❝ HONESTLY, WOMEN SHOULD JUST BE LEFT ALONE AFTER DEATH ❞
Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things
CW: At the end, harsh and negative self-talk from Diana. Poor baby's really going through it, lol
☼
Diana gasps awake, her hands flying to her stomach. She scrambles around in the cramped space of the Impala's backseat, hands hurrying to raise her shirt just slightly to expose her tan stomach. It's clean. No bullet wound, no blood.
She sighs out in relief and relaxes, her whole body deflating back against the leather.
It's just a dream. It's just a dream. It is just. A. Dream.
"You all right there, Annie?"
Diana looks up, her eyes connecting with Dean's through the rear view mirror. "Yeah," she replies, breathless. "Just... weird dream."
He hums, his green eyes scanning her face. After a beat, he decides not to question it and instead takes a cup of coffee from the empty seat besides him and holds it out to her, "All right. Well, here, some caffeine to really wake you up."
Diana accepts the cup with a small smile. She mumbles a quick thanks before throwing back a large gulp of the black liquid. Dean watches her do so, eyebrows raised high, "Ooohhhkay," he decides to shrug it off, for now. "Anyways, we're here. Sam's already on his way, was just waiting for you to wake up."
Diana looks out through the windows for the first time that day. She sees mostly grass around them, a couple of trees but overall, she's quite shocked at the amount of headstones.
"A cemetery?"
"Yeah, Sam wants to visit mom's headstone? We had a whole argument about it... did you not hear any of that?"
Diana frowns, "Guess it was a deep sleep."
"Yeah, I guess."
After finishing her coffee, Diana pulls herself from the comfort of the Impala's backseat. Dean exits the car as well and the two stand next to each other for a moment, both looking out over the cemetery. Sam is crouched between two rows of headstones, talking to Mary.
Diana looks to the side, examining Dean's face as he watches his little brother. She can't help but want to reach over and take his hand in hers. She wants to fiddle with his fingers, with his rings. She wants to hold her hand to his cheek and have him lean into the contact that he so desperately craves. She wants to hold him.
She wants to do a lot of things.
But things between them still haven't gone back to normal. He hasn't talked to her about his dad yet, and she hasn't had the guts to come out to him about what happened.
So, she'll settle for this weird and awkward in-between feeling that's been around them the past month.
Diana looks back out over the cemetery, her mind coming to a decision. She reaches up and squeezes Dean's arm twice before she walks away with a mumbled, "Be right back."
She walks towards Sammy, giving him a soft smile as she passes by him to the headstone besides Mary's. As she passes, Sam smiles back. She can see the tears in his clear eyes.
Diana settles into the grass in front of another headstone, this one located on Mary's right. It's a simple one; small, thin and a crumbling white from years of weather exposure.
JAYA RUSSO
1954 — 1980
It's not much, but then again they had no money when this was made. Edward put the very last of his savings —even those meant for rent, food or school— into this headstone. He knew it would mean a lot for his wife to be buried next to her best friend, Mary, and even though Mary's body is not next to her, their spirits will be. Or, at least, that's what Edward always said.
"Hi, mom," Diana whispers, the words feeling foreign on her lips. She takes a quick glance to Sammy who's sitting not so far away. She watches as he kisses his fingers and then touches the headstone before getting up and walking back to his brother. When she feels he's out of ear shot, Diana turns back to her mom's headstone and smiles nervously. "I don't know what to say, honestly. I... it's been a long year. I could uh—" she sniffs, trying to keep her tears at bay. "I could really use your help. Or anyone's help, at this point," she looks down, taking a moment to gather herself before she shakes herself out of it and smiles, tears in her eyes. "I love you, mom."
Diana mimics what Sam had done earlier; she kisses the tops of her fingers and then touches the headstone before she gets up and walks over to the boys.
Sam is standing a few feet from Dean, hands in his pocket as he watches Diana walk over. When she's close he gives her a comforting smile, "You okay?"
She nods, "Yeah. This was a nice idea of you, Sammy."
"I have those sometimes."
"Key word; sometimes."
The youngest Winchester scoffs and rolls his eyes just as Dean finishes up talking to a man in a suit and walks over to them. He holds up a card, "Angela Mason. She was a student at the local college, funeral was three days ago."
"And?"
Dean looks between his brother and his best friend, momentarily a little creeped out at how in sync they are. He goes on, "And? You guys saw her grave," he motions to it. "Everything dead around it, in a perfect circle? You don't think that's a little weird?"
"Maybe the groundskeeper went a little agro with the pesticide." Sam shrugs, Diana besides him nodding in agreement. The three walk over to Baby, Diana in between the two brothers.
Dean shakes his head at his brother' words, "No, I asked him, I asked him. No pesticide, no chemicals. Nobody can explain it."
"Okay," Diana begins slowly. "What're you thinking? Spirit? Demon? Reaper?"
"I dunno. Unholy ground, maybe?"
Sam scoffs, stops walking and turns back to look at the girls' grave. Dean and Diana stop as well, the oldest Winchester turning to his brother. "What? If something evil happened, it could easily poison the ground. Remember the farm outside of Cedar Rapids?"
"Yeah?"
"Could be the sign of a demonic presence," he says, a hand flapping out to gesture at Diana for her earlier suggestion. He goes on, "Or, uh, the Angela girl's spirit, if it's powerful enough."
