A/N: Hello everyone! Thanks for taking a look and thank you to all of you who have reviewed the last chapter :) So I don't think I have to much today to say so on with the reading!
Oh wait special thanks to my two betas that checked the chapter over for me. Sayura-san and Starlight-killer you guys are life savers :)
Jazz and Amy sat at the island in the kitchen watching Lance stir a pot on the stove. He mumbled to himself as he grabbed stuff from off the counter and poured or threw a pinch of powder into the bubbling liquid in the pot. Amy's nose wrinkled in distaste at the smell of the noxious fumes coming out of the pot.
"Umm Lance mind telling us what you're making now?" she asked. Since coming back to the apartment, Lance and Gabe had barely said a word to either of them. Gabe had disappeared after he had transported them back and Lance had grabbed a pot and some weird ingredients and begun chopping.
Turning around, he pointed his wooden spoon at them with a sharp flick. "Well, if Jazz here hadn't tried the body switching spell, you guys wouldn't be in this mess and I wouldn't have to be making this."
Jazz wrinkled her nose at him, "You startled me and if you hadn't had done that it would have worked just fine."
"I seriously doubt that," Lance proclaimed as he turned back to keep stirring. He turned a page of a very old book that was standing up on the counter. Amy had seen some of the drawings and felt queasy about them. Some appeared to be people turned inside out or nails sprouting like hair all over their body. She had shuddered in revulsion and refused to look after that.
Earlier that day, her and Jazz had stopped Missy from getting Gabriel's horn that now sat innocently in the middle of the island in front of them. They had taken it back with them, judging that it would be too dangerous to leave it someplace Missy knew it was and it wasn't that good of an idea to leave it with the Vatican priests and such. Upon confronting Missy about the horn, they had worked to separate her from it; in the end it had worked…with some unfortunate side consequences. While they had achieved possession of the horn, her and Jazz had switched bodies when one of Jazz's spells had backfired. And now here they sat, four hours after that incident, watching Lance cook.
"You can't just - I don't know 'bippity boppity boo' us and get us back in our right bodies?" asked Amy. She wasn't quite used to the air hitting her ears or how cold it felt at the back of her neck. Man, Jazz's short hair was sure an eye opener for her.
Lance turned to look at her with a questioning eyebrow raised, "Are you sure you're not turning into our lovable elf sitting right beside you?"
Jazz rolled her eyes and bit her fingers, "Ok," she spat a nail out, "I never had this habit before.
Amy, you have the worst nervous habits I have ever met."
"Oh and you don't have any?"
"Not like this."
Lance sighed; he tapped the wooden spoon against the pot then put it on the counter. Turning around, he began to cut some weird roots on the island. Amy grabbed the horn and took a close look at it. It was exactly like the picture had shown it; just not as long as she would have expected. A little marking in the corner showed the same wing design but otherwise it just looked like a plain brass horn; nothing overly special about it.
"I know that look on my face and believe me, it's that kind of artifact you have to look out for," Jazz said to her from beside her.
Amy shrugged, "If you say so; what I still wanna know is why Missy wanted this thing so badly."
Jazz reached over and took the horn, studying the object closely, "Did you check the internet if you can find anything? Myth, legend, rumor - hell anything."
Amy shook her head and dragged the laptop over; booting it up, she signed on to the internet and went to Google. Typing in the search bar "Gabriel's Horn of Truth" she scrolled through all the links that popped up. Scrolling back up, she clicked on the first one.
Amy glanced at the first little bit that came up. "Here's what I got right now but I still have to look; it's not that much,
"Christians of the Catholic traditions refer to Gabriel as Saint Gabriel the Archangel. Islam believes that Gabriel was the medium through whom God revealed the Qur'an to Muhammad, and that he sent a message to most prophets, if not all, revealing their obligations. He is called the chief of the four favored angels and the spirit of truth. In English-speaking culture, the image of Gabriel as the angel that shall blow the trumpet blast that initiates the end of time and the general resurrection at the Last Judgment, which has no source in the Hebrew Bible or the New Testament, is a familiar trope."
