Summary: Dean was dead for four months. Chloe deals. [Five stages of grief]

-denial-

"He's fine," Chloe told herself again. Somewhere deep down, she knew she was lying. She had the IQ of a supercomputer and the odds were not in Dean's favor, no matter which way she did the calculations.

But she wasn't going to think like that, because if she was going to stay sane in prison she had to believe he was fine. Dean was alive, because his brother had saved him. And as soon as Clark found a way to save her from her cell, she was going to meet up with the brothers again, and make Dean promise to never ever make another deal with his soul.

Things would go back to normal as soon as she got out. She would help them stop the apocalypse, Dean would argue with her about helping on a hunt, and Sam would keep smiling because he would still have his brother.

Please. She squeezed her eyes shut and willed her mind to stop counting the odds. "Please, Dean."

He wasn't dead.

He wasn't.

Escape prison. Learn what happened. Visit Dean's grave. Cry. Become possessed by Ruby.

-anger-

"You're working with a demon?" Chloe asked, her voice straining to stay at a level below yelling.

Sam glared, all the concern he'd had over her possession vanished. "Don't you dare lecture me. You have no idea what I'm going through," he snapped, obviously not bothering to hold his own tone in check.

"She's a demon, Sam. They're evil. Nothing you've gone through could possibly make that okay," she snapped back, wondering at their ability to go from calm to yelling in seconds. This was what she and Dean did, not Sam. Sam smiled and comforted, and let her comfort him.

"I'm trying to save my brother!"

"Find a different way!"

Sam's glare sharpened, but Chloe didn't back down. She need to yell. She needed to get through to him. "She's helping me," he argued.

"How? With your 'powers'?" she asked, spitting back the words she remembered Ruby using when she'd been possessed. "Because whatever she's doing it can't be good. She's not your friend, Sam. You have to know that."

"She saved my life!"

"She's still evil!"

"Yeah?" Sam shot back, and she briefly thought she saw his anger fade. "Well maybe I am too."

Chloe's anger faltered and she almost gave in.

Almost.

"Don't you dare say that," she ground out, shoving a hand against his chest. "It's an insult to you and your brother."

If it was possible, Sam looked even more angry. "Don't talk about Dean."

"Why? Someone has to." She was poking a wild animal, but she didn't stop. The animal

needed a wake-up call. "He went to Hell and you're just begging to follow!"

"You don't know what you're talking about!"

She shook her head and glared right back. "Then tell me."

Fight with Sam (some more). Get attacked by a demon. Witness Sam's powers. Promise not to tell. Leave.

-bargaining-

Chloe stood and brushed the dirt from her hands, ignoring the way they shook. Her mind screamed at her to leave, but she didn't. She had to know. There had to be a way.

"Well this is nauseatingly touching," a voice teased from behind her. She turned and frowned at the smirking man. "You've come to bargain for Dean's soul." His eyes flashed red as he stepped closer. "Did Dean know how much you cared?"

"What do I have to do?" Chloe asked, her voice trembling as much as her hands.

"To save your precious Dean?" The demon shrugged. "Nothing."

"Nothing?" It couldn't be that simple.

"Yep, you don't have to do anything." He smiled and moved closer until he was staring down at her. "Because I'm not going to make a deal."

"What?"

"Oh don't look so surprised, honey. My coworker wouldn't bargain with Sam, what makes you think I'd bargain with you?"

"Please," Chloe whispered without even realizing she'd spoken out loud. "Just tell me there's some way to save him."

She wouldn't sell her soul. She knew she couldn't, because if she did Dean would never forgive her. But there had to be something.

There had to be a way to save Dean.

Sam needed him.

"Sorry. Dean's not making a return trip."

"Please." Chloe closed her eyes to keep the tears at bay. "There has to be a way. Please."

When she opened them again, the demon was gone.

Cry at crossroads. Curse demons and Hell and stupid, self-sacrificing brothers. Go to Bobby's. Get new charm.

-depression-

"I promised him, Bobby." Chloe wiped at her eyes, wondering when she'd finally run out of tears. "I told him I wasn't going to let him die, and now he's dead. And I promised to look after Sam, and now he's disappeared."

She kept her attention on the floor in front of her, avoiding Bobby's face. She had little doubt her tears and words made him uncomfortable, but neither would stop. Dean was burning in Hell and all she could do was cry about it.

She couldn't even keep her promise.

"It's not fair."

The couch shifted under Bobby's weight as he sat next to her. "No, it's not, but it's done." He dropped a heavy hand on her shoulder and squeezed until she looked at him. "He made that deal before he met you. There was nothing you could have done to stop him. Beating yourself up about it isn't going to bring him back."

His eyes were bloodshot, but she couldn't tell if it was from tears or the bottles of alcohol around his home. Or both.

"Sam's a wreck."

"I know."

Chloe leaned forward, resting her face in her hands. "I broke my promise."

Bobby's hand moved across her back, squeezing her other shoulder. "There's still time."

She leaned into his touch briefly, before pulling away to face him. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"You shouldn't be comforting me. You knew him longer." She frowned, bothered by her own selfishness. "All I ever did was butt heads with him. I should be comforting you."

Bobby shook his head. "I don't do the whole touchy-feely thing." He offered her a small smile then wound his arm back around her shoulders and pulled her against him.

"I miss him," she whispered, pressing her face into his chest as another sob shook her shoulders. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was ashamed of her tears and wanted nothing more than to pull herself together. But for now she let it go. She needed this.

Bobby nodded. "Me too.

Cry some more. Share a drink with Bobby. Drink to Dean. Drink to Sam. Drink to the future.

-acceptance-

Once she put her new superbrain to work, it took less than two hours to track down Sam. She was tempted to visit him and attempt another round of arguing, but decided against it. Sam needed his space for the moment, and she was going to give it to him.

But she wasn't going to let him fall off the grid again. She knew he was lost without his brother, and she'd already seen what he was willing to do without him.

Dean was dead.

The thought still hurt like poking a wound, but she knew she had to move on. Dean was dead, but Sam was still alive.

And she had a promise to keep.

Live.