Okay, so...this is shorter than most of my previous offerings, but...it's still here. YAY! I've actually had this written for a while, but I got sick - stupid sinus infection - and I didn't feel like typing at all. Mostly I just slept a lot.

Anyway, enjoy!

Worth the Price?

After I was released from the hospital, Dean sort of withdrew from me. He wouldn't even look at me, let alone talk to me. I could tell that he felt betrayed, but the thing that was bad was that I'd heard a thought come through loud and clear.

I expect things like this from Sam, but her? Why didn't she tell me? Why didn't she want me to know?

He'd begun to trust me again, but now…now that was shattered because of this. It seemed like I was messing things up all the time with him. I just didn't know how to do the right thing anymore, not when it came to him. But really, if I had told him, what could he have done? Except worry about it. He didn't need anything else to worry about; he had enough of his own crap to deal with to add mine onto the list.

Dean had explained to Sam and Bobby what the doctor had said and then the real reason behind what was happening to me. Dean remained angry; Sam became sympathetic; Bobby became as concerned as Bobby let himself be. And I stayed silent through it all. I didn't know what to say or if there was anything to say. My abilities were slowly killing me. Dean had said it himself.

God, I would have hard decisions to make in the future. I didn't know how I'd be able to make them with a rational thought process. This new mind reading thing was beyond my control right now and the others…well, if it came down to using my abilities or letting Sam or Dean get hurt, I would use my abilities. I would just have to make sure we'd tried everything else first. My abilities would be a last resort from now on.

Back at Missouri's I went to lay back down. I wasn't really tired, but I didn't want to deal with Dean or Sam right now. I was avoiding. Again.

That was a bad habit I was getting into, but I didn't know how to break it. It just seemed easier to avoid confrontation than to actually have a confrontation.

But since when did I not say how I felt or what I wanted? Since when did I not face things head on? Since when had I become a coward? A coward who hid away because the outside world was too harsh and unyielding.

The answer was simple. I had changed the moment I'd realized Dean was going to die. Dean had become such an integral part of me that, now that he was being taken away, I wasn't me anymore. Dean was my strength, so naturally, without him I wasn't strong.

But that wasn't quite right either. I could be strong. I could find my own strength, strength that had nothing to do with anyone but me. I could do that, but I didn't know how. Maybe I just wasn't ready for that.

Dean was mad - pissed - at me and I got it, so I didn't complain and I gave him space to, um…get over it. I also made sure I kept the stone with me at all times so Dean wouldn't get any ideas. I didn't want him trading circumstances with me. With his deal, I wasn't sure what that would mean.

In the meantime, Missouri had me drinking some kind of herbal tea that was supposed to keep me relaxed and would help me sleep. It seemed to help me not get overwhelmed by thoughts. She was sympathetic; she knew what it was like and she would help me when I was ready. Basically, that meant when I could talk to Dean about it, and get him to agree.

I knew I needed to apologize for not telling him about my problem and I needed to explain to him I hadn't known it was that bad, but even if I had I was sure I'd have kept it from him for a while anyway. I wished I'd known, then I could have thought about how to tell him. That would've been better. I would've had time to deal with it and then I'd have known what to say.

Oh, hell, who was I kidding? I never would've known what to say. Not about this. I didn't know how to deal with my own problems, I was too busy helping other people solve theirs.

A soft knock came at my door and I told whoever it was to come in. It was Missouri with another cup of her herbal tea.

"You should worry about yourself more, sweetie," she said as she sat on the bed by me. Obviously she could feel my negative vibes. "And don't worry about Dean. He'll come around. He's just hurt that you didn't tell him. You should talk to him."

"How bad is it?" I asked, knowing if anyone knew it would be her.

"You can't tell?" Missouri asked, smiling playfully.

"I can't hear thoughts unless I'm near the person physically. You know that." Then… "I can't hear yours at all."

Again she smiled. "I've learned a thing or two in my time. How to put up a wall to keep people out, for instance. Mine's not natural like yours, but it's still there."

I looked at my hands, which had the mug of tea in them. "Why am I hearing thoughts? I mean, I used to do that all the time with Dean, but now it's - it's with everybody."

"Well, it's just like your other abilities. They're expanding, getting stronger."

