CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nyx hears gunshots inside Bobby's house as soon as they pull up outside, and she looks at Vicki and Elena. "Stay with the twins. You do not leave them alone!" She yells as she and Jess run for the door.

"Nyx." Bobby mutters when he sees the brunette.

"Reunion later. What are we dealing with?"

"Spirits — a lot of 'em." He tells her, and she goes for the fireplace. She grabs the poker and tosses it to Jess.

"What repels spirits?"

"Salt and iron." Jess says, and she smirks.

"That's my girl. Cover him, you do whatever he tells you." Nyx says and then picks up a shotgun from the desk.

"Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood." He says, and both girls immediately move in that direction when they hear something in there.

Nyx opens the door and she sees Agent Henrikson with his hand inside Dean's chest. She walks over and raises the shotgun. The spirit looks at her, and she pulls the trigger.

"Which drawer?" Jess asks as Nyx moves for Dean, who collapsed on the floor.

"Right there." She points and then kneels down beside him. Her hand rests on the side of his face as he catches his breath. "Hey, I got you. I got you, come on." She says, and he looks up at her.

"Nyx..."

"Wormwood? I don't remember covering that one in class, teach." Jess says as Nyx makes Dean stand up.

"It's right...here." She pulls it out of the drawer. "You got the hemlock and opium?"

"Yeah." The blonde nods, and they all head back into the living.

"You keep with Bobby." Nyx tells her as she reloads one of their guns.

"Ronald. Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals." Dean's saying as Sam comes back downstairs with Lexi.

Jess' back is to them, so he doesn't see her face. And Dean didn't really get a good look at her either, he was too distracted by and focused on Nyx.

"That's when I was breathing." Ronald says, watching Dean. "Now, I'm gonna eat you alive."

"Yeah, I don't think so." Nyx raises her gun and blows him away with the rocksalt.

Jess is helping Bobby put the proper amount of the different ingredients into his bowl. The windows blow open and wind comes in, breaking their salt line barrier.

"I should've known that you were lying through your teeth." Henrikson says as he pops up in front of Nyx. "You never had a bad word for Dean, always talking about what a great man he was when you were with him. Most girls in your position would've hated him. But still, your little ruse with the other guy was convincing."

She raises her gun and shoots him. The dead agent disappears, and then Sam quickly shoots Meg's spirit. They keep firing and reloading their guns as quickly as they can. Nyx's gun suddenly flies out of her hands, and she goes for another​, but it's empty.

"Nyx!" Jessica yells, and the brunette turns to look at her. She quickly tosses the iron poker to her, and Nyx swings it through Henrikson.

A desk scoots across the floor before pinning Sam to a wall. Bobby continues chanting in a foreign language until Meg shows up behind him and puts her hand in his chest.

"Fireplace." Bobby barely manages to get out, and Jess quickly takes the bowl from him. She throws the contents of the bowl onto the fire and a bright flash of blue-ish white light shoots out from the fire.

The light disappears just as quickly as it came, and the two boys go for Bobby to get him off the floor. Jess looks at Nyx, and the brunette smiles at her.

"Damn, girl. You catch on fast." Nyx says, and Jess smiles.

"This is the part where you say something cheesy about how the student has surpassed the master." The blonde says.

"Pfft." She scoffs. "That was your first official-unofficial job. Let's see how you do in the outside world first."

"Is it safe to come in?!" Elena calls, and Nyx looks toward the door.

"Yeah, we're good!"

"Hey." Jess nudges Nyx and then motions to where Dean's watching her.

"You know..." Nyx smiles as she looks over at him. "You look just like this guy I used to date. He was strikingly handsome, selfless to an annoyingly admirable fault...but still made some decisions that really pissed me off. But damn, he had the most gorgeous eyes."

"Yeah? What happened?" Dean asks as he moves toward her.

"Mm. My sister's a bitch when her humanity's off, and his brother has the worst luck with demons."

"God, I missed you." He says as he rests his hands on either side of her face.

"Yeah, I know the feeling well." She nods, and he leans down and presses his lips firmly against hers. She smiles into the kiss and then he rests his forehead against hers.

