(1) The Devil's Hybrid (D. Winchester)

Chapter Twenty Seven

Erika sniffles kneeling in front of the pyre ahead of her, Pamela's body resting on the top. She's been trying to light it all day, just can't bring herself to do it, to finally say goodbye to her friend. She bites her lips and looks down as she starts to cry again. Dean touches her shoulder and she jerks her head up. He looks to her sadly, kneeling at her side, she really starts to cry, lip trembling, he hugs her pulling her head to his chest. She clutches to his shirt.

"Thank you" she whispers. "For coming back" Dean kisses her head. "I'm sorry I growled at you" she whispers.

"It's okay," he tells her standing pulling her with him, Sam moves to her other side and touches her arm. "You ready?" Dean asks her, Erika shakes her head.

"Not even remotely" she admits and takes a breath. "But I have to" she adds, then stares at the pyre, Dean threads his fingers with hers and she closes her eyes before opening them, the iris glows slightly blue before the pyre erupts into flames. Dean pulls her closer and wraps his arm around her waist, she turns and sets her head on his shoulder. "I need a drink" she mumbles and then walks away.

...................

Erika sits in Pamela's living room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a photo of the two of them in the other, Dean sets a load of empty boxes on the side and then moves to her. He touches her shoulder and she looks to him.

"Give me a minute" she whispers, he nods and looks to Sam who grabs an empty box.

"I'll do the kitchen," Sam tells them and then leaves, Dean takes a box too and heads into the next room, Erika takes a breath before standing, she should sort through her friend's things, she is the only family Pamela had, so it has to be her.

.....................

Dean finds a box marked with Erika's name and looks to her.

"Erika" he whispers, she looks to him and then moves to his side, she peers into the box, filled with little things from over the years, photos, trinkets, she smiles sadly and lifts out a photo of her and Pamela in the 90s during the Pump Tour, they're stood with the band Aerosmith. "Is that you and Pamela with...Aerosmith?" Dean asks, Erika nods.

"Yeah, Pam didn't believe I could get us backstage...I one-upped her and got us onto the tour bus...." she looks to Dean. "She slept with Tom Hamilton that night" Dean chuckles and takes the photo. Erika looks back in the box and takes out two stamped movie tickets for Scream.

"You were friends for years" Dean whispers noting the number of things in the box.

"I first met Pam when she was 17" Erika answers holding up a photo of her and Pamela at the beach, Pamela is only 18 or 19. "She was getting hit on and she hated it" Erika looks to Dean and smirks. "So I walked up to her and kissed her" Dean smiles. "The bloke was too shocked to even question it" Erika chuckles. "She knew," Erika tells him. "Straight away what I was, and she told me she didn't care" Erika looks down as she starts to cry again. "She told me she could see good in me" she brushes away the tears. "We spent the next 5 years hopping from tour bus to tour bus.....I'd never had a human friend before" she admits. "I can't imagine the person I would be.....if I had never met her" Dean takes her arm and sits her down in a chair, Erika hangs her head to cry. Dean crouches at her side and squeezes her knee.

"We don't have to do this today," he tells her. "We can come back and go through her things another time"

"I want to do it" Erika whispers.

"Hey" Sam states walking into the room, he holds up an envelope. "I found this" he holds it out to Erika who looks up at Sam and then to the envelope, she takes it from him and touches the writing on the front. Rikki. She turns it over and opens it up. Dean kisses her cheek.

"We'll give you some space," he tells her giving Sam a look, Sam nods and leaves the room, Erika grabs Dean's wrist, he looks to her.

"Thank you," she tells him, means more than this moment and he knows it, he gives her a small smile and kisses the back of her hand before leaving. Erika takes a breath and then pulls the letter out of the envelope. Erika reads through it, Pamela must have been writing it for years, the way the human talks about their time together, their friendship, how grateful she was. And then the more recent writing, of what Pamela felt around Erika and Dean. He's her humanity, her anchor, how he gives her strength and how with him she could be so much more than just a monster. And finally, she writes that she should be careful, that if Lucifer rises he won't stop till he has her back and that the people she cares about could get hurt. Erika sniffles and stands to pace with the letter. And finally, finally, Pamela tells her she loves her and that's she glad she met her. Erika smiles and nods folding it away again.