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Summer didn’t intend to get involved with Richard Roman Enterprises, but his Leviathans are getting a little too real in her neck of the woods for her to be willing to leave them alone. She’d seen an actual Biggerson’s on the corner where the McDonald’s is supposed to be. Winter and Autumn aren’t around - traveling off somewhere, Summer doesn’t remember exactly where - which means she gets to face down these monsters on her own. Not great. She’s done her research, brushing up on what kills them and what to watch for. And that research has reminded her why exactly she hates Season 7 - Leviathans suck.
But regardless of her opinions, that Biggerson’s is a problem, so she prepares herself to do what their mentor had instructed them to do in such a situation. Usually it was monsters or villains reaching through the veil, and the best way to slam them back on their side of the wall is to kill a few of them while reminding them exactly which story they come from. Summer has never dealt with Leviathans before, but she pings the Winchesters before she makes her move. With any luck, backup will arrive right when she needs it.
Summer has dinner at the Biggerson’s, taking notes as to who is or isn’t likely to eat her. Not many of the staff are Leviathans, but at least one waiter and all the cooks she sees ooze black. She pays for her salad, then spends the rest of the evening waiting in her car for the customers to leave. The moment their sign flips from “open” to “closed”, she gets out of the car and sneaks around to the back, one hand on her stylus, the other loosening the cap on her container of Borax. God, I really hate Season 7. She could probably pick the lock, but there is an easier way.
She knocks on the back door. Loud. She doesn’t wait long before the door is cautiously opened by someone she’d marked earlier as ‘monster’. “Look, I’m sorry, we’re closed-”
Summer cuts him off by flashing her billfold at him - what Autumn had dubbed their “psychic paper” the moment they’d realized what it could do. It shows the seer whatever Summer needs them to see. In this case, it’s the proper identification to complete her bluff. “Mr. Roman sent me to check on your operation,” she tells him, brushing past him into the kitchen. A glance confirms what she’d hoped - the only beings still around are Leviathans.
The waiter she’d noticed earlier, a skinny blonde with her hair in a high ponytail, looks her up and down with a look of disgust. “You’re not one of us.”
Of course they can tell. Has she mentioned she hates Season 7? Summer just raises an eyebrow at her. “What, and your boss can’t outsource his work to humans who know which way the wind is blowing?” She turns back to the Leviathan who’d let her in, her face all business. “Who’s in charge of this location?”
“Wait, Roman’s recruiting humans?”
Same blonde, same skepticism. Summer was hoping she’d be able to spread them out, but it’s looking more and more like she’ll have to take out all…a quick headcount tells her she’s facing five Leviathans. Easy. That’s a lie and she knows it. Anytime, Winchesters, she pings again, then turns to the skeptic. “Yes, he is,” she says, folding her arms across her chest. “And I’m not surprised you hadn’t heard, given how low you are on the food chain.”
The blonde smirks at that. “Actually, I’m in charge here. And I don’t think we work for the same boss.”
Fuck. Summer lets out a sigh and grabs her stylus, spinning it over her fingers until she’s holding a machete. “Look, we wouldn’t be having this discussion if you guys could just stay in your world.”
The cook who let her in scoffs. “What on earth are you talking about?”
The blonde, meanwhile, looks like she knows exactly what Summer’s talking about. “Oh, you’re one of those keepers of the walls, right? Who decides where we do and don’t get to go?” She’s grinning, and Summer is not a fan. “Sorry, doll. We’re not going to stay in our little world. We’re going to spread. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
Summer sighs again. “You’re going to make me do this the hard way,” she says. “You know the last time I had to do things the hard way? Season 4. The angels did not know how to control where they were landing.”
The Leviathans exchange looks, and Summer doesn’t wait for them to make the first move. She decapitates the blonde, then tosses Borax at the cook, trying to buy herself time to get the other three. That plan doesn’t work out, as she’s tackled by one of the other cooks and gets to see Leviathan teeth up close and personal. Her machete is knocked out of her hand - figures - but before she can swear, the back door slams open and Summer knows her backup has arrived. “Took you two long enough,” she mutters, finding her machete and decapitating the Leviathan holding her down.
One glance tells her that her backup is indeed Sam and Dean, with a third figure flickering around the edges of the room. She files the mystery man under ‘things to worry about later’ and gets to work, spinning her machete until it’s a stylus again, and starts writing, using the tile floor as her paper and the Leviathan ooze as her ink. In English, she writes out “Supernatural Season Seven Leviathans Leave” - short, simple, and to the point, just like their mentor taught her. A twirl, and her stylus is a pocket knife she uses to nick the side of her hand. Another twirl and it’s a stylus again in time for her to use her own blood to write out the same message in the Enochian alphabet. The moment the last letter is finished, the Biggerson’s flashes white, and Summer is suddenly crouching on dirt, the usual McDonald’s a couple yards away.
