Author's Note: Well, I'm back with Supernatural! I was very excited to get back to Fallon and the boys. I hope you are too. This chapter is a little different in that it's the third person narration from Dean's point of view. I thought for this chapter it would make more sense and for the most part it went pretty well. The down side is that there isn't a lot of Fallon in this chapter, but I did try and keep her involved as much as possible. Hopefully, there's enough of her that it doesn't feel like she's out of the story. In the following chapters I will go back to the normal narration. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Please leave a review! They keep me going. And welcome back!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything from supernatural. The script and characters all belong to the writers and creators of the television show. I own nothing!
Dean winced as he opened his eyes and was assaulted by the florescent lights. He groaned as he rose to a seated position and, after his eyes adjusted to the funky lighting, glanced around the room. The barren walls and the smell of strong cleaning supplies alerted him to the fact that he was in a hospital room. His next clue was the ache in his back which he was sure was at partly the fault of the uncomfortable hospital bed he was sitting on. Wincing with the effort he swung his feet over the bed and stood up. He glanced around the room again and realized he was alone. He frowned as he tried to remember why he was in the hospital and then his memories flooded him all at once. The demon. With more urgency he rushed out of the room and into the hallway.
"Sam? Dad?" he called out glancing around for them. He didn't see them. "Fallon?" The ghost that had been with them for a year now was missing too, and he frowned as he realized nobody was even glancing his way despite the scene he was causing shouting in the hallway. Frustrated he walked through the halls and down a floor until he came to a nurse's station. A nurse was behind the counter reviewing another patient's chart. He rushed up to the desk.
"Excuse me," he said. "Hi. I think I was in a car accident. My dad and my brother, I just need to find them." He wanted to find Fallon, too, but he figured if she wasn't with him she was with Sam. It would make sense considering he knew the two were closer. Still, he remembered the last time he was in the hospital she had stayed with him almost the whole time. He shook the thought out of his head. He would find her with Sam. He turned his attention back to the nurse he'd questioned and frowned when he noticed she hadn't even looked up from the chart. "Hello?" He snapped his fingers right in her face and she didn't even blink. Suddenly, he began to panic.
Turning on his heels his rushed back up to his room and stared in shock at his body lying motionless on the bed. Tubes seemed to be hooked up to various parts of his body though the most jarring was the one coming out of his mouth that was clearly breathing for him. He found himself grabbing onto the door frame to support himself. "This can't be happening," he said to himself.
"Dean," a soft voice whispered and he glanced up an noticed what he'd missed the first time he'd glanced around the room when he originally woke up. Fallon was sitting beside his bed holding his limp hand. Her thin, heart shaped face was pinched with worry and dismay, but he'd never been happier to see her.
"Fallon!" he cried relieved stepping up to the opposite side of the bed from her. "What's happening?"
She looked up at him, her bright blue eyes filled with tears. "You're dying," Dean," she said.
"I can't be dying," he replied. "How do I get back in my body?"
She shook her head. "I'm sorry," she whispered before looking down at his body, eyes glued on his expressionless face.
"Urrgh!" Dean groaned in frustration. "Fallon, where's Sam?"
"I don't know," she replied not even looking at him.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Dean snapped. "You came in with us. You have to know what room he's in. And what about my dad?" She didn't even respond and he sighed in frustration. "Fine. I'll go find them on my own. But he hadn't taken even two steps when Sam turned up in the doorway of his room.
"Sammy!" he exclaimed glancing over his brother. Other than looking extremely worried he didn't seem too banged up. "You look good. Considering."
"Oh, no," Sam moaned staring at his body laying prone on the bed.
Dean groaned. "Man, tell me you can hear me," he sighed. But it was obvious he couldn't. Still, he persisted. "How's Dad? Is he okay? Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!" When he still got no response he turned back to Fallon who hadn't moved at all. "Fallon, tell him I'm right here."
"He can't hear me," Fallon said.
"What?" Dean exclaimed shocked. "What do you mean he can't hear you? We can always hear you. You never shut up." Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind and concern took place of his frustration. "Did Yellow Eyes do something to you that effected your abilities." Fallon tensed but shook her head. "Then why can't he hear you?"
"Because I don't want him to," Fallon replied finally looking back at him.
"What? Why not?" Dean questioned. She never got a chance to answer. A doctor walked in and he turned his attention to him.
"Your father's awake," the doctor said to Sam as he read over his chart. "You can go see him if you want."
"Thank God," Dean sighed relieved.
