Dean Winchester || SUPERNATURAL (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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damned_institute2011-09-10 01:34 am
kindalikedit) wrote in damned_institute2011-09-10 01:34 am
Entry tags:
Night 58: Mission #3 [Dean Winchester, Sam Winchester, and Ruby]
Dean was convinced the universe had it out to bone any Winchesters it could.
He didn’t like getting wrangled into something and basically forced to do someone’s dirty work and being told that yeah, he better go on some half-cocked Rambo mission or the other patients would get hit with something didn’t exactly sit well with him. He didn’t care how they dressed it up. That was blackmail and hostages and he knew perfectly well that they could carry out that threat. The fact that Ruby was gonna be riding Sammy and him on this was just the bullshit cherry on a bullshit cake.
What he wouldn’t do for an excuse to exorcise her. Dean found his teeth grinding.
This was one of the times he started to regret making that crossroads deal. Not that he’d ever regret saving Sam. Totally worth it. But there was all the other mind-games with these demons and their friggen agendas and he wasn’t even sure what was up and down with the damn things anymore. So much for knowing that all he had to do was gank these things and that was it, end of story, possibly get a “thanks, you’re so awesome” screw, blow on out with the Impala and Sam. He kinda missed those days, even if they suddenly felt far away.
Dean was the first out the door without asking the others. The thing to do was insist Ruby take point, since she was, y’know, expendable (it wasn’t like she could die in the first place), but giving her a chance to scope things out before he did wasn’t an option.
He did that awkward half-trip as the environment changed on him. Star Trek totally had it wrong with the whole teleporting thing. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t even cool looking. He guessed he was lucky he didn’t break his neck tripping over a rock or something, Dean catching himself against a tree and in the next instance righting himself, bringing up the sawed-off and going for cover, all in one smooth motion as if he’d done this before for a living. So far nothing came screaming bloody murder from the jungle. Big plus there.
Dean covered their little patch of jungle while he waited for the others to pop out behind him. No door he could see, no sign these “rebels” or whatever they were really called were onto them.
He didn’t like getting wrangled into something and basically forced to do someone’s dirty work and being told that yeah, he better go on some half-cocked Rambo mission or the other patients would get hit with something didn’t exactly sit well with him. He didn’t care how they dressed it up. That was blackmail and hostages and he knew perfectly well that they could carry out that threat. The fact that Ruby was gonna be riding Sammy and him on this was just the bullshit cherry on a bullshit cake.
What he wouldn’t do for an excuse to exorcise her. Dean found his teeth grinding.
This was one of the times he started to regret making that crossroads deal. Not that he’d ever regret saving Sam. Totally worth it. But there was all the other mind-games with these demons and their friggen agendas and he wasn’t even sure what was up and down with the damn things anymore. So much for knowing that all he had to do was gank these things and that was it, end of story, possibly get a “thanks, you’re so awesome” screw, blow on out with the Impala and Sam. He kinda missed those days, even if they suddenly felt far away.
Dean was the first out the door without asking the others. The thing to do was insist Ruby take point, since she was, y’know, expendable (it wasn’t like she could die in the first place), but giving her a chance to scope things out before he did wasn’t an option.
He did that awkward half-trip as the environment changed on him. Star Trek totally had it wrong with the whole teleporting thing. It wasn’t easy and it wasn’t even cool looking. He guessed he was lucky he didn’t break his neck tripping over a rock or something, Dean catching himself against a tree and in the next instance righting himself, bringing up the sawed-off and going for cover, all in one smooth motion as if he’d done this before for a living. So far nothing came screaming bloody murder from the jungle. Big plus there.
Dean covered their little patch of jungle while he waited for the others to pop out behind him. No door he could see, no sign these “rebels” or whatever they were really called were onto them.
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She didn't like being here weaponless, but it wasn't exactly a first. Although, she could definitely say that the jungle was. She headed out the door after Dean and scoped it out, an awed look hitting her eyes as she took it in. Teleportation magic. Fan-freaking-tastic. If only she had her own to help her out, they could get this over with.
At least the change in scenery made it a little easier to deal with. Being out of the stuffy institute and back out in the open … she didn't realize what a relief it was. Made more of one by the fact that she could feel the bind on her body and spirit lifting as soon as she was standing in the muddied jungle and not in the meeting room. It was enough to get her confused, but not enough for her to comment on it and share with the class.
"Well, at least we're getting a vacation out of the deal. Personally, I don't see why we don't just take the whole damn jungle with them. It's bound to catch the camp sooner or later, and saves us the trouble tracking." She stuffed the box of matches into her jacket pocket, her other hand holding the can of gasoline. Someone else could deal with the map.
She stopped short, turning to wait for Sam to join them through the mystic transport before they pushed onward.