"Gabriel's Horn (also called Torricelli's trumpet) is a geometric figure which has infinite surface area but encloses a finite volume. The name refers to the tradition identifying the Archangel Gabriel with the angel who blows the horn to announce Judgment Day, associating the infinite with the divine."
Jazz snorted as she looked at the horn in different angles, "Yeah, ok that makes incredible sense."
"So it what," Lance said as he continued chopping roots and putting them to the side. "It's a big roll call horn for everyone to participate in Judgment Day? Or at the least to announce the official end of days."
"Seems like it," Amy mused. "But why would Missy want that? Unless it can do more."
"Keep checking," Jazz waved offhandedly.
Lance and Amy both looked at each other, rolling their eyes. Amy turned back to the laptop and kept on going through more sites. Clicking and back tracking as she didn't find what she was looking for.
"Umm I guess you could check the bible to seeing as it's supposed to raise the dead from the Earth," Amy said still clicking and scrolling.
Jazz quickly yet gently placed the horn back on the table. Lance snorted and shook his head.
"What? You can't tell me you want to see everyone that has died in your life returned to life," Jazz defended herself. "I know I have a few people I'm not too keen to meet again anytime soon."
Amy kept looking for another few minutes then sighed in frustration, she lightly banged on the keys, "There really isn't much here to find," she stated in exasperation. "There's like nothing on this horn. I've tried a few ways to research it but the most I can find is about the actual archangel himself not his actual horn or trumpet I guess in some cases. Looks like it depends."
"Well we know it's here," Lance said as he now added different roots to his chopped pile. "So I guess Missy could have wanted it for its power to raise the dead, but that doesn't seem to suit her style."
"The lore also hints that it could be a truth telling horn, you know someone blows into it and everyone in a certain distance has to tell the truth," Amy suggested.
Jazz snorted, "That could get messy fast. I mean people lie all the time just to save face, imagine if they all started telling the truth."
They all collectively shuddered at the thought, "Yeah not exactly the best motivator."
"Well I don't see why Missy needed to go through all that trouble for that horn; I would have just told her every day what kind of horrible hag she looked like if she wanted that," Jazz said as she played with a root in the shape of a small ball on the table.
Lance glanced at the both of them and couldn't help the smirk that slowly started to wind its way on his face. Jazz noticed and her eyes narrowed to slits, "What?"
"Oh nothing," he said shrugging nonchalantly. "It's just different to see Jazz so smart for once and Amy the weirdo insulting Missy out of nowhere and rolling a root around on the table. It's not something you see every day so cut me some slack."
Jazz rolled her eyes, "Whatever."
They lapsed into silence for a while after that, each seemingly trapped in their own thoughts. Lance cleared his throat, "Amy about Kali-"
Amy reached up to twirl her hair only to realize it wasn't long enough. Lifting her fingers up to her lips she was about to nibble on the nails in nervousness until she caught the glare that Jazz was scorching her from the side. Slowly she put her hands down on the table and Jazz plopped a squishy ball in her hands.
"What's this?" she asked as she squeezed the easily pliable material.
"A stress ball," Jazz stated matter-of-factly. "You're not biting my nails if I have any say in the matter."
"Anyways about Kali, Amy, I'm sorry," Lance began again.
"Why would he bring her though Lance?" she asked.
"He wouldn't, that's what I'm trying to say," Lance persisted. "Look, Gabe and Kali have had a past history, yes that's true, but they haven't really been together for a while now. Besides she has a really strong bad habit of showing up when it's less than convenient, like last night."
"He still slept with her though," Amy mused out loud. "That doesn't really make it better."
Lance nodded, "I know, so do you want me to kick his ass for you?"
Amy blinked up at him with Jazz's wide green eyes, "Umm no. Gabe would just poof you to Antarctica or something and I don't want him becoming too suspicious."
Lance and Jazz exchanged a look while Amy squeezed the ball tightly.
