I've been forgetting to put disclaimers in each chapter but just in case you thought I owned Supernatural, I don't. I don't own Sam, I don't own Dean. I do however own Shane but if I had the chance to make a trade with Kripke, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Love the girl, but I love my boys more lol.

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Sam made it back to the car in record time, his legs aching and his lungs on fire. He found the Impala untouched and still parked at an awkward angle. He fumbled with the keys for a minute before jamming the appropriated one into the keyhole. He grabbed the door handle and swung the door open a little too roughly. He knew Dean wouldn't have appreciated his use of force on the door but at the moment Sam could care less. His mind was still back in that clearing. He'd made a few unnecessary mistakes and now time was the only weapon he had against saving his brother and now his cousin as well.

He reached into the front seat and grabbed the journal which was still lying in the middle of the seat where Shane had left it. He tucked into his coat pocket, slammed the door shut and took off towards the clearing. He threw caution to the wind as he crashed through the woods, carelessly shoving branches out of his way and stomping through dried leaves scattered on the ground. The Asinaedo was expecting him this time so there was no need for creeping. He had to get to Dean before it was too late.

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Shane could see the knife that the Asinaedo had knocked out of her hand peeking out from under a small shrub to her right as if taunting her. She twisted her body as much as she could and extended her leg as far as it would allow. Her toe just barely touched the knife. She stole a glance at the Asinaedo who was busy arranging a makeshift altar behind Dean. The box was placed directly behind Dean so that his hands were inches away from it. Around the box she had positioned a semi-circle of candles. The Asinaedo was so focused on setting up her ritual and Dean was so caught up in hurling insults and smart aleck remarks at her that neither noticed as Shane slowly inched the knife closer to her and was eventually able to wrap her fingertips around it and conceal it behind her back.

She cautiously looked back at the Asinaedo and found her shooting a cold stare in her direction. Shane jerked backwards, fearing that she had been caught.

"So," the Asinaedo said, "What is she to you?"

Although the Asinaedo was staring directly at her Shane realized that the question was being directed towards Dean. Shane exhaled, relieved at knowing that her concealed weapon was still a secret.

Dean, who had been watching the Asinaedo the whole time, now slowly glanced at Shane and then back to the Asinaedo. "Her?" he asked, "She's just a pain in my ass." Dean smiled. Shane shrugged. It was the truth. Since she had met Sam and Dean she had excelled at being a pain in both of their asses. It was part of her M.O. and while she'd never admit it this soon, she enjoyed this new family dynamic that she'd been catapulted into.

"Well in that case," the Asinaedo removed the knife that she had tucked into her waistband, "you won't mind if I put her out of her misery."

Dean's eyes widened at seeing the knife. "Wait, no!"

The Asinaedo turned to look at him, "Why not? You yourself said she's a pain in the ass and I need any more of those. Besides, I don't need her for the ceremony," she began to walk towards Shane, "So what's the point of keeping her around?"

"Listen!" Dean yelled again, stopping the Asinaedo in her tracks. She turned back and looked at him. Dean glanced up at the sky and the Asinaedo followed his gaze, "You're losing the full moon. Do the ceremony, leave Shane out of this. When this is all over, you'll have your powers restored and you can leave Shane, Angela and my brother alone." Dean said it with such force that it came out more of an order than a proposal.

The Asinaedo nodded, the smile melting off her face as she pulled a small lighter out of her pocket and crouched down behind Dean. "Just remember," she whispered into Dean's ear, "you asked for this."

"You didn't give me much of a choice though, did you?" Dean said, distinctly remembering a gun colliding with his head. His demand for the Asinaedo to do the ceremony was not his asking for it. It was simply his way of controlling the situation.

The Asinaedo began to light the candles as she chanted an incantation, her voice growing louder with each candle. Dean felt her grab his hands. She pulled the ropes tighter so that his hands were drawn closer together. She then placed his hands on top of the box. Shane's eyes met Deans'. Do something, she mouthed but Dean simply turned his head, averting her eyes. He wasn't sure what he could do. At this point attempting to escape would result in the Asinaedo retaliating on Shane. Dean knew Sammy was coming back. Although patience had never been Dean's strong suit, he was hoping he'd be able to wait for him.

