Ghost Town - A Supernatural/Fallout Crossover Fic
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“Sam and Dean take the newly human Castiel on a routine run to look into what they have been told is a vampire abduction ring. What happens when they wake up over 200 years in the future, when the world is a wasteland and their saviors are three girls who's pasts have shaped them into the perfect survivalists? Action and romance in the Commonwealth!” Dean/OC, Sam/OC, and Castiel/OC
M rating for language.
Chapter Four - Home Is Where Your Bot Is
“I don’t remember Boston being this cramped,” Sam looked up at the looming, empty skyscrapers.
“A lot of the technological advancements we were talking about earlier came out of CIT, making way for many of the major corporations to build headquarters here, including Vault-Tec, the makers of the vault you guys were in,” Ellie’s grip on her rifle tightened, “I don’t like them.” She continued to stare at the buildings as they walked down the deserted streets.
“There is something unnerving about them,” Sam took a larger step, so he was closer to her.
“They’ve always made me feel like there is someone up there watching me, just waiting for my back to be turned,” her eyes left the buildings and looked up at Sam.
“Well, that’s part of what is good about being in a large group right?” he offered a comforting smile, “we can look out for each other.”
“Yeah, well if we had left you idiots in Diamond City like I thought the plan was, we would be able to move a lot quieter, and might even be home by now,” Bo growled at the talking pair.
“Bo,” Lou sighed, “we voted, it was two to one…”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…” she gritted her jaw.
“And…?” Lou prompted her friend.
Bo sighed heavily, “once a vote is made, everyone accepts the outcome, no questions.”
“That was your rule,” Lou smiled.
“Never thought the bastard would come back to bite me in the ass so hard.” She caught Dean out of the corner of her sight, “hey!” she hissed at him, “don’t go somewhere we can see you!”
“Oh,” Dean backed away from the doorway he was crouched in, “I just thought maybe there would be something in there.”
“That’s fine,” Lou joined him near the doorway, “but she is right, if you go out of sight we might not realize something happened to you.”
“I know,” Dean frowned, “I wasn’t going to go in alone.”
“Alright then,” Lou smiled, “let’s go take a look.”
“There is no chance there’s anything left in there,” Bo grumbled as she sat down on the sidewalk.
“We should rest while they’re in there,” Ellie sat next to Bo, “we are almost home though.” She craned her neck to look down the road, “only a couples miles left.”
Sam joined Ellie on the sidewalk, “Cas?” he glanced up at the angel who was trying to look in one of the boarded up windows of the building Dean and Lou had gone into.
“I should have gone in with them,” the angel gave up and sat down.
“They’ll be alright,” Ellie handed them water, “Lou knows what she is doing. The only person better suited to go in there would be Boden.”
Bo chuckled to herself.
The four sat in silence for almost twenty minutes before Castiel broke the silence.
“I am going in to find them,” he stood up.
“They’re fine,” Bo rolled her eyes.
“It’s been too long…” Castiel began to protest but was interrupted by Lou appearing in the doorway.
“Sorry that took so long,” Lou grinned, “Dean found a safe that needed opened.”
“Really?” Ellie elbowed Bo. “What was in it?”
“Someone’s cap stash, and a 10mm pistol,” Lou held up the metal tin and shook it, “seems like someone was hiding their backup goodies here.”
“Good find!” Ellie grinned at Dean who emerged from behind Lou.
“Here,” Lou handed him the tin, “you found them, they’re yours.”
“You picked the lock,” he looked at her, “you should get some of it too.”
“Nah,” she winked at him, “you keep it.”
“Let’s go, radroaches, I wanna get home,” Bo stood up and began walking down the street again.
“Yeah, we need to get back before it gets dark,” Lou followed her, “this isn’t the place to be when the sun goes down.”
“What time is it? What time is it?” Ellie pulled on Sam’s Pip-Boy.
“Um,” Sam pressed a small black button, causing the screen to flicker, “I don’t know.”
