A/N: Oookay, so I had to reinstall my writing program because of the virus that infected my laptop...but...this is definitely not OpenOffice. Yeah, I'm using LibreOffice now..weird. I had to re-personalize my whole desktop and shit, I have yet to re-save my music, which was over 500 songs. I'm more upset about the stories I had been working on that hadn't been uploaded on the site yet. Those are lost forever and now I have to re-write them. I'm not so bummed about re-writing my Supernatural AU/Canon fic as I am about losing 30 pages of my Self-Insert story...that hurts...a fucking lot. At least with the mash-up it was only about two pages, I can easily rewrite that.
I'm so...bummed. -_-
Anyway, here's chapter 18 of "The Gift", hope you enjoy and watch out for Facebook posts about the "dislike" button. That's where my virus came from. Yeah, you can't even trust your FB friends because my cousin's account was hacked by something and it sent me that wall post containing the bug. Be safe!
Chapter 18- A New Plan, Part 1
Sunny stuffed her blades in the weapons duffel and zipped it shut before tossing it to Dean. They had been staying at Bobby's for over a week and found nothing in the news about anything supernatural. No demon activity, no mysterious deaths or disappearances. Nothing. This troubled the young hunters because it meant one of two things: they're either planning something big or they can feel something big coming and are in hiding. Either way, it was a big deal.
It was also weird for them because they were sure William would be causing some kind of havoc out in the world, during his search for the remaining elements. They managed to duck Nicholai in the diner but for how long? Did he know they made it out alive? They weren't sure and they weren't about to take any chances. If Will was convinced they were out of the picture, they needed to keep it that way and gain some kind of advantage, as minimal as it was.
"So, where's our next stop?" Sunny asked, crossing her arms.
"I donno." Dean replied, honestly. "I guess we'll just drive until we come across something."
"Cause what more can we do without any leads?" she finished for him.
"Exactly."
She pursed her lips and nodded, solemnly. It was frustrating not knowing where William was or what he was getting away with at the moment and even more so, Castiel still hadn't made an appearance since the night he brought Munro down from Heaven. Did he get caught? Was he punished for disobeying the law of Heaven? They prayed and prayed to him but he never showed. It worried them.
They went downstairs to the kitchen, where Roxie, Sam and Bobby were finishing up their breakfast.
"Hey, Sunny, there's some bacon left over if you want it." Roxie offered, hopefully.
Since the death of their son, Sunny's eating habits had changed drastically. If she ate, it was small portions of, more or less, finger foods and snack cakes. It worried Roxie the most because she knew how sensitive her friend was about her weight. She liked being at a healthy, steady weight and she had worked so hard to get to her destination weight of 115. Most girls would consider that fat or heavy but with Sunny's petite frame and curvaceous body, it was perfect. Now she weighed a mere 101 and the only thing keeping it up was the junk food and beer.
She didn't exactly let herself go, she just found herself less and less hungry. Sunny looked into her blonde friend's pleading eyes and picked up the plate of leftover bacon, with a small smile. Roxie returned the smile with relief and continued to clear the dishes. Sunny nibbled on a piece as she walked outside with the food, dumping the rest in a trashcan near the door as she hopped off the porch.
"I saw that." Sam said, walking behind her towards the car.
"Yeah, so?" she demanded, opening the back seat door and tossing the duffel inside.
"Rox is worried about you, Sunny...more so than usual." he said, leaning against the side of the Impala.
"I know...but I'm fine, okay." she insisted. "I'm just not as hungry as before."
"It's more than that, Sunny, and you know it." he countered, giving her a raised brow.
She rolled her eyes before turning to look at him.
"Look, I know, okay?" he spoke softly. "I know about Munro and the war he's supposed to fight in if William finds the Gates...and I know it's killing you. Both of you." he nodded towards the house, referring to Dean.
She looked up at him with big, sad eyes.
