Disclaimer: Supernatural does not belong to me. Only the plot, and some characters, like Lily, are mine.
English is not my native language, so I apologize in advantage for any mistake I might have.
I am deeply sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. I had a busy summer, and then I started college (which took all my free time) and then hurricane Maria hit my island, leaving us without electricity for months. But here it is, finally posted. Hope you guys enjoy!
…
Chapter 3
...
It would take Bobby Singer a few hours to arrive at Springfield, which meant that the three hunters had to be around each other for a longer period of time than desired.
Their arguments were getting more ridiculous with each passing moment, something that only made the blonde woman extremely irritated and prone to snap at anyone that came her way.
Then Sam had the audacity of bringing Lily into one of his pointless arguments with Dean- that time their argument had been about who was to blame for their problems, and he wanted her to choose a side and declare which of them was right and who was wrong- and the young woman finally exploded:
"I swear to whatever deity is out there listening to me," Lily thundered when the pressure on her head became too much for her to bear. She always suffered from headaches, and feeling stressed only made it worse, "I will shoot you both right in the balls if any of you do as much as breathe in my direction again."
Dean backed away instantly, but the only reaction that she got out of Sam was one of his infamous bitch faces, which angered his older sister in a way that she had not been angered in years.
"Lily-" The blond man tried to adopt a casual voice, but he eyed her with precaution, noticing her building rage.
Sam opened his mouth to retort.
The fact that he had the audacity of ignoring her words made her rage explode, she moved from the bed in one swift movement and got one of her guns out of her duffel bag.
The tall man took one step back, hands flying to his crotch to protect himself. Dean watched with wide eyes from the other side of the room as his little brother was frozen with his hands over his crotch, eyes wide with precaution as he eyed the short woman in front of him.
Lily was glaring at both, though her eyes kept going back to Sam.
"I'm going out," She waved the gun at them as she talked- she was always big on hand gestures when she was angry- and while they knew she would never shoot accidentally (she was perfectly skilled in the art of shooting) they flinched when it was pointed at them. "When I get back, both of you better be-fucking-have."
"Bobby-" Dean started, his voice breaking with fear. He tried for a smile, but it died away once his sister looked at him.
"Won't be here in the next hours." Lily tried to control her anger and settle down. "I'm leaving before I do something I know I won't regret." She gave Sam a pointed look, "Because I won't regret shooting your dick."
There was a heavy pressure on her head, right in the middle of her skull, that made it hard to concentrate on more than one thing at a time.
That's what she hated the most of her never-ending headaches, that they were so strong that she could barely think straight.
"Be-" Dean cleared his throat, happy she hadn't said anything about his penis. "Be safe."
She crossed the room to get a jacket from her duffel bags, and once she had wrapped it over her body, and secured the gun in one of its internal pockets, she allowed her eyes to roam through her brothers' faces before pursing her lips and marching straight out of the room.
When she was gone, Sam and Dean were submerged in silence for a small amount of time.
Last time the three of them fought, Sam had been to one to initiate it, too.
He looked away, swallowing thickly to appease the uncomfortable lump on his throat.
When they talked about her actions- how she abandoned them for years after one big fight with John- (and they usually never talked about it because it wasn't an easy topic for neither of them) she claimed she hadn't been angry at them. All her rage had been directed at their father.
Dean's chest tightened painfully. She looked at them with the same rage that she used to direct at their father; she had the same detached look that she wore the day she disappeared.
"I-" Sam started, uncomfortable. "I don't want her to-"
"I know," Dean interrupted him. After a small pause, he added, "Me neither."
The blond man just hoped their sister wouldn't leave them because of that. He knew that as soon as the case was over they'd part ways, but part of him still hoped she would choose to stay with them. There were no words that could describe how much he missed having her on his life.
...
There had been another animal attack in campus.
Somehow, a bear had managed to enter a six-story dorm room unnoticed. The dorm had been habited by four men; all of them died. After the local policemen had gone through everything on the crime scene, the remains of the bodies were taken away for further examination, and janitors were allowed to enter to clean the scene.
A tragedy had occurred, but the dorm room was still in excellent conditions, which meant it could be rented to other students once a reasonable amount of time- a week by most- had passed to "respectfully" forget the disaster.
The walls were full of blood, as were the floors, but the beds were the most disastrous sight in the room.
They had been broken, almost as if the animal had jumped there to kill those college boys- which, in a way, must've been what happened.
A janitor approached one of the beds, having been told to take care of the sheets while the others cleaned the walls and the floors. He approached with a grimace, knowing he'd have to make a lot of strength to try and fix the bent beds. He settled for changing the sheets first- and when he had started to take the sheets off the mattress, he recognized a difference substance mixed with blood, and his stomach dropped.
"Oh, God," He muttered, hands flying to his mouth in a fable attempt to contain his disgust.
Behind him, footsteps approached. "What- oh."
He turned and recognized the janitor that had been assigned to mop the floors. "Hey, Loki."
