A/N- The past few chapters have been posted all at once as a birthday present to my cousin Gerlyham! Happy Bday! I don't own Supernatural or Charmed.
Chapter Twenty
Addie pulled the Impala into a deserted parking lot not too far from the car wash. This was where she or Leo always took the cars to get the oil changed or tune-ups done. Everyone climbed out of the car and Paige pulled out some folding chairs that she set up for her, Phoebe and Sam. Addie pulled some car ramps out and pulled the car up onto them. She then grabbed an oil pan so she could drain out the old oil and transmission fluids. She first undid the plug to the oil and let it drain out. She then took out the filter and replaced it with the new one before disposing of the old oil. She then replaced the plug and drained the transmission of the old fluid. The color told her it hadn't actually been too long ago that Dean had done it, so she decided not to flush the fluid, just put in new stuff. After she had put the stuff back in place, she disposed of the transmission fluid too.
After finishing those basic tasks, she took the car off the ramps and opened the bottom of the radiator to drain the fluid out of it. While it was draining, she replaced the oil and transmission fluids and replaced the fan belt, air breather and spark plugs. By then, the radiator was done draining, so she ran some water through it to make sure it was totally cleaned out. She then closed the plug, and refilled the radiator with coolant and water. She started the car, and ran it for a moment, before shutting it off and checking all the fluid levels to make sure she'd added enough. When she was done, she turned back to see Paige and Sam watching her with rapt attention. Phoebe was reading and Sam had a smirk on his face.
"What?" Addie asked him. He stood up and walked over to her.
"I remember when you went to an auto parts store and bought a manual on the Impala. You read that thing cover to cover three times, and then bragged to Dean that you could change the oil faster and better than him on the car. He bet you a new book that you couldn't." Sam said.
"That was the last time he ever doubted my ability to learn something by theory." Addie grinned, "it came in handy when learning how to demon hunt." Sam nodded his understanding, then wiped under Addie's eye gently.
"You got grease on your face." He said.
"It's part of working on a car, Sammy." Addie said, her smile staying in place. "We should go wash her and vacuum her out, then head to the store so Phoebe can make her purchases before we get the new tires and go home for breakfast. Paige nodded and they picked up their supplies, got in the car and headed to the car wash.
When they got there, Addie went and got quarters while Phoebe and Paige stayed with the car. Sam followed because he was planning on helping her. Knowing that the two of them wanted to do this together, Phoebe volunteered to walk to get coffee and Paige said she'd go too. After they left, Addie put the required amount of quarters in the machine and she and Sam started to wash the car. As they were finishing with the rinse, Phoebe and Paige came back. Addie and Sam finished and all four of them dried off the car and pulled next to a vacuum where they finished cleaning out the car. They then piled in the car and drove to the store where they waited while Phoebe ran in really quick to get the PJ pants. After that, they stopped by a tire store to have new tires put on. Then they headed back to the manor. When they got there, Dean came running out of the house a stricken look on his face.
"Zoe left," he said, real anger and sadness in his voice. "And you two were gone, with my car I might add, and I thought everyone had left me. I didn't even think to look and see if Phoebe and Paige were still here." Everyone who had been in the car looked at each other, they hadn't even considered the possibility of Dean thinking that Addie and Sam would just leave too.
"Dean, I woke you up and asked if I could borrow the Impala for a couple of hours," Addie said to him in a reasonable tone. "You threw the keys at me and told me not to wreck your car."
"Oh." Dean said, surprise on his face. "Where did you all go?" Addie smiled at him and handed him back the keys.
"Complete oil and transmission change. New spark plugs, fan belt and air breather. Oh and I changed out the radiator fluid and we washed her too." She said, a slight smirk on her face. "Oh and new tires. Happy late birthday."
"Oh." Dean said again, still with a surprised look on his face. Addie hugged her brother tightly.
"I don't know what Zoe's deal was, but I'm seriously pissed at her for just walking away like this." Addie said, "I know you two had something going, and I'm more angry at her for leaving you than for leaving me." Dean looked at her and saw Addie, not only as his baby sister, but as the stronger woman she had become over the past year while she didn't have her memories. He noticed that while she was still every bit a Winchester, her confidence in being accepted by the Halliwells meant she didn't need to blindly follow Zoe's lead anymore. Somehow, in the past year, Addie had grown up some. He smiled at his sister, glad for the change, but at the same time sad that it had happened.
Addie led the way into the house for breakfast to find Piper making waffles for breakfast. She smiled at the girls who came into the kitchen and turned her attention to a pan on the stove, which had sausage patties in it.