Shane quickly began sawing away at the ropes holding her. She had just found this family and she'd be damned if she sat idly by and watched it get taken from her the same way as her mother and father had been taken.

As Shane continued to saw her eyes remained trained on the Asinaedo and Dean. She watched the Asinaedo slowly brought the knife up to her lips. She pressed a kiss onto the blade and then uttered a few words that Shane didn't understand. She slowly lifted the knife above her head and then drove the knife down into Dean's arm.

Dean cried out as the knife bit into his flesh. Shane nearly jumped out of her skin at hearing the Asinaedo laugh at Dean's pain. The sound only fueled her anger and she began working even harder at freeing herself from the ropes.

The blood began pouring down Dean's arm at an alarming speed. If the pain didn't do the trick then the speed of the blood was a strong indicator that the cut was obviously deep. Dean knew his face read of pain but he still managed a weak smile in Shane's direction. Shane however was obviously not buying his act. She glared at him, a mixture of panic, anger and annoyance in her eyes.

Before Dean had a chance to offer Shane another reassuring glance or word he felt the knife plunge into his other arm with the same force and depth as the last. He only grimaced this time, biting his lips to keep from allowing any sound to escape. The Asinaedo smiled in return.

"I'm going to kill you, bitch!" Shane shouted, "And enjoy every second of it!"

The Asinaedo smiled at Shane's threat, "By the time you manage that," she grabbed a handful of Dean's hair and pulled his head back, "Dean here will already be dead."

Shane saw that Dean's eyes were unfocused and his body had gone mildly limp. It looked as though the fight had been ripped right out of him. The Asinaedo released Dean's hair and Shane watched in horror as his head lolled forward and rested against his chest.

"Dean!" she yelled in panic.

"I'm fine," Came Dean's weak response, "Just…dizzy."

"Dizzy," the Asinaedo echoed as he rubbed her forehead and took a step backwards. She shook her head violently and then pressed a finger to each of her temples. Shane immediately thought that the ceremony had begun to take affect; that the Asinaedo soul was somehow being restored to her.

That is until she heard Latin words being uttered from behind her. She glanced back at the Asinaedo and saw her wipe away a trail of blood that had begun to seep from her nose. Shane smiled realizing what was going on.

Sam slowly emerged from the woods, his dad's journal balanced in his left hand, a bottle of holy water in his right. Sam's voice grew louder and the Asinaedo spun around to face him. She glanced from the journal, to the holy water and then slowly raised her eyes to meet Sam's.

"Is the power of Christ supposed to compel me now?" she asked with a forced smile even though it was evident that the Latin words were causing her great pain.

Shane kept her eyes trained on the encounter between Sam and the Asinaedo but a snapping sound from behind her stole her attention. She pulled her hands out in front of her and looked at them in shock like a baby who'd just discovered that they had hands. She quickly recovered and tossed the ropes that had been menacing her to the side. She jumped to her feet and ran to Dean's side, dropped to her knees once she was there.

"Dean?" she said as she lifted his head up.

A muffled, "What?" was his only reply.

At least he's still able to talk, Shane thought as he reached behind and began cutting the ropes. She almost froze at the sight of his arms completely soaked red and the trail of blood that had begun to pool on top of the box and drip down the sides. As soon as the ropes were cut Dean's body drooped forwards. He would have fallen flat on his face had Shane's hand planted on his chest not stopped him. Shane pulled him into her and his head dropped onto her shoulder.

"Dean?" she said again, "Are you still with me?"

"No, I'm in Mexico." He slurred. Shane managed a weak smile as Dean looked up at her, his eyes still slightly unfocused but Shane could tell he was still there. She carefully laid him down on the ground and pulled his arms in front of him. The bleeding was continuing at a steady rate. Shane quickly shrugged her jacket off her shoulders and pulling Dean's arms together, she wrapped it tightly around them, making sure to put enough pressure so that the bleeding slowed. The cuts on Dean's arms would require stitches and at the rate he was bleeding Shane knew that by the time they made it to a hospital he would have already lost too much blood.

