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You know those days, where you wake up and you just know that something bad is going to happen? That’s the kind of day Erica Winchester woke up to. Of course with the day her brothers had planned, she’d be nuts to have a good feeling. But still, here she was away to on some suicide mission to shoot the devil in the face. Literally.
She was insane. Actually Insane.
“You going to be okay?”
The voice from behind her was from Ellen, the closest thing she had to a mother since she was two years old.
“If we survive this, sure.” Erica responded with the trademark Winchester Smirk.
“Oh honey.” Ellen told her. “Your brothers aren’t going to let anything happen to you.”
“That’s what scares me.” Erica replied. “I can take care of myself. It’s those two self-sacrificing morons that need looking after.”
“That’s why Jo and me are here. To stop those two from doing something stupid.”
Erica smiled at the older hunter, grateful for the attempt at making her feel better about the day ahead. Even if her attempts hadn’t worked the way they wanted them to.
“This whole plan is stupid Ellen.” Erica answered with a slightly bitter smile.
That was the moment Ellen realised that there was nothing she could do to ease the middle Winchester’s fears. Because they were the exact same fears that she herself was having.
The streets of Carthrage were completely abandoned. It reminded Erica of a horror movie. Every hair on her body was standing on edge, and every fibre of her being wanted to leave and never look back.
Something seriously bad was going to happen. She thought that she might have collapsed just from the sheer fear alone. But she was still the daughter of John Winchester and she was on the job.
“There you are.”
A voice called out. The group spun round to see a demon standing in front of them, this particular demon being very familiar to the Winchester siblings.
“Meg.” Sam seethed with a glare.
Erica was filled with a familiar rage. This bitch in front of them was the reason Bobby was in a wheelchair.
“Shouldn’t have come here.” The demon smirked at them.
“Hell I could say the same thing to you.” Dean replied while aiming the colt at her.
“I didn’t come here alone Deano.” Meg retorted.
As she spoke, something splashed a puddle near her feet. There was a distinct sound of dogs growling and barking. They quickly looked around for the source of the noise. Realising they were surrounded Erica immediately noticed her brothers tense, the same time she did, when it became clear what they were dealing with.
“Hellhounds.” She announced for Ellen and Jo, who had yet to experience these big balls of fun.
“Yeah.” Meg agreed, nodding her head. “Dean’s favourite. Come on Boys and Girls, my father wants to see you.”
“I think we’ll pass thanks.” Sam spat, still glaring at her.
“Your call.” Meg shrugged. “You can make this easy or you can make it really, really hard.”
Dean looked across at Erica, who nodded at him. The grip on her gun tightening. He glanced at the others checking if they were ready too.
“When have you ever known us to ever make anything easy?” Dean asked, shifting his aim and firing his own gun at the hellhound, wounding it.
“Run!” Erica yelled.
The group took off down the street trying to find some kind of safe place to hide and reassess the situation.
And then Dean got tackled by a hellhound.
Erica Winchester is the infamous middle child. Born two years after Dean and two years before Sam. She likes to think that if they had grown up like normal people, she would have either been a nurse or a doctor.
But instead she, like her brothers grew up as hunters. Sam and Dean often thought of her as their glue. Sam and Dean were as different as night and day. But their Ricki was what kept them together. Kept the peace.
She had almost taken over from their mother. Every fight, she was there. Cleaning up wounds and egos. You’d hear Bobby say Sam was the brains, and Dean the muscle. But Erica was the heart.
Erica had been having nightmares. It was a fact she had kept under tight wraps from both her brothers. She’d been plagued with them since her father died. They had gotten worse since Dean had went to hell and since Sam had put a knife to her throat in attempt to protect Ruby, a Demon. She’d wake up with a scream on her lips having relived the moment a hellhound turned her big brother into a chew toy.
And here in Carthrage, Missouri; she was not about to let a nightmare be relived. A Hellhound was not getting Dean. Not again.
“Erica Stay Back!” Dean yelled seeing his sister coming progressively closer to himself, and the hound that had knocked him to the ground.
She didn’t listen.
Instead she began to fire her shotgun in the direction of the growls. Sam, Ellen and Jo turning around and running back. Erica kept firing, knocking the hound further and further back. Away from Dean.
