Chapter Twenty

Jasper glanced to his daughter for help as he risked knocking on Julie's door. Since they had returned from a vampire hunt last night, she hadn't left that room. Julie rarely came out except for meals or to go on another hunt. Jasper knew his niece as well as he did his own daughter, and normally being on a case, having something to do always distracted her and cheered her up.

Not this time, though. For these past two weeks, Julie Carters had been a different woman than the one he had raised. She was quieter, moodier, and angrier at everything and everyone. She sat in that room, blasting classic rock angrily through her speakers, reading or watching television or drinking. Julie had never been a very big drinker, and she rarely actually got drunk, but he'd seen her hung over five times in the past two weeks.

Jasper was concerned about Julie. She was like a daughter to him, and to see her this destroyed over a breakup…he wanted to hunt down Dean Winchester and break his handsome face in. But Julie had told Jasper once the pain wasn't so fresh what had happened and why, and he had to admit, he agreed with Dean. Nothing was worth losing Julie.

Jasper knocked on Julie's door and after a few seconds, she opened the door. She was wearing faded jeans and an oversized sweatshirt, her curls loose and wild around her face, expression carefully neutral. "Hey, Uncle Jasper," she said with the slightest of smiles. "Come on in."

He ventured inside after her. Julie's room was small, and normally very clean. She had a bottle of wine and a glass on her bedside table, and a few books were in a haphazard pile on the floor, though. Julie sat down on her bed, and Jasper settled down on her dresser across from her and took a deep breath.

"How are you, sweetie?" he asked, clearing his throat a little nervously. But his eyes were soft and concerned, and Julie let her guard down a bit. Her uncle was just worried about her.

"I'm…" She wanted to say "good", but she didn't want to lie to Jasper.

He shook his head slightly. "I know it's rough, kid. When Taylor's mother left me…I got pretty bad. I drank way too much, I was angry and bitter and I started to shut out my brother and even my little girl."

"What happened?" Julie asked gently. Jasper, like her, preferred not to bring up painful incidents in the past. She'd never heard much about this part of her family's lives.

"Well, you had your second birthday," Jasper admitted. "And I didn't come to see you. So your daddy came storming into my house saying that I had to move on. He was sorry she had left me, but if I wasn't going to move on for my own sake, then I was going to do it for my daughter and my niece."

"And that worked?"

"It did," Jasper said, shaking his head and smiling fondly. "Thomas…he was the greatest man I ever knew. Eventually, I got tired of letting down him and Katrina, and letting down my baby girls." Jasper reached out and tousled Julie's curls, and she let him, smiling shyly. "Then I came over and you hugged my leg and you knew my name even though I hadn't visited you in weeks, and you were so precious…and they were so happy…"

Jasper stared up at the ceiling until the wetness in his eyes passed. He swallowed and said, "The point is, if I hadn't moved on, I would have missed that valuable time. With you and your parents, my own kid, the people I loved…and I can't let you make that mistake, either."

"Jasper…" Julie said, looking away.

"Look, Juliet-"

"Julie."

"Just this once, let me call you Juliet, like I used to when you actually listened to me," Jasper snapped, and Julie was surprised by the frustration in his voice. "I know it's really hard, but sweetheart, you've got to at least try to move on."

"Jasper, can we please not talk about this right now?" Julie muttered, looking down.

"I haven't talked about it for two weeks. I let you grieve, and then I asked a couple questions just so I knew I didn't have to go beat those boys with a baseball bat. But Julie, I can't let you waste your life moping over Dean Winchester!"

"I spent over a year with him, Jasper!" Julie snapped. "I've never loved anyone like him. Never. I can't just get over him like that!" She snapped her fingers.

"I know, but you could at least try," he said gently. "You could come out and talk to us every once in a while. You could distract yourself. You and I both know you could find another man, if that's what you want."

"It's not, Uncle Jasper," she said coldly. "You know what I want. That's not going to change."

Jasper took a deep breath and stood up. "He did the right thing, you know."

"What?"

"I wish you and Dean could have stayed together. That man was like a son to me, and I've never seen anyone make you so happy. But he and Sam are in a huge mess right now. They have four, maybe five Knights of Hell after them, and people around them are going to get caught in the crossfire. Juliet, I can't let that be you, and neither could he, and I agree with him there."

