The Beauty of Love As It Was Made To Be 30/31
Title: The Beauty of Love As It Was Made To Be 30/31
Rating: PG-13
Pairing and Characters: Dean, Faith, Abaddon, Jesse, Kevin
Spoilers/Warnings: none I can think of
Word Count: ~4,100 (this chapter)
Summary: This is a sequel to "Like To Stay in Heaven..." you don't have to read that first to start this, but it would help a lot. That masterpost is here. You do need to read the prologue which is here. This starts two months after the end of my version of season 7.
This chapter: One year after the last chapter. Faith and Jesse work together to try and find Abaddon, until she contacts them and gives them an offer.
Notes: I have finally finished this and will be putting up all the chapters soon. By Sunday night, the whole story will be up. I’m sorry it took so long, but my new job has been sucking up all my free time.
Previous
Faith continued getting help from Jesse over the next year. She never once brought it up to Dean and intended to keep her father out of the danger for as long as possible. She and Jesse tracked down demons together and took turns interrogating them. So far they hadn’t gotten much, except Abaddon’s increased anger and interest with them both.
One night, a few weeks after she turned sixteen, Dean caught her right before she meant to leave and meet Jesse. She jumped as he opened the door to her room.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dean stayed outside the threshold to respect her privacy.
“Uh,” Faith slipped the freshly made ID into her back pocket and smiled, “sure.”
Dean nodded and stepped into her room. Faith sat on the bed as Dean pulled up the chair from her desk. He sat down and took a deep breath. “Faith, I know how hard this all has to be for you. I know I’m not the easiest person to try to talk to sometimes.”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” She could see the seriousness on his face and the sad look in his eyes, one that has been there since Cas died, and it made her nervous.
“You want to hunt down Abaddon right now and take her out, and believe me, I get it. I wish that I could let you go, let you take off and do the demon trials or kill her, but I can’t.” Tears started to well in Dean’s eyes. “You’re my daughter. Aside from Sam and his family, you’re all I got left. If I lost you, I don’t know what I would do.”
“Dad,” Faith reached forward and took his hands, “please, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere any time soon and I won’t let anything happen to you or Kevin or Sam or anyone else I care about. I know your reasons for what you do and it’s okay.”
A tear fell down Dean’s cheek as he looked at her large blue eyes that looked too much like Cas. “I know. I just wanted to thank you for baring with me lately and not running off as much.”
Faith smiled, a stab of guilt going through her heart as she thought of what she planned to do when Dean left. “I just want you to be safe.”
“Yeah,” Dean sat back and wiped his tears away, “you worry about me too much.”
“That’s my job.”
He laughed. “I know that and I know that I won’t live forever. Who knows when, but sooner rather than later, I’m gonna die.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Faith was getting upset as she listened to Dean talk about death in such a defeated manner.
Dean put up a hand. “I don’t want to argue about that. I wanted to tell you about the demon trials. I won’t give you all the details, but I want you to know something in case the worst were to happen.”
Faith’s heart rate picked up. She had been begging to know about the trials for years. “Okay.”
“There are three things you’ll need to do. After each one, there are a few words of Enochian you’ll have to say and after you’ve done all three, all the demons will be sent to Hell and be locked up forever.”
It didn’t sound that hard to Faith. She didn’t understand why her parents had been so adamant about not letting her do it yet. “When will you tell me the words and trials?”
“When you’re ready. Kevin knows them, but he won’t tell you until I give him permission.”
Faith nodded in understanding. She realized how big this was for Dean. He didn’t want Faith to do the trials at all, and to tell her this much meant he must really trust her now. It made her feel so much worse. “Thanks, Dad.”
Dean smiled and stood up to leave. “Have a good night. I’m gonna go watch some of the old films in storage.”
“Okay, goodnight.” She smiled and waved as he stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him. She let out a deep breath and let herself relax on the bed. It only lasted a moment as her phone rang. She picked it up with a sigh, knowing who it would be.
“You coming or what?” Jesse had expected to meet Faith already.
She had begun to reconsider her plans for the night after talking to Dean. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Jesse’s voice fell. He didn’t think she would back out. “This was your idea.”
“Yeah,” she stood from the bed and paced around the room, “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea anymore.”
“I’m gonna be with you the whole time. Nothing will happen to you.”
“I just feel bad for sneaking around like this. My dad told me about the demon trials.”
“He did? What are they?” He’d gotten much more eager at the mention of that. “Are you gonna do that now?”
“No, he didn’t tell me everything. But the fact that he talked about it at all means he trusts me. Hiding things like this from him don’t help with that.”
Jesse sighed. “Faith, you’re doing this to keep him safe. When we finally find Abaddon and take her down, he’ll be happy and alive. So, should I wait or go home?”
