'Til Death

Chapter 9

Disclaimer: Nope, still don't own 'em and I'm still poor.

A/N: I'll be very interested in what you think of this chapter; especially the end.

oooOOOooo

Something of vengeance I had tasted for the first time; as aromatic wine it seemed, on swallowing, warm and racy: its after-flavor, metallic and corroding, gave me a sensation as if I had been poisoned - Charlotte Bronte

oooOOOooo

Dean considered going directly to the sheriff's office from the diner, but realized he was going to need a plan to deal with Awena. He went back to the motel room and, inside, he flopped onto the bed with his hands clasped behind his head. He was worried about Sam, but tried to keep his mind on Awena. After a few minutes, he moved to the table where the computer and books sat. Sam truly was better at the research than Dean, but the older brother wasn't incompetent. He picked up a book at random and started leafing through it. As an idea formed, his reading became more targeted.

He was startled a few minutes later by pounding on the motel room door. He slipped a gun into the waist of his jeans before looking through the peephole. One of the sheriff's deputies was looking impatient outside. Dean opened the door.

"The sheriff needs you down at the station. Your brother is causing quite a ruckus."

Dean followed in his own car. It wasn't like Sam to cause any kind of disturbance unless it was specifically for a job they were working; to cause a distraction. It hadn't occurred to him that Sam would try to see Awena when he left the diner. Dean realized the brothers were still getting to know each other again after a four year separation, but he also knew that Sam was his responsibility and he would have to pay more attention if he was going to help Sam through his grief over Jessica. He just wished he didn't feel so out of his element. John Winchester taught his boys a lot, but how to handle emotions was not one of those things.

The sheriff was sitting behind his desk when Dean followed the deputy into the office.

"Your brother is lucky I'm feeling generous today." the sheriff growled. A glance at the deputy was all it took for him to leave the room. "I'm not going to arrest him."

"Arrest him? For what?" Dean asked.

"He came in here wanting to talk to Awena. She agreed, so I put them in a room together. Next thing I know I hear all this yelling and screaming; sounded like furniture being thrown around. We got in there and your brother had her pinned against the wall."

"He what?" Dean was shocked.

"I want you to get him out of here and he's not to come back."

Dean nodded. "Sure."

"You can come back later to talk to her like you wanted, but you'd better be on your best behavior. If she doesn't agree to talk to you, then it's over. The last thing I need is a lawsuit brought on by a prisoner."

"You don't have to worry about me. Where is Sam?"

"In a holding cell. I'll have him brought out."

Sam refused to look at his brother when he was brought into the sheriff's office. Dean didn't like to see him in handcuffs, but they were removed soon enough and they were in the car a few minutes later. Sam stared out the window as Dean drove the short distance back to the motel. Inside the room he went immediately into the bathroom and closed the door.

Dean sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed his face. Sam had always been the most gentle of the Winchesters. He was also probably the most level-headed when in the middle of a job, but Dean recognized this was no regular job for Sam. So little time had passed since Jessica was killed and, for the most part, Sam had refused to talk about it. His feelings were probably as raw now as they had been the night she died.

What was Awena's game, Dean wondered. He had worked his way through several theories since their first encounter with her, but he still had no idea what was going on. He watched Sam as he came out of the bathroom a few minutes later. The younger brother sat opposite Dean.

"I lost it." he said quietly. "I'm sorry."

He still wasn't looking at Dean.

"Why did you even go there?" Dean asked gently. 'You knew I was going –"

Sam's head hung low and his hands were loosely clasped between his knees. "I can't let you fight my battles any more."

"Fight your battles? What are you talking about?"

"Ever since we were kids you always had to come to my rescue. Even since we've been back on the road – I have to grow up, man. I have to take care of things on my own."

"Sam –" Dean leaned forward. "We're a team. When you fall, I'm there to pick you up. When I fall –"

"You don't fall."

"That's not true. But that isn't what this is about. Now, tell me what happened."

Sam seemed to fold into himself and somehow his 6'5" frame appeared much smaller. Things were so much easier when Sam was a kid because he was always so willing to share his thoughts and feelings, but he seemed to keep too much to himself these days. Dean assumed a lot of that was because the trauma of losing Jessica was so intense, but he also wondered if Sam was intentionally keeping something from him.

