Thanks for the new reviews, follows, and faves! Things are starting to get a bit more...interesting for Maddie now. I'm excited to share some of the next few chapters that I have written so I might post the next two chapters over the next couple of days...we'll see!
"Hey, wake up back there comatose!"
I startled awake at Dean's voice, my eyes shooting open and my body jumping up at the noise. My head hit something solid and my hand flew up, immediately rubbing the sore spot as Dean chuckled. I'd hit my head on the Impala's window from my place in the backseat, I realized. My eyes narrowed, trying to remember how I'd ended up here. I was pretty sure I'd passed out on Bobby's couch watching movies with both brothers last night while we downed pizza, booze, and brownies. Why was I in the Impala?
I glanced around and noticed Dean's amused grin and Sam's worried stare from the front seats. But something was off…
"This isn't the Impala," I said slowly, my eyes examining the car's interior.
Dean made a face. "The what now?"
I rolled my eyes, letting out a sarcastic, unamused laugh. "Ha ha, funny. Why are we in this car? Where are we?"
Dean's eyes narrowed at me now. "How hard did you hit your head on that window just now? We always drive the Mustang."
"What?" I asked him, my brows furrowing.
"We just pulled back into Bobby's," Sam explained slowly, the worry deepening on his face as he continued. "We were going to check in on him after Rufus passed the other day. You know, the whole thing with Eve?"
"I mean, I remember you guys telling me about that," I said. "But we've all been at Bobby's since yesterday…what do you mean we were going to check in on him?"
The brothers turned towards each other, exchanging a look between themselves. Dean was the one who turned back towards me and spoke, looking at me like I'd grown a second head suddenly.
"We were in Wyoming yesterday tracking down a werewolf after facing off against Eve's little monster worm," Dean told me. "You were there. For all of it."
My jaw dropped. I had definitely not been with them when they'd gone to Ohio the other day to track down Eve's new monster, and I certainly hadn't just been in Wyoming killing a werewolf with them.
Sam's eyebrows knitted together as he took in my expression. "Are you feeling alright, Maddie?"
I glanced down towards my lap. Something weird was going on and apparently only I was aware of it.
"Don't you remember Ellen called last night?" Dean prodded. "She was worried about Bobby? He hasn't left the house all week? He's not sleeping?"
I closed my eyes shut tight, trying to make sense of what was going on. Ellen was dead, I knew that for sure. And Dean wouldn't be this calm about not being in his Impala. I certainly wasn't a hunter either, but these two apparently thought I was. Either I was dreaming, very vividly this time with how much hitting my head had hurt, or something else was happening. I couldn't quite pinpoint if this had been on an episode before, not yet at least, and so I figured my best bet was to play along the best I could. Maybe something would make sense or come to me soon. Hopefully I didn't get myself killed in the meantime considering I couldn't actually hunt, despite the training I'd been doing over the last few weeks at Bobby's.
I shook my head quickly, forcing out a smile as I opened my eyes. "Yeah, you know what, I think I just passed out real hard," I told the brothers. I pushed out a laugh to further try to lighten the mood. "You know how out of it I can get right after sleep."
They exchanged another look with each other, clearly not quite buying my story, but didn't press the matter further.
"So, let's check on Bobby?" I suggested as I opened the back door.
The brothers got out as well, Dean shooting me weird looks as we made our way up to Bobby's house. When we'd gotten inside, I noticed how much cleaner it looked than it had yesterday. We found Bobby at his desk, scouring through stacks of books with bottles of alcohol scattered around him. He was untwisting the cap and trying to finish off a bottle of whiskey, drinking straight from the bottle, when we came to a stop in the doorway of his study. He didn't even acknowledge our presence.
"Say something," Dean hissed at Sam and I.
I took a half step backwards, raising my hands up. I had no damn idea what was even going on, there was no way I was going to say anything. "Nope," I said quietly. "Don't look at me."
"Sam," Dean hissed at his brother.
"Why me?" he shot back quietly.
Slowly Dean held out his hand for rock, paper, scissors and I rolled my eyes behind them. They threw out their choices, and Sam lost, strangely picking paper when he knew Dean always picks scissors. Something was certainly off.
Sam cleared his throat before hesitantly speaking up, breaking the silence of the room. "Uh, Bobby–"
Without even glancing up, Bobby snapped out, "You three going to just stand there like the ugly girl at the prom or are you going to pitch in? This so called Eve, Mother of whatever, ain't gonna gank herself."
Sam and Dean both looked uncomfortable. They turned and shot me a glance and I just shrugged. I was staying out of whatever this was.
Bobby looked up when no one answered, a surly look on his face. "What's wrong with you three?"