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Still, he had to admit that despite the, uh, less than smooth interrelationships, if he had to pick anyone to be tossed into a frigging jungle with, it'd be his brother and Ruby. Even if Dean was likely thinking about ways to exorcise a demon without knowing his Latin. Yeah, this was gonna...they just needed to get this done and get out. He wasn't sure what he preferred: for the situation to get life-or-death enough that Dean and Ruby would get along temporarily, or for them to get through this in one piece, but with tension so thick it sliced through the humidity.
Anyway. That someone dealing with the map was Sam. He was usually the one navigating while Dean drove, so snagging the map had just come naturally. Though jeez, weren't these guys military? They could've spared a GPS. Or at least a compass.
"We can't just burn down the jungle with us in it," Sam replied automatically,trusting Dean and Ruby to keep watch while he squinted at the map. Four years ago, that would've been we can't just burn down the jungle, period, but saving the environment didn't seem that important anymore these days. That was the other thing, though: how were they supposed to get out? What, was there going to be another door once they finished the job?
Maybe it'd be a wardrobe.
(He wasn't thinking hard about what the job entailed right now. As impossible as he knew it would be, he told himself that clearing the camp before they destroyed it could be an option.)
Tucking the map under his arm, he sliced a branch off one of the trees (which he was sure he should've known what it was, but didn't), then handed his shotgun to Ruby. "Here."
She couldn't exactly go into this empty-handed. Why hadn't they armed her? He and Dean had practically had their old arsenal shoved at them. He frowned, but shook it off. First things first: figuring out where the hell they were even going.
He paused, then gestured to their three o'clock. "That way."
Okay, that was said with more confidence than he felt. This was a little different than navigating a highway, all right? He might've tracked through the woods lots, but that wasn't the same as a vast jungle. He was...ninety-five percent certain, though.
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Sucks but considering his past run in with that demon the night before, he figured taking a potshot at Ruby might kinda-sorta count against him.
Dean decided to take rear if Sam wanted to take point, which gave Ruby the choice of middle and right where Dean could keep an eye on her, mission or no mission. He liked to think of it as playing it safe. Sure, Ruby kept telling him she was a demon with a heart of gold (or whatever the hell she wanted to trot out) but instincts told him he hadn’t trusted demons then and he sure wasn’t gonna start changing now and get Mr. Rogers about this. He slapped a wet leaf that decided to try to plaster itself to his eye, ducking a branch and feeling his shoe squelching into mud.
Perfect. One of the few times he wasn’t stuck in Landels or Doyleton and he was in a friggen jungle. Don’t even get him started on the bugs.
Dean resisted the urge to slap at a small cloud of gnats in the humid air, feeling a sweat bead and then trickle down the back of his neck and into his collar.
“You think you can manage a jungle like the rest of us, sweetheart?” Dean couldn’t resist hissing at Ruby. He kept his voice down. Just ‘cause he had a demon chaperone didn’t mean he had to be all civil about it.
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She immediately began trekking after Sam, trusting him to figure out the issue of direction all on his own. After all, guy could be a major dumbass in all the ways she needed him to be, but it didn't change the fact that when it came down to it, he was the brains between the three of them. Map-reading didn't exactly come with the devil's workshop.
Shooting a paranoid look over her shoulder, she checked on Dean. There were a lot of things she didn't like about him being along for the ride. For starters, that it meant any of Sam's get up and go was off the table, and she could think of a dozen ways it mighta come in handy. More than that, though, she just really wasn't keen on the idea of him breathing down her neck ready to gut her if she twitched wrong.
"Yeah, y'know, I've been around long enough to handle this crap --chances are, a whole lot better than you can. So how about you stuff it before we lose the one advantage our side's got? You know. Surprise. Kinda requires some silence, genius." She rolled her eyes. If there was anything she'd learned from dealing with Dean, it was that shoving logic back in his face while telling him to shove it was the most satisfying way of coping with him hanging around. Freaking leech. As she turned to face forward again, trudging through the humid, mucky jungle after Sam, shoving branches of bushes out of her way, she muttered finally, "Amateur."
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He hacked at a low branch with the machete and let out a breath. If he could've, he would've taken up center position if only to make sure Dean didn't shank Ruby from behind, or to make sure Ruby didn't turn around and shank Dean from the front. Unfortunately, he was the one with the blade to clear the path and the map, which put him on point.
"Guys, can we not? This isn't helping." The humidity was starting to make his hair stick. He brushed his damp bangs out of his face. He pressed onward, banking just a little to the left. He didn't even know what the hell they were supposed to do once they got there. The instructions were simple in theory, but he had no idea what to expect from the so-called rebels. Were they armed? Civilians? Full of kids?
Jesus.
He scanned the jungle as he went, looking for signs that the area had been walked through, but so far, no go. It didn't mean anything, though. They could've just been really good at covering up their tracks. Hard to say. People....It was a hell of a lot easier, dealing with monsters and demons. Speaking of which, what about the institute's habit of turning its science experiments loose? Sam had heard about them being outside the institute walls.
