( TWENTY )
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The feeling of despair and fear lingered in the air as Bobby lead the three newcomers through the camp, fire torches lighting up the forest. Small wooden cabins were dotted around the area with people wondering through them, all covered in dirt and dust. Some had casts and bandages on their arms while others had crutches for their legs. It seemed like the type of place where laughter hadn't been heard in a long while.
"Well, welcome to home sweet home." Bobby sighed as he stopped before them. As Jack, Lexi and Mary glanced around the dimly lit camp, the depressive atmosphere seemed to rub off on them.
"What happened to them?" Jack inquired about the people on crutches across the clearing.
All eyes diverted over to where Jack nodded to. "Angels happened." Bobby stated.
"Angels did this?" Jack tilted his head in curiosity.
"They've done worse." Bobby shrugged, "Two days ago, angels bombed a colony in San Antonio. Four-hundred people, not a soul left alive."
Lexi shook her head as she glanced around at the injured people, "Sounds like your typical dick faced angels." She sighed, her sympathetic eyes looking back at Bobby.
"This isn't a war," He said, "This is an extermination."
The negative atmosphere caused eyebrows to furrow on the two hunters and the nephilim. They wanted nothing more than to save the people in the camp, even if they had very little power to do so.
"Bobby." Mary sighed, "Michael, he'll be looking for us." She warned the older man.
Bobby nodded with understanding, "Don't worry, we've got protocols protecting us. Wardings, look outs in the trees, and a few other tricks up our sleeves. Besides, Mary Campbell saved my ass more than a few times." His lips curled up ever so slightly into a smirk, "It'll be rude not to return the favour."
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The longer Lexi spent in the camp, the more the the depressing feeling rubbed off on her. You'd expect someone with her lifestyle to be numb to the grief and pain but she couldn't help feeling bad for the survivors. The sight of people with dried blood on their skin, clear injuries on their bodies and dirt covering every inch of them caused the Winchester to want nothing more than to help them. But what Lexi didn't consider was how similar she was to the survivors. She looked just like them with bruises on her cheek, a busted lip and dirt all over her, she blended in perfectly. Not only did her appearance match theirs, but she had also felt as lost as they did. She was far from her family with no idea if they were alive or not. And truthfully, Lexi was terrified.
Shoving her hands into the pockets of her leather jacket, Lexi stood beside one of the many fire torches to keep warm. The small amount of heat that radiated from the fire was enough to stop the chills running through her body. As she pulled her sympathetic eyes away from the sad scenes, the sound of laughter filled her ears, something she never expected to hear in a place like this. Turning to look ahead, a smile quickly crawled onto her lips when she spotted the sight before her. Jack was sat on a log with groups of children surrounding him, probably ranging from ages five to twelve. With a torch and a white sheet hanging between trees, he used his hands to create shadow puppets on the sheet. If it wasn't for Lexi's knowledge of his abilities, she would've been more impressed with the accuracy of the animals he created. He made butterflies, a moose and even an elephant. The children surrounding him bursted into giggles and gasps of wonder at the shadows.
Lexi had no idea how Jack managed to keep his head up high in a place filled with death and loss. And to be completely honest, she was jealous. She envied how happy he remained in such a terrifying situation. He was innocent and pure, and it showed in how positive he consisted to be. Lexi knew better than to look on the bright side of this situation, because there wasn't one. Sure, they found Mary, but now they were just as lost as she was. Lexi desperately hoped that Sam and Dean would come to find them, but she didn't have much hope left. However, she knew her brothers well, and they always found a way, but recently she wasn't so sure.
"I like your hair." A sweet voice spoke from beside Lexi.
Turning to look at the owner of the voice, Lexi smiled at the sight of a petite girl innocently staring up at her. The girl was small, barely stood taller than Lexi's waist and seemed no older than eight. Her long auburn hair was styled in two messy braids that cascaded down either side of her head, short curls pulled out at the front to frame her round face. Just like everyone else at the camp, she was covered in dirt but Lexi still managed to make out the freckles that kissed her nose.
