I apologise for the wait and for any mistakes. I did this all in one go and it's not far off 2am here.

A big thank you for the follows and reviews :)

As always, I do not own Supernatural (though it pains me that Dean is not real or mine to have).

"Hey."

Leaning casually against the doorway, Sam watched on as Beth collected her meagre amount of belongings and shrugged on her knee length navy blue jacket. The sound of Sam's voice was more than enough to shake Beth from her destructive cycle of thoughts and questioning of her sanity, and as she turned to face the younger of the Winchester men she plastered on a fake smile.

"Hey, Sammy."

"How are you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a car." she replied, laughing lightly at her truthful remark.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Sam advanced further into the room stopping once he was mere inches away from Beth. He towered over her like a gentle giant and he held misguided hope that the woman in front of him would listen to his proposal. Spotting the look of worry in Sam's eyes, Beth placed a hand on his upper arm and patted it gently.

"Sorry. Wrong choice of words. I'm okay, really, Sam."

Lifting her bag onto her shoulder, Beth ignored the screaming of her muscles and the fact that the small effort had caused her such pain. Her wounds, luckily, were superficial but she did not want to show weakness in front of Sam. He had always had a tendency to worry too much over her and she knew that if she did not fully reassure him of her safety and wellbeing, then her life would not return to the Winchester-free state it had been before the accident.

"Beth…" Sam started, his brows furrowing. "Maybe you should stay with me and Dean for a while. Just until you're better."

Gulping, Beth forced herself to steady her breathing as it quickly began to exit her mouth in short, shallow bursts. Her heart was pounding so ferociously that she was almost certain Sam would be able to hear it. Her mind was racing and her eyes searched for a way out of the room and away from the man who only seemed to want the best for her. Gripping her bag tightly, Beth turned on her heel but felt Sam's hand curl around her elbow and tug her back.

"Just here me out."

"No." Beth snapped.

"Please. We have the bunker. It's safe there, Beth. Dean told me what you said to him. We can keep you safe and help you figure out what caused your vision."

It was out of sheer courtesy and respect for their past that Beth had allowed Sam to continue speaking for so long. His brown eyes conveyed the sincerity of his intentions and Beth's chest swelled with appreciation. Even so, his words did nothing to placate her growing panic and she gently pried his hand off of her arm.

"I appreciate your concern, Sam, but it was just a dream. I over-reacted and look where it got me." she signalled, her fingers pointing to the bruising along her jaw line and cheek.

"I just think-"

"I said no, Sam!"

Her chest heaving as her shout echoed around the hospital room, Beth clenched her eyes shut and dug her nails into the flesh of her palms. What was a little more physical pain when her heart felt as if it were splintering into a thousand irreparable pieces? How could she possibly explain the effect seeing Dean's death had had on her? Or how being in his presence after denying herself of his existence for so long was more destructive than anything she had ever experienced?

Scolding himself as he took in the sight of her, Sam surveyed Beth's fragile body - her now open eyes wide with fear and her bottom lip pulled tightly up her teeth - and instantly realised what he had been missing all along. It was so obvious and he felt idiotic for not having considered it out right before approaching Beth with his suggestion.

"This is about Dean, isn't it?"

Wiping a stray tear from her cheek, Beth cleared her throat and stared directly at Sam; hating the pity that shone from his eyes.

"Not everything is about Dean. I don't care about Dean."

"No offence but that is the biggest pile of crap I've ever heard in my life."

Taken aback by Sam's sudden outburst, Beth stood in silence for a moment. Of course he was right but she had never thought he would be the one to call her out on such a lie; mild-mannered Sammy was always the one who had let her live out her lies.

"I saw you. You were terrified. I've never seen you run to Dean so fast in all my life. Whatever it was that you saw… it scared you enough to travel half way across the state and risk almost getting killed in the process."

"Just leave it, Sam." muttered Beth before turning her back on the man.

She had taken just a few steps when Sam's deep voice reached her ears and she stopped dead in her tracks.

"You need to forgive him."

