Supernatural

Figment of Your Imagination

Bobby sighed in tiredness, relieved that he could finally take a much needed break, accompanied by a much needed beer. After a long day he decided to call it quits until tomorrow. He barely had a taste of his beer, when the sound of knocking came from the front door. He looked in that direction and considered pretending he wasn't home, but his curiosity got the better of him.

Bobby opened the door startled by the sight that greeted him. He noticed the bruises right away and then the fear in her eyes.

"Shayla?" Bobby said.

Shayla looked at him, but couldn't find the words to respond.

"Come here," Bobby said, guiding her inside, "What happened?"

Shayla still didn't respond, so Bobby said, "Are you hurt?"

Shayla looked at Bobby fighting tears. "Bobby…" she whimpered as she hugged him. Concerned about her, he gently hugged her back for a few seconds.

"Maybe you should sit down," Bobby said, leading her to the couch. He poured her a drink and offered it to her, but she refused, pushing his hand away.

"You're shaking," Bobby said, "This will calm your nerves."

Shayla took the glass and finished off the drink.

"Okay," Bobby said, putting the empty glass on the table, "Can you tell me what happened?"

Shayla hesitated to answer.

"Shayla, I need to know…." Bobby started.

"Dean," Shayla said, cutting him off.

"What?" Bobby said, "Did something happen to Dean?"

"Where is Dean?" Shayla said, panic in her voice.

Bobby opened the door to Sam and Dean. Entering the house, Dean said, "Where is she?"

"Upstairs," Bobby said, "I think she finally stopped shaking."

"What happened to her?" Sam said.

"She won't say," Bobby said, "Something's scared her bad."

"You said on the phone, she was in a fight?" Dean said.

"Looks like it," Bobby said, "She's a little banged up."

"I'm going to see her," Sam said, heading for the stairs.

"Hold on," Bobby said, "She asked for Dean…not for you."

"I'm her brother too," Sam said.

"We don't know what's going on with her," Bobby said, "We don't want to overwhelm her."

"You think I would overwhelm her?" Sam said.

"Bobby, if Shayla's in trouble I'm sure she wants both of us," Dean said, approaching the stairs.

Sam looked at Bobby and hesitated for a few seconds, before following his brother.

Dean stood in the upstaris open doorway, observing Shayla as she looked out the window. Gently knocking Dean said, "Shayla?"

Shayla turned at the sound of Dean's voice, relief washing over her. She rushed over and hugged him.

"Hey," Dean said, noticing how tight she was holding on, "Are you okay?"

"I'm so glad you are," Shayla said, "I thought for sure you were going to be next."

"For what?" Dean said, "I'm okay." Dean looked at Shayla, concern crossing his face when he saw her scratches and bruises. "What happened to you?"

"I don't understand why…" Shayla started, stopping when she saw Sam enter the room. "What is he doing here?" she said.

"Are you okay?" Sam said.

Grabbing Dean's arm, Shayla cried, "Get him away from me!"

"Shayla?" Sam said, "It's me, it's Sam."

"Stay away from me!" Shayla yelled.

"Okay," Sam said, as Bobby rushed to the doorway, "Everything's going to be alright. What happened to you?"

"As if you don't know," Shayla said.

"I don't," Sam said.

"You're going to stand there and feign innocence, after what you did?" Shayla said.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Sam said.

"What did Sam do?" Dean said.

"He killed him…" Shayla said.

"Who?" Bobby said.

"Cas," Shayla said, "Sam killed Cas."

Dean looked at his brother.

"You can't be serious," Sam started, "I didn't kill anyone, least of all Cas."

"Just like you didn't come after me?" Shayla said.

"Hold on," Sam said, "You're suggesting I did this to you? No way, I

would never hurt you."

"I don't expect you to admit it in front of them," Shayla said.

"Shayla," Sam pleaded, stepping towards her.

"I said, stay away from me!" Shayla said.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Sam said.

"Sam back off," Dean said, "Maybe you should wait downstairs."

"I didn't do this," Sam said.

"Regardless, you're scaring her now," Dean said, "Wait downstairs."

