Happy Thanksgiving everyone! (Please don't read this fanfiction while having dinner with your friends and family, although there's nothing too mature or PG or whatever…)
Enjoy!
January, 2010.
Vienna, Maryland.
Dean didn't know how long he had been in that position. All he knew was that he woke up before dawn and now the sun was bursting through the curtains. Truth be told, he didn't care how long he had been in that position. He didn't care simply because it felt good. Kate was curled up against him, her bare back nicely warming his bare chest just like the rest of her soft body. One of his arms was wrapped around her waist to keep her close to him while his other arm was comfortably curled on the pillow just above her head. His fingertips were caressing her silk curly brown hair while his green eyes were watching her sleeping profile. Her hair smelled of vanilla and something else that he could never point at but that was so her. Her perfume alone could bring him serenity, and still at the same time her perfume drove him crazy more often than he would admit.
Her perfume and everything else.
A tender smile formed on Dean's lips when a light groan escaped the brunette's throat and she started to snuggle closer against him. He wouldn't admit it to anyone but he cherished the delicateness of her facial features, from the three freckles in her neck up to the tiny, faded scar above her right eyebrow. There was a little hardness in her features still, and sometimes he could spot a bit of sadness. Obviously, it pained him because he was certain that some of these features appeared during her time in their mad universe alongside him and his brother. One reason that should have made her not choose their universe.
But, she chose to stay in it and Dean still couldn't understand why she did. After all, their universe was worse than just a mad universe. It was a crappy universe where crappy things happened, where there was danger in the form of a supernatural creature ready to attack at any moment.
"I chose to send myself to you. I chose you, Dean," her voice echoed as an answer to his quiet questioning.
Dean had never been chosen before. Not by anyone. Then, the day came when he found out that he had been chosen by Heaven to be Michael's vessel. At that moment, he had realized that not being chosen wasn't as bad as he had come to believe. But then, an impossible girl with wild curly hair crashed into his life, and she chose him.
She chose him.
Not for what he could be, but for what he already was.
Sometimes, he felt like she was delusional, or that she was crazy, or even both. It was so difficult for him to believe that someone as gentle, understanding and human as her could choose someone like him. A monster like him.
"You are not a monster, Dean," she had told him a long time ago. "That's one thing I'm more than sure about you, Dean. You are not a monster."
Even then, she was so convinced that he deserved her kindness, her support, her comfort, her affection…
Dean's train of thoughts were interrupted when the brunette stirred a little against him. He stopped his breathing, and just stared down at her for a moment, concern on his face as he remembered the terrible nights of late December, a couple of weeks ago, when she'd scream in her sleep because of another nightmare.
If anyone deserved to be showered with kindness, support, comfort and affection, it ought to be her – not him.
When he saw her eyes slowly opening, he whispered to her, "Good morning."
She frowned, groaned and rolled away from him, pulling the blanket over her head as she laid on her stomach. Dean noticed a movement from her head and so he pushed the blanket off her head down to her shoulders. He smiled when she opened her brown eyes and he realized there was no trace of a nightmare inside of them. His closed-mouth smile grew bigger when she met his gaze.
"Good morning," he repeated, a little amusement echoing in his whisper this time.
"Morning," she smiled back at him.
"Sleep well?"
"I feel like I've slept for a month or two."
"And, you still don't want me to call you 'sleepy head'," he teasingly remarked.
She smirked, and then looked over his shoulder at the clock hung on the opposite wall.
"How come you're awake so early?" She inquired with a frown. "I mean, aren't you a bit tired after last night?"
"C'mon, with the number of times we've been doing it since December, you should be giving me more credit."
"You're such a smooth talker," the brunette laughed before rolling to her back and stretching her body. Dean's eyes traveled down to the hills created on the brown blanket by her curves. "So, you didn't answer," she pointed out, causing him to move his gaze back up to her face. She looked at him, still laying on her back. "How come you're awake so early?"
Dean didn't have time to reply as the room's phone rang. They both turned their heads to the nightstand table on Dean's side, wondering who could be calling Kate's room at such an early hour.
"Yeah?" Dean picked up. "Oh, hey Sam! Why didn't you call on my phone or Kate's phone?... Oh, yeah, I forgot we turned them off… Well, we were kinda busy; do you need a drawing? Because –" He stopped abruptly and sat up.
Kate saw the amusing expression on his freckled face melt away, only to be replaced by a hard expression. His green eyes moved to Kate's brown eyes that were slowly filling with worry. She couldn't hear what Sam was saying on the other end of the line, but it was easy to figure out that the younger Winchester wasn't sharing some good news. Her eyes were locked with Dean and she was sure that he could see the questions running wild in her mind, but still he didn't say anything as he listened to his brother.
"Alright. We'll meet you at the car in five," he eventually said before putting the phone back at its position.
"Is Sam okay?" Kate immediately asked as she watched Dean's face.
"Yeah, he's okay," he replied, running a hand down his jaw.
"Then, what is it?" She demanded. "Dean, what is it?"
"We gotta hit the road," he just said, standing up. He grabbed his boxer briefs and quickly slipped them on before taking his old pair of jeans that were laying on the floor right next to the bed.
"Dean, what is happening?" She insisted with a stern voice as he finished putting his jeans on.
The dirty-blond hunter stopped his rushing and looked over at the brunette sitting on the bed, her hand clinging at the blanket that was covering her chest down to her feet. If it weren't for her worrying expression and for Sam's news, Dean would have thought that she looked extremely appealing.
He took a deep breath and sighed, "Matt and Maya were attacked by demons and hellhounds… And, it's bad."
Half an hour later.
Crisfield, Maryland.
The road trip from Vienna to Crisfield was supposed to be an hour long, maybe even a little over an hour, but that was not the case when it was Dean Winchester driving. Especially not when there was an emergency that involved two fellow hunters; among which one he and Sam have known for years.
Maya Sanchez.
The thing was that Kate had never met Maya, but she had already heard about her several times before. Bobby had told her that Maya hunted since her teenage years and that she was pretty good at it. However, the old man never told Kate why he hadn't teamed up with the huntress for years. Kate had simply assumed that it was all because of what Matt had told her about Maya; how the huntress had gone solo after the death of her partner. Sure, it didn't make that much sense seeing as since her arrival in this universe, Kate had heard Matt and Rufus talking about some cases they had recently solved with Maya. Nevertheless, Kate had never thought too much about it; after all she had a hell lot of things to figure out at that time.
