Author's note: Thanks for all the love guys! Please keep reviewing! I love them!
Disclaimer: I own nothing but Emily.
"Come on, Sam, I'm begging you. This is stupid." Dean argued from the front seat, I was trying to sleep but that's not going to happen now.
"Why?" Sam asked him.
"Going to visit Mom's grave? She doesn't even have a grave - there, there was no body left after the fire."
"She has a headstone."
"Yeah, put up by her uncle, a man we've never even met. So you wanna, go pay your respects to a slab of granite put up by a stranger?"
"Dean, that's not the point."
"Well then, enlighten me, Sam."
"It's not about a body, or, or, a casket. It's about her memory, okay?"
"Hmmm."
"And after Dad it just... just feels like the right thing to do."
This kinda struck a pang in my chest. I really didn't care one way or another if we came. It was important to Sam. So for him I'd happily go, but for Dean it made no sense. I tried to stay out of it, but I feel like Sam may need some back up.
"It's irrational, is what it is." Dean continued, I flung up from laying down in the backseat.
"Dean that's enough. We are going. You don't have to get out of the car, you don't have to be involved, but this is something that Sam and I want to do. So lay off." I said.
Both of them turned to look at me shocked. Then just as quickly they turned back around, the rest of the ride was silent.
When we pulled up to the grave yard I noticed some wild flowers along the gate.
"Hey Sam… I'll catch up in a minute." I hollered. Sam continued to walk towards Mom's grave. I picked a handful of flowers and walked up to Dean.
"You know you could go over there too."
"Emily… I'm here. Don't push your luck."
"Dean, I'm not here for just Mom. I agree. I don't get it, why have a grave and no body. Okay? So I know how you feel. But I'm here for Sammy. This means more to him than it does for me to argue against it, so go or don't go. I don't care, but don't turn this into an argument. Please."
He looked at me as if I'd made him feel slightly guilty, not quite my intention but then he pulled me into a hug.
"You're right kiddo. You go. I'll be there in a minute."
"Okay." I said kissing his cheek and walking to Sam. When I got up to him he was kneeling down burying something in the ground right in front of mom's grave.
"I think, um ... I think Dad would have wanted you to have these. I love you, Mom." He sniffled.
I slowly leaned down next to him and laid the flowers on the ground right in front of grave. Sam and I stood. I wrapped my arms around his waist and we stood there, him for Mom- me for him.
"I love you Sammy."
"I love you too Em. Thank you. For backing me up. I don't deserve it after all I put you through…"
"Sammy don't. Its behind us, we've been through too much between then and now for that to be an issue anymore. You came back. You're still here. You where there for me when I needed you. Its my turn to be there for you."
"Thanks kiddo." He smiled.
"Should we go over and see what he's looking at?" I asked nodding towards Dean.
"Yeah. Lets go."
"Angela Mason. She was a student at the local college; funeral was three days ago." Dean said when we got to him.
"And?" I asked.
"And? You saw her grave. Everything dead around it, in a perfect circle? You don't think that's a little weird?"
"Maybe the groundskeeper went a little agro with the pesticide." I suggested.
"No, I asked him. No pesticide, no chemicals. Nobody can explain it."
"Okay, so what are you thinking?"
"I dunno. Unholy ground, maybe?"
"Oh geez Dean… come on."
"What? If something evil happened there, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the, the farm outside of Cedar Rapids?"
"Dean do you honestly think this is a case?"
"Could be the sign of a demonic presence. Or the, the Angela girl's spirit, if it's powerful enough."
Sam shook his head and started walking towards the car. Dean and I followed.
"Well don't get too excited, don't wanna pull a muscle."
"It's just... stumbling onto a hunt? Here, of all places?" Sam said.
"So?"
"So - are you sure this is about a hunt, and not about something else?"
"What else would it be about?"
"You know, just forget about it." Sam sighed.
"You believe what you want, Sam, but - I let you drag my ass out here, the least we could do is check this out."
"Yeah. Fine."
"Girl's dad works in town. He's a professor at the school."
"Well lets get to it then." I said getting back in the impala.
We were on our way to the school when we passed a tattoo shop in town, I had been wanting one for a while now. Dean of course shot down the idea over and over and over again. As did Dad. But now that Daddy is gone. I want to get one for him… for him and Mom.
