Crossfire 10/?
Title: Crossfire
Rating: M
Warnings: Gore, Violence, Death, Original Characters, Swearing, Multi-Crossover, AU
Word Count: 2,924
Chapter: 10/?
Summary: "I didn't want to be a pawn in a game that I wasn't winning. I didn't want to feel like this anymore. I wanted to go home but I had nothing to go to. I was stuck here, in this world with nothing but the company of fictional characters."
Previous Chapters can be found here.
He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.
-Friedrich Nietzsche.
The car ride to and from the tattoo parlor was awkward and tense. I had refused to speak to anyone and Kelly, after I ignored her apologies and attempts to talk, got angry with me. Even as I suffered through the pain in my ankle from the new tattoo as Jane made us run and train, I didn't say anything. I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt like I would just end up screaming at Kelly because she didn't know it wasn't me. The only people who might have understood what it was like being possessed were Sam and Bobby...and even then it was different. The demon had tracked me down, threatened everything and forced me to relive some of my worst memories. If it wasn't for luck, and maybe Jane, it could have been too late. I tried not to think about that.
"Michelle?"
I looked up from the kitchen table to see Giles in the kitchen doorway.
"It's two-thirty in the morning. Why on earth are you still awake?" He moved closer and paused near the table.
I shrugged. "I don't really want to sleep."
He sighed and moved towards the stove. He grabbed the kettle that was there and filled it with water. Once it was back on the stove and in the process of heating up, he opened a couple of cupboards before he grabbed two mugs and some tea. I waited, and once the tea was made, he handed me one of the mugs and sat across from me. I smiled at him.
"Thanks."
"You look as if you need it."
I put down the pad of paper I was doodling in and blew on the top of the tea. "Yeah, maybe. Haven't had tea in ages..." I was more of a hot chocolate drinker, but I didn't say that. I felt like Giles might think it sacrilegious. "Why are you awake?"
"I was rather...involved with one of the books I was researching through. There are many here that I have never seen before. It's quite fascinating."
I smiled. It seemed so very Giles. It was good to see that this whole process wasn't too bad for him; at least, not in a way he was showing it.
"Would you mind if I asked why you don't want to sleep?"
I sighed and took a sip of the tea. I winced as it burnt my tongue. "I have nightmares normally that don't allow me to get a lot of sleep. I don't...I don't want to see what my mind comes up with after everything that happened today."
"I see," he put down his cup and leaned forward. "Michelle, your-your dreams are simply a method for your mind to deal with everything it absorbs daily. Perhaps simply not thinking about it, or avoiding it, is what's causing you so much stress that it affects your dreams so much so that you don't want to sleep." I gave him a dark look and raised an eyebrow and he smiled. "I apologize. Con-considering we hardly know each other, however, from what I understand you play an important role for the...arrivals. I do believe that there is a famous quote, at least from where...where I am from which you might be able to take notes from. Heal thyself physician."
He looked away from me and I sighed. "I wish it was that easy," I said softly before taking another sip of my tea.
"Hit me."
"I'm trying!" I swung at Jane only to have her move slightly out of the way and slam a fist into my stomach. I bent over at the sudden pressure and lost my breath. Something sharp came down on my back and I fell forwards. I was sprawled on the ground as Jane used part of her foot to turn me to face the sky.
"Get up."
I glared at her but forced myself to stand. She kicked my arm from under me and I fell back again with a grunt.
"Again. Without your arms."
"Without my arms? How?"
"Use your muscles and the force of your movement."
I tried to figure out what she meant but after Jane sighed and she kept kicking at me, I snapped at her. "Can you at least show me?"
She stared at me, and then nodded. She lay on the ground, brought up her knees and rolled onto her shoulders before kicking her feet up and in a swift movement, was standing. I recognized the move from action movies.
"I don't think I can do that."
"Then you don't get up." She crossed her arms and stared at me, waiting.
It took me ages, with Jane consistently knocking my arms out from under me, before I finally managed to figure it out and get up, albeit quickly and almost falling. I ducked as I saw something fly at me.
"Good, you're reflexes are getting better. Hit me."
