'This isn't right.'

Sam didn't seem to register her even being there. He just continued to stare blankly down at the mutilated corpse of his demon brother.

'There's got to be a way Sam think!'

'There isn't a way.' Sam said in a small voice, as if him making a sound would cause his constrained emotions boil over.

'There's always a way. How many god damn times have the Winchesters cheated, conned, defeated or come back from the dead?! What makes this time so impossible?' She was reaching; she was desperate - because she was on a completely different spectrum from Sam. Unlike his numb, unprocessing state she was full of fury and denial, stubbornness and some kind of twisted hope that if she wanted it enough and asked enough times something could be done.

But they both knew why this time was different. Because they all knew what had happened hundreds of times to demons that they'd vanquished with the gun or the knife or the other knife or the other other knife. Those demons didn't come back. Now Dean had joined those demons.

'Fuck.' Kay slumped down against the wall, the word coming out thick with tears and a burning in her throat. She wrapped her arms around her legs and they both continued to stare at him, bloody and lifeless on the floor.

Forever passed in a minute. Despite himself Sam's mind flitted through possibilities. First was Crowley but if he knew how to bring demons back they would have seen Meg or any number of demons again. Cas was the next – if Dean was human then Cas would be able to help – he had done before, but what angel would know how to bring a demon back? Crossroads demon was a choice, though even if they could bring Dean back, what would Sam have to sacrifice in order for them to do so? Did Dean even want to come back? Hadn't Sam himself been in this exact situation, dying and peaceful, only to be tricked and wrenched back into the messy living by his brother and his inability to deal with the loss?

Sam was about to share this thought with Kay, that perhaps they could take solace that Dean wasn't living as the monster he had always fought against, but Kay got there first.

'I have to go back.'

Sam found it difficult to process anything other than his own thoughts and really didn't have the energy or the care to ask her what she meant. He merely looked at her, thinking maybe she was going mad trying to understand the death of her lover. If nothing else the fact death was so easily overridden in their world made a real death, a no-going-back death, all the more harrowing. Kay wiped her eyes on her folded arms, sniffed and, wobbling, stood up.

'I can go back.' Again Sam just stared at her. Did she think changing a couple of words would make him understand? Go back where? Kay stood tall, strong, solid in her decision. Sam started to pay attention – her determination was curious.

'Sam, I'm going to go back.' She stepped towards him, so that they were on opposite sides of Dean, looking like they'd just finished a sacrifice. Both with blood-soaked hands and spattered clothes and blood drying in their hair. Sam began to understand. But how? How could it be so convenient? Could Dean really cheat a death as final as a vanquished demon?

Kay grinned shakily at him, a horrific look considering the blood cracking on her face as she did.

'I'm going to go back in time and save Dean Winchester. From this battle, from this gruesome ending and from ever becoming a Demon.'

'Are you sure?'

'Of course I'm sure Sam what do you think I am?' Kay was now fully in the zone. She was circling around Dean and looking at thin air from what Sam could tell. If Sam hadn't known Kay for so long he would have diagnosed this behaviour as a symptom of PTSD, he will still considering it now, but he was so desperate for something to work.

'But how do you know? I thought you said they come and go randomly. You've never mentioned the ability to time travel before.' Kay looked a little sheepishly at him.

'I've been able to for the past couple of months. I've only gone back tiny time periods. A couple of days, then a couple of weeks. I managed to do three months a few weeks ago but I got stuck in England for about five days because I couldn't bring myself back.'

'Well you'd need to go back at least double that to stop Dean from ever taking the mark from Cain.' Sam was losing faith like a glass of water full of holes. 'How can you look so calm about this?'

Kay shrugged, still looking at things no one else could see. 'I guess because no matter if I get stuck, I'll still be with you guys. You'll both be alive and well.'

'But what if you go too far? Or not far enough?'

'If I go too far I'll obviously just wait until the time I need to take action and if I don't go back as far as Dean not having the mark of Cain I'm sure I'll find a way to help him – at least he'll be alive.'

'But you couldn't help him this time.'

Kay huffed; Sam's questioning was distracting her. 'Sam I didn't try and help him this time.'

Confused, Sam paused. Then his head cleared a little and he saw sense. Kay had stopped circling and was looking at him timidly. She was never afraid to say anything to him; they had a great friendship where they understood each other the vast majority of the time. He gave her a well go on look.

'Sam, if I go back too far, say, another six months, back to just after Cas accidentally got all the angels kicked outta heaven. Back to when'

'When I was dying and Dean tricked me into living.' Sam finished, he knew what she was asking. How many times had he wished Dean would have stopped being so selfish and let him go? How much of a rift had that one decision caused them? But now that he was standing here, alive, and more importantly desperately trying to get Dean back to the living…

'Kay, if you end up around that time I want you to'

'I don't care what you want.' Kay waved Sam's sentence away. He paused, confused once more. 'Sam I wanted you to know before you got the chance to think of it and ask me: I don't want to know what you'd want me to do. I'm not going to change anything Dean did. One: because it's none of my business. Two: because I will not be the cause of Dean's pain. And three: because I'd have to actually stop him and then he'd hate me and I'd blow whatever cover I may or may not have to use.' Sam flustered for a bit but eventually accepted her stance and nodded.

Sighing with satisfaction, Kay resumed her task. Though it wouldn't be an easy one. For many reasons. She was giving Sam confidence she knew she didn't have. This could all go horribly wrong – and with their luck it would.

'So,' Sam stood next to her and, clapping his hands together, looked ready to try this crazy idea. 'What do I do?' Kay stood straight and ran her fingers through her hair.

'I don't quite know. See the few times I've teleported I've been thinking of a specific memory of mine. I work off of that and it gets me pretty much within that specific time frame. The clearer the memory, the more I want to be there again, the easier it is. Except,' she turned to Sam, her hands on her hips, 'except this time I'll be going back to a date where I was no-where near you guys. I can remember what I was doing but you don't know what day or days it was that would be best for me to go back to. And even if you did – I'd end up where I was at that time. And that's not good.'

'Oh so you'd have to find out where we were at the time and travel there?'

'Yes – like a normal person. On a train or a plane or bus or whatever – who knows how long that would take. And on top of that I don't know if I can meet my other self. I mean personally I think I'd be fine with it because, well, I'm me. But then there's the whole screwing up the past thing. Like, if my other self knows I've come back in time because Dean really dies then she may act differently towards him which means the future will be different. Though I'm not sure how much more fucked up this world can get.'

Okay Sam was officially confused. He ran a hand over his face, causing flakes of blood to shed. He wiped his hands on his jeans in the hope of shifting some of the blood. How much of it was Deans?

'Sam I need one thing from you.' He stood to attention to find Kay's hand being offered to him. 'Take my hand and think real hard of around that time. Hopefully some extra magic bullshit will make it easier for me to end up where you guys were instead of where I was. Though I'm not holding out any hope.'

'Right.' Sam took Kay's hand, feeling better just for doing so. She had that effect on everyone. He guessed it was something her kind could do. Okay so, think of that time. It was a time Sam really didn't want to think about. He didn't want to think about dying, or failing the trials, or having that angel inside of him. He didn't want to go back to when he felt most betrayed by Dean. But then, how much worse was that time than any other time they shared in the last ten years? If they'd known what shit they would get into when riding down another American route, searching for their dad, would they go on? Dean would.

Kay shivered in his hand and then, before Sam was able to fully come out of his thoughts, she vanished with a little squeak.

Sam stood alone in the bloody chamber with his cold, dead demon brother and the strained belief that he was able to carry on. Because if Kay got it right, he would never have to experience this.