Chapter Six
A small breeze from the window A/C tickled Lizzie's nose. She jumped ten feet into the air when her hand brushed a hot, bare back as she moved to scratch her own, "OH! My god." She breathed, and Dean sprang into action.
"What?!"
"I forgot you weren't dead," Her heart regulated, but she was awake now. "What time is it?"
"Uh, 6:30. Good a time as any to head out. I'll go get Sam." Dean mumbled as he pulled his under shirt over his head and wiggled into his jeans. Lizzie giggled at the familiar sight of Dean Winchester, dangerous hunter, struggle to get dressed. Dean rolled his eyes, but felt his lips perk into a small involuntary smile.
"Hey… Guys? Ready to go?" Sam knocked on the door and asked with uncertainty.
Lizzie called back with confidence. "Oh yeah, sorry, Sam! We'll be right out!" and she bounced off the musty mattress with a start. It hadn't been the most comfortable bed she'd slept on, but it was better than being in the back seat of the impala for another minute.
"Hey, be nice to my Baby!" Dean pouted as he helped her gather the contents of her duffle. At least it'll be an honest relationship this time. "Damn, Lizzie, go straight for the jugular."
"I'm sorry, it's going to be hard remembering that you can hear me. I don't really control my secret, private thoughts much."
"Obviously."
"Is that supposed to mean something?"
Dean grunted and walked out of the room, Lizzie sighed with relief. She wasn't really offended but she didn't want him to see how turned on she was watching him walk around the room.
"I heard that!" He called back from the hallway of the cabin.
Damn, she sighed. Throwing her bag over her shoulder, she turned around and smashed into something hard and warm. She bounced off but before she could fall, it wrapped its arm around her waist to catch her. "Ah!"
"Lizzie Singer, I am sorry. Did I hurt you?" Big, strained eyes looked down at her and the smell of wet forest and vanilla filled her nose.
"Where have you been, featherhead? I prayed to you for a year!" She took a step back to take in his appearance. He looked rigid and formal, pain oozing from behind his eyes. He looked unbelievably identical to what she remembered, a tornado encased in a calm summer day.
"At first I was trapped in Purgatory with Dean. Then some things happened," Castiel glanced over the woman's shoulder to look at Dean pointedly, the hunter left the room with a downturned expression, "I heard you, but Dean said you were safer if we did not interfere." His voice was gravelly and monotoned to the untrained ear, but she could hear the sudden inflections in his words, a trick that only came with years of battle along-side him. "I really did want to come. Your father asked about you when I saw him in Heaven. I told him you finished school. He was very proud."
"To what do we owe this pleasurable visi- Lizzie?" Dean walked back into the room and saw tears streaming down her face as she wrapped her arms tightly around the angel. "What's going on here?" But he knew, he could feel the sadness and happiness emanating from Lizzie as the memories of her father raced through the bond. She would do anything to bring Bobby back, but she was so happy knowing he was up in his Heaven getting the R&R he deserved.
Lizzie pulled away from Cas and stood on her tip toes, and as soon as Dean realized what she was going to do he tried to stop her, "Lizzie, don't!" but it was too late. The intention of kissing Cas on the cheek was enough to cause a bolt to shoot up through her spine. She crumpled backward into Dean's arms.
"I see you put on the ring." He said, eyeing her as she recovered. As Lizzie recovered she eyed the Angel and closed the distance.
"You're the one who dropped it into my classroom so fast." The Angel nodded seriously.
Dean broke their stare, "I didn't realize it was a trap, Cas. There has to be a way to reverse it." Dean stepped toward them, reaching his hand to rub her back.
"You melded parts of your soul, Dean. The only way I could even imagine being able to undo that would require both of you to rip out large parts of yourselves. And even then, those parts don't just disappear, they would have to be put into something else. It doesn't even seem possible."
Dean sighed, he knew it was a long shot to reverse it. It hadn't been an easy decision in the first place. He felt Lizzie sink even more and decided to change the subject. "Wait until you see the new digs! We're about 18 hours away but trust me, it's worth it."
Her legs groaned at her, but she squeezed into the back seat after saying goodbye to Castiel. He had been to check on their well-being but was quick to disappear upon finding them largely-unharmed. The boys filed into the impala in front of her and soon, and much to her chagrin, they were off on the road again. Back to the grind, she thought, leaning forward to stretch out her back and look over at what Sam was doing.
"How do you get through these trips, Sam? Your legs are as tall as buildings and I know you have less leg room than I do." She questioned, but Sam only chuckled.
"Lots of vegetables. They help with circulation."
Lizzie almost snorted, "Is that why you always eat so healthy? Restless leg syndrome?"
He confirmed, and she made the conscious decision to improve her diet. They continued in silence for hours, and she took it all in; the grey fabric interior above her head, leather seats under, the smell of men in an enclosed space and the sound of classic rock. The SAME classic rock over and over, mind you. It felt like some crazy movie, which is why she figured the Supernatural books were so popular. She had to admit, she had read them herself after she lost everyone, they were quite entertaining.
"You didn't." Dean warned from the driver seat, taking Sam off guard and surprising Lizzie out of her relaxed lull.
"Oh my God! I forgot you could hear me, agh! This is so embarrassing!" She said while jumping back and raising her hands up in surrender, caught red handed in her own secret thoughts. "I couldn't see why not! You guys were gone! I didn't think it would hurt anyone, and they were really well written books. I feel bad for giving Chuck such a hard time!"
"You read the books? We had a pact!" Sam choked on his water as he turned to look at her, mortified just thinking of all the personal information Chuck had used about him.
"They actually weren't that bad! It was eye opening to see things from your perspective Sam! I think it would be good for you guys to-,"
"No." They said it in unison and the topic was dropped. Lizzie thanked her lucky stars and tried to think of something else before she thought about the fanfiction.
"You read fanfiction? LIKE BROTHER ON BROTHER STUFF?!" Dean practically yelled and almost swerved off the road before regaining control.
"Not all fanfiction is Male/Male Dean! There were some good ones about us, and the community is incredible. I kept them going for weeks." She said with a sly smile to herself before her hand clamped over her mouth hard, but it couldn't bring back the words she'd already said.
Dean stopped the car in the middle of the empty midwestern highway, "You wrote fanfiction?" His tone was sickly calm, and his head turned slowly around as his knuckles whitened on the steering wheel.
"It's not like that! It isn't really fanfiction when it's true…"
"You posted our most intimate encounters online?! I'm not a freaking porn star!"
"Well, I mean, actually …" She couldn't get the words out, she finally just shut her mouth and ashamedly melted into the seat. There was nothing she could say that could save her now, she just prayed the rest of the car ride would be uneventful.
Before she realized she had fallen asleep, she awoke just as car pulled up to a large rusted building that looked like the perfect place for a Djinn. A rock sat in her stomach and Dean practically giggled at her reaction.
"Just wait."