“Well, we have about…” Ellie looked up at the sky, “an hour of sun left.” She looked at the little green and black screen. She reached up and turned the top dial, the screen flickered again and a small map appeared. “Ah, there, it’s 7:00. So the sun sets at about 8:00!” she grinned from ear to ear.
“How did you do that?” Sam looked closer at the screen.
“We will take a better look at it when we get home,” she began to follow the group, “we’ll make a real vault dweller out of you yet.”
“This is where you live?” Dean leaned back staring up at the huge skyscraper in front of them.
“Sure is,” Bo walked towards the front doors. “Oh, and you see that little piece of rebar there?” she pointed to a piece of the twisted metal about a foot long sticking out of some concrete.
“Yeah, what about it?” Dean followed her.
“Those are all around the outside and inside of the building,” she stepped through the entrance, the doors hanging useless on their hinges, “they mark where we have buried landmines, so be careful.”
“Not much to look at, is it?” Dean stopped in what used to be a gigantic foyer to the building. The wallpaper was peeling down the walls, and the once red carpet had faded a long time ago.
“That’s the point,” Lou passed Dean, “it’s supposed to look abandoned. Less it looks like someone lives here, less likely you are to get raided.”
“Makes sense,” Sam nodded passing Dean as well.
The group crossed the lobby making their way to the elevators to the right side of the lobby.
“Does that even still work?” Sam looked around the lobby as Bo pressed the button to call the car.
A hissing and popping from the intercom by the button console prevented Sam from getting an answer.
“What is the music of life?” an electronic voice came over the intercom.
“It’s us Handsy, skip the bull-shit and just let us up,” Bo sighed.
“That is incorrect, the elevator car will not be deployed,” the voice replied followed by silence.
“Damn it, Ellie!” Bo glared at the grinning girl, “I hate your fucking robot, I’m tired and I just want to get home.”
“If you’d just answer the question, he would send the elevator,” Ellie continued to grin.
Bo angrily pressed the button again.
“What is the music of life?” the voice asked again.
Bo rolled her eyes and sighed deeply, “silence, my brother.”
“Very good, ma’am, the car is on the way,” the voice replied before cutting off again.
“What is that from?” Sam rubbed his chin, “it sounded familiar.”
“It’s from a comic I read when I was little,” Ellie smiled up at him, “added precaution, you know.”
The elevator creaked as it settled and opened the doors for them.
“I don’t think…” Dean took a step back, “how about you just tell us what floor to meet you on, and we will take the stairs.”
“Dean, I don’t think…” Sam began.
“You can if you’d like,” Bo stepped into the car, “but all the stairwells are collapsed at the third floor, and we are going to twenty-four.”
“Come on,” Lou patted him on the shoulder, “it’s perfectly safe, I promise.”
She followed Ellie, Sam, and Castiel onto the elevator.
“This is insane…” Dean mumbled as he joined them.
The elevator lurched as it began to slowly climb the shaft. It rocked back and forth, the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling seemed to pop and fizzle in time with each lurch. By the time they reached the twenty-fourth floor, all the color had drained from Dean’s face.
“See?” Lou smiled at him as the doors shuddered open, “perfectly safe.”
“Welcome home, ma’am!” a cheerful voice with a thick English accent called from the other room.
“Thank you, Handsy!” Ellie set her bag down by the elevator door and sighed heavily. “It’s good to be home.”
“Hell yeah it is,” Bo grinned as she hurried across the room and through a doorway, “I’ll see you suckers later.”
“Dinner in an hour,” Lou called after her.
“Roger!” Bo’s muffled voice could be heard from beyond the walls.
The guys slowly filed out of the elevator, taking in their surroundings.
“This looks like it was a waiting area,” Sam glanced around the large room, his eyes resting on the receiving desk opposite the elevator.
“Yeah?” Lou set her bag and the wrapped bundle on the desk. “Ellie thinks it was an extension of Robco before the bombs fell.”
“I don’t think it was,” Ellie sighed, “I know it was.”
Lou chuckled, “right.”
