A/N: GUYS! I lied! I'm not going to make this into two separate parts, I'm just going to keep it as the one. I think it will be easier that way and the small amount of feedback I got from the question makes me want to stick to the one piece. So! Who's ready for the rest of the craziness to ensue? Are you ready to find out who visited Ana in her dream? I know I'm really excited for you all to read this chapter so please, let me know what you think! I love getting comments!
eldaearien: Connor and Ana's relationship is one of my favorite things to write. Everything they go through together just makes their bond stronger and I love it! Yay! I'm glad you like the original characters! I was worried that with adding so many of them in some readers would be turned off to how far this is going from the show, but I'm glad you enjoy them! In coming chapters there are going to be quite a few more OCs and I would love to know what you think of them when we get there :) As always, thank you for the review!
Ana and Connor woke up halfway through the afternoon, one of them feeling refreshed and the other filled with even more questions than there had when they had fallen asleep. The one long dream Ana had through the morning was still vivid in her mind and she knew that though it may have been extremely crazy, it had also been very real. Getting out of bed, Connor left for his room to get a clean set of clothes and shower while Ana just pulled a sweater on over the shirt she had slept in and left her room. There was too much going on in her head and she only had so long to come to a decision on the offer that had been given to her while she was asleep. She was speed walking as she passed the library and she didn't slow down or look to see if anyone was in the room as she continued on her path, set for the relief that would be provided by her destination.
"Well she's on a mission." Dean muttered as the four bodies in the library watched her pass. It hadn't been hard to hear her coming down the hallway, her footfalls heavy as she focused on where she was going instead of how she was getting there.
Sam nodded, "Connor said that whatever happened with the Council was pretty heavy stuff. She's probably trying to handle it all." he guessed, knowing that his brother was the same exact way when it came to certain things.
"She better snap out of it soon. There's still a lot of research left and we'll get through it faster with both of them helping." Kellen spoke up, placing the book he had just finished on the pile of books that had already been looked at and then picking up another one. The three hunters and himself had been working all day, knowing that both witches had been up most of the night handling whatever witch business they were caught up in and though they were going to be doing the research either way, it would have been nice to have two more sets of eyes focused on the books in front of them.
Connor walked in the room in a fresh pair of jeans and a plain black tee shirt, "Ana's not out yet?" he questioned, figuring that she would have beat him to the library since she was already in her room where all of her clothes were.
"She walked down the hall a few minutes ago, looked like she had something on her mind." Kellen answered, absentmindedly flipping through the pages of the new book in his hands. He was growing tired of finding very little on what they needed to know and all of the constant reading was giving him a headache.
"Huh." Connor's brow furrowed as he pulled out a chair and sat down, "She's been acting kind of weird since we woke up." he offered, wondering if what happened with Caoimhe was bothering her. When he reached out through their bond he found that she had completely shut it down on her end, whatever it was that was bothering her, she didn't want him to know.
Sam marked his place in the book in his hands and then set it down, "What happened with the Council thing anyway? All you said this morning that it was a lot and that both of you needed some rest." He had been curious since Connor had left his room that morning and now that they had the chance to talk he wanted answers.
The male witch leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes, it was quite a bit to tell and he felt like part of it wasn't his to explain, but Ana also wasn't here to tell everyone. "When I left yesterday I went to meet with the Council to fight against them summoning Ana for some testing."
"Wait," Charlie spoke up, "who's the Council? And why do they want to test Ana?" she glanced around and was happy to see that she wasn't the only one who was confused on this point. It seemed that none of them were really in the know about whatever witch business this was.
"The Council is the leading body of one of the largest covens in the world. The coven is made up of the nine original bloodlines of natural witches, which makes Ana and I both a part of it." Connor rubbed his hands over his face, it seemed like everything was hitting the fan all at once and the stress of it all was just beginning to settle on him. "It's their job to test every new witch born into an original bloodline, I was tested when I was younger, but Ana never has been and because she's had time to learn to control her power they decided it was time to."
