Sam stepped over a broken chair carefully as he made his way to the staircase. He'd already salted the doors and windows of the bottom floor, but had the second floor to do as well.
"BONNIE?!" he called out.
Silence.
"That would have been too easy," he breathed, rolling his eyes at himself.
His flashlight flickered suddenly, and he hit the base until it fixed itself a moment later.
Carefully he began to make his way upstairs, every step creaking under his weight. A sudden cold spot and the sound of something moving downstairs made him stop halfway and turn his flashlight back, but he wasn't too interesting in sussing out the inhabitants until he had the house secure.
Ten to fifteen minutes later, every exit was salted. He tested the lights to see if the electricity was still working - nope - before heading for the main upstairs bedroom where he'd set up a basic seance.
Faith
Faith opened the front door slowly, wincing a little as it creaked. She shone her torch into the darkness and stepped inside, carefully moving around the debris.
"So... creepy house. Strange noises. Disappearances. Awesome. Just had to agree to come suss it out, didn't you, Faith?"
She looked around, her eyes slowly getting used to the dark.
"Right, well... I don't want to come find you all, so... HEY!" she called.
Sam
Sam's head shot up to the doorway as he heard the yell.
Frowning, he patted the dust from his hands and stood to make his way over. Opting to not leave the room, he stood in the doorway and yelled again.
"BONNIE?"
Faith
"Try again!" Faith yelled out.
She looked around again, still hesitant to leave the front door. If she happened to be outnumbered, she would like the advantage of being able to get the hell out of there quickly.
Sam
Sam frowned again, confused this time. Bonnie was always the first spirit to show up, and ghosts rarely changed their MO...
"ROSE?" he tried the second in line.
Faith
"So you're really bad at this guessing thing, aren't you?" Faith called back.
She kept one hand on the front door, ready to run if she needed to.
"Name's Faith."
Sam
Sam's eyes widened.
"Faith?" he said under his breath.
He hesitated, not sure whether he should step out or not, but finally decided to go to the top of the stairwell.
"Faith?!" he called, "as in Wolfram & Hart-Faith?"
Faith
Faith's eyebrows knitted together in confusion.
"No, Faith as in will-kick-your-ass-if-you-don't-hurry-up-andcome- to-fight-me-Faith!"
Sam
"I'm not going to fight you," Sam smirked as he leant on the balcony, still not within her line of sight but he wasn't going to leave the seance burning.
"But I would like to know what you're doing here. And why you're too scared to move from the front door."
Faith
"Not scared, practical," Faith said, moving forward a bit. "And lazy. I figured I'd call any vampires out to me. If there were any here. I don't know. I just got told... nevermind what I was told."
She paused.
"Sam?"
Sam
"Got it in one," Sam mused.
"So why don't you come upstairs and let me tell you what you've walked into. And if you broke the salt line by the door, fix it."
He stood and walked back to the bedroom.
Faith
"O...k."
Faith turned and looked at the door and noted the line was still intact. She glanced up at the stairs and then sighed, resigning herself to the fact that she was going to be spending more time in a dark creepy house when she could be at her own place, eating too much food and watching too much tv.
She saw light coming from a room and walked over, seeing Sam. And... only Sam. Weird. With a shrug, she walked inside.
Sam
Sam looked up as he heard footsteps.
"Hey," he greeted with a nod, remaining in position kneeling in front of the seance.
"Sorry to disappoint, but there's no vamps here if that's what you're after..."
Faith
Faith brightened.
"Actually, that's kind of great news. Now I can go on with my original plan of eating and watching tv. And sleeping. And maybe sex, if I can be bothered to go out and find someone to do it with. But definitely eating."
Sam
Sam chuckled, then nodded.
"Glad I could help. See you around then."
Faith
"See ya, cutie."
Faith turned and left the way she came, only this time, when she came to the front door, she realised it wouldn't open.
"Stupid old houses with jammed doors infringing on my important eating time."
She kicked the door, hoping to open it, but still nothing. She kicked it again and then again.
