Bad Day at Black Rock.

chapter fifty-six , Bad Day at Black Rock

a/n : my motivation is unmatched rn RAHHHHHHH

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"Because Demon, that's why."

Athena rolls her eyes and sinks deeper into her seat.

"I mean, the second you find out this Ruby chick is a demon, you go for the holy water. You don't chat." Dean adds.

"No one was chatting, Dean." Sam scoffs.

"Oh, yeah? Then why didn't you send her ass back to Hell?" Dean asks.

"Because she said she might be able to help us out." Sam answers.

Athena's ears perk, "And the plot thickens." she leans forward.

"How?"

Sam rolls his eyes and stays silent.

"No, really, Sam. How? How could she possibly help us?" Dean persists.

"She told me she could help you, Okay?" Sam says. "Help you out of your crossroads deal."

Athena deadpans, she looks in the rearview mirror in time to see Dean with the same deadpanned expression. For the first time in a while, these two were on the same page.

"Are you shitting me?" Athena groans.

"What is wrong with you, huh? She's lying." Dean adds. "You got to know that, don't you?"

Sam rolls his eyes at his sibling's reactions.

"When has a demon ever helped us out of the kindness of their heart?" Athena questions. "Not only that, why would Dean accept help from a demon? Especially if he didn't want you helping him out of his deal."

Dean points at Athena, agreeing with her points. "She knows what your weakness is. It's your family. And since one of your family members is--"

"Dying very slow." Athena adds.

"You didn't have to say it like that, but okay." Dean rolls his eyes.

"What else did she say?" Athena asks.

Sam stays silent and Athena laughs. "Are you pouting?"

"No."

"Dude--"

"I'm not pouting." Sam seethes.

Athena couldn't stop her laughter. Sam was definitely pouting.

"Look, I'm not an idiot, guys."

"Well..." Athena looks to the side.

"I'm not talking about trusting her. I'm talking about using her." Sam says. "I mean, we're at war, right? And we don't know jack about the enemy. We don't know where they are. We don't know what they're doing. I mean, hell--we don't even know what they want."

"Now, this Ruby girl--"

"Demon."

"Knows more than we will ever find out on our own," Sam states. "Now, yes, it's a risk. I know that. But we need to take it."

Athena softly hums, "Keep your friends close and your enemies closer..."

"Exactly!"

"Sam, it's still a dumb idea." Athena snorts. "I was just talking."

Dean looks back at Sam, "You're okay, right? I mean, you're feeling okay?--"

"Yes, I'm fine! Why are you always asking me that?!"

Athena clicks her tongue, "He's getting desperate." she says. "Because you're dying. Very slowlyyyy--"

"What is with you and calling out that I'm dying slowly?" Dean glances at her.

"Because you are." Athena bunches her shoulders.

A cellphone in the car begins to ring. Athena touches her phone and hums. "Not mine."

"It's not mine."

"Nope." Dean's face then drops and he shifts his eyes to a spot in the car. "Check the glove compartment. It's dad's."

"Dad's?"

"Like our dead dad?" Athena chuckles. "You keep his phone around like a weirdo?"

"Yes--well, not like a weirdo--"

"Sounds pretty weird to me..." Athena sings softly.

"--I keep it charged in case any of his old contacts call." Dean continues.

Sam grabs the phone from the compartment and answers it. "Hello?"

"Yes, this is Edgar Casey." Sam frowns. "No, no, no. Don't call the police. I'll handle this myself."

"Thanks--you know, can you just--can you lock it back up for me?" Sam continues on the phone.

Athena looks to her side at the sleeping Gil and a smile forms on her lips. Anytime she sees him relaxing, she wants nothing more than to disturb that relaxation with a big hug and a kiss on his head.

"I don't have my book in front of me." Sam silently asks Dean for a pen. "Do you--do you have the address so I can...sure." he grabs the pen from Dean and begins to write the information down on his hand.

After he was done on the phone, Sam thanked the man and hung up. He turns to his siblings. "Dad ever tell you he kept a container at a storage place?"