"Bobby," Dean started, "You haven't slept in days."
"I sleep," Bobby shot back. "What are you, my wife now?"
"I'm just saying," Dean continued, "taking a break from the Eve situation might be good for you."
"Look, Bobby," Sam cut in. "That thing with Eve…it was tough for all of us," he said, gesturing to both Dean and I. "You know…seeing Rufus go like that."
I frowned. I had not been there. This was just beginning to get even more weird and uncomfortable.
Bobby's eyes narrowed. "You think this is about Rufus?" he shook his head. "You know when I knew Rufus was done for? The day I met him. The only question was who first–him or me. Now, do you want to stand there and therapize or do you want to get me some coffee?" He glanced back down to the book in front of him. "Make it Irish," he added.
The brothers turned and left the study, making their way towards the kitchen. I tagged along beside them, still not sure what was going on yet.
"Definitely not about Rufus at all," Dean said sarcastically. He turned his attention to Sam and I as he asked, "What do you want to do? We can't just sit here and let him poop out his liver."
Sam reached up into a cabinet, pulling out a coffee mug. "Well," he said as he made his way to the coffee pot. "We could get him out of the house. There's a job."
I grimaced. Great, a job. Why did I get the feeling this meant I was going to be hunting monsters?
"Really?" Dean asked his brother, the pair oblivious to my reaction. "What'd you find?"
Sam set the mug down, pulling a newspaper clipping out of his jacket pocket. He unfolded it and handed it over to Dean. I leaned over, trying to skim the article myself. The title read "Three Chester, Pennsylvania family members die within the same week." I let out a snort which caused the brothers to shoot me a look.
"That's just…a really bad title," I said sheepishly.
Dean made a face at me before Sam spoke up, choosing to ignore my comment.
"So a bunch of these family members died really freaky all within a week of each other," Sam briefly explained. "That last guy was karate chopped by his garage door."
Something about that disturbing mental image tugged at something in my memory. I knew I'd seen that on the show, but what was that episode about?
"So a bunch of the same family die within a week. You thinking a family curse?" Dean asked his brother.
Sam shrugged as he finished making Bobby's coffee. "It could be."
"Hey grumpy," Dean called, turning over his shoulder only to be caught off guard by Bobby wandering into the kitchen behind him. He shot Dean a look before accepting the mug from the taller Winchester. "You want to–"
"I don't want to do crap," Bobby snarled. "Leave me alone."
My brow raised at his attitude. He wasn't this grumpy last night, though he had mainly stayed to himself. I watched quietly as he took a sip from his mug.
"Get outta my house, the lot of you," Bobby grumbled as he shuffled towards his study again. "You're driving me nuts."
My jaw dropped a little at his words. Judging by the looks on Sam and Dean's faces, I wasn't the only one surprised at his extraordinarily surly attitude.
"Bobby," Dean said, trying again.
Bobby spun back around abruptly on his heel, a stern look on his face. "Now!" he ground out. "For the love of Pete," he muttered under his breath as he continued on.
"Well he seems well," I muttered more to myself than the brothers.
"Yeah, definitely doing just fine," Dean grumbled sarcastically as he handed Sam the newspaper clipping back. "Guess we're going to Pennsylvania."
My eyes shut at his words. I was afraid of that.
"You uh…sure you're alright, Maddie?" Sam asked me.
My eyes shot back open and I plastered another fake smile on my lips. "Fantastic," I told him in the best faux happy tone I could muster. And for added emphasis, I tacked on a sarcastic, "Can't wait for the day long road trip."
"Well our bags are still in the car so I guess we might as well hit the road," Dean said.
I watched as Dean led the way out of Bobby's house, Sam following behind. Inwardly I groaned as I made my way after the pair back out to the Mustang near Bobby's garage. I shuddered a little when I spotted the car, my eyes taking in the two gold racing stripes down the length of it. Sam and Dean got right into the front seats, but my hand paused above the handle to the backseat.
"This just feels so wrong," I mumbled to myself before getting into the unfamiliar car.
"Maybe we should have waited for Ellen to get back?" Sam asked Dean as he started up the car.
Dean shot his brother a look. "She texted when we got here saying she'd be back shortly. You really want to stay here and smell him stew in his juices?"
I grimaced at Dean's phrasing and I saw Sam pull a face too.
"Yeah, yeah, drive," Sam agreed.
The next few hours dragged on horribly. Dean blared rock music nearly nonstop and I often caught Sam glancing back at me when I was staring out of the window. Sometimes he looked worried, but most times he looked abashed and would start blushing terribly when he had noticed I caught him. My brows knitted in confusion every time. I figured whatever was going on, we had obviously not been making out yesterday like I remembered happening–at least to him. He hadn't been flirty with me the entire drive; if anything, Dean was the one conversing with me. Sam seemed…abnormally shy and awkward whenever I'd tried to start conversations so eventually I had stopped.