“What the hell?” she hears behind her, and Summer can’t help her smile. Over ten years of this job, and she still loves talking to the Winchesters.
“Nice of you two to show up,” she says, standing and turning to face the brothers. Her smile, however, drops the moment she sees Sam. Or more accurately, who’s standing next to Sam. Because sure, Dean’s right there - but so is Lucifer, wearing Nick’s body. She blinks and quickly checks Sam’s hair - nope, definitely Season 7. So why…
A question from Dean redirects her attention away from Sam. “I’m sorry, have we met?”
Summer just looks at him, then huffs out a frustrated sigh. “Of course,” she mutters, digging into her pocket for her billfold. “Never sticks. You know, one of these days you boys are going to actually know who I am when I show up.” She flashes her ID at them as she approaches. “Summer Days. Make fun of the name if you like, Dean, you’ve done it before,” she adds the moment she sees the elder Winchester draw in a breath. “I’m the…keeper of the walls, I guess.” At the identical confused looks, she explains. “I make sure your world doesn’t bleed over into mine. Those Leviathans? If you notice, there’s been a slight scene change,” she points out, jerking one thumb over her shoulder at the McDonald’s. “They’d taken over the McDonald’s.”
“Ask her if their theme song is that old rhyme.”
Summer’s eyes snap to Lucifer, who’s wearing the grin he gets when he knows he’s getting under someone’s skin and they can’t do anything about it. One glance at Sam reveals that, though he’s playing with his left hand, he’s not pressing the scar. A further look shows bags under his eyes, and Summer suddenly has a bad feeling about this.
“What, like ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’?”
The question, surprisingly, comes from Dean, and Summer notices the quick look Sam sends Lucifer. And isn’t that weird - Summer can see Sam’s hallucinations. That hadn’t been expected. “Don’t know,” she replies almost absent-mindedly to Dean. “I think I honestly know more about your world than my own at this point.” She’s stepped closer to Sam, trying to get him to meet her eyes instead of flicking between points on the ground. “Sam, when’s the last time you slept?”
That gets his attention. “What?” Summer doesn’t miss the way Sam’s gaze finds Dean before he replies. “La-last night, why?”
“Lying to a girl, Sammy? Well, that’s nothing new.”
Summer holds up a finger to Sam and turns to spare the devil only a second of her time. “Look, Luci, I’m gonna need you to shut up for the rest of this conversation. Because frankly? I don’t care what you have to say.” She hides her grin at the pure shock on Lucifer’s face, and turns back to the Winchesters to find them wearing similar expressions.
“You-you can see him?” Sam, and Dean’s question is only a second behind.
“Who the hell are you talking to - wait, see who?”
“Yes, I can see Lucifer,” Summer tells them, answering both their questions at once before focusing on Sam again. “Sam, I hate to agree with Lucifer on anything, but you are lying. I can see the circles under your eyes. So. When was the last time you slept.” Sam’s not looking at her, let alone answering, and she exchanges a look with Dean.
Wait. If she can figure out when this is, that might give her a hint. She changes tactics. “Hey, Dean, did you two deal with a bunch of cursed objects recently?” Dean blinks and tries to share a look with Sam, but Summer can tell he’s distracted by Lucifer singing in his ear. “One sec, Dean. Hey.” Sam looks up, but Summer’s attention is on Lucifer. “I told you to be quiet. Are you going to listen to me, or do I get to do this the hard way?” She twirls her stylus, and is suddenly holding a small golden blade - an archangel blade.
Lucifer lets out a low whistle. “Where did you get that?”
“I’m special,” Summer replies flatly. “Now, are you going to shut up?”
Lucifer holds up his hands in surrender. “Fine, take all the fun out of life. I’ll be quiet.”
Summer raises an eyebrow, but twirls the blade back to a stylus and turns to the Winchesters again. “Cursed objects?”
“Yeah,” Dean replies slowly. “A couple days ago.”
“Ballet slippers, tea kettle, gramophone, vintage magazine, two Leviathans playing with real estate?”
“Yeah. Look, how do you know any of this?”
