Chapter Fifty-Three

Alyson woke up the next morning squished between Dean and the couch cushions. She was half on top of him and their legs were tangled together. She tried to move, but Dean's arms tightened around her. His eyes were still closed.

"Dean, wake up," she said.

"Don't wanna," he answered. He opened his eyes anyway.

She smiled fondly at him. "We have to let Madison out soon."

"Right."

Once up, Alyson noticed that both Jack and Sam were seated on the floor. Jack looked sleep rumpled, but Sam seemed wide awake.

Oh, Sam . . . she hoped Madison would give him a chance, that he would be able to help her understand. He deserved to at least be able to explain.

And then there was Jack. Alyson didn't feel like trying to figure him out. It was way too early in the morning.

About thirty minutes later Alyson, Dean, and Jack walked out of the apartment. They were giving Sam and Madison a chance to part ways privately.

"I'm gonna go wait in the car," Dean said. "Sam'll be out soon."

He was also giving Alyson time with Jack to . . . do whatever she wanted, really. Dean had always followed her lead when it came to her dad.

"So . . . why him?" Jack asked. "You never answered yesterday."

"Does it matter?" She shrugged. "I love him because I love him."

"You spend just as much time with Sam. There's gotta be a reason you chose Dean."

"What?" Alyson almost shuddered. "I could never be with Sam. I don't love him the way I love Dean. Sam is like a brother."

She smiled. "Plus, I don't think he's interested."

Alyson leaned against the wall. She became serious then and decided to give her dad some honesty regarding Dean.

"Dean is good to me, and he can't understand why I love him. You guys have that in common, I guess. He gives and he gives, and he never expects anything in return, and he doesn't think he deserves me. He doesn't act like my love is a given, and I like that.

"Dean isn't a bad guy. Despite what you might think, he's a very good guy. He makes me feel safe and warm in a world that is dangerous and cold, and that is why I love him."

Alyson crossed her arms defiantly.

"You don't have to like Dean or that we're together. You don't have to accept our relationship, but will respect it."

"Okay." His response was terse.

"Good. Now that that's covered . . . this training thing – do you know why I'm doing it?"

"I know. You think you can save Dean. It won't work."

"Thanks for having confidence in me," she quipped.

Jack shook his head. "You misunderstand me. It won't work because it's not meant to. It's not your fault. It's a choice Dean makes."

"A choice? Why would –" Why would Dean choose to go to Hell? Especially since he knew what it was like. He wouldn't unless –

Unless he had to. Something must happen to make him choose that. Before she could question Jack further Sam came out with Madison by his side.

She was allowing them to stay even if she did think they were crazy. She was one of the crazy ones too; she'd seen all the scratches she had made in the closet.

"I'll go get Dean."

Dean was surprised that Sam had agreed to stay, but he wasn't going to complain. It beat staying out in the car all day. Alyson still wasn't at her best and she didn't need to move around much.

Dean could sense that something was wrong – more than the bite – but he didn't know what. It obviously had to do with Jack since she had just come from talking to him.

"What's wrong?" he asked once out of the car. He took her hand. "What did he do now?"

"Nothing, really. I just had to let Jack know why I chose you."

That would not have made her stressed out the way she was.

"I had to basically tell him that it doesn't matter whether he likes us being together or not. He's gonna have to deal with it. I will choose you over him every time."

Okay, that would cause her to stress out. Alyson didn't like confrontation and for her to confront Jack had probably taken a lot out of her.

"Do you want him to leave?" Dean asked. "I can make him leave."

Alyson immediately shook her head. "We still need to talk to him. Once this is over, we'll see. It depends on what he has to say."

"Okay. Then we'll see."

"So when will we know for sure? Moonrise?" Madison asked after about two hours after they'd all come into the apartment.

Dean was fairly certain Madison wouldn't change. From the timeline of the night before, Madison had calmed down within about thirty minutes of him shooting and killing the other werewolf. Hopefully, that meant Madison would be okay.

"You turned in the middle of the night last night. I think we've gotta hang in until sun-up," Sam said.