"It wasn't his choice to make," Julie snapped. "It was mine. I get to choose what matters most to me-"

"And you'd choose Dean, and then you would die," Jasper snapped.

For a second, they glared at each other. "Please go," Julie said after a long moment, and Jasper left, frustrated. Behind him, Julie suddenly started blasting a song on her stereo, Tom Petty's "Free Fallin'." Jasper shook his head and sighed before walking over to where Taylor waited, shaking his head.

They both sighed and walked away, unable to help Julie as long as she wouldn't let them.

Julie poured herself another glass of wine and downed it all before putting her head in her hands. She focused on the words to the song to distract herself from thoughts of Dean, but the lyrics sure as hell were not helping:

"And I'm a bad boy 'cause I don't even miss her,

Yeah I'm a bad boy for breaking her heart…"

"And I'm free, free fallin',

Yeah I'm free, free fallin'."

Sam turned down the song Dean was blasting through the car and turned his head slightly to glance at his brother, concerned. He wasn't letting Dean drive because he was constantly half-drunk, so Dean had been sulking in the passenger seat in silence for thirty minutes.

These past two weeks had been awful. Dean rarely spoke to Sam, although Sam was pretty sure he wasn't mad at him anymore. Dean just didn't talk. He drank even more than normal, watched an obnoxious amount of television, and just tried to keep moving, finding a new case every couple of days. Most were easy and simple, but they kept him moving, kept him out of the bunker, where he would come across Julie's things constantly and want to cry or hit something.

Sam felt terrible for Dean, but he was starting to get fed up with his older brother. Sam knew how much breaking up with a woman you loved hurt, but he hadn't been this bad. And yesterday, he had found that Dean had been using his computer and opened it to find a porn site. Ever since Julie, Dean had quit with the porn. He had even slowed down the drinking, to the point where he was rarely ever actually drunk. Dean had smiled more, and laughed more. He had joked with Sam more, and just been happier and healthier in every way.

Finding that porn site yesterday had been the final straw. For some reason, it really pissed him off that Dean was trying to forget Julie by distracting himself with other women, total strangers who were nothing to him. That had been the way things were with the old Dean, but even after Julie had left, Sam still felt she deserved better than that.

And so last night, Sam had called in some help.

Sam pulled into the parking lot of a dirty bar about a half hour away from where he and Dean were staying, in yet another crappy motel. Dean looked out the window and asked, "We drove all the way here for this place?"

Sam got out of the car and walked inside, Dean following him sullenly. The two brother sat down at the bar, and Dean immediately ordered their strongest whiskey before Sam corrected him and said, "Just water for both of us."

Dean shot him a dirty look and then stared at the bar, focusing on the tiny grains of wood so he wouldn't think of her.

They hadn't even been there ten minutes before a pretty, red-headed woman of about thirty came over and sat next to Dean. She was really quite hot, with shoulder-length, straight, bright red hair and a very pretty face and a sexy body. She gave him a nice smile and said, "I'm Kat."

Dean blinked. "Um, hi, Kat. Dean."

"Dean." She smirked. "Nice name. Sexy."

Dean blinked again, and glanced sideways at Sam to see if this woman was for real. Sam's eyes were wide. Kat leaned forward so Dean had little choice but to look at her nice rack. "Listen, Dean…I'm here with some people who are total bores. What do you say you and me get a drink and talk? I'm sure you're much more interesting than them."

Sam swallowed. He wasn't ready to watch Dean pick up his old streak of one night stands. They hadn't really bothered him before, but he didn't want Dean banging random women so soon after Julie…

But to his surprise, Dean said coolly, "I'm flattered, Kat, but I'm here with my brother, so…sorry, but I'll have to decline."

She blinked, surprised and annoyed. She didn't look like the type of woman who got turned down often. "Your loss," she muttered sullenly before walking away.

Dean shook his head and then looked down at the bar again. Sam didn't have to read his mind to know why Dean had turned down a woman that hot without a second thought.

"She doesn't look very happy with you, Dean," an all-too familiar voice smirked as Crowley took Kat's seat.

Dean stiffened. "Crowley? What are you-?"

"Moose called," the former king of hell replied drily. "Apparently, you're not taking your breakup very well."

Dean wasn't sure if he should be more annoyed with Sam or Crowley at the moment. "Shame, too," the demon continued. "She was a blast, that one. Funny, tough, and quite sexy, I must say…oh, I'm sorry. This probably isn't helping you."

