FIC: Of Bastard Saints, 8

[nilchance]

Title: Of Bastard Saints
Authors: nilchance and beanside
Rating: Adult
Disclaimer: We make no claim of ownership on the Brothers and Daddy Winchester. No infringement is intended, no money is made.
Author Notes: Set after the episode "Devil's Trap."
WARNINGS: Character maiming, more angst than you can shake a stick at, WIP.



South Dakota basically sucked, Jason decided. In a huge, uninteresting way.

Sure, the bikes around Sturgis were sweet, but otherwise, it was boring. Compared to three days with the Vikings in Ragnar, Minnesota, it blew.

Sven and his buddies had proven to be astoundingly generous, supplying him with food, and weaponry. Sven's wife was a metalsmith, and had been happy to provide the lucky wolf with a custom made machete. Much to Jason's chagrin, he'd been... adopted, somehow. Those damned names had been proof enough that he was one of theirs. They'd thrown another party the night he left (mostly because damn, that town loved a party; another group of decent alcoholics), and had given him Old Man Anders' motorcycle. It was a temperamental bitch, but it ran.

Jason looked around the deserted road, and kicked the bike. It ran some of the time, at least.

"Have a problem?" a smooth voice asked.

Fucking hell! Jason hadn't heard steps. He started, hand going to the gun at his back, and spun towards the sound. A tall man slipped out from behind the wheel of a softly purring Corvette, and headed towards him. Nice car. The guy, not so much. He stank of cigarette smoke.

Jason stepped back, unease curling in the pit of his stomach. "Nah. Just ran out of gas. My buddy left to get some, should be back soon. But thanks for stopping," he added, forcing a smile.

"Your buddy?" the man asked, and laughed. "Oh, I think we know better. You're all alone."

'We'. That didn't bode well for Jason's evening. He glanced on all sides, which were nothing but open cornfields, and didn't see anyone else advancing. "Dude. You need to back off."

The man continued forward in slow, measured steps. It brought him too close, close enough to grab. Jason started backing up, and Corvette followed him. "No, I don't think I do. We're supposed to watch you. See where you go. I think it's bullshit. Just another smokescreen. I say we end it now."

And the man came for him, arms outstretched and grabbing, his face twisted in hunger.

Jason pulled the gun and fired, point blank at the man's chest.

The man fell backwards, arms flailing, but he didn't go down. He should've gone down, what the- but the man stopped his backward momentum, straightening with that same twisted smile. "Nice shot. My turn." His arm swept out, hand catching Jason with tremendous force, sending him flying.

Flying? That couldn't be a good thing, shouldn't have been able to- shouldn't have-

Landing, Jason quickly found, was worse. He ended up in a heap, nearly fifteen feet from the bike. "The fuck," he wheezed, scrambling to his feet.

The man smiled, looking down at the hole in his chest, and Jason's breath came faster. Shit. Couldn't be happening, couldn't be happening. Oh fuck. Its eyes-black. Like the mugger. Like the whistler.

Jason could hear an engine rattling down the road, possible help, but it would be too late. Wouldn't matter. It was all up to him. With a hiss of metal, the machete slid from its sheath.

The thing moved towards him, a look of amusement on his face. "That's more like it, more like a-"

Jason didn't let him finish. Instead, he snapped a kick at its knee, dropping to avoid its grasping hands. It stumbled back, snarled and flicked a hand at him. Jason felt something grip his throat. The invisible vise squeezed, and he struggled, trying to breathe around it.

"Pathetic," the thing crooned, sadly shaking its head. "You'll die just like your brother, on your knees and begging for mercy."

Even in the chokehold, Jason felt his head snap back from the searing pain within. There was something, some memory- Fuck this. He hefted the machete, drew his arm back and let it fly.

The creature's eyes widened as the machete sliced into its throat, and the phantom hand released Jason. Jason stumbled but kept his feet, stalking towards it, scooping up the gun as he went. "Sonofabitch," he croaked.

It stared at Jason, eyes wide, hands trying to clutch at the ruin of its throat. "No," it rasped. "Wouldn't- you wouldn't- the body-"

"You don't want to die?" It shook its head, and Jason smiled. "Too bad. Die on your knees. Begging for mercy."

Emptying the gun into its head made a satisfying crater where the face should have been. It hit the pavement, jerking through its last muscle movements. Jason watched, bracing himself to kick in the wet remains of its skull if it tried to go for him. Normally decapitation worked, didn't it? It did in the movies.

Finally, the thing stilled.

Jason arched his back, listening to the series of pops. Rolled his neck to the side. Then he knelt, gingerly grabbing its body by the arm to drag it off the road.

