A little change from canon here - Charlie met Sam and Dean in season 5 on a case where she was needed to hack into a security system so they could take down a werewolf. She broke her ankle and the relationships she made with the boys are just the same as the first time she meets them in canon.
Message received 04:13 from Sam W.
Hey Maddy. Dean and I have taken care of Whittaker so you can come back now. Stay out of trouble :)
Message sent 04:14 to Sam W.
Yo! Cool! Turning around now. Thanks guys!
Message sent 04:15 to Jackie.
I'm staying in South Dakota for a while. Locked the house up. Thanks.
Message sent 04:16 to Michael.
Hi, I'm crashing at the SD house. I'll keep up to date with school online again. Hope you're kicking some corporate butt.
Message received 08:00 from Michael.
Okay.
The house at South Dakota was as cold Maddy remembered it. Jackie and Michael weren't fond of the area, preferring to vacation in warmer states in the brief lapses between their work life. Maddy supposed it was just for the sake of appearances that they kept it.
Keith the car managed to make it up the stony gravel road to the house just as he ran out of fuel, spluttering on the driveway with a groan of relief.
"Sorry, old guy," Maddy said, patting the dash. "I'll get you fed up."
She climbed out, pulling out a bunch of keys from the first zip compartment of her backpack and finding the one with the SD engraving.
The wooden steps up onto the porch moaned under her weight as she made her way to the door. The key turned and the door opened with a soft creak, breaking the silence of the sleeping house. Maddy stared into it, watching the dust hovering in the air of the empty rooms, dimly lit by the early-morning light peaking through the gaps in the curtains she had closed the last time she had been there, nine months ago.
Maddy didn't mind the emptiness. She was used to opening the front door and not expecting anyone to be home.
She smiled as she sighed, and got to work.
Two hours later, the house was unrecognisable. The curtains were open, crisp sunshine illuminating the freshly dusted furniture. Several scented candles had been lit, cinnamon mixing with the smell of baking bread and air freshener. Beneath an over arching bookshelf, a fire was crackling away in the hearth, making the cover of a Daphne Du Maurier book on the coffee table in front of it glow.
But above all of that, the main difference was the silence. It was gone. In its place was Accidentally in Love blasting from the Shrek 2 album on Maddy's iPod.
The girl in question was in the kitchen, flour smudged on her cheek as she sang along.
"Melting under blue skies, belting out sunlight shimmering love!" she yelled with abandon.
She pushed the oven door shut with her hip, wincing at the heat coming from the baking tray in her hands.
"Well baby I surrender to the strawberry ice cream, never ever end of all this love! Well I didn't mean to do it, but there's no escaping your love!"
She broke off a piece of bread and grimaced. It smelled good, but taste good it did not. She shrugged and tossed it into the bag for the bird feeder, as she had done with the last four loafs.
The song finished and Maddy decided to stop her baking for the day, before she ran out of ingredients and had to walk into town - she had yet to fill up Keith.
Before Holding Out For A Hero could come on, Maddy switched off the iPod and moved to the chair in front of the fire, settling her laptop on her knee and Googling a number she had long forgotten.
When she rang, he answered almost immediately.
"Hello, Hanson's Gym; David speaking, how can I - ?"
"David! Hey, it's Maddy! You probably don't remember me but - "
"Wait, Maddy Bradshaw?"
"Close, Bradford," Maddy grinned. "How in the hell do you remember me? I was like fifteen when I came to you."
"You did break my nose and what was it? Three fingers?" he laughed. "How old are you now?"
"Eighteen."
"Jeez. You keeping your nose clean?"
"As a whistle," she lied sweetly. She had tried, at least.
"What can I do you for?"
"I'm back in South Dakota for a while. I was just wondering if I could take up some lessons again."
"Fantastic! When are you free?"
"Any time. Just - um - I," the image of the vamp in the pub kitchen stalking towards her flashed in her mind and she stood up, beginning to pace. "I want as many as possible."
"Funny, I just had someone else say the same thing to me. You mind doing shared? She's a she, if that helps?"
"Yeah, that's fine. Can I start tomorrow?"
"Ten o'clock?"
"Perfect. Thanks, Dave."
"No problem, Mad-Maddy."
