"Dad!" Alina suddenly woke up in an unknown place, panting and sweating from the dream she was already starting to forget. She knew it had something to do with her dad, and the secret her mom was keeping from her, but…what was it? Why did she feel so empty? Like she was now missing the most important part of herself that she didn't even know existed before that weird dream.
Her father's words were slowly becoming the echo of a forgotten memory, when the door in front of the young woman suddenly opened. In any other kind of situation, Alina would've acted right away after waking up in a room she didn't know. She would've put her guard on and searched for a weapon to defend herself against any possible danger. She was lucky that the one time she couldn't think about her own safety, the person entering the room was actually her old friend, Elias. He hadn't changed from the last time she'd seen him. He was still tall, not as tall as Sam, but slightly taller than Dean. His brown hair were probably a little darker than before, but his blue ocean eyes were the same. And of course, he still had the body of a real athlete. Alina had spent so much time drooling over him when she was a teenager...
He seemed focused on his notebook, until he raised his head and noticed that the girl sleeping in his bed was now awake. "Alina?"
Elias smiled and threw his notebook on his desk to go sit at the end of the bed and get a closer look at her. "Welcome back." He joked, still confused by the situation. "How do you feel?"
It wasn't the question that surprised Alina, but the way he'd asked it. Like he was expecting bad news. Why? And what was she doing in what she assumed was his bedroom? "What happened?"
"You don't remember? You were looking for your mom at my dad's shop. He gave you her number and…"
"I called her." Everything after that call was a big fuzzy cloud, but she couldn't believe she'd forgotten about her mom for a short amount of time. Her mom didn't want to see her. She knew what was troubling her daughter the most, and yet she refused to give her an answer. Alina was suddenly lost and tired again.
"So it didn't go well, huh?" Elias concluded from his friend's disappointed face. "I'm sorry."
"Don't be. I'm done looking for her, I've got better things to do now." And as if to show her determination, she pushed the bedsheets away from her and quickly stood up. "I'll answer my own questions."
She was already walking towards the door when Elias tried to stop her, by jumping between her and the exit. "Alina you fainted. My dad was so scared when he called me to come pick you up…"
"I'm fine Elias. Thanks for bringing me here, and letting me rest for a few hours. But I should really…"
She was interrupted by the sound of a doorbell being attacked. Whoever was there, clearly didn't have enough patience to let Elias chat with Alina any longer. And it was actually a perfect timing for the young man. "Saved by the bell." He sighed in relief and left the room to go welcome his guests. Alina first felt like she was already invading his space way too much, so she wanted to wait in the room for him to be done. It was his apartment after all. But then…
"Where is she? Where's Alina?!"
"Dean?" She frowned and quickly walked out of the room, to find Elias in the large living room, with the Winchesters. From the way her friend was trying to keep Dean away from the bedroom, something was wrong. She just couldn't understand why the boys were here, miles away from the place they were supposed to be. "What's going on?" The three men turned to her in an instant, and while she was still wondering why everyone was so agitated, Dean finally succeeded to walk around Elias and rush towards his friend with a worried look on his face. "Dean, what are you doing…" She lost her words when the hunter grabbed her by the waist and pulled her against him, holding her tightly in his strong arms. Something was definitely wrong, but she couldn't think about anything in that position. She just loved his warmth so much. So she didn't react at first, until Sam's voice behind his brother brought her back to reality.
"Are you okay?"
She could see his concerned face above Dean's shoulder, so she gently pushed his brother away to clear her mind. She also couldn't act normally in his arms and it was scaring the poor girl. "What are you guys doing here? How did you find that place?"
"I called them." Elias replied with his arms crossed. "I asked them to come."
"You what? Why would you do that? You don't even have their num…did you go through my phone?!"
"I was worried for you Alina! You wouldn't wake up, I didn't know what to do!"
"You could've waited! Geez! How could you bother them in the middle of a hunt just because I was asleep for a few hours?!"
"It wasn't a few hours Alina! You've been sleeping for two whole days!"
It took Alina a couple of seconds to really hear the words Elias had just said. Two days…
She wanted to laugh, because she was convinced he just messing with her. But then she thought about the boys' reactions when they'd seen her. The looks on their faces. It felt like an overreaction to her because she thought she'd just left them the night before, but maybe it was actual concern. And so to check that theory she turned to them, waiting for the boys to confirm that all of this was just a joke. But they never did. They just kept staring at her like the now silent Elias. That wasn't possible…
"I…I was at your dad's shop yesterday."
