Silent Restraint

The casualties were heavy. The vampires were thrown into a pit, save Evagoras, and burned. The Hunters, what was left of them, watched the acrid smoke wind up into the sky with bitter satisfaction. The rest of the Hunters were set up on their own funeral pyres. They would burn them that night.

Max was dead, and Garth. Garth had gotten his neck snapped. Dean was grateful that the kid went quickly and didn't have his throat ripped out instead. Foster was dead, too, along with one of the others from out of state, a Hunter named Hank Tyler.

No one talked. They moved about each other silently, everyone aware of what they had to do without actually saying a word about it. Amare had to sit down periodically and put her head between her knees. Then she would get up and continue her work silently, Sam staying within calling distance. Reagan broke out in gasping, blood-curdling sobs at one point. Everyone was so startled by the sudden noise that none of them moved. Hayden watched his sister with wide red eyes but didn't make a move. Emma watched timidly from behind him. Dean wrapped an arm around her shoulders and let her cry on him, her tears leaving dark marks on his black T-shirt. Then she pushed him away and continued her task of swaddling Foster's body.

Dean left when they were done. He went back to the motel. Dex was painting her toes when he walked in. She was about to pull a gun on him because she didn't know who he was, he looked so tired and haggard and broken. When she told him the story later, she told him she only recognized him because of his bowlegs, in an effort to make him laugh. He smiled politely.

He told her what happened and she cried somewhat out of empathy, but mostly because this, to her, was the catalyst needed to prove to her that she wasn't just dealing with a cult of deranged sociopaths, that this was real. That four humans and a vampire had lost their lives killing monsters that day. Dean put a comforting hand on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around his waist. He wondered why they came to him like this; he didn't feel like he was a very comforting person.

Dex came back to the house with him. They stopped at a liquor store and got a case of beer. Dean was glad to see it was a breezy day and the smoke from their fires didn't take long to disperse. They would have a hard time explaining this to the authorities otherwise.

The sun set rapidly and still no one said anything. They watched the corpses wrapped in white for a couple more hours. At midnight Amare stood up and lit Garth's pyre first. She stood back and watched it for a moment before lighting Evagoras's. No one else moved so she quietly lit the rest. She paused before Foster's and looked at Reagan and Hayden. They just looked at her, so she timidly held her lighter against the starter underneath his body. The dry leaves and sticks caught and he was up in flames a moment later.

She rejoined the group and looked at the burning bodies for a moment before turning to Sam. "I can't stay here," she whispered.

He nodded slowly. "Are you ground to get Perenna?" he asked.

"I don't know. I don't think yet. I just can't be here right now."

Sam understood completely. But he wouldn't leave his brother and what was left of his friends. He squeezed her hand, knowing any more public affection would make her uncomfortable, and she left. The group glanced at her as she got into the Dodge and left.

<><><><><>

The group, save Amare, stayed at Reagan's house through the morning and into the next night. The hunter from out of state was the first to leave, then Sam. Hayden and Reagan avoided each other, and Emma avoided everyone else. After Sam left, Dean started getting uncomfortable, so he made an excuse and he and Dex left, too.

Amare was curled up against the wall when Sam got there. He took a seat next to her and asked if she was okay. She just shook her head, finding it hard to put her emotions into words.

Finally she said, "Five... magnificent men died... Gave their lives to protect humankind... and no one even flinched. The world didn't notice that heroes were killed. And it won't, ever... Evagoras and Garth-- Sam, you're all I've got. You and Ren. Everyone else is dead."

Sam couldn't come up with an appropriate response, so he just sat with her for a while, nothing but their shoulders touching. Finally, he asked, "Do you want to go get Perenna now?"

She shrugged, and then nodded. Then she paused before shaking her head and looking at him. "I don't know. I need to get her out of there. Without Jason, the lot of them will scurry around like a headless chicken, but not for long. And I can't let her get taken by vampires who won't treat her like Jason did, like she actually was precious. But I don't want to move."

Amare didn't speak after that, and Sam didn't press her to. He was having a hard time understanding everything she was feeling, mostly because he himself didn't quite know how he felt. This one was going to take a minute for everyone to get over.

<><><><><>

An hour and a half later in the room next door, Dex stared with disgust between the black nail polish abandoned on the table and her half-painted toes. She debated whether or not to continue painting them. Dean went to go take a shower, so she decided to finish them while she waited for her turn.

Dean got out of the shower, still damp and wearing just sweats and she swore to herself in that moment that if she tapped that right then, she would have no regrets. None at all. And then he was talking to her but her mouth was dry and a drop of nail polish landed on her foot but she didn't notice any of it.

"Dex? Are you listening?" he asked.

"Hm? Oh, yeah, what?" She wiped the nail polish off of her foot.

"I said you need to go home."

She laughed shortly. "Sorry, Honey, kinda am."

Dean shook his head and frowned at her. "No, really. You need to go home. Like to your parents."

Dex's face fell. She vaguely recalled telling him why she shouldn't go home, but the memory smelled like vodka so she couldn't be sure. She voiced this and he nodded adamantly.

"I know, so you left your fiance. You gotta go home, Dex. You gotta let them know you're alive, at least."

"No."

"Look, if they totally reject you or it turns into a total disaster, I'll take you anywhere you want to go."

"What if I want to stay with you?"

He pursed his lips. "No."

"Then no."

"Dammit, Dex."

"You can take me home, but you gotta at least think about taking me with you afterwards. C'mon, you don't wanna be Sam and Amare's third wheel, do you? I can turn that trike into an ATV and everyone knows ATV's are a whole lot funner."

Dean just grunted and looked at her, eyebrows low over strikingly green eyes. She winked at him and took her turn in the bathroom.