A/N: Here I have the next chapter for you all! I hope you enjoyed the last chapter since we got a some Satalie feels! ANYWAYS. This chapter you will all get to meet a new character who will be Dean's eventual love interest and I do hope that you all will fall in love with her. And someone else will be coming back in this chapter! Also I am so sorry for these long waits. I hope to pick up the pace, not that it's summer break!
So. What did you all think about that finale?
Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural.
The three weeks were spent being cooped up in the cabin. For the first half, the four of them laid low, not leaving the house to do anything. Bobby had already bought enough supplies the second day they were there. It was enough to last them for a while. Then, towards the last half, Bobby started to leave the house, his first task was to get the Impala and Natalie's car back to the cabin, which required some help from David and Jake. But, Bobby made sure to tell the others to stay put and not do anything, which wouldn't be much of a problem. Dean's broken leg meant that he couldn't do pretty much anything. Therefore, he was rather content to just sit on the couch and watch t.v. all day. While Sam and Natalie spent much of the time shutting themselves away in the bedroom.
This actually caught both Bobby and Dean's attention. There was something different going on between Sam and Natalie, they sure were acting different. During the first few days of Sam's recovery, Natalie spent most of her time in the room with him. She never came out, only to get water or something to eat. This didn't really bother Dean and Bobby, since to them, it seemed just normal. She was watching over Sam, which meant she was going to be staying with him a majority of the time. But, they both remained in that room and most of the time, nothing could be heard from them, only the occasional mumbling. When Sam started to get up and walk around the place, Bobby and Dean got a first hand look, well more Dean then Bobby, of this new interaction between Sam and Natalie.
They were always near each other, hardly saying anything to each other, But, it wasn't like before when they were all awkward. It was different now. Dean could only hope that they somehow managed to work out whatever was going on between them. Only when Dean finally confronted Natalie did he get an answer.
….
Natalie pulled two water bottles from the fridge and gently closed the door. Turning around, she held the bottles to her chest, her eyes examining Dean, who was sitting on the couch flipping through the channels. As her eyes glanced down, she aimlessly walked over to the bedroom door.
Dean paused and looked over at Natalie, seeing how she was trying to avoid any kind of eye contact with him and this made him narrow his vision in curiosity. "Hey."
Dean's voice stopped Natalie in her tracks. Natalie mentally cursed, she was right at the door with her hand on the door knob. Slowly, she turned around to look at him. Dean only shrugged his shoulders up in a questioning manner.
"You know, you've been staking out in that bedroom for a while now. Both of you. What's going on?"
Natalie remained frozen in state, seeing if she could come up with some kind of excuse to get Dean off of her back because he was right. Instead, Natalie just shook her head. "Nothing. I'm just..." Natalie gestured towards the door with her head. "Just looking after Sam...you know, the usual."
"Uh huh." Dean was unconvinced and Natalie could see it. Her posture changed and Dean could tell that she was starting to grow uneasy with his constant staring. "Is something going on?"
"I don't know. Is something going on?"
"Don't turn that question around on me." Dean lightly retorted.
"I don't know what you want me to say, Dean. Can I go back in now?"
Dean remained silent as he continued to assess her face seeing that her mouth pursed to the side and she continuously moved her gaze away from him. "Did something happen between you and Sam?"
This struck something as Natalie quickly looked up at him, not able to give him any kind of response. Natalie gave him a small shrug.
Dean could only smirk at this. "Something did happen. You and Sam finally got over yourselves?"
Natalie finally exhaled a sigh. "What do you want me to say Dean?"
Dean slowly settled against the couch, his smirk growing into a smile. "You don't have to say anything, because I already know. But, I will say that it's about damn time."
"Oh, shut up." Natalie turned back towards the door. "I'm going back inside."
"Okay." Dean replied, though Natalie could still hear the smile in his voice. "Oh by the way."
Natalie reluctantly turned back around to him.
"Sometimes the best cure for anything, is a little-"
"Okay, Dean." Natalie interrupted and turned back towards the door, opening it.
"I was just saying-"
"Yeah, no I got it." Natalie gave him a quick wave. "Thanks for the talk." She added as she disappeared into the room, shutting the door in a quick manner.
Dean remained silent, his eyes still glued on the door and then he looked back over at the t.v. chuckling quietly as he went back to searching the channels.
….
Needless to say, Natalie thought that Dean would be rubbing it in everyone's faces. Surprisingly, he hasn't done that, but that doesn't mean Natalie wouldn't catch a smirk on his face whenever she would come out of the bedroom. He was being ridiculous, but, she was letting him have his "fun". He did have to put up with all of that nonsense after all.
Sam and Natalie were enjoying all of...this. The time that they spent alone was what they enjoyed the most. And all they did was talk. Sometimes about some of the most random things that would pop into their head. But, there was one thing that they both enjoyed the most and they wouldn't verbally admit it to one another. It was the fact that they had slept together, every night since they arrived. The first night, Natalie didn't really have a choice. Sam had a grip on her arm and she really didn't want to leave that. But, since then, its turned into a nightly thing for both of them. They've grown adjusted to the feeling of being next to each other
But, staying in the cabin didn't mean that the three of them forgot what was going on out there. They still had no idea where the Leviathan were located, most likely just in South Dakota, but they weren't for sure. Bobby had already made calls around to different hunters, warning them about what was going on. Of course, that doesn't mean they'll be able to distinct who was a Leviathan and who wasn't.
Bobby had managed to gather a few books, which wasn't much and Natalie, Sam and Bobby had tasked themselves to reading through them. It didn't take long until they had finished and they were left with as much information as they started with. The only new information they had managed to find was how these things came to be and a, somewhat, detailed explanation as to why God casted them into purgatory.
All the talk about Leviathans helped Natalie to spark up an idea that would potentially help them. Natalie explained to Bobby and Sam how she had a professor, Alan Bryant, back when she was in college and he was really big on biblical stories and other mythologies. But, Natalie went to college back in Massachusetts and Bobby wasn't about to let her drive all the way out there. Natalie made a quick correction that he was now living in Omaha so the drive was shorter. There was still the matter of convincing all of them to allow her to drive down there. Sam offered to go with her, but Natalie turned it down, said that Sam needed more rest. Natalie turned down Bobby's offer, she said that someone needed to watch the boys. Though, Natalie tried to ease their worries by saying she would wear some kind of disguise if it made them feel better. Give me a scarf and some huge sunglasses, I'll be a modern day Jackie O.
She doesn't remember how, but Natalie eventually got them to agree with her, though she knew there was a lot of hesitation on their part. But, Natalie had it all planned out. She would sleep at the cabin, wake up early in the morning and take the long drive down to Nebraska. Natalie wasn't exactly looking forward to the drive, but, if it meant that they might get some more answers about this whole fiasco, then she sure as hell will do it.
...
Natalie zipped up her bag, after placing the last of the contents into it and looked over at Sam. The house was dark and quiet, with everyone still sleeping, Natalie wished that she could just crawl back into bed with Sam and go back to sleep. But, she needed to get a move on if she wanted to get this drive done with.
Picking up her bag, she slowly slipped her arms through the straps, keeping an eye on Sam, making sure she didn't wake him. Natalie tip toed towards the bedroom door, taking careful timing on opening the door, slid out and gently closed it behind her. Turning around, Dean was sprawled out on the couch and Natalie slipped in a small smile as she quietly walked past him. Once she was out the door, Natalie took easy steps down the porch stairs and when her feet touched the gravel, she began to walk at a normal pace.
Pulling out her keys, she unlocked the driver door and went to do the same for the back driver side door. Opening the door, she leaned in and placed her bag down on the back seat. Immediately, she opened the bag and searched for her sweater. It was a little chilly and she was wearing a short sleeved shirt. When her hand finally grasped the article of clothing, Natalie began to move out of the car when a voice appeared behind her.