"Garcia," Loki acknowledged the greeting, but did not glance at him. His eyes were glued to the sheets in front of him, an unreadable expression crossing his face. Then, as sudden as he had appeared there, his whole expression brightened with one of his cheerful smiles, and he said jovially, "What an awful day to be working, huh, buddy?"
Annoyance coursed through Garcia's whole body. "At least you're not the one in charge of cleaning cum-ridden sheets."
A wicked look crossed Loki's face, but before the other janitor could completely comprehend it, the look was gone, and he bore his usual charismatic, care-free expression. "C'mon, it's not the first time we've encountered cum on sheets."
"It's disgusting," Garcia huffed, as though he had never masturbated on a bed. "And this is a crime scene; there's also blood there." A small pause, then he considered something more disturbing, and grimaced, "Oh God, the beast probably ate their private parts."
The golden-eyed man whistled happily as he turned, having grown bored of the other man, and said: "Well, I guess some people are into bestiality."
It took the dark-haired man a long while to fully comprehend what the other man had implied.
Bestiality.
Garcia had a mental picture of those four men in the room, growing aroused with an animal that was meant to kill them. Or perhaps, his mind took another turn, they had sexual intercourse with the animal and it had killed them.
It was preposterous, it was ridiculous. Yet something about Loki's words had stuck inside his brain and refused to leave.
He felt a new wave of disgust surging through his stomach, and he forced himself to drown the cheerful voice of the other janitor away from his system.
Loki liked to talk as he worked; he had an ongoing conversation with the others cleaning around them.
Garcia despised it. He despised that others were so engrossed in Loki's anecdotes that they neglected their work- work that, in the end, he was forced to finish for them.
Garcia hated that about Loki.
He hated that his words had a way of engrossing everyone that listened to him.
He hated that he was not immune to his charms. His words were still deeply rooted into his brain. All sort of wild ideas had appeared on his mind- what if Loki was right? What if they had fucked the bear before it killed them? What if it was not an actual bear? Unnatural things were happening all around campus; everything was possible.
While the dark-haired man was distracted with his thoughts, he failed to realize that the very reason for his thoughts to be a mess was staring at him.
Every little movement he made was carefully watched by the other janitor, a familiar fire on his eyes, similar to the way a predator looked at its next prey.
"Garcia," Loki called.
His voice woke the other man from within his thoughts, and so the raven-haired janitor turned to look at the blond one. His smile was familiar, it was the same charismatic one that he bore at all times, but Garcia sensed something different on it. An edge he could not recognize, but that made his bones tremble.
"Yes?"
"You should join me for lunch today," His words were honey-laced, there was no way anyone could ever refuse him if he used that tone. "We never hang out, what kind of work-buddies are we?"
Garcia wanted to point that they were not buddies, that he could not stand his charisma and the way he won everyone around him with just a smile. But the words died on his throat, swallowed by the impending force of the nice invitation he had received. He didn't want to be rude, even when he didn't like the other man.
"Sure," He said at last, regretting his words before they were fully out of his mouth. "Sounds like a blast."
There was a peculiar twinkle on Loki's eyes when he said: "Believe me, Caleb Garcia, it will be."
...
Lily entered a small cafeteria close to the university.
She had been there before, back when she used to live close to campus with her ex-fiancé, and therefore knew and liked that cafeteria. She wasn't hungry- the anger she still felt made it impossible for her to feel any other emotion or need- but she couldn't shake the feeling that there was something observing her.
She thought she'd be safer there, surrounded by normal people. Whatever was still following her wouldn't dare to attack in such a crowded space and reveal itself. It seemed to be a basic rule for the demons she haunted- most only attacked when there were no witnesses around.
And so, even though memories from the past threatened to overcome her with every step she took closer to that cafeteria, she entered through its open doors and moved towards an empty table.
A familiar-looking woman saw her and smiled brilliantly. "Lilian! My God, it's so good to see you again!"
Lily forced herself to return the affectionate greeting, plastering a smile into her face and trying to focus on the older woman whose name she did not remember. It was the owner of the cafeteria, she knew that much, and coincidentally she had also been one of her neighbors when she stayed in Caleb's house, but she couldn't remember her name.
"Good morning." She looked around the cafeteria and forced another smile into her face, one that looked more like a grimace. "It's, um, good to be back."
If the older woman noticed how insincere it sounded, she didn't comment on it. Instead, her smile only seemed to get sweeter and softer with each passing second: "Well, my dear, what can I get you?"
"How can you like hot chocolate?" The first time Caleb and Lily went there to eat, he had scowled at her choice of food and drink, saying instead: "Have a coffee, they make them delicious here." And before she could point out that she didn't really like coffee, he turned to the waitress and said, "Two black coffees, no sugar, please."
"Hot chocolate," Lily answered instantly, feeling a certain warmness starting to circle her body at the thought of being able to drink whatever she wanted and not what others wanted. "Please and thank you."
The older woman nodded and went away.
