Blood, Sweat, and Tears ch. 9

Emma and Dean both looked up at Sam as they heard objects in the room vibrate. There was a hint of fear in Dean’s eyes as he looked at his little brother. There was something dark in the Sam’s eyes, something far beyond anger. “Sammy,” he said slowly. His brother didn’t answer and Dean began to worry more. “Sammy,” he said again. Still there was no response from the younger Winchester. Dean looked down at Emma before standing and walking over to his brother. He caught sight of the body and gagged once more. It was unbearable to look at but Dean had to be the strong one. He was all that was left to take care of Sam, he couldn’t break down now.

Dean knelt down in front of his brother and took hold of his shoulders. “Sammy,” he said shaking his brother. Sam continued to stare at the body behind Dean. “Sammy,” Dean shouted. The shaking in the room continued and grew more violent. Objects began to fall from the shelves they were on and shatter on the floor. Dean looked around and back at Sam. Was Sam doing all this? “Sammy,” he shouted shaking his brother once more.

Finally, Sam looked up at his brother. The shaking stopped and a single tear fell from Sam’s right eye. “Dean,” he whispered in a broken voice. “D... Dean,” he said beginning to tremble in his brother’s arms. Emma curled up in the corner and hugged her knees to her chest. She couldn’t get the sight out of her mind. The fear in John’s eyes, the blood on the ground, the fire that engulfed him, it would be etched in her memory for the rest of her life. Dean looked into Sam’s eyes. He tried to think of a way to help his little brother but he couldn’t think of anything. “Da… dad too,” Sam whispered.

“Sammy,” he said hugging his brother, something he didn’t do often but he thought the situation warranted it. “Sammy, don’t worry,” Dean added. He tried to remain strong. “That bitch is gonna die Sam,” Dean said strongly. “I’ll make damn sure of that.” Sam nodded slowly. He reminded Dean so much of when they were little. Sam would have a bad dream and after he woke up, he always had a headache. Dean would see it in Sam’s eyes; he knew it was the same. “Sammy,” Dean asked, “Tell me exactly what you saw back there.”

Sam looked down for a moment, trying to remember. “I… I saw Emma walking… walking down the steps,” he said softly. “She… she walked over there,” Sam said, pointing to the room off to the left. “Then… then someone came from behind her and slammed her against the wall. I… I didn’t see who or what… but-”

“Him,” Emma whispered pointing to the scorched corpse of their father. “It… It was him,” she whispered. “He… he said I was in… I was in trouble,” she whispered lowering her head. “I got too close. He… he asked where you were,” she said looking up at Dean. “If… if you were all right, how… how your heart was.”

“My heart,” Dean said a bit confused.

“I… I called him,” Sam said after a long silence. “When you were in the hospital I called Dad and told him.”

“Oh,” Dean answered with a nod.

“Then… he… he said that I have to leave. That’s… that’s when she showed up, Natasha.” There were tears in Emma’s eyes as she spoke. “She said you two shouldn’t have… have interfered.” Emma hugged her knees closer to her chest and lowered her head. “She said that you would pay. Then… then she was in front of him. It… it was just one… one swift movement. A… blade across his throat and he was gone. He didn’t fall though, he didn’t fall.” Emma shut her eyes tightly and tried to get the image out of her mind. This time Sam moved instead of Dean. He knelt in front of Emma and placed his hands comforting on her shoulder. Emma looked up at him and their eyes met once more. “She… she turned back towards the shadows,” she said softly, afraid to look anywhere but Sam’s eyes. “All she did was nod and the fire started.”

“What,” Dean said standing up quickly. The sudden realization that this thing had truly taken everything that Dean had away from him was overwhelming. He looked down at his little brother. They really were all each other had now.

Emma bit her lip and lowered her head, curling up in Sam’s arms. Under normal circumstances, Dean might get jealous at this, but he understood. They had both witnessed it. Part of him wished he had, so he would understand what his brother and Emma were going through. He knew that thought was stupid though. He leaned against the railing of the stairs and watched the two of them. There was a silent communication between Sam and Emma. “It’s… its my-”

“No its not,” Sam said quickly. He didn’t want her to blame herself for this. She didn’t know it would happen. There had always been a risk in the Winchesters’ lives. This wasn’t Emma’s fault, or at least that was what Sam was telling himself to keep calm. Sam wiped the tears from Emma’s eyes and gave her a small smile. “It’s not your fault Emma,” he said firmly. Sam rested his forehead against hers and tucked her hair behind her ear.

Dean watched them and wondered why Emma would see anything in Dean. Sam and she were so alike in experiences. He watched them and for some reason it just seemed right, the two of them close the way they were. He had opened up to her, cared for her. If it weren’t for the fact that Dean had never felt like this with anyone else he could gladly give her up to Sam. Emma made it seem like Dean was perfect. He knew he wasn’t but when he was near her he felt like he could do no wrong. When Emma was lying in his arms, he felt complete. If it weren’t for that, Dean would have left Emma for Sam. It seems cruel but it was true. If it were not for the completeness, Dean felt, Emma would have been nothing but a fling.

