Chapter 11: Faith

Dean shouldn't be here.

Kara looked over the Winchester, whose green eyes were closed as he lay asleep on a hospital bed. Her heart broke as her mind flashed the scenario back in her mind yet again. They had been saving a pair of children from a monster… what it was she can't even remember, but the boys knew it needed 10,000 volts of electricity to the chest to take it down.

Note to self; electricity and flooded basements aren't a smart combination. Of course she knew this, but she would never forget the leap her heart made as she saw Dean aim at the monster with his stun gun, set to max as the realization hit her. The monster was in a puddle of water, and Dean, having been shoved back by said monster, was laying in the same puddle. She tried to yell stop, but with his finger pulling on the trigger, it was too late. All she could do was watch as the electricity hit the monster, then run straight through the water and into Dean.

Sitting here now with Lyra's hand on her shoulder for comfort, she's honestly more surprised he survived at all. But the doctors said it wasn't going to last.

Sam stood in the hallway, his hand gripping his chin as he asked again. "Are you sure there isn't anything you can do?"

The doctor shook his head once again. "The electrocution triggered a massive heart attack. I'm sorry, but we can't work miracles. You should be thankful he's alive at all."

A frown on his face and tears pricking at his eyes, Sam re-entered the room where his brother lay dying. Kara's head perked up for a moment at the sight of him, but as he shook his head in defeat he saw the tears fill her eyes, and his throat clenched tight. Even Lyra seemed to be holding her breath, forcing back a flood of tears. He didn't have the heart to tell them that the doctors only gave Dean a month to live, instead of the original six.

Sam's thoughts were interrupted as Dean's voice washed over them, quiet and gravelly, but not shaky. "Looks like you're gunna have to leave town without me."

Lyra shook her head, a small smile on her face. Her voice faltered. "We aren't going anywhere."

Dean chuckled, looking to Sam. "You better take care of that car. If you don't I swear I'll haunt your ass."

Sam met Dean's smirk with a frown. "I don't think that's funny."

"Oh come on, it's a little funny." Dean, Sam and Kara looked over to Lyra, hating her as she was clearly holding back laughter. Only she thought it was funny. The silence made Dean sigh. "Look, what can I say, it's a dangerous gig. I drew the short straw. That's it, end of story."

Kara and Lyra stayed silent as Sam snapped back. "Don't talk like that, all right? We still have options."

"What options?" Dean shrugged slightly. "You got burial or cremation. I know it's not easy but, I'm gunna die. And you can't stop it. None of you can stop it."

Lyra and Kara looked to the floor, hurt flooding their eyes. Sam glared at his brother before turning to leave. He bit his lip, muttering just loud enough for them all to hear. "Watch me."

Sam clenched his teeth. Ring. Ring. Ring. Voicemail, again. He cursed to himself as he listened to his father's recorded voice for the tenth time in the last three days. Sam had been calling all the contacts in his father's journal, desperately looking for a way to save Dean, and he only had one lead so far. He slammed the phone shut, ready to throw it across the room. He had left his father a million messages, and still no answer.

A quiet knock on the door startled Sam. Grabbing his gun off the table, he held it behind his back as he opened the door. His eyes widened as he saw Dean standing here, with Lyra and Kara on his arms, helping him stand. Smiles plastered on all their faces. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"We checked him out." Lyra stated matter-of-factly.

Sam's eyebrows came together, his mouth dropping open. "Are you crazy?"

Dean sauntered into the room as if nothing had happened. Kara shrugged. "We weren't going to let him die in a hospital."

Dean chuckled as he sat on the end of the bed, cringing as a wave of pain went through him. "The nurses weren't even hot."

Sam shook his head, his teeth clenched as he glared at his brother. "You know, this whole I laugh in the face of death thing it's crap. I can see right through it."

Kara shot Sam a dirty look. "Sam, Jesus give him a break."

Before Sam had time to retort, Lyra walked up to him. "Besides, have you even slept?" Sam paused, unwilling to answer knowing that the truth was no. "You look worse than him."

Sam sighed, letting out a loud breath he didn't even know he had been holding. "I've been scouring the internet for the last three days while also calling every person in Dad's journal."

"For what?" The three asked in unison.

"For a way to help you. One of them called back, told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist."

Lyra and Kara exchanged a sad, unconvinced glance. Dean groaned. "You're not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"

Sam shook his head, a small smile appearing on his tired face. "I'm not going to let you die, period." He ignored the skeptical looks he got from everyone in the room. "We're going."

Sam drove, with Dean in the passenger's seat and the girls in the back as he pulled up the driveway to a farmhouse. In the yard was a large tent, and cars parked all around. Signs spoke of a faith healer, and as Sam parked the car, Dean swore as he pulled himself out of the car with a groan.

