Phantom Traveler.

CHAPTER TWELVE , PHANTOM TRAVELER

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"Just try to relax—"

"Just try to shut up."

Athena frowns, slightly tilting her head side to side. "Someone's on edge..."

"What? No, no—no one's on edge."

Sam chuckles and Dean glares at his brother once again. Athena laughs quietly as the Airplane starts picking up pace. Dean's eyes widen as the wheels retract into the plane. As the flight becomes steady.

Sam pulls his brows together, hearing a rhythmic humming come from Dean. "Are you humming Metallica?"

"Calms me down." Dean exhales.

"Look, man, I get you're nervous, all right? But you gotta stay focused."

"Okay."

"We have 32 minutes and counting to track this Demon down or whoever it's possessing and perform a full-on Exorcism." Athena explains.

"On a crowded plane. That's gonna be easy." Dean grumbles.

"Hey, just...take it one step at a time." Athena gives Dean a comforting smile. "Just...breathe and do the all 3's."

Dean inhales a deep breath, "Just breathe and do the all 3's." He slowly nods his head.

"Now, who is it possessing?" Sam inquires.

"It's usually gonna be somebody with some sort of weakness, you know, a chink in the armor that the demon can work through, somebody with an addiction or emotional distress." Dean explains.

Athena snorts softly, "Who is it possessing? Me?" She jokes.

Sam and Dean turn to the girl and she stops laughing. "It's not me. I swear."

Athena points at the flight Attendant. "Well, this is Amanda's first flight after the crash."

"I mean, if I were her, I'd be pretty messed up." Dean says, shrugging in agreement.

"Excuse me. Are you Amanda?" Dean asks, the flight attendant approaching them.

"No, I'm not." The woman says.

"Oh, my mistake." Dean chuckles nervously. He slightly turns, spotting the other Flight Attendant in the back of the plane.

"All right, we'll, that's got to be Amanda back there, so I'll go talk to her, and, uh, I'll get a read on her mental state."

"What if she's already possessed?" Sam asks.

"There's ways to test that." Athena states, her finger in the air.

"You know when you state something in that nerdy tone, you don't have to hold your finger up." Dean lowers her hand.

Athena pouts.

Dean opens his bag, "I brought Holy Water."

Athena and Sam look at each other. "I'm sure there are more subtle ways." She states.

"If she's possessed, she'll flinch at the name of God." Sam speaks.

"Oh. Nice." Dean unbuckles his seatbelt and stands up.

"Psst!"

Dean turns back and looks at his sister. "What's up?"

"Say it in Latin."

"Yeah, I know." Dean says, he starts walking away.

"Hey!"

"What?!" Dean walks back over to them.

"Uh, in Latin, it's 'Cristo'." Sam adds.

Dean rolls his eyes, "I know that! I'm not an idiot!"

"Sorry."

Dean shakes his head and chuckles out of disbelief. "You two are..." he holds his hands out toward them, like he was pretending to strangle someone.

Athena slightly pulls her face back. Dean walks away from them. Sam turns to the girl and they both share a laugh.

Dean soon came back, to Athena looking through John's journal. He immediately sat into his seat. "All right, we'll, she's got to be the most-well adjusted person on the planet."

"You said 'Cristo'?"

Dean nods.

"And?"

"There's no demon in her. There's no demon getting in her." Dean buckles his seatbelt.

Athena sighs, "So, if it's on the plane, it can be anyone...anywhere."

The plane starts to shake and Dean claws the arm of his plane. "Come on! That can't be normal!"

"Hey, hey, it's just a little turbulence." Sam reassures.

"Sam, this plane is going to crash, okay? So quit treating me like I'm friggin' 4." Dean snaps.

Athena raises her brows, "I guess the 3's aren't gonna work."

"No, it's not gonna work! I don't know how that worked in the first place!" Dean inhales a deep breath.

"You need to calm down." Sam says.

"Well, I'm sorry. I can't." Dean seethes.

"Yes, you can." Athena says, her voice soft.

"Okay, you two, stow the touchy-feely, self-help yoga crap. It's not helping!"

Athena rolls her lips into her mouth, while Sam just rolls his eyes.

"Listen, if you're panicked, you're wide open to demonic possession, so you need to calm down right now." Sam says, his voice harsher than before.

Athena slowly nods her head, "Yes, what he said." She points at Sam.

Dean inhales and exhales slowly. Athena smiles softly, "Yeah, see, good—great!"

She inhales, "Now, I found an exorcism in here that I think is gonna work—the Ritual Romano."

"What do we have to do?" Dean asks.

"It's two parts." Athena states. "The first part expels the demon from the victim's body. It makes the manifest, which actually makes it more powerful."

"More powerful? How?"