"Doc, what about my brother?" Sam asked.
"Well," the doctor replied slowly, "he sustained serious injury. Blood loss. Contusions to his liver and kidney. It's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema."
"What can we do?" Sam asked.
The doctor sighed. "Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up," he said and then added after a pause, "if he wakes up."
"If?" Sam questioned sounding devastated.
"I have to be honest…"
"Oh, screw you, Doc, I'm waking up," Dean snapped, but of course the doctor didn't hear him and continued speaking to Sam not noticing the interruption.
"Most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long," the doctor said. "He's fighting very hard, but you need to have realistic expectations."
Dean felt his skin crawling he was so aggravated. "Come on, Sam," he addressed his brother. "Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me. Sam?" But his brother just stared down at his body for a few moments before turning and leaving the room, looking more upset than ever. Dean turned back to Fallon.
"Come on, Fallon, you have to know a way for me to get back in my body," he said.
"There isn't a way," Fallon replied.
"I'm not dead yet. There has to be a way," he insisted. "Fallon, come on!" She flinched at his shout and he immediately felt bad. He reached out to squeeze her shoulder to reassure her but she reared away from his touch. He blinked in surprise and then remembered what Yellow Eyes had revealed about her past and he paled.
"Fallon," he questioned, "what Yellow Eyes showed us…was that…did that really… Evan, did he…"
"Don't," Fallon said harshly.
"Fallon…"
"I said don't," she cried, her eyes taking on a hard glint.
He nodded his head. "Okay," he agreed. "But if you need to talk about it I'll listen." She said nothing in return and looked back at his body on the bed. He stepped back. "I'm going to go find my dad's room. Will you come with me? I feel better when you're with me." Fallon squeezed his limp hand one more time before standing up and following him out of the room.
Finding his father's room turned out to be more aggravating than it was comforting. For one thing, he was unable to talk to his dad because of the whole ghost thing, and Fallon wouldn't un-shield herself. He kind of couldn't blame her for this one though. His father had made no secret that he wanted to lay waste to her. But Fallon was part of the problem too. She was starting to remind him of a stone wall the way she was staring into space and not moving at all. Dean was concerned. She kept insisting the demon hadn't done anything to hurt her or her powers but she was acting so far out of her norm that he wasn't sure he believed her. And he knew that even if she was okay in a physical way, or as much as a physical way you can have when you're a ghost, he knew she was messed up emotionally. He knew better than to breach that subject again though, so other than checking in with her occasionally he more or less left her alone.
Those two facts alone were enough to drive Dean nuts, but what was really getting under his skin, was the fact that his dad was doing nothing. He was lying in a bad watching t.v. while he himself lay dying in a bed a few rooms down. It was infuriating him and he could no longer keep his mouth shut.
"Come on, Dad," he sighed. "You've gotta help me. I've gotta get better, I've gotta get back in there. I mean you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Aren't you going to do anything?" He started pacing. "I've done everything you ever asked. Everything. I have given everything I ever had. And you're just going to sit there and you're going to let me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?!"
"Dean," Fallon said.
"What?" he cried whirling around to face her annoyed by her sudden disruption. But he quickly became concerned when he noticed the look of terror on her face. He then heard a noise he'd never heard before. "What is that?"
"No," Fallon whispered.
"Fallon?" he took a step towards her and then she vanished. "Fallon!" He glanced around the room for her, thinking she had to still be there somewhere when he saw something whiz past the door. He blinked in surprise and glanced back at his father who hadn't moved an inch. "I take it you didn't see that." He sighed and stepped out into the hallway. He followed the spirit down the hall and into another patient's room. He froze as he saw a woman gasping for breath.
"Help! Help!" the woman was gasping.
"Hey! I need help in here!" Dean cried but no one heard him and the woman died shortly after. Dean stared in horror at her body for a moment before turning and hurrying back to his father's room. He was relieved when he saw Sam was back.
"Sammy!" he cried missing the fact that Sam looked pissed. "Tell me you can friggin, hear me man. There's something in the hospital. Now, you've got to bring me back and we've got to hunt this thing. Come, on I don't know where Fallon went. Sam!" Sam didn't say anything and that's when he noticed how tense his brother looked.
"You're quiet," John commented having picked up on his younger son's mood.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Sam spat.
"What are you talking about?" John asked.
"That stuff from Bobby," Sam said, "you don't use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one. You're planning on bringing the demon here, aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown!"
"I have a plan, Sam," John replied slowly.
