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SEASON 01, EPISODE 11, PART 02
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"Sammy, I promise I'm okay," Delaney promised to Sam.
Sam had snuck away from Dean to call Delaney while they stopped to get gas. According to Sam, Dean had picked up the phone twice to try and call her but both times he just pocketed his phone again. Sam thought it was because he just didn't know what to say to her at the moment because this was the worst fight the youngest and eldest Winchester had ever had.
It had never escalated to the point where he called Delaney a brat. Delaney didn't think she had ever heard that come from him before - at least not directed towards her. She had never stormed away from him to another state or didn't hug him a half hour later like nothing had happened. Anytime it came to an argument about their dad it always meant bad news, but never this bad.
"I can't help but worry about you, Delly. Now that you know what's out there and these things know you know, it's not safe for you to be alone like this. States away where Dean and I can't get to you in a second and save you. I know Dean's stubborn, but he's been awfully quiet for him since we separated. I think he knows what he did wrong and just won't admit to it. You know he loves you and means well right?" Sam asked, checking out the Impala window to make sure Dean was still in the gas station's little store getting them road food.
"I know, Sam. I love him too, but sometimes he just takes this whole Dad thing too far, you know? He needs to accept the fact that Dad and I's relationship will always be strained. I know I pushed Dean this time too, but we know where Dad is now, Sammy. We can help him track down this demon and kill it."
"Del, I understand where you're coming from. Trust me, I do. However, Dad does know what he is doing and he just doesn't want us three getting hurt. This demon is not like the ones we have been facing these past few months. He's real deal, top level demon. He's just trying to protect us, kiddo," Sam explained.
Delaney sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She knew Sam was right. She hated it when he was right because then it always made her feel guilty for fighting with Dean. Delaney was pretty sure that was why Sam did it because he was always the buffer between his two siblings. He always was there to be the mediator and fix the problem for them and get them both to see they were being children.
"I know, Sam, but..." Delaney trailed off when she saw a guy sitting on a suitcase a few feet away from her. It seemed as if he were waiting for something, but she wasn't sure what. This road was completely deserted except for the two of them. She wondered what he was doing here.
Sam's voice brought Delaney back to reality and she shook her head. "Delly, hello?"
"Um... Sam? Can I call you back later?" Delaney asked, her eyes still trained on the guy's back.
"Are you okay?" Sam questioned worriedly.
"I'm fine. I love you and I'll call you later." Delaney quickly hung up the phone and slowly made her way over to the guy. She tried calling out to him, but he didn't even move a muscle to look at her. Once she was close enough to him, she reached her hand out and tapped him on the shoulder.
The guy jumped off his suitcase and whirled around to face Delaney, who quickly retracted her hand at his jumpy reaction. He had brown hair and brown eyes. Delaney couldn't lie, the guy was really attractive. It pained her for a second to even think of another guy as attractive besides Will, but it still didn't stop her from admiring his pretty boy features for a minute.
"You scared the hell out of me," the guy said, his hand holding his heart as he chuckled breathlessly. He pulled the earbuds out of his ears, the rock music softly blasting from the speakers.
Delaney sheepishly smiled at him and pulled her lips into her mouth. "I'm sorry. I just thought you might need some help."
The guy rolled his earbuds up and stuffed them into his pocket. "Oh. No I'm good. Thanks."
Delaney hoisted her duffle bag strap higher onto her shoulder as it had slid down slightly when she reached out to touch the guy. "Uh, so... where are you headed?"
"No offense, but I'm not telling you."
"Why not?"
"You could be some kind of creeper," the guy mused and crossed his arms across his chest. "I mean, you are hitchhiking."
Delaney mirrored the guy's actions and smiled innocently at him. "So are you, kiddo."
The guy's response was cut off as a white van pulled up next to them. The driver stuck his head out and looked at the guy next to Delaney. "Need a ride?"
"Yeah," both the guy and Delaney replied.
"Just him," the driver said, motioning to pretty boy next to Delaney.
Delaney raised an eyebrow at the driver. Usually these kinds of guys picked up the girls and not the men. Unless this driver swung for the other team.