Lily looked around for a long moment, then decided that she was exactly where she was meant to be. However full of memories that cafeteria was, it was the right place to forget about her brothers for a moment.
It was a good place to be alone- it was very crowded, and people's conversations served as the perfect background noise. It was a place where, no matter how alone you were, you could never feel lonely at.
And most importantly, as soon as she entered, the feeling of being observed disappeared.
The old woman came back with her order, and with another sweet smile, she went away for good.
Lily looked around, feeling lost in the crowd of people. Her eyes moved to the table unconsciously as she wrapped her hands over the hot cup. There were multiple names carved into the fine wood of the old tables, and with a hint of melancholy, she remembered how she had, once upon a time, carved her own initials alongside Caleb's.
Lily couldn't hide her disgust.
It seemed like so much time had passed since that moment, she felt naive for having done something like that. It was stupid, now that she came to think about it; stupid and juvenile.
"Words ain't gonna get you anywhere, girl." The words John Winchester had said when she told him she was engaged came back to her at the most opportune moment. "Your man says he can deal with our job, but you just wait until he has a real glimpse of the unnatural."
That was the only thing John Winchester had been right about when it came to Lily.
Caleb had not been one to understand the supernatural world.
Her younger self had been stupid and naive just like that: carving initials in tables as a sign of love, accepting orders from her fiancé, changing who she was to appease him and others, etc.
She thought back to all she had- or what she had attempted to have- with Caleb, and what she had in that moment.
Truthfully, she was alone, because she was well-aware that her reencounter with her brothers was just that, a reencounter. They would part ways as soon as the case was finished- too many years had passed between them, they wouldn't be comfortable if they tried to go back to how things were when they were younger; and even if they asked her to stay with them, she wasn't sure she would agree.
She didn't like being alone, but it was better to be alone than to be a risk to others.
Since it was just her, she had no one to worry about in the cases- she only had herself to look out for.
If she joined her brothers again, she knew she would worry about her brothers' safety over everything else- and it was not a good thing to do when dealing with unnatural stuff.
Lily rubbed her hands distractedly over the cup's edges, enjoying the warmness that it possessed against the coldness of the cafeteria. From the corner of her eyes, she caught a glimpse of the pastries section of the cafeteria, but before she could observe much of it, her eyes got stuck on the multiple pies it had.
The pressure on her head- caused by irritation and anger- seemed to evaporate instantly, and with a soft sigh, the young woman thought about buying Dean a slice of his favorite dessert.
A soft smile appeared on her lips.
Her resolve broke, and she sighed deeply to herself. She'd been lying to herself; if her brothers asked her to stay with them, she knew she would most definitely accept.
She loved them that much, which was why she was trying to convince herself that they weren't going to ask her that; she didn't want to get her hopes up in case they didn't.
She wasn't the same girl she had been before, and they weren't the boys they had been before either; but they were her brothers- they were her happiness (but also her biggest headache). Part of her wanted to stay with them, even when she knew it wouldn't end well.
Before she could move from the table and towards the desserts section, though, she caught a glimpse of a bunch of people entering the cafeteria. The very first one to enter was the janitor from Crawford Hall, and upon seeing him, Lily couldn't help the smile that cornered her lips.
As though feeling her glance on him, he turned his head and caught her eye.
He smiled.
Lily blushed, but smiled back nonetheless, startled by the fondness that she perceived on his stare.
But then, someone else entered right behind Loki, and she recognized him before having an actual glimpse of his face. Her whole body froze, her smile dying away as her heart hammered wildly against her chest, a shot of adrenaline coursing through her whole body.
Caleb.
With all the janitors that worked in Crawford Hall, she never imagined the possibility of Loki and Caleb knowing one another.
After what seemed like a long moment, but what was probably only a couple of seconds, she forced herself to look away.
She felt the janitor's eyes on her, but she didn't dare look back in case her ex-boyfriend saw her.
She didn't want Caleb to see her- she didn't want to acknowledge the fact that they were in the same establishment.
The green-eyed woman kept looking down at the table, trying to hide her face behind her blonde curls. A couple more seconds passed, then she felt someone stand in front of her table. Her hands trembled, anxiety soaring through her whole body.
Had Caleb seen her? She knew he would approach her if he did; he knew how awkward things were between one another, but he still moved to greet her every time they accidentally saw each other somewhere. She didn't know if it was because he was polite, or because part of him still wanted to be around her, but sometimes she wished he would simply ignore her.
"Is today laundry day again?" Teased a familiar voice.
And just like that, her anxiety melted away.
"Loki," She sounded relieved, something that he noticed.
He cocked an eyebrow at her. "Expecting someone else?"
Panic seized her whole being, because she most definitely did not want to encounter her ex-boyfriend face to face, and she worried Loki had noticed the reaction she had after seeing Caleb.
"No, no," She chuckled a little, fidgeting nervously. "I'm just surprised to see you again." She forced herself to act normal, to ignore the nagging fear of Caleb seeing her there. She tilted her head to the side and said, "I'm starting to believe you're following me."