“I’m coming. Just give me a minute.” She hung up and put her phone in her pocket. She grabbed her tan leather jacket as she left her room and headed to the projection room where she would find Dean. He was sitting on the couch they had set up there and was watching some black and white drama.
Dean looked up as she entered the room. “Hey, coming to join me?”
“No, maybe some other time. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going out to check out a possible case.”
“Alone?” Dean made to stand up.
“Yes, it’s just a ghost thing, Dad. You don’t need to worry.”
Dean stayed on the couch. “Where is it?”
“A couple hours from here. I won’t be gone too long.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“I will.” She moved closer to hug Dean around the shoulders. “Bye.”
Faith left the projection room and flew off to meet Jesse. She hadn’t completely lied to her dad and at least she bought some time if he had happened to check her room for her.
Dean made it through about ten minutes of the movie when he started to wonder what Faith was really up to. He felt like she would’ve told him about the case when he had been in her room. He stopped the movie and went to find his laptop.
He opened the GPS tracking he had set up on her phone and found her in Kansas. She was about a two hour drive away, like she said. He considered closing it and believing his daughter but he decided to zoom in and see where exactly she was. His heart sank when the address turned out to be a dive bar without a house nearby.
“Son of a bitch.” Dean slammed the computer shut and grabbed his keys. He had hoped that Faith had really been as trustworthy as she seemed, but he had been wrong. He had failed to keep her safe at the bunker.
Faith laughed as she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She leaned against the bar with her elbow and smiled at the very drunk man next to her. “You’re so funny.” She made sure to pitch her voice higher and slur her words slightly. “But seriously have you heard about all the weird things going on around here? It’s like, so weird. All these people are like, disappearing or going crazy on their families. It’s so weird.”
The man chuckled and handed her another beer that he had bought for her. “Tell me about it. I’ve got a friend that totally flipped one night and attacked his wife. The next day he claimed to not remember even coming home that day.”
“Whoa, that’s scary.”
“Clearly he was lying. Don’t know why though.” He shrugged and downed his drink.
Faith glanced behind her and nodded to Jesse, who was sitting across the bar. She turned back to the man and drank from her beer, grimacing at the bitter taste. “What happened to that guy?”
“He was put away for attempted murder. His poor wife was in the hospital for two weeks.”
“What was his name?” She leaned a little closer to him.
“You’re asking a lot of questions about something so awful.”
Faith giggled and dropped her head to her hand. “Sorry, sometimes I just get a little nosy.” She laughed again and waved a hand. “You’re right. I’ll stop asking about it. Things like that just tend to interest me a lot.” She finished her beer and slid from the barstool, making sure to sway slightly on her feet. “Have a good night.”
She had made it two steps before the man turned around. “I can tell you more about it if you want. It just seems like a strange subject.”
Faith smiled before turning back to face him. “If you don’t mind. I don’t wanna seem weird or anything.” She had made it back to the bar when she heard a familiar voice.
“Faith!”
Horror went through her when she heard the sound of her father’s very angry voice. She turned and saw him advancing on her with tightly pursed lips.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the bar.
“Hey, take it easy, pal.” The man at the bar stood to square up with Dean.
“Back off!” He pulled her away from the bar and the man followed.
“Let her go.”
“She’s my daughter, and she’s sixteen. Why don’t you back off?” He turned hard eyes to the drunk man, daring him to make a move. The guy thought better of it and returned to the bar. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” She let herself be dragged through the parking lot. “I was looking for leads on demons nearby.”
“Yeah, that’s what it looked like.” He said sarcastically and dropped her arm. “What were you doing here and,” he sniffed close to her, “drinking?”
Faith rolled her eyes. “You know I can’t get drunk without drinking the entire bar stock.”
“That’s not the point!” Dean crossed his arms and shook his head. “You’re sixteen years old. Just because you look old enough to be here doesn’t mean you can go in and stir up shit. We’re going home and I’m not sure when I’ll let you leave again.” He opened the passenger door to the Impala for her.
She knew it would be easier to listen than to fight anymore. She moved to sit in the car when Jesse came running up. “Don’t.” She put a hand up, but Jesse didn’t listen.
“Wow, you haven’t changed much.” Jesse slowed to a stop near the front of the car and looked Dean up and down. “Don’t get too mad at her. It was my idea.”
“Jesse, stop.” Faith didn’t want Dean to know about him being there at all. This would just make it worse for her.
“Jesse?” Dean looked at the man closer. He looked to be in his late twenties with dark hair and round blue eyes. He was as tall as Dean and just had a hint of the kid he had met so long ago.
“Yeah, nice to see you again.” He kept his mouth curled in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I should’ve known you would be behind this.” Anger welled in Dean at the thought of Faith being alone with the demon.