I sighed before getting in the stance she had shown me. I aimed a punch and again, missed. I threw an arm to block the jab to my stomach and tried to hit her with my left hand. She ducked, moved quickly and flipped me over her back. I winced as I hit the ground. As I caught my breath, I looked over to where Kelly was working with Giles. He had asked to help us train last night, and I had agreed. It seemed like a good idea, and it gave him something familiar to do, rather than to just read books. I watched as Kelly hit his hand and he commented on her form. We still hadn't spoken.
I was still angry, which was why I had ignored any of her earlier attempts to talk to me. I needed time to cool down and calm myself before I attempted to get past it otherwise I might snap. Part of me just wanted to continue on as if nothing happened...but it wasn't possible. Not now.
"Get up."
I looked up at Jane and sighed. I didn't have to ask to know she wouldn't let me get up easily. Again, I went through the process of trying to stand without using my arms. It took me less time than before since I knew what to do and my stomach and leg muscles were killing me. The palms of my hands stung from how many times I had hit the ground falling forwards in my attempts. I moved into a stance across from her. She eyed me carefully and waited. When she didn't move, I shifted and aimed a punch at her face. She moved slightly out of the way, grabbed my arm and forced it behind my back. I tried to elbow her in the stomach but she stopped it with her other hand and both arms were pinned behind my back. I moved my foot and slammed one on to where I thought her foot was. She shifted and kicked behind my knees. I fell to the ground and hissed as my knees hit the ground. Another push and I was face first in dirt.
"Enough." She called out before releasing me. "We are finished for now."
I turned and looked up at her. "Awesome." I brushed dirt off of my face as she stared down at me.
"You need water. Go now."
I nodded, got up and left without a word. I was slightly afraid to go against anything Jane said in case she decided she needed to up the training further. It was difficult already.
I drained the glass of water in my hand refilled it. I turned only to bump into Kelly as she was walking by.
"Sorry, didn't see you," she said. I snorted and spoke without thinking.
"Don't pay attention to much, do you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" She turned from the fridge and faced me.
"Nothing," I sighed.
Kelly looked away from me with an exaggerated sigh.
"What?" I said through gritted teeth.
"Nothing." I felt like she was mocking my tone. She spun on me then, "will you just come out and tell me why you're being a grade A bitch to me?"
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that my best friend couldn't tell when I was possessed by a demon!"
"Well I'm so sorry but has any of this been normal? Hell you're all over the place, you seemed happy and I didn't want to push it."
"Yeah I was so happy as that demon showed me dead people. So happy as she threatened to pour bleach down your throat."
That stopped her, but only for a moment.
"What the hell do you want from me? I didn't know!"
"God Kelly, even Jane knew!"
"Don't eve-"
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"Nothing" Kelly said in a snarky tone while glaring at me. I closed my eyes and tried not to snap back at her as Dean and Sam looked at each other alarmed.
"You sure?"
I looked at them and then glared at Kelly. "It's nothing."
"Right," Sam looked at Dean again. "If it's nothing then, why don't we go out and we can teach you how to shoot." Dean looked at Sam suddenly.
"We were just screaming at each other, and you're going to give us guns?" I asked him, forgetting my anger for shock. Everyone looked at him and he shrugged.
"You need to blow off some steam."
The car ride was tense. I wasn't sure where we were going, but it was only the boys and Kelly and I in the back seat. No one spoke. Kelly and I barely looked at each other and I focused on trying to stay calm and ignoring the words she had said to me. The car stopped and Sam got out.
"Come on. Michelle, you're with me." He opened the back door and I got out. I closed the door as he grabbed a bag out of the trunk and then watched the Impala drive away. I turned to him.
"Where are we?" We were on a small road by a field. There was a fence in the distance.
"Follow me," He grabbed the bag and headed through the field towards the fence. I ran after him.
I waited as he set up some cans on the fence before making his way back to me. He stood across from me and just stared. He had that look that he was waiting for something.
"Well? Are you going to teach me?"
"No. Not until you calm down."
"I am calm."
"No you're not. You want to tell me what that was about in the kitchen?" He crossed his arms and I sighed. He looked like he wasn't about to let this go.
"We fought. It's no big deal."
"Obviously it is a big deal otherwise you wouldn't have been screaming at each other. Well?"
I sat on the ground and stared up at him. I thought he was tall before but sitting made him seem gigantic. I looked away. "I just...she should have known it wasn't me."
