𝐆𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐫𝐬!

CHAPTER SIXTY NINE , GHOSTFACERS!

a/n : HEYYYYYYYY

━━━━━━━━━━

"Why are we going here?"

Athena was leaning against the Impala, chewing bright pink bubble gum that was quickly losing its flavor. Dean was filling up the Impala tank and giving Athena pointers. She knew how to fill a tank, but Dean had a tedious, specific way to do it.

And Sam was tired of doing that routine. So, why not get Athena to do it?

"Because we need it." Dean looks at her. "After...the police station. Things have been weird. Tense."

Athena folds her arms. Dean wasn't wrong. Lilith wiping the Police Station off the map debilitated the siblings in ways they couldn't imagine. And having Ruby rub it in her face didn't help. Athena was kind, and she was open-minded.

But a demon helping The Winchesters...

She wasn't buying it.

Not only was Dean talking about the police station, but he was also talking about Athena opening up about a part of her story.

Sam and Dean supported her, but more importantly, Athena trusted them. But after that, she was quieter. It wasn't her being mean. It felt like the opposite, actually. Athena was lighter. Warmer. There was one morning, the siblings were getting an early morning hotel breakfast, and they were sitting at one of the tables. Dean flicked a piece of a waffle at Sam's face. And Athena laughed.

Sam and Dean looked at each other, and they started laughing too. It was nice.

It felt like they were kids. Such a rare feeling.

Even though there was the rare sighting of a smile on Athena's lips, it seemed like the brothers were tiptoeing around her. The last thing they wanted was to make her feel fragile. Because she was anything but.

They had taken a break from hunting for a moment, especially with Bela disappearing off the face of the planet. The Winchesters felt stuck.

But Dean had a bucket list. A bucket list that was getting any shorter as his last year went by. What better way to get back in the zone than with an impossible hunt?

"I think this will be good for us." Dean looks at Athena. "Besides, it could be fun."

A breath of disbelief comes from her mouth. "Fun? How could dying over an impossible hunt be fun?" She looks at her older brother.

The gas pump clicks, and Dean pulls it from the Impala. "Because we've faced impossibler challenges."

Athena softly snorts and shakes her head. She sighs, and a smile finds her lips. "Impossibler isn't a word, dingus."

"I can cross that off the bucket list then." Dean inserts the pump back into the station.

"What?"

"Coming up with my own word." Dean gets into the Impala.

Athena rolls her eyes, "You're so stupid."

Sam walks out of the gas station with a bag of food. "Hey! They had donuts."

Athena furrows her brows. "No pie?" She points her head to the driver's seat. "Dean wanted pie."

"There was one left." He shakes the bag. "Cherry."

Athena frowns, "Nice. I thought you were gonna pull that "donuts are basically the same thing" shit again." She squints her eyes. "I don't get along with you guys, and even I know that's wrong."

Sam deadpans, "I got the pie, okay?"

Athena holds her hands up. "Okay. Crisis averted, then."

☆

"Guys...I think there's someone here."

Sam and Dean stop walking and turn to the girl. Athena was looking down the hall they had just walked through.

"A ghost?"

Athena hums, "No." She turns back to them. She motions her flashlight down the hall of the old house. "Like people."

"What? No."

Athens shrugs her shoulders. "I heard someone scream."

Sam and Dean look at each other, their stress levels slightly spiking.

A scream echoes through the house, and Athena presses her lips into a small smile. She can tell just by the way Sam exhales deeply and by the way Dean rolls his eyes. They were beginning to feel the stress. Something went wrong whenever a civilian was involved with one of their cases.

The three siblings followed the erratic screaming echoing around the house. They soon came across two men in a dark room, shining lights around, and talking in hushed voices. One of the men turned to the door, spotting the three figures and screams.

"Oh My God!"

"Freeze! Police Officers! Don't move!" Dean shines his light down the hall.

Sam and Dean walk down the hall, ordering the two men to show their IDs. Athena stays at the end of the hall. She figured there would be questions on why 2 police officers had a kid attached to their hips.

"Are we--are we under arrest?"

"We are unarmed."

