Are You Still The Same?
As he walked into the kitchen, Edgar took in a deep breath while genuinely praising, "That smells amazing Lonnie."
She looked over her shoulder and smiled brightly as she replied, "Thanks. Julia from next door gave me a recipe for ribs… She said that you would enjoy them."
"Mmm… I think I will," he commented as he crowded behind her to look over her shoulder at the dish.
Lonnie continued basting the ribs in the glass dish then tried to bend over to replace it in the oven, but she found herself trapped between her companion and the oven door. She then gently bumped Edgar with her hip and he took a small step back while maintaining a large grin on his face.
After the food was back in the oven, she turned then playfully pushed against his stomach saying, "They won't be ready for a little bit yet, so shoe… Out with you… Go… I'll call you when they are done."
She continued to gently poke him, so Edgar caught one of her hands and laced their fingers together. She swallowed nervously as he held her in an almost uncomfortable stare. It had been a couple of weeks since she had been discharged from the hospital and returned home with her husband, but she still felt uneasy because she had no memories of him or their life together. He continued to be patient with her even though she was feeling beyond frustrated that she still didn't really know who she was or anything about their lives together beyond what he had told her. But with all of those conflicting feelings, she remained eager to start making new memories with him as soon as possible.
Lonnie took a step forward and pecked his lips quickly before saying, "It shouldn't be too much longer… There's lots of cold beer in the fridge, why don't you just go and relax in front of the TV while you wait?"
Edgar nodded then left the room without saying another word. Lonnie went back to preparing dinner and as she worked, he watched her from the doorway with a faint smile spreading across his face. When he was originally given this detail, he had been inclined to go against his orders and just dispose of the woman, but now he was seeing the logic behind their boss' reasoning. She seemed to have started to form an emotional bond with him and he hoped that that loyalty was going to be as useful as they hoped it would be in the not too distant future.
Since returning home, they had tried to establish a new routine, so after they finished their dinner, they both retired to the living room to watch TV. Most nights, Lonnie retired to their bed first and would wake up alone after Edgar had already left for work. She spent most of her days doing odd jobs around the house or working in the yard and even spent some time with her neighbors, but she couldn't shake the feeling that she didn't quite belong here. Whenever that feeling crept up into the back of her mind, she just reminded herself of what Edgar had told her when he first brought her home; This wasn't their home before the accident that caused her amnesia, so she was most likely just feeling the usual pains anyone would encounter during a transition such as this and that she just had to give herself some time.
He was watching the screen with a hard scowl on his face, so Lonnie hesitated before she attempted to broach the topic that she had wanted to introduce to him for a couple of day. Edgar caught her fidgeting out of the corner of his eye and without taking his eyes off the TV he asked, "Lonnie? Is there something on your mind?"
She blushed with embarrassment then muted the volume of the show that was on before she replied, "Yeah there was something… But now I'm just thinking that it's actually kind of dumb, so… You know what, never mind… It's nothing for you to worry about."
"No, Lonnie, if you thought that it was something that we should talk about, then please don't hold back." He took one of her hands in his then tried to sound as genuinely concerned as he could as he added, "I just want you to be happy. Please let me know what I can do to help you."
"Okay… Well…" She stared slowly as she nervously picked at a thread on her sleeve. "Not that I'm complaining… Because you've been so great about my issues with my memories and all… But… I was cleaning up our room and I went through my closet and… Well…"
When she hesitated and didn't complete her thought, he took a deep breath to calm himself then calmly asked, "And…?"
"And… Well… None of my clothes seem to fit me anymore." She looked up through the fringe of her bangs to gauge his reaction and when he didn't look annoyed or angry, she relaxed then more easily added, "I know you said that we moved here after all of that other drama, so I… I'm guessing that with the stress of the move and our loss… Well… I must have lost a lot of weight… I don't know… But either way…"
"So you want to go shopping for new clothes…" He inquired over her rambling in the hopes that he could get her back on track.
She nodded with an uneasy smile so he chuckled saying, "That's fine. Your car is in the garage and its tank should still be full…" She still looked anxious about this idea so he kindly added, "Sweetheart, you don't have to ask my permission, our home isn't a jail cell. If you want to go out and explore, then by all means, please do. If fact, it would probably do you a lot of good to move past just chatting with the same neighbors all of the time."
"Oh… Okay… I… I don't know why I… Okay… Yeah… I'm sorry," she answered with a hot, red blush coloring her cheeks and neck.
Edgar then got up without speaking to exit the room, so Lonnie jumped to her feet and chased after him. She nearly started apologizing again, but opted to hold her tongue while she just watched him move through the house stealthily. As he entered their room, she slowed her pace and felt a ball of regret growing in the pit of her stomach and wished that she hadn't brought any of this up at all. She was married and from what she could tell he enjoyed her company, so she didn't really seem to need a wardrobe that would impress anyone else, what she had could be enough if she got creative with it.
"It's fine Edgar," she tried to apologize as she entered the room. "I really didn't mean to cause a fuss… Can we just forget about it?"
Edgar turned to face her saying, "It really isn't a problem. I just thought that you might need some money so that you could buy your new clothes."
