Disclaimer: Don't own Smallville, Supernatural, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Based on Supernatural Season 2 "All Hell Breaks Loose (Part 1)"
"It's called the Amat Mortem, which literally translates to 'Love's Death'." Angel informed them as he looked up from the book laid flat on his lap. "I don't know what your ancestor did, but this curse is one of the darkest, most cruel ones. It takes a toll not only on the target, but on the caster as well. It's intended to basically destroy a lineage, as it will kill all those able to bear children and carry on the family name."
Sam and Dean shared a look, thinking of everyone the curse had already claimed, of the ones that had affected them the most: their mothers and Jess. Cordelia was now next on the list, and if they didn't find her soon, she'd join the other victims of this horrible curse.
"This text can only cite two other times in history in which this curse was employed," Angel muttered as his gaze lowered back to the tome on his lap.
Sam's gaze also lowered, but this time to the map on his lap. A pendulum dangled in his hand, but it was wonky as ever. It was giving him a general location but wasn't narrowing it down. Whatever John Winchester was using to hide his and Cordelia's location was incredibly powerful. Frustration welled up on him as he looked up from the small restaurant they were parked outside of.
"We need to get to them before they get to Cleveland," Angel announced slowly.
"Cleveland?" Dean asked as he looked up. "How are you sure they are going there?"
"Call it a hunch," Angel muttered as he glanced down at his tome.
Sam looked up when he noticed their order finally at the cash register. "I'm going to go get our food." He put his pendulum and map on the seat as he slid out.
"Make sure they didn't forget the extra onions!" Dean called after him.
"Dude, Angel and I are the ones who are going to have to ride in the car with your extra onions," Sam muttered as he slammed the door closed and headed towards the front door.
Dean leaned out the car window. "Hey, see if they've got any pie!"
Sam grunted as he opened and closed the door.
The second he disappeared, Dean turned to Angel. "Okay, now that he's not here tell me what you're holding back."
Angel cleared his throat. "I don't know what you're—."
"Bullshit." Dean frowned at the vampire. "You're not telling us something, and I need to know what it is. Chloe said Cordelia and dad are killed, Angel. I need to know what you know. Why are they heading to Cleveland? What's going on?"
"A spell like this draws on the darkest of magics and energies," Angel sighed. "In other words, it draws on Hellmouths, and to end the curse you have to connect with the power that cast it. So since your father drove right through California, and the closest Hellmouth in this direction is Cleveland's, that is the only place he can be heading."
"There's a Hellmouth in Cleveland?" Dean made a face. "Go figure. You learn something new every day." He raised an eyebrow. "What else?"
Angel licked his lips and opened his mouth when suddenly the car radio turned on and became staticky. They both glanced down as Dean fiddled with it, but it turned off completely on its own. Dean looked up and shared a look with Angel before he turned his gaze towards the restaurant, and his eyes widened. "The lights are off."
"What?" Angel turned and sure enough, the lights were completely off inside.
"Sammy!" Dean tore out of the car and ran into the restaurant to find one customer at a booth dead, face down in a puddle of blood. "Sam?" He took out his gun and looked around to find that the employees were also dead, their throats slit.
Angel was stuck in the hexed car thanks to the sun still shining above them.
Dean opened the back door and looked around outside. "Sam?!" He glanced down and noticed a white substance on the door. Now the scent in the air made sense. "Sulfur." Dean raced back out the front and jumped into the car, slamming his door shut. "Sam's gone. Everyone else is dead and there's sulfur all over the place."
"Azazel," Angel whispered in understanding.
"We have to look for him, we—,"
"Dean." The vampire interrupted him. "Sam is fine, at least for now. We need to get to Colorado. We need to get to Cordelia."
"Sam's my brother! He's with a demon! Cordelia's with my father, and while—."
"He's going to sacrifice her, Dean!" Angel snapped.
Dean froze, his hand on the keys in the ignition. "What?"
"Illis quos (ego) amo, sacrificabo," Angel read off of the tome. "For those I love, I will sacrifice." He took in a deep breath. "To break the curse on your lineage, a woman who truly loves a Winchester man has to die." He took in a deep breath. "Dean, does Cordelia really love you?"
