Author's Note:
Hi everyone and welcome back! :)
This is the 2nd part and a sequel to Saved in a Flash. If you're new and you haven't read it yet, I would highly recommend that you do. Otherwise, you will have a harder time following this story as it jumps right back in where we left off in the last part. (It has only 10 chapters and is way shorter than this one will be ;) )
The story follows Hayley Allen, who was struck by lightning and gained super speed. She joined the Winchesters on the road and together they try and make the world a little safer.
Note that this is just my version of their stories and my attempt to bring a little more girl power into this universe. I love both shows how they are originally written, but this just seemed like a fun experiment to mix them all together. Because what's better than one or two heroes? Damn right,three ;)
PS: This first chapter also uses SPN #1.09 for flashbacks!
Okay, you ready? Goooooood.
Baby save it, we're wasted
I know we gotta slow it down
But when the waves come, you face them
And you know we can't stop it now
Baby lately the plans we're making
Are the shape of things that never come
Hold your horses, the lights up
Can't feel it coming back around
Listen up, it's picking up
Put your hands up and do your kicksy and lipsy
Your times up, we're hanging up
We're double sixing it, night cause tonight
We're doing it to death
Doing It To Death by The Kills
1. In My Time of Dying (SPN 2.01)
Sam's head was spinning. He could barely keep his eyes open, slipping in and out of consciousness. No, he thought. He couldn't sleep right now, no matter how tired he was or how much pain he was in. The three Winchesters had just been hit by a truck, and he needed to get them out of there.
He looked over to his father in the passenger's seat, when suddenly the driver's door of the wrecked Impala got ripped open. A man, the truck driver, stood in front of him – his eyes were pitch-black.
But Sam was prepared. He knew it couldn't have been an accident that they got hit by a truck right after they had managed to ditch the yellow eyed demon.
"Back. Or I'll kill you, I swear to God," Sam threatened, Colt in hand and pointed at the demon.
"You won't. You're saving that bullet for someone else," the demon replied confidently.
"You wanna bet?" Sam said, cocking the Colt. Their survival now was more important than Yellow Eyes later.
The demon smiled at him before a black cloud left the truck driver's body and the man collapsed to the ground.
Sam let out a relieved breath and uncocked the gun again. He looked over to his father, who was still passed out in the passenger's seat.
"Dad?" He still asked, hoping for an answer. "Dad!" But there came none.
In a panic, he turned his head around to look at his brother in the backseat. His big brother had always been the answer. But Dean had been badly hurt before they even got into the car and now Sam wasn't even sure his brother was still alive. "Dean?" He called out desperately.
"Dean!"
He didn't remember much of what had happened when he woke up in a cold white room alone. The air around him smelled clean and sterile. He sat up on the little bed, he had seemingly passed out on. He stared down at his feet. He was barefoot, wearing blue pants and a white t-shirt.
Hospital, he realized. There had been an accident. He needed to find Sam and his father. Were they okay?
He didn't bother to call a nurse. He walked straight into an abandoned hallway.
"Sam? Dad? Anybody?" He called out. Where were all the people?
He found a stairway leading down to a little waiting room. He walked directly to the little nurse's station at the end of the room, hoping to find some answers there.
"Excuse me. Hi. I, uh, I think I was in a car accident, my Dad and my brother, I just need to find them," Dean explained, but the nurse didn't even bother to look at him.
He snapped his fingers in front of the blonde nurse. "Hello?" But she didn't even look up from her paperwork once.
"Hey!" A familiar voice sounded from behind him.
"Hayley! Thank God!" He said relieved when he saw the brunette storming over to him.
But she rushed past him, leaning over the nurse's desk and for the first time, the nurse looked up.
"My friends have been in a car accident. Can you tell me where they are? Are they okay?" She asked panicked.
"Whoa, hey! I'm right here," Dean threw in and waved at her, but she ignored him.
His stomach started to turn. Hayley had looked through him like he wasn't even there. Like he was just another ghost.
"Miss, calm down," the nurse tried to soothe her. "Are you family?"
Hayley shook her head. "No, but…"
"I'm sorry. I can't give any information out on our patients to non-relatives," the nurse told her dismissively.
"I know, but please just help me out here. My friend even called me to get here, so just pretend I'm a relative," Hayley said with a charming smile, but by the tapping of her foot, Dean could tell she was impatient.
"I'm sorry, Miss. I really can't help you," the nurse said and turned her eyes back to her paperwork.
"Fine. Guess we do it my way then," Hayley mumbled with an eye-roll before lightning swished into the nurse's station.
All the cabinets flew open and papers started to litter the floor as they flew around the little room. The nurse looked frightened as she sat there stiffly in her chair and watched on helplessly as all her hard work was being scattered everywhere. It would take hours to clean it up and file it all again.
The lightning suddenly disappeared down the corridors. Dean leaned over the nurse's desk and glanced at a folder that had suddenly appeared in front of her. It had been opened on the page with the latest admittances and finally, Dean knew where to look.
He had followed the lightning down the corridors, but he didn't even need to look for the right room number. He found Hayley standing in the door frame. She stood there silently like a statue, frozen.
"Hey, what's wrong?" He asked her even though he knew she couldn't hear him. He walked past her into the room and stopped.
It was odd seeing his own body, lying there on a hospital bed and tubes sticking out of him everywhere.
He wasn't dead. But he was definitely dying.
Flashback, 6 months ago
Lawrence, Kansas
"We just gotta chill out, that's all," Dean told his little brother impatiently as they were leaning against the Impala at a local gas station. He hadn't wanted to come here in the first place. His childhood home just carried too many awful memories for him. But now that his brother's nightmares started to become a reality, they needed to keep their heads cool. "You know, if this was any other kind of job, what would we do?" Dean asked him and Sam sighed in response, admitting his defeat.
"We'd try to figure out what we were dealin' with. We'd dig into the history of the house," Sam answered defeated. He had been nagging Dean ever since they had left their old home.
"Exactly. Except this time, we already know what happened," Dean said, nodding.
"Yeah, but how much do we know? I mean, how much do you actually remember?" Sam asked curiously. His family had never talked about it that much when he was growing up. Especially Dean had always kept quiet about that particular night.
"About that night, you mean?" Dean asked, looking at him.
"Yeah," Sam said with a nod.
"Not much. I remember the fire…the heat," he replied thoughtfully. "And then I carried you out the front door."
"You did?" Sam asked surprised.
"Yeah. What, you never knew that?" Dean asked surprised as well. He knew Sam couldn't remember anything, but he had always thought his little brother at least knew that.
"No," Sam replied, shaking his head.
"And, well, you know Dad's story as well as I do. Mom was…was on the ceiling. And whatever put her there was long gone by the time Dad found her," Dean said, changing the focus away from himself.
"And he never had a theory about what did it?" Sam asked.
"If he did, he kept it to himself. God knows we asked him enough times," Dean said with an eye-roll.
"Okay. So, if we're gonna figure out what's going on now, we have to figure out what happened back then. And see if it's the same thing," Sam said.
"Yeah. We'll talk to Dad's friends, neighbors, people who were there at the time," Dean agreed and Sam nodded.
