Hi Beautiful. Here's part 3 for you.
Special thanks to Jenmm31 and MariaKata. Thank you for all the reads, reviews, and follows. You all are wonderful.
A/N- in this story, Natalie is 16. This is part 3 of a 3 part story.
Every nerve in Natalie's body was screaming, firing from every angle, but she majestically kept a tight rein on it all. Steady hands, unwavering gaze, and otherworldly focus all were hers as she zeroed in on the pair of eyes staring at her from the darkness at the end of the alley. She didn't know if they were human eyes or something else; all she knew was that they had seen something that they weren't supposed to see.
"Come out," she called in a firm, even voice, keeping her gun at the ready, locked on the space between those two eyes. "Come out where I can see you."
"Don't shoot, okay?" came the high, gentle voice from the darkness. "I can promise you, you don't want to shoot."
"Then get out here."
"Tell me you're not going to shoot first."
"Can't promise that until I see who you are."
"Listen to me- don't shoot."
Fed up with the circular conversation, Natalie pointed her gun rapidly next to the eyes, aiming for a stack of crates to the left of whatever was down at the end of the alley arguing with her. She fired, blowing the crates to bits, before swinging the gun back point-blank towards the eyes. "Already shot. Now are you gonna come out or what?" Natalie snarled towards the darkness.
To her intense surprise, whatever it was heaved a huge sigh. "I guess I didn't phrase THAT right," the voice said, a touch of iron to the earlier lightness. Suddenly, a small purple flame flickered underneath the eyes. Suddenly feeling threatened, Natalie pointed at the fire and shot again.
Except, this time, nothing happened.
Her green eyes widened in surprise as she looked at the gun in her hand. She pulled the trigger once, twice- nothing. The damn thing had jammed. The first thought that ran through her mind was that Dean was going to kill her. After that grim realization, she stowed the gun quickly, reaching down for her bullseyes that were tucked into her boots.
Just as quickly as it had come, the purple flame vanished, and the creature stepped forward. She was tall, very skinny, and blonde, but it was the lotus tattoo on her arm that reminded Natalie of who this woman was.
"You're the bartender," Natalie said in a rush as the memory clicked into place. The woman nodded a bit reluctantly.
"Well, I'm a bit more than that," she said, an edge of apprehension in her voice.
"No kidding," Natalie shot back, her small silver knife firmly gripped in her hand. She tried to ignore the sweatiness of her palm, praying it wouldn't interfere if she had to throw one of her bullseye knives tucked into her boots. "Purple flames out of nowhere, huh? Hell of a trick for a bartender."
The woman chuckled. "Never thought to try that while bartending. Maybe it'd get me more tips." She arched an eyebrow, and gestured to Natalie's hand. "I like your knife."
The woman's tone was so unruffled, so casual, that Natalie was sure something had to be wrong. "Um…thank you?" she responded, confused as hell.
"Look, I don't want to hurt you, okay? I won't. I'm not going to hurt you," the woman said earnestly, holding up her hands in a gesture of surrender again. "I swear. I was trying to warn you NOT to shoot so your gun wouldn't jam."
The words took Natalie by so much surprise, she actually dropped her guard for a moment. "You…how could you possibly know that? That my gun was going to jam?" she stammered out.
The woman took a tentative, non-threatening step towards the hunter. "Because I'm the master of cause and effect," she said gently. "I know who's done what, and what is going to happen as a result of their actions."
"What are you, the karma police?"
The woman smiled a genuine, friendly smile. "No. I'm the legend herself."
Natalie's mouth dropped open. "Wait…you're…Karma? Like…the actual Karma?"
"In the flesh."
"In the fl- wait, hang on- isn't karma an idea? A philosophy?" Natalie asked, trying to make sense of it all.
Karma laughed. "You think everything that you fight on a daily basis was created by some supernatural being? Most of us started as an idea. Humans have an incredible power that they don't even realize they tap into. They can believe in something so strongly and so fiercely, that they end up creating whatever it is they believe in." She giggled. "You know, if you all truly and collectively started believing in unicorns, I know the exact field in which they'd show up."
Natalie was shaken. On the one hand, this woman seemed completely non-threatening. Nice, even. But that didn't change the fact that Natalie had seen too much to trust any supernatural creature. Not to mention, she'd done a LOT in her sixteen years that someone like Karma probably didn't take too kindly to. She adopted a casual stance, but her grip on her knife didn't lessen one iota. "So what are you doing here? Why is Karma working in a bar in Florida?"
