The Hart III: Secrets
Chapter 14: Angel Radio II
Series Masterlist
Summary: Three months… Dean was gone for three months and now he’s back. He’s back and he truly has no idea how much things have changed. Life moved on while Dean was in Hell, and now things are complicated. With new faces and troubles right around the corner, will the trio find a way to come back together? Or has all hope been lost?
Warnings: Angst. Violence. Smut.
A/N: This chapter is extra-long in the hopes that you'll all love me for the lack of Lizzie love in the last few chapters. So, I hope you enjoy :):)
Bamby
EPOV
It was dark and late. I'd fallen asleep a few hours ago. Being home alone with nothing much to do... it left me feeling drained. With no cases and no one to keep me company, I'd thought an early night was in order. I'd actually been having a decent sleep… that was until a loud knocking on the front door woke me up at four o'clock in the morning.
Hurrying down the stairs, tugging on my dressing gown to cover my bare legs- seeing as I was only sleeping in some grey cotton shorts and a loose black shirt- I headed for the door. I didn't really care what I looked like. Not at this hour.
Groaning, I threw the door open, fully intending on yelling at whoever it was, only to stop at the sight before me. Dean, Ruby and a red-headed girl around my age stood there. The girl was nervous and scared. Ruby unsure and worried. Dean shocked and hopeful.
My heart sank. It had been over a month since I'd seen either Winchester. I hadn't realised just how much I missed them until this moment.
"Dean..." My eyes scanned his face. I didn't miss all the cuts and bruises. Letting go of my dressing gown, I stepped forward to cup his cheek, checking his wounds. "What the hell happened? Are you okay?"
He relaxed a little, offering me a small smile. "Hey, Liz."
"Liz?" the red-head spoke up suddenly, sounding surprised. "As in, Elizabeth Rose Hart?"
Pulling away from Dean, I turned to eye the girl. "Yeah... who's asking?"
Before she could answer, Dean started talking, pulling my attention to him, "Liz... we need your help." He sighed, "Long story short, this is Anna, she can hear angel radio. Angels want her dead-"
Ruby cut him off, "Demons just want her."
Ignoring her, Dean went on, "I know it's a lot to ask, but you think we can stay here until-"
It was my turn to cut him off, "Come inside."
...
"Here." I offered Anna some tea and a blanket as she sat on the couch in the panic room. "The walls are made of iron and salt. This place is one hundred per cent demon proof," I assured her.
"Which I find racist, by the way," Ruby commented from outside the room.
Dean rolled his eyes at her from where he stood on the other side of the panic room, watching Anna and I. "Write to your congressman."
Shaking her head, Ruby kept her eyes on me, pulling three bags from her pocket. "Here."
I stepped forward, taking the hex bags from her. "What are these for?"
"They'll hide us from angels, demons, all comers. They're extra-crunchy."
Shrugging, I tossed one to Dean and handed another to Anna. "Don't lose that, okay," I told her.
"Thanks, Ruby." Dean looked down at the bag and then to Anna. "So, Anna, what's playing on angel radio? Anything useful?"
"It's quiet. Dead silence," she answered, voice so soft. She reminded me of a mouse. Small quiet, scared, adorable.
Dean clearly didn't like that answer. "Good. That's not troubling at all."
Anna turned to watch him as he moved around the room. "We're in trouble, huh? You guys are scared?"
Looking from Anna to Ruby, to me, Dean didn't answer right away. The two of us stood there, looking at each other, not wanting to tell the truth. We both knew she was right. We both knew we were all in trouble, and totally screwed. But that didn't mean she had to know.
Pulling his gaze from me, Dean finally answered. "Nah."
"Hey, Dean!" Sam called from upstairs.
I smiled down at Anna comfortingly. "Stay down here, okay?"
She nodded, shifting to get a little more comfortable. "Thank you, Elizabeth. For all of this." She gave me a small smile. "I'm, not sure why the angels don't like you."
It was like a slap to the face, putting a frown on my lips. The angels didn't like me? I thought I was just background noise, someone that hung around the guy they wanted to use to save the world. I knew they didn't like Sam, but me?
Before I could really dive into the idea, Dean called out, "Liz. You comin'?"
Clearing my throat, coming back to earth, I nodded. "Uh, yeah."
Following Dean, the two of us headed upstairs and into the kitchen where we found Sam waiting. The moment he saw me, a smile spread on his face.
"Lizzie?"
"Sam." I smiled back at him, moving forward to wrap him up in a hug.
After a moment, he pulled away, looking down at me. "Where's Bobby?"
"The Dominican," I answered as we started to head into the office.
"He's working a job?"
"God, I hope so," Dean piped up. "Otherwise, he's at hedonism in a banana hammock and a trucker cap."
"Now that's seared in my brain." Sam shuddered, causing me to chuckle lightly.
"How's the car?" Dean asked, always worried about his Baby.
"I got her. She's fine," Sam assured him.
With that out of the way, Dean got straight down to business. "All right, what did you find on Anna?"
"Uh, not much." Sam led us to the desk as he opened the file he was holding. "Her parents were, uh… Rich and Amy Milton. A church deacon and a housewife."