"Oh, thank you." Lexi smiled, crouching down to be at the girls level. "I like yours too." She complimented, gently tucking a curl out of her face. The sweet smile that grew on the girls face warmed Lexi's heart.
"You do?" The small girl asked, fiddling with the ends of her braids.
Lexi nodded with a closed smile, "Hmm." She hummed, looking into her large brown eyes, "Very pretty."
The child giggled, the typical little girl giggle that you'd see in horror movies. But hers was sweet and brought a toothy smile to Lexi's face, something that hadn't been seen in a long while.
"What's your name?" Lexi asked.
"Lily." The girl proudly replied.
"Well, Lily, it's nice to meet you. I'm Lexi." She introduced, holding her hand out.
Lily reached her hand forward and placed it softly in Lexi's. Her petite hand looked so delicate in Lexi's larger one. She gently shook Lexi's hand before retreating it and going back to playing with her hair while Lexi placed hers back in her pocket.
"Your friend is nice." Lily spoke up again.
With furrowed brows, Lexi followed Lily's eye trail to catch sight of Jack, a wide smile on his face as he created the shadow of a moose on the sheet. His dirty blonde hair fell over half his face but Lexi could still make out the sparkle in his blue eyes. The longer she looked, the more beauty she found in the sight. Despite the dirt covering his face and slightly in his hair, he was still handsome with a genuine smile on his lips and moonlight bouncing off his cheekbones. Perhaps it was his father that brought out the angelic beauty in Jack, but anyone who had met his mother would know that it was passed on from her. If Lexi were an outsider, she'd still have no doubt in mind that Jack was an angel with the beauty he radiated.
"Yeah," Lexi kept her eyes on Jack as she spoke, the smile on her face slowly inching wider, "He is."
Lily let out another giggle, "And cute." She added.
Lexi turned back to the girl, watching as the blush crawled onto Lily's cheeks. "You think so?" She chuckled, glancing between Lily and Jack.
Looking down in embarrassment, Lily nodded with another giggle escaping her lips. At the sound of someone calling her name, assumably her parents, Lily then turned and skipped off through the trees.
Slowly standing up from her crouching position, a hint of a smile hadn't yet left Lexi's face as she watched Lily rejoin with her mother. She had almost forgotten what it was like to look into the eyes on innocence, someone who had barely any troubles and saw the light in everything. And honestly, she had missed it. Knowing that people like Lily lived in this catastrophic place made Lexi come to a brave decision. She's going to save them all.
With one last glance at Lily, Lexi turned and began making her own way through the camp. As she moved away from the fiery torch, the cold chills came running back down her spine and she immediately pulled her jacket closer over her body.
"Lexi!" The sound of her name being called caused her to stop in her tracks and turn around. Jack stood before her, his face creased in concern as he glanced over her. "Where are you going?" He inquired.
"Oh, I just wanted to sit down somewhere." Lexi replied.
The crease in Jack's brow deepened, "Are you okay?" He asked as he scanned her for any sign of new injuries.
Lexi wasted no time before nodding, "Yeah, I'm fine. Just tired." She lied. Well, it wasn't completely a lie, she was exhausted. But truthfully, her whole body ached. Her legs aches from walking, her body aching of exhaustion and her head painfully ached from the wrath of Michael.
Jack's face softened ever so slightly as he slowly nodded, "Okay. Come on." He simply said before gently grabbing her hand and guiding her over to a clearing where multiple logs and tree stumps resided away from the others. He sat down on one of the logs, allowing her to sit on his right.
She began to regret being away from her source of heat as a large gust of wind came through the trees, blowing cold air against her skin and bringing goosebumps to rise on her arms.
"Are you cold?" Jack questioned as he noticed her shivering beside him.
Lexi quickly shook her head, "Just a little." She said, "But I'm fine."