"Dad never told me anything." Athena snorts. "I've never even heard an "I love you"." she then frowns. "No, wait, I did hear it one time." she nods. "When I found the location of that werewolf."

Athena sighs with content, "Good times...except for the whole abuse part." she huffs. "That part kind of sucked the good out of the good times."

Dean frowns, "Just a little."

"Only just a little." Athena shrugs.

☆

Athena looks around the creaky elevator, with her hands latching the straps of her backpack. Dean shakes his head and softly laughs. Sam pulls his brows together and smirks, "What?"

"Just dad. You know, him and his secrets." Dean scoffs. "We spent all this time with the guy, and it's like we barely even know the man."

The elevator stops.

"Well, we're about to learn something." Sam sighs.

Athena steps out of the elevator, her eyes skimming the garage filled with cars. "Hopefully, we learn something new." she then sighs. "I don't want this little trip to be for nothing." Athena grabs her flashlight and clicks it on.

The siblings walk down the garage of cars. "What number was it again?"

"69..."

"Athena." Sam looks at her.

"Sorry." Athena then snorts. "420--"

"Dude." Sam seethes.

Dean then giggles. Sam snaps his eyes over to his older brother and Dean's smile drops.

"The storage room is 3790." Sam scoffs.

"So...this one?" Athena points her flashlight at the door number.

Sam and Dean look at the door and Sam hums. "Huh."

Dean picks the locks and pulls the door open. Athena shines the light in the room and exhales. "Spooky..." her light shines on the floor, revealing the Devil's trap and blood scattered across the floor.

"No demons allowed," Sam states.

Athena rolls her eyes.

"Blood." Dean points out.

Athena scoffs, "Do you two always state the obvious?" she motions to the devil's trap and the blood. "I mean, it's right in our faces--we see it."

"Yeah? What about this..." Dean crouches down to where the blood is and lifts up the wire. "You notice this?"

Athena slightly opens her mouth, but she then closes it and looks to the side. "No, actually, I didn't." she folds her arms. Dean chuckles.

Sam shines his light around the room. "Whoever broke in here got attacked."

"Dear, old dad..." Dean softly huffs, his sarcasm heavy. "Fucking ass."

"You could say that again." Athena snorts. She looks around the area. "There's two seats of boot tracks."

"Two-man job?"

"Unless Dad came back from the dead and decided to take a stroll," Athena speaks. "The dude that got shot kept walking." she points at the blood that was leading deeper into the storage room."

Athena crouches down and lightly touches the blood. "This probably happened what--3 hours ago?"

"You're good." Dean points out.

Athena nods, "Yeah, Jo taught me a lot." she sighs. "Bobby's taught me a lot, Dad's taught me a lot, and you guys have taught me a lot." she looks at him. "Obviously, I'm good, Dean." she scoffs and walks away from him.

Dean hangs his head low and sighs. Sam chuckles, "Did you honestly think just complimenting her would get her to forgive you?"

"Shut up, Sam," Dean grumbles and walks away which causes Sam to laugh.

"So, what's the deal?" Sam asks. "Dad would do work here or something?"

"Living the high life, as usual." Dean sighs.

Dean pulls his brows together, spotting a small trophy. "1995." Dean reads the trophy.

Athena looks at Dean and notices the trophy in his hand. Sam raises his brows, "No way!" he walks over to Dean and grabs the trophy. "That's my Division Championship soccer trophy." he chuckles. "I can't believe he kept this."

"It was probably the closest you ever came to being a boy." Dean snorts. He brushes past Sam and his eyes shift over to the shotgun on the desk. His face lights up, "Oh, wow! It's my first sawed-off. I made it myself. Sixth grade." he cocks the shotgun. Dean looks at Athena and notices the solemn expression across her face. Athena had to admit, it sucked knowing John didn't keep anything of hers. And Dean knew that was getting to her.

Dean holds the shotgun out to her. Athena pulls her brows together. "Seriously?"

"Yeah, need one at some point, right?" Dean gives her a small smile. Athena frowns and grabs the shotgun. "Thanks." she looks down at the shotgun and runs her fingers over it.