"Come on," Bobby said, guiding Sam away, "Let's give them some privacy."

After they left the room, Shayla said, "He's lying."

"Tell me what happened," Dean said.

"I was out running errands," Shayla started, "And as I was walking to my car, I heard muffled sounds coming from the back of the parking lot. I looked over and saw two people fighting, it was Sam and Cas."

"They were fighting physically?" Dean said.

"Yes," Shayla said, "Somehow, Sam got a hold of some kind of sword and…" She couldn't finish.

"Are you saying Sam struck Cas with the sword and that's how he killed him?" Dean said.

Shayla nodded. "Cas never saw it coming, he didn't have a chance," she said, "Sam realized I saw what happened and he came after me."

"Sam did?" Dean said.

"I know, I never would have thought he would hurt me," Shayla said, "For a moment I thought he was going to kill me too."

"What stopped him?" Dean said.

"I did," Shayla said, "I was able to fight him off and ran to my car. That's when I came here. I didn't know where else to go."

"That's okay, you did the right thing," Dean said, "And you're sure that's how it went down?"

"Of course, I'm sure," Shayla said, "You don't believe me?"

"I know something happened," Dean said, "It just doesn't add up. First of all, I don't believe Sam would ever willingly hurt you. Also, Cas and Sam in a fight, Sam would be the one who wouldn't stand a chance. Cas would have used his powers to defend himself. Plus, you said you were able to fight Sam off? Shayla, Sam is a lot bigger than you, a whole lot, and he's stronger than you," Dean said.

"I fought as hard as I could," Shayla said, "But you don't believe me."

"I don't know," Dean sighed, "Let's sit down with Sam and see if we can clear this up."

"An angel sword…" Sam said, "I wouldn't even know how to find one."

"I saw you," Shayla said.

"Sam looks pretty good for someone who was in a fight," Dean said, "Not a scratch on him."

"That's because I wasn't in one," Sam said.

"Here's an easy solution," Bobby said, "Let's call Cas and I'm sure he'll be here and prove he's fine too."

"He won't come," Shayla said, "He can't."

"You'll see," Dean reassured, before he called, "Castiel? We need to see you down here." They waited a few seconds and there was no response. "Come on Cas," Dean said, "This is important. Can you give us five minutes?"

Still Castiel did not appear.

"I told you," Shayla said, "He's gone." She looked at Sam and said, "Because of you."

"I'm only going to say this one more time," Sam said, "I did not, would not kill him!"

"Look let's try and keep out heads here," Dean said.

"Of course you're going to side with him," Shayla said.

"Where do you get that I'm siding with anyone?" Dean said, "I'm trying to help you sort this out."

"You think this whole thing is in my head," Shayla said, "Like I had a vision or dream. Look at me, is this in my head too? I know you want to believe that Sam is so innocent…"

"How do I make you understand?" Sam said.

"Oh, I understand," Shayla said, "You made sure of that."

"No, you don't," Sam said.

"Come on, you two…" Dean started trying to stop the argument.

"I know something happened," Sam said, "But I think you're confused."

"I can't believe you are standing there defending what you did," Shayla said.

Sam threw his hands up in exasperation. "Dean, can you talk some sense into her?" he said.

Dean looked at his brother unsure of what to say.

Sam paused before he said, "You believe her? You think I did this?"

"I don't know…" Dean started.

"You don't know?" Sam said, "It's nice to know you have so much faith in me."

"Where were you earlier?" Dean said.

"I was out," Sam said.

"What were you doing?" Dean said.

"Getting supplies," Sam said, "I told you that before I left."

Dean nodded and his gaze still fixated on Sam. "You think I'm lying," Sam said.

"I don't want to believe it Sam," Dean said, "But she's hurt and Cas is M.I.A."

"Dean, come on…" Sam said.

"Put yourself in my position," Dean said, "If she was telling you the same thing about me, you would have doubts too!"

"That shows how much you know me," Sam said.

"All of you knock it off!" Bobby said, "You're in my house and under my roof, if you want to argue like this, take it outside!"

They all fell silent, until a voice said, "Am I interrupting?"

They all turned around, taken aback at who they saw.