Ace ground her teeth together as she kept her eyes focused on Riker. Her hands were tied behind her back, and her legs were tied together. She couldn't voice her thoughts or questions as he sharpened a stake.
"Ace, I warned you ahead of time that I'd do this. The first cut isn't the deepest, babe." Riker grinned with his eyes turned black, "this should get you screaming."
Ace took a sharp intake of breath as he pressed the stake to her stomach, and made a long gash that immediately began to bleed. She bit her tongue to keep from screaming in the process, and made no sound.
Riker grew frustrated by her silence, and knew he'd have to make the second really hurt.
"My precious little toy is no more." Riker spit in her face, and put the stake down so he could take advantage of her instead. His hands found their way to her pants, but even empaths were given some sort of miracle at times.
"Hey, sicko! Step away from Ace!" Dean shouted with a gun pointed at Riker who let out an aggravated sigh.
Sam was right there with his brother.
Ace was certain that her mind was playing tricks on her. She knew it wouldn't be the first time that she prayed for someone to come, and save her from the wrath of Riker.
"Why would I let you help her? Sam sold her out, and you actually believed his lie. She's mine to do whatever I please with," Riker giggled, and snatched her up to where she was shielding him from getting shot.
Ace was on the brink of death. The light in her eyes was almost gone so why not just let her go? She still could not find her voice.
"Let Ace go! She isn't yours, and I didn't know Sammy lied to me. How could I know?" Dean prepped for the gun for shooting the demon. Him, and Sam had horror in their eyes for how damaged, and dead looking Ace was when their eyes landed on her.
"I made a mistake." Sam spoke with confidence in his words. He had tears pricking the back of his eyes along with his brother.
"You are dumber than you look, Dean. You hesitated to come, and save her. Why would that be?" Riker snarled, keeping a tight grip on Ace.
Ace slowly came to her senses, and knew she had almost given up way too quickly. She watched as Dean glanced at a teary eyed Sam, and she really did wish she could travel back in time to keep them from ever meeting her.
Dean not only looked scared, but he was. He gulped anxiously, glancing to Ace who seemed to be regaining herself.
"He was scared that she would be dead by the time we got here. Let her go!" Sam answered for his brother, not lying, but there was something more to it that just couldn't be voiced.
Riker chuckled, and brought out a knife to press against her throat.
Ace was ticked off, and refused to go down without one last fight for survival. She tried to find her lost voice.
"Ace, lost all hope thanks to, Sammykins. Would ya like to see her self inflicted cuts?" Riker grinned, and rolled up her sleeves to reveal the white scars littered across her wrists.
Dean's eyes grew wide, and he looked even more frightened like somebody losing what little they had left of their sanity.
"No, Ace is stronger than that." Sam said, shaking his head in disagreement.
"Ace, is he telling the truth?" Dean asked, trying to meet her gaze.
Ace refused to let her eyes meet his or Sam's due to how ashamed of herself she felt. She had been struggling long before she had met the two brothers so she never felt the need to speak of her killer thoughts. She cleared her throat to finally say something, "it's not the first time."
Riker frowned at her words, and released her from his hold.
Ace fell to the ground on her knees, and kept her eyes trained on the ground.
"As far as I know she's always been fucked in the head with no way out. I guess I can kill her pain." Riker said, lifting the knife to stab her in the back when a gunshot pierced the air. The knife fell from his grasp, and tumbled to the floor along with his lifeless corpse.
Ace was still numb to the truth Riker brought to the table even after her hands, and legs were untied so she could be free of the Hell she had been experiencing.
"Ace, why would you-" Dean was unable to get the question out. He was hoping that she would eventually look at him or even chance a glance at Sam.
"I lost myself, and lost all hope. I even reverted to being mute again." Ace simply stated, getting to her feet with the help of Sam, and Dean. She still couldn't look at either one.
"Ace, I should never have said those things to you, and I shouldn't have given you over to Riker. No apology will ever erase what I did to someone who isn't evil when I wasn't thinking straight." Sam sincerely told Ace who kept looking everywhere, but them.
"Can we get out of here, and discuss the tragedies later?" Ace questioned, moving quickly away from them. She put a distance between her, and them as she high tailed it to the outside world.
Dean, and Sam exchanged a look.
"Ace, we're going to have to talk about this at some point." Sam coaxed, but he didn't bother to catch up with the broken girl.
Dean sighed, and decided to try by grabbing a hold of her arm to stop her in her tracks so that she would finally look at him.
Ace huffed, and arched an eyebrow expectantly at him.
"I don't want to talk about it." Ace growled as Sam briefly stopped to glance from one to the other.
"I'll be waiting in the car for you two to join so we can get the show on the road." Sam said, walking off to do exactly what he voiced.
Dean briefly glanced at his brother before giving his full attention to Ace.
"Ace, if you don't talk about it then nobody can try to help you, but I won't force you to talk to me. I only wanted you to know that you aren't as alone as you think you are. I have the very same nasty thoughts, but don't tell, Sammy." Dean revealed to Ace who felt even more terrible.
"Does it ever get any better?" Ace quizzed, and mentally slapped herself for asking a stupid question she knew the answer to, "scratch that."
"You learn to cope with it, and you will. Now, let's go before I change my mind about helping you." Dean joked with a small smile making an appearance on his face.
Ace felt relief wash over her as she hopped into the backseat of the car that she missed more than she realized she would.
Dean got in the car, and had yet to start the car which confused both; Sam, and Ace. He turned in his seat to face Sam, and so he could glance at Ace.
"What is it, Dean?" Sam worriedly asked his thoughtful brother.
Dean shot Sam a devious smirk.
"I want you to switch again with Ace so she's up here with me." Dean chuckled at the disbelief washing over Sam's face.
Sam slowly unbuckled his seatbelt, "I told you already how I always sit in passenger seat. Is this to punish me for being a tiny bit jealous?"
"Sammy, I love you, and you made one Hell of a stupid mistake, but you know why I'm switching you. Take a chill nerd pill, and do me the one favor." Dean shot his brother a short lived smile.
"One favor, my ass." Sam mumbled, stumbling out of the car, and switching with a confused looking Ace.
"This is temporary, right?" Ace voiced the same thought Sam was wondering.
"I'm fairly certain, Dean's being his usual jerky self." Sam piped up from the backseat with an evident pout. He buckled up in the middle so he could keep an eye on things.
Dean started the car up, and began to drive with one hand resting on her knee. A grin lit up his features, and Sam still wanted to know if it was a temporary fix.
Ace shot Sam a questioning look who only could shrug in response.
"And, this switch ain't temporary. I told you, it's not a punishment, Sammy." Dean smiled at Sam through the mirror.
Sam rolled his eyes at his brother.
"Then, what is it?" Ace, and Sam asked in unison.
Dean chuckled at the two, "what do you think it is?"
Sam opened his mouth to say something, but he closed his mouth just as quick. A smirk tugged at his lips.
Ace didn't even respond, but she decided to stare out the window at the passing obstacles. Her eyes were wide with excitement, and adventure.