North Dakota. March 19, 2007
Max had only vanished for five seconds before reappearing with a tiny glimmering light. The Goddess lifted her head back and laughed, "What do you plan to do with that spirit?"
"Put her where she belongs," Max answered, and thrust the light forward into The Goddess's chest.
The Goddess tilted her head and rubbed at her chest as if it was tender. "I almost feel sorry for the thing," she said. "How broken and beaten…oh, she hates you. You think that trying to…" Her words choked off and she gripped at her chest, and then dropped to her knees.
"What's happening?" Jo asked anxiously as the temperature spiked several degrees.
"I think we want to take a few steps back," Maxine said, guiding the group back as The Goddess let out a howl.
Lady didn't have time to appreciate Max's rescue, the instant she had to breathe and be free from having her insides ripped out by spectral black dogs she was on fire. She felt the immense heat, the burning coils wrapping around her like a giant constrictor. The pain numbed as the fire seemed to enter her brain, digging deep inside, and she heard hisses in a strange language. Lady's mind went wild in pain, flashes of her life bombarding her in an attempt to distract her from the pain. And flashes of some other strange existence that was so vast she couldn't keep up with it.
And then everything went dark and quiet.
The Goddess collapsed and took in raspy dying breaths. The wounds that had been inflicted on her body began to pump blood and pale eyes looked up at the sky in a blank daze.
"What did you do?" Bobby asked as the temperature dropped.
Max knelt next to the still form and put her ghostly hand on the forehead, "When you live as long as I have, or as long as The Goddess has, you forget the power of life."
"That's it? She's dead?" Dean asked. "What did you do?"
Max looked at him, "I have introduced The Goddess to her equal, and at the same time her opposite. Balanced the power, healed corruption..."
"We still have a problem," Sam said anxiously as the earth shuddered again, barely listening to the old medicine woman's quiet ramblings.
"Can we hold them back?" Maxine asked, looking to Max.
Max was quiet as she waked around the edges of the circle. "We won't have to. Garrett has felt the change, the shift in power. He's coming, and he'll hold them back himself."
"Jo, the binding ritual?" Dean asked.
Jo was already turning the pages of the notebook, "Got it."
"Bobby, cover her," Dean ordered, checking his pistol.
"You cannot kill Garrett," Max said.
"I'm sure as hell going to try," Dean said.
"Max, what do we do?" Maxine asked urgently.
Max looked at her granddaughter, "We do nothing."
Blue flames erupted in the center of the circle, and when they receded Garrett was standing there, apparently healed from the injuries he had received the night before. He nudged Lady's body with the toe of his boot before clapping gently. "Max, I knew you'd manage a way to get rid of that little problem."
"You cannot take from her power any longer," Max said.
"There is plenty of power that remains," he answered. "You only took the conscious part of her away, the power is still there. Even better this way, don't have to worry about accidentally waking up a pissed off God when I want access to it."
Dean aimed and fired his pistol. Maxine ducked away and covered her ears. Once Dean's clip was empty he wasted no time in reloading, but before he could complete it Garrett was inches from him. Garrett wrapped a hand around his neck and lifted him up. Dean choked and his feet scratched at the ground. "I've been against your kind before, boy," Garrett said. "Guns, knives, fire…they don't work. Why don't you give up?"
Sam went to his brother's side immediately, but Garrett held him back without even touching him. Bobby shifted on his feet anxiously as Jo quietly began reciting the binding ritual behind him. He wanted to help Dean, but he needed to stay between Jo and Garrett.
Freddie had mixed feelings about Dean. The dog didn't appreciate having to share a bed with him, and he sort of blamed Dean for making his little Chihuahua friend disappear. But Dean gave him the funny water that could make the room spin. Maybe Freddie wasn't so sure what to think about Dean, but he knew he didn't like what Lady was doing on the ground. And he definitely didn't like Garrett. Freddie couldn't help the snarl that came out of his throat when he jumped on Garrett, his teeth biting in the arm that was holding Dean and shaking furiously until he heard funny sounding snaps.
Garrett couldn't be killed by physical injury but he felt pain just fine, and the massive dog trying to rip his arm off was inflicting a lot of it. He stumbled back, snarling himself as he tried to get the dog off of him. Freddie just growled louder as tendrils of smoke began to lift from his collar.
"Freddie! NO!" Sam hollered, stepping forward as Garrett pulled out a knife.
"Get off me, mutt!" Garrett snarled, sinking a blade deep into Freddie's neck above his collar.
