Chapter 10: The Girl in White Pajamas
The Righteous Man must be saved. The Seals must stand. Beware of her, the one who sees. Beware the Devil's Prophet.
Six months later
"We think it could be good for her. To be around someone who has gone through some healing. I think you two will be good for each other." Andy looked up at the white coated doctor who was trying to convince her that putting this chick in her room was a good idea. She got it. She didn't really mind. The girl was pretty and didn't seem violent or anything. Just scared and a bit of a space cadet. They thought it would do her good to see Andy doing so well after…everything. She guessed it was true. She had made a turnaround. Except for the dreams, she wasn't seeing it anymore. She wasn't really seeing much of anything really. Just some random flashes. A face. A building. A few strange symbols. She was grateful for the break, but she still expected that it would come to tear at her again soon enough. The dreams of green eyes, soft lips, and the smell of leather jackets were already starting to do that. Tearing at her. Of all the things her mind could feed her, and it chose that.
The first few days were hard on Anna. She cried a lot. She would space out sometimes. Occasionally she got a bit hysterical, but mostly she was just scared. Andy didn't pay much attention to what she was saying. They existed in the same space. Andy went to group and her one-on-one sessions. She went through the motions. She probably could have left. If she really wanted to. But she was scared as well. Afraid to face the world again. The world that didn't have him in it.
It didn't come in a dream. It came just after she had finished a session. A deep, gravely voice. Dark hair, striking blue eyes.
The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals. Those seals are being broken by Lilith. Break all 66 and… Lucifer walks free.
There was another voice. It felt…painfully familiar. She dismissed it. Her mind was overshadowing her sight with wishes and desperate dreams. It was the first full vison she had had since…before. She briefly thought about calling Ellen, or Bobby. But Ellen hadn't been to see her in over a month, and Bobby…she wasn't sure if she was ready to talk to Bobby.
It was only a few days after that, Andy began to notice what Anna was saying. What she was really saying. They were together in their room one day. She watched Anna space out for a moment then snap back to herself.
"What were you doing just then?" Andy asked. Anna looked at her steadily.
"Listening."
"Listening to what?"
"The Angels talking."
"What do they say?" Anna looked at Andy. As if trying to decide whether she was worth speaking to.
"That another seal has been broken." Andy looked at Anna as her heart skipped a beat.
"Seal? What kind of seal?"
"One of the 66 seals to -"
"Free Lucifer from hell." Andy finished breathlessly. Anna stared at her.
"You know? You can hear them too?" Andy shook her head.
"I don't hear them…angels. I see things. Things that are happening, have happened, will happen. I saw…someone talking about the seals, and Lucifer. Lilith is breaking seals." Anna nodded emphatically.
"Yes. Oh, thank God there is someone else who knows."
One month later Anna was still scared all the time, trying to warn people about the impending apocalypse was not working out. But she was glad she had Andy. She had someone who understood. It was ironic really. The only person who believed her was the one everyone thought would be the best for her. The day she gave up and told her therapist everything was the day the demons came for her. It was med time. Anna and Andy were both in their room. The orderly came in. Anna was drawing and Andy was writing. Andy looked up and sighed. She hated her meds. When Anna saw the orderly Andy heard her gasp. She looked over at her friend. She was terrified.
"Your face! What happened to your face?" Andy had a sudden sinking feeling. His eyes went black. Andy moved on instinct and threw herself in front of Anna. He closed the door and locked it. Before he had a chance to turn back the dresser when flying across the room and hit him in the chest slamming him against the door. Andy looked around at Anna mouth open. Anna grabbed her hand and they managed to squeeze out the door.
"I guess the demons know you have an angel connection." Andy said. They ran out of the building and away.
Anna led them to her family's church. It was familiar and Andy didn't know the area they were in. They had been there for a few days and were desperate for some supplies. Andy had gone to pick up some things and was almost back at the church when she was struck by the vision. Ruby…with Anna. Taking her somewhere…A cabin. She was so startled she dropped her groceries.
