SHORTCUT ROAD
Supernatural High School AU set in the present day based largely around seasons 4 and 5. Angels and demons alike descend on a small Colorado town where the teenage Winchester brothers recently moved to stay with Bobby, Ellen, and Jo while their father goes on an extended hunting trip.
CHAPTER ONE [PART ONE]:
Castiel was positive this was a bad idea. He didn't know how else to express it to his siblings, however; he'd spent the past month during the planning stages of this venture debating the very idea of it but not speaking aloud, knowing they wouldn't listen, instead praying they would recognize or receive revelation about the poorness of this decision. They hadn't, and here they were. It was his place to follow and to do it without argument, if not happily, and so he did. But he knew, deep in his new human host's belly, that there was no way for this to end but badly.
Taking a deep breath, he stepped a little farther forward onto the pebbles of the swimming hole's rocky shoreline. They were in northern Colorado, in a little town named DeChoix that all the locals said with a strong Americanized dee-chuh-wah-ex. It was a pretty place, fraying around the edges, but comfortable, just big enough for its own high school, not quite large enough to keep that high school's graduates from leaving town, with only one WalMart and two competing diners that made for some interesting eating. That tiny step forward was the only actual physical contact he'd had with the place aside from initially setting his feet down, but he knew all of that just the same. They'd been required to spend a solid day watching the patterns of DeChoix and its people, taking in more in those twenty-four hours than most noticed in a lifetime. He could speak about the crooked line down the pavement where Sycamore Street crossed with Ash, or how if you wanted cherry pie you needed to go to Jenny's Diner but you couldn't beat Sunshine Cafe's breakfast specials. He could talk about how evil Mr. Taylor was and how everyone was sure to fail his calculus class this semester but that was okay since they all knew he was just an asshole because he really wanted to be banging Ms. Carter-Smith, the art teacher, who wouldn't have anything to do with him. He could describe the inside of a bedroom he'd never been in, inside a home he'd never lived in, and yet the entire town believed he'd spent the majority of his life growing up there. It was staggering, what they'd been able to observe, what they'd managed to implant in peoples' minds.
It had been a long time since he'd last been human. It wasn't often required of those outside the inner circle; he, for example, hadn't been convincing nubile girls to allow God to impregnate them or giving the resultant step-fathers nightmares sending them fleeing into the depths of the desert. Occasionally they had to slip one on just to monitor things, but there wasn't a lot of discomfort in it as it wasn't a full body replacement. Their need for the hosts was so temporary that mere mental occupation was enough. Now, however, what with undertaking this extended campaign, he'd had to completely insert himself within his host. To make matters worse, it was the first time he'd been a teenager or, indeed, pre- or pubescent at all. His host had just turned seventeen, his hormones reflecting the change. It wasn't something Cas had ever had to deal with before and hadn't taken into account when preparing himself. His bright blue swimming trunks brushed across his groin, moving with the wind, and he winced, wanting to grab down there. He'd heard of these things happening. He just didn't want them happening to him. It was --- itchy.
An elbow plowed into his side, sending him sliding on the rocks as merry laughter rang out around the wooded area. Gabriel danced forward, brown hair first sliding into his eyes then cavorting with the breeze, expression pure mischievous energy. "Come on!" he shouted, raising his arms to the skies. "Move! Shake! Do something, do anything but stand there! Gahhhh!" His shouting became wordless, joyous, until suddenly his head snapped down and he pinned them all with a wicked grin and serious eyes. "Don't you feel it? We're human. It is so damn good to get into skin again." He curled and stretched, rubbing his hands across his shirtless chest, making Balthazar laugh and do the same. Gabriel smirked and went to join him, shoving him backwards perhaps harder than he meant to as he moved immediately to grab his stumbling brother and tug him in a playful circle. "You feel it, don't you, Balthy old boy? The completely fucking amazing feeling of being human!"
"Gabriel." Michael's voice cut through the noise of their play, making all but Gabriel still. Cas turned to watch him, uncomfortable with the realization Michael had been behind him the entire time and he'd only now noticed. He stood inches above all of them but Uriel, the golden white of his hair painfully bright in the summer sun; his posture was easy, even relaxed, but with Michael that was always a deadly mistake to make, confusing his comfort with his own body for a casual nature. Castiel knew it took only one wrong word, one poor decision, and his brother would snap to attention, prepared to face any oncoming enemy. Michael was a soldier. More than that, Michael was their general and they were expected to treat him as such. And really, they all did. Excepting, of course, Gabriel. And, oddly, Anna.
