November 17, 2008
After Dean had heard Lady's voice message for Bobby he had gone through a hundred thoughts in just moments. His first was that it was nothing more than another sad haunting nightmare, that his own mind was taunting him with his failures once again. But then his mind quickly shifted into gear and got more creative. Maybe he wasn't dreaming, but that it was some sort of trap. A demon or shifter of some sort mimicking her to taunt him. To lure him away. Or whoever had Lady was doing it. The last thought that he got was that it really was her. After listening to it a few more times and tracing the number to a payphone in El Paso he knew he had to leave Bobby's and check it out. At first Sam didn't want to go, but when Dean threatened to leave alone he packed up and joined him.
The brothers arrived in El Paso, Texas early in the morning after an all-night drive from South Dakota. Sam was exhausted, but Dean didn't seem to be. Sam wondered at the possibility that Dean had driven himself into some sort of madness that didn't require sleep like a normal person. He worried that Dean was in a rapid downward spiral that started with the heartbreak of losing Lady and kept going downward out of control until they heard the voice message, combined with everything else that had happened the few weeks and it was hard to blame his older brother for losing it.
Sam understood, though. Dean didn't believe, or want to risk even the sparest hint of belief, that they could have one good thing happen to them like Lady returning. His brother had hit a real low. So while the trip to Texas was leaving them both drained, financially and physically, he wasn't making any complaints or arguments.
Sam got out of the car and stretched the moment the Impala stopped. The long drive had been nearly non-stop, and as soon as he regained feeling in his legs and could walk he would be going into the nearby store and using the bathroom before his bladder gave up.
"This the place?" Sam asked, looking at the unremarkable grocery store they parked at.
"Yeah," Dean answered, leaning against the car as his eyes grazed over the perimeter suspiciously. There were only a handful of cars, poor cover and he didn't like that. He glared at an elderly woman slowly walking up to the doors, was she a demon? He grabbed his pistol and checked to make sure it was loaded.
"Dean! Really?" Sam looked at him with wide eyes. Sure, they pretty much carried a gun around everywhere they went anymore, but taking it out in the middle of a parking lot was just plain stupid.
Dean glared at Sam next. His bloodshot eyes mirrored his own. They had both experienced a rough few weeks, the past few days being the worst. With difficulty Dean put it to the back of his mind and focused at the task on hand. "I say we walk the…"
"Dean, I'm going inside," Sam said. The reason being because if he didn't he would have to unzip his pants right there to relieve himself and that was not going to happen. But to appease his brother he reasoned, "Let's split up, cover the area faster and less likely to tip someone off."
Dean frowned, but agreed with a simple nod. Sam doubted they'd find anything but some bruised fruit at this grocery store, and that wasn't a good thing. He wished they'd find something, anything to give Dean peace of mind, or whatever it was that his brother needed.
Dean walked around the parking lot, not sure what he was looking for. He was cautious and aware, even after next to no sleep for several days. Just when he thought there was nothing to be found outside his eyes fell on an out-of-place yellow Mustang. It was parked in the far lot marked for employees only, the windshield had a thick coating of dust on it telling him it had been sitting there for at least a few days without being driven. The license plate was Louisiana, but the front was missing a screw so it hung askew as if someone had switched the plates in a hurry, as if the car may have been stolen and the thief had wanted to prevent the car being made.
Something in his gut told him to take a closer look. He casually peered in through the windows. The car seemed mostly clean except for some discarded pieces of clothing in the backseat, they were crumpled up and impossible to tell if it was women's or men's clothing. But one thing he recognized immediately was a small satchel on the dashboard, a gris-gris bag. It was impossible to know what it was made for without opening it, but he had a good hunch it was to hide from angels and demons. He wasn't about to jump to the conclusion that it was Lady's car. He was about to return to the Impala to retrieve a slim-jim in order to break into the car when he noticed the radio antenna had a slight hook bent into it's tip as if inviting him to use it. With nimble fingers he removed the antenna and used it to pull up the lock. With a smooth movement he slid into the driver's seat. His gut told him that Lady wouldn't be stupid enough to steal a car that would be spotted so easily, but Lady had a taste for flashy and dramatic things.
