Olivia sat back in her chair at the hotel, rubbing her eyes in frustration and fatigue. Sam had fallen asleep a few hours ago, and she hadn't at all questioned Dean's decision to let him get some rest. She had no idea what was going on with him, but she had seen the weariness in the younger Winchester's eyes and sensed that something was very wrong. She didn't pry, however, considering she had her own issues that she had never, and, if she had any say in it, would never tell anyone about. She only hoped that Sam would be okay. She was fond of him, even after the one day she'd known him.
Dean, who was sitting in the chair across from her, looked up when he heard her sigh. "Anything?" he asked.
She shook her head with a groan. "Nothing! We've been at this all night! All night! How can there be nothing?!" It was true. They'd been researching ever since they'd gotten back from the Shoemaker house. Apparently the man had died right after his daughter and her friends had played Bloody Mary in the bathroom. Now, that being their only lead, they were searching for anyone by the name of Mary who had died in front of a mirror in or around Toledo. And, so far, nothing matched.
Dean was about to reply when Sam suddenly started awake, gasping for breath. They looked up at him and watched until he caught his breath.
"Why'd you let me sleep?" He asked them.
"Cause I'm an awesome brother." Dean answered. "So what did you dream about?"
"Lollipops and candy canes." Sam deadpanned. "So did you guys find anything?"
Olivia piped up. "Ooh! I found out there's someone who lives here whose name is Mary Virgin!"
Dean started laughing. "Oh yeah! Ha! Imagine roll call the first day of school! 'Virgin, Mary?'" Both he and Olivia cracked up until tears threatened to spill out of their eyes. Sam chuckled a bit at first, but by the time they calmed down he was just staring at them with raised eyebrows. They cleared their throats sheepishly, both thinking that maybe they could use a little sleep, and Dean finally answered Sam's question.
"But she's not dead so...basically we've just found a whole new level of frustration."
Sam sighed and collapsed back onto the bed. "Maybe we just haven't found it yet."
Olivia slid out of her chair and curled up into a ball on the floor. "We've looked at everything though! I'm just not sure we're even on the right track here!" The two boys looked at her a bit oddly. Sensing their eyes on her, she waved a dismissive hand. "Don't judge me, I'm tired!"
Just then, Sam's phone began ringing. "Hello?" He spoke into it. Dean watched as he listened, a bit of a panicked look forming on his face. "Charlie. Charlie calm down. It's gonna be okay. Yeah, we'll be at the park in fifteen minutes." He hung up.
"Donna Shoemaker's friend, Charlie?" Dean asked.
Sam nodded, standing up. "We've gotta go." He looked down at Olivia, who was still on the floor. Her eyes were closed, and her breathing had become steady. "Maybe we should let her sleep awhile?"
Dean nodded. "Probably a good idea. There's a good chance she hasn't slept in at least 48 hours. We can take care of Charlie and find out what we can while she gets some shuteye."
With that, Sam bent down and carefully lifted the small girl into his arms. She sighed and mumbled in her sleep, turning her head to bury her face in his neck. He smiled slightly and placed her gently on the bed, pulling the covers over her tiny frame. Looking at Dean, he chucked softly. "She's quite the character, isn't she?"
Dean laughed, not voicing his thoughts that Olivia might be able to do his brother a lot of good, and nodded. "That's one way to put it. You can't help but love her though."
Sam hummed in agreement. "Anyway, let's go find out about Charlie."
The swing squeaked slightly as twelve-year-old Olivia slowly pushed herself back and forth, watching a chipmunk scurry around the field in front of her. It was a beautiful autumn day, and red and gold leaves swirled around her feet in the warm breeze. After weeks of nonstop training and lessons, she'd finally been given a rare day off. The funny thing was, she couldn't think of a thing to do to occupy this time, other than sitting outside and enjoying the sun. She couldn't remember what she used to do for fun, and, anyway, after four years, those things probably wouldn't interest her much anymore. So, she opted to sit quietly and relax, alone-for once-with her own thoughts.
