r e w i n d

"First of all, no.  Gross, that’s disgusting.  She’s like a very inconsistent step-mother to me.  Like the fourth step-mother, not the first three,” Charlie replied and shrugged as he watched Dean take a seat.  He chuckled.  Charlie never considered Dean to be stupid but for all the credit he gave Dean, sometimes, Dean sounded like a hunk of dumb.  Charlie shrugged and said, “It was already incubating when I took over her labs.  Like she asked.”  He stressed the last part, just in case Dean didn’t believe him.  With a quick eyeroll, Charlie added, “She always spoke about her fail-safe.  Once when we were in Udragoth, she mentioned how she raised clones and how her memories had been extracted from her and copied.”  Charlie leaned back in the chair and looked up at the ceiling, “Apparently, if her clone wakes, she’s got something set to insert those memories back into that thing.”  Charlie pointed at the test tube Amber, “If it ever wakes up.”  He shrugged, “Sounds in-fucking-sane, but then again, she threw you in the hyperbolic time chamber …so, this sounds very plausible, no?”

Charlie lay slump in the office chair, he rested his arm against the countertop.  He sat quietly as he watched Dean’s expression change.  He let out a laugh as he shifted from his postion and shrugged over at him.  "Well …,“ Charlie said as he tried to figure out how to explain.  It seemed that things that were connected to Amber Rhee always sounded like …fiction, even if it was staring right in front of them.  "Remember how I worked with Amber for awhile before the Dome shit or whatever,” Charlie said as he waved his hand around in the air.  He tilted his head to the side before he straightened himself out.  "I started working out of her lab.  She always mentioned that if she died, she would have a fail-safe plan and that …,“ he gestured to the small figure in the incubation tube, "That’s her fail-safe.  I don’t know if or when she’s going to wake up, but that’s her clone …in a tube.  Growing.  Or something.”  Charlie shrugged, “I really don’t know, man.  I don’t even know if she’ll even wake up.”

As with all things related to Charlie, Dean had more questions than answers and as he looked at him and the Amber in the tube, Dean had even more answers. He opened his nouth to say something, but nothing came out except for a heavy, exasperated sighed as he took a step back. He flopped down on the empty office chair next to Charlie and gestured to the tube. Dean never considered hismelf to be a smart person, but at this point, he couldn't even figure out how to ask what he wanted to. "Charlie," Dean began, it came out as more of a question rather than anything else. His eyes moved into the tube as he let the silence surround them. With a slow shake of his head, Dean's confusion was obvious before he finally said, "... why are you raising her clone for? I don't... are you in love with her? Is that--that's gross, even for you. I just ...Charlie, I just ...what are you even doing to yourself?”

"I liked it better when you weren’t this smart,” Charlie muttered.  His mind would never let him rest, not when there were so many things to unlock in this puzzle called life.  Music was something that Charlie loved and enjoyed, but honestly, his mind never settle for it.  He sighed and nodded to the right, “Alright, I’ll show you.  Follow me though and don’t get all touchy with everything.”

Charlie walked ahead of Dean.  He whistled to himself as he walked toward an empty warehouse.  The whistling turned to humming as he walked past the entrance and toward the back of the building.  He stopped and then gestured for Dean to follow after.  "Alright, don’t look,“ he instructed as he pointed off to the distance, "Look at way or something.”  Charlie waited for Dean to comply before he pressed his hand against the empty wall - it wasn’t an empty wall.  A hand print scanner appeared where had pressed his hand - there was a light whirring as his palm was scanned.  When the scanner completed, Charlie lifted his hand and then tapped Dean shoulder.  He grinned and said, “You ready to get your mind blown?”

"Yeah, you and me both," Dean decided. Ignorance was bliss, especially in this world. However, with what he knew now, Dean couldn't just stand around;  if he could do something and he didn't, Dean would never be able to live with himself.  He doubted that anyone who considered themselves heroes would ever be able to live with themselves if they sat back.  He looked at Charlie with skepticism veiled over his face before he nodded, "Alright.  As long as we're not going to die, I'll come with you."

“of course, it’s badass, baby hunter,” godrick grinned and smirked, “i’m fucking badass, you know?”  he did a double-take at dean and shook his head.  not all people were blessed with a double growth spurt, but it seemed like dean was one of those who were.  "nah, i named it after the strongest hero:  one-punch man,“ godrick said with a nod and then looked over at dean, "you need to go watch that shit, bro.  it’s hella inspiring.”