Dean nodded slowly as conflicting emotions welled in his throat,
"Then, if Chloe saw her death, it's because, if we don't get to her, your father's going to convince Cordelia to sacrifice herself for you." Angel stared at him. "Sam is strong. We will figure out what Azazel wants, but I doubt it is to kill him. If it was he would be just another body in that place." He turned the tome around so Dean could see the drawing of a woman lying lifeless inside of an orb of energy, her blood coating it. "But if we don't find Cordelia soon, she's going to die."
Dean closed his eyes and slammed his fists hard into the steering wheel. He took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling before he nodded and turned to Angel. "Where in Cleveland is this Hellmouth?"
It all happened too fast to process.
When she'd inhaled she'd still been inside of her cage in the Initiative, but by the time she'd fully exhaled Chloe found herself on a cold hardwood floor. She wasn't able to even look up and figure out where exactly she was though, because the sound of screaming caused her to turn on the dusty floor to find Bette there. The brunette gripped her head, the back of which was flashing red and yellow.
"No!" Bette kicked out. "Please! No! I don't want to die!"
The kill switch.
The chip must have a function which activated when the chipped individuals left Initiative grounds.
Hurrying to Bette, Chloe dropped to her knees. She needed to do something! But what? sure, she could always try and block Bette's chip like she had her own, but that would mean infusing Bette with Hellmouth energy - which was poisonous. But Bette was special, like Sam. That meant she could handle it better than most, right? Even if not, Chloe didn't have time to come up with an alternative to this awful, awful plan.
Grabbing Bette's head, Chloe urged her face up so that it was facing her. "Bette. I need you to open your eyes and trust me."
"The countdown's begun," Bette sobbed.
"Bette!" Chloe snapped. "Look at me!"
Bette's eyes flew open and the second they did Chloe forced the remnants of the energy she'd called up for her own devices earlier on, and forced it into Bette's head. Like with Ted, and then herself, the more dark energy she forced in, the easier it was to see the chip, to manipulate it. Darkness covered the chip like a blanket which grew thicker with each wave of dark energy that pierced through Bette's skull.
Only when the lights in the chip died, all connectivity gone, did she pull away and bite down rapidly onto her own palm. The pain was searing but she ignored it and dug her teeth in deeper until they broke through skin and her own blood sprung up.
Bette had stopped screaming, but her eyes widened in horror as Chloe forced her hand to her mouth and pinched her nose, forcing her to either swallow or drown in her blood. Surprisingly enough, once Chloe removed her grip on Bette's nose, the brunette took in a deep gulp of air and yet didn't stop drinking her blood. She sent the blonde confused looks, clearly questioning why she was doing this, but she swallowed mouthfuls and mouthfuls of blood until it had finally stopped gushing out.
Only then did Bette pull away and make a face as she rubbed her palm over her mouth. "What did you do to the chip? And why did I have to drink your blood?"
"I've blanketed it with Helmouth energy, which makes wireless instructions to or from the chip impossible." Chloe stood. "But Hellmouth energy is poisonous - so I had to counter its effects with my blood, which has healing qualities. We need to get these chips out of us as soon as possible though." She went to the closest window and peered outside. Wherever they were, it looked like a ghost town from a Western. "Side note, you're going to have to keep drinking my blood until we do because the effects will wear off."
"And I'll get poisoned by the thing that's keeping my head frown exploding. Got it." Pushing to her feet Bette brushed herself off. "So what exactly are you? Because that's a range of powers there."
"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Chloe muttered.
"Look, I don't know what Hellmouth energy is, but it's filled my noggin." Bette rapped on the side of her head as she joined Chloe's side. "I say risk it and tell me what the hell it is."
Taking in a deep breath, Chloe did.
Sam woke up in the middle of nowhere. He was lying on the ground, in the middle of a street which was lined by a few abandoned buildings. His memory was foggy at best but he remembered the smell of sulfur, that meant that whatever had happened to him had been related to demons, and that was never good.
After making sure nothing was broken, he pushed to his feet and found his phone still in his pocket. That was great and all, but considering there wasn't any cell reception he put down his phone and instead focused on his surroundings. He continued to search the deserted town but didn't find much. Most of the buildings were broken down or locked from the outside. Also, as a last ditch attempt to escaped he tried to teleport - only to be left standing like a broken toy. Either he'd been zapped of his abilities, or there was something in this town which was hampering them.
