Chapter 42

The house and everything around it was quiet; too quite. No birds called from the trees, the wind even seemed to avoid the place. The porch creaked quietly when Nadia climbed the stairs. The pull to go inside was almost too much to bear. She had to fight the urge to kick the door down and jump in head-long. She debated on whether to knock or mentally pick the lock and hope for the element of surprise. When she settled on a decision, the lock clicked open as she touched the doorknob.

She held her breath and slowly pushed open the door but it opened silently. The house was dark inside except for where sunlight lit blocks on the old wood floors and dust motes floated in the air. She closed her eyes and listened hard until she heard sounds coming from a room on the second floor. Heat gathered in her chest and her hand started to tingle as she climbed the stairs. Every molecule of her body alert to any displaced sound or shadow.

Nothing happened when she reached the landing and looked down the hallway. Two rooms branched off from both sides of the hall but only one was open. She crept down to the second door on the right where someone was grunting and sounds of scrapes and bangs floated in the air. Her lungs stopped as she peeked around the doorframe and saw a young man about 18 years old tied to a chair, his head hanging and his chest rising and falling with exhaustion. A quick glance around showed no one else in the room so she quietly hurried inside; keeping her defenses on high alert.

The boy lifted his head and his eyes widened for a second, "Help me, please. They're trying to kill me." He pleaded and stretched forward as far as he could in the bindings.

She'd learned to be cautious and kept her distance, "Who?"

"I don't know! They hit me over the head and tied me up here. I don't know where they went, please untie me before they come back! Please." He was starting to cry.

Nadia glanced around to look for any signs that said he was lying and found nothing. She shut the door quietly behind her and hurried to untie him. "Did they say anything to you about why they'd come after you? Did you know them?"

"No. They just kept telling me that they were going to kill me." The last knot came free and he rubbed his wrists and looked her over. Satisfied he was alright, she started for the door but stopped a few feet away when it felt like someone stabbed her. She cried out and dropped to her knees, doubled over in pain. She gasped and heard the boy step up beside her. "What are you?" She turned to look up over her shoulder at him and found him studying her with shock and curiosity.

She tried to move forward and get away from him because his gaze made her uncomfortable. Something was wrong here, she just didn't know what it was and could barely breathe, let alone solve a mystery she didn't have all the pieces to. Her arms gave out on her and she fell flat on the floor, unable to move forward. She closed her eyes and tried to put the pain out of her head and concentrate on the immediate problem; her debilitating pain. She thought of the holy water-laced drink at the bar back in Michigan but the effects were too different. But they worked on Aidan, she realized. Her hand reached out and curled around the edge of the rug she was lying on and pulled in back. Sure enough, a devil's trap lie beneath.

She pushed herself back until the pain subsided and she could breathe again. She shakily stood and looked back at the boy who still watched her with wide eyes. "Run," Aidan's voice came faintly to mind, almost more of a feeling than actual words. Nadia glanced around the room one more time and shifted her weight, throwing herself through the invisible barrier. Pain shot through her entire body, making her feel like she was being torn in two. She landed hard outside the ring and immediately passed out.

When she came to, she was tied to another chair and two hunters stood in front of her with their arms crossed; one man and one woman. She noticed rings on their fingers; husband and wife…how romantic.

The man fidgeted with the gun in his hand, "Who are you?"

She licked her lips and hurriedly searched for the best response to get her out of this mess. "I'm a hunter."

The woman's eyes narrowed but the man smiled ruefully. "Not a very good one."

Nadia looked to her right and found the demon boy sitting beside her, watching her with that still curious look. She wished he would stop staring at her like she was the freak. She swallowed, "I underestimated him."

The man lifted one brow condescendingly, "Like I said, not a very good one."

The woman looked from her husband to Nadia, "My husband likes to believe the best in everyone. I don't even believe you're a hunter."

Nadia stared at her, "You've heard of the Winchesters?" I seemed like every hunter had heard of the Winchesters and by the widening of her eyes, it was obvious she had too. Nadia nodded to the front of the house, "That's their car out on the main road."

The two hunters exchanged a glance and he nodded at his wife who went to look out the window. "There's a car out there. Looks old." Nadia stifled a relieved sigh. They exchanged a glance again and she nodded. The man took out a flask and Nadia knew what was coming. Holy water. As long as they didn't force her to ingest the stuff, this was her ticket to freedom… Well, once she figured out how to get them to break the trap without raising their suspicions again.