"Fuck. I knew she was trouble," she muttered to herself. It took her 20 minutes to find a car that was easy to jack. It took her another few minutes to remember the tracking spell Bobby taught her years ago. Then it took her a few hours to gather the ingredients (luckily nothing too complex) and cast the spell. She would have to thank Bobby one day for this. The scrap of paper that was left from the burned map told her where to go. She got in her stollen car and drove off.
She found the cabin with surprisingly little issue. She sat in the car for a moment, until she saw movement. She crept carefully to the window. She saw Anna sitting at a small table in the main room and then she saw Ruby pace away from the door. Anger flared in her and she strode right up to the door and pounded on it.
"Ruby! Open the fucking door! I know you have Anna in there!" The door didn't open. "Damnit Ruby, open up or I'm coming in!" she shouted. Nothing happened. She steadied herself and got ready to kick the door in. It opened before she raised her foot. Ruby stood in the doorway and looked at Andy all serine.
"Nice to see you again Andy," she said smugly.
"Where is she?" Andy said pushing passed her. Anna jumped up from her chair and rushed to Andy.
"It's ok Andy I'm fine. Ruby's not like other demons. She saved my life."
"Yea I'll bet she did," Andy muttered as she hugged Anna. "We need to get her somewhere safer than this." she said turning to Ruby. Anna put a hand on Andy's arm.
"But Sam and Dean are on their way here right now. We should wait for them," Anna said. A jolt went through her. Hearing his name sent a lance of pain through her heart. It took a moment to process fully what Anna had said.
"What did you say?" Andy asked breathlessly.
"Sam and Dean. I assumed you knew them because you seem to know Ruby." Andy looked between Anna and Ruby.
"Sam…" she had to swallow hard before she could get the next name out "and Dean?" Anna looked concerned as she detected the note in her friend's voice. Ruby was looking at her sceptically, then confused. Suddenly she laughed.
"You don't know," Ruby said. Andy wheeled on her.
"Don't know what?" she spat. Ruby laughed again.
"That an Angel swooped down and pulled Dean out of the pit right as rain," Ruby replied cockily. Andy stared wide eyed at the demon. "That is rich. The psychic who can see into hell but didn't see her lover pulled out."
Andy sat down heavily on the couch. Anna put a hand on her shoulder concerned.
"I never believed them," Andy said flatly. "I thought they were just dreams. Wishful thinking. There was no way that it could be true." She looked at Anna tears in her eyes. "You saw him? He's really alive?"
Anna nodded.
"I saw him, Andy. He's alive," Anna answered, trying her best to reassure Andy. A laugh that sounded more like a sob broke through Andy. She was shaking. She couldn't accept what she was hearing. She couldn't let herself believe this. Tremors rolled through her, one after another. She couldn't stop them. Anna held her hand. Andy looked at her friend, and she could feel her control slipping away. She was going to crumble apart. Anna couldn't see her like that. Suddenly she had to get out.
"I need some air," Andy said rising abruptly. Ruby blocked the door.
"There is plenty of air in here."
"Get out of my way." Andy said menacingly her voice trembling with her body.
"I'm not going to let you risk our safety."
"Ruby if you don't move so help me-"
"What? What can you possibly do to me?" Andy lost it. She leveled a look at Ruby. Something Ruby saw in her must have given her pause, because her cocky smirk faltered for a moment. Andy did nothing but raise her hand. Suddenly Ruby's face twisted in horrified confusion as she was pushed slowly away from the door, but Andy wasn't touching her.
"H-How?" Ruby stuttered out.
"You shouldn't mess with someone who can manipulate water on a molecular level. Did you know the human body is 76% water? Makes it easy to push someone around when you need to," Andy said darkly. She turned, and walked out the door, only letting Ruby go once she was on the porch. Andy stumbled slightly going down the stairs. She hadn't done something like that in a long time. Taken hold of someone's body like that. It was hard and took a lot of control and energy. But she didn't care. It was Ruby. Andy walked a long perimeter around the cabin. She didn't want to go too far, but she needed to move. To process what Ruby and Anna had told her. Dean was alive. Dean was out of hell. A fucking angel had pulled him out of hell. Her mind touched the dark of her memories. She shied away. She couldn't go there. Not now. But one memory came anyway. Pain, blood, heat, and a blinding flash of white light that grew and grew until it consumed everything. Andy turned back and ran to the cabin.
