Author's Note: Hi guys! I'm so so so so SO sorry about the long-waited update. School has been hectic and I've been typing as much as I could and whenever I had the inspiration to do so. I hope this chapter was worth the wait! I thank you all for being so patient with me and hope that the next chapter won't take as long for me to get done! I will try to divide my time evenly with school and writing as much as I can. Once again thanks ya'll! You are some lovely followers and favoriters! :)
"Hol, hurry up in there will ya? We don't got all day!" Dean yells from outside the bathroom. The whirr of hairdryers and chatter of people buzz on the other side of the door.
"Just a minute!" I shout back as the clunking of his boots fade away.
I sigh as I look at myself in the mirror with the tacky decor lighting up the room in a dim setting. I stare at my short hair resting right below my collarbone, missing the long locks that use to fall down my back. The pieces are cut to frame around my face, appealing my best features and the new black color complimenting my grey eyes.
I, for once, feel beautiful ˗ a sharp contrast to my usual "whatever" sentimentality towards my appearance. Who knew a different haircut and some hair dye could change how I looked entirely?
Ever since the I woke up in the woods, I always tried my best to be like everyone else. To forget that dreadful night and live an ordinary life. As I learned to blend into the background, I became one to never take risks. It displayed through my choices of career and clothing, but it was something I was comfortable with. With this "new" me, I'm not so sure if I can grow accustomed to the change, but I guess that if I had to go through with the whole process, I might as well make it worthwhile.
I fuss with my hair, pushing my shorter bangs this way and that before taking a step away from the mirror. I blow out an uneasy breath and brace myself for Dean's reaction. If he was going to be a dick about this then there was no way in hell I would give him the satisfaction of seeing me upset by it.
I slowly walk out of the bathroom and into the busy salon. Dean is sitting away from the crowd flipping through some car magazine that must have been put there for men in his situation. As I walk to him, I notice many of the women in the joint have their eyes on him in interest.
Sometimes when he wasn't being a jackass, I couldn't help, but stare either. Yet, they didn't know Dean like I did. A total dick wrapped up in ego for certain, but I knew what he was really hiding behind that charming exterior. It was a broken man dying to get out.
As soon as I close the distance between us, I clear my throat loudly to announce my presence. Once he feels my stare, he finally looks up to see me.
"Holly?" He stares at me quizzically as I nod my head. "Huh." His hands slightly lowering the magazine he was browsing into his lap.
"What?" I ask, suddenly feeling self-conscious.
"I dunno, it's just-" he takes a brief pause to gather his words, "you look like you could be related to one of those dick-headed angels...but to be honest with you, I liked the brunette better." He quickly shrugs and glances back down at his magazine again.
I roll my eyes at him despite his backhanded compliment at comparing me to a celestial being. "Whatever. As long as I look different we're in the clear, right?" I raise an eyebrow at him.
"Actually…"
"What now?" I complain, tapping my foot impatiently on the tile floor.
"Well, during your week long siesta, Sam and I scoped the area around your apartment and the place is crawling with demons." He explains, while continuing to flip through the glossy covered pages. "And going all code red for a wardrobe malfunction wasn't in question so, you're going to need some new gear. And also, because what you're wearing right now is just plain wrong." He stares at my outfit with judgmental eyes as to emphasize his point. "If you are with us, you got to dress like us." He smirks, slapping down his magazine on the table.
"Oh, come on!" I whine as I follow him towards the exit.
"It's all part of maintaining an image. Trust me." He quips, starting up the Impala and driving to the nearest clothing store.
"Now, that's more like it!" Dean eyes my new attire in the mirror appreciatively, obviously satisfied with his work.
I stare at my reflection. My body adorning a flattering pair of skinny jeans, a black V-neck shirt, a nice burgundy colored leather jacket, and a pair of black combat boots to finish the look off.
"Am I finally a Winchester yet?" I comment sarcastically, but appreciate how the ensemble complimented my new hair.
"You got hunter written all over you, sweet heart. Welcome to the business." He places an arm around my shoulder proudly.
"I feel like you're enjoying this whole makeover thing a lot more than me." I lightly tease, watching him from the view of the mirror.
"Bite me." He responds, slipping his arm off my shoulders. "Anything is better than staying locked up at Bobby's with my nose in books all day. That was always more of Sammy's kind of thing. Me, I'm more of a go-getter." He proclaims with a wink. He grabs the hunting-approved clothes and strolls towards the cashier.
