Sam and Dean
Sam woke up first, feeling hazy and disoriented. Tarsa was at his side in a flash. "Take it easy Sam," he said, "You're gonna be okay."
"What the... hell happened?" he asked, his voice thin and whispery.
"You and Dean were stabbed in the back," Tarsa answered.
"What? Dean..?"
"Dean's fine. He's still unconscious, but you are both out of the water. It was real close though."
"Who…?"
"We don't know yet. I suspect it was one of us," Tarsa said, sorrow evident in his voice. "I'm looking into it."
He pulled up a chair and sat close to Sam's bed so he could speak softly. "Sam," he said. "I'm sorry to bring this up while you're recovering, but I fear it may be too important to wait." He took Sam's hand in his. "No, don't speak unless you have to. But There's something going on with Dean that my healers can't explain, and can't help. And I'm wondering if somehow my enemies have discovered some new way to hurt the two of you."
"What is it?" Sam whispered uneasily.
"My healers tell me there is a darkness in your brother, a darkness perhaps around his heart, and they have no idea what it could be. It's not physically hurting him that they can tell. It's not interfering with their healing of him. But they are worried."
Sam shook his head. "It may not be from here," he whispered. "I think.." It was very hard for Sam to talk, and his sentence died away.
Tarsa patted Sam's hand. "This is too much for you to deal with just now, I'm sorry I brought it up. You keep resting and healing. I'll be back to check on you later." Sam nodded weakly and fell back to sleep.
When Dean woke up a few hours later, also groggy and disoriented, Sam was sitting up in bed eating some soup. Apparently they had a form of chicken soup they used for sickness as well. Maybe chicken soup is just one of those things that transcends universes.
"Sammy?" Dean said weakly.
"Welcome back, dude," Sammy said, with little more energy than Dean had.
"Why… Why are we here?" Dean asked through a parched throat.
Tarsa got up from the chair he was sitting on and went to Dean. "Save your breath, Dean. Here, drink some water."
Dean took a few sips of the water, but couldn't hold up his head for more than a few seconds. He looked at Tarsa, the question in his eyes.
"You were stabbed in the back, both of you," Tarsa said.
Dean frowned at that. "We were…" he shook his head in puzzlement. "Friends," he said. "We were with… friends."
"It wasn't your friends. But someone knew where you were, slipped in among your group of friends, stabbed you, and slipped back out," Tarsa explained. "It happened really fast. Some of your friends were able to describe it, but it happened too fast for anyone to actually get descriptions. But we are investigating, you can be sure of that."
"How long?" Dean asked.
"It happened about eight hours ago. Your brother's quick thinking was all that saved you. He was able to get the orb and activate it to bring you here. We had healers on you for about six hours. They will be back to give you more in a few hours. They need to recharge." Tarsa patted his arm gently. "Now you just rest. You're out of danger, but you're still hurt and you're still very weak. So right now your job is to rest okay?"
Dean nodded slightly, looked over at Sam in the other bed, and closed his eyes in sleep.
Just then the door opened, and Andro indicated he needed to speak to Tarsa.
Katie and Maggie
Both girls were feeling a bit at loose ends since the situation with Lilitu was at an end. They were getting breakfast the next morning when Katie asked if Maggie had any ideas about what to do now.
"Well yeah," Maggie said. "We were going to get back into a workout routine, for one thing," she said.
"Okay, well besides that," Katie said. "I mean, if the boys don't get home soon, I'm going to go crazy."
"I know, I'm with you on that. I've been thinking I might do some work on the car," Maggie said.
"Our car?" Katie asked. "What's wrong with it?"
"Nothing," Maggie answered. "But this might be a good time to soup it up some. It'll help keep my mind off Dean."
"Okay, well I can see that. I think maybe I'll start tracking down the rest of Lilitu's demons."
"Katie, I think we really should wait for Sam and Dean to come home before we try going after more demons."
"I didn't say go after them, just get the information together, while they might still be around," Katie said.
"If that's all you're going to do, fine, go for it.
"Also, I should do some shopping. We're low on groceries."
"Sounds like a plan. I'm gonna go do some research on the car. Catch ya later."
When Katie got home with the groceries a few hours later she could tell Maggie was super excited the minute she came into the room. "What is it?" she asked her sister.