"Man, you big fat liar, I thought you said we were going to see a doctor."

Sam chuckled, closing the door and making his way towards the tent. "I believe I said specialist. This guy is supposed to be the real deal."

If only you could see the shock, disbelief and slight horror on the Magnum girl's faces. Dean glared at his surroundings as they neared the tent, surrounded by people of all ages as they funneled in like a herd of cattle. "I can't believe you brought me to see some guy who heals people out of a tent."

An older lady who was passing by them flashed a smile at Dean. "Reverend Le Grange is a great man."

Dean wrinkled his nose at her. This whole place stank to him. "Yeah, that's nice…"

Their attention was turned as yelling filled their ears. As they looked from curiosity, they saw a man fighting with a police officer. "I have a right to protest! This man is a fraud! He's bilking all these people out of their hard-earned money."

The man in uniform held him back from going closer to the tent, pushing him away. "Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go. Move it."

Lyra chuckled. "I take it he's not a part of the flock."

Sam shrugged, a small sigh escaping him. "Well when people see something they can't explain, there's controversy."

"Yeah, but, come on Sam… a faith healer?" Dean's eyebrows scrunched, glaring at everything he saw.

Sam put a hand on his brother's shoulder. "Maybe it's time to have a little faith Dean."

"Even I think you sound crazy right about now, Sam." Lyra muttered, hiding into her hoodie, hoping to become invisible to these weird people. Kara was doing the same.

Dean glanced at the girls, wishing his jacket had a hood right about now. "You know what I got faith in? Reality. Knowing what's really going on."

Sam groaned, tilting his head. "How can you be a skeptic with the things we see every day?"

Dean spat back in anger. "Exactly, we see them we know they're real!"

Sam waved his arms at his brother. "But if you know there is evil out there how can you not believe good's out there?"

Dean growled. "Because I've seen what evil does to good people."

A blonde girl who was walking past them stopped, flashing Dean a smile. "Maybe god works in mysterious ways."

Dean's stone-cold face from a moment before softened, a sly smile appearing where his frown was. "Maybe he does. I think you mighta just turned me around on the subject."

Lyra rolled her eyes, and Kara scoffed. "Oh sure…"

Dean held out his hand to the blonde. "I'm Dean." She took it warily.

"Layla." She glanced at his group and could tell most of them were uncomfortable being there. "So, if you're not a believer then why are you here?"

"Apparently my brother believes enough for the both of us." Dean replied, sending a smile in his brother's direction. Sam shook his head, and waved good-bye as an older woman came up to Layla, pulling her into the tent.

Dean smirked, leaning into Sam. "I bet you SHE can work in some mysterious ways…"

Lyra overheard him and threw out a hand to smack him upside the head. Dean met her glare with his own just before they finally made their way into the tent. People were sitting on foldable lawn chairs put together in a line with an isle down the middle. A man was playing a piano in the far corner, and by the way a man wearing white was making his way on stage, the sermon was about to begin.

Kara spotted a camera set up at the far back of the tent, over the entrance and pointing towards the stage. "Yeah, peace love and trust all over."

Dean tries to take an empty seat towards the back, but Sam pulls him away, pushing him towards the front. Lyra and Kara silently decided to stand by the tent wall, just under the camera. They watch as Sam and Dean take a seat beside the woman, Layla, from before. Kara bites her lip. "Of course they have to sit by blondie…"

The piano stops, and everyone's attention is turned to the man on the stage. That must be Le Grange. He begins. The piano starts up again. "Each morning, my wife, Sue Ann, reads me the news. Never seems good does it?"

Lyra and Kara roll their eyes as much of the congregation harmoniously reply "No." Just like a real church. Gross.

Lyra leans into Kara. "I hate church."

Kara nods, speaking quietly and completely ignoring the preacher. "My adoptive family used to force us to go to church, and Sunday school. We had to get up at 4 in the morning to get there on time."

Lyra shuddered. "I think it should be illegal to force kids to go to religious gatherings. They haven't even decided for themselves what they believe in yet."

Kara nodded in full agreement. Her eyes fixed on the back of Dean's head, tears started welling up in her eyes. "Do you think there's any hope for Dean? Any at all?" Lyra glances over to her sister in shock. Wrapping an arm around her, she doesn't answer. Kara can't hold back the emotions. She had been strong all week for Dean but couldn't hold it back any more. She didn't believe in miracles and knew Dean didn't have much time left. She had dreamed, hoped more than anything, that someday Dean would confess secret feelings for her. If he doesn't, she will forever regret not having something more with him. But, on the other hand, if he does, now there wouldn't be any time to make memories to live on. Which was worse, she wondered?