"Hey do you two mind dropping me at the motel first? I'm just not feeling great. Not sleeping is taking its toll on me… I wanna try and get in a nap." Dean knows that I'm having less and less nightmares, but I'm still having problems sleeping through the night.
"Yeah sure kiddo. We're just gonna ask around a little anyways."
"Thanks De."
The boys dropped me off and I got us a room, luckily we're only a mile or so from the shop in town I was eyeing. I waited for the boys to leave and then quickly headed that way.
When I walked in I found a young guy covered in ink, neck down to finger tips, I would say down to his toes but his designer jeans and converse covered them up. He was cute. He had shoulder length brown hair, big blue gentle eyes, and gages in his ears. I walked up and he smiled at me.
"Hi, I'm Tyler. what can I do for you."
"I wanna get a tattoo."
"Well I figured, it doesn't say sandwiches on the front of the door." He smiled sarcastically. I giggled.
"Um, I want to get one for my parents… I lost my Mom as a baby, and my Dad just died. I want something for them."
"I'm sorry to hear that. Lets find something for you. Come on back." He said leading me to his workstation.
"So tell me your name sweetheart."
"Emily. Emily Winchester."
"Winchester huh? Like the gun?" He asked.
"Yep." I smiled.
"Well. That could be something we could work with." He suggested.
"Yeah. Actually that would be awesome."
"What about you parents, what were their names?"
"John and Mary." I said quietly giving him a sad smile.
"Tell me a little about them."
"Well, my dad was a marine, a hunter, a real hard ass. My mom… she uh, she's kind of a mystery. I just know she was beautiful."
"Okay. Well I'll tell you what Emily, give me a few hours to draw you something up, then we can get to work."
"A few hours?" Shit. Dean and Sam would be back by then.
"Yeah, good work takes time."
"Right… Umm. Is there anyway I could come back later tonight maybe? I'm supposed to be somewhere in a couple hours."
"Sure. Come back by anytime tonight. I don't have any appointments so I'll have it ready for you when you get here."
"Thanks" I smiled getting up.
"Hey wait up a sec, where you thinking of putting this thing?"
"Um, somewhere hidden. I have this older brother who would flip shit if he found out."
"Okay, well… We can go upper thigh? Its usually hidden pretty well." He suggested. I thought about it. My shorts can get kinda short sometimes. He'll see it.
"How far up can we go? Can we go where my underwear runs along my hip?"
"Whatever you want."
"Okay, well I'll be back tonight then."
"See you then Emily." He smiled and I walked back to the room. Trying to figure out how I was going to sneak out again tonight.
I got back to the room and did lay down for a nap, I really have been tired lately. When I came too the boys were back and their voices were loud.
"I'm telling you, there's something going on here. We just haven't found it yet." Dean demanded.
"Dean, so far you've got a patch of dead grass and nothing."
"Well, something turned that grave into unholy ground."
"There's no reason for it to be unholy ground. Angela Mason was a nice girl who died in a car crash. That's not exactly vengeful spirit material. You heard her father."
"Car crash huh?" I asked sitting up.
"Morning sunshine. Feel better?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. So I'm guessing you didn't find much on the girl."
"Yeah, well, maybe Daddy doesn't know everything there is to know about his little angel, huh?" Dean argued.
"You know what? We never should have bothered that poor man. We shouldn't even be here anymore." Shit. We can't leave yet. I got plans for tonight.
"So what, Sam? What, we just bail? Without even figuring out what's going on?"
"Sam why don't we just stay for a little longer, let Dean do some more digging." I tried to suggest getting up and walking to sit with them. They had picked up food and Dean slid me my chicken strips.
"I think I know what's going on here. It's the only reason I went along with you this far." Sam says ignoring me.
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.
"This is about Mom's grave."
"That's got nothing to do with it." Dean scoffed.
"You wouldn't step within a hundred yards of it. Look. Maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about Mom. Or Dad."
"Sammy… please stop." I said. Dean just looked at him coldly.
"You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better." Sam said to him.
"I don't need this crap." Dean said standing up.
"Dean, where're you going?" I asked him.
"I'm going to go get a drink. Alone." Perfect! This is my chance to get away clean.
Dean walked out the door slamming it behind him. I looked at Sam and shook my head taking another bite of chicken.
"Don't look at me like that." He said.
"Sam. Let him have this one… why push him?"
"Em you know what this is! Him avoiding dealing with Dad. You're fine with just letting him do this forever?"
