A/N: GUYS! I am so so so so so soooooo sorry that this chapter took forever to get posted. Life is crazy, work is crazy, had a bunch of crap going on, but I'm back in the game! FINALLY! You have no idea how much I've missed this. Updates may be coming a little slower than they were before my surprise hiatus, but they will happen. I promise! So thank you to those of you who are still sticking with me, I love you all! I hope you enjoy this chapter.
Awerry: It's in the Winchester blood to sacrifice for their family and the world. Damn Winchesters indeed ;) Thank you so much for the review.
Fair warning, this is a little shorter than normal ;)
Silence took over the field. Not even a cry was heard, though many were clearly weeping for the young witch who lay pale and still in the arms of her soulmate. Many were frozen where they stood, some filled with shock others with grief, most with anger. The group of hunters, angels, and witches would have stayed like that if it weren't for one among them who knew that there was still more that needed to be done. Sera moved through the crowd until she reached Castiel's side, knowing that he and Gabriel were going to be the ones to convince the Winchesters and the Mohr witch to move. "Though Ana is a great loss, she is not the only one who lost their lives during this battle." she spoke softly. There wasn't much that she had picked up from humans, but she knew that this was a time to be gentle with those around them. "There are others we need to mourn and bury."
"How many?" Castiel didn't look away from the family before him as Dean scooted closer to Ana. The hunter's hands held the sides of Ana's face as he cried, his body shaking from the force it took to keep himself from completely losing control.
Taking a moment the angel surveyed the crowd of people that was slowly moving toward the grieving family. "Four including Ana. The hunters Logan and Khloe, and the witch Gregory." Though it would have been ideal to not lose any of those fighting alongside them, losing only four souls in the battle against Satan's army was a large feat. With Ana's sacrifice they had been able to stop her brothers and keep the majority of the world that much safer for a while longer.
Castiel nodded solemnly before moving over to Sam, Dean would be in no place to make any decisions at the moment and though Sam wouldn't be much better, he would try to be the stronger of the two so that Dean could grieve. "There are three other burials we need to plan." He spoke softly, pulling the younger Winchester's attention away from the scene happening just in front of them. "We should get to the hunters first. I'm not entirely sure if Diane's coven will want to do their own burial for Gregory or not, but Logan and Khloe would want a hunter's burial I assume."
Sam sucked in a long, deep breath. They would put the two young hunters to rest, figure out what Diane and William wanted to do about Greg, and then they would sort out what they should do with Ana once everyone else had cleared out. Part of him knew that they should burn her next to the other two, but there was no way that someone that fought so hard to save the world, someone who God himself had shown an interest in, would stay dead. Not after sacrificing herself to fight against His own sons. "We'll need pyres. I'll go talk to Diane."
As Sam turned away from him, Castiel slowly moved his attention back to Dean, Connor, Ana, and Gabriel. The archangel had joined the others on the ground not long after Dean had. The bond that his brother had shared with the young Winchester girl was something that hadn't gone unnoticed by any close to them, he assumed it was much like the bond that he shared with Dean. Something profound and rarely formed between an angel and a human, or witch, but these Winchesters with their bright souls were something that drew them in. Thinking that none of the three men on the ground would be able to keep themselves together much longer, Cas moved closer to them. "Why don't you all take Ana back to the bunker. Sam and I will handle the pyres and the rest of the people then meet you there."
Dean barely registered any of what Cas was saying, but one word had brought his attention back to the world around him. "Pyres?" Blinking away tears, he glanced around at the others, trying to figure out who else they had lost.
"Logan, Khloe, and Gregory." Castiel explained, knowing exactly what Dean was looking for. The hunter seemed to calm down a bit with the knowledge that those who he considered his own personal family were alright. All but Ana.
Dean knew that there was no part of him that had the energy to stay there and do what needed to be done, but he also knew that the two voices that were clear as day in his head wouldn't let him leave because he was breaking inside. He could hear his father's voice, talking to him about being a leader and not leaving responsibilities behind as well as Ana threatening to kick his ass if he didn't stick around to make sure that a proper burial was done for her friends. Maybe this grief was going to be the one to push him over the edge, he was thinking about voices in his head. Sucking in a slow breath, he shook his head, "No, Ana would be so pissed if she knew we weren't here for that. They were her friends, they fought with us because of her, we owe it to her and the three of them to be here."
