The Distance Between Two Hearts; Part Five
Previous chapters here.
Chapter Eight
“Okay, guys, you know what to do,” Sam said as he cut the engine of the Impala at the edge of the woods.
He looked over at Dean, then in the backseat at Christina. Dean looked determined, no fear showing on any inch of his facade. The only telltale sign that he was a little uneasy was the drastic paling of his face. Christina made Dean look like he’d been in a tanning bed for days, though. She was shaking again and her nearly white skin made her brown hair look almost black in the moonlight.
It was ten o’clock. They had two hours until the ritual went down and Jake - and maybe Christina - was lost to them forever. Sam was nervous, too. He’d never seen Dean as happy as he was with Christina, with Jake, and he wanted this brother to be happy. He didn’t want a stupid hunt to screw that up. And, he’d become rather attached to Jake, just like Dean had. The kid was awesome, simply put. There was so much riding in their stopping this ritual that he couldn’t help but doubt his skills. He told himself it was a natural reaction, but that didn’t make the fear fade away.
After a few tense minutes of silence, each hunter trapped inside their own mind, Christina got out of the car, pulling her backpack of supplies behind her. “Let’s move,” she said, voice tight with barely-controlled fear.
Dean was next out of the car and immediately by Chris’ side. Sam waited a few moments to let him say whatever it was he needed to say - because there was obviously something - before joining them. When he did, everyone fell silent once again, avoiding each other’s eyes like the plague.
“We’re really doing this? Splitting up?” Dean asked fearfully, breaking through the sounds of the crickets.
“We have to,” Christina whispered.
“But, why? I don’t see what good is going to come of it.”
“We know your views on it, Dean, you haven’t let us forget all day,” Sam contributed. “Chris said that in her vision, our main mistake was bursting in together, guns blazing. Billy needs to believe that she’s come alone to get Jake.”
“But, Sam -”
“No ‘buts,’ Dean!” Christina exploded, voice much higher-pitched than usual. “This is how it has to be, okay? If we split up, it gives us the higher survival rate. That’s the important thing: that we all come out of this alive. But, if you’ve got a problem with it, you are more than welcome to climb back in your car and get the hell out of Dodge. I can take care of it myself.”
Sam shifted his gaze from one to the other, skin prickling at the tension in the air. He had agreed with Christina right from the start when they’d sat down to formulate a plan to deal with the werewolves. The only real solution was for her to go in and distract Billy, the leader, while Sam and Dean, at the very least, sized up the rest. Dean had bitched from the second the words were out of her mouth, nearly to the point of begging by the time they’d climbed in the car with their weapons. Sam understood where his brother was coming from; he didn’t want to let Chris go in alone either, didn’t want to risk losing her almost as much as his brother. But what other choice did they have? If they all went in together, Billy and the others would immediately be on the offensive, much stronger physically than any of them. But, if he believed Chris was alone, Sam and Dean could filter in relatively unseen.
“Chris…” Dean whispered, taking a step into her. “I just don’t like this. I don’t like you facing them - him - alone.”
Christina’s eyes softened at his tone, his emotions laid bare. “I know, Dean. But, you and Sam will be right there. And, whether you choose to believe it or not, I’m probably stronger than both of you, considering what I can do. Dean, I need you to have faith in me, all right? Because that is the only thing that will make this work. If I don’t feel like you have my back on this, then I don’t need you there. I’d hate to do it, but I can make you two walk away. Just trust me.”
Her words even cut deep into Sam’s heart, so he could only imagine what they were doing to Dean’s. She was right. They were only going to get through this by working as a team; there couldn’t be any discord because, in this case, it meant death.
Sam turned away as Dean moved right up to Chris and leaned down to kiss her. He didn’t need to see it because…well…one, it was a private matter for them. And, two, it just made his heart hurt, thinking of Jess. So, he busied himself at the trunk of the Impala, loading their pistols and shotguns with silver and psyching himself up for battle.
He was startled to feel a hand on his shoulder and he almost whacked Christina in the face with a sawed-off shotgun when he turned. She smiled at him and then, stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“What was that for?” he asked, looking at her strangely.
She laughed, weakly. “For being you and for being my friend. For making me feel human again after all this time. For helping see the things I didn’t want to. And for being here, helping me. For everything.”
Sam blushed and ducked his head, turning back to the trunk. “S’what friends’re for,” he mumbled.
She patted his shoulder and said, “Let’s get going. We don’t have much time left.”
Ten minutes later, they were traipsing into the woods.
* * *
Christina led the Winchesters to the old mine caretaker’s house and then nodded for them to find a different way in while she boldly marched up to the entrance. The door was opened easily, and she wasn’t the least bit surprised. She walked in, suddenly feeling the hot weight of the 9mm at her back, the small pistol tucked in her sock, and the extra clips of silver bullets shoved into the pockets of her jeans. Her throat was getting tight with fear and she did her best to calm her nerves. Being nervous would just get her and her boy, not to mention the Winchesters, killed.
“Well, well. A little earlier than I expected, but I’m glad you’re here,” a voice boomed as she rounded a corner into the mines.
Candles were set up all around the large cavern. The light was dancing on the walls and four large animals were sitting quietly, staring at her. An altar of sorts was placed in the middle of the candles and, on either side of it, stood Billy and Jake.
Jake had a superficial-looking gash running up the right side of his face, an old, yellowing bruise on his left cheek and split bottom lip. He didn’t look to be too injured otherwise and she thanked whoever was listening for that.
“Jake!” she yelled and immediately started to rush toward him. A warning growl from off to her right made her stop, mid-flight.
Billy let out a low, menacing chuckle and spoke again, drawing her eyes from Jake to him. “You might not want to make any sudden movements. They’ve been told not to hurt you, but…one of them might disobey. They’re not the brightest.”
“Why do you want me?”
“Well, I thought that would be obvious, Christina. You don’t give yourself enough credit, really.”
Billy was smirking at her, eyeing her like she was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and steadily walking toward where she stood frozen at the mouth of the cave. He was so busy studying her that she risked reaching out to Jake.
Jake, sweetie, does he know? That Dean and Sam are with me? she tried to project into her son’s mind.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jake straighten up and hoped he wouldn’t alert anyone. Werewolves, just like other animals, had a heightened sense of awareness and the tiniest little issue would send their scheme toppling into the depths of Hell.
No, came the tiny answer. He thinks you’re giving up.
Good. That’s what they needed him to think.
“Always the strong one, such determination. Don’t forget fiercely loyal. You’re beautiful, Christina. And, you’ll make such a pretty queen,” Billy said when he was right in front of her, bringing one cold hand up to run his knuckles down the side of her face. Chris did her best not to flinch.
“And, who says I want to be your queen, Billy? I don’t remember seeing a ring.”
He laughed. “Always with the sarcasm, Chris. That’s another thing I like about you, you’re funny. We’ll be so happy. Just picture it. We’ll kill innocent people and you’ll entertain me. Of course, we’ll have our little offspring to raise, too. What do you say?”
“Fuck. You,” she bit out coldly, barely restraining herself from informing him that Jake was the offspring of someone far better than him.
“Oh, we’ll get to that later. And, it’ll be much better in an animal state. Trust me.”
He winked and moved back to the table. “Dan. Tie her up.”
“What? No!” Jake cried out.
One of the wolves on Christina’s right changed back into his human form, and she let out a startled gasp. Daniel lived directly underneath her in the apartment building. He’d even watched over Jake a few times.
“Sorry, Chris. But, you’ll be happier once you’ve changed. You have no idea how amazing power like this feels,” the twenty-one-year-old said as he stepped up to her with rope.
Now, Christina could have stopped him, sent him flying, with a mere glance in the right direction. But, she was in so much shock at the figure in front of her that she didn’t realize what was happening until she was bound.
Then Daniel swung and everything went black.
* * *
“Okay, it should be just around the corner,” Dean whispered back to his brother as they moved through the old mineshafts.
“It had better be, Dean. I think we’ve been walking in circles,” Sam nagged.
“Sammy, it’s a mine. Everything looks the same.”
