The Magnificent Seven.

chapter fifty-four , The Magnificent Seven

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It was now night. Bobby, Jo, Athena, and Dean were all sitting in the car; waiting for Sam to come back with any news on his side.

"What time is it?"

"Seven past midnight."

Athena scoffs, her eyes glued to her Rubik's cube. "You could've just said, 12:07."

"You sure this is the right place?" Bobby asks.

Athena arches a brow, "Uh, yeah. I spent all day looking through this stupid ass town with this asshole's stupid ass face." She then motions. "And he drinks at this stupid ass bar."

"Hey, perk up." Jo nudges Athena's arms. "This isn't so bad."

Athena huffs, "That's because you want to be here—"

A bang is heard on Dean's side of the window. All the hunters flinch and turn to see Sam laughing. Athena exhales a growl. "Wow, everyone's a fucking comedian today."

Sam pulls the door open.

"That's not funny." Dean snaps.

"Yeah. Uh, all right, so—" Sam shoves Dean's seat forward and sits in the back with Athena. "John Doe's name is Walter Rosen. He's from Oak Park, just West of Chicago. Went missing about a month ago."

"The night the Devil's Gate opened?"

"Yeah."

"So, you think he's possessed?" Dean asks.

"I think he's just backpacking through each state, collecting license plates." Athena voices. She then rolls her head to the side and looks at Dean. "Of course he's possessed."

She then scoffs, "God, with each month that goes by on this 'one way trip to Hell' thing. Do you lose your braincells as well?"

Dean pouts his lower lip and sinks into his seat. Sam couldn't help but chuckle at Dean's reaction. Jo softly snorts and looks out the window. "So, what, he just walks up to someone, touches them, and they go stark raving psycho or something?"

"Those demons that got out at the gate—they're gonna do all kinds of things we haven't seen." Bobby states.

"You mean the demons we let out?" Sam questions.

Athena presses her lips together and nods. "Exactly, Sammy. It's all our faults."

"Not mine." Jo raises a hand. "I repeat, I have not released any demons."

"Guys."

They all follow Dean's eyesight and they see the man from video cameras footage. He was walking towards the bar.

"All right, showtime."

"Wait a minute..."

"What?" Dean asks.

Bobby looks at Dean with an incredulous expression. "What did I just say?"

"We don't know what to expect out of this guy." Bobby states. "We should tail him till we know for sure."

"Ya see, Dean wasn't paying attention when you explained earlier, Bobby, because he's an idiot." Athena voices.

"So we're just gonna sit here with our junk in our hands while he kills someone else?" Dean asks, patience wearing thin.

"We're no good dead!" Bobby snaps.

Athena arches a brow, "He definitely doesn't understand that. I mean, how many months left do you have again?

"Listen to me. All of you." Bobby snaps.

The siblings and Jo look at him.

"We're not gonna make a move until we know what the score is."

"Uh, hey, Bobby?" Sam speaks. "I don't think that's an option."

"Why not?"

Sam motions his head over to the truck that just pulled up.

Tamara and Isaac get out of the truck and approach the bar. Athena huffs, "Well, aren't they the fearless couple?" She then smirks. "Come on. Let's go save them."

Athena was the first the get out of the truck. Jo's heart rate quickens and she quickly follows after the girl. "Athena, wait!" She harshly whispers.

They all make it to the bar and attempt to push the doors open, but they were locked. Athena watches as the hunters bang their bodies against the door of the bar.

Her breathing quickens and she softly hums, thinking. Suddenly, an idea pops into her head. Her eyes snap over to Bobby's pick up truck. She knew it was a dumb idea. But she also knew it was an idea that would piss the three men off.

A smile cracks onto Athena's lips. She swiftly and unnoticeably makes her over to Bobby and grabs the keys from his pocket. Athena runs to the pick up truck, she hops in and curses. "I'm too fucking short."

"Athena, what the hell are you doing?!"

Athena snaps her eyes over to Jo and sees the adults running towards the vehicle. She remembers Bobby teaching her how to drive stick once. And that lesson never left her mind.

She starts the truck and slams the toe of her boot against the gas. The truck jerks forward and speeds toward the bar.

"Athena!" Dean shouts.

"Holy shit." Jo chuckles.

