Chapter Eight
She promised to be back for the funeral but Annie wasn't sure it was a promise she'd be able to keep. Pushing aside the fact that she didn't know how long it would take to find what had killed Jack, Annie wasn't sure she was strong enough to watch Jack's body be lowered into the ground and covered with dirt.
Annie thought of herself as a strong woman, but she wasn't sure she possessed that much courage. To have her last image of such a vibrant, sweet, good man be his coffin. She shuddered in the passenger's seat of Dean's Impala.
The morning sun was warming the interior of the car, including the leather seats. Annie pressed herself more firmly against the material to stop herself shaking. The heaviness of her loss brought fresh tears to her eyes and she closed them so Dean wouldn't see. She swallowed hard and turned to look out the window as he pulled away from the Kennedy's two story home with its comforting white picket fence and yellow tulips.
The first flowers Jack had given her had been yellow tulips. She had teased him when he brought her to meet his parents and she'd seen the flowers in the front yard.
The feel of Dean's fingers around her wrist made her jump in her seat.
"So you wanna explain this?" He demanded.
Annie sniffled and then sighed with resignation, pulling her wrist out of his grip. She tucked her hands between her now jean-clad knees. "They just started bleeding one day. Father Bamber says it's stigmata."
"What? Like that movie with that hot 'Medium' chick?" Dean asked, using his free hand to dig through his collection of cassette tapes.
"Right. It seems to start up whenever I get stressed."
"Ha!" Dean burst. "So you've been leaking pretty much every day?"
"No." Annie said smugly. "I've actually led a pretty stress free life. At least in the five years or so."
Dean clenched his jaw and sent her a very non-amused look of disgust before thrusting the tape of his choice in the tape deck and turning the volume ear-splittingly high.
The blast of electric guitar and headache inducing drumbeats was indecipherable at first. Annie cried out and sent him a scowl before leaning forward to turn the volume down. Dean smacked her hand away.
"Screw you!" Annie cried covering her ears, barely able to hear herself.
Dean tapped his ear, pretending not to have heard her.
She gave him some visual help with her middle finger.
When he felt he made his point, Dean turned the volume down and sent her a charming grin that Annie mentally insisted no longer had the power to turn her insides to mush.
"Okay, so this stigmata thing. How do you get rid of it?" He asked over what Annie could now tell was Metallica.
"Well, I'm glad you brought that up, Dean because all this time it has never occurred to me to ask that question." Annie snapped.
"Look, cut out the bitch mode, would ya? This is serious. What did Father Barber say?"
"Bamber," Annie corrected.
"Whatever. What was little Mini-Padre's suggestion?"
"He says it's supposed to be a gift from God. An honor, only one that could potentially kill me." Annie admitted, crossing her arms.
Dean's jerked his focus from the road to stare at Annie. "Excuse me?" He choked, his face draining of color.
Annie tried to steer herself mentally away from the impact of the words and their frightening implications and simply report what the young priest had told her, objectively.
"Death's are pretty rare. Not all stigmatics get all five wounds." Annie's wrists began to ache.
"Oh there are three more? Fucking lovely," Dean scowled.
Annie watched his hands shake slightly on the steering wheel and she hesitated, deciding whether it would be smart for either of them if she were to cover his hand with her own and try and reassure him that everything would be fine and that this was no big deal. Even if she didn't really believe it.
Sam had always been the brother who had certain...vibes or feelings that he couldn't explain a lot of the time, feelings about things that had a tendency to come true, but whenever Annie thought about her stigmata, a feeling of terrible foreboding always came over her. As if it was leading her down some dark path. A small secret part of her feared she would be one of the few who received all five wounds.
"They all correspond with the wounds of Christ's crucifixion. Nails through the wrists, crown of thorns, nails through the feet and finally the spear in the side. Not a lot of people get that last one and it's usually the fatal one." Annie forced herself to speak, to sound calm. Looking at Dean, he didn't seem to be buying her act but wisely said nothing.
"Christ. A gift? I'd take those fugly shoes dad got me when I was twelve over that any day. So that's it? There's nothing Padre can do? Sprinkle holy water on you? Well, forget that, that might make it accelerate if this is supposed to a gift from the man upstairs. We'll check dad's journal. Maybe there's something in there. It's in the glove compartment." Dean told her as they passed the Los Angeles highway sign, leaving the city behind.