Dean grabs the ID from one of the men. "Want to explain that weirdo outfit, Mr. Corbett?"

The man standing beside Corbett keeps his hands in the air, but his eyes on the two men. The two oddly familiar men.

"Whoa..." It clicks in his head. "I know you," he points between the men.

Sam and Dean freeze for a moment. "Yeah, sure you do." Dean brushes him off. "Give me some identification."

"Yeah, whoa, hold on a second." The man says. "I know the both of you guys. Yeah."

Corbett lets out a shaky, confused, "What?"

"Holy shit." Sam scoffs.

Dean looks at his brother, "What?"

Sam points his flashlight at Ed. "Uh, West Texas--the Tulpa we had to take out, those two goodballs that almost got us killed...The Hellhounds or something?"

Ed vigorously nods his head with pride. Dean shines his light in Ed's face, and the man smiles. Recognizing his face, Dean's shoulders drop. "Fuck me."

"Yeah, we're not Hellhounds anymore, okay?" Ed corrects. "It didn't test that well."

"Athena!"

"Ed, what's going on?" Corbett asks.

"They're not cops, Buddy--no, not at all." Ed smugly smirks.

Dean's eye twitches. A pained smile forms on his lips. "Ed, Ed, you had a partner, too, didn't you--a different guy?"

"Oh, yeah, yeah."

"Is he around here somewhere?" Dean asks.

"He's running around, chasing ghosts," Ed answers.

"Okay, well, listen, you and Rambo need to get your girlfriends and get out of here." Dean quips.

Ed laughs, brushing Dean off. "All right." he steps close to Dean. "Listen here, chisel chest, okay? We were here first. We've already set up base camp."

"We beat you."

Dean chuckles, and he looks at Sam. "They were here first."

Suddenly, Dean grips Ed by his jacket and shoves him against the creaky wall. "Ed..."

"Yeah." Ed wheezes.

"...where's your partner?"

Athena enters the room with her flashlight pointing at Sam. "What's going on?" she looks at Corbett and pulls her brows together. Her eyes then shift to Dean and Ed. Athena raises her brows with realization. "Holy shit!" she points at Ed. "Ghostfacers!"

Sam looks at Athena, "Wait, you still watch them?"

Athena shrugs, "I like to check in on them now and then." Her eyes widen. "Wait, why the hell are you guys here?!"

"Oh, Ed here was just going to lead us to his friend," Dean says, his eyes still burning into Ed. "Weren't ya, Ed?"

Ed gulps and he could've sworn he was going to piss himself. "Y-Yeah--Yeah, totally."

Dean smiles, "Well, all right." he releases Ed, and the man drops to the floor.

Ed lets out a sharp breath and straightens his jacket. He stands up straight and looks at the two men. He then looks at Athena and raises his brows. "Hey! Our biggest fan!" he then squints his eyes. "You look different."

Athena clicks her tongue, "Yeah, got in a car accident. My eyes fucked." she points at the bandaged eye.

Ed purses his lips like he is thinking hard. Dean wrinkles his nose and looks at Athena. "What is he doing?"

Athena frowns, "I don't know..."

"Your hair!" Ed snaps his fingers. "Your hair is blonde and pink."

Athena opens her mouth, "Well, yeah..." she shrugs. "I guess that's also something different about me." She looks at her brothers.

"Sucks about your eye though." Ed clicks his tongue.

Silence fills the haunted house and Dean keeps his annoyed green eyes on the ghost hunter.

"Ed..."

Ed looks at the brothers.

"Your friend. Where?"

Ed blinks, remembering his previous task. "Oh! Right, follow me!"

They follow Ed to the front of the house, where the Ghostfacers had set up their computers.

"What are you doing at the Morton House, Ed, huh?" Dean snaps. "On leap year--what are you thinking?!"

"We're here to spend the night, okay? It's for our TV show." Ed states.

"What?" Sam cranes his neck forward. He then looks at Athena and Dean. "Great. Perfect."

"Yeah, nobody's ever spent the night before," Corbett says, smiling with excitement.

Athena raises her brows and laughs. "They have, actually."

"Well, we've never heard of them," Ed replies.