Karma looked at Natalie. A wave of sadness crossed the woman's face. "Please, let me explain. It's a long story, but…I need help."
*SPN SPN SPN*
Dean was alternately pacing the room, drinking beer, thumbing through books, and watching the clock. It was only nine- Natalie still had an hour before she was supposed to be back. Sam had stopped him from sending the fourteen text messages he had wanted to send since eight, but now he was perfectly justified in sending one, one little one, just to make sure she was okay. As he paced the room again, he subtly pulled his phone out of his pocket, making sure his back was to Sam.
"Dude," was all Sam needed to say. Dean threw up his hands in frustration, spinning around to face his brother.
"AH, COME ON!" he roared. Sam didn't even flinch. Dean huffed again in obvious frustration. "She knew I was going to be texting her to make sure she was okay. It's been an hour. Ain't nothing wrong with that," he asserted stubbornly.
Sam rolled his eyes, and looked at Dean, his bitch face going full throttle. "She's on a date, Dean," he said as if speaking to a toddler.
"I KNOW that, Sam."
"Then back off. Leave her alone."
"I'm just checking in. That's perfectly acceptable."
"No, it's not and you know it. Think back to when you were sixteen and on a date. What would you have done if Dad had insisted on checking in with you every hour?"
Dean crossed his arms stubbornly. "I woulda been right by the phone, waiting for his call."
Sam sat back, a look of disbelief on his face. "And you would have- what? Brought your dates back to the motel room with twelve-year-old ME there, and…proceeded?"
That gave Dean pause, but he wasn't about to admit defeat- not to his geek brother. "Dad never did that, because he knew that we could fend for ourselves," he said hotly, adopting a defensive stance.
"Exactly. And Natalie can fend for herself. She's fine. She's never broken curfew yet." Dean spun away from Sam, crossing his arms even tighter, not wanting to admit that he was right. Sam smothered a smile, knowing it would only set Dean off more. "Look, if she's not back by 10:01, I'll drive you to wherever she is myself, okay?"
"You're not driving Baby anywhere," Dean muttered, still pouting. It was all he could come up with, but it gave him a brief sense of power that he needed in that moment. Sam just swallowed the laugh with much difficulty, and resumed his online search.
"Well, in other news," he said a couple minutes later, looking back up at his brother. "There doesn't really seem to be a tried and true way to kill Medea."
"Great. Making me feel better every second, Sammy."
"I mean, who knows what state she actually is at this point," Sam said, ignoring the jab. "She could be full-blown goddess for all we know."
"And your point?"
"You can't really kill a god or goddess."
"Then how to you stop them?"
"By cutting them in pieces and sending them to Tartarus."
"Tartarus? What is that, like a giant pool of sauce you dip fish in?"
"It's the Greek's term for hell. They would cut up the god, and cast them into Tartarus, where it would take thousands of years for them to reform, and thousands more before they could crawl their way topside again."
Dean exhaled heavily, thinking. "Don't like the idea of not taking her out for good," he growled. "But if that's all we got-"
"That's all we got."
"Then I guess it's time to play Dahlmer." He gave Sam an ironic grin. "See there, Sammy? You were on to something with your serial killer crap." Sam rolled his eyes and snorted a laugh.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. Sam and Dean exchanged a surprised look before Dean walked over towards it, drawing his gun as he went. Putting it firmly against the door, he looked through the keyhole. He got the surprise of his life, as well as a wave of relief, to see Natalie standing there. As much as he wanted to throw the door open and bring her in, he needed to make sure to drive his own safety rules home, and rule number one was always ask for the password.
"Password?" he asked gruffly, trying not to let his throat catch at the relief of seeing his daughter.
"Zeppelin rules," she answered back immediately. Dean practically broke the latch undoing it, before throwing open the door. However, he froze for a moment, seeing the tall, blonde stranger behind her. His hackles instantly rose.
"Whoa, hold on there, Dad," Natalie said, holding up her hands to him, knowing exactly where his head was without him having to say a word. "She's a friend, okay? Please, just let her come in."
Trusting his daughter fully, Dean stepped to the side, but kept a wary eye on the stranger. Natalie turned to the woman, her eyebrows raised in a friendly manner, and gestured for her to follow. Sam immediately stood up as well, surprised by the stranger. Natalie shot him a look as if to say 'chill out'. Sam recognized it as the very one he gave her frequently. Well, turn about was fair play.