"Riveting," Dean noted sarcastically.
"Yeah. But there is something here in the report." Sam gestured to the papers where it showed what he was talking about. "Turns out this latest psych episode wasn't her first. When she was two and a half, she'd get hysterical any time her dad got close. She was convinced that he wasn't her real daddy."
"Who was? The plumber, hmm?" Dean asked, joking around. "A little snaking the pipes?"
Sam sighed at his brother. "Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again."
I missed this about these two. How they could joke around and mess about, but at the end of the day, they always got the job done. I missed the fact that they never judged or teased. You could be whoever you were around these two, and they'd go along with it.
Getting back to it, Sam turned to the file again. "Look, Anna didn't say. She just kept repeating that this real father of hers was mad. Very mad. Like wanted-to-kill-her mad."
I frowned. "She was two?"
"Kind of heavy for a two-year-old," Dean noted, as shocked as I was.
"Well, she saw a kid's shrink, got better, and grew up normal," Sam finished.
"Until now," Dean noted. "So, what's she hiding?"
"Why don't you just ask me to my face?"
The three of us were startled at the sound of Anna. Looking over, we found her standing off to the side, in the doorway of the office, arms crossed over her chest, Ruby next to her, the red-head clearly not happy.
Dean turned to glare at Ruby. "Nice job watching her."
Ruby gave a short shrug. "I'm watching her."
Sighing, Sam turned to Anna. "No, you're right, Anna. Is there anything you want to tell us?"
"About what?"
"The angels said you were guilty of something. Why would they say that?"
"You tell me," Anna started, tears growing in her eyes. "Tell me why my life has been levelled. Why my parents are dead. I don't know. I swear. I would give anything to know."
"Okay." Sam shrugged. "Then let's find out."
DPOV
After coming back to Bobby's having left to go get Pamela, I helped her down the basement stairs, leading her down step by step carefully. "We're here!" I called.
A moment later, Sam walked around, smiling up at us. "Pamela, hey!"
"Sam?"
He nodded down at her as she came to stop in front of him with me behind her. "It's me," he told her. "It's Sam"
"Sam?"
"Yeah."
Reaching forward, she grabbed his outstretched arms as his hand landed on her shoulder. "Sam, is that you?"
"I'm right here."
She let out a breath. "Know how I can tell?" Her hands carefully dropped before she suddenly grabbed his ass. "That perky little ass of yours. You could bounce a nickel off that thing," she chuckled. "Of course I know it's you, grumpy. Same way I know that's a demon, and that poor girl's Anna and that you've been eyeing my rack."
"Uh... uh... uh..." Sam stuttered.
She just shook her head at him. "Don't sweat it, kiddo. I still got more senses than most."
"Got it."
"Now..." Pulling away from Sam, Pamela looked over to where Ruby, Anna and Liz stood. "Come here." She stretched her arms out. "You know who I'm talking to."
Smiling widely, Liz stepped forward, wrapping her arms around Pam. "God, I missed you."
Pamela held her for a moment longer before she pulled back, a slight frown on her face. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Her hands gave Liz's shoulders a light squeeze. "There's something different about you..."
Liz looked guilty. It was only for a second, and I had a feeling I was the only one who caught it, but it was gone before I could read into it. "Everything's fine, Pam. I swear." It was a lie, but no one was going to question her. We all had secrets. "Why don't you come meet Anna?"
Nodding slowly, Pam let Liz lead her over to the red-head. "Hey, Anna. How are you? I'm Pamela."
Anna was as nervous as ever but surprisingly gave Pamela a smile. "Hi."
"Dean told me what's been going on. I'm excited to help."
"Oh. That's nice of you."
"Oh, well, not really. Any chance I can dick over an angel, I'm taking it."
"Why?"
"They stole something from me." Reaching for her glasses, Pamela showed Anna what I'd seen before. Where her eyes had been, now sat white plastic balls. "Demon-y, I know. But they're just plastic. Good for business. Makes me look extra-psychic, don't you think?" She laughed, which managed to make Anna's smile grow a little more. "Now," wrapping an arm around Ann's shoulders, they started for the panic room, "how about you tell me what your deal is? Hmm? Don't you worry."
I was about to follow when I noticed Liz step up to Ruby. The two of them sharing a look. Nothing really unusual about it. It was when they walked off to stand outside the panic room together, side by side, that's when I thought something was up. Maybe Sam wasn't the only one who had Ruby on their good side.
EPOV
I stood with Ruby outside the panic room, watching as Anna settled on the bed in the room, Pamela pulled a chair up by the bed, Sam sat on a box near the door and Dean sat on the desk by the bed.
Once we were all still, Pamela got started. "Nice and relaxed. Now, I'm going to count down from five to zero. When we're at zero, you'll be in a deep state of hypnosis. As I count down, just go deeper and deeper, okay? Five... four... three... two... one. Deep sleep. Deep sleep. Every muscle calm and relaxed. Can you hear me?"
"I can hear you," Anna answered in her sleeping state.
"Now, Anna, tell me... How can you hear the angels? How did you work that spell?"
"I don't know. I just did."
"Your father... what's his name?"
"Rich Milton."
