December 14th - December 18th, 2008

Dean and I woke to Sam's voice in our motel room at the same time and sat up. Dean leaned on his elbow in bed, and I peered over the back of the couch to see that Sam was pacing in the bathroom, quietly talking to someone on his phone.

"Yeah." Sam nodded. "Yeah, that's what I'm telling you. No storms, no bad crops, nothing." (...) "Yeah, okay. We'll keep looking. You keep looking too, okay?" (...) "All right. Talk soon." He hung up and then turned to walk out of the bathroom.

Dean gestured for me to lay back down, and we both did and pretended we were still asleep.

"Hey. Up and at 'em, kids," Sam said, slightly raising his voice.

I yawned and sat up.

Dean rubbed his eyes and sat up. "You're up early. What are you doing?"

Sam shook his head. "Nothing. I was in the can."

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. You want me to draw you a picture?"

Dean shook his head. "Nah, I'll pass."

Sam sat down on his bed. "Found a job. Bedford, Iowa. Guy beat his wife's brains out with a meat tenderizer."

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Yikes."

Sam nodded. "And get this. Third local inside two months to gank his wife. No priors on any of 'em, all happily married."

Dean nodded. "Ah. Sounds like Ozzie and Harriet."

Sam smirked. "More like The Shining."

Dean shrugged. "All right, well, I guess we'd better have a look."

Once we got to town, Sam and Dean left to talk to the Victim's husband. Unfortunately, as usual, I got left behind, stuck in the motel. So, I decided to call Nate.

The phone rang for a moment, and then Ellen picked up, "Hello?"

"Hi, Ellen, it's Maddi," I said.

"Hi, sweetie. Nate! Maddi's on the phone!" she yelled. "How are you and your brother's doing?"

I sighed and laughed slightly. "We're alive."

"Well, that's all we can ask for," she said, "Seriously, though, how are you doing?"

"Uh..." I shrugged. "I'm doing okay. I've got both of them back, so I can't really complain."

"I know I've told you before, but if you ever need a break from the constant traveling, you can always stay with us. You and Nate could go to school together," Ellen said.

I smiled. "Yeah, I know. Thank you."

"Here's Nate," she said, "And don't forget, you can call any time."

"Hey, dimples. What's up?" Nate asked.

"Sam and Dean left, so I'm bored. Make me not bored." I laughed.

"You know you aren't the easiest person to entertain, right?" Nate asked.

"What?" I asked, "How?"

"'Cause you like to be busy. It's hard to entertain someone like that when they are hundreds of miles away," Nate said.

"All right, touché," I said.

"Why don't you go somewhere?" Nate asked.

I furrowed my brow. "Where would I go? Sam and Dean would kill me if I left."

"Since when are you afraid to rebel? Just don't get caught," Nate said.

"Words of wisdom by Nathan Harvelle." I laughed.

He laughed. "Look, I think you just need to leave, so you aren't cooped up all day. You know when they leave you at the motel, it means they're gonna be gone for most of the day."

"I know that," I said.

"So, just go do something, even if you just take a walk," Nate suggested.

"I feel like the truth is, you don't want to talk to me, and you're just trying to get rid of me." I laughed.

"Never," he said, "Hey, isn't that new Harry Potter movie out? Why don't you go see that?"

"What one?" I asked.

"The Half-Blood Prince or something," Nate said.

"I'm a movie and two books behind, and besides, Sam would be sad if I went without him," I said, "And plus, anything I do can't involve money."

"Why? Don't they leave you with some?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, but it's for food," I said.

"How much did they leave?" he asked.

"I don't know, like forty bucks, I think," I said.

"Go to an arcade, cheap food, and games," he said.

I smiled. "All right, fine. I'll go, but if I get caught... I blame you."

Nate laughed. "Call me later if you want. Just have fun."

"Thanks. Bye, Nate," I said.

"Bye, dimples," he said, and then we hung up.

