SIBLINGS
A HANSEL AND GRETEL QAF FAERIE TALE
CHAPTER 6
IMPLOSION
"SO! Who wants to go first!!?"
Craig cackled maniacally.
Everything was going as planned. Soon he could feed and go back to sleep for another year. He could hear his nest calling but he couldn't answer just yet until he had filled his belly with the flesh of the innocents. And two not so innocent, he thought perversely.
"NOW, SAMMY, NOW!" yelled Dean.
"NOW, GRETEL NOW!" yelled Hansel.
In a sudden motion, Sam raised his long, curved knife and then plunged it into a burlap sack on the table. He slit it from top to bottom and the entire quantity of walnuts poured out and rained down on the floor.
At the same time, Gretel pulled the bellows out from the stove and rammed the end of it hard onto Craig's foot, right where the foot meets the ankle and starts to curve upward. The end was red-hot and the effect was immediate.
"YOOOOOWWWWWWWW!!!!" Craig yelled, grabbing his foot in pain and hopping up and down. Only now, with all the walnuts on the floor there was no solid ground to land on. He slid and rolled and flailed around comically for balance. As he tried to use his staff to brace himself, he felt another vicious jab in his foot and suddenly, it was gone. Sam had grabbed it.
"OWWWWW! You wretched brats! What do you think you're doing!?"
Sam didn't answer. He could feel the power of the staff coursing through his veins, aligning with his thoughts and feelings. The effect was intoxicating.
"It's called a breakout, you sonofabitch!" yelled Dean, "Right Sammy?"
But Sam still didn't answer. The staff and he were still merging. His thoughts and feeling coalesced into one. Rage. Pure, white-hot rage.
"You'll never escape me!! Craig yelled insanely. He was still pinwheeling for balance, rolling on the walnuts. "When I get out of this, I'll cut out your eyes while you're still alive!"
Sam straightened, his eyes blazing. "You....Will...Never...Touch... Another... Child.... EVER AGAIN!!" Somehow he released his rage and a white energy beam shot out of the staff's crystal and hit Craig square in the chest. Craig was propelled backward and he rolled back on the walnut floor right in front of the oven door!
"NO! NO!" screamed Craig. He teetered back and forth, struggling for balance. But he couldn't find it because of the nuts. All he needed was tiny push one way or the other...
And that's just what JR gave him!
"AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!" screamed Craig, as he fell into the fire. JR and Sam shoved him and the rack all the way in. Each grabbed one of the wide doors and slammed them shut!
"We did it! We did it!" JR squealed, jumping up and down. He and Sam hugged each other in glee.
"RAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR!!!!!" The oven door slammed open and Craig popped out like an evil jack in the box. His clothes were on fire and his face was half melted off!! He grabbed JR by the collar and tried to drag her into the oven with him. Gus screamed.
"IF I'M GOING DOWN, I'M TAKING YOU WITH ME!!!!!!!!" he roared in a liquid, gutteral voice.
"The HELL you are!" Sam yelled. He punched Craig...one-two...in the face forcing him back into the oven. It was like punching into raw hamburger. At the same time, he grabbed the front of JR and pulled her out of Craig's clutches. Then he shot him with another white energy beam. With a wail, Craig was thrown back into the oven again. Sam slammed the doors and held them shut.
"JR! You OK, hon!?"
JR nodded, She was crying with shock and fear but she was getting better.
"Good! I need your help! Get me that broomstick over there! Hurry!"
JR ran and got it.
Sam grabbed the broomstick and shoved it through the handles, barring the doors shut just in time.
Hands banged on the door from the inside and Craig's horrible yells for help disintegrated into one long wail of anguish. It was music to their ears. And then there was nothing.
The red crystal in the staff turned into a pure white of a diamond.
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Somewhere, in a building in Pittsburgh, Craig Taylor was in a conference meeting.
In the middle of a sentence, in the middle of a word, and without any warning, Craig Taylor spontaneously combusted. When all was said and done, all that was left was a small pile of black ash.