Sam just shakes his head and walks away towards the car, Dean watching him with a frown, "Don't get too excited, you might pull something."
He turns to Diana, who walks besides him. "C'mon, Annie, what'd you think?"
"Eh," she tilts her head from side to side as if weighing her options. "I dunno. I mean, it's rare that we stumble onto a hunt, but... could be something. That circle was a little too perfect."
Dean smiles and motions over to Diana aggressively for Sam, as if he's saying 'that's what I'm trying to tell you!'. Sam chuckles, but continues to shake his head, "I don't know, Dean. Are you sure this is about a hunt? Not about something else?"
The trio come to a stop in front of their usual doors at the car, the three talking to each other over Baby's roof. Dean looks to his brother, "So? What else would it be about?"
Sam sighs and opens the door, "You know what, just forget it."
"You can believe what you want, Sam, but... I let you drag my ass out here. 'Least we can do is check this out."
Diana makes a face to herself while Sam just nods stonefaced at his brother, "Yep. Fine."
Dean opens his door, "Girls' dad works in town. He's a professor at the school."
As the two boys take their seats, Diana takes a moment longer to stay standing, mumbling to herself, "Oh, goody. This'll be fun."
❦
Diana, standing in between the two brothers, knocks on the glass door of a Dr. Mason. Angela's father. The door opens to reveal the short, balding man. He looks distraught and sad, not unusual for a man who has just lost his daughter.
"Dr. Mason?" Dean asks.
The man nods, "Yes."
"I'm Sam. This is Dean and Diana," he motions with his head to the two friends, who nod and smile in greeting. The youngest goes on, "We were friends of Angela's. We... we wanted to offer our condolences."
Dr. Mason smiles, touched, and holds the door open for them, "Please, come in."
He closes the door behind the trio and they situate themselves across the room. Sam and Diana sit on either side of the grieving father, watching as he thumbs through an old photo book of his daughter. Dean, meanwhile, stands by the professor's bookcase, skimming through one of the books.
"She was so beautiful." Diana comments, smiling tearfully —she's very proud of herself for the fake tears— at the father. Dr. Mason's lip wobbles as his eyes focus on a picture of his daughter, "Yes, she was."
"This is an unusual book." Dean speaks up, closing the book in his hands and showing the cover to them. Dr. Mason looks up at him and replies, "Oh, it's Ancient Greek. I teach a course."
"Of course," Diana smiles at the man before she turns to Dean to glare at him. Not the time, says the expression on her face. She turns back to the grieving father, "Angela told us all about it."
Dr. Mason smiled for a moment, then returns his eyes back to the photo book on his lap. Dean takes the moment of silence as he steps forward towards them, "So a car accident, that's... that's horrible."
"Angie was only a mile away from home when —uh..."
"It's gotta be hard," Dean goes on to say. "Losing someone like that. Sometimes it's like they're still around... almost like you can still sense their presence. You ever feel anything like that?"
Diana wants to hide her face in her hands. He's not very subtle, is he? She angles her head up to look at the oldest Winchester, whose eyes momentarily flicker to her own. She gives a small shake of her head, but Dean just looks back to the Doctor.
"I do, as a matter of fact." dr. Mason reveals.
"That's perfectly normal, Dr. Mason," Sam cuts in, his voice rough. He is talking to the grieving father, but his eyes are clearly on his grieving brother. "Especially with what you're going through."
"You know, I still phone her," Says Dr. Mason, completely oblivious to the tension between the trio. "And the phone's ringing before I remember that... uh, family's everything, you know?"
Yes, Diana does know.
He goes on, "Angie was the most important thing in my life. And now, w'll, I'm just lost without her."
Diana stares up at Dean, the words ringing in her head. John was the most important thing in his life... she knows he feels lost without him. Not caring if Dr. Mason would question it, Diana reaches out to take Dean's hand in her own.
But before her fingers can close around his hand, Dean slips his hand away. He stuffs them in the pockets of his leather jacket and looks away, avoiding eye contact.
Diana closes her eyes for a moment, her heart squeezing tight and uncomfortably in her chest. She turns to look at Sammy, who has a sad expression on his face; lips turned downward and eyes big.
"We're very sorry, Dr. Mason," says Sam, not knowing what else there is to be said.
☾
"I'm telling you, there's something going on. We just haven't found it yet."
They're in a motel room they found, Dean leaning against the wall with a book in his hands while Sam is freshening up in the bathroom. Diana sits on one of the beds, hands toying with the edges of an old Polaroid photo.
"Dean, so far you got a patch of dead grass and nothing."
"And an extra traumatised father," Diana says before adding in a slightly rougher voice, "Thanks to us."
Dean shoots her a look, but she stares back at him blankly, hands occupying themselves with the picture in her hands. The Winchester turns back to his brother and says, "Well, something turned that ground unholy."
"There's no reason for it to be unholy ground," Sam argues. "Angela Mason was a nice girl who died in a car crash. That's not exactly vengeful-spirit material. You heard her father."
"Yeah, well, maybe daddy doesn't know everything there is to know about his little angel, huh?"