"That was two days ago Alina. I had a doctor friend coming yesterday to make sure you were okay, but since he couldn't find anything wrong with you I thought it'd be best to call the Winchesters before taking you to a hospital."
Alina felt more than confused, she felt crazy. She once again looked at the boys, still hoping that all of this was a huge misunderstanding. "But the hunt…the beetles…"
"It's over." Sam informed her. "Larry and his family, they all left Oasis Plains yesterday."
Elias and Dean were capable of doing such a bad joke, but Sam wouldn't lie to her in a situation like that. He was telling the truth. She had slept for two days. Unable to respond, the young woman simply let her body fall to the couch behind her, and kept her eyes on the ground, searching for an explanation that just wouldn't come to her. Dean was about to go sit next to her, but his brother was faster since he didn't trust him to handle a discussion with the current Alina. She looked terrified.
"Hey it's okay." Sam tried to calm her down by putting his hand on her shoulder. "Just…tell us what happened? What's the last thing you remember?"
Everything felt surreal now, she didn't even know if she could trust her own memories. But she tried to think of an answer because she knew her friend wanted to help her. "I…I went to Daniel's shop. He gave me a phone number."
"Whose phone number?"
"My mom."
The brothers shared the same intrigued look, but they couldn't ask the thousand questions they had in mind right away. "Did you talk to her?" Sam continued calmly.
"Yeah…she didn't want to be found. She told me to go back to you guys and…I can't remember if she hung up or if I lost consciousness before she could…"
"My dad tried to call her back after I brought you here." Elias added with a sad tone. "The line was already disconnected. I'm sorry…"
"It's fine." Alina reassured him quickly. She seemed a little better, at least she wasn't staring absently at the ground anymore. She even did her best to smile at him. "I'm the one who should apologize Elias. Thank you for bringing me here and keeping an eye on me."
"Don't mention it. I still owed you one for Mexico so…now we're even."
Him mentioning one of their previous encounter made the girl smile for real. She was lucky he was the one who'd find her.
Dean however, didn't really like the smiles these two were sharing at the moment. He didn't even know the guy until he'd received a call from him, asking them to come to his apartment because the girl he cared so much for was sleeping in his bed, and wouldn't wake up. He was thankful because he'd called. But he still didn't like him, and he still needed some answers. So he walked to Alina's friend and gave him a fake grin with a friendly tap on the arm. "Yeah man, thanks for calling us. We're gonna take it from here now." He turned to Alina and Sam on the couch. "Let's go Frenchy."
Sam still had his arm around his friend when he helped her getting back up, but Elias wasn't sure about this. "Hold on, are you sure this is safe? She just woke up, maybe she should rest a little more before going back on the road."
Dean was really trying to be patient. "Like I said we really appreciate what you did, but we came all the way here to get Alina so I'm not leaving without her."
"Dean?" He was surprised to hear the young woman calling his name, but his eyes landed on her before her voice could even reach his brain. She was forcing herself to smile at him now, like she was asking him not to lose his temper with her friend. She knew him all too well. "I just need a minute to grab my stuff, could you guys wait for me in the car?"
"You can't be seri…"
"Please?!" Her mouth was politely asking him to leave, but her eyes were threatening to send him back to the car by herself if he didn't move quickly enough. Even in the physical state of someone who had spent the last 48 hours in a bed, she was still able to kick his ass if she wanted to.
"It's okay." Sam finally agreed for his brother, already pushing him towards the front door. "Take your time Alina."
"Thanks Sam." She gave him one last smile, and watched the brothers leave the apartment. She wasn't surprised to see Dean turning back right before the door was closing behind them, then finally, the silence returned. Alina sighed. "I'm sorry for that one, he's…he's not a people person."
"Yeah he yelled at me so much during our phone call I think my ear might've be damaged, so I hope you're ready to pay my hospital bill."
"You'll be fine."
"No I swear it was almost bleeding when he hung up."
"You mean like that time you almost died jumping from the first floor window of your house?"
"I was 6!"
"I was 4! And you were the one following me."
"I should've left you at my dad's shop. I'm sure the floor would've been as comfortable as the couch I had to sleep on for two whole nights."