"Nad."
Natalie reacted quickly. She jumped and her head hit the top part of the car. A small yelp escaped as her hand flew up to the back of her head. Taking a moment, Natalie then moved out of the car and turned around, seeing a groggy Sam standing behind her.
"Sam..." Natalie exhaled out a hiss. "Don't just sneak up on me like that."
"Sorry." Sam tried to make it a genuine apology, but his exhaustion seemed to just be driving the motors at the moment.
"What are you doing out here?" Natalie asked, her hand rubbing at the still sore area on her head.
"I saw you were leaving, so I thought..." Sam shrugged. "I'd come out and send you off."
"Oh." Natalie moved her hand away and allowed her arm to hang by her side. "You didn't have to. If I woke you up, I'm sorry. My plan was to just leave as quietly as possible."
"Without telling any of us."
Natalie's shoulders shrugged up, holding the position for a few seconds longer. "I didn't think I would need to. It's not like you guys don't know where I'm going."
Sam hummed and blew out a breath, which came out as a small cloud from the cold air. This made Natalie take a quick assessment of what he was wearing, a dark green long sleeved sweatshirt and another pair of old sweats that he had and then his shoes, which he took no time in tying.
"You need to be careful." Sam's words brought Natalie's attentioning out from the outfit assessment she was mentally performing. "We have no idea where the Leviathan are and no way of knowing how to test someone."
"I know. That's why I'm hoping that this won't take to long. I should be there for no longer than a day or so. Then, I'll drive right back up here."
Sam nodded, making it look like he was only half listening. He was tired and Natalie couldn't help but smile.
"You should go back inside, go back to sleep. I'll call when I get down there."
"Yeah. Sleep. That sounds really good, right now." Sam's speech was slurring and it only made Natalie laugh at his expense.
"Wish me luck." Natalie added, though she didn't really mean for him to do it.
Sam went to turn to go back in the house, when he stopped halfway. Natalie could've sworn she saw a small smirk cross his lips. Sam turned back towards her, walked closer and captured her lips in a quick kiss, which Natalie noted was a little different, since he was still half asleep.
Sam leaned away and gave her a tired smile. "Good luck."
"Are you going to be able to cope without me?" Natalie asked, but Sam could hear that she was teasing him about it.
"Yeah. I'll manage." Sam answered, trying to make it sound as convincing as possible.
Natalie pouted her lips, but couldn't hold it for to long. "Try not to do too much. Just take it easy."
"I will."
This time Sam reached forward and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close to his chest and her head snuggled closely to him. Natalie's arms encircled around him and she smiled when she felt him rest his cheek on the top of her head.
"Be careful Nad. I'm serious." Sam said and Natalie could feel the vibration from his voice against her cheek.
"I'll be fine. Before you know it, I'll be back from Omaha. I'll be careful."
Natalie could feel her eyes begin to slowly close and she forced herself to wake up again. She was currently parked in the college lot, in front of the school where her professor was and she was tired as hell. She got to Omaha just a little over 2 a.m. and she hardly got any sleep. Probably about four hours max was all that she was able to obtain. Either way, she woke up, took a quick shower and headed out the door, and stopped by a local coffee shop to get her morning fix and hopefully, it would keep her awake.
But, how she was feeling right now, the coffee wasn't exactly doing the job it needed to. Exhaling a tired breath, Natalie brought the cup up and took a long drink from it as she opened the car door and stepped out. Placing the cup on top of the car, she tied her hair up and quickly put on one of Bobby's hats that he gave to her. After locking the door, Natalie made the quick walk from the parking lot to the main entrance.
It had been a while since she had attended college or even stepped on a college campus for that matter. But, everything she was seeing was exactly how it was back in Massachusetts. Students walking in and out of the building, some were eating lunch on the benches in the front school yard. It looked so...normal. After the life she's been living for the past few years, this scene made her feel a little weird. She was no longer use to this kind of "normalcy".
As soon as she stepped into the school, Natalie knew that she wouldn't be able to navigate through these halls. Instead, she asked someone at the security desk if they knew what room Alan Bryant would be in. Natalie was so happy that the man was more than willing to tell her. Usually, she could have expected to be serviced by someone who was in a bad mood.
Once she got the room number and some decent directions to navigate the halls, Natalie walked off into this elaborate maze, encountering groups of students who would take up, virtually, the entire hallway, forcing her to have to squeeze by. That was the one thing Natalie hated the most about school in general, not just college. People always hogging up the hall space. It annoyed her to no end.
Luckily, the room where her professor was in wasn't to far down the hall. Natalie stopped in front of room 510 and sucked in a breath, wondering if he would remember her. Probably not. Natalie grabbed the door handle and pulled it open. Looking in, she could see him talking with a student and she quietly stepped into the classroom, which Natalie immediately recognized as a lecture hall.
But, this allowed Natalie to actually get a good look at him and he still looked the same. After all, it has only been about three years, maybe four, but she could see that his dark brown hair was starting to grow gray in some areas. He wasn't that old either. Possibly late forties by now and he was already getting gray in the hair. Standing by the door, Natalie waited patiently for both of them to finish their conversation and soon the student made their quick exit. Natalie knew this was her moment to step in.
"Excuse me." Natalie stepped towards the desk, garnering the man's attention. "Professor Bryant?"
"Yes, how can I help you?"
"Um." Natalie scratched at the side of her temple. "You may not remember me, but, my name is Natalie Collins and I was a student of yours a couple of years ago. I had you for two literary classes."
Alan stared intently at Natalie, trying his best to figure out if he knew her face which he did. There was something about her that was familiar and the name was starting to scratch at his memory. "Are you talking about this school?"
"No. I attended the community college up at Cape Cod."
Just the mentioning of Cape Cod seemed to have sparked the man's memory as he flashed a quick smile. "That's right. Natalie Collins, I knew the name sounded familiar. I had you in um..."
"World Mythologies and Arthurian Legends." Natalie answered for him.
"That's right. I remember now, you were one of the few students in both of those classes that actually paid attention and tried."
Natalie didn't really know how to take that. She never was complimented by her professors about how well she did in school. She never really looked for it. But, Natalie flashed a quick smile. "Well, you made the subjects very interesting. It was kind of hard not to pay attention."
"It's been a while hasn't it. God, I'd say...over three years, possibly longer. So, how's the family?"
Natalie paused from saying anything and licked at her lips in hesitation. "Um. It's been kind of difficult the past few years."
Alan's cheery smile faltered when he saw the look on Natalie's face drop from his question. He didn't mean to bring down their reunion."Oh. I'm sorry about that. Don't worry, I'm not gonna make you go into detail."
Natalie nodded in her relief.
Alan pressed his hands down on his desk. "So, what can I help you with?"
"Okay, this may sound a little...weird at first, but, I'm gonna need you to just bear with me, alright?"
Alan gave her a quick nod.
"Okay. I understand that you had a great interest in biblical studies. I was wondering if you knew anything about a species called the Leviathan."
Alan raised his brows, but he didn't seem at all confused by her question. In fact, he looked a little excited to be able to do something like this. "What's this for?"
"Um. Just a little...project thing that I'm working on."
"Right, well. I'm more than happy to help. Unfortunately, I don't have my books on me, but if you want, we can go down to the library and see what they have."
"Sounds good to me."
Alan gathered up a few binders from his desk and motioned for Natalie to follow him. Once they were out in the hallway, that was when he decided to try and spark up some conversation.
"So, what have you been up to since I left? Education wise?"
Natalie adjusted her hat and pursed her lips to the side. She wasn't exactly expecting him to dig up a conversation about her education. Though, she should've seen it coming. He's a damn professor. "Well, after you left, I got myself into nursing school. But, I dropped out after a year."