...He really hoped it didn't extend to the jungle. Crap. He didn't think he was ready to see, like, a mutated sloth try to eat his brother. The golden retriever that one time had been bad enough.
God, okay, he needed to stop thinking.
Mind
As much as he'd like to keep going at Ruby, Sam did have a point. Monster's nest or enemy territory, whatever you wanted to call it, wasn't exactly the place to get into a bitch fight no matter how much he thought it was worth it. Dean eventually fell silent as he focused on just getting through the jungle without going head over heels on a root or, hell, he didn't know. Running into a friggen jaguar or something. Where'd they even get beamed to anyway? Trucking through swamps and forests and someone's backyard he could handle, but Sam and him tended to stay closer to home when they were out on jobs and didn't exactly go all international here.
After awhile they hit a clearing, some of the trees toppled over and already looking like they were on their way to rotting, green moss crawling across the trunks. Dean supposed they must've been traveling for an hour. Two, max. Everything looked about the same, the whole reason he hated hunting in forests in the first place with their crappy line of sight.
He shifted his duffel bag to his other shoulder as he came to a stop.
“So how’re we gonna run this?” Normally he wouldn’t have to ask, Sam and him would just do their Winchester thing and deal with it, but having a third…thing on their little team threw him for a loop.
Dean’s eyes narrowed at Ruby as he went on. “I don’t know about you, but I’m not real jazzed on murdering some folks just ‘cause I was told to.”
If he’d just been told they were a camp of vampires or demons or anything, well. He probably would’ve been a lot more open to the idea. But ganking a whole camp of humans and not even knowing why bothered him more than he was willing to admit out loud.
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When they hit the clearing, Ruby moved to set down the gas can by a fallen tree, brushing moss off the side of it with her now free hand and taking a seat so she could eye the boys while they laid out their game plan.
"Maybe you should just pretend they're demons," she suggested in a snide voice to Dean. "Should clear up any moral dilemma you're facing." The way she said it made it clear that her feelings on the moral dilemma itself weren't entirely respectful of the idea, and she went on to explain why. "It's us or them. I don't know about you, but I decided when we got here that I wasn't gonna be the one getting the axe." A second time.
"We're here now. We're doing what we came to get done." That thought had a sour taste in her mouth, but she bit through it and turned her attention to Sam. She wasn't interested in humoring Dean long enough to act like she thought he had any semblance of control or command here.
"I say the best way to do that is to keep quiet. Scout out where the camp's at and wait till dark. One of us can take out whatever sentry they've got posted while the other two light it up like the fourth of July. In and out and nobody even knows we were there 'til their ass is on fire."
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God, he felt like he'd gotten sucked into a bad remake of Indiana Jones, trekking through the frigging Amazon.
The notion of blazing down a camp full of people had been on his mind since the start and he hadn't been able to shake it the entire way—hadn't been able to talk about it, either—so he was glad when they finally hit a clearing. He knew Dean would've been thinking about the same thing and sure enough, his brother threw it out there.
He glanced at Ruby, then back at Dean. Ruby's stance wasn't exactly surprise. He didn't react aside from a general frown. In some ways, he knew she was right—not in the narrow us or them sense, but in the sense that it was this or God knew what happened to the people back at the institute. And he wasn't naive enough to think that if they sabotaged this job or flat-out refused to do it, these guys wouldn't just get someone else to take care of it.
No, they couldn't just abandon it. Their only option was to carry through with as little damage as possible. Which...
He ran a hand through his hair and started pacing. "We're not killing anyone, all right?" Anyone they didn't have to, he didn't add. "Look, they only said we had to destroy the camp, they never said anyone had to be in the camp when it goes up in smoke. So we get as many people out as we can. I don't know, a diversion or something, draw them away."
Okay, it was a sketchy plan at the moment, but it could work. It had to. They just needed something. Would've been nice if they had an Andy-esque ability on their side and just whammied everyone into walking out. Or if Ruby could've smoked out, possessed someone for a bit. This Ruby had never said anything about it, but the one before, he knew, had been trapped, and he had a feeling it wasn't different a second time around.
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Where did she even get off comparing herself to real flesh and blood humans? Just 'cause she was riding one's body didn't give suddenly give her the whole VIP pass. Dean found himself glaring all over at Ruby. The BS part was she kinda had a point, even if it was all kinds of twisted, and he was glad when Sam pulled his usual Switzerland thing and went for something that sat a lot better with him. Dean adjusted the sawed-off, switching it to his other arm as he had to admit, he was at least happy Sam and him could agree on the whole not killing random folks thing, even if everything else was weird between them. Maybe he hadn't given the kid enough credit.
"I figure Ruby can handle that," Dean said, staring right at Ruby. "Must be real tough, being pretty much immortal."