"No. I'm not. But he has to say something when he's ready… not until then. Pissing him off along the way doesn't do any of us any good."
"Yeah… okay. I'm going to bed. You coming?"
"No. I'm going to go catch up to him… keep an eye on him."
"You sure that's a good idea?"
"I'll be fine. He's mad at you not me." I said with a wink as I got up and got dressed to go out again.
I quickly made my way back to the tattoo shop.
"Well hey there Emily." Tyler said with a smile when I walked in.
"Tyler." I smiled back.
"You ready to see it?"
"Nervous, but ready!"
"Oh they don't hurt that bad." He said walking me back.
"Oh the pain doesn't worry me, I just want it to be perfect."
"Well I'm pretty confident you'll like it."
We sat down at his station and he turned and grabbed a paper.
"Close your eyes." He said.
"Okay." I said laughing, closing my eyes.
"Alright, what do you think?"
When I opened my eyes the paper in front of me took my breath away. It was two beautiful antique revolvers that crossed at the tip. One had the Marine's symbol on it, the other had roses. Dad's had J.W. and Mom's had M.W. along the barrel.
"Tyler… its amazing." I said as my eyes began to water.
"Whoa now, no crying in this shop." He said sweetly handing me a tissue.
"I'm sorry… I just. Its been a rough couple of months, this just… makes it seem like I'm finally getting to put it behind me. Thank you for this."
"Well don't thank me just yet, lets get this thing in your skin. Then you can thank me."
It took Tyler 3 hours to finish the tattoo. It sits on my hip right where my underwear runs so that Dean or Sam wouldn't see it. It limits my option in bikini bottoms but I wasn't planning on wearing a bikini with my new scar anyways. It will be covered in my shorts and pants, so I should be in the clear.
"Wow. That's just… beautiful." I said standing and looking in the mirror.
"Yeah. It looks good on you Emily."
I turned and hugged him. Then I kissed him on the cheek.
"Really. Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me."
"It was a pleasure, its nice to tattoo someone who can handle the pain. You sat like a rock, especially for your first one."
"Yeah well, I guess I have a high pain tolerance." Not really. But compared to be stabbed that was pretty easy.
"Okay well remember to wash it, keep it clean, and keep the ointment on it for the first couple of weeks. You can take that bandage off in a couple of hours. Try not to let it get too wet in the shower for the next week or so."
"That'll be an interesting challenge." I laughed, he did too. I looked at the clock and decided I'd better get going.
When I got back to the room, Sam was passed out and Dean was still gone. YES! That could not have worked out more perfectly for me. I quietly walked into the bathroom and got changed. I lowered my shorts and took off the bandage, cleaning the tattoo and placing a thin layer of ointment on it before crawling into Sam's bed. He didn't wake up, but he did manage to turn and swing an arm over me. I swear. Him and Dean both do this. Its like even subconsciously they're protective. His damn arm is so big and heavy, but I didn't want to wake him. I adjusted under it so I could still effectively breathe, then I quickly drifted off to sleep.
"Em. Emily wake up." Sam shook me lightly.
"Mmmm Noooo." I groaned pulling the covers up over my head.
"Emily." Sam laughed.
"Nooo. 5 more minutes."
"Come on kiddo you've been out all morning. We gotta job for you."
"Really?" I asked uncovering my head. "What time is it?!"
"Almost 11. You were out kiddo." I heard Dean say.
"I haven't slept that long in weeks…" I said sitting up and stretching.
"Yeah well I guess you needed it. You feel better?"
"Yeah. I feel great actually." Not that I could say it outloud. But I feel like my fresh piece of art really brought me some closure, I mean we've still gotta hunt down this demon before we can really lay this thing to rest. But I feel like I'm finally getting past losing Daddy.
"Good. Cause you're up." Dean said smiling.
I was walking up to the door in the apartment building, praying Angela's roommate was gone. Dean swiped her keys at some point yesterday and is sending me to dig around, says I'm somehow less conspicuous.
I walked up and put the key in the lock and turned it a few times before a girl behind me made me jump.
"What the hell are you doing?!"
"Whoa whoa whoa.. Its uh.. Its not what it looks like."
"Are you trying to break into my apartment?"
"No! No, you must be angela's roommate! I'm her cousin… Anna."
"I've never heard of you." She said crossing her arms.
"Well her dad sent me over to get a few of her things, how else would I have her key." I said holding it up.
