[2x01; In My Time of Dying]

When Julia woke up, she remembered everything. She remembered trying to slow down the blood dripping from Dean's chest. She remembered Sam and John arguing. She remembered how Sam was cut off by something. She remembered the crash of metal against metal and the sound of glass flying everywhere. She remembered screaming and looking over at Dean before everything went black. She remembered having a short dream of her angel, who only told her to have faith before she woke up.

She didn't remember the pain, though. It wasn't as bad as it could be, considering the fact that a fucking semi-truck crashed into them, but it was still intense. It was radiating down her right arm and when she tried to shift it, white-hot pain shot through her. She wasn't a doctor but she was ninety-eight percent sure that something in her arm was broken. There was also some pain in the back of her head; it might have been a concussion.

The only thing she could hear since she woke up was the ringing in her ears. She clapped her bloody left hand against her ear and tried to focus enough that it faded away. It didn't but at least she could hear better now.

"Julia?" she heard Sam shouting. "Dad? Dean?"

"Sam?" she asked loudly, her faint hearing causing her to up her volume. "Sam, are you okay?"

"Yeah, what about you and Dean?"

"Dean," Julia breathed in realization and turned to her right; to her shock, Dean's head was in her lap and everything was bloody and he was now fully unconscious. "Oh, God, Dean!"

"Is he alive? Is he alive, Julia?"

"I—uh, hold on," Julia stammered, raising her left hand to press her fingers against Dean's pulse point. She sighed in relief when she felt the faint beating. "He's alive, Sam, but you have to call for an ambulance."

Julia was light-headed by the time a helicopter, two police cruisers, two ambulances, and a fire truck arrived to help them. The sun had already been up for a full half-hour when paramedics, police, and firemen got to the scene. The driver's door was already ripped away from the Impala but the firemen had to use the jaws of death on John's door and Julia's door.

They got Dean out first since he was laying on Julia's lap and was arguably in the worst shape out of the four of them. Once he was carefully laid out on a stretcher with a neck brace and a lengthy piece of gauze around his head, he was rushed to the helicopter. John followed him shorty and the helicopter took off before Julia or Sam were even out of the Impala.

They were both fitted with neck braces and IVs, Julia had her arm and her head wrapped with gauze in her bleeding ears, while Sam had an eyepatch covering his right eyes. The paramedics pushed their stretchers to separate ambulances and loaded them up.

"Ma'am," the paramedic who stayed in the back with her caught her attention, raising his voice so she could hear him. "Ma'am, can you tell me your name?"

"Julia Petersen," she shouted unknowingly; the paramedic winced at her volume. "And the guys, they're Dean Petersen, Sam Petersen, and John Petersen."

"Which is which?"

"The older man is John, the one with floppy hair is Sam," she told him, glad that they were speaking so she could stay awake.

"And your next of kin?"

"Bethany Everett. She's my older sister."

"All right, thank you, ma'am," the paramedic nodded. "How are you feeling? Are you still light-headed? In pain?"

"Yes to all of it," she croaked.

"Okay, well we're only a couple minutes out right now," the man assured her. "You sit tight and, when we get to the hospital, you'll be checked out right away. You're in safe hands."

"Thank you."

The paramedic had been right; they arrived at the hospital within a couple of minutes and she had been checked out and tested right away. In the end, she had a cut on the back of her neck, a concussion, her left eardrum was burst, her right wrist was broken, and there were a couple of minor scratches and bruises. She got off easy—she hadn't even heard about Dean, John, or Sam yet.

After her wrist was set and wrapped in a lavender cast, her headed was stitched back together, a few of her minor cuts were bandaged, and she was put on antibiotics for her ear and pain medication for everything, she was allowed her own room on the same floor as Sam, Dean, and John.

When her nurse brought her phone to her room and informed her that they had called Bethany, she also mentioned that Sam was all right, just a little busted up. As soon as the nurse left, her phone began to ring; it was Beth.

Julia carefully opened the phone and reached across her body to press it to her uninjured ear. "Hello?"

"Julia? Oh, thank God," Beth sighed in relief. "What happened? Are you okay? Are the Winchesters? We're on our way down there right now, I'm hoping that we'll be there by tomorrow morning. Tell me what's going on!"

"Beth, can you please slow down?" Julia breathed. "We found the demon and, long story short, a semi-truck crashed into us. Sam's fine but I haven't heard about Dean or Uncle John."

"What about you?"

"Broken wrist, burst eardrum, a concussion, a cut on the back of my neck, and a couple of bruises," she rattled off and paused when she heard Beth inhale deeply. "Beth, I'm really scared about Dean."

"I know you are, sweetie," Beth sympathized sadly. "I know you are. You just have to pray. It's what I've been doing since they called me."

