Post by thefangedrose on Sept 5, 2024 19:27:38 GMT -8
Disclaimer
This series contains elements of a supernatural nature and will play a parody of the Judao-Christian faith. It is not meant to be mocking or subversive but simply done for a creative outlet.
You. Were. Warned.
There are also supernatural elements to this story now. Be warned of that in advance. The supernatural elements of this storyline were only mentioned before but asked by those who wanted this series to be added.
“The Pact” is a concept that kept Jesse’s original “Walk the Line” idea alive while honoring that none of them had these “abilities” five years ago to keep the original writer's concept alive.
I hope you enjoy it.
I give you Chapter 28.5!
Mood Setter: "Don't let go" En Vogue
Civil War 2
Chapter 28.5
A new contender arises....
The drive from Baltimore had taken a little over three hours, with an additional fifteen minutes spent looking for parking on the street because New York City was impossible that way. But finally, Ella St. James was standing on the stoop of the Bronx brownstone, her stomach full of butterflies at the thought of seeing Dean again after so long. She was dressed in a black top and matching jeans for a day out in the city, with her blonde hair clipped back away from her face. Unsure what to expect, she took out her phone to let Dean know she’d arrived right before knocking three times on the door, just like the Sins had instructed her yesterday. Now all that was left to do was wait for someone - hopefully her friend - to answer.
Of course it wasn’t all that out of place for a girl that looked like Ella to be in this place. Hell, the folks on the block would call that an everyday occurrence for the Titans and this brownstone. When Ella knocked however she could hear the sounds from within, the music and the laughter of nearly a dozen people. After a few moments the door opened and there he stood. His hair was down and he was wearing a simple pair of blue jeans and a sleeveless shirt where he towered over her.
But the instant he saw her, the lines of his face changed. It was subtle, but it was clear as day. Pure joy on his face.
“....Ells. Hi.”
She barely registered the music and laughter coming from inside. She knew he wasn’t the only one who lived in the brownstone - but to her, he was the only one who mattered. The moment she saw him, her lips curved into a smile, noticing the way those blue eyes of his lit up at the sight of her. From all their talks, she knew that he didn’t feel as though he had a lot to smile about, but knowing she was one of the few who could bring that out in him filled her with pride.
“Hey, Dean,” she said, before closing the gap between them and hugging him tightly. Even though they had been talking for days now, his hulking, solid presence in her arms, the warmth from his body, all made it sink in that this was real. And the way her heart thudded when she looked up at him from the safety of his embrace made her realize that she was absolutely, completely, one hundred percent fucked when it came to this man.
As Ella’s arms go around him his own come up to wrap around her, one arm around her shoulder and the other up into her hair, fingers brushing into the smooth golden locks. His head turns to the side and lays his cheek on the crown of her head. She can feel him take a deep, shaking breath as he simply…holds her.
At that moment nothing else existed. Not for him, and he doubted her. It was just the two of them standing on the stairs. He hadn’t had such a perfect moment in…since when? He couldn’t remember. A smiling face and a sudden arching in his temple but thankfully it was broken by a sudden clearing of a threat.
He, and no doubt her, expected Peyton but as his eyes turned to the door he found instead a tall, slender blonde man leaning heavily on a beautiful white oak cane.
“Mrs. St. James.” The man said in a voice that was eerily calm. As if he had practiced for years to always sound as if he were in control. “Danielle would like to speak to you.”
Ella blushed hotly when she heard someone clearing their throat and she whirled around to look at who had interrupted her perfect moment with Dean. She could feel his heartbeat and the way his chest rose and fell as he held her, like finally he was experiencing peace. Like she made him feel as safe as he made her feel. She took a step back from Dean, dropping her arms from around him as though they’d been caught in a much more compromising position than they were actually in.
“It’s ‘miss’, actually,” she corrected him, standing up straight and squaring her shoulders as she faced the blonde man with the cane. “But you can call me Ella, like everyone else does. I don’t think we’ve been introduced yet, Mister…?”
She raised a brow, waiting for him to answer.
“And I’m happy to meet with Danielle - seems she knows more about me than I do her. I’ve never heard you mention her before, Dean,” she said, looking up at her friend as he took a step forward, putting himself between her and the blonde man.
“Michael.” The man said simply and raised a brow ever so slowly when Dean positioned himself between the two. He had seen this before and slowly blew out a deep breath. “...fuck. Come with me dammit.”
As if he didn’t have enough to worry about with the other one running around somewhere. Now he could see it. Hell, Michael could FEEL it between the pair. The energy and heat that radiated from them like waves.