The door was wide open, and she could hear raised voices. Carefully she looked in through the window. There were four men in the room and Ruby, she couldn't see Anna. In a sudden shock she realized that two of the men were Sam and…Dean. She stared for a moment. He was right there. Black canvas jacket, collar popped, shoulders set in a defensive stance. Then she noticed one of the other men. She had seen him before…in a vision…the seals. She had seen him telling someone about the 66 seals.
"She is far from innocent," Andy heard the angel she recognized say. Sam said something next that she couldn't hear. She crept closer to the door, hoping she would be able to take one of them by surprised if she needed. Just as she made it to the door the black angel, she assumed he was an angel, moved.
"Who's going to stop us. You? Or this demon whore?" He grabbed Ruby and threw her against a window. Dean tried to go after him, but he knocked Dean down to the ground and landed a few clean punches. The one in the trench coat advanced towards Sam and touched him on the forehead. He dropped like a rock. Andy shouted and dove into the room. She rushed in and tackled the man beating Dean up. It was like running into a tank, but the element of surprise served her well, and they all went down in a tangle of limbs. The trench coat angel turned around and the one on the floor managed to right himself. He got hold of Andy and hauled her to her feet. She was slightly dazed and couldn't react fast enough. He hit her cleanly and she went down hard. The last thing she heard was a high-pitched humming and a flash of light, then everything went black.
The first thing she heard was a whine in her ears, not unlike what she had heard before everything went dark. Then she heard her name being called. Andy opened her eyes, and suddenly wasn't sure where she was.
"Is this heaven, or hell?" she asked, her words slightly slurred as she looked up into Dean's face. Fear. Fear was the first this she felt. She was back in the nightmare. A flash of memory. Eyes, green eyes, filled with bitter rage and a savage pleasure in hurting others. But as she stared into the face above her, she saw eyes filled with concern, relief, and caring. Those were the eyes of her lover, not her tormenter.
"Dean?" she breathed.
Dean helped her to sit up. She held her head in her hands for a moment. Then looked back at him. She reached out tentatively and touched his face. He was real. Solid and warm. The look he was giving her broke something in her. Her breath hitched; her eyes flooded. She lunged for him and locked her arms around him and sobbed into his neck. He held her tightly, fighting back his own tears. Andy worked to get herself under control. She pulled away and scrubbed at her face.
"Where's Anna?" she asked looking around. Dean snapped back to himself.
"Anna," he let Andy go and headed to the back room. Andy followed him. They found her with her arm sliced open and a strange sign in blood on the mirror.
"Did you kill them?" Dean asked as he quickly started wrapping his bandana around Anna's arm. Andy shook her head and pushed it away and closed her eyes. She made quick work of the gash, pushing healing energy into her friend. Anna started up at her for a moment. Andy shrugged.
"No, I sent them away, far away."
"How?"
"I don't know. It just popped into my head."
"I take it those guys were Angels?" Andy said looking at Anna. She nodded. She glanced from Andy to Dean to Sam who had come to.
"Ruby, get her ready to go," Sam said then gestured to Andy and Dean. They stepped outside. Dean and Andy stared at each other for a moment. Dean opened his mouth as if to say something. His words seemed to stick in his throat, and he closed his mouth again. Andy put a hand on Dean's shoulder.
"Let's save the stories for later. We have bigger fish right now," Andy said. Dean nodded and looked over at Sam.
"So, what do you think?" he said.
"Both sides want her pretty bad," Sam mentioned.
"Yea and not just for her angel radio," Dean agreed.
"We need to get somewhere safe fast," Andy said.
"We'll take her to Bobby's," Dean said as he ran a hand over his face. Andy's heart stuttered. The motion was so Dean. It made her heart ache. Andy nodded her agreement and they left.
They all got a surprise when they got to Bobby's. Dyson opened the door and greeted them.
"Hey boys," Dyson said as after he opened the door.
"Dyson?" Sam said amazed. He hugged his friend hard. "Where the hell did you come from?"
"Exactly," Dyson replied. Sam raised an eyebrow at him. "I'll explain in a bit. Get yourselves in here."