Dean was quickly getting a headache from the whole situation. It had been a good twenty minutes since they’d separated from Christina and he was getting anxious. Sam’s constant complaining wasn’t helping matters any. Just as he was about to throw his hands in the air and let Sam lead, they saw flickering light up ahead. That could only come from fire.
Dean sped up and stuck his head around the corner. There were seven people in the open space. Three men and one woman walked around the perimeter, sometimes randomly sliding into wolf form, seemingly testing themselves out. In the center of the cavern, Billy stood next to an altar of sorts. Jake was sitting on it, wide-eyed and pale. But, Christina was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, great…they converted another one…Do you see her, Sammy?”
“No, Dean, your head’s in the way.”
“Dude, you’re ten feet tall. Just look over me.”
Sam huffed but stood up straighter and poked his head out above Dean. “There she is,” he whispered.
“What? Where?”
“In the center…Dean, she doesn’t look good…”
Dean stood up, trying to see over the circling changelings. “I don’t see what you’re talking about Sam. She’s not even th -”
He found Chris lying on the ground, next to the table. Her hands were tied behind her back, face beaten, and she was obviously unconscious, blood oozing from the side of her head and pooling too quick for comfort. The 9mm and the tiny pistol she’d been carrying were lying neglected at the side of the cave. It was only Sam’s hand that stopped him from rushing into the middle of the pack.
“What do we do now?” Sam asked, since their original plan was to wait for Christina to signal them. Now that she was unconscious…it would be a little hard for her to do much of anything.
“I don’t know, Sam. You’re the college boy, what do you think we should do?”
“Well, we could do what you always wanna do…barge in and try to take as many down as we can…”
“And, how smart is that, Sammy? We’d be outnumbered, five to two. And without Chris and Jake’s telekinesis on our side…”
“Then what do you suggest we do, oh Great One?”
Dean was thisclose to turning around and decking Sam just on principle, but then he saw movement on the ground. Christina was coming to, albeit very slowly. Billy looked down and said something to her, but from their position, he couldn’t make out the words.
Dean?
Suddenly her voice was in his head, very weak but there, and no matter how often it happened, he’d never get used to it. In a moment of blind panic, he couldn’t remember what she’d told him to do to respond to her. He knew that she wouldn’t just invade, so it was up to him…he had to let her know he was there…
“Focus on her eyes,” Sam whispered in his ear.
He nodded his thanks and closed his eyes, picturing the dark brown depths of Christina’s soul, all the while repeating ‘I’m here’ in his head
After a minute, he heard an answer, still too feeble for his liking - try to take one of them down from where you are.
Dean turned to look up at Sam and mouthed ‘Load.’
Sam nodded and pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans, pulling out the cartridge to make sure it was full.
“What now?”
“She wants us to kill one of them from here.”
“But, Dean -”
Great, Sammy had his bitchface on. Dean held up his hand to keep Sam silent and still the imminent argument. “I know. As soon as we start shooting, they’ll know we’re here. But, what else can we do?”
Sam looked at his watch. “It’s 11:32.”
“Then it’s time to save my son and my -” He stopped and looked up at Sam again. Sam smiled knowingly, and nodded at him. “Right. Let’s go.”
Dean took a step forward, sure to make as little noise as possible and aimed for the man/wolf closest to him. He followed the guy with the gun until his back was toward him and fired off a shot. He looked long enough to see the shot go through the heart, emerging from the thing’s chest before he ducked back around the corner, gun still at the ready.
“Well, I guess we’re in the game now!” Sam said, with a half-maniacal grin.
Dean opened his mouth to say ‘Guess so,’ but then a low growl came from just around the corner. Sam motioned at Dean to go through with “the plan” - which meant he would go find the nearest way into the cave, save for the one they were sitting at, and sneak around behind. Maybe he could even get to Christina before she lost too much blood.
* * *
As Dean moved away, Sam brought his pistol up to the ready and stepped out into open air. The remaining three cronies in wolf form, since Billy was still guarding Christina and Jake, were still fifteen feet from where he was standing, and they were in no hurry to get at him, obviously seeing that they outnumbered him.
And, there was the fact that they were superhuman.
He spared a glance over the top of them and met Christina’s eyes. He remembered what Jake had said - that he could control his telekinesis if he tried. He’d tried before though and nothing had happened, so why should this be any different?
Sam, c’mon. I know you can do this. Jake knows you can do this. You just need to try.
Even in his head, her voice sounded like it was whispered and quickly losing strength that wasn’t there to begin with; that scared him more than anything, more than the wolves steadily advancing on him. Christina couldn’t be anything but strong; he’d never known her to be weak. So, he tried. For her.
He remembered her story about making a vampire behead himself on accident, just because she was frustrated enough. If the power of telekinesis was locked inside him, then maybe it just took a lot of passion to force it out - like when he’d had the vision of Dean getting shot and moved the cabinet out of his way. He focused on everything he could think of: Jess’s death, his father’s death, even his mother’s death though he wasn’t old enough to remember it.
But, the wolves were still advancing. It wasn’t working.
Then he heard Jake scream, quickly followed by Christina. Sam looked away from the snarling animals again and saw that Mother and Son were lying side by side on the altar. Billy had made a large gash on both of their stomachs.
All of a sudden, one of the wolves let out a strangled yelp and went flying. It hit the wall with a sickening thud and lay still on the ground. It wasn’t dead; Sam could see its - his or her - chest rising and falling shallowly.
When he turned his attention back to the other two, complete shock at his own powers running through his veins, they had stopped. He raised his gun and one of them jumped, growling and snarling. He closed his eyes, a rookie move at its best, and pulled the trigger, praying that it went where he’d been aiming.
* * *
Dean rounded the corner, across from his previous spying point, just as Sam shot one of the remaining werewolves through the heart. He noticed that Sam had his eyes closed and made a mental note to beat him for it later.
Shifting his view from his brother to the altar, he saw what caused the screams echoing throughout the mines. Billy had started the ritual. There was blood running down the sides of the table and dripping into ancient-looking collection bowls on the ground, and he was chanting softly above the heavily panting bodies of Jake and Christina. Jake looked relatively unharmed, save for the semi-shallow stomach wound and a couple fading facial injuries, but Chris had two rapidly swelling black eyes, a red knot on her forehead, purpling left cheek, and bloody lip. Obviously, the girl didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. That was his girl, all right.
Christina looked away from Jake over to where Dean was standing, having felt him enter. ‘Thank God’ was bouncing around her mind. She knew she didn’t have enough strength to reach out to him, having spent too much encouraging Sam. She believed in him, though, and knew that he could do this without her help if he focused, if he didn’t worry about her.
Dean saw Chris looking at him, but there was no voice in his head. She wasn’t helping him or telling him what to do. And she looked so pale. He started to panic. He didn’t know if he could do this. He glanced down at the gun in his hand and then back up at her.
Her eyes said what her telepathy couldn’t: I have faith in you.
Dean nodded at her and stealthily moved forward, behind Billy. Chris felt Jake tug at her hand and she turned her head, weakly, to look at him. He closed his eyes, and she was suddenly filled with energy. Mixing her son’s strength with her own, she jerked her head to the right and Billy flew over the altar and landed on his stomach ten feet away.
She heard a shot go off to her left and looked over to see Sam standing above the third dead werewolf and aiming for the fourth. Dean moved around the altar, hesitating only slightly and moved to Billy, who was quickly stirring.
As soon as the chanting had stopped, Christina felt some of her own strength returning and released Jake’s energy. Her body, which had been starting to shake while Billy chanted the ancient words over her, calmed down and her heart rate returned to normal. She had felt herself beginning to change and it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience.
Sam moved quickly after shooting the last animal, besides Billy, to the altar to tend to Jake and Christina. He tore his flannel shirt off and ripped it in half. Jake had already sat up, albeit gingerly and was trying to help his mother sit up, too. Sam moved faster.
“Jake,” he soothed. “It’s okay. Let me.” He handed over one half of his shirt. “Press this against your stomach.”
Jake did as he was told. His was much shallower than Christina’s though, and Sam thanked God that he was a large man and she was petite. He managed to lift her up enough to situate himself behind her, steadfastly ignoring how she light she was - probably due to blood loss - and he gently wrapped the other half of the shirt around her torso, tying it tight enough to try to staunch the flow of blood. She’d lost a lot, though - both from her head wound and the ceremonial cut - and he prayed, for the first time in a long time.
