Karma Bites [Supernatural]

Part 3: Cedar Ledge, PA

Cedar Ledge, PA

"Well, let's never do that again," Dean quipped as he opened the door to their new motel room and moved to let Sam, who was carrying a still-resisting Karma, enter first.

"Would be easier to just let me go, boys," she chirped from her place on Sam's shoulder.

Sam dropped Karma on the closest bed in an unfriendly manner befitting his unfriendly thoughts. "No, really?" he asked, sarcasm dripping from each syllable.

"Not my fault you're the first guy in history to spend eight hours in the backseat of a car with me and come out unsatisfied."

Unlocking his cuff, he held it out to Dean, not caring that he practically pulled her off the bed as he pulled her arm along with it. "You want to wear the leash for a while?"

Karma snorted. "Brilliant idea. Aren't you supposed to be the smart one, Sammy?"

Dean set down the bag of food in his hand on the small table by the door and slid their bags off his shoulder and onto the floor. "The pain in the ass is right, Sam. She could create more than enough chaos to slip out if she touches me. And she might just be mad enough right now to think taking my soul sounds like reasonable payback."

Neither Winchester thought it was possible, but her demeanor got even less friendly. "Thanks for thinking so highly of me, Dean."

Sam looked around, saw the slatted headboard behind Karma, and locked the cuff onto it. Problem temporarily solved, he thought, grabbing the bag of food and passing out the burgers they'd picked up on the road. He rubbed his chafed wrist as he sat down at the table to eat. "You said you'd taken four souls. What's a fifth?" Her hand moved so fast he barely registered the pillow coming at him before it smacked into his face. "Dammit, Karma..." The look on her face stopped him dead.

Both boys stared in surprise at the tears in her eyes. "You have no idea--NO IDEA--what that was like for me. You think you've got baggage..." She shifted her gaze to the floor as she hugged her knees to her chest with her free arm. Despite their difference in sizes, this was the first time she'd actually looked small to either brother.

Dean carried his burger to the other bed and sat down, facing her. "Why don't you give us an idea, huh?"

Karma briefly met his eyes, saw sincerity and concern there, and took a deep breath. "This will probably come as a surprise, but I've been married before."

Eyebrows raised, Dean asked, "Married?"

"Twice."

A flash of comprehension softened Sam's brown eyes. "The souls you took by mistake."

She nodded, looking back at the floor. "This was all way back--more than five hundred years ago. They were both so sweet, gentle, vibrant. They adored me, and I loved them. Seamus was the first; before him, I'd been sticking to one-night stands and moving around a lot to avoid being branded a harlot. But then I met him, and something inside me wanted to stay. Given the era, rules of propriety, all that, he and I waited for marriage. Our first time was wonderful, but..." she trailed off.

Sam and Dean exchanged looks. "Go on," Sam said tentatively.

"The next time, his whole body went rigid and he started screaming. A white light flowed out of him and into me. Didn't have to be a genius to figure out what it was--the power it gave me was exhilarating. After it was done, he was an empty shell. His heart was beating, he was walking, talking, but Seamus was gone. I panicked and fled.

"Almost a century later, when I found Malcolm, I truly believed it would be different. I thought that before maybe it had been too soon since I'd left Fae, or that I just hadn't loved Seamus enough. I just knew Malcolm would be safe." She closed her eyes and continued in little more than a whisper, "I was wrong." A tear slid down her cheek.