Demon Game 06/?: Supernatural AU
Title: Demon Game
Author: yami_faerie
Words: ~3,000
Ratings/Warnings: Rated PG-13, or R if you're offended by the "f" word, language, some violence, spoilers for seasons 1-5.
Disclaimer: This isn't my world. I just like to imagine it is.
Summary: It's finally time for Sam to join the competition in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Will Dean and Bobby be able to find Sam and the other special children with him before it's too late? This is a retelling of 2.21 and 2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose" and features my OFC Danielle Young.
Chapter Six: Master of My Soul
April 23, 2007
Five months. Brady Walker sat at his kitchen table, staring blankly into space. Ava had been missing for five months now, and the Winchesters had never once figured out what happened to her or if she was even still alive.
We were supposed to be safe here, he thought to himself repeatedly as the days had passed. Ava was supposed to be safe. They weren't supposed to touch her.
The idea that the woman he loved was dead wasn't one that Brady wanted to so much as think about, but after five months, he couldn't imagine an alternative. He knew that the average demon rode the people it possessed hard, often leaving them dead when they finally abandoned them. If that had been Ava's fate…
They weren't supposed to touch her! He kept telling himself this one fact over and over. He had to believe that she hadn't been possessed, that she was still alive and out there, fighting for her life, but…
Just then, there came an unfamiliar sound from the backyard. Brady snapped out of his stupor, rising to his feet and quickly making his way to the back door. He peeked outside through the blinds, but it was too dark to see anything, so he flipped on the back porch's light.
There was a body slumped on the ground.
Brady threw open the door and flew down the porch steps. "Ava?" he whispered, pausing as he sank to his knees. That's when he saw the blood staining the clothes of the person before him. After a moment, he reached out and turned the body towards him.
It was Ava. She had been stabbed straight through the chest. She was dead.
Brady wept.
April 26, 2007
Sam gasped, eyes darting around.
He was still in Cold Oak.
Dean was still on the ground.
Sam's body was still clutched in his arms.
Oh, God, Sam thought, eyes going wide. No…
Sam was dead.
"Hello, Sam."
Sam whirled around and saw a woman with dark hair and blue eyes. She had a gentle smile, but something about her set Sam's nerves on edge.
"Who are you?" he asked warily.
"My name is Tessa," said the woman. "I'm a Reaper."
Realizing he was dead was bad enough, but now he had to move on? A litany of coarse phrases ran through his mind
"A grim reaper," Sam clarified after a moment, and Tessa nodded. "You don't look anything like the one Dean described to me."
"We can choose the form in which we want to appear," Tessa said. "I find many souls respond better to me in this form."
"Oh," Sam said. "Right."
There was a moment of silence.
"I guess you expect me to just… go," Sam said after a moment's hesitation.
"Unless you wish to become a malevolent spirit like the ones you and brother hunt," Tessa answered, "then I would have to say yes."
Sam nodded and looked over at Dean. Bobby was approaching him slowly, seemingly uncertain as to what he should do. Sam looked back at Dean, feeling his heart (metaphorically speaking, of course, and God, how weird was that?) clench at the tears running silently down his brother's face.
"Vengeful spirits are the ones that refuse to move on?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Tessa answered.
"But it takes them at least a year before they gain enough strength to hurt anyone, right?"
Tessa smiled up at him. "You are speaking of Gary Matheson from Provo, Utah, aren't you?"
"Did you try to reap him?"
Tessa shook her head. "We all knew about him, though," she said. "People who spend time around a naturally-developed Empath like your friend Danielle find that their emotions have more strength in death than they normally would."
Sam blinked. "You're saying that Gary was only as strong as he was because he was near Danielle enough -" He broke off suddenly as a horrible thought occurred to him. "Danielle killed me, didn't she?"
Tessa had a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm afraid so."
"But why?" Sam said, turning back to watch as Dean and Bobby slowly lifted his body from the mud and carried him towards the nearest building. He started following them.
"Sam," Tessa called, but he ignored her and headed into the building. He watched in mournful silence as Dean and Bobby laid his still body out on an old bed. His face looked so… peaceful. It was very strange. He couldn't remember ever having that expression on his face in life.
Bobby silently stepped outside, probably to retrieve the bags they had dropped after Danielle's betrayal, and Sam moved closer to Dean, watching the blank expression on his face as his tears dried, leaving salty tear tracks behind.