"Please, never say daddy again." Diana grumbles, nose scrunched up. Her comment goes unheard as Sam continues arguing with his brother, "We never should have bothered the poor man. We shouldn't even be here anymore."
"So, what, Sam? We just bail? Without even figuring out what's going on?"
"I think I know what's going on here. It's the only reason I went along with you so far."
"What are you talking about?"
"This is about mom's grave."
"Oh," Diana gasps, hands tucking the Polaroid photo back into her hunting journal, "Here we go."
Dean scoffs, eyes flicking to Diana's for a moment before he focuses on his duffel bag. "It's got nothing to do with it."
"You wouldn't step within a hundred yards of it," Sam reveals. "Look, maybe you're imagining a hunt where there isn't one so you don't have to think about mom or dad."
Dean throws the book he was holding onto the bed, eyes turning a hard glare onto his brother. Diana tenses, not liking Dean's energy at this moment. Sam sighs at the look his big brother is giving him, "You wanna take another swing? Go ahead, if it'll make you feel better."
Dean shakes his head, "I don't need this crap."
He takes his jacket and walks over to where he left Baby' keys. He snatches them up and makes a beeline for the door.
"Dean, where're you going?" Diana asks, "It's late."
"I'm gonna get a drink," he replies and levels his brother and best friend with a glare. "Alone."
Then he's out the door.
Diana sighs deeply and let's herself fall back against the pillows of the bed. Her hands fly with her movements and land over her face.
Sam stares at the door his brother just disappeared through, teeth worrying at his lip. "I don't like this."
"He's having a hard time, Sammy," comes Diana's muffled voice. "Give him time."
"How much time?" The voice of the young man had changed into something with a painful bite to it. "I mean... if things will keep going like this..." he sighs, "I don't know, Ana."
"Yeah," Diana let's her hands slide down her face, settling over her stomach. "Me neither."
❦
The next morning, the shower runs in the hotel room as Diana takes a much needed shower. In the main part of the room, Sam sits on one of the beds as he watches tv.
"Next on the Skin Channel," comes a seductive, female voice from the television. "Casa Erotica 4: A Tale of Two Latin Beauties."
The jazz music starts to grow louder just as the door opens to reveal Dean. Sam is quick to shut off the tv and throws the remote behind him, pretending to be busy thinking. Dean walks further into the room, staring at his little brother.
"What?" Sam asks.
Dean clicks his tongue as his eyes flicker from the tv to Sam. He mumbles, "Awkward."
He walks past Sam and deposits his jacket on a pile of coats from Sam and Diana as the youngest Winchester asks, "Where the hell were you? Ana's called you like a dozen times."
"Yeah, well, she should know not to," Dean replies gruffly just as the water shuts off and the shower curtain can be heard ripping to the side. "And anyways, I was just working my imaginary case."
"Yeah, and?"
"Oh, well, you were right. I didn't find much. Yeah, except Angela's boyfriend died last night. Slit his own throat," he made a throat-slashing motion with his hand as he says so. "But, you know, that's normal. Uh, let's see... what else? Oh, he was seeing Angela everywhere before he died. But, you know, I'm sure that's just me transferring my own feelings."
Sam smiles for a moment and nods, "Okay, I get it. I'm sorry. Maybe there is something going on here."
"Maybe?" Dean retaliates, voice hard and stern. "Sam, I know how to do my job, despite what you and Annie might think."
"I hear Dean's back," Diana's voice suddenly says. The two brothers look over to see her emerge from the bathroom. She's still in the process of dressing herself, as she's only wearing a pair of dark blue skinny jeans and a black sports bra, her wet hair clinging to her skin. Dean looks away, focusing on his brother.
"How was your night?"
"Fine," he grumbles, avoiding eye contact with his best friend as she fishes a red flannel —his, why does it have to be his, god damnit— out of her duffel bag and throws it on. "I visited the boyfriend' apartment."
"And?" She and Sam ask.
"A pile of dead plants, just like the cemetery. Hell, dead goldfish, too."
"So, unholy ground?" Sam guesses.
"Maybe," Dean shrugs while he takes a seat and starts to undo the laces on his boots. "I'm still not getting that powerful, angry-spirit vibe from Angela. I have been reading this, though."
He stands and gets a small, pink journal from his jacket. He turns to face his brother and best friend —Diana leaning with her back against the wall besides where Sam sits on the edge of the bed. They both look at the item in his hands, Sam chuckling, "You stole the girls' diary?"
"Yeah, Sam. And if anything, this girls a little too nice. I mean, even Annie's diary entries were juicier back in the day."
Diana's eyes widen, her mouth falling open. "You read my diary?"
Dean's eyes flicker up, a spark in his clear green eyes as he thumbs through Angela's diary, "Yeah, duh."
"Oh my god," she groans and throws her damp towel at him. Dean dodges the material, the towel landing on the tv behind him. "I'm gonna kill you, Dean Winchester."
"Yeah, good luck with that." He smirks, eyes momentarily locking with hers. As they do so, a piece of Diana's heart is restored. It's short lived, though, as he is quick to look away again and focus on the diary in his hands.
"So, what do you wanna do?" Sam asks, breaking the tension between his two friends.
"Keep digging, talk to her friends."
"You got any names?" Diana asks, arms settling crossed over her chest.
