A/N: Thanks for the awesome reviews. I planned to have this up much sooner since I left you with a cliffhanger last time, so my apologies.

I do not own Supernatural.

Enjoy!

Dean saw red as McWhorter ripped MJ's towel open easily, despite MJ's attempts to hold it closed. He began pulling at the ropes frantically.

"Sammy you gotta hurry up, man!" He said in a harsh whisiper.

"Hold still. I've almost got it."

Dean felt the ropes fall from his wrists just as Scotty leaned down and began kissing MJ. He quickly and soundlessly untied his legs. With a snarl, he launched himself forward and grabbed Scotty by his shoulders.

"Get off of her!" Dean growled, pulling Scotty back and shoving him onto the floor. He spared his sister a tersery glance before jumping on Scotty, drilling his fists into the animal's face repeatedly. "You're a dead man." He threatened as he landed punch after punch.

Sam had freed himself as well, and seeing that Dean didn't need any help at the moment, hurried to MJ's side. She was sitting up now, the towel wrapped firmly around her once more, trembling from head to toe, silent tears rolling down her cheeks as she stared at Dean, pummeling Scotty on the floor.

"Hey, hey." Sam said kneeling beside her on the bed. He held her face in both hands and turned her to face him. He looked her over. "Are you okay?"

She nodded weakly, breaking down into hysterical sobs. Sam held her close, keeping one eye on Dean. MJ pulled away from Sam, looking up at him.

"Stop him." She said urgently.

Sam looked down at her, bewildered.

"Don't let him kill him." MJ begged. "Please." Her eyes were as wide as saucers as she pleaded with Sam.

Before Sam could even process her request, an ungodly howl sounded from the floor. They both turned to see Scotty shoving Dean off of him, two fingers of his right hand pressing on Dean's wound. MJ gasped when she realized that Scotty's fingers had breached the stitches and were actually in the wound. Dean had gone ashen, his face drawn with pain.

"How do you like that you mother fucker?" Scotty yelled as he removed his fingers from the gash and hit Dean with a right hook to the jaw, seemingly unconcerned with the blood spurting from his nose or that his right eye was beginning to swell shut. Scotty got in a few more punches before Sam came to Dean's aid, tackling Scotty. They rolled a few times before Scotty overtook Sam. Sitting on top of Sam, his arm across Sam's throat, Scotty laughed. "Oh, Sammy. All that time and effort your father and brother spent training you. What a waste. You just don't have it in you, do you?" He pressed down harder. Sam grabbed onto Scotty's arm, clawing at it, trying to breathe as his windpipe was being crushed. "So this is what it's come to. You're not so special after all, eh."

The gun shot rang out as Scotty pulled his arm back. At first Sam thought it was the noise that made him loosen his grip, until he saw the blood seeping through a hole in Scotty's shoulder. Scotty's eyes went wide as he clasped a hand over the bullet hole in his shoulder. He stumbled off of Sam and turned to see the pistol, still raised in MJ's hands, pointed directly at him. He got slowly to his feet, hand still presssed firmly over his bleeding shoulder.

The smirk on his lips looked out of place on his clearly pained face. "Nice shot, sweetheart."

"If it was a nice shot you wouldn't be breathing." MJ choked out, tears still falling down her face.

"Oh, now I don't believe you were trying to kill me. You aren't a murderer, not like Dean and your Dad." He moved a step closer to her, gesturing between the two of them with his index finger. "You and me, we're kindred spirits. Orphaned. Abandoned. Robbed of our childhood. Forced to grow up too soon." He moved closer to her. His voice barely a whisper. "Come on, sweetheart, drop the gun."

Sam had gotten to his feet and was quickly approaching Scotty from behind. MJ swiftly flipped the pistol around in her hand, firmly grasped the barrel, and slammed the butt of the gun into Scotty's temple with all of her strength. Scotty collapsed in a heap on the floor at her feet, unconscious.

"I'm not your sweetheart. And I'm nothing like you." She seethed before spitting on his completely still form.

Sam had stopped in his tracks, staring at his sister in awe. She silently handed Sam the gun before kneeling beside Dean, who lay unconscious on the floor. There was a great deal of blood on his shirt. She lifted it up, checking the damage. "You'll have to restitch it. And fast. " She said to Sam, who was still watching her carefully, seemingly dazed. When he didn't respond she retrieved the first aid kit from his duffel and brought it to Dean's side. "Snap out of it, Sam! He's really bleeding, here."

Sam finally made his way over, assessing Dean's condition. MJ retreated to the bathroom and hurriedly dressed before returning to the main room to help Sam. Dean was awake now, and starting to regain some color. Sam had left him on the floor so he could quickly get to work. Dean grimaced as Sam worked the needle in and out of his skin.

