|November 13th, 2008|
From where he sat, a beer in hand, Dean admitted that Alex had skill when it came to scamming men out of their money. She was also damn good when it came to playing the game of pool. Despite the scar on her face, she did a good job of luring guys in and convincing them to play against her, betting high prices.
And then she shot them down by beating them and taking all of their money.
Finally, after she'd gained enough, she bid them farewell and sidled over to Dean, her eyes glowing as she handed him a stack of nearly a grand. "There. One thousand American dollars, which later needs to be split among the three of us. Got it, Winchester? No keeping it all to yourself!"
"Yes, ma'am," Dean replied, tucking the money away. She dropped into a seat beside him and stole his beer right out of his hand. He glared, but she ignored him and merely chugged the rest of it. "Thanks. Didn't want it anymore."
She beamed and slammed the empty bottle down. "No problem."
Sam shook his head across the table from her and she flashed him a grin, baring her teeth. "Want to see a magic trick, Sam? I can make your beer vanish, too."
"No, no, don't take my beer, please," Sam sighed, making a face and taking a drink of it. "And stop taking Dean's. That's the fourth one tonight and I think he's going to explode if he doesn't get his alcohol."
Dean was glaring at Alex furiously, but she only shrugged, looked him in the eye and said, "And I'm going to take it again, because he doesn't-" She cut off, head snapping around, a growl spilling from her lips. Her nose wrinkled. She could smell sulfur, but she couldn't tell where it was-
There.
"Alex?" Dean muttered as she threw herself away from the table, scowling and Sam stood swiftly when he found what Alex had seen. He trailed after her and left in the dust, Dean finally climbed to his feet and followed suit.
"Hey," Sam greeted as they stepped outside and found himself face-to-face with a dark-haired Ruby. Her eyes flashed as Alex just stood there and growled at her, and Dean scowled.
"Well," Dean said, "You've got a lot of nerve showing up anywhere near me."
"I just have some info," Ruby sighed, rolling her eyes. "And then I'm gone."
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"I'm hearing a few whispers." Alex snorted in disbelief and Ruby propped a hand on her hip, leaning her weight onto one foot. "A girl named Anna Milton escaped from a locked ward yesterday and the demons seem pretty keen on finding her. Apparently, some real heavy hitters turned out for the hunt."
"Why?" Sam questioned, frowning. "Who is she?"
"No idea," Ruby replied with a shrug. "But I'm thinking that she's important, 'cause the order is to capture her alive." Her eyes flashed. "I just figured that whatever the deal is, you might want to find this girl before the demons do."
"Actually," Dean said icily before they could get another word in, "We're working a case. But thanks." Sam and Alex looked at him in confusion, both just as bewildered. "We've got leads, big leads. And it ain't goose-chasing after some chick who, for all we know, doesn't even exist. Just because you say she's important."
Ruby's face darkened. "I'm just delivering the news, dumbass. Do whatever you want with it. Far as I'm concerned, I told you. I'm done."
"Wait, wait, wait," Sam said hastily, stepping forward. "The hospital she escaped from...it got a name?"
The next day found a grouchy Alex lying at Dean's feet with a vest on, her nose working a mile a minute as she tried to sort through the smell of sulfur. Sam and Dean spoke with a psychologist, Dean cranky over the fact that they were here and talking to said man.
"The orderly has no recollection of Anna's escape?" Sam asked carefully, a notepad in hand to write down information he found important.
"She knocked him unconscious," the psychologist answered. "The blow caused some amnesia. He doesn't even remember coming into her room."
"That's a hell of a right hook to knock out a guy that's got eighty pounds on her," Dean commented snidely. Alex huffed in annoyance at his attitude and then sneezed several times, earning a bewildered look from the psychologist.
"I don't understand why the FBI has a working canine," he muttered, but returned to the matter at hand. "We think she may have planned this, waited behind the door."
"Right." Sam glanced at Alex when she didn't stop sneezing, making a small gesture to his brother. "You mentioned her illness was recent?"
The psychologist nodded curtly. "Two months ago, Anna was a happy, well-adjusted woman with a journalism major and lots of friends. She had a bright future ahead of her - uh, is your dog alright?"
Alex growled, agitated. She sneezed again and again, rubbing at her nose to try and stop it, and Dean finally knelt down to help. "Yeah, she's fine. Must be the sanitation. Uh, did she just...flip?" Lowering his voice, he hissed, "What the hell, Alex?"
