Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Supernatural characters you recognize.
Chapter Fifty- Two
The night that Lana and Hayley arrived at Bobby's, the sisters slept in the guest room while Bobby and Dean fell asleep over a pile of books in the den. While it was a stressful day, the night's slumber had come peacefully for the four.
Lana woke to Hayley shaking her. "Get up," she said frantically.
"What?" Lana asked suddenly awake and on full alert.
"Sam's gone."
Lana put her feet on the floor and ran into the kitchen where Bobby was icing his forehead and Dean was pacing. "What happened?"
"He's gone. Ruby must have let him out," Dean said. He looked at Hayley, who was standing behind Lana. "Can you find him?"
"I can. What are you going to do when you find him?"
"Bring him back."
"He'll be stronger than you," Hayley pointed out. "But if I go with you-"
"Absolutely not, Hails," Dean said.
"Why? He won't hurt me."
"I can't risk it." Dean said.
"Then I won't find him."
"Hayley," Lana said surprised.
"You, either of you," she said referring to Dean and Lana, "have no idea what it's like being the freak. I do. Sam does. It's hard. We get treated like we're the weaker link most of our lives. We listen to our older siblings because we trust them, but sometimes, it would be nice if you listened to and trusted us. So, please, Dean, Lana, listen to me. Trust me."
Dean and Lana exchanged glances. "We trust you, Hails," Lana said.
"Then listen to me when I tell you that you're going to need my help."
"Alright, kid. We'll do it your way. As soon as you find him, we'll go."
Hayley was able to locate Sam in minutes and the three of them were on their way half an hour later. Dean was driving while Lana was riding shotgun, and Hayley was asleep in the back.
"I didn't know…" Dean said softly.
"Hm?" Lana said as she looked at him.
"How they left you."
She let out a deep breath. "I shouldn't have told you. I was upset."
"I want you to tell me these things."
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to know?"
He shrugged. "Hell, I don't know. It's just something I should know." He glanced at her for a view seconds before his eyes ventured back to the road. "We're in this together, right?" He paused. "Because I need you. I need you to help me with Sam. I can't do this alone."
Lana gave the answer to his question in a form of a kiss on the cheek. She then leaned into his chest and rested her hand on his knee.
The two stayed like this, with Dean's arm wrapped tightly around Lana, until they pulled up to the hotel where Sam was staying. He found comfort in her like he had never found comfort before. Her presence allowed him to think clearly. Hayley stirred in the backseat upon the car stopping- something that she had learned to do from an early age.
"Give me a few minutes with him," Dean said as he turned off the car.
"Of course," Lana said.
He turned around to look at Hayley. "You good with that?"
She nodded.
Dean looked back at Lana and she smiled gently at him. The sisters watched as Dean walked into the building. Hayley's location spell was so precise that she was able to tell Dean what room Sam was staying in- the honeymoon suite.
"I never thought you were a freak," Lana said to Hayley.
"Never?"
She shrugged. "I mean, not in the magical way you're thinking about. You really liked Barney as a kid. I thought that was kind of freakish." Lana said as she turned to face Hayley.
Hayley smiled.
"Did I treat you differently?"
"No, I don't think so. I guess, it was how I was always shuffled around, trying to be kept out of sight."
"Dad was doing the best he could. Dad, dad… and so did John. I followed their example. I should have asked you what you wanted."
Hayley put her hand on Lana's shoulder. "You did the best you could, Lana. You've kept me alive. I owe you everything."
"So we're good?"
Hayley nodded. "Definitely."
Lana looked at her phone. "Dean's been up there for ten minutes. Think we should check it out?"
"I think so," Hayley agreed.
Lana followed Hayley up to the floor with the suites. Lana didn't have to guess which one the brothers were in because Ruby came running out of the room on the left.
"Ruby, I should have guessed," Lana greeted.
Ruby looked at Lana and then at Hayley. "Has anyone ever told you that your sister is a bitch?"
"Almost daily," Hayley said. "But in her defense, they had it coming."
"I'll deal with her, Hails. Go check on the boys."
