Hey y'all! So sorry for the long wait, this chapter has taken a long time to work through. Thanks for sticking with me!
Do enjoy this last official installment of the story...
"There are places I remember all my life, though some have changed. Some forever, not for better, some have gone and some remain."
Erica stirred as one of her least favorite Beatles songs played from her phone. After a few more verses, she sat up, realizing Dean must have changed her ringtone again. She made a mental note to change the presets in Baby later as revenge.
Opening her heavy eyelids to the faded green wallpaper that decorated the guest room, Erica fumbled to find the still-singing device. Old water stains raised the wood of the nightstand and pricked her fingers as she did so. A pleasant dream of Sam was still at the forefront of her mind. She reached behind to locate his sleeping form, landing her hand on the covers he'd bunched up between them when he got overheated in the middle of the night.
Briefly registering her father's name on the too-bright screen, Erica raised the cell phone to her ear. "Hello?" she whispered so she wouldn't wake Sam. She rolled over to detangle herself from the covers and saw Sam's side was vacant. She groaned silently. How were she and Sam supposed to have blissful morning sex if he was always out and about before the sun decided to rise in the sky?
"There's my sweet little killer." her father cooed. "Maureen, say hello to Erica." The phone fuzzed for a moment before her sister's loud voice came through the speaker. "Did you bring me a vamp head?" Maureen demanded.
"We were hunting Rougarous, Maureen. I don't think you want what's left of them." Erica replied, rising from the comfortable bed. She made her way out of the room, toes curling against the cold floor. Clear early morning sunlight snuck through cracks in the blinds creating lines on the tiled kitchen floor. Erica mused her dark hair in its lopsided bun and leaned against the counter as her free hand searched for a clean coffee mug in the tall cabinets.
"Ok, then maybe like a tooth or something." Maureen offered hopefully.
Erica laughed at how overenthusiastic Maureen was to begin hunting and pivoted to begin starting up a pot of entirely necessary caffeine. A piece of ripped out notebook paper right in front of the coffee machine caught her attention. All she could read from that distance were the familiar letters of her and Heather's names which were printed in large block letters. Her breath caught in her throat. When she finally forced oxygen into her airways again it felt as if a dull knife were being dragged down along with it.
"Heather and Erica,
We are sorry to leave like this. We should have the balls to say goodbye to your faces, but even writing this is impossibly hard. We want to thank you and wish you both the best of luck with your new jobs. We will-"
There was a smudge of ink before the note picked back up again with a simple "S & D" scribbled hastily to finish it off. They must have gotten called away with news from their newest hunt, Erica thought wryly to herself. She knew better than anyone how the life went. That didn't mean the pain diminished any.
"Erica? Ericaaaa!" Maureen sang into her ear, drawing her back into the conversation. Erica dully wondered how long her sister had been repeating her name.
"I…I'll call you back later. I have to deal with something," Erica replied briskly. Her voice was strained and barely audible.
Hanging up the phone, Erica set it and the empty coffee mug on the counter so she could cling to the cool marble surface for support. Chunks of loose waves hung in her face but she could not muster up the effort to move them. There was a hollowness in Erica's chest that she was certain had not been there while she'd hunted on her own before. Maybe it was due to the fact that she had opened up her heart to make room for the loyal and goofy Winchesters only to have them leave. She had woken up giddily ignorant only to find a note that made her world deteriorate around her. Erica longed to crawl back in bed, hide under the covers, close her eyes, and only wake up to see Sam grinning that wide and loving smile over her. Erica could not force her body to make even the smallest movements, however. She could not even form words to call out to heather.
All she managed was to shape the letter O, with her lips. Oh, of course they left like this. Oh, she completely understood why they'd done it. Oh, it's not like she would never see them again. They promised to visit. But the same hunter connection that let her relate to why they left nagged in the back of her mind: that they would not return. They would get caught up in some catastrophe, or they would forget all about the little, insignificant hunt they went on with two foolish southern girls, or they would never find a job near her. Worst of all, and Erica fought to shove this thought away, what if they chose not to come back?
