Disclaimer: Playing with other people's toys here people, I only own Kallie, Sophie and the plot.
Author's Note: YATAAAA! I am back. With the longest chapter ever. I would have been back sooner but editing this thing was a bit of a nightmare. 12 pages people. But this stuff needed to happen in this chapter. This chapter is a doozy, very emotional and stuff. It is intense man!
I won't be that long up here today I just have to give a shout out to my reviewers bekkers29 and JediPrincess-Knight as well as everyone else who has favorited or story alerted. You guys rock my world.
Also more love to my beta yazsha whom I love.
Okay this chap is long enough without my rambling.
Have at!
Chapter 12
Map of the Problematique
Fear and panic in the air
I want to be free
From desolation and despair
And I feel like everything I saw
Is being swept away
When I refuse to let you go
I can't get it right.
A Month Later
Dean was going to hell. Kallie knew this now. Despite their tireless efforts of the last six months to stay Dean's fate, it was obvious, this last day of Dean's contract, there was no way around it.
Sam refused to see it still. He still held the hope of salvation for his brother. Kallie worried what would happen to Sam when they failed. Kallie now sat with Dean in Bobby's old living room while Sam was out with Bobby getting some equipment for what Bobby summed up to be a "find Lilith" device.
Kallie liked Bobby; she liked him a lot even if it took awhile for him to trust her. But she had understood; hunters tended to not believe in God, ironically, so Warriors of God are a little hard to swallow. She was glad that Sam had Bobby now, because despite how close they had become, she knew Bobby would be able to console him when Dean was taken in a way she never could.
Kallie and Dean now sat in silence, after making a show of an upbeat attitude for Sam, Dean now seemed to be actually absorbing what was about to happen now that his little brother wasn't there to fret over it.
Kallie wanted to break the silence, to assure Dean that they would save him from Hell, but Dean and her had long since agreed not to lie to each other.
Finally seeming to have enough of his thoughts, Dean spoke, "So Kallie, tell me something I don't know about you. It seems like we still barely know each other."
Kallie thought on that, trying to decide where to begin so she just dove in, "Well you've probably notice from all of my napkin and motel stationary sketches that I'm a bit of an amateur artist. I like to paint, draw, and sketch whenever I have a free moment. I sell some of my works online and give them as gifts mostly. If my life had been normal that's probably what I have done with my life. But as it is I haven't been able to draw much lately."
"We all have to have our hobbies, not everyone can be a gun enthusiast like yours truly," Dean nodded, and then said, "Sorry, you were saying."
He then lapsed into silence allowing Kallie to continue with a small smile as she continued haltingly, "No it's fine. My mom was the one who encouraged me to pursue art. She told me that just because I grew up less than conventionally was no reason for me not to have a hobby. She died when I was 12, so I try not to talk about her much. When she was alive, she taught Sunday school at all of the African villages on my father's mission trips."
Dean tried not to think about his own mother, the woman he barely knew, so instead he asked, "What about your dad?"
"He was like I've said, a missionary. There was no doubt that that was what he was supposed to be doing. He thrived on saving people, it was his calling. He tried to take care of me best he could when Mom died, but there were times when he just didn't know what to do for me, a teenage girl. When I was 18 I went to Italy and studied art for a college education. He died a few years back of a heart attack, the villagers couldn't do anything for him. The minister who had been traveling with him at the time got him over here for a funeral. I'd been traveling with Castiel at the time. I always thought it a shame that my dad never got to meet him. Not that we could tell him but my dad would've been honored to meet an angel and been glad to know I was being taken care of."
"I'm sorry." Dean said quietly.
"It's okay." Kallie responded, "Professions such as ours are full of orphans. I miss my parents but I've learned to live through it. I believe that they are at peace now and that's all I need."
"You have a lot of faith." Dean commented.
"It's what keeps me going." Kallie responded modestly, before adding, "It's also a part of the job description I suppose."
"And you're happy with this life? This warrior business is what you want?" Dean asked, genuinely curious.
Kallie thought for a moment, mulling over her response carefully before voicing her response, "Yes, I am. This is never something that I planned exactly, but it's something that I feel as though I have to do. I've known about the supernatural my whole life, and there was never any question that I had to do something about it. Being raised a Christian I couldn't sit by and let these people be slaughtered when I could help. So when he came, when Castiel came, and told me what he was, what I could be and what I could do, I accepted it without question; this was my destiny, Castiel was just the one who helped me realize it."
"You and he were pretty close, weren't you?" Dean asked, surprising Kallie with his perceptiveness.
"Yeah, but I didn't think you realized that." Kallie replied, staring out into space.