“Dad…”
“Get in the car, Faith!” He snapped it harsher than he meant to and turned back to Jesse. “I’m gonna tell you this once, kid.” He moved closer so he could lower his voice and waited for the car door to shut. “Stay the hell away from my daughter. I don’t know what your motives are or where you’ve been, and she doesn’t need you whispering bad ideas in her ear. If I see you with her again, I’ll kill you.”
Jesse could feel the rage pulsing off the man and believed the threat fully. “I don’t want any trouble, Dean. I didn’t force her to do anything. I just wanted to help.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He shook his head. “You were a good kid when I met you the first time, but I don’t trust you now any more than I’d trust Abaddon.”
“So, if I kill her for you, would you trust me then?” He smiled in mild amusement.
“I would maybe thank you, but I’d still never want to see your face again.” Dean felt nervous about how calm Jesse seemed and made his way to the driver’s side of the car. The guy smiled too much for Dean’s liking. “Remember what I said, or I’ll be after you instead of Abaddon.”
Jesse nodded and smiled again. He looked at Faith and waved as Dean started the car and backed away from the hybrid. He waited for them to turn onto the street before disappearing from the parking lot.
The two hour drive was torturous for Faith. Dean didn’t say a word and even kept the radio off. The only sound was the engine and the rain that began to fall. She wanted to explain herself and let him know that she was trying to keep him safe but he looked too angry to listen.
They pulled into the bunker’s large garage they had found a few years past just after 1 AM. Dean turned off the engine but didn’t move to exit the car and Faith followed suit by staying put.
“Dad, I’m sorry that I lied to you, but I was trying to do the right thing. I wanted you to be safe.”
“How long have you been doing this?” He stared straight ahead, not wanting to see the sad look on Faith’s face.
“That’s the first time I’ve gone to a bar.”
“I mean with Jesse. How long have you been sneaking around with Jesse?”
“We weren’t sneaking around. We were looking for Abaddon. I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to be safe and out of the demons’ way.”
Dean shook his head and closed his eyes. “You’ve been doing it the whole time haven’t you? The whole year that he’s been around. After I specifically told you not to go near him?”
She knew lying would only be worse now. “Yes.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Why? How could you trust him so fast? He’s a demon.”
“He’s human too, Dad. He’s the only other thing like me there is. He’s not evil just because one of his parents happened to be a demon. Jesse has never hurt me or done anything to make me nervous.”
“Demons lie. He’s Hell’s weapon and he has the power to wipe you off the map. If he doesn’t want to kill you, he wants into the bunker, or to take me and you to Abaddon.”
“He’s had plenty of chances to do that and he never has! You may not trust him, but I do.” She opened the car door and exited swiftly.
Dean got out of the car and followed her through the garage. “And that’s what he wants. Once he has your trust, he can turn you against me and trick you into being taken straight to her.”
“Please, like that’s what he’s doing.” She picked up the pace when Dean got closer to her.
“It’s happened before. Remember the story about Ruby and your uncle?”
“This is not the same thing.” She shook her head. Jesse would never use her like that.
“Yes it is. You just don’t see it.” He ran to catch her and grabbed her arm. “I wasn’t able to stop Sam before tripping the apocalypse, but I can make sure we don’t repeat our mistakes.”
“How?” She glared at him, wishing she had the nerve to pull her arm away from his grip.
“I told Jesse to stay away and you’re not leaving here again unless I say you can.”
Faith’s eyes widened. “Yeah right. You can’t keep me here.”
Dean raised a brow. “You think so?”
“You wouldn’t.” She could see the anger and fear in Dean’s eyes. She knew how losing Cas had changed him, made him keep a closer eye on her, but she could see know that he was serious. “Dad, I’m doing what I have to. If you would just tell me how to close the gates of Hell, I could stop all of this. Let me help!”
“No! You aren’t ready for that, clearly.” He pulled her through the bunker and to her old nursery, which still had the angel binding up.
“Dad, don’t.” She pulled on his grip, not wanting to hurt him.
“You haven’t given me a choice.” Dean hated himself for what he was about to do, but he didn’t know what else to do. Faith would fly off the first chance she got and he couldn’t lose her. He opened the door to her old room and let go of her arm.
“I’ll be able to get out.” Even as a human she was too smart to keep locked in a room.
“If that’s what you want to do.” He held the door open and let her take the final steps on her own. He was giving her the choice to fully disobey him.
He would never force her into the room or chain her up, but Faith knew what this was. She had to prove that she could be trusted again. “You’re my dad, please.” She hoped maybe he would forgive her and let her go but he didn’t move. She lifted her chin and walked through the door and felt the dizzying effects of having her powers disappear.
“I’ll bring you lunch tomorrow.” He closed the door slowly and locked it. He had expected more of a fight or tears from Faith, but this was almost harder. The thought of keeping her locked in there made him sick, but he didn’t think he could leave her free in her room tonight or she would leave in anger, like she had done before.
He had never expected her to do something like this. When he was younger, he did things like that to try and get extra money from pool or just to let off steam but he never thought Faith would follow in his footsteps.