She wasn't sure if praying was going to do anything. Her angel had simply told her to have faith but it was hard. Her semi-boyfriend was doing horribly—she assumed—and who knew how John was doing. She repeated her mother's phrase about having faith in the hard times but it was difficult when she felt like she was hanging on by a thread.

"Okay," Julia exhaled, tears coming to her eyes. "Hey, are you bringing the insurance cards for Sam, Dean, and Uncle John that I asked you about?"

"I sure am," Beth confirmed. "Dean, Sam, and John Petersen are now insured by PSC starting a week ago."

"Good. Thank you so much, Beth."

"The Winchesters are family and we take care of family," Beth stated firmly.

"Yes, we do," Julia nodded to herself, wincing when she got light-headed for a brief second. It was too soon that the nausea came from the vertigo she was experiencing because of her ear. "I love you, Beth."

"I love you, too, Jujube," Beth promised and Julia could hear her sniffle. "Taylor, Lizzie, and Aunt Maggie give their love."

"I love them, too," Julia couldn't wipe the tears from her eyes but she didn't care; no one was around, anyway. She spoke too soon—Sam walked into her room within the next two seconds. "Beth, I gotta go. Sam walked in."

"Tell him that we love him!" Beth exclaimed. "And give our love to Dean and John, as well."

"I will."

"We'll be there as soon as we can, Julia."

"Okay."

"Abby will probably call you, too."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you, too," Julia wrinkled her nose, simultaneously annoyed and touched by Beth's protectiveness. "Bye, Beth."

"Bye!"

Julia snapped her phone shut and laid it on her lap before looking at Sam. He had taken the seat by her right side, eyeing the cast on her lower arm.

"The nurse told me how you were doing,"

Julia raised her eyebrows. "She did?"

"Yeah, apparently we're related now," Sam smirked at her before smiling genuinely. "Thanks for that, by the way. I couldn't even think about what I needed to tell them."

"It's no problem, S," she assured him kindly. "You have more important things to worry about. How are they?"

"Dad's okay. The bullet was taken out of his leg and he's fine. He still hasn't woken up from the anesthesia but the doctors are optimistic," Sam told her.

"And Dean?"

"I haven't gone to see him yet," he admitted. "He just got out of surgery about an hour ago."

Julia inhaled sharply. "Is he in his room?" Sam nodded. "Let's go, then."

"J, you need to rest," Sam shook his head. "You have a concussion."

"Well, I can have a concussion in a wheelchair, then," Julia argued. "I want to see Dean. I need to see Dean."

Sam sighed but quickly gave in. He retrieved a wheelchair from her nurse, who came into the room to help get Julia in it, and then pushed her down the hallway, where Dean was resting in his room.

He looked horrible. He was so, so pale, making the closed gashes on his cheek and forehead stick out. There were bandages covering the wounds on his head, his chest, and his abdomen. And, worst of all, he was on life support.

"Dean," Julia breathed, her eyes stinging with tears. "Oh, my God."

"Ju—Jules…"

Julia whipped her head toward the bottom part of the bed, where she could have sworn that Dean was calling her name. She must have been hallucinating or something because no one—and certainly not Dean—was there. She turned back to Dean and grabbed his limp hand. Sam crossed over to Dean's other side, his eyes wet with tears, and grabbed his other hand.

"…you're the psychic. Give me…"

Julia looked toward the end of the bed again. It was Dean's voice again…

"Your father's awake," Dean's doctor walked into the room. "You can go see him if you like."

Julia sighed, relieved that John was okay. No offense to him, because she loved him, but now she could put all her focus on Dean.

Sam nodded, looking relieved as well. "Doc, what about my brother?"

"Well, he sustained serious injuries," the doctor explained. "Blood loss, contusions to his liver and kidneys…but it's the head trauma I'm worried about. We see early signs of a cerebral edema."

"…the fuck is a cerebral…?"

Julia cleared her throat. "What's a cerebral edema?"

"It's fluid on the brain," the doctor told her. "It causes intracranial pressure."

"And this can kill him?"

"It can but right now we're treating him with oxygen and medication to try to slow it down," the doctor stated, glancing at Dean for a brief second. "If your brother's—"

"He's my husband," she quickly corrected him. "He took my name and Sam and John couldn't bear to have a different name as him."

Sam nodded, backing her up. "It's true."

The doctor nodded. "My apologies, Mrs. Petersen. If your husband—" he corrected himself. "gets worse, we will do a surgery to remove part of his skull to relieve the pressure build-up."

"And if he survives that?"

"Well, we won't know his full condition until he wakes up—if he wakes up."

Julia squeezed Dean's hand as Sam stiffened. "If?"

"I have to be honest—"

"Screw…I'm…up…"

"—most people with this degree of injury wouldn't have survived this long," the doctor informed them. "He's fighting very hard but you need to have realistic expectations."