It was only noon, so they had a long wait ahead. At least Aly could rest a while as long as Jack left her alone.

"Do you want to eat?" Dean asked anyone who was listening. "Subs or something."

"I'd rather have pizza, but grease, so subs are good. I'll try to eat. Deli meat for me, please. No tomato, extra mayo."

Thirty minutes later they were all seated around Madison's living room eating. She had asked how they knew werewolves existed in the first place.

"It sorta runs in the family," Sam said. "Our dad taught me and Dean, and we taught Alyson after we met her."

"And this is your job?"

"It's more a calling," Alyson said, shrugging. "But yeah."

"Wow. That must really suck."

"Yeah, sometimes," Sam said. "But someone's gotta do it."

"And it's automatically you guys?" she asked softly.

"Well, when you know the stuff we do, it's hard to ignore the things that go on around you. Or at least it would be for me," Alyson answered. "I mean, don't get me wrong. There are other people like us, but they are few and far between. So like Sam said . . . someone's gotta do the job."

"So . . . how did you know that a werewolf – that I – was killing people?"

"You sure you wanna know?" Dean asked.

"Yes. I think I want to."

"Okay." Sam took this one. "Well, first, the lunar cycle matched. Full moon and all that."

"And Nate? Did I kill him?"

"That wasn't your fault. You didn't have any control over it. But, yeah, it was you. The werewolf in you must have seen him as a threat."

Madison was silent for a moment. "I didn't mean to hurt anybody."

"We know that," Sam said. "You didn't know."

The day went by slowly after that. Sam and Madison talked to each other. Dean could tell Sam liked her and she liked him.

Maybe after this was over, they could stick around for a few days. It would be good for Sammy.

When the sun finally rose, they all celebrated the fact that Madison had not changed at all during the night.

"Does this mean it worked?" Madison asked.

"Yeah, I think so," Sam said, relieved.

Madison hugged him, but Alyson could see that Sam had hesitated before returning it.

"Thank you. Thank you so much."

Alyson grabbed Dean's hand and gently pulled him towards the door. She nodded for Jack to follow them. They would leave Sam and Madison to whatever they wanted to do.

She was glad that Madison had been saved, glad that Sam could have someone even if he could only have her for a short while.

Once back at the motel Jack got his own room just because Alyson was not sharing a room with her dad. Even if she and Dean were only going to watch a movie.

They dozed a little, but they had passed the tired stage hours ago and they couldn't really get good and asleep. They had to deal with Jack later, though, so she needed to get some sleep.

Later that same day Jack showed up at the door. He at least had the decency to appear unsure of whether or not he would be welcome. Alyson almost wanted to tell him he wasn't, but she still wanted to know what he knew. Everything about him had become more mysterious and she wanted to figure him out.

"So . . . what do you want now?" she asked.

"Just to clear some things up. If you'll let me."

"That would be awesome. But how do I know you're not gonna lie again?"

"I won't lie again. If I can't tell you, I'll tell you I can't tell you."

Alyson hesitated and looked at Dean. She wanted his guidance here, but his gaze told her that this was her decision to make.

"If you don't believe me, you could always read my mind."

"I dunno, your mind is probably a pretty scary place."

"Right. Where do you want me to start?"

"The beginning would be good."

"Okay. Just know that everything I told you was true. I may have left things out, but that's 'cause I couldn't tell you."

That was part of the problem. He couldn't do a lot of things; his hands were tied in many ways. And it was all because of the thing that had brought him back from the dead.

"Okay. The first thing you should know is that I knew you were at the Roadhouse when I found you. I . . . saw it. The visions or whatever they are come from the thing that brought me back."

"And how did it know where we were?" Dean asked.

"Well, he always knows where Alyson is. He doesn't want to hurt her and he's not stalking her or anything. He's just . . . kind of got, like, a LoJack on her."

Alyson's mind flashed back to when she'd first laid eyes on Jack at the Roadhouse. He'd known who Sam and Dean were even before he'd been introduced to them.