She growled and sneezed in his face.
"That's the tragedy of schizophrenia," the psychologist said gravely. "Within weeks, Anna was overtaken by delusions...she thought demons were everywhere." He paused to pick up a sketchbook that had been placed on the bed they stood beside, handing it to Sam. "It's not uncommon for our patients to believe that monsters are real."
"Isn't that just batty," Dean said from his place on the floor. Alex sneezed again, and whined pathetically, scrubbing at her nose in hopes that the sulfur would leave it. Dean stood to look at the sketchbook with his brother and furrowed his brow. "That's Revelations."
"Well, Anna's father was a church deacon," the psychologist explained. "When she became ill, her paranoia took on religious overtones. She was convinced that the devil was about to rise up and end the world. I hope you find her...it's so dangerous for her to be out there alone right now…"
"We will," Sam said firmly. "Trust us." He handed the sketchbook back and then glanced down when Alex sneezed. "We'll get out of your hair. Thank you for the information." He waved for Dean to follow and together they left, Alex hurrying after them with several more sneezes flying from her.
"Are you okay?" she was asked by a cackling Dean. It earned him a nasty look as she paused to try and desperately rub the smell of sulfur from her nose, all while hatefully glaring at him for his mocking.
After a quick stop at Anna's parents' home in which they discovered that both her mother and father had been murdered, the trio of hunters came up with a possible location of where Anna might be.
Alex gave the church a distasteful look as she climbed out of the car, dressed in a pair of jeans, a T-shirt, and her leather jacket. A pair of sturdy boots had been yanked on, a pistol hidden in the waist of her jeans at the small of her back. She nudged the Impala's door shut and waited patiently until Sam and Dean were ready before following them inside.
"You're not looking too happy," Sam commented as they ducked inside, his own weapon drawn and ready.
Alex gave him a long look. "Sam, any angel we've come across has been a complete and total twat that can go die in a bloody hole. Who do they look to in a church like this? You guessed it. Their bloody Father. So excuse me for not being happy about coming into a church." She paused. "And it kind of makes skinwalkers uncomfortable."
"Huh. Noted." Dean cleared his throat, gesturing to a flight of stairs. They climbed it and when they reached the top, where a beautiful stained glass window was set, they paused. Alex signaled to her companions that someone was there and Sam and Dean hastily put their weapons away as Sam called Anna's name gently.
"We won't hurt you," Sam told her kindly as a woman reluctantly emerged, eyes frightened. "We're here to help. I'm Sam. This is my brother, Dean, and our friend Alex-"
"Sam?" Anna whispered, pressing her lips together. "Not Sam Winchester?"
Sam looked stunned. "Uh, yeah?"
"And...you're Dean. The Dean? And Alexandriana Montgomery?" Her eyes took on a frightened look as she studied Alex and Alex had to fight the urge to shiver beneath Anna's sharp gaze. "You're the Soldier?"
"I suppose," Alex said slowly, bewildered.
"It's really you," Anna gasped, her hand covering her mouth. "The angels talk about you," she added, looking at Dean. "You were in Hell, but Castiel pulled you out and some of them think you can save us - both of you," she added with a look Alex didn't quite understand. "They talk about you two all the time lately...I feel like I know you."
"You talk to angels?" Alex said stiffly, not entirely pleased with this development.
"Oh, no," Anna said hastily. "No, no way! Um, they probably don't even know I exist," she explained with a laugh. "I overhear them." She tucked a red lock of hair behind her ear. "They talk and sometimes I just...hear them in my head."
"Are you hearing them now?" Dean asked, frowning. This woman wasn't insane like everyone else had thought. In no way was she insane, not if she knew without pre-mentioned facts about them. And only the angels had referred to Alex as some sort of soldier.
"Not right this second, but a lot. I can't shut them out." Anna shivered. "There are so many of them."
"So they locked you up because they thought you had schizophrenia," Sam said slowly, "But you were really just tuning in to angel radio? Anna, when did the voices start? Do you remember?"
"September 18th," she replied hesitantly.
"The day I got out of Hell," Dean muttered in realization.
"The first words I heard, clear as a bell, were 'Dean Winchester is saved.'," Anna told him, and he shuddered.
"What do you think?" he asked the other two.