I got up and grabbed my jacket and the money, and then left to go talk to the motel clerk. An older teenage girl was sitting in a chair with her feet up on the counter while loudly chewing gum and reading a magazine. She had died black hair, dark makeup, and a lip piercing.

"Excuse me?" I asked, but she ignored me. "Hello?" I asked, but she ignored me again. "Can I just ask a quick question?" I asked, but she ignored me for the third time, so I aggressively hit the bell on the counter multiple times.

She jumped up. "All right, all right." She put her hand on the bell to silence it. "Jeez. What do you want, kid?" she asked with attitude and then analyzed me. "You came in with those two hot guys, right?"

"Yeah, sure. They're my brothers," I said, "Can you tell me—"

"Where'd they go? Are they like traveling businessmen or something?" she asked, almost as if she was daydreaming about them.

"What?" I asked.

"They were in suits, do they come here a lot?" she asked.

I shook my head. "No. Now look, can you just tell me—"

"Aw, that sucks." She sighed and sat back down in the chair, putting her feet back up on the table.

"Dude, seriously?" I asked and peered over the counter to look at her name tag. "Look, Josie—" I said and walked around behind the counter.

"Um, you're not supposed to be back here," she said in a monotone voice, not really phased by my presence behind her desk.

"Yeah, you look real concerned." I rolled my eyes. "Can you just tell me if there's an arcade around here?"

"It's down the road a little bit, take a right out of here. It's on the same side of the street as this building," she said, still not looking up. "You didn't have to be rude about it."

"And you don't have to suck at your job, but here we are," I said and walked out of the building and down the sidewalk like she had explained.

Luckily, I found the place as easily as she described it, so I walked in and exchanged some cash for coins and then started playing.

After a while, I got hungry, so I got some chicken tenders and mozzarella sticks and ate them happily, knowing that Dean was not there to steal any from me.

As I took a delicious bite of mozzarella stick, my phone rang, and I picked it up with my mouth full. "Hel..." I swallowed. "Lo?"

"Eating, I take it?" Sam asked.

I laughed. "Yeah, sorry. What's up?" I asked, slightly nervous that they were back at the motel wondering where I was.

"Dean's dropping me off, and then he's gonna try to track someone down," Sam said.

"Strippers, man. Strippers!" Dean yelled excitedly.

"He's going to talk to strippers?" I asked as I got up and tossed my now empty plate.

Sam sighed. "I'll explain when I get there. I was calling to see if you wanted to get the couch and some popcorn ready, we can have a movie night."

"Yeah." I smiled happily, "I can do that."

"All right. See you in ten," Sam said and then hung up.

"Shoot," I said and then ran out of the arcade and down the sidewalk to the motel.

Josie looked up when the bell above the door rang. "Hey kid, how was the arcade?"

"It was fun, thanks," I said and continued walking.

"One of those hot guys is back." The girl smiled as she chomped on her gum while staring out of the window.

I turned to look, and sure enough, Sam was stepping out of the Impala.

"Damn," I said and took off toward our room.

When I got to the door, I searched through my pockets and realized I never grabbed a key. My heart started to pound, realizing I also didn't have anything to pick the lock with.

"Well, we'll see how this goes." I sighed and sat on the floor, leaning against the wall, and stared up at our door.

A moment later, Sam came around the corner. "Why are you sitting in the hall?"

I sighed and stood up. "Well, I went to ask the clerk if they had a vending machine with popcorn anywhere, but I never grabbed money. Then I realized the door was locked, and I didn't have a key on me."

Sam laughed and started unlocking the door. "Why do you have your coat on?"

I shrugged. "Oh, I was cold."

He put his hand on my shoulder and rubbed my arm. "You could've put one of my sweatshirts on." He pushed the door open and gently pushed me in. "Go get the couch set up and put a sweatshirt on. I'll go get the popcorn." He turned and closed the door.

I ran over and swung the door open. "What are we watching."

"Just get everything set up." Sam chuckled and continued walking.

I closed the door and walked over to Sam's bag to pull out one of his sweatshirts. I pulled one over my head and laughed at the fact that I had about a foot extra of fabric on either sleeve, and the bottom went down almost to my knees.