Dean made it to his room with a heavy heart and a huge need for sleep. He barely got his jacket off before falling asleep with his face buried in his pillow. His right hand still reached out for the warmth that wasn’t there beside him. His last thought before being pulled to sleep was about how much he missed Cas and how much he could use his help now.
Faith had thought about kicking the door or screaming, just to irritate Dean, but she didn’t. She knew she had royally messed up but this felt extreme. She didn’t need to sleep, but she curled up on the pile of covers left in the mostly empty room and closed her eyes to rest.
Faith had no idea what time it was the next day when she heard the lock being opened. She stood, expecting her dad, but smiled when Kevin came in with a tray of food. “Hi, Kevin.”
“Faith.” He handed the food over and shut the door. “I heard about what happened last night.”
Dread went through her. Of course Dean would have told him. She nodded. “I guess you’re here to tell me off too, huh?”
“I don’t think I really need to. The only thing I’ll tell you is that you should stay away from Jesse. I don’t know him and I only know about what your dad has told me, but from my own experience, demons can’t be trusted. They lie and manipulate for no reason other than that they enjoy it. I don’t want to see him hurt you or turn you against your father.”
Faith nodded. “And you’re not telling me off?”
Kevin laughed and raised his hands. “That’s all I’m saying on the matter.”
“Good.” She smiled and looked over the food Dean had made. It looked good and she shared it with Kevin as he told her about some new translations he had done on some documents in the archive.
Later that afternoon, Faith’s phone rang with an unknown number. Dean had taken it from her the night before and answered it, expecting Jesse. “What do you want?”
“Oh, so hostile. You’re not the Winchester I expected, gorgeous.”
The woman’s voice made his skin crawl. “Abaddon.”
She laughed. “I love it when you say my name like that, Dean. Where’s you little girl?”
“None of your damn business. How did you get this number?”
“Don’t worry about that. I guess I can make this offer to you. I know your freak of a daughter and that demon kid have been poking around looking for me recently and I’m willing to make a deal to get them off my demons’ backs.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“Bring me one of them, in your case it would be the boy, and I’ll back off the other one.”
“We hand over Jesse and you’ll leave us alone?” Even if she honored the deal, Dean still wanted her head for Cas, but it would be a good way to get Jesse away from them.
“Sure will. Of course, I’m extending the same offer to Jesse. I don’t really care which one I get. Either one could be used in such wonderful ways.” She chuckled. “Both of them would be ideal.”
“You’re not getting Faith. But I have no problem handing over Jesse.”
“Really? I heard a story that you and the family saved him when he was little. I thought for sure you would stick up for him and I would have to kill a bunch of people to break you.”
“You disappointed?”
“Maybe a little, but I’ll get over it. You have the boy now?”
“Not at the moment, but I know a sure way to get him. Tell me where to meet you.”
“Not so fast, Dean. I can’t very well tell you where I am so you can come after me. You just call me when you have the boy and I’ll tell you where to go.”
“Fine.”
“You wanna do what?!” Dean had just told Faith his plan for turning Jesse in and trying to kill Abaddon while they were there. “Are you insane?”
“If we don’t do this, Jesse will hand you over.”
“He will not. Dad, we can’t do that to him. Abaddon won’t kill him. She’ll twist him and torture him.”
“I know. I’m saying we use this as an opportunity to trap her. With you and Jesse, you should have the power to kill her.”
“You sure that’s what this is? You think she won’t prepare and angel proof the meeting place? I think you want the excuse to get Jesse killed or captured.”
“No, it’s not like that. This is our best shot at stopping her.” He would be lying if he didn’t hope that Jesse would be injured or killed in the attack, but this was mainly about stopping Abaddon. He could always deal with Jesse later.
“After everything we went through yesterday, now you want me to call him?” She took the phone Dean was holding out for her.
“I know, just call him.”
Faith never got the chance as the phone rang in her hand. “Hello?”
“Faith, glad that I got you this time. I just had to call and tell you that you’re too late.” The smile on her face was clear even over the phone.
“What?”
“Looks like the Winchesters aren’t the only ones willing to sacrifice themselves over and over. Jesse turned himself in to me. He really is a cutie isn’t he? Looks like the deal is off. I think he was hoping to save you this way, but that’s not how this works. You didn’t offer him up, so you’re still on my list, angel.”
“You hurt him and I’ll kill you even slower than I had planned before.”
Abaddon laughed. “That’s cute. Talk to you later.”
She lowered the phone slowly and tried to understand what just happened. Dean looked at her expectantly. “Faith, what happened?”
“She took him. Jesse’s gone.”
