I Know What You Did Last Summer
Sam was leaning on a pool table in a bar, a pool cue in his hand, seemingly drunk as a skunk, while a burly man stood by him in the middle of a pool game.
"Alright come on man, just one more, just…just give me a chance to win it back…" Sam argued with the man, stuttering.
"It's your cash," the man shrugged, smirking at the easy money.
"Excuse me, my brother's a little sauced to be making bets," Dean said, walking up with Michelle.
"Hey, he insisted."
"Yeah, but you've already taken what, two bills off him? I'm just saying."
"Hey, shut up Dean, I'm fine," Sam insisted, leaning on the table.
"No, you're not fine, you're drunk!" Michelle laughed, when Sam slung an arm around her shoulder. She tensed just a bit, still uncomfortable with the plan Dean had come up with to hustle and use her as Sam's girlfriend. It was uncomfortable because there was a distance between them, one she was partially responsible for, one that would exist as long as Sam remained unaware of where she'd been those four months after they'd lost Dean...and that was something she just wasn't ready to talk about, with either brother.
"Let's make it five hundred," Sam grinned, looking from the man to Michelle as though he wanted to impress her.
"Five hundred?" Dean's eyes widened.
Sam just held up the wad of cash as the man nodded, "Sure," Sam slammed the wad down on the table, "Five hundred, you're break."
He set up the balls for Sam, Sam leaning over to shoot and getting at least two balls in the pockets. The man looked shocked at this, while Dean leaned over to watch and Michelle let out a surprised sound.
Sam looked up to smile smugly at Michelle, when something caught his eye behind her, Ruby, sitting at a table across the bar. His jaw clenched, "Keep the money."
He hurried off as Dean and Michelle looked confused, "Keep the money?" Dean asked, "What?"
"Dean," Michelle said quietly, nodding towards where Sam was headed to Ruby. Dean grumbled to himself and grabbed his beer, walking over with Michelle, not looking pleased as he reached the table.
"Hey…" Sam began but Dean cut him off.
"Well, you got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me."
"I just have some info and then I'm gone," Ruby remarked.
"What is it?" Sam asked, looking confused.
"I'm hearing a few whispers…"
"Oh, great, demon whisperers," Dean cut in sarcastically, "That's reliable," he walked away, over to the bar, still within earshot but not wanting to be anywhere near Ruby.
Michelle sighed and crossed her arms, standing next to Sam, not looking very comfortable at the way Ruby was smirking.
"Girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday," Ruby told Sam, "The demons seem pretty keen on finding her. Apparently some real heavy hitters turned out for the Easter egg hunt."
"Why?" Sam shook his head, "Who is she?"
"No idea. But I'm thinking that she's important, 'cause the order is to capture her alive," Sam looked shocked at that, demons didn't usually care about humans, but Michelle looked worried, knowing demons only captured live victims to try and get something from them, "I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might wanna find this girl before the demons do."
Sam nodded and looked tentatively over his shoulder at Dean, "Look, maybe we should check it out..."
Dean turned around to face them, smiling irritatedly at Ruby, "Actually we're working a case, but thanks."
"What case?" Ruby narrowed her eyes, not believing him.
"Uh…we've got leads, big leads."
"Sounds dangerous," she replied sarcastically.
"Yeah, well it sure ain't goose chasing after some chick who, for all we know, doesn't even exist just because you say she's important."
"I'm just delivering the news, you can do whatever you want with it, far as I'm concerned, I told you, I'm done," Ruby turned to walk off, when Michelle called out.
"This hospital Anna escaped from, it got a name?" Ruby paused and eyed the girl a moment as did Dean, shocked she was actually listening to Ruby. She glanced at Dean, "If she's a real person, we're gonna need a place to start, they'd have records of her at the hospital."
~8~
The trio was heading off in the Impala, Sam on the phone with the hospital Ruby had given them, seeing if there was, in fact, an Anna Milton there.
"Can I get a copy of the missing person's report?" Sam asked over the phone. Dean just rolled his eyes, looking really irritated that they were following Ruby's tip. Michelle gave him a small smile when Dean looked back at her in the rearview mirror, "Great, ok, thanks," he clicked the phone off and put it down, "Well, Anna Milton's definitely real."
"Don't mean the case is real and this hospital's a three day drive," Dean argued.
"We've driven further for less, Dean," Sam told him, but Dean just shook his head disapprovingly, "You got something to say, say it."
"Oh, I'm saying it, this sucks."
