'Now...' He took a deep breath looking at the thick ropes that wrapped around Maddie's wrists and ankles. 'I'm going to chew through your ropes.'
'Really?' She tried to turn her head to look at Dean but she couldn't move much. 'No you don't have to do that. I have a knife in my boot.'
'You do? Oh, thank God.' He breathed a sigh of relief. 'I really didn't feel like chewing those ropes.'
'No, I wouldn't think so.'
'Okay, I'll cut the ropes. Once your free you can untie me. Then we get the fuck out of here.'
'It's a plan.' She agreed.
'Then we find Sam. I bet he has some idea how to kill these bitches.' Dean began to push himself around on the cement floor so his hands were at Maddie's feet. 'Which boot has the knife in it?'
'Right foot.'
'Okay.' He struggled to get his hand into her boot. Once he got the knife free he moved again so his hands were near hers.
'Please be careful Dean. If you accidentally slit my wrists I'm going to be very upset.'
'I'm not going to slit your wrists.'
'You can't see what you're doing down there. You might.'
'Please. I have more sense than that. Just trust me alright.'
'I'm just saying.' She took a deep. 'I do actually trust you.'
'Well, thank you.' He began to rub the blade against the ropes that were tied tightly around her wrists. They were already partially frayed from Maddie picking at them earlier. He didn't have much leverage and it didn't help that his own wrists were tied together but he rubbed the knife over and over against the ropes. The ropes begin to split apart.
'How's it going?' She asked with concern. 'Just be extra careful, my wrists are already pretty chewed up from the rope.'
'I'm being careful.' He assured her. The blade slowly began cutting apart the rope more.
'Dean?' She continued to speak. 'Can I ask you something?'
'What?'
'It's just that, when you were in your weird hypnotic trance you said some kind of upsetting stuff.'
'What kind of stuff?' Dean felt his heart jump thinking about what he could have possibly said.
'For starters you said there was no point in waking up.'
'What do you mean?' He shook his head.
'I don't know. I was trying to snap you out of it and you said there was no point.'
'You must have misheard me.' Dean shook his head. 'Why would I say that?'
'I don't know Dean. But I'm pretty sure that's what you said. I told you that you had to wake up but you didn't want to. You said you were tired of the game.'
'Come on.' Dean furrowed his brow at Maddie. 'I think you're over thinking this.'
'I don't know Dean.'
'Well if I said that. Which I don't remember saying, it must have been something Claudine implanted into my head.' He continued to rub at the rope with he knife. 'You can't take anything I said seriously. I was all zombified.'
'You may have been, but honestly I feel like for that moment you were openly speaking your mind.'
'I think you're wrong.' He continued to work on the ropes more feverishly.
'I know you've been under a lot of stress lately Dean. Not to mention you and I haven't really been getting along.'
'So? Me and Sam go through this all the time.' He answered hurriedly. 'It's hard to be on the road with someone and not get on each others nerves.'
'It's more than that.' She shook her head. 'We fight all the time.'
'I got it!' He yelled excitedly as the knife finally cut the last fiber of the rope.
'Holy shit!' She felt a surge of hope and excitement as her hands broke free. She rubbed the red irritated skin around her wrists for a minute. 'Thank you so much.' She took the knife from Dean and began cutting the rope around her ankles.
'No problem.' He assured her. Maddie continued to cut the ropes until she got them untied.
'So much better.' She said as she finally freed herself. 'Okay turn around. I'll get yours loose.' She gripped her sore swollen wrists again as she prepared to cut through Dean's ropes.
'How long we're you tied up?' He asked her noticing how terribly her skin was torn. He moved to give her better access to his ropes.
'I don't know a couple of hours I guess.' She began cutting the ropes around his wrists. 'It's just that she tied them so goddamn tight. My fingers were almost all completely numb.'
'Well I'm glad we got them off before any permanent damage occurred.'
'Me too.' She nodded. 'Hey Dean. I was serious about what I said a minute ago. I don't want us to be at odds with each other all the time.'
'Are we still talking about this?'
'Yes. I want us to get along like when we first met.'
'When we first met?' He asked. 'Do you mean when you hit me in the head with a door? Or when you held me at gunpoint in my motel?'
'Okay.' She couldn't help but smirk. 'Maybe that isn't a good example. 'I just mean...'
'I know what you mean.' He interrupted her. The ropes around Dean's wrists finally broke free. He pulled away and began reaching for the knife in Maddie's hand. 'You have to understand things are different now. They're never going to be the way they were that first night.' The knife cut through the ropes until Dean was free.
'What do you mean?' Maddie asked him as she stood up. She knew that they should be heading for the door but she didn't feel right leaving things up in the air the way they were.
'Well, when I first met you all I saw was a beautiful girl.' Dean stood up and began wiping the dust from his jeans. 'You were smart, self assured and funny. That was enough for me. I was instantly hooked.'
'Okay...' She shook her head unsure of what he was getting at.
'But, I didn't actually know you. Now I do.'
'Oh.' She nodded her head. 'I get it. Now that you know me you're allowed to be a dick?'
'That's not it.'
'Now that you know I'm a real person and not just some girl in a bar you're trying to sleep with you don't have to keep up the game.'
'No.' He shook his head. 'Jesus. Just listen to me for a second please.'
'Fine.' She put her hands firmly on her hips as she waited to hear what Dean was going to say next.
'Don't look at me that way.' He shook his head.
'This is how I look. This is my face.' She shook her head.
'Ugh.' He groaned. Dean was never very good at expressing his feelings to others. He watched Maddie's beautiful angry eyes. He took a deep breath. 'Okay, the truth is. I have a tendency to push away the people I care about because, I'm afraid something terrible will happen to them. When I didn't know you I didn't have to worry about losing you. '
'Yeah?' She shook her head at him skeptically.
'Yeah.' He nodded his head forcefully. 'I mean look at where we are now. Death is one step away all the time. It's bad enough I'm constantly worried about Sam. When the reality that you were joining us and that there would be someone else around that I had to worry about I guess I kind of freaked out. I guess I thought if I could convince myself I didn't care about you that it wouldn't matter if I lost you.'
'That's sweet and all but I'm not some Damsel in distress Dean. I don't need someone protecting me and worrying for my safety.'
'I know that.' He shook his head.
'Are you sure?'
'Look it's really hard for me not to worry about others. It's just who I am.' He shook his head. 'You're right though. I've been acting like a real dick. I'll try to do that less.'
'Thank you.' She laughed.
'Just promise me you'll do the same.'
'Not be a dick?' She laughed. 'Yeah I guess I can try.'
'Thanks.' He smiled.
'One last thing.' Maddie held her hand up in the air.
'What?' He groaned.
'Just so we're clear here. If anyone in this weird group of ours is a damsel in distress, it's Sam not me.'
'Oh man.' A mischievous smile spread across Dean's face. 'I'm going to tell him you said that.'
'You better not.' She shook her head at him with warning.
'Oh, I'm definitely going to.' He teased her. 'Looks like your best friendship with Sammy is about to go down in flames.'
'Don't you dare ruin our best friendship.' She shook her head at him.
'It's all over now.'
'No way. If you tell him I said that I'll just deny it.'
'You think he's going to believe you over me? His own brother.'
'That's exactly what I think.' She nodded her head.