But now that they were hurrying to where Matt and Maya were, the young brunette couldn't help wondering about that huntress. So, after Sam reassured Kate that Matt wasn't badly injured, the brunette decided to ask him and his big brother about Maya.
While driving with the foot on the gas, Dean told Kate a bit about Maya so that the brunette could know what kind of person they were rushing to help. He told her that she was a smart hunter who didn't mingle that much with other hunters. He told her that she was the kind of hunter who traveled a lot, taking cases in Latin America and even in Europe, mainly to expand her knowledge of monsters and how to get rid of them. He told her that they had been on a couple of hunts with her before their father died, which happened a couple of months before her partner died. Dean told her that Maya's partner died in the job like most hunters do. At that moment, Kate stopped asking questions, but it didn't stop her from noticing that Sam had remained noisily quiet when Dean was talking about Maya. The brunette didn't have the time to make any comment about it as Dean smoothly parked his car next to one of the few shipping containers that surrounded the harbor Matt told them to come at.
The trio quickly got out of the car, Sam and Dean went to take the bag containing the first aid kit and the stitching kit from the trunk. While Sam started putting the medical kits in his side-bag, Kate looked around, pulling her kaki coat tightly around her.
The harbor was empty.
There were five big red shipping containers and three blue ones, but not a single trace of a worker. Kate presumed that with the freezing cold weather of these past couple of days the workers had their days off. She turned her head to the row of docked boats, and noticed only one that didn't seem to be a transport ship.
It wasn't a very big boat, but it was obvious from the outside that there was enough room on the inside for someone to live in it and travel. Kate instantly figured out that it was Maya's. Surely, Kate hadn't met Maya yet but there was no doubt that the solo, traveling huntress was getting more and more intriguing for the impossible girl.
"Katie, come on," Sam exclaimed, pulling her out of her thoughts.
She looked over at him and then followed him and his brother as they quickly went to the boat. Kate stopped in track when she saw the name of the boat.
Serenity.
It made her smile for a couple of seconds as it reminded her the name of another ship, and then she quickly caught up with Sam and Dean.
Dean knocked four times on the door, his eyebrows knit together as he tried to hear any sound that indicated somebody was coming to the door. After a few seconds of silence, he glanced up at Sam and then at Kate, both wearing the same worrying expressions. Without a word he pulled out a knife from his jacket's inside pocket, bent down at the level of the lock and started picking it. Surprisingly, it didn't take more than three seconds for Dean to get it done. He straightened up and glanced at Sam and Kate, catching his little brother's movement as the latter pushed onto his back the side-bag so that he could take his gun out. Dean looked down at Kate and then took his own gun out before handing it to her. He gave her a pointing look and she gave a firm nod. Kate tightened her grip around the gun, trying to block all worried thoughts about the two hunters who were supposed to be waiting for them inside the boat.
Dean turned his attention back to the door and in a low whisper he counted, "One… Two…"
The door swung open before he even got to finish his counting, causing him to lift up his knife, ready to kill whatever creature was going to attack him.
"Whoaa!"
"Sonofabitch!"
"Matt!" Kate half-shouted as she saw that it was her blue-grey-eyed friend who was standing in front of them.
"Jeez, Winchester, I thought you guys were here to help us not to stab us," Matt exclaimed, looking at Dean and his knife before looking over at Sam holding a gun aimed at him. "Or shoot at us."
"Sorry," Sam sighed, putting his gun down. "Usually Maya opens her door quickly so we sorta jumped over conclusions."
"I see that," Matt commented before looking at Kate who was still holding Dean's gun up. "You've got a gun? You guys gave her a gun? You are aware that she can't shoot, right?"
"Hey, I've made progress," Kate retorted.
"Still making progress, actually," Dean declared, sliding his knife back into his pocket.
"Hey!" Kate frowned at him before he took back his gun from her.
"You're bleeding," Sam remarked to Matt, causing Dean and Kate's gazes to snap over at the dark-haired man and notice that indeed there was blood dripping from his right hand.
"Yeah, that's actually one of the reasons why I couldn't get to the door quicker," Matt simply explained. "But, Maya's in a worse shape."
Sam and Dean didn't need more to make their way inside the boat. Kate glanced up at Matt who nodded at her to follow the two brothers, which she instantly obliged while he pushed the heavy door closed.
They walked into a corridor tightened with piles of books on each side and then arrived in what seemed to be the main room of the boat. Kate's eyes roamed over the many bookshelves, the several different symbols painted on the walls and the dried plants hanging from the ceiling.
"Maya!" Sam exclaimed with concern in his voice as he rushed across the room where Maya, a blond-haired woman with dark olive skin, was laying on her stomach on a long, blue couch.
Kate turned her head to him and to Dean who walked over to where Sam was already opening the medical kits. She made a few steps towards them and then stopped when she saw the huntress. She was wearing a pair of black pants and a white and red long-sleeve.
No.
Maya was wearing a white long-sleeve, but it was covered in red.
It was covered in blood.
"Samuel," Maya said a bit weakly, lifting her head. "And, Dean-o," she smiled to the elder Winchester.
"Sammy's gonna take care of you," Dean told her from where he was crouched next to her head.
"Oh, I don't doubt that," she replied, moaning in pain as she tried to sit up.
"Don't move," Sam told her as he cut through her shirt to get a better access to her injuries.
"What the fuck happened?" Dean asked, standing up from his crouching position.
"Exactly what I told Sam on the phone," Matt replied as he stepped into the room. "Demons and a couple of hellhounds."
Dean and Kate looked over at him, the young woman's gaze instantly fell to his bleeding hand and she immediately went up to him.
"Yeah, but what the hell did you guys do to get hellhounds after you?!" Dean exclaimed, looking back and forth at Matt and Maya.
"It's a long story," Maya let out, still trying to sit up.
"Stay still," Sam told her while Kate led Matt to the desk that was against the wall opposite to the blue couch. "We'll talk about this once I'm done with you, okay?"
"Okay, bossy," Maya half-smirked as she repositioned herself onto her stomach, her head laying on the side so that she could look at the people in the room.