"You kidding me?" He smiles, closing the book and giving it a little shake. "I have her bestes friend in the whole wide world."
He throws the diary at Sam before moving into the bathroom to do his business. Sam looks to Diana, which had him looking up for once as she's standing and he sits. "You wanna—?"
He trails off as he holds out the diary to her. Diana shakes her head. "I'm not reading her diary," she starts to raise her voice so Dean, in the next room, can hear her, "Because thAT WOULD BE AN INVASION OF HER PRIVACY!"
"She's dead, Ana," Sam chuckles. "I don't think she cares."
"Well, I care." The woman huffs.
❦
"That guy creeps me out." Diana shudders as they walk off the porch of a guy, Neil, who was supposedly Angela's best friend. They had come over pretending to be grief counselors from the college, but Neil said he wasn't in need of them.
More importantly, he revealed that on the night of Angela's death, she had crashed the car because she had been distraught from walking in on her boyfriend, Matt, with another girl.
"He's just grieving," Sam says.
"So? The guy can still creep me out."
"Well, the vengeful-spirit theory is starting to make a little more sense," Dean speaks up as they approach the Impala. "I mean, Hell hath no fury."
"Okay, well, if Angela got revenge on Matt, you thinkin' it's over?" Diana asks, standing by her car door.
"Well, there's one way to be sure."
The trio gets into their respective seats, doors slamming behind them. Sam turns to his brother, "Yeah? What's that?"
"Burn the bones."
"Burn the bones?" Sam echoes with a disbelieving chuckle with Diana makes a gagging sound from the backseat. "Are you high? Angela died last week."
"So?" Dean shrugs.
"So, there won't be any bones," Diana exclaims. "It'll be all rotting flesh and gooey eyeballs."
Dean looks from Diana to Sam, "Since when are you guys afraid to get a little dirty, huh?"
"Since it involved rotting meat and flies!"
Dean waves her off as he starts the car and drives over to the cemetery.
☾
That evening, or more like night, Diana takes a huge gulp from the water bottle she brought as she takes a little break from the digging. Her feet are dangling over the edge of the dig they made, while the brothers are still digging.
"You mind helpin'?" Dean asks, shooting her a tired glare. Diana swallows the large gulp of water and shakes her head. "No, I'm good. Thanks."
He huffs and rolls his eyes. Behind him, Sam's shovel hits something hard and solid. They've reached the coffin.
"Finally." Diana breathes. She reaches up and wipes some mixture of dirt and sweat from her forehead as the brothers throw their shovels to the side. Dean clicks on his flashlight and looks up to Diana. "Well, ladies first."
"Seriously?"
The brothers stare at her, both panting and out of breath. Diana curses and jumps down, landing just besides the coffin and Dean. She clicks on her flashlight and hands it to Dean, "Hold this." She instructs and the two brothers shine their lights on the coffin while Diana crouches down.
Her fingers curl around the coffin's lid. With one big thrust it creaks open to reveal... nothing. No corpse. No rotting flesh and gooey eye balls. Only the white satin of the coffin's pillow and sheet.
"Well," Diana breathes, "Lots of work for lots of nothin'." She shakes her head and wipes more dirt and sweat from her face.
"They buried the body four days ago." Dean says, his voice rough but full of wonderment.
"I don't get it," Sam breathes.
Diana takes her flashlight back from Dean and lets the yellow light follow along the open coffin. When it lights up something strange, she frowns. "Wait, guys," she crouches down and the boys follow her lead. "That's strange. Those look like—"
"I've seen those symbols before," Dean cuts her off. "They're Ancient Greek. Like on that book at Dr. Mason's office."
☼
"Wait, wait, wait!" Diana exclaims. She shuffles hurriedly past Sam to stand in front of the oldest Winchester. The trio is just about to walk up the steps to the porch of the Mason house, where Angela's father lives.
The Russo girl stops Dean from walking by putting a hand out between them, not fully touching his chest but being quite close to it. Dean looks down at her, frowning slightly. "What?"
"Look, Dean, I know things are weird right now—"
"Annie—"
She goes on as if he's never interrupted her, "But that man in there," she motions to the house behind her. "He has, just very recently, lost his daughter. He is grieving, okay?"
Dean shrugs his shoulders and makes a face that says, 'so, what?'. Diana grits her teeth, "I don't like the headspace that you're in right now. We don't need you going postal on the guy and having him sic his zombie-daughter on us."
Her best friend rolls his eyes and scoffs, "Don't worry 'bout it, Annie, okay? I've got it."
He pushes past her, his shoulders briefly knocking against her own. As his boots thump up the steps, Diana stares at Sam in bewilderment, her hand going to the shoulder that Dean had just checked.
'The hell?!' She mouths to Sam.
The youngest Winchester holds up his shoulders for a moment and mouths back, 'I don't know'.
Dean's fist raps loudly against the wood of the Mason's front door, causing Sam and Diana to hurry up the steps after Dean.
"Hey, take it easy." Sam tells his big brother, but it's like Dean is in some kind of trance. He just knocks harshly twice more. After a beat, the door opens to reveal Dr. Mason, Angela's father. He looks distraught, eyes puffy from crying and his bathrobe dirty. He looks them over, "Angie's friends, right?"
"Dr. Mason, we—" Diana begins, but Dean talks over her loud and angrily. "We need to talk."
