"Heartbeat's steady!" a nurse called out.
The room was a frenzy of activity, as it had been for hours. Nurses went through various medical instruments while doctors simply stared in confusion.
On the hospital bed in front of them was a bruised and battered body. What skin was showing was a dark purple with slashes of red stretching every way. The limp girl's lips were parted slightly, making her face seem surprised, even while unconscious. Her hair was a rat's nest, a mess of dirty tangles, and dark circles ringed underneath her eyes, as if she hadn't slept in weeks.
The nurses had tried so hard to revive her, but nothing they did was working.
"There's nothing wrong with the brain," another informed them. "She's not in a coma."
"She's lost a lot of blood, but should be awake by now, from all the transfusions," yet another told her colleagues.
"I don't understand," the doctor nearest to her bed muttered to himself, though everyone in the room could hear it. "It's as if she just went to sleep and didn't wake up."
And Calypso wouldn't. Not for a long time.
Dean sat up, his memory foggy. He vaguely noticed the hospital room before he got out of the hospital bed he had been sleeping in, then looked down at himself. He was wearing only a white tee shirt and blue hospital pants, much to his surprise. He looked back up as he remembered his family was also in the hospital. Dean had to find them. He wasted no time before entering the hallway.
"Callie?" Dean called. "Sam? Dad? Anybody?"
He looked around a moment before going down the stairs to the front of the hospital. At the bottom was a nurse's station.
"Excuse me," Dean said to the blonde woman working behind the counter. "Hi. I, uh, I think I was in a car accident, my dad and my sister and my brother, I just need to find them." The nurse didn't respond. In fact, she made no signs of even hearing Dean. "Hello?" Dean asked, snapping his fingers.
The lady didn't see him. The blood drained from Dean's face as he considered an awful possibility. Dean ran back upstairs to his hospital room, panicking, and froze.
There, on his bed, was his own body, intubated and dying.
Dean looked around, not over the shock of seeing his own unconscious body. Where was everyone else? Were they okay? Were they alive? Dean could just barely remember the car crash. He remembered the bright headlights of the truck and Calypso's scream. Then he woke up in the hospital.
Or rather, didn't wake up.
"Dean?" a muffled voice seemed to ask from the doorway. He turned but there was no one there. "Can you-" The voice cut out for a moment. "Me?"
The outline of a young girl materialized for a second, then disappeared.
"Callie?" Dean asked in shock. "Is that - Am I hallucinating."
She appeared again, a grimace on her face from focusing so hard.
"No," she told him. "As far as I-" She disappeared again, then came back. "As far as I know," she told him, more forcefully. "All this is real."
"What's going on?" Dean asked. Calypso shook her head and shrugged.
"I don't know," she told him. Dean noticed she was wearing the same thing he was, except the shirt was a little more low-cut. He also noticed that she looked completely healthy. The scars that were normally on her arms were absent, as were the cuts and bruises she had had when they were hit by the truck. "I just woke up. Just kinda... Appeared, I guess. But it hurts to... Concentrate to make myself visible to you. I'm getting... better, though."
"You don't have any scars," Dean pointed out. She looked down at her arms and shook her head.
"What is going on?" she wondered aloud. "I mean, if this is death, it sucks more than I thought it would."
There was a noise by the door and the two turned to look. It was Sam, his face cut and bruised. He entered the room and paused as he saw Dean's body on the hospital bed. He clearly couldn't see Dean or Calypso.
Calypso bit her lip, her eyes widening. She had an idea about what was going on, but didn't want to say it out loud. If she was right, they were both screwed.
No, she couldn't be right.
"Sammy!" Dean exclaimed, relieved. "You look good, considering."
"Oh no," Sam whispered, the image of his brother's dying body sinking in.
"Man, tell me you can hear me. How's dad?" Dean began bombarding Sam with questions. "Is he okay? Come on, you're the psychic. Give me some ghost whispering or something!"
"He can't hear you," Calypso realized sadly. "And I don't have enough energy to become visible to him." Dean looked at her in surprise and she sighed in defeat. "I'm drained. It feels almost like I need to recharge."
"Great," Dean said sarcastically. Calypso nodded gloomily. They looked to the door again as a doctor entered the room.
"Your father's awake," the doctor told Sam. "You can go see him if you like."
"Thank god," Dean said as Calypso sighed in relief, her hand at her heart.
"Doc, what about my brother?" Sam asked fearfully. "And my sister?"
"I should start with your sister, I think," the doctor told him. "Uh, as soon as we are done speaking, I will need to tell your father about a private problem of hers. But for now..." He paused and a puzzled expression came over his face. "There doesn't seem to be any lasting damage. I should inform you that she should have died multiple times in the crash. Her body was wrapped in the car's frame. If that didn't kill her, then the blood loss would. If not that, then shock. Are you understanding?"
Sam nodded.
"She's surprisingly... Durable," Sam told him.
"Yeah, no kidding," she muttered to herself.
"She's very lucky," the doctor continued. "Her brain seems to be perfectly fine, we overcame the blood loss, but she just isn't waking up."
"What do you mean?" Sam asked while Calypso widened her eyes with a gasp.
"I mean that it seems like she just fell asleep and stayed that way," the doctor admitted.
"There has to be a reason," Sam protested. "Fix that and she'll wake up."
"There is no source," the doctor told him firmly. "We've triple checked. We would do something if we could, but we can't. We're sorry."
"Oh crap," Calypso whispered, the blood draining from her face. "Damn it. Shit!"
Dean looked over at her as she continued cursing using stronger words. When she started pulling at her hair, he decided to intervene.
"Whoa there," Dean said, lightly touching her shoulder. "What's going on?"
"What's going on?!" Calypso asked in hysterics. "What's going on is that I don't think I'm ever waking up!"
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked, taken aback. "Of course you are!"
Calypso shook her head, her ears ringing. It was piecing together, bit by bit.
"I should've died," she began explaining, clearly upset. "I should've died multiple times. And I think that was too much for me."
"What do you mean?"
"I've noticed that every time I should die, from being shot, stabbed, or attempting to commit suicide, I get tired. Like exhausted tired," Calypso tried to explain. "It takes a while for me to get back to normal. I thought it was nothing, just a minor side affect, but maybe not."
"You think you're losing energy," Dean guessed. His eyes widened. "You think you lost so much energy that you won't be able to wake up again."
"That's exactly what I think," Calypso agreed, calming down.
"I'm sure you'll wake up," Dean said worriedly. "It might take a while, but..."
He trailed off and they looked at each other for a moment, realizing just how bad the situation was. In the background, Sam's protests about Calypso's health turned into questions about Dean.
"Well, he sustained serious injury: blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidney," the doctor explained to an anxious Sam. "But it's the head trauma I'm worried about. There's early signs of cerebral edema."
"Oh god, that's not good," Calypso gasped, putting her hands up to her mouth.
"Well, what can we do?" Sam asked nervously.
"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up," the doctor told him. Calypso held her breath.
Don't say it. Calypso repeated over and over in her head. Please don't say it.
"If he wakes up."
Calypso cried out and stepped back. No, no, Dean had to wake up. It didn't matter if Calypso stayed this way. She wouldn't mind. The only people that would care would be the Winchesters, and they would get over it quickly. But they wouldn't get over it if Dean died. If Dean died, nothing would be the same.
