Chapter One: Back Again

Six minutes away from Harmony
Ten years later
Five months remaining
Aline woke up screaming.

"Hey, it's all right. Nothing's gonna hurt you," a familiar voice soothed.

She calmed down as she opened her eyes, looking at a familiar pair of candy apple green eyes.

She wasn't in Hell yet (keyword: yet), but, just to make sure of what else she had seen, she muttered, "Christo."

He didn't even flinch, and his eyes didn't flash black. "I was one again, wasn't I?"

Aline nodded. "There was...something different this time," she stated, her eyes darting around to look at where she was. "Why aren't you driving?"

Before he could even answer, another voice answered with, "Dean and I heard you muttering something and moving around while you were asleep. It looked like you were scared, so Dean pulled over, moved to the backseat, and put your head in his lap."

The fact that she was muttering in her sleep made her freeze. That wasn't unusual for her, but she definitely didn't want the brothers to know about this particular dream. "What was I saying?"

"Like I said, neither of us could hear what you were saying."

Her shoulders sagged in relief. "So, you decided to take over, Sammy?"

"Pretty much."

She didn't look at Dean as she continued glancing around, afraid of seeing that gas mask again. "Thanks Dean. You didn't have to do that, you know." Her heart was pounding and she felt tense as she looked around.

Was it because of the overpowering fear of seeing Harry's face again?

Was it from Dean's calming touch?

Was it from the fear of knowing she only had five months left until her second visit to Hell?

She didn't know. The dream she just had was different from any other from the past few years or even the past eight months.

This time, she dreamed about that night ten years ago, except Dean was there with her and Tom. She guessed Sam was in a different part of the mine. They were facing both hellhounds and Harry himself. She'd watched helplessly as Harry killed Tom, but Dean had killed Harry before he could kill her. The miner had only managed to stab her in the arm.

"Don't you dare be dead, Tommy. Don't you dare," she remembered begging, her voice cracking.

Then, both she and Dean were attacked by the hellhounds. The last thing she remembered of that part of her nightmare was Sam calling out their names and running toward them as her world went black. She wasn't sure how much time passed before she was looking at Dean's back. A woman that looked to be in her mid-thirties was tied to a post. Aline swore she looked familiar.

The three of them were holed up in a long-since abandoned barn. Dean turned to face Aline, a sadistic smirk on his face that made a good kind of shiver run up and down her back.

"You wanna have a little fun, Batgirl?" he questioned, holding the bloodied knife out for her.

She remembered feeling her lips curl into a wide grin as she answered, "Of course. You know I'm game."

She remembered hearing the woman beg and plead for her life. She put the tip of the knife underneath the woman's neck and forced her to look her in the eyes. The woman's eyes widened in recognition.

"Aline, please," she begged. "We're friends, remember? I used to date your cousin, Tom."

The woman was Sarah Mercer. That was one thing that would've made her wake up screaming.

The more sadistic part of Aline's brain (the demon half) cursed herself for not wearing a gas mask to scare the crap outta her.

Aline didn't respond, instead moving to put another cut on her already pretty cut up body before hearing someone cock a gun.

"Drop the blade," a familiar male voice ordered, making her grin widen.

"Sammy, I get all tingly when you take control like that," she stated as she turned around. Right behind Sam was a full-body mirror. Dean was hidden right behind the mirror. He grinned at her and let his eyes flash black.

That alone would've made her wake up screaming like she did, but that wasn't all.

She smirked at him and felt her own eyes switch to black as well.

"I wanted to. You've been doing the same for me," Dean told her. "What are you looking for?"

She felt most of the tension leave her body. "Nothing. And before you say anything Sam, I don't wanna talk about it." She sat up and clapped her hands. "Anyway, are we there yet?"

"It's the next exit. There's nothing supernatural about how this Eli guy died. Just natural causes," Sam replied. "His death isn't our type of thing."

Aline sighed. "He was my uncle, one of my only relatives. I used to split my time between Harmony and St. Louis."

"Why didn't you just stay with him after we saved you? Not that we don't regret you coming along with us."

She decided to blatantly ignore the question. "I wanted to actually live there full-time with him and his son Tom. Tom was the only one I told everything to. He was the first person I called whenever I had a bad day at school. He was like the brother I never had."

"What happened to him?" Dean asked.

"Nothing happened to him. He's still alive. I call or text him every time I get the chance. I think of him every single time you two have an argument."

"Why did you stop wanting to live there?" Sam this time.

She sighed, running her fingers over her hair. She didn't want to talk about what happened at the mine. You'd think after having nightmares about it for years she'd be able to talk to someone about it, but she couldn't without panicking. She settled with, "Something frightening happened one night ten years ago. Neither of us talk about it. But Tom helped me pack my things, and he and Uncle Eli drove me to the airport and sent me back to St. Louis. Tom actually hugged me before I got on the plane. That was the last time I saw either of them."