Freddie let out a short whine that echoed and released Garrett. Freddie fell beside Lady, and weakly licked her hand a few times as his blood pooled on the ground.
As Sam and Dean tried to restrain Garrett as he was weakened while Maxine stepped forward, tears running down her face as she dipped her fingers in Freddie's pooling blood and smeared it on Lady's face and over visible wounds, chanting softly as Max instructed her what to do.
Lady was taking in cold breaths of air, her insides felt like ice and her skin felt like fire. There was pain all over. Throbbing pain from spectral wounds she had experienced, but the new stabbing like pain in her side and chest that hadn't been there before. She was looking at a sky with stars, smelling cold winter snow. And she heard voices, people talking. It took a few moments to push back everything that had happened to really become aware, and when she did her focus returned. Something about her felt different, like something was curling around her insides and through her blood. Somehow Max had gotten her out of that spirit realm, and she was alive. Maxine was over her, touching parts that hurt the worst while muttering softly in her native tongue.
Lady began fully aware of what was happening, slowly looking away from the sky to those around her. Sam and Dean were working together, trying desperately to contain Garrett but failing horribly as his power returned.
"Let them go," Lady said roughly as Sam and Dean both became held.
Garrett turned, his lips parting in surprise. "You're dead."
Lady was still pulling herself up from the ground, Maxine was there to help her. She looked dazed, even stoned. She looked down at her body, touching the holes from gunshots. "When did I get shot?" And then she saw Freddie on the ground, and couldn't speak because she was on shock.
Garrett faced Lady with a grin, "Brilliant magic, Max. I knew you were clever, but I did not believe you would try something so unreliable."
"I've known Lady a long time," Max said. "I had faith she wouldn't succumb."
"Doesn't look like she's holding up very well," Garrett chuckle. With a flick of his hand Maxine toppled back from Lady, and without Maxine to help support her she fell over, and she put her hands on Freddie. He wasn't breathing, the blood wasn't pumping from the wound in his neck.
"Lady?" Dean called roughly.
Lady's eyes searched around sluggishly and paused when they met his. "You need to run," she said roughly, trying to get back to her feet.
"Yes, they do, don't they," Garrett said, grabbing a fistful of her hair. "Look at this. All the power in a nice package. A little leaky, but I have duct tape."
Lady grabbed his throat and Garrett let out a startled choke as she squeezed. Blue fire erupted from her eyes. The temperature spiked in the area again. "You killed my dog," Lady said furiously.
"You can't control it," Garrett choked out.
Lady didn't hear him. The shock and fear was clearing from her mind. The pain was lifting and she recognized the strange feeling that was inside her. It was power. Raw power that she had felt ten years ago when Ananda's ritual was interrupted and hit her full force. But it was a thousand times more potent. It was as if she had taken a shot of speed. Her mind was clear and sharp, she felt strong and fast while everything around her slowed down.
"Kid!" Bobby shouted. Fire retreated from her eyes but she didn't release her hold on Garrett.
She looked at the huddled group. She couldn't see Jo but she heard a whisper of her voice reciting a complex binding ritual. Her hold loosened on Garrett and he sucked in a much-needed breath. "You really going to dip into the magic, Lady? You've been staying as far away from it as possible for years," he said, his voice pleading.
"I think you need to see what you created, Garrett," Lady said.
She could feel the ley lines vibrating right below her, and it was easy to slip back into them and to carry Garrett down into them with her. It was easy because it was like the ley line wanted to be under her command, wanted to serve her and grant her entrance.
The earth cracked and shuddered with the force. The cliff split and crumbled down into the lake below, crashing into the ice and into the frozen water. The hill in the spirit realm where Max had finally rescued her split and cracked as well. The incredible force of power she had shoved through the intersection of ley lines had destroyed it. She felt the power of the line shift until it was barely a thread.
She was back in the spirit realm. The area was now swarming with the hungry fiends of corrupted spirits that had once been worshippers of The Goddess.
"This is your great plan? I conquered traveling through the lines of power long before your ancestors washed upon the shores of America," Garrett laughed. His laughter was cut short when he was unable to move back into the real realm. "You trapped us both here?"
"Your powers are bound," Lady said. She had waited just long enough for Jo to complete the binding ritual. "You know, black magic ends up destroying most witches in the end. You are way past your expiration date, pal."