He presented her with a stack of bills that he had pulled out of their safe and then thrust it into her hand. Lonnie reluctantly claimed it from him, took a quick look at the bills and when she noticed that they were mostly one hundred and fifty dollar bills in the pile, she stared up at him in a stunned silence. He was beyond perplexed by her reaction and thought that she wasn't pleased, so he reopened their safe to retrieve more cash for her.
As Edgar turned away, Lonnie lunged forward to hug his back saying, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"
He placed a hand over hers and replied with a soft chuckle, "I take that that will be sufficient funds for your purchases."
Lonnie turned him by his shoulders then held his face for a second before she kissed him almost uncomfortably hard due to her excitement. "It should be more than enough. But while I'm out…? Do…? Do you need anything at all?"
Edgar reached out and pet her face with a strange smile on his face as he replied, "I have everything I need right here… For now."
Lonnie felt like the blood in her veins had run ice cold the instant his flesh contacted her own, but she tried to give him an easy smile despite that sensation. Edgar patted her cheek gently then left her standing in the middle of room alone with her thoughts. She stared at the money in her hand and shivered slightly in the spot where she stood. She felt vaguely guilty that all of this seemed so foreign because her partner seemed to move through their house and their life together without missing a beat. She shook her head then folded the cashed and slipped it into the purse she had found in the closet that seemed to be a style that she remembered liking that she was going to use while shopping the next day.
Lonnie wasn't sure if it was supposed to be this easy, but she was able to find practically a full wardrobe within just a couple of hours. The clerk, Tess, at the Department Store had been more than complimentary and helpful once Lonnie had explained her predicament and discreetly flashed her purse full of cash.
The clerk was taking stock of all of Lonnie's potential purchases as she smiled to herself and asked her client, "It looks like we found a good assortment of casual and business attire… Was there anything else that you were hoping to go home with today?"
"Umm… Well… I do need some workout clothes, I think," the shopper commented more to herself than the woman that had posed the question. Lonnie's eyes moved away from the stack of clothes that they had accumulated to the personal shopper's face. She immediately caught the mildly disapproving look forming on the clerk's face so she swallowed and slowly answered, "Well… There is one other garment that I was hoping to find today… I haven't really been able to get it off my mind lately."
Lonnie's eyes then focused on another part of the store, so Tess tried her best to follow her client's gaze to try to better understand what her next desired purchase could be. She wasn't certain which part of the store Lonnie's eyes were zeroed in on, but she wasn't sure if she should say so or not because that would show a weakness that might prove costly to her. What she hadn't banked on was that Lonnie could read her reaction perfectly and almost read the clerk's mind to a tee, so Lonnie started moving towards the formal wear department with the full knowledge that Tess would follow her obediently without her having to say a word.
"Umm… Ms. Beale…? Where…? What…?"
Lonnie stopped mid-step and held up her left hand with a quirked eyebrow to correct the woman saying, "Actually… It's Mrs. Beale… And I'll be needing a red velvet gown with a halter style neckline in order to impress my husband… Do you think that you might be able to help me with that?"
Hearing the renewed confidence in the shopper's voice threw the stork clerk off a little bit, but she recovered quickly and replied with an insincere smile, "Of course I would be more than happy to assist you with that… I assume that you would require a floor length gown?"
With a sly smile on her face, Lonnie shrugged then said, "That would be my preference, but let's keep an open mind… I might like one of each length that you have."
After all of her purchases were bought and paid for, Lonnie ventured back out into the main mall area with a satisfied smile on her face. She wasn't sure when it happened exactly or why, but for the first time since she woke up in the hospital, she was feeling like herself, like she was being herself and not sounding like she was trying to be the woman she was before her terrible concussion. She still had some money burning a hole in her pocket, so she decided to start window shopping in the hopes that she could find something for Edgar as a way to thank him. He had been the one to push her to head to the mall for some 'retail therapy' and she really did want to show him her appreciation for his encouragement and his on-going patience.
For some reason Lonnie got hung up at the window of a sport's store with a baseball themed window display. She stared at the jersey hanging off the mannequin's body trying her best to remember if she and her husband had ever had a conversation about this sport at all. They had spent the last few weeks watching TV together, but at this moment she couldn't recall any one show or program that they watched purposefully because either of them had requested it. Had they been watching a few games of baseball but Lonnie hadn't been paying close enough attention to know that's what it was?
She started feeling awkward just standing there staring and decided that this wasn't the place to buy his present since she couldn't figure out why any of the items in front of her should hold any sort of significance to her or him. She turned to walk away, but turned to give the display one more lingering look. She took another step into the walkway, but stopped when she felt a strong hand grip her forearm.
"Addy? I was calling you… Didn't you hear me?" The young teen questioned almost shyly. "Were…? Were you ignoring me?"
She saw a glisten of tears forming in his eyes and felt her heart break ever so slightly so she tried her best to use the kindest tone that she could as she pried his fingers from her arm. "I'm sorry Hun, but you must have me mistaken for someone else." She paused then caressed his cheek adding, "I don't think anyone in their right mind could ignore a handsome devil like you." She gently squeezed his hand with her final offering, "I hope you find 'Addy' soon Sweetie."