"All right." Seeing as Anna wasn't pushing herself enough, Pamela upped the ante. "But I want you to look further back... when you were very young... just a couple of years old."
Anna shook her head. "I don't want to."
"It'll be okay. Anna, just one look. That's all we need."
Anna started to struggle. "No."
"What's your dad's name?" Pamela pressed. "Your real dad. Why is he angry at you?"
"No. No! No." Suddenly Anna let out an ear-piercing scream. "No!"
"Calm down." Pamela stayed very calm.
But Anna just kept screaming and struggling. "He's gonna kill me!" she yelled. The lights above her flickered as she tossed and turned, screaming in fear and pain.
"Anna, you're safe," Pamela assured her.
"No!" Anna screamed again, and this time, the lights exploded before the door shut in Ruby's and my face. "He's gonna kill me!"
Eyes wide, I reached for the door, but it wouldn't budge. "Shit." Pulling back a little, listening to the screams inside, I knew I had to get in there. Looking to the door, I forced it open with my mind, using so much strength I nearly ripped it from its hinges.
Suddenly Dean was flying across the room after Anna pushed him away in her panicked state.
"Dean!" I hurried over to him. Helping him to his feet, I made sure he was okay before we both turned to Anna and Pam again.
Pamela stood and reached for Anna, seeing that the girl wouldn't calm. "Wake in one, two, three, four, five." Just like that, Anna was calm as she slowly woke up. "Anna..." Pamela brushed Anna's hair from her face. "Anna? You all right?"
Carefully, Anna sat up. "Thank you, Pamela. That helped a lot. I remember now."
Sam frowned, standing on Dean's other side. "Remember what?"
Anna looked over at us. "Who I am."
"I'll bite. Who are you?" Dean pressed.
"I'm an angel."
SPOV
In the office, out of the basement, Dean, Pam and I leaned against the desk, Ruby stood in the doorway of the kitchen, Anna paced in the middle of the room, while Lizzie stood off in the corner.
"Don't be afraid, I'm not like the others," Anna assured us.
Ruby crossed her arms over her chest defensively. "I don't find that very reassuring."
"Neither do I," Pam added.
Not bother to change their minds, Anna turned to Dean. "So... Castiel, Uriel. They're the ones that came for me?"
How did she know that? "You know them?"
She shrugged. "We were kind of in the same foxhole."
"So, what, were they like your bosses or something?" Dean asked.
She gave a little smile. "Try the other way around."
He grinned at her. "Look at you."
"But now they want to kill you?" Pamela was clearly not happy about this situation, and I honestly didn't blame her. So far- besides bringing Dean back- the angels hadn't done much to earn our trust.
Shrugging again, Anna started to pace once more. "Orders are orders. I'm sure I have a death sentence on my head."
"Why?" Pamela want details, just like the rest of us did.
"I disobeyed. Which, for us, is about the worst thing you can do. I fell."
Dean frowned, confused. "Meaning?"
It was Pam who answered though. "She fell to earth, became human."
"Wait a minute," I started, needing some things to be cleared up. "I don't understand. So, angels can just become human?"
Anna nodded. "It kind of hurts. Try cutting your kidney out with a butter knife. That kind of hurt. I ripped out my grace."
"Come again?"
She looked over at Dean again. "My grace. It's... energy. Hacked it out and fell. My mother, Amy, couldn't get pregnant. Always called me her little miracle. She had no idea how right she was."
"So, you just forgot that you were God's little Power Ranger?"
She nodded at Dean's question. "The older I got, the longer I was human, yeah."
"I don't think you all appreciate how completely screwed we are," Ruby noted, drawing everyone's attention to her.
Anna sighed. "Ruby's right. Heaven wants me dead."
"And Hell just wants her." Ruby shook her head. "A flesh-and-blood angel that you can question, torture, that bleeds." She looked to Anna. "Sister, you're the Stanley Cup. And sooner or later, Heaven or Hell, they're gonna find you."
"I know." Anna wouldn't stop pacing. "And that's why I'm gonna get it back."
Now that was not what I was expecting to hear. "What?"
"My grace," Anna elaborated.
"You can do that?" Dean sounded impressed.
"If I can find it," Anna explained.
"So, what," Dean started, trying to wrap his head around all this news. We all were. "You're just gonna take some divine bong hit, and, shazam, you're Roma Downey?"
"Something like that." Anna's answer didn't leave me feeling too confident.
"All right." Dean nodded, a grin growing on his lips. "I like this plan. So, where's this grace of yours?"
"Lost track. I was falling about ten thousand miles per hour at the time."
"Wait." I might be able to work with that... "You mean falling, like, literally?"
"Yes."
"Like the way a human eye can see? Like a comet, maybe, or a meteor?"
"Why do you ask?"
...
I'd been researching all afternoon and well into the night. Sitting on the couch in Bobby's office, books and old magazines surrounding us, I showed Ruby what I'd finally found.
"Here. In March '85, a meteorite vanished in the night sky over northwestern Ohio. It was sighted nine months before Anna was born, and she was born in that part of Ohio."
She looked down at me from where she sat on the arm of the couch, a smirk on her lips. "You're pretty buff for a nerd."
