![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
blue_icy_roseTitle: Life With Death
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,748
Spoilers/Warnings: All seasons for SPN and Buffy. Though it goes AU during the finale of SPN.
Summary: Sam managed to find a way to save Dean. Of course, Dean never expected this.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. They belong to Joss Whedon and Eric Kripke.
Note: This...I don't even know. I got the idea and that was all there was to it. It wouldn't go away until it'd been written. *eyes muse* Bastard. Anyway! I don't expect this one to be too long but no guarantees. Who knows with me, right? Written for![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
tamingthemuse (prompt: temptation).
Dean groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around. He frowned as he took in the room that he was in, making note of where the door and windows were. Slowly, he sat up and stood, heading towards the window. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the sea crashing against rocks below cliffs.
“Huh,” he muttered. “Not what I was expecting hell to look like.”
“And who said you were in hell, Dean Winchester?”
Dean spun around, his hand automatically going to the place where he normally kept his gun. His eyes narrowed as the man smiled in a way that seemed entirely too knowing.
“How did I get here?” He turned even more fully. “And where exactly is here?”
The man leaned against the doorway. “Your brother managed to save you from hell without breaking the deal.”
Dean grinned at that. Trust Sammy to figure out a way around the deal.
In response to his smile, the man held up a hand. “He didn’t, however, save you from dying.”
He sucked in a breath and knew that the man had seen the shock on his face before he managed to hide it. Letting out his breath slowly, he smoothed out his expression and asked the most important question. “Is Sam here?”
“No. Sam won’t be here for quite some time if he’s lucky.”
At that, Dean couldn’t stop the relief from showing. Sam wasn’t here so Sam was alive. He’d managed to keep him safe at least.
Straightening, Dean crossed his arms over his chest. “And just where the hell is here?”
“The After,” was all that was said. Off of Dean’s look, the man smiled. “It’s merely a resting place, Dean.”
“Great. Now who are you?”
The man’s smile widened, brushing his dark blond hair out of his eyes. “I am Lord Death.”
~*~*~
Dean stared at Lord Death and wondered if he’d been lied to. Maybe he was in hell and he had gone insane.
It could happen.
“Let me get this straight,” he said. “I’m dead and you decided that I’d be a good...what? Assistant? Successor? What?”
Lord Death grinned and sat back. “No, not successor. After all, I won’t die.”
He snorted. “I’d hope not.”
“Indeed.” Death smirked. “I’m looking for a partner.”
Dean held up a hand. “Whoa, dude, I hate to break it to you but I don’t swing that way.”
Lord Death burst out laughing, tilting back until he was looking up at the ceiling. “A business partner, Dean. Though if we happen to become friends, that would be a plus.” He shook his head as he calmed down. “I’d still be Lord Death. You, however, would also be known as Death.” His mouth tilted up in a half smile. “Minus the lord part of the title, of course.”
“Of course,” Dean muttered. He stared at Lord Death for a few moments. “Why me?” He gestured towards the other room, where he’d been able to see for himself just how many others there were here in the After. “You’ve obviously got a lot of apprentices already. Why am I the one becoming your partner? I’m the new guy around here.”
“The life you’ve led makes you the only one that has ever been qualified,” he said simply.
Dean blinked. “That’s it? Because I, what, hunted spirits and demons, I’m more qualified? Not...” He trailed off.
“Not someone like a serial killer?” Lord Death inclined his head. “They don’t kill for the reasons that you have. You sent spirits on, killed demons, and yes, even a human once. But you didn’t do it simply because. You did it to help people. And that’s what this is.”
“Killing people is helping them?”
“You end their suffering, Dean. If they’re so far gone that they can see me, and now you, then you’re really just helping them.”
“And for those people that can see you but they don’t want to die?”
The question seemed to please Lord Death. “I don’t take someone right away. If there’s a chance that they can be saved, I wait. I give them that chance. But if it is someone’s time, then it’s their time. It’s as simple as that.”
Dean took this in and thought about it. “Okay, I get that.” Tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair he sat on. “What are all the others here for? Do they help out?”
“In a manner of speaking. There are many worlds out there. I’m Lord Death over all of them. You’d be surprised at how tiring that can get. I need someone for each world. Someone else who can be Death.” He paused and waited until Dean had nodded. “You’d need some training, of course. Can’t just jump right in. But after that, you’d go back to Earth.” He stared at Dean intently. “Do you accept?”
He thought about it for a few minutes before looking up into Lord Death’s eyes and nodding. “Yes.”