Dr. Mason scrunches his eyebrows, looks from Diana, to Sam, to Dean and then back to Diana. He gives a small nod of his head and holds the door open for them just enough to slip through, "Well, then, come in."
Sam and Diana thank the man, but Dean is on a mission. He follows Dr. Mason to his office, where the trio stand opposite of the doctor.
"So, what's this about?" He asks.
Diana gives him a soft smile, the one she uses to put victims of the supernatural at ease. "We just want to talk... about, uh, about Angela."
Dr. Mason worries at his lip, but nods while Dean gets a paper from his jacket pocket. "You teach Ancient Greek. Tell me..what are these."
He holds the paper out and Dr. Mason takes them from him. He examines them, frowning. "I don't understand. You said this had something to do with Angela."
"It does," nods Dean. "Please, just... humor me."
Dr. Mason takes a deep breath, then looks down to the paper once more, "They're part of an Ancient Greek divination ritual."
"Used for necromancy, right?"
Diana shoots the green eyed hunter a sharp look at his hard tone, but he seems to be zeroed in on the grieving father in front of them.
Dr. Mason confirms Dean's words, "That's right."
"See, before we came over here, we stopped by the library and did a little homework ourselves. Apparently, they use rituals like this one for communicating with the dead. Even bringing corpses back to life, full on zombie action."
"Yeah," Dr. Mason voices, his eyes looking at Dean with pain and confusion. "I mean, according to the legends. Now, what's all this about."
"I think you know."
"Dean—" the Russo girl tries, but he goes on.
"Look, I get it, okay? There are people that I would give anything to see again. But what gives you the right?"
"Dean!" Sam and Diana exclaim while the grieving father gasps at them. The oldest Winchester goes on, voice hard and tears in his eyes, "What's dead should stay dead!"
"What?!" "Dean, stop it!"
Diana looks around the house as the tension rises, she needs some kind of sign. Something other than the fathers' complete and utter grief for his daughter, to convince Dean that he did not bring her back.
"What you brought back isn't even your daughter anymore. These things are vicious, they're violent, they're so nasty they rot the ground around them. I mean, come on, haven't you seen Pet Cemetery?"
"You're insane." Dr. Mason gasps. Diana takes her eyes off of the lovely plants in his window sill to see him tremble in fear.
"Where is she?!" Dean demands.
Dr. Mason shakes his head and walks past Dean to the phone, where he starts to dial. "Get out of my house."
Dean marches forward and snatches the phone from his hand, letting it dangle on its cord just above the ground. "I know you're hiding her somewhere. Where is she?!"
Diana hits Sam's shoulder and the youngest Winchester takes a moment to take his eyes off of his brother to see what she's pointing at. "The plants!"
"Dean! Stop, that's enough!" Sam calls while Diana takes a step towards her best friend and grabs him by the arm. She turns him forcibly to stare out at the arraignment of plants that are thriving in the windowsill of Dr. Mason's office.
"Look at that, huh?! Beautiful, living plants! Not a rotting one in sight." She says, shaking his arm a bit from the adrenaline.
Sam turns to Dr. Mason now that Dean seems to have gone quiet, "We're leaving."
Dean yanks his arm back from Diana's grip. He can feel her nails scratch along the seems of his jacket as he shakes her off and turns around to storm out the door.
"I'm calling the police." Dr. Mason tells Sam and Diana.
"Sir, we're sorry," Sam says. "We won't bother you again."
Diana nods her head as the tall hunter runs after his brother, while she smiles apologetically at the man. "We're really sorry. He's just... he's still grieving. Taking it hard."
"Don't make excuses for him, girl," Dr. Mason says as he hangs up the phone with a deep sigh, already regretting not calling the cops. "It'll only land you more trouble."
All Diana can do is give him another apologetic smile as she backs up to the door, "Again, really sorry."
Then she slips out the door and hurries over to where the brothers are standing arguing on the sidewalk. When she catches up with them, Sam is already berating Dean; "What the hell's the matter with you?!"
"Back off."
"That man is innocent! He didn't deserve that."
"Okay, so she's not here. Maybe he's keeping her somewhere else."
Diana scoffs, shaking her head. She has to pick up her pace, as Dean's agitation makes him walk twice as hard as normal. "Enough, Dean! Okay? You gotta stop this!"
He gives her a fleeting look, "I know what I'm doing, Annie."
"That's just the thing; you don't! Not at all! Now, you know I don't scare easily, but you're really scaring me here, all right?"
"Don't be dramatic, Annie."
"Dramatic?! Hey, you're lucky this is actually a case, 'cause you would've gone out to kill something else if not!"
"Wha—"
Sam takes over for Diana, wanting to express his own feelings about his brothers' behaviour. "You're on edge, Dean! You're erratic— except for when you're hunting, 'cause then you're downright scary. You're tailspinning, man. And you refuse to talk about it and you won't let us help you."
Dean scoffs, not looking his brother and best friend in the eyes, "I can take care of myself, thanks."
"No, you can't!" Diana exclaims. "And you know what? Honey, you're the only one who thinks you should have to!"
Sam nods, "You don't have to handle this on your own, Dean, no one can."
"Sam, if you bring up dad's death one more time I swear—" "Please, Dean, it's killing you."