As Matt sat down on the old brown chair at the desk, Kate quickly went to grab some necessary tools and Band-Aids from the first aid-kit next to Sam before coming back to Matt's sides. She could feel Maya's eyes on her, but didn't think much of it. The two women had never met so it wasn't odd that they would throw glances at each other. However, as Kate took care of Matt's hand and Sam took care of Maya's back, it wasn't glances that Maya was throwing at Kate.
Maya was staring at her.
Dean noticed it, and he noticed that it wasn't the simple, innocent staring that one gives to someone they just met.
It was the kind of staring that a hunter gave to something they were suspicious of.
Dean peered over at Matt, wondering what the dark-haired hunter may have said that would make Maya have such a look.
He didn't say a word, though. He remained quiet as he threw discreet glances at Matt and at Maya.
Kate finished stitching Matt's wound rather quickly, but Sam took a few more minutes. Unlike Matt who let out a few groans, Maya hadn't made any noise of pain or discomfort, neither when Sam poured alcohol on her wounds, nor when he stitched her four long wounds. Three of them were pretty superficial, but the fourth one was quite deep, and it was this last wound that took the more time.
"I'm done," Sam finally stated, once he had finished stitching up the short-blonde-hair huntress.
"Thanks," Maya said, trying to sit up with one arm while the other held her long-sleeve against her chest. Once she was sitting up, she grabbed a long black scarf that was laying on the back of the couch and wrapped it around her, letting go of the ruined white long-sleeve.
"Maybe you should stay lying down for a bit," Sam told her, grabbing a towel and wetting it with alcohol so that he could clean his hands.
"No, I'm fine," Maya replied before glancing over at Kate who was looking at the books in the shelf next to the desk.
"So," Dean said, a bit irritated by the way Maya was again staring at the brunette. "How come you have been attacked by demons and hellhounds?"
Everyone turned their attention to the elder Winchester. His arms were crossed over his strong chest and a hard expression painted his facial features. Kate frowned a bit as she instantly realized that something was wrong. He didn't look worried for Maya anymore, he almost looked wary of her.
"It's a long story," Maya started.
"I know. You already said that," Dean cut her off, taking everyone slightly aback. "I wanna know two things, but first I wanna know if that long story involves one of you making a stupid deal with a crossroads demon?"
"'Stupid deal'? Huh!" Maya scoffed. "You're one to talk."
"Exactly," Dean responded. "I know what I'm talking about."
Kate looked up at Matt, and fearing the worst, she inquired, "You didn't…"
"No," Matt replied. "Maya and I didn't make any deal, but…"
"But?" Kate asked, her brown eyes traveling all over her friend's face.
"But, my mother did," Maya finished.
"Your mother?" Sam asked, his hazel eyes looking at the short-blonde-haired woman.
"Yeah. My mother," Maya confirmed.
Kate glanced at them and noticed the look the huntress was giving to the younger Winchester. It was one of these pointed looks that told you he knew something others didn't.
"Her time is up, so you're trying to save her," Dean deduced, sounding suddenly less harsh.
"I've been trying to save her for ten years, Dean. Since the very day she made that deal," Maya stated. "I made that my number one top priority. No matter what happened, I kept trying to find a way."
"But, you never found how to save her from the hellhounds," Kate said in a little voice.
"It's not about saving her from the hellhounds," Maya replied. "Besides, they're probably already on their way to here right now."
"What?" Sam let out with raised eyebrows.
"Her mother is asleep in the other room," Matt briefly explained.
"So, in no time, we're gonna have a bunch of hellhounds here?" Kate said, trying not to sound too afraid.
"Relax, honey, they can't get in here," Maya told her. "The place is protected with hundreds of spells." Kate glanced over at Sam and Dean, only to realize that they more likely knew about that. "Among one that kills every non-human creature that steps in."
"That's brilliant. We should have these kinds of spell everywhere," Kate commented, glancing around at all the symbols.
"It's not that easy to get these specific spells to work, and it's even harder to convince some people that it's for the best," Maya explained.
"You said you wanted to save your mother, but not from the hellhounds. What does that mean?" Dean asked, putting an end to the little conversation about witchcraft.
"It means it ain't about me putting a bullet in my mother's head to spare her from getting scratched open by bitches from Hell," Maya responded.
"Then, what is it about?" Dean inquired.
"Her soul," Matt replied, causing everyone but Maya to look at him. "It's about saving her mother's soul from going to Hell."
"Can you do that?" Dean turned to look at Maya.
"Not really, but… I can negotiate."
"Don't tell me you're gonna trade your soul—" Sam began, only to be cut off by Maya.
"Already tried, but apparently they're not interested."
"Then, what do you have to offer in exchange?" Dean frowned.
"Information… Crucial information," the huntress responded.
"About what?" Kate asked, curious to know what could make a demon cancel a deal.
There was a short silence, Maya sighed and Matt turned his head to the brunette leaning against the desk, right next to him. He took a deep breath and replied to her question.
"About you."
For a short moment, silence floated in the air. A heavy silence during which Sam, Dean and Kate had a hard time trying to digest Matt's answer to the brunette's question.
"About me?" Kate breathed out, puzzled.
"No." Dean declared sternly, his voice low and rough as he gave a dangerous glare to Maya.
"Dean, you don't even know what information I'm talking about –" The blonde started.
"I know exactly what information you're talking about!" Dean cut her off. "Matt told you about Kate and where she comes from, and now you wanna trade her so that you can save your mother –"
"No! Jeez, Dean, do you really think that I would be able to sacrifice an innocent to save my mother from a stupid decision she's made on her own years ago?!" Maya half-shouted, sounding outraged by Dean's accusations. "I have information; but it's not gonna harm your little friend here because it's not directly linked to her."
"Then, why are we here?" Dean snapped.
"You're here because it's a crucial information that she needs to know," Maya responded.
"What is it?" Sam asked, causing Maya to turn her head to him.
"It's about that big, destructive weapon the angels wanna turn her into; the Light," she replied.
Kate looked up at Matt as she realized that he had to be the reason why someone she had never met before knew about the angels plans for her.
