Lost and Found

12. Verdant

PART ONE: FAMILY VALUES

CHAPTER TWELVE: VERDANT

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TEAM WINCHESTER, STARLING CITY, USA

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"What the hell is a goddamned meta-human?" Dean shouted into the small space of the Impala. He re-gripped the steering wheel tightly as he looked into the rearview mirror where Oliver and Felicity now sat in the backseat. He was angry, angry that they hadn't been told half of the story and angry that this thing had just got away. Oliver glared back at him but Felicity cleared her throat and leaned forward, her voice shaking.

"A couple of years ago a particle accelerator exploded in Central City," she started and Sam's interest was piqued, he turned around to look at her. Dean stared forward, growing angrier by the second as he seemed to be the only person in the car who didn't understand what a particle accelerator was. 

"So what?"

"So after the particle accelerator exploded it sent a lot of energy into the air. And then people started showing up, people who had been just regular people suddenly had powers like-" she stopped short and glanced back at Oliver who gave her a warning look. "Powers like inhuman speed and weather control they became-" her hands went up as she searched for the right words, "superheroes!"

Sam's eyebrows raised in surprise and he turned to look at Dean. "Do you think it's possible that this might not be a werewolf?"

"Absolutely not, come on Sam, you seen that thing!" Dean was right, they had all seen it and this time under the bright lights of the diner. It was clear someone or something had attempted to attack it before but had failed just as they had tonight. It had looked exactly like a werewolf but it didn't act like one, changing on it's own accord consciously hunting someone down - Felicity, it would seem. This thing was more conscious than most of the creatures they hunted and it wasn't right.

"I know but Dean-"

"Whatever you did to it, it hurt it more than the exploding arrow," Oliver finally spoke up, looking unhappy about this conclusion as he turned to stare out the window.

"Silver," Sam said calmly, "only way to kill a werewolf."

"Except this one," Oliver pointed out.

"Except this one," he agreed.

"Exploding arrows?" Dean demanded, "Oh, this just keeps getting better!" A silence fell around them and Felicity took in a deep breath as if she was going to say something and then just stared out the window.

"What?" Oliver prodded, "Felicity, I know that look. What are you thinking?"

"What if it's not a werewolf and it's not a meta-human? What if - what if it's both?" The air was electric with tension as her idea sunk in, unsettling every ounce of testosterone in the vehicle. Sam thought the idea over, his eyebrows raising as he considered the possibilities. He weighed the options as he replayed the events of the diner in his head. 

"Impossible," Dean responded automatically, but Sam sensed it was more because of Oliver's presence than anything causing the auto-reaction. Dean had seen himself the way that thing had charged into the silver bullets, screeching yes, but not falling.

"But Dean, she might be right. What if a werewolf bit a meta-human? What if that's what we're looking at? We've never encountered this before, this could explain what's going on."

"Well our best bet is to look at that footage then, if we can get ahold of it then I can-"

"We can get ahold of it," he responded coolly and the car lapsed into silence again as they pulled up in front of Verdant. Oliver got out and Dean immediately followed, motioning for him to go first up the fire escape. He watched as Oliver's jaw tightened and he slowly turned to lead the way. They followed closely behind, Dean obviously annoyed not only by them but by the raging dance beats that were bumping through the night air.