Author's Note: Sorry this took so long. I've had a major case of writer's block on this piece.
The rest of the day was miserable.
Dean was tied to an exposed beam in what looked to be some sort of drawing room. The more he struggled the smaller the knots seemed to get and tighter the ropes seemed to get. Eventually he just threw his head back and screamed in frustration, wondering if Sam and Mercy were okay.
Sam was in the same room the Alpha had put Mercy in the first time she nabbed her. This time they didn't pull out the sliver chains, just thick ropes, but they still did their job, keeping him secured to that chair. The only thing he managed to accomplish is to scoot the thing over to a nearby vent in hopes of hearing what was going on the other rooms. No such luck.
That left Mercy alone with the Werewolf Alpha. Which on his own was bad enough, but she kept on talking. Really, it was enough to make Mercy wish the Alpha would just rip her heart out already and get it over with.
"You have to admit, it is rather odd," The Alpha said, taking off her cardigan, "A werewolf becoming a hunter."
"If you say so," Mercy said, sitting on a four-post bed topped with a blanket of wolf-fur, head in her hand, not really caring what the Alpha thought of her.
"I mean, what do you if you run into another werewolf?" The Alpha asked, seemingly oblivious to Mercy's apathy.
"I don't discriminate," Mercy retorted, "If they kill someone, I kill them. You'd be dead by now if I knew how to do it."
The Alpha chortled. "It's actually quite simple," She said, turning around to look at Mercy, "Someone just has to eat my heart."
Mercy sat up, suddenly alert. Why was the Alpha telling Mercy her only weakness? Was she lying, trying to send Mercy off the right track? But then, again, Sam had thought the heart might be her weakness. But telling your enemy your one weak spot had to be, like, the worst move in the history of strategies. Which brought her back around to the question, why?
"Oh," The Alpha said, as if reading her mind, which for all Mercy knew, she was, "I wouldn't tell you this if I thought there was any hope of you actually accomplishing your goal."
"You don't know," Mercy, sliming silently, "I just might be the one that's able to take you down."
"I doubt it," The Alpha replied, "But, I'll admit, if someone was to take me down as you put it, it'd probably would be you."
"Why's that?" Mercy asked.
"You know, since you know both sides," The Alpha said, "Which, honestly, is another thing I don't understand. How do interact with other hunters? I mean, from what I hear they have all these sorts of test to make sure that their colleges aren't possessed or shape shifters, and one of them is cutting with a sliver knife. And we know what effects sliver knives have on you." She eyed the burn on Mercy's hand, the one that she had told Sam was from the engine of her car but was really from the blade of her knife. Boy, she wished she could go back to yesterday.
"That's why I don't interact with other hunters," Mercy snapped back.
"Then how on earth did you wind up running with the Winchester brothers, of all people?" The Alpha asked.
"Okay, lady, I don't know what's going on with those two that everyone and literally their mother knows their name," Mercy said, starting to tire again, "But I just met them yesterday, and couldn't shake them. They're the first hunters I've had any contact with in years."
"But you had to learn about hunting from someone," The Alpha replied, "And someone had to show the basics, or else you wouldn't have made it this far."
"How I got this far is none of your business," Mercy retorted. She knew where this was going and she was more determined than ever that the Alpha could not have Thomas. If she was going to die, if there was no hope of seeing of him again because she was Purgatory bound, that one memory was going to remain pure.
But the Alpha kept on, picking up on Mercy's distress. "So cagey," The Alpha mused, "But only on this issue. " She turned around and leaned in so that she and Mercy were mere inches apart. "Why is that?" She cocked her head to the side, examining Mercy, "Is it because it hurts to much to think about it?"
Mercy did her best to keep her countenance the same, concealing the Alpha was partly right.
"Did something happen to them?" The Alpha guessed, "Did you do something to them?"
Mercy just stared at her, stone-faced.
"Did they attack you because of what you are?" The Alpha asked, "Or perhaps, did someone find out what you are and they got hurt defending you?"
"Like I keep saying," Mercy growled dangerously, "It's none of your business."
The Alpha was silent for a moment then said, "You know what, you seem tired. And why wouldn't you be, you haven't slept in at least two days. Why don't you lay down and sleep for a while?"
"If I do will you shut up?" Mercy asked.
"Yes," The Alpha said, ignoring Mercy's insult.
Mercy wordlessly lowered herself down onto the bed, which she had to admit was quite comfortable. She shut her eyelids, but fought sleep, thinking it dangerous. This could be some kind of trick. The Alpha could mean to kill Mercy in her sleep, or make the monster come out again and do the job it was suppose to do last night. But, exhausted, she surcame to sleep anyway. There was no attack or transformation, but what happened was just as bad, maybe worst. Thomas's death being brought to the forefront of her mind, she remembered what happened.