"I just...WE need you to be strong and healthy if we're ever going to be able to prevent the battle from happening." he went on. "Dean needs you, as much as he acts like he's fine...he's not."
She looked away, thoughtfully, and nodded. She couldn't deny he was right, about everything. She didn't want her son to have to fight in a war between Gods and Angels. She didn't want Dean to have to pick up her pieces and her slack because of a stupid, useless depression. Sadness wasn't going to bring her son back, neither was starvation. She knew she had to swallow her misery, along with a few burgers, and focus on the people who were still with her, that needed her to be level-headed and sharp.
"Okay." she finally spoke, her voice breaking a bit. "I'll try, Sam."
"That's all I'm asking, 'sis'." he smiled.
"Did I just miss a chick-flick scene?" Dean asked, walking towards them with his head tilted and his bag over his shoulder.
"Somethin' like that." Sunny answered, hooking her thumbs around the belt loops of her jeans.
"Good, I've had more than enough of these Lifetime moments..." he chuckled, softly.
He approached her and pressed the front of his body against hers while looking down at her. She looked back up at him with a smile and welcomed his lips to hers. They stood connected to each other for a moment then parted to enter the vehicle. Sam stayed outside to wait for Roxie, who rushed out of the house and shuffled up to him.
"Always the last one out." he sighed, smirking.
"Just wanted to make sure Bobby was okay and his kitchen is clean." she said, running her fingers along the opening of his jacket.
"I was raised with manners, y'know? It'd be a little out of character for me to use up the man's house then leave it a mess." she giggled.
She went to circle around the car to get in the other door, but just as she went to release his hand, he gripped it tight and pulled her back against him. He slid his hand around her neck to the nape and pulled her into a deep kiss, taking her by surprise. She smiled against his lips and nipped at him, playfully, before kissing him again. He touched her forehead with his and rubbed his nose against hers twice before letting her go and getting inside the car.
"You lovebirds finally ready?" Dean teased, revving the Impala's engine.
"Shut up, Dean." Roxie laughed, closing the door.
He smirked and turned the key in the ignition to start the car but before he could step on the gas, someone appeared in front of the car. Two people, to be exact. Dean squinted through the windshield to see who they were and gasped,
"Cas!"
All four hunters jumped out of the vehicle and rushed over the angel, who was accompanied by young woman with brown hair and blue eyes.
"Hello, Dean." Cas greeted the hunter.
"Jeez, Cas, where have you been? You had us all worried!" Sunny exclaimed, poking his shoulder.
"You...were worried about me?" he asked, slightly stunned and confused.
"Well, yeah, man- you're one of us, you're our friend." Sam told him.
"Your friend..." the angel echoed, "You know, I wasn't sent here to make friends- I was given strict orders first to help you stop Damian, then to protect...your child." he looked at Sunny and Dean.
He didn't know what it was he was feeling at that moment, having been told he was cared about and was considered a friend to the hunters. He liked feeling accepted by them, despite the fact that he didn't ask for it or expect it or even need it. He never knew he could feel this way and that's when he realized he felt the same for them- he cared whether they lived or died, he liked being around them and being involved and having them call to him for help. He also knew that it was dangerous for him to get too close, an angel befriending humans? It's unheard of, impossible, even laughable according to his angel brethren. He still cared about what his family thought of him and didn't want to become the laughingstock of all Heaven. He became stuck with his unfamiliar emotions and quickly changed the subject.
"Anyway, thanks. I really appreciate that." he nodded. "But we have much to talk about. This-"
He lifted his hand towards the girl.
"...is Willow. She's the Earth element."
"Hunters, I've heard much about you." she nodded, moving a long strand of hair off her shoulder. "You saved Markus from being robbed of his powers and he was able to warn us about this William guy."
"Just doing our job." Sunny shrugged, modestly.
"You're Sunshine, right?" Willow asked her.
"Yeah?" the brunette confirmed, warily.