Billy was on his feet mere seconds after being thrown across the room by Christina’s mind and met Dean with a solid punch to the jaw. Dean was knocked off balance and fell to the ground, gun flying out of his hand. Billy picked him up immediately and landed another fist to the gut, effectively knocking the wind out of him.
Christina saw all of this happening and began to struggle, albeit feebly, in Sam’s hold. “Chris, stop,” he whispered. “Let him do this himself.”
She stilled for a moment and then slumped back against him, obviously too weak to do much else.
Dean stayed doubled over for a few seconds, drawing deep bouts of air into his lungs, as Billy circled around him, waiting for the real fight to begin. “So, this is how the mighty Winchesters stop me? One punch and you’re down? I expected better of you, Dean. No matter, because she will still be mine. You lost your chance. You already lost her.”
When Dean didn’t say anything, still trying to draw in lungful after lungful of air, Billy continued his taunting with a chuckle. “Not only did you lose her, but now you’re losing your son. How very sad. But, no worries, Dean my man. I’ll take care of him. I’ll make sure he’s raised right. He’ll be my son now. We’ll be the perfect family.”
Dean’s vision suddenly went red and he lunged for Billy with a ferocious growl, knocking them both to the ground. He landed on top and straddled the werewolf’s waist, throwing punch after punch into his redneck face, rage fueling him. In the middle of the assault, right in front of his eyes, Billy laughed, beginning to transform and soon Dean was bucked off of a hungry wolf.
“Dean,” Christina cried out feebly, reaching towards Dean. Sam tightened his hold on her, still trying to be tender, and shushed her. He felt helpless, too, but his interference might get them all killed.
Dean felt the impact of the stone all too well as the wolf was immediately on him. He put up his left arm, holding it against the animal’s neck as it snarled and snapped its jaws in his face. With his right arm, he strained for the gun that was just inches out of his reach.
Dean could feel his strength waning and the foul breath, the nasty teeth, get closer to his face. And, he could feel blood starting to seep out of wounds on his torso and legs from the thrashing claws. The other three could see everything and couldn’t do much to stop it. It was Dean’s fight. Chris was too weak; Sam was too fearful that if he let go of her, she’d die; and Jake was just a kid. And if any of them tried to get a shot off, they risked shooting Dean.
All of a sudden, Christina went completely slack in Sam’s arms. He looked down at her just as he felt a change in the air. On instinct, he glanced over at Jake. The boy had his eyes closed, brow furrowed in concentration, and Billy was pulled backward off Dean with an irritated yelp.
Dean took the opportunity to scramble towards his gun and fired off a shot. The shot went wild, ricocheting deep into the mines. Billy was getting over his confusion and quickly back to his feet. Dean forced his hand to steady and fired again, silver bullet making a clean hole through the werewolf’s leg.
Billy kept coming though, limping only slightly. Dean tried again to force a steady hand, but could physically see the metal swaying in the air. Then, he felt an odd pull on the muscles of his right hand and looked quickly from Billy to the altar. Jake was looking right at him and smiling, and Dean knew - his son was going to help him kill this bastard.
So, he nodded and focused back on Billy, who had slowed due to his wound. With Jake’s help, he aimed once again and pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times.
All three shots went directly into Billy’s heart as he leaped to pounce on Dean. Dean rolled away and the dead animal fell with a loud ‘thump’ right where he’d been laying. Breathing heavily, Dean watched, transfixed, as the animal morphed back into the man.
Gaining his composure, he was suddenly all too aware of the gashes adorning his body and he groaned. But, they weren’t very deep, and he needed to get to Christina. She was hurt, badly. His wounds didn’t matter like hers and Jake’s. Moving as quickly as possibly, he limped over to the altar.
Sam shifted as Dean pulled Christina against him. She was completely boneless, though she still had a faint pulse. That pulse wasn’t going to be there much longer if they didn’t get to a hospital - and fast.
“Sammy,” he forced out through a raw throat. “Take her. Get her to the car. You’re the least injured. I’ll be behind you as quick as I can, but if we’re not there in five, just go. She needs help.”
Sam nodded, grief at his brother’s broken voice infusing his heart, and picked Christina up in his arms, gingerly, without a word and quickly strode toward the gift shop of the mines. He went as fast as he could, trying to not jostle her too much, increasingly worried as blood soaked his shirt and his arms.
Dean limped over to the other side of the table and grabbed Jake by the shoulders, eyes scanning the boy’s injuries. There was the cut on his stomach and a few scraped knuckles, plus an old cut on his face, but that was it. He was relatively unharmed.
Dean was a little surprised when the boy latched onto him and buried his face in his torso, hot tears splashing across his bloodied shirt.
“You came. Daddy, you saved us,” Jake sobbed.
Dean couldn’t help but grin at the word, ‘Daddy.’ “Yeah, Jake. Shhh. It’s okay, buddy. I’m here. You’re safe. You and Mom are safe.”
He tightened his arms around the shaking, tiny body. “We need to get to a hospital though, okay Little Man?”
He felt Jake nod. “Can you walk?” Another nod. “Okay, c’mon, then. We need to help your mom. I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that? Can you be strong for Mom?”
“Yes, Dad.”
Dean knelt down and wiped some of the tears off the dirt-stained face of his son. He smiled at the boy and at the resemblance he suddenly saw. This kid had faced a clan of werewolves, alone, for two days, and had just broken down after it was all over. Yeah, the kid was a Winchester, no doubt about it.
Dean stood up and Jake grabbed his hand, holding on tight. Together, Father and Son made their way out of the mines, as quick as Dean’s wounds would allow. Dean could only think one thing, as he clutched his son’s little hand:
Please let her live so I can, too.
Chapter Nine
Christina groaned as a knock sounded at the door. She knew who it was and why they’d come, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. She tried to push herself up, but even after three days, she was still pretty sore. Jake had healed quite nicely and just had a thin scab over the cut in his stomach. She was much worse. The doctor had put stitches in for a couple days and she’d just gotten them taken out that morning. Her face was still slightly bruised, but the headaches from the blow Daniel had given her were quickly subsiding.
“Don’t get up, Mom. It’s just Dad and Sammy. I’ll get it,” Jake said, somewhat sadly, as he emerged from his room and his video games.
She glanced up at him and was torn by the long face, the slumped shoulders. Dean had been around, nearly nonstop for the past three days - just hanging out, playing video games, anything Jake wanted to do. Now, Jake knew that Dean was about to leave and possibly walk out of his life forever. She didn’t want him to be sad, but she couldn’t make Dean stay. True, they hadn’t done much talking after the werewolf incident, not about that, but she knew that she wouldn’t dare ask him to stay.
The door opened and the Winchester brothers were walking in just when she’d finally gotten herself off the couch. Dean noticed and moved over quickly. “Christina West, you get your ass back on that couch.”
She grinned up at him and gladly let him push her back down. He situated himself next to her, their legs touching ever so slightly. Sam cleared his throat out of nervous habit by the door and followed Jake into his room. Well, Jake dragged him, rather.
Neither Dean nor Chris said anything for a few minutes, both just staring blankly ahead. This was it. They were going to be separating again. She didn’t know what to do or what to say. And, she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she’d beg him not to go. But, she didn’t want to do that. She couldn’t burden Dean just because she was selfish.
After the tension became too much to bear, Dean reached over and grabbed her hand. He sat there for a few moments, just rubbing his thumb over her skin. Then they both spoke at once:
“You can -”
“Why don’t -”
“Sorry,” Chris said and pulled her hand away. She stood up, faster this time, and headed for Jake’s bedroom. She leaned against the doorjamb and watched Jake kick Sam’s ass in whatever violent video game they were playing. Both man and boy looked happy, and she felt her heart tighten just that much more, squeezing just a little more emotion out and leaving less room for the tears to stay trapped.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Dean, green eyes sparkling with something she didn’t want to name aloud. It was the same thing she’d seen so many times before - their first kiss, their first time on Prom night, her graduation, every night from September until she’d left. She’d missed it, missed him, missed the way he used to look at her.
