A/N: BLEH While writing this one I had to deal with our newly adopted cat Amber, who thought the best place for her was my lap, which so happened to be where my LAPtop was. So I lost the whole bloody chapter a few dozen times and had to convince her my dogs weren't any threat, they're nearlly toothless old men 16 and 9 year old dogs... really big threat to pussy cats anymore. Anyway I'm done bitching and Ya'll wanna read the chapter more anyway. Love ya and thanksSarah
Chapter Six
Six multilevel buildings later Autumn and the boys were dead on their feet. John trailed the trio sniffing everything, but his tail no longer wagged at their soft words. It was hard to think about heading back to the motel to turn in for the night but after a week of rare-stop driving they were already worn out, then spending what little they had left of the day looking for Athena in abandoned, burnt out, or otherwise minimal traffic buildings they were all dead on their feet. Not that dead was a word any of them were willing to use.
"This time tomorrow, if she isn't back I'm calling Dad." Autumn said easing around a large crate in a damn near empty warehouse. She lowered her gun upon seeing a whole hell of a lot of nothing.
"Okay." Dean said. Neither of the Winchesters were going to argue with her. She was twitchy between buildings and mechanical in them, she'd stopped talking directly to them dropping off into ranting to herself in low mumbles they could hardly make out. John nosed her leg and a faint smile appeared on her lips. "Why don't you head back to the motel and get some rest?"
"We stick together." she said determinedly. Sam cast them both a weary look. Dean didn't like his brother's state any better than Autumn's. Autumn was shutting down, Sam was getting cranked up. Any slightly suspicious person was liable to get filled with rocksalt or silver bullets or whatever Sam had loaded his gun with before anyone could stop him.
"She's right. You know what the last shifter did." Sam reminded him. Like Dean could actually forget, that thing had driven his car! They all, dog included, stepped closer to each other as if sharing the same thought about being impersonated.
"Impersonation is the highest form of flattery right?" Autumn asked, a heartless attempt and sounding normal.
"We'll all call it a night then." Dean ignored her comment. Both of his companions turned angry glares on him.
"And leave her to" Sam didn't finish his question.
"Sammy, it won't hurt her. It still needs her."
"It won't kill her." Autumn corrected him. "You can hurt something a lot before it loses it's usefulness." Dean saw the rest of the statement in her eyes 'I'm living testament to that.'
"Aut, she's fine." Autumn tucked her gun inside her jacket and started for the door they'd entered through.
"Six hours, you're on the clock." she said passing him.
"Old McDonald had a farm EI IE EI OH and on his farm he had a… Giraffe." Athena sang fighting off sleep. She knew she had a concussion and didn't like the idea of going to sleep when there was a chance she might not wake up.
"Athena those don't make noise." Sage told her. She'd lain down close to the younger woman, not willing to admit she drew strength from Athena's presence but not willing to move away either.
"Yes they do. Saw it on this documentary. Humans can't hear it but it sounds like a huff of air… kinda, on sonar or whatever they were using." Athena held up her head and wobbled, the world spinning. She had to lean back into the wall.
"Continue." Sage permitted.
"Welcome to the Hotel California" Athena switched to a new song, midway through it even.
They'd both lost track of time. As an extra kick in the sack, their captor had taken away their watches. Timelessness wasn't as good as most people believe. Without time you lose your sanity quicker. Two days could easily just be two minutes without you being any wiser. Athena's eyes had adjusted to the light enough that she was able to make out shapes. Thankful, not for the first time, that Autumn had spent a lot of time dragging her out a window into the woods after dark, and that she'd always made her younger sister eat her carrots.
The room wasn't more than a 10by10 foot box, a low ceiling maybe a little more that 5 ½ feet high. There were two chairs, a bucket in the corner to relieve yourself, and some old mildewed blankets. A pitcher of water had been provided at some point, but not enough to spare to clean wounds. Athena had forced Sage to lay down and let her clean the older woman's injuries the best she could. Autumn usually did this sort of thing. Athena hated seeing people she cared about hurt. Strangers didn't bother her, but the few people she deemed family it tore her apart to see them hurting. Autumn being the one exception to the rule. But that was only because of the number of times she'd pieced her sister back together.
Athena's hands shook and her good leg bounced. Her head felt like it was in a vice and she desperately wanted some Advil and a Pixi Stix. Sugar withdraws were hell. Sage was worse though. Her skin was so pale it nearly glowed in the dark. Athena didn't have to see her eyes to know they were dull, and she was starting to develop a cough. What little unmarred skin she had was crusted in blood, pus, and grime. They needed a good shower, and a first aid kit. Athena might even be able to do a blood transfusion if she had a pen and a few straws. It would be primitive but it might work.
"Athena, do me a favor and can it." Sage rasped. Athena sighed, and started silently counting the seconds.
Autumn had stayed with the boys. She had never been alone before, at least not since her parents died. There had always been someone sleeping in the same room. The three of them showered and put down protective lines of salt. Guns were on bedside stands gruesome knives under pillows with fists tightened around them. Dean didn't say a word when he came out of the bathroom and found Sam and Autumn already asleep. Autumn in Dean's bed and Sam in his own. He bit his lip, said a silent prayer that wherever Athena was she was alive and crawled in bed next to the blonde's sister. Autumn immediately scooted next to him. Pressing as close as she could.