"Your time is done here," came Tessa's voice from behind him. "It's time to move on."
"How can I?" Sam asked, voice breaking. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "We never even got to resolve our fight earlier."
"I'm sorry," Tessa said softly. "Sometimes you don't get the resolution you want, but it was your time."
"It's not fair," Sam said.
"Life rarely is," Tessa agreed. "You can't stay here, Sam."
Sam ignored Tessa again and continued to watch his brother's face. He couldn't sense his emotions, could barely make any sense of the turmoil in his green eyes.
"Sam -"
"I'm not leaving Dean," Sam snapped, glaring over at Tessa. "I can't. Not yet."
Tessa didn't say anything. There was nothing to be said.
Danielle ran as fast as she could, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched a bloody knife in one hand and shoved roughly at branches and other debris in her way with the other, boots squelching in the mud every now and again.
She had killed Sam.
But she had saved him, too, right?
I saved him, she told herself harshly as she crashed through the forest. He doesn't have to do this now because I can do it. I can damn myself and it's okay.
Danielle didn't have the training to hide and evade enemies like Jake probably would have, but that didn't matter. She knew Bobby was getting up there in years, and she was a healthy twenty-three-year-old with dance training and a fantastic amount of stamina. It wouldn't take long to lose him, she was sure of it. She briefly considered reaching out for that demon and having it go after Bobby, but she couldn't do that to him. Killing Sam had been hard enough as it was.
So, she ran.
"I think you've evaded them, by now."
The voice took Danielle by surprise, and she was unable to stop a short scream from escaping as she turned, tripped and landed hard on her backside in an old pile of leaves.
It was Azazel.
Danielle had never actually seen the man/demon/whatever before, but she knew about the yellow eyes. "Holy shit!" she gasped.
Azazel raised his eyebrows. "So you can swear," he remarked. "Whatever happened to my sweet little Mormon girl?"
Danielle just glared at the demon.
Azazel grinned.
"What do you want?" Danielle finally asked. She forced herself to rise and felt grateful that she hadn't injured herself on the knife she was still holding in her bloody hand.
"You're my champion," Azazel said, his grin widening slightly, "so I'm congratulating you."
"Great," Danielle dead-panned. "Thanks, it was no problem whatsoever."
Azazel chuckled. "Of course it wasn't. You only just killed the one man who ever understood your pain completely." He stepped closer. "I gotta say, you weren't the horse I was bettin' on, but you really pulled through at the end, there."
"I didn't do it for you," Danielle said angrily, "if that's what you're thinking."
Azazel raised his eyebrows again. "Why'd you kill little Sammy, then?"
Danielle clenched her jaw. "I saved him," she snapped. "I'm not letting you corrupt him."
"But you'll corrupt yourself and damn your every chance of getting into Heaven?" Azazel frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I can see the logic there."
Danielle's shoulders slumped and she glared at Azazel. "Better me than him."
Azazel eyed Danielle thoughtfully, and she resisted the temptation to read his emotions. She didn't like sensing his demonic presence as it was.
"Interesting," Azazel breathed. "You have so much potential, but you think very little of yourself. When did that happen?"
Danielle looked away. She couldn't answer that question.
"Well, we've got things to do," Azazel suddenly said, voice very business-like.
"What business?" Danielle asked warily.
"The things we're going to do next," Azazel said. "Now, I know you were in Girl Scouts, but can you make your own way outta this place?"
"With a compass? Sure."
Azazel nodded slightly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a compass, which he tossed to Danielle. "Nearest road is five miles north of here," he told her. "Closest town's another twenty miles east from there. Think you can handle that?"
Danielle nodded. "What then?"
"You're taking a road trip to Wyoming," Azazel answered, now handing over a sheet of paper. "Once you get yourself a car, you will follow these directions to your destination, and I'll meet you at that point with further instructions. Is that understood?"
The way he said those last words made Danielle want to start running again and never look back. Sam had been right: Azazel was terrifying.
"Yeah," Danielle said softly. "I understand." She stared up at Azazel for a moment. "Why did you send me to Cold Oak on my own two days before Sam and the others?"
Azazel smiled. "You were Ava's pre-test," he said, "but surely you've already figured that out."
Danielle swallowed. "If she couldn't get past me with my one ability to call her out on her lies, then how could she hope to get past Sam?"
"I was surprised that you beat her, to be honest," Azazel said with a small grin, "but Ava was getting pretty cocky towards the end, there."
