Born Under A Bad Sign.

chapter forty-eight, Born Under A Bad Sign

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"Athena?"

"Jo!"

"What the hell are you doing here?"

Athena runs over to the girl and cuts her out of her restraints. "I was with Meg, but she locked me in the car—"

"Who the hell is Meg?"

"Oh, the demon. You do know that Sam's possessed, right?" Athena asks.

Jo nods, "Yeah, Dean came in and splashed holy water on him."

"Dean's here?" Athena chuckles. "Of course he figured it out. Where'd they go?"

"Out to the docks." Jo answers.

The ropes drop off of Jo and she sighs. "You said the demon took you, are you okay?"

Athena raises her brows, "Yeah, I'm good. She didn't hurt me—"

A gunshot rings off in the distance, causing both huntresses to turn towards the docks. Athena's breathing quickens. "Oh my god—oh my god..." a small whimper leaves her lips. Athena breaks off into a sprint. Jo's eyes widen, "No, Athena—don't!"

Athena shoves the door open and runs out to the docks.

"Athena wait!—"

"No!" Athena snaps back. She turns to Jo, "Do you have a flashlight?"

Jo slumps her shoulders. She pulls the flashlight out of her pocket and turns it on. The blonde knew Athena wasn't gonna stop until her brothers were safe. So, she may as well look after her too. Athena grabs the flashlight and continues down the dock. Jo sighs, "Yeah, totally take my flashlight. I don't mind." She then follows after the girl. Athena wipes at her good eye, the panic tears not stopping. "Come on, where are you?" She digs in her pocket and grabs her phone. Athena flips her phone open and calls her eldest brother.

Just when Athena thought, she wouldn't find any sign that Sam or Dean were okay, she heard Dean's ringtone. Athena stops in her tracks and looks around the boating docks.

"Athena, there!" Jo runs down the steps and approaches the water. Athena follows after Jo and she sees a body washed up on the ramp.

"Oh My God—Dean!" Athena runs towards her brother. "Jo, is he dead?—Is my brother dead?"

Jo drops to her knees and slowly shakes her head. "I-I'm not sur—"

A cough comes from Dean and he groans. Jo lets out a breath of relief and hangs her head low. Athena's entire body goes slack and she softly cries. "Dean, are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah, yep." Dean nods. "Are you?" He looks at his little sister. Athena swallows and nods her head, managing a small smile. Her eyes shift to his shoulder and she pulls her brows together. "You're hurt."

Dean looks down at his arm, "Ah, it's just a scratch." He waves a hand. Athena pulls her brows together. She pokes his gunshot wound and Dean screams.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Daughter, actually." Athena corrects.

"How about let's not poke the wound..." Jo suggests. "Let's get you inside." She helps Dean onto his feet and guides him back into the bar.

Athena sat at the table, observing how Jo cleaned and patched his wound up.

"Don't be a baby!" Jo snaps.

"God!"

"All right, almost." Jo speaks. "All right, got it—got it." She pulls the bullet from Dean's shoulder and puts it in the glass. Dean takes a swig of the whiskey. He glances at the wound Jo just stitched and scoffs.

"God, you're a butcher." He puts the bottle down.

Athena tilts her head, "I mean, the wounds closed, right?" She then blinks. "That's gotta go for something."

"Yes—thank you, Attie." Jo nods towards the girl.

Athena smiles, "Of course, Jo!" She points at the blonde. Athena takes the moment to reach for the whiskey. Simultaneously, Jo and Dean smack her hand.

"I don't think so!"

"Like hell!"

Athena slightly opens her mouth and rubs her hand. "Oh, wow...smacking the hand of a girl who used to get abused. Nice one, you guys..." she looks off to the side.

Jo's mouth drops open and Dean raises a brow.

"You're jokes are terrible." Dean sighs.

Athena sputters her lips, "I thought it was pretty funny."

Jo knits her brows together, "It wasn't." She says. "Not really, anyway."

"So...what you're saying is—it was kind of funny."

"All right—are we done?" Dean looks at Jo.

Jo shoots her brows up, "Would you give me two minutes to patch you up?" She snaps back. "You can't help Sam if you're bleeding to death."

"Hey, Dean. How did you know that he was possessed?" Athena asks.

Dean moves his head from side to side. "Uh, I didn't. I just knew that couldn't have been him." He looks at his sister. "How'd you find out?"

"Well, there was a lot of compliments thrown my way about my intelligence and only one demon has done that with me." Athena's bunches her shoulders.

