Chapter Seven

Sam, Dean, and Alyson were on their way to Bobby's. It had been a few days since the Gordon incident and they hadn't found anything that remotely resembled a job.

Dean had been silent for a while. He'd been debating whether or not he should tell Sam what Alyson already knew. They were passing by a mountainous region when Dean pulled over and got out of the car. He sat on the hood of the Impala and it didn't take long for Sam and Alyson to get out and join him.

"Dean, what is it?" Sam asked.

"I'm sorry," he replied, "for the way I've been acting. And for Dad. I mean, he was your dad, too, and it's my fault that he's gone."

"What're you talking about?"

"I know you've been thinkin' it. So have I. Doesn't take a genius to figure it out. Back at the hospital, I made a full recovery. It was a miracle. And five minutes later Dad's dead and the Colt's gone. You can't tell me there's not a connection there. I don't know how the demon was involved and I don't know how the whole thing went down exactly, but Dad's dead because of me, and that much I do know."

"We don't know that," Sam said. "Not for sure."

"Sam . . ."

The best Dean could guess was that their dad had traded his life for Dean's. He'd traded his life and the Colt. His dad had been one of the most important people in his life and now . . .

"I never should've come back, Sam. It wasn't natural, and now look at what's come of it. I was dead, and I should've stayed dead."

Dean didn't want Sam burdened with his trauma or drama, but Dean hoped that now that Sam knew he'd maybe stop pushing.

"You wanted to know how I was feeling? Well, that's it." Dean's voice had been shaking and he'd been holding back the tears in his eyes, but he couldn't anymore. "So tell me, what could you possible say to make that all right?"

Alyson grabbed his hand almost cautiously – she was really funny about displays of affection in front of Sam. Dean sometimes wondered if Sam made fun of her when he wasn't around. Sam would never tease her to hurt her – Dean knew that – but with everything being so new to Alyson, she might get embarrassed easily from it.

Neither Alyson nor Sam said anything in the way of comforting words and Dean was glad. He didn't want any lies meant to make him feel better.

The next morning Alyson was woken up by Dean rubbing her back. They'd made it back to Bobby's the night before and she'd gone to sleep almost instantly. She was amazed that she didn't have nightmares when she was able to cuddle with Dean.

She opened her eyes now and turned so she could look at him. His hand fell on her stomach. She saw he was already dressed and he seemed preoccupied. She wondered what was wrong, so she sat up and grabbed his hand.

"When you actually sleep without nightmares you sleep like a rock, you know that?"

"I've been told," she said. "Sleeping used to be one of my favorite things to do." She squeezed his hand then. "What's wrong?"

"Um . . . Sam was goin' through some of Dad's old things and found his military tags."

"Okay . . ."

"It got him to thinkin'. He wants to go see Mom's grave." The last part was said softly.

"And you don't want to," she finished for him.

"No, it's stupid. She doesn't even have a grave. Not really. There was, um . . . There was no body left after the fire. I mean, she has a headstone, but it was put up by her uncle, a man that I've never met."

"Well, Sam probably thinks it's the right thing to do."

"It's irrational. That's what it is."

"Maybe visiting your mom's grave is what Sam needs right now." She scooted closer to sit beside him and he took his hand out of hers to wrap his arm around her. "You don't have to go anywhere near it if you don't want to, and I'll stay with you. If you want me there."

He tightened his arm around her and kissed her head.

"Thanks."

Dean made the same arguments to Sam that he had to Alyson even as they were heading towards the cemetery. There was no sense in going because there was no body, just a slab of granite put up by a stranger.

"Look, no one asked you to come," Sam said.

"Why don't we swing by the Roadhouse instead?" Dean suggested. "I mean, we haven't heard anything on the demon lately. We should be hunting that thing down."

"That's a good idea," Sam said. "You should. I'll hitch a ride, and I'll meet you there."

"Right," Dean rolled his eyes. "Stuck with those people, making awkward small talk 'til you show up? No thanks."