*see endnote
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JR whooped and ran and shot back the bolt of Gus' little cage. BAM! The door was slammed open and out flew Gus like a bird flies out of a cage. He grabbed JR and swung her around and around in a circle. He was in a rapture of joy. JR squealed with peals of joyful laughter.
Sam strode over to Dean. He concentrated and a white beam shot his chain. It glowed and vanished. Another beam shot the padlock.
"You should be able to deal with it now," Sam smirked.
Dean looked at it and realized it was just a fake lock made out of papier mache or cardboard or something. It looked like one of those stupid props you'd find on an hour-long TV adventure show. Dean squeezed it with one hand and ground it to sawdust. Then he unstrapped that hated thing and threw it away and off him forever.
"Good work, Sammy. So...Are you the new witch on the block?" Dean asked with some trepidation. Had they vanquished one foe only to gain another? Power corrupts, isn't that what they say?
"Don't worry, Dean. It's the staff that's magic, not me. It aligns itself with your thoughts and feelings. I can feel its power humming through me like electricity. But I can also feel that it's a force of good now, not evil. It's not a threat anymore and don't worry, Dean. Neither am I."
As if on cue, the ground began to quake.
"Sammy! What the hell!?" Dean yelled.
"THIS ISN'T ME!" yelled back Sammy. A wall collapsed and a door cracked in half and fell apart.
JR screamed and pointed. The oven was belching out hot flames all the way around the edge of the doors. The doors themselves were beginning to bend inwards straining and bending the broomstick with it.
"I think this would be a good time to GET OUT OF HERE!!!" yelled Gus.
Dean agreed by ripping the back door off of its hinges.
Together, they all ran out of the house and into the yard.
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Together, Brian and Justin raced to Molly's house. The ‘Vette screeched to a stop at the curb in front of the driveway and once more, Justin was up and out of the car before it had stopped moving.
"Sunshine, I swear if you do that again, I'm going to crazy glue you to the seat one of these days!" Brian yelled.
Justin didn't even hear him. He was halfway up the driveway. Molly finally came to the door. She really didn't have much choice as Justin was banging on her door like a Gestapo. Justin wasn't sure if she would help him or not; she had been raised by Craig. He wasn't sure how much of his homophobia had rubbed off on her.
"Hi Justin," she said, "Come on in. I was just finishing up the breakfast dishes." She caught sight of Brian. "Oh. I didn't know he was here. What do you guys want?"
"Look Molly, this is important! It has nothing to do with us. You probably remember that our kids have been kidnapped. Well, we know where they are! But I need your help getting them back!"
"Why me?"
Justin took one of her hands in his and looked imploringly into her eyes. "Because you're my sister," he answered, "And their aunt. And they need your help. Look, whatever Dad had taught you to think about me, just squash it right now and come with me! Do it for the children. Please. Just do it for the children. Just come. I'll explain everything on the way."
Molly stood there genuinely thinking about it. Suddenly, she got a strange glazed look on her face for a few seconds. When she snapped out of it her eyes were clear and sparkling. She looked as if she had just awoken from a long sleep. "You know, dad's told me a lot of stuff about you, but you know, I think you're right. He was trying to tell me what to think. I won't lie to you, Justin. I still don't understand your relationship and not sure if I approve but I'll help you for the sake of the kids. What do you need me to do?"
"Just come with us. Right now." Justin took her hand and pulled her toward the car.
Molly smiled, nodded and followed.
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Fifteen minutes later, when they screeched to a halt near the footpath in the cul-de-sac, Molly was not smiling so much.
"Another dimension? Magic? The witch from Hansel and Gretel? Justin, I can't believe you let me suck me into this! Are you insane?"
"Look, I know it sounds crazy. But everything will become clear very soon. You'll see that we're telling you the truth. For one thing, there's Sam and Dean's Impala. (Wow, I can't believe that didn't get towed)
However, the Impala was not enough of proof to get Molly's attention but she was suitably impressed when the simple trail transformed into the wide driveway before her very eyes. Now all on the same page, they ran down the roadway together.