Dean shook Dyson's hand. When Andy walked in behind him leading Anna, Dyson gave her a small smile and was pleased when she smiled softly back. They all took Anna down to the panic room. Dyson let them know where Bobby was. Off in the Dominican apparently. Andy decided not to ask to avoid possibly scaring mental images. Once Anna was settled and Ruby had hooked them up with hex bags to keep them hidden, Andy, Sam, Dyson, and Dean all gathered in Bobby's study. Dyson looked at her and hung his head a bit.
"Sorry we all kind of lost track of you," he said. Andy shook her head.
"No, you all had shit to deal with."
"So, what have you been doing?" Sam asked.
"And how did you end up with Anna?" Dean put in. Andy hesitated. She bit her lip, avoiding several pairs of eyes looking at her.
"I…I, uh, really don't want to get into that right now guys," Andy said quietly. "We should focus on keeping Anna safe right now."
All three of the men exchanged looks. Sam and Dyson looked slightly guilty, and Dean was just worried. Ran a hand down his face again and sighed.
"Ok, well we need to find out more about her," Dean started. Andy cocked her head.
"Like what?" she asked.
"Like where she's from, who she is. That kind of stuff," Sam started. Andy took a breath and dove in.
"She came into the ward about two months ago, she also had an episode when she was 2. She'd get hysterical and thought her father wasn't really her father," Andy offered. She noticed Dean looking at her searchingly. Like he was trying to work out a problem
"She must be hiding something," Dean said skeptically.
"I don't think she is," Andy disagreed. "She might have something buried though. Way down deep. That could help."
"Great how do we uncover it?" Sam asked.
"We need a psychic," Andy replied.
"I thought you were a psychic," Dean said confused.
"I'm a Volva, there's a difference. We need someone with a different skill set. Hypnosis and stuff like that." Sam and Dean exchanged looks.
"Pamela," they said in unison.
Sam volunteered to pick up Pamela. He headed out straight away. Once Sam was on his way, Dean and Dyson cornered Andy.
"Alright honey, you need to start talking," Dyson said. Andy just looked at him evenly.
"What happened to you Andy? Anna told us you were her roommate…in the psych ward. Care to elaborate?" Dean asked. Andy looked between the two men she loved more than anything. She swallowed roughly.
"I…I don't know. You really don't want to hear this."
"Andrea, you were a roommate to a woman who wore white pajamas all day. There is a story that needs to be told here," Dyson said firmly. Andy sighed and sat down. She wasn't ready. If she started, she was not going to be able to stop. But they were right…she needed to tell them. She needed to tell him.
"After…" she glanced at Dean "After you died, I didn't take it well," she started. Dean crossed his arms, a serious look on his face. "You kind of know that" she added looking at Dyson. "I lost myself a bit at the beginning. I didn't want to be in this world with out you in it," she said simply. Dean's jaw flexed. "But Dyson was here for me, and Bobby. They helped a lot for a while. But then Dyson started trailing Sam," Dyson shifted uncomfortably. "I get it honey, you promised Dean you would keep an eye on him, and he needed you more than I did." Andy paused and looked at Dean. She knew this was going to hurt him, but there was no way around it. "So, I went to Ellen and Jo. Back to what I knew. What was familiar," Andy took a breath. Dean was keeping his eyes steadily on her, but now she had to look away from him. "It started small. Bad dreams, waking up screaming. Seeing you die over and over. Hell hounds, that kind of stuff. They worked through it with me, and they were great. But slowly the dreams shifted. They turned into visions. They were different, and I started having them during the day." She paused again.
"Visions of what?" Dean asked. Andy hesitated, then looked at Dean evenly. He had asked, and she was going to tell him.
"Of Hell."
Andy watched as Dean absorbed what she had just said. She couldn't help the tears that came to her, but she held his eyes and took a deep breath. "I watched as they ripped, and sliced, and carved into you. I watched you grit your teeth and try not to scream, and I watched when you gave in. I can still hear it when I close my eyes. I watched when Alistair came to you every day and I know what he offered you."
Dean had shifted slightly. His eyes wide, body tight. She noticed a tremor run through him. She couldn't stop now.
