Before…

"Both," she answered, daring him to argue. "I choose both of them."


Chuck shook his head as he crossed out his work. It wasn't right—not anymore. In the past, his visions had never changed. There had never been a do-over of what was to come—until now.

"Nothing is set in stone."

After Castiel and Dean had arrived at his apartment, his vision of the end of the world had changed. Lucifer still broke free, but in the end, the Sam and Dean had been standing side-by-side, together again. Dean hadn't stopped the final Seal, but he'd found his brother.

But the end had changed again.


Lilith's blood continued to circle the convent floor and the two brothers beside it stood oblivious—or uncaring. For the moment all that mattered was the rift between them. The rift that, moments earlier, had seemed unmendable.

"Sam? Dean?"

Both brothers looked up in surprise as someone joined them. Relief and fear fought for position in her eyes as she watched them stand on the cursed ground. Wordlessly, she moved to stand in front of them, looking expectantly from one brother to the other.

It was unusual for her to be silent, but the moment called for it. Lucifer was rising behind them. Words were meaningless. With determination, the newcomer reached forward and grabbed a hold of each man, gesturing to the door with her head, a clear suggestion of departure.

Before anyone could move, the pattern of blood completed and white light burst suddenly from the center. The floor shook as the blinding light grew brighter and coated the room with its brilliance. All three shared a mutual look of fear, sensing the end. The woman's grip on the men tightened as the brothers reached for each other, longing for safety in the person that mattered most.

Linked, they formed their own circle, mirroring the one growing behind them.

"Let's go," Dean insisted, not in the mood to think about matching circles and their respective links. He pulled, urging the group towards the door, but Sam remained rooted where he stood, stopping the three of them from moving further. Terror flickered in his eyes as he watched the end erupt from the convent floor.

Beside him, his companions froze as well. The oncoming horror mesmerizing them momentarily.

"He's coming," Sam whispered.


Now…

"Come on!"

It only took a second before hesitation was replaced by instinct, and the three of them hurried to the door. Almost predictably, the door slammed shut, cutting off their only exit, and no amount of pounding or tugging was going to reopen it.

Chloe looked from one brother to the next, a list of questions passing between them, and no answers.

The light from the convent floor grew, bringing with it an ear-piercing noise that had all three of them reaching to protect their ears, and brought them to their knees.

We lost, Chloe thought then squeezed her eyes shut.


Suddenly, something shifted and everything stopped. The light faded, the noise vanished, and Chloe blinked her eyes open, slowly bringing her hands down.

An airplane. They were on an airplane, flying over the place they'd just been trapped inside. We're alive, Chloe realized, even as the plane fell into chaos.


"This isn't a game, son."

Chloe shook her head, watching Zachariah try to intimidate Dean into submission. She'd only met the angel once, but it was enough for her to decide he was bad news. Heavenly soldier, or not, he wasn't someone she wanted Dean teaming up with.

And from the looks of things, Dean agreed.

"Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description," the angel continued. "We need to strike now, hard and fast—before he finds his vessel."

"His vessel?" Sam asked. "Lucifer needs a meat suit?"

Zachariah shrugged. "He is an angel. Them's the rules. And when he touches down, we're talking four horsemen, red oceans, fiery skies—the greatest hits. You can stop him, Dean, but you need our help."

"Wait," Chloe cut in, moving forward, before Dean could comment. "You're joking about this, right? 'Lucifer is powerful in ways that defy description', but Dean's going to stop him?" She looked up at Dean, with a wry apologizing smile, then back at the angel in front of her. "Somehow that just doesn't make sense to me."

Zachariah frowned. "You aren't a part of this," he answered. "It doesn't need to make sense to you."

"And what about me?" Dean demanded, stepping back into the conversation. "You wanna explain all that to me?"

"Have faith," was the simple answer, and Chloe was pretty sure she heard Dean glare.

"In you?" he spat. "Yeah, 'cause look how well that turned out last time."

Zachariah stepped forward, his expression stern. "You call that stunt you pulled with Castiel faith?" Something near Dean's hand caught the angel's attention. "You're bleeding," he realized, surprised.

"Insurance policy," Dean informed, before revealing the banishing sigil, and sending the angels away. "Learned that from my friend Cass, you son of a bitch."

Chloe blinked and turned to the three men behind her. "That went well," she muttered.