"I figured something was up; you're different when you talk about him, and you don't talk about him much." Dean explained, well aware that he was breaching the touchy-feely barrier, but he figured since he'd be going to hell that night, there wasn't much point in putting on a macho façade.
"No, I don't suppose I do." Kallie allowed with a small smile.
"So what happened?" he inquired, his curiosity finally getting the better of him after 6 months of wondering. Kallie paused, brushing a strand of hair out of her eyes like she tended to do when she was anxious. Dean caught the gesture and knew what it meant, adding on, "Hey, who am I going to tell?"
"It's not that." She assured him, eyes on her fidgeting hands, "It's just difficult. I don't like to think about it."
Dean nodded his head once in understanding, deciding not to press the issue. Kallie found herself fiddling with the ends of her hair and quickly slapped her hands down on her knees in an attempt to make herself get easy, before finally muttering, "Ah, screw it. Dean, do you really wanna know?"
Dean jerked his head to look at her as if to make sure he heard her correctly, "If you're sure you wanna tell me."
"Now or never, right?" Kallie joked, mentally preparing herself for unloading her story for the first time, "Okay, where do I start?"
"I hear the beginning's a good place." Dean quipped, trying to break through her tension.
"Shut up, smart ass, I'm getting there." Kallie fired back, tossing a worn, and threadbare throw pillow at Dean from where she sat on the couch. Kallie felt so grateful for the sarcastic hunter on the chair beside her that the idea of losing him that night felt like a punch to the stomach. For the first time she could remember, she dove into her memories of Cas to escape the pain of her current fear, "Long story short: I fell in love with the angel who trained me and nearly 2 years ago, he sacrificed himself to save me. He's been confined to heaven ever since."
Dean picked up the pillow as he absorbed her words before giving her a quizzical look, "Is that even allowed?"
Kallie let out a chuckle, he would ask that, "Ha, not exactly. You could say it's frowned upon."
"Having a secret affair with an angel, I never knew you were so bad." Dean comically chastised as he tossed the pillow back causing Kallie to laugh out loud. He smiled, glad to have amused her for the moment, even if it was fleeting. Her laughter died quickly and Dean saw her hug the pillow close, trying to keep a brave face on, but he could tell she was holding in how she really felt.
"I'm sorry," Dean found himself saying for the second time that night at something he had no control over; sure he was the one with the one-way ticket to the pit, but he was learning things about his friend that made it hard for him to believe she was as lighthearted as she was.
"Ah, don't be." Kallie shrugged off Dean's pity, though she was touched by his sympathy, "The four years we were actually together were the best of my life. I don't regret it, despite how it ended, so you shouldn't either."
"Okey dokey then," he responded, trying to keep it light before asking something he never would under normal circumstances, "Would I sound like a chick if I asked what made you go for him?" Kallie giggled at him for a second, causing Dean to say, "What, the guy's an angel and off-limits, I gotta ask?"
"I suppose you would," Kallie answered, still grinning, "but I'll tell you anyway. It's hard to describe. It wasn't physical though, the body wasn't his for one thing."
Dean did a double take at the new information, "Say what now? Angels take hosts? What do they do, possess the first poor bastard they come across?"
"No, definitely not." Kallie answered fervently, realizing how much of angel technicalities the brothers were ignorant to due to her taboo approach of all things angel since Castiel died, "Not everybody can be an angel's vessel. They are made of tougher stuff, this can be passed along in bloodlines though. So Cas had to find, test and get Daniel's permission before being allowed to use his body."
"Hm." Dean grunted, eyebrows raised at the new information, "So where's Daniel now?"
"Dead." Kallie answered grimly.
"What, does being an angel's meatsuit dry you up and kill you if they leave?" he questioned.
"No, it normally doesn't. Archangels do, but the normal ones like Castiel don't." She explained, looking absentmindedly at her legs stretched out before her.
"Then what happened?" Dean pressed, caught up in the new information and fascinated against his wishes.
"When Castiel left he had to dispel a tremendous amount of celestial energy, which Daniel, as his vessel, should have been able to handle. I'm not sure, though, because I didn't see it, but since he was so close and because of his hatred for Castiel, I think Azazel did something to ruin Daniel as a vessel." Kallie thought aloud.
"Yellow Eyes?" Dean asked, shocked, "How do you know him?"
"You could say he's at the top of my 'Go To Hell and Never Come Back or I Will Bring Hell to You' list. Thanks for killing him by the way." She said nonchalantly as if speaking on the weather.
"Whoa, back up a minute, what's your beef with him?" Dean asked, his gaze fixed on her intently.
"We've developed a long, bloody, and all around unpleasant history these last seven years. Cas and I killed him,; he left me dangling in a warehouse for a week. We sealed him in hell, he crawled back out and tainted Castiel's vessel. If I were melodramatic I would've called him my archenemy. He's screwed over so many good people: me, Daniel, your parents, Sam, the other children, and especially you."
