Author's Note
Prepare yourself for the emotions…
Hi everyone! I hope you're enjoying the story so far- I'm having a lot of fun with it.
Just a quick note- I do not own the song lyrics in this chapter (you'll know them when you see them), and I do not take credit for them in any way, shape, or form.
As always, thank you to everyone who has stuck with the story (It's long, I know)- it means so much to me, and I hope you continue to enjoy it just as much as I do :)
"Well, according to all your tests, there's nothing wrong with your heart- no sign there ever was," the doctor announced, and I looked up from my lap in shock. I glanced at Sam, who mirrored my expression, and turned to Dean, who shot me a smug smile. I stretched my arms above my head and fake-yawned, sneakily flipping Dean off. He choked down a laugh and turned back to the doctor, who was shaking her head in disbelief.
"Not that a man your age should be having heart trouble, but, uh… still, it's strange, but it happens," she said, and scribbled some notes on her clipboard.
"What do you mean by strange?" I asked, leaning forward in my chair. The doctor turned to look at me and shook her head sadly.
"Well, just yesterday, a young guy like you- twenty-seven, athletic… Out of nowhere, heart attack," she replied, shrugging. I shot Dean a suspicious look, and he raised his eyebrows at me before turning back to the doctor and smiling.
"Thanks, Doc," he said, and the doctor nodded and turned to leave. As soon as the door shut behind her, Dean turned to us, his brows furrowed.
"That's odd," he commented, and I nodded in agreement. We both turned to look at Sam, but he just shrugged.
"Maybe it's a coincidence- people's hearts give out all the time, guys," he said, and I scoffed at him and crossed my arms under my chest.
"Coincidence, my ass!" I retorted, and Sam turned to look at Dean expectantly.
"Dude, she's got a point," Dean said reluctantly, and Sam shook his head at us in exasperation.
"Look, guys, do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we just be thankful that the guy saved your life and move on?" Sam protested, and both Dean and I turned to look at him like he was losing it.
"Because I can't shake this feeling, that's why," Dean responded, and I looked at him in concern.
"What feeling, Dean?" I asked, and Dean looked down at his lap and shook his head.
"When I was healed, I just… I felt wrong. I felt cold, and for a second… I saw someone. This, uh… this old man. And I'm telling you, it was a spirit," he said haltingly, and I sat down on the examination table with him.
"Dean, if there was something there, I think I would have seen it too," Sam began, and Dean shook his head at him. Sam ignored him and continued to speak. "I mean, I've been seeing an awful lot of things lately."
"Well, excuse me, psychic wonder," Dean said sarcastically, and I elbowed him in the side and gave him a sharp look. "You're just gonna need a little faith on this one, Sam. I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this," he continued in a more normal tone, and I nodded in agreement. Sam looked at the two of us and sighed, shaking his head.
"Yeah, alright," he said reluctantly, and I smiled at him gratefully. "So what do you wanna do?" he continued, and Dean sat up a little bit straighter.
"You and Ella go check out the heart attack guy- I'm gonna visit the reverend," he announced, and I rolled my eyes at him.
'"Don't you mean you're going to visit Layla?" I quipped, and Dean shot a look at me.
"Shut up," he grumbled, and stalked out of the room. I turned to Sam. and we both started laughing. Once we had managed to pull ourselves together, I spoke up.
"You ready to go check out the dead guy?"
Sam nodded, and we walked out to the car, where Dean had claimed the driver's seat and was blasting Metallica.
"SHOTGUN!" I yelled, and sprinted towards the car before Sam could protest. I flopped into my seat and high-fived Dean as Sam climbed into the backseat, mumbling something about us being five years old. Dean shot backwards out of the parking space and peeled out of the lot, sending Sam flying back into his seat. I heard a loud crinkling noise, and Sam reached behind his back and wordlessly held up a half-eaten bag of salt and vinegar chips. Dean and I looked at each other and burst into laughter, and Sam threw the bag of chips at my head. Dean yelled something along the lines of "you get crumbs in my car and I'll murder you in your sleep" (including a rather creative use of the f-bomb) as I laughed hysterically, my laughter quickly turning to a yelp as Dean reached over and poked me in the side. I reached over and smacked him as Sam yelled at him to focus on the road, and Dean responded by stepping on the gas, sending us flying down the (thankfully empty) street.