He grabbed the gris-gris bag off the dash. He had one similar in his own car, but this one was made with faded pink fabric and tied with what appeared to be a black shoelace. What was strange was that it was tied with a bow instead of a secure double-knot, as if it was some sort of present. Wanting to know what was inside he tugged one of the strings to open it. If Lady had been there she would have yelled at him for doing that, there was a small chance that doing so could activate a spell and blow him up. However she wasn't there to stop him, and he was at the point where he didn't care too much if he did blow up.
But the gris-gris wasn't packing any black magic. With the bow untied the fabric unfolded neatly to show contents. The herbs were coarsely ground but he could smell just a hint of mint along with something more dusty, some feathers, and short dark hairs. He didn't know what it was for, but it wasn't a protection spell. He folded the fabric back up to preserve the items until Sam could take a look as well.
With a sigh he examined the rest of the car, other than a few pieces of women's clothing nothing else littered the car. He opened the glove compartment and pawed through some old insurance and registration cards without finding anything. Then folded down the visors. A single piece of paper, a receipt from the grocery store, fluttered down and landed in his lap. On the back of it written in a heavy hand, 'Lady was here'.
He felt an icy chill settle into his insides. Probably a combination from sleep depravation, dehydration from constant drinking, and he couldn't remember the last time he had managed to eat much, but seeing that hit him hard in the stomach and sent that icy feeling throughout his body. That numbness he had given into the past few days faded away and his hands trembled slightly.
"Dean," A voice said.
Dean nearly jumped out of his skin. Though the voice was clearly male for a second he half expected to see Lady herself. Instead the angel Castiel was standing outside the car looking at him. Dean stepped out of the car and stood to face him. "What the hell are you doing here?" Dean asked roughly. The last he had seen the angel they were speaking of destroying the Eye of the Seer, which they claimed to be Lady.
Castiel looked at the car and around, "I came for her. Where is she?"
"Who?" Dean asked.
Castiel's eyes narrowed on Dean's fist, the fabric and contents of the gris-gris bag within it. Castiel looked at Dean desperately, "She was here, she left that. As a decoy. Very clever, but you must help me find her."
Dean immediately went on the defensive, "I must help you?" Dean had to work hard to unclench his fist, "You said she couldn't be helped. Is she really back?"
Castiel looked apprehensive before answering, "I do not know," he admitted, and Dean believed that. "I've been tasked with finding her, and if I do not…let's just say there are worse things that could happen to her."
"I know that, believe me I know. But I also know what happens if you get your hands on her. So no, even if I knew, I wouldn't tell you," Dean said firmly.
Castiel gazed upon Dean for several moments before deciding Dean was being truthful. Without another word he left in a blink of an eye and the slightest sound of fluttering wings.
"Dean! Was that Castiel?" Sam called, running across the parking lot to reach Dean.
"Yeah," Dean let out a breath before handing Sam the gris-gris bag. "Someone left this for us."
Sam opened it and took a look. "I think this is flax seed…that'd be part of a tracking spell, wouldn't it?"
"Yeah, it would," Dean said. "Whatever it is, I think this car is what we're looking for. Bring the Impala over here."
"Yeah…okay," Sam said, taking the keys to the Impala that Dean offered him.
Dean settled back into the car, taking a moment to adjust the seat for his long legs. He had found the car, some of her clothes, a piece of paper with her handwriting on it. But still...he wasn't sure what was wrong but it didn't feel right or complete to him.
Dean was waiting for Sam to bring the Impala, once he did they could use his bigger car as a curtain while Dean tore apart the Mustang piece by piece looking for the next clue. But while he was waiting he nearly jumped out of his skin when a shrill noise assaulted his ears. It took him an extra second to realize it was a cell phone ring, an annoying cell phone ring, but not one of his own. He reached below the driver's seat and found a small pre-paid phone. The number calling it was restricted. He pressed the answer button and held it to his ear without saying anything.
"Not fair to give me the silent treatment," a familiar and amused feminine voice said. "You better be who I want you to be."
"That depends," Dean said roughly. "Lady?"
"The one and only, babe," she chuckled briefly but quickly went serious. "Well, I mean millions of women who technically fit that description, but I'm still the one and only me. I thought I should get myself trademarked but let's face it, I'm just impossible to copy so why bother?"
Dean let out a rough laugh of his own but quickly bit it back, "How do I know…"
"That it's me? Well, I don't know. I wish I could give you the proof you want but it's just not safe," she answered solemnly. "You opened the gris-gris bag?"
"Yeah, that was yours?" Dean asked.
"Any angels take the bait?" she asked with an edge.