"Nice," Michelle rolled her eyes.
"You're not pissed we're going after the girl, you're pissed Ruby threw us the tip," Sam sighed.
"Right, 'cause as far as you're concerned, the Hell-bitch is practically family," Dean said, growing angry, "Oh boy, something major must have happened while I was downstairs, 'cause I come back and…and…and you're…" he looked up to see Michelle in the mirror, smile gone as she looked down, he sighed, "BFF with a demon?" he'd edited greatly what he wanted to say, but he didn't want to upset Michelle by outwardly suggesting his brother was screwing a demon.
"I told you Dean, she helped me go after Lilith," Sam defended.
"Well, thanks for the thumbnail, real vivid. You wanna fill in a little detail?"
"Sure, Dean, let's trade stories," Sam glared at his brother, "How was your time in Hell? Do you actually not remember it or are you just saying that? And please, don't spare the details."
"I told you! I don't remember anything! It's like I went to sleep and woke up four months later ok? Why don't you…"
"Guys!" Michelle cut in, leaning forward till she was almost half-in the front seat, "Can we please…just…" she sighed, "We have a three day drive ahead of us, can we please try and be civil otherwise I'm going to kill one or both of you."
Dean felt his jacket pocket and cursed under his breath, he glanced back at Michelle, "Got any more of those 'Get Out of Hell Free' cards?"
Her response was to smack him over the head.
~8~
As they walked into the psych ward and Dean began introducing them, Sam couldn't help but think back to his heated conversation with his brother when they first headed out. He found himself thinking back to what it had been like right when Dean had disappeared, just after Michelle had left. He'd gone to a Crossroads Demon and tried to take Dean's place in Hell. The demon had taunted him, talking about him burying Dean, asking him what it was like to have his girlfriend abandon him, and then refusing to make the deal.
"Of course, I wanna help however I can," Anna's psychiatrist said, cutting through Sam's thoughts and leading them to Anna's room.
"The orderly has no recollection of Anna's escape?" Michelle asked as Dean looked around the room.
"Apparently she knocked him unconscious. Uh, the blow caused some amnesia, he doesn't even remember coming into her room."
"That's a hell of a right hook to knock out a guy that's got eighty pounds on her," Dean commented, coming to join them again.
"We think she may have planned this, waited behind the door," she sighed, walking out of the room.
"Right, uh, you mentioned Anna's illness was recent," Sam spoke up, finally getting his head attached.
"Two months ago she was a happy, well-adjusted, journalism major, lots of friends, bright future…"
"So what happened?" Dean shook his head, "She just flipped?"
"Well, that's the tragedy of schizophrenia, within weeks Anna was overtaken by delusions."
"What kind of delusions?" Michelle continued in the questioning.
She handed Michelle Anna's sketchpad, "She thought demons were everywhere."
"Huh…" Sam began.
"Interesting," Dean added.
Michelle said nothing as she opened the book to see a few drawings of windows with crosses above them.
"It's not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real," the psychiatrist shook her head.
"Well, that…that's just batty," Dean remarked.
Michelle turned a page to see in bold black print, 'Rising of the Witnesses,' followed by a symbol of the mark used in the spell. The page under that had a sketch of the witnesses being raised, their eyes empty. Michelle turned the next page to see Samhain and houses with jack-o-lanterns in front of them. On top of that page were the words, 'Samhain, the Next Seal, is Broken.'
"It's Revelations," Michelle whispered, her eyes wide as she stared at the pictures.
"Since when does the Book of Revelations have jack-o-lanterns?" the psychiatrist asked.
The trio looked up, having forgotten they were not alone, "Uh," Dean cleared his throat, "It's a little known translation."
"Ah, well, Anna's father was a church deacon, when she became ill her paranoia took on religious overtones," she nodded, "She was convinced the devil was about to rise up and end the world. I hope you find her. It's dangerous for her to be out there alone right now."
Sam nodded solemnly as Dean looked at the book in disbelief, knowing the psychiatrist didn't have any idea how true that was. The woman nodded before walking out of the room, leaving them there.
Michelle sighed and looked around the room, "Jeez…"
"What?" Dean looked up.
"It's just…" she shook her head, "If my parents hadn't been Hunters, I'd probably be somewhere like here too. You know," she looked back at them, "Seeing demons and all."
Sam frowned, not liking the idea of Michelle being stuck somewhere like this. It made him all the more determined to find Anna and let her know they believed her.