Just as Erica was drowning in her own welling up of emotions, her phone flashed with a new text message. Sam's name temporarily disabled all bodily functions. Her hand moved unconsciously to open up the message. It held a picture. The one he'd taken last night of them. Erica hesitated before saving the picture and deleting the message.
She pushed herself numbly to her feet and made her way into Heather's room. The blonde girl was sprawled out on top of her covers with only a t-shirt to say for clothing. Kneeling beside the bed, Erica reached out and touched her friend gently. Hazel eyes blinked into focus through thick strands of disheveled blonde hair.
"Hey, Heat. You need to see something."
..
If biological clocks were supposed to tell you what time it was when waking up, then Heather's was out of batteries. It could've been afternoon for all she knew when Erica nudged her awake. Reaching for her rustic night stand, Heather knocked over a water bottle, two pens, and an old picture frame before finding the alarm clock. The red block numbers announced 8:15, much earlier than anyone in her condo should be awake.
Despite being groggy, Heather slowly sat up and waved lazily at her friend. Glancing to her right, she noted that Dean's side of the bed was empty. Erica was pushing her luck; she might have found the two of them precariously undressed.
"I shoulda known he'd go back for more beignets. He'll be buying out Café du Monde before long." she began, remembering the older Winchester's fondness for the sugar-smothered creations. Then, smiling at her own wit, she continued, "And what're you doing on your knees, E? Got some scandalous sins to repent for?"
The brunette's mouth made no move to crack a grin. Instead, she repeated her first statement. "You need to see something, Heather."
So she was playing the solemn-in-the-morning game. You'd think a safe night sleeping in a lover's arms would make any girl happy, but Erica was a hunter. They always have something to worry about.
"C'mon, can we not be so serious right as I wake up? You know I prefer to be cheery over breakfast."
Moving to her dresser, Heather slipped on a pair of sweatpants and ran a hand through her hair, effectively wiping the last bits of sleep from her mind. Her spine made a satisfying series of pops as she stretched backwards. Back muscles do get tight after a lot of arching.
Glancing in the mirror, she noticed Erica was still silent, just watching her. Introverts will be introverts, Heather supposed.
"I figured you would've made coffee already, E." She said conversationally as she made her way to the kitchen with Erica trailing behind. Various multicolored cups were strewn about, as well as some of the snack bowls from the previous night. A cleaning party would be in order for later in the day.
"I tried."
Heather laughed, overfilling the coffee pot and feeling the lukewarm water run down her hands. "Did you sneak half of my scotch last night? Is this a hangover talking?"
There was a deep breath from the woman behind her, accompanied by a long pause. "Heather, look, when I woke up I found…"
Heather was too busy with housekeeping to notice Erica's loss for words. She returned the TV remotes to their spot on the entertainment center, running her hand over the smooth wood to clear a thin film of dust away.
She did, however, quickly notice the absence of the telltale sounds of her other guests. "Is Sam not here either?" No answer. "Probably out running again. I guess that's what keeps him the fastest in our little group of hunters and gatherers."
She turned to wink at her friend, quite proud of her joke, but was only met with Erica's stern brown eyes and shaking voice.
"Would you listen to me for a goddamn minute?"
Startled, Heather finally paused and took a good look at Erica. Her dark hair had come loosened out of an updo; her eyes were hollow and somehow both full of emotion and yet also totally blank; and her thin gray jacket was disheveled over her slouched shoulders.
She looked…small. A faint shell of the content woman Heather had seen only the night before.
Her cheeks were pale as well, almost as white as her knuckles as they clutched a piece of paper between her fingers.
"Erica, what is it?" Heather broke the silence, nearly inaudible herself. She was already cringing in shame at having ignored her friend's obvious distress, but was now alarmed at what news she could possibly be bearing. "What happened? Are Sam and Dean –"
"Gone."
Gone.
"Gone?"