The water was warm from being kept in the inside pocket of his jacket. Her hair stuck to her face but nothing happened. They watched her for a short time longer, like maybe the water just needed time to take effect. When still nothing happened, he sighed and came forward. He reached down toward the ties but silver flashed and her skin stung as the knife sliced into her flesh. She inhaled through her teeth and tried not to jerk back too much and cause him to cut her further.

He glanced back at his wife and cut the ties on her wrists. Nadia dropped her shoulders with relief. She stood and looked over at the possessed boy who sat with his mouth gaping open, his eye flashing from the man to the woman. "You can't be serious!" He spat. "She's not a hunter! She's…she's…well I don't know what she is but she isn't one of you."

Nadia tried not to react too much to his words but fire started in her stomach and warmed her palms. The man looked from Nadia to the demon, not sure what to believe. Nadia swallowed, "Oh, like I haven't heard that before," she said sarcastically.

The demon's eyes flew around like he was looking for help from the items around him. His head snapped back to them, "She was trapped! Before you got back here, she was trapped! She-she got out somehow but that's why she was passed out on the ground."

The man stepped back and looked at Nadia with his eyes narrowed. "Well that's easy enough to test." He swept his arm out to let her pass. She glared at the demon and looked nervously at the ground where she could just see the paint sticking out passed the rug.

"I told you! I told you, she's not what she appears to be!" The demon yelled in triumph. Nadia didn't know what he was so happy about; affected by the trap or not, he wasn't getting out of this alive. Before she could say anything, the man's gun slammed into the side of her head and everything went black again.

She felt like she was being pulled apart; like she was attached to one of those medieval torture devices and she couldn't escape. She screamed and tried to open her eyes to see where she was but all she saw was darkness. She couldn't take it anymore. She let go and darkness mercifully came into her mind again.

Aidan's eyes flickered open, pain still radiating through her body. She felt warm air on her face and it smelled like spearmint and alcohol. "What the hell are you?" The voice sounded vaguely familiar but she couldn't place it. She forced her eyes to stay open longer and only then realized she could open them at all. She was in control of the body she was in; Nadia was missing.

She felt both elated and troubled by the discovery but pieces started coming back and her attention focused on the situation at hand. "Let me go," she mumbled softly.

The man laughed and it made her mad. Anger seemed to fortify her and she started to feel whole again. Her strength was coming back fast and when it did, these two humans were going to cower in fear of her. Because she was in total control and there was nothing anyone could do about it. "Let me go." Her voice was stronger. He looked down at her with a give-me-a-break grin. "Let me go or I will do it myself and things will be very unpleasant for the two of you if I do."

They stepped back but left her tied to the chair. It was made of simple wood; easy to break, easy to burn. She started to smile, "You know what, I'm actually kind of glad you hunters are too stubborn to listen to anyone else; it's been too long and I'm dying to," she smirked, thinking of the two angels who had kept her away for so long, "stretch my wings."

The hunters glanced at one another as a breeze started in the closed-up house. It was light at first, like a cooling breeze on a hot summer day but it grew quickly. Nadia's and the woman's hair started to swirl with the wind as it whipped around the room. The sky grew dark and thunder started to roll so fast there was nothing natural about the storm that had rolled in. The hunters backed away and gripped their weapons tightly. The demon beside her ducked and curled in on himself but watched the hunters fear with a smile on his face. Lightning struck a tree outside the window and the woman screamed.

Aidan smiled and the arms of the chair started to glow like embers. She pulled the ties that held her there and the arms of the chair fell to the floor, crumbling to burnt coals. She reached down and touched on finger to the ropes around her ankles and the threaded smoked and snapped away. The hunters were squatting in the corner by the door with their guns pointed at her. They couldn't hold them steady long enough to pull the trigger, the wind was too strong.

Aidan stood and looked at them, "You're lucky I have a soft spot for hunters at the moment." She sighed, the fear in their eyes enough to satisfy her craving for control and domination. She turned to the demon still tied to the chair. He watched her in awe, "It's you…"

She smiled bright, "It's me." He looked hopeful that he was going to be let go to extract his revenge on the hunters that had captured him until he started to choke. His eyes widened with shock as smoke started to come out of his mouth and move to Aidan's outstretched hand. He convulsed and made gagging noises until the smoke was completely free of him and the body he'd been in collapsed. The demon smoke circled and circled in her palm and the hunters watched with avid fascination. She squeezed her fist closed and in a blinding flash, the smoke was gone.

She made a face and wiped her hands together and on her jeans. Her palms are black, "That is going to stain my skin for days." She looked disdainfully at the empty dead body and when she turned back to the hunters, the man had his gun pointed at her chest. The wind had disappeared when her focus had turned to exercising the demon and his hands were steady—or as steady as they could have been after what he'd witnessed. She gaped at him, "Really?"

