He would deal with Rowena soon enough. For now, he had bigger problems to worry about. His queen was not being treated as such, and her life was in danger. Not only that, but he was beginning to worry that his own life was in danger because it was essentially his fault Sam and Dean's sister had almost died.

He sighed again. There was too much to worry about, but he would have to start somewhere. And somehow he would have to earn Rose's forgiveness again.

CHAPTER THIRTY EIGHT

In which Rose is getting worse

Written to: The Last Agni Kai from Avatar: The Last Airbender

Listenonrepeat: /?v=yFnnNijn_OI#Last_Agni_Kai_%5BAvatar_Soundtrack%5D

WARNING: This chapter is more violent/graphic than usual. It involves death, anxiety as a result of PTSD, and (to an extent) abuse. If this is something that bothers you, wait for the next chapter. You won't miss anything.

Dean's head tumbled to the ground. His body collapsed into the thick layer of blood that coated the floor. Rose's combat boots splashed through the gelatinous liquid. She took the blade in her hand and ran it across the fabric of her plaid button-up, wiping the sharp metal clean. Her throat vibrated as she hummed absentmindedly.

Sam came sprinting into the room. He was barely able to shout out his sister's name before she stabbed him through the midsection. The flickering light above twinkled on Rose's broad, toothy, malicious smile. Sam Winchester's rigid body slid off the blade and hit the ground with a thud and a splash. He clutched at the wound while struggling to look up at his sister.

But Rose paid him no mind. She left his body behind to rot along with the other members of the growing Winchester family.

Crowley entered the room just as Rose reached the door. With her free hand, Rose reached up and ran the back of her fingers against the stubble along his jawline. She pulled him close to her and let her lips hover over his before kissing him.

She kissed him softly - passionately. Her hand gripped the back of his neck. She felt his panicked grimace melt into a calm smile against her tender skin. She could taste the Craig and sulfur on his lips. She could feel his stubble scratching against her worn skin. Crowley reached an arm around her waist. His other hand entangled itself in her short, brown hair. He let his body meld against her fit form, the fabric of his thousand dollar suit pressing against the bloody layers she wore.

Then his entire body tensed.

Rose pulled away with a smile and a horrifying glint in her eyes. She yanked the blade from his abdomen. Still, Crowley did not fall.

Rose struck again - and again, and again, and again. Another time in his stomach, twice in his heart, then thrice in his throat - the last of which sprayed so much blood it vaguely resembled Angel Falls and coated Rose's entire face with the metallic, red liquid.

When Crowley at last fell, clutching his throat and reaching out for his wife, Rose didn't so much as bat an eye. She cleaned her blade once more, then neatly stepped over his corpse.

The blood beneath her feet squished with every step. She stopped just beyond the doorway to turn and admire her work. Rose's malevolent, deep laughter started in her throat. The more she took in the sight, the more she smiled. The more she smiled, the more she laughed. Her laugh grew from a faint sound easily mistaken for huffing to what one might describe as the Disney villain's triumphant moment of sick joy.

Her head was practically thrown back and her body shook with demonic laughter. She laughed, and smiled, and laughed -

And she screamed.

Rose threw herself from the bed, nearly tripping over every blanket on the way. When her instinctive scream of terror ran out of air and she regained her bearings, Rose was hyperventilating. Cold sweat dripped down every inch of her body. To say she had a bad case of bedhead was an understatement.

"It's okay - just a dream. Just a dream. I'm okay. Everything's okay." Rose muttered each statement over and over again. The first thing she did when she regained control of her actions was to grab her right forearm and inspect it.

There was nothing. As always. The Mark of Cain was still gone, and there wasn't even a trace of it left. At least, there was no physical trace.

"Rose? Are you alright?" Gavin rapped lightly on the door.

Rose jumped, falling back onto the bed with a frightened grunt. She took a deep breath, attempted to run a hand through her knotted hair, then answered in a broken voice: "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a bad dream. I'll be down in a minute."

Behind the door, Gavin nodded more to himself, then padded away. Unfortunately, this had become a regular thing. He knew there was something wrong with Rose, but she had no intention of talking about it.

