Disclaimer: See Chapter one.

Sleeping With The Ally

Chapter 29: Yellow Fever

—October 11th—33 Weeks Pregnant—

Mia sat up on the side of the hotel room bed with a yawn then looked over her shoulder at her sleeping fiancé. His eyes danced behind his lids and small pants left his slightly parted lips. Mia's brows knit together as she turned in the bed to sit cross legged facing him. "Okay, so I have powers that didn't come from yellow eyes… let's see if it can use them to help you." she whispered to Dean, knowing he wouldn't wake up.

With a hesitant hand she reached out and placed her palm on Dean's sweating temple. The screams and yells of tortured people hit her ears and she knew that if she closed her eyes she'd be able to see what he was dreaming about, but she really didn't want to. So without closing her eyes she focused on Dean and the screams she was hearing and willed them to leave her head and Dean's. After a moment the sounds faded from her head and as they did the crease in Dean's brow and his pants and grunts of discomforts disappeared.

Seeing that he was now sleeping comfortably she turned to stare at her reflection in the blank screen of the tv that sat across from the foot of their bed. "If I can do that to Dean, what else can I do?" she asked herself before she looked away from the tv and stood up with a stretch. As she did the baby in her ever growing stomach decided to turn a flip. "I swear you're going to be an acrobat." She whispered to the baby as she rubbed her belly.

She had just stepped out of the shower when she heard Dean's phone going off in the bedroom. With a towel wrapped around her torso she carefully rushed to the noisy phone. Her hand was about to grab it when Dean rolled over and grabbed it with a groan. "Yeah." He answered it without even opening his eyes that he rubbed at with his thumb and middle finger. Seeing that he had the conversation under control and that she had failed to keep him peacefully sleeping, she went to where her bag of clothes sat on the dresser beside the tv stand and started digging for clothes. "Yeah, okay. We'll meet you outside. Yeah, bye." Dean hung up the phone and rolled out of bed. When Mia turned around he encased her in his arms. "I was hoping to lay low for a little while longer, but Sam found another heart attack guy.

"Where?" Mia asked as she rested her arms on his shoulders.

"Rock Ridge, Colorado." He answered before he looked away to yawn, dropped his hands from her hips and headed to his bag where he pulled out a flask and took a drink.

"How did you sleep?" she asked cautiously as he pulled on a pair of pants. She saw the flask in his hands before she pulled a black t-shirt over her head then started putting her things that were laying around the hotel room back into her bag.

"Don't ask, please." He sighed as he too packed up his stuff, getting ready to meet Sam outside.

"I know you don't want to talk about it. I only ask because… I tried to help." She admitted as she tossed the strap of the bag over her shoulder and turned to see Dean looking at her with questioning eyes.

"What do you mean?" he asked, wondering if she had seen what he was dreaming about.

"You were making noises and you looked uncomfortable. I can't stand to see you like that. So I put my hand on your head and I… I don't know how to explain it." she said with a shoulder shrug. "I tried to calm your dreams I guess."

"How long ago did you try to…calm my dreams?" he asked as he crossed his arms uncomfortable over his chest.

"I don't know, maybe thirty minutes ago." She said with a shrug. "Why?"

"It worked." He said and she tilted her head to the side. "I was havin' a nightmare and then all of a sudden…nothing. The dream ended."

"Really?" she asked as she pulled on a zip up hoodie, not bothering to try to zip it up around her belly. When she looked up she saw him nod at her. "Are…are you okay with me trying to help you sleep better?" she asked.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" he asked as he went to the sink at the back of the room and started brushing his teeth.

"I don't know, maybe because when Sam uses his powers you blow up at him." She said then wet her toothbrush and squeezed a strip of toothpaste onto it.

"That's different." He practically snapped at her.

She wanted to ask why, but refrained in order to keep a fight from breaking out between them.


"Are you sure you're up to this?" Dean asked as they all got out of the Impala dressed in their best.

"Yeah, I'm fine." she replied as she walked around to meet him on the driver's side of the car.

"Because you can wait in the motel if you want to." He added and she rolled her head around to look at him over her shoulder.

"Dean, stop worrying about me. I'm good. Besides, what's the point of being on the road with you if I spend half of the time not with you?" she asked as they started walking toward the building.

"I guess you're right." He sighed as they walked up a few stone steps.

"What? What was that?" she asked in a picking tone and he just shook his head at her. "Did I hear you say I was right about something?"

"Might want to watch it there, Dean, you're starting to sound a little whipped." Sam joked and Dean told him to can it.

After talking to the woman at the front desk, they were led to the back by an older guy in a blue scrubs and a white lab coat. "Agent Tyler, agent Perry, Agent Hill, meet Frank O'Brian." The doctor said as he unzipped the body bag and tucked it around the guys face.

"So Frank died of a heart attack?" Maria asked as she scanned the body.

"Yep, three days ago." The doctor answered.

"But O'Brian was 44 years old and according to this," Sam said as he opened the folder in his hands, "a marathon runner."

"Everybody drops dead sooner or later." The doctor answered. "It's why I got job security."

"Yeah, but Frank kicked it here. Just yesterday, two perfectly healthy men bit it in Maumee, all heart attacks." Dean said, "You don't think that's strange?"

"Sounds like Maumee's problem to me and why does the FBI give a damn anyway?" the doctor popped off and Mia sighed as she shifted back and forth on her feet.

Dean put his hand on her back, calming her as he said, "We just want to see the results of Frank's autopsy."

The doctor looked at them confused, "What autopsy?"

"The one you're gonna do so we can see the results." Mia said, shifting on her feet again as she flashed him a smile.

"Okay, I'll get ready." The doc said then the three of them watched as he put on a protective gpwn and an apron. "I'm gonna need you to put these on." The doc said as he handed them each a gown and apron. They put them on then the doctor got started. "First dead body?" he asked at the look on their faces as he sliced into the guy's stomach.

"Far from it." Dean answered.

The doc looked away from the boys to Mia where she stood further back from the body. "You look like this is your first."

