This story is an extreme AU for both Narnia and Supernatural. MINIMAL knowledge of Narnia is needed to understand this story. This is a canon divergence from Season 2 Episode 17 for Supernatural.
I own nothing and no one.
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Sam looked at the gun in his hand, biting his lip hard enough to bleed. He had to shoot her. If he didn't then Dean would, and for a moment he was ready to turn and run away from this. Run away from her. He knew that this was just a repeat of Jessica- only this time, he had to literally hold the gun and point it at her. He wasn't ready for this, to kill someone he'd become attached to. It would be so easy to turn away and let Dean take care of this, to run away just like he'd done when he left for Stanford. If he did that, though, Sam knew that something would change in the slowly rebuilding relationship between him and Dean. Asking Dean to kill Madison for him would just make everything between him and Dean so much worse than it already was. Steeling his nerves, he bit his lip and looked back at Dean who nodded solemnly to him; as if he were saying, "You have to. There's nothing else to do."
He'd held guns all his life, but suddenly the sleek feeling in his hand was no longer comfortable; turned into a piece of lead weighing his arm down. This was everything he'd grown up doing, shooting monsters, saving people. The family business all narrowed down to this moment. All of a sudden, he was beginning to question if they'd been going about it all wrong. Was there some other way to protect people from the monsters? There had to be another way. Killing people whose only crime was being being bit by something outside of their control seemed so wrong. Opening the door to face Madison, Sam felt like he was walking to his own execution.
"I'm sorry," he mumbled, not quite willing to meet her eyes, "I wish-"
"I know, I do too," she said quietly, nodding her head, "But you have to. I..I need you to."
Sam nodded, looking at the gun again. He didn't understand how she could accept this so easily but if that made this easier for her… anything that could lessen her pain or fear was a good thing. He didn't want her to hurt any more.
"I just...I just kinda wanted you to know," he began, "That...when I was with you...That, uh, that was the first time I'd been happy...in a really long time."
She nodded, closing her eyes. Her expression was so heartbreaking that Sam had to look away. He refused to cry before he even pulled the trigger. He couldn't do it. He had to hold himself together long enough to get this job done. Falling apart could wait until after he made sure that Madison wasn't suffering anymore.
"Thank you," she said with a sad smile, "I'm glad that it's you here." She lifted her head, opening her eyes. She was tragically beautiful and Sam had the thought that he could have loved her. He could have fallen in love with her.
"Do it now," she said firmly, hands tensing in her lap. "Just do it."
Sam raised the gun and took a deep breath, steadying his hands as he aimed at her.
"Wait!" A girl burst into the door panting, hair in disarray. Seeing Madison tied to the chair, she moved forward, cupping the other woman's cheek. Sam jumped in shock, automatically lowering the gun and staring in fascination at the scene before him. "You can be forgiven. You do not have to die. Would you like that?"
Madison stared at the stranger with wide eyes and nodded, a desperate urgency in her movements. "Y-yes. If there's any other way, please do it. Anything."
Pulling a chain out of her shirt, the girl unstoppered the vial at the end of it, tilting it to drop one drop of liquid onto Madison's lips. Her voice was so soft as she spoke that Sam had to strain to hear what she was saying. "You have been forgiven. Go in peace."
Sam wasn't sure what this woman was doing, but he made no move to stop her. Suddenly, a warm, happy smile spread across Madison's face- the same smile she had when she just woke up in bed next to him, he thought sadly- and she disappeared in a bright white light. He shielded his eyes and when he looked again- there was nothing in the chair- just the woman next to it.
Sam stared at her in surprise, not entirely sure what he had just witnessed, not entirely sure it wasn't a dream.
"Are you an angel?" he asked earnestly, "Wha-what happened? Where did she go?"
"I am not an angel, Samuel Winchester." The girl smiled softly and slipped the vial back into her shirt. "I am a hunter like you and your brother. The only difference between us is that I have found another way to stop the monsters."
She pushed the chair back up to Madison's table and straightened her hair before stepping into Sam's space. She was at least a foot shorter than him and she had to crane her neck to look up at him, but Sam found himself lost in her azure eyes as she spoke again.