The roommate named Lindsey walked me in and sat down on the couch and began crying, I walked over and sat next to her handing her a tissue.
"So. I'm sure you got a, a view of Angela that none of the family got to see. Tell me, what, what was she like? I mean, what was she really like?"
"She was great."
"Hmm."
"Just great. I mean, she was so... so..."
"Great."
"Yeah. Yeah." She cried.
"Yeah."
"Here you go. You two must have been really close, huh?" I asked handing her another tissue.
"We were. But it's not just her, it's Matt."
"Who?"
"Angela's boyfriend."
"Right, Matt. What about him?"
"He killed himself last night. He cut his own throat. Who does that?"
"That's - terrible."
"He was taking Angela's death pretty hard, and I guess... I mean, he'd been messed up about it for days."
"Messed up how?" I asked slowly putting a few pieces together. Maybe Dean is right.
"He kept saying that he saw her everywhere."
"Well, I'm, I'm sure that that's normal, I mean with everything that he was going through."
"No, he said that he SAW her. As in, an acid trip or something." More like a ghost sweetheart.
"Were Angela and Matt a happy couple? I mean, is there any reason that Angela would be angry with him?"
"What? No, of course not, why do you ask?"
"Just asking. Where did Matt live?"
I finished gathering my information and jumped into the impala in the parking lot where Dean was waiting for me.
"Okay De. I'm about to make your day."
"Oh yeah? Why's that."
"Angela's boyfriend claims he's been seeing her, like actually seeing her. For days now… last night he "slit his own throat", sounds like some vengeful spirit shit if I've ever heard one." I said.
"Ha. Sammy's gonna love this!" Dean said as he peeled out of the lot.
When we got back to the room Dean barged through the door, me behind him. Sam nervously jumped up and fidgeted to shut off the TV.
"Oh Sam. Really?! Geez I thought Dean was the only brother I had to worry about walking in on…" I said hiding my face behind my hand.
"I uh. Um." Sam stuttered.
"Awkward." Dean said.
"So what did we find?" Sam asked quickly trying to change the subject.
"Well, you were right, I didn't find much." Dean said. Sam shook his head sympathetically. I tried not to smirk.
"Yeah. Except Angela's boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat. But, you know, that's normal. Uh, let's see, what else. Oh, he was seeing Angela everywhere before he died. But you know, I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings." Dean then continued on nonchalantly. I rolled my eyes.
"Okay, I get it. I'm sorry, maybe there is something going on here." Sam admitted.
"Maybe? Sam, I know how to do my job, despite what you might think."
"We should check out the guy's apartment."
"We just came from there. Pile of dead plants, just like the cemetery. Hell, dead goldfish too."
"So, unholy ground?"
"Maybe. I'm still not getting that powerful angry spirit vibe from Angela… I have been reading this, though." Dean said looking at the diary I swiped from Angela's.
"You stole the girl's diary?"
"No of course not, I sent Em to do it." Dean said with a smile.
"So. If anything the girl's a little too nice." Dean continued.
"So what do you want to do?"
"Keep digging, talk to more of her friends."
"You get any names?"
"Are you kidding me? I have her bestest friend in the whole wide world." Dean held up the diary.
Dean spent that night digging through her diary, insisting on reading some of it out loud when he found it amusing. What an ass. Me and Sam sat on the bed and ate our Chinese while we watched Jurassic Park. I love this movie. Alan Grant is hot for an old guy.
"Alright… looks like Neil is her best friend. Poor guy sounds like he's in the forever friend zone. I say we go check him out tomorrow." Dean said putting the diary away for the night.
"Sounds good to me." I said climbing into the bed while Dean got up to shower.
I was laying in bed almost asleep when he plopped down next to me, waking me up.
"Dammit De." I grumbled.
"Oh come on you got tons of sleep last night. You can't be that tired." He said poking me to irritate me more.
"Dean Winchester I swear on everything that is still holy ground In this town if you poke me one more time you're waking up with only 9 fingers." I threatened. He laughed.
"Okay okay… party pooper." He mumbled.
"So no more nightmares?" He asked me quietly after a few seconds. I turned over to face him.
"No actually…I don't know what it was about sleeping alone that made them so bad. But you and Sammy seem to keep them away. I finally feel like I can sleep now."
"Good. You need it. I was getting worried I might have to start sneaking you sleeping pills again."