Ignoring her comment, I got to the point. "Look, I think it was Anna." I grabbed another book to show her. "And here, same time. Another meteor over Kentucky."
"And that's her grace?"
"Might be."
"All right." Shrugging, she stood and started to walk away. "That just narrows it down to an entire state."
I closed the book with a sigh. "Look, it's a start."
"Sam... I'm sorry." Shaking her head, she turned to me.
"For what?"
"For bringing you this mess. If I had known, I would have kept my trap shut."
"Yeah, well," I put the book back on the couch beside me, "we'll muddle through."
"Not this time. You do not want to get between these two armies. It's Godzilla and Mothra. If one side doesn't get us, the other one will."
"So, what do you want to do? Dump Anna and run?" I asked. the look on her face told me she was thinking exactly that. "Forget it." getting up, I grabbed my laptop and went to start cleaning up. "Look, I know the angels freak you out-"
She cut me off, "Forget the angels. It's Alastair I'm scared of."
"Alastair?"
"You met him in the church. Practically the grand inquisitor downstairs. Picasso with a razor."
"And?"
"And you should pull him out and throw him back in the pit. If you weren't so out of shape."
I leaned against the desk with yet another sigh. "Ruby-"
"No. Your abilities. You're getting flabby."
"Yeah, so how do I tone up?"
"You know how," she claimed, stepping towards me. "You know what you got to do."
Looking away, I thought about it for a moment, just a moment, before I shook my head. "No, I'm not doing that anymore."
"Sam-"
"I said no," I told her, final.
"Well, then you better pray that Anna gets her groove back, or we're all dead." Turning, she went to leave, but before she could get far, I stopped her.
"Lizzie did it."
Pausing just steps from the kitchen doorway, she barely looked over her shoulder at me. "She did what?"
"She helped me pull a demon out. A strong demon." Pushing off the desk, I stood straight as Ruby turned to me. "She helped me pull out a demon without doing everything I've had to do."
Ruby looked shocked, impressed, and something else I couldn't quite read. "She did?"
I gave a short nod. "She can even start fires with her mind now."
There was a short silence that fell over us before she let out a short and harsh laugh. "That's why she was here instead of with you and Dean, isn't it? Because of her powers?"
"She freaked out," I admitted. "Left on Halloween, over a month ago."
Shaking her head, Ruby actually looked pissed and disappointed. "You of all people should know that going through something like that... you need people you can trust, Sam. Lizzie needs you."
"But, Dean-"
"Screw Dean," she snapped. "He doesn't understand. You do. Out of everyone in the world, she's the closest you're going to get to someone understanding you. You're the closest she'll get to someone understanding her. So be there." Turning, she went to leave again, only to stop herself. "Is there any chance Lizzie could pull Alastair out?"
"No." I didn't even have to think about it. She'd barely been able to pull Samhain out and that was while I worked with her.
"Then we really need angel-girl to get her mojo back."
DPOV
I parked Baby outside of Bobby's, seeing Anna leaning against another car, looking up at the night sky. Getting out of the car and closing the door behind me, I started towards her, hands shoved in my pockets.
"Pamela get home okay?" she asked after briefly looking over her shoulder at me.
"Yeah." I nodded, coming to stop beside the car, just behind her. "She said she was sorry. It's just after last time, she, uh... this is just a little too rich for her blood."
"I don't blame her. You guys should do the same."
"Well, we're not that smart." Moving around to lean on the trunk next to her, I spoke up again. "Can I ask you something? What do they want me for? Why did they save me?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry. The angels aren't talking about it. And it was after I fell."
I nodded, understanding. But her answer left me wondering something else. "That's another question. Why would you fall? Why would you want to be one of us?"
"You don't mean that."
"I don't? A bunch of- of miserable bastards... eating, crapping, confused, afraid."
"I don't know. There's loyalty... forgiveness... love."
"Pain."
"Chocolate cake."
"Guilt."
"Sex."
I tried to think of something to argue with that, but there was nothing. "Yeah, you got me there."
She smiled. "I mean it. Every emotion, Dean, even the bad ones... it's why I fell. It's why... why I'd give anything not to have to go back. Anything."
"Feelings are overrated if you ask me."
"Beats being an angel."
"How's that possible? You guys are powerful and perfect. You don't doubt yourselves or God. Or anything."
"Perfect. Like a marble statue. Cold. No choice. Only obedience. Dean, do you know how many angels have actually seen God? Seen his face?"
I shrugged. "All of you?"
"Four angels. Four. And I'm not one of them."
"That's it? Well, then how do you even know that there is a God?"
"We have to take it on faith... which we're killed if we don't have."
That was a shock to me. "Huh."
"I was stationed on earth for two thousand years. Just... watching." She sounded so sad as she went on. "Silent. Invisible. Out on the road. Sick for home. Waiting on orders from an unknowable father I can't begin to understand. So don't tell me that-"
As she described what it had been like for her to be an angel, I couldn't help but find similarities in my own life. Before I knew what I was doing, I let out a short chuckle.
She frowned, turning to me. "What is so funny? What?"
