AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I'm kinda in love with this one and I hope you guys like it too.

WARNINGS: Rated "M" for Sex, Language, Dirty Thoughts, Innuendo, Blood, Violence and Dark Themes.

ENJOY!

xxxx

Dean's POV

When I woke up in the middle of the night and propped my head up on my hand, smiling a little at Lana while she slept. She looked so calm, and there was a slight smile on her face so I was hoping that meant she was dreaming about something nice. I knew that this woman had me hook, line and sinker, and though part of me was really upset with her about that, part of me really wouldn't have it any other way. It was just that I still had this sinking feeling that I was going to get her killed someday and I really didn't want to bring Lana any pain…no matter what.

I was still mad at her for the secrets she had kept, but I had my fair share of secrets I hadn't divulged to her yet, and so I knew I shouldn't be. She would have told me had the time been right—I definitely trusted the angel sleeping next to me. I reached out to stroke her hair and she stirred a little, but she didn't show any signs of opening up her eyes to wake up just yet, so I glanced over to see what Sam was doing. He was actually sleeping too, and when I looked back at Lana I couldn't resist…I leaned down and kissed her lips softly, and then got up and started to get dressed—I could always come back and win her over with something.

"The warmth all went away." Lana whispered to me as I pulled on my pants.

I turned to her and smiled at her pout. "It'll come back later."

"Yeah, but how much later?" She asked, propping herself up on her elbows. "I was kinda hoping for you to be copping some feels and maybe trying to solicit early morning sex…"

"It's kind of the middle of the night, Lanni." I told her chuckling. "I figured I would go out and maybe get some beers."

Lana nodded at me thoughtfully and cocked her head to one side. "And bring them back?"

I rolled my eyes and nodded, zipping up my jeans and climbing onto the bed with her, hovering my face above hers, our noses touching. We stayed that way for a moment or two and then she ran her nose along mine, kissing me much too swiftly for me to kiss her back and it made me groan a little. The little tease had really learned some things from me I had hoped she wouldn't pick up and it was making me come undone.

"Absolutely, Baby," I said, leaning in to kiss her and groaning again when she pulled back after only a second of contact with our lips.

She nodded at me. "Let me get this straight: you woke up in the middle of the night, had a hankering for beers and now you're going to head out and get them and then bring them back?"

I nodded at her, raising my eyebrows a second at the playful tone in her voice, and then swallowing when she shrugged one of her tank straps off of her shoulder. She was doing this on purpose to get a rise out of me…and it was working and she knew it. I couldn't control my urges, and I shouldn't have been expected to—I was a man, and my beautiful girlfriend was showing off her flesh when I was feeling happy…in rather naughty places.

"Maybe satisfy some urges when you get back?" She asked me with a wink.

I kissed her. "Maybe we can just satisfy the urges now…"

"We can't do it now!" Lana protested, pushing on my chest as I showered her mouth with kisses and grunted in protest for what felt like the hundredth time. "Sam's sleeping!"

I sighed and nodded. "Fine…"

"Dean, I'm sorry!" She told me as I got up to get my jacket. "I would totally take you right now but your brother is right there and I am not having sex with you while he's only like two feet away."

I chuckled a little at the look that would bring to Sam's face were it to actually happen and then nodded at her. She smiled when I sent her a reassuring smile, and then started to head out when her voice stopped me.

"Bring me back a coffee and I'm yours forever." Lana called out to me in a whisper.

xx

Lana's POV

I had really not wanted to wake Sam up at all, and smiled at Dean when he raised his eyebrows at me playfully and adjusted his jacket. He was highly amused by me and definitely still horny—I was too, honestly—and I was glad that we were both able to be playful right now…we needed it.

"You weren't mine forever before?" Dean asked me.

I rolled my eyes and laughed softly. "I'll be yours forever and a day then."

"That's more like it." Dean told me, and then just like that he was out the door.

I smiled and laid back on the bed, looking up at the ceiling and running my fingertips along my lips softly, thinking about it all. I had been asleep for a good while, but I had felt Dean's lips brush against mine, and I was flattered he had been watching me sleep. That was the second time he'd kissed me while I had been sleeping and I was going to take it as an incredibly good sign…stalkerish as watching someone while they slept seemed, it was a little flattering.

"What in the world did I do to deserve him?" I asked myself softly.

I was pretty certain that I knew the answer to that—nothing. I was still hiding so much about myself and I didn't know how to get any of it off of my chest because it would devastate him. At the same time…what if Dean couldn't really love me? What if he couldn't actually be in love with me because he didn't actually know me? Oh God…what if I was effectively ruining the best thing that had ever happened to me?

Sitting up quickly, I ran my fingers through my hair and took a deep breath—I hadn't thought about it like that before. Sam and Dean Winchester had waltzed into my life when I had least expected it, and now I was smitten with them…they were my family. I was still always going to love Jen and Kevin, but Dean was my soul mate…I believed that…so what if my keeping secrets was ruining that?

"I have to come clean about all of it." I told myself with an affirmative nod. "It is more than time for me to tell them."

I looked over at Sam when I heard him stir a little and I got concerned—I hated it when Sam didn't sleep well. I figured that he was having another nightmare, so I got up and went over to his bed, leaning down and touching his shoulder. If I could help him through this then I was going to, because Sam had always been there for me and I owed him so much more than he'd ever know.

"Sam?" I asked him, pushing on his shoulder softly. "Are you okay?"

I felt a strong hand hit me though, and I fell backwards as he fell off of the bed and Dean came in the room. I rubbed my painful head since I had hit the floor pretty hard, and Sam sat up breathing heavily and Dean looked confused and worried. Sam as having a rough time, and I was sitting on the floor knocked on my ass with a bump on my head and neither of us looked very happy.

"Sammy?" Dean asked him.

Sam looked directly over at me, aware of what he'd done. "Are you okay, Lan?"

I nodded slowly. "I just…wow you hit hard when you're dreaming."

"I'm so sorry," Sam said reaching out to check my head as Dean set the beers and my coffee down.

"I'm fine, really." I told him, standing up. "What did you see?"

xx

"Continue on R224 West." The woman on the navigation on Sam's phone instructed.

