Due to some lacking inspiration for anything in s3, I'm skipping to the end. Sorry. I had a hard time writing this to...I wish I could give you guys something better.
There will be on more chapter in Reincarnated, and I'll pick up in s4 in a new story. I should be doing that in mid-June, after I'm out of school.
I hope you like the chapter (and don't hate me too much).
~Christianne
Nikki POV
When I was seven, I spent seven days in the county office where my social worker had an office; where the kids were assigned foster parents, stuff like that.
Nobody wanted me.
The parents I'd been staying with for the past few weeks tried to get me to stop spending hours on end staring out the window. The real issue was that I didn't know what they were mad about. I got good grades, I did my chores and I didn't talk back; my last foster parents made sure I understood that very well.
For those seven days, I sat on the sofa in my social worker's office as she called everyone she could. Everyone in town knew about me; the baby left at a church in a rain storm. They also heard about how I was a 'problem' child. I had to listen to Mindy as she called family after family, with a garbage bag of clothes at my feet.
That was the worst week of my life.
Well, now it was the second worse.
Ever since the thing with Bobby, I'd been camped out on his porch, overlooking the salvage yard, with books surrounding me. I had hundreds of Wiccan texts from my own collection, and just as many books from Bobby's collection. I split my time between Dean's problem and my own parental one. 90-10 of course; if my own curiosity wasn't so deep I'd be spending all my time on Dean's problem.
I was leaning against the side of Bobby's house, my knees up, elbows on my knees, hands over my face.
I heard the screen door open and shut a few feet from me.
"Nik."
"What Sam?" I asked, my voice thicker than it usually was. I put my hands down and looked up at him.
He had a sandwich.
"Not hungry." I sighed, looking back to the books. "Give it to Dean 'er sumthin.'"
"It is Dean's." Sam said as he sat down next to me, putting the plain ceramic plate on top of a pile of closed books. "Told me to give it to you."
We lapsed into silence.
Sam reached forward and picked up one of the books. "Norse mythology?"
I nodded. "Yeah…The guy who told me I was his brother's kid seems like a trickster to me…Tricksters are kinda like Loki." I reasoned.
Sam nodded. "Who do you think it is?"
"I dunno…He seemed kinda scared of him and his power. Thor, maybe?" I shrugged dismissively.
"Then again, if I do take this guy for Loki I'm not sure I trust him. I mean," I paused to snort. "The dude gave birth to a snake."
Sam rolled his eyes and put the book back.
I picked at the crust of my sandwich as we lapsed into silence again.
"I...I found a way to save him, you know?" I said quietly, not looking at Sam.
When he didn't say anything, I looked at him. He looked completely shocked. I picked up the plate and took a book out from under it. I maneuvered my way under his arm, and leaned against him as I opened up the book on my propped-up legs. I had to maneuver myself a little until I was against Sam's side with his arm over my shoulders.
When he didn't say anything, I looked at him. He looked completely shocked. I picked up the plate and took a book out from under it. I maneuvered my way under his arm, and leaned against him as I opened up the book on my propped-up legs. I had to maneuver myself a little until I was against Sam's side with his arm over my shoulders.
"There was this spell way back when that destroyed the demon and all their deals..." I traced my fingers over the words, knowing Sam couldn't read them. "But if I do that, and the Coven still uses their Medieval punishments, I'll be beaten with rotten oak sticks, have my blood drained and fed back to me before I'm locked in a perforated pine coffin and thrown into a swamp with crocodiles...And that's just the first year."
"How...How many years are there?" Sam asked quietly.
"Eleven...Most people don't survive that long though." I gnawed on my lip.
"The Coven...Sam, even you and Dean, all the best hunters in the country and twelve Wiccans as powerful as me couldn't take them on." I said, snapping the book shut. I rested my head on Sam's shoulder, and threw the book to the side.
Omniscient POV
With Nikki's hair tickling his neck and chin, Sam was having a hard time not thinking about her. Over the past few months, he'd started to notice things about Nikki.
The way her curls seemed to take on a deep auburn glow in the sunlight. The small, mischievous half-smirk that graced her lips when she found, or said, something funny. The way her slim, nimble fingers worked quickly through her curls as she put her hair in a fancy braid Sam couldn't understand. How her nose wrinkled up when she smiled or giggled. How, despite the stereotypical, unavoidable neutral, flannel hunter garb, Nikki always had brightly colored, patterned socks; he noticed how she would swing those socked feet when she sat on top of a table, or how her toes would move when they were pressed under her thighs when she was sitting cross-legged (also, on top of the table, Nikki never seemed to sit properly at a table).
