It had been almost two months since Chloe had turned her back on her life and hit the road with Sam and Dean Winchester. Andy hadn't taken the news incredibly well but she had told him to suck it up because no amount of yelling was going to change her mind. First Chloe had been introduced to Bobby - Sam and Dean's father figure - he was a lovely man who instantly took Chloe under his wing and treated her like his own daughter. Bobby had helped Dean teach Chloe how to fight and how to protect herself, her ability to learn quickly impressed them both and they were soon confident that she could hold her own in any fight. When she wasn't training, Chloe showed Sam some research tricks she had picked up over the years and told him how to investigate in places he would never usually think to look.
Somewhere in amongst all of that, Chloe had been introduced to Castiel the resident angel. She had been told, more like warned actually, about him but nothing could have prepared her for actually meeting him. First of all, he just appeared right behind her as she was grabbing beers out of the fridge, scaring the crap out of her when she turned around, causing her to drop the bottles she was holding, which subsequently smashed and covered her socks in beer. And secondly, conversation with him could only be described as awkward. Oh, and not forgetting the strange fixation he seemed to have with Dean. Other than that, things were good and she seemed to fit in really well.
It was soon decided that Chloe was ready to go out on her first hunt. For a few days Bobby has been receiving calls about a group of demons that had taken over a small town in Oregon. So both Sam and Chloe started work on finding out as much as they could about the town. Sam found plans of the town and marked the buildings that the demons would probably be using as their headquarters. Meanwhile Chloe used local media to find out what was going on. The local newspaper hadn't been published in almost two weeks and those from surrounding towns didn't hold any clues either. After almost an hour of coming to dead ends Chloe was about to give up when she stumbled across a blog written by a local girl claiming to be one of about twenty survivors in a town that had been taken over by strange people that 'act like the mafia, but with black eyes'. Chloe rolled her eyes and laughed, but at least it confirmed that they were dealing with demons and that there were at least some survivors. She scanned the blog for any useful information, there wasn't any, but she did manage to find a GPS tag attached to the posts, which showed her exactly where these people were hiding.
The next day, Chloe climbed into the backseat of the Impala whilst Sam and Dean occupied the front and they headed to Oregon. With Dean driving, and Bobby following in his own car, they made it in no time at all and parked at an abandoned truck stop about half a mile out of town. They would have to walk the rest of the way, so they gathered all the weapons they could carry and started walking. After slowly circling the outskirts of the town they found the building that the blogs GPS had led them to. As soon as they entered the building, its inhabitants began to panic.
"We are here to help you!" Dean yelled and they all repeated this to every person who tried to attack or flee until calm was restored.
The survivors were mainly women and children. There were only two men in the house. One of these men explained how the black-eyed creatures had come into town and killed almost everyone. Dean, Sam, Chloe and Bobby introduced themselves and then Sam asked the group,
"Do you know where they are based?"
"The Regent Building. The 12-storey building right in the centre of town." Answered a tall, blonde woman probably in her 30's who had introduced herself as Diane.
"Ok, we'll check it out," Bobby said matter-of-factly, "Chloe can you stay here and get these people out to the truck stop so we can get them out of here as soon as we get back?" He phrased it like a question but Chloe knew it wasn't so she nodded reluctantly. She had a feeling this would happen and they would find a way to leave her behind whilst making is seem like she was doing something useful.
"I'll stay and help too." Dean announced, having noticed Chloe's disappointment, and moved to stand beside her, slipping an arm around her waist.
"Dean we need you." Bobby said simply shaking his head. The look on his face told Dean that it would be unwise to argue so Dean nodded, pulled Chloe to him and kissed her gently.
"Be careful." He whispered into her ear.
"You too." Chloe replied, as Dean turned and headed for the door after Bobby and Sam.
As soon as the guys had left Chloe told everybody to gather any belongings they had and be ready to leave as soon as possible. They were almost ready when all of a sudden the room was filled with demons and people started screaming.
"I knew we'd find you little rodents eventually!" Boomed a voice over the commotion. Before Chloe even had a chance to grab anything to defend herself a huge man appeared before her, she felt a sharp pain in her head and everything went black.
