SPOV

Lizzie and I stood by the deputy's desk in the Sheriff's station. We'd left Dean in the car outside. He'd been drinking more, and Lizzie had noted that bringing a drunk 'FBI agent' into the station wasn't the best idea.

"This is the Garland file." Deputy Linus offered us the file he'd grabbed for us.

Lizzie took it from him. "Thanks." She gave it a quick read as I looked over her shoulder to glance at it as well.

"Deputy, according to this," I gestured to the file, "Luther Garland's cause of death was physical trauma. What does that mean?"

Deputy Linus shrugged. "The guy died twenty years ago, before my time. Sorry."

"Then can we talk to the sheriff?" I asked.

Looking behind him, the deputy took a moment before shaking his head. "Um, he's out sick today."

"Well, if you see him, will you have him call us? We're staying at the Bluebird," I informed him.

Lizzie closed the file. "Do you mind if we take this?" she asked, earning a shake of the head from Linus. "Thanks." Giving him a quick smile she then turned to me, nodding.

The two of us left then, heading for the car. As we exited the building, both of us sighed at the sight of Dean in the back seat of the Impala, looking nervous as his eyes darted to everything that moved.

"I'm not exactly Dean's biggest fan right now, but I would so prefer grumpy, over-protective Dean over scared-of-everything Dean," Lizzie noted as she pulled the car keys out of her pocket.

EPOV

I walked next to Dean, keeping an eye on him as we moved through Peaceful Pines, a retirement home. He had been getting worse and worse with each passing moment, and I was really starting to worry. The humour of it all was long gone now.

As we rounded the corner, Dean jumped and gasped, startled by an elderly woman that was going the opposite way of us.

"It's okay," I assured him as he looked away from her, leaning against the wall, trying to calm his breathing. "I'm not gonna let anything hurt you." Giving him a gentle smile, I tilted my head so he could see me.

His eyes darted around nervously. "This isn't gonna work."

"Sure it is." Resting my hand on his shoulder I turned him around and led us over to Sam where he waited by a door for us.

"Come on, these badges are fake," Dean argued. "What if we get busted? We could go to jail."

Reaching Sam, I turned to Dean again, resting my hands on his shoulders. "Okay, Dean, I need you to breath and relax for me. Okay?" Nodding, Dean took a breath. "Better?" Unfortunately, he shook his head no.

Sam sighed. "Just come on." He gestured for us to enter the room, slapping his brother's hands as Dean began to scratch. "Don't scratch."

Taking the lead, I tugged moved over to the elderly gentleman that sat by the window- he was the only other person in the room besides us. Putting on a charming and kind smile, I stepped up to him.

"Mr Garland?" When he looked up at me, I went on, "Hi, I'm Agent Whitford. These are my partners, Agent Tyler, and Agent Perry. We're with the FBI and were wondering if you could answer a few questions for us. They're about your brother Luther."

Watching the three of us suspiciously, he stretched his hand out. "Let me see some I.D."

"Certainly." Sam nodded as we all handed over our badges.

While Mr Garland looed them over, Dean began to shift nervously, causing the older man to look up at him. "Those are real, obviously," Dean chuckled. "I mean, who would pretend to be an FBI agent, huh? That's just nutty."

Believing us- surprisingly- Mr Garland handed the badges back. "What do you want to know?"

"Uh, well," as we all took a seat, Sam took the lead in the questioning, "according to this, your brother Luther died of physical trauma," he noted, which caused Mr Garland to scoff. "You don't agree?"

"No, I don't."

"Well, then, what would you call it?"

"Don't matter what an old man thinks."

"Mr Garland, everything matters. We're just looking for the truth." I gave him a gentle smile. "Please."

Watching me for a moment, Mr Garland thought about it before sighing. "Everybody was scared of Luther. They called him a monster. He was too big, too mean-looking. Just too different. Didn't matter he was the kindest man I ever knew. Didn't matter he'd never hurt no one. A lot of people failed Luther. I was one of them. I was a widower with three young 'uns. And I told myself there was nothing I could do."

"Mr Garland, um," Sam reached into his pocket and pulled out the drawing Dean had found earlier, "do you recognize this woman?"