Alina couldn't hold her laugh anymore. She was finally realizing how happy she was to see him after all this time. She had missed her friend. So after rolling her eyes at his legendary sarcasm, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his frozen body. He always was a shy guy, and seeing that he hadn't changed was kind of comforting for Alina who smiled against his chest. "Thank you Elias."
Just like he used to, he finally decided to hug her back after a short moment of hesitation. "I said I owed you one."
Alina took a step away from him, amused by his statement. "Just to make sure, you're talking about the time I saved your life from a Skinwalker, or the one you forgot about our date and had me waiting for two hours in front of the restaurant?"
"Take your bag and get out of my house."
A FEW MINUTES LATER
"What do you think they're doing?" Dean asked his brother while taping nervously on his leg with his fingers.
"They're probably making out." Sam said in the most serious tone possible, letting a satisfied grin appear on his lips when his brother gave him an unamused look. "Dude relax. I'm sure she's just thanking him. And they haven't seen each others in years so maybe they needed to talk."
"Yeah? About what?" Dean really was waiting for an honest answer. He knew Alina used to tell Sam everything, so if someone had informations about that Elias guy, it had to be his younger brother.
"I don't know."
That wasn't the answer Dean was expecting. "Come on Sammy! You have to know something!" His reaction was way more intense than the one he intended to have. He couldn't fool anyone like that, especially not Sam.
"Fine. If I remember correctly…they went out together a few times when she was 15, and again when she was 17."
If Dean was already worried to leave Alina alone with that stranger, he was now ready to jump out of the car and run back to the apartment. He was going to get her out of there this time, even if he had to carry her on his shoulder all the way down. But fortunately, Alina reappeared in front of the building before he could do anything. She was smiling, and Elias was holding her bag for her. Dean could hold her bag too…
The brothers watched her as she went on her tiptoes to put a soft kiss on her friend's cheek, grabbed her bag, and walked towards the car while waving at him one last time. Alina sat on the backseat of the Impala, glad to be back in the familiar car. She was expecting the boys to ask her all the questions they had for her, now that they were alone with their friend it would've made sense. But instead, Dean simply glanced at her once in the rearview mirror before driving away from the building. She didn't know what to say, so she closed her eyes and rested her head against the window.
"If you fall asleep Frenchy, you better wake up when I tell you to."
She smiled. "If I go in Sleeping Beauty mode again, you'll just have to kiss me and see if that wakes me up."
She heard Dean when he scoffed and immediately cleared his throat to hide it. She obviously had no intention to sleep right now, because even if she was still tired, she was also too busy thinking about what Elias had told her. Since she couldn't remember her dream she wanted to know if she'd said anything in her sleep, and the only thing Elias could remember her saying, was 'Miss'. Just that. But what, or who was that? The only clues she had about her past, was her mother's strange reaction on the phone, her dad saying some weird things to her when she was just a kid, and now a certain Miss. Why did it have to be so complicated? She just wanted answers, not more questions.
LATER
The Winchesters were silently looking at their friend as she was finishing her second burger and her third plate of fries. When she'd told them how hungry she was, they didn't think it would be that much. But she hadn't eaten for two days, so it made sense.
"So Frenchy…you wanna tell us what happened now?"
Alina drank a whole bottle of water before looking back at them. "I told you what happened. I called my mom, she rejected me, I fainted - which by the way is the most overdramatic reaction I ever had in my life - and I woke up two days later in Elias' bed. You were here for the rest of the story."
She was doing her best to talk as calmly as she could, but the loud voices of the three men at the table behind them were getting on her nerves. Not only did they scream in the dinner as if the place belonged to them, but they also had to keep making disgusting comments to the young waitress who had to be Alina's age. She looked so sweet and couldn't bother the customers that were bothering her so much. But every time she came at the hunters' table to ask if everything was alright, Alina could feel how uneasy she felt about these guys. She hated that. It was as if she was the one unable to defend herself.
"Alina?" Sam tried calling his friend who was now completely silent. She didn't even move, but her hand was crushing the empty bottle with strength. "Alina what's wrong?"