Sam nodded at it and then looked at Dean. "There are only two towns in the U.S. named River Grove."

"How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?" Dean asked him again, his eyes leaving the road in front of him for only a moment.

"There was a picture." Sam answered him. "Crater Lake."

I nodded at him and stared at my empty coffee cup from the backseat. "Okay, what else did you see, Sammy?"

"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair." Sam answered slowly with a shrug because he'd already told us the just of it.

To be honest Sam hadn't really told us much and Dean and I were still trying to get all of the specifics out of him. Basically all we knew was that Dean had killed one of the guys in Sam's vision, and we were headed to wherever he was to try and figure out what was going on. I had a feeling Sam was just worried because of what he thought his visions meant, but there was something darker going on and I had a feeling that my second to last secret was about to come out.

"And I ventilated him?" Dean asked Sam, making sure he had the story straight.

Sam nodded slowly. "Yeah…you thought there was something inside him."

"Like a demon? Was he possessed?" I asked Sam, trying to catch the looks on his face so I could get a better handle on what he was feeling.

"I don't know." Sam said irritably.

"All your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow. Was there any black smoke? Did we try to exorcise him?" Dean tried when he noted Sam's tone as I had done.

Sam shook his head at us. "No, nothing, you just plugged him—that's it."

"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason." Dean replied with a small nod.

"I sure hope so." Sam said softly.

"What does that mean? I'm not gonna waste an innocent man." Dean protested to his brother. "I wouldn't."

When Sam didn't answer I closed my eyes and I sighed loudly which caught both of their attentions. No matter how 'okay' we told each other that we were, we were still far from being okay after everything we'd been through together. Sam was still worried about Dean's behavior—as was I—and Dean was sick and tired of being treated like he couldn't separate himself from the hunts and I understood that. Still, it was getting annoying to have each of them not understand what the other was actually trying to say because they were both being too sensitive about all of it.

"If you guys start a pissing contest I'm jumping out of the car." I told them with a groan and then blew my bangs out of my face. "Let's just focus please on finding the guy that was tied to the chair in Sammy's vision and go from there—his visions are not set in stone and now that we're warned, we can try to find a way around whatever situation Sammy saw because we'll be on the look-out for other options. Now…can we at least get coffee before we get there? I'm exhausted and I'm cranky, and I kind of need a caffeine fix."

Dean nodded at me. "Yeah…we can stop at a drive through Starbucks, just for you."

I smiled at him and nodded, and after getting some coffee, we arrived in River Grove, and Sam recognized this black man sitting on a porch as a man from his vision. I pulled my hair back when I got out of the car, and then the three of us went over to question him so that we could get through this. Lord knew we needed a hunt to bring us back together in a good way, and I was praying this was it because I was getting some bad vibes from this town already and looked around.

"Can I help you?" The man asked us, looking at us strangely.

"Yeah…Billy Gibbons, Frank Beard, Alyssa Newman: U.S. Marshals." Sam told him, showing him his fake badge.

The man nodded. "What's this about?"

"We're looking for someone." I told him, looking at him and giving him a little smile.

"A young man—early 20s." Sam added with a nod. "He'd have a thin scar right below his hairline."

The man paused a moment. "What did he do?"

"Nothing." Sam replied quickly. "We're actually looking for someone else, but we think this young man can help us."

"Hey, he's not in any kind of trouble or anything." Dean explained. "Not yet. I think maybe you know who he is, Master Sergeant." He added, noting the tattoo on the man's arm. "My dad was in the corps. He was a corporal."

The man raised his eyebrows. "What company?"

"Echo-2-1." Dean answered immediately.

"So, can you help us?" I asked sweetly.

The man nodded slowly at us. "Duane Tanner's got a scar like that, but I know him. Good kid—keeps his nose clean."

"Oh, I'm sure he does. Um, do you know where he lives?" Dean asked politely.

"With his family, up Aspen way." The man answered.

"Thank you so much." I told him and we walked towards the car, Sam bumping into a post that has a word carved into it.

When I looked at it, I frowned, reaching out and tracing the carving as Dean said the word out loud: 'Croatoan'. Dean sounded confused about it which would normally have made me smile and call my adorable lug a goof, but this was serious. Something dark was going on here and I didn't like it…I didn't think that we should be here anymore, but I knew I wasn't going to convince the boys of that.

"Yeah, Roanoke…lost colony…ring a bell?" Sam asked Dean and then sighed. "Dean, did you pay any attention to history class?"

Dean scoffed at him. "Yeah—the shot heard around the world. How bills become laws…"

"That's not school…that's 'Schoolhouse Rock'." Sam replied.

"Whatever," Dean shrugged.

"Roanoke was one of the first English colonies in America, late fifteen hundreds." Sam told his brother with little patience.

"Oh, yeah, yeah, I do remember that. The only thing they left behind was a single word carved in a tree: 'Croatoan'." Dean contemplated.

I nodded at him and sighed. "Yeah, there were theories: Indian raid, disease…but nobody knows what really happened. They were all just gone, wiped out overnight."

"With her, it's hot to be a know-it-all." Dean said as Sam sent him a look. "So…you don't think that's what's going on here?"

Sam shrugged at him. "Whatever I saw in my head, it sure wasn't good, but what do you think could do that?"

"Well, I mean, like I said, all your weirdo visions are always tied to the yellow-eyed demon somehow, so..." Dean tried, trailing off as he had made his point mostly.

"We should get help. Bobby, hum, Ellen, maybe." Sam suggested.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, and we can call Jen too." I said, but when I took out my phone I frowned. "I don't have a signal."

"I don't either." Sam agreed, and so we headed for a phone booth.

"The line's dead." Dean said, and hung up the phone. "I'll tell you one thing. If I was gonna massacre a town, that'd be my first step."

The idea of being cut off from the rest of the world in the creepy town giving off bad vibes was definitely not my idea of fun, but I did have one idea. Dean was kind of rustling his hair and it was getting me a little hot and bothered when it shouldn't have been, and I knew we really had to find this guy in Sam's vision but I needed to make-out with Dean for just a moment or two first.

"So before we move on," I said, resting my hands on Dean's hips and kissing him, "can I see you in the car?"

Dean smirked at me. "Sam…wanna get us some food?"

