Damon's Bedroom
Damon had went back to check up on Rose. After a glass of blood, several cold washcloths, and rest the worsening of her symptoms had slowed down a bit. She was completely exhausted with hardly any strength left but for now she wasn't getting any worse. She was sitting propped up on pillows when Damon came over to sit next to her.
"Any better?" he asked. He knew she wasn't, but giving in and telling her she was going to die soon didn't seem appropriate either.
She tried to laugh at his attempt, but coughed instead.
"Sure Damon." she teased.
"Good to see you not lose your charm."
"Never...Damon, I wasn't dreaming? They were here weren't they?"
"Rose..."
"Truth Damon."
"Yes, they are. And it's really annoying because they won't leave. Apparently was here to deal with a vampire issue." Damon said, winking.
"Well we do have issues."
Damon laughed.
"Shoulda seen me try to convince that moron not to come marching up here...he wanted to talk to you."
"Let him."
"What? Rose I don't think that's smart...in fact it seems stupid. Why use the last of your strength on him?"
"I need to deal with it Damon...I ran away from it for so long, and maybe this way I can at least feel less guilty."
"You shouldn't."
"Maybe not, but I do. Please...just let him come in."
"Okay fine." Damon said.
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Rose had her eyes closed when Damon came back in, Dean behind him. She opened them and looked at him like he really was a ghost. Damon made no move to leave the two of them alone together.
"Damon." Rose whispered. "S'okay"
He gave her a look, and then they had a silent conversation. She wanted him to go, and she also wanted him to not listen in. This was Rose's moment, if thats what she needed then he'd give it to her. So Damon left his bedroom, went downstairs and poured himself a drink.
"You wanted to talk." she said quietly.
Dean nodded. He wasn't sure how to handle her like this. Does he get angry, or just ask questions? He didn't want to stress her out, but yet he still had so much resentment for what had happened.
"Was he telling the truth? You didn't turn on purpose?"
Rose nodded. She was struggling to get the words out, her throat felt like it was on fire.
"So it was a coincidence you managed to get attacked by a vampire right before your deal came due?" Dean asked, a hint of anger in his voice.
"No. She was looking for me. An old friend...I didn't know what she was. She thought I'd be better off a vampire than in hell."
"You agree?"
"Not at first. I was angry...so after she showed me how to control the bloodlust I ran. I didn't want to be hunted."
"And now?"
"I wasn't okay with it until recently...I know it's hard for you to beleive but I like it here. I didn't have to run anymore, I found a reason to actually care."
Dean didn't respond. How could she have changed so much...then again how well did he ever really know her?
"I wasn't the only one to survive...how'd you do it? Is Lilith dead?" Rose asked...and if she wasn't so sick she would have sounded hopeful.
"I didn't." Dean told her. "I got brought back."
"You didn't...hell?"
"Be happy you skipped that journey...no amount of enjoying the ride could ever make it worth it."
"I didn't mean it...I never wanted to die."
"Yeah figured, that the reason you played us? You were that stubborn and desperate you figured stealing the Colt or killing Sam would've been better than asking for help?"
"I was wrong Dean...but no, I never asked for help because I didn't want it. I hated asking for help, hated looking weak, and hated what'd I'd done. I didn't want you to know the truth. For the record, I couldn't do it. I couldn't have killed him."
"If you hated what you'd done, then why did you do it? Why make that deal?"
Rose shook her head. She couldn't tell him even now...and she would take the secret of her deal and her father issues with her when she died.
"Guess there shoulda been a law against demons making contracts with children...it was a mistake. I made a lot of those Dean." Rose's voice faultered. She started coughing again, and couldn't stop.
"Easy." Dean said, and reached out to steady her. It was the first gesture he'd made to actually touch her. It surprised them both as he held her arm.
"I can't do this anymore..." Rose said quietly. Dean agreed...he wanted more answers, but he wasn't going to get them. She was dying anyways...he didn't need to make it any worse. He finally stood up to leave...and Damon showed up in the door way.
She made a grab for Dean's arm, but just ended up grazing it.
"I'm sorry Dean." She said. He never thought he'd hear that from her...and he was damn sure she wasn't lying to him. He nodded to her. She then closed her eyes again. Maybe it wasn't enough for him, but it was as good as he was going to get. All the time that he knew her he'd wanted to kill her...okay maybe not all the time, but still...and now he was actually feeling bad for her?
Dean walked past Damon, and went downstairs. He didn't know what to make of her, maybe he should have said goodbye? After all, his only goodbye to her was telling her he'd see her in hell.
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After Dean left, Damon went over and helped Rose get more comfortable. He couldn't stand seeing her in any more pain...he'd do what he needed to do if necessary. He scooted in behind her on the bed, and Rose moved around so that she was laying against him and under the covers too. He wrapped his arms around her, she was burning up, but yet she acted so cold.
"Who would've thought you'd be such a nice guy." Rose whispered.