Suddenly Erica was roughly shoved to the ground as a second hellhound attacked her. Erica let out a pain filled scream as the hound tore deeply into her side.
“Ricki!” Sam yelled in a panic. He fired his gun in her direction. Knocking the hound off his big sister
“No!” Dean yelled firing at the hound once he was on his feet, giving Sam the chance to run to Erica’s side, scooping her up into his arms. She had a hand pressed into her shredded side. Dean, Jo, and Ellen followed closely behind, ready to fire at the closest noise as Sam carried his gravely injured sister into a hardware store.
Ellen and Jo tried to help Erica once Sam had gently placed her against the counter. He did his best to ignore how his hand came away red and sticky, and how deep the wound actually was. Instead he turned to help Dean to close the doors and chained them close, and salt line the windows and doors.
Ellen, meanwhile, was carefully pulling Erica’s hand away from the wound, to assess the damage and nearly cried. The deepest part of the wound was at her side, but that wasn’t even the tip of the iceberg. The cuts began at her chest and had ripped right down to her hip. Muscle and bone was just visible through the blood. Ellen didn’t know whether she wanted to cry or vomit.
“Boys, we need some help here!” she cried.
Dean instantly appeared in front of his sister. His eyes were wide and scared. It took a moment for Erica’s eyes to focus on her big brother. She took in her brother’s frightened form and tried to reach for him. But her side burned and ached with the forced movement.
“You with me?” Dean asked quietly, fighting the tremble in his voice. One hand went to his sister’s side, pressing against the injury. The other went to cup her cheek, keeping her focusing on him.
Erica blinked and swallowed. The floor was cold in a slightly comfortable way, but she craved something softer. Like a couch or a bed. Behind Dean, she could see Sam leaning against a shelf eyes distant and filled with worry. Erica could just make out Ellen, who had moved to the side of the store, talking on a radio low and urgent. To Bobby, no doubt.
She could feel blood run down her skin, soaking her clothes. She tried to take in a breath, but she could feel something inside her chest slide and found breathing to be harder than she could remember it being.
“Ricki.” Dean’s grip on her cheek tightened slightly and he had a panicked tone in his voice.
“I think it got my lungs.” She finally said, she tried to look at him, but found her sight getting blurry with tears. “Dean.” She whimpered.
“Shh, Shh.” Dean told her, feeling his heart shatter at the sight of her hazel eyes filling with tears. “Take it easy, just . . . just take it easy, okay? You’re going to be fine. You’re gonna be alright. I promise. I promise, Okay? Just stay with me.”
Erica had seen Dean in this state before. In Cold Oak, when Sam was the one who was bleeding. When it was Sam who was dying.
“Sammy.” She called out weakly.
In an instant he was beside her. His own eyes had always been the mirror of his sister’s, and now was no different. They were both shining with tears. This was the second time Sam had to watch a hellhound attack one of his siblings.
“Ricki, I’m so sorry.” He told her. “This is all my fault. I’m so sorry.”
Erica shook her head and with the hand that wasn’t covered in her own blood, she gripped Sam’s jacket with all her strength.
Dean gently pulled away, giving his younger siblings the chance to have a long needed talk.
“I forgive you.” Erica told her younger brother.
“For starting the apocalypse? Or for holding a knife to your neck?” Sam asked her, his voice trembling.
“For leaving me in that crap motel.”
After Dean had died, neither Sam nor Erica were coping particularly well. Sam had proven that by driving off in the Impala in the middle of the night. Leaving Erica with no car, very little money and no family. She ended up pulling a favour with Rufus to get a ride back to Bobby’.
“I didn’t want you to see me like I was.” Sam finally told her.
“I could have helped you.” She muttered. “You didn’t have to go to Ruby.”
“Ricki, I will never be able to make it up to you.” The youngest Winchester finally confessed, a tear falling from his eyes and falling down his cheek.
“Just don’t let him in.” She answered. She moved her head, moving to look at Dean who was watching them like the mother hen he had always been. She signalled Dean to join them again.
“You guys can’t let them in.” She told them. “Whatever it takes. You can’t let them in.”