In other words, whatever sob story she fed him, he wasn't buying it. She had to run some grunt's job babysitting the two of them over a deal? Not his problem. As far as he was concerned, he'd already held up his end. If she got nailed a few times by a rebel getting lucky, he wasn't gonna get weak in the knees about it. Dean exchanged looks with Sam. It still surprised him how he couldn't read the kid like he used to before Cold Oak. All that time just taking it for granted. Assuming it was gonna just be Sam and him and his baby.
Times like this, he wished he really did have a Delorean. Or the Doctor's TARDIS. He'd totally give Past-Him a big bitch-slap of common sense.
He went on. "Look, I'm not jazzed at sitting around in some jungle waiting. Let's at least get a look at the camp during the day and see what we're even dealing with."
And that was about as professional he was gonna get. He couldn't help being skeeved at Ruby just...standing there. Doing her demon thing. Not sitting pretty in a devil's trap like she should.
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When Dean piped in suggesting Ruby be the diversion, she cast him the most venomous look she could manage. The sense of entitlement that accompanied everything that came out of his mouth was enough to drive a girl crazy. And not in the fun way. If Sam weren't there, she'd be more than happy to get her hands around his throat and --
But, he was. So, she tempered her annoyance by gritting her teeth.
"Oh, that's right. You missed the memo. I already died, dumbass. Twice. Tell you what, when you drop into Hell and get out the other side, then we'll talk about tough." She shot Sam a quick look before glaring back at Dean. "So, how about for now, you just shut your yap and let the grown-ups talk?" This time, when she turned her attention on Sam, it was more permanent.
"I'm all juiced up for once; I could probably drop in and pull 'em out by force if I have to. In that cozy under their skin way. And considering your brother," she rolled her eyes, not even looking at Dean as she spoke about him like he wasn't there, "generally does a pretty good job of making an idiot out of himself, I'd say he could probably run up a decent distraction."
As she spoke, she began to look around the wood, thoughtful.
"Gonna need a place to stash this outfit in the meantime, though. And hope she doesn't start rotting." The things she did for Winchesters. Ugh. If the body were alive, it wouldn't be an issue. And they might even have some extra help. But, no. Sam and his poor little baby consent issues. Hopefully they wouldn't bounce to life now when she was trying to possess them for a little positive outcome.
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"Seriously. Guys. Five minutes, that's all I'm asking." Maybe he was starting to understand what Dean felt like when Sam used to go at it with Dad all the time.
That felt like a hell of a long time ago. Anyway, as long as they didn't...antagonize each other when they were actually out there getting this do—
—she was what?
Sam looked up at her sharply. Okay, that explained why she hadn't been armed. She couldn't have told him sooner? Though he wasn't even surprised she'd waited till the last minute to play her hand and in the long run, it didn't matter. They had something they could use. He wasn't comfortable with the idea of letting her possess people, to say the least, but it was. She wasn't doing it for the hell of it, right? They were trying to minimize casualties here and he was pretty sure even Dean could agree that it was better to let a demon in for a five minutes than burning to death.
Right.
He nodded once, still feeling tense. She was right about Dean, too. Not...that his brother was an idiot (...well, yeah, all right, he kind of was, sometimes, but that was something only Sam had the right to call him on), but that Dean would make a good distraction. It was the way they'd always run things. Dean distracted, Sam took care of whatever needed to be taken care of. He didn't like it, but he knew Dean could handle himself.
He aimed the flashlight through the thicket of trees. At least they still had the darkness for cover. Even if it made for crap navigating. He picked the map off the log he'd set it on without looking, which was when something tickled his hand. He started. Jeez—
He shook the—he didn't know what it was, but he got it off fast. And hoped there wasn't a nest of them somewhere nearby.
"We're about five klicks out, we're almost there. We can scope out the camp, figure out where to put..." He paused, brows furrowing at Ruby. "You. If we can get everything done in ten minutes, your, uh. The body should be fine."
It was just, he usually tried not to think about the fact that Ruby was possessing someone. He knew it wasn't right to sweep it away like that and he knew, too, that the body Ruby was occupying was effectively empty, as she'd neatly phrased it. But he still didn't like the thought. He had to admit, the longer he spent with her, the easier it was to just see her as who she was instead of a cloud of black demonic smoke.
He shot a look at Dean that was half-hesitant, half-defiant. He wasn't sure if he was looking for Dean's consent to the plan or something else. It hurt that he knew his brother would never fully back him up, but this was the way things had turned out and a part of him couldn't help feeling resentful that Dean was judging him for it when Dean couldn't possibly understand.
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Also ew. Seriously, ew. Ruby was possessing a dead chick or something? Dean felt dirty all over again. After this, he had to have some serious words with Sam 'cause he was pretty sure they didn't cover Don't Fuck Around With Demons In Dead Chicks in Sex Ed back in school or...well, Demon Anything, but whatever. His point still stood. Dean just shot Ruby a glare in the dark as she decided to get all sassy black woman at him. Far as he was concerned, she could die a few more times and he'd still be sitting there in the back with some popcorn and a beer and having a damn good time.
