Dean carried me all the way to the car, my head nestled against his shoulder. I was a mass of pain. My shoulder twinged, my head and ankle throbbed, and my chest and side ached. Breathing shot sharp pains through my chest. It was nowhere near as bad as when I'd been burned, though. I kept my eyes closed as he walked. My furnace was pulsing in time with my heartbeat and I could hear Gabby's house burning in the distance. I smiled in satisfaction.

"She ok?" I heard Sam ask. I opened my eyes and turned a little to see Sam striding towards us. Behind him, Vinnie's face was framed in the back side window of the Impala. Leafless pines and oaks spread out behind the car, stark against the blue sky.

"Not sure," Dean answered, nodding towards the car. "Get the door." While Sam obeyed, Vinnie scooted over so Dean could set me in. I choked off a yelp as I slid out of his arms. With gentle hands, he turned me to face him, my feet dangling out the back door. "Where does it hurt, sweetheart?"

"Everywhere," I whimpered.

He frowned. "You said your chest before, and your ankle?"

"My head, my shoulder, my side," I managed through gasps as he ran his hands over my ribs. I yelped again when he tried to move my right ankle.

He frowned and undid my boot. "Your ankle is swollen. Which shoulder?"

"My right one," I whimpered, shaking that hand at him. He dropped my boot on the floor in the backseat and reached up to take my coat off me. I jerked away from him. "No, it hurts."

"Jessie, you've got to let me check you out," Dean coaxed and reached out to take my arm again.

"It's gonna hurt. Please?" I whined. My head pounded and I didn't know how much more I could take.

"Jessie, let me see how bad you're hurt," Dean snapped. I whimpered but let him move me around so he could see my shoulder. Then he checked my head and peered into each eye. Finally, he sighed and slid me carefully around so I could lean my head back against the cool leather. I closed my eyes, but it didn't help the still growing pain in my head. Breathing shallowly, I gently ran my hands up and down my arms to relieve the itch there.

"Well?" Sam demanded as Dean shut the car door and leaned against it.

"Cracked or broken ribs, sprained or broken ankle. Her shoulder's just bruised really bad. She doesn't have any signs of a head injury, thank god," Dean said. "She's ok, but we're gonna have to get her to a doctor once we're far away from here."

"You sure she can make it that long? She looks really pale," Sam was saying, but Vinnie tugged on my arm.

"She's dead, right? You killed her?" Vinnie asked. I opened my eyes and saw she was as disheveled as me, parts of her outfit burned and the rest covered in soot. The car spun around me, and I swallowed against bile in my throat.

"She's dead," I whispered, closing my eyes again. "Staked her heart, she burned to ashes. I promise." It felt like bugs were crawling up and down my arms. I shivered.

"Good," Vinnie said. She sighed in relief, but a second later, she gasped. "You're glowing!"

My eyes flew open as I realized what was wrong with me. Panic overwhelmed pain as I scrabbled at the car door. "Dean! MOVE!" I screamed.

Startled, he pushed away from the door and I fell out of the car onto my hands and knees in the dead grass, my head screaming, sharp knives shooting through my chest at the impact. I reached out, connected with the fire under the earth again, and poured my fire into it with all my might, pushing hard to drain the fire out of me.

How dare she? Irritation shuddered through me, flowing into a dark rage. How dare she forget to leave me, her goddess, an offering of bread and salt? How dare she neglect to leave me clean water? How dare she forget? Let her burn! Let her entire house burn!

I pulled the tendril back into me and the vision cut off with the image of a small village home bursting into flame. I puked the contents of my stomach onto the ground in front of me, and when my stomach was empty, I kept throwing up bile, my ribs screaming at me. I sobbed, crouched on the ground, unable to move with all the pain.

"Oh, honey," Sam said. He reached down and helped me to my feet as gently as he could, but it still hurt. All of me hurt.

"What the hell happened?" Dean demanded while Sam helped me back into the back seat.

"She was glowing all of a sudden and then she freaked out! I don't know why!" Vinnie said from where she was kneeled up on the backseat, bracing her hands on the backs of the seats to either side of her.

Sam looked up at Dean as he propped me up with my pillow against my left side. "Gotta have something to do with Gabby's death, right?"

Dean shrugged and shook his head. "Man, I have no idea. Let's get her ankle wrapped up and get out of here."

"I'll call Bobby," Sam said, striding away from the car. Dean went to the trunk.

I sat in the car with my eyes closed wishing I didn't feel so sick. God, Gabby had burned a family's house because they'd forgotten their nightly offering, and she'd felt righteous doing it, like they deserved it. Another wave of nausea washed over me and the cold air from the open car door felt good.