"Yeah, but it's killing me," I pointed out shakily. "It's going to…eat away at my brain until there's nothing left. Or it's gonna make me something I'm not. I know it can cause memory lapses or loss of motor function, things like that. And I can't…I can't live with being helpless like that. I'm not that person, Missouri."

In the middle of that little speech tears had started to well up. The gravity of the situation had finally hit me, maybe for all the wrong reasons, but hey…

"I can't be that person. I know what's out there and I can't be weak and pathetic. I'm not…I suck at hunting without my abilities, Missouri."

"The hunting doesn't matter," Missouri said firmly. Apparently she was not a big fan of pity parties. "The boys need you, that's what matters. Dean needs you. He needs you strong and he needs you healthy. He needs you, the support you give him. Do you think he spent the last year-and-a-half with you because you had superpowers? He'd much rather you didn't. But your power doesn't lie in here." She patted my head twice and then moved her hand to place it over my heart. "It lies in here."

I grabbed her hand and squeezed hard. I was trying to open up the blockage in my head so I could talk to her telepathically.

I don't want it to be like this. I don't wanna feel like this. Meaning my whole depressive stage since Dean had made the deal. I wish I could stop caring.

Missouri smiled again, only this time it was sympathetic. "Caring is what makes you human, honey."

"Being human sucks," I said, semi-joking. For the first time that I could remember I felt overwhelmed at the thought of staying alive. It was…hard - which didn't cover half of it; it was the understatement of the century. With everything that was happening I didn't know how I was going to make it.

And see, monsters, guts and all that stuff I was good with, but…regular life stuff I couldn't handle. I didn't know how. Not on my own.

When I finally came out of the bedroom, out of hiding, I kept my distance from Dean. As long as he didn't take too long I would let him come to me when he was ready instead of me going to him.

I understood Dean's anger and hurt and I understood the desperation he felt to make me better, to fix this thing that was wrong with me. And he was frustrated because he couldn't. As a hunter he faced a lot of scary things, but death and disease were two things he couldn't face, maybe the only two things.

Dean had been researching, which was a surprise in and of itself, but it really hit home because he was researching what was wrong with me. He just kept reading when I sat down, he didn't even acknowledge my presence.

I heard random flashes of thoughts going through his mind such as: It can lead to a coma. Emotional and physical changes, depending on the extent of the damage. Headaches. Nausea. Dizziness. Lightheadedness. Fatigue. Mood changes. Confusion. Lack of concentration. Memory lapses.

The symptoms and the side effect of my problem. He was obsessing over it. He probably would for a while.

Forgetting the fact that I'd decided to wait for him to speak first, I said, "Dean, you can't protect everyone all the time. Things are gonna happen to me and to Sam that you're not gonna be able to control, that you're not gonna be able to do anything about."

There wasn't anything he could do to save me and it was tearing him apart. He felt out of control of the situation, he wanted to be doing something useful, wanted to be doing something that would put him back in control. He wanted something he could fight.

"Are you…are you hearing my thoughts right now?"

"Bits and pieces," I said honestly. "Enough to know that you're worrying about something you can't change."

"Am I hurting you? Or, God, would you even tell me if I was?"

"Yes, I would. And, no, you're not. I promise. And I'm sorry."

"For what? For lying to me? For -"

"I didn't lie to you! I didn't know it was that bad, that it was causing so many problems. I swear. What I'm sorry for is that I broke your trust in me. Again. I know that I was beginning to fix things between us, and I know that me saying that doesn't make it better. I just…tell me what to do to make it better."

"I don't think you can, Aly. There's nothing you can do either. I know that."

"Yeah." I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Look, I'll work with you and Sam on the more practical ways of hunting, okay? So I don't have to use my powers as much."

"You shouldn't be using them at all. At least not the ones that are hurting you."

"Yeah, hence you and Sam needing to train me." I closed the book Dean was looking through. "Where'd you get these?"

"The doctor gave me a list of literature I should go through. You can go through them, too, if you want."

I shook my head. "I, um…later. If it gets worse."

"Look, you have to tell us when you're not feeling well, okay? In our line of work you could get seriously hurt if you're off your game even for a second."

"I will. I promise."

"I mean it, Aly. This isn't a joke."

"Hence my no laughing," I said.

"Hey, guys, I'm goin' out for a while, be back in a few," Sam said, walking past the couch Dean and I were on. "I'm goin' for a drink."