"Ok, have to stop doing that. Definition of insanity and all."
She looked up towards the stairs.
"Sam?" she called.
Sam
Sam looked up again when he heard her call out.
"What?!" he called back.
He stood up having finished the seance, keeping his shotgun handy as he went back to the stairwell.
Faith
"Apparently my super strength isn't so super today. I can't open the door. And if I kick it again, I'll prove that I learned nothing in murder rehab."
Faith looked at the door.
"So... I may need some help. Or a gun. Or a chainsaw."
Sam
"Oh..." Sam pulled a face.
"Sorry, that's my bad. See, I wasn't actually expecting to leave the house once I started this, and..."
He topped himself, knowing what he was going to say probably wouldn't make much sense anyway.
"The house has gone into supernatural lockdown," he explained, "see once I started the seance, the ghosts start to come out to play. And when Bonnie - the first - shows up, no one can leave the house. Which means she's here somewhere. Here."
He threw her his double barrel shotgun.
"It won't help with the door, but it'll help with the spirits."
Faith
"Oh."
Faith caught the shotgun.
"Great. So no eating and tv then."
She sighed and headed for the stairs again.
"You're going to have to fill me in then. Because I probably should be a little bit responsible and find out what I may be dealing with."
As she walked, she muttered slightly. "Just had to check this out because you'd heard strange accounts. This is so the last time I do anything for anyone other than me."
Sam
Sam took his pistol from his belt and followed her.
"There's seven ghosts here, maybe eight," he began to explain.
"No one knows where their bodies are buried. If they were victims of someone who lived here, or if they were drawn here for another reason. The object of the game tonight is to find out where their bodies are ss that we- I mean, I - can go graverobbing."
Faith
"No Dean?" Faith asked distractedly, scanning the house.
She shone her torch around.
Sam
"No Dean," Sam shook his head, trying to be nonchalant about it.
"The first of the spirits, Bonnie, is a teenage girl. She was strangled, so she doesn't look too intimidating. Kind of short in stature. The second, Rose, is a older lady. She was poisoned, but her spirit resembles her corpse so it's not such a pretty sight..."
Faith
"So... how are we supposed to get out of this house then?" Faith asked. "Or rather, how am I going to get out?"
She thought she saw movement further down the hall.
"Plus," she said, heading towards it. "Without Dean here, there's really no chance of innappropriately timed sex."
Sam
"If we disperse all the ghosts, by shooting at them with salt," Sam pointed to her shotgun, "and iron," to his pistol, "I should be able to get you out. But if we do that I won't be able to find out where they're stashed for another three months."
Faith
"And if we don't do that?"
Faith figured if she was stuck here, she might as well help him do what he planned to do. Unless it involved death. Her own. That, she wasn't willing to do.
Sam
"Well... then they'll continue haunting this house every winter from now until eternity," Sam shrugged.
"Or I guess until another hunter comes along, which might not be for some time."
Faith
"Mmmkay."
Faith looked over at Sam for a second.
"So... let's do it."
Sam
"It's cool if you wanna sit this one out, really," Sam assured.
"I know ghosts really aren't your thing."
Faith
"Yeah, but if it all goes pear shaped and you die then I'll be stuck in this house without someone to perve on."
Faith shrugged.
"Just tell me where you want me."
Sam
Sam frowned uncomfortably, not sure if he should say anything to that first part or not.
"We should spread out then," he suggested, "Bonnie should come to us, the rest will be harder to find. Just give me acall if you see her."
He began to head down the stairs.
Faith
"Yeah," Faith said, continuing on.
"I'll be the one screaming for dear life."
She moved forward through the hallway.
Sam
Sam made it to the foot of the stairs and ventured out toward the kitchen. Hearing water running, and knowing that there was no water connection to the house, he sidled up to the doorway and shone his flashlight in.
A woman stood at the sink, but he couldn't tell if it were Bonnie or Rose. Sidling closer, he caught sight of her floral skirt. This was Rose. Which meant Bonnie already had her sights on Faith...