Shoving the vision away from me, I shifted so I could see Vinnie. She'd dropped her arms and was just kneeling on the seat now, looking worried. "How's your arm?" I mumbled, my eyes closed to slits.

She glanced down at it and then back to me. "The cast broke, but that's it. My arm seems ok." She dropped her eyes again and her voice. "It's weird, though. I can't… well, I can't feel my furnace anymore."

I opened my eyes in a rush but was careful not to move the rest of me. "Can you set a fire?"

Vinnie bit down hard on her lip, raised her eyes to meet mine, and shook her head. "It's gone, like it was never there."

I struggled to sit further up in my seat, but it hurt too much. "That's great." I managed.

And then Dean was there with a bottle of water and a pill. "Take this," he said, handing it to me.

"What is it?" I mumbled, putting it in my mouth and taking a swig of water.

"Tylenol 3," Dean said. "I'd give you something stronger, but that's all we've got right now." He watched me take it, then took the bottle back and sealed it. "You've got to turn towards me so I can wrap your ankle."

I closed my eyes and tried to turn towards him, but it hurt, so he reached around me. His calloused hands were rough and reassuring against my ankle as he made quick work of the bandage. "Vinnie, tell Dean what you told me," I whispered, my eyes still shut. The Tylenol 3 was already making my head spin but I didn't mind. Vinnie filled Dean in while he put one of his socks over the bandage on my foot, but I barely noticed. I heard Sam's voice join in, but by then everything was fading into black. The last thing I felt was someone fastening a seatbelt around me, and then I was out.


Hot, then cold. My furnace pulsed. I couldn't breathe as I struggled awake.

"Dean!" I half-yelled before my eyes were even open. "Dean, pull over. Please, Dean, pull over!"

"What the…!" The brakes squealed and the car swerved. I had the door open before he'd even pulled onto the side of the highway. As soon as the car had slowed enough, I jumped out and shoved down into the earth, seeking the fire that was there. But it wasn't. Nothing was there, but my furnace was demanding that I let something out. I swung around, searching for something, anything I could set on fire. There was nothing at first, just trees, road, and dark sky. I whirled and saw a bridge down the road the way we'd come.

"Son of a bitch! Jessie!" I heard behind me, but I ignored it and limped towards the bridge. My ankle and ribs were agony, but I couldn't afford to stop. "Jessie!"

I didn't answer, I had to get to the water, and I was terrified I wouldn't make it. A wave of heat rushed over me and I shivered. Footsteps pounded behind me and Dean scooped me up in his arms. I bit down on a scream of pain. He opened his mouth to say something, but I broke in.

"Dean, get me to the water. Please!" I begged. His mouth closed with a snap as he shoved his anger aside and ran me to the river that was only fifty yards away. As soon as we were close enough, I didn't even bother with a tendril. I just opened my furnace and pushed.

The house burned in front of me. I stood with my hands on my hips, my chin raised in triumph. But there was a body outlined against the window, and I could hear screams. The family was inside! Gabby's vindication shoved away my horror. The front door burst open and a man ran out, his clothes and hair alight. He howled and threw himself onto the ground, rolling there…

I slammed my furnace shut and the image faded from my sight but not my mind. My stomach churned. I rolled, almost falling out of Dean's arms.

"Whoa! Jessie, hold still!" Dean snapped, but I didn't obey. I turned my head away from him and puked again. Dean groaned but held me until I stopped. "Ok, sweetheart, ok."

He carried me back to the car where Sam waited with Vinnie. "She set a fire and threw up," Dean said when we were close enough for Sam to hear. "Again."

"Shit," Sam said. "That's bad."

Dean set me in the backseat and motioned for Vinnie to give me the bottle of water. "Rinse your mouth out, kiddo," Dean said. I obeyed and then gulped the rest of the water down my sore throat.

Dean checked my forehead and then nodded at Sam. The two of them walked a little away from the car. I watched them go.

"Are you ok?" Vinnie asked me.

"Shh, I want to listen," I whispered at her. She lapsed into silence while I struggled to hear.

"…think I need … hospital… head injury…" Dean's voice faded in and out. Sam was nodding at him. Then the wind picked up and I couldn't hear anything. Sighing, I leaned back in the seat, wincing at the pain in my ribs, again.

"Jessie, what's going on?" Vinnie asked me.

"Nothing," I said, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh, come on. I mean, I haven't been around you that much, but I've never seen you lose control like this. You said that when you hit your head, you lost your abilities for a while. You didn't just start slinging fire around and puking all over the place."

I stared down at my shirt and grimaced at the mess there. "It's nothing," I insisted, pulling my gross shirt away from my chest.