Finale
Rating: PG-13
Pairing and Characters: Dean, Faith, Abaddon, Jesse, Kevin
Spoilers/Warnings: none I can think of
Word Count: ~4,100 (this chapter)
Summary: This is a sequel to "Like To Stay in Heaven..." you don't have to read that first to start this, but it would help a lot. That masterpost is here. You do need to read the prologue which is here. This starts two months after the end of my version of season 7.
This chapter: One year after the last chapter. Faith and Jesse work together to try and find Abaddon, until she contacts them and gives them an offer.
Notes: I have finally finished this and will be putting up all the chapters soon. By Sunday night, the whole story will be up. I’m sorry it took so long, but my new job has been sucking up all my free time.
Previous
Faith continued getting help from Jesse over the next year. She never once brought it up to Dean and intended to keep her father out of the danger for as long as possible. She and Jesse tracked down demons together and took turns interrogating them. So far they hadn’t gotten much, except Abaddon’s increased anger and interest with them both.
One night, a few weeks after she turned sixteen, Dean caught her right before she meant to leave and meet Jesse. She jumped as he opened the door to her room.
“Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?” Dean stayed outside the threshold to respect her privacy.
“Uh,” Faith slipped the freshly made ID into her back pocket and smiled, “sure.”
Dean nodded and stepped into her room. Faith sat on the bed as Dean pulled up the chair from her desk. He sat down and took a deep breath. “Faith, I know how hard this all has to be for you. I know I’m not the easiest person to try to talk to sometimes.”
“Dad, what are you talking about?” She could see the seriousness on his face and the sad look in his eyes, one that has been there since Cas died, and it made her nervous.
“You want to hunt down Abaddon right now and take her out, and believe me, I get it. I wish that I could let you go, let you take off and do the demon trials or kill her, but I can’t.” Tears started to well in Dean’s eyes. “You’re my daughter. Aside from Sam and his family, you’re all I got left. If I lost you, I don’t know what I would do.”
“Dad,” Faith reached forward and took his hands, “please, it’s okay. I’m not going anywhere any time soon and I won’t let anything happen to you or Kevin or Sam or anyone else I care about. I know your reasons for what you do and it’s okay.”
A tear fell down Dean’s cheek as he looked at her large blue eyes that looked too much like Cas. “I know. I just wanted to thank you for baring with me lately and not running off as much.”
Faith smiled, a stab of guilt going through her heart as she thought of what she planned to do when Dean left. “I just want you to be safe.”
“Yeah,” Dean sat back and wiped his tears away, “you worry about me too much.”
“That’s my job.”
He laughed. “I know that and I know that I won’t live forever. Who knows when, but sooner rather than later, I’m gonna die.”
“Not if I have anything to say about it.” Faith was getting upset as she listened to Dean talk about death in such a defeated manner.
Dean put up a hand. “I don’t want to argue about that. I wanted to tell you about the demon trials. I won’t give you all the details, but I want you to know something in case the worst were to happen.”
Faith’s heart rate picked up. She had been begging to know about the trials for years. “Okay.”
“There are three things you’ll need to do. After each one, there are a few words of Enochian you’ll have to say and after you’ve done all three, all the demons will be sent to Hell and be locked up forever.”
It didn’t sound that hard to Faith. She didn’t understand why her parents had been so adamant about not letting her do it yet. “When will you tell me the words and trials?”
“When you’re ready. Kevin knows them, but he won’t tell you until I give him permission.”
Faith nodded in understanding. She realized how big this was for Dean. He didn’t want Faith to do the trials at all, and to tell her this much meant he must really trust her now. It made her feel so much worse. “Thanks, Dad.”
Dean smiled and stood up to leave. “Have a good night. I’m gonna go watch some of the old films in storage.”
“Okay, goodnight.” She smiled and waved as he stepped out of her room, closing the door behind him. She let out a deep breath and let herself relax on the bed. It only lasted a moment as her phone rang. She picked it up with a sigh, knowing who it would be.
“You coming or what?” Jesse had expected to meet Faith already.
She had begun to reconsider her plans for the night after talking to Dean. “I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?” Jesse’s voice fell. He didn’t think she would back out. “This was your idea.”
“Yeah,” she stood from the bed and paced around the room, “I just don’t know if it’s a good idea anymore.”
“I’m gonna be with you the whole time. Nothing will happen to you.”
“I just feel bad for sneaking around like this. My dad told me about the demon trials.”
“He did? What are they?” He’d gotten much more eager at the mention of that. “Are you gonna do that now?”
“No, he didn’t tell me everything. But the fact that he talked about it at all means he trusts me. Hiding things like this from him don’t help with that.”
Jesse sighed. “Faith, you’re doing this to keep him safe. When we finally find Abaddon and take her down, he’ll be happy and alive. So, should I wait or go home?”
“I’m coming. Just give me a minute.” She hung up and put her phone in her pocket. She grabbed her tan leather jacket as she left her room and headed to the projection room where she would find Dean. He was sitting on the couch they had set up there and was watching some black and white drama.