The truck was still coming, slowly. Jason waited for it to keep going, tensing as it groaned to a stop beside him. As the driver's side door opened painfully, Jason said without much hope, "Um, it wasn't... human." At least he'd get the insanity plea.

"No shit, Sherlock." A tall, solidly built man slid out of the truck, his gun trained on the still form on the ground. He didn't look up at Jason, focused on the thing. His twang was thick as syrup. "Has it dusted yet?"

"Dust-what?" As the words left Jason's mouth, a tornado of black, brackish sand slid from the hole in the things face, whirling away on an unseen breeze. "Oh." Definitely the insanity plea, then.

The truck guy glanced up, one eyebrow crooked. His look intensified, taking Jason in for a long moment before he swore. "Shit. Thought you were a hitchhiker. You-Jesus, boy! Your daddy is worried sick over you. And what the holy hell did you do to your hair?"

Another spark of pain. First that thing about his brother, now his father... one second he was an orphan, and now he had more damned family than he knew what to do with. Jason shook it off, backing up another few steps to put room between him and the truck guy. The gun was still in his hands, but he'd emptied the clip. Jason held it out anyway, aiming it in the truck guy's general direction. "I think you've got the wrong guy," he warned. "Happens a lot. Why don't you just keep driving?"

Truck Guy stopped short, tilting his head to one side. He squinted at Jason. When he spoke again, his voice was lower. It was the voice of a man used to dealing with big, mean and stupid dogs. Talk them down, get them to heel. "Son, it's Bobby. I've known you since you were a pup. C'mon, now."

"I don't know you," Jason bit off. "Get back in the goddamned truck."

"No. You sure don't seem to, do you." Bobby slid the gun back into a holster at his side and held both hands up, open and empty. "All right. Put that thing away."

Jason ignored Bobby's open hands, looking instead at the center of Bobby's body. Bobby's posture said that he would be on Jason if Jason so much as lowered the gun. Bobby looked older, but he had more mass behind him. He could put Jason down if he got a chance.

Fucking ow, Jason's brain hurt to look at Bobby. There was a flurry of snapshots in his mind, quick impressions there and gone before Jason could grab at them. A junkyard, like a graveyard for classic cars. A gun range. A punching bag. Bleeding knuckles, stinging eyes, bruises on bruises from sparring. Sitting on the floor of a rickety shack, a makeshift bed of blankets and coats in front of an old potbellied stove with Bobby telling war stories to... to who, damn it? It was so close Jason could fucking taste it.

And then there was the last, brightest flash. The one that stayed. With terrible clarity, Jason could see the blond girl again, slumped in the chair she'd been tied to. Blood spilling out of her mouth as she looked up at Jason, human eyes in her beaten face. He'd seen that bit before; what was new was the memory that he hadn't been alone.

Bobby had been there. He'd helped Jason kill her. No, that wasn't quite- there had been someone else, someone-

For a second, the pain was so intense Jason thought he'd been shot. His fingers went numb, and he fumbled the gun, unable to see or to think. He caught it before it hit the ground, barely.

Then Bobby caught him by the scruff of his jacket, hauling him in a rough circle at arms length. Jason struggled to refocus, managed to get his hands up in time to avoid being bounced off the hood of Bobby's truck. The gun clattered away under the truck, out of reach.

"-get you back to your family," Bobby was saying, talking low and steady and fast. "Gonna be all right. There was an accident- goddammit, Dean, listen-"

Someone was screaming in Jason's head, a chaos of too many sounds. He didn't think. He reacted, whipping an elbow back and up. There was a crunch as Bobby's nose broke, the beginning of a choked curse. Bobby's grip eased up just a little. Enough. Jason spun in the close quarters between him and Bobby.

Jason didn't give Bobby time to hit him back. Twenty seconds. Five hits. Military fucking precision.

Bobby went down in the road, and he didn't get back up. Jason stared at him, chest heaving, until he saw that Bobby was breathing. Then he lurched over to the edge of the highway and threw up.

When he finally could straighten, the pounding in Jason's head had eased up. He swallowed hard, wiping his mouth with the back of one hand. He got to his feet and went to the body of the Corvette guy, wiped off his machete on the thing's white dress shirt, and returned that to its sheath. As an afterthought, he grabbed the keys to the Corvette in case the bike wouldn't start. Then he nudged the body into the drainage ditch on the side of the highway.

It was a few minutes' work to follow it down, covering it with the rubble and trash that it had landed on. Jason found it unnervingly easy, his hands quick and efficient on auto-drive.

What the hell was he? What had he been? What the hell had happened to his brother? Why was his family hunting for him? Was Dean a first name or last?

Never mind. He didn't have time now. That was the third encounter. Each time, these things got bolder, more violent. And it had said 'we'. There were more on the way, watching Jason, waiting. And now, apparently, he had humans to deal with too-

Jesus. He'd snapped.

