Part II

Chapter Thirteen

Shannon was talking so fast Sam could barely understand what she was saying. She had pulled him into the library after he'd put his stuff away, insisting that she needed to show him something. She shuffled through the books, trying to explain everything she had been studying while he'd been gone. She kept pushing the hair falling over her face behind her ear, just to have it happen again a few seconds later. He watched her, resisting the urge to reach out and touch her. He was having a hard time following what she was saying because all he could think about was the kiss she'd given him in the hallway. He was hoping they might be able to continue it later.

"Sam?" Shannon nudged him with her elbow. "Sam!"

"Sorry," he muttered, shaking his head. "What did you say?"

She sighed. "I asked you if there was anything else I should know before I do anymore research?"

"Um, no. No, I don't think so," he replied as he pulled out a chair and sat down. "Did you and Kevin find anything?"

"Not really. Kevin is checking some lore he found that's in an ancient language he's not familiar with; he's working on deciphering it now. I told him to let me know if he needed any more help," Shannon explained. "He sort of grunted at me and took the books to his room."

"Sounds like Kevin," Sam grinned. "How was hanging out with Amie? Did everything go okay?"

Shannon leaned against the table. "It actually went pretty well. She's a lot different than I initially thought. Is it true that her family was killed by some kind of monster?"

Sam nodded. "Her husband and her son were killed by a werewolf about three years ago. That scar on her neck? She got it a few months ago when we found the werewolf and killed it. It grabbed her and nearly ripped her throat out. If she wasn't so in tune with Dean, she'd probably be dead." He quickly told her how they had worked together without even speaking to kill it.

"They are definitely an interesting couple. Do you really think that the only reason they're together is because of that prophecy you told me about?" Shannon asked quietly.

Sam didn't answer right away. He stared at the ceiling for a couple of minutes before answering. "Honestly? No. I remember how Dean seemed totally, I don't know, taken with Amie when we first met her. It was the first time I saw him actually flustered by a woman. She threw him off of his game." He laughed as he remembered how Dean had not seemed like himself at all when they had met Amie two years ago. "I know for a fact that there wasn't a cupid involved that day. No one touched them." When he saw Shannon's confused face, he explained. "That's how a cupid does it. They have to touch the two people they are marking to fall in love and it has to be at the same time. That didn't happen."

"So you don't think that a cupid has anything to do with them being together?" she inquired.

"I think that the cupid moved things along, got them going in the right direction. But Dean and Amie, there has always been something there, an undeniable chemistry. I'm not sure they could have stayed away from each other even without the cupid's interference," he explained.

"Do you think there's something to that?" Shannon asked. "Chemistry, I mean?"

Sam reached out and took her tiny hand in his and pulled her into his lap. He brushed her hair from her face. "I think that sometimes there can be something between two people, something they can't explain." He kissed her gently on the lips, feeling slightly nervous, worried what her reaction would be.

He was relieved when Shannon returned the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck. Amie had told him that Shannon was developing feelings for him, and if he felt the same way he needed to do something about it. He was still nervous though, it wasn't like he had a great track record with women. He wasn't about to rush anything with Shannon. He wanted to make sure they took it slow, so he broke off the kiss much sooner than he wanted.

Shannon pulled away, her eyebrows drawn together, confused. "Is something wrong?" she whispered.

"No," Sam replied, shaking his head. "God, no! I just don't want to rush you. Or me. Look, I don't have very good luck with relationships and I really don't want to screw this up." He ran a hand through his hair, pushing it off of his forehead. "Is that okay?"

Shannon hugged him, pressing her small body against his. She kissed him on the cheek. "I am totally fine with that." She hopped off of his lap and started stacking the books on the table. "I'm going to put these books away. Do you want to help me?"

As Sam stood up to help, he felt a rippling sensation that nearly knocked him off of his feet. It was if he was standing on a raft in the ocean as waves moved it. Several of the books that Shannon had stacked fell over and slipped off of the table. She grabbed the table so she wouldn't fall at the same time that Sam grabbed her around the waist to steady her.

"What the hell was that?" he muttered before taking off down the hallway toward Dean and Amie's room.

"Dean?" he yelled, pounding on his brother's door.

Dean threw the door open within seconds. "Something's wrong with Amie," he said at the same time that Sam said, "Did you feel that?"

"What?" Sam said pushing past Dean. Amie was lying on the bed, a sheet wrapped around her, eyes closed. There was light coming from her, pulsating as it flowed from her body.

Sam stopped in his tracks, stunned. "Whoa, what is going on?"

Dean ran a hand over his face and through his hair. "I don't know. And that's not the only thing." He moved to the side of the bed and sat next to his girlfriend. "Amie, open your eyes," he instructed.

Amie shook her head and Sam could see tears running from the corner of her eyes and down her cheeks. "I don't want to," she whispered so quietly that he could barely hear her.

Dean leaned over and whispered something in her ear. She reached out a hand and he took it. Light flowed from her into him and Sam could see that Dean's arm was glowing from where he held Amie's hand to his elbow and through the veins in his biceps. He talked to Amie for a minute, his mouth next to her ear, one hand holding hers and the other smoothing her hair away from her face. Sam couldn't hear what he was saying, but when he sat up, Amie opened her eyes. They were completely black.