He turned and ran for the staircase, taking the steps three at a time.
"Faith?!" he called, "Bonnie's up here somewhere! Don't shoot her!"
Faith
"K, so we're more concerned for a ghost than for the hot chick with super powers," Faith said, under her breath.
She heard movement behind her and turned.
"Holy sh - "
Sam
Sam got to the room in time to see Bonnie face to face with Faith.
He grabbed a small pouch from his belt full of salt, strode over, and quickly threw a circle around them.
"Faith step out," he ordered, fixing the circle so that Bonnie was contained.
Her ghostly figure started screaming.
Faith
Faith did as Sam told her, looking at the scene with a mix of interest and fear.
"I really don't like this... not being able to fight them business."
Sam
"Well you can, you can," Sam insisted, "just depends on how dirty they wanna play."
He took out a small notebook and started an incantation. By the time he was done Bonnie's imaged stopped flickering, and it was as if she were a person simply standing in front of them.
"Who are you?" she demanded, "and what are you doing in my house?"
"Nevermind, nevermind," Sam said in a calming tone, "I need to ask you a question."
"Get out of my house!"
"Bonnie, please, listen to me."
"How do you know my name?" she started to look frightened.
"I know a lot about you," Sam said, "including how you died. Bonnie... I need to know what they did to you. Where they put you."
"You're crazy. I have no idea what you're talking about."
Sam sighed, disgruntled.
Faith
"He may be crazy," Faith chimed in, looking at Bonnie. "But he's cute crazy. So, why don't you indulge him and tell him?"
The girl regarded Faith cautiously.
"And besides," Faith went on, hoping to get her talking. "If you tell him, I get to watch him you know, dig you up. And I think we can all appreciate that little vein that pops up in a nicely toned arm."
The ghost had the good grace to smile a little, sadly, but it was still there.
Sam
Sam gave Faith a pointed look, but turned his puppy eyes on Bonnie again.
"Please?" he practically begged, "all we want to do is help."
Bonnie looked like she was desperately trying to remember, but after a moment shook her head.
"I'm not... I'm not sure. I don't know!"
"Please, try harder. You must feel a connection somewhere."
Bonnie slowly nodded.
"I do... but I don't know if it's what you're looking for. There's a basement in this house that you haven't seen yet. The man who lived here took all his hunting tools down there."
Bonnie's head shot up to the doorway suddenly, and she began to look scared.
"I'm sorry, I have to go."
"Wait, Bonnie!"
But she was gone.
"Great," Sam grunted.
Faith
"Not so great."
Faith pointed at the door and raised the gun.
"Who the hell is that?"
Sam
Sam turned and jumped at the sign of the third ghost.
"That's Jimmy," he said, raising his gun at the young man's spirit.
"Stabbed. Obvious by the stab wounds, I know. Back off Jim! We're not here for you yet."
The man visibly scowled, then suddenly disappeared. Sam remained with his gun pointed at the empty doorway just in case, before an invisile force grabbed him and threw him backwards into the nearby wall.
Faith
"Sam!"
Faith bent down next to him, keeping her gun poised and ready to shoot.
"You ok?"
Sam
"Yeah, kosher," Sam rubbed his head where it had made a hole in the wall.
He sat up and looked around.
"Where is he? Gone?"
Faith
"Yeah, candle in the wind."
Faith stood and extended her arm to offer him a hand up.
Sam
Sam heitated before remembering she could hold his weight, and lettingher pull him up.
"Ok. Rose," he armed his gun, "last I saw her was in the kitchen."
He headed back down the hall to the stairwell, keeping hold of the salt bag with his other hand.
Faith
"Great. More of them."
Faith followed him, keeping her gun steady.
"Why can't people just die and be dead. I'm going to do that. I'm going to die and be gone."
Sam
"Some ghosts only see what they want to see," Sam shrugged.