When she woke up, she was in a room brightly lit with artificial lights and she was bound tightly to a chair. The tall man who was responsible for the throbbing pain in her head was standing by the door.
"She's awake." He said into a walkie-talkie attached to his jacket and then looked up to grin at Chloe,
"Don't worry darlin', we won't hurt you… Much." She glared at him but didn't say a word. The door suddenly flew open and hit the wall with a crash. A tall red-headed woman stood in the doorway for a moment and then crossed the space between them in three long strides and stood staring down at Chloe.
"You are here with the Winchesters aren't you?" She asked, Chloe said nothing. After a minute the woman seemed to get fed up of waiting for a reply and tried a different approach.
"My name is Belle. I'm in charge around here and I can promise that no harm will come to you if you co-operate with us fully." Belle smiled falsely at Chloe, but still she said nothing. Quickly growing tired of the 'nice routine' Belle's eyes narrowed and in a blur of movement she slapped Chloe hard across the face and hissed,
"You will talk by the time I am finished with you!" and then stalked out of the room. By now Dean would know that she was missing and would be looking for her, she was confident of this. Chloe silently berated herself for being so stupid as to get herself kidnapped on her first hunt because she knew that how she would have to prove herself all over again.
Chloe stayed bound to that chair for what felt like an eternity, but it was probably only two or three days. One day she awoke suddenly from a vivid dream of Castiel standing over her telling her that everything would be ok and that he would protect her. She was bleeding, battered and bruised but she still had not spoken one single word, not even an exclamation of pain when they tortured her. Castiel's words only restored her faith that she was doing the right thing.
The next few days passed in a haze of different torture methods, but still Chloe held her nerve, confident in the fact that Dean would rescue her. Her hope was soon rewarded. She had heard her guard talking about demons going missing and she noticed that they were all acting nervous and making mistakes as they attempted to step-up security, she knew this had to be Dean and the others. From her soundproof room Chloe had no idea what was going on outside, but when Belle burst through the door, her face flushed, flanked by more demons than usual, Chloe knew that something big was happening. They had left the door open, and through it Chloe could hear a commotion that was getting louder and closer. From nowhere a dead demon came flying backwards through the door, followed by three figures crowing into the space. Dean, Sam and Bobby. Chloe was almost relieved, but in a heartbeat Belle was in front of Chloe with a large knife in her hand and her heart sank. Chloe looked from the knife to Dean just in time to see his eyes widen as he noticed the weapon. Belle smiled to herself, obviously happy that they had arrived in time to see this, and the drove the knife deep into Chloe's stomach.
Everything started to go fuzzy, but Chloe heard Dean yell her name and saw a blur of motion in front of her as Dean and Sam fought their way into the room while Bobby stood at the door reading an exorcism at the top of his voice. Her eyelids were getting heavier and she was surprised how little pain she felt. Chloe managed to keep her eyes open long enough to see Dean fighting his way towards her, but then she couldn't hold it off any longer and as she drifted away Dean fell to his knees at her feet, his eyes filled with tears.
"You BITCH!" Dean roared, diving towards Belle with the demon knife in his hand. Belle just laughed at him, but soon stopped when she looked around and realised that her bodyguards were within seconds of death as Bobby recited the last few words of the exorcism. She returned her attention back to Dean just as he plunged the knife into her heart. She went limp and crashed to the floor at Dean's feet, but he didn't give her a second glance because he was already moving back to Chloe, checking for a pulse. There wasn't one.
"No. Please God no." Dean sobbed as Sam began freeing Chloe's body from the chair.
"Come on Dean, we've got to get her out of here." Sam said softly to Dean, putting a hand on his shoulder. Dean didn't respond but gathered Chloe up in his arms and left. The building the demons had been using had been angel-proofed so Castiel couldn't help them, but he was waiting for them when they exited. His eyes widened as he saw Chloe's limp body in Dean's arms. He reached out and touched her chest over her heart, Dean looked up at Cas his eyes full of hope, but Cas shook his head avoiding Dean's gaze.
