A/N: Dean finds a familiar face and ally in Purgatory and learns some unsettling information. Will his allegiance be worth it? Thank you for giving my story a chance. I do enjoy reviews if you have a moment to leave one. NC

Chapter 4

The days were running together for Dean. He had lost track of what day it was or how long he had been there since his main focus was staying alive. He had run into creatures on his journey along the river bank and had the bruises and scraps to prove it, but he had won the fights. Another morning was dawning in this bleak, desolate place and he stepped to the water's edge for a quick drink and to fill a water bottle he had scavenged along the way. He searched each monster he killed for anything of use to him before silently moving on, not wanting to stay in one place too long.

Dean had fashioned a spear and was standing on a rock in the water watching for fish. He had sprinkled little smashed up grubs on the surface hoping to lure one his way. He waited patiently, not moving at all as the shadow of a fish moved closer to him. When it was close enough, he thrust the spear into the water and lifted the fish carefully from it, tossing it quickly to shore so he wouldn't lose it. He grabbed it up and used a rock to kill it. Dean moved back to the water's edge and quickly gutted it and washed it off before heading away from the river to a small place he had found to stay the night before. After getting a small fire going, he put the fish on a stick over the fire to cook. His mouth was already watering in anticipation of his meal as he added moss to the fire to help mask the odor of the fish cooking. After flipping it once to finish cooking, he pulled it off with a stick onto a piece of bark and used his pocket knife to work the skin off and pulled off chunks of meat, blowing on it before popping it in his mouth. Dean ate quickly, knowing he had stayed too long in one place. Being sure the fire was out, he set out once again in search of Cas and to find a way out of this god forsaken place.

spn

The sun was straight overhead when Dean heard someone up ahead of him heading his way. He quickly ducked behind some bushes and waited with his machete gripped tightly in his hand ready to do battle. Someone walked by him and he jerked them down to the ground getting ready to take their head off when a female voice spoke his name.

"Dean Winchester?" Lenore asked in surprise.

Dean stopped the forward motion of the blade when he heard his name from someone he knew. It was the female vampire Sam and him ran across not long after their father died. Her nest didn't drink human blood and they had saved her from a hunter named Gordon Walker.

"Lenore?" he questioned.

"What are you doing here in this place? Is Sam with you?" she asked getting up and looking at him closely. "Wait. You're still alive and human."

"Afraid so and no Sam's not here." he replied looking past her for any others. "Let's just say I got an express pass here when I took out the head Leviathan."

"Leviathan, nasty bunch. I try to stay out of their way." she said accepting his offered hand to help her up.

"You haven't seen another stranger around here in hospital scrubs and trench coat have you?"

"You mean another human is here?" she asked in shock.

"Not exactly, he's an angel, a friend of mine. You met him before. I'm trying to find him."

"You need to get away from here..." she said sniffing the air making her nose flare. "Others are coming that aren't friendly, follow me."

Figuring she knew the land better than him, Dean fell in behind her and followed her away from the river. Lenore hurried through the brush and trees not checking to be sure Dean was following. She never slowed down until reaching a high cliff and made her way down it until she disappeared into crack barely noticeable unless you knew where to look. Dean almost missed it at first, but then saw the small opening and squeezed into it moving deeper into the darkness using his hand to feel along the wall to determine if there were any turns to be made. He stopped as his eyes adjust to the dim light ahead of him. After pushing further into the crack, it opened up into a large cave. He stepped out and looked around seeing a few things scattered around it and then spotted Lenore across the way. She was placing something on a rock shelf before turning to look at Dean.

"It's not much, but at least it's safe." she said stepping closer to him.

Dean looked up toward the ceiling and saw sunlight was shining in from several natural cracks giving them enough light to see. "Better than where I've been spending my nights." he commented, letting himself relax slightly for the first time since he had gotten here. "Have you heard anything about an angel being here?" he asked sitting down on a rock to rest.

"Angel? I don't think so. I had heard talk of a human being here and I'm assuming that is you."

"Cas, the angel who...You know..."

"Killed me?" she finished for him.

"Yeah, he's trapped here too. We got separated and I've been trying to find him."

"It's good I found you. The way you were going would've landed you in some dangerous territory. Most of us try to stay away from it."

"Why is it so dangerous?" he asked wondering what made that area different from the rest of Purgatory.

"Remember that hunter who captured me?"

"Wait..." Dean said frowning as he riffled through his memories for who she was talking about. "You mean Gordon Walker?"

"Yes, when he was killed and ended up here, he wanted to be king and run the place. He's organized a lot of the beings here and he's their leader. Those who won't follow him are enslaved or killed. He has some of my nest there using them as slaves."

"I knew he was one crazy sob, but never thought he'd do that. Sammy killed him after he was turned into a vampire."

"I don't think you want to run into him here. I don't think he'll let that go."

"Yeah, I'm sure he'd want my head on a platter."

"Why don't you stay here and rest and I'll see if I can find you something to eat. It's safer for me out there than for you. Even thought I don't eat, I know what's edible and what's not." Lenore suggested seeing how tense and jumpy he seemed. "You'll be safe here. No one else knows about this place but me."