"No need to glare at Matt, honey. He didn't tell me anything," Maya continued and Kate returned her brown gaze to the huntress. "My mother did." It arose Kate's curiosity just as much as the Winchesters'. "Three weeks ago, I got a call from her retirement home. I was told that my mother was talking nonsense, that she was slowly turning senile. When I got there, I realized that her nonsense wasn't nonsense. She was talking about angels, demons, the Apocalypse, all these sort of things."
"Oh please, tell me your mother ain't a red-head who's been adopted and who's grown up thinking her father wasn't her real father," Dean said with a groan.
Kate couldn't help the little and noiseless chuckle that escaped her as she instantly knew he was scared of having to face another fallen angel.
"No, w-why? Is that important?" Maya asked, perplexed.
"No," Sam shook his head. "So, your mother, she's been hearing voices, seeing things?"
"She's been seeing things in her dreams," Maya clarified, grabbing the painkillers lying on the table. "But, it's impossible to get her to tell me exactly what those things are. All I got from her so far are ramblings about Heaven, Hell, the End of the World, and the Light. And, that's where the crucial information comes… She gave me the exact location of the Light."
"What?" Kate let out, pushing herself away from the desk, and almost stumbling as she felt a bit dizzy all of sudden.
Matt was swift to grab her before she did stumble down. "You're okay?"
"Y-yeah," Kate replied, shaking her head as the dizziness left as quick as it appeared. "What you're saying is that the Light is on Earth?"
Maya nodded, swallowing down the painkillers with a bottle of alcohol.
"I don't know how nor why my mother gets these dreams about it and about the Apocalypse. All I know is that when Matt helped me getting her out of the retirement home, he heard her. He heard all she said and he…"
"And I told her that we had to call you, guys," Matt finished. "Her mother knew everything about the seals, about how Lucifer got out, about the horseman in River Pass, and she even knew what happened back in Carthage."
"Alright, so your mother knows everything, and above all she knows where Heaven has hidden their most destructive weapon," Dean started, his green eyes looking right into the huntress' dark brown ones. "And, you want to trade this information with demons?... I've never thought I'd ask you this one day, but are you out of your mind?"
"The reason why I wanna do this is because I know they won't be able to use it," Maya explained. "The Weapon can only be used by someone who can carry it and then become it. From what I understood, she is the only one who can do it," Maya said, pointing at Kate. "The demons can't do anything with it… But they don't know that; they don't need to."
"You sound so sure of yourself," Sam said, his voice gentle as he looked down at the wet towel in his hands.
"Because I am sure," Maya replied.
Sam sighed, putting the towel on the coffee table. "I understand that you wanna save your mother. I do. But, if demons find a way to force Katie into becoming the Light and then get her to fight along them against Heaven, then… Then, it's over."
"According to Matt, she's not the kind of girl to give in easily," Maya said in reply, sending a little smirk towards Kate who was staring at her with a deep expression. Maya moved her gaze to the tall man sitting next to her. "Besides, I'm pretty sure the Light is watched very carefully by angels. There's no way demons can get their hands on it."
"Yeah, but demons can get their hands on Kaitlin," Dean retorted.
"Look, if I weren't sure that she would be safe, I wouldn't have told you about any of this."
"So, you called us for our green light, huh? Well, there ain't any. We're not gonna –"
"Are you certain that it will work?" Kate asked all of sudden, interrupting Dean. The three men snapped their heads to her. Her bright brown eyes were staring right into Maya's dark brown ones. "Are you certain that the demons will accept this deal? Your mother's soul in exchange of this information?"
"Yes," Maya simply replied.
"Then, why did they attack you?" Kate questioned.
"They already know my mother has some good information, they wanted to take her with them. Luckily enough, Matt and I went to the retirement home at the same moment they came to get her," Maya explained. "But, they don't know yet about the deal I wanna make."
"What if they want more?" Kate asked.
"It's a risk I'm willing to take," Maya replied.
"Alright," Kate nodded, causing Dean to snap his head to her.
"'Alright?" Dean repeated with a frown.
"Yeah, 'alright'," Kate confirmed. "It's not like this information is really gonna be useful for them. They're gonna try and make it useful for them, but they won't be able to. I mean, they don't even know I can carry the Weapon. Got a tattoo to prevent them from knowing I can, remember?"
"That's actually a good point," Sam thought out loud and his brother looked at him with lifted eyebrows. "What? It's true. As long as no one knows she can carry the Weapon, she's safe, and so is the rest of the world in fact. This kind of knowledge can't be of any harm if they don't have any way to use it."
"But, what if they find a way to get Kaitlin?" Dean asked him.
"Like you'd let them do," Sam replied, a kind smirk on his lips.
Dean muttered something under his breath.
"What's that?" Kate asked, a playful smile on her lips. Dean looked over at her and she raised her eyebrows at him.
"Look, Dean," Matt began, taking a step forward. "I get why you're not fond of this idea, but if there was a risk that the demons could get their filthy hands on Kate – and I really mean the slightest of risk – I wouldn't have called you. You know that."
The brunette looked at her dark-haired friend. She did know that he wouldn't risk her life; especially not after that episode with Zachariah and Rosemary. She moved her attention back to Dean and saw that he was contemplating what Matt had just said.
"Alright," Dean half-muttered.
"What did you say?" Sam asked, not sure he had heard right.
"Alright," Dean said louder, annoyance in his tone as he glanced at his little brother. "But, your plan better be a solid one," he warned Maya, his piercing green eyes staring at her with sternness.
"It always is," the blonde huntress smirked. "But, more seriously… Thank you. Thank you for helping me," she softly added.
Nobody said anything. Kate's attention was drawn to Sam as he rested his hand on Maya's arm in answer to her thanks. The brunette smiled and then moved her brown eyes to Dean, only to find him already staring at her. Their eyes locked. She immediately recognized the expression swimming in the green of his eyes. It was the fear of losing someone he cared about.
"Maybe you should tell them about the plan while I go and check on your mother," Matt declared and Maya nodded. "Come with me," he told Kate, causing her to break the eye contact with Dean.
"O-okay," the brunette whispered before following her friend as he went to the corridor they had walked through earlier.
Kate could feel Dean's eyes on her, but she didn't turn to him. She didn't want to see that fear in his eyes if she couldn't take it away right away. As she made her way to the corridor she promised herself that she would reassure Dean later. She would reassure him that he wouldn't lose anyone he cared about. Not today.