"Really? You don't seem like the kind of person who would drop from school."
"Yeah, well..." Natalie slowly rubbed at the back of her neck. "There was some...personal issues that were going on at the time and school just kind of...slipped my interest."
Alan nodded quietly. "Fair enough. So, you have a job anywhere?"
"Right. Job. That thing." Natalie smiled. "Um. The whole job thing is a little bit...difficult to explain. But, to sum it up, I travel around and...help people."
"Oh." Alan replied enthusiastically. "Sounds like a good thing then."
"Yeah." Natalie's smile soon turned forced as she thought about the truth behind it all. "It really is a great thing."
They made it out of the hallway where his classroom was located and made a quick right down a shorter hallway and the library was right ahead.
"So, you still living up in Massachusetts?"
Natalie shook her head. "No. My dad moved us to Iowa when I was ten, but my I went back for college. And how have you liked living here in Omaha? It must've been a big change from living near the Cape."
"You have no idea." Alan laughed. "You get used to living on the coast and then you move to the middle of the country, practically. But, it's been good. I've adjusted fairly well."
"I can still hear that accent though." Natalie commented lightly.
"Can't really shed something like that." Alan flashed a quick smile as they finally made it to the school's library. Natalie made sure to smile back as she walked through the door that he was holding open for her.
Natalie followed Alan towards a section of the library that was all based on mythologies and religious studies. Natalie couldn't help but smirk at the thought of him spending some hours, reading whatever books in the shelves interested him. He almost kind of reminded Natalie of what Sam might be like when he reaches the same age. The whole reading and research is something that both Alan and Sam had in common.
Alan placed his binders down on one of the small tables that was positioned near the shelf and let out a content sigh. "So. What exactly do you need to know about the Leviathan?"
Natalie slid off her hat and tossed it down on the table. "Basically. As much as you can give me."
"Well..." Alan began to skim through the titles on the bindings of the books. "From what I can tell you on the top of my head, a Leviathan is described as a sea monster."
Natalie took a moment to run through his words and then her brows knitted together. "A sea monster?"
"Yep." Alan replied as he pulled out a book, something on mythological beings, Natalie didn't exactly get the title of the book. He set down the book on the table and flipped through the pages until he reached the chapter on the creature.
"In the Old Testament, a Leviathan is in reference to a sea creature. Mythologies from the East and even Judaism, believed that a dragon like creature lived in the depths of the oceans."
Alan flipped to another page where the picture of an etching was located. Natalie studied the picture quickly, seeing a huge serpent who was being defeated by a figure that looked like God.
"Now, later in Christianity, they associated the Leviathan as the image of Satan. The creature was thought to have endangered God's creations, basically, by eating them. Eventually, it was even classified as Envy, by Peter Binsfeld."
Now this is starting to sound a little familiar.
Alan paused and looked over at Natalie, who was still reading through the pages, with the most confused look on her face. "I'm guessing this information isn't helping?"
"No, it's just." Natalie pursed her lips together. "The Leviathan I was told about, by..." Natalie paused as she stopped herself from mentioning Death. That would have been very awkward. "By a friend of mine. He said that the Leviathan were also called the Old Ones and that God created them before anything else-even the angels. And they became too dangerous. So, God created Purgatory to keep them away."
"The Old Ones." Alan repeated, his brows raising high.
"You heard about them."
"Yes, but, the information written on them is very scant. But, the Old Ones derived from people who take the name of Leviathan and believe that the creature is something else. Many created their own idea of what the Leviathan was and what it represented. But, the Old Ones, from the books that I've looked through here, there is hardly anything on them."
Alan turned back to the shelf and quickly pulled out a few more books before setting them back down on the table. "Maybe there's something that I might've missed."
Natalie took it upon herself to pull one of the books over to her and began to flip through the pages.
"Hi?"
Natalie and Alan both looked up at the sound of a female voice and Natalie came face to face with a young woman with shoulder length blonde hair that turned into curls at the end and bangs that just touched her eyebrows. A blue scarf was wrapped around her neck and a beige coat engulfed her body and stopped mid-thigh.
The woman only greeted Natalie with a bright smile that emanated her features. "Sorry." The woman pointed between Natalie and Alan. "Am I interrupting something?"
"No. No, we were just looking for some information." Alan lightly answered to which the woman nodded as her lips pursed, still keeping the smile evident.
"Uh, Natalie." Alan began which prompted Natalie to look over at him. "This is my niece Alex Hayes. Alex, this is Natalie Collins, she was a former student of mine."
He has a niece?
Natalie and Alex then locked eyes on each other as their hands extended towards one another, locking in a relaxed hold.
"It's nice to meet you Natalie." Alex greeted and it only seemed to make her smile grow more.
"Nice to meet you too, Alex." Natalie replied with her own smile. She certainly wasn't used to seeing someone like this.
Their hands finally dropped from each other's holds and Alex stuck her hands into her coat pockets. But, she stepped closer to the table and looked down at one of the open books. Pulling it towards her, she read out one of the passages and raised her brows. "It says God will break the head of the Leviathan into pieces before giving the flesh to the people of the wilderness." Alex made a face and pursed her lips together. "Mmmm. That sounds so good. Tasty sea serpent meat for dinner. Such a novelty dish."
Natalie couldn't help but smile at Alex's words and she looked over at Alan, seeing him roll his eyes lightly.
"Alex likes to make light fun out of almost anything. She think she's the funniest person."
Alex looked up at Alan, her expression making it look like she was offended. "Excuse you, but I am the funniest person. My sense of humor is impeccable."
Dean would be quick to argue with you about who's the funniest person. He would nominate himself. Natalie thought to herself.
"Says you." Alan jokingly retorted.
Alex shrugged and looked back down at the book. "You're just jealous." She finished, but it wasn't taken seriously since Alex let out her own laugh. "You two looking on information about the Leviathan. Why?"
"Uh. Natalie needed some help on the subject." Alan, who had returned to searching through one of the books, mentioned over at the hunter.
"Oh." Alex looked over at Natalie. "What is it for exactly?"
"Uh. Just a personal project that I'm working on." Natalie answered, but Alex seemed a little skeptical. But, she accepted the reasoning and Natalie as glad for that. The one thing she didn't need was for Alex to start poking around with the subject.
"Well, I actually came here because my uncle and I had dinner plans together." Alex said. "But, I can see that you two are busy."
Alan paused, his hands still pressed down on the pages and he slowly closed his eyes. "Right. I'm sorry, I seemed to have forgotten about that. I was just..." He motioned down at the books on the table.
"It's completely fine. I kinda figured when I saw you two hunched over here at the table that you would be here for a while." Alex answered truthfully and Natalie actually had a difficult time determining whether she was really upset or not.
If there was a hint of her being disappointed, then Alan could sense it with such ease as he offered his niece a sympathetic smile. "Maybe you can take Natalie with you."
"What?" Both girls asked.
"I mean, I can't make the dinner with you, maybe you could take Natalie. I'm going to be working with the books all night, try and find some info for you. It'll take me a while."
"Uncle Alan, don't try and make this girl go with someone she doesn't even know." Alex argued on Natalie's behalf.
But, Natalie tilted her head to the side and pursed her lips. "No. I will." She spoke up, seeing the surprised look on Alex's face. "I mean, you said that it'll take you some time and I have no intention of leaving so soon. And, plus, I got nothing to do so...why not?"
Alex seemed genuinely surprised as she and Alan shared a quick glance. "Okay." Alex replied, the enthusiasm that came from it only made Natalie smile again. "If you're up for it, then so am I."
"I'll continue with the reading, see if there is anything new that I can find on what we were talking about." Alan offered as the girls got ready to leave.
