DISCLAIMER: Supernatural and its characters belong to Eric Kripke.

CLAIMER: I own Reyna Wynters.

This chapter ODs in pain, but I won't make it a habit lol. So, sorry if you find it mushy or OOC, but if you think about it, Chet's reactions here are probably pretty accurate considering he was bugging out over just a couple drops of borax in the episode "Slash Fiction". Whimp. Enjoy!


Chapter #11: Cursed


"Oh my God!"

Reyna ran into the bathroom and dropped to her knees by his side. "Chet. Hey! Chet, can you hear me?"

He was unresponsive, and she lifted one of his eyelids to check his dilation, only to find they were rolled back in his head. Since she had left, he had grown at least two shades paler. Feeling a strange panic settle in her gut, she grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him.

"Chet? Chet!" Then suddenly he moved, and she froze. She watched him as he let out a low moan, and she gave his shoulder another gentle shake. "Hey. You with me?"

Slowly, his eyes edged opened, and he looked up at her weakly as she loomed above him.

"Hey." Her eyes held obvious concern, dark waves draping over her shoulders to form a curtain around her face. "Hey, you don't look so good. What the hell happened?"

Instantly, he attempted to mask his embarrassment with irritation. "Nothing," he hissed. He gritted his teeth, trying to suppress the pain searing in his gut. It felt like someone was repeatedly stabbing him in the abdomen, and it actually hurt. His eyes squeezed shut once more when a particularly sharp jolt passed through his body. To be honest, it was scaring him a little, but he wasn't about to tell that to Reyna. And to top it all off, he felt as if his head would split in two, and he was positive Reyna was staring at him.

"Chet?" She waved her hand in his face a little. "Hey, are you with me?" Through the haze of pain, he felt a cool hand press against his forehead, and a quiet gasp was heard. "Wow, you're burning up," he heard her whisper. "What the hell is going on?"

Hazy, he cracked an eye open and looked up at her. He was confused when she appeared blurred, and everything around him seemed to be spinning.

"Hey, can you hear me?" Reyna put a hand to his face when he didn't respond. "Chet?"

He barely heard her, his hardly opened eyes closing once more.

"No, no, come on." She patted his face lightly, rousing him once more ever so slightly. "Stay with me. You need to tell me what's wrong. Tell me, and I'll help you."

Barely able to see straight due to the pain, he scarcely managed to register some of what she said, frowning slightly at the amount of effort it took just to part his lips to speak. "…I… I don't know… what's wrong… with me…" he muttered, voice barely above a whisper.

"Where's the pain? Talk to me, Chet."

His eyes squeezed shut. "Stomach…"

"Anything else?"

His face twitched. "Just… pain…"

"Where?"

"Everywhere!"

Before she could respond, he seemed to gag and folded into himself in distress, eyes screwing shut.

"Chet." She placed her hands on his shoulder and back. "Listen. It's okay. Just relax."

Growling, he shoved her away from him roughly. "Get off me!" Then he was buckling again as the pain worsened. He felt like he had literally swallowed borax, his stomach burning with a searing agony he'd never experienced before, and it caused him to let out a choked gasp.

"Talk to me," Reyna muttered softly.

At first he refused, determined to block her out, but the next moment his stomach was twisting painfully, causing his body to buckle involuntarily once again.

"Talk to me, Chet."

"It hurts," he whimpered. Whimpered. His hands clutched his stomach, face screwing up. "I-I can barely move."

"Okay. Easy." She was rubbing soothing circles on his back. To her surprise, he didn't try pushing her away again.

Reyna had never felt so conflicted in her whole life. Although she knew he deserved everything he was getting at that very moment, she couldn't help but watch sadly as he tried standing—but barely made it to his knees. His face was screwed up in pain as his body leaned forward, unable to so much as sit up straight.

Words couldn't describe the agony. He could feel every ounce of his energy slowly draining from his body, the world around him a distorted, painful haze. Even breathing was difficult, his breaths coming out in chopped, suppressed gasps, and even that caused him discomfort. When he tried moving, he felt as if he would keel over, the movement causing his head to swim. He had to keep trying. No one was going to help him, so he needed to be strong. He couldn't let Reyna think she had power over him. This was nothing. It wouldn't kill him. He could—

A gag mixed with a grunt of pain escaped his mouth when he tried sitting upright, only to feel like his midsection was being torn to shreds. Panting, he squeezed his eyes shut while gritting his teeth, arms constricting around his gut. Weak.