Danielle sighed and shot Azazel an annoyed look.
"I'll see you in Wyoming," Azazel said before vanishing, and Danielle forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Twenty-five miles to civilization. She could do that.
Taking a deep breath, Danielle lifted the compass and began walking.
Dean sat, staring blankly at Sam.
It was kind of funny, the way he had thought of Sam as being his. His, and no one else's. Dean could still remember the amused smile that would cross his mother's face when he proudly told complete strangers that the little baby Mary was holding was "my Sam". Even then, he had cared.
Dean cared so damn much.
Bobby left Dean in Cold Oak for a few hours, returning sometime after the sun rose with food. "Dean, you need to eat," he said, setting a bucket of fried chicken on an old, wooden table.
Dean grabbed the whiskey, instead. "I'm not hungry."
It was hard to miss the sorrowful look on Bobby's face, but Dean did his best to ignore it.
"Don't you think it's ah… that it's time to bury Sam?"
"No."
"Dean -"
"You gonna suggest we torch his corpse, instead?" Dean asked sharply, finally looking at Bobby as he clutched the bottle of whiskey more tightly in his hand. "No." He shook his head. "Not… not yet."
Bobby sighed as he stared back at Dean. "I want you to come with me," he said after a moment's silence.
Dean shook his head again. "I'm not goin' anywhere."
"Dean, please."
"Would you cut me some fucking slack?" Dean snapped, slamming the bottle of whiskey onto the table and making Bobby jump.
"I just - I don't think you should be alone right now," Bobby said, voice tinged with sadness. "And I…" The older man took a deep breath before admitting, "I could really use your help."
Dean scoffed, let go of the bottle of whiskey and turned away, avoiding Sam's body and focusing on a rickety dresser, instead. Anything to keep himself from blowing up even more than he already had.
"Somethin' big is goin' down," Bobby continued after a moment, moving around the table to stand closer to Dean. "End-of-the-world big."
Dean couldn't stop himself. "Well, then let it end!" he shouted, spinning back to look at Bobby.
The two men stared at each other for a long moment, the silence hanging heavy between them.
"You don't mean that," Bobby said quietly.
"You don't think so?" Dean asked angrily. "Huh? You don't think I've given enough?" He gestured to Sam's body. "You don't think I've paid enough?" He shook his head. "I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, turn around, and get the hell out of here." Bobby didn't move. "Go!"
Bobby just gave Dean this sad look and Dean couldn't take it, anymore. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" he roared, shoving Bobby hard enough that he stumbled into the table. Bobby stared at him as though he had never seen him before.
Well, maybe he hadn't.
Remorse instantly flooded Dean at the thought and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he choked out. "Just - just go."
Bobby let out a sigh and nodded. "You know where to find me," he said quietly, and with that, he turned and left the room.
Dean turned back to look at Sam and felt a tear slip free. "Sam…" he whispered, and he swiped angrily at his face. He had nothing left, now.
Sam stood on the other side of his body, watching as Dean wiped harshly at the tears that had escaped and turned back to the table, snagging the bottle of whiskey again and taking a long pull.
"I've never seen him like that," he breathed to Tessa, who had been quietly standing beside him for the last several hours as he had watched his older brother. "I mean, he was angry when our dad died, but nothing like this."
"People deal with grief in different ways," Tessa said, voice gentle. "And some deaths affect your kind more than others. I would say Dean cares a great deal about you."
"He's my big brother," Sam said, voice wobbling slightly. "He's always watched out for me, you know?" Tessa nodded silently. "I don't know how to leave him," he admitted after a moment. "I know I'm supposed to, but it hasn't even been a year since Dad died and he's -" Sam dropped his head into his hands. "I can't leave him, Tessa."
"You have to," Tessa said gently, leaning forward slightly to try and catch his eye. "Your time here is done, Sam. Your part in the battle's over."
Sam swallowed. "Can I - I want to stay until he… buries me or whatever. I have to see that he'll get back up and help Bobby stop Azazel." He looked down at Tessa.
"I don't recommend it," Tessa said slowly, "but I can't make you do anything until you're ready."
"I'm not ready," Sam said, looking back at Dean as he continued to drain his bottle of whiskey. "Not yet."