"Good morning, Piper!" Phoebe said, hugging her older sister. "Need any help?" Piper took a moment to look at her sisters, and nodded.
"Pheebs, will you pour orange juice?" She asked her, "Paige, will you set the table and Addie, will you watch the waffles while I make eggs?" The girls all nodded and started their tasks. Sam followed Addie to the waffle iron and watched as she poured batter and closed the iron, locking it and setting the timer. Dean started helping Phoebe with the juice, carrying glasses out to the table as she filled them. Piper turned and watched, smirking slightly as she saw how easily the Winchester boys fit in with her family. She then frowned and looked around for Zoe, surprised not to see her anywhere. She walked out and looked in the dining room and came back in the kitchen, confused. Addie looked up, away from the waffle iron and noticed Piper's actions.
"What's wrong, Piper?" She asked. Everyone else in the room looked up too.
"Where's Zoe?" Piper asked.
"She had to go visit her cousins for a while," Phoebe said. "She left early this morning." Dean just looked at her as Piper nodded and started making eggs.
"How did you know?" He asked her quietly.
"I saw her leave, I tried to talk her out of leaving, but she said she had to go and that it was for the best." Phoebe explained, "she also said she left you a note and that you needed to show it to Addie." Dean nodded, anger and angst written on his face.
"I love her," He said. "It hurts that she would just leave like she did, but I understand that she was hurt by Addie needing you guys more than she needed Zoe. I can't leave Addie again and I can't make her come with us. So we need to be here, especially with the whole witch thing. I wish we'd have known about it before, then we could have come to you sooner." Phoebe smiled at Dean, she really did enjoy him being around in an older brother capacity. He smiled back at her and took some more orange juice out to the dining room and place them by the plates Paige had set out. She was standing there, looking at him with a bit of sympathy on her face.
"I know you don't want to hear me say how sorry I am that Zoe took off, so I won't." Paige said. "I don't really do very well with the emotional things like Phoebe does, but if you do need to talk or rant or whatever, I will listen." She said, smiling at him. "Addie adores you, I could tell when we saw you in that town where Sam died. She didn't even remember you and she adored the both of you. She cried for a week with guilt because she couldn't stop Sam's death." Dean just looked at her for a moment before he said anything.
"Thank you, Paige." He said, "I may take you up on that, but right now I need to make sure Addie is really okay with Zoe leaving, she may not have said anything yet, but she's as hurt as I am." Paige nodded and they went back into the kitchen to see if there was anything else they could do to help. Phoebe had finished filling the glasses with juice and Leo was in the kitchen talking about the possibility of training new Whitelighters in a couple of years. Dean looked with interest at him.
"How do you become a Whitelighter?" He asked, curiously.
"You have to die making a selfless sacrifice for someone else," Leo said. "Then you are approached by one of the Elders, or Angels as you are crossing over and they give you the option of becoming a guardian angel. They actually just recruited a new one last night, in a couple of years, the recruit will be ready for practical training and it might be my turn to train him or her." Dean nodded.
"What happens if you say no?" Was his next question.
"You don't have to say yes, you go to heaven." Leo responded.
"So you died in a selfless way?" Sam asked the next question.
"Yes, I died in the act of saving my platoon from a bomb that had been dropped in the middle of a hospital, I was a doctor and a medic." Leo said, "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, so I threw myself over the bomb. I was the only one to die that day." Dean looked at Leo with new respect, he hadn't expected to hear that Leo had been a soldier or that he had sacrificed his life. Piper finished making the eggs and took the platter full of them out to the table, Paige grabbed the plate of sausage and Sam took the finished waffles out.
Phoebe grabbed butter and syrup for the table and Addie poured the last of the batter into the waffle maker. As soon as it finished, she put it on a plate and took it out to her spot. She buttered it and added the right amount of syrup before adding a scoop of eggs and sausage to her plate. Sam sat down next to her and pulled it away from her. She raised her eyebrows at him, but didn't say anything as he began to cut the waffle into pieces. After he had cut it into perfect squares, he stabbed one and swirled it in the melty buttery syrup at the bottom on the plate. He held it for a moment to let the extra syrup drip off before offering the bite to Addie. She smiled and opened her mouth, allowing him to feed it to her. He smiled at her and took a bite for himself, chewing slowly. As usual, they got wrapped in their own world of shared breakfast, ignoring everyone around them.