Erica nodded solemnly. "Slipped out while we were still asleep."
The maroon carpet was plush around Heather's bare toes. She rocked forward onto them before taking a few steps back to lower herself onto the couch. The gale-force thoughts whirling around her mind made it impossible to string together coherent sentences.
"They just…but we didn't…" she tried, voice as thin as the tightrope her emotions were balancing on.
Leaning back to heave a deep breath, Heather squeezed her eyes shut in an attempt to give her brain less outward things to focus on. The Winchesters weren't dead, as her first interpretation of gone had led her to believe. But that relief was soon replaced with confusion. Why? Frustration. How could they? Melancholy. No last few words? And an overwhelming urge to fall back asleep and redo the whole morning.
And so she sat there, silently sifting through words and phrases that could possibly convey her thoughts. The few that escaped were no more intelligent-sounding than the first. "Did they even…the sheets were so tangled…and they couldn't…they didn't even wake us up."
Warm hands closed around her own balled fists, and she opened her eyes to see Erica gingerly pushing her the crumpled note. "Read it, Heat. This is what I've been trying to show you."
Heather faintly grinned at her friend's gentle chiding, smoothing the edges of the paper as she scanned the scribbled lines of Sam's handwriting. They were a mild comfort, at least. But that last cutoff sentence felt very similar to the cliff over which Heather's gut plummeted after Erica's one-word delivery, gone.
And there was another element Heather had to consider. This had happened to her before, leaving after a passionate night, and she'd done it to others. Not the exact same situation of course, she corrected herself and bit back a small smile.
Cause there's nobody like Dean Winchester. No rivaling cheeky smirk and twinkling green eyes.
But a similar condition nonetheless. She'd had her hookups, be it one-night stands or the month-long friend with benefits. But either way it always ended with someone leaving for the last time, awkward or not. Heather was sometimes the one to last be seen strutting out a doorway with heels in tow, and she'd also been the one left to deal with an empty bed.
The empty bed.
She groaned as the image of Dean's vacant spot in the sheets harshly re-entered her mind, the weight of that emptiness bringing her head to rest in her hands. It now felt silly, how easily she had brushed off Dean being gone from the bed when really he was many miles down the interstate.
Erica's hand was on her again, a tender touch on her shoulder to ground Heather to the sunlit room. She heard the air conditioner click on down the hallway and the dripping of the faucet in the kitchen.
Heather lifted her head, locking gazes with her friend. "How are you taking it?" When Erica didn't answer right away, she added, "I mean, neither of us have thrown a temper tantrum yet."
That earned a small grin from the brunette. "I guess I understand it too much to be really mad."
"Hunters…" Heather nodded, willing herself to be as understanding as her friend. "I suppose real goodbyes would have made it hard to really leave at all?"
"Bingo. We would've had to see the Impala drive away and I'm positive even Dean would feel something if he had to watch us just stand on the curb." Erica offered.
The two let silence wash over them for awhile, sometimes glancing at the note as it lay on the coffee table. Then Heather stood and made her way to the kitchen, busying herself with hand-washing the dishes. Erica also distracted herself with chores, gathering linens to wash and straightening random pillows and furniture as she walked through the condo.
Heather was fiercely scrubbing a plate when Erica made it back into the kitchen, and she felt the need to explain herself. Setting the soapy ceramic aside, she said, "E, I promise you I'm not mad at them. I'm just…this isn't what I expected."
"I know. You'd think after wrestling alligators and killing Rous and everything else…" Erica trailed off, leaning against the counter next to her. "But they promised to visit. We're not moving to Sioux Falls for nothing."
Heather could tell that Erica was trying to convince herself, too.
"You know what we need? Exercise."
The afternoon sun came streaming in through the open living room windows, illuminating the dust dancing through the air as Heather walked in. She found Erica nestled in a large chair just out of reach of the warm beams, ankles crossed daintily despite the fact that she was cleaning her array of weaponry.