Lord Death grinned. “Excellent.” He couldn’t wait until they reached the part of Dean’s training that went over the few people that would be able to see him.
It should prove interesting.
~*~*~
The girl’s name was Kennedy. Dean leaned back against the wall and stared down at her. There was a chance that she could be saved but it wasn’t looking too good at the moment.
He sighed. It’d only been one year in this world since he’d died but to him it’d been a hundred years. He’d trained for what had felt like decades when it had only been a few months. That didn’t make it any better when it was time to come for someone so young.
Kennedy coughed in her sleep and Dean looked at her a bit more closely. He had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before Kennedy became one of his.
His eyes moved to the door when a woman walked in. He looked her up and down before smirking in approval. “Nice,” he said.
She stiffened at the sound of his voice and spun towards him, automatically dropping into a fighting stance. “Who are you?”
Dean couldn’t stop the shock from showing on his face. He knew that there were some in this world that could see him. Lord Death had made that one very clear. But so far it had only been people and demons that were dying or vampires. He hadn’t met a mortal who could see him.
“Excuse me?”
“Who are you?” She said it slowly, stretching each word out a bit.
He raised an eyebrow. “Someone who’s minding his own business.”
For a moment she looked like she was going to snap at him. Then her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head a bit, studying him. “Do I know you?” she asked. “Because you look kind of familiar.”
Dean smiled. “Believe me, you don’t know me.” He nodded at Kennedy. “I just came to check up on her.”
She frowned and he knew she was trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth. “I still say I’ve seen you somewhere,” she told him.
He opened his mouth to respond and froze, his eyes widening as two more people walked into the room. Letting out a breath, he overlooked the tiny redhead and focused on the man standing behind her.
“Sammy,” he said, pushing away from the wall. He vaguely noticed the woman’s eyes widen and he realized that she knew Sam which meant that she’d probably seen a picture of him at some point. He wondered who she was to Sam, how they’d met, how long they’d known each other.
“Hey, Willow,” the woman said, voice soft. The redhead, who he assumed was Willow, gave her a small smile.
“Hey, Buffy.” Willow touched her shoulder before moving to sit by the bed and take Kennedy’s hand in hers.
Dean snorted. Buffy. He arranged his expression into the most innocent one he could manage when Buffy glanced in his direction. She let out a breath and then walked towards Sam.
“How are you doing?”
Sam glanced down at her and shrugged. “Okay. A lot better than I could be doing.”
Dean silently agreed. He’d found out from Lord Death exactly what had happened during that cycle of Tuesdays and that final Wednesday. The thought of Sam retreating into himself and becoming nothing but a hunter had thrown him. Staring at his brother, Dean fought the temptation to put his hand on Sam’s shoulder. He couldn’t touch mortals so there was no point.
“You going to continue being okay?” Buffy looked up at him, concern clear on her face. “It’s been a year.”
For the first time since he’d entered the room, Sam smiled. “I’ll be fine.” When she raised an eyebrow, he sighed. “I promise. It helped, what you said.” He glanced down. “I know that he’s not there, you know? Built the pyre and lit it myself but having the headstone there anyway...for some reason it helps.”
Dean closed his eyes at Sam’s words. Part of him was relieved that Sam had remembered that he’d once said he wanted to be salted and burned when he died so that it’d be guaranteed that he’d move on, that it wouldn’t be possible for someone to try and use his spirit or body for anything. The other part of him was pissed that Sam had had to do it at all. Hell, he’d known he was going to die when he made that deal but for some reason Dean had been sure that Sam would just bury him, would have forgotten what Dean had said.
He should have known better.
“Hey, speaking from experience here, remember? I know my mom isn’t there but it helps to have that evidence there. Something that shows others that they’re remembered.” She smiled. “Something that you can see and talk to even if you feel like an idiot.”
“Exactly,” he agreed, nodding. Buffy glanced over at Willow before turning back to Sam, putting a hand on his arm.
“Do me a favor?” she asked. He covered her hand.
“I’ve got it covered.”
She smiled, squeezing his arm briefly before letting go and walking out of the room.
Swearing, Dean followed her. He waited until he was sure no one else was around before speaking. “You know, don’t you?”
Buffy stopped and turned. “I know who you look like,” she said. “But for all I know, you could be The First coming back for some more fun because as confident as I am, I’m not stupid enough to think that we completely defeated it. After all, there’s still evil in the world. Which means the First could still pop up.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “And I’m not letting you get to Sam by walking around wearing his brother’s face. He’s suffered enough.”