"Michelle..." he moved and sat down across from me. "When I was..."
"If you say possessed I'm going to hit you. Dean might not have been sure, but he still went for the holy water." I glared at him.
"Actually I was going to mention this time this teenager traded bodies with me..."
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." I sighed and fell back to lie on the ground. He was silent for a moment before he continued.
"It took Dean ages to realise it wasn't me. He lived with him, let him drive the Impala. You got to cut Kelly a bit of slack." I sat up and winced as my muscles pulled. "You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, just a bit sore...and kind of bruised from training." I paused and waited to see if he would drop the previous subject but he didn't move or say anything. I sighed. "It's just...Kelly's kind of all I have here. She knows me best and she didn't...I just thought that we were closer than that as best friends."
"Michelle..."
I cut him off. "Can we just shoot? I don't really want to get into this further. Kelly and I...we'll figure it out. We usually do."
He sighed before standing up. He offered a hand to help me up and I took it and nearly crashed into him as I flew up.
"Woah," I muttered and brushed myself off as I stepped away from him.
"So," he cleared his throat, "have you ever shot a gun before?"
I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. "Nope. Never."
"Okay..." he moved and grabbed the bag he had previously dropped and pulled out a gun. "Well...you know what, watch me." He turned towards the cans on the fence and aimed. He shot a few times and one of the cans fell. He looked back at me. "It's easy. Just feel the recoil and time the trigger pulls."
I stared at him in confusion and didn't move. "What?"
He sighed. "Come here," I moved towards him and he took a step back. "Stand like I was standing."
I tried to remember exactly as he stood and he kicked at my feet. I glared at him, remembering Jane kicking at me.
"You need to fix your stance." He kicked at my feet again and I adjusted my stance and aimed until he was satisfied. I tried not to think about how close Sam was as he kept adjusting my stance. Finally, he stood back. "Now, remember, when you pull the trigger, watch for the recoil. You need to relax and move with it, okay?"
"Sure." I tried to aim and shot. I stumbled back with the recoil and my shot didn't go anywhere near the target.
"Try again," he said as he adjusted my stance. Again. I felt tiny with him close to me. "Try to relax."
"I can't with you looming over me!" I turned a bit to look at him. He blinked in surprise and smiled.
"I'm not looming."
"Not intentionally but Sam, you're huge. You automatically loom over anything smaller than you." I took one hand off the gun and waved him back. "Just give me space. Go...cut your hair or something."
He laughed remembering our discussion in the bar, "Will you just shoot?"
I turned back to aim and, once I felt comfortable...which was hard as I felt him staring at me, I shot. It didn't go near the can. I wondered where it had gone when my attention was brought back by Sam giving me pointers. I sighed. This already felt like it would take forever.
By the time we reached the road where the Impala waited for us, I was taking out my nerves on the man who caused them: Sam.
"You just need practice." He tried to calm me down.
"What I need is for you to not correct every single little thing and hover. It's nerve-wracking." I wasn't sure why they thought learning to shoot would calm me down; I was even tenser now. The fact was that I was a little too aware of Sam as he adjusted my stance. It wasn't like training with Jane or Giles. Sam was large, male and extremely built. I ignored the memory of the demon's thoughts on him and got into the car.
The car was silent as soon as we got in. Dean sighed and after only a couple minutes of driving, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed my best friend if I was going to survive here. I turned to her.
"Kels, I'm sorry." She turned to me with a look of surprise. I didn't apologize often. "It's just been...crazy. Everything lately has been so messed up and when I found you I thought...I'm sorry."
Kelly was silent for a moment before she practically leapt at me and hugged me. I tensed and patted her on the back awkwardly before relaxing.
"Mish I'm sorry too! I was such a bitch! Well, we both were but still!" I wasn't sure if she was crying or not but I smiled.
"It's okay. We're alright now." I heard a snort from the front seat and I glared in the direction it came from.
"No chick flick moments, please." Dean said from the front.
"We are 'chicks'. We're allowed to." Kelly said before straightening up and smiling at me. We were okay.
"So...how was shooting?"
Review?
Rating: M
Warnings: Gore, Violence, Death, Original Characters, Swearing, Multi-Crossover, AU
Word Count: 2,924
Chapter: 10/?