"If?" Sam asked in shock.
"I have to be honest-" the doctor began.
"Oh, screw you, Doc, I'm waking up," Dean overlapped.
"Most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long," the doctor said. "He's fighting very hard. But you need to have realistic expectations."
"Come on, Sam," Dean exclaimed. "Go find some hoodoo priest to lay some mojo on me." Sam just stared at the doctor. "Sam?"
"I-" Calypso began, her voice choked. "I have to-"
She turned to the door, about to run, but Dean tugged her back.
"Callie, listen to me," Dean told her, looking into her tear filled eyes. His hands were on her shoulders, making her face him. "We're both gonna fight this, okay? We're gonna fight this hard, and we're gonna make it out, no matter what it takes. You got that?"
She nodded as a stray tear escaped her eye. Calypso wasn't crying for herself, of course. She had stopped doing that years ago. But the idea that Dean could die was making her eyes well up. And yet he was still concerned for her, a girl who couldn't die.
"Yeah. I got it."
Calypso and Dean followed the doctor and Sam down the hall to John. John had his arm in a sling and cuts all over his face, but he looked okay, considering they had just been in a car crash. As soon as they entered the room, the doctor quickly shooed Sam away. Needless to say, Sam became angry.
"I want to know what's going on!" Sam protested as the argument continued.
"It's a matter for her father, which is clearly not you," the doctor told him before shutting Sam out of the room.
"Is there a problem?" John asked after the door was closed.
"I just have a few questions to ask about your daughter," he replied.
"Like what?"
"Well, you see, this is rather hard to phrase," the doctor admitted with a sigh. John stared at him expectantly. "Did you know that your daughter harms herself?"
"Oh no," Calypso muttered next to Dean, putting her face in her hands. "God no, don't tell him! No, no-"
"What?" John asked, the doctor having his full attention.
"I'm sorry," he told John, looking at him sadly. "We discovered it-"
"How did she do it?" he asked.
Calypso shivered by the doorway, feeling nauseous. John wasn't supposed to find out. Nobody was!
"There are many cuts on her forearms, both recent and old," the doctor described. "There are also scars covering her entire body, seeming to come from the same cause."
"Those ones aren't from me," she whispered, though nobody heard her.
"It seems she has suicidal thoughts, as there are deeper cuts in certain, well placed spots," the doctor continued. "Did your daughter have such tendencies?"
"No, she doesn't," John told him. "Not that I know of."
"If she wakes up, we will consult a therapist and help her as much as we can," the doctor told John gently. "I think that's all. It's your choice whether or not to tell your son, but he can come in now. I'll be back as soon as I'm needed to."
The doctor then exited as John stared after him with a blank expression that hurt Calypso's heart. He was disappointed, she knew, and shocked. Calypso knew she couldn't stay anymore. John wouldn't let her. He was disgusted, he was sad. He was angry.
He wouldn't keep Calypso in his family.
"I thought you stopped," Dean said quietly from next to her. "I thought after the shapeshifter-"
"I tried," she admitted, turning to him. "I couldn't. It helps, Dean."
"It's hurting you!" he protested. "I knew I should've-"
"What?" Calypso challenged. "Taken away my knife?" She laughed. "You can't do that. I need it for hunting. You can't stop me, Dean."
"I need to try!" he roared.
"No, you need to let me take care of myself!" Calypso yelled back, stepping towards him.
"Oh, yeah, and what a great job you've been doing!"
"It's my choice, Dean!" Calypso turned away from him. Her voice was quiet as she spoke again. "It's my choice. I know it's a bad one. But I want - I need - to continue. You don't understand."
"You're right, I don't," Dean admitted. "But I thought you wanted to live, Callie. I thought... I mean, you seemed upset when you realized you weren't in your body. I thought you finally realized you're worth something. I thought you wanted to live."
"No," Calypso said with a shake of her head. "I want out. I can't handle this. I want to die. I deserve to. I just want out of this hellhole. But if out means just staying and watching as a ghost, I can't do it. I can't stay here where everything is a bad memory." She looked up at Dean and he noticed she was tearing up. "It's hurting me to stay. I mean, look at me! I'm a wreck!" Calypso laughed bitterly. "But you don't get it. You've never been to this kind of low. You've never been so tired of life that you need to kill yourself. You've never felt empty on the inside. It's unbearable, if I don't..." She trailed off and took a deep breath to focus herself. "Dean, I'm not strong enough without this. Without this, I'd be as good as dead."
"You will be anyway," Dean told her quietly.
"It's better than the alternative," she replied in the same tone of voice.
The argument paused as they both took a breath. It was the first time they had ever disagreed with each other, and were outspoken about it. They were in shock.
"I can't believe you didn't tell Dad," Dean finally told her, looking at his father's blank expression.
"I didn't think I had to," she admitted. Her face turned white. "Oh God, what does he think of me now?"
"I don't think he sees you any differently," Dean told her quickly, trying to prevent her from becoming upset. "I mean, he might think you need a little support, but-"
Dean was interrupted by the door opening and Sam rushing in. He stopped dead when he saw his father, who hadn't even looked up when Sam had entered the room. There was a moment of silence as nobody dared to breathe, or even move. Then John spoke.
"Did you know?" he asked quietly.
"Did I know what?" Sam replied, anxious.
"Did you know what Calypso was doing to herself?" John clarified angrily.
Sam paused in shock for a moment, stepping back. Calypso looked away into the corner, disappointed in herself. She had this awful pain in her heart, the kind that always came when she regretted something completely.
"I thought she stopped," he admitted quietly.
"Well, she didn't."
"Dad, I-"
"Sam, this is the kind of thing I need to be told about," John told his son. "I don't care if you thought she was done with it, I needed to know."
"I'm sorry," Sam mumbled. Calypso was, too. Maybe she would stop. Maybe she could stop. It wouldn't hurt to try, at least.
"You should be," John told him. "If I had known what Calypso was doing..." He trailed off. "I was supposed to protect her."
"I don't think she wants to be protected," Sam admitted. "She would've told you about it if she wanted help."
"She never wants help."
Sam smiled.
And so did Calypso.
A few minutes later, Sam and John were finished discussing Calypso's habit and Dean's condition, so the two got down to business. They needed to be realistic and practical about the situation. And that meant they needed to pay for the hospital treatment.
John awkwardly pulled a card out of his wallet, using only the hand available.
"Here," he said, offering the card to his son. "Give them my insurance."
Sam took the card and smiled as he read it.
"Elroy McGillicutty?" he asked, amused.
"And his three loving children," John told him. "So, what else did the doctor say about Dean?"
"Nothing," Sam told him, his smile gone. "Look, the doctors won't do anything, then we'll have to, that's all. I don't know, I'll find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him."
"We'll look for someone," John agreed, clearly troubled.
"Yeah."
"But Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone," he warned.
"Why not?" Sam asked defensively. "I found that faith healer before."
"All right, that was, that was one in a million," John admitted.
"So what?" Sam asked angrily. "Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our ass?"
"No, I said we'd look. All right?" John asked. "I'll check under every stone." There was a beat. "And how's Calypso's condition? Will she be okay?"