Dean looked up as she entered the room. “Hey, coming to join me?”
“No, maybe some other time. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going out to check out a possible case.”
“Alone?” Dean made to stand up.
“Yes, it’s just a ghost thing, Dad. You don’t need to worry.”
Dean stayed on the couch. “Where is it?”
“A couple hours from here. I won’t be gone too long.”
“Okay, be careful.”
“I will.” She moved closer to hug Dean around the shoulders. “Bye.”
Faith left the projection room and flew off to meet Jesse. She hadn’t completely lied to her dad and at least she bought some time if he had happened to check her room for her.
Dean made it through about ten minutes of the movie when he started to wonder what Faith was really up to. He felt like she would’ve told him about the case when he had been in her room. He stopped the movie and went to find his laptop.
He opened the GPS tracking he had set up on her phone and found her in Kansas. She was about a two hour drive away, like she said. He considered closing it and believing his daughter but he decided to zoom in and see where exactly she was. His heart sank when the address turned out to be a dive bar without a house nearby.
“Son of a bitch.” Dean slammed the computer shut and grabbed his keys. He had hoped that Faith had really been as trustworthy as she seemed, but he had been wrong. He had failed to keep her safe at the bunker.
Faith laughed as she tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder. She leaned against the bar with her elbow and smiled at the very drunk man next to her. “You’re so funny.” She made sure to pitch her voice higher and slur her words slightly. “But seriously have you heard about all the weird things going on around here? It’s like, so weird. All these people are like, disappearing or going crazy on their families. It’s so weird.”
The man chuckled and handed her another beer that he had bought for her. “Tell me about it. I’ve got a friend that totally flipped one night and attacked his wife. The next day he claimed to not remember even coming home that day.”
“Whoa, that’s scary.”
“Clearly he was lying. Don’t know why though.” He shrugged and downed his drink.
Faith glanced behind her and nodded to Jesse, who was sitting across the bar. She turned back to the man and drank from her beer, grimacing at the bitter taste. “What happened to that guy?”
“He was put away for attempted murder. His poor wife was in the hospital for two weeks.”
“What was his name?” She leaned a little closer to him.
“You’re asking a lot of questions about something so awful.”
Faith giggled and dropped her head to her hand. “Sorry, sometimes I just get a little nosy.” She laughed again and waved a hand. “You’re right. I’ll stop asking about it. Things like that just tend to interest me a lot.” She finished her beer and slid from the barstool, making sure to sway slightly on her feet. “Have a good night.”
She had made it two steps before the man turned around. “I can tell you more about it if you want. It just seems like a strange subject.”
Faith smiled before turning back to face him. “If you don’t mind. I don’t wanna seem weird or anything.” She had made it back to the bar when she heard a familiar voice.
“Faith!”
Horror went through her when she heard the sound of her father’s very angry voice. She turned and saw him advancing on her with tightly pursed lips.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” He grabbed her arm and pulled her away from the bar.
“Hey, take it easy, pal.” The man at the bar stood to square up with Dean.
“Back off!” He pulled her away from the bar and the man followed.
“Let her go.”
“She’s my daughter, and she’s sixteen. Why don’t you back off?” He turned hard eyes to the drunk man, daring him to make a move. The guy thought better of it and returned to the bar. “What is wrong with you?”
“I’m sorry, Dad.” She let herself be dragged through the parking lot. “I was looking for leads on demons nearby.”
“Yeah, that’s what it looked like.” He said sarcastically and dropped her arm. “What were you doing here and,” he sniffed close to her, “drinking?”
Faith rolled her eyes. “You know I can’t get drunk without drinking the entire bar stock.”
“That’s not the point!” Dean crossed his arms and shook his head. “You’re sixteen years old. Just because you look old enough to be here doesn’t mean you can go in and stir up shit. We’re going home and I’m not sure when I’ll let you leave again.” He opened the passenger door to the Impala for her.
She knew it would be easier to listen than to fight anymore. She moved to sit in the car when Jesse came running up. “Don’t.” She put a hand up, but Jesse didn’t listen.
“Wow, you haven’t changed much.” Jesse slowed to a stop near the front of the car and looked Dean up and down. “Don’t get too mad at her. It was my idea.”
“Jesse, stop.” Faith didn’t want Dean to know about him being there at all. This would just make it worse for her.
“Jesse?” Dean looked at the man closer. He looked to be in his late twenties with dark hair and round blue eyes. He was as tall as Dean and just had a hint of the kid he had met so long ago.
“Yeah, nice to see you again.” He kept his mouth curled in a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.
“I should’ve known you would be behind this.” Anger welled in Dean at the thought of Faith being alone with the demon.