"Well, it doesn't need to possess someone anymore." Sam says. "It can wreak havoc on its own."

"Oh. And why is that a good thing?" Dean questions.

"Well, because the second part sends the bastard back to Hell once and for all." Sam explains.

"First thing's first—we got to find it." Dean says.

A wide smile spreads across Athena's face and she gasps. "Sounds like this is a job for..." she grabs her Bag and takes her Homemade EMF out. "The Warbler."

"The...the Warbler...?" Sam chuckles.

Athena shrugs, "Yeah, because it makes a warbling sound." She holds it out to Dean. "Go on Warble away."

"Yeah, don't say that again." Dean grimaces. "Warble—like—"

"It's weird." Sam agrees.

"Very weird." Dean adds.

Athena scratches her wrist and sputters. "I dunno I still like it."

Dean grabs the EMF and stands up.

"Wait!"

Dean looks back at Athena.

She holds out her cat-eared headphones to him. Dean looks at the headphones then looks back at the girl. "Are you—"

He looks at Sam, who was laughing.

"Is she serious?"

Sam holds his hands up, "Hey, you have to get a clear reading."

"Can't do that without headphones. And these are the only ones." Athena bunches her shoulders.

Dean slumps his shoulders, "Athy—"

"We've got like what 20 minutes left?" Athena presses her lips together. "We're gonna die if you don't hurry."

Dean grumbles incoherent words and grabs the headphones. "I can't believe this...I cannot believe this."

Athena chuckles as Dean attaches the headphones to the EMF and puts them on. Dean immediately points at them. "Don't. Say. A word."

Sam and Athena quickly quiet their laughter, sinking into their seats.

☆

Dean lets out a small cry and jumps when Sam clasps his hand on his shoulder. "Oh! Don't do that."

"Did you find anything?" Athena asks.

"No, nothing. How much time we got?" Dean asks.

"15 minutes." Sam answers.

"Maybe if you took the headphones sooner—"

"Oh, don't start with that, please." Dean quietly whines, panic settling into him.

"Maybe we missed somebody?" Sam voices.

"Maybe the things just not on the plane." Dean suggests.

Athena deadpans, "Do you really believe that?"

"Well, I will if you guys will." Dean says.

The EMF starts to warble, catching all of their attention. They looks ahead, seeing the pilot leave the bathroom.

"What? What is it?" Sam asks.

"Cristo."

The pilot shivers, he turns to them, his eyes solid black.

Athena's eyes widen and a pit forms in her stomach.

The pilot smirks and enters the cockpit.

"Oh, Fiddlesticks." Athena whispers. She scratches her head, freezing in her spots. "What do we do? How are we supposed to...?"

"You're the genius!" Dean exclaims. He looks ahead. "Amanda. Lets tell Amanda."

"What?" Athena sputters. "No!"

"She's not gonna believe us." Sam shakes his head.

"12 minutes, guys." Dean shrugs.

They all walk towards the Flight Attendant. Amanda turns to the three siblings. "Oh, hi! Flight's it too bumpy for you, I hope."

"Actually, that's kind of what we need to talk to you about." Dean says.

Athena pokes her head out the curtain and looks around the area. She slams the curtain shut.

"Um, okay. What can I do for you?" Amanda asks.

"This is gonna sound nuts, but we just don't have time for the whole 'the truth is out there' speech right now." Dean quickly rambles.

"Okay, uh we know you were on Flight 2485."

Amanda looks at the young child behind the two grown men. "Who are you guys?"

"We've spoken to some of the other survivors." Sam states. "We know something brought down that plane. And it wasn't Mechanical Failure."

"We need your help because we need to stop it from happening again here. Now." Dean pronounces.

"I'm sorry. I-I'm very busy." Amanda stammers, she goes to walk past them.

"Wait a second!" Athena pushes between her brothers and holds her arms out, to stop the woman.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, miss Amanda." Athena says.

Dean chuckles, "I doubt she was worried about that."

"Not the time." Sam voices.

"The Pilot from 2485, Chuck Lambert—he's deceased." Athena explains.

Amanda's eyes widen, "What? Chuck is dead?"

"He died in a plane crash." Dean adds. "That's two plane crashes in two months. That doesn't strike you as strange?"

Amanda slightly opens her mouth, trying to form words.

"There was something wrong with 2485." Sam states. "Maybe you sensed it maybe you didn't. But there's something wrong with this flight, too."

"Please, Miss Amanda..."

The Flight Attendant looks at the little girl.

"...you have to believe us."

Amanda's eyes soften, seeing Athena's panicked expression.

"On...on 2485, there was this man." Amanda rubs her forehead. "He had these eyes."

"Yes. That's exactly what we're talking about." Sam nods.