Loki laughed thoroughly, though there was something on his eyes that she could not quite recognize; as though her words were amusing to him for a secret reason that she had yet to discover.
He copied her actions from the night before, moving to sit on the chair across from her. Once he was comfortable there, he eyed her cup and then moved his eyes to her face. "I know your secret."
Lily heart stopped for a moment, concerned with the thought of the janitor discovering she was a hunter, or even worse, that she was hiding from her ex-boyfriend like a coward teenager with a broken heart.
"Pray tell, what secret did you discover?" There was a certain edge of sarcasm on her voice, one that reminded the man in front of her about her older brother. It seemed that sarcasm was something that ran on the Winchester's blood.
His eyes twinkled when he said: "You're not a real nun," with a hushed tone that was meant to imply he was sharing a secret with her.
She laughed. That was the least of her worries; anyone with a brain could realize she was not a nun. For once, she had stopped wearing her costume, and second, she had bluntly implied that she wanted to fuck him the night before; an implication that he obviously understood because he had followed her flirting with one of his own.
"What makes you say that?" Lily tried to look innocent, though she was sure her amusement betrayed her.
She looked gorgeous in that moment, the blond man had to admit. She was so full of life, so human. He found himself mesmerized by her imperfect beauty, with how sincere her amused smile was, with how much life and fire her eyes portrayed, with the way that her cheeks would turn red when he gave her one of his infamous smirks, with the way she always smiled at him when she saw him, as though seeing him brightened her day.
She was so human, so pure in her own way.
He hated himself for his thoughts, because part of him knew that he wasn't meant to interfere in her life, but as soon as she had appeared there in campus, his resolve had died away.
There was no way he could resist himself from talking to her, from hearing first-hand what she thought about the case, what she thought about her brothers, and what she thought about the world in general.
He felt drawn to her, and hated the fact that, as soon as she discovered who he really was, she would stop looking at him like that- like she liked having him around. When she discovered who he was and what he wanted for her brothers, he was sure she would despise him.
And he wasn't supposed to worry about that- he wasn't supposed to care about a mortal woman hating him.
But he had always found humans to be incredible creatures; he had been one of the few of his kind that respected humans and saw them for all they were.
Loki forced himself to push his thoughts away and laugh with her. "Don't tell me it's laundry day again?"
The blonde woman offered him a careless shrug, amusement dancing on the edge of her smile. "We have a lot of clothes that need to be washed."
He laughed, his eyes accidentally trailing over her neck. His amusement died away abruptly as his eyes scanned the necklace she was wearing; the emotion being replaced by complete surprise.
Startled by his reaction, she found herself placing her fingertips over the pendant she wore, watching as his eyes stayed glued to it.
"Gabriel."
Loki's eyes shot to her own, an emotion vividly present on his features- was that precaution? -, though she couldn't understand his reaction.
"Excuse me?"
Lily blinked at him. "The pendant- it's the archangel Gabriel."
His posture had been a little tense, but as soon as she said that, he relaxed slightly. The young woman tried to understand the emotion she saw portrayed on his face, but she couldn't; it made no sense when she thought about it, but he looked almost overwhelmed.
Loki's voice was soft when he said: "He's your angel." And the way he looked made it obvious that he knew what he was talking about.
Lily nodded once more. "I studied in a catholic school for a little while, and, according to the date I was born, my guardian angel is none other than the famous archangel Gabriel."
Loki tilted his head to the side, his amber eyes never leaving the necklace. "I never took you for a believer." Lily gave him a confused look, for which he shook his head and tried to say something else: "There's one thing to believe, but a very different one to wear a necklace on his honor."
"It's not about his honor," Lily frowned.
It felt strange to talk about an angel that way, as if he existed. It's not that she didn't believe in God- it was that she had no proper thoughts about it. She wouldn't deny his existence, but she wasn't going to go around proclaiming that He was real either.
Religions had never been a topic of interest for her.
It surprised her that someone like Loki, who had, in the short amount of time they'd known each other, never seemed the religious type, would talk about honoring angels.
Loki leaned back against his chair, and only then she noticed how close they had been to each other while talking and scowled. "Then what is it about?"
Lily hesitated for a moment, seeking the right words to explain the situation. "My brother gave me this necklace when we were kids."
She remembered the sad look that little Sammy had on his face when he realized that it was his sister's birthday and that he had nothing to give her, and then that same day, out of nowhere, that necklace had appeared on their motel room, under his pillow. He had immediately given it to her as a gift, and though the blonde girl had been confused as to where it had come from, she had loved it immensely, and had never stopped wearing it.
Loki looked as though he could understand perfectly well what she was talking about. It made her wonder about his life, about his family. Did he have siblings too?
"Did you know it was your guardian?"
Lily shook her head. "I didn't even know the image on the necklace was one of an angel," At his incredulous look she chuckled again, a little embarrassed. "My family is not really religious. I was surprised when, back when I studied in that catholic school, they told me that my favorite necklace bore the image of my guardian angel."