"Yeah, what do you mean bait?"
"It was a spell, once it was opened it should have tricked an angel into thinking wherever that gris-gris bag was that it was me, I just wasn't sure if they'd make themselves known to you or not," Lady answered. "When you opened it a chain reaction started, I got a little notification and a few dozen other places are going to light up on the angel's radar. Hopefully that will give me a few minutes, but they move so fast. Dean, calling you is probably the most dangerous thing I can do right now, but I had to. I'm pretty confident they can't track me like this, hiding from them isn't that hard. But you could find me. In fact you have everything you need in that stolen car to find me if you really want to."
"But if I do that just leads them to you," Dean said.
"Yeah, basically. But I know you, Dean. I know that you wouldn't just be able to sit back and wait until the smoke clears. That even now you are probably searching for whatever other clues I left in that car so you can find me."
Dean paused in his search under the floor mats. "Just tell me where you are."
"No. I'll just tell you that I'm safe. Once I figure out a way to get myself off Heaven and Hell's hitlist, or at least Heaven's hitlist, you just have to keep your distance," she said in a low sad voice. "Dean-o, it really is me and I hope you believe that."
Dean swallowed hard, "Yeah, I do, babe," he said emotionally. "But I can't let you be alone out there." It was against every fiber in his being. She was in danger, on the run with her life at risk, and he was supposed to protect her.
"I'm not alone," she promised. "And hey, I even got my visions back. I'm golden. It's you I'm worried about. You and Sam. I'm just going to be hiding, I'll be bored. All I have to worry about is not setting something on fire just for fun. You two are probably going to do something stupid and fun in the next few days and I'm totally jealous." They shared a brief laugh, and Lady continued. "You two be careful."
Dean closed his eyes, "Just a few more minutes."
"Sorry, babe, no more time to spare," she answered apologetically. "I love you."
"I love you, too," he replied, and he flinched at the sound of the line disconnecting.
Dean got out of the Mustang. Sam had pulled the Impala up to the car and looked at Dean with confusion. "What's the plan?" Sam asked as Dean leaned against the car.
Dean looked painfully at his brother wondering just what to say. Lady had hinted that she had left clues for him in the car to say where she was, that if he really wanted to he could find her. Finding Lady was high on his priorities the past few days, and knowing that he could find her but if he did he ran a very high risk of uncovering her hiding spot and causing her destruction by angels sort of ruined any part of good news this brought on. He could have his girlfriend back. The comfort she could bring him in this difficult time was worth more than he could express in words. But he could only have her at some sort of safe distance, or lose her completely.
As Dean was about to tell Sam what had just happened he stopped, something suddenly clicking in his head. Lady was wickedly smart with a flare for the dramatic, something he rather liked about her. She was interesting, never boring. She planted the car in a place she knew he'd visit, running the small risk that he wouldn't reach it before it got towed and impounded. In the car she left the gris-gris bag, proof that she had her wits about her enough to create such a spell, and tied it in a way inviting him to open it. Opening that bag gave him proof that angels were still very much on the hunt for her, that her concerns were not unfounded. He wouldn't be surprised if that gris-gris bag also didn't give her some sort of magical signal so she knew when it had been opened, that way she could call the planted pre-paid cell phone at the right time so he'd answer. She did all that because she knew, even after she had asked them not to look for her, that he would. That he couldn't sit back without getting some sort of affirmation that it was her, that it wasn't a trap, or anything else. She had proved her point in that. She had also proved, and was no doubt bathing in smugness over, how well she knew his motivations.
Lady knew him pretty well, he'd give her that. But he also knew her pretty damn well, and suddenly he understood what her clue was. The simple phrase 'Lady was here' was written, and it wasn't just because she wanted to tag something. That was her clue, and it brought back a very fond memory for Dean. Up high overlooking city lights, her warm body in front of his as cold desert wind blew her soft sweet smelling hair about his face. On a tall water tower a hundred feet above ground, on the side her name with several dates were graffiti, a silly tradition she had kept up since she was sixteen years old and was a rare piece of her past that she had only shared with him.
He knew right then where she was. Las Vegas. The city had more than once been her refuge. She knew its ins and outs, from the touristy strip to the ugly underbelly. He doubted she'd stay at any of the places they stayed at together, but he could probably find her knowing her tastes. There she was in an area with varied culture that she could find anything she could want her need.