"I don't really know, Dad," Sam admitted, shaking his head. "They just told me that she won't wake up. Like she just fell asleep. They won't even let me go see her."
"That's crazy," John told him. "There has to be a reason she's unconscious."
"The doc told me they triple checked, but couldn't find anything," Sam explained. "Could it be something supernatural?"
"That's the only thing it could be," John told him. "Did the doctor say anything else?"
"No, just that she should've died like a hundred times during the crash." Sam paused a moment. "I mean, I guess she did get the worst of it in her seat. The truck just plowed straight into her. They had to cut her out of the car. It was that bad."
"The only reason I can think of is loss of energy," John thought out loud. "It happens, especially to things that can't die."
"Did you just call Callie a thing?" Sam asked angrily. "She isn't a thing, dad, she's Callie."
"That's not what I meant, Sam," John told him, exasperated. "We all know she isn't human, but we don't know what she is. So we don't know what she can do."
"A hell of a lot apparently," Sam muttered.
There was a moment of silence.
"Where's the Colt?" John suddenly asked.
"Your son is dying, Callie's doing who knows what, and you're worried about the Colt?" Sam asked, upset.
"We're hunting this demon, and maybe it's hunting us too," John told him. "That gun may be our only card."
"It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off of I-83," Sam informed his father.
"All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside."
"I already called Bobby. He's like an hour out, he's gonna tow the Impala back to his place," Sam said.
"All right. You, you go meet up with Bobby," John ordered. "You get that Colt, and you bring it back to me. And you watch out for hospital security."
"I think I've got it covered."
Sam got up to leave.
"Hey," John called after him. He held out a piece of paper to Sam, who picked it up. "Here. I made a list of things I need, have Bobby pick them up for me."
"Acacia?" Sam asked, reading the list. "Oil of Abramelin? What's this stuff for?"
"Protection," John answered simply. "And if Calypso appears to you, the way she does sometimes while she sleeps, call me immediately. She could have news about Dean and herself."
Sam nodded and was about to leave again, but turned back. A question was burning in his mind.
"Hey, Dad? You know, the demon, he said he had plans for me, and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?" Sam asked.
John was quiet for a moment. That was a loaded question that he was not prepared to answer.
"No, I don't," John finally stated.
"Do you think Callie might be one of them?" Sam asked.
John quickly shook his head.
"I don't think she is."
Sam nodded and left, shutting the door behind him. Calypso emerged from behind the door while Dean stayed where he was, leaning on the wall behind where the door had been. They noticed that John looked somewhat guilty.
"Well, you sure know something," Dean stated.
Calypso nodded. John knew a lot. In fact, she was sure John knew a bit about what she was.
"I just want to see my body," Calypso told Dean as they traveled through the hospital to the pediatric wing. "I promise it'll be quick. We'll be in your room again before Sam gets back."
"I'm not worried about timing, I'm worried about what we might see," Dean admitted.
"So am I," Calypso agreed. She looked down the long, bright hallway of the pediatric wing. "Wow, what a change from the whites and grays."
Calypso led Dean by following a slight pull on her body, getting stronger as she followed. She eventually stopped outside a closed door, where the tug was the strongest. But she hesitated. She wasn't sure what shape her body was in, and wasn't sure she wanted to see it.
"Are you sure you want to see?" Dean asked one more time. She nodded. She had to. "Okay."
They stepped through the door, the way ghosts would, and ended up in a purple themed room with a single bed in the center, surrounded by machines making various noises.
And in the bed was Calypso's body. She took a few steps forward, stopping at the edge of it, and was stunned.
"There's nothing wrong with me," she told Dean, turning around. "No tubes, no casts, just something monitoring my heart. Even though my arm was broken from falling off the building."
"You really do look like you're sleeping," he admitted. "I thought the doctor was exaggerating, but it looks like you could wake up at any moment."
"Still have my scars though," Calypso pointed out, looking at her arm. "Figured those wouldn't heal."
"Your heartbeat's steady," Dean informed her, looking at the monitor.
"I think your dad and I are right," Calypso told him, tilting her head in disbelief. "I think I am recharging. Or something like that."
"I'm leaning that way, too," Dean admitted. "You're too healthy."
She nodded and looked over at her body. She shivered, but not from cold.
"That's enough, I think," Calypso said, beginning to back out of the room. "Let's go back to your room. This is creeping me out."
Dean took one last look at Calypso's body and nodded.
"Yeah," he agreed, following her.
Calypso didn't look back.
A few hours later, John, Dean, and Calypso were back in Dean's room, just watching. John sat by his son's side and watched him, expressionless, while Calypso and Dean stood nearby, watching him.
"Come on, Dad. You've gotta help us," Dean said out of the blue. Calypso turned to him sadly. John hadn't moved since he entered the room. He never looked for a solution, and Dean was losing hope. "We've gotta get better, We've gotta get back in there. I mean, you haven't called a soul for help. You haven't even tried. Aren't you going to do anything? Aren't you even going to say anything?" He began walking around the bed. Calypso watched him unsurely. "I've done everything you have ever asked me. Everything. I have given everything I've ever had. And you're just going to sit there and you're going to watch me die?" His footsteps paused. When he continued, his voice was softer. "And you're supposed to protect Callie." Calypso's gaze shifted to the ground. "It was practically her mother's dying wish! Why aren't you trying to help? She's protected all of us, more times than we can count, and this is how you repay her? I mean, what the hell kind of father are you?"
"Wait," Calypso suddenly said, hearing something she couldn't identify. Dean looked over at her and seemed to hear it, too.
"What is that?" he asked. Calypso felt a tug in her stomach, and suddenly had the answer to that question. She prayed she was wrong.
The two went into the hallway and looked around a moment.
Whoosh.
A gray spirit went past them out of the blue, making Dean jump back. Calypso simply sighed. Why was everything always the exact opposite of what she wanted?
"I take it you didn't see that," she heard Dean say to his father as she began to follow the spirit. It felt different than a ghost, but oddly familiar. She couldn't place it.
Dean joined her in stalking the spirit down a few hallways, and stopped as it went into a small room. Calypso stepped back with a gasp. On the floor in front of her laid a flailing and choking woman.
"Help!" she gasped. "Help!"
Dean turned back into the hallway as Calypso darted forward and kneeled by the woman's side.
"Hey! I need some help in here!" Dean called. Naturally, no one heard him.
"I can't... breathe!" the woman gasped.
"Sh... Sh..." Calypso whispered soothingly, trying to put a comforting hand on her arm. "It's okay. You're okay. Just relax."
The woman nodded, but continued to pant loudly, trying desperately to breathe.
She went silent.
Calypso bowed her head and felt Dean looking at the woman's body helplessly.
They then went back to Dean's hospital room in a hurry, borderline panicked.
"What was that?" Calypso wondered out loud. Dean shrugged and shook his head.
"Some kind of spirit, maybe," he suggested. Calypso shook her head quickly.
"No, it felt like something different. Something familiar, but I can't quite remember..." she told him. The conversation paused. "The poor woman, though..."
"You seemed to really help her relax a bit," Dean pointed out. "I mean she knew she was dying, but kinda calmed down when you talked to her anyway."
"She still died, though," Calypso sighed.
"But you helped her. You calmed her down. That counts for something."