Paige watched them, wondering how they could just ignore the world and live in the simple moment that they shared. Phoebe watched them and loved it. Watching how Sam and Addie acted towards each other made her hope for someone she could share the little moments with. Piper was also watching, thinking that it was sweet that they took care of each other. Leo couldn't help but notice that Sam made most other guys look bad, the way he looked at Addie and was devoted to her was as inspiring as it was kinda weird. Dean enjoyed watching his siblings share their breakfast, he knew as long as they were able to carry on their morning tradition, that the world would turn out all right. He smiled and dug into his own breakfast, enjoying the deliciousness that was Piper's cooking.
After breakfast, Piper went out to do some things that had to do with the club. Paige and Leo had some things to do, so they left and Phoebe went to take a nap, leaving Dean, Sam and Addie alone for the morning. They went into the living room and sat down, Addie curling up next to Sam and Dean sat across from them.
"Zoe left a note," Dean said, pulling it out and handing it to Addie. She took it, unfolding it so she could read it.
"Dear Hot Stuff, Addie and Sammy," Addie read out loud. "I'm sorry I have to leave in this way, but it is only a temporary thing. I need to get away and spend some time with my own family now that yours has been reunited. Addie, I do love you as a sister and know that you are probably going to be taking this hard, but know that I really am doing what I need to do. Don't put off your wedding. You and Sam are amazing together, so don't let my issues change your plans. Sammy, take care of Addie for me. I know you would anyways, but remember that I will kick your butt if you hurt her in some way. Hot Stuff, I'm sorry. I really do love you, but I just can't be there right now. I will be back, but don't wait for me. If you are involved with someone when I do return, I will understand. Take care of yourselves, you three, I really am sorry. Love and stuff, Zoe." Addie stopped talking, as tears were flowing down her face freely. Sam had wrapped one arm around her and had pulled her in close. Dean had moved and was wrapped around her other side.
"No matter what happens," Dean said. "We stick together." Addie nodded her agreement before turning and looking at her brother.
"Dean, will you give me away at our wedding?" She asked him. Dean smiled at her, knowing that she was going to ask.
"Only to Sammy," Dean answered. "If you were marrying anyone else, I couldn't do it."
"I would only marry Sammy, though." Addie said, looking at him. Sam smiled, kissing the top of her head. Addie looked at him with adoration in her eyes. "I love you." She said to him.
"I love you, too." Sam answered kissing her. "If Zoe doesn't come back, who do you want for a bridesmaid?" Addie looked at him, in serious thought.
"Phoebe," she answered. "Paige is my partner, but if I'm only having one bridesmaid then definitely Phoebe." Dean looked at her for a moment.
"Why?" He asked.
"Because when I first woke up and couldn't remember anything but being called Addie, Phoebe sat with me everyday. She didn't force me to talk or anything. She just sat in my room with me and we stared out the window together." Addie said, "Paige and I became friends only after I started wanting to leave my room. Plus, Phoebe is my sparring buddy. We beat each other up for fun, I think that is grounds for bridesmaid recruitment." Dean nodded his understanding and Sam grinned at her as she looked at him. "Who are you going to ask to be your best man?"
"Paige," Sam said. "She helped me pick out your engagement ring yesterday and I think she would be perfect for it." Addie smiled her enthusiasm.
"We're gonna have to get Bobby to come out, but I can't think of anyone else that should be here." She said, "I wonder if we could summon Dad like we summon Grams when we need help. It would be nice to have him here. I'll have to ask Piper." Sam and Dean both looked at her in surprise.
"You summon ghosts?" Dean asked her.
"Only occasionally," Addie said. "Usually it's just Grams, or another Warren Witch and temporary." Sam and Dean looked at each other in surprise, they hadn't been expecting that.
"Can you bring back anybody?" Sam asked her.
"I don't know, usually we only call someone from our line, or actually the girls' line as we don't know where my magical capabilities come from." Addie said, "why?"
"It would be nice if you could summon our mom too." Sam said, wistfully. Addie smiled at him and kissed him.
"It would." Dean agreed softly. The moment was interrupted by the sound of someone running down the stairs. They all three looked up to see Phoebe bursting into the room, with the Book of Shadows in her arms.
"Oh my Goddess!" She squealed, "I can't believe we haven't thought of this before!" She grabbed Addie's arm and pulled her into the kitchen, leaving a startled Sam and Dean behind. "We can magically trace your line!"
"What? How?" Addie asked, just as excitedly.
"There's a potion, then we can use your blood to figure out where your line comes from." Phoebe said, "then we can know why the Book lets you near it."
