Chapter 7: Sad Girl
When Gabriel and Castiel awake recovered the next morning, Sam is making breakfast. Juliet is curled up on the couch with her knees drawn into her chest, and Dean is still asleep.
"Good morning," Gabriel chimes.
"Morning," Sam replies with a yawn.
Gabriel sits at the other end of the couch from Juliet.
"Are you alright?" he asks softly.
"I'm fine," she replies tonelessly. Gabriel sighs, but doesn't press her. Sam hands her a plate of eggs and bacon as Dean starts to stir. He sits up excitedly at the smell of breakfast, but his face drops when he realizes Juliet is curled up on the couch and not recovered like her imagined. He gets a plate from Sam and they sit in silence as Juliet pushes the food around her plate.
"Let's go for a drive," Dean says suddenly, setting his plate down.
"What?" Sam asks, screwing up his face in confusion.
"Come on. We all need fresh air and sunshine," he adds, grabbing his keys.
"Dean..."
"It's not up for discussion. Get up."
Sam sighs, but follows his brother out to the car. Cas follows and Gabriel leads Juliet out. Dean has the windows rolled down on the Impala. Sam and Dean climb in the front and Gabriel, Juliet, and Cas slide into the back, Gabriel in the middle. Juliet stares blankly and silently out the window. Gabriel watches her, worried. He can't begin to know what she suffered through at the hands of the demon. What she tolerated to protect him. It breaks his heart to think of what the demon could have done to shut her down like this. He knows she woke up screaming, even though he couldn't do anything while he was healing. He knows he owes Dean for taking care of her. But more than that, he feels he owes her for not saving her sooner.
He glances at Juliet. He couldn't save her. He wasn't there when she needed him. He doesn't know what to do. So he holds her hand and says the only things he can.
"I love you. I'm sorry."
Juliet looks at him, smiles gently, squeezes his hand back, and turns back to the window, singing softly.
Hey Jude,
Don't let me down.
You have found her,
Now go and get her.
Dean glances up into the rear view mirror and smiles.
The minute,
You let her under your skin,
Then you begin,
To make it better.
Dean pats the dashboard of his car lovingly. A ride in the Impala can fix almost anything.
That night, Gabriel is sitting on the couch, looking out into the moonlit parking lot. Suddenly, he hears soft footsteps and a small body curls into the space next to him. He wraps his arms around Juliet and strokes her hair.
"Come on," he murmurs, taking her hand and leading her back to the bed. "Go to sleep," he says, crawling next to her. "I'll stay with you."
"Thank you, Gabriel."
"I know it must be hard, Juliet. I just want you to know... What you went through... No one should have to... but you are the strongest person I know."
"I don't deserve that, Gabriel. I don't deserve you anymore."
"What do you mean?" Gabriel asks, raising his head and looking at her.
"You don't know what he did to me, Gabriel. He-he-"
"Shh. You don't have to tell me. You don't ever have to talk about it," Gabriel tells her, holding her closer.
"Okay, Gabriel," she murmurs, curling up against him.
Gabriel strokes her hair and hums softly until she falls asleep.
That night, in her angel's arms, Juliet slept through the night.
"Wake up, Jules," Gabriel says, softly shaking her. She wakes up abruptly, swinging a fist, breathing heavily. "Ouch!" Gabriel shouts, rubbing his jaw. "Easy, easy. It's okay," he adds soothingly. She relaxes. "Sam and Dean want to check up on the ghosts at the college. Do you want to go with them?"
"Yes," she replies immediately, standing.
"You don't have to-"
"I want to. I'll feel better once I'm out there hunting again," she says, getting dressed.
"Juliet, don't push it. Take it easy, getting back out there. You've been through a terrible ordeal."
"We don't have time to take it easy, Gabriel. Not in this life time," she replies, the familiar, determined glint returning to her eyes. Gabriel hides a smile as he watches her get dressed in a rush.
"Here," he says, holding out her anti-possession necklace. Juliet gasps.
"You found it! I was afraid I'd lost it in..."
"It fell off when he grabbed you," Gabriel tells her. "Come on, let's go," he adds, effectively distracting her from reliving her nightmare.
