07 || FRONTIERLAND

Having stopped Balthazar un-sinking the Titanic meant Vanessa had a least one less thing to worry about, allowing her to move on to the next 'episode' and what it entailed.

Getting the Phoenix ashes to kill Eve, who she'd honestly forgotten about, more worried about Gabriel and Purgatory. But this meant... time travel.

When Vanessa had tasked Bobby and Dean with getting Samuel Colt's journal while she and Sam were in Ireland, she'd forgotten that it was almost midnight when they left and that Samuel Campbell's (there's way too many Sam's for her to keep up with) library was not in the general vicinity, meaning all four of them were now tasked with finding it.

"How to kill Leviathans and Sam's imaginary friend you remember, but not the date we travelled back in time to?" Dean asked, unamused as he searched through a pile of books.

"Would you?" Vanessa fired back, glancing over to him from the other side of the room.

"Fair enough." Dean mumbled, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to remember the date either.

"It's lucky I even remember me own birthday, let alone the date two supposed fictional characters travel back in time to in order to get a magical gun and kill a creature that's supposed to be a bird."

"It's not a bird?" Bobby interrupted, stopping his own search to turn towards Vanessa. He thought Phoenixes were nothing more than myths so when Vanessa had spilled the beans about it, it came as quite a shock to him.

"No, it's a person." She told them, crouching down to search the bottom shelf and blowing dust of an old book.

"Hey, when is your birthday anyway?" Sam called over to her, glancing back at her as he kept looking for the journal. Now that they were officially a couple, much to Dean and Bobby's relief, he thought her birthday was something he'd should probably know.

"March 17th." Vanessa said hesitantly as she knew what was coming next.

"Ain't that Saint Patrick's Day?" Bobby muttered, looking towards Sam who nodded, a small smile on his face.

"Oh that's just-"

"Don't even say it, Dean. Otherwise you're not going back in time." Vanessa threatened and Dean's mouth snapped shut, he so desperately wanted to go back in time, especially when Vanessa had told them it would be back to the Wild West. He loved Clint Eastwood.

"Here we go." Sam interrupted them, thankfully, as he held up the very book they were looking for before he opened it, flicking through the pages. "Here it is, 'March 5th 1861, Sunrise Wyoming. Gun killed a Phoenix today. Left a pile of smouldering ash.'"

"And you said it wasn't actually Samuel who killed the thing?" Bobby asked Vanessa, the three of them moving towards Sam.

"No, Dean did." Vanessa replied, holding her hands out for the book, which Sam gave her. (Dean pouted because he wanted to hold it). "Samuel was never actually in the town, Sam had to go and convince him to at least give him the gun, which he did."

"And we got the ashes?"

"Not exactly. You were too late, but Samuel must have shown up to get the gun back as when you got back, a package showed up from Colt himself. He'd sent you the ashes."

"Awesome." Dean mumbled, a huge smile on his face. "It's just like Back to the Future."

"And you know who the Phoenix is? You can tell us in advance so we have a better shot at killing him in time?" Sam asked, eyebrow raised towards her.

"Aye, I'll be able to point him out." Vanessa replied, not looking up at him, instead she had her nose buried in the journal.

"Point him out? You're coming with us?" Dean exclaimed, finally making her look up from the journal.

"What? You think I'm letting you two have all the fun in Frontierland while I sit around and wait? No feckin' chance." Vanessa shook her head, clapping the book shut which sent a small cloud of dust flying from it. "I'm going with you."

"Ness are you sure-"

"I'm sure." Vanessa said firmly, there was no way she was letting them go without her. None at all. "It's one of my favourite episodes, I'm not sitting this one out."

"Okay." Was all Sam said, his lips moving as if they were about to form a smile. Of course Vanessa was going with them, he'd expect nothing less. And besides, he wanted her there.

"Good, now let's get sorted so I can call Balthazar and get this over with.