"Well, I don't understand. What are you asking me to do?" Amanda asks.

"Get the Copilot. We need you to bring him back here."

"Why? What does he have to do with anything?" Amanda asks.

"Don't have time to explain. We just need to talk to him." Athena says. "That's all."

"How am I supposed to go into the cockpit and get the Copilot—"

"Whatever it takes. Do whatever is takes." Sam stammers. "Tell him there's something broken back here. Whatever'll get him out of that cockpit."

"Do you know that I could lose my job if—"

"We're talking about your life!" Athena exclaims, her hands in her hair. "You can't be a Flight Attendant without a life. Unless you wanna be a ghost Flight Attendant, but who wants to be a Flight Attendant Gho—"

"Athy, rambling. You're rambling."

Athena inhales, "I'm sorry. I get worked up sometimes."

Amanda slowly nods her head, "Okay." She sighs. She walks through the curtain and to the cockpit.

Athena pokes her head out of the curtain, seeing Amanda lead the Copilot towards them. "He's coming! He's coming! He's coming! He's—"

"Athy, we get it." Sam grabs her shoulders, pulling her away from the curtain.

"Yeah—sorry." Athena exhales.

Dean hands Athena the journal. She grabs it and notices the headphones still in his head. "Uh, Dean?"

"Yeah?"

She waves her hand over for him to crouch down. He crouches down and Athena takes the headphones off.

Dean looks at the headphones and frowns. "They were actually, really comfortable."

"You can borrow them whenever you want." Athena places them around her neck. She opens the journal to the correct page.

Sam clears his throat, "Focus, please?"

"Right, my bad." Dean voices.

"Won't happen again." Athena rolls her lips into her mouth.

Dean turns Athena around and unzips her backpack. He grabs the holy water from her bag.

The curtain pulls back, the Copilot enters. "Yeah? What's the problem?—"

Dean slams his fist into the Copilot's jaw, he tumbled to the side. He grips the Copilot's shirt and slams him into the ground. Sam duct-apes the Copilot's mouth shut.

"What are you doing?! You said you were just gonna talk to him." Amanda gasps.

"We are gonna talk to him." Athena winces, shrugging a shoulder.

Sam tosses Holy Water on the demon, his skin starts to sizzle, steam leaving his body. Athena wrinkles her nose.

"Oh My God. What's wrong with him?" Amanda asks.

Athena's mouth twitches, "Bad lunch."

"Athy!"

Athena nods, "Right—sorry." She turns to Amanda. "Miss, we're gonna need you calm. We need you outside the curtain."

"Wait, I don't understand—"

"Don't let anybody in, okay?" Athena's voice was comforting. "Can you do that?" She slightly tilts her head. "Please?"

Amanda inhales a soft breath, trying to focus. "Okay, okay, okay, okay..." she quickly exits the back, closing the curtain behind her.

"Athy, hurry up. I don't know how much longer we can hold him." Dean huffs.

Sam continues to soak her Holy Water on the demon, ignoring its cries. Athena starts to read the Latin out loud.

With each word, the demon's thrashing becomes more violent. He slaps the Holy Water out of Sam's hand. He punches Dean off of him. He then shoved Sam out of the way.

Athena's eyes widen. The demon rises to its feet, staggering towards her. She swallows and steps away from him until her back hits the wall. Athena looks back at the Latin words and continues to read off the book.

"Athena Clarke."

The girl stops reading and looks at the demon. "You have your mother's eyes."

Athena pulls her brows together. The Demon grins sinisterly, grabbing her wrist. She gasps in pain. He throws her across the room, her slamming into the wall. Athena slams into the ground, gasping for air.

"Athena!"

The auburn-haired girl grabs the journal, she lets out a soft cough, before reading again. Sam and Dean tackle the demon, keeping him in the ground once again.

"I know what happened to your girlfriend!" The demon seethes. "She must have died screaming! Even now, she's burning!"

Dean punches the demon in the face again. He turns to his younger siblings, noticing their shocked expressions; from what the demon has told them.

"Guys!"

Athena swallows and looks back down at the book. She starts to read the Latin words off the pages once again. Sam grabs the Holy Water, splashing the demon.

Athena finishes and grabs the Holy Water from Sam's hand, so he could help Dean pin the Demon down. She splashes the demon with Holy Water.

Groans and screams come from the demon before Black Smoke leaves the man's mouth.

"Where'd it go?" Athena asks.

"It's in the plane. Hurry up. We got to finish it."

The three siblings run from behind the curtain, just in time for the Plane to drop down. Athena's small body slams into the ground, not able to move. Her chest continues to press against the ground, not being able to breathe.

Dean screams his heart out, frozen in the corner. His eyes spot Athena pinned to the ground, not moving. His eyes widen and he sucks in a deep breath, before maneuvering through the plane towards his little sister. Dean picks her up, carrying her to the back of the plane.

