Heartless
Soundtrack:
Jess Glynne – Hold my hand
The Pretty Reckless – Back to the river
The Beach Boys – Little Deuce Coupe
Lacey picked up a pair of jeans from her bed and shoved them into her bag. She was packing for a weekend with her Aunts. As she pulled open a drawer to grab some t-shirts, she began to feel dizzy, her vision going in and out of focus. She sat down on the edge of the bed as her head began to pound and images flashed before her eyes. She could see a large metal bell with a tree carved into it, then she saw Sam and a moment later Dean, standing by the side of the road with Bobby, clutching his head. As the images began to fade and the pain dissipated she opened her eyes, letting out a shaky breath.
"Dean." She closed her eyes, concentrating on him. When she opened them again she was standing in the middle of the road. She turned to look around, getting her bearings and found the Impala parked by the side of the road, Dean leaning against it, Bobby by his side, just as she'd seen them moments ago.
"Dean!" She hurried over to him.
"Lacey?" He looked up, a pained expression on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"I saw something, I saw you and Sam and this weird bell thing." Dean stared at her.
"You saw it too?"
"Saw what?" Bobby asked.
"I saw Sam." Dean told him.
"It was a vision." Bobby confirmed.
"Yeah. I don't know how, but yeah. Whew. That was about as fun as getting kicked in the jewels." Dean grimaced.
"What else did you see?" Bobby asked.
"Uh, there was a bell." Dean glanced over at Lacey. "Lacey saw it too."
"Lacey had the same vision as you?" Bobby frowned. "How is that possible?"
"No idea." Dean looked at Lacey, who shrugged.
"OK, what kind of bell was it?" Bobby asked.
"Like a big bell, with some kind of engraving on it, I don't know."
"Engraving?" Bobby frowned.
"Yeah."
"Was it a tree? Like, an oak tree?" Bobby guessed. Dean and Lacey stared at him
"Yeah, exactly."
"I know where Sam is."
Dean, Bobby and Lacey climbed into the Impala and drove for several hours. As the day faded into night they stopped just outside the abandoned town of Cold Oak. As the road came to an end they got out of the car.
"Well, it looks like the rest of the way's on foot." Bobby said, as they opened up the trunk and took out some weapons.
"Let's go." Dean shut the trunk and they started trekking through the woods.
"So what's going on, what did I miss?" Lacey asked, when they were a distance away from Bobby.
"Sam disappeared, and I mean really disappeared. Demons took him, but we had no idea where. Ash was helping us find him but then the Roadhouse got burned down…"
"The Roadhouse burned down?" Lacey's voice was laced with concern.
"Yeah, Ash didn't make it."
"But Ellen and Jo are ok though, right?" Lacey asked.
"Jo's out hunting by herself, we don't know about Ellen." Lacey nodded, fairly certain she already knew the answer. There was a break in the trees and they soon found themselves on a muddy track leading up to the town. As they got closer they saw two figures that seemed to be fighting.
"Sam!" Dean called out, breaking into a run, Lacey and Bobby following suit.
"Dean!" Sam called back, walking towards them.
"Sam, look out!" Dean shouted as the other figure got to its feet and stabbed Sam in the back.
"Nooo!" Dean cried out. As he reached Sam they both fell to their knees, Dean stopping Sam from collapsing further. Bobby chased after the other guy who had taken off in the opposite direction from where they had come.
"No, Sam!" Dean grabbed at him, shaking him, trying to keep him awake but Sam's head fell forward onto his shoulder.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Sam. Sam! Hey, hey. Come here. Let me look at you." Lacey watched, her heart pounding, as Dean reached around to Sam's back, touching the wound. His hand came back covered in blood.
"Hey, look at me. It's not even that bad. It's not even that bad, all right? Sammy? Sam!" Lacey reached out a hand, holding it over Sam's wound. She closed her eyes and concentrated, using every ounce of energy she possessed. She opened her eyes and shook her head at Dean.