"Think it'll work?" Addie asked, excitedly.
"We can try it and find out!" Phoebe said, just as excitedly.
"What do we need?" Addie asked. Phoebe read the list of ingredients for the potion.
"We actually have all the stuff." Phoebe said, "wanna do it now?" Addie nodded with a grin on her face. Phoebe got out a pot, and started adding in the required things in at the right time. Soon the kitchen was full of a steamy mess. Phoebe was just finishing the potion when Piper walked in.
"Whew! What's all this?" She asked, waving her hand in front of her face.
"It's a potion for Addie," Phoebe said, "I found it in the Book of Shadows. It should show her family tree."
"That's helpful." Piper commented.
"Yeah, it should show why the book lets me use it." Addie said, excitement lighting her blue eyes. "Oh, Piper, I have a question for you."
"What's up?" Piper asked.
"When you summon Grams, is that only something you can do with a Warren Witch, or can you summon anybody?" Addie queried.
"We can write a spell to summon anybody," Piper said. "Why?"
"Sam wants his mom to come to our wedding and I would like for Dad to be there." Addie explained, Piper's eyes went soft as she understood what it would mean to Sam to have his mom at his wedding.
"We can do that," Piper said. Addie squealed and jumped up and down and hugged her older sister.
"Yay!" Addie said with as much excitement as she could muster. At the same time, Phoebe finished the potion and let out her own happy exclamation.
"Done!" She said happily. "Now we just have to put three drops of your blood and soak this scroll in it for an hour. At then end of the hour we say this little spell and we should know your family tree." Addie grinned and cut the tip of her finger to allow the drops of blood into the pot, then Phoebe added the scroll. They went into the living room, where Sam and Dean were still sitting, looking confused.
"What was that all about?" Sam asked as Addie sat next to him and snuggled into his side.
"Phoebe found a spell to discover my family line, so we know where I got my magic from." Addie said, "we were just making the potion."
"Do you have to drink it?" Sam queried.
"Nope, just add my blood." Addie answered, "it takes an hour to cure though."
"So we will know in an hour," Phoebe said, checking her watch. "Actually forty-five minutes." Addie nodded and snuggled into Sam's side. They sat and chatted for the next few minutes while they waited for the potion to mature. Paige came in and sat down next to Dean, smiling at him.
"What's going on?" She asked, looking around.
"We are waiting for the potion that will show Addie's famiy tree." Piper said. "Phoebe found it today while going through the book and we thought it might give us an idea as to why the book let's Addie touch it." Paige nodded.
"How long do we have to wait?" She asked, Phoebe looked at her watch.
"About a half hour, why?" Phoebe asked. Paige just grinned at her.
"Boys, we have an invitation for you." Paige said, Sam and Dean immediately looked interested.
"What kind of invitation?" Sam asked.
"Well, about once a week, Paige, Addie and I watch a cheesy movie in our favorite Jim Henson PJ's." Phoebe explained, "Usually, it's at about three in the morning, because that's the best time to watch a Jim Henson movie. We want to invite you to join us." Sam and Dean looked at each other and shrugged.
"Sure," said Dean. "Sounds fun."
"Good," Addie grinned. "Paige, Phoebe and I already own Jim Henson related PJ's, but as far as I'm aware, you don't right?"
"No," Sam said. "We don't."
"Right," Paige said. "Luckily, we fixed this problem earlier today while the four of us hijacked the Impala."
"You did?" Sam asked, "When?"
"When Phoebe ran into Walmart." Addie said, grinning. "Pheebs, would you like to present the guys with their official Jim Henson movie morning wear?"
"Love to," Pheobe grinned and ran upstairs to get the PJ pants and tanks that she'd bought and wrapped for them. Dean looked at Sam kinda uncomfortably.
"What madness did we sign up for now?" He asked, Sam just shook his head, as he didn't have an answer. Phoebe came in handing each boy a package with a semi-serious look on her face.
"These PJ's are to be worn with seriousness and respect for the genius that is Jim Henson," she said. Dean hesitantly took his and opened the package to see a lot of purple and hearts.
"Oh, you've gotta be kidding me," He groaned. "Miss Piggy, really?" Addie grinned at Sam who was hesitantly opening his.
"Oh come on, Sammy." Addie said. "You got to choose yours, remember?"
"That's what that was all about?" He asked, revealing the light pink, glittery Abby PJ's and solid tank top in the same shade. "Well, at least it's not Elmo." Dean snorted and Sam looked at him. "What?"
