Chapter six

Maggie walked along the main corridor, cautiously shining the flashlight up each locker-lined wall in turn,

"Schools are creepy at night…" She murmured, peering through the glass of a classroom door, shivering as she did so, "Maths was scary enough as it was." She joked, glancing over her shoulder at Dean, "Right…?" She asked, only to discover that she was alone in the hallway, "Dean?" She called out nervously, turning and moving back the way she'd come, a little quicker than before, breaking out into a jog as she looked left and right for where her brother could've disappeared to, "DEAN?!" She called again, running passed a set of double doors. She doubled back as she noticed one of them was slightly ajar. The room was dark, though she could tell by the smell that it lead to the swimming pool as she moved cautiously into the changing room. She followed the winding room round to the other side, walking out into the pool area, dimly lit by round white lights beneath the water's edge, "Dean!" She gasped, seeing him standing at the far edge of the pool. As she took a step to run towards him and pull him back and away from the edge, he suddenly fell forwards limply into the water, "NO!" Maggie cried, jumping in after him.

"I think I've got something." Sam called to Lola as he spade hit an obstruction. Lola jumped out of her current hole and made her way towards the one that Sam had been digging. With her spade she helped him to slowly uncover a tatty bundle wrapped in black bin liners and brown package tape. Dusting off the last of the dirt, Lola gulped, crouching beside their find, pulling out a pocket knife from her jeans. Bracing herself, she leant forwards, slicing through the thin plastic with ease. The pair coughed slightly as the smell wafted up from the bones, which still wore the blue and white school hockey jersey,

"I think this is a safe bet…" She muttered, clambering back out to grab the salt and lighter fluid out of her bag. Throwing Sam the rock salt, she opened up the lid of the lighter fluid, shaking the contents all over the bones and it's surroundings within the whole. She heard the slight hiss of Sam lighting the match behind her ad took in a deep breath, "I'm so sorry…" She whispered as Sam tossed the match into the whole which became a flaming pit within a few seconds. The pair looked at one another proudly.

Maggie spluttered as she swam towards Dean, who seemed to be held under water by an invisible force. He thrashed his arms around, trying desperately to swim to the surface. Maggie dived beneath, trying desperately to pull him up and out of the water, but to no avail. She pulled on both of his arms, kicking her legs desperately.

Swimming back up to get her breath, Maggie soon dived under the water again to try again at pulling the weakening Dean to the surface. As she reached out for her brother's hand, something stopped her. A pair of piercing green eyes with sickening crimson centres stared at her over Dean's head. He was a teenage boy, or at least, had once been, though his body was thin and his dirty-blonde hair scraggly. He reached out a bony hand and grabbed Maggie's wrist, snarling at her as she struggled against him. His other hand was occupied by holding Dean's shoulder down firmly. Maggie let out a cry, all her oxygen escaping as he squeezed her wrist so tightly, she heard the sickening crunch as her bone snapped beneath the pressure.

Maggie's eyes began to droop and her struggle became less as she started to drift into darkness. As her eyes began to close, the figure released her and she was shocked as she realised she began to float a little to the top. Grabbing Dean as best she could, she used the adrenaline of the shock of being released to push herself and Dean to the waters surface. The pair broke into the air, Maggie gasping for breath as she attempted to pull Dean towards the edge. As they swam backwards, Maggie saw beneath the water's glassy surface, where Dean had been drowning and the boy had held him, there was a strange orange glow like flames. She was puzzled at first, until she realised and broke out into a grin, dragging Dean up the ladder as he took in short, sharp breaths,

"They did it…" She breathed a sigh of relief.

A week passed, and the Winchesters and Lola made a point of getting out of Kansas. Fast.

"How's your ankle?" Lola asked before sucking on the stray of her smoothie, brushing the stray strands of hair from her ponytail out of her eyes in the soft, summer breeze. Dean shrugged, leaning back against the bonnet of the Impala, his hands in his pockets. He squinted into the sunlight to look up at her,

"It's fine…" He lied,

"You just want to drive, huh?" She smiled,

"Sam drives like an old lady." Dean ground out. Lola laughed, shaking her head,

"If you try and drive like you did that night…you'll hurt yourself even more, and then Sam'll be driving for a lot longer than planned."

Dean sulked, watching his brother and sister across the car park, reading a timetable between the two of them,

"Where's Maggie going again?" Dean asked,

"Boston." Lola replied, "That's where Matt's living now."

"So she's going to see him, is she?"

"Yeah…" Lola sighed, "And then it was three, huh?" She sighed, feeling a little awkward, "Y'know what…? I think I'll go see what they're up to."

"Lola…"
"Hmmm?"
"I meant what I said that night, by the way."

Lola frowned at him, a little confused,

"Meaning…?"

"I wasn't drunk…wait, I WAS drunk, but I did mean what I aid. You are gorgeous and I like you a lot."

Lola nodded,

"I know you do."
"…" Dean blinked, "Sooo…yeah…" He sighed. Lola laughed at him, taking a few steps closer before leaning down to place a kiss on his forehead,

"Don't worry about, Dean. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be." She said softly before turning and making her way across the car park to see what Sam and Maggie were up to,

"So…how long have I got?" Maggie asked Sam, puzzled,

"About ten minutes." Sam answered. Maggie clasped her hands together, raising them to her lips,

"I'm actually really excited."