Then, there were the other things he noticed about her. Nikki wore mostly v-neck t-shirts, that he could see straight down when she leaned over. The way her fitted jeans looked when she bent down to tie up her boots, and the way her thick, curly hair looked when it was flung back as she stood up. He hadn't had any more dreams, thank god; Nikki had been so exhausted the past few weeks that she ended up flopping into bed with him. Dean always offered, and Nikki always had a witty comment to shoot him down as she flopped down next to Sam. He was anything but complaining; Nikki somehow always found a way to have at least three limbs wrapped around him by morning and she clung to him like a spider monkey to a tree in a hurricane.
Sam leaned down to rest his cheek in Nikki's hair. They both were sitting in silence on Bobby's porch, watching the sun set over the rusty piles of cars.
"What are we gonna do without him, Sam?" Nikki asked softly, her voice thick. Sam wordlessly began to rub his hand up and down Nikki's upper arm.
"He...He's my best friend..." Nikki said shakily, swallowing and looking away from the sky briefly as she reached up to play with the pendants of Chris's necklace. "He-He's family."
"I know." Sam finally spoke. "He's my brother."
Nikki continued to gnaw on her lip as she played with the pendants.
"How long?" Nikki asked quietly.
Sam didn't even have to check his watch.
"41 hours."
30 Hours
Nikki POV
I got up from my cozy little hiding on the (slightly moldy) back seat of a half-smashed, rusted Toyota when I heard the engine of the Impala sputter in a pathetic attempt to turn on.
I tapped the distributer cap on the hood before I leaned into the open driver's side window.
"You think I'd take the chance of you ditching me again?" I asked, chuckling slightly. "You already had the fun of getting the knife from the demon bitch without me."
Dean, bruised and beat up, let out a groan and shoved his door open. I stumbled back slightly, and frowned at the older Winchester. Dean slammed the door behind him, and took two marching steps towards me before reaching for the distributer cap.
"Ah ah ah ah ah!" I said holding it at arm's length behind me, and the other out in front of me keeping Dean away. "I'll give it to you when you clear your crap out of the backseat and make room for my duffle in the trunk!"
Bobby had come out of the house after the loud, creaking slam of the door. Sam got out too.
"What's goin' on?" Bobby demanded, yanking the distributer cap from my hand. He took in the packed up Impala, and glared at Dean. "Do I look like a ditchable prom date to you?"
"No, Bobby. Of course not." Sam said; I'll admit, it was hard for me to keep a straight face.
"This is about me and Sam, ok?" Dean said, looking between Bobby and me. "This isn't your fight."
I snorted, while Bobby had a more physical approach.
"The hell it isn't!" Bobby snapped, taking a step towards Dean. "Family don't end with blood, boy."
There was a heavy pause before Bobby spoke again. "Besides, you need me."
I narrowed my eyes as the back of Bobby's trucker-cap-covered head and cleared my throat.
"And Nikki." He tacked on.
Dean scoffed. "Look, guys-"
"You're beat to crap Dean," I pointed out. "You have two choices; let me heal you, or take me with you."
Dean and I had a little staring contest that I knew I wasn't going to win; time for me to play dirty.
"So, how many hallucinations have you had so far?" I asked, cocking my hip to the side as I crossed my arms. Sam gave me a confused, worried look, and Bobby just clenched his jaw and waited for Dean's answer.
Dean finally realized he couldn't lie about it anymore. "How'd you know?"
"'Cause that's what happens when you have hellhounds on your ass." Bobby put in. "And I'm pretty smart."
I gave an annoyed throat-clearing again.
"You're smart too Nik."
Another heavy, long pause was broken when Bobby handed Dean the distributor cap. "We'll follow."
It wasn't going to take long for Bobby and Nikki to throw their stuff in the trunk and back seat of her Mustang. While they packed up, Dean stood around the Impala; Sam was off doing something in Bobby's house.
Nikki, after tossing her bag in her trunk, looked over at Dean. He was leaning on the closed driver's side door, arms crossed and one ankle over the other. He still wouldn't let her fix his face; it was still bruised and cut up. His strong, broad shoulders were slumped forward in apparent defeat, and his masculine, elegant features were drawn.
She slowly wandered over to him, and swiftly hopped up onto the hood of the car. Her Converse-clad feet dangled over the left front wheel, and brushed Dean's leg now and then.
"How're you doing?" She asked softly, making Dean look over his shoulder at her.
He worked his jaw before answering. "You're fine." He muttered. "Saw Sam's face get real messed up."
