Dani had been riding with Sam for a while in complete silence. Sam didn't seemed bothered by the silence, in fact he seemed more than than happy to just drive and focus on the road, but Dani could tell that he was thinking pretty hard. She knew him; she knew when he was in his head. He had good reason to be in his head. He had a difficult task ahead of him.
She still couldn't wrap her head around what Sam had told her. Dean and Sam went after Metatron only to have it end with Metatron stabbing Dean and killing him. As if that wasn't enough to take the air out of Dani's lungs, she was also told that Dean somehow survived it and disappeared. Not only had Dean been missing for the last six months, but he was also a demon.
She wasn't sure if she believed it or not, but she couldn't believe that Sam would lie to her about something like that. He wouldn't stoop to something that messed up in the hopes of getting her to go on a hunt with him.
She knew the Mark of Cain was affecting Dean in a negative way, but she never thought that it would turn him into a monster. Of course there was a lot she didn't know about the Mark or its effects on Dean.
"Are you sure?" she asked Sam, when the silence had become too intense for her liking. She had questions and she wasn't sure if Sam knew the answers to them or not, but that wasn't going to stop her.
"I saw it on a surveillance video. He killed a man and then looked right into the camera. His eyes were black as night, there was no other way to interpret what that meant."
"And it isn't just a demon inside of Dean?"
"No, according to Crowley, that's the real Dean, the Dean who has been suppressed for so long and now he's free to do whatever he feels like doing."
"And you believe that? You believe Crowley? That Dean is actually a demon?"
"I do." Sam nodded, looking over to her as they stopped at a red light. "It's the Mark of Cain; it turned him."
"Why didn't you say anything to me about this last night, Sam?"
"You were drunk. I didn't see the point. I knew you wouldn't have believed me and plus, you seemed to have other things on your mind."
She shook her head. It was true. What time she had been sulking over Sam like a child, Sam and Dean were in need of help. How could she have been so selfish?
"So, what are you going to do once you find him?"
"I have a plan, but I'm worried about catching him first. He won't come willingly."
"You think he likes being a demon?"
"Not the real Dean, but I think he likes the feeling of being free and that's going to make it hard to get him to see reason."
Dani nodded, understanding that in a way. Sometimes she liked the idea that it wasn't her job to save people, to risk her life anymore. She liked not having to answer to anyone. "Do you really think Dean would kill someone like that?" Not believing for a second that it was that simple. There had to be another explanation. Dean wouldn't just kill an innocent person.
"No, but I don't know what he is capable of now that he is a demon." Sam shook his head almost as if he couldn't believe the words himself. Dani felt a twinge of sympathy for Sam. She knew just how close he and Dean were, she knew just how far Dean was willing to go for Sam and it scared her that Sam was willing to go just as far for Dean. She hated when Sam put himself in a vulnerable position, but she knew she couldn't stop him, not when it came to his brother.
Instead of telling Sam that she was worried, she decided to push that to the side and change the subject to something a little lighter. As he drove she looked over at him and looked at his arm which was in a sling.
"What happened there?" she asked, pointing to his arm.
He shrugged. "A demon."
"A demon?"
"While I was looking for any hints as to where Dean and Crowley were, I had to interrogate a lot of demons. One of them got the upperhand. It's not a big deal. I'm healing, and the demon is dead, so it doesn't matter."
"Have you been looking for Dean and Crowley all by yourself? I thought you said you tracked Dean's phone? Why didn't you just do that in first place?"
"I lied about that. Dean must have gotten smart and ditched the tracker the moment he took off with Crowley."
"Then how do you know-"
"Crowley. I called him and traced the call, that's how I know where Dean is. I haven't been doing it on my own. I've had some help from Cas, too."
"Cas?" she questioned. "Hasn't he been a little busy with the angels?"
"Getting Dean back is number one priority right now."
She nodded and moved her eyes back to the road. "So where are we headed? Where's Dean?"
"First, I'm gonna be stopping a bar and meeting up with another hunter who has some things I might need in order to get Dean back to his normal self."
"You told another hunter about Dean? Who?"
