Before It's Too Late: Preview

Kyle calls up Sam and Dean when Alex goes missing. Meanwhile Alex is keeping a secret from Kyle and her worst fear is revealed. But will they find out either one before it’s too late?

A/N: Story takes place after Heaven and Hell. Link the song that helped inspire the story.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SR0i5Ep7xPY

FIB, Chapter 9

In the crowded parking lot of J&J’s sat a black ’67 Chevy Impala with two brothers. They were currently having a minor disagreement.

“Not yet,” Sam insisted.

“Come on. Do you really think it’ll make a difference if we go in twenty or five minutes before eight o’clock?” Dean asked.

“Kyle said to wait, so we’re going to wait.” Sam and Dean both stared at each, holding their ground.

“Fine,” Dean finally agreed, not wanting to hear his brother complain anymore. He sat there wondering what was going to happen at eight. A few possibilities ran through his head, but he couldn’t settle on one. Dean sighed and looked at the clock. Only five minutes had passed.

“Hey, Sam?”

“We’re going to wait,” he reminded his brother with annoyance.

“I know. I just… Don’t ask Alex about Hell, ok?” He turned to his brother, hoping Sam wouldn’t know that Dean remembered. He couldn’t let his little brother see him like that or know what he went through. It was just easier to pretend it never happened. At least that’s what he told himself after he’d wake up from his own nightmares about Hell. Knowing that Alex had very little experience with the supernatural, Dean knew seeing Hell would scare her more than him. “I mean, if it freaked her out enough to go into therapy, I just think it would be a bad idea to remind her,” Dean reasoned.

Sam shook his head. “I wasn’t planning on it.” Looking at his brother’s confused face, Sam explained, “I’ve caused her enough pain, Dean. Why would I want to remind her of that?”

Dean nodded and they both silently waited. Only nine minutes passed by before Dean got restless. “Can we go inside now? Or do you want to wait one more minute so it’s exactly five minutes before eight?”

Sam glowered at his brother who just grinned in response, but before he could say anything Dean spoke up.

“I guess you did want to wait,” Dean said as he got out of his car. As he closed the door Sam checked his watch. Exactly five minutes to eight.

Dean crossed the parking lot to the wooden building and entered through the glass doors with Sam not too far behind him. They both stood in the entry way and looked for Kyle through the crowd. There was a surprisingly large amount of people there for a Thursday night. They recognized a few of the locals that they have run into while they’ve been in town.

“Hey,” Sam nudged his brother’s arm, letting him know that he found Kyle. Sam hesitated, waiting for Dean to take the lead. He still wasn’t comfortable being around Kyle after what he had done to Alex.

Dean lead the way to the round wooden table Kyle was sitting at in the middle of the bar. He was facing the stage that was on the far left of the building with the bar to his right.

“Hey.” Kyle swallowed a gulp of his soda as he saw them approach. “You’re just in time. One minute sooner and you would have ruined the surprise.”

Sam looked at Dean with an “I told you so” look. Dean just shrugged in response and asked, “What’s this all about anyways?” He looked around the crowded bar as both him and Sam took a seat at the table.

Kyle looked at his watch. “You will find out in about a minute.”

Sam smirked as his brother groaned, “I hate waiting.”

Jerry walked on stage and introduced the night’s entertainment, “Alexandra Spencer.”

Dean and Sam looked at Kyle confused. "Wait, Alex-" Sam began to ask.

“Just watch,” Kyle smiled before taking a sip of his drink.

They saw Alex walk on stage with an acoustic guitar in her hands. Her hair hung over her right shoulder, as she wore jeans and a white button down shirt that glowed in the light against the navy blue backdrop. She sat down on a stool and adjusted the mike better. Jerry usually got the height right, but she still had to move the mike to where her mouth would be.

"Hi everybody. Um... I'm sorry. I'm not good at this sort of thing. If it’s okay with you guys, I'll just get started."

There were no objections, so she pulled a pick out her pocket and strummed the guitar once to check if the cords were at the right pitch. After taking a deep breath, she started playing the guitar.

"I didn't know she could play the guitar," Sam said, surprised at what he was seeing.

"Neither did I," Dean added still staring at the stage. "How long has she been playing?"

"She’s been performing here for about five months, but she’s been playing for a couple years now," Kyle explained. "She started after her mom's death. It helped calm her down."

Realizing what Kyle was implying, Dean looked at him and pointed to the stage. "You mean this is because of...?"

Kyle simply nodded. "It was the only thing that seemed to make her happy. And believe me, I tried everything.”

