Author's note: Hi everyone! How are you? Thank you so so much for the follows, the favorites and for the reviews! It means a lot to know that people are reading this and enjoying it. 3
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I considered posting season 5 in a whole new story, making this a series, but after a while, I decided it would be better to just continue it here (feel free to tell me if you think this is confusing)...
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So, without further ado: WELCOME TO SEASON 5, Y'ALL!
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Season 5 was always one of my favorites, and I've got big plans for this, so stay tuned!
Enjoy the chapter!
"...and Governor O'Malley urged calm, saying it's very unlikely an abandoned convent would be a target for terrorists, either foreign or homegrown,"
"Change the station," Dean orders, all but barking as he drives through the road, without looking at Sam.
The younger Winchester pokes around with the buttons on the rented car's digital radio.
"...Hurricane Kinley, unexpectedly slamming into the Galveston area—"
Sam changes the station again.
"...announced a successful test of the North Korean nuclear—"
He changes stations two more times before giving up and shutting the radio off.
The silence is deafening. Dean hadn't said a single word to him since they'd left Baltimore's airport.
Sighing, he decides to break the silence.
"Dean, look—"
"Don't say anything," Dean replies, cutting him off and not letting him continue.
They drive in silence for some time and then Dean takes a detour, stopping the car on the side of the desert road they'd been driving in.
"I need a minute," Is all the older Winchester says before getting out of the car.
Sam also gets out but doesn't dare follow his brother. He just watches as Dean walks through the middle of the trees until he stops near the creek that fills the empty night with the calming sound of water flowing.
*
Standing there, alone, watching the water, Dean finally allows himself to break down, not fighting the tears he had been holding from the second he saw Andrea at the convent, in a white dress, laying dead in a pool of blood.
Yet again, he'd lost someone he cared for. There's no telling what would've happened between them had everything been different, but regardless, Andrea didn't deserve to go down like that, trapped in her own body, as nothing more than a lamb slaughtered in a sacrifice.
A moment later, still haunted by the sound of her laugh and the way her dirty green eyes shone in the sunlight, he kneels on the ground, and after opening a small but deep hole in the dirt with his bare hands, Dean takes off the black bead bracelet he had been wearing since Andy had given it to him during the case in Wyoming saying it would keep him safe while they astral-projected in the city where no one was dying.
He holds the bracelet in his hands, noticing the glass-like rock. He wished he could've asked Andy what it was made of, but now it was too late for that.
It was too late for everything.
Picturing Andy in his mind one more time, Dean sighs. He then puts the bracelet inside the hole he dug.
"I'm really sorry I couldn't keep you safe, Andy. You didn't deserve this. Any of it," He pauses, covering the bracelet with the dirt, and burying it. "Not sure how the afterlife works for witches, if there's even such a thing, but I do hope that you're in peace, wherever you are," Dean gets up, standing there for another moment as images of Andy run past his eyes like scenes in a movie. "I'm gonna miss you, Andy,"
He takes a deep breath after that and wiping his tears away, he walks back to the car, knowing that now more than ever they had work to do.
*
Even though it's dark, after all these years, Sam knows his brother. And he recognizes the signs on Dean's face. He had been crying.
"I'm so sorry, Dean," He says when his brother is close enough. "Andy didn't—"
"Don't," Dean replies, preventing Sam from finishing his sentence again. "Don't say her name, ok? Actually, don't say anything," He pauses, taking a deep breath. "Look, it's okay. We just got to keep our heads down and hash this out, all right?"
Sam doesn't say anything else, doing the same as his brother and focusing on their current problem.
*
When the emergency response team enters the damaged structure of St. Mary's Convent, they're not expecting to find survivors. Not after the size of the explosion and the destruction of the surrounding area. So after the police make sure the place is safe, firefighters and paramedics walk inside and start taking care of the several bodies they found.
As they get to the last body, everything changes when the paramedic in charge screams, "I have a pulse!"