"Okay." Natalie picked up the pen that was sitting next to his binder and wrote down her number on a blank piece of paper that was sticking out of the binder. "Just call me when you find something."
"Will do. You two have fun."
Natalie was starting to think why she agreed to go with Alex. When they left the school, Natalie told Alex that she wanted to go back to the hotel so she could change. Alex agreed and followed Natalie so that they could take her car. But, the whole drive to the motel, Natalie was thinking why she agreed. One, she felt really guilty that she ruined their plans for tonight. That wasn't her intention and if she had known about it, she would've visited Alan the next day.
But, when Natalie got into Alex's car, she knew there was no room for her to try and get out of this. And that made Natalie feel like a real asshole. She then made herself promise that she would have a good time with Alex and in the end, Natalie didn't have to act like she was having a good time. Alex was, genuinely, an entertaining person to be around and she cracked jokes with Natalie like she had never seen before. And Natalie thought Dean was the joke enthusiast, Alex almost has him beat, in Natalie's opinion at least.
When they arrived in downtown Omaha, Alex wanted her and Natalie to walk for a while. She thought that going right into dinner would make it seem to much like a first date. That was the first thing to come out of Alex's mouth during this event that amused Natalie. But, she wasn't going to argue about walking. They started up by this art museum, made their way down the center of the city and walked passed another museum before turning back around to head towards the restaurant.
During their walk, Natalie and Alex exchanged very little information about each other. One thing that stuck with Natalie was that Alex went to New York for college and changed her degree several times before finally landing on business management. Natalie admitted to herself though that she felt a little inferior to Alex. She went through with her entire education, while Natalie dropped out of nursing school after just one year. Natalie could defend that she dropped out because of what happened to her dad, but she wasn't sure if that was a viable excuse. Either way, if Natalie had gone through with her nursing education, she probably wouldn't have worked in a hospital for to long. She was always going to be a hunter. That's how Natalie viewed it.
When they finally made it to the restaurant, Natalie was beyond happy. She hadn't eaten anything and the only thing she had sitting in her stomach was coffee. Alex and Natalie both ordered their meals: Alfredo pasta for Natalie and a BLT for Alex.
"You know you didn't really have to agree to this." Alex took the straw out of its wrapping and dipped it in her glass. "Don't let my uncle trick you into doing something you don't want to do."
"No, it's fine really." Natalie said after taking a drink from her glass. "Besides, I felt a little guilty. I didn't mean to ruin any plans that you two had."
"You don't need to apologize." Alex replied sincerely. "I'm used to it actually. Not saying he's a terrible uncle, but, he's busy. Most of the time we never get to do much together."
Natalie nodded, thinking back to her dad and how absent he was. It wasn't exactly like Alex's situation, but it was similar. The feeling is the same. "I kinda know what that's like."
"So, he said that you were a former student of his. I'm guessing that you didn't go to the college here."
"No. I, uh, went to a community college up at Cape Cod."
"Oh, back when he had the job in Massachusetts. So, I'm guessing you were born there." Natalie nodded. "I was to. But, my parents moved us to Rhode Island when I was one, so, memories of Massachusetts are pretty nonexistent. But, I was already staying with him during that time, when you were at college there."
Natalie nodded, remembering that this was something she was curious about. "I don't mean to sound rude or anything, but, I don't remember him saying that he had a niece before."
Alex smacked her lips together. "Yeah. He and my mom weren't exactly close when it came to being brother and sister. I mean, they didn't hate each other, they just...never really saw each other."
"So, what made you go and live with him? If you don't mind me asking."
"My parents died."
Natalie could feel her face grow numb and when Alex looked down at her drink, Natalie was finally able to move her features. Her lips pressed together into a thin line and she cleared her throat. "I'm sorry."
Alex slowly shook her head and finally looked back up. "It was when I was seventeen and they were driving home from this event they were attending. It was raining that night and they slid off the road and...that was that."
"I really don't know what to say." Natalie found that a little strange. She lost both her parents, surely there was something that she could say. It just wasn't coming to her.
"It's really fine. It was, after all, about ten years ago."
Natalie shook her head. "The length of time might've grown longer, but the pain never goes away. I know exactly how you feel."
Alex narrowed her eyes slightly at Natalie's words. "It sounds like you've had your fair share of tragedy in your life."
Her brows raised high and Natalie huffed out a breath. "Oh, you have no idea. I, um..." She swallowed hard. "I lost both of my parents...in an accident, two years apart. I know the time span is vastly different, but, I know what it feels like."
"I'm sorry, about your parents. After what I went through, I never wanted anyone to go through something like that, which is kind of naïve. Everyone loses people that they love, it's what my uncle calls, a fact of life."
Natalie gave a hum of faint disagreement and bit down on her lip. "It may be a fact of life, but, it doesn't always makes sense. So, after your parents died, did you not have any other family members to go with?"
Alex gave a brief, yet, painful smile at her question. "Ah. Well, I had a lot of family and I bounced around from aunt to aunt to uncle to older cousins. I went everywhere to try and live with different family members."
"Why with all of the bouncing around? Did they not want you there or something?"
"No, it was me." Natalie tilted her head in confusion. "After my parents died, I kind of, collapsed. I didn't really talk with people, I barely ate, which got me sick a couple of times. I was just a wreck. And, I started getting really moody, not listening to what anyone told me. I became a handful and that's why I was bouncing around, no one could handle me."
"Then, I guess, when you got to your uncle things seemed to have turned around." Natalie said, but she figured that she just answered herself.
Alex thought back to the day she arrived at her Uncle's house and how open he was to her. He never pushed her to do anything."I don't know how. He was just understanding, I mean I still don't understand how he was so caring. You know, he lost his sister. But, with me, he never pushed me to talk, he gave me the room that I needed to actually grieve. And I got through it. How about you? How did you get through all of that?"
"It wasn't easy, I uh..." Natalie paused as she looked up at Alex, seeing the expectant look on her face and Natalie realized that she was talking to a complete stranger. And it was about something that Natalie didn't talk about with anyone anymore. "This is actually kind of strange. I never really talk about myself to people that I don't know."
"I mean you don't have to say anything. Feel free to tell me to shut up whenever you want. I have a knack for butting into people's business to much and not knowing when to stop talking."
Natalie laughed and contemplated on the offer of unloading all of this onto Alex. It wasn't something that was too painful for Natalie to talk about. Did it still hurt? Of course. But, it was easier to stomach than it was a year ago. "No, it's fine actually. Sometimes it's nice to talk with someone else." Natalie pressed her finger to the tip of her straw and began to move it in a circle. "But, I didn't really take it that well. When my dad died, my whole family kind of fell apart, except for me. I acted like this glue because no one else could do it. So, I was used to pushing aside how I felt and buried my grief so that I could be there for my family. Not necessarily the best thing to do to yourself in a time like that."
"Let me guess. You're one of those people who puts others in front of yourself. You don't take into consideration what you feel."
Nodding, Natalie continued with playing with the straw in her glass. "Yeah. You hit the nail on the head. But, I've been getting better with it. My dad's death really messed with me and then my mom died and...my brother as well. I blamed myself for it all. And then I, uh, met a few people who made me realize that, I wasn't to blame. It wasn't an overnight thing, it took a while for me to actually believe it."
"Sounds like you've surrounded yourself with some good people then."
"Yeah. They are really good people."
Natalie realized that she never really has fully appreciated what Bobby, Sam and Dean have done for her. Always being there for her. Listening to her when she needed to talk, which wasn't a common thing, in fact, it was very rare. But, it would always be Sam she would go to for something like that. But, Bobby and Dean both did their part. Bobby has become her father, in many ways and Dean is that overprotective, annoying, older brother.
