Waking up at the start of the end of the world,
But it's feeling just like every other morning before,
Now I wonder what my life is going to mean if it's gone,
The cars are moving like a half a mile an hour
And I started staring at the passengers who're waving goodbye
Can you tell me what was ever really special about me all this time?

I believe the world is burning to the ground
Oh well I guess we're gonna find out
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come
Well I believe it all is coming to an end
Oh well, I guess, we're gonna pretend,
Let's see how far we've come
Let's see how far we've come

GOOD GOD Y'ALL

13 Years Ago
Wilmington, Delaware

Beth's POV

"Me? What do you need me for?" Dean asked John, grabbing a Coke out of the fridge. He glanced over at me with a quizzical look, holding the can in the air toward me. I nodded at him and smiled - it was sweet the way he'd been looking after me the last few months. He grinned back at me, reaching into the fridge for another can and walking over to hand it to me.

"You're old enough to start taking on more cases," John answered, frowning at his son. "Beth can watch Sam."

"She's only just joined us," Dean argued, and I felt my hair stand on at the back of my neck.

"I think I'm capable of looking after Sam, thanks Dean," I said and he sighed, sitting down on the bed next to me.

"That's not what I meant," he said softly while John gathered some papers and stood up.

"Then it's settled," John said, always one to keep the conversation to a bare minimum. "Beth, Sam will be back from school in half an hour, you guys hang here until we get back. We're going to check out the house of the first victim."

"Okay," I said, taking a sip from my can. Suddenly I felt very alone, and nervous. I hadn't been on my own since I'd joined the Winchesters. Dean was looking at me, his face unreadable as John went into the bathroom.

"Are you sure about this?" He asked, as soon as we were alone.

"Yeah, I'm fine, Dean," I insisted.

"I don't know…"

"What's going on with you?" I asked, frowning at him. "Don't you think I can take care of Sam?"

"No! Of course not," Dean said, grimacing as my face fell. "That's not what I mean. Of course I think you can, you're the only one I trust with him other than Dad. Maybe more than Dad…"

I smiled and he reached out, squeezing my hand.

"I don't like leaving you on your own, not yet," he said with evident concern.

"I'm fine, really," I said, patting his hand. "You can't always babysit me. This is… this is what we do

right?"

Dean sighed, nodding. "Yeah, it is. But , you know Beth, you and Sam… you're young. I need to take

care of you both."

"And you do," I said with a smile.

There was a sound of the toilet flushing and then John re-entered the room, nodding at Dean.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door.

"Yes, sir," Dean replied, standing up and downing the rest of his drink. He walked out to the car and John hesitated in the doorway, looking back at me.

"As soon as Sam gets back from school, lock the doors, there's a gun in the top drawer by the Bible… any problems you shoot first, ask questions second, okay?" He asked.

"Yes sir," I stumbled out. For the first time in months I felt afraid.

Present Day

Pittsburgh, PA
Hospital - Bobby's Room

Dean's POV

Bobby had fallen silent in his recovery, that fire and brimstone he's hailed down on everyone in the early days of his attack had simmered down to a heated rage simmering below the surface. Sam was standing in the doorway to the room watching him, almost as if he was hesitant to go in. Things hadn't been quite the same between him and Bobby, even after he told us it had been the demon talking. I took another sip of my coffee and joined him, looking into the stark, white room.

The subject of our attention, Bobby, was sitting in a wheelchair dressed in a bathrobe and his familiar ball cap. He stared out the window, his face turned away from us, his mood unreadable.

"It's been like three days now?" I asked. It seemed longer, like we'd been stuck here a week. It hadn't helped that we'd had Cole staying with us too. While she knew it was the job and people got hurt, she was frustrated and upset, and when you put that into a room with me, tempers seemed to flare.

Sam sighed in reply to the question and I shook my head.

"We got to cheer him up. Maybe I'll give him a backrub," I said cheekily, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"Dean…"

"Well, what, then?" I asked with a shrug as if there was an easy answer out there.

"Look...we might have to wrap our heads around the idea that Bobby might not just bounce back this time," Sam said quietly. I took another sip of my coffee, frowning, letting this statement sit uncomfortably in my stomach. I didn't have to think on it long though, as the quick steps of someone walking up behind us sounded; I'd have recognised them anywhere, and turned to see Beth sauntering up carrying an envelope with the words "X-ray".

She peered in at Bobby, frowning, before stepping back into the hallway. "Still?" She asked, seeing us nod. "Maybe I'll give him a backrub," she joked and I snorted, almost spitting my coffee out.

Sam gaped, his mouth opening and shutting before giving a little disbelieving sigh. "Well… better you than Dean, probably," he said finally, and then pointed to her hand. "What's in the envelope?"

"Ah!" Beth said, handing me the envelope. "We went to radiology earlier…" Curiously I opened the envelope and pulled out the contents.

"And got some glamour shots," I said, handing them to Sam. We were looking at two different x-rays of ribs – one mine, one hers. There were some strange symbols that looked a lot like Enochian carved into both our bones.

"Let's just say the doctors are baffled," she commented, sipping on her own coffee.

"Holy crap," Sam murmured and I nodded appreciatively. We'd gotten the x-rays expecting as much, but to see it in black and white right there in front of us, well that was something else.

"Yeah, well, Cas carved you up, too," I said. Beth's phone started to right and she looked at it with a shrug, answering and holding it to her ear.

"Hello?" She asked, pausing to listen. " ...Cas?"

"Speak of the Devil," I said with a chuckle, raising my eyebrow in her direction.

"Ah, UPMC Mercy. Why? What are you—Cas?" She looked confused for a moment, and then shook her head, hanging up.

"What did he…?" My question was interrupted as a woman in scrubs, followed by a man in a doctor's coat rushed past with a cart.

"Dr. Cohen to the ER, stat. Dr. Cohen to the ER, stat." Sounded the PA system, and we all watched these two continue down the hallway while Cas walked past them, stopping beside us.

"Cell phone, Cas?" I asked. "Really? Since when do angels need to reach out and touch someone?"

"You're hidden from angels now—all angels," Cas said simply.

"And you can't angel radio up Beth to see where we are?" I asked.

He turned piercing blue eyes to me that seemed to look right through me. I felt a sense of chagrin at the questioning, but pushed it aside. "I can't talk to Beth on the, angel radio as you call it, someone might be listening. I won't be able to simply…."

"Enough foreplay," Bobby announced from inside the room behind us. We stopped talking, everyone turning to look at the man who hadn't said a word in days. "Get over here and lay your damn hands on."

I waited for something, anything to happen. Most of all I realised that I'd been waiting for this moment too, as had Bobby obviously. It was something that I hadn't dared voice, because it might have been like water in my hands, and one word would see it slip through my fingers. When no one moved, Cas included, Bobby turned to look at us all hovering in the doorway.

"Get healing. Now."

Cas hesitated for a moment, and then sighed. "I can't."

The silence was deafening. I felt the blood rushing through my ears at those words, my secret hope dashed. Bobby turned his chair toward the doorway, his face stony.

"Say again?"

Cas pushed past us into the room, walking up to Bobby. "I'm cut off from Heaven and much of Heaven's power. Certain things I can do. Certain things I can't," he explained.

"You're telling me you lost your mojo just in time to get me stuck in this trap the rest of my life?" Bobby asked, his voice starting to rise.

"I'm sorry," Cas said.

"Shove it up your ass," Bobby spat out at him, turning back to staring out the window. I nudged Sam's arm with a grin, nodding toward the pair of them. "At least he's talking now," I said.

"I heard that!" Bobby snapped, and Cas used the opportunity to escape the room, leading us across the hallway and out of earshot of Bobby.