Dean is leaning against his door on the Impala when Juliet and Gabriel join him.
"I was hoping you'd come with. Sammy! Let's get a move on!"
Sam races out of the motel looking frantic.
"But Dean! It's Tuesday!"
"I woke him up with some Asia this morning," Dean whispers to Juliet and Gabriel. Gabriel laughs and high fives Dean.
"That's mean, Dean," Juliet chastises him. "Sam, it's Thursday," she tells the distressed giant.
"What?"
"It's Thursday. Gabriel didn't screw with time. Everything's fine," she says calmly. Sam looks very confused for a minute, then turns to Dean.
"You... Jerk!"
"Bitch," Dean replies.
"Hey, assbutts! Get in the car," Cas calls, walking out of the motel room.
"What's with the weird catchphrases?" Juliet asks.
"Just sort of happened, I guess," Dean says, climbing into the car.
"Do you have one?" she asks Gabriel as she slides into the middle. He nods. "What is it?"
"Dick," the group choruses.
"No EMF," Sam tells them, "Looks clean."
Juliet shifts her grip on the iron crowbar.
"Let's get out of here then."
"Where to next, Sammy?" Dean asks.
"I'll start looking for another hunt."
The motel room isn't empty when they return.
"'Ello boys."
Gabriel and Cas reach for their knives, but Sam and Dean just sigh.
"Hello, Crowley," Dean replies. "What do you want?"
"An old friend can't drop in for a visit?"
"Oh, yay. More old friends," Juliet sighs, flopping onto the couch.
"Oh, yay. More Winchesters," Crowley replies snarkily, mimicking her. Juliet blinks, then laughs out loud.
"Oh, this one's fun. He can stay."
Gabriel's eyes tighten slightly.
"Thank you," Crowley says, sitting in a chair at the table. "Be civil, Squirrel, Moose," he says to Sam and Dean. "Call off your dogs, or I'll have to call mine."
"What do you want, Crowley?" Sam asks coldly.
"Right to business, then. Alright. Something is killing my Crossroads demons."
"Your Crossroads demons?" Juliet asks.
"Oh, hello. Crowley, King of Hell and the Crossroads," he announces proudly.
"You're a demon," Juliet says with disgust.
"A very important demon," he corrects her. "Which reminds me."
He stands up and walks over to her and lays a hand on her stomach.
"What are you doing?" She exclaims, pulling away.
"Get away from her!" Gabriel shouts.
"Relax, Gabriella. You pigeons aren't the only ones with healing powers. And you and the giraffe missed the important parts when you fixed her up. Relax, sweetheart," he says to Juliet. He leans closer and whispers in her ear. "I know what he did to you. I can fix that. Make it go away."
"For what? My soul?" she spits the word at him.
"Not a chance. Your friends would stab me before I could take a step. Call it encouragement to get the boys to see things my way," he steps away. "There you go. All better."
"Are you alright?" Gabriel asks, stepping between them, putting his hands on her shoulders and searching her eyes.
"I'm... I'm great," she says amazed.
"Like it never happened," Crowley tells her. "Now, back to my problem," he says to Sam and Dean.
"You said someone was killing your Crossroads demons?" Dean clarifies.
"Targeting, to be more accurate. Something summons them and next thing I know, my black-eyed child is dead."
"It's not us," Sam tells him.
"I know, Moose. I want you to find out what."
"And how do I want us to do that?" Dean asks.
"So glad you asked, Squirrel. I have brought helpers for you. Firstly," he says, and whistles. A snarl emanates from the air next to him.
"Oh, no," Dean protests.
"Don't worry, she's well trained. Daisy is my best tracking hellhound."
"Daisy?" Sam asks, trying to hide a smile.
"Problem, Moose?" Crowley asks icily.
"Not at all."
"Good, because you'll love my next surprise helper," he replies, snapping his fingers. A beautiful woman appears beside him. She bends down and pets the area where the hellhound is.
"Hello, Daisy," she raises her head and catches Sam and Dean's eyes. "Hello, boys."
"That's my line," Crowley says.
"Bela?" Sam and Dean ask in unison. She smirks.
"Bet you didn't expect to see me again," she says. "Considering you listened to me die."