"I'll see you tomorrow," Maddy laughed, and decided on working on Keith to keep her mind from wandering back to the pub.
Dressed in leggings and a loose shirt - with, of course, an ill-fitting knitted green hat - Maddy walked past the few people on treadmills and through the back office. The place hadn't changed - the same peeling blue paint saturated with the smell of sweat, same rusty light fittings and blacked out windows. It wasn't a place you'd want to find yourself if you didn't know the area.
Dave stood up as she walked in, enveloping her in a hug. He held her back and grinned.
"You look different!" he pinched his face mockingly. "Soft."
"What?" she laughed.
"Your eyes, they've lost the 'I'm gonna kill you' look."
Maddy shrugged, "Things changed."
"Good," he said, clearly meaning it. "Now, you okay to jump straight in?"
"Definitely. Is the other girl here?"
"Uh-huh," he pushed open the door to the private room. "She's in here."
Maddy looked around the room, memories of her teenage self being there coming back to her. She remembered being slammed onto the padded floor, pounding hell out of the same punchbag, Dave locking her arms behind her back when she tried to -
"Hi!" a bright voice mercifully cut into her thoughts.
Maddy smiled at a red headed girl, in her mid to late twenties perhaps, with a blinding smile and bright gym clothes. Her shirt had a transfer of the characters from the Lumberjanes comic series.
"Hi! Nice shirt."
The woman beamed, "You like Lumberjanes?!"
Maddy nodded.
"Okay," the woman said seriously as she stepped towards her and held out her hand. "I'm Charlie Bradbury and I'm your new best friend."
"Maddy Bradford," she said, taking Charlie's hand and shaking it.
"Even our last names are similar! We're meant to be. You wouldn't happen to be a lesbian, would you?"
"Pansexual," Maddy smiled.
"Damn it, you're too young for me," Charlie cursed, but was smiling.
"I do have a friend a bit older who's looking, though," Maddy remembered. "She likes Nimona and K-Pop."
Charlie's smile widened, "I'm in."
"Okay ladies," Dave cut in gruffly. "You here to Tinder or to train?"
"Uh, both?" Charlie said hopefully.
He laughed wryly, "Nice try, kid. Now you, I wanna see where you're at, and Maddy, I wanna see how much you remember. Go."
Three hours later, Dave had left, admittedly impressed by both women, and had given them the room to cool down at their own pace. Maddy laid out over the padded mat, a sweat-drenched towel over her forehead, while Charlie star-fished in the middle of the room.
"He doesn't go easy, does he?" Charlie muttered, still out of breath.
"No. You're really good, though. When did you start?"
Charlie shrugged, "I was youngish. And never mind me, you're pretty good yourself. When did you start?"
"I came to Dave when I was fifteen," Maddy said, carefully choosing her words. "Or at least, I was made. It was more of a discipline thing. I was, uh, a pretty out of control teen."
Charlie looked over at her, as if seeing her in a new light.
"Yeah, me too."
Maddy canted her head, "You don't seem it."
"Neither do you."
"Touche," Maddy laughed lightly.
Charlie didn't say anything else but Maddy could see her thinking, no doubt reminiscing. If she was anything like Maddy, that never ended well.
"I stink," she said, for the sake of getting Charlie out of her head more than anything.
"Me too," Charlie replied, pulling at her drenched shirt. "I'm so sweaty, my transfer's gonna peel."
"That would be blasphemy."
Maddy pulled herself up with a groan and held out a hand to pull Charlie up too.
"So what got you into Lumberjanes?" Charlie asked, moaning at her aching muscles.
"I love reading but sometimes I'm too distracted or tired to concentrate enough on words. I'm dyslexic, so comics have always kinda been my safe zone. And come on, a group of monster-hunting girls, what's not to love?"
Charlie nodded, "It makes a good story."
The way she said it made Maddy wonder if there was more to it than that, but she didn't say anything.
"So where are you staying?"
"Motel just out of town. It's okay. Duncan's, I think."
"Duncan's?" Maddy wrinkled her nose. "Yikes."
"How about you?"
"My folks have a place out here. You should come over. They have tons of box sets so we could marathon? Maybe get a pizza, try make some ice cream?" Maddy suggested.