"Easy." His eyes snapped open when he felt a feather-light hand touch his shoulder. "Easy…"

Lifting his head, he looked at Reyna in obvious surprise, but she didn't meet his gaze as she gave him a quick once-over, her face holding a deep focus. He stared at her.

"What are you doing?" he managed at last, voice strained.

"What does it look like?" Then without a word, she lined herself up with his side and grabbed his arm to sling it over her shoulder. His eyes squeezed shut with a hiss mixed with a growl of what she took as protest. "This will go a lot smoother for both of us if you just cooperate with me."

He turned his head up to glare at her, but she just returned it with a meaningful stare.

"Ready?"

Their stare-off held firm for another few moments, but when she didn't break under his glare, his eyes seemed to lose some of their original peril, and she knew she'd won. With a sigh, he bowed his head in unwilling defeat, and she tightened her grip on him, hooking her free arm around his side.

"Okay, here we go. Come on, help me out."

She pushed herself up, the muscles in her legs flexing as she was forced to support both her weight and most of his. A heavily suppressed groan of pain escaped through his tightly sealed lips, but with some effort and Reyna's help he managed to stand on shaky legs. He stumbled into her with a pained noise, but she held him fast, giving him a moment to steady himself.

"I got you. Steady. You're okay." She studied his face. "Ready?"

He didn't answer and bowed his head, unable to hold it up for long. God, he felt so pathetic. When she slowly began to walk, and he pushed himself to move with her, wincing visibly and grinding his teeth. He had a horrible limp from the pain in his stomach, but he trudged on. Reyna moved as slowly as she could while keeping a good pace. Nearly all his weight was leaned on her, but he still managed to keep his legs moving. Every step he took was like he was wearing cement shoes, but Reyna knew everyone else would be lying incapacitated on the floor in a fetal position. She found herself shaking her head.

"You are one stubborn bastard."

He didn't respond, when suddenly he let out a pained noise and stopped short in his tracks. Reyna halted for him, watching as his arm tightened against his stomach. His face was contorted in agony. She had never seen him display such distress. It was a strange sight to behold. His eyes were squeezed shut, and a sound similar to a gag mixed with a gasp escaped his lips.

"Put me down," he said raggedly.

"We're practically there—"

"I said let me down!" he shouted.

"Okay, okay! Relax." She slowly eased him down against the foot of the bed, and he sat with his knees drawn up to his chest, his arms tightly wrapped around his middle. Reyna watched him closely. He was breathing deeply through his nose, eyes squeezed shut, and he was shocked when she saw he was trembling a little. Did it really hurt him that much? Slowly, she got down to his level and placed a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Can you make it to the bed?"

Gasping, he shook his head. "I can't... oh, God..." A heavily suppressed whimper escaped him as he clutched his stomach, and his head bowed. Then all of a sudden, he threw his head back with a shrill cry of sheer distress. "It hurrrrttsss! It huuurrts!" he cried, face contorted in absolute agony.

"Shhhhhhhh, easy. I know it hurts... I know it hurts..." Reyna soothed as she gently rubbed his back in attempt to help calm him down. "Easy. Just try to relax. Breathe, Chet."

He said nothing in return. He didn't even snap at her, head having fallen forward against her shoulder as he focused every ounce of his concentration on the touch of her fingers to distract himself from the throbbing jabs of pain shooting relentlessly through his body. After a couple minutes, she finally convinced him to move and helped him back to his feet.

"Come on, you can make it," she said softly. He was breathing deeply, and he had grown at least two shades paler—something she didn't know was even possible. She gently urged him forward, and she could both see and feel how unwilling he was as he picked up his steps once more. At the same time, though, she could see his determination. His limp had turned into a stagger by the time she was finally able to help him sit down. The moment the mattress was under him his legs gave, and he collapsed. Reyna supported him and helped him lye on his back, her hand never leaving the back of his head.

"You're okay. You're okay…"

Everything around him was spinning, and it was starting to give him a headache. Every inch of him burned, further increasing the nausea churning in his gut. Normally, he couldn't be affected by illness, but this was different. It was worse than borax.

"I'll be right back, okay?" Reyna pressed the back of her hand to his cheek. "You're burning up…"

She stood and headed into the other room at a small jog where there was a sink. He remained where he was, panting feverishly as he twisted onto his side. He had begun to sweat at this point, and he felt like he would pass out any minute, which was almost something he welcomed. Then suddenly, as quick as the pain had come, it began to ease up.

Closing his eyes, he let out a sigh of relief. It must have been aftershocks from that spell that Rastafarian put on him. Maybe he would be fine now….

