Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Six - Nick

Eden had been sat in bed, hugging her knees for two days, staring wide-eyed at the wall opposite, barely ever even blinking. Every drop of blood she'd consumed had been from a straw fed to her by either Sam, Jack or Willow.
"I don't know what else to do..." Sam sighed, leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed, his brows knitted together in a state of deep concern.
"We've just got to wait until she's ready." Cas reassured him. "It will happen, eventually."
"She hasn't said a word. She hasn't slept, barely fed. What if this was too much? I mean, she was so vulnerable when Lucifer unlocked her darkness. But now? With all this added trauma? Everything she did? What if it's truly broken her, Cas?" The younger brother glanced to the Angel.
"We're not gunna let that happen. We're going to do what we always do and act like a family - get her through this just like she's always done for us." Dean approached the pair with a brown paper bag tucked under his arm, looking into the room at the catatonic Archangel of Darkness.
Sam walked in, sitting next to Eden on the bed. He went to pull her into him, but she flinched at his touch.
He glanced to the two men in the doorway, who simply watched.
"Eden, I can't imagine what must be going on in your head right now, but I really need you to talk to us - talk to me. Please... Just say something." He whispered.
A few seconds of nothing led to her slowly shaking her head, her gaze still fixed on the adjacent wall until she placed her hands either side of the bed and curled up into a ball, facing away from him.
"Did you get the thing I asked for?" Sam asked his brother.
Dean nodded, taking the brown paper bag from under his arm, reaching into it to reveal a box of burgundy hair dye.
"Showed the chick at the store a picture and she said it would match almost perfectly. She made me get two and some fancy ass conditioner - said it was because of the length of her hair, but I don't know crap about hair so maybe she was just trying to get me to spend more." He replied.
"Eden changed it with her magic, so I don't see why she shouldn't be able to change it back the same." Cas frowned.
"I had an idea, that's all. Maybe if we do something together, like dye it back, get her back to her original self in a mundane way, it might help more than her just using her magic. A little more intimate, you know?" Sam told him.
Dean nodded, giving a small mouth shrug.
"That doesn't sound like a bad plan."
Sam looked back to Eden, trying again to place a hand on her upper arm. She flinched again, but he didn't pull away, just rested it there to see what she would do.
"I can't..." A small, breathy whisper left her lips.
The younger Winchester's face darted to his brother and Castiel, who's brows raised slightly.
"Can't what, Baby?" Sam asked gently.
"I'm so sorry..." The small voice came again.
"This wasn't your fault, Vampy Pants. This was Lucifer. He did this to you." Dean spoke up.
"But, I..." Eden trailed off, her eyes welling with tears. "All those people..."
"It wasn't your fault, Baby... You're back now. Let us help you." Sam soothed, running his hand up and down her arm softly.
"I'll get the kid. Maybe he'll help." Dean said, wandering off down the hall towards Jack's room.

Dean knocked on Jack's door, seeing it partially open.
"Come in." The boy called, his voice slightly monotone.
The Winchester pushed the door open, finding the Nephilim sat on his bed cross-legged, looking deep in thought.
"Hey, Kid. Eden's a little more aware; she's talking, at least. I was wondering if you could talk to her, see if you can help her out."
Jack gave Dean a thousand mile stare, turning his whole head to do so.
"Haven't I done enough?" He asked.
"What are you talking about?" Dean frowned, stepping into the room. "Jack, you saved her. I know it cost you, but now you can do some good without draining your soul."
"You really think it'll help?"
"I know it will. You got her back. Your bond or whatever helped more than we know. Now it can do it again." The Winchester nodded.
Jack turned away, looking straight ahead of him as he thought it over.
"Okay." He eventually said, getting off his bed.

After escorting the boy to Sam and Eden's room, Dean left with Castiel and Sam went to check on Willow.
The boy sat where Sam had been previously, trying to find the right words to help her.
He held up an open hand.
"Hello." He said. "I was wondering if I could sit with you. Maybe we could talk."
Eden didn't say anything, only sat up a little on the bed, staring off into space.
"I think I know how you feel." The boy continued."I know how awful I felt after I hurt that guard and those other people. But, it's okay. You weren't in your right mind. I know you tried to warn me about what Lucifer was like and I didn't listen, I wanted to find out for myself. I wanted to have a father. But, now I realise that I have three of the best fathers I could ask for. And the best mother figure and sister, too."
"That's the thing, though." Eden uttered, finally looking at him with bloodshot, swollen eyes. "I was in more of my right mind than I ever had been in my whole life, Jack. That was the darkness we'd been wondering about all this time - the secret I'd been keeping even from myself. I killed all those people because I was in my right mind... You should... You should stay away from me. You all should. I'm not safe."
"Do you want to hurt any of us?" Jack frowned.
"Of course not..." Eden sighed. "But if my darkness comes out again, I might. And I can't live with that. I couldn't live with myself knowing I'd hurt you or Sam or Dean, Pigeon or Willow. I'd rather die than go back to being that... That monster."
"Don't call yourself that. I know how much you hate that word." The boy told her.
"I'm serious. That's how much I mean it. That's exactly what I was." She snapped. "Living, knowing that I hurt one of you boys or Willow, that would be the worst kind of torture there is."
"I hate seeing you like this..." Jack whispered after a few moments of silence. "You're supposed to be the strongest one of us all."
Eden simply nodded, resting her chin on her curled up knees.
"Even the strongest people break sometimes." She replied. "My turn was well overdue."