"Drinkin' alone, Sammy?" Dean teased. "You know you get all weepy when you drink."

"Bite me, I'll be fine."

Dean grinned briefly, but it went away as soon as Sam went out the front door.

"You know, you don't have to be Mr. Unflappable in front of him. He sees right through it. And I know it's bothering you, so stop pretending with me, too."

"Aly…"

"Don't Aly me, you know I'm right!"

"Hey, you two want a beer?" Bobby's voice came from the kitchen.

"No." My immediate response.

"Sure."

"Sam?"

"He's not here, Bobby," Dean said. "He went out for a drink."

Jeeze, going out for a drink when he had perfectly serviceable beer here. Dumb guy.

"Dean…Missouri offered to help me get control of this new mind-reading thing. But I wanted - I wanted to ask you first. This one is the one that's hurting me the most now."

"You do what you have to do, Aly."

"Hm…Hey, Bobby, I think I do want that beer."

Dean looked at me strangely. "You don't even like beer."

"So, I wanna drink with you." I shrugged. "It's better this way. If I went out, someone could take advantage of my inebriated state. Or soon-to-be inebriated state."

"Mm-hm. And who's to say I won't?" Dean teased.

"You won't. Because you love me."

A rare moment - well, rare for us now - passed between us until Bobby came in with three beers. He placed one in front of both Dean and myself, and then he sat down with a beer of his own. Missouri came in after with a glass of red wine. Maybe she was one of those people who liked to have a sip before bedtime; maybe it helped shut her mind up.

Once the top was off my bottle I took a sip and immediately made a face of disgust. "Ugh!"

It made Dean laugh, though, so my second of disgust was well worth it.

A whole bottle of beer later I was feeling okay. I was a little tipsy, but I wasn't drunk. My tolerance was probably way up in the air. I could drink a few more, probably. But I didn't want a massive hangover in the morning. I was still sober enough to remember that.

Once my head started to feel a little buzzed, I went out in the backyard just to sit and look at the stars. I was feeling oddly at peace for the first time in a long time. Dean had come out with a blanket and had placed it around my shoulders.

"I'm warm enough already," I said, beginning to shove the blanket off.

"No, you're not." Dean put his arm around my shoulders to keep the blanket in place. "The alcohol makes you think you are."

"Oh."

I leaned my head against him and felt right, complete in a way I hadn't for months. I was in his arms where I was supposed to be. And this was okay, right? Friends did things like this, right? Ex-lovers who stayed friends did stuff like this all the time. Or maybe I was deluding myself. Dean and I could be friends, sure, but never just friends. Not with moments like this.

"Dean?"

"Mm?"

"Am I gonna be okay? When you're…not here…anymore? In your honest opinion, what am I gonna do…when you die?

"Oh, no. We are not taking that on tonight. You've been drinking."

"Exactly! Drinking! And I don't drink. I've never felt like I needed to drink but here I am. I'm really screwing up, Dean."

"You had one beer. I don't call that screwing up."

"No, it is. Because I've always known what was right and how to be strong, but I don't anymore. Not really. It's just…everything keeps coming and it just keeps getting worse and worse. And -"

I heard something rustle in the trees behind the house. There was an odd flickering coming from that direction. Dean and I both saw it.

"Uh, Dean…"

"Stay here."

"No way. It's probably nothing, but I'm coming with you."

So we made our way towards the trees slowly. The flickering soon became this shimmering light. What the hell was that?

Then something dwarf-sized came through an opening in the trees. A dwarf-sized creature, maybe forty inches tall with stubby limbs. It had brown leathery skin and it looked like it was wearing shreds of brown paper bags. It looked like it was part of the rodent family with the pointy nose and the beady eyes. It had hair all over its body. It…kind of reminded me of the Gnome Named Gnorm creature. It was so ugly it was almost cute.

I wondered what it wanted. Had it come out of the woods out of curiosity or was it evil and dangerous? A low growl made its way out of the creatures throat. Did that mean it was feeling threatened or that it was being threatening?

When the things spotted us, it snarled. Um…it was threatening. And it had fangs. It so wasn't cute anymore.

"A'right. Take it easy, short-stuff," Dean said.

