Chapter 12: War of my Life
So fight on. I won't give up.
Fight on everyone, I won't run.
Fight on, I won't stop for anyone.
Got no choice but to fight 'till it's done.
Fight on, I won't give up.
Fight on everyone, I won't run.
Fight on, I won't stop for anyone.
Got no choice but to fight 'till it's done.
So fight on, I won't give up.
Fight on.
-John Mayer
Shelby rolled her eyes at the officer. There was a reason she didn't like cops. She could hear Sam sigh.
"Thanks." Shelby made sure to lay the sarcasm on thick. She knew the woman was just doing her job, but she felt like she earned a little leeway to be annoyed. She played polite to people way too often.
"You're a lot like your husband. By the way I'm Kathleen, nice to meet you too." Shelby rolled her eyes at the woman's comment but said nothing. She laid out as comfortably as she could on the dirt floor. She was bored. She wasn't too worried about Dean. He knew how to get out of cuffs.
"It's okay. He'll be okay. Trust me." Sam said soothingly to the woman officer. He had to trust Dean could get out here. As far as Sam could tell, there wasn't any way for them to escape from the inside. Before Kathleen could reply, the old barn doors creaked open. Shelby snapped her head over. No way those guys would be back that quick. They mentioned they liked to hunt at night. It had to be-
"Shelby! Baby are you okay?" Dean rushed over to her cage and tried prying the door open. He slammed his open palm into it when it wouldn't budge. Realizing it wasn't going to open immediately, he knelt down to check Shelby over.
"Yeah, good luck. They use some kind of key trigger-button-system-thingy. The box is over there." Shelby pointed to the dark metal key box on the far wall by the doors. Dean didn't pay attention, he was still trying to assess Shelby's condition. His eyes swept over Sam briefly before returning to Shelby.
"You're bleeding. What did this to you guys? Sammy, are you okay?" Sam nodded.
"Yeah, not what, who. Dude, they're just people."
"Some fucked-up-in-the-head people." Shelby added. Dean smirked a little at her comment.
"They're just people? And they jumped you? Sam I could see, but Shelby, really baby? You're losing your magic touch." Shelby huffed at his comment but smiled despite herself. She had a lot on her mind, but nothing for Dean to know about right now. Candy apple green eyes swept over the rest of the barn, looking for anything to pry the cage doors open with. Nothing, but Dean's eyes did come across the officer that helped him.
"Hey Officer Hudak. Fancy meeting you here. Come by often?" Dean swaggered over to her cage, making sure she wasn't seriously injured. She eyed him curiously.
"How'd you get out of my cuffs?" Dean's smile widened a bit.
"My wife can get a little freaky in bed, if you know what I mean." He wiggled his eyebrows and tilted his head in Shelby's direction.
"Hey! I'm right here!" Shelby piped up. How embarrassing?! Dean stood up from his kneeling position in front of Kathleen's cage and paced around for a minute. Not finding anything that could help him get everyone out, he sighed and walked back over to where Shelby and Sam's cages were.
"Okay, I'm gonna go up to the house and see if I can find this magic key. I'll be right back."
"Be careful, Hot-shot." Shelby wasn't sure what name Dean had given to the officer. To any and all form of government, Dean Winchester was killed the night he attacked a young woman in her early twenties in a cheap motel room.
"I will Princess. You keep her safe Sam." Dean pointed his gaze at his brother before heading out the back of the barn quietly.
-TOL-
Dean held his breath. That little bitch had tried to stab him. She had yelled to her daddy and the bastard had knocked him out. He had been awake for a few minutes now and the old man hadn't wasted any time. He had a hot poker about two inches from his eyeball.
"I ain't gonna ask again, boy. I'll take yer eye out, cha hear?" Dean thought about what he would say next. Shelby or Sam? Who had a better chance against them? Shelby was quick and knew how to throw her own around. But she was injured. She probably had a concussion, which might hinder her ability. Sam had seemed unharmed.
"The guy, the guy alright!" The old man pulled the hot iron away from Dean's face.