They were running out of the woods as the Windego they were hunting took its last breath of life and the fire died down. They had reached the edge of the woods when a faded blue car pulled up and two men stepped out. Mercy was wondering how they would explain their presence and lure the men away from the blaze when she saw a look of recognition in Thomas' eye. A look they roceptricated. "Thomas?" One of them, a man with thick brown hair and pellucid blue eyes, exclaimed in surprise, "Shoot, man, we thought you were dead."
"Sorry to disappoint you, Randy," Thomas said, smiling apprehensively.
"Hey, ah," The other one with longer tawny-colored hair began, grinning slyly at Mercy, "Who's your little friend here?"
Mercy looked over at Thomas, unsure of what to do. "This," Thomas said, trying to mask his nervousness, "This is Mercy. Mercy, this Randy, and Luke."
"Nice to meet you," Mercy said, quietly, barely making eye connect.
"She alright?" Randy whispered, directed at Thomas.
"Yeah," Thomas said, maybe a little too quickly, "She's just shy, that's all. " Quickly changing the subject, he added, ""Hey, if you guys are here about the Windego, me and Mercy just took care of that for you."
"Is that so?" Randy asked.
"Yeah," Thomas said, hopping that with the hunt over the pair would say their goodbyes and go away.
But instead, Randy began awkwardly, "Look ah, I hate to do this to you, but," He pulled out a flask of holy water, "Like I said, we haven't seen in a while, and we don't even know her."
Figuring that as long as it was just holy water Mercy would go undetected he took the flask from his old friend and applied it to his hand. He then handed it to Mercy who did the same.
Then, to their horror, Randy pulled out a sliver knife.
Mercy and Thomas exchanged worried looks. "Come on, guys," Thomas protested, "If the holy water didn't an effect, the sliver isn't."
"Holy water wouldn't work on a shape shifter," Randy replied, still holding out the knife to Thomas.
Seeing no way out Thomas took the knife and cut the palm of his hand. "Before we go on," Thomas said, pausing before anxiously handing the knife over to Mercy, "There's something you need to know about her."
Just then as if on cue, Mercy cut into her hand and screamed in pain as the knife burned her flesh.
Immediately the two hunters pulled out their guns.
"Wait," Thomas said, stepping in-between them and Mercy, "That's what I wanted to tell you about. Mercy's a Werewolf."
"And you're hunting with her?!" Randy exclaimed, "Have you lost your freaking mind?!"
"Look, I was there when she was turned," Thomas tried to explain, "She's never hurt anyone. In fact she's a pretty good hunter."
"That sort of disproves the first statement," Randy said, "If she can take out monsters, she can take out people."
Thomas turned to the subject of the conversation and said, "Mercy, I think you better go wait in the car."
Mercy just stood there, partly too scared to move, partly not wanting to leave Thomas alone with them.
"Guys, can you hold on a second while I deal with her?" Thomas asked.
"Don't worry," Randy said, his voice stern with a dangerous undertone, "We won't be going anywhere."
Thomas pulled her a few feet away where they couldn't hear, and whispered, "Mercy, you need to go to the truck."
"I'm not leaving you alone with them," Mercy whispered back.
"It's too dangerous right now for you to stay here." Thomas replied.
"Then come with me," Mercy urged, "We can just drive off and leave them in the dust."
"We both make a move to leave they'll be on us before we can get out of here," Thomas argued, "I know these two, they're really good at what they do."
"All the more reason to get out of Doge," Mercy contended, "Look, you could lie, say you're gonna walk me to the car, then come back, and never come back." She paused a minute, then said, "Please, Thomas, listen to me."
Thomas paused a minute, as if he was actually considering what she had said. "Mercy," He said at last, "If I don't talk them down, they're gonna tell every hunter they know, and those guys will tell every hunter they know, and we'll be in more danger than we already are on a daily basis," He paused a moment, as if to let that sink in, "The only way out of this is to make them see reason," He glanced at the two men and added, "And I think I can bring them around, I just need you safe just in case."
Mercy knew that when Thomas really wanted to do something, there was no stopping him. "Alright," Mercy relented, "But come back to me, okay."
"Don't worry, I will," Thomas assured her, and then he tenderly kissed her cheek, "I love you."
"Love you, too," Mercy said, then she turned, and walked away, glancing back once, seeing the three men arguing.
The truck was a close enough to where they were it was relatively short walk, but far enough away that Mercy couldn't see or hear what was going on. She sat in the passenger seat for about twenty minutes going out of her mind with worry. That was when the first gunshot went off.
Mercy leapt from the truck, not even shutting the door and ran back into the forest. Two more gun shots went off. Then another. "Thomas!" She screamed desperately, knowing he might not be able to answer, "Thomas!"