Sam drove all night to get them back to Bobby's house, while Dean cradled Chloe against him unwilling to let go of her. Not yet. He couldn't. He'd only just met her and he would do anything to bring her back. How could he have let this happen? How could Sam and Bobby have let this happen? He knew he should have stayed with her and not left her alone on her first hunt, but no, Bobby had pulled some crap about 'needing him' and he'd just gone and left her. What an idiot! He would never forgive Sam and Bobby for making him go without her. Hell, he'd never forgive himself for not standing up to Bobby and doing what he thought was right. He'd done it again; got someone he loved killed because he'd done what he was told. Yes, he loved her. He hadn't known her for that long, but he'd known that he loved her from the moment he first set eyes on her; he was just unwilling to admit it to himself. Well now it was too late. He'd failed her.
Dean lay Chloe down on the bed in Bobby's panic room but refused to leave her side. He hadn't spoken to anyone since it had happened, he couldn't because he was afraid of what he might say so all he could do was hope that Cas could do something. They hadn't seen Cas since Oregon but he said he had something important to do and would be back as soon as he could. Dean lay on the bed next to Chloe and sobbed himself to sleep.
When he woke up a couple of hours later it took him a few seconds to remember where he was and what had happened. When the memories of his girlfriends lying dead in his arms flooded back he sat both upright because she was no longer in his arms and the space beside him on the bed was empty.
"Son of a bitch." He hissed as he charged out of the panic room and up the stairs, convinced that Sam and Bobby must have taken her while he was asleep. Dean ran into Bobby's library already yelling,
"If you've…" He couldn't finish his sentence because there in front of him was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen.
Bobby was sitting behind his desk, Sam was perched on the front of the desk and Cas was leaning against the wall, but in the armchair over by the window was Chloe.
"You're… What…" He couldn't speak.
"I'm alive." Chloe said weakly, reaching out for him with a smile. Dean ran to her and pulled her into his arms as if there was nobody else in the room. He breathed in her scent and whispered in her ear.
"I am never letting you out of my sight ever again…. I love you."
"I love you too." Chloe's quiet voice whispered back. Dean pulled back a bit to look at Cas,
"What happened?" He asked the angel. Cas looked quickly at Bobby and Sam and then pulled in a deep breath.
"I was owed a few favours so I was able to negotiate her release." Cas answered. Dean briefly considered Cas' choice of words but chose not to ask him to expand on that just yet. Instead he asked,
"Is she ok? I mean, you brought her back whole, as she was, right?"
"Ask her." Cas replied nodding towards Chloe.
"Oh crap yeah, I'm sorry. How are you feeling? Do you feel like yourself? Are you healed?" Dean asked Chloe frantically. Chloe placed her hand on Dean's cheek and smiled adoringly at him.
"I'm fine," She replied, "I'm a little achy and sore, but apart from that I am as soon as new, don't worry about me."
"There is something you should know." Cas announced suddenly from across the room.
"No!" Chloe, Sam and Bobby said in unison. Dean frowned.
"What is it?" he asked. Cas opened his mouth to speak but Chloe interrupted him,
"Don't you dare Cas. I will tell him when I'm ready." Dean looked from Cas to Chloe confused. "Please Dean," she pleaded, "I will tell you, I promise, but I need some time. I'm not strong enough at the moment." Dean nodded.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of worry for both Dean and Chloe. Dean was worried about whatever it was that Chloe wasn't strong enough to tell him, he had theories but that just made it worse and Chloe couldn't stop thinking about how the hell she was going to tell Dean the truth.
That night, Dean held Chloe tightly to his chest and kissed her softly until she eventually fell asleep, but even then she was restless. She kept wriggling and muttering words Dean couldn't make out. It was when she began to cry hysterically in her sleep that Dean really began to panic and decided he would have to wake her up because he couldn't take any it more. After a lot of shaking and softly calling her name, Chloe's eyes flew open and she sat up and screamed, "NO!"
"It's ok," Dean soothed, pulling her to him, "You're ok, you're safe." Chloe looked around confused.
"Dean?" she asked, and seemed to calm down when she saw he was there.
"Yeah it's me. Don't worry, everything's gonna be ok." It was then that Chloe really started to cry. Dean pulled her even closer to him and she buried her face into his chest.
"I was in hell." Chloe eventually sobbed, the words muffled as she spoke into Dean's shirt.
"What?" Dean gasped, appalled.
"Cas brought me back from hell Dean." She repeated.