Disclaimer: I do not own the concept or characters from the show "Supernatural." Any other characters not related to the show or the Nightwold series, however, are mine and are not to be used in any other fan fictions. Some concepts were also borrowed or loosely adapted from L.J. Smith's "Nightworld" and "The Vampire Diaries" series. This fan fiction starts a week after "Lazarus Rising" and this chapter has information on the episodes up until 11/30/08. I will not include any spoilers for future episodes of Season 4 until they are released on TV. This is the third story in my trilogy: "Possession" and "Broken."
She was in a bright field. No, it wasn't a field, it was a grassy sand dune. Abby squinted from the bright sun as she soaked in the surroundings. The soothing sound of ocean waves sounded down the hillside. She inhaled the fresh smell of the sea. The black and white striped lighthouse stood as still as a statue. The lighthouse…she recognized it.
'Why am I in St. Augustine,' she asked herself.
'Because this is where you want to be.'
The voice in her head was so familiar and yet so foreign. It was one she had not heard in a very long time. She seemed to have turned in slow motion, not wanting to see who she knew was behind her. He smiled at her, his brown hair down to his dark eyes. She looked him up and down, curious as to why he was wearing a white linen shirt and khaki pants.
"James," she hesitated. He nodded and smiled at her.
Like she was one with the wind, she ran to him. He took her into his arms, lifting her easily off the ground.
"I missed you so much," she murmured into his shoulder.
"And I you," he laughed. She found her footing as he placed her back onto the ground.
"What are you wearing," she asked with a smirk, her eyebrow raised playfully.
"Why do you ask," he grinned.
"I don't know, it's not really you. You know, there's no black," she playfully hit his shoulder. "But you look good."
"So do you," he smiled.
She looked down to herself, seeing the layers of white linen down to her bare feet. With a graceful turn, she faced a tidal pool so clear should could see herself as if it were a mirror. She looked the same but different; if possible, she felt even more beautiful. She shifted, the perfect white dress moving with her gracefully and perfectly over her curves. It was all too surreal.
"Where is this place? But how can this happen, James? You're…"
"Deceased," he grinned before his face faltered.
"Abigail," a voice said on the breeze. Her chest tightened. That sweet voice was one she hadn't heard in a very long time. She turned towards the ocean, seeing a familiar silhouette walking up the sand. Abby didn't need to see her face to know who she was. With a vampire sprint, she ran to her, sweeping her up into her arms.
"Mother!"
"Oh, my sweet Abigail," she whispered, kissing her daughter on the cheek.
"I'm sorry, Mother. I'm so very sorry for everything…"
"Shh," she consoled. "There's nothing to be sorry about. I love you, my dear daughter. Nothing could ever change that." Abby stared into her mother's eyes. Their eyes matched from the shades of grey to the deepest black. Her mother had always been pale with deep black hair, the highlights shining blue in the sun. To her, she had been the most beautiful woman in the world. Nothing had changed.
"Your Mother is right," his voice chimed as he came over the dune.
"Father," she called, jumping into his strong arms.
"My sweet girl," he said as he swung her around in the circle of his arms. She kissed his cheek, giggles of joy escaping her throat as she was spun around.
"Father, please, I'm getting dizzy," she laughed. He stopped and set her down. Abby's eyes met his dark blue, shining eyes. She brushed back his dark mahogany hair out of his face. He smiled warmly down at her with pride. How could he possibly be proud of her?
"We missed you," he chuckled.
"I missed you all as well," she said, wrapping an arm around each of her parents.
She looked back to James, now smiling, holding onto a little girl's hand.
"James, is Grace with you?"
Abby thought she would cry as she saw Mercy running towards him. He smiled at his sister, nodding, before turning around to kiss his wife. She hadn't seen him that happy in a long time. And there he was, reunited with his wife and daughter.
The little girl with blonde ringlets and dark eyes approached her and curtsied.
"Nice to meet you Aunt Abigail," she said politely.