As the girls got into the room, Dean quickly shut the door, speedily locking the deadbolts and chains again. Natalie looked calmly at both her father and her uncle, knowing she had a shit-ton of explaining to do. So she dove right in.
"Dad, Uncle Sam- this is Karma," she said, gesturing to the woman. Both brothers' faces adopted a look of surprise.
"Karma?" asked Dean, hitting the K in her name harder than necessary. "That's your name? What are you, like a stripper or something?"
"Dad!" Natalie said in disbelief, her face flushing bright red at her father's lack of decorum. "This is Karma- like, the REAL Karma."
"You mean, the philosophy of karma- you're…the embodiment, I guess?" Sam said, trying to put it together in his head.
The woman tilted her head to the side. "That's me," she said, looking back and forth at the brothers to see how they were taking it.
"And what exactly are you doing with my daughter?" Dean said, his voice suddenly full of knives. Before Karma could answer, however, Natalie turned to him and spoke.
"She's on our side, okay?" she said in a rush. "Just…hear her out. She knows where Medea is." Dean's eyes flicked over to Sam's quickly. Sam could read the thought as clearly as if Dean had spoken it out loud. He nodded back quickly. Dean's eyes once again moved back to Karma.
"Alright, let's hear it," he said in a tight voice, his arms staying firmly crossed. He didn't like this- he didn't like any of this- but if Natalie had a good reason, he was willing to hear it. Especially if it helped them take this sorceress out. Natalie kindly gestured to the woman to sit on the edge of Dean's bed. She did so daintily. She crossed her legs, took a deep breath, and told her tale.
"I've been around for thousands of years," she said in a light but confident voice. "I was brought into being by the belief that, in essence, what goes around comes around. I keep the balance in the universe- as best as I can."
"So is that why you're here?" Dean interrupted. "Found a town full of cheaters, and thought you'd have a field day?"
She glared at Dean, making him wither just a bit. This was Karma, after all. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to be sarcastic right now. "No. I'd never kill. It's not in my nature to do that," she explained, a bit harshly after that accusation. She took a deep breath. "I'm trying to keep the balance in this town despite the evil in it." Karma looked back and forth at the Winchesters. "Natalie told me that you know about Medea?" When both boys nodded in the affirmative, she continued. "Medea trapped me, years ago. She found me during her annual killing spree. She bound me to her using one of her sun spells. A spell she learned straight from Helios. Nearly unbreakable." Karma twisted her hands in her lap, clearly upset by her own words. "She makes me tell her who's been cheating, and then she takes her revenge on them. With me bound to her, she's tripled the amount of men she's killed because they were cheating. She's been continuing her revenge, never able to get enough."
"Just like she did with Jason," Sam said quietly. Karma looked at him and nodded. "You said the spell was nearly unbreakable. I know it was from Helios, but is there anything else that is powering her too?" he asked.
"I'm not sure. She's on the spectrum somewhere between a goddess and a mortal."
"Like a demi-god?"
"Not really. It's hard to explain. But she's been in the land of the immortals for so long that the rules don't apply to her. I've not been able to figure out any way to break the spell," Karma said bitterly. "And believe me, I've tried."
"So how did you get mixed up with my daughter here?" Dean asked, in a slightly less harsh tone. He could see that this woman was in trouble, but he was still nervous for his baby girl. Had something happened, and she now owed Karma? What would that price even be? But before Dean could spin out even further, Karma answered him.
"I was posing as the bartender for the club that Natalie went to tonight on her date," Karma began, but Dean interrupted before she could get any farther, much to Natalie's dismay. She gritted her teeth and waited for the inevitable explosion.
"Whoa- a night club?!" Dean asked, his shocked gaze going back to Natalie, who squirmed and avoided eye contact, not wanting to think about the disastrous date.
"What do you mean, 'posing'?" Sam asked, leaning forward and ignoring Dean's freak out about Natalie being in a club.
Karma actually smiled. "I mean that we've already met. All of us. Several times. I've been keeping my eye on you three, ever since you got to town." That instantly put all three Winchesters on the alert. Having a supernatural being say that they've been watching you was never a good thing. But Karma simply closed her eyes.