"Wrong name, big brother," Gabe said, all but ignoring Michael as he turned to look at the swimming hole, studying the murky brown-green of the water with relish.
Michael's eyebrow cocked, the only sign of disturbance. "Oh?" The syllable was quiet, heavy with meaning.
"Mhmm. Picked a new one, all by myself." He turned long enough to flash them a rebellious grin. "You might've heard it before, actually --- Judas. Ring any bells?"
Uriel growled and started forward, Michael's hand staying him. "How did you manage that, Gabriel? Uriel and Castiel were in charge of all names and records."
"Oh puh-lease, like I was going to let those two pick for me," Gabe retorted, scoffing. He began to stretch again, bending one arm over his head, then the other. He jogged in place for a moment, smiling a bit sadly as he rotated in a circle and noticed Balthazar sidling back to stand next to Rachel. "They're about as creative as Andy Dick's one-liners. " Seeing most of their blank looks, he rolled his eyes and explained. "Spend a day watching the town and no time devoted to pop culture? You have no respect for humanity. I'm saying that they're boring. Get it now?"
"Boring their choices may be," Michael agreed, making Cas burn internally with shame. "But also easy to remember and to use. Do you really believe that any of us are going to agree to refer to you as Judas?" His tone crawled over the last word, repugnance obvious.
"Do it, don't do it, doesn't make any difference to me. I wasn't the one who wanted to hide out in this hick town. Spread your wings on main street for all I care. Perform miracles for the mayor. I, brother, am only here for the mansuit. And the chicks." He touched himself one last time, winking, then took off at a full-out sprint for the water, diving off the embankment with a shrill scream.
The rest of them stood there for a moment more, carefully balanced, watching Michael. He finally sighed, allowing them to relax, and said almost to himself, "Hopefully he at least left Gabriel as his middle name." Voice hardening, he went on, "Which is what you all will call him."
Then, stepping further into the group until they all naturally formed a ring around him, he ordered, "Last sound off. Starting with you, Raphael."
"Rafe Matthew Palmeiro. Eighteen, senior next year, every sport but soccer and tennis. Was adopted at six, moved here at eight. Uriah and I are not brothers, though we're both inhabiting black hosts, and we're to be offended if anyone insinuates we are simply due to the color of our skin. Racists," he ended with a mutter, making Uriel laugh.
"Good. Next? Zachariah?"
He squirmed for just a moment before pasting on a conciliatory smile. "Zachary Andrew Palmeiro. Seventeen, one of the Palmeiros three biological children along with Rachel and you, Michael. I'll be a senior next year and am the student government treasurer." Zach smiled, as happy with the position as he was hoping he'd pleased Michael.
Without a word to him, Michael turned to Anna and gestured for her to begin. Her typically serene face gave no clue to her inner feelings, strands of vibrant red hair sifting around her shoulders. "Anna Elizabeth Palmeiro. Sixteen, seventeen in November. I was born in Portland and adopted by the Palmeiros when I was a year old. We moved here from Denver when I was six. I'll be a junior next year, and am heavily involved in the school KEY and BETA clubs as well as the event planning committee."
"Very good. Balthazar?"
"Bartholomew Mordecai Palmeiro. I hate when people call me Barthy, for obvious reasons. I go by Ollie instead. Fifteen, almost sixteen, which is almost eighteen, which is legal," he said with a leer, grinning until Michael stared at him. With a sigh, he rushed through the rest. "I'll be a sophomore in the fall, I was adopted when I was three from Denver, we moved here when I was five, I play golf and baseball and I recently got my permit and the first time driving nicked Mrs. Cooper's pig-shaped mailbox which accurately reflects the heft of its owner."
"Did you?" Michael asked, the slightest hint of amusement softening his features. "Careless. Uriel?"
He squared up, heels all but snapping together. "Uriah Thomas Palmeiro. Nineteen. I graduated two weeks ago and am taking a year off to do service work locally before going to the University of Colorado. I am the Palmeiros second child as I was a little over a year old when I was taken in. When our father left for his mission trip, he asked me to stay here to assist Michael in looking after the rest of you." Uriel eyeballed all of them as if they were heathens, a burden beyond bearing.
"Rachel?"
"Rachel Rebecca Palmeiro, fourteen, fifteen in July. An upcoming sophomore, one of the three biological children, cheerleader and mathlete. I take the most after our mother." She reached up and neatly tucked a hank of shining golden hair behind her ear, then smoothed down the fitted length of her white cover-up before returning her hands to their original position at her sides.