*
"He's dead. Or gone," Chuck says when Dean questions him about Castiel. "The archangel smote the crap out of him. I'm sorry," Suddenly, the prophet pauses. "Oh, shit. Andrea didn't make it, did she?"
"No," Dean manages to answer a moment later, swallowing dry. "She didn't," Another pause. "Look, are you sure about Cas?
"Dean I… I'm so sorry for your loss," Chuck says genuinely sad. "Andrea was a good person, and I know you two—
"Are you sure about Cas?" Dean says, interrupting him and changing the subject. "I mean, maybe he just vanished into the light or something,"
"Oh, no. He, like, exploded," The prophet says in his awkward tone. "Like a water balloon of chunky soup,"
Sam says something to Chuck, but Dean doesn't pay attention. The only thing on his mind is Castiel's death. Another victim of his mistakes and failures. Cas had died because he believed Dean would stop the apocalypse from happening. He died because he had believed in Dean. Just like Andy believed in his promise.
"Cas, you stupid bastard," He says out loud, stopping the conversation between Chuck and his brother.
"Stupid? He was trying to help us," Sam argues.
"Yeah, exactly," Dean retorts in a tone that leaves no room for more arguments.
"So, what now?" The younger Winchester questions. They planned to find Cas and then figure out everything else, but without Cas, they're back to square zero.
"I don't know," Dean offers, also at a loss for words and plans.
"Oh, crap," Chuck says all of a sudden.
"What?"
"I can feel them," The prophet replies and just as he finishes his sentence, a sound of wings is heard, and the room is no longer empty.
"Thought we'd find you here," Zachariah says from behind them. "Playtime's over, Dean. Time to come with us,"
"You," Dean exclaims, turning and pointing a finger at the angel. "You just keep your distance, asshat,"
"You're upset," Zachariah replies, as arrogant as ever.
Upset? Dean echoes in his mind. "Upset doesn't begin to cover it! Someone died because of you. Not to mention that you sons of bitches jump-started judgment day!"
"Maybe we let it happen, but we didn't start anything. And we certainly didn't kill anyone. Right, Sammy?" He winks at Sam and Dean grits his teeth at the jab about Andrea. "You had a chance to stop your brother, and you couldn't. So let's not quibble over who started what. Let's just say it was all our fault and move on. 'Cause like it or not it's Apocalypse Now. And we're back on the same team again,"
"Is that so?" Dean challenges.
"You want to kill the devil, we want you to kill the devil. It's… synergy," Again, the angel sounds patronizing.
"And I'm just supposed to trust you?" Dean can't really believe he would dare ask for his trust after everything that happened but then again, angels had no feelings. Or if they did, they just didn't care. Well, he wasn't going to care either. "Cram it with walnuts, ugly," He adds, using his sarcasm to hide some of his anger.
"Resentment gets old, Dean. The witch had to die. That was her role. It was the only reason why she was in this story. I know you think you miss her, but there's more fish in the sea. Just let it go. This isn't a game, son. Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description. We need to strike now, hard and fast—before he finds his vessel,"
"His vessel?" Sam wonders, speaking for the first time, and stopping Dean before he can speak his mind. "Lucifer needs a meat suit?
"He is an angel. Them's the rules," Zachariah responds with a creepy smile. "And when he touches down, we're talking Four Horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies, the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean, but you need our help,"
"You listen to me, you two-faced douche. After what you did, I don't want jack squat from you!" Dean shouts.
"You listen to me, boy! Do you think you can rebel against us? As Lucifer did?" Mid-argument Zachariah stops, staring at Dean. "You're bleeding,"
"Oh, yeah—a little insurance policy in case you dicks showed up," Before anyone can react, Dean turns around and pulls the door, slamming his bloody hand on the banishing sigil he had drawn before.
Zachariah and his minions disappear in the white light. "Learned that from my friend Cas, you son of a bitch," He yells, hoping they could still hear him.
As they drive away from Chuck's, Dean's haunted by images of Andrea and Castiel, dying because of the angels' stupid little game and ultimately, because of him.
