Hallowed (B. Barnes)

Chapter Forty-Four

Dean is driving the impala along a dark road. Mary sits in the passenger and behind them, Sydney is in the back seat, pressed against the door as she watches the landscape pass them by. It's still awkward between the three of them, and that's without Sam, who Sydney knows is going to freak out as much as them, but it's going to be worse for Sam. He has no memories of her. He was a baby when she died. It's going to be so much weirder for him.

"I can't believe I let you talk me into this" Dean complains giving Mary a look.

"I'm your mother. You have to do what I say. Look. They targeted the bunker. They obviously know a lot about you both and Sam. They'll be expecting you. I'm the last person they'd expect" Mary comments.

"You were good at this, weren't you?" Dean asks her softly. Mary hums and nods.

"Very. The thing is, Hunters... no matter how good they are, they all end up the same way" Mary admits, Dean nods a little and looks out at the road, worrying his hands around the steering wheel.

"You know when you died, it changed Dad. I mean, he was Hell-bent on finding out what happened. The Hunter life, it just took him over. I guess I was the same. But Sammy – Sammy, he was different. He wanted out. He went to school. He went to Stanford"

"Sam had a chance to get out? And he came back?" Mary inquires.

"When Dad disappeared, Sam and I looked around, and something became very clear. That the only thing we had in this world – the only thing, aside from this car – was each other" Dean admits. Sydney looks down at her lap, she knows he's not saying what he's said to hurt her, but it still does. She know she abandoned her brothers. But also knows she had to.

"You and Sam?" Mary asks and then looks at Sydney. "Not you?"

"Oh, I wasn't with them at that point" Sydney comments and shares a look with Dean. Mary looks between them. Sensing something else here.

"Syd?" Mary asks her, Sydney sighs a little and looks away.

"I'd left, years before..." Sydney adds and draws her finger over the door of the car, wanting to flee, she doesn't want to have this conversation with her mother.

"Dad and Syd....they didn't get along" Dean offers, trying to be tactful here. Sydney didn't say anything to Mary because John was the love of her life, and to her, it was days ago that he was the loving and doting father. Sydney rolls her eyes a little. Get along implies that their personalities clashed, but instead their moralities did. She wasn't happy murdering her own child for him. She then shifts forward and taps Dean on the shoulder, he tilts his head a little to assure her that he's listening.

"If this place is legally rented....we may have a slight problem" She offers, he hums in question. "I won't be able to get in" He sighs and nods, realising she's right. "I have to be invited in, them's the rules"

"Yeah" He agrees. "I know" He adds and Mary glances at her daughter, trying to guess what could have been the issue between her daughter and her husband. John was a good father before...Mary seems to then understand that her death changed everything, with all of them. But she can also see that whatever it was that went down with John, has scarred her daughter, there is a look in her eyes that shows how pained and damaged she is from it.

...........

After saving Sam from the British Men of Letters, which rials Sydney right up, she can't believe she is dealing with these people again. And it makes her leg ache. That scar. She's not happy about it but she keeps it to herself. Silently brooding over it. It's her history. Her story. Her past. She doesn't want to talk about it. She just can't believe that this is coming around again. She thought she was free of them. She's sat back at the bunker with her family. Sam and Dean around the table, a bucket of chicken finished in the centre.

"Oh, that was fantastic" Dean comments as he leans back in his seat. He looks at Mary as she walks into the room, carrying a pie. "Thank you, Mom" Mary chuckles.

"All I did was point at some stuff on a take-out menu. I would've cooked, but I, uh...don't"

"Well, now, wait. Your meatloaf was amazing" Dean points out.

"Came from the Piggly Wiggly. Sorry to burst your bubble" Mary corrects him then taps Dean on the arm as she sets the box down. "But do you still like pie?" Dean chuckles as Sam smirks.

"I mean..." Dean smiles and grabs the pie.

"Sam. You keep looking at me like I'm going to explode" Mary points out.

"I'm sorry" Sam offers, it is weirder for him, this is the first time he's actually seeing her and will remember it. Dean is happy as he dishes out a plate of pie for himself.

"Oh" Dean mumbles to himself.

"But what do we think? Are we buying that Brit's whole "Let's be friends" routine?" Mary asks them.

"No. No way" Sam admits.

"No" Dean agrees. Mary looks at Sydney who pokes at the food on her plate, not interested in eating. Her eyes are on her laptop.

"You have history with them" Mary points out, Sydney hums and nods.

"I do" She answers and leans back in her seat. "After I left the states, years ago, they urm...basically kidnapped and tortured me, tried to brainwash me....so yeah, they're not good people" She rubs her leg and shrugs a little.

"They did that?" Sam asks, pointing at where her tattoo-covered scar is.

"Not directly....I impaled myself during my escape..." She pulls a face. "This was before I gained my magical healing ability" She teases a little and then goes back to her laptop. Dean glances at her screen.

"Really?" He asks seeing yet another Avengers search.

"Not all of us are lucky enough that our boyfriends can teleport" She comments. "Or you know, are currently in our lives"

"Boyfriends?" Mary asks and turns her look on Dean who pulls a face and looks away.

"Me and...Cas" Dean answers, Mary smirks a little. "We're...together" He admits.

"Ad you....Syd?" Mary asks her. "What about you?"

"Urm...no, not right now, but...." Sydney shrugs slightly.

"She was dating a Soviet assassin" Dean answers, Sydney kicks him under the table. "He had to go on the run because the government caught up with him"

"Dean" Sydney scolds with a look. Sam smirks a little watching them bicker.