Summary: "I didn't want to be a pawn in a game that I wasn't winning. I didn't want to feel like this anymore. I wanted to go home but I had nothing to go to. I was stuck here, in this world with nothing but the company of fictional characters."
Previous Chapters can be found here.
He who cannot give anything away cannot feel anything either.
-Friedrich Nietzsche.
The car ride to and from the tattoo parlor was awkward and tense. I had refused to speak to anyone and Kelly, after I ignored her apologies and attempts to talk, got angry with me. Even as I suffered through the pain in my ankle from the new tattoo as Jane made us run and train, I didn't say anything. I couldn't think of anything to say. I felt like I would just end up screaming at Kelly because she didn't know it wasn't me. The only people who might have understood what it was like being possessed were Sam and Bobby...and even then it was different. The demon had tracked me down, threatened everything and forced me to relive some of my worst memories. If it wasn't for luck, and maybe Jane, it could have been too late. I tried not to think about that.
"Michelle?"
I looked up from the kitchen table to see Giles in the kitchen doorway.
"It's two-thirty in the morning. Why on earth are you still awake?" He moved closer and paused near the table.
I shrugged. "I don't really want to sleep."
He sighed and moved towards the stove. He grabbed the kettle that was there and filled it with water. Once it was back on the stove and in the process of heating up, he opened a couple of cupboards before he grabbed two mugs and some tea. I waited, and once the tea was made, he handed me one of the mugs and sat across from me. I smiled at him.
"Thanks."
"You look as if you need it."
I put down the pad of paper I was doodling in and blew on the top of the tea. "Yeah, maybe. Haven't had tea in ages..." I was more of a hot chocolate drinker, but I didn't say that. I felt like Giles might think it sacrilegious. "Why are you awake?"
"I was rather...involved with one of the books I was researching through. There are many here that I have never seen before. It's quite fascinating."
I smiled. It seemed so very Giles. It was good to see that this whole process wasn't too bad for him; at least, not in a way he was showing it.
"Would you mind if I asked why you don't want to sleep?"
I sighed and took a sip of the tea. I winced as it burnt my tongue. "I have nightmares normally that don't allow me to get a lot of sleep. I don't...I don't want to see what my mind comes up with after everything that happened today."
"I see," he put down his cup and leaned forward. "Michelle, your-your dreams are simply a method for your mind to deal with everything it absorbs daily. Perhaps simply not thinking about it, or avoiding it, is what's causing you so much stress that it affects your dreams so much so that you don't want to sleep." I gave him a dark look and raised an eyebrow and he smiled. "I apologize. Con-considering we hardly know each other, however, from what I understand you play an important role for the...arrivals. I do believe that there is a famous quote, at least from where...where I am from which you might be able to take notes from. Heal thyself physician."
He looked away from me and I sighed. "I wish it was that easy," I said softly before taking another sip of my tea.
"Hit me."
"I'm trying!" I swung at Jane only to have her move slightly out of the way and slam a fist into my stomach. I bent over at the sudden pressure and lost my breath. Something sharp came down on my back and I fell forwards. I was sprawled on the ground as Jane used part of her foot to turn me to face the sky.
"Get up."
I glared at her but forced myself to stand. She kicked my arm from under me and I fell back again with a grunt.
"Again. Without your arms."
"Without my arms? How?"
"Use your muscles and the force of your movement."
I tried to figure out what she meant but after Jane sighed and she kept kicking at me, I snapped at her. "Can you at least show me?"
She stared at me, and then nodded. She lay on the ground, brought up her knees and rolled onto her shoulders before kicking her feet up and in a swift movement, was standing. I recognized the move from action movies.
"I don't think I can do that."
"Then you don't get up." She crossed her arms and stared at me, waiting.
It took me ages, with Jane consistently knocking my arms out from under me, before I finally managed to figure it out and get up, albeit quickly and almost falling. I ducked as I saw something fly at me.
"Good, you're reflexes are getting better. Hit me."