"Cas, what about that angel I met… Chamuel?" Beth asked and Cas shook his head.

"She's gone into hiding - there's a lot happening in Heaven right now. Factions breaking from the whole. Chamuel has joined one of them," he replied. My hope was starting to feel as stark as the white walls in the hospital. This was hopeless, and why on Earth were we fighting so hard for beings who can't help us?

"Well, there has to be someone," she pushed. Cas looked at her, his expression clear.

"No one I can contact right now." He turned to look at me, and I didn't like it one bit. "I don't have much time. We need to talk."

"Okay," I said, watching him warily. What did he have up his sleeve this time?

"Your plan to kill Lucifer…." His words caused the hair on the back of my neck to bristle.

"Yeah? You want to help?" I asked.

"No. It's foolish. It can't be done," he said and I scoffed. I had spent my life being told I couldn't do things, couldn't save people, couldn't protect Sam… Beth. I was still fighting.

"Oh. Thanks for the support," I replied.

"But I believe I have the solution," he said. "There is someone besides Michael strong enough to take on Lucifer. Strong enough to stop the apocalypse."

"Who's that?" Sam asked.

"The one who resurrected me and put you on that airplane. The one who began everything. God." Sam looked about as sceptical as I felt, but Cas was almost reverent. "I'm gonna find God."

Hospital
Beth's POV

I think the only person who might have been more surprised by Castiel's announcement than Dean, was me. I watched as Dean ushered us into Bobby's room and closed the door.

"God?" He asked skeptically, his eyes saying it all. He thought Cas had lost his mind.

"Yes," the angel replied in all earnest.

"God?" Dean said again.

"Yes! He isn't in Heaven. He has to be somewhere," Cas declared.

"Try New Mexico. I hear he's on a tortilla," Dean retorted and I sighed, this was going to go downhill fast.

"No, he's not on any flatbread," Cas said with a frown.

"Listen, Chuckles," Dean clearly wasn't letting this go. I exchanged a shrug with Sam as the two continued to talk. "Even if there is a God, he is either dead—and that's the generous theory…"

"Dean…" I cautioned. Even I wasn't about to declare God as dead.

"He is out there, Dean," Cas intervened, but Dean was still talking.

"...or he's up and kicking and doesn't give a rat's ass about any of us," he finished, finally stopping for a breath. I sucked one in at the same time, feeling the blood drain from my face. What if he was right? Castiel glared at Dean, remaining silent, while the latter started up again. "I mean, look around you, man. The world is in the toilet. We are literally at the end of days here, and he's off somewhere drinking booze out of a coconut. All right?"

"Enough." Castiel's voice cut through us, and I almost flinched. "This is not a theological issue. It's strategic. With God's help, we can win."

"It's a pipe dream, Cas," Dean said with sigh. Cas stepped forward until he was looking in Dena's eyes.

"I killed two angels this week. My brothers," he said. "I'm hunted. I rebelled. And I did it, all of it, for you, and you failed. You and your brother destroyed the world…"

"Hey, hey!" I said defensively, holding out a hand in protest as Sam looked down guiltily.

"...and I lost everything, for nothing. So keep your opinions to yourself," Cas continued, ignoring me.

"You didn't drop in just to tear us a new hole. What is it you want?" Bobby asked, drawing attention back to the fact that he was still in the room.

"I did come for something. An amulet," Cas said.

"An amulet?" I asked curiously. "What kind?"

"Very rare. Very powerful," he answered cryptically. "It burns hot in God's presence. It'll help me find him."

"What, like, God EMF?" Sam asked skeptically. Castiel nodded in reply.

"Well, I don't know what you're talking about. I got nothing like that," Bobby said shortly.

"I know," Cas said. "You don't." He looked at Dean, and then his blue eyes dropped down to Dean's chest where the copper amulet he'd worn for as long as I'd known him lay against his t-shirt.

"What?" Dean asked. "This?"

"May I borrow it?" Cas asked.

"No," Dean snapped, taking a step back. I smirked, expecting nothing less. He was practically married to the thing, much as I was to my rosary.

"Dean," Cas said in a stern voice, holding his hand out. "Give it to me."

Dean hesitated, glancing down at his amulet, and then up at me. I realised that Cas was serious, the amulet was important and that made my heart skip a beat. I felt the panic that I imagined must be ten times worse rippling through Dean. It was as if he'd asked me to hand over my wedding ring. Dean was quiet a little longer, and then after a quiet sigh, he reached up to his neck, taking the amulet off.

"All right, I guess," Dean said, holding it out to Cas who reached for it. At the last second Dean pulled it back out of reach, his face turning stern. "Don't lose it." Cas nodded, taking the amulet from Dean who was looking uncomfortable.

"Great. Now I feel naked," he muttered and I smirked, wanting to comment. I wanted to make a joke about how him, naked, would be a much better plan than finding God, but I just couldn't bring myself. He looked at me, and I knew he was thinking it too as Cas turned, looking at me.

"I'll be in touch," he said before vanishing.

"Not a word," Dean said, pointing at me. "I know what you're thinking." I held my hands in the air and grinned, drawing a smile from his face.

"When you find God, tell him to send legs!" Bobby yelled.

We all fell quiet and then the silence was pierced with the sound of Bobby's phone ringing. He picked it up, answering without looking at the caller ID.

"Hello?" He asked. He listened, and then frowned. "I can't hear you," he said. The sound was almost audible even from Bobby's ear, and the static was obvious. "Where are you?" More talking, and then Bobby frowned. "Colora—Colorado? River Pass, Colorado? Rufus? You there? Ruf—Rufus?"

The call dropped, and Bobby looked up, I hadn't seen him this worried in a while.

River Pass, Colorado

Beth's POV

The bridge into town was out when we got to it. I followed the boy's lead, getting out of the car and stretching my arms above my head, groaning a little at the effort. It had been a long drive, I was exhausted, and frankly a bit worried about Dean who had driven all the way. He didn't seem to be any worse for wear, which was not unusual, just the same I kept a closer eye than usual on him as he leaned near the edge of the collapsed bridge, looking down.

"This is the only road in or out," he said. Sam stood next to him, waving his phone in the air. I looked at my phone, there was nothing.

"No signal," Sam announced, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"Rufus was right. Demons got this place locked down," I said, looking across the chasm in front of us and sighing. "Looks like we're hiking in."

"And the hits just keep on coming," Dean muttered, standing up and shaking his head. He retreated to the back of the Impala, opening the truck and starting to go through the weapons.

An hour or so later we had reached the town. It appeared abandoned, cars deserted in the middle of the road, kid's bikes lying unattended, houses had their doors wide open and there wasn't a single person to be seen anywhere. I adjusted the weight of my pack and shifted the shotgun I was carrying from one hand to the other as we continued to scan the area. The store closest to us was a sports store, advertising ammo, rods and reels, and a thirty percent off sale for Pioneer's Day. On the other side of us was a string of residential houses.

Dean sauntered up to a blue two-door sedan lying overturned in the street, leaning down to look inside. Sam approached from the other side, his gun at the ready and looking inside from his angle. When he stood up I locked eyes with him and he shook his head. Nothing. I let out a frustrated sigh and hurried to catch up to them, the whole situation was giving me the heebie jeebies.

Another car had been left abandoned in the middle of the street only a few yards down - the door was open and as I got nearer, I realised the engine was still running and the radio was playing Spirit in the Sky

Prepare yourself
You know it's a must
Got to have a friend in Jesus
So you know that when you die

I swung my gun around to the front of the car, and then let it drop. Again, nothing. Sam joined me, reaching in to turn off the car engine, and the radio fell silent. I sighed, looking up at a banner hanging over the street. We were being welcomed to the 75th anniversary of River Pass, Colorado's Pioneer Days. It seemed to me that if you were going to attack a town, a public holiday seemed as good a time as any.

