After dinner I step out onto the back deck to get some air. It's too warm in a kitchen with a hot stove, a blazing oven, and two oversized, slightly drunk men. Outside the sky is clear, not one cloud to block the multitude of stars gathered in the heavens. A night like this must be what they meant by 'A midnight clear'. It calms me down.

I look back in the house. The guys laugh and tease each other while they finish the dishes. Sam turns his back and Dean takes the opportunity to snap a towel at his brother's ass. Naturally, Dean is an expert – I can hear the crack of the towel and Sam's angry cry of pain. Clearly Dean likes to live on the edge. I smile, loving them both so much it feels like my heart is being squeezed in a velvet vise. A gentle vise but still…a sigh escapes me, and I turn away to look at the stars again.

Except there's a strange woman standing on my deck. Well, not that strange. She's a blonde, shorter than me, and much thinner. She's beautiful, but there's something off-putting about her…she's standing with her arms folded, hip canted to one side with a smirk on her face, I didn't see her actually arrive on the deck, and, oh yeah, she smells like rotten eggs.

"You're supposed to be Sam's hot librarian squeeze, huh? Gotta say," She gives me a rude once over, "Not all that impressed."

Holy Shit, a demon. Ruby's a demon. Ruby, I bet this is Ruby. She matches the description to a T. I've got nothing to defend myself within reach. Hell, I don't know how to defend myself from a demon. I want to run screaming into the night, but I've been hanging out with Dean Winchester for day and a half. "Back atcha Babe." I keep my eyes locked with hers to do the opposite of what she did to me. "Since you're a twisted spirit inhabiting that poor girl's body, I have no opinion about your appearance."

Her eyes narrow and her lip curls in a cartoon villain sneer so classic a laugh bubbles up inside me and pops out before I can stop it. The sneer morphs into a growl of rage and from one moment to the next she's inches away, shoving me against the wall with a hand on my throat.

"Wow, sensitive much?" I rasp out, unable to stop baiting her. Maybe I've gone a little crazy and just didn't realize it?

She shakes her head. "Do you have a death wish? I'd be only too happy to help with that." She blinks and her eyes flip to solid black.

All my muscles, except the ones working my mouth, turn to water. "Doubtless, but it would pretty much destroy your relationship with Sam wouldn't it?" She hesitates, so I keep going. "Even now if he comes out here and sees you choking me? He would never trust you again."

"Oh please. I've got him on a short leash and he's oblivious. Everything is about saving Dean! I can pull Sam in any direction I want just by crooking my little finger."

"That's because you keep promising to help him rescue his brother. Funny, though, how you're all talk and no action."

"Bullshit!" She sneers, "I've saved their lives a dozen times."

"From traps you designed. I can't decide which one I like better. The one with the witches was pretty good, gave you the opportunity to save Dean, and to make it look like you were the only one who could help them. But I think I like the Sheriff's office better. You knew who would capture them, when, and where they'd take them."

"And how the hell would I know that?"

"Beats me, but you had the perfect spell ready to save them. It didn't just save lives like Sam loves, it needed a virgin sacrifice which you somehow knew was available, and would be something that Dean would never agree to."

Her angry expression changes into something else. She's still super pissed off, but now I see fear lurking in the background. "It's a two for one if they do the spell; save the townspeople, drive another wedge between the guys."

"They didn't go for it, so how was that a win for me, huh?"

"Because they were never going to do that spell. You'd have gotten everything ready and Sam would have stopped you from sacrificing the girl. You know he would have." My throat aches, but I've got to keep going. "And then, they're barely out of the station when Lilith shows up and smokes the survivors. How did she know exactly when to show up? See I know about the deal with Dean. I know its true purpose, but it's not just about the seal is it? It's about separating the brothers too. I'm not sure why, but I'm close to finding out."

She gets in close. He sulfur-laced breath making it extra horrifying. "Oh no you're not. I'm going to snap your neck, blame it on Lilith, and make Sam feel extra guilty about it."

"Yeah," says a voice behind her shoulder, and Ruby freezes. "I don't think that's gonna happen."

She keeps me in place, but loosens her grip. My self-preservation finally shuts down my smart mouth and I keep still, hoping she'll forget about me.