Pretty boy picked up his bags and hopped into the passenger seat without even a second thought.
"Wait, you trust this shady van guy and not me?" Delaney asked in disbelief.
Pretty boy winked at Delaney before the van driver took off, leaving behind a very confused Delaney. No wonder Sam was worried about her. People are freaking crazy.
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"I'm sorry but the next bus out to Sacramento doesn't leave until tomorrow morning," the woman at the bus station said to Delaney.
Delaney had finally found a bus station that had a bus going towards Sacramento. She so close to getting to her Dad and now she had to wait even longer? A whole day? She was already off schedule because instead of having Dean drive, she had to walk. At this point, Delaney wasn't even sure John was still in Sacramento, but a part of her told her to keep the faith.
"There has to be another way," Delaney pleaded as she leaned on the desk in between her and the woman.
The woman gave her a bored look. "There is. Buy a car."
Delaney had to stop herself from going off on the woman. She was so tired and frustrated that her mouth would probably make a demon seem like a saint. She decided to just grab her bags and figure out a way that she could get to Sacramento sometime today. She pulled her phone out and stared down at her contacts - Dean's name staring up at her.
Would it be worth it to call Dean, especially when he was still pissed off? What would she even say to him? Hey, Dean, yeah you were right. I should have stayed with you because apparently the universe doesn't want me to find Dad either. Can I just walk back to you and Sam?
Not happening. Nope.
"Hey."
Delaney jumped slightly and looked up from her phone to see the guy from the road earlier. He was sat on the floor, leaning against the pillar behind him and his bags laying next to him. She pocketed her phone and walked over to him. "What happened to your ride?"
The guy shrugged and leaned his head back against the pillar behind him. "You were right. Dude should not have been trusted. So, I cut him loose."
Delaney looked outside to see the Sacramento bus she had tried to get on, but was already sold out on seats. She sighed and visibly deflated a little. She should be on that bus and on the way to her Dad. Not stuck here in this dirty and smelly bus station.
"What's wrong?"
Delaney tore her eyes from the bus and back to the guy in front of her. "Just trying to get to California."
"No way," the guy stood up and rocked back on his heels. "Me too. You know, the next bus isn't until tomorrow."
"Uh... yeah. That's kind of the problem right now," Delaney remarked.
The guy tilted his head as he analyzed Delaney for a moment. "Why are you in such a rush to go there anyway? What's in California?"
"Just something I've been looking for for a long time," Delaney explained with a small shrug. She wasn't going to dish her life story out to this guy. He may seem cool, but you could never been too careful around strangers.
"Well, I'm sure it'll still be there tomorrow," the guy assured with a small smile. "I'm Mason, by the way."
Delaney stuck her hand out and shook Mason's hand. "Delaney."
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Delaney sat in a nearby dinner with Mason. He had offered to buy her lunch since they had time to waste until the morning anyway. It went against her better judgement, but she could never pass up free food. Mason didn't scream immediate danger and she could still always run away if she felt he was a threat. Dean and Sam wouldn't be too pleased about her hanging around a stranger, but they weren't here so not like they would ever know.
"So, are you on vacation or something?" Delaney asked as she stirred her spoon around her coffee.
Mason chuckled softly and took a sip of his beer. "Uh, yeah... sure. It's all sipping Cristal poolside for me." This earned him a small smile from Delaney as she could hear the sarcasm in his tone. "No. I had to... get away from my family."
Delaney leaned back in her seat and nodded. She understood all about needing to get away. "Why?"
Mason leaned his arms on the table and fiddled with his beer bottle. "I love my parents and they wanted what's best for me. They just didn't care if I wanted it or not. I was supposed to be smart, but not smart enough to scare away a wife. It's just... because my family said so, I'm supposed to sit there and do what I was told. So I just went on my way own way instead."
Delaney smiled softly at Mason. It was crazy how familiar their lives were. At least, in the sense that they were always pushed around and had to act like something they weren't. Granted, Delaney never let it slide and did what she wanted because she wanted to do it and not because her dad or the boys said so.