Suddenly hearing a creaking noise from nearby, Sam grabbed a plank of wood, ready to fight, when suddenly the last person he would've expected turned the corner and jumped back startled when he noticed Sam holding the plank of wood high.
"Andy?" Sam asked in shock as he lowered the plank.
"Sam!" Andy Gallagher's eyes widened as he brought a hand to his chest as if to soothe his rapidly beating heart. "What are you doing here?"
"I don't know," Sam admitted.
"What am I doing here?" Andy wanted to know.
"I don't know."
"Where are we?!" Andy was clearly on the verge of a nervous breakdown as he glanced around them.
"Andy, look, calm down."
"I can't calm down! I just woke up in freaking Frontierland!"
"What's the last thing you remember?" Sam wanted to know.
"Honestly? My fourth bong load." Andy shrugged. "It was weird. All of a sudden there was this really intense smell. Like, uh…"
"Like sulfur?"
"How did you know?"
Sam ran his hand over his face.
Suddenly a man's voice could be heard calling from the distance. "Hello? Is anybody there?"
"Oh god, who else is here?" Andy bemoaned as together they ran to the side of another building to find a young, built African American guy, and a blonde girl with a noise piercing.
"Hey!" Sam reached them quicker than Andy did, his long legs giving him an advantage. "You guys alright?"
"I think so," the guy muttered. He didn't sound too sure.
"I'm Sam, and this is Andy," Sam introduced them.
"I'm Jake," the guy replied immediately.
"Lily," the blonde girl with thick black eyeliner informed them curtly as she looked around her, clearly unnerved.
"Are there any more of you?" Sam wanted to know.
"No." Jake shook his head.
"How did we even get here?" Lily looked even more unnerved as she hugged herself. "A minute ago I was in San Diego."
"Well, if it makes you feel any better, I went to sleep last night in Afghanistan," Jake informed her.
"The hell is going on here?" Andy wanted to know.
Sam, on the other hand, had an idea. "Let me take a wild guess: you have abilities."
Jake's eyes widened. "What?"
Lily's eyes were wide too.
Taking that as confirmation, Sam took in a deep breath. "I'm a witch."
"Yeah, and I can put thoughts into people's heads." Andy looked very excited to reveal that to the others. "Like, make them do stuff. But don't worry, I don't think it works on you guys."
"Of course it doesn't," another voice muttered as another figure emerged.
Sam's eyes narrowed as he turned to face the newcomer. "Max."
Max Miller stepped forwards, hands in his pockets. He didn't look as disconcerted as the rest of them as he came to stand next to him. "As Sam already knows, I'm telekinetic."
"Are you fucking serious?" Lily whispered angrily, drawing their attention to her. "So you get anyone to obey you - you have magic - and you can move things with your mind? That's great! I'd kill for something like that! Who the fuck did you three blow to get them?" Anger filled her eyes. "I touch people and their hearts stop! I can barely leave my house!" She tore her gaze away from them, clearly emotional and trying to hold it back. "My life's not exactly improved, so screw you. I just wanna go home."
"And what?" Jake snorted as he turned to face her. "We don't?"
"You know what?" She turned to face him as well, ever defiant. "Don't talk to me like that!"
"Hey, guys, please." Sam got in between them. "Look, whether we like it or not, we're all here, and so we all have to deal with this?"
"Who brought us here?" Andy wanted to know.
Sam let out a deep breath. "It's less of a 'who' and more of a 'what'."
"What does that mean?" Lily wanted to know.
"Jesus, is everyone so fucking dense?" Max rolled his eyes and shook his head, clearly disgusted. "He means that a demon brought us here."
"And I thought I had a fucked up home life," Bette muttered as she strolled leisurely, arms held up to better soak up the sunlight streaming down at them. They'd found some shoes in the room which, interestingly enough, fit them, and while that would've been convenient enough to seem off, the clothes waiting for them (also in their size) totally gave away that they'd been left for them to be found. "And this Azazel demon guy brought us here because he wants you to help him save the world?"