"I found a working '71 hemi engine for sale along with a shaker hood and a bunch of other parts we can use to upgrade the car. The car's been in a rear end collision, but the engine and some other parts are still in perfect condition. The car's in California. As soon as I work out everything I want off of it, they're gonna ship everything here. Said it would take about two weeks."
"Aww Maggie, that's awesome. But what will you do until it gets here?"
"Body work mostly. You still want to keep it red and black?"
"Sure. I love those colors on it."
"Okay then. But if I change the engine to a hemi, I want to get new banner stickers that say 440 on them, or maybe hemi. Also, I plan to add traction bars to the suspension. I might be able to do that while I'm waiting for the engine too. Oh, and there's even an engine hoist in the garage. Tools, blocks, everything. These people were prepared, lemme tell you."
"Sounds great, Maggie, I'm happy for you," Katie said, smiling warmly at her sister. "I think while you're working on the car I'm going to find every weapon in the bunker and clean them."
"That should keep you busy for at least a few hours," Maggie laughed.
"Well then I'll clean them again," Katie said. "If I don't keep busy I'm going to start running through the halls screaming."
Tarsa
The news from Andro was what Tarsa had expected, but it was still heartbreaking. He well knew there was a large faction of his kind that for some reason he simply could not fathom wanted the situation to stay as it was. Andro was proving to be particularly good at ferreting out those who were involved. Four persons had so far been apprehended, and they were now giving evidence against others in exchange for not being scattered.
The truth seers had verified their stories, and soon all of those involved would be apprehended. It was an unpleasant business, a part of his responsibilities he hated. He sincerely hoped the brothers would be successful, because he saw a future without HIM to be a paradise. But a wee small voice inside him that he tried very hard to ignore said that was just wishful thinking.
He turned his thoughts again to the boys. They were almost ready to return to the journeys, but he was becoming particularly worried about Dean. The darkness in him that had been reported by the healers was still there, and no one knew what it was. And Dean himself seemed different, more surly and disagreeable. But of course, with what they were going through, that wasn't all that surprising. Nevertheless, he worried.
Sam and Dean
The boys were packing up to go back to the surface, although they had agreed they still wanted to do some shopping in Forsythe before heading off to the remaining two towns.
"Where's my blade?" Dean asked.
"In my pack," Sam answered.
"Give it to me," Dean demanded.
"No, Dean, can't you see it's doing something to you?"
"I don't care. I'm not going back down there without it. We have supernatural beings trying to kill us, and we have no clue what we are going up against on these last two crystals. I need the blade."
"No you don't Dean," Sam said pleadingly. "It wouldn't have helped you against what happened to us. We lowered our guard, that's why it happened. We just need to be more vigilant."
Dean walked over and reached for Sam's pack, but Sam snatched it away. Dean looked at Sam with cold, angry eyes. "Give me the blade, Sam, I'm not asking again."
"No," Sam said again, determined to keep his brother from being affected even more by the hateful blade.
Dean nodded, turned his head for a moment, and then knocked Sam to the floor with a vicious punch to his jaw. Then he calmly reached down and picked up Sam's pack, took out the blade and put it inside his jacket.
"Now I'm ready to go," he said calmly. "You coming?"
Sam got up slowly, rubbing his jaw. He threw an angry look towards Dean but didn't say anything. He knew that the blade and the mark were changing Dean, making him more aggressive, angrier, more violent even, though he didn't know what to do about it except try to keep the blade from Dean. But it didn't look like that was going to be a possibility anymore. He picked up his pack and threw it over his shoulders. "Let's go," he said.
Tarsa had already agreed to send them back to Forsythe, where their friends were still gathered and waiting. If they still couldn't find a way to one of the remaining towns they could use another orb to return, and Tarsa would send them.
Back on the surface, someone was waiting for them to show. The heroes had set watches over the last few days so they could know when the Chosen Ones returned. They were escorted to Ash's residence, where Hale and a few others were gathered to plan strategy. The boys were greeted with cheers and well wishes, and everyone was happy they had survived the assassination attempt and were back in good health.
There was still no intel on the remaining two towns. No one had heard of them, and if they existed at all they had to be well isolated from the rest of the world. They discussed what had happened to Sam and Dean and decided they needed to leave enough space between people so anyone new darting in would be noticed. And those walking behind Sam and Dean would act as body guards, with weapons to the ready. They were determined not to let anything happen to their Chosen Ones again.