Alex shrugged her shoulders and chewed on her lip. "It's above us, Dean, we don't know what's going on with anything when it comes to angels," she said quietly. She silently wondered what Anna knew about Barachiel, but said nothing.
"At least we know why the demons want you so bad," Dean said thoughtfully. "They get a hold of you, they can hear everything the other side's cooking. You're their direct phone line to Heaven."
Anna shook her head, grimacing. But suddenly, she gasped. "Hey! Do you know...are my parents okay? I didn't go home, I was afraid."
Though suspicious of the girl before them, Alex felt sympathy. She opened her mouth to answer, but before she could someone flew up the stairs in a hurry. She reached for her gun, but paused when they realized it was Ruby. Her eyes were wild as Anna cried out about her face and Sam reassured her that she was a friend. "You got the girl. Good, let's go. We have to hurry!"
"Why?" Alex growled, the sound rumbling deep in her chest. Anna blinked, having not expected it.
"Because a demon's coming," Ruby said, voice rising. "A big timer. We can fight later, Dean," she added when Dean scowled.
"That's pretty convenient," he drawled. "Showing up right when we find the girl with some bigwig on your tail?"
"I didn't bring him here," Ruby said, throwing her hands in the air. "You did! He followed you from the girl's house! We've got to-"
"Dean," Sam said hoarsely. He pointed to a statue nearby. Anna gasped when they realized that blood dripped from its eyes like tears." He grabbed Anna's arm and pulled her out of the main part of the room, nudging her into a closet that he'd caught sight of. His eyes were firm as he ordered her to stay hidden.
Alex yanked her blade free. "This is bloody ridiculous. Stupid angels. Bah!" She spat, looking more like a feline than a canine as she bristled at Dean's smirk. She scowled however when Ruby scoffed at Sam pulling out a flask of holy water.
"No, this isn't the time. You've got to pull him right away." Ruby narrowed her pretty eyes at Dean, glaring when he outright said no. "Now's not the time to bellyache about Sam going dark side. He does his thing and exorcises that demon or we-"
There wasn't time to finish discussing the matter. The doors to the church flew open and within moments, a demon had climbed the stairs to stand before them. The holy water slid from Sam's fingers as he threw a hand up in attempt to exorcise him, but it did no good, and the demon threw its head back to laugh. "That tickles." He gave Sam a cruel look. "You don't have the juice to take me on, Sam." He suddenly threw Sam to the side. Sam struck the ground with a gasp, the breath driven from him, and Alex ducked behind a statue with a pounding heart, the smell of sulfur stuck in her nose.
"Hello again, Dean," the demon purred after overpowering the eldest Winchester. Dean's head snapped around when Ruby suddenly yanked Anna from her hiding place, the woman screaming. "What, don't you recognize me? Oh, I forgot. I'm wearing a pediatrician. But we were so close in Hell."
"Alastair," Dean croaked. Alex slunk past the statue, blade clasped tightly in her hand, but Sam beat her to the punch, lunging at Alastair and picking up the demon blade at the same time. He plunged it into Alastair, but he only laughed.
Alex shivered.
This was one powerful demon. She backed away towards the stairs they'd climbed and then fled down them, her lips pressed together. She doubted the blade she held could do much good.
"You're going to have to try a whole lot harder than that, son," Alastair laughed, pulling out the knife.
Sam fisted a hand in Dean's shirt, dragging him back towards the stained-glass window that Anna had drawn so long ago. Alastair studied the knife and then tossed it aside. "Come on, boys, is this all you've got?"
Dean took one look at Alastair.
And then he flung himself and Sam through that beautiful window.
"Bloody hell," Alex said darkly as she carefully sutured a cut on Sam's arm, her blue eyes full of annoyance. He hissed in pain. "You idiots jumped out of a window."
"You've said that like eighty times, Alex," Dean gritted down, clutching his arm. "Are you almost done?"
"I'm going as fast as I can," she retorted. "I'm not the one who jumped out a window! Let the smart person work!"
"Well, you know, just got a dislocated shoulder." Dean's voice cracked in pain as he paced back and forth. He stopped to grab the bottle of alcohol Alex had been using to clean Sam's wound. He chugged half of it and then handed it over when Alex waved for it. She poured it over the wound and Sam swore under his breath.
"I'll pop it in now, move," Alex huffed. "I didn't expect to be caring for a pair of six foot tall babies when I signed up for hunting with the Winchesters." Of course, she hadn't expected a lot of what had come…
"You lost the magic knife," Dean muttered to his brother as Alex rubbed her hands together.