"You're gonna need a duffel for all the things you're starting to carry," Sam says.

Athena snorts, "Right, like I would be able to carry a duffel."

"I can barely even drag yours to the car." Athena walks through the storage room. She pushes the gate door open, revealing the artillery. "Holy shit..."

Sam and Dean follow her into the room and their eyes widen.

"Dad had landmines?" Athena stops and then holds up a pointer. "I'm thinking about the kind of person Dad was and I retract the shock from my words."

"They didn't take them," Dean says. "Or the guns."

"We should loot this place." Athena hums.

"We're not doing that," Sam says.

Athena motions her hands around the room. "Look at this place. Dad would want us to--"

"No, he wouldn't." The boys speak.

Athena's shoulders drop, "Yeah, you're right, he wouldn't."

"Guys, check this out."

Athena and Dean turned to Sam, who was staring at a line of boxes. "See these symbols?" he points at the wooden boxes with scripture. "That's binding magic. These are cursed boxes."

"They're supposed to keep the evil mojo in, right?" Dean asks. "Kind of like The Pandora deal."

Athena slowly nods her head. "Yeah, they're built to contain the power of the cursed object."

"Dad's journal did mention a whole bunch of stuff, you know, dangerous, hexed items, fetishes." Dean shrugs. "He never did say where they ended up."

"Yeah. This must be his toxic waste dump." Sam states. He notices an empty space where the boxes are. "One box is missing."

"Great." Athena huffs.

"Well, maybe they didn't open it."

"Why wouldn't they?" Athena questions. "I would."

☆

"So...you think it works?"

Athena snorts, "Like--this rabbit foot is really sending Sam some good vibes, right now?" her laughter increases.

"Look, that was my gun he was aiming at Sam's head," Dean says. "And my gun don't jam, so that was a lucky break. Not to mention them taking themselves out--"

"Oh, yeah, that was funny." Athena giggles. "I'm surprised I didn't trip."

"I've got 2 hours before you're next tripping sesh," Dean says.

"You're on, buddy." Athena points at Dean. She then taps Sam's shoulder. "Scratch one."

Sam rolls his eyes, "Oh, what? You too?"

Athena bunches her shoulders. "It's worth a shot."

"C'mon, Sam! Scratch and win." Dean whoops.

Sam grabs the lottery ticket and a coin. "Look, Dean, it's got to be cursed somehow."

"Oh, it's for sure cursed. Otherwise, Dad wouldn't have locked it up." Athena nods in agreeance.

Sam scratches the ticket and hands it to Dean. Athena looks at the ticket and her eyes widen. "Holy shit!"

"$1,200." Dean exhales. "You just won $1,200."

"Sam Winchester..." Athena grips Sam's shoulder. "You're the breadwinner of this family."

Dean holds another ticket out to Sam. Athena then shakes Sam's shoulders, "Scratch another!"

Athena and Dean made Sam scratch all the tickets. There were 30 of them and Sam was pretty sure he was on his way to having carpal tunnel. Sam was on the phone with Bobby and he was examining the rabbit's foot. "Now, look, Bobby, we didn't know."

"How much money do we have?" Athena asks, bouncing up and down. Gil was sitting on the hood of the car, watching Dean count how much they won.

Sam turns to his siblings and holds up a gold watch. Athena's face lights up, "We're set for life, bitches!" she holds her arms up and cheers.

"We're up fifteen grand!" Dean exclaims. Athena's smile grows, "Sam, we're up fifteen grand!"

Sam's smile lessens when he sees the excitement across his sibling's faces. They're going to be devasted when they find out he couldn't keep the rabbit's foot.

...

"Don't worry. Bobby'll find a way to break it."

The three Winchesters walk into the diner. Dean claps his hands together.

"Till then, I say we hit Vegas, pull a little 'Rain Man.'" Dean chuckles. "You can be Rain Man." He clasps Sam shoulder.

"How about we just lay low until Bobby calls back, okay?" Sam suggests.

