Epilogue

Five weeks ago

"Would you keep an eye on Liz?" Dean asked Bobby.

Bobby nodded. "Sure. Is something wrong?"

Dean shrugged. "I don't know. She's just been off lately."

"Off how?"

"I don't know how to describe it exactly. She's crying for no reason…and other things. I think it's got something to do with what her dad showed her, but she denies it."

"Okay. I'll keep an eye on her and make sure she's okay. I'll give you a call if I need you."

"Thanks, Bobby. Sometimes I don't know what I'd do without you."

Bobby smiled tightly and waved goodbye. He waited for Dean to leave the room, then walked to the window and watched him get into the rental car and leave.

He made sure the car had disappeared down the drive before heading into the kitchen. He pulled a chair against the counter and stood on it to reach the top shelf. He dug in the back and pulled out a manila envelope then crawled down and sat the envelope on the table.

He waited an hour before he went to look for Liz. He found her on Dean's bed. She was turned away from him looking out the window with her legs pulled to her chest.

"You ready?" he asked.

Liz slowly spun away from the window and focused on Bobby. She was barely recognizable. She was wearing colored contact lenses that made her eyes look almost yellow and had chopped her hair to chin length and bleached it. Her eye makeup was heavy, and she had on bright red lipstick.

"Not really," she replied, "but I don't think I ever will be."

"It's not too late to change your mind, Liz."

"I'm fine," she insisted. A tear broke free from the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek, though. She wiped it away carefully to keep from smudging the makeup. "I know this is for the best. I guess I just need to mourn a little bit for myself. I just…he is never going to understand if he finds out."

"That's why he's never going to find out," Bobby reminded her then handed her the envelope he had retrieved from the kitchen. "Here's your new identity. Call me when you get to Seattle."

Liz buried her tears. "Will do," she promised. She shifted back and forth on her feet restlessly. "Would you give Dean something for me?"

Bobby face closed into a severe look. "Liz," he said in a warning tone.

"It's nothing that can trace back to me," Liz assured him. "It was supposed to be my anniversary gift to him, and I'd really like for him to have it." She held out the envelope with pleading eyes. "Please, give it to him."

Bobby took the envelope from her, but he was clearly unhappy about it. "Here are the keys to my car," he told her gruffly. "You know where to leave it."

"Thank you, Bobby," she said gratefully. She took the keys and hugged him to her.

He patted her shoulder awkwardly and waited for her to turn him loose.

When she did, tears glistened in her eyes. She violently wiped them away, uncaring of the streaks of mascara the movement caused.

Bobby cleared his suddenly raw throat. "Take care of yourself, Liz. I'll be in touch when things settle down a little bit around here, and we can figure out how this is going to work," he told her. He looked at her sympathetically. "Don't forget to leave me your wedding ring."

Liz looked at the ring on her finger with a distance in her eyes. She slid it off and dropped it into Bobby's waiting hand. She no longer bothered to stop the tears from spilling down her face.

"I'll see you soon," she said dazedly, watching as Bobby stuffed her wedding ring into his front pocket.

Bobby waited until Liz was looking at him again. "I just wanted to say that I admire you, Liz. You're one of the strongest, bravest people I've met. There aren't a lot of people that would give up what you are about to. It says a lot that you are willing to sacrifice so much for this. Honestly, I wish there was another way because I've never seen Dean as happy as he's been these last couple of weeks, but I can't think of one. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if the fate of the world had to be left in someone's hands, I'm glad it was left in yours."

Liz swallowed hard but could not stop the tears from falling. She swallowed several more times until she was able to push them back down. She hugged Bobby to her again, and this time, he hugged her back.

"Goodbye, Bobby," she said in a choked up whisper. "Take care of him."

There were tears in Bobby's eyes when he pulled away. "I'll try my best, but you and I both know he pretty much takes care of himself."

Liz's laugh snuck up on her. "He does," she agreed. Her smile was bittersweet.

She turned Bobby loose and headed for the door. She walked out of the room and the house without looking back. For all she knew, it would be the last time she set foot in the place. She tried not to think about that as she climbed into Bobby's car and turned on the ignition.

Bobby did not watch her leave. He was afraid he might stop her, and there was too much at stake for him to do that. He listened as his car started and drove away. When he could no longer hear the engine, he looked at the clock and estimated how much longer it would take before Dean and Sam got where they were going. They would lose phone reception not long before they got to their destination, and Bobby wanted to make sure there would be no danger of them answering the phone.

He waited until he was sure that Dean would not get the call and dialed his number. Even so, Bobby sighed in relief when the call went straight to voicemail.

He waited for the beep that let him know he could start his message. The beep came on, and Bobby made his voice sound as frantic as he could: "Dean, this is Bobby. Something's wrong with Liz. Call me when you get this."

The End

Sequel is called "The Dead Will Rise." I should have the Prologue and possibly Chapter One posted tomorrow.