"Yeah, saving your ass," Sam retorted, examining the neatly stitched injury. "Who the hell was that demon?"
"No one good," Dean said grimly. "We've got to find Anna."
"Ruby's got her," Sam said reassuringly. "I'm sure she's okay."
"Alright, you big baby. Three-" Alex forced Dean's shoulder back into place with a sudden jerk and he yelped, swearing just as badly as his brother had. Grimacing and rubbing the spot, Dean glared at her and she glared right back. "What?" she challenged. "Honestly, Winchester. It's going to hurt. I didn't make it worse than it was."
Ignoring that comment, Dean rolled his shoulder despite Alex telling him not to and huffed, "Are you sure about Ruby? 'Cause I think it's just as likely that she used us to find radio girl and then brought that demon in to kill us, Sam."
"I'm with Dean on this," Alex piped in. "She's a demon, Sam. They aren't going to randomly just start helping us out."
"You're always with Dean on things like this," Sam said with somewhat of a pout. "Anyways, I'm sure. She took Anna to keep her safe."
"Then why hasn't she called to tell us where she is?" Dean challenged.
"Because that demon is probably watching us right now, waiting to follow us right back to Anna again," Sam retorted with a scowl, bothered by the way they kept challenging his thoughts. "That's why he let us go. Look, killing us would've been no problem to that thing. That's why, for now, we just have to lay low and wait for Ruby to contact us."
"How's she gonna do that?" Alex demanded in exasperation. "Why the bloody hell do you trust a demon so much, Sam?"
"I already told you," he huffed.
"You've got to do better than that," Dean muttered, running a hand down his face. "And I'm not trying to pick a fight here. I really want to understand, but I need to know more before I can, Sammy."
Sam looked his brother in the eye and said quite firmly, "Because she saved my life."
"Excuse me?" Alex said, raising an eyebrow.
"After you left," he began, waving her bothered look off, "I went out and got drunk. Ruby showed up with some other demon and attacked me. Don't look like that," he added when Dean scoffed. "She killed the other demon and we left. I was just trying to use her to get Dean out...she sucked up to Lilith to show back up and whatever. So when I found out I had no use for her, I dumped her on the side of the road. I told her to get out of the person she was in. She did what I told her to do and then left to go and find a new body. I took the woman she'd been riding home.
"She showed back up a few days later," he continued, "With the body of a coma patient. She's technically still unconscious I guess. I don't even know if her soul's there or in Heaven or Hell. She said that she couldn't bring Dean back, but she could do something else for me. She wanted to use my abilities and said I could get Lilith with them. I was outright ready to go and do it."
"Don't I feel loved," Alex said bitterly. "You cut up my face and then left to hang out with a demon."
"I didn't cut up your face, Alex," he protested.
"You caused it," she retorted. "Close enough."
"Anyways, the first thing I learned was that I'm a crappy student. We caught a demon and I couldn't...well, you know. I had to practice, but it wasn't working. I...She said that she remembered what it was like to lose someone and that she was sorry."
"She's dead and been a demon for centuries," Alex muttered under her breath, earning a glare from Sam.
"Are you going to keep interrupting me?" he demanded. "'Cause I can stop right there."
"She's shutting up," Dean promised, shooting the grouchy skinwalker a sharp look. She rolled her eyes but pressed her lips together. "Anything else?"
"Uh…" Sam faltered now. Alex's eyebrows rose when he admitted, "We had sex."
"Excuse me?" Dean said with a blank look. There was a few moments of silence. Alex made a sound of disapproval, but Dean finally just said, "Sam?" He looked at Dean expectantly, grimacing. "Too much information."
"I was just coming clean like you wanted," he replied.
"Yeah, but now I feel dirty. Uh, brain-stabbing imagery aside… All you've told us about the thing is that Ruby's a manipulative bitch who...uh, well, screwed you, played mind games with you, and did everything in the book to get you to go bad."
"I can't believe you shagged a demon," Alex muttered, furrowing her brow. "I mean, I know humans aren't all into shagging the rest of us supernatural creatures, but really, Sam? You chose a demon?"
Ignoring her, Sam scowled and continued his story.
