Chapter 13

Dean and Grace decided to attempt to have a family meal before the conversation with Crowley began and Sam had taken the job of attempting to break the news and soothe Serra before he arrived. They had yet to hear any explosions since Grace saw Serra's truck drive up the gravel path towards the Small House, so she assumed everything was going according to plan thus far.

"Ev, you want some more chicken?" Grace asked as she piled another spoonful of rice onto Glory's plate. "Or rice?"

Everett shook his head slowly, not looking up at his mother. "No, thank you," he answered quietly. "Can you move Faith closer please?"

"Do you want to sit in my lap, baby?" Grace asked, glancing at her husband. "It's okay. We're safe. You're safe." Slowly, Everett climbed down from his chair next to Dean and walked towards his mother. She picked him up and pulled him closer, pressing her cheek to his. "There," she said as he sighed quietly. "That better?" He nodded slowly, closing his eyes as he felt the pain in his tiny Mark of Cain lessen.

Sabina watched the exchange and sighed quietly. "Why are you upset, Everett?" she asked. "You were fine this afternoon."

He turned to stare at her and furrowed his blond eyebrows. "I don't want to talk to you," Everett muttered. "You are lying."

"Everett," Grace scolded. "Don't talk to her like that."

Automatically, Everett turned towards Grace's chest, hiding his face, as she stared up at Dean, who narrowed his eyes. Dean glanced at Sabina, who's face reddened in embarrassment. "There something to that?" he asked, tilting his head at her reaction.

"What?" Sabina asked, staring intently at her food. "No. Of course not."

"You are!" Everett shouted into Grace's shirt, avoiding his father's gaze.

Liberty and Glory were on their feet with Everett's reaction, ready for anything, simply out of reflex, though Everett's tantrums had been minimal since Faith had been born. Dean followed suit, staring at Sabina, but speaking to his daughters. "Upstairs," he whispered. "I'll talk to you two in a minute."

Not wasting time, Liberty and Glory jogged up the steps and headed towards Libby's room at the end of the hall, leaving Faith, Sabina, and Grace wide-eyed at the table. "Everett," Grace soothed quietly. "What's going on? Can you tell me what you're talking about?"

"She's lying," he repeated, still refusing to turn around. "She's not our Sabina anymore."

Dean turned towards the girl sitting at the family's dining room table. "What is he talking about?" he asked. "Seems like Grace or Cas would have caught a possession."

"I'm not possessed," Sabina finally replied, her eyes filling with tears. "I don't know what's happening to me."

"So something is happening?" Dean asked, moving between Sabina and his wife and child. "Spill. Now."

Sabina closed her eyes, forcing a tear down her face. "They're…they started out as dreams," she sobbed. "But now, I can hear her in my head, trying to get me to do things I don't want to do. It's why I haven't been in the house…why I won't go to the shop or play with the kids anymore." Sabina looked up at Grace, hoping to see the kind expression she so often had for the teenager, but at the moment, Grace's blue eyes were steel and her face was stoic. "I haven't been lying to you. I just haven't been telling the truth."

"There's not much of a difference," Dean growled. "Jesus," he sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Your sister's gonna have an aneurism tonight."

"Wait," Grace said, holding up a hand, still staring at Sabina. "What are you talking about, a voice?" She glanced at Dean. "Wouldn't you think I would have been able to hear something like that?"

Dean turned to stare at Sabina once more, "When did this all start?" he asked. "Since Holden?"

Sabina nodded.

"You can't hear the mystery voice because it's probably a spell," Dean replied, pacing around the room near Grace and Everett. "Fucking Holden."

"Wait," Grace whispered, holding up her free hand. "Wait. Who is this voice? What is she saying?"

"I don't know who she is, but sometimes I feel like I don't have control of my own body," Sabina held her face in her hands, speaking through her fingers. "I don't even know what she wants yet, but I kind of feel like I remember her."