Jack didn't waste any more time before shuffling closer to her, despite her protesting that she was fine. He sat close to her so their arms and legs touched side by side, their faces inches apart. Any normal person would feel awkward being this near to someone, but not Jack and Lexi. It felt normal, especially since Jack didn't understand the whole concept of intimacy. As they sat with their bodies side by side, it was like something blocked the cold brushes of wind from touching Lexi. Jacks body heat allowed her to feel warmer, but something on her right side also kept her warm. However, nothing was there. At least nothing a human like Lexi could see.
"Is that better?" The nephilim boy asked, glancing her over.
Lexi's brows furrowed slightly but her lips curled into a smile, "Yeah, actually. Thanks." She nodded. Glancing up from the ground and at Jack, she only just noticed how close they were. She hadn't seen him that close before. She always thought he was beautiful from afar, but seeing him up close brought a new light to him. When she brought her eyes to connect with his, she saw the small details in him that she never noticed before. Like the flecks of grey surrounding the blue in his eyes, or the creases under his eyes from his smile. Lexi gazed into his eyes for no longer than a couple seconds before she forced herself to turn away and glanced around the dark camp.
"The people here are really something." She commented, "They don't deserve all this...pain." She looked down at her muddy boots, lazily moving a pebble around the ground with her foot.
Jack sighed beside her, she felt his breath brush against her neck as he did so. "I know." He said. Lexi wasn't looking at him, but she knew his face had his usual frown plastered on it. "But when Sam and Dean arrive, we can save them."
Only now did Lexi turn back to him, seeing the frown on his face but his eyes full of hope. "Oh, Jack, we don't know if Sam and Dean are coming for us." She shook her head.
"Of course they are." He replied, "Why wouldn't they?"
"Well," Lexi began, swallowing the lump in her throat that had been present since they arrived there. "I'm sure they're probably looking for a way to get here, but we don't know if they found one. We don't even know if they're..." she glanced down, "safe."
"You think they might be dead?"
The blonde girl shook her head, but struggled to answer entirely. "No. Yes. I-I don't know, maybe." She stuttered, "I mean, we left them with a dozen angels trying to kill them." She huffed. But seeing the frown on Jack's face deepened and all hope in his eyes wash away, she had to bring light to him. "But if I know my brothers at all, then I know that a few nobody-angels aren't going to be the end of them. So, I'm sure they're probably, most likely, fine." She attempted to convince not only Jack, but also herself.
"They are." Jack insisted, "Sam and Dean are safe, and they are coming for us."
Lexi stared at the boy with the same look of admiration that she had looked at him with many times before, seemingly more often since they arrived at the camp. "How do you do that?" She asked.
"Do what?"
"Act like everything's okay. Like we're not in an apocalypse with death knocking on our doors every minute." Lexi gestured to the world of destruction around them.
Jack thought about it for a minute, his eyes darting around them. "I don't know." He shrugged, looking back at her green eyes. "I just know that hope is what keeps people sane. Without it, we'd be lost."
You know those moments where a child says something oddly wise and intelligent unexpectedly, well this was one of those moments. Lexi never expected someone so new to the world to be so wise, but she had learnt that Jack was often full of surprises. "But hope can also hurt when you realise it wasn't worth it." The pessimist in Lexi spoke.
"Maybe." Jack nodded, taking in her words. "But what's to say it's not worth it?"
Lexi saw his side, and she knew in some way, he was right. Losing all hope that everything will turn out fine wasn't worth it, because then it meant giving up, and giving up meant losing. And Lexi wasn't about to accept defeat.
Lexi wanted to say you're incredible, Jack, you're the only thing that's keeping me from losing all sanity right now, but she didn't. Instead, she just smiled down at her muddy boots, thinking of everything that makes hope worth it.
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[ i did that thing again where i disappear for a month. i try to minimise the time i spend online for mental health reasons but i really do want to update for you guys. so here's a short but sweet chapter.
lexi and jack are adorable though. ]