Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise; the original concept of this story was inspired by 'To Hell & Back' by EventRider87, but I've added my own spin to things and have received EventRider87's permission to use their idea for this
Feedback: Much appreciated
AN: And here is what may be my most daring bit of writing ever; I hope this goes down well…
AN 2: In advance, today's 'special guest' can be envisioned as being portrayed by Sasha Alexander, preferably in the clothing style she wore when portraying Maura Isles in Rizzoli & Isles (with the necessary adjustments for her time period of origin); you'll know who I'm talking about when you get there.
The Corrupted Innocent
Bela liked to think that she had grown as a person since she got out of Hell, but it still surprised her just how far she'd come in the last few months. She went into Hell with nothing but money, but in the months since then, she'd found a strange new form of family with a group she'd previously dismissed as just being a few steps away from serial killers, admiring people she would have once seen as foolish…
She appreciated that they were still in danger from Lucifer's forces, particularly with Dean's ominous warnings of that future he'd told them about to take into account, but right now Bela chose to hope for the best. Dean, Sam and Deanna should be back with Adam before the day was out, they would have taken another piece off the board in Heaven and Hell's attempts to get the Apocalypse back on track, and in the meantime Bobby had given her a new credit card so that she could do a quick supply run (she normally preferred using her own cards, but this close to Bobby's house anything to discourage attention to him wasn't a bad move).
With the food in shopping bags, Bela was just on her way back to the car when she found herself pausing outside a toy store, looking at the display items in the window with a thoughtful smile. She appreciated that it would be a while before she could get her child anything big, and she somehow doubted that her daughter would ever even be allowed to be interested in conventional girls' toys like Barbies or those 'My Little Pony' things, but that didn't rule out the possibility of a stuffed animal of some kind…
Glancing around, Bela's gaze narrowed when she saw a couple of people walking towards her, an edge to their pacing approach that she didn't like. Adjusting her grip on the bags, she turned around to hurry towards her current car, but froze when she felt something sharp dig into her side from the back.
"Move and the blade goes in," an unfamiliar voice said from behind her, with an all-too-familiar edge to the speaker. "I may not want to kill you, but that doesn't mean I can't do a bit of harm."
"You," Bela said, tightening her grip on the bags as she tried to consider her options.
"I don't even merit a 'Dad'?" the man said, his eyes flashing the traditional demonic black.
"The only reason I mourned what happened to you last time was because we had to kill your last host, and I only hope you felt at least some of what he went through when that happened," Bela countered firmly; she'd picked up a few beers out of habit, considering that the men she knew tended to go through alcohol like it was water these days, but were they heavy enough to disorientate a demon…?
"Well, it smarted, certainly, but we have bigger things to discuss right now," the demon grinned. "If you wouldn't mind-?"
Bela tried to swing the bag of beers at his head, but the demon that had once been her father easily grabbed her arm, and then moved to place his other hand on her forehead-
"Bastard!" Bela yelled as she sharply sat up, looking urgently around herself. As she expected, she was no longer on the street she'd been just a moment ago from her perspective, but was now in a stained and dirty room that reminded Bela of the place where Dean and Sam had been squatting when they were dealing with that ghost ship and the Hand of Glory, save for it having more modern furniture even if it was still obviously dirty.
"And you're awake," the demon grinned at Bela, sitting nonchalantly in a chair opposite her. Glancing down, Bela noticed that she'd been lying on a bed and was still wearing the same clothes she'd been in earlier, even if it was clear that her phone had been taken out of her pocket.
"What the Hell are you doing?" Bela protested, looking down to realise that her legs and hands were tied to the bedposts with stiff but secure ropes. She could move her arms just enough, but she doubted that this rope was loose enough to let her untie herself without being caught before she could escape.
"A man can't have a reason to see his daughter and his grandchild?"
"You'd have no right to use those titles even if you weren't in someone else's body, and you honestly expect me to believe you'd do this if you weren't after something?" Bela said, refusing to voice the thought that her former father could have easily killed her baby if he wanted Johanna to be gone (she found it strange, but she agreed with Dean that the name at least sounded good); the last thing she wanted was to draw his attention to her pregnancy.
