Chapter Text
There was nothing that could really hurt Emma. She was already dead after all, and honestly kind of good at it. She was great at fighting, enjoyed it, and lived in a world where that was the only thing that mattered. Really, once one learned to be okay with the kill or be killed rule, every other bump in the road seemed trivial. The world she knew was a violent one, but it turned out violence was kind of her forte.
Her life on earth had been about as complicated as her existence in Purgatory was simple. She was the daughter of a hunter and one of the Amazon he hunted, self destruction written into her from both sides of her family. She had died at three days old, killed by her own paternal uncle because she had been forced by her mother’s side of the family to try to kill her own father. Really, it was much easier being dead than being alive. She could rely on herself and she never really needed or expected anything from anybody.
So why did she feel panic when she heard Leviathans discuss how Dean Winchester was in Purgatory and looking for someone? Why did unfamiliar tears well up in her eyes when she heard he apparently had a plan for leaving Purgatory? She resented those tears blurring her vision, the tightening of her chest and the sudden shortness of her breath. All those put her in danger. Hope put her in danger.
No, there was no way. If her father was here, he would probably hate her for trying to kill him. If she were in his shoes, she would dispose of a daughter like that in a heartbeat. Her father was a pragmatic man, or at least she got that impression during their last confrontation. She was a monster, he was a hunter, and this was Purgatory, not a fairy tale. Not that she knew what fairy tales were like, she never got to read one.
Still, if her father were here and hunting her, she might as well try to get the jump on him, reverse the element of surprise. She waited for the Leviathans to split up, then ambushed the more well-informed seeming one for the location of the famous new human in Purgatory.
***
Hiding in the treetops, Emma’s eyes were glued to her father’s silhouette. She had recognized him instantly, despite the blood and the dirt covering his face. He and a vampire were discussing how they would get out, and what kind of a truce they could form once out there. Apparently the vampire had some leverage, since he was the one who knew about how to escape from Purgatory, but it was still reassuring to Emma to find out that even her father was willing to at least negotiate even with a vampire. It helped to tamper the fear she felt when seeing how ruthlessly he was dealing with the many enemies that were attracted by the scent of his delicious and rare human flesh. She had watched countless fights amongst monsters in Purgatory with great interest, obviously, but it was different seeing her human father, a hunter, do it. It was like the violence was not committed between two equals, but between a hunter and his prey, a righteous human and a monster who deserved it. It was like the violence was not just a fact of life, but something she deserved.
Here, a Leviathan was waiting in ambush, unaware that Dean and the vampire had clearly spotted him. Emma dared to get within hearing distance this time, unable to contain her morbid curiosity. The two men made the fight last, because they interrogated the monster, as per usual. The question Dean asked completely threw Emma off, however.
‘Where’s the angel???’ he yelled aggressively, impatiently.
Angel? Not ‘little girl’, not ‘Amazon’?
The Leviathan laughed in contempt, arrogant even when cornered.
‘And what do I get if I tell you?’
‘You get to die quicker,’ answered Dean with the coldness of someone who kills every day.
‘Screw you then, I’m already in the afterlife,’ grinned the Leviathan defiantly, despite the blade under his throat.
Dean shrugged like the consequences of that answer were utterly indifferent to him and started torturing the guy. Emma was equally impressed and scared. Dean did not seem to particularly enjoy it, but the way he tortured was striking even in this lawless land. Even after years in Purgatory, Emma had no idea Leviathans could scream in such agony. She wondered which of her human or monstrous origins was scarier.
‘WHERE’S THE ANGEL?’ asked Dean again to what looked now like just a pile of flesh.
‘I don’t know…’ answered said pile. Emma was frankly impressed it could still talk.
Dean raised his machete, ready to deal yet another blow.
‘Wait, wait! I didn’t see it myself, but I did hear there was a weirdly powerful guy by the lake up north. Maybe that’s your guy.’
‘How far away?’
‘A day’s walk or two, tops. Opposite the direction I came from.’