"No, I didn't tell him it was for Dean, just said I needed some help and he was willing to do it, so…" Sam trailed and Dani nodded along. She had to hand it to Sam. He surely knew what he was doing. He was far more resilient than she was. How could she had not been there for him? How could she have just dropped off the map like that?
How could he even want find her, to ask for her help?
"Sounds like a good plan, Sam."
He looked over at her and gave a weak smile. It looked wrong on him and it broke her even more knowing that Sam was clearly going through a real life nightmare.
Hours later Dani stared out of the passenger door window and sighed. She couldn't believe that she was with Sam again, in the same car. It felt unbelievable to her, like it was all just a dream she was having and she'd wake up at any moment alone in her motel room.
Sam cleared his throat and stopped the car. "We're here."
She sat upright and rubbed her eyes and looked up at the bar finding it's name. "The Black Spur?"
"Yup." Sam said, grabbing a bag from the backseat and looked at her for a moment. She didn't look away from him, but did give him a questioning look. "I'm gonna need you to stay in the car, okay?"
"Why?"
"I told this guy that I was coming alone, and he wasn't too thrilled to be helping me out in the first place."
"Why not?"
"It's a long story, but I think it'd be better if you waited here, okay? Shouldn't take too long, I just need to do a little exchange and I'll be back."
She wasn't sure she believed what he was saying, but she didn't want to make things harder on him, so she just nodded. "I'll be here."
"Thank you for coming with me, it means a lot," he told her, lightly stroking her cheek with his thumb. The intensity of the whole situation left her speechless.
Sam had slipped out of the car and made his way towards the bar, leaving her to stay behind completely dumbfounded.
Sam had been inside the bar for a while and Dani could still feel his touch pressed against her cheek. Why did he have to touch her? Why couldn't he have just thanked her like anyone else would have? She answered her own question: Sam wasn't like anyone else.
Dani had her head leaned back against the passenger seat and thought about Dean. She wasn't delusional when it came to Dean's mental health after he got the Mark on his arm. It was obvious he was changing, but she never could have predicted that things would get so complicated. She shook her head, determined that it would get better. It had to.
Sam was going to save Dean and she was going to help in anyway that she could. She owed that to Dean and she also owed it to Sam for not being there when they needed help.
Getting Dean back was the only thing that mattered, not Sam breaking up with her, or her feeling like a complete waste of space. The only thing that mattered was Dean. She'd deal with the rest of it later.
She didn't know how long she had waited for Sam, with her head leaned back and her eyes closed shut, but it was long enough that she nearly jolted out of her skin when the driver's door opened. She looked over to see Sam a little worse for wear.
"What the hell?"
"We need to get going," he told her, putting the keys on the driver's seat. "We're switching rides."
"Sam, are you okay?" His whole demeanor had shifted and she could practically see the excitement rolling off of him.
He looked at her for a moment, before clearing his throat. "Your bags are in the trunk," he stated before closing the door. She didn't know what to think, but she got out of the car and met him by the trunk.
She grabbed her bags, throwing them over her shoulder. "What's going on, Sam? I know something happened in there. What was it?"
He sighed and slammed the trunk closed. "I got him," he told her, walking away as if that cleared everything up. She followed him because she needed to know more. Obviously she needed to know more. Sam looked shaken and whether or not she was mad at him, it still bothered her to see him look on edge.
"Him? Who is that?"
"Dean."
"What do you mean you got him?" she asked but feared that she already knew the answer.
"He's in the Impala around back."
"Sam, I-"
"I lied to you okay. I lied. I'm sorry, but I needed to do this part on my own. Don't worry. Everything is okay. He's okay. I'm okay. You're okay. Everything went according to plan."
"Yeah, everything went to plan, but maybe next time you could tell me what the plan is in case it doesn't go how you want it to!"
"I didn't want you going in there, not when he could have hurt you."
"He wouldn't-"
"I wouldn't be so sure. I just needed to make sure that he was secure before you saw him."
"Sam, he could've went after you, too." She looked at him, shaking her head. "Did he? Did he do anything to you?"
He shook his head. "He was a little hung up with someone else. That's how I was able to get him. If you want to be mad, you can be, but I have him and we need to go, now."
A rush of anger came over but before she do anything about it, it was gone. Sam was right. He had Dean, that was what was important. "Fine, let's go." She cleared her throat. "So, how is he?" she asked, as they made their way towards the back of the bar.