"I'm sorry, it's too much, I can't do it in this form." Dean nodded before turning his attention back to Sam.
"Hey, listen to me. We're gonna patch you up, okay? You'll be good as new. Huh? I'm gonna take care of you. I've got you. That's my job, right? Watch out for my pain in the ass little brother." Dean touched Sam's face but as he did, Sam's eyes slid shut and he slipped out of consciousness completely.
"Sam? Sam! Sam! Sammy!" Dean tried to wake him up, to no avail, his body completely slumped in Dean's arms now. "No. No, no, no, no, no, no. Oh, God. Oh, God." Dean began to rock Sam's lifeless body as Lacey looked on, tears streaming down her face.
"Sam!"
Dean stood in the abandoned house, staring at Sam's dead body. Lacey was sat at the table behind him. She was still shaking a little from what she had witnessed. She knew so little about the boys past really, it had come as quite the shock. Of course she knew this wasn't permanent but it was still a lot to take in. The front door was opened and shut and Bobby appeared carrying a bucket of fried chicken.
"Dean? Brought you this back." Bobby set the bucket down on the table.
"No thanks, I'm fine." Dean said, not even turning around.
"You should eat something."
"I said I'm fine." Dean growled, taking a swig from the bottle of whiskey in his hand.
"Dean… I hate to bring this up I really do. But don't you think maybe it's time we bury Sam?" Bobby asked carefully.
"No." Dean stated, point blank.
"We could maybe…"
"What? Torch his corpse? Not yet."
"I want you to come with me." Bobby tried a different tack.
"I'm not going anywhere." Dean protested.
"Dean, please?"
"Would you cut me some slack?!" Dean snapped.
"I just don't think you should be alone, that's all. I gotta admit, I could use your help." Dean snorted in derision. "Something big is going down, end of the world big."
"Well then let it end!" Dean practically screamed.
"You don't mean that." Bobby said quietly. Dean got right up close to Bobby's face.
"You don't think so? Huh? You don't think I've given enough? You don't think I've paid enough? I'm done with it. All of it. And if you know what's god for you, you'd turn around and get the hell out of here." When Bobby just shook his head, Dean began to shove him towards the door. "Go!" Lacey got to her feet with a start the chair scraping back on the floor, startling the two of them. Dean sighed, defeated. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. Please just go."
"You know where I'll be." Bobby told him as he turned to leave. Lacey watched him go before turning to look at Dean. He was staring at Sam. As she watched a tear rolled down his cheek. He walked over and sat on the edge of the dilapidated mattress, next to Sam.
"You know, when we were little, you couldn't have been more than five, you just started asking questions. How come we didn't have a Mom? Why do we always have to move around? Where'd Dad go when he'd take off for days at a time? I remember I begged you, 'Quit asking, Sammy. Man, you don't want to know.' I just wanted you to be a kid. Just for a little while longer. I always tried to protect you, keep you safe. Dad didn't even have to tell me. It was just always my responsibility, you know? It's like I had one job… I had one job… and I screwed it up. I blew it. And for that, I'm sorry. I guess that's what I do. I let down the people I love. I let Dad down. And now I guess, I'm just supposed to let you down too. How can I? How am I supposed to live with that?" Dean wiped the tears from his eyes. Lacey couldn't stand it anymore. She rushed over and put her arms around him, tears streaming down her own face.
"What am I supposed to do, Sammy? God. What am I supposed to do? What am I supposed to do?"
Lacey sat there quietly while Dean sobbed, just holding him. He slowly stopped. Abruptly he got to his feet, wiping his face on his shirt. He grabbed his jacket from one of the chairs and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Lacey asked, trying to wipe her own eyes. She got no answer. She glanced back down at Sam for a second before rushing after Dean. She ran out of the house and climbed into the passenger seat of the Impala just before Dean pulled away, gravel flying out behind the cars spinning wheels.