Dean mirrored her position and glared back. “Listen, sweetheart, I’m not the First. If I was, don’t you think I would have showed myself to Sam as soon as he walked in? Don’t you think I’d be showing you someone else? Use whatever brains you might have and think about it.” He bit back the other things he wanted to say for the simple reason that she obviously cared for his brother.
“And maybe you are the First and you’re just trying to be all tricky and less obvious than before.”
“Jesus, you’re stubborn.”
“Yeah, well you’re—“ She was cut off as someone else appeared in the room. “You!”
Lord Death smiled and inclined his head at her. “It’s been a long time, Buffy.”
Buffy frowned at him. “I’d like to keep it that way for awhile longer if you don’t mind.” She paused. “Wait, are you here for Kennedy?”
He shook his head. “No.” He held up a hand when she let out a sigh of relief. “He is.”
“You son of a bitch.” Buffy turned towards Dean and took a step forward.
Dean glared at Lord Death. “Yeah, that was the best way to tell her.”
Laughing, Lord Death shrugged. “It was very entertaining.”
Buffy looked from one man to the other. “Wait a minute, you two know each other?”
“He is Death.”
“Okay, how about we explain things for those of us that are me?” she asked. “I thought you were Death.”
“I’m Lord Death, yes. But he is Death.”
Dean tilted his head back and groaned. “He enjoys this way too much,” he muttered before looking at Buffy. “Basically, Lord Death is, well, Death for all worlds. But he has people like me on all of the worlds acting as Death for that specific world since he can’t be in every single world all at the same time. You could say I’m his business partner.”
Buffy took that in. “Oh,” she said finally. She frowned at Lord Death. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
“Well, this was more fun,” Lord Death replied with a shrug. He grinned at the twin glares he received and bowed slightly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. Mel wants to talk to me about her world.”
“Say hi for me.” Dean grinned. Lord Death raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll do that.” He nodded at Buffy, clapped a hand on Dean’s shoulder, and then disappeared.
Buffy stared at the spot where he had been standing before looking at Dean, who was once again leaning back against the wall. “Huh. So, you died and now you’re Death.”
Dean’s lips twitched. “That about sums it up.”
She looked like she wanted to ask him some questions. Instead, she shook her head. “I always felt guilty about you,” she said instead.
“What? Why?”
She lifted a shoulder. “You didn’t know obviously but while Sam was trying to find a way to help you, he heard about Willow and how she wasn’t just a powerful witch but a good one. He contacted us. He and Willow were the ones that arranged for some of us to go to you. Sam would text message us to keep us updated. Then when we were getting ready to go, we found this prophecy. It was going to lead to an apocalypse. So I stayed behind and so did a few of the girls while Willow, Kennedy, and a few others went for you guys. They got there later than they were supposed to since Willow stayed a bit longer to do some protection spells. She got there in time to do some of her Willow mojo. She had enough time to make it so that you wouldn’t go to hell and Sam wouldn’t die but that’s it.”
He stared at her. “Sounds like you guys did what you could to help. Why should you feel guilty?”
“The prophecy turned out to be a fake. A nice little distraction to keep us from getting there in time to completely get you out of the deal.”
Dean shook his head. “And you think you should have known it was a fake?” He straightened. “I guess because you’re the best there is and that means you must be perfect. Never make a mistake and all that.”
Buffy made a face at him. “Yeah, okay, I get it. It’s not anything I haven’t told myself before. That doesn’t change the fact that I kept thinking if we had realized that it wasn’t a real prophecy, things might have gone differently.”
Once again, he shook his head. “Not necessarily. When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Nothing’s going to change that.”
“I don’t know about that. I’ve died twice now. Three if you count the time I flatlined.”
Dean gave her a half smile. “Then each time was your time.” When she looked skeptical, he raised an eyebrow. “Whether or not you were brought back, you still died each time, didn’t you?”
She blinked. “I never really thought of it that way.”
“Most people wouldn’t.”
She nodded and sat down. For a few moments, she didn’t say anything. It was when Dean looked like he was going to leave that she spoke.
“So does this mean I’m going to be seeing you around?”
He hesitated. “Probably.” He didn’t tell her that if she didn’t, it wouldn’t mean that he wasn’t there. No need to give away every secret. He headed towards the door to go check on Kennedy, pausing once. “I’ll see you around.”
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: 2,748
Spoilers/Warnings: All seasons for SPN and Buffy. Though it goes AU during the finale of SPN.
