Hollowing Souls

Weekend at Bobby's

August 20th, 2011

The Winchesters swung by their motel and picked up their things before they started driving again. The sun was halfway above the horizon before Dean pulled off to the side of the dusty highway. "Break?"

Alex stirred, pulling herself out of her thoughts. "Sure. It'd be nice to stretch my wings." She saw the Winchesters exchanged looks, and suddenly remembered that it probably sounded strange to the humans. "And legs," she added quickly, throwing open the door. Her black wings stretched towards the sky, feathers trembling as she spread them even further.

Dean brushed past her, head momentarily passing through her wing, and Alex pulled them back at the strange sensation. Dean seemed to have felt it too, as he ran a quick hand through his hair. He stopped by the trunk and unlocked it. Alex circled around. "Whoa. It's packed!"

Dean was busy rearranging some of the weapons in the weapon's box. "Yeah, well, I didn't realize I had this much stuff in here."

Sam joined them. "Well, I need some space. Kind of picked up some stuff along the way."

"Yeah. Where have you been, anyways?" Alex tipped her head. "How long have you been back?"

Dean closed the false bottom, and Sam dropped his duffle bag inside. "A year."

"A year?" Alex narrowed her eyes in confusion. "Seriously?"

"What the hell is that?" Sam ignored her and reached into the back of the car. It was a mask, too small for either Winchester, and seemed to be a monster of some sort.

Dean smiled fondly. "Ben's halloween costume."

"Wendigo?"

"Yeah."

"Accurate."

Alex frowned. Her halloween had been spent cooped up with Balthazar. Her last eleven months had been spent cooped up with Balthazar. It was like time had stopped, and she has almost forgotten that life had continued on in the outside world. "Are they okay?"

"They're fine." Dean barely glanced at her, but Alex could sense the sadness in his tone. "Don't worry." He closed the trunk and joined Sam leaning against the car. He glanced at Alex, and she nodded, understanding that he wanted a moment alone with his brother. She slipped down the embankment they were parked by and stopped by the trickling creek.

"Hey, so, uh, . . . are you okay?" she heard Dean asked.

"Me?" Sam let out a small chuckle. "Yeah, I'm great."

"Really?" Dean sounded skeptical. "Cause there's been a few times that you got me wondering."

"Come again?"

"Well, like where were you when Cas, was, uh, giving the Holy Taser treatment to that kid?"

"I was right there." Sam sounded thoroughly confused.

"Really? Cause honestly, I felt like I was the only one raising a car."

Uh, I mean, I was with you but . . . I don't know. W-we needed the intel."

"Yea, I know, but we tortured that kid to get it."

Alex narrowed her eyes in confusion. Neither Winchester had told her what they had been working when they found her, but by what she knew, it sounded like something angelic. Plague-like, almost.

Dean continued. "I just didn't get the feeling that you — that you even cared."

"Y-you're wrong."

Liar. The words flashed through Alex's mind, and she furled her wings down around her in confusion. "He doesn't have a soul," she murmured in realization. Right. That's why his eyes were so dark and so dull. It had to be because his soul was gone. Souls were always so bright. The eyes are the window to the soul, after all.