A/N – As promised, another chapter. So, without further ado, I bring you chapter 8!
Chapter Song: Awake My Soul by Mumford & Sons
In these bodies we will live, in these bodies we will die. Where you invest your love, you invest your life.
Chapter 8
The three descended the stairs, quickly evading Bobby's orneriness. Bella passed the Impala and opened the door to her cruiser. Dean narrowed his eyes and let out a huff before making his way over to her. He didn't want her to ride with them, but he knew he didn't have a choice. Bella lowered herself into the front seat, but as she was about to pull the door shut, Dean gripped the frame and held it open, poking his head into the driver's side.
"What are you doing?" he asked.
Bella's hands tightened on the steering wheel, her knuckles white. Gritting her teeth, she said, "I'd be on the road already if some ass with an alpha complex didn't get in my way."
Dean let out a low chuckle and shook his head, the corners of his lips twisting into the slightest smirk. "You think you can be a hunter, huh?"
Glaring, Bella answered, "I know I can."
Pursing his lips, Dean said, "Well, looks like you didn't think things through too much. Part of being a hunter is staying under the radar, getting in and getting out unnoticed."
Bella raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Like you and Sam did back in Forks?"
Dean cleared his throat. "My point is, rolling up in a cruiser isn't going to work on this case. We're going there to see what was stolen and why. An out of town cop investigating a robbery at a storage unit is going to raise flags. Just trust me on this."
"Fine." Bella pulled her keys out of the ignition and Dean backed away to let her out of the car.
Dean stalked over to his car and gave Sam a what the fuck look as he got out of the car. "Dude, what are you doing?"
Sam rubbed the back of his neck. "I'm not feeling to well. I'm sure you and Bella can handle it on your own."
Staring him down, his voice gruff, Dean said, "You look fine to me."
Bella cautiously eyed the brothers from where she stood behind the Impala. She was sure Sam meant well. Based on the few conversations they'd shared and her observations, she could tell the younger Winchester spent a lot of time pacifying the people around him. He might have thought he was helping, but this little stunt was going to end in disaster.
Rushing over to the passenger side, Dean stood in front of Sam and got in his face. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "I know what you're trying to do. It's not going to work so just cut the crap and get in."
Looking over his shoulder, Sam was met with Bella's curious stare. He brought his fist to his mouth and forced a cough before turning back around. Hunching over, he leaned in toward Dean and spoke low. "Whatever issues you have with Bella, you need to work them out...now. She's not going anywhere, Dean, and honestly, I don't think you want her to. This will be good for both of you."
Scowling, Dean walked around the front of the car and plopped down in front of the wheel. He leaned over the passenger side, where the window was open, and said, "You're wrong, Sammy."
Bella hesitated for a moment and then walked toward the Impala. "Everything alright?" she asked Sam with a pensive look. She knew damn well things weren't alright, and she wanted to curse him for leaving her with an even more than usual disgruntled Dean.
His lips pressed in a thin line. "Yeah, just not up for the trip to Buffalo." He faked another cough. "I'm sure you can handle it."
Bella narrowed her eyes. "You're putting a lot of faith in someone you hardly know."
Sam tried to bite back the smirk and remained silent. He was convinced he knew both Dean and Bella better than they knew themselves. They were made for each other; even Bobby could see it. All he needed was for Bella to show Dean he had something worth living for. It stung a bit to know that he wasn't enough for Dean to keep fighting, that Dean was just willing to give up and leave Sam all alone. But Sam also knew that Dean had never been in love. Sam's heart still ached for Jessica. If she was still alive, there was nothing he wouldn't do for her. If his brother knew that kind of love, there was no doubt in his mind that he'd claw his way out of Hell to be with Bella. The trick was getting both of them to realize it.
He shoved his hands in his pockets and smiled. "Good luck."
Shaking her head, Bella open the passenger door and got in. Dean didn't even look over to her. Instead, he started the car up and revved the engine to prove a point. Sam jumped slightly from the roar and then chuckled. The tires screeched and kicked up rocks as Dean peeled away.