I sighed before getting in the stance she had shown me. I aimed a punch and again, missed. I threw an arm to block the jab to my stomach and tried to hit her with my left hand. She ducked, moved quickly and flipped me over her back. I winced as I hit the ground. As I caught my breath, I looked over to where Kelly was working with Giles. He had asked to help us train last night, and I had agreed. It seemed like a good idea, and it gave him something familiar to do, rather than to just read books. I watched as Kelly hit his hand and he commented on her form. We still hadn't spoken.
I was still angry, which was why I had ignored any of her earlier attempts to talk to me. I needed time to cool down and calm myself before I attempted to get past it otherwise I might snap. Part of me just wanted to continue on as if nothing happened...but it wasn't possible. Not now.
"Get up."
I looked up at Jane and sighed. I didn't have to ask to know she wouldn't let me get up easily. Again, I went through the process of trying to stand without using my arms. It took me less time than before since I knew what to do and my stomach and leg muscles were killing me. The palms of my hands stung from how many times I had hit the ground falling forwards in my attempts. I moved into a stance across from her. She eyed me carefully and waited. When she didn't move, I shifted and aimed a punch at her face. She moved slightly out of the way, grabbed my arm and forced it behind my back. I tried to elbow her in the stomach but she stopped it with her other hand and both arms were pinned behind my back. I moved my foot and slammed one on to where I thought her foot was. She shifted and kicked behind my knees. I fell to the ground and hissed as my knees hit the ground. Another push and I was face first in dirt.
"Enough." She called out before releasing me. "We are finished for now."
I turned and looked up at her. "Awesome." I brushed dirt off of my face as she stared down at me.
"You need water. Go now."
I nodded, got up and left without a word. I was slightly afraid to go against anything Jane said in case she decided she needed to up the training further. It was difficult already.
I drained the glass of water in my hand refilled it. I turned only to bump into Kelly as she was walking by.
"Sorry, didn't see you," she said. I snorted and spoke without thinking.
"Don't pay attention to much, do you?"
"What's that supposed to mean?" She turned from the fridge and faced me.
"Nothing," I sighed.
Kelly looked away from me with an exaggerated sigh.
"What?" I said through gritted teeth.
"Nothing." I felt like she was mocking my tone. She spun on me then, "will you just come out and tell me why you're being a grade A bitch to me?"
"Maybe it has to do with the fact that my best friend couldn't tell when I was possessed by a demon!"
"Well I'm so sorry but has any of this been normal? Hell you're all over the place, you seemed happy and I didn't want to push it."
"Yeah I was so happy as that demon showed me dead people. So happy as she threatened to pour bleach down your throat."
That stopped her, but only for a moment.
"What the hell do you want from me? I didn't know!"
"God Kelly, even Jane knew!"
"Don't eve-"
"What the hell is going on in here?"
"Nothing" Kelly said in a snarky tone while glaring at me. I closed my eyes and tried not to snap back at her as Dean and Sam looked at each other alarmed.
"You sure?"
I looked at them and then glared at Kelly. "It's nothing."
"Right," Sam looked at Dean again. "If it's nothing then, why don't we go out and we can teach you how to shoot." Dean looked at Sam suddenly.
"We were just screaming at each other, and you're going to give us guns?" I asked him, forgetting my anger for shock. Everyone looked at him and he shrugged.
"You need to blow off some steam."
The car ride was tense. I wasn't sure where we were going, but it was only the boys and Kelly and I in the back seat. No one spoke. Kelly and I barely looked at each other and I focused on trying to stay calm and ignoring the words she had said to me. The car stopped and Sam got out.
"Come on. Michelle, you're with me." He opened the back door and I got out. I closed the door as he grabbed a bag out of the trunk and then watched the Impala drive away. I turned to him.
"Where are we?" We were on a small road by a field. There was a fence in the distance.
"Follow me," He grabbed the bag and headed through the field towards the fence. I ran after him.
I waited as he set up some cans on the fence before making his way back to me. He stood across from me and just stared. He had that look that he was waiting for something.
"Well? Are you going to teach me?"
"No. Not until you calm down."
"I am calm."
"No you're not. You want to tell me what that was about in the kitchen?" He crossed his arms and I sighed. He looked like he wasn't about to let this go.
"We fought. It's no big deal."
"Obviously it is a big deal otherwise you wouldn't have been screaming at each other. Well?"
I sat on the ground and stared up at him. I thought he was tall before but sitting made him seem gigantic. I looked away. "I just...she should have known it wasn't me."