Nikki gnawed on her lip. "Yeah...It-It's a white magic thing." Dean turned to lean his hip on the car and face her.
"We're supposed to help people, you know?" Nikki said vaguely, resting her elbow on the windshield of the car as she watched Dean's bottle green eyes. "We can help their suffering, give them something good to see when everything else is on fire...No hellhound can distort your perception of me."
Dean nodded slightly, but that was all he did.
It was harder than Nikki thought it'd be; standing with Dean only a few hours before he was going to be in the Pit.
"So...Anything left on your bucket list?" Nikki asked, trying to lighten his mood.
Dean let out a little snort, and shook his head. "Never really had a bucket li-" Nikki cut him off.
With her free hand, she reached up to grab the cropped blond hair at the back of his head and roughly pressed her lips to his.
_-~0O0~-_
Dean's mind had been hazier that it normally was, but that was to be expected considering what he was going through. The haze, matched with the never undesirable feeling of being kissed by a beautiful woman, Dean kissed Nikki back. Matching her intensity, he brought one hand to the back of her neck and the other slid down her back until it go to the base of her spine. He splayed his fingers, and pulled her towards him. The haze in Dean's mind didn't cloud his judgment; it only made him react slower.
Nikki's mind, on the other hand, was perfectly clear. Both Winchester brothers were more than worthy of a magazine cover, but she had a real good best friend/partner in crime relationship with Sam; a hot, passionate kiss like this with him would ruin that. With Dean, on the other hand, she'd have a good time and an excellent memory burned into her mind about him before he left.
Her leg hitched over his hip, and Dean responded by leaned forward until Nikki's back was over the hood of the car. She let out a little squeak, and moved one hand from Dean's hair to the front of his belt. She didn't try to unbuckle it, not here anyway. His hands left her back and neck to press to either side of her head on the shiny black paint.
Dean was on autopilot; a beautiful woman under him (and pressed to his car), yanks on his hair and a hand at his pants. He moved his lips from hers to begin trailing down her neck. One hard yank on his hair snapped his eyes open, and his eyes focused.
Between heaving collar bones, there were two tarnished pendants.
"What do the pendant's mean?" Dean asked over bagels one morning.
Nikki licked cream cheese off her thumb, and held them up.
"St. Martin of Tours is the patron saint of soldiers, and St. Jerome Emiliani is the patron saint of orphans and abandoned children."
Dean's mind snapped out of the haze, and he used his hands, flat on the hood, to launch himself back. Nikki frowned briefly, then closed her eyes as a hot, blushing, embarrassed feeling tapped every part of her body. She slowly sat up, the red shirt she had been wearing was a little wrinkled where Dean grabbed it.
Dean was pacing around, his hands linked over his head as he stared up at the sky. He was thinking of a conversation he had with Sam on their way back to Bobby's with the knife. Sam meant it to be a passing comment, but Dean had floored the brake to make sure he'd heard him right.
Sam thought it was just because he hadn't gotten any in a while and Nikki was around all the time, but Dean wasn't listening. He was trying not to laugh. He wasn't now, though.
"Uh..." Nikki spoke up, awkwardly pulling her thermal back in place. "I'm sor-"
Dean was laughing.
"What the hell are you laughing about?" Nikki snapped. Just because she was embarrassed more than ever, didn't mean she couldn't feel insulted too.
"You two are so damn dysfunctional!" Dean finally said through his chuckling.
Nikki raised her eyebrows. "What?"
"You and Sam!" Dean continued laughing. "Jesus...Even a bored housewife couldn't follow the soap opera you two are in the middle of!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Nikki demanded, hopping off the car and walking towards Dean with crossed arms.
"Ok," Dean said slowly. "You used to have a thing for Sam."
Nik rolled her eyes. "This again-"
"Shut up and listen to me!" Dean snapped, making Nikki frown. "You used to have a thing for Sam." He repeated.
"When he died, you took a fall-out-of-love cocktail. How Sam thinks he could have a thing for you, and you're jumping my bones!" Dean said slowly, then tried to hold in his laughs again. "You two are so damn dysfunctional!"
Nikki was too stunned to say anything, she just blinked up at Dean.
"Hey, you guys ready?" Sam asked, a book under his arm as he went to the passenger's side door. Bobby was right behind him, bag in hand.
Nikki was still staring blankly up at Dean, trying to process what he'd said.
Dean responded when Nikki didn't. "Yeah," he called, rubbing a hand over his face. "Yeah, we're ready." He gave Nikki a shove towards her car, and watched her toss the keys to Bobby.