"It's nice to finally meet you as well, Grace," Abby said, bending down to give her a hug. "And it's nice to see you again as well, Mercy."
Her sister-in-law smiled down at her as she clung to James' side.
"What is everyone doing here," Abby finally asked, standing up surrounded by her family.
"We knew you were going to come here, so we wanted to welcome you," her mother said. "And, we have some other visitors." Her mother pointed down the beach to a couple down by the lighthouse.
The man and woman approached the family, the woman appearing open and friendly while the man seemed very guarded.
"Hello," the blonde woman greeted with a warm smile. "I'm Mary Winchester. It's so nice to finally get to meet you, Abby."
"Oh my God," Abby stammered. "You're Mrs. Winchester…as in Dean and Sam's mom?"
"That's me," she smirked, her eyes shining brightly. "And please, call me Mom." She winked at her.
"Oh…but we're not mar-"
"Probably for the best," the man said.
"John," Mary scolded. "Excuse his manners. You know that we were both hunters…he's having a little trouble with Dean falling for a vampire."
"Oh, no. I totally understand," Abby agreed. "I didn't know what the heck was going on at first either!"
"So, have you finally decided which one of my boys you're going to be with," John asked smugly, his eyebrow raised.
"I guess I had that one coming," she said shyly.
"John," Mary scolded, hitting her husband in the gut. "That was not nice."
"What," John retorted. "She's the one who went and slept with them both."
"You know why that happened, John. I can see that you care about both of the boys well-being. And I can also see how deeply you love my son," she smiled at Abby. "He's very lucky to have you."
"I'm very lucky to have him," Abby said. Mary approached her and gave her a hug.
"I never thought he'd want to get married," she smirked at Abby, "But you changed his mind. That's a miracle in and of itself. And my grandchildren are just…precious."
"You can see them?"
"Anytime we want. We've been keeping a closer eye on them as of late," she said.
"You know, we have to, since you let Sam take them," John stated.
"Dean and I will get them back. I promise. And we'll save Sam too. I have faith."
She stared down her future father-in-law with intent and realized why people and creatures alike had been intimidated by John Winchester. He was indeed menacing. But, with her promise, he nodded, accepting her word.
"Thank you," he said to her with a smile.
"Abby, we have to talk," James said behind her, pulling on her arm.
"It was nice meeting you," she said to the Winchesters. John nodded to her. Mary smiled and pulled her into her arms.
"Thank you for everything you've done for my sons. Will you tell them that I love them and I miss them. And will you give those three babies kisses from their grandparents?"
"Three," Abby asked, her mind confused.
"Let them know we send our love as well," Abby's mother said as she kissed her daughter. Her father then gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Always remember we love you, my Abby," her father said.
"Come Abby," James ordered, pulling on her arm more. She followed his lead, back over the dune, until they were alone.
"Jamie, what's going on," Abby asked her brother.
"Abby, you have to make a choice," his face fell. "Stay here or go back."
"What?"
"You're asleep, Ab. You lost a lot of blood to the point where you're in deep…as in coma deep. You can stay here with us, forever, or go back."
She glanced around at her surroundings; at her family. Abby hadn't felt that happy and at peace in a long time.
"Where's here," she questioned. "Is this like heaven or something?"
"This place is different for everyone."
"So, you were right…there is an afterlife for us," she asked, her eyebrow raised.
He shrugged. Maybe James was right even as a child, his knowledge was beyond his years.
"Do we have a soul, Jamie," she had asked with all seriousness.
He smiled that same reassuring smile to her, like he would for hundreds of years after. "Of course, Abigail. As long as we do good, we have a soul."
"What do you think I should do, James," she requested his advice.
"It's up to you, sister. But I will tell you have three beautiful children and a man that loves you waiting for you at home," he smiled.
"So what, you're on Team Dean now," she smirked.
"I asked him to take care of you…and besides a few incidents, he has."
"Why is everyone saying I have three kids," she asked him.
"You do, Abby. Help arrived and you had a baby boy," he smiled.