"Hey Dean, come to join the party?"

"Much as I like a little girl on girl action, the choking thing is not really my scene. That's a kink for regular people."

"No problem, wait right there while I finish off red here and we'll see where the night takes us."

"As entertaining as that sounds, and actually, it doesn't…gross, I'm thinking Sam's not going to agree to that." As he says this, I realize he's been inching closer to us the whole time. I'm sure the demon knows what he's doing; she's too overconfident to be concerned.

"Sam's not going to know about this because once I finish off Pollyanna here, I'm going to snap your neck too."

Dean looks shocked, and holds up his hands defensively. "Woah, woah, woah! Where is this hostility coming from? I thought you were on our side!?" He manages to edge still closer to her. "B is helping us out on some research to try to get me out of my deal. Why are you trying to give her the world's largest neck hickey? And not in a good way!"

"We were just getting acquainted when chubby here got a little jealous and started making racist comments." She gives me another vicious look.

"Did you just insult her and then complain about her insulting you?" Dean furrows his brow and makes a smile/frown. "Who does that?"

Dean is doing a stellar job of distracting her, but she's still got me pinned to the wall. I should keep my mouth shut and hope she forgets me, but that isn't going to happen either.

"It's not an insult if it's the truth." I hiss. Ruby whips around and her eyes are black again – no iris, no white, just two pieces of obsidian. My heart doesn't realize I'm stuck because it tries to gallop away. She smiles, loving my fear, and puts both hands on my throat.

"You're an idiot." Leaning close she whispers, "I'll just smoke out, grab another meat suit, and tell them later on it wasn't me. Sam will blame himself and Dean. You've just helped me out, spinster girl."

Dean grabs her from behind. "Ruby she's right! If you kill her Sam will never trust you again!"

Ruby releases me and spins around, breaking Dean's hold and knocking him on his ass. She looks back at me, and lifts a hand for the kill. "Yeah, I've decided I don't give a shit about that anymore."

"That's too bad. I really did believe you were trying to help us." With my focus on Ruby, I don't hear Sam walk around the house. Ruby didn't either. I've no idea how long he's been there. He and Dean must have both come out the front door and circled the house from either side.

"Sam, I didn't mean-"

"I don't give a FUCK what you meant!" He spits out. "If you touch her or Dean again I swear I will rip your head off." He means it. I believe him.

Sam is beyond pissed. I guess he heard enough.

On an intellectual level I know that Sam has a full range of emotions, but I've not seen him truly angry…until now. He seems larger if that's possible. I get the mental image of a freight train barreling towards us at 300 miles an hour…on fire. His pupils are blown, his jaw is set, his fingers curled almost into fists, and he marches forward like a tank.

Apparently, this version of Sam is a surprise to Ruby as well.

She takes a step back from me, her eyes go back to normal, and her voice shakes. "Sam! Why are you wasting time in a library with this pseudo-intellectual bitch and the old hag that runs the place? You're not going to find a way to save your brother in some moldy old book."

"Right, because I'll get so much further listening to you. You, who keeps stringing me along with promises to save Dean, and 'get me ready', whatever that crap means." He's less than a foot away so she has to tilt her head back to meet his eyes.

That's when Dean, regaining his feet, steps up behind her, tosses Sam something that I can't make out, and grabs Ruby's arms.

Sam's hand pops up in the air and I catch a flash of silver. "Dean's been right all along. You save us, then lie, then give us a half truth, then a whole truth. You play us against each other, then offer to help us with plans that get innocent people killed." He shifts from foot to foot.

"Who are you to question me!? I've saved you both dozens of times that you don't even know about! You'd both have been dead six months ago if it weren't for me!" She tries to wrench free of Dean's hands.

"A set up." I say.

"Shut the fuck up. You don't know anything!" She snarls.

"I know that hell wants to raise Lucifer. I know they need Dean in hell to start it. I know you think that without Dean I'll be vulnerable, and you plan to be there to pick up the pieces. That's your real endgame, isn't it? That's why you're so furious with B, she's going to ruin all your special plans." He grits his teeth, and his eyes flick from me to Ruby to Dean. What he sees there flips a switch in his brain and the fury seems to consume him. His rage of a moment ago is the first mist of powdery snow, this is the avalanche itself.

