Supernatural

The Other Side of the Tracks

"Shadow"

Emily smiled politely to the landlord as she left, closing the door firmly behind her. She turned and frowned, unzipping the top of her blue jumpsuit and pulling it off to her waist, wearing a white tank top beneath it. "Well this is interesting." She murmured, looking at the blood stains as she moved into the other part of the apartment. She could help but think of how ridiculous the brother's looked in those outfits as well. It just made her laugh. As Dean and Sam began to scour the apartment, Emily crouched down to get a better look at the blood stains on a large white rug. They didn't seem as blitz-like as the others. It looked controlled. Emily looked up towards Dean as he began to describe the young female officer he chatted up, going a bit further than Sam and her wanted to go. Simultaneously, Sam and Emily said his named firmly, looking at him significantly. "One thing was left out of the papers. Her heart was missing." Emily frowned and stood as both brother moved back towards her. "Her heart?" Sam repeated, as if to ensure the information he heard was correct. "Well, since the landlord said it looked like an animal attack... With the heart gone, it looks like a werewolf." Emily stated, shrugging slightly. She looked to Sam who nodded. "But I don't know of any werewolf that wouldn't leave a trace. Or be able to pick locks and disarm alarm systems." Emily then looked to Dean whose eyes had been drawn to the blood stained rug as well. "Do you see it too?" she asked curiously, turning around as well to look at the stains.

Emily helped Dean lay the black electrical tape, standing on the opposite end of the rug as the brothers as they finished, forming a bizarre symbol. Sam briefly asked Dean if he recognized it before asking Emily. She looked up and shrugged slightly. "It rings a bell but I do not remember encountering this ever before. Maybe I saw it in a text somewhere." She murmured, moving around. She stood beside Sam behind Dean, looking at it from a different perspective. "Well, it shouldn't be too hard to find. I'll scour my textbook and you guys can take the internet."

Emily sat with Sam at one of the small tables, perching herself on the stool and leaning against the table. She turned to see Sam pulling out the newspaper articles. "Sam. You're going to look like some kind of freak with those splayed out on the table." She warned, looking at him seriously. She turned as Dean sat down, looking happy as a clam. Sam mocked him slightly, asking if he had gotten anything besides her number. Of course Dean got her number. Was there a woman alive whose number he didn't have? Dean quickly defended himself by stating that there wasn't much to learn about Meredith from her work place. Dean then turned to her. "Find anything on that symbol yet?" The question itself was directed at both of them so Emily turned to Sam. "No. Not in Dad's journal—" "Not in my text either." "—So we'll just have to dig a little bit deeper, I guess." Emily frowned. "There is no apparent connection between the victims besides how they died." Emily said, frowning as she leaned back in her chair. "So the only information we've scored is the bartender's phone number." Emily snickered a bit at Dean's comment and looked to Sam who was now distracted by something behind Dean. She turned her head as Dean did, saying 'what' in unison with him.

Emily stood at the bar as Dean approached her. "Ouch. That was harsh." Having seen the girl across the bar, Emily had chosen to not approach her like the brothers did. Something about her made her skin crawl. "Who's she?" she asked as Dean took a shot. He seemed just as confused as she did. "Maybe she's one of Sam's college friends. Doing a cross country tour or something." Something in the pit of her stomach told her she was wrong. She frowned and shook her head. She was just being ridiculous. After Dean's dance with death, she was just overly protective now. She didn't want to lose either of them. As Sam left, Dean and her followed. The blonde pixie didn't even notice her and, from Emily's perspective, she was very unassuming. As they got outside, Dean, whose feather had been ruffled by that girl, immediately began defensively questioning Sam. He was frustrated with the small discussion they had. Emily couldn't quite hear it so she didn't bother commenting at all and simply walked behind them quietly. It didn't take long for Dean to default back to his horn dog mind once Sam assured him that he didn't feel like Dean treated him like luggage. Emily shook her head and frowned slightly. "There is something off about her. I thought so too, Sam. But I can be wrong. Maybe you're just assuming things." Sam looked like she had just kicked his puppy. She wasn't trying to take sides but it seemed like he thought she was on his. Then, he just divided up duties again. "How about you guys look to see if there is a Meg Masters from Andover, Massetuchets and try to dig up information on that symbol. "What are you going to do?" Sam seemed to weigh his words for a brief moment. "I'm going to watch Meg." Emily smirked and started walking away. "I'm leaving!" she said, Dean following as he teased and mocked Sam.