"Does this feel like just another job to you?" Sam asked his older brother after they had just sat there in silence for a while.
"I'll be right back. I gotta go to the bathroom," Dean excused himself and disappeared behind a corner of the little gas station they had parked at. He made sure he hadn't been followed by Sam before he took out his cell phone and dialed a number he knew by heart.
"This is John Winchester. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean at 866-907-3235," his father's voicemail sounded through his ears and then there was a beep.
"Dad? I know I've left you messages before. I don't even know if you'll get 'em," he said, clearing his throat a little. He usually hated to call his father about a job. No matter what he did, his father would always find something to complain about. But this job was different and they needed his help. "But I'm with Sam. And we're in Lawrence. And there's something in our old house. I don't know if it's the thing that killed Mom or not, but…," he explained when his voice started to crack. But he would be strong. He wouldn't let this get the better of him. "I don't know what to do," he said, tears forming in his eyes until there were enough of them to start rolling down his cheeks.
"So, whatever you're doin', if you could get here. Please. I need your help, Dad," Dean said into the phone sadly before he hung up.
Hayley swallowed hard when she finally had gathered enough courage to take a step closer. She picked up his patient file and skimmed through it.
"Dammit, Dean," she muttered under her breath as she glanced at his unconscious body. She looked unhappy about whatever she saw.
"What? What is it?" He asked her, still in shock. "Am I gonna be okay?"
She turned around and for a minute, he thought she finally heard him. But instead she put his file down and embraced his little brother, who had just walked into the room.
He was bruised and had several cuts on his face, but he seemed to be alright otherwise. "Sammy! You look good. Considering," Dean said relieved to see his brother breathing.
"Sam! I'm so glad you're okay!" Hayley said thankfully when she finally let go of Sam. Sam just nodded weakly in response. "What the hell happened?"
"Man, tell me you can hear me," Dean said, turning to Sam, but his brother didn't even flinch.
"The demon," Sam answered simply when he glanced over to Dean's body. "How is he? Is he gonna survive?"
"Uh, I don't know. What did his doctor say?" Hayley asked and Dean could tell she had just lied to Sam. She knew it didn't look too rosy for him. She just wanted to protect Sam from the heartache.
"I don't know yet. They just released me," Sam explained a little annoyed at the fact. They had tested him for the last hours, not telling him anything about his father or brother.
"How's Dad? Is he okay?" Dean kept asking, although it was pretty clear by now that no one would ever answer him. "Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!"
"Your father's awake. You can go see him if you like," the doctor said as he entered the room and both Hayley and Sam turned around to look at the man.
"Thank God," Dean sighed relieved.
"Doc, what about my brother?" Sam asked.
"Well, he sustained serious injury: blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney. But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema," the doctor explained and Hayley swallowed.
"Well, what can we do?" Sam asked hopefully.
"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up. If he wakes up," the doctor said.
"If?" Sam repeated, raising his brows.
"I have to be honest…," the doctor said unhappily.
"Oh, screw you, doc, I'm waking up," Dean shouted at him, but the doctor just kept talking over him.
"…most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long. He's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations," the doctor told Sam.
Hayley soothingly placed her hand on his arm as Sam's fists clenched tightly. He was fighting back tears. Fighting hard not to lose hope in an impossible situation.
"Come on, Sam. Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me," Dean suggested angrily. He wouldn't just die like this. He couldn't. "Sam?"
But again, there was no answer.
Dean followed the two to his father's room. John seemed to be okay as well. He was still in a hospital bed like him and his arm was in a sling, but at least he was alive. With his one free hand, he pulled something out of his wallet and handed a little plastic card to Sam.
"Here, give them my insurance," John said.
Sam took the card and a smile crossed his face when he read it. "Elroy McGillicutty?" Sam questioned and John snickered.
"And his two loving sons. So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?" His father asked.
"Nothing. Look, the doctors won't do anything, then we'll have to, that's all. I don't know, I'll find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him," Sam suggested, repeating Dean's earlier thoughts.
"We'll look for someone," John promised and Sam nodded. "But Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone."
"Why not? I found that faith healer before," Sam said.
"All right, that was…that was one in a million," John said.
"So what? Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?" Sam asked upset.
"No, I said we'd look. All right? I'll check under every stone," John replied. "Where's the Colt?" His father asked and Sam threw him a look.
"Your son is dying, and you're worried about the Colt?" Sam asked him angrily.
"We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too. That gun may be our only card," John explained, growing more impatient with Sam.
"It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83," Sam replied.
"All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside," John told him.
"I already called Bobby. He's like an hour out, he's gonna tow the Impala back to his place," Sam said.
"All right. You, you go meet up with Bobby. You get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security," John reminded him.
"I think I've got it covered," Sam replied bitterly. He turned to leave, but John pulled out a piece of paper, handing it to his son.
"Hey, here. I made a list of things I need – have Bobby pick them up for me," John told him.
"Acacia? Oil of Abramelin? What's this stuff for?" Sam asked, raising his brows suspiciously.
"Protection," John answered simply.
"Hey, Dad? You know, the demon…he said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?" Sam asked.
And for the first time, Dean noticed Hayley throwing his father a worried look.
"No, I don't," John lied and Sam left.
"Well, you sure know something," Dean said, looking thoughtfully at his father.
Hayley peeked out the hallway and closed the door as soon as Sam was out of sight.
"Why won't you just tell him?" Hayley snapped angrily at John, who just rolled his eyes.
"I told you. You don't understand," John said irritated, shaking his head.
"What's not to understand? This is on you! If you had told them the truth from the beginning, maybe they wouldn't even be here!" She yelled at him.
"This isn't on me! If you had kept to your promise of protecting them, they wouldn't have been here in the first place," John argued.
"Please! All you care about is that stupid demon. You don't even care that your son is as good as dead!" She threw at him upset.
"He's not gonna die. I won't let that happen," John said through clenched teeth.
"Well, you better start to think of a plan here, John! Because he's not gonna wake up from his coma alone and soon his organs will start to fail," Hayley said, calmer now, but still with the same force behind her words.
"I will. I promise," John said with a determined nod and she opened the door again, ready to leave. "Hayley, no word to Sam about this," he reprimanded her.
"Sure." She rolled her eyes at him with a sigh and slammed the door shut.
It had been an hour since Sam left and Hayley was still in his room. She was stretched out on a little couch in the corner, papers scattered on her lap with her laptop right in front of her.
Dean sighed when he saw her. She looked frustrated and he could tell she was working hard on a solution to help him somehow.
"You can't solve this with math, Speedy," he said quietly as he leaned over her shoulder to look at her scribbles of different formulas and equations.
She angrily slammed her laptop shut and threw the papers across the room, hitting the wall. She gripped her head and let out a breath.
"You know science never failed me before…," she said as she loosened her bun and put her glasses away with a sad smile. She looked over to him before she got up and walked to his bed, sitting down on the chair next to it.
"I could really use your help, Dean. Please wake up," she said with tears in her eyes.
"It's okay. I'm still here and I don't plan on going anywhere, besides from getting back into this body," Dean said determinedly and sat down across from her, only his unconscious body between them.