"It's a talent," she replied dryly.
"Doesn't seem like you'd get too much practice."
Calypso laughed bitterly.
"You'd be surprised."
Back in John's room, Calypso and Dean were still frightened from the encounter as Sam stalked into the room with a duffel bag. Dean met him at the door immediately while Calypso stayed in the corner. She was losing hope quickly, but Dean was still fighting.
"Sammy! Tell me you can friggin' hear me, man, there's something in the hospital," Dean tried to tell his brother. Calypso sighed, but let him attempt. She knew it comforted him, even though it wouldn't work. "Now, you've got to bring me back and we've got to hunt this thing. Sam!"
"You're quiet," John observed. Sam could hear him, obviously.
He turned, burning with anger, and hurled the bag onto the bed with a crash.
"Did you think I wouldn't find out?" Sam asked his father.
"What are you talking about?" John replied.
"That stuff from Bobby, you don't use it to ward off a demon, you use it to summon one," Sam told him, raising his voice. "You're planning on bringing the demon here, aren't you? Having some stupid macho showdown?!"
"I have a plan, Sam," John protested quietly.
"What plan?" Calypso questioned, though she knew he couldn't hear her. "You haven't even done anything!"
"That's exactly my point!" Sam exploded. "Dean is dying, Callie seems to be doing the same, and you have a plan!? You know what, you care more about killing this demon than you do saving your own family!
"No, no, no, guys, don't do this!" Dean protested. He and Calypso exchanged a frustrated look.
"Do not tell me how I feel!" John ordered his son. "I am doing this for Dean and
Calypso!"
"How? How is revenge going to help them?" Sam pointed out. "You're not thinking about anybody but yourself, it's the same selfish obsession!"
"Come on guys, don't do this!" Dean protested again, overlapping with his father.
"You know, it's funny, I thought it was your obsession too!" John told Sam, becoming angrier by the second. "This demon killed your mother, killed your girlfriend. You begged me to be part of this hunt. Now if you'd killed that damn thing when you had the chance, none of this would have happened!"
"Damn it," Calypso sighed. She was reminded of that fight Sam and Dean had that ended with Dean almost being killed by a scarecrow. She was in the middle of that one, too. But, of course, they could see her during that fight.
"It was possessing you, Dad, I would have killed you too," Sam protested.
"Yeah, and your brother and sister would be awake right now," John claimed.
Actually, Calypso wasn't sure she would be. It wasn't fully the car crash. She had lost a lot of blood and had been in so much pain. She would have blacked out anyway.
"Shut up, both of you!" Dean yelled desperately. What John and Sam were saying was uncalled for.
"Go to hell," Sam hissed.
"Really guys?" Calypso asked. "Don't we gave bigger problems to take care of?"
"I should have never taken you along in the first place," John told Sam. Calypso stepped back with a shocked gasp. That was low. What was he thinking? "I knew it was a mistake, I knew I was wrong-"
"I said SHUT UP!" Dean yelled.
He raised his hand to strike a glass water off the table. Calypso was sure that his hand would go through the cup.
But it didn't.
It went flying and crashed to the floor, shattering. There was a moment of complete stillness as everyone looked at the broken glass in shock. Sam and John shared a look of confusion at the same time that Calypso and Dean exchanged a shocked gaze.
"Dude, I full-on Swayze'd that mother," Dean told Calypso.
She blinked, stunned.
Then Dean collapsed, his figure flickering. At the same moment, nurses and doctors were sprinting by in the hallway.
"DEAN!" Calypso screamed in fear, her heart stopping. She ran over to him and tried to help him up.
"I'm okay," Dean told her, getting up shakily. "What is it?"
"Something's going on out there," John noticed.
He looked at Sam and jerked his head, indicating "Go find out." Sam left the room to exactly that, and was soon followed by a slow Dean and a cautious Calypso.
What was happening?
Sam got there long before Calypso and Dean, due to the fact that Calypso kept asking Dean if he was okay. Dean brushed her off each time she showed concern, but she continued asking.
"Wait," Calypso said thoughtfully, pausing abruptly. "I know where we're going."
Dean looked up at where Sam had stopped and stepped backwards, stunned. He was at the door to Dean's room.
And he looked upset.
Calypso sprinted forward in panic while Dean seemed to go forward even more slowly, dreading what might be happening. As Calypso stopped beside Sam, the professional voices coming from the doctors and nurses, as well as the beeping of monitors, sunk in.
A group of doctors and nurses were surrounding Dean's body as his heartrate flatlined, trying to resuscitate him.
"No," Sam whispered next to Calypso, huddling in the doorway. She looked back to see tears in his eyes.
"Please," she found herself whispering, not taking her eyes off of Sam.
"Still no pulse," a nurse declared.
"Okay, let's go again, 360," a doctor ordered.
"Charging."
The beeping sounds continued.
Calypso found herself closing her eyes and clasping her hands together, pleading with God to let Dean survive. She would do anything, she just needed Dean to live.
Her hands then found their way up to her necklace and grasped it tightly.
Calypso opened her eyes as Dean appeared slowly behind Sam in the doorway. He looked at his own body with something like shock on his face - or was that fear?
"You get the hell away from me!" Dean yelled suddenly, running past Calypso to his body.
She whirled around, surprised, and saw exactly what Dean did. There was a dark gray, ghostly figure floating over his body, the same one from earlier, it seemed, and Calypso wondered why she didn't notice it before. She might have only quickly skimmed the scene, but she shouldn't have missed a detail that big.
Dean, being the stupidly brave man he was, was yelling as he faced down whatever the thing was. Calypso didn't hesitate to join him.
"I said get back!" Dean restated. His voice seemed to resonate for a moment, echoing in Calypso's mind, before it went silent.
Dean jumped forward and grabbed for the thing. He latched on for a moment before it pushed him away and flew out of the room.
The monitors slowed down, quiet.
"We have a pulse," the nurse announced. "We're back into sinus rhythm."
Calypso sighed in relief and turned to a perplexed Sam as Dean ran into the hallway, looking for the spirit. Sam sighed the way Calypso did, backing into the hallway and watching from there. Calypso followed while Dean came back and they both stood by him.
"Don't worry, Sammy. I'm not going anywhere," Dean tried to comfort his little brother. "I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit, but I could grab it. And if I can grab it, I can kill it."
Sam looked over to where Dean was, looking thoroughly confused. Why, Calypso had no clue.
She didn't have time to wonder before she heard a girl's yells echoing down the hallway.
"Can't you see me? Why won't you look at me?!"
Calypso turned to Dean with an exhausted sigh.
"We have to check that out, don't we," she asked, lacking enthusiasm. Dean nodded.
"It could be important," he told her.
"Of course we do," Calypso huffed, following Dean as he wandered the halls in search of the voice.
They came across the staircase Dean went down when he first woke up, and on it was the girl they were looking for. She was running from person to person, trying to get them to look at her, but nobody was. It was making her hysterical.
The woman had short black hair and pale skin, and wore the same clothes as Calypso. Calypso had to step back as a wave of something crashed over her. It made her perk up as if someone dumped iced water on top of her head. The feeling was the same one she would get when encountering ghosts, or something like them. It wasn't quite the same, but it was still very similar.
