A/N: Lou gave me back some confidence in this character when she wrote this beautiful solo <3 She nailed Oya and reading her through someone else's lens really pleased me. I am answering to that, showing a different side of the character and also as a promise to keep writing, especially when it's difficult to do so. <3 I love you Lou and thank you so much for creating Isaac, he was a beautiful soul. It made me weep! All usual disclaimers
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yERildSsWxM (OST because we need some good country music)
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Oya finally returned to Lawrence after Isaac's funeral. She knew the brothers weren't home so the young woman who quietly went to her bedroom. The injuries she sustained after the fight at the Thomas' house were now manageable. The only bruise left was her black eye and the only evidence she actually fought were the stitches on her head and the small cut on her upper lip. Her time off ended up being similar to a day on the job since they were attacked and people died and Oya ended up having fun. Well... it wasn't /that/ much fun since other people lives were in danger but Oya enjoyed a good fight and she got it. She was supposed to go home after she paid her respect to Henry Thomas but news of Isaac Stenton's death reached out to her and she had to make a stop by his house, to pay homage to him as well. Isaac wasn't per say a hunter, he never really got the skills required to do that job. He was a guy she saved a few years ago, prior to meeting the Winchesters. He was aware of the supernatural co-existing with their world and promised never to tell anyone about it. Isaac was special in that he was the only civilian she ever saved to ask for her phone number so he could keep in touch with her. His family knew of her and invited her over to the funerals so she could at the very least say goodbye to him. She did. It didn't hit her until she came home that Isaac was a friend she had just lost.
After she put her bags in her bedroom, Oya took a shower, jumped into one of Dean's tiled shirts and a pair of black boxers before she went to the living room and sat on the couch. Without Dean and Sam, the whole place was silent and felt empty. It sent shivers down Oya's spine who opened a bottle of cold beer to sip it. The hunter did terrible with silence. She always kept herself busy in order to avoid silence. She would polish her weapons, train, maybe find a new case to work on. When the room was quiet, her voice was the loudest and Oya's voice sounded like a broken record. She was quite a piece of work, she knew it and that was one of the reasons she didn't want to get close to people because they would realize just how complicated and dark she was and wouldn't want to stay. Right now, there was nothing she could do if not just let that sink in. Isaac was dead. He wouldn't text her every day to hear from her. He wouldn't call her every night to wish her goodnight. Ever since she saved his life, he became that quiet companion she had that followed on every trip she had. He knew who she was and never gave up on her. He was the only one she could tell her tales too, joke with and show her true face. She didn't need to wear a mask or keep him too far away from her heart. Maybe that was his superpower, maybe she let it happen..Isaac was her confident and she was his. Oya knew everything about him, gave him advises on his first date with his wife, was invited to his wedding, got to assist him when he had to deliver his first child during a stormy night.
She let him speak about how proud and scared he was to be a dad and that he wanted to protect his three children from both human and superhuman threats. She got to experience his life and live by proxy through him. He would always ask her questions that made her uncomfortable and forced her to take a look at herself. At how she protect her heart from being harmed by making sure nobody slipped past her defences. At how she lowered them when she encountered the Winchesters. She grew quickly attached to the brothers and enjoyed spending time with both of them. She deliberately threw herself into battle, defining herself with the job she did rather than the person she was. He called her out on that, on several occasions and she always shrugged it off, but Isaac always came back with more questions, more philosophical conversations about what it meant to be a hunter, what it entailed, why couldn't this be compatible with having a family life. Why she never returned to Cameroon once she avenged her family and why she stayed with the Winchesters and a much crappier life as a hunter than the one she could have had in her own country. She never got to answer those questions... she never got to really think of it. And now he was gone. Oya felt her eyes fill themselves with tears and shook her head. She wouldn't cry. She couldn't. After so many years spent swallowing her tears, it would not be Isaac's death that would make her cry again. Instead, she grabbed her cell phone and stared at the black screen.
« I want to call...But I know you won't take that damn phone. »
Oya grumbled, before looking at the ceiling of the bunker. The hunter grumbled again, eyes half-closed as she didn't know if she should call his phone number or not. She blankly stared at the phone number, memories of old conversations, banters and smiles exchanged came back into her mind. She crossed her legs on the couch and leaned her cheek into the warm palm of her hand. He would have wanted something like that, one last call. She decided that the best way to pay homage to him would be to have one last conversation and be honest with him now that he was dead and she assumed, somewhere good. She pushed the button and called his number. Her heart started to beat faster and faster until she heard his voice message. It made her skip several heartbeats and she bit back a sob.