Kellen watched Connor as he spoke, wondering what else had happened while the two of them had been gone. It was clear that the witches both had more than some test on their minds. "So did they test her or whatever? I'm assuming that since you're both back that it went well?"
Connor chuckled dryly to himself, in a way that said he clearly found none of this funny, "When we got to the meeting place, Ana stormed up to the Council with such an attitude I was sure that one of them would have attacked purely out of feeling disrespected. They said that the fact that she held such rage toward them and didn't unwillingly unleash some show of power meant that she was in control and that's all they needed to know." he shrugged, "There was another matter that was more important than her testing. If she would have been a threat they would have known before she got there."
"So the test wasn't what they actually wanted her there for?" Sam was intrigued by the Council, though it worried him a little. Witches were something neither he or Dean were fond of. Other than Connor, Ana, and the witches in the coven Connor had been in when they met him, they had little interaction with witches that weren't trying to hurt someone.
Nodding, the male witch wondered how Sam and Dean would take the news he was about the share with them. "There are nine chairs on the Council and nine original bloodlines. At all times there is a person from each bloodline to provide say for their family."
Dean waited for Connor to say more, but when he didn't the elder Winchester threw his hands in the air. "So what? They want Ana to fill the empty place for the Good line?"
"That's the thing." Connor stated, eyes focused on Dean, "It isn't empty. There is a living Good witch on the Council already."
The room sat in silence as they processed what they were being told. "So you're saying that there's another witch from Ana's family. That she has another family member other than us and Heather?" Dean spoke first, wanting to clarify everything before he let his brain get too far ahead of him.
"We read that the last witch in the family had been Ana's great grandmother." Sam pointed out, wondering if they had missed something in the journals the bunker held on the Good line.
Connor nodded, "Before Ana, her great grandmother was the last witch to be born. Caoimhe is the only one left alive other than Ana. She's been holding the Good chair for about four generations, now that Ana has come into her powers they want to know that when the time comes she'll be ready to take over."
"That sounds like a giant responsibility." Charlie commented, "Did Ana say anything about it? If I were in her shoes, I would be freaking out right about now."
"Caoimhe instructed us to focus on the cage first. We've been assured that there won't be need for Ana to take over for a while, so we have time before we need to deal with it." Connor picked up a book and opened, "This on the other hand, needs to be dealt with now. How has it been going while we've been gone?"
The four that had been researching each gave him a subtle look of hopelessness, "Slowly." Sam answered, looking around at the almost empty table. They had made it through nearly all of the books that had been chosen and had found little. "It seems like no one ever expected to be able to open the cage so there isn't much lore or information on it at all."
Connor sighed, he had hoped that they may have had a breakthrough while he and Ana had been gone. "I guess all we can do is keep going and hope we find something. If not, hopefully Cas and Gabe have something for us to go off of soon."
"How long do you think Ana is going to be?" Charlie asked, worried about the young witch. She couldn't imagine handling the amount of stress that was being constantly thrown at Ana and hoped that things would slow down soon so that the girl could get some rest.
Connor shrugged, "I have no idea." he had been honestly surprised to not see her already sitting at the table, reading through the first book she could get her hands on. Something had been clearly bothering her when they woke up and he figured that she would have been there to avoid the problem, but apparently she had plans to deal with whatever it was that was on her mind in a different manner.
-A-
The dream played on repeat in Ana's mind as she wheeled the cart that she had claimed as her own toward the first line up in the shooting range. When all else failed practicing her aim normally made things a little clearer, but then again she wasn't sure if the kind of situation she found herself in could become any clearer. She shoved the first magazine into her pistol and took her aim, sucking in a deep breath before quickly firing the gun until it was empty. Staring at the gun, she found that nothing had changed; she felt no relief, no sudden realization hit her… nothing. What in the Hell was she going to do? Grunting, she slammed the empty pistol down on the small table in front of her and stormed out of the room, ready to talk to someone she really hoped could give her some sort of insight on what to do. Storming down the hallway she didn't slow down until she entered the library, the sound of her footsteps drawing the attention of everyone in the room. "Sorry." she mumbled, looking down at her feet. Ana didn't want to be this strung out on stress, she didn't want to have to face things of this magnitude, but it was all being set at her feet and no one else was going to pick up the job. The life of a true Winchester. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her head until her green eyes met familiar hazel ones, "Sam, can I talk to you?" The hurt expressions that crossed her father and soul mate's faces didn't go missed by her, but she also knew that this was something she needed to speak with her uncle about.