Lady didn't flinch at the terrified screams as Garrett tried to fight off the incoming hordes of fiends. They tore into his flesh and spirit, destroying him piece by piece. She stayed still, ignored by the beasts. Her clear mind was telling her she should run while the monsters were occupied. But she didn't move. She watched until nothing was left of Garrett. His pieces filled the bellies of dozens of fiends that fought each other to lick blood from the grass. She could feel his life force being extinguished. She swallowed hard and began to back away, soon the fiends would be hungry again. They'd look for anything to chew on.
Lady got a safe distance away before turning and running. She felt another source of power, a crossroad, not far from her. All she had to do was be faster than the fiends. Above her the sky was speckled with ravens and larger birds, all of them making noise to signal that they had found a meal. Smaller birds, sparrows and whippoorwills, were singing to her from the sky and diving down at her. Their tiny claws grabbing at her shirt and hair, trying to pull her back.
When Lady got close enough to the intersection she saw where she would end up if she used it to return to the real world, underwater. But she didn't have time to keep running, the fiends were faster than her and were hungry for more blood. She sucked in a breath and let the power guide her, it was as easy as breathing.
Easier than breathing, because when she slipped through the line she was surrounded by ice cold water that made her want to gasp for air. The water around her heated quickly though, nearly boiling and sending her toward the surface quickly.
The ice on the surface was nearly a foot thick, and exploded upward. Water shot fifteen feet into the air and Lady broke the surface to suck in a grateful breath. Her hands grabbed edges of ice as her limbs felt numb and heavy with the cold. She tried to pull herself up, but the ice around the hole was fragile and kept cracking and breaking apart.
"Lady! Hold on!" Sam's voice called.
"Stay back!" she called as loud as she could. The ice had been cracking all day, with the large hole she had created it wasn't stable. And then her head dipped under the water as she lost her grip on the ice. She struggled back to the surface. "GET BACK!" She ordered, her voice sounding strange, almost as if it was vibrating with power.
The water around her began churning and she struggled to get herself out. The water heated around her, sending steam rising into the cold night. And then the water erupted out like a geyser, within the water were thousands of spirits and fiends that had escaped into the real world behind her. "Oo, that wasn't supposed to happen," she said grimly.
Lady sucked in a breath before being dragged down under the water, kicking at whatever had grabbed hold of her leg until she was free and could reach the surface again for a breath. When she reached it a hand grabbed her arms and pulled at her.
Lady grabbed back anxiously and saw her savior was Jo. Light and agile enough to avoid the worst of the cracks in the ice, and stupid enough to attempt it. "Lady, are you okay?" Jo asked as pulled Lady across the ice and away from the dangerous hole.
Lady looked up at the sky that was once speckled with brilliant stars. Now the stars were blotted out with black spirits and fiends.
"I think I screwed up, Jo," she said, wrapping an arm around her chest as wounds began to throb again.
"Come on," Jo got Lady's arm around her shoulder and moved her to the group that had gathered on a safe part of the ice. Mason's family along with Bobby and the Winchesters. "Lady! Move your ass!" Jo said anxiously as black fiends and spirits of witches splashed out of the hole.
Max's own spirits were joining the fray, and Lady had to stop and look. Spirits bound in Garrett's power and spirits bound to Max's power tore at each other. The fiends from The Goddess's realm tore at all of them, even at each other.
"Lady, is it you in there?" Dean asked as she reached them.
Lady couldn't look at him, she could barely tear her eyes away from the horror she had just unleashed in her hasty exit of the spirit realm. "Not completely," she admitted in a high voice.
Dean put a hand on her shoulder and turned her so she had to look at him, "How are you alive?"
She finally met his eyes. "I don't think I am." She looked down at her chest. Holes in her clothes, an ache in her heart, blood still leaked from the wound in her side.
"Hey, you are going to be okay," he said, holding her face and making her look back up at him. "Just, whatever is holding you together can last until we get you somewhere. We'll get you checked out, and…and it's over. Garrett is dead, The Goddess is gone. Right?"
"Not exactly," Lady said, putting her hand on his and pulling it away from her face. She looked at the group on the ice. "You all need to run," she said, taking a few steps back. "I can't see which side is going to win, but I know which one of them has the biggest numbers."
"What is going on, Lady?" Sam asked.
"Some idiot sort of unbound a few hundred dead witches and a few thousand corrupted spirits," Lady said, and pointed at herself, "The idiot is me. Just run…"
"We aren't leaving you, kid," Bobby said, having a hard time looking at her.
Lady turned around, they would be running soon.