"Olivia DeAngelo," an all-too-familiar voice taunted behind her. "The government's little prodigy. What a pathetic sight! What would they say if they saw you slacking off like this?"
Olivia closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "What do you want, Abigail?"
"Honestly? I'd really like to know what it is all the adults see in you." Olivia could hear her coming closer, but still she refused to turn around. "I mean, you put on a good show and all, but I can see you for what you really are. A lying, pitiful loser who'd do anything for a bit of attention. Well, you've got mine."
Olivia felt herself being shoved forward, her face coming in contact with the dirt in front of her. Abigail laughed cruelly and grabbed a fistful of her hair, yanking her head up to look at her. "I mean, really. If you were all you were cracked up to be, you could do something about this, couldn't you?"
Abigail's mocking eyes changed then, becoming the beautiful, but terrified brown eyes of Alex Price as he scrambled away from fourteen-year-old Olivia. "What happened?! What did you just do to me?!"
Olivia stared at her hands, equally shocked. "I-I don't-I don't know! I never-"
"You're a freak, you know that?! A total freak! You'd better stay away from me, or I'll have you carted away!"
"Alex, wait! Please!" she sobbed, but he ran out the door, leaving Olivia with the first scars of a broken heart.
"Livvy?"
Olivia turned slowly to see her little sister, Katie, watching her with wide eyes. "K-Kitty?"
"Livvy, why did you let us die? You promised! You promised you would never let anything bad happen to me!"
"Kitty, I didn't...I never meant for any of this to happen!" It was then that she noticed the blood oozing through Katie's shirt. "K-Kate...Kate please! No!"
"You should've saved us, Livvy." Her sister whispered before toppling to the floor next to the bodies of their parents and baby brother."
Olivia felt anguished screams tear themselves from her throat as she forced herself to turn and run out of the burning house, leaving the bodies of everyone who had ever loved her to be swallowed by the flames.
Olivia sat bolt upright, sweat and tears pouring down her face. Taking in deep gulps of air, she stood up shakily and walked into the bathroom, splashing cold water onto her face. No matter how many times she was haunted by these nightmares, their effect on her never lessened.
After taking a couple of minutes to calm her racing heart and stop the sobs and shudders which wracked her body, she took in her surroundings, brow furrowing in confusion. Where were Sam and Dean? Reaching for her phone, she quickly called the latter.
"Liv? You finally awake?"
"Yeah, I'm up," she croaked, trying and failing to keep any signs of her current state out of her voice.
"Whoa, you sound terrible. You okay?"
"Oh yeah, I'm fine. Just trying to wake up a bit more. Where are you guys?"
"Uh, Fort Wayne, Indiana."
Olivia deflated, if possible, even more. "Oh. I see. You pick up another case?"
"Oh, no we're headed back to you right now! It's about an hour and a half away. We got a lead on Mary and had to follow it, and you needed some rest!"
"Oh! What did you find out?"
"She's Mary Worthington, an unsolved murder case. She's after people who have secrets where someone died. Donna and Charlie's friend, Jill, was found dead this morning after saying Bloody Mary in the mirror. Same thing as Mr. Shoemaker, who, it turns out, probably killed his wife. Jill was involved in a hit and run where a boy was killed."
"Oh man...so then...why Toledo?"
"Well, Sammy just got off the phone with Mary's brother. Turns out the mirror she died in front of was just sold to someone there. We've got the address. Hang on. Sammy?"
Olivia heard the two brothers conversing on the other end of the line, both of their voices sounding concerned, though she couldn't make out what they were saying. Then Dean came back on.
"Hey Liv? Sam just got off the phone with Charlie. Mary is after her, it sounds like. We should be back in about 20 minutes. Can you go pick her up?"
She quickly agreed and wrote down the address Dean gave her before hanging up and hurrying out of the motel room. When she pulled up, Charlie was sitting on the curb, face buried in her sleeves. Olivia jumped out of the car and walked around, putting an arm around the terrified girl's shoulders.