"Frenchy?" Dean didn't like what he saw either. Alina looked enraged by something. "Alina why are you…"
"Shut up!" She suddenly shouted as she slammed her other hand on the table. The whole dinner instantly went silent, turning to her in confusion. Alina didn't care about the other customers, but hearing the waitress' scream when one of the men behind had touched her ass, making the other two laughing at her like the disgusting animals they were, made her completely lose her patience. She hated those guys. She didn't see the looks on her friends' faces when she got up to go stand right next to the waitress, in front of the three smiling pigs. They were way too old for the young employee who was now almost hiding herself behind Alina in fear. The hunter simply watched the men dressed in ripped and washed out clothes, with their long beard slightly touching the edge of their big bellies. But the grossest detail was the yellow teeth that appeared to the girls when the three of them started laughing hysterically. The tallest and most threatening one, stood up after a few seconds to face Alina, amused by the shorter girl's challenging eyes.
"What did you say sweetheart?"
"I told you to shut up, asshole. But if your ears are as clean as your teeth are, I'm not surprised you didn't hear me."
At her words, the two others quickly jumped out of their chairs, forcing the Winchesters to step in. "Okay hold on gentlemen." Dean faked a smile, putting his hands on Alina's shoulders to try and pull her away from the table. "I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding."
"This your girlfriend?" The tallest asked him in a big scary voice.
But Sam also came between Alina and the little gang with his usual angel face, and both his hands raised in front of him. "Look we don't want any trouble, so we're just gonna go back to our table and leave you guys alone. Alright?"
Alina was still staring straight into the big man's eyes, when the brothers finally got her to move and follow them back to the table. Dean even sat down next to her to prevent his friend from going back there and start a fight. He could still feel the anger emanating from her whole body. "What the hell Alina? Why'd you do that?"
Sam also noticed how tensed up she was, and tried talking to her in the same calming voice that he usually used when his brother was acting irrationally. "Dean's right. I get that you wanted to defend that girl, but it's not like you to pick up a fight like that. They were all twice your size and you just woke up from a two days nap."
Alina rolled her eyes in frustration not wanting to listen to her friend scolding her, but when she finally met his eyes and saw the concern in them, she suddenly realized how she was acting. He was right. This wasn't her normal self. All the anger in her disappeared in an instant as she felt a huge headache coming.
Dean was even more worried to see her holding her head in pain. "Hey you okay?"
"Yeah…" But the pain was too intense to hide it. She closed her eyes and frowned. "No…"
"What's wrong? Talk to us."
"I don't…"
"Hey!" They all turned to the man standing in front of their table. It was the big guy and his two friends. They looked like they were about to grab the hunters and throw them out of the place like they were some kind of dolls. Alina and her friends stayed on the benches of their table waiting for the first punch to drop, but it never came. After a few seconds, the expressions on the men's faces changed completely into what seemed to be…shame?
The one who had to be the 'leader' of the 'gang' stepped forward with his head slightly bent over. "We wanted to say how sorry we are for earlier. You were right young lady, we shouldn't be acting like that. Thank you for showing us that our words were completely out of line."
The hunters couldn't believe what they were seeing and hearing. The brothers were desperately looking for an answer on Alina's face, but all they saw was the girl opening and closing her mouth repetitively, unable to find the right words. She was still mad at them a few minutes ago, ready to send every one of them to the closest hospital, yet she was now so astonished by the sudden change in their behavior that she couldn't say anything else than… "You're welcome?"
The three men gave her the biggest smiles they could give, and finally walked away and out of the dinner. Dean and Sam didn't even get the chance to interrogate their friend, because the waitress also came to their table right after the men were gone. She seemed way more comfortable than before. "I don't know how you did this…they came and apologized to me before leaving. They even left me a huge tip, whatever you did thank you. Your meal's on the house."
"No wait…" Alina tried to stopped her, but the young woman was already going to another table.
Once again, the brothers turned to Alina, completely stunned but finding the exact same expression on their friend's face as she was now looking at her empty plate.
"What the hell was that?" Dean was the first to ask.
"I don't…" She truly didn't know what to say.
Sam, however, was already thinking about the similarities between this scene, and a previous one they had witnessed. "Wait…that's exactly what happened with that dog in St. Louis. Remember? He was so aggressive even its owner couldn't calm him down, but when you approached him he turned into the softest animal without an explanation."
"It wasn't just a dog this time, Sam." Dean protested. "They were three grown men."
