Love, Catriona » Sam Winchester

TWO: The Intervention.

T W O
"The Intervention!"

"I still don't understand." Catriona began, her features twisted into a confusion that had begun to irritate Rowena. She was perched on a lumpy couch that had already been in the building when Rowena had arrived and was now wearing one of her many extravagant dresses. Only, what would have looked extravagant on the witch looked more like a shapeless cut-out of brightly coloured sequins on Catriona; the woman was considerably taller and thinner than Rowena, and the dress stopped above her knees, making it an awkward length for the newly resurrected woman. She kept tugging it down self-consciously; there had been none of these dresses when she was alive, and she had opted to wear Rowena's coat over the top as well. "Why me?"

"Oh, dear," Rowena sighed deeply, rolling her eyes. She placed a perfectly manicured hand on Catriona's shoulder. "Don't you get it? You're going to help me get back at my bastard son, Crowley."

The older woman all but spat her son's name, scrunching her featured into disgust. Catriona couldn't understand why. "And this Crowley you speak of... he is actually Fergus? My Fergus?"

Rowena let out a hearty laugh, shaking her head. Her curls bounced. "Oh, heavens no, dear. You see, Fergus MacLeod died centuries ago. What we have today is Crowley, the–"

"–King of Hell." Catriona finished in a mumble, still struggling to wrap her mind around it. The Fergus she knew had been a humble, talented tailor. She used to marvel as how detailed his creations were; he was by far the most talented in all of their village. All of her clothes had been made by him, for her, with love. Nothing like the scratchy dress she was currently wearing.

"Exactly. He's nothing but a nuisance is a suit. A shitty one, at that."

Catriona sighed and pressed her fingers against her temples, beginning to rub them. A headache had set it and she could tell it was going to be a bad one. "Excuse me for my boldness, but who are you exactly? Fergus – Crowley – only ever told me that you tried to sell him for three pigs."

Rowena harrumphed. Of course that was what he'd tell her. "That deal was terrible, mind you, but yes. I'm Rowena, Fergus' mother, unfortunately. Shortly after I gave birth to him, I was accused of witchcraft and so I had to flee Scotland. We... re-connected, you could say, a few years ago but so far it's been nothing but a pain in my ass."

"But... you are a witch." Catriona countered naïvely.

"Yes," Rowena smiled complacently. "How does it feel, to have a witch for a mother-in-law and a demon for a husband?"

She laughed as though she had just told a hilarious joke.

Catriona's head tilted towards her lap as she fiddled with her slender fingers, her lips pushed into a sad pout. She didn't know what to do, or think. How was she supposed to react upon learning that her family were of supernatural origins, and that the woman before her planned to use her against her husband in some stupid, petulant desire to cause him nothing but emotional harm? She decided, in that moment, that the pain she was feeling in her heart was nothing compared to what she had felt whilst dying. Rowena sighed and placed her hands over Catriona's, squeezing them softly. It was then that Catriona's eyes trained in on the small, plain ring on her finger. It was hers, no doubt about it, and she turned her hands over to grasp the witch's.

"That's mine." Catriona said, her voice growing icy. "Why are you wearing my wedding ring?"

Rowena let out a sharp breath as she quickly withdrew her hands and hid them in her lap. Catriona watched her do so, her eyes narrowed in suspicion. Rowena let out a breathy laugh. "You see, this ring is what I used to bound your spirit. It's the thing keeping you alive and here and not, well, dead."

"It belongs to me."

Catriona reached out to grab the woman's hand, but Rowena shot up from her spot and backed away, her features twisting into mild shock. She hadn't expected Catriona to be so feisty. Catriona stood up suddenly, too, and with a determined expression, began to stride towards Rowena. She had almost reached her when Rowena flung out a hand and Catriona was picked up off her feet and strewn across the room. She let out a startled shriek as she flew through the air and then a pained grunt as her back hit the wall and she fell to the floor. Her eyes fluttered closed as the oxygen was pushed out of her and she rolled onto her back, gasping for breath. A small cut lined her forehead and was beginning to smudge the skin around it red with blood.

Rowena tutted, crossing her arms as she slowly crossed the room. "Oh no, dear. Not only did this ring bind your spirit, but it also binds you to–"

Her words were cut off abruptly as a door across the room swung open with such force the wood shook and splintered as it hit the wall behind it. Rowena's features twisted into horror and then anger as two tall men burst in, a gun in each of their hands. The slightly taller man with longer hair spotted Catriona lying on the floor and a surprised expression crossed his otherwise attractive features; the woman was stunning, by far the most beautiful person he had ever seen. The shorter brother didn't seem to notice her as he was too busy glaring angrily at Rowena as she backed across the room.

"Winchesters." She spat with as much disgust as she had said her son's name. "What are you doing here?"

"You pretty much invited us when you summoned that giant bolt of lightning." The shorter brother grunted, both guns raised at her. "Stupid move on your part."

Rowena harrumphed and recomposed herself. She eyed them arrogantly. "You can't kill me."

"Oh, but we can." The taller brother retorted, smiling flatly at her.

"Witch killing bullets." The shorter brother jostled his gun almost gleefully. Rowena glared at them poisonously. Catriona watched the whole ordeal with slightly hooded eyes. Pain throbbed through her back and spread into her neck. Shakily, she pulled herself into a sitting position with her legs pressed together beside her.

There were a few moments of silence before Rowena made a brash move to fling her wrist at the men, just as she had done to Catriona, but before she could a gunshot sounded through the air. Catriona flinched reflexively and Rowena let out a startled scream as she fell to the floor, her hand coming to clutch her bleeding knee.

"You shot me!" She hissed fervently, her eyes radiating hatred. "You're going to regret that, Dean Winchester."

Dean Winchester – the shorter man – strode across the room quickly and delivered a blow to Rowena's head that made Catriona's skin break out in goose bumps. Rowena let out a gurgle as she fell unconscious and went limp on the floor, her bright hair fanning out around her dramatically.

"Dean," the taller man began and Dean turned to look at him, spotting Catriona as he did so. His eyes widened and he quickly raised his guns at her. Catriona let out a startled whimper as she raised both her hands quickly in surrender. "No, stop!"

"Why, Sam?" Dean ground out, casting a questioning look at his brother.

Sam gestured to Catriona, whose eyes had begun to glisten with tears. It was just all too much. "I don't think she's dangerous... I think she's a prisoner."