"You heard him. This time, make sure you do it in the cage. No chance of more cops showin' up. When you're done with him, kill the bitch cop. An' bring that purdy little thang back inta the house. I ain't done with her yet." The man turned his head towards Dean. All he could see was red.
"Hey, you mother fuckers touch her and I will kill you. I will kill you all. Do you hear me!" Dean's words fell on deaf ears. He tried to lunge out of the chair towards the man, but his ties held strong. The dad was already shouting orders to his all-too-excited sons. Dean was too angry to think about anything other than killing the men who stood before him.
-TOL-
"You sure you can watch him?" Shelby asked the woman. She was nervous about leaving the sheriff with the old man. She had seen that look in a lot of people she and her family had saved. They wanted revenge. This man had killed her brother for sport. She didn't really mind that he died, hell she actually thought he deserved more than a quick bullet to the head. But hey, who was she to give pointers? The woman probably wouldn't let her go if she revealed some of the things running through her head.
"Yeah." Sam grabbed Shelby's arm. She nodded to the officer and followed Sam out the barn quickly. Dean was still tied to the chair and some little grungy pre-teen was watching over him. Shelby knocked her out quickly before stuffing her in a closet. Sam hurried to untie his brother. They walked out the door and were met by Kathleen walking out of the barn. No grandpa in tow. Shelby eyed Sam. He caught the look and let his eyes slide down to his feet.
"Grandpa?"
"Shot... Trying to escape." Kathleen's eyes ended on Shelby. Shelby stared right back at her. The older woman lost the staring contest. The group headed over to the Police car and Kathleen radioed for backup. She warned the trio that they should be gone by the time the cops showed up. Shelby and Sam went to look for a car to hot wire while Dean thanked the officer once again.
Sam and Shelby had walked off while Dean was chatting with the officer. They stood off the beaten path a ways and faced away from the house. Shelby looked around at the foliage very intently as she took in a deep breath. She started pulling at the leaves of a low hanging branch off of one of the willow trees. Sam looked down the path that lead into the pitch black woods. He looked towards Shelby when she spoke softly.
"Sam, thank you for being understanding about all this crazy stuff with me. I don't know if I would be able to do it alone." She smiled up at Sam shyly. He smiled down at her.
"No problem." Dean walked up and wrapped his arm around Shelby's shoulder. He kissed the side of her head. Shelby sighed into him.
"Couldn't find a running car?" Dean asked with a smile on his face. Sam shook his head and turned away.
"Nope." Sam said lightly. He headed out towards the woods, avoiding the puddles from the recent storm, thinking about everything he just learned from Shelby. He felt better than he probably should, Shelby's information and trust giving him some happiness after the last two days.
"Guess we'll get a good workout tonight." Shelby returned Dean's kiss and they followed Sam.
-TOL-
Dean sped off from the Wendy's drive-thru, shot gun seat full of greasy food and sodas. He was heading back to the cheap motel room the three had been staying at the past couple of nights. He was not happy about it. He was ready to move onto another hunt. He was ready for more action, out of his rut. Shelby showed no signs of falling out of the hunter's life and into a home, so Dean wasn't going to try to stop her, he knew he would only fail. So he was ready for battle. He needed to keep his mind off of thoughts that kept drifting into his head at night.
It had been a week or so since the crazy human family had captured Shelby and Sam. Dean was getting annoyed at the two. Ever since they had gotten back on the road, they had been all buddy-buddy with each other. Late nights, sometimes he would wake up and find Sam, and Shelby sitting on the bed next to him, reading books or being mesmerized by something on a computer screen. He didn't like it. Any sensible person would confront one of them by now. But Dean Winchester wasn't a normal person. No, Dean Winchester was the kind of person to dig until he found something to accuse the cheating party of. Now he knew cheating was a loose term to use in this situation. Shelby would never do that to him. No, they were plotting something, or had found something. Maybe about his father? Why wouldn't they tell him?