"Everyone can be saved if you have the right tools. Everyone deserves forgiveness Sam, and people like Madison, people who have become something that frightens them and puts others in danger, they deserve peace. I provide that."
He didn't even know how to respond. The idea of being able to save the people who turned without killing them- or doing so with mercy- was mindboggling. They had always been taught that the line between human is black and white, and it wasn't a sentiment he'd really believed in, but he'd simply accepted that no other hunter thought the way he did. When John's tricks for curing werewolves hadn't worked, Sam had figured that it wasn't possible to fix them, to make Madison a normal human. Madison was an evil creature who had to be eliminated, even Dean said so.
Even more than the idea of being able to save people like Madison, the idea of being able to forgive monsters boggled Sam's mind. In his world, monsters weren't ever to be forgiven, weren't ever meant to be given a second chance. Monsters deserved nothing more than what hunters like him, like dad and Dean, gave them. Death. Even monsters like Sam deserved death.
"How?" he asked, still too stunned to even mind that she was in his space, "How do you do that? Is it a cure?"
"It isn't a cure, Sam. I can't cure the afflictions that people suffer from." Her smile was sad and she reached up and pushed hair out of his face. Sam leaned into the touch unconsciously, drawing comfort from this strange girl. "It's absolution. It's forgiveness in the most perfect sense. It gives peace to the broken so that they might find their way." Stepping away, she gestured around the kitchen. "Madison did not want to be the monster she became. She feared the image in the mirror. What I gave her was the peace and forgiveness she was begging for. That is all. I could not cure her, so I gave her what I could."
His heart sank at her reply, he had hoped that there was a way to cure monsters, to give them the chance at normal lives again.. A cure was too good to be true- but giving them peace and forgiveness? If she had any more vials of...whatever it was she had, he wanted ten of them. Anything was better than having to kill people whose situations were out of their control.
She was right, of course- Madison was afraid of the monster that she had become, and that was something he could deeply identify with. He understood that, and was suddenly all the more thankful for her being there. She had saved Madison from life as a werewolf and the deaths she caused. If she could save Madison, maybe she could save other people too...
"That vial on your necklace," he said, "Whatever's inside it, that's what it does? It gives people peace and forgiveness? It makes them disappear? Where did she go? Can you do that for other people too? Other monsters?"
"She is in heaven, Sam. I could not heal her, but I could give her that happiness." One hand reached out to grab one of his,squeezing it gently. The look in her eyes was one of such complete understanding that it almost hurt Sam to hold her gaze. No one had ever looked at him that way and just known what he was thinking before."I cannot give you the same thing that I gave Madison, because you have so much of your life ahead of you, but I can give you forgiveness, if you desire it. I will only do so with your permission."
Sam let out a sigh of relief to hear that Madison was in heaven, at peace and safe for the first time in a long time. His heart stopped at her offer of forgiveness, her eyes bright blue and filled with gentleness and hope, as if she genuinely wanted to help him. She had asked him if he wanted it, and he wanted to cry inside. He didn't remember the last time someone had asked- genuinely asked- to touch him, to do something to him. It was so foreign his mind stumbled over it at first, trying to understand it.
"You can forgive me?" he asked, his breath catching in his throat. Sam swallowed heavily to fight back the emotions that threatened to overwhelm him. "Everything? You can...can you? Is that even possible?"
"Oh Sam," There were arms wrapping around his waist as the girl pulled Sam into a hug. His arms wrapped awkwardly around her shoulders as he drew the comfort that she offered. This girl hadn't even known him for ten minutes, yet she'd already shown Sam more compassion and love than he'd seen since Jess died. When the girl pulled away, Sam couldn't help but feel like he'd lost something precious.
"This is the only vial of this in existence. My father collected these himself and gave them to me." Tugging on Sam so that his head was at her level, the girl opened the vial and allowed one drop of the liquid inside to fall on his lips. Sam licked it off carefully, not wanting to waste it. "These are the tears Jesus shed on the cross as he begged that God forgive the people who were killing him. These tears can forgive anything and anyone."
Once the drop had travelled into his mouth, the girl leaned up and pressed a kiss to his cheek. The feeling of that chaste kiss had Sam's eyes slipping closed as he tried to understand why this perfect stranger was being as kind as she was. There was no explanation of it as far as he could tell. "You are forgiven, Samuel Winchester, and you will know peace."