Dean was looking at a red mustang, shining and sitting abandoned on the side of the road. He continued to admire it even after Sam moved on, whistling in appreciation.

This whole town was starting to make me uneasy. Since when would you find a nice car like that just sitting out in the open untouched? Something was seriously wrong here. Dean and I joined Sam further down the block by a silver four-door sedan this time. Sam was looking distastefully at a large amount of blood by a stroller, and gestured to the fact that it was leading away from the car. I looked at the windshield, there was a large hole in it. Whatever had gotten these people, it wasn't messing around.

Click.

I spun even as I heard it. Dean whipped around, his shotgun already in the air and pointing at the noise. I blinked, not believing my eyes, and Dean lowered his gun.

"Ellen?" I asked, shaking my head.

"Hello, kids," she said, her face unreadable. She dropped her pistol to her side, and walked closer.

"Ellen, what the heck's going on here?" Dean asked. His question was met with a splash of water straight to his face. Ellen raised the gun again, and Dean closed his eyes, swallowed down his frustration. There was a certain level of amusement I carried over the whole holy water in Dean's face thing. After he'd returned from Hell, he'd caught it from nearly everyone he laid eyes on - myself included. I still chuckled about the look on his face, and felt a little guilty for not realising it had been him. Just as happened back then, it was neither boiling nor burning him. I watched Dean, really watched him, for a moment, and was hit with an overwhelming feeling of adoration.

The feeling jumped me by surprise, and tugged at my heart strings. Here we were in the middle of nowhere, in a town that looked as if it was imploding and I could still find myself turned upside down by some of Dean's most simple looks. Ellen's eyes flicked up and down Dean, taking in his reaction.

"We're us," Dean said, completely oblivious to what I was feeling and Ellen lowered her gun, still watching us warily. With an inclination of her head, she stepped between Dean and I, leading the way toward the church behind us.

Interior of Church

Dean's POV

I certainly hadn't been expecting to see Ellen here. That made the whole situation a lot more complicated. We had no idea what we were up against, and the situation started to sit heavier in my chest as she led us into the back rooms of the church. A devil's trap was drawn inside the doorway, and a line of salt lay across the threshold. We all walked over it just fine, of course that didn't surprise me - I knew none of us were possessed, and I doubted Ellen would lead us into a trap she couldn't pass. She turned back as we got indoors and smiled.

"Real glad to see you guys," she said, spontaneously grabbing me into a tight hug. When she pulled back she slapped me and I looked at her, gobsmacked. "The can of whoopass I ought to open on you!" She snapped and I rubbed my jaw.

"Ow!" I said, rather belatedly and she gave me a stern look that said she wasn't even the slightest bit sorry.

"You can't pick up a phone?" She asked, turning from me to Beth with a chastising look. "What are you, allergic to giving me peace of mind? I got to find out that you're alive from Rufus?"

Beth looked a little chagrined, biting her bottom lip. "Sorry, Ellen."

"Yeah, you better be. You better put me on speed dial, girl," Ellen replied.

"Yes, ma'am," she said with a nod, grimacing at me when Ellen turned away. I looked sheepishly at her, feeling a little guilty myself for not having thought to let her know we were okay. We'd been so busy just trying to sort out the whole Devil among us crisis that things like that had kind of slipped our mind.

Ellen took a moment to hug Sam, who had been loitering in the back, that same old lost puppy look on his face. I knew what he was thinking - he was wanting to do his whole apology thing for Ellen too. Well, that had gone over so bloody well with Bobby hadn't it? Fortunately he wasn't given the chance, Ellen pulling away and then waving at us to follow her further inside, down a flight of stairs.

"What's going on Ellen?" I asked as we followed her into the dark basement.

"More than I can handle alone," she replied.

"How many demons are there?" Sam asked, stating the obvious. Salt and devil's traps really only meant one thing.

"Pretty much the whole town, minus the dead people and these guys," Ellen said, coming to a stop in front of a closed door. She hesitated, turning to look back at the three of us. "So, this is it, right? End times?"

I glanced at Beth who bit her lip again, something she always did when she wasn't sure what to say or do.

"It's got to be," Ellen said when no one answered her.

"Seems like it," Beth said quietly. Ellen took this in for a moment and then nodded, turning to rap on the door.

"It's me," she announced. Someone on the other side of the door pulled back something covering a peephole that had been drilled into the centre of the door, and after looking at her, opened the barrier to let us in. The first person I saw was a young guy, and then behind him a priest with an old woman and then another young guy with his arm around a pregnant woman. Great, just what we needed. Four other men and a woman rounded out the group.

The four of us entered the room and the guy shut the door behind us, stepping back next to a bookshelf. I glanced down to see that he was holding a rifle. I wondered if he knew how to use it.

"This is Sam, Beth and Dean. They're hunters. Here to help," Ellen said, waving to each of us as she said our names. Beth tried smile reassuringly at them, but I could see she was thinking the same thing I was. There was barely a fighter amongst them, and that didn't bode well when up against a town full of demons.

"You guys hip to this whole demon thing?" The guy with the rifle asked, and I smirked.

"Yeah. Are you?" I asked.

"My wife's eyes turned black," said one of the guys. He was short, balding and had thick glasses on. "She came at me with a brick. Kind of makes you embrace the paranormal," he said. He raised his hand to his chin and looked at his wedding ring. I sighed, looking at Ellen.

"All right, catch us up," I said.

"I doubt I know much more than you," Ellen replied with a shrug. "Rufus called. Said he was in town investigating omens. All of a sudden, the whole town was possessed. Me and Jo were nearby…"

"You're hunting with Jo?" Sam asked sharply, looking up. I sucked in a breath. We hadn't really talked to Jo in a while, it had been about seven months since Sam and her had broken up whatever sort of relationship they'd been having while I was in Hell. It didn't seem like his feelings for her had gotten any fainter.

"Yeah, for a while now," Ellen replied. "We got here, and the place—well, the place was like you see it. Couldn't find Rufus, then me and Jo got separated. I was out looking when I found you."

"Don't worry," Beth said reassuringly. "We'll find her." She looked at Sam as she said it, and I could tell that she was trying to calm him down as much as she was Ellen.

"Either way, these people cannot just sit here," Sam said, looking around at the civilians in the room. "We got to get them out now." I noted the pregnant lady startle when he said this, a panic crossing her face, and then Ellen spoke.

"No, it's not that easy," she said. "I've been trying. We already made a run for it once."

"What happened?" I asked.

"There used to be twenty of us," she replied, and I let that sink in. I'd done a quick head count when we'd walked into the room - there were ten, not counting the four of us. This situation was getting worse by the minute.

"Well," Sam said, "there's four of us now…"

"You don't know what it's like out there," Ellen cut in. "Demons are everywhere. We won't be able to cover everybody."

The pregnant woman was starting to look jittery and nervous and I realised that Ellen wasn't over exaggerating.

"What if we get everyone guns?" Sam asked.

"What, are you gonna arm up baby bump over here?" I asked skeptically, shaking my head.

"More salt we can fire at once, more demons we can keep away," Sam said and I contemplated his comment. Beth was staring at her hands, and then she looked up at me.

"There's a sporting goods store we passed on Main on the way in. I bet they got guns," she said. I dropped our bag on the floor and sighed. We were really going to do this, weren't we?

"All right," Sam said to Ellen. "You stay, we'll go."

"What about…"

"If Jo and Rufus are out there, we'll bring them back," Sam said. I nodded and the young guy opened the door for us. Sam stepped out first, followed by Beth, and I brung up the rear. Suddenly it seemed a little overkill, and worse… there was a lot of demon blood out there.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa. Hold on," I said, holding out a hand and stopping at the foot of the stairs.