"Well the offer's still open if you want to take it," Lance quipped. That earned him a smile from the girl and he grinned back at her.
"By the way Lance, how long is it gonna take for that potion of yours to be ready?" she asked innocently.
Lance glanced back over and frowned, "Well, judging that I still need a few more ingredients and Gabe isn't back with them yet, also that it needs to sit for a couple of hours undisturbed…maybe another 24 hours at the most?"
Amy felt like she blanched at that, "You're joking?"
Lance shrugged apologetically, "Sorry girl, but unfortunately this takes time. I can't just whip it up."
Amy sighed and rubbed her forehead as Lance turned back and began stirring the broth again with his wooden spoon. She bit her lip as she realized that this wasn't gonna be good. Jazz started picking at her sleeve and frowned as she started to drag it back slowly; she winced as the scratchy material dragged against her forearm.
Amy's eyes widened at this and her heart began to beat faster. Jazz was about to find out about her darkest secret and there was nothing she could do about it; she still had till tomorrow until they could switch and between then and now Jazz was going to find out; it was merely a question of when and how.
"What the-" Jazz muttered quietly as her frown deepened.
"Ugh Lance, me and Jazz are just going to our room for something; it's just a woman thing, I'm sure you can understand," Amy quickly burst out nervously as she grabbed Jazz's upper arm and dragged her from her chair and out of the room.
"You don't have to tell me, I'll be right here!" Lance yelled back.
Quickly she waltzed them through the room and closed the door, locking it behind them. She turned around to look at her friend and winced as Jazz finished pulling up the sleeve all the way and took in the damage new and old she had done to her wrist. Amy winced as her friend silently pulled the sleeve back on the other one as well. She didn't say anything just silently stared at the disfigurement that she had subjected herself to.
"Jazz," Amy managed to squeeze out from her throat even though it felt like it was constricting painfully.
Jazz looked up at her; the blue eyes stared back at her emotionlessly. She seemed at a loss for words herself. Her eyes reflected pain, anger, guilt, sorrow and was that even humiliation? The kaleidoscope of emotions swirling through her eyes made Amy look down to the shaggy carpet under their feet.
"Amy," Jazz started out hoarsely. "Please explain this to me."
Biting her lip, Amy fiddled with her hands in front of her, refusing to look at Jazz. She could see her friend staring at her from above the fringe of her bangs but had neither the courage nor the will to return her stare. Her heart pounded, she felt like she was getting a headache and her lungs felt short of breath.
Seeing all of this, Jazz walked over to her quickly and took her hands in hers in an effort to try and calm her down. She squeezed reassuringly but Amy was distracted by the scars that littered her body's skin.
"Amy, look at me please," Jazz whispered to her. Her voice sounded as if it were begging.
Slowly she looked up into her own twin blue eyes, yet knew that it was Jazz looking at her, "I'm so sorry," she whispered as she choked on a sob.
Jazz shushed her and dragged her into her embrace. She stroked her hand down the back of her short hair and murmured to her soothingly.
"Hey girl it's ok, just let it all out," she whispered, patting her on the back of her head. "Talk to me Amy, please, I can see and feel that you've been hurting for quite some time. Please tell me what's going on."
Jazz walked the two of them over to the same window that overlooked the Vatican. They could see a large crowd of people swarming around St. Peter's square but otherwise no movement could be discerned from the large building. After they had disappeared with Gabe, the place had been put into lockdown as the security and the police tried to figure out what had happened in the bowels of the church.
Whipping up a napkin, Jazz handed it to her. Amy gladly took it and dapped at her eyes and nose. "Thanks," she mumbled quietly.
"Ok girl, what's going on?" asked Jazz as she settled back on the other side.
Amy sniffled and shrugged, "It happened after you guys left, I guess," she began hesitantly. Jazz nodded her encouragement and Amy took a deep breath. "After you guys left, I tried to keep it all together, I really did. I went to classes and tried to immerse myself back into my work. But as the days started turning into a week or two I just began to realize that I couldn't do it. My grades were slipping, I couldn't concentrate, my nightmares started up worse than ever and I started failing simple assignments that I should have been passing with flying colors."