Julia shook her head and turned away from the doctor, looking back at Dean's freckled-filled face. He couldn't die, he just couldn't. He had too many people who needed him, who loved him. She loved him and she wouldn't have the chance to tell him if he never woke up.

Julia and Sam stayed with Dean for another ten minutes before heading over to John's room three doors down. He was in a little pain and a lot medicated but he was coherent enough to understand Dean's condition and how bleak it was.

"Here," John reached for his wallet. "Give them my insurance."

"Beth's on her way here with three brand new insurance cards for you guys," Julia informed him before he could pull his card out. "John Petersen and his loving sons, Sam and Dean."

John gave her a grateful look. "Thank you."

"You guys are family," she stated firmly.

John nodded and turned to look at Sam once more. "What else did the doctor say about Dean?"

"He could have surgery to release the pressure on his brain but we don't know if he'll survive until then," Julia sighed sadly, squeezing her left hand into a fist as she couldn't really move her other hand.

"Look, if the doctors won't do anything, then we'll have to, that's all," Sam declared. "I don't know, I'll find some hoodoo priest and lay some mojo on him."

"We'll look for someone," John agreed; Sam nodded. "But, Sam, I don't know if we're gonna find anyone…"

"Why not?" Sam asked sharply. "Abby and I found that faith healer before."

"Right, and that was one in a million."

"So what?" Sam retorted. "Do we just sit here with our thumbs up our asses?"

"Sam…" Julia warned him lowly. The last thing they needed was to have a fight break out between him and his dad.

"No, I said we'd look, all right?" John's voice was firm as he addressed his youngest son. "I'll check under every stone…Where's the Colt?"

Julia reared back like she had been slapped. She couldn't believe that John was asking about the Colt when Dean was practically on his death bed. Sam was thinking along the same lines as she was.

"Your son is dying and you're worried about the Colt?" he asked in disbelief.

"We're hunting this demon and maybe it's hunting us too," John reminded them. "That gun may be our only card."

Sam sighed. "It's in the trunk. They dragged the car to a yard off I-83."

John nodded. "All right. You've gotta clean out that trunk before some junk man sees what's inside."

"I already called Bobby—" that was news to Julia. "—He's, like, an hour out. He's gonna tow the Impala back to his place."

"Go meet up with Bobby, then," John ordered. "You get that Colt and you bring it back to me. Watch out for hospital security."

A bitter look fell upon Sam's injured face. "I think I've got it covered."

He stood up and walked over to Julia's wheelchair, prepared to leave. John stopped them before they could move, holding out a small piece of paper. "Hey, here," Sam took the note. "I made a list of things I need. Have Bobby pick them up for me."

Sam read the list. "Acacia? Oil of Abramelin?" he recited. "What's this stuff for?"

Julia wrinkled her nose, trying to remember where she had heard of those ingredients.

"Protection."

Sam waited for a few seconds. "Hey, Dad? You know, the demon, he said he had plans for me and children like me. Do you have any idea what he meant by that?"

John didn't answer right away. "No, I don't."

Liar, Julia accused him in her mind.

"…you know…"

It was Dean again…

When they left the room, Julia requested that Sam bring her back to Dean. He set her up so Dean was within her reach and then left, promising to call her once he met up with Bobby and made sure the Impala was good to go.

As soon as he was gone, Julia turned to Dean, carefully placing her hand on his cheek. "Dean," she whispered, closing her eyes in hopes that she could feel his energy. "are you in there?"

"…here…"

Julia couldn't feel his energy in his physical body but she recognized it from across the bed where she heard Dean's voice.

"Dean?" her eyes stung with tears. "Is that really you?"

Suddenly, she could hear him clearly. She didn't know how but she was going to take advantage of it.

"I'm here, baby. It's me."

"It's good to hear your voice, D," she held up his hand and pressed her lips to the back of it. "What's going on? Are you in the veil or something?"

"I must be. No one can hear me but you."

"I don't know how I'm hearing you," Julia shook her head. "but I'm glad I can."

"Me too, shortcake. Where's Sam?"

"He went to meet up with Bobby so he could tow the Impala back to his house. Once you're awake and all healed up, you'll be able to work on it."

"Thank God."

Julia chuckled. "You and that car."

"Hey, she's the second most important woman in the whole world."

"Oh? And who's the first?"

"Don't act coy, Julia, you know it's you."

"Ah, Dean, who knew you're such a sap?"

"Only for my hot wife," Dean snarked back at her.

Julia's face instantly flushed in embarrassment. "You heard that, huh?"

"I sure did," Dean laughed. "Hey, if you're down, I'm down."

"What happened to taking this slowly?"

"Well, I'm not a patient man, shortcake. You know that."

"All right," Julia sighed. "When you wake up, make sure you propose to me."

"I gotta get a ring first!"