The boys told them what they wanted to do while they were here, and it turned out that one of the heroes was the best jeweler in the city, so Hale agreed to take them around to his shop. The jeweler, whose name was Tom, was thrilled to have them in his shop.
The boys looked into the cases where the couples rings were on display. They were available in several different colors and styles, and the gold lacework and etchings on the rings were exquisite. But something about them made Sam wonder. "Why are these rings lighter than the ones I've seen people wear?" he asked.
"Ah, you mean like this?" Tom asked, showing them his own set made using blue colors mixed with diamond-like clear stones.
"Yes, yours are darker," said Sam.
"It's the magic in the stones," Tom answered. "The rings are imbued with several different magical properties," Tom continued. "Now, I don't know if any of them will work on your world, but I can tell you what they do on ours."
"Yes, please do," Sam said, highly interested.
"Well first of all, the colors themselves represent the way the couples see themselves and their relationship. The blues stand for true loyalty and deep bonding. The Reds stand for fire, passion and a bit of a wild temperament. The purples are a mixture of the two. The greens are for the couples who are close to nature, often chosen when both are earth mages. The yellows stand for brightness and sunshine, for temperaments that are what may be described as 'delightful.' And of course, the oranges are a mixture of the fiery red and the happy-go-lucky personality of the yellow."
"On our world, the colors are often chosen for the type of magic done by each member of the couple, and sometimes by the juxtaposition of their personalities.
"But what makes them darker?" Sam asked.
"Ahh that? Well see on our world, a couple, once committed and wearing the rings will have a hard time keeping secrets from one another." Sam and Dean glanced at one another at that. "See as long as the love of each is deep and abiding, the colors get darker, turn into rich, vibrant colors. If, after time, the colors get washed out again, it indicates something is wrong, love is dying, and the couple needs to work out the problem."
"Interesting," said Dean. "You must have very few breakups on this world."
"That's very true," said Tom, "Though we do get the occasional couple who were mismatched from the start, or rushed into things for the wrong reasons. But most people don't take the rings unless they are dead serious, knowing what magic they hold."
"I can understand why," said Dean.
"Also, if the colors get dark and cloudy it also means something's wrong, usually that for some reason your loved one is angry or upset with you. Like I said, no secrets."
"So is there anything else about them?" asked Sam.
"Well yes, they do enhance the magic they represent, but not having magic on your world, that's probably not one that's going to function. The others may though, because the magic is actually placed in the stones themselves. That's even how they get their color."
Dean looked puzzled at that. "You mean they aren't different kinds of stones?" he asked.
"Oh no," Tom answered. "They all start out clear, like the surrounding ones. We craft the magic into them ourselves."
"That's amazing," said Sam. "So Dean," he said, teasing his brother and grinning broadly. "You ready to be painfully honest with a woman for the first time in your life?"
Dean darted a nasty look Sam's way. "Shut up Sam," he said.
"Tom, is it possible to replace one of these three blue stones with a different one?" Sam asked.
"Oh yes, people do that all the time," Tom answered smiling.
"Well I like the blue stones, and I love this setting, it's exquisite workmanship."
"Thank you," said Tom, smiling, obviously thrilled with the compliment. "What color would you like instead?" He held up his hand. "Let me guess, if I may. You would like a purple one, am I right?"
Sam looked at Tom in wonder. "As a matter of fact, yes," he said. "How did you know?"
"It's a gift," he answered. "I've made many sets for many couples in my years. You get to sense these things," he added. "You wanted some passion represented, am I right?"
"Absolutely," answered Sam.
Dean looked at Sam for a second and then said to Tom, "Okay Tom, tell me. What do you think I should get?"
Tom looked at Dean for several minutes, contemplating. Then he said, "Ya know, I think you'd want something that didn't tell the truth so much," he said grinning.
"Boy, have you got him pegged," said Sam.
"Very funny, both of you, but I'm serious. All the colors mean something to me," said Dean.
"Yeah, I hear that," said Sam.
Tom smiled at Dean and said, "I was only teasing. But let's have some fun." He wrote something on a paper and folded it up, laying it aside. He took out a blue set and a green set, and said, "Start by choosing between these two. I find people are instinctively drawn to the right colors without even knowing why."