"Dean, where are you going?" Lacey asked again. Dean didn't answer as he sped down the road, his knuckles white as he gripped the steering wheel. Lacey gave up and they sat in silence. The car came to stop a short while later and Dean got out. Lacey sat there for a moment, letting her heart rate get back to normal. She slowly got out of the car and walked around to the back where Dean was rummaging in the trunk.
"Dean, what's going on?" Dean must have found what he was looking for, as he slammed the trunk shut, clutching a box in his hands. He walked a ways down the dirt road, Lacey trailing him. He stopped in the middle of the road and began to dig in the dirt.
"Seriously Dean, what is going on? Why are we…" Lacey stopped, looking around, as Dean finished burying the box. "Dean, this is a crossroads… what are you doing?" Dean stood back up, glancing around.
"Dean!" Lacey grabbed him by his jacket collar and pulled him to face her.
"I have to do this." He told her quietly, pulling out of her grasp and turning around. "Oh, come on already! Show your face, you bitch!" He shouted into the night. Dean spun around, facing each direction of the crossroads. There was a noise behind him and as he stepped out of the way, Lacey caught a glimpse of a woman in a black dress.
"Easy sugar, you'll wake the neighbours. Dean, it is so, so good to see you. I mean it. Look at you. Gone and got your family killed. All alone in the world. It's too sweet. Excuse me, you're gonna have to give me a moment. Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the roses." The demon sauntered over to them, smirking, clearly enjoying herself.
"I should send you straight back to hell." Dean warned her.
"Oh, you should. But you won't. And I know why."
"Oh yeah?"
"Yeah. Following in Daddy's footsteps. You wanna make a deal. Little Sammy back from the dead, and let me guess, you're offering up your own soul?" Lacey's heart began to pound in her chest.
"There are a hundred other demons that would love to get their hands on it. And it's all yours. All you got to do is bring Sam back. And give me ten years, ten years and then you come for me." Lacey tried to take a deep breath, panic setting in. This wasn't happening. She was pretty sure Dean would have mentioned if he only had five years to live. She got her answer moments later.
"You must be joking."
"That's the same deal you give everybody else."
"You're not everybody else. Why would I want to give you anything? Keep your gutter soul. It's too tarnished anyway." Lacey growled and stepped in front of the demon, unfortunately it couldn't see her.
"Nine years." Dean offered.
"No."
"Eight."
"You keep going, I'll keep saying no." The demon laughed.
"Okay, five years. Five years and my bill comes due. That's my last offer, five years or no deal." The demon leant towards him.
"Then no deal."
"Fine."
"Fine." The demon started to walk away. "Make sure you bury Sam before he starts stinking up the joint."
"Wait." Dean called out, desperation evident in his voice. "What do I have to do?"
"First of all, quit grovelling. Needy guys are such a turn off." The demon said, walking back towards them. "Look, look, I shouldn't be doing this. I could get in a lot of trouble. But what can I say? I got a blind spot for you, Dean. You're like a puppy. You're just too fun to play with. I'll do it."
"You'll bring him back?" Dean looked hopeful for a moment.
"I will. And because I'm such a saint, I'll give you one year, and one year only. But here's the thing. If you try and welch or weasel your way out, then the deal is off. Sam drops dead, he's back to rotten meat in no time. So… it's a better deal than your Dad ever got. What do you say?" Before Lacey could say or do anything to stop him, Dean reached forward and grabbed the demon, pulling her in to seal the deal with a kiss.
Dean and Lacey drove in silence back to the house. As soon as Dean pulled up, Lacey got out of the car and stalked towards the house.
"Lacey! Wait!" Dean called after her. She stopped in front of the door and turned back to him, levelling him with a glare.
"Look, I'm not here to tell you what to do, everything has to play out just as it would if I wasn't here, but that doesn't mean that I can't be upset when I find out huge things like this." Lacey turned away again before he could speak, opening the front door and heading inside.
"Lace, please wait I…." Dean almost walked into Lacey who had come to a halt. Sam was standing in the middle of the floor, definitely alive.
"Sammy? Thank god."
