A/N: Thanks, guys. I'll be posting, probably a one-shot tomorrow.

Dark Mirror

Sam shuffled around to let the mountainous, glaring nurse out of Dean's room while he tried to get inside. He tossed Dean the clothes, and Dean quickly changed out of his patient scrubs. "I drove by Rachel's house. From what I can see, nothing looks out of the ordinary. I could hear her boys laughing in her backyard."

"That's what she wants us to think," Dean said as he tossed the scrubs on the floor.

"You think you're just gonna walk out of here? What about that nurse?"

"She went out for a smoke break. She's been jonesing for a cigarette for a while. I've spent the last couple days memorizing the doctors' and nurses' rounds. We have about 5 minutes to get from here to the exit. No one will stop us." He shrugged. "If this hadn't happened, I would have made my escape either today or tomorrow. Just had to somehow ditch the cheerleader land mass who's been my warden."

Sam shook his head but followed Dean out of the door.

Sure enough, they had no problem getting out of the hospital. Both Dean and Sam walked around to the driver's side. "I know the way," Sam said.

Dean sighed and walked around to the passenger's side. "I haven't driven in over a month, though," he muttered. But, he had to admit to himself that he didn't know where he was going. Sam could get them to Rachel's a lot faster. "Know the exorcism?" He asked.

"I have it." Sam backed out of the space and sped out of the parking lot. "You know if Mara has taken over Rachel…"

"I know."

"Rachel's probably…"

"I know!" Dean interrupted. "Let's worry about that once we extract Mara."

They rode in silence. Dean reached behind and grabbed his salt shotgun as they turned onto a residential street. As he turned back, he caught a glimpse of a little boy tossing a ball against the side of a house. As he settled back in his seat and checked the gun, Sam said, "That's Rachel's house. Must be one of her sons."

Dean looked up in time to see the ball bounce in the street and the little boy run after it. "Sam! Stop!" He yelled as Sam slammed on the brakes.

Dean scrambled out of the car and ran around to the front as the little boy stood, looking at the car, which sat inches from him. He grinned and waved up at Dean.

"Hi!" he said.

Dean kneeled down next to the little boy and quickly checked him for injuries. There didn't seem to be any. "Hi," he said as Sam came around the car. "Did we hit you? Are you hurt?"

The boy shook his head.

"Are you Caleb or Joshua?" Dean looked down to see the boy's blue eyes. He had the same color and same shape as his mother's.

"Caleb."

"Caleb, I'm Dean. I'm a friend of your mom's. I don't think she'd like you to run in the street. You could get hurt."

"Mommy's acting funny."

Dean glanced up at Sam. "How so?"

Caleb shrugged.

"Caleb!" Dean turned around to see Rachel run out of the house and down to the car. At least, he thought she was Rachel. She acted like her, but Dean couldn't be sure. She reached the boy and knelt down beside him. "Are you OK?"

"Yes, Mommy."

"Are you sure? Nothing hurts?"

Caleb shook his head.

She grabbed him and stood up. "Don't ever do that again, OK? You scared me to death!" She glanced up at Sam and Dean but kept her eyes averted in order to look at her son. "What are you guys doing here? What are you doing out of the hospital, Dean?"

Dean tried to see Rachel's eyes, but she kept them on Caleb. "I just wanted to talk."

"Can we talk later? You guys nearly hit my son! I know it's an accident, and I don't blame you guys, but please, just… can we talk later?"

"OK," Dean said slowly as he tried to look at her eyes again.

As she stood up, Dean caught a glimpse of her eyes. They were brown.

"Come on, baby. Let's go in and play with Josh," she said as Caleb wrapped his arms tighter around her neck and buried his head in her shoulder. She hurried back to the house.

"Rachel is still around? That's good. We might be able to save her," Sam said.

"That wasn't Rachel. That was Mara."

Sam looked over at the house, shocked. "Why do you think that?"

"Her eyes were brown."

