Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or anything in it. Alexis is my original character.
Chapter 51: Begin Again
The two Harvelle sisters return around 5:25. "Now, you look about as exhausted as I feel, so I think it's safe to say we both need sleep."
Alexis nods. Now that she had her sister back, now that she knew her sister was safe, maybe she'd actually be able to sleep.
"But first, you're calling Sam."
"Do I have to?" Alexis asks, not entirely wanting to talk to either Winchester at the moment. "They'll find me. Eventually."
"Lex, call." Jo insists. She should've made her sister call before they'd even left for food. Sam, and Dean for that matter, had to be worried sick.
Alexis rolls her eyes and reaches for her phone. When she turns it on the missed call and new text notifications roll in, one after another. All in all, she had 39 missed calls and 27 unread texts. Most were from Sam, then Dean, then Arizona, a few from Bobby, and even a couple from Cas. According to the last text from Dean, he and Sam were on their way to Chicago. Reluctantly, she dials Sam.
**** Impala, parked at a gas station somewhere in Southern Minnesota ****
Just as Dean pops the tab on his Red Bull, something typically only Alexis did, he hears a phone ring. He recognized the ringtone immediately, it was the one Sam had set for Alexis. Seeing as Sam was still inside the gas station, Dean reaches over and answers his brother's phone. "Lex."
"Dean?" Alexis asks, pulling her phone away from her cheek as she checks to see if she dialed right.
"Yeah, it's me. Where the hell are you?" Dean asks as he waves one arm, attempting to get his brother's attention.
"Chicago. You're already on your way. I'll explain when you get here."
"Lex, wait-" Dean begins, trying to get her to stay on the line. Hearing a click on the other end, he realizes she'd hung up.
"Who was that?" Sam asks as he slides into the passenger side of the car.
"Lex." Dean replies, still staring at the phone.
"What!? What'd she say? Is she okay? Where is she?" Sam questions, firing one question after another at his brother.
"Said she was in Chicago, she'd explain when we got there. Then she hung up."
"Did she sound okay?"
"I don't know, man. She didn't say much, but for the first time since the accident, I didn't hear that underlying pain in her voice. She sounded exhausted, but she didn't sound like she was hurting. Not anymore." Dean says, handing the phone back to Sam before starting the car.
"You think she got Jo back?"
"I don't think she would've called if she hadn't."
Sam nods, letting the information sink in. "Well I guess we better get going."
The rest of the drive is spent in relative silence, both brothers lost in their own thoughts. Finally, around noon, they pull into the parking lot of the apartment building in Chicago.
"I've been trying to think about what she possibly could've done to get Jo back, but anything I can come up with involves a demon deal." Sam says as he unbuckles his seatbelt. Anything he could think of involved Alexis dying. He couldn't see any other way around it.
"She wouldn't. We're just going to have to go up there and hear what she has to say, even though we're not going to like it." Dean responds. There was no easy or clean way to bring someone back from the dead, especially when their body had been burned.
Sam sighs and opens the door, sliding out of the car. Dean was right, no matter what she did, they weren't going to like it. And now, now that he wasn't out looking for her and wondering where the hell she was, now that he knew and was about to go face her, his concern was fading and anger was replacing it.
The two brothers head up and are greeted with silence when they walk into the apartment. "She said she was here, right?" Sam asks as he walks down the hall.
"She said Chicago. She's gotta be here." Dean replies, trailing behind his brother. "Maybe she went to bed? I mean, it was five in the morning, and clearly she was up all night."
Realizing his brother had a point, he nods. She had to be exhausted, and if Jo was back, then she likely was able to sleep much more easily. So he heads towards their room, Dean right behind him. He cracks the door open enough to stick his head in. He immediately spots two heads, one blonde, one brunette. Jo and Alexis were both there, both asleep. After laying eyes on her, Sam lets out a sigh of relief and shuts the door.