I shook my head at her, feeling bad that I'd laughed when she was clearly upset. "Nothing. Sorry. It's just..." I shrugged, looking down at her. "I can relate."
"Hey!" We turned to see Sam standing a few feet away.
"Did you find something?" I asked.
He nodded. "I think so."
EPOV
I stood off to the side, Ruby having already shown and told me everything Sam had found. Right now, he was telling and showing Anna and Dean everything. Letting them in on the plan he was working on. Which wasn't really a plan. More like an idea.
"Union, Kentucky." He gestured to the map set out on the desk in front of them. "Found some accounts of a local miracle."
"Yeah?" Dean pressed, wanting his brother to get to the point.
"Yeah," Sam went on. "In '85, there was an empty field outside of town. Six months later, there was a full-grown oak. They say it looks a century old at least."
Pulling away from the desk, Dena turned to Anna. "Anna, what do you think?"
"The grace." She nodded. "Where it hit, it could have done something like that, easy."
"So, grace ground zero. It's not destruction. It's..."
"Pure creation," Anna finished for him.
...
I could not believe I was sitting in the back of the Impala, between Anna-the-angel and Ruby-the-demon.
Could this day get any weirder?
Before we'd all set off to find Anna's grace, Sam had pulled me aside and asked me if I wanted to go. I guess the others had just assumed I would. But he'd noticed how quiet I was being.
At first, I'd been about to say no. It's not like they really needed me. But one look at Dean, and before I realised what I was saying, I'd agreed to go with them.
Since then, I hadn't stopped kicking myself. Missing Sam and Dean was fine, but the way I was feeling towards Dean wasn't fine. I had a boyfriend, one I cared for dearly. So, what the hell was going on with me?
A chuckle from the front seat caught my attention as I caught Dean's eyes in the rear-view mirror.
"What?" Ruby asked what we were all thinking.
"Nothing." Dean shook his head. "It's just an angel, a hunter and a demon riding in the backseat." He chuckled lightly again, "It's like the setup to a bad joke... or a Penthouse Forum letter."
Sam sighed, shaking his head beside his brother. "Dude. Reality. Porn."
Dean scoffed. "You call this reality?"
...
Climbing out of the car, we all walked over to stand in front of Baby, looking up at the giant oak tree standing before us. The way the light shone down on it. The dark colour of the bark and deep colour of the leaves. The way it towered as if reaching for the heavens...
"It's beautiful," Dean said what I was sure we were all thinking.
"It's where the grace touched down." Anna nodded. "I can feel it."
"You ready to do this?" Dean asked her.
"Not really." But knowing she didn't have much of a choice, Anna started forward anyway, heading for the tree.
We were all a stop behind her, coming to stand by the large trunk of the magnificent oak.
"Anna, what are we even looking for?" Sam had a good point.
Reaching forward, Anna rested a hand on the tree. The moment she touched it, I saw her shoulders slump slightly, and without her saying anything I already knew what was wrong.
She shook her head. "It doesn't matter. It's not here. Not anymore. Someone took it."
...
It was dark, again. We'd found a barn to hole up in for the night, but we all knew we couldn't stay here. Not when every angel and demon were after us. We needed to be someplace where we could protect ourselves properly.
"We still got the hex bags," Dean noted, ready to get back on the road. "I say we head back to the panic room."
"What, forever?" Ruby asked, clearly not liking that plan.
"I'm just thinking out loud!" Dean snapped at her.
"Oh, you call that thinking?"
I rolled my eyes, not really in the mood for any arguments. "Would you two shut it?"
But Ruby wasn't letting it go. "Anna's grace is gone. You understand? She can't angel up. She can't protect us. We can't fight Heaven and Hell. One side maybe, but not both. Not at once."
"Um... guys?" Anna spoke up from where she sat on a desk. We all turned to her. "The angels are talking again."
"What are they saying?" Sam asked.
"It's weird. Like a recording. A loop. It says... 'Dean Winchester gives us Anna by midnight, or-'." She stopped herself short.
"Or what?" Dean pressed.
Turning to look at him, Anna answered. "'...or we hurl him back to damnation'."
"No." I shook my head. "No, that's not happening. We're not giving Anna up." I turned to Dean. "And there is no way in hell that you're going back to... well, hell. I don't care what we have to do."
Nodding, on my side, Sam could see there weren't many options left for us. "Anna... do you know of any weapon that works on an angel?"
"To what? To kill them?" She sounded offended, but when Sam nodded she answered simply, "Nothing we could get to... not right now."
"Okay, wait, wait. I say we call Bobby," Dean suggested. "We get him back from hedonism-"
Sam shook his head at his brother. "Dean, what's he gonna tell us that we don't already know?"
"I don't know, but we got to think of something!"
DPOV
Leaning over Baby's hood, reading a book on angel lore, I tried to focus. But my mind just kept going back to the possibility of the night ending with me back in hell... There was nothing worse than that. There's a reason why people describe shitty things as being hell. Hell, was hell.
Movement in the corner of my eye caught my attention. Looking up, I found Anna headed towards me. "Hey. Holding up okay?"
"Trying."
Nodding, I turned back to the book. "Yeah."