~8~
The next place they headed was Anna's parents' house. They walked quickly towards the house, wanting to find Anna as soon as possible. Dean knocked on the glass inset of the door, but no one answered.
"Maybe they're not home," Dean suggested.
"Both cars are in the driveway," Michelle replied.
Dean tried the doorknob and the door opened. He looked up at the two of them, Sam raising an eyebrow at that. Michelle gave them a meaningful look and pulled out her gun. Dean nodded, getting his ready as well and entering the house, the two following after.
"Mr. and Mrs. Milton?" he shouted.
"We're from the sheriff's department," Sam added, taking out his gun as well.
"We just wanted to ask you a couple of questions," Michelle called as they walked past a room, glancing in before stepping in, to see a woman and man lying on the floor, necks slashed, with pools of blood around them.
Michelle sighed and walked over to the body of Mrs. Milton, kneeling beside it, and dipping her fingers in something yellow. She smelled it, flinching at the scent, "Sulfur."
"The demons beat us here," Sam shook his head, "Whatever the deal is with this Anna girl…"
"Yeah, they want her, and they're not screwing around," Dean agreed, looking around at a stack of mail, "Alright, so I'm 'Girl Interrupted' and I know the score of the Apocalypse…" Sam walked over to a picture of Anna and her parents, "Just busted out of the nutbox, possibly using superpowers by the way, where do I go?"
Michelle thought a moment before pulling out Anna's sketchbook from her coat, something that didn't go unnoticed by the brothers as they walked over to see what she was doing, "Look at this," she commented, flipping to a page of the stained glass windows.
"She was drawing the window of her church," Dean reasoned.
"Over and over," Sam agreed, seeing the various pictures.
"If you were religious, scared, and had demons on your ass, where else would you go to feel safe?" she asked them.
~8~
They managed to speak to a few neighbors who were kind enough to point them in the direction of the church, so they found it relatively quickly. They made their way in, checking the first level before making their way up to the stained glass window. Michelle stopped outside the door, gesturing for the boys to go in while she kept watch for the demons.
They had their guns drawn, when Sam noticed a movement behind a small piece of stained glass. He nudged Dean, who noticed as well. He nodded over towards the area and they walked slowly towards it, only to find Anna huddled behind the glass. Sam quickly put his gun away so as not to startle her, prompting Dean to do the same.
"Anna?" Sam called, "We're not gonna hurt you, we're here to help," but Anna still didn't move from behind the glass, "My name is Sam, this is my brother Dean."
"Sam?" she called, "Not Sam Winchester…"
Sam and Dean exchanged a confused look, "Uh…yeah…"
Anna slowly came out from behind the glass to stand before the brothers, still a bit unsure, "And you're Dean," Dean didn't know what to say, "The Dean?"
He smirked at this though, "Well, yeah…the Dean…I guess."
Sam rolled his eyes at the smug look on his brother's face.
"It's really you!" she exclaimed, stepping more towards them, "Oh my God, the angels talk about you. You were in Hell, but then you were cast out, and Castiel helped you, and some of them think you can help save us," she glanced at Sam, hesitating a moment, "And some of them don't like you at all."
"Wait, wait, wait, back up a moment," Dean cut in, "Cast out of Hell?"
"Yes," she nodded frantically, "You were released and Castiel brought you to Heaven," she looked back and forth between them, smiling widely, "They talk about you all the time lately, I feel like I know you."
"So you talk to angels?" Dean asked, getting back on topic.
"Oh, no, no, no way, um, they probably don't even know I exist," she laughed a bit, "I just kind of…overhear them."
"You overhear them?" Sam asked, surprised.
"Yeah, they talk and, sometimes, I just…hear them…in my head," she shrugged.
"Like…right now?" Dean tried.
"Not right this second, but a lot, and I can't shut them out there are so many of them."
"So they lock you up with a case of the crazies when, really, you were just tuning into to angel radio?" Dean shook his head.
"Yes," Anna breathed out, relieved someone finally believed her, "Thank you."
Dean nodded, completely understanding what she must have gone through. They had to go through the same thing every time they told someone about monsters.
"Anna, when did the voices start?" Sam asked, "Do you remember?"
"Let me guess, September 18th?" Dean rolled his eyes, everything seemed to be centered on that date.
"They day you got out of Hell?" Sam eyed his brother.
"No!" Anna shook her head, not really understanding why they said that, "No, it started May 5th."
"But that was only…three days?" Dean frowned, completely lost, he'd been in Hell four months as far as he knew, "What?"
