Rebirth \\A Supernatural Spinoff// [2018 Watty Award Winner]

Twenty-Six - One Lash Hurrah

Twenty-Six – One Last Hurrah

It was no Thanksgiving feast or New Year's celebration that was going to take place, but it didn't matter to Charlie. She was spending her last moments on Earth with her friends, friends that she would dearly miss. Even Meg, who she was still slightly afraid of and would never admit it out loud. She didn't want the demon to have that advantage and mock her for it.

Though, maybe Meg wouldn't mock her. Check that, she totally would. Even demons can't change their stripes...or is it eye color?

Any food the group could scrape up, they used the map table of the war room and the table in the library. Charlie got music going from her laptop, and everyone helped themselves to food and beverages—which was mostly alcohol.

Charlie felt the comradery in the bunker. Jody scolded Alex and Claire when she caught them trying to sneak alcohol into their cups. Meg tried to be the Shoulder Devil for the two girls and tried to convince Jody to let them. Jody was having none of it.

Jo and Dean looked like good buddies who had some unspoken romantic air around them, Charlie could sense. Sam was spewing all details he could muster in one breath to Jessica, who hung on to his every word. After a time, Sam became the storyteller, with the appropriate people interjecting at the appropriate times. Different accounts of different stories differed between friendly arguing parties.

If only they could meet Scar, Charlie thought to herself. She'd be seeing ScarJo very soon, almost too soon. Not that she didn't miss her hot celebrity girlfriend, she just...she hadn't realized how much she missed hunting and saving people. She didn't realize that piece of her had gone missing, replaced by compliancy that came with living in Heaven.

"Since you guys are leaving, can we hear about how you got to Heaven in the first place?" Claire asked.

Sam's storytelling stopped, and an uncomfortable silence fell on the group.

"Nice going," Alex mocked her sister.

Claire shrugged. "I'm not asking out of bad intentions, I'm just curious. I mean, if you knew Sam and Dean Winchester before this, you had to go out like a badass."

Charlie squirmed in her chair. She wasn't sure about Jessica or Jo, but she knew how she had died. She never did know what happened to the Styne family. Considering she hadn't heard or read a word about them, it was safe to assume they were underground, or the brothers took care of them.

"I'm not a Heaven resident, but I went out with a bang," Meg drawled. "I bravely sacrificed myself for these saps." She gestured to Sam, Dean, and Cas. "Not intentionally, as I planned on living past one of their missions. I died while attempting to kill the King of Hell. Damn bastard killed me before I could finish my job."

"Well, the chase remains, so I'm sure you guys will square off again," said Claire, dipping a boneless wing in some ranch sauce.

"I shared my death story, the rest of you are up."

"You don't have to," Jody told the other three. "I'm sure it's—"

"I died in a motel," Charlie whispered quietly. She looked down at her empty paper plate, save few food crumbs. "There were these freaks that wanted this all powerful book, but you had to go through a lot of hoops to read it. I made a breakthrough, but they tracked me. I made sure they couldn't get what answers I'd found."

"They're all dead," Dean said bluntly, taking a sip of his beer. "Every one of them."

Charlie shuddered. She wasn't about to ask how they died or who killed them. Judging by Dean's attitude, she had a fairly good guess of the culprit. She flicked her gaze to Sam. She sighed, realizing he had a guilty look about him. It wasn't their fault. I signed up to help, they didn't force me to. My death was on me, not them. I wish they could get that straight in their heads.

"Hellhounds," Jo spoke up. "About half of us in this room were there that day. Meg sent the bitches on us, and they got their licks in. We were blocked in a store, so we built a bomb to kill them when they breached. I never got to pull the trigger. My mom...she did, I know."

Charlie noticed Sam and Dean's uncomfortable statures in their chairs.

"And you guys have managed a truce?" asked Alex.

"Not really willingly, but yes, we have," Jo said grudgingly. "It's mostly because Cas brought us all together to save Sam and Dean. We wouldn't have been on our best behavior if he hadn't been around."

"I died by ceiling fire," Jessica said hollowly. "It's hard to go out in a badass way when you didn't know what hit you. It...it was practically over just as it began." She looked to Sam solemnly. "I didn't understand what was happening. Now, I at least understand what was behind it. And the reason why I was killed."

"I can't begin to list all the times I've died, or that these two have," said Cas, referring to the Winchesters. "Dean, especially. He's got the highest count."

"Yeah, yeah, it's not a competition," Dean sassed. "Nobody should be proud of dying that many times. Makes you feel like you're a video game character with a bad player behind the controls."

"I can't believe we're discussing this like this is normal," Alex muttered, rubbing her face.

"Didn't you know? This talk is just the surface," Charlie said. "Welcome to the lifestyle, Alex. No matter how deep or shallow you're involved with this, it never lets you go." She cleared her throat. "So, enough depressing stuff. Let's do something fun."

"We are not doing beer pong," Jody said immediately.

"Truth or Dare, then? Or what about Would You Rather?"

The group alternated between the two games. When one got boring, they switched to the other. When it came to Truth or Dare, some always picked truth, some dare, some did a balance of both. When it came to Would You Rather, Meg was the one to give the dirtiest options of them all, and none of them referred to murder.

"Okay, fireball," the demon drawled, "would you rather sleep with Malibu or G.I. Jane?"

Though it was a game, Charlie did feel the pressure. She surely didn't remember telling anyone that she favored girls, well, aside from the Winchesters, and perhaps Cas. She tapped her fingers against her thigh. "What, didn't want to throw yourself into that mix?"

"I don't swing that way."

"Obviously, you've been throwing yourself at Cas since this thing started," Jessica said.

Claire made a face.

"And what made you think that I do swing that way?" Charlie asked the demon.

Meg shrugged. "Nothing, it's a game."

"Hmm, you gave me a hard choice, I'm not gonna lie. Both ladies are pretty badass, and I like myself a badass lady." Charlie pursed her lips. "And I can't say both?"

"Nope."

"Sorry, Jo, but I'd take Jess. There's nothing wrong with you, but she's got both a sweet side and a badass side. Not that you aren't badass or have a sweet side that we haven't seen. Besides, I think you're already spoken for."

Jo blushed, and Charlie noticed that the blonde and Dean refused to look at each other. Charlie had been that person around ScarJo when she had first made herself a home in Heaven. She had been the bashful one, but that had quickly disappeared once the two had started talking.

I'm going home to her. This is really it. The reminder of Scarlett and Heaven tore Charlie up inside. She felt like herself again here on Earth with this second chance thanks to Cas. And she had to give it up. Unless Heaven can adapt to me like it did before, then nothing will change. I will have changed, but that's it. Charlie was now hoping to see the Natasha Romanoff aka Black Widow version of Scarlett Johansson when she returned. It would certainly spice things up in their relationship, going around in Heaven kicking ass even if it really didn't pose a threat to the real world.