Athena blinks, "Well, yeah, because they've all died."

Ed folds his arms and laughs. "Yeah? Well, guess what? I don't believe you."

Athena sighs, "Sam, open your backpack."

"Why?"

Athena turns to her brother. "Because you have the research."

Sam pulls his brows together, confused. "Why would I have the research? You were supposed to pack it."

"Because I had more important things to pack." Athena shrugs.

Before Sam could ask what she had packed, the girl turned around, revealing the black cat in the bubble bag.

"Oh, what? Athena--you brought Gil?" Sam sighs.

Dean snaps his fingers, "I knew I wasn't crazy for being all sneezy!"

"Aww, he's so cute." Corbett pans the camera to the cat.

Athena gasps, "Gil, this is your moment." She unzips the backpack and carries him out. "Hello, world! This is my baby, Gil!" Athena introduces.

"As you can see. I call him the one-eared wonder, and I, of course, the one-eyed wonder." Athena holds Gil next to her face and points between them. "I know, you don't have to say it. We're adorable."

"Athena, focus. We're trying to save lives here." Dean says.

Athena rolls her eyes. "And I'm trying to start my son's career."

Sam pulls the papers out of his bag, "Look--missing-persons reports going back almost half a century," he holds a peer with names on it. "John Graham stayed on a dare--gone. Julie Wilkerson--gone. There are tons more."

"All of them came to just stay the night through, always on a leap year," Sam explains. "The only body they ever found was the owner, Freeman Daggett."

Ed looks over the paper, "These look legit."

"They are legit," Sam says. "Look, Ed, we ain't got much time here, buddy. Starting midnight, your friends are going to die."

Three other people with flashlights, run into the room screaming. "Oh my god! Oh my god!"

Out of instinct, Dean points his gun at the two, but he quickly lowers it.

"We got one! We got one!" The man with the light on his head turns to the cameraman. "Corbett! We saw one! We saw one! It was a full apparition! It was like a class four!"

"It was a special illumination! It..." He trails off his words of excitement when he notices the three standing there. Athena, with her cat still in her arms, waves at the man. Harry instantly recognizes them.

"Hey, are those the assholes from Texas?"

Athena snickers, "Yeah. They are assholes."

"All right, let's have this reunion across the street, guys!" Dean calls out. "We'll get you ice cream--our treat. What do you say? Let's go."

None of the ghostfacers listen to Dean. Instead, they walk over to the table of computers.

"Look at this!" The woman points at the computer screen.

Everyone, including the hunters, looks at the laptop screen. A video begins to play of what the ghostfacers witnessed. "Are you kidding?" Ed gasps. "What kind of reading did we get?"

As the ghostfacers freak out over this amazing discovery, the three hunters step away from the group and stand near the staircase.

"Think we were off on this? That was just a death echo." Sam states.

"Yeah, but what's it doing here?" Dean inquires. "Did anybody get shot here?"

Athena shakes her head, "Not that I could find."

"What's a death echo?"

The Winchesters turn to the man who had his camera pointing at them. Athena wrinkles her nose. She didn't mind Gil being in the limelight, but to have that camera on her without her knowledge was something Athena didn't like.

"Look--we got a problem here. That ghost ain't it." Sam quickly says.

The man doesn't acknowledge Sam's words, he just repeats his question. "What's a death echo?"

"Echoes are trapped in a loop, okay?" Dean starts. "They keep repeating how they died over and over and over again, usually in the place where they were ganked."

"It's about as dangerous as a scary movie," Athena adds. "Then again, maybe the echo's not dangerous, but maybe something else is."

With every word Athena said, she began to grow nervous about the situation they were in. "Okay, you're right. We need to get out of here. Now."

Athena slips Gil back into the bag. "We're getting the fuck out of dodge, buddy."

The Winchetsers begin to usher everyone towards the door, caring less about their lost footage.

Before they could get out of the house, Ed yelled.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!"

Everyone looks at him. Ed looks around, "Where's Corbin?"

"Oh my god..."

Ed takes a step towards the stairs, but Dean pushes him back into his spot.