"Hey, Charlie? It's gonna be okay, alright? I just need you to come with me, and I'll take you to where the guys and I are staying. We'll take care of you, don't worry." With a bit more coaxing, she was able to convince the girl to let her help her into the car. They arrived back at the motel at the same time as Sam and Dean. After leading Charlie into the room, they set to work covering up anything that might have a reflection.
Olivia turned around after draping a sheet over the TV and couldn't hold back a small smile at the sight of Sam speaking gently to Charlie, reassuring her that they were going to take care of everything, and she was going to be just fine. 'Gosh, he is a real sweetheart, isn't he?' she thought to herself. 'That's exactly the kind of guy I would want to settle down with, if there was even the slightest chance of me ever doing that.' She jumped slightly at the sound of Dean clearing his throat next to her. Even though her thoughts had been completely meaningless, she couldn't help but blush sheepishly at the fact that he had caught her staring at his brother and at the knowing look he was giving her. But this was far from the time for such foolishness. Dean seemed to be having the same thought as he sat down and asked Charlie what had happened to set Mary after her.
"I had this boyfriend," she said tearfully after a moment of hesitation. "I loved him. But he kind of scared me too, you know? And one night, at his house, we got in this fight. Then I broke up with him, and he got upset, and he said he needed me and he loved me, and he said 'Charlie, if you walk out that door right now, I'm gonna kill myself.' And you know what I said? I said 'Go ahead.' And I left. How could I say that? How could I leave him like that? I just...I didn't believe him, you know? I should have."
Olivia frowned sadly, knowing what it was like to feel responsible for the death of someone you love. "Charlie," she spoke softly. "It wasn't your fault. You couldn't have known. And it wasn't fair of him to put this on your shoulders."
"Yeah, well it doesn't matter anyway. I'm going to die, aren't I?"
Sam shook his head. "No. Not if we have anything to say about it. Which we kind of do. Just sit tight here, and we're gonna take care of it. We promise."
Olivia sat in the back of the Impala, thinking deeply as they drove through Toledo. "Guys? What if it's not enough to smash Mary's mirror? I mean, what if she has to be in that mirror for it to work?" The two brothers mulled over this thought for a moment. She took a deep breath, hoping they wouldn't ask too many questions. "I was thinking, and I think I could-"
"I'll summon her." Sam cut her off. "She'll come when I say it."
Dean tensed up in the driver's seat. "Alright, you know what? That's it." He pulled over to the side of the road and turned to stare at Sam in frustration. "This is about Jessica, isn't it? You think that's your dirty little secret? That you killed her somehow? Sam, this has got to stop, man. I mean, the nightmares and calling her name out in the middle of the night—it's gonna kill you. Now listen to me—It wasn't your fault. If you wanna blame something, then blame the thing that killed her. Or heck, why don't you take a swing at me? I mean I'm the one that dragged you away from her in the first place."
Olivia stared at the two of them with wide eyes, fitting the pieces together as Sam shook his head. "I don't blame you."
"Well you shouldn't blame yourself, because there's nothing you could've done." Dean answered fiercely.
"I could've warned her."
"About what? You didn't know what was gonna happen! And besides, all of this isn't a secret. I mean, I know all about it. It's not gonna work with Mary anyway."
"No you don't. I haven't told you everything."
"What are you talking about?"
Sam smiled wryly. "Well it wouldn't really be a secret if I told you, would it?"
Olivia sat back uncomfortably, feeling like she was intruding on something deeply personal, but there wasn't much she could do to tune out the conversation as Sam finally convinced a reluctant Dean to let him try and summon Mary. They rode on in silence until they reached the shop where the mirror had apparently been sold. It took a minute, but Sam picked the lock, and they managed to find the correct mirror.
"That's it," Dean sighed as they all looked at it. "You sure about this?"