"Not that I'm trying to pry or anything, but how in the hell are you going to pay for all of that?" I ask as he pulls out his wallet. "I know hunting probably isn't the best way to receive a well-earned income…"
"Let's just say Sammy and I take what we can to get by." He smirks arrogantly, flashing the six different credit cards embedded in his wallet.
"Dean! That is fraud!" I shout loudly, catching a few bystander's attention. My face turns bright red from my outburst and I wave them off before speaking much quieter. "You know you can go to jail for that you jackass!"
"Do you want us to get arrested?" He pulls me aside and ignores all the stares that are still on us. "Look, Sam and I don't ask for anything from the people we help, but we take what we need. We can't keep saving them if we got no means of living." He explains, his voice low and collected. "Besides, we only take from those who can afford it so, chill." He glares at me shortly before walking the rest of the way to the cashier.
I feel guilt rush through me as I watch him pay. Dean flirts up the cashier, his face completely masked of the anger I saw a few moments ago cracking through the surface. Any trace of emotion completely hidden.
I practically called him a criminal when he hardly deserved it. What right did I have to judge when he and Sam have done nothing, but help me since the very beginning? They actually deserved more than a couple sleazy motels to stay in for their troubles.
Dean storms past me once the clothes are paid for, not waiting for me at the door. He jumps in the car and revs the engine once I make it outside, but thankfully makes no move to leave me behind. I slowly walk to the passenger side and take a shy pause before entering. As soon as my door closes shut, Dean reverses and high-tails out of the parking lot, barely missing an unsuspecting car pulling out of their own spot.
"Dean..." I sigh, seeing his hands slightly clench the steering wheel tighter. "Look, I'm sorry for calling you out back there. I was out of line. It was wrong and stupid. You didn't deserve that. I, of all people, should know." My eyes stray on the scenery passing by us as the silence lengthens.
"No." He finally speaks. "I shouldn't expect you to know how my life has been ever since I was a kid. It's not fair for me to get all pissed off about something you don't really know much about." He states, his eyes fastening on the road ahead of him. "When my dad was gone on hunts, I was left to take care of Sam. We were only a couple of kids." He begins. "We didn't really have him around to behave otherwise so, I became more of a parent to Sammy than my dad ever was. I wasn't the best kid to look up to. I stole. I left him on his own sometimes to go hang out at some diner or nearby arcade. I was selfish, but hell, what kid isn't?" He claims mockingly. "Most of the time we had to scavenge for food, but stealing was just easier. We practically grew up on junk food and sketchy motels. It wasn't the best childhood, but I'm not mad about how we turned out."
"You know, the both of you could have easily grown up to be the next Bonnie and Clyde duo, but didn't. Sam grew up to be a great guy. I think you're giving yourself less credit than you're giving." I glance at him for a brief moment before looking outside the window once more. "Really Dean, you and Sam are much better than you think. Hell, better than most people I've met. Especially, since you have to deal with me. Lost girl and all." I nudge his arm playfully.
"Go on." He replies, his lips gracing a smirk as I lightly punch his arm. "You know…I'm hell of a lot more curious about who you'd think would make a better Bonnie - me or Sam?"
"Good question." I hum slyly. "I'll get back to you on that."
The car is quiet for a while as Dean continues driving. It's almost peaceful as we zoom down the highway until the blaring of his phone interrupts the blissful silence. He quickly slips his phone out of his pocket and accepts the call without swerving the car an inch off the road. "Hey, what's up?" He answers. "Just finished making the new and improved Holly." He throws a mocking side glance in my direction and I stick my tongue out at him in return. I hear a slight buzz of a voice on the other end of the phone and see Dean's face grimace. "Oh, shut up. I know what I was doing." He rolls his eyes. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Is there any other reason you are calling me other than to annoy the hell out of me?" He grumbles as the voice buzzes again. "Alright, got it. See you in ten." He replies before pulling the phone away from his ear and sliding it back into his front jean pocket.
"Was that Sam?" I question as he reaches towards the radio dial and tunes in to an old rock station.
"Yeah. Long story short, Castiel is back from cloudy paradise and needs to speak to all of us ASAP."
"Well, we better get going then before Mr. Tax Collector busts a vein." I insist, reaching for the dial to turn the volume down to a less painful setting.
"Hey, no touching the dial." He orders. "Driver picks the music, capiche?"
"It doesn't have to be rock-concert loud in here. I still need to use these you know." I deliberately plug my fingers into my ears to protect my pounding ear drums from being overworked.
"This is child's play compared to how loud I usually like it. So, get used to it. Sammy did." He sneers as he accelerates on the gas.