"Me? What'd he do to me that's 'especially'?" Dean inquired, surprised.
"Damn it." Kallie muttered, slapping her forehead in regret, "I told myself I wasn't going to tell you about that."
"What are you talking about?" Dean continued, determined to get answers, "What don't I know?"
Kallie let out a frustrated breath, debating about telling him, before giving in a little, "Basically, Azazel screwed you over more than you know."
"Why haven't you mentioned something about it before now?" Dean said in a frustrated manner.
"Because it's a big 'coulda-woulda-shoulda'. What's the point in telling you about a might 'have been'?" Kallie answered, still annoyed at her slip up.
"Well I want to know anyway." Dean countered, stubborn as ever.
"Fine." Kallie relented, flattening the pillow on her lap and meeting his gaze, "You were born into a family that has an incredible amount of holy potential. You were born with more than anyone else I have ever run across in my line of work."
"So? What does that mean?" Dean urged her on, not fully comprehending exactly what she was saying.
"That means," she continued, brushing past his flippant attitude, "with that much holy potential, two paths were lined out for you as your birthright: to be a warrior of God or a vessel. Plans were made; your path up to that fork in the road was preordained. You were going to be raised by two loving, protective, God-fearing parents. You would have risen in your community as an upright young man and an inspiration to others. When you were a young adult, old enough to make your own responsible decisions and be held accountable for them, you would have been visited by an angel. He would have enlightened you on your destiny, probably leaning more towards you training to be a Warrior of God, as I am, one of a very small and elite race that are vital to the battle at the end of days. He also would have told you of the life of a vessel, how in the coming war, heaven will need more to host the most powerful angels. You'd have probably chosen to be a warrior, because despite the different upbringing you had, you'd always rather be a soldier than a puppet. When you chose, you would have been trained, tested, and blessed as I have, before eventually leading the charge against the demons in the Apocalypse."
"But that didn't happen." Dean stated the obvious into the silence following her information outpour, "Why didn't it?"
"Azazel." Kallie summed it up in a word, "What he did, killing your mother, poisoning your brother, and creating that distance between you and your father, the man who should have loved you as a son and not treated you as soldier to order around, ate away at your potential. It darkened you, Dean. You were meant for such greatness, but he stole that from you. And I know that you have done your best and have saved so many lives, but you were meant for so much more and deserve better than what you've had."
Dean didn't say anything as the implications of her words sunk in. Kallie began playing with her angel wing necklace anxiously, "I'm sorry. I know I sound hokey and silly and that I am laying all of this on you. I didn't tell you because it's not possible anymore and I didn't want you to agonize over it."
Dean stared into space, no sure what to make of the possibility she had spun of a past he might have had. He didn't know how to react, whether or not to be even angrier at the long dead demon, or even if he wanted that path that Kallie had described. It just seemed so idyllic, living in a world where he'd been raised by both parents in a stable home. He wouldn't have grown up in motels alone to fend for himself and his brother for weeks on end. He wouldn't have been switching schools every month and killing things on the weekend. But did he even want that? He had gotten so accustomed to life in his car, with only his family, he never once seriously thought about him having a normal life. And he'd been helping people his whole life. But didn't Kallie say he would have been doing that anyway even if it wasn't in the same way? Maybe that was part of this holy mumbo-jumbo Kallie was always talking about.
"So what happened to it, my holy potential?" He asked tentatively.
"You still have it but it is dimmed and uncontained." Kallie answered calmly, now messing with loose thread hanging off the couch cushion.
"What does that mean?" He questioned, trying to wrap his head around it all.
"It means that there is a bit of a deadline for holy potential. It has to be honed and fine-tuned. You have to be trained to use it by a certain age. You still have a large amount but… it's hard to explain, to put it simply it is not as bright as before and the lack of training has made it unstable. If you were to try to use it, it'd be dangerous. You could unleash too much, knock yourself out and decimate a town because you didn't know what you were doing." She answered calmly.
"Yikes." Dean concluded.
"Exactly," Kallie concurred, discarding the string she had pulled out.
"Does Sam have some of it too?" Dean asked.
"Hard to say." Kallie stated.
"Why's that?" He inquired.
"His demonic influence is blocking it if he does, so I can't exactly pick it up." Kallie explained, eyebrows furrowing as she thought about it.
" 'Pick it up'?" Dean repeated, "Like holy radar?"
"Sorta. You know how I can kinda sense if someone or something is demonic?" she asked as he nodded, "Well it's easier with the other side. I can pick up on holy potential, which is useful if I nearly use up all of mine and need to tap into someone else's. I can also sense if angels are nearby. Angels don't tend to go for being inconspicuous but I can always tell it someone is playing host to one."