The brothers' words overlap, but Sam takes the upper hand in the conversation. He stops his brother from walking by turning Dean to face him, Diana standing besides them. Sam goes on, "Please. We've already lost Dad. We've lost Mom. Ana's lost Edward and Matt. I've lost Jessica. And now we're going to loose you too?"
Dean just breathes out a huff, "We better get out of here before the cops come."
"Dean, please," Diana begins and reaches out a hand to clasp around his elbow. He flinches at the contact, which makes her hesitate, but she lets her hand hover close. As Dean makes no move to shake her off, she closes her fingers around his elbow again, softer this time. "Honey, you're driving yourself down a path we might not be able to drag you back from."
Dean shakes his head and slowly retracts his arm from her hand. It falls back down by her side, empty and cold. She bites her lip as Dean says, "I hear you, guys. Okay? Yeah, I'm being an ass. I'm sorry. But right now we've got a friggin' zombie running around, and we need to figure out how to kill it."
Sam laughs, but Diana's eyes are locked on Deans.
"Right?" Dean presses, staring at his brother.
Sam grumbles out, "Our lives are weird, man."
"You're telling me? Come on."
As Dean hustles over to the car, Sam and Diana stand still for a moment. They make eye contact, both full of emotion but neither having the time or space right now to say anything.
❦
Diana sits cross-legged in the middle of her motel bed, she holds her head up in her hand, which is supported with her elbow on her knee. In her other hand she flicks her switchblade open and closed. Her eyes are fixed on Dean's figure, which is pacing the length of their motel room. He hasn't sat down for even a second and his behaviour is not only stressing her out, but also making her more worried for him.
"We can't just waste it with a head shot?" He asks, scratching at the back of his head as he turns and does another lap of the room.
Sam, sitting on the edge of the other motel bed with John's journal in his lap, chuckles, "Dude, you've been watching way too many Romero flicks."
"You're telling me there's no lore on how to smoke 'em?"
"No, Dean, I'm telling you there's too much," Sam replies, eyes flickering down to the journal and then back to his brother. "I mean, there's a hundred different legends on the walking dead, but they all have different methods for killing them."
"Setting them on fire, feeding their hearts to wild dogs," Diana lists. "Which is, just... gross, by the way," she makes a gagging noise before continuing. "Then there's, of course, the classic head chopping. But we can't be certain which ways are myth and which are real."
Dean hums. "Is there anything they all have in common?"
"No," says Sam. "But a few said silver might work."
"Silver's a start."
"Yeah. But now how are we going to find Angela?"
"We've got to figure out the person who brought her back."
"Any ideas?"
Diana speaks up from her place on the bed as she flicks her knife closed and pockets it, "My money's on that Neil guy. He was a serious creep."
"Neil, really? But he looked so... normal."
Diana chuckles, "Oh, it's always the normal looking ones, Sammy."
The youngest Winchester scrunches up his nose, which makes her chuckle. Dean, meanwhile, gets up from his chair where he had sat down by the table and walks across the room to retrieve Angela's diary. He flicks through the diary until he finds the page he was looking for. "Hey, guys, listen to this: 'Neil's a real shoulder to cry on, he so understands what I'm going through with Matt'."
Diana snorts, "That's unrequited puppy love, alright."
Sam raises his eyebrows, eyes flickering from Dean's to Diana's as his brother nods in agreement to her statement. So they can see it with other people, but not in themselves? Sam wants to roll his eyes.
"Yeah, alright, but that doesn't mean he brought her back from the dead."
Dean nods, "Did I mention he's Professor Mason's TA? Has access to all the same books."
Diana drags herself from the bed and clasps her hands together, "Well, I guess we're in business, boys."
☾
After Diana managed to pick the lock of Neil's front door, the trio silently enter the house. Dean is up front, with Diana on his heels and Sam quietly closing the door behind them.
The house is void of any light, it seems not even the moon wishes to reach in through the windows. Dean and Diana look around the empty space as the oldest yells out, "Neil? It's your grief counsellors, we've come to hug!"
Diana can't help the small grin that lights up her face. Still, she prods her elbow into his side, "Dude!"
"What?" He grins, knowing exactly what she meant.
The Russo girl rolls her eyes as Sam joins them. They watch as Dean retrieves his gun from the back of his waistband. Diana asks, "Silver bullets?"
"Enough to make her rattle like a change purse."
"Oh, nice." She replies with a roll of her eyes.
The trio cautiously move further into the house, Dean up front with his gun at the ready. They spot a few dead and rotting plants by the window sill. Diana huffs and whispers, "No amount of water or sunlight's gonna safe those."
Sam nods, agreeing.
They finally arrive at a dead bolted door at the back of the house, obviously a door to the basement. Diana looks at Dean, her raised eyebrows an obvious question.
He says, "Unless it's where he keeps his porn."
Diana only shoots him a look while they situate themselves. The brothers stand on either side of the door, Sam ready to open and Dean with his gun at the ready while Diana stands just behind him should anything happen.
With a nod of Sam's head, he unlocks the deadbolt and opens the door. Dean is the first through the door, then Diana and lastly Sam. With caution heeded in their step, the trio descend the staircase.