When Kate arrived in the little room, her eyes settled on the old woman lying on the little bed. She was wearing a simple beige sweater and a pair of dark blue pants. Her short dark hair was lightened with grey strands, and aside from the wrinkles around her lips and at the corner of her eyes, the old woman looked a lot like her daughter.
"Close the door," Matt said in a calm voice as he sat on the edge of the bed.
Kate obliged and then she watched as he positioned his forearm just above the old woman's slightly parted lips.
"What are you doing?" Kate asked.
"I'm checking that her breathing isn't uneven," he replied before looking up at her. "Maya used a powerful spell to teleport her mother and me here."
"Teleport?" Kate repeated, her eyes round. "There are spells for that?"
"There are spells for everything; I'm surprised you didn't know that," he declared and Kate gave a light shrug. "It's Dean, isn't it?"
"What about him?"
"He told you to keep away from magic," he elaborated.
"Ha. No," she replied as he watched her looking at the books and parchments lying open on a chest of drawers. "You got the wrong brother."
"Sam?"
She turned to him and gave a simple nod.
"Funny, I would have thought that Dean would be the one grumpy about you reading about witchcraft, not Sam," he stated.
"Well, he used to be grumpy about me reading anything related to the supernatural of the world, whether it be about monsters or magic," she replied, sitting on a raggedy stool. "And so were you."
"I still am," he declared with a corner smile, and Kate couldn't help but smile back.
It had been a while since they last saw each other, and the truth was that Kate missed him. She missed him a lot. In a way, Matt always reminded her of the simplicity of her old life. When she first met him, she was still trying to understand how this world worked. He had been sent by Rufus to help her out, to give her the training she needed to survive in such a dangerous world. They had spent so much time together, working on her fighting skills and learning about the different monsters and how to kill them. During that time, they got to know each other enough to become friends. Each had their secrets but eventually they had shared their secrets with one another, understanding that they could truly trust each other and above all rely on each other.
But Kate still had one secret.
One secret that she knew she couldn't share with him or with anyone else for that matter.
"I gave you some of the essence of the Guardians power," Chronos' voice echoed in her head. "It won't serve you to win this war. It won't serve you to win any war. It will serve you for just one thing: to another universe. Two one-way tickets to save yourself and one person that you don't want – can't leave behind."
That secret was a burden that she would have to keep on carrying on her own. Because that secret could destroy everyone's hope that they could end the Apocalypse.
"So," Kate said, clearing her throat as she pushed her thoughts in the back of her mind. "You said Maya teleported you and her mother to here?"
"Yeah," he nodded before leaning towards Maya's mother legs, next to which there was a tiny brown bag. "See that bag?" He said holding it up for the brunette to see it. "It's a typical anti-demon hex bag. But," he paused, trying to open it with his banded hand. Kate wanted to offer help but she knew that he could do it on his own even though he had just one hand left and that it was injured. Once he had the bag opened, he took out a flat blue rock and threw it to Kate who easily caught it. "You chant the words that are written on this very special rock and then you put the rock in the bag, you add up a few drops of your blood and hop you can send a person away. It takes a bit of your energy, but it works, it really teleports people to wherever you wanna send them. Well, as long as they are unconscious."
"Unconscious? She knocked you and her mother out?" Kate asked with raised eyebrows.
"Nah," he chuckled. "She knows the martial arts of pressure points. You know that thing I showed you last year?"
"You mean that thing you used on me last year," She corrected him.
"That was only because you wouldn't sleep," he replied. "And you needed to."
Kate sighed, looking down at the rock in the middle of her palm as she remembered last January. It was after Pamela's death, after the angels made Dean torture Alastair, after she helped the angels make Dean torture Alastair.
"It feels like it was ages ago," she murmured wistfully.
"It was ages ago," he said and she lifted her gaze to find him kindly smiling at her.
Kate stared at him for a moment before realizing something, "But, if one has to be unconscious to be sent away, how did Maya teleported herself here?"
"She sent herself here with another more complex spell that I don't know about and don't wanna know about," he said and Kate frowned in confusion. "It's black magic."
"Oh."
"Yep," he gave a nod. "I know what you're thinking, but Maya is a good person. She may practice black magic but she only performs the useful spells, and that with good intentions. She doesn't wanna harm anyone. She only tries to use the power of black magic to fix things."
"I don't doubt it," Kate replied truthfully. "It's just Sam warned me that black magic has consequences; big consequences."
"It does," Matt confirmed. "Maya lost her partner because of black magic."
"And she still performs it?" Kate asked, puzzled by the actions of the blonde huntress.
"It's hard to stop when you start," Matt simply said before his grey-blue eyes looked down at the unconscious old woman. "Especially when you think it's gonna help you find a way to save someone you love."
The brunette followed his gaze and looked at the old woman. She couldn't help but wonder why she had made a deal ten years ago. What for? Money? She didn't exactly look like a rich old woman, her sweater looked homemade and her pants looked pretty cheap. Revenge? Or maybe to save a loved one? Just like Mary Winchester had done it to save her husband, or like Dean had done it to save his little brother.
"What's her name?" Kate whispered, staring at the woman's cross necklace that was hanging out of her sweater.
"Eva," Matt responded.
"Do you think the plan has chances to work?" She asked, her voice little and thoughtful.
Matt looked up at his friend. Her facial expression reflected the pensiveness of her tone. He knew that her relationship with her mother back in her universe used to be hard and complicated, but when she came back from her journey with Mary Winchester, she had confided to him about her last phonecall with her mother. She had told him about how her mother regretted the way she had been towards her daughter, and she had confided that she regretted not trying to understand her mother more. He couldn't help but wonder if she still thought about it.
"I think, yes," he answered. "Are you afraid? Because you gotta know we won't let demons get to you."
"I know," she gave him a little smile. She looked down at the rock in her hand and stood up to hand it back to him, but her legs went weak and she fell on the floor.
"Hey!" Matt exclaimed, immediately going to her. "Hey, you're okay?"
"Yeah, sorry, I'm just a little… dizzy," she told him, closing her eyes tight as she tried to chase away the sensation.
"Are you seasick?"
"Well, I've already been on a boat a few times before and it went fine, so I'm pretty sure I'm not," she replied, opening her eyes. "But, I'm okay, don't worry."