Sam sighed at us and rolled his eyes. "Fine, but I'm only giving you two about fifteen minutes."

"It's all I need." I said, beaming at Sam.

"What?" Dean asked disappointed that we weren't going to do what he wanted.

I dragged him to the car and pushed him against it, kissing him softly, running my fingers along his stomach under his shirt. I ran my nails along it for a moment and Dean made a small moaning sound which made me smile and bite his bottom lip softly. He leaned in a little more and reached out to pull my face closer to his, running his tongue along my lips and then smirking a little.

"Screw Sam…let's get a motel room." Dean whispered, kissing me again.

I ran my lips along his and then bit his lower lip again. "You don't know how much I want that, but this is important. I just—I felt the need to jump you and this is the closest I'm going to get to it."

"Lanni…" Dean protested softly when I pouted, and I stopped him by pressing my lips to his because I couldn't think of anything else to do.

He slid his fingers deeper into my hair and kissed me passionately, sliding his tongue into my mouth and I moaned softly as he pulled me closer to him and my hips collided with his. We were definitely both hornier right then and that wasn't good because we really needed to come apart and help Sam with the hunt. Helping to save an innocent was much more important than trying to take Dean in the backseat real fast…right? No, of course right…bad, Lana.

"Do you guys need another moment to exchange saliva?" Sam asked us.

I pulled away from Dean, sucking on his bottom lip a little, and shook my head slowly. Part of me was screaming at me to just blow Sam's question off and open up the back door and push Dean in, but the other part of me knew that I had to do the right thing, and so I took a feeble step back from Dean and tried to regain my composure even though I felt like a liquid puddle of goo…happy, horny goo.

"No…let's go find this guy." I said, and got into the backseat of the car.

Dean stayed paused, leaning against the car for a moment, and then he headed around to the Driver's side, the three of us silent when Dean grunted a little. Then we headed out onto the road and when we got to the Tanners', we knocked on the door and a young boy opened it and Dean stepped in to take control. I was starting to feel a little horny again too because I loved it when Dean stepped up and took control…God I wanted him bad.

"We're looking for Duane Tanner." Dean explained to the teenaged boy…the attractive and definitely jail bait for me, teenaged boy.

"I'm his brother, Jake," the teenager replied. "Duane is not here, he went on a fishing trip up by Roslyn Lake."

Sam nodded at him. "Are your parents home?"

"Yeah, they're inside." Jake replied with a nod.

As he said that, a man came to the door and I smirked at Jake as he smiled at me—so what if he was kind of jail bait? I mean maybe he was actually 18 and legal! I was younger than Sam by a year so it wasn't like hitting on this kid would make me a pedophile or anything…he was hella attractive! Anyway, as Jake and I smiled at each other, Sam spoke up and I was truly grateful because my horny mind was dangerous.

"We're looking for your son, Duane." Sam told him.

Mr. Tanner looked at him. "Why? He's not in trouble, is he?"

"We just need to ask him a couple routine questions. That's all." Dean assured him.

"When is he due back from his trip?" Sam asked him.

"I'm not sure." Mr. Tanner said.

I raised my eyebrows because I getting a vibe from them, and it was not a good one at all. I took a step towards them and smiled my smile, both Jake and Mr. Tanner focusing all attention on me like I'd made too sudden of a movement or something…and yet they were jumpy without physically being jumpy…something was definitely wrong here.

"Well, maybe your wife knows." I offered him.

"No, I don't know. She's not here right now." Mr. Tanner explained.

I raised my eyebrows again. "Oh, well, Jake said she was, but he could have been mistaken. We have a number so you can get a hold of us when Duane gets back, all right?"

I made sure to hand the number to Jake and then when they closed the doors, I started to go around the house and the boys followed me. I took a deep breath when we made it to a window and I nodded when I saw a woman tied to a chair—my feelings were definitely never wrong. Now I just needed to figure out what the Hell was going on here because this was getting a little too weird and deep for my taste.

"Its okay, Mom…it's not gonna hurt." Jake told his mother, who was gagged, tied to a chair and had a wound on her shoulder.

I pushed my sleeves up. "Guys…this is big—cover me."

Dean started to protest my gung ho actions, but when Jake rolled up his sleeve and his father cut his arm, the blood falling onto the woman's wound, I was already in through the window I'd broke. Mr. Tanner came at me with the knife so Dean shot him down, Jake throwing himself out of the window. Sam didn't have the heart to shoot a teenager and his pause allowed Jake to get far enough away that Sam couldn't have made the shot anyway…so Jake managed to escape…damn hot, deranged, jail bait, teen!

xx

We parked the car in front of River Grove's medical center and Sam took Mrs. Tanner in while Dean opened up the trunk to get Mr. Tanner's body out. It was sad that we had to kill the guy, but he'd left Dean with no choice and though part of me was flattered because Dean had shot him to save me, part of me thought I could have prevented it. Then again…Dean was pretty shoot first and ask questions later—definitely more than usual, and I couldn't blame him even though it worried the crap out of me.

"Nice to have a gig?" I asked Dean softly.

Dean sighed and shook his head. "Not this time."

He picked up the body that I had wrapped in a blanket, and I followed him in. I had to agree with him because this was definitely not the kind of case that was going to bring him, Sam and me closer together and that was the most annoying part of it to me. Something big and bad was going on and I didn't know how to handle it…or how Sam's vision was actually going to go down anymore…

"Is that…?" The Doctor started to ask.

Dean looked at her. "Mr. Tanner?"

"Was he attacked, too?" The Doctor asked.

"Uh, no, actually, he did the attacking, and then he got himself shot." Dean answered her curtly.

"Shot?" She asked him.

I nodded at her. "Yeah."

"And who are you?" She asked us.

"We're U.S. Marshals." I explained to her, showing her my badge. "He'd show you his but he's carrying a body and not in the position for me to just reach in and grab it out, so…"

She nodded and ushered us into the examination room, Mrs. Tanner completely beside herself because her own husband and her own son had attacked her. I would be pretty shaken up if I were her too…it was a traumatizing experience and yet…I had a feeling she wasn't going to make it out of this. There was a reason that Jake had bled on her…there was a reason that their goal was to mix their blood with hers and not to kill her…I just didn't know what it was yet.