"What?! When did you sneak me sleeping pills?" I asked wide eyes.
"When dad first disappeared. You weren't sleeping and I know you thought you could hide it but you should have known better than that. So I would sneak pills in your drink at dinner. " He said matter of factly.
"De I can't believe you were drugging me." I laughed, pushing his arm.
"Yeah well. Sometimes I gotta do what I gotta do to take care of your stubborn ass. You would have shot me down if I asked you take them on your own."
"Yeah. You're probably right." I sighed.
"De… I miss him." I whispered.
"Me too Kiddo. Every day." He whispered back.
I curled into his side and he wrapped an arm around me, I was asleep in minutes.
The next day the boys went to check out Neil. I offered to stay and clean weapons. Its been a while since I've had some time where I was alone, No Bobby, no Dean, no Sam. Just me and the weapons I offered to clean. I knew the boys would be gone for at least a few hours.
I decided it was a good time to take a hot shower, I would have opted for a hot bath but the tattoo can't be submerged under water for at least two weeks. It's healing beautifully. It itches a little, but Tyler said that's a sign of good healing. Its beautiful. I can stand in the mirror and stare at it for hours. Seeing their initials together, it makes me wonder if they're together now. Makes me wonder if they're in heaven. I enjoyed my long hot shower and got dressed comfortably.
The weapons filled the table in the kitchen area and I turned on some music to sing along to while I cleaned.
I was singing along to Skynrd when I realized this was the first time I've sung at all since Daddy died. The last time I sang was on stage, he was there. I wish I had told him sooner, I wish he could have seen more shows. I wish I could hug him one more time, smell that whiskey and cologne scent on his chest. Hear his heartbeat. It aches… my heart. I feel like part of it fell off, and I'll never get it back again. Dean and Sam have been so good to me. Especially after my little stunt, they've let me talk, let me cry, let me scream, let me be a bitch. Poor boys. I know Sam is dealing… but Dean. He's trying to shove past it without actually having to look it in the eye. Its like he's hiding something from us.
"Hey kiddo." Sam said as the door swung open.
"Hey. So. What do we have on Neil?"
"Eh. I think he's harmless. We're gonna go burn some bones tonight. You in?"
"As long as you two are digging I'm there." I smiled.
"Well since you did take weapon duty I guess that's fair." Dean said sitting down and inspecting my work.
That night we quickly and quietly made our way over to Angela's grave. I didn't miss it when Dean kept popping his eyes over in the direction of where Mom's grave is. But I didn't say anything… Instead I just watched.
I hear them strike something solid and walked over with the salt and gas in my hands. I watched as they popped open the casket.
"What in the hell…" I mumbled. Looking down at the empty grave.
"They buried the body four days ago." Dean said puzzled.
"I don't get it." Sam mumbled. He took his flashlight and pointed out something on the inside of the coffin.
"What is that?" I asked.
"I'm not sure."
"I've seen these kind of symbols before… Guess we're going to have another chat with dear old dad tomorrow." Dean said.
"Dean… slow down." I said as I tried to catch up to his and Sam's long strides as we approached Dr. Mason's office building.
Dean began banging on the door.
"Dean. Take it easy, okay?" Sam said.
"You're Angie's friends, right?" Dr. Mason said as he opened the door.
"Dr. Mason..." Sam tried but he was quickly cut off by a very harsh Dean.
"We need to talk."
"Well, then, come in." He offered. Shit. I have a feeling this isn't going to be pretty.
"Thanks." I said with a smile. Trying to make up for Dean's rudeness.
"You teach Ancient Greek. Tell me -what are these?" Dean asked as he showed him a crumpled paper with the symbols from the grave.
"I don't understand. You said this had something to do with Angela."
"It does. Please, just humor me."
"They're part of an ancient Greek divination ritual."
"Used for necromancy, right?"
"That's right."
"See, before we came over here we stopped by the library and did a little homework ourselves. Apparently they used rituals like this one for communicating with the dead. Even bringing corpses back to life. Full-on zombie action." Dean said irritated.
"Dean…" I warned, trying to get him to calm down some.
"Yes. I mean, according to the legends. Now, what's all this about?"
"I think you know."
"Dean." Sam said trying to get his attention. I can see the doubt in his eyes. He doesn't think this guy did it… and I'm starting to agree. The poor man's face looks distraught.
"Look, I get it. Okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again. But what gives you the right?" Dean started."