Shelby's mind was reeling. This past week had been a blur of Norse Mythology books and articles. Sam had been helping as best he could. They had crossed so many things off their list. There wasn't much more she could be. Shelby slammed her laptop shut and rubbed her eyes. Besides worrying about her secret research, Shelby was worried about Dean. He was acting weird lately, ever since getting back from their last hunt. He hadn't been sleeping well. He was tossing and turning throughout the night. He would yell her name out and grab for her. Sometimes she would be in bed with him, calm him down quickly, then let herself fall back to sleep. Most nights she had been in Sam's bed or on the couch reading more on Norse legends. Sam would send a pathetic looks towards his brother then his gaze would follow Shelby while she calmly put her book or laptop down and go comfort him.
"Hey, I think I found something." Shelby removed her hands from her face and scooted closer to Sam. He cleared his throat before continuing.
"So get this. This book seems to be the Norse equivalent of the Christian Bible. It talks about their Gods and warriors. All the legends are covered. The only thing I could find that might be related to what Missouri was talking about are these things called Valkyrie. They're like Amazon warriors, kind of. There was a handful of them throughout history, each had her own job, some were healers, if they didn't like who died or got hurt, they would give them a second chance. Others were like reapers, they took warriors off of the battlefield when it was their time. I mean, there's a whole list of names and descriptions." Sam looked at Shelby. Her eyes were moving quickly over the old text from the book in Sam's lap. He didn't say anything while she read. He finally couldn't take the silence anymore. He knew who Shelby was, er, where she came from? It wasn't a bad thing! Dean shouldn't have a problem. Shelby might. He wasn't sure. Dean and Shelby were pretty much the same person. If Sam didn't think Dean would have a problem…
"Her name is Araedi, pronounced Ah-rah-dee, which means courage. It says that she led warriors into battle. If they were second guessing themselves or anything, she would give a speech and rally for their cause, and the warriors would fight to get into the front lines of the battle. She would fight alongside soldiers, with whatever side she saw fit to win, whether the cause was Godly or not. She seemed like she was kind of a rebel. The other Valkyrie cast her out, so she ran off by herself, fighting where she could. She never seemed to be able to settle down. She did run with Loki for a while, they would start wars within the nine realms, mostly over trivial stuff, but whatever she fought for, she fought hard."
"Huh. So I'm a Norse warrior who shacked up with Loki. Great. This is just great. How come I don't remember any of this? And why did Missouri make it seem like my mom would know?"
"I'm not sure about your mom. But it said that when the Valkyrie have completed their missions in that lifetime, they die, sometimes of old age, naturally, or sometimes violently, depending on how they lived that life cycle." Sam said quietly. He figured she'd take this differently.
"Hey look at it this way, at least you weren't a monster. You just-"
"Led thousands of men to their deaths." Shelby covered her face with her hands. How could this be right?
"Honorable deaths, going down for something they believed in. How many times have you given Dean or I a pep talk before heading into a fight? We were fighting for what we believed in, saving people." Shelby took in a deep breath to give Sam her two cents, but Dean barged in through the door. Shelby jumped away from Sam and looked tenderly up at Dean. He dropped the food and drinks on the table and launched himself on his bed. He looked dirtily at Sam, but said nothing. Shelby rolled her eyes and got off the bed. She sat down at the table and started stuffing her face, she was starving. Sam closed the book and set it at the foot of his bed before grabbing his bag of food.
Dean took his bag of fast food from the bedside table and started eating. He chewed loudly while his companions ate silently. Sam finished his salad and quickly grabbed some clothes from his duffel and headed to the bathroom. Shelby ate her food a little slower than normal. Dean finished his and tossed the bag into the small trash can. He wanted to say something. He knew he should just tell her what had been bugging him. He should ask her what was going on between her and Sam. He was rubbing his hands together, trying to form the words when Shelby's sweet voice drifted over.
"What's up with you lately? I can hardly sleep at night without you waking me up." Dean's face flushed. Why did he hesitate to talk first?
"I'm surprised you're actually sleeping. Most of the time you seem to be cozying up to Sam. What's up with that, huh?" Shelby diverted her eyes. It was her turn to blush. She let her eyes drift along the motel walls, studying the mountain pictures very closely. She wasn't sure about anything yet so she wasn't going to tell him anything about her ancestry. So she mustered up some courage to stay strong and not spill the beans. She turned the tables back over to Dean.