*
Terror and despair are the first things she knows as her conscience returns. Still trapped in the last emotion she felt, unable to tell where she was and what happened, panic awakens inside of her chest, prompting her to move, to get up, to get away, but as she tries to love, her body seems to weigh a thousand pounds and she can't really move. The feeling of being trapped is overwhelming and suddenly she can't breathe.
"Easy now, easy. You're okay," a voice says, just as a pair of hands touches her arm. Her unfocused vision doesn't really register the person standing next to her. All she sees is a woman with blonde hair. Lilith. Her mind screams, urging her to fight.
She shoves the bitch away as hard as she can, struggling to get up and get away, get away from her, get away from here. She hears more voices she can't discern in her erratic state, and she slaps and punches everything she can until there are more hands on her, in her arms, in her legs, holding her, pinning her down, and she tries to scream, but she feels a pinch in her arm, and everything goes dark again.
The next time she wakes up, she's in a panic again, but as she tries to move, she realizes she is tied up. Her legs and arms are restrained to the bed. She tries to move, and although her body is no longer heavy, this time the restraints keep her from moving.
"You're gonna hurt yourself even more if you keep struggling," A warm voice says from the door, making her turn around. The black woman standing there looks like she's in her late fifties and has a nice smile. "You're okay, dear. You're safe," The woman says, seeing the fear in the young woman's eyes.
"W-where… am… I?" She dares to ask, her voice raspy and low from lack of use.
"Howard County Hospital," She replies. "My name's Grace and I'm a nurse," she smiled again. "Can you tell me your name, honey?" My name? She asks herself, almost as if expecting someone else to reply. When nothing happens, she sighs in relief. Andrea, my name is Andrea.
"Andrea," She answers out loud a moment later. "My name's Andrea. Uh, can I have some water?" Her voice is still too raspy and her throat hurts when she speaks.
"Ice chips only until the doctor comes to see you," Nodding, she accepts the ice chips Grace puts in her mouth, hating feeling so useless.
"It's nice to meet you, Andrea," Grace says, putting the cup away, smiling. "Is it okay if I ask you some questions?"
She hesitates for a moment, but feeling her thoughts a little clearer she agrees. "Uh, sure,"
Nurse Grace smiles again. "Do you remember how you ended up here?" Once again, images flash in her mind, and knowing better than to say the truth, Andrea lies.
"No," She replies, and the nurse nods.
"So you don't remember why you hurt yourself?" It's only when the nurse says those words that Andrea notices the heavy bandages around both her wrists. Once again, flashes of images curse through her eyes and she needs to take a deep breath to calm herself. Before she can reply, an older man enters the room.
"Good morning Doctor Jones. The patient woke up some minutes ago, no longer combative, vital signs are normal, albeit still a little weak," The nurse says, and even with her head still fuzzy, she makes a mental note of his name and all the things Grace is saying.
"That's normal, considering the amount of blood she lost," The doctor says while writing down on the file he's holding. "How are you feeling?" He asks, putting down her file and coming closer to examine her.
"Tired, confused, sore,"
"That's normal, considering what you did and also the fact that we had to put you on intensive suicide watch," Suicide watch? She repeats in her head, finally connecting the dots between his words, the nurse's questions, the bandages in her arms, and the restraints. They think she tried to kill herself. Okay. Not ideal, but she can deal with it. "The confusion will diminish as the sedatives wear off," He continues. "Once you're up to it, there are some people who would like to see you,"
For a fraction of a second, Andrea thinks about them. Dean and Sam. The last few times she'd landed herself in a hospital, they had been there for her. But she knows they're not who the doctor's talking about now. "Who?" She asks.
"Our psychiatrist and Detective Harlow, from Maryland State Police," The mention of an officer of the law made her pause. Shit.
"I get the psychiatrist, but why does a cop want to talk to me?" Andrea doesn't miss the way the doctor and the nurse look at each other before the nurse speaks again.