I walked over to the closet and opened it to see that the extra blankets and pillows were shoved up on the very top shelf, and I was unable to reach them. I groaned and rolled my eyes, I never understood how Sam and Dean were so tall, but I was cursed with such shortness. I dragged a chair over to the closet and stepped on it to grab the pillows and blankets down. I grabbed onto them and threw them onto the ground, and Sam walked in and laughed at the mess that was now on the floor. I spotted one more pillow in the corner and stepped onto the tips of my toes to reach it, but as I did, the chair tipped onto two legs toward the closet.

"All right. All right." Sam grabbed the chair and the back of my sweatshirt and stopped me from falling in time. "Get down, and I will get it. This is supposed to be movie night, not take Maddi to the hospital night."

I jumped off of the chair. "Hey man, it's not my fault you're a giant, and I'm—"

"A pip-squeak?" Sam asked and chuckled as he easily pulled the pillow down.

"I'm not done growing yet," I said as I picked up the pillows on the floor and fluffed them on the couch.

Sam laughed. "I don't know. At this rate, you'll be lucky to get above five-foot."

"Whatever." I laughed and picked up the blanket as Sam tossed the other pillow on the couch. "What are we watching?"

"I picked up Iron Man." Sam shrugged. "Thought it would be fun. Something different."

I smiled. "Okay."

Sam and I got set up on the couch, and as we watched the movie, I slowly started to feel more and more guilty about lying straight to his face.

Once the movie ended, I turned and rested my feet on his legs and sighed. "Okay, I have to tell you something."

"You didn't like the movie?" he asked.

I shook my head. "No, I liked the movie. It's something else, but you can't tell Dean."

"You left the motel today?" Sam asked.

My eyes widened. "You knew I was lying?"

He nodded. "I know you well enough. You have little tells."

"What?" I asked.

"Yeah." He nodded. "You're dimples become a little more prominent, and you bite your right cheek."

"Oh, great." I shook my head. "You're not mad?"

He shook his head. "No, I get it."

"You do?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, Dean and I used to be stuck in motel rooms together all the time, but we had each other, and it was still boring." He shrugged. "And even after Dean was allowed to go hunting with Dad, I had you to keep me busy. So I can't imagine how bored or lonely you must be whenever we leave you."

I shrugged.

"Where'd you go anyway?" Sam asked.

"Just down the street, there's an arcade a couple doors over," I said.

He nodded. "I'd rather you at least tell me, so I know where you are in case something happens. That doesn't mean I want you to leave the motel, because I'd rather you stay where we left you. But if you get restless, just tell me."

"Dean would never be okay with that," I said.

He shrugged. "It can be between us."

"Really?" I asked.

He nodded. "Yeah, and I'll take the heat if he finds out."

I shook my head. "Why?"

He shrugged. "We gotta look out for each other, right?"

I smiled. "Yeah, so tell me what's going on with the case."

Sam sighed. "Well, the husband's pleading guilty. He said he was in control and remembers everything, even why he did it."

"Why did he do it?" I asked.

"She made plans without asking him if it was okay, and he snapped," Sam said.

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow, what an overreaction."

Sam nodded. "But he said he loved her, and they were happy. That's when Dean pulled out his credit card history."

"What was on it?" I asked.

"Some sketchy stuff," Sam said, "Turns out the guy had been going to a strip club and met this girl named Jasmine."

I nodded. "Oh, so that's why Dean was so excited earlier."

Sam nodded and laughed. "Yeah. The husband said he never wanted to go to the strip club, but his friend was having a bachelor party, and when they got there, Jasmine walked right up to him. He said everything about her was perfect. So, he started seeing her in secret."

"Did his wife find out?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "He said she had no clue."

"Then I don't get it." I shrugged. "He just snapped?"

"He said he did it for Jasmine. Apparently, she told him that they could be together forever if he killed his wife," Sam explained, "After he did it, they were supposed to meet up, but she never showed. He doesn't know where she lives, her last name, he doesn't even know her real first name."