"Dean? What's wrong?" Sam asked with concern.
Dean shook his head, for the first time in a long time there was nothing immediately wrong. Things were far from being okay, but in a way he could live with for the moment. Lady had managed to give him enough information in a way that proved to him that it was her, and in a way that no one else but he would know what she was saying. Sure, maybe an angel could read his mind but still Dean didn't know exactly where Lady was, just a general area. Now he had to trust she wouldn't get herself killed. But if there was one thing Lady was a pro at it was surviving.
"Nothing's wrong, Sammy," Dean said quietly. "Listen, sorry I've been…a bit crazy. Uh, I'm fine. I'm going to be just fine."
Sam looked at Dean with wide eyes, unsure what could have happened to Dean in the brief half hour they had been in El Paso. The look on his face told him he wasn't going to find out, either.
XXXXX
Lady had slept just as little as Dean had recently. Driving almost nonstop, even after the excitement and adrenaline rush of being back had faded. She had hit half the states south of the Dakotas in that time, planting dozens of gris-gris bags that would tell the angels 'Lady is here' and keep them occupied just long enough to give her a chance to reach out to Dean.
If that idiot ever doubted her abilities or devotion after she spent days setting up a measly three minute phone call to him she'd kick his ass.
But she knew talking to him meant just as much to him as it did to her. Maybe her and Dean weren't the gushing puppy-love type, but there was no doubt they loved each other. It was hard to cut their conversation so short when she was dying to tell him every little thing that she had found out in just a few days, and wanted to know everything he had been doing as well. She could have talked to him for hours. But instead of calling the number back she dropped the pre-paid phone in the toilet and flushed it down.
Lady was mostly sure that Dean would stop searching for her, and would keep Sam and Bobby from looking as well. Even if he didn't she doubted any of them would actually be able to find her. Working with Anna she had devised a fairly thorough gris-gris bag that would keep angels and demons from easily finding her, and she was hoping that being stationary in Las Vegas would give her time develop something more angel-proof and time to rest.
"Who were you talking to?" Anna asked when Lady stepped out of the bathroom.
"Myself," Lady comfortably lied. "I talk to myself when I poop, sing when I shower. Just wait until you find out what I do when I tweeze my eyebrows."
Anna was hard to read. Her face was smooth and even, not hinting if she believed Lady's lies or not. To prevent the question from hanging in the air too long and giving Anna more time to figure out the truth Lady asked, "How are you holding up?" Changing the subject was an effective method for humans and non-humans.
"Still existing," Anna replied. Anna wasn't sure of Lady's truthfulness, but to keep her own secrets private she put up with the psychic's shadiness. Anna had lied to Lady, saying reawakening the psychic had drained her of her powers. In reality when Gabriel had given Anna her human body back it had greatly weakened her, it was difficult to contain ones entire grace in the weak form of a human. However if Anna wanted to be a part of the war against the apocalypse she was going to need a vessel. Her strength would return, though she'd be limited in her abilities due to being cut off from heaven.
Lady had no problem accepting that it was Anna who had fixed her, after all Anna was the only angel she knew. Gabriel had manipulated Lady's mind enough that she wouldn't remember him, what he really was or what he pretended to be. For Lady to regain full consciousness he had needed to suppress her vision of Lucifer, her frail human mind could not comprehend his form and would send her into drooling submission if she saw it again. Other than blinding white light she had no memory of the vision, or how to stop Lucifer from rising. Anna was disappointed that Lady didn't have that answer, but still felt that the psychic was terribly important to keeping Lucifer's cage locked.
Now that Lady had managed to confuse the angels and call Dean the lack of sleep hit her hard and she fell onto one of the full sized beds.
"What are you doing?" Anna asked.
Lady lifted her head to glare at the angel. "You toured as a human, you should recognize sleeping."
"How long are we staying here?" Anna asked.
"Uh, I don't know. Two days? Two months? However long it takes for us to recuperate and come up with a plan of action to save my life and hopefully not end the world."
"You don't understand how dangerous it is for you. They are looking for you. And being someplace like Vegas, so many people that might see us, it seems dangerous to stay here any longer than necessary."
Lady sighed and propped herself up on an elbow to look at the angel, "Nuh uh. Vegas is the safest place to be. Podunk towns are great and all, but if you ever want to disappear you do it in a metropolis. Hide amongst the masses, blend in. Think about it, we go somewhere secluded like Newburg, North Dakota we are two in two hundred. Las Vegas we are two in two million. Which is harder for an angel to find?"