Chuck studied her a moment. "He was wrong, you know," he said finally.

"About what?" she asked, a list of possibilities forming.

"About you," Chuck explained. "You were in my last vision. You are a part of this now."

Chloe raised her eyebrows, looking between the brothers and their prophet. "What does that mean?"


Even by Dean's standards, the motel was pretty low on the sanity scale, but it was the best they could get on short notice. They needed to stay undetected, and a low-key (way low-key) motel was the first step.

The second step, Sam was working on elsewhere. How, exactly. Dean hadn't asked.

He looked across the motel room, to where Chloe sat on a bed, her sock-clad feet pulled underneath her to avoid contact with the carpet. She had the motel's stiff, unused copy of the Bible in her lap, research she'd insisted, but he could tell she wasn't studying.

"So, you finally did something worthy of the Winchester Gospel," he said, attempting to pull her from her funk.

She glanced up at him and offered him a small smile. "Guess so," she agreed and set the Bible aside. "What do you think it was?"

"Showing up at the convent, probably." He stepped down from where he stood by the motel's kitchenette and sat on the bed opposite hers. "Speaking of which, why did you show up at the convent? Or more importantly, how?"

"I got the directions from Chuck."

"But you weren't supposed to be at the convent," Dean guessed, remembering the prophet's words to him and Castiel. He frowned mentally,stupid Castiel.

"Nope. But neither were you."

"Yeah, well, couldn't let my brother break the final Seal," he muttered.

Chloe shook her head in disgust at the whole situation. "We all got played."

He nodded in agreement then pointed at her. "You didn't answer my first question: why did you go to the convent."

"You have to ask?" she countered.

Dean looked at her. "Apparently."

"To stop Sam." She dropped her gaze to the blanket beneath her, playing with a loose thread. "Guess you really can't undo what is written."

Dean wanted to say something reassuring. Remind her that she had undone what had been written. They both had, even if they hadn't stopped Sam. Chuck's vision had changed twice, when they had arrived at the convent.

Instead, though, he just nodded. "Guess not," he agreed bitterly.


Sam shot his brother a desperate look, only to have him shrug innocently. Jerk, he thought, not missing the smirk that played on Dean's lips. "Becky," Sam tried, turning his attention to the girl who was currently…stroking him. "Uh, can you…quit touching me?"

She shook her head, closing her eyes happily. "No."

He was debating what would happen if he just stepped away from her, wondering if she'd follow, when the bathroom door opened, and Chloe stepped into the room, assessing the situation with a cocked eyebrow. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked carefully.

That got Becky's attention. The girl stepped back and turned to Chloe with a small frown. "Who are you?" she demanded.

"Yeah, that never gets old," Chloe quipped, sharing a look with Dean. "I'm their friend."

"Friend?" The word was drawn out, like a concept Becky didn't understand. "You certainly don't look like Bobby."

"That's because I'm not."

Becky stepped closer to the other woman, eyeing her carefully. "I've read all their books. You aren't in them."

"I know," Chloe agreed. "I'm from the deleted scenes." She winked at Sam. "Ask Chuck."

"I will," Becky decided then stepped towards the door. She turned and stared at Sam for a moment, before reaching for the door handle. "You better not hurt my Sam," she stated, pointing at Chloe. Without waiting for a reply, she pulled open the door and hurried out.

A moment of silence passed over the trio then Chloe chuckled. "Her Sam? Looks like you've got a fan," she teased.

He curled his lip in disgust. "Yay for me…"


It should have been surprising how quickly the mood changed from relative-ease to tension, but after the last twenty-four hours, not much surprised Chloe. Bobby had arrived at their motel room, bringing with him another chance to solve their current Chuck-provided riddle.

The Michael sword is on earth. The angels lost it. In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs.

Only, Sam wasn't content with just letting research commence and other problems wait. He needed to confess his crime, and not even Dean's warning was going to stop him.

"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free."

Chloe froze, staring up at Sam. She knew the truth. She'd already read it from Chuck's vision, but Bobby hadn't heard the truth. Leery, she turned to the older hunter, watching his expression carefully.

"You what?" he demanded, his eyes going dark with disgust. Chloe felt something flare up inside her, and took a step towards Sam.