Dean dropped us off outside of the dead guy's former gym, and I took a moment to wrestle my hair into a bun, muttering darkly about chopping it all off someday. As soon as I looked more presentable, Sam and I walked into the gym and showed our FBI badges to an employee, who lead us through the gym and told us what he knew.
"I'm telling you, he seemed healthy. Swam every day, didn't smoke… So a heart attack just seemed', well, bizarre," the employee said as we followed him through the tiled hallway to the pool.
"And you said he was running, right before he collapsed?" Sam asked, and the man nodded quickly.
"Yeah, he was freaking out- he said that something was, uh… was after him," he responded as we stopped by the side of the pool, and I shot Sam a look.
"Did he say what?" I asked politely, and the man shook his head, frowning.
"Well, thin air is what- I mean, it wasn't anything," he said, and Sam and I thanked him and turned to leave. Just as we were walking out, I noticed that the clock was frozen, and nudged Sam before I turned back to the man.
"Sir, I think your clock's busted," I commented, and the man sighed and shook his head.
"Yeah, we, uh, can't get it workin'- it just froze at 4:17," he said, and I shot Sam a look. He looked at me in confusion for a second before understanding crossed his face, and he turned to look at the employee.
"Is that the same time Marshall died?" he asked quietly, and the man looked at him with wide eyes.
"How'd you know?"
Sam and I quickly excused ourselves and went back to the motel room, where I immediately flopped down on the floor and pulled out my laptop. Sam sat at the table and rested his forehead on his hand while I did some digging.
"Sam?" I asked quietly, and he looked up at me with concern. "You need to see this."
I showed him what I had found, and we sat in stunned silence until Dean opened the door, throwing his keys on the other bed.
"What'd you find out?" he asked, his smile falling when he noticed the look on my face. "Kid, what's wrong?"
"Dean, I'm so sorry," I said, my voice breaking as a tear fell down my cheek. He pulled off his jacket and threw it onto the bed before kneeling down next to me, wiping the tear away.
"Ella, what's going on?" he asked softly, and turned his head to look at Sam, who sat silently at the table, looking down at his lap.
"Marshall Hall died at 4:17," Sam said somberly, and Dean's eyes widened in shock.
"The exact time I was healed," he said, and I nodded sadly and wiped my eyes, taking a deep breath.
"I put together a list of everyone Roy's healed- six people over the past year- and cross-checked them with local obits… Dean, every time someone was healed, someone else died," I said, choking down tears. "And the victims died from the same symptom that Roy was healing."
The room fell silent- we were all speechless. I looked down at my lap and inhaled shakily, and eventually Dean looked up from his lap and spoke.
"So someone's healed of cancer, and someone else dies of cancer?" he said slowly, and Sam nodded.
"Somehow, LeGrange... is trading one life for another," he replied quietly, and Dean stiffened suddenly.
"Wait, wait, wait," Dean said quickly, and looked at us in shock. "So Marshall Hall died to save me?"
I managed a slight nod and looked up at the ceiling, trying my hardest not to cry.
"Dean, the guy probably would have died anyway, and someone else would have been healed," Sam pointed out, sounding just as upset as I felt. Dean shot to his feet and started pacing, his jaw set.
"You never should have brought me here," he said angrily, and I got to my feet and reached for his arm.
"Dean, we were just trying to save your life- we didn't know," I pleaded, and Dean pulled his arm out of my grasp and turned away from me.
"Some guy is dead now because of me!" he snapped, and I backed away from him, my hands starting to shake.
"The thing I don't understand is how Roy's doing it- how's he trading a life for a life?" Sam questioned, and Dean spun around to face him, his eyes blazing with anger.
