Previously on Supernatural...
"Wait..." Baby looked from brother to brother in bewilderment. "So who was the guy we followed down here?"
The smell was masked by the flowers on the altar, but Dean still felt sick as he looked down at Braxton's corpse. Turning away, he took a closer look at the items on the altar. The metal pieces caught his eye. "Hey, these are spark plugs."
"From cars?" Sam asked, coming around to look for himself. He peered at the open pages of the grimoire. "This is written in Greek."
"So Braxton used Greek magic to turn cars human?" Baby asked, not following their train of thought. "Why?"
"For me." The hunters and Impala spun around to see Braxton walking down the steps with Rachel on his arm. "Ah, the famed Winchester brothers. Welcome," said the other Braxton. Rachel inclined her head slightly, blue-gray eyes flicking from his face to the Winchesters in anticipation of orders. "I see you've managed to find your way down here."
Quick looks were spared to the body behind them, but it was still there and very much dead. Dean stepped forward to shield Baby and drew his gun as Sam pulled out the witch-killing spell and his lighter. "You're not Braxton," Dean said, aiming for a headshot. "Who the hell are you?"
Braxton smiled as his features morphed into a completely different face - different, but not unfamiliar. "The one who directed his power," said the dark-haired younger man.
Baby gasped in shock. "Sebastian?"
"Hello, Paula." The way Sebastian purred that name pissed Dean off. He spread his arms to gesture to the basement. "Welcome to my body shop."
Sam took advantage of the opportunity. The chant flew from his lips as he lit the rag, and with a hard throw he pitched the bottle right at Sebastian's chest. Rachel screeched as ghostly white smoke enveloped the man, making him writhe and shudder and gasp - before banishing the smoke with a decisive swipe of his arms. Rachel dissolved into giggles as she helped pat out the smoldering embers on his jacket.
"You're not a witch?" Sam gaped.
Sebastian raised his hands and gave a series of deliberate claps. "Give the moose a merit badge," he announced sarcastically. "And this was one of my good suits. Damn." He raised his eyes and looked at Baby. "Would you please instill some manners in those apes?"
Dean heard Baby gasp again just before a small hand clamped the back of his neck and pushed, slamming him into the floor face-first with a yell. Blinking past the stars bursting in front of his eyes, he turned his head and saw that Sam was likewise down, pinned by a black-sleeved arm. Baby's arm.
"Dean, I-I'm not - " she stammered, her breath coming in short pants as she held them down. "My arms just moved on their own."
Sebastian came forward and chucked her chin with a proud smile. "That's my good Baby." Drawing his eyes back to the winded brothers, he chuckled. "You seem confused."
"What the hell did you do my Baby?" Dean gasped out.
"I gave her an upgrade." Sebastian reached into his suit jacket pocket and pulled out a spark plug like the dozens lying in front of the grimoire. "And I took a piece to get her back whenever I wished."
"You hotwired me?" Baby growled, her hands curling into fists as she tried to fight against his control. "You son of a bitch - "
"Let the grown-ups talk now, Baby," said Sebastian boredly, snapping his fingers.
It was like someone flipped a switch. Her arms dropped limply to her sides as she stood at attention like a doll in a glass case. All the emotion in Baby's face bled away, leaving behind a blankness that scared the absolute crap out of Dean.
"You - you were the mechanic," Sam puffed out, trying to catch his breath. "You switched spark plugs out of the cars and used them like remote controls."
"Smart boy." Palming Baby's spark plug, Sebastian returned to Rachel's side. "Normally that would give me the master key into her wiring, but your precious Baby is much tougher than any other car I've changed. I had to wonder, what could possibly have kept her from succumbing to my allure?" He dug his hand into his pocket, pulled a cord free to dangle from his fingertips. "But when I saw this, it all made sense. This talisman was imbued with enough of her love for you to resist giving me her true name."
The sight of his amulet made Dean's jaw drop in shock. "Where did - How did she - " He looked over to Sam, who wasn't fast enough to conceal the look of guilt on his face. He's kept it all these years?
"I really thought I would have to expand more magic to force her," Sebastian said. "But then I found out from someone else."
"Madeline," Sam realized. "You killed her?"
"Oh no, Rachel did. Frightfully jealous girl, my Rachel. Hates it when I spend time with anyone but her." The statement was laden with affection, as was the caress along the car-woman's arm. "And then imagine my surprise when Baby found me last night, brokenhearted and crying her eyes out, because her precious master had rejected her." The man's predatory smile could have put a crocodile to shame. "I must thank you for that, Dean Winchester. She would have never let me touch the amulet if she wasn't so confused." With a careless flick of his wrist, Sebastian tossed the necklace across the room. "Once I got close enough to take it off, it was easy for me to take control. I've had my finger in her brain since she returned to your grubby little motel room."
Dean was only paying attention to one word in five. His eyes were focused on Baby, trying to find his beloved Impala in the emotionless face. There was no spark of spunk that had dominated her gaze since she first appeared before the brothers. Now her eyes were cold as gunmetal and dull as a blunt knife. "You let her go right now, you dick."
"After all the effort I've taken to rewire her? Not a chance," Sebastian scoffed. "She's mine now. But I'll let you say your goodbyes, at least."
Tears poured down Baby's cheeks as she stumbled backwards into the altar, her emotionless face crumpling into a look of utter heartbreak. "Dean, Sammy, I swear I didn't mean it!" she started to sob. "He's forcing me to do this - " Sebastian snapped his fingers again and her face returned to its neutral expression.