"Some have unfinished business, some are too emotionally damaged to move on, and some don't realise they're even dead. And then you have those out for revenge for a violent death, like our friends here."
He made it to the kitchen, but Rose wasn't at the sink. He clicked his tongue as his brain ticked over, then walked over to the window to look outside.
"Well I guess that puts Rose out of commission for a while," he said, "she's in the garden. I guess it's Jimmy's turn after all."
Faith
"Him? He was wicked angry," Faith commented.
"So this should be fun."
Sam
"Yeah I know. And he was only the third," Sam looked around.
"But if we don't deal with him we won't get past number four. They only show up two at a time."
He headed upstairs and back to the room where Bonnie was. Knowing she'd still be in the circle of salt, he used his foot to break it and free her.
"Keep your eyes and ears open for anything out of the ordinary."
Faith
"Peeled."
Faith followed him and she thought she felt something brush against her.
Sam
Sam lowered his gun as his ears went into overdrive. Only by the time he heard the first footstep, Faith was sent flying toward the window.
He lifted his gun and fired to the left, a ghostly skull appearing for a moment just in front of where Faith had landed, before rusing towards him. Sam staggered backwards but managed to grab the bag of salt, quickly throwing out another circle. Jimmy started screaming, but Sam was more concerned with Faith.
"Are you ok?!" he rused to her side.
Faith
"Peachy," Faith said, wiping blood from the cut in her cheek.
She sat up, wincing slightly.
Sam
"We got him, it's cool," Sam assured.
He pulled her to her feet, before going back over to the circle. There seemed to be nothing in it, but Sam knew he was there. He soon started on the incantation, and soon enough there stood Jimmy in all his bloodied glory. With a scowl to match.
Faith
Faith stood slightly behind Sam, still wiping at the blood on her cheek.
Head wounds were so dramatic.
"Ok, so... do your thing, cutie."
Sam
"Where's your body?" Sam demanded, trying his best to hide his fear.
"No way in hell I'm telling you, punk."
Sam shrugged.
"Then I guess you're gonna have to stay in that circle for eternity."
He turned to Faith.
"There's some cement in my pack downstairs, why don't you go get it so we can seal the deal?"
"Wait wait wait! Let's talk about this bro!"
"What's there to talk about?" Sam turned back smugly, "I only want one question answered. You don't tell me? You can rot right here."
"Fine. It's buried in the basement. But if you do anything to it I'll-"
Sam rolled his eyes and shot him with his pistol. Jimmy's spirit vanished just as quickly as the bullet passed through.
Faith
"Impressive."
Faith cracked her neck.
"So... who's next?"
Sm
"Do me a favor and go see if Rose is still in the garden," Sam told her.
"I'll have a look around for Carrie. She was a prostitute in the 50s who got a slashed throat, if you see her. Here."
He handed her a second bag of salt.
"Don't use it unless you're sure you've got one, I don't have much with me."
Faith
Faith nodded and head back towards the stairs, stepping over the debris in her way.
She was about halfway down the stairs when she felt a sudden jolt from behind. And before she had time to yell, she was laying unconscious at the bottom of the stairs.
Sam
Sam heard the crash, and bolted from the room to the stairs.
"Faith?!" he called, shining his light across the floor.
There was no sign of her.
He rushed down the stairs to check the ground level, but when he couldn't find her he leant back against a wall and ran his fingers through his hair.
"FAITH?!" he yelled.
Faith
Faith stirred, opening her eyes slowly, adjusting to the darkness.
It smelt really bad here. Wherever she was.
"Ugh..."
She had managed to keep a hold on the gun and the salt was in her pocket. But she was minus a torch.
Sam
Sam waited a moment longer, but when there was no noises or anything, he went over to the window again. Rose wasn't in the garden.
"Great," he muttered, scratching his head.
He turned to go back to the staircase, and there she was at the sink. After jumping at least a few inches, Sam regarded her with interest. She appeared to ignore him completely. Mabe not realising he was there.
Taking advantage of the moment, he drew the salt circle around her and rolled off the incantation. When she appeared to be coporeal, she finally looked up at him.