But no. As if someone was controlling the pain with a remote, it returned, this time worse than before. He felt the pain returning to his body, and he immediately panicked, his breathing quickening again. Before he could think about what he was doing, he called the first name that came to mind, which happened to be Reyna's.

"Reyna..." The sting was quickly intensifying, and his entire body tensed as the searing pain returned to his abdomen and stomach. It was possibly even worse this time, and he squeezed his eyes shut with clenched teeth. "Reyna!"

"I'm here." Calmly, she came at a brusque walk back into the room, a basin of water and cloth in her hand. Setting the items down on the nightstand, she kept her voice quiet and soothing. "Talk to me. What's wrong?"

"It hurts! My whole body just burns!" he cried, writhing from the pain. "It's..." He was breathing rapidly. "I've never felt pain like this before! It's worse than the borax!"

"Okay, okay, take it easy." She climbed onto the bed and tried to hold him still. "Chet, easy. You're okay; I'm going to figure out what's going on, okay? I'm going to help you."

"Then DO something!" he shouted. His whole body was on fire. It felt like someone was ripping his stomach apart with a pencil. He writhed, twisting and turning as it grew worse instead of better. It was at that moment he knew. He couldn't do this alone, and it mortified him.

"I need help…" he mumbled, and he felt the shame burn in his face.

Reyna felt her eyes soften, and, slowly, she placed her hand on his shoulder, not entirely sure of her own actions. For the first few moments, she just sat there, at a complete loss. She had no idea what was causing his pain; therefore, she had no clue how to even start treating him. Hell, she should have been taking the opportunity to get the hell out of there while she had the chance. Her head was already out the door, but her body remained firmly planted beside the distressed Leviathan. What the hell had she gotten herself into?

Suddenly, he let out a cry of pain, and it almost looked like he was being stabbed in the stomach with the way he moved. She frowned, eyebrows drawing together. What could possibly be causing this? It was almost as if….

Reyna paused suddenly, a sudden thought popping into her head. It was almost like someone was using….


His lips pulled downwards in a deep scowl, sneering as a thin line of blood trailed down his face from his head. His split lip curled into a malicious snarl. He'd narrowly managed to escape that demon, but not without obtaining a few battle wounds in the process.

"This will teach that serpent for fucking with me." Julian scowled deeply as he drew a symbol on an image of Chet using his own blood. He'd been planning on leaving the Leviathan alone if he and Reyna cooperated, but now he had just pissed him off. Now he needed to be taught a lesson.

"Good luck figuring this one out, bitch," he spat.


Reyna's eyes widened. Oh, my God…. She looked down at Chet, lips parted slightly as it hit her like a slap to the face. "I think I know what's wrong."

"So do something about it!" he snapped. He was growing hysterical at this point. The pain he was in was indescribable, and he was sure if he had been human he would have passed out by now—if not dead. Breathing ragged, he began to wheeze.

"Okay, okay—Chet. Chet! Listen, look at me. Look at me!" He did, eyes squinted in pain. Reyna set him with an intense stare, green eyes burrowing into his. "I know you're in a lot of pain. It will end, okay? I'm going to figure this out. I'll be right back."

She moved to get up, but he grabbed her by the arm before she could walk away. "Where are you going?"

She raised her eyebrows when his voice wasn't accusing, but instead he almost sounded uneasy.

"I'm not going to leave, Chet," she said, realizing, even if he didn't admit it, that it was what he was afraid of. That she would leave him by himself with no hopes of the pain ever stopping. "I'm coming back. We may not be on the best of terms, but I'm not heartless."

With that, she turned and headed over to his bag. Taking out his cell phone, she walked into the other room, only glancing back once when she felt his eyes following her. Quickly, she punched in a number, and the line rang about six times before someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" asked a woman's voice.

"Hi, Clair. It's Reyna. Listen, I need your help."

Meanwhile, back in the room, Chet tossed and turned on the bed as pain ripped through his body. His arms tightly wrapped around his stomach, he let out another pitiful whimper. He'd never been in so much pain in all his years, and that was a lot of years. Borax was nothing compared to this. On top of that, he felt extremely lightheaded and nauseous. After what felt like hours, he began to think Reyna wasn't coming back, when at last he heard her footsteps walking towards him once again.

"Okay, Chet." Reyna came to sit on the bed's edge. "I think you're going to be okay. Just hold on a little longer."

He let out a sarcastic chuckle, but it sounded more like a cough. "Yeah… sure… no problem," he grunted.


Reyna opened the door after hearing a distinct knock, and she stepped aside to allow a tall blonde woman inside. "Thank you for coming."

"Reyna, what's going on?" The witch set her with a suspicious gaze. "Why couldn't you just tell me over the phone?"