When it was approaching half past ten at night, we grabbed some drive-thru food and Dean picked out a motel. Sam had gone in, grabbing a room, while Dean and I waited by the car holding onto our duffles and bags of food.
"I don't know how you guys do these long drives all the time," I said as I tried to stifle a yawn while not dropping the bag of food I was holding.
Clearly I'd said something else strange because Dean's eyes narrowed again.
"What do you mean?" he asked me, confusion evident in his voice. "You've been driving with us like this for the past two years now. You always said you loved the long drives."
Shit. I slipped up yet again.
But then my brain registered what he'd just said. Two years? I'd been here in this world barely two months now. How was that possible?
Sam approached us just then, dangling a motel key from his hand. Thankfully it distracted Dean enough and I followed after them to the room.
It was a slightly less dingy motel room than I'd expected but it still wasn't anything special. I definitely made note of the two queen sized beds and wondered how the sleeping arrangement was going to go.
I set the bags of food down on the little circular table before tossing my duffle bag onto the floor nearby. I stretched out my arm a bit; the bag had more heft to it than I'd anticipated and I wondered what all was in there.
Joining the brothers at the table, we all began sorting out food. I grabbed my salad, mixing in the dressing and shaking it up silently. I was almost afraid to speak at this point because I seemed to keep slipping up. Instead, I focused on spearing lettuce and vegetables and chewing my food while keeping my eyes focused on a stain on the floor. Sam and Dean were talking a bit amongst themselves, mainly about their concern over Bobby and what they thought of the case.
"You're incredibly quiet tonight," Dean said.
I raised my eyes from the stain, the finished container of salad still held in my hands. Both men were staring at me.
"Just…tired," I said simply.
"Right," Dean said, his lips in a tight line. "Well, we might as well get some rest. I want to be back on the road in a few hours."
We cleaned up the garbage from our dinner before I began unzipping my duffle bag. On top I found a few handguns and a knife. Gingerly I moved them out of the way and found a pair of soft black leggings and a larger tee-shirt. Once Dean had exited the bathroom, I jumped in and quickly used the bathroom before changing clothes. I paused when I saw my reflection; I looked rested. There weren't massive dark circles under my eyes anymore like I'd gotten used to over the last few days. With a soft sigh, I exited the bathroom.
"So what's your choice tonight, Maddie?" Dean asked as he laid in one of the beds, his back against the headboard.
I frowned. "What?"
"Which bed?" Dean reiterated. "You sharing with me or Sam tonight?"
I held back my reaction at the question. I had been expecting this scenario. How did they know me to normally react? Did I often share with one or the other? Did I rotate who I shared the bed with?
I chewed my lip before answering, opting to go with the brother I felt more comfortable with and preferred the idea of sleeping next to. "I uh, guess I'll share with Sam?"
A cheeky smile crossed Dean's lips at my answer but I saw Sam's face turn red as he bolted for the bathroom without a word.
Slowly I made my way over to the other bed and crawled in. Figuring since I was already acting strange to them by their standards, I asked Dean, "Was I not supposed to pick Sam's bed?"
Dean chuckled. "You've been sharing the bed with him a lot lately, Lewis. Think you're getting his hopes up."
I raised a brow at him questioningly. "What do you mean?"
Dean rolled his eyes. "Please, you really haven't noticed Sam has a big fat crush on you? Since day one when we met you at that wendigo hunt and you started working with us he's been a puppy dog chasing after you."
"I…guess I haven't?" I said uneasily.
"He's too shy and awkward to say anything, always hoping you'd make the move instead of picking up guys at the bar," Dean told me absently as he crawled under his sheets.
I scrunched my nose at his answer. I picked up guys at the bar? That was not even remotely like me.
Sam exited the bathroom just then, ending our conversation abruptly. Well, that at least explained the shy glances and awkward conversations if I seemed to take too much interest in him. He wasn't like this the times I'd been around the Sam I knew before.
Sam got into the bed beside me, his leg brushing up against mine. Immediately he pulled it away, mumbling an apology under his breath. While slightly cute, it was just strange after the kiss we'd just shared last night.
I really needed to figure out what was going on.
We'd left the motel bright and early in the morning, managing to make it to Chester, Pennsylvania by the afternoon with the way Dean drove. We checked into a new motel room once we'd arrived and done some digging. After a fifteen minute search on his laptop, Sam found the last victim's address and we piled back into the Mustang before making our way out to the house.