Loki was smiling, but it was a different smile to the ones she had seen on him before; there was a certain edge of fondness barely hidden there.
"What a coincidence, huh?" It sounded like a private joke she couldn't understand yet.
The thought of being able to understand it on the future left a warm feeling all over her chest- she didn't have many friends. It felt nice to have time to talk to someone and just instantly click.
She found herself smiling at him again and saying: "A great coincidence."
There was a small pause between them, one in which he passed his eyes through the different names carved into the table, and she looked around in concern, worried that the person she didn't want to see was still there somewhere, or that since he had come with Loki, he would approach them.
"What brings you here?" Loki's question brought her out of her concerns.
She shrugged a little. "It's a nice place-" But she stopped herself when he gave her an eyebrow raise, looking like he didn't believe her for one second, and she had to smile a little to herself.
She was never much of a good liar when it came to herself; she could lie about many, many things, but never about personal matters.
Lily didn't either want to open up to a stranger, but he seemed like a man she could trust- he'd been nothing but nice to her-, and the words were out of her mouth before she could stop herself: "I needed to be alone for a while."
"Trouble in paradise?"
"No, no. I'm not in that kind of relationship with anyone-"
"Because as a nun you're supposed to stay away from men and their foul intentions," Loki teased, smirking at her slip-up.
Lily couldn't help the laugh that escaped her throat. "Yes, exactly." The green-eyed woman couldn't believe how many mistakes she had made when talking to him- how could she keep forgetting her cover? Part of her knew the reason- his amber eyes had a way of making her thoughts scramble away like falling dominoes- but she didn't want to acknowledge it.
"The fathers are giving you trouble?" Loki teased once more. "Or maybe the fellow nuns? Or the common folk?"
"More like the brothers."
Loki's teasing air disappeared, and he watched carefully as she continued talking, giving her all his attention.
"Just recently I reunited with my brothers again after a few years of not being together, and it was going well, but all they do is fight-" Lily took a deep breath, looking annoyed, though she seemed to be speaking more to herself than to him, her eyes glued to the cup that she still held on her hands. "I don't like to see them like that, it's exasperating."
"Some siblings are like that," Loki said quietly. "It doesn't matter what happens, they always find a way to fight with each another."
Knowing he was right, the young woman sighed and allowed herself to meet his gaze. "It breaks my heart."
Loki looked like he knew what she meant.
The was a small pause.
Lily took a small sip of her hot chocolate, grimacing when it burnt her throat in several places as it went down. She'd been looking down at the table again, a comfortable silence covering them, but she looked up when she heard him start to speak again.
"I have siblings too," Loki confided in her, a humorless chuckle leaving his throat. "We have more in common than you might think, sugar." It was an endearment that he used with females when being sarcastic, but he sounded nothing but sincere as he talked about himself with her. "My brothers are assholes that only think about themselves, assholes that spend their whole lives bickering like an old married couple, and don't think about the consequences of their fights."
Lily nodded at his words, knowing how it felt. "I just wish they could stop."
"I don't care who wins," Loki continued, not thinking much about the fact that he was revealing personal things to the one person he was not supposed to approach in his whole life. The problem was that she was also the one person in the entire world that could understand him when it came to the matter of their families. "I don't care who is right and who is wrong-"
"-I just want it to be over." They said at the same time, to then look at each other in surprise.
The moment was short lived, because the blonde woman felt a shiver going down her spine, and the familiar feeling of being watched overcame her, clouding any thoughts she could've had about her recent conversation with the janitor.
She forced herself not to look back- it was better not to acknowledge things like that, that was something she had learnt the hard way; the first step had to be done cautiously. She was accompanied in that cafeteria, the least she wanted was to endanger Loki, or any other innocent human there.
But when she looked at Loki, she realized he was looking over her shoulder, a serious look upon his face.
She was about to speak when she realized something. He was staring at the place where she felt the presence coming from, and with a start, she realized that it was not watching her, it was watching them.
Lily started to turn as the feeling of paranoia grew stronger each passing moment that the creature stared at her back, but stopped when Loki snapped his face towards her, and with a serious expression, moved his head side to side, the message clear on his actions: don't.
"Loki," Lily started to say. I know what I'm doing.
"You need to leave," Loki said suddenly, a seriousness on his voice unlike ever before. He noticed how startled it had left her, and then forced another charismatic grin into his face, trying to reassure her, and said: "I mean, I came here with some work buddies for our lunch break, and something tells me you wouldn't want to be around when they come looking for me, mm?"
Just like that, she forgot all about the presence she felt watching her.
Another shot of adrenaline coursed through her body, though this time it had nothing to do with the supernatural world; this time she worried about encountering her ex-boyfriend.
She nodded and started to stand up, watching as the janitor stood from the table too, forcing another smile into his face, but seemingly unable to stop glancing towards where the presence had come from.