"Judas Gabriel Alejandro Delfinio Suarez Palmeiro." Gabe appeared behind Rafe, shaking his head and spraying water over all of them, grinning when his brother's eyebrows lowered. "Seventeen soon to be eighteen. Senior, which means one more year then I'm blowing this hellhole. I am the town prankster and troublemaker, all the men hate me, all the ladies love me, and I don't give a rat's ass. Ollie and Cas are my favorites, Ollie because I'm corrupting him, Cas because he's so incredibly boring it's almost fun to watch. I detest Uriel cause he's a big dumb lug, and I think Rafe smells like Axe body spray and ass. Uh, let's see, what else --- " He tapped his chin thoughtfully. "My favorite color is green, I'm obsessed with Disney movies, I once brought a raccoon into the house, I'm up for long walks on the beach, moonlit nights on the sand, and sex under the bleachers." With one more tap, he nodded. "And Michael's a douche."
Ignoring him, Michael turned and said, "Castiel."
He kept his face still, hands hanging open, feet spread an even shoulder's width apart. Logically, he had known it was his turn next, and he launched into the speech he had rehearsed in his head while the others talked. "I am Cas Anthony Palmeiro. I was born December 17th, 1993, in Boulder, Colorado. I was adopted in May of 1994 by Joseph and Maria Palmeiro, a pastor and his wife based in Denver, Colorado. In the year 2000, when I was seven, Joseph received a pastorship at a church in DeChoix, Colorado, and we summarily moved. I will be a junior next year. I am a mathlete and member of the chess team, though there are only three of us so the assignation 'team' is debatable." He paused, ostensibly done, but then his mouth opened once more, words hesitating on his tongue as if they themselves knew it was pointless for them to be spoken. "I would like to say that I do not --- "
"Michael Joseph Palmeiro. No one calls me Mike or Mikey except Mom. Eighteen, the oldest biological child, and the one who's been with the Palmeiros the longest. I'll be a senior next year, and am captain of the football, basketball, swimming, and track teams, as well as a student council member. We moved to DeChoix when I was eight, and I adjusted most readily to the move. Last year I was crowned king of the junior prom. I'm active in the JROTC and led our drill team to victory in the state championships." Michael, having cut Castiel off without even bothering to look at him, rattled that off easily, then scared him by smiling, strong white teeth flashing. "From here on out, we will use these names and only these names for one another -- excepting Gabriel, who again will be referred to as Gabriel and nothing else -- even in our thoughts. We will stick to the rules Lucifer and I agreed on, and we will win this."
He paused, head cocked, then smiled again, bigger, brighter. "I hear cars coming. Get ready. It's time for the game to start."
Clapping Rafe on the shoulder, the two of them along with Uriah and Zachary moved toward the water, the former chatting easily back and forth as Zach occasionally interrupted and Uriah watched silently. Ollie came up behind Rachel and tugged her hair, making her spin, only to have Gabe do the same from the other side; Rachel began to protest and the boys only amped up the teasing in response, the three of them sniping back and forth as they moved away.
Anna came to stand next to Castiel and, as one, they turned to watch the makeshift parking lot that was little more than torn-up crab grass. "We shouldn't be doing this, Anna. There is a preordained order to things and --- "
"It doesn't matter now, Castiel," Anna replied, breaking Michael's first name policy without fear only minutes after he made it. "What's done is done. This is the situation. You just have to deal with it. We all have to deal with it."
There was a deep rumble, then a black '67 Chevy Impala cruised into the lot, spilling out four passengers, one girl and three guys. The driver, irate, started cursing at the laughing girl before checking the undercarriage of his car, patting its grill with a murmured, "What did that mean dirt road do to you, baby?"
Cas studied them, worry creasing his adolescent brow. They looked so innocent. "It is not fair to them."
Anna laughed, bitterly. "Oh, Castiel. You should know by now --- nothing about existence is fair. It simply is." With that, she turned, walking slowly to first collect a towel from the pile that had appeared on the beach with them, then to lay on a shaded spot in the grass away from everyone.
Watching as the boy finished soothing his injured car and the other three stopped making fun of him for caring so much, Cas felt another throb of premonition, followed by sorrow. It was not their purpose to bring difficulty and decision into the lives of humans, not because of their own inclination. It was their purpose to do their Father's work. But he'd been so indirect for so long that Michael and Lucifer grew bored, restless, deciding to change the game because, as Michael repeated over and over like a line of lyric he just couldn't shake, when the Father's away the angels will play.