"Beverly, do you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?" The asked her.

Mrs. Tanner shook her head. "No, of course not. I don't know why. One minute, they were my husband and my son, and the next they had the devil in them."

"We've got to talk." Dean told Sam and me, and so we followed him out of the room and into the corridor. "Those guys were whacked out of their gourds."

"What do you think? Multiple demons? Mass possession?" Sam asked us.

I shook my head. "I'm not thinking possession at all to be honest—they didn't feel like actual demons to me. They were whacked out, I agree there, but there's something else going on here because Mr. Tanner is definitely dead and no black smoke came out of him…Jake bled on her…he had to have a reason for that, right?"

"Whatever's going on, something turned him into a monster. You know, if you would have taken out the other one, there would be one less to worry about." Dean told Sam and I blew my bangs out of my face and looked up at the ceiling—seriously?

Sam sighed at him. "I'm sorry, alright? I hesitated, Dean. It was a kid."

"No, it was an 'it'. It's not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam." Dean told him.

I groaned and then looked at them. "Stop it, all right? Jake got away, deal with it, and stop pointing fingers at each other. There is something big going on here and I am not condoning shooting at a teenaged kid, all right? Better he be out there and deranged in case there's potential for a cure, and not lying in here on a slab dead, all right? How's the patient?"

I had stopped to look at the Doctor as she came out to talk to us and the boys were kind of stunned by me. Normally I would just sigh and then tell them to knock it off maybe, but lately I had definitely grown some balls. Why? Because they were my family, and no matter what was going on, I was going to keep the three of us together and they were just going to have to deal with that—they could thank me for it later.

"She's terrible—what the Hell happened out there?" She asked us.

Dean looked at her. "We don't know."

"Yeah? You just killed my next-door neighbor." She told him.

"We didn't have a choice." Dean replied slowly.

She nodded at him. "Maybe so, but we need the county sheriff—I need the coroner."

"The phones are down." Sam told her.

"I know—I tried. Tell me you've got a police radio in the car." She pleaded with us.

Sam nodded but frowned. "Yeah, we do, but it crapped out just like everything else."

"I don't understand what is happening." The Doctor said dismally.

The fact that things were getting weirder and weirder and we were cut off from everyone else, totally made 'Slasher Movie' pop into my head. I felt like we were all going to start getting picked off one by one, and I was suddenly glad that I was surrounded by blondes because I wanted to live. Still, if it came down to it, I'd probably sacrifice myself for them…'probably' being the key word so I was definitely going to Hell…

"How far is it to the next town?" Dean asked her, the wheels turning in his head.

She turned to him. "It's about 40 miles down to Sidewinder."

"Alright, I'm gonna go down there and see if I can find some help. My partners will stick around and keep you guys safe." Dean said heading for the exit.

"Safe from what?" The Doctor asked.

"We'll get back to you on that." Dean told her, and then I hurried to him before he left and I reached out, grabbing his jacket.

"Hey…" I said softly.

Dean turned around. "Yeah?"

"Please be careful." I whispered lovingly.

He smiled and kissed me softly. "I will be…you too, all right?"

"Of course. I mean, when am I not careful?" I asked with a smile, kissing him again because I really felt like I had to.

Dean chuckled a little, and then I let go of him and waved a little as he took off in his car, going back inside. The doctor was examining a sample of Mr. Tanner's blood under a microscope and I was actually genuinely interested. It made me smile because Sam was interested in it too, and so I stepped up close to them and decided to be part of the conversation and try and do some detective work of my own.

"What?" Sam asked as the doctor made a noise while looking at the blood sample.

She made a face. "His lymphocyte percentage is pretty high. His body was fighting off a viral infection."

"Really? What kind of virus?" Sam asked as I looked at the sample.

"I can't say for sure." She answered.

"Do you think an infection could have made him act like that?" Sam asked.

"None of I've ever heard of. I mean some can cause dementia, but not that kind of violence. And besides, I've never heard of one that did this to the blood." She said.

I nodded and looked at her. "There's sulfur residue…if this is a disease…you don't think that it could be passed through the blood do you? When we found Jake and Mr. Tanner, they were standing over Mrs. Tanner…and they went through a lot of trouble to bleed on her wound…"

The Doctor nodded at me and hurried to talk to Mrs. Tanner about the theory as it all started to come together for me. This was definitely the work of a demon—possibly the Yellow-Eyed one—and I desperately needed to figure out how to stop this…but how did a stop a demon virus?

"Oh, my God. You don't think I've got this virus, do you?" Beverly asked in a scared voice.

The Doctor swallowed. "Beverly, I don't know what to think but with your permission, we'll take a blood sample."

Beverly slowly laid her hand on the doctor's but suddenly, she hit her and then she hit Sam, sending him against the wall. I used a spell to put a force field around her as she went at him with a scalpel in her hand, and after she hit the force field, she decided to come at me. Sam came towards her with a fire extinguisher so I let the force field down, Sam knocking her out and coming straight over to me, then going for the Doctor when I nodded and let him know I was good.

"Are you okay?" I asked the freaked out nurse.

She shook her head. "This is weird."

"I'm Lana." I told her, holding out my hand and trying to be friendly.

"I'm Pam." She replied, smiling a little.

I took a breath. "You seem a little on edge, Pam. Can I help you with anything?"

"I just—I really need to see if my boyfriend's okay." She said, and she was back in freak-out mode.

"Yeah, I wish I knew how my boyfriend was too." I told her with a knowing nod.

Pam looked at me like I was stupid as Sam neared us. "Yes, but mine could be in danger!"

"Hey, hey, hey, wait. Wait, please. Look, I know you're upset, alright? But it's safer if you stay here for now. Help is coming. There they are." He added as we heard the Impala.

"Sammy! Lanni! Open up!" Dean called to him.

Sam opened it and looked directly at Dean and not the man with him. "Did you guys get to a phone?"

"Roadblock," Dean replied and smiled a little when I held onto his jacket and looked him over worriedly for wounds.

"So you're all right?" I asked him and nodded when he kissed me and said he was fine, all of my attention now being able to be diverted to the big black man with Dean. "I'm Lana."