Mr Garland took a look at the picture, seeming to recognise the woman in an instant. "It's Jessie O'Brien. Her man, Frank, killed Luther."

"How do you know that?" Sam asked, an unsure smile on his lips.

"Everybody knows. They just don't talk about it. Jessie was a receptionist at the mill. She was always real nice to Luther, and he had a crush on her. But Frank didn't like it. And when Jessie went missing, Frank was sure that Luther had done something to her. Turns out the old gal killed herself, but Frank didn't know that. They found Luther with a chain wrapped around his neck. He was dragged up and down the stretch outside that plant till he was past dead."

Oh no. Oh no, oh no, oh no. This is not good. Shit, this is really, really not good...

"And O'Brien was never arrested?" Dean asked.

"I screamed to every cop in town. They didn't want to look into Frank. He was a pillar of the community. My brother was just the town freak."

"You must have hated Frank O'Brien," Sam noted.

But Mr Garland surprised us with his response. "I did for a long time, but life's too short for hate, son. And frank wasn't thinking straight. His wife had vanished, he was terrified. A damn shame he had to put Luther through the same, but...that's fear. It spreads and spreads."

...

As we exited the retirement home I looked up at the night sky. We're running out of time...

Dean took the lead, walking down the stairs and towards Baby, gesturing to the scratches on his arms. "Now we know what these are, road rash. And I'm guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road."

"Makes sense." Sam nodded as we all stopped by Baby's hood. "You're experiencing his death in slow motion."

"Yeah well, not slow enough, huh? Say we burn some bones and get me healthy."

I tensed, looking from Dean to Sam, the youngest Winchester and I sharing a look. "Uh... Dean... it's not gonna be that easy."

"No, no, it'll be that easy." Dean's wide terrified eyes looked to both of us. "Why wouldn't it be that easy?"

"Luther was road-hauled," Sam started. "His body was ripped to pieces. He was probably scattered all over that road. There's no way we're gonna find all the remains."

The hope in Dean's eyes faded with each word Sam said. "You're kidding me."

"Look, we'll just have to figure something else out," Sam offered.

"You know what? Screw this." Dean started walking away.

"What? Dean!" I called after him. "Dean, come on."

"No." shaking his head, he turned to me. "No, don't 'come on' me. I mean, what are we even doing?!"

"We're hunting a ghost," Sam answered as if it was that simple... which it really was.

"A ghost, exactly! Who does that?"

"Us," Sam and I responded at the same time.

"Us? Right. And that is exactly why our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run. But not us, no, no, no, we- we search out things that want to kill us. Yeah? Huh? Or eat us! You know who does that? Crazy people! We, are insane! You know, and then there's the bad diner food and then the skeevy motel rooms and then the truck-stop waitress with the bizarre rash." His tone started to get more and more freaked as he started to pace. "I mean, who wants this life? Huh? Seriously?

"Do you two actually like being stuck in a car with me eight hours a day, every single day? I don't think so! I mean, I drive too fast. And I listen to the same five albums over and over and over again, a-and I sing along. I'm annoying, I know that. And you," he gestured to Sam, "you're gassy! You eat half a burrito, and you get toxic!" He looked to me. "And you, well... it's weird with you now, with the boyfriend, and the fire, and the everything." He shook his head. "I mean, you know what? You can forget it." Turning, he started to leave again.

"Whoa, Dean." Sam moved to follow his brother. "Where are you going?"

"Stay away from me Sam, okay? Cause I am done with it," Dean yelled over his shoulder before he paused and turned to us one last time. "I'm done with the monsters and- and- and the hellhounds and the ghost sickness and the damn apocalypse. I'm out. I'm done. Quit!"

Sam and I could do nothing as we watched him walk away.

"Well..." I sighed, "now what?"

DPOV

Walking down the road, I had been adjusting my tie when I heard the growls. The angry growls coming from behind me. When I'd turned, that when I saw it, the dog. The scary, fluffy, dog with the pink bow on its head.

That's when I'd ran.

I ran so fast I had seen the homeless man around the corner as he dug through the trash. I ended up almost crashing into him, but I'd luckily stumbled and moved out of the way first.