After scouting the house out for a few minutes and finding that no one was home, the brothers decided we were going to break in. I rolled my eyes as I stood behind them, arms crossed as I watched them pick the lock on the side door of the garage. I was terrified we were going to get caught, but thankfully no one noticed as we broke in. Dean and Sam pulled out flashlights instantly. I stayed closer to Sam, my eyes scanning the room. A moment later I heard a static noise and glanced over at Dean. He was checking for EMF but even I could tell nothing was registering.
"Well, not a vengeful spirit then," Sam said as Dean put the EMF detector back into his pocket.
I watched as Sam's flashlight skimmed along the garage floor near the door, my eyes spotting the dried blood that hadn't been fully cleaned. My stomach turned at the sight. So this is where the guy had been "karate chopped" by the garage door.
"Wait," Sam said after a moment, picking up something from off the floor.
I watched as he held it under his flashlight's beam, Dean sauntering over.
"Is that Christmas tinsel?" Dean asked.
Sam shrugged. "I don't know…"
My mind began racing as I watched Sam scan the garage before making his way over to a shelf. He pulled down a terracotta pot and rubbed the string against it. A long streak of gold was left in the wake of the string.
"Huh," he said. "It's real gold." His brows knit together as he eyed Dean and I. "Why would a handy man just have gold lying around in his garage."
"Gold string," I corrected, muttering to myself.
"You got some ideas over there?" Dean asked as both brothers turned their attention towards me.
"I feel like it sounds familiar," I said slowly. "I just…can't quite remember what."
Dean grunted. "Let us know when it comes to you then. You usually have good hunches about these weird cases."
I nodded wordlessly, my mind working back to the show. What was it about the gold string again?
"There's got to be a skeleton in this family's closet," Dean said as he scanned the garage one more time before turning to Sam and I. "I mean accidents don't just happen accidentally."
I snorted at his word choice. It made sense but out of this particular context it sounded ridiculous.
Dean waved a hand at me. "You know what I mean."
Sam cleared his throat. "Okay, I'll go check family records, you go with next of kin?"
"Sure," Dean agreed before glancing at me. "Who are you tagging along with?"
"I'll go with Sam," I said quickly. I figured I could more easily spin some lie with Sam than with Dean so I could go sit down somewhere and try to recall the episode.
"Oh," Dean said in a teasing tone, "someone can't get enough of Sammy."
I rolled my eyes. "Shut it, Dean. Let's go."
About an hour later I was sitting outside of the local courthouse where Dean had dropped us off. I had faked feeling a bit ill as an excuse to hang out outside on a bench and think. By the time Sam had come back outside from the courthouse, I'd remembered just enough to know we were dealing with one of the sisters of Fate. I remembered the gold string from the myth and the show. But the details were still just a bit hazy.
"Anything?" I asked Sam as he came and sat beside me.
"No, nothing useful at least," he told me.
My lips pursed at the news. Until I could remember more information, something of use, it was pointless for me to speak up just yet.
"Dean was going to swing by soon. He found a diner," Sam said. "Figure we can grab dinner and go over any more possible leads."
I nodded in response and we fell back into silence. After the kiss we'd shared now two days ago, at least it happened two days ago for me, I was dying inside just wanting to do it again. Or to even just hold the hand of his that was mere inches from mine on the bench. But obviously I couldn't do any of that now.
"So uh, how're you feeling?" Sam asked, breaking me out of my thoughts.
It took me a moment to remember that I'd lied and told him I'd been feeling a little ill.
"Better," I said awkwardly. "Just needed some fresh air I guess."
"You've been a bit off lately," Sam admitted suddenly. "Not acting yourself."
"Oh?" I said, trying to not have to answer the question.
Sam frowned but then suddenly fell silent again as we waited for Dean to pick us up.
We broke into the small travel agency once night had fallen. Shortly after dinner Sam had caught wind of a woman in the town dying by strangulation from her copy machine–her scarf had gotten stuck and choked her to death. The thing was: she wasn't related to the three other people who'd died from the strange deaths in town. But still, the freakish way in which she died alerted the brothers to it possibly being related.
This time around as we broke into the building I tried to play my part as a hunter, trying to pretend I was looking for clues even though I knew they'd inevitably find another gold string near the copy machine. It took a few minutes, as Dean verified once again with Sam that the woman was not related, before Dean spotted the gold string.
"Hold on," he said as he picked it up. "Found something."
"Another gold thread?" Sam asked as he eyed it.
Feeling a little spooked after having illegally broken into private property where a woman mere hours ago had just died, I said, "So uh let's head back to the motel and research gold strings, yeah?"
The brothers shot me a look. Dean was smirking though as he took in my expression.