"Sam." Dean prompted gently.

"I just wanted to know why. Why she got into my head to find out about Jess and why she tried to use it against me. How sick is that?"

"Yeah, it's pretty sick." Dean agreed.

"When she saw what killed Jessica, she got scared. I thought I could use that to my advantage and get her to talk – it didn't work and I lost it."

"That's pretty obvious." Dean said. "You had her up against the wall?"

"Not my best moment, I admit." Sam said. He still hadn't looked at his brother.

"So she didn't tell you anything?" Dean asked after a moment.

Sam shook his head.

"Hey." Dean hesitated, then laid his hand on Sam's forearm. The younger brother looked up sharply. When they were kids, physical displays of affection weren't unusual but Sam wasn't sure of the last time Dean touched him even in this simple way. "I understand how volatile you are right now. Losing Jess is still fresh, you're having nightmares, not sleeping – I get it. But you need to figure out how to get that anger under control or it's going to kill you, man."

"I'll be fine." Sam said, with no emotion.

Dean sighed. "Yeah. So you okay right now?"

Sam nodded.

Dean patted his arm before standing up. "All right. I've got an idea about how to deal with Awena so I want to go to the sheriff's office. I think the sooner we get through this, the better. I want to get out of this town."

"What's your idea?"

"Use the pendant against her."

"We don't even know how that thing works, Dean."

"Yeah, we do."

"What?"

Dean stood up. "It's not the pendant itself. It could be anything; what makes it work is the spell that was put on it."

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm not sure about this, but I think it's an old Celtic thing." Dean found the marked page in the book on top of the pile and handed it to Sam.

"This can be placed on any personal item." Sam said thoughtfully. He looked up at Dean and smiled. "You found this? Good work."

"I'm not a moron." Dean said. "Besides, you searched for every charm and pendant known to man and I just figured it was time to try another angle."

"But how can you use the pendant? It's not yours."

"Define 'yours'." Dean said. "How long have we had it? Besides, I've been wearing it for a couple of hours."

Sam's eyes widened. "Are you crazy? Dean –"

"Don't worry."

"Famous last words." Sam muttered.

Dean smiled at him before heading to the door.

"I'd tell you to be careful, but I think the boat has sailed on that."

oooOOOooo

"I really wish you two would leave me alone." Awena said as she was led into the interrogation room.

"You don't have to agree to this." the sheriff said.

Awena looked at him. "I don't have a choice."

The sheriff glanced at Dean, then turned his attention back to his prisoner. "What does that mean?"

"You wouldn't understand." she said. "It's fine; you can leave us alone now."

He looked at Dean again and then left the room.

"Are you going to try to choke me, too?" she asked.

"Probably not." Dean leaned against the wall. "Are you going to tell me what I want to know?"

"I've asked before and I'll ask again; why would I do that?"

"You got inside my brother's head; you know about the thing that's in our lives. You don't want the kind of trouble it could bring you."

"What makes you think it would come after me?"

"What makes you think it won't?"

"We can do this all day. You're lucky I don't sue you."

"Sue me?"

"Sue your brother, anyway."

"That would be productive."

Awena sighed. "You know, I just really want you and your brother out of my life."

"Then tell me what I want to know."

She looked uncertain. Dean hesitated a moment before he pulled the pendant from under his t-shirt.

"You can't use that against me. It's mine."

"It's been mine for a little while now." he said, rubbing it gently. "Now, you want to tell me what you're doing here?"

oooOOOooo

Dean hesitated outside the motel room door, his hand on the knob. Sam would want to know everything Dean found out from Awena and he wasn't sure how he was going to tell him. He took a deep breath and opened the door. Sam was lying on one of the beds, his eyes closed. Dean closed the door quietly, hoping not to wake him. Sam rarely got a full night's sleep and Dean tried to let him catch as many of these cat naps as possible. Besides, it would keep him from having to share the information right away.

He was sitting in one of the chairs, reading one of his father's books, when Sam bolted up in bed calling out Jessica's name. Dean hadn't even noticed he was dreaming and he was startled by the sudden noise.

"You okay?" he asked, trying to cover his shock.

"Yeah." Sam took a deep breath. "Sorry, man. How long have I been out?"