"Kind of boring." Athena sighs.

They stand at the front counter. "Hi. Uh, table for three, please."

"Congratulations!"

A bell begins to ring. Athena frowns, "What's happening?"

"Say that again?"

The employee at the front grabs a large check from behind the counter and hands it to them.

"You are the one millionth guest of the Biggerson's restaurant family!"

Athena raises her brows, "Did we get more money?!"

The man takes a picture of the three. Athena holds up a peace sign and smiles. Balloons and confetti begins to fall on their heads. Athena looks at the check and frowns. "Free food for one year...sweet!"

Athena then looks at her brothers. "What a lucky day!"

After all the cheering dies down, the Winchesters were seated at a booth.

Dean was snacking on a banana split while Sam was researching about the rabbits foot, and Athena was eating a burger.

"Bobby's right. This lore goes way back." Sam says. "Pure hoodoo. You can't just cut one off any rabbit."

"It has to be in a cemetery under a full moon on a Friday the 13th."

Dean sets the bowl of ice cream down. "I think from now on, we only go to places work Biggerson's." He then frowns and clutches at his head. Athena points at his face and laughs. "Brain freeze." Her food gets caught in her throat and she coughs. Athena hits her chest. Dean then points at Athena and laughs. "Choking."

Athena clears her throat and exhales. "You're such an ass, dude."

"You started it."

"Can I freshen you up?"

The siblings all then to the waitress. Athena's jaw goes slack and her heart jumps.

"Yeah, yeah, sure." Sam slides his mug over to her. The waitress pours coffee into Sam's cup and she gives him a small smile while batting her lashes. "Thanks."

She overfills the mug and gasps. "Oh."

"Oh."

Athena pulls her brows together and looks between the two. She looks at Dean, who also has a look. After she cleans the table, she walks away.

Sam and Dean watch her walk away and Athena frowns. "Sh-She's pretty."

"Dude, if you were ever gonna get lucky..." Dean raises his brows.

Sam looks at Dean and pulls his brows together. "Chill out." But Sam still had a big smile on his face. He grabs his mug, but it just so happens to spill across the table and his lap. "Oh! Oh, jeez!" He shoots up from his seat.

Athena raises her brows. Sam stumbles back and runs into a waiter, knocking him and the tray onto the floor. "Oh!" Athena slaps her hand over her mouth.

"S-Sorry."

Sam turns to his siblings. Athena holds her hands up, "Some luck."

"Yeah, how was that good?" Dean questions.

Sam reaches into his pocket and his face drops. Athena rolls her eyes, "Of course..."

Sam and Dean run out of the restaurant. Athena groans, she grabs her burger and takes one last bite out of it before running after her brothers. Athena leaves the restaurant in time to see Sam trip and fall to the floor. The girl slaps a hand over her mouth and laughs.

"Oh, man..." Athena sighs. "Is it that funny when I trip? Because if so...I should trip more often."

Dean helps Sam onto his feet. "So, what? Now your luck turns bad?"

Sam looks down at his knees that were bleeding through his now ripped jeans. "I guess."

"I wonder how bad."

☆

"Oh, man..."

Athena looks around the apartment and hums.

"What do you want?"

"Heard about your friend," Dean says. "It's bad luck."

"Piss off." The man grumbles.

"We know someone hired you to steal the rabbit's foot, a woman—"

"A really pretty woman." Athena butts in.

"Uh, yes. A really pretty woman." Dean voices.

"Yeah? How do you know that?"

"Because she just stole it back from us."

The man laughs and Sam raises his brows. He takes a step forward, "Listen, man. This is serio—" Sam's foot trips over a wire which knocks the phone off the shelf. Athena raises her brows and looks at Sam topple to the ground. "There he goes."

"Sam, you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good."

Dean takes a step toward the man. "I want you to tell us her name."

"Screw you."

"You should cut his finger off." Athena points. "Cut his finger off—that one."

"Athena, no," Sam says, forcing himself back onto his feet.

"He'll talk if Dean cuts his finger off," Athena states.