"No, not my first, I'm just a little more squeamish these days." She answered as she sat her hand on her stomach.

"Ah." The doctor said then continued to work. "Then are you sure you want to be in here, these suckers can get pretty ripe." He started pulling the chest open before he looked at Dean and asked, "Hey, hand me those rib cutters, would you?" Dean handed him the cutter and the doctor continued to work.

Mia kicked Dean making him look at her to see her wiggle her fingers then nod to the body. Dean looked at the hand then asked, "Is that from a wedding ring?" as he noticed a light ring around Franks left ring finger. "I didn't think frank was married."

"Ain't my department." The doctor said not looking up from his work.

Sam picked up Franks arm, examining the long deep scratches on his forearm. "Any idea how he got these?" he asked.

"You know what? When you drop dead, you actually tend to drop." The doc said still not looking up from the body. "Body probably got scraped up when it hit the ground." He informed them as he examined Frank's heart. "Huh."

"Huh, what?" Mia asked, taking a step closer to Sam and Dean, now standing between them.

"I can't find any blockages in any of the major arteries." The Doc informed them before he grabbed the heart and twisted, pulling it out of Frank's chest. Both Dean and Mia's faces scrunched up at the sound. "Heart looks pretty damn healthy." He said before he looked at Dean and handed him the heart. "Hold that a second, would you?" Dean took the heart, looking freaked out while Mia and Sam laughed at him. Since he now had both of his hands free the doctor broke a bone, causing blood to squirt Sam in the face. Mia jumped back giving Sam and the doctor a shocked look. "Oh, sorry, spleen juice." He said with a shrug and Mia started smirking at Sam along with Dean.


Their next stop was the sheriff's office where they now sat across from a young deputy that kept smiling at them too often as if he were nervous. "Hell's bells, Linus, have you seen my-" the sheriff started to ask before he saw the three people sitting outside his office in suits and ties. "Who are they?" he asked as they stood up and Mia put a hand on her back.

"Federal agents." The deputy, Linus, answered nervously.

"And you kept them waiting?" the sheriff asked irritably.

"You said not to disturb." Linus answered and Mia looked between the two, wondering if the sheriff was always this mean to him.

"Come on back, fellas." He said waving them back and Mia cleared her throat. "and lady." The sheriff reluctantly added. Mia gave Linus an encouraging smile as she walked buy, but the sheriff stopped them when they got to the door of his office. "Shoes off."

"Are you kidding me?" Mia asked with raised brows.

"Sorry, germ free zone. Shoes off." The sheriff insisted.

When Dean saw her clench her jaw he stepped up and put a hand on her shoulder. "I'll help you put them back on." he whispered and she continued to glare at the sheriff as she toed off her shoes onto the welcome mat that sat by the door. Sam and Dean did the same before they were allowed to step into the office.

"Al Britton. Good to meet you." the Sheriff told them as he shook Dean's hand, then Sam's.

"You too." Sam said as Al shook Mia's stiff hand then motioned to the two chairs in the room. Dean motioned for her to sit in one of the chairs and Sam sat in the other so Dean stood behind her chair.

They watched as Al picked up a bottle of hand sanitizer, squeezed way too much into his palm, then smeared it in as he looked at them. "So what can I do for uncle Sam?" Al asked after a long awkward moment, and sat down on the other side of the desk.

"Well, we're looking into the death of Frank O'Brian." Sam said and the subtle change in Al's features made Mia wish she could still read minds so she could figure out what the look meant. "We understand some of your men found his body?"

"They did." Al answered, flat faced and Mia couldn't tell if his was keeping his face unemotional to hide his sadness or if he was just that heartless. "Me and Frank…We were friends. Hell, we were Gamecocks." He said and Dean laughed before Al gave him a look and he stopped. "That's our softball team's name." he said defensively and Dean nodded. "They're majestic animals." Dean just looked at him, speechless, before Al let it go. "I knew Frank since high school. To be honest, I just this morning got up the strength to go see him. Frank was… He was a good man."

"Yeah," Dean spoke up and Mia leaned her head back to look up at him, "big heart." Mia glared at him and mouthed the word stupid.

"Before he died, did you notice Frank acting strange?" Sam asked, attempting to get back on topic and break the tension. "Maybe scared of something?"

"Oh, hell, yeah." Al said as he sat up and put his arms on the desk. "Real jumpy."

"You know what scared him?" Sam asked.

"No." Al said with a shake of his head. "Wouldn't answer his phone. Finally sent some of my boys over to check on him and… Well, you know the rest." He said before he started coughing into his hand. When he was done he squeezed more sanitizer into his hands and noisily rubbed them together. "So why do the feds give a crap? You don't really think there's a case here."

"No, no, it's probably nothing. Just a heart attack." Dean said giving him a smile before they got up and said their goodbyes. "There's no way that was a heart attack." Dean said as they headed across the parking lot to the Impala.

"Definitely no way." Sam said, "Three victims all with those same red scratches. All went from jittery to terrified to dead within 48 hours."

"So something scared them to death?" Dean asked.

"Okay, so what can scare someone to death?" Mia asked and Dean glanced over at her.

"What can't? Ghosts, vampires, chupacabra. It could be a hundred things." Dean answered.

"Yeah. So we make a list and start crossing things off." Sam said.

"Alright, who was the last person to see Frank O'Brian alive?" Dean asked.

"That would be Mark Hutchins." Mia spoke up and the boys looked at her wanting more information. "His neighbor." She clarified as they neared the car.

"Hang on, hang on." Dean said as he pulled the two to a halt.

"What?" Mia asked just wanting to get to the car and get off of her feet.

"I don't like the looks of those teenagers down there." Dean said with a glance at four teens on bicycles, hanging out in front of the Impala. Mia and Sam shared a confused look before Dean said, "Lets walk this way." And took off across the street.

"That seem weird to you?" Mia asked and Sam nodded before he took off after his brother.