Her thoughts were broken as she realized the piano had stopped playing again, and everyone was quiet. "You think so young man?" The preacher was talking to someone. Following the glares from the people in the room, her and Lyra's blood runs cold as they realize he's talking to Dean. Lyra lightly smacks herself in the forehead. Of course it was Dean causing a scene.

Dean shifts in his seat, glancing around with a sympathetic smile. "Sorry."

The preacher raises his hands. "No no. Don't be. Just watch what you say around a blind man we got real sharp ears." The audience laughs softly. The piano starts up again. "What's your name son?"

Sam elbows Dean when he doesn't answer. With a grunt, he answers. "Dean"

The audience starts to clap. The blonde woman who sat next to Sam closed her eyes sadly, looking down at her feet as Le Grange smiled. "I want you to come up here with me."

The audience starts to cheer. Chanting Dean's name as he refuses to leave his seat. Sam pushes Dean lightly, but he doesn't budge. He shakes his head, trying to refuse. A burning sensation at the back of his head made him turn to look back at the girls. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Kara wiping tears away from her face. He turned his attention back to the preacher. With a newfound determination, he stood from his chair, earning more cheers. He slowly walked to the front, getting help from who he could only assume is Sue Ann to hop up on stage. His eyes once again became fixed on Kara, his heart aching for her. If there was any chance this could work, he needed to take it.

Dean sighs, the overwhelming feeling of doubt taking over him. He whispers. "Look, no disrespect, but uh, I'm not exactly a believer."

The preacher smiles. "You will be son. You will be. Pray with me, friends."

Sam, Lyra, and Kara watch with the eyes of a hawk as Le Grange raises his hands in the air slowly, as if feeling the air. He moves one of his hands to place it on Dean's head, earning him a wary glance.

Suddenly, Dean feels faint. His heart is skipping beats erratically, his vision starting to go black. His knees tremble, so he falls to them. His body felt like it was being wrapped with an indescribable cold, and unable to keep his eyes open, he closes them, collapsing to the floor with a thud.

Kara bolts to the front of the stage, beating Sam to the green-eyed Winchester. She places her hands on him, one hand shaking him while the other lightly smacked his face. "Dean? Dean!" Sam crouched down next to them, concern on his face. Lyra hung back, confused as the congregation cheered louder than before.

Dean felt as if his soul was being sucked back into his body as he awoke with a gasp for breath, his vision spotty. He saw Kara leaning over him, and she backed away as he sat up, confused as to what had just happened. Glancing to Le Grange, he saw him smiling. "He is healed!"

Dean glanced to Sam, his eyes wide. "What the hell?" A figure moved beside the preacher, and he did a double take. The man was wrinkly and pale, had black holes for eyes, and vanished as soon as he saw it. His blood ran cold, his ears ringing as the congregation continued to cheer for him.

Something wasn't right about any of this.

Sam drove them to the nearest hospital.

The doctor flipped through some paperwork and shrugged. "According to our tests, there's nothing wrong with your heart, no sign there ever was." Dean sighed with relief. Kara's eyes filled with happy tears as she held herself back from tackling Dean. He noticed this, and encapsulated her in a big hug, pulling Lyra into it to make it look like it was meant to be a group hug. The doctor continued.

"Not that a man your age should be having heart trouble, but still it's strange, it does happen. Just yesterday a young guy like you, 27, athletic, out of nowhere had a heart attack." A nurse popped her head in the room, summoning the doctor out. Sam waved her goodbye, turning to Dean with a smile on his face. Dean's smile was gone, and he held on tight to the girls as he turned to Sam.

"That's odd." Dean muttered, shooting a fiery glare at Sam.

Sam sighed, shoulders dropping. "It's just a coincidence, people's hearts give out all the time."

Dean shook his head, his body tense. "No, they don't, Sam."

"Do we really have to look this one in the mouth? Why can't we be thankful that the guy saved your life?" Sam's arms dropped to his sides in defeat.

Lyra and Kara shared a glance. "He has a point…"

Dean raised his voice, making Kara and Lyra flinch. "Because something shady is going on here, guys!"

Sam bit his tongue and kept his voice low. "You don't know that!"

Dean rubbed his temples. "I've got this feeling I can't shake, Sammy. When I was healed I just felt, wrong. I felt cold, and for a second, I saw someone beside the reverend and I'm telling you… it was a spirit."

Sam paused, taking Dean's words into consideration. "If there was something there I think one of us would have seen it." The girls just shrugged. Dean pleaded with his brother.

"Sam I've been hunting long enough to trust a feeling like this."