"Michelle..." he moved and sat down across from me. "When I was..."
"If you say possessed I'm going to hit you. Dean might not have been sure, but he still went for the holy water." I glared at him.
"Actually I was going to mention this time this teenager traded bodies with me..."
"Oh, right. I forgot about that." I sighed and fell back to lie on the ground. He was silent for a moment before he continued.
"It took Dean ages to realise it wasn't me. He lived with him, let him drive the Impala. You got to cut Kelly a bit of slack." I sat up and winced as my muscles pulled. "You alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, just a bit sore...and kind of bruised from training." I paused and waited to see if he would drop the previous subject but he didn't move or say anything. I sighed. "It's just...Kelly's kind of all I have here. She knows me best and she didn't...I just thought that we were closer than that as best friends."
"Michelle..."
I cut him off. "Can we just shoot? I don't really want to get into this further. Kelly and I...we'll figure it out. We usually do."
He sighed before standing up. He offered a hand to help me up and I took it and nearly crashed into him as I flew up.
"Woah," I muttered and brushed myself off as I stepped away from him.
"So," he cleared his throat, "have you ever shot a gun before?"
I raised an eyebrow and shook my head. "Nope. Never."
"Okay..." he moved and grabbed the bag he had previously dropped and pulled out a gun. "Well...you know what, watch me." He turned towards the cans on the fence and aimed. He shot a few times and one of the cans fell. He looked back at me. "It's easy. Just feel the recoil and time the trigger pulls."
I stared at him in confusion and didn't move. "What?"
He sighed. "Come here," I moved towards him and he took a step back. "Stand like I was standing."
I tried to remember exactly as he stood and he kicked at my feet. I glared at him, remembering Jane kicking at me.
"You need to fix your stance." He kicked at my feet again and I adjusted my stance and aimed until he was satisfied. I tried not to think about how close Sam was as he kept adjusting my stance. Finally, he stood back. "Now, remember, when you pull the trigger, watch for the recoil. You need to relax and move with it, okay?"
"Sure." I tried to aim and shot. I stumbled back with the recoil and my shot didn't go anywhere near the target.
"Try again," he said as he adjusted my stance. Again. I felt tiny with him close to me. "Try to relax."
"I can't with you looming over me!" I turned a bit to look at him. He blinked in surprise and smiled.
"I'm not looming."
"Not intentionally but Sam, you're huge. You automatically loom over anything smaller than you." I took one hand off the gun and waved him back. "Just give me space. Go...cut your hair or something."
He laughed remembering our discussion in the bar, "Will you just shoot?"
I turned back to aim and, once I felt comfortable...which was hard as I felt him staring at me, I shot. It didn't go near the can. I wondered where it had gone when my attention was brought back by Sam giving me pointers. I sighed. This already felt like it would take forever.
By the time we reached the road where the Impala waited for us, I was taking out my nerves on the man who caused them: Sam.
"You just need practice." He tried to calm me down.
"What I need is for you to not correct every single little thing and hover. It's nerve-wracking." I wasn't sure why they thought learning to shoot would calm me down; I was even tenser now. The fact was that I was a little too aware of Sam as he adjusted my stance. It wasn't like training with Jane or Giles. Sam was large, male and extremely built. I ignored the memory of the demon's thoughts on him and got into the car.
The car was silent as soon as we got in. Dean sighed and after only a couple minutes of driving, I couldn't take it anymore. I needed my best friend if I was going to survive here. I turned to her.
"Kels, I'm sorry." She turned to me with a look of surprise. I didn't apologize often. "It's just been...crazy. Everything lately has been so messed up and when I found you I thought...I'm sorry."
Kelly was silent for a moment before she practically leapt at me and hugged me. I tensed and patted her on the back awkwardly before relaxing.
"Mish I'm sorry too! I was such a bitch! Well, we both were but still!" I wasn't sure if she was crying or not but I smiled.
"It's okay. We're alright now." I heard a snort from the front seat and I glared in the direction it came from.
"No chick flick moments, please." Dean said from the front.
"We are 'chicks'. We're allowed to." Kelly said before straightening up and smiling at me. We were okay.
"So...how was shooting?"
Review?