"I-I would." The man nods.

Athena points at the man, "See!"

"Would you guys, please!" Dean exclaims. "Give me a second?"

Athena rolls her eyes, "I'm just trying to help you guys out."

"It wasn't a freak accident that killed your partner." Dean continues.

The man's face drops, "What?"

"It was the rabbit's foot."

The man scoffs, "You're crazy, man."

Dean clicks his tongue, "You know I'm not. You saw what happened, what it did—all the flukes, all the luck." He explains. "When you lose the foot, that luck goes sour. That's what killed your friend."

"And my brother here is next, and who knows how many more innocent people after that. Now, if you don't help us stop this thing, then that puts those deaths on your head. Now I can read people—"

"Not as well as I can," Athena grumbles. "Just saying."

"Dude, seriously?" Dean turns to her. Athena holds her hands up. "I'm done talking."

Dean sighs and looks back at the man. "Look, I get it. You're a thief and a scumbag. That's fine. But you're not a killer, are you?"

"The answer's no," Athena whispers. "I could've told you that."

"All right, look!" The man exclaims. "She only gave me a last name. Lugosi."

Athena frowns, "Well, I guess our job here is done." She blows air out of her mouth. "Sorry, about your friend. But we should get going."

Athena turns on her heel and walks over to the door. Dean waves an awkward bye to the man before walking behind Athena. The eldest Winchester notices Sam not moving, "Sammy?"

Sam swallows. Athena drops in her tracks and looks at Sam. "What's the hold up?"

"I don't think I should move..."

Dean's shoulders drop. "Dude, we need to get in the car."

"Yeah, you're making this guy feel weird," Athena says. "He probably just wants to mourn in peace."

"You guys already disturbed that, so—"

"Hey, we're talking here." Athena looks at the man. "So, if you could please just keep it down."

"What if i trip again?" Sam whines. "My knees can't handle that."

"Oh, wow—okay." Athena sighs and walks over to Sam. She holds a hand up to him. Sam blinks, confused by the action. He looks at Dean and Dean shrugs, also confused. Athena opens and closes her hand, "Just—take my hand, so we can go!"

Sam's eyes soften.

"Well, isn't that cute?" Dean crosses his arms and pouts his lower lip. "Looks like she still has a soft spot, after all."

"Shut up, both of you."

"I didn't say anything," Sam exclaims, his hands flying up.

"But I could see the gentleness in your eyes and I didn't like it." Athena groans. She grabs Sam's hand and drags him out of the apartment with Dean laughing behind them.

☆

"I still can't believe you lost your shoe..."

Athena chuckles, "I was holding your hand the entire time and you still managed to lose your shoe!" she touches her knees and cackles. Sam lets out a deep breath through his nose. Dean closes the motel room door behind his siblings.

"I don't know about you guys, but today has been a pretty good day." Athena sighs.

"What am I even supposed to here?" Sam blurts out, wanting the conversation to lead somewhere else.

"Nothing. Nothing. Come here." Dean guides Sam into the motel. "I don't want you doing anything." he pulls a chair from the desk and sets it down. "I want you to sit right here and don't move, okay?"

Athena sets her bag on the bed and flops onto the bed. Gil jumps out of the bag and lays on Athena's stomach.

"Don't turn on the light. Don't turn off the light. Don't even scratch your nose." Dean points at Sam. "If you need anything, ask Athena."

"Uh--I'm not staying here." Athena holds a pointer finger up.

"Uh--yes you are." Dean goes to walk out of the motel room.

Gil hops off of Athena's stomach and she sits up. "I wanna go with you to meet the pretty lady."

"No, it's dangerous."

A deep laugh escapes her lips and she points a finger at Sam. "Like staying with this guy isn't dangerous."

Sam pulls his face back, "This guy? I'm your brother."

"Yeah? Well, today you're the bad luck charm." Athena stands up from the bed. "I'm going with you, Dean."

"No, you're not, Athena--"

"Are you going to kill her?" Athena crosses her arms.

"I might."

"No!"