“Welcome home Miss Louise!” the accented voice called again as a slow moving robot rounded the corner.
“Hello, Handsy,” Lou was pulling items out of her back and sorting them on the desk.
“Miss Elenore,” the robot’s frame slowly began to turn towards Ellie, but froze when its sensors picked up the three men clumped in front of the open elevator. “Intruders!” the mechanical voice raised in pitch as the machine gun end at the end of its right arm began to spin.
“Abort!” Lou screamed, “abort, abort!”
“Handsy!” Ellie jumped between the robot and the guys, “initiate protocol 46, Newcomer Input.”
The machine gun slowed to a stop as the arm lowered back down, “protocol initiated, awaiting Input.”
“Handsy, input three new profiles, security level…” Ellie glanced back at the three men before returning to the robot, “blue.”
“Profile four created, input identifier,” the robot stood motionless as it awaited information.
Ellie motioned for Dean to speak. “Say your name, full name is best,” she whispered
“Uh, Dean,” he hesitated, “Dean Winchester.”
“Input received, profile identifier, Uh Dean Dean Winchester saved.”
“Override profile identifier,” Ellie rubbed her eyes with her thumb and forefinger.
“Profile identifier overridden, awaiting profile identifier input,” the robot whirred, the motion could be seen through the clear covering on its shoulders.
Ellie motioned again.
“Dean Winchester,” Dean stated, his voice stern.
“Input received, profile identifier, Dean Winchester saved,” there was a pause, “input pronoun preference.”
“Male, or female…” Ellie whispered.
“Male, for sure male,” Dean smiled, “all male.”
“Input received, pronoun preference saved for profile, Dean Winchester.”
“You next,” Ellie motioned at Sam.
“Profile five created, input identifier.”
“Sam Winchester.” Sam shrugged.
Ellie gave him a grin and a thumbs up.
“Input received, profile identifier, Sam Winchester saved. Input pronoun preference.”
“Male,” Sam nodded.
“Input received, pronoun preference saved for profile, Sam Winchester.”
“Now you,” Ellie smiled and motioned at Castiel.
“Profile six created, input identifier.”
Castiel cleared his throat, “Castiel.”
“Input received, profile identifier, Castiel saved. Input pronoun preference.”
Silence.
Lou put her hands on her hips and raised an eyebrow at the angel.
“Input received, profile identifier, Castiel saved. Input pronoun preference,” the robot repeated.
“Neither, I am not male or female,” Castiel shifted on his feet.
“Response not recorded, input invalid, awaiting pronoun preference input for profile, Castiel.”
“I am not…” Castiel was interrupted by Dean grabbing his arm.
“Just tell the robot what to call you,” Dean whispered, “so we can get this over with.”
“Dean, you know I am not innately male or female, as an angel I…” Castiel was cut off by Sam this time.
“I think the robot only has two input values for this command, Cas.” Sam smiled an encouraging half smile, “maybe you could go with the gender of your vessel.”
“Jimmy identified himself as a human male,” Castiel looked down at his body, “I suppose in this case it is not untrue that I am a human male.”
“Awaiting pronoun preference input for profile, Castiel,” the robot repeated.
“Male,” Castiel answered.
“Input received, pronoun preference saved for profile, Castiel,” the robot began to move again, walking slowly towards the three men. “Welcome home, Sirs.”
“Uhhh,” Dean grimaced as the robot approached him and began to reach an arm out to him, “thanks.” Dean extended his arm for a handshake.
The robot’s claw moved past Dean’s extended hand and around to behind him, “good job!” the robot exclaimed as it gave Dean one quick swat on the butt.
“What the!?” Dean jumped back and raised both hands in the air.
Lou erupted in laughter.
“No, no, no, no…” Sam held his hands up and began to back away as the robot turned towards him.
“Handsy, you can skip the formalities,” Ellie giggled.
“Very good Miss Elenore,” the robot began to whirr again as it turned back to face her. “While you were out there was a glitch in the power grid. No security features were affected, however, I believe the water heater is offline.”