Both brothers were silent for a few moments as they processed the information. That silence allowed her to remember things she didn't want to.

"Those men died because your father and your uncle trusted the wrong man."

"Nononono, we can't leave Tom and Aline!"

"We all make mistakes. Some more than others."

She snarled and punched the back of the passenger seat, making both Sam and Dean jump a few inches above their seats.

"Geez, what did Baby ever do to you, Ally?" Dean questioned, trying to lighten the tension.

She sighed and ran her fingers over her hair before laying back down on Dean's lap. "Sorry about that. I was just remembering stuff that I haven't thought about since the Rawhead hunt. I just wanna forget this stuff, ya know? Leave it behind and forget it happened. I have good memories of Harmony, but what Tom and I went through overpowers the good ones." That was when she pulled that picture out of her pocket and looked at it, smiling softly at the memory.

Aline ran back over and jumped up on Tom's back, and he grunted as she wrapped her arms around her neck.

"Goofy picture time!" she called with a big grin.

"Easy there, Batgirl. You aren't as light as you used to be," Tom teased.

She teasingly huffed. "I'm pleasantly plump, thank you very much, Supes."

"I don't think so."

"Are you calling me a liar?"

"I ain't calling you a truther!"

Both Sarah and Irene laughed. Aline climbed off Tom's back before he picked her back up bridal style, grinning like a madman. She tilted his hat to the side and looked over at Sarah.

Her cousin's girlfriend was posing like a model, but with a funny face. Aline stuck her hand behind Sarah's head as bunny ears, did the same to Tom, and did blue-steel. Irene couldn't stop laughing as she took the picture. Aline, Tom, and Sarah laughed while Tom set Aline down onto the ground.

Hearing Dean chuckle dragged her out of the memory.

"You looked like a dork."

"I'll take that as a compliment, Winchester."

He pointed at Tom. "Is that him?"

She nodded and pointed at Sarah. "That's Sarah Mercer, his ex-girlfriend."

He gently took the picture from her hand and stared at it. "Ex?"

She nodded again. "Tom left Harmony the same night I did. Neither of us really talk about what happened that night."

"You should talk to each other about it. Something bad could happen from holding all this in," Sam pointed out.

"It's better that we don't because it makes me think of what could have happened back then. Yeah, I had nightmares about it until the Rawhead hunt, but I didn't, and still don't, want to think about what could've happened while I'm awake. Hell, that's the dream I just had, but it was different."

"How?"

"The both of you were there, but you were someplace else. We were running from the hellhounds and..." She shook her head, not even wanting to say his name. Saying his name would bring the memories back and the sound of him breathing echoing in her ears. She shut her eyes and clenched her fists.

"What else was chasing us?"

Of course Sam would prod, but she just ignored the question and continued, "You didn't come until after Tom, Dean, and I were dead. Flash forward I don't know how long, Dean and I were torturing someone. Specifically Sarah. I didn't know why. She was trying to get me to stop, but I didn't listen. That was when you showed up, Sam." She opened her eyes and looked up at Dean, seeing the exact emotion she was feeling right now in his eyes.

Fear.

That was how she knew he knew exactly what the two of them were in her nightmare. It was something neither of them talked about but dreaded. There was a part of her that hoped that they would still want to be together if that ever happened. He pulled her up and hugged her tightly. She hugged him back just as tight. It was something they both needed, considering how much time they had left.

That was when Sam pulled into the church parking lot.

"We're here."

Aline and Dean broke their embrace, and she looked out the window, seeing cars she recognized. It looked like the whole Harmony police department was there. She even saw Ben's car, making her chuckle a little. Some things never change no matter how long you've been away.

Dean whistled. "Looks like the whole town's here," he stated.

She didn't bother answering him and climbed out of the car, stuffing her hands in her pockets. Could she really go in that church and see people she hasn't seen in years? Pretend she was a normal girl with a normal job instead of hunting monsters and forget that she was going back to Hell in five months? She found herself standing in front of the doors, hearing voices chatting about normal things.

There would be pity if she walked through those doors, of that she was sure. Along with: "Where have you been the last ten years?", "Why didn't you stay and help pick up the pieces?", and "Where's your cousin?"

Her hand was on the door handle, but she hesitated the moment she heard Sarah's laughter. Would she even want to see her since she'd hightailed it out of town that night ten years ago? There was a slight possibility Sarah thought both Aline and Tom died that night. Hell, she might even be married to someone else and have a kid. Aline removed her hand from the door handle and walked back to the Impala. Fortunately, both brothers followed without questioning it.

Sarah didn't need her coming into her life and screwing things up.