Her entire form began to vibrate, as if she was a television station losing signal. The movement got faster and faster. All three were paralyzed in fascination, wondering what in the world was happening. Dean got his bearing quickly, though, and aimed his gun right at the moving mass, never trusting something like this. After a moment though, the vibrating lessened. Natalie could make out Karma's hair, but it was no longer blonde. It was a deep brown. She appeared to be shorter as well, the more that Natalie could actually make out of her form. When the vibrating finally stopped, an entirely new person was standing there. One that Dean recognized.
"You're the girl from the coffee kiosk in the police station," he said, his mouth dropping in shock. "The one who ran out of coffee."
Karma nodded her now brunette head. "Because you had no compassion for Marissa."
"Who?"
"Dad- the girl we were interviewing. Remember?" Natalie said quietly, still embarrassed by that memory.
"Oh," Dean said, having enough decency to look a little abashed.
"Yeah, oh. And remember this guy?" Karma said, before vibrating again, setting them all on edge in nervousness, before turning into the balding gardener outside the coffee shop. "I'm him, too. Like I said," she began, before vibrating, and turning back into the tall blonde. "I've been watching you all."
"And she's been watching OUT for us, too," Natalie added, about to tell how she had been at the club.
"She's right," Karma said before Natalie could continue, eying Dean up and down. "You wanna drop that gun now?" She gestured to the fact that Dean was still pointing his .45 at her. "Or do you wanna test me like your daughter did?"
Natalie made a noise that was somewhere between a squeak and a groan, but it was too late. "What do you mean?" Dean asked Karma hotly, but his eyes zeroed in on Natalie again. "What'd she do?"
"I told her not to shoot at me, but she didn't want to listen, and her gun jammed, like I knew it would." This time, Natalie's groan was definitely more pronounced. She knew exactly what Dean was going to think of this, and he didn't disappoint.
"Your freaking gun jammed?! Was this because you didn't clean it AGAIN?!" he yelled, causing Karma to flinch a bit in surprise. "So I guess that little lesson I tried to teach you last month didn't take, huh?" he said furiously. Natalie remembered all too well the lesson. She cursed herself a blue streak for not following through on her end.
"I'm sorry, sir," she mumbled, looking at the ground. Dean just shook his head and turned away in anger. Natalie knew that looking at Sam right now would be no help. He had been just as pissed as Dean when they found that she had gone shooting by herself and jammed Dean's favorite gun. That lecture from the both of them after she had stripped and cleaned their entire arsenal had been one for the ages. And she knew she was in for it again, and probably more.
Dean ran his hand over his hair in a frustrated gesture before spinning back around and pointing at her. "I will deal with you later," he promised roughly, causing her to shrink in a little more on herself again. "But we need to move on this case now before anyone else gets hurt," he said gruffly, turning his attention back to Karma.
Even though she felt bad for the girl, Karma couldn't help but add her own thoughts. "You know, you really should do what he says," she said quietly to Natalie, whose eyes flicked over to her. "He's only looking out for your well being. It's the most important thing in the world to him. Just remember that next time."
Natalie nodded. "Yes, ma'am," she said, still not looking up from the carpet, but the words gave her pause. Was her safety really the most important thing in the world to Dean? She instantly felt guilty for failing to clean her gun this week like he had instructed her to do. She looked up to see her father staring at her. "I'm sorry, Dad," she said quietly. Karma smiled, and looked back at Dean knowingly. Dean's eyes flicked between the girls for a moment, before letting out a huff of air that signaled he was ready to move on from this moment. He looked a little calmer, though, for which Natalie was insanely grateful.
"Alright. So Medea's got you bound in order to point out people that have cheated so she can off them," Dean said, in a rushed recap. "Do you think if we get rid of her, that'll break this…sun spell or whatever the hell it was?"
Karma raised her hands in a gesture of uncertainty. "I don't know," she said honestly. "I can't figure out how to kill her, and that seems to be the starting point."
"I have an idea," Sam said, piping up from where he had been quietly sitting and observing the entire exchange. "If we cut her up and toss her into Hell, that might do the trick."
Karma's eyes went wide with horror. "I'm sorry- what?" she said.
"Like the Olympians did with Kronos," Natalie said, looking up from the carpet and inserting herself back into the conversation. "Right, Uncle Sam?"
He nodded. "Right, Bug." Karma smiled at the cute nickname, but she refocused on Natalie.
