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CHAPTER 14
"Listen to me!" Dean roared into the phone. The cars sped down the highway at nearly 100 miles an hour toward the County Jail just fifteen miles a day. "Not that I care about the piece of shit, but there is going to be an attack on Henry Gullan. Put him in a room by himself. Lots of iron. And while you're at it, maybe some salt." Dean shut his phone immediately, smacking himself mentally in the head. "Way to sound like a lunatic, man."
"They're not going to listen to you." Sam said. "And now they're probably going to have someone on lookout for newcomers. We're gonna have to send the girls in. They don't seem as..."
"Intimidating? No way. We're not sending them in there. Haven't you ever seen Silence of the Lambs? It's gonna get ugly in there for a couple'a girls."
"We could always ask them." Sam replied, lifting an eyebrow. "Okay fine. Then I'll go in with Emma. You and Maggie stay out here with the cars started. Just in case."
"Nope. I'll go in with Emma. You guys keep the getaway cars ready." Dean said firmly. He was desperately protective of his little brother, and was becoming more and more protective of Emma. Sam never knew how he felt about it. "How did you plan on getting in there?" Dean asked, lifting an eyebrow.
Sam grinned. "I got a plan."
"Lemme hear it."
"You CALLED them?" Emma shrieked into the phone. Maggie covered one of her ears. "Are you an idiot? Are you a moron, Dean?! You're going to go in there as a fake cop and go show up and... Dean you're such an idiot! Pull over!"
"What? We've still got a half hour drive!"
"I said pull over!"
The Impala pulled quickly to the side of the road. The truck had hardly stopped before Emma jumped out and rounded on Dean. "Tell me why we're going to save this piece of shit." she said in an even, but loud, voice.
"What?"
"The only way that little girl will find peace is if that piece of trash, kidnapping son of a bitch is dead and burning in Hell. I on't blame her for one second. I understand her. So why are we fighting it?"
"I've been wondering the same thing." Maggie said as she stepped out of the car and into the rain. It beat down on their heads, causing Emma's curly hair to stick to her face. She knew she could count on Maggie. There were things that two girls knew about being in the foster system. They knew the hurt that this girl was feeling. They knew what it was like to be small and alone and scared.
"It's not our place to decide if someone lives or dies." Dean replied, as if it were simple.
"It'll either be her or me." she replied, "If she doesn't kill him, I sure as Hell will. I can't even stand the thought of being within ten miles of this ass hole without blowing him away."
"You think this is going to solve it all for her?" Dean asked quietly. He remembered Bobby's warning: Be careful with her, boy. he had growled. She went through more as a child than most of us ever will in our lives. "Did it fix it for you?" Emma blinked in shock before backing up a step. Maggie gave a sharp intake of breath. "Because I bet it didn't..." the moment he closed his mouth, Dean knew he had made a fatal mistake. Emma was already angry, and by the color in her cheeks, he knew he had pushed her over the edge.
"Don't talk to me like you know shit about me." Her voice was dangerous and low. "Don't die out there." she ordered and took off down the country road. Maggie was right beside her after an apologetic glance at the boys.
Dean climbed back into the Impala, feeling a bit bewildered. Sam climbed in beside him and gave him a look. "You let her leave again." Sam said quietly. Dean threw a dirty look.
"Shut up bitch."
Sam smiled a little bit. "Make me jerk."
+s+s+
"You're leaving again." Maggie informed her. Emma let out a cynical laugh.
"Thanks for the scoop."
"You can't keep running away from them, Emma." this time the voice was not Maggie's. The two of them looked back to see Castiel leaning in through the small back window. Maggie shrieked and Emma let out an exasperated sigh, bringing the truck to a halt on the side of the road.
"Hey, Castiel." Emma said brightly, yet she turned around to glare a bit at him. "Nice of you to drop in. What's up?"
"You have to go back." Castiel said urgently. "They can't do it on their own. You are the only one who understands her. You have to stop her. You can't keep leaving the Winchesters behind. I told you you're a part of this story. God's will."
"Why?" Emma asked incredulously. "Why me? Why do I have to go back and save this guy?"