When they step off the last step, they have truly arrived in a different world. Gone is the cozy and homely décor from upstairs. Instead, they're presented with a white room, the paint peeling off of the walls and a smell of rotting fish in the air. Diana grimaces as her eyes fall on the used single bed in the corner. Someone's been sleeping here.
"Sure looks like a zombie pen to me." Dean states, gun down but still on alert.
"Yeah," Agrees Sam, also grimacing as he looks around. He adds, "An empty one. You think Angela's going after somebody?"
Before Dean could answer, Diana calls for them. She's stepped away from them towards a grate in the wall. "Hey, guys, I— uh, I think I know how she comes and goes."
She taps a finger against the lower corner of the grate. It slips loose, only still hanging on by the upper left corner. Diana could easily slip through and go outside. If she can do it, so can zombie Angela.
Dean walks over to her and hums, "Well, I think she went out to rent Beaches."
Diana turns around to face him and slaps him hard on the shoulder, "Hey, dumbass, she's gonna kill someone again. You know that right?"
"We gotta find her." Sam agrees, also coming over to join them.
Dean sighs and scratches at his forehead with his gun-free hand as he thinks, "Yeah, alright. So she, uh, clipped her boyfriend because he was cheating, right?"
"Yeah." Sam and Diana echo.
"Well, It takes two to, you know... have hardcore sex."
"Alright," Diana huffs, "That doesn't bring us any closer to the identity of the other woman, or guy."
Dean shrugs, "Eh, I don't know, it just seemed that Angela's roommate was... broken up, over Matt's death. Like, really broken up."
The Russo girl rolls her eyes, "Yeah, we get it, hun."
❦
The trio finds themselves back in the Impala after saving Angela's roommate from zombie!Angela. Dean was able to get a couple of rounds in her, but Angela had escaped through the open window. And, well, she could really run for someone who's supposed to be six feet under.
"So, the silver bullets did something, right?" Sam asks, sitting in his usual seat with John's journal open in his lap.
Dean nods, "Yeah, something. But not enough. What else you got?"
"Um, okay, besides silver we have..." he flicks a page in the journal. "Nailing the undead back into their gravebeds. It's mentioned a few times. It's probably where the whole vampire staking lore comes from."
Diana groans, "Her gravebed? Like, her empty coffin that we dug up?"
"Yeah." Sam breathes out.
"Are you serious?" Dean grumbles. "And how the hell are we going to get Angela back to the cemetery?"
"Neil," Diana answers. "We get him to lure her there."
"Okay," Dean frowns. "How?"
❦
After visiting Neil's office, where the trio tried to get him to leave with them seeing as they were pretty sure Angela was about to kill him, they head over to the cemetery.
There the three of them start to light candles all around Angela's empty coffin, the lid open. Sam looks over at Dean and Diana as he asks, "You think this'll work?"
"No, not really," Dean sighs, lighting the last candle. "But it's the only thing I could come up with."
"Which means we're screwed." Diana quips, smiling lightly at him.
Before Dean has the chance to quip something back, leaves rustle close by. Not the there-goes-the-wind, type of rustle, but a someone's-here rustle. All three heads snap up in the direction of the sound, all on high alert.
Sam looks over to his brother and best friend, who nod at him. With that encouragement, he rises to his full height and retrieves his gun from the waistband of his pants.
Then, he walks into the adjacent forest.
Diana looks over to Dean as the youngest Winchester disappears through the trees. "You think he'll be okay?"
"What, playing damsel in distress? Yeah, he'll be fine. He's got the hair for it and everything."
The Russo girl snorts and stands upright, retrieving the silver stake they managed to get from a pawnshop. She twirls it in her hands a few times, hand adjusting to the weight. Then she looks up to Dean, "You want this one?"
Dean looks down to the gun in his hand, then over to the stake. He shrugs and holds out his gun, "Sure. Trade?"
She nods and accepts his gun filled with silver bullets with her free hand while she hands him the stake with the other. Diana feels her own gun poking in the waistband of her skinny jeans, which is also filled with silver bullets, just in case.
Their hands brush as they exchange weapons, and Diana feels her breath catch in her throat. It might be strange, but it's been too long a time since she's had physical contact with someone. She's quite the touch starved person, even though she gives Sam regular high-fives, fist-bumps and even the occasional hug, but Dean's the only person she really connects with. He's the only person she really holds. He is the one whose fingers she takes to fiddle with or whose arm she can take just to hold him because she feels like it.
Or, well, he was that person.
Things between them have been so weird lately, she hasn't held him properly since John's death over a month ago.
The sound of a gun shot gets Diana out of her reverie.
The best friends turn to see Sam sprinting from the forest and collapsing on the grass besides a headstone as Angela tackles him to the ground.
"Oh, shit!" Diana gasps and runs over. Once she's in range, she aims and shoots. The bullet hits Angela in the back and she falls side ways off of Sam, rolling in the grass. For a zombie, she sure is quick. Within seconds she's back up on her feet, but Diana doesn't stop shooting.
With every shot she takes, Angela staggers back until the grass beneath her feet is gone and she falls backwards into her open coffin.
"Now, Dean!" She yells out.
The green eyed hunter jumps up from behind the headstone and ducks into the coffin. He straddles Angela and with a big swipe up, he impales the silver stake through her stomach.