He turned to me confused, with a look on his face that clearly said he thought I was insane.

"Run!" I warned him, pointing to the dog. "It'll kill you!"

But instead of waiting to see if he would listen to my warning, I made a break for it, running again. Running so hard and fast, never looking back as I headed to the only safe place I knew- Sam and Liz.

...

The room door opened as Liz and Sam walked in, surprised and relieved to see me sitting on the bed.

"Oh, thank God." Liz let out a breath as she moved over to kneel in front of me. "We were worried sick."

"We looked everywhere for you, Dean. How the hell did you get here?" Sam asked as he moved to sit on the bed next to mine.

"Ran." I admitted, still a little puffed. "What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die."

"Yeah, you are." Sam nodded. "You're going back."

I frowned, confused. "Back?"

"Downstairs, Dean."

"To Hell," Liz added as she stood and took a step back.

"It's about damn time, too. Truth is," Sam turned to me, his eyes flashing yellow, "you've been a real pain in my ass."

My eyes went wide as my heart began to pound. I looked to Liz for help, only to see her grinning down at me, her eyes yellow as well.

"No!" I jumped to my feet, but before I could do anything, Liz nodded her head once, pushing me against the wall with her mind. Struggling, I watched the two of them move towards me. "You get out of them, you evil sons of a bitch!"

Sam laughed, stopping in front of me. "No one's possessing us, Dean. This is what we're going to become."

"This is what we want to become." Liz grinned as she stood next to the demon that was my brother, she turned to look at him suggestively before reaching up to run a hand along his chest.

Looking down at her, Sam had the same heated look in his eyes before he turned to me once more. "There's nothing you can do about it." Suddenly he reached forward, grabbing my throat as he started to choke me.

I coughed a struggled, watching Sam and he squeezed the life out of me while Liz stood there with a look of amusement, like she wanted this. Like she wanted Sam to kill me. Never had I ever seen something so terrifying than these two now, with their yellow eyes boring into mine...

A hard slap to my face had my head jerk back suddenly.

"You back with us?" Liz asked.

Taking a deep breath, I looked over at her and Sam. They no longer had yellow eyes, the evil gleam gone from their gazes. They seemed completely normal…

Did I just imagine all of that?

Giving me a soft smile, Liz gently grabbed my arm. "Why don't we get you to bed, huh? Tuck you in? Get you all rugged up and safe in the blankets?"

I didn't resist or argue as she did exactly that, and I had no problem knowing that she had stayed up all night, watching me while Sam did some more research on the couch. At least then, every time I woke up from a nightmare, she was there, right next to me, offering soothing words as she stroked my hair.

SPOV

Lizzie and I sat on the hood of the Impala, waiting for Bobby. We'd left Dean back at the hotel with some food and the tv, hoping that in the short time he was alone, nothing too bad would happen. But as much as Lizzie had wanted to stay- and so did I- we both knew we had to leave him to fix him.

We were both really worried, but I was actually surprised at how worried Lizzie was. At first she'd laughed and found it all amusing, but last night? She'd sat next to Dean, on his bed, watching him. Not once had she left his side. She didn't nap, or rest, or anything. She was wide awake as she made sure nothing happened to him.

Getting off the hood, she reached into her pocket and pulled out her pills, popping one into her mouth. Taking a quick drink of her water, she closed her eyes and let the pill slide down her throat, trying to relax.

"He's gonna be fine," I assured her.

"Tell that to the three victims this thing has already killed," she mumbled.

I had just been about to say something in the hopes of it helping, but before I could Bobby pulled up, stopping his car on the dirt road, a few feet away from us.

"Howdy, Sam. Lizzie." He nodded, stepping out of his car and heading towards us.

"Hey, Bobby."

As he came over to us, Lizzie stepped forward to give him a hug. "Thanks for coming."

He rubbed her back. "Of course." As they pulled apart, he looked around. "Where's Dean?"

"Home sick," I answered.

"So, have his hallucinations started yet?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "A few hours ago."

"How we doing on time?" Bobby asked as we all moved to lean against the hood again, Lizzie in the middle.