"Well that is wildly useful." Dean noted, impressed. "Did you see it in me? Is that how you knew about my so-called holy potential?"
"Not exactly, sure I was able to sense your potential as soon as I met you but I already knew before then." Kallie informed him, "The angels mostly filled me in before I met you."
"Huh. 'Mostly'. Except about my deal. I seem to remember them leaving that out." Dean recalled.
"Well sure, but Lilith's always been a sneaky little hell-bitch, so it's not so surprising in hindsight." She commented fairly.
Dean shook his head as if trying to remember what he was going to say before continuing, "Well, that was fascinating; a little confusing on some counts. How come you never mentioned any of that before? The holy potential, the angel radar, any of it?"
"Most of it never came up, some was just too painful." She told him simply, finally putting the throw pillow back on the couch so she wouldn't fiddle with it anymore.
"Well I think it's good that you told me." He said.
"You know what?" she started, not looking at him, "I am too. I never realized I never told anyone before. I think it took what's happening tonight to get me to finally stop nursing old wounds. I realize now, I have to get past what happened with Castiel. I just need to keep moving forward."
Dean had nothing to say to that. 'I'm glad', 'you're welcome' and 'I'm sorry' all seemed pointless and inadequate at that time. Neither spoke for a few minutes, each lost in their own thoughts. The sound of a car pulling up outside seemed to snap them out of their separate reveries. The two met each other's gaze and stood up.
Kallie looked at him furtively and said quickly before she could change her mind, "In case there isn't a chance later."
And before Dean could ask her what she meant, Kallie had crossed the distance between them and had wrapped her arms around him in a tight embrace. Though Dean typically viewed hugs as chick-flick moments and discouraged them, he understood Kallie's urgency in this moment and how emotional she was about things like death, and hugged her back for all he could.
"I'm going to miss you, you big idiot." She whispered in his ear, taking in his smell, committing everything about him to memory, for fear, despite the 25 hours left this was the last time. Before Dean could tell her anything back, Kallie had broken the embrace, turning away to wipe her eyes as he could hear Bobby unlocking the front door.
"We're back, you idjits." Bobby yelled in typical Bobby-manner when he'd made his way in.
Dean shot Kallie a concerned look that clearly said, 'are you okay?' prompting Kallie to give him a weak smile, mouthing, 'I'll be fine' before calling back loudly, "Coming!"
Bracing herself, she led Dean to the entry way where Sam and Bobby were each carrying boxes into the house.
"You get it all?" Kallie asked, motioning out the front door and towards the car.
"Yeah, this is it." Bobby answered in his gruff voice pointing deeper into the house with the tips of his fingers, "let's get this set up in the study."
The four spent the next half hour getting the alleged locator ready. When the map was set, the incantation defined and everything prepared, Bobby chanted in Latin which yielded the pointer, giving them Lilith's location.
"New Harmony, Indiana. That's not too far." Kallie concluded.
"Let's get going then." Sam suggested, "if we leave now we can make it before Dean's deal is up."
"Hold up, boy genius, we need a plan." Bobby pointed out.
"Bobby's right, we can't just go in there half-cocked," Dean agreed, "If she catches onto us, she could summon up another horde of demons and we don't have enough man power to take them all out this time."
"Yeah but we have the Colt this time." Sam insisted.
"We'll definitely need it too, but it's still one gun with limited ammunition against Lilith's private army. We'd be out-matched." Bobby reminded the younger brother.
"I could try blasting a circumference to keep them away while you take on Lilith." Kallie proposed, not terribly optimistic about the plan.
"Yeah, but who knows how long a release could keep 'em at bay," Dean said, indicating a flaw in her plan, "and you said yourself that your holy potential isn't limitless, you could wipe yourself out if you try it too much. That'd put you in danger and leave us a man short too."
Kallie hung her head, realizing he was right.
"What we need is more firepower." Bobby stated, "one little gun won't be enough to do diddly-squat if we want to take out Lilith and get past her goons."
"I could try exorcising them." Sam said quietly but the other three could still hear loud and clear.
"No." Dean stated, putting his foot down.
"I know I can do it. If you've got the gun, I'm exorcising and Kallie's blasting them, we might be able to do some good." Sam continued.
"No." Dean repeated, "We are not going there again. I won't have you going all demonic over what could end up being a suicide run."
"But this could tip the odds in our favor." Sam advocated fervently.
"Sammy, no. we'll find another way." Dean insisted.
Sam hung his head and bit his lip fighting back an angry response, realizing that Dean would never give up.