"Well, I'll confess that you're right there, even if it pains me to see you so suspicious," the demon replied with a mocking grin. "But just to start, I'll clarify that I brought you here based on a few tips we got from our allies on the other side."
"The other side?" Bela repeated inquiringly, forcing herself to keep calm until she knew more.
"Well, do you honestly think that 'Uriel' fellow was the only angel up there who liked the idea of bringing Lucifer back?"
"Uriel- oh, you've got to be kidding me," Bela rolled her eyes incredulously to try and hide her deeper fears at that revelation. "Someone else up there thinks working with Lucifer is a good idea?"
"Oh, not to the extent that he's willing to completely flip on his heavenly masters to help us, but he's invested enough to want to ensure that the Apocalypse can happen on schedule even if the chosen vessels won't play ball," the demon explained. "Since your dear new paramour and his brother have expressed continued reluctance to accept their parts, after we were alerted to the possibility that there was a substitute vessel for Michael who was still in the appropriate bloodline, it got me thinking… well, dear Adam isn't the only other member of the Winchester family out there."
"Excuse me?" Bela looked at her father in confusion. "You captured me, not Deanna-"
"Who is a Campbell," her father corrected with one raised finger that he subsequently pointed to her chest. "I'm talking about the Winchester in there."
Bela's eyes widened incredulously, before she fully processed the implications of this latest proclamation.
"You- are you kidding me?" she yelled in outrage. "You honestly think that you can use my baby as a vessel for Lucifer? She hasn't even been born yet-!"
"Oh, I'm not saying we're going to wait until you've given birth," her father shrugged. "But while you're sharing blood with that little girl for the next few months, it's not impossible that you could serve as a suitable substitute yourself…"
Bela had already been afraid for her daughter, but the implication of those words sent an icy chill through her veins.
She had no idea if it would even be possible, considering some of the rules required for angelic consent that Castiel had told them about, but the thought of what they could do to her and her baby if they had the time…
"You can't," she said. "I can't give consent on behalf of my baby-"
"It's part of you for the moment; it creates… possibilities, shall we say?"
"If you seriously think-!"
A sharp slap to her face interrupted Bela mid-sentence, even as she quickly shot a cold glare at her father.
"And once again, you prove why you were a bad father," she said, forcing herself to appear cool despite the risks facing her. "You just want to make the world work your way, and you don't care that nobody else shares your views."
"Is it a crime to want to make it clear that I care for my daughter?"
Bela shot her father a cold glare, refusing to bother giving him a verbal response; she doubted that he would have been able to understand her answer even if he wasn't a demon, so she wasn't going to bother trying to give him one.
"You know, I'm not sure exactly how dangerous sex is to pregnant women, but considering the way I prefer it, I concede it's probably not a good idea to risk Lucifer's potential back-up vessel," her father said, before he reached up and tore open her shirt. Bela screamed despite herself, trying to cover up her exposed chest despite her tied arms, but her father just drew out a switchblade and scratched it over the anti-possession tattoo.
"That said," he grinned at her, "I can use this opportunity to be within you another way…"
Bela barely had time to realise what he was talking about before smoke burst from his mouth and headed for hers-
"Hello, Abigail."
Bela had no idea where she was as her eyes opened and she found herself seemingly surrounded by white smoke, limbs unrestrained and wearing an unfamiliar white dress. However, that brief confusion was immediately replaced by shock when she realised who had just said her original name.
"M… Mom?" she whispered, staring incredulously at the woman in front of her.
It had been almost two decades since she'd last seen this woman, that dark night when her mother's attempt to take her away had been… interrupted… but everything about her memory seemed to have been perfectly preserved; the strawberry-blonde hair, the well-tailored suit, the friendly smile…
All thought of composure was lost when Bela felt that hand on her face, the hand that had never struck her… the hand that had only ever showed her love and kindness…
"Mommy…" she whispered, the word of endearment she'd lost on that dark day as she wrapped her arms around the other woman and felt the comforting embrace she'd lost so long ago.