“Dad…”
“Get in the car, Faith!” He snapped it harsher than he meant to and turned back to Jesse. “I’m gonna tell you this once, kid.” He moved closer so he could lower his voice and waited for the car door to shut. “Stay the hell away from my daughter. I don’t know what your motives are or where you’ve been, and she doesn’t need you whispering bad ideas in her ear. If I see you with her again, I’ll kill you.”
Jesse could feel the rage pulsing off the man and believed the threat fully. “I don’t want any trouble, Dean. I didn’t force her to do anything. I just wanted to help.”
“Yeah, I’m sure.” He shook his head. “You were a good kid when I met you the first time, but I don’t trust you now any more than I’d trust Abaddon.”
“So, if I kill her for you, would you trust me then?” He smiled in mild amusement.
“I would maybe thank you, but I’d still never want to see your face again.” Dean felt nervous about how calm Jesse seemed and made his way to the driver’s side of the car. The guy smiled too much for Dean’s liking. “Remember what I said, or I’ll be after you instead of Abaddon.”
Jesse nodded and smiled again. He looked at Faith and waved as Dean started the car and backed away from the hybrid. He waited for them to turn onto the street before disappearing from the parking lot.
The two hour drive was torturous for Faith. Dean didn’t say a word and even kept the radio off. The only sound was the engine and the rain that began to fall. She wanted to explain herself and let him know that she was trying to keep him safe but he looked too angry to listen.
They pulled into the bunker’s large garage they had found a few years past just after 1 AM. Dean turned off the engine but didn’t move to exit the car and Faith followed suit by staying put.
“Dad, I’m sorry that I lied to you, but I was trying to do the right thing. I wanted you to be safe.”
“How long have you been doing this?” He stared straight ahead, not wanting to see the sad look on Faith’s face.
“That’s the first time I’ve gone to a bar.”
“I mean with Jesse. How long have you been sneaking around with Jesse?”
“We weren’t sneaking around. We were looking for Abaddon. I didn’t tell you because I wanted you to be safe and out of the demons’ way.”
Dean shook his head and closed his eyes. “You’ve been doing it the whole time haven’t you? The whole year that he’s been around. After I specifically told you not to go near him?”
She knew lying would only be worse now. “Yes.”
He looked at her in disbelief. “Why? How could you trust him so fast? He’s a demon.”
“He’s human too, Dad. He’s the only other thing like me there is. He’s not evil just because one of his parents happened to be a demon. Jesse has never hurt me or done anything to make me nervous.”
“Demons lie. He’s Hell’s weapon and he has the power to wipe you off the map. If he doesn’t want to kill you, he wants into the bunker, or to take me and you to Abaddon.”
“He’s had plenty of chances to do that and he never has! You may not trust him, but I do.” She opened the car door and exited swiftly.
Dean got out of the car and followed her through the garage. “And that’s what he wants. Once he has your trust, he can turn you against me and trick you into being taken straight to her.”
“Please, like that’s what he’s doing.” She picked up the pace when Dean got closer to her.
“It’s happened before. Remember the story about Ruby and your uncle?”
“This is not the same thing.” She shook her head. Jesse would never use her like that.
“Yes it is. You just don’t see it.” He ran to catch her and grabbed her arm. “I wasn’t able to stop Sam before tripping the apocalypse, but I can make sure we don’t repeat our mistakes.”
“How?” She glared at him, wishing she had the nerve to pull her arm away from his grip.
“I told Jesse to stay away and you’re not leaving here again unless I say you can.”
Faith’s eyes widened. “Yeah right. You can’t keep me here.”
Dean raised a brow. “You think so?”
“You wouldn’t.” She could see the anger and fear in Dean’s eyes. She knew how losing Cas had changed him, made him keep a closer eye on her, but she could see know that he was serious. “Dad, I’m doing what I have to. If you would just tell me how to close the gates of Hell, I could stop all of this. Let me help!”
“No! You aren’t ready for that, clearly.” He pulled her through the bunker and to her old nursery, which still had the angel binding up.
“Dad, don’t.” She pulled on his grip, not wanting to hurt him.
“You haven’t given me a choice.” Dean hated himself for what he was about to do, but he didn’t know what else to do. Faith would fly off the first chance she got and he couldn’t lose her. He opened the door to her old room and let go of her arm.
“I’ll be able to get out.” Even as a human she was too smart to keep locked in a room.
“If that’s what you want to do.” He held the door open and let her take the final steps on her own. He was giving her the choice to fully disobey him.
He would never force her into the room or chain her up, but Faith knew what this was. She had to prove that she could be trusted again. “You’re my dad, please.” She hoped maybe he would forgive her and let her go but he didn’t move. She lifted her chin and walked through the door and felt the dizzying effects of having her powers disappear.
“I’ll bring you lunch tomorrow.” He closed the door slowly and locked it. He had expected more of a fight or tears from Faith, but this was almost harder. The thought of keeping her locked in there made him sick, but he didn’t think he could leave her free in her room tonight or she would leave in anger, like she had done before.