Summary: Sam managed to find a way to save Dean. Of course, Dean never expected this.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything associated with Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Supernatural. They belong to Joss Whedon and Eric Kripke.
Note: This...I don't even know. I got the idea and that was all there was to it. It wouldn't go away until it'd been written. *eyes muse* Bastard. Anyway! I don't expect this one to be too long but no guarantees. Who knows with me, right? Written for
tamingthemuse (prompt: temptation).Dean groaned as he opened his eyes and looked around. He frowned as he took in the room that he was in, making note of where the door and windows were. Slowly, he sat up and stood, heading towards the window. He raised an eyebrow at the sight of the sea crashing against rocks below cliffs.
“Huh,” he muttered. “Not what I was expecting hell to look like.”
“And who said you were in hell, Dean Winchester?”
Dean spun around, his hand automatically going to the place where he normally kept his gun. His eyes narrowed as the man smiled in a way that seemed entirely too knowing.
“How did I get here?” He turned even more fully. “And where exactly is here?”
The man leaned against the doorway. “Your brother managed to save you from hell without breaking the deal.”
Dean grinned at that. Trust Sammy to figure out a way around the deal.
In response to his smile, the man held up a hand. “He didn’t, however, save you from dying.”
He sucked in a breath and knew that the man had seen the shock on his face before he managed to hide it. Letting out his breath slowly, he smoothed out his expression and asked the most important question. “Is Sam here?”
“No. Sam won’t be here for quite some time if he’s lucky.”
At that, Dean couldn’t stop the relief from showing. Sam wasn’t here so Sam was alive. He’d managed to keep him safe at least.
Straightening, Dean crossed his arms over his chest. “And just where the hell is here?”
“The After,” was all that was said. Off of Dean’s look, the man smiled. “It’s merely a resting place, Dean.”
“Great. Now who are you?”
The man’s smile widened, brushing his dark blond hair out of his eyes. “I am Lord Death.”
Dean stared at Lord Death and wondered if he’d been lied to. Maybe he was in hell and he had gone insane.
It could happen.
“Let me get this straight,” he said. “I’m dead and you decided that I’d be a good...what? Assistant? Successor? What?”
Lord Death grinned and sat back. “No, not successor. After all, I won’t die.”
He snorted. “I’d hope not.”
“Indeed.” Death smirked. “I’m looking for a partner.”
Dean held up a hand. “Whoa, dude, I hate to break it to you but I don’t swing that way.”
Lord Death burst out laughing, tilting back until he was looking up at the ceiling. “A business partner, Dean. Though if we happen to become friends, that would be a plus.” He shook his head as he calmed down. “I’d still be Lord Death. You, however, would also be known as Death.” His mouth tilted up in a half smile. “Minus the lord part of the title, of course.”
“Of course,” Dean muttered. He stared at Lord Death for a few moments. “Why me?” He gestured towards the other room, where he’d been able to see for himself just how many others there were here in the After. “You’ve obviously got a lot of apprentices already. Why am I the one becoming your partner? I’m the new guy around here.”
“The life you’ve led makes you the only one that has ever been qualified,” he said simply.
Dean blinked. “That’s it? Because I, what, hunted spirits and demons, I’m more qualified? Not...” He trailed off.
“Not someone like a serial killer?” Lord Death inclined his head. “They don’t kill for the reasons that you have. You sent spirits on, killed demons, and yes, even a human once. But you didn’t do it simply because. You did it to help people. And that’s what this is.”
“Killing people is helping them?”
“You end their suffering, Dean. If they’re so far gone that they can see me, and now you, then you’re really just helping them.”
“And for those people that can see you but they don’t want to die?”
The question seemed to please Lord Death. “I don’t take someone right away. If there’s a chance that they can be saved, I wait. I give them that chance. But if it is someone’s time, then it’s their time. It’s as simple as that.”
Dean took this in and thought about it. “Okay, I get that.” Tapped his fingers on the arm of the chair he sat on. “What are all the others here for? Do they help out?”
“In a manner of speaking. There are many worlds out there. I’m Lord Death over all of them. You’d be surprised at how tiring that can get. I need someone for each world. Someone else who can be Death.” He paused and waited until Dean had nodded. “You’d need some training, of course. Can’t just jump right in. But after that, you’d go back to Earth.” He stared at Dean intently. “Do you accept?”
He thought about it for a few minutes before looking up into Lord Death’s eyes and nodding. “Yes.”
Lord Death grinned. “Excellent.” He couldn’t wait until they reached the part of Dean’s training that went over the few people that would be able to see him.