Lyra closed her eyes, making a fist to calm down. She was tired of the arguing. "So what are we going to do about it?!" She yelled.

Silence hung in the air around them. Dean thought it over, and after a minute he nodded to himself. He pointed to Sam. "Why don't you and Kara go check out heart attack guy, and we're…" He gently pushed Kara over to his brother and kept hold of Lyra. "Gunna visit the reverend."

Everyone nodded, hoping they didn't do something to reverse the miracle that had just happened to them.

The eldest and the youngest split up, going to their respective places. Sam and Kara checked out the details surrounding the death of the athlete, while Dean and Lyra paid another visit to reverend Le Grange. They could have filled a notebook with their suspicions from the investigations; all of which pointed to the reverend being somehow responsible for the death of the athlete. Sam and Kara returned to the hotel first, doing some digging on more info while they waited for their siblings, dread filling them for the anger they knew was coming from Dean.

They nearly jumped out of their skins when they heard the door unlock. They were here.

Dean spoke instantly as the door shut behind them. "What'd you find out?"

Sam and Kara exchanged a worried, sad glance before Sam got the courage to face his brother. "I'm sorry…"

"Sorry for what?" Dean asked, a frown on his face intimidating everyone in the room.

Sam paused, gathering a breath. "Marshall Hall… died at 4:17."

Dean clenched his jaw, shaking his head. "The exact time I was healed."

Sam sighed, rubbing his chin. "Yeah. So, I put together a list of everyone Roy has healed, six people over the past year, and I cross-checked them with the local orbits."

Kara stepped up, finishing his sentence. "Every time someone was healed, someone else died. And each time, the victim died of the same symptom Le Grange was healing at the time."

Lyra folded her arms. "Someone's healed of cancer, someone else dies of cancer?"

Sam nodded, standing from his chair to meet Dean eye-to-eye. "Somehow, Le Grange is trading one life for another."

Dean swallowed hard. "Wait wait wait… so, Marshall Hall died to save me?" That was exactly what he was afraid of.

Sam tried shaking his head and justifying the incident. "Dean… the guy probably would've died anyway and someone else would have been healed."

Dean pointed a finger at Sam, standing defensively. "You never should have brought me here."

Lyra came up behind Dean, her voice quiet. "Dean, he was just trying to save your life."

Dean yelled, turning away from Sam, pushing Lyra away and looking out the window. "Now some guy is dead because of me!"

Nobody knew what to say. Sam dropped his head. "I didn't know."

After a few moments, Kara broke the silence. "What we still don't understand is, how is Roy doing it? How is he trading a life for a life?"

You could almost hear their minds' cogs turning in thought. Suddenly Dean turned to face them again, his eyes sparkling with an idea. "He's not doing it. Something else is doing it for him…"

Kara and Lyra glanced at Dean with scrunched eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"The old man I saw on stage. It had to be him." Dean ran a hand through his hair. "There's only one thing that can give and take life like that."

Lyra's eyes lit up. "A reaper?"

Dean rubbed his hands together. "I'd bet on it."

Sam shrugged, sighing as he pondered the thought. "Do you really believe it's THE grim reaper? Like, angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?"

Lyra shook her head, raising her head slightly as she shared her wisdom on the subject. "I highly doubt it…there is reaper lore in pretty much every culture on earth. They go by a hundred different names…"

Dean interrupted her to finish her sentence. "It's possible that there's more than one."

Sam raised his eyebrows. "But you said you saw a dude in a suit?"

Dean chuckled, raising her hands in a gesture of question. "What? You think he should've been working the black-robe thing?"

Kara groaned, shifting her weight from one leg to another. "We saw it, Sam, the clock stopped. Reapers stop time."

Lyra nodded, almost jumping that they were on a trail. "And, legend has it you can only see them when they're coming at you!"

Dean clapped his hands together before pointing to Sam. "Which is why I could see it and you couldn't."

Sam took a moment to think it over, taking a deep breath. "Maybe…"

Dean grabbed Sam by the shoulders. "There's nothing else it could be, Sam! The question is, how is Roy controlling the damn thing?"

Suddenly Sam's eyes lit up, his eyebrows raised, and two dots connected in his mind. "The cross! I noticed it in the tent… I knew I had seen it before!" Sam ran over to his bag, pulling out a deck of tarot cards, and shuffled through them until he finds the one he was looking for. Death. Showing it to Dean, he confirmed the same symbol was on the card. "Tarot dates back to the early Christian era right, when some priests were still using magic and a few veered into the dark stuff. Necromancy and how to push death away, and how to cause it, things like that."

Kara nodded, a hand on her chin. "So, Roy is using black magic to bind the reaper?"