As Dean finished and terrified the attackers, Charlie hummed quietly to himself as he adjusted his guitar bag strap.  He got himself comfortable until Dean turned back around to throw the questions back at him again.  Charlie bit the inside of his cheek as he sighed and looked at Dean before he said, "Why did you have to be persistent, man?  I’m supposed to be retired, you know?”  Charlie grinned as he shook his head and said with a nod, “You’re right.  I’m not retired.  My brain’s too big for me to just up and stop, you know?”  Charlie rolled his eyes before he looked over to Dean, “I’ve been using Amber’s old labs.  She left us a lot of stuff to work with but …,” Charlie trailed off as he looked past Dean.  There was a silence that dawned on him for a moment before he nodded.  "You want to see what I’ve been dealing with …?“

“Yup.” Grace immediately replied. She always wondered if her father or spirit of Death would keep her in this state. She wanted to look older like the other Horesemen, but it seems like she wasn’t budging. “Aww…Thanks Deanie Beanie!” She took the encouragement despite not thinking the same way. It is what it is at this point. “I hope so too. Same with Auntie Annie, last time I checked Mommy Aura our her on Academy house arrest. Hopefully that changed.” With a hopeful smile, she nodded in agreement before breaking out into laughter at the mention of his father. “True, that’s an easy catch.” Hearing a low rumble from Mr. Jacques, Grace glanced up and nodded in understanding. “I hope you find him soon!” It was time for her to carry out her duties. Stomping on the ground, Death’s pale ashen stallion appeared from beneath and wailed a loud cry. With one swift hand motion, Death’s ancient scythe appeared onto her grip and in a blink of an eye, she was on her stead. “Duty calls Deanie, I’ll catch you later! Tell Sawyer to call me okay??!! We should also schedule a celebratory dinner sometime with the whole gang too! Just some food for though y'know?”

“I’m retired from that life, Dean,” Charlie lied, “I just want to focus on my music.  Solely and only on my music.”  He tried speak over the noise of the fight.  He watched as Dean fought, casually stepping aside from the fight to avoid being in the way.  Charlie wasn’t useless, but if he wanted to operate the way that he wanted to …things just had to go this way.  Charlie let out a yelp as Dean shoved him down before he rolled off to his right before he pushed himself up.  His eyes squinted at the goons that were headed their way before he groaned.  "Damn it, Dean,“ he said as he turned away and hooked the strap of his guitar case over his shoulder.  He turned to throw an elbow upward, connecting with the chin of the goon running at him.  With the hit connected, he moved his elbow to hit the man in the gut and then twisted his body to throw a punch at the guy’s face, followed up an uppercut with his other hand.  He looked at Dean, "I said, I was retired!”

Dean was happy for Charlie. Really, he was happy that Charlie could find something to put his heart into but Dean wasn't so sure that Charlie's mind was completely into the music. This was Charlie and Charlie never made sense to him. For all the time he'd known Charlie, Dean could never figure him out. While Dean made short work of the attackers in front of him, he didn't give Charlie much attention until the last attacker hit the ground; luckily, these were low-leveled thugs and Dean didn't have to tap into his own abilities. "You're not retired," Dean said as Charlie finished up with the goon. He looked over to the fallen attackers as they scrambled from the ground and he said, "Come back again and we won't be as nice." Dean's eyes narrowed at them, glaring until they took off. Hopefully, those goons don't do anything else.

“Happy is. She really got into those Japanese dating simulators and I interrupted one of her playthroughs. She was in the middle of romancing one of the characters.” Sawyer giggled. She never thought that she’d be able to have an AI as amusing as Happy, but she was constantly upgrading and developing the mech. “Maybe we should work on getting Happy a boyfriend or something. Oh, a robot puppy.”  She continued to suggest ideas while Dean started to head out. 

When he started to open the door, she lowered her voice. “See you soon, baby. I’ll keep it easy here and give you information through your earpiece…” She closed the door behind him and then turned her attention back to the monitors. They were now playing Dean’s scene and like always, Powerline was kicking some ass. Grinning, she turned to the mastermind and pointed at her husband. “He’s good, right?”

Of course, she didn’t hear much of a response from the guy, but when he started to roll his eyes back, Sawyer couldn’t help but feel like something bad was going to happen. “Hey Dean… Do you remember anything in the file saying that megamind here rolls his eyes back or something? He’s acting weird…. are any of the limbs doing that?”