He continued to stare at her, dumfounded and frozen in his place even after she had continued on her way, so Lonnie walked back over to him and placed a reassuring hand on his shoulder as she worriedly asked, "Hey… Sweetie…? Are you okay?" She looked around them, but didn't see anyone that appeared to be searching him out, so she dropped her bags and took both of his hands in hers asking, "Is your Mom or Dad here with you? Who…? Who are you here with Honey?"
The teen shook his head slowly but just bit his lip as his reply. Lonnie gently wiped a tear that had escaped down his cheek, but she before she could say anything else, he turned away when he heard a voice from the sport's store call out, "Toby? Dude! What gives? Dad got them to find that hat you were looking for! Come on man!"
Toby didn't move or acknowledge his friend, so Lonnie shook his right hand firmly saying, "Toby, it was an absolute pleasure to meet you. I have to say that you sure do know how to stroke a girl's ego, but I think your friend is getting a little antsy… You should go meet up with him."
She turned him around by his shoulders then picked up her bags while she watched him finally join his friend. After they disappeared back into the store, Lonnie finally continued on her way fondly thinking to herself, Cute kid.
When she returned home, Lonnie got changed into one of her new casual outfits then got to work preparing dinner for her husband and herself. Every so often her thoughts would wonder to the teenager that she had briefly met at the mall and she almost felt like she could break down into tears because of the sad look that he had had in his eyes the instant that he saw her face. She was sure that at some point in her life that she must have missed someone as much as he missed 'Addy', but right now she was happy to be reacquainting herself in this life with her adoring husband, so she tried to keep her focus on doing just that.
She almost brought up the incident with Edgar, but when he got home he was in an uncharacteristically bad mood, so she kept her story to herself for now. Edgar promptly disappeared after their dinner without so much as a single word about where he was going, leaving Lonnie feeling even more perplexed and alone than she had earlier in the day. Lonnie stayed up later than she usually would that night waiting for him to return home. She even tried his cell phone a couple of times before she succumbed to her fatigue and fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV.
"Mum! Mum? Are you home?" Toby yelled from the now closed front door.
She had left the door unlocked, so he should have known that meant that she was there, but his mother still yelled back, "In the kitchen Tobs!"
She heard the loud THUD of him dropping his backpack on the living room floor and she cringed slightly at the thought of the damage that he was most likely doing to the hardwood floor right now. But she never once thought of admonishing him because he knew that he was only being careless because he was so excited about Christmas break that was coming up and spending more time with his parents. Since there was absolutely no malice behind his actions, she just let his behavior slide under the radar as she laughed softly to herself and continued her work in the kitchen.
"Mum!" He exclaimed before she turned around to face him with a bright smile on both of their faces. "Whoa! You're huge!"
She wanted to get mad at him for that comment, but the look on his face made her laugh despite herself as she tried her best to chastise him saying, "Toby! That really isn't the best way to greet a pregnant woman… Especially if you want to live to see your next meal."
Toby's hand immediately went to the sides of his mother's protruding stomach as he pouted slightly and apologized, "I'm sorry… I didn't mean it like that Mum… It's just that she's gotten so big so fast." He looked into her eyes then smiled sheepishly and added, "You're still really pretty Mum, I swear."
She leaned in and kissed his cheek then hoarsely replied, "Thanks Buddy…"
Even though she wanted to continue, she was rendered speechless by the sensation of the baby kicking. Toby jumped slightly but maintained his tight grip on her midsection somehow. She held one of his cheeks and chuckled before saying, "That's just his way of saying 'hi' to his big brother. Don't be scared Tobs."
Toby nodded then leaned down and put his cheek on her stomach whispering, "Hey you… I'm totally with Dad… Can't wait to meet you little sis."
After he was standing up straight again, his mother glared at him playfully and cocked her head to one side as she asked, "What did you say to your little brother Toby?" He just shrugged so she tried again with a simple, "Buddy?"
He opened his mouth to speak when they both heard the sound of gravel crunching under the weight of his Dad's truck's tires. Toby looked around his Mum then nearly shouted, "Dad? Dad's home already?"
She looked over his shoulder to check what time the oven clock was displaying then replied, "Oh yeah, that looks about right… He said that he was going to try to cut out of work early today because… Umm…"
"Mum?" He asked worriedly as he squeezed her stomach to regain her attention.
She bit her lip then quietly explained, "Well… I'm trying out a couple of Mo's recipes before helping her with Christmas dinner this year… So he kind of thought that… Umm he could taste test with you to make sure…"
"So that IS stuffing I smell! Awesome! I'm sure it'll be great Mum!" He exclaimed before running towards the backdoor.
"Toby!" She shouted and froze him in his place.
He then turned and flashed her the same disarming smile his father had been using on her since before Toby had been a twinkle in either of their eyes then he innocently replied, "I promise… I'll stay on the stairs until Dad turns the engine off."
"Alright," she conceded knowing full well that she would cave and agree to just about anything when her son used that look on her. "Be sure to tell him that dinner's almost ready, okay?"
When Lonnie woke up, she absentmindedly stroked her stomach while thinking about the dream she had had during the night. She tried to keep her thoughts from straying back to the images that she was confident that her subconscious mind had conjured up, but while she was loading the dishwasher, she started having vivid flashbacks of her dream invading her every thought.
"Were we going to have a boy?" She asked out loud before realizing that it was stumbling out of her mouth.