"So- you all think you can cut her up and just…what? Leave her on Hell's doorstep, ring the doorbell and run away?" Despite the tension in the room, Sam had to snicker a bit at that. Karma smiled wider at the handsome man.
"Wow. You just laughed at a terrible joke."
"Is that bad?"
"No. It was very nice. I appreciated it. Make sure you pick up a scratch off ticket tomorrow on your way out of town, okay?" she said, giving Sam a wink.
*SPN SPN SPN*
An hour later, they had a plan. Armed to the teeth with machetes, knives, and witch killing bullets (just in case), the Winchesters planted themselves outside a warehouse that Karma had said was Medea's base of operation.
"Why is it always a freaking warehouse?" Dean grumbled as they made their way down the back hallways, guided by a hastily sketched map from Karma. "Why can't anyone hole up in a Ritz somewhere?" He shook his head in disgust, consulted the sketch again, and gestured for his brother and daughter to cover the double doors they were next to as he crept around towards the south door.
The four of them had made this plan quickly, divvying up duties and offering information. The Winchesters were in place. Now it was Karma's turn to play her part. They waited for what seemed like an eternity, before hearing the doors on the east side suddenly slam open, and the click of two pairs of shoes entering the room.
"Who was she?" Medea roared, as she thundered into the room. "Who was she and how did she know who I was?" she screamed, turning on Karma, who had followed her into the room. She had resumed her blonde bartender form so as not to give Medea any reason to suspect anything.
"She's a hunter. That's all I could get," Karma lied, looking appropriately annoyed at the situation.
"Hunter? You mean those idiots who drive all over the country, trying to kill ghosts and crap?" Karma nodded. "Huh. I just thought they were all moronic men. But how did she find me? How did she know who I was?"
"Don't know."
"You know, for someone who usually doesn't shut up, you're being rather quiet tonight."
"What do you want me to say?"
Medea shook her head superiorly. "Whatever. It doesn't matter. Well, that little girl has bitten off more than she can chew. I was trying to be nice- I was TRYING to kill off Brian without coming for her." She gave a sinister laugh. "Oh well. Two birds. I'll find her and finish her, then go back for Brian before I call it a night."
Natalie's blood turned to ice at the threat, but she knew they had the upper hand on Medea- she just had to wait for the right moment. She just needed to take a deep breath and calm down- focus, just like Dean was always hounding her to do. Remembering the moment before with Karma, where she reminded Natalie that Dean was only doing what was best for her, she dug deeper, determined to follow her father's instructions, forcing herself to focus and stay in the moment.
Meanwhile, in the warehouse, Medea clapped her hands together once, rubbing them. "I'm sure that girl has done something worth dying for, wouldn't you say, Karma?"
Karma exhaled angrily. "Once again, what do you want me to say? You've killed and killed and killed- now you're just killing for sport? Do you have any idea how pathetic that makes you?"
Medea turned around slowly, looking at Karma with a deadly glare, before raising her hand and making a fist. Karma instantly crumpled in pain. "You want to try that again?" Medea hissed, before clenching her fist tighter, causing Karma to cry out. That was all that the Winchesters needed to hear.
The three of them simultaneously burst into the room, guns blazing. The first few shots hit Medea, but as Sam suspected, they didn't take her out. She was immune to the witch killing bullets, but that didn't stop her from feeling the pain of them. She dropped her hold on Karma, and instead, focused on the new threat. She took off running, turning back to lob a ball of fire at Dean, who dodged it by diving to his right. Sam took off in pursuit of the sorceress, who in turn sent a storm of nails from a nearby worktable flying towards him. At the last second, Sam snatched a piece of plywood nearby as a shield, holding it in front of him as seventy five nails pierced the board. He felt a couple slice his hand, but he was grateful it wasn't more than that. He tossed the board to the side and dove for cover.
Natalie had made a beeline for Karma, hauling her up and getting her out of the way behind a huge bulldozer. Breathing hard from the break neck speeding in which she had been running, she looked Karma over. "You okay?" Natalie asked quickly, her eyes darting between the battle and her friend.
Karma nodded. "Listen," she said. "There's the industrial table saw I told you about," she said, pointing to the northeast corner of the room. Sure enough, it was there- and huge, with a giant blade, just like she had described when they were forming the plan. "That's going to be your best bet. Go!" Natalie nodded, and took off running. Dean caught up to her, and side by side, they charged Medea.