Both brothers saw the sorrow in Kyle’s eyes and knew how hard he tried to make her happy. Before any of them could make another comment, Alex started to sing. The song was soft and matched her personality; strong yet peaceful.

"Dude," Dean began in shock. "How come she's never told us about this?"

"She was nervous,” Kyle shrugged.

"But she's singing in front of all these people every Thursday,” Dean pointed out.

"Playing in front of strangers and drunks is different than singing in front of friends and family," Kyle explained.

"But she's good," Sam said as he watched the performance. "I mean, she's really good."

"That's what I tell her, but she says I say it because I have to say it," Kyle said and leaned forward in his chair. "She doesn't think she's that great. Karaoke, I think was the word she used."

They sat in silence for the rest of the song, listening to her singing. The fact that it wasn't a rock song didn't even bother Dean one bit. He enjoyed hearing her sing and knew that Sam did too. Although, it wasn't something that he would listen to, but she was his cousin and he liked seeing her do something that she enjoyed.

When the song ended, Alex introduced a band that was going to play next. Kyle excused himself from the table and walked towards the stage to great Alex.

“I can’t believe it,” Dean shook his head in astonishment and then turned to his brother. “Well, it’s nice to know that somebody in our family has a normal talent.”

Sam nodded in agreement, but didn’t look as enthusiastic as Dean. “Too bad she didn’t live a normal life.”

“You never know. Maybe someday we can get rid of this curse and her and Kyle can live happily ever after with Hana.”

Giving his brother a skeptical look, Sam asked, “Do you honestly believe that?”

“Honestly? No,” Dean sighed. “But I’m not going to let her think that.”

Tying her apron around her waist, Alex walked up to their table alongside her husband. Alex was relieved to see that Sam was ok, despite the white patch taped to his neck. When she was crossing the room, she couldn’t help but think of him yelling at her over the phone while he was drunk. She tried to ignore it and put on a smile. “Hey, how’d it go? Did you kill the… thing?” she asked as she stopped in front of their table. Kyle gave her a kiss on the cheek before sitting back down in his chair.

“Fine for the most part,” Dean replied, looking at Sam before looking back at Alex. She nodded her head.

“Hey, you did great up there,” Sam said about her performance.

“Yeah, definitely not karaoke,” Dean added with a smile, keeping in mind what Kyle had mentioned. He still couldn’t believe his death had this much of an effect on her.

Alex blushed, looking down at the table. “Thanks.”

“Did you write that song?” Sam asked with interest.

Looking up at Sam, Alex nodded her head and explained, “It’s a hobby I do in my free time. I’m not real good at it though.” She rubbed the back of her neck, brushing her hair to the side.

“Are you kidding me? You were awesome.” Dean was happy to see Alex smile. With her hand still behind her neck, he could clearly see her bruise. It didn’t look too bad. It could have been worse, he thought, wondering if she heard him. “How’s your neck doing?”

On reflex Alex moved her hand to the spot on her neck where the small bruise was located. Even though Dean had told him about the mark, Sam was still shocked to actually see it on her neck.

“Its better,” Alex replied, shifting uncomfortably under Sam’s gaze. “Did you get your clothes?”

“Yeah, thanks for folding them up by the way.”

Alex nodded her head, “No problem. Listen, I have to get back to work. Did you guys want anything to eat or drink?”

“Um, I think I’ll have a soda,” Sam replied. He didn’t want to drink anytime soon around Alex. Once he said soda, he could see her shoulders relax with ease. It hurt him to know that she was that nervous around him.

“Yeah, me too,” Dean said.

“Ok, two sodas coming right up.” Alex walked over to the bar and knelt down to retrieve two bottles of soda from the mini fridge. When she stood up, she saw Sam standing there and almost dropped the bottles.

“Sorry,” Sam said, seeing her jolt before she quickly set the bottles down.

“It’s alright. I wasn’t expecting you,” she shrugged it off and went to grab the bottles again, but Sam stopped her.

“Um, can we talk?” he asked, hoping she would say yes.

“Uh, sure, I guess.” Alex let her fingers release the bottles and set her hands on the edge of the bar.

“Listen, I… I’m sorry about that phone call… I never should have said those things. I was drunk, but that was no excuse to say that to you. I really didn’t mean any of it. I was in a bad place and I’ll understand if you don’t forgive me. I was stupid.”

“You weren’t stupid. You were upset. You saw your brother get murdered. Anyone would be messed up after that. And I can forgive you for that, but…” Alex hesitated for a bit. Sam knew this was coming. “I’m not sure if can forget. I’m going to need some time.”