Charlie grinned.
"You had me at box sets."
Once Charlie got gotten over the size of the house - and Maddy had explained that it's her parents', not hers - she had selected How I Met Your Mother from the box sets and told Maddy that this would give them plenty material to get through. Charlie had also convinced her to crack into the wine cellar, which, admittedly, didn't take a whole lot of convincing.
"No but there's the… oh damn it…" Maddy frowned, trying to wade through the alcohol induced haze in her mind to find the character's name. "The freaking… Willow from - "
"Buffy!" Charlie exclaimed. "We need to watch that next, for definite!"
Maddy's mouth fell open, as if it was the most groundbreaking idea she'd ever heard.
"That would be amazing," she whispered.
Charlie puffed her chest out proudly and reached for the wine. She tipped it up, then further, until it was completely upside down. Not a drop fell.
"Did we drink all of this already?" Charlie said.
They shrugged, and she rolled the bottle to sit with the other three empty ones by the door. Maddy sank back into her chair.
Charlie sighed, "Well, I think I should be off. You know any taxis round here?"
"Mmm," Maddy rocked to the side and retrieved her phone from her back pocket, throwing it at the girl. "Under W. Willis Taxis, I think. Should have SD after it."
"Thanks," she said as she caught it, and began scrolling. "You don't have a passcode for this thing?"
"Do I need one?"
"Seriously?"
"I'm not especially tech-savvy."
Charlie shook her head, "Well good job I - "
She abruptly stopped scrolling, the end of her sentence forgotten.
"What's wrong?" Maddy asked, leaning out of her chair.
"You… You know the Winchesters?"
Suspicion now laced her voice as she rose from the armchair. Maddy stood up too, matching her distrust.
"How do you know them?" Maddy asked.
"They're my friends."
"Right," Maddy said, almost instantly sobered. "…Well, you have the cab number. It might be best if you - "
"Whoa," Charlie interrupted. "You need to spill."
Maddy felt a rise of indignation at Charlie's authoritative tone. It sounded almost defensive.
"I just bumped into them. There was trouble and they gave me their number in case I ran into it again. Case closed."
"What kind of trouble?"
"Trouble, trouble."
She didn't want to say more, not knowing how much Charlie knew. The last thing she wanted was to have her laugh in her face for uttering the word 'vampires' out loud.
"Why are you being so hostile?" Charlie asked softly.
Maddy shook her head, "I'm sorry. I, uh, kind of want to put it behind me. It wasn't a great experience."
"Yeah, I know. It never is with them. I ended up with a broken ankle."
"Ouch."
Charlie nodded, "So… what was it?"
Maddy eyed her. There was a knowing expression on the older girl's face and Maddy understood.
"Vampires," she said tonelessly, and took her phone from Charlie, dialling for the cab.
Maddy finished up and turned back to her with a polite smile.
"She'll be five minutes."
"Okay. Listen, I know you don't want to think about it, I don't blame you! But could I maybe have your email address?"
Maddy wanted to ask why but was realising now how rude she had been earlier. It wasn't in her nature and it the beginnings of guilt were already starting to weigh on her.
"Of course."
By the time they had exchanged details, the taxi had arrived. Maddy, in a last ditch attempt to seem like less of a dick, walked Charlie to the door and kept an apologetic smile on her face.
"So, I'd say 'see you soon' but I don't think that's on the agenda somehow," Charlie said as she paused on the porch.
You're such a bitch, Bradford, Maddy thought.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"It's fine."
As she walked to the taxi with her brightly-coloured backpack and Lumberjanes shirt, giving her a wave despite her hostility, Maddy had a feeling she had just let the opportunity of a great friendship slip away.
Maddy didn't take any pills for her hangover the next morning until lunchtime. She considered it penance for her behaviour, up until the point she had school work to do and had to shift the pounding in her head or she wouldn't be able to read any of it. No matter what was going on in her life, her grades were important if she was going to get into medical school.
It was early evening when she finished the work she had been sent by her teachers and submitted it. She had had to spend double the amount of time on the last essay as her dyslexia began to get the better of her and ended up sending it to Finn to proofread before finishing up. He asked if they could Skype and she accepted. Really, she was too tired but he had read over her work and she supposed she did miss him.