"Dean!" I said but he ignored me again.
"What are you talking about?" Dr. Mason asked shocked.
"What's dead should stay dead!" Dean yelled at him.
"What?!"
"Stop it!" Sam yelled to Dean.
"What you brought back isn't even your daughter anymore. These things are vicious, they're violent, they're so nasty they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen Pet Cemetery?" Dean egged on as Sam stood in front of him pushing him away from Dr. Mason.
"You're insane." Dr. Mason said with a look of pure pain on his face. Shit. We've got the wrong guy…
"Where is she?" Dean yelled.
"Dean! Stop! Its not him!" I said pushing him with Sam.
"Get out of my house." Dr mason yells reaching for a phone, Dean gets past Sam and me and slaps the phone out of his hand.
"I know you're hiding her somewhere. Where is she?!" He yelled in his face.
"Dean! Stop, that's enough! Dean, look!" Sam said grabbing him by the jacket and shaking him.
"Beautiful, living plants." He pointed out…I turned to Dr. Mason as Sam pushed Dean out the door.
"I'm so sorry… We're leaving." I said before turning to walk out.
"What the hell is the matter with you, Dean?" Sam asked as I struggled to keep up with them as Dean stormed off down the sidewalk.
"Back off."
"That man is innocent! He didn't deserve that!"
"Okay, so she's not here, maybe he's keeping her somewhere else."
"Stop it! That's enough, okay? Enough!"
"Sam, I know what I'm doing."
"No, you don't. At all. Dean, I don't scare easy, but man, you're scaring the crap out of me."
"Don't be overdramatic, Sam."
"You're lucky this turned out to be a real case. Because if it wasn't you would have just found something else to kill."
"Wha-"
"You're on edge, you're erratic - except for when you're hunting, because then you're downright scary. You're tailspinning, man. And you refuse to talk about it and you won't let us help you." Sam said stepping in front of Dean stopping him. Thank god for that. I can finally catch my breath.
"I can take care of myself, thanks."
"No, you can't. And you know what? You're the only one who thinks you should have to. You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean, no one can."
"Sam, if you bring up Dad's death one more time I swear..."
"Stop. Please, Dean, it's killing you. Please. We've already lost Dad. We've lost Mom. I've lost Jessica. And now I'm going to lose you too?"
"We better get out of here before the cops come." Was all Dean could respond. Sam frowned.
"I hear you. Okay? Yeah, I'm being an ass. And I'm sorry. But right now we've got a friggin' zombie running around, and we need to figure out how to kill it."
Sam and I both laughed a little.
"Right?" Dean asked.
"Our lives are weird, man." Sam chuckled.
"You're telling me? Come on. Em jump on sasquatches back if you can't keep up." Dean said taking off again.
"Oh shut up!" I mumbled jogging to catch up to them.
That night we decided it was best to sit down and dig into how to kill the bitch before going to find her again.
"We can't just waste it with a head shot?" Dean asked.
"Dude. You've been watching way too many Romero flicks." Sam said. I laughed.
"You're telling me there's no lore on how to smoke 'em?"
"No, Dean, I'm telling you there's too much. I mean, there's a hundred different legends on the walking dead, but they all have different methods for killing them. Some say - setting them on fire, uh, one said, where is it? Right here. Feeding their hearts to wild dogs. That's my personal favorite. I mean, who knows what's real and what's myth?"
"Well I don't know about you two but I'm not exactly jumping to feed the local shelter special puppy chow. I vote we start with a headshot and see what happens. Or decapitate the bitch. Just to be safe." I added.
"Oh kiddo. You're too much like me sometimes. Is there anything they all have in common?" Dean asked.
"No. But a few said silver might work." Sam replied.
"Silver's a start."
"Yeah. But now how are we going to find Angela?" I asked.
"We've got to figure out the person who brought her back."
"Any ideas?" Sam asked us.
"I think if it's not her dad it might be that guy Neil." Dean said.
"Neil?" Sam and I asked simultaneously.
"Yep. And please. Don't do that again."
"How'd you come up with that?" Sam asked him.
"Well, you've got your journal, I've got mine. "Neil's a real shoulder to cry on, he so understands what I'm going through with Matt." There's more in here where that came from. It's got Unrequited Ducky Love written all over it." Dean said reading out of the girl's diary.
"And how would you know what unrequited love looked like? You've never heard the word no from a girl." I said rolling my eyes.