Hayley walked past Ruby and into the suite without Ruby trying to stop her.
Hayley opened the door and both brothers turned to face her. "Hayley," Sam said as he stepped towards her.
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm here to take you home." She paused and waited for Sam's reaction. "Please."
"After I kill Lilith, I will."
Dean stepped in between Sam and Hayley. "Sam, you're lying to yourself. I just want you to be okay. You would do the same for me and for Hayley, you knew you would."
"Listen, just listen." He stepped closer. "Ruby and I have a lead on Lilith. Come with us. We can do it together."
"Sounds great, Sammy. Say goodbye to demon bitch and we will."
Sam shook his head and he was desperate to make Dean understand. "I can't I need her to help me kill Lilith. Maybe one day you will understand. I am the only one who can do this."
"No you're not the one who is going to do this."
"Right, the angels think it's you."
"What? You think I can't?"
"Dean, you can't. You're not strong enough."
"And who the hell are you?" Dean demanded. He had never been told by anything that he wasn't strong enough to do something.
Sam knew that he needed to take a different route. "My whole life, you took the wheel and you called the shots. First once, trust me."
Dean shook his head. "No. You don't know what you're doing."
Sam seemed taken back, but kept trying to make his point. "I do."
"It's worst. It's not something you're doing… it's what you are."
"Say it," Sam challenged.
"It means you're a monster."
Hayley gasped when she saw Sam's fist collide with Dean's. Dean jumped up and returned the favor just as forcefully as Sam.
"Hey!" Hayley yelled trying to step in.
Sam grabbed Dean and threw him into the mirror, cracking the glass into shards.
When the sound of glass shattering could be heard outside the door, Lana took out a dagger and held it by her side. "So what's your plan?"
"My plan?" She repeated.
"With Sam." Lana elaborated.
"We're going to kill Lilith."
Lana pushed her lips together and cocked her hips. "Yeah, I'm not buying it."
"You want to know what I'm not buying?" Ruby asked. "This I'm clean and sober act."
"Good thing none of it concerns you."
"You're right, but Sam does concern me. And if he's off his game because he's too worried about you, Dean, or girl Winchester in there, it affects me."
"Oh, so you're not just overly concerned about Dean or Hayley?" She asked sarcastically.
"Apparently I am more than you are. You know, I thought you were a good sister before Dean died but then I realized, and so did Sam and Hayley, how selfish of a cunt you really are." She paused and stepped closer. "You know, Sam didn't even seem that interested in drinking my blood until after you abandoned them."
"I know you're a class A manipulator, but you should know that you're tricks don't work on me." She paused.
"I know you're manipulating Sam. There's no way you care that much about humanity that you don't want Lilith to break the 66TH seal."
Ruby smiled, stepping even closer to Lana. "You're right."
Ruby's sudden confession caught Lana off guard. "So what? You're lying to Sam?"
"Yep. He thinks he's going to be able to kill Lilith and stop the apocalypse, but killing Lilith will actually bring on the apocalypse."
Lana gripped the dagger in her hand tightly. "And you're telling this because you plan on killing me."
"See, I knew you were a shitty sister, but a smart girl."
Lana could hear voices in the room where her sister and the Winchester brothers were. She was almost positive that they were too deep into their own conversation to think twice about voices outside the room.
Lana held her ground and waited for Ruby to make the first move. Ruby, being overly confident, jumped towards Lana, who was able to dodge her fist. Lana took this opportunity to knee Ruby in the stomach and slam her head against the wall. Before Lana could use the dagger, Ruby backhanded Lana across the face, sending her into the wall. Lana wiped the blood from her lip and pushed herself on the ground.
"Is that all you got?" Lana antagonized.
"You know, for someone who is about to die, you are still cocky." She rushed to Lana and collided with her, sending Lana on her back. Ruby straddled her and took out of her own. She ran the blade down the side of Lana's face. "I've always wondered how Dean fucks. Sam has really surprised me." She leaned down. "So tell me, how does Dean do it."