"Why don't I just go?" I asked.

"What?" Beth asked. "Alone?"

"Well, yeah. Somebody's got to stay here and start giving them Shotgun 101," I said, trying to come up with a reason.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Ellen." He turned and started to go up the stairs, and I grabbed his arm.

"No no no. It's gonna go a lot faster if you stay and help, okay?" I said.

"While you go get guns and salt and look for Jo and Rufus? That's stupid." Sam replied.

"I'll take Beth, she's good with the salt stuff," I replied and she frowned at me slightly. I knew she had to be thinking I was losing my mind.

"You don't want me going out there," Sam said finally, and Beth bit her lip.

"I didn't say that," I said defensively.

"Around demons," Sam continued.

"I didn't say that," I repeated, although we all knew it was the god's honest truth.

"Fine, then let's go," Sam said, calling my bluff. I sighed quietly as he turned and started up the stairs, looking at Beth who was now watching him go. She turned to glance at me and cocked her head to the side.

"Nice one," she smirked and I rolled my eyes.

"Well, I don't see you helping," I muttered and she gaped.

"What's that supposed to mean?" The hurt in her voice was evident and I grimaced. All I'd meant to point out was that she was siding with Sam a lot these days, rather than me, putting us at odds over some stuff. It had come out a lot harsher than I intended, even if I was a little perplexed by her actions.

"Nothing," I said, but she was already turning around and heading back into the store room. "Beth!"

"I'll help Ellen," she said, knocking on the door to get the guy's attention inside. "You two have this."

I sighed as the door opened and she disappeared behind it. Great. Just great.

13 Years Ago
Wilmington, Delaware

Dean's POV

"Take this," Dad said, handing me a knife that we'd just had blessed by a priest. "Keep your eyes open."

It was going to be easier said than done. The Wilmington Holy Trinity Greek Festival was in full swing, on every corner was a musician playing ethnic Greek music, surrounded by adoring fans. Dancing, singing, cheerful drunks littered the streets. It was like Mardi Gras gone Greek – not that I'd ever been to Mardi Gras, but it was on the to-do list. In fact, I'd been thinking that would be something fun to do with Beth.

I shook my head, trying to get the latest addition to our family out of my head. I didn't want to think about her and Sam alone in the motel room, with a lamia on the loose. Sure, they weren't really in any danger, Dad and I were in more danger out here in the crowds than they were locked in a motel. But just the same I wasn't happy with the idea of leaving them alone.

Dad signalled to me that he was going down an alleyway next to him, and then gestured for me to go around. I nodded, and pushed past a group of teens who were hanging out on the steps to the library. A girl laughed, and it sounded a lot like Beth. Pausing I looked back to see the owner of the laugh sitting in the lap of a guy that couldn't be any older than me. They were kissing and I watched for a second, remembering what it had been like at the boy's home I'd spent a few months at not that long ago. There'd been a girl there who I'd really fallen for, and I'd ditched her on the night of the prom, for Dad.

I sighed, and pushed on into the night, rounding the corner to the back of the building where Dad had been headed. We were near the church now, and it was lit up like a Christmas tree for the celebrations. I hesitated, recalling the comments Beth had made to me about the church, and how could I think they were harbouring a monster? They weren't pagan!

Dad stepped out of the shadows, bring his hand up to rest on my shoulder and then silently nodded down the side of the building. People were milling about, services were running day and night, and the church was crowded. That wasn't what Dad was looking for. He started to walk down the side of the building, looking for something, and when he found it he stopped and waved me over.

I joined him, looking down at an old-fashioned exterior entrance to the basement. It didn't look old though. It was well oiled and maintained, and someone had gone to great care to put a real lock on it.

"Well, bolt cutters aren't going to help here," I muttered and Dad smirked, kneeling on the ground and reaching into his leather jacket.

"I taught you better than that," he commented, pulling a set of lock picks out of the interior pocket. He started to work the lock, and after a few minutes let out a short, triumphant breath as the lock tumbled and he twisted the handle. Standing, he pulled up the door, and we found ourselves looking down a flight of stairs made from stone.

We entered, Dad taking the lead. As soon as we hit the last step the room opened out to a large, ornate temple with old Greek columns, and beautiful statues and carvings. It was lit with flickering oil torches, and I found myself admiring the décor. It was as I imagined it must have been hundreds of years ago in Greece, with soft billowing curtains hanging from the ceiling, turning the cold, marble and stone carvings into a soft and gentle interior.

"Circle to the right," Dad instructed, before starting to go in the opposite direction. I moved into an offensive position, knees bent slightly to give me the best approach for attack if needed. I rounded a fluttering curtain and came face to face with a bust of what could have been a philosopher, or god, or an athlete for all I knew. I sighed and stepped around it, something sounded behind me – like a rustle of leaves when the wind picks them up. I spun: nothing.

Taking a step backwards, I continued to look in the direction the noise had sounded, and then it happened again, this time to the left of me. I pointed the knife in front of me, toward where I'd heard it and swallowed, trying to still my breathing. Shadows flickered all around in the yellow-orange lighting of the room. Then, without warning it hit me. Like a tonne of bricks landing on me, I fell to the floor, and then I felt the sharp claws dig into my thigh and tear through the flesh.

I screamed, and pushed at it. But it was so much stronger than me. I saw blood spray across the floor, and then Dad was there, his knife swinging through the air and into the neck of the lamia that was pinning me down. It wailed and fell to the ground, thrashing a moment before stopping altogether. Voices sounded upstairs, and then there was the sound of people moving to the back of the building.

"Time to go," Dad said, pulling his belt off and wrapping it around my leg. "Here, pull this tight, we gotta move."

Present Day

Outside
Sam's POV

Beth was conspicuously absent by the time Dean got out the door behind me and I kept waiting for her to join us before realising that she wasn't coming. I'd clearly missed something while storming up the stairs.

"Where's Beth?" I asked, and Dean glared at me.

"Helping Ellen," he replied shortly, looking around at our surroundings. I glanced down the road and spotted a convenience store.

"I'll get the salt," I said. "You get the guns."

"Well go together," Dean replied with a shake of his head.

"Dean, it's right there," I said, gesturing to the store. "Can we at least do this like professionals?" I shook my head at him, raising my gun and headed for the Quik-Mart on the corner.

The shop was empty when I arrived and I wasted no time in grabbing a plastic bag, rounding the aisles of shelving until I found cans of salt. I was preoccupied with getting all the salt when I heard the door chime. Freezing, I stood up to look over the top of the shelves, spotting a couple of black-eyed demons walking into the store. One was carrying a baseball bat, while the other wore a backpack. I ducked down, looking around and seeing them reflected in a security mirror. I was in a bad position, because if I could see them in the mirror, they could likely see me.

I needed my gun, but I'd left it resting on the soup cans, now several feet away from me. Reaching for it, the noise drew the attention of the demon collecting bottles of water. He turned and rushed at me, slamming into me and then we toppled over into the shelves. The demon grabbed me by the neck, I did the first thing I could think of, I started to exorcise him.

"Exorcisamus te, omnis immundus…"

I grabbed a can of salt and smashed it over the demon's head to give me some breathing space. He knocked the salt out of my hand. I was fast running out of options. I pulled Ruby's knife out of my jacket and stabbed the demon, and watched as the light faded out of his eyes and he fell to the ground. No sooner had he landed on the floor, than the other demon jumped me from behind. I reached back and stabbed him through the neck, feeling his hold slacken and then fade.

Blood. Demon blood.