The nearest town was called Redfield. Danielle figured she was lucky to find a place with a gas station and pay phone as she approached it, shivering from the rain and wind. It turned out that South Dakota was a very windy place once she escaped the cover of trees that had surrounded Cold Oak, and Danielle was pretty sure she'd be lucky not to get a cold after that long walk, even if the rain had at least managed to wash the blood from her hands. The biggest stroke of luck was that she had happened to be carrying her wallet on her person when she'd been kidnapped, so it was relatively easy to change some money into enough quarters to make a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey," Danielle said, "it's me, Dani."
"Dani?" Roxy breathed. "But, you went missing over three days ago! Where are you? What happened?"
"Demons," Danielle answered sadly. "I only just got away."
"Where are you?"
"South Dakota," Danielle said dryly. "The place is devoid of life for miles."
Roxy chuckled, but it sounded forced.
"Listen," Danielle hurried on, "I was wondering if you called in the police after I went missing?"
"I did," Roxy said. "Sam told me to."
"So then they'd be tracking my debit cards, right?"
"I think so," Roxy said. "Why?"
"I'm in a little town called Redfield," Danielle sighed, "and I need to get to Wyoming."
"Wyoming?" Roxy sounded confused. "What about coming back home?"
"I can't," Danielle said, "not yet."
"But Dani -"
"I need a favor," Danielle cut her best friend off.
"Anything," Roxy said instantly.
"Call my family and tell them I'm alive?"
"Why can't you call them?"
Danielle closed her eyes and tried to think of something she could say that wasn't the truth. "It's complicated," she finally said to Roxy.
"Dani -"
"Please," Danielle said as earnestly as she could manage. "I don't know when I can come home, but for now, I'm still alive, okay? Just… tell them that."
Roxy sighed over the line. "Okay," she said, voice choked with emotion. "You promise you'll tell me what's going on later? When you're back home?"
"Of course," Danielle said, her voice almost catching on the words. She hung up and pressed her lips together before scrubbing at her face and walking away. After killing Sam, not telling Roxy everything was among the most difficult things she'd ever done. As she headed for a house with several cars on its premises, she told herself to buck up and stay strong. There was so much more that still needed to be done, and she needed to stay strong enough to see herself through it.
TBC...
Chapter Seven
Author: yami_faerie
Words: ~3,000
Ratings/Warnings: Rated PG-13, or R if you're offended by the "f" word, language, some violence, spoilers for seasons 1-5.
Disclaimer: This isn't my world. I just like to imagine it is.
Summary: It's finally time for Sam to join the competition in Cold Oak, South Dakota. Will Dean and Bobby be able to find Sam and the other special children with him before it's too late? This is a retelling of 2.21 and 2.22 "All Hell Breaks Loose" and features my OFC Danielle Young.
Chapter Six: Master of My Soul
April 23, 2007
Five months. Brady Walker sat at his kitchen table, staring blankly into space. Ava had been missing for five months now, and the Winchesters had never once figured out what happened to her or if she was even still alive.
We were supposed to be safe here, he thought to himself repeatedly as the days had passed. Ava was supposed to be safe. They weren't supposed to touch her.
The idea that the woman he loved was dead wasn't one that Brady wanted to so much as think about, but after five months, he couldn't imagine an alternative. He knew that the average demon rode the people it possessed hard, often leaving them dead when they finally abandoned them. If that had been Ava's fate…
They weren't supposed to touch her! He kept telling himself this one fact over and over. He had to believe that she hadn't been possessed, that she was still alive and out there, fighting for her life, but…
Just then, there came an unfamiliar sound from the backyard. Brady snapped out of his stupor, rising to his feet and quickly making his way to the back door. He peeked outside through the blinds, but it was too dark to see anything, so he flipped on the back porch's light.
There was a body slumped on the ground.
Brady threw open the door and flew down the porch steps. "Ava?" he whispered, pausing as he sank to his knees. That's when he saw the blood staining the clothes of the person before him. After a moment, he reached out and turned the body towards him.
It was Ava. She had been stabbed straight through the chest. She was dead.
Brady wept.
April 26, 2007
Sam gasped, eyes darting around.
He was still in Cold Oak.
Dean was still on the ground.
Sam's body was still clutched in his arms.
Oh, God, Sam thought, eyes going wide. No…
Sam was dead.
"Hello, Sam."
Sam whirled around and saw a woman with dark hair and blue eyes. She had a gentle smile, but something about her set Sam's nerves on edge.
"Who are you?" he asked warily.
"My name is Tessa," said the woman. "I'm a Reaper."