Anna nodded, "But…how did you know about the 18th?"
"Why?" Sam eyed her, glancing at his brother for an explanation, but Dean just shrugged.
"On May 5th the angels chanted, clear as a bell, 'Dean Winchester is saved.' But on the 18th they said, 'She has returned.'"
"Who?" Sam turned to her, "Who returned?"
"The one who took his place," Anna replied as though it should be obvious.
"What?" Dean demanded.
"You…didn't know?" she eyed them, "A deal was made to release you from Hell with someone in your place. It was all the angels talked about for weeks."
Dean cleared his throat, trying to wrap his head around it. Someone, a woman, had taken his spot in Hell and had been rescued, like he had, if Anna's words that 'she has returned' were anything to go by.
"Hey, um, do you know, are my parents ok?" Anna said, pulling him from his thoughts, "I…I didn't go home, I was afraid."
Before they could answer, the door behind them slammed open, and Michelle and Ruby ran through.
"You got the girl, good, let's go," Ruby shouted as Michelle shut and bolted the door.
"Oh!" Anna yelled, backing away from Ruby, eyes wide in fear, seeing the demon within, "Her face!"
"No, it's ok, she's here to help," Sam assured her.
"Yeah, don't be so sure," Dean grumbled.
"Yeah, she's pretty ugly, isn't she?" Michelle asked, walking over to Anna, who was blinking a bit as she squinted at Michelle.
Anna's eyes widened, "Are you…Michelle? Michelle Davidson?"
"Yes…" she replied slowly, looking at Sam and Dean in question, "Why?"
"The angels talk about you all the time," she repeated, in awe.
"What?"
"We have to hurry," Ruby cut in to their little interview.
"Why?" Dean glared at her.
"Because a demon's coming," Michelle replied.
"A big-timer and we can fight later Dean," Ruby added.
"Well, that's pretty convenient, showing up right when we find the girl with some big wig on your tail," he said suspiciously.
"I didn't bring him here, you did."
"What?"
"I didn't get a good look but he definitely followed us from Anna's house," Michelle cut in.
"We gotta go, now," Ruby insisted.
Sam turned to clue Anna into the plan, when he saw something, "Guys!" he pointed to a statue of Mary, the eyes now crying blood.
"It's too late, he's here," Ruby commented, actually sounding a bit scared.
Dean quickly approached the statue, gun drawn, as Sam grabbed Anna and pulled her to a back closet for her to hide in, "Ok, stay in there, don't move."
Anna looked scared but agreed nonetheless as Sam shut the door.
He ran back over to where Dean was standing in front of the statue, grabbing his holy water from his pocket, "No Sam, you gotta pull him right away," Ruby said, walking towards Sam.
"Whoa, hold on a sec…" Dean interrupted from his spot. He was standing to the right, Sam next to him, Ruby next to him, and Michelle on the left.
"Now's not the time to bellyache about Sam going dark side," Ruby argued, "He does his thing, he exorcizes that demon, or we die."
"Sam…" Michelle began but Sam just tucked the holy water away and faced the door.
There were some footsteps and the door burst open. Sam immediately began to use his powers to exorcize the demon and it appeared to work...for a moment...before the demon coughed and smirked at the group.
"That tickles," he laughed, "You don't have the juice to take me on Sam," the demon continued, pushing Sam away with his powers, slamming him down the stairs he'd just come up.
Dean took out Ruby's knife and ran at the demon as Ruby moved to get Anna. The demon turned and grabbed Dean's arm, "Hello Dean," he commented, pushing him back and into the wall.
He then turned his head to see Michelle standing there, in shock, her whole body shaking, as she stared in fear at the demon, "And Miss Michelle, oh I have missed you."
He stalked towards her as she backed up, bumping into various objects till she ran into the wall, just wanting to get away from him. The boys glanced at each other, then eyed Michelle worriedly, they had never seen her freeze up or react that way to a demon before, not even Lilith.
"Alistair," she shuddered, trying to push herself into the wall to avoid him.
His smirk widened as he held up a knife, "I see you remember all the fun we had in the pit."
With those words, Sam and Dean's eyes widened in shock and disbelief as everything snapped into place for them. Anna just said someone had taken Dean's place in the pit, three days after Dean arrived there. Michelle disappeared three days after Dean 'died' and reappeared only a day or so after Dean had been resurrected. Her actions and personality when she'd returned, the nightmares…it all made sense now. She had been the one in Hell all this time, not Dean.