Deanna had done her best without Bela ever asking for anything- God, Bela hadn't even realised she was looking for anything like that when she brought Deanna back to the present- but there was no substitute for this moment, surrounded by the reassuring, comforting arms of the one authority figure from her childhood who'd never hurt her, never disbelieved her, never acted like she was the problem…
"Is this… real?" she asked, stepping back to look in confusion at her mother.
"It's… think of it as a waypoint," her mother smiled. "You're not dead, obviously, but considering that you're being possessed by a demon when you're tainted by the protective essence of the angel who dragged you out of Hell, it puts you in an interesting spiritual place in this kind of situation."
"Just because… I'm being possessed?" Bela looked at her mother in surprise. "You're sure I'm not-?"
"It's not your time yet, Abigail," her mother smiled at her. "You still have so many things to do, beyond your unconventional status-"
"My… you know about me being a Seal?" Bela looked at her in surprise.
"It's not well-known on either side, but I'm in touch with the right circles," her mother shrugged. "If nothing else, there's a fellow up here named 'Ash' who likes keeping me and others informed about your activities."
"Ash?" Bela repeated in surprise before her memory caught up with her. "Wait… Dean told me about-"
"Yes, he lived at the Roadhouse with the Harvelles before… well, he ended up here," her mother nodded. "Obviously we never met in life, but after you and Dean hit it off… well, he got curious enough to look around for some of your contacts, and he found me."
"I… see," Bela said, looking at her mother in silence for a moment before she swallowed in resolution.
However this happened, this might be my only chance…
"Why?"
"Why what?"
"Why did you stay with him?"
"Your father?" her mother said, smiling sadly at Bela. "He… was troubled, Abby-"
"'Troubled'?" Bela repeated with a pointed stare.
"You have to remember that we grew up in a different era from anything you've experienced, Abby," her mother continued, her manner calm. "You've been part of a supernatural war for a long time, but both your grandfathers came back from the Second World War damaged in some way, and society as a whole was reeling from everything it had been through; your father and I actually met taking our own fathers to their unit's twenty-year reunion."
"They… lost their legs, right?" Bela asked, a vague memory of old family photos stirring in her mind.
"And your dad's father lost an arm in an accident at the factory after the war was over," her mother confirmed with a sad smile. "Your father had to take on additional responsibilities at home to help support the family after his own father lost his job- disability pension obviously didn't amount to much when he had your father and aunts to provide for- but it was still difficult. Nobody in that family had the time or ability to show affection for each other when every day was a struggle to ensure they'd have enough money, but… well, I will admit that there was something admirable in how he kept trying."
"Kept trying?" Bela repeated.
"To make things happier," her mother continued with a reassuring smile. "He never lost the ability to keep going and try and find something better, even if he couldn't always live up to his aspirations. I admit, that stubborn determination was what drew us together in the first place, and when we were together… well, he was always a bit awkward about showing that he cared, but he always did his best."
"In… what way?" Bela asked, as a disturbing thought crossed her mind; she'd never seen any sign of her parents having a bad marriage before that final night, but after everything her father had done to her…
"It was never like that," her mother said, her smile faltering briefly even as she maintained a fixed gaze on Bela. "Your father never did anything more unconventional than trying to buy me a few small gifts when work was well enough for him to spare the cash, even if he could just never quite get me something I truly wanted; it was always the perfume that wasn't quite my favourite, or a handbag close to what I had admired, little things like that. It was never big enough for me to get outright upset about it, but he soon realised that I was being nice and… well, he began to feel that I was humouring his efforts."
"I see," Bela said, starting to develop a feeling where this tale was going to go. "And he… didn't take it well?"
"I had suggested that he talk to someone about his issues in the past, but he had never… until my death, it was never anything more serious than intense arguments and a few slaps. I could pass off most of them as him being drunk, but when he hit me during an argument when he was sober, I decided that was the time I had to get you away from him…"
"And that tipped him over the edge?"
"The night I… he found me as I was packing," her mother nodded. "I tried to tell him that I was just taking you away so he could focus on getting himself together… but he started this rant… this whole poisonous speech about how our entire relationship was a lie because I wouldn't be honest with him, how I didn't understand him and didn't appreciate what he had to do for me…"
"And then he killed you?"