Ruby panics. "Wait, Sam, there's more you don't know. I'll tell you everything, I swear I will!"

Sam answers from behind clenched teeth. "Pass."

Dean must have thrown Sam a knife right before he grabbed Ruby, because Sam closes the distance between them in one step, and plows it into Ruby's chest. She jerks and groans in Dean's grasp while orange light erupts from her joints and orifices, stuttering off and on with a distinct, electrical sound.

When she sags, Dean lowers her to the ground; I can see that she's dead.

"Hey B, do you have a tarp or an old sheet you wouldn't mind saying good-bye to?" Dean looks at me expectantly.

"Dean, back off. She's never seen anything like this, hell, I'm guessing she's never imagined it." I stare at them, trying to understand what they're saying. I'm not really attached to my body right now. Sam walks up to me, and I look at him and my brain says, "That's Sam.", but it's like glancing out the window and seeing clouds – you know they're clouds, but they don't register, and as soon as you look away you forget about them.

Sam taps my cheek, "Come on baby, I know this is a whole 'nother level of crazy, but we need your help right now." He smiles, and his cheerful expression is supposed to bring me back to full awareness, but I stay where I am, watching the Sam and Dean show from a nice safe distance. He sighs and grabs my upper arms, shaking me just a little. "B, come on sweetheart. We've got to, um, package this up and get it off your deck before the neighbors notice."

I don't want that, and I want him to stop shaking me, so I nod and say, "Tarp's in the shed. Might have a hole or two in it, not sure."

He kisses my forehead. "Awesome, thanks. Just stay right there and we'll clean things up."

When he and Dean hurry off to the shed, I go in the house and sit on the couch. In a few minutes, or a few centuries, it's hard to tell, Sam is back. He hurries to my side and smiles fondly as he takes my hand. "Is this going to become a pattern? You not staying where I tell you to? Wow, your hands are like ice. I'll make you some hot tea, ok, it will be good for your throat too."

"Sure." I say out loud, but when he reaches up to brush back my bangs, the smell of blood on his hand hits me like a bucket of ice water. Suddenly, I'm part of the show and everything is rushing at me at once. In an instant, I'm across the room, crouching in the corner, staring at this huge man who killed someone right in front of me.

"Don't touch me!"

"B, please…"

"No! Jesus, God, y-y-you just k-killed a p-p-puh-puh…fuck! A person!" I look up from the floor at this stranger's bloody hand, and then up to his face. His eyes are wide and scared, his mouth open a little. He looks both frustrated and about to cry, and I realize it's because of me. That expression jolts me back to full awareness. I'm not an observer or part of a dream, I'm in the real world, and that's my Sam. I push away from the wall and stumble into his arms. He wraps himself around me, while trying to hold his bloody hand away from me.

"I'm so sorry! Oh Sam, I just, I was numb, and then I wasn't-"

"Yourself? Yeah, I've been there." He sets me on my feet but doesn't release me.

"What? When?"

Before he can answer Dean walks in. "Ok, I found a cemetery just a couple of miles from here, and it's Saturday, so there were probably a couple of stiffs buried today." He nods at me, smiling. "You really did well B! You said what I've been saying to Sam for months now, and you kept your cool around your first demon. Proud of ya!" He squeezes my arm in encouragement and turns to Sam, "Come on Sammy, we gotta put that bitch in the ground."

"Do you not see how freaked out she is, Dean? I can't leave her like this!"

Dean opens his mouth to object, but then focuses on me. "Shit, B, sweetheart, I'm sorry." He looks like he's going to say something more, but thinks better of it. "You're right, besides, Ruby knew a lot about what we've been doing. She might have had help with that. I'll call Bobby to let him know and go take care of this."

"Wait, Dean, don't go by yourself!" Sam reaches out with one hand to stop his brother.

"Don't worry about me, I got this."

"I'm sure you can bury a body alone, but you said it yourself, there are probably other demons out there."

I chime in, "We should all go to the cemetery. I'll hold the flashlight."