"Hey, you doin' ok?" Sam asked, watching Dean's quick, hard, jerking movements as he slammed the car door and jammed the key in the ignition.
"Peachy." Dean snapped sarcastically before peeling out of Bobby's salvage yard.
Nikki POV
I remember when I thought Sam was dead.
How I ran towards him, but fell to my knees when he fell into Dean. The scream I let out hurt my throat for the next two days. The heavy, aching hole in my heart consumed me from the inside out and burned like lava.
"Sam, remember what dad taught you," Dean said, looking at his little brother. "...and remember what I taught you." Sam had tears in his eyes, but didn't let one fall. All he did was give a stiff, wordless nod.
Dean glanced at me. "You too Nik."
I didn't try to keep the tears away. The streamed down my cheeks as I nodded.
"I-I'm gonna miss you." I choked out. Dean looked at me with sad, terrified eyes and nodded.
The clock chimed midnight, and we all turned to look at it.
As the horrific sounds continued, Sam's tears became more pronounced.
When the first scratch and growl was audible, I reached over to hold Dean's hand. My fingers wove through his and I held it tight enough to dislocate fingers. I watched Dean's face, trying to commit it to memory before it was gone forever.
"I'm sorry Dean." Ruby said solemnly. "I wouldn't wish this on my worst enemy."
"Shut up." I said in a weak attempt to piss her off. I looked at her with my tear glazed eyes, and sniffled. "Just-Just not now." I told her. Ruby didn't say anything, and looked away.
Dean's head turned in the direction of the first snarl.
"Hellhounds." He said, and tried to shake my hand out of his.
"No." I said in a rough, cracked voice. "No, I-I can see them too. You-You're not gonna go alone."
"Nikki-"
"You-You've done so much for me." I choked. "Let-Let me do this for you."
Dean didn't look at me, but he squeezed my hand. I hope he left bruises. "Thank you." He breathed.
He flinched at another snarl.
"Where are they?" Sam asked. His face was as tear streaked as mine.
"There." Dean said, looking towards the dining room table. The hellhound was a hideous black thing, with blood dripping from its canines and eyes trained on Dean.
It let out a snarling bark and we all took off. I kept my hand in Dean's, and tried to push my energy towards him.
In the study, Sam slammed the door behind us. I tossed Ruby the pouch of dust in my pocket, and she sprinkled it in a line in front of the door. Dean was with me in the middle of the room. He still held my hand, the other hand was gripping my forearm.
"You should let go." Dean said hoarsely. "I don't want you get hurt."
I gnawed on my lip; what I said would either scare him or make him feel better. "They-They don't care about me…They only want you."
The barking stopped once the dust was in a line over the door. Sam took the pouch and did the same to the windows.
Sam and Ruby were yelling at each other, and Dean had his eyes closed as he began to hyperventilate.
Through the grip I had on his hand, I searched his mind for a happy memory; one last thing I could do for him.
"Wait!" Dean yelled, right before Sam handed the knife to Ruby. "Sam! That's not Ruby!"
Sam was flung into the wall, the knife out of his reach.
Dean was thrown into the desk we were leaning on. I think she tried to throw me to the wall behind him, but I dug my heels in and fought her. I looked up from my place on the ground, my arm still up holding Dean's hand.
Lilith, now in Ruby's meat, tilted her head childishly at me.
"You want me to let go?" I questioned her. I was breaking out into a sweat from fighting her; I was on my knees and had to lean on my free hand to stay upright. If I fell to the floor, I couldn't reach Dean's hand.
Her dumb blonde head tilted the other way.
"Then-Then kill me." I panted.
She frowned, and I groaned in relief as the force she was putting on me was released.
"How long you been in're?" Dean asked from the desk.
"Not long." Lilith said, looking down at herself. "But I like it. It's all grown up and pretty."
Her mannerisms were totally different from Ruby's.
She looked at Dean with white eyes.
"Where's Ruby?" Sam demanded.
"She was a very dab girl. I sent her far far away." Lilith said simply.
"You know, I should have seen it before," Dean groaned from the desk. "But, you all look alike to me."
Ruby frowned again and looked towards Sam.
"Hello Sam." She cooed as she walked close to him. "I've wanted to meet you for a very long time."
She grabbed his jaw, and despite Sam's protests, Lilith planted a kiss on him.
I felt like I was going to throw up. I was still searching for a memory to bring forward for Dean.
"You're lips are soft." Lilith said once she leaned back from Sam; who also looked like he was going to throw up.
Sam wrenching his face away from Lilith's grasp. "Alright, so you have me. Let my brother and Nikki go."