"Okay, let's try and turn all of this depressing matters aside." Alex finally said, breaking the tense silence between them. "So, what do you do for a living?"
"Job. Um, kind of complicated to describe. Essentially, I travel around and help people."
"Oh. Like a traveling nurse or..." Alex's brow raised in a questioning manner towards the end.
Natalie made a face at Alex's brow raising. "Uh, no nothing like that. Just...helping others, that's pretty much the entirety of what I do."
"Not trying to sound rude, but it sounds like a pretty lonely job."
Natalie shrugged. "You're kinda right. I mean, I've been working with the same people for a few years now and it's just been us. Really no one else."
Alex blew out a breath that puffed up her cheeks. "I don't know if I would be able to do something like that. See the same few people over and over again, working with them non-stop. Well, I kinda do that now, but, I work with a huge group of people. How does that not drive you nuts?"
"I don't know. It's just the nature of the job. You know this kind of thing, right here..." Natalie pointed between her and Alex. "I never really get to have something like this. I mean I know that I don't know you, like at all, but, it's nice to be able to just talk with someone different. What I do, it doesn't really create enough room to have a vast social life. The job, it takes its toll on me."
"That must be difficult. Being stuck with something that you can't get out of. Have you tried looking for another job?"
Natalie raised her brows. "Believe me, I've tried quitting this life that I live, but I'm in and I can't get out, no matter how badly I might want to. I'm stuck with it."
"How did you manage to cope with that? If I were you, it probably would've driven me crazy."
"Honestly, I don't have an answer. It's not necessarily something that I think about a lot. It's just, human nature, we are prone to adapt to our environments, situations and that's just what I did. It became, normal for me. I hardly see my Aunt or my sister and it's perfectly normal and I wish that it wasn't. But, there's nothing that I can do and I grew to accept it."
"That's an unfortunate situation. At least you're working with people that you seem to like."
"They're like family. So, it does make it a little easier." Natalie then leaned back in her seat. "What about you? What do you do for a living?"
"I work as a Personal Assistant to Gary York, who owns one of the local businesses here. Been with him for a couple of years. It's a pretty steady job, I don't mind it." Alex didn't have much enthusiasm in her voice when she spoke about it.
"It sounds a lot more steady than what I do. I would love to do something that was steady."
"It gets really boring after a while." Alex answered with a heavy eye roll. "I need something to happen, you know? Some kind of adventurous event that can make everything a whole lot more exciting."
"Be careful about wishing for that. To much adventure can really lead you into a big heap of trouble."
Alex shrugged casually. "What's life if you don't get into a little trouble?"
"Yeah, I guess you're right. But, I've had my fair share of tremendous adventures and I'll say...I'm pretty tired. It puts down a lot of weight on you and whenever one thing seems to be over, something else sprouts up from the ground."
"Maybe I should doing what you do. Just once, you know?"
Natalie shook her head vehemently. "No, you really don't, trust me. I think the best thing for you is to stay where you are right now. Just be happy with what you have."
The conversation was interrupted by Natalie's phone going off. As she was taking it out of her pocket, she began to think that it was Alan, calling her with information. But, when she looked down at the screen, she saw that it was Sam. Looking up at Alex, she gave her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I need to take this."
"No problem. Go ahead."
Natalie stood up from her seat and walked away from the table, far enough to where Alex would hear the conversation and answered the call. "Hey."
"Hey. Just calling in to see how it's all going."
"Uh. Everything is fine. I'm actually having some dinner right now, so, nothing to exciting is going on."
"Have you gotten any info yet from your professor?"
"No. He's going through some books and said he would call me if he found anything. How's it going up at the cabin?"
"Not that well."
Natalie furrowed her brows, but she was also smiling. She could hear the annoyance in Sam's voice. "What's going on?"
"Dean's been ripping into me about...you and me. Did you tell him anything?"
"I, uh, might've let...something slip." Natalie said, her hand scratching the back of her head.
Sam let out a groan, which only made Natalie laugh. "It's not funny, Nad. He's been rubbing it in my face since you left."
It was bound to happen." Natalie answered. "You know how Dean is. Besides, maybe we can give him that. I mean, he did have to deal with our nonsense for a while."
"Why didn't you tell me he knew? I could've tried and prepared myself for his annoying teasing."
"I didn't think it would be a big deal. Anyway, I think you can handle it. Besides, he still has a cast on his leg. So, if you smack him against the head, he won't be able to do much."
"That sounds like a very tantalizing idea. But, knowing Dean, he would just rip off the cast and come after me."
"Yeah, you got a point." Natalie looked over at the table where Alex was sitting and she could see her motioning Natalie over, their food was there. "Hey, Sam I have to go. But, I'll call tomorrow and give you guys an update."
"Okay."
"Enjoy dealing with Dean." Natalie added and Sam could hear the smile in her voice.
"Thanks. I can hear the sympathy just pouring from you."
Natalie snickered as she pulled the phone away and ended the call. Now, she could eat. Good. I'm starving.
Natalie walked out of the bathroom, gently wiping a towel over her face and as she sat down on the edge of the bed, Natalie could feel another smile appear. Her night with Alex seemed to have sparked something in her. She hasn't been able to do something like that in a long time. It was different when she would eat at a diner with Sam and Dean, it was expected. But, Alex was someone completely new and to be able to talk with someone that was outside of the close circle that Natalie was so used to, it was refreshing. Plus, Alex was actually really fun to talk with. Natalie felt like she was just a "normal" person, not having to worry about a case and the Leviathan weren't even on her mind the entire night. That was also probably not a good thing, Natalie had her guard down. That's not something she should allow herself to do.
Regardless, Natalie was beyond tired and after spending more than a few hours with Alex, she was ready to just lie down and sleep. Besides, it was almost midnight. Turning to look at the night stand, where her phone was, Natalie mentally told herself to set the alarm on her phone for the morning.
Right as she was about to get up, Natalie heard a thud against the motel door and her head immediately snapped around, her eyes glued on the area. Faint taps against the door soon followed and Natalie slowly stood up from the bed, but made sure to pick her gun from the table. Walking up to the door, she peered through the eye hole, though she didn't see anything. Reaching for the handle, Natalie slowly turned it and pulled the door open and stood in mere shock at what she saw.
Eyes looked up at her with immense exhaustion and weakness. The right side of the face was covered in blood and what looked like dirt. By the looks of it, blood had been dripping down the person's nose for quite sometime. A dark wool coat was unbuttoned, revealing a pale blue buttoned shirt with a single blood streak that cut across the victim's chest. Natalie's eyes swept back up to the person's face and Natalie's eyes widened at who she saw standing in front of her. "Caden?"
"Natalie." Caden's voice slurred as he muttered her name. His body was starting to sway back and forth, like he was about to lose his balance.
"Caden." Natalie reached out for him and the angel suddenly collapsed into her. The weight came as a surprise as Natalie wrapped both her arms around his frame. Making sure that the gun was still on safety, she tucked it back into her pant line and Natalie began to drag Caden over to the bed and laid him out on the mattress. All the while, the angel was muttering words that she couldn't decipher in that moment.
Turning around, she went to close the door quickly and then took a moment to assess the scene before her. She had not seen him in weeks and now he appears at her motel door, beaten and bloodied. Where the hell have you been?
Setting the gun back down on the table, Natalie retreated to the bathroom and quickly soaked one of the motel towels in warm water. After squeezing out the excess, Natalie sauntered over to the bed, sat down next to Caden and began to gently clean the blood from his face, making sure to go easy.
The warmth from the rag seemed to have helped ease Caden towards regaining full grasp of his surroundings. His face scrunched at Natalie's wipes and his eyes blinked several times, to rid of the drowsiness that he felt.
"Just take it easy." Natalie spoke quietly as she worked on the blood that was still dripping from his nose.