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Meanwhile, the four captives made free ran around the house to the front and toward the trail that led into the forest. It was slow going because the earth was still heavily quaking. The kids couldn't keep their balance and they kept falling.
Finally, a hunter just scooped up a child each and ran for it. They reached the forest's edge when the house collapsed. They all turned to watch.
The spun sugar windows blew into smithereens. The walls smashed and crumbled into cookie crumbs. The house flattened. There was a huge pillar of fire and it subsided and turned into a spiral of fire. The fire turned inward toward a white hot spot and vanished into the whiteness. Then the cookie pieces and crumbs were pulled into the whiteness, like they were sucked into a vacuum cleaner.
"Where's the house going?" asked JR.
Wherever the house went the fence followed. The picket fence made out of bars of fudge were ripped out of the ground and pulled into what was now a scary looking white vortex that was growing bigger and bigger and stronger and stronger as it sucked it more and more. The grass was now bending toward it as if in a high wind.
"Ohhhh dear," said Sam.
"What? What is it?" yelled Dean. He was hanging onto Gus' hand with increasing difficulty.
"I didn't see this coming. With the witch destroyed, her world doesn't need to exist either. It's systematically destroying itself, condensing down into a single point of elemental energy. Look up there."
They all looked up and screamed in shock. The forest surrounding them was blurring and becoming fragmented as it was pulled into the vortex. A blackbird flew by, was pulled around and around twice and "schlllluuump" was sucked in.
They turned around to go and ventured forward into the forest until they found the barrier. But it didn't open this time, just pushed forward and back a little as if they were pushing on a large tent surface. A surface that was slowly restricting, pushing them farther back the way they had come.
"Get behind me!" Sam said authoritatively. They did. "OPEN!" he said in a loud, projected voice. A VERY strong white beam shot out from the staff and hit the barrier. A whirling, purple portal opened. Sam moved toward the barrier but it was like moving against a high-powered gale by now. He was holding on to JR's hand but the wind was so strong she was lifted off her feet. And as Sam poked his head through the barrier and came face to face with a blond woman in her early twenties, JR lost her grip and went flying backwards straight toward the white hot vortex!
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"Wait Molly, stop! It should be right around here! Let me feel around for it. You don't want to get sucked it accidentally."
"Oh what? The interdimensional portal?" Molly scorned, rolling her eyes.
Suddenly, a purple, interdimensional portal opened up right in front of her face. "EEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!" she screamed and jumped backward, falling on her pert little butt.
A cute twenty something year old man's face popped out of it. "Oh, hello! I'm Sam. I - ooops! Be right back! Here's my brother Dean." POP! He disappeared back inside. Another, twenty something, even cuter, rugged, strong man appeared. At least his face and one arm appeared. Then it was as if he couldn't move ahead any further.
"Well! Aren't you tardy to the party! Come on then! Give us a hand!"
"Us tardy! That's a laugh! Where've you been?" demanded Brian.
"Never mind that now! I'll explain later! You have to help me!!" he yelled, "You have to pull me through! HEEEELLLP!!!" And he began to unwillingly get sucked back through the portal.
Justin ran forward and grabbed his hand just as it was about to disappear altogether. Molly grabbed Justin around the waist. Brian grabbed Molly's waist. They all began to pull.
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Inside, JR flew through the air but managed to snag a tree branch.
"HELP!!!" she screamed.
Sam ran toward her. The vacuum was now so strong that his last step carried him about eight feet along.
The white vortex was now a black but white in color hole about 5 feet in diameter. The forest around them was dematerializing into weird pixel-like fragments and getting sucked into the vortex. The green grass was totally gone.
JR had a good grip on her branch. But she was being pulled strongly into the vacuum. Her body was flat out, straight, like a banner in the wind. She could feel her shoulders hurting. She didn't know it but they were starting to separate.
