Chapter Text
Purgatory was both everything Fi was expecting and nothing like anything she would have ever imagined.
When she opened her eyes, all she could see was forest- full of gnarled trees and bare trees and thick scratchy patches of brush.
She looked around. "Sam? Dean?"
No answer. Just the wind blowing through the trees and the eerie silence that made her stomach queasy.
This was it, she was really alone. In Purgatory.
She swallowed her fears and started off in search of her father, even though she had no idea where to start looking.
For what seemed like weeks, she spent her time hiding in the thick brush and trying to avoid any contact.
--
She huddled up near some brush, trying to figure out any way to find her father. She didn't dare try any spells for fear someone might find her that way.
She knew that she had to move quickly and quietly if she wanted to find him without much trouble from any of the other residents of Purgatory. But that was easier said than done because it seemed like the place was crawling with anything and everything she could imagine, and as much as she appreciated the crash course training that Dean had put her through, she was in no hurry to use it. Not even the less violent forms.
--
Dean smiled, easing her into it by starting off the chant, “C’mon, let’s try that again. Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus…”
Fi concentrated on remembering what the exorcism sounded like without peeking at her notes. Latin was never her strong suit in school and this was just proving it. “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio, i-infernalis…”
Dean nudged her along. “Infernalis adversarii, omnis legio…”
She nodded, starting over, “Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio, infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo draco maledicte, et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa…?”
Dean chuckled to himself, impressed that she was picking it up so fast, “Cessa decipere humanas creaturas…”
“Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare. Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt…”
Sam walked up, folding his arms over his chest and just observing it all silently.
Fi looked over at Sam, smiling as she rattled off the end of the exorcism, “Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos. Ut inimicos sanctae Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, te rogamus, audi nos.”
“Altogether now…”
“Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus, omnis satanica potestas, omnis incursio, infernalis adversarii, omnis legio, omnis congregatio et secta diabolica. Ergo draco maledicte, et omnis legio diabolica adjuramus te. Cessa decipere humanas creaturas, eisque aeternae Perditionis venenum propinare. Vade, Satana, inventor et magister omnis fallaciae, hostis humanae salutis. Humiliare sub potenti manu dei, contremisce et effuge, invocato a nobis sancto et terribili nomine, quem inferi tremunt. Ab insidiis diaboli, libera nos, Domine. Ut Ecclesiam tuam secura tibi facias libertate servire te rogamus, audi nos. Ut inimicos sanctae Ecclesiae humiliare digneris, te rogamus, audi nos.”
Sam laughed, looking up at Dean, “She’s better than you, y'know. At least she knows it’s ‘audi nos’, unlike someone who says ‘adios’.”
Dean lovingly flashed a very specific finger at his brother.
--
The cool air bit at her skin as she huddled behind a tree, trying to plan out her next move. Where to go…
She peeked around the left side of the tree, looking for any sign of an enemy. It was clear to the south. She turned to scope out the other side. Nothing.
Always keep moving. Dean’s words were the only thing she was concentrated on at the moment, trying to do what he would have done.
She pulled her jacket tighter around her and ran down a steep hill, trying not to draw attention to herself.
A man jumped down from out of nowhere. He was tall, blond, baby-faced, and vaguely familiar.
Oh no. “Brent?”
The corner of his mouth curled up in a little smirk, “Fiona Phillips. I never thought I’d see you, of all people, here. Then again - you are very much your father’s daughter.”
He edged towards her, blocking her in between his body and the tree trunk.
She frowned, trying to remember anything Dean might have told her that would help right now. Her fingers found the handle of the demon-killing knife the boys had loaned her for her own protection and she gripped it tight. Hopefully this works on vampires.
She pulled it out and brought the blade down on his throat.
He chuckled as the blood dripped down the front of his shirt and grabbed her wrist, twisting her arm around.
She cried out in pain as she felt her wrist breaking.
Before anything else could happen, an odd-looking makeshift blade slashed through Brent’s throat, completely removing his head from his shoulders. The body crumpled to the dirt and the blade fell beside it.
Fi looked up at her hero and potential new enemy, trying not to look as terrified as she felt.
The man was large - not as tall as Sam or Dean, but solid and broad - and he sported a beard and a confused look on his face as he wiped the blood off of his blade.
When he spoke, it was a surprisingly gentle Cajun accent, “You best move along - ain’t gonna be too much longer ’fore this place is crawling with vamps.”
She swallowed hard and knelt down to pick up the blade, still watching her savior suspiciously.
The man chuckled to himself, obviously amused, “Where’d a little girl like you get a knife like that?”
She eyed him, not at all amused by the condescension, “Friends. Who are you?”
He smirked, tipping his hat politely, “Name’s Benny. Benny Lafitte. And you?”
She sized him up, “Why should I tell you who I am?”
He gave her a little smile, “Now I’m not trying to cause trouble. I’s just wondering what kinda girl you are to have a knife like that and not know what to do with it.”
She pursed her lips. “My name is Fi. And I do know.”
--
Dean walked into his room, with Fi at his heels. “Now, you’re gonna need to know a thing or two about killing if you plan on getting out of Purgatory. No one there wants to be your friend. They’d rather tear you apart. So-”
She raised an eyebrow, “So?”