"Why do you care if I kill her or not?" Dean asks. He then scrunches his face. "And why do you keep calling her pretty?"

"Can't I call a woman pretty just because she is?" Athena arches a brow. "No...deeper meaning than that."

Convincing...

Shut up.

Dean squints his eyes at Athena and she squints right back at him. "Yeah, you're totally staying here."

"Dick!"

Dean smiles at his little sister, "Yup. Now watch him." he walks out of the motel room and closes the door behind him. Athena folds her arms and huffs, she looks at Sam only to see him scratching his nose.

"He literally said not to do that." Athena blinks.

Sam drops his hand to this side, "Sorry."

Athena sits on the bed with a small huff and Gil jumps in her lap. Sam looks at the cat and pulls his brows together. "I never asked, but how'd you train him?"

Athena looks at Sam with a blank look. "I...didn't."

Sam chuckles and Athena pulls her brows together. "No, seriously." she insists. "I was just...nice to him and we clicked, I guess."

Sam softly hums. Athena looks down at Gil, "It is weird, huh? That he listens...like really listens."

"Well, like you said, you care for him and love him." Sam chuckles. "You've earned his...ears."

Athena then frowns, "Ear." she corrects.

Gil lifts his head up, glowering at her and she snorts. "Oh, please. You would've laughed." she snorts. "And I'm sure you'd say something about my eye."

"Does it still hurt?" Sam asks.

Athena looks at Sam and raises her brows. "I mean, as long as I don't touch it." she shrugs. "It's tender."

Sam watches as Athena looks down again, avoiding eye contact. She didn't want the attention on her and she definitely didn't want to talk about the scar that represented one of the worst days of her life. It makes Athena's skin crawl thinking about the pain of the Yellow-Eyed Demon spilling her blood across that abandoned cabin floor.

The thought that her father gave his life for her...

He hated her and he gave his life up for her to live. Athena still didn't understand what was so fucking special about her.

Athena shakes her head, forcing herself out of her thoughts. She looked at Sam who had a look of sympathy across his face. Athena took it as pity and that caused her jaw to clench.

"So, you might die." Athena blurts out. Hoping the attention was off of her. "Again."

Sam sighs, "Dean'll get the rabbit's foot back."

"Right, and we should just trust Dean?" Athena snorts.

Sam blinks, "Yes. Of course."

Athena shakes her head and scoffs. "Follow him to the fucking end, huh? Just like with him..."

"Athena, I never followed Dad to the end." Sam scrunchs her brows together. Athena scoffs, "I've heard the stories." she rolls her head to the side and glares at him. "You look up to dad--wanting to be wherever he was 24 fucking 7. I may not have been born during that time, but that doesn't mean I haven't heard, Sam!"

Sam's back straightens from Athena's sharp tone. "Athena, it wasn't just me who followed Dad at some point." his voice was soft and approachable. "We all followed him. Whether it was out of fear, love or--"

"No--no." Athena curls her hands into fists.

Gil jumps off of Athena's lap and walks into the bathroom. Athena lets out a harsh breath, "You know what?" she stands up. "I'm going for a walk. Don't...move, all right?"

Sam slightly opens his mouth as Athena grabs her bag. "Athena, don't leave, okay?" he goes to stand up, suddenly Gil jumps on his lap and Sam sits back down. Sam's eyes widen, "When did you--when did he--"

The front door closes. Sam lets out a breath and his shoulders sag. He looks down at Gil. "Well, I guess it's just you and me."

Sam didn't want to drive himself crazy or anything, but...he could've sworn Gil rolled his eyes.

☆

"Ah, shit."

The three grown men look at the front door to see Athena standing there with chocolate bars in her hands. Athena looks at Sam, noticing his bloodied face. "You are really not having a good day."

Athena holds the chocolate out to the men. "Chocolate?"

"Athena, get out of here!"

Athena sighs, "I'll just sit--actually."

Sam's right eye twitches as Athena sits on the desk in the corner of the room. She continues to eat her candy. "Look, I'm a helpless 13-year-old. I can't fight 2 grown men."