"Um, I have an idea." Kallie stated hesitantly, as the three older men looked up at her, "It may be a long shot and she could say no, but if I ask nicely, Sophie might temporarily relinquish an angel blade."
"You really think one of your angel buddies is gonna give up one of their most closely guarded weapons 'cause you ask?" Bobby asked skeptically, "I think they've proved they don't give a damn."
"No, I know they do," Kallie countered vehemently, "I know that they don't work like you want them to but these are the good guys and their rules are for a reason. They would've fried Lilith if they could so it's not their fault."
"Easy, Kal, I was just saying." Bobby shot back, "Feel free to ask away, it'd be nice if she cooperated, I'm just lookin' at their track record and sayin' it's not likely."
"Well I'm gonna give it a shot unless any of you can come up with any better solutions." Kallie challenged, so on edge and frustrated at the whole thing that it was hard to just stand there as they talked themselves in circles. She knew that getting custody of an angel blade was unlikely but she had to try.
So when Bobby and the boys did nothing but stare at her in mixtures of guilt, hopelessness, and awkwardness, Kallie muttered a quick, "That's what I thought."
And with that she practically stormed out of the house and out to one of the sheds on Bobby's property that was almost barn-like. It was dimly lit but Kallie didn't care, she stalked into the center of the structure and crossed her arms and just steadied her breathing for a minute before closing her eyes once and calling, not too loud but above a normal speaking voice, "Sophie!"
Kallie stood there for another minute, eyes still closed when she heard Sophie's voice say from one of the doorways, "I was wondering when you'd call me again. I was beginning to feel forgotten."
"Sophie." Kallie said, more relieved than annoyed and quickly went over and hugged her angel friend, "I've missed you."
Sophie chuckled once as she hugged her strange human friend back, "Don't tell the rest of the garrison this, but I've missed you too."
"Our secret then," Kallie agreed with a smile as they pulled apart.
"Let me guess, you want to know if we know where Lilith is yet." Sophie predicted, placing her hands on her hips.
"Not this time." Kallie corrected, "We know she's in New Harmony, Indiana."
"Aw shucks." Sophie muttered, "The one time we actually know, you beat me to it."
"You know?" Kallie said excitedly, her voice rising with her intensity, "Are you gonna do something? Can you guys stop her now that you know where she is?"
"No dice, cupcake." Sophie stopped Kallie while she was still ahead with a few choice colloquial phrases, "We know where she is but it's not doing us any good. That demon skank may be broadcasting her location but she's got enough anti-angel protection up to keep out the entire host of heaven. I was actually about to come down and tell you but you beat me to the punch."
"Okay, what are we gonna do about it?" Kallie asked, hoping desperately for some sort of heavenly back up plan.
"Well our plan was going to be to send some warriors after her but the protection she has up keeps even warriors from teleporting in within a hundred miles. So they'd all have to drive and unfortunately you are the only one in the area." Sophie informed Kallie of the bad news.
"What does that mean?" Kallie asked, afraid she already knew the answer.
"It means that you and the boys are all we've got." Sophie told her though clearly not happy with it.
"That's it?" Kallie asked, her voice rising with growing anger and hysteria, "We're on our own? Are you kidding me? How are the four of us supposed to take down the most powerful demon and all of her closest friends? Are you kidding me?"
"Easy, Kallie, I don't like it either. In fact I think it downright sucks but we have nothing else. I would be right there with you with an entire garrison if I could. I wish we could send back up but there are not enough Warriors of God and we simply can't risk all of the ones we have on one demon. I really am sorry, Kallie. I would do something if I could." Sophie told the human earnestly.
"I know," Kallie said, subdued and a little upset by the prognosis of the fight she had ahead of her, before she remembered the other reason she had called Sophie down for, "in fact there is something, but I can guarantee you won't like it."
"Uh huh. I'm sure." Sophie stated, "Lay it on me."
"I need to borrow your angel blade." Kallie said bracing for Sophie's response.
"Of course you do." Sophie replied sardonically, "You have always pushed at boundaries. You've already gone for an angel; why not go after one of their knives?"
"Sophie please. I am so scared. I don't want to lose Dean but I don't think that there is anything I can do. Sam is talking about using his demonic gifts again. And since there won't be any angel cavalry coming in to save the day, I don't know what other option I have. So please, please do this for me." Kallie pleaded, her fear so plain in her voice that Sophie's heart couldn't help but go out to her.
"Okay, fine." Sophie relented, pulling out the sacred weapon and it's sheath from the back of her belt under her jacket, "But remember I'm breaking 50 rules here, and keep in mind how horribly bad it'll be if you let the demons get their hands on this. You have to promise to get this back to me once this is all over."
