Magnus said that with the threat of Crowley gone, we could focus a little better on my physiology. She said she was close to understanding what happened in the pit, but there was something she was missing.

Sam and Dean hung around for another two days before Bobby called and said they were needed in Montana.

"You call if you need anything. I don't care what it is, but you check in with us, ok? If I don't hear from you in two days, I'm hauling ass back here, you hear me?" Dean said in his big brother voice.

I stood there with a smile. The pain had pretty much gone from my leg and arm and I was completely without crutches. "Yeah, yeah. I've heard that before." I told him, hugging him tightly. "Don't die." I told them both as I hugged Sam.

"But it was so much fun the first time." Dean smiled.

"The first five." I corrected him, as I'd heard the stories many times.

"Hey now. Medically induced death doesn't count. I got revived just fine." Dean said.

"If you've got four under your belt, that makes us even." Sam smiled at his brother.

"Did you guys seriously die four times?" Will asked, disbelievingly.

Dean held up his hands. "Car crash, mauled, shot, and Purgatory." Dean said as he ticked them off, then looked at Sam.

Sam thought about it for a minute. "Stabbed, struck by lightning, shot, and fell into Hell."

"Wait, are we counting the Mystery Spot thing in Florida?" I asked.

Sam rolled his eyes so hard, I'm pretty sure he saw his brain. "No. We are never talking about the Mystery Spot thing in Florida ever again."

"It doesn't count because I didn't actually die. You just thought I did." Dean told Sam.

"A hundred friggin' times. Can we just go?" Sam asked, suddenly upset.

Henry came to stand next to me. "What about you?"

"Oh, just the once." I said.

"It's ok. You've only got three to catch up with Sammy and me." Dean smiled, giving me one last hug.

"You can't seriously have died four times." Will said, trying to reason it through.

"The same way you weren't possessed by a demon, right doc?" I asked, patting him on the back as the boys laughed and got in the car. The engine roared to life and they drove away, fading into the rest of the traffic.

"Do you believe they died four times?" Will asked, looking over me to Henry.

"I believe we need another night on the town to celebrate." Ashley said, coming from behind us.

"Is that really a good idea?" Will asked.

Henry looked down at me. I shrugged. "Nobody ever died from dancing."

Henry smiled. "I'm in."

"You can come or you can stay home and pout." Ashley informed Will as she took my hand and headed back into the castle. "Your cousin is really hot, but he's kind of a jerk."

I smiled. "Is that shirt I wore last time clean?" I asked, curiously.

"Oh no. You're not wearing that." Ashley said as we got in the elevator.

"What am I supposed to wear then?" I asked.

Ashley just smiled as the elevator dinged. We got out and I followed her to Magnus's office. "Hey mom. Can Karsen and I go shopping?"

"Shopping? I don't need to go shopping." I said, looking at Ashley.

She waved me off, still looking at her mom for an answer.

Magnus glanced between the two of us. "I'm assuming you're meaning clothes in this instance."

I raised an eyebrow. "That's what shopping means where I come from."

"Yes, well I suppose. Must I put a limit on your card?" Magnus asked.

"No, mom. We'll be spending like $300 bucks tops." Ashley said.

I almost choked. "What? You spend that much money on clothes?"

Ashley looked at my oddly. "Yeah. I gotta look nice."

I was suddenly uncomfortable. $300 was a lot of money for clothes. Especially when most of mine lost the monster fight.

"It'll be fine. C'mon. Let's get your stuff." Ashley said, looping her arm through mine.

We made our way up to my room and I grabbed my meager wallet that had been lifted from a convenience store outside of Atlanta. It had enough credit cards to pay for whatever clothes I ended up with, but I'd never spend it all on that.

Ashley smiled as we headed for the elevator. "Shopping?" Biggie asked.

"You read minds too?" I asked, looking up at him.

"Magnus told me." He smirked.

I nodded and we rode the elevator in silence. Ashley and I borrowed one of the cars in the garage and headed into town. "So how's the Henry thing going?" She asked, trying to be passive.

I smirked. "How's the Will thing going?"

She made a disapproval face. "That bad?"

I laughed lightly. "Pretty much. He kissed me in the library, right? But then we went back to normal. I don't know. A relationship seems weird, but I really like him."

"Yeah, mom told me about that whole thing. Seems kinda weird to me, but Henry's a different breed." Ashley told me.

"So what about you and the shrink? He seems less likely to pick up a hint than Henry." I said to her.

She smiled. "Will's a great guy, but he always sees things from a logical, realistic point. We're still trying to teach him things aren't always what they seem."

"And sometimes, they are exactly what they seem." I elbowed her with a giggle.

She smiled as we pulled into a parking garage. She turned off the car and we got out, linking arms as we walked.

"So where to?" I asked. I realized I'd come through this part of town the night I came in, but it'd been dark and It all looked different.