"I'm sorry. The things you say to people you hardly know."
"No, it's okay. I actually know how you feel," Delaney stated. "Remember when I mentioned my two brothers earlier on the walk over here that I was road-tripping with? It's kind of the same deal. At least, with my eldest brother. My other brother, Sam, isn't as hard on me as Dean and my dad are."
Mason seemed to catch on to what she was hinting and he nodded in understanding. "So Dean is the reason you're not with him or Sam anymore right?" He raised his beer bottle to Delaney and grinned. "Well, here's to us. The food might be bad and the beds might be hard, but at least we're living our own lives... and nobody else's."
Delaney lightly tapped her coffee mug with Mason's beer bottle. She was glad at least someone in the world understood how she was feeling. It made her feel like she wasn't alone.
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Delaney and Mason had made their way back to the bus station and decided they would just stay there. Maybe they both would get lucky and another Sacramento bus would be added to the schedule. Mason laid across a row of chairs and decided to take a little nap since it was just the two of them for now and it was quiet.
Delaney debated on also taking a short nap, but her phone ringing interrupted that thought. She took her phone out of her pocket and her heart sped up a little when she saw Dean's name flashing across the screen. She wasn't sure how he would be, but if he was calling that had to be a good sign right?
"Dean?"
"Hey, Della," Dean greeted and he must be driving because Delaney heard the engine quietly purring in the background. ""Today has been a crazy day."
Delaney glanced up at Mason's sleeping form and she snorted quietly. "You have no idea. What happened?"
"Well, as you know, Sam and I looking into that case Dad sent us on - the one with the couples? It involves this creepy ass scarecrow, man. It literally jumped off it's post - which, by the way, looks like a freaking cross - and tried to attack this couple Sammy and I were trying to have head in the opposite direction of the highway."
"It climbed off its cross?" Delaney repeated and ran a hand over her face. "What the hell is going on?"
"I'm telling you, kiddo, Burkitsville, Indiana - fun town."
"It didn't kill the couple off did it?" Delaney inquired and prayed that her brothers were able to save them before it was too late. She knew Dean would never forgive himself if that couple got voted off the island and he didn't do anything to help.
"No. We can cope without you, you know," Dean teased. At least he wasn't pissed at her anymore if he was messing around with her.
Delaney was quiet for a moment as she thought over everything Dean had explained to her about the case they were on. If this thing was able to hop off its cross, something deeper had to be at play here. "So something must be animating it then, right? A spirit maybe?"
"No, it's more than a spirit. It's a god - a Pagan god, anyway."
"What makes you say that?"
"The annual cycle of its killings, and the fact that the victims are always a man and a woman. It's like some kind of fertility rite," Dean explained. "You should see the locals, kid. The way they treated to couple - fattening them up like a Christmas turkey."
Delaney scoffed as everything was starting to make sense to her now. These people were actually crazy. She was half regretting not going on that hunt now because it actually seemed like an interesting one. "The Last Supper... given to sacrificial victims."
"Yeah, Sammy and I are thinking it's a ritual sacrifice to appease some Pagan god."
"So a god possess the scarecrow..." Delaney trailed off, signaling for Dean to finish the thought for her.
"The scarecrow takes the sacrifice and for another year, the crops won't wilt and disease won't spread."
"Do you know which god you and Sam are dealing with?" Delaney questioned and glanced over to Mason to make sure he was still asleep. He would probably think she had gone crazy if he heard the conversation she was having with brother right now.
Dean groaned quietly on the end, which already gave Delaney her answer before he even opened his mouth again. "Nope, not yet."
"You figure out what it is, you can figure out a way to kill it, Dean," Delaney reminded her brother. She could just picture him rolling his eyes at her like he usually does when she tells him things he already knows.
"I know. We're actually on the way to the local community college. Sam made an appointment with a professor. You know, since we don't have our favorite mini Einstein sidekick to do all the research and know things."
Delaney smugly grinned even though her brother couldn't see her face. She knew what he was trying to do. He was the worst with subtly. "You know, if you're hinting you need my help you can just ask me, big brother."