"I don't need a ring," she said seriously before pausing. "Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm in love with you," she confessed tearfully. "and I just wanted to tell you in case…in case…"

"Don't say goodbye, Julia," Dean interrupted her. "I'm going to wake up because I'm in love with you, too."

She gasped. "You're serious?"

"As serious as a Russian dictator."

"Oh, come on," Julia snorted, her heart bursting with love. "It was one time."

"Hey, I gotta take advantage of your ditsy moments, baby. They only come so often."

"I hate you."

"No, you—"

Julia stiffened when she couldn't hear the rest of his sentence. He couldn't have gone with a reaper or anything because his heart monitor was still beeping steadily. She just hoped that something had caught his attention and he had to leave the room.

It was only five minutes later that Dean reappeared, startling her when he spoke. "Jules, I full-on Swayze'd a glass in Dad's room."

Julia sat up. "You did what?"

"Dad—who, turns out, gave Sam a list of ingredients to summon a demon—and Sam were arguing and they were saying some rude stuff. Really, it was the worst any of their fights had been and I remember the night Sam left for Stanford as clear as day—"

"Dean."

"Right," he focused. "well, I was fed up listening to their argument so I told them to shut up and knocked a glass off a table. Isn't that cool?"

Julia frowned. "I don't know, Dean," she disagreed with him. "I kind of sounds like you're becoming a spirit or something."

"What, like a vengeful one? I'm not vengeful."

"Not yet you aren't," she sighed. "Look, I'll—"

Dean's heart monitor started beeping like crazy before flatlining. Julia paled, immediately tearing up, and shouted for his nurse. Dean's nurse, plus another nurse and Dean's doctor, came into the room with a crash cart. They carefully pushed Julia out of the way and started getting Dean ready to resuscitation. They exchanged his oxygen with a bag and started pumping as the other nurse ripped open his shirt and allowed the doctor to slap a silicon pad onto the middle of his chest. He charged up the paddles and pressed them against Dean's chest, shocking him. Dean's body rattled but he was still flatlining.

"Come on, Dean," Julia whispered, silently praying for a miracle. She jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder; it was Sam. "Sam."

He looked down at her with tears in his eyes before looking back at Dean.

"All clear," the doctor announced and, while the nurse took their hands off of Dean so they weren't shocked, he placed the paddles back on Dean's chest.

The nurse looked over at his heart monitor. "Still no pulse."

"Please, Dean, please…" Julia whimpered under her breath. "You said you would wake up."

"Okay, let's go again," the doctor ordered. "Three-sixty."

"Charging!"

"All clear!"

Julia and Sam watched nervously as the doctor pressed the paddles to Dean once more.

"…get the fuck away from me! Stay back!" she heard Dean's voice. "I said get back!"

It was like whatever Dean said helped his body. The heart monitor started beeping normally, making Sam and Julia slump in relief.

"We have a pulse," Dean's nurse informed the doctor. "We're back into sinus rhythm."

"Don't worry, guys," Dean spoke from beside them. "I'm not going anywhere. I'm getting that thing before it gets me. It's some kind of spirit but I could grab it. And, if I can grab it, I can kill it."

Dean left the room after his assuring words, as Julia could no longer feel his energy. As the doctor and nurses packed away their supplies and left the room, Sam grabbed Julia's arm.

"Did you hear that?" he asked her anxiously. "I heard Dean."

"I've been hearing him since we first visited him," Julia told him solemnly.

Sam gave her a surprised look. "What, is that something you can do now?"

"Never before," she shook her head. "I mean, I could feel energies and I feel Dean's when he's in the same room, but I've never been able to speak to anyone in the veil before."

Sam hummed thoughtfully and then perked up. "Well, I know something that we can do."

"Please tell me it's not a Ouija board."

"…It's a Ouija board."

It had been an eventful hour; for Dean. First, he met Tessa who had recently had an appendectomy that went south. Second, he saw the spirit hovering over a dying girl. Third, he learned that the spirit was actually a reaper. One of the nurses working on the little girl had said something about the girl not suffering anymore and it all clicked into place for him.

Reapers didn't kill people; they just took them to whatever afterlife they believed in. The people that he saw had the reaper over them were supposed to die…He was supposed to die…

But he couldn't leave Julia, Sam, and his dad. They needed him; it was clear that Sam and his dad would rip their heads off if he weren't around and he wasn't about to let Julia go when he confessed that he was in love with her for the first time.

He didn't promise that kind of love and not pull through. Well, he had never really fallen in love with anyone the way he was with Julia. It clear now that whatever he had with Cassie was puppy-love and Lisa was just good at fucking. But Julia, she was the real deal. He'd do anything for her, he'd give anything for her.

He quickly made his way back to his room just in time to see Sam walk in.

"You didn't go to a toy shop, did you?" Julia asked his brother in a flat tone.