"Uh, yeah. Of course." Sam stood from the table, "Kitchen?" he questioned, knowing that it would give them enough privacy while at the same time keeping them close enough to everyone else that he could call out for help if he needed it. There was no telling what his niece wanted to discuss with him now. Nodding, Ana pivoted toward the kitchen and followed her uncle's lead out of the room. Once they were in the kitchen, Sam went straight to the fridge and pulled out two bottles of water. Turning, he handed her one and then opened the one in his hand. He took a long drink, waiting patiently for her to say what it was that was bothering her.
Ana stared down at the bottle in her hand as she thoroughly thought through how she was going to word it all without giving too much away, she knew that if Sam was aware of exactly what she was considering doing that he would put an end to it. "What would you do if someone gave you an offer? The kind that could solve two problems at once, save a lot of people, and keep the world safe, but could possibly harm you in the process? There's a one hundred percent survival rate, but that doesn't mean that you come out of the whole ordeal completely unscathed."
"Well it wouldn't be the first time we've been offered something like that." Sam began, trying to see past the vagueness of it so that he could figure out exactly what she was trying to say. "I'm going to assume that this is about the cage, do I even want to know who made you this offer?" When all she did was shake her head, he sighed. If someone offered to help her keep the cage closed, it could possibly be their only chance, but at the same time things like that always came at a cost and he knew that all too well. "I can't tell you what to do, Ana. This is going to be one of those things where you have to decide for yourself, but I can tell you this. Every decision I've made to save people, I don't regret anything I had to go through personally because of that decision. I went to Hell to stop Lucifer, but the apocalypse never happened, that's a win in my book. I almost died trying to close the gates of Hell and if Dean would have let me, I would have gladly given my life to do so."
"I know... That's why I wanted to speak with you." She sighed and slumped against the island between them.
Sam gave her a sad smile, these things were never easy, "It sounds to me that you already know what you're going to do, you just want validation in doing it." he walked around until he was standing next to her. Placing a hand on her shoulder, he gave it a gentle squeeze, "As long as you come back alive and in one piece, I'm not going to keep you from this, but be sure you know who you're dealing with and that they have the best interest in mind. Otherwise I don't think it will turn out so well."
"Oh, trust me, this guy knows all about best interests." Ana muttered as she pushed herself upright. "Alright, looks like I have a deal to make. Thanks for the talk, Sam."
"You're still not going to tell me anything, are you?" He questioned, hoping that she would have divulged a little information for him since he had helped her out.
She shook her head, "Sorry, this is something that you can't know until it's done. I've been given clear instructions. I'm going to go to my room for a bit, will you please keep this between us and let the other's know I'm fine?"
Sam studied her a moment, he knew that she was going to do more than just rest in her room, but he also knew better than to try to stop her. "Yeah, yeah. No problem. If you need anything else, you know where to find me." he gave her a soft smile before leaving the room.
Ana waited until he was gone before taking the other exit and walking quickly toward her room, she didn't want to waste any time in case something caused her to change her mind. Once she was behind her closed door, she spelled it to keep it locked and spun around, taking in the emptiness of it for a moment. This was going to be some mission. "Alright, I'll do it." She spoke into the room and closed her eyes, knowing that he would hear her.
"I knew you would decide to do this." The clear voice spoke just in front of her, "You are just as brave as your father."
Opening her eyes, she focused on the face that had been with her during her dreams that morning. His dark hair and beard were a little unruly which made the soft grey suit he was wearing look a little out of place, but the being standing in front of her held nothing but a soft smile and gentle understanding in his eyes. "You're sure that I will be able to repair the cage and make it stronger?" Ana's heart fluttered with fear of what could go wrong while she was down there.