Lilith frowned again. "Silly goose. You want to bargain, you have to have something I want."
She clucked her tongue and shook her head. "You don't."
I looked up from the floor.
"Me." I said simply.
Lilith looked over her shoulder.
"You wanna bargain?" I asked her, holding tighter to Dean's hand. "Talk to me."
"The Filius Concuoivi." Lilith said, childishly looking down at her hands. "I don't like you very much."
"What about my power, huh?" I asked, trying not to show how desperate I was. I stood up slowly; I could feel Dean and Sam staring at me. "Kill me, take my power, let them go."
Lilith seemed to ponder this for a moment or two, then ever so slowly moved towards the door.
As her hand touched the knob, I found a memory.
"Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better"
A four year old Dean in his bed; their pretty momma sitting next to him. She was stroking his shaggy blonde hair as she sang to him.
"Hey Jude, don't be afraid
You were made to go out and get her
The minute you let her under your skin
Then you begin to make it better"
"Sic'um boys." Lilith said as she opened the door. The horrific creature jolted towards Dean.
"Don't you dare let go!" I yelled to Dean as the hound latched onto his leg and dragged him to the floor.
"And anytime you feel the pain, hey Jude, refrain
Don't carry the world upon your shoulders
For well you know that it's a fool who plays it cool
By making his world a little colder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah"
Dean was screaming as the hellhound tore him apart. I grasped his hand with both of mine and sobbed. I could smell the blood; I could smell Dean's blood too, but I was referring to the sickening stench of it that came from the hellhound.
I tried desperately to keep Mary Winchester's voice in her oldest son's mind so he couldn't hear the lush tearing of his own flesh.
Dean's blood sprayed my face.
"Hey Jude, don't let me down
You have found her, now go and get her
Remember to let her into your heart
Then you can start to make it better"
Lilith was laughing at the display, as Sam screamed for it to all stop.
I felt four steel cold, sharp claws drag down my midsection. I let out a scream of my own, and fell from my knees to my side.
I looked into the hellhound's orange eyes. "I'm not letting go." I said shakily, through hisses of pain. It ignored me and went back to Dean.
With my new position, I pressed Dean's hand to my chest as I leaned to press my face to his shoulder. I couldn't watch as the demonic dog dug its nose, teeth, claws and face into the inner organs of my best friend. Every scream Dean let out vibrated through me.
"So let it out and let it in, hey Jude, begin
You're waiting for someone to perform with
And don't you know that it's just you, hey Jude, you'll do
The movement you need is on your shoulder
Nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah nah yeah"
I didn't know what was worse; listening to the screams of a man being torn apart, or the screams of his brother watching it.
The hellhound stuck its head under Dean's rib cage and bit.
Dean's screaming choked off, and his face lolled towards me. Blood began to come from the corner of his mouth. The green eyes of my best friend were unfocused and terrified as they looked at me pleadingly.
"I'm not letting go Dean." I assured him after he saw me take another swipe to the shoulder; I got to grazes to my cheek with that one too. "I-I'm not letting go." I chanted over and over again into his shoulder as the hellhound played with his organs.
A loud blast made my bones rattle.
"Please help us!" I screamed at any God there was.
A bright light filled every corner of the room.
_-~0O0~-_
I still had my face pressed to Dean's shoulder.
I saw the artery in his neck stop moving.
"No." I whimpered. I snapped my gaze to Lilith as she sighed.
Lilith put her hand down, and looked down at Sam; he had his arms over his face as he huddled to the desk and wall.
I let go of Dean's hand, and got to my feet.
The floor creaked under my weight, and Lilith spun around.
"Back!" She said sharply, a hand out towards me. "I said back!"
I raised my hand towards her. I was angry. I didn't even half to try channeling my powers; it just flowed and collected at my palm.
"You killed him." I said simply. I brought my hand a little closer, and readied my fingers to snap.
Lilith smoked out of the vessel she had stolen from Ruby. Sam stabbed at the air; he'd gotten the demon knife back.
Right away, I dropped back down to Dean. I took his hand again.
Sam dropped the knife, and fell to his knees.
I kept my hand in his as Sam held his brother's dead, bloody body.
I was searching desperately for any piece of him left.
I didn't finish the song for him.
In the depths of his soul, I found something. Just a little scrap of consciousness that wasn't yet in damnation.
"Hey Jude, don't make it bad
Take a sad song and make it better
Remember to let her under your skin
Then you'll begin to make it
Better better better better better better, oh
Nah nah nah nah nah nah, nah nah nah, hey Jude"