‘Thanks,’ answered Dean before dealing a lethal blow to the unrecognizable pile of flesh.
***
Okay, so her dad wasn’t here to look for her. A relief, frankly, given how they parted ways. Really, a relief. Emma didn’t know anything about angels, but it made more sense for a hunter to want to save one than to want to save an Amazon. Angels and hunters didn’t belong in Purgatory, but she did. Then again, that vampire (Benny?) seemed like he was getting a shot at going back to Earth. Why not her? Her dad did seem like he was a sucker for a good sob story, maybe she could convince him to take her along anyway? Or maybe he’d just kill her as ruthlessly as he killed other monsters, not hesitating now that she had so many kills under her belt. She shivered remembering the fights and torture she had just witnessed. Alright, maybe if she could convince him she wasn’t a threat, she could convince him to at least let her go if he didn’t like her request. Or maybe if he felt like he owed her a favor he would be more inclined to agree...
She waited until her monster magnet of a dad and Benny were getting ambushed by a group of five Leviathans at once, the odds not looking in their favor. This was her shot.
She took one Leviathan by surprise and warned her dad about someone aiming at him from behind him, turning the tides of the battle. It was now three against four, when the two men had gotten used to much more unfavorable odds. Needless to say it did not last much longer.
‘Hi, dad,’ said Emma, projecting more confidence than she felt.
‘… Emma?’ whispered Dean, in complete shock.
‘You had a daughter in Purgatory?’ asked Benny, looking like he was reassessing about everything he knew of Dean.
‘I… I hoped you were in Heaven.’
Emma huffed. She wanted to think it was a lame excuse, but she felt an unfamiliar, almost uncomfortable warmth in her chest at the idea that this man thought she deserved better than she had gotten. Since she didn’t know quite what to do with that, she kept on projecting false bravado.
‘What, because I didn’t succeed at killing you before I kicked it? Please, us monsters don’t get a second chance on such technicalities’ she answered sarcastically.
Dean and Benny frowned. Crap. She’d blown it. She came on too hard and now she’d blown it.
‘What do you want?’ asked Dean, cautiously.
‘I want out of Purgatory. I heard through the grapevine that you guys have a way to do just that.’
‘Dean, it don’t look to me like she was born human, do we really need to take the additional risk?’ grumbled Benny.
‘Emma,’ asked Dean, ignoring Benny, ‘why do you want out?’
Emma huffed again. ‘Why? Why do I want to be not dead? Is that a serious question? I was three days old when I died, three! Isn’t that unfair?!’
‘Okay, so definitely not born human’ mumbled Benny.
‘Humor me. What is it you want to do on Earth?’ pressed Dean.
Emma paused. She didn’t actually have a precise answer to that question. She chose to make up a plausible one.
‘...You know that stuff I told you in the apartment when I was trying to get you to let your guard down? I did mean it when I said I wanted to escape, live my own life. My mom told me, the best lies are always 90% truth. The false 10% was that I just didn’t believe I could escape my family. But if I came back now, no one would be looking for me, I could live the life I choose, discover the world without having to obey or murder anybody.’
Was that really what she wanted? It seemed plausible to her at least….
‘You’re covered in blood and entrails, young lady,’ commented Benny, unimpressed.
‘Monster entrails,’ Emma specified, rolling her eyes. ‘I won’t kill any humans when I’m back on Earth, I swear,’ she added while earnestly looking her father in the eye.
Her father looked back at her in silence for a good minute. She could feel a cold sweat build in her back. She wasn’t exactly fearing for her unlife, his attitude was not threatening, yet she had never been this scared. She tried her best to look as innocent as possible, but then again, as Benny had correctly pointed out, blood and entrails.
‘Give me a couple of days to think about it. We’re not leaving right away, anyway. You can follow us along in the meantime.’
Emma realized she had stopped breathing when she exhaled briefly in relief.
‘Thank you. You won’t regret it.’
That seemed to convince neither Benny nor Dean.