Disclaimer- I do not own Supernatural or any of its characters.

Chapter 21 is up!

Thanks to everyone who reviewed!

It's Worthington vs. Slessor! Any bets? ;)

On with it, shall we?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE- WAIT AND BLEED

For one long minute, there was absolute silence.

Then they erupted, and I cringed against the upholstery at the barrage of noise.

"Are you crazy?"

"Do you have a death wish, kid?"

Maybe I do, my mind traitorously answered him.

"This is ridiculous!"

"You were gonna do it," I whispered to Sam.

He gaped at me. "I know how to defend myself, Odette! I'm sorry, but this isn't possible. Forget it."

I knew I wouldn't get through to Sam.

I turned to Dean, dreading my task. "That girl back there is going to die if we don't do something, Dean."

He glared at me. I had no choice now.

I played my last card.

"It's either me or Sam."

Sam swore behind me, he'd guessed what I was planning.

Dean's face tightened.

Sam was getting panicky. "Dean, if you're even thinking of letting her do this, I swear to God I-"

"Fine." Dean looked coolly at me.

Sam was livid, but Dean shushed him.

"Enough is enough, Sam."

He scowled at Dean, irate.

"There is no way I'm letting a fourteen-year-old kid summon Bloody freaking Mary, Dean!"

"Over my dead body!" Sam yelled.

It hurt, a little, that Dean thought I was so expendable; just the same as my liking for Sam welled up inside me as he tried to stop me.

But it had to be done.

"It's not just that, Sam," I said softly, and he whipped around, turning angry eyes on me for the very first time since I'd seen him.

I blanched, but continued speaking. "I get it, about your girlfriend, Sam, I do, but it wasn't your fault. Whatever you've got, it's nowhere near as bad as mine. Mary'll bite on this one."

"I'm sorry about Jess, Sam, I really am, but it's got to be me."

His expression cooled as he stared at me.

Against all odds, I'd managed to convince them, and I was scared.

It was true. I knew what was coming, and I accepted it.

I just wished I'd been able to thank Castiel one last time.

~Supernatural~

We walked into the antique shop, while Sam distracted the guards.

I could feel Dean's gaze boring a hole into my back, and I unsuccessfully tried to ignore it.

"You know this isn't a suicide attempt, right?" He offered unexpectedly.

He continued without waiting for my answer.

"No funny business, kid, understood? You call the damn thing down, and sit outside looking pretty while we kill her. Got it?"

He paused, this time.

"No funny business, Dean. I get it." I was surprised that he would assure me.

He crossed his arms huffily.

"Sammy would skin me alive if Mary harmed a hair on your pretty little head."

He looked mutinous.

I pressed my lips together.

Sam himself returned, and together they smashed every mirror in the shop but one.

It had once been ornate, but was now rusted over.

I tried not to notice the fact that the rust looked like dried blood.

Sam patted me on the shoulder. "You're not going to die, Odette. We'll get here in time."

I wished I could believe him.

Dean nodded, seemed to be on the verge of speaking, coughed awkwardly, and hurriedly left.

I faced the mirror.

I was probably about to die, and it was no less than I deserved.

Perhaps it would be better. I supposed all that had happened wouldn't plague me anymore.

It didn't change the fact that I was terrified.

I fleetingly thought of Castiel.

It was time.

"Bloody Mary."

My heart beat faster and faster.

"Bloody Mary."

Why did my voice tremble so much?

"Bloody Mary."

The mirror darkened.

But it wasn't Mary Worthington I saw.

I saw myself, hands bloody and gore-stained, hair matted and tangled, but the worst were my eyes.

Dark, so dark they were almost black, and devoid of absolutely all feeling. They did not even seem human.

The pain was building in my own eyes now, white-hot and intense.

And then it spoke.

"You killed him! It was after you, and he got in the way! You killed him, Odette! That blood is on your hands!"

"No," I whispered, the wetness in my eyes gathering, the memories threatening to overcome me. I shook my head from side to side. "No."

"You could have prevented it, couldn't you?" The malice on my, it's face was shocking.

"You could have given yourself up."

I was clutching my head, the pain growing, sharp and numbing.

"He is dead because of you!" She shrieked.

"MURDERER!" Mary yelled.

"NO!" I screamed, the blood flowing in streams down my face, dripping onto the floor.