"You're sure? Maybe you should lay down a bit?" He suggested.
"I'm fine –" She began to say before stopping when they heard voices shouting from outside the boat. "What's that?"
Matt stood up and went to look out a small round window. "Shit!"
"What's going on?" Kate asked, slowly standing up.
"The demons. They found us," he told her, turning around to look at her. "You okay?"
"Yeah, just let's get back to the guys," she told him and he immediately went to the door.
She looked down at the blue rock that she was still holding, she glanced over at the unconscious old woman and then slipped the rock in her pocket before going to the main room.
When the brunette got to the doorway, she stopped and stared at what was happening in the main room. Sam and Dean were getting weapons out of a big wooden box, and even Maya who shouldn't be moving was taking weapons out of a bag. Matt was standing next to the blonde, and his voice was echoing all around the room, but Kate couldn't make out a word he said. She started to take a step, and the room started spinning. She leaned one hand against the doorway, trying not to fall. She closed her eyes tight and then opened them to meet Sam's gaze. She saw him tell her something but she couldn't hear his voice; she couldn't hear anyone's voice anymore. All she could hear was her heartbeat hammering in her ears. She attempted to take another step, but she lost her balance.
Dean caught her right before she fell.
"Kaitlin!" He exclaimed, holding her in his arms as he knelt down on the floor. Sam and Matt rushed to them while Maya watched with concern from her spot next to the couch. "Hey, hey, look at me," Dean said as he turned Kate's face towards him. She was half-conscious, slightly grunting in pain.
"Check her temperature," Maya said, walking up to them.
"Kaitlin, sweetheart, come on, look at me," Dean continued, not paying attention to what Maya had told him.
Sam crouched down and rested his hand on Kate's forehead, causing Dean to glance up at him. His little brother's face contracted in concern.
"She's burning up!" Sam exclaimed and Dean looked down at the brunette in his arms.
"Fuck… I know what's happening," Maya sighed and the three men turned their heads to her. "She's dying."
Dean couldn't speak.
"She's dying."
Dean couldn't move.
"She's dying."
He could barely breathe.
"She's dying."
His green eyes were fixing intensively his blonde-haired friend, almost glaring at her and her words.
"She's dying."
He hated those words. Those words that echoed in his head, those words that he promised himself he would never hear anyone say about Kate, he hated them.
"What do you mean 'she's dying'?" Sam asked, sounding like a scared child.
"She can carry the Light because she's from another universe; because her soul is different from ours," Maya said, putting a hand on her lower back, the pain of her injuries was almost entirely away thanks to painkillers, but it still was a bit hard for her to be up on her two feet. "That means that even though she's human, she doesn't have the generic human soul that every human of this universe has..."
"The protections," Matt let out, understanding where the blonde was going at.
"Yes," Maya said, looking at him before returning her gaze to Sam. "My boat is filled with protections of all kinds against monsters, but there's a spell made to slowly kill every creature with no human soul. And I guess Kate's soul doesn't count as one of a human."
"Then undo the spell!" Sam exclaimed with urge.
"I can't," Maya replied regretfully. "If I do that then the demons and the hellhounds waiting outside, they'll barge in. All these spells are linked together. You take one down, you take all of them down, including the protection field around the boat. And without this particular one, if they don't get in, they'll just be able to make the boat sink; and all of us with it. I'm sorry it's affecting her but –"
"This spell ain't affecting her, it's killing her!" Dean shouted after keeping quiet for so long. "You like to play with magic, so fucking do something!"
"The only way for her not to die is to take her out of the boat before she gets to the second phase of the spell," Maya stated. "But, with demons right outside, the protections increase to the point of making it impossible for us to get out."
"So, we're trapped," Matt declared. "And if we're trapped, it means we can't save Kate."
"There must be a way… Maya, please," Sam said, pleading her with his bright hazel eyes.
Maya glanced down at Dean. He wasn't glaring at her anymore, his attention was back to the brunette. He was holding her against him in a way that told Maya how much this young woman meant for him. Maya didn't know much about the brunette, but she could see that she was important, and not just to the elder Winchester, but also to the two other men standing in the room. She couldn't let an innocent die, let alone an innocent who was important to people she cared about.
"There is," Maya eventually let out. Dean shot his eyes up at her and instantly met her gaze. "I can turn the spells off for a few minutes, enough for one of you to carry her out of here."
"And whoever steps out of here will more likely be attacked by the demons and the hellhounds waiting out there," Matt commented.
"Right… Even though they're here for my mother, I bet they'd be happy to chew on whatever comes out of here," Maya declared, looking thoughtful.
"Not if we distract them," Matt pointed out. "The ones staying behind can shoot rock salt at them."
"He's right," Sam nodded. "Though, it's gonna be tricky to target the hellhounds."
"I will take care of the hellhounds," Maya declared firmly.
Kate let out a loud moan of pain, which made everyone understand that they had to hurry up.
"Okay, I'll carry her out," Dean declared, effortlessly getting up on his feet, carrying Kate in his arms.
"What? No, Dean, I think I should do it," Sam said, stopping his brother. "Your ankle isn't fully healed from our last hunt."
"My ankle is fine."
"You were practically limping just yesterday," Sam remarked, waving a hand at him. "Look," he sighed. "I'm just saying, what if you can't get to the Impala fast enough?"
"I will," Dean stubbornly replied. It wasn't that he didn't trust his brother to get Kate away from this place as quickly as possible, but he felt like he was the only one who could truly save the young woman.
"Dean," Sam repeated, giving to his brother a pointed look.
The elder Winchester looked down at the woman in his arms.
"She's dying."
Her eyes were closed, her face was paler than ever, and sweat was forming on her forehead. He remembered how peaceful she looked this morning and wished he could go back to that moment. Weak grunts of pain escaped her mouth and it made him clench his jaw.
"Alright, you take her," Dean told his brother who immediately slipped his arms under the brunette's body to carry her bride style. He stared at Kate for a few seconds and then he turned his head to Maya. "What's the plan?"
"What we know is that there are three demons out there, not far away from your car. You and Matt can distract them easily with a few salt bullets," she instructed. "Meanwhile I will cast a spell to make every hellhound around the boat visible, and also to prevent them from moving from their spots."
"You can do that?"