Lily opened her mouth to tell him to stop doing that- she needed to deal with whatever creature was stalking her before it hurt any innocents around- when he seemed to know what she was going to say and stopped her before she could.
One of his hands made way into one of her shoulders, the touch being so soft it was barely there at all. Their eyes met, green and amber meeting and getting lost at the same time, the place seemingly disappearing from their surroundings until it felt as though they were the only ones in that place.
Lily gasped softly, startled by how still and quiet everything seemed.
She could still hear the low echo of the conversations around them, and she could still see things moving, but it all felt in slow motion. The only thing that moved at normal speed and that didn't have the sense of illusion over it was the man in front of her.
"Don't," Loki told her seriously. His voice seemed to bring her out of her stupor, but he was still the only thing that felt real, the rest still felt blurry. "You have to trust me on this, all right Lily?"
"You don't understand-" The young hunter protested, scowling, for she couldn't see how anyone could look so calm after perceiving that awful energy that the creature stalking her emanated. If anything, he looked almost annoyed and disgusted, but not fearful.
She was worried, a little fearful too, if she dared to admit it. And she was a hunter, she had grown up dealing with monsters of every kind, and yet that one presence felt powerful and dangerous enough to scare her.
How come Loki was not even remotely shaken by it?
"I do understand," Loki interrupted her, this time more firmly. "I'm not trying to imply you can't deal with this thing on your own, because I know that you are more than capable of doing so. I'm just asking you to leave this to me, because I know what I'll be dealing with- you don't."
She felt dizzy in that moment; nothing made sense. "Is that the thing that's been causing damage around campus?" She was aware that the janitor knew more than he claimed, for he had been around when those strange things and strange deaths started happening, but if he knew what kind of creature it was, he needed to tell her so she- and her brothers- could take care of it.
"No," Loki said, disgust visible on his features. "It's something much worse."
"What? So, there are two creatures-?"
"No," Loki stressed, annoyed. "This thing outside wants something that I won't allow him to get. The thing causing mayhem around campus is only messing around."
"Messing around-" Lily scowled, suddenly feeling annoyed by his evasion to her question. "Jesus Christ, Loki, the thing around campus has killed people."
"People that deserved it," Loki shot back at her, heatedly. "Have you forgotten Mr. Morality? He was a pedophile. And the stupid frat boy that was abducted, he tormented his classmates-"
"Are you defending the monster?" Lily gaped at him, not believing what her ears were hearing.
Loki sighed and rolled his eyes, seemingly having lost his patience at that very moment.
"You need to trust me, Lily."
"How can you ask me that?" She gave him an incredulous look. "You know more than you're willing to say because I used the word monster and you clearly know about the supernatural world since you didn't even bat an eyelash at my words; and you're defending a killer, and then there's this thing outside and you know what it wants and you won't let me do my work-"
Loki stopped her angered words with one single word. "Please."
She didn't know him at all, and he certainly didn't know her either, but in that moment, when everything around them still felt distant and all she could focus on was him, in front of her, asking her to trust him, his eyes holding no hidden motive behind his request, her cautiousness and all she had been taught flew out of the window.
Her father had told her that she trusted people too easily.
"Okay," She found herself saying, pursing her lips in annoyance. "Okay, I trust you."
...and John Winchester couldn't have been more right about that.
A relieved look crossed Loki's face. "Thank you."
"But if things get out of hand-"
"The first thing I'll do will be to tell you," Amusement crossed Loki's eyes, as though for some reason the thought of him needing her help was hilarious.
It annoyed her greatly, but also intrigued her- just how much did he know about the supernatural world? Why did he think he could deal with the thing outside?
She was brought out of her thoughts by his voice saying: "Wouldn't trust any other hunter to deal with the situation at hand."
Lily closed her eyes for a second, then scoffed. "I knew you knew what I was."
Loki snorted. "Please, did you really think I believed for one second that you were an actual nun?"
She felt her cheeks heat up in embarrassment, something that only seemed to amuse him further. "Are you a hunter?"
He only laughed as a response.
...
"-and if you two bothered to pull your heads outta your asses, it all would have been pretty clear."
Confused as though what their old friend was talking about, the oldest Winchester was quick to ask a: "What?"
"What you're dealing with," Bobby stressed, as though it was supposed to be obvious. He waited for the brothers to make their own conclusions, but they continued looking as lost as ever. When they shrugged and admitted they didn't know, he continued: "You got a trickster on your hands."
Dean snapped his fingers. "That's what I thought."
Sam gave him an incredulous look. "No, you didn't-"
Bobby interrupted him before they could start bickering again, "I got to tell you, you guys were the biggest clue. These things create chaos and mischief as easy as breathing. And it's got you so turned around and at each other's throats, you can't even think straight."
It started to make more sense, if what Bobby said was true, they could see how exactly the monster had tricked them.
"The laptop."
"The tires."
"Your sister," Bobby scowled at them. He couldn't hide his annoyance at the realization that the trickster had used their bickering as a way of making the other hunter separate from them. "It knows you're onto him and it's been playing you like fiddles."