"No man left behind--"

Suddenly, a scream echoes through the house. Athena looks at the Ghostfacers as all color leaves each of their faces.

"That was Corbett," Ed whispers.

All hell breaks loose.

"Corbett!"

Everyone runs up the stairs, ignoring the hunter's screams for them to stop. When the ghostfacers disappear upstairs, Sam throws his hands up. "Shit!"

Athena sighs, "Welp..." She slips her bag back on her shoulders. "Crazy, we're all gonna die tonight, after I just started getting along with you."

She starts up the stairs, and her brothers reluctantly follow. Athena follows the screaming and makes it to the ghostfacers. Once the hunters catch up to the screaming group, Dean yells. "Hey! Hey!"

Everyone turns to him, and as soon as they do, Corbett's screaming abruptly stops.

Sam jogs over to the group, "Hey, Corbett's not here. Let's go."

"Let's go, let's go, let's go!"

They rush everyone back downstairs, despite their screams telling them to stop. Once they all got downstairs, the doors and windows were all boarded up.

"Fuck..." Athena sighs.

The group, except for the hunters, all regrouped in the front room. "Oh, god. He's gone." Ed whispers. "He just disappeared."

"Look, I know we said we were going to die but damn--" she pulls on the wooden plank that was on the door.

"Well, it's 12:04, Dean." Sam scoffs. "You good? You happy?"

"Yeah, I am happy." Dean sarcastically replies while rolling his eyes.

"'Let's go hunt the Morton house'. "You said. It's our Grand Canyon." Sam grows angrier with every word.

Athena shakes her head and looks at the ceiling. "Please stop talking..."

"Sam, I don't want to hear this--"

"Yeah, me neither." Athena huffs. "We already know Dean signed our death warrants. No need to hash it out."

Dean pulls his brows together, "Thank you...I think."

"Don't thank me." Athena scoffs. "You have two months left, Dean. Instead, we're gonna die tonight."

As soon as Athena stopped talking, Sam slammed a wooden chair against the door--it splintered to the floor.

"Whoa! What the hell is going on!" Everyone walks over to the siblings.

"I'll tell you what's going on." Sam raises his voice. Athena wipes her forehead. Recently, Athena noticed Sam's fuse has grown shorter than normal. She wasn't faulting him for it. Athena has been the same way this past year.

"Every door, every window, I'm guessing every exit out of this house--they're all sealed."

"But, w-why are they sealed?"

"It's a supernatural lockdown," Athena states. "Whatever took Corbett, doesn't want us to leave, and it's no death echo."

"This is a bad mother, and it wants us scared," Dean adds.

"Or it just wants us."

Athena frowns, "Or it just wants us dead,"

Simultaneously, everyone looks at the youngest girl. Athena blinks, "What?"

☆

"Freeman Daggett, house's last owner, officially commended for 20 years of fine service at the Gamble General Hospital."

"He's a doctor?" Dean questions.

Sam looks away from the paper, "Janitor."

Dean flashes his light around the room. "This looks like his den. When'd you say he died--'64?"

"Yeah, heart attack," Sam states.

"What are these, c-rations?"

They all turn to (Betty??), who was looking over packages.

"Yeah, army-issued, three squares--like a lifetime supply."

The woman with the camera grimaces. "God, is that all he ate?"

"One-stop shopping."

Athena points her flashlight at a locker and tilts her head. "You think we could get this open?"

Dean walks over to Athena and inspects the lock.

"Oh, come on, guys!" Ed impatiently speaks. "This is ridiculous. I mean, how the hell is this supposed to find Corbett, huh?! We should be digging up the friggin' floorboards right now."

Athena turns to the man. "We don't know where to start looking for Corbett." She says. "Maybe something here could help us get a better idea."

Ed lets out a harsh breath. "You're right."

Athena hums, "So, I've been told." She continues to inspect the safe with Dean. Athena flashes her light to another side of the house and clicks her tongue. "Ah." She walks over to the corner of the room and grabs the bolt cutters.

"Dean."

He turns to his sister and spots the bolt cutters. "Good eye—" Dean stops his words and Athena raises a brow.

"Sorry."