The redness was flashing in front of me. Calling me. Drink me. Was I about to take another tumble down the rabbit hole? I turned the blade over, watching the blood flow over the steel, and then rested my thumb along it, collecting some of the blood on my own skin. All I wanted to do was put it into my mouth. But at the same time I knew that would be the end of everything, and a part of me resisted.

The door chimed.

I ducked at the sound, looking in the mirror and waiting for the next attack. I was ready this time. This time I could kill faster. But I didn't have to. It was Dean, looking around and finally setting down some bags he was carrying.

"Sammy?"

I sighed in relief. Seeing Dean like that filled me with such an overwhelming sense of calm that the need to do anything with that blood faded right away. I stood up, nodding at him over the shelving. Dean rounded the aisle and with one long look took in the whole scene of two dead bodies in front of me, the bloody knife still in my hand.

"You okay?" He asked, and I nodded, grabbing a tea towel off the shelf next to me and wiping the offending blood off the blade.

"Yeah," I said, not trusting my own voice.

"Good," he said, nodding. "Let's go."

Church Basement

Beth's POV

I was having flashbacks to the first shotgun lessons I'd ever had as I watched Ellen and Sam giving lessons to Roger, the man with the glasses and the ring fetish, and Steve and Kate, the young married couple about to have a baby. While John had been the first to show me how to shoot a gun, it had been Dean who taught me the real ins and outs of handling a weapon. At the time John had seemed a bit pre-occupied with Cole, something that all made a hell of a lot more sense now that I knew they'd been dancing around their feelings for each other at the time.

I looked over at Dean talking to the priest, and sighed. I couldn't stay angry with him. Not when everything he'd ever done for me, or for Sam, was to look out for us. Like it or not, I knew he was feeling like I was siding with Sam over him lately. Maybe I had been a little, it was necessary to repair the damage that had happened. It was the only way we were going to keep Sam safe. Dean was resorting to John's tactics of shame and guilt, which would work to a degree, but Sam also needed to feel like he was a part of the family, and that was my job.

"Okay, all right," Roger said, taking a shell and starting to load the gun.

"Roger, hang on a second…" Ellen said, but he fumbled and dropped the shell on the floor.

"Sorry," he apologised.

"...then snap it in," Sam was saying to the couple, and then Dean set the butt of a rifle in front of me on table, causing me to jump while he turned to Austin, the guy who had been watching the door since we arrived.

"You know your way around a gun at all?" Dean asked and Austin smirked. I watched as the guy expertly disassembled the gun in front of us, dropping the pieces on the table. Dean contemplated this, but the respect was evident on his face.

"Hm," he said. "Where'd you serve?"

"Fallujah," Austin replied. "Two tours. Got back a little over a year ago. Takes one to know one. Where'd you serve?"

"Hell," Dean said, deadpan and I smirked. Austin snorted, his amusement clear.

"No, seriously," he asked and Dean looked him straight in the eye.

"Seriously. Hell," he said and I stood up, rolling my eyes at the pissing competition. I took the pieces of the rifle and reassembled them, drawing a look of approval from Austin.

"Well, I guess we've all got our stories," Austin said and I smiled before turning to Dean.

"I need to talk to you," I said, taking his arm and pulling him to the back of the room behind a couple of free-standing shelves.

"Listen, Beth…" I cut him off, grabbing his cheeks and pulling him in to meet my lips in a long, sensual kiss. I teased him, my tongue flicking across his lightly before engaging him in a more caressing touch of lips, tongue and breath. I closed my eyes, delighting in the way he responded without question, his hands sliding around to the small of my back and pulling me in tightly against him, pressing back against me.

"Wow, okay… what did I do to deserve that?" He asked after I pulled back. I smiled.

"You're you," I said, kissing his cheek. "I'm sorry I snapped before. I know you think I'm siding with Sam over you lately…"

"I didn't say that," he interrupted and I held up my hand.

"You didn't have to, I know what you're thinking. It's true, Dean. But it doesn't mean I don't agree with you. I'm just trying to go about things a little differently. The tough love routine isn't going to work with Sam right now."

He sighed and looked at me. "Yeah, you're right. I know," he said. Glancing behind me, I turned to follow his gaze. Sam had pulled away from the others and was sitting on his own in the corner, looking down at his hands, deep in thought.

"You should have seen him in the store, Beth," he said quietly. "I was worried for him."

"I'll talk to him," I said softly and he nodded.

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea," he agreed. He smiled, grabbing my face and kissing me again.

"Least I get to kiss a sexy woman before going to die," he said with a grin.

"Yeah," I said with a grin, grasping his hips and squeezing slightly as my mood changed slightly, looking around the room. "You know, I look at Kate and think, 'that could have been me, could still be me,' and it makes me want to die, Dean. She's in so much danger, and helpless to defend herself."

"Hey," Dean said, cutting me off and looking me in the eyes. "Stop. Just stop. You are anything but helpless. Even twenty weeks pregnant you kicked ass, so don't even start thinking like that."

"How could we even think about bringing a kid into this world?" I asked forlornly.

"We can't," he replied, sighing. "Which is why we have to fix it first, okay?" I nodded silently. It was so much easier said than done though. We were facing Armageddon. How many parents were prepared for that? How many children would die? Faced with that, I suddenly felt ill equipped to beat this crisis, yet I had to - not just for the children we had yet to give life to, but for the ones already living on this Earth like Ben and JJ. If for no one else, we had to do this for them.

One crisis at a time, however.

"Okay," I said. "You check in with Ellen, I'll take care of Sam."

Our younger brother was still staring at his hands when I sat next to him, leaning into his shoulder and nudging him slightly.

"Hey…"

"Hey," he replied, mustering up a smile for me.

"What's wrong?" I asked, and he looked down again, his face falling.

"It's just...at the store," he said. "Those demons were possessing teenagers. I mean, I had to slit some kid's throat."

I looked at him sadly, my mouth twitching up at the side. "You didn't have a choice, Sam."

"I know. I just...it used to be like…" He paused, sucking in a deep breath. "I just wish I could save people like I used to."

I paused, contemplating this. "You mean, like when you were using demon blood?"

"I didn't say that," Sam said and I almost laughed at the exact echo of Dean's defensive statement earlier.

"I'll be back," Ellen said, loud enough for us to hear, and I looked up to see her grabbing a gun.

"Where you going?" Dean asked.

"I can't sit here on my ass. My daughter's out there somewhere. I'm not back in half an hour, go. Get these people out of here," Ellen said. Sam and I stood up, moving quickly to join them.

"No, wait. I'll go with you," Sam said.

"Whoa, hold on. Can I talk to you for a second?" Dean asked, and he didn't wait for an answer, pulling on Sam's arm and leading him out the door to the stairway upstairs. I followed closely enough to listen in, Ellen not far behind me as she gathered some extra ammo and shoved it into her hunting jacket.

"You're gonna go out there again?" Dean asked.

"Well, crap doesn't hit the fan with coffee breaks," Sam replied.

"I'll go," Dean said.

"It's fine. Just stay here, get 'em ready. I'll cover Ellen," Sam said.

"Why's it got to be you?"

"Oh, that's right, I forgot," Sam snapped, his voice prickly. "You think I'll take one look at a demon and suddenly fall off the wagon, as if, after everything, I haven't learned my lesson."

"Well, have you?" Dean asked. I sighed. After everything we'd just talked about and he was still pulling a Dad on Sam right now. Of course, that had about the same effect as if John himself had said it. Sam reacted, slamming Dean into the wall. I started after them, Ellen hot on my heels.

"If you actually think I…" Sam stopped when I touched them.

"Hey!" I said, bracing my hands between the pair of them. "This is not the time," I said. "We have a room full of scared people in there. They don't need to see us fighting among ourselves."