"Bettie's Boutique." She said.

I didn't know that I'd like to buy any clothes from a Boutique. But I kept my trap shut and she led me down the sidewalk. We paused outside what looked like a motorcycle shop and Ashley pulled the door open for me. I just looked at her and cautiously stepped inside.

I was completely taken back. It was a mix of Motorcycle Badass Babes and 50's Pink Poodle Skirts. The décor made me think of the old 50's style diners alongside the highways. Nobody was wearing roller skates, so I relaxed a little bit. I soon realized why it was called Bettie's Boutique. It was essentially a tribute to Bettie Page.

"I feel like Sandy from Grease." I told Ashley, looking over at her.

She giggled, moving around me. "Hey Ellen. We need to outfit my friend over here."

"Of course, darling. Anything for Ashley Magnus." Ellen said as Ashley unzipped her leather jacket and sat down on one of the pink leather couches. "You've got lovely proportions." Ellen told me as she measured my bust, waist and hips.

After she measured me, her assistant put five complete outfits in the dressing room for me. Ashley gave me a thumbs-up, despite how wary I was of the whole thing. But I pulled the curtain closed and turned to the wall. There were ten series of hooks, five of which held up the outfits I was supposed to try on.

I sighed, being unsure and stripped down to my underwear, pulling on the first one. A pair of blue jeans with a pastel pink swoop neck top and black heels. I pulled back the curtain and tried to stay upright in the heels.

Ashley smiled and stood up to come look at me. "This is um…" She trailed off.

"Terrible." I said. "Not the outfit. Just on me." I said, glancing at Ellen as she glared at me.

"And Henry doesn't like pink." Ashley said, mulling it over.

I raised an eyebrow. "We're shopping for Henry?"

"Well what's the point of clothes if you can't show them off?" She asked, looking confused.

Did she even realize how different we were from each other? "Can I get out of these terrible shoes?" I begged.

Ashley waved me away and I pulled the curtain back. I stripped off the outfit and tried my best it put it back on the hanger how it was. I pulled the next outfit off the hanger. It was a bright blue crop top with flared out jeans. I was starting to think shopping with Sam and Dean was better than this.

I sighed and pulled the curtain back.

"You look so cute!" Ashley said.

I tried to smile and look at myself in the mirror.

"What's wrong?" She asked.

All I could think about was how I was more comfortable in my blood stained t-shirts than this getup. "It's not me." I told her.

She looked at me for a minute. "Hold on." She said, going to dig through more racks of clothes. I stood there for almost ten minutes in my stupid outfit while her and Ellen whispered among the racks. But Ashley smiled when she came back. "Put this on?" She asked

I took it from her, barely even looking at it. I pulled the curtain closed and changed quickly. I pulled open to the curtain and looked at myself in the mirror. A 50's style red halter top with black polka dots and tight fitting black pants. "Oh, wow." I said, twisting and turning, trying to see every angle of myself in the mirror.

"And little bitty heels." Ashley smiled, handing me the black and white polka dotted two inch heel. It was more than I was used to, but I figured it'd be easier than the stilettos she gave me earlier. I slipped them on and they fit nicely. I also didn't feel like I was eight inches taller.

"It's perfect." I smiled at her.

An hour later, I had two dresses, six tops, four pairs of pants and three pairs of shoes.

Ashley smiled at me. "Henry is gonna flip."

"What about you?" I asked, pausing on the sidewalk. "We gotta get you something to wow Will."

"What? No." She said, looking slightly embarrassed.

But I looked up at her and started to say something, pausing as I saw the outfit in the window. "That!" I pointed excitedly. It was a red corset top with black silk trim and lace over a silky black looking skirt.

"Seriously?" She asked with a breathy laugh.

"C'mon. You're gonna dress me up like Bettie Page and you can't go slutty Esmeralda for one night?" I asked, putting my hand on my hip.

She watched me for a minute before rolling her eyes. "Okay. I'll try it on." She smiled and I pulled her into the Costume shop.

"Hello there. How can I help you girls?" The lady behind the counter asked. Her skin was the color of melted chocolate and she had bright green eye shadow on. I couldn't help but smile at her.

"My best friend here would just love to be able to try on the outfit in the window. The red and black one." I clarified, as there was also an It costume in the other window.

She smiled. "Sure thing. Give me just a second to disrobe the mannequin. This is actually the last set of this outfit I have." She said, as she pulled the top and skirt off the base. "It's about a size ten. I'm guessing that's pretty close to you."

Ashley teetered a little. "I'm close to an eight."

"I can always take it in for ya, honey. I'm also a seamstress." She smiled.

"Ash, please try it on. If it's too big, I'll pay for the sewing work myself." I begged.

Ashley heaved a sigh. "Yeah, alright." She said.