"My truck!" Bobby fumes.

"This is too fucking much..." Sam drags a hand down his face.

The truck slams into the bar. Athena wastes no time, pushing the door open; slamming it into one of the demon's faces. She pulls the bottle of holy water out of her pocket and splashes the demon's across the face. They all scream in pain. Soon, the other four hunters make inside the bar, helping Athena with debilitating the Demons.

Athena takes another step forward, but she feels a tug on her leather jacket and is pulled behind Dean.

"What the hell?!"

"Stay back!"

"No—"

"Athena, get back in the car." Jo says, she gives her a nod. Athena inhales a breath and crawls into the backseat of the car. Jo runs forward and kicks one of the demon's in the chest. She grabs Tamara's arms and pulls the thrashing woman towards the vehicle.

"No, Isaac!" Tamara sobs.

"Tamara, we have to go! I'm sorry..." Jo pushes Tamara into the car and sits next to her. Bobby and Sam manage to get into the car.

"Dean, come on!" Sam shouts.

Athena pulls her body halfway out of the window. She looks at Dean. "Hey, Asshat, hurry!"

Dean tussles with one of the demons before tossing him in the trunk and slamming it shut. He hops into the front seat, hurrying Bobby.

Bobby begins to speed out of the bar and Athena's eyes widen. "W-Wait—wait! Lemme get back inside first!"

Jo grabs Athena and pulls her back into the car.

Athena's hair was everywhere, she swallowed and straightened her jacket. "Thank you."

☆

As soon as the Hunters got back to the house, chaos ensued. Dean and Athena were yelling on one side of the corner, while Bobby and Tamara were yelling on the other side.

"I left my husband bloody on the floor!" Tamara snaps at Bobby, tears still fresh in her eyes.

"Okay, I understand that, but we can't go back." Sam tries to intervene.

"What the hell is your problem, huh?!"

Athena rolls her eyes and drops her bag to the floor of the house. "Oh, all of a sudden you care?—"

Dean raises his brows, "I've always cared—"

"Bullshit!"

"Hey, you two!" Bobby snaps from the other side of the house. "Now's not the time for that. We have a woman mourning her husband."

Athena arches a brow, "Yeah, we wouldn't want to disturb the 'mourning process'." She scoffs.

"Athena shut up," Sam speaks, his eyes on Tamara. Athena sucks in a sharp breath, she hadn't even registered what she said. It just came out so fast. Her eyes soften and she looks at the woman with a guilty expression.

"I-I'm sorry..." Athena looks to the ground.

"I'll be in the next room." Tamara swallows, walking upstairs.

Athena curls her hand into a fist and digs her fingernails into her palms, the pain becoming all too familiar. A hall of guilt forms in her stomach and she begins to feel sick. Mocking a grieving woman...nice one, idiot.

Her guilt quickly morphs into anger. Anger for her brother. She snaps her eyes over to Dean. "This is your fault."

"Oh, come on, because you couldn't be respectful—"

"No, because you don't think about your decisions!" Athena hisses. Dean squinted his eyes, understanding what she was really getting at. "I thought about selling my soul."

"Oh, did you?" Athena laughs. "Or did you only think about how happy you would be with your decision?"

"Did you think how guilty Sam would feel—how miserable we would be without you?" Athena scoffs and covers her eyes. "It was fucking stupid and it was fucking selfish!"

"No, you guys!" Sam snaps. "We're not doing this right now, all right?" He looks between his siblings. "We have to focus on what's going on right now."

"Exactly," Jo speaks up, her arms folded. "We have a demon up there that--"

"Look, look. I'll go with Tamara and we'll get Isaac." Dean speaks.

"It's suicide, Dean!" Sam snaps.

"So, what? He's dead already." Athena seethes. She snaps her eyes over to Dean. "Now, we won't have to listen to him bitch about having 11 months left--"

"Hey."

Athena looks at Jo. The blonde had a stern look across her face, telling Athena to settle down. Athena inhales a breath. She couldn't help but have a feeling of betrayal. "Fuck this..." she scoffs. "You guys do whatever you want. And I'll follow along. Because that's what you guys want, right? Me to be some kind of fucking sheep?!" A bitter chuckle escapes her lips. She looks at Sam and Dean. "I'm not following you guys blindly and all of a sudden, I'm some ungrateful brat?"