"Beth, come on, you know…" Sam looked at me, the frustration clear in his eyes.

"Dean loves you, Sam, just like I do. He's just trying to look after you," I said. "Although I think his technique could use some work," I added, glancing at Dean with a stern look. "I'm going with Ellen, you two can stay here and talk. Get these people ready to run if we're not back in half an hour."

"No," Dean said, shaking his head. "I'm not letting you two go out there on your own."

"Why of all the sexist…" Ellen's voice cut in and Dean looked guiltily in her direction. "I thought better of you Dean Winchester."

"He knows we can handle ourselves," I said, moving my hand from his chest to his cheek. "He just has a hard time letting go after everything that's happened. But we gotta split up sometimes, and you two need to sort out your issues, now. I'm going."

Outside

Beth's POV

Ellen was tossing me all kinds of curious looks as we walked down the street away from the church. I kept myself focused on the task at hand, my eyes swinging from side to side, hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything to tell us where Jo and Rufus were.

"So where'd you see her last?" I asked, readjusting the shotgun I was holding to a more comfortable grip. Ellen nodded toward the intersection a few yards away.

"Up ahead," she replied. "So what's up with Sam and Dean?" Straight to the point. I glanced over at her, and then back down the street, sighing.

"It was hard not to notice, how different things are between you guys these days," she pointed out and I nodded, but I couldn't find the words to tell her why things had deteriorated. I thought about Ruby, and all the harm she had done to my family over the centuries. I thought about how Sam had lied and betrayed us, for what he thought was the greater good, but it had all been a big illusion to an even greater crisis. I didn't want to tell her who set Lucifer free, it wasn't my story to tell, especially after Bobby's reaction - demon or not talking.

Ellen watched me quietly as we walked slowly. After a few steps she picked it up again. "Lot of bad road there, huh? You and Dean, you stopped and settled down for a moment there. What happened?"

I sighed, shrugging. "Sam happened… Ellen. Sam always happens. He needed taking care of, and we picked up the job, just like we always have. You know how it is," I replied evenly. It was true. Sam was our life, he was our responsibility, he was the job.

"I'm kind of surprised though, you and Jo hunting," I said, changing the subject. "Weren't you always saying she couldn't hack the life?"

"She can't. But if she's gonna do it anyway…" Her voice trailed off and I nodded.

"You want to keep an eye on her," I replied.

"Just like you and Dean when it comes to your brother," she said with a small smile. "It was okay when I knew she was with Sam, and they were together hunting. But after they split…"

"Yeah," I said with a nod. I didn't want to admit that I'd secretly kind of hoped he and Jo would get more serious after Dean got out of Hell. I couldn't help but remember when we'd spent a few weeks at Lisa's and Dean had been trying to talk to me way back then. I had never asked him, but I suspected that he had been wanting to find a way to settle down then, get out of the life. Then Sam and Jo had a fight and the promise of that life had slipped away.

I shook my head to clear it. No point in thinking back on things we couldn't change. I paused, smelling wood burning, and when I looked down the street I thought I could see smoke rising from behind trees.

"Hey," I said, pointing and Ellen followed my direction.

"Is that a chimney going?" She asked.

"Looks like it," I said, starting to quicken my pace. "Come on."

I wove us through a little side street and across someone's backyard until we reached a shed beside an old Victorian style house. Peering around the corner, I saw someone come to the window and look out. It was a black-eyed demon.

"Guess we found base camp," Ellen said.

I frowned, something not sitting right in my stomach. "Demons don't get cold. Makes you wonder what they're burning." I took a step forward, and then heard a gasp as Ellen was grabbed from behind. I whirled around, slamming the butt of my shotgun into a demon. Then another demon came forward, pinning Ellen to the wall with another gun as Jo stepped forward.

"Don't move, you evil skank!" Jo's shouted as the first demon pounced grabbed my gun and wrestled it from my hands. He was strong, and I felt the gun pulled from my grip and then he hit me with it. I gasped, the feeling the sharp pain ricochet through my body. Reacting, I threw all my weight into a frontal attack, slamming the demon into a wall. The demon holding Ellen let her go, turning to help his buddy, and Jo pressed her gun to Ellen, holding her in place.

"Don't you hurt her, don't you…"

"Give me my mom back, you black-eyed bitch!" Jo snapped, cutting Ellen off. Her mother shoved her, and slammed her with the butt of the gun. I was fast getting overpowered, and I knew it, two on one wasn't working.

"Ellen! Run!" I yelled. She had to go and get Dean and Sam.

I cocked my gun, intending to shoot one of the demons and then felt everything start to spin as a sharp pain shot through my head and I was propelled to the ground. I saw Ellen running as Jo climbed to her feet, coming to stand over me. I found myself looking up into two familiar faces, but both with the terrifying black eyes of a demon.

"Got you now, you bastard," Rufus said with a smirk.

Base Camp House

Beth's POV

I woke up tied to a chair and in front of a roaring fireplace, the source of the smoke that had led us here. I yanked on the ropes, but they were tied tight, I wasn't getting out of them without a miracle. I looked up to see Rufus and Jo watching me. Jo was holding a gallon jug of water, and as I looked around, I found myself in a devil's trap.

"Uh-uh," Rufus said in response to my testing the ropes. "No way you're getting out of those. Did you up myself. You're stuck right where I want you, you evil son of a bitch." He reached out and backhanded me, and at the same time Jo threw water in my face, drenching me. I glared at her, and she watched, waiting for the holy water to take effect and when it didn't, confusion crossed her black-eyed face. Rufus grabbed my neck, forcing my head back, and I fought.

"No, wait, wait, wait," I said, feeling panic rising in my chest. What the hell was he going to do now?

Jo stepped around me, putting down the jug of water, coming to stand behind me. Something was terribly wrong: they were treating me like I was possessed. Yet they were the ones with black eyes.

"Just, just wait," I reiterated, trying to calm the situation down, but they were having none of it. Rufus forced my mouth open and poured salt into it. I choked on the bitterness that flooded my mouth.

"Exorcisamus te, exorcisamus te, omnis satanica…" Rufus was trying to exorcise me. Me? What the hell was going on here?

"Stop!" I called out as soon as I could catch a breath.

"...omnis immundum…"

"Please! Just listen…" I continued as he ignored me. Oh this wasn't good. I hoped Ellen was having a better time of things.

Church Basement

Dean's POV

They hadn't been gone long, but I was already regretting letting Beth go out there with Ellen alone. What was I thinking? The civvies were all starting to get on my nerves, sitting around the table and praying. The pastor was leading them in the latest version, one Beth actually liked, but man I was going to shoot someone soon.

"The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He layeth me down in green pastures, and he raiseth me up again. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I shall fear no evil."

There was a pounding on the door and I jumped, moving instantly for it. I checked the peephole, then removed the brace against the door, letting Ellen come inside. Instantly I knew something was wrong.

"Where's Beth?"

She shook her head and sat down next to Kate, who handed her a bottle of water.

"They took her? Demons took her? Oh my God! What if they're in here? The demons?" Kate said.

"Could they get in?" The Pastor asked and I shook my head.

"No." I said, looking over at Sam. I grabbed a shotgun and headed for the door.

"Everybody sit tight. I got to…"

"Dean!" Sam called out, and I stopped, sighing. I knew what he was going to say without him even saying it. We had to get these people to safety. Beth would want it.

I stopped, hand resting on the door. Every inch in my body telling me I had to go and get Beth. Yet I needed to be smart about this. If they'd had enough demons to overpower Beth and Ellen, then going at this all ad hoc wasn't going to save her. I grimaced, not liking what it meant, every second was a second she might be hurting, or worse. But these people were depending on me.