"Jess?" Sam's voice catches their attention, and they both turn to them.

"Hi." She smiles awkwardly as she looks at him.

"What are you— How are you..." He looks between her and Nyx.

"Yeah, we all have a lot of catching up to do." Nyx nods. "Short version first — Sam, she's really alive. And I told her everything. I had to. I taught her everything that I know. And I know it's not what you wanted, but it's what she needed. It's what she wanted."

Vicki takes the twins up to their bedroom and keeps them preoccupied while the others clean up the house from the ghost attack. Once it's all taken care of, they end up in the living room. Nyx and Jess fill the others in on everything — minus Bonnie, Jenna, and Kai — while the twins play on the floor.

"So, she's read Dad's journal?" Dean asks, and Nyx nods. The two of them are sitting on the couch.

"More times than I can count." Jess nods.

"We should let her see it now. I know it's got tons more information than it did eighteen years ago." Nyx says.

"Oh, can I?" The blonde asks.

"Why don't we let him take a breather first?" Dean motions to his brother, who looks a little dumbfounded by all the information that he's trying to digest.

"Yeah." She smirks.

"So..." Elena gets their attention. "What's it like to be human again?" She asks her sister.

"It's...weird." Nyx says. "Tyler was right, everything feels different." She says as she looks down at hers and Dean's hands. He's got one wrapped around her, but his other is holding hers.

"What do you mean?" Dean asks.

"Everything was heightened before — every emotion and every sense. Some of it was good, but mostly it was overwhelming." She tells him. "Do you remember how I said that we needed to break up because we didn't feel like us anymore?" She asks, and he nods.

"Not a fun day."

"Tell me about it." She scoffs. "My fears were on overdrive, as well as my temper. And I was really angry. It was hard to get a handle on it. That's part of the reason I pushed you away so hard. I was afraid that I'd snap..."

"Anger is the easiest emotion to transfer into hunger." Elena says, and Nyx nods. "It's easy to drown in it."

"I was angry that the twins were in the hospital, and even more that I couldn't be with them anymore. I was angry I had them too soon, furious that it was my fault because I didn't listen to you. I was mad at Klaus for hurting me to the point that Stefan had to heal me, and pissed beyond words at Rebekah for having me killed. I was mad that I was a vampire, and that being near you was so damn hard all the time. Which also brought with it a lot of shame — you know, that I wanted to..." She clears her throat. "I felt really guilty too, because I saw how much my actions hurt you. But I was also mad that you didn't understand what I was going through, but of course you didn't. You can't understand it if you don't know what it feels like for yourself. And I was afraid that I was going to lose you one way or another because I couldn't control what was happening to me. Which, of course, made me even more angry and ashamed of myself." She shakes her head. "It was this endless cycle."

"I'm sorry." Dean says, and she looks up at him. "I know that I didn't make it any easier."

"It doesn't matter anymore. I feel like me again." She tells him. "And it is such a relief to be human. No more bloodlust or having to feed — Stefan's diet is disgusting." She says, and Elena, Lexi, and Vicki laugh. "What about you Vic? Are you happy to be human?"

"Hell yes." She nods. "And I'm gonna do it right this time. I am not screwing up my life because my father's a loser. I owe you everything, Nyx. I'm here because of you."

Nyx smiles as she looks down at the twins. "You already paid me back." She tells her. "Clean slate, for everything. What do you say?"

"Sounds perfect." She smiles.

"Hey, is there anyone in this room — besides the twins — who's never died?" Elena asks, and they all look at Bobby.

"I think I win." He says, and they all laugh.

Nyx's phone starts ringing, and she pulls it out of her pocket. "Oh, dear God." She mutters as she hits answer and puts it on speaker. "Dude, we were stuck together for four months. You should be sick of me by now."

"I have a progress report." Damon tells her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I was your mother, and you were in elementary school."

"You're a pain in the ass, you know that?"

"It's all part of my charm." She smiles as she takes a swig from Dean's beer. "What do you want?"

"Turns out, Donovan's not completely useless." He says. "He found Tripp in Mystic Falls and now he's tied up in the building that he was keeping Enzo."