"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen." Sam ignored Chloe's presence, facing Bobby. "I brought this on."

Bobby stood from his seat at the table and moved so he was staring down at Sam. "You're damn right you didn't listen," he ground out. "You were reckless, and selfish, and arrogant."

"I'm sorry," Sam whispered, and Chloe stood next to him. She knew what Sam had done was wrong, but watching Bobby warm up to what she was sure was going to be a heartbreaking lecture, gave her pause.

"Oh, yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon?" Bobby demanded, walking forward as he spoke until he was standing in front of Sam. Chloe was surprised by the look in his eyes. She'd never seen him so irritated or disappointed with the Winchesters. Ever. "This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy," he snapped.

"Bobby," Chloe cut in, only to be ignored.

"If by some miracle, we pull this off," Bobby continued. "I want you to lose my number. You understand me?"

Chloe didn't wait for Sam to respond, just stepped forward, putting herself between Sam and Bobby. "Calm down, Bobby."

"Calm down?" Bobby turned his glare on her. "You know what he did, and you want me to calm down?"

"Yes—"

"Chloe," Sam started, cutting her off. She looked back at him, and he shook his head, silencing her. "I'm going to go read some lore books from an old church that's nearby."

"You do that," Bobby agreed.

Chloe turned back to the older hunter then at Dean, hardly surprised when the oldest Winchester avoided her gaze. "I'm going with," she decided then walked out.


Bobby woke to the sound of pacing. It didn't take him long to realize he was in a hospital, even less to recognize that the footfalls at the end of his bed weren't Dean's. That boy tended to stomp, when he paced.

"It's hard to sleep with all that noise," he groused good-naturedly.

Chloe paused mid-pace and smiled at him. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"

He took a mental survey of his body as she studied him like she was trying to sense any lie he might come up with. "Unhealed," he said finally.

She took a step forward, her hand stretched out in front of her. "It's not too late," she stated. "I could still—"

"No," he argued, attempting to scoot away from her healing hand. "I may have been out of it when you three dragged me in here earlier, but I meant what I said. I don't need your help. I'll heal the old fashioned way, thank you very much."

The last few, however many, hours were a bit foggy, especially since he spent most of the time out of it in a hospital bed, but he could still remember the feeling of the demon controlling his body. He, of all people, knew better than to slip up when it came to warding off demons, and yet, there he was, sitting in a hospital bed, attempting to forget the feeling of being a prisoner in his own body.

The only thing he was grateful for was the fact he'd been able to stop the demon from killing Dean. If anything had happened to him by Bobby's hand, he never would have forgiven himself.

"But Bobby." Chloe sighed and sat at the edge of his bed, looking more wounded than he felt. "What if this is permanent?" she asked, sounding guilty for even saying it out loud. He had a feeling her guilt was on other issues. I should have known you were possessed. I should have seen the signs. I should have…

Bobby crossed his arms, going for stubborn, and knowing it didn't quite work while he was immobile in a hospital bed. "I'll be fine."

She matched his stubborn frown. "You better be."

He watched her carefully then reached forward, squeezing her knee. "You've got other things to worry about," he reminded, thinking of the two brothers who'd been MIA since leaving him in the care of the hospital staff and Chloe.

Her frown remained in place. "Says you."


"Your friend Bobby, we know he's gravely injured. Say yes, and we'll heal him. Say no, he'll never walk again."

"No."

"Then how about we heal you from…Stage-4 stomach cancer?"

"No."

"No? What about Chloe? How well do you think that extraordinary mind of hers will work after a cerebral hemorrhage?"


"Chloe? Chloe!"

Bobby sat up so fast the room spin, but he ignored the vertigo, grasping blindly for his call button and watching Chloe collapse to the ground.


Sam fought to ignore the pain radiating from his broken legs, focusing on his brother and Zachariah. Stage-4 stomach cancer. Cerebral hemorrhage. The words cut deep, replaying in his mind as he watched the odd face-off between Dean and the angel.

If the angel's threat was real, Chloe was already dead. And Dean was dying in front of him. Weren't the angels supposed to be the good guys?

Dean coughed, more blood appearing at his lips. "No," he ground out, and Sam wasn't sure if he should be proud or irritated. He settled for proud, because being irritated meant he wanted Dean to side with Zachariah, and that wasn't going to happen.