"So he says." Chloe shrugged. "Although how he sees taking us out of the Initiative only to drop us in the middle of nowhere as helping… I don't know."
"What I don't get is why he took me too," Bette admitted as she kicked a pebble. "I mean, he doesn't even know me."
"Yes he does." Chloe turned to her. "Remember when I said that I know you in the alt universe? That's because you're a Special Child, but Second Generation. That means Azazel knows you, he's behind all the Special Children I know."
Bette's eyes widened. "Oh." She opened her mouth before pausing and turning slowly behind them. "Oh fuck me!" In seconds she grabbed Chloe's hand and took off running as fast as she can.
Not two seconds later, the sound of something heavy giving chase sounded behind.
"Give me a minute." Andy was visibly stunned and close to going into shock. "I'm still working through 'demons are real'."
The group walked. That was all they could do as they tried to get their heads around the weird situation. They were also looking for someone, anyone, but it seemed that they were the only ones here in this ghost town. The buildings were all silent, all dark, and in front of the one they were now crossing was rusty bell hung from a wooden structure, both clearly not having been used in many years.
"I've seen that bell before." Sam stopped walked and turned to it as his eyes widened. "I think I know where we are now: Cold Oak, South Dakota. It's a town so haunted that every single resident fled."
"Swell," Andy muttered. "Good to know we're somewhere so historical."
"Why in the world would that demon or whatever put us here?" Lily wanted to know. She'd been walking a couple of feet ahead of the group and was still a little distance from them. "And if it's so haunted, why haven't we seen one damned ghost?"
"I'm wondering the same thing," Sam admitted.
"Why do you even know this shit, man?" Jake questioned as he turned to face Sam. "What sort of freak looks up shit like this so much that he knows what fucking ghost town it is from one bell?"
"I've fought ghosts and demons since high school," Sam replied, maybe a little too harshly. "Know thy enemy."
"You know what?" Lily threw her hands up. "This doesn't matter! Clearly the only sane thing to do here is get the hell out of Dodge."
"Go on ahead." Max pointed to the distant woods that apparently encircled the town. "Your funeral though."
"He's right," Sam hated admitting. "The only way out is through miles of woods."
"Beats hanging out with demons and ghosts," she muttered.
"Lily, look, we don't know what's going on yet." Sam ignored Max's rolled eyes. "I mean, we don't even know how many of them are out there right now."
"Yeah, he's right," Jake surprisingly enough agreed. "We should—."
"Don't say 'we'!" Lily snapped angrily at him. "I'm not a part of 'we'! I have nothing in common with any of you!"
"Okay, look," Sam tried. "I know—."
"You don't know anything!" Emotion clogged her throat and strained her voice. "I accidentally touched my girlfriend."
As the group glanced around at each other, stunned, Sam sighed. "I'm sorry."
"Whatever." She hugged herself tightly and wouldn't meet their eyes. "I feel like I"m in a nightmare, and it just keeps getting worse and worse."
"I've lost people too," Sam told her softly. "I have a brother out there right now that could be dead for all I know. We're all in bad shape." He moved closer. "But I'm telling you, the best way out of this is to stick together."
"Fine." Lily looked away with a sharp hiss before she frowned and turned her back on them. "What's that sound?"
"What sound?" Andy wanted to know as he stepped a little behind Sam.
Lily opened her mouth to answer when suddenly two figures rounded the building and ran straight into her. Well, one of them did, and her body and Lily's went tumbling over each other's on the ground. The one that hadn't hit Lily rolled to a stop and groaned before she looked up, and when Sam saw her face he recognized it.
"Bette?"
She groaned. "Do I know you, Mountain Man?"
"Oh my god," Lily whispered in breathless shock. "You're still alive."
"Yeah, but its hurts," another voice mumbled. "I think our heads hit when I collided with you."
Sam's eyes widened in shock as he turned to find Chloe on top of Lily, her hands touching the girl's skin as she pushed herself off of her. Not only was Chloe being there utterly shocking, but her visage was as well. Since the last time he'd seen her she'd lost weight - a lot of it. She was thin, had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair had all been buzzed off. There was also a scar in the back of her head. A surgical scar.