The plane continues down toward the ground at an insane speed. Dean sits on the ground, his back pressed against the wall. He keeps his arms wrapped around her, screaming for his life. Athena screams as well, her eyes slammed shut.

"WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Dean screeches.

"WE TOTALLY ARE!" Athena agrees, tears burning behind her eyes lids.

Dean looks at his little sister in his arms. "I SHOULDVE BEEN A BETTER BROTHER!"

Athena opens her eyes, filled with confusion. "Wh-what?—"

"AND I WANTED TO BE A BETTER BROTHER BUT I WAS JUST AFRAID, OKAY?!" Dean's eyes water. "And now...now WE'RE DYING AND I DON'T HAVE A CHANCE TO MAKE IT UP TO YOU!!!"

Athena's throat tightens. Even though she was falling to her death in an airplane, she felt herself grow calmer. "I wish...I WISH I COULD EAT A MEAL WITHOUT FEELING BAD ABOUT MYSELF!!!" She screams, her tears falling out of her eyes.

Dean's heart sinks, but with even more guilt than before.

"I couldn't eat that taco. I wanted to but I...I was thinking about what other people were gonna think about me." Athena's voice was calmer, but she was sobbing. "And I...I want to know what happened to my mom! I want to know why dad hates me! I want to know why you hate me!—"

"I don't hate you, Athy!"

Athena continues to cry, "Well, you sure act like it!"

"I was jealous! I was angry!" Dean wipes his eyes. "I thought my dad moved on from my mom! I thought he moved on and it was my fault! He only went out that night because he was pissed at me..."

Athena's teary eyes soften.

"Dean—"

The airplane quickly stops shaking and Athena lets out a quiet breath. She chuckles softly and looks at Dean.

"We're not gonna die." Dean chuckles.

Athena laughs, "Looks like it."

☆

"I dunno, Chucky. That's a pretty nasty bruise."

Athen winces when Dean places the bandage over the bruise. "It's fine, I've had worse."

Dean stops and Athena swallows.

"Sorry." She softly mentions.

Dean shrugs, "You don't have to apologize for what he did to you, y'know?"

Athena pulls her brows together. She's never heard Dean actually admit that John would hurt them. It was always 'discipline' or 'teach a lesson'. This time he wasn't saying that John was helping them. Because he never was.

"And you do know that dad...didn't move on, right?" Athena asks. "I mean, just because he...procreated—"

"Out of all the words..." Dean groans.

"—doesn't mean he moved on from your mom." Athena chews the inside of her cheek. "And it doesn't mean he...loved mine or wanted me."

Realization hits the girl. He never wanted me.

"Athena—"

"You know it's true and honestly..." Athena inhales. "...I'm okay with that." She shrugs. "I mean, I was in denial at first, but...I know now that he never wanted me and it's fine. Time to move on."

Athena gives him a small smile Dean's eyes soften.

"I'm proud of you, Chucky." He ruffles her hair.

Athena laughs softly, but her smile saddens. "Hey, when we were in the plane...did you hear the demon call me Athena Clarke?"

"No, I didn't."

Oh, what do you know? He's telling the truth.

"Why would he call you that?" Dean chuckles, pulling his brows together. He scratches his ear. Athena notices.

Now he's lying.

Athena inhales, "I don't know...I mean Demons usually try to mess with people's heads, right?"

Dean shrugs, "You're the expert."

"Yes. That I am."

A knock is heard at the door and Sam opens it. "Hey! I got the movie!"

Athena tenses.

"Okay, Athy. I promise you once you watch this movie, you will come to realize just how funny Chucky really is." Dean nudges his sister, before helping Sam with the food.

Athena watches Sam and Dean open the bags. Before they dig in they look at the auburn haired girl, nervously. She shifts her gaze between Sam and Dean, a smile spreading across her lips.

"I'm...getting kinda hungry." She sighs. "Are you guys getting hungry?"

Sam and Dean smile, but their smiles drop. Athena rolls her eyes. "You guys can celebrate. I feel like this is a moment for major celebration."

That's all Sam and Dean had to hear, before shooting to their feet, clapping and cheer.

Athena laughs quietly, grabbing a bag of Goldfish.

"All hail, Queen Athy!"

"Oh, please! You are being too kind." Athena dismissively waves a hand, a terrible British against leaving her mouth. "Now, shall we get on with the film?"

"Yes, we can. But I'm going to be honest with you, kid..." Dean winces. "Your English accent was bad."

Athena raises her brows, "That bad?"

Sam presses his lips together and nods. "That bad."

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Author's Note:

Awwww they're bonding. I wonder if it'll last...