"Without you, there's no one around to tell me when I'm being stupid and God knows I need to hear that from time to time," she said with a small smile on her face and Dean chuckled.
"Yeah, just so you know, you're not that stupid most of the time," he replied as if they were having a real conversation and not just a one-sided one.
"And without you around, there's also no one here to keep your Dad and Sam from jumping each other's throats," she said.
"Yeah, you're damn right about that one," Dean said and shook his head. Another good reason not to die today – they still needed to hunt the demon down, as a family, together.
"I really need to tell you something…something I should have told you a long time ago," she said thoughtfully as she rested her head on his bed, looking up at his sleeping body.
"What? What is it? Is it about Sam? What does Dad know?" Dean asked eagerly. He was getting frustrated that he wasn't going to get any straight answers anytime soon.
"I just didn't want you to get angry with me…besides, your Dad would probably kill me if I ever did," she said a little frustrated.
"Yeah, Dad can be a bit of an ass sometimes," Dean said, nodding. "But you know you can tell me anything, Hayley." He wanted to comfort her somehow, even though it seemed impossible to do in the state he was in. But still, he reached out his hand, gently holding it over hers. She suddenly glanced down at her own hand before she retracted herself from his bed and leaned back in her chair. Could she have felt that?
"I don't know what to do here, Dean. I miss you. I think you're the only one who could help me with this," she said, a tear rolling down her cheek.
Flashback, 6 months ago
Central City, Missouri
It was a family night in the West-Allen household. Joe had insisted on weekly family dinners. Ever since his daughters had grown up, he didn't see them around as much and it gave them all a good chance to catch up – and to make them eat a proper meal at least once a week.
The girls usually cooked together on those nights. Hayley's cooking skills lacked training to say the least, but she was a good baker and always responsible for dessert while Iris always managed the main course.
They had just finished their dinner, something straight out of grandma Esther's cookbook, when suddenly Hayley's phone started ringing.
"Hey, you know the rules, young lady. No phones during dinner," Joe reprimanded her.
"I'm a superhero, I can't just turn that off," she argued with a grin and he threw her a look. "Besides dinner is over anyways."
"Fine. Make it quick," Joe said and Iris giggled.
Hayley laughed and looked at her phone. An unknown number was calling her and she picked up. "Hello? This is Hayley Allen."
"This is John Winchester. I need your help."
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
"Oh man, Dean is gonna be pissed," Sam said as he looked at the Impala – or what was still left of it in Bobby's junkyard. He hadn't remembered it being that badly, but maybe that had been just wishful thinking.
"Look, Sam. This…this just ain't worth a tow. I say we empty the trunk, sell the rest for scrap," Bobby suggested.
"No. Dean would kill me if we did that. When he gets better, he's gonna want to fix this," Sam said and he was sure of it. His brother would be okay again. They would save him.
"There's nothing to fix. The frame's a pretzel, and the engine's ruined. There's barely any parts worth salvaging," Bobby said, throwing his hands in the air, not quite getting the boys' nostalgia that surrounded this car.
"Listen to me, Bobby. If there's only one working part, that's enough. We're not just going to give up on…," Sam said before his voice broke off.
"Okay. You got it," Bobby said quietly with a nod. He'd do anything for those boys.
"Here, uh, Dad asked for you to get this stuff for him," Sam said, handing Bobby John's list.
"What's John want with this?" Bobby asked, frowning as he looked at the list.
"Protection from the demon?" Sam said questioningly, repeating his father's answer. Bobby threw him a look. "What?"
"Oh, nothing, it's just, uh," Bobby stammered, not sure if he was supposed to say anything.
"Bobby? What's going on?"
Hayley had fallen dead asleep on the couch, when John snuck into Dean's room and sat down next to his son's bed, watching him closely.
"Come on, Dad. You've gotta help me. I've gotta get better, I've gotta get back in there," Dean said to his father, standing right next to him. "I mean, you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Aren't you going to do anything? Aren't you even going to say anything?"
"I've done everything you have ever asked me. Everything," Dean said, getting angrier. "I have given everything I've ever had! And you're just going to sit there and you're going to watch me die? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?" He yelled at his father. But John just kept sitting there, not moving an inch.
Suddenly Dean heard a noise coming from outside. "What is that?" He asked himself as he walked out into the hallway.
A spirit rushed past him, scaring him enough to jump back a little. "I take it you didn't see that," he mumbled, turning back to John, who still sat next to his hospital bed.
He followed the spirit down the corridors until he found a young woman on the floor. She seemed to be chocking on something, calling out for help.
"Hey! I need some help in here!" He shouted helplessly, looking around for someone who could hear him.
"I can't…breathe!" The woman panted before she stopped breathing all together.
After a few hours, Sam had finally made it back to the hospital. He entered Dean's room, sighing as he looked at his older brother, still unconscious.
"Sammy! 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. Sam!" Dean said determinedly.
But Sam's eyes glanced over to Hayley asleep on the couch and he walked over to her, covering her with a blanket. She probably hadn't slept much in the last couple of days and he knew she needed all the energy she could get if they wanted to save Dean.
She yawned and stretched as she opened her blue eyes and looked at him sleepily. "Hey, you're back," she said, a smile crossing her face.
"Yeah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you," Sam apologized.
"That's okay. I've gotten enough sleep to last another couple of days now," she said with a laugh and he shook his head at her, smiling before it faded again.
"What's wrong?" She asked and he just shrugged his shoulders.
"C'mon, I need to give this stuff to Dad," he replied simply, gesturing at the duffel bag in his hands.
She followed Sam into John's room. He didn't greet his father. In fact, he didn't even look at him, and both Hayley and Dean knew by now that something was bothering him.
"You're quiet," John noted and Sam turned around with an angry expression on his face. He harshly threw the duffel bag onto his father's bed.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Sam asked him irritated and John glanced over to Hayley. She shrugged her shoulders, indicating that she didn't know what had gotten into Sam. Or more likely that she didn't tell him their secret as Dean gathered from their little exchange.
"What are you talking about?" John asked innocently.
"That stuff from Bobby…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!" Sam yelled at his father.
"I have a plan, Sam," John replied calmly.
"That's exactly my point! 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!" Sam threw at him.
"That's what I said," Hayley muttered and John threw her a look before turning his attention back to his youngest son.
"No, no, no, guys, don't do this!" Dean chimed in. He was just a ghost, but he would try and keep his family together as long as he could.
"Do not tell me how I feel! I am doing this for Dean," John argued and Sam rolled his eyes at him.
"How? How is revenge going to help him? You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!" Sam yelled.
"Come on guys, don't do this!" Dean said, standing between them and watching their fight unfold helplessly.
"You know, it's funny, I thought it was your obsession too! This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you'd killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened," John yelled back at his son.
"It was possessing you, Dad. I would have killed you too," Sam argued.
"Hayley, c'mon. Do something! Please!" Dean begged her.
"Yeah, and your brother would be awake right now," John snapped angrily.
"Shut up, both of you!" Dean said.
"Guys, stop. You're not helping," Hayley threw in, but they ignored her.
"Go to hell," Sam told his father.
"I should have never taken you along in the first place. I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong…," John rambled on.