"Can we leave?" Alina asked the brothers, not wanting to spend more time in this place where everyone was now looking at her like she was some kind of alien. Although she had the same thoughts about herself, she couldn't stand all these eyes staring at her. She was tired. "Come on, let's go." She hit Dean's arm to push him out of her way until he finally agreed to go, grabbed a few bucks in her bag, threw them on the table, and followed the boys outside. She didn't want to talk about it anymore, so she spent the whole drive to the nearest motel pretending to be sleeping on the backseat, and once they finally made it to their motel room, she went straight to the bathroom and locked herself inside to be alone for a while.
She sat on the floor, next to the shower, and watched her trembling hands in fear. Her father's words came back to her mind, like a memory of her past coming back to haunt her present after all these years…
Someone knocked on the door a few minutes after she'd locked herself inside the bathroom, pulling her out of her trance. "Yeah?"
"Hey Frenchy it's me. Sam went to the laundromat, you okay?"
Alina bit her lower lip, trying to decide wether it'd be best to lie or tell the truth. Dean was already so worried for her, and she didn't even have answers for him.
"You wanna open that door for me?"
The young woman hesitated, but after a few seconds of silence, she realized how Dean was trying to be patient with her and couldn't bring herself to lie again. That was over. So she slowly got up and unlocked the door. She immediately found herself facing a surprised but relieved Dean, smiling at the girl until he noticed her teary eyes. "Hey what's wrong?"
"I don't know how I did that back at the dinner. You have to believe me, I'm not even sure that was me but…if it was me…" Alina walked past him, and kept walking back and forth in the room, anxiously bitting her nails. "I think I'm the reason why my mom doesn't want to come back." She said in such a low voice, Dean wasn't even sure of what he'd heard. Or maybe he just didn't want to hear that because he couldn't believe that was true.
"Come on Alina, you're not responsible for your mom's actions." He tried walking towards her, but she quickly turned around to walk away from him unconsciously.
"What if I am? Dean she knows something about me. She didn't tell me what it was, but when I told her about what was happening…she sounded scared."
"Maybe she was scared for you." Again, he tried to join her next to the front door, but she once again avoided him and went to sit on the bed. He hated seeing her like that. But he hated even more the way she was clearly running away from him. "Alina…"
"When I was asleep, I had a dream. I can't remember it exactly, but I remember hearing my dad's voice like it wasn't just a dream but a memory. I'm pretty sure something happened to me when I was a kid. Something my dad had to apologize for. Something that made me think I was…normal." She finally raised her head and looked at Dean now standing next to the bed. "But I'm not…"
Dean sat down next to her, not surprised to see her slowly sliding to her left to put some distance between the two of them. She didn't even noticed. So he took her hand to prevent her from leaving again, and got closer to her until he was able to wrap his arms around her. Alina let her head fall on his chest, reassured by the sound of his heartbeats next to her ear. It acted like a lullaby, relaxing her until she was finally able to close her eyes and let out a sigh of relief.
"Of course you're not normal Frenchy. You always had that…amazingly weird and intense energy that I've never seen anywhere else. You're the only one who ever laugh at my jokes, and make Sam laugh at yours. You're our friend Alina. You're a hunter. And that'll never change, alright?"
Alina smiled and nodded against his chest, but his words suddenly made her realize what her biggest fear was. The thing that terrified her the most in becoming something she didn't want to become. The hunted.
She didn't want to think about it, but the moment that thought came to her mind she knew she wouldn't be able to erase it. She would have to live with that constant fear of becoming one of those things she called monsters.
Alina felt a tear rolling down her cheeks so she wiped it on Dean's shirt when she got a little closer to him and stayed in that position for a little longer. Right now, she wanted to feel safe, and nothing could make her feel safer than Dean Winchester's arms.
Okay! So first of all, NEW COVER!
I realized that the first one seemed a little too 'dark', and I just felt like it didn't match with Dean and Alina's relationship. Yeah, they're badass hunters, but it's also a freaking love story! So yeah, I made a new one and I have to say that I'm actually proud of it. I hope you like it too.
Now, about the chapter, it's called "Bugs - Part 2" even if the episode is technically over by the time this chapter starts, because it follows Alina's storyline from the first part. So I hope you enjoyed it with all the new details I added about her character, and a little bit of Jealous Dean because why not?
Elias should come back in the story by the way. Maybe for…I don't know…Route 666? Do you see where I'm going with this? Let me know if you think this could be a good idea because I'm still not sure and I'm definitely not there yet!
Anyway, as always, have a nice day/night guys!