Dean glowered at the demon, even as another voice said flatly, "You know it is not helping him to be reminded how wonderful Julie is, Crowley. Yet you continue to antagonize him anyway."

Crowley blinked and stared up at the trench coat-sporting angel that had just appeared behind Sam. "What is he doing here?" the demon snapped.

"Same thing you are," Sam said. "Dean, I know breaking up with Julie has been hard. But you did it to keep her safe from this whole issue with the Knights, and also, I'm sure, because of me…but anyway, my reasoning is that if we can the Knights out of the way, then I can get out of the way and you two might be able to be happy again."

"Sammy…" Dean started weakly. "It wasn't about you, not really. It…it was about-"

"Keeping her safe, right," Sam said. "So, these two are here to help us plan. We're going to figure out how to deal with these guys and then, if we survive… hopefully, you can be with her again."

That moment right there was when something shifted in Dean, and he finally realized that Sam really had moved on. No one who was still in love with Julie would be this desperate to get her and Dean back together. He opened his mouth to say something probably sappy to Sam, but Crowley rolled his eyes. "We get it, you boys are finally forgiving each other, very touching. I'm tearing up. Can we just get to work? I have a very busy schedule, you know."

"Oh, really?" Castiel asked. "You are no longer king of hell. What are you doing that's so much more important than this?"

"Okay, Mr. Ruler-of-Heaven, explain to me how you have time to meet the Winchester's in some random bar if you're so busy!" Crowley snapped, and the angel and demon started bickering. Eventually Sam got them to stop for the moment, but, needless to say, it took the four men a long time to get much of anything done.

There had been sightings of both Asmodeus and Behemoth since they had first met and defeated Adramalech. Asmodeus had gone on a killing spree in Vegas a month or so ago, somehow finding time in all of his gambling to sleep with eight different prostitutes and leave them dead in hotel beds. And Behemoth had demolished a small, starving village in Africa, killing a couple hundred people just because he was bored.

"These demons have got to go," Dean muttered darkly. "I would think they'd have done more by now, but maybe we'll be able to stop them before they go even more wide scale with their killing."

"You'll need the Blade for that," Crowley pointed out.

Sam bit his lip. They all three knew that the demon was right, but neither Cas nor Sam wanted to let Dean go down that path again. And Dean…he knew what he must do, but then he saw Julie in his head and imagined her face if he did ever kill the Knights and come back to her and she looked into his eyes and didn't recognize him… he couldn't bear that.

"We should have it on hand," Dean decided after a long pause. "In case we need it."

After a moment, Sam and Cas sighed and gave in. Crowley smiled slightly. "I'll be back in a jiffy, boys," he said, and then he was gone.

Castiel frowned. "Dean…I'm not sure how much we should really trust Crowley. He seems a little too eager to see you use the First Blade."

"He's working with us because he wants the Knights gone," Dean replied. "And me with the Blade is our only way of killing them. So of course he wants that. But I'd say as long as we stand a chance of beating them, we can trust him. Because he needs us."

Cas and Sam both had to agree. Only now did they realize that the bar was all but empty except for an employee sweeping the floor and a bartender washing out a glass. "You guys about ready to go?" he asked pointedly, eying them. "We closed five minutes ago."

Sam, Dean, and Cas stood up and started to walk out the front door. They all stopped when they heard the bartender give a horrible gurgle and a glass shatter. Sam and Dean whirled around, pulling out knives, and they saw the bartender fall dead, a black-eyed man standing over him with a bloody knife. Dean stepped towards the demon threateningly, but another three or four demons stepped into the bar after him.

Suddenly Cas was pushing Sam and Dean into the center of the bar, and they realized that even more demons were coming through the front door. The two hunters and angel stood back-to-back, glaring at the ten demons who made a loose semicircle around them.

"What do we have here?" chuckled a demon who had just killed the other employee unfortunate enough to still be here. "The Winchester's and their pet angel?"

"Quite a haul," another chuckled darkly, turning his knife over in his hand.

"Cas, can you get us out of here?" Dean muttered quietly.

"There's another power here," the angel said darkly. "He's stronger than me, and he won't let me leave."

"That would be me, sorry," a rather pleasant voice said lightly, and the demons parted to let another man through. He was about Sam's age, a tall, dark-haired, attractive man in a nice dark button-down shirt and dress pants. He smiled pleasantly at his three captives. "I do apologize, Castiel. I wasn't really planning on capturing you, too, but I can't just let you run off with my boys!"

