【Ａｓｈｅｓ Ｔｏ Ａｓｈｅｓ】

-𝕋𝕠 𝔹𝕚𝕟𝕕 𝔻𝕖𝕒𝕥𝕙-

The basement they all stood within was filled with the nearly overwhelming scent of mildew, concrete walls and cracked floors barely illuminated by the pale yellow glow of the swaying lamp overhead. Just a few feet away lay a pentagram drawn by clean strokes of scarlet paint, the haunting shadows cast by a setting sun through shattered windows creating a spotlight of darkness upon the pointed star. With furniture shoved to the sides of the room, the ground before them an empty stage for a performance (y/n) was anxious to see, Bobby steps forward until he's ghosting the edge of the wine-colored circle.

"(y/n)?" his voice, a low grumble when it leaves his lips, calls out to the phoenix suddenly. Understanding this as her cue to join his side, hands grasped tightly around the golden mortar he had given her just before they all made their descent into the basement, (y/n) hums in response and strides forward until she too is standing at the edge of the pentagram. She holds out the bowl in his direction, silently watching his every move as he begins to fill it with a handful of strange-looking items and powders that he yanks out of various pockets on his coat. It was strange, really, how methodically he performed this task and how he managed to still his shaking hands long enough to achieve a goal despite his age. (y/n) supposes that was one of the things she admired most about the senior hunter during her week living alongside him.

"Alright, (y/n)-" Bobby sighs out, the woman pulled from her thoughts in time to see him nod towards the miscellaneous assortment of items now held near her chest, "Light 'er up."

Her body responds almost immediately when he says these words, the feathered flesh beneath her skin igniting until her form is consumed by the heat now radiating off of her. The men that surround the phoenix watch with intense curiosity at the way her (e/c) eyes shift beneath the light overhead, a faint tangerine hue overtaking her irises until the glow illuminates the warm skin of her face. Parting her lips, pausing momentarily to take in a slow inhale of air, the woman blows out a shower of golden sparks into the metal vessel held between her palms. Immediately, the handful of items burst into flames, the brilliant orange blaze burning with a high-pitched hiss that fills the near-silent room.

"Is that it-?" Dean can barely finish his sentence before the burning bowl (y/n) holds erupts into a blinding flash of ivory flares and smoke. Startled by the sudden explosion of heat that rivaled her own, dropping the gold mortar in a panic, the phoenix is quick to leap back from the fog that has consumed the room. With Sam, Dean, and Bobby by her side now, they all cautiously peer through the thick black cloud before them and wait patiently for it to dissipate. Luckily, it isn't long until their vision clears and their red-painted stage is revealed to them again. Only now, there's a man that occupies the once-empty space. A man who was short in stature and wore a suit as black as tar.

"What-?" (y/n) hears the man mumbling to himself, watching curiously as he begins to turn on his heels to face them. Holding a glass of liquor in one hand and a half-read novel in the other, the bearded man lets his narrow-eyed gaze fall upon the group in front of him. Glancing down for a moment to take in the circle of paint that trapped him, his dark brows furrowed in frustration.

"Come on!" He shouts out in anger, his eyes as dark as the shell of a Hercules beetle as he scans the small space he stands in. His voice is deep and gravelly, the trace of a British accent punctuating his every word.

"Don't act so surprised" Bobby grumbles out, the man's expression quickly turning sour at the sound of the oldest hunter.

"My new boss is going to kill me for even talking to you lot"

"You're lucky we're not stabbing you in your scuzzy face, you little piece of-" Dean's anger is quickly interrupted by his brother who stood beside him, Sam's bandaged hand thrusting forward to catch the sleeve of Dean's flannel the moment he sees him lunge forward.