"Where am I?" Dean whispered.

"Laurel Iowa. Population 336. It's a real happenin' place." Her voice dripping with sarcasm. "Just rest for a while Dean. Don't worry, apparently Bobby is the only spirit that can get in here." She didn't feel it was necessary to discuss Death's visit at the moment. "Just get better." She walked over to the small kitchen table and took off all of her snow gear. Warming another cloth, she walked over to him and he was asleep again. She put the warm cloth on his forehead. He sighed deeply and muttered, "Sam..."

She put another log on the waning fire and stirred the embers. shutting off all the lights but the small lamp next to the couch. Katy pulled the quilt off of the back of the couch and over her. She laid on the couch so she could keep an eye on Dean.

"I hope you're happy Bobby." She whispered.

His voice replied in her ear, "Thanks Katy bug."

A small smile crept across her lips as she dozed off.

A short 3 hours later the coffee machine processed a pot of dark brew. The smell woke her up as it did every morning. As it always did, every day, the smell reminded her of her Mother and she frowned.

She checked the IV and it was almost done. She tested his skin and although still dehydrated, it was better than it was. She got another bag from the bathroom and replaced the done bag.

How funny that this shipment of saline had arrived about 6 weeks ago, just out of the blue. A good 8 months after her Mother had passed. "Mom always said, all things happen for a reason." she whispered. She checked his temp and it was down to 100.

She sat at the kitchen table and fixed a cup of coffee. Turned on the small tv to watch the news. Nothing good on the news and another 3-6 inches of snow was expected.

Dean started mumbling in his sleep, "No. Sammy... Stop." His legs were moving like he was running. "Sam!" He yelled. She got to the bed and held him down, protecting his IV. "Dean!" She said firmly.

His eye blinked and looked at her, they were so infinitely sad, those green eyes.

"Dean. You're safe." She took the now cold rag off of his head.

He sighed and laid back, "Can I have some water?"

"Sure, we will try some again." She got some cold tap water and gave him just the smallest taste. "Let's see how your stomach does." After a few minutes of no adverse effects she gave him a few more swallows.

"Better?"

He nodded and suddenly his eyes got wide. "Need to Pee. Now."

"Good. That's a good sign."

She helped him up slowly, still in his dirty underwear.

"Here, use the IV pole for support too."

He managed to make it over to the bathroom with help.

"You're on your own here. I will be right here if you need anything ok?"

He nodded and closed the door behind him. She quickly stripped the bed and changed the sheets while keeping an ear out for any distress. She walked over to the door and for a moment heard him crying. She quietly walked back to the kitchen and put a pot on the stove. From the pantry she pulled some home canned veggies and poured them in. In a few moments she had a hearty beef stew going.

She heard the door open, and he very slowly walked out. "I have clean clothes...in my car." His face was stained with tears.

"Don't worry about that right now. The car is secure in my garage. You can take a shower in a day or two and get dressed."

He nodded, "Whiskey? Do you have any?"

"No. I don't keep booze in the house. Quite frankly you don't need it. If Death is what you want, you will have to do it after you're better."

His eyes narrowed and he walked to the bed, "Don't judge me. You ...you just don't know..."

She nodded, "No I don't. And you don't know anything about me either... I can see you're in pain. Everyone's in pain from something, you're not any different." She immediately regretted what she had said.

"Really? Lady, you don't have a clue. You're just a bitch." he snapped. He turned and started slowly moving to the stairs. "Screw you."

She sighed loudly, "Gonna leave in your skivvies? In the snow?"

"Oh my God. Fuck you!" He screamed, turning back to her. Tears running down his face again.

"Look Dean. I'm sorry. I wasn't trying to be mean. I...I just..." Now her blue eyes were starting to tear. "Look, all I have to do is get you...alive again. Then you can do whatever you want. OK?"

As she had for the past few years, she locked all emotions away.

"Don't put yourself out on my account." Dean growled.

"Bobby asked me to take care of you. You can thank him later. I'm sure he'll be around sooner or later."

