$surname / DUAL MARKS / 9

AN: I'm back! This is not part of the Nightmares into Dreams universe, I just want to point that out now. This story takes place during the current Supernatural season, and everything up to the most recent episode is pretty much canon. However, I will warn you, once new episodes start airing again, it will not be canon anymore. And it should go without saying that everything in the Harry Potter Universe is canon, minus the epilogue. Alright, I'm done yammering. On with the story. This is just a short introductory chapter. I don't have a beta this time around, all mistakes are my own.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything recognizable.

Sam sighed, tossing another book aside, resting his face in his hands.

"Dead end?" a voice asked from behind him.

Sam turned around as Castiel made his way down the stairs to the table.

"You would think that with a bunker full of books and information there would be something about the damn mark."

Castiel pulled out the chair across from Sam, sitting down. "How is he?"

"The same. He has days where he's the old Dean, but just as quickly he can turn dark. We need to find a way to get that mark off of him, Cas."

"I've been asking around, but no one's talking to me. I think they've lost their trust in me since the Metatron incident. After we snuck him out, and Dean almost killed him, the angels have started avoiding me whenever I go up to heaven," Cas said. "What about the internet? Have you found anything promising on there?"

Sam shrugged. "I actually haven't really done any extensive research online. I figured the men of letters would actually have better resources. When I search for "Mark of Cain" all the hits I come up with are Biblical."

Cas leaned forward in his chair, folding his arms on the table. "What if you didn't search for the Mark of Cain, specifically. What if you searched for cursed brands or cursed marks, or something more general like that."

Sam sighed, reaching over to grab the laptop. "It's worth a shot. I just don't know what else to do. Our largest lead is dead, and Dean's starting to just give up hope. And I'm starting to wonder if he's right."

Cas shook his head. "He's not. We've got to keep trying. Use that Google thing and see if we can at least find a new lead."

Sam opened up the browser and began searching for every variation of marks on people, or marks that could control people.

"Huh," he said, after a while.

Cas perked up from where his spot across the table where he was flipping through one of the books Sam had discarded earlier. "Did you find something?"

"Maybe," Sam said, not looking up from his screen. "I've somehow found my way to this message board, that isn't even on any search engines. I don't even know exactly how I stumbled upon it. But there is this phrase, 'Dark Mark' that keeps popping up throughout."

Cas set the book aside and moved around the table to sit by Sam. "Dark Mark? This sounds promising."

Sam turned the screen so Cas could get a better look. "Look at this," he clicked on a thread. "These people are discussing whether people who "bear the Dark Mark" should be able to get paroled from Azkaban, whatever that is. And they go on to discuss whether it should even matter if they have the Dark Mark, since it has faded and they are no longer controlled by it."

"That seems very promising. Where can we find these people and question them about this Dark Mark? Because if there are people who were controlled by a mark, and they no longer are, they might be able to tell us something to help with the Mark of Cain."

Sam turned back to the computer, and clicked around some more. "The U.K." he finally said.

Cas exhaled. "All of them?"

Sam nodded. "This board is run out of London," he said. "Maybe I could post a new thread and ask for help? Maybe they could tell me something?"

Cas shrugged. "It may be worth a try, but I don't like the knowledge that Dean bears the mark to be on the internet."

Sam nodded. "You're right. So we're basically at a standstill again, because we can't go to London, it's just not-" he cut off as something caught his eye. He clicked the link and read it aloud. "Hermione Granger leaves London and starts new life as a bookshop owner in Boston amid scandal."

"What does that mean?" Cas asked.

"That one of these people is living here, in the United States. I guess this wasn't a dead end after all."

"This is very promising. When do we leave?"

Sam shook his head, "As soon as possible, I guess? Boston is a very large city, I think we need to figure out which book store she runs before we drive out there."

Sam opened up another tab on his browser.

"What are you doing?" Cas asked.

"Searching for all of the bookstores in Boston and looking for one that opened around the time this article was published, which was about five years ago."

"You can do that?"

Sam nodded. "Yep, and here it is, Old Treasures. It looks like it's an antique bookshop that specializes in rare finds."

"Excellent. When do you want to leave?"

"Leave where?" Dean spoke up from behind them.

Sam and Cas turned around. Dean was leaning against the doorway that led towards the bedrooms.

"Um-" Sam started.

"We're going to Boston to follow a lead about the mark," Cas answered without hesitation.

Dean focused his gaze on Sam. "Really, Sammy? I thought I had made it clear that I'm just going to accept my fate. Just wait it out until I can't fight the mark off anymore. And then you need to do what needs to be done, before I start killing everyone I love."

"Yeah, and Cas and I decided that's a bullshit idea, and that we weren't ready to give up on you yet," Sam countered.

Dean sighed. "Look, we learned when I confronted Cain that this was my fate. There's nothing that can be done. If Cain couldn't do anything about the Mark, then what makes you think that whatever is in Boston will be able to?"

"Because it's been done before," Sam replied.

Dean shook his head. "I'm sorry, I don't think I've heard you right. Someone else managed to get rid of the Mark of Cain? Old Crazypants made it seem like I was the only person, besides him, to have the Mark."

Cas shook his head. "We're pretty sure that the mark that we found talk of on the internet is not the Mark of Cain, but it sounds similar. Sam found people talking about how other people were controlled by a mark, but they aren't anymore. Most of the cases occurred in London, however, we found someone from this elusive group living in Boston."

Dean walked over, taking a seat at the table with the other two men. "So, there's someone here, in the United States, who knows about cursed marks and how to get rid of them."

Sam nodded. "It looks that way."

Dean shrugged, "What the hell, we've already faced Cain, and lived. Crowley is around somewhere pissed at us, what would it hurt to just go to Boston and check out this lead."

Sam and Cas shared a look of surprise.

"Really?" Sam asked. "You're wanting to go?"

Dean shrugged. "Sure. I mean, this person can't exactly help out with a cursed mark, if said cursed mark isn't right there, could they?"

"I guess you're right," Sam said. "You're sure you're going to be fine? This won't be too much?"

Dean shrugged. "Sammy, I'm tired of being couped up in this bunker. I need to get out, and I need to work a case. Since we don't have a case right now, this is the best that I've got."

"And you're sure you'll be able to control yourself?"

Dean shook his head. "No, I'm not, which is why you two are going to need to be extra vigilant, and sure that if I got off the deep end, you're willing to do what is necessary."

Cas and Sam exchanged a worried look, before nodding.

"Whatever you need, Dean, we're willing to do it," Cas replied.

"Yeah, whatever you need," Sam reluctantly agreed.

Dean smiled. "Great. Now, let's hit the road. Don't want to waste any time. I'll drive."

So, what'd you think? Please take the time to review. Unlike Nightmare, this story isn't anywhere close to complete, so there may be some time between updates, but I'm going to try and update every week/week and a half. I am also writing another fic at the same time, because I'm crazy. I need a beta, so if you're interested, please PM me and let me know. Hermione will show up in the next chapter!