He turned the radio on and up, ending the conversation.

They all got out of the car when they reached the cemetery, but Dean didn't go with Sam to the headstone. Alyson stayed with him like she'd said she would.

To be completely honest, Alyson understood. She had no desire to visit her mother's grave site either. She had no problem remembering everything without having to rehash it for real by going to the cemetery where her mother had been buried.

Sam was kneeling in front of his mother's headstone. Alyson assumed he was talking and finding a place to put the tags.

When he got back to the Impala, Alyson asked if he was okay, to which he said yes.

"Good. Can we go now?" Dean asked. "Please?"

Sam relented and so they went and found the nearest decently priced motel and rented out a room. They had driven pretty far to get to the cemetery and Dean needed sleep and Sam wanted a shower.

Alyson was lying on her stomach with her laptop in front of her. She was watching Tom and Jerry and she was listening through her headphones.

Around midnight Alyson's phone started vibrating. She'd shut her computer off an hour ago and had tried going to sleep, but it had not been forthcoming. The distraction of her vibrating phone was welcome.

She reached for her phone on the nightstand. She frowned when she saw who was calling her.

Layla.

Alyson had pretty much promised herself she would never bother Layla again. It was just safer that way, and less painful for her. Layla had tried calling her for about a month after Alyson had left, but when Alyson never answered the calls came less frequently. There hadn't been a call from her in weeks.

Something told Alyson not to ignore this phone call, so she answered.

"Hello?"

Alyson sat up, glanced at Dean and Sam, both of whom had their eyes closed and seemed to be asleep.

"Hey, did I wake you?" Layla's voice was nasally. She sounded sick.

"No. I was awake."

Neither of the guys had moved, but she didn't want to risk waking them. She got up, grabbed the key to the room and walked out quietly. The motel they were staying at had no hallway because it was one of those motels where the parking lot led to the rooms.

She could see her breath when she exhaled. She should've grabbed Dean's jacket or something, but she hadn't. She was in a shirt and pajama pants.

"You still there?" she asked since Layla hadn't spoken for a while.

"Yeah."

Layla took a shaky breath and Alyson's heart skipped a beat. Something was wrong. Layla had never known how to not talk.

"Layla . . . Are you okay?"

She laughed hysterically. "No. I'm – I'm freaking out. I feel like I'm going crazy."

"Why? What happened" Alyson was almost scared to ask.

"My mom. She's in the hospital."

"What? Is she sick?"

If her mother was sick it had to be pretty bad if Layla was calling her.

"Alyson, she was attacked." There was a pause and then, "My – my dad attacked her."

Alyson almost dropped her phone. Mr. Stevens had done what now? Layla's dad had been the type who hadn't even wanted to kill bugs in the house.

"He attacked me," Layla went on. "My mom . . . she, uh . . . she killed him."

"Layla . . . I don't know what to say. I'm sorry."

Alyson had a feeling she may be on the phone for a while, so she went and sat in the Impala. It was cold in the car, too, but at least there wasn't any wind blowing there.

"Say that you'll come home. Say that you'll stay with me for a few days. I know you can't stay long and I know that you said it would be dangerous to be around you, but . . . I really need you here."

"I'll be there as soon as I can. You can count on it." She needed to talk to Sam and Dean about it because this was just weird. "I'm gonna bring the guys with me. Is that okay?"

"Yeah, whatever, just get here."

"I will. Just take care of your mom, okay?"

"Yeah. Please hurry."

Dean had given Alyson about five minutes to get back inside once he'd realized she was gone. At first he'd been able to hear her because she'd been right outside of the room. Once her voice had faded, however, he'd begun to worry.

He knew she'd been on the phone because he hadn't really been asleep when the call had come in. He didn't know who she was talking to, but it had obviously been someone she knew and cared about if she'd answered this late at night.