"Hello Sam," she greeted.
He instantly frowned.
"How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot of things, Sam," she smiled at him, "like where my comrades are buried. You want to know that, don't you?"
"I do," Sam nodded, "can you tell me?"
Faith
Faith's head was pounding and she sat up slowly, gingerly touching her cheek and frowning when she came away with more blood. She could feel the blood seeping out of a cut above her eyebrow as well.
"Ugh."
Deciding not to stand just yet, Faith sat, letting herself adjust to her surroundings. She was starting to make things out.
Sam
"...They should be easy enough to find..."
"What about Charles?" Sam rushed, while at the same time trying not to make it obvious that he was, "and you, yourself?"
"Charles is a difficult one," the woman thought for a moment," see, he never confided in us. He's been here the longest, you see. And his demise wasn't sealed in the basement. I'm not even sure if it's in the house."
"Ok, and you?" Sam's eyebrows rose.
The old woman smiled at him, then looked out the window again.
"I was placed under the apple tree, where I used to garden every sunny afternoon."
"Thank you, you've been a great help. And I pomise to be careful and respectful of your remains," Sam insisted.
"I know you will."
"Just one more thing," Sam glanced over his shoulder.
"Do you know where my friend is?"
Faith
Faith stood slowly, legs a little unstable. She used the wall to support herself, leaning her weight on her right leg.
"Ok, that was harder than it should've been," she said, breathing heavily with the effort.
Sam
Sam made his way to the bottom of the stairs, looking for the closet underneath the staircase. When the door wouldn't open, he used his elbow to break a few boards on the door, and oce he could reach the lock he pulled it open.
Throwing out a few brooms, a mop and an old vacuum cleaner, he found a trap door in the bottom. Hearing something behind him, he quickly turned and aimed his gun.
Seeing the prostitute with a very unflattering look on her face, he took aim and fired, dispersing her spirit. Then he got back to work on finding a way to open the trapdoor.
Faith
Faith thought she heard movement somewhere upstairs, and scanned the darkness for any signs of life. Or... unlife. Whatever.
She moved forward and promptly ran into something. Hard.
"Ow."
Sam
Sam grunted, using all his strength to try and lift the trapdoor. He knew that since it was technically a way out of the house itself that it was part of the lockdown, but if Faith was there, along with four out of seven corpses, he needed to get in.
He tried salting the door, but that made no difference.
Finally, aggravated, he sat back on his ass to think. What would Dean do if he were here? He'd find another way in, or go after the rest of the ghosts until it opened...
Sam got the feeling he didn't have time for that. Instead he carefully aimed his pistol at the latches, and fired a few rounds to try and loosen it. Half hoping the wood around them would crumble.
Faith
Faith stumbled over whatever she'd run into and fell to her knees. Her hands landed on something kind of...
"Oh motherfu-!"
Sam
Sam had taken out the following two ghosts before the door would budge. Whe he finally got it open he shone his flashlight down to find an old stairwell, covered in undisturbed cobwebs.
Hoping against hope that the od woma had been telling the truth, he used a broom to sweep them out of the way and began to make his way down.
Faith
"Ok," Faith said, staring directly into the face - or what was left of a face - of a corpse.
"I think we're a little bit too close right now."
She backed up.
Sam
"Faith?!" Sam called, hoping the staircase wasn't just going to lead to a tunnel that would lead elsewhere.
He finally got to the bottom and shone his flashlight around the dusty basement. It landed on two skeletons before he thougt he saw something move.
"Faith?"
Faith
"Present, but really wishing I'd called in sick today."
Faith squinted in the darkness to make out Sam's shape.
Sm
"Hey!" Sam jogged over to her, turning the light to the ground so it wasn't in their eyes.
"You ok? What happened?"
Faith
"Well, it started when I decided to enter this house completely when I realised it was you. Since then, I've been thrown into a wall, pushed down some stairs and I've woken up in a stinky as all hell basement."