"You couldn't handle it," Lana said as she pushed Ruby off of her and was able to stab her under her ribcage in one fluid motion. Lana stumbled to her feet in attempt to get into the honeymoon suite. She was about to turn the knob when Ruby grabbed her by her hair and pulled her down.
"I guess I'll have to find out for myself," Ruby said as she pushed her dagger into Lana's stomach.
Inside the honeymoon suite, Hayley felt like she had to do something. "Suspendați pentru a înceta acțiunea," she chanted and Sam was suspended in the air. She looked at Dean. "Stop," she said to him.
Dean wiped the blood coming from his nose, but did as Hayley asked.
"We can get through this without you guys bashing your faces in. You are brothers, my brothers. I need you. We can talk this over."
"I can't," Dean said. "Not when Sam is sucking down demon blood."
"God, Dean, that's not all that I'm doing. I'm going to stop Lilith."
"Maybe, but is becoming a monster worth it?"
Sam closed his eyes and was able to push past Hayley's magic and put his feet on the ground.
Hayley's eyes widened, not understanding how it did it.
"Call me a monster one more time."
Dean's eyes were full of sadness and regret. "You've become a monster, Sam."
Sam grabbed Dean by his jacket and threw him into the room divider. Dean was no match for the physical strength his brother gained after ingesting ounces of demon blood. Sam knelt over Dean, who was trying to push himself off the floor, and put his hands around his throat.
"Sam!" Hayley yelled as his grip tightened around Dean's neck. When he wasn't stopping, Hayley jumped on his back and tried to pull him off of Dean.
Sam wasn't fazed by Hayley's effort, but let go of Dean on his own. He stood up and looked down at his brother. "You don't know me. You never did and you never will."
Dean rolled to his side holding onto his neck. "You walk out there door, don't you ever come back."
Sam turned to look at Dean on the floor and opened the door. He walked out leaving Dean and Hayley sitting in a pile of glass. He closed the door behind him and looked down when his foot collided with something on the floor. "Lana," he gasped as he knelt down beside her. The wound on her stomach was deep and had bled through her shirt, leaving a pile of blood on the carpet. He checked her pulse, which there wasn't one. He touched her ring that would bring her back if a human killed her. He couldn't imagine that anyone else but Ruby had done this. He sank down against the wall and stared at Lana's dead body. He rubbed the sides of his neck with bloody hands trying to think of what to do next. He could do back and be there for Dean and Hayley, but there was no way they would let him go now, especially Hayley. Against his better judgment, he decided to get out of there before Dean or Hayley walked out. He needed to find Ruby and ask her why Lana was dead.
Still inside the room, Hayley helped Dean get to his feet. "Dean…"
"I'm okay," he said rubbing the side of his neck. It was obvious that he wasn't. Anger boiled out of him and he punched the wall, immediately regretting his decision when he pulled back his bloody knuckles.
Hayley put her hands on top of his and started an incantation.
Dean pulled his hand away. "Thanks, but no thanks, kid."
Hayley tried not to feel rejected and instead, look at it from Dean's point of view. He wasn't use to this amount of magic; from Lana's exorcism months ago to Sam's newly heightened abilities. Sam's ability to overpower her own magic worried her. She wondered how much of Ruby's blood was he drinking. She was worried that maybe Dean was on to something and that maybe Sam was morphing into more demon than human.
Hayley opened the door. "Lana," she said in a hushed voice as she dropped to her knees beside her sister and put her hand over her heart to find that there was nothing beating inside of her.
Dean pushed through the doorway and saw Lana's lifeless body bloody on the steps. "Sam? Sam did this?"
Hayley looked up at him. "No… he wouldn't have time. She's been dead minutes."
Dean pulled her into his arms. "Ruby then?" His voice was panicked and raw.
Hayley stood up, trying to catch her breath. "Ruby did this."
"Her ring? Her ring won't work-"
"I swapped our rings," Hayley told Dean quickly before his mind went on thinking Lana would stay dead.
"This morning. I had a vision this would happen..."
"What does that mean? That she'll wake up?" Dean demanded.
