FAITH PART 1

Alice and the boys worked quickly as the night coiled around them, surrendering them to complete darkness. Alice opened the Impala's trunk and started rummaging through it, pulling out flashlights and tasers for all three of them.

"What did you amp these to?" she asked Dean.

"A hundred thousand volts," he answered.

"Damn," Sam chuckled.

"Yeah, I want this rawhead extra frickin' crispy. And remember, you only get one shot with these things. So make it count," Dean reminded them.

Alice reached up and closed the trunk. "Don't forget about the main objective though. Kill the monster, but make sure the kids get out first. Don't get them caught in the crossfire."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. Let's go."

They pointed their lights to the abandoned house they were parked beside and immediately headed through the front door. Alice took the lead and descended into the basement. She walked steadily down the creaky steps that felt like they would collapse from under them. Once they reached the bottom, the scent of mildew and mold filled their noses as the boys shined their lights over every inch of the basement. There was old furniture still inside with signs of water damage and occupancy.

Something else was down there with them, lurking around but staying hidden.

They scouted around the basement until they heard a noise coming from an old cupboard. Everyone stiffened before shining their flashlights on the spot. Dean inched close to the cupboard while Sam and Alice stood back with their tasers, alert but ready.

Dean began to whisper a countdown. "On three. One. Two. Three." He swung open the door and flashed their lights over the faces of two young kids. A boy and girl inside, crouching down and covering their ears. They looked at them with fear overwhelming their senses and tears building up in their glassy eyes.

Alice quickly lowered her taser once she saw that it was the missing kids. "Shh, shh. It's alright," she assured them while crouching down to their level. "We're going to get you out of here."

Sam leaned in close and whispered to them. "Is it still here?" he asked quietly, and the kids nodded.

Dean shook his head and quickly motioned the kids out. "Ok. Grab your sister's hand, come on, we gotta get you out of here. Let's go, let's go."

The kids rushed up the steps first with Sam right behind them. He was nearly at the top when an unknown hand abruptly reached between the steps and grabbed his leg, tripping him up. The kids screamed out as Sam fell down the stairs, accidentally taking Dean with him on the way. Alice immediately darted to the side of the stairs and pointed her taser into the darkness, where she saw something stirring. She pulled the trigger and the pins jetted out from the barrel, but the monster quickly moved away and slipped back into the dark.

"Damnit!" Alice cursed and tossed her taser away. She rushed back over to the boys and pulled them back to their feet. "I freaking missed! Sam, get the kids out of here. Dean and I will stay back and kill this sucker!"

"Got it." Sam nodded and ran up the steps towards the kids. "Here! Take this!" he tossed his taser down at Alice before taking the kids away.

Once Sam and the kids were out of the way, Alice and Dean fanned out to cover more ground. They walked carefully through the dark and were on high alert, reacting to every sound and pointing their lights over every dark corner. They could hear the creature moving around, trudging through the inch layer of water covering the ground.

Alice groaned. "Come on out already, you son of a bitch."

Out from the darkness, a giant, raggedy monster lurched forth and charged straight at Alice, shoving her hard against the wall. The air evaporated from her lungs, and she felt herself lose both her weapon and flashlight from the blow. Looking back up to the lunging creature, she quickly ducked out of the way and grabbed the back of his shirt, slamming its head against the stone walls a couple times before kicking it away. She looked around for her taser and quickly ran for it, scooping it off the ground and aimed it at the creature with a steady arm. She pulled the trigger and fired the pins at him, electrocuting the beast with all hundred thousand volts. Yet, as the electricity coursed through his body, it transferred to the ground and traveled across the water right towards Alice. She gasped at first before her body flared up with electric pulses of pain. She couldn't even scream as her body convulsed. They shook violently until the electric charge faded, and both the creature and Alice crumbled to the ground.

Dean ran around the corner a moment later and found the extra crispy monster lying on the floor with Alice a couple of feet away. Panic swept up into him, and his voice cracked with fear. "Alice?" he croaked out and rushed over. He lifted her body out of the water and held her face, but she still wasn't coming around. "Alice!" Before he knew it, he started to tremble. He finally picked her up into his arm and headed for the stairs. "Sam!"