Caden swallowed and brought his hand up to his chest, his fingers grazing over the cut that was made there.
"Don't touch it." Natalie gently demanded, as she tugged his hand away from the wound. "I'm gonna get you cleaned up."
The blood on Caden's face was finally cleaned up, leaving only harsh bruises that were located on his right cheek. Natalie stood up and walked back into the bathroom to clean off the towel and rinse it one more time.
"Alright. I need to clean this gash on your chest." Natalie said as she sat back down on the bed next to him. "So, I'm gonna need you to take off your coat and shirt."
Caden only blinked tiredly at Natalie, even though he was in pain and weak, the demand was a little out of nowhere for him. It was the same thing for Natalie as well, she was trying hard to ensure that she didn't look flustered. It wasn't every day that Natalie got to tell an angel to strip down for her. Actually, this was the first.
Either way, no matter how awkward it made Natalie feel and even a little on Caden's part, the article of clothing that needed to be removed were removed. Natalie, of course, had to help him with it. Caden was moving so stiffly and just a little motion seemed to aggravate his pain even more.
What the hell happened to him? Natalie thought as she worked at getting the wound clean, pausing at several times when Caden would hiss out his discomfort. Possibly an angel. That seemed to be the only logical explanation for something that would attack Caden.
"You going to tell me where the hell you've been?" Natalie decided that she needed some kind of explanation. Caden didn't have to go into full detail, that could be saved for later, but she wanted something to help justify the anxiety she had felt from his absence.
"Heaven." Caden replied, his voice was dry and scratchy. "Castiel, um, had me locked away. It wasn't exactly the kind of place an angel would want to be locked away in."
"How did you get all of these injuries?" Natalie asked.
"I got out. Broke out actually."
Natalie paused and gave Caden a blank stare. "How did you manage to do that? Isn't there like some heavy security angels would use with their prisoners?"
"I managed my way." Caden replied, though Natalie could hear the hesitation in his voice. "But, some of the angels were dispatched to find me. That's what I've been doing. Going on the run and also why I never went to you. I didn't want you all to get in the way. But, they caught up to me and...then this happened." Caden gestured to his face and chest.
Natalie finished wiping at the wound on his chest, but more blood began to seep back out. It wasn't a lot, but it was enough to where he would need to keep something against it. "Where are those angels now?"
"I killed them."
Natalie stood up and walked into the bathroom, picked up two new towels and went back over to the bed. "Isn't that kind of a taboo thing with your kind?" She asked, pressing one of the towels to his chest.
"They definitely won't be to happy that I did. Most likely, they'll try and find me." Caden's hand covered hers, applying more pressure to his wound.
Natalie looked around the room and blew out a tired breath. All she wanted was to sleep. "Well, then, I'm gonna need to get you out of here."
"What are you doing here in the first place?"
Natalie remained quiet for a moment. She debated whether she should tell Caden everything that happened right now. But, she figured that he should hear it from Bobby, Sam, Dean and herself. "A lot has happened since I last saw you Caden and I don't really know if I have the energy to go into a full explanation right now."
"Where's Castiel?" Natalie went quiet again, her gaze focused on his chest, but Caden decided to push more. "The last that any of the angels heard from him was this...speech that he made in Heaven and that was it. Where is he?"
"Caden. Maybe that's a discussion that should happen later, okay."
"What happened?" He demanded.
Natalie looked up at him, eyes were hardened and lips formed into a thin line. "Cas went over his head and he got himself into a little bit of trouble. That's all I'm gonna tell you for now. I think it will be easier if you hear it from all of us."
"How's Sam?" Caden asked as Natalie turned the towel around to a clean surface and pressed it back to his wound.
"We wasn't good Caden. His head got worse and he was hallucinating, really badly. Right now. I'm not to sure what is going in his head. He won't tell me anything, but I know it's not something that will fix itself."
"I wish there was a way for me to help him."
"Hey." Natalie brushed her hand against his forehead, feeling that he was really warm. "Don't start feeling guilty about it, what happened to Sam, wasn't your fault."
"I couldn't convince Castiel not to open Purgatory. That was my fault."
"Stop. You did what you could. Cas already had his mind up and he was going to go through with it, no matter what anyone said to him. That's his fault. Not yours." Their eyes locked in a silent stare down, but Caden wasn't challenging what she said and Natalie could still see that he felt guilty. After all he just went through in Heaven and killing his own brothers, he still felt guilty about something that wasn't in his control.
"Okay." Natalie was the first to break their eye contact, "That's enough about that subject. I'm gonna get you out of here, so, uh...put your shirt and coat back on."
Natalie stood up to go back into the bathroom and tossed the towel into the sink. She then went to work with getting everything back into her bag. She was a little irritated that she was leaving before Alan could give her any useful information. But, she didn't think he would be able to find much of anything on the Leviathan. He had told her at the library that there wasn't much written on them. Therefore, he probably wasn't going to find anything new, aside from what she already heard from Death.
As she finished packing her bag, she casted a quick glance over at Caden, seeing that he was struggling with getting his coat on. Walking over, she grasped the collar of his coat and gently slid the sleeves over both his arms. Adjusting the front a few times, the coat was finally sitting nicely on him. She picked up the other clean towel from the bed and pressed it against his chest.
"Hold it there." She quietly ordered and once his hand was against the towel, Natalie nodded. "Alright. Let's go."
Natalie turned around, picked up her bag and gestured for Caden to start heading out of the room. Turning off the lamp, Natalie walked out behind him and made sure to quietly close the door, for some reason. After getting Caden to the car, Natalie threw her bag into the back seat and started heading back to the motel to check out.
Her mind was buzzing from what just happened. Caden showed up at her motel room door, bloodied and beaten after he had been missing for about three weeks, almost a month. Natalie had began to think that perhaps the angel was gone for good, that she would never actually see him again. Many prayers were sent to him from Natalie and never once were they answered. Was she mad? Actually, Natalie wasn't even sure if she was or not. Anger wasn't exactly on the list of emotions she was feeling right now. Just confusion and relief. But, she could feel her anxiety starting to act up. Caden killed a few angels and she knew that sooner or later, they would come looking for him. She knew, somewhat, that when an angel kills another, it doesn't exactly go unpunished. She needed to get him the hell out of here and back to Bobby. He would know exactly what needed to be done for Caden, at least, that's what she hoped.
Natalie mindlessly check out and headed back towards the car in the parking lot. Her phone began to buzz and she pulled it out, seeing that someone had sent her a message.
Need to see you. Have some info for you.
Natalie pursed her lips, realizing that it was Alan who had sent the message to her. She quickly typed out a reply.
Address?
Natalie only had to have a few seconds before the message came through and it was the address she needed. She responded that she was on her way as she picked up her pace for the car.
"We need to make a quick stop before we head out of town." Natalie announced as she got into the driver's seat.
"Whatever you need to do. I'm just the passenger." Caden coolly replied.
"Yeah, well." Natalie looked over at him, her eyes roaming over his injuries one more time. "You just relax, alright. We're gonna have a long drive ahead so, make yourself comfortable."
"I'm an angel. Being in this...vehicle, will be an interesting experience."
"It's not going to be all that interesting trust me."
...
Natalie looked down at the address that was written in the message that was sent to her and she looked across the street at the house. "That's the house." Natalie placed her phone back into her pocket and unbuckled her seat belt. "Just stay here, alright? It won't take me long."
"I'm not going anywhere."
"Good."
Natalie pushed open the car door and stepped out, placing her keys in her pocket as she walked across the street. She took the porch steps quickly and stopped at the front door, her fist raised up to knock against the wood, but when she did, the door slightly nudged open.