"We saw the coroner about 8:00 a.m. Monday morning, so, uh," looking at my watch, I sighed, "just under two hours. What about you? You find anything?"

He'd brought a little blue book with him and handed it over to me now. "This uh, encyclopedia of spirits dates to the Edo period."

I opened the first page to give it a read, only to find it wasn't in English. "You can read Japanese?"

To prove a point- I guess- Bobby answered in Japanese, "Kimi ga umareru mae kara zutto dayo."

Lizzie gave a little grin as she looked to me, seeing the confused look on my face. "He said he's known how, since long before you were born."

I was impressed. "You can speak it too?"

"Just a bit." Shrugging, she added, "Learnt from the best." She gestured to Bobby over her shoulder with her thumb.

"Anyway," Bobby got back to business, "this book lists a kind of ghost that could be our guy. It uh, infects people with fear. It's called a Buru Buru."

"It say how to kill it?"

"Same as usual. Burn the remains."

"Wonderful. Uh," I sighed, raking a hand through my hair, "is there a Plan 'B'?"

"Well, the Buru Buru is born of fear. Hell, it is fear. And the lore says we can kill it with fear."

"So we have to scare a ghost to death?" He must be joking...

Bobby shrugged at my question. "Pretty much."

Shaking my head, I looked out at the road, trying to think of what to do... "How the hell we gonna do that?"

EPOV

I looked down at my phone, reading my last message for the millionth time.

I'm gonna come get you this afternoon

Missing you too much

Don't forget your medication

Love you xx

- T

I knew there was no way Sam and Dean- or even Bobby for that matter- were going to be happy, but there was no way I could say no to Tristian. I meant that literally by the way. There was just something about him, I found it hard to tell him no.

Closing the message, I dialed Dean number and lifted the phone to my ear, waiting for him to pick up.

"Hey."

"Hey!" I couldn't help the smile that crept onto my lips. "How are you?"

"Been better." The nerves in his voice were thick and clear.

"Well, good news. You're gonna be fine. We have a plan."

"What is it?"

"A plan..."

There was a moment before he spoke again, sounding just as unsure as I felt. "Is it a good one?"

"It's a plan, Dean. Don't worry, about it, okay? You'll be fine." Before he could say anything else, I hung up and turned to Sam. "This has got to be the worst plan in the history of bad plans."

Bobby nodded, agreeing with me as he looked to Sam. "I know I said, 'scare the ghost to death', but this?"

"Hey, you got a better idea, I'm listening." Sam shrugged, but when no one came up with anything better, he gave me a short nod, and with that, we headed into the mill guns and chain in hand.

DPOV

As I sat on the couch in the hotel room, waiting, trying not to freak out even though ever fiber in my being was absolutely terrified, I focused on my breathing, on staying calm. I trusted Liz and Sam. I was sure they knew what they were doing. I had to believe they'd get me through this.

The sound of growling and howling caught my attention.

Heart beating fast, I looked around with wide eyes, waiting. They were coming from me, I knew it. Getting to the ground, I turned the chair around as I hid behind it, hoping they wouldn't see me.

The door began to rattle and shake as they pushed against it, trying to get in, trying to get me. Their angry, animal growls and snarls, I could practically feel their hot breaths on me. Every nerve remembered how it felt to be ripped apart by the teeth and claws.

Suddenly the door burst opened, breaking off the hinges.

But it wasn't Hellhounds that came in. It was the sheriff.

"Sheriff?" I stood, looking to him, confused. that was until I saw the gun in his hand... "What are you doing?"

"Why are you looking into Luther Garland's death?"

My eyes trailed up his arm, seeing blood and scratches just like we'd seen on the victims. "Hey, hey, you're- you're sick. You're sick. You're sick, all right? Just- just like me, okay?" I showed him my arm. "You got to relax."

Instead of doing as I said, he came closer, hitting me across the face, making me stumble back. "Frank O'Brien was my friend. So he made a mistake. So I didn't bust him. So what? And you're gonna bring me down over that?! No, sir." Lifting the gun, he aimed it at me.

I reacted quickly, knocking it out of his grasp.