"Dressin' room is behind that door there." The lady pointed to a door half covered by green and pink beads.

Ashley nodded, carrying the garments over to the door and closing it behind her.

"There's this guy she works with that she's trying to impress and we're going out dancing tonight. She bought me all these new clothes and I told her we had to get her something." I explained to the shop keeper, who smiled.

"The dress was originally meant to be a Queen of Hearts costume. They sold like hot cakes, I tell you what." She said.

I smiled at her as Ashley pushed open the door and stepped out. I paused, taking in her appearance. The top fit perfectly against her bust and the skirt hugged her hips at the top before flowing loosely out. And both the red and black looked amazing as they contrasted against her blonde hair. "Holy shit." I said, before covering my mouth and glancing at the shopkeeper. I could imagine her with a rolled up newspaper willing to hit me. But she just smiled.

"I'm hoping that means it's good." Ash said as she made her way to the full length mirror. "Wow. I'm a babe."

"You are a babe." I confirmed.

Ashley beamed. "I love it." She said, going back into the dressing room to take it off.

"Can you ring that up for me before she comes out here? I don't want her to pay for it." I whispered to the lady.

She smiled and rang up my purchase before Ashley came back out in her jeans and t-shirt. Ashley handed her the dress and she folded it neatly and put it in a shopping bag as Ashley handed her the credit card.

"You're friend bought it for you." The shop keeper said.

Ashley pouted, looking over at me. "I told you I had it covered."

"Think of it as an early birthday present." I told her.

"That was two months ago." She said.

"Then think of it as an investment I'm placing in your future with the shrink." I smiled, taking the bag from the lady behind the counter. "You have a great day." I told her, turning and heading for the door.

"Okay, fine. I accept it." Ashley groaned and followed me out.

It was almost noon so after we loaded the bags in the car, Ashley drove us to this little bistro down the road she said her and Magnus went all the time. It was French inspired and I smiled as we got out of the car. The whole place had this aura about it. I felt like if I turned around, I'd see the Eiffel tower in the distance.

We sat down and before I could even look at the menu, Ashley was ordering to the waiter in French. I paused as he smiled and talked back to her in what I could only assume was his native tongue.

"You speak French?" I asked her with a raised eyebrow after he left.

She smiled. "French, Spanish, German, a little bit of Russian, Italian, Portuguese and I've been working on Romanian, but it's trickier."

"Seriously?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "I fly all over the world. I have to have an idea of what they're saying to me and with those languages, I can get by pretty much anywhere."

"I don't know about French, but I can talk Brooklynese, Floridian, Californian, and Michiganese." I said with a little smile.

"Hey, you're pretty much covered the United States, so I think you're good." Ashley smiled.

"My hood rat dialect of Michiganese is pretty convincing, I've been told." I chuckled as the waiter brought our drinks. Ashley had ordered me a cherry Italian Soda and herself a blueberry one. I sipped the drink and smiled. "It's good."

We had a light lunch of soup and breadsticks before we headed back to the Sanctuary. Ashley put the car in park in the garage and we climbed out, taking our shopping bags with us. We met Will in the elevator going up to the residential floor, as Ash was helping with my bags.

"Shopping?" He asked stupidly.

I rolled my eyes. "No, Will. We were sky diving. The bags were our door prize." Ashley giggled and Will glared at me. "Do I look like I've been shopping, Doc Oc?" I asked him.

"Don't call me Doc Oc." Will said sternly, well his attempt at sternly.

"Do I look like I've been shopping?" I asked slowly as the elevator dinged.

"Yes." He answered.

"Then, logically, it stands to reason I went shopping." I told him, remembering what Ashley said about him earlier.

"That a girl!" Henry said suddenly, surprising me.

"I live with Winchesters. You think I'm gonna let a shrink run me over?" I asked with an eye roll.

Will just glared at me. I knew this was a turning point in our relationship. He was going full shrink on me from now on.

"Ash and I are gonna go put these up." I said to Henry, gesturing to the bags as he held the elevator.

"Ok." He smiled. "I'll be in the computer lab if you need me."

I smiled back at him before turning around and heading after Ashley.

"He so likes you." Ashley said as she closed my door.

"He does not." I said, even though I knew it was true.

"Karsen, he painted a room for you. Henry doesn't paint anything. Henry isn't creative worth crap unless it's made out of circuits and wiring." Ashley said.

I shrugged. How was I supposed to know? I didn't remember anything before last year, so maybe I'd never been in a relationship before. I was exactly good with guys in a romantic sense. I sighed. This was harder than I'd thought it was going to be.

"Hey. You stop. I'll help you as much as I can." She said, coming to hug me. "Now go hang out in the computer lab while I find us a party to go to tonight." She said, turning me and pushing me towards the door.