Calypso guessed that the woman was suspended in between life and death. That would explain why she sensed something odd about her. But it was only a guess, and not a very good one at that.
"Somebody talk to me!" the woman cried. "Say something, please!"
"Can you see me?" Dean asked while Calypso only tilted her head in confusion.
"Yeah," she said, sounding relieved.
"All right, just, uh, calm down," Dean told her.
"What's your name?" Calypso asked.
"Tessa," the woman replied.
"Alright, Tessa, I'm Calypso and this is Dean," she told Tessa.
"What's happening to me?" she asked, freaking out. "Am - am I dead?"
"I don't think so, but we might wanna double check," Calypso admitted. "Where's your room?"
Tessa lead Calypso and Dean to a hospital room in which Tessa's body laid, hooked up to tubes and beeping machines. Calypso took that as a good sign. Tessa was alive, at least. A woman sat next to Tessa's bed, holding her hand as she grieved. It was almost completely silent from the shock radiating off all three of them.
"I don't understand," Tessa whispered, overwhelmed as she watched the scene. "I just came in for an appendectomy."
"Well, I hate to bear bad news, but I think there were some complications," Dean told her.
Calypso shot him a dirty look. He could at least be nice to the girl that was probably dying.
"It's just a dream, that's all," Tessa tried to convince herself. "It's just a very weird, unbelievably vivid dream."
"It's not a dream," Calypso told her gently.
"Then what else could it be?" Tessa asked.
Calypso shrugged, turning to Dean. He usually had these answers. He had them this time, too.
"You ever heard of an out of body experience?" he asked Tessa.
"What are you, some new age-y guy?" she wondered.
"You see me messing with crystals or listening to Yanni?" Dean asked, offended.
"Who?" Calypso asked, interrupting him.
"Nobody, never mind," Dean waved the topic away. "Anyway, it's actually a very old idea. Got a lot of different names: Bilocation, crisis apparition, fetches... I think it's happening to us. And if it is, it means that we're spirits of people close to death."
"So we're going to die?" Tessa asked, frightened.
"No. Not if we hold on," Dean stated confidently. "Our bodies can get better, we can snap right back in there and wake up."
Calypso prayed that they could hold on for that long.
Tessa calmed down a lot after Dean explained what was going on, and was beginning to deal with the situation quite well. She told Dean and Calypso that what was going to happen would happen, and she could only wait. Dean disagreed, claiming that fate didn't exist, that you always have a choice. He was interrupted by an announcement, telling about a code blue. Calypso knew hospital terms pretty well. Someone was dying.
Dean and Calypso left Tessa behind as they ran down the hallway to the room number they had heard. They arrived to find the room in chaos. Doctors and nurses were running around in a frenzy as a little girl laid in the bed, flatlining.
The gray spirit was hovering above her.
As it reached a hand into her face, Calypso lunged forward. She wasn't about to let a little kid die.
"Get away from her!" Dean yelled at the spirit.
As Calypso was about to make contact with the spirit, it vanished. She barreled past where it was and turned around to try to find it again, even though she knew it was long gone. She had to try!
Behind her, the nurses stopped resuscitation.
"All right, let's call it," the male doctor told his group sadly.
"Time of death, five eleven p.m.," the woman doctor reported.
"At least she's not suffering anymore," a nurse said, trying to make a positive approach to the subject.
"No!" Calypso cried, her hands clasping her head in desperation. "Damn it!"
She looked over at Dean, who looked stunned. He finally seemed to focus and look up at Calypso, noticing how upset she looked.
"Callie, we couldn't have helped the girl," Dean told her.
"Why not?"
"Because she was already dead. Don't you understand? We're dealing with a reaper."
They went back to Dean's room that night to check on Sam. He wasn't there when they initially entered, but after a few minutes he entered the room quietly, clutching a brown paper bag in his arms.
"Hey," Sam greeted, his eyes looking around the room as if he was trying to spot Dean and Calypso. "I think maybe you two are around. And if you are, don't make fun of me for this, but um, well, there's one way we can talk."
Calypso watched curiously as Sam reached into his paper bag and pulled out a "mystical talking board."
She laughed, not expecting something so regularly seen to be used by the Winchesters. Seeing Dean's reaction, she roared even louder. His arms were folded, and he was looking at his brother in that "Really?" way. He seemed just as surprised as Calypso.
"Oh, you gotta be kidding me," he muttered.
Sam didn't seem to be joking as he circled around the bed and settled down cross legged on the floor. He opened the box and pulled out the board. Calypso was curious. Would this really work?
"Dean?" Sam asked softly. "Callie? Are you here?"
"God, I feel like I'm at a slumber party," Dean joked as he sat opposite Sam in front of the board. Calypso sat down next to him to watch, and perhaps answer a few of her own questions. "All right, Sam. This isn't going to work."
"You never now," Calypso told him with a shrug. "It might."
Sam's hands were already poised on the pointer as Dean placed his fingers on it. He slowly slid it across the board to the "yes," written on it, concentrating. Calypso heard Sam gasp quietly, but she just smiled.
"I told you," Calypso began. "You never know.
"I'll be damned," Dean said to himself, surprised.
"It's good to hear from you, man," Sam laughed in relief. "I'm assuming it's you, Dean?" The pointer moved up to the yes again, after being moved down to the center. "Is Callie with you?" Yet again, it moved to yes. Sam smiled. "It hasn't been the same without you two."
"Damn straight," Dean told him confidently.
He placed his fingers back on the pointer and began sliding it.
"Dean, what? H? U?" he tried spelling out loud, before he got the word. "Hunt? Hunting? What, are you guys hunting?"
Dean slid the pointer back to "yes."
"It's in the hospital, what you're hunting?" Sam asked, wondering many things at once. "Do, do you know what it is?"
"Jeez, one at a time, Sam," Calypso told him with a smile.
"What is it?" Sam finally wondered.
Dean began sliding the pointer again as he spoke.
"I don't think it's killing people," he explained. R. E. "I think it's taking them." A. "You know, when their time's just up." P.
"A reaper," Sam realized. "Is it after you?" Dean slid the pointer to yes. "Damn it. Callie, too?" For once, Dean slid it to no. "Thank God. But Dean, if it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it."
"Yeah, you can't kill death," Dean agreed.
"Man, you're, um..."
"I'm screwed, Sam," Dean told him.
"No. No, no, no, um, there's gotta be a way." Sam stood, beginning to pace. "There's gotta be a way. Dad'll know what to do."
He left in a hurry, leaving Dean and Calypso to get up. She looked over at Dean, frowning.
"You're not screwed, Dean," Calypso told him. "I can order the reaper to stay away from you or something. Did you forget I can do that?"
"I don't know if that'll work in this situation," Dean admitted. "It might've only worked once or something, or you can't switch it on... If it works, great, but if it doesn't-"
Calypso's heart sunk. Dean was right.
"We're screwed."
Sam returned only a few minutes later, carrying his father's journal. John, however, was not present, much to Calypso's surprise. He sat down on the edge of Dean's bed.
"Hey," Sam greeted. "So Dad wasn't in his room..."
"Where is he?" Dean questioned.
"...But I got Dad's journal, so who knows? Maybe there's something here," Sam said optimistically, still not hearing Dean.
"Please," Calypso scoffed. "With our luck?"