"Who are you, and what the hell do you want?" Dean snarled.

"Really, Dean?" the man said disapprovingly. "Don't you think we can have a pleasant talk without spewing profanities at each other like cavemen?"

"Considering you're a demon, I'd say no," he replied coldly.

The attractive young demon shook his head and went behind the bar. He began mixing himself a drink, talking in that same pleasant tone as he did so. "What do you say, boys? Anyone up for a drink?"

He glanced up to three dark glares, and shrugged. "Alright then. Just me." He took a swig of his glass before settling down on a bar stool, facing them. "I don't believe we've been formally introduced. I can tell from the trench coat you must be the infamous Castiel," he said, nodding at the angel. "And you must be Sam, then," he continued, taking in the youngest Winchester. "They really don't exaggerate—you are gigantic!"

Sam rolled his eyes. "Look, you son of a bitch, we obviously don't want to chat," Dean snapped. "So either try to kill us or whatever or let us go home, because I'd really like to get some sleep. So, if we're done here…"

"And they really don't exaggerate about your attitude, Dean Winchester," the man smirked. "I'm curious to see—do they exaggerate about this Mark of yours? May I see it?"

"Who's asking?" Dean snapped, although the way his arm was throbbing, he already knew.

The demon grinned. "Well, technically I'm inside a wannabe actor from Hollywood named Trevor Smith, but you boys would probably know me better by my actual name—Beelzebub."

Behind Dean, Sam stiffened, and then reached into his pocket for his phone. Dean sighed. "I was wondering how long it would be before you quit sending your siblings in and just get the job done yourself."

"Yes, I'm a bit disappointed in Apollyon and Adramalech," the king of the Knights of Hell smirked. "So Polly's currently rotting back in the pit where we were kept for another couple weeks before she gets ungrounded. And I'm letting Adramalech stay the way you boys put him for a little longer, before I decide he's been properly punished."

Dean was surprised. If this is what Beelzebub did to his siblings and closest allies, what was he going to do to them…?

"But let's not talk about them, Dean," the Knight said in almost friendly voice. "Let's talk about you and your friends here. You three are quite the heroes, and I've had several people tell me I should be watching my back for you boys. So tell me, Dean. Sam. You won't be trying to cause trouble for me, will you?"

"Well, my mother taught me not to lie right before one of your kind killed her so, sorry, pal. I'm definitely out to get you," Dean snarled.

Beelzebub sighed. "You know, Dean, I'd like you a whole lot more if you didn't have to act like the generic hero from every badly-written action movie ever."

"I don't really give a damn if you like me, considering I'm just going to kill you," Dean replied.

"With what Blade?" Beelzebub smirked. "I know you don't have it with you. Why else do you think I would come talk to you in person? I'm not stupid enough to come near you when the First Blade is around."

"So, if we had the Blade, you'd go running scared, huh?" Sam smirked. But he wasn't just asking to anger the Knight of Hell before him. This was more for the demon on the other end of the phone call he was making as this conversation went on.

"The point is, you don't," Beelzebub snapped, breaking his cool for the first time. "So I suggest you boys don't try to cause me any trouble, because, while you can't touch me, I can do virtually anything to you."

"If you try to harm them, I assure you, I will kill you and all of your demons here," Castiel said protectively, stepping in front of the brothers.

"And how will you do that?" Beelzebub smirked. "Without that Blade, you can't so much as touch me."

"Well, I'll need to fix that," Sam heard Crowley mutter into the phone, and the demon hung up.

At least he had gotten the message across to Crowley. Cas, Sam, and Dean were trapped with the king of the Knights of Hell, and if they didn't get that Blade quick, they could all soon be dead. But everything was hinging on Crowley actually being on their side and coming to save them. For now, all Sam could do was wait and hope…

Julie looked up from the book she was reading when the doorbell rang. "Doorbell!" she yelled when it rang again.

"Get it yourself!" Taylor yelled back, and Julie rolled her eyes before getting off her bed and going to the front door. Today she had actually gotten up and put on jeans and a button-down, dark blue shirt like her old self, so even if she didn't feel normal, she looked like it.

Julie answered the door opened the door just as Jasper walked into the hall, curious to see who would show up so late to their house. Julie found herself staring at literally the last person she would expect to see ringing her doorbell.