"She says she doesn't remember," Grace turns to her. "You were found at St. Mary's Convent in Ilchester. You're the only survivor of the explosion that happened 2 days ago, honey," 2 days ago? Shit, Andrea curses mentally again.
"The detective needs to talk to you," Grace continues, "So the police can figure out what happened with the explosion and the other people who died there,"
Other people? No. No. They made it out of there. They made it out alive. They had to.
He had to be alive.
The monitor starts to beep as her heart rate increases, following her erratic thoughts, and it takes her a moment to focus and get herself together. She needs to get out of here. "C-can I make a phone call?"
"Well, I'm–"
"I think–"
The nurse and the Doctor pause at the same time, and Andrea has to stop herself from rolling her eyes. "I do have the right to a phone call, you can ask the Detective outside,"
It takes almost half an hour for them to talk to the Detective, remove the restraints and find her a cell phone and leave her alone. The longest half an hour of her life, especially as they debated if she should or not be left alone with a cell phone. Finally, alone, she dials the number he'd made her know by heart. You'll never know when you'll need it, Dean had told her.
"Who's this?" The gruff voice that answers on the second ring is a balm for her spirit, and it takes all of her not to cry upon hearing it.
"AD Mike Kaiser?" She says, using his fake name. "It's Andrea Seger," And the fake identity they'd given her.
"Who the hell is this?" He demands, and she understands because she's supposed to be dead and not calling him like this.
She looks at the door, knowing that Nurse Grace and the Detective are right outside and they might listen, but she doesn't care, deciding she'll deal with whatever shit follows later. "Bobby, it's me. Andrea. Okay? It's me, I'm alive. I don't know how, but I am and I need you to come pick me up," She pauses, taking a deep breath. "You can test me when you get here, just come, please,"
There's another moment of silence, and then, "Where are you?" Relief fills Andrea as she tells him the name of the hospital.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," He hangs up after that, and knowing that she has to keep up the pretenses, Andrea returns the phone to nurse Grace and informs them that she won't talk with anyone until her contact gets there.
Of course, no one reacts positively to that. Not the medical team and certainly not the Detective, but once she refuses to talk to anyone, the message seems to get through to them.
However, as the hours tick by, the day turns into night and the night turns into day, no one comes, and she's left alone with memories and nightmares.
*
Moments after Castiel disappears, leaving Sam and Dean in the storage room, surrounded by dead bodies, a phone rings, breaking the silence.
"Hello?" Sam answers. "Who is this? What? Bobby? Bobby, slow down, you're not—okay, okay," He extends the phone to Dean. "He wants to talk to you,"
"Bobby?" Dean says, taking the phone. "What's going on? Are you okay?"
"Dean, you need to listen to me, I don't have much time before the nurse gets back. I got a phone call while that bastard was inside me. It sounded like Andy, Dean. Whoever it was used my alias, Mike Kaiser. You gotta go check it out. Howard County Hospital, near Ilchester," Before Bobby can continue, Dean hears the sound of voices and then a noise.
"Hello? I'm sorry, but your father needs to rest. Visiting hours start at 9 am," A female voice says and too shocked to reply, Dean just hangs up.
Sam immediately notices the pure shock in his brother's expression. "Dean? What's wrong? Is Bobby okay?"
"Before, when he was possessed… someone called him… claiming to be Andrea, saying she's still alive,"
"What?" Sam questions, leaning against the wall. It couldn't be. He knows what he did, and there's no way she's alive.
"You heard me. Bobby gave me an address and I'm heading there right now,"
It takes Sam a moment to react. "Dean, you know this could be a trick, right? It could be the angels, it could be a demon, hell, it could be anything,"
"I know. Which is why I'm going prepared for anything," He replies, grabbing his keys. "Are you coming or not?"
The drive back to Maryland is pretty much quiet, as Dean's lost in his thoughts and Sam doesn't dare say what he's really thinking…
*
Andrea wakes up to the sound of voices. Opening her eyes, she thinks it's probably a dream because it's been over a week and so far no one came, but then she hears the same voice again, this time closer, and she can't believe it.