"I said shut up!" Dean shouted angrily at the top of his lungs, smacking a glass of water off of John's table and it shattered into a million pieces on the floor.
The two suddenly stopped fighting, looking at each other confused before they looked over to Hayley, who was standing far away from that table.
"I swear that wasn't me," she said, a shocked expression on her face.
"Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother," Dean said proudly with a grin. But then he could suddenly feel a pain inside of him that made him crumble and he started to flicker.
A couple of nurses and doctors ran by their room down the hallway to Dean's room and John looked worriedly outside. "Something's going on out there," he said, gesturing outside and giving them an order to follow the commotion.
It felt like forever until they had reached Dean's room. He was surrounded by nurses, doctors and beeping machines. The monitor next to his bed was flatlining and the hospital staff around him was trying frantically to reanimate him.
"All clear," the doctor gave the order before he put the defibrillator on Dean's chest.
"No," Sam uttered with tears in his eyes as he stood frozen in the doorframe. Hayley came to his side, holding his hand and squeezing it tightly.
Flashback, 6 months ago
Central City, Missouri
She hung up and raced over to her bag, gathering a few of her most important things – her suit and her laptop.
"What is it?" Joe asked her worriedly.
"That was John Winchester. He wants me to go to Kansas," she replied simply.
"What? Why?" Iris asked, raising her brows.
"I don't know. Something about his kids. He said he's gonna tell me there," Hayley said.
"He has children?" Joe asked surprised. He had only met John Winchester once, but he hadn't seemed like the family type.
"Well, apparently he found some lucky lady," Hayley joked. "Look, I'm sure it's nothing. But I couldn't say no after he helped us. I'll just get this over with and be back by tomorrow night, alright? I'm sure it won't take forever," she said with a smile and kissed her adoptive father's cheek.
"No, dangerous blog stuff while I'm gone," she told Iris with a warning look and her sister rolled her eyes back with a sigh.
"Fine," Iris agreed unenthusiastically as the sisters hugged goodbye.
"Still no pulse," one of the nurses told the doctor.
"Okay, let's go again, 360," the doc said.
"Charging," the nurse said.
"C'mon Dean…," Hayley mumbled as she watched him powerlessly. This was a situation were even she, with all her superpowers, couldn't do anything about it.
Dean stood idly behind Sam and Hayley, watching himself waste away when he saw the spirit from before, hovering over his body.
"You get the hell away from me," he threatened the figure, running over to his bed.
"I said get back!" He yelled when he stood face to face with it.
He decided to grab the spirit, trying to get it off of him. He could feel it in his hands for a moment before it threw him back and rushed out of the room.
The monitors stopped flatlining and resumed to their normal beeping.
"We have a pulse. We're back into sinus rhythm," the nurse confirmed and the two of them sighed relieved. They had won more time to save him.
Dean followed the spirit into the hallway, but it had vanished again and he turned back to his little brother, who seemed still in shock.
"Don't worry, Sammy. I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it," he told his brother resolutely.
She looked over to Sam, who stared confused into nothingness. He had felt something. She knew because she had felt it too.
He continued to wander the hallways aimlessly, feeling even more like a ghost. But in reality, he was looking for his next monster to hunt. A coma wouldn't keep him from doing his job.
"Can't you see me? Why won't you look at me?" He heard a voice in the distance.
"Now what?" He mumbled frustrated and followed the girl's screams.
He found her on the staircase, yelling at people walking by. "Somebody talk to me! Say something, please!"
"Can you see me?" He asked her and she turned around, a glimpse of relief in her eyes.
"Yeah," she replied, a smile forming on her face.
"All right, just, uh, calm down. What's your name?" He asked as he took a few steps closer to her. She was a young woman with dark brown chin-length hair and she was wearing the typical hospital patient outfit.
"Tessa," she said.
"Okay, good, Tessa, I'm Dean," he introduced himself. He tried to be as charming as possible, because he knew the next conversation they'd be having, wouldn't be pleasant.
"What's happening to me? Am...am I dead?" She asked shocked, her eyes widening.
"That sort of depends," Dean replied.
They had found her room pretty quickly. Just like him, she was lying there, on a hospital bed with tubes and machines surrounding her body. An older woman sat by her bed, holding her hand.
"I don't understand. I just came in for an appendectomy," Tessa said, looking at him.
"Well, I hate to bear bad news, but I think there were some complications," Dean replied.
"It's just a dream, that's all. It's just a very weird, unbelievably vivid dream," she said, walking away from the room and down the hallway.
"Tessa. It's not a dream," he said, following her.
"Then what else could it be?" She stopped and spun around to look at him again.
"You ever heard of an out of body experience?" Dean asked her.
"What are you, some new agey guy?" She raised her brows at him.
"You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?" He said and she shook her head slowly. "It's actually a very old idea. Got a lot of different names: Bilocation, crisis apparition, fetches…I think it's happening to us. And if it is, it means that we're spirits of people close to death," he explained.
"So we're going to die?" She asked terrified.
"No," he said unwaveringly. "Not if we hold on. Our bodies can get better, we can snap right back in there and wake up."
He was sure of it.
Flashback, 6 months ago
Lawrence, Kansas
The boys had reached the only lead they had found so far. They had talked to their father's old friends and neighbors, but a psychic named Missouri Moseley seemed to be the only person, who really knew what happened in their childhood home all these years ago. Their father had sought her out after their mother died, looking to find some answers, and now the brothers were doing the same thing.
They sat on a little couch, waiting patiently for her to get rid of her current customer as she escorted him out of her tiny house.
"All right, there. Don't you worry 'bout a thing. Your wife is crazy about you," she assured the man, who thanked her before she closed the door on him. "Whew. Poor bastard. His woman is cold-bangin' the gardener," Missouri said as she turned to the two boys on her couch in the little foyer.
"Why didn't you tell him?" Dean asked the slightly older woman. She was short and fell a little on the heavier side of the weight spectrum with short dark curls bouncing on her head.
"People don't come here for the truth. They come for good news," Missouri replied and the boys stared at her. "Well? Sam and Dean, come on already, I ain't got all day," she said, leaving for the living room and the brothers shared a confused look before they got up and followed her inside.
"Well, lemme look at ya," she said with a laugh and spun around to look at them. "Oh, you boys grew up handsome. And you were one goofy-lookin' kid, too," Missouri said, pointing at Dean. He glared at her and his little brother smirked at him.
"Sam. Oh, honey…I'm sorry about your girlfriend," Missouri said, grabbing Sam's hand softly. The brothers looked shocked at her, although they weren't sure what exactly they had expected when they had walked into the psychic's house. "And your father – he's missin'?" She looked worriedly up at them.
"How'd you know all that?" Sam asked surprised.
"Well, you were just thinkin' it just now," Missouri replied simply and Sam raised his eyebrows a little baffled.
"Well, where is he? Is he okay?" Dean questioned her like she was some kind of magical oracle.
"I don't know," she said and Dean frowned at her.
"Don't know? Well, you're supposed to be a psychic, right?" He asked doubtingly.