-

Just like Vanessa remembered, Dean went all out on his outfit. The hat, the poncho, the shirt... all the way down to the boots. Of course she never mentioned how ridiculous he'd look once they got there, she figure she'd let him embarrass himself a little as revenge for all the Irish jokes he'd made towards her.

Vanessa had went shopping with him, bought herself some more fitting clothes for the time period, even got Sam to dress up too, which was a surprise given how much he hated it in the show. But Sam found he just couldn't say no to her, especially when her own puppy dog eyes made an appearance. Giving him a taste of his own medicine.

Vanessa was the first one dressed, her own hat atop her head as she waited on the boys. Bobby was filling their duffel bag with gold and jewellery, as like he said in the show, they don't take plastic where they're going.

Eventually the boys came into the living room, Dean was smiling and full of excitement whereas Sam looked like he'd rather be anywhere else but here.

"Cowboys, Ted. They're a bunch o' cowboys." Vanessa muttered, her accent stronger than normal. Her words earned confused looks from the others and she sighed. "Father Ted? No? God, would it kill ye lot to watch some TV once in a while?"

"You've seen our lives, when do we have time to watch TV?" Dean said, eyebrows knitted together a little as he adjusted his poncho.

"Fair enough." Vanessa mumbled, jumping down from the desk and walking over to Sam, who she couldn't deny looked great dressed like a cowboy, unlike Dean who looked like a fool with his poncho on.

"Suits you." Vanessa said quietly as she adjusted Sam's hat, making him smile as he looked down at her, his arms sliding around her waist.

"Get a room you two." Dean groaned, rolling his eyes. But he couldn't help but feel glad they'd finally gotten together, he couldn't take the mutual pining any longer.

"All right kid, call your angel." Bobby's words were followed by him zipping up the duffel bag and tossing it to Dean.

"Balthazar, I summon you to fulfil your oath." Vanessa called to the air, quoting Lord of the Rings, making Dean roll his eyes and Sam want to marry her instantly. The swift flutter of wings followed suit, her angel appearing before them.

"You three look utterly ridiculous." Balthazar greeted, shaking his head a small bit at their over the top (Dean) outfits.

"Hello to you too." Dean muttered, rolling his eyes and grumbling under his breath about how he looked just like Clint Eastwood, if not, better.

"It's time." Vanessa stepped forward, Balthazar understanding what she meant as he nodded his head.

"Remember, you'll have twenty four hours after that..." Balthazar trailed off, a look of you know what I mean on his face.

"We know, we know. The further back we go the harder it is for you to retrieve us." Vanessa rambled on about the rules of time travel, her head nodding as she did. "Just power up your DeLorean and get on with it."

Now it was Dean's turn to find amusement in her references.

Soon enough, Dean, Sam and Vanessa appeared on the outskirts of Sunrise, Wyoming, in 1861.

"All right, where's Samuel Colt?" Dean turned to Vanessa, struggling to keep his excitement in check as he kept looking over at the town, itching to explore.

"No idea." Vanessa shook her head and their faces dropped. "Relax, we have to ask Saloon owner, he knows where Colt is."

"Saloon." Dean practically gasped, almost bursting with excitement as he all but ran towards the town.

"Watch your step, Sam." Vanessa warned as she set off after Dean.

Sam looked confused at her words before he looked down, a rather large pile of horse crap was lying in front of him. Which he would have stepped in had he walked forward.

Had it been Dean, she'd have probably let it happen.

Vanessa smiled over her shoulder at Sam before turning on her heels to face him, walking slowly backwards and holding her hand out towards him.

Sam chuckled to himself, avoiding the horse crap before jogging over to her and taking her hand, allowing her to lead him towards the town.

Just as Vanessa remembered, the hanging of Elias Finch, who just so happened to be the Phoenix, was happening in town. The locals gathered around, eager to watch the execution.