Dean chose the blue set, with little hesitation. Then Tom took out a red set and laid it with the blue. Dean studied them seriously, but hesitated to pick one over the other. Then Tom added a Purple set and said, "See if you can eliminate one."
When Dean was still having a hard time, Tom said, "Okay then, see if you can choose one you definitely want to have,"
Dean immediately chose the blue ones. "Very good. You feel your love is deep and true. That's an excellent start. Let me help you with this. You want the red, because you have passion for your lover, but you want the purple because it represents both deep love and passion. You feel the passion is too strong for just half of a stone, which is why you're drawn to the red. But on the other hand, you think the red is a bit too harsh for your true feelings, even though the passion is there."
Dean was astonished and looked it. "Amazing," he said. "How did you do that?"
Tom smiled and spread his hands. "Like I said."
"So what should I do then?" Dean asked.
"I'm gonna let you decide," Tom said.
Dean looked at the rings again. "You're right about the passion. I do want it represented, but the red is too much. So the purple then," he said, but he looked at Sam when he said it.
"You don't want them to be exactly like your brother's either," said Tom.
"No, I don't," said Dean. "So if I have two purple's surrounding a blue in the middle, I think that's more what I want."
Tom grinned a very large grin and took out his note and opened it. It said "One blue surrounded by two purples."
"Awesome," said Dean, truly in awe.
"Pick out any setting you like, I can change the stones," Tom said.
Dean looked at all the rings several times, but couldn't make a decision. "How did you make your mind up so fast, Sammy?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. These just seemed to call out to me the minute I saw them," Sam answered. "I don't think I've ever seen you have such a hard time with a decision before," he teased.
Then Tom raised a finger in a wait a minute gesture, and pulled out a set from a box behind him. "What do you think of this set?" he asked Dean.
Dean took one look at it and said, "That's it, these are the ones. Are these available?"
The design was another spectacular display of rare artistry, with the stones in a slight slant across the bands rather than straight along them. "For you, my son, of course they are. And a great choice if I do say so myself."
"There's one problem I just thought of," said Sam. "We don't know their ring sizes."
"If the magic carries to your world," said Tom, "They will adjust themselves magically."
"Incredible." Sam remarked.
"How much then, for both sets," asked Dean.
"Oh no," said Tom, "They are on me. The idea of having my designs worn by the Chosen Ones and their mates, and being the only ones like them on your world, why that is an honor."
"Absolutely not," said Sam, and Dean was also shaking his head. "First of all, we need to buy these for our women. And second, we just couldn't let you do that. We insist on paying for them."
Tom and Hale had been doing some private communications while the boys were looking at the rings, and Tom knew that at present at least the boys had nowhere near the available funds to purchase the sets, even one. So he named a price that seemed way too low to the boys, but he insisted that was it. Dean got out the pouch that carried all the funds they could count on getting from Tarsa, and Tom picked out the stones he insisted were enough payment for him.
He took the sets and turned around to his workbench to change out the stones like the boys had wanted, placed them into beautiful hand carved wooden boxes and laid them on the counter. "Since you won't accept these as a gift from me, then please accept something as my gift for your mates. Please excuse me for a moment."
He went into his back room and was gone for about five minutes. When he returned he had two additional carved wooden boxes that were long and narrow. These are just a few other pieces of jewelry that I hope your mates will enjoy wearing, in remembrance of me," he said smiling. "But I wish you not to open them, until you present them to your mates. Will you promise?"
The boys both promised, reluctantly of course, because they were curious and because they were both sure the gifts were worth much more than they would be comfortable accepting. But they did promise, and soon all the boxes were safely stowed in their packs.
After their goodbyes and well wishes and thank yous were all said, the boys and Hale left the store together. Hale said he also wanted to buy their mates a small gift and he led them to a stall in the square that was loaded with furry stuffed animals. He chose two that looked a bit like a cross between a kitten and a chipmunk. Paid for them and gave them to the boys, smiling.
"These are called Simlies," he said. "Our children love them, and having them in a household is considered good luck. Since I can't send you home with real ones, these will have to do."
"Yes, we've seen these all over," said Sam. Hale smiled, slapped them each on the shoulder and led them back to the rest of the waiting group at Ash's house.