"Baby!" Dean yelled, pushing himself up on his elbows.
"Rachel," said Sebastian, a wicked smile twisting his features. "Would you like a new toy to play with?"
The red-clad woman was beside Dean in a heartbeat, one hand gripping his thigh like a vise. "Aren't you a handsome one?" she purred. The fingers of her other hand started to stroke along his chest as a lascivious smile uncurled over her painted lips. "Bet you're fun when your engine's revved up." Rachel slowly turned to smirk at Baby, and the hand on Dean's chest lifted - to splay dangerously low on Sam's abdomen, pinning the younger Winchester. "You've got two pretty boys, old-timer. Mind if I take one for a spin?"
Baby's head turned to the side, glazed silver eyes landing on Rachel's hands. Jealous fire ignited in their depths, burning the cold indifference away and causing her body to tense up for a fight. "Hands off," she said in a dark voice, teeth bared in a silent snarl as the now-familiar sound of her revving engine filled the air.
Sam squirmed when Rachel's hand pressed down on his abdomen, bruising the skin and squashing his insides. Another rumble grew in volume beside him; Rachel was revving up as well. "Why don't you make me?" she challenged.
The two women lunged for each other at the same moment, colliding in midair with a loud crash and a screech like tearing metal. Rachel had more momentum, tackling Baby into the altar. Spark plugs and flowers flew everwhere as she scratched at the black-haired woman's face and neck. Baby managed to flip her over and slam a fist into her stomach. They wrestled like a pair of cats, snarling and punching and kicking away.
The Winchesters tried to get to their feet as well, but a small gesture from Sebastian telekinetically pinned them to the concrete floor again, faces turned so they could watch Rachel and Baby's fight. "Two women fighting to prove who desires you more. Isn't it exhilarating?" he asked, standing between the brothers.
"You're a sick bastard if making them fight over us gets your rocks off," Dean snarled.
"Making them? Oh no, I've done nothing." The blue-eyed man knelt down and smiled as if holding a juicy secret. "See, when inanimate objects gain a mind and a heart, naturally they will experience new feelings much stronger than normal humans do, and such a creature quickly learns which emotions feel worse than others. Jealousy...failure...heartbreak..."
"I feel everything, and it's too much!" echoed Baby's frustrated words in Dean's head.
"But when they feel desire..." Each word was spoken with almost diabolical precision. "Well, they'll do anything to keep that thing, that feeling, for themselves."
Her reddened face was only a foot from his as she looked up with chrome-colored eyes that were drowning in desire.
A shout made the three men look back to where Rachel, hoisting Baby's body over her head like a weightlifting champion, threw the smaller car-woman against the far wall with a scream. "And they will kill to prevent any from taking the object of their desire."
Baby was still for almost a minute, catching her breath as her mind tried to think. There was so little strength left in her body that she could barely force her eyes open. Her scraped-up feet throbbed with a dull pain, looking like she'd tap-danced over a sheet of broken glass.
She knew she was losing. Her focus was split between resisting Sebastian's control and fighting Rachel, while the other car-woman had full control over her faculties and judgment.
Something glimmered in front of her, a speck of bronze among the crimson and emerald and onyx articles of clothing that were half-burying the Impala. A familiar speck of bronze. Her hand shot out to grab it before Sebastian could realize what she'd seen.
Touching the amulet was like touching a live wire. The magical bonds on Baby's soul crumpled like cheap metal, freeing her mind and body. Power seared through her veins and sang in her blood like the finest quality gasoline, her engine working double-time. She sucked in a breath and got to her hands and knees, shaking her head to clear the last remnants of Sebastian's control.
"Baby!" she heard Dean scream just before Sam yelled, "Look out!"
Her head snapped around to see Rachel lunging for her, a mad gleam in her steel eyes. Instinct made her reach for the small of her back, into the fold of fabric that concealed her plates. Her grasping fingertips latched around a handle, and she yanked the small knife out in time to bury it to the hilt in Rachel's chest. The woman's scream was ear-splitting, shattering the mirrors and lightbulbs lining the vanities, but she collapsed in a heap and stayed down.
"Oops," Baby said with a cynical grin. Forcing her battered body to rise, she turned to face Sebastian. "I think she's gonna need a tow truck." She reached for the small of her back and pulled out another knife, clasping the pendant in her closed fist as she advanced on the man who dared hold her boys captive.
The man snapped his fingers again, but nothing happened. The smile grew wider. "And it looks like your spare key is worthless. Now let them go, you sonofa - " Suddenly her entire body went limp, sending Baby sprawling on the concrete floor. Her knife went clattering across the ground as she felt everything inside her stutter to a halt. "What the hell? What did you do to me?"
Sebastian turned to Rachel and said, "Rachel, you'll have to stay here. There's not much time."
"I will wait," the red-clad woman promised.
Baby's eyes landed on him as he faced her again. "Shutting one of you down is always a regretful choice, but you're too dangerous to have uncontrolled." He knelt down and grasped Sam and Dean's collars. "But your boys will still be useful for my plans, Baby. Die with that knowledge in mind."
"No! Don't hurt them!" she screamed, fighting to make her limp body obey her frantic orders to move, to crawl, to save her boys. "Sam! Dean!"
But when she blinked her eyes, all three men were gone.
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