Edgar looked over his newspaper when he thought that he heard Lonnie say something, but she still had her back turned to him. She just continued doing her chores, so he couldn't be certain if she had actually spoken or not.
"I'm sorry Sweetheart, did you say something?" He asked politely as he folded the newspaper in half and placed it on the table.
Lonnie stood up and turned to face him, feeling very shy as she replied, "Sorry… It's nothing really. Please, just forget that I said anything, okay?"
"Don't do that," he countered encouragingly even though the tone of her voice sounded like nails on a chalkboard to him right now. "The doctor said that you might get flashes of memories and that the best thing to do is to talk about them to make sure that they are actual memories and not a figment of your imagination. So please…? Please ask me again."
"Okay," she replied as she took a seat beside him at the table. "Were…? I mean… I know that you said that I begged you to move here after I… We lost our baby… Umm… Were we by any chance…? Umm… Going to have a boy? And… Uhh… Were we going to…? Had we decided on the name 'Toby' for him?"
Edgar's eyes lit up and he took both of her hands in his answering, "Actually yes… Yes we were and we did… You used to dream about what it would be like once he was older and you were pregnant with his little brother or sister because you were so excited about starting our family… Why do ask Pet?"
She swallowed hard then looked at his hands that had easily engulfed her own. She felt very small compared to him and even though he appeared to have given her the confirmation she had desired, she still felt ill at ease. As soon as he touched her hands, she shivered unconsciously then felt like she should get as far away from her husband as soon as humanly possible, despite the open, comforting look he seemed to have in his eyes right now.
"Oh well… I sort of had that dream last night," she confessed aloud. What she didn't tell the man sitting beside her was that it actually felt like more than just a dream to her, it was like she had lived that day for real, but she kept that information to herself… At least for now.
"That's wonderful," he praised petting her face adoringly. "You're starting to think more like yourself… More like the old you." Or more like the 'you' that I'm going to be sure to mold you into, he thought sinisterly to himself.
"Yeah… I guess that I am," she replied, resisting the urge to flinch out of his grasp and run to a hot, scolding shower.
Edgar leaned over and kissed her head then stood up before saying, "Just remember that you shouldn't try to force it… Just let the memories come to you at their own pace… Now, I might be home later than usual… This project we're working on appears to be more complicated than we had originally anticipated, so don't wait up for me alright? You still need to make sure that you get proper rest."
She nodded then they stared at each other in an awkward silence while she tried to search his eyes for something that would help spark a memory. Lonnie then figured that he was waiting for her to make the next move, so she stood up and quickly pecked him on the cheek then said, "That's alright. I'm sorry to hear about the project, I wish I could make it easier for you. Have a good day…" She paused to swallow her discomfort. "Sweetheart."
After Edgar left for the day, Lonnie tried to get back into her regular routine that she had become comfortable following over the past weeks. She was sorting her first load of laundry when she saw a cardboard box she had never taken notice of before in a corner of this room. She kept her eyes focused on it as if it would disappear if she wasn't watching it while she finished loading the washing machine then she abandoned the thought of doing anything else and sat down on the floor to investigate its contents.
She had thought that the box would be full and heavy, but after a short struggle with the tape that had been used to seal it shut, she found that the box was practically empty. Well empty compared to the all of the other boxes she had already unpacked while she set up the house. All that she discovered inside was a pair of ripped and muddied jeans, a plaid blouse with a large tear in the sleeve, a switchblade knife and a purple Blackberry cell phone. The clothing appeared to be her size, which confused her beyond belief because the wardrobe in their house had been at least two sizes too large, so why would this outfit actually be her size? Thinking nothing of it, she carefully folded the shirt and pants and placed them back in the box before she liberated the cell phone to find out what it could tell her.
She figured that there was little to no chance that there would be enough juice left in the battery to power it up, but she still held down the power button to try none the less. To her surprise, the screen lit up and the phone slowly came to life in her hand. Beside the clock there was the small icon that told her there was at least one voicemail waiting for whoever owned the phone, but the symbol that was used to indicate how many missed calls the phone had received only displayed a tiny 'plus' sign beside it. Lonnie quickly scrolled through the missed call log and saw the same two names appeared to dominate the list.
"Jeter…? Derek Jeter…? Where have I seen that name before?" She asked the room while closing her eyes to force her brain to focus. She mentally retraced her steps over the past few days then suddenly she was back at the sport's store at the mall. In the window display she could see that there was a poster of an action shot of a batter in a pinstriped uniform with the name 'Derek Jeter' under his feet.
"Wow… Shit… Okay… Who else do you know little phone?"
The other name that dominated the call log was 'Darren Hayes' and even though she tried and tried, that name seemed to mean absolutely nothing to her. Intermittently spattered between Derek's and Darren's calls, it appeared that 'Daniel Jones' and 'Kenny Rogers' had tried to get a hold of the phone owner as well. She couldn't have held back the laugh that escaped her lips if she had tried when she heard "The Gambler" in the back of her mind because for some reason she actually knew who Kenny Rogers was and she couldn't believe that she had the numbers of two such famous people in the palm of her hand right now.