"And so it shall be that a young vengeance will strike him behind bars down. And another seal shall be broken." Emma's shoulders slumped.
"And so it shall be that Maggie has no idea what is going on." Maggie said in the same monotone voice. Emma laughed. "I'll explain it on the way." She turned around to see that Castiel was gone before rolling her eyes.
"Fine, let's go." the truck turned back around on the road in a squeal of tires and a spray of rain water.
"This is not a plan." Emma growled into Dean's ear as she marched her way into the County Jail, holding his hands behind his back in a pair of handcuffs. She walked up to the desk and held out her badge.
"How you doin? My name's Agent Wilson. I called in today about a criminal I need held here until my associates can come pick him up. Name's Dean Winchester."
"Fill this out please." The woman behind the table looked bored, and held out a page for her to fill in. "We'll put him in the temporary holding station. We've just put another prisoner in there. I'm gonna ask you Mr. Winchester to be careful around him. He's a little bit dangerous. And angry we pulled him away from his lunch." Dean looked sheepish and nodded his head.
"Yeah thanks babe." The woman looked at him after a few moments before batting an eye and smiling. Emma felt a surge of anger toward the woman before she took the clipboard and filled it out in record time. She made sure to put Bobby's FBI number. Sam had called and told him what was going on. While Bobby was fiercely against her going into the jail building and putting herself in danger like that, Emma sent him a mental kiss on the cheek and assured that she would be okay.
"Okay. Jim! Take them down to the temp holding center. Careful of Gullan."
"You got it."
'Jim' led Emma and Dean down a set of stairs until they got to a small room. Two cells stood against a wall. One of them was the temporary home of a long haired and lean man with big eyeglasses and a constant small smile. Emma only glanced at him for a moment before Jim put Dean into the cell and left the keys on the table. "I can handle it from here, Jim." Emma said, and smiled at him as she watched him walk back up the steps. The moment the door was closed and she heard a set of firm feet against the ground, Emma and Dean turned toward the man in the cell.
"Henry Gullan?" Dean asked as he took a step forward. Emma took a bag of salt out of her bag and began sprinkling it around the cell. She handed it off to Dean and he threw the salt around the man who had not yet moved. "Listen, man, you gotta stand in the salt."
"Salt tastes sour." Were the first words that Emma heard Gullan say. His voice was raspy, and sent a tingle of hatred and fear up her spine. "But it still tastes better than spoiled milk. Isn't that right, Annie?" Emma tensed and watched as he reached out into the thin air and stroked hair that was not there. Emma felt the room get colder, and she turned with a bag of salt in her hands.
"He used to make me drink spoiled milk if I was bad." The little voice of Annie Bennett came from beside her, and Emma turned to look at what was probably soft brown hair, now cut in uneven places and matted and dirty, like the rest of her. "I was told I was bad a lot." Tears stung the corners of Emma's eyes as she knelt down close to her.
"Look at him." She said softly, and pointed to Gullan sitting in the corner of the cell, surrounded by salt. Dean watched Emma with curious eyes as she interacted with the little damaged girl. One damaged girl to the next it looked like, the same mirror image of hurt in each of their eyes. "He's miserable in here, and will be for the rest of his life. If you kill him now, where is his suffering?"
"My mama used to tell me that bad people go to Hell. I want him there." Her voice shook with fury, and a few things fell off of the desk. The salt bounced on the ground.
"Thou shalt not kill, remember?" Emma asked urgently, kneeling down in front of Annie. "What do you think is going to happen if you kill him? Where do you think you'll go? Do you really want to spend an eternity with him, burning?"
"Jesus would never let that happen."
There was a long pause as Emma sat down on the ground, cross legged, and finally looked up to see Annie doing the same thing. "'God doesn't discriminate' is what my daddy used to tell me before I got in trouble. He beat me and made me eat my food off of the floor and… well he did a lot of bad things to me. My mama didn't ever do anything about it. He said 'it don't matter if you're a good girl every day. Once you're bad you stay bad.' That man over there is bad. He's gonna stay bad. But you're good. You were an innocent, and he took that from you. But that doesn't make you bad, Emma." She caught herself, sucking in her breath, before correcting herself. "Annie. That doesn't make you bad, Annie." The little girl stared at the man in front of her who seemed insanely oblivious to what they were saying.