"Well, maybe Rachel has rubbed off on Mara. That's very good! We can get Mara out and set Rachel free."

Dean shook his head. "I don't know," he muttered as he went around to the passenger's side to get his shotgun.

"What don't you know? She acted like Rachel. She was worried about her son. Wasn't she?"

"I don't doubt she was worried about her son. Because he's now her son. She took over Rachel's life."

Sam stiffened. "I thought she was getting more powerful. So she succeeded to completely possess Rachel? Dean, she might be trying to convince herself that she won't murder anyone anymore, but she will. Dybbuks stay hungry for souls, unless they get the perfect one."

Dean rechecked the shotgun. "She wants me."

"Yeah."

"Why not you? Why am I so special?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know."

"Then you'd better recite that exorcism fast." With that, Dean marched up to the house.

Sam had no choice but to follow, although he wasn't sure what he was feeling. He just knew this was going to go badly, but he wasn't sure if he felt bad about that.

He felt for the translated exorcism. Better be ready.

Dean squatted in front of the door and listened to what was going on inside as Sam quietly joined him. Dean signed for him to go around to the back door to get in. As he left, Dean quietly picked the lock and gently eased the door open.

He could hear Mara and the kids laughing in another room.

He held the shotgun loosely, hoping not to scare the boys.

A shadow caught his eye. He glanced over to see Sam coming through the kitchen, his gun at ready.

In a back room, they could hear Mara and the children laughing.

Dean nodded toward the closed room. "Be careful. Don't let her put any mind whammy on you, alright?"

Sam nodded angrily.

Just then, Mara burst out of the room. "So, it's time, huh?" She turned back to the boys, "Boys, go up to your room and play. Stay up there, no matter what you hear, alright."

Both boys nodded, then ran past Sam and Dean.

"I would never hurt my sons, if that's what you're so concerned about," her brown eyes blazed angrily.

Dean raised his shotgun. "Sam, start the exorcism."

"You don't think I deserve to live?" Mara's voice took a pleading tone.

Sam unfolded his translation.

"Put that paper down," Mara spat out.

Sam glanced at Dean, who motioned for him to continue.

"I said, put it down!" Mara raised her hand, and the paper ripped out of Sam's hands into Mara's a split second before he crashed against the wall. As Dean tried to shoot, his shotgun was pulled out of his hands a moment before he crashed into the opposite wall.

He couldn't move.

"I hope you have that exorcism memorized, Sammy," Mara said as she unloaded the shotgun, allowing the salt bullets to fall to the floor before she ripped up the translation. "Of course, I'm sure you do, with that big brain of yours and all."

Dean could see the wheels turning in Sam's head. He doesn't have it memorized, Dean thought morosely.

"I thought dybbuks weren't demons, yet you've got demon powers," he said, hoping he could stall enough for Sam to get the wheels in his head to click on the right exorcism.

Mara shrugged. "I'm not a demon. I've met demons. Don't care much for them. But, it's amazing what you can do with your mind when that's all you've had for thirty years."

"I bet."

She grinned and turned to Sam. "Don't know the exorcism? Too bad. You know, both of you are right where I want you. It's really too bad it has to end like this for you. But, Dean, I need your soul."

"Why mine?"

"It's bright and shiny, no matter what you think of it. You know, you don't appreciate being alive the way you should. I get your soul, I'm able to live. You'll be my last 'victim'. Just think—I'll probably be able to live without resorting to killing. Contrary to popular belief, I'm not all that crazy about driving people to kill others or themselves."

"Mara, I think you're smart enough to know we can't let you do that." C'mon, Sammy.

"Why not? You save others. Why can't I be saved? I've never hurt anyone! Never! And you know what it's like to be ignored by your family, don't you? To have your family move on without you? Rachel and I played together when we were little, but when she started school, I was left behind. She then went on to have friends, degrees, a family. Me? What about me? My parents buried me then went on with their lives. I never got a say in the matter. What gives Rachel the right to live and not me?"