She stood there with her hands on her hips, he was hanging on to the IV stand for dear life. Once again they were left staring at each other.

Finally he started shivering. "Fuck, it's cold."

"Get back to the bed. I'll stir up the fire." She put a couple of logs on and put the screen back in place.

Quickly she had him tucked in with the heating blanket and another on top of that. "Warm?"

"Yeah." he nodded. "Still want some whiskey."

"Not gonna happen dude." She offered a weak smile.

He closed his eyes, "Whatever."

"How about we start over? My name is Katy Juniper. You're at my shop, Calliope's Menagerie. It's a bookstore cafe kinda place with hunters quarters in the back." She gave him another swallow of water.

"So you know about hunters?" He seemed surprised.

"More than I care to know."

Dean snorted and then groaned as his stomach cramped.

"Sorry, too much water. See if you can keep it down. Later today I will have some broth for you."

He grimaced at the pain, however he did however manage to keep the water down.

"Once you are peeing on a regular basis and can keep stuff down, I will take out the IV. Go back to sleep for a while."

"My head is still pounding."

"I have a little liquid acetaminophen left." She gave him some in the IV.

"Do you take care of all hunters like this?" he asked as the thumping in his head lessened some.

"No. There haven't been any hunters here in a year or more. I closed the shop. You are only getting special treatment because Bobby asked me to make sure you survived."

"Why would you close the shop?"

"Too many questions Dean Winchester. Go to sleep. You need rest to get better." She walked over and stirred the stew, hoping he would be asleep by the time she looked over and he was.

She quietly put on her outside gear and took his keys. She found his clean clothes in the trunk of the car. She chuckled at all the weapons also found there... "Hunters."

She thew his bag in the back of the shop and started the walk to get her truck. Cutting across a few back yards and parking lots in the snow covered town. The wind was picking up and Katy wrapped her scarf closer around her face. She only saw a few people moving about. Waving occasionally, she hurried with her head down.

She wasn't used to talking to people much anymore. Now she had to be up close and personal with someone and someone that was ill. It brought back too many memories that weren't good. It was an uncomfortable feeling to be forced to interact. She was just fine in her own world where she was the only person.

As she turned the corner to Main street she saw a tow truck pull up in front of her truck.

Griphyns Towing was emblazoned on the side. "Shit." she thought, now running to the truck. "Griz!" she called, "Griz! it's ok, I can drive it home!"

The older man looked up as he got out of his truck. "Everything ok Katy?"

"Yeah!" she stopped in front of the large older man. "She just...um...didn't like the cold last night. I think it's ok."

He nodded, "Why were you going out anyway? Too damn cold for sane people to be out."

"I...uh...Wanted some Dairy Queen, so I was headed to Marshalltown." She was sure he wasn't going to buy any of this.

"Ice cream? When it's 20 degrees outside? You sound like Mari! You women...I will never understand!" He had a hearty laugh that matched his white beard.

"Yeah, we are just crazy like that!" She jumped in the truck and she started just fine. "Thanks for stopping Griz! Say hey to Mari for me!" she waved as she drove off.

Parked in the garage again, all was normal again. Dean's car was going to take some work. Katy's truck was a black 1977 Dodge Warlock with a 440 that had been beat up plenty but still ran well. Farther over on the other side of the large garage was a car covered with a blue tarp. She left locking the garage behind her and grabbing his bag from the dark shop, going through it before she headed upstairs to make sure there was no whiskey. Just clothes and a copy of Busty Asian Beauties.

She rolled her eyes and snorted, "Lovely." She slowly walked up the stairs, after the activities of the past 12 hours her back and legs were really sore. She crept in the large one room apartment and Dean was still asleep. Katy checked on the stew still simmering on low, it was starting to smell wonderful.

She put his duffle bad on the nightstand. He was breathing good although his temperature was still up some. All in all, at least he wasn't getting worse.

She peeled off her outterwear and stripped down to her briefs and t shirt. Taking an alieve she laid down on the couch, covered in the quilt. She looked at her cell, 11:45 am. "Just a quick nap." she thought as she fell asleep watching Dean.