"I will. I promise." Kallie assured her, wiping away her unshed tears as she accepted the sheath.
"And be careful. The place Lilith is at, is in a normal neighborhood, she's on what you could call shore leave." Sophie cautioned.
"What does that mean?" Kallie asked, sticking the sheath in her pocket, not sure she wanted to know.
"She likes little girls. Her idea of a good time is possessing one and terrorizing her family. It won't be pretty but if you want to take out Lilith, now is your only shot." Sophie informed her grimly.
Kallie nodded, hating the horrible truth, "I understand."
"Good, now you can't say I never do anything for you." Sophie reminded her gravely, already anxious about relinquishing the sacred dagger.
"Oh I never will again." Kallie guaranteed whole heartedly.
"You have to be careful Kallie," Sophie insisted, almost concerned at how attached she had grown to the human, "Castiel would probably kill me if he knew I was letting you go, so please do me a favor and not die."
At this strange expression of affection, Kallie couldn't help but go over and give her angel protector another hug and whisper, "I'll try my best. I'll try real hard not to die."
"Good." Sophie declared, as she let Kallie go, "Now you should get going."
"Okay," Kallie replied reluctantly turning to go.
"So you're Sophie?" Dean asked from the doorway up some steps, clearly having just arrived to see what was taking Kallie so long.
Sophie nodded, composed, "And you're Dean."
"So you're a real life angel?" Dean asked as Kallie realized he had never actually met one before.
"I am." Sophie replied simply, and despite how frank and human she could seem at times she was incredibly regal in this moment.
"I don't suppose you're going to help us out tonight are you?" Dean asked trying to size up the angel of wisdom while seeming unattached and aloof.
"I've done all I can, of that I can assure you, and that is more than most angels would dare." Sophie defended herself knowing that most humans wouldn't understand the boundaries of angel rules she was bound to follow.
"Trust me Dean," Kallie interjected, "She's not coming with us but she's giving us more of a fighting chance."
Dean took in this information and figured Kallie was right and saying in allowance, "Well thank you."
Sophie squinted her eyes at not anticipating Dean's sincerity, "I'll have you know I'd fight with you if I could."
"And why would you do that?" Dean asked incredulous.
"Well you may choose not to believe it but some of us up above are actually rooting for you to break your deal. You hold a lot more potential than you'll ever realize." Sophie informed him coolly.
Dean responded in his typical manner when things went over his head, "Neat. Come on Kal we should get going, Sammy's getting anxious."
"Okay, be there in a sec," Kallie said to him, wanting a moment to say good bye.
Dean turned to go but Sophie called to him causing him to stop, "It was interesting to meet you, Dean Winchester. I hope I will have the pleasure again."
Dean raised an eyebrow in his mystified manner, thinking that unless angels vacationed in Hell, he wouldn't be seeing anyone again soon, but responded, "Yeah, you too."
With that, the hunter turned and left, striding back to Bobby's run-down house. Kallie and the angel embraced one more time, wishing each other luck and God's guidance before Sophie departed.
"Hey," Kallie called to Dean, catching up.
Dean turned and saw her handing him the angel blade, "Why are you giving this to me?"
"Well, holy potential and goodness aside, I know you can hack it. Sam can use the Colt." Kallie said simply, continuing onto the house.
"Thank you." Dean responded, still shocked as he latched the sheath onto his own belt.
"Don't mention it!" Kallie called back not even looking back as she picked her way through the junk car lot.
When they got back to the house, Sam and Bobby were loading up the Impala and the Clubman. When everything was ready to go, Dean said something to Bobby about staying behind, which, as you can imagine, he took very well. Both the boys made arguments for their uncle-figure to stay home, while Kallie stayed out of it, until Bobby basically told them to shove it up their asses, responding that he was coming and that was that. In the end, Kallie stepped in offering to give Bobby a ride in her Clubman so that the boys could have this last little while to themselves.
The drive was long and mostly uneventful except for when Sam and Dean got pulled over by a demonically possessed cop. Fortunately, Dean was able to spot its true demonic nature which Kallie and Bobby explained as being part of his deal being so close to an end and that it comes with the hallucinations he's been having. Dean takes it to be very strange but useful.
"Okay, Sam and I will try to get the lay of the land," Dean announced when they had all arrived on what seemed to be a very quiet and clean neighborhood. "Kallie and Bobby, you two should try to get holy water in the main water line, and maybe we can use the sprinkler system or something to hold them off if things get intense."
"Okay, hopefully I'll see you soon." Kallie nodded as they parted ways, her leading the way to the neighborhood's water supply.
The minutes wore on as it got closer to midnight. Sam and Dean quickly realized that Lilith wasn't going to make it easy, what with pretty much the entire neighborhood alert and possessed, ready to defend their leader.