"Agents Tyler and Perry. Just like Aerosmith." Mark said from where he sat on an old recliner with a snake wrapped around his shoulders.

"Yeah, small world." Sam said, "So the last time you saw Frank O'Brian…?"

"Monday." Mark answered. "He was watching me from his window." He said with a nod to the window across the room. "I waved at him, but he just closed the curtains."

Mia looked at the window then let her eyes fall over the fish tanks and odd collection of amphibians as they moved back to Mark. She was fully aware of how stiff Dean was where he sat on the couch next to her staring wide eyed at the snake around Mark's shoulders. "Hmm." Sam hummed, "Did you speak to him recently? Did he seem different?" Sam asked with a small shake of his head. "Or scared?"

"Oh, totally. He was freaking out." Mark said before Sam looked across his shoulder at her and Dean.

"Did you happen to have that around your when you spoke to him?" Mia asked with a point at the snake around Marks shoulders.

"Oh, no, the snakes never leave the house." Mark answered with look down at the snake, whose head was resting on Mark's hand.

"Do you know uh…? Do you know what scared him?" Dean asked with an uncomfortable smile. Mia could practically feel the nervous energy radiating off of him.

"Well, yeah, witches." Mark answered as if it were obvious.

"Witches?" Sam and Mia asked at the same time. "Like…" Sam asked.

"Well, Wizard of Oz was on tv the other night, right? And he said that green bitch was totally out to get him." Mark answered as he messed with the snake.

Sam gave her an open mouthed look, neither of them knew what to say and Dean was too busy freaking out. "Anything else scare him?" Sam finally asked.

"Everything else scared him." Mark answered. "Al Qaeda, ferrets, artificial sweetener, those PEZ dispensers with their dead little eyes. Lots of stuff."

Mia noticed Dean looking around at all the critters that were in the room and nudged him with her knee. He jumped and looked at her. "Calm down would ya?" she asked and he just looked down at the floor.

"So tell me, what was Frank like?" Sam asked, ignoring Dean and Mia.

"I mean, he's dead, you know, I don't want to hammer him but… He got better." Mark said hesitantly.

"What do you mean he got better?" Mia asked.

"Well, in highschool he was…he was a dick." Mark said.

"A dick?" Sam asked.

"Like a bully." He answered. "I mean, he probably taped half the town's butt cheeks together." He said and Dean laughed. "Mine included." He added giving Dean a look.

Dean cleared his throat then asked, "So he pissed a lot of people off. You think anyone would have wanted to get revenge?"

"Well, I don't…" Mark started then paused for a second. "Frank had a heart attack, right?"

"Just answer the question, sir." Sam told him.

"No, I don't think so. Like I said, he got better after what happened to his wife."

"His wife?" Dean asked. "So he was married?"

"She died, about 20 years ago. Frank was really broken up about it." Mark answered before Dean gave the snake around Mark's shoulder a scared look making Mark chuckle. "Don't be scared of Donny, he's a sweetheart." He gave a nod at the back of the couch, "It's Marie you gotta look out for. She smells fear."

Mia looked over her shoulder to see a banana colored snake slide down her shoulder. She and Dean looked straight ahead and stiffened. "Um, um, um, can…can you get her off of me please?" she asked with a shaky voice.


Mia and Dean sat in the Impala, reading over papers while they waited for Sam to get back from Franks house. "Hey, Dean?" Mia asked from the back seat, breaking the silence of the car and he hummed letting her know he was listening. "Are you okay? You've been scratching your arm for the last five minutes."

"Yeah, I'm fine." He answered.

Sam got in the car, breaking up their conversation. "Any luck at the county clerk's office?" he asked.

"I'm not sure I'd call it luck." Dean said.

"Jessie, Franks wife, was a manic depressive." Mia stated.

"She went off her meds back in '88 and vanished. They found her two weeks later, three towns over, strung up in her motel room. Suicide." Dean finished.

"Any chance Frank helped her along to the other side?" Sam asked with a glace between Mia and Dean.

"No, it's impossible." Mia said.

"Frank was working a swing shift when she disappeared." Dean said.

"His alibi's airtight." Mia concluded as Dean cranked the car and took off. "What did you find at Frank's?" She asked Sam.

"Clean. Searched it top to bottom, no EMF, no hex bags, no sulfur." He answered.

"So probably no ghost, no witches, no demons." Dean said. "Three down and 97 to go."

"Freakin' awesome." Mia huffed from the back seat.

"Dude, you're going 20." Sam said making Mia lean up to look at the speedometer.

"And?" Dean asked.

"Since when do you do the speed limit?" Mia asked.

"What? Safety's a crime now?" Dean asked defensively.

"In your book it is." Mia said then leaned back in the seat. A few minutes later they passed the hotel and she sat back up. "Dean, where are you going?"

"Yeah, that was our hotel." Sam added.

"Guys, I'm not gonna make a left-handed turn into oncoming traffic. I'm not suicidal." Dean practically yelled. Sam and Mia gave him a look before they turned their confused gazes on each other. "Did I just say that? That's kind of weird." Dean laughed nervously as the EMF detector in Sam's pocket started going off.

"Sam, your EMF is going off." Mia pointed out and he pulled it out of his pocket to see the red lights moving up and down with the sound.

Sam moved it toward Dean and the sound got louder then moved it back and it eased up. "Am I haunted?" Dean asked as he looked at the road then turned to Sam and practically yelled, "Am I haunted!?"

"Look, Dean, I don't know." Mia spoke up while Sam continued to gape open mouthed at Dean. "But what I do know is that I am tired and my feet are killing me. So can me please go to the motel and get some shut eye?"

"Yeah…yeah, I'll get us to the motel." Dean huffed before he made a u-turn back to the motel.


The sun was just starting to come up when Mia rolled over in her sleep and put her arm around Dean's torso. High pitched screams invaded her dream as red lights started flashing, taking away her nice, calm dream and replacing it with a nightmare.