Sam huffed. "If he is he's riding the whirlwind. It's like putting a dog leash on a great white… It tends to bite the hand that feeds it."

"Then we need to stop Roy." Lyra stated. "Before anyone else gets hurt."

Kara's shoulders slumped slightly. It seemed like an impossible task, when he could just order the reaper to kill them, too. "How?"

Dean paused, a dark thought crossing his mind. He spoke softly. "You know how."

Sam glared at his brother, a shiver running through him. "We can't just kill Roy, Dean…"

"The guy is playing God, deciding who lives and dies. That's a monster in my book." Dean turned to pack a back, his mind already made up.

Sam shook his head in disgust at the thought. "Then we aren't any better than him."

Dean threw a bag on the floor. "So if we can't kill Roy and we can't kill Death, what do we do? Any bright ideas, college boy?" He asked in a raised voice.

Lyra pitched in when Sam failed to respond. "I've got one…" Everyone turned to her, and she swallowed before speaking. "Roy must be using some kind of black spell on the reaper… so if we figure out what it is then we can learn how to break it."

This time, Kara got excited and spit out, "If Roy is using a spell, there might be a spell book."

Dean checked his watch and bit his lip. They had to hurry. "We will have about fifteen minutes to search when we get there before service starts, so let's try to hurry, okay?" The group nodded and followed Dean as he headed out the door filled with a newfound determination.

Sam and Kara had ten minutes, tops.

They had snuck into Le Grange's house looking for information on the reaper. The timing wasn't ideal for a proper search, but they did a quick sweep on each room, looking for any old texts, symbols or altars. Kara peeked out the window to see Dean and Lyra disappear into the tent. "There they go."

Sam nodded, giving a glance over every book on the shelves in the living room while Kara dug through drawers in the kitchen. He clenched his jaw. "I've got nothing…" He called out, to which Kara appeared with a nod.

"Same. Let's go upstairs." Sam followed her as she bolted up the stairs, praying nobody was in the house. They didn't have time to be quiet. They split up, each taking one of the two upstairs rooms to better utilize their time.

Kara could hear Sam grunting from frustration from the other room. "There isn't anything here!" He cried. Kara looked over every object with questioning; from the bible on a nightstand to even, to her unfortunate discovery, a vibrator under the bed.

Shaking her head, she looked around the room. There had to be something. Roy couldn't be controlling a reaper without a tool. As she was literally spinning around in circles looking for clues, she froze. Something about a bookshelf she had looked over moments before suddenly caught her attention. Moving closer, she noticed all the books hadn't been moved in ages, indicated by the hefty layer of dust on the shelf. Except for one, which had a clean mark through the dust. Pulling out the book, it appeared ancient, the lettering on the cover in a foreign language and appearing to be leather-bound. She opened it up, a familiar symbol catching her eye and making her heart jump. She called out to Sam. "I've got something!"

He ran in from the other room, sighing with relief as she handed it over. It was the same cross they were talking about. Newspaper clippings nearly fell out as he flipped through the pages, pictures of people with controversial standings on political debates. Recognizing a face, Sam showed one of the images to Kara. "Does he look familiar to you?"

Kara's eyes went wide. "That's the athlete who died of Dean's heart attack!"

Flipping through the rest of the clippings, they were all people who they had previously suspected had died because of these 'miracles', except one man they recognized from the last time they were there who wasn't dead. Sam scrunched his eyebrows. "Isn't that the protestor?"

Kara nodded, peering out the window to confirm the identity of the man, who was still protesting outside the tent. "He's next."

Sam pulled out his phone and dialed Dean. He answered almost immediately. "Roy is choosing victims he sees as immoral, and I think I know who's next on his list. Remember that protester?"

Dean whispered. "The guy in the parking lot?"

Sam glanced to Kara, worry written on his face. "We know he's next."

Dean had a hard time holding back his voice. "You need to find him!"

Sam rubbed his neck, nodding to himself and Kara. "Yeah, we'll find him, but you can't let Roy heal anyone, all right?"

Dean agreed, and they hung up. Kara glanced to Sam as he let out a breath he had been holding. "Let's go."

Dean hangs up with Sam, turning to Lyra with a suspicious glance towards Roy Le Grange. "They found an old book…"

Lyra clenched her fists tightly shut. "I knew it!"

"Let me finish!" Dean leaned in, whispering. "The protestor outside is next."

Lyra nodded, taking a deep breath as Le Grange prepared to call someone up. Dean say Leyla in the audience, and prayed the reverend wasn't going to call her up. Maybe he jinxed it, for seconds later, her name was called.

"Layla, it's finally your time. Come up here dear child."