Apparently the thing, whatever it was, could understand English because it responded to Dean's insult by charging at him. All Dean had to do was put a hand on the thing's head to keep it from getting too close.

I was a little tipsy, so that sight was hilarious to me and I naturally started laughing. It was one of the funniest things I'd seen in a while. But then it came after me and it slammed its head into my midsection, making me fall backward on the ground. Needless to say, I wasn't laughing anymore.

"Hey!"

The thing was pulled off of me by Dean, but I didn't get up right away. I felt kind of sick now. Alcohol and getting knocked around didn't mix.

Dean punched it in the nose, which seemed to knock it senseless.

"Aly, you okay?" Dean asked, while keeping an eye on the creature thing.

"I feel kinda nauseous, actually. What is that thing?"

"Uh…your guess is as good as mine. I got no clue."

"Should we leave it here or kill it or what?" I got up slowly but still got a little dizzy. Obviously, I'd been wrong earlier. My tolerance for alcohol sucked. "What did it want? To eat us?"

"Hope not," Dean said. "Don't joke about that."

The creature that I was now going to call a gnome started moving around restlessly; it was waking up.

"You will destroy all things here." It understood and spoke English. Although the tone of it's voice was kind of guttural and rough. "You protect the stone."

"Destroy all things? What's it talking about?" Dean asked, looking from it to me. "Aly?"

"It doesn't matter. It's not going to happen."

"So? What's it talking about?"

"The stone. If…if it falls into the wrong hands it could be used as a weapon." I sighed, remembering what Professor Connors had said. "It could destroy the human race."

"Destroy the human race? Uh, you never said anything."

"Well, I forgot until now. Too busy thinking of other things. Like my brain dying."

"Right. Touché. But why don't you tell me now?"

"We must destroy the stone," the gnome's gravelly voice said. "That's the only way to guarantee no one can use it."

"Okay, one: I don't trust you," Dean said. "Two: how do you even know about it? And three: what happens when whatever this is happens?"

"The stone was not meant for human hands. It belongs to my clan, only we know how to use it right. If someone gets it and does the ritual wrong it can draw the earth's energy into it. It starts at the point the ritual takes place and spreads, destroys everything in its path."

"Did you know this?" Dean asked me.

"No, I didn't know…that. I knew we should destroy the stone, though."

"Well, why didn't you?" he asked roughly.

"Because I passed out and woke up in the hospital, Dean." I shook my head at both my own stupidity and at Dean's returning anger. "Look, I'll go get it now and we can destroy it together, okay?"

Dean nodded, somewhat appeased. "Go get it."

"Okay. Be right back."

I decided not to run, considering my new nausea I had to deal with, but I finally made it to my room. I grabbed the jeans I'd had on the day before and checked the pockets and immediately found a problem. The stone wasn't there. Three guesses as to who had it.

"Damn it!" But, hey, at least I was sober now. There was nothing more sobering than finding out someone you cared about was in danger.

I actually made it down the stairs, running the whole way. Bobby and Missouri were still in the living room. They both looked so relaxed I was sorry I was going to ruin it for them.

"Guys, problem! Sam took the stone and he's probably planning on using it. If he does it wrong, he could kill everyone."

Again, sobering news. It would have been sobering for me, anyway. Missouri and Bobby just looked at me patiently as if they were waiting for the punch line of a joke or something.

"I'm serious. This…thing…came to us and said it's a big bad, okay? We gotta go."

Finally having gotten their attention, I raced back out to Dean and told him the same story about not having the stone. Sam had lied to us. He was going to try and save Dean and if he messed up…we'd all suffer.

"Damn it! A'right, well, we've gotta find him. Fast."

"Okay. Did you tell him? Anything about what I said?"

"About what? The stone? You didn't really tell me anything about it so how could I have told him?"

"Right." I didn't have time to feel sorry for that right now. "Well, he'd need to talk to the professor guy. He'd need to know how to do it. All it takes is his presence. The presence of someone who'll switch places with you. And he would. Connors said that's the only thing the ritual needs for it to start. The stone, it will draw his life into it. It'll turn white when he's done."

"Is that true?" Dean asked the ugly-ass gnome thing.

"Yes. I can find it," the thing said. "But you must make a deal first. You let me go, no trying to kill each other."

"Hey, don't forget who attacked who first, dude," Dean said.