"After a while, I put together some signs. Omens. I found where Lilith was, and I wanted to strike her first. Ruby said it was a bad idea, warned me that it was practically a kamikaze attack. She accused me of not wanting to survive the fight and said that you wouldn't have wanted me to do it," he admitted to Dean. "I went in anyways. There was a girl...she wanted to go home.
"I was ambushed. Lilith apparently couldn't make it and Ruby helped me out, killing one of them and ordering me to take the girl and go. I got the girl out and then went back and helped her and we got out of there pretty quickly after that.
"Ruby came back for me." Sam sat back, his eyes locked on them. "Whatever you have to say...she saved me. More than that, she got through to me when you couldn't, Alex, when Bobby couldn't. She said things that you would have said, Dean. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't be here."
Alex said nothing, only made a low sound in her throat and snapped her gaze away from him, agitated. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and a woman called, "Housekeeping!"
"Not now!" Dean replied.
"Sir," the maid retorted in an odd voice. "I've got clean towels."
Dean groaned and made his way over to the door. He opened it to tell the maid to leave - only for her to shove past him with a cart, her eyes fiercely glaring. "Couldn't you leave 'em at the door?" Dean muttered.
"I'm at this address," the maid replied, smacking a paper into Sam's fingers. He jolted in surprise, demanding to know what she was talking about. "Go now, through the bathroom window. Don't stop, don't take your car, don't pass go. There are demons in the hallway and in the parking lot."
Alex wrinkled her nose. The cracked door had let air fill the room, air filled with the scent of sulfur. "Ruby?" she muttered.
"Okay, yes," she huffed, hands on her hips. "So I'm possessing this maid for a hot minute. Sue me." They gave her a horrified look and she rolled her eyes. "Coma girl is slowly rotting on the floor back at the cabin I'm in with Anna, so I've got to hurry. See you when you get there." They didn't move. "Go!"
She left out the open door and the three hunters exchanged long looks before Sam scampered for the bathroom with Dean and Alex not far behind.
"Glad you could make it," Ruby said as she let them into the cabin she'd brought Anna to. It earned her a nasty look from the cranky skinwalker. Alex stalked past her and found Anna quickly, asking if she was okay.
"I'm fine for now," Anna said quickly, serious. She smiled reassuringly at Alex. "Ruby's not like other demons. She saved my life."
"I hear she does that," Dean huffed. "I guess I owe you for...Sam," he added with a reluctant look at Ruby. "I just wanted to...you know…"
"Don't strain yourself," she replied, but looked pleased.
"Okay, then. Moment over?" She nodded. "Good, 'cause that was awkward."
"Sam!" Anna suddenly gasped, turning her gaze on the tall Winchester when he ducked inside. A hopeful look entered her eyes as she pleaded, "Would it be safe to make a quick call to my parents? To let them know I'm okay? They must be completely freaked."
No one said a word and Anna narrowed her eyes. "What? What's wrong?"
"I'm sorry," Alex said softly, touching her arm. "I'm sorry, Anna, I know it hurts…"
Anna looked heartbroken. "They...they can't be… Why is this happening to me?"
"I don't know," Sam said gravely.
Her tears vanished suddenly and she shuddered. "They're coming."
"Back room," Dean ordered and Sam hastily led her away when Ruby told them where to go. Ruby questioned the location of the demon knife and Dean grunted. She glared. "Hey," Dean huffed, "Don't look at me. It's his fault."
"Thanks a lot," Sam retorted, scowling.
"Don't they have impeccable timing?" Alex said sarcastically and then whirled on her heel, blade yanked out as the doors of the cabin flew open. Her jaw dropped when Castiel and Uriel stepped in, their faces grave and fierce.
"Please tell me you're here to help," Dean said hopefully, "We've been having demon issues all day."
"Well, I can see that," Uriel said with a look of disgust, curling a lip at Ruby. "You want to explain why you have that stain in the room?"
Castiel turned his sharp blue eyes on Alex. "We're here for Anna," he said with his voice leaving no room for argument.
"Here for her how?" was the response he received from Sam.
"Stop talking," Uriel ordered. "Give her to us?"
"Are you going to help her?" Alex demanded, scowling at Uriel and earning a hateful look back.
"No," Castiel said with a sigh, his eyes filling with disapproval when he looked at Uriel.
"No. She has to die."
Shorter chapter. I cut out a lot apparently. Thanks to the reviewer (Trench gun!) as well as any who favorited and followed!