"With the small addition of what power I can give you, neither of those things should be a problem. It's not going to be easy, Anastasia. You're going to be right next to the cage, in hearing range of their taunts and promises of grandeur if you release them, but you must stay strong against them." He lifted a hand and pulled it down his beard in such a human gesture that Ana wondered if she was being played. "I assure you I am who I told you I was this morning, no need to worry about being lied to. I just fear for the experience you're about to go through. When you return there is no guarantee that you will be the same person you were when you left."
"It would be crazy to think that I would be, but as long as I can fix what I've broken then everything else can be figured out when I get back." Ana studied him a moment, "Look, God-"
He held up a hand, "Please, call me Chuck. I've grown fond of the name." He instructed her with a warm smile.
"Alright, Chuck, can we just get this over with? It's not going to be a pleasant experience and I'd rather rip it off like a band aid than draw it out." Going to Hell was nothing she ever wanted to experience and the mess that was going to be left here on Earth while she was gone was something she really didn't want to have to think about.
"Of course. Be wise, don't listen to a word that my sons say." Chuck instructed her before snapping his fingers. He watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head with a sigh. Stepping forward, he eased her limp body onto the floor of her bedroom and then stood up to look at the still girl at his feet. "They are going to kill me for this." he told himself before disappearing from the room.
-A-
It had been a few hours since Sam had come back from the kitchen when Dean had finally had enough. His little brother kept saying that Ana went to think about some things in her room, refusing to tell any of them what they talked about. Dropping his book on the stack in front of him, he shoved the chair he was sitting in away from the table. "That's it, if you're not going to tell me whatever it is that's going on with my daughter I'll just go get it out of her." he snapped at his brother before storming out of the room and down the hall. When he reached her bedroom door, he banged on it loudly with his fist, "Ana! Open up!" he banged a couple more times. When there was no answer he tried the doorknob and found it unlocked, but the door wouldn't budge. "Damn witches and their freaking magic." he muttered as he stormed back toward the library, pausing just inside of the room. "Connor, she's done some witch mumbo-jumbo to the door and won't answer me. Go unlock it." he ordered.
Connor looked at Dean, an argument on the tip of his tongue, but the look on the older man's face told him that it would be best he didn't. "Fine, but when she gets pissed because you had me reverse her spell don't think I won't throw you under the bus." he stated before standing up and walking past the man. When he reached Ana's door he raised a hand to get a reading on the spell she used and scoffed, she hadn't used a very powerful one so she must not have really cared if he could get in or not. Glancing over his shoulder at Dean, he quirked an eyebrow before waving his hand in front of the door and stepping to the side, "There, shouldn't be a problem now."
Dean grumbled and reached for the doorknob, twisting it and finding that it was easy to push open. Stepping into the room he had expected to find his daughter sitting on her bed or at her desk, but the room was vacant. "Well, where the Hell is she?" he spun around and fixed a glare at Connor. "Shouldn't you have know if she left?"
"Honestly, I wasn't paying much attention. She's a grown woman, Dean, and just because we're soul mates doesn't mean I'm going to keep her on a leash." Connor crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged, "She's probably just out getting some fresh air."
"Well go find her!" He demanded, there was a sinking feeling in his stomach, the weird sixth sense he had when it came to his family and their stupid decisions. "Look, I don't feel right about this. She's talking to Sam about something, but won't tell either of us then she magically locks her door from the inside, but isn't here. Doesn't that seem a little weird to you?"
Connor nodded, "Of course it does, but maybe she just doesn't want to talk to any of us." He didn't want to jump to the conclusion that something was wrong, he wanted to be able to believe that she just needed some space and time to process through whatever was going on, but she had been acting really strange when they woke up. "Let's go talk to Sam." he offered and once the words were out of his mouth Dean was moving around him to get out of the bedroom.
The moment he was in the library, Dean stopped in his tracks and set his gaze on his brother. "She's not in her room and I have a crazy feeling that something isn't right. What did the two of you talk about in the kitchen?"