"Oh, he's not doing it," he growled, and I continued to back away from him. "Something else is doing it for him."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked carefully, and I clapped a hand over my mouth, realizing what Dean meant.
"That old man you saw… you think he's doing it?" I asked, and Dean nodded at me, the anger in his eyes fading slightly.
"I didn't wanna believe it, but deep down I knew it," he confessed, and Sam looked at him in confusion.
"You knew what? What are you talking about?" Sam questioned, leaning forward in his chair.
"Sam, there's only one thing that can give and take life like that," Dean replied ominously, and I realized what he was talking about.
"We're dealing with a reaper, aren't we?" I asked, and Dean nodded at me. Sam sat back in his chair and was silent for a moment before he reached for his laptop and began typing frantically. I grabbed mine from the floor and opened up my notes on different creatures, finding the reaper near the bottom. I looked through what I had, looking up when Sam spoke.
"You really think it's the Grim Reaper? Like angel of death, collect your soul the whole deal?" he asked skeptically, and Dean looked up from the papers he had strewn across the table.
"No no no, not the reaper. A reaper," Dean replied. "There's reaper law in pretty much every culture on earth- it goes by a hundred different names, and it's possible that there's more than one of them."
"Some people believe that they were created by the archangel Ezekiel to help transport souls from the physical world into the spiritual world, others say he's the Greek god of non-violent death… There's all sorts of lore on these things," I chimed in, and Sam nodded thoughtfully.
"But you said you saw a dude in a suit," Sam said, giving Dean a pointed look.
"What, you think he shoulda been working the whole black robe thing?" Dean retorted, and I laughed.
"Hey, check this out- remember that clock?" I asked, and Sam nodded, leaning forward in interest. "Reapers can stop time. And apparently you can only see them when they're coming for you- which is why Dean could see it and we couldn't."
"Maybe," Sam mused, not looking convinced.
"There's nothing else it could be, Sam," Dean declared, and I nodded in agreement.
"But how's Roy controlling the thing?" I piped up, and Sam suddenly sat up straighter and reached over to dig through the papers in front of Dean, mumbling something about a cross. He finally found what he was looking for and held it out to Dean, who leaned over to grab it.
"A Tarot?" Dean raised his eyebrows at Sam, and he nodded in response.
"It makes sense. A tarot dates back to the early Christian era, right? When some priests were using magic, and a few of them veered into the dark stuff?" Sam questioned, and I nodded.
"Necromancy," I said thoughtfully, and Dean shot me a strange look. "What? I read weird stuff when I'm bored." He shook his head at me, before returning his attention to the task at hand.
"So Roy's using black magic to bind the reaper?" he asked, and Sam nodded at him. I leaned back in my chair and pulled the hair tie from my bun, shaking my head so my hair fell down my back.
"If he is, he's riding the whirlwind- it's like putting a dog leash on a Great White," Sam commented, and I laughed at the mental image. Dean cracked a smile, and got up to put his cup in the sink, leaning against the cabinet.
"Okay, then we stop Roy," Dean said decisively, and Sam furrowed his brows.
"How?"
"You know how," Dean replied, and I looked at him with wide eyes.
"What the shit? Dude, we can't just kill him!" I protested, and Dean looked at me in disbelief.
"Ella, the guy's playing God, deciding who lives and dies- that's a monster in my book," he said pointedly, and Sam shook his head at him.
"We're not going to kill a human being, Dean. We do that, and we're no better than he is," Sam said thoughtfully, and I pushed my bangs out of my face to give him a grateful look.
"Okay, we can't kill Roy, we can't kill Death- any bright ideas, college boy?" Dean asked in a rather snarky tone, and I shot him a look before turning back to my computer.
"Well, if Roy's using some kind of black magic spell on the reaper, we gotta figure out what it is and how to break it," I mumbled, and started to gather my stuff.
"Going somewhere?" Dean asked, and I rolled my eyes at him.
"I'm going to go break into Roy's house and look for a spellbook. Would you like to join me?" I asked sarcastically, and swung my backpack onto my shoulder, grabbing the car keys as I headed towards the door. Just as I was about to close the door, I heard Dean speak up.