Natalie stared at the door, seeing that it wasn't closed all the way. Her palm pressed against the door and she pushed against it briefly, opening it a little wider. "Hello? Mr. Bryant?" Natalie called out, but she didn't receive any kind of verbal answer.
Instinct kicked in, Natalie reached behind and pulled out her gun, clicking the safety off and aimed the weapon in front of her as she pushed the door open all the way.
The first thing that greeted her was darkness. The entire house was dark, not exactly the sign that tells you someone is home. Natalie took a few steps into the house and realized that a song was being played. All I Have To Do Is Dream. The source of the music wasn't exactly distinguishable. It seemed like it was being played from all over and it was sort of quiet, not at a loud volume. But, it just created this eerie feeling in the dark house.
Natalie continued on. Taking slow steps, she quietly made her way down the main hallway, there was a staircase towards the right, and she could see the kitchen was up ahead and it was being lit by a soft light. But, Natalie stopped when she came to a set of double doors to her left. Leaning closer, it seemed like this was where the music was coming from as well. A light was also seeping out from under the door, which gave Natalie half a reassurance that there was someone in there.
Reaching out, she felt for the door handle and found it after a few unsuccessful attempts and tried to push and pull, but the door wouldn't open. By accident, Natalie slid it to the side and it opened. Sliding doors. Nice. Natalie slid the door all the way open and slowly peered in, gun first, but found that there was a huge lamp, lying on the floor and the room was an absolute mess, not to mention that she found the source of the music.
Papers and books were sprawled out all over the desk and floor. One of the shelves had been turned on its side and as Natalie walked in more, she could see smudges of blood on the desk and floor.
"Dammit." Natalie quietly cursed at the blood and her eyes quickly rolled when she heard the song starting to repeat all over again. But, her endeavor to shut the music off was interrupted when she saw another pair of sliding doors.
Raising her gun back up into an aim, Natalie sauntered over towards the doors, seeing that there was a trail of blood that end under the doors. She slid open one of the doors, enough to where the light was able to emanate part of the room and she quickly slid it all the way open.
Stepping in, Natalie's mouth fell agape at what she saw. Alan was lying on the floor, a small puddle of blood was formed under his head. He was situated in front of Alex, who was bound and gagged in a chair, a stream of blood was running down the side of her head.
Natalie knelt down next to Alan's body, her fingers pressing against the side of his neck and found no pulse. She should've known, from the amount of blood that she saw. Natalie stood up, stepped around his body and knelt down in front of Alex, her hand bracing against the side of her face.
"Alex?" Natalie spoke gently, seeing the woman look up at her with tear stained eyes, but it looked like she was going to pass out. "I'm gonna get you out of here."
Alex began to weakly shake her head and she was muttering whimpers that Natalie figured were her attempts at words. Natalie went to remove the cloth from her mouth when a pair of hands grabbed her by the arms and threw her into the side adjoining room. Natalie's body smacked against the ground with a sickening thud and her body slid on the linoleum ground until she came to a slow halt.
Natalie tried to force herself to quickly recover as the figure began to take slow, relaxed steps towards her. Only then did a voice finally make its appearance.
"Do you and the Winchesters always get innocent people in on your plans?"
Natalie's brows knitted at the fact that this person seemed to know her and Sam and Dean. Her attacker looked fairly young, perhaps late twenties and short cropped dark hair. But, she still couldn't figure out who he was. She's never seen him before. Of course, if he was a hunter, why would he attack her?
"Oh." The man paused and pointed at himself. "You don't recognize me, do you?" The man smirked as Natalie began to drag herself towards the entryway that led into the main hall, but her eyes were glued on him. "Maybe you will when I look like this."
The man's face transformed and it was a familiar sight. Sharp, pointed teeth, a huge mouth and a two pronged tongue. Natalie's eyes widened and the man's face transformed back into the original form, the smirk was still evident.
"Familiar now."
Natalie quickly pushed herself up to her feet as he began to make his charge after her. Knowing that this wouldn't kill him, it was still something that she could do. Natalie raised her gun, aimed it at him and shot off multiple arounds into his chest. His body only jolted from the shots and when she finally ran out of bullets, he looked down at the work she had done and hummed in mocking approval.
"Nice. But, you know that bullets don't do anything to us, right?"
Natalie turned towards the entryway, but the Leviathan had a fast grip on her hair and yanked her head back only to slam it once against the wall. Natalie's body slid to the ground and she landed on her stomach. Her head was pounding and the sensation spread throughout her entire skull. Natalie groaned as she began to drag herself away from him, though she knew that she wouldn't be able to get far.
A harsh kick to her stomach halted her movement and her close snapped shut at the impact. Her body reacted by resting on her side and curling in itself.
"You should really stop getting other people involved." He continued and kicked her in the stomach again. "Because they always end up screwed." Another kick to the stomach and he began to whistle along with the song as he kicked Natalie in the stomach a few more times, the last two were aimed more at her ribs.
After the last kick, Natalie rolled almost onto her stomach, her arm pressed against her ribs and she was choking on her cries. He leaned down, his hand grasping at her neck and slowly lifted her up from the ground.
"Natalie." Caden stumbled into the house and it garnered the attention of the Leviathan.
Natalie quickly pulled out her knife from her back pocket and stabbed him in the shoulder. A strained, venomous groan escaped as he looked back at Natalie and with a violent throw, Natalie was tossed through a glass door that led to a porch outside. Natalie rolled onto her back, feeling the shards of glass poking at her skin and she looked back into the house, seeing Caden and the Leviathan fighting. Caden wasn't going to last long, he was still too weak.
Natalie's gaze wandered over towards the porch railing and leaned up against the house paneling was an ax. Pushing herself up onto her hands and knees, Natalie, painfully, crawled over the broken glass, feeling small shards stabbing her hand, as she made her way over to the weapon. Her ribs and stomach felt like they were on fire and every breath she sucked in only made it worse. Finally reaching the ax, Natalie stumbled to her feet, grabbed the handled and walked back over to the shattered glass door. Caden was already pinned up against the wall and the Leviathan was have a punching fest on him.
Lifting the ax in a firm grip, Natalie stepped back into the house, picked up her pace and once she was close enough, she raised the ax and with one swipe, she embedded the blade into the side of the Leviathan's neck. Blood ooze seeped out from the wound, but it didn't go all the way through the flesh. Yanking the ax out, Natalie made another quick swipe and the head rolled off onto the ground with the body falling quickly after.
Natalie huffed out a breath as she stared at the headless body and then looked over at Caden. By the looks of it, he was going to have another few bruises from this. "You, okay?"
"Yeah. I'm fine." Caden sniffed and wiped at the ooze that had splattered against his face.
"I thought I told you to stay in the car." Natalie added.
"Well, it's a good thing I didn't." Caden added, but she could hear the 'are you not going to thank me?' in his tone.
Natalie nodded. "Yeah. I guess. Thanks. Okay, well, we have to take Alex with us."
Caden looked up at her, confused. "Alex?"
Natalie turned and walked back into the room where Alex was still tied to the chair, except it looks like she passed out during the fight. Natalie gently removed the gag from her mouth and went to work with cutting the ropes around her body. "Can you get her to the car?" Natalie asked Caden as he walked into the room.
"I should be able to manage." He gently scooped Alex into his arms and began to make the walk to the car.
"I'll be out there soon." Natalie called out as he disappeared through the kitchen and down the main hall. Natalie took a moment and looked down at Alan's lifeless body, with her hand pressed to her mouth, Natalie knelt down next to him, her hand resting against his back.
"I'm sorry."
The apology was genuine on her part. Natalie didn't think that they would actually find her and why exactly would the Leviathan be so interested in them? But, she was stupid for thinking that. They burnt down Bobby's house and tried to chase her and Bobby down. Of course they were out to get them. Natalie buried her face against her hands and let out a shaky breath. I shouldn't have come here.