But, that was then. Things had gotten more complicated and that look in his eyes wasn’t enough anymore.
“Chris…” he breathed.
She nodded and stretched up onto her toes, hiding her grimace at the pain of stretching stomach muscles, and placed a soft, barely-there kiss on his lips. “I know,” she whispered against his mouth.
She closed her eyes and felt a tear slip out. It was immediately followed by a rough hand gently wiping it away.
“Why don’t you just come with us?” Dean asked softly.
Her breath caught in her throat at the question. For a week, she’d wanted him to ask it - if for no other reason than letting her know where his heart was. But, it was too late now; she’d made her choice long ago.
“For the same reason that you can’t stay here,” she said in a voice that was surely too heartbroken to be her own.
Inside Jake’s room, Sam cleared his throat, and Christina turned around, opening her eyes. “I, uh…Dean…we need to be going…Poltergeist in Wyoming…”
“Yeah, I know, Sammy.”
Dean stepped into Jake’s room as Chris moved back down the hall to the kitchen. She stood at the sink and looked out into the forest, hearing Dean’s words on repeat in her head. Why don’t you come with us? She didn’t even know what she was thinking anymore. She didn’t know what she wanted. The love of her life was about to walk away from her and she was completely frozen in fear. She knew that one word could make it all okay, but it was as if she couldn’t remember. The right answer was just out of her reach.
“Are you okay?”
She turned to find Sam standing in the entrance. She hastily wiped away the few tears that had begun to leak out and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she explained, sounding a little stuffier than she’d expected. “I just…thought it’d be easier this time, letting him go. But, it’s not, Sam. It’s so much worse than I could have imagined.”
He crossed the threshold and wrapped his long arms around her. She lost herself in the contact, feeling more tears trickle their way down her face and stain the front of his shirt. “What do I do, Sam?” she muttered into his chest.
He pulled away and looked down at her, wiping away the tear tracks with his thumbs. “You do what your heart tells you to do. He may not have said this yet, but that guy loves you. He loves you more than I’ve seen him love anyone. Hell, he probably even loves you more than that damn car. He doesn’t want to hurt you, Chris. He wants you happy, but you are the only one that can decide what will make that happen.”
“I know.”
“You ready, Sammy?” Dean asked, rapping his knuckles on the wall.
“Yeah, let me just say goodbye to Jake.” Sam turned back to Chris and leaned down to hug her again, whispering in her ear, “Follow your heart.”
She nodded as he pulled away, placing a kiss on her forehead, and walked out the door. Dean stepped in.
“Hey,” he whispered, the routine bringing fresh tears pooling in her eyes.
“Hey,” she breathed back, still stunned by the sight of her emotions on his strong face.
He walked up to her and reached one hand up to cup her face. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He shrugged. “Pick a topic.”
She smiled, slightly. “I’m sorry, too. Dean, you’ll…for him, I mean…you’ll come back…for him, right? Just…don’t let him think you don’t care…he’s your son...”
“Of course I’ll visit. And I’ll send birthday presents and Christmas presents and the whole damn world if I can.”
“Good.”
“I’ll be out in the car, Dean,” Sam interrupted. “Goodbye, Chris.”
She couldn’t say goodbye, not trusting her voice to hold out, so she just nodded while Dean said, “Okay.”
The front door closed as Dean pulled her to him. She could feel a couple tears fall onto her head and struggled harder to keep hers back. She couldn’t break down in front of him, not again.
When he pulled away, she placed one hand above his heart, looked up into his wet eyes, and said, “I’m sorry, Dean. That this is how it has to be. But, I love you. And, don’t you ever forget that, okay? Please don’t forget. I’ve spent ten years wishing I would have told you more often, so just…please…”
He nodded and leaned down for one last kiss. “I love you, too.”
And then he was out the door, having said the three words she needed to hear from him, the first time in ten years.
She closed her eyes and sighed, standing there for a moment to collect herself before moving back to Jake’s room. She found him looking at her with those big, expressive, familiar green eyes and her heart literally melted.
She sat down next to him on the floor and stared back, a silent conversation.
She made a monumental decision.
* * *
Dean threw his duffel on top of the weapons and then slammed the trunk closed, probably harder than he’d intended.
“Are you okay, man?” Sam asked, laying a large hand on Dean’s shoulder.
Dean nodded and turned to lean against the trunk. “Sam, I -”
“I know.”
“What should I do, Sammy?” He looked up at his little brother, not really expecting an answer.
Sam looked like he was thinking for a minute and then asked the simplest question: “What do you want to do, Dean?”
Ah, there’s the rub. What did he want to do? He’d spent the past three days - scratch that, the past week, if not ten years - trying to figure that out, trying to make his head agree with his heart, but neither one of them were letting him in. He knew that he wanted Christina, but he didn’t want to be selfish. And, he wasn’t going to beg. If she wanted him, she’d let him know and they could work something out. It would be hard to see her again, though, just for Jake’s sake, knowing what was there.
He found it ironic that he’d spent his entire life running and now the only thing he really truly wanted was -
“I want to stay with her.”
The words were out of his mouth before he could really process the thought, and he blinked up at Sam in confusion. Was that it? Was that what he really wanted? Was it really that simple?
“And, what about hunting?” Sam prompted, a peculiar, knowing glint in his eye.
“I could…we could have a home base with her and still go on hunts. Sammy, after all these years, we could have a home… We could have a family...a real, honest-to-God family. You’ll be Uncle Sam and I’ll be Dad and we could still be hunters and do this job that Dad taught us to do. You could even go back to school.”
He paused for a moment to look up at Christina’s apartment. Then, he looked back at Sam and repeated, “We could have a real home.”
Sam smiled, one of those blinding-white, my-brother-really-isn’t-an-idiot smiles. “It’s about damn time.”
Dean laughed and pushed himself off to run back to Chris, just as she and Jake emerged from the stairwell. She smiled, and Jake took off running, yelling “Dad!”
Dean caught him in a tight hug. “What’s all this?” he asked.
By the time Jake let go of him, Christina had made her way over. She was still smiling, infectiously, and Dean smiled back. “Well, it’s summer vacation, after all. What’s better for a nine-year-old than a road trip across America?”
Dean laughed and swept Christina into a mind-blowing kiss. “Nothing,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. “Nothing at all.”
“Let’s go, Mom!” Jake’s little voice rang out.
Dean and Christina looked away from each other. Sam was in the driver’s seat, having thrown their bags in the trunk, and Jake was riding shotgun. The three adults laughed at his impatience.
“Well, you heard the boy,” Chris said as she slid into the backseat.
As Dean settled himself beside her, she added in a conspiratorial whisper, “You do realize Jake totally owns you now, right?”
Jake turned around in his seat to look at his parents, and Dean found himself staring back at a distorted version of his own reflection. His heart was flooded with so much affection that he could barely respond. “Yeah. I think he does.”
Of course, Jake had to have his input. “Don’t be silly, Dad. Mom owns you, not me. That’s how it works.”
Sam and Christina giggled while Dean tried to look indignant, though he knew it was true. As Sam started the car and pointed her nose out of Warsaw, he pulled Chris against his side and whispered, “You’ve always owned me.”
Christina turned to look up at him, mild shock on her face. He laughed and kissed her temple, never loosening his hold.
They headed north, Aerosmith blasting from the speakers with Jake’s high voice singing along to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Dean and Christina couldn’t help but laugh at Sam’s subtle song choice.
As they hit the highway, Dean took a good look around the car, and found himself with an unfamiliar feeling stirring in his heart. Happiness. For 26 years, he’d been chasing that idea, never truly able to pin it down. But, now he knew. This was happiness. This was home.
No matter the roads traveled to get there, no matter the distance he’d had to go, his heart found true happiness in the form of a brown-eyed girl. In the end? The shortest distance between two hearts ended up a short, straight line.
Here's the beautiful artwork!:
by heart_cries
by smth_blue
* * * * * * * * * * * *
As usual, feedback is always appreciated! Especially with this one, lol! :) Please let me know what you think!
Chapter Eight
“Okay, guys, you know what to do,” Sam said as he cut the engine of the Impala at the edge of the woods.