"Shit!" Sam took a step back, startled. He looked over his shoulder at Shannon, but fortunately she was standing in the doorway and had not seen anything. "Shannon, will you go wait in the library for me, please?"

She must have seen something in his eyes because she didn't argue, instead she simply nodded. "Call me if you need me," she said before turning and going back down the hallway.

Sam turned back to Dean. "When did this start?

"About five minutes ago," he answered. He got to his feet, though he kept a hold of Amie's hand. "And then there was that…pulse…that you felt."

"What were you guys doing when it happened?" he asked. As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted it. Dean was standing in front of him in nothing but a pair of gym shorts, Amie was obviously naked under the sheet she was wrapped in, there was a pile of clothes on the floor and the blankets on the bed were in complete disarray. It was pretty obvious what they had been doing.

Dean shot him a look that would have scared the shit out of anyone else, but Sam blew it off, muttering "Uh, sorry. Never mind."

He stepped to the side of the bed so he could get a better look at her. "How's she feeling? I mean aside from the obvious glowing and the eyes thing."

"Stop talking about me like I'm not here," Amie mumbled. "I'm not feeling anything. No pain or anything. I can feel Dean touching me, but where ever he touches feels sort of tingly, like that pins and needles feeling you get when your foot that fell asleep is waking up. That's it, nothing else."

As Amie talked, Sam watched Dean. He never let go of her hand, never took his eyes off of her. His face was completely impassive, belying the worry Sam could see in his eyes. Suddenly, he realized something wasn't quite right about his brother. He took a closer look, examining the planes and lines of Dean's face. Then it struck him.

"What happened to your face?" he asked.

Dean looked at him, impatience pulling his mouth into a frown. "Christ, Sam you were with me. I hit my face on the floor when the djinn knocked me out. I cut my lip and raked up my cheek."

"Go look in the mirror," Sam replied.

"What? Why?" Dean muttered. He didn't wait for an answer, instead he let go of Amie's hand then stepped into the bathroom. Sam heard him swearing quietly before he came back out.

Dean's face was completely free of any marks. The cut on his lip was healed as were the scrapes he'd had all over his cheek. Sam glanced at his arm. The blue handprint left by the djinn was gone as well.

"What is it?" Amie asked.

Dean looked at Sam, then back at Amie. "My face…it's healed. The cuts and scrapes are gone. And the djinn's handprint, it's gone too."

"I think you should call Cas," Sam said.

"No," Amie said.

"Amie honey, I think it might be a good idea," Dean told her. "We have no idea what is going on…."

"I said no!" she yelled. The light coming from her intensified briefly when she yelled before it faded back to a dim glow. She put her arm over her eyes. "I don't want him here."

Sam looked at his brother and gestured toward the door. Dean nodded and held up a finger, indicating he needed a minute. Sam stepped into the hallway, pulling the door closed behind him. He could hear them talking but not what they were saying. After a few minutes, Dean stepped out into the hall with Sam.

"I need a drink," he said, stalking off toward the library.

Sam followed him down the hall. Shannon was putting the books from the table back on the shelves. She watched Dean warily as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.

"Dean? What are we going to do?" Sam finally asked his brother.

Dean swung around so fast that liquor splashed from the glass in his hand. "I don't know Sam! I don't fucking know! I don't even know what the hell is happening so how am I supposed to know what to do?" He quickly downed the whiskey and poured himself another from the bottle he still had clutched in one hand. He threw himself in the nearest chair, his body language conveying the frustration he was feeling.

Sam sat at the table across from Dean. "I'm sorry. Look, I know you're worried and pissed and any other number of things. But I still think we need to call Cas. He might know what's wrong with her."

"She doesn't want me to call him," Dean muttered. "She wants me to take her to talk to Crowley. Said she'd rather hear what he has to say than talk to Cas."

"Are you going to? Take her to Crowley I mean?" Sam asked.

Dean shrugged. "I don't trust Crowley, she doesn't trust Cas. It's a no-win situation."

Shannon slid into the seat next to Sam. "Who's Crowley?"

Sam had almost forgotten she was in the room. He sighed. This was not a discussion he wanted to have right now. But before he could say anything, Dean stood up. "I need to get back to Amie and it looks like you have some explaining to do. Have fun." He left the room, the bottle of whiskey in his hand.

Sam turned to Shannon. "Crowley is a demon. Well, he's actually the demon, the King of Hell. He's kind of our…prisoner."

Shannon's eye's widened as he spoke. "He's here?"

"Yeah, he is," Sam responded.

Shannon put her head down on the table, her hands gripping the back of her head. He wanted to reach out and comfort her, reassure her that she was safe with him, but he didn't want to spook her.

She took several deep breaths before she sat back up and looked at Sam. "You should have told me," she scolded. She put a hand up to stop him before he was able to say anything. "But I understand why you didn't."

Sam reached out and took her hand. "I'm sorry," he apologized. "I was trying to protect you."