Dean’s suspicion is a staple of these encounters, and Summer’s getting tired of it. “It’s my job,” she tells him. “I told you, I’m the keeper of the walls. In my world, your lives are just a story, a TV show. Sometimes there’s bleedthrough, and it’s my job to stop it.”
“And you seeing Lucifer? What, is my brother’s crazy contagious?”
“No,” Summer shoots back, then stops. Technically, Cas… She shakes her head and focuses. They don’t know Cas is alive yet, and that solution will have to wait another couple days. She holds back a wince as she realizes what Sam’s in for. I really hate Season 7.
“No, the hallucinations aren’t contagious. I think it has to do with the way your story is told. Half the time it’s through Sam’s eyes, so I think that’s why I can see-”
She cuts herself off as she notices the grass around them has caught fire and turns slowly to Lucifer. The devil is standing off to one side, deliberately not looking at her and whistling. “Alright, that’s it,” she mutters.
“What’s it?” she hears Dean ask as she stalks towards Lucifer.
“Luci set the grass on fire,” Summer tells him, twirling her stylus so she’s holding the archangel blade again. “Hey, you. I told you to stop.”
Lucifer turns towards her with an innocent grin. “I didn’t say anything!”
Summer rolls her eyes. “You set the fucking grass on fire, Lucifer. You really thought I was going to let that slide?”
Lucifer shrugs, leaning casually against a tree. “I don’t think you have a choice. That blade you’ve got?” He points at the archangel blade, a knowing look on his face. “You need an archangel behind that for it to work, and, would you look at that. Seems like you’re fresh out of archangels.”
Summer raises her eyebrows at him. “Who said I was going to kill you?” She swipes at Lucifer, opening a slash across his chest that bleeds enough for her to write out who she wants to leave and who she wants to stay.
“What are you doing?” Lucifer asks as she starts in on the Enochian, and she’s pleased to hear a note of fear in his voice.
“I’m making sure Sam gets one good night of sleep before his world goes to hell. Now,” she says, finishing up the last letter, “go to hell.”
Lucifer flashes white, then vanishes, and Summer hears Sam’s gasp of surprise behind her. “What…how did you…”
“It’s not a long term solution,” she tells him, turning back towards them. “I just sent him back to your world early. The upshot is, you should be able to catch one night of sleep here.” She looks at Dean, who seems like he’s barely following what’s been going on. “Where’s your car?”
“Parking lot,” he replies, and Summer nods.
“Cool. Both of you, go and lay down. And you-” She grabs Sam’s arm and twirls her stylus to a pocket knife again, nicking her hand and writing a word and a number on Sam’s arm. “Don’t worry about that coming off. I’ve anchored you here for ten hours - sleep. You…” She trails off, then decides to push ahead. “I’m really sorry, but you’ve got a long week ahead of you. Both of you.”
She looks up to see both Winchesters’ gazes have landed on her stylus. She sighs as she tucks it back behind her ear. “Yes, I know it’s weird. No, I don’t know how it works. No, you two can’t have it. It won’t work for you two anyway.”
“How do you know?” Dean asks, and Summer smirks.
“Because you’ve tried. Multiple times. And every time you do, you drop it like you got electrocuted. Again.” She sees Sam hide a grin that quickly turns into a yawn, and she refocuses. “Alright, Winchesters. Bed. Now. You need it.”
“Fine.” Dean throws his hands up and starts walking, but Sam puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Hey.” She looks up to find Sam giving her a gentle smile. “Thanks.”
“You’re welcome,” she replies, “but I’m not sure I’m really doing you a favor. He’ll be back,” she tells him, “and you can’t shut him out anymore. And there’s nothing I can do about that, let alone you or Dean.” Summer glances over towards Dean, and determines he’s out of earshot. Here we go.
“I’m going to give you a sneak peek, Sam. Not sure if you’ll remember this, but I’ve gotta try. Lucifer’s going to keep you awake for five days straight. You’re going to get hit by a car and end up in a mental hospital. After that…” She shrugs, not enjoying the look of helplessness on Sam’s face. “After that, it’s up to your guardian angel to get you out of that mess.”
Sam frowns at her. “I, I don’t have a guardian angel.”
Summer raises an eyebrow at that. “Don’t you?” She doesn’t give him the chance to reply, however, giving him a gentle shove towards whatever car he and Dean are using this week. “Go to bed, Winchester. You’ve earned it.”
She watches Sam make his way over to his brother, who makes sure he ends up laying down in the backseat, and Summer doesn’t bother hiding her smile. A smile that fades as she remembers what those two have in store. “I really hate Season 7,” she mutters under her breath, then goes to find where she’d parked.