"Let's see if we can't recreate some of that fun up here, shall we?" Alistair asked, waving the knife around in front of Michelle's terrified face.
That was enough to snap Dean into action. He raced across the room faster than he ever had and jammed Ruby's knife into the man's back.
Alastair backed up, uncomfortable but nowhere near about to die. It was enough to distract him though, enough for Dean to pull Michelle away from the wall and towards the middle of the room where Sam had managed to get back up and run to. Dean looked at his brother, glancing down at Michelle, now hyperventilating, before looking over at the window. They nodded, holding Michelle between them and threw themselves through the window to escape.
~8~
Everyone was silent in the motel room. Dean was leaning against the wall, gripping his dislocated shoulder as he watched Michelle make quick work of stitching up his brother's cuts. She clipped the string and dabbed the wound with a bit of alcohol, wincing as Sam hissed.
"I'm sorry for freezing up back there," she mumbled, before getting up and walking over to Dean, motioning for him to turn so she could look at his arm, "I was...surprised...Alastair hardly ever leaves the pit. It won't happen again," without warning, she snapped his arm back into the socket, stepping back, and moving towards the door, "I'll go get you guys some ice and..."
"Sit. Down." Dean ordered, his voice tense and angry.
Michelle flinched, closing her eyes, knowing she wasn't getting out of this easily. She turned around slowly to see Dean glaring at her while Sam sat at the table she'd left him at, his hand on his mouth, a tortured look on his face. She sighed and walked over to sit on the couch so she could face the two of them. She took a deep breath, waiting for it to begin.
"What the hell is wrong with you?" Dean shouted, "Why would you do that?"
"I made a promise," she replied simply.
Dean stared at her as though she were insane, "A promise? A promise! You took my place in Hell because of a promise?!"
"I don't break my promises. I promised Sam I'd find a way to get you out of Hell. I promised you I wouldn't let you become a demon! I promised I'd save you, and I did."
"And at what cost?" Dean shook his head, "You became a demon instead of me? How the hell'd you even get out?"
She sighed, leaning forward to rest her head in her hands, "I was pulled out by Castiel."
"Really?" Dean scoffed.
Michelle glared up at him and pulled her jacket off, pulling up her left sleeve to reveal a handprint just like Dean's, "Apparently, a prophet wrote that I would be needed, so Castiel broke through Hell's defenses and pulled me out."
Dean was silent a moment, recalling something Castiel had mentioned, "Anna said you got me out of Hell by putting yourself in my place…"
"I think we've established that," Michelle remarked.
"But Castiel said you asked him to take me to Heaven. We didn't even know angels were real till we summoned Castiel, how did you know?"
"Castiel isn't the first angel I've seen Dean. I've seen them walking around since I was little, I knew they were out there. I summoned Castiel before I made the deal with the King of the Crossroad Demons and…"
"How?" Sam spoke up quietly, "I tried to make a deal, but they wouldn't. They said they wanted Dean."
She swallowed before glancing at him, "You tried to make a deal to take Dean's place, right?" he nodded, "By that point, no demon could make a deal like that because Dean wasn't in Hell anymore, I was. Heaven isn't under their jurisdiction."
"Why didn't you tell me?" Sam said quietly, "Why didn't you tell us, when you got back, that you were in Hell?"
"I thought you already knew," she sighed, "It was part of the deal, the demon who held my contract was supposed to tell you I was in Hell and that Dean was coming back…I guess she didn't though."
"Who was it?"
"Does it matter?" Michelle shrugged before looking down sadly, "I'm sorry it took so long though Sam. I didn't think it would take that long to heal Dean."
"Heal me?" Dean asked, "Castiel mentioned something about that."
"When I summoned Castiel before I made the deal I asked him to look for your soul when it was cast out of Hell, to bring it to Heaven, and heal it of the tortures of Hell. I thought that three days of torture in Hell would be three days of healing in Heaven."
"Can we please talk about what exactly you mean by 'healing?'"
"The tortures of Hell…" she trailed, swallowing and blinking back tears, "You could never imagine. It leaves a lasting impact on you, your body, your mind, your soul…everything. When I got you back to Sam, I didn't want you to suffer, so Castiel and the angels healed you of everything that had plagued you. They tended your wounds, the trauma, the emotional and physical and mental agony, they made it so that it was like it never existed. They did such a good job I doubt you even remember it."
"So three days of torture in Hell takes four months of healing in Heaven?" Sam frowned in thought.
She nodded, "I guess, I mean…I guess time works differently in Heaven and Hell. One month in Hell is like ten years of suffering."