"When I was having visions almost constantly Ellen and Jo couldn't take it. They… got me set up in the hospital. They came to visit every now and again, on the rare days I was lucid, it was nice to talk with them. Although I usually cried through most of it," Andy's voice broke for a moment. Dyson nodded at her, encouraging her to go on. She took a shaking breath and continued.
"Three months I watched you get torn to shreds every day and then become whole again." This was the part that she knew would break him. "Then after a particularly long lucid period the visions changed. My perspective shifted. I wasn't some third-party observer anymore…I was on the rack. I was being torn apart."
Dyson's eyes were tight and pained, but Andy only had eyes for Dean at that moment. His expression was one of utter horror. Like he knew what was coming.
"I was being torn apart over and over, by you Dean."
That did it. Dean's face lost all colour. He reached out to a nearby chair and collapsed heavily into it. He stared at her without really seeing. Andy could almost watch the memories flashing across his mind. The burning, ripping, slicing. She had to keep going, it needed to all be out in the open.
"By that point I was never lucid. If I was, I couldn't really engage with reality. They tried me on all sorts of drugs, but obviously nothing helped. I was restrained most of the time, the sedated me continuously to keep me quiet," she couldn't look at Dean now. Or Dyson. She stared at the floor. "Then I remember one day I saw this pure fiery light piercing through everything, and I woke up. Everything had stopped. I'm going to guess that was the angel pulling you out," she said with a sardonic smile. She continued: "I still had dreams. Memories would flood in when I slept, but I started telling my therapist that I had come to realize that everything had been in my head. That hell was all a delusion. That was when Anna became my roommate. The doctors thought I would be a good influence on her. To see someone who had broken away from their delusions," Andy paused and her eyes flicked to Dean. Dean was trembling slightly, but he held her eyes. "I thought it was ironic when we started talking and found out we both knew the truth. They had put her with the one person who would believe her. The rest you know."
Andy looked away. She couldn't bare the look on Dean's face. The tears that were streaming down his cheeks cracked a hole in her chest. Dyson was just as horrified. He looked at her with stricken eyes.
"Please don't look at me like that," Andy said her voice breaking. "I don't want you to think I'm delicate just because of what I've seen. Dean lived it, I only saw it."
Dean moved. He stumbled away and almost ran to the kitchen. Andy stood when she heard him retching. She followed him slowly. Dean spat into the sink. She saw him dry heave once more then run the water to clear out the evidence. Andy reached out to him but found that she couldn't bring herself to touch him. Not yet. He turned to look over his shoulder at her. His eyes were haunted.
"Andy I…" Dean started to say.
"Don't!" she growled. He flinched. Andy softened a bit. "Dean, don't do that to yourself, or to me. Don't you dare. None of it is your fault."
He looked lost. She could see he was fighting hard to keep it together still. As she looked at him, she could see her Dean. Truly. The image of what he had had to become in hell melted away for the moment. She reached out and put a hand on his shoulder, gently guiding him to turn and face her. He wouldn't meet her eyes now. She put a hand on his cheek and tilted his face to look at her. "None of it is your fault." He held her eyes for a moment, but he couldn't hold back. He broke down utterly. Andy wrapped her arms around him whispering over and over. "It's not your fault Dean. It's not your fault." Andy was grateful that for once in his life Dyson had enough tact to quietly stay where he was and let her have some privacy.
She and Dean stayed there for a long while. Holding each other. Eventually the disentangled from one another they grabbed some beers and brought one to Dyson. Dean looked at him and asked,
"So…what happened to you for four months. I know you looked after Sam until…well he gave you the slip. But Bobby said you dropped off the face of the earth. What happened?"
"Well, Bobby wasn't far off," Dyson said. He sat down and told them the story. After Dean went to Hell, Dyson kept an eye on Sam like he had promised. When things started going south he had the thought of trying to find a way into hell to get Dean out. Ruby did some recon and it had pointed him in a direction, and he followed it.
"Only it wasn't the right hell."
After a moment Andy started to laugh.