Athena snorts, "You weren't wrong." She walks over to her brother and holds the bolt cutters out to him.

Dean grabs the cutters and cuts the lock off the locker.

"Huh." Sam catches sight of something. "Survival under atomic attack." He picks up a small flyer. "An optimist."

Dean pulls open the locker and looks into it. He grabs the box from the locker and turns to see Spruce close in front of him with his own EMF in hand. Athena chuckles from the pure annoyance on Dean's face.

Dean pulls the lid off the box and roots through the papers. "Crap, crap, crap...Taxidermy. Okay." He tosses things out of the box."

"You said Daggett was a hospital janitor?" Dean inquires, his eyes on items he found in the box.

"Yeah."

Athena's ears perk. "Ew? Why ew?" She stands on her toes and looks over Dean's arm.

"Got three toe tags here—one, death by gunshots, train accident, and suicide."

Dean looks at Sam and the middle Winchester's nose turns up. "Ew..."

Athena looks at the toe tags again and her mouth drops in horror, understanding. "Ew..."

The Ghostfacers become even more antsy. "What? What?"

"That explains why all the death echoes are here." Sam states. They all blink at him. "They're here because their bodies are here somewhere in the house."

"Daggett brought the remains home from the morgue to play." Dean clarifies.

The entire group look at each other, their brains clicking. "Ew!"

"Oh, boy..."

Everyone looks at Athena. "Maggie." She looks at everyone else.

Dean throws his head back and groans. "I am so done with tonight."

☆

"Sammy!"

At this point in the night, everyone was screaming for either Corbett or Sam. Both of them were in the wind.

"Sammy!" Athena calls out.

Athena and Dean walk down a hall together, trying to find their brother. But they didn't get very far when they started to hear screaming from another room.

"Oh, what the fuck?!" Athena shouts, seeing the state Harry and Ed were in. They were both leaning against the wall and it looked like they were either fighting or making out?

"What the...fuck?" Athena tilts her head.

Dean growls under his breath and stalks into the room. "Hey! Hey! Hey!" He shoves between the two. "What the fuck are you doing?!"

The Ghostfacers gasp from the sudden swearing.

"Whoa—"

"Cut it out!" Dean barks. "We're down by two people."

He walks away from them and continues to call out for Sam. Athena follows close behind Dean, not looking back at the Ghostfacers. As much as she wanted to help them resolve whatever problems they had, she was more concerned about the whereabouts of her brother.

"We should go look through his files again." Athena suggests. "See if we're missing anything."

Dean nods his head. Athena watches as the flashlight shakes in Dean's hand and she lets out a small hum of worry. "We're going to find him."

Dean looks downs at his little sister. "I know. It just worries me about the state we find him in."

Athena's stomach tightens with anxiety. "Yeah."

Dean recognizes the worry now in Athena's voice and he sighs. "Now, I've got you worried too."

"I was already worried." Athena states. "I'm just even more worried."

"Yeah. Cause that makes me feel less horrible." Dean huffs.

They make it back to the room and immediately run to the piles of papers.

"What are you doing?" Harry asks.

"Okay, so Daggett was a Cold War nut." Dean explains. "He was—an amateur taxidermist. He liked to slow dance with cadavers, and all he ate were c-rations..." he rummaged through the papers, his frustration rising. "So what the hell are we looking for?!"

Athena gnaws on her lower lip and hums.

"Horrible little life."

"Yeah, a lonely life."

"Cold War life."

Everyone turns to the 13-year-old. Dean raises his brows and Athena looks at him, both of their minds going to the same place. "He was scared."

Dean drops the papers, "He was scared, he was scared..." he repeats as he rushes out of the room. Athena quickly follows after them as The Ghostfacers call after them.

"Dean! Athena!"

They walk down the stairs of the house. "Where are you going?"

"Guys like Daggett back the , the ones who were really scared of the Russkies—they built bomb shelters. I'm guessing he's got one." Dean explains. He makes it to the door. "I'll bet you it's in the basement."

Dean and Spruce are the first to walk through the door to the basement. Athena was right behind them when suddenly the door slams shut in her face. She stumbles back, "Shit!"