"Boy, you see me sawin' some bony tramp in half? You think I'm a magician? I may be able to read thoughts and sense energies in a room, but I can't just pull facts out of thin air. Sit, please," she said and gestured them to the little couch in the living room and Sam smirked at his older brother. "Boy, you put your foot on my coffee table, I'm 'a whack you with a spoon!" She snapped at Dean again as he was just about to make himself comfortable on the couch.
"I didn't do anything," Dean said defensively.
"But you were thinkin' about it," Missouri said matter-of-factly. Dean furrowed his brows at her and Sam chuckled, shaking his head.
"Okay. So, our Dad – when did you first meet him?" Sam asked as she sat down across from them.
"He came for a reading. A few days after the fire. I just told him what was really out there in the dark. I guess you could say…I drew back the curtains for him," she said.
"What about the fire? Do you know about what killed our Mom?" Dean asked her impatiently.
"A little. Your daddy took me to your house. He was hopin' I could sense the echoes, the fingerprints of this thing," she explained.
"And could you?" Sam asked, but she shook her head at him reluctantly. "What was it?"
"I don't know. Oh, but it was evil," she said softly, still shuddering at the thought of it.
"So…you think somethin' is back in that house?" Missouri asked, looking at Sam.
"Definitely," he assured her.
"I don't understand," she said, shaking her head.
"What?" Sam's interest peaked.
"I haven't been back inside, but I've been keepin' an eye on the place, and it's been quiet. No sudden deaths, no freak accidents. Why is it actin' up now?" Missouri asked, more herself than the boys, thinking about it.
"I don't know. But Dad going missing and Jessica dying and now this house all happening at once – it just feels like something's starting," Sam replied.
"That's a comforting thought," Dean muttered and let himself fall back into the couch.
She had agreed to meet up with the boys later and check out the house after she had gathered a few needed things. When she had closed the front door behind them, she walked back into the living room, the small brunette girl waiting for her at the door frame of her kitchen.
"So…that's them? John Winchester's kids?" Hayley asked, raising a brow. They hadn't really been what she had expected at all.
"Yes, honey," Missouri replied.
"Huh, charming…," Hayley said sarcastically, thinking that the apples didn't fall far from the tree in this family.
"They're a little rough around the edges, yes," she said with a chuckle. "But they're good boys," Missouri said softly.
"And their mom…she died in a fire?" Hayley asked, looking at her.
"Yes. Poor kids. Carry 'round as much emotional baggage as you," Missouri said.
"Thank you…?" Hayley raised a brow at her. "And whatever killed her, you believe them? You think it's back?"
"Like I told them. I really don't know. But I do know they could use your help," Missouri said gently.
"How can I help them? I know squat about monsters. Where's John? Why doesn't he help them?" Hayley questioned her.
"Their father is on a dangerous mission," she replied simply.
"So he'd rather have his sons think he's missing? Not sure if I wanna be a part of that," she scoffed and Missouri shook her head at her.
"You know, you and those boys have a lot more in common than you think, girl," Missouri said with a smile.
"Yeah, sorry, lady. I really can't see it," Hayley said and the psychic chuckled.
"Don't worry. You will."
"I gotta say, I'm impressed," Dean said as he strolled down the hospital corridors with his new found half-dead friend.
"With what?" Tessa asked surprised.
"With you. Most people in your spot would be jello right now, but uh, you're taking this pretty well. Maybe a little better than me," he said thoughtfully.
"Don't get me wrong. I was pretty freaked at first. But now, I don't know. Maybe I'm dealing," she said with a shrug.
"So you're okay with dying?" Dean asked her doubtfully.
"No, of course not. I just think, whatever's gonna happen is gonna happen. It's out of my control, it's fate," she replied.
"Huh. Well, that's crap. You always have a choice. You can either roll over and die or you can keep fighting, no matter what," Dean told her stubbornly before he was interrupted by the hospital's speakers, announcing a code blue in room 237. Whatever that was, it didn't sound good and Dean spun around to go looking for the room.
"Where are you going?" Tessa asked him.
"Just wait here," he ordered her before he jogged down the hallway.
He found the room in question quickly. A little girl in a hospital bed was being resuscitated by a bunch of doctors, the dark spirit from before hovering over her body this time. A hand reached down to touch her face and Dean immediately raced over to her bed, trying to stop it.
"Get away from her!" He yelled and lunged at the spirit. But he was too late. The spirit vanished into thin air and the nurse stopped the reanimation.
"All right, let's call it," a male doctor announced.
"Time of death, 5:11 pm," another doctor said.
"At least she's not suffering anymore," the nurse said quietly, looking sadly at the girl, just as Dean began to realize something.
It was late at night when Hayley came back to his room again. She had been away for a while and Dean figured the speedster had needed some space to think. And he was right.
"So you know when I said science never failed me before?" She asked into the empty room as she walked over to his bed.
"Yeah?" Dean said as he stood behind her, waiting where she was going with this.
"Well, technically it didn't," she said. "Einstein's laws say that all energy is constant. It can only change from one form to another, which logically would mean that even when we die, that energy has to go somewhere. I mean otherwise our EMF meters would be useless…," she babbled and he rolled his eyes.
"Get to the point, Speedy," he urged her a little impatient.
"Okay, well, from a former coma patient to a current one…I think you can hear me," she said and her eyes wandered around the room, waiting for a sign that she ways right. "Anyways, I think I found a way to hear you too," she said with a grin as she pulled out an Ouija board.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," Dean said, shaking his head.
"Alright, I know this isn't technically the scientific breakthrough you have hoped for, but it has proven itself useful in various movies," she argued her theory.
She sat down on the floor in front of his bed, preparing the board and Dean sat down across from her with a sigh.
"God, I feel like I'm at a slumber party," Dean mumbled as he placed his hands over hers on the pointer of the board. "Don't be disappointed if it doesn't work."
"Okay, so if you're here, dude, just make yourself known. Dean…?" She called out carefully.
He had to concentrate hard, but eventually he managed to move the pointer to a yes on the board.
"I'll be damned," Dean muttered and looked stunned at her. Her blue eyes widened and she let go of the pointer, jumping back a little.
"Holy shit!" She mumbled, staring at the board with a freaked out expression before she turned her head to the door. "Sam!" She called out.
It didn't take long and his little brother stormed into the room. He probably had expected to see him die again and was more than baffled when he looked at their friend sitting on the floor with a talking board.
"Geez, Hayley. You scared me. What the hell are you doing?" He asked her as he took a few steps closer to look at the Ouija board.
"I'm trying to talk to Dean," she stated and he raised his brows at her. "Don't look at me like that. It's working," she announced enthusiastically.
"What? You talked to him?" Sam asked stunned.
"Well, she tried to, but then little scaredy-cat over there got freaked out," Dean said with a chuckle.
"For a brief moment, yeah. I asked if he was here and the pointer slid to yes, so…"
"How do you know it's even him and not some poltergeist?" Sam asked doubtfully.
"Well, you go ahead and try it. You're the psychic, Sam. You should be able to sense your own brother," Hayley replied and Sam complied with a frown and sat down next to her.
"Dean? Are you there?" Sam asked, having his hand on the pointer and Dean slid it to yes again. Sam gasped before he laughed relieved.