"I was sorry to hear about your loss..." the element spoke softly. "...but your sacrifice could be what saves us all."
This angered Sunny, she suddenly felt vulnerable and irritated. How dare this non-human say that to her. Why on Earth would she bring it up like that? A simple 'I'm sorry' would've been just fine but to go ahead and tell her it was for the greater good of the world? Screw that soil treading bitch. Dean cleared his throat, loudly, and sighed in irritation. He expected his fiance' to blow up at the rude remark and he wouldn't have blamed her, it angered him just as much.
"So what, uh, do we need to talk about?" she asked Cas, ignoring the element but showing signs of agitation and jittery-ness as she held back her rage.
Cas insisted they go inside and talk so they all returned to Bobby's kitchen, Dean and Sunny lagging behind.
"Can you believe what she said to me?" Sunny snarled, softly.
"For an Earth element she sure has a lack of emotions." Dean agreed. "Even the water guy had more compassion than this selfish twit."
Sunny laughed at his use of vocabulary and hid her face against his bicep as she wrapped her arms around that arm. Smiling in satisfaction, he entered the house with her by his side. Once everyone was settled and paying attention, Cas began to explain himself.
"I've been searching the heavens and Earth for warriors to aid us in our fight against William." he revealed.
"But I thought...Munro was going to fight him?" Sam asked, cautiously looking over at Dean before finishing his question.
"If William is successful and both finds and opens the Gates to Heaven, Munro will be the one who confronts him." Cas clarified, nodding downward. "In the meantime, we need to try and keep him from finding the Gates so we can avoid making him fight all together."
"But I thought it was his 'destiny'?" Dean quoted the angel. "To fight the evil ex-God and save Heaven and Earth?"
"It is...God's will but..." Castiel began turning away from the group. "...something about this whole thing feels wrong. Besides, I vowed to protect the child- Whether he's alive or...an angel, I intend to keep that promise."
Sunny sniffled and smiled at the blue eyed angel as shuffled up to him, seeming almost child-like.
"Aw, Cas, that is so sweet." she whimpered, then wrapped her slender arms around his neck for a tight hug.
Cas looked up at Dean, sheepishly, expecting him to be a little agitated by the gesture but the hunter nodded his appreciation to the angel.
"Thanks, Cas." he said, softly, smirking.
Cas nodded back as Sunny released him and returned to Dean's side.
"Me, Markus and the Wind element, Luka, are assembling our own army to fight on Earth." Willow spoke, gaining everyone's attention.
"But who else are you going to recruit to fight?" Sam asked, "I mean, other than demons and monsters, there's really no one strong enough to face a God, even if we're in the masses."
"Yeah and Will's got demons fighting on his side now. Never mind that guy, Nicholai, and who knows what HE is!" Roxie added.
They looked up William and Nicholai on the computer and only found that they had been working side by side for centuries, longer than that even. Nothing about what he was or how to kill him. Supposedly, there was no known weaknesses for either of them. They were only able to find something about the ritual of Will's imprisonment but in order to reenact the ritual, God would have to be involved and a talisman that was said to be destroyed during Will's banishment.
"Let me handle Nicholai." a vaguely familiar voice came from the front door.
Everyone looked to the door and found Sunny's uncle Tom standing with his arms crossed.
"We have some unfinished business to discuss anyway."
A/U: Oh, I know it's so short and with nothing interesting to offer but with all the stress of losing all my documents, pictures and music from that freaking virus, I've been a little mentally blocked lately...that and RL has been taking a toll on my time and imagination. I'm sorry if this was boring or whatever but next chapter will be longer and full of more information, action, whatnot. I'll be wrapping the story up pretty soon to make more time for my new project, the mash-up AU/Canon of SPN seasons 4-5. I've also been neglecting my Buffy story too and feel I should pay more attention than I have been to that one. Either way, the surprise twist ending is still a go and there's much, much more drama and angst and suspense on the way! I promise you will not be disappointed! Until next time, review!