"And we'll let you go when we find out you're not just yankin' our chain," I said.

The risk of Sam switching places with Dean was too great for us not to work with the creature. And in the event that it didn't work, we'd all be too dead to notice anyway. Silver lining, I guess.

"So find it," I said impatiently. "Today would be great."

The thing began humming and mumbling words that were definitely foreign and then it hummed again.

"What're you doing?" Dean asked, frowning.

The creature didn't answer, but it looked at me and said something I didn't understand. "Such pretty lights. Pretty pure light."

It reached for me, but Dean pulled me behind him. Then the creature looked away, like it was snapping out of whatever daze it had been in.

"I was reading energy in the air. When the stone has been activated my kind can follow the trail."

"Well, what're you waiting for. Let's go," Dean said.

Apparently, we would worry about my light show problem later. Sam took top priority here - which, story of our life.

The way the gnome thing seemed to be working was through trace reading, almost. Like there was a line directing it straight to the stone. It led from Missouri's house to the college to the professor's house. The Impala was parked in front of the house, so I guessed the creature knew what it was doing.

Now that we'd found Sam, the question became: What were we going to do? How were we going to deal with this? The normal kicking-of-Sam's-ass didn't seem to fit here. He was just trying to save his brother.

We didn't knock - that would give us away - we picked the lock. We followed the creepy creature thing and it led us to the basement. The professor was down there with Sam. He had the stone, only it wasn't black anymore. It was slowly becoming lighter and lighter. The ritual was starting, and Sam…Sam was pale. Grayish even.

"Sam!" Dean almost growled. "What the hell are you -"

"Dean, I can't. I can't just watch you die!" Sam's voice was weak. He'd obviously been doing this for a while. "I knew - I knew you'd figure it out sooner or later. You'd find me and…now it'll work. You had to be here for it to work."

"The stone," the professor said. "It works like a containment vessel, but it can't work unless the two people it's working for are together. The books…the theories in them are wrong."

"You said this stone belonged to your clan. You must know how to use it," I said. "Stop it."

"That magic has been lost to us for years. Humans took everything. We want it back. I can put up a barrier to the magic from the ritual won't spread, but it won't save him."

"Let them leave first," Dean said authoritatively. "Bobby, Aly, the professor…let them leave. Everyone dying is not an acceptable risk."

I took a step toward Dean. "I'm not leaving," I said stubbornly. We'd been through this before. "There has to be another way. The books say if we break it -"

"You cannot break it!" Creature hissed. "You don't understand. Once the ritual has started there must be an exchange. The only way to get the magic to stop is for the stone to empty itself safely. If you could somehow convince him not to do this…"

I remembered then that just because we and the creature were working toward the same goal - not ending the world - it didn't mean we were playing by the same rules. It seemed to want the stone back even though before it had said it wanted to destroy it.

"Are you saying that because you want your stupid containment stone back or because something bad will happen if we break it."

It was urgent, the way I asked, because Sam was now slipping into unconsciousness. Time was of the essence here.

"I can put up the barrier. Like I said, you'll end up killing us if you try to stop the ritual. It'll be like a blast. A bomb. It'll be over quickly."

"It'll kill you, too?" Dean asked.

"Of course not," the professor said, standing up. "You'd have to be immune for the barrier to work, wouldn't you?"

The creature didn't say anything. And it seemed I couldn't read non-human minds; I was getting nothing from Creature. And this was getting us nowhere. Sam looked like he was sleeping peacefully now.

"Breaking the rock, it'll definitely hurt - kill - us?"

"Not guaranteed, but something will happen. Something not good. Until the exchange is made…until the stone is empty again…it's volatile."

"I don't care!" Dean yelled, his temper at the boiling point. "I'm not letting my brother die."

"Well, whatever you're gonna do…you might wanna do it quick," the professor said. "He just stopped breathing."

Okay, so, I suck with the cliff-hanger thing, but...anyway, yeah. Um...this chapter until the end was pretty much filler, but it was necessary filler stuff. Aly's insecurities and things about what she's going to be like after Dean is gone. How much it's affecting her and then Dean's evasiveness when she tries to talk about it and all that stuff. Oh, and the creature stuff will be explained in the next chapter. Basically it's based on the concept about the myth about things living underground and I'll get into it later.

So...as usual, tell me what you think. Thanks :)