hurt to sleep in once in a while ya know.” Dean shoved past his brother when Sam turned around and called out, “That’s what you get for drinking a whole case during movie night, jerk!”

Continuing forward, Dean didn’t look back when he flipped Sam the bird and yelled back, “Bitch!”

******

Dean was sitting at their impressive map table, sipping on his morning coffee while flipping through the latest issue of Busty Asian Beauties when Sam spoke up.

“Hey, so get this. There’ve been two missing persons reports this week right here in Lebanon. It says here that, ‘12-year-old, Martha Franklin and 7-year-old, Jesse Franklin were reported missing this Tuesday at their home around 5 pm.’ It also says that they were last seen playing in the front yard before their mother went inside to take a phone call.”

Listening intently to Sam’s every word, Dean quietly shook his head when Sam finished his spiel, “That just sounds like a normal kidnapping Sammy. Nothing supernatural about that.” Sam shook his head right back at Dean, “No, but you haven’t heard the best part. The mother made a statement yesterday and she claimed that when she finished her phone call and went back outside to check on the kids… get this… she believed that she saw orange and grey smoke surrounding the entire tire swing where the kids were playing. Then one black and white cat, which she had never seen before, ran up to the doorstep and started clawing at her feet. She said it was the most vicious thing she’d ever seen, so she called animal control to take it to the shelter. But, seeing as how violent it was I don’t think they’d be willing to keep it for long.”

“Okay… so, mysterious orange and grey smoke and evil cats. What do you think it could be? A demon? An angel maybe? Oh! Or maybe a witch with a master plan to take over the world with cats! Heh…Yeah, I like the last one.” Dean imitated an old woman’s voice, “You shall bow down before me or you shall taste the wrath of my furry feline friends!” Dean threw his head back in a guffaw of laughter, gasping for breath.

Sam threw ‘Bitchface #2’ in Dean’s direction, “Dude, this is serious. There’re two missing children and some weird crap going on. I think we should go check it out. Besides, it’s only a few minutes’ drive, we’ve gone a lot further for a lot less.”

Dean finally controlled his laughing fit and agreed, “Okay Sam, we’ll check it out. Do ya think we need to call Cas to tag along with us? He might know a little somethin’ about orange and grey smoke.”

When Sam nodded the ‘okay’ to call Cas and got up to start preparing all the necessities, Dean dug into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He scrolled through the A’s and B’s until his thumb finally found ‘Castiel’ in his contacts. He clicked dial and waited until the ringing stopped and heard the other man’s deep, rumbly voice in the speaker.

“Hello, Dean.”

“Cas, hey. Me and Sam found a hunt right in Lebanon and we were wonderin’ if you’d like to tag along and help us check it out?”

“Of course, Dean. What is it that you are hunting?”

“Well, we’re thinkin’ it might be a witch with a master plan to take over the world with evil cats. That sound like enough fun for ya?”

“Dean… I really doubt that it is possible to take over the world with evil cats. Let alone cats in general. Although, did you know that during the Middle Ages, cats were associated with witchcraft, and on St. John’s Day, people all over Europe would stuff them into sacks and toss the cats into bonfires. On holy days, people celebrated by tossing cats from church towers. So, perhaps there could be evil cats, but then again that was the belief hundreds of years ago and humans have grown to be more accepting over the years- “

“Cas! Cas. Okay, I get it. Cats may or may not be evil. But this isn’t history class dude, don’t bore me with Middle Ages trivia.”

“My apologies, Dean. I did not mean to bore you with facts. It just seemed interesting at the time. Ah, and I remember being there. Those people were so cruel to the kittens… but, that was a long time ago and I much prefer the humans in this century.”

“Alright, Wikipedia. Just poof on down here and we’ll head out then.”

Dean was sitting with both elbows propped up on the map table, waiting for Cas’ response when he heard that familiar ‘whu-puff.’ Standing right behind Dean, Cas’ gravelly voice rang out through the room, “I’m here now.”

Dean jumped and stumbled out of his chair. Turning around to face Cas, he pointlessly said into the phone, “Yeah… I get that.” Cas stood without moving and stared at Dean with that all too familiar gaze, “I’m going to hang up now.” Dean chuckled and shook his head, “Yeah.” He took the phone down from his ear and pressed the ‘end call’ button, while Cas did the same. When he looked up again he was a little stunned to realize how close they were standing to each other.

Although he found that, surprisingly, he was beginning to enjoy the closeness… he couldn’t let Cas know that. He took a couple of steps to the side, avoiding the chair that had fallen over, “Come on Cas, we’ve talked about this… personal space.”

“My apologies, Dean. When should we head out?” Tilting his head, Cas now acquired his trademark ‘puppy dog squint’ which Dean would call adorable, but you just don’t say that type of thing about another guy. Let alone be allowed to think it. Dean internally shook himself and looked at the time on his phone.

“We’ll leave in a half hour. Me and Sam are gonna pack a duffel, so I guess you can sit down and relax or whatever.” Dean glanced at Cas, seeing a silent nod in his direction, to make sure the plan was good before striding down the hall and into his room.

******