"How's it going?' MJ asked Sam as she knelt beside Dean.

"Almost done." He said without looking up.

Dean reached for MJ's hand, gripping it tightly. "I'm sorry, Kid. Are you okay?"

"Fine, Dean. Don't worry about me, just try and be careful, at least until you heal."

Dean looked beyond her, to where Scotty lay. His jaw clenched as Sam worked another stitch through. "Don't worry. I'm gonna take care of him. I'm not above killing an unconscious man." He said, venom in his voice.

"No, Dean. You're not gonna kill anyone." MJ said matter of factly.

'Well I'm not letting him live after what he did to you."

"You're not a murderer, Dean." MJ argued.

"I kill monsters everyday. Just because he's human doesn't mean he's not evil."

MJ shook her head vigorously. "No. I won't let you."

Dean let out a noise that was half laugh, half pained grunt. "How are you going to stop me?"

"Enough." Sam said. "Dean, less talking more lying still would help. One more stitch and I'm done." He looked up at Dean. "And you're not killing McWhorter. I have a plan."

"What kind of plan?"

"He's got ten different ID's on him, none of them his real identity. He's not a citizen and he's got a small arsenal in his motel room." Sam said tying off the final stitch. "We call the police and tip them off, they'll get Border Patrol here and in the meantime we'll get as far away from here as we can."

Dean stood carefully, heading to his duffel bag. "No way, Sammy. Prison is too good for this piece of shit. He's going straight to hell." He retrieved his pistol and walked determinedly toward Scotty. He raised it, taking aim at Scotty's head. Sam and MJ froze. Dean hesitated for a moment. "MJ," he said his eyes locked on his target. "Get out."

"No, Dean. I'm not moving." MJ said, realizing he didn't want to shoot someone in front of her. As long as she stayed where she was, she was certain Dean wouldn't go through with this. She planned to do everything in her power to keep her brother from committing murder.

"MJ, now!" He yelled.

"You're not killing anyone, Dean. You're better than that."

Dean turned to Sam, the rage plain on his face. He looked from Sam to MJ, then back to Scotty. He cursed loudly before lowering the gun. He moved quickly, gathering up all of their weapons and other belongings that were scattered around the room.

"Pack your stuff. Now. We're leaving in ten minutes."


They drove in complete silence, the tension in the car almost unbearable. No one spoke at all, with the exception of Sam, who made the anonymous tip to the police once they had left the village of Tupper Lake safely behind. After that, no one made a peep. Dean focused on the road, not even bothering to turn the radio on. Sam looked determinedly out the passenger side window. MJ put her ipod on, but stole occassional glances at her brothers. She was freaking out on the inside. It was like the emotional aftermath of the nightmares. Times a thousand. She had been completely vulnerable. Totally helpless against him. She couldn't sleep, because when she closed her eyes, Scotty's face loomed in front of her. She couldn't think about it. She focused instead on trying to decipher her brothers' feelings. Sam, she could read easily. Guilt was written all over his face. She had a guess what that was about. He was regretting ever agreeing to keep Scotty's inappropriate beahavior from Dean. She would have to get him alone and let him know it wasn't his fault. That she didn't blame him. Dean was a different story entirely. She never knew quite what was going on in his head. There was something brewing beneath the surface, but exactly what, she couldn't tell. She did know one thing: when he finally blew, there would be nowhere to hide.

The sun was coming up as they neared the New Jersey state line. They had been driving for nearly five hours and MJ was still fighting sleep. She needed caffeine. She decided she had to break the silence.

"Hey, Dean? Can we take a bathroom break?"

Dean made no response, but quickly pulled the car onto the shoulder of the road and came to an abrupt stop.

She raied her eyebrows at him. "Okay, I didn't mean right this second. The next Mobil Station would have been fine." MJ said, wishing she had kept her mouth shut and sensing Dean was done doing just that.

Dean turned in his seat to face her, his expression unreadable. "You lied to me, didn't you? I asked you about McWhorter bothering you and you lied to my face." He accused.

MJ couldn't deny it, but also couldn't seem to find her voice to confess. Her silence seemed to say it all though, because Dean's face grew red and he slammed a fist into the steering wheel.

"Dean, calm down." Sam said quietly.

"Why?" Dean asked her, ignoring Sam.

MJ tried to hold his gaze, but after a few seconds could no longer take it, and looked down at her hands. "I was trying to minimize the drama. I didn't want to give you something else to worry about and cause another fight. Besides, I had it under control."

A deadly silence followed, punctuated by a sharp intake of breath from Sam, who was watching Dean as if he were a snake, preparing to strike.