"Crowley?"

"Yes, yes, I know, it's great to see me," the demon muttered, agitated. "Look, Julie, we don't have time for pleasantries. We've got a problem. A very big one."

"Who's at the door?" Jasper asked before Julie could ask Crowley what he was talking about.

"One of Sam and Dean's…friends," Julie said carefully. If she said he was the former king of hell, her uncle would try to kill him, and she did not have time to explain. "What's wrong?" she snapped at Crowley.

"Beelzebub has got Sam, Dean, and Cas trapped," he said darkly, and her stomach dropped out of her.

"No," Julie gasped. "Where?"

"Some bar in Minnesota," Crowley said. "Doesn't matter. I'll get you there, and you get in there and you take this to Dean."

He held out an odd shape wrapped in brown cloth. Julie realized what it was and shook her head.

"No," she snapped. "You know what that will do to him if he uses it."

"Juliet, that man, as well as Sam and Castiel, is going to die if you don't get this to him!" Crowley yelled, and Jasper appeared next to Julie.

"What?!" her uncle cried, alarmed, but they didn't have time to explain.

"Take me to them," Julie said firmly, stepping out of the house. If Crowley were a normal demon, she would no longer be protected, and he could kill her. It was crazy, but she trusted him.

And Dean needed her. Dean and Sam and Cas needed her, and she would do anything to save them.

"Why do you need me to do it?" Julie asked, realizing that he could just do it himself. "Why don't you give it to Dean?"

"I'm helping you hunters, but I'm not suicidal," Crowley muttered. "If I go in there right now, I die."

"Oh, but you're okay risking me?"

"Does this really matter? Boyfriend—no, I'm sorry, ex-boyfriend could be dying!"

Julie moved towards Crowley, but Jasper grabbed her arm and stopped her. "Juliet, what are you doing?!" he cried.

"Sam and Dean and Cas need my help," Julie said, pleading with him with her eyes to let her go right now. "I have to go, I'm sorry. I'll be right back, hopefully with them in one piece."

Jasper opened his mouth to protest, but Crowley grabbed Julie's arm, and suddenly they were both gone. Jasper blinked, stunned and still extremely confused. And he couldn't shake the feeling that he had just seen Julie for the last time. And he hadn't even gotten a goodbye.

Dean's head collided with the hard wood of the table, and he lay on the ground, bleeding from a gash on his arm, stunned for a moment. All around him, the demons were laughing cruelly, and their mocking voices fueled him to get back on his feet. He stood, ignoring how his bruised ribs cried out in pain as he did so, and wiped some blood off the side of his face.

Beelzebub had been enjoying toying with him for at least five minutes. At first, the Knight had let Dean try to attack him, even letting him use his demon-killing knife, but soon the Knight had gotten bored with that and just started beating Dean senseless. Sam and Cas were both being pinned by demons, forced to watch the king of the Knights beat Dean's ass.

"Is that really all you got?" Beelzebub smirked. "This is kind of pathetic. You're supposed to be the one who can kill me?"

Dean spat blood onto the floor and then went in for a right hook. Beelzebub blocked it easily, but that had just been a feint, and Dean kneed the demon right in the gut. The air whooshed out of his opponent, and Dean began hitting Beelzebub in the head again and again-

So fast Dean could barely see it, the demon caught his arm and twisted it. Dean heard a sharp pop, and then pain shot through him. He groaned through gritted teeth as the demon twisted his dislocated shoulder even further out of place before throwing him to the ground.

The demons laughed and roared insults. "Dean!" Sam yelled, struggling to help his brother. He was completely helpless though, as he watched Beelzebub kick Dean in the stomach over and over.

Eventually, the Knight finally seemed to get bored with beating Dean. He grabbed the poor man's shirt and forced him up against the wall, taking in the blood dripping out of Dean's mouth and the pain in his dull eyes.

"Pathetic," the demon spat, before pulling a curved, vicious-looking blade off of his belt.

"No!" Sam begged. "Please, don't!"

Beelzebub chuckled. "That's smart, Sam," the Knight smirked. "Appealing to my sense of pity. Too bad I have none."

Beelzebub suddenly stabbed the knife towards Dean, stopping an inch from his heaving chest. He scared Sam and Cas, though, and they both cried out before realizing he had just tricked them. The demons roared with laughter as Beelzebub muttered, "This time's for real," looking at Dean with cold, black eyes.