The witch saw them coming, but she focused on Natalie. "You," she growled in a deep tone as she recognized the hunter, before hunkering down and adopting a look that promised to kill. Natalie met her eye to eye. Medea shifted her hands, and the window behind the witch shattered. She pointed towards Natalie, and the glass began flying in her direction, causing Dean to suddenly snatch her arm and yanking her out of its path. Not to be deterred, Medea reached out both hands, snatching the Winchesters in their path by magic, and flung them aside like dirty socks.
Sam came up behind Medea out of nowhere, grabbing her in a head lock. She twisted and buckled for a moment, before putting her hands on the arm holding her in place. Her hands suddenly glowed red. Sam reacted instinctively, dropping his arm and pulling them away from the burning sensation. That gave her just enough time to spin around and look him right in the face. "Oh, I'm going to have fun playing with you later!" she hissed, before sending Sam flying into the wall. She whipped back around to find Dean coming at her again. She sent a fire ball flying at him, but he neatly dodged it and returned the favor by shooting her outstretched hand with his .45.
She screamed as the bullet took off two of her fingers, but used her good hand to clench Dean's windpipe closed. "You men are all the same!" she screamed, tightening her fist and watching as Dean struggled for air. "Attack what you don't understand, destroy the only true things left in the world, and you forget!" She was momentarily cut off as Sam swung a two by four into the side of her head. She shook it off like it was nothing, but dropped her hold on Dean to face Sam. Sam registered Dean's huge intake of air, as his lungs suddenly received oxygen again, but that was all he had time for as the witch came for him.
"You FORGET-" Medea screamed at Sam, sending a splintered stake of wood in his direction. He swung at it with the two by four like a major league player, and blocked it from stabbing into his body. "-who was the one who always took care of you?" With a frenetic wave of both hands, she sent armloads of sharp, splintered boards at Sam, who was doing his best to bat them off as they came hurtling at him. "Who was the one who had your back since the beginning? And then, when someone else comes along-" she roared, abandoning the wood and sending a mess of heavy wrenches towards Sam, completely lost in her own rantings. "-you call me the bitch! Well, if that's what you want, that's what you get. A BITCH!" she screamed, lifting a heavy tool chest straight up in the air over Sam's head.
"SAMMY!" Dean roared, slamming down the nail-covered plywood that had been Sam's shield on the table behind Medea. Sam understood his brother's command, and just barely clearing the tool chest before it came crashing down with a sickening metallic crunch, he rushed Medea. She wasn't expecting him to suddenly come at her, and she missed her opportunity to block. The thrust of Sam's body knocked her backwards right onto the board, where the nails pierced her and held her body in place on the board. She screamed in pain, just distracted enough to not hear Dean yell "NOW!"
Natalie slammed her palm into the 'on' switch on the table saw. The monster saw roared to life, its blade shiny and deadly, going a hundred miles an hour, as Sam and Dean, as one, shoved the wood- and Medea, through it. An unearthly scream came from Medea's insane mouth as she felt the blade enter her body. Between her form and the nails embedded in the board, the saw erupted in an enormous shower of sparks and blood, covering everything in gore and fire, as it neatly sawed the sorceress in half.
Now covered in blood and trying to bat off the jumping sparks from the metal on metal contact of the blade and the nails, Dean gestured to Natalie to shut it off, which she did with another slap to the control switch. All three Winchesters exhaled in relief as they observed that the two halves of Medea did not move at all. They lay there in the growing pool of blood. That was going to make this next part much easier, although not any less gross. As Dean and Sam extracted their machetes, ready to finish the job, Natalie looked over to see Karma making her way towards them.
"Is it over?" she asked, her eyes taking in the three hunters, as the gore dripped off each of them. Sam just nodded, shaking the blood from his long hair. The expression of relief on Karma's face instantly made it all worthwhile to them. She seemed to shiver a bit, like she did before when she was shape shifting, but instead of changing form, a strong, golden glow emitted from her briefly, before snuffing out like her purple flame had.
"Does that mean you're free?" Natalie asked, trying to wipe the blood from her face and not throw up from the gore.
"Yes, I'm finally free," Karma said, in a voice that was both wondrous and delighted, and seemingly oblivious to the horror scene surrounding her. She stepped closer to Medea's body. "You said that you were the bitch? Well, you were wrong. Karma's a bitch," she said victoriously.
