AN: Sorry this one took a while guys. Got a bit of writer's block due to some exams this week. I would like college so much more if there were no exams. Thanks for the beta, Lynn. You're the best :) Again, no Wincest. Baby girl's just a pet name that I've heard parents give their children.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Sadly. By the way, I wish I did so that I could erase seven season Castiel because... WHAT THE HELL?

For a long time, the Winchesters just stared at the spot where Castiel had been standing.

"What a dick," Dean said, breaking the silence at last.

Rose shot him a dark look, but otherwise ignored the comment. "What was he talking about, Sam?" she asked. "What road are you walking down?"

He shrugged. "The usual Winchester road."

Which for three of us led straight to Hell, Rose thought but didn't say. She wasn't comforted.

"That's nice and clear," Dean scoffed. He wanted to push, but he had to prioritize. Sam's vague and not pressing problem or Rose's concrete and close by problem. "Come on." They hadn't really unpacked the night before so Dean didn't have a lot to do to get ready.

"Where are we going?" Rose asked, looking longingly at the shower.

"Bobby's," he answered, pulling on his boots. "He'll know what to do."

"Dean," Sam protested. "Are we really gonna drag Bobby into this? We already know what to do. We need to call Ruby and keep on hunting Lilith."

"That's a great plan, Sam," Dean retorted, not exactly angry, but unable to keep his voice down anyway. "I wanna gank the bitch but how exactly do you plan to keep Rose safe? Because, last I checked, Lilith was KILLING ANGELS." (Rose gave a little wince at that) "I've got the feeling that a couple of salt lines aren't exactly going to keep her away."

Sam shifted his weight, his face dark, and Rose wondered for a moment where this Sam had come from. Then he sighed, shrugged, and turned to his duffle.

The ride to Bobby's seemed to take twice as long as it should have. There was an odd feeling in the silent car; a tense, frightened feeling. Rose couldn't help but wonder if Dean was running scared and if Sam was just running on blind rage. Rose was just too tired and guilty to be running on much including fear. All she wanted to go to sleep. But nightmares were a much more real fear than demons and so was the pricking in the back of her mind of something not right, so she stayed awake for the entire drive.

Her reunion with Bobby was just like she'd pictured a thousand times. Bear hug smelling of grease, herbs, and old books, barely restrained tears, and a warning to "never do anything so damned stupid again."

She didn't promise but she wanted to.

Rose felt herself start to collapse against the side of the couch while Sam told the story, so she just kicked off her shoes and let herself relax. Aside from the backseat of the Impala, Bobby's house was the closest thing she'd ever had to a home. Nothing bad had ever happened to her there and it was harder to be scared of anything, even the nightmares, when she was there. Especially when an arm she recognized as Dean's wrapped itself around her shoulders, and she could still hear Sam's voice like a lullabye in her ears.

She didn't see Dean look at her with something like terror in his eyes, wondering how he was gonna get her out of this mess.

Bobby chuckled softly at the completion of Sam's story even though he was scared too. "Kid, if anyone was going to get a cryptic guardian angel, it would be you."

Rose just mumbled.

Dean looked up at Bobby the way he used to look up at John, as if the older man had all the answers. Bobby wished to hell he did.

"What're we gonna do?"

Bobby sighed. "I dunno, boy, not for long term anyway." He stood, wincing when his joints creaked. "But I've got an idea for the short term. Follow me."

The Winchesters were slightly reluctant to leave their sister, but, like their sister, they had a harder time being scared in the Singer House, so they trailed after Bobby into his basement.

They'd been in Bobby's basement a hundred times, but this time there was a surprise.

"You built a panic room?" Dean went over and knocked on the wall. "A solid iron panic room?"

"Covered in rock salt and complete with MREs, books, and a devil's trap?" Sam added, stepping inside and looking around, nodding at the picture of Bo Bryce, smiling at the look Bobby gave him.

Bobby shrugged. "I had a weekend off." He joined the brothers. "It's completely demon proof. Not even Lilith is getting in here," he said. "We can stash Rose in here while we figure out the long term."

"No," Rose exclaimed from behind them. Apparently, she had roused herself enough to follow them. Standing there in her stocking feet with her wild hair, she looked like a kid, except for the look of pure terror. "I'm not going in there."

All three men were a little shocked at her reaction. "I know it's not perfect," Bobby said soothingly.

Rose started shaking her head and backing up. "You can't make me!" Bile rose up in her throat and she forced it down.

None of them understood. Not even Dean. For him, Hell had been open pits of fire and carnage and pain, surrounded by the screams of the damned he couldn't save.

For Rose, it had been a series of rooms. Rooms where she'd been held away from everyone except her tormenters. Brightly lit, cold, sterile rooms filled with knives, whips, razors, cruel, mocking laughter and the sound of her own blood dripping onto the floor. Rooms she'd had to fight her way out of, holding her own guts inside with her bare hands while she searched desperately for her brother.

The very sight of Bobby's panic room brought back memories of those other rooms crashing in on her skull. She didn't scream like she had then, but she nearly bit through her lip trying to keep the vomit at bay the way she hadn't been able to in those other rooms.

Sam, oddly, was the first to realize what was happening. He ran to where she was doubled over and bought them both to the floor, holding her in a tight embrace. "It's okay, Rose, you're here now. Come on, come back, it's okay." She was shaking and silent, and Sam gave Dean a pleading look that broke the oldest from his trance.

He dropped to his own knees and ran his hand over her back over and over again. "It's okay, baby girl," he said quietly. "You don't have to go in there. You're with us now, and we won't make you. We won't make you."

Rose took a deep breath, then another, as she slowly returned to her present reality. As the memories retreated back into their dark corners, shame emerged, white hot and just as painful, its own form of Hell. She stood stiffly, pulling away from her brothers and keeping her eyes cast to the ground. "I need some air."

"Rose..." Sam began.

Ignoring him, she turned and ran up the stairs.

He brothers tried to follow, but Bobby called them back, tears in his own eyes. "Give her some time, boys, give her some time."

Rose didn't stop running until she got to the junkyard. Breathing heavily and crying freely, she leaned against an old, rusted out Ford. "Castiel," she prayed, wondering if he was listening. "Please. I need to talk to you." No answer. "Please." Still no answer. "Come on you, son-of-a-bitch!"

"Temper temper," said the man coming out from behind another pile of cars. "I thought we taught you better."

Rose recognized the demon for who and what he was and let out a scream.

It died on her lips when a second demon got his hands around her throat.