Faith wiped more blood from her forehead.
"So I'm tired, I'm dirty, I'm bleeding, and I'm just being a bitch because I'm hungry."
Sam
"Again, sorry," Sam insisted.
"There should be four bodies down here. We need to find them all. I spotted two over there."
He pointed the light to their left.
Faith
"Well, I tripped over that one," Faith said, pointing to her right.
"Really, leaving bodies strewn haphazardly around the place. They need a better maid service."
Sam
"They were locked down here while they were still breathing mostly," Sam set off to try and find the last.
Once he'd found it he carefully dragged it to where the two were together, then went over for the one Faith had landed near.
Faith
"Morbid."
Faith stood and let him do his thing.
"Do you need help?"
Sam
"No, don't worry."
He turned the torch on the stairs.
"Head back up there and grab our stuff, and get out of the house. I'll be out soon. You should be able to get through the front door by now."
He moved the final body to the pile and started pouring lighter fluid over them.
Faith
"Sure thing, honey."
Faith grinned slightly, cheering up at the prospect of getting out of the house, so as she walked past him, she goosed him.
Then she promptly left, heading up the stairs and grabbing their things as Sam had asked.
"Right, come on door, you can do it."
She turned the door knob and frowned.
"Really? We're going to do the thing again, are we?"
She tried again, and when that didn't work, she kicked it.
Nothing.
Sam
Sam jumped at the pinch, his face flushing red as he watched after her. After a moment, he finally managed to pull himself together.
He set fire to the bodies, stopped for a moment to make sure it would take, then headed back up the stairs himself.
"Hey," he frowned when he saw Faith, "what's going on?"
Faith
Faith looked at Sam and then at the door. She shrugged.
"Not opening."
Sam
"What?" Sam's voice went high pitched again.
He made his way over and tried the doorknob, then got Faith to stand back as he started kicking at it as hard as he could.
Faith
Faith grinned slightly.
"You want to know the definition of insanity, baby? Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Learned that in murder rehab."
She put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Anyway, I already tried it."
Sam
"I set fire to the basement," Sam informed her, "so if we don't find a way out, we're toast.
He tried it one more time, before going to the kitchen. He looked around for a moment before grabbing a nearby stool and attempting to smash the window. Adrenaline finally took over, and he got it on the second blast.
He threw his bag out the window first, then took off his jacket and lay it over the broken glass.
"Come on," he insisted, as smoke began to find its way through the house.
Faith
"Hot."
Faith climbed up and out of the window, ducking low. She landed on her feet, bending slightly to avoid straining her knees, then moved a little so Sam could follow suit.
"And also, fresh air. Awesome. You're my hero, Sam."
She jokingly fluttered her eyelashes at him.
Sam
Sam again looked uncomfortable, but masked it by picking up his bag.
"Not quite yet," he insisted.
"Rose is buried underneath this apple tree, so I'll have to dig her up. Of course, that doesn't mean you have to stay though. You're welcome to go back to your tv now that you can."
He threw the bag over his shoulder and smiled.
Faith
Faith glanced at her watch.
"Nah, I suppose I can hang around a bit longer to make sure you get off alright. And to watch you dig."
Sam
"Got a thing for grave desecration?" Sam mused, starting to make his way to where he'd parked the impala at the side of the house.
Faith
"More of a thing for watching cute toned boys dig."
Faith grinned slightly.
Sam
"You don't have to hit on me just because my brother's AWOL, it's not like it's gonna hurt my feelings," Sam insisted.
He opened the trunk and got out a shovel, replacing it with the bag.
"Here," he held the shovel out to her, grabbing the second one for himself, "if you're going to watch you might as well pitch in."
Faith
Faith took the shovel, grinning slightly.
"Whatever you say, sweetie."
She turned and head back to the garden, strutting a little.
Sam
Sam rolled his eyes again, closed the trunk, and followed her back to the tree.
He checked the stars to see which way was West, then started digging that side of the tree.