"The hell happened to you?" He hissed, and before he even realized it was there, pulling her up and looking her over in worry. "What happened?"
"Sam?" Chloe looked up at him in shock before she glanced around, noticed Andy and Max, and let out a deep sigh. "He's brought all of the living Special Children together."
Sam's only answer was to hug her.
"Who is she? Is she one of us?" Lily hurried to her feet and brushed herself off. "I could touch her! She didn't die!"
"No time for talking!" Bette was suddenly on her feet. "Run!"
That was when the fiery hellhounds rounded the corner after them and gave chase.
Sam Zabutu, Giles and Wesley were on their phones with every Council related contact they knew trying to either get information or help. Faith had gone out to "vent some stress" and had offered Buffy the chance to come along, but hadn't seemed bummed when Buffy declined the offer. Buffy was never much of a researcher, that had always been more Chloe and Sam's roles, but since neither of them were here, and one of them was definitely in danger, Buffy bit the bullet happily and sat down amongst the many tomes of demons. There was little they actually knew of Azazel, and she was doing her best to try and change that.
Sometime during the first twenty minutes she started getting a headache. Too many words. She was meant for slaying demons and protecting the hellmouth! Not reading. The headache grew continually worse until she was continually massaging her temples and trying to force back the wince.
"I've just gotten off of the phone with Alexander Dreyfus, a contact from—are you okay?" Giles reached her side.
"Migraine," Buffy muttered. "It's nothing, just—." She suddenly groaned and doubled over as an image of a bell flashed before her eyes very quickly. "Oh no."
"What is it?" Giles pressed his cold hand against her forehead. "Maybe we should take you to a doctor."
"It's not a migraine, it's a sight thingy. I'm Sight Girl Again." She looked up at him in horror. "I saw a bell."
"Can you identify the bell?" Giles wanted to know.
"Oh, of course I can, don't you know I'm an eager collector of the knowledge of all things bells?" She snarked before suddenly the vision came back and Buffy nearly fell off her chair as images assailed her.
Chloe, Sam and two other people Buffy didn't know stood with their backs pressed against the door, which was shaking behind them under a great strain. Something large was visibly trying to break in.
"This is what Ava saw," Chloe whispered softly to herself. And she looked like hell. Her cheeks were hollow, her skin pale, and her hair shaved off.
"What's going on?" Andy gasped breathlessly from the corner where he stood next to a blonde girl. "Those aren't ghosts, right?! They're like demon dogs! Are demon dogs even a thing?!"
"Hellhounds," Chloe responded as she continued to press her back against the heaving door. "They're hellhounds, not fully matured though."
"How would you know that they're not matured yet?" Sam wanted to know.
"That doesn't matter!" The other blonde girl snapped. "WHY is this happening to us?"
"Are you guys serious?" Max asked from where he sat on the dust-covered floor, his back against the wall. "Am I the only one who understands what's going on or why we're specifically?"
"What do you know?" Chloe yelled from where she fought with the others to keep the door closed.
"Yeah, dude!" A guy of African American descent asked as suddenly the pounding on the door stopped. Whatever had been outside trying to get in had either given up or were waiting for the humans to come out. "Spill!"
"Wait, you don't know?" Max's eyes were wide on Chloe as he pushed to his feet. "Are you serious?" He let out a dark chuckle. "I'd thought you would've known even if these other idiots didn't."
"What are you going on about?" The blonde by Andy wanted to know. "Why should that girl know what's going on?"
Max shook his head, disgust on his face. "Because 'that girl' is the reason we're all here." He turned from her to Chloe. "Because she's not a girl. She's not even a person."
Chloe went pale. "Shut up."
Max raised an eyebrow. "So you do know."
"I said shut up!" Chloe snapped.
Sam turned to her with a confused frown. "What haven't you told me?"
"It's not important," Chloe responded softly. "We just need to get you guys out of here."
"Not important?" Max laughed darkly. "We're in Cold Oak because thanks to the spirit problems, there's going to no one around for miles to interfere with what's going to happen."
"What is going to happen?" Andy wanted to know, his voice unsteady.