"A little scared, I guess," she admitted. "So, um... Dean." Pulling away from the book, I turned to her as she went on. "I just wanted to thank you."
"For what?"
"Everything. You guys... you didn't have to help me-"
"Hey, let's can the 'thanks for trying' speech, you know? Participation trophies suck ass." I chuckled lightly.
"I don't know. Maybe I don't deserve to be saved."
"Don't talk like that."
"I disobeyed. Lucifer disobeyed. It's our murder one, and I knew it. Maybe I got to pay."
"Yeah, well, we've all done things we got to pay for," I noted.
I knew I'd done plenty of things I'd end up paying for sooner or later. Before and after Hell. Hunting, it wasn't exactly a clean-living life. We had to break laws to survive out here. Hurt people. It was just how we did the job...
But the worse things I'd ever done... well they all came from my time down under.
Moving to sit on Baby's hood, she looked up at me. "I gotta tell you something. You're not gonna like it."
"Okay. what?"
"About a week ago, I heard the angels talking... about you... what you did in Hell. Dean, I know." I tensed, and she noticed. Raising her hand, she cupped my cheek softly. "It wasn't your fault. You should forgive yourself."
I shook my head, pulling away from her hand slightly. "Anna, I-I don't w-want to, uh... I don't want to..." I struggled with words. "I can't talk about that."
"I know. But when you can, you have people that want to help. You are not alone. That's all I'm trying to say." Slowly and carefully, she stood and leaned forward, pressing a kiss to my lips.
When she pulled back, I looked down at her, confused. "What was that for?"
She smiled up at me. "You know... our last night on Earth... all that."
A small grin found its way onto my lips. "You're stealing my best line."
EPOV
I stepped outside to get some fresh air and to make a call. As I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled Tristan's number, I froze. My eyes had looked up and landed right on Baby, and I could not believe what I was seeing. Even through the foggy windows, I could make out the two intertwined bodies as they rocked against each other.
Dean and Anna. Together. In Baby. Having sex. Dean and Anna. Sex. In the Impala. Dean and Anna. Naked. In the car. Dean Winchester and Anna the angel... having sex.
"Hey, babe."
I jumped at the sound of Tristan's voice in my ear, having forgotten about the phone call for a moment. "Oh, uh… hi."
There was a long pause as I still stood there, watching as the fog on the windows grew, and the car continued to rock.
"Everything okay?" Tristan asked, pulling my attention to him again. "You, uh... you been taking your pills?"
Shaking my head to try and focus, I turned away from the car, wondering why I was hurting... "Uh, yeah. Yes. I've been taking them," I assured him. "I just... a lot of crap is going on and I wanted to know when you'll be back."
"Oh, babe, I don't know. My friend, he really needs me. You know? But I'm trying to work through everything as fast as I can so I can come back home to you. Promise."
A small smile spread on my lips, but I knew it was partially forced. "Okay."
"Look, I really gotta go. But I'll talk to you later." Before I had a chance to respond, he hung up.
Sighing, I shoved my phone into my pocket. As I did, my fingers grazed the packet of pills sitting in there. I hesitated only for a moment before pulling them out and taking not one, not two, but three. They were supposed to help keep me focused and centred, and if I ever needed to be those things, it was now.
DPOV
I walked into the barn, adjusting my clothes, only to come to a complete stop at the sight of Uriel standing in the middle of the open space, hands in his pockets, smug look on his face.
"Look at that. It's so cute when monkeys wear clothes."
Looking around, I noticed Sam, Liz, Ruby and Anna were nowhere to be seen. "I'm dreaming, aren't I?"
He shrugged. "It's the only way we could chat... since you're hiding like cowards."
"Don't normally see you off-leash. Where's your boss?"
"Castiel? Oh, he, uh... He's not here. See, he has this weakness. He likes you." The way he said it, it was as if that were a bad thing. "Time's up, boy. We want the girl."
"Wouldn't try that if I were you. See, she got her grace back," I lied. "Full-blown angel now."
"That would be a neat trick, considering," reaching into his top, he tugged a chain out. On the end of the silver chain sat a small tube filled with some kind of glowing stuff, "I have her grace right here. We can't let Hell get their hooks into her."
"Well, then why don't you just give her back her angel juice?"
"She committed a serious crime," he answered as if it were simple, slipping the necklace back into his shirt.
"What? Thinking for herself?"
"This is our business, not yours. She's not even human... not technically."
"Yeah, well, I guess I just like being a pain in the pooper."
"No." he grinned, moving towards me. "There's more." As he stopped in front of me, he laughed. "You cut yourself a slice of... angel food cake. Didn't you? Huh? You did."
"What do you care? You're junk-less down there, right? Like a Ken doll?"
"Ooh," he laughed again, moving back to his original spot. "Well, it's your last chance. Give us the girl, or-"
I cut him off, "Or what? What, you're gonna toss me back in the hole? You're bluffing."
"Try me. This is a whole lot bigger than the plans we got for you, Dean. You can be replaced."
I knew I was probably going to regret it. I knew I would hate myself for the rest of my life. But I already did, so it wouldn't make that much difference. As long as Anna and everyone else was okay, I didn't care what happened to me. Or, at least... I cared less for me than I did for them.