Every move that Alice made was a strain on her heart. Her muscles felt weak and heavy, and just getting out of bed to go to the bathroom was painful. She struggled with it tremendously but finally managed to get off the lumpy mattress. The overhead lights nearly blinded her when she walked into the bathroom and flipped them on. She stared into the mirror but recoiled at what was looking back at her. There was a sickness about her appearance, and she looked like death worn over twice. Her skin was deadly pale with these prominent dark circles under her eyes that was worse than usual.

Alice ran her fingers over her nearly gray skin and groaned. "Great. Just…great, " she muttered while taking in a shallow breath. She heard the door to her room open and peeked out, seeing Sam and Dean stepping inside. "Hey, guys. Came to talk about my will?" she chuckled while stepping back into the room.

Sam looked at her with a solemn face. "It's not something to laugh about."

"All I can do is laugh," Alice said dryly. She went to sit down on the bed when her face cringed up in pain. Dean immediately moved to help and ease her into a laying position. "I'm good. I'm good," she quickly said and raised an irritable hand. "Doc told you the news, yeah? Electrocution triggered a massive heart attack. Fried my heart, uh…pretty bad," she said rather calmly with hardly any emotions in her eyes. It sounded like she had detached herself from the situation. "Looks like you gotta leave town without me."

Dean looked perplexed. "What?" He thought she was joking and cracked a grin, but became heartbroken and distraught when he realized that she was being serious. He couldn't even believe that she would say that so casually. Like dying meant absolutely nothing to her.

Sam shook his head. "What are you talking about? We're not going to leave you here."

Alice gave the boys a knowing look before speaking firmly to them. "Guys, this ain't up for debate. What's the point of towing me along when I got less than a month to live."

Dean wasn't even going to entertain the thought. "Too bad because we're not leaving you here to die." He sat down on the edge of the bed and reached out to grasp her shoulder.

Alice didn't say anything. Instead, she turned her head away and stared out the window, watching the clouds drift across the sky, fading out of sight a moment later. A feeling of relief and peace overcame her senses, and she leaned back against the bed frame. Her heart and muscles throbbed, but Alice didn't care. There was nothing. Just…peace. Which was something she hadn't felt for a while.

"What are you guys expecting to happen? Hate to tell you this, but…it's the end of the road for me," Alice said flatly.

"Don't talk like that, alright?" Sam said, but his voice cracked. He clenched his jaw tightly and looked away to think of a way to convince her. "We still have options."

"Options? Really? You're gonna find a way to cheat death?" Alice said with a harsh scoff. "Ever heard the saying, 'Let dead dogs lie'. Guys, I know this isn't easy for you, but this ain't something you can stop."

"Watch us," Dean shot back with an unrelenting glare.

Sam felt like he was turning into Alice with how many hours he had spent researching instead of sleeping. He was running on a high, fueled by both coffee and frustration with how many dead ends he had hit in the last couple of days. The motel room was a complete mess too, with papers about heart care scattered all over the bed. Sam was about out of ideas…so he tried his luck and called John, but like the other hundred times, all he got was his voicemail.

"This is John Winchester. I can't be reached. If this is an emergency, call my son, Dean. 866-907-3235. He can help."

Sam was getting tired of listening to John's pre-recorded voicemail, and the more times he heard it, the more he couldn't stand it anymore. Listening to his father say the most frustratingly unhelpful thing time and time again.

Sam took a deep breath and closed his eyes tightly, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Hey, Dad. It's Sam. Uh...you probably won't even get this, but, uh...it's Alice. Our friend. Listen. She's...she's sick, and...the doctors say there's nothing they can do. Um...but, uh, they don't know the things we know, right?" Sam looked like he was going to continue, but instead his words just drifted off, and he hung up the phone. Now disheartened, he tossed it away and just sat in a mess of papers and dead ends. "He wouldn't care…"

He sat in complete silence on the bed when he heard knocking coming from the front door.

