"Don't move," Laraje sternly warns as she opens the closet door while carrying several items in Lizzy's arms. Dean is sitting in the corner of the very small room, his back propped up on one wall and head resting on his balled up flannel shirt against the adjoining wall. The pain hasn't subsided in the least. He hazily peers up to get a glimpse at Lizzy's face and to his utter disappointment it looked nothing like her to him. The expression on it is different, so very not her, and the stance she takes is strange and foreign.
"Don't touch me," Dean quietly demands, his energy sapped by the ferocious pain and fatigue of his still troublesome head injury.
"Don't move like I asked and I won't have to," Lizzy's voice responds and he wants to scream. He hates that this thing got past her and took her from him. His possessive nature has been killing him over this. That was his Lizzy. She belonged to no one else, especially not this demon.
"I'm sorry, L," Dean sadly mutters, hoping she gets the message.
"Oh please," Laraje responds with discontent. "She's just fine in here, tucked away comfortably and getting a front row seat for the show. Honestly, don't worry about her. She's in much better shape than you are right now."
"Son of a bitch," Dean mutters. She's there, listening and watching just like he'd hoped she wasn't.
"Here," the demon says, leaning down to place a bottle of water, a container of pain pills, and a fifth of whiskey onto the hardwood floor.
"Were you a nurse before you went darkside or something?" Dean jests to her, surprised with her act of kindness.
"Nope," she grins slightly. "Nurses didn't exist when I was created."
"So what, you're just a nice demon?"
"Like I said, I have a reason for being here and it isn't to kill you." Laraje stands back up and shuts the closet door, the lock clicking into place loudly. "Take the pills. Found them when I was ransacking that closet. They'll help."
Dean picks up the orange prescription bottle and reads the label. Vicodin prescribed by the one and only Dr. Elizabeth Noonan of Boston. She's still pulling her pharmacy scam. That's my girl, he thinks quickly.
"So how long are we going to do this for?" Dean questions as he pops the top of the pill bottle and tips it to his mouth, letting two in. His head hurt like a bitch and one was certainly not going to be enough. Plus, he welcomed the chance to get a little medical relaxation. He might need it to soften the mental blow of the much hated conversation he's gotten into.
"As long as it takes my dear," she tells him. "So who's next? Should we dive into some heavier stuff here?"
Dean swallows the pills with the water he was given, thinking that whiskey and pain killers would possibly make him a little too relaxed in a time like this. She may be trying to show that she doesn't want to harm him, but as he's learned, demons lie like rugs.
"Well, you've been doing a fine enough job choosing on your own," he bites. "Be my fucking guest."
"Such a gentleman. I say we get adorable little Jo Harvelle out of the way."
"Sounds good since there's nothing to talk about there," Dean comments. "The only relationship we've ever had was a strictly business one."
"You sure about that?" Laraje protests.
"Yes," Dean responds while the ball of guilt grows within him.
"Huh," she wonders. "I must have been misinformed then."
"Misinformed?" Shit, the guilt is getting heavier now.
"I had just always gotten the impression that there was something there." Laraje says it cheerfully, making Dean angry now. "A little spark maybe. She is cute after all."
"I know what you're doing," he tells her but it doesn't stop her from continuing on.
"I mean, seriously? Can we be honest here? You liked her the second you met her."
"Before or after she punched me in the face?" Denial. Maybe he's always known he's been ignoring this thing he has for Jo since the day he met Lizzy for a good reason. Lizzy was immediately what he wanted, completely and totally and without question. But that didn't make his previous feelings for Jo just poof, disappear. That's not how emotions work unfortunately. "Come on, Jo is just a kid," he tries to convince the demon as well as himself. "She's too young. She's my and Sam's little, pain in the ass sister if anything."
"Unpleasant, Dean," Laraje remarks. "I know what kind of thoughts pop up in your mind when you think of Jo. Not very brotherly of you, sicko."
Dean sighs loudly with the disbelief over what is happening and decides to go with it. It's what Laraje wants so what choice does he have but to be honest with her. "So I think she's hot, so what? I'm only human after all, right?"
"Right," she answers back, agreeing with him. "I just think you need to be forthright. Before Lizzy, you had a thing for that blonde little piece of jailbait. Am I wrong?" She waits for a response but gets none. "Am I?"
"You're not wrong," Dean answers back quietly, telling the complete truth. "But once I met Lizzy that was over. Jo is still important to me. She's a good friend and I still feel the need to protect her. She's green, not strong enough to be a hunter on her own so she worries me. But I love Lizzy. The only person I want now is Lizzy."
"You convincing me of that or yourself?" Laraje wonders aloud. "Or maybe you're trying to convince Lizzy?"