She pulled her hands away when her eyes spotted something in Alan's hand. Leaning closer, Natalie reached forward and gently pulled the piece of paper from his hand. Unfolding it, Natalie found only three words written on it.
Written word of...
And that was it. Natalie knitted her brows together as she inspected the other side of the paper, thinking there was more, and there wasn't. "What the hell does this mean? Seems like you were on to something."
Natalie breathed out a 'okay' and pulled out her phone. She quickly dialed out a number and pressed it up to her ear.
"Hello?"
"Aunt Clara. I need you to listen to me. You need to get out of the house."
"What? Why?"
"The Leviathan were able to track me down here in Omaha. I'll explain why I'm here later. But, we don't know what else they know about me. We can't take the chance of them tracking you down. So you need to get what you can and get out of the house. Move to one of your cabins."
"This is something that I wasn't expecting to hear from you."
"I know. And I promise when I get there I'll explain everything. Which cabin are you going to?"
"Probably the one down in Banes."
"Missouri. Okay, I'm on my way. Um, just a fair warning, I'm bringing two people with me and they are going to need some attention from Mari."
"Well, when I get to the cabin, I'll call her. What should I tell her?"
"The truth. There's no use in hiding this from her."
"Alright. I'll leave soon."
"Okay. I'll see you there." Natalie pulled the phone away and ended the call. But, before she tucked her phone away, Natalie typed out a quick message to David and Jake. Someone needed to be here and take care of everything. Natalie needed to get Caden and Alex out of here. She hated the thought of David and Jake coming in and cleaning up the mess, but if she can, she will drive back down here with them. But, with how much her stomach and ribs were bothering her, she didn't think that would be a possibility.
Natalie stood up, gave one last look at Alan, before walking into the office and paused when she realized that the same song was still playing. Turning to the radio set, Natalie quickly switched it off and grimaced. "I'm never going to be able to listen to that song again."
Natalie, with the bags hanging from her arm, threw open the cabin door and allowed Caden entry first since he was carrying Alex. Clara was the first to greet them and it wasn't exaggerating to say that she was really shocked by the condition everyone was in. All of them had blood on their faces, Caden looked like he was about to pass out from exhaustion and there was an unconscious girl in his arms.
Clara looked at Natalie when she finally closed the door and let out a sigh. "What happened?"
"Take care of Caden and Alex first. Then I'll tell you." Natalie answered as she set the bags down on the ground next to her.
"Okay." Clara nodded and motioned for Caden to follow. "I'll show where you can set her down and I'll take you to a room you can stay in."
"Thank you." Caden replied as he followed Clara into the hallway, disappearing from Natalie's sight.
Finally, she was allowed to rest. She just drove for six hours, stomach and ribs were burning and her head was bleeding. That was the worst thing she has ever done. Pressing her hand against her stomach, Natalie painfully walked over to the couch and gently lowered her body on the cushions.
She moved to reach for her phone from her pocket, but her movements were very slow and gentle. Dialing out the numbers seemed to much of a challenge, but Natalie just surmised that it was because she was exhausted. Once the number was dialed out, Natalie, shakily, brought the phone up to her ear.
"Nad?" Bobby's voice came through and Natalie could tell by the tone that she had woken him up. Made sense. It was about seven in the morning, all of the boys would've been sleeping at this time.
"Bobby..." Natalie breathed out a painful groan that was audible on his end.
"Nad, are you alright?"
"No...I, uh...I ran into a little bit of a situation back in Omaha." Natalie hugged her arm around her ribs and leaned her head back until it was resting against the couch.
"What happened?"
"The Leviathan found me. And, uh...I went to my professor's house because he messaged me and...the Leviathan was there. It killed him...and I got the living crap kicked out of me." Her voice hitched with a quiet cry. "But, I'm at Aunt Clara's cabin."
Bobby let out a heavy, drawn out sigh and Natalie could hear movement from the other end, telling her that Bobby was getting ready to head out. "Which cabin are you at?"
"Uh...we're at the one in Banes, Missouri. Also, there is a lot more that I'll explain to you when you get there."
"That's fantastic." Natalie could hear Bobby starting to wake up Dean and Sam from their sleep and she could hear Dean voice his argument of wanting to stay asleep. "The boys and I will be there soon."
"Is Dean's leg still in a cast?"
"Nah. He was impatient and cut it off today. He can walk on it, so, I guess it's not a big deal."
Natalie went quiet, but nodded her head, even though it was pointless. Bobby wouldn't be able to see it. But, Bobby seemed to have heard her loud and clear.
"I'll let you go Nad. Get some rest. We'll be there soon."
"Okay." Natalie whispered and dragged the phone away and lost the grip on it, allowing it to fall on the floor.
Natalie closed her eyes, feeling a desperate sense of relief finally flood her, but all she could think about was Alan's battered body and Alex being tied up in the chair. She didn't want any of this to happen, she had no idea that it would. Either way, she should've stayed in Montana, that way the trip to Omaha would've never happened. Besides, her whole goal was to try and get information on the Leviathan and she didn't get anything, aside from the note she found crumbled in Alan's hand.
Written word of...-whatever the hell that meant, it clearly was something that he was figuring out. The Leviathan must have gotten in when Alan was doing the research. But, Natalie began to think about what Alex might know. Did the Leviathan say anything to her? Probably. But, that won't be answered until tomorrow, most likely. Right now, Natalie couldn't bring herself to try and come up with an explanation for what was written on the paper.
As of now, Natalie allowed herself the luxury of at least going to sleep. Hardly getting any rest when she got to Omaha and now, her body was aching from the attack she suffered, she needed to sleep. Natalie gingerly turned her body so that her legs could easy rest on the couch. Lying her head against the couch, Natalie kept her arm across her stomach and soon her eyes began to close. She knew that she told Clara there would be an explanation given to her when she came back from taking care of Alex and Caden. But, as of now, Natalie didn't care about that right. It was time for her to rest.
So, what did you all think? How do you like Alex so far? Again, I am so sorry that I have been taking so long with these updates. I'm usually really good with updating in less than a week, but that's not the case apparently. I will continue to try with quicker updates, I promise. I know, I think you all were expecting Alex and Dean to meet in this chapter, but, they will meet in the next one. I promise.
Don't forget to check out Nad's blog and send me a message there if you like! :)
Review Responses:
Marieniz V: I am so glad that you like the Satalie chapter! I will say it has been a HUGE relief now that those two have finally admitted it!
Sarahmichellegellarfan1: I'm right there with you! Glad I was able to write the chapter finally! And there definitely will be more Satalie moments that will be sprinkled in throughout the chapters!
January Lily: Don't worry about it! And you don't have to apologize! It's totally fine! AHHH SATALIE FEELS! I am so glad that you love them (I do too, obviously). They always give me insane feels. And HOPEFULLY Dealex will start getting the readers to feel the exact same way *crossing fingers* I genuinely hope that Alex will be loved by you and all the readers. I am sure she will be bringing some good entertainment in the future.
Guest 1: I am so happy that you are so enthusiastic about the possible sequel series! I will say that it is definitely something that is on my mind constantly. I haven't actually figured out any plans for it, since I'm still on this series. But, we shall see what happens when spn ends and whether I have the drive to write it. But, I really do appreciate your support on that. It means the world to me.
Guest 2: Oh my gosh, I am so honored that you love my story so much! Seriously, it means the world to me when people tell me how much they love my stories. It just gives me so much drive to write for all you lovely readers. And I do hope that Alex made a good first impression on you. She and Dean will definitely be really fun to write in future chapters. YES! SAM FINALLY SAID IT! Like you, I am so happy that it was finally able to happen. They literally are so cute together, I love them.