Annie had chosen Los Angeles because it was close enough to Sam and far enough away from Dean, John and Kansas as she could get. She pushed down a surge of resentment at having to leave it behind. Annie forced herself to remember that the real target for her anger should be the woman/spirit/demon who set the church on fire. But when you were so used to blaming someone for the bad things in your life, it was a hard habit to break. She'd be working with Dean now, back in his world, Annie told herself. She had to try.
"You have dad's journal?"
"Yeah, he left it behind for us when he left to track down the thing that killed her."
Annie stared at the worn leather journal and then felt a punch of pure uncomfortable jealousy when a packet of condoms fell out of the glove compartment after it landing at her feet.
Dean looked away guiltily and cleared his throat, fiddling with the volume button on his tape deck.
Annie tried to force herself to pick up the box, put it back in the glove compartment and not say a word.
"So nice to know something's haven't changed." Annie bit out and could have kicked herself. The last thing she wanted was for Dean to know that this bothered her. "I imagine this sucker is as big a hoochie magnet as ever. Though Lord knows why." She dug her nails into her palms. This was none of her business and she knew it. Nor did she want it to be any of her business. Who Dean did or didn't fuck was not her problem.
"About dad's journal." Dean pressed, trying to veer her from her present subject. Thank God.
"You said he left it?" Annie realized with a jolt. "You mean he's off looking for whatever killed mom, alone? Why didn't he take you with him?"
"I don't know. Maybe he feels like he has to do this alone," Dean replied.
Annie stared at him, looking for any hint of resentment in his tone or in his expression. She found none. "And that was okay with you? After all this time, all the times you helped him, he just ditches you and you just nod and say 'yes, daddy'?"
"He has to do what he feels is right. That thing killed his wife. It makes sense he'd want to go after it personally."
"And the fact that she was your mother?" Annie pressed.
Dean didn't rise to the bait.
"How typical," she shook her head. "Things really haven't changed."
"Sam wants to find him," Dean informed her.
"Well, thank God one of you has a brain cell."
"Wow, you're taking Sam's side? Again? Shocking. You're right, things haven't changed at all," Dean grumbled.
Annie scowled at him and then turned to stare out the window silently. Was he right? Would they fall back into old patterns as soon as the three of them were reunited? Back into the world of hunting demons, risking their lives, being the only people they could count on and trust? The thought was damned unsettling, especially where Dean Winchester was concerned.
A.N:
Jforce: Thankie for your feedback. Yes, now there's no impediment for Annie and Dean…except for Annie and Dean. (laughs) Hope you like this chapter!
Zelina: Thanks so much for the lovely compliment! I'm pretty new to the Supernatural world but I've been completely sucked in by the characters and love watching them and seeing what makes them tick. I only hope I can the same justice to Sam when we get to him in the next chapter or so. You get your answer to your stigmata question in this chapter. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
Renni: Thanks for your feedback! It's wonderfully appreciated whenever you can give it. Hope you enjoy this chapter too!
SJPearce: Thanks so much for commenting! I'm glad you're enjoying it so far. Hope the wait wasn't too long. (laughs)
Jj2629: Thankie for your feedback. Hope you like this chapter!
fading phantom: Hi! (waves) Thanks for following me over here too! (laughs) As for the original characters, I just write them as if I'm writing an original novel. Take things from different people I observe and try not to make them perfect or unlikeable. Annie is a brave, young woman but there are times you're gonna wanna smack her upside the head, and I like that. I hate the term Mary Sue cause people seem to apply it to any original female character assuming that they are obviously an extension of the author. I guess in some cases a few young writers might do that but none of my OFC's are anything like me, nor are they are more perfect, beautiful, etc.. extension of myself. I love reading and writing OFC's cause it allows me to play with the show in a more broader sense. The show is set up for me, and Dean and Sam are pretty well set up for me in the fact that someone else came up with them, but other than that, I treat it all like an original novel, taking them in my direction. This rambly bit was my way of saying thanks for the compliment. (laughs) Of course we must have our heat and angst. But I promise, I'm not the angst whore I appear to be! (laughs) I'm not one of those people who think that getting people together takes away the angst or heat. In my opinion, it ups the stakes and drama significantly! We will have our happy Dean and Annie moments. And poor angsty Sam will get him some happy too. Of course, I'm just make them work for it a little. (winks) I'll shush now. Hope you like this chapter!
Caz: Rest assured, I'm not going anywhere, I've just got a few stories up in the air so I'm working on them all. Hope you enjoy this chapter!