Everyone had decided that it had been a long day and they should get some sleep before using a Ouija board. Sully hadn't even looked enthused that they were waiting until the next day. He didn't want it anywhere near his daughter. The hunting life wasn't going to be hers if Sully had anything to do with it—Kelsey was a strong believer that it was Violet's choice.

            That being said, everyone had gone to sleep. Except Leila. Who sat at the dining room table with her legs crossed underneath her. She had found a small candle in a cupboard in the living room and lit it with a set of matches that she'd pocketed after using. (She wasn't proud of it.) (Maybe she was a little.)

            Reading the small book she'd managed to bring in the Impala—the keys of which might've also been in her pocket but she would neither confirm nor deny—Leila was silent as she sat there. Her eyelids felt heavy, but not enough that she was going to fall asleep at the table. She had a bed. Kelsey had made one up for her. It wasn't the lack of bed making her unable to sleep. It was the lack of action. The idea that if she woke up, Dymphna could've done something that could've been prevented if she was awake.

            A noise of surprise drew Leila out of her reading when she jumped.

            "Shit, you scared me. What are you doing up?" Leila turned to see a fully dressed Sully Mateo with a hand over his heart, staring at her like he'd seen a ghost. She was certain she still felt like one, maybe her body had picked up on that. "It's four o'clock in the morning."

            "I don't... no offense meant here," Leila started as she fiddled with another match to light the candle again. Sully eyed the matches but didn't say anything as she pocketed them again. "I don't feel comfortable sleeping with everything going on. And I don't really know this house."

            "No offense taken," Sully said. "It'd be strange if you were comfortable with it."

            "Why are you up?" Leila said. "Don't parents, like, cherish sleep when they can get it?"

            Sully chuckled. "Believe me, I'd be asleep if I was allowed to." He stuck his hand in his pocket and walked toward her, handing her a card.

Leila looked at the card for a moment. A simple head shot, Sully's—Sullivan's—full name, a barcode, and a hospital name. She handed the card back. "You're a doctor?"

            "I am. And I gotta head to work soon," Sully said. "Mum never mentioned that over Hanukkah?"

            "I mean, she did," Leila said. "But I thought she meant... I don't know, like general PhD. I wasn't in a good spot. And there was the whole thing with Judah Macabee. And... sorry."

            "Don't be sorry," Sully said, pocketing the ID card again. "Mum told me some of what happened. You're not supposed to be okay after something like that. And if you are... well, we've got other problems than a Saint that wants to kill everyone if you do."

            "Has that ever happened to you?" Leila asked.

            "Being used as a vessel?" Sully quirked an eyebrow.

            Leila swallowed hard and nodded.

            Sully shook his head. "No. But I understand it. Mostly. I've read a lot of books on it. You know, when I was hunting."

            "You were a hunter?" Leila asked.

            "I was," Sully said. "Until I wanted to go to medical school. I was probably about your age when I stopped to follow that. Got pulled in a little bit by mum a couple years ago, though. But I'm mostly just Doctor Mateo now."

            "Dean made it sound like I don't have a choice now. To... to avoid hunting."

            "You always have a choice." Sully reached into a cabinet and pulled out two glasses in the dim light.

            "I didn't finish high school."

            Sully motioned to the ceiling with his hand. "Wouldn't be the first time someone sleeping under this roof faked some kind of documentation. I'll tell you that. You can fake an ID, you can fake a GED."

            "Really?" Leila sat up a little straighter.

            "Or you could finish high school equivalency," Sully said. "Up to you."

            "I... what would I do with that?"

            Sully shrugged. When he opened the fridge, Leila winced from the sudden light in the room. "You can do whatever you want with it."

            "I like painting," Leila said. "It's all I did at the hospital. And at... at Alisabeth's."

            "There's a great art school near here. High school equivalent needed to enter," Sully said as he kicked the fridge door shut once he grabbed a carton of something Leila couldn't quite make out. "Do you want to go to college?"

            Leila's eyes widened. "I, um... I never really thought about it."

"Light warning."

Sully placed the glasses down on the table in front of Leila and turned to flick the light switch on. She winced again as her eyes adjusted to the light, but blew out the candle when her eyes were fully open again.