"That's exactly my point!" Sam cried. "Dean is dying…and you have a plan. You know what? You care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own son!"
Dean groaned. "No, no, no, guys, don't do this," he pleaded them. But his pleas fell on deaf ears as his brother and father continued their argument.
"Do not tell me how I feel," John growled. "I am doing this for Dean."
"How is getting revenge going to help him?" Sam asked. "You're not thinking about anybody but yourself. It's the same selfish obsession!"
"Come on guys, don't do this," Dean begged feeling his skin start to crawl. It grew worse as the two continued to argue. It grew into an uncomfortable heat flushing through his body until he felt like his blood was boiling and then before he knew it he was consumed with rage. "Shut up, both of you." And then when the fighting continued his rage finally boiled over and he smacked the cup of water on his dad's tray flying. "I said shut up!"
"What the…" Sam murmured as all three stared at the water spilled all over the floor. The rage that had consumed Dean so suddenly before dissipated just as quickly and he felt extremely pleased with himself for moving the cup.
"Dude, I full on Swayze'd that mother," he cheered gleefully. "No wonder Fallon was so excited getting the hang of this last year." His excitement ended though when pain filled every inch of his body. It felt like something in his head was going to explode and he clutched at his temples as he fell to his knees. He forced himself to open his eyes when he heard people rushing past his dad's room.
"What is it?" Dean groaned forcing himself to his feet and following the group of doctors and nurses to his own room. He was shocked to see them all huddle around his body and dread filled him as he noticed his heart monitor had flat lined. "Shit!" He watched in growing dismay as the doctor failed to resuscitate him the first few times. He then tensed when he saw the ghostly figure he'd seen earlier hovering above him. He rushed towards it.
"You get the hell away from me," he ordered. "I said get back!" The figure disappeared and the heart monitor immediately went back to beating as it picked his pulse back up. Dean paid no attention to that though. Instead he ran back out into the hallway but it was already gone. Dean heard screaming suddenly and took off towards the sound. He found a girl desperately moving from person to person trying to get their attention.
"Can't you see me?" she asked the passing nurses. "Why won't you look at me?"
Dean walked up to the girl. "Can you see me?" he asked.
"Yeah," the girl replied looking both relieved and confused.
"Alright, just calm down," Dean told her. "What's your name."
"Tessa," she said.
"I'm Dean," he said.
"What's happening to me?" Tessa asked. "Did I die?"
"That sort of depends," Dean answered. "Come on, let's find your room." She led him down the hall and they both looked in to see her body lying motionlessly on a hospital bed.
"I don't understand," Tessa groaned. "I just came in for an appendectomy."
"Well, I hate to bear bad news, but I think there were some complications," Dean replied.
"It's just a dream," Tessa said shaking her head. "It's just a weird, unbelievably vivid dream."
"That's what Fallon said it felt like at first," Dean said.
"Who's Fallon?" Tessa asked.
"Fallon's my friend," Dean replied and then realized what he said and back tracked. "Well, she's not my friend, per se, but I know her pretty well, and she's a ghost. Well, anyway she said she thought she was dreaming right after she died."
"So we're ghosts now too?" Tessa asked. "But how, we're not dead yet."
"You ever heard of out of body experience?" Dean asked.
"What are you, some new agey guy?" Tessa scoffed.
"You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?" Dean snorted. "It's actually a very old idea, and I think it's happening to us. And if it is, it means that we're spirits of people close to death."
"So, we're going to die?" Tessa said defeated.
"No," Dean replied firmly. "Not if we hold on. Our bodies can get better, we can snap right back in there and wake up."
"Your friend didn't," Tessa pointed out.
"Fallon, didn't have an out of body experience," Dean said. "She was shot. She died instantly. And she's not my friend."
"Right," Tessa replied unconvinced. "Where is she anyway?"
"She was spooked earlier and ran off," Dean answered. "Hospitals really freak her out."
"I could see why," Tessa said.
"Yeah, but, I gotta say, I'm impressed," Dean told her.
"With what?" Tessa asked.
"With you," Dean replied. "Most people in your spot would be Jell-O right now. You're taking this pretty well."
"Don't get me wrong," Tessa replied, "I was pretty freaked at first. Maybe I'm dealing."
"So you're okay with dying?" Dean questioned.
"Of course not," Tessa answered. "I just think whatever's gonna happen will happen. It's fate."
"Well, that's crap," Dean replied. "You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die or you can keep fighting."