Sam's shoulders sag, "Athena, that's not true."

"Just leave me alone. All of you." Athena stuffs her hands into her jacket pockets and runs up the stairs.

Jo lets out a sharp breath, "Great...now I'm one of the adults that she hates."

"She doesn't hate us." Dean sighs.

Jo quirks a brow, "Maybe not everyone else, but you..." she whistles.

Dean's chest tightens. "Why are you still here, exactly?"

Jo lets out a small scoff, she fully turns to Dean. "As long as she wants me here," she points in the direction Athena went. "I'm not going anywhere."

Jo looks at Bobby and notices him reading a book, the color drained from his face. "Bobby. You okay?"

"The demons. From that bar? There are seven of them." Bobby informs the hunters. "Do you have any idea who we're up against?"

"No. Who?"

"The Seven Deadly Sins, live and in the flesh!"

While Bobby explained to the other hunters everything about the seven demons they were up against, Athena was in one of the rooms bouncing a tennis ball against the wall. Lately, Athena has had to do a lot in order to distract herself from her own anger. Her own grief. The last time she had cried was when Dean told her he had sold his soul. But lately, no matter how much she tried to cry; it's like there was some kind of block in her emotions.

Athena was so deep in her own head, she didn't even hear the low humming coming from the other room until it practically traveled through the walls. She catches the tennis ball and tilts her head. Athena stands up and walks out of the room, she cautiously approaches the door to the next room. She stands in the doorframe, her eyes on the demon that was tied to a chair. The demon bares his teeth and Athena tenses.

"Oh, Athena, how I am glad to see you." The demon tilts his head.

Athena wrinkles her nose, "I'm 13, perv." she tosses the tennis ball at the demon and it hits his head. The demon lets out a small grunt and exhales a breath of annoyance through his mouth. Athena then smirks, "What song was that?"

"You're acting as if you don't know." The demon deadpans.

Athena presses her lips together, presses her back against the wall, and slides to the ground. "I mean, it sounds familiar." she shrugs. "I just don't know where from..."

"Your mommy knows."

Athena wasn't even fazed by the mention of Faye. She just frowns, "Knew. She knew."

"Right. Silly me. It's just, your mother is--"

"Famous. Well known." Athena nods. "I've heard it all before...and honestly? It's kind of getting old." she huffs. "So, unless you have any more information..." she stands up and pats her jeans. "I'll just let them exorcise you--"

"Wait!"

Athena quirks a brow and smugly smirks at the demon. "Yes?" she drags out her word with a cheeky smile.

The demon huffs, "Your mother...she was special."

Athena crosses her arms, her expression unreadable.

"She was strong, but you...you're stronger." The demon chuckles. "It's the same reason Faye let you go--"

"My mother didn't let me go. My dad killed her and then kidnapped me." Athena's voice was cold. The demon frowns, "Dadnapped. He dadnapped you."

"No, that makes no sense." Athena sighs and closes her eyes. "A dad being taken is 'dadnapped'."

"My mistake." The demon rolls his eyes.

Athena squints her eyes. "My mom...was she like, a demon or something?"

The demon frowns, "Or something."

She takes a small step forward, her arms folded. "So, she wasn't human." Athena pulls her brows together. "I'm not human..."

"What am I?" Athena asks, taking another step forward. The demon chuckles which causes Athena to pull her brows together. "Hey, Asshat. I asked you a question."

"Athena!"

The teen turns to the adults staring at her. "Get away from him."

Athena rolls her eyes and walks over to them. Jo grabs Athena's arm and pulls her behind herself.

"What the hell were you saying to her, huh?" Dean snaps.

"Just telling her the truth."

Jo looks down at Athena, "Hey, are you—"

Athena brushes past the blonde and walks downstairs without a word.

☆

The hunters waited for the other six sins to arrive. Each of them was in a different place in the house. Tamara and Bobby were located at the front of the house. Sam and Dean were in the back, while Athena and Jo were upstairs. Jo's eyes were looking out the window, through the boards nailed into the window. The room was silent, but Jo could feel Athena's anger from across the room. The blonde looks over at Athena. The young girl was sitting on the floor, filling holy water into a jug.

"You know why I snapped at you, right?"