"Athena?!"

"Um, who closed the door?" Spruce speaks through the thick wood. Athena turns the knob, but it wouldn't budge.

"It wants to separate us." Athena softly exhales. She taps the tip of her boot against the door and sighs.

"Athena! Listen to me!" Dean shouts through the door.

"Yeah?"

"There's some salt in my duffle. Make a circle and get them inside."

Athena nods her head, "Okay, yeah!"

Ed and Harry look at each other, trying to make sense of the conversation. They whisper to each other for a moment before looking at Athena and the door. "Inside your duffle bag?"

Athena closes her eyes and leans her head against the door. "Wha the fuck..."

"In the salt, you idiot!" Dean barks through the door.

"Ohhhh, right okay—that makes sense."

Athena lifts her head from the door. "Just find Sam, I will try and keep them alive."

"Make sure you look after yourself too, okay?" Dean calls out.

Athena nods her head, "Yeah, you too."

☆

"You three get in this circle."

"What about you?" Maggie asks.

Athena lets out a breath, "I am going to be in that circle."

"Why can't we all be in the same circle? Is there like a circle limit or—"

"No, no." Athena answers. "But with the drama you three have going on, right now..." she clicks her tongue. "I'm not trying to deal with that."

"Okay, that's fair." Harry nods.

The three adults get in their circle and Athena gets into hers. She takes her backpack off her shoulders and unzips it, allowing Gil to hop out and stretch.

"Guys, I don't want to die," Harry says. "And I don't want you to die—"

"Hey, hey, Harry, listen—listen to me, okay?" Ed tries to calm his friend down. "If we don't die...it's totally okay if you, uh, do my sister."

Athena laughs, "That's so gross." She shakes her head and looks to the side.

Maggie punches Ed's arm and he groans.

"Look, as long as we stay in the salt, we will be fine," Athena says. "Dean just needs to find Sam and Corbett."

Maggie lets out a soft gasp and points her camera to a space behind Athena. The 13-year-old flinches, "Why are you doing that?--Don't do that!"

"It's coming again."

"Oh, no--"

"It's getting close, it's getting close!" Ed shakily speaks.

Athena keeps her spot in her salt circle with Gil. "Just stay calm and stay in your circle."

Out of fear, the three Ghostfacers huddle together with their arms clinging against one another. Athena turns around and looks at the ghost that just appeared. Her face drops, and so does her heart. "Shit..." She stands up, and her breathing begins to quicken.

"Oh, god. Oh, god..."

"I-it's Corbett."

Athena looks at the three; their faces all have an expression of horror. "I'm sorry, you guys." She looks back at Corbett, and there is fear etched across his face. He was terrified when he died. He was reliving his death over and over again.

There wasn't anything Athena could say or do to help them. The three grieving friends sat back on the floor, softly crying. Athena sits back down, and Gil hops into her lap. She runs her hand over Gil's black soft fur, and her own eyes begin to burn with tears.

Corbett's spirit soon disappears, but everyone is still reeling from seeing him in that state.

"Oh, God--what have we done?" Ed rocks back and forth.

Harry lightly taps his friend, "Ed, Ed, Ed..."

Ed looks at Harry through his tears and foggy glasses.

"Corbett--he's a death echo," Harry states. "He's reliving his own murder."

"Over and over forever," Maggie adds.

Athena gnaws on her lower lip. She looks around the room and lets out a breath through her nose.

Soon, Harry begins to hum the Ghostfacers theme. Athena lightly taps her nails against the wooden floor. She exhales, cold air coming from her lips. A chill rushes down Athena's spine, and she turns her head, seeing Corbett reappearing.

"Oh, no." Ed's voice trembles.

Athena looks at the three again. She knows that Corbett's a death echo and there wasn't a high chance of snapping him out of his death loop. But at the same time...

They knew Corbett well, maybe they could free their friend.

"Guys..." Athena starts. "Do you remember what Sam said earlier about Death echoes?"

They all exchange a look, but they nod their heads. Athena shifts, "Well, he's trapped. He's in a lot of pain. But you can try to pull him out of his loop."