Dean pulls his brows together. Before he could ask what Demon she was talking about, Jo speaks.

"Hey, Dean?"

Dean turns to Jo and softly hums. "I know Demons lie, but do they ever tell the truth, too?" Jo asks. Athena pulls her brows together and looks at Jo. Just from the way Jo spoke, Athena knew that Meg got into her head.

"Uh, yeah, sometimes, I guess." Dean answers. "Especially if they know it'll mess with your head."

"Why do you ask?"

Jo swallows, she averts eye contact and looks back at Dean's wound. "It doesn't matter."

"So, do you have any idea where he's head to next?" Jo asks, changing the subject.

Dean blows air out of his mouth and shakes his head. Athena sticks her pinky into her ear, thinking. She softly hums. "Well, the demon's been going after hunters, right?" She frowns. "The closest one when know is in South Dakota."

Dean raises his brows, "Bobby?"

Athena presses her lips together and nods her head. "But, I'm guessing Bobby'll see through that demon's bullshit."

"Jar."

Athena lets out a chuckle, "Yeah, right—what jar...?" She trails off her question, seeing Jo holding out a jar. Athena purses her lips, "Aw, what the hell?"

"Jar. Again."

"Oh, come on, Jo. That's not fu—fracking fair." Athena quickly speaks.

Jo arches a brow and squints her eyes. Athena's back straightens and she digs in her pockets. She lets out a defeated sigh and places the unwrapped candy and paper clip in the jar. Jo opens her mouth to say something. But then she closes it and shrugs. "That'll have to do, until you get actual money."

Jo looks back at Dean's arm. "Okay, good. I'm done. Let's go." She stands up.

Athena and Dean look at Jo, then they look at each other and laugh. "You're not coming."

Athena holds up a hand, "Yeah, I'm gonna have to agree with that one."

"The hell I'm not. I'm a part of this now." Jo scoffs.

"Jar." Athena says.

Jo growls, she pulls a dollar out of her pocket and puts it in the jar. Athena places her hands on her hips. "Jo, I'm sorry, but I don't want to be in a car with two romance-swans."

Dean pulls his brows together, "Excuse me—what the hell is a romance-swan?"

"Jar."

Dean scoffs, he grabs wallet and puts a dollar in. Jo sighs, "I think she means lovebirds."

Dean raises his brows, "Oh." He then pulls his brows together. "Wait—we are not lovebirds!"

Athena rolls her good eye, "Yeah, yeah—whatever." She waves a hand. "I'll be in the car." She points at Jo. "Not your fight. You stay." She points at Dean. "You, come on—and where's my damn cat?!"

"Jar!"

☆

"You knocked out a demon with your fist?!"

Athena holds her arms up, "You're so strong, Mr. Singer!"

"Yeah, tell me something I don't know..." Bobby ruffles Athena's hair.

Dean smacks Meg against the head. Meg tilts his head up at the Devil's trap. Meg scoffs, "Dean...back from the dead. You and Athena have that in common."

Meg scoffs, "You Winchesters...you're like cockroaches."

"How about I smack that smart ass right out of your mouth?" Dean retorts.

"Careful now." Meg replies. "Wouldn't want to bruise this fine packaging."

"Oh, don't worry. This isn't gonna hurt Sam much." Dean turns and picks up a bucket of holy water. Athena winces and takes a large step back, out of the splash zone.

"You, on the other hand..."

Dean throws the holy water into Meg. Steam rises from Sam's body and Meg screams in pain.

"Feel like talking now?!"

Meg sucks in a deep breath and exhales through her node. "Sam's still my meat puppet."

"I'll make him bite off his tongue."

Athena arches a brow, "No, you won't."

Meg snaps her eyes over to Athena. The two glare at each other for a whole minute. Athena tilts her head and for a moment Meg shifts uncomfortably. The way the 12 year old still had a menacing glare even with only one good eye. And she was glaring at a demon.

Was the girl truly not afraid?

"You're getting out of my brother." Athena speaks, her tone was flat but stern. "One way or another."

"Either I can say it or you can." Athena shifts her eyes to Bobby.

"I'll do the honors."

Bobby begins to speak Latin. Meg snaps her eyes over to Dean's, trying not to be phased by the chanting.

"See, whatever bitch-boy master plan you demons are cooking up, you're not getting Sam, you understand me?" Dean gets close to the demon. "Cause I'm gonna kill everyone one of you first."

Meg continues to scream in pain. Suddenly, her screams morphed into sinister laughter. Athena knits her brows together and her back straightens.