“We know Ricki.” Dean answered, stroking her hair gently. “But we’ve got you to keep us on the straight and narrow.”
“Dean.” She replied, wincing in pain with her eyes falling shut. Both of her brothers felt their hearts stop and their blood freeze.
“Stay awake Erica!” Dean snapped at her, fear dripping in his voice. “Don’t you close your eyes on us now. Don’t you dare.”
“She needs medical help.” Ellen said coming behind the siblings, feeling her heart break for them.
“Can we risk moving her?” Sam asked.
“You take me to a hospital,” Erica started, opening her eyes and looking at her brothers, “and you lose the one chance you have to gank Luci.”
“We’re getting you outta here.” Dean told her, pressing his hand tighter to her side. “I swear to God, Ricki, if it’s the last thing we do.”
“It’s okay. I’m Okay.”
She could feel herself trembling from shock, blood loss, and the coldness that was seeping into her bones. She wasn’t stupid. She was dying. And she was okay with that. Really she was. She just wanted her brothers to be okay.
But evidently, her brothers were not so okay with her dying. Erica realised that Dean had pressed his forehead against hers. He tried to ignore the clammy sweat that was damping her skin and the paleness that had replaced the sun kissed glow that had once covered her face.
“You listen to me Erica Winchester.” He said, keeping his voice low. “You are not dying on us now. You hear me? I didn’t just get Sam back to lose you.” Dean moved and glanced at Sam, who looked back at him and nodded.
“We can’t do this without you, Ricki.” Dean finished.
Erica looked between her brothers smiling sadly. “Yes you can.” She told them.
“No.” Sam said shaking his head. “No Rick. We can’t.”
Erica could just hear Bobby’s voice on the radio Ellen was holding.
“Go Sammy.” She told her baby brother. “Ellen and Jo will need help.”
Sam looked over his shoulder at their fellow hunters and he felt torn. He and Dean had pretty much left them to their own devices since they got Erica into the hardware store. But leaving his sister in this state did not stick well with him.
“Go.” Dean told him. “They need help. I’ll stay with Ricki.”
Sam swallowed as he fought against the tears in his eyes and the lump in his throat. As he stood, he leaned down and pressed a delicate kiss onto his sister’s blonde hair.
“Call me if you need anything.” He told them.
When Sam was gone, Erica shakily reached up and pulled something over her head and pushed it into Dean’s free hand. He looked at the item and very nearly lost his control of the tears gathering in his eyes.
The leather cord almost reminded Dean of his own necklace, which he had given to Castiel months previous to help in the search for God. It felt familiar in his hand. Yet the pendant felt completely different. The teardrop cut of bloodstone had been a present for Erica’s thirteenth birthday from Sam and Dean and she had never taken it off since. The original chain long ago snapped, but the little gemstone was still as vibrant as the day she had opened it.
“Don’t give this to me.” He choked out. “You’re going to be fine.”
“We both know that’s a lie Dean.” She coughed, bringing up blood and confirming her point.
“You are not leaving me.” He whispered to her. “If you die I’m going to become that dick.”
She knew what he was talking about. She remembered it as well as he did. 2014. Dean broken and lost. Angry and bitter without his siblings. Sam lost somewhere inside his own meat suit and Erica nothing more than ash lost in the wind. And here he was, watching the kick-starter. Watching his sister die. He loved Sam, he did. But Erica? Erica was his only constant. Since he was two years old; she had been his shadow. When their mother died, Erica was there. When Sam left for college; Erica was there. When their father died, Erica was there. She was always there and now he was losing her.
“You have Sammy.” Erica told him. “Don’t let anything come between you.”
“We wouldn’t make it two days without you.” Dean told her.
“Two hours.” She corrected him, causing Dean to laugh slightly. Then he sobered dramatically.
“You shouldn’t have done this Ricki.” He told her.
“You and Sam both checked out on me.” She told him. “It’s my turn.”
“You are not leaving us.” Dean snapped. “We won’t let you leave us.”
Sam quickly appeared at his siblings’ side. Terror clear in his eyes, under the tears.
“We got a plan?” Erica asked her little brother.