"We stand here today, to execute justice upon Elias Filch for the murder of his own wife." The Judge spoke, his bible in hand.

"That's the Phoenix, Elias." Vanessa whispered, nodding towards the handcuffed man. "He actually didn't kill his wife, the deputy did and framed Elias for it. After his "death", Elias comes back to seek revenge. Killing the Judge, the deputy and the sheriff."

"Not if we can help it." Dean added, watching as the noose was placed around Elias' neck and he was hung for his crimes. His last words being 'You'll burn for this', which they would.

"You can't change the past Dean, you have to let them die." Vanessa whispered, she had no idea what would happen if they saved them and she wasn't about to risk finding out.

"You're changing our past, why can't we save them?" Dean asked, his tone hushed.

"I'm changing the present, changing your future. This is different, I don't know what will happen if we save them, what it could change down the line so you have to let them die."

"She's right, Dean. You know we can't mess with past." Sam didn't like it either but he knew changing the past could drastically change the future, no matter how small a thing they did.

"Fine, let's just go to the Saloon and find Colt." Dean exhaled as he gestured for them to walk before a local turned around, eyeing Dean's outfit with a furrowed brow.

"Nice blanket." He scoffed and Dean's smile fell as he turned to Vanessa, her own smile as wide as could be as she watched him take his poncho off and throw it on the ground, a frown on his face.

"I hate you." He mumbled, sulking as he walked towards the Saloon. He thought he looked cool.

"You knew that happened, didn't you?" Sam chuckled, his arm around Vanessa's shoulders as they followed Dean.

"Mighta done." Vanessa grinned and Sam's hold tightened on her. He couldn't be more in love with her if he tried.

The Saloon was practically empty, minus the bartender, one patron and a few working girls. Just like Vanessa remembered, and let happen, Dean ordered a whiskey, almost choking on it as it tasted like gasoline, his words. He once again grumbled at Vanessa who just smiled innocently and rambled something about not quite remembering every aspect of the episode. (She did, she was just letting these things happen as payback).

The bartender told them all about Samuel Colt, who was currently in the middle of building railroad stop about 20 miles outside of town, it being part of the Devil's Gate from season one.

Not more than ten minutes after Dean was hit on by a working girl did the Judge die, burned to ash by Elias who'd dug himself out of his grave to seek his revenge on those who tried to hang him.

Neither Vanessa, Sam nor Dean liked letting them die but as Vanessa said, they couldn't risk changing the past no matter what their own situation may be. So they just had to let Elias do his thing until Sam and Vanessa got back with the Colt.

Vanessa had been waiting for this moment all day, watching as Dean approached them with the horse they'd be using to get to Colt.

"Who's horse is dat?" Adding a little extra Irish to her voice, Vanessa fought against her smile knowing they didn't have a clue what she was referencing.

"It's that guy's.." Dean pointed back to the guy before his face fell. "Is this another one of your future jokes?"

"Maybe... Wait, wait, I have one more." She cleared her throat, ready to put on her best Lois Griffin impression as she stared blankly at the horse. "Petah, the horse is here."

"Are you done?" Dean asked unamused, a distinct frown on his face while Sam chuckled to himself.

Sam had no idea what she was talking about either but she had fun doing it so who cared, it wasn't like it effected them in any way other than confusing them. And reminding them she was from the future, they seemed to forget that sometimes.

"I'm done." Vanessa nodded, her lips rolling as she looked down at her feet.

"Good." Dean handed Sam the reigns. "All right. Woody, Jesse and Bullseye, the gang's all here."

Now it was Vanessa's turn to frown.

"Hey, that sorta makes me Buzz Lightyear." Dean added, a satisfied look on his face.

"More like Stinky Pete." Vanessa mumbled loud enough to wipe the smirk off his face as Sam pulled her up onto the horse.

"Ride 'em cowgirl." Dean winked and Vanessa replied with her middle finger as the horse galloped off, her arms wrapped tightly around Sam's waist.