"Are we sure she's not related to us?"
"Yeah, pretty sure," Sam said, and I turned around to walk backwards and held my arms out to the side, grinning at them.
"So?" I called out to them, and they walked towards me, shaking their heads. I unlocked the car and tossed the keys to Dean, who caught them with one hand. I climbed into the backseat and wedged my pillow between my back and the car door, stretching my legs out so that they touched the other side of the car. The two brothers got into the car and closed their doors at the same time, and as Dean started the car, Sam tossed me the bag of chips he had thrown at my head earlier. I happily caught it and dug in, holding some out to Dean. He leaned over and grabbed one directly from my hand with his teeth, making me laugh, and Sam took the rest. We shared the rest of the bag, and the car was filled with the sound of crunching chips as we sped down the road.
We finally pulled up to Roy's house and the tent, and I grinned at the boys before sneaking out of the car and towards Roy's house, Sam following closely behind. We ran up the porch steps as quietly as we could and flattened ourselves against the wall around the corner, watching Sue Ann and a dark-haired man help Roy towards the tent. Sam and I crept along the side of the house to check the windows, and found one that wasn't locked. Sam climbed through the window first and then reached out to help me, and once we were both in, we began searching the house.
We both made a beeline for the bookcases and started digging through it. I slid my fingers along the spines of the books, reading the titles- nothing unusual there.
"Hey, Ella? Come take a look at this," Sam asked from across the room, and I walked over to him. He tapped the empty space in front of the Encyclopedia of British History, and I saw that it was the only book without dust on the shelf in front of it. He grabbed the book and began to flip through it while I took a look at the bookcase. Then I noticed a smaller book against the back of the shelves, and reached out to grab it.
"Sam! Check this out," I whispered, and handed him the book. He opened it and pulled out some loose newspaper articles, looking them over before handing them to me. He then started flipping through the book, looking up a minute later when I gasped.
"Oh, this isn't good," I murmured, and pulled my phone out of my pocket to call Dean.
"What have you got?" he answered.
"Dean, Roy's choosing people he views as immoral. Marshall Hall was an openly gay teacher, and that female victim? She was an abortion rights advocate. And I know who's next on his list- remember that protestor?"
"Son of a… the guy in the parking lot?" he asked in a panicked tone, and I nodded at Sam, who tossed me the book and started climbing back out the window.
"Yeah. We got him- don't let Roy heal anyone, alright?" I asked, and he agreed and hung up. I patted myself down quickly to find somewhere to stuff the book, and quickly realized that my jeans' pockets would only fit about half of it. I swore under my breath and shoved it down my shirt, scrambling out the window. I nodded at Sam, and we ran to the parking lot, me awkwardly holding the book against my chest. We looked around, and screeched to a halt when we heard a yell from the other side of the lot.
I spun around and immediately sprinted towards where the sound had come from, Sam hot on my heels. We reached Wright just as he yelled again, and I reached out to grab his shoulder.
"Where is he?" I asked frantically, and the man pointed at nothing.
"Right there!"
Sam spun around to look at where he was pointing, and shrugged at me before grabbing Wright's arm and pulling him away.
"Come on!" he urged, and my phone rang in my pocket. I grabbed it and answered it.
"Dean?"
"I did it- I stopped Roy," he said triumphantly on the other end. I flashed a thumbs-up sign at Sam and Wright. They relaxed for a second, but then Wright screamed and fell to the ground.
"NO!"
"Damn it- Dean, it didn't work! The reaper's still coming!" I cursed, and Dean made a surprised sound.
"I'm telling you, it didn't work- Roy must not be controlling this thing!" I yelled into the phone.
"Then who the hell is?" he yelled, and abruptly fell silent.
"DEAN?" I yelled, and I heard him swear on the other end.
"Sue Ann," he hissed, and hung up the phone.
"Son of a bitch!" I cursed, and shoved my phone in my pocket. "Sam, it's Sue Ann!"