“Thanks Handsy,” Ellie sighed as she opened her bag and began to pull items out, “I hope no one had their heart set on a shower tonight, the water heater is going to have to wait until tomorrow.”
“What was that?” Dean was still standing with his arms in the air.
Lou chuckled, “Mr. Hansy is a bit of a…” she paused, “project.”
“Handsy is just fine the way he is,” Ellie sniffed.
“When we first found this place she found that old Protectron bot still in its power station,” Lou began to pile some of the items back into her bag. “The only thing she couldn’t manage to fix was the fried personality-interface card. The only viable one she was able to find was a card from a Mr. Handy, the bots made for helping in homes a long time ago.”
“It was an excellent find!” Ellie’s eyes lit up, “the Mr. Handy bots are rare to find in a semi-functioning state anymore, and to have one that wasn’t owned with a functioning personality card was amazing luck!”
“But,” Lou sighed, “there was a problem getting the card to fit.”
“It took some finesse,” Ellie grinned.
“She used a hammer,” Lou rolled her eyes, “it messed up some of the basic interaction parts of his personality matrix. If you don’t tell him that he can forgo the formal greeting with you, that’s how he will greet you every time.”
“How do I do that?” Dean frowned.
“Just tell him,” Lou smiled, “now that the three of you have profiles with him, he will respond to you like he does us.”
“Mostly,” Ellie zipped her bag up, “you only have blue level clearance, so you can’t alter anything outside of your personal interaction specifications.”
“That’s okay,” Sam gave her a half smile, “thank you for everything you guys have done for us.”
“People look out for people out here,” Lou zipped her bag up as well, “it’s the right thing to do.”
“Yeah, but you have shared your food, kept us alive, and now you’ve invited us into your home,” Sam walked over to Ellie and took her hand in his, “seriously, thank you.”
“Oh,” Ellie’s cheeks turned red, “like Lou said,” she pulled her hand from his and quickly made her way across the room to where Lou stood, “it’s the right thing to do.”
“We will go make dinner,” Lou took Ellie’s arm in her own, “you three make yourselves at home. The whole floor is ours, with a few exceptions.”
“Basically,” Ellie grinned, “if a door doesn’t open, it’s not meant to.”
The two girls turned and disappeared through the door way.
“Okay, okay, okay,” Dean rubbed his temples, “does anyone else understand any of what we have been through today?”
Castiel shrugged, “I must admit, I have a hard time keeping up with what is going on with humans most of the time anyway.”
“You are a human now, Cas,” Dean frowned, “no more of this, ‘I am not this,’ and ‘you humans’ crap, alright?”
The angel nodded.
“What about you Sammy?” Dean held his arms out, “are you managing to understand all of this?”
Sam also shrugged, “I don’t really understand most of it, but that’s how most of our lives have been Dean, always surrounded by things we don’t really understand.”
“No,” Dean pointed firmly at Sam’s chest, “I understand vampires, and werewolves, and, and, and even demons. I understand demons, Sammy, but I don’t understand any of this…” he motioned to the room around them.
“It’s survival, Dean,” Sam made his way over to where Lou had laid her items out on the table, “pure and simple survival. I don’t understand a lot of the jargon, but I understand the struggle to stay alive. I can see it in their faces, and the faces of those people living in Diamond City…”
“Fenway Park,” Dean corrected him.
Sam sighed, “I recognize the fight to survive, I just figure the details we will pick up along the way.”
“You don’t think we can find a way home, do you?” Dean stared at his brother.
“Dean, look around,” Sam pointed to a dirty window, “there is nothing anymore. I don’t even know if any of the supernatural things we are used to hunting are still around. I don’t see a way home… all I see now is survival, which like I said before, isn’t that different from how we lived back home.”
“Unbelievable,” Dean shook his head, “Cas, are you buying this?”
“It does seem as though a way home is impossible,” Castiel looked at the items Lou had laid out, his fingers lightly touching each item, “even as a human I should be able to sense any angels around, and I haven’t felt anything.”