“We know where the devil is going to be. We know when and we have the colt. We just have to get past eight or so hellhounds and get to the farm by midnight.” Sam said slowly.
“Yeah.” Dean nodded. “And that’s after we get Erica the hell out of town.” He looked worriedly at his sister, and her still bleeding side.
“That won’t be easy.” Sam stated, swallowing down his fear.
“Stretcher?”
“I’ll see what we got.”
Sam turned to go, when he felt a grip on his jacket. He looked back to see Erica holding tightly onto him. She was looking at the pair through half hooded eyes.
“You two moron’s don’t have the time to worry about me. Let me be useful.” She snapped at them.
“Ricki, we’ll get you out.” Sam pleaded.
“Can we be realistic for once please?” She groaned. “Just think about this. The hounds have our scents, and they won’t stop. Now we’ve got all we need for a bomb in here. Propane, Iron nails, wiring, salt. You guys open the doors then get the hell out and I blow this this place with me and the hellhounds in it.”
“NO!”
Came the cry from the rest of the group, Sam, Dean, Ellen and Jo.
“Erica Mae Winchester.” Dean bite out. “Not another word.”
“Dean I can’t walk.” She told him. “There’s no way I can fight. But I can do this. I can blow this place sky high and at least give you guys a head start. It’s the only way and you all know it.”
“We are not leaving you.” Sam told his sister.
“You gotta Sammy.” She told him simply. “Shooting the devil comes first.”
“Ricki, please.” Dean begged.
“I’ll see you guys again.” She said, ignoring Dean. “Later rather than sooner, of course.”
“Be a whole lot sooner, if you’re being serious about this.” Dean told her.
“Stop Armageddon first, Jerk.” She snapped at him. “Or so help me, I will haunt your ass.”
Dean bit back a sob and nodded his head. Knowing against every cell in his body that Erica was right. And for the love of God, it hurt so fucking much.
“Alright guys.” He said, his voice soft and hoarse. “You heard the lady.”
“Dean.” Sam pleaded.
“She’s right Sammy.” Dean told his baby brother.
“I’m always right boys. We’ve been over this.”
Jo and Ellen went off, beginning the bombs and giving the siblings the chance to say goodbye.
“I want you both to know that I don’t blame either of you for this.” Erica told her brothers. “And that’s because it’s not your fault. Either of you. You won’t have me there to bash your heads together. So you can’t afford to turn against each other.”
“You can still change your mind.” Sam begged her. “We need you Ricki, please.”
Erica smiled at her baby brother and pulled him down to her level.
“It’s my time to go Sammy.” She told him.
Dean reluctantly left his sister’s side to help with the final stages of the explosives.
“I’m sorry for not being there for you like I should have been when Dean’s deal was up.” She told him, a little breathlessly.
“Don’t you apologise.” Sam responded. “He’s your brother to, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I caused this. I let him out. This is on me.”
“Hush up Sammy.” She told him. “I chose to come here today. I knew what that could have meant. You are not evil. You are not a monster.” She pulled her brother slightly closer to her, so there was no change he wouldn’t hear what she was about to say next.
“The voicemail from Dean, it’s not actually from Dean. I think the Angel’s messed with It.”
“How’d you know about that?” Sam asked her, finally losing control of his tears.
“I found it. When you started hunting with us again.” She confessed. “I should have mentioned it sooner. I thought I had more time. But you have to know that it wasn’t Dean. He’d never say anything like that to you. His real message, he was apologising. Zachariah said he would give you a push in the right direction, to start all this shit. The angels started all this crap, Sammy. They’re to blame. Not you. Never you.”
“Of course.” Sam laughed slightly. “The one time Dean willingly apologises and I miss it.”
“Talk to him about it. When everything settles down.”
Sam nodded at his sister’s request. Feeling like a weight had been lifted from his heart. The voicemail sitting on his phone had left him with sleepless nights. The thought of Dean and Erica hating him, wanting to hunt him; that was almost too much for him to handle. He nodded at her request and couldn’t hold back the broken little sob, as he pressed a tender kiss to her forehead.
“I love you. So much.” He told her.
“I love you too, Sammy.”
