"Today I heard that someone left this earth
That someone disappeared left no mark here
Today I heard that someone just got up and left himself
Lying on the ground .."
Civil Twilight- "Quiet In MyTown"
Hospital
Missouri, USA
"Angel!"
She woke with a start, shooting up into sitting position with wide eyes as she coughed, feeling as though she'd spit up a lung. A hand on her back, slung her back into reality and she jerked away from it, hands groping and grabbing at her shirt.
"Woah. Hey it's okay." She ignored he voice, the sting burning underneath the thin material of her shirt, causing her to desperately pull at its neck to get a better look at the wound she remembered was-...no longer there.
She froze, staring down her chest at the newly regenerated skin in shock and confusion.
"...Aurora?" It was then, in the midst of her silence that she heard his distinct voice. She turned her neck up to look at him, giving him a once over to find him clad in the same uniform as her. She brought her eyes up to meet his darkened green hues, still as beautiful as she left them.
"You alright?" Asked Dean.
"You have no shoes.." She spoke, still in a daze.
Confused was an understatement.
Dean frowned and looked down to his naked feet before looking over to hers.
"..Neither do you." He said causing her to then look to her feet. She wiggled her toes slightly.
Her brows furrowed.
"What the hell is going on?"
"Hell if I know." And he wished with everything that he did. Waking up in that hospital bed, failing to remember how he got there was confusing enough, but when he finally took in his surroundings and found that in that same room, Auroras unconscious body lay in the bed next to him, he was down right mind boggled.
But nonetheless, relieved to see that he still had her there with him.
"I thought I died..." She spoke just above a did her best to try and remember what happened, but the last thing that came to mind was Dean, bloody on the ground across from her dying before it all went black.
Dean's face went grave. At the silence, she met his pained gaze, matching it with a wan expression.
"I thought so too." He uttered.
Absently, her hand went up to rest over her chest and she took a deep breath.
She remembered it. Everything. The bullet breaking through her skin to pierce a hole in her chest, the white hot excruciating pain, the feeling of sticky warm blood oozing from her puncture.
Dean's gaze followed her every move.
"There...there was a hole in my chest Dean. What the hell happened?" She spoke, panicked.
Dean looked around the room, trying to come up with an answer, but couldn't find one to give.
"...I don't know." He said.
Rory knew he was telling the truth, she didn't expect him to know much judging by the look on his face.
But something definitely wasn't right. And it wasn't settling well with her at all.
"So you feel fine?"
"Completely fine. I probably did that weird healing thing again. Do you remember anything?"
"...Yeah. You were unconscious. Uh-..there was a...we were in the car..me, you, Sam and dad..and then-...we had an accident, and then I woke up...that's all I remember." Dean admitted, a troubled look settled in his eyes.
"Well that's comforting." Rory uttered with a thoughtful expression.
"Let's just try and figure it out as we go along, c'mon." Dean said, reaching out to take her hand in his as he led them out into the hallway of the hospital.
The floor was empty, not a trace of staff in sight.
"I don't even know what state we're in." Rory whispered, not even sure why she felt the need to.
"Sam? Dad? Anybody?" He continued down the hall and down the stairs to the front of the hospital where he found a nurse's station with Rory linked to him and hot on his heels, not wanting to loose sight of each other for a second.
Especially since it seemed that for the time being, they were all they had.
"Excuse me. Hi. I, uh, i think I was in a car accident, my dad and my brother, I just need to find them." When the nurse didn't answer, Rory frowned.
"Hello? Car accident, two other patients missing? What are you, deaf?" She spoke up, patience thinning.
The nurse was unresponsive, rendering the two hunters more confused than ever.
"Hello?" Dean snapped his fingers in front of her, and it was as if the two never existed.
Rory squinted and stepped closer to observe the young woman, noticing how well she was ignoring her presence.
A little too well if she admit herself.
"Wait a minute-"
"Hold on. Hey!" Dean spoke up with a little more force, but she didn't even blink. It was then that Rory put two and two together.
"Dean she can't see us she-" She looked around and down the hall as staff and other people - most likely visitors to patients - passed right by her, not once acknowledging them in the slightest.
"No one can see us." She panicked, spinning to find Dean who seemed to realize the same thing.
"Wait if no one can see us then that means-"
"I did die." She spoke more to herself than to anyone else.
And suddenly she could feel it, the void, the missing spark that was her vessel. the completion to her soul. She felt hollow.
"No wait, you were still alive when we got outta the cabin...so that means...the car crash killed us.." Her heart growing heavy in her chest. Dean's shoulders slumped with grief as he looked into her icy blue orbs.
So I did lose her, he frowned as the devastation fell over him.
"Come on." Quickly and in a panic, Dean grabbed her hand and made for the stairs again, going up a floor.
"Wait a minute." She paused once they finally got to the next floor.
"We should split up." She said, looking around as she spoke, all the while wondering where the hell her body could be.
"What why?" Dean replied, looking at her ridiculously.
"Cover more ground."