"Sam, open the door! I got my hands full!" Dean called out from behind.

Sam got up and opened the door, finding Dean on the other side with Alice cradled in his arms, looking both sick and pissed off. She looked like she wanted to slap him into the next century if she wasn't already exhausted with a pained heart.

Sam didn't know whether to be happy or confused to see her out of the hospital. "What the hell are you doing here?"

"He won't let me die in peace," Alice groaned.

"Not gonna let you die period," Dean said. He brought her inside and sat her down on one of the beds.

Alice looked nothing like her usual self. She wasn't dressed the same. She normally wore dark-colored clothes like black leather jackets and tight-fitting jeans to show off her long legs. She wasn't even wearing heels. The thing Dean loved to see her in the most. It added so much to her height and made her stand nearly at eye level with him. Yet, all she wore now were loose-fitting sweat clothes that made her appear small and vulnerable.

"Have you even slept? You look worse than her," Dean joked while sitting next to Alice, already sensing a glare from her.

Sam shook his head. "Not really. While you two been at the hospital, I've been scouring the internet for the last three days. Calling every contact in Dad's journal."

"Got anything?"

"Maybe. One of Dad's friends, Joshua, he called me back. Told me about a guy in Nebraska. A specialist," he said optimistically.

Alice cocked a brow and looked skeptical. "Sam…what kind of specialist are we talking about?" she asked, narrowing her eyes into a pressuring stare.

"Someone who can help. Joshua says he's the real deal," Sam said nervously.

Alice just stared at him, not saying anything but already knew what Sam was hiding. "Sam," she spoke again, but this time stood up slowly. "Out with it already."

Sam felt like he was shrinking under her gaze, making him hesitate to speak. "Faith healer," he said in a small voice, but not small enough.

Dean's face turned up. "What?"

Alice sighed and shook her head. "That's what I thought. We're not doing this, Sam," she said and began to walk away from. "It's going to be nothing but a waste of time."

"What? No. Alice, please." Sam reached out to stop her and desperately held onto her arm. He should've known this would happen, so he was hoping Alice wouldn't ask any questions. Of course she would notice though. "I know how this may sound…but I couldn't find anything else. We have to at least try, right? Please," he practically begged her.

Dean stayed back and watched Alice's unwavering face. Because he's been around her daily for over half a year already, he knew she wouldn't budge by that look alone. Much less give Sam's idea the light of day.

"Sam. Can you step outside for a bit?" Dean suddenly asked.

Sam gave him a look. "Why?"

"I wanna talk to Alice alone. Just…go take a walk around the block. I don't know. I'll call you back in a few," he said, gesturing for Sam to get a move on.

Sam was a bit nervous about leaving them but did as his brother asked. He knew Dean wanted to save Alice more than anything, but he was also afraid of what he might say to her. Still, he figured if anyone could convince her to at least try, then it was him.

"Ah...sure. Alright." Sam grabbed his jacket on the way towards the door and pulled it on. He opened the door and stepped outside.

"Can you try and be a little less stubborn," Dean finally spoke once he knew they were alone. He didn't want Sam to be in the room because he already knew this would be a full-fledged screaming match. "We're trying to help you."

"Help me? Dean, did you even hear what Sam was trying to say. He was talking about a faith healer. That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Alice protested.

"Look. Even I agree that it's a bit of a stretch for us," Dean said, defensively raising his hands. "But you got any better ideas?"

"Ideas? We don't even have options! I told you this was a waste of time! You call me stubborn, but you're just as bad as I am," Alice said as her voice began to seethe with anger.

"What's so wrong with trying to keep you alive?!" he snapped. "I have to do something, because you're sure as hell not going to."

Alice flinched, but her anger did not subside. She marched right up to him and growled her words out slowly. "You don't know…a damn thing. Has it ever occurred to you that I don't want this? That I'm tired! That I just want to…leave." Her face strained with pain as her heart began to ache. She turned away from Dean and sat at a chair. "I'm done, Dean. I'm just…I'm done."