The man smiled at me when I extended my hand. "Sarge."

"Nice to meet you," I told him.

He nodded at that and I let go of Dean with my other hand, but still felt the need to be close to him at all times. If we were all going to get stuck here and die, then I wanted to be with the men that I loved most in the world and that was that. Besides, once upon a time I had told Dean I was never letting him go off by himself again, and I'd just broken that threat/promise…never again.

"Hey, Sarge, could you go on in there for a moment so that I can talk to my partners?" Dean asked.

Sarge nodded and left the boys and me alone, which was good because the three of us had some definite things to talk over and we all knew it. There was something big going on outside and Dean had definitely not been gone long enough to have gotten into the next town so Sam and I needed to know what was happening beyond these walls. On top of that, Dean needed to know that we were dealing with a demonic virus.

"What's going on out there, Dean?" Sam asked him.

Dean shook his head. "Man, I don't know. I feel like Chuck Heston in 'The Omega Man'. Sarge is the only sane person I could find. What are we dealing with? Do you know?"

"Yeah, Doc thinks it's a virus." Sam said his hands on his hips.

Dean sighed at that. "Okay, great. What do you think?"

"I think she and Lana are right." Sam replied with a nod.

"Really?" Dean asked him. "Wait…Lanni?"

I smiled at him. "It's cute that you sound a little turned on by my possible knowledge of biological things. Little tidbit you didn't know about me: when I quit college, I was working on nursing. Anyway, I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact. Oh, but it gets better—the virus leaves traces of sulfur in the blood."

"A demonic virus?" Dean asked a little fear in his voice.

"Yeah, more like demonic germ warfare—at least it explains why I've been having visions." Sam said with a sigh.

Dean nodded at him. "It's like a biblical plague."

"Yeah, you don't know how right you are, Dean. I've been pouring through Dad's journal—I found something about the Roanoke colony." Sam explained to him.

"And?" Dean asked impatiently.

"Dad always had a theory about 'Croatoan'. He thought it was a demon's name…sometimes known as Daeva or sometimes as Reshef …a demon of plague and pestilence." Sam explained to him.

Dean groaned loudly. "Well, that's terrific. Why here? Why now?"

"We have no idea, but Sam and I are worried about it. Who knows how far this thing can spread? We've got to get out of here, and we've got to warn people." I told him.

Sarge called us as Dean took that into account and nodded, so we went back inside and stood face to face with him. He confirmed our fears—Mrs. Tanner was definitely infected and this was definitely some kind of demonic plague. There had to be a reason behind this…there had to be a reason other than some kind of rather entertaining chaos for the demon to be involved in.

Plus—yet again, I might add—I felt connected and responsible.

"We've got to take care of this." Sarge said assertively. "We can't just leave her in there. My neighbors, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."

As Sarge said this, Dean grabbed his gun and Pam made a face at them. She was really not on board with any of this and I was trying really hard not to feel weak suddenly. I was Alana Meckenzie, and I was a hunter…so why the Hell was I starting to feel so helpless and so distraught? Innocent people were dying, sure, but I knew that this had to be done before more people were infected and yet I was still tensing up just because they were still people to me…even if they were now demonic beings. Maybe…maybe it was because I was demonic and this was scaring me.

It wasn't just Dean's aversion to anything demonic either. It was more importantly that maybe I could become like these people that were getting infected with this stupid demon virus. Perhaps once I finally got a hold of my mother and I tapped into my demon side I would become something that Dean would have to kill…I could never do that to him. Never…never, ever.

"You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?" Pam asked them suddenly.

Sam looked at the Doctor. "Doctor, could there be any treatment? Some kind of cure for this?"

"Can you cure it?" Dean insisted, not wanting to shoot Mrs. Tanner either.

"For God's sake, I don't even know what 'it' is." She answered.

Sarge intervened as everyone looked around at each other. "I told you, it's a matter of time before she breaks through."

"Just leave her in there. You can't shoot her like an animal." Pam told us.

But Sam and Dean went towards the door even after she'd said that, and I took a seat on the floor. This wasn't the way I wanted to spend my time—I didn't want to shoot her. I didn't want to kill people that had this demon virus—there had to be a cure…there just had to be. I hurried to the microscope and looked at the sample, but I soon heard a gunshot…it was times like this that I just needed Jen.

I looked up as Dean came over to me and took a breath, stepping closer to me as I stood up and tried to face him. He opened his mouth to say something but then shut it again, and I just nodded and tried not to be so sad, but I hated jobs like this—the ones where I felt attached, conflicted and helpless. To top it off, I was missing Jen so much, and if this was the end, then I wanted to be in contact with her.

Just this morning on the way, Jen had told me that she thought that she had felt the babies move and I had smiled because it was surreal. I had at least felt my baby move before it had been taken away from me and now Jen was going through the motions and pretty sure she would know more than I would because she would actually get to experience it. Jen was getting to spend time with Kevin and prepare for a family, and she was probably worried sick that now Sam, Dean and me were completely cut off from her. She would know something was wrong, but she wouldn't know what, and she wouldn't know where to begin to make anything better…I wanted Jen.

"How do you do this?" I asked as he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my forehead. "I try to be as strong as you, but I just can't seem to do it."

Dean brushed his lips across my forehead in thought. "It's hard, but I know it has to be done."

"I wish I had your bravery." I responded, and then looked up into his eyes and smiled a little. "Did I tell you that Jen can feel the babies move?"

"Yeah, you were gushing about it earlier—you think it's girls, right?" Dean asked me, knowing I needed the mood lightened.

I nodded at him and pulled him closer to me as he wiped a couple of fallen tears off of my cheeks—he knew me so well. How there could ever be a doubt in my mind as to where I belonged I would never know…I belonged with Dean. It was in everything he said to me…in the way that he spoke to me…in the way that he held me…comforted me…protected me…loved me. I loved Dean Winchester with all of my heart.

"You need to get your weapons ready. If we have to kill more of them, we need to be ready for it." I told him slowly.

Dean nodded in agreement. "All right, but promise me you'll keep trying to find a cure."