            "Sorry," Sully said, unscrewing the cap on what Leila now identified as orange juice. "No good way to do that."

            "It's okay."

            "You know," Sully said. He poured the juice into the glasses and slid one towards Leila, taking a long drink for his before talking again. "Art school's only a suggestion. You don't have to go to school if you don't want to. I mean, we also just met. So you don't have to listen to anything I have to say, really."

            "I just... never really thought about it as an option," Leila said. She tugged at the sleeves of Dean's flannel as she tried to make sure that Sully couldn't see the scars that lined her arms. The last thing she needed to admit to was that Leila hadn't thought of going to art school because she hadn't thought she was going to live that long. "I still had a whole year to go when I left. And when I..." Leila cleared her throat.

            Sully pointed to the book on the table. "What are you reading?"

            Leila looked at the tabletop. She took the book in her hands and flipped it to look at the cover. Even though she knew exactly what it was. "Oh, um. The Outsiders."

            Sully smiled softly. "That's a great book."

            "Yeah," Leila said. "I read it at least ten times when I was with Alisabeth."

            "I read it a lot was a kid too," Sully said. "I think that was my copy."

            "Do you want it back?" Leila asked quietly.

            Sully chuckled softly and shook his head. "Nah."

            "Are you sure?"

            "Course," Sully said, downing the rest of his orange juice. "Look, I gotta go to work. You can keep reading but... you know, the Winchesters, God forbid, are good people. Kelsey and I want this to end as much as you do. It's thrown everything off. You can trust us. Try to get some sleep if you can. I know it feels like the world is going to shit, and maybe it is, but you can't do anything about it if you're not in the right headspace. Okay?"

            Leila nodded. "Okay."

            Sully grabbed his keys and opened the door. Before he stepped out, he looked back at Leila with a small smile on his lips. "If you tell Dean I said he's good people, I'll deny it. That's between us."

            Leila let out a small laugh. "Got it."

            "Try to get some sleep, kid," Sully said. "But there's a couple S.E. Hinton's in the living room if you can't and feel like some new material."

*****

Although Sully had been extremely vocal about how using a Ouija board in his house was a terrible idea, Leila sat cross legged with her hands on the planchette while the Winchesters, Sully, and Kelsey stood around her, leaning against various walls and furniture. Sam had Violet in his arms. Candles were lit around her, the lights turned off.

            "Um, hi," Leila said, moving her hands to spell hello. She was slightly embarrassed by how much her voice was shaking. "Um..." She looked up at the group around her. "Do I just talk? Or...?"

            Sam and Dean exchanged looks. They both looked at Sully.

            Sully's eyes widened. "No."

            "Come on, Sully," Kelsey said. "You... you would know better than us if something's going bad."

            "Yeah," Sully said. "And I can do that from here."

            "Sul," Sam said. "Please?"

            Sully fought an eyeroll. "Please know, I don't condone this." He walked over to and sat down in front of Leila. "No offense."

            "None taken," Leila said as Sully adjusted how he was sitting before placing his hands on the planchette.

            "Hi, I'm Sullivan." Sully looked around the room while he spoke. Like he was keeping an eye out for something—anything—that could pick up on the Ouija board. Maybe he could; Leila didn't know. "You can call me Sully. We're looking for..." Sully looked at Leila expectantly.

            "Um, Greg," Leila said. "Greg Halliday. Um. Should we spell it out? I thought I read that somewhere..."

            It felt weird saying that name out loud again. It had been a long time. Greg had been gone longer than Leila felt like he had been. Then again, she'd known him for a long time when he was alive. How could she possibly forget him in death?

            Sully's eyes still scanned behind Leila. Just past any feature of hers he could possibly focus on. Like he was looking right through her. "No, he'll come if he wants to. Try asking a question. Something simple."

            "Okay..." Leila pressed her lips together as she tried to think of something to ask. "Can you hear me?"

            "Try something a little more personal," Kelsey said gently. "It'll help him find you a little better."

            Leila looked at Sully, who nodded encouragingly, meeting her eyes for the first time since he'd sat down. "I'm right here," Sully said softly. "If it's anything bad, we can shut down the connection. You've got this."