Dean's hands hovered over a table of knives, syringes and a liquids that were illuminated in red, deciding which to choose. His finger wiggled as they moved over the knives, then as they lowered down over a blade she heard him sigh. He didn't want to be there, but his fingers still curled around the knife and picked it up. As he turned, the face of a pretty blond came into view. Her mouth was wide open admitting a loud, shrill scream. "Shut up." Dean hissed as his hand covered her mouth and placed the knife at the nape of her neck, slicing her red illuminated skin open.

Mia sat straight up in bed, panting as she brushed her hair out of her face and looked on the night stand to see her phone lit up and vibrating. Sam's name was on the screen so she picked it up and eased out of bed, trying not to wake Dean in the process. She padded quietly over to the bathroom and entered, shutting the door behind her then flipped the phone open. "Yeah?" she asked while sleepily tucking her messy hair out of her face.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked, noticing the off tone in her voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine, what's up?" she asked while staring at the bags under her eyes in the bathroom mirror.

"Was wondering if you and Dean wanted to go grab some breakfast." He said and she glanced at the shut door as if she could see Dean through it.

"Dean's still asleep. He hasn't been getting much of that lately and when he does it's not restful." She admitted with a sigh as she sat down on the edge of the tub.

"Nightmares?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, I don't want to wake him, but I could eat." She said as she stood up and tucked her free arms around herself.

"Okay, so I'll meet you at the donut place down the street?" he asked and she hummed out a positive answer. "bye."

"See you, Sam." She said then flipped the phone closed. After easing the bathroom door open she saw that Dean was still sleeping with the blankets now down at his feet while his whole body shook. So she tip toed over to him and softly laid her hand on his clammy head. "Shhh, sleep peacefully. Dream sweet dreams of love and normalcy." She whispered and after a second or two Dean stopped shaking and his hand blindly started searching for the edge of the blankets. So she covered him back up then got dressed in some jeans and a plain black v neck t-shirt.

She pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail as she walked down the street to the donut shop that she had seen the night before. When she walked into the shop she spotted Sam sitting at a booth with a cup of coffee in his hand and another sitting on the other side with sugar and cream packets sitting next to it. "Hey." Sam greeted when he saw her walk up.

"Hey." She greeted back as she slid into the booth then pointed at the coffee. "This for me?"

"Yeah." He told her and she started putting in the creamer and sugar. "I also got these." He slid a box of donuts to her. "There's two strawberry cream filled in there, the rest are plain."

She couldn't resist giving him a small exhausted smile as she opened the box and used a napkin to pick up one of the strawberry donuts, they were her favorite. "Thanks."

Sam smiled back as she took a bite of the donut getting pink frosting on her lip as she did. "So Bobby and I figured out what's going on with Dean." He told her with a sigh.

"Oh, yeah?" she asked and He just watched as she wiped the sticky frosting off of her mouth.

"It's ghost sickness." He said as if she should know what that was. She put the donut down and just looked at him and gave him a shrug. "Some cultures believe spirits can infect the living with disease, which is why they stopped displaying bodies and started taking them to funeral homes."

"Okay, and…?" she asked, waiting for him to get to the point.

"The symptoms are: you get anxious, and scared, then really scared, then your heart gives out. Sound like someone we know?" he asked and Mia nodded.

"Okay, so Dean has ghost sickness. What can we do to help?" she asked then held up her hand to stop him from answering. "Wait, how did he get it, we haven't been around ghosts in…what, weeks." She said before she took a sip of her coffee.

"He didn't catch it from a ghost. Once a spirit infects the first person it spreads like any other sickness." He said and she started thinking, trying to figure out the last sick person they had been around.

"The sheriff, he was coughing like crazy, you think he's infected too? Think he caught it from him?" she asked.

He shrugged. "I don't know, but my guess is that he caught it from the corps. He did hold the heart." Sam said.

"Yeah, but you got hit with the blood. Why aren't you infected, or even me for that matter?" she asked, trying to work things out in her head.

"Yeah, see Bobby and I were wondering the same thing until we realized the disease targets a certain type of person."

"What do you mean?" she asked with a tilted head look at him.

"Well, frank was a bully, the other two victims: One was a vice principal, the other was a bouncer." Sam said and she just shrugged her shoulders again. "They were all dicks." He said and she made an 'oh' face then gave him a questioning look. "Not that Dean's a dick, but they all used fear as a weapon." He explained further.

"So I still don't understand how you're not sick, I mean, you're a dick too." She said with a crinkled, confused brow.

"Oh, thanks for that." He said with a sarcastic smirk at her.

"That's not what I meant, er, well yeah I kinda meant it, but whatever." She rambled then shook her head as if to rid it of her thoughts. "How do we fix Dean?"

"If we gank the ghost that started all of this the disease should clear up."

"So who's the ghost? Franks wife?" Mia asked then picked her donut back up and took a bite.

"That's my guess, I mean she did kill herself." Sam answered then watched Maria nod and take a sip of coffee then another bite of pink donut. He couldn't help but notice that the circles under her eyes had gotten darker. "Maria," he said making her looked up from her donut to him, "You look like you haven't slept in days. What's goin' on with you?"

She chased her donut with a sip of coffee then sat it down on the napkin. "Sam, I told you I'm fine."

"People are never fine when they say their fine, not in this family." He said with his arms folded on top of the table as he looked at her.

"Well, I'm still fine." She told him with a sarcastic head shake.

"Seriously, talk to me." he said and she just picked up her donut and took another bite, ignoring him. "You know you can still do that right? You can talk to me if there's ever anything you can't talk to Dean about."

"No." she said then swallowed. "I can't."

"Why not?" he asked and she looked at him as if he were stupid.

"Are you seriously asking me that right now?" she asked with wide, unbelieving eyes and he just sighed, his hair falling in his face as he did. "I love you, you're gonna be my brother in law one day…" she said while looking into his eyes, "But I do not trust you, not with my personal life." She finished off her donut and grabbed the other one out of the box.

"Maria, I'm sorry." He whispered as he leaned across the table, but she just glared down at him.