"Someone afraid of the big bad string?" he teased.
I frowned. "No, but I'd like to not be arrested as a sudden murder suspect or something. We done here?"
Dean let out a huff. "Great. Research time." He raised a finger sarcastically. "Whoopie."
The motel we were staying at wasn't too far of a drive from the travel agency downtown. Once we'd gotten back, Sam immediately pulled out his laptop and set himself up at the little table.
"I'm going to check in with Ellen," Dean said as he pulled out his phone. "See if maybe she's ever heard of this before."
I nodded before plopping on the bed, pulling out my own cell phone and researching Fate briefly. Maybe some information on the myth would remind me about the episode again.
I was only half-listening in to Dean's phone conversation; apparently Jo was working a similar case on the other side of the country. I was instead focused on a website that had more information on the Greek mythology behind the Fates–or the Moirais as apparently they'd been known as in ancient Greece. There were three of them: Clotho, Lachesis, and Atropo. As I eyed the name Atropo, it briefly came back to me. They were sisters and it was Atropo who'd come here to claim the lives of those who'd been born to people who had died on–
"Does the name Titanic ring a bell?" Dean asked as he hung up his cell phone.
My eyes went wide and darted up past my phone. Dean was eyeing Sam who's eyebrows were knit together in thought for a moment before he shook his head.
"No, why?"
"Ellen said Jo is working on a cluster of these cases in California," Dean told him. "Said her and Bobby had looked into the ancestry of the victims and the only connection was that they all came here on the same boat. But there was nothing special about the boat."
My voice came out soft and quiet from my place on the bed. "It was supposed to sink."
Both brothers eyed me, their eyebrows raised questioningly.
"What?" Dean asked.
I watched as Sam's fingers flew across the keys on his laptop, no doubt researching the Titanic now. "The boat," I clarified. "It was supposed to sink on its maiden voyage. Hit a large iceberg. Over a thousand people died horribly. It was a tragedy."
"Uh," Sam said uncomfortably as he spun his laptop so Dean and I could see the screen. "It says here the boat was the largest passenger steamship in the world when it made its maiden voyage across the Atlantic in 1912." He cleared his throat awkwardly. "It uh…it didn't sink."
"Okay," I said slowly, "and does the website have any more information on there?"
Sam's eyes scanned the page a bit more, reading aloud "...there was a close call where it almost hit an iceberg." His eyes scanned the page further down and then he frowned deeply.
"What?" Dean asked.
"It says here a first mate by the name of I.P. Freely spotted the iceberg just in time," Sam answered.
"And there it is," I said flatly.
"That's not suspicious," Dean said sarcastically as he got off the edge of the bed he'd been sitting on. "You got a picture of old Freely?"
"Yeah," Sam said as he enlarged the image.
I didn't even need to get up. "It's Balthazar, right?"
Slowly, both brothers turned their heads towards me. Sam looked confused but Dean looked entirely distrustful as he glared at me, standing at his full height.
"What do you know, Maddie?" he growled. "What's going on? You've been acting weird as hell for the past two days now and somehow you know about this?"
My stomach flipped as I felt the anger in his stare. "Look, I can explain–"
"Then start explaining!" Dean snarled at me. "Because right now, I'm starting to wonder if you're even Maddie or if she's riding shotgun to something else!"
I held up my hands, my heart racing. Having Dean pissed at me was not something I wanted to experience again.
"Let her talk, Dean," Sam's gentle voice called out.
"Look," I tried again. "This is all going to sound incredibly insane, but you have to believe me, okay? The timeline is messed up. Balthazar messed it up when he unsunk the Titanic."
"What?" Dean growled.
"I'm…I'm not a hunter. I've barely had much training with Bobby over the last few weeks," I told them. "And I have no idea how you've both known me for two years because I've only been in this world for almost two months."
Dean was shaking his head in disbelief at my words, anger still apparent on his face.
"You're right," he told me. "You do sound insane. And I don't believe you're Maddie. Only in this world for two months?" His eyes narrowed at me as he shot, "You look pretty full grown for a god damn two month old baby. What the hell is this bullshit? Who are you?"
I squeezed my eyes shut tight. My mind was racing. How could I get them to believe me? To trust me? I couldn't spout off personal information about them because after Balthazar changed history, I didn't even know what was accurate anymore. And I didn't know any personal information about the Maddie they knew because it clearly wasn't me. I was about to truly panic when it suddenly hit me–the sure fire way they had to know to trust me. Or at least, I hoped it would still work.
"Poughkeepsie," I said instantly.
I opened my eyes and watched Dean's anger waver and Sam's eyebrows raise.
"Wha-what?" Dean asked.
"Poughkeepsie," I said louder.