Jazz merely gazed at her sadly and silently. She looked down at the scars on her wrists but otherwise didn't say anything. Amy continued before she could lose what little nerve that she had left.
"The only thing that seemed to work for me was that no one picked on me. I don't know if I just gave off that kind of vibe but I didn't really have a problem with bullies in that short amount of time I stayed there. Of course I would have given that all up just to have you guys back in my life again, but I knew the chances of that were very slim if not nonexistent. "
"There came a day where I just woke up and decided I couldn't do it anymore. I couldn't go to classes and try to pretend that nothing was wrong when it felt like my whole world was collapsing. I couldn't pretend anymore that my grades weren't slipping and I was beginning to realize that I probably wouldn't be able to pass my courses anymore. So I left and I never looked back. As far as I was concerned, that day I left behind all if not some of the pain. I had never had to look at that same tree again that I first met Gabe under, never had to enter that same room you and I shared again and never had to sit on that same couch again that you, me and Lance sat at to watch those movies that day. I never had to walk back into the cafeteria or student lounge and remember all those good days we all spent together just hanging out. I couldn't take it Jazz. I know, I'm sorry I promised all of you that I would try but I just couldn't! I wasn't that strong!"
Amy buried her face in her hands and sobbed. Jazz reached over and gripped her shoulder.
"Amy, when did you start cutting?"
Hiccupping lightly, she wiped her red eyes again even though it was worthless because more silent tears kept on falling. "Umm shortly after, actually. There were days where the pain just became so intense inside of me, where I didn't know how to deal with it or express it. I had no one I felt like I could talk to, so instead I introverted more and more into myself. One day I saw my razor sitting innocent in the shower and I thought to myself, what would it feel like? Would it help me? Relieve some of the pain that I had been experiencing for what felt like so long? And so I picked it up and I cut my right wrist for the first time."
Reaching over she gently grabbed Jazz's, or her, wrist and turned it over so that the white scars stood out prominently. Pointing at one midway up her arm, she gently ran her finger across it.
"This was the first ever cut I made and I never went over it again. I felt like by doing what I did I let open a door that I wouldn't be able to close anymore or a door that I would need help closing. Which at the time was completely fine with me. I thought I had lost you guys; don't forget, so I basically gave up any hope when I did this. I cried for you all each night and when I cut myself for the first time it helped relieve some of the pain I felt. It helped me cope or so I thought. But it didn't take long for the first cut to feel like it wasn't helping anymore and so I began to do it more and more frequently. The cuts began to litter my arms. I took to wearing long sleeved shirts or gloves to hide the abuse I began doing to myself and avoiding any questions that may have implicated me in this behavior. Before I knew it the scars on my arms had taken up my whole life and my arms. I knew then I had crossed a line that I could never uncross not with myself."
"Then you guys turned up again and you can't even imagine how happy I was. I looked at it like this was finally my new beginning again and I wasn't going to screw this up. I wanted you guys to be proud of me and I was secretly worried that if you ever found out about these scars that you would think I'm dirty or something. I didn't want to disappoint you or be a shame for you; I just wanted you guys to be proud. Since meeting up with you guys I hadn't cut myself but then the other night I saw Gabe with Kali and-"
She choked off at this and Jazz merely gazed at her with a somber expression, "It pulled you right over the deep end again didn't it?" she asked quietly and gently. "That's what these new cuts are from. You saw them together and instead of just trusting us and talking to us you fell back in your own habits."
Amy nodded as she looked up at her, scared to see her friend's reaction but instead was slightly surprised as she saw the tears that Jazz was fighting to hold back in her own eyes.
"Amy, I'm so sorry," she whispered as she hung her head. "I didn't want to leave you but we all thought to maybe give you a chance at a normal life; it would be for the best if we got out of your life for good. People realize fast that you can't walk with one foot in both worlds; it always screws you over like that. But had we had known what you were doing to yourself and how bad it really was for you, we would have come back. I'm just so sorry."
