The silence was stifling as the three walked along the slimy pathway in the sewers heading towards who knew where as far as Evie was concerned. Her mind was racing with everything she somehow just *knew* and with everything she’d seen. Her worry for her brother was the biggest along with her worries about all of the other people that had been there and she felt nearly drowned with the knowledge that people had *died*. She also wasn’t so sure anymore on the trustworthiness of her two favorite actors since they were having the tendency of doing things that normal people shouldn’t be able to do and why wasn’t anyone really explaining that to her? She placed her hand on her forehead as another bout of dizziness swept over her, but she swallowed it down and kept going. She wasn’t going to get sick now…no fucking way.

They came upon an alcove and Jared placed his hand on her shoulder. “This is the meeting spot. Let’s sit down,” he suggested softly and she snorted.

“On what? Slime? Great…” she replied sarcastically before sighing and sliding down the wall to sit on the nearest non-slime covered spot that she could find. She took several deep breaths, trying to quell the dizziness and nausea that was making her world spin unsteadily.

“Are you ok?” Jensen asked gently as they sat on either side of her. He placed a cool hand on her forehead and winced. “You’re cold…you feeling sick?”

“You try and recover from a death bed sickness in a couple of weeks and tell me that you’re up to snuff, ok?” Evie snapped back before sighing. She reached up a shaking hand and gripped his hand. “I’m sorry. I’m scared,” she whispered shakily and looked up at him sadly.

“We’ll watch over you, Evie. You have our word,” Jensen stated quietly and he squeezed her hand.

“Why? What’s so special about me? I’m just some fat, almost thirty, ugly girl that happened to come to your party or whatever and now you’re all claiming I’m some special Chosen One,” Evie murmured tearfully and let go of his hand to cover her face as she sobbed slightly. “I’m nothing! I’m not special or important or worth dying over!”

“Sorry, but we have to disagree. We know what we saw…felt. You *are* the one who will be the bridge between Mother Earth and humankind. We just don’t know how,” Jared retorted gruffly, his heart breaking a bit at seeing her so upset and so down on herself. “Why do you think you’re all those things?” he asked as he carefully wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close as she sniffled and shivered. He nodded at Jensen, who shrugged out of his robe and wrapped it around her, trying to warm her up.

“It’s what I’ve known all my life. I never had friends…I just had my family. They’re all I’ve got. I always kind of knew that I’d be alone, but it took me a long time to accept it and now all of a sudden, I’m being declared something that’s impossible,” Evie whispered as she snuggled close to Jared and didn’t even mind when Jensen curled close to her as well. Her eyes filled up with tears again and she shook her head. “My brother…I was responsible for him and he might…he m-might be…”

“He’s not. He’s alive. We both know it, so don’t worry there. He’ll be meeting up with us along with a few of the others. There are a lot of escape routes from that meeting place, so almost everyone escaped,” Jared answered as he leaned his chin on her head. She felt so cold and she was shaking so hard that her teeth were chattering. He looked at Jensen in concern and was met with the same worry.

“Sati didn’t.” The statement startled them and they looked down into her sorrowful eyes. She looked up at Jared as if for a denial, but she knew she was right.

“Sati…Sati knew that she would die not long after your discovery. She had accepted it long ago and was happy for it. She died protecting you and our future,” Jared replied and his voice choked a bit. Evie looked down and curled up and Jared felt miserable for having hurt her even more. She had been so sunny and happy when they’d first seen her. But ever since she had met them, her life had become filled with sorrow.

They all looked over as they heard a soft scraping noise and Jensen jumped to his feet with his naginata out. “Gaia shall shine through the sky,” he called out softly as he watched the dark passage they had just come from.

“And we shall shine with her into the new age,” came the gruff reply before Jeff appeared out of the shadows with a grin. His face was smudged from ash and he was limping just a bit, but he was whole and that filled both Jensen and Jared with joy.

Jared got up immediately and went to him, cupping his face tenderly before they hugged tightly. “Gaia, you fucking scared the shit out of me,” he whispered huskily.

“Sorry…that beam came out of no where. Lucky for me Phil here was able to get it out of the way so we could escape with a few others,” Jeff replied hoarsely before nodding back to where a small group was coming out of the shadows into the alcove.

“Phil!” Evie’s voice echoed in the tiny space as she pushed herself up and fell into her brother’s arms, sobbing softly as she hugged him tightly. He was just as dirty as Jeff, but he had tears streaking his face as he held her just as closely.

“Thank Gaia you’re safe, sis…I was so scared…” Phil whispered as he held onto her and buried his face in her hair. He rubbed her shaking back and looked down at her in concern before glancing at Jared and Jensen. “What’s wrong with her? Why is she shaking and so cold?” he demanded as he grabbed Jensen’s robe and wrapped it around his sister again before sitting her down on the ground.

“We’re not sure. We’re thinking it might be a slight relapse. Jeff, could you check her?” Jared asked as he stepped back.

“Sure. Hey sweetie, give me your hand,” Jeff whispered soothingly as he sat down next to the siblings and took her shaking hand. He placed his other hand on her chest and closed his eyes before a soft yellow glow surrounded his hands. Her trembling slowed a bit, but suddenly her other hand whipped out and pushed his hands away as her breathing became rougher.

“Stop…you’ll die,” she stated harshly as she gasped for air. He blinked at her in surprise and saw that she wasn’t as pale anymore, but her trembling had increased unexpectedly. She groaned and reached out, searching, then abruptly touched Jeff on the cheek. They all gasped as a flare of light lit the area briefly, blinding them before disappearing and she slumped back. Jeff touched his cheek and was shocked to find that he was clean, the soot and blood gone from his body.

“How’d she do that?” Jensen hissed out in wonder as they stared at her.

“We’ll figure it out later. Let’s just get going so we can get out of this hellhole,” Jared ordered sharply before having one of the teenagers take point. “Kris, keep those senses up. We should be close, but it changes.”

“Ya got it, boss!” Kris replied before jogging ahead just a bit with one of the other boys.

Phil helped his sister up and steadied her as she wobbled. “Can you do it, Evie?” he asked, his voice filled with concern as she started shaking again almost as soon as she was upright.

“I’ll be damned if I get stuck down here,” she growled out and the others laughed softly at her show of defiance. She leaned her hand against the wall and grimaced. “This is so gross,” she added and Phil chuckled as he squeezed her waist.

“Yea I know, but it’s safe and we aren’t detectable down here,” he explained and she looked up at him.

“Our whole family is part of this, aren’t they? Everyone except me…” she whispered and he smiled and shrugged.

“And the kids. Usually, the Elam don’t show their powers until after puberty or, more than likely, after they hit the age 21,” Phil replied and he rubbed her arm as it clung to his waist. He stopped as she stopped suddenly and swayed dangerously. “Evie?”

Evie groaned softly as her knees buckled and she fell forward, but was caught by several arms. “I can’t. Can’t go on…just leave me...” she whispered as she leaned into her brother heavily, barely conscious.

“Not in this lifetime, sis...” Phil shot back as he looked up at the others desperately.

“So cold...can’t breathe, baby bro...it’s too dirty here...” Evie whispered as her head shook from side to side a bit like she was feverish, except that she was like ice.

“I think I know what’s wrong. We’re currently surrounded by sewage. If she really is the bridge, she needs to be in contact with something from Mother Earth,” Jeff stated as he checked her pulse and found it weakening.

“Then we need to move it. We’re double timing it people!” Jared barked out before kneeling and grabbing Evie from Phil, who opened his mouth to protest. “Not now. I know she’s your sister, but we need to move fast and I can handle her better than you can,” Jared growled but his eyes were soft with apology. Philip closed his mouth and nodded before standing with the other man, who hefted Evie close. “Evie, wrap your arms around my neck. Hold on to me,” Jared whispered tenderly to the nearly unconscious woman.

“You’ll...hurt yourself...Mr. Padalecki...m’heavy,” Evie mumbled, but she snuggled closer as she did as she was told.

“Never with you, Evie. Never with you,” he whispered in reply before he looked over the rest of the group and nodded. “Let’s move it!” he snapped and took off down the sewer ways at a pace that no ordinary person could follow if they tried. They went through various tunnels and caught up with Kris and the other boy, who began directing them through various channels until they arrived at what looked to be the central sewage treatment plant.

Jared nodded at the boys and smiled. “Good work,” he said before turning to the group as they all arrived. “All right, listen up. As most of you remember, we can only go two at a time and we have to wait fifteen minutes between each shot. Do *not* let go of each other and walk straight down the path. Do *not* veer off the path or you will be lost for all time. And no, this isn’t a joke,” he explained firmly as he caught all of their gazes with his own. He knew that a few of them had never walked The Paths, so he had to make sure it was clear. “We will arrive in the Smokey Mountains about half a mile outside of Eden. It’s winter time now and there’s probably snow already, so just be ready for that, all right?” he added and smiled as they all nodded. He nodded once, and then turned back to the pool that was the center for all of the water that went through the purifying plant.

He went to the edge of it and toed three symbols that were set on the rim of the pool. A gleam of light rippled off of the pool before it settled into an almost gelatinous state. He stepped onto it and a tunnel of light flared around him. “Open the Path to Eden!” he shouted over the wind that started whipping around them and was slowly lowered down until he could no longer see the others. He turned to his left and began walking briskly down the Path that opened to him. He looked down once and saw that Evie had passed out, her skin was gray, and she was barely breathing. “Hang on, Evie...don’t you leave me,” he whispered fiercely before hugging her closer to him and focusing forward again.

He quickened his pace as he saw a dim light ahead that signaled the end of the tunnel and came out in the middle of a hill that was covered in dead grass just outside of a rather skeleton like forest that had lost all of its leaves in preparation for winter. He looked over at the horizon and saw that dawn was nearing, so he knelt and laid Evie on the frost covered ground. He cupped her cheek and brushed his thumb along the soft skin. “Come on, Evie…wake up for me…” he whispered then looked up as a breeze suddenly washed over them gently and the sun came up over the horizon. It landed on them gently, warming Jared’s face as he watched.

Looking down at her when he heard a deep inhale, Jared smiled as Evie stirred and rolled her head as if waking up from a long sleep. She opened her eyes as she breathed in deeply and looked up at him before smiling slightly. Smiling brilliantly back at her, Jared took her hand into his, burying her hand within his hold. “Welcome back.”

“Good morning, Mr. Padalecki…” she whispered back and he laughed softly before helping her to sit up. Her skin was already becoming healthier looking and almost seemed to be glowing as she tilted her head back with the wind and sighed as the sun caressed her face. Jared found himself enchanted with the changes that washed over her. She stood up carefully and walked down the hill just a bit, keeping in his sight as she took in the surroundings silently, clinging to the robe that was wrapped around her in the autumn morning chill.

He watched her wordlessly, feeling his own body relax from the stress and adrenaline their escape had caused. He began to think on what had happened and could only come to the conclusion that they had been betrayed. But how? And who?

A hand slipped into his hair and tugged lightly, startling him out of his thoughts. Jared looked over and smiled as Jeff smirked back at him before looking down at where Evie was hugging her brother tightly. “The sun came up and it was like it woke her up. It was amazing. She really is the One,” Jared said after a bit of silence and Jeff nodded thoughtfully.

The rest of the group joined them steadily, Jensen being in the third group that came to stand next to them. He grinned as he watched Phil and Evie goof around a bit as the sun rose higher up. “Isn’t she cold?” he asked as they started coming back towards the rest of them.

“Nah, she’s always been warm-blooded,” Phil answered him as they heard his question and Evie grinned sheepishly before shrugging off the robe and handing it to Jensen.

“Thanks for lending this to me, Mr. Ackles. It was very kind of you,” she murmured as she blushed and Jensen grinned at her.

“Believe me, it was no trouble. I think we’re all just glad to see you awake and smiling,” Jensen replied and she smiled slightly at him before ducking her head.

“I think it’s time we head to Eden. Even we can’t handle this chill for much longer and some of us are certainly not dressed for it,” Jeff suggested wryly and the others chuckled around him as Evie eeped softly in embarrassment.

“All right then…this way. It’s not far,” Jared instructed before strolling down the hill and into the trees, following a barely seen path that wove between the old growth. They walked for half an hour through the forest and up a hill at the last before breaking out and stopping at the top of the hill. Looking down, they saw a valley that held numerous tree houses among the towering forest. A set of solar panels stood next to them, lending energy to the tree city that was there. Jared grinned at Evie as she gasped in delight while staring down. “Welcome to Eden, Evie. Welcome to home.”

TBC