Then under her fingers she felt her branch turn gritty and then to what felt like sand. NO! That wasn't fair! She had such a good grip and everything! "Sammy!! Help me!!!" Her branch disintegrated entirely and she flew through the air, again straight toward the vortex of doom!
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Justin, Molly, and Brian all pulled Dean slowly through the portal but it was like they were having a tug of war. Something on the other side was pulling back and didn't want them to succeed.
They slowly pulled him slow step by step to his neck. Then his shoulders. Then his torso appeared. And around his neck two little hands were clinched on with a death grip. Gus' little face appeared.
"Sonny boy!" Brian cried out in joy.
"Hi Daddy! Hi Poppa!" cried a little voice that broke their hearts.
The suction grew stronger. They began to lose ground. Dean began to be sucked backwards, inch by inch. Justin pulled as hard as he could but he felt his feet start to lose traction and slide forward along the gravel.
"Pull harder! Pull harder Poppa!" cried Gus. "Don't let go..." With a wet sucking noise, Gus was pulled back into the portal.
"NOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!" screamed Justin.
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JR flew about half a foot when a hand came out of nowhere and caught her wrist. It was Sam.
"Sammy! Help! Help!" she screamed in panic.
With his bigger frame, Sam could stand up in the powerful wind but only just. He pulled her back and had her wrap her arms around his neck.
"Hang on!" he screamed but couldn't tell if she had said anything back because by now the wind was so loud. He took huge, staggering steps back toward Dean who was halfway through the portal. Dean's feet left the ground.
Sam who was having trouble as well was taking one step forward, then two back. He grabbed a tree and rested. He bent flat out against the wind and managed to take one more step. He grabbed Dean's ankle. It was just in time. As soon as he did, his own feet rose off the ground.
Worse yet, with the increasing wind, and the added weight, whoever was helping Dean on the other side of the portal began to lose ground. They all began to move slowly backwards. JR, Sam and Gus looked back. They all screamed.
The vortex was huge but now they could also see that it was not a space or a portal to a space beyond but rather a round, three dimensional ball of white, glowing energy. Everything that was sucked into/on it became a part of this ball. It looked like an oversized eyeball now, an eyeball that was as big as the house had been.
The forest was gone. The grass was gone. The sky was indistinct. The world in which they struggled to leave seemed to have made up of light blue walls that curved downward, as if they were in a giant snow globe. Even as they watched, the walls collapsed in closer and closer.
And it was taking them with it.
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Justin, Molly, and Brian continued to pull with all their strength. But Justin could see it was not enough. He dug in his heels and managed to stop the slide. But there was no way he could move. If he lifted his foot he'd just be propelled forward some more.
Molly and Brian had also dug in their heels. They also managed to stop their slide. Justin held onto Dean's hand desperately. Dean's face and his arm up to his elbow stuck out of the portal.
Justin was filled with a profound despair. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I don't know what else to do."
"It's all right," Dean said, "Just don't let go. Don't let go until the end, OK?"
"I promise."
His foot cut through the soil and moved forward a bit. Then a bit more. Dean's face disappeared. Then his forearm. There was nothing but his wrist and hand left. All seemed lost.
At that moment, Brian felt a burly pair of arms encircle his waist and begin to tug. Brian was so surprised he nearly let go of everything and everyone. Almost. Instead he tightened his grip on Molly. Molly tightened her grip on Justin. And at last they began to move backwards. Dean's arm began to reappear. Then his face. Then his head.
As the danger passed, turned his head slightly to see who their savior was. His eyes widened in surprise.
It was Ben.
"What are YOU doing here?" he asked.
"I followed you to Molly's and then here. Michael went back to sleep and I stayed in the background because I wasn't sure how friendly you'd be towards me after what Michael..."
"JUST PULL!!!" they all screamed.
Ben shut up and pulled.
With that wet, disgusting sucking, slurping noise, Dean and Gus and then Sam and JR were finally slllloooooowwwwwllllyy pulled out of the portal They all remained completely airborne till Sam's tiptoe was at last pulled from the purple portal. Then the four of them fell heavily to the ground.