Realizing he was dead was bad enough, but now he had to move on? A litany of coarse phrases ran through his mind
"A grim reaper," Sam clarified after a moment, and Tessa nodded. "You don't look anything like the one Dean described to me."
"We can choose the form in which we want to appear," Tessa said. "I find many souls respond better to me in this form."
"Oh," Sam said. "Right."
There was a moment of silence.
"I guess you expect me to just… go," Sam said after a moment's hesitation.
"Unless you wish to become a malevolent spirit like the ones you and brother hunt," Tessa answered, "then I would have to say yes."
Sam nodded and looked over at Dean. Bobby was approaching him slowly, seemingly uncertain as to what he should do. Sam looked back at Dean, feeling his heart (metaphorically speaking, of course, and God, how weird was that?) clench at the tears running silently down his brother's face.
"Vengeful spirits are the ones that refuse to move on?" Sam asked.
"Yes," Tessa answered.
"But it takes them at least a year before they gain enough strength to hurt anyone, right?"
Tessa smiled up at him. "You are speaking of Gary Matheson from Provo, Utah, aren't you?"
"Did you try to reap him?"
Tessa shook her head. "We all knew about him, though," she said. "People who spend time around a naturally-developed Empath like your friend Danielle find that their emotions have more strength in death than they normally would."
Sam blinked. "You're saying that Gary was only as strong as he was because he was near Danielle enough -" He broke off suddenly as a horrible thought occurred to him. "Danielle killed me, didn't she?"
Tessa had a sympathetic look on her face. "I'm afraid so."
"But why?" Sam said, turning back to watch as Dean and Bobby slowly lifted his body from the mud and carried him towards the nearest building. He started following them.
"Sam," Tessa called, but he ignored her and headed into the building. He watched in mournful silence as Dean and Bobby laid his still body out on an old bed. His face looked so… peaceful. It was very strange. He couldn't remember ever having that expression on his face in life.
Bobby silently stepped outside, probably to retrieve the bags they had dropped after Danielle's betrayal, and Sam moved closer to Dean, watching the blank expression on his face as his tears dried, leaving salty tear tracks behind.
"Your time is done here," came Tessa's voice from behind him. "It's time to move on."
"How can I?" Sam asked, voice breaking. He closed his eyes tightly for a moment. "We never even got to resolve our fight earlier."
"I'm sorry," Tessa said softly. "Sometimes you don't get the resolution you want, but it was your time."
"It's not fair," Sam said.
"Life rarely is," Tessa agreed. "You can't stay here, Sam."
Sam ignored Tessa again and continued to watch his brother's face. He couldn't sense his emotions, could barely make any sense of the turmoil in his green eyes.
"Sam -"
"I'm not leaving Dean," Sam snapped, glaring over at Tessa. "I can't. Not yet."
Tessa didn't say anything. There was nothing to be said.
Danielle ran as fast as she could, tears streaming down her cheeks as she clutched a bloody knife in one hand and shoved roughly at branches and other debris in her way with the other, boots squelching in the mud every now and again.
She had killed Sam.
But she had saved him, too, right?
I saved him, she told herself harshly as she crashed through the forest. He doesn't have to do this now because I can do it. I can damn myself and it's okay.
Danielle didn't have the training to hide and evade enemies like Jake probably would have, but that didn't matter. She knew Bobby was getting up there in years, and she was a healthy twenty-three-year-old with dance training and a fantastic amount of stamina. It wouldn't take long to lose him, she was sure of it. She briefly considered reaching out for that demon and having it go after Bobby, but she couldn't do that to him. Killing Sam had been hard enough as it was.
So, she ran.
"I think you've evaded them, by now."
The voice took Danielle by surprise, and she was unable to stop a short scream from escaping as she turned, tripped and landed hard on her backside in an old pile of leaves.
It was Azazel.
Danielle had never actually seen the man/demon/whatever before, but she knew about the yellow eyes. "Holy shit!" she gasped.
Azazel raised his eyebrows. "So you can swear," he remarked. "Whatever happened to my sweet little Mormon girl?"
Danielle just glared at the demon.
Azazel grinned.
"What do you want?" Danielle finally asked. She forced herself to rise and felt grateful that she hadn't injured herself on the knife she was still holding in her bloody hand.
"You're my champion," Azazel said, his grin widening slightly, "so I'm congratulating you."
"Great," Danielle dead-panned. "Thanks, it was no problem whatsoever."