He looked over at Dean, then in the backseat at Christina. Dean looked determined, no fear showing on any inch of his facade. The only telltale sign that he was a little uneasy was the drastic paling of his face. Christina made Dean look like he’d been in a tanning bed for days, though. She was shaking again and her nearly white skin made her brown hair look almost black in the moonlight.
It was ten o’clock. They had two hours until the ritual went down and Jake - and maybe Christina - was lost to them forever. Sam was nervous, too. He’d never seen Dean as happy as he was with Christina, with Jake, and he wanted this brother to be happy. He didn’t want a stupid hunt to screw that up. And, he’d become rather attached to Jake, just like Dean had. The kid was awesome, simply put. There was so much riding in their stopping this ritual that he couldn’t help but doubt his skills. He told himself it was a natural reaction, but that didn’t make the fear fade away.
After a few tense minutes of silence, each hunter trapped inside their own mind, Christina got out of the car, pulling her backpack of supplies behind her. “Let’s move,” she said, voice tight with barely-controlled fear.
Dean was next out of the car and immediately by Chris’ side. Sam waited a few moments to let him say whatever it was he needed to say - because there was obviously something - before joining them. When he did, everyone fell silent once again, avoiding each other’s eyes like the plague.
“We’re really doing this? Splitting up?” Dean asked fearfully, breaking through the sounds of the crickets.
“We have to,” Christina whispered.
“But, why? I don’t see what good is going to come of it.”
“We know your views on it, Dean, you haven’t let us forget all day,” Sam contributed. “Chris said that in her vision, our main mistake was bursting in together, guns blazing. Billy needs to believe that she’s come alone to get Jake.”
“But, Sam -”
“No ‘buts,’ Dean!” Christina exploded, voice much higher-pitched than usual. “This is how it has to be, okay? If we split up, it gives us the higher survival rate. That’s the important thing: that we all come out of this alive. But, if you’ve got a problem with it, you are more than welcome to climb back in your car and get the hell out of Dodge. I can take care of it myself.”
Sam shifted his gaze from one to the other, skin prickling at the tension in the air. He had agreed with Christina right from the start when they’d sat down to formulate a plan to deal with the werewolves. The only real solution was for her to go in and distract Billy, the leader, while Sam and Dean, at the very least, sized up the rest. Dean had bitched from the second the words were out of her mouth, nearly to the point of begging by the time they’d climbed in the car with their weapons. Sam understood where his brother was coming from; he didn’t want to let Chris go in alone either, didn’t want to risk losing her almost as much as his brother. But what other choice did they have? If they all went in together, Billy and the others would immediately be on the offensive, much stronger physically than any of them. But, if he believed Chris was alone, Sam and Dean could filter in relatively unseen.
“Chris…” Dean whispered, taking a step into her. “I just don’t like this. I don’t like you facing them - him - alone.”
Christina’s eyes softened at his tone, his emotions laid bare. “I know, Dean. But, you and Sam will be right there. And, whether you choose to believe it or not, I’m probably stronger than both of you, considering what I can do. Dean, I need you to have faith in me, all right? Because that is the only thing that will make this work. If I don’t feel like you have my back on this, then I don’t need you there. I’d hate to do it, but I can make you two walk away. Just trust me.”
Her words even cut deep into Sam’s heart, so he could only imagine what they were doing to Dean’s. She was right. They were only going to get through this by working as a team; there couldn’t be any discord because, in this case, it meant death.
Sam turned away as Dean moved right up to Chris and leaned down to kiss her. He didn’t need to see it because…well…one, it was a private matter for them. And, two, it just made his heart hurt, thinking of Jess. So, he busied himself at the trunk of the Impala, loading their pistols and shotguns with silver and psyching himself up for battle.
He was startled to feel a hand on his shoulder and he almost whacked Christina in the face with a sawed-off shotgun when he turned. She smiled at him and then, stood up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek.
“What was that for?” he asked, looking at her strangely.
She laughed, weakly. “For being you and for being my friend. For making me feel human again after all this time. For helping see the things I didn’t want to. And for being here, helping me. For everything.”
Sam blushed and ducked his head, turning back to the trunk. “S’what friends’re for,” he mumbled.
She patted his shoulder and said, “Let’s get going. We don’t have much time left.”
Ten minutes later, they were traipsing into the woods.
* * *
Christina led the Winchesters to the old mine caretaker’s house and then nodded for them to find a different way in while she boldly marched up to the entrance. The door was opened easily, and she wasn’t the least bit surprised. She walked in, suddenly feeling the hot weight of the 9mm at her back, the small pistol tucked in her sock, and the extra clips of silver bullets shoved into the pockets of her jeans. Her throat was getting tight with fear and she did her best to calm her nerves. Being nervous would just get her and her boy, not to mention the Winchesters, killed.
“Well, well. A little earlier than I expected, but I’m glad you’re here,” a voice boomed as she rounded a corner into the mines.
Candles were set up all around the large cavern. The light was dancing on the walls and four large animals were sitting quietly, staring at her. An altar of sorts was placed in the middle of the candles and, on either side of it, stood Billy and Jake.
Jake had a superficial-looking gash running up the right side of his face, an old, yellowing bruise on his left cheek and split bottom lip. He didn’t look to be too injured otherwise and she thanked whoever was listening for that.
“Jake!” she yelled and immediately started to rush toward him. A warning growl from off to her right made her stop, mid-flight.
Billy let out a low, menacing chuckle and spoke again, drawing her eyes from Jake to him. “You might not want to make any sudden movements. They’ve been told not to hurt you, but…one of them might disobey. They’re not the brightest.”
“Why do you want me?”
“Well, I thought that would be obvious, Christina. You don’t give yourself enough credit, really.”
Billy was smirking at her, eyeing her like she was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and steadily walking toward where she stood frozen at the mouth of the cave. He was so busy studying her that she risked reaching out to Jake.
Jake, sweetie, does he know? That Dean and Sam are with me? she tried to project into her son’s mind.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Jake straighten up and hoped he wouldn’t alert anyone. Werewolves, just like other animals, had a heightened sense of awareness and the tiniest little issue would send their scheme toppling into the depths of Hell.
No, came the tiny answer. He thinks you’re giving up.
Good. That’s what they needed him to think.
“Always the strong one, such determination. Don’t forget fiercely loyal. You’re beautiful, Christina. And, you’ll make such a pretty queen,” Billy said when he was right in front of her, bringing one cold hand up to run his knuckles down the side of her face. Chris did her best not to flinch.
“And, who says I want to be your queen, Billy? I don’t remember seeing a ring.”
He laughed. “Always with the sarcasm, Chris. That’s another thing I like about you, you’re funny. We’ll be so happy. Just picture it. We’ll kill innocent people and you’ll entertain me. Of course, we’ll have our little offspring to raise, too. What do you say?”
“Fuck. You,” she bit out coldly, barely restraining herself from informing him that Jake was the offspring of someone far better than him.
“Oh, we’ll get to that later. And, it’ll be much better in an animal state. Trust me.”
He winked and moved back to the table. “Dan. Tie her up.”
“What? No!” Jake cried out.
One of the wolves on Christina’s right changed back into his human form, and she let out a startled gasp. Daniel lived directly underneath her in the apartment building. He’d even watched over Jake a few times.
“Sorry, Chris. But, you’ll be happier once you’ve changed. You have no idea how amazing power like this feels,” the twenty-one-year-old said as he stepped up to her with rope.
Now, Christina could have stopped him, sent him flying, with a mere glance in the right direction. But, she was in so much shock at the figure in front of her that she didn’t realize what was happening until she was bound.
Then Daniel swung and everything went black.
* * *
“Okay, it should be just around the corner,” Dean whispered back to his brother as they moved through the old mineshafts.
“It had better be, Dean. I think we’ve been walking in circles,” Sam nagged.
“Sammy, it’s a mine. Everything looks the same.”
Dean was quickly getting a headache from the whole situation. It had been a good twenty minutes since they’d separated from Christina and he was getting anxious. Sam’s constant complaining wasn’t helping matters any. Just as he was about to throw his hands in the air and let Sam lead, they saw flickering light up ahead. That could only come from fire.