At that point she got to the side of the road when they were and two her horror discovered that all three men lying on the ground, dead or dying.
"No!" Mercy shouted, running over to Thomas and trying to stop the bleeding from his chest.
"Mercy..." He rasped out, barely able to say it.
"Don't talk," Mercy said, frantically trying find some way, any way, to stop the bleeding and fix the wounds, her desperation overcoming her hunger, "I can stop, the bleeding you're going to be fine."
"Sweetie, you know that's not true," Thomas said, then blood came out of his mouth as if to emphasize the point.
"But, if I can just get some help-" Mercy began.
"Mercy," He said, in a weak, raspy voice, grabbing her wrist with the last of his strength, "Don't torture yourself, please." He knew he was dying. He long came to terms with the fact that he probably wouldn't make it to old age, although being taken out by other hunters wasn't exactly what he had expected, but still, he was relatively ready, well, as ready as one could ever be. The one thing he absolutely hated, was leaving Mercy alone. "Sorry."
"Thomas, you have nothing to be sorry for," Mercy said, taking his hand and squeezing it, knowing this would be the last time she would get to tell him what she needed to, "You gave me a chance when anyone else in your situation would just kill me, you gave me hope when I felt my life was over, you...you loved me when I though nobody could and when I though I couldn't love ever again. And I love you."
"I love you too kid," Thomas said, with his last once of strength, "Do good for me, okay?"
"Okay," Mercy said, then she leaned down, whipped the blood away and kissed him one last time, as he drew his final breaths.
She burned all three of them, stalling on burning Thomas as long as she could. When at last that moment came she did it with all the dignity she could muster, because that was what deserved. She sobbed as the fire blazed.
At that point Mercy felt someone shaking her. She opened her eyes to see the Werewolf Alpha standing over her. "It's time." She said, seriously.
Mercy sat up without a word, then stood. "Let's get this show on the road." Then she left the Alpha lead her out of the room.
They walked down the hall, the Alpha's hand around Mercy's wrist, when Mercy suddenly stopped short. The Alpha turned to look at her with an inpatient look. "What is it?" The Alpha asked irritably.
"Do you think I could...do we have enough time that I could say goodbye," Mercy asked, "You know, to the boys?"
The Alpha looked out a nearby window, checking the position of the sun. "Oh, I suppose," She said, sounding board, "It's a small enough request. But be quick about it."
The Alpha lead Mercy first to the room where Dean was being kept. One look from the Alpha and the guard left them in without a word.
Mercy's heart sunk when she saw how securely Dean had been secured to the beam. If one of them was going to get lose it was not going to be him. "Hey," He said when he saw her walk in, "Look what the cat dragged in." He smiled at her.
She gave her a sheepish smile back. "Well, not a cat exactly." She was quiet for a moment then said, "I wanted to say goodbye, you know, in case this doesn't go the way we want it to."
"Hey, don't talk like that," Dean said, "It will." Dean was lying through his teeth. He knew as well as she did that this was just a stalling tactic to buy them more time, but hey, if this was the last time he was gonna see her, the least he could do was boost her confidence.
"How do you even get into a police station with terrible lying like that," Mercy said, giving him a little half simile.
She was silent for a moment, trying to figure out a way to relay what she had learn to Dean without the Alpha knowing it. Even if she whispered it in his ear, the Alpha would hear. And it wasn't as if there was anything she could write it down on. But...there was something she could do. Quickly she looked Dean in the face and mouthed the words: Eat Heart.
"What?" Dean whispered, not sure what the message meant.
"Goodbye Dean," Mercy said, acting as if she hadn't done anything strange "And thanks. For everything." Then she left with the Alpha.
When the Alpha took her to where they stashed Dean, it took a minute for Mercy to find him. At last she saw him in the corner. "How'd you get all the way over there?" Mercy asked casually, as if this wasn't her last stop before her death.
"I was trying to get lose," Sam replied, "It didn't work out so well."
Sam was not a thoroughly trussed up as Dean so Mercy could see a way out for him. Since it worked so well the last time she decided to mouth the words: Chew them off.
This time Sam understood and nodded.
Mercy looked back at the Alpha and said, "Look, I don't know how long she is gonna wait so I'm just gonna say what I have to say. Thanks for giving me a chance."
"Don't mention it," Sam replied.
"So, I guess this is goodbye then," Mercy said.
"Don't sell yourself short," Sam said, "Between the two of us, my money's on you."
"Thank you," Mercy said, and then headed back to the Alpha. There was no stalling, no more avoiding it. This was happening. But maybe, just maybe she could get the Alpha's heart.
Maybe she could still do good.