"No…I went to Target," Sam admitted sheepishly; Dean laughed in amusement and Julia's head turned his way.

"Dean's here," she informed Sam, smiling in Dean's direction. God, that smile made his heart flutter like some kind of teenager. "What took you so long, anyway? You left two hours ago."

"The nearest Target was an hour away," Sam admitted as he pulled the table in front of Julia's wheelchair and set the Ouija board up. "Is he really here?"

"I'm here, Sammy," Dean assured him. "Hi."

"He just said hi to you," Julia informed Sam. "See, I don't know why we needed that thing. I can just translate for you."

"No," Sam shook his head, setting the planchette the right way up on the board. "I want to talk to him myself."

"You can," Julia rolled her eyes at his stubbornness. "He'll just be talking to me and then I'll be talking to you in return."

"Just shush," Sam scolded her. "Let's do this."

"I'm not touching that thing."

"You're in the room," Sam pointed out. "I don't think touching it will make any difference."

"I'm not touching it, Sam!"

"Okay, okay," Dean sighed; was today national argument day? "Stop bickering and get on with it…God, I can't believe I'm actually going to do this."

"Well, Sam wants you to do it," Julia told him before turning to Sam. "He told me to tell you to back off and leave me alone."

"That is not what I said, Julia."

"He said that?"

"That's exactly what he said."

"I did not!

Sam sighed. "Fine," he sat down at the side of the table adjacent to Julia and put his hands on the planchette. "Dean? Are you there?"

"Are you there, Dean? It's me, Samuel."

Dean snickered and Sam glared at Julia for her comment and opened up the board according to the instructions. Dean sighed and placed his hands on the other side of the planchette.

"God, I feel like I'm at a fucking slumber party."

"None of the slumber parties I've been to had Ouija boards," Julia told him matter-of-factly.

"That's because you went to a private Christian school," Dean snarked back at her. "You and your friends were all too chicken to do anything like this."

She wrinkled her nose. "Rude."

Dean chuckled. "All right, Sam," he sighed. "This isn't going to work…"

To his—and Sam and Julia's—complete shock, the planchette started to move to the yes at the top of the board.

"I'll be damned."

Julia looked between them wide-eyed. "Okay, this is creepy."

"Shut it, shortcake. You're the one who can actually hear me."

Julia gave him a dirty look while Sam laughed in relief. "It's good to hear from you, Dean. It hasn't been the same without you."

"Damn straight," Dean nodded to himself and pushed the planchette across the board.

"Dean, what?"

"I'm hunting something," Dean told him as he moved to 'H' and then 'U'.

"He's hunting something," Julia told Sam, impatient with the slow progress when it came to spelling out the words.

"You're hunting?" Sam looked over to the spot that Julia had been when she spoke to Dean.

Dean moved the planchette back to the yes.

"Dean, we're in the hospital," Sam pointed out. "What could you possibly be hunting? Do you know what is it?"

"Yeah, I do," Dean didn't bother with the planchette this time. He knew that Julia would just tell Sam what he said anyway since she was so impatient. "It's a reaper."

"A reaper?" Julia gasped.

"He's hunting a reaper?" Sam looked to her.

"That's what he's saying."

"It's not killing people," Dean told Julia. "It's taking them. You know, when their time's just up."

Julia sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Damn it," she told Sam what he said. "He said that the reapers taking people when it's their time."

Sam shook his head and looked back in Dean's direction. "Is it after you?"

"Yeah," Dean said grimly. "it is."

"This can't be happening," Julia murmured, her voice thick with tears. "Dean, if it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it."

"Yeah, you can't kill death. I'm screwed," Dean couldn't stand to see her so upset, especially over him. "Don't worry, shortcake, I'm not going anywhere."

Julia didn't answer him, nor did she look assured by his promise. She broke out into heartbreaking sobs and covered her left ear with her good hand. Dean guessed that her burst eardrum ached.

Sam took Julia's sobs as resignation. "No, there's gotta be a way," he insisted. "There's gotta be a way. Dad will know what to do."

He left the room without another word, heading over to their dad's room.

Julia was still crying but at least her sobs had died out. Dean scooted closer to her and she bristled, feeling his energy brush against her sides.

"Dean," she sniffled. "I can't lose you."

"You're not gonna lose me, baby," Dean whispered and reached out, placing his hand on her arm. He could tell that she didn't feel it but he did and he needed that comfort, too. "Dad will come up with something."

"Sure."

"Hey, you gotta have hope and faith, Junior," he scolded her playfully. "Wasn't it last night that you were telling me that?"

"It's not the same."

"How is it not the same?"

Julia was quiet for half a minute before she snorted. "Yeah, I guess it's kind of the same."

"You should always listen to me. I'm a genius."

Julia giggled. "You sure are, babe."

"I love you."

"I love you, too."