There wasn't much for Vanessa to change this time which meant the rest of the 'episode', which aren't really episodes anymore, but she didn't know what to call them otherwise, went exactly like as it had in the show. She and Sam met with Colt, Sam was excited to basically meet his hero and Vanessa found it rather adorable. They talked him into lending them the Colt and Vanessa made sure he'd be around afterwards to get his gun back and collect the ashes, which hopefully he wouldn't need to do as they were a little earlier than the show.

Both the sheriff and the deputy died and Dean got to be the new sheriff for a little while, which he thoroughly enjoyed.

Vanessa and Sam arrived back in Sunrise just in time for Dean to kill Elias, the only thing being different was that they had five minutes to spare which allowed them to collect the ashes themselves and before they knew it they were back in Bobby's living room.

"That was amazing." Dean exhaled as he regained his footing and adjusted to his new surroundings. He'd changed his clothes while Sam and Vanessa were off at Colt's, now wearing something more authentic which Vanessa knew he'd never be getting rid of.

"Did you get the ashes?" Bobby asked, standing up from his desk, eager to hear about their journey back in time.

"We did. All we need to do now is find Eve and gank her." Dean set the bottle of ashes on the table with a pleased look.

"Sorry, Eve? That's why you wanted back in time? Well, I must say you lot are way behind in the news..." Balthazar said, a small scoff mixed with a chuckle leaving his lips.

"News?" Vanessa asked, eyebrows knitted together as she didn't recall any of this happening. Although Castiel had originally been the one to send them back so who knows what will happen now.

"Eve is dead. If you'd just told me what it was you were going back for I'd have saved you trip." Balthazar didn't seem all that bothered that he'd just wasted their time.

"Dead?! How is that even possible, Dean is supposed to kill her, with the ash... This isn't supposed to happen like this." Vanessa shook her head, her face falling into confusion over what the hell was happening.

"No idea. Now, I really must be off. I left a wonderful party for this and I'm very eager to get back. Cheerio." Balthazar vanished, wings fluttering as he left.

"Eve is dead? How could that happen?" Sam turned to Vanessa as if looking for answers but she was just as lost as they were.

This wasn't how the show went. Dean was supposed kill her, supposed to drink the Phoenix ashes and allow her to bite him as she tried to turn him into a Jefferson Starship. There was no other way she could possibly die.

If Vanessa wasn't so confused, and frankly concerned, she definitely be making a 'so does this mean I just bought Ratatouille for nothing' joke, but she wasn't in the mood.

This was worrying.

"Ness?" Sam placed his hand on her shoulder and she instantly grabbed it, desperate for some kind of comfort.

"I don't know how this could happen. The only way to kill Eve is with Phoenix ash and I'm pretty sure Elias was the last Phoenix." She took off her hat, throwing it onto the desk.

"Maybe Cas opened Purgatory earlier and took her out?" Dean suggested, he didn't really like thinking of Castiel right now knowing what he was doing and how he was blatantly ignoring them when they warned him against opening the door.

Even though Vanessa told him Sam's wall would be fine if they left Castiel alone, and that Lisa and Ben wouldn't be kidnapped either as Crowley was on their good side, it didn't make him feel any better. Nor did her promise that Castiel would be fine afterwards and would just need his memory jogged a little. It was just a lot for him to process, and now this happened. Eve was dead and they had no idea how.

"No, he isn't close yet." Vanessa shook her head, she still had Crowley helping Castiel so she could keep updated with how far along they were in getting the door open. She also warned Crowley not to side with Raphael, but when the time came he was to lead the archangel to the lab so Castiel could kill him.

Hopefully then they could convince Castiel to return the souls, minus the Leviathans, straight away before he massacred Heaven and killed hundreds of people.