Dean watched Sam nod his head and knew what they were talking about. Seeing his brother do the right thing gave Dean hope that maybe someday everything will be ok between him and his brother. No more lies or secrets or running around behind each other’s backs. Then again that would mean he would have to tell Sam about what happened to him in Hell. Dean couldn’t let Sam know how about that or what he did. He couldn’t bear the thought of seeing Sam’s face if he told him. Maybe it was easier to lie? Yeah, right. Look how that turned out.

“You know she worries about you guys,” Kyle said, noticing Dean looking at Alex and Sam.

Dean looked at Kyle confused, “She does? Why?”

Kyle just shrugged. “I’m not sure. I keep asking, but she’s never comfortable even mentioning it.” He shook his head, looking down at his drink. “Sometimes I wonder if she’ll ever feel comfortable.”

“You know we would help with this whole curse thing,” Dean began. “But we’re kinda in the middle of something right now.”

“I know,” Kyle nodded his head. There was a pause as a look of guilt came over his face. “Sometimes I feel like a horrible father for bringing my daughter into this world. Knowing that she could possibly die from one of those things out there… I just wish I knew she would be safe. Both of them.”

“Well, don’t sell yourself short. I mean, they are both alive, so you must be doing something right. And Alex may have demons after her, but I saw the symbols etched into your door ways and windows. They’re not getting in your house anytime soon. And Alex knows how to fight. She just needs the right training and nothing can stop her.”

“It’s only a matter of time though. I don’t believe in happy endings.” Hurt and anger were written on his face at the idea. Who did have happy endings anyways?

“Well, don’t be too optimistic,” Dean replied with sarcasm.

“Dean, has Alex ever told you what happened to my parents?” Dean turned to face Kyle. “When I was ten my parents took me and my brother on a camping trip. My brother and I shared a tent. One night Brad and I wanted to go to the lake and see who could throw rocks the farthest. It was so stupid, but we wanted to do it.” Kyle chuckled at the memory. “Brad never could throw as far as me without hurting himself.”

Dean smiled at that, but noticed the tense look on Kyle’s face.

“That’s when we heard the gun shots.” Dean opened his mouth, but he didn’t say anything. “We ran back to the campsite… There was blood everywhere. Our tents were torn to shreds…” Kyle said at length, thinking about the massacre. “And our parents were gone.”

“I’m sorry,” Dean spoke quietly.

Meanwhile, back at the bar Alex handed Sam their drinks. “I’m sorry about…” Sam gestured to their necks and Alex understood what he meant.

“It’s ok. You couldn’t help it,” Alex reminded him. “Just, do me a favor?”

“Yeah, anything,” he replied, getting ready to walk back to the table.

“Try to be more careful.” Alex gave him a smile and he smiled back.

Sam nodded, “You too.” He walked back over to the table with Kyle and Dean. Sam handed Dean his drink and sat down. Since Alex wasn’t on stage anymore, they were more spread out around the wooden table.

“So, what exactly happened when you went to get Alex’s file?” Dean inquired.

Kyle took a deep breath and let out a heavy sigh. “Her doctor was a demon. I caught on to the signs a week ago when I was repairing something in the building. I had heard that her real doctor was in a car accident and made a miraculous recovery. I knew right away that he was a demon. I figure that’s when he took over the body. The look on her face when she would come home…She would avoid looking me in the eyes when she would speak to me. When I would catch a glimpse of her eyes, I could tell that she had been crying. I don’t know what he said to her, but I did know one thing. That bastard wasn’t going to live off of her pain. So I killed him.”

“Kill him?” Dean asked surprised. “With what?”

“I have a wooden stake that my grandmother found on a hunt back when my dad was just a kid,” he explained. “She said it could kill any demon.”

“Your grandmother sounds like she was quite the hunter in her day,” Dean replied with respect, taking a swig of his soda.

Kyle smiled. “She was. Still is actually.”

They continued talking about hunts and shared stories, keeping quiet when somebody would walk past their table. After a few hours the guys had finally finished up their drinks and waved good bye to Alex. Kyle headed to his grandmother’s house to pick up his daughter, while Sam and Dean drove off in the Impala.

“So, is Alex ok?” Dean asked as he kept his eyes on the road.

Sam looked down at his hands. “I messed up. I saw the way she looked at me tonight. She doesn’t trust me.”

Dean sighed, “Well, just give it some time. Alex is a forgiving person. It’s not like her to hold a grudge. I’m sure she’ll forgive you.”

“But she’ll never forget the way I treated her.”

Dean looked at his brother, but Sam didn’t look back. Sam stared out the window and knew there was only one thing he could do to make things right in the world: kill Lilith.

The End!