Hello! Thank you again to all of you that Favourited and Followed! It's always lovely to know that the work is appreciated! Also, sorry about the time gap between chapters, it's difficult to find time to just sit and write. Please, please review and let me know what you think of the story and characters, it's really helpful. Thanks!
The cool breeze was comforting when Dean stepped outside of the Grill. It was a gentle puff of air against the bandages that surrounded a wound that he could no longer feel in the sudden blinding rage that took over him on sight of Bonnie.
There was something off about her, like he had seen her somewhere, doing something, but he couldn't remember. He had suspected her of being a supernatural being, of course, but normally he would never go after someone without proof or without Sam, but something in his gut was screaming at him to find out more. To kill her.
Then there was Damon, the man at the bar with bright white teeth that also seemed to have an involvement in Bonnie's twisted stories. 'Is it done?' what had that meant? Was what done? Murder? Dean didn't know.
Bonnie had exited the Grill first, followed by Dean, who was being closely watched by Damon as the man sauntered along behind flashing absent grins at Grill patrons.
Dean knew that what he was doing was reckless, and that he was injured - not that he was 100 per cent sure how that happened - but this felt right. He felt like he was being proactive in the fight against evil.
The street was quiet and the light had faded to almost complete inky black, only the street lamps lit up the pavement in orangey glow.
"What were you saying?" Damon had moved closer behind Dean, leaning towards the bandage, his eyes turning a slight shade of red. It must have been a reaction to the harsh light of the Grill, there was no monster, other than some high level demons that had red eyes.
Dean walked forwards and out of Damon's reach to stand in front of Bonnie.
"Call off the dog, Bonnie." He flashed her a small smirk, "I just want to talk,"
A sudden gust of wind caught the back of Dean's shirt, making it flutter slightly, and Bonnie glanced over Dean's shoulder with narrowed eyes. There was a small grunt of pain and Dean quickly spun around to see what was happening, but by the time he looked, Damon was straightened up and glaring at Bonnie.
"He doesn't get hurt, Damon." The mocha skinned girl said, eyes still squinting at the man in the leather jacket. Damon growled back, obviously a little put out.
Turning back to Bonnie, Dean took another large step towards her so that he was looming above her in a menacing way.
"What are you?"
Bonnie swallowed. This wasn't what was supposed to happen. Caroline was supposed to have helped them forget, why could Dean remember?
She could feel the magic building in her blood. It had been a mistake hurting Damon when he had made to attack Dean. Well, it hadn't been a mistake to save an innocent life from Damon, but it was a mistake to use controlled magic.
Expression was powerful and it threatened, by the tingling in her fingertips, to burst out all at once to counteract the danger that it seemed to think she was in. It was obvious that Damon could sense it, at least in some small way, because he suddenly looked up as she felt a small pulse of energy leave her body.
Of course, how could Dean know what she was unless he had met others like her? Others like Elena and Damon? Was he a hunter? They didn't usually go after witches though, did they? None that Bonnie had met, anyway.
"I'm not anything, just a person. What else could I be?" Bonnie tried her hardest not to choke on the Latin that attempted to force its way through her larynx. She had no control over the magic anymore and it had begun to physically pain her to hold it back.
"You're a witch." Dean pulled himself up to full height and stared down at her, not paying attention to Damon standing a few metres behind.
Bonnie gasped. He knew.
Before either of the confrontational pair could react, Damon had gripped Dean's arms and twisted them behind his back, breaking them both with little to no effort.
The pavement burst into grey swirls of cloud in front of Dean's eyes that swam and danced in bright mists, and he yelled out in a guttural scream, falling to the ground in agony. The burning sensation that chased its way outwards from his elbow intensified as his knees hit the ground and his arms jolted.
This was pain in its most minor form, Dean thought. He'd been through and survived so much worse, a few broken limbs were nothing to cry about. This was child's play.
In a last ditch attempt to free himself from where he was pinned to the ground by Damon, he lashed backwards with one leg, aiming a stinging kick to Damon's knee cap. It successfully caught the man off guard and he let go of Dean after there was the sound of cracking from inside the leg.
The ground tilted dangerously under Damon as he pitched to the pavement, unable to support himself on one of his legs for a few moments. He rolled with the tumble and sat down for mere seconds to allow his bones to reset, then shot to his feet like a bullet.
Dean was still lying on the tarmac, unable to gain footing because he had no arms able to lever him to his feet.
Damon was about to go back over to him, to possible break his legs as well if he refused to answer any of the questions that Damon planned to pose, but something stopped him. That something was a word. Just one single word in a language that Damon barely understood.
This word was common though. Everyone knew the Latin word for 'Burn'.
In the few seconds that followed, all anyone in the immediate vicinity would describe it as, would be excruciating. Blind, hot power leaked from a girl lying twitching on the pavement. It rolled from her body in waves of pure magic.
The power paralysed both Dean and Damon as it filtered through their bodies and set off all nerve endings with the feeling of fire mixed with white hot ice. It moved like electricity, sparks leaping from the ground and clogging up the air around them with the sharp metallic tang of lightening.