Sam stopped for a moment. "He's not the same Dean, okay? I don't know how he'll react to seeing you, so just be careful and remember that it isn't really him, okay?" She nodded as they continued to walk. "No doubt he's going to try and get under your skin, so just sit in the front seat and try and ignore him the best that you can, okay? Once we get him back to the bunker, you won't have to be around him anymore."
"Are you sure he's secured?"
"I handcuffed him." Dani went to remind him that Dean was like MacGyver and that handcuffs would be nothing for him to get out of, but Sam stopped her. "Not a regular pair of course. They are the same ones we used on Crowley when we had him chained up in the dungeon. Dean won't get out of them."
Of course, no demon could get out of them, not even Dean. An involuntary shiver rolled through her.
They rounded the corner and Dani saw the Impala. A strange feeling came over her. She couldn't see Dean, but just knowing that he was close was making her anxious. She stopped and immediately Sam turned back to her.
She was biting her bottom lip and shaking her head.
"Hey, what is it?" Sam asked.
"I don't know, Sam. I don't know if I can do this. What if he sees me and blames me?"
"Blame you?" Sam questioned. "Why the hell would he do that?"
"Because I left. I might have been able to prevent this if-"
"Dani, you couldn't have prevented this. I couldn't prevent it. All we can do now is try our hardest to get him back, that's all. You have nothing to feel bad about."
"What if-"
"Hey," Sam put his hand on her shoulder, making her meet his eyes. "I'm here, okay? He's not going to get away, he's not going to be able to hurt you."
The urge to run was strong for her. She wanted to get away or at least a part of her did. Maybe she could drive the other car and follow them back to the bunker. The thought of being in the same car with Dean wasn't easy. What if he did try and get under her skin? What if he said horrible things to her? She chewed her bottom lip, ready to tell Sam that she'd follow him back, but then she looked into his eyes and saw the sadness just below the surface.
A familiar emotion came over her and it made her eyes water. Sam was going through something she couldn't begin to try and understand and there she was trying to run away. That's what she always did when things got difficult for her; she ran away and didn't think about anyone but herself. When was she ever going to stop being selfish?
"I won't let him hurt you, I promise," Sam told her and Dani couldn't help but marvel at the man in front of her. After everything he just did, he was taking time to comfort her? Wasn't that supposed to be the other way around?
She swallowed thickly and looked away from Sam, looking back to the Impala. "Okay, let's go."
Sam's lips turned up, slightly and lead the way. "We'll be back at the bar before you know it," he quietly told her. She just bit her lip and tightened her hold on her bags.
When they reached the Impala she purposefully chose not to look in the backseat of the car, instead she followed Sam to the back and put her bags in the trunk. When he closed it she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. It was time to start being a team player, it was time for her to be strong for herself and for Sam and Dean.
She walked to one side of the car as Sam walked to the other. She felt eyes on her and she knew who they belonged to. She looked down at the window and saw him. She saw Dean. His head was pressed against the window and he had a smirk on his face. She would have just thought it was Dean being goofy it wasn't for the change in eye color.
She looked away and looked back to Sam. He gave her a weak smile before opening his door. She followed suit and climbed into the car she hadn't been in for nearly eight months. The first things she noticed was how dirty it was, but she didn't comment on it, she just moved over the trash with her feet and settled in when out of nowhere Dean spoke, but not to her.
"What the hell is he doing here?" he growled from the backseat, making a chill run down Dani's spine. She looked up and then it hit her who he was talking about. Crowley was standing a few feet away from the Impala, looking at Sam and definitely trying his hardest not to look in Dean's general direction.
"He's here for me." Sam answered.
"What?" Dani asked, fear running through her. What did Crowley want with him?
"Don't worry. I just need to give him something."
"What?"
"Don't worry. I'll be back in a second."
She couldn't believe it. Sam was keeping her out of the loop, yet again. "Want me to go with you?"
Sam briefly turned in his seat to look at Dean, who Dani guess was staring at Crowley. Sam turned back to her and shook his head. "No, just stay in the car. I'll be back soon, I promise."