Connor had been paying attention to little other than Ana's too still body in his arms. The only thing on his mind was how it had happened so quickly. Too quickly. Not the fact that she had died, he knew that it was inevitable, but they had barely started their lives together. He would have thought that the world wouldn't be so cruel as to take this from him so quickly. Gregory's name rolling off of Castiel's tongue brought him out of his grief long enough to process what the two men were talking about. Not only had he lost his soulmate, but he had also lost an amazing friend and fellow witch. "What about Ana?" the words were barely choked out. They couldn't just leave her while they put the rest of the dead to rest.
Dean, Castiel, and Gabriel all looked down at the young woman in question. None of them had really considered what they should do next when it came to the youngest of the Winchesters. None of them were ready to admit that they had lost one of the few people they refused to let go of. It seemed that each man was trying to process what should be done next when Gabe finally broke the silence. "We give her a hunter's burial. Just like the rest." he stated, as if it were so matter of fact.
"We can't burn her." Dean countered, trying to pull himself away from everything that kept this extremely personal and shifting into the state of mind that began to run through ways to bring her back. He wasn't ready to live in a world without his daughter, not again. Standing up, he steeled himself in the decision he had made, "There's a way to fix this. There has to be and that can't happen if she doesn't have a body to come back to."
Connor looked up at Dean with a frown, "You can't seriously be thinking of making a deal with a demon or something equally as stupid, can you? First of all, you know how pissed she would be and you've gone through the stupidity of all of that before. Secondly, what makes you think that losing you in exchange for her would be any easier on the rest of us?"
The elder man shook his head, "No, not a deal, but there has to be something. We won't burn her." Dean argued, his tone making it clear that his decision was final. "We can bury her near the bunker after we put the others to rest and go our own ways." With that he walked away, going to find Sam so that they could get this done. There was a lot that needed to be done. He wouldn't let his daughter stay dead long.
"I'm going to take her back to the bunker." Connor informed the angels that were next to him before disappearing from the field. He didn't want to leave her, but he also refused to leave her on the cold ground while he stood with the rest while they set the fires. Once back at the bunker, he gently laid Ana down on her bed and frowned deeply. He was still trying to keep himself together, there would be time to breakdown after everything else was done, but he couldn't ignore the emptiness inside of his body where part of her conscious, part of her soul used to reside. "We won't let you be gone for long, don't get comfortable wherever you're at." he told her softly, placing a gentle kiss to her forehead before teleporting back to the field to help set up the pyres.
It didn't take long for the large group of them to build the three pyres. Connor, Diane, and William were able to start the fires with their magic and the flames instantly lit up the darkness that had set in while they had still been fighting off Lucifer and Michael. There was only silence for long minutes, no one knew what to say or even if there was anything that could be said. Most were still in shock, few were crying, and those who had never before attended a hunter's funeral were covering their noses to ward off the smell of burning flesh.
Thankfully the fires that the witches conjured burned faster than normal flames would and it didn't take long for all three pyres to turn to ash. Dean and Sam moved to assure all the flames were out so they didn't start a fire through all of the tall grass. They each slowly walked past the mounds of ash, their noses immune to the smell from the years of experience with it. When they were certain the flames were out both men paused to look at one another, exchanging a full conversation in one glance. Sam moved back to where everyone else was standing, taking in a deep breath as he glanced over the group. "We all knew that our chances of making it out of this fight with everyone alive were small, honestly I'm surprised that we didn't lose more people than we did." he sighed, tears coming to his eyes as he thought about his niece. "Even though we knew we would lose some, nothing could have prepared us for it. Everyone here knew one of the people we lost in one way or another, which means that we are all grieving." Sam paused to glance over his shoulder at his brother, noticing that his eyes were focused upward at the sky. "We lost today, but we also won. You all fought hard, pushing against something bigger than many of you have faced before and because of your strength we made it through. We were able to do our part in keeping Michael and Lucifer from ruining the world. For that Dean and I thank you, without each and every one of you we wouldn't have held a chance."
Dean had been listening to his brother's words, eyes glued to the moon that Ana spent so many nights staring at. She had always felt a connection to the glowing orb in the sky, something about witchcraft he didn't completely understand, but looking at it now the reason didn't matter. It was one more thing to remember her by. "Ana would have been proud of all of you." He finally spoke, voice ringing through the field with a strength he didn't feel. "She knew every single one of you, felt enough trust in you to have you fight alongside her, and though she isn't here to say it herself…" He paused to take in a deep breath, "I know that she would be praising us all for holding up our side of this fight so that she could do what needed to be done."