The brothers exchanged looks with each other. They were having a silent conversation for a moment, before Dean turned back to me. His demeanor was significantly calmer now.
"We never told you about that," he said.
"No," I told him. "I know it's your guys' safe word. A distress signal that only you guys know. You use it when absolutely necessary–which is now. You have to believe me–the timeline was altered."
"Talk," Dean urged. "What's going on?"
I swallowed hard before continuing. "It has something to do with Balthazar going back in time and unsinking the Titanic. If I remember right, in this timeline, you guys skirt the apocalypse, meaning Ellen and Jo never died and Sam never jumped back into the cage in Hell with Lucifer still inside him." I paused, taking in their reactions as encouragement that I was correct. "Well," I continued, "Dean made a deal with Death to get Sam's soul back–because your body had been pulled from the cage but your soul hadn't. And…you weren't you without it," I told Sam gently. "But Dean failed his deal with Death, and as one final offer, he told Dean he'd pull your soul out if he agreed to an exchange. My soul plucked from my world and dropped in this one in order to pull yours from Hell." I held out my hands wide. "So I'm here. Barely been in this world of monsters and demons for two months, so I have no damn idea how you knew me here for two years." I raised a finger pointedly as I added on "And I don't fight monsters."
"Okay," Sam said after a moment, his face scrunched up in thought still. "So if you've only been in our world for two months, how do you seem to know so much? How do you know our safe word?"
I let out a sigh. "In my world this was a TV show."
Both of their eyes went wide.
"I'm sorry, what?" Dean asked.
I shook my head quickly. "Look, I'd really rather not explain the TV show bit to you guys a second time. But what you're dealing with here is Fate. Or, rather, one of the sisters of Fate."
A look of realization dawned on Sam's face. "You're right."
I watched as he pulled his laptop back to himself, typing for a moment. He pulled up a website and quickly turned the screen back to Dean and I.
"Nerds," Dean muttered.
I rolled my eyes at his comment. "The thread you saw, it came from this book that one of the sisters keeps. She's trying to kill off all of the living relatives of those who should have died on the Titanic to try to fix what Balthazar messed up."
"Okay, so we just summon Balthazar and tell him to let the Titanic sink," Dean said.
I shook my head. "He won't listen to you." I explained. "But…he might listen to Castiel."
"Alright, so let's call Cas," Dean amended.
I held up my hand, signaling for him to wait a moment. "You realize though that it means Ellen and Jo will return to being dead. The apocalypse will still have been started and they'd have died trying to stop it still. I just…don't want to make that fact hidden."
"So then what other option do we have?" Sam asked. "Kill Fate?"
I shook my head. "No, you try that on the show. By wandering around trying to tempt Fate. Cas confronts her and she threatens that her sisters will be gunning for you two if you kill her. He knows he can't watch both your backs nonstop, so the only option is to let the Titanic sink."
Dean ran a hand down his face as Sam stared at the floor silently.
"Bobby's not going to like this," Dean grumbled.
"Bobby won't remember," I said gently.
"So hang on," Sam spoke up, his eyes returning to me, "if we let them sink the Titanic again, that means maybe fifty thousand people are going to die."
"I mean…if the Titanic sinks then those people will never be born," I told him. "As opposed to now, where Fate is slaughtering them."
"Alright," Dean said after a moment. "So I'll contact Cas–"
"And explain to him why killing her is a pointless waste of time," I interjected. "Because that's what he will initially push for."
Dean frowned slightly. "Okay, so I'll explain that the other sisters of Fate or whatever will put us at the top of their Most Wanted lists if we kill one of them and that he needs to convince Balthazar to fix this timeline blip."
I sent him a half-smile. "Yeah. That's sort of the only option. And we can bypass the time Fate tries to kill you both and cut to the chase. Get back to the real timeline."
"And why is it only you seem to remember the other timeline?" Dean asked me curiously.
I shrugged, not entirely sure myself. "I don't know. Maybe because this isn't my original world to begin with?"
Sam leaned back in his chair, running a hand along his chin as he watched Dean nod before making his way towards the motel door. But Dean paused before he opened the door, turning on his heel and eyeing me for a moment with curiosity and a tinge of amusement on his face.
"I have to know," Dean started. "In this real timeline that only you remember–are you and Sam a thing? Because I know he's been holding back a love confession for you for the past two years–"
"Dean!" Sam shot at his brother, his eyes wide and alarmed at his words.
Dean ignored his outburst as he continued. "And the Maddie I've seen over the last two days keeps gravitating towards him and looking confused at his awkward attempts at interacting with her."
My cheeks burned and I waved a hand at him. "Seriously, that's the least important thing to be questioning right now."