"Okay, we need to get a plan together. Tell me everything," I said, looking at Ellen.

Base Camp

Beth's POV

Jo had me by my hair, yanking my head back. Rufus was pouring salt down my mouth again, and it wasn't working.

"Please! Come on!" I spat out, thinking surely they weren't this dumb.

"—omnis immundus—" Rufus started to hesitate, looking down at me. Jo let go and picked up the water jug again.

"Look! Something's not right! Do you see that?" I asked. "Come on Jo, surely you can see something isn't right here." Her response was to splash me in the face with water again. I spat out a mouthful of water, kind of relieved that it took away the sharpness of the salt.

"Come on! Stop! Listen to me!"

I looked up, trying to get her to see reason. Jo moved to get something from nearby and I spotted Roger from the church standing in the doorway, watching. I frowned. What was he doing here? He smiled, and then turned the ring on his hand. I looked up at the devil's trap drawn on the ceiling - that was a trick of my Dad's, good to see Jo had been paying attention.

"Listen!" I said.

"Why isn't it working?" Jo asked, talking quietly to Rufus.

"I don't know," Rufus said, and my blood ran cold at the way the both looked back at me.

"Look, listen to me, something's not right!" I said again. "You can see that. Please. Please. Just listen to me."

"But she's not as strong as she thinks she is," Rufus said.

13 Years Ago
Wilmington, Delaware

Beth's POV

They'd been gone half the night. Sam was in one bed reading a school book, while I took the other and munched on potato chips while lounging on my stomach and watching Teen Wolf.

"You know what, people would absolutely die if they knew werewolves were actually real," I said to no one in particular. I was already missing Dean, who would completely agree with me as we pulled the movie apart. Sam smiled indulgently over at me, but didn't comment.

"Beth!" I jumped, hearing John's voice on the other side of the door as his fist pounded against it. I sprung to my feet, pulling it open and nearly fainted at the sight of all the blood.

"What happened?" I asked as John pulled Dean into the room, laying him on the empty bed. I shut the door, turning to look at him as the blood drained from my face. "Is he…?"

"He'll be fine, get the first aid kit out of the car," John instructed. I couldn't move, my feet were glued to the floor. I'd never seen Dean look so sick, his skin was pale, he was shaking and groaning.

"Beth!" John's voice snapped me back to the present and I nodded wordlessly, opening the door and going outside.

"He'll be fine, he'll be fine, he'll be fine," I muttered to myself as I opened the trunk and rummaged around in the compartment for the first aid kit. Finding it, I slammed down the door and ran back inside. John had stripped Dean's jeans off, and had Sam pressing a towel to his upper left thigh.

"Here," John said, holding his hand out. "Get me a bowl of hot water, and the whiskey. Dean groaned and I hurried to follow out his orders. "This is gonna hurt, but I can't risk taking you to the hospital, not here… they're going to know where this wound came from, and by now they'll be looking for whoever took out that lamia."

"You killed it?" I asked, returning with the water and putting it by the bed.

"Yeah, but not before it got at Dean," John muttered. He got this far away look in his eyes and started to concentrate while Dean's breathing got shorter and more hurried. "You're going to have to hold him," he said to me, nodding toward Dean. "Sam, get your belt."

Dean looked so pale, I felt my heart racing with fear that he might die. He opened his green eyes to look at me, and I could see the pain there, but there was no fear. I slipped behind him, supporting his back with my chest. I put one leg up on the bed, resting it down the side of him, and wrapped my arms around his mid-section, lacing my fingers across his torso. His breath caressed my cheek as he turned his head to look at me.

"I'll be okay Beth, don't worry," he said, then he hissed as John poured whiskey over the open wound. There were four claw marks cut into his flesh, every one of them was going to need stitches.

"Oh my god…" I gasped, looking at them. Sam placed the belt in Dean's mouth and John looked up at him.

"Bite down," he said. "I'll do this as fast as I can, son." Dean complied, nodding his head, and then he closed his eyes and leaned back into me.

"Hold him tight," John said, looking at me and I nodded, my arms instinctively pulling Dean closer to me. "Talk to him."

"Okay, uh… yeah, okay. Hey Dean, you remember… you remember how last month, when we were … when we were training at Bobby's? And you got the short straw and had to fight Cole, and she pummelled you? Well, I might have lied… I got the short straw. That totally should have been me." I confessed.

Dean groaned, and I felt him push back against me, biting down on the leather belt in his mouth as John started to sew. "I was too scared to take her on, she's crazy, you know that right? I figured you had a better chance than me against her…" Sam sniggered and Dean glared at him, and I knew what he was thinking. Cole had a way of going for his crown jewels, even when we were just sparring. Dean always seemed to cop the bad end of that.

"So, uh, you need to live through this so I can make it up to you, okay? Because I owe you one. I owe you heaps, actually. You have at least six months worth of me owing you." I kept babbling away as John worked, stitching quickly and effectively – his movements those of someone who had done this way too often. Dean's breath got shallow and then he passed out, his body slumping against mine. I couldn't let him go. Finally, John finished his gruesome task and got up to get something from the bathroom. Sam look anxiously on as I closed my eyes against the offending wound.

"You can't leave us Dean, please, Sam and I need you."

There was a soft groan and then Dean pushed back against me. "I'm not going anywhere."

Present Day

Church Basement
Dean's POV

"Dean, one of them's in Jo. We got to get it out without hurting her," Ellen said as we sat at the table, going over our options of attack. She snorted, shaking her head. "It called me a bitch."

I smirked, raising my eyebrow at her. "Bruise a little easy, don't you think?"

"No, that's not what I meant. It called me a black-eyed bitch," Ellen said. I paused, thinking this over. Why would they be thinking we were possessed?

"What kind of demons are these? Holy water and salt roll right off. My daughter may be an idiot, but she's not stupid. She wears an anti-possession charm. It's all kind of weird, right?"

I nodded. "The whole thing's off," I said, looking around.

"What's your instinct?" She asked and I scoffed, running a hand across my tired face.

"My instinct? My instinct is to call Bobby and ask for help. Or Beth. Or Jefferson. They're the Apocalypse experts."

"Well, tough. All you got's me and Sam, and all I got's you. So let's figure it out," she said with a scowl. Sam came and sat down with us, nodding at her last sentence.

"All right," he said, his puppy dog eyes looking worried. He turned to Ellen. "Do you know why Rufus came to town? Was there a specific omen?"

"He said something about water. That's all I know," she said.

I turned to look at the Pastor who was listening to the conversation. "Padré, you know what she's talking about—the water?"

The pastor paused, thinking it over and then nodded. "The river. Ran polluted all of a sudden."

"When?" I asked.

"Last Wednesday," Austin, the ex-militia man said. "And the demon thing started up the next day."

"Anything else?" I asked. "Anything."

"Maybe," Austin said with a shrug, "but it's pretty random."

"Good," Sam said, standing up and nodding. "Random's good."

"Shooting star—does that count?" Austin asked. I looked at Sam, and then Ellen. "Real big," Austin continued. "Same night. Wednesday."

"That definitely counts." I said with a nod. I had an idea. It was out there, but given our circumstances, maybe it wasn't that far off. I stood up, walking quickly to the bookshelf and looking for a Bible I knew I'd seen Beth flipping through earlier. I grabbed it and brought it back to the table, starting to flip through the pages to the back.

"So, uh, you think that all this comes from outer space?" Austin asked.

"This isn't X-Files, pal," I retorted, still looking through the thin pages. I knew what I was looking for, and then I came to it, starting to read aloud.

"'And there fell a great star from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell upon the river, and the name of the star was Wormwood. And many men died.'" I looked up and the Pastor was looking closely at me.

"Revelation eight ten," he said. "Are you saying that this is about the apocalypse?"