Shane could hear Sam still chanting the Latin words. She looked in his direction and saw him cradling the book, slowly approaching the Asinaedo. With every step he took the Asinaedo would take a step back, a scowl distorting her features as she grabbed her head and occasionally cried out in pain.

Shane took this as opportunity to run to the spilled contents of her bag and grab the first-aid kit that she had thoughtfully tucked inside. She had taken a first aid course in high school but had never actually sewn anyone up. She could only hope that Dean had a high threshold for pain because most likely, this was going to hurt like hell.

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Sam dared to stop reading for a second to steal a glance at his brother. Dean's eyes were half shut and Sam could see Shane leaning over him obviously dressing his wounds. Although Sam was glad for Shane's help he secretly wished it was him helping Dean, not Shane. After all it was his brother. But then again, without Shane it would have been next to impossible to exorcise the Asinaedo and rescue Dean at the same time.

A small grunt from in front of him pulled his attention away from Shane and Dean. The Asinaedo seemed to be slowly regaining her strength. Sam wouldn't allow it. In a forceful voice he continued to reading the words. The Asinaedo doubled over in pain as the chanting continued.

"Stop," she begged, "Please."

The Asinaedo's eyes met Sam's and for a second Sam felt a pang of sympathy. But one sideways glance at his brother refueled his anger and his words grew louder.

The Asinaedo fell to her knees. Her eyes, which were now staring down Sam, suddenly turned black and her head snapped back as an unearthly cry left her mouth. A thick stream of black smoke came flowing out of her mouth with such force that it nearly knocked Sam off of his feet.

At the same time, the box containing the Asinaedo soul began to shake. Sam watched as white sparks began to fly from the box like a mini fireworks show. Shane, who was sitting closer to the box than Sam, shielded her and Dean from the brightness streaming from the box. Sam had wondered whether the exorcism would have any effect on the box or whether a separate exorcism would have to be preformed. The sudden shaking of the box answered his question.

The black smoke suddenly stopped spewing from the Asinaedo's mouth and the light from the box doubled in brightness. A loud roar rippled through the clearing as the box exploded and sizzled for a second. When the light dispersed, Sam saw that the box had turned to ash. Sam stared at it wordlessly for a moment before he looked back at the crumpled body that used to house the Asinaedo. He walked towards her, and kneeled down. He pressed his finger to her neck and checked for a pulse.

A low moan escaped Angela's lips as she felt Sam fingers on her. She looked up at him and pulled back slightly, swiveling her head around in fear.

"Where am I?" she asked, "Who are you?"

Sam backed away, noticing her discomfort at having him so close to her. Sam looked around the clearing, at the half melted candles, the blood stained rope discarded next to the tree, the assorted weapons strewn on the ground, the huge hole in the ground, and lastly at his brother and cousin who were both looking at him with the same expression of, 'what should we tell her'.

He decided against any true explanation, realizing that it would be entirely too confusing and too long to sound the least bit copasetic. So instead he chose the cop out answer. He gave her his patent half smile and said, "Next time, you should really slow down on the vodka shots." Angela stared at him for a second before nodding slowly and then reaching out to take Sam's extended hand. "Come on," he said helping her to her feet, "We'll take you home."

Shane had begun stuffing the weapons and scattered equipment back into her pack and quickly returned to Dean's side to help him to his feet.

"You okay?" Sam asked his brother as Angela leaned against him.

Dean nodded, "Peachy." He said with a smirk, his arm around Shane's shoulders. "Could use a drink though and maybe a hot blonde." Noticing the look on Sam's face, Dean added, "You know, one that isn't possessed by a vengeful demon bitch."

Thankfully the comment was lost on Angela who was still looking around the clearing in bewilderment. Both Sam and Shane shook their heads.

"Come on," Sam said, "Let's get the hell out of here."

And with that all four headed back to the Impala.

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TBC….

Don't stop reading now. There's still one more chapter to go.