Sam came walking into the room, holding John's current journal. "Hey, so Dad wasn't in his room—"

Dean stiffened, worried about his dad's whereabouts. Was he summoning the demon? "Where is he?"

"—but I got his journal, so, who knows? Maybe there's something in here."

"Good thinking, S."

"Thanks, J."

Julia used her one good arm to roll herself over to Sam. It took a solid two minutes and Sam didn't notice but Dean was torn between amusement and sympathy. Yeah, it was funny as hell to see her try to get herself over to Sam without help but it sucked to see her struggling so hard.

"Sam," Julia sighed, her good arm hanging limply by her side. "could you please give me a hand?"

Sam looked up, leaving the journal open to the pages on reapers, and went to help Julia. Dean took a look at the reaper information, his anger raising when he read one specific fact about reapers.

"Son of a bitch."

He stormed out of his room and set out toward the rest of the hospital in order to find Tessa. It turned out that she wasn't an actual person stuck in the veil like him—she was a reaper the whole time.

He finally found her in the room she had showed him earlier, where she was in the hospital bed, unconscious, with her mother mourning by her side. She was dressed differently now, wearing a black tank-top and jeans instead of the scrubs she was wearing before.

"Hi, Dean."

"You know, you read the most interesting things," he told her flatly as he slowly walked into the room. "For example, did you know that reapers can alter human perception. I sure didn't. Basically, they can make themselves appear however they want. Like, say, a girl that looks shockingly like my girlfriend."

Tessa had brown hair and hazel eyes just like Julia. They were even close to the same height.

"I was wondering when you would figure it out," Tessa said calmly.

"I should have known," he shook his head bitterly. "That whole accepting-fate rap of yours was far too laid back for a dead chick. But the mother and the body, I'm still trying to figure that one out."

"It's my sandbox. I can make you see whatever I want."

Dean scoffed. "What, is this, like, a turn-on for you? Toying with me?"

"You didn't give me much choice," Tessa defended herself. "You saw my true form and you flipped out. That kinda hurts a girl's feelings. This was the only way I could get you to talk to me."

"Okay, fine," Dean said briskly. "We're taking. What the fuck do you want to talk about?"

"How death is nothing to fear," Tessa told him, standing up to walk over to him. She placed her hand on his left cheek and he forced himself to not flinch away. "It's your time to go, Dean, and you're living on borrowed time already."

Dean pulled away from her and walked over to the window looking out to the parking lot. "Look, I'm sure you've heard this before but you've gotta make an exception. You've gotta cut me a break."

"Stage three, bargaining," Tessa hummed, sitting down on the hospital bed once more.

"I'm serious," he insisted, turning to face her. "My family's in danger. See, we're kind of in the middle of this, uh, war, and they need me."

"The fight's over."

"No, it's not."

"It is for you," Tessa informed him. "Dean, you're not the first soldier I've plucked off the field. They all feel the same. They can't leave; victory hands in the balance. But they're wrong—the battle goes on without them."

"My brother, he could die without me."

"Maybe he will, maybe he won't," Tessa shrugged. "Nothing you can do about it."

"But Julia—"

"Will move on eventually," Tessa interrupted him. "This is an honorable death. A warrior's death."

Dean scoffed and shook his head. "I think I'll pass on the seventy-two virgins, thanks. I'm off the market."

"That's funny," she humored him. "You're very cute."

"There's no such thing as an honorable death," Dean declared firmly. "My corpse is going to rot in the ground and my family is going to die!" he shook his head. "No, I'm not going with you. I don't care what you do."

"Well, like you said, there's always a choice," Tessa nodded. "I can't make you come with me but you're not getting back in your body—that's just facts. So, yes, you can stay. You can stay here for years, disembodied, scared. And over the decades it'll probably drive you mad. Maybe you'll even get violent."

Dean blanched, remembering Julia's earlier worries. "What are you saying?"

Tessa gave him a look full of pity. "Dean, how do you think angry spirits are born?" she confirmed his fear. "They can't let go and they can't move on. You're about to become one. The same thing you hunt."

Dean's chest burned with an emotion he didn't recognize. He sat down on the bed and stared at the linoleum tiles under his feet. Maybe Tessa was right; he didn't want to become a vengeful spirit and he didn't want a hunter to come to town to clean up his mess if he did get violent.

Sam and John would be fine. John would hunt the demon down once again and shoot him and Sam could go back to Stanford once everything was over with. And Julia…well, she'd move on. She'd miss him, he was sure of it, but she was only twenty. She'd meet someone and fall in love, get married, and pop out a couple of kids. Maybe she'd work at PSC with Maggie or teach a couple of theology courses at Northwestern or Moody or something. She'd be a great teacher—hell, Dean learned new things everyday because she rambled on and on about things she found fascinating.