"You want to know why you could touch her and not kill her like you did your girlfriend, Lily?" Max turned to the blonde next to Andy. "I'll explain. Your girlfriend was human. She's not." He turned back to Chloe. "Alice explained it to me a very long time ago. Something happened a long time ago, something which caused infernal energies and magics to be trapped on earth. That energy is the most powerful and deadly thing in the world. Possession of it would make you a god amongst insects." He motioned to Chloe. "And 'that girl' is those energies in human form."
Chloe closed her eyes and lowered her head.
Sam stared at her in horror.
"We're here because we're the only people alive in the world who have been changed by Azazel, who have been evolved enough to actually use her." Max motioned to her. "I've tapped into that power, for a second, and it was amazing. It was terrifying but so… so…"
"If you don't stop talking now I'm going to kill you myself," Sam whispered, his voice so serious it was scary.
"Is it true?" Lily asked Chloe softly. "You're not human?"
The blonde with the buzzed hair glanced up at Lily and nodded. "Yes, it's true."
Suddenly Buffy gasped as the vision left her back in her seat, feeling nauseas and painful.
"Buffy? Buffy!" Giles was there. "are you with me?"
"Yeah, I think so." She still clutched at her head. "I saw Chloe, Giles. Sam was with her… as well as Max and Andy."
"That bodes ominously," Giles whispered. "What else did you see?"
"They said they were in some place called Cold Oak that's apparently haunted by ghosts and hellhounds. They say Azazel took them there." She looked up at Giles. "Max said something…"
Giles must've read her raw emotions on her face because his voice was calm and careful. "What is it, Buffy?"
"Chloe's the hellmouth in human form."
Giles' eyes widened as he collapsed onto the seat next to her. He pulled off his glasses and just stared blankly ahead of him. "That—that should be impos—but it—." He let out a deep breath and put back on his glasses. "We will deal with things one at a time." He turned to Buffy. "What's important now is that we know where they are. We have to get them out of there. Whatever Azazel is planning on doing he's going to do it in Cold Oak. The supernatural energy that is in that place is a perfect feeding ground for spells of the darkest kind."
"What's he going to do to them?" Buffy whispered as her hands fell from her head and hit the table in front of her.
"I don't know." Giles placed his hand on one of hers. "But we're not going to give him the chance to do it."
And that was when Buffy received the phone call from Dean about Sam's kidnapping.
They were looking for iron, silver, salt, any sort of weapon. It'd taken the others some time to think of salt as a weapon but they were quick understudies. Chloe was glad for the silence, for the fact that no one was really talking to anyone. She didn't want to talk, didn't want to elaborate on Max's revelation hat she wasn't human, wasn't even supposed to be in solid form. It was more than obvious that it'd hurt Sam to find out this way, and he was keeping to the side with Andy, but there was nothing she could do about that now. No.
"Salt!" Andy yelled as he held up two bags triumphantly.
Jake nodded his approval as he swung into his own palm the iron bar he'd ripped off of one of the machines they'd passed earlier on. His strength had been shocking, and when he'd noticed all the eyes on him he'd admitted that he'd realized his super strength when, in Afghanistan, a vehicle had flipped on a bad road and pinned one of his friends beneath. Jake had lifted it off of him as if it was nothing. Everybody had choked it up to a fluke adrenaline thing, and so had he, until he realized the super strength was there to stay.
"So you said this Ava girl saw someone hung and skinned?" Bette made up her nose. "If so I'm not freaking leaving your side, because you don't remember me in that vision so I'm probably the jackass on the rope."
Chloe instinctively grabbed Bette's hand and held it tightly. "No. You won't be." She glanced around at the others looking for things in the building. "None of you will."
"Cleveland." Cordelia Chase made up her nose in disgust as she glanced around her. "You know, I never got a mouth to hell being in California. But Cleveland? I can totally see it."
"How did my son get with such a snob?" John Winchester wanted to know with a shake of his head.
"Have you actually looked at me?" She asked in genuine confusion. "I'm gorgeous."
John really didn't know what to say to that.
Cordelia let a sigh escape her glossed lips as she turned towards the symbol he was carving into the ground. "I love him, you know. He doesn't deserve me." And yet she didn't sound like she truly believed that he didn't deserve her, more like she was used to saying shit like that and it came out as second nature. "And that's not just the hex you have on me talking."
