Kindred: Finale

It's been a hot minute since I uploaded, and to be honest I will not be continuing with this story. I had a lot planned and not a lot of time.

In acknowledge of ending this fic. I would like to tell you everything that I had planned for this story. It was originally going be a three chapter fic, and this would have been the last chapter—had I adequately managed my time this would have been written in story form.

Sam and Dean would have salted and burned Tabby's bones, Em would have tagged along and gotten cut by Tabby while she was distracting her. Dean would have raced to the woodshop facility on the campus and glued Em's cut closed (medically acceptable in an emergency, but not recommended) this would have culminated in them kissing for the first time.

The next morning Dean would have called Em's father, Ike, and let him know they collected her, and were leaving Last Gasp later in the day, and would meet them in Sioux Fall. They would tell him to take their time, as they were on a new hunt in Oklahoma. They would find out that Tatum van der Bilk, from the previous chapter had "committed suicide". They would eventually realize that the tree planted in Tabitha's honor was tethering her spirit to keep haunting the school. They would burn the tree. With Tabitha finally gone, Dean and Em would have a conversation about their kiss, their soul marks, and what that meant for them.

The conversation would culminate into them deciding they liked each other, they enjoyed kissing each other, but they weren't sure if they wanted to be anything more. They would kiss one more time, and I would leave the story open to a sequel. Below is what I had written, but never finished for this final third chapter.

If you recognize it, then I probably don't own it

Chapter 3: Hasta la Vista Ghost Bitch

Midmorning, Last Gasp, MI

Busch's Fresh Food Market

Every grocery store looked the same to Sam and Dean, and Busch's was no different. Each national brand was the same, although in a slightly different place than before. The florescent lights shone slightly yellow and reflected off the bright white standard grocery store tile. Em had the brilliant idea to max out her stolen credit card. But why they were at a grocery store the brothers didn't know.

It had been Em's idea to come here after coffee, and she didn't elaborate on why. So while Em was doing whatever at the register, the brothers were sitting on the bench by the dining area. The dining area was of course a small rectangle by the Starbucks kiosk. There were big windows that had a bar shelf and stools, several tables (three of which were rickety), ugly upholstered chairs that had seen better days were tucked into each table, and a sad dinky microwave on a cart. There was also an okay TV that was currently playing the news at a low volume.

Sam and Dean were sat at one of the non-rickety tables.

"Dean, she's eighteen." Sam said, breaking the mutual silence.

"What?" Dean shook his head.

"Em." Sam expanded. "She's eighteen."

"I know."

"I mean she's eighteen." Sam said again.

"Yeah, we've been over this."

"She's eighteen!" Sam said for the fourth time.

"Sam," Dean sighed, "Get to the point."

"She's a kid, Dean. And you've got her name on your arm." Sam said, finally getting to the point, "She's eighteen, and you're twenty-six."

"Sam—" Dean gave his brother a look, "This thing on my arm means nothing to me. I don't know about Em, but I don't care."

"What about—"Sam started. But stopped as soon as he saw Em smile as started walking over to the lounge part of the grocery store.

"Hey guys," Em said brightly as she walked up to their table. "Anybody got scissors?"

"Why do you need scissors?" Dean frowned.

"I just got ten thousand dollars' worth of Visa gift cards." She held up the plastic Busch's Fresh Food Market bag, "I don't need Gare-Bear's Daddy's credit card, anymore."

"You got ten thousand dollars' worth of gift cards?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I told you I wanted to max out his dad's credit card, what'd you think I was gonna do? Make a bunch of trackable fraudulent purchases across the country?"

"Yup." Dean said and got up from the table, Sam followed in suit. "Just leave the card in the trash or something."

Em shrugged and tossed the card in the trash, "So where to next? Are we gonna gank Tabby now? Or do we buy some rock salt?"

"Neither. We, me and Sam, are gonna gank Tabby. You are gonna wait in the motel for us."

"You're gonna dig up Tabby during mid-day while classes are in session." Em said, "While I wait in the motel for you to come back?"

"No, we're gonna wait until the sun goes down to dig her up." Sam said.

"It's a salt-and-burn, it takes twenty minutes tops."

One in the Morning, Saint Katherine-Saint Sebastian Technical Wing

Last Gasp, MI

"Keep pressure on it, Em!" Dean said as he kicked the door to the woodshop room. Blood sputtered from the open cut on Em's abdomen. Her face was ashen and she seemed smaller than she was Dean held her in his arms.

"Put me on the table!" Em ordered. "I can't keep pressure on it, while you keep jostling me."

Dean placed her down on the nearest table. Careful of the cut on her stomach.