"There's still one body I haven't found yet," he grunted as he worked.
"But hopefully with the place in flames he won't have anywhere to bother people again anyway."
Faith
"Hopefully," Faith said, helping to dig, a wry smile on her face. "Sometimes I wish I was just a normal girl."
She glanced up at the moon for a second.
Sam
"Join the club. Though boy for me, not girl. Obviously," Sam stuttered awkwardly for a moment.
He stopped to shake his head, then kept digging.
Faith
Faith glanced at him quickly, then returned her attention to what they were doing.
"Yeah, even just a week of not spending all of my time in the dark fighting for my life? That would be a good week."
Sam
"A nine to five, well paid job would be cool," Sam smiled a little.
"A house, couple of dogs, a future."
He sighed and leant on the shovel for a breather.
"Too bad once you start down this road there's no turning back."
Faith
"Yeah, I couldn't go back to being normal... not after what I've seen. Not after what I've done."
Faith stopped for a second.
"I always wanted a dog when I was a kid."
Sam
"I always thought a dog sort of encompassed the perfect home life," Sam got a somewhat dreamy look on his face.
"You know? Like even if you were all alone and didn't have anyone to depend on but yourself, your dog is still your family."
Faith
Faith smiled a little.
"Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was little, I used to beg my mom for a dog. A dog was all I wanted. Just something to take care of."
She looked wistful, but continued to dig.
Sam
"Yeah," Sam nodded.
He went back to digging himself.
"We never had the time or the means, really. We were always on the move. And my Dad probably would have shot it by mistake eventually anyway."
Faith
"My Mom was too busy with the drinking and passing out parts of life to get me what I wanted."
Faith shrugged a little.
Sam
"We knew a guy a bit like that," Sam mentioned.
"His Mom died the same way ours did, and instead of becoming a hunter his Dad blamed him for her death and became an abusive alcoholic. I felt so sorry for the guy, I wish I could have helped him somehow..."
Faith
"My mom didn't really have an excuse. She was just an alcoholic."
Faith leant against her shovel.
"So when I got told I was the Slayer, it was like 'sweet, I'm out of this hell hole'. Only... then I had the dream about her dying."
Sam
Sam froze, looking up at her.
He stood and leaned on the shovel again.
"You dreamt about your Mom dying?"
Faith
"Yeah," Faith said, avoiding his eyes. "It's part of the Slayer gig. Prophecy dreams. You're meant to try and stop it from happening, but I... I didn't get there in time. Or I didn't want to. I don't know."
Sam
"That's... odd," Sam frowned a little.
And he started wondering exactly where the Slayers got their abilities from...
Faith
"You're telling me."
Faith looked down at the hole they'd been digging.
Sam
Sam pursed his lips, deciding how much to tell her.
"I dreamt about my girlfriend's death three days before it happened."
He cleared his throat and started digging again, as if he'd said nothing.
Faith
"It sucks when you don't get to stop it, right?"
Faith avoided looking at him as well.
Sam
"Yeah," Sam couldn't help but chuckle sadly.
"I just didn't want to believe what I was seeing. And it was the first time it happened, so... I didn't know. Still doesn't make me feel any better."
Faith
"Same."
Faith smiled in spite of herself.
"So," she said, snapping back into business mode.
Sam
"So life's a bitch and then you die," Sam nodded seriously.
"Like it or not, it works."
Faith
"Yeah, just gotta ride it out. And me? I like it kinda bumpy."
Faith peered down in the hole.
Sam
Sam watched her, a grin sweeping across his face.
"Don't get too excited, there's four feet to go and then we have to make it big enough for a coffin," he pointed out.
Faith
"You're lucky I'm a superhero."
Faith started to dig again.
Sam
"I'm lucky?" Sam's eyebrows rose.
"This isn't the first grave I've dug by a long shot. Just making sure you know what you're in for. But hey, you could be watching tv right now."
Faith
Faith grinned a little.
"Yeah yeah, I signed on for this. Quit talking and start digging, buddy."