I fell to my knees next to Wright, who was now gasping for air and turning white. I shook him, but his eyes were fixed on something behind him. Suddenly, he stopped gasping and fell back, the color returning to his face.
"Sam!" I yelled, and he rushed over to help him up.
"I got you," he said, and Wright slumped into him, thanking God.
Then we saw Dean being shoved through the entry to the tent by two cops, who he shook off as soon as he got outside. Sue Ann was following close behind, and turned to talk to him before walking away. The cops shoved him away, and we saw Layla step in front of him. They spoke quietly before she walked off in tears, and Dean turned to walk over to where Sam and I were waiting. We overheard Roy say something tonight about having a private session to heal Layla just as Dean angrily brushed past us and stormed over to the car. Sam and I glanced at each other worriedly and rushed over to the car, getting in just as Dean started the engine. We pulled out of the lot and drove towards the hotel, none of us saying a word during the entire trip.
"So Roy really believes," Sam commented later as he sat on the bed in the hotel room. Dean had been pacing the room ever since we had arrived, and I watched him from where I was curled up on my side on the other bed, resting my head on a stack of pillows.
"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing," Dean sighed, and I suddenly remembered the book from earlier, which I had tossed to Sam as soon as we got into the car.
"Sam, you still have that book?" I asked, and he nodded and dug into the pocket of his jacket.
"We found this hidden in their library. It's ancient- written by a priest who went dark side," Sam explained, and handed the book to Dean.
"And get this- there's a binding spell for trapping a reaper in there," I added, and Dean shook his head in disbelief.
"Must be a hell of a spell."
"Yeah, that's one way to put it," I said, sitting up and stretching my arms over my head. "You gotta build a black altar with some seriously messed-up stuff- bones, human blood… For a preacher's wife to cross a line like that? Damn."
"She was desperate- her husband was dying, and she didn't have anything to save him," Dean said, and I sighed and pulled my hair into a ponytail.
"Let me guess- she was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy?" I asked, and Sam nodded at me.
"Cheating death- literally," he replied, and I saw Dean shoot him a puzzled look.
"Yeah but Roy's alive, so why is she still using the spell?" Dean wondered.
"Maybe she liked playing God a little too much," I grumbled, and flopped back down on the bed. "We gotta break that damn binding spell before she kills someone else."
We pulled up to the tent with the Impala's lights turned off, and rolled to a stop. It was raining, but we could see that there were still cars parked near the tent.
"That's Layla's car… she's already here," Sam said quietly, and Dean nodded sadly.
"Dean…" I said quietly, and reached out to put my hand on his shoulder.
"You know, if Roy woulda picked Layla instead of me she'd be here right now," Dean said seriously, and I squeezed his shoulder.
"Dean, don't," I pleaded softly, but he shook his head again and turned to look back at me. "If she's not healed tonight, she's gonna die in a couple months."
"What's happening to her is horrible, but what are you gonna do? Let somebody else die to save her? You said it yourself, Dean- you can't play God," Sam said quietly, and Dean turned to face forward. He sat for a moment without speaking, and then silently got out of the car. Sam and I followed as quietly as we could as he crept up to the tent and peeked inside. We saw a small group gathered around the stage where Roy was speaking, including Layla and her mother.
"Where's Sue Ann?" Dean whispered, and I shook my head.
"House," Sam replied, and we started moving towards it.
"You two go find Sue Ann- I'll catch up," Dean hissed, pushing Sam and I towards the house and jogging away from us.
"Where the hell are you going?" I whisper-screamed, but Dean ignored me. I rolled my eyes and crouched down behind a car when I saw some cops coming down the front stairs, pulling Sam down next to me.
"Hey! You gonna put that fear of God in me?" I heard Dean yell, and the cops dropped the coffees they were holding and ran at Dean, who took off. I glanced at Sam and shrugged, and as soon as they had disappeared from sight, Sam and I sprinted towards the house and up the stairs. We peeked through all of the windows and saw only darkness, and were about to turn back in confusion when I saw light shining from the cracks of the outside hatch to the basement.