"You cheated on me, Sam. No matter how many times you say 'I'm sorry', I will never believe it." she glared at him for a minute then took a sip of coffee. "I mean if you knew you were…into, Ruby or whatever, couldn't you have just called me and broke it off? Told me you couldn't do the long distance thing? Any reason would have worked. Even if it just…happened, with you and her, the way it just happened with us, you still could have come to me and broke it off instead of stringing me along, not knowing where you were or what you were doing or who you were doing it with."

Sam looked at her with watery eyes before he looked around at the few people who were sitting in their booths staring at the two of them. "Maria, people are staring." He said and she just glared at him, waiting for an explanation. He sighed before he whispered, "Look, I loved you, I still do, but…" she scoffed at him. "What?"

"You love me?" she asked sourly and he nodded. "If you loved me you wouldn't have hurt me like that." She picked up her coffee as she slid out of the booth then headed for the door, done with the conversation.

"Maria." He called after her, but she kept on walking so he grabbed his stuff and caught up with her. "Look I didn't call you and break it off because I couldn't. I loved you and she was just-"

"A layover?" She asked with a glare at him then kept walking.

"I never meant to hurt you." he said and she stopped walking and turned to face him.

"Well, you did." she said as loud music, specifically the beginning of eye of the tiger, hit her ears and she looked at the impala to see Dean's fist sticking up in the air from where he was laying in the front seat playing air drums. "Go do something with your brother before he gets the cops called on him for disturbing the peace." She said with a harsh look at him before she headed toward the metal stairs of the motel.

She had just finished washing her face and had started putting on a little eyeliner to make herself look more awake when she heard a knock on their door. So she stuck the brown pencil back in the small cosmetics bag that sat behind the faucet and headed to the door. She was expecting to see Dean thinking that he forgot his key card, but instead she saw Sam, giving her an awkward smile. "Hey."

"Can I help you?" she asked flatly not moving out of the doorframe.

"Yeah, uh, we have to move to the bottom floor." He answered.

"Why?" she asked, confused.

"Because your fiancé is suddenly scared of heights." He explained.

Mia sighed and rested her head on the back of her hand that was still holding the door. "Seriously?"

"Yep." He said as he rocked back on his feet. "Here, I'll help you pack up Dean's stuff." He said motioning toward the room and she hesitantly moved to the side, letting him in. "Oh and I forgot to mention that we only have 24 hours to gank that ghost."

"What?" she asked as she slammed the door and turned to face him.


Dean and Mia sat in their new room on the ground floor, reading books when she noticed that he was no longer reading his, but staring at the starburst clock on the wall instead. She was about to ask him if he was okay when he looked back down at his book. But when he started coughing she looked up again to see him rub his eyes then stare down at the book with wide eyes. "Dean?" she asked, but he ignored her and looked up at the clock on the wall again.

She jumped when he huffed out an aggravated growl and walked around the table to the wall and jerked the clock off of the wall then slammed it to the ground, shattering it. He looked up from the clock to see her looking at him with wide, questioning eyes. "Sorry, I uh…" he said looking down at the clock then back to her. "It was ticking too loud." He said with a shrug and she shook her head at him as he went to the fridge and grabbed a beer.

A few minutes later Sam walked in to find Mia sweeping the clock up off of the floor. He looked at her then to the floor then to Dean where he sat drinking his beer. "Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah." Dean said then took a noisy drink of beer. "Just peachy. Did you find anything?"

"Yeah. Jessie O'Brian's body was cremated." Hearing this Mia sat down the broom and dust pan and walked over to sit next to Dean. "So I'm pretty sure she is not our ghost." Sam sat down and propped his feet down loudly on the coffee table. "Hey." He kicked Dean's feet that we crossed on the table, getting his attention. "Quit picking at that." Dean gave him a sad, aggravated look and hesitantly stopped scratching at the rash on his arm. "How you feeling?"

"Awesome." Dean answered with a sarcastic smile. "It's nice to have my head on the chopping block again. I almost forgot what that feels like." Dean moved to take a drink of beer but coughed. "Is freakin' delightful." He tried to take a drink, but his coughing got bad.

When he sat up, coughing with his elbows on his knees Mia sat up and put her hand on his back. "Dean?" he just motioned to his throat before he got up off the couch and ran to the sink, coughing the whole time.

She watched him cough up a wood chip with wide eyes, then rise it off. "We've been completely ignoring the biggest clue we have: you." Sam said with a look of awe on his face.

"I don't wanna be a clue." Dean wined and Mia put her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I don't want you to be a clue either, but we gotta work with what we've got, I guess." Mia said, rubbing his shoulders soothingly.

"The abrasions, this, the disease… it's trying to tell us something." Sam said as if Mia hadn't said anything.

"Tell us what, wood chips?" Dean asked holding up the wet, rectangular piece of wood.

Sam laughed, "Exactly."

Both of them looked at him as if he were crazy before it clicked. "Wait, I saw a lumber mill on the way here, you think it's trying to tell is to go there?" she asked with a questioning look at Sam who nodded. "Well, then let's go." She said as she grabbed her bag and slung the strap over her shoulder as she headed for the door. When she looked back, they were both staring at her. "Look, we don't have all the time in the world to figure this out. So come on." She said motioning to the door and the boys finally got a move on.


Dean pulled into the abandoned mill through the front gate then drove around back before he killed it. Mia knew by the look on his face that he was already scared just looking at the place. But it was confirmed when they all got out and looked at the creepy mill. "I'm not goin' in there."

Sam sighed and rolled his eyes. "I need backup, and you're all I've got."

"Well, what about Mia?" Dean asked with a wide eyes look at her.

"You're telling me that you would send your pregnant fiancée into this place?" Sam asked before he looked at Mia. "No offense, but we don't know what's gonna go down in there."

"I get it Sam. No need to explain." She waved him off then looked back at Dean who just stared at both of them.

"You're going in, Dean." Sam called as he walked around to the back of the car.