"Would be nice to actually sleep for a couple of hours at least." Dean said wiping a hand down his face. He had barely let himself doze in the time he had been here. It had been weeks now he knew and it was taking its toil. The nights weren't much different from the days since you couldn't let your guard down any time.

"There's a couple of blankets over in the corner you can use." she told him.

"Be careful out there." he told her getting up and moving to the blankets. He picked them up and shook them out before spreading one out and lying down and draping the other over his body. Dean kept his machete in his hand and ready to use; it was already ingrained in him to always be ready to fight. He let his eyes close but couldn't shut down his mind as memories of how he got in this place played again and again. He was so exhausted and stressed he didn't think he could sleep but within minutes he had dozed off. He clutched the blanket tightly around his cold body hoping to warm it.

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"Dean..." Lenore called to him making him jerk awake to stare bleary eyed at her. "Sorry, you've been asleep for a while but I thought you might like to eat something."

"How long was I out?" he asked stretching his body to get the stiffness out of it.

"At least several hours, really hard to judge in this place. Time seems different here than in your world. It's not much." she said holding out a cloth with berries in it and another with nuts and some type of root plant.

"Thanks for helping me." he said accepting the offerings and checking them out. He ate some berries and nuts before turning the root over in his hand. Dean took a small bite and found it tasted sort of like carrots and took another bite.

"There's a little basin that gathers water over on the other side so you can drink."

"I appreciate your help."

"You helped me when I needed it. I'm returning the favor."

"Are you alone here?"

"No, I found some of my nest and we've moved as far from Walker's place as we could. I go out searching for others who want to live in peace." she explained. "I don't see why we have to kill each other here. We don't have the thirst for blood and no need to feed. There's plenty of room here, but all some know is how to kill or want power over others."

"Have you tried to stop Walker?"

"No one's strong enough to take him on and win. He has his own little army to protect him." she spat in disgust.

"Maybe no one person, but what about your own army? What if you organized those against him and took him on?"

"I don't know if there's enough brave ones to do that."

"Maybe I can help." Dean said thinking he could get others to help look for Cas. "Too bad you don't have dead man's blood here, but not sure if it would work anyway. So tell me about this place Lenore, how big is it? Has anyone ever gotten out of here?"

"Well I don't know how big it is. I've never found a border or barrier of any kind. Here there's no blood lust or need to feed. It's sort of a relief not having that deep, inner ache twisting at your gut wanting to be fed. I think it is the same for all of us, vampires, werewolves, shape shifters, ghouls...The only thing we do is fight and die. But even that's not forever either. I've seen monsters die and months later I see them again. Even some from my nest have died to return again. I've asked them about it and no one remembers where they go or how they get back. It's like they cease to exist for a time and then magically appear somewhere in Purgatory, but they've changed slightly. I don't know how to describe it since I've been lucky and not died. I've never known of any that have escaped this place once you're here. This is our home for eternity. There's enough space to live in peace, but I know some monsters aren't wired to be peaceful, all they know is fighting. I guess they don't see anything else to do here but kill."

"Do you think there might be a way to keep someone from coming back here once they die? Sort of defeats the purpose if we can kill Walker and he returns to start all over again."

"I don't know, but maybe you should talk to the Seer." she suggested.

"Seer? Who's that?" Dean inquired.

"He's a shape shifter but he's more than that. One of his last changes was a powerful warlock and he knows more than most here. He might be able to help if he'll see us."

"Hey, worth a shot. I didn't like Walker in my world and if I can stop him taking over this world I have to try. I was hoping maybe your friends would help me locate Cas. We'd be better off with an angel on our side."

"I'll put the word out and see if we can locate him."

"In the meantime, where is Walker at and how many does he have on his side?"

"There's a place probably three days from here where he has put together a makeshift camp and I don't know the number with him. I really think some are there because they're afraid of him and figure better to join than be killed. If he was to be killed I think they would turn against the others."

"Okay that could play in our favor. In the morning point me in that direction and I'll go scout it out and you can gather all you can, but how will I find you again?"

Lenore knelt on the cave floor and smoothed out the sand. She took a twig and began to draw a map. "This is where we are now. This is the river you were following..." she continued trying to give him an idea of the lay of the land. "I will meet you here, just don't get caught. It will not go well for you."

Dean studied the map, committing it to memory and tried to judge how long it would take him to find Walker's camp and then get back to where Lenore marked their meeting place. "Okay, look you say its at least three days to his camp and three days back so give me say a week and if I don't meet back up with you, then you can assume I've been captured or I'm dead. But will you still try to find Cas?"

"I'll have someone at the meeting spot on day five and I'll give you the time. I think you are resourceful so we will wait for you." Lenore told him. "Why don't you try to get some more sleep it'll still be a while before morning when you can leave. I will make a paste to hide your human scent so you won't be tracked so easily by monsters."

"Thanks for all your help."

"I do hope you find your friend." she said moving from him as he laid back down to try and sleep before morning came and he had to leave.

Dean watched her for a few minutes as she went to the rock shelves and began to do something. He let his tired, scratchy eyes close and allowed himself to sleep since he didn't know when he'd get the chance again. Plans were going through his head on how to take Gordon Walker out, but first he needed to find a way to be sure he would stay dead for good. Finally his mind shut down too and he went deeper into sleep allowing his body and mind to rest.