She hugged him again and his arms wrapped around her, his head bowing. He didn't deserve her kindness, but he selfishly drank it up anyways. He knew her gentleness would better serve someone else. As they embraced, Sam felt a warmth like nothing he had ever felt before, like all of the happiness and love he had ever known all wrapped up in one wonderful emotion.
"So this is what forgiveness feels like," he said softly, dazed and savoring the feeling. When the girl stepped back, he grabbed her arm, stopping her from moving away from him. "Who are you?" he asked, "How can I thank you? Words...they don't cover what you just did for me."
A softer smile spread across the girl's face as she remained close to Sam, her hand turning so that she could stroke the back of his with her fingers.
"I'm Lucy, just Lucy. I'm a friend, Sam. I see people suffering and I help them. It's what I've always done and what I plan to continue doing. I came here to help you." She tilted her head towards the chair Madison had been restrained to. "Killing her would have destroyed part of your soul and you have one of the most beautiful souls I have ever seen."
He didn't bat away her fingers as they skimmed the back of his hand sweetly, not comprehending how exactly someone so amazing had decided to help him. He soaked up the friendly touches, not used to such gentle caresses anymore.
Lucy, he repeated to himself silently, Lucy. A friend.
She came to help...him?
He listened to her, confused. She was right- killing Madison would've hurt him in a way he couldn't explain, he knew that much, and he was beyond thankful that she had stopped him. How she knew that was something that Sam wasn't sure about, but she seemed convinced that she was telling the truth. He couldn't argue with her if she really wanted to believe that.
"You think...my soul is beautiful?" he asked, absolutely awestruck at the idea of that, of everything about her. There was no one in the world like this girl, Sam was sure. If there was, he hadn't met them before.
"Your soul is absolutely stunning, Sam." The look in Lucy's eyes grew distant, as though she was looking below the surface, which she was. "Your soul is so bright, so pure, and yet there is the darkness. Together, they've melded to create a soul that is so strong it can endure anything. It's amazing. I've never seen anything like it."
Her free hand reached out, caressing the air around him as she got a feel for his soul. "It's so full of love, of hope, of pain. All you need is someone who sees you the way I do."
He almost wanted to push her away, to tell her how wrong she was. His soul was dark, and... and dirty. Not stunning. Not beautiful. But he could see it in her face, in her eyes, he could hear it in her voice- she was absolutely telling the truth of what she thought. She saw the dark, and she still thought his soul was pure, that he wasn't as tainted as he thought. She saw the pain and the darkness and the hope and the love; she looked right inside him and she wasn't repulsed.
Maybe she was right. Maybe he did need someone who saw him the way she did.
"Are you sure you're not an angel?" he asked, "Because right now you really seem like an angel, and you're everything I thought that angels are."
"Let's just say that I'm related." Lucy grinned and stepped back, glancing towards the window. "You should probably head out there soon. Your brother is going to be waiting for you and I doubt you want him coming in here. Come on, I'll come with you, at least part of the way."
"Related to angels," he said, cracking a grin back at her. She had just made one of the worst days of his life so much better, and she was still looking out for him. Related to angels- close enough for him. He was glad that she would come with him, already nervous about explaining what had happened to Madison.
"Alright," he said, taking a deep breath, "Okay."
He opened the door, suddenly very aware that he'd dropped his gun on the floor in shock. He could see Dean sitting on the couch as if he were in a hospital waiting room. He saw Sam and leapt to his feet, coming up on him fast.
"I didn't hear a gunshot- what did you do?" Dean demanded, "Did you let her go?" He looked over his shoulder catching a glimpse of someone behind him, "Who the fuck is that?"
Lucy stepped in front of Sam, using her smaller body to shield his as she met Dean's eyes, defiance clearly written across her face. "Madison has been sent off in peace. She is no longer a risk to anyone. That is what matters here."
Turning back to Sam, her look softened. "Sam did not kill her. I have taken care of her and you do not need to worry anymore. Your work here is completed and you can leave this city behind."
Lucy was in front of him, shielding him from his brother, and while she was so small it was almost comical, he couldn't help but feel very safe with her protecting him.