"I don't believe you haven't had a friend over," Finn teased. "I know that hungover look."
"I'm just wiped out from the essays. Gimme numbers, for the love of God!"
"Was it Sarah? Or, wait, Maria? She's South Dakota, isn't she?"
"No, no one. I don't appreciate you insinuating I have a reputation for throwing Keggers at every opportunity I have."
"Too right. I would have expected an invite."
Maddy smiled at him. He was in his pyjamas - Spiderman ones with a stubborn Ribena stain on the neckline. Maddy remembered doing that. They had been laid on his bed and he had leaned over her to turn off his bedside lamp, when the mattress had dipped and sent her drink flying over the both of them. They had creased up silently, holding onto their sides as they stripped the bed and subtly washed the sheets in the middle of the night without waking up his parents.
She really did miss him then. She wanted to feel his arms around her and the warmth of his skin through his Marvel pyjamas.
"Miss you."
"I miss you, too…" he ran a hand through his blond hair, spiked up by his pillow. "Mads, are you okay?"
She sighed. She knew this was coming.
"I'm okay, I promise."
"Really?"
"It isn't what you think."
"I just worry about you."
His big brown eyes were swimming with so much concern that Maddy found it had to look at them. She heard him sigh in disappointment. She wasn't being fair to him. Like she hadn't been fair to Charlie.
"What you thinking about?"
She shrugged, "Just been fucking a few things up recently."
"Maddy - " he said warily.
"I am okay," she said, forcing herself to look him in the eye. "I swear, Finn."
"I can be there, you know. You give me the nod and I can be there in a few hours."
"I know, and I love you for that."
He gave her a crooked smile.
"But I'm fine. Give me a couple more days here and I'll be back."
"Yeah right. After a quick diversion to Texas and then back via Georgia. I know you," he said, grinning. "But I'm serious. Call me and I can help. Or at least call someone."
"Yeah, I get it."
"You're using your 'I'm starting to lose interest in this conversa -"
A bleep from the mail icon on her task bar drew Maddy's attention away from Finn. It was an email. Thinking it could be from Jackie or Michael, she opened it. But it wasn't.
To: Maddy Bradford
From: Charlie Bradbury
RE: A tentative hi…
1 attachment.
I know you said you wanted to put all of the madness out of your mind and I thought the same thing. Didn't really work out. Knowledge can sometimes beat fear much more effectively than ignorance. If you find that too, you might want to open the attachment. If you're fine, don't.
If you don't reply, I won't contact you again.
Stay cool, bitch.
Charlie.
PS: That's 'bitch' said in a completely affectionate manner. Kinda hard to convey over message.
PPS: I wish we could have been friends :)
Maddy read the message through three more times before she registered Finn's annoyed voice rising in volume through her speakers.
"Sorry," she said distractedly.
"What's so important?"
"Just a message."
"From who?"
"Someone I met today."
"A guy?" he snapped.
Maddy raised her eyebrow at her camera.
"Sorry," he said sincerely. "That was dickish."
"You're fine, it's late."
"Mmm," he said, covering a perfectly timed yawn with his hand.
"Go to sleep, Finn. I'll call you in the morning. 'Kay?"
"Good idea. Night, Madders. Sweet dreams."
"You too."
She closed the Skype window and focused completely on the email. Whatever she was doing, wasn't working. She had kept busy and drunk and hungover but it still lingered. Not exactly the fear of it - though she remembered it too clearly - but the rest of it. The monsters she hadn't met. The ones that now existed, hurting people like she had been hurt, and worse. Sam and Dean, with their tired eyes and relentless fight. The way they had saved her and then she had saved them. It felt dangerously like a sort of camaraderie.
"Fuck it," Maddy muttered, and opened the attachment.
Her screen filled with monsters.
She stared for a moment before clicking on one. A document opened, revealing a complete profile, from origins to strengths, to characteristics, and then, to weaknesses.
Maddy rubbed the haze from her eyes and took a swig of her cold coffee.
It was going to be a long night.
Reviews would be awesome. As I'm sure there'll be some questions regarding Finn, he and Maddy aren't in a relationship and their dynamic will be explored later. As I said before, it won't be romance-heavy.