I kissed him softly my lips brushing across his as I spoke next, our eyes locked. "I promise."

xx

A little while later, I was hitting dead end after dead end and it was driving me absolutely crazy because I couldn't find anything. We had no idea what we were dealing with or how to stop it, but one thing was for sure: this was big and it was bad and we needed to be ready to fight for our lives. We all looked up as we heard the sound of broken glass, but it was just Pam breaking some tubes containing blood in them…yeah cause that was a good sign…I was starting to think that God hated me.

"Why are we staying here?" Pam asked us. "Can't we leave?"

Dean shook his head. "They're everywhere."

"She's right about one thing: we can't stay here. We've got to get out of here, get to the Roadhouse—somewhere—let people know what's coming." Sam explained.

"Yeah, that's a good point. 'Night of the Living Dead' didn't exactly end pretty." Dean told us and smiled at me when I got the reference and nodded in agreement, trying not to laugh too hard.

"I'm not sure we've got the choice," Sarge intervened. "Lots of folks up here are good with rifles. Even with all your hardware, we're easy targets. So, unless you've got some explosives…"

"We could make some." Sam retorted after seeing the chemical products on the shelf.

Suddenly, somebody knocked on the door and asked to be let in and I swallowed—another sign that could not be good. Sarge recognized the voice as that of Duane Tanner and opened it to him, Dean starting to shift rather uncomfortably and I nodded slowly as Sam's eyes went wide—Sam recognized him which meant only one thing…

"That's the guy that I..." Dean asked Sam who nodded.

"Duane, where you been?" Sarge asked him.

"I was on a fishing trip up by Roslyn—I came back this afternoon. I saw Roger McGill being dragged out of his house by people we know. They started cutting him with knives. I ran. I've been hiding in the woods ever since. Has anybody seen my mom and dad?" Duane asked aloud.

"Awkward," Dean whispered to us.

"You're bleeding?" The Doctor asked noticing the cut on Duane's leg.

Dean went alert and looked at him. "Where did you get that?"

"I was running…I must have tripped." Duane answered him.

"Tie him up—there's rope in there." Dean told Sarge.

"Wait," Duane protested.

"Sit down!" Dean ordered Duane, taking aim at him.

I closed my eyes for a moment and tried to remind myself that we didn't know what was going on here and we had to be on the safe side. If Duane was infected, the rest of us were in danger, but if he really had just tripped and gotten scratched than we were fine. Still…I didn't like the vibes that I was getting off of him…he seemed vaguely familiar to me even though I knew I didn't know him and it was definitely annoying me.

"Sorry, Duane…he's right. We've got to be careful." Sarge explained to him, and I could tell he was upset to have to do this to him.

Duane was confused. "Careful? About what?"

"Did they bleed on you?" Dean questioned him.

"No. What the Hell? No!" Duane cried, suddenly much more scared than he had been.

"Doc, any way to know for sure? Any test?" Sam asked her.

She looked at him. "I've studied Beverly's blood work backwards and forwards with Lana."

"My mom?" Duane asked as I opened my eyes and took a breath.

"It took three hours for the virus to incubate." The Doctor added. "Sulfur didn't appear in the blood until then, so, no…there'd be no way of knowing. Not until after Duane...turns."

I swallowed before I spoke up. "Unfortunately, I can't think of anything else to do about it…we're going to have to wait this out…keep him restrained."

"Dean, I've got to talk to you…now." Sam said, and I followed them out of the room as Sarge was about to tie up Duane. "This is my vision, Dean. It's happening."

"Yeah, I figured." Dean replied curtly.

"You can't kill him, alright? Not yet. We don't know if he's infected or not." Sam told him.

Dean gave Sam a look. "Oh, I think we're pretty damn sure. Guy shows up out of nowhere, got a cut on his leg. His whole family is infected."

"Alright then we should keep him tied up, and we should wait and see." I suggested, because I didn't want to kill Duane anymore than Sam did.

"For what? For him to hulk out, infect somebody else? No, thanks—can't take that chance. Hey look, guys, I'm not happy about this, ok? But it's a tough job, and you know that." Dean told us firmly.

I bit my lip and Sam and I exchanged looks as we took in what Dean said—we got it, we did, but this just didn't feel right. I mean I was having bad vibes about the guy, but not all of my bad vibes meant people had to die…just meant that people were involved. If Duane wasn't infected—and there was still a chance that he wasn't—there was still something dark about him and I needed to figure out what that was too.

"It's supposed to be tough, Dean. We're supposed to struggle with this, that's the whole point." I told him sadly with a sigh.

Dean turned to me. "What does that buy us?"

"A clear conscience, for one." Sam replied and he and Dean made eye contact.

"It's too late for that." Dean informed him.

"What the Hell has happened to you?" Sam asked him as I went to put my face in my hands.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"You might kill an innocent man, and you don't even care. You don't act like yourself anymore, Dean. Hell, you know what? You're acting like one of those things out there." Sam told him and Dean threw him out of the way and left the room, locking the door behind him, Sam pounding on it as I felt the urge to cry again.

"Hey! Open the damn door. Dean! Don't do it, Dean! Don't!" Sam cried out to him.

I looked at Sam and I sighed, leaning against him for support as all of the information ran through my head. Demonic virus…whacked out civilians…blood to blood transfer…it was like starting a war…it was like the beginning of the end. Now Dean could potentially kill a man that wasn't infected at all, and it was going to be on his conscience if he went through with it.

"Maybe what you said got through to him." I told Sam hopefully.

Sam rested his head on mine. "Maybe it's what drove him to kill Duane in the first place."

I bit my lip and put one of my arms around Sam, him kissing the top of my head and then we both looked up when Dean came out. There had been no gunshot—he hadn't shot Duane and I was proud of him…Sam had gotten through to him. He didn't seem to want to talk about it though, he just had Sam and I help him with making explosives so we could survive a battle, and then I started to sense something…something was wrong.

"It's been over four hours. Duane's blood is still clean. I don't think he's infected…I'd like to untie him, if that's alright." She asked us.

"Sure…yeah," Sam answered, and she left with a nod. "You know I'm gonna ask you why."

Dean nodded at him as I looked at them. "Yeah, I know."

"So, why? Why didn't you do it?" Sam asked him as I smiled a little—good ol' Sammy.