Dean got up now, meaning to give her a lecture about going out by herself at night because at night she had more than monsters to worry about, but when he stepped outside he didn't find her right away. He had a moment of panic, but then he noticed the silhouette of someone in the front seat of his car.

He went and slid into the front seat. It only took a few seconds to notice that Alyson had tears running down her cheeks and that she was shivering.

"Hey, what's wrong? Who were you talkin' to?"

"Layla," she answered automatically.

"Oh . . ."

Dean knew for a fact that she'd made the choice to keep Layla out of her life, so he had no clue why she'd even answered once she'd seen Layla was the one who had been calling.

Alyson wiped her tears away and she looked at him. New tears quickly replaced the old ones. Dean still didn't really know how to deal with a crying girl. He didn't know how to comfort Alyson aside from just being there, and he couldn't help if he didn't know what was wrong.

"Um . . . why did you answer when she was calling so late?"

"Something inside told me to answer. Dean, we have to go to her."

"What happened?"

Dean knew Alyson well enough to know that even though Alyson seemed to care about everything she didn't let a lot get to her.

"I don't exactly know. She didn't tell me everything. She said that her dad attacked her mom, that he attacked her, and that her mom killed him and she's in the hospital. I don't know how bad it is because she didn't say and –"

Whoa.

Dean pulled Alyson to him and just held her for a minute while he let everything settle.

"I told her we'd come. She needs me." He felt Alyson's head lift and he looked down at her. "We can go, right?"

"Are you sure you're ready to do that? Go home?"

"No," she said as if she hadn't needed to think about it. "But Layla needs me. So I'll get ready."

Dean smiled sadly at the determination he heard and he leaned down to kiss her forehead.

"That's my girl."

The next morning Dean woke Sam up and quickly explained that they needed to go to California. Alyson called Layla but didn't get an answer, so she left a message to let her know she was on her way. She wasn't exactly worried about not getting answer. She knew Layla was probably at the hospital with her mom and wasn't able to answer, but she did want to talk to her.

"Guys, before we get there you should know that something doesn't feel right. I knew Layla's dad. He never would've hurt Layla or her mother. He was a good man."

"You think somethin' supernatural did it?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. Maybe he'd changed since I left, but he wasn't like that."

"Well, we'll check it out. If anything weird happened, we'll find out and we'll deal with it. Remember, that's what we do."

They made it to San Francisco by the next morning. Layla wasn't at home so they went to the hospital where Alyson found out which room Ms. Stevens had been given and where Dean then dropped her off.

"Sam and I will be in the waiting room," Dean said. "Take as much time as you need."

Layla was seated in a chair by her mother's bed. Ms. Stevens had a broken shoulder and a few fractured ribs. The doctors were mostly keeping her there for observational purposes only. One of her ribs had punctured a lung. They had reset the rib and they'd done emergency surgery to save the lung and they were keeping her there to make sure there were no complications.

Layla had a bruise on her jaw. Alyson assumed that was when Ms. Stevens had stepped in because there didn't seem to be any more physical trauma.

Emotional trauma, however, was a different story.

"I don't know what to say," Alyson admitted. "I'd say I'm sorry, but that sounds sort of lame, considering what happened."

"You don't have to say anything. You came. That's what matters."

Of course she had come. Staying away when everything was fine was one thing, but everything was bad on an epic scale at the moment, and Layla had been there through Alyson's mother's death. Alyson felt she owed Layla for that.

"I'm glad you came," Ms. Stevens said kindly. "Now maybe Layla will go home and get some rest. She hasn't left my side since I got out of surgery."

"I didn't want to stay home by myself."

Alyson wouldn't have wanted to be by herself either if she were Layla. As it was, Layla did seem to need rest.

"One of us will be back in the morning, Ms. Stevens. You shouldn't be alone either."

"I'm fine," she said. "You and Layla should spend time together. Don't worry about me."

"Hey, you're like a second mother to me. We're gonna take care of you."