It should prove interesting.
The girl’s name was Kennedy. Dean leaned back against the wall and stared down at her. There was a chance that she could be saved but it wasn’t looking too good at the moment.
He sighed. It’d only been one year in this world since he’d died but to him it’d been a hundred years. He’d trained for what had felt like decades when it had only been a few months. That didn’t make it any better when it was time to come for someone so young.
Kennedy coughed in her sleep and Dean looked at her a bit more closely. He had a feeling that it wouldn’t be long before Kennedy became one of his.
His eyes moved to the door when a woman walked in. He looked her up and down before smirking in approval. “Nice,” he said.
She stiffened at the sound of his voice and spun towards him, automatically dropping into a fighting stance. “Who are you?”
Dean couldn’t stop the shock from showing on his face. He knew that there were some in this world that could see him. Lord Death had made that one very clear. But so far it had only been people and demons that were dying or vampires. He hadn’t met a mortal who could see him.
“Excuse me?”
“Who are you?” She said it slowly, stretching each word out a bit.
He raised an eyebrow. “Someone who’s minding his own business.”
For a moment she looked like she was going to snap at him. Then her eyes narrowed and she tilted her head a bit, studying him. “Do I know you?” she asked. “Because you look kind of familiar.”
Dean smiled. “Believe me, you don’t know me.” He nodded at Kennedy. “I just came to check up on her.”
She frowned and he knew she was trying to figure out whether or not he was telling the truth. “I still say I’ve seen you somewhere,” she told him.
He opened his mouth to respond and froze, his eyes widening as two more people walked into the room. Letting out a breath, he overlooked the tiny redhead and focused on the man standing behind her.
“Sammy,” he said, pushing away from the wall. He vaguely noticed the woman’s eyes widen and he realized that she knew Sam which meant that she’d probably seen a picture of him at some point. He wondered who she was to Sam, how they’d met, how long they’d known each other.
“Hey, Willow,” the woman said, voice soft. The redhead, who he assumed was Willow, gave her a small smile.
“Hey, Buffy.” Willow touched her shoulder before moving to sit by the bed and take Kennedy’s hand in hers.
Dean snorted. Buffy. He arranged his expression into the most innocent one he could manage when Buffy glanced in his direction. She let out a breath and then walked towards Sam.
“How are you doing?”
Sam glanced down at her and shrugged. “Okay. A lot better than I could be doing.”
Dean silently agreed. He’d found out from Lord Death exactly what had happened during that cycle of Tuesdays and that final Wednesday. The thought of Sam retreating into himself and becoming nothing but a hunter had thrown him. Staring at his brother, Dean fought the temptation to put his hand on Sam’s shoulder. He couldn’t touch mortals so there was no point.
“You going to continue being okay?” Buffy looked up at him, concern clear on her face. “It’s been a year.”
For the first time since he’d entered the room, Sam smiled. “I’ll be fine.” When she raised an eyebrow, he sighed. “I promise. It helped, what you said.” He glanced down. “I know that he’s not there, you know? Built the pyre and lit it myself but having the headstone there anyway...for some reason it helps.”
Dean closed his eyes at Sam’s words. Part of him was relieved that Sam had remembered that he’d once said he wanted to be salted and burned when he died so that it’d be guaranteed that he’d move on, that it wouldn’t be possible for someone to try and use his spirit or body for anything. The other part of him was pissed that Sam had had to do it at all. Hell, he’d known he was going to die when he made that deal but for some reason Dean had been sure that Sam would just bury him, would have forgotten what Dean had said.
He should have known better.
“Hey, speaking from experience here, remember? I know my mom isn’t there but it helps to have that evidence there. Something that shows others that they’re remembered.” She smiled. “Something that you can see and talk to even if you feel like an idiot.”
“Exactly,” he agreed, nodding. Buffy glanced over at Willow before turning back to Sam, putting a hand on his arm.
“Do me a favor?” she asked. He covered her hand.
“I’ve got it covered.”
She smiled, squeezing his arm briefly before letting go and walking out of the room.
Swearing, Dean followed her. He waited until he was sure no one else was around before speaking. “You know, don’t you?”
Buffy stopped and turned. “I know who you look like,” she said. “But for all I know, you could be The First coming back for some more fun because as confident as I am, I’m not stupid enough to think that we completely defeated it. After all, there’s still evil in the world. Which means the First could still pop up.” She crossed her arms and glared at him. “And I’m not letting you get to Sam by walking around wearing his brother’s face. He’s suffered enough.”
