A/n. same episode as before, "slash fiction" from season seven.

Thanks SO much for reviewing, and special thanks to a couple of family members who have been nice enough to read and tell me their thoughts.

Chapter Five

"You've got to pull yourself together Alice, and stay alert. Can you do that?"

I had been standing at the door of the Tardis for a full minute after we landed. After the Doctor described the fresh hell that were the Levithans to me, I had settled into, what I can only call, a state of shock.

I nodded my head.

He spun me around to face him, "I'm not going to let them get to you Alice. Trust me."

"They eat people." For some reason, this was the aspect of these creatures I couldn't quite wrap my brain around.

The Doctor put his head in his hands. "Oh Alice, LOTS of creatures eat people."

I looked up at his face in unbelief, "I'm sorry, was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Yes, quite right. Sorry about that." He pushed the door open, and shoved me outside.

"I want you to take this, just in case something goes wrong."

He took a chain from around his neck, and slipped it over my head. I picked up the Tardis key that dangled from the end. "What am I going to do with this?"

"The Tardis knows how to keep you safe Alice. If anything were to happen to me, it would take you to River. She will know what to do."

I nodded, even though I didn't really understand. Is wasn't sure I wanted to know exactly what he thought might go wrong.

I spun around and got my first look of Ankeny. I had been to Iowa before, on investigations, but never to this town.

We were on a side street, and I could hear shouting in the distance. We glanced at each other, and then ran toward where the yelling was coming from.

"Shut up and put your hands in the air!"

I watched the police put handcuffs on Sam and Dean. "Is that them? The real them?"

"Alice, look." I glanced in the direction the Doctor pointed, and watched the fake impala drive by, with the fake Sam and Dean sitting inside."

"Well shit, what do we do now?" I asked, as I watched the police drive away with the real Winchesters sitting in the back of the car.

"I'm not sure that language is absolutely necessary Alice."

"Really? You're going to lecture me about language right now?"

The Doctor spun around on his heels, "yes, it's a distraction technique, so that you won't notice that I have no idea what to do."

"Awesome." I put my head in my hands.

"Ah ha! I've got it. To the Tardis!" He grabbed my arm, and led me back inside.

"I'm sorry, where are we going?"

"Just down the street actually. We have some shopping to do." He pulled the lever with flair, and flopped back into his seat. "Wait. You have money right?"

I rolled my eyes, and sat down to sift through my backpack.

Dean sat back on the bench inside the cell. The sheriff had finally let him talk to Bobby, and at least now they had a chance of stopping them if he could get his hands on some of the cleaning agent Bobby had told him about. But he couldn't do anything to help from inside this cage.

It was only moments before the sheriff came back on wobbly legs, his face drained of color.

Dean knew from the man's expression he had seen what couldn't be unseen. "What is it? What happened?"

The sheriff's brain fumbled through, looking for a way of explaining that he watched one of his deputies eat another one. Only to turn into Sam Winchester moments later. How do you describe that.

"I...It's just... I don't know what I just saw."

"Let me out of here." Dean commanded, and the sheriff found himself complying without argument.

His addled brain tried to make sense of what he was hearing, when Dean told him to go to the supply closet to look for anything with the word "borax" written on it. And again, he just nodded his head and decided to do what the man instructed. At this point, what did he have to lose?

He carefully made his way to the back of the office, his legs shaking, his heart pounding out of his chest. It was probably only moments, but it felt like forever as he crept his way toward the closet, trying not to be spotted.

He took a deep breath when he reached it, and opened the door and walked inside looking around himself at the stacks of cleaning equipment and other supplies. They looked innumerable around him. He quietly closed the door behind him, and quickly started sifting through bottles. Pulling one after another off the shelf, looking for the word borax. By the time he made his way to the back of the closet, he felt as though he wanted to sink to his knees and cry. Not one bottle, box, or bag had the word written on it. He felt despair overtake him, and he put his head in his hands.

Suddenly there was the strangest noise, coming from just outside. And he watched in terror as the door to the closet opened slowly.

The Doctor pulled Alice toward the double doors of the grocery store.

"What exactly are we shopping for?" She asked when they stepped inside, and the Doctor just kind of stood there with a look of confusion.

"Sodium borate."

"Sodium what what?" Alice looked over at him. "I have no idea what that is, are we really going to find it in a grocery store?"

The Doctor waved his hand at her, "yes, yes, I believe humans use it as a cleaning agent."

"Okay, this way then." Alice took his hand, and led him toward, what looked to be the side of the store that held the non food items.

She stood at the end of the aisle, and watched him slowly work his way down, as he read and talked to himself.

"No, no no. Nope, not that. Mr. Clean? Who is that? Nope, no, AH HA! Here we go." Alice moved forward as he bent down to the bottom shelf.

"Here Alice, carry these." He passed her two gallon sized bottles of what looked like bleach.

She struggled to hold both, as he grabbed two more. "Do we really need this much?"

"Do you really want to find out that we need this much, and we don't have this much?"

"Good point."

They rushed through the checkout line, and back to the waiting Tardis. The Doctor gave Alice a quick explanation as to what she should do, and then sent her out with two of the bottles as soon as they stopped.

Alice stepped out of the Tardis door quietly, and looked around.

"Its there." The Doctor pointed in front of her, awkwardly as he picked up the other two bottles of cleaner.

She saw the supply closet directly in front of her, and made her way there quickly. She reached for the door handle, and then realized the man on the other side was probably terrified, AND had a gun.

She put the bottles down at her feet, and opened the door slowly, showing both of her empty hands as she did so. "Please don't shoot me." She whispered to the man, as she opened the door completely.

She had no reason to fear, she realized once she saw the man's pale face, and shaking body.

He tilted his head, and looked at her with absolute bafflement. "Who the hell are you?"

She tried to smile reassuringly, and look harmless. "I'm here to help." She bent down and picked up the bottles at her feet.

"Pour one in a bucket, but take them both with you." She pushed the bottles into his shaking arms. "We have two more bottles, those will be left here in the hallway. Just in case."

"We?" He asked in total confusion.

"That doesn't matter." She replied, but still he didn't move, he just looked at her with eyes that were a million miles away. "SHERIFF?" She stated forcefully, shaking him from his stupor. "You should hurry." The sound of glass breaking startled them both, and finally pushed him to action.

"Be careful" She said, as she ran back out of the doorway and back to the Tardis.

With shaky hands, the sheriff poured and entire bottle of the stuff into a bucket, as the girl instructed. He heard the strange sound again, but ignored it as he opened the other bottle, and prepared to take that one with him as well.

He could hear the scuffling of a fight, and he rushed forward carrying both the bucket and the bottle. As he made his way toward the fighting, he saw two more bottles sitting in the hallway, just as the girl had promised. He suddenly felt reassured, and less afraid. At least someone seemed to be watching out for him.

He rushed quietly into the room, and having no idea what would happen, he threw the entire bucket of cleaner onto the back of the man who was assaulting Dean Winchester.

He was surprised by the amount of triumph he felt, as it screamed in pain, its hands going to its burning face. And then he heard the "whump" of the creature's head hitting the floor as Dean struck it with a fire axe.

"Good work sheriff." Dean stated, and the sheriff placed the second bottle of cleaner into Dean's hand.

"It wasn't me...there was a blond girl..." He started to explain, but Dean just pushed him aside, and went to look for Sam.

The sheriff looked down at the head that layed at his feet. He remembered what the man on the phone had said about keep them separated from the body, and he kicked it as far across the room as he could, before he turned and followed Dean into the interrogation room with more confidence than he had felt since this day started.