Athena stops, keeps her eyes on the water then goes back to filling the jug in silence. Jo sighs, "I get you're pissed at Dean. But he is dying, dude. You need to talk to him--"

"I don't have to do anything I don't want to," Athena replies, her voice distant but calm. "And I don't want to talk to Dean. And I don't want to talk to Sam."

"You wanna talk to me?" Jo asks, her voice soft.

"I am talking to you." Athena murmurs. "I have been talking to you. That's why I moved in with you. Because you listen to me."

Jo's eyes soften, "And I will continue to listen to you, Athena. But I'll also be here to tell you when you're wrong."

"Oh, and is now one of those times?" Athena asks.

Jo holds a hand up, silencing Athena. "Do you hear that?"

"No. What?" Athena pulls her brows together. Jo looks out the window again. Athena gets closer to the window.

"Tamara!"

Athena's eyes widen, "Is that Isaac?"

Jo swallows, "The demon's possessing his corpse."

Jo looks at Athena, "Stay here." she quickly walks towards the door. Athena opens her mouth, "No way--"

"Athena, please," Jo whispers.

The 13-year-old sucks in a breath and presses her back against the wall. "Be careful."

Jo gives Athena a small smile before walking out of the room. The blonde closes the door behind her, leaving Athena by herself. She exhales a sharp breath when she hears different people in parts of the house fighting. And here she was doing nothing. I'm fucking useless.

A thud is heard outside the door, which causes her to jump. Athena's back straightens and her heartbeat pounds through her ears. The door slowly opens, which causes Athena's heart to drop.

That's not Jo.

Athena's stomach turns, she sucks in a breath and holds it. She looks down at the holy water jug in her hands. You've gotta do it. Then you've gotta move fast.

Athena speed walks over to the door. It pushes open, revealing an unrecognizable face. Athena wastes no time in tossing the holy water in the demon's face. The demon's face steams and screams in pain. With all the strength she had to offer, Athena rams her elbow into the demon's large figure. The demon stumbles back, clearing the doorway. She sprints out of the room and down the hall. Athena pivots the corner, her boots skidding against the hardwood floor. She goes to run down the creaky stairs, but a phantom force yanks her back. Athena's back slams against the hard floor and she gasps painfully. She inhales a deep breath, her vision blurring. Athena slowly sits up, her head beginning to ache.

"Well, if it isn't, The Athena Winchester..." A low voice comes from behind her. "I am a big fan."

Athena ignores the voice and starts to down the steps, but the demon grabs the back of her jacket. He pulls her away from the stairs and Athena grits her teeth. "Get the fuck off!"

"Did you not just hear me say I'm your biggest fan?" The demon kicks one of the room doors open and throws Athena inside. She slides across the wooden floor and her body hits the wall. Athena runs her tongue across her teeth and spits a glob of blood on the floor.

"The girl that's going to rewrite history! Raise hellfire on the world!" The demon holds his arms out and laughs. "I mean, that's cool and all. Nothing beats how cool I am though."

Athena inhales a deep breath, her body beginning to ache. "So...you're Pride, then?" she looks at the man in the suit.

"Ding, Ding, Ding." Pride walks towards her. Athena quickly sits up, her hands shaking. "What's this about hellfire? Am I some secret weapon or something?"

"Or something." Pride frowns.

Athena rolls her eyes. Pride grabs her by her jacket again and pins her against the wall. Athena's skin begins to crawl when the demon gets too close to her face. "You are nothing compared to me."

"I mean, look at you..." Pride laughs. He slightly pulls at the bandage over her eye. Athena's jaw clenches, she rams her knee into his crotch and shoves him off her. Her eyes snap over to the shotgun that was sitting on the shelf. Athena runs towards it, but the demon grabs her leg. She lets out a scream as Pride throws her across the room, her body slamming into the wall once again.

"I hear all of hell talking about you. Saying how amazing you're going to be. But...I still don't see the potential--"

"You think I care about Hell? About Demons making me their gossip in order to keep things interesting?" Athena forces herself back onto her feet and Pride takes notice in her resilience.

"You can't beat me." Pride tilts his head. "And yet, you still get up."

"Yeah, well..." Athena shrugs, her nose beginning to bleed. "...I just needed to give her a little time to load her shotgun again."