"You really think that's what this is about—the master plan?" Meg cocks her head to the side. "I don't give a rat's ass about the master plan."

Athena looks back at Bobby and he continues to speak in latin. Meg lifts her head up and raises her brows, unfazed by the exorcism chant. "Oops."

"Doesn't seem to be working." Meg then smirks. "See, I learned a few new tricks."

Meg lowers her head and begins to speak latin under her breath. The fire from the fireplace grows, causing all of them to flinch. The lights begin to flicker and the house begins to shake.

"This isn't going like I pictured. What's going on, Bobby?" Dean asks. Bobby grabs Meg's arm and looks at the burn mark on her arm.

"It's a binding link!"

Athena's good eye widens. Dean shrugs his shoulders, needing an explanation.

"It's like a lock," Athena starts. "she's locked herself inside Sam's body."

"She?"

Athena groans, "That's what you're focused on?!"

Dean shakes his head, "Okay, well—what the yell do we do?!"

"I don't know!"

Athena snaps her fingers, "What if we burn it o—"

The Devil's trap on the ceiling cracks. The three hunters look up at the ceiling. Athena slightly opens her mouth.

"There...that's better."

An invisible force sends the three into different walls. Athena slams into the ground and gasps for air.

"You know when people want to describe the worst possible thing..." Meg rips herself out of her restraints and stalks over to Dean. "...they say it's like hell?"

Meg punches Dean across the face. "Well? There's a reason for that. Hell is like, uh..." the demon punches Dean across the face once again. "Well, it's like Hell, even for demons."

"It's a prison made of bone and flesh and blood and fear."

Athena slowly lifts her face up and sees Meg punch Dean again.

"And you sent me back there."

Dean's eyes burn into the demon's, "Meg." He finally realizes.

"No...not anymore. Now I'm Sam."

Athena pulls her brows together and an anger swirls in her chest. This demon was not her brother. And it pissed her off even hearing Meg say that. Meg senses a dark energy rise in the room, causing her stop her torment on Dean.

"You're not. My brother!" Athena jumps on Meg's back and pulls the demon off her brother. The demon growls in annoyance. Meg pulls her attention away from Dean. The demon reaches behind her and grabs a fistful of Athena's hair. The girl cries out in pain and Dean's eyes widen.

"No! Leave her alone!"

Meg throws Athena back and she slides across the hardwood floor, she hits a pile of books. The demon stands up and turns to the 12 year old. Dean grabs the demon's ankle, Meg slams her boot against Dean's face, knocking him out.

"You know..." Meg turns her attention to Athena. "I really liked you, Athy. But you're like a gnat..." she motions to her head. "Always talking and showing up. You're just so unnecessary—too much." She tilts her head and chuckles. "Just like your mother."

Blood slowly trickles from Athena's nose and she scoots back away from the demon. "You're lying. You don't know anything about my mom—"

"Oh really? I don't?!" Meg shouts, her anger evident. She wraps a hand around Athena's neck and squeezes. Athena inhales a deep breath before all her air is cut off.

"You know I can hear your brother screaming right now. Begging me to stop killing you. Don't kill my baby sister—he's so fucking annoying."

Athena claws at Meg's arms. Her brother's arms, tears blur her good eye. "S-Sammy..."

"Faye Clarke was always a pain in my side. And she got what was coming to her—"

"Shut the fuck up!" Athena cries.

The demon feels like it's being lurched out of Sam's body. Meg snaps her eyes back over to Athena and one feeling that she thought was gone appears deep in her gut.

Fear.

"What the hell are you doing?"

Athena pulls her brows together. Meg squeezes Athena a throat harder and black dots form in the girl's vision.

"You little shit, I swear I'll kill you!" Meg laughs. "Say hi to mommy for me—"

Bobby grabs Meg's branded arm. He presses the hot iron poker against the brand on Sam's arm. Meg lets out a scream and black smoke leaves his mouth. Sam's body collapses beside Athena. Bobby crouches down and cups Athena's face. "Hey, Thena? Wake up!" He lightly shakes Athena.

The girl lets out a harsh cough and lays on her side. "Oh my god—oh my god!" Athena hacks. "I'm gonna cough up a lung. Is this what smoking cigarettes feels like?!" Her voice is hoarse.

Bobby lets out a breath of relief. He pulls her into a hug. Athena looks to the side and stares at Sam's unconscious body. Her body begins to shake and she hugs Bobby back with the words repeating in her head.

It wasn't Sam. It wasn't Sam...

☆

The three Winchesters sit at the desk, all nursing their wounds. Athena had a tissue in one of her nostrils with a bruise forming around her neck.