"I'm not hinting anything," Dean immediately defended. "Actually... uh... I want you to know... I mean, don't think -"
Delaney shook her head and fiddled with the string hanging off her flannel. "I love you too, Dean, and I'm sorry also."
"Della... you were right, okay? You have to do your own thing sometimes. You have to live your own life, even if dad, Sam and I don't approve of it."
Delaney gasped mockingly. "OH my God. Is the Dean Winchester apologizing and admitting he's wrong?"
Dean huffed on the other end and Delaney laughed softly at the fact that Dean was struggling with his emotions. "Look, Sam got to me okay? He made me see it from your point of view. You always know what you want and you go right after it. Having no fear whether you'll fail at it or not. You stand up to Dad for crying out loud. I mean, you always have. Hell, I wish I... anyway... I admire that about you. I'm really proud of you, kiddo."
Delaney was stunned for a moment. She never heard Dean lay his feelings out on the table like that before. Usually he acted all mocho and tough. He never once let his wall down to let anyone in. It was very rare to see Dean's insides.
"I don't even know what to say to that, Dean."
"Say you'll promise you will take care of yourself and check in every single hour you are gone."
"I promise, Dean. I will."
Dean sniffled and Delaney thought she was hearing things, but he did it again. She really wish she was recording this conversation so she could use it against him later. "Call us when you find Dad."
"You got it, Dean. I love you."
"Love you too, kiddo. Bye," Dean replied before hanging up.
Delaney frowned and pressed her face into her hands. She hadn't realized how much she had missed Dean until she actually talked to him. Her anger towards him really clouded everything she was actually feeling. She was just glad that they finally worked everything out because if their argument would have lasted any longer, Delaney didn't know what she would do.
"Who was that?"
Delaney glanced up to see Mason was awake again and he had walked over to sit down next to her. "Oh, um, it was Dean - my brother."
"What did he say?" Mason asked as he dug around in his bag.
"Goodbye."
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The next morning came quicker than Delaney expected. The bus would be there in about ten minutes and it would be departing about twenty minutes after that. She decided she would call her brothers and let them know that she would be leaving for Sacramento really soon.
Delaney dialed Dean and Sam's number twice but they both only went to voicemail. "Come on, guys. What the hell?" She groaned as she tried yet again and was still met with the same outcome. No answer. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
"Delaney, the bus is here," Mason's voice cut through Delaney's internal panic.
Delaney shook her head and quickly gathered her stuff. "Good, you better get on it before it leaves. I have to go." There was no way she could get on the bus when her brothers could be in serious danger. She wanted to find her Dad and the demon, but her brothers' lives also meant a lot to her. If they were in danger, how could she just up and leave like nothing was going on? What kind of sister would she be then?
"Go where?" Mason questioned in confusion as he watched Delaney double check she had everything before standing up.
"Burkittsville," Delaney responded and made her way towards the bus station exit.
Mason rushed after Delaney and grabbed onto her arm. "Delaney, what's wrong?"
"My brothers have not answered either one of their phones. It's only going to voicemail."
"Maybe their phones are turned off," Mason suggested.
Delaney shook her head and ran a hand through her hair. "No, this isn't like either one of them. They always leave their phones on and charged in case of an emergency. They would never ignore my calls either, especially not when we're states away from each other. Mason, I think they might be in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"I can't really explain right now. I'm sorry," Delaney apologized as she slowly started to back away from Mason. "You should really get to your bus before it leaves. At least one of us has to go to California."
Mason shook his head as he furrowed his eyebrows. "You're running back to your brother? The one that you ran away from? Why - because he won't pick up his phone? Delaney, just get on the bus with me to California. Your brothers are fine."
"I'm sorry, but I can't," Delaney whispered and started to back away again. "They're my brothers. I can't leave them." She gave Mason one last look before rushing out of the bus station and in the direction of Burkittsville.
Dean and Sam please just hang on for a little longer.