"You know, I'm conflicted on how to feel about him. On the one hand, he kidnapped me from my sister's dorm, and tried to kill me rather painfully. But on the other hand, I'm human because of what he did, so..."

"I'll have Enzo give him a good punch for you anyway." He says, and she simply shrugs. "Are you and Jess alright?"

"Aw, how cute." Jess smirks. "He's concerned for us now that we're in the real world. He thinks we'll get hurt."

"We're human, Damon, not invalids." Nyx tells him. "We'll be fine."

"Yeah, with boyfriend one and boyfriend two?" He asks, and Nyx laughs at the awkward look exchanged between Jessica and Sam. "They're in the room, aren't they?"

"I love speaker phone." She says, and Vicki laughs as Jess shoots her a dirty look.

"Hey, I have someone who wants to talk to you." He tells her.

"How are you feeling?" Ric's voice comes through the phone, and she smiles.

"I'm fine. There's not even a mark." She tells him as her hand moves to her stomach. "I have no idea what happened or how Vicki and I are alive... And I'm not gonna ask any questions about it either. I'm just gonna be grateful and move on."

"Amen to that." Vicki raises her beer into the air and then takes a drink.

"How are you?"

"Jo had me transferred over to Whitmore, and I'm on morphine, so I'm feeling pretty good." Ric tells her, and she laughs.

"I like your new doctor girlfriend. Remind me to buy her... I don't know, whatever she likes." She says. "I seriously owe this woman for saving you."

"I'll take a bottle of wine." A female voice comes through the phone.

"You got it. Next time I'm in town, you have my word." Nyx tells her. "And Ric... Thank you for everything. You risked your life to save me, and you almost lost it. Not to mention everything before you died, and then while we were on the Other Side..."

Vicki looks down, and it's clear that Nyx has something specific that she's talking about.

"I will always be here for you, kid." Ric tells her, and she smiles.

"Hey, uh... Do you remember when we were on the Other Side, and Enzo and I were fighting at Caroline's dad's old cabin? He had just tried to drown Elena, and then he was trying to stake me..." She clears her throat. "You threw him across the room, and that looked super badass, by​ the way." She says, and he chuckles.

"You're asking if I remember what I said, and if I meant?" He asks, and she nods, even though she knows he can't see her. "Is that really a question after all this time?"

She smiles. "No, I guess not. But, you know me..." She chuckles. "Overthinking."

"I'm glad that you're okay. And I'm glad you're back with the twins and Dean again." He says, and she looks back at her boyfriend. "And Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"You hurt my daughter, and I'll come for you." He tells him. "I may not have been a hunter as long as you, but I'll have a motivation to kill you that you haven't fully grasped just yet."

"Yes, sir. Understood." Dean nods.

"Can I please have the twins call you Grandpa?" Nyx asks.

"They already do." Vicki tells her. "Bobby too." She says, and a smile spreads across Nyx's face as she looks at Bobby.

"Good." She nods, and Bobby smiles; they can hear Ric laughing.

"Well, I need my phone back, Gramps. I'm gonna go help Enzo." Damon tells him.

"Oh, I so don't want any more information than that." Nyx shakes her head. "I'll talk to you later, Ric."

"Oh my God." Jess says suddenly, and they all look at her. "We don't have to have pancakes for breakfast anymore." She says, and Nyx starts busting up laughing.

"Hey!" Damon yells. "I make damn good food, and those pancakes were delicious."

"Yeah, especially after Nyx would drown them in whipped cream." She says, and Nyx tries to stop laughing as she pulls Dean's arm tighter around her and uses it to cover her mouth.

"You are both so damn annoying." He says. "How can you two possibly be so alike and so damn..." He sighs as he shakes his head.

"I had a great teacher." Jess says with a smile, and Nyx chuckles as she looks up at Dean.

"Can we all go to breakfast tomorrow morning?" She asks. "I want eggs, and bacon, and sausage, and anything else that I can order."

"Whatever you want." Dean says, and she smiles at him.

"I think I'll get some good pancakes." Jess says, and Nyx starts laughing again.

"I'm hanging up now." Damon says and the line goes dead.