God, it hurt to think about leaving Julia and Sam. It hurt so much. But maybe this was for the best. He was poison; he cursed everyone he loved. Hell, he had only shared his love with two other women—other than Julia—and that was his mom and Cassie. Look how both of those relationships turned out. He didn't want Julia to meet the same fate as his mom and he didn't want her to resent him, either. Sam, he'd be better off without him. He could go back to Stanford, get his degree, got to law school, and become a lawyer. He'd live the apple-pie that he always wanted—and Dean secretly yearned for—and he'd settle down and raise a family, just like Julia.

They'd be fine without me, he convinced himself, this is for the best.

He didn't even notice that Tessa sat down next to him until she spoke, "It's time to put the pain behind you."

Dean swallowed dryly, nervously. "And go where?"

Julia believed in God and Angels and Heaven but he didn't have the same faith as her. Still, it was a slightly comforting thought that he might spend the rest of eternity in paradise with his loved ones joining him when it was his time.

"Sorry," Tessa clicked her tongue. "I can't give away the big punchline."

Of course. I doubt I'd get into Heaven, anyway.

"Moment of truth. No changing your mind later," Tessa looked at him for an answer. "So, what's it going to be."

Honestly, Dean had no fucking idea what he wanted to do. He wanted to go with Tessa and give Sam and Julia better lives. But his whole being told him that he needed to be with his brother and girlfriend. Maybe that made him selfish but when was there a moment of his life that he had been selfish like this? Why couldn't he get the things he wanted, what he needed?

But he didn't want to be a ghost for the rest of eternity

Luckily, Dean wasn't given a chance to answer Tessa. Just as he turned to tell her that he would go with her, the lights all around the room started flickering. He slowly stood up, looking at her suspiciously.

"What are you doing that for?"

Tessa stood up, too, looking around wearily. "I'm not doing it."

She abruptly turned toward the vent in the wall near the door. Black smoke—a demon—was entering the room through the vent.

"What the fuck?"

"You can't do this!" Tessa shouted at the demon. "Get away!"

"What's happening?" Dean raised his voice, nervously looking between the demon and Tessa.

Tessa screamed as the demonic smoke entered her body through her mouth. Dean looked on in shock, wondering how a demon could possibly possess a reaper.

Tessa turned toward him, her eyes glowing with a yellow tint. Dean stiffened; it was him. The yellow-eyed demon.

"Today's your lucky day, kid," the demon droned.

He reached out Tessa's arm and pressed her hand against Dean's forehead. He could feel something twist in his chest and abdomen; he gasped loudly and felt something choking him.

There had been no sign of Dean in over an hour and John was still missing, too. Julia's nurse had brought her and Sam a late-night snack—which they devoured—and she spoke to Abby on the phone for a little while but, other than that, they did research most of the time.

It was only ten minutes before that they stopped. They had found nothing about how to stop reapers; they looked through both of John's journal, called Bobby and a couple more of hunters they knew for any information they had. There was nothing. There wasn't a way to save Dean and that destroyed them both.

Julia was past the point of tears; she just stared blankly at Dean's face, memorizing every part of it. The way his skin was covered with precious freckles, the way he had perfectly kissable lips, his adorable nose…And then she remembered the things that she couldn't see at the moment; his gorgeous emerald-green eyes, the dimples that appeared at the corners of his lips when he pursed them or smiled tightly, the way that he winked, with the corner of his mouth moving in sync with whatever eye he shut.

There were so many things about Dean Winchester that she wanted to remember. So many goofy, angry, happy, and loving faces. So many inside jokes, random nicknames, and moments spent alone and with Sam…There was a lifetime of memories she had with Dean, yet it wasn't enough.

Julia wasn't ready to let him go. She never would be.

God, Mom, or whatever angel that can hear me,

I need your help. Dean Winchester needs your help.

He's gonna die and there's nothing I can do to stop it.

I can't live without him—I don't want to live without him.

I know my faith has waned today and I'm supposed to

Have it in the hard times, too, and I'm sorry for that.

But Dean is a good man—one of the greatest I know.

He has to live; he deserves to live. So, I'm asking,

With all that I am, that you please help him.

Please…Please help him. I love you, Father,

And all that you created. I pray that

You'll forgive me.

Amen.

Just as Julia was finishing up her prayer, Dean gasped loudly and choked on his breathing tube, his eyes popping open. The heart monitor beeped like crazy since he was probably scared so Sam ran into the hallway to call for help.

"Dean, it's okay," she spoke soothingly as he continued coughing. "You're in the hospital but you're okay. You're okay, babe."

Dean's frantic eyes softened as he listened to her but he stiffened back up when the same nurses and doctor from earlier ran into the room. They worked quickly, taking out Dean's breathing tube and checking his vitals. The doctor said that he was doing okay for now but they wouldn't know for sure until they could run tests in the morning.