"Because you would have never believed me." Turning, Reyna nodded over to the bed. "There he is."

Frowning a bit, Clair walked over to where Chet lay, and she looked down at him with slightly widened eyes. "What is that thing?" she whispered.

"Long story. Can you help him?" Reyna looked at her.

"Yeah, I guess, but what the hell were you thinking?" she scolded crossly, approaching the bed to get a better look at the Leviathan.

"I don't know! Come on, look at the guy!" Reyna exclaimed back, locking the door behind her.

The witch tossed her elegant curls back with a scoff. Reyna pocketed the keys with an agitated huff and rushed over to Chet, who lay curled into a tight ball on the bed, seemingly unaware of the witch's presence. After a moment or so, Clair finally leaned down to get a better look at him, curls falling over her shoulder.

Chet was vaguely aware of an unfamiliar presence looming above him, and he became gradually aware that their scent did not belong to Reyna. Opening his eyes a sliver, they slowly shifted up to see, not Reyna, but an unfamiliar face of a blond woman he'd never seen before. Suddenly, he was fully awake, and his eyes flew open as he tried scooting backwards away from her, a fierce scowl lighting his features.

"Chet, easy." Reyna appeared in his line of sight then, and she held him down gently. "She's here to help. She's a good friend of mine."

He seemed to relax reluctantly at her words, but his eyes remained focused on the witch with a distrustful stare. After his previous experience with witches, he wasn't about to trust one. Reyna pressed her hand to his chest, and he laid back down with a huff, gritting his teeth at his own weakness. He literally had zero will to fight against her.

Clair stepped forward, making a second attempt to examine the aggressive, restless Leviathan. Her eyes were cool and composed as she pressed a gentle hand to his forehead, and then to his stomach, and he watched her every move with a slightly bemused stare. Her hands were cold, but they felt good against his hot skin, and he remained as still as he could while she examined every inch of him, like she was searching for something specific.

"He's been cursed," she said finally, after a few minutes. "By a very powerful spell at that."

"So what does that mean exactly?" asked Reyna. "Is there anything you can do?"

"The curse itself should wear off, but it's being fueled by something. He probably has a coin on him—"

"I already checked. I couldn't find any anywhere; in here, on him, in the car—"

"Then maybe it's inside of him."

They both paused.

"Inside of him?" asked Reyna. "How could it be inside of him?"

"You told me they attacked him with that borax stuff to slow him down enough while they chanted the incantations. While the skin on his stomach was open and exposed, they must have somehow lodged a coin."

"So what does that mean?" Reyna stared at her.

Clair gave her a meaningful look. "I think you know."

Blinking, Reyna looked back down at Chet, and she knew he understood what was happening. The only way for them to stop the curse was to get deep enough to remove the coin, and the only way to do that was to burn the skin away long enough to find it….

"How come his body can't just push it out like he can with bullets?"

Clair shook her head. "I don't know. The curse, I'm guessing."

Chet released a shaky sigh. "I hate my life…"


Clair walked into the room, the basin now filled with borax. They had tied Chet down so he wouldn't be able to shove Clair away. Reyna could see the abject terror in his eyes, but the shame of showing such weakness nearly overrode his fear. To this day, she didn't know what compelled her next actions, but she was at his side and taking his hand in hers as Clair came over with the borax.

"Ready?"

He had begun to tremble a little at this point, but he made no move to try and stop the witch. They all knew it had to be done. Clair filled the cup with some of the borax and held it over his stomach, and Reyna felt his grip on her hand tighten when a couple drops fell on his skin.

"One… two… three…" Clair poured the chemical over his skin, and the scream that echoed through the room would haunt Reyna forever.

As expected, he let out a shrill scream, clenching Reyna's hand in a painfully tight grip, but she didn't complain, occupying herself by running her thumb over his knuckles. Clair continued to search for the coin, pouring the borax over his entire midsection with the ladle. His screams rang through the motel, growing higher and shriller each time. He lurched and struggled against his restraints, arching his back and throwing his head back in agony.

The tears pooling in Reyna's eyes were threatening to spill down her face. Seeing him so out of character both shocked her and made her want to scream. She never thought it was possible to render such a death-defying creature into such a helpless and desperate state, and despite the way he had treated her it broke her heart to see him this way. Chet let out another distraught scream, and she rubbed his fist with her free hand, a couple tears having escaped to form glistening trails on her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

He couldn't do it. The pain was suffocating him; he needed to breathe.

"STOP! Stop, stop, please!"