"Yes, she will." She let out a deep breath. "I didn't think Sam would just leave her."
Dean stood up with Lana in his arms. "Yeah, well, Sam has lost some of his humanity." He looked at Hayley.
"We'll get him back. Just make sure Lana wakes up."
"She will. I've done it before- swapped our rings," Hayley said as she led the way to the car.
"When?" Dean asked.
"When she went to Romania." Hayley opened the door that she and Lana came through originally.
Dean walked out of it and spotted the car instantly.
"She died when her… your baby was extracted from her." Hayley opened the car door for Dean to put Lana in the back seat.
"She didn't tell me that," he said.
"Why would she?"
Dean sat Lana down gently and crawled into the driver's seat. "Let's get back to Bobby's."
Hayley sat in the backseat with Lana. "Then what?" Hayley asked.
"I don't know, kid," Dean said as he started the car.
"We need to go after Sam."
"I'm doing this solo," Dean said. "After Lana…"
"Lana isn't strong enough, anymore. She's different now." Hayley paused. "I don't know how to describe it."
What Hayley was saying sounded a lot of what Sam had said to him. "She's lost too much," he said.
"Or not enough," Hayley mused. "I want to help you get Sam back. He's my brother too… You're going to need my help."
"I don't know if Sam is capable of being helped, kid."
Lana still hadn't woken up by the time the three had gotten back to Bobby's. Dean walked up the front steps with Lana in his arms. Bobby swung open the front door.
"What the hell happened?"
"Ruby," Dean replied as he walked past Bobby and through the front door.
Hayley was behind Dean but stopped to fill Bobby in. Meanwhile, Dean took Lana to the guest room and laid her down on the bed. He pushed the hair out of her face and pulled up a chair next to the bed so that he could wait for her to wake up. As he stared at her, he thought about Sam and wondered what he could have done differently.
Dean looked up from his hands that were balled into fists in his lap when he saw Lana's fingers start to move.
He pushed the chair back and leaned over her. "Lana?"
A few seconds passed before she opened her eyes. "Hey…" she said hoarsely. Her hands found where her wound was as she sat up. "What happened?"
"You don't remember?"
"Ruby… stabbed me. I died." Lana looked down at the ring she was wearing. "Hayley swapped our rings this morning," she remembered.
"You forgot?" Dean asked.
"Yeah… I guess so."
"And you still went after Ruby, a demon?"
"I didn't think she was going to kill me." Lana stopped and her eyes widened. "Lilith. Lilith's death breaks the 66th seal.
"How do you know?"
"Ruby told me before she killed me. She doesn't know about our rings."
"Son of a bitch," Dean said. "I'm really going to kill her." Dean started to pace.
"You need to call Sam," Lana said.
Dean shook his head. "He saw you dead on the ground and kept going."
"There was nothing he could have done. Ruby killed me, not him." Lana paused to let what she had just said sink in. "He's your brother, Dean. And he's hurting too."
"What about me?"
"I know you are. You're the older brother, you have to make the first move here."
"I gave Sam the chance. I told him that if he walked out that door not to come back. And he walked right out of it."
Lana grabbed Dean's hands and pulled him onto the bed. "Sam has made a lot of bad decisions these last few months. He's confused."
"I told him what he needed to know."
"Some point we stopped being their moral compasses," Lana said referring to Sam and Hayley. "They have to make their own decisions and their own mistakes. We have to be there when they fuck up epically."
"I'd say bringing on the apocalypse is an epic fuck up."
"It is, if he does. We can stop him. We know Ruby's game plan and we'll prevent it from happening. "
That was exactly what Dean needed to hear. "Alright. I'm going to call him and see if I can stop him," Dean said he as got to his feet.
Lana put her feet on the floor and braced herself to stand, but Dean stopped her. "What are you doing?" She asked.
"You're not coming with me."
"Uh, yes I am."
"You died."
"Wasn't the first time." She paused. "And so have you."
"Just sit this one out. Go back to New Orleans. I'll be there as soon as this is over."