When we finally pull up to the house, we see Sam, Bobby, and Castiel outside in a heated argument with one another. Dean swiftly brings the car to a halt and we both jump out to stop the dispute from turning into anything more serious.
"Hey, hey!" Dean runs up to them. "Cut it out!" He yells, pushing them apart. "What the hell is going on?"
I freeze in my tracks as the angel glares at me with cold eyes. "Her."
"This again? Cas, we know she isn't your BFF, but you don't need to get your holy panties in a twist about it." Dean sighs. "Give it a rest man. She's sticking with us because she needs help. You of all people should know that is kinda what we do."
"You didn't tell them didn't you?" Castiel ignores Dean completely, his voice fierce as he glowers at me. "About what the demon and Rebecca told you?"
My heart races at the angel's menacing tone, making the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Guess the cat was out of the bag. "I-I didn't think it was important. I'm not about to drag anyone else into my mess, I'll deal with it on my own." I stutter out pathetically.
"But you have dragged them into your mess. Now, we have to deal with it." He fumes, his blue irises as sharp as ice. "She hasn't told you about what happened before we came to save her, has she?" He turns to the others as they watch us in confusion. Sam, Dean, and Bobby glance at me questioningly as I give Castiel the dirtiest look I could muster. I wanted to do this on my time, but here comes Mr. Hot-Headed-Angel-of-the-Lord ruining all of that.
"Holly, what in the holy hell is he yabberin' about?" Bobby asks.
I take a breathe to gain my bearings before staring at each of them individually . My gaze finishes on Dean and the look of mistrust on his face only makes me feel worse.
"Guys look." I close my eyes, shaking my head incredulously. "I know that keeping things from you is far from helping the situation – as we all know – but what more do you want me to say?" I plead. "Rebecca told me that I'm some key to ending the second apocalypse and not soon afterward a blade went through her chest. According to the demons, what she knew about me was the very reason she died. Can you see why I would be unwilling to share when it got a person I loved killed right in front of me? I can't even tap into my memories because the Big Man himself didn't want anyone else to know what I know. I'm practically some freak from the holy vortex with no instruction manual. There's nothing that I could tell you that would even be useful to begin with."
I see Cas take an aggressive step towards me until Sam interrupts his advance by placing a hand on his shoulder. "Cas…wait. I got this." He reassures him and Castiel instantly backs off. "Holly, we need to know what you're going through." He slowly walks towards me, his face empathetic. "We can't help if you keep things like this locked up."
"But I didn't even want any of this!" I cry frantically, my emotions getting the best of me. "I get that I didn't start out so normal, but I finally had a life. My job at the diner, my small apartment, and my crappy car isn't the typical dream for most people my age, but it was mine." I bubble with hysteria. "That's all I wanted and now I have to save the world? I can't save the world. I can't be right person for the job! I don't even know who I really am yet in all of this and they expect me to just be the savior of the planet!?" I huff in frustration. "And what if you guys get hurt because of me? I-I would never forgive myself..."
"Holly, this isn't just about us anymore. This is something bigger." Dean speaks up, his voice coarse. "If there is supposed to be another damn apocalypse then that means everyone on this planet, right now, will die unless we fix it. Look, I know how you feel, seriously I do. I was in the same boat a few years ago, almost down to the tea. And it sucked, but we need to finally end this. Maybe the world will stop trying to destroy itself for a while after we gank the son of the bitch whose starting things up again."
"They're right Holly." Bobby adds. "We have to stop all these damn secrets. They aren't helping anyone. They're only causin' more trouble."
I stare at them in defeat, the stress weighing down on my shoulders. "But how? How can we be the only ones to stop it?"
"Well, that's where I step in." Castiel states coolly, his demeanor less intense than it was moments ago. "I've decided to help you after all."
"And why would you do that?" I roll my eyes. "To become a new addition to Charlie's Angels? You never wanted to help me before. Why now?"
"I don't know what that reference means exactly" he huffs, "but when I was in the garrison I have found out vital information. I believe it will give us an advantage." He pledges. "It is the reason why I came here most significantly. You aren't just a part of God Holly…" He starts, staring at me attentively. "You are one of the trinity. The thing that gives all the humans in this world: life and purpose. You are the Holy Spirit."
Author's Endnote: Whew, so I had trouble trying to make it as dramatic as I can for you, but I think the big reveal is enough to stun people. I hope I surprised you guys! I've been thinking about this concept for a long while and I'm so happy that I'm finally making it come to life! Please leave a review so, I can see what you guys think! I would love feedback! :) Happy Memorial day for all you Americans and I hope the rest of you from other countries have a fantastic day! :)