Dean shouldn't have been as surprised as he was when Sawyer mentioned Happy and the Japanese dating simulators. He really should have expected that by now, especially with how long he'd known Happy and yet, he had an amused smile on his face as he nodded along. "You could probably make a second AI to keep her company," Dean offered, "I don't know much about that but if it's you, I'm sure you could figure it out, babe. You're amazing in everything that you do." And that was why Dean thought they survived through so much. Sawyer's talents were always beyond anything that Dean could even imagine. He nodded at her words when he ran off.

Right in the middle of punching the goon in front of him, Dean heard Sawyer's voice crackle into the earpiece. "What?" He asked as he pushed an open palm at the chest of a goon. As his palm connected to the goon, the heat bellowed and a beam of energy shot at the goon and pushed him back against the wall. Dean had been doing this long enough to be able to control his abilities and not kill people - at least, not immediately. "Acting weird?" Dean asked, but instead of waiting for a response, he immediately turned back from where he came. If Sawyer was in trouble, Dean wasn't going to wait around for an answer.

"I'm coming right now, baby," Dean said into the communicator, "I'll be there soon ...," he took a breath as there were a group of goons that now blocked his path. Dean stared them down before he announced, "If you don't move now, I will move you." Unfortunately, the warnings came out as a challenge for these goons and they rushed forward. Dean let out a growl as they came. Nothing ever came easy and this wasn't going to be any different. However, the most important person in his life might be in danger and these punks were nothing. Dean's expression fell flat as he raise a palm in front of him and aimed it at them. "I told you, I will move you," Dean said as the heat built up around his palm right before the flash of bright energy light hit the goons. That control he had during the initial fight settled to a lower level - his wife was in trouble, after all.

“It is, but most don’t realize it’s a blessing and a curse at the same time.” She was well aware that many immortals had to either come out of the shadows or dismiss their identity completely. However, she also knew many who weren’t ashamed of who they are. It was a gray area depending on who you’re talking to. “Mmm…yeah she does.” Despite agreeing with Dean it was evident that there was some lingering feelings from what had occurred. Whether it be bitterness or hurt, Grace didn’t want to express it any further. Shaking her head, Death sighed and gestures a hand at the City. “I can’t ignore the souls.” she explained. “She’s with Jeremiah, so they should be okay. Knowing Mommy Aura she’ll find our way to us. She always does.” In truth, Grace was stalling. A lot has happened and she wanted her eight year old self and Lilith to meet with Aurelia first, prior to revealing her future self. Honing in on her senses, Death focused on a few life forces and said, “Your dad is probably around the Academy or running off to the border with excitement. You’ll be meeting him soon enough.” 

Right on time.  If there was one thing in Ceres that Charlie could count on, it was that there were always heroes willing and ready to come through.  Charlie let out a chuckle as Dean came by - it was really unfair that Dean had a second?  Third?  Fourth?  Fifth growth spurt?  He couldn’t remember.  What he could remember was that it was very unfair that Dean was now a giant Adonis of a man and Charlie was just …Charlie.  He pressed his lips togther when Charlie argued with him and then he shrugged, “I didn’t need to waste the effort when I knew a hero like you would be here, Dean-O.  Thanks, man.”  Charlie said as he hugged his guitar case to his chest, “My guitar and my fans thank you very muc—,” Charlie frowned and nodded to the goons behind him, “Oh, you should take care of that, man.  That’s what heroes like you do, right?”

Grace rolled her eyes, “Okay so you grew up, big whoop! Unfortunately, not everyone has the luxury of looking older.” She wanted to look just a little older if she could. However, for the most part she knew she shouldn’t complain. With her youthful features she was able to pull the innocent look, let alone the puppy dog eyes would work in her favour. “Well Mama Lilith took fucking forever to love me, so I currently have trust issues Dean.” However, he was right and so with a huff and a puff, Death wore a defeated look while crossing her arms. “Mhm…gotcha! Well, you’re lucky you don’t remember those playdates we had when we were babies. It was the only way to get me to shut my tantrums up at times.” She came to a halt and placed both hands on her hips as she took a good look at the rest of their surroundings. “Are you going to go look for your father then?”