"Hey. Can't blame that on me. Its just the Winchester genes."
"Yeah okay well then don't get upset when my jeans show off my Winchester genes." I said smiling.
"Not gonna happen short stop. I'm just saying. Neil had a thing for the girl."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean he brought her back from the dead." Sam said.
"Hmm. Did I mention he's Professor Mason's TA? Has access to all the same books."
"Okay, well then let me get on some jeans and we'll head out." I said standing up.
"I think sweatpants are just fine for this one." Dean said not bothering to look up.
"Dean. These things are baggy as hell. I won't be able to run in them."
"You don't need to run."
"Dean!" I laughed.
"What?" He smiled innocently.
I shook my head and got dressed.
"Hello? Neil?! It's your grief counselors - we've come to hug." Dean said knocking on the door. He pulls out a gun and checks his mag.
"Silver bullets?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, enough to make her rattle like a change purse."
No answer, so I picked the lock and we started to walk around.
"Hey. Check this out." I grabbed the attention of the boys and pointed towards the basement door with the large padlock on it.
"Unless it's where he keeps his porn..." Dean mentioned.
"Dean… seriously? Not everything revolves around porn." I mumbled as Sam opened the door and I followed them down the stairs.
"Sure looks like a zombie pen to me." Dean said as we observed the basement.
"Yeah. An empty one. You think Angela's going after somebody?" Sam asked.
"Nah, I think she went out to rent Beaches." I said as I reached down and moved the loose grate showing where she must have escaped.
"Look, smartass, she might kill someone. We gotta find her." Sam said getting his panties in a knot.
"Yeah. All right. She, uh, she clipped Matt because he was cheating, right?" Dean asked.
"Yeah."
"Well, it takes two to, you know, have hardcore sex."
"I might have an idea on who…" I said remembering my conversation with Lindsey. "I don't know, it just seemed that, uh, Angela's roommate was broken up over Matt's death. I mean, like, really broken up."
We quickly made our way over to Angela's apartment and got there in time to save Lindsey from being stabbed to death by her dead but not dead roommate. Then we flew back to Neil's to see if the bitch came back home after her little night out.
"So the silver bullets, they did something, right?" Sam asked reading out of Dad's journal as Dean drove down the road. I took my place in the middle loading all of us back up with silver bullets.
"Yeah, something, but not enough. What else you got?" Dean asked.
"Um, okay, besides silver, we have ... nailing the undead back into their gravebeds. It's mentioned a few times. It's probably where the whole vampire staking lore came from."
"Their gravebeds? You serious?" I asked.
"Yeah."
"How the hell are we going to get Angela back to the cemetery?"
"Live bait?" Dean suggested as we pulled up to Neils.
We didn't bother to knock and barged into his office.
"What are you guys doing here?" He asked, he seemed shaken up.
"You know, I've heard of people doing some pretty desperate things to get laid, but you - you take the cake." Dean said nonchalantly.
"Okay. Who are you guys?"
"You might want to ask Angela that question."
"What?"
"We know what you did. The ritual? Everything." Sam added.
"You're crazy." Neil scoffed. But I can see the fear in his eyes. He knows he's busted.
"Your girlfriend's past her expiration date and we're crazy? When someone's gone they should stay gone. You don't mess with that kind of stuff." Dean said a little harshly.
"Angela killed Matt. She tried to kill Lindsey." I explained.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Neil said, but Dean flew over to him and shoved him against the wall by his collar.
"Hey! No more crap, Neil. His blood is on your hands. Now. We can make this right, but you've gotta tell us where she is. Tell us!"
"My house. She's at my house." Neil squirmed. Dean dropped him, then looked at the dead plants in the window. Shit. She's here.
"You sure about that?" I asked. He looked around nervously and stopped on the closet. Like that's not a dead giveaway.
"Listen. It doesn't really matter where she is. There's only one way to stop her. We've got to perform another ritual over her grave, to reverse the one that you did. We're going to need some black root, some, some scar weed, some candles... It's very complicated, but it'll get the job done. She'll be dead again in a couple hours. I think you should come with us." Dean pushed. "I'm serious, Neil. Leave with us. Right now."
"No. No." Neil mumbled. Dean leaned in and lowered his voice, I could barely hear him.
"Listen to me. Get out of here as soon as you can. But most of all, be cool. No sudden movements. Don't make her mad."
"Lets go." He said turning to me and Sam.