"Chet, we need to—"

"NO! Don't touch me!" He tried to kick Clair away, but the chains stopped him. "Don't fucking touch me!"

"Chet! Chet!" Signaling for Clair to stop, Reyna grabbed his face with both her hands and boldly pressed her forehead to his. "Shh, easy. I know it hurts. I know it hurts," she soothed quietly in attempt to calm him down.

"I can't do this!"

"Yes, you can—"

"No, I can't! Get it off me!"

She stared, not knowing what to say. "Chet—"

"Look, I admit it! I just can't!" His face was contorted in anguish, eyes squeezed shut and lips pulled back to expose his clenched teeth. Breathing heavily, he sounded completely mortified when he spoke his next words, voice taking on a quieter, defeated tone. "I just can't…"

"Chet, I'm sorry." He looked up at Reyna as she spoke. "But this won't kill you. We're going to finish what we started." With a single nod to Clair, the witch nodded back and continued to douse his skin with the borax.

This time, his screams were so loud they might have shattered the windows, and Reyna bit down hard on her lip when his grip threatened to crush her hand. "Just a little longer, Chet!" she managed over his screams.

Then suddenly, Clair's eyes widened as she held up something for Reyna's view in triumph. "Got it!"

"Finally!" Reyna snapped.

Chet still hadn't stopped screaming, however, because the borax was still burning his skin. Reyna quickly got to undoing the chains holding him down. "Easy, you're okay. We're done. It's over."

The second the last lock was undone, he instantly wrapped his arms around his burning stomach, and, like anyone with a bad "stomach ache", he rolled onto his side and buckled into himself in agony. He had stopped screaming, but his chest was still heaving with each gasping breath as he tried to cope with the searing pain while attempting to compose himself. Reyna's hand made slow circles on his back as she watched him slowly calm down, using a small, damp towel to wipe away as much borax as she could. She continued to speak to him softly as Clair rose and walked away with the coin to destroy it.

"You are no less than you were," she whispered to his ear, and she felt him shudder. "You're still a badass." A light smile formed on her lips. "Jackass."

Chet's eyes stayed shut, his face turned away from her to hide the shame and anger visible in his expression. She knew the anger wasn't directed at her, though. Despite his perilous mood, it didn't stop her from gently rubbing his knuckles with her thumb until Clair came back into the room with the basin and cloth.

"I destroyed the coin. This has a potion that should help him heal faster. Once the spell wears off, he'll be able to heal and shift normally."

"Thank you, Clair." Reyna looked up at her. "I owe you. We both do."

The witch gave her a somewhat sarcastic shimmy of the eyebrows. "Yeah, just watch yourself around this one, Reyna." The look she was sending her was similar to a mother lecturing her daughter. "He may not be much of a threat right now, but he'll be a force to reckon with by morning."

"Believe me, I know." Reyna smiled. "I'll be fine."

"You and your strays." Clair shook her head, as a small smile danced on her lips. Then she turned her eyes to Chet. "You treat her good, got it? She's shown you nothing but mercy."

Chet glanced up at her and rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well… you weren't there when she doused me in borax and shoved me off a bridge."

A smile cracked on Reyna's face, and she fought back a snort of laughter when Clair's eyebrows rose.

"Still. How many times has she saved your ass now? Two—three times? I'd be a little grateful if I were you, honey. Cuz if it were me, I would have taken off first chance I got." The witch then handed the basin to Reyna, who took it thankfully. "Listen, I gotta get going. Rob's gonna be wondering where I am. The last thing I need is for him to find out I've been tangling with Jaws here."

Smiling, Reyna nodded. "I understand. Thank you again, Clair."

The witch left, and Reyna dipped the cloth in the potion, but before she proceeded she looked at Chet's face. "Ready? This is might hurt a little."

"So?" he rasped.

"I'll go as fast as I can."

Reyna stopped a couple times when she felt the pain was becoming too much for him, but finally his stomach was cleaned and bound. She took his hand closest to her, which was still in a white-knuckled grip, and she rubbed gently until he relaxed it enough for her to slip her hand in his. Watching the pain on his face, she felt her heart soften without her control. It never mattered who or what—she had always hated seeing people in pain. It tore her apart.

"It's over. It's all over." She placed her hand on his shoulder. His eyes didn't open, but judging by his breathing he was still conscious. Lifting her arm, she gently ran her hand over the side of his head. "It's going to be okay now." Then, after a moment she added, a little softer, "I'm here if you need me..."


Julian escaped Crowley. o.O The sneaky lil' devil. Will this night change anything between our duo? Will Dick grow suspicious of their delay? Read and find out! Reviews are always helpful and appreciated.