The four of them sat there for a moment, extraordinarily dirty and disheveled. Sam and Dean were back in their police uniforms, or at least what remained of them. They were ripped and ragged, especially Dean's who had outgrown everything, especially where he was busting out of his shirt. Their shoes were falling apart and falling off. All four had hair that was indescribably dirty and matted and their faces were streaked with dirt and filth.
Sam pointed at the portal. "CLOSE!" The white beam shot out and the portal vanished.
"What in God's name happened to you?" cried Molly.
"Lady, God had nothing to do with it! But the main thing is we got the son of a bitch!" yelled Dean.
"However, we hit a little snag, when the universe imploded in on itself," continued Sam. His eyes widened. "Which means we're still in terrible danger! RUN! There's a bomb the size of a house about to go off! RUN!"
Gus was the first out of the starting gate. After a week in a cage doing stationary exercises, it felt wonderful to actually run again. His legs pumped and moved up and down so fast they were a blur.
"That's my Sonny Boy!" whooped Brian, as he took off after his little boy. Justin was next and Molly and then Ben and the Winchester Boys.
To the right, left, right, straight on to the morning. Well, the morning light of the open air of the street anyway. They were almost there. Almost.
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The universe closed in around the white hot vortex. And then there was nothing but. The white ball glowed with a terrible white light. It began shooting out random pulses of erratic energy. It glowed brighter. And then it exploded, with a deafening noise and an all consuming, ever expanding firestorm.
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They felt the first explosion before they heard it. And when the sound it come it was deafening.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
There was a massive shockwave that overtook them, hit them. All of them were lifted off their feet and propelled 50 feet. Screaming, they were all propelled the rest of the way out of the forest. Dean and Sammy were the only ones who knew how to tuck and roll properly. Ben landed heavily and rolled till he came to a stop of the other side of the street. Gus landed with a few bruises but was otherwise OK. Brian managed to grab onto JR in midair and shield her with his own body but it meant landing on his shoulder heavy and hearing a strange CRACK! Molly landed right on her ass by the roadside and got the wind knocked out of her.
Justin got the worst of it. He landed with his foot twisted and there was a rather loud CRACK! as his ankle broke. He sat there, looked at his foot, bent at a strange angle and the bone protruding from his leg. "How strange," he thought calmly. A wave of nausea overtook him and he bent to the side and threw up. Then the pain overtook him and he passed out.
"SUNSHINE!" Brian screamed, thinking the worst. After checking to make sure JR was fine, he shuffled over with his arm dangling limply. It felt like a piece of glass was being jabbed in his arm whenever he moved it but he shuffled over to Justin like Quasi Modo anyway.
BOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!!!!!! Another explosion rocked them to their core and Molly turned and screamed.
A huge firestorm was radiating outward, consuming the entire forest area. They all cowered in fear as the flames rolled outward, closer and closer.
The flames rolled up right to the edge of the road. For a few moments, they swore they could see thousands of little faces in the flames, made of flames, screaming in torment, the children of Halloweens Past.
Then they coalesced into one, monstrous troll face with horns and pointy ears and pointy eyes and fangs. It roared in anger and vengeance. They all screamed in fear.
Then the face changed into an expression of extreme pain and terror and melted back into the flames. The flames themselves began to recede. They rolled back toward the center of the glade where there was an EXTREMELY loud:
KABLAAAAAMMMMMOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And another explosion rocked their world and a 100 foot fiery mushroom cloud exploded up and into the air. The flames disipitated and then there was silence. Blessed silence.
"I think it's over!" Sam said, "It's finally over!"
They all cheered, although softly, out of respect for Brian who was holding Justin who was still passed out.
"Please!" Brian cried out, his voice in anguish but his eyes dry, "I think he needs a hospital! Somebody help us!"