We began to struggle and fight each other. I was just trying to stop him, but I could see the sheriff was ready to kill. To save his own ass. Whatever he was scared of, it was blinding him completely. All he saw was the fear...

Eventually, I managed to push him hard enough to get him to the ground. He didn't get up though... clutching at his chest, hyperventilating, he watched with terrified eyes as I stepped up to him.

"Get away from me!"

"Al, you got to calm down!" I warned him, seeing where this was about to go...

"Step back!" he managed to say before he had a heart attack and died, right in front of me...

SPOV

Lizzie and I walked around cautiously, my gun raised as she held the chain we needed for the plan. Luther hadn't appeared though yet, and I was starting to wonder if he was going to show up at all. We didn't have time to wait... Dean wouldn't last much longer.

"Any luck?" Bobby asked over the walkie.

"I don't know what's wrong, Bobby," I told him as Lizzie and I entered the room where we'd seen Luther before. "Last time he came right at us. It's almost like he's, uh..." Looking to Lizzie, I could see she was thinking the same thing I was at that moment. "Like he's scared."

"So now what?"

Putting my shotgun away, I moved over to the desk where Luther's drawings sat. "I guess we got to make him angry." Putting the walkie down, I then grabbed one of the drawings and tore it in half. "Hey, Luther!"

The machines turned on...

Lizzie stepped over to help, placing the chain on the desk as she began to rip the drawings as well. "Come on, Luther! Where are you?"

"Luther!" I called. "What are you waiting for?"

We felt him before we turned. Lizzie and I both knew he was there. The temperature had dropped, and we could just feel another presence.

Turning around, we came face to face with Luther... and he did not look happy.

DPOV

I sat at the end of Sam's bed. The blanket from my bed was lying over the sheriff's body, so I wouldn't have to look at it. But I didn't have the guts to leave the room. Which left me sitting here, scratching at my arm as I waited out my time...

"You're going back." I heard Sam's voice echo around the room. "It's about damn time too," it laughed, followed by the sound of Hellhounds barking.

Looking down at my watch, shaking and scratching, I couldn't keep myself from checking the time over and over again, watching as each second passed by. Each second bringing me closer and closer to death.

Deep down, I knew it was going to happen. Liz and Sam had failed. I was going to die. I was going back to Hell. I knew it. The thumping of my heart told me. The line of sweat covering me. The shake in my hands. The empty feeling in my stomach telling me that something really, really bad was going to happen...

My attention was pulled to an object on the floor, sitting by my feet. Reaching down, I grabbed it, finding that it was a Bible. Hoping that it was a sign, I brought it to my lips and closed my eyes as I began to pray.

"Hi, Dean."

My eyes shot open.

Slowly I looked to my right, seeing a little girl sitting next to me. But not just any little girl. The little girl Lilith had possessed that night I'd died. The night the Hellhounds had taken me to Hell.

Dressed in a sweet, pink dress, with flower clips in her hair, she simply sat there, smiling at me.

"Huh, no!" I looked away from her, hoping that if I couldn't see her, she'd disappear. "No!"

"Yes! It's me, Lilith." Leaning over, she wrapped her arms around me in a hug. "Oh, I missed you so much!" She smiled up at me. "It's time to go back now."

Sliding away from her, I got to my feet, refusing to look at her still as I moved away from the bed. "You- you are not real!"

"What's the matter, Dean? Don't you remember all the fun you had down there?" she asked. I couldn't help but look at her then as memories of it all flashed in my mind. Memories of the blood and pain... "You do remember," she stated matter-of-factly as she got to her feet. "Four months is like forty years in hell. Like doggy years. And you remember every second."

A pain shot through my chest, causing me to hunch over and groan in pain as I clutched at my heart. "You are not real," I insisted through the pain, dropping to my knees.

Stepping closer to me, she grabbed my face, forcing me to look up at her. "It doesn't matter." her eyes turned white, her voice changing, the tone more malicious and dark. "You're still gonna die. You're still gonna burn."

As she let go of my face and stepped back, I continued to look up at her. "Why me? Why'd I get infected?"

"Silly goose." She put her hands on her hips, grinning smugly at me. "You know why, Dean. Listen to your heart."

"Wha...?"