Emily laughed quietly as Dean instructed Sam to invite Meg to a poetry reading "or something" after explaining that she is a real person. She thanked the person on the other end of the phone and hung up, setting her phone on the table. She finished scribbling some notes in the book and passed the notebook over to Dean. Standing and moving away from the table. Her timing was impeccable as Dean went into explaining what the symbol meant. She turned and looked at him in disbelief as he said he had not only found it himself but found it in a book. She rolled her eyes as Sam forced him to correct himself and explain that it was Emily who had called Caleb. She moved to a makeshift clothes line above a radiator and felt one of her shirts, pulling it off the line after she found it was dry. She moved back over to the bed as Dean started suggesting Sam strip for Meg. "Oh my god Dean!" she said firmly, looking at him in disbelief. He seemed jarred as Sam hung up on him. "You are unbelievable!" she said, stripping off the white tank top that she had been wearing for who knows how long. "That kid needs to loosen up." She turned and saw Dean leaning back in his chair, looking at her. "Geez, take a picture why don't you?" she said, smirking. She unclasped her bra and tossed it towards her bag. "Why are you so unashamed?" he asked very suddenly. She turned her head as she pulled on another bra. "Despite my scars, I think my body is pretty amazing. Why be ashamed? Besides, having lived for as long as I have, this little thing your culture has against nudity is just silly." She clasped the bra and turned as she prepared to pull the top back on. "However, I don't want to freak you or your brother out with my 'private bits' so I generally stay turned around." She slipped the cotton tank over her head and down over her stomach. "Besides, you and Sam feel like siblings to me. It's just...I'm comfortable around you two. If it bothers you, I won't do it anymore." She sat beside him and smiled. Dean seemed to take it all in and nodded slightly. "I think this is the first time an extremely attractive woman told me our relationship would be platonic and I was fine with it." Emily and Dean shared a laugh as she leaned onto the table. "So, back to the Daevas..." Emily murmured, stroking a piece of hair behind her ear. "How do you want to go about finding this player?"

"Dude. I need to talk to you." Emily's eyebrows raised as the brother greeted each other with the same comment. She closed her text and sat it aside, wondering if what Sam had found out was as surprising as what they had. She leaned forward on the bed to listen closely. Sam unravelled a tale about Meg being the player who was summoning that daevas but she was answering to an even bigger honcho. "God dammit." Emily hissed. Sam looked at her but she only nodded to Dean who moved in front of the computer on the table. He had found out from that cop that both victims were born in Lawrence. Emily immediately stood. "If that thing is coming to meet Meg and it has ties to what happened to your mom..." Emily looked to them. "We've got to kill it."

Emily strapped her knife sheath to her leg and pulled her jeans over top of it. She looked as Sam came through the door with what looked like the entire trunk contents as Dean finished leaving another message with John. Emily approached the table as Sam confirmed that he had grabbed almost everything. Emily sorted through it briefly, getting an idea of what was in there. "You didn't bring my grenade launcher." She stated, smiling. "I am seriously hoping we don't need a damn grenade launcher, Em." She shrugged to Sam and began to strap on little holsters that slipped under her clothes. Comprised mostly of Velcro, these were really handy for jobs where you didn't know what you needed. She slipped a couple small blades into them, looking up to see Dean looking at her. "How come you always have blades instead of guns?" Emily shrugged. "Guns are a new thing to me. I'm far more comfortable and skilled with knives than I am with guns." Sam seemed eager as they began preparing weapons. It wasn't long before Sam voiced his plans to return to school once they killed the thing that killed Jess and their mom. Dean was visibly upset and when that anger and frustration surfaced, Emily stopped, putting her hands on the table as they honestly told each other the whys and whats of the road trip. Finally, Sam told Dean he didn't want things to be the way they were when they all hunted together as a family. Emily wished she had left the room because this was not her place to be here for this discussion.

Emily was the first out of the elevator shaft with a large duffel on her back. She silently moved across the room and hid behind a pillar, spotting for the brothers and ensuring Meg didn't see them. She held a gun trained on her, nodding for them to climb up. She moved back with them, crouching behind a large pile of broken boxes and furniture. The brothers swapped for shot guns but Emily stuck with her pistol. Everything was going great until Meg told them hiding was childish. She sighed as Dean made a little joke and stood, keeping her gun on Meg. Despite her general jovial nature, Emily was focused and ready to kill right now. The three moved closer to Meg, the eerie feeling she gave off being magnified by every step closer. "Who are you waiting for, Meg?" Meg's head turned to Sam as she paused. She was particularly dramatic. "You." Emily inhaled sharply as the air changed. She wanted to keep her eyes on Meg but her sight was pulled way by shadows on the wall. She couldn't even get a word out before the daevas were on them. The sound of flesh tearing is surprisingly unpleasant despite how often you hear it. It hit her from behind, slashing her hard down her back. The forced turned her as she fell as one swipe barely missed her eye as it passed vertically over it and another sent her flying into the pillar, bleeding badly from her stomach and back.