Dean's jaw tightened, "You were stuck in Hell, being tortured for 40 years?"
She saw both boys stiffen at that and sighed, knowing they would hate what she was about to say, "More like 50…"
"But you were only there four months!" Dean shouted, getting angry with himself more than Michelle. While he was all cozy up in Heaven, she was being tortured down in Hell. It wasn't fair, no one deserved that.
"Four months and fifteen days to be exact," she laughed a bit, "That's about 45 years, but that wasn't enough for those bastards…"
"Why?" Dean demanded, wanting to know everything.
"They felt that they had been cheated out of a victory, breaking the great Dean Winchester, so they decided to punish me," she looked down, getting lost in memories of Hell, "They took me to the deepest parts of Hell where time is unbelievable, one year of torture in just about one day. They don't do it often, or for more than a trip at a time, probably once every ten years of torture, because it starts to deteriorate the soul if it's there any longer."
"You were there 48 years?"
"No!" Sam said suddenly, "No, you couldn't have been."
"And why not?" she glanced up at him.
"You said it took four months to heal three days in the pit," Sam reasoned, "You couldn't have been there that long, it would have taken more than 15 years to heal and you're here so you couldn't have been…"
"Unless…" Dean started, looking over at Michelle, "You were never healed, were you?"
She shook her head, "It would have taken too long and I needed to get back to you guys, to make sure you were ok."
Sam let out a long breath, "48 years…"
She nodded, "I was with Alastair about three quarters of the time, when they realized the regular torturers weren't getting it done, weren't breaking me, they sent me to a 'specialist' of torture."
"Alastair," Dean frowned.
"They wanted to break me so badly," she shook her head, "They…showed me things, visions, images of…just to try and get to me and…" she took a breath, wiping her eyes so they wouldn't see her cry completely, "But I wouldn't break, I couldn't…I…"
"What?" Dean asked, more calmly now at seeing how much this was getting to her. It made him want to hunt down every demon and kill them all.
"I didn't want to disappoint you," she looked between the two of them, "I couldn't let you go to Hell Dean."
"Why?" Dean sat down across from her on the table.
"They would have broken you," she said quietly. Dean leaned back in shock, "That's why they were so angry. They knew you would have fought so hard, but you would have broken eventually and I…"
"How do they know?" Dean jumped up, pacing, "How the hell could they know whether I would break or not?"
"They showed me what would have happened if you were in Hell, that's the thing about it...they show you the truth. They force you to confront it. As ironic as it sounds, Hell uses truth against you more than lies, because the truth," she swallowed hard, "It hurts so much more. They thought if I saw you break, then why would I keep fighting? But I had something you wouldn't have had."
"What?" he looked at her, going over a list of things he could think of for why he wouldn't have broken.
Michelle glanced over at Sam before looking down, something Dean noticed. And then it made sense, "I…there were people I…cared about…so much that I couldn't…I just…"
"I get it," Dean cut her off.
She loved Sam.
She basically went to Hell for Sam, to make him happy, to get his brother back. While Dean did have people he cared about, he'd never actually had a relationship like theirs. He'd gone to Hell for his brother, but Michelle had gone to Hell for a man she loved and that love was enough to keep her strong enough to resist the torture they inflicted on her.
Sam looked between the two, his eyes widening as he caught on as well. Everything Michelle had ever done had been for him, she really loved him and he…he hadn't trusted her. He'd listened to a demon and other people taunting him about her disappearance rather than believing she was doing something for him. He'd…he'd stayed with a demon for comfort when the woman he loved was suffering in Hell.
"We've got to find Anna," Michelle said suddenly, "Demons only want humans alive if they are planning on torturing information out of them. The faster we find her and get her safe, the better."
"Ruby's got her," Sam replied, guilt seeping into him as he watched Michelle walk over to the window, "I'm sure she's ok."
"You sure about Ruby?" Dean eyed his brother, after hearing about how Michelle had just been tortured he didn't understand how his brother could believe one word out of a demon's mouth, "'Cause I think it's just as likely she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us."
"No, Anna's safe," Michelle remarked, glancing out the window, spotting something.
"Then why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?"
"Because there are demons watching us," Michelle answered, dropping the curtain and turning around to face the brothers, "They're waiting outside right now to follow us back to Anna."
"That's why he let us go," Sam nodded, it made sense of.
"You call this letting go?" Dean laughed humorlessly, still rubbing his arm.