"Fuck this room is dark." He growled. Even with the emergency lights on in the room, the dark January sky snaked its way into the room, devouring the light.

"The wood glue is the drawer by spare wood." Em said, her hand pressed over her stripped shirt. Her maroon blood pooled against her hand.

Dean opened cabinet doors haphazardly, looking for a tube with a precise tip or something similar. "I never should have let you talk me into letting you be the distraction!"

"Hurry up!" Em urged. "Check the cabinet by the teacher desk." She was watching him search befuddled around the room. If only she could just search the room. She knew where the glue was. How had she let Tabby get the jump on her? She was a good hunter, today was a fluke. But she was still bleeding out. It had taken so much to get Sam and Dean, especially Dean, to agree to let her join the simple salt'n'burn. And then she had to go and almost die.

"Hang on, this cabinet is locked." He pulled a hand gun from his pocket and shot the lock. He opened the door, then the smaller cabinets.

"Got it!" he held up his prize; a small unopened tube of wood glue with a small precise tip.

He made his way the table Em was bleeding on the table.

"I'm gonna have to rip your shirt off," Dean said, "To get to the cut… not because I want too."

"Ohmigod, just do it."

With two hands, Dean ripped the shirt away from the cut, and pulled the bottom half in a band around her. "Hands off for a second." Em removed her hands. Her shirt soaked with blood. He eased the strip of shirt off her stomach. Jaw clenching as he heard her hiss in pain.

"Wood glue next." He said, walking Em through the emergency procedure.

He pinched both sides of the cut, brought both pieces of skin together, and glued. His jaw clenched even more, if that was possible, as he heard her suck in a breath of pain. His fingers were getting slick with her blood.

"One more second." He said, making another pass with the wood glue. He took the strip of shirt and tied it around the cut. A makeshift bandage, but it would have to do. "We'll stitch it together with dental floss back at the motel."

"Yeah, sure. Have I stopped bleeding?"

"Yeah, you're good. Be careful when you get up, you'll be dizzy."

She got up carefully, and jumped off the table. She stumbled back, and rested her hands on the table top.

"Whoa." Dean lifted her back on the table. She was breathing heavily. "I might have to carry you to the car."

"I swear I'm a better hunter than this." Em said, she looked down at her legs.

Dean pushed her hair out of the way, and lifted her chin so that she was looking him straight in the eyes. He was breathing heavy. "We all suck sometimes. At least you had me here."

"Where's Sam?"

"Finishing the burn. He'll be fine." He leaned closer to her.

For the briefest moment their lips touched. Their mouths parted, and they tasted each other. Desperation, electricity, mutual longing on their tongues. They pulled away after a long moment, their foreheads touched.

Morning, Motel Room

Last Gasp, MI

"There was another suicide last night." Sam said looking at the Last Gasp Gazette. All three were sitting around the table, three cups of coffee between them. Dean and Em wouldn't look each other. Dean preferred to stare into space, and Em was looking at her coffee.

"How we burned Tabby's bones?" Dean said.

At the same time, Em looked up. "Who was it?"

"Uh… Tatum von der Bilk." Sam read aloud. "Tatum was found in the courtyard… She jumped."

"No." Em shook her head. "Tate was in the in the Virgin Brigade. She wouldn't sleep with anyone, well except almost Garret… She wore a promise ring, and junk."

"What time did she die?" Dean asked.

"Early this morning… she was found by another student in the main dormitory."

"That doesn't make any sense. We burned those bones. The ghost should be ganked." Dean said.

"Holy shit!" Em jumped up, flinched as she pulled her dental floss stitches slightly. "The orange tree!" She moved to the research books and newspaper clippings, "They planted the orange tree for Tabby, when Alicia was killed I smelled orange blossoms. I thought it was a calling card, like Demons with the sulfur smell."

"Em, what are you talking about?" Sam furrowed his brows and frowned.

Em picked at the books, throwing the unneeded ones on the floor. "The orange tree. It was planted for her. It embodies her memory!" She turned around with a book in her hand. She slammed the book on the table and flipped to through till she found the right page.

"It's like the Victorian parents making dolls with their kid's real hair. Only it's a psychological connection!" She turned the book towards the brothers. "Tabitha McCarthy was known for her love of orange blossoms, to the point where she was caught making her own perfume in the chem lab. So the school planted an orange tree in her honor. We didn't burn the tree, we just burned the bones."

"Her connection to the tree is keeping her alive."

"The tree has always thrived. It blossoms every year, without fail. It's never needed to be groomed, or whatever they do with trees. It's known as Tabby's Tree. Even if she wasn't connected to it originally, we connected it to her just by knowing it was hers."