"Not long. I've only been back a little while."

"What happened? Are you all right?"

"Yeah. My idea worked like a – charm." he grinned.

Sam groaned. "So? You got the information?"

"Yeah." Dean turned serious. "Sam –"

"What's wrong?" Sam asked as he pulled a couple bottles of water from the refrigerator and sat near his brother.

"It's just – I don't think you're going to like what I have to say."

"Dean, there's no way what Awena had to tell you was going to have a good spin."

"Yeah." Dean glanced away.

"Dean?"

"Here's the deal. One of the commonalities we found – all the families were middle class and above? Turns out that was the key. That and the hit and run accidents."

"What do you mean?"

"She targeted people with money. Then someone in her crew would do the hit and run. She'd give it a day or two, then approach someone in the family." Dean stopped when Sam's eyes clouded.

"Go on." Sam said quietly.

"Sam –"

"Go on."

Dean took a deep breath. "She'd use the pendant to convince them to give her money to reanimate the body."

"So she really can do it?" Sam was shocked.

"Reanimate, Sammy, not bring back to life. They dug up the body, she worked her mojo and then would send the body back home."

"If she could control them with the pendant, why did she have to do the necromancy thing?"

Dean glanced away.

"Why, Dean?" Sam demanded.

"Because she can."

"That's it?" Sam stood up and paced. "That's why she puts people through – so why did she go after me? I sure as hell don't have any money."

"The pendant has a pretty wide circle of power, but it only lasts for a relatively short time. It was about time for them to move on when we hit town. She decided the best way to get her kicks and take care of business was to get you out of town. She figured I'd follow –"

"Was she going to reanimate Jessica?"

Dean said nothing.

"Was she?" Sam growled.

"That was her plan."

"Why?" Sam asked as his eyes filled with tears. "Why does she do that to people?"

"What can I tell you? She's sick, Sam."

Sam sat on the bed. Dean joined him. "I'm sorry, Sam."

"What happens to the bodies? Reanimated bodies don't last forever."

"Once Awena stops controlling them they –"

Sam looked at him. "They die all over again and the families have to go through it a second time." Sam was quiet for several minutes. "What happens to her now?"

"She signed a confession about the grave robberies. She'll probably go to jail for a while."

"And when she gets out, she can start all over again. She just has to cast the spell on another bauble."

"She can't cast it herself, but if she found someone who could do it the first time –"

Sam nodded. "Where's the pendant now?"

Dean unfastened it from around his neck. "To render this one inoperable, we have to melt it."

Sam took it from Dean and wrapped his hand around it. A moment later he tossed it onto the table between the beds. "We can take care of that later."

Dean looked at him.

"Later tonight and we can get the hell out of here tomorrow." Sam said in response to the unasked question.

"I think we need to talk about this some more." Dean said.

"Not right now. I just want to think about it." Sam looked at him, pleading.

Dean nodded and stood up. "I feel kind of dirty after talking to her. I'm going to grab a shower.

Sam waited until he heard the water running, then took the pendant and left the room.

oooOOOooo

Sam parked the Impala down the street from the sheriff's office. He could have walked, but he thought a quick escape might be necessary. Awena's cell had a window that overlooked a park across the street. Sam sat down on a bench and stared at the window. Except for the bars, he thought the view was much too good for her. He removed the pendant from his pocket and dangled it for several minutes before beginning to rub it. He wasn't sure if his idea would work since the pendant hadn't been in his possession for very long, but ownership was not very well defined in the spell, so he thought he had a shot.

He watched an ambulance arrive several minutes later and his cell phone rang not long after that; he was just getting into the car.

"Where are you?" Dean demanded.

"I went out for some air. And I thought I'd grab us some food."

"The sheriff just called."

"Oh yeah?"

"Awena is dead. She killed herself."

"Imagine that."

"Sam, what did you do?"

"You said she killed herself."

"Where's the pendant, Sam? It's not here."

"Really? Maybe you just misplaced it."

"Sam –"

"Hey, I just had an idea. I'll come and get you – we can go to the bar; get some beer and maybe some nachos. I should be there in about five minutes." he said and hung up.

"Sammy." Dean whispered as he snapped the cover of his phone shut. "Damnit."