Suddenly, the back door burst open and Serendipity came bursting through, holding both of her silver-on-black, specialty engraved Colt forty-five pistols, one in each hand. "Where is he?" she shouted. "He here yet?"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Dean answered, holding up his hands. "Pump the brakes. Crowley's not here yet." He gestured towards Sabina and raised his eyebrows. "We're dealing with something else, here."

Serra pressed her lips together and raised her eyebrows; her hazel eyes a little wild. "Is there a problem?" she asked.

Grace was attempting to stand, still clutching Everett. "Stop," she was saying, holding out her hand, and the air pulsed with Grace's abilities. "Just stop. Everyone take a step back. He's on the edge," she gestured at Everett, "you're packing, and everyone is much too emotional right now to deal with reality."

"What's wrong with Everett?" Serra gasped, taking a step towards her nephew. "What's going on?"

"Stop," Grace held up her hand and the air around every person in the room shimmered. Serra was in mid-step, but couldn't seem to complete the gesture, Dean held his place at the table, and Sabina continued to sit with her hands covering her face. "Everyone just stop."

Taking a deep breath, now that she had a minute to think, Grace stared at her sister, still frozen in time. Reaching over and dropping the clips out of both of her guns, Grace also pushed the slide back, forcing both of Serra's guns to discharge the bullets in the barrels. Serendipity would be pissed, but at least at the end of the conversation, everyone would still be alive.

"Momma," Everett whispered. "How did you do that?"

"I can do all kinds of stuff now, baby," Grace whispered back. "Uncle Cas taught me. Soon, he's going to teach you and your sisters. We all need to learn how to protect ourselves, now. Things are changing."

Everett nodded slowly as Grace put him on the floor, standing next to Serra. He glanced up at his aunt, watching her, as she stood frozen in front of him. "How long will she stay like that?"

Grace picked up the fallen bullets and clips, putting them in her pockets as she smiled at her son. "For as long as I want her to," she replied. She tilted her head towards her sister. "Just be ready, buddy. She's going to be very unhappy when I let her go."

Smiling mischievously, Everett nodded as he stepped behind his mother. She took a deep breath and steadied herself, closing her eyes and holding up her arms. "Okay, everyone," she began. "Let's start over."

"Mother fucking fuck," Serra breathed as Grace lowered her arms. "What the hell, Grace?"

"We all need to take a step back," she replied, lowering her hands. "One thing at a time."

Dean turned to face his wife and furrowed his eyebrows. "Did you just stop time?" he asked. "I could hear you and think on my own, but couldn't move?"

"Yeah, I did it for everyone's own good," Grace answered, blocking Sabina's move to exit the kitchen. "We're going to sit here, and you're going to start from the beginning. You," she continued, pointing to her sister, "are going to listen without shooting anyone and when Crowley gets here, you are going to leave him alive long enough to explain how to help the kids."

"But I— " Serra whined.

"No. No shooting, no blades, no hand-stamped demon Weapons Stone bullets," Grace answered with finality. "That's it."

Glancing down at her guns, Serra saw that both clips were gone and the slide was pushed all the way back. "How did you—" Serra asked, still staring at her weapons. "Cheater!"

"You can have your bullets back when you go home. Sit." Grace pointed to the chair in front of her sister and rolling her eyes, Serendipity sat, tossing her empty guns on the pile of newspapers that sat on the table. "Now," Grace took a breath and turned her attention back to Sabina. "What are you hearing?"

"It's not so much what I'm hearing as much as what I'm experiencing," Sabina began slowly. "I feel like I'm watching old memories."

"Memories," Grace repeated, glancing at Dean. "Show me."

Sabina looked confused, but then seemed to remember that Grace could read her mind. Closing her eyes and taking a breath, Sabina tried her best to think of the most recent dreams. Grace followed suit, closing her own eyes and watching Sabina's subconscious weave through her mind.

Seconds passed, then minutes, and finally, it was Everett that broke the silence. "That's her, Momma," he whispered, staring past Dean at nothing. "I see her too."

Every adult in the room turned to stare at the four-year-old in shock, their mouths hanging open. "You see her?" Dean asked quietly. "You see who?"

Everett's bright blue eyes found his father's gaze and without emotion, he replied, "Delilah."