Title: A Little Excitement
Author: OpheliacAngel
Pairing: Charlie Bradbury/Kali
Genre: Romance/Friendship
Rating: Teen
Summary: Since running into the Winchesters, Charlie has met many interesting people. Kali is definitely no exception. Season 9 AU; I haven't seen any episodes from this season, so this is really just speculation post Season 8.
A/N: This was written as a treat for lyryk (s_k) for Femslash Exchange 2013, partly because I felt like writing something extra, though also because they introduced me to a new, gorgeous pairing and I am so grateful. I hope you enjoy and think I did the two justice.
Charlie puts her head in her hands and practically moans aloud in the face of such boredom.
She's going stir crazy being in the bunker for days on end, nowhere to go and nothing to do. Sure, Dean and Sam are here, but Sam is usually resting to will away the aftereffects of the trials, and Dean is preoccupied with coddling him, cooking for him and cleaning up after him, which leaves little time for Charlie Bradbury. Still, she's not complaining.
Charlie sighs, scrolling through page after page of first potential but then not really hunts at all, simultaneously wondering whether she should sign up for some online college classes to have at least something to do.
Dean's been on the phone and internet a lot lately too, recruiting as many people as he can in case the angels should team up and start something. She's no fool, she's read many an article online and has seen the atrocious acts they are committing on humans and the world. It terrifies her, but it also makes her want to fight.
If Charlie's good at anything, it's fighting for what she believes in, for and alongside the ones she loves.
She stumbles out of her bedroom in her pj's the next morning, yawning loudly, feeling more tired than she has in weeks for some reason. She quiets immediately when she hears the voices in the living/dining room. Her eyes narrow in confusion and curiosity, hearing the voice of a woman she doesn't recognize, and she enters the room quietly.
Charlie freezes on the spot. The woman before her is taller than her, but not any taller than the average height of a human, yet there is something about her, her presence in the room, that seems massive and powerful and unlike anything Charlie Bradbury has ever seen or felt before.
"So, Kali...?"
Kali? Charlie's memory zooms back to last year, when she extensively studied the Hindu gods out of both obligation and interest. But this can't seriously be Kali. She knows that angels are real, there's perfect proof of that, and Sam's told her that all the gods of every religion are real, but Charlie doesn't want to believe it, doesn't want to get her hopes up.
She knows it is though. There's something about this woman that screams Kali.
"If you're asking me to stand with you, Dean Winchester, then I will. I have endured enough of the antics of these angels, they are becoming troublesome. It is time to show them that they are not the only beings that matter."
Dean nods at that, looking quite intimidated by her; Charlie doesn't blame him in the slightest, and the only reason why she isn't looking at Kali with wide eyes, backing away from her seemingly large and powerful form instantly, is because she never thought she would get the chance to actually meet the Hindu goddess of destruction and death. It's quite a lot for her to take in.
He steps back and points out Charlie then, though when he noticed her she has no idea, that's how spellbound she is. And despite all that Charlie's just revealed to herself, she still gulps and looks up at her nervously, smiling timidly, half-fearful that Kali will forcefully wipe the smile right off her face.
"Kali, this is Charlie. She'll be helping us."
Dean makes a move to add more to that, but Kali silences him completely with her glare. She steps forward, and Charlie has to control herself not to step back, but also not to let her mouth drop open in shock.
"Charlie, this is Kali."
"Yeah," she answers Dean breathlessly, "I kinda got that already." Kali is barely three inches from her now, and her hand lifts up to grasp the human's cheek demandingly, albeit with a gentleness that Charlie never expected she, of all the Hindu gods, would possess, especially towards her. She stares up at her, gazing into her eyes, allowing them to pull her in for a moment.
Kali releases her unexpectedly, and Charlie takes a breath again, not realizing she had been holding it. "You have nice features, your eyes say a lot about you."
Oh really? Charlie wants to ask, What do they say exactly, if you wouldn't mind?
Charlie starts shaking a little, and whether from fear or excitement or a perfect mix of both rolled into one entity, she really doesn't know. "Really?" Her cheek is warm from where Kali grasped it, and it warms the rest of the human quickly from head to toe. Even being in the center of the goddess' world for just a moment makes her feel like the most special girl/human in the world. The thought of Kali's hand on her is enough to make her feel weightless forever.
Kali turns back to Dean, "Place me where you want me, and I will do my worst."
Charlie dares to smile.
More recruits pour into the bunker the next few days, overwhelming Charlie at times but also making her life feel exciting again. Dean hasn't said much at all to her, about anything at all, but she suspects the angels are becoming a huge problem, and with Sam down for the count, Dean needs all the help he can get. So Charlie spends her hours keeping the peace, assigning tasks and planning for the very nearby future; it certainly keeps her on her toes and ensures her mind stays active.