"She hasn't killed anyone."

"I haven't either."

"You drive people to do it."

She sighed. "I can't do anything if they haven't already thought about it before. I can't force anyone to kill others unless they didn't already dream of killing. Sammy obviously would love to kill you. Maybe because you're standing in his way. Maybe because he's tired of having you for a partner. His reasons are all his own. And I can't force people to kill themselves if they weren't suicidal to begin with. Sammy, Dean obviously wants to die. And me? Well, I'm just here to help them achieve their goals. And if I get to take their souls, that's reward enough for me. Also, how do you know Rachel hasn't killed anyone? How do you know she didn't kill me?"

Sam muttered a couple of words in Hebrew, and Mara angrily turned to him. "Don't you dare!" She walked up to him, frowning at him towering over her. She put up her hand, then brought it down to her side, lowering him almost to the floor so she could stand over him. "You have no idea how lucky you are to have a brother who would live and die for you, go to Hell for you. And you throw all of that away by running off with a demonic whore? You unappreciative bastard. You think I'm soulless? When I look at you, it's like I'm looking in a mirror. In a couple years, that dark, warped soul of yours will be gone. Dean's will still burn bright. It lasted throughout Hell, in spite of everything. Just a little scarred. Yours didn't last for four months by yourself. That's why I want his."

Sam glared up at her while she stepped back. Dean could practically see smoke coming out of his ears as Sam barely mouthed words.

Mara picked up the boys' board game and walked to the closet. She put it on the floor. "Keep trying to remember that exorcism, Sammy. It's not going to help." She dragged a chair over to stand on in order to grab something off the top shelf. "I really need to put this somewhere else. Right now, my boys are too little to reach this, even if they stood on each other and on a chair. But, soon they'll be able to get into this. I'm thinking of Rachel's old bedroom. What do you think?"

"Your boys?" Dean asked as she climbed off the chair.

"Yeah. See, at first, I didn't want kids. I resented that Rachel's—I mean, my—ex-husband dumped them on me this weekend. Now? I love my kids. Although Caleb's blue eyes remind me of Rachel's, which sucks."

"Where's Rachel?"

She paused as she opened the box. "Not here. See, no one knows about this, but my dear sister apparently had a blood clot in her brain. Bummer, huh? That's probably what was causing her headaches and her blackouts, don't you think? Anyway, it got her Thursday night. She had a seizure and hit her head while she was in the tub. Drowned. OK, I caused that, but that's what an autopsy is going to find. So, even if you succeed in exorcising me, you'll leave two little boys without a mother. You know what that's like." She pulled out a .22 and checked it. "This is actually Travis' gun. He left it here. Rachel never liked it, but I kinda like having it around. Keeps me safe from guys like you."

She walked over and put it in Sam's hand. Sam pointed the gun at her. "Yeah, I don't think you want to do that," she said. "Plus, it's unloaded."

She walked away from Sam, up to Dean, holding a couple of bullets in her hand. "For the record, I'm sorry about this, Dean. You're a good guy, no matter what either you or Sammy thinks. But, I want to live. I want to see my children grow up. I want to become Rachel, not just inhabit her body. You're the only thing standing in my way."

"Mara, we can talk about this."

"Talking's not going to help, is it? You want to end it all. The pressure, the heartache, the dependency." She put her hand with the bullets on his chest, and Dean started feeling white-hot pain. She removed her hand, and he looked down to blood start trickling down his chest. "Of course, I do have a right to shoot both of you. You broke into my house. But that bullet is going to work its way into you. Slowly. Sam's going to watch you die another excruciating death. And since his prints are all over the gun… Unless, he can come up with the right exorcism. But, I don't think he can even think, can you, Sammy?"

Sam started rapidly speaking Hebrew words out loud, to be interrupted by Mara snapping, "Wrong!"

The bullet moved deeper into Dean's chest, causing more blood and more pain. As he groaned in pain, Sam tried another one.