"I did," she choked up.
"He needs you. April and Dylan need you. As much as I want you to stay, they could do with you more. And Dean, he's practically lost without you. You keep him in line and focused. Go back to them," he said, hugging her.
"But where is the baby," she asked panicked.
"I can answer that."
She turned towards the unknown female voice. Behind her was a beautiful, red haired woman. It took her a minute for Abby to process her face. She finally came across it from her mental database. Not from her memories, but those of Dean. It was Anna.
"Castiel took him and they are performing an exorcism on your son," she said with a sad smile.
"So he's…he's a dem-"
"They're still not sure. If he is, the exorcism will help. Cas will take care of him until he can come back to you. You need to go back," she said. "Dean needs you now more than ever."
She smiled at the angel, who seemed somewhat unhappy in her radiance.
"Thank you," she said to the angel. Anna nodded back to her.
Abby turned towards her brother with a smile. With tears running down, she wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I love you, James. I'll miss you," she whispered.
"I love you too, Abigail. Take care of yourself. I'm so proud of you."
She pulled away with a smile.
"So, how do I get back," she threw her hands up.
Anna approached her with a warm grin and placed a hand on her head.
She gasped deeply as she came to. Her vision was blurry as she looked at the flow of color around her.
"Doc, she's awake," a female said.
"Abby, Abby can you hear me," he said, shining a light in her face.
"Ah, yeah, just stop shining that fucking light in my eyes," she slurred.
"I think she'll be just fine," the male doctor said.
"She sounds like that same ole Abby," the female giggled.
"Gwen?"
"Yeah. We've been waiting for you to wake up. You scared us for a while."
"Gwen, where's Dean," Abby said, looking around at the faces. She recognized them. Lenore, Gwen and Dr. Musgrove. The one face she was searching for wasn't there.
"He was here at your side for a long time, Abby," Lenore said, brushing back a strand from her face.
"Long time," Abby questioned.
"You've been out for almost a week," she stated.
Lenore told her about finding her under the water in the bloody bathtub. The three pulled her out, unable to get Abby to regain consciousness. Dr. Musgrove performed an emergency C-Section on the baby. He got him out just in time, and to his surprise, the baby was fine. It was at that moment that Dean and Castiel arrived at the cabin. Castiel immediately went to the child and took him away. Dean ran over to Abby, seeing her open and bleeding on the bathroom floor. He begged her to open her eyes as Dr. Musgrove sewed her up. He pleaded with the doc to help her. Dr. Musgrove offered help and said there were only a few things that he could do and they might not work. It was all up to Abby.
Dean had carried her to a bed in the other room and laid next to her for days at a time. He'd read to her, talk to her about mundane stuff, slept next to her.
"He told you that he loved you…a lot," she smiled at Abby. "He kept getting called on duty by Castiel. So he'd leave, do his job, and then drive all night to get back to you."
"Is that where he is now? On a job," Abby asked.
"Well, a lot has happened in a week, Ab," Lenore said sternly. "There's only two seals left. This is big. The war is almost at hand."
Abby pulled the blood IV out of her arm and started to get out of bed. Lenore caught her before she hit the floor. Gwen ran over to help her back in.
"No, I don't want to go lay down again!"
"Easy," Gwen urged. "You need your rest. It's a miracle that you're even up at all."
"Fuck that," Abby sneered. "Dean is out there facing this alone. I'm going to face it with him…for better or for worse."
Her two friends looked at her as she gave them a determined look. It was look that meant they need not counter her request because she wasn't going to back down. Nothing was going to stand between her and Dean. Nothing.
"I'll go get you some blood to drink," Gwen said. "You'll need your strength."
"Thank you," she nodded to her friend.
Abby now saw everything in her mind. No matter what, she was going to get Dean and the kids to safety. They were the top priority and her own well-being didn't matter. After all, she now knew what was on the other side…or maybe it was just all her mind playing tricks on her in sleep. Either way, she was willing to take the risk for her family.