I shook my head and went back to the elevator, taking me to the ground floor. I had memorized most of the corridors on this level and the fourth floor where my room was. I turned towards the computer lab and paused when I heard two voices.

"Doc… I don't know…" Henry said, sounding wary.

"Henry. Have I led you astray before?" Magnus asked.

"Well, no. That's not what I'm saying. I'm saying she's a hunter. She's going to freak." Henry told her.

"How do you know that for certain? She may accept you the same way you accept her." Magnus said.

"Doc." Henry said, sounding frustrated. "It's not the same thing. She can light things on fire, so what? I change into this... this…" He paused like he didn't want to say it out loud.

"Henry," Magnus said in what I assumed was her mom voice. "Tell her the truth if you care for her. If you do not care for her, then by all means, do no tell her."

Henry sighed heavily.

"Give it some thought. I'll be in my office if you want to talk." Magnus said, her heels clicking on the cement as she walked out of the computer lab.

Quickly, I slid back two steps and ducked into an unmarked room, not closing the door all the way. Magnus passed right by me and after counting to fifteen in my head, I ducked my head out to make sure the hallway was clear.

I left the door ajar so Henry wouldn't hear me close it. I was surprised he hadn't heard me yet. I didn't want him to think I was snooping on him. I straightened myself and walked into the computer lab.

Henry jumped when he saw me. "Jeez. Wow. You snuck up on me." He said, shaking his head.

I raised an eye brow with a smile. "Thought you had super senses."

"I do. I just…" He paused, taking a deep breath. "Are you wearing perfume?"

"Uh. Yeah. Ashley sprayed some on me earlier. It got in my eyes and everything." I said, remembering the itching it left.

"But I didn't smell it on you earlier in the elevator." Henry said, completely forgetting about his work.

I shrugged. "Ash hugged me. Maybe some of hers rubbed off on me."

Henry looked kind of over my shoulder like he was farther away than the table. Suddenly, he snapped back and shook his head again. "It's uh… it's a good smell on you. No, I meant, I meant, it smells good on you."

I smiled, sitting down across from him at the work table. "Well thanks. Maybe I'll have to pick up a bottle of my own."

Henry smiled and ducked his head, remembering he had circuitry in his hand.

"Isn't that the same thing you were messing with last week?" I asked.

"Yeah, I thought I had it down, but it fizzed out last night." Henry said, looking frustrated.

"Well," I said. "I'm sure you'll figure it out."

Henry kind of ducked his head, focusing on his work. "So. Any idea where Ash is taking us tonight?"

"No idea. She said something about finding a party." I told him with a shrug.

Henry nodded. "She likes going out just so she's not always cooped up in here."

"Oh, I totally know the feeling. I was living in a hospital with bars on the windows. I can get that." I told him and he kinda smiled a little bit. "What?"

"Nothin'." He said, quickly shaking his head.

"Lies. Out of the ass. Own up." I told him, feeling my inner Dean take over my mouth.

He smirked. "Most people don't like talking about that stuff."

I shrugged. "It's a big part of my past and as much as I don't like myself now, it's part of who I am and I gotta rock it because it's all I've got."

His hands paused like he was contemplating my words before he put down the soldering iron and looked at me. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped, turning his head to the side like he was listening. "Ash." He said, almost to himself as Ashley and her leather heels came clicking around the corner.

"I found the perfect party!" Ashley said, more excited than I'd ever seen her.

Henry and I exchanged wary glances. "What kind of party?" Henry asked.

"A masquerade!" She exclaimed excitedly, holding a flier out to him that she'd obviously printed off the computer.

Henry got a smirk on his face. "8 PM to 12 AM. Twenty-one and over only. Tickets available at the door. Formal attire required. Ten dollars per person if dressed in a mask. Twenty-five dollars per person if not dressed in mask. Prizes awarded for Best Couple, Best Outfit, and Best Mask."

"Sounds like fun." Will said, coming around the corner, making me jump. "Magnus wanted me to see if Henry got the circuit board fixed."

"Not quite yet." Henry said, putting the flier down and returning to gaze at the plastic and metal.

"So we're going to a masquerade?" Will asked, picking up the flier.

"That's perfect for your new outfit." I told Ashley, nudging her hip.

"None of the clothes we bought you today were black tie worthy." Ashley said.

"What about the black dress? We could totally play that up." I said, as Ashley was giving me hand signals, but suspiciously stopped when Henry looked up.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing. Karsen and I are gonna see what we can make up for her." Ashley said, taking my arm and pulling me out of the chair. She practically drug me down the hallway. "What was that? You almost told Henry exactly what you were wearing!" She exclaimed as we got into the elevator.

I blinked. "I didn't think it mattered."

Ashley rolled her eyes. "Mystery. You have to drive him crazy wondering what you're going to wear."

I was starting to think I wasn't very good at being a girl.