Even though it was only a five minute experience at the most, and despite that it's only been four days, Charlie Bradbury can never stop thinking about Kali.
Kali is beautiful in a way that Charlie feels in her very bones, a beauty that splits open her skin to burrow deep inside. Her words are carefully spoken or she doesn't speak at all, something that Charlie appreciates, exuding a sense of peace and silence when Charlie's head runs a hundred miles per hour. She also greatly respects the goddess' genuine attention when she looks at something, because the way Kali looked at Charlie the other morning, there was nothing about that that was fake or imaginary.
It was a look Charlie has only ever dreamed about.
Weighing all these things, she honestly can picture Kali being around, and she likes the image. Sure, all that she knows about her comes from Hindu texts and legends, but she figures it's better than nothing.
The first battle of the year against the angels comes sooner than expected.
She watches them all, their righteous forms that seem so dark and ill-intended. She's only met one or two demons, but she doesn't know which breed is worse, and this scares her more than anything. She prepares herself, even though their dark eyes and wicked smiles make her cringe inside, and she refuses to turn away, not even when one angel glances at her, his icy glare and seemingly knowing smile tearing a hole in her chest.
Kali seems to be paying attention, for her face is a mask of vehemence as she pushes closer to Charlie. She's appreciative, knowing someone has her back, just as she's appreciative of Kali not stepping in front of her, allowing her to stand and fight on her own, because this battle is as much her own as its becoming Kali's.
She doesn't know who made the first move, but it hardly matters. Charlie dives headfirst into the nest of angels, her sword held in front of her, in perfect proportion to her body, face as fierce and confident and prepared as she feels inside. Several days ago she was complaining about being bored and having Dean neglect to inform her about anything that's even remotely important.
But now, now Charlie is actually terrified and happy at the same time. She was born to do this, and as soon as she recognizes that, the stronger and tougher she'll become. There's a sharp pain in her shoulder but she pushes on. She doesn't know how long she pushes on, doesn't care how long, fighting and slaying is becoming as sure a part of her as anything else.
There's a tug at her spine, accelerating her heart.
She looks up, feeling that something is wrong, that something has been trying to grab her attention and she's been too preoccupied fighting, trying to hold her sword, her injured shoulder twinging painfully, or switching to her other hand and realizing she should have practiced with both hands. So uncool.
Kali is nowhere to be seen. She was beside her no more than ten minutes ago, even though ten seconds is really feeling like minutes to Charlie at this point. She brushes her hair out of her eyes, realizing the number of angels has decreased dramatically.
When she finally catches sight of the goddess, let's just say it's never something that she thought she'd be seeing with her own two eyes. Kali is nothing less than a force of terrible destruction and chaos. Yet through such chaos she actually glows, her face clearer than Charlie has ever seen it.
There's such beauty in the terror Kali is inflicting in her and to all others around her. The angels, if they didn't stand a chance against her before, certainly don't now. She's like a tornado, taking down a dozen in moments, her face so horrible that Charlie doesn't know how she can look. Doesn't know how her eyes aren't burned out of her sockets already, she's so mesmerized.
She never pulls her eyes away from her though, because Kali is fighting for her cause, fighting for her. And as long as she keeps thinking about that, she melts.
It takes longer than a minute for Charlie to snap out of it, to realize that Kali isn't just killing their enemies, but also those on their side. She tears her eyes away then and pushes through the mass of teeming angels separating her from the goddess. Kali needs someone to break her out of the trance she's under, or there'll be no one left on the battlefield in another twenty minutes time.
Charlie pushes and shoves and strives to achieve better ground; occasionally she has to kill an angel or fall back due to the need to survive. At one point she loses track of Kali completely, and doesn't gain sight of her again until she's merely a few feet away from the goddess of death.
There is nothing but Charlie and Kali in those next few precious seconds.
Charlie, seeing Kali lost in her hurt and rage, ready to strike down Dean, sprints towards her and pushes herself in front of him. She instantly falls to the ground at the goddess' feet, lying flat on her back and looking up at Kali with hurt, terrified eyes. She's only read about this working in a story, a story that might not even have been true, so her terror is all too real in her eyes.
She likes Kali though, really likes Kali, and if she can help her then she will.
If she can prevent her from losing herself completely, she's gonna do it.
The goddess stops in her tracks the instant she glances down and sees her. Charlie remembers the story, remembers that Kali will probably put her foot on her chest and stick her tongue out at her in amazement, but then she'll let up and go back to the goddess that Charlie met. The goddess that Charlie likes.
Kali doesn't do either of those things though, instead she bends down, her face now devoid of any trace of anger, and holds out her hand for Charlie to take. The human hesitates for a moment, partly because she doesn't understand, but also because this, any of this, is completely unexpected. Kali's eyes hold her again, they hold her as if there's a promise that she will never let go until the human wishes it to be so.