Sam
Sam chuckled again, and got back to work.
The sun was just starting to peek over the horizon by the time they'd uncovered the skeleton. Sam helped Faith out of the hole and pulled himself up, then grabbed the salt and lighter fluid and started spreading it.
"Rest in peace, Rosemary," he said, dropping a match into the grave.
Faith
Faith stretched, blinking in the light before yawning.
"Mmm."
Sam
Sam took a deep breath as he watched the bones burn, then started packing up his stuff.
"So that's it," he said, looking up at the house that was well covered in flames.
"We should probably get out of here before the fire trucks get here."
Faith
"Sounds good to me."
Faith picked up the shovel and waited for Sam to finish before following him.
"Any chance of a lift?"
Sam
"How did you get here?" Sam frowned.
Faith
"Teleporter."
Faith shrugged.
"Sometimes you don't have time to drive."
Sam
"Oh," Sam nodded.
"Sorry, I'm still getting used to the whole 'aliens and their abilities' thing. But sure. Where do you want to be dropped off?"
He started putting everything in the trunk again.
Faith
Faith bent down to tie her boot, then straightened up.
"Maybe just edge of the city? I can get back from there."
Sam
"Ok sure," Sam nodded.
He closed the trunk, went to open the passenger door for her, then went to get in himself.
"There's a voodoo thing in town I need to check out today anyway."
Faith
"Rock."
Faith slid onto the seat and closed the door, settling back.
Sam
Sam gunned the engine, and they were soon on their way.
Twenty minutes of awkward silence later...
"So I heard you went to Korea?" Sam said suddenly, the loudness of his voice after silence almost making himself jump.
Faith
"Hmm? Oh yeah."
Faith glanced at him.
"Sorta... re-learned discipline."
She paused.
"Oh, that sounded kinda bad."
Sam
"Not in your line of work at least," Sam assured.
"So did they... 'discipline' you?"
Faith laughed.
"In a matter of speaking. I more or less trained with one of the best tae kwon do masters."
She paused.
"Angel has this theory that by learning different fighting techniques, it'll make me stronger. Plus, I'll look really awesome."
Sam
"And you could be any kind of fighter you wanna be," Sam considered.
"I vote ninja. Even just the name sounds cool."
Faith
"Well, I do like wearing black."
Faith smiled a little.
Sam
"There you go," Sam nodded, pulling into a suburban truck stop.
"You're halfway there already. Now you need to squint and dye your hair black."
Faith
Faith looked out the window as they stopped.
"Hey, thanks for the ride."
Sam
"No problem," Sam nodded with a smile.
"Take care alright? And watch out for haunted houses."
Faith
"Yeah, you too. And hey, if I get stuck in a house again, I'll give you a call."
Faith opened the door and got out, closing the door behind her and looking in the window.
"All things considered, the night didn't suck."
Sam
Sam nodded and looked out the front window, then turned back to her.
"I'm sorry Faith," he said sincerely.
Faith
"You're forgiven?" Faith furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm used to having to put off Faith time for supernatural time."
Sam
"No, I'm sorry," Sam shook his head.
"I've been keeping something from you, and I know I had no right to."
Faith
Faith looked at him with concern in her eyes.
"Now I'm worried."
Sam
Sam chewed his lip for a moment, his puppy eyed look on overdrive.
"Dean died about a week ago," he said softly.
"He's in Hell. Or one of the Hell dimensions. I don't know where. And he'll be there for a long time."
He debated driving off then and there, but he would have found it hard to focus on the road all of a sudden.
Faith
"Oh."
Faith bit her lip as the tears welled up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry. Are you... are you ok?"
Sam
Sam bit his lip again and nodded, looking out the front windscreen.
"Not by a long shot," he finally admitted.
"I'll see you around, ok?"
Without waiting for a response, he pulled out from the truckstop and gunned it down the highway in the opposite direction.
Faith
Faith watched after him and still refusing to let herself cry, she turned and head for the nearest pay phone.