It had been two, agonizingly long weeks since Crowley left. Rose hadn't heard so much as one word from Crowley and she was getting worse. Her nightmares grew more terrifying with each night and each day brought the horrible reminder that her life felt like it was crumbling. On top of that, she was under house arrest - though not entirely by her family's force. She physically could not go anywhere. While she was recovering from her near death experience, Rose found it annoyingly difficult to perform any spells let alone use conveyance. She would gladly go explore the local area surrounding the cottage, but Crowley had purchased so much land that it would be at least a day's walk to simply get off the property.

Gavin, on the other hand, was having a grand old time. Though Rose was a bit incapacitated for the time being, she was still insistent on training him. She couldn't spar with him, but she could teach him how to shoot and grill him on the trivia. There was no way he would actually be hunting, but Gavin wanted to be prepared and capable. No longer would he feel worthless and dumb - he had a new life now.

Frankly, the target practice was therapeutic for Rose. Normally, she would've thrown some things, broken some things, and maybe put a few holes in the wall, but after Gavin's last reaction to her anger, Rose refused to do that to him again. Putting some holes in paper targets was the next best thing she could manage at the moment.

Each night of those two weeks, Rose slept alone. Either Crowley was extremely busy, or they were actually having a fight. Rose couldn't decide which. Part of her was glad that she didn't have to deal with a confrontation while she was still feeling so weak, but another part was upset that he wasn't there with her.

Her nightmares were getting worse, and Rose could feel it dripping into reality. All she wanted to do was shoot someone, maybe slit a throat or two. She had first blamed it on her bottled rage, but now she was beginning to worry that it was so much worse than that.

"Sammy, I'm sorry. I don't really have any access to books right now. House arrest is pretty much killing me at this point."

"Don't worry about it, Rose. I can do plenty of research on my own. Just take it easy."

"I'm tired of taking it easy!" Rose snapped. "All I've done is take it easy, and I told you I would look into it!"

"Really, it's fine. I've got it." Sam sighed sympathetically. Rose could picture him running a hand over his hair. "Look, you almost died. You deserve some time off."

"I've had plenty of-"

"And you've got other stuff to worry about."

"Nothing is more important than getting rid of the Mark of Cain for good. It needs to go."

"And it will, but not if you run yourself ragged in the process." Sam countered patiently. He had a little too much experience dealing with Rose's emotions.

Rose sighed and bit down on her cheek. Her lips pursed together as she huffed again. "Fine. But the second you get a lead, I better be the first person you call."

"You will. Rest up, Rose." Then the call ended.

Rose huffed again, her tensed vocal chords emitted a barely audible growl as the air traveled through her throat. She gripped the phone as if she were strangling it. Her eyes squeezed shut and her hands shook. She was just so damn tired of feeling so useless. She was so damn sick of people keeping her just outside of the loop. She was so fucking done with being treated like she was incapable of doing things.

Two whole fucking weeks and the only person that treated her with any respect was Gavin. Two whole weeks and she hadn't even heard from her husband. Seven years and her brothers were still treating her like a little girl.

Rose hadn't meant to explode. In fact, she didn't even realize she had done anything until it was too late to stop. Her phone was shattered across the room, the lamp was smashed on the floor, the roses in the vase were mutilated, and every piece of furniture was flipped upside down. She only came to her senses when she noticed that she was no longer alone in the living room.

"Have I come at a bad time?" The King of Hell's cocky, snarky, pompous accent rang through the room like a gunshot to Rose's ears. Instantly, she spun on a dime and marched right up to him. Without a word, Rose punched him and sent him stumbling backwards. She removed the gun she carried from the back of the waist of her jeans, aimed directly at him, then shot him twice before pausing. One bullet landed in his left shoulder, the other his right knee.

"What the bloody hell was that for?!" Crowley roared as he stumbled again.

"You insult me, try to dethrone me, leave without so much as a note, then leave me in the dark for two weeks and you don't expect me to shoot you?!" Rose shouted right back. Her gun still ready and aimed, she slowly approached Crowley. Her eyes were wide and her nose flaring. 14 days worth of boiling rage was finally exploding. It was like Pompeii going off at the same time a massive asteroid decided to wipe out all living things.

"It's not like you were in any mood to talk with me!" He tried to reason.

Rose shot again, this time hitting his left foot. Crowley at last collapsed onto the chair laying sideways on the floor. "So you think leaving me alone while I'm under house arrest is a good idea?! You think keeping me from doing my job is a good idea?! I'm not a delicate fucking little flower! I never have been! So stop fucking treating me like one!"