He had never expected her to do something like this. When he was younger, he did things like that to try and get extra money from pool or just to let off steam but he never thought Faith would follow in his footsteps.
Dean made it to his room with a heavy heart and a huge need for sleep. He barely got his jacket off before falling asleep with his face buried in his pillow. His right hand still reached out for the warmth that wasn’t there beside him. His last thought before being pulled to sleep was about how much he missed Cas and how much he could use his help now.
Faith had thought about kicking the door or screaming, just to irritate Dean, but she didn’t. She knew she had royally messed up but this felt extreme. She didn’t need to sleep, but she curled up on the pile of covers left in the mostly empty room and closed her eyes to rest.
Faith had no idea what time it was the next day when she heard the lock being opened. She stood, expecting her dad, but smiled when Kevin came in with a tray of food. “Hi, Kevin.”
“Faith.” He handed the food over and shut the door. “I heard about what happened last night.”
Dread went through her. Of course Dean would have told him. She nodded. “I guess you’re here to tell me off too, huh?”
“I don’t think I really need to. The only thing I’ll tell you is that you should stay away from Jesse. I don’t know him and I only know about what your dad has told me, but from my own experience, demons can’t be trusted. They lie and manipulate for no reason other than that they enjoy it. I don’t want to see him hurt you or turn you against your father.”
Faith nodded. “And you’re not telling me off?”
Kevin laughed and raised his hands. “That’s all I’m saying on the matter.”
“Good.” She smiled and looked over the food Dean had made. It looked good and she shared it with Kevin as he told her about some new translations he had done on some documents in the archive.
Later that afternoon, Faith’s phone rang with an unknown number. Dean had taken it from her the night before and answered it, expecting Jesse. “What do you want?”
“Oh, so hostile. You’re not the Winchester I expected, gorgeous.”
The woman’s voice made his skin crawl. “Abaddon.”
She laughed. “I love it when you say my name like that, Dean. Where’s you little girl?”
“None of your damn business. How did you get this number?”
“Don’t worry about that. I guess I can make this offer to you. I know your freak of a daughter and that demon kid have been poking around looking for me recently and I’m willing to make a deal to get them off my demons’ backs.”
“Yeah, and what’s that?”
“Bring me one of them, in your case it would be the boy, and I’ll back off the other one.”
“We hand over Jesse and you’ll leave us alone?” Even if she honored the deal, Dean still wanted her head for Cas, but it would be a good way to get Jesse away from them.
“Sure will. Of course, I’m extending the same offer to Jesse. I don’t really care which one I get. Either one could be used in such wonderful ways.” She chuckled. “Both of them would be ideal.”
“You’re not getting Faith. But I have no problem handing over Jesse.”
“Really? I heard a story that you and the family saved him when he was little. I thought for sure you would stick up for him and I would have to kill a bunch of people to break you.”
“You disappointed?”
“Maybe a little, but I’ll get over it. You have the boy now?”
“Not at the moment, but I know a sure way to get him. Tell me where to meet you.”
“Not so fast, Dean. I can’t very well tell you where I am so you can come after me. You just call me when you have the boy and I’ll tell you where to go.”
“Fine.”
“You wanna do what?!” Dean had just told Faith his plan for turning Jesse in and trying to kill Abaddon while they were there. “Are you insane?”
“If we don’t do this, Jesse will hand you over.”
“He will not. Dad, we can’t do that to him. Abaddon won’t kill him. She’ll twist him and torture him.”
“I know. I’m saying we use this as an opportunity to trap her. With you and Jesse, you should have the power to kill her.”
“You sure that’s what this is? You think she won’t prepare and angel proof the meeting place? I think you want the excuse to get Jesse killed or captured.”
“No, it’s not like that. This is our best shot at stopping her.” He would be lying if he didn’t hope that Jesse would be injured or killed in the attack, but this was mainly about stopping Abaddon. He could always deal with Jesse later.
“After everything we went through yesterday, now you want me to call him?” She took the phone Dean was holding out for her.
“I know, just call him.”
Faith never got the chance as the phone rang in her hand. “Hello?”
“Faith, glad that I got you this time. I just had to call and tell you that you’re too late.” The smile on her face was clear even over the phone.
“What?”
“Looks like the Winchesters aren’t the only ones willing to sacrifice themselves over and over. Jesse turned himself in to me. He really is a cutie isn’t he? Looks like the deal is off. I think he was hoping to save you this way, but that’s not how this works. You didn’t offer him up, so you’re still on my list, angel.”
“You hurt him and I’ll kill you even slower than I had planned before.”
Abaddon laughed. “That’s cute. Talk to you later.”
She lowered the phone slowly and tried to understand what just happened. Dean looked at her expectantly. “Faith, what happened?”
“She took him. Jesse’s gone.”
Finale