Dean lumbered over and took a look. "Yup. I'm no doctor but by that bone out there, that is definitely broke! OK, I'll take these two and their family to the hospital and Sammy, you take Ben and JR home."
"Wait, Dean! I don't think that'll be necessary," came Sam's gentle voice. He lifted the staff.
Sammy, I'm not so sure how good I feel with you getting so...chummy with that thing," Dean protested.
"Don't worry, Dean! I'm not getting chummy with this thing. Its life is nearing its end. I promise."
"As long as you promise we're not going to have to put you into another kind of demon blood quarantine or anything," Dean growled.
"Absolutely not! I promise! This is completely different." Sam said. They both caught the inquisitive stares of the others. "Long story!" they said in unison.
"All right. Brian get as close to Justin as you can....that's the way."
"No problem there," Brian leered, arranging Justin into his lap, while carefully making sure he didn't move his ankle. Molly got uncomfortable watching and crossed her arms and took a little walk. The sight of two men being intimate still made her feel uncomfortable but at least she wasn't filled with hate or anger anymore and she felt genuine love for her brother in what seemed like forever.
Sam closed his eyes and filled his mind and feelings with love and compassion thoughts of health and well-being. Then he released.
A blue beam shot out of the crystal and enveloped Brian and Justin in a blue spotlight of their own. Brian felt his arm shiver and vibrate and SNAP! With an intense flash of pain his shoulder socket snapped back into place. At the same time, Justin's ankle twisted back and snapped back into place. The bone disappeared back inside. The blue beam continued for a few more seconds and then faded away.
"Now to make an end," said Sam. He wrenched the huge diamond from where in was encrusted onto the staff and pulled it out. He threw the wooden part of the staff onto the roadway and before he could completely lose the feeling of what to do, aimed the diamond at it. The diamond glowed ethereally in his hand and the white beam shot out and lit the staff on fire. The staff burned quickly and soon burned away to a blackened stick. It looked like a large burned out matchstick.
The diamond's glow faded. It was huge and faceted and sparkled brilliantly in the sunny day but it was just a normal diamond now.
Justin's eyes fluttered and he awoke. He saw where he was and flashed Brian a million watt smile.
"Mmmmmm.... This continues to be my absolute favorite position. But, isn't it a little too crowded...too open...too..."
Brian smiled wolfishly and shut him up with a kiss. "Tonight...!" he growled.
After they had finished....kissing... and stood up, Sam came over and handed Brian the enormous diamond.
"Here. I want you guys to have this. Call it spoils from the enemy. Find a high end buyer and use the money for the children's college money or something. Don't worry. The crystal and the staff were connected. Now that the staff is destroyed, it's just an ordinary diamond. Huge... but ordinary."
Brian was overwhelmed. It was amazing. Pear shaped and flawless, with dozens of facets, and large enough to fill his entire large hand, it must be worth a fortune. Several fortunes. "Thank-you, Sam. We'll do that. For both of them."
Then without further ado, Brian, Justin and Gus, climbed into the ‘Vette, Ben, Molly and JR got into Ben's car and Sam and Dean jumped into their Impala and they all headed to Ben's house and got the hell out of that accursed place, forever.
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Michael was dying.
Well, he wanted to anyway. That's why he was sleeping so much. Eventually, he figured if he slept long enough, deep enough, he just wouldn't wake up the next time. He never dreamed except for his little girl. But she was dead. He had been denying it a long time, living in a strange kind of twilight place, where hope and despair both dwelled but ever since his breakdown with Justin, the hope had vanished. His little girl, the light of his world was gone. Brian would hate him for what he did to Justin and not return. Now there was only darkness. Eternal darkness.
He rolled over and dreamed of JR. She was lying on the bed with him in a pink, frilly dress and clean, soft hair and a pink bow in her hair.
She smiled her gap toothed smile and said: "Hi Daddy!"
Oh! How he loved these dreams! They were so clear and his girl was so beautiful! "Hi angel," he said, willing her not to go away again.
"I'm back Daddy! I'm back! Come play with me! Come play!"