"You boys got a plan yet?" Kallie asked unexpectedly from behind them.
Both of them jumped from surprise.
"Jeez Kallie!" Sam yelled, startled, "I thought you were helping Bobby."
"I was but he's got it under control. I figured you guys needed me more." Kallie explained.
"Good thought." Dean agreed, turning back around to keep his eyes on the guarding demons.
"We're running out of time." Sam assessed, eager to keep moving, "I say we get as far as we can to the house so Bobby can turn the sprinklers on and maybe buy us some time."
"I don't think we have anytime left." Kallie pointed out as the hungry black eyes of over a dozen demons locked in on them and started closing in.
"Run!" Dean yelled as the three sprinted to the front door, ganking as many demons as they could along the way.
Fortunately, Bobby was clever and got the holy water sprinkler working so there was a layer of protection between the demons and the house.
Once inside the house they encountered the understandably hysterical father, and when he refused to leave they knocked him out for his own good and stashed him in the cellar.
From there they split up and searched the house for Lilith. Sam was the one who found the girl and nearly killed her before Dean arrived just in time to see that she wasn't possessed anymore. Dean looked deep in the face of the mom and the girl but there was no sign of a darker nature. Chagrinned and anxious that they hadn't found the hell bitch yet, the brothers retreated downstairs. After hiding the rest of the family, the boys reunited with Kallie in the living room.
"She wasn't in the girl." Sam informed Kallie, nervously.
"She must've jumped ship when she heard us coming." Kallie guessed, her eyes darting around.
"How could she get past the holy water?" Sam questioned while Dean took the fullness of the situation in.
"Lilith's part of the big league. Little repellents like that do nothing to her after all of these years." Kallie explained
"She'll still come after him though, won't she? I mean if she is this close when Dean's deal is up, she'll have to show, won't she?" Sam asked, the wheels in his head going double time from adrenaline.
"It tracks." Kallie replied, eyes glued to the grandfather clock.
"That means we still have a chance." Sam whispered hopeful, "I could still exorcise her or you could blast her when she comes."
"No." Kallie shot him down, "You don't have near enough experience to pull something like that off this quickly and besides, I don't think I could take out an upper level demon with the amount of juice I have."
Sam was clearly starting to truly panic and asked frantically as he tried to keep it under control, "Well what can we do?"
"We keep fighting." Dean answered calmly, "You hunt down as many of the sons-a-bitches as you can. You take care of the Impala. You stay good."
Before Dean could relay anymore last-minute advice, the clock tolled midnight ominously and loud in the quiet room.
Dean suddenly looked at one of the doorways with a small amount of fear.
"Is that a hellhound?" Sam asked, following his brother's gaze and seeing nothing.
"Yep." Dean replied simply before the three took off as quick as they could to the study, shutting the door behind them and going about putting goofer dust on the doorway and windowsill.
Hearts beating frantically as the sounds of scraping and banging filled their ears from the direction of the double doors.
"Dean, give me the knife, maybe I can fight it off." Kallie said suddenly, holding out her hand.
"What?" Sam asked confused at the sudden change.
"Come on, that dust won't last forever!" Kallie yelled.
"No," Sam argued, "He'll need it to keep the hellhounds off if they get through."
"Trust me, I know how to use it." Kallie countered insistently, stepping closer to Dean in the light of the moon shining through the windows.
Just then, from Dean's perspective, in her fervent stare and the light hitting her just right, her eyes appeared pitched black.
"Sam, that's not Kallie." Dean warned, as he took the blade out of its sheath. "That's not Kallie anymore."
Before he could get any farther or Sam could do more than raise his arms to attack, Kallie flicked her hands sending both brothers flying. Sam was thrown against a wall and Dean on top of what was once an ordered table.
"How long have you been in her?" Dean asked as he struggled to hold his head up to look at her.
"Not long." Lilith answered. "But I like it. It's so grown up and pretty."
"How'd you do it? How'd you hide who you were?" Dean groaned trying to sit up in vain.
"Oh it was all Kallie. Who knew all that holy potential actually hides demons. Of course no one would as it would kill most demons who would try. But I managed it, because I'm the toughest. If it didn't hurt so much, I'd like it. She's all grown up and so innocent." Lilith taunted through Kallie's mouth.
Lilith then looked Sam over leisurely before making her way over to him, so close that Sam could smell the raspberry shampoo Kallie had used the night before, "Hello Sam. I've wanted to meet you for a very long time."
Lilith reached up and grabbed his face before he could react and forced a kiss on him, commenting idly, "Your lips are soft."
Sam grimaced slightly, hating that Lilith was using the ever innocent Kallie for her bidding, "All right, so you have me. Let my brother go."