Sam swallowed down a mouthful of guilt, concerned once he realized they'd been so immerse on the tale that he'd forgotten about Lily. His stomach filled with concern- what if the trickster had captured her already?
Dean looked down at the floor, unable to meet Bobby's eyes. "Lily must be on her way here by now; she must've cooled off already." But just in case, he found himself taking his phone out and sending her a quick text, needing to make sure she was safe.
"That, if the trickster doesn't have her by now." Bobby didn't like the thought, but it was a possibility, and most of all, he wanted to make them realize how dumb their actions had been. They'd pushed her away once again, and at the worst of times, when the trickster knew that they were hunting him down.
Dean shook his head, not wanting to think about his sister being in any kind of danger. "So, what is it? Spirit, demon, what?"
"More like demigods, really. They're immortal, and they can create things out of thin air. Things as real as you and me."
Everything started falling into pieces by then. "You mean, like an angry spirit or an alien or an alligator."
Dean looked down when he felt his phone vibrate, a new text-message arriving. It was from Lily, and reading it made him sigh in relief. I'm almost there, had lunch in a cafeteria with the janitor from Crawford Hall.
"What?" Sam questioned, trying to read over Dean's shoulder, only to be pushed away by his older brother.
"Don't be nosey," He barked at him. "It's Lily, she's on her way."
Sam and Bobby looked relieved after knowing that.
Dean typed back a quick response. Hurry. Bobby knows what's going on.
Bobby continued talking over the sounds of the older Winchester typing into his phone. "The victims fit the MO, too. Tricksters target the high and the mighty, knock 'em down a peg, usually with a sense of humor. Deadly pranks, things like that."
Dean thought hard for a moment, then pursed his lips as a new thought entered his mind. "Bobby, what do these things look like?"
The older man shrugged as he thought about it. "Lots of things, but human, mostly."
The blond man felt a wave of annoyance course through his body. There was only one human that had been present in every crime science they investigated, one that seemed to have taken a liking to their sister. He seemed normal enough, charismatic and amusing even, but Dean had learnt the hard way that he couldn't trust anyone.
He stole a glance at the last text message his sister had sent him, and turned towards his younger brother, who raised his eyebrows in his direction.
"Sammy, what human do we know who's been at ground zero this whole time?"
Sam shrugged at first, no one coming to mind at that question. He thought about it for a moment, then as he started to realize who had been at every scene, amusement and incredulity crossed his face. "No fucking way."
In that moment, the sound of a knock upon the door brought them out of their conversation, and the three of them stared at the door. Sam rose from the chair to open the door, but since Bobby was closer, the older man approached the door first and opened it, smiling when he recognized the blonde woman entering through the door.
"Bobby," Lily grinned happily and enveloped him into a gentle hug. "It's so good to see you, thank you for coming."
"Thought you were gone by now," Bobby barked at her, raising one eyebrow. "I was told you three idiots were together again, but I come here and it's only those two morons-" he ignored the boys' sounds of protest and gave her an amused look. "You have no idea how tedious their recounting of everything was."
"Don't tell me," Lily gave her brothers an amused smile as she moved towards the table where they both sat at, leaving the bags she carried over the table and motioning Dean to check what was inside them. "Dean claimed Sammy was too sensible, and Sammy claimed Dean was an animal."
Bobby snorted. "You know it."
Lily sighed. "Been there, done that."
Dean moaned happily as soon as he found what he was looking for in those bags. "You brought me pie!" He laughed happily, "Aw yes, I knew you were my favorite sister for a reason." And just like that, he leaned back against his chair and opened the lid of the pie, taking a spoon out of the bag and starting to eat.
Sam gave him a disgusted look, unable to stop himself. "Can you please focus on the case-"
"I brought you cake," Lily interrupted him with a smile as she moved another chair to sit with them at the table, taking another spoon and stealing bits of Dean's pie to his displeasure.
Sam pursed his lips, having an internal debate about continuing talking about the case- they needed to tell her what they'd discovered- or enjoying a piece of cake.
Judging by the knowing look his sister directed at him, he could easily guess that she had gotten him his favorite flavor of cake, and before he could make his mind about the matter, he found himself taking a spoon and rummaging through the bags to look for it.
"Atta boy," Lily ruffled his hair, mouth full of pie. "Knew you'd like it."
Bobby watched them for a moment, annoyed at their lack of concentration on the case. He had meant to chastise them for it, but once he realized that the three of them were sharing a moment with one another, he found himself unable to speak a word about it.
It had been years since he had seen the three of them in the same place, together. Like the family that they were, because their father had never been around to share those moments with them- it had always been only the three of them: Dean, Lily, and Sam.
And Bobby found himself smiling softly at the scene.
