(Disclaimer: Don't own the boys or the concept. Story's all mine)
Battle Weary.
Chapter Eight.
Sam jumped up from his seat and ran over to Jay. He dropped to his knees and put shaky fingers to her throat, checking for a pulse. None. He kept hearing someone muttering 'No, no, no, no, no' over and over. It took him a moment to realise it was him. He ripped her t-shirt open and looked at the wound, Jesus. What had she done? Why? For God's sake, why? He looked at his brother "Help me, Dean!"
Dean just sat in his chair and stared.
Gus came over slowly and put a hand on Sam's shoulder "She's gone, son"
He shook his head "No, if we get her to a hospital…." he didn't believe the words, even as he spoke them but he couldn't get his head around it. He put his fingers to her throat again, hoping he'd made a mistake the first time he'd checked….but she had a hole in her chest the size of his fist. There was no way she could have survived it.
Gus went to his room and came back with an old sheet. "Dean, get your ass out of that chair and help your brother"
Dean got up slowly and walked over to her. He took the pistol from her hand and threw it angrily to the other side of the room. They rolled Jay in the sheet and took her outside. Gus directed them to a place at the far back of the property and went to get shovels. Dean had gone back and retrieved her journal, arguing with Gus about burying it with her. He'd won that argument and had opened the sheet and put the journal in her hands. Gus had left the boys to finish burying the woman.
"I killed her"
Sam shook his head "No, Dean. She killed herself"
"No, I bought her here and …" he shook his head "Just give me a minute"
Sam nodded and left Dean staring at the shallow grave.
Dean stared at the mound of dirt for a long time. Would Sammy do this if he lost this fight tomorrow? Would the pact he'd made to save his brother be the death of him? What had the silly bitch been thinking? Her brother had sacrificed himself for her and she'd thrown it all away in a moment of madness. He didn't understand why he was so angry with her.
"Why? Why the fuck did you do it?" he said. Hoping if he said the words aloud, he might get some kind of answer. He didn't of course, which only pissed him off more. "He tried to save you and you do this?" He kicked at the shovel that lay near the grave. "What a waste!" A waste? He didn't know this woman…maybe she wasn't all that nice…he stopped himself, mindful of speaking ill of the dead. He thought about it and decided it must have been a waste. Not many people would pick up a blood-soaked stranger then agree to a transfusion to help them. He gave a short smile, she'd had a mouth on her though. He whispered a 'thank you' to her and turned from the grave.
Sam was helping Gus clean the blood from the cabin when he heard the screen-door open "You alright, dude?"
Dean stared at the blood "Where's the battery and spark plugs for her car?"
Gus stopped cleaning "You need to …" he looked at the boy and sighed "back shed" Dean had nodded and left. Gus turned to Sam "I know you're still pissed at him Sam, but he needs to practice. What happened is a shame but this isn't over…"
Sam looked at him incredulously "A shame? Someone died, Gus! Jesus Christ!"
"Sam, understand that they're coming tomorrow. Jay being dead doesn't change that. Dean still has to fight and if he loses, he ends up the same place her brother is! You want that to happen? Look at the blood on your hands! Those bastards got another one! Don't let them get your brother too"
Sam sighed, he knew Gus was right but he also knew his brother better than Gus did. "Just let him work on the car, it's how he….just let him work on the car" and he went back to cleaning, trying not to think of the blood on his hands…both literal and metaphorical.
Dean bought the battery and spark plugs back to Jay's car. He walked around it, running his hand along it's body. A '62 or '63 Chevy Bel Air Coupe and not a scratch on her. Beautiful. He popped the hood and looked underneath. He grinned, looked like Jay liked to drive fast. He went and grabbed the battery and spark plugs and got to work.
He'd been working on the car for about two hours, Hendrix blasting from the stereo (he'd found a cd collection in the glove box that put his tape collection to shame) when he heard someone behind him. He knew it was Sam but he really wasn't in the mood for a fight.
He didn't look up from the engine "Sammy, you should see this car. It's stock …well apart from the cd player, which is sacrilege…and the engine. Man, she's messed around with it, given it more power. I'm pretty sure it's a '62…hard to get in this condition too…" he knew he was babbling but the thought of having a discussion about the pact he'd made turned his stomach.
"It is a '62." Dean spun around "And putting a cd player in the car isn't sacrilege, you just get better sound"
Dean stammered unintelligibly .
"Yeah, it's a hell of a gift"
"SAM!" Dean finally managed to yell.
Sam slammed out of the front door, Gus following close on his heels. They turned when they saw Dean pointing to the side of the cabin.
"What the hell??" said Sam, the bloodied rag falling from his finger tips.
"Fuck me…." said Gus, unable to tear his eyes away.
"Oh and just a heads up, fella's. Next time you bury someone, make sure their mouth is closed properly" she spat, went to her car, grabbed her duffel bag from the back seat and went into the cabin yelling back that she was taking a loooong shower.
Sam looked at Dean "She's not dead, dude"
"No shit, Sherlock!" said Dean. He was pissed. How dare she! He stormed into the cabin, slamming the door behind him. He walked to the door of the bathroom and hammered on it "OPEN UP!" He heard the water turn on "I SAID, OPEN UP!"
"I'll be out in about twenty minutes! I'll explain it then!"