Rose sucked in deep, labored breaths. Her heart was pounding in her ears and the world was still a little fuzzy.

"Rose, love, please put the gun down and let me explain."

She didn't move at first. As her breathing slowed and her vision cleared, Rose regained control of herself and clarity of the situation. Rose instantly dropped the gun and took three swift paces backwards. The weapon fell to the floor with a clatter. Her eyes were wider than plates and her breathing switched to hyperventilation.

Rose tried to say everything from 'I'm sorry' to 'I didn't mean to' and every possible, regretful, and panicked phrase she could think of, but it all came out as incoherent babbling mostly repeating the letter 'I.' Instead of wringing her hands, her left hand wrung the skin on her right forearm, clutching it to the point where she felt pins and needles in both hands.

Of all the things to happen, Crowley hadn't expected that to happen. The shooting and the rage and the yelling - that he expected. This was completely out of character for Rose. In the entire time he'd known her, Rose had never once shied away from making her point no matter how violent. This wasn't even close to the first time she had shot him or just plain injured him. He had never seen her act like….like this.

"Rose? Love? Are you alright?" Crowley bit back the twinge of pain in order to stand and limp his way towards his queen. Rose took two more baby steps backwards, nearly tripping on a fallen table. Crowley reached forward, attempting to grab her. Rose flinched and condensed her body as much as she could while standing.

"Don't-" Rose shook her head violently. "I don't want to hurt you."

Crowley almost laughed. "You won't. This isn't the first time you've done this and it won't be the last. You went easy on me this time around. Besides, I've spent some time in Hell - this is nothing."

Rose swallowed hard. Her jaw was starting to quiver and her legs were growing weak. Crowley rushed forward and managed to embrace her before she fell. However, they both fell to the ground in the process. Rose was firmly within his grip and sitting upon his lap.

"What on earth is this about?" Crowley pressed. She may be a stubborn Winchester, but she was sure as hell going to talk to him. Rose shook her head and continued to retreat within herself. Crowley sighed. "A little bird told me you hadn't been sleeping well. This is about that, isn't it?"

Rose hiccuped, squeezed her eyes shut, then gave a curt nod.

"They're getting worse." She whispered. "I'm getting worse. The Mark left something behind and it's corrupting me."

Crowley ran a hand along her hair. Rose sighed and let her head fall to rest against his neck. She took a deep breath and took in his familiar, sulfuric, expensively fragranced scent.

"Perhaps now would be a good time to go on our honeymoon." Crowley's deep voice vibrated through Rose's skull, lulling her.

"But-"

"No buts. You need some real rest and relaxation, I could use a break from my mother, and your brothers can manage without you."

Rose sighed again, intending to go on to protest, but Crowley yet again cut her off before she could start.

"Besides, I think I have some things to make up for."

"You think a vacation is going to make up for the last two weeks?" Rose retorted.

"Have some faith, Flower." Crowley pulled her head up to kiss her. He had missed her and her soft, delicious lips. More importantly, he had missed all those nights he was supposed to spend with her. When he pulled away to speak, Rose could see the lust glowing in his eyes. "Tomorrow we will pick a place and go on our honeymoon. But right now, I believe I have 14 missed nights to make up for."

Rose couldn't help but laugh. She licked her lips, then rested her nose on his. "Actually, it's 15 nights, and this would technically be 16."

Then with another passionate, lustful kiss and a snap of the King's fingers, the royal couple exchanged the partially destroyed living room for the comforts of the their bed.

Rose had a feeling that if she slept at all tonight, she would sleep incredibly well for the first time in weeks.

Hello, lovelies! As tense as this chapter was, I actually had a lot of fun writing it. It took three tries to get it just the way I wanted, but I'm pretty happy with it. I've been working on improving my imagery, and I think it wasn't half bad this chapter!

Anywho, I've been working on outlining so that I can crank out more chapters, but have actually just run myself into a bit of a roadblock. If anyone has any suggestions for a honeymoon location, please let me know ASAP!

A HUGE thank you to Kagalei for the feedback! If it ends up being decided that Rose and Crowley won't have a child, I will absolutely do a oneshot or maybe even a drabble series where they do!

On that note, I'm gonna go to bed and hopefully dream up some wonderful ideas to write! As always, my box is always open for anything! I do not own Supernatural, but I do own Marian Rose Winchester and anything that isn't canon and/or widely accepted by the fandom.