"I hear what you're saying, but your friend, Fallon, didn't have a choice from what you're telling me," Tessa pointed out.
"No, her choice was taken from her!" Dean cried.
"I'm sorry," Tessa replied. "I didn't mean to upset…." She was cut off by the overhead speakers blaring an alarm.
"Room 237, code blue. Dr. Kripke to room 237, code blue."
Dean started moving. "Where are you going?" Tessa called out after him.
"Just wait here," Dean called over his shoulder as he continued to hurry down the hall until he found room 237. He enters the room to see a doctor trying to resuscitate a patient and a ghostly figure hovering above said patient.
"Get away from her!" Dean yelled. He rushed at the figure which quickly vanished. He looked over at the patient's heart monitor expecting it to pick back up the person's heart beats but it continued to flat line.
"Alright, let's call it," a doctor said. "Time of death, five eleven pm."
"What the hell?" Dean muttered. After a few moments he decided to head back to his room and try and come up with a new plan. He hadn't been there long when Sam came in carrying what looked like a board game.
"Hey, I think maybe you're around," Sam spoke out to the room and Dean perked up as he realized Sam was at least marginally aware of his presence and he edged closer to his brother who went on talking. "Don't make fun of me for this, but, um, well, there's one way we can talk." He placed the board game down on the floor and Dean read its name on the box cover. "Ouija Board.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Dean said as Sam set up the board.
"Dean, are you here?" Sam asked.
"God, I feel like I'm at a slumber party," Dean grumbled as he sat down across from Sam and rested his finger side on the opposite side of the pointer from Sam's. He slowly pushed the pointer to the YES sign on the board. He blinked in surprise. "I'll be damned."
Sam laughed in relief. "It's good to hear from you man," he said. "It hasn't been the same without you, Dean." He frowned then. "Is Fallon with you." Dean slid the pointer towards the NO sign. Sam sighed. "I'm worried about her, Dean. I haven't seen her since before the car accident. Have you?"
"Yes," Dean said moving the pointer. "And you should be worried. She's messed up right now. But that's not what we need to discuss right now." He started moving the pointer down to the alphabet written on the board and started to spell out hunting.
"Hunting?" Sam questioned. "What, are you hunting?" Dean slid the pointer back to yes. "It's in the hospital? Do you know what it is?"
"One question at a time dude," Dean snapped annoyed.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
Dean moved the pointer back to the alphabet and spelled out REAPER. "I don't think it's killing people," he explained. "I think it's taking them. You know, when their time's just up."
"A reaper?" Sam said surprised. "Well, no wonder Fallon took off. She's terrified of them." His eyes widened as realization dawned on him. "Dean, is it after you." Dean slid the pointer to YES. "If it's here natural, there's no way to stop it."
"Yeah, you can't kill death," Dean laughed humorlessly. "I'm screwed, Sam."
"No. No, no, no," Sam said. "There's got to be a way." He stood up. "Dad'll know what to do." Dean watched him rush out of the room. He stood up and waited a few moments, unsure what to do now, but after a few minutes Sam was rushing back into the room carrying their dad's journal.
"Dad wasn't in his room, but I got his journal," Sam said. "Maybe there's something in here." Dean walked up behind him and read the page on reapers over his shoulder. His eyes widened.
"Son of bitch!" he exclaimed and then tore out of the room. He stuck his head in and out of room's until he saw the girl he'd met earlier sitting on a bed in an empty room.
"Hi, Dean," she greeted.
"You know," Dean said angrily, "you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Fallon never mentioned it. Basically, they can make themselves appear however they want. For instance, a pretty girl. You're much prettier than the last reaper I met."
"I was wondering when you would figure it out," she sighed.
"I should have known," Dean said. "That whole 'accepting fate' rap of yours is far too laid back for a dead chick. But the mother and the body. I'm still trying to figure that one out."
"It's my sandbox," the reaper explained. "I can make you see whatever I want. Fallon, thought she was speaking to her grandmother at first."
"So, you were Fallon's reaper to," Dean said. "Is this a turn on for you? Toying with people?"
"Well, you didn't give me much of a choice," Tessa replied. "You saw my true form and you flipped out. Kinda hurts a girl's feelings. This was the only way I could get you to talk to me. Especially with Fallon's influence on you."
"Fallon doesn't have any influence over me," Dean snapped. "But fine. We're talking now. What the hell do you want to talk about?"
"How death is nothing to fear," Tessa answered. "I's your time to go, Dean. You're living on borrowed time already."