Dean muttered a curse word under his breath. Lyra gripped on Dean's arm in comfort. "I'm sorry, Dean, but we have to stop him anyway."

The audience clapped as the young woman stood, tears building in her eyes. Lyra stood back and kept watch as Dean ran up to her, whispering just loud enough to Layla so only she could hear him over the cheers. "You can't go up there."

Layla turned to Dean, her eyes narrowing at his words. "What?"

"You can't let Roy heal you. If you do, something bad is going to happen." Dean pleaded, praying she would listen to him. His heart tightened as she shook her head, stepping away from him.

"I'm sorry, but I've been waiting months for this. I'm not going to give up now."

Dean grabbed Leyla's arm, holding her back. "I'm serious. You can't do this!"

Fear filled the blonde girl's eyes as she had to pry herself from Dean. She had no words to express the betrayal she felt. Dean was healed, so why was he trying to prevent her from the same? The reverend's wife came up to them, taking Layla's hand with a smile, her eyes glaring at Dean. "Come, it's time."

The audience continued to cheer as Leyla was brought up on stage. Muttering to himself, Dean turned to Lyra, eyes wide as he shrugged and mouthed "What now?"

Lyra's head whipped around as she looked for anything to distract or stall the reverend with. Suddenly her eyes brightened with an idea, just as the reverend was raising his hands in the air to start his prayer. "FIRE!" She yelled, everyone stopping to turn and look at her.

Dean saw the fear in her eyes at being stared at, so he shouted it again for her. "The tent's on fire!"

The reverend tried to get people to calmly exit the tent, but it was chaos. Dean called up Sam again, avoiding being swept by the stream of people who were flooding towards the exit. "We stopped it." A glance of relief was shared between him and Lyra.

Except, they hadn't. Not quite.

Sam and Kara were running around in the parking lot, looking for the protester when they heard screaming. Kara's eyes caught sight of some movement through a van window, and found the protestor there, cowering in fear. Looking around frantically, she didn't see anything. "Where is it?!" She yelled, pulling on the protester's shirt. Where he pointed, they ran in the opposite direction. She caught a glimpse of Sam a few rows down and called out "It's still after him!" as she was running.

Sam's heart sped up as he dialed his brother, looking over to the flood of people who were exiting the tent. When he heard Dean pick up, he didn't even wait for an answer before he spoke in a panicked voice. "It didn't work!"

"What?!" Dean questioned, audibly shaken.

Sam shook his head, his arms flailing. The "It must not be the reverend… the reaper, it's still after the protester!"

Dean turned to Lyra, swearing. "It didn't work!"

The two glanced around the tent. The reverend was outside apologizing to his demographic. Sam must be right, it isn't the reverend casting the spell. Lyra's eyes caught sight of a figure standing just behind the wall hiding the speaker and filming equipment. She ran, Dean following close behind, grabbing hold of the figure's shoulder and whipping her around. The lady stopped her chanting as fear filled her eyes for a split second. She was holding a cross, the same cross that was on the table on stage, and the one they found on the death tarot card. And, above all, it was the reverend's wife, Sue Ann.

Sue Ann smirked, yelling for help before Lyra and Dean could get over their initial shock. "Help! Help me!"

Lyra and Dean try to rip the cross away, but she swiftly tucked it into her shirt just out of reach as the guards ran in, pulling Dean and Lyra away from the woman. She glared daggers at the hunters as the police held them. One of the police men reached for his handcuffs. "What would you like us to do with them, ma'am?"

Sue Ann crosses her arms, looking them over for a minute. "You can let them go…" Lyra and Dean exchange an angered glance as the police released their grips on them. "I won't press charges, so long as they leave us in peace. This boy is just confused and looking for answers, that's all. Ain't that right, Dean?"

Dean swallowed hard, biting his tongue. "Yeah…"

The cops glared at them. "If you show your faces here again, we're gunna have to put the fear of God in ya, you hear?"

Dean shook his head, turning his back to the authorities. "Sure, got it." He grabbed Lyra's arm and pulled her out into the parking lot with him. They were met by Kara and Sam, who had confused looks on their faces.

Kara ran a hand through her hair, taking deep breaths from the run she just made. "What did you do? The reaper suddenly backed off at the last second…"

Dean lowered his voice to a whisper. "It's the wife… Lyra saw her and stopped her."

Dean, Sam and Lyra quietly chatted about what they were going to do about the cross, when Sue Ann obviously wasn't going to let that object out of reach. Kara's ears picked up the reverend's voice over the chatting, as he was whispering to Layla. What she heard gave her goosebumps.

"I deeply apologize. Come back after supper, I promise you, you shall be healed."

They wouldn't have much time to figure this out.