"I'm not nice. I'm mean, and I like it." he softly teased.
"You lie." Her voice was cracking.
"Sshh, just sleep." He told her, brushing her hair from her face. She couldn't help but listen and fell back to sleep.
Dean helped himself to a glass of Damon's alcohol supply. Maybe he should go meet up with Sam, Damon didn't want him here and there was nothing he could do for Bela.
As he turned to go sit back down, he jumped when he saw Castiel in front of him.
"Dude seriously?" Dean said.
"I am sorry." Cas told him. "This may be important...it's necessary for you to be here."
"Why Cas?"
"The Mother of All...you're problems with all of these monsters, there's a connection to this town as well."
"Well Sam and I are on it...but right now's not the best time." Dean told him.
"Right, of course. The old acquatance of yours? Bela Talbot."
"You know."
"Yes, I do. I assume you need my help?"
Of course, why didn't he think of calling the angel for help.
"You'd heal her? She's not human Cas."
"I know what she is. She could have information on these alpha vampires that could be of use to us. She is also a friend of the vampires in this town, we could use that help Dean. They are not like the others, as you may have noticed."
"I don't disagree, but she may choose not to help us."
"I'll do it."
Dean nodded. He'd needed more time with her...and now he could get the chance. Having a friendly conversation with Bela had never been on his to do list...that's not how they worked. They teased, they pissed each other off, and traded wit like it was going out of style...never once had they sat down to have a civilized conversation. So sure, he'd love to talk to her seriously and truthfully...but it would also be nice to see the Bela he knew. He almost missed their banter.
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Rose walks into a field, and there was a playground in the middle. She remembered this place...she'd come here as a kid. First with her real mother, the when she wanted to escape her father. It was the only part of her childhoold she didn't hate...even if she had made the deal here. It was her place, it was her mother's place. She ran her hand through her hair, and realized it was long again, as it always had been until the past year.
She runs down the small hill like she used to, only to find Damon sitting down on it. Rose makes her way to where he is, and sits down next to him.
"This was my favorite place to come when I was a girl...how did you know?"
"Word got around." Damon told her.
She gave him a questioning glance. He smiled.
"You told Elena."
"I'm dreaming." she stated. "You went into my head."
He just shrugged his shoulders. She grinned.
Rose looked up, in this dream world she could feel the sun.
"Mmm, sun is so warm. I missed this. I miss being human."
"Humanity isn't all it's cracked up to be." It'd been over a century for him, and he did remember but he'd spent way more time as a vampire than a human.
"Maybe not, but it was still life. I could've had friends, could've had a family. It mattered."
"You do have that Rose..."
"No, not anymore. But you do. You've built a life here whether you want to admit it or not. I wasted my life, and I spent my last three years meerly just existing."
"You didn't have a choice, you were running to keep from being hunted..."
"There's always a choice." She interrupted.
"You know, you're ruining this perfect day with your psychological babbling."
She laughed and leaned in, she'd never been affectionate with any guy before...but Damon needed it as much as she did. She wrapped her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly to her.
"I want to enjoy this moment in the sun, will you enjoy it with me?" she asked.
"For a while." he smiled, and it was a real smile. Damon smirked all the time, but he rarely smiled. Same as her.
Damon pulled her to him, and she leaned into his embrace. He took her hand in his, and they stayed that way for a moment.
"Thank you." she said quietly.
"For what?"
"The pain's gone."
"I'm glad." He whispered in reply. That's what he wanted, to take away the pain. He just dreaded having to leave this dream and deal with the real world.
"I'm not afraid anymore."
He nodded. Rose pulled away from him, and stood up.
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Damon was completely still, not moving as he controlled Rose's dream. He didn't want to deal with his feelings, yet he couldn't stop the emotions. His eyes were watering a bit, and he concentrated on not letting any tears fall. He slowly laid Rose's hand he held down onto her stomach, and moved slowly to the side of the bed where he hid the stake. He picked it up.
He held the stake over her heart, and he finally couldn't stop the single tear that fell. He took a deep breath, completely ready to drive the stake through her heart. Suddenly his door flew open, Dean and another guy rushing in.
Damon dropped the stake. Seriously, what the hell were they doing? He needed to do this now.
"What are you doing?" Dean asked him. He was going to just kill her?
"What needs to be done. She wants the pain to end, she made peace with it. Why can't you leave it alone?" Damon asked furiously. He really couldn't stand being seen in such a vulnerable position.
Dean didn't blame him, he could see that Damon cared.
"He can save her." Dean motioned to Castiel.
"Excuse me."
"He can heal her, just give him a chance."
Damon didn't want to believe it...but nodded anyways. Damon moved past them and out of the room. Dean stepped aside to let Cas pass. Castiel placed his fingers on her arm. Dean held his breath, he figured it would work, but then again Bela was a vampire now, something could go wrong.
END CHAPT