4

Lauren's heart ached at what she had seen. Her Dean, her Dean had been…had been…God if she ever got a hold of those whores she'd take her time killing them, saving Holly for last. She could feel the pain in his heart right now. How disgusting, how used he felt. How scared he was. He blamed himself for what happened, Lauren could feel that. He felt like he let it happen, and he had betrayed her. As if this counted as cheating.

Not my Baby, not my Dean. Please GOD TELL ME THIS IS A DREAM!

He didn't do anything. This was nowhere near his fault, he had no choice. Lauren knew what these creatures were now, how their powers worked, and there was no way in hell she was going to hate him, or leave him for this.

He was near hysterics, writhing in her arms and screaming.

"Get off me!" He sobbed. "Please stop it hurts so much! Please!" He still wasn't fully awake. Lauren hugged him to her, gently rocking him back and forth, tears in her eyes.

"Shhhshhshh, it's alright Baby," She said, gently rocking him back and forth. "She can't hurt you anymore. You're alright." He opened his wet eyes, so wounded. He tugged away from her, trying to get out of her arms.

"Lauren, baby I'm so sorry. I'm so damn sorry." He cried, sobs wracking his body. She hugged him tighter; he pushed her away. "No, no I betrayed you. I'm so sorry Lauren." She pulled against him and hugged him close. He was too weak to fight her, but he did try.

"Shh, hey, hey. God baby you didn't betray me. Supernatural whores don't count." She tried to smile through tears that were pooling in her eyes. She pulled him to her again, resting his head on her chest.

"Please," His words were soaked with pain and anguish. "I don't deserve this, I don't deserve you." Lauren shook her head, pushing tears back out of her eyes. He couldn't see her cry right now, he was hurt enough. He looked up at her again, tear tracks on his face. Lauren smiled gently and wiped them off.

"It wasn't your fault Dean. It wasn't. I swear Baby." She lifted his chin and kissed him gently. It didn't seem to help.

"No, no, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry," He sobbed. "Please, please forgive me." He begged. His sobs were shaking her, but the agony in his voice was killing her. She could feel the pain in his aching heart, how truly sorry he was, how unbelievably guilty for what he thought he did. He was so terrified she would leave, that she would hate him.

"Baby there's nothing to forgive. You didn't do anything wrong." She tried hugging him again, but again he fought against her.

"Please...Lauren please." He pleaded. Lauren shut her eyes, feeling his anguish wash over her.

"I, I forgive you." She whispered. There's nothing to forgive. She added silently. Dean sighed and buried his face in her neck, relaxing, letting himself go. He was quiet for a long time, crying.

"Baby," Lauren whispered. "Talk to me." Dean was quiet for a little while longer. He took a shaky deep breath.

"She, she wouldn't stop. I b-begged her to stop." He wrapped his arms around her. "She was, everywhere. And, it, it hurt so bad. I tried, to f-fight her but I…I was so scared…" He trailed off and sobbed harder.

"I know, I know baby I can feel it." She said. He looked up at her, confused.

"What?" He croaked. Lauren sighed.

"My stupid psychic crap. My powers are changing, I think I'm getting empathy. And my visions are still there too." She said angrily. Dean was still trembling against her, his skin still cold, but not as much as it had been.

"So you can..?" He asked. Lauren nodded. Dean collapsed in her arms, she held him tight, running her hand through his hair.

"I can still feel her." He whispered. He moved his hand to his waist, glancing at the deep purple and brown handprints that were left there. He shuddered, a sob caught in his throat. He felt so fragile in her arms. How could someone so strong, someone that protected her from anything, feel so small right now? So broken.

"Shh," Lauren soothed. "We'll figure this out Baby. Sam, Maggie and Bobby went to get help." Dean jerked his had up and stared at her. God there was so much agony in his eyes. He coughed violently. Great, he's getting sicker too.

"D-don't tell Sammy," He shivered. "I do-don't want him to-" She placed a finger to his lips.

"Hush," She caressed his cheek. "I won't tell him Baby. He, he doesn't need to know." She assured. She smoothed his hair and let him cry. He held her as tightly as he could, finally feeling the person he wanted to. She wouldn't let him go unless he asked her to. "I love you Baby, you know that right?" She asked. Dean nodded and nestled deeper into her neck.

"I love you too." Dean whispered. His tears soaked through her shirt. He felt so pathetic, so weak. He was so scared that this would happen again. He closed his eyes and pushed the image of Holly out of his mind. He coughed again, harder than the first time. Lauren winced and gripped him tighter.

God I hope this Kris person can help.