"Baboom." She leaned closer, the word causing the pain in my chest to increase. "Baboom." She watched as I groaned and fell back. "Baboom." Breathing was suddenly impossible as my muscles tensed and ached, everything screaming in panic. "Baboom!"

EPOV

I flew across the room, crashing into the old lockers. Luther was big and strong... and faster than we'd anticipated. As much as we could have shot him, or I could have flung him around all day, we didn't have time to waste. We needed to grab him. Unfortunately, that seemed impossible.

So far, we hadn't had the chance, seeing as he'd made good use of his strength and size, pushing us around like ragdolls. We were nothing to him. Not when he was so enraged at us.

Grabbing Sam, he threw him to the ground. Sam tried to scramble away, but Luther already had him. His hands wrapping around Sam's throat.

I took this chance to act, seeing him choking Sam, too busy to take notice of me. Looking to the desk, I spotted the chain sitting right where I'd left it. Without using my hand, I sent the chain soaring through the air and over to Luther, wrapping it around his neck.

His hands let go of Sam's throat as he tried to pull at the chain, but it was pointless. There was no escaping now.

"Bobby, punch it!" Sam yelled.

A second later, Luther was dragged out through the double doors as Bobby floored it, pulling the ghost along. I couldn't see what was happening, but I knew Luther would be long gone in a matter of moments.

Sure enough, the machines suddenly turned off. Luther was gone.

DPOV

I reached into the back of Baby, pulling out some beers. "So you guys road-hauled a ghost with a chain?" I asked Sam, Liz and Bobby as I turned to them, offering the drinks- which Bobby refused and the others took.

Sam nodded, opening his drink. "Iron chain etched with spell work."

Moving to lean on Baby, between Liz and Sam, I pictured what that would have looked like. "Hmm, that's a new one," I noted, taking a drink.

"It was what he was most afraid of." Sam shrugged. "It was pretty brutal, though."

"On the upside, I'm still alive, so uh, go team!"

"Go team!" Liz cheered, raising her drink.

Sam chuckled lightly. "Yeah. How you feeling, by the way?"

I shrugged. "Fine." It wasn't a lie. The sickness was gone. I was back to normal...

"You sure, Dean? 'Cause this line of work can get awful scary," Bobby teased.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "You want to go hunting? I'll hunt." Pushing off the car, I stood, ready to head out if that's what they wanted. "I'll kill anything."

Sam grinned. "Aw."

"He's adorable." Bobby chuckled, Liz and Sam joining. I just looked away, taking another drink. Sighing, Bobby started for his car. "I got to get out of here. You three drive safe."

"Actually." Liz quickly took another drink before handing me the bottle. Turning, she reached into the back seat of Baby and pulled out her bag. "You mind driving me into town? Tristan's gonna pick me up at the hotel."

Bobby paused a moment, looking from her, to Sam and me. I could see he was just as unsure as I was. None of us had met Tristan. We knew nothing about him. All we knew was that months ago, Liz insisted that she never wanted to be in a relationship. Yet look at her now...

"We'll see you later, Lizzie." Sam smiled. "Don't be gone too long."

"I'll miss you too much." She beamed, heading for Bobby's car.

Sighing, Bobby turned to follow her, knowing he couldn't keep her from this guy even if he wanted to. "Take care of yourselves," he called to Sam and me.

We watched as they drove off, leaving the two of us alone... again. These days it was weird for it to just be Sam and I. Liz was always around. She was family. She was part of the package. With her coming and going... it just didn't sit right...

"So uh... so, what did you see?" Sam asked, pulling me from my thoughts. "Near the end, I mean."

"Oh, besides a cop beating my ass?"

"Seriously."

I thought about it for a moment before turning to him again. His eyes flashed yellow for a moment, making me freeze. I knew it was just the light, but it made me think of all my fears... Everything that we were going through, and everything that was coming our way.

Looking away again, I cleared my throat, coming up with a ridiculous lie. "Howler monkeys. Whole roomful of them. Those things creep the hell out of me."

He sighed, nodding. "Right."

Turning to him, I shrugged, playing it cool. "No, just the usual stuff, Sammy. Nothing I can't handle."

Bamby