Michelle went over to his side and started bending his elbow and moving his shoulder to help speed up the process. She'd gotten off lucky, the boys had made sure she was safe between them when they fell out the window, taking the brunt of the fall. She only had a bruise here or there.
"Yeah, I do," Sam defended, "Look, killing us would have been no problem to that thing. That's why, for now, we just gotta lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."
"Yeah, how's she gonna do that?" Dean asked, rotating his shoulder, already feeling better, Sam just shook his head, "Why do you trust her so much?"
Sam sighed, "I told you…"
He really didn't want to get into this, not only because Dean would seriously disapprove but because having to tell Michelle what he'd really been doing while she'd been in Hell…it might destroy her more than the actual torture.
"You gotta do better than that," Dean stepped away from Michelle, going to sit on the couch to stare at his brother, "Hey, and I'm not trying to pick a fight here, I mean, I…I really wanna understand, but I need to know more, I mean, we deserve to know more."
Sam looked up at Michelle, who sat down next to Dean, and saw her bracing herself, after everything she'd done for them…she, at least, deserved the truth.
"'Cause she saved my life," he answered, before launching into an story of how he'd returned to his motel room after dealing with the Crossroads Demon, drunk, and been attacked by another demon, and Ruby, how she'd held his life in her hands but killed the demon instead, getting him out of there. He told them how he'd demanded she not use bodies with people still in them, how she'd possessed a coma patient, how she'd agreed to help him prepare to go after Lilith.
"So, what'd she teach you?" Dean asked, not knowing the can of worms he was about to open.
"Well, the first thing I learned," Sam chuckled, "I'm a crappy student."
He told them about how he'd tried to exorcize a demon but failed miserably and Ruby had to use her knife. How he'd wanted to give up but she'd told him to just practice more and build up. How she said she was sorry for Dean being in Hell and Michelle abandoning him, how she understood. How his misery had led to…something more intense.
Sam looked down guiltily, not wanting to look up and see the disappointment, the heartbreak, the pain he was sure would be in Michelle's eyes when he explained how he'd had sex with a demon, how they'd continued to share the same bed on their journeys.
"Sam?" Dean asked, shocked.
Sam braced himself and looked up, "Yeah?"
"Too much information," Dean remarked, glancing at Michelle, who was looking down at her hands.
"Michelle…I'm so sor…" Sam began but she cut in.
"No, no, it's ok…" she didn't look up though.
"Ok?" Dean raised an eyebrow at her.
"I mean, not ok, but…" she sighed, "I can't say anything…I don't have the right to. I wasn't here…and you…"
"It's no excuse," Dean interrupted, seeing that it really was difficult for the girl to even think about what Sam had been doing, let alone talk about it, "Brain stabbing imagery aside," he looked at Sam, "So far all you've told us about is a manipulative bitch who screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad."
Sam looked down when Michelle flinched at 'screwed you' and took a breath. He told them about how he'd discovered Lilith was nearby and how he'd wanted to go after her. Ruby had tried to stop him, realizing it was a suicide mission, but he'd pushed her away and threatened her. He'd nearly attacked an innocent girl and been killed by demons, when Ruby came to his aid, despite his treatment of her, and saved him.
"Ruby came back for me," he finished, "Whatever you have to say, she saved me. More than that, she got through to me, what she said to me…it's what you would've said," Dean looked up, not sure what to say, while Michelle sat on the couch, still looking down, but breathing a bit more heavily, things had really gone to hell when she'd left, "If it wasn't for her I wouldn't be here."
Dean was about to say something, when there was a knock on the door, "Housekeeping!"
"Not now," Dean called back.
"Sir, I've got clean towels," the maid tried again.
Dean got up and opened the door to reveal a black woman in a maid uniform, "Couldn't you just leave 'em at the door?"
The woman handed him the towels and shoved into the room, "Ruby?" Michelle asked, seeing the demon in the woman. She glanced over at Michelle, nodding, before shutting the curtains of the room and walking over to Sam.
"I'm at this address," she handed him a note, "Go now, go through the bathroom window, don't stop, don't take your car, don't pass go. There are demons in the hallway and in the parking lot."
"Ruby?" Sam shook his head, "But what about…"
"Coma girl? Slowly rotting on the floor back at the cabin with Anna, so I've gotta hurry back. See you when you get there. Go!"
She quickly walked out of the room, Dean shutting the door behind her and looking over at Sam and Michelle, shocked and confused.