Dean looked like he had just been shot. He always knew what Alice was thinking…but never thought she would actually say it. "Done? You…you haven't even finished anything," he said with a cracking voice. "I thought you were gonna find out what caused Jefferson to lose his mind. Find out who Jezebel is. Are you really gonna throw all that away just to follow Aiden into an early grave? He wouldn't want this for you!"

Alice's eyes grew wide. "Don't you dare bring my family into this!" she hissed at him.

"Then correct me if I'm wrong! Please, Alice! I'm begging for you to correct me! Please don't tell me..." he choked on his words and forced himself to finish the ugly sentence. "Don't tell me you were waiting on something to kill you."

Alice didn't correct him and just stared at him with a blank expression. It only made it worse though. Dean didn't want to hear anymore but knew he couldn't leave it like this. He couldn't leave her. It wasn't right.

"You're broken, Alice…" he conveyed with a sharp hollowness to his voice. "You're not a damn machine!"

"Dean, it's what I've always done!" she lashed back.

"You know, you're really making it hard to trust a damn thing you say. Since you're pretty notorious for lying."

"I'm not…" Alice croaked up but couldn't push her words out. Her throat felt tight, and she let out a shuttering breath before clenching her teeth. She tried to keep everything bottled up, but it burned her lungs and made her eyes start to tear up.

Dean eased up on his harshness and spoke softer. "You can't…keep on like this and expect the people around you to just accept it." He walked over to Alice and put both hands on each armrest. He bent his head down to look at her face, but she quickly averted her gaze. He could still see her tears though. She wasn't bothering to hide them. "If you leave all this behind, don't forget that Sam and I have to be the ones to deal with your body. Alice, I love you...but I'm not burning you. I can't."

This was the final breaking point for her. After holding everything in until now, Alice finally let it out. She clenched her teeth and hunched over to sob, bumping her head into his chest. Her whole body trembled as she moved her hands to her hair and pulled at it. Dean grabbed her hands to stop her before wrapping his arms around her to help her feel secure. Being this close, he could feel the heat of her skin and hear the struggled cries that escaped her lips.

Alice could hardly talk, but she knew she had to say something. He deserved it and not her cold silence.

"I know that…" Alice managed to say after a couple minutes. It was weak sounding and with fits of crying mixed in, but it was the best she could do. "Fine…fine. We'll see what Sam found. I'll try, Dean. I will."

Dean took a breath and could feel his shoulders begin to relax, like a hundred years' worth of stress had just been released. He smiled widely before kissing both the top of her head and her tear-stained cheeks.

"I know you will. It's going to be alright. Ok? You're going to be alright," he whispered.

Alice pulled her head away as her tears began to lessen. She took a deep breath and looked up to find Dean gazing lovingly down at her. He reached his hand up and gently touched the side of her face, feeling her hot skin at his fingertips. Continuing to trace with his fingers, he caressed her skin until he got to her pale lips. He brushed against them only slightly when he saw Alice flinch and give a sharp, nervous gasp. Feeling as though he had crossed a line, Dean started to pull his hand away when Alice grabbed it, putting it right back to her face.

"You chicken shit. Why are you backing out?" Alice whispered to him while moving her hands up his chest, to the sides of his face. She saw Dean close his eyes before leaning in and pressing his forehead against hers.

"You asked for it," he breathed in with a sharp, husky voice.

Alice smiled and gave a playful tug on his hair. "That's the point."

They hesitated for a moment as their lips brushed against each other before finally making contact. It was tender at first before growing passionate and breathless. Dean's arms tightened around her as Alice grasped at his shirt. As the passion swept them up, their bodies practically melted into one another. As tender and romantic as it was, it nearly became desperate and sad with how tightly they held onto each other, shaking and almost afraid of letting go.

Alice hadn't said a word throughout the cold and sluggish drive across Nebraska's rural countryside. There wasn't much scenery, but she found solace just staring out the window at the cloudy gray skies, watching the light rainfall haze the air. She sucked in a nervous breath and held tightly to a picture of her brother she had in her hands. She looked down at it and ran her thumb over Aiden's face, smiling slightly at him and just remembering. The good, the bad, and the goofy. It was easy to recall his voice, his laid-back style of talking, and his relaxed mannerisms.