"We need more alcohol." Dean answered changing the subject.

"Look…I don't trust Duane. He might not be infected, but I think he might be bad…" I began, knowing I should have said something before when Dean gave me that look—that look that was pretty much saying, 'how dare you not tell me that before?'.

I looked up as I heard a click, and frowned since the door had obviously been locked and it all clicked—that blood thing before had definitely been a bad sign. Pan as clumsy enough to have cut herself with one of the broken tubes and never told anyone, and now she was on one side of the door with Sam, and Dean and I were on the other—like a bad zombie movie. I was suddenly feeling panicked and very scared, and all I wanted was my Sammy—why was this all happening to us now?

We heard the scuffle on the other side of the door and Dean went to kick it down, getting into the room and killing Pam. It was just a reflex for him too—she'd attacked Sam, and now she was paying with her blood. Hell even I wasn't flinching at it…that in itself was a little disconcerting for me, but then again I knew that if I was faced with it as an option, I would kill for Sam and Dean in a heartbeat. Dean went to help Sam to stand, but Sarge got in his way and I glared at him—oh, Hell no!

"She bled on him. He's got the virus." Sarge warned us.

I looked at Sam painfully. "No…no…"

We all crowded around Sam as we got him to sit on the exam table, and Dean was riled up—this was his brother. Hell, I was feeling riled up too because I could not lose Sam! When I had asked for a hunt to bring the three of us closer together, I hadn't meant to bring us closer together because we knew it was the end! I hadn't even told them about my father, or about what I was looking for to kill Chelsea with…

"Doctor, check his wound again, would you?" Dean asked her and then got a little hostile when she paused. "Doctor!"

Sarge stepped in. "What does she need to examine him for? You saw what happened."

"Did her blood actually enter your wound?" The Doctor asked Sam.

"Come on, of course it did!" Sarge shouted at them.

"We don't know that for sure." Dean retorted with a nasty look thrown Sarge's way.

"We can't take a chance." Duane intervened and I swear Dean's eyes looked dangerous now as everyone started to talk to him about it all.

Sarge nodded in agreement with Duane. "You know what we have to do."

"Nobody is shooting my brother." Dean said strongly.

"He's not gonna be your brother much longer, you said it yourself." Duane told him.

Dean shook his head firmly. "Nobody's shooting anyone."

"You were gonna shoot me!" Duane reminded him.

"You shut your pie hole or I still might." Dean told him.

I waved my hands around. "All right, just everybody calm the fuck down!"

"Dean, they're right. I'm infected. Just give me the gun, and I'll do it myself." Sam told him slowly.

"Forget it," I answered and everyone looked at me again. "We're not letting that happen and I think you know me well enough to know what happens when I've set my mind to something. Besides, Kate would kick my ass. Now if you'd all just shut the fuck up so I could think and figure out how to get us all out of this alive, I would be incredibly appreciative, all right?"

Dean smiled at me a little for being on his side, but at the same time I knew he wasn't really up to smiling. Everyone was against us because they didn't want Sam to turn and kill us all, and I knew we couldn't blame them, but at the same time there was no way in Hell that we were killing Sam. We were all going to get out of this and if I could possibly figure out some kind of 'witchy' way to get us out, then even better…maybe a demonic way, but only if I had to.

"She's right," Dean agreed with a nod.

Sam shook his head. "Lan, Dean, I'm not gonna become one of those things."

"Sam, we've still got some time." Dean told him.

"Time for what?" Sarge asked out loud. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and I'm sorry, I am, but I've got to take care of this."

"I'm gonna say this one time. You make a move on him, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? Do I make myself clear?" Dean asked, scared and angry all at once.

"Dean!" Sam chastised.

I shook my head. "No, Sam…I agree with Dean this time. I swear to God if you're opening your mouth to shout at me Sarge, you're going to be in a whole new world of hurt in a minute." I told him and he shut his mouth, his eyes blazing into mine as I continued to speak. "All of you need to get the Hell out of here. If Sam is going to die here…then Dean and I are staying behind."

"Take my car." Dean added. "You've got the explosives. There's an arsenal in there. You two go with him. You got enough firepower to handle anything now."

"Dean, Lana…no. No, go with them. This is your only chance…Lan you can't give up like this." Sam pleaded with me. "Dean…Dean you can't do this."

Dean smiled at him sadly. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy."

"Me neither," I added, nodding to show him that I was not leaving without him.

"Lana…go." Dean said suddenly.

I looked at him suddenly and I found my mouth going dry—had he seriously just said that to me? There was no way in Hell I was leaving him and Sam here to die! I was standing by them no matter what—it was like they didn't even know me. They were my boys, and if they were going to die here, then I was going to die here whether that was selfish of me or not.

"No," I told him, shaking my head firmly. "There's no way in Hell that I'm leaving."

Dean gave me a look. "I do not want you here for this."

"I don't care." I told him slowly. "I am not leaving you two."

"Leave!" Dean yelled, and the moment our eyes met, I could see the pain in them.

I was in love with him, and I knew he was in love with me and he was just trying to do what he thought was best for me, but this wasn't what I wanted. Of course I didn't want Sam to die, but I definitely didn't want to leave Sam and Dean to die…I had to be with them in the end. I couldn't leave them now…I couldn't leave them ever.

"Don't tell me to leave again!" I told him firmly, taking a step towards him. "This is not your decision, this is mine! If you two are going to stay here and meet your fate, then so am I!"

Dean sighed loudly. "Damn-it Lana, what about Jen?"

"Jen can get along without me. She and Kevin have each other…she and Kevin are going to have babies in like 5 months. I told him with a shrug. "She has her family, and she can get along without me."

"You're being selfish!" Dean roared.

"So are you, you stupid bastard!" I exclaimed.

Dean whirled on me. "Lanni, I won't let you do this."

I hated that he thought that he could seriously order me out of here, and my eyes went from his to Sam's, and Sam's traveled from mine to looking at Dean. There was something else behind all of this…there was another reason for Dean to want to just up and quit like this. Didn't we have other options? We had to have other options!

"What's wrong, Dean? What's really wrong?" Sam asked him.