"Wow. It was Hel. One L. It really exists," Andy mused. Dyson nodded and went on. So, he met Hel, the goddess not the place, and asked her about Dean. Obviously, he wasn't there. When Dyson tried to leave, Hel wouldn't let him. For some reason she liked him. She made him stay with her until he made a deal. Now every soul, human, monster, or otherwise, he reaps with any one of his blades will go to her. When he got out he had no idea when it was, so he made his way back to Bobby's and only got back a few days ago. Dean and Andy stared at him in disbelief.
"Hold on…" he said puzzled. "There's another hell?" Dean said confused. Andy looked at Dyson and they both burst out laughing.
"It's nowhere near as violent as the Christian hell. In fact, Norse Hel is rather boring," Dyson said pensively.
"Boring hell," Dean quipped as he took a swig of beer, "who'd of thought."
Once Pamela arrived, things started happening. She was able to help Anna remember who, or rather what, she was. She was an angel in human form. She was without a grace and without wings. Finding her grace turned into quite the small adventure. After driving all the way to Kentucky just to be disappointed, Andy was starting to get rather frustrated with angels. Dean's dream made her dislike Uriel particularly considering he was threatening her best friend. And that posed a serious problem. It was Sam who came up with the plan to get Alistair, Castiel and Uriel all in the same room and duke it out together. The amazing thing was it worked. The angels and demons beat on each other for a bit. Anna managed to grab her grace back from Uriel. When she took it in though it looked like the power was going to overwhelm her human body. She told everyone to shut their eyes. Dyson watched and just before she completely lost herself Dyson managed to catch and siphon off some of her energy into a concentrated ball. Anna's body survived taking on her grace, and when Dyson released the energy, it was like an angel style EMP had gone off. The demons disappeared. Castiel and Uriel looked genuinely surprised at Dyson and Anna. In a flash Uriel pulled his seraph blade and lunged towards Anna his face a mask of rage. Castiel seemed to be too stunned to react. Uriel made a move to stab Anna but was surprised again by Dyson who caught his wrist handily and pulled his blade from him. Dyson quietly passed the blade to Anna. She turned to the other angels.
"Now that we have gotten past this. Maybe we can talk?" Castiel and Uriel exchange a glance. With nothing but a soft brush of air, the angels were gone.
Anna decided it was best for everyone if she left as well. She knew that both angels and demons would be back for her at some point. She didn't want to bring that on the rest of them. So, she said her goodbyes.
Anna was gone. Her best friend for the past two months was now an angel with wings on the run. Andy was going to miss her.
The boys thought it was a good idea to go back to Bobby's for a while. To regroup and rest a bit. Andy agreed, but she had something to take care of first.
"Dyson?" she asked. "Can you do me a favour?"
"Sure, what do you need love?"
"I left my bike back in Duluth with Ellen and Jo. I don't think they're there anymore, but I'm hoping my bike still is. Could you…bring me there so I can bring it back?" Andy asked a little sheepishly. Dyson chuckled and nodded.
"Want me to come with you Andy?" Dean asked. Andy thought about it for a moment. The truth was, she was still a little skittish around Dean. More often than not, when she looked at him, the first thing she saw was bitter eyes and a blade in his hand. Andy shook her head.
"No, it's ok. I'm sure you don't really want to ride bitch with your girlfriend anyway," Andy said doing her best to hide her hesitation with crass humor. Dean seemed to buy it, but she did catch a flash of disappointment cross his face. Dyson took her to her bike. It was right where she had left it, and only a little worse for wear. It was drivable though, so she started her six-hour ride back to Bobby's.
Andy took the time on her ride to start processing all that had happened over the past few days. She was out of the hospital. Anna was gone. Dean was back…Dean was back. The riot of emotions that bubbled up in her from that thought was dizzying. Even though Sam had been determined to get Dean back somehow Andy had been convinced that she would never see Dean again. At least not alive. But he was here. Alive and…physically well at least. She wanted to go back to the way it was. She loved Dean, deeply. But she couldn't…she couldn't be with him like that right now. She hopped that it would just take time. That they weren't so broken that they couldn't move forward. That she couldn't move forward.
She was afraid that that was exactly what might happen. She had felt a shift in her. Although her visions had slowed down, and she was less afraid of seeing hell now, she felt like something was coming. Something sinister lurked at the corners of her mind. Just out of sight. She couldn't shake the feeling that this was just the beginning.