"It's good to hear from you, man. It hasn't been the same without you, Dean," Sam said, tears forming in his eyes. He was so happy to hear from his older brother again.
"Damn straight," Dean agreed and started to slide the pointer across the board. He needed to tell them what was going on.
"Dean, what? H? U?" Sam repeated the letters Dean was pointing at. "Hunt? Hunting? What, are you hunting?" Sam asked surprised and the slider moved to yes again.
"It's in the hospital, what you're hunting?" Sam asked.
"Do you know what it is?" Hayley asked.
"One question at a time, guys," Dean said and the two shared a look before Sam asked again.
"What is it?"
"I don't think it's killing people. I think it's taking them. You know, when their time's just up," Dean explained as he spelled out the name of the monster.
"A reaper," they replied simultaneously and looked at each other.
"A reaper, like skeleton with a cloak and a scythe? That guy?" Hayley asked perplexed.
"More or less. There's a lot of lore on them, but we never encountered one before," Sam replied, looking at her.
"That you know of," Hayley added and Sam gave her a worried look.
"Dean, is it after you?" Sam asked, turning his attention back to the board and the pointer slid to yes. The two shared another concerned look. "If it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it," Sam explained to both of them.
"Yeah, you can't kill death," Dean agreed, knowing what kind of situation he was facing.
"Man, you're, uhm," Sam said, trying to find the words.
"I'm screwed, Sam," Dean replied, finding them for him.
"No. No, no, no, uhm, there's gotta be a way," Sam said as he got up and started to pace the room frantically. "There's gotta be a way. Dad'll know what to do," Sam announced and left the room.
"Looks like it's just us again, huh?" She said and placed her hands on the pointer. "Kinda weird to think that I might have been like that for nine months," she said thoughtfully.
"Yeah, would explain why you're so crazy though," Dean replied and chuckled before he decided to move the pointer again. He just needed to know and he didn't know how much time he still had left.
"Tell me," she repeated what he had spelled out and sighed. "So I guess you heard me and your Dad earlier. And what I told you after." He answered with another yes. "Are you…mad at me?" She asked cautiously.
He slid the pointer to no and she sighed relieved. "I told you. I couldn't be mad at you. Besides, this is hardly your fault from what I've gathered. You're just doing the best you can to look out for me and Sam," Dean replied thoughtfully and she really had. He couldn't remember a time when she hadn't tried to save them and even when their father joined them on the hunt, she still seemed more loyal to him and Sam than to their father.
"I don't know why you do what you do and help us, but I'm glad you are," Dean said.
"You know, your Dad loves you two, especially you. He cares about you a lot, Dean," she said suddenly.
"Well, he's got a funny way of showing it," he huffed.
"I know you don't believe it, but it's true," she said, a smile playing on her face. "I'll tell you, I promise. But I really think we should have this conversation in person."
Flashback, 6 months ago
Lawrence, Kansas
The boys and Missouri had managed to get rid of the family living inside their haunted childhood home. Hayley waited outside as the psychic had instructed her to, ready to jump at any apparent danger.
After an hour, the three had finished making the house ghost-free and the brothers returned to their motel while the little family, a single mother and two small children, returned to their new home.
But the brothers decided to check on them one last time before leaving and Hayley decided to join them unnoticeably. She would at least do a furrow job before going back home again. She owed John Winchester that much.
To her surprise, the brothers had been right and soon after midnight they heard terrified screams coming from the upstairs bedroom. They rushed out of the Impala and into the house.
Hayley had already raced inside. Her first instinct was to get the kids out of there, but just as she had reached the girl's bedroom, Sam came in as well, carrying the little boy in his arms, and in a panic she raced into the closet and hid there.
He handed the little boy over to his sister. "All right, Sari, take your brother outside as fast as you can, and don't look back," Sam ordered them and the kids ran outside as fast as they could. Sam tried to follow them, but an invisible force grabbed him and threw him back into the bedroom, crashing him into a table.
She wanted to jump out and help him, but she couldn't. Something was holding her there and she tried to struggle against it. However, whatever it was, it was a lot stronger than her.
"Sari, where's Sam?" Dean asked worriedly, kneeling down to her eye-level, as he watched the kids running out of that house like he had twenty-two years ago.
"He's inside. Something's got him and the girl in the lightning," the little girl replied confused and Dean glanced back at the front door, a hint of panic in his eyes, and then the door slammed shut.
In a hurry, he ran to the Impala and grabbed an ax and a rifle from the trunk. He used the ax to break open the front door until there was a big enough hole for him to crawl through.
He looked feverishly through the house until he found his brother in the old nursery and they seemed to be back where it all began.
His brother was pinned to the wall, unable to move and a figure in fire stood in the middle of the room, slowly coming at him. Dean raised the rifle at it, ready to shoot.
"No, don't! Don't!" Sam yelled, stopping him and Dean spun around confused.
"What, why?!" He asked, looking at his little brother.
"Because I know who it is. I can see her now," Sam said, a small smile forming on his face and Dean turned back to look at the figure.
The fire around her vanished and now he could see her too. He lowered his gun slowly, staring at her in shock. "Mom?" He asked softly and she smiled at him as she took a few steps closer.
Hayley managed to move her head enough to be able to see through the tiny vents in the wooden closet door. How was this even possible, she asked herself as she stared at the three of them in awe. She'd give anything to see her mother again.
"Dean," Mary's voice echoed softly through the room and tears came to his eyes.
She slowly walked over to Sam, looking at him closely, but Dean's eyes never left her. "Sam," she said and her youngest son smiled weakly at her, tears rolling down his cheek. She smiled back at him before her smile faded from her face. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" Sam asked, but she just looked at him sadly before she walked away from her children again and looked up at the ceiling.
"You, get out of my house. And let go of them," she threatened the poltergeist and Hayley wondered if she knew she was there too, trying to protect her sons. She burst into flames again, the fire reaching up to the ceiling before it disappeared all together.
Hayley could feel the force letting go of her and Sam seemed to be free to move again as well. He walked over to his older brother, a stunned expression on both their faces.
"Now it's over," Sam said.
Sam returned soon after. He didn't bring their father along, but he did bring his journal and sat down at the edge of his brother's bed.
"Hey. So Dad wasn't in his room," Sam stated.
"Where is he?" Dean asked, furrowing his brows.
"But I got Dad's journal, so who knows? Maybe there's something here," Sam said hopefully. He flipped open the journal, skimming through it and Dean walked up behind him, so he could read as well.
"Thanks for not giving up on me, Sammy," he told his little brother. He looked over his shoulder when Sam found a page titled Reapers.
"Son of a bitch," Dean muttered and abruptly left the room and Sam behind to find a known face.
He found her sitting on a bed in an empty patient's room. Tessa wasn't in her hospital attire anymore, instead she wore a long black dress.
"Hi, Dean," she said, looking up at him.
"You know, you read the most interesting things. For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, uh, a pretty girl. You are much prettier than the last reaper I met," Dean said.
"I was wondering when you would figure it out," she said with a smile.
"I should have known. That whole 'accepting fate' crap 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," Dean said, remembering what he had showed her.