"Did he confess that someone else was involved?" I asked.

Sam shook his head. "I asked the same thing, he said it wouldn't matter because the stripper didn't do anything. He said if he doesn't get the death sentence, he will do it himself."

I raised my eyebrows. "Wow."

Sam nodded. "Then we went to talk to Cara Roberts, she's a doctor that works with the sheriff's department. Now there were three men total that killed their wives in a short span of time. All three of them didn't have anything in their tox screens, but she said she found crazy levels of a hormone called oxytocin."

"Is that significant?" I asked.

Sam nodded. "She said people call it the love hormone. It's usually produced during childbirth, lactation, and sex, but she has never seen it as high as she had with those men."

"Okay, did these other guys have affairs with a stripper named Jasmine?" I asked.

He shook his head. "No, but they all did hook up with strippers from the same club."

I shrugged. "Hopefully, Dean finds something while he's there then."

Sam nodded. "I'm gonna call Bobby and give him a rundown, see if he has any theories."

Twenty or so minutes passed while Sam was on the phone, but when he hung up, Dean walked in a moment later.

"Any luck?" Sam asked.

Dean sighed and shook his head. "No. You?"

Sam nodded. "A little. I just talked to Bobby. We officially have a theory."

"What's that?" Dean asked as he took his jacket off and started untying his tie.

"Siren," Sam said.

"Like Greek myth siren? The Odyssey?" Dean asked.

Sam gave Dean a look of surprise.

"Hey, I read!" Dean shouted defensively.

Sam chuckled. "Yeah, actually. But the siren's not actually a myth, it's more of a beautiful creature that preys on men, enticing them with their siren song."

"Let me guess, Welcome to the Jungle?" Dean shook his head. "No, no. Warrant's, Cherry Pie."

Sam sighed. "Their song is more of a metaphor, like— like their call, their allure, ya know?"

Dean nodded. "So they shake their thing and the guy's zombie out."

Sam shrugged. "Basically, yeah. Sirens lived on islands, sailors would chase 'em, completely ignoring the rocky shores... and dash themselves to pieces."

"Sounds like Adam and his buddies," Dean said.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. If you were a siren in '08 looking to ruin a bunch of morons, where would you set up shop?"

"So whatever floats the guy's boat, that's what they look like?" Dean asked.

Sam nodded. "Yeah. You see, sirens can read minds. They see what you want most, and then they can kinda, like, cloak themselves. Ya know, like an illusion."

"So it could all be the same chick? Morphing into, uh, to different dream girls?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, actually. Probably. Sirens are usually pretty solitary," Sam said.

Dean shrugged. "How do we kill it?"

"Bobby's working on it," Sam said, "Even if we figure that out—"

"How the hell are we gonna find it?" Dean shrugged. "It could be anybody."

A couple hours later, Sam got a call about a man named Lenny Bristol, who was known to be kind-hearted but had been arrested for murder. So, he went to speak to him, but he accidentally left his phone behind.

I could tell it was driving Dean crazy because he had been going between staring at it and doing some research the whole time.

I looked up from my book and spotted him, staring at Sam's phone again. "Dean, what's wrong?"

He shook his head. "It's just bothering me. Who was he talking to the other morning?"

I shrugged. "I don't know."

He leaned forward and picked up the phone. "I'm gonna find out."

I sighed. "Dean..."

"I know you want to know too," he said and scrolled through the phone.

I stood up and walked over to him. I watched over his shoulder as he scrolled through the contacts until he stumbled upon an unknown number and looked up at me. He hit the number and called it, and I sat on the bed and waited. I watched as his face went from curiosity to anger, and he immediately hung up.

"What?" I asked.

"Ruby." He growled and tossed the phone back down where it was.

The door opened a moment later, and Sam walked in. "Lenny was definitely another siren vic."

"You get in to see him?" Dean asked, trying to contain himself.

Sam nodded. "Yup. He brought home a stripper named Belle. Coupla hours later, he offed his mother. Belle, of course, went MIA."