"What, hell no. I'm not letting you outta my sight." He said.
"That's cute. But I'm serious Dean, the moment I find either of us, I'll come find you. I won't even go in the room." She told him.
He watched her with a straight-face, giving her proposal deep thought before he slumped and gave in.
"Fine."
Rory nodded and made to walk off when she was suddenly stopped by Dean's hand on her arm.
"Angel."
She looked up into his eyes with question when she saw the burning gaze he was giving her.
Neither of them saw it coming, not even Dean, even as he was initiating it.
Her stomach tightened at the feel of his lips ghosting over hers before they locked together. A fire ignited in her chest, and spread throughout her entire body like a surge of energy. Dean stepped in, deepening the kiss, moving his hand to rest behind her neck whilst Rory angled her head. His lips were still as tough yet gentle as she remembered them to be. Nothing had changed about him, even in death.
It was comforting, and oddly reassuring.
When he pulled away, the world around them swirled back into play.
Rory blinked her eyes open.
"I'm sorry I took so long to do that.." He whispered, his warm breath beating gently against her cheek.
Rory smirked.
Better late than never.
"I'm sorry too."
There was still a lot to talk about, but for now they had to prioritize.
She'd wandered what felt like the entire hospital and hadn't found a trace of her body. It was beginning to scare her, but externally, she wore a brave face.
I've gotta be somewhere around here...Right?
It was weird being unseen. She couldn't get over it, or the fact that Dean had kissed her. Dean had kissed her, finally...
And she was dead.
They both were.
"Please be okay. Please be okay.." She spoke like a mantra under her breath as she rushed through the halls, the pads of her bare feet tapping gently against the ground.
"Come on..." She knew she'd set out to look for hers and Dean's body, but she had to put them aside for a moment to focus on the living.
Sam wasn't in any of the rooms, which meant that-
"He's fine. He's fine, he has to be fine." She prayed aloud, stopping dead in her tracks when she came across John laying stiff in his hospital bed. He seemed battered and exhausted, but nonetheless he was upright, and alive.
"Oh John. Thank God." She sighed with relief.
"I see you're detoxed. Remind me to kill you for shooting me." She cut her eyes before moving on down the hall. Seeing him physically was going to have to last her for now.
"Now where's Sammy?" She spoke to herself, carrying her feet down the hall. As much as she wanted to stick around to further invisibly curse out the older man for practically killing her, she knew she had more to do, and quick.
"Now...where am I.." She spoke to herself, reading the signs overhead as she passed, but in the near distance she could hear the sound of Sam and Dean's voices coming from one of the rooms up ahead.
"Thank you." She cast her gaze heavenward, thanking the higher forces for keeping Sam alive.
"Ariel." She froze just outside Dean's room, hearing the voice behind her. She'd heard it before.
Over and over, time and time again in her head.
And in her dreams.
Slowly she spun on the balls of her feet to face him.
"...You."
He stared intently back at her.
"You look different."
"Because you're manifesting." He answered, rendering her shocked. He'd never said more than two words to her before.
"Don't think I'll ever get used to this." She whipped around at the sound of Dean's voice behind her.
"You okay?" He asked. Rory blinked before throwing her gaze over her shoulder to look for the man, only to find him gone.
"Uh-yeah..yeah I'm fine. I saw John. He's okay too. Doesn't seem to have any life threatening injuries, and he's awake, which means he's probably giving Sammy hell for not icing him while he was possessed by Yellow Eyes." She spoke, shifting her weight.
Dean frowned.
"Yeah, the sooner we figure out how to get back into our bodies, the better." He ran a hand down his face, earning a nod from her in return.
If she were being honest with herself, this whole ordeal was beginning to get the better of her.
She threw her gaze onto the open door, knowing that just inside laid a comatose Dean.
"What's the news on you?" He asked anxiously. Rory met his eyes.
"You first. I uh, I'd rather spare myself the depression of seeing your almost dead body." She winced.
"Right well, doc says I've sustained serious injuries which include blood loss, contusions to my liver and kidney, and my personal favorite; head trauma, He says I've been showing early signs o-of cerebral edema. What the hell is that crap?"
"Calm down. We're gonna figure this out. We just...we just-"
"Rory?"
She could feel the energy slip from her, causing her to feel light on her feet to the point where she began to sway. Dean held her by the shoulders to try and steady her.
"I-I'm...I'm fine I just.." She braced her hands on his arms.
"I don't feel so good." She admit, fighting against the nausea.
Deans brows drew together with worry as he studied her carefully.
"Okay where's your body? We're getting you back now." He asked.
Losing her again wasn't an option.
Rory looked up at him, weakly and Dean could see the color draining itself from her usually glowing tone.
"...I don't know." She breathed matching his expression, sparking fear in both of their hearts.
"What do you mean?" Dean asked, confused.
"Dean I've checked everywhere, your room was the last one...I don't think I'm here." She responded, eyes wide with fear and doubt.
"W-then where the hell are you?!" He panicked.
"I don't know, but...but I think I know a way to find out."