"Nice try, buddy. I asked first. Spill." Shelby put her cheeseburger down and sat down on Dean's lap. He rested his hands on her hips and laid his head on her chest. He didn't say anything. Shelby didn't pressure him, just let him breath, in and out for a few minutes while he gathered some courage.
"Dean, you can tell me anything you know."
"I could say the same thing."
"Okay, even though I asked first, I'll be the grown-up in this situation. There is nothing going on between Sam and I. We're researching for a couple of hunts Bobby asked us to help on. No biggie. I didn't want to bother you with any of it because of how much trouble you're having while sleeping. You need as much rest as you can get."
"I need to get out of here. I need a new hunt. I can't let my mind wander. Baby, I just... That sick bastard was gonna take you, in front of me. I can't get it out of my head. I just keep thinking back to-"
"I know. I know, baby. It's okay. That didn't happen. And you're thinking of something that happened so long ago. You saved me. So, please, just remember the happy ending to that memory. I'm here with you now. That monster is long gone, you made sure of that." Dean pulled Shelby in close. He hated that memory. That was the first time he had killed a man. A real man and not a monster. He didn't regret it. Shelby tried not to think of that night but it was hard.
-TOL-
A fifteen-year-old Shelby lay on the ground behind the bar. She wiped her face off with bloody hands. Her fingernails were bleeding from trying to scratch the man who jumped her. Her eyes were staring blankly into the brick wall across the alley. She felt someone tugging her pants up and she couldn't help but to start screaming. Strong arms wrapped around her and soft lips came to her forehead. She tried struggling. Eventually, the soft lips started forming words. Soothing words.
"Shelby, Princess. He's not gonna hurt you anymore. I promise." Shelby finally focused her eyes onto Dean's face. He had blood splattered across his tan features. She slowly nodded her head. Dean leaned back and pulled Shelby up. She stayed put, body numb while he pulled her pants the rest of the way up. He struggled a bit since she just kind of stood there. Shelby still had tears running down her face. Her eyes kept replaying Dean pulling the trigger. She looked down to the dirty ground at the man. He had red hair and a long beard. Her dad's age. She eyed the deep, red hole in between those cold blue eyes.
Anger and rage consumed her. She started screaming and couldn't stop. Before Dean could even think to move Shelby grabbed the gun out of his pants and emptied the rest of the clip into that gingers skull. Dean stood there. He didn't know what to do or say. Shelby stopped screaming and handed the gun back to him and turned towards the parking lot. Dean took one last look at the alleyway and followed Shelby. They never spoke of that night again. No one knew about it.
-TOL-
Shelby shivered around Dean. A few tears dropped into his hair and she took a deep breath in. She didn't like to think about that night, and hadn't in a long while. She sighed. She felt bad for Dean. Yet she didn't know how to fix it other than getting his mind off of what happened. Watching his little brother and girlfriend work closely together, secretly, she might add, definitely would not help.
"You're right. We need to get back on the road. Get this shit behind us. Dean. What happened, happened. There's nothing you or I can do about it. But, it made us who we are. There's a better life ahead of us." Shelby was ready to get everything off of her mind. She really did believe that there was something better coming. Maybe not now, but somewhere in the future her and Dean would find peace. One thing she was sure of, she didn't want to tell Dean about the Valkyrie stuff; not yet. Not with everything that was happening with Dean. She wasn't sure how he'd feel about it and if he did feel how she thought he would, there was no happy ending for them. She felt like she was at war with herself. Like she was split down the middle. She couldn't decide which side to fight harder for. But she knew one thing, she would have to fight. Fight hard, because that's what she does. She fights and she wins.
"You, Princess, are the best at pep-talks." Dean smiled into Shelby's chest and kissed her collarbone. Shelby laughed to herself at the irony. Oh boy, this battle strategy was getting harder by the second.
-TOL-
So what did my lovely readers think of this chapter? Should incorporate SPN fandom's Loki? Or the one from Thor?(My personal fav) Maybe a story in the Marvel Universe of Shelby's time running around with Mr. Hiddleston? :) As always please review for my writing fire fuel reserve! Thanks darlings, Gooseygirl