"As long as you don't kill Sam--"

"We're going to kill him." One of the men cut Athena off.

The girl blinks, "Oh...well, shit."

"Uh...I think, I should...go--"

One of the men points a gun at her. "Sit."

"I'm already seated." Athena holds her hands up.

"Drop the chocolate."

Athena opens her mouth, "Well--"

He aims the gun at Sam's head. Athena drops the chocolate. "You were seriously going to shoot him because I wouldn't drop the candy?"

"Yeah, that's pretty crazy, Kubrick--"

"Quiet, Creedie. We have to take care of this..." Kubrick cocks his handgun back and presses it against Sam's forehead. Athena's eyes widen, "OKay, wait wait--"

"Kubrick." Creedie grabs his partner's arm.

"No!" Kubrick turns to Creedie. "You saw what happened, Creedie. Ask yourself--why are we here?"

"Because you saw a picture on the web?" Kubrick scoffs. "Because we chose this motel instead of another? Luck like that doesn't just happen."

"Well--"

"Athena."

The girl quickly closes her mouth.

"Look, I can explain all of that." Sam voices.

Kubrick points at Sam, "Shut up."

Athena raises a hand, "I could explain it--"

"Shut up." Kubrick points at her.

"It's God, Creedie." Kubrick continues. "He led us here for one reason--to do his work. This is destiny."

Athena and Sam exchange a look.

Kubrick aims the gun at Sam's head again and Athena's heart drops. She jumps off the table. "Wait, please don't--"

The sound of another gun cocks, causing everyone to freeze.

"No. No destiny."

Athena lets out a breath of relief from the voice. For the first time in a while, she was happy to hear her brother's voice.

"Just a rabbit's foot."

Kubrick chuckles, "Put the gun down, son or you're gonna be scraping brain off the wall."

Dean frowns, "Oh, this thing?" he waves his gun.

"Yeah, that thing."

"Okay." Dean shrugs and sets the gun on the dresser. Athena pulls her brows together.

"But, you see, there's something about me that you don't know," Dean states, grabbing the motel pen.

"Yeah? What would that be?" Kubrick now aims the gun at Dean. "It's my lucky day." he tosses the pen towards Kubrick and it miraculously lands in the barrel of his gun. Athena's mouth drops open. Dean holds his hands up and laughs. "Oh, my god! Did you see that shot?!"

Creedie runs towards Dean. The eldest Winchester slightly moves away from Creedie. The man hits the wall face-first and falls to the floor with a thud. Athena slaps a hand over her mouth and laughs.

"I'm amazing." Dean grabs the remote control and chucks it at Kubrick. It hits Kubrick straight in the face and he falls to the ground, unconscious. Athena drops her hand to her side and chuckles. "Damn..."

"I'm Batman."

Simultaneously, Sam and Athena turn to Dean. Sam then scoffs, "Yeah, you're Batman."

...

"Bone ash, cayenne pepper. That should do it."

Sam stands up and looks at his siblings, only to see Dean scratching lottery tickets and Athena quietly urging him to keep going.

"Give us a second." Athena holds up a finger.

"Guys--"

"Hey, back off, Jinx. I'm bringing home the bacon." Dean cuts in with his eyes glued to the lottery tickets in his hands. Dean blows the last of the shavings off the lottery tickets. Athena snickers, "Nice."

Dean laughs and puts the lottery tickets in his jacket pocket that was draped across a headstone. "All right! Say goodbye to "Wascawy Wabbit"." he holds up the rabbit's foot.

Athena waves a hand, "You did us good today." she then glances at Sam and winces from the bruises across his face. "Well, you did some of us good today."

Sam rolls his eyes, "Whatever--it did me good for a couple of hours before--"

The sound of a gun cocking catches the sibling's attentions, they look behind them to see a brunette aiming a gun at them. Athena's eyes widen, "Pretty lady." she whispers.

"I think you'll find that belongs to me." Bela arches a brow. "Or, you know...whatever."

"Put the foot down, honey."