Tiredly rubbing at his eyes, Jason sighed and stepped over Bobby. He slid onto his stomach, retrieving his gun. Reloaded it, cursing as his sweat-slick fingers almost fumbled the clip, and put the safety on before he returned the gun to the small of his back.

The keys were still in the ignition of the truck. Jason gunned its engine, slid out of the cab, and left it to run itself down. Hopefully Bobby would stay down until the gas ran out. Should shoot him, remove the one witness, but...

Yeah. But. But there were limits to what even Jason would do, and shooting an unconscious man was one of them. Not that it would have stopped him once.

He quickly went back to the bike kicking the starter with a little more force than was strictly necessary, but it seemed to work. With a muted roar the bike turned over, purring happily under him. Thank god.

With a last look at Bobby, he put it in gear, heading away as fast as he could go.

Next stop, Seattle. Fuck knew why, but at least it wasn't here.

Comments

[stele3.livejournal.com]

Hey, babe. Just popping in to let you know that I've been following this series closely, and am lovin' it. I have no idea what's going on, why the demons aren't closing in for the kill, but I'm on for the ride. *waves* Keep it up, you're doin' great.


(Oh, and The Bourne Identity is one of my favorite movies.)

[beanside.livejournal.com]

I love the Bourne Identity. I never liked Matt Damon, until I saw that movie. And Supremacy just cemented that love.

And as far as the demons, they have less an idea what Dean's doing than he does. Your "protect the family" guy is off, running on his own, while Daddy and little brother are in the hospital. You'd have to wonder what he was up to--had he found another gun of kill everything? Worse? It would have to make you want to see what he was up to.

[janissa11.livejournal.com]

Aaaaaaaagh. Oh, DEAN. It was BOBBY!

I'll just be over here hyperventilating in the corner until the next chapter. ::pant::

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*hands you a paper bag to breathe into*

I'm glad you're enjoying it. *grin* We'll have another chapter up tonight.

[whisp.livejournal.com]

I've been following this fic since you started posting and I feel soooo guilty about not commenting, but better late than never, right?

Anyway, I'm so in love with this fic. The parts with Dean are just great and it just kills me that he doesn't have his memory. I can't wait until Sam and John catch up with him.

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*grin* Hey, definitely better late then never! Thanks for letting us know you're enjoying it!

Eventually they'll catch up, but there's a long ride ahead before they do. Hell, we're not even at the halfway point yet!

[jedi-diplomat.livejournal.com]

At least Bobby can foward the news that Dean's on the move and doesn't seem to remember anything. But damn, poor Dean. Poor Bobby.

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*laugh* But Dean just was made to take abuse. Those wide, sweet eyes, that disgustingly pretty face! It just begs for hurt/comfort fic.

He falls into the "We only really torment the ones we love," category. So we must love these three an awful lot. *grin*

Thanks!

[(Anonymous)]

I'll have to read the first chapters, I skipped them thinking this was a death fic. Instead it's great Dean/Jason with no memory and not knowing what's going on. I suppose the demons are holding off until he remembers, hope he meets up with Sam before that.

Poor Bobby beaten to a pulp for trying to help, Dean/Jason will be upset when to remembers. But at least Bobby can pass the news on.

Looking forward to more.

[beanside.livejournal.com]

We debated on whether to include the "death" warning or not, but since the first chapter, everyone thinks he's dead, we figured better safe than sorry. And, I'll admit, wanting the Jason reveal to be a little bit of a surprise, because amnesia is so "writer's cliche #5." We figured if we were doing it, we'd better make it worth a reader's time.

The demons are kind of holding back to see what he's up to, thinking that he'd never leave Sam unprotected unless he's going for something important. And if it's that important to Dean Winchester...it's gotta be bad for demons.

It might be awhile before he runs into Sam again--we've got a ways to go before we give Dean a break.

[ohnoscarlett.livejournal.com]

Oh good lord. Dean on a bike. I need to check for a pulse. Nope. Nope. I'm dead.

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*laugh* I won't say that occasionally we don't just write things because they make us go "guh." I'm glad you like it!

Thanks!

[muffaletta.livejournal.com]

Each chapter gets better and better!

And what the holy hell did you do to your hair?" I couldn't stop laughing at this one, imagining Dean with his new dye job.

You did a marvelous job with setting the tension in Dean's interactions with both the demon and Bobby. I could feel his fear and his decision to run away. I wasn't as clear, though, on why Dean considered killing Bobby. Bobby had shown he wasn't aligned with the demon and knew Dean and his family (so was potentially a friend). Dean seemed to stop only because Bobby was unconscious, not because he doubted Bobby's words. Why was his family hunting for him? Is it because Dean feels that his family is also out to get him?