If he closed his eyes, he could almost picture the exact last time they'd been like that- the three of them had been mere children, and they'd been dropped at his place for a week while their father worked on a case. The girl had taken it upon herself to buy them food, even when Bobby had claimed that he could get them food on his own, that she didn't have to worry about it. But she was too stubborn, even as a child. She hadn't wanted Bobby to think them a burden and had attempted to make their stay there as easy-going as possible, helping him with chores and all the things a child was not supposed to be concerned with.
Bobby found himself smiling softly at the scene unfolding in front of him. Lily laughed when Dean dodged her attempts to eat more mouthfuls of his pie, and Sam laughed at them both as he ate his own slice of cake.
Some things never change.
Lily caught Bobby's eye and smiled sweetly at him. "Don't think I forgot about you, Bobby. There's something on the bag for you, too."
"I came here to hunt, not to eat," Bobby protested grumpily, but still moved to the table to join them, doing his best not to show how seeing them together again made him happy. He knew them enough to know that they would feel uncomfortable with the reminder that it was the first time in years that the four of them were together like that.
The blonde woman swallowed a mouthful of dessert and glanced at her brothers. "So, about the case..." She waited for them to elaborate. "Your text made it clear that we now know what creature is hunting campus, so spill it out. What are we dealing with? A demon, a spirit?"
"A trickster," Bobby answered for the boys, noticing how they had shared a look as soon as she spoke about the case. Judging by their reactions, the old man knew that their sister wouldn't agree with them when it came to who the suspect was.
"The fuck is that?"
The boys stopped eating, and that was the first clue that Lily had about the seriousness of the situation.
She swallowed the last bite she'd taken of the pie and moved the spoon away from her. She positioned herself so that she was still in the middle of them, but in a way that she was able to see the three of them and not just one.
"A demigod," Bobby explained shortly the same stuff he had explained to the brothers and waited for her to make a conclusion.
She opened her mouth to say something, but her older brother beat her to it.
"And who do we know that's been on ground zero this whole time?" Dean asked her the same thing that he'd asked Sam before, but with her, he waited patiently for the protest that was going to come out of her mouth.
She didn't disappoint him. "You can't be seriously thinking that Loki-"
The three of them stiffened almost at the same time, something that startled her.
"How do you even know his name?" Sam accused her.
She opened and closed her mouth for a moment, confused by the question. "Um, I'm polite? I like to know the name of the people I talk to?"
"Great," Sam said sarcastically, rolling his eyes as he sighed exasperatedly. "You're familiar with the monster now."
She had to bite down the response she had in mind for that accusation. What about Amy Pond, brother?
Dean rolled his eyes too, but approached the subject more tactfully than his younger brother, sensing that there had to be another reason for her not to believe the janitor was their trickster. \
"You fucked him, didn't you?"
Lily's face flushed a dark red, her eyes widening. "What-"
"Because if you did, that's fine," Dean continued, though a disgusted look made way into his face. "We've all made mistakes. You didn't know he was a monster, we won't hold it against you. But you need to see through the facts- he is our monster."
Lily stared at them.
For her, it made no sense.
She had encountered thousands of monsters through her life, and while several of them tried to disguise themselves as normal humans, none of them had attempted to form a conversation with her. And Loki had, several times through the days, formed one with her.
Part of her could see their point, because it was a little suspicious that he was somehow involved in every crime scene, and he had, after all, been the one that told her of the other strange things happening around campus through the years.
And now that she came to think about it, he had defended the trickster earlier that day, claiming that those that were murdered and tormented had had it coming.
But he had also flirted with her.
He had also been nice to her.
And he had looked sincerely worried when she mentioned she felt something following her- had he been faking his concern?
They had talked about their personal lives, about their relationship with their siblings, and for once, there had been someone that seemed to understand the constant struggle that she felt when she saw her brothers fighting- there was someone out there that seemed to understand the pain that came with being in the middle of them all the time.
She couldn't accept the fact that it was all probably a lie.
She couldn't- wouldn't- find it on herself to admit that someone had fooled her again.
If what they claimed was true, the janitor had used her for his own selfish purposes, which meant that, once again, a man had taken advantage of her ingenuity.
It made her chest tighten in pain, even when she had only attempted to form a friendship with the handsome man and no more. It was still a disappointment, it still made her feel like a sentimental fool.
"I need you to trust me," Loki had begged her back at the cafeteria, his eyes meeting her own. "Please."
Lily swallowed hard and looked away, moving so she was facing away from her brothers. "All right," She said at last, hesitating as she did so.
Sam and Dean shared a look.
Bobby simply watched them, knowing it was not his place to get involved in that.
A new thought made way into Lily's mind, and she turned so she was facing them again, the fierceness of her stare taking them by surprise.
"Lily?" Dean questioned.
She raised a defiant eyebrow towards them. "I'm not going to condemn an innocent man just because you two think he's our man. Without real proof that he's the trickster, don't expect me to act."
Sam nodded slowly. "It's reasonable-"
Dean cut him off. "We'll find the proof we need, and you'll see- that janitor is our trickster."
Lily simply looked away again. "Loki's innocent until proven guilty."