Anger flaring up inside of her, she rounded on Sam and stormed towards him. Over a foot smaller than him, she had to lift her chin to glare at him properly but she smiled with satisfaction when she saw him recoil slightly.

"I will never forgive him."

"He made a mistake, Beth. Believe me when I tell you that he's more than paid the price for all he's done."

"I don't care. I can't forgive him and nothing you say will convince me to come with you."

"He loves you."

"Not enough, Sam!"

The dam has broken. Salty tears ran down Beth's beautifully round cheeks and she pounded her fists into Sam's chest until she was too exhausted to carry on. Collapsing against him the room remained quiet except for the sounds of Beth's sobs.

"Sammy, it's time to go."

Dean stood in the doorway, not daring the step into the room. He face was a picture of control and not a single emotion slipped past his statue-like demeanour when Beth's eyes caught his as she involuntarily sought out the sound of his voice. His protective shell was back in place and he'd heard enough of the conversation to know that entering the room would do him no good. There was no way for him to tell her that he had spent years desperately trying not to love her - that his need for her was tearing him apart.

Reluctantly agreeing with his older brother, Sam nodded once and grimaced as he strode past Beth. He turned back to say his goodbyes for what he hoped would not be the last time when he noticed that Beth's eyes with fixed firmly on Dean. More specifically, they seemed to be mesmerised by the mark on his lower arm that Dean's rolled up plaid shirt did not hide. Mirroring one another, Sam and Dean glanced down at the protruding mark and back up at Beth who stared defiantly at Dean.

"Please tell me that isn't what I think it is." Beth spoke, careful to remain as composed as possible despite the rising alarm in her veins.

All of her wishful thinking she'd employed over the previous weeks that her visions really were nothing more than bad dreams brought on by repressed emotions concerning her estranged husband completely evaporated. Her visions of the future were just that and instantly, she knew that there would be no escaping what was to come. Dean's death. Her own. They were entwined and the source was staring her right in the face.

Breaking his own rule, Dean passed the threshold and cautiously walked towards Beth. Her head was shaking slowly from side to side and as he advanced she backed away from him. Holding his hands up in a manner of peace, Dean wished he could hold the young woman in his arms and soothe any worries that were tormenting her.

"Woah. I'm not going to touch you… just calm down, all right?"

"Please tell me you didn't!" screeched Beth.

"Didn't what? Beth-"

Pacing up and down a small patch of cream coloured tiled floor, Beth tugged at the roots of her dark ginger hair and shot an accusatory warning look in Dean's direction.

"It's not enough that you have no concern for my life but now you're going to throw yours away… for the mark of Cain!"

Dean's hands dropped to his side and he mouth gaped open. He was a hundred percent sure that neither Sam nor Cas would have told Beth about the curse he had inflicted upon himself for the good of humanity - or so he had thought - so the words of his wife shook him to his very core. At a loss for words, Dean could do nothing except look upon the woman he loved with a guilt ridden expression that pained him to know she had seen far too many times from him.

"Hold up. How do you know about the mark?" Sam questioned.

Too far gone in her stronghold of terror and panic, Beth did not give Sam and answer. Instead, she flung her arm around and smacked Dean straight across his bearded cheek. The action made her hand sting and aggravated her still fresh ailments. Crying out in pain, Beth held up her other hand when she spied Dean coming to her aid in spite of the violence she had just inflicted upon him.

"How could you be so stupid? Do you know what that thing will do to you? I can't believe… Does your life mean nothing to you?!"

"I know, okay. I know! But I didn't have a choice. It was the only way to kill-"

Pushing against his broad chest, Beth beat out her frustration as she continued to yell.

"Of course you had a choice!"

"No! I didn't!" Dean shouted back silencing Beth immediately. "I did what I had to do. I know what it's doing to me. This curse is my punishment for every bad thing I've ever done and I've accepted that I'll have to live with it for the rest of my life."

Her fingers tangled into the black t-shirt that was visible underneath the plaid shirt he wore, Beth breathed in his musky scent and allowed herself a moment to acknowledge that she still loved Dean Winchester even though she did not want to any longer.