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Delaney eventually made it to the orchard Dean had mentioned by nightfall. She just hoped her brothers were able to survive this long. She noticed Dean's car parked outside and walked over to it. She was grateful the car was unlocked and she tossed her stuff inside. The only thing she took was the gun she grabbed when she first separated from the boys. At least it would be something to hold back this scarecrow thing until they could figure out how to kill it.
She turned to face the orchard and tried to fight off the uneasy feeling she got looking at all the trees. It looked something out of the Slenderman game. Delaney would honestly rather deal with that guy than this creepy scarecrow. She slowly made her into the orchard and when she passed by the scarecrow she understood what Dean meant when he said it was creepy as all holy hell.
It's clothes were all tattered, it's head was a dark sack with two black holes for eyes. It looked like something that crawled out of one of the horror films Will used to have her watch with him on Halloween. Seeing the scarecrow gave Delaney some hope that her brothers were still alive though. So she held onto that thought and continued to make her way through.
Delaney thought about yelling out for the boys, but was worried any loud noise would suddenly awaken the scarecrow. Instead, Delaney just ran around looking at each tree until she saw three pairs of legs sitting on the ground ahead. She rushed ahead and when she rounded the tree, she almost cried out in relief.
"Dean! Sam!" Delaney rushed over to them and hugged them tightly. "God, I'm so glad you're alive."
"I have never been so happy to see you in my life, Delaney," Dean said as Delaney pulled away from her brothers and untied their hands. She looked to her left and noticed that there was a girl tied to the tree next to her brothers. She rushed over and untied the girl as well who looked like she was about three seconds away from having a heart attack.
"How did you get here?"
Delaney bit her lip and smiled sheepishly at her brother. "Um... you don't want to know."
"Delaney Elizabeth..."
"Stole a car and ditched it once I made it to that diner place. Have you had their pie?" Delaney asked and grinned. "It's awesome!"
"Usually any normal big brother would give you an hour lecture on why it's wrong to steal, but I'm oddly proud of you," Dean responded with a grin. "That's my girl."
Delaney glanced behind her and her heart stopped when she noticed the empty cross the scarecrow had literally just been on when she passed by. "Um... where's the scarecrow?"
The four quickly scrambled to their feet and stared in the direction of the cross. Dean tugged Delaney after him and the group rushed off to find a way to kill this scarecrow. The girl, Emily, explained to Delaney everything she had told the boys about the sacred tree as they ran through the dozens of trees. It was something called The First Tree and apparently it was the tree that the town practically worshipped.
"Okay, so this tree has to be the source of its power then," Delaney concluded.
"So we gotta find it and burn it," Sam noted as they continued to run, checking back every few seconds to see if the scarecrow was following them.
Dean shook his head. "We can't until the morning. So for now, let's just shag ass before Leatherface catches up."
Once they rounded a corner of trees, they all short stopped once a flashlight and gun were pointed in their faces. Delaney's eyes widened as she noticed it was the couple from the diner that fed her. Okay, seriously, screw this freaking town. Actually, just screw the past two days in general.
"This way," Dean said and when they went to go down the other direction, a sheriff was stood there with a gun, a flashlight shining from the tip of it. Great, so he had a fancy shotgun.
The group found themselves surrounded on all sides by guns. A growling sound was heard in the distance and Delaney found herself stepping closer to her brothers, who both wrapped their hands around the back of her shirt to keep her close to them.
"Just let us go. Please," Emma cried as she tried to reason with the people surrounding them.
"It will be over quickly. I promise," the guy from the diner said, his gun still raised and pointed at the four.
"Emily, you have to let it take you."
Delaney's eyes widened when the rest of the guy's sentence was cut off when a hook was struck through his chest. His wife screamed in horror as she watched her husband drop to his knee and then to the ground - dead. Behind him stood the scarecrow, the hook still held up with blood now dripping from the tip.
He grabbed onto the wife and struck the guy's ankle with his hook and began dragging them both with him as he backed up. Everyone else took this as their cue to start running off before the scarecrow would grab them as well.
"I think we're safe now," Dean assured once they were stood in front of the Impala. "The scarecrow took its offerings. We just have to wait until sunrise to go after that tree."