Hey." Sam was cut off by Dean grabbing him in a hug.
"Oww, uh, Dean?"
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry, man." Dean let go of him. I'm just happy to see you up and around that's all. Come on, sit down." Lacey leant against the wall, her arms folded across her chest, as the boys sat down at the table.
"Okay. Dean, what happened to me?"
"Well, what do you remember?"
"I saw you and Bobby, and I felt this pain, this sharp pain, like, white hot, you know, and then you started running at me, and that's about it." Dean glanced up at Lacey.
"Yeah, that kid stabbed you in the back. You lost a lot of blood, you know, it was pretty touch and go for a while." Lacey stared at him in disbelief.
"But Dean, you can't patch up a wound that bad." Sam frowned at him.
"No, Bobby could. Who was that kid anyway?" Dean asked, changing the subject.
"His name's Jake. Did you get him?"
"No, he disappeared into the woods."
"We got to find him, Dean. And I swear I'm going to tear that son of a bitch apart."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Easy, Van Damme. You just woke up, all right? Let's get you something to eat, huh? You want something to eat? I'm starving, come on."
Lacey was standing outside, getting some air. This whole situation was way more complicated than she expected it to be. She obviously couldn't do anything to change these events, they had already happened in her time and she didn't want to change anything. A short while later the front door opened and Sam and Dean stepped outside. Dean tossed Sam the keys.
"Give me a sec." Sam nodded and climbed into the Impala.
"Lacey, I'm sorry."
"You don't need to apologise Dean, this was always going to happen, I just didn't know that and it threw me." Lacey told him. "I take it you're not going to tell him the truth?"
"Not if I don't have to. I understand if you don't want to come but, we're heading to Bobby's now, see if we can't stop this thing with the yellow eyed demon." Dean told her.
"Oh, I'm coming, clearly someone needs to keep you out of trouble." Dean chuckled at her expression and the two of them got in the Impala.
They arrived at Bobby's a few hours later. Dean knocked on the door and moments later Bobby answered. Bobby stared at Sam, looking shocked.
"Hey, Bobby." They both said.
"Sam, it's good to see you up and around." Bobby managed to get out, unable to get the look of shock off his face.
"Yeah, thanks for patching me up." Sam said as he walked past Bobby into the house.
"Don't mention it." Bobby said, gruffly, glaring at Dean. Dean looked down, uncomfortably.
"Well, Sam's better. And we're back in it now so, what do you know?" Lacey followed the three of them inside, basking in the familiar feeling of being back at Bobby's.
"Well, I found something but I'm not sure what the hell it means." Bobby admitted as they walked over to his desk.
"What is it?" Sam asked.
"Demonic omens, like a frickin' tidal wave. Cattle deaths, lightning storms. They skyrocketed from out of nowhere. Here." He pointed to a map laid out on his desk. "All around here, except for one place, southern Wyoming."
"Wyoming?" Dean frowned.
"Yeah. That one area's totally clean, spotless. It's almost as if…" Bobby paused.
"What?"
"The demons are surrounding it."
"But you don't know why?"
"No, and by this point, my eyes are swimming. Sam, would you take a look at it? Maybe you could catch something I couldn't."
"Yeah, sure." Sam nodded, sitting down at the desk.
"Come on , Dean. I've got some more books in the trunk, help me lug 'em out."
"Yeah." Dean and Lacey followed Bobby outside into the junk yard. When they were a safe distance from the house, Bobby turned around and glared at Dean.
"You stupid ass! What did you do? What did you do?" When Dean looked away, Bobby shoved his shoulder. "You made a deal, for Sam, didn't you? How long did they give you?" Bobby's voice wobbled a little as he asked this.
"Bobby." Dean shook his head.
"How long!?" Bobby growled.
"One year." Dean admitted quietly.
"Damn it, Dean." Bobby sighed.
"Which is why we've got to find this yellow eyed son of a bitch. That's why I'm gonna kill him myself. I mean, I got nothing to lose now, right?"