He kept telling himself that despite this, his deal was worth it. Both the old one and the new, "improved" one. It just meant who knew who long with some black-eyed bitch who thought she knew best and Sam doing -- doing he didn't even know what he was doing.
"I'm not babysitting her." Dean put his foot down.
Just 'cause she was here as a demonic chaperone didn't mean he had to make sure nothing happened to her precious little corpse. Funny enough, he didn't think that was in his contract for his soul, not even in the small writing. He was sorely tempted to laugh in Ruby's face about his new terms: turned out on second thought, he was gonna skip Hell and all the evil things in there like her waiting to skin him alive. Sure, he'd rather not, y'know, die at all, but at least he got the Get Out of Hell For Free(ish) card to sit pretty with. Dean swatted at a bug that was too damn big for its own good and rubbed at his neck.
"Looks like there's a slight rise over east," Dean shot Ruby a smug smile, the kind that oozed Don't wait up for me in Hell, sweetheart. He glanced at Sam, holding his flashlight shielded down onto the map. "I'll swing around there. If they're smart enough to have sentries, I'd think they'd put one there. Should be a path from there I can use to get to the camp itself"
Did they even have booby traps here? Dean hoped not. That was the thing he generally liked about hunting monsters. As a general rule of thumb they didn't really leave that kinda thing, just came screaming out for your blood the old-fashioned way. Dealing with humans? Not his idea of a good time. There was just enough moonlight filtering down through the gaps in the jungle canopy that he could see without breaking his neck, but that was about it as far as visibility went.
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Still. She felt that tug of guilt as she looked over at Sam out of the corner of her eye, something resembling a solemn frown making its way to her expression. The sentry plan was good at least, so she raised an eyebrow at Sam, shrugging complacently to make it clear that she gave her approval to Dean throwing himself into the thick of it all by his lonesome.
"All right. So, Dean runs some kinda distraction a la the sentries, and I slip into something more comfortable to get everybody out. Sounds like we got ourselves a plan; just as long as you can figure out where to start the fire while we're at it." She moves a little to the east to get a look at what Dean's talking about. "We head out now, we should make it with enough time to check it out from a distance, but I don't know if we're gonna have the luxury of an up close and personal trial run here. Think you can wing it with the fireworks, Sammy?"
The nickname was a slip, honest. It wasn't like she was consciously trying to convey to Dean just how unlikely it was that he was gonna get to gut her with Sam around or anything. Not like she was trying to subtly convey that she'd been there for him in ways he hadn't. Nah, demons weren't that petty.
Except, of course, for the part where they were. Her gaze even slid in his direction, measuring the reaction carefully and subtly.
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...Yeah, all right, he was probably pushing his luck there.
Even with Dean next to him, Sam wasn't conscious of how out of place the nickname should've sounded rolling off of Ruby's tongue. He shrugged, eyes on the map and only glancing up at her briefly. "Guess I'll have to."
He could do it. Winging it was kind of their M.O. As much as Sam had a preference for an actual plan, hunting with Dean basically guaranteed that any plan they had went down the craphole in about two seconds flat, and it didn't go a whole lot different with Ruby, either. In terms of sketching the job out, this was as good as it was ever gonna get.
Besides, he admittedly had the easy job here. It was pretty much sit and wait, and then put a match to the whole thing. Provided it all went right. He figured Dean's idea of a distraction involved some form of fire, so as long as Dean hit one end of the camp, Sam could hit the other. Everything else would catch easy enough despite the humidity.
Sounded like a cakewalk when you put it that way.
"Everybody knows what they're doing, right?" Without waiting, Sam rolled up the map and started off again, heading back into the mass of heavy, wet leaves and a hell of a lot more bugs than he was okay with. He couldn't help but wonder what it meant, that the patients (he still couldn't shake the habit of thinking of them in those terms) were being thrown into these jobs now. Obviously, he assumed none of these operations were all that important, but regardless, with what the general had said...
Now wasn't a good time to be putting pieces together, though.
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He stared right at Ruby, his teeth grinding.
A muscle in his jaw twitched. Dude, only he was allowed to call the kid "Sammy" and hearing it out of a demon's mouth and not in one of those I'm-fucking-with-you ways pissed him off more than it should. He knew he let it get to him. Didn't care either way, all he knew was it was a struggle not to go screw the mission and climb over Sam to get to Ruby.
Maybe this was like some demon passive-aggressive bitchfit 'cause Dean was skipping Hell or something. Make sure he had a demon hounding him while he was still breathing if they couldn't get him down there.
Once he was sure he wasn't gonna get tempted to circle back once Ruby was out of her body and blow her corpse's head off just to make him feel better, Dean nodded and took off, leaving Ruby the finger as he disappeared into the jungle. Leaving Sam with her didn’t sit right, but the fact was she had tons of chances to gun for his brother or him, so it wasn’t like she couldn’t have taken those. Dean resisted the urge to stomp through the jungle or kick a rock. Now wasn’t the time to get bitchy, not when there could be hostiles out there with him. Time and place and all that jazz.