Pride pulls his brows together. He turns around and Jo shoots a shell of salt into his chest. Pride stumbles back and into the devil's trap. Athena laughs and walks over to Jo. "Looks like your Pride is nothing but a load of shit."

"And you're literally Pride," Jo says, frowning. Athena and Jo then look at each other, "So, that means that your entire existence is a crock of shit."

Pride's upper lip curls in rage. "You fucking cunt--"

"Yup!" Athena's eyes light up. "Now, I think you can go back to Hell and tell them all about how a hunter and the 13-year-old hunter in training defeated you."

From memory, Athena recites the exorcism incantation. After she exorcised Pride from the man's body, Jo instantly crouches in front of her. "Hey..."

Athena shifts her eyes from the limp body to Jo's worried eyes. Jo gets a clear sight of Athena's face and her heart drops. "Attie, you're bleeding."

"He needs help." Athena motions to the man. "We should...help him." her body begins to grow heavy.

Jo searches Athena's face, "You're sure you can wait?"

Athena presses her lips into a small line and nods her head. "Yeah, I've had worse."

Jo's eyes soften, and she quickly makes her way over to the man. She checks his pulse and exhales a small breath, "He's alive."

Athena nods her head, "Good, good..." She sits on the ground and then lays her back against the floor. Jo helps the man out of the room, while Athena's eyes fall shut.

☆

Everyone had made it outside to burn the bodies of the people who didn't make it. Bobby had helped clean Athena's cuts up, bandaging her up. She had a forming purple bruise across the side of her face. Athena had her headphones over her ears, indie music blasting. Her hands were stuffed in her pockets and her eyes were glued to the bodies her brothers were salting. Dean tosses gasoline over their bodies. He looks at Athena, who has been silent since Bobby finished cleaning her up. Dean looks at Sam, he had the same look of worry on his face.

Athena grabs her sterling pink rose lighter from her jacket pocket. She flicks the lighter on and holds the paper over the fire. Once the paper caught fire, Athena dropped it into the hole; the bodies quickly caught fire.

A gentle hand was felt against Athena's shoulder and she flinches. She snaps her eyes to Bobby and he holds his hands up. Athena lets out a small breath, takes her headphones off, and stuffs them into her backpack. "Yeah?"

"Jo's about ready to leave."

Athena raises her brows, "Right." she looks back at the bodies burning. She looks at Bobby and then her brothers. "So..."

"...I guess I'll see you guys at his funeral?"

Dean raised his brows and he couldn't stop the chuckle. "Funny."

"Right, I'm fucking hilarious." Athena presses her lips together. "Bye, guys."

Athena turns on her heel and walks away from the three men without another word.

"I hate this..." Sam softly speaks, a lump forming in his throat. "Her...hating us."

Dean had been saying it for the past 2 days. 'She doesn't hate us'. But now, his optimism for a relationship with his sister was dying down.

"No, no way--I'm not going with them." Athena shakes her head.

"Look, I've already taught you everything I could." Jo shrugs, her arms folded.

"Bull! I'm sure you can teach me more. You're Jo." Athena retorts.

"Fair point." Jo nods with a frown on her lips. "Look, you've gotta make amends with them. Especially Dean."

"The dying one?" Athena looks to the side. "No point if he's headed down south. And not the literal one."

"Athena--"

"He chose Dad," Athena says. "I know that was 2 years ago, but still...it hurts. And now he's choosing to die." she scoffs.

Jo folds his arms, "And there's no other way to convince you?"

Athena shakes her head, "Sorry. Nope."

Jo hums, pretending to think hard. "Well, then, if you don't go with them--I'm going to trash your walkman."

Athena raises her brows and laughs, "That can only happen if I let that thing out of my..." she goes to reach for it in her side backpack pocket, but it isn't there. Her eyes widen and she looks back at Jo who had the Walkman in one hand, while her headphones dangled in her opposite hand. Jo tilts her head and smugly smirks.

"Wha? How did you--"

"I'm gonna hold onto this for a while until I know you're ready for it back." Jo pats the top of Athena's head and walks away from her as she still tries to understand how she took it in the first place.

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author's note.

RAHHHHH IM SO EXCITED FOR THIS SEASON

words : 4056