"Wait, he killed his mom?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "The woman he was closest to."

Ring! Ring!

Dean picked up Sam's phone and tossed it to him. "Yeah, you, uh, forgot your cell phone."

Sam looked slightly worried, but then he answered the call, "Hey Bobby." (...) "Ah, no. And, uh, it doesn't seem like she's slowing down any. You got anything?" (...) "Hold on a sec, I'll put you on speaker." He pulled the phone away, clicked a button, and sat down with Dean and me so we could all listen.

"It says you need 'a bronze dagger, covered in the blood of a sailor, under the spell of the song,'" Bobby said.

"What the hell does that mean?" Dean asked.

"You got me. We're dealing with 3,000 years of the telephone game here," Bobby said.

"Best guess?" Sam asked.

Bobby sighed. "Well, the siren's spell ain't got nothing to do with any song. It's most likely some kind of toxin or venom. Something she gets in the vic's blood."

Sam nodded. "And makes them go all Manchurian Candidate. Uh, what do you think, she infects the men during sex?"

"Maybe," Bobby said.

Dean raised his eyebrows. "Supernatural STD."

"Well, however it happens, once it's done, the siren's gotta watch her back," Bobby said, "She gets a dose of her own medicine—"

Sam nodded. "It kills her."

"Like a snake getting iced by its own venom," Bobby said.

"So we just gotta find a way to juice one of the OJs in jail?" Dean asked.

"Not that easy. None of those guys are under the spell anymore. Haven't got a clue where you're going to get the blood you need," Bobby said.

"I think I might have an idea," Sam said.

"Be careful. These things are tricky bitches. Wrap you up in knots before you know what hit ya," Bobby said and then hung up.

Sam and Dean left to talk to Dr. Roberts about getting their hands on the blood samples she had taken from the men. Only to have Sam call me about two hours later.

"What's up?" I asked as I answered the phone.

Sam sighed. "This guy, Nick Munroe from the FBI, showed up, so Dean went with him to distract him while I talked to Cara."

"Oh, you're on a first-name basis now?" I asked.

"Listen, someone stole the blood samples from her. Dean and Nick went to speak to some people at the strip club, but he called me and accused Cara of being the siren," he said.

"Is she?" I asked.

"No. Has he tried to call you?" Sam asked.

"Well, how could you know that?" I asked.

"Just trust me, it's not her," he said.

At that moment, I heard the familiar rumble of the Impala outside. So I walked over and peered out of the window as it pulled into a spot in the parking lot. "He actually just pulled in."

He took a sigh of relief. "Okay, I'm on my way too then."

"'Kay, see you soon," I said and hung up the phone.

A few minutes later, Dean walked in, but he wasn't alone.

"Hey, who's this?" I asked.

"This is my friend Nick," he slurred and smiled at him strangely.

I furrowed my brow. "Are you drunk?"

He shrugged with a straight face. "We went out for a couple drinks. So what?"

He was making me feel uncomfortable. Dean never made me feel like that. He was just acting completely strange. He kept looking back at Nick, almost as if he was looking for approval, and wouldn't look at me until Nick smiled and nodded.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Dean..." Nick said, which caused him to turn and look at him again. "You know what you need to do before Sam gets here, she will only get in the way."

Dean nodded and backhanded me, causing me to immediately fall to the ground as I grabbed my throbbing mouth. He picked me up and swung me over his shoulder.

"Dean!" I screamed as I punched his back, trying to loosen his grip. "This isn't you!" I looked up at Nick. "What did you do to him?"

"I didn't do anything to him, only what he needed." Nick smiled.

As Dean walked me into the bathroom, he grabbed the toaster off the counter and ripped the plug out of the wall. He flung me over his shoulder and into the bottom of the tub, making me hit my back extremely hard.

"Dean! Please!" I cried as I tried to push him off of me, but he put his hand on my chest and held me in the bottom of the tub and punched me again.