"What are you?" he couldn't help asking, his voice a little shaky. The woman still cowered in the corner with her hands folded in front of her and Aidan realized she was praying. She wanted to laugh.

Aidan sighed, "Pissed." She eyed the gun, "No good deed goes unpunished, huh?" The hunter pressed the gun harder against his shoulder, ready to shoot. Aidan shook her head and pursed her lips in annoyance. She reached out her arms as if she were going to embrace the two. The man flinched just long enough for her to smack her hands together. The hunters lifted off their feet and slammed into each other, head to head. They fell to the ground unconscious. She sighed again and shook her head, "So ungrateful."

The moment she stepped onto the porch, the Impala came purring to a stop in the driveway. She looked at it and for a split second, got the annoying tingling of excitement she always got whenever he was around—Nadia in control or not, the feelings still burned brightly. Then she remembered the fight Nadia and he had had before she walked into this mess and her eyes dropped to the ground. Dean was already angry enough with Nadia; Aidan didn't want to see the look in his eyes when he realized she had taken over.

Sam was out of the car first of course because Dean was still pouting in the driver's seat. Sam looked her over and she was grateful that he was still oblivious to when she changed. Dean lumbered around the car, "See, Sammy, I told you she was fine. Lightning struck a tree…it happens."

So that's what drew their attention, Aidan glanced to the corner of the house where the scorched tree lie around the corner. Sam ignored his brother, "Are you alright?" He was almost to the porch by then and Aidan glanced quickly from him to Dean.

"Like he said, I'm fine."

Sam jumped onto the porch, ignoring the stairs with his long legs, and looked at her with furrowed brows. "Did you figure out what drew you here?"

She looked back at him, trying to decide whether to come clean or not. If she did, it was just another thing to push Dean further away. Then again, she snapped at herself, she's a demon and demons don't take into consideration the feelings of the humans around her. "It was a demon. It's dead."

Sam glanced back at Dean and even Dean perked up a little. Of course he did, he's a demon hunter. He'd hunt you if it weren't for his twisted thing for Nadia. She swallowed down the nasty words that came to mind—no need to getting them thinking about who was running this meat suit any earlier than necessary.

"What was it doing here?"

She sighed and rubbed her palms on her jeans, trying to get more demon smoke residue off. "Hiding out," the lie came easily to her lips. "Word about the angels is getting out and he thought the middle of nowhere was the best place to be."

Dean was staring hard at her, "And how did you kill it? You don't have the colt on you."

Aidan felt herself slipping as she glared back at him. "As you are so fond of pointing out, I don't need it."

He lifted one brow, "Last I knew you did."

"Yeah well, I'm learning as I go along."

He stared at her for a couple more seconds until she dropped her gaze and he started laughing. It wasn't a nice laugh. "Really?" She met his eyes again to see what he was talking about. "We have a fight and she takes off…vacates the premises and lets you take over?"

Sam snapped his head in her direction and moved a step away. "Aidan." Sometimes he annoyed her with his knack for doing that; stating the obvious like it was some big revelation.

She focused back on Dean and decided to come clean—to wipe that stupid, superior smile off his face. "I lied. The demon wasn't hiding out for his own protection. He was being held by two hunters—husband and wife. No, I didn't catch their names; they weren't really into sharing and yes, they're fine. Unconscious but alive. Nadia went in and got trapped in your favorite little circle but was able to get out with a lot of…pain on her part. And mine. She passed out and the hunters tied her to another chair. I was pulled to the surface when they tried excursing me and the other guy and she was nowhere to be felt. I got mad, created a bit of…lightning, killed the demon, and the hunters were about to kill me—even though I told them I wasn't going to kill them," she added in a voice tight with annoyance. "I knocked them, burned a break in the circle and here I am."

"You seriously expect me to believe that you let them live?" Dean stared at her some more and Aidan could feel heat building within her.

She glared right back at him and let herself go just enough to send him stumbling backward as if she'd pushed him in the chest. He looked at her with surprised eyes and she almost found that funny—if he hated her so much than why would he be surprised when she acted like a demon? And a pathetic one at that. She jumped off the porch and strode up to him. He backed away but she kept coming until his back was against the Impala. "Yes, I do! You arrogant, pathetic, ignorant, prejudiced pig with a superiority complex!"