When Mia looked from Sam to Dean she saw that he had raised a bottle of alcohol to him lips and was gulping it down. "Dean, seriously, stop." She said as she swiped the bottle from his hand and tucked it into her jacket pocket. "It's bad enough that you're jumpy as hell. We don't need you drunk and jumpy."

Dean just gave her a glare as he passed her and joined Sam at the back of the Impala. "Fine, let's do this." Mia walked around to stand with them as Dean bent down to unlock the trunk. "It's a little spooky, isn't it?" Dean asked making Mia and Sam just stare at him as he popped the trunk. Sam started grabbing things he thought they would need then grabbed a gun and handed it to Dean. "Oh, I'm not carrying that." Sam just stood up and gave Dean a look. "It could go off." He defended with a shrug then grabbed the flashlight and gripped it in both hands, holding it to his chest. "I'll man the flashlight."

Mia covered her mouth to keep her laughter from being heard. Sam met her eyes and gave her a tight smile before he looked at his brother. "You do that." He told him with a nod.

When Dean turned to her she wiped the smile from her face. "I'll, uh, just wait here." She told them both them looked at Dean. "Try to stay calm, okay." She told Dean before she gave him a kiss. As they walked off she pulled open the back door of the car and sat down, hanging her feet out, kicking at the dirt.

A few minutes later she heard a scream that she could only assume was Dean's and jumped. She expected him to come running out, but he didn't. It was after she heard the mill power up and saws start wurring that she looked up and saw Dean running out of the mill. She expected him to run to her, but instead he cowered at the back of the car. So she got out and walked around to ease herself into a kneeling position in front of him. "What happened?" she asked, but she didn't get an answer, instead he grabbed the bottle out of her jacket and started chugging.

She was taking the bottle out of his hand when Sam ran up to her. "I guess we got the right place." He panted out, holding an old, laminated I.D. in his hand.

"Okay, Dean, come on, get up." Mia grunted as she placed one hand on the car and tried to stand up, Sam grabbed her arm and helped her. Once she was steady on her feet she held her hand out to Dean, coaxing him up off of the ground. "Come on." She wiggled her fingers at him and he took her hand with an aggravated head shake. Once they were all in the car she asked, "So what did you find out?"

"Luther Garland." Sam stated. "He seems to have had a thing for Jessie. There were drawings of her everywhere and he's haunting the place." Sam explained as he handed her the old id. "Oh and we found Franks missing wedding ring on the floor."

"So our next stop is the police station?" Mia asked as she leaned up and placed a hand on Dean's tense shoulder.


"Now I know what these are, road rash. And I guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road." Mia heard Dean say as they walked out of the building that the Impala was parked close to.

"Wait, so what did you guys find out? Luther was dragged to death?" Mia asked as she stood up and placed her hand on her back as she stretched.

"When Jessie went missing Frank thought Luther killed her or did something with her. So he chained Luther to his truck and dragged him up and down the road to the mill." Sam explained as he sat the folder he was holding on the roof of the car.

"Right, so yeah, the rash and the wood chips make total sense." Mia said with a look between the brothers as she tucked her hands into the pockets of her unzipped jacket.

"Yeah, you're experiencing his death in slow motion." Sam added.

"Yeah, well, not slow enough." Dean said with eyes that seemed to get wider and wider with every passing hour. "I say we burn some bones and get me healthy." He said as he started fiddling with his keys.

"Dean, it won't be that easy." Sam said hesitantly.

"No, no, it'll be that easy. Why won't it be that easy?" he asked.

"Luther was road-hauled. His body was ripped to pieces." Sam stated.

"So his body was left all up and down that road. It would be impossible to find and burn it all." Mia said, realizing that figuring out how to fix Dean was going to take longer than she thought. Dean really could die again.

"You're kidding me." Dean said loosing what little composure he had as his shoulders sank.

"Look, we'll just have to figure something else out." Sam said.

Dean looked at Mia before she saw his expression tilt toward mad. "You know what? Screw this."

"Excuse me?" Mia asked, watching as he turned and stated to walk off.

"Whoa, whoa, Dean, come on." Sam started, following after him.

"No, I mean, come on, guys." Dean said as Mia walked around the car to stand next to Sam. "What are we doing?"

"We're hunting a ghost." Sam answered matter-of-factly.

"A ghost, exactly. Who does that?" Dean asked with wide, scared eyes.

"Um, us." Mia said putting a hand on her back.

"Us. Right." Dean said tossing his hands out to the side. "And that is exactly why our lives suck." His words made Mia's brows rise as if she couldn't believe he said them. "Come on, we hunt monsters." He pointed at Mia, "You're a pregnant woman hunting monsters. I mean, what the hell?" Mia just gave Sam a look as she sighed and put her hands on her hips, then looked back at Dean. "I mean, normal people, they see a minster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no. We- We search out things that want to kill us. Huh? Huh? Or eat us. Even when we're gonna be bringing a baby into the world." he said with a motion between him and Mia. "You know who does that? Crazy people! We are insane." He said with a point at Sam and Mia.

"You know and then there's the-the bad diner food and, and then the skeevy motel rooms." Dead started pacing as he ranted. "and then the truck stop waitress with the bizarre rash." Mia's eyes raised as he motioned to his junk, but he ignored her. "I mean, who want's this life, Sam, huh? Seriously?" he stopped pacing and looked at his brother and Mia. "I mean, do you two actually like being stuck in a car with me 8 hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast, I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that because she does the same thing." He said with a point at Mia who crossed her arms over her chest. "And you," he pointed at Sam, "You're gassy. You eat half a burrito and you get toxic. I mean…you know what?" he tossed Sam the keys over the car. "You can forget it."

"Whoa, Dean, where are you going?" Sam asked.

Dean turned around and pointed to Sam. "Stay away from me, Sam, okay? Because I'm done with it. I'm done with the monsters and the, and the, and the, hellhounds and the ghost sickness and the damn Apocalypse." He said throwing his hands about ranting like a true crazy person before he started walking off. "I'm out. I'm done. I quit."