But he stopped as he realized one of the most raucous laughs had been cut off. Another demon suddenly made a gurgling, dying noise, and Beelzebub whipped around just in time to see a demon falling, dead, next to another already dead demon.

He dropped Dean and lunged forward as a third demon fell to reveal a pretty blond woman, eyes blazing with anger. Unfortunately for Beelzebub, she had just killed both demons pinning Castiel, and the angel raised his hand, his powers clashing with the demon's. Beelzebub had to struggle to force back the angel's powerful, smiting white light with his own darkness.

While Beelzebub and Cas tried to force each other's power back, Julie lunged forward and stabbed one of the demons pinning Sam. With one arm free, Sam grabbed his knife and stabbed the other demon pinning him, and Sam and Julie lunged into battle, making quick work of the other panicked demons in the room. It had been a couple weeks since they had fought together, but they were still quite a formidable duo.

Finally, Beelzebub overpowered Castiel, and the angel stumbled back into the wall, unable to compete with his overwhelming force. Beelzebub whirled around to stab Dean, but instead found that same blond woman standing next to Dean, who Sam had helped to his feet.

"And you're the lovely Juliet, I assume?" Beelzebub, back to his smooth self in an instant.

"And you're that stupid son of a bitch who tried to kill my boys?" Julie snapped. Although every part of Dean was still aching and sore, he suddenly felt about a thousand times better. Julie was here, Julie was here and she was still calling them her boys.

Beelzebub chuckled and shook his head. "You shouldn't have come. I'll have to kill you too, now."

"Not if we kill you first," she smirked, unfolding a brown bundle in her arms to reveal…

The First Blade. Beelzebub's eyes went wide, and then his eyes flicked from the only weapon capable of killing him to the only man capable of killing him with it within a few feet of each other. He hesitated for a second, and just like that, the king of the Knights vanished.

All four of them sighed in relief. Castiel quickly moved to Dean's side and healed his wounds. Dean sighed in relief as the pain vanished, and he moved his shoulder around, glad he was back to being able to move, at least.

"That could have been really bad," Sam sighed, pushing his hair out of his face. "Thank god for you, Julie."

"Thank Crowley, actually," she corrected as Sam wrapped her in a bear hug. Dean watched them hug, feeling empty inside. It was clear their easy friendship was still intact. But, although Julie had just saved him, she was probably too pissed to so much as look at him.

After a long moment, Sam and Julie pulled apart. "I missed you," they said simultaneously, and then laughed lightly. Dean looked down, not feeling jealous so much as just sad. They could still be happy together, but he had ruined everything yet again. He had no hope of ever getting Julie to even forgive him.

Suddenly, as if ordered to, Sam and Cas both stepped away from Dean and Julie, giving them some space. Julie's blue eyes met Dean's for a moment, before she looked down at the floor. Dean did the same.

"So, Crowley got you?" he asked awkwardly after a moment.

"Yeah," she said carefully. "Good thing, too. You'd be dead without me. So you're welcome."

Dean half-smirked, but something was bothering him. He looked up and actually met her gaze. "You came," he said slowly.

Julie frowned. "Of course."

"Why?"

"What…what do you mean, 'why'?" Julie snapped. "Why wouldn't I come?"

"I mean, I was a dick to you," Dean said. "We broke up. Why…why would you come?"

Julie stared at him, unable to believe that after all this, he was still surprised she had dropped everything to save him. But then suddenly she smiled and said gently, "Because you needed me."

"You needed me." He needed her. That was all that mattered. They needed each other, they loved each other. Forget the rest of the world, forget what had happened between Sam and Julie, all that mattered was that he fix their relationship, that Dean get Julie back for good.

He found himself grinning at her, and she was grinning back. Dean took a step forward, and so did Julie, and slowly, he leaned in towards her. They would share an amazing kiss, and then things would be okay between them, everything would be okay…

It all happened so fast. Julie was staring into Dean's eyes, thinking how nothing else mattered but that she loved him. And then she saw him reappear behind the man she loved. She saw Beelzebub pull back that knife to drive into Dean' back, and without even thinking, Julie screamed, "Dean!" and dove forward, shoving Dean to the side, out of the way.

Sam yelled, "No!" but he and Cas were too far back to help. And as for Dean, he scrambled to regain his balance and turned just in time to see the blade go straight through her heart.