"I could throttle you!" Bobby grabbed Dean by his collar.
"What, and send me downstairs ahead of schedule?" Dean tried to joke.
"What is it with you Winchesters, huh?" Bobby asked, letting go. "You, your dad. You're both just itching to thro yourselves down the pit."
"That's my point. Dad brought me back, Bobby. I'm not even supposed to be here. At least this way, something good could come out of it, you know? It's like my life could mean something." Lacey fought the urge to grab Dean and hug him.
"What, and it didn't before?! Have you got that low of an opinion of yourself? Are you that screwed in the head?" Bobby grabbed Dean again, shaking him.
"I couldn't let him die, Bobby. I couldn't. He's my brother." Dean said, looking down, holding back tears.
"How is your brother going to feel when he knows you're going to hell? How'd you feel when you knew your Dad went for you?"
"You can't tell him." Dean pleaded. "You take a shot at me, whatever you got to do, but please don't tell him." There was a noise over by one of the scrap cars. The two of them exchanged a look before heading in that direction, Lacey following. As they rounded a corner they ran into Ellen.
"Ellen?" Dean asked, before grabbing her in a hug.
The four of them headed inside. Ellen sat down at the desk as Bobby poured some holy water from a flask into a shot glass and pushed it across the table towards her.
"Bobby, is this really necessary?" Ellen asked.
"Just a belt of holy water, shouldn't hurt." Bobby shrugged. Ellen threw back the shot and
"Whiskey now if you don't mind." Lacey smirked at her, it was good to see Ellen again.
"Ellen, what happened? How did you get out?" Dean asked.
"I wasn't supposed to. I was supposed to be in there with everybody else. But we ran out of pretzels, of all things. It was just dumb luck." Ellen took the shot of whisky before continuing. "Anyway, that's when Ash called. Panic in his voice. He told me to look in the safe. Then the call cut out. By the time I got back, the flames were sky high. And everybody was dead. I couldn't have been gone more than 15 minutes."
"Sorry, Ellen." Sam shook his head, sadly.
"A lot of good people dies in there and I got to live. Lucky me." Ellen looked down, tears in her eyes.
"Ellen, you mentioned a safe." Bobby prompted.
"A hidden safe we keep in the basement."
"Demons get what was in it?"
"No." Ellen pulled a map out of her jacket and unfolded it on the table. Lacey leant forward trying to get a good look. There were several black x's marked out.
"Wyoming. What does that mean?" Dean asked, pointing to the marks.
Lacey felt the night air, cool around her, blowing her hair in the breeze. She stood next to Dean beside a large mausoleum. Between them they had worked out that Samuel Colt had built a cemetery, protected by train tracks forming a pentagram that no demon could cross. But Jake, the yellow eyed demon's newest protegee could. Lacey watched as a shape formed out of the darkness, strolling across the cemetery. As he got closer Sam stepped out from behind one of the tombs.
"Howdy, Jake." Everyone else stepped out from their hiding spots, guns raised.
"Wait… you were dead, I killed you." Jake stared at Sam in shock.
"Yeah, well next time, finish the job."
"I did! I cut clean through your spinal cord, man! You can't be alive, you can't be." Sam looked over at Dean, who averted his gaze.
"Okay, just take it real easy there, son." Bobby told Jake.
"And if I don't?"
"Wait and see." Sam bit back.
"What, you a tough guy all of a sudden? What are you gonna do, kill me?"
"It's a thought."
"You had your chance. You couldn't."
"I won't make that mistake twice." Jake began to laugh.
"What are you smiling at, you little bitch?" Dean asked.
"Hey lady, do me a favour, put that gun to your head." Jake instructed. Ellen began to shakily aim the gun until it was pointed at her head. "See that Ava girl was right. Once you give into it, there's all sorts of new Jedi mind tricks you can learn."
"Let her go." Sam growled.
"Shoot him." Ellen told them.