"What the hell?" I shrugged. "Go ahead and do it."
Moving forward again, he stopped in front of me once more, shaking his head. "You're just crazy enough to go, aren't you?"
"What can I say? I don't break easy."
"Oh, yes... you do. You just got to know where to apply the right pressure."
SPOV
"I don't know, man. Where's Ruby?" I was concerned. She had left last night, and now it was morning and she wasn't back...
"Hey, she's your Hell buddy," Dean mumbled before taking a drink from his flask.
I shook my head, walking over to Lizzie. "Did you see her? Last night, did you see Ruby?"
She shrugged. "I mean, yeah. I saw her, but-"
The barn doors suddenly burst open as Castiel and Uriel walked in. Dean, Lizzie, Anna and I all moved to the middle of the barn, standing together.
Coming to a stop a few feet away from us, Castiel set in gaze on Anna. "Hello, Anna. It's good to see you."
"How?" I shook my head at them. "How did you find us?" both pairs of eyes landed on my brother beside me. "Dean?"
Turning away from me, he looked to Anna. "I'm sorry."
I frowned at him. "Why?"
Without looking at me, eyes still focused on Dean's, Anna answered for him. "Because they gave him a choice. They either kill me... or kill you. I know how their minds work." Taking a quick breath, she leaned forward to kiss him goodbye. "You did the best you could. I forgive you." Standing strong, she turned to Castiel. "Okay. No more tricks. No more running. I'm ready."
"I'm sorry," Castiel told her.
"No. You're not. Not really. You don't know the feeling."
"Still, we have a history. It's just-"
She cut him off. "Orders are orders. I know. Just make it quick."
Before the angel could do anything, Alastair appeared behind us, with another demon and an injured Ruby. "Don't you touch a hair on that poor girl's head," he warned the angels.
Uriel sneered at the demons, walking towards them- Dean, Lizzie, Anna and I moved out of the way, knowing better than to stand between an angel and demon. "How dare you come in this room... you pussing sore."
"Name-calling." Alastair dropped Ruby to the ground before he stepped up to Uriel, just as disgusted. "That hurt my feelings... you sanctimonious, fanatical prick."
"Turn around and walk away now," Castiel ordered them.
"Sure. Just give us the girl. We'll make sure she gets punished good and proper."
"You know who we are and what we will do." Castiel stepped up to stand beside Uriel. "I won't say it again. Leave now... or we lay you to waste."
"Think I'll take my chances."
That's all it took before the angels and demons began to fight. Castiel dealt with Alastair while Uriel took on the other two. It didn't take too long before Uriel killed one of the demons- how I wasn't sure, but it had looked painful, like burning their insides.
Unfortunately, Castiel wasn't having as much luck. In fact, Alastair ended up getting the upper hand, pinning the angel to the ground as he started to chant something I'd never heard before.
"Potestas inferna, me confirma." His hand squeezed Castiel's throat. "Potestas inferna, me confirma. Potestas inferma, me confirma!"
Dean stepped forward then, using a crowbar he'd grabbed to knock Alastair away from Castiel. It was enough to get the demon to let go, but that's about it...
"Dean, Dean, Dean..." Alastair shook his head as he turned to Dean, Lizzie and I, the three of us blocking his path to Anna. "I am so disappointed. You had such promise." Lifting his hand, he didn't even touch Dean as he started to choke him, and then me.
I fell to my knees watching as his eyes moved to Lizzie, but nothing happened. She stayed standing, watching him, and after a moment his eyes went wide with wonder as he realised he could do nothing to her.
"Pick on someone your own size. Asshole." Lifting her hand, Lizzie sent Alastair flying across the room.
Both Dean and I looked to our friend, confused. Last time we saw her, she'd barely been strong enough to take on Samhain with my help, but now she could throw someone like Alastair around? That it begged the question... what the hell happened in the last month?
Before anyone could question her, a voice caught everyone's attention.
"No!" Uriel called out.
We all turned to see Anna throwing something on the ground. Whatever it was broke, setting some kind of white glowing fog-free for a moment before it flew towards Anna and into her mouth.
"Shut your eyes. Shut your eyes!" she yelled as she began to glow. "Shut your eyes!"
I looked away a moment before I heard her yell out, which was then followed by a loud explosion.
When everything calmed, I opened my eyes and turned to where she'd been standing. But she was no longer there. Neither was Alastair... Instead, all that was left of him was Ruby's knife.
Everyone stood looking around, some afraid- Castiel and Uriel- while the rest of us were just confused.
"Well, what are you guys waiting for?" Dean asked the angels. "Aren't you gonna go get Anna." He shrugged at them. "Unless, of course, you're scared."
"This isn't over." Uriel reached for Dean.
Lizzie stepped in front of my brother protectively, the same moment Castiel grabbed Uriel's shoulder to pull him back.
Dean kept his attention on Uriel, showing no fear what so ever. "Oh, it looks over to me, junk-less."
With nothing left to say, both angels disappeared. The moment they were gone, Ruby hobbled over to us. Limping and panting.
"You okay?" I asked her.
She shook her head. "Not so much."