"It's my sandbox, I can make you see whatever I want," she replied softly.
"What, is this like a turn-on for you? What, toying with me?" He asked her irritated. He sure as hell didn't think this was remotely funny.
"You didn't give me much choice. 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," the reaper replied.
"Okay, fine. We're talking. What the hell do you want to talk about?" He asked, still angry.
"How death is nothing to fear," she said gently as she got up from the bed. She walked over to him and touched his cheek and he backed away a little. "It's your time to go, Dean. And you're living on borrowed time already," she breathed quietly.
Hayley stopped in her tracks. She overheard Sam talking in Dean's room and leaned against the cool wall of the hospital's corridor.
"Dean, are you here? I couldn't find anything in the book. I don't know how to help you. But I'll keep trying, all right? As long as you keep fighting. I mean, come on you can't…you can't leave me here alone with Dad. We'll kill each other, you know that," Sam said, a laugh escaping his mouth. "Dean, you gotta hold on. You can't go, man, not now. We were just starting to be brothers again. Can you hear me?" Sam asked into the empty room, but the reply he hoped for didn't come from his brother.
"Hey, you okay?" Hayley asked as she stood by the door, watching him, a warm smile on her face.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm alright," Sam replied, wiping the tears from his eyes a little embarrassed. "I just miss him, you know."
"Yeah." Hayley nodded and sat down next to him, resting her head against his shoulder and taking his hand. "We'll get him back, Sam. Don't worry."
"How? There's nothing in Dad's journal. We would need a miracle," Sam said frustrated.
"Well, one thing I've learned in my life is that nothing's impossible," she said softly and looked up at him and Sam nodded, tears forming in his eyes again. He wouldn't lose hope. Not yet anyways.
"Look, I'm sure you've heard this before, but…you've gotta make an exception, you've gotta cut me a break," Dean said as he spun around to face the reaper again. He had thought about it long and hard as he had been standing by the window, staring out into the dark night sky.
"Stage three: bargaining," the reaper replied simply.
"I'm serious. My family's in danger. See, we're kind of in the middle of this, uhm, war, and they need me," he explained.
"The fight's over," the reaper replied.
"No, it isn't," he argued defensively.
"It is for you, Dean. You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field. They all feel the same. They can't leave. Victory hangs in the balance. But they're wrong. The battle goes on without them," she told him.
"My brother. He could die without me," Dean said pleadingly.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Nothing you can do about it. It's an honorable death. A warrior's death," she tried to whitewash the situation.
"I think I'll pass on the seventy-two virgins, thanks. I'm not that into prude chicks anyway," he joked, frowning at her.
"That's funny. You're very cute," she said with a smile.
"There's no such thing as an honorable death. My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is going to die! No. I'm not going with you, I don't care what you do," Dean stated stubbornly.
"Well, like you said. There's always a choice. I can't make you come with me. But you're not getting back in your body. And that's just facts. So 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," she said quietly as she paced the space around him.
"What are you saying?" He asked, looking at her.
"Dean. How do you think angry spirits are born? They can't let go and they can't move on. And you're about to become one. The same thing you hunt," she replied.
He sat down on the bed in the room, digesting what the reaper had just told him. He never had expected to become something he hunted. But if the reaper was right and wasn't lying to him, he soon would be a real spirit, haunting this crappy hospital for all of eternity.
She sat down beside him, stroking his hair caringly. "It's time to put the pain behind you," she whispered.
"And go where?" He asked, tears in his eyes. Maybe he was scared of death. Or maybe he was just scared of leaving everybody he loved behind.
"Sorry. I can't give away the big punch line. Moment of truth. No changing your mind later. So what's it going to be?" She asked him and he looked up at her. He could end all of his suffering in a heartbeat. It would be so easy. He just needed to go with her.
The lights in the room started to flicker and he looked around the room confused. He got up from the bed, taking a few steps back from her.
"What are you doing that for?" He asked her, furrowing his brows.
"I'm not doing it," she answered, a sudden panic appearing in her face. They heard a buzzing coming from the vent and turned to look at it as black smoke rushed out of it.
"What the hell?" Dean said as he watched the smoke attack the reaper.
"You can't do this! Get away!" She screamed as the black cloud poured inside her.
"What's happening?!" Dean asked rattled.
The smoke disappeared inside of her and she turned her head at him, flashing him with yellow eyes.
"Today's your lucky day, kid," the reaper's body said and before he could move an inch, the demon placed a hand on his forehead. He started to tremble, not being able to control himself before it all went black.
Sam had been watching over his brother for hours now without any sign of him getting any better. Hayley had fallen asleep on his shoulder a while ago. He sighed, looking at his brother hooked up with a bunch of tubes and machines.
All of a sudden, he noticed a small movement in the bed before Dean opened his eyes and gasped in shock, almost chocking on the tube in his mouth.
"Dean?" Sam asked, not believing his eyes. He shook Hayley awake and the speedster rattled awake, staring in shock at the freshly awoken coma patient. "Help! I need help!" Sam yelled into the hallway.
"I can't explain it. The edema's vanished. The internal contusions are healed. Your vitals are good. You have some kind of angel watching over you," the doctor said as he looked over Dean's file. The doctors had insisted on running tests on him for the rest of the night, they had been so mesmerized by his miracle awakening.
"Thanks, doc," Dean said and the doctor left them alone again. Dean let out a relieved sigh. He couldn't wait to get out of this bed. "So you said a Reaper was after me?" Dean asked, looking at Sam and Hayley next to his bed.
"Yeah," Sam replied with a nod.
"How'd I ditch it?" Dean asked and looked at two baffled faces.
"You got me, Dean," Sam replied with a shrug.
"So, you really don't remember anything?" Hayley asked.
"No, not really. Sorry, I can't give you any scientific proof about the afterlife, Speedy," he said with a chuckle.
"Too bad," she replied, sounding a little disappointed. "Would have love that Nobel," she joked and the boys laughed. "Anyways, I need to get some food in me. I haven't eaten anything in days," she said as she got up from her chair and walked over to the door.
"Having a slice of pizza at the pizza place down the street? Heard their pizza is the best in this state," Dean said knowingly, looking up at her with a charming smile.
"Fine, I'll get you one, too. Except it's not gonna be one slice for me, but more like 60," she replied with a smile.
"Geez, you know I love a woman who can eat, but you take the cake, Speedy. You're playing on a whole other level," Dean said jokingly.
"Thought you already knew that, Winchester," she said with a wide grin. "I'll be back in a flash," Hayley said and winked at the boys before she vanished out the door.
The brothers sniggered and Dean shook his head at their fast friend. He could watch her run off a million times more, and still, he wasn't sure if he would believe it even then.
"So, how are you really feeling, Dean?" Sam asked him as soon as Hayley had left.
"Fine. Except this pit in my stomach. Sam, something's wrong," Dean said worriedly, but before Sam could answer, there was a knock on the door and the brothers turned to look at their father.
"How you feeling, dude?" John asked Dean, a happy smile on his face.
"Fine, I guess. I'm alive," Dean replied dryly. Something just didn't feel right about his sudden awakening.
"That's what matters," their father replied.
"Where were you last night?" Sam snapped angrily at him.