Lana pushed past Dean and stood up. "I don't get it. Earlier today you were saying we were in this together and now-" she stopped mid sentence and her eyes narrowed. "Hayley. What did she say to you?"
"She didn't say anything."
"She thinks I can't do this anymore. Since I… lost our baby. She thinks I've become weak or…"
"If you need to sit this one out, no one would blame you. I can't imagine what you went through."
"Me? I wasn't the one who was tortured in hell. I was in that chair for forty minutes, not forty years."
"That's irrelevant."
"Then why isn't what happened to me irrelevant?"
Dean spoke softly as he put his hands on her hips. "It's okay to admit that it changed you."
She shook her head. "No, that doesn't make sense. I didn't know I was pregnant… I don't even know if I want a kid. For me to mourn that baby isn't rational. For me to mourn a life that maybe would have been good with you and our son isn't rational."
"You have the right to mourn our loss, Lana."
"Have you?" She asked.
"Yes."
This surprised Lana. "How?"
"I let myself grieve over it instead of pretending like it didn't happen."
Lana turned her back to Dean. "You can go without me, but I'm not going back to New Orleans. I'll be here
when you're done."
"Hayley wants to go…"
Lana shrugged as she sat down. "She can make her own decisions." She looked over her shoulder. "I love you, Dean. Be careful and bring Hayley back."
Dean kissed her forehead and promised that he would. He hoped that he wasn't lying to her.
…
Lana and Bobby sat up in the den waiting for Dean and Hayley to return with Sam. Hayley was able to find Sam quickly so she and Dean had a real shot of finding him before he could kill Lilith and can break the 66th seal.
Bobby was planning for if the boys failed while Lana was trying to figure out how she could let go of what happened to her and her son. Neither was making very big strides, but at least it kept them busy.
When the front door opened, Lana and Bobby got to their feet and watched as Hayley, Dean, and Sam walked in.
"Well?" Bobby asked.
Dean shook his head.
"Damn it," Bobby said as he walked towards them. "Glad you boys and girl are in one piece."
Lana pulled Hayley into her. "You okay?"
"Yep, no scratches."
Lana touched Dean's shoulder as she let go of Hayley.
Dean put his hand on top of hers and looked at Bobby. "You got a back-up plan?"
"Working on it."
"Looks like we're going to need it."
"But right now, you guys need a beer," Lana said as she walked into the kitchen. When she heard footsteps behind her, she assumed it was Dean. Turning around, she saw Sam in front of her.
"Lana, can we talk?"
She leaned against the counter and crossed her arms. "What's up?"
"I'm so sorry about what Ruby did…"
Lana shrugged. "She is-"
"Was," Sam interrupted. "Dean killed her."
"She was a demon," Lana said.
"I'm sorry for leaving you."
"There wasn't anything you could have done."
Sam took a deep breath. "I feel like an ass. I'm sorry."
Lana turned to the refrigerator to grab five beers. She handed one to Sam. "You should be apologizing to Dean, not to me."
…
Later that night, after Dean and Lana had snuck outside to have sex in the Impala, the two lovers sat outside on the front porch sipping on a bottle of whiskey.
Lana looked up at the stars. "Thanks for looking after Hayley."
"She doesn't need much looking after," Dean said. "She handled herself well out there."
Lana sighed. "I hate hearing that." She looked at Dean. "I don't want this life for her."
"Neither do I," Dean agreed. "But it's in her blood."
Lana took a sip out of the bottle. "I know." She handed Dean the bottle. "I'm taking Hayley back to New Orleans tomorrow."
Dean nodded.
"I want you to come with us. Sam too."
"I can't, not now. Not with the apocalypse."
Lana stood up and brushed the dirt of the back of her jeans. "There's always going to be an apocalypse."
Dean looked up at her. "Hell, I hope not. But for today, it is." He took her hand in his. "Have you changed your mind? About waiting for me?"
She leaned over and kissed him. "Baby, I'd wait for ever for you. Nothing will change that."
Dean kissed her hand. "It won't be forever," he promised.