Tears filled Ms. Stevens's eyes at those words and Alyson had to blink her own away so the woman wouldn't see them.

"Good-bye, Mom. I'll see you in the morning."

Layla seemed afraid to hug her mother, but she did kiss the woman's forehead before she and Alyson walked out of the room.

"The guys are in the waiting room," Alyson said. "You remember them, right?"

"Yeah. Dean's the one who fixed your tire, and Sam is the freakishly tall one."

"That's one way to put it." Alyson grinned but sobered up quickly. "You know, we don't have to go to your house if you don't want to. We could get a motel room or something."

Layla seemed to consider it, but she said, "No, it'll be easier to just go to my house. Not to mention cheaper."

"Hey, money is not an issue. If you don't feel comfortable staying there, we don't have to. I'll pay for everything."

"No. I'm good. I just don't wanna be there alone."

"You won't be. I'll be there with you."

Before they reached the waiting room Alyson stopped them because she had to ask – she couldn't just assume, "Um . . . can Sam and Dean stay too? I know you don't know them well, but . . ."

Dean wouldn't let her stay by herself. If he wasn't allowed to stay at Layla's house Alyson knew he'd just park himself outside that night just to make sure nothing happened.

"They're protecting you, aren't they?"

"Well . . . yeah."

"Then of course they can stay."

Alyson rode with Layla in what used to be her car. It felt weird because she was used to the Impala now and she was used to riding in the backseat, with Sam and Dean in the front. She didn't bring up what had happened even though she wanted to. She knew Layla would talk when she was ready and not a moment before.

Once all four of them reached the house they piled into the living room and sat down. Alyson didn't know what to say and Layla just looked as if she wanted to be anywhere but there.

Alyson knew Layla wasn't going to share anything while Sam and Dean were in the room, so she looked at Dean and nodded at the staircase. They needed to leave the room so she could talk to Layla.

"Ya know, I'm tired," Dean said. He looked at Sam meaningfully. "What d'you say we let these two catch up?"

It took a few seconds for Sam to catch on, but then a look of realization came over his face.

"Oh, yeah, sure!"

Alyson stood up too, knowing the brothers would have no idea where to go. She told Layla she'd be right back and then she grabbed Dean's hand and led him upstairs. Sam followed. She led them to two different rooms – Sam first and then Dean.

Alyson stood at the doorway with him for a few minutes. "I'm gonna stay with her until she falls asleep, but I'll come back after, okay?"

Dean nodded. "You okay? Being back here?"

"It's weird. I don't really mind being back here. The circumstances could've been better, but . . ."

Dean pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers. She allowed herself to forget everything for a few seconds before she pulled away.

"You should get back downstairs, huh?" he suggested.

"I really should!"

She kissed him quickly and turned away. Even though it was still daylight she knew Dean and Sam must've been tired just as she was. They'd been in the car for almost a full day aside from bathroom breaks and food stops.

Once downstairs she found Layla in the kitchen. She wasn't doing anything, just standing in the middle of the floor. She hadn't even reacted when Alyson had walked in.

"Layla? Are you okay?"

"This is where it happened."

It scared Alyson because Layla had no emotion in her voice. It seemed as if she was on autopilot. Either Layla was numb from shock or she was forcing herself not to feel anything. Had Alyson sounded like that when her mother had been killed? No wonder Layla hadn't wanted to leave her alone.

"My mom stabbed him when he attacked me. I'd just gotten home from school. You know I'm going to the community college, so I live here." She paused and looked up at Alyson. Her eyes betrayed the emotions she was feeling. Lost, scared, and confused. "I don't know what happened. We were happy. I thought we were happy."

"Did something set him off?"

"I don't know. I walked in, heard my mom screaming. I ran in here and saw her on the floor." She had tears in her eyes now. "My dad was kicking her, beating her."

Layla went out of the kitchen then and Alyson followed her to the sofa. Layla sat down and buried her head in her hands.

"Alyson, I don't know why!"