"I thought it was rare to be able to do that?" Ed asks.

Athena nods her head, "It is." She admits. "But there's also a chance. I mean, you know Corbett. He was your friend, right?"

"Yeah, of course he was."

"Okay, then if you had a close relationship with him." Athena bunches her shoulders. "There's a higher chance to set him free."

Ed lets Athena's words sink in. He lets out a breath and stands up. "Corbett." he looks down at the circle of salt. "Corbett, it's..." he hesitates to cross the salt. Athena stands up and grabs her sawed-off shotgun. She steps over the salt of her circle. "If you're going, I'm going." Athena gives him an encouraging smile.

Ed gives Athena a small grateful nod and steps over the salt, joining her. "Corbett, listen to me. Okay, I'm not gonna hurt you." he walks closer to Corbett. "Listen." he reaches out towards Corbett. "Oh, god. Corbett."

Corbett's image begins to flicker, which freaks Ed out. He quickly walks back over to his circle. And Athena was right behind him. "Oh, I can't, okay?" he looks at Corbett. "He's not hearing me. He won't stop dying."

Harry opens his mouth, remembering something. "I-I know how we can get through to him."

Athena keeps her eyes on Corbett. "Well, anything could help at this point."

Harry nods his head. He looks back at his friend. "Ed...he had feelings for you."

Athena snaps her eyes over to the two men. "Huh?"

"He wanted you." Harry elaborates.

"He--wanted me to what?" Ed questions.

Harry raises his brows, "You know." he softly grunts. Athena wrinkles his nose, "I feel like there is a much better way to explain this."

"And you know what you've got to do," Harry says. "You can do it, Ed. You've always been the brave one."

Ed shakes his head. "Yes, you can." Harry quickly assures him. "You make us brave--Maggie, right?"

Maggie nods her head in agreement, "Yeah, you do. You totally do."

"Yeah. Athena?"

Athena snorts, "I'm a 13-year-old hunter with her own shotgun. I've been bra..." She trails off her sentence and realizes Harry is glaring at her. "...I mean, you make me so brave, Ed. Ghostfacers has taught me everything I know."

"Ed..." Harry grabbed his friend's shoulders, making sure he was serious. "You've got to go be gay for that poor, dead intern."

Athena purses her lips, "I don't think that's--"

"You got to send him into the light." Harry points at Corbett.

Ed looks at Corbett and lets out a small breath. He begins to walk back over to Corbett, and Athena stands beside him.

"Corbett, look. Hey, it's just Ed, buddy." Ed tries to talk to him. "It's just me."

Corbett was shaking and choking on his own blood. Athena couldn't imagine the fear he felt.

"Hey, hey, Corbett, listen to me. Listen to me." Ed softly speaks. "I--we..." tears form in Ed's eyes, and he takes his glasses off. "You meant...Corbett, you meant a lot to the team."

"You meant...you meant a lot to me," Ed adds. "You know, never back down...never say a bad word, okay? I remember that, Corbett. I-I remember that. I remember because I love you, Corbett."

"I really, truly love you."

Corbett's fearful whimpers and gasps for air stop. His eyes slowly shift to Ed, finally realizing he's there.

"Do you remember that? Do you?"

"Hey. Ed?" Corbett speaks in a soft tone.

Ed raises his brows in surprise, "Yeah, Corbett, it's...it's me. Look at me." his tears don't stop. "You got to help us, man. You have to help us, Corbett. Please. Please. Please help us right now."

Suddenly, Corbett disappears from the room. Ed lets out a sharp breath. "What just happened?" he looks at Athena. The girl lowers her shotgun and a smile cracks onto her lips. "I think you did it."

Ed raises his brows, "I...I was gay?"

Athena chuckles, "No, you just...told Corbett the truth." she looks at him. "You loved him."

"So...?" Ed softly urges Athena towards the answer he wanted.

Athena pulls her brows together. Why does he want to be gay so bad?

"Yes, Ed. Yes, you were gay."

Ed turns to Harry with his hands up and they both cheer.

Athena shakes her head, but she ends up laughing.