Sam shot Dean a soft smile, "But now it's done and we all have to move on. We'll get everyone back to the Roadhouse so that you can get to your vehicles. What you do now is up to you." With that he turned toward Gabe and Cas, knowing that it would be up to the angels and the remaining witches to get everyone back to the Roadhouse.
With the help of all of the angels, Diane, and Connor they were able to quickly get everyone back to the bar. There were few who lingered with the Winchesters; Jody, Donna, Claire, Alex, and Charlie, the rest of the hunters and witches went about gathering their things to leave. It seemed that those who weren't close with the Winchesters didn't want to be in the way of whatever was going to happen next. Within an hour everyone had said their goodbyes and left, leaving only the small group left sitting at the bar. Jody looked around the empty room, noticing that it was already different without Ana there. "So, what are you going to do with this place? Ana put a lot of work into it, it shouldn't go to waste." She asked, having spent one of her nights there talking with the younger woman about her dream for the place.
"Honestly, that's the last thing on my mind right now." Dean groaned, placing his head in his hands. "We'll lock it up for now and come back to it later. Right now we should get back to the bunker and decide what to do with…." he trailed off, not being able to say it. The body. Her body. Even thinking it made him cringe.
Donna set a comforting hand on his shoulder, "If you need some more support, we could meet you guys at the bunker. Help out with whatever you need." She could only imagine how hard it was for Dean to keep himself together as well as he was.
He shook his head, "Thanks for the offer, but I think we need to do this alone." Dean met gazes with Sam, Connor, Cas, Gabe, and Charlie. They were the ones that had been with Ana through almost everything the past few years, if a decision was going to be made about where to go from there it should be them to decide. Everyone else would just have to be okay with that.
Jody and Donna shared a quick look before both women nodded. "If you boys need anything we're just a call away." Jody assured them, moving over to Sam to give him a hug while Donna closed the space between herself and Dean to give him a hug as well. Both men were hugged by each woman in the group, the younger girls grabbing their bags and walking toward the door while Jody stopped next to Connor. He had been sitting at the end of the bar, alone, since they had gotten back. "Don't go doing anything stupid to get her back, alright?" she told him, authority mixing in with her sympathetic tone. "Ana would kick your ass, you and I both know it."
Connor's eyes stayed fixed on the wood of the bar as Jody spoke, he showed no sign that he was even paying attention until the sheriff began to walk away from him. "How long is it going to hurt this bad?" he asked, knowing that Jody had lost both her son and her husband years ago.
Stopping dead in her tracks Connor's words brought tears to her eyes and she took a moment before turning around. "I don't ever really remember a moment in time when it started to hurt less, it just slowly happened. I still think about them every day. I don't think it ever stops hurting, we just learn to work around it."
"That sounds impossible right now." He admitted, his body was filled with so much pain and anger that it seemed that he would never be able to do anything without it being the only thing on his mind.
Jody took a couple steps closer to him, "It will seem less impossible with time." she spoke softly, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and giving him a tight hug. "You just gotta keep moving forward. If you ever feel like you need to talk, don't hesitate to call me. I always answer for family." she assured him before walking away.
Not long after the sound of the two cars driving away had disappeared those left in the bar shared a look before pairing off to be teleported back to the bunker. Standing in the library, it was clear that none of them wanted to start the conversation they needed to have, but putting it off wouldn't do anyone any good. "So what are our options right now?" Sam spoke up, looking at one sad face to another.
"Burn or bury her?" Castiel offered, understanding that this was very difficult for all of them, but he assumed with the lot of them being hunters that they would give Ana a proper hunter's burial.
The younger Winchester's brow furrowed, "No, I mean what are our options to bring her back?" he assumed that they would all be on the same page about it. "Demon deals are out, she would be mad at any of us who would trade our soul for her."
"There's a chance that if we can find her soul Cassie and I could do some old school angel mojo. There's no proof it would work, but it's a shot." Gabe offered, not liking the idea of Ana staying dead anymore than Sam.
Connor sighed, "There's magic that could do it, but the success rate isn't one hundred percent and things can easily go wrong with something like that." he explained.
"Because it would be dark magic." Castiel interrupted, giving Connor a hard look. "Which is something that Ana would also not be okay with."
Dean walked toward the nearest chair and dropped down onto it. "We'll bury her until we can figure something else out. Cas and Gabe, go see if you can find her soul and try to get a hold of your dad. She did enough for him, he could repay it by bringing her back to life. Demon deals and anything that could even be considered a gray area in magic is off limits. We're not going to trade one of us for her, Sam and I know how well that turns out in the end." he spoke up, looking up at his little brother as he spoke the last words. Turning his attention toward Connor, he took in a deep breath before talking again, "Where is she?"