Her mother nodded in response.
"That bastard."
"He lashed out in a moment of anger after a rough life-"
"Everyone has had rough lives, Mom, but that doesn't… he killed you, do you even remember that?" Bela yelled, unable to restrain her sudden outrage at her mother. "God, I accused Dean of being a few steps away from being a serial killer when we first met, but even at my worst I never really believed he'd hurt innocent people! He and his father suffered the most difficult loss any family could suffer, but John only ever wanted to protect his children; maybe he could have showed them he cared in a more traditional way, but I've never heard a thing to suggest he just hurt them for the sake of hurting them!"
"And that's why I know you found a good one," her mother smiled reassuringly, unfazed by her daughter's previous rant. "Because Dean's priority has never been about whether he's making you happy, but just whether you're happy."
Bela could only look at her mother in silence for a moment before she responded.
"Dean…" she said, finding herself smiling despite her earlier rage. "Dean's a good man."
"I know," her mother nodded. "And he'll be a good father to Johanna."
"You like it?"
"It's… unconventional, but I understand the choice," her mother smiled. "Just make sure you choose her middle name."
"I will," Bela replied, as she gave her mother a solemn smile. "Thanks, Mom; I… I needed this."
"We'll see each other again some day." Her mother looked warmly at her. "Right now, you need to go back there and make your own family."
There was a sudden jolt that made Bela feel as though she was about to be sick-
Once again tied to the bed, she watched as the smoke burst from her mouth back into its original meatsuit, the man reeling backwards for a moment before he stood up and looked at her with cold disgust.
"You can't even let me have that, can you?"
"Like I'm expected to be sorry you can't possess me?" Bela glared at the man, unable to believe this man's defiance of reality. "You're just a needy, pathetic idiot."
"I am your father-!"
"Like Sam said, you're not any kind of father!" Bela interrupted him, her new insight fresh in her mind. "So grandpa couldn't work and you couldn't keep up with the pressure; do you think that lets you off for what you did? Dean had to become essentially a full-on parent for his infant brother when he was only four years old and he never even thought about taking it out on Sam, and John Winchester was only a rough father because he wanted to be sure his sons would be safe!"
"I just wanted your mother to feel appreciated-"
"She got that; you just needed to let us have some say in it rather than try and set the terms yourself!" Bela glared; she appreciated on some level that demon psychology probably made this man incapable of understanding her points, but she had to say her piece. "Life isn't about you just deciding what everyone else needs and setting the rules; you had to realise-"
The slap was so fast Bela didn't even realise it had been delivered until she felt her stinging cheek and saw her father glaring at her with cold contempt.
"You understand nothing about me," the man said in contempt. "I was going to try and give you a good experience, but if you continue to defy-"
"That's your answer to everything, isn't it?" Bela said, matching his contempt with her own disgust. "I'm not going to go along with you, so I'm wrong and need to be punished?"
"You have your part to play in this Apocalypse, Abby, but don't you dare think-"
"The only role I have in this is making sure that your precious master gets stuck back in his Cage so that the rest of the world never even knows about it!"
"Which will never happen-!"
Bela was spared further rants when the door to the room was kicked open and Ellen Harvelle walked in, shotgun cocked as she glared at the man.
"Get the hell away from her," Ellen said firmly, aiming the weapon at his head.
"And you are?" the demon retorted with a smug assessment of Ellen that made his contempt sickeningly clear. "Another example of the trailer trash my daughter associates with these days?"
"Daugh…?" Ellen began, before her eyes narrowed in cold contempt. "So you're the ass who thought rapin' your own kid was a good way to get your jollies before you went to Hell?"
"I merely wanted to show her I cared-"
Ellen's lip curled in disgust as she fired the shotgun before the demon could finish his sentence, virtually tearing away half the man's face as the force of the blast sent him flying backwards into the nearest wall.
"Bastard," Ellen said, keeping the gun half-raised in the direction of her enemy as she moved over to briskly untie Bela's straps. "You OK?"