"Hey!" I whispered at Sam, and pointed to the light. We darted towards the entrance and Sam quietly opened the door, sneaking into the basement. I followed a step behind him, holding on to the back of his shirt, and we reached an altar lit with the warm glow of candlelight. It was strewn with all sorts of gross crap- parts of dead animals, blood, some weird-looking horns, and a few other things that I never want to think about ever again. A photo of Dean rested in the middle, his face crossed out with what looked like blood. I was about to make a snarky comment about Sue Ann really needing to find a better hobby when we heard a voice behind us.
"I gave your brother life, and I can take it away."
We spun around and saw Sue Ann standing behind us.
"Lady, you really should have taken up knitting or something," I growled, and turned back to the altar. I kicked the table as hard as I could, sending its contents flying across the room, and Sam leapt for Sue Ann, but she had already run up the stairs and slammed the hatch behind her. We heard her securing it with a beam, and Sam reached up to push against it, but it wouldn't budge.
"Children, can't you see? The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked. And your brother is wicked, and he deserves to die, just as Layla deserves to live. It is God's will," she called to us, and I called her some very colorful names at the top of my lungs.
"Goodbye, Sam and Ella," she chirped, way too happy about the situation. I screamed one last profanity-filled name at her before rushing over to help Sam, who was looking around the room. He grabbed a block of wood from the wall and smashed out a small boarded up window, boosting me up so I could crawl through before following closely behind. We sprinted towards the tent just in time to see Dean heading the same way. He stopped and turned around to look behind him, and the line of lights marking a path to the tent started to go out one by one.
"DEAN!" I screamed, and ran towards him as he fell to his knees. Sam ran over to where Sue Ann was standing, holding up the cross around her neck and chanting in another language. I slid to the ground next to Dean just as Sam ripped the cross from around her neck and threw it aside, something shattering. Dean fell onto his side, gasping, and I reached out to grab his shoulder.
I saw Sue Ann fall to her knees beside the broken cross, and she looked up at Sam in horror.
"My God, what have you done!" she wailed, and Sam glared down at her.
"He's not your God," Sam spat, and I resisted the urge to cheer. I helped Dean to his feet, and we ran to the car. We looked back and saw Sue Ann looking up at nothing, and she rose, turning to run, but fell to her knees, and after a moment, she fell to the ground and convulsed before going still. We made it to the car just as Sam did, and he looked over at Dean.
"You okay?" Sam asked, and Dean shook his head, exhausted.
"Hell of a week," he grumbled, and I laughed.
"Yeah, that's for sure." I turned to Sam , who nodded in agreement. "Okay, can we go now? I'm starting to look like that girl from The Ring," I joked, motioning to my dripping wet hair. Sam and Dean laughed, and Dean unlocked the car. I dove into the backseat and pulled my soaked black military jacket and plaid shirt off, making a face at them and dumping them into one of the empty shopping bags I had stashed under the seat. Thankfully, my black tank top was mostly dry, although it wouldn't be if my hair was down. I quickly pulled it up into a bun and secured it with a hair tie, and laughed at Sam, who looked like a wet dog. As Dean drove out of the lot, he silently reached out to turn on the radio. Sam glanced over at him and was about to say something, but Dean reached out and turned the volume up, effectively cutting Sam off. We drove without saying anything until we reached the hotel, and as soon as we walked through the door, Dean went to go shower. I stepped out of the room to make a quick call, and walked back into the room after a few minutes. I let my hair down and started to get rid of some of the tangles, and just as I pulled my fingers through the last one, Dean came out of the bathroom in dry clothes and wordlessly sat down on the bed, staring at nothing.
"What is it?" Sam asked him, but Dean just shook his head, refusing to look at him.
"Nothing."
Sam waited for a few seconds, and when he spoke again, it was in a much gentler tone.
"Dean, what is it?"
"We did the right thing here, didn't we?" Dean asked hesitantly, and I walked over to him and sat down on the bed next to him, pulling my hair to the side and resting my head on his shoulder.