Lola hugged her friend tightly,

"I'm gonna miss you. Call me whenever you want, even if it's just to vent steam, yeah? And let us know when you want us to come and pick you up, okay?"

Maggie nodded,

"I will do. I'm going to miss you guys too."

"More pie for me…" Dean joked as he approached, hugging her loosely, "I guess we'll see you around."

"I guess so." Maggie agreed, "I guess I should make sure I'm there in time. Bye guys! I'll see you all soon, yeah?"

The trio nodded in unison, watching as Maggie hugged Sam before walking into the bus station, disappearing into the hubbub. The three stood in silence for a few log minutes until Dean's phone began to ring,

"Yeah?" He answered, squinting into the sunlight again, "Bobby! Hey! What's up? You what? Oh…no…I didn't expect that…really? Damn…okay…okay yeah…well, I'll tell her…yeah…thanks Bobby!"

"Tell who, what?" Lola asked,

"You…" Dean answered carefully, "Your brother called Bobby. He wants me to go up to Michigan and see him."

"Why?"
"He says he's got a job for me."

"…oh…is he okay?"

"Yeah…he's fine…but apparently wants me…Lola…I don't think it's my place…we'd have to leave you behind and…this is your brother, I mean…I think you should handle this yourself. I think it's time that you told him you're alive."
Lola swallowed hard,

"Okay…let's go."

"No Lola." Dean said with a shake of his head, "I think you should go alone."
"…what?" Lola laughed, "NOW you want me to go alone on a mission?"
"We're not coming with you."

"What? Why?"
"You can handle this by yourself. You're stronger than I thought. I want this to be your last mission. Go back to school and stop risking your life like this!" He said seriously, "I gave you another chance at life and you have the potential to be something great. You're better than this." He said, pointing at himself, "You don't need to be a hunter, Lola…you…you can be so much more and you've got a nice, normal family that love you."

Lola laughed bitterly,

"Is that what you think I want?"

"I think that one day, you'll look back on your life and realise that you're whole life is wasted. I wish I could tell Sam because he's not like me, either. He could be something with his life. Me, I can't do anything else. I don't know how to do anything else."

"Dean…I…" Lola began, tears welling in her eyes, "Please…I won't regret this."

"You will." He rasped, tears shining in his eyes also, "I promise you, Lola…in five years time you'll wish you never set eyes on me."

"You don't know that."
"I do." He sighed, "Look…you're going and when you've helped your brother, I want you to stay with him."

"The hell I will!"

"I'm going to call him and tell him."
"How dare you do this, Dean…how dare you…you know that I'll follow you. I'll find you guys. I'm not an idiot."

"No you won't." Dean insisted, "If you love me, you'll stay there. You'll stay safe. You're dead, Lola…this is your chance to go back to school and get a degree and have a really, really great life! To fall in love with a nice, safe guy and have loads of little Lolas."

Lola sighed heavily, dropping her head as she began to sob quietly. Dean reached out, wrapping his arms around her shoulders, pulling her against his chest,

"You know I love you." She began quietly, "So…I guess…it won't kill me to do what you ask, right?"

"That's my girl…" He breathed. Lola looked up with a blink and moved to Sam's side, wrapping her arms around his waist tightly, resting her head on his toned chest,

"Bye Sam…" She whimpered. He pressed his cheek against the top of her head,

"See ya Lola…" He replied, his arms tightening around her.

Dean stood up strait awkwardly, reaching behind his neck to unclasp Lola's necklace. He held it out for her sadly,

"I guess you'll be wanting this back."

Lola shook her head,

"They day I wear that again is the day you're gone forever."

Dean continued to hold it out for her,

"Take it."

"No." She said firmly, closing his hand around it, "You're coming back one day."

"No Lola. I'm not."

Lola stared at him in disbelief,

"You're not? Not ever?"

"You'll never be safe with me in your life."

"Don't you think I've done enough to have my own enemies?" She snapped, "But fine Dean…just…just go. I'm obviously not going to win this."

"Lola," He began with a nervous intake of breath, "I'm doing this because I love you."

She stared at him, her face blank for a long while, before she shook her head,

"No." She whispered, "You're doing this because you think it's right. You're wrong Dean and I hope you realise it some day." She said before turning away from him and moving back towards her truck,

"Lola!" He called after her. She stopped and turned, waiting for him to continue. He shrugged, "Is this how you want to say goodbye?"

She sighed,

"No. It's not."

Dean jogged up to her, placing his arms around her so that he pulled her face close to his, pressing his lips against hers. Hot tears rolled down her cheeks as they parted,

"Goodbye Dean." She rasped as he took a step back. He gave a short, sharp wave before heading back to the car.

Without hesitation he started up the engine and drove until he was around the corner. Sam watched with a concerned frown as he pulled over and turned the engine off, sitting in the drivers seat, staring ahead of him numbly. After five minutes, Sam finally spoke up,

"Dean…are you okay?"

Dean turned the engine back on and pulled back into the main road,

"Yeah…I'm fine…" He breathed,

"Dude…why'd you break her heart like that?"

"Because I love her." Dean admitted.