Azazel chuckled. "Of course it wasn't. You only just killed the one man who ever understood your pain completely." He stepped closer. "I gotta say, you weren't the horse I was bettin' on, but you really pulled through at the end, there."
"I didn't do it for you," Danielle said angrily, "if that's what you're thinking."
Azazel raised his eyebrows again. "Why'd you kill little Sammy, then?"
Danielle clenched her jaw. "I saved him," she snapped. "I'm not letting you corrupt him."
"But you'll corrupt yourself and damn your every chance of getting into Heaven?" Azazel frowned thoughtfully. "I guess I can see the logic there."
Danielle's shoulders slumped and she glared at Azazel. "Better me than him."
Azazel eyed Danielle thoughtfully, and she resisted the temptation to read his emotions. She didn't like sensing his demonic presence as it was.
"Interesting," Azazel breathed. "You have so much potential, but you think very little of yourself. When did that happen?"
Danielle looked away. She couldn't answer that question.
"Well, we've got things to do," Azazel suddenly said, voice very business-like.
"What business?" Danielle asked warily.
"The things we're going to do next," Azazel said. "Now, I know you were in Girl Scouts, but can you make your own way outta this place?"
"With a compass? Sure."
Azazel nodded slightly before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a compass, which he tossed to Danielle. "Nearest road is five miles north of here," he told her. "Closest town's another twenty miles east from there. Think you can handle that?"
Danielle nodded. "What then?"
"You're taking a road trip to Wyoming," Azazel answered, now handing over a sheet of paper. "Once you get yourself a car, you will follow these directions to your destination, and I'll meet you at that point with further instructions. Is that understood?"
The way he said those last words made Danielle want to start running again and never look back. Sam had been right: Azazel was terrifying.
"Yeah," Danielle said softly. "I understand." She stared up at Azazel for a moment. "Why did you send me to Cold Oak on my own two days before Sam and the others?"
Azazel smiled. "You were Ava's pre-test," he said, "but surely you've already figured that out."
Danielle swallowed. "If she couldn't get past me with my one ability to call her out on her lies, then how could she hope to get past Sam?"
"I was surprised that you beat her, to be honest," Azazel said with a small grin, "but Ava was getting pretty cocky towards the end, there."
Danielle sighed and shot Azazel an annoyed look.
"I'll see you in Wyoming," Azazel said before vanishing, and Danielle forced herself to focus on the task at hand. Twenty-five miles to civilization. She could do that.
Taking a deep breath, Danielle lifted the compass and began walking.
Dean sat, staring blankly at Sam.
It was kind of funny, the way he had thought of Sam as being his. His, and no one else's. Dean could still remember the amused smile that would cross his mother's face when he proudly told complete strangers that the little baby Mary was holding was "my Sam". Even then, he had cared.
Dean cared so damn much.
Bobby left Dean in Cold Oak for a few hours, returning sometime after the sun rose with food. "Dean, you need to eat," he said, setting a bucket of fried chicken on an old, wooden table.
Dean grabbed the whiskey, instead. "I'm not hungry."
It was hard to miss the sorrowful look on Bobby's face, but Dean did his best to ignore it.
"Don't you think it's ah… that it's time to bury Sam?"
"No."
"Dean -"
"You gonna suggest we torch his corpse, instead?" Dean asked sharply, finally looking at Bobby as he clutched the bottle of whiskey more tightly in his hand. "No." He shook his head. "Not… not yet."
Bobby sighed as he stared back at Dean. "I want you to come with me," he said after a moment's silence.
Dean shook his head again. "I'm not goin' anywhere."
"Dean, please."
"Would you cut me some fucking slack?" Dean snapped, slamming the bottle of whiskey onto the table and making Bobby jump.
"I just - I don't think you should be alone right now," Bobby said, voice tinged with sadness. "And I…" The older man took a deep breath before admitting, "I could really use your help."
Dean scoffed, let go of the bottle of whiskey and turned away, avoiding Sam's body and focusing on a rickety dresser, instead. Anything to keep himself from blowing up even more than he already had.
"Somethin' big is goin' down," Bobby continued after a moment, moving around the table to stand closer to Dean. "End-of-the-world big."
Dean couldn't stop himself. "Well, then let it end!" he shouted, spinning back to look at Bobby.
The two men stared at each other for a long moment, the silence hanging heavy between them.
"You don't mean that," Bobby said quietly.