He just wished, futilely, that the Winchester brothers weren't the ones they had to play with.
Dean scowled at the mud splattered over the wheels of his beloved car, a gift from his dad when he dropped them off at Bobby's. There were bits of rock and grass crunched up in the treads, which meant they sure as shit had pinged on the undercarriage, which meant that Jo's promise about the road being entirely fine for him to drive on was bull. He stood up and glared at her just so she would know he was pissed; that only led to her laughing harder and rolling her eyes, elbowing Sam and commenting, "Let's get our stuff and head for the lake. I think Dean and his baby need their privacy so she can heal."
Sam grinned and nodded his agreement, but not before moving to pat Dean's shoulder, giving the comfort his little brother offered too easily. "It didn't sound too bad. Honestly, if Ash hadn't rocked around so much we wouldn't have scraped even once."
From back near the trunk came a voice filled with a breathy Southern slur. "Just testin' the suspension. Never know where you could make improvements." He closed the trunk with a clatter, tossing a beer from the cooler he'd removed to Dean who caught it easily, ignoring the slightly stinging slap of metal against his palm for the sake of the cold comfort within. "Besides, she ain't hurt. Made of sterner stuff, this one." Ash patted the car, smiling at Dean, who shrugged in complicit agreement before turning his back on them to crack open his beer and study the lake. Moving to stretch his arms to the sky, Ash unknowingly mirrored the actions of an angel from only a few minutes before, then smacked Sam on the ass and sprinted for the lake with a scream, dropping the cooler and stripping his clothes off along the way, broke-down boots, torn jeans, and black muscle t-shirt littering the bank like shrapnel.
"Doesn't he own a pair of trunks?" Dean asked, watching Ash splash into the water in nothing but his boxers. Shaking his head, he took a long swallow.
"Probably not," Jo replied, grinning. "You think he'd wear them even if he did?" She slung a towel around Dean's neck and strangled him a little, making him laugh, before cocking an eyebrow at the brothers and commenting, "Well, since you two are being such slowpokes, I'm going to go hang out with my friends. I'm sure you two can find your way around. Water, beach, bank, forest --- you get the idea." Then she, too, moved away, greeting a brown-haired boy standing at the edge of the parking lot before settling in next to a red-haired girl who welcomed her with a warm smile.
Sam stood shoulder to shoulder with Dean --- or, well, almost, as his brother had shot up over the past few months, leaving him standing at a good three inches above Dean's head --- and looked over the lake as he was doing. Ash was wrestling with some guys in the water, flailing limbs flashing white and brown; Jo was stripping down her cut-off shorts, leaving her in a slightly worn red bikini, as the girl next to her likewise removed her coverup, displaying a black one-piece bathing suit Dean found oddly attractive for being so modest; a blonde girl screamed as a taller guy picked her up and slung her out into the deep; and the boy, the blue-eyed one at the edge of the lot, watched the two of them as they were watching everyone else, not bothering to turn away when Dean caught his gaze, instead nodding calmly before picking his way over the rocks to where Jo and her friend were getting ready to hop in the lake. Interesting. It wasn't often that anyone paid specific attention to him and Sam, not when they weren't trying to attract it; and it was strange, too, for someone to react so collectedly to being caught staring.
"New town," Dean said suddenly, crushing the beer can in his hand and dropping it on the ground.
"Yup," Sam agreed, bending down to pick it up so he could toss it in the trash on their way to the beach.
"New school." Rolling his shoulders, Dean stood comfortably bare from the waist up, excluding his omnipresent amulet, his bottom half clothed in camouflage-patterned swimming trunks and his boots.
"Yeah," Sam agreed again, adjusting his own slightly small pair of navy swim shorts Dean had found in the clothes their dad left behind.
"New --- friends," he spoke again, looking over the red-head before his eyes strayed to the boy next to her.
At that Sam laughed. "At least we have Ash and Jo this time. Bobby and Ellen. Rufus. It won't be like starting over entirely."
"Yeah. Thank god for Rufus." With that bit of wit, Dean hit his brother with a cocky grin, then smacked him on the shoulder. "C'mon, Sammy. Let's go show 'em how swimming is done. Winchester style."
Then he headed for the water, laughing as Sam called from behind him, "You're gonna let them see you dog-paddle?"