"When you talked to me the first time, when Sam was gone, did you really hear Sam talking or did you see where he was?"

"I really heard. My visions hardly ever center around anyone other than you."

"Hm."

"There's something you should know. The first time I heard the voice of whatever brought me back wasn't when he brought me back."

"Well . . . when did you?"

"When your mom was pregnant with you. Or . . . well, actually even before that, but only once. It was a month after I married your mother. The voice only happened in my head, and I thought I was insane. He asked for permission for you to be born. He picked Elizabeth because she'd known Mary. I said yes, obviously. We wanted a child anyway."

"Why permission?" Dean asked. "And what did my mom have to do with anything?"

"Well, he explained that Alyson would be special, different. He had to make sure we could handle it, that we'd accept the responsibility and keep her safe. As for your mom? It's not exactly your mom that's important. Alyson was born because Sam was born. There has to be a balance in the universe or it sends things out of whack. I think . . . I think you guys were just meant to know each other. That why Elizabeth was picked."

"Okay, so . . . you knew that stuff was out there. Jim was the one who taught you?"

"He did teach me, but yeah. I knew."

"But you told him you didn't. Why?"

"I didn't know how serious it was, how many demons were gonna be involved until Jim told me about Azazel and the prophecy. The war that he wants to start . . . Well, he wants you on his side."

"Do you know his plan?" Dean asked in a tone that said Jack better say something if he did know.

"I know a lot of demons think Sam is the boy-king." At Dean's and Alyson's blank looks Jack continued. "He's supposed to rule over all demons."

"And me?" Alyson asked.

"You're not supposed to rule over demons." Jack smiled slightly. "You're not supposed to rule over anything."

"Hm. And this Righteous Man business we learned about? I can't protect him if I don't know who he is."

Jack glanced at Dean and then back at her. "I'd say you're fairly intimate with him."

Dean? Righteous? Was he the man the prophecy had been about? Dean did always stand up for what he believed was right. He was always willing to help others in need even if it meant risking his own life.

"Wait. Are you saying it's me?" Dean asked skeptically. "You sure your brain-buddy knows what he's talkin' about? I've done a lot of things that I don't see as entirely righteous."

"Well, apparently someone thinks you're righteous."

Dean was screwed, Alyson thought. He protected her so much more than she protected him.

"Did Mom know about any of this? You said something about permission being needed. It was her body being used and all."

"She was made aware, yes, but her memories were altered after the fact. She couldn't know or you would've been raised differently. That wouldn't have been good in the long run."

"Why would it have mattered?" Alyson asked.

"You weren't supposed to be brought up knowing about demons. You wouldn't have turned out the same. Would've turned out different, jaded, not so innocent. You'd have different views of the world."

Jack shrugged, dismissing the subject.

"Anyway, I came after you, but it was too late. You'd already gone, and Elizabeth was dead."

"In June. You died there."

"Yeah. I don't know exactly when you left, but the furniture was still there and the carpet still had a stain on it."

He'd probably been only days late. If he'd gotten there sooner, he would've found her. She probably still would have opted to go with Sam and Dean. Even having not known them, she would've still trusted them more than the dad she'd thought was dead.

"Did you . . . die in the house?"

"No, in my motel room. Azazel showed up before I was able to secure the room."

"You must've made him angry it he came after you himself," Dean said.

"He really didn't want me finding Alyson."

"Didn't want me to be trained?"

"Right. Unless you were to be on his side. Which will never happen."

At least he sounded certain of that because he knew her and not because some voice had told him.

"So this thing brought you back so you could train Alyson?"

"More or less."

"What does that mean?" Alyson demanded.

"Remember that war? Well, you won't be able to stop it, but you'll give the good guys a chance of landing on top. It's what you were born for."

Dean rolled his eyes. "More destiny crap."

"Hey, I've seen what the world looks like after the war. It's not pretty. Dark and burnt. If she could prevent that, wouldn't you want her to?"

"Can I help? I mean, I live in one country. I can't save the world," Alyson said. "We go town by town, you know."