“Come on,” Sam patted Dean’s shoulder, “let’s look around, see if we can find anything we can make sense of.”
Dean turned around to follow his brother before pausing at the table the other two had been standing next to. The items on the table looked all too familiar, the countless amounts and kinds of ammo, the barrage of weapons, and the non-perishable foods. Perhaps Sam was more right than he cared to admit, survival had always been a large part of their lives.
“I am sorry we don’t have enough sleeping bags,” Lou unrolled the spare rolled up sleeping bag, “we really only anticipated it being a backup for one of us. Honestly, we were lucky to have that spare mattress as well.”
“They will work just fine,” Sam smiled, “thank you.”
“Yes,” Castiel gave her a small smile as well, “thank you.”
“Alright nerds,” Ellie leaned on the doorway, the single lit lantern in her hand, “technically it’s lights out after dark, but we are making an exception for you. I would suggest getting it out as soon as you can manage though.”
“If you need light for anything though,” Lou joined her in the doorway, “the room with the double doors will have a fire going all night. There aren’t any windows in there so we are able to keep light going in it all night.”
“Noted,” Dean nodded at the two girls, “we really appreciate you guys.”
“Just know that we will put you to work,” Ellie grinned, “you three gotta earn your keep.”
“Lights out!” Bo yelled from down the hall, “if I can’t have lights on in my room to read my Silver Shroud comics, then you radroaches don’t get light in yours!”
Lou sighed, “see you in the morning.”
“Night,” Dean winked at her.
Once the girls were out of sight Sam shoved his brother. “No, Dean,” Sam glared at him, “just no.”
“What?” Dean shrugged.
“We live with them!” Sam whispered angrily, “the last thing we need is for you to mess around with one of them and get us all kicked out.”
“Or worse,” Cas sat down on the floor, “I think in the case of those girls, it would be worse than just getting kicked out.”
Sam pointed at Cas in agreement.
“Alright, alright,” Dean held his hands up in the air, “I hear ya, loud and clear.”
“Good,” Sam fiddled with the latch on his PipBoy, “now, how are we doing this with only two sleeping spots?”
“I will sleep on the ground,” Castiel rested his head in his hands, “I am not used to needing sleep, so I will not notice the difference between a bed and the floor.”
“Cas you’re still getting better,” Dean frowned, “you shouldn’t be the one to sleep on the floor.”
“I am fine,” Castiel wadded up one of the blankets Lou had given them and rested his head on it as he lay down, “you both carried bags today, you should rest.”
Sam sighed, “if you start to get too uncomfortable, wake us up, alright?”
“Okay,” Dean sat on the sleeping bag, “but tomorrow night you get the mattress.”
Castiel nodded.
“Better put this light out before Miss Tightwad comes after us,” Dean leaned forward and turned the handle on the lantern until the flame was snuffed out.
Castiel rolled over on the hard floor, he didn’t want to admit it, but his chest still hurt. He was having trouble falling asleep. He wasn’t sure how much time had passed since the dark had settled into the room, but it was long enough for Dean to start snoring.
He sighed as he pushed himself up from the floor. Moving as silently as he could, he made his way out of the room and followed the faint glow coming from down the hall. The doors to the large room had been sealed as best as they could be, an attempt to keep in as much light as possible. Castiel hesitated before pushing the doors open. He didn’t know how late it was, and he didn’t want to bother anyone who was using the lit room for something.
Instead of opening the doors he turned and headed further down the long hallway, making his way back to the room where the elevator had been located. As he rounded the corner his eyes caught sight of a person sitting in the window closest to the elevator. He froze, startled at first, but then he recognized the color of Lou’s hair.
She was sitting in the window sill, a leg hanging out the opening where glass used to be, her body turned mostly away from him, a shoulder leaning against the frame of the window. The heavy jacket and leather pants she had been wearing through the day had been replaced with a simple white sleeveless shirt and some shorts. Her hair that had been pulled up and stuffed under a helmet was in a loose braid that hung down her back. The moonlight was getting caught in the loose hair around her head, creating a halo.