As she scrolled through the names again and again without finding anything new or probing, then the phone beeped at her and flashed the phrase 'LOW BATTERY', so she swiftly turned it off to conserve whatever power the battery might have left in it. She found a piece of paper and wrote the two mystery names down on it because she was afraid that she might forget them and then she replace everything in as close to the exact same place she had found them as she could with her hands shaking with excitement and adrenaline. Once she was satisfied that Edgar wouldn't know that she had found what was inside the unlabeled box, Lonnie sprinted to their home office to see if she could find something on-line that might possibly be of any help.
Since Mr. Hayes had been just as persistent as Mr. Jeter to get through on the phone, Lonnie typed his name into the search engine then hit 'ENTER'. The next page displayed a link to his official website, and then there was a row of photos followed by a variety of different sites where he appeared to be the primary focus and subject.
"Fuck! He's hot," she whispered to herself as she clicked on the Wikipedia link for his name.
She scanned his biography quickly and she just became more confused the further along she read. He was a singer from Australia, so how could he be related to a baseball player in the US? Still letting her curiosity guide her actions, she scrolled down the page and on the first line of paragraph chronicling his music career she swathe blue highlighted name of 'Daniel Jones'.
"What? Okay… Alright… What?" She asked the screen as she tried to piece it all together and make some sort of sense out of what she was uncovering.
So Darren, Daniel and Kenny were in the music industry and they all knew this person that owned the phone. As she stared at the computer screen she came up with the theory that maybe the phone belonged to a talent agent of some sort. That could explain why they knew so many famous people, right? She snickered at the thought and felt that that conclusion might be way off base, but at this point in time she couldn't come up with anything else so she let herself get lost in the pages and videos of the people that she had been researching.
Sam was trying his best to demonstrate to Osiris that Dean couldn't be held responsible for so many of the deaths in their lives and that he wasn't guilty, but he wasn't sure if he was succeeding in doing the same for his brother right now.
Sam stood in front of Dean with his arms crossed over his chest as he asked his older brother, "Then is your heart heavy with guilt or is it just plain heavy and none of this guy's business?"
"Uhh… What you said," Dean answered looking between Sam in front of him and the god to his right. "The second thing."
The two Winchesters looked over at Osiris as Sam concluded confidently, "Then I rest my case."
The god sounded thoroughly amused as he answered, "Very good… Both of you, but alas we must return to our regularly scheduled programming. Now for my third witness…" Osiris paused for dramatic effect while he gleefully watched all of the color drain from Dean's face. "I will now call… Ms. Adelaide Victoria Jones."
She appeared in front of Osiris' post with a genuinely terrified look on her face. Her eyes darted between the three men as she took a couple of steps back quietly pleading, "Please… Please don't hurt me… I… I won't tell anyone who you are… Please… Please just let me go…"
Osiris frowned unhappily at her reaction then his face quickly lit up with recognition of how he could remedy this predicament. With a snap of his fingers he announced cheerfully, "That should fix that… Now would the real Adelaide Jones please stand up?"
Addy blinked a few times then she focused her attention onto the man currently seated on the witness stand. "Dean…? Dean…! OH MY GOD! I've missed you so much!" She looked around the room and tried to take a step forward but she seemed to be glued to her place creating a new sense of panic within her as she asked all three of them, "What…?" Then her eyes locked with her soul mate's again as she tearfully pleaded, "Dean…? What's going on? Why…? Why am I here?"
Dean swallowed hard as he willed away any tears that tried to spring forward at the sight of Addy being in the same room and then he glared at the god and growled out in an unwavering tone, "Don't you dare… Not her… Don't do this with her…"
Addy tried again to move but figured that she might not be allowed to unless the bald guy Dean was addressing allowed her to, but she couldn't and wouldn't dare try to stop the tears that were spilling over and down her cheeks as she hoarsely pleaded, "Dean…? Please answer me…? Please? Why are we here? What...? What is he doing to you? Please Dean?"
Osiris looked between Addy and Dean with a satisfied smirk spreading across his face then he simply snapped his fingers again and after Addy disappeared he replied jovially, "Alright… Because I really enjoyed that, I'm gonna be generous and ask… Dean, do you want me to call my last witness?" He watched Dean's reactions to the images he allowed him to see with a sly smile then knowingly added, "Or have we had enough?"
Sam looked completely perplexed then finally spoke up asking his brother, "What the hell's he talking about?"
"Enough Ally McBealing," Dean answered in Osiris' direction. "Just drop the hammer, will ya?"
"Wait! Dean! He's giving us more time!" Sam tried reasoning with his brother even though he knew in his heart that it was a lost cause.
Dean turned back to his brother then yelled back to silence him, "It's not gonna make a difference Sam!"
The god beside them silenced both of them by asking in a very condescending tone, "You need another moment? You done?" Once he was satisfied that both of the Winchesters were listening, he purposefully banged his staff three times on the floor and announced, "The court's reached a verdict. I find you, Dean Winchester, guilty in your heart… And sentence you to die." He leaned in close towards Dean then added, "I'd suggest you get your affairs in order quickly."
After Sam had left the room to find something that would derail Osiris' plan, Dean stood in the circle of salt he had just laid down the he called out softly, "You can come out now."
When Jo stepped out alone into the line, Dean craned his neck to try to look around her because he had been confident that she wouldn't be doing this solo. Jo followed Dean's gaze behind her then she turned back to him, mirroring his confused look, then she just shrugged in reply to his unspoken question.