"I'm not going to let you become a monster or die because of some misguided, self-righteous idea of justice." Beth mumbled, her faced buried in Dean's chest. "You want me to go with you… fine."

There were so many questions on the tip of Dean's tongue. He was not foolish enough to believe that his wife's earlier admission that she would never forgive him for his many misdeeds had been changed. Curiosity urged him to ask how Beth clearly had so much knowledge of the Mark of Cain when he himself had only known of its existence for a few months. As he watched her pull away from him and surge past his brother, Dean shook his head to convey his confusion to Sam and they followed Beth out of the room.

"What a pretty little thing you are." Dean purred, the cold blade of his knife grazing against the skin on Beth's inner thigh.

On her back - arms secured with rope that made her wrists burn and itch - Beth kept her eyes focused on the grey ceiling above her and tried to ignore the revulsion she felt at Dean's touch.

"Mmmmm." Dean moaned, his lips smacking against each other and his eyes eating up the helpless sight that beheld him. "You really do look good enough eat."

"Screw you." Beth snipped, unable to remain mute any longer.

"You'd love to."

His smirk made her angry. She had fallen in love with that smirk a decade ago but the man it belonged to no longer existed. He had died at the hands of an enemy and with it, her love for him had died also. The creature taunting her was a reminder that she had failed to save Dean. Seeing him stood before her with the face of the man she yearned for a second chance with insulted her. It was a cruel twist of fate.

Replacing the blade with his hand, Dean's face split into a gleeful smile when Beth's body tensed and she took a sharp intake of breath. His hand felt rough and warm and the shivers of pleasure it sent down her spine make Beth sick to her stomach.

"He's still in here, you know." he goaded as Beth struggled to throw off his hand. "And damn… he is pissed at you."

Swinging her head around to face him, Beth looked deep into Dean's eyes as they flickered between green and black and tried in vain not to listen to his lies.

"You failed. You promised you'd save him and you let him die. Can't say I blame him for hating you."

Closing her eyes, Beth wished she could cover her ears as Dean carried on in his emotional and mental assault on her.

"I have all of his memories and jeez…" Dean whistled. "You did a number on him didn't you?"

"Shut up."

"All those years of holding onto false hope that you'd come back for him… not being there when he came back from hell…"

"Go to hell!"

"Oh, sweetheart… Hell's my bitch."

Moving his hand away, Dean talked as he twirled the gleaming blade between his fingers and walked slowly around the sturdy wooden table he had Beth tied to. She was feisty and he wanted to play.

Leaning down, Dean pressed his lips against Beth's ear and whispered in lover-like fashion to her.

"He never forgave you for what you did… killing his baby…"

Yanking at the ropes and crying out when all they did was cut even further into her flesh, Beth fought to blank out the sound of Dean's torturous voice.

"In fact, how about we give him a present? A new baby to replace the one you took from him."

Catching Beth's lips in a harsh kiss, Dean let out a murderous laugh.

"Relax, Red. This won't hurt a bit."

A strangled sob escaping her throat, Beth's hands flung up to her neck and she clutched it as tears flooded her eyes. Disorientation set in as her eyes scanned the new and unfamiliar room she had been given in the bunker, and it served only to magnify her distraught state. A pair of hands grabbed at her and she screamed out until her voice was hoarse and it broke under the strain of her horror.

"Shhh… calm down. You're okay. You're safe."

Blinking once, twice, three times, Castiel's form seemed to materialise before her. He looked no different than from the last time they had met. His brown hair was still short and he wore his trademark brown trench coat like a uniform. His presence calmed her enough that her body no longer shook violently and the tears had begun to dry up.

"Cas?"

Breathless, Sam and Dean stood hesitantly in the doorway.

"You were screaming." Dean directed at Beth; hating how it was his name she'd been shrieking out in fright.

"She's okay." Castiel stated before quickly turning back to Beth.

His eyes searching hers, Castiel found what he was looking for.

"Beth, what did you see?"

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