Chapter Text
The hunt was not going well. At all.
Sam and Dean Winchester had spent the last three days trying to track yet another cursed object, a magic mirror that had been sending people God-knows-where by some yet unknown means, and kept running into dead ends. Every time they thought they had the mirror, it had struck and vanished, sold to some hapless fellow who was bound to become the next missing person. The frustration and agitation was getting to them both, the tension between them growing thick enough to be cut with a knife. "This is the third damn place we've looked for that fucking mirror, and, what do you know, it's gone! Again!" The older hunter fumed as he and the taller man left an antique shop, where the mirror had last been spotted. It had been there for weeks before sending the shop owner's grandmother hurtling through time. Of course, nobody blamed the ancient mirror and it was sold to some wealthy doctor collector in North Dakota three days before the brothers got there. Sam was silent as he climbed into the rugged old Impala's front passenger seat, ignoring his brother's rants as he mulled over the recent events, what they knew about the mirror, and possible solutions. The obvious answer to prevent the mirror from sending anymore people away was to break the mirror, but finding it was posing a bigger problem than he at first expected. He was so lost in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed they were stopped in front of a motel and Dean was standing by his door until the older hunter yelled in his face. "Sammy!" The younger man jumped, blinking rapidly as he looked around, before remembering where they were. "Come on, day dreams, we need to get some shut eye before we check out the Doc's place." Dean patted the roof of the car a few times before turning and walking away, knowing full well the young hunter would follow eventually now that he was paying attention. Sam sighed, shaking his head slowly as he climbed out of the Impala. The crisp spring air hit his face, filled with the sounds and smells of the city.
Instead of going to the room and getting some sleep like Dean ordered, the young Winchester took a walk, looping the motel and the block surrounding several times. It was Sam's fifth time around when something peculiar caught his eye. It was the mirror, leaned up against an old oak tree right across the street. The hunter cautiously crossed the street and approach the mirror. He knew he should go get Dean, but he had to make sure it was the right mirror. Upon a quick inspection, being wary of seeing his reflection, he inspected the mirror and found the crest marking that this was, in fact, the mirror they sought. Now that the hunter could see it up close and not in a photograph, he easily saw why so many people had purchased the item. It's frame was thick wood, carved in intricate designs and painted over in liquid gold. The glass of the mirror itself shone despite being hundreds of years old and spending much of that time locked in a safe box. It may have been the magic of the spell tempting him to take a peek or it may have just been Sam's fascination and love of the finer things in life, things that Dean would never understand, but, despite the dangers, he knelt down and gazed into the mirror, his green eyes meeting those of his reflection. What he saw made him gasp, but by then, it was too late.
Dean paced back and forth in his motel room, anxiously turning his phone over in his hands. The doctor's place was a dud. The mirror had been stolen hours after the doctor got it to his place, and no one was missing or had witnessed what the mirror could do. But that didn't matter now. What mattered to the worried hunter was reaching his brother. The young hunter never came into the room last night and had been absent all day. Castiel, a small but rather serious angel friend of the Winchesters, popped in every now and then, doing what he could to help the hunter but it wasn't enough. "I'm sure he's fine, Dean." The blue-eyed man said, doing his best to sound reassuring but it didn't work. When the human said nothing, Cas disappeared to look again, this time widening his search area. The dirty blonde human opened his cell phone and dialed another of Sam's many phone numbers, pressing the plastic device to his ear as he walked out of the motel room, flipping it shut when he once again got voice mail. "Think, Dean, think." He muttered, slowly strolling along the shaded sidewalk, hands shoved in his pockets as he tried to come up with a solution. He didn't know why, but he had a nagging, won't-go-away-no-matter-what feeling in the back of his mind that the cursed mirror was somehow behind Sam's disappearance. Unknowingly following the same path his brother did the night before, Dean walked in circles around the block, soon accompanied by Cas. The angel tried to talk with the hunter but all attempts at conversation failed miserably, the human's mind too focused on his task to speak. "Dean." Cas said, his voice gruff. The Winchester ignored him and was prepared to keep walking when the angel grabbed the back of his jacket and yanked the human back to where he stood, his serious gaze focused across the street.
"What, Cas? You got my attention." Dean growled, wrenching himself free of the angel's grip. The man said nothing, just raised one arm and pointed to a wooded area across the street. "I can see the mirror." He stated, lowering his arm as he started off, Dean, confused but curious, following close behind him. "The mirror?" The human began, disbelief in his voice, "As in the magic mirror, the one we've been chasing for 3 days now?" Cas nodded, walking on for a little while before stopping at the edge of a clearing. To Dean, the clearing didn't look like much, just a wide treeless area full of white, blue, pink, and purple flowers. In the middle, however, was what interested him. The mirror, as clean and pristine as the day it was made, was hanging from the trunk of a large oak tree. Dean chuckled and started towards the mirror, but Cas grabbed the back of his jacket and held him in place. "Remember, Dean, if we look into the mirror, we will be lost. Forever." The angel said in a low voice, almost as if he were afraid someone might be listening, glancing at the tree. Dean cocked his head at the man, giving him an 'Do-you-think-I'm-stupid' look. After a moment or two, the angel released the hunter and followed close behind as he walked up to the mirror. The dirty blonde human looked every where but directly at the glass, searching for some way to tell where it was sending everyone and how. But there was nothing, nothing but the same old crest that nobody recognized. "Dean!" Sam's voice echoed in the older brother's ears. It sounded as if it were coming from the glass of the mirror itself. "Dean, help!" The older Winchester couldn't help but look directly at the glass, seeing Sam as he ran through a dark forest, followed close behind by men on foot with crossbows and swords. His clothes were torn and his hair was shaggier than Dean remembered, and he had a more rugged, primal look to him, but it was definitely his brother and he was in trouble. "Dean, no!" Cas yelled, grabbing onto Dean's jacket but it was too late. Suddenly both men saw a blinding white light and they too were sucked into the world of the mirror.