It seemed to take forever making his way through the jungle. He’d opted for the crossbow, seeing as he didn’t make it a habit to go running around with silencers, and once he fired any of his guns, they were gonna know his position. Dean stepped over another one of those rotting logs, taking each step carefully and slow. Y’know, he would’ve thought a jungle would be kinda-sorta like the bogs he’d hunted in, but this was totally apples and oranges here. Made him wish Dad had gone over Anything Jungle in a lot more detail.
Probably hadn’t figured Sam would be on speaking terms with a demon, either. Probably didn’t figure a lot of things.
Dean had one of those moments where he thought he really got Dad.
Something cracked up ahead. Footsteps. Dean crouched down, flattening himself against a tree-trunk that smelled way funkier than he thought he should, and froze. Human shadow up ahead. Flashlight. Armed. Judging by the way he held that Glock, he didn’t know really how to use it. Maybe had a few point-and-shoot lessons at most. Dean waited until the sentry turned away before creeping forward. Nailing him with the crossbow might be too nosy if he started screaming on him so…yeah, probably gonna have to wing this close range. Dean kept his slow progress until he was basically right on top of the guy.
“Who – ”
Dean didn’t let him get that much out. The crossbow’s butt flashed out as he clocked the guy hard. There was a dull crack as the guard dropped to the ground in a heap, leaving Dean to blow out the breath he’d been holding without realizing it. Huh. First time he’d ever crossbow-whipped someone. Dean didn’t get to searching him immediately. So far no sign anyone was coming running. He glanced over his shoulder, listened, waited for a few minutes, and then went to work searching his pockets and clothes for anything he could use.
He came up with a grenade.
Oh, hell yes.
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She turned to the younger Winchester and nodded in an easterly direction, grabbing the gun and the gas can and starting off that way. It was a sizable trek, but not nearly the kind of distance she wanted it to be. She could have used the bonafide alone time to grill him while she had the chance. As it was, she was lookin' at a one question deal. Better make it count.
"You tell him what we're doing yet?" The tone of voice made it sound like she was prompting him for nothing more but smalltalk, but they both knew it was bigger than that. She navigated the wilderness with a certain amount of aptitude, ducking tree branches and dodging plants that looked a little more on the tropical, deadly side.
It wasn't long before they reached a nice hill with a view of the camp. Ruby stopped next to at tree with a hollow facing toward them that could keep her concealed while Sam watched the camp and got ready to sneak down. She cleared some brush away from the area before shooting him a narrow look.
"Do me a favor and while I'm gone? Think about how pissed I'll be if I come back to a viper on my ass." She set down the gasoline can and shoved the shotgun back into his hands. "Oh, and don't screw this up, either. But, no pressure, right?"
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He couldn't avoid it now.
Sam bit his lip, but followed beside Ruby, trying to shake away his distractions and focus. They had a job to do. Except that was the exact moment that Ruby decided to bring up the conversation he didn't want to ever have with Dean.
He snorted softly, suggesting that he'd be crazy to have talked to Dean about it this soon. "No. He barely wants you within a ten foot radius of me as it is."
He should. He knew he should because if he didn't, there would be hellfire to catch when Dean found out the full truth. And he knew there was no way Dean wouldn't ever find out given that Castiel had spilled the beans on almost everything, anyway. Hell, maybe the angel already had told Dean and Dean just hadn't confronted him about it yet. Patience wasn't his brother's strong suit, but neither was talking about crap he didn't want to talk about.
He didn't expand, though. He wasn't sure what else there was to say.
He took the shotgun and pursed his lips, but didn't let her go just yet. He caught her arm. "No one dies, Ruby. I mean it."
It was something he normally wouldn't have said—not after this long, not after five months with her, back home and in here—but Dean's presence and the building tension of their entire trek through the jungle made him feel like he had to put it out there. Even if he knew Ruby wouldn't appreciate it.
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He tried to distract himself by scoping out the camp. It sat in whatever passed as a slight dip in the jungle floor, a bunch of those military style tents -- probably jacked -- sitting in messy rows and what looked like the beginnings of a main building, only half finished and looking like it was barely more permanent than the tents. Single mud road furthest away from him that led to who knew where and he probably wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't taken the sentry's position. A few trucks cut off his line of sight but they were close enough where Dean was starting to get an idea what he could do as a distraction.
Dean weighed the grenade in his hand.
He always wanted to go crazy with one of these bad boys.