I felt myself go in and out of consciousness and blearily watched him as he used the toaster cord to tie my hands to the faucet and then plugged it in. He carefully placed the toaster on the edge of the tub, then he plugged the drain and turned the water on, and stepped back.

"When Sam gets here if you stay quiet and don't move. We'll let you go once we are done with him, or you can decide your own fate. One small move will drop that right into the water, and then its, goodbye, baby sis." Nick smiled.

"Dean..." I cried as the water poured over my face, starting to fill the tub with cold, bloody water.

He looked at me with empty eyes, and then he and Nick walked out, closing the door behind them.

I shivered in the tub as I cried, my vision in my left eye becoming more and more blurry as it started to swell. For that moment, I was in complete shock, and all I could do was wait for Sam to show up just to be ambushed by Dean and Nick.

Sure enough, I heard the door open a little while later, but at that point, the water was up to my neck, and each shiver caused the toaster to tip slightly toward the water.

"Nick. What are you doing here? Where's Maddison?" Sam asked, and then gasped. "Dean?" He laughed. "I gotta tell ya, you're one butt-ugly stripper."

Nick laughed. "Well, maybe. But I got exactly what I wanted. I got Dean."

"Dean, come on, man, this isn't you. You can fight this. Let me go," Sam pleaded.

"Why don't you cut him?" Nick asked. "Just a little, on his neck right there."

I needed to do something, make some sort of move. At the very least, I could be a distraction, so Sam could actually protect us. I took a deep breath and slowly and carefully lifted my leg straight up toward the toaster. I was able to push it as much as I could over the edge and pinned it with my knee, but the cord around my wrists was tightened because of it. So, I began pulling my hands out and used the water to my advantage to try and slip my hands out, but the more I pulled, the tighter the cord got, and the hard plastic started to rip at my skin. So, I took a deep breath and decided to use the blood to my advantage, too, and pulled as hard as I could. I yelled out in pain quietly and finally released myself from the cord. As I did, the toaster dropped to the floor. I picked myself up out of the tub as blood dripped down my arms and hands. I slipped on the now wet floor as I made my way over to the door and spotted myself in the mirror. I had a swollen eye and lip that were both dripping with blood.

"You poisoned him," Sam said.

"No. I gave him what he needed. And it wasn't some bitch in a G-string. It was you. A little brother that looked up to him, that he could trust. And now he loves me. He'd do anything for me. And I gotta tell you, Sam, that kind of devotion? I mean, watching someone kill for you? It's the best feeling in the world," Nick said.

"Is that why you're slutting all over town?" Sam asked.

"I get bored like we all do. And I wanna fall in love again. And again... and again," Nick said.

"I'll tell you what. I have fought some nasty sons of bitches, but you are one needy, pathetic loser," Sam said.

"You won't feel that way in a minute," Nick said.

I slowly opened the door to peer out. I watched as Dean held Sam from behind for Nick to grab Sam's face and squirt his toxin into his mouth.

"So I know you two have a lot you wanna get off your chests. So why don't you discuss it? And whoever survives can be with me forever." Nick stepped back, and Sam and Dean turned to each other.

I quietly closed the door and realized very quickly that I needed a new plan. So, I walked over to the window, pulled it open, and pushed the screen out.

"Well, I don't know when it happened. Maybe when I was in Hell. Maybe when I was staring right at you. But the Sam I knew, he's gone," Dean said.

"That so?" Sam growled.

"And it's not the demon blood or the psychic crap. It's the little stuff... the lies... the secrets," Dean said.

"Oh, yeah? What secrets?" Sam asked.

"The phone calls to Ruby for one," Dean said.

I stopped and listened for a little bit longer.

"That's the point. You're hiding things from me. What else aren't you telling me?" Dean demanded.

"None of your business," Sam snapped.

"See what I mean? We used to be in this together. We used to have each other's backs!" Dean shouted.

"Okay, fine. You know why I didn't tell you about Ruby, and how we're hunting down Lilith?" Sam asked. "Because you're too weak to go after her, Dean. You're holding me back, you and Maddison, you both are. I'm a better hunter than you are and better than she could ever hope to be. Stronger, smarter. I can take out demons you're too scared to go near."