After the incident, the police personally escorted Dean's vehicle and all his passengers off the property. They stopped back at their hotel to do some thinking. Sam was typing away fast on his computer while he studied the book they found, Lyra and Kara sat on the bed, jotting down notes in a notebook, and Dean stood, pacing the room. "So, Roy really believes…" Kara muttered.

Dean nodded, running a hand through his hair. "I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing."

Sam shook his head in disbelief. "Kara found this hidden in their library. It's ancient, written by a priest who went dark side. There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper." He handed it over to Dean once he found what he was looking for.

Dean flipped through the pages, unable to read a single word. "Must be a hell of a spell."

Sam shut his computer, turning to Dean. "Yeah. You got to build a black altar, with some seriously dark stuff."

Kara scoffed, throwing her notebook down. "To cross a line like that, the preacher's wife… black magic, murder… it's pure evil."

Dean sighed, taking a seat. "No. It's desperate." He got up moments later only to start pacing again. "Her husband was dying, she would have done anything to save him. She must have been using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy."

Lyra nodded, writing everything down of importance they spoke about. "Cheating Death. Literally."

Sam shook his head, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "But Roy is alive, so why is she still using the spell?"

Kara shrugged. "To force the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. "May god save us from even half the people who think they're doing god's work."

Dean stopped pacing, looking to Sam with worried eyes. "We got to break that binding spell."

"Sue Ann had a Coptic cross like this. I think when she dropped it, that's when the reaper backed off." Lyra mentioned, setting down her notes.

"So do we need to find the cross or destroy the altar?" Dean asked.

"Probably both." Sam guessed, shoving things into his bag before standing up, ready to head out the door. Lyra and Kara stood, ready to join them.

Kara could feel the tension rising. "Whatever we do, we gotta do it soon." She said just as Dean was opening the door to leave, her words sending guilt rushing through him once more. "Roy's healing Layla tonight."

As the group pulled up to the tent, there was only a handful of cars present in the 'parking' lot. As they exited the Impala, Dean saw the same car that Leyla had gotten into earlier. "That's Layla's car. She's already here. Let's go…"

The group crept their way to the tent, knowing if any guards were to find them, they would be arrested. Dean peeked into the tent, unable to see their suspect. He cursed to himself. "Where's Sue Ann?"

Sam glanced back, seeing police guarding the house. That's must be where she is. "The House."

Dean sighed, sizing up the scrawny police officers with a smirk. "Go find Sue Ann, I'll catch up…"

Kara watched Dean run off towards the police with wide eyes. "What are you?"

Lyra holds her back, keeping her quiet as they watch Dean approach the police, before they start running after him in a chase. Dean had a smile on his face as he ran.

Kara pushed Lyra and Sam towards the house. "I'll keep an eye on the tent, you guys go!"

Lyra glanced wide-eyed at Kara, who only shot a small wink before chasing after the taller Winchester. Glancing over she saw Dean had led the police into a row of mobile homes, so nobody would see as Sam led the two of them around the sides of the house, where he found a cellar door. "It has to be down here…" To their surprise, it was open. Sam glanced wearily to Lyra, who merely shrugged before they descended the stairs into the darkness.

Feeling around the wall, Sam found and flicked on a light switch. In front of them stood a table, covered in bones, blood, ancient symbols and other various artifacts. They approached it slowly, Sam's eyes darting around the basement for any signs of movement. Lyra picked up a photo that was sitting in the middle of a summoning circle. It was a photo of Dean.

Her heart raced, showing it to Sam. "Dean's next!" She exclaimed. Suddenly she saw a figure standing in the shadows and shrieked in fear.

Sam turned to see what Lyra was freaking out about, and there stood Sue Ann. She had a wicked smile on her face, and a gun in her hand, pointed at the two of them. Sam guarded Lyra, pushing her back until he was close enough to the altar to flip it, destroying the table and everything on it. Sue Ann turned and ran. Sam and Lyra chased her, their heartbeats pounding in their ears as they realized she was going to lock them down here. It was a trap.

Just as Sam reached the top of the steps, the door slammed shut on their faces. He pushed against the doors as hard as he could, but he heard Sue Ann slide something between the handle, a sly laugh coming from the other side. "Can't you see? The Lord chose me to punish the wicked and Dean is wicked!" Sam let out a frustrated yell as he hit on the doors some more. "It's God's will!"

Lyra winced as Sam continues to beat at the cellar doors. "Sam, calm down!"

Sam shook his head, slamming his shoulders into the doors. "We need to save Dean!"

Lyra clenched her jaw, using all her strength to pull Sam away from the door. He looked at her with confused eyes, for she had never gotten physical before. "If you want to get out of here, you need to calm down!" Sam was stunned silent. "Now help me look for something we can use down here, okay?"