"Dean… she's going to kill him. We can't just leave him here." I said as we got back outside.
"Em. We tried. He wouldn't come. If we pushed any harder it would have blown the whole thing… she's gonna come for us. We gotta be ready. Now go."
"But D-"
"Go! Now!" He said pointing at the car.
I huffed but started walking. Sam swung an arm around me but I shrugged it off and slammed the door as I got in the backseat. That poor sap is dead. We could save him… he could mean something to someone. Someone's going to to miss him. Someone's world is going to fall apart without him… and we're just going to let him die.
Dean flew to the cemetery and we started to dig up her grave.
"You really think this is going to work?" Sam asked.
"No, not really. But it was the only thing I could come up with." Dean says, we hear a noise in the distance. Sam goes to bait her in and leaves me and Dean by the grave.
"Kiddo… you good?" Dean asked me.
"No. Dean. I'm not. We just let that guy die."
"Emily. Don't do that to yourself… we tried."
"Yeah well not hard enough Dean! He's dead right now."
"You don't know tha-"
"Yes I do! We both do… We just let it happen. Now shut up, we've got a job to do." I said looking away from him.
Minutes later Sam comes running towards the grave with an angry Angela behind him, I hid behind a tombstone and waited in place as Dean grabbed the stake. Sam led her to the grave and she hit him and knocked him into a tombstone, I ran up behind her and shoved her into her grave. Dean jumped in.
"Wait, don't!" She screamed as Dean drove the steak through her chest… he dug it in deeper. Angela went limp.
"What's dead should stay dead." He said standing back up.
It was daylight by the time we finished reburying the body.
"Rest in peace." Sam said.
"Yeah. For good this time, okay?"
"You know, that whole fake ritual thing, luring Angela into the cemetery? Pretty sharp." Sam said to Dean. I quietly followed behind them. Still angry about Neil.
"Thanks."
"But did we have to use me as bait?"
"Well. You were all we had left. I was going to use Neil. But.." Dean stopped and turned to look back at me.
"I figured you were more her type. You know, she had pretty crappy taste in guys." Dean continued to Sam.
"I think she broke my hand." Sam mumbled.
"You're just too fragile. We'll get it looked at later." Dean stopped and looked as we walked past Mom's grave.
"You want to stay for a while?" I asked.
"No." He said getting back to the impala and putting our guns away.
Dean's not said a word since we pulled out… its been a couple of hours now. I know I'm mad at him but I can tell when something is seriously wrong. Something's going through his mind… I look to Sam and we exchange a worried look. He sees it too.
"Dean, what is it?" I asked him quietly. Instead of replying he turned off the road and got out, sitting against the hood. Sam and I followed him. I sat next to him, and Sam next to me.
"I'm sorry." He said quickly.
"You - For what?"
"The way I've been acting. And for Dad. I mean, he was yalls dad too. And it's my fault that he's gone."
"What are you talking about?" Sam asked him. I looked at Dean and I could see his face trying to hold it all together. It breaks my heart… I reach up and take my hand and lay it on his. Lacing my fingers over his.
"I know you've been thinking it - so have I. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, I made a full recovery. It was a miracle. And five minutes later Dad's dead and the Colt's gone."
"Dean…" I said softly. Trying to figure out what to say next.
"You can't tell me there's not a connection there. I don't know how the demon was involved. I don't know how the whole thing went down exactly. But Dad's dead because of me. And that much I do know."
"We don't know that. Not for sure." Sam said trying to reassure him.
"Sam ..." Dean started to cry. "You, Emily, and Dad ... you're the most important people in my life. And now ... I never should've come back. It wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it. I was dead. And I should have stayed dead. You wanted to know how I was feeling. Well, that's it. So tell me. What could you possibly say to make that all right?"
Sam stared forward and slowly nodded his head.
Nothing. I can't say a damn thing. So instead I stand up and move to stand directly in front of my broken brother. The one who has always been there for me. The one who has always put me back together when I fall apart. The one who has wiped my tears since I was little.
He kept his eyes straight ahead and I waited. Waited for him to look at me. He finally did. His eyes full of guilt and pain. This isn't his fault. But saying that would be useless. He's convinced himself it is. So instead I said the only thing I could think to say that would matter.
"I love you."
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him. He leaned his head down and hugged me back, crying. I may not know what to say. But I know what to do. That's to love him. Like he's always loved me.