Emma buried her head in Sam’s chest and he wrapped his arms around her. He looked back at Dean and nodded towards Emma. He was trying to tell his brother to get over there and comfort her. It took a moment for Dean to get it. He pushed himself away from the railing and knelt in front of Emma. “I’m gonna go get the car,” Sam said simply. “Dean,” he said looking down at his brother. “There’s some sort of tunneling system in here I think it would be safer if you take her upstairs, open the windows and such.” Dean nodded and the two of them slowly walked up stairs. Sam stayed behind for a moment and looked down at the body. “I’ll find it Dad,” Sam said through gritted teeth. “I’ll kill it.” With that, Sam walked upstairs and into the living room where Emma and Dean were sitting. “We… we should do something… something with the body,” Sam said reluctantly. Those words caught in Sam’s throat and made him gag. Dean looked up at Sam and nodded slowly. “When… when I get… get back we’ll figure out something.” Dean nodded once more and watched Sam walk out of the house.

Dean looked down at Emma, whose head was buried in his shoulder, and sighed softly. He rested his chin on the top of her head and hugged her tightly. “It’ll be all right Emma,” she said softly. He found it rather ironic that Emma was the most broken over this and she had never met their father. A few tears found their way out of Dean’s eyes but he had to be strong. “We’ll stop this Emma,” he said softly. He lifted her chin to look at him and smiled at her. “I promise you Emma,” he said softly. “We’ll end this.”

Emma lowered her eyes, afraid to look at him. “I shouldn’t have said that,” she said softly. “I shouldn’t have called you a stupid lying son of a bitch,” she whispered. “Or an overprotective, testosterone driven idiot.”

“A what,” Dean said with semi-false insult. Emma just smiled guiltily and bit her lower lip. “I’m assuming you said that while I was unconscious.” She nodded. Dean smiled and wiped the tears from her eyes. “Emma, what happened down there, to our dad wasn’t your fault. That thing has been after our family for years. It was not your fault,” he said again. He smiled and kissed her lips lightly. “And, even though I know my father didn’t know you, I know he wouldn’t want you to blame yourself for what happened to him.”

Emma sighed softly. She curled herself up next to him and rested her head against his chest as he wrapped his arm around her. “He… he said he was proud of you,” she whispered. “He… he told me to tell you both… both of you that he was… he was proud of you,” she whispered. Dean smiled and a few more tears fell from his eyes but he ignored them. “I’m scared Dean,” she whispered.

Dean sighed and held her tight. “You’re going to be fine Emma,” he whispered to her. “You’re safe, don’t worry.”

“I’m not worried about me,” she said softly. “I… I have these dreams.” Dean’s first thought was the dreams that Sam has from time to time. “I… I’m her,” she said softly. “The… the other night I had one and… and I was with Sam.”

“You think she’ll go after Sam next,” he asked looking down at her. She nodded slowly. “Well it won’t happen today, he should have plenty of time to get to the car and drive it back before the sun sets.”

“What if he doesn’t,” Emma asked softly. There was something her eyes that said she knew something he didn’t. “What if it doesn’t matter?” She sighed softly. “You shouldn’t have let him go back Dean. They’ll be waiting for him,” she said with tears in her eyes.

Dean sat up quickly and stood, moving away from her. “What are you talking about Emma?”

“Dean don’t be mad at me please,” she said softly. The look in Emma’s eyes broke Dean’s heart. “They… they’ll be waiting for him there. They’ll be waiting to end it.”

Dean stared at Emma with fear visible in his eyes. “You little bitch, what did you do,” he shouted. Emma simply hugged her knees to her chest. Dean looked around and found his cell phone. He called Sam’s number but Sam didn’t pick up. “Sammy come on,” he whispered. “Shit,” He said throwing down the phone when Sam didn’t pick up. He put his coat on and headed for the door. He stopped and looked at Emma. “I trusted you,” he said softly. He looked at her and shook his head before storming out of the house to find his brother.

“Dean,” she shouted getting up and running after him. She ran down the steps and took his hand, turning him around. “I… I didn’t do anything,” she said softly. “I… I just… I heard it,” she whispered. “Just now I heard it please don’t be angry with me.” There were tears streaming from her eyes. Dean simply pushed her away and continued on his way. “DEAN,” she screamed falling to her knees. She didn’t want to lose the safe feeling she had with Dean. Her heart shattered into a million pieces. She got up and ran after him. “Dean,” she said grabbing his hand again. “Give them me,” she shouted. “That’s all she wants!” Dean stopped and looked at her. He wanted desperately to believe her but he didn’t know if he could trust her again.

“Natasha,” he whispered. Whatever killed his parents and Jessica was attached to Natasha, or at least knew her. “That might work,” he said softly. Dean thought for a moment. It killed their mother when their father was perfectly happy, Jess when Sam’s was happy. It kept taking away the thing that completed them. Why their dad then, unless it really was to punish them for their interference with her revenge. He grabbed her arm and dragged her with him towards the hotel.