Sam nodded, following Lyra and heading back down the stairs to look for things they could use to get out. Guilt filled Sam to the brim, making him sick to his stomach. He could honestly throw up. "This is all my fault…"

Lyra shook her head, pausing to look up to Sam as she dug through a toolbox. "Sam…"

Sam's hazel eyes wavered. "No, don't say it isn't, because it is. An innocent person is dead because I made Dean come here, and now he's going to die anyway…" Sam swallowed, his fear constricting his throat. He closed his eyes, unable to search anymore. Before he knew it, Lyra was giving him a hug from behind. He opened his eyes, trying to peer around to see what she was doing. "Lyra?"

Lyra tightened her grip around him, avoiding eye contact. "I promise you. It isn't your fault. Everything is going to work out. Dean's going to be fine, Kara's going to be fine, we're all going to be fine."

Sam was again at a loss for words, and even though he was calming down, his heart raced faster still. Why did her touch mean so much to him? "You can't know that…" He whispered.

When Lyra released him from her grasp, she showed off the sledgehammer she found, handing it over. They were going to bust their way out. "Yes, I do."

Dean was on his way back to the tent to regroup with Kara when he heard footsteps behind him. Assuming it was the cops, he turned around with a slight shrug and a sly smile. "Can't get enough of me can…" He stopped, realizing it wasn't the cop. Instead, it was the same reaper he saw before when he was healed. He bolted, uncaring of his direction. But everywhere he turned he saw the reaper, drawing ever nearer.

On the backside of the tent, Kara had been watching as Sue Ann walked up to the tent. Thankfully, she hadn't been spotted. She crept as quietly as she could, closing the distance between her and Sue Ann as she began her chanting. When she knew she could reach she jumped forward, her hand reaching out and grabbing the cross from Sue Ann's hands and throwing it on the ground, stepping on it with a satisfying crack.

Kara gazed with the wrath of a thousand men as Sue Ann's eyes filled with fear. "What have you done?!"

Kara chuckled. "God's work."

Suddenly, Sue Ann dropped to the ground, the life seemingly being drawn out of her. For a split second, Kara saw the reaper, who gave her a slight nod, before sucking the rest of the life out of the woman and disappearing.

Sue Ann was dead.

Just as the reaper fled, Sam and Lyra appeared, running towards Kara. She gave them a thumbs up as they got close. "The reaper obviously didn't like being controlled…" She smiled, only to still see fear in Sam and Lyra's eyes. "What's wrong?"

"Did she finish?!" Sam blurted, looking around wildly.

"No, why?" Kara looked at him uneasily.

"Dean was supposed to be next." Kara gasped, and the group spent the next ten minutes running around and looking for Dean. They all breathed a sigh of relief when they found him, limping his way to the Impala. It had been a very close call.

Dean looked them over with a nod. "Glad everyone's okay." He opened the driver's door, and plopped himself into the seat. Silence filled the car until Dean asked the question everyone was hoping he wouldn't. "We did the right thing here didn't we?"

After a brief pause, Sam placed a hand on his brother's shoulder. He glanced back to Lyra to give a silent nod of thanks. "Of course we did."

The hunters went back to the hotel, pained for the fate Layla still had, that Dean had escaped from. Lyra and Sam could feel the tension in the air around Dean, and opted to head out for food instead of dwell on their decisions. Kara decided to stay.

As soon as they left, Dean sat down on the bed, his head in his hands. "If Roy would've picked Layla instead of me, she'd be healed right now."

Kara sighed, plopping down on the bed next to him. "Dean, don't."

Dean groaned, guilt eating away at him. "She's gunna die in a couple months now because of me."

Even though it made her heart race, Kara wrapped her arms around Dean in a show of comfort since Sam and Lyra weren't here to make fun of her. Kara could feel Dean tense under her touch, but she didn't withdraw the show of affection. "What's happening to her is horrible… but we did the right thing. Nobody deserves to play God." She spoke with confidence. Dean ever so slightly leaned into Kara. His heart was pounding in his ears and he hoped his hands were covering the flush on his cheeks in that moment. "Hell, half of the time I don't think God is even paying attention."

He made a small chuckle at the back of his throat. "Yeah. I suppose you're right." Truly thankful for her words, he buried his face in Kara's blonde hair and wrapped his arms around her, hugging her back. He breathed in her scent and sighed, holding her close. Dean thought to himself, long and hard, before coming to one single conclusion.

I should just be happy to be here right now.

He closed his eyes, thankful for the way the events had unfolded for him. Because here, in Kara's arms…

Dean belonged here.