Alyson sat down beside Layla and wrapped her arms around the girl.

"Oh, honey, the why doesn't matter right now. The only thing that matters is that you're okay."

Neither of them said anything for a while and Alyson just held Layla and when Layla resumed talking it wasn't about herself.

"So . . . are you happy?"

"In general? Yeah." Alyson didn't really know what else to say because she couldn't exactly tell Layla about her life. "Um . . . Sam and Dean are teaching me to do what they do. And I'm pretty good at it, surprisingly.

"And what is it that they do?"

"Help people. Save lives."

"Like they saved you?"

"Yeah. They still are."

"Hm. And what d'you mean you're surprised you're good at it? You've always loved helping people."

That was basically true. No, she had never gone out of her way to be helpful, but if she had come across someone who had needed help she'd always offered it.

"You and Dean . . . you're together?"

"Um . . . yeah, but we haven't been for long. Are you seeing someone?"

Layla scoffed. "Someone from around here? You know the guys here. They're obnoxious."

That was why Alyson had never been interested in them.

The next day Alyson woke up around noon and she just laid there for a few minutes. She didn't know how long Dean had been up, but he wasn't in the bed with her. She grinned as she imagined him raiding the fridge. It wasn't polite or civilized at all, but it was something Dean would do and she didn't want it any other way.

When Alyson got up she went to the mirror and almost giggled at how messy her hair was. It looked as if something had come in the night and made a nest of it. She must've tossed and turned all night.

She brushed her hair but left her pajama shorts and tank top on, and went downstairs. Sam and Dean were sitting on the couch and they weren't wearing their happy faces.

"What happened?" she asked and sat beside Dean on the arm of the sofa. "And where's Layla?"

"She's at the hospital," Dean said. "I told her I'd bring you once you woke up. And we think we know what happened here."

"We found sulfur on one of the windowsills in the kitchen," Sam said.

"Sulfur? But that means a demon was here. Do you think it was the demon? Because if it was him, then this is my fault."

"Hey," Dean said, putting his hand on her knee. "We don't know anything for sure, okay? I mean, all demons leave behind sulfur, not just that one."

"A'right. So what do we do? I mean, apparently Layla's dad was possessed, but a demon doesn't have to leave the body just 'cause it's dead. So why did it?"

"Well, we don't know that it did," Sam said softly. "Maybe it was faking. It could've been faking."

"Okay, well, we need to find out for sure because we don't need some demon walking around wearing Mr. Stevens's body. Layla couldn't handle it if she saw him. I don't think I could handle it."

Before Dean could take Alyson to the hospital, Layla came home for lunch. The doctors had been running tests and it was going to take a while. Her breathing was normal but painful and the doctors had said Ms. Stevens would be free to come home in a few days.

Alyson went with Layla when she went back to the hospital and on the way she gave Layla the chance to talk some more about what had happened. She didn't want to hurt Layla, but now that she knew demons were involved she needed all the information she could get.

"Hey, uh . . . were you tellin' me the whole story last night? You know, about your dad?"

"What d'you mean?" Layla asked.

"It's just . . . it was kind of sudden, wasn't it?" Alyson hesitated before continuing. "You said your family was happy. The way you put it, it sounds like he just snapped."

"Maybe he did."

Layla pulled into the hospital parking lot and Alyson knew she was running out of time.

"Layla, if something else happened, you can tell me. Even if it may seem weird. When I found my mom, I saw things that didn't make sense to me at the time, and if anything like that happened to you . . . I might be able to help you."

"I know that I can tell you anything," Layla said and pulled into a parking space. "I just don't wanna talk about it, so . . . please don't make me."

Layla took the keys out of the ignition and opened her door. "We should get to my mom. I told her I'd be back shortly with you."

Way to avoid the subject. But now Alyson was certain Layla had seen something she shouldn't have.

Layla and Alyson left when visiting hours were over because Ms. Stevens kept going to sleep. They thought she might stay asleep if they weren't there.