She ends up taking her hand, and Kali pulls her up slowly out of the dream she's in, pulls her close enough that the human can feel the heat she emanates from every pore. Charlie feels her eyes gazing at her intently as she brushes herself off and breathes a shaky sigh of relief. "Well, that went better than expected."
The goddess glances away from her and turns to Dean, who's pushed himself up on his feet already. "Dean, I apologize."
"Don't worry about it," but he stills pulls back a little towards his car.
As soon as Charlie has the strength to glance up at Kali, she can't seem to look away. The goddess' face is emotionless as she looks around at the carnage, but in her eyes the human can see the shock, remorse and disbelief written there. Charlie actually pities her, because someone having so much potential to destroy, yet not having the will to control it, seems worse than not having the power at all.
"Are you okay?" Her hand touches the goddess' arm, but she flinches and yanks her hand back after a split second, biting down on her lip to prevent herself from crying out at the merciless heat found there.
Kali looks back at her then, eyeing her as if Charlie is suddenly the most important thing to her at the moment. "May I?" The fact that she's even asking her permission makes Charlie speechless, and she holds her hand out, watching the goddess with curiosity as she cups it in both of her hands. Charlie remembers that she has four arms, sometimes up to ten, depending on the interpretation, and instead of suppressing a shudder, she realizes that she wishes she could see them.
Kali's touch is piercing cold at first, then Charlie feels a sudden numbness, but before Kali pulls her hand away she feels the same she did prior to the burn.
"Thanks."
She nods in acknowledgment and begins walking across the battlefield; Charlie follows her with a willingness she's never really felt before. There's something about Kali that draws the human towards her, something that Charlie should probably be afraid of, but isn't anything but happy and sort of excited about.
"So, who can actually see you? I mean, the multiple hands, wearing the skirt made out of human arms you?"
"You would be terrified of my true form."
"I don't know," Charlie shrugs and smiles, still amazed that she feels comfortable walking alongside the actual Hindu goddess of destruction. It should feel weird and terrifying, but to Charlie she feels protected and privileged. Kali isn't going to harm her, Charlie couldn't be more sure of anything else. "I think it would be kinda cool," she says, knowing it sounds lame the second it comes out of her mouth, though not really caring. The goddess never seems offended by her presence, let alone what she says, she only ever seems intrigued. "I mean, I've seen pictures of you, back when I took a late-start Hindu class last year. You've always piqued my interest, if you know what I mean."
"I'm honored then," Kali looks down at her with something Charlie thinks might be affection, and it makes her beam and nearly want to jump up and down in joy. "You are far more bearable than the Winchesters are, or any other being I've ever known." Charlie smiles at the compliment, knowing to value every single gesture and word, that any word she chooses to speak comes from truth and careful consideration.
Not to mention, every single word and gesture and mere glance certainly hits home in a way she only wants more of.
They walk side by side for a bit longer, Kali's long red dress swaying slightly in the wind, her soft, dark hair framing her beautiful face. Isn't Kali a male in some cultures? So that means she could be interested, right? Except why would she be interested in me, a human? Like I have anything to offer.
The peaceful look on the goddess of destruction's face says differently though. If anything, Charlie is putting her at ease and doing the exact opposite of enraging her. She hates to break the moment, but Dean's probably going to come after her in a moment, and see what's really going on here. "Anyway, I should probably go. Dean said he'd give me a ride home."
She turns to leave, but Kali's voice stops her and causes her to turn around. "Charlie..., would it be suitable to you if I dropped by some time?"
"Are you kidding me? You're like the most interesting person I've ever met. Of course you can come over."
Kali honest to god smiles at her, and it isn't something dark, or something that causes Charlie to think there's anything more to it. It's real and perfect and the human can feel Kali's hands cupping her own again, cupping her face and seemingly reaching into her very chest and cupping her heart. Speaking of her heart, it skips a beat when Kali winks at her and then disappears.
She thinks about how misunderstood Kali is, how compassionate she was known to be by her followers, like she's shown to Charlie, and Charlie's entire body aches at the want to know her in a deeper sense.
Dean eyes her strangely when she walks back to the car, "What was that all about?"
Charlie wants to know too, and if her life can get any stranger after falling head over heels in love with Kali, she's honestly not gonna believe it.
FIN
A/N 2: As legend goes in Hinduism, there was a battle against an ever-multiplying evil, and Kali became so caught up in killing that she became homicidal and unstoppable, destroying everything in her path. Shiva, the male consort of or counterpart to Kali, lies down defenseless in front of her, bringing out her maternal instincts and successfully stopping her killing spree. I've always thought it was fascinating that one person could bring Kali back down to her true self, so I really wanted to explore that in the Supernatural world with another female character. Also, in Hinduism, as terrifying as Kali may seem, her worshipers adore her as the eternal, or dark mother, so I figured Charlie would maybe too, especially if she has a little background on her.