Course if he wanted to get something big, he'd have to sneak in closer so he could roll into under the fuel line, not just lob it for shits and giggles. Dean turned to make sure the guard he'd knocked out was staying nice and quiet. Satisfied he wasn't going anywhere, Dean crept closer to the edge of the camp and one of the trucks. It looked almost military too, right up to the canvas top and he hoped to God that he wasn't gonna blow himself up if it was loaded with mmunitions. Okay. Do or die time. He banked on hopefully not dying, pulling the pin and rolling the grenade under the truck before scrambling up the small incline in the few seconds he had to get to some kind of cover.
He hauled ass back to where he'd been, just as the grenade went off. The explosion between the grenade and the truck's fuel line going at once knocked him on his ass, Dean watching as the fireball exploded outward with a boom. So he still had the BS with Ruby and the contract and that less-than-a-year left but right then that second?
Yeah, he could say this was one of the best things he'd seen in his life, Dean's face breaking out into a big grin.
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The fact that it hurt bothered her. Enough to get a smarmy, defensive remark.
"And here I was, planning to go all Texas Chainsaw on whoever's around when I smoke in." She rolled her eyes at Sam's assumption, making her distaste for the warning clear. "A little trust goes a long way. Maybe sometime, you could try it on for size." There was toughness to her glare that covered up the way it stung, and she leveled it at him, then glanced back to the hollow of the tree.
Oh, what the hell. Sammy'd catch her. The smoke bubbled up in her throat as she pushed her way out of the body, causing coma girl's head to tip back and her mouth to open as the smoke poured out, rising high into the trees. Ruby was ditching this conversation and putting it behind her ASAP. Too much of the touchy feely involved, and she'd made her point. She didn't want to dwell on why she didn't like it.
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Just as she made her way out of the guy's tent, the explosion rocked the camp and smoke went up, light flickering as something caught fire from the combustion. Ruby started shouting -- in a gruffer, manlier voice than usual, but with her same demonic charm.
"Attack! We're under attack! Everybody who wants to live, ditch your gear and get the hell outta here before I make you get out!" Soldiers started peeking out from inside their tents, some carrying gear, some in the underwear, all moving in the opposite direction of the explosion. Ruby stood in the midst of the fray, watching the glow brighten and the smoke billow up toward the trees.
She began to run; headed for the edge of the camp nearest where the grenade had gone off and began checking bunks, making sure they were all clear, and that people had climbed outta their beds to save their asses. God, when did she start caring about this crap? They were inconsequential. Sam wouldn't know one way or another, but here she was, true to her word.
He'd made her this. And she hated it. She wanted to tear it out of herself, maybe rewind to where Dean was at. Must be nice. She pushed back those thoughts and began to hightail it towards the other end of the camp, joining the crowd as they moved away from the supposed assault. She waited until she was sure good ol' General Lane would figure his shit out once he was back at the wheel, far enough away that they'd be able to get started and know he was ahead of the flames, and released her hold on the body.
The good General slumped beneath her, temporarily shaken up by the experience -- but, he'd be fine. That fight or flight would kick in. The cloud of smoke moved up, invisible in the darkness through the trees, rustling them around Sam's head as she returned to where she'd left her body to rest. There was a gasp as her eyes snapped open, chest heaving as she sat up. Leaves fell away from where her body had slouched in the hollow of the trees as she reoriented herself, her eyes focusing on --
On the dead jungle cat staring into her eyes like she was its next meal. Ruby's lip curled into an automatic defensive snarl, and she reached up to shove it back, but found that its weight was dead. And then took in the bullet wound in its head. Her attention moved up to Sam as she shoved it off of her with no small effort. Few hundred pounds of dead predator, it was a wonder she could get it off at all. But, she got to her feet.
"Nice job holding down the fort, I can see five minutes alone really ends well for you. Five more, and I might not have had a body to come back to at all."
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He caught the body and tried not to think about everything that body meant. Talk about too frigging late. He was long past the point where he could worry about this crap. Christ, what the hell was he supposed to do with (it. her.)? Did it matter? The heat and humidity was kinda a problem for decomposition as it was and that was...really not a train of thought he wanted to keep to the tracks of.
In the end, he might as well have just let her drop. She basically ended up in the same spot, anyways, beneath a tree and under the cover of a dense thicket of ferns.
Without daylight or night vision, it was damn near impossible to keep track of Dean or Ruby. Once they were gone, they were gone, and Sam was left to sit and wait. The camp wasn't big, but the layout of the tents, the trucks, the sentries—it wasn't hard to see why the military wanted them taken out. Still obviously a ragtag bunch, but organized enough. Why here, though? Middle of the damn jungle? The institute wasn't anywhere near the tropical climate.
General Berg's home. Was this it? Or was it like Doyleton? Just another extension of whatever dimension they'd landed on. Or were they one and the same? Dammit.
He shook off the questions, drawing his focus back to what was going on. Explosions (Dean. Go figure), general chaos. When the trucks started moving, that was when Sam reached for the gasoline—then started and froze.