"It worked at the retirement home… Though a bit too late," Maya replied.
"Don't let it be too late this time," Dean told her, his green eyes staring intensively at her.
"I won't."
"Alright, easy plan then… That should work," Matt commented.
"It better," Dean remarked, glancing at the dark-haired hunter.
"It will," Maya declared. "Okay, Matt and I will go up in the little cabin, and Dean, you'll follow Sam and Kate to the main door."
"Okay, let's move!" Sam exclaimed, glancing down at the brunette in his arms before he went to the doorway through which they had come in earlier.
Dean quickly went to grab two shotguns, Matt doing the same while Maya crouched down to take out a parchment and a couple of tiny bags from a box underneath the table.
"Alright, I got everything," Maya announced, slowly standing up from her crouching position.
"How do we know when the protection field is taken down?" Sam asked from the doorway.
"You… You will feel some energy running through you. It will feel like a long shiver," she started to explain, finally standing up. "Then you'll have twenty seconds before it happens again. And when it does, it means the protection field is completely off." She turned her head to Matt. "On the other hand, when it's back on, you'll have just one long shiver."
"How long will it all be off?" Dean asked, going to stand by Sam who was carrying the brunette.
"Not long enough," Maya responded. "But, long enough for them to try and get in. So just keep shooting at them until you have no bullet left. We need to prevent them from attacking Sam and Kate, but also from getting in here."
Dean turned his gaze to the young woman in his brother's arms. Her moans had gone very quiet but the wincing expression on her face told him that she was still in pain… She was still dying.
Dean took a deep breath and declared in a stern tone, "Okay, let's get to our positions."
Everyone obliged. Maya and Matt went to the other side of the room where, behind a brown curtain, there was a tight staircase that led to the little cabin. Sam walked down the corridor towards the main door they had come in earlier. Dean was right behind him, holding his two shotguns tight in his large calloused hands.
When Sam stopped in front of the main door, he stood against a wall and looked at his brother, "Can you unlock?"
Dean didn't say a thing as he put down a shotgun to do as told. Once the door was unlocked, he picked up his second shotgun and fixed at it for a moment. Kate's moans of pain had disappeared, and only her enervated breathing could be heard, which made Dean look at her with a worried frown. He couldn't help but wonder if this was phase two beginning.
"She'll be fine," Sam told him, half-whispering.
Dean lifted his gaze up to meet his little brother's, and he didn't like the expression in Sam's hazel eyes. It was the kind of expression that people gave when they were trying to reassure others about something that themselves were worried about. It wasn't reassuring at all.
"You don't waste time when you get out there," Dean said in response. "You don't stick around to fight. You run to the car and you keep driving until you're states away."
"I know," Sam nodded. He watched as Dean put one of his shotguns down again, but this time it was to take out the Impala's keys from his pocket. Sam managed to take it in one hand without making too many movements for Kate who was still in a silent pain. "I'll call Cas once we're far away." Dean nodded, picking up his weapon. "Maybe he'll be able to zap all of you out of here."
"What?" Dean frowned. "No, you call him so that he can fix Kaitlin."
"Dean, she won't need any fixing. Maya said that she'll be fine the moment we step out," Sam told him. "But, you guys on the other hand, you'll need help to get out of here alive. The demons and the hellhounds won't give up on Maya's mother – " Sam stopped when a long and strong shiver ran through his entire body. The same shiver traveled through Kate and Dean's bodies. "Did you feel it?"
"Yeah. Twenty seconds left before the next one," Dean declared, loading his shotguns.
"I'm still gonna call Cas to get you guys out of here," Sam told him.
"It's useless, man. By the time you'll call him, Maya will have had the spells back on, and I bet she's got some pretty stuff against angels too."
"He can still come in the harbor and get rid of the bastards out there."
"As long as it's after he gave Kate a check-up, and I'll know if he didn't do that first."
Sam let out a light scoff, "Her obstinacy is rubbing off on you."
Dean huffed a quiet chuckle, "You can talk."
Sam looked down at Kate. It hurt him to know that she was silently dying in his arms right now. He wanted to believe that stepping out of the boat will save her; he had to believe it.
"She'll be fine," Sam declared, not whispering this time around.
Dean looked up at him, and he was surprised to see another expression in his brother's eyes. It was determination to make his words happen. It was determination and certainty that these words would come true. And it was all he needed to be reassured that she would be saved.
A second wave of shiver ran through their bodies.
Once it was over, Sam and Dean exchanged a look and a firm nod that said everything that needed to be said.
With his jaw set, Dean pulled the door open, and fired right away at two of the three demons.
The third demon was taken care of by Matt who was shooting from the little cabin.
Sam held Kate closer to his chest and ran out of the boat. With salt rock bullets shooting in the air, he went straight towards the Impala. He froze mid-way when he heard growling behind him. He turned around and saw nothing, but he knew full well what that sound was. He turned and his eyes rounded when he saw a massive dark shadow with the shape of a deformed dog.
He frowned as he realized that the shape wasn't attacking him, and then he understood. It was all Maya's work. Without thinking twice, he went back to running to the black car.
Up in the cabin, Maya took a shotgun to fire alongside Matt. She had casted a spell to throw a heavy black cover on the invisible beasts; a cover that would make their shapes visible and that would especially make them unable to move. Thanks to her spell, everyone knew that there was only one hellhound in the vicinity.
Dean saw the dark shadow next to Sam and Kate, and he immediately shot it. A demon took opportunity of that moment to leave its meat-suit and swirl towards the boat. When Dean saw the red smoke coming towards the door, he cursed under his breath as he quickly stepped back and pushed the iron door closed.
The red smoke immediately went up to the little cabin and it passed right by Matt and Maya before it made its way to the rooms downstairs. Maya instantly feared for her mother who was alone, so she quickly left Matt on his own.
"Maya!" Matt shouted after her before he felt shiver run through him. He understood that the protection field was back on so he went after Maya, without paying attention to what was happening on the harbor as he was convinced that Sam and Kate had made it to the car.
But, Sam was only opening the Impala's door at that moment.
One of the two demons kneeling in pain on the floor, turned her head to Sam and smirked.
She immediately used their mojo to open the door of a red shipping container, and with the wave of the hand she threw Sam and Kate flying through the open door.