"How does the war start?" Dean asked. "Can you tell us that?"

Jack grimaced. "I can't. Some things you have to find out for yourself."

Once Jack left the room things went back to normal – or what constituted as normal for them. Dean and Alyson napped for a few hours. Dean considered it a nap because Sam came to their door around three in the morning, just pounding away and scaring Aly awake.

Dean was just glad it wasn't Jack. Aly hadn't had a good night's sleep in a while, so if it had been Jack, Dean may have had words to say. As it was, Dean began to stir first, but Aly started groaning in protest as she woke up.

Dean caressed her arm a few times up and down before getting up to open the door.

"Sammy?"

"She turned. I couldn't grab her in time."

Dean grabbed Aly's jeans and tossed them to her even as he took in his brother's appearance. His clothes were all wrinkled and his hair was a mess. His face was even worse, panicked and sad – he'd probably been crying.

"I already called Bobby. He doesn't know anything. Except he knew severing the bloodline wouldn't work. That's everyone. They all say it's impossible to reverse it."

They probably should've called Bobby in the first place. Why had they ever listened to Jack anyway?

"How come she didn't turn when we were with her?" Dean asked. "Maybe she's gotta be asleep to turn?"

"What does it matter, Dean?" Sam asked. "We've gotta find some way to help her, some legend we missed or something."

"If there was a way, don't you think someone we know would've known it?"

"Well, then, we have to look harder until we find something."

This sucked out loud. Sam had found someone he could've had a little bit of happiness with, and they would probably have to end her life.

"Sammy, I don't think we've got a choice here anymore," Dean said. "I hate to say it. She's a sweet girl, but part of her is –"

"Evil?"

"Yeah."

"That's what they say about me, Dean. So, me you won't kill, but her you're just gonna blow away."

Aly stood up then, fully dressed. "Look, Sam, we'll try to find something, but if we can't . . . I like Madison, I do, but . . ."

She trailed off and shook her head.

"I'm gonna go talk to Jack. I'll meet you guys at the car."

"You think he can help her?" Sam asked.

"No, I don't," Aly said bluntly. "But he might know where she is. He probably even knew she hadn't been cured."

"What d'you mean? Why would he know?"

"Just follow me."

Once they all got to Jack's door Aly banged on it just as Sam had banged on theirs. Jack opened it and Dean noticed he didn't appear to have been asleep at all. He also didn't appear surprised to see Sam there.

"What?"

"Did you know?"

"About what?"

"That Madison would turn again. Did you know?"

Jack was shamefaced, and that was all the answer they needed. Sam launched himself at Jack, shoving past Dean and Aly and into the room.

"Where is she?" Sam yelled, knocking Jack to the floor.

"I don't know."

Neither Dean nor Aly stopped Sam from aiming a kick at Jack's kidney.

"I don't know. She'll be at Middle Point in the morning. I don't know where she is right now."

Sam kicked him once again for good measure before turning back to walk out of the door. Dean watched him, worried Sam might do something stupid, and Aly gestured for him to follow Sam.

"I'll be there in a minute," she told him, so he went.

Alyson watched as Dean followed Sam. She shut the door behind him. Jack was struggling to get up, but Alyson didn't have the urge to help him at all. She felt disappointed, though, because he had said he'd be truthful not even twelve hours ago.

Alyson crossed her arms over her chest as he got to his feet.

"How long have you known? Why didn't you tell us?"

"I've known that the cure was only a possibility all along. But –"

She interrupted his explanation with a well-placed push against his chest. It knocked him back a few steps.

"You knew all along? Why didn't you tell us?"

"You know why. You can't know too much about the future. In order for things to turn out how they're meant to, in order for you guys to do what has to be done, you can't know about things you have to do before you have to do them. Someone will try to change it and mess everything up."

"No!" she yelled, and a surge of power went from her and into the TV, breaking the screen. "Stop taking the easy way out, stop making this about whatever brought you back. This is your fault."

"Look, I get that you're upset, but she was a werewolf before we even got here."