"That's crap," Dean said.

"You're too busy sitting around, feeling sorry for yourself. Whining about all the souls you tortured in hell. Boo-hoo," Sam taunted.

Then things started crashing on the floor, and it sounded like they broke out into a fight. So, I turned back to the window and pulled myself up and out.

As soon as I hit the ground, I ran over to the Impala and dug through the glove box for one of the several cell phones. I quickly flipped one open and called Bobby.

"Hello?" Bobby's voice came through the phone, but when I heard his voice, I couldn't get anything out. I just started crying. "Hello?" he asked again. "Who is this?"

"It— It—" I took a deep breath. "It's Maddison."

"What's going on? Where are you? Are you okay?" he asked with panic in his voice.

"No, the siren got both of them. What do I do?" I asked, still crying.

"I'm already on my way. I should be there in a few minutes. Just sit tight and stay away from them," he said and then hung up.

Relief hit me when Bobby pulled in shortly after that, and I ran up to his truck.

When he hopped out, he grabbed my face and looked me over with worry in his eyes. "What happened to you?"

"Dean." I sniffled.

"That boy's gonna be a wreck when he sees what he did to you," Bobby said sadly and then reached into his truck and pulled out a bronze blade.

I quickly followed after him as he ran into the building, but it didn't take long for us to find Sam and Dean fighting in the hallway as Nick watched them proudly. Sam was covering his face on the ground while Dean had an ax above his head, ready to swing. Bobby grabbed the ax handle and jabbed the blade into Dean's shoulder, making him drop the ax and cry out in pain. Nick suddenly started running down the hallway, but Bobby turned and raised the knife to throw it at him.

"No. No!" Sam tried to plead for Nick's life.

Bobby ignored him and released the blade, letting it fly directly into Nicks back, and he immediately dropped dead. As soon as he hit the ground, the boys were released from his spell.

Dean turned to me with tears in his eyes as he looked over what he did to me. "I'm so sorry." He pulled me into a huge hug and kissed the top of my head, which caused me to break down in tears. "I'm so sorry," he said again with a strained voice.

We drove down a dirt road and parked the Impala next to Bobby. We just needed a breather after everything that had happened, so I sat on the hood of the car while Sam and Dean leaned up against it. Bobby walked up and handed us each a soda.

"Thanks," Sam said.

I nodded. "Thank you." Then I popped it open.

"Soda?" Dean asked.

"You kids are driving, aren't ya?" Bobby asked.

Sam nodded. "Thanks, Bobby. You know if you hadn't shown up when you did—"

Bobby shrugged. "Done the same for me, more than once. Course, you could'a picked up the phone. Only took one call to figure out that Agent Nick Munroe wasn't real."

I took a sip of my soda and whimpered slightly from the unexpected pain the carbonation brought to my split lip. I felt terrible because Dean instantly looked back to see if I was okay. I could tell that it had been hard for him to look at me, not because of what I looked like, but because he was the reason for it.

"I'm fine," I tried to assure him.

He still looked worried but turned back to Bobby.

"You kids gonna be okay?" Bobby asked.

I nodded.

Sam nodded. "Yeah, fine."

Dean nodded. "Yeah, good."

Bobby tipped his hat and turned to his truck. "See ya." He paused for a second and then turned back to us. "Ya know, those sirens are nasty things. That it got to you, that's no reason to feel bad."

As Bobby got into his car, we sipped on our drinks and watched as he drove away.

"You gonna say goodbye to Cara?" Dean asked.

Sam shook his head. "Nah, not interested."

"Really? Why not?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged. "What's the point?"

"Well, look at you. Love 'em and leave 'em," Dean said.

Sam sighed. "Dean, look, you know I didn't mean the things I said back there, right? That it was just the siren's spell talking?"

Dean nodded. "Of course, me too."

There was an awkward silence for a minute.

"'Kay. So— So we're good?" Sam asked.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, we're good."