"... I have strict orders from my AD, so please, just open the door," She sits up just as the door opens, and Dean is standing there, looking just as handsome and strong and alive as the last time she'd seen him, and it takes her everything she has to remain calm, and not react to his presence.
"She's been deemed as dangerous, so I'd so I advise caution, Agent Rogers," Andrea hears the blonde nurse say.
"I already assured the doctor I know how to deal with the situation. Thank you for the concern," Dean says, looking at her for the first time, with a hard and indecipherable expression on his face. "I'd appreciate it if you could give us a moment alone,"
"Of course," The nurse leaves and Dean enters, closing the door behind him.
"Dean?" Andrea calls in a quiet voice, watching as he closes the shutters on both windows as well, the one that looks to the corridor and the one that looks outside. Once it's done, still silent, he takes some things from the inner pockets of his suit.
"You know the drill," He says, pushing the silver knife and the metal flask towards her, face blank.
Nodding, she takes the knife first, cutting the underside of her palm. Then, she takes the flask and drinks a long sip of the holy water.
She barely manages to put the flask down because next thing she knows, Dean's arms are around her, hugging her tightly against his chest. She puts her arms around him, tears freely falling from her eyes.
"Damn, Andy. I thought I'd lost you," Dean whispers, kissing the top of her head, before gently pulling back from their hug to look at her. "How are you?" He asks, taking notice of the bandages on her body.
"I-I… I'm a bit dizzy and confused, but I… I'm okay,"
"Good, okay is good," He replies as relief fills him. "Look, there's a lot we gotta talk about, but first we need to get you out of here, okay?"
Shocked and too confused to argue, Andrea agrees without understanding. "Okay, but… how? I mean, I'm on suicide watch and they think I had something to do with the explosion and dead people, and I–"
Sensing her panic unraveling, Dean grabs her hands, effectively stopping her ramble.
"Andy. Andy, I need you to focus. I got you a change of clothes. While you get dressed I'm gonna check on Sam, he's signing you out. I'll be right back, ok?"
"O-okay," He gets out of the room and comes back with a small bag that he sets on her bed before leaving her alone.
Getting out of the room, Dean finds Sam alone in a small room adjacent to the reception.
"Did you test her? Is it really her?" Sam asks in a whisper as Dean walks inside.
"Of course, I did, Sam! And yes, it's Andy alright. What's with all the questions?" The older Winchester demands, trying to keep his voice down.
"Look, I wasn't going to say anything, but Andrea shouldn't be alive. Not after what happened," Sam replies in an equally quiet voice.
"You mean after you killed her with your bitch blood powers?" Dean demands, angry, and as Sam's face shows signs of regret mixed with surprise, he continues. "Right. Why don't you let me finish this while you grab the car?"
The sweatpants and the sweatshirt inside the bag Dean brought aren't hers, but they fit her well enough. Andrea keeps the hospital's white tank top and in less than 10 minutes she's ready.
When Dean returns, the nurse is behind him, staring at her in an unfriendly manner. "Let's go, Seger," He says in a rough and perfectly angry voice, using the surname they'd put on her fake ID. She keeps her head down as he guides her through the corridors to the exit.
Outside, they take a turn, and a few meters ahead, leaning against a black and expensive-looking car, she sees Sam, waiting for them.
Immediately, an image flashes through her eyes, and she sees Sam, but with black demonic eyes, his power making her feel more pain than she had ever felt before. Her chest starts aching, and she feels like she's not getting enough air. Andy tenses up as they get closer and she almost stumbles.
Dean supports her with his arm to prevent her from falling, and closer to her he feels her tension. "Just keep walking, Andy, we gotta get out of here," He says in her ear.
It seems to work, because she gets in the car, and curls up into a ball behind the driver's seat. The brothers get inside as well and Dean drives the hell away from Ilchester.