Dean's nurses left and Julia's nurse appeared, telling her that she needed to get to bed. Julia smiled at Dean and reluctantly left, going back to her room to catch a few hours of sleep. Unfortunately, she had to be woken up every hour to see if her concussion was affecting her, but she still managed to get some rest.

The next morning, after Dean's many tests, Julia and Sam went back to his room. They asked how he was feeling but he reported that he was fine. He didn't remember anything from when he was out—which was disheartening because they had shared I-love-yous but she didn't let it get her down. They had more time now. They'd get to that point again. Nonetheless, she and Sam explained that she was able to talk to him in the veil and that a reaper had been after him.

The doctor eventually came in with the test results and greeted the three of them. "Mrs. Petersen, Misters Petersen."

Dean looked over at Julia and Sam in confusion, not knowing that she had switched their names.

"I have good news," the doctor declared, opening Dean's file. "I can't explain it; the edema's vanished, the internal contusions are healed, your vitals are good…You have some kind of angel watching over you."

Yes, he does, Julia agreed.

"Thanks, Doc," Dean nodded at him. As soon as the doctor left the room, he turned back to Julia and Sam. "You said a reaper was after me?"

"Yeah," Sam confirmed.

Dean furrowed his eyebrows. "How'd I ditch it."

"We have no idea," Julia sighed, wrinkling her nose. "You really can't remember anything?"

"No," Dean shook his head. "Except there a pit in my stomach…Guys, something's wrong."

There was a knock on the door; John entered the room, his arm still in a sling, and smiled down at Dean. "How you feeling, dude?"

"Fine, I guess," Dean answered passively. "I'm alive."

"That's what matters," John was relieved that his oldest son was alive and feeling okay.

"Where were you last night?" Sam spoke up, glaring at his father.

"I had some things to take care of."

Sam scoffed. "Well, that's specific."

Dean sighed tiredly. "Come on, Sam…"

Sam ignored his brother and the dirty look Julia was giving him. "Did you go after the demon?"

"No," John answered firmly.

"You know, why don't I believe you right now?" Sam challenged him.

John sighed and made his way closer to his sons and Julia. "Can we not fight?" he begged Sam. "You know, half the time we're fighting, I don't know what we're fighting about. We're just butting heads."

Julia studied the oldest Winchester closely, reading his energy. He was relieved but there was also regret, grief, and sadness. It was a dark and deep sadness that Julia on edge—it wasn't in the way that put goosebumps over her body and made her scalp tingle. It was sad in the way that had her wondering if something was going on that she, Sam, and Dean didn't know about. Something bad.

"Look, Sammy, I—I've made some mistakes," John admitted, his voice heavy with sadness. "but I've always done the best I could. I just don't want to fight anymore, okay?"

Dean and Sam could sense that something was off with their dad, too.

"Dad, are you all right?" Sam asked quietly.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm just a little tired," he smiled, showing off his famous Winchester dimples. "Hey, son, would you, uh, would you and Julia mind getting me a cup of caffeine?"

"Did your doctor say it was okay?" Julia raised a curious eyebrow.

Dean smiled at her and so did John. "Yes, ma'am, he did."

"Well, then I guess we can take a trip to the cafeteria," Julia sighed, grateful that she no longer needed to use the wheelchair.

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah, sure."

It took Julia and Sam only a couple of minutes to get John some coffee since the nurses at the nurses' station offered to share some from their coffee pot. They both thanked them all sincerely and, while Julia went back in Dean's room, Sam brought the coffee to his dad.

"Hey," Julia's smile fell from her face when she saw Dean's teary eyes. "Are you all right?"

"DAD?!"

Julia whipped around at Sam's shout from down the hall. She quickly looked out into the hallway and saw nurses and the on-call doctor rushing toward John's room with a crash cart.

With a pit in her stomach, she turned back to Dean. "Come on."

Dean allowed her to help him off his bed. "Is it my dad?" when Julia hesitated, he repeated himself. "Is it my dad?"

"Yeah, it is," she confirmed quietly as they entered the hallway.

She helped him over to John's room, where Sam was standing in the doorway, staring helplessly at the medical staff that was trying to revive his father. He noticed they were there and took most of Dean's weight from her. Julia couldn't feel relief from the disappearance of Dean's weight, she was so worried about the scene in front of her.

With blurry eyes, she watched the nurses and doctor work on John. They had already charged him up a couple of times and were now on CPR, trying to get his heart to do something.

She wrapped her good arm around Dean's waist, leaning her head against his bicep to offer comfort. She didn't allow any tears to fall; she could grieve later, right now she needed to be there to support Dean and Sam.

"Okay, stop compression," the doctor ordered when John gave them no reaction.

One of the nurses checked the heart monitor. "Still no pulse."

The doctor sighed. "Okay, that's it everybody. I'm calling it. Time of death 10:41 A.M.."