"You'll be mopping up skull before you get a shot off." Jake warned them. "Everybody put your guns down, except you, sweetheart." The three of them lowered their guns while Ellen kept hers where it was. "Okay, thank you." Jake advanced towards the huge crypt at the centre of the cemetery. He pulled the colt from his jacket and inserted it into the slot in the crypt door. Dean and Bobby grabbed Ellen and tackled her to the ground, wrestling the gun away from her. As they did this, Sam picked up one of the gun and fired at Jake, four times. As Jake collapsed to the ground Sam strode forward, gun still in his hand.
"Please, please don't…" Jake pleaded before Sam shot him three more times. The four of them walked past him, staring in various levels of shock. As they approached the crypt the slot the colt had been inserted into began to spin.
"Oh no." Bobby muttered, reading the inscription.
"Bobby, what is it?" Ellen asked.
"It's hell!" Dean pulled the colt from the door.
"Take cover now!" Bobby yelled. The five of them rushed out into the cemetery and hid behind the tombstones as the doors to the crypt burst open and a huge cloud of black smoke began to stream out.
Lacey crouched on the ground beside Dean as the smoke began to fly out above their heads.
"What the hell just happened?!" Dean shouted over the howling wind.
"That's a devils gate. A damn door to hell." Ellen yelled back. "Come on we gotta shut the gate!" As they spoke the black smoke formed over the railway lines and the metal began to buckle and bend. Dean looked down at the gun in his hand.
"If the demon gave this to Jake then maybe…" Dean looked up just in time to see the yellow eyed demon appear out of the darkness. The gun flew out of Dean's hand and into the demons.
"Boys shouldn't play with Daddy's guns." It chided him before telekinetically flinging him across the ground and into one of the tombstones.
"Dean!" Sam and Lacey yelled at the same time, as Bobby and Ellen ran forward and began to struggle with the crypt doors. As Sam rushed forward the demon flung him to one side.
"I'll get to you in a minute, champ. But I'm proud of you, knew you had it in you." Dean began to get up and the demon sent him flying again. By this point, Lacey had, had enough, she got to her feet and flung her arm out, trying to send the demon flying, but nothing happened.
"Sit a spell. So, Dean, I gotta thank you. You see, demons can't resurrect people, unless a deal is made. I know, red tape, it'll make you nuts. But thanks to you, Sammy's back in rotation. Now I wasn't counting on that, but I'm glad. I liked him better than Jake, anyhow. Tell me, have you ever heard the expression 'If a deal sounds too good to be true, it probably is?'"
"You call that deal good?" Dean scoffed. Lacey glanced over at Bobby and Ellen, they were still trying to close the door. She ran over and tried to help them. As she pushed against the door she could see the demons escaping through the gap, suddenly a bright white light shot past her, Lacey watched transfixed as it flew across the cemetery and materialised beside yellow eyes. The figure grabbed the demon and wrestled it to the ground. When it got back up Dean was pointing the colt at its head. Lacey watched as Dean fired, the bullet lit up the demon for several seconds before it fizzled out and the body dropped to the floor. Lacey let out a breath as the ghostly figure that had attacked the demon came into focus. John Winchester stood there for a moment, smiling proudly at his boys before disappearing. Lacey took a step back and focused all of her energy on closing the door. In one swift movement the door slammed shut. Lacey left Bobby and Ellen there and headed over to Dean. He saw her coming and met her half way.
"Was that really…" Lacey began.
"Yeah, it was, it was my Dad." Dean nodded, blood dripping down his cheek from a gash on his forehead.
"I'm glad you got to see him again." Lacey told him, gently. "He looked really proud of you guys." Dean gave her a small smile before looking wearily over at Sam. "You're going to have to explain it to him now, aren't you?"
"Yeah, I guess I am." Dean sighed.
"I wish there was something I could do to make this all right." Lacey told him. "But I know what happens has, to happen. I'm gonna let you sort all this out with Sam, I think we all need to figure out what we do next." Lacey told him. She wrapped him in a hug for a moment, before stepping back, their eyes met for a moment before Lacey faded out.