Oh, shit. Tell him that wasn't what he thought—
The pair of yellow eyes glinted in the moonlight. The first thought that struck Sam was that it was, for once, not an oversized zombie of an animal. The second thought was that it was right over Ruby. His third was that she was going to kill him if she came back to a body that'd been made into a freaking chewtoy by a jungle cat.
His reaction was instinctive. He didn't give a second thought to calling out, "Hey." The eyes whipped around to focus on him. To his three o'clock, he could hear the sound of something else exploding and the revving of engines, and that was exactly when he pulled the trigger. Double tap. Blood splattered.
Jesus Christ. He had enough time to let out a breath, stare at the cat for thirty seconds, and then look back over to the blazing but now empty camp before the familiar force of black smoke jammed itself back down Ruby's throat. The speed of events went faster than he could register and there was a good two seconds of silence.
He frowned, but after he shot her a look, he had the good grace to look slightly caught. "Yeah. Sorry about that." He put his gun away and grabbed the can of gasoline without bothering to ask her if everyone was clear. If she was back, then they were. Or as good as it was going to get anyway. Dean wasn't back yet, but he would be soon. His brother knew what was happening, anyway. He'd keep clear of the fire.
"We don't have a lot of time, come on." He didn't wait, jogging towards the camp and splashing the gasoline where it would catch the most damage: the tents, the remaining canvas-covered vehicles, making sure that he wasn't going to trap them inside a circle of fire. Since that...wouldn't be a good idea.
He paused halfway through his work, then glanced at Ruby. "Think they might've left anything important behind?"
What he meant was Go check. There might not be anything, but it wouldn't hurt to look. They'd already gotten this far. Taking something might not be possible, but if they could look at it while they were here...
He could let Ruby deal with it. She could handle what to do.
Sam emptied the last of the container over a tent in the far corner. And then he struck the match and dropped it.
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Dean wrote a mental note to himself that, assuming he ever survived Landels, he was sure as hell gonna start packing grenades. Nice, healthy, awesome fun. He’d even go so far as to say it was like some all-American thing you just had to try at least once.
At least there were some pluses about this whacked out field trip.
He booked it back the way he’d come, retracing his steps and catching glimpses of the spreading fire through the trees. If Ruby had done her job, she’d gotten everyone out of the way before Sam went pyro on the place. Looked like from here that Sam had done a pretty bang-up job on that front, Dean able to feel the heat washing against his face and arms despite the jungle’s humidity. He was sure some tree-hugger was probably having an ulcer over this. Dean shoved the thought out of his mind as he focused on getting back to the others. Pretty sure this was the right way. From what he’d seen, most of the rebels had beat a retreat down that mud road; still, he figured you never knew if some stragglers were still in the forest or circling around lost, and all it would take was one getting lucky and running into him. Dean kept his sawed-off pointed down, ready to use it if one of them came gunning for him.
He lost track of how long it took him to get back. Too much to hope that Ruby hadn’t made it back to her body, the demon wide awake with Sam and – and –
What the hell was that? Was that a friggen jaguar?
Dean stared. Holy crap. Did Sam just shank one in the face? He totally did. Despite how pissed and disappointed he was with the kid, Dean had to say that was kinda awesome. You could hunt all the chupacabras and wendigos you wanted. That was just part of the job. But Sam killing a jaguar was pretty badass, he had to give the kid some credit.
“Nice going, Tarzan.” Dean actually cracked a smile. He reached up to wipe the soot and grime from his cheek, still ogling that jaguar. Man, that was way, way cooler than anything he ever hunted. “C’mon, let’s head back before they start coming back to investigate.”
He didn’t think it was too likely, but hey, you never knew.
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At Sam's prompt to dig around the camp, she stopped watching him spread the gasoline and glanced in the direction of the leader's tent, reorienting herself now that she was entering the camp from a different angle and in her own body. She gave a nod.
"If there's anything, I know where to find it." She moved quickly over there as Sam set the match, ready to duck in on her way out of the camp to grab anything that looked important -- but, by the time she reached the tent, the corner of it where his makeshift desk stood was in flames already, including a briefcase. She reached out to grab it at first, but when she pried it open, it was clear. The documents were unsalvageable.
She started coughing as the tent started to collapse and the flames really started to burn it, dropping the ruined briefcase full of documents and moving out of it, regaining her bearings and heading back up to where they'd come from, expecting Sam would have headed that way well before she managed to.
Seeing Dean already there caused her lips to purse in a sour look, but she didn't mention it. Just glanced at the jaguar that he seemed so fascinated with and raised an eyebrow, her expression subtly triumphant knowing what had caused it. Better than Dean did, anyway.
"Come back to what, a pile of ashes and some charcoal?" She glanced at the razing camp behind them. "I don't think anybody's interested in taking a second look at that place." All the same, she turned to start heading back the way they'd come as ordered -- it wasn't worth the fight. Sam would agree, anyway, better to beat him to the punch of following his orders. "Anything useful went up with the camp, that's for sure."