"As OK as anyone would be in this situation," Bela replied with a flippancy she didn't entirely feel as she was finally able to sit up on the bed as Ellen released her arms, reaching down to release her right leg while Ellen freed her left. "He didn't get around to actually doing anything more than rant at me-"
A strangled roar of rage filled the room as Bela's father got back to his feet and charged at the two women, throwing Ellen into a wall before he grabbed Bela by the throat and pinned her back onto the bed. Looking up at the twisted mess that Ellen's shotgun had left of his man's face, the flesh on his left side basically gone and the bone underneath cracked, Bela prayed that the host had been dead before Ellen did that, but her focus soon shifted back to the current issue.
"Yee… woo… respee…" the figure mumbled, his jaw barely mobile after the damage it had taken.
"Go… to… Hell," Bela countered, reaching up to grab the man's face. For a moment she felt like throwing up at the sensation of twisted flesh and bone underneath her hands, but her focus soon shifted to concentrating completely on the demon behind that skin, the demon who had destroyed her life back when she was just a teenager, the man who had killed her mother…
Her shoulder burned and she let out a desperate scream as she felt those last dregs of power from Castiel being channelled into the mangled body in front of her. The spirit that had once been her father let out a desperate scream of his own as black smoke filled the body's mouth, but then there was a brief golden glow and the smoke vanished in a brief burst of light as the body fell on top of Bela.
"Ugh…" Bela winced as the foul scent of burnt flesh filled her nostrils, shoving the body off as she sat up.
"Nice trick," Ellen looked at her as the older woman got up. "Where'd you get that?"
"A little… leftover gift from Castiel," Bela explained, rubbing her suddenly aching shoulder. "It's not something I tap very often, and I wasn't even sure if I could do it any more, but… well, if that was the last time I could use it, I think it was a good call."
"Limited use?"
"Castiel… well, when he got me out of Hell, he had to give me a bit of extra energy to cure my soul of any demonic traits I'd picked up," Bela explained. "It gave me some… extra abilities that I used to save Deanna and a couple of other close calls, but I hadn't used them for a while; I wasn't even sure if I could use them any more…"
"I see," Ellen nodded. "Well, at least they stopped that ass; did he get anythin' big?"
"Big?" Bela repeated, before she nodded in understanding. "No, he doesn't know anything about the whole 'I'm immune to Lucifer as an unbroken Seal' bit; he only wanted me because… well, it's a disturbing story and I'd rather tell it to everyone once… which reminds me, where am I and how did you find me?"
"We're in Kentucky, and you can thank Bobby for that," Ellen shrugged. "When the town sheriff found your car empty with the shopping a few feet away from it, she called Bobby and he managed to do a tracking spell to find you."
"A tracking spell?" Bela raised her eyes in surprise.
"He's had some extra time on his hands these days, and found one that was used a bit back in the day to track down lost heirs and the like. Bit of a greyer area than he'd like to get into, but when you didn't leave much of your own stuff at his place, it was easier for him to use this spell to track the kid using samples from some of Dean's old beers."
"Ah," Bela nodded in understanding as she glanced down at herself. "This is one of those cases where I'm not sure how I should feel."
"Just go with happy to be alive and safe," Ellen shrugged. "Anyway, Jo's taking a break in one of Ash's old safehouses, but Bobby knew that I was in the area dealing with a salt 'n burn solo, so he called me; hunt was nothing I couldn't put off to help you out."
"Jo's-?"
"Getting' over it, but she's still not at her peak, and gets that I don't want her doin' anything until she's sure she can run away if it gets back," Ellen clarified.
"That's… good," Bela smiled tentatively, before looking at Ellen with new curiosity. "Ash had safehouses?"
"More that he kept up a database of empty houses in likely hunt-intense areas so that we'd all know where to go if we needed a place to stay without worryin' about bills," Ellen clarified. "And on that topic, we should see 'bout catching up with those Winchesters; Bobby said we could probably catch with them in Indiana if we all keep movin'."
AN 3: Hope you liked that; to clarify, my intention was never to create sympathy for Bela's father, but just provide some insight into how he ended up that twisted, even if the way he handled things is still far from appropriate.
That said, we get back to canon next time around, with one of the most significant episodes of even this particularly dramatic season…