"THAT'S NOT TRUE!" I did not care that I was shouting at an insane spirit.

My strength was weakening, and I sunk to the ground.

My scream brought Dean and Sam running.

Sam knelt down beside me, but I couldn't talk.

Dean smashed the mirror, and I could hear him mutter.

"Damn it, kid."

A rough, callused hand, I think it was Dean's, swiped across my cheek, but there was too much blood for him to wipe away.

Sam was doing it too, but it wasn't enough.

Then something screeched.

Mary herself had crawled out of the mirror, inching towards us.

She flicked a hand, and Sam and Dean collided against me on the ground, amidst the powdered shards of glass.

I was sorry about that. They shouldn't die as well.

I did not know whether the wetness cascading down my cheeks were blood or tears.

Perhaps it was both.

They were both proof of my guilt.

"You first," she hissed at me.

I was going to die, and I couldn't work up the energy to care.

My only regret was taking Dean and Sam with me.

"I'm sorry," I spluttered, spitting out the metallic, salty blood that had escaped into my mouth.

I did not know to whom I was apologizing, to Dean and Sam, to him, to everyone I couldn't protect, I couldn't tell.

Mary advanced.

~Supernatural~

Out of nowhere, a pale hand came in contact with Mary's bone-white forehead.

A hand I recognized.

"Shut your eyes!" Castiel yelled, and we obeyed.

We threw our arms over our eyes, and I winced as I did so.

There was a blinding, pulsing light, and a screech, then total silence.

I opened my eyes tentatively.

Mary was gone.

Castiel gave us an almost exasperated look, then disappeared.

~Supernatural~

I'd had to be half-carried between Dean and Sam to the car, and placed into it as unceremoniously as was possible.

The whole ride back to the hotel, Sam had spent shouting at Dean.

"If it hadn't been for Castiel, she would have been dead, Dean! We're supposed to protect people, not put them in danger!"

To Dean's credit, he hadn't said a word to refute him.

~Supernatural~

"Idiot kid," Dean said under his breath, which contrasted sharply when he dabbed at my cheek gently with a rag.

Sam had resorted to black looks directed at his brother as he did the other side of my face.

I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood.

I could still see, but my eyes hadn't stopped bleeding.

"I think I can help with that."

Sam automatically steadied me as I nearly tumbled off the bed, and Dean cursed.

Again.

Castiel bent down, his hand an inch away from my face.

My eyes started to grow hot, and I resisted the urge to cry out in pain.

Just as suddenly, the pain disappeared, and I looked at my dry cheek in wonder.

"Thank you, Castiel," I stuttered.

"It's a common gift among angels, healing. And every angel knows how to banish a ghost."

He waved away my thanks.

"Then," I thought out my words. "I suppose thanks for bothering to help us. We would've been dead without you, Castiel. Thanks for caring…enough to show up and save us. And heal me."

I ended it lamely.

I never was very articulate around the angel.

He cocked his head, staring at me strangely. "I suppose….you're welcome."

The use of my own words was not lost on me.

Sam cleared his throat. "Thanks, Castiel. You really saved us."

"Yeah, thanks, angel." Dean looked as if he were choking on his own words.

I rose from the bed, ready to slip away into my own room, when Castiel stopped me.

"It wasn't your fault."

My eyes widened. "If you knew what I've-"

He cut me off yet again. "I don't need to. I'm an angel, Odette. I know when a soul is guilty, and when one isn't."

"Yours is clean."

I looked at him, stuffing down the faint tendril of hope that had risen.

"I wish I could believe you."

~Supernatural~

I popped open the catch, staring at his picture.

I fought back my tears.

"This is stupid. I know you're gone. Me, of all people, should know that."

"I just…..I'm scared, and I don't know what to do. I'm sorry for everything, I'm so, so sorry."

"I love you, and I miss you so much. I'm all alone, now, and I'm terrified."

"I wish you were here. I wish it never happened. I wish you could've stayed."

"Tell me what to do."

A lone butterfly flitted in through the window, coming to land with a gossamer light touch on my finger.

I froze as I saw it in greater detail.

It was a warm, caramel brown with hints of gold and amber.

The exact color of his eyes.

The butterfly flew away.

A single tear trickled down my cheek.