Sam looked up from his book, a worried expression settling in on his face. He sighed, "All she told me was that someone had made her an offer on helping to keep the cage closed." As he thought about it he really hoped that she hadn't gone and done something stupid.
"What?! Who?!" Dean demanded, face scrunching up in worry. "So she just gets an offer from some random person to keep the cage on lockdown, but doesn't say anything about it to us?"
"Ana told me that she couldn't tell any of us. Whoever it was promised that whatever she had to do, she'd live through it." Sam shrugged, "I figured that we'd at least get a heads up before she went and agreed to do it."
Dean threw his hands in the air, "Yes, because our family is known for sharing it's plans before we act on them. We don't even know who she was working with Sam! Or what it is she has to do to keep the cage shut!" Spinning around to look at Connor, he fought the urge to yell at him too, "Can you get a read on her?"
Connor closed his eyes and focused on their bond, trying to push through the block that she had put up between them, but it was holding strong. "I can't reach her mentally, but I'll start a tracking spell. I don't like that she's still keeping us separated like this." he mumbled as he turned and left the room.
Turning his gaze back to his brother, Dean frowned, "I swear, Sam, if she gets hurt on whatever mission this is… I'm going to rip you a new one for keeping this from me!" He watched as Sam ignored him and pulled out his phone, "What are you doing?" he snapped.
"Tracking her phone, Dean." Sam answered, sounding exasperated. "Ana always has it on her and she knows to leave the GPS on so we can find her in case she gets in some trouble." he pointed out, pulling up the location app they frequently used and smiled when the map moved to the phone's location. "Look, this says she's in town, so at least she didn't go far."
"Where in town?" Dean demanded, crossing the room quickly so that he could look at the map as well. Sam held up the phone so that he could see the screen and when he was able to read the streets, his face went from worried and angered to confused. "She's in a bar?"
Connor walked into the room and raised an eyebrow, "A bar?" he questioned, hands full of spells supplies, but he quickly set them down on the table next to a stunned Charlie. "What in the Hell is she doing at a bar? She barely even drinks."
Dean shrugged, "No clue, but I'm going to find out." Turning his focus away from the phone, he finally seemed to notice that both Charlie and Kellen were sitting at the table, baring witness to the family drama. His face dropped, "Sorry." he mumbled to them before dropping his eyes and turning to head toward the garage.
"Dean! Hold up, I'm coming with." Sam called after him as he stood and slipped his phone back into his pocket.
"We're coming too!" Charlie spoke up as she stood, rolling her eyes at the confused look Sam sent her way. "What? You guys are my family and if she's in some sort of trouble, we could help." She gestured between herself and Kellen, "Plus, I could really use a break from the research and I know what kind of scuzzy monsters and demons like to hang out in bars."
Kellen stood up and looked between the three people that were still in the room, "Do you really think she's in some sort of trouble?" He honestly couldn't see Ana getting into something she couldn't handle. He didn't know much about being a witch, but he knew that she could handle herself.
Connor shrugged, "There's really no telling until we get there. Come on, if we make Dean wait too long he'll leave without all of us." Taking the lead he exited the library and walked quickly down the hallway until they reached the garage where Dean sat in the already running Impala.
"Really, we're all going?" He questioned as he lowered his window, watching as the group of four headed his way.
"Yep, never know what kind of trouble she's gotten herself into." Charlie told him with a tight smile, "Plus, if there is no trouble, I could go for a change of scenery and a drink."
-A-
Walking into the bar none of them were sure what to expect, but they sure as hell weren't expecting to see the redheaded witch laying on the bar and giggling as a large man took a shot from her belly button. "She's drunk." Kellen concluded, knowing there was no way that his friend would ever let someone do something like that with her body without being completely trashed.
Connor's expression turned to stone as he watched the stranger lay his hands on Ana's hips in a way that he was sure wouldn't have been welcomed by her if she had been in her right mind.