Dean, on the other hand, looked down at her, taking her defiance as a personal invitation to be just as defiant right back.
"You took care of her?" he asked, snorting, "Please. You couldn't "take care" of or "give peace" to a kitten. You expect me to believe you took out a werewolf? And where the hell did you come from anyhow? I've been sitting in here the entire time and I didn't let anybody into the house."
"Madison's gone," Sam said, placing his hand on Lucy's shoulder, "She's right. We did what we came to do. Let's just go."
"No, we didn't," he said, glaring right back at Lucy, "We came here to gank some werewolves. And I have yet to hear the gunshot that signifies the ganking. So, did you let her go, or did you use a knife, tinkerbell?"
Lucy straightened her spine and slowly crossed her arms,her posture coming off as extremely hostile as she glared at Dean. Sam took a step back, slightly intimidated by this change in the girl who had been so sweet just moments before. When she was sure she had Dean's attention, she spoke slowly, as if she was talking to a child.
"Killing people is not the only solution. It is simply the only one you acknowledge because you have been forced to kill or be killed since you were a child. Someone like Madison, someone who resents the monster inside with every fiber, hardly deserves to die. I did something that only I had the capability to do. I ensured that she would face heaven rather than purgatory. She is gone. She cannot kill anyone any longer."
Her expression softened slightly as she continued. "The world is not simply black or white, gank or don't. There are often other options that you cannot comprehend."
Sam found himself nodding along with what she said, because it was exactly how he felt but he was always too scared to say. When he glanced up at his brother, Dean had folded his arms, annoyed with her tone and attitude- like he was some stupid brat that refused to listen. Sam could see the gears turning in his brother's head and he almost groaned. Whatever Dean was going to say, it wasn't going to be good.
"So you're telling me that you somehow know of a way to make sure that a monster goes to heaven without killing them," he said with a skeptical look on his face, "Okay, and I'm the fucking queen of Sheba."
"I would hope not," her reply was flippant but there was a gleam of humor in her eyes. "She had this odd growth by her ear. It looked like a mushroom. Disgusting, really."
Pulling the vial out of her shirt again, she made sure that Dean could see it and the contents before she hid it away. "Ask Bobby Singer about the properties of Jesus's blood, sweat and tears. Then you'll have your answer about whether or not I have something that can send people to heaven without killing them."
"I don't think so, Sister Christian. You're coming back to our motel with us until I get a straight answer out of you. You aren't human. There's no way you could have snuck in here behind me and I didn't miss for a second that you didn't answer that question earlier. Come on." Dean stepped forward and grabbed Lucy's arm, pulling her towards the door.
"Dean is that really necessary? She helped me, okay? Madison is gone. We did what we came here for. Let's just leave it at that and go. Do you have to interrogate everyone who comes along and helps?" Sam glared at his brother, wanting to grab Lucy and pull her away from him. All she'd done was help him, save Madison before he shot her. There was no reason to treat her like she was the bad guy.
"Shut your pie hole, Sammy. We're taking her with us until we can figure out what she is. I'm not taking any chances."
"Sam," Lucy smiled at him, pulling her arm out of Dean's grip. "It's fine. There's nothing your brother can do to me that I can't protect myself from." Turning around to look at Dean, she continued. "If you ever lay a hand on me without my permission again, I can guarantee that you will regret it."
"Sure Princess. I'm really scared of your pepper spray." Dean scoffed, opening the door and throwing an arm out to gesture her through it. "After you, shortstack."
Lucy walked through the door, bumping into Dean 'accidentally' and smirking up at him. "You really shouldn't provoke people you don't know, Dean WInchester. It doesn't always end well for you."
Following her out, Sam just glared at his brother, not caring about Dean's mumbled 'Don't be a bitch Sammy.' In his eyes, Lucy had done nothing wrong. She had helped him and she had helped Madison. That's what mattered to him. Sam didn't care if she wasn't human. There was no doubt in his mind that whatever Lucy was, she was good.