It took a few seconds for everything catch up to Dean. He heard the sickening sound of the blade going through her, the little gasp of pain and surprise she made in the deafening silence that followed. He heard Beelzebub roaring in laughter, and then he saw the Knight vanish, taking his blade with him.

For a second, Julie stood suspended in space, eyes wide with pain and shock, face pale. And then she fell.

And that's when Dean snapped.

"Julie!" he roared, lunging forward and catching her head before it hit the ground. Dean knelt on the ground, putting her head in his lap as Sam and Cas rushed to his side.

"Cas, heal her," Dean ordered, trying to keep everything under control.

Cas touched Julie's face tenderly, but then he frowned. "Dean, I—I can't," he said brokenly. "Whatever enchantment Beelzebub had on that blade…I can't save her."

"No," Dean said flatly. "No. She'll be okay. We'll find a way to save her." He looked down at the trembling, pale, beautiful woman and said, "Okay, Jules? You hear me? You're going to be okay. We'll get you some help, just stay with me. Okay, sweetheart?"

She was gasping for air. Dean's heart sank as a trickle of blood came out of the corner of her mouth. Blood was seeping through her shirt as well, staining her red.

This wasn't happening. No, no, no. Dean would save her, he'd get help. She'd be okay. Because he could not lose her after all of this, after her saving him from himself, after that wonderful year of being in love, after sending her away to keep her safe. She could not die the moment she came back!

Julie was trying to say something. Dean brushed the curls off of her sweaty forehead and whispered, "Shh, it's okay, Jules. It's okay, honey, I got you. Don't worry." His voice cracked, and he realized she was getting a little blurry through a film of tears.

Julie gasped and struggled and managed to get out one word: "Dean." She wasn't pleading for help, or scared, or angry. She just wanted to say his name.

And then her beautiful blue eyes went lifeless. She quit trembling. She quit breathing. The earth was still.

"No," Dean said in a low voice that slowly built. "No, no, please, no! Not this! Not after everything…Julie, stay with me. Not her, dammit! Not her!" He was yelling now, and he took a deep, shuddering breath and whispered, "Please don't…please, I love you. I can't…"

But it was pointless. She was gone. The woman he loved was dead, because of him.

For a moment there was silence, and then Dean yelled, "Jules!" his voice so full of pain it brought tears to Cas's eyes.

Silent tears were already streaming down Sam's face. In his mind, he saw Julie a dozen different times. The first time he'd seen her, standing in her pajamas in the moonlight. The first time he made her laugh, the way her eyes lit up. He saw her stand against a Knight of Hell, saw her punch a vampire about to kill her in the face. She snapped at her bitchy grandmother. She fought demons like, well, a demon. She teased Cas. She rolled her eyes at Crowley. She hugged Sam, sobbing. She laughed, high and sweet and clear. She kissed Dean, long and sweet. She drove away.

She lay bloody and pale in his brother's arms. Another loved one dead and gone for helping them.

And Dean saw her in his mind's eye, too. He saw her face the first time they met, after he had just saved her life. The first time he made her grin. Their first kiss, his throat raw from talking for hours, his arm throbbing from a cut, yet it was still the most perfect kiss. That day at the ballgame, that night at the restaurant, that first night together. Perfect. He remembered their lives together, coming home every day to her beautiful face, working and living and relaxing and loving each other like normal people. He remembered those early hunts with Sam, what an unbeatable team they had made.

And now…he had promised himself he would keep her safe. He had promised Jasper, who was practically her father, that he would keep her safe. He had sent her away, he had hurt her, so that he would not have to bury her, too.

And that night, Dean Winchester buried Julie Carters.

Author's Note:

First off, thank you all for all your support! This is my first fic so any feedback you can give me is great! Secondly, I apologize for all the sadness and drama. I'd love to write happy stories and fun adventures for the boys and Julie, but I honestly don't think that's really staying true to Supernatural. I originally created Julie as the woman who would be able to help Dean realize he deserved to be loved and just kind of tell him everything he needed to hear and love him. However, she's kind of evolved and I really hated killing her. However, I think it had to happen eventually. She was just too close to them. However, this story is far from over! I don't believe there's any way Sam or Dean especially would ever rest as long as they knew Julie was dead, so there's still a lot to come. Please keep reading and reviewing! Thanks!