Worlds Colliding (Supernatural, Book Seven)

Chapter 21 - Reading is Fundamental

From 7.03 - The Girl Next Door: In the Gas & Sip, Octavia looked at Sam, sighing. "I won't be here forever, you know. The Hell Wall, me? It's crumbling as we speak. And when it's gone..."

Sam realized. "You will be, too."

Octavia raised her eyebrows slightly. "Exactly."

"And then what happens?" Sam asked.

"Then there's nothing stopping your hallucination of Lucifer, and all of your memories from Hell," Octavia answered.

"So it'll get even worse than this," Sam told her.

From 7.08 - Season 7, It's Time for a Wedding!: In Becky's Apartment, Sam and Octavia were seated at a table which was set for a candlelit dinner.

"So, until then, you'll be seeing less and less of me till the day that I'm just..." Octavia trailed off. She looked into a flame on a candle. "Gone."

The candle Octavia was looking at suddenly went out.

From 7.09 - How to Win Friends and Influence Monsters: Outside the warehouse, Sam looked away toward the restaurant, thinking. He saw Octavia flickering in and out of focus by the entryway. He was confused by this.

From 7.12 - Time After Time: In the abandoned house's bedroom, Octavia and Sam were laying together.

Sam sighed, looking at her. "You're not going to be here for much longer, are you, Ava?"

Octavia looked down, shaking her head. "No."

Octavia looked at Sam somberly. Sam slowly turned his head to look at Octavia. He watched as she flickered in and out of focus, disappearing.

From 7.16 - Out With the Old: In the truck, Sam was still driving, very sleepy. He pushed on his healed wound from 7.01 Meet the New Boss. Octavia flickered in and out of focus in the passenger seat next to him, not coming entirely. Sam was frustrated with this, looking off on the road. He almost overshot a bend, getting the car back under control. He started to nod off, falling asleep at the wheel. A large semi truck was driving toward Sam in the pickup truck. He started to honk the horn, but the noise still didn't wake him.

Octavia was still flickering in and out of view in the passenger seat, finally coming into a solid view. "Sam!" Sam started to come to. "Sammy!" Sam woke completely, nearly colliding with the truck, veering sharply to the side, into safety. He pulled over to the side of the road, stopping. Octavia was somber, breathing shakily. Sam looked at Octavia in relief, confused. Octavia looked at Sam, sad and guilty, taking Sam's hand in hers. "Goodbye, Sam."

Sam looked from their hands to Octavia. Octavia slowly started to fade until she disappeared. There was no flickering. Just fading into nothing.

Sam knew that this time was different, looking around in denial. "Ava?"

From 7.16 - Out With the Old: In the cafe, Ness, Catty, Scarlett, Sam and Dean were sitting at the table.

Sam hesitated. "I think Ava's gone. For real this time."

From 7.17 - Born-Again Identity: In the street, Sam was breathing heavily, blinking rapidly, walking along.

Lucifer followed close behind. "I am inside you, Sam."

From 7.17 - Born-Again Identity: In Sam's hospital room, Octavia/Lucifer was taunting Sam. "Losing Octavia hurt you so bad that just seeing Ava one more time would ease the pain. But then it wasn't really Ava. Never was. Man, that's got to hurt." She started to laugh. "Which is why it's so perfect. Sam? You... me... locked ward. Is it me, or is this just like the Cage?"