The young witch could only hold Dean's gaze for a moment before he dropped his eyes to his feet. "In her room."
"I'll go get her. Why don't you guys get some shovels and head out back to find a place that won't be easily found." Dean stood from his seat, a new weight settling on his shoulders as he came to terms with what they were about to do. No longer paying attention to what anyone in the library was doing he made his way down the hall toward Ana's room. Though Dean was aware of the reality of their situation, nothing could have prepared him for the sight that met his eyes once he opened the bedroom door. Pausing for a long moment he frowned as he fully realized what he was seeing. With a deep frown Dean hurried back toward the library, hoping that he could catch Connor before he went outside with the others.
Sam had yet to move toward the task that Dean had given them, none of them seemed ready to do what came next. When his older brother came storming back into the room mere minutes after he left Sam's heart broke a little more. "Do you need one of us to get her?" he assumed that Dean hadn't been able to handle the sight of his dead daughter.
Ignoring Sam the eldest Winchester turned his eyes toward the youngest man in the room. "I thought you put her in her room?"
Connor frowned, "I did." he was certain of that. There was no mistaking Ana's room for any other room in the bunker, she had made sure to make it very clear that it belonged to the only female who permanently lived in the place.
"You must have gotten confused, it's alright, we're all a mess right now." Dean made his tone more gentle, "Maybe you put her in your room?"
The with rolled his eyes, "No. I put her in her own room, on her bed." Connor stated, his tone final.
"Well then where the hell is she?" Dean yelled, the volume shocking everyone. Everything had been so quiet since Ana had fallen.
"Wait…" Charlie stepped in between Connor and Dean before their emotions got completely out of hand and they began to fight. "Are we saying that Ana's body is missing?"
Her words seemed to hit them all, as if it hadn't been a possibility to the rest of them until she had spoken. All of their eyes went wide as they looked at each other. Already beginning to move Sam began to shout orders at the rest of them, "Search every room, anywhere that she could be, we check." He left the library, making his way toward the rooms that were very rarely used.
The other five took off in different directions. Connor going to double check Ana's room and the other's that were down that side of the hallway. Dean rushed toward the garage and the rooms they used for their training at the other end of the bunker, he had no idea what her body would be doing in there, but Sam did say to check everything. Charlie hustled toward the old computer room, planning to check it before moving toward other rooms further into the maze of the place. Both angels began to fly in and out of rooms, making their search quick, but efficient.
With all six of them looking it still took awhile for them to cover every inch of the place and by the time that they were all back in the library it was clear that none of them had been able to find her.
Dean was on the verge of snapping, not only had he just lost his daughter, but he had lost his daughter. "Where the hell could she have gone?!" he growled as he stormed around the room, not being able to keep himself still.
"There isn't even anyone else who can get in here without one of us." Connor voiced the thoughts running through his head, "Unless something was strong enough to break through the wardings on the place, there's only so many people that could have taken her."
Gabe and Cas shared a look, both of their expressions setting into deep frowns as they had their own silent argument. Sam caught on to the exchange of looks between the brothers, "What are you two thinking that you're not letting the rest of us in on?" he questioned, knowing that if he didn't bring it up neither of them would share.
Gabriel sighed, "Who is the first person you can think of that can a) come into the bunker b) likes to meddle in other people's, more importantly, your lives and c) has taken a special liking to our dearest Ana?"
"Crowley?" Connor asked with a quirked eyebrow. The creepy demon had made it pretty clear that he had the same weird fascination with Ana as he did with Dean, maybe even a little more than he did with Dean.
Dean shook his head, "Crowley can't come in here unless one of us lets him in. Which leaves one other player on the line up."
"Chuck." Sam spoke up, confusion clear on his face. "But why would Chuck just take Ana from under our noses like that? Obviously he'd know we'd want to bury her and work on a way to bring her back."
"That's more than likely the exact reason why." Castiel spoke up, "Either God doesn't want you to bring her back or he has other plans. Honestly there isn't any way for us to figure it out without talking to him."
As the information sank in further for the rest of them, they all seemed to deflate. Mentally and physically giving up on any idea they had of starting their grieving process. Ana was gone. They wouldn't be able to bury her, to say their goodbyes, and all chances of them finding a way to bring her back were useless without her body for her soul to return to. It seemed that though they had accomplished a great thing that day, there was very little to look forward to.