"Do you have any idea what you've done to Sam by keeping this from us?"

The lights in the room started flickering and then all the bulbs blew. Sparks flew everywhere and she and Jack both ducked and covered. She hadn't realized how upset she'd been until just then. What she'd said was true, though. Sam had become even more attached, and he could've been hurt because Jack hadn't been honest with them.

"I want you gone by the time I get back. Really. Don't be here."

Jack didn't try to stop her from leaving.

They did find Madison at Middle Point that morning, just as Jack had said. She'd been crying when she'd called them. They picked her up from the same place she'd called them from. She couldn't remember anything, and she had probably killed someone.

They were taking her back to her place, but Dean really didn't know what to do after that. Or, at least he didn't want to do what needed to be done.

"Is there something else we can try to make it go away?" Madison asked.

"We'll find something," Sam answered firmly. "I mean, there's gotta be an answer somewhere."

"That's not entirely true," Dean said, believing Madison deserved to know the truth. "We've scoured every source. There's just no cure. I mean, we could lock you up at night, but when you bust out . . . and some night you will, someone else dies."

Tears fell from Madison's eyes and Dean saw when Aly turned her head to the side.

By the time they reached Madison's apartment she was really upset. She was still able to function on her own, though. The first thing she did was plop down on a kitchen chair.

"So I guess that's it, then," she said. "I have to . . . die." A sob broke through. "I don't wanna hurt anyone else. I don't wanna hurt you. I can't do this myself. I need you to help me."

"Madison. No."

"Sam . . . I'm a monster."

"You don't have to be. We can find a way, all right? I can. I'm gonna save you."

Madison cried harder. Dean knew this wasn't fair. Madison was a victim in this and she shouldn't have to die – not for something that wasn't her fault.

"You tried. I know you tried," Madison said through her sobs. "But this is all that's left."

Alyson left the kitchen and Dean watched her stop near the front door. She knew what had to happen and was distancing herself.

"I don't wanna die. I don't. But I can't live like this. This is the way you can save me."

A few seconds later Sam left the kitchen to go be with Aly. He needed to be away at the moment. Dean suddenly hated that Madison had been bitten, that werewolves existed in the first place. He hated that another woman connected to Sam was being taken from him. He hated that his brother was hurting again.

"Sam, I'm sorry," he said when he reached them.

"No, she's right."

His eyes were full, brimming with tears. The brothers just stared at each other for a few seconds before Dean took out his gun.

"Sammy, I got this one. I'll do it," Dean whispered.

"She asked me to."

The way Sam looked at the moment Dean could clearly see him as a kid, scared of the things that went bump in the night, sad because his mom had died and his dad was never around, and all he had was his big brother.

"You don't have to."

"Yes, I do." Tears finally spilled over and Dean felt his eyes burning in response. "Just give me the gun and wait here."

He held his hand out for the gun and Dean reluctantly gave it to him. Sam went back to the kitchen before looking back at them. He was shaking from the emotional pain he was in.

Alyson grabbed onto his arm and turned her head to fit against him. She flinched when the shot rang out and she squeezed his arm.

Sam didn't come back immediately and even though someone had probably heard the gunshot and called the police, Dean decided to give his brother a moment with Madison.

Alyson sniffled once before pulling away from him. She was already wiping her tears away. Dean knew that most of the tears were for Sam, but she'd liked Madison as well.

"We need to go," she said. "The police . . ."

"Yeah, I know."

Dean wiped his face as well before going to get Sam. Sam had placed Madison's body on the floor. She would've ended up there anyway had he left her in the chair.

"Sammy, we need to go. We can't stay here."

Sam didn't respond in any way other than to stand up.

They checked out of the place they'd been staying and found a motel a few towns over. Sam wanted his own room.

"Sam, are you sure?" Alyson asked. "You don't have to talk to us, but you shouldn't be alone."

"I'm sure," he said. "I just need some time. A night, maybe."

Once Alyson was set up in her room, meaning all the protection was in place, she told Dean to go check on Sam.

Sam might not want anyone there, but he would need someone.