"Heat, didn't we just finish a hunt? The most dangerous exercise you can get?" The brunette slid the fore-end of her favorite shotgun for emphasis.
But Heather's neon running shoes were already laced and she was determined to get the two of them out of the condo. "Please, E? If anything, let's at least try to get some use out of the new workout clothes I'd planned to use over the summer."
Erica blew a tuft of hair out of her face, glancing at the hopeful eyes of her friend. "It's been awhile since we've had a run on the levee, hasn't it?"
"Just a few years."
It didn't take long for Erica to slip into a breathable tank and shorts to mirror Heather's. She stopped at the refrigerator before they skirted out the door, taking a long gulp of water and letting it cool her to the core. After she swallowed, she looked poignantly at Heather.
"Is this considered running from our problems?"
Heather shrugged while adjusting her headband. "Aren't we allowed to sometimes?"
The women waved at the doorman when they reached the bottom floor and paused to stretch on the sidewalk. A brief walking warmup brought them to the top of the levee right in front of Jackson Square, and for the first time in a long time they were mesmerized by the Mississippi River as it stretched its murky waters wide and deep.
Heather nudged her friend's shoulder. "How many times have we raced each other up here?"
A smile spread on Erica's face, the first genuine one she'd given all day. "Not enough times yet!" And she took off down the sidewalk.
Heather was only too happy to speed after the young hunter. They thundered along the pavement, footfalls in sync and a crisp wind billowing through their hair. Weathered benches and streetlamps flew by and only a few snippets of conversation could be picked up as they passed by groups of pedestrians.
Rougarous seemed far off in comparison to the strong bursts of orange and pink the clouds began displaying as the sun just began to set. So did the Impala and leather jackets and musty motel rooms and fake IDs. Instead, Heather focused on her breathing, steadily filling and emptying her lungs in time with her steps.
Erica also seemed blissfully zoned out as their pace evened out to a moderate jog. Sweat was prickling at their necks but did nothing to distract them from the therapeutic run. A flower shop came into view on their path, throwing out bright floral scents as they passed. The only brief stop was for Heather to retie her shoe while Erica tightened her braid; it wasn't half a minute before their legs were pumping again.
Neither girl knew the time, but eventually they slowed to a stop and collapsed onto a nearby bench, the old wood creaking under their sudden weight. The evening sun was sparkling against the river, making Heather shield her eyes as she took a sidelong glance at her friend.
"That was some damn good running, E."
There wasn't time for a response before Erica's phone rang shrilly. She heaved out a breath, but was still panting when she pulled the device from her sports bra and answered.
Heather giggled at the awed face of a young boy as he was startled by Erica's hiding place for her phone, but then the brunette nudged her elbow, saying "Yeah, Bobby, let me put you on speaker."
The gruff voice spoke with all due familiarity, starting with, "Why the hell are y'all out of breath? I know for a fact that the other idjits left this morning."
The girls shared a faint smile and Heather fiddled with Dean's ring that was still in its place on her right hand. "We have a lot on our minds that we wanted to clear for awhile. Running was just the ticket."
"Running? What, you got too bored for normal methods of relaxing? I know mine would be a cold six-pack and a Godfather marathon."
"C'mon, Bobby," Erica chided, "I'm sure you had a reason for this call besides making fun of us."
"Yeah, yeah. Y'all are the ones moving to me, after all. Get used to it." They all shared a laugh, then Bobby cleared his throat. "Look, the boys told me that during your goodbyes y'all never got the chance to clear out each other's numbers."
What goodbyes? Heather exhaled forcefully and Erica stared blankly ahead. But because she didn't want to launch into that discussion with the older hunter, and certainly neither girl wanted pity, Heather quickly jumped to her next question.
"What are we clearing out phone numbers for?"
"Safety." Erica answered, and Bobby grunted in approval. "Us having the Winchesters' numbers and vice versa would make us all targets for each other. The last thing we need is for a demon to find my number in Sam's phone and then come after us, right?"