Dean mirrored her position and glared back. “Listen, sweetheart, I’m not the First. If I was, don’t you think I would have showed myself to Sam as soon as he walked in? Don’t you think I’d be showing you someone else? Use whatever brains you might have and think about it.” He bit back the other things he wanted to say for the simple reason that she obviously cared for his brother.
“And maybe you are the First and you’re just trying to be all tricky and less obvious than before.”
“Jesus, you’re stubborn.”
“Yeah, well you’re—“ She was cut off as someone else appeared in the room. “You!”
Lord Death smiled and inclined his head at her. “It’s been a long time, Buffy.”
Buffy frowned at him. “I’d like to keep it that way for awhile longer if you don’t mind.” She paused. “Wait, are you here for Kennedy?”
He shook his head. “No.” He held up a hand when she let out a sigh of relief. “He is.”
“You son of a bitch.” Buffy turned towards Dean and took a step forward.
Dean glared at Lord Death. “Yeah, that was the best way to tell her.”
Laughing, Lord Death shrugged. “It was very entertaining.”
Buffy looked from one man to the other. “Wait a minute, you two know each other?”
“He is Death.”
“Okay, how about we explain things for those of us that are me?” she asked. “I thought you were Death.”
“I’m Lord Death, yes. But he is Death.”
Dean tilted his head back and groaned. “He enjoys this way too much,” he muttered before looking at Buffy. “Basically, Lord Death is, well, Death for all worlds. But he has people like me on all of the worlds acting as Death for that specific world since he can’t be in every single world all at the same time. You could say I’m his business partner.”
Buffy took that in. “Oh,” she said finally. She frowned at Lord Death. “Why didn’t you just say that in the first place?”
“Well, this was more fun,” Lord Death replied with a shrug. He grinned at the twin glares he received and bowed slightly. “Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to go. Mel wants to talk to me about her world.”
“Say hi for me.” Dean grinned. Lord Death raised an eyebrow.
“I’ll do that.” He nodded at Buffy, clapped a hand on Dean’s shoulder, and then disappeared.
Buffy stared at the spot where he had been standing before looking at Dean, who was once again leaning back against the wall. “Huh. So, you died and now you’re Death.”
Dean’s lips twitched. “That about sums it up.”
She looked like she wanted to ask him some questions. Instead, she shook her head. “I always felt guilty about you,” she said instead.
“What? Why?”
She lifted a shoulder. “You didn’t know obviously but while Sam was trying to find a way to help you, he heard about Willow and how she wasn’t just a powerful witch but a good one. He contacted us. He and Willow were the ones that arranged for some of us to go to you. Sam would text message us to keep us updated. Then when we were getting ready to go, we found this prophecy. It was going to lead to an apocalypse. So I stayed behind and so did a few of the girls while Willow, Kennedy, and a few others went for you guys. They got there later than they were supposed to since Willow stayed a bit longer to do some protection spells. She got there in time to do some of her Willow mojo. She had enough time to make it so that you wouldn’t go to hell and Sam wouldn’t die but that’s it.”
He stared at her. “Sounds like you guys did what you could to help. Why should you feel guilty?”
“The prophecy turned out to be a fake. A nice little distraction to keep us from getting there in time to completely get you out of the deal.”
Dean shook his head. “And you think you should have known it was a fake?” He straightened. “I guess because you’re the best there is and that means you must be perfect. Never make a mistake and all that.”
Buffy made a face at him. “Yeah, okay, I get it. It’s not anything I haven’t told myself before. That doesn’t change the fact that I kept thinking if we had realized that it wasn’t a real prophecy, things might have gone differently.”
Once again, he shook his head. “Not necessarily. When it’s your time to go, it’s your time to go. Nothing’s going to change that.”
“I don’t know about that. I’ve died twice now. Three if you count the time I flatlined.”
Dean gave her a half smile. “Then each time was your time.” When she looked skeptical, he raised an eyebrow. “Whether or not you were brought back, you still died each time, didn’t you?”
She blinked. “I never really thought of it that way.”
“Most people wouldn’t.”
She nodded and sat down. For a few moments, she didn’t say anything. It was when Dean looked like he was going to leave that she spoke.
“So does this mean I’m going to be seeing you around?”
He hesitated. “Probably.” He didn’t tell her that if she didn’t, it wouldn’t mean that he wasn’t there. No need to give away every secret. He headed towards the door to go check on Kennedy, pausing once. “I’ll see you around.”