[beanside.livejournal.com]

I figure that since the last thing that mentioned his family was a demon, Dean wasn't willing to give Bobby much leeway. Plus, Bobby's kind of a blustery, no bullshit guy-not the most soothing thing when you're alone and afraid.

I'm glad you're enjoying it, though. And yeah, Dean with blue hair will never stop amusing me. *grin*

[muffaletta.livejournal.com]

Makes sense-thanks for the explanation.

Looking forward to tonight's chapter! (It's become my evening "fix" before bedtime...)

[antigone11.livejournal.com]

We're supposed to watch you.

Ooooh, I've got chills. So there's an entire network monitoring Dean? Seriously cree-pee.

I love that the demon was surprised that Jason was so willing to "kill" the human body it was inhabiting. They must not be sure about the whole amnesia bit. Jason doesn't understand the 'there's a live person trapped inside their own body' thing like Dean does. It's so ironic that the visions of Meg are what has Jason convinced that he's a killer.

Poor Bobby. But if he's used to dealing with viscious junkyard dogs, he should have known not to drop his guard around such an obviously confused Dean. At least now Sam and John will understand while Dean isn't contacting them. But it still means Dean is all alone out in the cold, cruel world (he never should have left the welcoming borders of Minnesota!).

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*laugh* They'll be back to Minnesota at some point, I have no doubt.

Dean's in for a few surprises in the upcoming chapters, I'm afraid. Then again, so are the demons. *smirk* And Bobby...well, that gets explained soon.

And as I said in an earlier comment, look at it from the demon's point of view. For Dean to leave Sam and John unprotected, he must have a very important mission. So, watch, report, and when he goes for whatever he's after, then you kill him.

I'm glad you're enjoying it! Thanks for the kind words.

[kimannebb.livejournal.com]

Ello. I've caught up with these. I thought about waiting until it was done, but I couldn't, because it was you and Supernatural and my strength is not good. *ggg*

I have enjoyed this a lot, and am looking forward to more. I keep hoping that Dean will be reunited with Sam soon, but the pacing is working beautifully. A shame that he beat the crap out of Bobby, he'll regret that once he starts to remember things. I really like the way you incorporate the flashes of memory and the pain into a scene. It's like watching it.

I have also enjoyed the way Sam and John have been trying to get along. Loved that John was just humoring Sam about Dean being alive, and when it was proven true, he knew that Sam would never let him forget it. *g* I mean, what son would miss a chance to say "I told you so" to their father?

The physical therapy sessions and their healing has been wonderfully detailed, concentrating on both of them and what they are dealing with. Oh, and the Vikings? LOL! Hysterical. :) I just wanted to drop you a note to say I was reading and enjoying and to make sure there was more soon. *gg*

[beanside.livejournal.com]

*laugh* Awww...I'm sorry if we made you break your WIP rules. (If it's any consolation, we're about 10 chapters ahead of what we're posting, so the likely-hood of total stall out is slim.

I'm glad you're enjoying it. And yeah, Dean's going to have a lot of unpleasant surprises when he's back to normal. A lot. *grin*

John and Sam are at least trying. It's not always going to work, but they're trying. Poor Sam has a few loops to be thrown for yet, though.

And I'm glad the Vikings gave you a smile.

And yes, more tonight, when we get off work and do a last beta on the chapter. Thanks for letting us know that you're enjoying!

[mikou.livejournal.com]

Excellent pacing, nice use of mythology, great characterization -- this story's got it all. Haven't read much SPN fan fiction (maybe 2?) but this makes me eager for more, especially since I've been moping around after "Devil's Trap." I look forward to the next chapter. Thanks.

[beanside.livejournal.com]

Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying it!

[mellaithwen]

Omg, just found this, and dude, WOW! Lmao dean kicked the crap out of bobby! This should interest Sam and John and the damn demons not leaving him around ahhh! Great stuff!

[beanside.livejournal.com]

I missed this comment earlier, so I'll poke back in to say "Thanks!"

[dolimir-k.livejournal.com]

For some reason I missed this story earlier. I'm so glad Janissa recced it. I'm in total awe! You guys are doing a great job! I'm really looking forward to the next part!

[beanside.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm glad everyone is enjoying it so much! (not to mention mildly overwhelmed but thrilled by how much people like it)

[squee1123.livejournal.com]

YAY. And HAH at Bobby's "What the holy hell did you do to your hair?"

Arrrggg!!

[kminxus.livejournal.com]

He was so close to salvation! He just needs to stop long enough to not get in his own way. I knew something would go wrong though, this thing is 36 chapters after all. But still, poor Bobby. -K:)