It was comforting to remember it. She knew she could never be that way, but she always admired her brother for it.

"Thank you, Sam," Alice spoke up for the first time in hours.

Sam cocked a brow and briefly looked back at her, then to Dean, seeing him smiling silently to himself. It was a bit out of the blue, so Sam didn't know what to say or even think.

"For…finding the faith healer?" he asked.

Alice scoffed and rolled her eyes. "No, not that. You can find a dozen healers in any rural area. What I meant was…thanks for not giving up on me. Even though I had…" she said quietly while turning her blue eyes away, sounding almost embarrassed to even admit it.

"No problem," Sam said with a hopeful smile. "Like…you saved our lives all the time. It was about time for us to do the same for you."

Alice smiled sheepishly and lowered her head. "I guess."

The Impala trudged along a gravel road toward a large white tent set up in a field. Once the car was parked, all three got out and looked around at the gathering crowd. Alice walked alongside the boys and watched as multiple people passed her, slushing through the muddy ground towards the tent. She stopped in front of it and looked at a sign that was hung up.

"The Church of Roy LeGrange. Faith Healer. Witness The Miracle," she quoted.

"Man…this guy better be worth the drive," Dean said.

Sam nodded in agreement, stepping aside so Alice could walk between them. "Yeah. Same here."

On their way towards the entrance, they passed by an angry man arguing with the local cops. He seemed pretty heated too, passionately protesting against Roy LeGrange and his following.

"I have a right to protest. This man is a fraud. And he's milking all these people out of their hard-earned money," the man expressed.

"Sir, this is a place of worship. Let's go. Move it," the sheriff said before ushering him away so he wouldn't disrupt the service.

Once they passed him, Dean spoke up. "I take it he's not part of the flock."

"When people see something they can't explain, there's controversy," Sam said.

Alice shrugged her shoulders. "Understandable though. Knowing the track record of faith healers."

"Yeah, I get that, but maybe it's time to have a little faith, Alice," Sam said and nudged her arm with his elbow.

Alice gave a sharp laugh and responded to him in a dry tone. "Trust me, Sam. This is as much faith you're ever gonna see in me. I can't help but be skeptic though."

"Even with the things we see every day?"

"Seeing is believing. Evil and good go in the same hand…but evil tends to take the lead more times than not."

"Maybe God works in mysterious ways," a young woman overheard and spoke up to them.

Alice and the boys stopped before the tent and watched as a young blonde woman approached them. She was a kind-looking girl with a good-natured smile that looked natural for her to wear.

"God must have a strange sense of humor then," Alice said bluntly without even thinking, but even she could admit it was a little rude. She cleared her throat and offered her hand out. "Sorry about that. I'm Alice. This is Sam and Dean."

The young woman smiled and took her hand. "Layla. So, if you're not a believer, then why are you here?" she asked but already got an answer by just looking at Alice's pale and sick complexion.

"It's because…I got a couple good friends who are far too stubborn for their own good. They both believe enough for me," Alice said while patting both Sam and Dean's shoulders.

An older woman, assuming her mother, approached Layla from behind and put her arm around her. "Come on, Layla. It's about to start," she said in a quiet whisper.

Layla nodded and smiled at the three before heading inside the tent. The boys were about to go inside themselves when they saw Alice hanging back, looking anxious and unsettled. She wrapped her arms tightly around her shivering body to contain her heat. Staring up at the sky one last time, she searched for the willpower to keep pushing, which she had assumed died long ago with Aiden. After a couple seconds of unsure silence, Alice's face hardened up, and she headed inside with the boys on each side.

Author's Note:

Sometimes you just have to yell at the person you love for them to see things in a different light. I do hope Alice can get over her depression because I know this episode will push that out into the open.

Anyway, I wanna say a quick thanks for all your support with this story so far. I'm always so excited to write for it. Even if it's slow. I hope you continue to stay and watch as her story plays out! Hope to see you all here next time. Really soon!