Emily forced herself awake, her eyelids weighing tons, as she heard Dean speaking about why she wouldn't just kill them yet. She took in her surroundings, realizing she was tied to a pillar with Dean and Sam was also tied to a pillar across from them. "This trap isn't meant for you." "Dad" Emily's exhausted brain managed to keep up as Dean's hand, brushed hers. The trap was for John. "But I don't know how much he'll want the damaged goods in the back there." She heard Meg, looking up as she approached. "Kiss my ass." She murmured smiling. Meg smugly smiled down at her and then moved onto Dean. She wasn't going to get a rise out of her. Despite the fact that Emily's condition was pretty extreme. She could feel the blood running out of her. She shut out the world then and focused. It hurt a lot but the extra energy she poured into healing paid off as she felt her back heal up. Her stomach was next and she barely bothered with her face. It would heal itself soon, now that the larger, more life threatening wounds had been sealed. Still lacking energy, Emily opened her eyes, seeing Meg coming on to Sam. She felt Dean touching her wrist and she moved accordingly, feeling him slip a small knife from one of the weapon holders she had on. Of course Dean had to clatter it all over the place, bringing Meg bck over. She smirked at Sam as Meg disarmed Dean, seeing Sam's hands at work as he severed his bonds as well. As Meg returned, Emily pulled out another blade and cut away the rope around her hands. As Sam head butted Meg and ran for the altar, Emily quickly cut Dean's rope and the three hurried to the window where Meg had been thrown to the ground by the daevas. As Dean cracked another RIDICULOUSLY HILARIOUS joke, Emily turned away, heading back for her duffel bag. She threw it over her shoulders, seeing Dean behind her. "You ok?" Emily nodded briefly but Dean still came closer, gently putting his hand on her face beside the cut. "Did you want Sam to stitch it?" he asked, looking at her eyes once more. "No. It'll be healed soon." They smiled at each other as Sam approached and Emily extended her smile to him. "Time to get back to the hotel, I think."

Emily was practically pinned between Sam and Dean as they opened the lock on the door and talked about the car. "Jesus, Sam. Any closer and you'll be inside me." She commented, feeling Sam back off. Dean snickered a bit but then grew serious once more as they walked inside. "Hey!" Emily turned immediately to who Dean was rudely greeting. She pulled out her pistol from where she tucked it and pointed it up, Sam switching on the lights as John came into view. "Dad?" Emily lowered her pistol and looked to Dean and then back to John. Dean moved across the room and hugged his father hard, making Emily smile a bit. She moved with Sam over to John. "Hey John." She loved when he smiled at her. It was so warm. "Emily. I didn't think you'd stick around." She hugged the elder Winchester gently as he wrapped his arms around her. She smiled as he pulled away and focused on Sam. She moved to Dean's side, opposite Sam, and just listened at the exchange. Her heart nearly broke when Sam and John finally hugged, a gesture that was long in coming. She looked up at Dean who looked like he had been completed by bringing his family together once more. She sighed happily as the pulled from each other. Her and the Winchesters. One big happy family. She yelped loudly as she was dragged away by a daeva just as John was thrown across the room. Sam was hit next and then Dean. Claws dragged down her legs, shredding skin and jean alike. Blood poured from her thigh readily as she was thrown against a wall, pinned there. She looked over to John as he was screaming, seeing him being tortured, as they were, by daevas. She was thrown near Sam, landing partially on the duffel bag he was carrying. She quickly looked through it, just as Sam noticed she was there. She stumbled upon a flare and connected eyes with Sam. She screamed as she was dragged away from him but managed to toss him the flare. After Sam cracked the flare, she felt the daeva disappear. She grunted as Sam grabbed her, lifting her to her feet. He leaned to grab the duffel as she began to cough from the smoke. They moved along the wall and finally made their way outside, Emily beaten up far worse than any of the men. The only thing she was wearing that wasn't shredded was her jacket.

Sam threw the duffel in the back seat and slowly lowered Emily into it, earning strained cries from her. There was hesitation in leaving as everyone came to grips with John going his separate way. Dean made an excellent point in that John really was more vulnerable around his sons. She watched in agony as Sam was forced to let John go without him. She sighed as they got into the car, Dean helping her get fully in the car and closing the door for her. There were a few moments where regret hung stagnant in the air before they actually took off. At least they knew John was alive and well. As they were driving off, all three remained silent and Emily meditated, healing herself. "Want to work a little of that magic hoodoo on us when you're done?" Emily popped open one eyes and smiled at Dean in the rear view, The wound across her chest closing up. "I can try."

[[I really loved this episode so I tried to change as little of it as possible. I'm also having an issue with a future chapter. I have written two different versions but I cannot decide which to post. So I'm hoping you, the readers, will give me your opinions: Should I post my favourite version or both of them? – Ichi]]