☆

In memory of Alan J. Corbett, 1985-2008

King Of The Impossible

The video ends, leaving the Winchesters staring at a black screen.

"So, guys, what do you think?" Ed waits for the siblings to say something.

Sam and Dean exchange a look, then they look at Athena. The girl's arms were folded with her blonde and pink hair curtaining over her face.

"Thena? You okay?"

Athena softly hums, "Yeah, I'm good." She claps her hands. "And so is this episode. Might be your best one yet." She sniffles.

"Are you crying?" Sam pulls his brows together.

"No!" She snaps her head up, revealing her running mascara. "Not...anymore." She wipes her eyes.

Ed smiles, Athena looks at the group. "I'm serious about this being really good."

"You know," Dean wipes his eyes. "I kind of think it was half awesome."

The group begins to get excited. "Half awesome—that's full-on good, right?"

Athena glances at Sam and he gives her a nod. The girl internally whines. She hated doing this, especially since she was not only huge fans of the group but they truly did honor Corbett in a beautiful way. But Athena knew what would happen if this footage got out.

Sam sets his beer down and turns to the group, catching all of their attention. Athena slips her hand into the bag under her chair and flips the switch on to her machine.

"Yeah, yeah—I mean, it's bizarre how y'all are able to—to honor Corbett's memory while grossly exploiting the manner of his death." Sam presses his lips together. "Well done."

"Yeah, that's a real tight rope you guys are walking." Dean adds.

Athena nods her head and stands up along with her brothers. "Take care." She waves at everyone. Before the Winchesters could leave the room, Ed speaks up.

"No, that's reality, man."

The siblings turn to the group.

"Yeah, Corbett gave his life searching for the truth, and it is our job over here to shade it with the world." Ed explains to them.

Sam chuckles, "Right. Well, um, our experience. You know what you get when you show the world the truth?"

"A straight jacket or a punch in the face—sometimes both." Dean adds.

Athena frowns, she doesn't even bother entertaining anyone with the truth.

Harry scoffs, "Oh, come on, guys, don't be 'Facer haters because we happen to have gotten the footage of the century."

"Oh, yeah." Ed adds, smug written across his face.

Athena sighs. She really tries hard to like these guys. Then they say things like this and it makes doing these things. So. Much. Easier.

Athena clicks her tongue and looks at her brothers. "That's our cue."

"You got us there." Dean sucks in a breath. "Yeah, well, we'll see you guys around."

Athena sends them a wave before leaving with her brothers. Ed closes the door behind them and turns to the group. Harry rolls his eyes, "Dicks."

"Oh, yeah."

The entire group agrees. Ed clicks his tongue, "Athena did help me be gay to send Corbett into the light, though." He says. "Without her we would all be dead."

"She is our biggest fan, after all."

"So, in other words..." Harry holds his arms out. "We helped her help us."

"We are our own saviors."

"We clean?" Sam asks.

Athena looks at her watch, "We should be riiiiight..." she points at the house and scream of devastation comes from the building.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOO"

Athena smiles, "We're good."

Sam and Dean laugh. The siblings all get into the car and Athena sets her backpack beside her, allowing Gil to jump out.

"Electromagnet wipes out every tape and hard drive they have." Athena explains. It felt nice being able get back into inventing. For Athena, it was like riding a bicycle. If she knew how to ride a bicycle.

"The work just isn't ready for the Ghostfacers." Sam sighs.

"That's too bad. I kind of liked the show." Dean says.

Athena nods her head in agreement.

"Had its moments." Sam agrees.

"I'll tell you one thing, that theme song? It's going to be stuck in my head for a while." Athena leans back in her seat.

"Ghost, Ghostfacers."

Sam shakes his head when Dean starts to sing. "No, no. We are not going to start singing that song."

Dean stops and he glances at the rear view mirror, catching Athena's mischievous gaze.

Simultaneously, Dean and Athena start belting.

"GHOST, GHOSTFACERS!!! STAY IN THE KITCHEN WHEN THE KITCHEN GETS HOT!!!"

Sam sighs and presses his head against the window. "I should've seen this coming."

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author's note.

we're almost done with season 3 😟

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