Where I Belong// SPNxTVD

Chapter Thirteen

Alex swallowed. It was discomforting how he seemed to see past some of the walls she had carefully constructed. She'd be lying if she said she didn't sometimes wonder if Lucifer would make an appearance. More than once she'd moved on to the next town from the irrational fear that the devil would come back to collect from her.

Damon moved his hand from her back to around her shoulder, pulling her in closer to him, reminding her that she wasn't alone. "You know, I don't think I like your tone. I think maybe you two should leave." His voice held a venom that would send a chill down anyone's spine. A fact proven by the way both Winchesters' face turned more serious and their feet quietly adjusted to place them in that infamous hunter's stance.

Alex scrubbed a hand over her face. Where were they supposed to leave to? She had no idea how they got here and no idea how to send them back. All of this was getting too confusing for her tired brain. "Why are you even here, Dean? What is it that you want?" Alex's hospitality for the Winchesters was spent. She didn't need to remind herself that they had drawn the line; they sent her away, not the other way around.

Sam, ever the peace keeper, spoke up first. "We want you to come home." Alex looked away from the sad puppy dog eyes Sam was giving her. She'd fallen for that trap more than once before. "We know after what happened, how things ended up, we don't have much of a right to say or do anything, but we are sorry, Alex. We crossed a line that never should've been crossed." He moved closer, bending over slightly to meet her eyes. Alex met his gaze before her eyes flitted to Dean's avoiding ones.

With a huff, Dean scanned the room, clearly doing his best to figure out a way to say what was on his mind. His shoulders sagged when his eyes scanned back around to Alex's. "Look," he paused for a moment before stepping forward to the counter. "Sam's right. We both crossed a line, a line that never should've even been drawn." He scrubbed a hand back and forth over his head, as if trying to expel his nervous energy. "And I'm sorry for the way I said some things just now. It's just ever since we got here, there's just so much to process, you know? There's just so much... everything! You're standing right here, we finally found you after months of trying to find you. But then Cas goes and tells us that it's been centuries not months for you. I mean, what the hell am I supposed to do with that info? How am I supposed to apologize for and make up two months worth of time let alone two hundred years? And then Rowena goes and drops the "Lucifer is the one that sent you here" bomb on us, with every other damn thing he's been doing? And it's like my brain is having a conniption-fit trying to gain some friggin' sense of control over something- anything." Dean's voice grew more tense with each word he spoke. Each word came out a little faster, a little more hopeless as his eyes began to shine with excess moisture. 

Alex held his gaze, her own eyes threatening to well up with their own tears. She'd never seen Dean this run down, this broken before. Her eyes scanned between the two brothers, observing them. Dean took a deep breath to calm himself, grabbing up his glass and downing the remaining liquid. Sam kept his head hung low, his eyes checking on his brother behind him as he leaned forward on his palms against the end of the counter.

Damon remained a silent observer beside her, taking the occasional sip from his glass. He gracefully and elegantly pulled off the protector image as he stood guard over the witch, allowing her to take the lead.

"That's not what you need." Sam's head lifted at Alex's stoic words. Dean remained standing, facing away from her, his gaze settled on the glass in his hand.

"What?" Sam asked.

"That's not why you're here. I might've been here for a couple hundred years, but I can still read you both like a book. What's going on, Sam? What do you guys really need?"

Sam gave her a look full of a mixture of sadness and exhaustion. "Alex, we mean it when we say we're sorry. For everything. And we do want you to come home."

Alex held up a hand silencing Sam as she turned her attention to the other brother. "Dean?"

Dean turned to face her with a pained smile. "I'd be lying if I said we didn't need you, Alex." He set the empty glass back on the table. "Everything is in chaos back home."

"There's always been chaos, Dean. Your family is the walking definition of chaos." Dean knew this. Which made Alex wonder how bad things had become in order to force the Winchester brothers to come find a witch on another world.

"Our." Sam's single spoken word was soft enough that Alex almost didn't catch it. She wasn't sure Dean had heard it. "What?" The witch asked, her brows scrunching together.

"Our family," He more confidently responded, his chin lifting slightly.

"I'm not your family, Sam. I never have been." Alex's whispered words came out softly. She felt the pressure from Damon's fingers increase against her back before he stepped closer, sliding his hand under the counter to grasp hers. Alex was grateful for the contact. She gave his hand light squeeze in gratitude, before he adjusted their hands to interlace his fingers with hers. She glanced up at him with a grateful smile; he returned his with a gentle nod of his head.

"This is a new level of chaos," Dean explained, unaware of the exchange of words that had just happened. "Rowena believes Lucifer purposefully sent you to another world." Alex scowled at this. "She thinks your power is what scared him into action. He needed to get rid of the threat of you. Once you disappeared, it was like all hell broke loose. Lucifer went on a friggin' play date with himself and started killing innocents just for the hell of it." Alex wanted to laugh at Dean's nonsensical word choice, but the grim meaning behind the words left her stomach churning. "It's like someone went funny with the crazy papers and turned it into reality. I mean, Lucifer is the friggin' president, his aide is carrying his nephilim, Sam and I just died in order to escape a high max security prison, the men of letters are back and insane as ever. It's friggin' chaos over there." 

Alex blinked as she tried to process everything Dean had just sprung on her. He was right. This was a new level of chaos. One thing that stood out to her was the fact that Rowena believed her to be something that Lucifer feared. She couldn't help the laugh that escaped her lips at that thought. She knew she'd hit some nerves with that so she quickly lifted her hands in surrender and explained herself. "I'm sorry. I know none of that is funny. But Lucifer? Scared of me? Really?"

"I'm sorry, are we talking about Lucifer, as in the devil himself Lucifer? Fallen angel from the bible, Lucifer?" Damon looked between the three of them as they nodded. "I think you're going to need more alcohol, sweetheart."