She didn't understand the power inside her. Garrett was right, she had no idea how to use it. But she had managed to stay alive by winging it for years. The time she had taken months to plan something she had ended up dead and holding onto ancient power of a pagan Goddess.
Two spirits of Garrett's, black and shapeless, had broken from the group. Blue fire erupted from Lady's eyes and she reached out. There was an unnatural sound as the spirits burned and died. She took steps forward, and barely had to think about it as she continued. The power seemed to understand exactly what she wanted, and blue fire consumed all the dark corrupted spirits.
Lady collapsed on the ice. There was a sizzling sound and she realized it was because her whole body was overheating, hot enough to cause steam to rise around her.
Max's spirit stood next to her, "You've done well, Lady."
Lady looked up at the sky, still hundreds, maybe thousands, of the damn birds were flying above her. Circling and looking to take her back. Around her she heard sounds of sparrows and whippoorwills calling, and she felt her broken spirit inside being pulled toward them.
"What did you do to me, Max?" Lady asked.
"Would you believe this is the best fate I could find for you?" Max asked. She touched Lady's face gently, "You can find peace that you never gave yourself in life. You don't have to fight any more." Lady looked at the blood that covered her torso and rubbed at the holes that were there, suddenly feeling very weak and human. "The magic will let you hold onto life if you want it to, but it isn't permanent."
"I guess this is it," Lady said stiffly.
"No, wait," Sam said. "We...we have to be able to do something!"
"They are going to carry you back there," Max said. And Lady knew she meant the birds. The sparrows and the whippoorwills that were singing. They were singing for her. They didn't want to attack her, they wanted to lead her back into the realm of the dead where she belonged. "But I'm holding them back from taking you."
Lady sat up slowly and got to her feet, facing Max. "Because you are so merciful," Lady said. "I can't even be surprised by what you did. Everyone here could have died tonight."
"I knew you would not let them," Max said.
"You used me," Lady said.
"Yes," Max admitted. "Forgive me. You wouldn't have done what was needed had you known. But I did not do this with the intention of letting you die…and stay dead. Forgive me for the pain you have had to bear. I will tell you how to save your life. The power you were able to command will go back into its dormant state. Your wounds will heal. And you can go on living as you wish." Lady gave her a hard look, waiting for the catch. "Unless you'd rather return to where you were. There are still plenty of the fiends left, and the power you have will not save you in the spirit realm."
"Kid, now isn't the time to be stubborn," Bobby said, looking anxiously as the birds began to fly lower. Maxine was behind him, softly chanting in her native tongue to keep them at bay, but it only seemed to be slowing them down.
"Fix it," Lady demanded, glaring at Max.
Max guided her closer to the group until Lady was standing before Jo. "The only way you could ever survive destroying Garrett," Max said. "A life for a life."
Jo looked confused for a moment as all eyes fell on her, and then surprise and fear filled her eyes. "You mean you want to sacrifice me? That's why I'm here? That's how I'm supposed to help?"
Lady turned to Max, "She's my friend."
"You don't have time to find a stranger," Max said. "You know the magic, Lady. You've looked at the rituals. Everything you need we can get within minutes."
Lady looked at Jo sadly, "I'm so sorry."
"Lady…" Jo began to protest.
"I'm sorry you got into this, I really am," Lady said. "You are the first blonde that I actually liked hanging around."
"Lady, you don't…" Jo began.
"I'm not going to kill you, Jo. Just remember to dance, okay?" Lady said firmly. Jo's eyes widened and sadness replaced the fear.
"You would choose to go back to that horrible place in favor of saving one life?" Max taunted her.
Lady turned to Mason's family, "Is this what any of you ever expected from the woman who claims to have spent centuries protecting you? Human sacrifice? She could have killed Garrett herself decades ago, instead she let him continue what he was doing." She looked at Derek, "She knew Nicole would go to you so you could lead her here." Lady looked at Maxine who was still chanting to keep the birds at bay. Maxine gave her a small nod that no one else noticed. "My life for yours, Jo's life for mine. No, not going to happen." Lady turned to Max, "And thing is, you don't know any more than that. Let me guess, you can't see past this, can you?"
"I see everything," Max said. "Lady, you only have moments before we can no longer hold them away from you. They are calling for your soul."
And Lady could see the future coming quickly, unlike she had before. She saw herself giving her friends a hundred different tearful goodbyes. She looked at Dean, "I really don't handle goodbyes well."
He looked at her, tears welling up in his eyes, "I can't lose you, Lady."