John didn't like to think about that. He didn't want to think of it as him controlling this girl's will so that she would want to do what he wanted to do - that she'd give up her life willingly. He thought of it as him doing what had to be done - of him making the hard choices - to free his family from a curse which had destroyed the ones that they loved. He was saving his sons.
The ends justified the means. It had to.
"I would do this even if you didn't have the hex on me." Cordelia sat down next to the book he was copying the diagram from.
"Yeah, right," he muttered.
"It's okay that you don't believe me," Cordelia informed him softly. "Someone who's never truly loved someone else wouldn't get it."
He flinched and looked up at her. "I have loved someone else!"
"No. You haven't." Her brown gaze caught and held his. The certainty in her voice, in her countenance, humbled, scared, and chastised him.
He hated feeling that, and so he concentrated on what he was doing. "All that matters is that you're going to save Dean."
Cordelia didn't answer, she merely stared at the sigil silently.
They'd made sure the building was completely blocked up before they'd lined the doors and windows with salt. Considering this was supposed to be the most haunted place in America it was weird, and worrisome, that they had yet to see one ghost. What was going on? Where were they? Why weren't they trying to get in at them?
Sam shifted his weight, tried to get comfortable in the room the group had shacked up in - safety in numbers. He glanced over at Chloe, who was seated between Bette and Lily. She was visibly struggling to stay awake, closing her eyes every so often. Bette wasn't any better. Both girls looked exhausted, ragged, and itchy for some reason.
He wanted to talk to her so badly, not only about what Max had said about her, but about what had happened to her. Something bad had obviously happened, to both her and Bette. And yet he knew this wasn't the time for it. They needed to sleep through the night and then try to make it out of the woods the next day. Once they were free, and they could have a moment to themselves, he'd take her aside and get her to talk.
Right now the only thing that was important was getting everyone out alive and in one piece.
Movement behind Chloe caught Sam's attention, and his eyes widened as he jolted up when he saw a yellow eyed demon. "Chloe! Behind you!"
Chloe didn't react. No one did.
"Howdy, Sam." The demon, who could only be Azazel, smirked.
"I'm dreaming," Sam realized.
"What do you say you and I take a little walk?" Azazel motioned towards the door, which in his dream was unlocked and open.
Sending, Sam followed the demon outside. He stared at the demon and tried to figure out what his angle was. Why approach Sam like this? What did Azazel want? Because he obviously wanted something.
"You're awfully quiet, Sam," Azazel noted with a hint of amusement in his tone. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
"I'm gong to tear you to shreds," he replied immediately. "I sear to—."
Azazel chuckled, obviously far from scared. "When you wake up, tiger, you give it your best shot."
"Where's my brother?"
"Quit worrying about Dean, him and the vampire are fine." Azazel raised an eyebrow. "They're so fine they decided to continue on to Cleveland to find his girlfriend instead of looking for you. So I would take a page out of his page and worry more about you and your girlfriend."
"Why? You trying to kill us?" Because he was being really inefficient if that was the case.
"I'm trying to help you," Azazel replied. "THat's why we're talking. You're the one who I'm rooting for."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Sam asked in utter confusion.
"Welcome to the Miss America pageant!" Azazel threw his hands up as the ghost town suddenly became a pageant platform, with cheesy music and spotlight included. In fact, that spotlight was shining down right on Sam. "Why do you think you're here? This is a competition. There can only be one winner."
"What are you talking about?" Sam moved closer. "Why are we here?"
"Why do you think I made Special Children, Sam?" Azazel wanted to know.
"I don't know." Sam hated to admit that. "Why did you make Special Children?"
"Because something is going to happen, something horrible which will destroy this world," Azazel responded immediately, his previous amusement gone. "I happen to like this world. It's much better than the one I come from, I do not plan on having to go there ever again. But to keep that from happening, to stop the end of this world and life as we know it, I needed her, and I need someone Special." He shrugged. "And to be honest, you're my favorite. You've managed to forge a connection organically, that gives you dibs in my books."
"What is this all about?" He asked. "What's coming?"
"It doesn't matter, not if this goes according to plan," Azazel replied vaguely before he snapped his fingers together.