Dean sped up and stuck his head around the corner. There were seven people in the open space. Three men and one woman walked around the perimeter, sometimes randomly sliding into wolf form, seemingly testing themselves out. In the center of the cavern, Billy stood next to an altar of sorts. Jake was sitting on it, wide-eyed and pale. But, Christina was nowhere to be seen.
“Oh, great…they converted another one…Do you see her, Sammy?”
“No, Dean, your head’s in the way.”
“Dude, you’re ten feet tall. Just look over me.”
Sam huffed but stood up straighter and poked his head out above Dean. “There she is,” he whispered.
“What? Where?”
“In the center…Dean, she doesn’t look good…”
Dean stood up, trying to see over the circling changelings. “I don’t see what you’re talking about Sam. She’s not even th -”
He found Chris lying on the ground, next to the table. Her hands were tied behind her back, face beaten, and she was obviously unconscious, blood oozing from the side of her head and pooling too quick for comfort. The 9mm and the tiny pistol she’d been carrying were lying neglected at the side of the cave. It was only Sam’s hand that stopped him from rushing into the middle of the pack.
“What do we do now?” Sam asked, since their original plan was to wait for Christina to signal them. Now that she was unconscious…it would be a little hard for her to do much of anything.
“I don’t know, Sam. You’re the college boy, what do you think we should do?”
“Well, we could do what you always wanna do…barge in and try to take as many down as we can…”
“And, how smart is that, Sammy? We’d be outnumbered, five to two. And without Chris and Jake’s telekinesis on our side…”
“Then what do you suggest we do, oh Great One?”
Dean was thisclose to turning around and decking Sam just on principle, but then he saw movement on the ground. Christina was coming to, albeit very slowly. Billy looked down and said something to her, but from their position, he couldn’t make out the words.
Dean?
Suddenly her voice was in his head, very weak but there, and no matter how often it happened, he’d never get used to it. In a moment of blind panic, he couldn’t remember what she’d told him to do to respond to her. He knew that she wouldn’t just invade, so it was up to him…he had to let her know he was there…
“Focus on her eyes,” Sam whispered in his ear.
He nodded his thanks and closed his eyes, picturing the dark brown depths of Christina’s soul, all the while repeating ‘I’m here’ in his head
After a minute, he heard an answer, still too feeble for his liking - try to take one of them down from where you are.
Dean turned to look up at Sam and mouthed ‘Load.’
Sam nodded and pulled his gun from the waistband of his jeans, pulling out the cartridge to make sure it was full.
“What now?”
“She wants us to kill one of them from here.”
“But, Dean -”
Great, Sammy had his bitchface on. Dean held up his hand to keep Sam silent and still the imminent argument. “I know. As soon as we start shooting, they’ll know we’re here. But, what else can we do?”
Sam looked at his watch. “It’s 11:32.”
“Then it’s time to save my son and my -” He stopped and looked up at Sam again. Sam smiled knowingly, and nodded at him. “Right. Let’s go.”
Dean took a step forward, sure to make as little noise as possible and aimed for the man/wolf closest to him. He followed the guy with the gun until his back was toward him and fired off a shot. He looked long enough to see the shot go through the heart, emerging from the thing’s chest before he ducked back around the corner, gun still at the ready.
“Well, I guess we’re in the game now!” Sam said, with a half-maniacal grin.
Dean opened his mouth to say ‘Guess so,’ but then a low growl came from just around the corner. Sam motioned at Dean to go through with “the plan” - which meant he would go find the nearest way into the cave, save for the one they were sitting at, and sneak around behind. Maybe he could even get to Christina before she lost too much blood.
* * *
As Dean moved away, Sam brought his pistol up to the ready and stepped out into open air. The remaining three cronies in wolf form, since Billy was still guarding Christina and Jake, were still fifteen feet from where he was standing, and they were in no hurry to get at him, obviously seeing that they outnumbered him.
And, there was the fact that they were superhuman.
He spared a glance over the top of them and met Christina’s eyes. He remembered what Jake had said - that he could control his telekinesis if he tried. He’d tried before though and nothing had happened, so why should this be any different?
Sam, c’mon. I know you can do this. Jake knows you can do this. You just need to try.
Even in his head, her voice sounded like it was whispered and quickly losing strength that wasn’t there to begin with; that scared him more than anything, more than the wolves steadily advancing on him. Christina couldn’t be anything but strong; he’d never known her to be weak. So, he tried. For her.
He remembered her story about making a vampire behead himself on accident, just because she was frustrated enough. If the power of telekinesis was locked inside him, then maybe it just took a lot of passion to force it out - like when he’d had the vision of Dean getting shot and moved the cabinet out of his way. He focused on everything he could think of: Jess’s death, his father’s death, even his mother’s death though he wasn’t old enough to remember it.
But, the wolves were still advancing. It wasn’t working.
Then he heard Jake scream, quickly followed by Christina. Sam looked away from the snarling animals again and saw that Mother and Son were lying side by side on the altar. Billy had made a large gash on both of their stomachs.
All of a sudden, one of the wolves let out a strangled yelp and went flying. It hit the wall with a sickening thud and lay still on the ground. It wasn’t dead; Sam could see its - his or her - chest rising and falling shallowly.
When he turned his attention back to the other two, complete shock at his own powers running through his veins, they had stopped. He raised his gun and one of them jumped, growling and snarling. He closed his eyes, a rookie move at its best, and pulled the trigger, praying that it went where he’d been aiming.
* * *
Dean rounded the corner, across from his previous spying point, just as Sam shot one of the remaining werewolves through the heart. He noticed that Sam had his eyes closed and made a mental note to beat him for it later.
Shifting his view from his brother to the altar, he saw what caused the screams echoing throughout the mines. Billy had started the ritual. There was blood running down the sides of the table and dripping into ancient-looking collection bowls on the ground, and he was chanting softly above the heavily panting bodies of Jake and Christina. Jake looked relatively unharmed, save for the semi-shallow stomach wound and a couple fading facial injuries, but Chris had two rapidly swelling black eyes, a red knot on her forehead, purpling left cheek, and bloody lip. Obviously, the girl didn’t know when to keep her mouth shut. That was his girl, all right.
Christina looked away from Jake over to where Dean was standing, having felt him enter. ‘Thank God’ was bouncing around her mind. She knew she didn’t have enough strength to reach out to him, having spent too much encouraging Sam. She believed in him, though, and knew that he could do this without her help if he focused, if he didn’t worry about her.
Dean saw Chris looking at him, but there was no voice in his head. She wasn’t helping him or telling him what to do. And she looked so pale. He started to panic. He didn’t know if he could do this. He glanced down at the gun in his hand and then back up at her.
Her eyes said what her telepathy couldn’t: I have faith in you.
Dean nodded at her and stealthily moved forward, behind Billy. Chris felt Jake tug at her hand and she turned her head, weakly, to look at him. He closed his eyes, and she was suddenly filled with energy. Mixing her son’s strength with her own, she jerked her head to the right and Billy flew over the altar and landed on his stomach ten feet away.
She heard a shot go off to her left and looked over to see Sam standing above the third dead werewolf and aiming for the fourth. Dean moved around the altar, hesitating only slightly and moved to Billy, who was quickly stirring.
As soon as the chanting had stopped, Christina felt some of her own strength returning and released Jake’s energy. Her body, which had been starting to shake while Billy chanted the ancient words over her, calmed down and her heart rate returned to normal. She had felt herself beginning to change and it wasn’t exactly the most pleasant experience.
Sam moved quickly after shooting the last animal, besides Billy, to the altar to tend to Jake and Christina. He tore his flannel shirt off and ripped it in half. Jake had already sat up, albeit gingerly and was trying to help his mother sit up, too. Sam moved faster.
“Jake,” he soothed. “It’s okay. Let me.” He handed over one half of his shirt. “Press this against your stomach.”
Jake did as he was told. His was much shallower than Christina’s though, and Sam thanked God that he was a large man and she was petite. He managed to lift her up enough to situate himself behind her, steadfastly ignoring how she light she was - probably due to blood loss - and he gently wrapped the other half of the shirt around her torso, tying it tight enough to try to staunch the flow of blood. She’d lost a lot, though - both from her head wound and the ceremonial cut - and he prayed, for the first time in a long time.