"You don't think so?" Dean asked angrily. "Huh? You don't think I've given enough?" He gestured to Sam's body. "You don't think I've paid enough?" He shook his head. "I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's good for you, turn around, and get the hell out of here." Bobby didn't move. "Go!"
Bobby just gave Dean this sad look and Dean couldn't take it, anymore. "GET THE FUCK OUTTA HERE!" he roared, shoving Bobby hard enough that he stumbled into the table. Bobby stared at him as though he had never seen him before.
Well, maybe he hadn't.
Remorse instantly flooded Dean at the thought and he closed his eyes. "I'm sorry," he choked out. "Just - just go."
Bobby let out a sigh and nodded. "You know where to find me," he said quietly, and with that, he turned and left the room.
Dean turned back to look at Sam and felt a tear slip free. "Sam…" he whispered, and he swiped angrily at his face. He had nothing left, now.
Sam stood on the other side of his body, watching as Dean wiped harshly at the tears that had escaped and turned back to the table, snagging the bottle of whiskey again and taking a long pull.
"I've never seen him like that," he breathed to Tessa, who had been quietly standing beside him for the last several hours as he had watched his older brother. "I mean, he was angry when our dad died, but nothing like this."
"People deal with grief in different ways," Tessa said, voice gentle. "And some deaths affect your kind more than others. I would say Dean cares a great deal about you."
"He's my big brother," Sam said, voice wobbling slightly. "He's always watched out for me, you know?" Tessa nodded silently. "I don't know how to leave him," he admitted after a moment. "I know I'm supposed to, but it hasn't even been a year since Dad died and he's -" Sam dropped his head into his hands. "I can't leave him, Tessa."
"You have to," Tessa said gently, leaning forward slightly to try and catch his eye. "Your time here is done, Sam. Your part in the battle's over."
Sam swallowed. "Can I - I want to stay until he… buries me or whatever. I have to see that he'll get back up and help Bobby stop Azazel." He looked down at Tessa.
"I don't recommend it," Tessa said slowly, "but I can't make you do anything until you're ready."
"I'm not ready," Sam said, looking back at Dean as he continued to drain his bottle of whiskey. "Not yet."
The nearest town was called Redfield. Danielle figured she was lucky to find a place with a gas station and pay phone as she approached it, shivering from the rain and wind. It turned out that South Dakota was a very windy place once she escaped the cover of trees that had surrounded Cold Oak, and Danielle was pretty sure she'd be lucky not to get a cold after that long walk, even if the rain had at least managed to wash the blood from her hands. The biggest stroke of luck was that she had happened to be carrying her wallet on her person when she'd been kidnapped, so it was relatively easy to change some money into enough quarters to make a call.
"Hello?"
"Hey," Danielle said, "it's me, Dani."
"Dani?" Roxy breathed. "But, you went missing over three days ago! Where are you? What happened?"
"Demons," Danielle answered sadly. "I only just got away."
"Where are you?"
"South Dakota," Danielle said dryly. "The place is devoid of life for miles."
Roxy chuckled, but it sounded forced.
"Listen," Danielle hurried on, "I was wondering if you called in the police after I went missing?"
"I did," Roxy said. "Sam told me to."
"So then they'd be tracking my debit cards, right?"
"I think so," Roxy said. "Why?"
"I'm in a little town called Redfield," Danielle sighed, "and I need to get to Wyoming."
"Wyoming?" Roxy sounded confused. "What about coming back home?"
"I can't," Danielle said, "not yet."
"But Dani -"
"I need a favor," Danielle cut her best friend off.
"Anything," Roxy said instantly.
"Call my family and tell them I'm alive?"
"Why can't you call them?"
Danielle closed her eyes and tried to think of something she could say that wasn't the truth. "It's complicated," she finally said to Roxy.
"Dani -"
"Please," Danielle said as earnestly as she could manage. "I don't know when I can come home, but for now, I'm still alive, okay? Just… tell them that."
Roxy sighed over the line. "Okay," she said, voice choked with emotion. "You promise you'll tell me what's going on later? When you're back home?"
"Of course," Danielle said, her voice almost catching on the words. She hung up and pressed her lips together before scrubbing at her face and walking away. After killing Sam, not telling Roxy everything was among the most difficult things she'd ever done. As she headed for a house with several cars on its premises, she told herself to buck up and stay strong. There was so much more that still needed to be done, and she needed to stay strong enough to see herself through it.
TBC...
Chapter Seven