"I had some things to take care of," John replied mysteriously.
"Well, that's specific," Sam retorted.
"Come on, Sam," Dean tried to calm his little brother. They had just been reunited and here he was, back again and starting where he had left off – in the middle between these two.
"Did you go after the demon?" Sam asked angrily, raising a brow.
"No," John stated.
"You know, why don't I believe you right now?" Sam snapped back, throwing his hands in the air upset.
"Can we not fight?" John suddenly asked, tears in his eyes and his voice pleading. "You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I, I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?" Sam was quiet for a moment and his two sons stared at him stunned. They weren't used to the softer side of their father.
"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked, looking at his father.
"Yeah. Yeah, I'm just a little tired," he replied. "Hey, son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"
"Yeah. Yeah, sure," Sam said with a nod and got up from the chair, leaving for the door.
John looked after his youngest son, a sad expression on his face before he turned his attention back to his oldest one.
"What is it?" Dean asked, confused over his father's unlikely behavior.
"You know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be…I'd be wrecked. And you, you'd come up to me and you, you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd…you'd say 'it's okay, Dad'," his father said, blinking away the tears that were forming in his eyes. "Dean, I'm sorry."
"For what?" Dean asked, surprised at his father's outburst of emotions. He surely had never expected anything like it from this tall, strong man standing before him.
"You shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you. You know, I put, I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you," John said, uttering words he should have said a long time ago.
"This really you talking?" Dean asked suspiciously, raising a brow.
"Yeah. Yeah, it's really me." He nodded with a smile.
"Why are you saying this stuff?" Dean asked, a sudden shudder washing over him.
His father took a few steps closer to his bed, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder and leaning in closely to him.
"I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?" John said quietly and Dean nodded.
"Yeah, Dad, you know I will. You're scaring me," Dean replied, his eyes wide. He didn't understand what was going on.
"Don't be scared, Dean," John said and leaned in closer to his son to whisper into his ear. He let go of him just as quickly and walked out of the room, leaving Dean behind, a shocked expression on his face as he sunk back into the bed.
John walked past Hayley, who had been standing outside Dean's room. She looked at him questioningly, but he didn't say anything. He just nodded at her with a small smile before he wandered off to his room.
She walked back into Dean's room, forming a smile on her face. "Hey," she said and he gathered himself again, looking up at her.
"Hey," he replied with a soft smile.
"I brought you pizza. You must be starving after that coma. I know I was," she said, trying to get his mind off whatever John had told him. But deep inside, she already knew what they had talked about.
"Great. Just what I needed," he said, faking a smile and she sat down next to him as he chewed on his slice. They sat there in silence for a while, thinking quietly, and enjoying each other's company without saying much more.
Flashback, 6 months ago
Lawrence, Kansas
"That boy…he has such powerful abilities. But why he couldn't sense his own father, I have no idea," Missouri said as she walked back into her living room and no one other than John Winchester himself was now sitting on her little couch.
"Mary's spirit – do you really think she saved the boys?" John asked her and she looked at him.
"I do," Missouri replied.
"I saw her, too," Hayley said and he looked over to her as she leaned casually against the door frame. He nodded sadly at them, twisting the wedding ring, he was still wearing, on his finger.
"John Winchester, I could just slap you. Why won't you go talk to your children?" Missouri snapped at him, shaking her head.
"I want to. You have no idea how much I wanna see 'em," he replied tearfully. "But I can't. Not yet. Not until I know the truth." He shared a look with the psychic and she nodded at him.
"What truth? Are you hunting the thing that killed their mother?" Hayley asked. She had too many questions and knew she would probably never get all the answers out of him.
"Yeah," he said with a nod, gathering himself again. "And I can't put them in the middle of all of this. That's why I need your help."
"How can I help? I don't even know half about the things you guys are hunting," she replied.
"You seem like a smart girl. You'll figure it out. I just need you to keep an eye on them. Tell me if something's going on. Protect them if necessary," John replied.
"Of course. I'd do anything," she assured him with a nod. Watching the brothers just for one day had been enough for her to make that decision and she realized that Missouri had been right all along. They did have a lot in common and not just dead mothers. They had families that cared for each other.
"But protect them from what?" Hayley asked quietly.
John sighed and shared a look with Missouri. "There's something you need to know about Sam."
Sam walked down the long familiar corridor, carrying a cup of coffee in his hand. He definitely had spent too much time in that hospital and he was glad they could all finally leave soon.
He walked past his father's room, peeking inside. "Dad?!"
His eyes widened in shock when he saw his father's body lifeless on the ground. He dropped the cup, coffee splashing on the floor, as he ran over to his father, kneeling down beside him and screaming for help on the top of his lungs.
It felt like hours until finally doctors and nurses stormed his father's room. They pushed him out the doorway, where he was soon joined by Dean and Hayley, who watched the team of doctors try to revive their father in shock.
"No, no, no, it's our Dad. It's our Dad!" Dean pleaded helplessly. It couldn't end this way. "Come on."
"Okay, stop compressions," one doctor ordered.
"Come on, come on," Dean mumbled anxiously as he felt Hayley's hand on his arm.
"Still no pulse," a nurse said.
"Okay, that's it everybody," the doctor announced. "I'll call it. Time of death: 10:41 am."
Author's Note:
Hope you liked the first chapter of this sequel! I was really excited to write it and incorporate a little more background story to Hayley and how she met the boys. Looks like John's and Hayley's secret will be out soon!
The song for this first chapter was pretty obvious too. Of course, Dean wouldn't just abandon his job, just because he's invisible and half-dead. Doing it to death! The Winchesters always go down swinging ;)
And yeah, you guys. I know you probably want Dean/Hayley to happen and I promise it will...at one point. This is definitely slow burn. So slow that you're gonna curse me by the end of this story. But I feel like everything else wouldn't feel natural. Season 2 Dean is pretty much struggling with his own demons and Hayley still has one foot in her old life and one in her new one. I think she needs to finish whatever she started with Mike and find some closure before jumping into anything new. That's just my opinion and the feeling I get when I write scenes with the two in them. But I would love to hear your opinion on this as well!
I hope you're happy with the title I picked too. I had the hardest time with that, but I feel like it fits nicely to season 2 and to this particular story. I will also update the cover image soon. I'm trying to draw a comic version of Hayley (getting her costume right seems to be the hardest part).
Thank you so much for following this story so far! I'm thrilled to start writing season 2. There's a lot going on in the Impala as well as Central City. Plus, we might learn more about the Reverse Flash and Hayley's past, so stay tuned!
If you have any specific wishes concerning plot lines or questions at all, you can always PM me. I'd be happy to answer :)
I also love getting reviews as it motivates me a lot to continue writing and gives me a good feeling of what you guys love/hate!
PS: Thanks for the latest review on Saved in a Flash! I love the Reverse Flash storyline too! I'm stoked to write it, especially with the ever-suspicious Winchesters in it on one side, and our ever-trusting heroine on the other. It will mostly follow the Flash's OG storyline, but I do have a different ending in mind ;) and yeah, Zoom during the Apocalypse is just going to be awesome. I can really see him thrive on that :D