They drove down the road in silence for a few minutes. When they hit the interstate, Dead started fiddling with the radio but no stations came in clear enough. The only thing he could get was Mariachi music and Evangelist talk radio.
Bella smirked. "A car this nice, you should really invest in a better stereo."
Dean tossed her an icy glare. "Baby's fine just the way she is." He lowered his eyes to the floorboard. "I've got some cassette tapes down by your feet."
She bent over to pick them up. Her tight, white T-shirt riding up with her jacket to show a little sliver of creamy skin and the indent of her lower back. Dean licked his lips, thinking about tracing those dimples with his tongue. He quickly shook those thoughts away and diverted his eyes back on the road where they belonged.
Bella hefted the old shoe box up on her lap and started laughing. "You really gotta update your cassette tape collection."
Dean faced her, hurt crossing his features. "Why?" His voice sounded genuinely confused.
Smiling as she shuffled through the tapes, she said, "Well, for one, they're cassette tapes. And two, Black Sabbath?" She held up the tape and then tossed it back in the box and picked up another. "Motorhead?" She crinkled her nose and threw that one in and grabbed another. "Metallica?" She turned to him, her eyebrows raised. "It's like the greatest hits of mullet rock!"
Dean snatched the tape away from her and fumbled with it before shoving it into the tape deck. Metallica's Fade to Black began to filter through the speakers. "House rules, Bella. Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts her cakehole."
"Look, I'm not thrilled about this road trip either, but you don't have to be rude. We might as well make the most of it. So instead of acting like the asshole that you are, why don't we take the time to get to know each other?"
She couldn't believe the words that had come out of her mouth. Did she really want to get to know Dean Winchester? A part of her thought she already had him pegged, but another part of her, a part that was growing with every second she spent near him, was afraid to get to know him because she knew he was just like her and there were just some things she wasn't willing to remember.
He turned up the volume and shouted back, "Sorry. I can't hear you. The music's too loud."
~o~
A handful of pit stops for gas and to relieve themselves, and still no more was said between them. Almost eight hours in the car and the only thing Dean had asked was "Burgers or Mexican?" The ride gave Bella time to think about things. What had she got herself into? Being a hunter might have been in her blood but was it what she really wanted? Or did she just want to prove Dean wrong? She had a job waiting for her that would keep her busy. There really was no reason for her to take up this lifestyle. But something she had overheard while she was unconscious nagged at her. It was foggy and she only had bits and pieces, but Casey had made it sound like Dean was going to die...and soon. The thing that disturbed her the most, the one part she kept playing over and over in her mind until it twisted in her gut was that not only did Dean know he was going to die, he welcomed it.
She didn't owe anything to Dean Winchester. The relationship his father had with Charlie had nothing to do with her. Why should she care what happened to him? But she did and that aggravated her to no end.
With four hours until they reached their destination, Bella finally decided to break the silence.
"So does everyone know you're dying, or are you just planning to spring that on them last minute?" Her tone was bitter and Dean couldn't decipher if it was just because she was a bitch or maybe she was mad at the prospect of him ceasing to exist. He'd be lying if it didn't cause a little twinge in his heart.
His jaw tensed as he stared at the road in front of him for a long moment. "I don't know what you're talking about."
Bella turned in her seat and the movement caused Dean to look her way. "It was something Casey said in the basement...about you having a one way ticket to Hell. What did she mean by that?"
"Nothing, Bella!" he snapped.
She raised an eyebrow at him in challenge. "If it's nothing, then why are you getting so upset? What did you do, Dean?"
"It's none of your business."
"Obviously it is!" She balled her hands into fists. "Just tell me. I won't tell anyone."
Dean swallowed thickly, his eyes hardened. "It doesn't matter. They already know."
Softening her voice, she asked, "Know what?"
Slowly tearing his eyes from the road, he looked at Bella. They were so clear and green, Bella's breath caught in her throat. It was the first time she really saw Dean. His guard was down. The asshole front she had been accustomed to fell away and revealed the scared little boy inside.
"I sold my soul to save Sam. He deserves to live more than I do."