Sam and Mia sighed and looked at each other. "What are we gonna do with him?" Sam asked, watching Mia rub her temples in an attempt as warding off a headache.

"I'll…go after him. You…do whatever er…I don't know." she said as she took off in the direction Dean had went. It took a while for her catch up to him considering when she tried to jog all she did was waddle, but eventually she did. "Dean." He ignored her and kept walking. "Dean seriously, just because I'm pregnant doesn't mean I can't keep up with you." she called and he finally dropped his fast pace enough for her to be able to walk side by side with him. "Look, just…come back to the hotel with me."

"No, I told you. I'm done." He said not looking at her.

"Dean," she started.

But she was cut off by him asking, "What was that sound?"

"What sound?" she asked right before she heard a rustle in the woods next to them.

"That sound." He practically screamed. Then when a yorkie puppy with a pink bow on top of its head popped out of the woods, Dean screamed at the top of his lungs. Mia ducked her head and covered her ears from the loud piercing sound. When she looked up Dean was no longer at her side, but was running full speed away from her with the puppy trailing in behind him.

"Seriously?" she asked no one in particular as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and flipped it open. After hitting the number two button, Sam's number popped up and she hit send.

He answered after the second ring, "Hey, how'd it go with Dean?"

"It didn't." she answered flatly. "We ran into a yorkie and he ran away screaming like a little girl." She explained. "So now I'm stuck by myself on the side of the road."

"Tell me where you're at. I'll come get you." he said and she could hear the car keys rattling along with the thudding of feet.

She told him where she was at and a few minutes later Sam drove up then leaned across the seat, pushing the passenger side door open for her. "Thanks." She said with a tight smile as she tucked herself inside then shut the door and they drove off. They drove around for thirty minutes, looking for Dean before Maria spoke up. "I think we need to head back to the motel, we can't waste too much more time looking for him."

"Yeah, okay." Sam said then made a u-turn and headed toward the motel. When they walked into the room they found Dean sitting on the foot of their bed, looking sweaty, drinking a beer. "We looked everywhere for you, Dean." Sam said and Mia slammed the door. "How the hell did you get here?"

"I ran." He answered with wide eyes that immediately caused Mia to forget about how mad she was at him for leaving her in the middle of nowhere. She moved to lay on the bed next to him while Sam sat down on the second bed in the room. "What do we do now?" Dean asked them. "I mean, I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die, Sammy."

"No, you're not." Mia sighed as she sat up and hugged him from behind.

"Yeah, you are." When she heard Sam say these words she looked at him, just like Dean was. "You're going back."

"Back?" "What the hell, Sam?" Dean and Mia asked at the same time.

"Downstairs, Dean. Hell. It's about damn time too." Mia kept her hands on Dean, glaring at Sam while wondering what was making him say talk like this. "Truth is, you've been a real pain in my ass." But when Sam's voice got deeper and his eyes flashed yellow, Mia jerked her hands off of Dean. The yellow went away and Sam looked confused.

"Sam, he's hallucinating. He thinks you're yellow eyes." When she said this Dean suddenly flew to the wall, causing her to jump and look at him.

"Dean?" Sam yelled and went to his brother while Mia backed away, not wanting to get caught in the middle if things got bad.

"You get out of my brother you evil son of a bitch!" Dean yelled with his back pressed to the wall as if a demon was holding him there.

"Dean! Dean? Hey, hey, hey, Dean. Hey, Dean. Dean. Dean." Sam yelled pushing on his brother trying to get his attention. Eventually Dean took a deep breath and his eyes focused again as his breathing evened out and Sam backed off.

Seeing that he was now okay, Mia rushed over to him and pulled him into a hug. "You can't do that, okay?" she asked as she pulled back to look him in the eyes. "You've gotta stay with us." She said placing her shaking hands on each side of his face and he nodded before she kissed him.

Sam cleared his throat getting their attention. "You stay here with him. I'm gonna call Bobby, see if we can meet up and figure this thing out." He told her as he grabbed the keys and walked out.

Mia sank down on the bed and placed her head in her hands with a sigh. "You look tired." Dean's words made her look up at him. "You don't have to say up and babysit me. Get some sleep."

"No, I'm fine." She said, but a yawn defied her words.

"Mia, seriously. If I am gonna die I don't want you losing sleep over it." he said as he moved to sit down beside her. "Come on, lay down with me." he coaxed, gently pulling her down and into his side.

Just like he knew she would, after a few minutes her eyes slipped shut, her breathing became steady and little soothing snores left her mouth with every other breath she took. He hadn't planned on it, but curled up with her, he couldn't help but slip into a half sleep. But he didn't stay asleep for long before nightmares pulled him back to consciousness. So he eased out of bed to keep from waking Mia and flicked on the tv, turning the volume down.

Two hours later Dean's phone started ringing, waking Mia up. "Hey." Dean answered it sluggishly. Mia pulled herself out of bed and walked over to stand behind him with her hands on his shoulders. He groaned and turned the tv off before he said, "What is it?" then after a few seconds hung up the phone.

"So?" Mia asked and Dean stood up and walked around her to the couch, but didn't sit down.

"He said not to worry and that everything's goin' to be okay. He has a plan." He answered not looking at her, but over her shoulder at the wall. "Mia, I'm gonna die. His plans usually suck."

"Dean, look at me." Dean still didn't look at her so she placed her hands on his gritty cheeks and made him. "You are not going to die." She said sternly even though she felt like her heart was going to beat out of her chest. "You hear me? You're not. If Sam says he has a plan then he has a plan. Everything's going to be okay." He just kept starting at her, not saying anything. "Okay?" she asked while dramatically nodding her head.

He finally stared nodding with her and said, "Okay," as he pulled her to him in a tight hug. She was breathing in the smell of him, spicy body wash and a hint a sweat, when he jerked back from her and asked, "Do you hear that?"

"No, Dean…what, what do you hear?" she asked following his eyes to the door.