Dean watched following behind as Michael led her through the house. Inside she saw the various Titans. Amanda and Riley sitting in their respective men’s laps and Peyton in the corner talking to a beautiful dark haired Asian woman. There had to be…..more than a dozen people here. This fight was much bigger than she thought from the one video she had seen.
Michael led them limping through the house and to a door at the rear of the first floor. At the door he opened it to reveal a dark bedroom with candles burning all over it. A dark haired tattooed woman was sitting beside the bed who looked up and rose from the chair.
The woman who Ella had seen on the video. She was less bloody now, but it was her.
“I'll be fine Ash.” A female voice promised.
Ashley crossed the room and exits as Michael pulled the door closed behind her leaving Ella now alone in the candle lit room. Lying on the bed was a young woman. Perhaps 20 year old at the oldest. She had pale blonde hair, full lips and was covered to the waist by a thin blanket. Blood stains showed on the blanket below her from where the bandages had bled through early on.
“Gabriella St. James.” The young woman said with a heavenly little lightness to her voice. “Come…sit with me.”
A flash of white-hot jealousy coursed through her at the sight of Peyton, even if the other woman hadn’t appeared to notice her presence in the house. But before Ella could think too much about why that happened, she was ushered into the room and left alone with the young woman who could only be Danielle. The sight of the bloodstains made her a little woozy - she hated blood, even when it wasn’t fresh.
Still, she sat gingerly on the edge of the bed, trying not to think about the blood on the blankets.
“Just Ella is fine,” she said, mustering a smile. “You must be Danielle. I’m sorry, Dean hasn’t told me anything about you… nor has Michael. So I’m feeling a little lost. What’s going on?”
Ella knew it was a loaded question, given the few things she did know about what Dean - and by extension, everyone else in this house - was dealing with. But she hated feeling left out, and she had some theories that maybe Danielle could confirm or debunk.
“Danielle. Dani. Danika. ‘Devil Bitch’ whatever you prefer.” Danielle answered with a little laugh and her eyes flickered to the door where Ashley had just let and then back to her. “Little joke. I am….was….I was Lucifer’s Harbinger. His Priestess you could call it. I am also Dean’s ex wife. Or, I was before I died.”
At that point Danielle laid it all out for her. Michael being the original Vessel of Lucifer. The two of them building a group. The Children of Nephilim. The group protected victims of sexual crimes, and punished those responsible, or they had once upon a time. That she had been instructed to bring Dean to their side and she fell in love with him. How Lucifer had become enraged and blackmailed her into betraying him. On National TV no less. They nearly beat him to death in front of an audience. How she had been forced to live with that…until she died. Michael had brought her back using a Sarcophagus that was intended to house Lucifer and she had reattached Dean’s soul to The Sins, explaining how he had come back from the dead.
All of it.
She took a moment to pause and catch her breath then looked up at Ella.
“I’ve been watching you. I know you knew him before he died.” Danielle said softly and then came to the topic she had called her in for. “....I know you know about Jessica.”
This whole situation was batshit crazy - and the craziest part to Ella was that it was all real. She’d seen that hellhound attack online, she’d seen that Dean was somehow back from the dead, and she’d seen the shift when The Sins took over his body. But when Danielle said the name ‘Jessica’, Ella’s eyes went wide and she looked directly at the woman in the bed.
“I fucking knew it!”
she said, maybe a little louder than she’d wanted, and she covered her mouth with a sheepish expression on her face.
“When I met Dean… I don’t know how long you’ve been watching me, but it was before the accident. He hired me to make a costume for him to surprise his wife with. His wife, Jessica. Who I know for damn sure is not that insecure banshee downstairs. I have a picture that he sent me of the two of them together. Him and his real wife. He showed me photos of their kids, too. Told me all about how much Jess and I had in common, how he wanted to introduce us one day, all that. And then when I find him again, he’s married to someone who looks different, with a much worse personality. I kept telling myself - and him - that I might’ve gotten details wrong, going along to get along because he believed what he was saying.”
The realization that the girl downstairs wasn’t really Dean’s wife hit her like a sack of bricks. Of course, Dean seemed to be convinced that she was, which complicated matters. As did the fact that Ella was currently seeing someone, but Charlie was far from her thoughts in that moment.
“How does Peyton fit into all of this, then?”
“When I came back the very first thing I did was look her up. I knew what I planned to do for him. He wasn’t supposed to surrender himself to it. He was supposed to harness it. Come to an agreement to let it out and use it. I knew when I did? He would want his family back…..And I found her in Japan living a happy life with another man. I tried to tell him….the pain…oh…the pain….”