His words broke her heart and she swallowed back the lump in her throat. She knew exactly what it was like to feel as if dying was the answer. Hadn't she asked Edward to turn her after what had happened in Phoenix? And hadn't she wanted to die after Edward left her because it was the only thing that could take away the pain? Dying was easy. It was living that was hard, and no one understood that more than Bella. But what could have happened to this broken man in front of her to make him think he didn't deserve to live?
"That's not true," she whispered.
"You don't know anything about me or the things I've done, Bella. Trust me, the world's a better place without me in it."
You're better off without me, was what he wanted to say, but those words just wouldn't come because there was a part to Dean Winchester that yearned for Bella. Not just her body, which his clearly responded to, but her soul. She was everything he wanted because she was everything he wasn't: pure, strong, brave, beautiful, and loved. She was so loved, by Charlie, by her mom, and if he was being honest he loved her too. It wasn't like he had fallen in love with her over night. It started out as more of an infatuation, kind of like taking a peek at how the other half lived. The pictures, her life away from the supernatural, it was what he had always wished for. Eventually, as Bella got older and Dean's life sucked more and more, it turned into a fierce need to protect. To protect her, to protect that normal life. Then he met her and knew it was all over. The woman she had become, the way he built her up in his head actually fell short. How could he not love her? Now more than ever he was determined to give her the life she deserved and that didn't include hunting or him. Why on Earth would she willingly condemn herself to this lonely life? Maybe Bella wasn't as perfect as he thought. Maybe she was just as broken as he was. The thought twisted his stomach in knots.
When they reached the storage facility, Dean slowly turned the car off, trying not to alert their presence to anyone. It was almost dawn and he had hoped they could get in and out under the cover of night. An easy job without any risk to Bella's safety. He got out of the car and Bella followed him toward the elevator. Pressing the button for the third floor, Dean shook his head and laughed darkly.
The doors closed and Bella looked at him. "What?"
"My dad. It's like I hardly know the guy. I've spent my whole life with him, doing this...and still the guy's got his secrets." He handed Bella a flashlight and turned on his own.
The elevator opened when they reached their floor. They found the unit and Dean took a key out of his back pocket and unlocked the door. Bella pulled her weapon and held the flashlight under it, like she was shown in the Academy.
Looking over his shoulder, Dean chuckled. "You don't need that here, sweetheart. Forty-fives don't work on demons." He shined his light on the ground, illuminating the small storage room and revealing a devils trap. He smirked. "No demons allowed."
Something glistening under the light caught Bella's eye. She bent down and ran two of her fingers across the floor. Pulling them away, she looked up at Dean slightly worried. "Blood."
Dean shined his flashlight along the ground to get a better look. The floor was covered in bloody footprints. He knelt down and lifted up an almost invisible wire.
"Tripwire," Bella gasped. She followed the line across the room to where it was attached to a shotgun hidden in the skull of an animal. "Whoever broke in here got tagged."
Walking around the room, inspecting all of the contents, Dean stumbled upon more footprints. "I got two sets of boot treads here. Looks like a two-man job, and our friend with the buckshot in him looks like he kept walking."
Bella got up and flashed her light deeper into the unit. A chain on a door in the back reflected the light. She walked closer to the door and noticed the chain had been cut. "Dean?" she called.
He came to meet her and took in the door. Moving her behind him in a protective gesture, he opened the door. The room was filled with guns, land mines, and plenty of stuff that could have been taken. Instead, there were boxes lined on a shelf with ancient symbols spray-painted on them with one missing.
"Guess they knew exactly what they were looking for."
Dean paled when he saw the empty spot. "See these symbols...it's binding magic. They're curse boxes. This must be Dad's toxic waste dump."
Furrowing her brows, Bella asked, "What does that even mean?"
"They're supposed to keep the evil mojo contained. Sorta like Pandora's box."
Bella grimaced. "What are the chances they didn't open it?"
E/N – What do we think about their little heart to heart in the car? Are we getting somewhere? And what say you about Dean's feelings for Bella? Looks like he finally admitted it to himself.