Castiel took a step backwards, trying to back up without being detected.
Lou’s head whipped around, her eyes catching his, and for a moment he could see tears.
“Hey you,” she smiled, the sadness he had witnessed a moment before disappearing, “what’re you doing up?”
“I, uh…” the angel tried to return her smile, “I can’t sleep.”
“Me either,” she motioned for him to join her, “come over here and look at the stars with me.”
Castiel crossed the room and stood next to the window.
“Sometimes when the world seems too terrible, I like to look at the stars,” she looked up at the clear night sky, “they remind me that before the war there were people looking up at those very same stars.”
“Actually, most of the stars you are seeing died a long time ago,” Castiel looked up at the sky as well.
She laughed softly, “you’re a strange one, aren’t you?”
“I have been told that, yes,” his eyes lingered on the sky, where his home used to be.
“Well, it’s alright if they’re all dead even,” she sighed, “that’s almost more comforting.”
“How so?” his eyes left the sky and looked at the woman sitting next to him.
“It makes it seem more normal that I can still see all the people I love that have died when I close my eyes,” her gaze seemed lost in the sky.
He stared at her. She was smiling, but there was deep pain buried in her expression. He suddenly felt as though he was glimpsing a part of her he wasn’t meant to see and forced his eyes from her face, they settled on a scar that was coming out from under her shirt. It was like a welt, a deeper color than the rest of her skin, it stretched over her shoulder blade and arched up towards her shoulder.
“You have scars,” he mused, wishing he had the power to heal it for her.
“What?” she looked at his face, and realized he was looking at her shoulder, “oh, yeah.” Her fingers reached up and ran over the smooth surface of the damaged skin, “we all have scars here, some are just more obvious than others.”
“It’s hard living here, isn’t it?” Castiel looked back out the window, “I had no idea a war would make the world look like this.”
“War is a terrible thing,” Lou stared at him, “but you would know that, wouldn’t you, soldier?”
Castiel’s eyes met hers, “how did you know that I was a soldier?”
“It’s etched into your face,” she smiled softly, “my father was a soldier before he met my mom, he had the look too.”
“Where is he now?” his eyebrows knitted together.
“He died when I was nineteen,” her smile faded, “raiders came through our area and killed everyone on our farm.”
“But you survived,” Castiel sat on the edge of the windowsill next to her.
“I was gone when they came through,” she pulled her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, “I’m the only one from my family left.”
“There was a time when I thought I had no family. I felt they had turned away from me,” he smiled, “but a wise man once said, ‘family don’t end in blood.’ It might not be any of my business, but while those two girls don’t look like blood, they sure do look like your sisters.”
She returned his smile, “you’re right.” She released her legs and let them dangle over the edge of the windowsill, “even though you’re a bit odd… you’re a good guy.”
A moment passed between the two of them before Lou’s eyes suddenly tore away from his.
“I…” she was flushed, “I’m sorry, I…” she stood up and wrapped her arms around herself, “I shouldn’t be here, not with…” she paused when her eyes met his again, “with you.” She began to back away, “it’s not you, please don’t think it’s you… I just…” she turned away from him, “it’s me, I just shouldn’t be here.”
Before Castiel could stop her she hurried from the room.
Lou closed the door to her room behind herself as quietly as she could. The moonlight coming in through the boards nailed over the window on the far side of her room gave everything a beautiful blue haze. She wrapped her arms around herself.
“What are you doing, Louise?” she whispered to herself, “you know better.”
The sting of tears filled her eyes as they welled up and spilled down her cheeks.
“You know better!” she scolded herself.
She let her body slide down the door until she was sitting on the concrete surface. Her fingers wrapped around the silver locket that hung around her neck, her thumb running over the etching on the front.
“I am so sorry baby,” she breathed, “I am so, so sorry.”
@iwantthedean, @goldenangelbloodcastiel