Sam flipped open the journal and leafed through, trying to find the page on reapers. He glanced up at Dean's unconscious form every few seconds while Dean's spirit came to stand behind him. Calypso followed after a moment, curious.
"Thanks for not giving up on us, Sammy," Dean told his brother.
Calypso smiled. It was obvious that the two cared very much about each other, just as siblings should. They weren't just brothers, but best friends, their friendship still strengthening. She couldn't picture them apart, if she thought about it. It was always Sam AND Dean to her, not Sam OR Dean. They were brothers. They were HER brothers.
Sam turned to the page labeled reapers, and all three leaned over to read it, Dean and Calypso over Sam's shoulder. They read the sentence at the same time, two pairs of eyes going wide.
"Son of a bitch," Dean growled before he left, stalking down the hallway.
"Crap," Calypso muttered before starting after him. "Damn it. This isn't good."
Dean lead Calypso to the room that they both remembered was Tessa's, but when they got there, it was empty, save for the girl sitting on the edge of the well-made hospital bed. Calypso quickly noticed that she was dressed differently. Guess she had nothing to hide at this point, did she.
"Hi, Dean, Calypso," Tessa greeted calmly. Way too calmly, Calypso thought. Almost emotionlessly.
"You know, you read the most interesting things," Dean began, his voice rough with anger. "For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception? I sure didn't. Basically they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, uh, a pretty girl. You are much prettier than the last reaper I met."
"Yeah, he was pretty bad..." Calypso muttered in agreement.
"I was wondering when you would figure it out," Tessa said in the same voice as before.
"I should have known. That whole 'accepting fate' rap of yours is far too laid back for a dead chick," Dean told her.
"What about the mother and body?" Calypso asked, curious. "I mean, clearly neither are really here."
"It's my sandbox, I can make you see whatever I want," Tessa explained.
"Wow, that's wonderful," Calypso said sarcastically.
She silently wondered if Tessa had done anything else while Calypso had been roaming the hospital. What had been real? What had been fake? It was getting confusing.
"What, is this like a turn-on for you?" Dean asked demanded. "Toying with me?"
"You didn't give me much choice," Tessa argued calmly. "You saw my true form and you flipped out. Kinda hurts a girl's feelings. This was the only way I could get you to talk to me."
"Okay, fine. We're talking," Dean growled. "What the hell do you want to talk about?"
Good question.
"How death is nothing to fear." Tessa touched Dean's cheek gently and lightly. Calypso watched with her eyes narrowed. If Tessa was going to hurt Dean, she wouldn't get far. "It's your time to go, Dean. And you're living on borrowed time already."
After the shock passed, Dean joined Calypso by the dark window, but he looked out while Calypso glared at Tessa. Dean wasn't going to die. Calypso wouldn't let anyone in her new family - her only family ever, really - die.
"Look, I'm sure you've heard this before, but... you've gotta make an exception, you've gotta cut me a break," Dean begged.
"Stage three: bargaining," Tessa commented.
"Ha ha, very funny," Calypso said dryly. "Just let Dean go, okay? Let him live, and go on your merry way." She pushed an unnatural fierceness into her voice, making the suggestion into an order. Hopefully, it would work.
"You're not strong enough to make me obey you," Tessa told Calypso. The teenager clenched her fists in frustration. What else could she do? "Even when you were healthy, you wouldn't have had enough power. Ordering us around takes an incredible amount of training."
"How come I was able to boss around that one reaper at the faith healer, then?" Calypso asked, her anger beginning to ebb away, honest curiosity taking its place.
"That was different," Tessa explained. "He was being commanded by someone you outranked. Unfortunately, you don't outrank my boss."
"And who would that be?" Dean asked.
"Nobody you've met," Tessa told them. "It's very complex, but I have to do everything he says." Getting back on track, she turned to Dean again. "You see, Dean, I cannot cut you a break. It is impossible."
"Please," Dean begged. Calypso looked away, disappointed that she couldn't help. "My family's in danger. See, we're kind of in the middle of this, um, war, and they need me."
"The fight's over," Tessa tried to convince him.
"No, it isn't," Dean protested.
"Pretty far from it, actually," Calypso agreed.
"It is for you. Dean. You're not the first soldier I've plucked from the field," Tessa admitted. "They all feel the same. They can't leave. Victory hangs in the balance. But they're wrong. The battle goes on without them."
"My brother. He could die without me," Dean explained. "Callie could be caught and tortured."
"If I wake up," Calypso added.
"You'll wake up," Tessa told her. "It might take a while to regain your strength, but you should be able to." She looked back at Dean, considering her answers. "And maybe they will, maybe they won't. Nothing you can do about it. It's an honorable death. A warrior's death."
"I think I'll pass on the seventy two virgins, thanks," Dean told the reaper sarcastically. Calypso rolled her eyes. "I'm not that into prude chicks anyway."
"Really, Dean?" Calypso complained.
"That's funny. You're very cute," Tessa said without emotion.
"There's no such thing as an honorable death," Dean argued. "My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is going to die!" He shook his head. "No. I'm not going with you, I don't care what you do."
"Well, like you said. There's always a choice. I can't make you come with me," Tessa agreed. "But you're not getting back in your body. And that's just facts. So yes, you can stay. You'll stay here for years. Disembodied, scared, and over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent."
"What are you saying?" Dean asked.
"Dean. How do you think angry spirits are born?" Tessa replied. Calypso breathed in sharply. "They can't let go and they can't move on. And you're about to become one. The same thing you hunt."
"No," Calypso gasped.
Dean couldn't die. She wouldn't let him.
But she couldn't let this happen either.
"It's time to put the pain behind you," Tessa purred, stroking Dean's hair tenderly as he sat on the hospital bed next to her.
Calypso stood in front of the two, scared and conflicted. Maybe Dean did have to go. She didn't want him to, but maybe he had to. It would hurt him to stay. Calypso couldn't deal with that.
"Maybe you should go on..." Calypso told her brother softly, not able to look him in the eye. "I mean, I don't want you to, but... I don't want you stuck here, hurting, either." She swallowed, aware of the large lump in her throat. "You have to leave..."
Dean nodded, and Calypso finally made eye contact, tearing up. Dean was beginning to do the same.
"And go where?" Dean asked Tessa softly. Calypso looked at her feet sadly.
"Sorry," Tessa apologized. "I can't give away the big punchline." She stopped stroking his hair. "Moment of truth. No changing your mind later. So what's it going to be?"
As Dean was about to answer, the lights began to flicker. Calypso looked up quickly, breaking out of her despair, and heard a familiar buzzing noise start. Sadness was quickly changing into panic.
"What are you doing that for?" Dean asked, turning to Tessa. The two were now standing.
"I'm not doing it," she replied, confused and afraid.
The three turned to a vent in the floor as black smoke appeared in their peripheral vision. Demon smoke, Calypso recognized. She froze as it stayed still for a moment. Then it slowly surged forward.
"What the hell?" Dean asked.
"You can't do this!" Tessa cried, not so calm anymore. "Get away!"
"What's happening?!" Dean exclaimed.
The situation finally sunk in, and Calypso's eyes widened. She knew what would happen.
"Dean, get back!" she yelled.