She squeezed his hand. "I know. And I really do understand. Is it safe, though? That's all I really care about it, that it's safe to be here."

Sam put his arm around her waist and hugged her, the need to protect her practically overwhelming him. "I swear I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

Shannon leaned her head against Sam's. "Okay, that's all I need to hear."

Sam kissed her. All he wanted to do was curl up with her and hold her. Unfortunately, the world was slowly unraveling around them and he needed to help figure out how to fix it. Reluctantly, he pulled away.

"Maybe I should just call Cas, explain to him what's going on. At least that way, Amie won't be pissed at Dean, she'll be pissed at me. And Cas can go see her, figure out what the hell this all means," Sam said, thinking out loud.

Shannon shook her head. "If Amie doesn't want to see Castiel, I wouldn't call him. Something happened yesterday between the two of them, I don't know what, but she was screaming at him in the kitchen. It was something about the baby, I know that for sure." She looked off into space for a minute before returning her gaze to Sam. "Why does she want to talk to Crowley? What could he possibly know?"

"He could know a lot actually, being the King of Hell. And it's weird, Crowley and Amie have a sort of connection. He'll talk to her, whereas he won't always talk to us," Sam explained. "God, it drives Dean nuts. Literally makes him crazy."

He pushed back from the table and went to one of the bookshelves. He ran his fingers across the stacks of volumes, hoping one would jump out at him, give him some answers. He'd always been able to find what he needed in a book, maybe this time wasn't any different.

"So maybe she should talk to him," Shannon said. "What could it hurt?"

Sam shook his head. "I don't know. Maybe nothing, maybe everything. I guess…" He stopped and stood up straighter, listening. "Did you hear that?"

Shannon cocked her head to one side, obviously trying to hear whatever it was he had heard. "Yeah, I hear yelling," she replied, pushing back her chair and standing up.

"Now what?" he muttered before he took off down the hallway, running toward Dean and Amie's room. Just as he reached the closed door, he heard a crash and the sound of breaking glass. He pushed open the door and walked into chaos.

Amie was standing on the bed and at some point since he'd left earlier she'd put clothes on. The light coming from her had intensified, glowing so bright he could only look at her if he was squinting. Her eyes were still black and the expression on her face was murderous. She was pointing at Dean, who was against the wall by the bathroom door, not moving, held there by the sheer force of Amie's will. Castiel was across the room, watching her. The lamp from the bedside table was on the floor, shattered, chairs were knocked over and books and magazines were flung around the room.

"Get away from me!" she was screaming at Castiel as Sam came through the door. A chair flew across the room toward Cas, but he merely flicked his hand and it fell to the floor.

"Amie!" Sam yelled when he saw her.

She turned toward him and he could see tears running down her face, the tracks they left glowing brighter than the rest of her. "Make him go away, Sam, please? I don't want to hurt him, I swear to God I don't. But I can't stop it, I can't."

Sam wasn't sure if she meant Dean or the angel glaring at her from across the room. All he knew was he needed to diffuse the time bomb that Amie had apparently become. He took a careful step forward. Amie watched him warily, but she didn't move.

"Amie," he said quietly, trying to keep his voice calm and soothing. "Why don't you let Dean go? Let him go so he can help you, okay?" He took another step forward, only focusing on her. "He's not going to hurt you. He loves you, right? He won't let anything happen to you, but you have to let him go."

She dropped her hand and Dean pushed away from the wall. He quickly crossed the room to the edge of the bed, reached out and took Amie's hand, the one that she'd just used to hold him against the wall. His arm immediately started to glow, the light flowing up the veins in his arm to his neck.

"Keep him away from me," she mumbled, pointing at Castiel. "I don't want him near us."

Sam shot a look at his brother, who looked almost as confused as Sam felt. He shook his head and shrugged, mouthing "I don't know" before turning his attention back to his girlfriend.

During Sam and Dean's silent exchange, Cas had moved a step closer to Amie. She shook her head when she noticed, her hair flying around her. She put her hand up and made a gesture, as if she was shoving the angel, causing Castiel to stumble back a couple of steps. Sam saw Dean's eyes widen in disbelief and he was sure that he wore a similar expression on his face.

"I won't hurt you," Castiel said. "I promise."

"I don't believe you," Amie screamed. She suddenly dropped her chin to her chest, as if she couldn't hold it up any longer. "Just stay away from me."

Her voice sounded weak to Sam and she was obviously exhausted. He was sure she would collapse at any second. Castiel must have noticed it as well because he suddenly disappeared and then reappeared next to Amie. Before she could move, he grabbed her wrist.

The light coming from Amie suddenly tripled in brightness, flooding the room. Sam had to turn away and put his arm over his eyes to protect them. He heard something hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. As he watched, the light began to recede, flowing backward toward its source. He followed it with his eyes as it sped across the room and flowed back into Amie, as if she was pulling it back into herself. Her eyes drained of the demon-black color, the black sliding away like wet paint running down a wall, until Sam could see the bright blue of her pupils again. Within seconds, the light was gone. Amie looked around the room, before turning to Dean. When she made eye contact with him, she smiled, just before collapsing into his arms.