Jazz started sobbing uncontrollably and Amy quickly crawled to her friend. The two of them sat huddled at the window trying to give one another as much comfort as they could possibly do for the other. "You know it wasn't your fault, right Jazz?"
Jazz didn't answer her; she merely hung her head in shame.
"You guys are my best friends, Jazz, I never wanted to hurt you," Amy whispered to her friend.
"But Amy, when are you going to finally understand that what you did to yourself it never meant that we would shun you! What kind of friends did you take us for? Oh my god Amy, we have never been ashamed or embarrassed or not prideful of everything that you have accomplished. We love you like your family and we want you to understand us. That means that you have to tell Gabe and Lance about this, Amy."
Amy's head jerked up at this; her eyes widened in surprise and fear at what Jazz had just told her.
"Jazz, I-I-"
"Amy no, this is something that you have to do for them. Believe me, if Gabe finds out some other way without you having told him, he's going to have a litter of fire breathing kittens in the living room; trust me it's happened before."
Amy had to smile at the thought and Jazz rolled her eyes, "Yeah, you would think that it's cute if you saw them incinerate your favorite sweater."
"Jazz, it's not that really, I do want to tell them both so that they know but - I just can't yet." Jazz opened her mouth to interrupt, but before she really could Amy held up her hand. "Let me finish," she begged. "I'm just not ready to say anything yet, hell, I wasn't even ready to tell you yet but because of this body switching thing I kind of had no choice in the matter."
Jazz huffed, "Amy that's what I'm worried about. That you won't tell them, that you'll continue to try and keep this inside yourself until it just eats you away. Eventually they're gonna catch on and when they find out…"
Jazz stood up and walked to the center of the room, "Look Amy, I'm not trying to be harsh here but I really need you to start trusting us more. We all make mistakes and I'm not gonna say to you that what you've done to yourself doesn't bother me, because it does. But I seriously need you to try putting some faith in the rest of us. We screwed up too and I get it but none of us are going to grow in our relationship if we keep more and more secrets from one another. And I'm sorry but I'm going to have to insist that you start fessing up to this because it's a health risk and if it can harm you or kill you, you have to be honest and talk to us."
Amy bit her lip then nodded, "Ok Jazz, I promise that at the end of the week I'll talk to Gabe and Lance, too."
Jazz's eyes widened in surprise, "Really?"
Amy nodded, "Really. You're right, I've been hesitant to put my full trust in you guys but I have to realize that that's not working anymore and that I need your help and the guys help to get stronger with this. I'm sorry, just give me till the end of the week and I promise they'll know."
Jazz stared at her in silence for a few minutes then slowly nodded, "Ok Amy, I trust you on this but I'm not staying quiet for longer than a week. Either you tell them or I break it to them; they have to know that this is going on."
Amy nodded, "No, I understand and I fully agree. I'm so sorry."
Jazz smiled at her softly, "It's ok. I'm just glad you're giving us a huge chance here."
Amy nodded and the two of them giggled at one another. Suddenly a loud cursing and banging of a pot came from the kitchen. Jazz rolled her eyes. "Come on," she motioned to Amy. "We should head back and make sure he doesn't burn down the apartment or himself."
Walking back out, they saw Lance sucking on his thumb wincing and scrunching his eyebrows.
"What's wrong, Harry Potter? Get burned by your own potion?" asked Jazz as they walked in the long blonde hair swishing down her back.
Lance scowled at her, "Oh shut up, Jazz. Don't forget I'm making this because of your own stupid back firing spell. I'm kinda tempted to leave you like that but I would feel slightly bad for Amy then."
"Just slightly?" asked Amy teasingly.
"Hey don't push it, you guys have teased me more times than I can count," he accused him.
They both opened their mouths to argue then shut them just as quickly. Looking up to the ceiling Amy shrugged and nodded her head, "Yeah, you're right actually."