"Answer D, none of the above," Dean angrily answer. "You asked for honesty so I'm giving it."
"Well, for what it's worth I believe you," Laraje tells him calmly.
"Oh goody," Dean quips. "Look, I don't give a shit if you believe me or not. The only person I'm concerned about here is Lizzy."
"Ha, you know I can actually feel her relaxing a little in here," Laraje informs him. "She was worried about the Jo thing."
"What?" Dean asks, very confused. He always assumed Lizzy knew nothing of Jo at all. "Why would she be worried?"
"A while ago, just after meeting you, Bobby sent her and Lou to the Roadhouse. They met Jo and let's just say she made it clear that you were off limits to them."
"Off limits?" Dean questions with shock. Jo was calling dibs on him?
"Oh yeah. You and your brother came up in conversation and Jo did her best to stake her claim on you. Not in those words of course, but it certain put Lizzy off a bit."
"Shit," Dean sighs.
"Knowing now that it was just a passing crush, she's better with it now," Laraje tells him. "It's a shame Jo still holds you in such high regard. She really is a good, sweet kid."
"Yeah." He feels a new kind of guilt creep in now.
If this isn't one of the worst days of his life, he doesn't know what is.
Full tank of gas and huge coffee in hand, Sam drops back into the driver's seat of the old, struggling car with a weary sigh, unhappy but determined to continue on his monotonous journey. The door squeaks in protest as he pulls it shut. He turns to the right and immediately jumps with shock at the figure sitting in the passenger seat.
"Shit!" Sam shouts out, nearly spilling the liquid he desperately needs as he registers who is invading his space. "Ruby!"
"Hi Sam," she plainly greets.
"Never thought angels and demons would have something in common," he quips, noticing that the two have a similar and unnerving way of greeting people.
"Sorry," she apologizes for scaring him. "But we need to talk."
"Of course you do," Sam remarks with exhaustion.
"You can't go to Lizzy's," she warns, turning sideways to face him. "You need to turn back."
"You know I'm not gonna do that," Sam tells her in an even tone, thinking she should have known that'd be his response.
"I don't think you know what you're going to be up against here," Ruby warns. "I looked into it, asked around to the few friendly faces I still have out there. This bitch isn't a joke."
"Laraje?" Sam asks, receiving a wide eyed look in return. "Yeah, Bobby figured it out." Sam says it with a hint of pride in the man.
"Smart for a hick," she returns.
"He knows a thing or two," Sam tells her with even more pride. "I'm well aware of who the demon is."
"So you know that over the past few years she's become massively powerful?" Ruby adds. "She's no lightweight. She's good, and she's really strong at this point."
"So was Samhain," Sam challenges. "Took him down."
"Well, congrats there big boy. You wasted a demon that was dormant for hundreds of years and totally out of shape. You want to a fucking cookie, Sam?"
"Be nice," Sam quietly warns, now used to her biting tone and mean remarks.
"She's bigger than you realize. She spent centuries building her powers through collecting items and spells," Ruby explains sternly. "And I don't think she'll be the cakewalk you assume she'll be."
"I'm not assuming anything, Ruby," Sam says while glaring at her. "I just know I can't let Dean and Lizzy deal with this alone. Lizzy's possessed."
"I know that."
"Then don't act like I can just leave this one alone!" Sam watches her flinch slightly as his voice begins rising along with his anger at her for asking him to stay away. "I've been there, Ruby! It's awful and she needs help. She needs me."
"But isn't that what Dean's for?" Ruby reminds him. "If they're so fucking in love then he would know right away and take care of it, right?"
"Maybe, but I can't take that chance," Sam adds looking back out the windshield. "I can't get ahold of him so I have no idea what's going on. Look, I appreciate you trying to warn me or whatever, but I have to do this. Either you can help or you can get the fuck out. Your choice." He sits while staring straight ahead and silently hoping that she'll chose to help. Without his go juice this whole situation may be impossible to handle. He does need her help, as much as he didn't want to admit it.
Ruby sighs loudly while opening the car door. She stands up from her seat and Sam's spirits plummet. She isn't going to help. She's going to let him walk right into the fire without a hose. That bitch. He turns his head to tell her exactly that when she leans forward, her head dipping back into the car.
"I'll meet you at the place we already agreed on. Call when you're close." With that she slams the door shut and walks away, body language stiff with anger.
Sam lets out a breath of relief. He turns the key in the ignition and pulls out of the rest stop with a renewed sense of perseverance. He knows what he's about to face and he'll be as ready as he possibly can be. Speeding into the darkening sky, Sam finds the worry and absorbing tension that had been resting on his shoulders for the drive so far becoming less of a concern.