"To be honest it always felt too good to be true, but I just ignored it," Lady said softly. "Just, uh…know I chose this. My life isn't worth taking someone else's. I can't do that. But I promise, this is over with me. Garrett, The Goddess, the coven. It's all over." Lady sniffed and looked at Bobby. "Sorry."
Lady walked away from the group and to Max. Lady put her hands on Max's shoulders. "I just want you to know, out of all the people who have dicked me over in my life, you take the prize."
"I did what I had to," Max said without apology. "I always told you that black magic was where you strength lied. I did not think you would resist it forever. I gave you the chance, but you have chosen to go back to being trapped in the spirit realm alone."
"And I made that choice," Lady admitted. "But I'm not going back there alone." Max tried to move from Lady, but Lady held on firmly. Blue fire erupted from her eyes. "Maxine!" Lady called.
Maxine took several breaths and quit chanting. The birds went into a frenzy above them. "We don't need you, Max," Maxine called. "Your ways, the old ways, are not how we want to live. Not when it means betraying those we take in as family." Max began to scream as the birds descended on her and Lady. "It's a new millennium, grandmother, and it has no room for someone like you."
The birds clawed and pecked at Lady and Max, but Lady didn't make a sound as she focused all her energy into holding onto Max. The birds were gathering other spirits that Max had bound over the years, the spirits didn't fight them. Maxine was freeing them from their service, from the service Max had bound them in. Max was the only one who wanted to hold onto the shadow of her life, the only one who screamed over the birds calls and songs.
The ice cracked below them and Lady sucked in a breath as she plunged into the dark icy water. She didn't struggle, except for keeping Max with her, as the spectral birds dove into the water and dragged the pair back into the intersection of ley lines under the lake.
The group retreated as the ice became more unsteady, and went to the shore. Maxine watched over the ice for several minutes, and the sounds of birds quieted. "It is over," she announced sadly. She turned to the Winchesters, Jo and Bobby, "If I had known this was what Max had put into motion I would have stopped it. Probably why she never told me." Maxine put her arms around her mother who broke down in fearful sobs.
"What are we supposed to do with you?" Bobby asked.
Maxine looked at him with large brown eyes, "I'm going to serve my family, the best I can. But I am going to do it my own way. The spirits are free, this land is barely safe anymore."
Defeated, the hunters abandoned the lake and walked back to Mason's house. Mason's family retreated inside while the hunters went to retrieve a fallen companion.
Bobby knelt beside Freddie. He took the collar off from around his neck, finding bare burned flesh below. The collar had several words of Latin scratched in to protect the dog from magic, but not to protect him from a blade. He wasn't sure if the charmed rubies were still stuck in his stomach or not. The dog had saved Dean's life, all of their lives, when he attacked Garrett. Dean silently took the collar as Sam and Bobby wrapped Freddie in a sheet to take him down the hill and back to the truck.
"What do you think she did to Garrett?" Sam asked.
"He killed Freddie," Dean said flatly. "She made him pay."
It was quiet to the drive back to the Casino. Dean parked the borrowed truck next to his Impala, and before Sam could get out of the truck Dean was already driving off.
"Is he going to be okay?" Jo asked.
Sam shook his head, "I don't know."
"You should follow him," Jo said. "I'll take the book. I'll destroy it. Lady told me how to. I'll take care of it."
Sam handed her the black book that they had taken from Lady's trailer, "Thanks, Jo."
"I hate to ask," Bobby said, looking at Jo's station wagon, "Think you can give me a ride home?"
Jo nodded, "Yeah. Of course."
After Lady's Death
Jo dropped Bobby off in South Dakota and helped him unload Freddie's body. Bobby knew that the past several years Lady had spent a lot more time in North Dakota than with him, and he felt guilty for letting her now that he understood how Max had used her. He wasn't going to bury Freddie up there, not where foul witches like Max had resided. He took his time getting a grave dug near the edge of the property where Lady used to throw the ball for Freddie, and put the dog to rest. He marked the grave with a large stone.
Ten years. No matter how old he got that was a long time to know someone. And Lady had always been likable. He opened his fridge, frowning at the bottles of ranch he got because of her. He closed the fridge, not hungry and beer was not strong enough. He grabbed the good liquor and a glass, sitting at the table and pouring himself a drink. "Ya did good, kid," Bobby said quietly before taking a long drink that burned all the way down. "Pain in my ass, all the way to the end. But ya did good." It had been a fear of his, for years, that Lady's knowledge of black magic would eventually become too much of a temptation. He was grieving, but he was still proud of her.