The Winchester's snapped their head in his direction, both seeing the clenched jaw and the glaring eyes. "Charlie, go grab her while we make sure he doesn't kill anyone." Dean instructed, worried that the witch would go postal after seeing some man touching his soul mate like that.
Nodding Charlie grabbed onto the sleeve of Kellen's shirt and dragged him with, "Hey, Little Red, seems like you're having a good time." she broached the subject gently, waiting for the man to move aside so that she could help the girl off of the bar. "Did you have a little to drink?" she questioned, also noticing that the sweats and hoodie she had been wearing earlier had been traded out for low riding jeans and a tight black tank top.
"Charlie!" Ana grinned as she sat up, her eyes moving to Kellen and filling with a look that could only be classified as desire. "You are correct, I'm having great time. The men in this place are very nice. Though I can assure you that I'm not the one that has been drinking." She slid off of the bar with ease and grace, showing just how sober she actually was.
"There is no way that you're hanging out in this place and letting guys take body shots off of you without being trashed, Ana." Kellen pointed out, waiting for her bluff to falter so that he could gauge just how drunk she was.
Tilting her head to the side slightly, Ana took a step toward him and placed a hand on his chest, "Oh, Kellen, I could show you just how sober I am if you'd give me the chance." she spoke softly, her eyes flicking up to meet his.
Kellen instantly backed away from her, slightly grossed out and completely confused. Ana had always been a sister to him and he knew that she had never held anything other than purely platonic feelings for him, so why in the Hell was she hitting on him? "We need to get her out of here." he told Charlie. Not waiting for the woman to answer, he bent down and picked Ana up over his shoulder. "We're getting out of here!" He called to Dean, Sam, and Connor as he headed their way.
Ana's eye level was perfectly aligned with Kellen's muscled backside and the way the jeans tightened as he waked made her grin, "You have an amazing ass." she said loud enough for him to hear before she slapped it.
"Woah!" Kellen jumped and almost dropped her, stopping the moment he was standing in front of Connor. "Dude, you need to restrain her or something. I don't know what's wrong with her, she says she's sober, but she isn't acting like herself at all."
"Let's get this outside before we draw even more attention to ourselves." Sam instructed, herding everyone out the door and into the cool night air. Once the group was standing by the Impala and Ana was standing in the middle of them, he took in the sight of what she was wearing. He slipped off his jacket and placed it around her shoulders, knowing that she had to be cold.
Ana turned and looked at Sam, a sly smile across her lips, "Thanks, but no thanks, Sammy." she told him, taking the jacket off and handing it to him. "I'm not cold."
Dean raised an eyebrow at his daughter, "So you are drunk."
"How many times do I have to say it? I'm not drunk." She told them, wondering what they all thought they were going to do by surrounding her the way they were. Did they not know that she could easily teleport away from all of them. "So, what's this little meeting about?"
Sam shook his head, "If you're not drunk, then you must be cold. You're barely wearing a shirt, Ana." he pointed out, offering his jacket to her again.
The redheaded girl rolled her eyes, "I can't feel anything. I'm fine, can we get along with why you guys ruined my good time?" She ran a hand through her hair and waited for one of them to answer her, but when know one did she looked around, her eyes landing on the look that Sam and Dean were sharing. "What?"
"You can't feel anything?" Sam questioned, eyebrows furrowed in what was either deep thought or concern, Ana couldn't really tell.
"Not a damn thing." Ana waited for them to say something else, but when no one did she shrugged. "Alright guys, well that was a good talk. If you don't mind I'm going to head back inside. See ya around." She pushed her way through the group and began to walk back toward the entrance to the bar.
Just before she reached the door Connor teleported in front of her, stopping her in her tracks. "Sorry about this, Red." he spoke softly, not wasting any time as he lifted his hand and placing it above her heart. With a quick spell he was able to confine her magic and knock her out, catching her before she hit the ground.
A/N(2): Hey guys, kind of short chapter. Shorter than I wanted, but I didn't want to get any further. Any guesses on what had to happen for Ana to be able to close the gate? What do you guys think about God's appearance? Let me know!