He rolled his eyes, unzipping his duffel bag, “You kill them first. Now, I’m gonna give you some basics. The ‘Hunting for Dummies’ introduction, if you will.”
She perked up, watching as he removed weapons from the bag.
He tossed a machete down on the bed. “Vampire. Cut his head off. No garlic, no stakes. Go for the head.”
She nodded, trying to file away that information and hoping it would be at the forefront of her mind instead of the pop culture lies about sunshine and garlic.
He pulled out his 1911 and ejected the magazine. “Silver rounds, werewolf. Right in the heart. Not the arm, not the shoulder. Bullseye.” He pointed a finger towards his own heart to illustrate the point.
She nodded again as he clicked the magazine back in and set it down beside the machete.
He pulled out the Desert Eagle next, again ejecting the magazine to show her the rounds inside, “Now this bad boy has iron rounds in it today. This is pretty handy cuz it helps with a few things - ghosts, for one. And shtriga - it’s a life-sucky witch thing. You come up against that guy, wait til he’s feeding, then pop ‘im. Uhhh - keeps demons away, also keeps a phoenix trapped, slows down leprechauns… Really this is a good bet to have.”
She narrowed her eyes, “A leprechaun? Really?”
He feigned hurt that she wouldn’t believe him, “Yes really.” He pulled out the demon-killing knife, “And this. Kills demons. Like, kills them dead. Now it kills the meatsuit too, so that’s a downside. But when there’s no other way-”
--
Benny nodded a little, “And how, may I ask, did you get here?”
She looked up at him and, for some reason, she told him everything, “My friends. That gave me this knife. They know a lot about this stuff. It was a spell and now I’m here and - I honestly have no idea how I’m gonna get out but - I have to find my father. I have to know what happened.”
She sniffed a little, wiping her face and trying not to look like a sniffling child.
He gave her a minute to compose herself, “Well you definitely need someone to watch your back. You can’t go around here on your own.”
"Oh and you're just going to babysit me out of the goodness of your heart?"
Benny gave her a little smile, "Not babysit you, no. But you need help finding your Daddy, and I happen to know humans are a very rare sight here. So I'm thinking you're looking for the old man."
"O-old man?" She looked up at him.
"He hides out in the dark parts. Doesn't much care for anyone encroaching on his land but I think this is the best chance you have. He's been here for a while and, even if he isn't your Daddy, he's been here long enough that he'd know how to find him."
She blurted out, "Name- does he have a name?"
"That I don't know, chèr. But I can help you find him."
She pursed her lips, "Why would you do that?"
"Because your kind don't belong here."
--
Fi nursed her beer while Dean tended to the sprained ankle she'd earned in training. "So, how long were you there?"
He looked up at her as he finished wrapping her foot, "Purgatory?"
She nodded, figuring it was high time she asked the important questions. "Yeah."
He sat back and sighed, "A year. I was there a year."
She frowned, "A year? How did you make it?"
He clenched his jaw a little, staring at the far wall. "It was tough. Every minute fighting for my life cuz, God knows, I put half those sons of bitches down there. But looking for Cas kept me going and I actually had some help."
"Sam didn't go, did he?"
Dean shook his head, "No. A, uh - a vamp. Named Benny. He saved my ass down there and I owe him for it."
--
Fi looked at Benny's back as they trekked through the brush, the moment of realization hitting her like a Mack truck. "You're Dean's Benny. Aren't you?"
He stopped in his tracks and looked over his shoulder at her, a little flicker in his eyes. "Dean?"
"Dean Winchester. You're the vampire who helped him find Cas and get out of here, aren't you?"
He smiled a little, "He told you?"
She nodded, shrugging, "Yeah. I kinda nagged him so he'd tell me everything he knew about this place."
Benny chuckled to himself, shaking his head as he continued walking, "He told you and you still came..."
"I have to find my father. I have to know what happened to him."
--
Sam couldn't help but feel a little bad for Fi as she held the ice pack to her face. "Training went well?"
She pulled the ice off her cheek, revealing the beginnings of a flattering black eye. "Yeah. It was fantastic."
He sighed, "You don't have to do this. We can figure out a different way. You don't have to go to Purgatory, Fi."
She glared at him. "Sam. I need to do this. You should know why I need to do this."
"But what if there are no big answers? What if it isn't the meaningful bigger picture stuff you're hoping for?"
She looked down at the ice pack in her hands. "Then that's just something I have to live with."
--
Fi was shaking as she approached the old man's camp. This was it. She might actually find the answers she'd been looking for her whole life.
Benny stood behind her, giving her enough space for privacy but staying close enough in case she needed anything.
"Hello? Is anyone there?"
The only answer was the creak of the trees in the breeze.
"Hello?" She pulled her jacket around her tighter.
"Baby?" That voice.
"Daddy?"
A man emerged from the trees, his clothes ragged and worn and his face covered in a thick beard. He looked nothing like the few pictures Molly kept tucked away.
But, even then, Fi remembered that voice and those eyes. "Daddy?"
He smiled and the corners of his eyes crinkled. "Hello, baby."
She felt the tears fall and she ran to him, holding onto him tightly. "I missed you. I missed you so much."
He pet her hair, kissing the top of her head. "I missed you too."
She sniffed, just holding him tight.