Dean shook his head. "I'm sure you've heard this before but you've got to make an exception," he said.
"Stage three: bargaining," Tessa commented.
"I'm serious," Dean insisted. "My family's in danger. We're in the middle of this war and they need me."
"The fight's over for you," Tessa said. "You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field. They all feel the same way you do. The battle will still go on without them."
"My brother, he could die without me," Dean said. "And Fallon…she can't take another hit right now."
Tessa smiled sadly. "I wish I could have done something for Fallon," she admitted. What happened to her was unfair. But I couldn't do anything for her and I can't for you. And your brother, maybe he'll die and maybe he won't, but there's nothing you can do about it. It's an honorable death."
"I think I'll pass on the seventy-two virgins, thanks," Dean scoffed. "I'm not that into prude chicks anyway."
"That's funny," Tessa said. "You're very cute."
"There's no such thing as an honorable death," Dean stated. "My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is going to die! I'm not going with you."
"Well, like you said, and Fallon has shown you, there's always a choice," Tessa sighed. "I can't make you come with me. But you're not getting back in your body. Yes, you can stay. You'll stay here for years. Disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent."
"What are you saying?" Dean questioned.
"How do you think angry spirits are born, Dean?" Tessa replied. "They can't let go and move on. And you're about to become on. The same thing you hunt."
"It doesn't have to be like that," Dean insisted. "Fallon's a ghost. She's not violent."
"I'm not so sure about that," Tessa said sadly.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked.
"That you're seeing what you want to see, Dean," Tessa answered. "You care about her and don't want to have to watch her become the monsters you hunt. But she's already different than who she was a year ago when you met her. She's less human, quicker to anger, and way too powerful for her age."
Dean shook his head. "You're wrong about her," he said.
"I hope I am," Tessa replied. "But it still doesn't change the fact that it's time to put the pain behind you."
"And go where?" Dean snapped.
"Sorry," Tessa said. "I can't give away the punchline. So, we're at the moment of truth. There's no changing your mind later. What's it going to be?" Dean sighed and opened his mouth to answer when the lights started flickering and a buzzing sound filled the air.
"What are you doing that for?" Dean asked angrily.
"I'm not doing it," Tessa replied concerned. They both turned towards an air vent in the room that was emitting black smoke.
"What the hell?" Dean cried.
"You can't do this! Get away!" Tessa cried at the smoke.
"What's happening?" Dean asked.
Tessa turned back to him and her eyes were yellow. "Today's your lucky day, kid," she said in a deeper voice. And then suddenly, Dean felt something tug his body and he was suddenly opening his eyes and choking on the breathing tube in his throat.
"Dean?" he heard Sam cry by his bed and then heard him getting up and rushing out into the hall for help.
Life seemed to go by in blur as the doctors unhooked his equipment and began to run tests on him again. It sped by through his conversation with his father. And it flew by his father's sudden death. It continued to race as a day later his doctor released him from the hospital and Bobby picked them up in the lobby.
Dean couldn't take in anything. Not the words that were spoken as Bobby drove them back to his home, or the sights passing by. He knew Bobby and Sam were discussing his father's funeral but he had no energy to join in the conversation. They pulled up to Bobby's house and had just reached the porch when Bobby spoke.
"Hey, listen," he said, "I'm not sure if there's anything you two can do, but your friend showed up here a few nights ago and…"
"Fallon?" Sam exclaimed. "Well, is she alright? What happened?"
"Well for a ghost I guess she's okay physically, but she's not right in the head at the moment," Bobby replied. "I don't know what that demon did to her, but she's messed up real bad. Just stares at nothing for hours on end." He turned to Dean. "She's convinced you're dead. I told her you were fine and she'd see you when I brought you back here today, but she doesn't believe me. I think she needs to see you for herself."
Dean nodded. "Guess I shouldn't keep her waiting," he said tonelessly, but he had perked up a little at the mention of Fallon. He'd been worried about her after she disappeared from the hospital. Bobby opened the door and they all walked in. Dean saw her right away sitting in a chair in the corner of the room. She didn't seem to notice them, even as the door was shut behind them. She was staring into space with no life in her eyes.
"Fallon?" Sam called softly.
Her eyes turned to Sam's and then they found Dean's face. She gasped. "Hey, Fallon," Dean greeted and she was instantly in his arms. He wrapped his arms around her tightly as he stared ahead of him. For a moment, he felt a temporary peace settle over him.