Although binding Death and asking him to kill Castiel did sound fun, not the killing part more the fact that Vanessa would get to meet another one of her favourite characters. But if Castiel did go off the rails, Vanessa would play along with it and allow them to summon Death, after all they'd need him to make a new eclipse for when Castiel finally does allow them to help him.

"Could it have been Raphael? Maybe he's powerful enough to take on Eve." Dean suggested, leaning against the table as he ran his hand over his chin.

"He doesn't care enough to bother with Eve. No, this is worrying. I-I have no idea how this could have happened, everything's pretty much going the way it should minus a few changes." Vanessa was beginning to get flustered over the idea of someone else messing with the timeline, sure she was glad Eve was dead and they could skip that part but it was more the not knowing who killed her part that was worrying.

"Hey, just take a breath. We'll figure it out." Sam took hold of her, his hands resting gently on the sides of her head. "At least now we can focus more on saving Gabriel."

Sam knew how much Gabriel's capture and torture was affecting Vanessa, how distraught she'd been when she told him what Asmodeus had done to him. How Gabriel didn't even remember Sam, didn't remember the mystery spot or trapping them in TV land. It was hard for Vanessa knowing he was out there and not being able to do anything about it, so he wanted to help her as much as he could. And obviously he wanted to save Gabriel too.

"And we're about as close to finding him as we are to just about anything else." Vanessa said defeated, pulling away from Sam to sink down onto the sofa. "What was the point in me coming here if I can't stop a single feckin' thing? Eve still got out, Castiel's still gonna bust open Purgatory... I'm not helping with anything."

Dean didn't find much amusement in her use of feckin' this time, not when it came out in such a sad and defeated tone.

"You saved Rufus, that's something." Bobby said in his best comforting tone.

"And Balthazar." Dean added.

"And you got Crowley on your side, who knows what that stopped." Sam sat down beside her, taking her hand in his.

"I know, it only stopped like two things, one of which wouldn't have happened anyway. Or maybe it would since I seem to be useless at this." Vanessa turned away, burying her face between Sam's arm and the back of the couch.

"Vanessa look at me." Sam said sternly but she just muffled the word no and refused to look at him. "Look at me."

"What?" Vanessa huffed as she pulled back, barely bothering to look at him.

She always did get rather stubborn and childish when she was grumpy.

"You're not useless, you're the furthest thing from useless. You've helped us more this past, however long, than anyone has ever. You've saved people, good people. So what if some things still happen, because you know how to stop them. We have the blood for the weapon against the Leviathans-"

(Crowley had given them the three mixed bloods they would need. His, Castiel's and an alphas. He hadn't exactly told them how he got the angels blood but they didn't question it. He also kept a spare vial of the blood mixture should something happen to theirs.)

"-we've stopped going after Cas which means he won't break my wall. You've done more than enough." Sam cupped her face as her eyes watered, his words something she'd needed to hear but hadn't realised until now. "We'll find Gabriel, we'll stop the Leviathans, we'll deal with whatever happens in 2013 and we'll be fine. Because we have you."

At some point during Sam's speech, Dean and Bobby had left the room, leaving the couple alone. They had both felt a tad uncomfortable and imposing during their moment.

"I love you." Vanessa whispered, a choked sob leaving her mouth as all the emotions she'd felt since she arrived hit her at once.

Sam's heart almost leapt from his chest and did a little dance on the floor at her confession.

"I love you too." He leaned in, pressing a kiss on her forehead before pulling her into his arms. "I love you so much."

In that moment all Vanessa's worries seemed to vanish, Sam's comfort enough to make her forget about the inevitable and allowed her to enjoy the moment.

But that still didn't answer the question of... who killed Eve?

-i feel like this chapter is super messy and I low-key hate it and i'm sorry... I had thought about skipping this episode and adding the plot twist of Eve's death before they went back in time but honestly I just wanted an excuse to use some of the quotes/references lol

but yeah, i hope you liked it anyway and let me know who you think killed Eve🤔