Dean came into the kitchen still drying his hair, so he wasn't actually paying too close of attention to what Addy was doing. As he tossed the soiled towel into the laundry room, he inhaled deeply and smiled satisfactorily to himself. He had been instructed to get cleaned up as soon as he got home from work and to wear a proper shirt for dinner, but he hadn't expected to see Addy in a dress or for there to be candles lit on the kitchen table to accompany the intoxicating aroma that filled the room.
"Wow… Uh Lay…?" He started sounding completely awestruck. "What's the occasion?"
She finished pouring a bottle of beer into a chilled glass for Dean then handed it to him replying, "Happy July 10th?" Dean took the glass with a questioning frown clouding his face while she returned to preparing their meal sounding slightly wounded as she said, "Does it really HAVE to be a holiday for me to make you a nice dinner?"
After placing his glass on the table, Dean walked up behind Addy, wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek saying, "No… It doesn't… What I should have said was 'it smells wonderful. Thank you.'… I'm sorry… Better?"
"Much," she agreed with a soft laugh. "Now you, go, sit and I'll bring it over to you."
Dean squeezed her waist again but made no move to sit at the table. Addy had hoped to surprise him with the meal that she was making, so she turned around in his arms and slipped her hands into his back pockets as she tried to reason with him. He leaned down to kiss her, but she dodged it so he kissed her cheek instead.
"Dean, come on… Dinner's going to get cold if we don't eat soon," she explained trying not to sound like she was whining.
"But Lay…" he countered as he nibbled at her neck.
She bit back a sigh and felt him smile against her flesh. "Dean… The fries are just getting colder and grosser by the second."
"Fries?" He asked into her neck. "You didn't say anything about fries."
She chuckled then used the distraction of talking about food and nudged Dean towards the table. Once he was beside his seat, she kissed his lips then replied, "Well what else would we have with our burgers?"
Before he could answer, she turned then scooped up their plates, carried them over to the table and placed one in from of him. Dean stared at the plate and Addy couldn't help but laugh softly at his reaction. True burger, fries and beer didn't normally warrant the full candle light dinner treatment, but she was trying to heed Maureen's advice by not trying to force either of them into living a stereotypical normal domestic life too quickly. To try to help make their transition as easy as possible, Maureen had told her that there was nothing wrong with taking things that they had enjoyed as hunters and fitting them into their lives now, so tonight she was experimenting.
He picked up a fry, but instead of eating it, Dean held it up to inspect it. Addy watched him then pulled her chair closer to his, snatched the fry out his grasp and popped it into her mouth. Dean glared at her with a smirk on his face, but made no move for any retribution.
She then picked up another homemade fry from her plate, dipped it in some ketchup then held it up to Dean's lips. As he opened his mouth to eat it, she leaned in close, placed one of his hands on her thigh just past the hem of her dress then whispered into his ear, "If you think dinner looks good, wait until you see what's for dessert."
"Lonnie? Lonnie?" Edgar called out just before he gently shook one of her shoulders.
She felt like a fog was slowly lifting as she turned to face Edgar. He forced himself to smile then with an equally forced calm tone he asked her again, "Darling? Did you hear me?"
This time his words seemed to finally register because she sat up straight at attention before she answered, "I'm sorry… No… Sorry I didn't… I must have zoned out there for a minute… Sorry… What was it that you were saying?"
He laughed softly at her embarrassment then very slowly asked again as he stroked her face with the knuckles of the back of his hand, "I was requesting that you change the channel to the news Pet. Preferably the national news of some sort."
"Oh… Yeah… Of course," she hurriedly replied as she nearly dropped the remote in her haste to swipe it off the coffee table. "Would…? Is…? Is this okay?"
Edgar's smile widened once she had the channel changed because the first thing he saw was the headline "BROTHERS ON KILLING SPREE STILL AT LARGE". The anchor appeared to be speaking with a panel of experts that were giving their advice and insights into why these two had fallen into a life of crime and how they continued to elude being caught by the authorities. Edgar relocated from his recliner to the couch and he wrapped a comforting arm around Lonnie's shoulders when he saw how visibly upset she appeared to be by the images on the screen.
She still remained seated rigidly straight as short snippets of news stories about each crime the duo had committed flashed across the screen. Once her body relaxed slightly into his side, he quietly explained, "Some of the guys at work had been discussing these two, so I was a little curious… But if it bothers you, we can watch something else; I don't have to watch this."
Lonnie shook her head as she rested it on his chest then replied, "No… No… This is… Interesting. I… I don't mind."