"Silly goose. You want a bargain, you have to have something I want." Lilith tsked at him in a taunting manner. "You don't."
"So this is your big plan, huh? Drag me to hell, kill Sam and then what? Become queen bitch?" Dean struggled to ask, fear rising in him at the though of Sam being killed.
"I don't have to answer to puppy chow," Lilith leveled, still grinning in a twisted way that looked wrong on the Warrior of God's face. Lilith sauntered over to the doors and opened the door, letting in the hell hound, saying in that sick little girl voice she favored, "Sic him, boy."
With that the invisible hellhound came charging in and attacked Dean, pulling him off the table with its teeth, clawing and scratching as blood spurted everywhere.
"No!" Dean yelled in a way that made Sam's stomach churn and his heart break while Lilith laughed evilly at it all.
Sam shouted, pleaded for her to stop it, in so much pain as he was forced to watch his brother die, "Stop it! No!"
"Yes." Lilith teased, still pleased with herself, Lilith got closer to Sam and held out a hand, Kallie's eyes going white as Sam could feel a sudden horrible power emanating from the girl before him causing him to fall to the ground under the force of it when quite suddenly, the white eyes glowed bright gold and the fearsome power stopped. Lilith was left standing there confused staring nervously at her hand as if something had gone horribly wrong, she held up her hand again but nothing happened.
Finally free from the wall, Sam took advantage and stood up as Lilith, in Kallie began taking haltering steps backward as Sam advanced.
"Back." Lilith ordered holding out her hand again, terrified by her loss of power. When Sam continued to advance she cried out again, "I said, back!"
When this too had no affect, Sam reached down and picked up the angel blade Dean had dropped when he was thrown.
"I don't think so." He growled, raising the knife to stab Kallie but before he could plunge the knife in, Lilith let out an unearthly scream as she fled in a stream of black smoke.
As the last of the demon smoke left her, Kallie had but a second to try to regain herself despite the utterly weak and hopeless feeling welling up inside of her, before Sam quite forcefully brought his raised fist down on her forehead, knocking the drained girl out with the hilt of the knife instead of stabbing her.
In some distant part of his mind, Sam realized that Kallie was his friend and a good person and didn't want to be possessed, but at that moment with his only brother dead on the floor, he couldn't stand to look at her and needed above all things, to be alone with his brother.
Tears springing to his eyes, Sam turned away from the sight of Kallie unconscious on the floor as the bloodied and dead Dean filled up all of his vision. It was the most horrible thing he had ever seen and he knew, in the back of his mind, that no matter what happened he would never get over that sight. So he cried for at least half an hour straight over his dear departed brother before finally, realizing he needed to move, to get things done, and picked up Dean as carefully as he could and left the house, leaving Kallie still out cold on the floor.
When Sam reached the street all of the demons, save the corpses, were gone. About halfway across, he saw Bobby exiting the house across the street. Though Bobby had feared this would happen, actually seeing the man he viewed as a sort of son torn up in Sam's arms was still a lot more than he could take and wept bitterly and unashamedly for several minutes.
Seeing Bobby like this caused tears to leak from Sam's eyes again but he got out, "I want to bury him."
Bobby had a few thoughts on that but saved them, and for the first time looked around, then back at the house and asked without any real heart to it, "Where's Kallie? Is she alright?"
"She's fine." Sam responded, filled with the sudden urge to lie. His insane reasoning telling him that anyone that could allow themselves to be possessed by Lilith deserved to lay alone in a bloody house without any comfort. So he lied, "She slipped out the back, decided it'd be best if we split up for a little while."
Bobby didn't think that sounded like Kallie but figured that grief changed people and decided to leave it alone.
So, sadly and grudgingly, the two men made their way to the Impala, loading Dean carefully in the back and drove off into the night.
Hours later in what had quickly become a horror house a desperately sad Warrior of God woke up with a bleeding forehead, never having felt so alone and miserable in her whole life.
Life will flash before my eyes
So scattered and lost
I want to touch the other side
And no one thinks they are to blame
Why can't we see
That when we bleed we bleed the same.
Map of the Problematique by Muse
Author's Note: Oh god, this chapter was hard. Very painful. This was also my first attempt to actually follow the events from one of the episodes of the show and as such I am very self-conscious about it.
Okay, I know it was not the best but please let me know what you thought about it. Like what you thought of some of the stuff Dean and Kallie talked about or how I tied it in with the episode, with my own flare of course.
I am also a big fan of concrit and if you have any questions about something I wrote in here, please let me know!
Okay, you guys know the drill, I shall try to be back again soon but what really helps is reviews and feedback so I know that someone is reading and enjoying and wanting more.
Love you guys!
-Fin