Six hours after leaving the empty warehouse Autumn was impatiently sitting on the hood of the Impala. She had a black tank on under one of Dean's button up shirts, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, a pair of blue jeans that had seen better days and were thread bare in more that a few places, a baseball hat was tugged down hiding her hazel eyes. She looked like she had just climbed out of a Mack. Sam and Dean both eyed her as they came down the steps to the parking lot.
"Asses in the car. Now." she ordered.
"You okay?" Dean asked stopping in front of her, his little brother already climbing in the backseat.
"Peachy, love." she smiled sarcastically.
"Aut"
"Dean, something has my little sister, I know if our places were switched and it was Sam I'd be all set to give you a pep talk too. But baby, I don't want to hear it will be alright until all I have left to do is put her back together. When I can control the situation." she said cutting him off. It was the most she'd said since leaving the park the evening before.
"We'll find her." he told her. This was the closest he could come to apologizing for not watching Athena more closely.
"I know we'll find her, Dean-o. I do have faith." Autumn stole a kiss, and he deepened it pulling her too him. He didn't know the words to make her feel better, all he could hope for was the right actions. She broke the kiss and slugged him. "Come on." she whispered before slinking past him and taking shotgun.
The next time the door opened Sage curled into a ball. Athena looked up expecting to see Sam standing there, instead a man with a striking resemblance to Dale Gribble stood in the door way, a cigarette pressed between his lips. He blew a ring of smoke at Athena as he stepped in the room.
"Hello Ladies." he didn't reveal any time of day in his greeting and this disappointment made Athena ask.
"What time is it?"
"Hair past a freckle honeybunch." he smirked at her.
"Just leave me alone." Sage whimpered. Athena moved putting herself between the Dale Gribble look-alike and Sage.
"Don't touch her." she growled. Sounding as intimidating as a sleep deprived, broken, 24 year old Barbie Doll could sound.
"Or what? You'll kill me with your great sense of fashion?" he mocked her.
"I'll kill you at least." she pushed herself up standing as tall as her broken leg would allow. "And trust me, Dickhead, I'll kill you slowly and painfully as humanly possible." the man laughed.
"That's cute, Princess Peach. But you're not leaving here alive, and baby doll, you don't have a chance against me." He was treading on her last nerve and she'd reached the end of her rope. She doubled up her fist and slammed it into his nose. The man stumbled backward, both hands flying to his nose. "You bitch!" he screamed.
"That's my name don't wear it out." Athena answered him still smiling.
"You broke my damn nose!" he said indignantly.
"You broke my damn leg." she countered. He left slamming the door behind him. Athena sank to the ground fighting not to cry. Her leg was being devoured by searing hot pain, her whole body ached on top of that, and she was really starting to wonder if her sister and friends would get there in time to save them.
"Hell of a show, girlie." Sage said proudly. "Too bad all you did was piss him off."
Silence took hold of the tiny room. Athena was starting to get seriously pissed off, too. This guy didn't appear to have any reason for any of this, other than liking to see people squirm. Athena Daemon was a lot of things but she never had been and never would be someone's play thing. Autumn might go for that shit but she wasn't going to. She clenched her jaw and drug herself over to one of the chairs in the corner of the room. She needed to set her leg before it got any worse.
Both chairs were flimsy, wooden, folding chairs, the kind used at a festivals and the like. She took hold of one of them slamming it into the ground a few times until the leg broke off. She played with the metal bracket, that held the chair together, until she got it off. Taking a screw from it she ripped the seam of her jacket sleeve. She was going to need something to hold the wood to her leg.
"What are you doing?" Sage asked.
"Magic tricks. In a minute I'm going to pull a rabbit out of the hat."
"Cool. If there were light I'd like to see that." Athena breathed a laugh. "What are you really doing Daemon?"
"You're going to set my leg." she said.
"We don't have anything in here to make a splint." Sage reminded her.
"With your imagination and the Barney bag we'll see what we can make today." Athena sang the old familiar tune. Barney hadn't come out until she was in middle school or maybe even high school, but she'd watched it often enough, babysitting or just sheer boredom, to know the songs.
"Do you know any normal songs?" Sage requested.
"Normal how?" Athena asked enjoying not having to talk to herself again.
"Normal, like I would know them." Athena considered her play list for a moment.
"Fancy, that song Reba sings?"
"The one about the mom whoring her daughter out?"
"Autumn loves that song." Athena snickered remembering Autumn singing the song at the top of her lungs in the shower after taking a severe beating or two.
"It's normal enough, shoot." Athena fell into the comfort of the song, as if it were the arms of an old friend. She wrapped herself in the memories it brought forth as she worked at creating her splint. She'd get hung up on a verse or the chorus not remembering the words or enjoying the way she could relate to a certain lyric. "Keep singing, and don't watch what I'm doing." Sage instructed as she took hold of Athena's leg.
A/N: I'm so proud of my little Athena, I'm gonna have to buy her an icecream. Chatper Seven will be up as soon as I figure out where to go.