Dean sighs in relief as well. He hadn't quite realized just how much he'd missed Jo until he'd seen her. "They're both here, they're both alive."
Sam nods. He still wanted to know what happened, and he was definitely still angry with Lex, but it felt like a weight had been lifted from his shoulders, seeing Jo back. Some pain was gone. They would always deal with loss and pain from the accident, that would be with them all forever, but having Jo back relieved some of that pain. "We should let them sleep. I don't know about Jo, but I know Lex has to be completely exhausted."
"Yeah, Lex can explain when she wakes up. Now how about we order some food."
Sam just shakes his head, not at all surprised that Dean's next thought was food.
An hour later, a little after one, Alexis wakes up. Seeing that next to her, her sister was still asleep, she attempts to slip out of bed without waking her. However, once she walks back out of her closet, having changed clothes, she finds her sister awake. "Did I wake you?"
"Yeah, but that's probably not a bad thing. It's one o'clock." Jo replies, getting up. "Can I just wear something of yours? I think Sam and Dean are here so I don't really want to walk out there just to get to the stuff I have here."
Alexis nods. "Want me to wait for you, or walk out there first?"
"Go ahead, I think I'm going to grab a quick shower. I think you're the one they're looking to hear an explanation from anyway."
"Sam probably wants to kill me, or handcuff himself to me so that he can't lose sight of me again."
"You did leave in the middle of the night without so much as a note." Jo responds. If she were Sam or Dean, she'd probably be a little pissed with Lex too.
"Time to face the music I guess." Alexis says. Besides, there was nothing they could say that would change the fact that she had her sister back. So with that final thought, she takes a deep breath and walks out into the living room.
"Look who's finally awake." Dean says, turning his head towards the bedroom door as soon as he hears movement.
The three of them stand in an awkward tense silence for a few minutes, all just staring at one another.
"I believe you have some explaining to do." Dean says, realizing neither Alexis or Sam intended on saying anything.
"I got Jo back. Nobody made any demon deals. She's fine, I'm fine, everybody's fine. Can you please just leave it at that?" She really didn't want to explain everything, it would only make them more upset with her. Besides, there wasn't anything they could do about it. What's done is done.
Dean glances at his brother. He was ready to leave it at that, but he wasn't so sure Sam was. "I'm uh, I'm going to leave you two to talk." he says before quickly exiting the room.
Sam hadn't said anything yet. He looked like he was about to snap. He was clearly more upset with her than she expected, and he didn't even know what she'd done to get Jo back yet. "Sam." she prompts, figuring it was better to just get it over with now.
"I've been trying to figure what in the hell you could've possibly done to get Jo back. Every single thing I come up with involves a demon deal. I don't see any other way. She- she was dead, we burned her bones. Nobody comes back from that without things getting messy." Sam says, pausing a moment to keep himself from exploding. He didn't want to yell at her, he truly just wanted to know what happened. "Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't make a demon deal."
Underneath his anger, Alexis could hear fear. She scared him more than anything, and for that she really did feel sorry. She locks eyes with him and says, "I told you I wouldn't. I didn't."
"Tell me you didn't make any sort of deal at all. Demon or not."
"Sam-" she begins, her eyes shifting to the floor.
"Lex, tell me you didn't make a deal. With anyone." Sam repeats, now fearful of her answer.
"I can't."
"What did you do?" he asks, barely keeping himself composed now.
"Death brought Jo back." Alexis replies quietly.
"Death. You made a deal with one of the four horsemen. What the hell, Lex?" He begins to pace, not sure what he should say.
"I just- I just owe him a favor. That's it. It's not really a big deal."
"Not a big deal? You're kidding, right?" Sam says, exasperation evident in his voice. "Forgetting to take the trash out is not a big deal. Buying the wrong beer is not a big deal. Owing Death a favor is a big fucking deal."