« Shit... » She groaned, running her hand through her hair as she felt her heart sink. « Shit... » She repeated again, running her hand through her locks. It hurt to hear the voice of a friend she knew was dead but at the same time, it felt good to be able to hear him again. She was lucky enough to have his voice messages on her phone so she could still hear his voice even if they deactivate his number. « Isaac... » She called out, covering her mouth with her hand before she leaned into the couch and allowed herself a moment to breathe deeply.
« And you can now leave me, or Cloud, Daphne and Stephen a message! Ah ! I forgot my wife Maggie! You can leave me a message, it's my damn cell phone !...BIIIIP... »
« Isaac....Ahem... ahem... Hi buddy. How are you doing up there.. or wherever Heaven is ? Are you looking at me right now ? » She asked, her vision slowly getting blurred by the tears she refused to cry. « I.. ahem.. I'm home and safe as you can see. Back at the bunker after your funerals.. » She sighed and dropped her head. Some black locks fell onto her chest and nose. « I'm at the Winchesters place.. kinda my place now you know ? » A smile crept on her lips, it was a gentle one, soft and warm that she always tried to hide from others. « I always avoided those questions...because I don't like to get into my head. You know that. I hate trying to figure out how I feel because most of the time it hurts.... I avenged my family and yet, I still feel empty inside... » She bit back a sob. « I thought it would help but killing the Asanbosam didn't.I pretend I'm fine because that's the way things are supposed to be. We need to move on, you know ? Move on or get killed like an idiot because we freeze when it's not the right time. I moved on. I'm not angry, or guilty or even traumatized but I miss them. Especially on Wednesday...We used to get together on Wednesday to eat, sing, hunt together...I thought.. I thought I'd never feel like I belong when they died. I felt like I lost everything.. » She took a deep breath and yanked her head back. « Then.. I met you and all seemed to be easier, I accepted tons of shit because of you... You helped me grieve you old bastard. You helped me grow for the last couple of years I spent in America. » She chuckled and wiped her tears off of her face with the back of her hand. « I have....I have an answer to your question. The one you always kept on asking me. The Winchesters... They are my family. They make me feel alive again. Sam is like a brother to me. I see a lot of myself in him, maybe that helps, maybe that doesn't for all I care. He's just like me, but a lot nicer. I adore him. Dean... With Dean it's different only in the fact that we sleep together. He reconciled me with that side of myself, the one that needs that kind of attention. He reconciled me with a lot of things and you should have seen the way he handled my scars. I care about them both, like I cared about you. I would take a bullet for any of them, at any moment. See...They have one thing I want to protect above anything else. They have each other and I want to make sure they always have one another so... yeah, just like with you, I'd take a bullet, save the world and protect them. » She closed her eyes, and bit her bottom lip while tears ran down her cheeks. « Aaah fuck fuck fuck ! » She hit the end call button and then looked at her cell phone again.
It was true, she cared a lot for the Winchesters and was willing to give anything to protect their family. She had lost hers, she didn't want Dean to lose his brother and vice-verça. Maybe she was hiding behind that logic, maybe she thought it was easier to be the sacrificial lamb rather than face herself but Oya cared deeply about them. She cared enough to enjoy when Dean came back with corny shirts for her. She cared enough to buy Sam's favourite bands' rare albums. She cared enough to take Dean's shirts and make them hers and enough to seek for their company. They were the first and last thing in her mind and that was scaring her because she let them in despite her claims of being bulletproof and cold and closed off. Oya was friendly, always had been. She used to go to others, wore her feelings up her sleeve and was a big softie inside but tragedy forced her to harden herself. She pushed the button once more, calling Isaac's phone one last time. A voicemail, Oya smiled and gently said.
« Besides, you were right about something. I do care a lot. I pretend I don't, but you caught me the day I agreed to take your phone number. I never knew I would have such a great friendship. I never knew I would feel grateful to have saved your life on that day. Yet, here I am! Feeling grateful to have met your silly ass. You were a wonderful friend. One who always kept an eye on me. One who knew me better than myself. You always gave me great advice, always listened to what I said and guessed what I left out. You always tried to reach out to me, make me see the brightest side of life. I love you, loved you and always will love you Isaac Stenton. May you rest in peace. »
She heard the noise of Sam and Dean coming back home and quickly cleaned her face. Sam found her drinking her beer and asked.
« Are you alright? »
« Yeah, was just saying goodbye to a friend of mine. » She replied with a smile, to which Dean replied in a teasing tone.
« You have friends? » Oya stuck her tongue out, carefully concealing the fact she was just grieving her friend. All would be alright, she was in very good hands. He could rest in peace now
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