Sam had followed Dean and caught up to him a few days later. He had expected Dean to be drinking, drunk, passed out…something along those lines. But he should have known better. Dean grieved best when he stayed busy. Busy to the point that he couldn't think about anything other than what he was working on.
Not that he hadn't been drinking. But Dean appeared to have been productive. The grease on his clothes told meant he had first worked on the Impala, but now Dean was working on a job.
"Sorry for running off," Dean muttered.
"No, I get it," Sam said quickly. Looking at the papers Dean had been reading and noticed that Lady's silver charm bracelet was on them.
Dean saw Sam's eyes fall on it and quickly stuffed it in his pocket. "It was Dad's before it was hers, I'm just taking it back," Dean muttered. Stealing from Freddie, even if he was a dead dog, was pretty low.
"You okay?" Sam asked.
Dean gave him a brief glare that told him he wasn't up for talking about it but answered, "We couldn't even give her a funeral," Dean said bitterly. "No, Sam, I'm not okay. Everyone we love, we care about, die. And it's never pretty when they go. But Lady made her choice, wasn't our fault, and she even managed to get in some revenge. Nothing more than I can do but get back to work."
It was more than Sam had expected. "I'm really sorry," he said. Sam had loved Lady as a friend, even like a sister. He missed her already, but he was going to deal with that on his own. Right now he was worried about his brother. Dean didn't deal with loss well, and Lady had been the first new person he had let into his life for a long time.
"Not our fault, Sammy," Dean said bitterly.
"What are you looking at?" Sam asked.
"That prison haunting," Dean said. "I called Deacon, we worked out a plan."
"I…" Sam began to say he didn't think it was a good idea. He wasn't ready for a job, he didn't feel up for it. He felt sick to his stomach with grief over losing Lady, and the concern for his brother. They had lost their father and Lady within a year of each other, it was a hard blow. "Okay, what do we have?" Sam asked, pushing his grief away to focus on the job and help his brother.
Jo Harvelle was making a road trip. After dropping Bobby off she kept driving south. She wasn't sure where she was going until she was halfway there. Lady and her had a rocky start, but Lady had been the one to not only acknowledge her desire for the job, but let her use her talents and feed her hunger for knowledge. She'd been a good friend. They'd saved each others lives, and Lady had not only spared Jo's life but avenged the threat of Max. For a second Jo had thought that Lady may actually do it, kill her to save her own life. But the more Jo thought of it she realized Lady wouldn't have even sacrificed another witch to save her own life.
The Roadhouse was loud and busy. Jo walked in and stood in the doorway a full minute watching her mother serving beers and chatting loudly with the crowd before she was noticed. Ellen froze, her mouth opening in surprise. Ellen had only heard from Jo through postcards and a very few phone calls, she hadn't seen her daughter since October. The next instant Jo was wrapped in her mother's embrace and holding on tight as tears fell.
"Jo, baby, are you okay?" Ellen asked, holding Jo's face and looking at the tears. "Come on," she said, leading her into the back. "What happened? What's wrong?" Ellen asked anxiously.
Jo looked at her mother through tears, "Just, uh, Lady didn't make it, Mom." Ellen's eyes widened. Jo wouldn't tarnish Lady's memory with what she had become before she died, she didn't even understand it herself. "I just wanted...I didn't want to be alone. I wanted to see you. I've missed you."
"Of course," Ellen said, hugging her daughter again. "I'm so happy to see you, baby. I've missed you so much. I'm so glad you are okay. I'm so sorry about Lady."
In North Dakota Maxine was accepting full responsibility as the tribe's new medicine woman. Max would never return, and that was a good thing. The spirits that once protected the land were free, allowed to move on into their afterlife wherever that led them. Her family was mourning the loss of a friend, and were trying to see their future without Max's aid. It was a frightening new life for the Masons, and Maxine was more than ready to guide them now.
A/N – Songs for this chapter:
Pushing me away, by Linkin Park
Blaze of Glory, by Bon Jovi
Another note – With how long this story is, I could end it now. I think I wrapped up most storylines I had with the coven. However I've also left a lot of things open (things that you may not have noticed) and have kept writing. I have an outline of everything I want to happen even up until season 6. I actually giggle when I think about Lady meeting Castiel. So at this time I'm leaving it open to the floor. You guys think this story is complete? Or should we have a back-from-the-dead party? (I've already written Lady's resurrection. And no, Dean doesn't include her in his deal.)