"No, no," Dean argued, a sly smile on his face. "I want the answer before I call Cas. I'd like to know if I'm setting myself up for another front row seat to more one-way pining."
I paused, chewing my lip as Dean continued to stare at me, clearly unmoving. Sam's face was half buried in his hands at the topic of conversation, clearly uncomfortable. I groaned a little aloud when I realized Dean really wasn't about to move without an answer.
"Ugh, yes!" I snapped out abruptly, my face heating up further. "We are…maybe. I don't know."
Dean's eyebrows rose as he continued to smile. "Well that definitely didn't answer my question."
My eyes darted to the bed, my fingers fidgeting in my lap. "We kissed the other day, right before I woke up in this weird timeline. We didn't exactly have a chance to discuss the details of our relationship," I told him, my words coming out in a rush. I lifted my eyes to meet Dean's self-satisfied smile. "Now can you just, you know, contact Cas and fix this shit? Because I swear if I have to get into the back of that heebie-jeebie inducing Mustang for another day long road trip with you guys I'm going to scream."
"Sure can do," Dean said with a chuckle before turning to look at his brother and muttering a "You're welcome," before he popped out of the motel room.
"Ughh," I groaned, slamming my head back into the headboard on the bed.
Silence filled the motel room after Dean had left. My eyes were trained on the off-white ceiling, a water stain decorated a spot not far from the nearby corner.
"Sorry about Dean," Sam spoke softly.
I shifted, raising my head from off the headboard and turning my attention to him. Sam was turned in his chair, facing me now with an arm resting on the table by his laptop. He looked nervous as he watched me from across the room.
I shrugged lightly in response. "Dean's Dean. Apparently even in alternate timelines."
Sam chuckled lightly at my words, his eyes focusing on the floor for a moment. "So…you're in the other timeline? The real one?" he asked, his eyes still avoiding mine.
"Yeah, have been for a few weeks now," I told him.
He nodded at my words. "Good," he said before his eyes finally turned up to meet mine. There was a longing in his stare that sent my heart racing instantly. "Because I don't think I could live in a world where you weren't there." He got up from the chair and made his way towards me, a look of determination on his face. Before I knew what was going on, he knelt down beside the bed and grabbed my hand in his. "Maddie, I've spent the last few years trying to deny how I felt. But now I feel like I'm running out of time." His hand squeezed mine. "Maddie, I lo–"
My eyes shot open and I took in the sight of Bobby's living room before me. Something jostled under my head and I realized it was Sam's shoulder. I sat up, rubbing my face and taking in the sight of him having just abruptly woken up as well.
"Sorry," I told him awkwardly.
Sam shook his head slowly, a strange look on his face as he scratched his head, messing up his hair. "No, you're fine. Didn't realize we'd fallen asleep."
"Man, I just had the weirdest dream," Dean said from behind me.
I turned to see him also rubbing at his face in the recliner beside the couch. I bit my lip, knowing full well where this was going.
"Yeah, me too," Sam's tired voice admitted.
Dean shook his head with a grin on his face. "Twenty bucks says mine was weirder."
"I mean, I don't know," Sam said. "It was pretty…bizarre."
"Involving the Titanic?" I threw out hesitantly.
Both sets of eyes landed on me. Sam nodded beside me.
"Yeah, and that it didn't sink?" he asked me.
"Because of Balthazar?" Dean added on.
I nodded at both of them.
Dean pulled a face. "Why are you both having my dreams?"
Before I could answer, a noise like a rustle of wings and gust of wind filled Bobby's living room and suddenly standing before the TV set was Castiel. He was staring at Dean as he spoke.
"Because it wasn't a dream," Castiel said in a flat tone.
An uneasy feeling filled my stomach at the sight of the angel in front of me. I'd always loved Castiel on the show, but I'd yet to actually meet him since being thrown into this world. Normally, I would have been thrilled even if a little nervous to meet the angel. But now having recently found out I was God's daughter, I was terrified he'd be able to just somehow know.
"Wait, what?" Dean asked, turning his attention to the angel. "You're saying this actually happened? That whole alternate timeline was real?"
"Yes," Castiel simply replied.
"So what actually happened?" Sam asked from beside me on the couch.
Castiel turned his gaze towards Sam, opening his mouth to speak, but his eyes shifted towards me and his mouth closed again. His head turned partially to the side as he took in my appearance beside the younger Winchester. I swallowed hard, feeling uncomfortable under his stare as I roughly tucked a strand of hair behind my ear.
"You're new," Castiel pointed out.
I stiffened as he continued to scrutinize me.
"That's Maddie," Dean told him. "I told you about her the other week."