Sam jolted out of his dream and his eyes met Chloe's the second she jolted up unsteadily to her feet. "What is it?"
"I don't know." She gripped at her chest, which heaved with her deep breasts. "But something very bad is happening right now."
It was nightfall by the time they arrived in Cleveland. Dean drove like a demon, following Angel's directions towards the hellmouth, but the closer they got the directions were left behind. There was no need for them. The earth shook and the birds took to the air, and a large green light shone into the heavens. Even without a magical bone in his body, Dean knew that something was happening, that if he didn't hurry it would be too late. Every couple of minutes the tremors grew harder and harder, which made it increasingly difficult to stay on the road, but he only veered off of the road when he realized the direction towards the hellmouth was veered away.
As he drew nearer blast of something stalled his car, and the shock floored him as they came to a grinding stop. What the hell had that been? And why had it killed their vehicle.
"We need to get out," Angel hissed as he flung open his door.
Dean was already out and headed towards the trunk, which he opened. He lifted the false bottom and grabbed the first weapon he could find before taking off like a bat out of hell towards the direction of the tremors and the light. The closer he got he realized the hair on his arms stood on end as his skin goosed, but he ignored these warnings signs as he pressed on.
And then he broke through the of the Cleveland Metroparks he skidded to a stop in horror at what he saw.
A large, complicated sigil was carved into the ground, and the light shooting into the sky was coming from it. And there, standing with a blade to Cordelia's throat, was his father.
"What are you doing here?" John Winchester asked, his back to the glowing sigil over the rumbling earth.
"Dad, you can't do this!" Dean held his hands up, not wanting to scare the man into doing anything rash.
"This is the only way to save you," his father whispered hoarsely. "Do you really think I want to do this? I don't! But I have to protect you! If I don't do this, if Cordelia doesn't - you're going to die! Do you understand? You'll die!"
"I don't care!" Dean snapped.
"I do!" John yelled back.
"Mr Winchester, there has to be another way to end your family's curse." Angel tried to take a step towards him but stopped when John pressed the knife's blade harder against Cordelia's throat. "Sir, you do not want to do this."
"No I don't," John agreed. "But I have to."
"Cordy?" Dean's gaze caught those of the woman he loved, and immediately he knew something was wrong with her. Her pupils were blown and her gaze distant, disoriented. It was as if she was looking at him but not registering that he was there. "What did you do to her?"
"It's not important," John hedged.
"It looks like some sort of a sedation spell," Angel mumbled as he eyed Cordelia. "I've seen it used before. There are many different types, some make their subjects not only docile, but suggestible."
In the blink of an eye John yanked out a gun and held it out towards Angel. "Wooden bullets, vampire. I'm aiming straight for your heart."
Angel's brown eyes caught Dean's hazels.
Dean let out a shaky breath as he turned to face his father once more. "I've never asked you for anything in my life." He could hear the desperation in his own voice and hated it. "But please, I'm begging you, don't do this to me."
John Winchester stared into his eldest son's face and a single tear rolled down his cheek. "I'm sorry." A shot rang through the air and drove Angel backwards to the ground.
"No!" Dean looked up from a gasping, shot, Angel. "Dad! Don't do this!" He didn't realize he could move that quickly, it almost seemed inhuman as he withdrew the gun he'd had hidden behind the waist of his pants and shot his father in the hand.
Crying out in pain, John dropped the knife and staggered backwards.
Dean charged him, knocking him to the ground as they wrestled.
"Don't fight this!" John yelled. "You have to be strong! Dean!"
"Shut up!" Dean's fist met his father's face, and while his knuckles pained him he couldn't stop himself from doing it over and over again.
"Dean! Stop it!"
That voice, her voice, was the only thing that stayed his last blow. Pinning his father to the ground with his own body, one hand gripped at John's shirt and the other curled, ready to land another blow, Dean turned towards Cordelia to find her standing with her back to the glowing, infernal sigil, and knife in hand. Dean's eyes widened as he forgot all about his father, and in seconds he was on his feet. "Baby, what are you—?"
It was at that moment, with her hazel eyes on his own, that Cordelia Chase shoved the knife's blade into her own chest.
TBC