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Chapter 3 - You Found Me (The Magnificent Seven Part III)

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I found God on the corner of 1st and Amistad
Where the West was all but won
All alone, smoking his last cigarette
I said, "Where you been?" He said, "Ask anything"

Where were you when everything was falling apart?
All my days were spent by the telephone that never rang
And all I needed was a call that never came
To the corner of 1st and Amistad

But in the end everyone ends up alone
Losing her, the only one who's ever known
Who I am, who I'm not and who I wanna be
No way to know how long she will be next to me

Lost and insecure, you found me, you found me
Lying on the floor surrounded, surrounded
Why'd you have to wait? Where were you? Where were you?
Just a little late, you found me, you found me

Why'd you have to wait to find me, to find me?
The Fray - You Found Me

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Rika had been following the Winchester boys around all day. First they had been walking around town all day, showing people a picture of a man, trying to find out if anyone knew him. Maybe he was a suspect for the death of that family and the woman in the clothing store? Rika had seen them drive that car into the bar which the hunter couple had entered just minutes before, and then leave with screeching tires. She had almost stepped in during that commotion in the bar, since she could hear them fighting and screaming inside. The Winchesters had however managed to get out of the situation all by themselves, so she hadn't been forced to reveal herself just yet. She had refrained from going into the bar to see what had happened, and instead followed them to the old, two-story house that apparently belonged to the two hunters she didn't know. She kept laying low for the entire evening, staying hidden in the shadows outside the house.

Of course she was armed, she had a crossbow and the scythe Buffy had given her when they met six months ago. Buffy had told her it was her turn to hold on to it, a weapon forged for the slayer alone. And since there were three of them, it was only right that Rika got her turn - after all both Faith and Buffy had used it. Buffy had survived so long and even though she was only four years older than Rika, she was now thinking about retirement. And she if anyone deserved it. Rika had been able to feel the power from the scythe running through her once she touched it, and she knew she might need it. Buffy had told her it was a slayer thing, normal people couldn't feel the scythe's power. It had been forged for the slayer and the slayer alone. Since there wasn't just one slayer anymore, Buffy thought Rika might want to try the scythe out. After all, it was her right as a slayer. Buffy and Rika had quickly become friends, after they noticed how alike they were. Rika had met many of Buffy's friends, and she had liked them. Rupert Giles, Buffy's watcher who she had met briefly just before Hugh died, had also been of help to get her in touch with he slayer self.

However, she had other weapons as well, weapons that weren't as visible as the scythe and her trusty crossbow. Once during the evening she had been standing outside the house Sam was in, she even managed to force herself to sneak up to one of the windows on the bottom floor and eavesdrop on their conversation. She was too curious for her own good, but seeing him filled her with some sort of calmness now, instead of the panic she had felt before when she first saw him again. Rika couldn't help but feel a bit guilty, this I can see you but you can't see me was a bit stalkerish and creepy, not to mention unfair towards Sam.

She had caught them in an argument, Sam trying to convince Dean and the female hunter not to do anything stupid. She had heard the older hunter, who was apparently a friend of Sam and Dean's, tell them that they were facing the seven deadly sins. It explained the evil presence she had been feeling ever since she arrived in town, and it had kept getting stronger while Rika had been staying close to the Winchesters. It hadn't been long before the female hunter's dead husband possessed by a demon had showed up outside the house. Rika was feeling lucky that he hadn't spotted her, she didn't want to rush into a fight. The demon possessing the husband had finally managed to get under the wife's skin and she had jumped outside to fight him, breaking the line of salt at the door. In horror Rika watched the five remaining demons run inside the house. Now was definitely her time to act, otherwise Sam might get hurt and she didn't want that. It was exactly what she was here to prevent.

She ran inside and heard the older man talk to a demon inside a room that had been the living room. The demon was trapped in a devil's trap.

"Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son", she heard the older hunter say to the demon, who had possessed an obese man. He then began chanting in Latin, working on exorcising the demon. "Regna terrae, cantate Deo, psallite Domino qui fertis super caelum..."

Neither the hunter nor the demon noticed her when she ran upstairs, fast but quietly. Her slayer abilities were of great use when being stealthy. She heard fighting sounds and a familiar groan of pain from a room on the second floor, and she ran inside. She saw Sam lying on the floor, in choke hold by one of the demons. He was trying to fight it off, with no luck. The other two were standing behind Sam and the demon in the suit, watching. "Hope I'm not too late", Rika thought. Her crossbow was fastened on her back, and she quickly reached her hand over her shoulder and pulled it out. She needed to distract the demons so Sam wouldn't suffocate or get his neck broken. She fired an arrow into the back of the female demon's head, and she screamed. Rika was proud of her aim, she was good at it.

Rika's plan apparently worked, the two demons watching the fight between Sam and the third one immediately turned around, looking at her with anger in their eyes. The demon choking Sam loosened its grip and turned towards her as well, looking slightly confused. The confusion in its black eyes then turned into wrath and repulsion. Rika couldn't see Sam, he was hidden behind the demons, but she hoped he would be okay. Rika put the crossbow back. Then the female demon she had shot with it spoke while pulling the arrow out of the back of her head.

"You stupid bitch, did you really think that would hurt me? An arrow to the head?"

"No, but at least it got your attention", Rika replied with a smirk.

"Who the hell are you?", the demon that had been beating Sam asked. "Do you have any idea who you're up against? You can't do anything to me."

"I do", she replied, now knowing that the demon in the suit was pride. "Don't you know pride goes before a fall?"

The female demon took a step towards Rika, who turned her attention in its direction.

"Don't push your luck."

"What are you going to do?", pride said with a grin. "You're just a girl."

"Are you going to kill me or are we just making small talk?"

That was it for the female demon, and she rushed towards Rika. Rika quickly raised her hand, her palm towards the demon. She simply flinched her hand while silently thinking a spell and the demon flew across the room, spun around in the air and hit the wall. Rika couldn't help but to let out a proud smirk, she was getting better at casting spells. She didn't even need to say the words out loud anymore. Rika had picked up some new useful tricks during her travels, mostly thanks to Willow who was an excellent teacher. She made a mental note to call Willow and thank her later.

"What are you?", pride yelled looking shocked.

"The bogeyman."

Rika swung the scythe towards pride, stabbing it with the pointy end of the weapon. The demon yelled in agony while there was a sizzling sound and some smoke. Its widened eyes turned black for a fracture of a second before turning back to the human eye color. Then, pride fell to the ground. The third demon, who hadn't yet spoken punched her and Rika twirled around 360 degrees. She quickly got her balance back, did a jump kick that hit the demon in the stomach making it stumble away from her. She then chopped off its head with the axe end of the scythe. The female demon she had just thrown into the wall with the spell jumped her from behind and Rika tried struggling out of her grip. Now it was Sam's turn to help her, he pulled the demon away from Rika who quickly turned around and stabbed it in the stomach with the pointy end of the scythe. It sizzled too, a bit of smoke and some electricity going through it before falling to the ground.

Rika looked up, straight into Sam's eyes. Now that she was looking at his face up close, he seemed sadder than she remembered. They were both breathing heavily after the fight, Rika's heart was pounding and she was waiting for both her heartbeat and her breathing to slow down. Sam looked at her, like he had seen a ghost, and she wasn't surprised. She would have looked at herself like that too.

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It was really her. It was Rika. She was alive and she was there, standing right in front of him only a couple of meters away, just as beautiful as he remembered. This was all he had wanted for more than a year. Sam's memories hadn't done her justice, especially not now when the small amount of moonlight coming through the window hit her, making her glow like some sort of Grecian goddess. Her hair was longer than when he had seen her last, ending just beneath her chest where her stomach begun. Her hair was draped over her shoulders, falling down in a cascade of soft, voluminous curls. Her light skin was slightly tanned, her deep, mixed color eyes as breathtaking as he remembered. Her eyes looked wiser than they had before and Sam wondered what she had seen while she had been gone.