"You got fairy PJ's, man." Dean said, smile gracing his face. Phoebe, Paige, and Addie all looked at one another before laughing as well.
"So didn't think of it that way when we picked them out." Paige said.
"She doesn't look anything like a real fairy though." Phoebe observed, looking at Sam's PJs.
"Not all of us have met a real fairy though," Paige reminded.
"Some of us met wood sprites though." Addie said cheerfully, reminding them of Paige's conversion.
"And Vampire bats." Phoebe smirked at Addie.
"And Harpies," Piper said. "Oh wait, that was me." All the girls laughed, but Dean and Sam looked confused. Phoebe noticed and tried to explain.
"At some point this year, Paige was turned into a wood sprite because they need to have three to be safe and a warlock killed their sister. They thought Paige would be a good fit because of her Whitelighter half. It didn't really work out for them," She said. "A Vampyre Bat bit Addie and she was almost converted to full Vampire before we figured out how to stop it. We did kill the Queen though, and she's still human. Piper was bit by a female Harpy and Leo saved her with his love for her." Sam pulled Addie in, the thought of losing her hurt too much to think about and he was glad that she hadn't been turned full Vampire. Dean too, had painful thoughts about losing his sister. Before they could say anything more, a timer went off in the kitchen.
"Spell's done!" Phoebe said excitedly before turning to Addie. "You ready to see where your magical line comes from?" Addie nodded and the entire group followed Phoebe into the kitchen. "A family line is sought after. She waited the hour. Show us where she came from. How she got the power." She pulled the scroll out of the potion and carefully shook it off. She unrolled it and read the line, her jaw dropping. "I don't believe it!"
Zoe was walking down the hall when she caught sight of the brown hair belonging to Castiel. She smiled and hurried to catch up to him. He looked at her and smiled back.
"Zoe, we are starting our Whitelighter training together." Castiel said, "I've been recruiting hopefuls for so long and doing other errands that they have decided to give me a chance." Zoe smiled at her friend.
"I'm so glad that I won't be doing this alone," She said.
"And I also found out that if we excel, we will be on site trained by the Charmed Ones' Whitelighter!" Castiel said, enthusiasm entering his voice.
"Who are the Charmed Ones?" She asked.
"They are a group of witches that are all descended from Melinda Warren." Castiel explained, "she was one of the most powerful good witches of the eighteenth century. Her line has been unbroken from then until now."
"Okay," Zoe said. "So what's so important about these witches."
"They vanquished the Source of all Evil, and are a foretold power of good in the world." Castiel said. "When Melinda had been betrayed, and was burned at the stake, she said that this trio of sisters would wield the Power of Three and be able to stop any form of the apocalypse that came their way. She also told of a lost cousin who would be found and have the power to turn tide permanently one way or the other. This cousin would not know her heritage, but have strength the Charmed Ones don't have." Zoe's eyes widened, she was impressed, and it was hard to impress her after seeing Dean shoot Azazel through the heart and get dragged to hell to save his brother.
"So these sisters are willing to die to protect the world." Zoe asked.
"Pretty much," Castiel said. "It's their destiny to defend the world. They do it well."
"Wow," Zoe said. "I can't wait to meet them." Uriel came up, overhearing their conversation.
"You will get to, in five years time for them." He said, "It will seem longer for you, but it will be worth it. Castiel, congratulations on getting into the Whitelighter Training. I look forward to seeing you progress." Castiel nodded at Uriel and the two of them kept walking.
"Is it weird that I don't really like him?" Zoe aked.
"Nope," Castiel said, laughing slightly. "I don't think anyone does. He's really abrasive."
"That's a word for it," snorted Zoe. "I wonder if he's ever had a girlfriend, or boyfriend to help take that edge off."
"Angels don't really take time for things like that." Castiel said, frowning slightly.
"Why not, is it forbidden?" Zoe asked, as they entered a garden.
"No forbidden, just I don't think we know how to talk to one another in that capacity." Castiel said.
"You mean you've never had a girlfriend, Cas?" Zoe asked him.
"It's Castiel," the angel said. "And no."
"That sucks, why not? You're a good-looking guy." Zoe retorted, "and I wanna call you Cas, or Cassie, or Princess. I like giving people I like nicknames, but I'm going to call you one of the above, so pick one." Castiel glared at Zoe for a moment, while she looked back at him with an innocent expression. Then he sighed.
"You can call me Cas," he grumbled. Zoe smiled and hugged him.
"Well, you know what, Cas?" She said, one arm still around his shoulder. "I think we're gonna have a wonderful friendship."