"Aren't I always," said Lance smirking hotly. "Don't answer that," he pointed his spoon at Jazz threateningly. Jazz held up her hands in surrender and didn't say anything.
"Hey Lance I was wondering if maybe you wanted to do something tomorrow?" Amy asked him slightly hesitant. She could feel her hands begin to jitter with nerves but she clasped them tightly in front of her and took a deep breath trying for a different head on approach. It was time to take this bull by the horns and stop it full force.
"Umm sure girl, we don't spend too much time together as it is," Lance said smiling at her. "So I would love to; you have some place you want to go?"
"Not really, no, but if you know any cute cafes, maybe get a bite to eat?" she asked hesitantly.
Lance smiled at her, "Sure that sounds great."
"What sounds great?"
The three of them jumped and turned to see Gabe standing in the middle of the kitchen with a plastic shopping bag in his hands. He walked over and placed it on the island.
"Here you go man, I finally found everything so be happy and don't think you're going to make a habit about this; I'm not your personal delivery boy," Gabe told him in all his seriousness. He pulled up a chair and sat down at the island with them as Lance rummaged through the bag.
Nodding he turned around with it and began to pull things up and line them on the counter. "So how are my two little buddies doing?"
"Fantastic, Gabe!" Jazz replied with her fake exuberance. "And have you switched any bodies to know how it feels lately? Because then we could so totally TANLBFFDWAC."
It was quiet in the room as everyone stared at Jazz…or I guess someone who looked like Amy but was actually Jazz trapped in Amy's body. Lance looked bemused but chose not to say anything while Gabe…just looked floored.
"What the hell does that mean?"
"Talk all night like best friends forever do who actually care. What? Never heard of it?" asked Jazz as she smiled at him cheekily.
Gabe raised an eyebrow, "I think what bothers me more is that it's coming out of Amy's mouth instead of yours. It's just odd to hear her talk this way."
Amy rolled her eyes, "Don't worry Gabe, in less than 24 hours now I guess we'll be back to our normal selves."
Gabe leaned back in his chair and rolled his eyes to the ceiling, heaving a deep sigh of relief.
"Good, because if you were trapped like this, I think I would have to check myself into the nearest psych ward. It would be mentally scarring for me, just FYI." Placing his hands on the counter he stared at her with his golden eyes twinkling. "And by that way that means for your information."
Jazz rolled her eyes as she sat back in her chair with her arms crossed in front of her chest. Gabe winked at her as he popped a root into his mouth and chewed. He made a sour face and shuddered, "Oh that tastes horrible."
Lance turned around in exasperation, "Gabe seriously, how many times have I told you not to eat that!"
Gabe held up his hands as Lance swiped the bag off the table, "What?! It's not like it can kill me."
Lance snorted, "Sometimes I wish."
Gabe raised his eyebrows at the warlock, "Well let's just see if I go pick up anymore of these little bobbles for you next time."
Lance merely rolled his eyes and continued to stir the pots ingredients. Gabe rolled his eyes then rested his chin on his hands and gazed at Amy. "So what were you up to tomorrow? I heard something mentioned along those lines when I came in."
Amy shrugged her shoulders, "Me and Lance are just going out for the day."
Gabe raised an eyebrow, "Like a date?"
Amy blushed beet red, "No," she stammered out. "Just a day to talk and go take a look around the city maybe."
Gabe rolled his eyes, "Why? When you and me could go out instead," he raised his eyebrows suggestively.
Jazz rolled her eyes, "You're lucky my magic is on the fritz right now, otherwise I would so trip you onto the floor."
"How about we do that at the end of the week, Gabe," Amy said quickly cutting off the two from starting another argument.
"Sounds like a date, kiddo," Gabe winked at her.
Amy smiled back as she felt butterflies fly around in her stomach.
A/N: Hope you enjoyed it!
And hey I think Danneel (Jensen's wife) is due soon for their little girl aren't they? Aww another supernatural baby joins the fold :D