Billy was on his feet mere seconds after being thrown across the room by Christina’s mind and met Dean with a solid punch to the jaw. Dean was knocked off balance and fell to the ground, gun flying out of his hand. Billy picked him up immediately and landed another fist to the gut, effectively knocking the wind out of him.
Christina saw all of this happening and began to struggle, albeit feebly, in Sam’s hold. “Chris, stop,” he whispered. “Let him do this himself.”
She stilled for a moment and then slumped back against him, obviously too weak to do much else.
Dean stayed doubled over for a few seconds, drawing deep bouts of air into his lungs, as Billy circled around him, waiting for the real fight to begin. “So, this is how the mighty Winchesters stop me? One punch and you’re down? I expected better of you, Dean. No matter, because she will still be mine. You lost your chance. You already lost her.”
When Dean didn’t say anything, still trying to draw in lungful after lungful of air, Billy continued his taunting with a chuckle. “Not only did you lose her, but now you’re losing your son. How very sad. But, no worries, Dean my man. I’ll take care of him. I’ll make sure he’s raised right. He’ll be my son now. We’ll be the perfect family.”
Dean’s vision suddenly went red and he lunged for Billy with a ferocious growl, knocking them both to the ground. He landed on top and straddled the werewolf’s waist, throwing punch after punch into his redneck face, rage fueling him. In the middle of the assault, right in front of his eyes, Billy laughed, beginning to transform and soon Dean was bucked off of a hungry wolf.
“Dean,” Christina cried out feebly, reaching towards Dean. Sam tightened his hold on her, still trying to be tender, and shushed her. He felt helpless, too, but his interference might get them all killed.
Dean felt the impact of the stone all too well as the wolf was immediately on him. He put up his left arm, holding it against the animal’s neck as it snarled and snapped its jaws in his face. With his right arm, he strained for the gun that was just inches out of his reach.
Dean could feel his strength waning and the foul breath, the nasty teeth, get closer to his face. And, he could feel blood starting to seep out of wounds on his torso and legs from the thrashing claws. The other three could see everything and couldn’t do much to stop it. It was Dean’s fight. Chris was too weak; Sam was too fearful that if he let go of her, she’d die; and Jake was just a kid. And if any of them tried to get a shot off, they risked shooting Dean.
All of a sudden, Christina went completely slack in Sam’s arms. He looked down at her just as he felt a change in the air. On instinct, he glanced over at Jake. The boy had his eyes closed, brow furrowed in concentration, and Billy was pulled backward off Dean with an irritated yelp.
Dean took the opportunity to scramble towards his gun and fired off a shot. The shot went wild, ricocheting deep into the mines. Billy was getting over his confusion and quickly back to his feet. Dean forced his hand to steady and fired again, silver bullet making a clean hole through the werewolf’s leg.
Billy kept coming though, limping only slightly. Dean tried again to force a steady hand, but could physically see the metal swaying in the air. Then, he felt an odd pull on the muscles of his right hand and looked quickly from Billy to the altar. Jake was looking right at him and smiling, and Dean knew - his son was going to help him kill this bastard.
So, he nodded and focused back on Billy, who had slowed due to his wound. With Jake’s help, he aimed once again and pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times.
All three shots went directly into Billy’s heart as he leaped to pounce on Dean. Dean rolled away and the dead animal fell with a loud ‘thump’ right where he’d been laying. Breathing heavily, Dean watched, transfixed, as the animal morphed back into the man.
Gaining his composure, he was suddenly all too aware of the gashes adorning his body and he groaned. But, they weren’t very deep, and he needed to get to Christina. She was hurt, badly. His wounds didn’t matter like hers and Jake’s. Moving as quickly as possibly, he limped over to the altar.
Sam shifted as Dean pulled Christina against him. She was completely boneless, though she still had a faint pulse. That pulse wasn’t going to be there much longer if they didn’t get to a hospital - and fast.
“Sammy,” he forced out through a raw throat. “Take her. Get her to the car. You’re the least injured. I’ll be behind you as quick as I can, but if we’re not there in five, just go. She needs help.”
Sam nodded, grief at his brother’s broken voice infusing his heart, and picked Christina up in his arms, gingerly, without a word and quickly strode toward the gift shop of the mines. He went as fast as he could, trying to not jostle her too much, increasingly worried as blood soaked his shirt and his arms.
Dean limped over to the other side of the table and grabbed Jake by the shoulders, eyes scanning the boy’s injuries. There was the cut on his stomach and a few scraped knuckles, plus an old cut on his face, but that was it. He was relatively unharmed.
Dean was a little surprised when the boy latched onto him and buried his face in his torso, hot tears splashing across his bloodied shirt.
“You came. Daddy, you saved us,” Jake sobbed.
Dean couldn’t help but grin at the word, ‘Daddy.’ “Yeah, Jake. Shhh. It’s okay, buddy. I’m here. You’re safe. You and Mom are safe.”
He tightened his arms around the shaking, tiny body. “We need to get to a hospital though, okay Little Man?”
He felt Jake nod. “Can you walk?” Another nod. “Okay, c’mon, then. We need to help your mom. I need you to be strong for me. Can you do that? Can you be strong for Mom?”
“Yes, Dad.”
Dean knelt down and wiped some of the tears off the dirt-stained face of his son. He smiled at the boy and at the resemblance he suddenly saw. This kid had faced a clan of werewolves, alone, for two days, and had just broken down after it was all over. Yeah, the kid was a Winchester, no doubt about it.
Dean stood up and Jake grabbed his hand, holding on tight. Together, Father and Son made their way out of the mines, as quick as Dean’s wounds would allow. Dean could only think one thing, as he clutched his son’s little hand:
Please let her live so I can, too.
Chapter Nine
Christina groaned as a knock sounded at the door. She knew who it was and why they’d come, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. She tried to push herself up, but even after three days, she was still pretty sore. Jake had healed quite nicely and just had a thin scab over the cut in his stomach. She was much worse. The doctor had put stitches in for a couple days and she’d just gotten them taken out that morning. Her face was still slightly bruised, but the headaches from the blow Daniel had given her were quickly subsiding.
“Don’t get up, Mom. It’s just Dad and Sammy. I’ll get it,” Jake said, somewhat sadly, as he emerged from his room and his video games.
She glanced up at him and was torn by the long face, the slumped shoulders. Dean had been around, nearly nonstop for the past three days - just hanging out, playing video games, anything Jake wanted to do. Now, Jake knew that Dean was about to leave and possibly walk out of his life forever. She didn’t want him to be sad, but she couldn’t make Dean stay. True, they hadn’t done much talking after the werewolf incident, not about that, but she knew that she wouldn’t dare ask him to stay.
The door opened and the Winchester brothers were walking in just when she’d finally gotten herself off the couch. Dean noticed and moved over quickly. “Christina West, you get your ass back on that couch.”
She grinned up at him and gladly let him push her back down. He situated himself next to her, their legs touching ever so slightly. Sam cleared his throat out of nervous habit by the door and followed Jake into his room. Well, Jake dragged him, rather.
Neither Dean nor Chris said anything for a few minutes, both just staring blankly ahead. This was it. They were going to be separating again. She didn’t know what to do or what to say. And, she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she’d beg him not to go. But, she didn’t want to do that. She couldn’t burden Dean just because she was selfish.
After the tension became too much to bear, Dean reached over and grabbed her hand. He sat there for a few moments, just rubbing his thumb over her skin. Then they both spoke at once:
“You can -”
“Why don’t -”
“Sorry,” Chris said and pulled her hand away. She stood up, faster this time, and headed for Jake’s bedroom. She leaned against the doorjamb and watched Jake kick Sam’s ass in whatever violent video game they were playing. Both man and boy looked happy, and she felt her heart tighten just that much more, squeezing just a little more emotion out and leaving less room for the tears to stay trapped.
She felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see Dean, green eyes sparkling with something she didn’t want to name aloud. It was the same thing she’d seen so many times before - their first kiss, their first time on Prom night, her graduation, every night from September until she’d left. She’d missed it, missed him, missed the way he used to look at her.