"She is the one who was sent here in exchange for Sam's soul?" Castiel asked for clarification, his gaze still boring into me.
"Yeah, that's her," Dean said. "Now what the hell happened?"
Castiel eyed me for a moment longer before answering Sam's initial question, though staring at Dean as he answered. "I did as you had asked; I insisted Balthazar go back and correct what he had done."
Without the weight of the angel's stare on me, I felt more comfortable to watch him as he spoke. The longer I looked at him though, the more something just felt off about his appearance.
"So…everything is back to normal now?" Dean asked him. "Nothing else is weird and altered from this timeline?"
"No. Everything is as you remember," Castiel confirmed.
"So that whole timeline, just what, got erased?" Dean asked him.
"Yes," Castiel answered. "More or less."
"Then why can the three of us remember it?" Dean demanded.
Castiel released a small sigh. "Because I wanted you to. Or at least, I wanted the two of you to remember it." His eyes suddenly shifted back to me and internally I squirmed again before his attention split between the brothers. "I wanted you both to know who Fate really is. How cruel and capricious she can be. You both are the ones who taught me that you can make your own destiny. You don't have to be ruled by Fate, but you can choose freedom." He paused before he added, "I still believe that's something worth fighting for. And I wanted you both to understand that."
A moment passed before Dean sat up straighter in the recliner. "So why did Balthazar do it?"
Castiel shifted uncomfortably at the question, his eyes momentarily dropping to the floor before they met Dean's again. "He…was not a fan of the movie. Thought it would be…an amusing joke."
"You're kidding, right?" Sam asked him.
"No," Castiel answered far too quickly.
My eyes narrowed at the way he was not meeting either brothers' eyes. How could they not tell he was lying?
"Might be time to take away his cable privileges," Dean joked. "Besides, Titanic didn't suck that bad."
Both Sam and I shot Dean a look to which he only shrugged. "Winslett's rack."
I rolled my eyes and heard Sam let out a huff beside me.
"So, wait," Sam said after a moment. "You said you wanted us to remember the alternate timeline. But Maddie still remembers it. And she remembered the actual one when everything was going on. Why?"
Castiel frowned and raised his eyes from the floor, his gaze turning back again to me. There was something behind his eyes as they met mine–a light, something glowing that intensified the more I looked. Castiel's eyes narrowed at me suddenly, studying me more seriously now.
"You're different," Castiel said after a moment.
Dean scoffed from the chair beside me. "I mean, yeah, she isn't from this universe."
I watched as Castiel's lips pursed at Dean's words, his eyes still boring into me. And then I saw it–a face beneath the face of Jimmy Novak. I startled and sunk back into the couch a bit. Castiel's head tilted at the movement, his eyes locked on mine, searching my face. My heart was beating so fast in my chest. Did he know I just saw that? How did I just see that?
"You're different," Castiel said again, his tone full of curiosity this time.
And then he was gone.
Dean threw his arms up in the air in exasperation and annoyance. "Wow, that answered so many questions," he spat sarcastically.
"You okay?" Sam asked beside me.
I jumped at his question, forgetting he'd been sitting so close to me.
"Yeah, I uh…he's a little intimidating," I admitted quietly.
"He has terrible social skills," Dean divulged.
Sam sent me a sheepish smile. "You get used to it, eventually."
I cleared my throat awkwardly, rubbing my sweaty palms against my jeans as I tried to calm my racing heart.
"I need breakfast," Dean said as he abruptly got out of the chair.
Sam raised a brow at him. "Dude it's like almost noon."
Dean scowled at his brother. "So? Isn't brunch a thing or something?"
"You want brunch?" Sam asked his brother in amusement.
"Sure, whatever. All I know is I could use some eggs and pancakes." He paused and then smiled dreamily. "And a pile of bacon."
Sam let out a low chuckle. "Alright, fine." He turned towards me beside him on the couch. "You coming?"
"Yeah," I said shakily, still trying to calm down. "I'll be outside in a minute."
Sam nodded and gently reached out, squeezing my shoulder reassuringly before heading outside after his brother. I took a few steadying breaths from my spot on the couch. I had just seen Castiel's true face behind Jimmy Novak's and my eyes had not been burned out of my skull somehow. And I'm pretty sure Castiel knew what'd just happened, too. It reminded me of the dream I'd had in the study yesterday, where I'd seen the demon's true form.
Shit, was that going to start happening now? Because…I definitely did not want to see that in real life. Nightmare-inducing doesn't even cover how terrifying that would be.
I shook my head, shaking that thought with it. That wasn't what I needed to focus on right now. The more important questions were how had I just seen an angel's true form without burning out my eyes, and why had Castiel not said anything about it?