"Of course we did," Sam said softly, and Dean hung his head.
"It doesn't feel like it."
I reached out to slip my hand into his, and he looked up at me and opened his mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a knock on the door.
"I got it," I said, squeezing Dean's hand before pulling away and walking over to the door. I slowly opened the door and poked my head out, relaxing when I saw that it was just Layla.
"Hey, Layla," I said, smiling warmly at her. "Come on in."
"Hey," she said, smiling back at me as she walked into the room, and Dean shot to his feet.
"How did you know we were here?" he asked, looking completely confused. He glanced over to the door where I was standing, and I gave him a sheepish grin. Sam looked over at me and choked down a laugh before he walked over to me and wrapped his arm around my waist, looking down at me.
"Hey, how about I buy you a soda?" he said, and mouthed "just go with it".
"Yeah, that sounds great," I said, and waved at Layla before Sam and I left the room. As soon as the door shut behind us, I turned to Sam and laughed.
"Real subtle, Sammy," I said teasingly, and he grinned at me, his arm still around my waist. "Are you actually going to buy me a soda, or did you just say that to give them some alone time?"
He laughed and let go of me, and acted like he was thinking about it before he grabbed my hand and ran to the soda machines, pulling me along. I laughed and picked up the pace, and we skidded to a halt in front of the machines. Sam tossed me his wallet, and I dug through it for a couple dollars before throwing it back to him a little harder than what was necessary. He dove to catch it as I picked out which drink I wanted, waiting to open it so I didn't spray soda everywhere. As soon as he had gotten his drink, I grabbed his hand again and we ran back to the hotel room just as Layla walked out. She waved at us and walked to her car, and we waved as she pulled away. We stumbled back into the room, laughing, and saw Dean still staring at the door. I grabbed Sam's soda and put both drinks on the table before I tossed him his bag and jerked my chin towards the shower. He got the hint and walked into the bathroom, and as he closed the door, I turned back to Dean, who was still frozen in place. I reached up to touch his face, pulling him out of his trance, and he looked down at me sadly.
"You okay, Dean?" I asked gently, and he managed a weak smile. I stood up on my toes and threw my arms around his shoulder, and I could feel him wrap his arms around my waist and hold me tightly. He buried his face in my shoulder, and we stood there for a while until Sam came out of the bathroom. I pulled away and smiled at him before grabbing my bag and heading to the shower, closing the door quietly behind me. As I got in the shower, I could hear the two brothers talking in low voices, and by the time I was almost done washing my hair, their voices went silent, and I smiled. I got out of the shower and threw on a comfortable sports bra, one of my old tank tops, and some pajama shorts, and quickly braided my hair down my back. When I came out of the bathroom, I saw that Sam was fast asleep under the covers in one bed, and Dean was laying on his back on top of the covers and staring up at the ceiling in the other bed. I started to walk towards the couch, but stopped when I heard Dean call out to me softly.
"Ella?"
I turned to look at him, and he sat up in bed and looked at me sadly.
"Do you think- can you-" he stammered, and I smiled at him. I walked over to him and pulled the covers down on the other side of the bed, rearranging the pillows so I could sit up comfortably. I climbed into the bed and pulled the covers over my lap as Dean moved so his back was against the headboard, and once I had stopped fixing the blankets, I put my arm around his shoulders, and he leaned his head on my shoulder, closing his eyes. I started singing to him softly in a clear, sweet voice, and I felt him sigh happily as he recognized the song.
Hey, Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better...
At this point in the song, I heard him yawn loudly, and he pulled away from me so he could lay down. Once he had made himself comfortable, he looked up at me expectantly, and I smiled down at him and continued the song, even after his breathing slowed and evened out, and he fell asleep with a small smile on his face.
Hey, Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better
And anytime you feel the pain,
Hey, Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool
Who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah, nah nah, nah nah, nah nah, nah nah
Hey, Jude, don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better
So let it out and let it in,
Hey, Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you,
Hey, Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder...