#ozbury

"You're gonna be fine." Dorothy mumbles, squeezing her hand. Jo nods on the other side of her. For a moment, Charlie almost forgets where she is, but the rhythmic robotic beeping reminds her all too well.

Charlie chuckles weakly. If Jo hadn't gotten there when she did—fuck, Charlie didn't want to think about it. The hospital lights are too bright, but it helps her see her friends. Dean and Sam should be on their way, Jo told her earlier. Charlie wants to stay awake to see them, but she's so tired, she's not sure she'll be able to.

"You should've gave him the laptop." Jo shook her head.

Charlie shrugged, but the motion pulled on the stitches, and she groaned. "Couldn't lose the information." she grumbled.

"You're worth more than some fucking translations, Charlie." Jo swore.

She shook her head. "I signed up for this. I knew what I was getting myself into."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean you go on a suicide mission." Dorothy interrupts. "Being a hero also means that means you try your damn hardest to live."

Jo and Dorothy have never met—Charlie didn't want for them to meet like this, next to her hospital bed. She never would've suspected they'd team up on her like this. It makes her smile. If she wasn't still so shaken up, she might even be a little into it.

"Besides, who's gonna help us pull the Winchesters out of trouble when they fuck shit up?" Jo cracks a smile. Dorothy snorted. Charlie chuckled a bit.

Charlie hummed. "I don't regret anything," she mumbled.

"When are you going to get it through your head that you're not alone?" Dorothy hissed. "If you had.. god, Lee, I don't know what I would've done with myself."

Jo nodded. "You're loved, Charlie. You're so fucking loved, don't you get it? You don't get to fucking die on us. I'd make a deal with Crowley myself to get you back if you dare."

Charlie paused. Oh. Dorothy squeezed her hand again.

"This really sounds like a hug moment." she grinned. Dorothy sighed and Jo rolled her eyes, but they both came to her side. Charlie sat up on her elbows as Dorothy bent down cradled Charlie's head against her chest, and Jo rested her head on Charlie's shoulder, wrapping her arm around her back.

After reuniting herself, Charlie had decided it was enough. She'd had enough adventure for a lifetime, and without being able to return to Oz, she didn't see the point in fighting. She found herself a small apartment in Kansas City, and even got herself a plain little desk job, and it was like her life before she'd met the Winchesters. Boring, painfully so, but peaceful. She even made a new larping group. She filled her campaigns with realistic monsters, chuckling to herself at including real lore.

Charlie Bradbury was as good as retired, thank you very much.

But she wasn't fulfilled. Charlie knew what was missing—who was missing, a snarky girl with piercing blue eyes and brown hair who'd she'd spent the better part of a year fighting a rebellion with. She'd fallen in love with her, and now there was no possible way to get back to her.

She couldn't bring herself to meet anyone new. Sure, she had casual relationships, but she couldn't stop comparing them to Dorothy. Charlie wasn't sure she'd ever meet anyone else.

Slowly, she stopped having to check the locks multiple times a night to go to sleep. The nightmares weren't as real, though she still had them from time to time. She let people in, made real friends, let herself live. She even got herself a black cat and named it Leia.

It went on like that for a couple of years. Dean and Sam called, but she'd told them to stay away. Seeing them was too much of a reminder of everything she'd lost, no matter how much she missed them. They kept her updated though, telling them about God's sister and their mom and a whole other parallel world that went through the apocalypse, told them about another version of herself who was just as bad ass and cool. But eventually, their calls became further and further apart.

Charlie never stopped thinking about Dorothy. Never stopped dreaming about the joy on Dorothy's face when they won the war, never stopped regretting not telling her how she felt. She eventually found the strength to buy another copy of The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, keeping the book in in her nightstand and rereading it on the quiet nights when she missed Dorothy the most.

It was around a month after she purchased the book that the first sign of anything strange in her life happened. Right after she'd officially retired, she'd set up an internet track on anyone searching up her name. It normally got hits from people looking up her larping group, but she never brought herself to turn it off. But that morning, logging onto her laptop for a quick scroll before she had to get ready for work, it pinged her. She opened it on instinct, and her blood went cold. Someone was searching for her—not as Charlie Bradbury, but as Celeste Middleton. Hacking was like riding a bicycle, and she traced the search to an I.P. in Topeka. Okay. Maybe it was just some True Crime freak trying to find her after they read about the wreck. No reason to panic.

She'd almost forgotten about it until a few weeks later. She'd come home from work and showered, then curled up on her couch wearing an old comic-con t-shirt and panties with Leia. She was only halfway through an episode of Star Trek when there was a loud knock on her door that made her jump slightly. Charlie hadn't been expecting anyone. She briefly thought about grabbing something for self defense, just in case.Was that too paranoid?

She looked down at her state of undress and sighed. "Hold on!" she called out.

"Charlie?"

She froze. No. No, that wouldn't be..?

"It's Dorothy. Please open the door?"

Fuck pants.Charlie rushed to the door, swinging it open. She didn't even get to say hello or how the hell are you here?, before Dorothy rushed forward, grabbing Charlie's face in her hands and kissing the daylights out of her. Charlie gaspedsoftly before kissing her back. She grabbed Dorothy's shoulders, pulling her inside the apartment and clumsily shutting the door with her foot.

She walked Dorothy to her couch, the brunette only stopping their kisses to breathe. Charlie pushed her down on the couch with a giggle. Dorothy gave her a big smile that made Charlie's heart melt and pulled her into her lap, and their lips met again.

"Okay, okay.." Charlie eventually pulled back. Dorothy was here. Dorothy was alive and here and was kissing her. Had Dorothy left Oz to be with her? The thought made her dizzy with joy. "Explain?"

Dorothy sighed. Her lips were wonderfully swollen from Charlie's kisses. "I ruled Oz for a couple of years. It was boring, but no one trusted anyone else to do it. I waited for you to come back, but after a few months I realized something must've gone wrong. It's a long story, and I'll tell you the details later, but long story very short, I found another key. And I tracked you down."

"You're the one who looked me up.." Charlie mumbled. She'd told Dorothy everything in Oz.

Dorothy blinked. "You're hard to find. I had to.." Dorothy trailed off, grimacing. "I might've had to slightly scare your roleplay group assistant?"

Charlie pinched the bridge of her nose. "You mean you tortured her."

"No! No, I didn't hurt her. I just told her I was going to, not that I would've really done it.. She, er, gave up your location pretty quickly. Worryingly quickly."

She sighed. "If I wasn't so happy you're here, I'd be a little mad at you."

Dorothy put a hand on the back of Charlie's neck and pulled her in for another kiss. It was gentle and sweet, not as desperate and rushed as they'd been before, but still just as emotional. Charlie hummed happily.