Sam took a deep breath. "Bloody Mary. Bloody Mary." He hesitated slightly and glanced at his two companions, who looked back at him uncertainly. "Bloody Mary."
Just then, Dean and Olivia noticed a pair of headlights pull up just outside the shop. Dean swore under his breath. "I'll go check that out." He looked at Olivia and gestured toward Sam. "You stay here with him. Make sure nothing happens to him." With that, he crept back outside.
Sam raised his crowbar as flashes of a figure appeared in different mirrors surrounding him. "Come on." he muttered. "Come into the right one."
He smashed several of the mirrors before looking at his reflection in Mary's oddly. Olivia watched in horrified fascination as his breathing became hard and he dropped the crowbar, clutching tightly at his chest. Then his reflection began to speak.
"It's your fault. You killed her. You killed Jessica."
"Sam..." Olivia started, eyes wide as she watched a trickle of blood fall from his eye.
"You never told her the truth-who you really were. But it's more than that, isn't it? Those nightmares you've been having of Jessica dying, screaming, burning-You had them for days before she died. Didn't you!? You were so desperate to ignore them, to believe they were just dreams. How could you ignore them like that? How could you leave her alone to die!? You dreamt it would happen!" Sam collapsed to the ground, gasping for air, blood rolling from his eyes and down his face.
"Sam!" Olivia screamed and ran toward him, facing the mirror herself. "Leave him alone!"
Her own reflection took on a mind of its own. "And you! You're a freak! And you knew it! But you still didn't save your family! Instead, you ran-leaving their bodies to burn-and saved yourself!" Olivia cried out in anguish, feeling warm liquid streaming down her face. But she deserved this, didn't she? After what had happened... "And all this after it was you who brought those monsters on them anyway! But it's really you who are the monster, isn't it?!"
She sank to her knees, crying in agony just as Dean sprinted up behind her and smashed the mirror. "Sammy! Liv!"
He bent down next to them as they both caught their breath. "Are you guys alright?"
Olivia laughed weakly. "What are you talking about? Never been better!"
Both brothers chuckled, though humor was absent from them. Dean helped them both up. "Come on. Let's get out of here."
Suddenly the sound of crunching glass came from behind them. They slowly turned around to see the gaunt figure of Mary advancing toward them. All three of them fell to the ground, blood beginning to ooze from their eyes. But Dean, thinking fast, grabbed a mirror and faced it toward the specter.
"You killed them! All those people! You killed them!" they heard. Mary began to cry. To their shock, she suddenly melted, ceasing to be anything more than a puddle of blood. Dean chucked the mirror to the side, and it shattered.
It was silent. Olivia breathed heavily, staring with wide eyes at the spot where the spirit had stood only moments ago. It was Dean who spoke first.
"Well, guys...that's gotta be about 600 years of bad luck."
The other two laughed tiredly, but Olivia's chuckles soon turned to sobs. She fought to stop them, ashamed to let Sam and Dean see her so weak, but her attempts were futile. It had been a long time since she had really allowed herself to think about what had happened all those years ago. The brothers glanced at each other, and immediately they both wrapped her up in their arms, holding her gently as she struggled to once again gain control over her emotions.
After a few minutes, her tears had ceased for the most part, and she had reduced her cries to occasional hiccups. Sam and Dean stood up, pulling her with them, and Dean kissed the top of her head softly. "Come on, let's get you back to the motel."
Later that night, when she was sure her companions were asleep, Olivia stood up quietly and crept to Sam's side. With his eyes closed, it was difficult to see the sores from which they had bled earlier. Still, Olivia knew they were there, being able to feel her own. Carefully reaching out to place her hand softly on his cheek, she willed them to heal. Feeling the slightest bit of energy leave her, she knew that they had done so. She smiled to herself, satisfied with her handiwork, and stole back into bed next to Dean.
A/N: So! We learned a bit more about Olivia's past! Of course, this might have raised more questions than it actually answered, but worry not! All will be revealed in time! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Please review and let me know what you think and if there is anything you would like to see from this story!