Emily sat on the hood of the car, sobbing into her knees. The couple that got sacrificed were her aunt and uncle. They tried to sacrifice her at first, but Delaney guessed karma was a real bitch. Delaney pulled herself up onto the hood and rubbed soothing circles into Emily's back.
"How do we burn the tree?"
"I have a gasoline bottle, we just need to go fill up and come back," Dean explained and took his car keys out.
Delaney nodded and helped Emily down from the hood and placed her in the backseat before shutting the door. "I'm glad I came back when I did now."
"How did you know to come back for us, Del?" Sam asked before Delaney could join Emily in the backseat.
"You guys weren't answering your phones. I couldn't go after Dad knowing you guys were in danger."
Dean smiled and ruffled his sister's hair. "Glad to know you still scare about us."
"Do that again and I'll throw you to the scarecrow."
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Once the sun was up, Delaney found herself stood in front of the tree with her brothers and Emily. Finally the could get this thing over with. If she never saw a scarecrow again, it would be too soon. Sam walked over to The First Tree and dumped the bottle of gasoline all over it as Dean lit a branch that was laying on the ground.
"Let me," Emily offered and took the burning stick from Dean.
"The whole town will die," Delaney reminded Emily.
"Good," Emily replied and walked over to the tree. She gave it one long look before tossing the burning stick onto it - the tree immediately burning up.
Once they made sure the whole tree burned down, the Winchesters took Emily back to her aunt and uncle's house where she quickly packed her bag with clothes and rushed back out to the car. Dean drove her to the closest bus station where she got on a bus to start her new life. She smiled warmly at the Winchesters through the windshield of the bus and waved before sitting down.
"You think she'll be okay?" Delaney questioned and watched as the bus drove off.
"I hope so," Dean sighed and stuffed his hands into his pockets.
Sam shook his head in disbelief. "I can't believe the rest of those townspeople will just get away with it all."
"Whatever will happen to the town now will be punishment enough," Dean countered and lead the way back to the Impala. "Della, can I drop you off anywhere?"
Delaney leaned against the front of the Impala and squinted up at her brothers through the sun's bright rays. "Nope. I think you're stuck with me."
"What made you change your mind?" Dean asked, shock evident on his face.
"I didn't," Delaney answered and crossed her arms. "I still want to find Dad and, Dean, you're still a pain in my ass. However, Will and mom... they're both gone. Dad is God knows where. You, Sammy and me... we're all that's left." She let out a long breath through her nose and looked at the ground since she couldn't look her brothers in the eye. "So, uh, if we're gonna see this through... we're gonna do it together."
Dean sniffling made Delaney's head snapped up. However, she ended up scowling because it was all mockingly. "Hold me, kiddo. That was beautiful." He reached out to hug her but Delaney scoffed and shoved his hand away. "Come on."
"You both should be kissing my ass right now. You were both dead meat."
"I think we would have been fine," Sam mused and chuckled. "We totally had it in the bag. Right, Dean?"
"I had a plan. We would have gotten out," Dean agreed.
Delaney pushed herself off the Impala and smacked both of her brothers upside the head. "I hate the both of you so much." She shook her head and got in the car with the boys.
Her brothers may get on her nerves but there was no where she would rather be than right by their side. It just never dawned on her until she was away from them.
authors note
hey hi hello.
so i loved this episode so much i decided to just crank it out as quickly as i could. we got meet MASON MASTERS which is this story's version of MEG MASTERS. since delaney is not a male, i decided to swap MEG to MASON. i thought it would be a good idea to swap the little things like that. mason will still have meg's personality but modified very slightly to be a male's perspective of course. i think it'll be fun to write meg as a male now. it made more sense to me make it into a male for the story's sake.
mason has been added to the character list if you want to go see it. he's played by EVAN PETERS and i am just so excited to write him in. UGH.
we are also now half way through season one so that means we are half way through this first book which is just WILD to me because damn. it feels like just yesterday i had decided to do this winchester!sister fic. so it's just surreal to me that i'm already half way done with this.
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