He gently raked his fingers through her hair as they both stared at the TV listening to the anchor's commentary, "THE DUO'S KILLING SPREE STARTED JUST OVER TWO WEEKS AGO IN JERICHO, CALIFORNIA BEFORE THEY CONTINUED, ZIG ZAGGING ACROSS THE COUNTRY. ALL OF THE EXPERTS AGREE THAT THE WINCHESTER BROTHERS ARE A NEW BREED OF SERIAL KILLER AND ARE UNLIKE ANY OTHER OUR NATION HAS ENCOUNTERED IN THE PAST." A map with a red line tracing through various States appeared as she continued to narrate, "THERE HASN'T BEEN A DISCERNIBLE PATTERN THAT ANY OF THE EXPERTS HAVE BEEN ABLE TO DECIPHER, BUT NO MATTER WHERE THE TWO FIND THEMSELVES THEY LEAVE NOTHING BUT DEATH AND CARNAGE IN THEIR WAKE. AT THIS TIME VERY LITTLE IS ACTUALLY KNOWN ABOUT THE DEADLY DUO AND WE ARE WORKING HARD TO UNCOVER ANY INFORMATION ABOUT THEIR PAST TO TRY TO UNEARTH ANY INSIGHTS INTO WHY THEY HAVE BEEN TERRORIZING SO MANY SMALL TOWNS THROUGH OUT OUR NATION." A still frame photo of Sam and Dean's faces replaced the map on the screen as the anchor concluded, "IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION REGARDING THE WHEREABOUTS OF SAM AND DEAN WINCHESTER, YOU ARE ASKED TO CONTACT YOUR LOCAL POLICE OR CRIME STOPPERS. AUTHORITIES WARN THAT THE BROTHERS SHOULD BE CONSIDERED ARMED AND EXTREMELY DANGEROUS, SO IF YOU DO SEE THEM, YOU SHOULD NOT APPROACH THEM AND ARE ASKED TO CALL 9-1-1 IMMEDIATELY. WE WILL HAVE MORE AFTER THIS."
As soon as the faces of the two killers were displayed on the screen, Lonnie's whole body tensed up and she gripped her husband's shirt tightly. She fought the urge to cry while he massaged her shoulder asking, "Are you okay Darling? My offer still stands…"
"No," she interrupted tearfully. "No, it's okay. It's just… All those people… Their families… They were just living their lives and now they're gone." She sat up to look him in the eye and let her tears fall as she said, "It… It could happen to anyone… Even you… I just…"
She didn't finish her though and instead leaned in to kiss his lips before quietly admitting, "I don't know what I would do without you."
As she cuddled back into his side, she stared at the screen then thought to herself, You must have seen his face somewhere and now your brain has him confused with someone else. You don't know him so you can't care about him… Don't care about him. She hugged Edgar's torso even tighter as if to remind herself that what she was saying was true. You love Edgar… Not… Not that guy… Dean Whoever… He's just a ghost of a memory of someone else.
"WE HAVE SOME BREAKING NEWS OUT OF NAZARETH, PENNSYLVANIA. AUTHORITIES HAVE RELEASED SOME FOOTAGE OF THE WINCHESTER BROTHERS. WE MUST WARN YOU THAT THE IMAGES ARE QUITE GRAPHIC AND DISTURBING. THEY MOST CERTAINLY ARE NOT SUITABLE FOR YOUNG CHILDREN AND SOME ADULTS. VIEWER DISCRETION IS ADVISED."
The taller of the two brothers, Sam, stood in front of the lens of a camera and adjusted the level instructing, "KEEP IT RIGHT THERE. I WANT YOU TO CATCH MINE AND MY BROTHER'S GOOD SIDES. CAN YOU DO THAT?" The camera moved up and down as a shaky voice replied, "YES… YES SIR I CAN DO THAT." He smiled brightly then moved so that the camera could capture his brother who was focused intently on reloading his gun.
After one final loud click, Dean looked over his shoulder then flashed a handsome smile saying, "AWW SAM I AIN'T GOT NOTHING BUT GOOD SIDES." He then extended his arm out in front of him, turned away from the camera again and started opening fire.
Lonnie hid her face in Edgar's chest crying out, "Oh my God! That's… That's so horrible!"
"VERY DISTURBING INDEED," a male anchor commented to his female counterpart once the video footage ended. "NOW WE HAVE MISTER WALLACE HOLLEY, ONE OF THE NATION'S TOP PROFILERS FOR THE FBI JOINING US TO DISCUSS…"
"Turn it off please? Just turn it off," Lonnie begged into Edgar's chest. "Please? It's just too much. Please Edgar, turn it off. Make it go away."
"Shh… Shh… It's okay Pet," Edgar replied soothingly as he changed the channel. "I'm right here… It's gone… Shh… It's gone."
Edgar found a movie on TV that seemed to make Lonnie happy because he felt her finally start to relax. During the show, his lap turned into her makeshift pillow. He absentmindedly ran his fingers through her hair wondering how much longer he was going to have to keep up this charade. Much to his dismay, this job hadn't been as difficult or boring as he had thought it was going to be and her company wasn't completely unpleasant, but he was ready for his next challenge. She appeared to have formed the emotional bond with him that his boss had hope for, so now he just wanted to put that to use sooner than later.
By the end of the movie, Lonnie had rolled over onto her other side in a deep sleep. Edgar watched the end credits roll before he tried to rouse her, but he found that every time he moved her, she just curled into a tighter ball and buried her face into his side. Once a new movie started, he realized that she wasn't going to wake up, so Edgar carefully picked her up and carried her to bed.
Lonnie maintained her grip around his neck even after Edgar had tried to pull the covers up over her body. He remained bent over her just staring at her for a moment while he wondered what it must be like to be a human. He could become anyone or anything that he wanted to be, but they were stuck in their one body and it appeared that their happiness was completely reliant on their relationships with others. It completely baffled him that their Father had chosen their kind over his own to rule this planet.