Anna appeared to be thinking about it for a moment before answering, "I understand your reasoning, but we don't search like you would. We can hone in on your soul, your essence. If we are attuned to that person we can find them almost anywhere in the world and be there instantly."
"Not entirely different from how I would search, though I believe my way would shed much more blood," Lady said in a joke, but Anna was pretty humorless.
"With the protection you were able to forge they cannot sense our whereabouts easily. As long as they do not discover a way around that protection we could be standing right in front of them and they may not recognize us. Angels have spent nearly all of our existence as wavelengths of celestial energy, using human eyes and ears is alien to them." Anna was quiet for a moment before adding, "Though I would rather not risk that. Let's just continue with our original plan of avoiding them at all costs."
"Great. Glad you are on board," Lady said, letting herself fall back into the mattress. She gagged briefly on the musty smell that wafted up and stung her nose, but it wasn't bad enough to make her get up and find somewhere else to lay down. She closed her eyes and went to sleep.
November 21, 2008
It took Anna a long time to regain strength. Lady was not the sort to sit around idly, thanks to her ADHD, so when Anna was finally up for some work Lady had already gathered materials, weapons, a new vehicle, and was ready to take on demons and angels alike.
"Do you have a plan?" Anna asked, hoping Lady's preparation was for a reason.
Lady laughed at the mere concept of a plan. "Oh I wouldn't say that, my feathery friend. What we're looking at is Lilith, a very powerful demon leading a somewhat organized demonic army breaking apocalyptic seals…"
"Thirty-three have been broken so far, they are halfway there," Anna commented.
Hearing that news made Lady's stomach clench. How terrifying was it to hear an angel say that hell was winning and the apocalypse was halfway near occurring. But Lady put on a smile, "Let's be optimistic and say we are halfway to winning."
"That's not accurate at all," Anna said solemnly.
Lady frowned, "Okay then. Well, what do you suggest, Miss Sunshine?"
"We have to kill Lilith," Anna said.
"Excellent idea. Say if we get through all that near-impossible work of finding her, weaseling through the posse of demons she keeps around her without detection, manage to get right up next to her all the while keeping the element of surprise…what then? Can you kill a demon?"
Anna shook her head, "No, unfortunately not. I've got my strength back but I am very limited on power."
Lady ground her teeth for a moment before saying, "Sam and Dean have a demon killing knife."
"Yes, I saw it, but it failed against Alastair," Anna told her. Lady had been there, but couldn't remember a thing.
"Alastair?" Lady cocked an eyebrow.
"He is in charge of torturing souls in Hell. He spent a lot of time with Dean down there, eventually making Dean break and taking him in as an apprentice of sorts. He allowed Dean to torture other souls in order to spare his own," Anna told her.
Lady stood silent and still for a few moments before letting out a dumb, "Huh?"
Anna looked at her with wide brown eyes, "The time Dean spent in hell he tortured other souls like himself, in order to be spared his own torture." Anna made an effort to look compassionate but failed, "Dean's time in hell passed much slowly than time for you did up here. After what seemed like thirty years of unending torture he made the choice, accepted an offer extended by Alastair, to be spared torture and to torture others himself."
Lady looked away, stunned and sickened. "And he remembers it?"
"Yes. When he was rescued from hell the angels didn't remove any memories," Anna said.
Lady was quiet for a few moments, unsure what to think until saying, "He's back now, that's all that matters. And he's fine."
"Yes," Anna agreed. "So, do we have a plan?"
"I need to try and recreate that knife," Lady decided.
The demon-killing knife they got from Ruby was one of a kind. Lady had more than once pondered what made the knife actually kill demons, but had never set out to create one herself. The type of cosmic events to give enough magical energy were once in a lifetime, if one lived a long life, and she wasn't sure if that would even be enough. It was far from the best idea, and she was doubtful if it was even worth her time to try, but it was the best she could think of at the moment. With a sigh she sat down and looked exhausted, "I can probably charm a knife by the full moon, but I'd need a demon to test it on."
"These days, finding a demon will be the easy part," Anna said grimly.
A/N - Thanks for being patient guys. I hope you are all enjoying your summer, and aren't too mad at me for taking a 2 month break. I'll have another chapter ready next week and hopefully one more the week after.