"She, uh . . . she's been having nightmares. She can't sleep without medicine," Layla admitted.

Of course she was having nightmares. She'd had to kill her husband.

They stopped by the store on their way to Layla's house. Layla just absentmindedly put stuff in her cart. Unless her tastes had changed, she was picking out food she didn't even like.

"Since when do you like asparagus?" Alyson asked gently and reached into the cart to pick up the can. She placed it back onto the proper shelf.

"Alyson? Alyson Daniels?" an oddly familiar voice said from behind her.

She turned around and saw Rickie Anderson, a boy she'd gone to school with, standing there. He was about five-nine, had blue eyes, and blond hair. He apparently worked at the store because he had on an outfit that had the store's name on the shirt.

"Rickie."

She wasn't too excited to see him. He had been one of the guys who'd asked her out, one of the guys that she had turned down. He'd been nice but annoying, and she hadn't been interested. His feelings hadn't changed if his seeking her out was anything to go by. His eyes traveled up and down her body and it was starting to make her uncomfortable.

"I haven't seen you in a while. Not since . . . Anyway, you're looking good."

"Thanks, I guess."

To be fair, Rickie had come to her mother's funeral and he hadn't hit on her there. He wasn't a bad guy, he was just clingy.

"So, you work here? That's new."

"Yeah. Working and going to school." He had graduated the same year she had, so she guessed he was going to college now. "Are you staying for a while?"

"That's a good question. Probably not. A few days, maybe, but then I'll be gone."

"Oh. Well, maybe before you go we could catch a movie or something."

"I'm here for Layla. I'm not here to date."

At that, Alyson looked at Layla, to whom Rickie hadn't even spoken, and gestured for them to start moving again.

"Are we almost done?" she asked Layla.

"Wait . . . is she staying with you?" Rickie asked, now speaking to Layla.

"For a few days. So is her boyfriend."

Alyson grinned. She knew there was a reason she loved Layla. Layla had always been the one to keep guys away from her. It was very easy for Alyson to play the role of shy little girl and she was good at it. She thought she'd gotten out of it at least a little bit since she'd begun traveling with the Winchesters, but she'd slipped back into that role without any difficulty.

She didn't like it.

"Boyfriend?" Rickie asked. "Why didn't you say you had a boyfriend? I would've gone about this a completely different way."

"Sorry. Didn't really think about mentioning it."

It wasn't his business, really, and Alyson just wanted to leave now.

Alyson picked up an apple pie and a cherry pie as she passed them, and Layla filled the cart with junk food. Rickie went back to work when they reached the checkout line. That was when she decided to call Dean.

He answered almost immediately. She smiled softly when she realized that meant he must've been waiting for her to call him.

"Woman, thirty more minutes and I was gonna call out a search party," Dean said. He was joking, but Alyson could hear the underlying worry that he'd been feeling.

"Sorry. You could've called. Anyway, we're at the store. We're in the checkout line now."

"Good. Um, Sam and I, we think Mr. Stevens was possessed, but the demon left the body on its own."

"Can that happen?"

Layla didn't seem to be paying attention. She was busy putting the stuff on the counter so the cashier could check her out.

"Yeah. If the demon didn't need him anymore, it would let him go."

"Okay, well . . . We can talk about this later, right?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Kay, thanks. I'll see you soon." She hung up and then turned to Layla. "So when did you become such a junk food junkie?"

"Since I realized how hard college was gonna be."

"What? Does it make you smarter?"

"No, but it gives me an incentive to stay up later to do my homework."

Okay, so I obviously skipped "Children Shouldn't Play With Dead Things", but I kept the important parts, which were the ones about going to visit Mary's grave and Dean talking about his feelings - that's ALWAYS important because he doesn't do it often. I just didn't think that episode would move anything along, so . . . Yeah. I didn't change much else about it except for maybe the way Rickie interacted with Alyson at the end.