"Wrong!" Mara said, then laughed. "You don't like to be wrong, do you? Anyway, how do you know I'm not just messing with your minds here? This isn't really happening, you know. Doesn't matter. Dean will be dead soon. I'll get his bright, shiny soul!"

Sam stretched out his hand. Before he could do anything, Mara sneered, "It won't work, Sammy. I'm not a demon."

As she turned away from Dean to face Sam, Dean discovered could now move away from the wall, although every breath he took hurt. The wound wasn't bad yet, but he knew he had to do something. Sam was stuck.

As Mara stalked toward Sam, sitting on the floor, still muttering Hebrew words, Dean staggered to the torn pieces of paper. He felt the bullet dig deeper in him. As he quickly reassembled the pieces, he could see drops of blood drip on them.

"I pray to the Lord to forgive my sins and to rid this dark twin," he read out loud and groaned in pain as Mara turned around angrily. The bullet started to move into him faster.

"No." Mara whispered.

Sam struggled to stand up as he glared at her. He started reciting the words in Hebrew, picking up speed as he pushed past the first few words.

Dean collapsed on the ground, feeling dizzy. But, the bullet was no longer moving into him.

Mara screamed as Sam continued with the exorcism. Dean told himself to breathe through the pain and the blood.

As Sam got to the end of the exorcism, Mara started to shake violently. She screamed again as she fell to the ground. She arched up, her screams becoming choking gasps.

Suddenly, her body fell to the floor hard and lay still.

Dean groaned as he sat up and checked his wound. In spite of the pain, it didn't look bad.

"Dean?" Sam asked as stepped over the woman and knelt beside Dean.

"I'm OK. Check on her," Dean said.

"You need that bullet to come out. I'll be right back." Sam got up and left the room.

Dean scooted over to the woman and checked for her pulse. There was nothing. He gently pushed one of her eyes open. Although it was dilated, he could see Rachel's blue ringed around the black.

"I'm so sorry, Rachel. If I'd have known sooner…"

Sam came back into the room, carrying a towel. "We need to go, Dean. You need to get that bullet out of you."

"No hospitals. It's not that bad. It's just a flesh wound."

"I'll do it at the motel room. But, we need to go."

Dean took the towel and pressed it against his wound. "We can't leave Rachel's body for her kids to find. That's too cruel. I'll be alright, but you need to take her to the hospital. I'll be here until you get back or someone comes for her kids."

"We can't worry about that."

Dean looked up at Sam. "Just do what I ask one time without fighting me, alright?"

Sam stepped back, but he nodded. He walked over and picked up Rachel's body. He left the room without another word.


"So, Travis came for the boys," Sam told Dean in the motel room after he took out the bullet and stitched up the wound. Dean was right. It wasn't very bad.

"Poor kids," Dean muttered as he took another swig of the Jack Daniels he got before all of this started.

"The cause of death was drowning. But, the autopsy said it had happened just a couple hours before I 'found' her."

Dean played with the bottle, watching the liquid swirl it. "Mara kept the body alive."

"We had to do what needed to be done."

"I guess."

Sam sighed. "You know what Mara said wasn't true, right?"

"About?"

"Wanting you to die. I don't want you to die. But, you were right. I have thought about your death in the heat of an argument."

Dean leaned back against his bed. "I know, Sammy."

Sam stood up as Dean picked up the remote and started flipping through the TV channels.

He couldn't read the expression in Dean's eyes.

Fin

A/N: I made up the little incantation. I don't know Hebrew. I'm not Jewish. I have nothing but respect, though.

For those of you who have been consistently reviewing, thank you. And those who have provided me with encouragement, thank you. Words don't begin to state how much I appreciate your reviews. I'll continue writing one-shots, and as soon as I get inspiration for a one-shot, I'll write and post. Right now, I don't have one-shot inspiration. But, unless an easy, short plot bunny falls in my lap, I'm not shopping for one.