At the same moment, Tessa screamed as the black smoke forced its way down her throat. Calypso and Dean both took a step back.
The screaming stopped abruptly, and Tessa turned to Dean.
She had yellow eyes.
"Today's your lucky day, kid," she told him in a low voice.
Tessa placed a hand on Dean's forehead as Calypso watched, horrified. He convulsed once, then disappeared.
Calypso was alone with the demon.
Calypso immediately backed into the corner of the room as the yellow eyed demon turned around. She desperately searched for a way around it, a way to escape, but there was nothing. A feeling of absolute fury took over as she looked at the demon. It sent Dean away to god knows where. It could've hurt him, and Calypso wasn't even able to do anything.
Accompanying the anger was terror. Dean wasn't here to help her face this thing down. She was alone. And somehow, that scared her even more than the demon itself. Sam and Dean always had her back. Now she had neither's help. Now she had to fight alone.
"Oh, no, don't worry," the demon told Calypso with a sly smile, taking slow steps toward her, one by one. She tried to sink into the wall behind her. "I'm not going to hurt you. That would go against the deal."
"What deal?" Calypso asked immediately. She found herself reaching for her knife, and realized that, of course, it wasn't there. Somehow, she still had it while she had been rescued by Sam and Dean. But John, while possessed, had taken it from her while she had been unconscious. She was fairly certain that Sam had it, now. But since he couldn't see her, she couldn't just ask for it. "What did you do?!"
"I did nothing," the demon claimed. It stopped only a couple feet away from her. "It was all John, really."
"What are you talking about?" she persisted. "And where did you send Dean?"
"Dean's fine," the demon told her with a wave of Tessa's hand. "He's awake now. You will be too, in a moment."
"How come I don't believe you?" she asked, straightening up, finding her confidence. Anger always did this to her.
"I'm telling the truth, actually," it claimed. Calypso couldn't look away from the yellow eyes. "As for the deal... Well, that was a surprise to me, too." The demon laughed. "John just couldn't stand having his children gone, so he summoned me."
"He did what?!" she gasped.
"Oh, I assure you that he didn't want to," the demon told her. "But grief makes people do things they wouldn't do usually. See, John offered up the Colt in exchange for Dean's life, and you waking up." Calypso shook her head in a frenzy. "But one tiny gun? That wasn't good enough for both of you. So I gave him a counteroffer. You both wake up... As long as I could take you afterwards."
If Calypso could have stepped back in shock, she would have.
"And he accepted?" she asked quietly, looking at the ground.
Her face burned. She had been stupid, thinking she could ever be accepted into the family. They would always choose each other over her. But that was okay. That's how it should be. In fact, Calypso was happy that John had his priorities straight for once. She wasn't his family. Dean was. It was a good decision.
"Quite the opposite, actually," the demon admitted after a moment. Calypso looked up, unsure if she had heard correctly.
"What?"
"He refused," it told her. "I kept insisting, and he kept saying no. He wouldn't do it. Not for anything. A shame, really. But we'll get you soon, anyway, so it didn't really matter." It smiled. "But John offered up something different. It almost made up for you."
"What did he do?" Calypso asked, horrified.
"John offered himself up. His own life," the demon explained.
"NO!" Calypso shrieked, covering her mouth in shock. She slowly sank to the ground, shaking.
John was so stupid! Why would he sacrifice himself for her safety? She would've live, if the demon had taken her! If John had really wanted, he could've rescued her after the deal was made, and they would've both been okay. But instead he was stupid. He threw his life away for nothing!
"The Colt also," the demon said, not helping. "His life was nowhere near yours, so he needed something a little bit... Extra."
"No," Calypso moaned, burying her face in her hands, but not letting herself shed any tears. Not in front of the demon.
"Yep." Calypso could almost hear the demon's smile on its voice. "So let me rephrase this. You're the reason that John is going to die."
She let out a sob, surrendering to her emotions, and felt moisture on her heads as she shook. By extension, she killed John. Oh god. John was dying. She killed him. Sam and Dean were losing their father because of her!
The demon watched in amusement for a few minutes, then looked at the time and sighed.
"You should probably go back now," the demon sighed. "Well, this has been fun. And unlike Dean, you're going to remember."
Calypso looked up, eyes red, as she felt a cool hand on her forehead.
"See you soon, Calypso," the demon said. It smiled.
And she woke up.
It was all a blur for the first few hours she was awake. Test after test, shot after shot... It was just all repeating. So she was relieved when a visitor was finally allowed in, even if it was the last person she wanted to see right then.
"Glad to see your eyes open," John told Calypso, sitting at the edge of her bed.
"Why did you do it?" she asked, not beating around the bush. She looked straight into his eyes.
"Do what?"
"Sell your soul to a demon in order to make Dean and me wake up!" she exclaimed, not able to contain it.
It was silent for a moment as both sat in shock.
"You weren't supposed to know that," John told her quietly, looking away.
"What, was that another part of the deal?" she jabbed.
"Calypso-"
"No, listen to me!" she ordered angrily. "You're gonna die, do you understand? Sam and Dean are going to have to bury you, or whatever hunter's traditionally do. Do you have any idea what that does to someone?" Emotion was overwhelmingly clear in her voice. "They won't be glad you saved Dean, they're going to hate themselves for not saving you! And how do you think they're gonna react when they find out you made a deal with the freaking yellow eyed demon?!"
"They're not going to find out," John insisted. "You're not telling them."
Calypso opened her mouth to argue, but John continued before she had the chance to interrupt. "It's better for everyone if they don't know."
"How?"
"Sam and Dean will think it was just a random attack, and won't blame themselves for it," John started, grasping at straws.
"They're not stupid, you know," Calypso told him. "They're going to find out eventually." John looked away. "You don't care if they find out, do you?" she realized in awe. "You just don't want them to know before you-"
She choked on the last word and had to look down at her hands despairingly.
"You're right," John admitted.
"Then fine, I won't tell them," she promised, regaining control. "Sam and Dean don't need to know. I'll let them find out on their own. But I won't lie. I can't lie to them."
John smiled sadly.
"Thank you."
It was quiet for a few seconds as the two thought about everything.
"Why didn't you let the demon take me?" Calypso asked quietly, her eyes tearing up. "Then everyone would've lived and been okay."
"I doubt you would've been okay," John pointed out. "Torture by demons is... Difficult to imagine."
"Trust me, I can imagine," Calypso told him. "I just meant... You know, I don't matter. Everyone who's needed would be okay."
"That's not true," John told her. She shrugged. Calypso didn't care what he thought. She knew that she was worthless. Other people's opinions didn't make a difference.
"I'm not worth your life," she whispered.
And she burst out crying.
It surprised even Calypso, the sudden sobs. She curled up, her knees against her chest, and buried her face into the scratchy hospital sheets.
"What am I gonna do?" she asked, her voice cracking. "It's all my fault."
"No it's not," John told her awkwardly. He didn't have too much experience with crying teenage girls. "How is this your fault?"
"How is this not?" she cried, looking up slightly. "Everything is! Everyone I get close to... This always happens!"
"This isn't your fault," John protested. "This is all mine. It was my decision, and I have to pay for it." She shook her head sadly and John got up. "I filled out the papers and stuff for you. You can leave whenever you want."