But, that was then. Things had gotten more complicated and that look in his eyes wasn’t enough anymore.
“Chris…” he breathed.
She nodded and stretched up onto her toes, hiding her grimace at the pain of stretching stomach muscles, and placed a soft, barely-there kiss on his lips. “I know,” she whispered against his mouth.
She closed her eyes and felt a tear slip out. It was immediately followed by a rough hand gently wiping it away.
“Why don’t you just come with us?” Dean asked softly.
Her breath caught in her throat at the question. For a week, she’d wanted him to ask it - if for no other reason than letting her know where his heart was. But, it was too late now; she’d made her choice long ago.
“For the same reason that you can’t stay here,” she said in a voice that was surely too heartbroken to be her own.
Inside Jake’s room, Sam cleared his throat, and Christina turned around, opening her eyes. “I, uh…Dean…we need to be going…Poltergeist in Wyoming…”
“Yeah, I know, Sammy.”
Dean stepped into Jake’s room as Chris moved back down the hall to the kitchen. She stood at the sink and looked out into the forest, hearing Dean’s words on repeat in her head. Why don’t you come with us? She didn’t even know what she was thinking anymore. She didn’t know what she wanted. The love of her life was about to walk away from her and she was completely frozen in fear. She knew that one word could make it all okay, but it was as if she couldn’t remember. The right answer was just out of her reach.
“Are you okay?”
She turned to find Sam standing in the entrance. She hastily wiped away the few tears that had begun to leak out and nodded. “Yeah, I’m fine,” she explained, sounding a little stuffier than she’d expected. “I just…thought it’d be easier this time, letting him go. But, it’s not, Sam. It’s so much worse than I could have imagined.”
He crossed the threshold and wrapped his long arms around her. She lost herself in the contact, feeling more tears trickle their way down her face and stain the front of his shirt. “What do I do, Sam?” she muttered into his chest.
He pulled away and looked down at her, wiping away the tear tracks with his thumbs. “You do what your heart tells you to do. He may not have said this yet, but that guy loves you. He loves you more than I’ve seen him love anyone. Hell, he probably even loves you more than that damn car. He doesn’t want to hurt you, Chris. He wants you happy, but you are the only one that can decide what will make that happen.”
“I know.”
“You ready, Sammy?” Dean asked, rapping his knuckles on the wall.
“Yeah, let me just say goodbye to Jake.” Sam turned back to Chris and leaned down to hug her again, whispering in her ear, “Follow your heart.”
She nodded as he pulled away, placing a kiss on her forehead, and walked out the door. Dean stepped in.
“Hey,” he whispered, the routine bringing fresh tears pooling in her eyes.
“Hey,” she breathed back, still stunned by the sight of her emotions on his strong face.
He walked up to her and reached one hand up to cup her face. “I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
He shrugged. “Pick a topic.”
She smiled, slightly. “I’m sorry, too. Dean, you’ll…for him, I mean…you’ll come back…for him, right? Just…don’t let him think you don’t care…he’s your son...”
“Of course I’ll visit. And I’ll send birthday presents and Christmas presents and the whole damn world if I can.”
“Good.”
“I’ll be out in the car, Dean,” Sam interrupted. “Goodbye, Chris.”
She couldn’t say goodbye, not trusting her voice to hold out, so she just nodded while Dean said, “Okay.”
The front door closed as Dean pulled her to him. She could feel a couple tears fall onto her head and struggled harder to keep hers back. She couldn’t break down in front of him, not again.
When he pulled away, she placed one hand above his heart, looked up into his wet eyes, and said, “I’m sorry, Dean. That this is how it has to be. But, I love you. And, don’t you ever forget that, okay? Please don’t forget. I’ve spent ten years wishing I would have told you more often, so just…please…”
He nodded and leaned down for one last kiss. “I love you, too.”
And then he was out the door, having said the three words she needed to hear from him, the first time in ten years.
She closed her eyes and sighed, standing there for a moment to collect herself before moving back to Jake’s room. She found him looking at her with those big, expressive, familiar green eyes and her heart literally melted.
She sat down next to him on the floor and stared back, a silent conversation.
She made a monumental decision.
* * *
Dean threw his duffel on top of the weapons and then slammed the trunk closed, probably harder than he’d intended.
“Are you okay, man?” Sam asked, laying a large hand on Dean’s shoulder.
Dean nodded and turned to lean against the trunk. “Sam, I -”
“I know.”
“What should I do, Sammy?” He looked up at his little brother, not really expecting an answer.
Sam looked like he was thinking for a minute and then asked the simplest question: “What do you want to do, Dean?”
Ah, there’s the rub. What did he want to do? He’d spent the past three days - scratch that, the past week, if not ten years - trying to figure that out, trying to make his head agree with his heart, but neither one of them were letting him in. He knew that he wanted Christina, but he didn’t want to be selfish. And, he wasn’t going to beg. If she wanted him, she’d let him know and they could work something out. It would be hard to see her again, though, just for Jake’s sake, knowing what was there.
He found it ironic that he’d spent his entire life running and now the only thing he really truly wanted was -
“I want to stay with her.”
The words were out of his mouth before he could really process the thought, and he blinked up at Sam in confusion. Was that it? Was that what he really wanted? Was it really that simple?
“And, what about hunting?” Sam prompted, a peculiar, knowing glint in his eye.
“I could…we could have a home base with her and still go on hunts. Sammy, after all these years, we could have a home… We could have a family...a real, honest-to-God family. You’ll be Uncle Sam and I’ll be Dad and we could still be hunters and do this job that Dad taught us to do. You could even go back to school.”
He paused for a moment to look up at Christina’s apartment. Then, he looked back at Sam and repeated, “We could have a real home.”
Sam smiled, one of those blinding-white, my-brother-really-isn’t-an-idiot smiles. “It’s about damn time.”
Dean laughed and pushed himself off to run back to Chris, just as she and Jake emerged from the stairwell. She smiled, and Jake took off running, yelling “Dad!”
Dean caught him in a tight hug. “What’s all this?” he asked.
By the time Jake let go of him, Christina had made her way over. She was still smiling, infectiously, and Dean smiled back. “Well, it’s summer vacation, after all. What’s better for a nine-year-old than a road trip across America?”
Dean laughed and swept Christina into a mind-blowing kiss. “Nothing,” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers. “Nothing at all.”
“Let’s go, Mom!” Jake’s little voice rang out.
Dean and Christina looked away from each other. Sam was in the driver’s seat, having thrown their bags in the trunk, and Jake was riding shotgun. The three adults laughed at his impatience.
“Well, you heard the boy,” Chris said as she slid into the backseat.
As Dean settled himself beside her, she added in a conspiratorial whisper, “You do realize Jake totally owns you now, right?”
Jake turned around in his seat to look at his parents, and Dean found himself staring back at a distorted version of his own reflection. His heart was flooded with so much affection that he could barely respond. “Yeah. I think he does.”
Of course, Jake had to have his input. “Don’t be silly, Dad. Mom owns you, not me. That’s how it works.”
Sam and Christina giggled while Dean tried to look indignant, though he knew it was true. As Sam started the car and pointed her nose out of Warsaw, he pulled Chris against his side and whispered, “You’ve always owned me.”
Christina turned to look up at him, mild shock on her face. He laughed and kissed her temple, never loosening his hold.
They headed north, Aerosmith blasting from the speakers with Jake’s high voice singing along to “I Don’t Want to Miss a Thing.” Dean and Christina couldn’t help but laugh at Sam’s subtle song choice.
As they hit the highway, Dean took a good look around the car, and found himself with an unfamiliar feeling stirring in his heart. Happiness. For 26 years, he’d been chasing that idea, never truly able to pin it down. But, now he knew. This was happiness. This was home.
No matter the roads traveled to get there, no matter the distance he’d had to go, his heart found true happiness in the form of a brown-eyed girl. In the end? The shortest distance between two hearts ended up a short, straight line.
Here's the beautiful artwork!:
by heart_cries
by smth_blue
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As usual, feedback is always appreciated! Especially with this one, lol! :) Please let me know what you think!