It was as if she could feel it. Like somehow Danielle could feel the emotional agony herself. She shuttered and continued.
“...He was wanted for killing Stephan Rossi. His partner. No one knows what happened but Peyton…she was Stephan’s girlfriend. We all think she was doing it to get close to dean but…it all happened so we’ll never know. Anyway….Her statement was all that could connect him to it. She promised to recant if we allowed her to meet with him. Alone.
She came and…she had done something to herself. Her hair was a different shade of blonde. Her bust was bigger. Hips fuller…thicker thighs. She looked like Jessica, or a passing copy of her. She walked into that room and the two of them walked out…hand in hand. She told him that she was his wife. That she is back now.”
Danielle leaned up a bit with a groan and was now eye level with Ella.
“Michael knew the truth would shatter him now. He would retreat into himself and never come out. And without him? We don’t stand a chance in this fight. He’s the only thing strong enough to stand up to Lucifer now. So we let her lie….and now you do too.”
Ella offered her hand to help Danielle sit up, her bottom lip caught between her teeth. The idea of letting that woman continue to lie to Dean, to make him think he would ever love someone as vapid and shallow as that, made her heart twist. But they needed him to keep Lucifer from… doing whatever nefarious thing he had planned. They needed him whole, not a broken mess saddled with the knowledge that his wife was off living with another man.
“And after Lucifer is defeated? Do they have a plan for that or are they going to keep lying to him about his own life? What about his kids? He hasn’t seen them since the accident, she’s telling him this bullshit that they’re somewhere so secret not even their parents can call them. Do they get to know what happened to their father?”
She could feel the anger rising in her as she let out the weeks of questions she’d accumulated. Michael and Peyton didn’t care about Dean - they cared about how his presence could benefit them. That was it. Suddenly she wanted to run back downstairs and grab that cane away from Michael and smack Peyton upside the head with it.
“Or are they going to let him sacrifice himself for the good of everyone else and then move on once he’s outlived his usefulness?”
“They think he’s dead Ella.” Danielle confessed sadly. “Jessica and the children still think he’s dead. No one told them. No one will. Her brother….I can feel him. He’s here. In this house now. He knows. He’s…trying his hardest to protect his brother.”
There was a sadness in her voice as she shook her head ever so gently and shifted her green eyes back to Ella and then away again.
“The plan is to allow him to face the truth once he stops Lucifer.” She told the woman. “Jessica. The children. What he allowed Peyton to do to their memory and their life. All of it. Alone.”
All of it.
Alone.
Ella allowed those words to sink in even as she processed the new knowledge that Jessica and the kids thought Dean was dead. She felt awful for them, and for Dean as well.
“Her brother… is that the German guy? Dean mentioned something about him to me. But you can’t let him face the truth alone. Leave him alone with the full knowledge of what’s happened? He’ll blow his brains out. Somebody in this goddamn house has to be there for him when he finds out the truth! They can’t let him shatter into a million pieces and let him die again just because the mission was done! They can’t. I won’t… fuck, Danielle. I can’t let that happen to him. I can’t let him die again.”
“That is why you are here.” Danielle told her. “The future is a strange thing Miss St. James. There are a dozen paths laid out before us. The one he’s on? It isn’t that no one will help, it’s that no one will be…left…to help.”
Danielle let that float between them. As if whatever she was. Wherever she had come from…she knew how this would play out.
“Little ripples in a pond Miss St. James.” She continued. “I am tossing a little pebble here. There are paths where this ends well. Some. Few. She could come back…but I doubt that. You will carry this with the rest of us…do not betray him as I did.”
Danielle leaned her head back on the pillow and closed her eyes letting Ella know that they were done. But as Ella rose to leave Danielle whispered.
“If Peyton and Peyton alone remain by the last week of October…take him ice skating. He’ll enjoy that.”
What Danielle said about the future made sense - up until the part about the last weekend in October.
Take him ice skating?
“I promise, Danielle. I won’t let him go. I won’t betray him,” she said quietly, mulling over what had been said in that room even as she stood up and walked to the door. If taking Dean ice skating at the end of October could potentially save his life, then it was a no-brainer. Ella would do whatever it took to protect him and keep him safe, even if there were forces in the world actively working against that idea. Armed with her new knowledge, she was better equipped to help hold him together when his world got destroyed.
"Then hold me tight and don't let go. Don't let go. You have the right to lose control....don't let go...."