Athena reaches for the foot, but Dean pulls it back. "What the hell are you doing?"

Athena blinks, "I-I'm sorry, I thought she was talking to me." she chuckles nervously and begins to fix her hair.

"Hello? Woman with the gun here, threatening you." Bela waves her gun.

Dean looks at Bela and shakes his head. "No. You're not gonna shoot anybody. See, I happen to be able to read people. Okay, you're a thief. Fine. But you're not--"

A bullet whizzes past Dean and hits Sam's shoulder. Athena flinches, "Holy shit!" she runs over to Sam. "You're not dead--you're okay, right?"

Sam glares at Athena, "If I'm groaning then I'm not dead."

Athena holds her hands up, "Sorry. I get stupid when I'm nervous." she helps him onto his feet. "You got shot by Bela Talbot...lucky."

"What?!"

"I was kidding!" Athena then looks to the side. "Not."

"You make one more move, and I'll pull the trigger." Bela threatens. "You've got the luck, Dean. You I can't hit. But your brother--him I can't miss."

"And I'm not gonna shoot a child." Bela shrugs. "I'm not a monster."

"The hell is wrong with you?!" Dean shouts. "You don't just go around shooting people like that!"

"Relax," Bela replies. "It's a shoulder hit. I can aim."

"Besides, who here hasn't shot a few people?" Bela shrugs.

Athena holds a hand up, "I've shot one person before."

Bela motions her head over to Athena. "See? We're all aware on how to shoot."

"Now, put the rabbit's foot on the ground now." Bela orders.

"All right!" Dean holds his hands up. "All right, just take it easy."

Athena takes her bandana out of her pocket and she softly hums. "Oh, I forgot I had this." she hands it to Sam. The middle Winchester groans, "Thanks, I guess..."

Dean crouches to the ground, ready to set the rabbit's foot down. But he tosses it to Bela, "Think fast."

Without thinking, Bela catches it. She softly gasps out of shock. Then she closes her eyes and groans, "Damn."

Dean chuckles triumphantly, "Now, what do you say we destroy that ugly-ass piece of dead thing?"

Bela reluctantly obliged. She walks over to the Winchesters and drops the rabbit's foot into the embers. Athena keeps her eyes on Bela.

"Thanks very much," Bela grumbles. "I'm out 1.5 million and on the bad side of a very powerful, fairly psychotic buyer."

"Wow...I really don't feel bad about it." Dean then looks at his brother. "Sam?"

Sam shakes his head, "Nope. Not even a little."

"Athena?" Dean looks at his sister. He then deadpans, when he notices Athena staring at Bela. "Forget it."

Bela softly hums, she walks over to the headstone and leans against it. "Maybe next time, I'll hang you out to dry."

"Oh, don't go away angry. Just go away." Dean sighs.

"Have a nice night, boys." Bela smiles. She shifts her gaze to Athena. "Athena. Keep them in check." she pushes herself off the headstone and walks away. Athena's mouth slightly opens, "Y-You know I will." she then curses. Did I really just stutter? She was going to think about this haunting moment to the end of time.

The Winchesters got all their stuff and headed back to the car. Sam was having trouble holding the shovel, so Athena offered to hold it for him.

"You good?" Dean asks.

Sam sighs, "I'll live."

"I guess we're back to normal now, huh?" Dean huffs. "No good luck. No bad luck." His face then drops, something popping into his head. "Oh, I forgot. We're at $46,000."

Athena's eyes light up. Dean digs in his jacket pockets. He continues digging and continues digging. "Anytime now," Athena speaks.

"They were right here, I don't--"

A car in the distance honks as it drives away. Athena turns her head and her shoulders drop. "Of course, she drives a Porsche."

Dean's breathing falls ragged and he practically thrashes around. "SON OF A BITCH"

Sam laughs, but Athena keeps looking at where Bela drove off to.

"She stole the lottery tickets..." Athena then dramatically touches her chest.

And my heart.

━━━━━━━━━━

author's note.

Athena's got a cruuush.

Also, catch me bringing Bela back in the later seasons...

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