She nodded and tried to ignore the way her stomach began to form thick knots. Sam exited the car as Dani tried to brace herself for whatever the Demon in the backseat decided to do.
For a few moments it was silent and she wasn't sure if that was good thing or not, but she wasn't going to complain. She just kept her back to him and sat quietly, trying not to make a noise as she peered through the windshield keeping a close eye on Sam.
The First Blade. Why the hell was Sam handing that over to Crowley, the King of Hell?
"So you and Sammy are back together. I would say I'm happy for you two crazy kids, but we would both know better than to believe that."
She closed her eyes and put her head down, ready to try and get through whatever it was that he was going to say. As he talked, she kept her mind busy, by repeating that it wasn't the real Dean over and over in her head.
"Surprised to see you, I must say. I thought you were gone for good after Sam tossed you away. I didn't think you'd be pathetic enough to come back, but hey, to each their own."
She bit her bottom lip as he continued to talk. She hoped Sam would get back soon. The sooner they were at the bunker, the sooner Sam could cure him.
"Did he come to you with a sob story about me?" he chuckled. "I bet you ate it up and couldn't wait to be with him again. You never were an independent person, Dani, I think that's what I disliked about you the most. You were just so clingy. You wouldn't do anything without being told. I guess that's what drew Sam to you. Always so submissive. Bet you were so fun in between the sheets."
Dani let out a breath and tried as hard as she could not to react to his words.
"You know, if you were to let me out of these cuffs, I'd show you just how fun it could be to be submissive." Dean was trying, but she wasn't going to budge. She couldn't. The stakes were too high for her to make a stupid decision, to let Dean get the satisfaction of knowing how deep he was in her head.
"You know Sammy doesn't care about you, right? He never did. In fact, I think he just saw you as a piece of ass, but that's all. He got tired of you, and that's when he cut you loose. He's going to do the same after this is all said and done. He's just using you, after all, that's all you're good for anyway, right?"
Dani knew somewhere in the back of her head that he was just trying to get under her skin and that he would say whatever he could in order to accomplish his goal, but that didn't mean he was lying. What if Sam had really just gotten bored of her?
The driver's door opened and Sam got in.
"Are you okay?" he immediately asked her.
She nodded immediately. "I'm fine," she lied with a shaky voice, but didn't say anything else.
Dean's words bobbed around in her brain. The words felt true. She wasn't very independent. She'd been on her own for a while now and what did she have to show for it? Not a damn thing. All she managed to do was pick up smoking and a marathon of late night drinking.
Maybe when she first met Sam and Dean, Sam sensed that she didn't have her life together, that she was agreeable on most things. Maybe Sam saw their relationship as one of convenience, not love.
Sam and Dean talked in the background as Dani tried her best to push the negative thoughts in her head that wouldn't go away.
All she could pick up from Sam and Dean's conversation was that Dean had beaten some guy and let him live. Sam thought that it meant that Dean showed the guy mercy, but Dean disagreed and then told Sam that he wouldn't show him mercy either.
Dani found herself moving closer to Sam, because for the first time since being in the Impala. With Dean in the backseat, she felt scared and unsafe. Of course she went to Sam to help her, because he'd always been able to in the past.
Sam must have sensed her fear, because with his injured hand, he offered her comfort by grabbing her hand. She would have frozen at the contact, just like when he had touched her cheek, but more than anything, she wanted to feel his skin on hers, because even though she didn't expect it, it was comforting.
She wanted to be able to comfort Sam, too. She relaxed into Sam's touch and closed her eyes. Dean had gone silent, so that was one last thing that she had to worry about.
When they got back to the bunker, Sam turned to her. "Let's get this show on the road," he told her. "Let me get him settled in before you come, okay?"
She had no problem with that. She didn't want to be anywhere near Dean. "Yeah."
"Please tell me I'm getting the honeymoon suite, Sammy." Dean said from the backseat. Dani could hear the smile in his voice and it made her sick.
Sam sighed and got out of the car. Almost immediately Dean opened his mouth. "Make sure you stop by and see me. I make good company." Just like before, she ignored him. She couldn't wait to get the real Dean back and not just for her own peace of mind, but Sam's as well.
This was my first time writing Demon Dean. How did I do? Please feel free to let know what you thought. I hope you are liking it so far!