She was holding some sort of axe, it was red and shiny. One of the ends looked just like a battle axe on a sword, the other end being a stake. He wondered where she'd gotten it, and how on earth it could kill demons. No blade could kill demons, only exorcism worked. And the Colt of course, but there were no bullets left in it so it was of no use to them. She was wearing a dark grey sweater under a brown leather jacket, a pair of black jeans and a some black ballerina-style canvas flats. He felt a sudden sensation and a need to touch her, just to see if she was actually real.

"Rika, you're here! What're you... How'd you... Where have you been?"

He walked up to her and placed his hand on her face, wiping his thumb across her cheek. He felt her tense as he pulled her into a hug. At first she just stood there, every muscle in her body stiff and careful, but then he felt her relax and she hugged him back. He heard her sigh, just faintly, but it was definitely there and he liked the fact that he still had some sort of effect on her. Suddenly, everything felt right again. Sam felt like he was finally home. Just having her back in his arms felt so incredibly good, and he didn't want to let go. The chemistry between them was still there. Her head rested against his shoulder and he took a deep breath, thriving on her scent. She still used the same schampoo, and she smelled of wild flowers and early morning dew. She pulled away from him and looked up into his eyes, while his hands still rested on her upper arms.

"Hi", she simply said and ran her hand through her hair on the top of her head.

"Hi", he said back. "Your weapon - you can kill demons with that thing?"

"Sure comes in handy when I have to swoop in and save the damsel in distress." She was teasing him, just like she almost a year ago when they first met, and she smiled being clearly amused. For a moment it felt like they had never been apart, like they had known each other forever. "Myself, I'm not really much with the damseling."

"Where'd you get it?"

"Sears catalog." She let out a small sigh after her sarcastic comment and looked away for a second. "Look, it's a long story, and I promise I'll explain everything later. Right now, we gotta help Dean and your other friends out. There are still two demons in need of exorcism, and from what I reckon Dean's fighting one of them down the hall."

Sam felt a bit frustrated. He had so many questions that needed answers, but Rika was right. They were in the middle of a big fight; Dean, Bobby and Tamara needed their help. For the time being he'd have to settle for being happy to have her back. There'd be time for questions later.

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Rika walked ahead of Sam, hearing fighting sounds coming from one of the rooms down the hall. Seeing and touching Sam as well as breathing his scent again had made some long forgotten emotions run through her body. While she had been reluctant to hug him at first, he seemed to be happy to see her, so her worries eased for a bit. Hugging him felt better than she ever could have imagined, and she almost didn't want to pull away. But she wasn't ready for all of these feelings again, not yet. She knew she would be, sooner or later. The question was, did he still think of her that way or was there some other woman in his life?

They walked into the room and saw Dean trying to drown one of the demons, a female one who had to be lust, in a sink filled with holy water. When he pulled her head up from the water she drew a deep breath, screaming while her face was steaming. Rika punched her in the head, knocking her out.

"She'll live, just get your friend down there perform the exorcism."

Dean looked at her, he too like he had seen a ghost.

"What the hell?!", he let out and then gave her a big brotherly hug, almost squeezing her to death.

"Can't... breathe!"

"Oh, sorry", he said but smirked as he let go. "What the hell are you doing here? You're back now?"

"I'm happy to see you too, Dean", she said using her sarcastic tone and he chuckled. She watched as Sam picked a chalk out of his pocket and stood up on a chair in the room while drawing a big devil's trap on the ceiling.

"That should hold it if it wakes up." He jumped down from the chair and kept staring at Rika until she had to turn her face away. The fact that she didn't know what he was thinking was driving her crazy. "I guess we had better go check on Bobby."

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