Alexis didn't know what to say. There wasn't anything that would make Sam less pissed at her right now. Whatever she said was just going to make it worse, and at the moment she almost didn't even care. She knew Sam would've done the same thing for Dean, hell he'd tried to do worse before. "What's done is done, Sam. I can't go back and undo it, and I wouldn't even if I could. I got my sister back. If I have to do something for Death, so be it. If you can't deal with that, that- that's not my problem. I'm not doing this, I'm not going to stand here while you yell and I'm not going to yell at you. So when you figure out what it is you're going to do, you'll be able to find me."
Dean hadn't gone far. He heard the entire conversation, if you could call it that, from the hallway. Once he hears the apartment door slam shut, he reemerges, finding his brother alone in the living room. It was Lex that had walked out. He honestly expected the reverse. "You uh, you probably don't want to hear this right now, but she has a point. There's nothing you can do about what she did. And you know damn well you would've done the same thing for me or for her."
Before Sam could say anything in response, they hear movement from the bedroom.
"Not a good time?" Jo says quietly as she appears in the doorway. She had heard everything as well.
"You have no idea how good it is to see you." Dean says, a smile on his face.
Sam nods, signaling the sentiment was the same for him too.
"It's good to see you guys too." Jo replies, walking over towards the two brothers.
"I can't be the only one upset with her." Sam says, his mind still entirely focused on Alexis.
"No, but you can't put her up on this pedestal, Sam. She's allowed to make mistakes, she's allowed to do things without thinking them all the way through. God knows you and I have, many, many times." Dean responds.
"He's right. I mean, I had to see the whole thing happen. There was no talking her out of it, and I knew even if I wanted to, it wasn't fair. Because I knew that if the situation were reversed, I'd have done the exact same thing. She's my sister and I love her, and I'd do anything for her. So I can't be that mad at her because I know it's the same way for her." Jo adds. She hated hearing Sam and Alexis fight. She understood where Sam was coming from, but she also knew he was being a little unfair. "So really, you just have to let this go. I'm here, she's fine, and there's no changing what happened. Nothing good will come from being angry about it."
"I was an ass, wasn't I?" Sam says, realizing both Jo and Dean had a point and that he may have overreacted.
"Little bit." Jo and Dean respond in unison.
"I suppose I should go find her then."
Sam walks out, leaving Dean and Jo alone.
"It's really good to see you, Jo. Hasn't been the same without you." Dean says sincerely.
"It's good to see you too, Dean. Really good."
"You and Alexis both make that face when you want to ask something but aren't sure you should. What is it?" Dean responds. Between the two of them, he'd seen that face numerous times.
"How have things been? I mean really, give me a real answer. What's happened since you guys left Chicago?"
"It's been rough. There've been better days, and days where it didn't seem like it couldn't possibly get any worse, until it did. Lex hasn't been the same, none of us have. She just pulled away, from everyone. We've mostly been hunting, and she really just buried herself in that. We all did I guess. But you're back now, and I can already tell that it's different. It's better."
Jo nods, not entirely sure how to respond, so she doesn't. She was going to have to keep a close eye on her sister for a bit, try and figure out where her head was at and how she could help.
Sam finds Alexis on the roof. She turns to face him when she hears the door shut behind him. "I overreacted, I'm sorry."
"It's okay." she responds, turning her head away, back to the view of the city.
"No, it's not." Sam says, walking over to her.
"You have a right to be mad, Sam. I just wanted you to understand, that's all."
"I do. You did what you had to do to get your sister back. I would've done the same for Dean, or you. I get it."
"I'm sorry I scared you, I really am. But what's done is done, and I really would rather we just put this behind us. Can we do that?" she asks, looking up at him. She truly did understand his side of it, and if he couldn't let it go right now, she'd get it. She was just hoping he could let it go.
Sam nods, "Yeah, we can."
"Good." Raising herself up on the tips of her toes, she places a kiss on his cheek.
He wraps an arm around her shoulder and says, "Let's go back inside."