"I don't even remember what it's like to be a little girl." Annie replied, honestly. Emma felt tears sting at the corner of her eyes.
"Me neither." She said quietly, and reached out to touch the static cold of Annie's hand. "Maybe this will help?" Emma reached into her side pocket and pulled out a little raggedy Annie doll that she had found in the cabin. She reached her hand out and Annie reached out, taking it from Emma's hands. "Remember what it was like to play with your dolls? Do you remember your family? They're waiting for you on the other side, but you're never gonna see them if you do this. Look at the doll, Annie."
There was a long silence, and finally Annie rose to her feet. Emma watched and Dean stared at Emma as the little girl walked to the bars of Gullan's cage, and rested one hand on the steel bar. "You're going to burn in Hell." She mumbled quietly. Gullan seemed to turn his head, but did not look straight at her. Emma got another shiver up her spine. Annie turned around and looked up at Emma, before her eyes were directed to something in the corner of the room. Emma turned and didn't see anything, but she knew what it was. A reaper.
"I'm ready to go now." Annie said, almost reluctantly, but with a smile on her face as she walked forward and into a light that had formed in the corner of the room.
She was gone.
"You wanna talk about what happened back there?" Dean asked quietly. Sam and Maggie were cleaning out the dishes that they had used, and the sun was setting, casting a orange glow on the trees around them. Emma said nothing. "Look, I'm sorry I said those things. I obviously had no idea what I was talking about. I've just been worried about a lot of stuff lately." Emma didn't say anything, but all Dean felt from her was an encouragement to go on. She reached over subtly and put her hand over his. "Sam's been... well he's gettin' dangerous. Something's different about him. While I was gone in Hell..." his breath hitched. "Sam... I dunno he just seems different. And I remember Hell. All of it. I just haven't told Sam or anyone yet." Emma looked over at him, realizing that she was the first he had ever told that he even remembered Hell. She was touched and horrified at the same time. Dean took a swig of his beer, and Emma followed suit. "I just... look I'm really sorry."
"Me too..." Emma said quietly, and Dean leaned over to kiss her cheek, her hand now under his. When he moved to put his lips on her mouth, Emma shot backward, nearly falling off the Impala's hood. She wanted to kiss him, so badly and it brought tears to her eyes to think that she couldn't. "I'm sorry if I've been leading you on. I really am."
"I thought we had something here." Dean said. "No, I know we have something here. Don't tell me you don't see it." Emma had never heard Dean out of his sarcastic banter and constant hitting on until now. It took her by surprise.
"A kiss and a drunken cuddle doesn't mean love, Dean." Emma stated as she tilted her beer bottle and took a swig.
"And you won't sleep with me or give me a chance unless you're sure we're in love?" Dean asked incredulously. Emma shook her head. That didn't seem like her. Dean frowned.
"No." Emma corrected him, hauling herself off the Impala's hood. "When it's love is when I won't be with them." she did not even look behind her as she walked to her truck and hauled her bag into the trunk.
Dean stood therefor a while, watching her and sipping beer for a long time before his phone began to ring. "Bobby?" Emma's head turned toward Dean immediately. Sam and Maggie paused. "What's wrong? Bobby I can't hear you - stop whispering... Emma..." she was at his side in four long strides. "Yeah she's right here."
Emma snatched the phone from Dean. "Bobby?" her throat was tight.
"Emma."
"Yeah, it's me."
"You should get over here. All of you. An old friend decided to drop by."
"Bobby, what?"
On the other line there was a rustle, and Emma frowned and leaned her head closer to the phone and away from any noise. "Bobby?" There was a man's voice on the phone.
"Now." and the line went dead.
More up tonight! In another chapter or so I'm going back to following the show for another few chapters. The Emma situation is starting to build up. I really hope you guys like what I'm about to do with her. Please review! Warm and cold feedback please!
xoxo