Purgatory Line

"northern downpour sends its love; hey moon, please forget to fall down."

"northern downpour sends its love; hey moon, please forget to fall down." - northern downpour - panic! at the disco

content warnings: mention of death, described death, descriptions of physical/mental/emotional abuse, mentions of parental death, slight warped reality

Jude slept in a limbo state. It was the best and worst sleep she had ever gotten. She was plagued by nightmares that she couldn't remember and dreams that left her waking up with hot tears on her face. The final time Jude woke up was with cortisol pushing her to her feet, her brain barely registering that the terrified, raw screaming she was hearing was her brother, Lear, from the other room.

She didn't care she was only in flannel pants and a tank top, or that her ponytail was hanging loose at her neck. Jude flew from her room and down the halls of the bunker, heart hammering faster than her feet slapped against the floor. She found Lear screaming at Sam in the library, books swirling wildly around them. Both were crying, but Sam's tears were probably from an injury from the flying books rather than mind-numbing terror.

Dean reached the door at the same time that Jude did except he stopped short, eyes wide as his breath caught in his throat. Jude threw herself into the middle of the room, calling Lear's name in a panicked voice. If that was the first time he'd made something happen, he'd be scared. He'd be terrified because of that pull deep in his chest, the way his head would be spinning. Jude called his name again and realized that it probably didn't help that Sam towered over Jude and Dean. Of course Lear would be scared. The man was a giant compared to the boy.

The first book to hit Jude as she shuffled closer to her brother nearly knocked her out, and the second hit her in the neck and left her gasping for air. She clutched at the bruises on her skin and cleared her throat to speak. "Lear, stop!" When he didn't stop, didn't even look at her, she mustered up a scream and threw her hands out to the side. Like an underused muscle her abilities flexed, but still worked. The books stopped swirling and hung in the air like they were tied to fishing line and attached to the ceiling. They swayed, but only gently. Jude called his name again through gritted teeth, her face tight as she focused on not wreaking mayhem, but Lear still wasn't responding. He wasn't breathing either. Jude dropped her arms, not even flinching when all of the books crashed to the ground.

She took a step forward and her only thought to get to Lear as fast as she could. It consumed her very being, making her feel dizzy and light. As Jude stepped forward her foot seemingly slipped through the floor and all at once it felt like Jude was falling. She didn't have time to scream because then there was a sharp and painful tug from her back, between her shoulder blades. It jerked her whole body upward, and then her feet hit solid ground once more.

Jude found herself behind Lear, falling forward. She wrapped him in her arms, and fell to her knees.. Jude gasped, her knees smarting as Lear struggled against her. "Lear, stop! Moonbeam, it's me. It's Jude, it's Sunny! It's Sunshine!" She turned him in her arms, and then he finally processed that it was her. "It's okay, you can calm down. I'm right here. It's all gonna be okay."

"Sunny," His lip wobbled as he gazed up at her with watery, "Sunny, I feel weird. I'm scared, I don't know who these people are."

Jude nodded, smoothing his sweaty hair back as she tried to smile at him. "Sh, it's okay. I know, I'm gonna show you how to not feel weird, okay? Mom did that for me, and I'm gonna do it for you. But you don't have to be afraid of these men, okay? They're not like Desmond." Lear curled further into her chest, looking back at Sam. He was backed against a table, hand held against a swollen eye that would surely bruise. "That's Sam. He's super tall, but super cool. He's my Uncle." She turned Lear to face Dean, who was still standing unsure in the doorway, chest heaving. She pointed at him, hugging Lear to her chest. "That's Dean. He's also really cool, and he drives a super cool car. I bet you would really like it. He's my Dad."