            Leila looked back down at the board again. At her and Sully's hands on the planchette. "Greg, if you're there. What's... our hometown?"

            Stealing a glance at Kelsey, she received a small thumbs up from her. Leila's eyes widened when the planchette started moving. She nearly tore her hands off the triangle when Sully pinned them there.

            "It's okay, it's okay," Sully said, watching the planchette move. "Keep your hands on it."

            It spelled out F, A, I, R, F, A, X before stopping on the X, awaiting the next question. Leila swallowed hard. Sully's eyes were beside her, staring at something Leila wasn't sure anyone else could see. She sure couldn't.

            "Go ahead," Sully said. "He's listening."

            "Do I just hop right in?" Leila asked, turning toward Sam and Dean. She almost pulled her hands off again when the planchette moved to YES. Drawing in a deep breath to keep her panic levels at minimum, Leila asked, "Have you heard of Saint Dymphna?"

            A pull away before returning to YES.

            "Careful using her name," Sully said. "I don't think he's a fan."

            Leila frowned. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. Um, I was wondering if you could help us."

            WHAT.

            "Um, well," Leila said. "Well, we're in trouble. And... and if we don't have someone, um, not alive... help us, it could mean a lot of other people could die. But if you could help us, you could really save a lot of people's lives."

            An image flickered in Leila's periphery. She was certain she wasn't imagining it based on the wide eyes from the group away from the board. Leila swallowed hard.

            "Are we still good?"

            "Yeah," Sully said. Eyes where Leila was certain something had just been.

            YES, the board—Greg?—replied at the same time.

            "But you need to stay calm," Sully said. His eyes flicked to her so quickly before looking back at the air that Leila thought she might've imagined it.

            "I am calm."

            "I can feel your hands shaking."

            BREATHE.

Despite her body seemingly wanted to let out only short breaths, Leila drew in a deep breath. Then another. Then another. In through the nose, out through the mouth. "Um, we need a vessel. Someone to hold... her back from using her full powers. But we can't just... um, have anyone. They have to be dead. Otherwise she uses—" Leila didn't know why her eyes were tearing up. Why her throat felt like it was closing. "—life... life force energy... and she hurts people. And we think everything's... only going to get worse. If we can't... if we can't stop her." Leila's lip trembled and a few tears fell down her cheeks.

            "Sully, shut it down," Dean said.

            "He's not going to do her any harm."

            "Sully."

            "Shut up, Dean." Sully couldn't tear his eyes away from the air where Leila had seen something flicker.

            Leila could barely see from how blurry her eyes were. She drew in a loud sniffle. Loud enough that she could see the blob that was Sullivan Mateo turn in her direction. "Um—"

            "Thanks for talking to us today, Greg. I know it's not always easy. But we gotta go now, okay?" Sully asked. Leila felt her hands move to YES again. "Thanks, man. We'll try to talk soon but for now, goodbye." Sully pushed the planchette towards Leila to say GOODBYE and immediately pushed the board away so he could lean forward. "Hey, hey, hey. You're here. You're okay."

            Leila put her head in her hands as she tried to take a couple more breaths. They came out as short gasps.

            "Kid, you're okay," Dean said. His voice was closer than it had been when he was watching the Ouija board session. "She's not there anymore."

            Leila leaned in the direction Dean's voice had come from and felt a pair of arms wrap around her as she buried her face in a t-shirt. She thought she was going to be okay. That talking about Dymphna and what had happened was done affecting her.

            "You're good," Dean whispered. "It's okay."

            How did Greg still hold that much on her? Leila knew that the first death she experienced in her life was going to have a lasting impact. Mix it with her head post-Dymphna and she was in for murky water for a brain. Nothing worked right. Everything reminded her of things that made her too sad to function properly. Not that her brain knew how to function properly in the first place.

            "Leila." Sully's voice was close too. "You are not what she did to you. And this isn't your fault."

"We're going to figure this out together," Sam said. Also closer than Leila had remembered him being. "This isn't something you're going to fight alone."

            "Let it out, kid," Dean said. "Just let it out."

*****

[ a.n. ] hello again! A quick update for you because I caught the writing bug. Hope you enjoyed, please comment, vote, and fan if you did!

See you one the next one. Hope you're staying safe.
Jordin