Dean's eyes were wide and Sam kept trying to pull her back. "Nad—Aidan! Come on, back off, we all know he can be a jerk…"

Dean looked at his brother, betrayed, before wincing and grabbing Aidan's wrist. Only then did she realize her hand was pressed against the base of his throat and she was losing control of herself—her palm was growing too hot. She was about to force herself back, when that familiar feeling of dread washed over her. She started to turn but a searing pain shot through her middle and she froze with her eyes wide and her mouth open.

Everyone froze except Uriel. His jaw was clenched in triumph as the half-breed's blood ran over his fingers.

Dean looked down at the silver blade protruding for Aidan's stomach. When he looked back up, it wasn't Aidan he saw but Nadia looking back at him with tears in her eyes. Her breath came out ragged and she crumpled to the ground when the sword was yanked out and her body glowed like someone was holding a powerful flashlight to her back. The light went out and he dropped to his knees and was joined by Sam, who was already on the phone with 911.

Dean's hands shook as he tried to stop the bleeding. He barely heard Castiel's voice cutting through the air. "Uriel! These weren't our orders!"

"That's where you're wrong, Castiel." He spoke lazily and looked down on the dying half-breed with pride. "These were my orders." Before Castiel could get out what he wanted to say, Uriel continued, "And they came from higher up than you. I was told to protect the vessels at all costs. It's just a perk that their attacker happened to be her." Castiel looked at him through narrowed, confused eyes and Uriel disappeared with a light breeze.

Sam hung up the phone and looked at the angel. "Heal her! You're an angel, do something." Dean looked up, he hadn't thought about that; all he could think about was the last time she lie unconscious in his arms. That had ended with her waking in a hospital bed; something told him this was different. His eyes burned with tears, these were angels after all, when an angel wants you dead there's no escaping it. A flicker of hope caught in his chest and he wondered if that was what Nadia felt when fire built in her.

Castiel looked from Sam to Dean to Nadia and back to Dean. "I can't. I'm sorry," he added on like an afterthought.

Dean started to jump to his feet but didn't want to spill Nadia onto the ground. "What do you mean you can't? You're an angel, this is what you do!"

Castiel dropped his eyes to the half-breed that he had just been beginning to grow fond of, "That wasn't an ordinary weapon…" He knelt and curiously touched Nadia's forearm, "It's called the Soul Sword. It's one of our most highly protected and most dangerous weapons because of what it does. It absorbs the soul, making it extremely powerful. It can only grow more powerful and cannot be destroyed. It was lost years ago and ended up in England; you probably know it was Excalibur. It is why the legend of the sword only grew as the years went on."

"Enough with the history lesson!" Dean snapped.

"I apologize. In essence," he looked up to meet Dean's eyes, "it kills the soul. I cannot bring back someone whose soul is dead."

"So that's it? She's just gone?" Sam asked.

Castiel looked back at Nadia's body and something occurred to him. "Nadia is, yes."

The brothers heard the way he was so careful to stress Nadia's name. Dean clenched his fist around a handful of her hair and clenched his jaw. "You're saying that Aidan is still alive?" Sam snapped his head around to look at his brother and then back at Castiel.

"Yes." He paused, "I could heal her body, but it is important that you understand she will not be the same. Nadia is gone forever."

Dean clenched his teeth and put his forehead against Nadia's—Aidan's, he corrected himself and pulled away. "You're asking me if I want you to save the life of a demon so that she can go on living and doing God knows what in my girlfriend's body? If it wasn't for her, Nadia would still be alive."

"Perhaps."

Sam jumped in with something neither of them had thought about, "Dean, your deal. Look, I know she isn't the one you wanted out of this whole thing; but she can finish it."

Dean looked at his brother and he wanted to say that it wasn't worth the price but Nadia would've hated him for it. Her death didn't have to mean nothing; she wanted him saved more than anything.

Castiel looked over Nadia's familiar face, "We spoke and she had me convinced that Aidan wasn't like other demons. She was unique in that yours and Nadia's relationship caused Aidan to care for you as well. We also talked about her soul. I don't know what it is like for the souls trapped in the sword; but Nadia was headed to Hell anyway. She knew that the deal she made put her on a direct line there but she told me that what mattered most was you. Making sure you stayed alive."

Dean squeezed his eyes closed and clenched his jaw, "Dammit, Nadia." He thought for a few seconds more, until he heard ambulance sirens closing in. "Do it."

Castiel moved closer, "I need you to move back."

Dean carefully laid her head down on the ground and moved back a few inches; still unable to comes to grips with the fact that the girl lying on the ground was no longer Nadia. Castiel touched her forehead and the stab wound disappeared. The angel stood and Dean looked up at him, "He is going to die for what he did." No one needed clarification on who Dean was talking about so, as the ambulance came into view, Castiel vanished.