Sam landed on his back in a loud thump and a groan of pain. Kate, half-unconscious on top of him, let out a little moan at the sudden movement.
The demon waved her hand again and the door shut closed, trapping the two hunters inside the container.
The female demon stood up, watching the container with a devilish smirk.
"He got in," the male demon said, standing up with a grunt as he stared at the boat.
"Did he?" She asked, her attention glued to the shipping container.
"It's Sam Winchester in there, isn't it?" The male demon said as he noticed the way she stared at the container. The female demon's smirk grew bigger. "Maybe we should call… Um, you know who."
The female demon snapped her head around to him. "Now that he's stuck in the boat, you wanna betray –"
"Wasn't it the plan?"
"It is… But, first, I wanna have fun," she replied, turning her pitch black eyes back to the container. "And, then, we'll call Daddy."
Sam swiftly lifted Kate off him to settled her on the floor before quickly going over to the door. He pushed it with all his strength but it remained closed. He tried again and again, but it was all in vain.
He pulled his flashlight out of his jacket's pocket and lighted around. Although the container seemed quite big from outside, Sam realized that it was pretty little on the inside; about 14 feet in length and 8 feet in width. There was a couple of big wooden boxes in one corner that took up third of the room, but aside from that the room was empty. He aimed the flashlight at Kate and went to crouch next to her.
"Katie?" He murmured, putting a hand on her arm only to realize that she was still half-knocked out. He had hoped that she would be up on her feet the moment they left the boat.
In one movement, he pulled his cellphone out of his pocket to make the call. He stopped abruptly when he saw the words written on his phone's screen;
No signal.
He cursed under his breath.
He looked down at the brunette and sighed.
"I'm gonna get us out of here," he promised.
He stood up, slipped his phone back in his pocket, and went back to the closed door. With the flashlight he studied the door. There was no lock to open the door from the inside. However, he couldn't give up like that. He had to find a way to get out before the demons outside figured that throwing the container in the ocean would be fun.
Maya ran down the stairs as fast as she could, nearly tearing the stitches on her back. But she didn't care. She had to get to her mother before the worst happened.
"Maya!" Matt shouted after her.
When the blonde huntress arrived in the main room, she abruptly stopped.
Her mother was standing in the middle of the room, her back facing her.
Gruntings coming from the left made her turn her head to that direction.
It was Dean; he was held against the wall, his feet not touching the floor.
The huntress turned her head back to her mother as she realized that what she feared the most was happening right before her eyes.
"What the…" Matt began as he arrived behind Maya.
The old woman turned around and smirked at them.
"Mom…" Maya breathed out.
"Oh, sorry, darling, mom is not here for the moment," the old woman replied, blinking to show her pitch red eyes.
Sam was still kicking and hitting at the door, trying desperately to open it, when Kate blinked her eyes open. The brunette was confused by the darkness surrounding her, the only light was coming from a flashlight laying on the floor a couple of feet away from her. She looked at it and followed what it aimed at, only to see that all the gruntings were coming from Sam who was hitting at what looked like a metallic door. She frowned and sat up with a groan, which caused Sam to turn to her.
"Katie," he rushed over to her, grabbing the flashlight on his way before he crouched down by her sides. "How're you feeling?"
"Um, fine," she replied and he rested his hand on her forehead while he held the flashlight low with his other hand so that they could see each other.
"You don't have a fever anymore," he remarked.
"I had a fever?"
"You were burning up," he replied, pulling his hand away. "One of the protection spells in Maya's boat was… It was killing you, so we had to get you out of there."
Kate's brow furrowed, "Okay… And where are we now?"
"In one of the shipping containers next to the Impala."
"What?"
"Matt, Maya and Dean stayed back on the boat, and they were distracting the demons from there," he started. "But, then… Then one of the demons flew us into here."
"You're speaking as though we're trapped in here, but they'll get us out of here. Dean and Matt –"
"No, Katie," Sam interrupted her in a sigh. "No. Right before we were thrown in here, I saw red smoke going…"
"Going where, Sam?"
"Going into the boat," he replied and Kate stared at him for a moment, her mouth agape as she realized the situation.
"So, we're trapped in here and they're trapped in there with a demon," she said in a little voice.
Suddenly, there was a loud noise from outside, as though something was being banged against the shipping container.
The noise echoed a second time.
Sam stood up and turned the flashlight to one wall of the container.
"What is it?" Kate asked.
"I don't know, but it seems to be coming from this side," he said and a couple of thumps echoed, louder this time and accompanied by a few little noises of banging.
Kate was going to stand up when she saw a large circle of light on the floor. She frowned in confusion as she followed where it came from. There was a hole in one of the four top corners of the container.
"Sam," she began, standing up.
Sam turned to her, aiming the flashlight at her. She pointed at the hole through which the light came from.
"Why would the demons make a hole from the outside?" Sam wondered out loud.
Right at that moment a large object came in the hole, obstructing the light from coming in. Sam lifted his flashlight at it as Kate and he took two steps closer, trying to see what the object was when a sudden flow of ice-cold water flew in through it.
"What the fuck?" Kate exclaimed as they both leapt back.
Sam looked at the water and then moved the flashlight around the room.
It wasn't a very big room, and above all, there was no way out.
"I think I know what they're doing," he stated, causing Kate to turn to him.
"What do you mean? What are they doing?"
"Katie, they're filling up the container… They're gonna drown us."
Author's note:
I must be the most horrible fanfiction writer that ever was.
I am so sorry for leaving you with no update for so long. I have no excuse, except that life happened; life with all its ups and downs, and all its unforeseen events!
But, I'm back.
I hope you enjoyed this new chapter. Please don't hesitate on telling me what you thought about it. What did you think of Sam, Dean, Kate and Matt in this chapter? Oh and what did you think of Maya? Do you like her? Hate her? Don't care about her? What do you think about the beginning of the chapter? The ending? The middle?
Also, thank you for all the people who kept on reading my stories even when I was MIA. Thank you for your reviews and your personal messages. Thank you for putting my stories in your favorites, thank you for following them and for following me!
Thank you very much for those who have stuck around all along no matter how long I take to update! Your loyalty and your support mean the most to me. I will do my very best to make you proud for not giving up on me.
Again, Happy Thanksgiving!
A.