Dean sighed and looked at me, gently taking me by the face and looking me in the eye. "I want you to live, Lanni. I want you to go out there all right, and go with them. I love you, and I want you to move on with your life if it comes down to me leaving—Baby, I can't be the reason that you get killed."

"Dean, I can't live without you." I told him, the tears coming as he poured his heart out to me in front of everyone. "Damn-it, you selfish Bastard, I love you. I'm not walking out those doors to try and live without you when I don't have to."

"As touching as that is, Lana, he's right." Sarge explained to me. "Come with us."

I kept my eyes on Dean's and shook my head, trying to ignore the pain that crossed Dean's beautiful hazel irises. It was hurting him that he couldn't force me to save myself, but at the same time I knew that he loved me…knew that this was who I was, and he still loved me even though I wasn't listening to him. He would still love me if I left with Sarge, Duane and the Doctor, but I wasn't going to do that…it would go against everything I was about and Dean knew I was standing by my decision just as he was standing by his.

"I'm staying with them." I told him.

"Okay, it's your funeral," Sarge said sadly and he nodded at me when Dean let go of me and I finally looked over at the three of them by the door.

The Doctor smiled at us softly. "I'm sorry…thanks for everything, Marshals."

"Oh, actually, we're not really marshals." Dean answered and he locked the door behind her. "I wish we had a deck of cards or a foosball table or something." He said once we were alone in the room.

"Dean, don't do this. Just get the Hell out of here, and take Lan with you." Sam told him.

Dean shook his head. "No way—you heard us, Sammy…you're stuck with us."

"Give me my gun and leave." Sam told him firmly.

"For the last time, Sam, no." I said, walking over to him and taking his hand. "We're staying with you and you have to get over that."

Sam sighed loudly. "This is the dumbest thing you've ever done—either of you."

"I don't know about that…remember that waitress in Tampa?" Dean asked him and grunted when I elbowed him softly.

"And for me, I mean, there was getting Chelsea turned." I added, kissing Sam's hand absent-mindedly.

"Dean, I'm sick. It's over for me…it doesn't have to be for you and Lan." Sam explained to us. "You guys can keep going…keep fighting…Hell you two can settle down if you want to and I wouldn't be around to stop you."

I looked at him. "Don't you dare try to make yourself sound like a hindrance, Samuel Winchester."

Dean swallowed down the lump in his throat at the pain in my voice and then looked at Sam as Sam looked at me and made eye contact. I couldn't lose Sam like this…not like this…and I definitely couldn't lose him like this and have to hear him make himself out to be a reason why Dean and I weren't settled. Dean didn't want to be settled and I respected that…and I was vowing right then to never let Sam be the third wheel again.

"I'm tired, Sam. I'm tired of this job...this life...this weight on my shoulders, Man, I'm tired of it." Dean explained to him.

I nodded at that. "It's gotten to be just that much more tiring as the days have gone on."

"So, what? So, you're just gonna give up? I mean, you're just gonna lay down and die? Lan, you have a whole other life to go to." Sam tried, turning to me again, "damn-it."

I smiled a sad smile. "Sammy, I've lived that life. Jenny is happy—she has Kevin, and she'll have babies, and without me her life is even more demon-free. You know what else? In my moment of need, I found you two…and I can't live without you guys, and I don't want too. You really have to just accept that if this is the end…I want to be with the two of you…I want to go out with the two of you."

"Look, Dean, I know this stuff with Dad had…" Sam began, knowing he wasn't going to talk me out of it now…but he still thought he could talk Dean out of it.

Dean shook his head. "You're wrong. It's not about Dad. I mean, part of it is, sure…"

"Then, what is it about?" Sam asked him but there was a knock on the door and I reached out and opened it.

"You'd better come see this." The Doctor said.

Sam, Dean and I exchanged looks but followed her, and when we got outside, we found that the whole place was deserted and it seemed that everyone had disappeared. Duane, Sarge and the Doctor were in no immediate danger anymore, so we all stayed around for a few more hours and then the Doctor looked at Sam after looking at his blood samples. Her face was definitely miffed, but it was good news and I let out a sigh of relief right before she even gave us the good news.

"Well, it's been five hours and your blood's still clean. I don't understand it, but I think you dodged a bullet." She explained to him.

Sam made a face. "But I was exposed. How could I not be infected?"

"I don't know, but you're just not. I mean, when you compare it with the Tanner samples…what the Hell?" She asked aloud.

"What?" Sam answered her.

"Their blood…there's no trace of the virus. No sulfur…nothing." She replied and I went to look over the samples too and she was right…it was like this had never even happened except for the dead and the completely deserted town.

So we all hung around for a while and then the next morning, Sarge and Duane were going to leave town and offered for the Doctor to go with them, but she wanted to warn Sidewinder and the authorities. It seemed like everything that had happened here had somehow been erased, but at the same time none of us were going to be able to erase this from our minds…and Duane still felt off to me…what if Sarge was in danger?

"What about him?" Dean asked the Doctor, pointing to Sam.

She smiled at him. "He's gonna be fine. No signs of infection."

"Hey, man, don't look at me. I've got no clue." Sam said as we went to the car and looked at each other, leaving the others behind…me still glancing over at Sarge and Duane until they drove off.

"I don't trust that Duane kid in the slightest…maybe Dean should have shot him." I said softly, hoping they hadn't heard me, but kind of hoping that they did.

"I swear, I'm gonna lose sleep over this one. I mean, why here? Why now? Where the Hell did everybody go? It's not like they just freaking melted." Dean told us and I nodded.

Sam nodded too and then swallowed. "Why was I immune?"

"Yeah, you know what? That's a good question. You know, I'm already starting to feel like this is the one that got away." Dean answered, and then we got into the car and left town and all I could think about was Sam and the virus.

I knew why I would have been immune but Sam was immune. Did it have something to do with him being psychic? What did him being psychic mean? I put my headphones in my ears as we headed out of town and thanked God that I hadn't had a chance to potentially become infected…my father was a demon, which made me half demon and because of that…I was immune to a whole damn lot.

Note: So that was intense and kind of revealing for Lana without her saying anything out loud…you guys are smart. Before it's all completely revealed I'm sure you'll figure out what the darkest part of her past is. Side note: 27 pages! Feedback is always appreciated!