Demons, Demigods and Hunters (Percy Jackson/Supernatural)

Chapter 80

Anna

"How is he?" Anna asked quietly. She was pouring salt along all the entry points to the abandoned cabin. She'd sent Nico back to camp with a hand written report for Chiron on the situation. She had a bad feeling that the rescue had been too easy. She didn't want her fratellino anywhere near this mess, especially now that she was there to help.

She was going to protect Nico as best she could, at least until she couldn't keep him safe anymore. She had him take her bike so it wouldn't look suspicious for him to vanish in the middle of nowhere with no wheels.

"He just needs a little rest, that's all." Dean grunted, cleaning his hands from his father's blood.

"Sam?" Anna turned towards her first mortal friend.

"I'll survive." He answered shortly.

"You don't really think they followed us out here do you?" Sam asked, turning around. Anna shrugged.

"Being paranoid kept me alive all these years." She answered noncommittally. Dean took a different track.

"I don't think so. We couldn't have found a more out of the way place to hole up." He reassured his younger brother.

"Yeah." Sam breathed. Anna left the room quietly as Sam started to thank his brother about saving his life. It wasn't her place to listen to that conversation. Nor did she want to. It only reminded her of other people... people who had done the same for her but she couldn't return the favor. Or worse, had lied to or betrayed people who had saved her, all in the name of the greater good. The only reason she believed she had a shot at Elysian was because she had fought for the gods in both wars. Otherwise, she was screwed. She blinked hard as she took a small lap around the cabin, checking the salt lines they had made. Not that it would do much good against anything but the stupider spirits and demons from the supernatural side of her insane world, but it was something. When she had circled back to the front room, Dean was looking down.

"Hey Sam. You know that guy I shot? There was a person in there."

"You didn't have a choice Dean." Sam reassured his brother. Dean slowly shook his head. Anna slowly lowered herself into the seat next the Dean, making sure she was in his line of vision. He didn't object to her being there, so Anna stayed.

"I know, that's not what bothers me." Dean said, almost tonelessly.

"Then what does?" Anna asked gently. Sam turned back towards his brother, looking concerned.

"Killing that guy, killing Meg. I didn't hesitate. I didn't even flinch. For you or dad, the things I'm willing to do... what I'm willing to kill..." Dean trailed off, shaking his head. Anna knelt down on the floor in front of him.

"Dean look at me." Anna ordered gently. He moved his head a half an inch, barely meeting her eyes. 'What you did, what you had to do? It's ok that you didn't flinch. Family is important." Dean shook his head.

"I know, it just. It scares me sometimes." Anna took a shaky breath.

"I'm going to tell you something. Something about me, ok?" Dean nodded slowly. 'It's part of why I retired.' Anna took a long breath. Her mind churned as she quickly edited what had been a disastrous quest to bring a new camper in. Something that could sound like a hunt.

"A few years ago, Nico, me and a few others were tracking this monster. Whatever it was, wherever it went, destruction followed. I mean natural disaster level destruction. We spent weeks tracking it. But when we finally caught up to it, it wasn't a monster at all. It was a little girl. She couldn't have been more than six years old. Telekinetic. Mega powerful kid. But she couldn't handle the power, and it drove her insane. Those storms, they were temper tantrums, the earthquakes were when she was upset, the destruction of human life and property were all the courtesy of her insane mood swings." Anna stopped for a moment, looking down at the ground trying to gather herself.

"Nico and I were running point, and we were completely unprepared, had no idea what we were walking into. When we tracked her to this old barn, we went in, just the two of us. It was practically falling down around our ears. She was sitting in the middle of the barn, playing with some dolls. Having a tea party. And when Nico and I walked in, she turned around and asked in this sweet little voice, 'Will you come play dollies with us?'" Anna refused to let her voice shake, even as she remembered in sickening clarity that horrible day. She could almost hear the little girl's voice echoing in her head.

"I walked up to her and sat down. I put my sword away. I played dollies with a six year old, hoping that maybe she could be reformed, or helped somehow. She was just so young." Anna's voice shook and she swallowed hard. Sam sat down next to Dean, his large hand reaching for her shoulder.

"And that's when I heard Nico scream. When I turned back around, my sword was buried to the hilt in his shoulder. Pinned him to the wall. She asked me to play with her dollies some more. But these dollies were people. Bodies. Victims. And Nico was just added to the collection." She lifted her shirt, showing them both a few of the scars many that covered her body. She traced her hand across seven of them, parallel to each other, running across her lower belly.

"Each line is for a 'dolly' I released. Even if they were dead, I let them down. She threw me through the walls of the barn just to bring yank me back. She made splinters crawl under my skin, just so they could 'dance in pretty patterns,' she would tell me. She posed me with her dolls, forced my body to play her games. And when it was time to go to bed, she chained me to the wall with a heavy iron collar. She curled up right next to me.' Anna patted a phantom child's head, right next to her heart. 'Then in the middle of the night, I pulled out a knife from my boot and I put it through her heart." Anna stopped talking abruptly. She took another deep breath. Tears pricked her eyes but she refused to let them fall. Anna had sworn to herself afterwards, that she would not cry over that little girl. No more than she already had. Anna had staggered out of the barn with dry eyes. She would not break now.

"Nico almost died that day. He almost lost his arm. I almost died. And it was all because I hesitated in that first minute. As soon as everything healed up I applied to the furthest school from the east coast in the lower 48' as I could get and left for Stanford two weeks later.' Anna peered into Dean's bright green eyes.

"So don't you ever apologize for protecting your family.' She said harshly.

"For not hesitating. We are at war. Those demons, those people. They're an unfortunate casualty of fighting the battles we fight. As soldiers the price we pay for beating back the darkness is to live with those ghosts every day. But don't ever hesitate. Because thats when the body count gets a little higher on our side instead of theirs. Hesitation has consequences. Always." Anna stood up and walked towards a window, looking for a little air. She hadn't told that story is a long time, and now she was struggling to get her emotions under wraps. She saw Dean walk closer to her, his reflection getting closer and closer.

"Thank you. For telling us." Dean said quietly. Anna didn't say anything, keeping her eyes trained outside.

Unfamiliar footsteps came into the room.

John was up.