"Wait, don't!" Angela pleas, but Dean pushes harder until the bones in her body crack and the stake touches the wood of the coffin. The girl screams out in pain, then falls back, unmoving.
Dean stands, watching her lifeless figure in her coffin.
"What's dead should stay dead."
☼
By the time the sun is high in the sky once more, the trio has finally finished re-burying Angela. They give the last patches of sand a final good pat before leaning on their shovels.
"Rest in peace." Sam says, staring sadly at Angela's headstone. Dean nods his head in agreement, adding, "Yeah, for good this time."
Diana hums, "You know, honestly, I think women should just be left alone after death —or always, actually."
The boys look over at her, both agreeing, but she goes on, "I mean, this girl was having a rough enough time as it is... getting cheated on, with her roommate even, and then she dies... probably expecting some peace but noooo," she drawls out. "Here comes her best friend, who's so in love with her that he brings her back from the dead just so he can be with her. I mean, isn't that just a little crazy?"
"Yeah, it's... something alright." Sam breathes out, which has Diana chuckling. "Okay, you boys need some coffee in you."
They won't disagree with that.
So, the trio pick up their shovels and jackets and head over to the Impala. Sam grimaces as he picks up his jacket, his hand feeling weird. He doesn't mention it, though, instead saying, "You know, that whole fake ritual thing, luring Angela into the cemetery? Pretty sharp."
"Thanks." Diana smiles, feeling appreciated.
"But did we have to use me as bait?"
"I figured you were more her type," Dean jokes. "You know, she had pretty crappy taste in guys."
Diana snorts and pats Sam on the shoulder, "Can't argue with that."
The youngest of them scoffs, "You know, I think she broke my hand."
Dean and Diana laugh, the green eyed hunter replying, "You're just too fragile. We'll get it looked at later."
He pauses and turns to look back at Mary and Jaya's graves. Diana walks over to him and puts a hand on his shoulder, "You wanna stay?"
"No."
❦
Half an hour later, Diana lays with her head leaning against Baby's window, her feet up besides her. Her brown eyes are dropping shut every few seconds, the familiar hum of the impala lulling her to sleep.
Suddenly, Dean steers the car to a left and stops the car on the shoulder. He's out the car in seconds, slamming the door and taking a seat on the edge of Baby's hood.
Sam turns to look at Diana, who had fully woken up by now, for clarification. The Russo girl just shrugs and the two step out of the car after Dean.
"Dean, what is it?" Sam asks at the same time of Diana asking, "Honey, you okay?"
He's silent for a long beat, then says, "I'm sorry."
Diana's taken aback. She had expected a couple of things, but an apology was not one of them. She asks, "For what?"
"The way I've been acting."
Sam sighs and takes a seat on the hood of the car besides his brother, he leaves just enough space for Diana to join him. She sits besides him, meaning that Sammy is in the middle.
The trio sit there for a moment, letting Dean's words ring out over the road.
"And for dad," he adds, which has Sam and Diana's heads snap over to him. "I mean, he was your dad too, Sam. And it's my fault he's gone."
It's mine, actually. Diana wants to say.
Sam speaks up, "What are you talking about?"
"I know you've been thinking it. So have I. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, you know. Full recovery," he takes his eyes from the road ahead of them to look at his little brother. "Five minutes later, dad's dead and the Colt's gone."
"Dean—"
"You can't tell me there's not a connection there."
Sam stays silent, looking away. He has obviously been thinking the same. Diana decides to stay quiet, this being a moment between brothers and all.
Dean goes on, "I don't know how the demon was involved. I don't know how the whole thing went down, exactly. But dad's dead because of me. And that much I know."
Diana looks down at her hands, disgusted by the blood stained on them. John's blood. Your fault, rings through her mind.
"We don't know that," Sam says. "Not for sure."
"Sam," Dean begins. "You, Annie and dad... you're the most important people in my life. And now..." he pauses, a sob strangled in his throat. "I never should've come back, Sam. It wasn't natural. And now look what's come of it. I was dead, and I should have stayed dead."
Diana closes her eyes, feeling tears building up. This could have been prevented, she thinks. You could have stopped him from feeling like this. But you're just a scared little girl. You should have made the deal yourself, you coward.
"You wanted to know how I was feeling," Dean goes on. "Well, that's it. So tell me... what could you possibly say to make that alright?"
Diana chances a glance over to him. She looks past Sam to see Dean looking at his little brother, a tear rolling down the apple of his cheek.
❦
A few hours later, with the sun just about to go down, the trio settle into a motel room. Sam called dips on the showers so it had been completely silent between the two best friends in his absence.
The only sound was that of Diana rifling through her duffel bag in search of a clean sleep shirt while Dean sat on the bed, cleaning the guns. She tried her best not to stare.
"Annie?"
Diana looks up at the familiar nickname, humming softly to acknowledge him. But Dean's eyes are not on her, they're focused on the weapons in his hands.
"You know, before my dad..." he pauses, momentarily stopping his actions with the gun. A moment passes and Diana takes in a deep breath, whatever comes next is going to be hard.
"Before," he goes on. "He said something to me. He told me that I shouldn't blame you."
Diana's breath catches in her throat. She closes her eyes as her knees wobble, legs close to giving out.
"What shouldn't I blame you for, Diana?"
❦