Bobby stopped the truck outside an old house Victorian style house. An old Chevy pick-up sat in the driveway, which was made of gravel. Maggie pulled her Ferrari behind Bobby's truck and stopped.

"I think Bobby's lost his mind." Maggie said. Sam said nothing. He had been silent the whole way, staring blankly out the windshield.

He was worried about Dean. He hated it when someone messed with his brother and loathed it when he didn't know who it was. Whatever had hurt his brother wasn't going to get away with it. He was going to slaughter this thing with no mercy. Rage started to boil inside of him, everything turning red around him, blood rushing to his face. He jumped when someone touched his shoulder. "Sorry," Maggie said. He shook his head and the hate started to drain from his body, fists unclenching. "Alright what's wrong?" She asked. He shook his head.

"Nothin'." He lied. Maggie didn't need to deal with this right now.

"Don't you pull that Winchester crap with me. I know better." She retaliated. Sam was still silent, glancing up at her and quickly looking back down again. "You're scared huh?" She asked. Sam closed his eyes ad bowed his head. Maggie wrapped her arm around his neck and hugged him. "We'll figure this out Honey. Kris'll help. I gotta good feeling about this. We're gonna help Dean okay? Everything'll go back to normal and be just fine." She assured with a light smile. Sam broke their embrace and looked at her, a strange look in his eyes that Maggie had never seen before.

"I love you Maggie." He said. Maggie's breath caught in her throat, her eyes lit up and her heart melted. "I really do." He put his hands on either side of her face and pulled her lips against his. Her brows shot up for a moment, then relaxed as their kiss deepened. Their lips parted and joined again, turning their heads in the opposite direction. Sam's hands slipped to her waist. She grabbed his face, pulling him as close as possible.

"I love you too Sam Winchester." She said. He smiled and they started kissing again. They jumped when someone hit the roof of the car.

"You guys can suck face later, right now we've got a job to do." Bobby said irritably. Maggie and Sam blushed and got out of the car.

Sam reached the door first and knocked. Maggie looked around at the chipped paint and scattered tools about the wrap-around porch.

"Homey." She said sarcastically. Sam laughed lightly. The door opened so abruptly Sam jumped. A young woman stood in front of him. Her long red hair was thrown up in a loose ponytail, wearing a black tank-top and jeans, chewing noisily on a piece of gum. Despite her outfit she had a sophisticated feel to her. It was a little strange.

"Uh," Sam said. "Is Kris here?" He asked. The woman looked him up and down, then Maggie, then Bobby.

"Come in." She said shortly. She turned on her bare heels and walked back into the house. They followed shortly after. The house was extremely cluttered. Piles and piles of books danced throughout the house. Papers were stuck to the walls as were some strange artifacts Sam didn't recognize.

The woman was standing in the kitchen, shifting things around in the fridge. They heard the clinking of bottles and watched her emerge with four beers. She handed one to each and gestured for them to sit down.

"Just move the papers over," She said. "Been meaning to pick this place up, just can't find the time." She said.

"So when do we get to speak to this Kris person?" Sam asked. The woman smiled.

"What can I do for you Mr. Winchester?" She asked. Sam was stunned, as was Maggie. Bobby smiled.

"Oh," Maggie began. "Oh you, uh..."

"I what?" Kris asked.

"You've got boobs, I-I mean you're a chick." She said, face red. Sam's matched. Kris, however, laughed.

"Yeah well, I see Bobby didn't specify my gender." She said. Maggie glared at Bobby. "My real name is Kristy. I always thought it sounded prissy, so I told people to call me Kris." She said thoughtfully. "By the way, good to see ya Bobby." Bobby nodded.

"Good to see ya still kickin' Kris." He said. Kris laughed and leaned back in the old rocking chair she was in. "Now I know you people need my help, what's up?"

"Wait how do you know me?" Sam asked.

"You'd have to be crazy not to know the Winchester's when you see 'em." She replied. "Now, what's wrong?"

"It's his brother," Bobby said. "He's got this sort of demonic virus. I thought you'd be useful, ya know considering." Maggie glanced at the wall behind Kris, noticing a crooked frame with a paper inside, the lettering swirled and professional.

"You're a doctor?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah I gotta doctorate," Kris shrugged. "So this has to be some language you don't get huh?" She asked. Bobby nodded and handed her the blade Lauren had extracted from Dean.

"I couldn't make heads or tails of it. All I know is the basics." Kris turned it over in her hand, frowning. After a few minutes she looked up.

"You gotta problem."

--darksupernatural, I hope I still did you justice my friend!--