"I don't believe you," Vinnie said, frowning at me.

"Neither do I," Sam added, coming up to my open door.

"No more lying, no more hiding," Dean said.

"My shirt is covered in puke," I whimpered. "I'm gross and I almost blew us up."

"I'll get you a clean shirt," Sam offered.

"Spill it," Dean added.

"I don't know what's going on with my furnace. It just keeps filling up and I have to empty it. I don't know why." I said.

Dean raised his eyebrows and tilted his head. "That it?"

I looked at Sam, but even though he looked sympathetic, he didn't look willing to help me. I shifted and moaned, dropping my head to look at my filthy hands. I needed a shower, bad. "I'm having visions when I set fires," I said. "And they're Gabby's visions, like, I'm Gabby." I raised my head to look at the guys. "When… when I killed her, when she died, I saw her life, like I was her. And now, the last two fires…"

"Ok, sweetheart, I got it," Dean said. "Let's get you cleaned up a bit." Sam kissed the top of my head and went to the trunk to dig in my duffel. The two of them cleaned me up and dressed me carefully in a clean shirt. Sam buckled me in.

"Sorry," I whispered to him.

"For what?" Sam asked, draping my blanket over me.

"For… this, for throwing up and not being able to get dressed…"

"No," Sam said. "That's what we're here for, to take care of you. You just killed a goddess who's been chasing you for over a year. You did a good job. Now, you let us take care of the aftermath. Ok?"

I frowned, doubt needling me. "Ok," I said, not really meaning it.

"Close your eyes and get some more sleep, honey," Sam said.

Exhausted, I obeyed.


I woke up again when Dean moved the blanket on me to unbuckle my seatbelt. We were parked in a brightly lit driveway with a huge overhang over us. I blinked, bleary-eyed. "Where are we?"

"Hospital," Dean said. "I'm taking you inside. How's your furnace?"

I hurried to check it, relieved when it wasn't pulsing. "I'm ok," I said. "But it seems fuller than it should be since I dumped it twice."

"You want me to carry you?" Dean asked, stepping back to let me out of the car.

I shook my head but when I went to stand, my head spun. At the moment, Sam came out of the hospital pushing a wheelchair.

"They're ready for you," Sam said to Dean as Dean helped me into the chair.

"Good. Get Vinnie home safe. Keep in touch."

"Whoa! Wait!" I objected, struggling to stand despite my pain.

"Jessie, stay!" Dean snapped. I dropped back into the chair and regretted it immediately when pain shot through my chest.

"Sam's leaving? You can't leave, Sam! And I haven't even had a chance to say goodbye to Vinnie!"

"Ok, ok," Dean said, holding up a hand. He jerked his chin at Sam and rolled me to the other side of the car. Sam went the other way to open Vinnie's door. They both stood there waiting until both Vinnie and I glared at them. Smiling, Sam held his hands up and smacked Dean's shoulder. The two of them crossed to the other side of the driveway to wait for us.

"Listen," I said at the same time Vinnie said, "So…" I smiled and she laughed.

"You first," I said.

"So this is it," Vinnie said, her eyes wide and watery. "Sam's gonna take me home and I'll never see you again."

"That's the way you want it, really," I admitted, my stomach hurting. "Your fire is gone, and you're back to normal." I tilted my head. "You still can't feel it, right?"

She nodded but looked away from me. "Thanks," she said, her voice thick. "If you hadn't come when you did, if you hadn't tricked Gabby into thinking you were coming back to her, I'd be dead. I mean, if you'd waited and come in with your guns blazing, I would have ended up fighting you on her side and I never would have been able to go home."

I swallowed and nodded. She was right. If I'd obeyed Sam and Dean and waited, we wouldn't have known she could be on our side.

"I know you got in trouble for it," Vinnie admitted. "I could tell, with Dean watching your every move like that when you came back."

"It was worth it," I said. "It was worth it to save you. It was worth what Gabby did to me and the trouble I got in with Sam and Dean. All that and more."

Vinnie smiled and dropped her eyes to her lap. "Thanks," she said again. "If you ever need anything, you can call me."

I snorted softly. "I will, and if you ever need me again or run into anything supernatural or if your fire comes back… well, you've got our numbers."

She leaned forward and hugged me awkwardly with the arm that wasn't hurt. When we broke apart, both of us had tear tracks down our cheeks.

She chuckled when we broke apart. "Big scary fire-starters crying over goodbyes. Who'd think it?" She looked over my head at Sam and Dean. "We're done!"

Sam hugged me goodbye and then got into the Impala to take Vinnie home. I made Dean wait until the taillights disappeared, and he wheeled me inside.