~8~
Sam, Dean, and Michelle walked up to the cabin Ruby had mentioned to see a light on inside. It hadn't been easy escaping the motel, but thanks to Michelle's gift, they were able to spot demons before they were seen and get out of sight.
Ruby opened the door just as they walked up, letting them in, "Glad you could make it."
"Yeah, thanks," Sam called over to her as they walked to Anna sitting on a couch.
"Anna, are you ok?" Michelle asked, sitting next to the girl, who immediately grabbed Michelle's hand for comfort, just wanting to be near a human rather than a hideous demon.
"Yeah, I think so," Anna assured them, "Ruby's not like other demon's she saved my life."
Sam nodded as Dean cleared his throat, "Yeah, I hear she does that," he looked over at Ruby, knowing he should probably thank her for watching out for Sam, but there was just something in his gut that kept him from doing so.
"Hey, Sam," Anna looked up at him, "You think it'd be safe to make a quick call? Just to tell my parents I'm ok, they must be completely freaked."
The small group looked at each other, not knowing how to break it too the poor girl that her parents were dead, but Anna caught on, knowing something was wrong.
"Uh…" Sam began.
"What?" Anna asked, looking back and forth, "Michelle?"
"Anna, your parents…" Michelle frowned.
"What about them?" her eyes widened.
"I'm sorry," Michelle shook her head.
"No!" Anna frowned, "They're not…"
"I'm sorry," Michelle repeated. Anna started crying, rocking herself back and forth as Michelle wrapped an arm around her, hugging her, trying to calm her down. She looked up at Sam, Dean, and even Ruby, looking sad for the girl.
"Why is this happening to me?" Anna mumbled into Michelle's shoulder.
"We don't know," Sam replied.
Suddenly she sat up with a gasp, looking scared and breathing hard, "They're coming!"
The lights flickered as Dean shouted, "Back room!"
He grabbed his gun and the duffel bag while Sam pushed Anna into the back room.
"Guys!" Michelle shouted, but they were in chaos, rushing around, readying their weapons, Dean with a gun, Sam with a shotgun, Ruby looking for her demon-killing knife.
"Where's the knife?" she shouted as the boys exchanged a look.
"Uh…about that…" Dean began, realizing he'd left it lodged in Alistair.
"You're kidding!"
"Guys!" Michelle tried again.
"Hey, don't look at me," Dean continued, trying to defend himself, but Ruby wasn't buying it.
"Great, just peachy, impeccable timing guys, really," Ruby told them.
Noises came from outside the cabin as the doors started to rattle. Sam, Dean, and Ruby each aimed their weapons at the door but Michelle ran in front of them, "Guys, it's not demons!"
They stared at her, in shock, just before the door slammed open to reveal Castiel and Uriel entering the cabin. Ruby's eyes went black as she looked truly scared, Uriel just glared at her.
"Please tell me you're here to help," Dean mock begged them, "We've been having demon issues all day."
"I can see that," Uriel stared at Ruby as her eyes went normal, "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?"
"We're here for Anna," Castiel stated before the boys could give an excuse.
"Here for her, like…here for her?" Dean tried, noticing Michelle was eyeing them curiously.
"Stop talking, give her to us," Uriel demanded.
"Are you gonna help her?" Sam asked.
"No," Castiel replied, "She has to die."
To be continued…
A/N: OMG! Michelle was in HELL! What a slap in the face it must have been to come back and see Sam hating her and involved with RUBY? Poor her. I really wanted her to have a reaction to seeing Alistair again, I mean, going through what she went through at his hands and seeing him again...she's always been pretty fearless so I wanted a severe reaction from her.
And now we know that the girl in the Interlude was Michelle on all counts...talking to Bobby first, talking to Castiel last...but...who was the demon she got to hold the contract Crowley made for her? We'll find out before the end, don't you worry.
Just a note on a review...I will definitely be deviating a little from the plot as this series goes on. Here especially, I've changed it so that Dean wasn't in Hell, and, if he wasn't in Hell...well, how did the whole seals thing get started? There will be a lot more being changed as the series progresses, especially in the third part of the Trilogy, 'Heaven,' where we'll see some new twists come to light involving Michelle and her role in the whole 'save the seal's 'end of the world' issue.
One last note...wow...I've mentioned in previous fics that I am planning to post a BBC's Sherlock fic after I finish this trilogy...I just wrote out a first draft of The Great Game...68 pages, and that's before a final edit. I intend to break the Sherlock chapters into two, so we'll have some very nice, very long chapters for that story :)