"NO! NOW!" he tried the door, it was locked, he rattled the door knob "OPEN THE GODDAMN DOOR NOW!"
"Jesus Christ! Just let me shower and…" she stopped as the door was kicked in. "HEY!" she grabbed a towel and covered herself "Get yourself and eyeful, Winchester?"
He walked over and pulled her towel down a little, staring at the scar over her heart, he put his fingers to it. He was just about to yell at her when he noticed the dirt underneath her fingernails. Jesus. He looked into her eyes and saw the distrust there…and the fear that she'd be labelled a freak, he knew that feeling "Does it hurt?"
She shook her head "Not now" she sighed "Let me shower and I'll explain what I know"
He nodded and removed his fingers from her scar "I'm …you did that on purpose"
"You gave me the shits….sorry" she smiled weakly.
He looked at her "It was more than that….but you explain it to me later" he turned…
"Dean…" he turned back "Who put Zeke's journal in the… in with me?" he smiled at her and walked out, closing the broken door behind him.
They sat around the kitchen table a half hour later. They'd moved from beer to tequila and no one was saying anything, they were just staring at her.
She sighed "Okay…I know you're freaked out…"
"Freaked out? We buried you!" said Sam "After you shot yourself in the heart mind you!"
"Sammy, settle down and let her tell it" said Dean as he filled Jay's glass with tequila again.
She nodded gratefully "Alright. Shit. I don't know exactly where to start…."
Gus laughed "Go with the cliché, start at the beginning" he threw back his tequila.
She nodded "Don't know a lot about early stuff…but Zeke and I grew up in an orphanage when our parents died. Didn't know I had this…whatever the hell it is, until I was hit by a car when I was eleven. It should've killed me. It didn't of course. The doctors couldn't believe it either, they figured I was extremely lucky" she took a big sip of tequila "It was just little things I noticed…I mean I never get sick, not a cold…nothing. But …here let me show you. Anyone got a knife?" Dean took a dagger from his boot and passed it to her "Ta. Watch" she opened her hand and winced as she made a long cut across her palm.
"Jesus…." said Sam.
"Just watch" she grabbed an old tea-towel and cleaned the blood and the three men watched as the wound slowly closed. It took about five minutes.
"Fuck me…" Sam looked at her "Do it again"
She laughed "No. I keep the scars. See?" and she pulled down her t-shirt and showed them the scar from the bullet wound.
"So, you're like…immortal?" asked Sam incredulously.
She laughed out loud "No, Sam. Zeke looked into it a bit for me, what with doing what he does and all" They all noticed how she still referred to him in the present tense but said nothing. "I don't know who he spoke to, he wouldn't tell me, just said it was someone who knew about this kind of stuff. He told Zeke that from what he knew, the only thing he believed would kill me was decapitation"
"Swords…" said Dean.
"Or anything of the like, I'd imagine. Kinda don't want to test that theory"
"What about Zeke? What…he must have had something…some gift…" asked Gus.
"He was a little tight-lipped about it. But from what I could gather from the guy he hunted with, Zeke had a way of…'sniffing' demons out he said. Knew where they were. They couldn't explain it any better than that"
"Just like Dean" said Sam.
She raised an eyebrow "Really?"
He shrugged "Apparently. Only found out about it yesterday"
Gus had been silent for a while "So, did Zeke say anything about someone hunting him? Shooting at him?"
She shook her head "Not to me, but then he wouldn't either" she gave a short smile "He wouldn't want me to worry"
"I don't think they'd have hunted him like that" he looked at Jay "You don't hunt"
She shook her head "I'm a …." she laughed "Really doesn't matter does it? But Zeke made sure I knew how to handle weapons" she looked at Dean "What is it?"
Dean looked at Gus "I think they challenged him. Not the other way round. They'd have known bullets wouldn't kill her, they'd have wanted a sword fight…..for the…decapitation thing"
"Aaah, in the room" she said "What the hell are you talking about?"
Dean looked at her "These demons know about our…gifts. Going after you with a sword would be the only way to kill you"
"But I don't hunt. What threat am I to them? And really, when you think about it, what am I gonna do? Heal myself to death?"
Sam smiled "You want to kill these bastards that killed your brother?"
"That have my brother….and yeah" she said.
"You're a threat. They may not have known you weren't a hunter. They'd have seen you two together and assumed you hunted with him. The only way to kill you is with a sword. So…." Sam trailed off, letting that sink in.
"And Zeke …" she picked up her tequila and stared at it "He'd have had no choice but to accept?"
"Yeah"
She nodded "The mark"
"To keep you alive" said Dean.
She looked at them "I know you think I'm in denial, but I know he's not dead."
"Jay…the way this works…"
Jay shook her head "No, Gus. I know"
Gus shook his head "You need to understand. You're alive and the only way that's possible is if Zeke…"
"NO!" she slammed her glass down on the table. It shattered in her hand, the glass flying in all directions.
"Shit!" Dean put a hand to his face.
"Jesus! I'm sorry" she stood up "Sorry" she turned and walked quickly outside.
Dean took his hand from his face "It's only a small cut, right Sammy?"
Sam took the tea-towel and cleaned his brother's cheek "Yeah…it's….:" he stopped and watched as the wound slowly closed.
"It's what, Sammy?" he looked at his brother "What?!"
"It's gone" said Sam.
To be continued...