*SPN SPN SPN*
The next morning, before heading out of town, Natalie asked Karma to meet her in the parking lot of their motel so they could say goodbye. She had cheerfully helped the trio dismember the rest of the body, open up a portal to hell, and toss the parts in there with no complaint at all, even though at some point each of the Winchesters had to leave to go throw up. That kind of thing bonded you.
"I mean, it's not every day we run into a supernatural creature that I actually like," Natalie said jokingly, standing a ways away from the Impala for some privacy. Karma just laughed.
"Yeah, if last night was any indication, you three have had more than your fair share of crazy, that's for sure," she said, shaking her head and smiling. "By the way, I didn't really mean to jump on your case about keeping your gun clean. I just wanted you to know how much your dad loves you and why he reacts the way he does. Doesn't mean he's always in the right about his actions. Boy, can that man yell. But his heart is in the right place."
Natalie smiled her twisted off to the side smile. "Yeah, I know," she said softly, watching Dean haul gear out to the Impala. She focused back on Karma. "And I probably deserve to clean the entire arsenal for the next month, like he said."
"It'll help you remember to keep your own gun clean, that's for sure," Karma said lightly, laughing. Natalie joined her for a moment, but when the laughter died down, she just looked down at the ground. Karma smiled knowingly. "Are you going to stop thinking about what Brian said?" she asked gently.
Natalie jerked her head up in surprise. "What do you mean?" she asked, feigning indifference as Sam joined his brother at the trunk, double checking that they had everything.
"You're still thinking about the fact that he called you ugly and fucked up."
"No, I'm not," she lied. She saw Sam's head snap up and look her direction, but she ignored it. Instead of calling her out on the lie, Karma put her hands on Natalie's arms, rubbing them consolingly, feeling much different than when Brian had tried that the night before.
"Listen to me, Natalie," Karma said in a gentle but firm tone. "He's scum. Okay? It's men exactly like Brian that sent Medea over the edge in the first place. They get in your head and make you think you're less than, because they can't stand the fact that you're better than them. You are gorgeous, you are smart, and you kick ass, girl." That last statement made Natalie giggle, just a bit, in relief.
"Thanks," she said shyly, looking up at Karma. "I know he was scum. The ungrateful prick didn't even thank me for saving his life. Probably just walked right back into that club and banged the next thing he could get his filthy paws on."
"Oh, he did," Karma said, a note of triumph in her voice. Natalie wasn't sure how that was supposed to make her feel better, but Karma continued. "He hooked up with this girl he'd known since high school. Turns out, she was his girlfriend Lauren's neighbor. She told Lauren all about it." Karma looked Natalie right in the eye, wanting to see the girl's reaction when she told her the next part. "Oh- and she has herpes. As he does now."
There was silence for a moment, then Natalie tilted her head and looked Karma right in the eye. "Do you want to be best friends?" she asked.
Karma laughed freely, and pulled Natalie in for a warm embrace. "Thank you for seeing me for what I was," she said into the girl's ear as she squeezed, and Natalie hugged her back. "Not all of us 'supernatural creatures' are evil. And you Winchesters have more heart than most people on this planet. You seem to have the ability to tell the good from the bad. That's what makes me watch out for people like you." She released Natalie and stepped back to look at her one last time.
"What are you going to do with yourself, now that you're free?" Natalie asked.
"I have a feeling I've got a LOT to catch up on," Karma said with a chuckle. She looked towards the Impala and nodded her thanks to the Winchester men, who returned the nod, before looking back at Natalie one last time. "You take care of yourself, okay?"
Natalie nodded and gave Karma a real smile- a rarity. "You too. Call me if you need me, okay?"
"Will do." And with that, she was gone. Natalie took a deep breath, then turned back towards her father and her uncle who were waiting by the car. She began walking towards them, already eager to put this town behind her.
"You okay, kid?" Dean asked gruffly, squinting in the morning light, watching his daughter's reaction.
Natalie nodded back. "Yeah, I'm good. Let's burn rubber."
"Don't forget, we need to stop for a scratch-off on the way out of town," Sam said with a grin as he folded his long frame into the passenger's seat.
"You really think you have a chance at winning something, Sammy?" Dean said with a chuckle.
"Hey, if Karma tells me to get a lottery ticket, who am I to argue?"