"Bela," Crowley warns her. "Play nice."
"I'm not going to hurt them, Crowley. Just guilt trip them a little."
"Are you a demon now, Bela?" Sam asks.
"Oh, I forgot, you have a thing for the black-eyed girls, Sam," Bela teases.
"Cute," Sam says, flashing a bitchface.
"What do you want us to do?" Dean asks, warily.
"Bela is a Crossroads demon. I have placed her in charge of all deals being made in the vicinity of the attacks. When she gets summoned, she will contact you and you can keep an eye on her."
"Easy enough," Dean says. "What do we need the hound for?"
"In case the monster gets away or to find out where it's going next."
"Funny how the definition of monster so easily shifts," Gabriel mutters.
"So, Bela, how do you feel about being bait?" Dean teases her.
"Wait!" Juliet exclaims. "You're not actually considering doing this, are you?"
"Well..."
"They're demons! And they're asking us to save demons!"
"Not all demons are bad," Bela tells her.
"Yeah, says the demon," Juliet snaps back.
"Watch your mouth," Bela hisses, eyes narrowing and turning black.
"Ladies, ladies, please," Dean begins to say, before he's interrupted.
"Shut up, Dean!" they both turn. He raises his hands in surrender and backs up again.
"Just this week, I've been possessed by a demon and forced to murder my family, then kidnapped and tortured by another demon. He raped me! And crossroads demons- well you steal people's souls! And you want me to help you?"
"Crowley healed you-" Bela starts to say.
"You think you can heal something like that?! It never goes away!"
"If you'll let me finished, you self-absorbed little hunter, I'll make my point," Bela snarls. "Crowley healed you. Sam and Dean have worked with him before, and are willing to work with him again, as are your precious angels. I think those should be good enough reasons to trust him. You're right to say there are some bad demons, and they have done horrible things to you. But I could just as easily name bad hunters or awful humans. Don't judge all of us by the few you've met."
"The soul stealing?" Juliet reminds her.
"Trading," Bela corrects. "We make deals. We uphold our end, and expect the same of our business partners."
"You aren't going to tell me all the reasons I need to trust you?" Juliet asks.
"No, because you shouldn't," Bela tells her with a smirk. "I was a less than trustworthy human. It's so much more fun being a unscrupulous demon."
"At least you're honest," Juliet replies. "The dog- Daisy?"
"Hellhound," Bela corrects.
"You're serious?" Juliet asks with a double take.
"She's serious," Dean says, staring at the space where the hellhound is with distaste. Juliet fixes Crowley and Bela with a piercing stare.
"What do we need to do?"
It isn't easy to trust the demons. More than anything, I would love to take a knife to Bela's perfect throat and give her a Colombian Necktie. But I don't, for three reasons.
A) I owe Crowley for healing me. Soul or no soul, I'm in his debt now, and I'll pay my debt in the form of not slaughtering Bela.
B) Sam, Dean, Gabriel, and Castiel are all going to help, with or without me, and I guess protecting "innocent demons" (definitely an oxymoron) is a good cause.
And C) The hellhound, Daisy, is the best dog ever! My disgust of demons does not, apparently, transfer to their pets. I didn't think an invisible pet would be a good idea, but I have to admit, not having fur on my clothes or worrying about motel management not allowing pets is nice.
Our first order of business is to get a motel near where the attacks have been happening. This is made difficult by a desire for separate sleeping arrangements. Cas and Dean want their own room, especially since Dean refuses to share with Bela or Daisy. Gabriel and I want our own room, and would prefer not to creepy couple with Dean and Cas. Finally, we decided to get two rooms with king-sized beds, and one with two queens, which Sam, Bela, and Daisy will share. Which is fine, until Daisy decides she loves me more than any other person on the team and refuses to leave my side.
So Gabriel and I share a bed with a giant hellhound.
I think Gabriel's only a little jealous.
A/N: The chapter title is the song "Sad Girl" by Supergrass. It played in the Season Two episode "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things". I do not own the Beatles or their song "Hey Jude". For those who are curious, Bela is supposed to look like she did before she died, just with demon eyes. For the record, I love Bela, so she might stick around for a while.