"You had it under control?" Dean said finally. "You had it under control!" He took a deep breath. "MJ, do you realize that we could have avoided all of this if you had just come to one of us and told us what was happening?" He turned back around in his seat, looking out the windshield. "I mean, it's fine if you don't trust me, but you should have at least gone to Sam or Bobby. We can't help you if we don't know what's going on. You let things get way out of hand and look what almost happened!"

"Dean, that's enough." Sam said.

Oh, shit, MJ thought. Sam, don't do anything stupid. Just keep your mouth shut.

"No, Sammy. It's not okay. She needs to know she can't keep shit like this from us."

"She didn't."

Oh boy.

"What?" Dean asked looking from one sibling to the other, waiting for an explanation.

"She told me about it. At Bobby's. I agreed not to tell you."

"No, Sam, I made you promise not to tell him. It's my fault. Besides, Dean's right. I didn't come to you. If you hadn't caught him that night, I never would have said anything to you."

Dean put his hand up, signaling his siblings to be quiet. He turned to Sam. "Caught him doing what?" He asked.

"It was nothing Dean, really-" MJ hurried to explain, but was cut off by Dean.

"No." He said, his hand up again, palm toward her. "I asked Sam." He never took his eyes off his brother. "Caught him doing what?' He repeated.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on, Dean. Are we really gonna argue about this? What difference does it make now?"

"It makes a big fucking difference Sammy!" He jabbed his finger in MJ's direction. "I am responsible for keeping her safe. I can't do that if you and her are keeping secrets like a couple of school girls!"

MJ sat there, feeling helpless, tears welling up in her eyes. She decided to try to explain again. "Dean, please. It's my fault-"

"MJ, just shut up! This is between me and Sammy."

"Don't you talk to her like that!" Sam shouted, his face reddening.

"Oh, are you giving me more parenting advice? Hang on, let me write it down, so I don't forget." Dean said sarcastically.

"Grow up, Dean. You're just jealous that she's willing to talk to me. Maybe if you didn't have your head up McWhorter's ass, you would have realized that something wasn't right."

"Yeah, I made the decision to work with the guy. What choice did I have? I needed someone to watch my back. Someone who wasn't so preoccupied, he couldn't handle some simple research!"

Sam shook his head. "So we're back to that again. God, Dean you are like a dog with a bone. You just can't let anything go."

"Well, forgive me, Sam, but in our line of work, if you're not focused, it's my ass that's toast."

"I have always had your back."

"Yeah, well, this time you definitely were not on your game. I'm sorry about Jess, I've told you that a million times. But you gotta get over that and do your job."

"That's it." Sam said removing his seatbelt. "Enough talk." Sam reached for his door handle.

"You wanna go big boy. Okay. I like my chances." Dean opened his door.

The slamming of one of the back doors made them both pause before they could get out of the car. They turned and saw that MJ had gotten out. Dean turned in his seat and saw her walking quickly down the side of the road.

"Damn it." Dean said under his breath, getting out of the car. Sam followed suit, both jogging down the road to catch up with MJ.

"Hey, hey, hey! Where ya goin'?" Dean deamnded, grabbing her arm.

"Away." She said yanking her arm from his grip and continuing on.

"Away? Just get back in the car."

"Away from you!" She shouted turning back again to face him. "I don't want to listen to your bullshit anymore!"

Dean followed behind her as she walked on. "Oh, yeah? Where are you planning to go?"

"I was fine on my own before, I'll be fine on my own again." She said, quickening her stride.

"Don't be ridiculous. Get back in the car." Dean said taking hold of her arm again.

"No." She said, pulling free again.

"Mary Jane." Dean said reaching for her once more.

"Get the fuck off of me!" She screamed, turning back and slapping Dean across the face. "Leave me alone." She made no attempt to walk away this time, frozen, shocked at herself.

Sam stood beside them, watching his brother for his reaction.

Dean stared at her for several moments. Finally he spoke. His voice quiet, but stern. His anger barely contained.

"Get your ass back in the car or I will pick you up and carry you back myself and don't think for a second I won't do it."

She crossed her arms, staring him down. "Screw. You." With that she turned and was on her way again.

She was swiftly lifted off her feet and tossed over Dean's shoulder.

She screamed. "Put me down, Dean!"

Dean hauled her back to the car, his right arm hooked around her hips as her legs kicked helplessly. Dean opened the backdoor to the Impala and tossed her inside, still literally kicking and screaming.

He slammed the door shut and turned to walk around to the driver's side.

"Was that really necessary Dean?" Sam asked, opening the passenger side door.

Dean didn't answer. He got back behind the wheel and looked in the rearview mirror to see MJ culred up on the backseat. Silent tears made their way down her face, her expression betraying her pain. He knew she was hurting and that his reaction had only made it worse. He knew he should apologize. What he didn't know, was how to make any of this right.

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