Dean lead a string of wires from the containers put together by Jo and Ellen to Erica. He knelt down and pressed a button into her hands.
“Okay, this is it.” He told her. His voice weak from tears.
“This is not your fault.” She responded. “You’ve given up so much for this family. It’s time I do something for you.”
“Dammit Erica.” Dean yelled. “I’ve never wanted to lose you or Sam.”
“I’ll be your guardian Angel.”
“Don’t become one of those dicks.” Sam laughed wetly. “You’re too good for them.”
“Okay, time to open the doors and get the hell out of here, before you both grow lady parts.” Erica demanded, with a weak smile.
With the little strength she had left, she pulled her brothers into a hug. They wrapped their arms around her, careful not to hurt her any more than she already was.
“I’ll tell mom and dad hi for you.” She whispered to her brothers. Then looked over to Ellen and Jo, who were watching the siblings with wet eyes. “Thank you for everything. And watch out for these two for me.”
“Of course baby girl.” Ellen answered without hesitation.
“Dean.” She said finally, looking at her big brother. “Shoot that son of the bitch in the face for me.”
“I’ve never been able to deny you anything, Ricki.” Dean told her, pressing another kiss into her hair.
Every instinct in the brother’s bodies were screaming at them to not do this. To carry their sister out of this Godforsaken store and get her to a hospital. To Save her. But she was right. Damn her, but she was right. This was the one good chance to kill the devil. And if they didn’t take it. Erica would never forgive them. Or Herself.
“Guys.” She said suddenly. “In my duffle in the Impala, there’s a tin. Have a look through it. And please, please for me. Keep it.”
“Of course, Ricki.” They replied in unison.
“Don’t say yes.” She finally pleaded. “My dying wish. No matter how bad it gets. Do not let them in.”
The brothers nodded, both desperate to keep their sister with them for a little longer.
“The doors are open.” Jo said panting slightly, her eyes glossy.
“You guys better leave then.” Erica answered, openly crying herself. “If they catch you, I’m going to kick your asses all the way to Heaven and then some.”
“Love you Ricki.” Sam said.
“Love you too. Both of you. Now please go.”
Ellen and Jo began to pull the brothers away. Dean pulled his arm out of Jo’s hold and dropped to his knees in front of his sister. Who looked at him in slight confusion, and a small hint of fear.
“Dean, go!”
“Ricki, I am so proud of you.” He told her. “It’s going to be okay. I promise.”
“I know Dean, I know. Please, please leave.”
Dean pulled her into a tight hug. Erica swallowed down the gasp of pain, but couldn’t do anything to hold in the heart broken sob.
Walking away from their sister was the hardest thing Sam and Dean ever had to do. Especially knowing they would never see her alive again.
Dean was the last one to vanish from Erica’s sight, as the growling at the door got louder. The hounds obviously realising that the doors were open.
As the doors and the windows smashed open, Erica released another sob and found breathing near impossible. Black spots were starting to appear in her vision. But she had to hold on. Just a few more seconds. Just to give the others time.
The sudden breeze from the doors and windows blew the remaining salt that hadn’t been kicked away, taking Erica’s last line of defence as she became aware of growling and claws again the floor tiles.
The indescribable pain that she had been feeling was fading. Leaving her cold and numb. And so, very tired. She just wanted to close her eyes and be at peace. She had one last job to do. To protect Sam and Dean. To protect her family.
A growl sounded right beside her. She could feel the hot breath of the hound hitting the side of her face. He could smell its rank breath.
And she could feel herself slipping away. Grasping the button tightly, or as tightly as she could with her fast fading strength. But she wasn’t scared anymore. With the last of her breath, she forced out her final words.
“Kiss the darkest part of my sweet ass, you ugly motherfucker.”
She pushed the Button and everything erupted in a white hot flame.
Dean, Sam, Ellen and Jo had just made it to a safe distance away from the hardware store when the explosion happened.
Jo released a broken cry as Ellen pulled her into her side. Sam and Dean looked at the flames, feeling as if their hearts were in them. And technically, it was. But they couldn’t mourn. Not right now. They had to shoot the Devil in the face. Then they could mourn for their sister.
Another family member they were forced to lose.