Dean was in agony. Not only were his arms broken but every fibre of his being was alight with invisible flame, the mist pouring into his mouth when he tried to gasp a breathe and setting fire to his lungs and vocal chords. He couldn't speak. He couldn't scream. He could only lie there, eyes wide and reminisce about the similar pain to that which he felt in Crowley's kingdom.
Meanwhile, in Matt's house, Sam stared wide eyed at Zoe, reeling from her sudden exclamation of imminent danger directed at his brother.
"What do you mean Dean's in danger?" He cried, moving into her personal space in his panic.
"I don't know, I just know that he is." It didn't explain anything, and as Zoe regained her breath, she gently extended her wings just an inch. They were as beautiful as before, but Sam didn't have the brain capacity to focus on them at the present moment.
"Well, zap us there then!" The tall man gestured wildly with two fingers outstretched in the direction of his forehead. Zoe sighed slowly and shook her head, she seemed agitated.
"I can't, Sam."
"What do you mean, you can't? You're an angel, aren't you?" It was an outrage, Sam needed to reach his brother, but Zoe was refusing to take him.
"I am," She fluttered the wings gently to emphasise the point, but her face was grave, "But I can't. The angel mojo isn't as strong here. It's not possible for me to get a link that'll carry two beings. I can't get to you at all if I'm not near you. I can only lock onto Dean because he's got a strong bond with Castiel, having Cas pull him out of hell and all that,"
Sam threw his hands up in frustration, "But he saved me too! Why isn't there a strong signal to me?"
"Because he saved your body, there was no link to your soul because he didn't rescue it." Zoe was in deep thought and only spared Sam that smallest of withering looks. "Where was he going?"
"The Grill."
"Take the Impala, go there. I will go to Dean immediately and meet you there." The inky blackness spreading outwards from her shoulders intensified but she left words behind in the flutter of wings. The words echoed around the room.
"Hurry, Sam."
By the time Zoe arrived at the entrance to the grill, the white mist had ebbed away and Damon had escorted Bonnie to safety since he recovered quickly from the magics. He had come back for Dean, but upon seeing Zoe kneeling beside him, kept to the shadows, assuming that she couldn't see him. Of course, being an angel, she knew he was there, but refused to acknowledge him in her inspection of Dean's wounds.
The arms would be a quick fix, not that she could do anything to those while Damon was there, but what worried the angel was how clueless she was to the rest of his injuries. Dean's heart beat was weak, and his breathing much too shallow, he needed a hospital.
Sam put his foot down in the Impala and hurried in the direction of the Grill, ignoring the stop sign that was on the road a few streets down from the establishment. Not knowing anything about the nature of Dean's injuries, Sam's mind assumed the worst, a thought trail that he forced himself to ignore.
Only pulling up to the sidewalk, did Sam really allow himself to panic. Zoe knelt beside Dean, her hands on his forehead, trying to ease the pain.
Sam threw himself from the car after he had stopped the engine and rushed to their sides.
"Help me get him into the car," Zoe said in a neutral voice.
"Can't you just zap him?"
"No. It would kill him,"
Instead of arguing further, Sam obliged and began to move Dean's arms. "Not those! They're broken in three places,"
Instead of his arms, Sam slid his large hands beneath Dean's shoulder blades and lifted. He saw Zoe doing the same at Dean's feet. Together they heaved the man into the back seat of the car and Zoe climbed in after him, leaving Sam to drive.
"Can you fix him?" Sam asked, shuffling into the driver's seat and starting the engine.
"I can heal his broken bones. The rest... is like nothing I've ever seen before. Judging by the effect it has had on his nervous system, by all rights he should be on fire."
Sam was silent for a few minutes as he took in what that meant, and as Zoe healed the broken bones.
"Sam! Step on it! He needs a hospital!" Zoe's irritated voice sounded from the back of the car and Sam pressed his foot to the gas pedal.
Luckily, unlike so many other places, it seemed, in Mystic Falls, the hospital was clearly signposted and the drive was under 15 minutes. Dean barely moved, except to twitch involuntarily as the effect of whatever it had been that injured him, still hit nerve endings.
Zoe and Sam rushed Dean into the hospital where it was declared an emergency and they were rushed to an intensive care unit. Sam sat beside him when they finally allowed visitors, and Zoe, ignoring the 'no one but family' rule, materialised inside the room once the nurse had gone.
"He'll be fine, Sam." She said soothingly. Sam didn't look up.
"Why do you even care?" He asked, a small amount of bitterness leaking into his tone. Zoe had helped save Dean, but why did she care, she had proclaimed that she really didn't give a crap, last time they'd met.
Zoe sighed and dropped into the empty seat on the other side of Dean's bed. Dean was linked up to at least six tubes, it was a little unnerving to see.
"I don't want to care. Somewhere deep down, I still hate you both so much, but this bond with Castiel... He's projecting thoughts of the friendship and family that he feels towards the two of you. Some of the memories he's made me think are quite sweet. I am tolerant because of Cas. Be grateful. You lot might not actually be that bad,"
"Oh," Was Sam's response and he turned his head, with no other comment, to stare dazedly at the bleeping monitor that was the only assurance that Dean was still alive.