"Then let's get really creative," Zachariah started, and Sam flinched. Just kill us, he thought as the angel turned to him. "Uh, let's see how Sam does without his lungs," he said.

And Sam stopped thinking.


"You need to be more careful."

"Hey Cass, were you really dead?"

"Yes."

As soon as they slipped into the Impala, headed for the hospital, Dean pulled out his phone, calling Chloe. Tension filled the small space as Sam waited for confirmation that Chloe was safe. Now, put everyone back together and go. I won't ask twice. Castiel had really come through for them, but they had no proof that Zachariah had healed Chloe. For all they knew, she was now a corpse in the hospital morgue.

And no amount of empathy-healing could save her.

"Chlo'? Thank God." Dean curled a lip at his own words. "Well, you know what I mean. You're okay?" His brother nodded at something Chloe said. "Good. We'll be there soon," he said then hung up and slipped his phone back into his pocket as they drove back to the hospital. "She's fine," he said, glancing at Sam. "She just gave Bobby a scare then recovered before the nurses could show up."

Sam let out a relieved breath and settled in his seat. "Guess we'll have some explaining to do, when we get back."

Dean tightened a hand on the steering wheel, keeping his attention on the road. "Don't we always?"

"You're the vessel. Michael's vessel."


There was only one difference between Clark's sudden entrances and Castiel's: wind. Clark came in with a burst of speed, throwing a gust of wind in her face.

Castiel just appeared.

"You're alive?" she blurted, when she blinked and realized she was no longer alone in front of the vending machine. "How?" She remembered something and stood straighter. "Where are Sam and Dean?"

"They're fine," the angel assured. "They are on their way back. I've come to offer protection."

"Protection?" she repeated as Castiel stepped closer. "Like a bodyguard?"

Instead of answering, he pressed a hand against her chest and she flinched, feeling pain erupt from inside her. "What…?"

"Enochian Sigil. It will hide you from Lucifer. He's about to get his vessel."

"Then stop him," Chloe argued. "You angels have all this power, use it."

Castiel looked saddened for a moment. "I can't," he replied.

Then disappeared.


"We take 'em all on. We kill the Devil. Hell, we even kill Michael if we have to. But we do it our own damn selves."

"And how are we supposed to do all this, genius?"

"I got no idea. But what I do have is a GED and a 'give 'em hell' attitude, and I'll figure it out."

As far as speeches went, Dean's to Bobby wasn't worthy of any awards, but it was what they all needed. Hope for the hard war they were about to face.

Chloe should have known it wasn't real.

"Dean…is there something you want to say to me?" Sam asked, hesitant.

Chloe stepped back, letting the brothers have an illusion of a private conversation, without stepping out of earshot. Even though she'd been hoping against it, she'd been waiting for this conversation since they'd made it out of the convent.

Sam had trusted a demon over everyone else. Over Dean. Betrayal wasn't even a start to what she was sure Dean was feeling.

Still, a part of her had been hoping for the forgive and forget option.

"What can I do?" Sam asked, looking just as painfully hopeful as Chloe felt.

"Honestly?" Dean shook his head. "Nothing. I just don't…I don't think we can ever be what we were, you know?" He hesitated, and Chloe waited for the fallout. "I just don't think I can trust you."

He walked away, leaving Sam alone, and Chloe stuck between them. We are broken.

To Be Continued…


A/N: Even though Chloe is now more fully "in" Supernatural, I won't be rewriting every scene from the episode just to put her in it. Instead, I'll rewrite the scenes where I believe her input is most important. Other than that, this series will continue as it always has, with a collection missing scenes from each episode. Crossing Kansas: the ultimate collection of deleted scenes. ;D

And since it is a bunch of deleted scenes, watching SPN first comes in handy. If you haven't seen the premiere, the flow of this story probably won't make sense. I don't include everything.

Just a forewarning, my homework is slowly starting to increase as I get further into the school year. I'm sure this goes without saying, but homework comes before this series. So, if need be, I may be going on a writing hiatus over the course of the season. If I do, I'll post something about it on my LJ.

Also, just a note on Chloe's powers. IMO, she can heal others, but can't necessarily heal herself (with the exception of the whole coming-back-from-the-dead-thing). My reasoning: she was beat up pretty bad in "Sleeper" but didn't heal her wounds.