Back in their motel room, the first thing Dean did was push a flask of holy water into Lucy's hands, calculating gaze taking in her every move. Sam huffed when he saw it, moving to sit down at the table and watch Dean's interrogation. He would be ready to step in if Dean went too far, but he knew that Dean had to do this to be satisfied. "Drink up, buttercup. You pass this test, we'll move on to the next one."
Lucy rolled her eyes but unscrewed the cap, tipping the flask and taking a sip. Nothing happened. When she lowered the flask, she tilted her head, eyes wide as she stared at him. "I'm not a demon. Hand me the silver knife."
Dean was slightly unsettled as he passed her the knife, his mouth pulled tight in a thin line. Usually when they interrogated monsters, they weren't so passive about it. He'd expected her to put up a fight, object to this treatment. Instead… she seemed to be mocking him. He watched as Lucy grasped the handle of the knife in her left hand, pulling it across her right palm. A stream of blood appeared in the thin cut but the silver had no affect on her. She pulled a cloth out of her pocket and carefully wiped the knife off before holding the handle out to Dean.
"Anything else you'd like to see me do? Maybe dress in drag and do a hula?" The mocking smile on her face had Dean growling as he turned away from her, reminding himself that he couldn't punch a girl just because she annoyed him.
"Who are you? What are you? How did you just pop into Madison's apartment? Why are you here?" The questions were growled, anger lacing every word. Dean hated not knowing what something was and this girl pushed his buttons more than most.
"I'm Lucy. I'm a hunter just like you, I just have a different way of doing things. How I got into Madison's apartment is none of your business. I was there to help Sam and that's what I did." Lucy shrugged, leaning back against the wall and crossing her arms. "I'm not one of the bad guys, Dean. I hunt down the monsters just like you do."
"You're not human." Dean spat out. "I want to know what sort of creepy crawly creature you are. Now."
"Dean!" Sam stood up and grabbed his brother's shoulder. "She's not a bad guy. Leave her alone. What does it matter if she isn't human?"
"She's a monster, Sam! Not human. You know, those things we gank. You should be just as concerned about this as I am. Why aren't you? What did she do to you? Did she brainwash you?" Dean reared on Lucy, grabbing her arm. "What did you do to him?"
"I told you not to touch me," Lucy's voice was calm as she lifted her free hand and snapped. Dean found himself propelled backwards and stuck to the wall across the room. "I did nothing to Sam, Dean. I gave him the forgiveness and peace he's been seeking for so long. That's it. I did not brainwash him, or hurt him. There is nothing that will harm your brother in what I did. I already told you to call Bobby Singer if you really want to know what I did. You aren't going to take me at my word. Ask someone you trust."
"I asked you." Dean fought to get away from the wall. When he found that he couldn't move, he spat out, "What the fuck did you do to me? What are you? Another fucking trickster? We just ganked one of you motherfuckers."
Lucy's face fell, her expression quickly going blank as she stared at Dean. Gathering herself, she shook the gloom from her form and looked away from the older hunter. She lifted one hand and snapped again, allowing Dean to fall free from the wall. "I'm not a trickster. I'm a hunter and I'm here to help."
"Why should we accept your help?" Dean had collected himself off the ground and moved to stand by Sam's chair, pushing his brother back into it. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't just gank your ass right now."
"Because if you kill me, the path you and Sam are going to head down leads to more heartache and death than you can imagine." Lucy stood straight, pushing her hair out of her face. "If you kill me, I can promise that your lives are going to be hell. Literally. I came here to help you, to stop you from starting something that none of us want, and to get your help. If I leave, or if you kill me, the things that are going to happen to you and Sam are awful. The things that are going to happen to this world are awful. I'm trying to prevent that."
"Why do you care what we do?" Dean put his arm on Sam's shoulder. "We're complete strangers to you."
"Because if I don't care about what you do, a lot of my family is going to be hurt." Lucy sighed. "Look. I could explain what would happen if I left, or I could explain what's going to happen now that I'm here. Which would you prefer?"
Dean was quiet for a minute before reluctantly sitting down in the second chair in the room, gesturing for Lucy to sit on one of the beds. "Talk. Your explanation better fucking include what the hell you are though, or I'm walking."
"Of course." Lucy sat down on the bed, looking down at her hands for a moment before lifting her head and meeting both of the Winchesters head on. "What do you know about Norse gods?"