"I wish I could darlin' Wish I could." Michael didn't move, didn't reach out because he knew if he did she'd vanish into the ether and he wanted to hang onto this as long as possible. "Wow, this is the best dream I've ever had. You're so clear. So clear."
He closed his eyes and started to slip asleep again. That one was wonderful. So clear. But just a dream. Just a dream.
JR jumped up and down on her knees on the bed. "Silly daddy! I'm not a dream! I was just away. I was havin' an a'venture with Gus. Wake up, daddy! Play with me!"
Michael opened his eyes in his dream again. She was still there, so clear. It was torture, but he reached out anyway and waited for her to dissolve so he could return to his despair.
So when he ran his fingers through silky hair and down her back he was so startled, his eyes flew open and he jackknifed up into a sitting position. He framed her face and kissed her. She giggled and launched herself at him, her most favorite man in the whole wide world.
Michael crushed her to him, wide awake and sure he was not dreaming at last. Sobs wracked his body as he hugged his child to him, knowing he had to let her go in just a minute but not wanting to. He crushed her to him and peppered her head and face with kisses.
Finally, he let her go and just looked at her. "Give daddy a little while and I'll come play chutes and ladders with you, OK?
"Yaaayyyyyy!!!! OK, Daddy!"
And she rushed off.
Michael got up and went into the bathroom to shave and shower. His little girl was waiting for him.
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After that, it seemed like everything else just fell into place.
Sam and Dean stayed around for a day or two to rest and recharge and e-mail Bobby that they were all right and no...their throats had not been cut yet. Brian bought them a few new changes of clothing and even several new realistic police uniforms of various jurisdictions from a high end costume shop. The Impala was fully gassed up and given a once over by a mechanic who pronounced it in perfect health even after a long week of letting the grass grow under its wheels. Finally though, they were ready to go and a new assignment of a zombie infestation was found for them.
"I don't want you to go!" cried JR.
"Take us with you!" cried Gus.
"We can't," said Sam gently, "Our place is out there, taking care of those zombies, and keeping them in line. Your job is to stay here with your dads and keep them in line."
"Hmmm. Practically a full time job!" said Gus drily.
"But will we ever see you again?" sobbed JR.
"Well...probably not for a long time," Sam said uncomfortably, "But if you just remember our adventure, we'll always be with you."
"I'll never forget you," declared JR.
"Me neither!" said Gus staunchly.
Sam and Dean looked at these little ones with so much love. But it was time to go. Together, they got into the Impala and zoomed off. Brian, Justin, Michael and Ben and the kids all waved till the car was out of sight.
Michael recovered but it was slow. For a long time, he needed JR in his line of sight or in physical contact. He carried her around on his back, played toys and games with her often or found reasons to be near her, to hold her hand, of scoop her up into bear hugs. Eventually, he knew he had to lessen his behavior as it was smothering, but he never took his child or his nephew for granted again.
Mel and Linds were video called as soon as possible and they were overjoyed to see the children back. Mel still wanted to get legal about things until Brian showed them the huge diamond and explained what it was for. After both women had put their eyes back into their heads and when they were further apprised of Michael's fragile mental health and the anguish he had gone through, they reconsidered and dropped the idea of contesting custody.
Brian and Justin took the diamond to a dealer in New York. As Brian had thought, they sold the diamond for many millions of dollars. They split the money into two college funds and the surplus of the money into a trust fund for each child which would earn interest and then be available to them when they turned 21. The sum of which, even now, would set them up in good living conditions for the rest of their lives.
Brian, Justin and Gus went back to live at the loft, of course, but they visited Ben and Michael and JR, and Debbie and all their friends often. All their friends visited them. Their lives continued to intertwine and grow.
They all lived together in great joy.
THE END
Endnote: You may think that that was unnecessary and overkill to kill Craig twice. Well, you're right. But that just came to me in a flash and I couldn't resist. And really, if you think about it can you really kill Craig too many times? I can't! (winks impishly)