Things Are Complicated (ON HOLD)

Chapter Thirty-Six: The Truth

Scarlett's eyes fluttered and she shook her head slowly.

     Metatron looked down at her, "How does it feel to know the truth?"

     She looked up at him, "I don't know," her eyes filled with tears.

     Metatron nodded, "That's alright. You're human after all," he snapped his fingers to release Scarlett from the restraints.

     Scarlett started to rub her wrists, "Can I go?"

     Metatron gently took the IV out of her arm, "Of course," he held up his hand, prepared to snap his fingers, "Be sure to tell your family and Castiel that I said hello," he snapped his fingers and Scarlett was sitting in a bench in the middle of town square.

     She looked up into the night sky and closed her eyes. Even though she had her old memories, the replacements were still there.

     She didn't know what to do, so she just sat on the bench and watched people go by. Every so often, she would glance up at the clock tower to see only a few minutes had passed. She wasn't ready to go home, but she knew she couldn't stay all night. She decided to wait for the clock to strike midnight before confronting her family.

     It was about a quarter to midnight when she heard the comforting sound of her father's car. She watched the car come into view before ducking her head down. The way she viewed her father changed drastically, but she wasn't ready to confront him yet.

     Dean drove slowly through the square. He and Eliza had gotten all of the help they could possibly get and nothing came up. He'd lost his daughter again and blamed himself for not being there to protect her.

     His eyes drifted to the center of the square and he nearly slammed on the brakes. He put the car in park and got out of the car.

     He started walking towards the bench, "Scarlett?"

     Scarlett sighed before looking up at him, "Hi," she stood up and spoke nonchalantly, "What brings you here?"

     He stopped in front of her, "I needed a break," his eyes darted all over her body and he noticed the red marks on her wrists, "Scarlett, what did they do to you?" He looked up at her face with frantic eyes, "Did they hurt you?"

     She shook her head, "No," she crossed her arms, "Some guy that was almost named after a transformer wanted to talk."

     "Metatron?" she nodded in response to his question, "Scarlett, tell me everything right now."

     "He wanted to give everyone a scare and he wanted to say hi to you guys and Cass," she shrugged, "When he got bored he zapped me here."

     He looked at her skeptically, "You're hiding something. I can tell."

     "What?"

     "I know when you're lyin'. Metatron wanted something else, didn't he?" Scarlett's eyes filled with tears and Dean's expression softened, "What did he want?"

     She swallowed hard and looked past him, "He wanted to change the story."

     Dean looked confused, "What does that mean?"

     "He was tired of the ten years of daddy issues," she looked her father in the eye, "He gave me back my memories."

     Dean's heart stopped, "He did?"

     Scarlett nodded, "Yeah," she nearly whispered.

     "Where does that leave you?"

     She shrugged, "I don't know," her bottom lip trembled, "I'm still processing that you used to be my best friend," she swallowed hard, "I'm sorry."

     "For what?"

     She sniffled, "Everything," tears started to slide down her cheeks, "For being weak and treating you like shit."

     Dean placed his hands on either side of her face, "Hey," he spoke softly as he wiped her tears, "You're not weak, you hear me? You have nothing to be sorry for," he looked into her eyes, "Now, can I hug you?"

     Scarlett nodded, "Please," she fell into his warm embrace and felt safe.

     Dean stroked her hair as she sobbed into his chest, "It's okay," he kissed the top of her head, "You're gonna be okay," he held her as tight as possible without hurting her.

     The two stood in the middle of the square for five minutes before getting into the Impala. As Dean drove back home, the two sat in a comfortable silence.

     Scarlett looked out the window, "Dad, can I ask you something?"

     Dean glanced at her, "Yeah."

     "I remember the last time I saw you," she paused, "Why exactly was that the last time I saw you?"

     He sighed, "We thought it would be safer for you if I watched from a distance."

     "But by that time I knew about monsters," she shrugged and looked at him, "plus I knew how to use magic, so why did you have my memories of you wiped? Why didn't you just tell me that you needed to stay away–which you really didn't, might I add."

     "We figured the monsters would stay away if you didn't have any knowledge of them..." he looked out the side window, "...or me."

     She scoffed, "Who's idea was it?"

     "Why does it matter? You get the same result no matter what."

     "It matters because whoever thought of it didn't use their brain to full capacity," her brows furrowed, "For starters, I live in Mystic Falls and this place is crawling with the supernatural. On top of that...Genevieve came to town just to possess me for a second time, so...?"

     Dean's brows furrowed, "Wait, Genevieve possessed you before?" He glanced at Scarlett.

     "Yeah, she uh..." she looked down at her stomach, "She was inside me that night."

     "Huh," he shook his head, "didn't see that coming."

     "Yeah, I guess I didn't either," she sighed, "So, are you gonna tell me who's bright idea it was to wipe my memories because I've got a hunch that it wasn't you, so who?"

     "Scarlett..."

     "Come on, just tell me. Like you said, you get the same result so..." she shrugged, "Just spill the beans."

     "It's not my place to say."

     "Okay I'm gonna guess," she watched her father's facial expressions, "Bobby? Cass? Sammy? Mom," Dean's brows furrowed briefly when she mentioned Eliza, "Ha!"

     "I didn't say anything."

     "No, but your face did," she crossed her arms, "Now why didn't you just tell me?"

     "It's your mom who should've told you."

     "Why? You already told me the reason," her eyes shifted to the right, "Unless there's more to the story."