Stepping forward, Lizzie wrapped an arm around Ruby, helping to keep her up. "Don't worry, we'll get you fixed up." She smiled at the demon.
"What took you so long to get here?" Dean question, drawing both girls' eyes to him.
Ruby sighed, only a little annoyed. "Sorry I'm late with the demon delivery. I was only being tortured."
"I got to hand it to you, Sammy." Dean turned to smile at me, proud. "Bringing them all together all at once. Angels and demons. It was a damn good plan."
I shrugged. "Yeah, well, when you got Godzilla and Mothra on your ass, best to get out of their way and let them fight."
"Yeah, now you're just bragging."
"So, I guess she's some big-time angel now, huh?" I noted, thinking about Anna and where she might be. What she might be doing. "She must be happy... wherever she is."
Dean just gave a short shake of his head. "I doubt it."
EPOV
"Liz." I jumped at the sound of Dean's voice as he came up from behind me.
We were back at Bobby's, just the guys and me. We'd come back here so they could grab some supplies and then head off again. I was back here with the intention of staying. It's not like I didn't enjoy being with the brothers again, but I just wasn't sure if hunting with them full time was the best thing for me.
I'd been busy cleaning up the study when Dean had come in. Sam was upstairs, packing the rest of his things he'd left here last night. That meant Dean and I were alone.
"Dean." A nervous smile played on my lips. "What's up?"
"I want you to come with us."
"Wow." I chuckled lightly. "Straight to the point, then."
"Look," he sighed, shoving his hands in his pockets, "I know I freaked you out. I know you think I'm gonna hate you because of what you can do. But I won't. I know better now. What you do, it's not bad. I mean, it's not good," he pointed out. "But it's not bad."
"Are you telling me you can handle the fact I set things on fire and can exorcise demons with my mind?"
It was his turn to chuckle lightly. "No. I'm not telling you that. What I'm saying is... it may take a while, but maybe one day I will be able to handle it." He shrugged. "If it means you come hunt with us again, then I'll work on it."
Looking up at him, our eyes locked. I tried to search for any lies or uncertainties in his gaze. I trusted Dean, but I wasn't sure how much. I wasn't sure if I trusted him to simply watch my stuff. Or if I trusted him to watch my back. Things just weren't that simple anymore.
But there was one thing that hadn't changed. I loved hunting. It was my life. Ever since Tristan and I started dating, I hadn't been doing as much as I used to… as much as I wanted to.
So maybe going with the brothers... maybe it would be a good thing for me. I could keep my distance while hunting. It would distract me while Tristan was gone. It would keep me busy. I loved being busy...
"Okay." I nodded. "I'm in."
DPOV
Sam, Liz and I had left Bobby's a few hours ago. We were parked on the side of the road now, the three of us enjoying a beer each as we watched a storm pass up ahead. Sam and Liz sat on Baby's hood while I leaned against it.
"I can't believe we made it out of there," I noted, my mind on this morning's events.
"Again," Sam added.
I held out my beer to the two of them, the three of our drinks clinking together in cheers. Together, there didn't seem to be a lot we couldn't do. Whether it be dealing with normal monster crap, or big bad angels and demons. Speaking of which.
"I know you heard him."
"Who?" Sam asked.
Liz nodded. "What exactly did we hear, and from whom did we hear it?"
"Alastair," I answered. "What he said... about how I had promise."
Sam gave a short nod. "I heard him."
"You're not curious?"
"Dean, I'm damn curious. And I won't speak for her, but I'm pretty sure Lizzie is too."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, but he's right. I am curious," she commented.
Going on, Sam said, "But you're not talking about Hell, and we're not pushing."
I nodded, looking away from them, thinking about it. The fact they weren't going to demand answers. They weren't going to press me for information. They were willing to live in the dark, just so I wouldn't have to go through it all again... knowing all of that, it made me want to tell them. So I did.
"It wasn't four months, you know."
"What?"
"It was four months up here, but down there... I don't know. Time's different," I explained. "It was more like forty years." I took a deep breath. "They, uh... they sliced and carved and tore at me in ways that you-" I stopped myself, shaking my head. "Until there was nothing left. And then, suddenly... I would be whole again. Like magic. Just so they could start in all over.
"And Alastair, at the end of every day... everyone... he would come over. And he would make me an offer. To take me off the rack, if I put souls on. If I started the torturing. And every day, I told him to stick it where the sun shines. For thirty years, I told him." My voice cracked as tears formed in my eyes. "But then I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't." Unable to help it, I began to cry. "And I got off that rack. God help me, I got right off it, and I started ripping them apart. I lost count of how many souls." A tear rolled down my cheek. "The- the things that I did to them."
"Dean..." Sam cleared his throat from behind me. "Dean, look, you held out for thirty years. That's longer than anyone would have."
"How I feel..." My voice shook as I looked at the ground, still crying, feeling all the pain and guilt. "This... inside me... I wish I couldn't feel anything. I wish I couldn't feel a damn thing."
A set of arms wrapped around me then. Tight and comforting. Just holding me as I stood there crying. Liz didn't let me go until she was sure I wasn't going to fall to pieces right in front of them.
Bamby
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