"Hellhounds." He said as he started looking around as if they were everywhere then jumped behind the chair to hide.

"Dean, there's no-" but she was cut off when the chain on the door started rattling. "What the-?" she whispered to herself then jumped back with a yelp when the door was busted in revealing Sheriff Britton. "Al?" she asked with a tilted head then noticed the bloody patch on his arm. "Sheriff, look at me, you have to calm down. You're sick, just like Dean."

"Mia, hide." Dean warned her, holding his arm out in front of her as if to protect her. She opened her mouth to protest, but her eyes landed on the gun in his hand. "Mia, go, now." Dean snapped so she held her hands up in a surrendering manor as she slowly walked to the bathroom to her right and shut herself in.

"Why are you looking into Luther Garland's death?" she heard Al ask.

"Hey, hey, you're sick. You're sick, alright?" Dean asked with a reasoning tone in his voice and a second later Mia heard the familiar smack of someone being punched then groaning coming from Dean.

"Frank O'Brian was my friend. So he made a mistake. So I didn't bust him. So what? And you're gonna bring me down over that?" Al yelled before she heard something fall to the ground then the familiar thuds and grunts of a fist fight. She heard the sound of glass busting before Al yelled "Get away from me!"

"Al, you gotta calm down!" Dean yelled and Mia released a sigh. He was talking, that meant he was still alive.

"Get back!" Al yelled then everything went silent.

"Dean?" she called, wondering what happened, and after a few seconds Dean opened the bathroom door and she flung herself into his arms. "What happened?" she asked as she pulled back, seeing the dead sheriff on top of the busted coffee table.

"He had a heart attack." He told her, still panting from the fight as he scratched at his arm.

"Stop scratching at that." She scolded as she grabbed his hand and pulled it from his forearm. "Come on," she gave his hand a tug before she led him to the bed and sat him down, "I'll get some ice packs for your arms. Maybe that will help." She sighed then went to the fridge to get some ice.

"You are not real!" she heard Dean yell and by the time she got to him he was doubled over on the floor on his hands and knees, gripping his chest. "You're not real." He panted as Mia eased herself to her knees in front of Dean. "Why me? Why did I get infected?" he asked as Mia picked his head up to look at her.

As soon as she touched him a sweet innocent voice bounced around in her head. "Silly goose. You know why, Dean. Listen you your heart."

"Dean, whatever you're seeing, it's not real." Mia said, urging him to look her in the eyes.

"Ba-boom" The child like voice echoed in her head. "Ba-boom."

"Dean, don't listen to her, baby." She said and Dean's face was pulled from her hands as he fell back onto his butt and stared scooting away from her, staring at her as if she was about to hurt him. So she scooted closer to him and gripped his face in her hands. Her pinky landed on the base of his jaw and she could feel his rapid heart rate. Tears started streaming down her face. He was having a heart attack. "Dean, baby look at me, see me. I'm right here." She cried, trying with all her strength to will away the hallucination he was having. Hoping she could push the child's voice out of both of their heads. "See me, Dean."

"Mia?" he asked in a strained voice as his eyes searched hers. "But, Lilith…she was…you were-." He panted still gripping his chest and groaning in pain.

"No, there's no Lilith. Just me." she said. "Try to calm down, please." He looked relieved for a moment before he doubled over screaming in pain, no longer able to talk. She cried as she wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him to her chest. He was gurgling, as if he couldn't breathe. When he got quiet, Mia's heart fell thinking he had just died.

But then all of a sudden he inhaled a deep breath. She yelped and pushed him away to see that his eyes were open and his chest was moving. He looked at her for a second then checked both of his arms to see that the rashes were gone. "Son of a bitch." He sighed as he let his arms fall to the floor, relaxed and relieved.

Mia scooted away and put a hand on her belly as she eased down to lay on the floor then stared up at the ceiling, thanking God.


"So you guys road hauled a ghost…with a chain?" Dean asked as he handed Sam and Bobby a beer out of the cooler in the Impala.

"Iron chain, etched with spell work." added Sam who used his beer to point at Bobby, who smiled cockily.

"Hmm. Well that's a new one." Dean said as he took a swig out of the bottle and wrapped his arm around Mia.

"It's what he was most afraid of." Sam said. "It was pretty brutal though."

"On the upside, I'm still alive so, uh, go team." Dean said holding his bottle up as if to make a toast.

"Yeah, uh, how you feeling by the way?" Sam asked then took a drink.

"Fine." Dean answered with a head shake.

"You're sure, Dean?" Bobby asked. "Because this line of work can get awful scary."

Mia snickered behind her hand. "I'm fine. What, you wanna go hunt? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything." Dean said standing up straighter.

"Aww." Cooed Sam.

"He's adorable." Bobby taunted and everyone laughed but Dean.

Dean turned to glare at a laughing Mia. "What, I'm sorry. You're kinda cute when you're scared." She defended and Sam and Bobby laughed.

"Whatever." Dean huffed then turned from her and took a drink.

"I gotta get out of here." Bobby said as he headed to his car. "You boys drive safe." He called as he walked around the car and pulled the door open. "And take care of that girl." He pointed at Dean before he looked at Mia. "My door's always open to ya if 'n' when you need settle down for a while."

Mia gave him a smile as she walked over and gave him a hug. "Thanks. We appreciate it." she told him as she pulled out of the hug and pecked him on the cheek. "See you." she said then walked back around the car as he got in and cranked it.

When she got close to Dean he hooked his arm around her waist and pulled her into his side. "You want to go stay with him don't you?" he asked making her look away from Bobby's fading car and up to him.

"Not today, but eventually. When the time is right." She answered quietly and he just nodded and kissed the top of her head.

A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update this story. My husband lost his job a week before Christmas and I've been too stressed to write. But hopefully he will get the job he is interviewing for today. So if you guys that pray would pray for us and all the others who have gotten laid off recently it would be greatly appreciated. If you don't pray then…wish us luck I guess? Thanks everyone and best wishes to all.