"What is it, Bobby?" Sam asks, noticing Bobby's shaken expression.

"You three ever hear of a hunter named Steve Wandell?" Bobby asks.

Athena's entire body constricts.

"Why do you ask?" Dean inquires.

"Just heard from a friend, Wandell's dead—murdered in his own house." Bobby looks at Dean. "You wouldn't know anything about that."

Sam opens his mouth to speak, but Dean speaks first.

"No, sir. Never heard of the guy."

Athena looks to the ground, not being able to lie to Bobby.

"Dean—"

"Good." Bobby says. "Keep it that way."

Athena quickly looks back at Bobby.

"Wa dell's buddies are looking for someone or something to string up."

The words 'string up' made Athena's heart drop into her stomach.

"They're not gonna slow down to listen to reason." Bobby shifts his eyes to each of the siblings. "You understand what I'm saying?"

They all nod their heads.

Dean stands up, "We better hit the road..." he sets the ice pack down. "...if, uh, you can remember where we parked the car."

"Here. Take these."

They all turn to Bobby. He hands them each a necklace. Athena looks at the pendant on it and pulls her brows together.

"What are they?"

"Charms. They'll fend off possession." Bobby says. "That demon's still out there. This will stop it from getting back up in you."

"That sounds vaguely dirty, but uh, thanks." Dean speaks.

"You're welcome." Bobby nods. "You kids be careful, now."

"You too."

They all walk towards the door. Athena stops at the door, she turns on her heel and runs back over to the man. She wraps her arms around Bobby. "I'll see you later, Bobby."

Bobby touches the top of Athena's head. "Yeah, don't strain your voice, kid. You don't want to sound like you've been smoking since you were 7 now, do ya?"

Athena laughs softly. She pulls away from the hug and walks backwards toward the door. She zips her lips shut and tosses Bobby the key. He catches it and puts it in his pocket.

...

"You okay?"

Athena looks over at Sam, he was staring off into space.

"Sam? Is that you in there?"

Sam looks over at Dean. "I was awake for some of it." He admits. "I watched myself kill Wandell with my own two hands. I saw the light go out in his eyes. I watched myself almost choke Athena to death."

Athena sinks in her seat, her hand slowly moves over to her neck.

"That must have been awful..." Dean slowly shakes his head.

"That's not my point."

Athena pulls her brows together. "Uh, then what is the point?" She slightly leans forward, her voice had a slight force behind it.

"I almost carved up Jo, too." Sam says. "But no matter what I did, Dean wouldn't shoot."

"Because he knew it wasn't you." Athena retorts. "It was the right move."

"Yeah—this time." Sam replies. "What about next time?"

Dean pulls his brows together. "Sam, when dad told me that I might have to kill you, it was only if I couldn't save you." He looks at his little brother. "Now, if it's the last thing I do, I'm gonna save you."

The car falls silent again and Athena presses her lips into a firm line. A breath leaves her nose and her brows pull together.

"The demon...Meg..." Athena speaks, her voice was hoarse.

Sam and Dean shift their gaze to the rearview mirror and notice the troubled expression across Athena's face.

"She said that...my mom's name is Faye Clarke." Athena then sighs. "Was Faye Clarke." Her stomach clenches. It still left her bitter knowing she was never going to meet her mom.

"Athena...Demons lie." Sam says, his voice soft.

"Sometimes they do," Athena replies. "Sometimes...maybe they don't lie." She slightly leans forward. "M-Maybe she was telling the truth—

"She's a demon, Athena." Dean states.

"You told Jo that sometimes demons tell the truth to get in your head." Athena scoffs. "What? Was that a lie?"

"Athena, you have to trust us on this, okay?" Sam says.

Athena's breathing heavies and she looks out the window. "Why should I?" She mumbles.

"What?"

Athena tenses and looks back at her brothers. "Why should I trust anything you guys say? After what you've kept from me?"

"Dad told us—"

"Yeah—told. He's gone! I'm here and I have been. Here!" Athena slightly leans forward. "I have been here for you guys and you haven't done anything for me." She shakes her head.

Do you even love me?

Tears blur her vision and she sucks in a small breath. Her body begins to feel cold and she feels...alone."I just want to know my mom..."

"I know you do, kid."

Athena sinks in her seat and wipes at her tears.

I just want to be Athena Clarke for one day...

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author's note.

Imma tell you this now, Athena is never going to catch a break. And if she does catch a break it's probably at the beginning of season 4. We have a loooong way to go.

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