It finally dawned on Heather how much faith she was gonna have to put into play for her move to Sioux Falls. Hopefully she'd get a good job at a good law firm, hopefully she'd be safe enough near Bobby, hopefully Dean would be back to visit her. But she wouldn't have any way to directly communicate with him, not to check in or see if he'd be in town soon or even to know if he was alive!
"That does make sense." was all that came out of her mouth.
"Which is why I've already taken care of it." Erica stated, picking up Heather's phone and showing that there was no Sam under her S contacts.
"Atta girl. I shoulda known better with you." Bobby complimented her, then directed his next words at the other woman. "Look, Heather, it's a normal hunter thing. You're about used to all that stuff by now, right?"
Heather wanted to say it's pretty hard to at this point, but instead she tried to come up with a joke to lighten the mood and avoid the question – a habit she'd picked up from her vanishing casanova.
Erica intervened with her own wit when her friend's silence stretched a moment too long, "Bobby, she still puts the civil in civilian."
"I was just messin'. But I am glad about that, she'll be normal enough to keep you sane."
The three chatted a little while longer, mostly Erica and Bobby making sure everything with Sheriff Mills and the Sioux Falls Police Department was going to go smoothly. The late-summer sky had faded to a deep blue twilight color and the streetlights were flickering with a faint hum when Bobby finally wrapped things up.
"I'll be keeping in touch with you ladies occasionally, alright? My house will be open to y'all whenever you get up here. I guess I'll just need a warning if you'll be coming over with my boys. That'll warrant me washing some sheets."
Erica rolled her eyes. "Bobby, we're all adults. You can stop with the vague sexual references. I'm sorry that we burdened you with that information in the first place."
With the call over, the two women decided it was time to make their way back to the fateful condo. Heather locked her arms around her chest as an unusually cool breeze blew past them. Erica rested a hand against her temple as she yawned, the full weight of the day finally coming to rest on their shoulders.
The rushing of the river provided ample background noise for their conversation. "You planning on visiting your family soon, E?"
The brunette nodded, her arms swinging loosely at her sides. "I'll be trying to spend as much time with them as possible before we move permanently so far away. My mom and dad will probably like me being stationary." A breathy laugh pushed its way out of her mouth. "It's gonna take every precaution known to man to make Maureen stay home and not move out with me. She'll think the policewoman idea is too awesome."
After a pause, she returned the question and then some. "And what are you gonna tell your parents? Anything about this hunt?"
Heather craned her neck to look behind them, watching darkness fall quickly around her hometown. "I'll have to tell my mom about Sioux Falls before I leave for Berkeley again. She'll probably be happy about South Dakota 'cause it's closer than California would have been." A mosquito buzzed by her ear and she swatted at it. "As far as the hunt goes…I'll tell her when I'm ready. She has to know eventually, but that's gonna take some working up to."
The following silence was missing something, and Heather finally realized that she hadn't covered all aspects of the question. "And my dad, E? You know he's never been around much. Haven't seen him since I turned twenty-one. I don't think the guy even knows I'm at Berkeley. He doesn't need to know about my hunting or moving."
Erica dipped her head, smiling ruefully. A stray pebble came into her path and she kicked it away. "And here I was thinking I'm the only one that could keep big secrets."
After a quick pit stop for some Chinese take-out, the two women collapsed onto the condo's couch, where only a day before they'd been reclining against Winchester shoulders – much broader and firmer than what the pillows could now provide.
After swallowing a mouthful of rice and chicken, Heather studied the drapes blowing against the open living room window. "So E, for that apartment we're gonna get in Sioux Falls, what color are you thinking for the curtains? Because I think a nice lavender would be good."
Erica could only laugh.
Ok so I didn't want to tell you at the beginning and spoil anything, but the gist of this chapter can be found in Michael Buble's song "Softly As I Leave You". It's a great, sad song, and I'd recommend rereading through the chapter with it playing!
(I guess I can go ahead and say y'all can be expecting an epilogue chapter at some point...)