Calypso nodded slowly and got out of her bed, tears still pouring down her face. She was very stiff and sore, but it was nothing she couldn't handle. As she walked by John to get to the door to find a bathroom so she could clean up before seeing Sam and Dean, he called after her.
"Calypso," he said. She stopped and looked back to see him, his eyes watering. John looked at her with a spark of pride in his eyes. "You know, I've always wanted a daughter."
That was all it took for Calypso to run back to him, salty tears on her lips, and wrap her arms around his stomach. John hesitated for a moment, but only a moment, before hugging Calypso in return.
"Please don't go," she whimpered.
John pulled back and looked into Calypso's teary violet eyes.
"Look after Sam and Dean, okay?" John asked. She nodded.
"Of course."
John's gaze switched to her uncovered arm. "And take care of yourself, too."
Calypso looked down at her scars as well and told the biggest lie she would ever utter.
"I will."
John left Calypso in her room to go check up on Dean. Calypso, in the meantime, locked herself in the bathroom, trying to control herself. As John walked, he knew that as soon as he talked to Dean, he would drop dead, but he didn't care. He needed to see his son.
So he did.
"How you feeling, Dean?" he asked, standing in the doorway.
"Fine, I guess. I'm alive," Dean replied. "How's Callie?"
"She's fine," John assured him. "She's up and moving around. Should be stopping by soon, I think."
Dean nodded, relieved.
"Where were you last night?" Sam asked angrily.
None of them heard Calypso as she leaned against the wall next to the door, eavesdropping on their conversation. She couldn't bring herself to go in yet. She knew she wouldn't be able to handle herself.
"I had some things to take care of," John told him truthfully.
Calypso bit back a sob in the hallway, but a tear still rolled down her cheek. She brushed it away thoughtlessly.
"Well, that's specific," Sam said sarcastically.
"Come on, Sam," Dean complained.
Couldn't Sam just let it go? It was the last time he would see his father, and he was spending it arguing with him. It made Calypso almost angry.
"Did you go after the demon?" Sam persisted.
"No," John told him.
No, he only made a deal with it.
"You know, why don't I believe you right now?" Sam asked his father.
"Can we not fight?" John pleaded. "You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads. Sammy, I - I've made some mistakes. But I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"
That was unusual for the Winchester family.
"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked, concerned.
"Yeah," John lied. "Yeah, I'm just a little tired. Hey, son, would you, uh, would you mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"
"Man, coffee does sound good, doesn't it," Calypso said, finally coming into the room.
"Callie!" Sam and Dean exclaimed at the Sam time.
She waved in a small "hey," gesture.
"You feeling okay?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I'm feeling good," she lied. "Bit tired, but other than that..."
"Maybe we should get that coffee, then," Sam suggested.
Calypso nodded in agreement, not trusting herself to be able to speak.
She looked over at John and Dean, and her eyes began to water.
"I'll see you in a bit," she told them, looking at John.
He smiled sadly at her and she tried to do the same, but it was too hard to keep the act up. The smile melted away, and she stared at John for a moment, her eyes showing all the emotion she had been hiding for the past few minutes. She couldn't do that in front of Sam and Dean, though. She already said goodbye. She had to let him go.
Calypso turned around quickly, her hair whipping around behind her, and quickly walked off. Sam followed closely behind her.
"Do you remember anything from while you were out?" he asked.
Calypso shook her head quickly.
"No, just headlights, then waking up," she lied.
"Dean said the same thing," Sam told her, disappointed.
Calypso shrugged and looked away.
"Sorry."
Back in the room, John was staring after Calypso and Sam sadly.
"What is it?" Dean demanded, frightened by his father's odd behavior.
"You know, when you were a kid, I'd come home from a hunt, and after what I'd seen, I'd be, I'd be wrecked," John reminisced. "And you, you'd come up to me and you, you'd put your hand on my shoulder and you'd look me in the eye and you'd - You'd say 'It's okay, Dad.'" He paused. "Dean, I'm sorry."
"What?" Dean asked, wondering if he heard right.
"You shouldn't have had to say that to me, I should have been saying that to you," John told him emotionally. "You know, I put - I put too much on your shoulders, I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy, you took care of me. You even took care of Calypso when she came along. You did that, and you didn't complain, not once. I just want you to know that I am so proud of you."
"This really you talking?" Dean asked, remembering the last time his father told him he was proud. It hadn't ended well.
"Yeah," John told him softly. "Yeah, it's really me."
"Why are you saying this stuff?" Dean wondered, scared.
John came closer and put a hand on Dean's shoulder. Dean just sat in total confusion.
"I need to tell you something about Calypso," he said quietly.
"What?" Dean wanted to know.
"It has to do with her past," John began. "Dean, you have to protect her."
"From who?" Dean asked, alert.
"From herself," John told him. "I'm worried she might go back."
"To her old life?" Dean wondered. "Why would you worry about that?"
"She was abused, Dean."
Dean sat in stunned silence for a moment.
"What? How..." he began, trailing off. "How did you find out?"
"She told me," John admitted. "But she doesn't think its abuse. She's convinced that she's the one at fault. That's why I'm worried she might go back."
"To her father?" Dean asked angrily. He would kill the man himself. "He's the one who abused her?"
John nodded.
"I'm not saying you should talk to her about this, because she might get upset," John told his son. "All I'm saying is that you need to keep an eye on her. Make sure she stays with you."
"Of course," Dean agreed. "I won't... She'll be fine."
"And make sure she stops self-harming, too, okay?"
Dean nodded, cringing.
A question arose in his mind. Why was John asking him all this?
"Yeah, of course."
John looked at the clock. It was almost time. He looked back at Dean again.
"I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?" he added.
"Yeah, dad, you know I will," Dean agreed, frightened. Why was his dad saying all this? "You're scaring me."
"Don't be scared, Dean."
He leaned over and whispered something into Dean's ear quietly. Whatever it was, it made Dean pull back in shock, processing what was just said.
And John left, not saying a goodbye, leaving Dean staring after him.
Sam and Calypso were walking back to Dean's room, carrying two coffee cups, when they found him. He was lying on the floor in an empty hospital room, and Calypso sensed that he was dead immediately.
"Dad?" Sam gasped as Calypso let go of her coffee cup and screamed, a heart wrenching sound. She fell to the ground in shock, hands covering her mouth. It couldn't be happening. It was just another nightmare. There was a wetness on her shoes as Sam dropped the coffee cup he was holding, and ran forward by his father, screaming for help.
Oh god, what was Calypso gonna do?!
It was a blur of doctors and nurses in the hospital room, once again attempting resuscitation, but on John this time. Calypso was standing in the doorway with Sam and Dean, sobbing her heart out. This wouldn't work, and she knew it. John was already gone.
A nurse appeared in front of the three and tried to push them out of the room and close the door, but they wouldn't let her.
"No, no, no, it's our dad," Dean tried to explain. "It's our dad!" His voice started again in a pleading tone. "Come on."
"Okay, stop compressions," a doctor ordered.
Calypso looked away, shaking. She couldn't watch.
"Come on, come on," Dean begged next to her.
"Still no pulse."
"Okay, that's it everybody."
"I'll call it," a doctor volunteered.
"Time of death: 10:41 am."