She retreated back a couple of steps with a terrified look on her face. The demon's grin spread even further across his face as he stalked even closer to her slowly. He paused to watch her for a moment then chuckled when her back hit a wall and she jumped slightly.
"Looks like you're stuck between a wall and a demon now Addy," he announced with a glee-filled tone.
He moved to take a step forward but found that he couldn't move towards her. The look on her face quickly transformed from pure terror to a teasing smile as she side stepped around something on the floor to her relative freedom.
"And it would appear that you just stepped onto a Devil's Trap," she retorted with a mocking smirk. "So maybe my hard place wasn't so bad."
He clapped slowly then praised, "Well played Adelaide. So… Why have you brought me here then?" He crossed his arms then narrowed his eyes as he looked her up and down saying, "What is it that you want to trade your soul for? Hmm…?"
She felt like his gaze was burning a hole through her soul and she couldn't resist turning away. "You want him do you? Well this has gotten a lot more interesting."
"Just tell me how to get him out of his deal," she replied as confidently as she could. "That's all I need to know."
He laughed loudly then asked, "And why would I want to do that? Do you really think that your soul is worth THAT much?"
"Well there's this," she quipped before she squared her shoulders and took in a deep breath. With her eyes closed she recited, "Omnis legio… Omnis congretio et secta…"
Addy kept her eyes closed as she spoke, so she didn't see the demon approaching her. He moved soundlessly then grabbed Addy roughly by the lapels of her jacket. Her words got lost in her throat as she gasped and her eyes flew open. He slammed her up against the wall and completely knocked the wind out of her lungs, but she still somehow managed to let out a pained noise when she felt her leg being impaled on a hook that was dangling from the wall.
The demon laughed while she tried to take in a few shallow breaths. "I've considered your proposal Addy… But I'm going to have to decline your offer." She was whimpering softly as he leaned in and whispered with a sneer, "You should have checked your trap a lot more closely… Plus… We'll have him right where we want him real soon."
After his declaration, the demon disappeared and Addy crumpled into a ball on the floor as she started to cry hysterically. Once her sobs had subsided, she tried to stand up but the hook had snapped off the wall and was now embedded in her leg, rendering it almost completely useless. She had to crawl to her car then she found some towels to sit on to keep the damage to her interior to a minimum and then she sped off as quickly as her GTO could take her.
"Addy?" Bobby questioned quietly to himself when he saw he familiar looking muscle car coming down his driveway. He waited for her on the porch, but after her car was parked, she didn't get out to join him, so he ran to her door to check on her.
The motor was still running when Bobby opened the door and he found Addy nearly unconscious and slumped over the steering wheel. He turned the key to cut the engine then quickly checked her upper body for any apparent injuries before shaking her gently to try to wake her.
"Addy…? Addy? Are you alright?" He asked as he pulled her out of the car. She was shaking her head weakly when Bobby finally noticed the dark stain on the back of her leg. "Oh God… Koala Bear, what the hell happened?"
Addy coughed out a laugh then answered, "Demon."
"Shit… And you drove all this way with that in your leg?" She managed to nod as Bobby helped her up the stairs. "Don't worry Sweetheart, I'll fix you up," he offered even though he knew that she wasn't able to hear anything he was saying right now.
She slept through the extraction of the hook and the painful stitching that came after it. Bobby sat at his desk sipping whiskey from a glass while he watched her sleep and waited somewhat impatiently for her to wake. A filled glass of liquor sat on the desk waiting for her when she came to and Bobby filled then drained its twin yet again. She woke up while he was in the kitchen looking for another bottle of whiskey and when she saw the glass, she scooped it up and drank it down greedily.
"How's the leg?" Bobby asked softly once he was seated beside her on the couch.
She looked over at him, but before she could try to formulate a reply, her lip started to quiver uncontrollably. As she lunged forward, she released her grip on her glass and it bounced a couple of time on the rug. Bobby was momentarily too stunned to react as Addy sobbed loudly. He had tried to keep in contact with her as much as possible after her mother's death, but she had always tried to remain completely stoic and very rarely showed him or anyone her weaknesses, so seeing her like this was foreign to him and hard to react to appropriately.
He petted the back of her head then tried his best to comfort her by whispering a few words of comfort. She started to have difficulties and struggled to breathe and choked on her words when she finally did try to speak, so Bobby just held her even more tightly to his body.
After a while she finally pushed back on his chest then bit her trembling lip while she tried to calm herself enough to make another attempt at speaking. He held her face and searched her eyes for the answers she couldn't seem to get out. As he dried some of her tears, he thought that he found his answer and pulled her close again.
"I know Addy… I know… We tried… We really did…" Bobby said softly as he rocked her in his lap. "And Sam's still trying." Addy sat back and stared at him in shock, so Bobby smoothed her hair down on each side of her head then he shrugged and added, "Who said either of them would go down easy?"
I shot up in bed, hyperventilating as I check around the room. When I found that I was alone, I jumped out of bed to check the rest of the house. To my relief, everything was quiet, but I still double checked every room to make sure that Edgar was still at work, or wherever a monster from Purgatory would spend their day. When my investigation proved that the house was empty, I sighed loudly then collapsed on a chair in the kitchen and tried to take stock so I could figure out what I should do next.