“I will.” She smiled and continued to eat her salad while she watched him get prepared for a fight. She wondered if there was a way to make his gloves much more sleeker, but they looked pretty cool and were his signature for Powerline. “Happy, please connect all the monitors for program front row.” A human sized version of her mech materialized from the air and formed near the security system. With the displays that Happy had for eyes, she glared at Sawyer. “Don’t be mad, I want to join the action.” The security screens then joined up together to make one image, to show the mastermind what was going to happen to his goons.

Sawyer pulled the air above her face and a mask and hood formed over her head. “Now that we have Happy here, let’s do it.” She got up from the floor and moved to stand next to her mech. “Baby, holler if you need me, but I’ll be providing support and funneling them to your location. Don’t worry about leaving me alone with this guy.” 

Dean had never been good at technology. Sawyer excelled in everything related to technology. He would just watch in admiration as his wife worked her magic on the screen, even with Happy’s complaints. “I’m not mad,” Dean said, “My wife’s displaying how much of a badass she is. How could I ever be mad at that?” Dean wasn’t the same wavering teenager that he had been a few years ago, but Sawyer had always impressed him. Even when she wasn’t trying to.

He could feel at ease when he knew that Sawyer had his back. He nodded at her and said, “Alright, but you be safe too. If something goes down, you call for me. You don’t have to do it on your own, okay. We’re a team.” Dean said that with a nod and before he walked out into the hallway. Dean shut the door gently, making sure not to make any noise to alert the lackeys where they had hold up at. Dean took a deep breath before he started to run ahead into the halls. He tried to remember the layout of the building. 

Mr. Jacques hovered over the two as the black flames surrounding him intensely expanded. “Mr. Daniels, the way we work is we don’t make ourselves known until your very last breath. But I appreciate that you don’t think I’m ‘bad’.” Ever seen an Elder Reaper do air quotes? Well that’s what Mr. Jacques did so right then and there, before attempting to smile back. Grace giggled as she nodded in understanding to Dean’s response. “Those guys for sure! Def a whole other breed.”

She stayed close to Mr. Jacques as a sense of worry washed over her. Sensing Death was a phenomenon that made her anxious and sick to her stomach. The fact that she could almost taste it here didn’t make things easier for her. Ignoring the gut feeling, she looked over at Dean from head to toe and sighed. “Another glow up for Dean Daniels everyone!” she announced before clapping all around. “Yeah we would be. I mean I haven’t even met Mommy Aura!!! It’s been too mcfreakin’ long…I hope she likes me. I mean Jeremiah got it easy, she associated himself with her on the first try! And I’m sure she took it well in comparison to how Mama Lilith accepted me.” A sudden thought crossed her mind as she returned to her friend’s side. “Ou! Ou! And Auntie Annie! I bet she’d freak at how you are now. She has the best reactions, I hope her head blows up in shock! I love it when she does that.”

 Dean stood in surprise when Mr. Jacques came over to speak. It wasn’t every day that he would get a chance to meet an elder reaper; he hoped that he wouldn’t have to meet the reaper any time soon. There was still plenty of things that Dean had to do before he could befriend the reaper. “Of course ...,” Dean said, unsure of how else to respond to the elder reaper. 

They worked and when he got this way, he gave her good reminders of why she agreed to marry him. Of course, she had loved him for longer than most would know, but tying the knot never felt this good, she bet. “… If I wasn’t enjoying this salad right now, I’d go over there and kiss your face.” She had just picked up another leaf when the alarms started to sound. Sawyer chuckled and leaned back against the console. A vein of glowing blue nanotech spread over her back and then over the equipment, connecting her consciousness to the security system. Her eyes glowed an icy blue. She continued to eat. 

“They aren’t the brightest, but they’re destroying cameras. I guess mastermind’s limbs need more time to formulate a plan.” She blinked a few times before the soft glow in her tech and her eyes died down. “You’re fine, really fine. You don’t have to worry because I’m not at all bothered by this. Dinner and entertainment? Most girls don’t get that.” She got off of the floor and then gently poked at the man they have captive. “So,” she said talking to them, “Do you want to tell them where you are or should we?”

Dean let a smile go in the direction of Sawyer. “Save that kiss for me,” he said and nodded at her as she connected herself to the security system. As his wife’s eyes turned that icy blue, he reached for the gloves he wore, then tugged them on securely as he waited for her confirmation. He cast a glance behind goggles over to the person that they had tied up and gave them a calm smile before he said, “You’ve got front row to this.”