"You could say," I said with a nod. "And these specific omens, they're prelude to what?"

"The Four Horsemen," the pastor replied. I thought about what we'd seen earlier and nodde.d

"And which one rides the red horse?"

"War," he answered.

I looked at Sam. "That cherry Mustang parked on Main." He nodded in agreement.

"You can't think that a car…" protested the Pastor.

"It's the way I'd roll," I said dismissively. Seemed clear as day what we were dealing with now that I'd read this. "I mean, think about it. It all makes sense. If War is a dude and he's here, maybe he's messing with our heads."

"Turning us on each other," Ellen said with a nod.

"You said Jo called you a black-eyed bitch. They think we're demons, we think they're demons. What if there are no demons at all and we're all just killing each other?" Sam said.

"Wait, just back up. It's the apocalypse?" The Pastor asked.

I looked at him a little sheepishly and shrugged. "Sorry, Padre," I replied. Hell of a way to find out.

Now I just had to figure out how to use this to my advantage, and to get Beth back. Maybe, if we were lucky, Rufus and Jo had her and they were trying to figure out why the salt and holy water wasn't working. Hopefully Beth would be able to convince them something was wrong.

Base Camp
Beth's POV

I was alone when Roger joined me in the room. He entered the room without any pretense, he knew that I was on to whatever he was up to. I just didn't have all the pieces lined up right in this moment.

"Who the Hell are you?" I asked. He replied by taking off his glasses and looking at me with a little smile "What… are you?"

"You caught me," he replied at the last question. "Popped in to watch, I can hustle like that," he said.

"So, the Roger everyone around here knows, the real Roger?" I asked.

"Buried in a ditch," he replied, not surprisingly. I rolled my eyes and nodded while Roger closed the door, moving to another chair and sitting down in front of me.

"So who are you?" I asked again.

"Here's a hint," he said, looking amused with himself. "I was in Germany. Then in Germany. Then in the Middle East. I was in Darfur when my beeper went off….I'm waiting to hook up with my siblings... I've got three. We're going to have so much fun together."

I nodded, feeling my heart kind of skip a beat. I was sitting in a room with a Horseman. Not just any horseman, but it had to be War. Suddenly everything else made sense.

"I know who you are," I said, sighing. "There aren't any demons in town, are there?"

"Nope. Just frightened people ripping each other's throats out. I really haven't had to do too much. Take out a bridge here, lay in a little hallucination there, sit back, pop some corn, watch the show. Frankly, you're really vicious little animals, Elizabeth."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "You're doing this."

"Please. Last week, this was Mayberry. Now these people are stabbing each other's children."

"Because you made them see demons!" I snapped, tugging at the bonds holding me again. I wanted to reach forward and rip this guy's throat out.

"Honestly, people don't need a reason to kill each other. I mean, you seen the Irish? Hell, you are Irish. They're all Irish."

I rolled my eyes.

"You think I'm a monster," War said. "I'm jello shots at a party. I just remove inhibitions."

"I'm gonna kill you myself," I promised.

He laughed at that. "

"Oh, that's adorable," he said. "You, the angel vessel, married to the fallen righteous man? Your own brother is my poster boy!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked, honing in on the comment about Sam.

"You think he's clean?" He asked. "He can't stop thinking about it, ever since he saw it dripping off the blade of that knife." I shook my head, even though somewhere I was terribly afraid he was right. I would defend Sam until the end regardless.

"You're wrong," I said.

"Save your protests for your husband. I can see inside his head. And man, it is one-track city in there. Blood, blood, blood. Lust for power. Same as always. He wants to be strong again. But not just strong. Stronger than everybody. Good intentions—quick slide to hell. You're worried about Sam now? Wait till you're thigh deep in warm corpses. Because, my friend, I'm just getting started."

He rose to his feet, giving me a smug look and putting his glasses back on. "Showtime for the meatsuits. Watch this." He twisted his ring, and I saw blood trickle down his forehead from an unknown wound in his skill. He kicked over his chair, dropped to the floor and screamed. Rufus couldn't have been far, because within seconds he kicked the door open, and Jo was right behind him.

War looked up and then pointed at me, showing them a hand covered in blood. "She did it!"

"No!" I protested.

"He said they're coming! He said they're coming to get us!" War lied and I shook my head, looking urgently at Jo.

"No, stop! Jo, Rufus, he's lying! No!"

"You shut your mouth!" Rufus snapped.

"Please! Jo! He's lying," I said, pleading with the girl. Rufus raised his hand and backhanded me, I felt the impact rock my head to the side and I groaned.

Church Basement

Dean's POV

Without the demon threat, I was feeling a lot more confident about getting us out of this basement, and then finding Beth.

"So now you're saying that there are no demons and war is a guy?" Austin asked.

"You believed crazy before," I pointed out. Someone started to hammer on the door and a familiar voice shouted from the other side.

"Open up! It's Roger!"

Austin checked the peephole, nodding and opening the door to let Roger into the room. The guy was out of breath, gasping for air as he waved his hand in the air.

"I saw them, the demons. They know we're trying to leave. They said they're gonna pick us off one by one."

"Wait wait wait. What?" I asked skeptically.

"I thought you said there were no demons," Austin said suspiciously.

"There's not. Where did you go?" I questioned Roger, and the man did a double-take at the fact that suddenly we were past the demon story.

"I thought someone should go out and see what's going on!" He said.

"Where did you see the demons and what did they say exactly?" I asked.

"We just sit here, we're going to be dead," Austin said.

"No, we're not!" I snapped.

"They're gonna kill us unless we kill them first," Roger said. He was clearly delusional, trying to incite these people into a frenzy. I looked at Sam and Ellen, realising that if I didn't get a grip on the situation, people were about to get stupid.

"Hold on. Hold on," I said, holding out a hand.

"No, man, we got people to protect. All right, the able-bodied go hunt some demons," Austin said, the military raising to the surface. He was done taking orders, and we were out of time. Austin picked up a gun and handed it to Steve.

"Whoa whoa whoa. Slow your roll. This is not a demon thing," I said, trying to calm the escalating situation. I saw Roger hold up his hand, and he touched the ring he was holding then winked at me. Winked?

"Look at their eyes! They're demons!" He exclaimed, pointing at Sam, Ellen and I. Kate gasped, recoiling as we looked at her. The Pastor raised a shotgun. Time had just run out.

"Go, go!" I yelled to Sam and Ellen and they turned, running for the exit. "Move!" Austin shot, but the only damage done by the time he took aim was to the door as I left it in my wake.

Base Camp

Dean's POV

Ellen had led us to the house where she'd been separated from Beth. I looked around and nodded at the window, seeing Rufus messing with what looked like a line. "You know I hear Rufus likes his pipe bombs," I pointed out, and Ellen sighed.

"Well, we're gonna have to set that off without losing an arm or a leg," she commented and Sam nodded.

"I got it. Dean you take the porch and go in the side, try to lead Rufus away while Ellen and I get Jo," Sam said. I didn't like the idea of having to sort out Rufus on my own, the old coot was a bit scary if I was going to be perfectly honest, but I was less worried about hurting him than I was Jo, so maybe it was a better option.

We waited for them to move away from the window, and then Sam crept forward. I went in another direction and after a moment I heard the explosion as the pipe bomb was set off. I watched from the side porch through a window, seeing dust and smoke kick up from the bomb, and then Jo and Rufus moved toward the rubble. I slid along the wall and waited for Rufus to look through the window, and when he did I reacted, grabbing him and pulling him out on to the porch.

"Rufus!" Jo exclaimed, and then there was the sounds of a struggle inside as Sam and Ellen grabbed her.

I slammed Rufus to the ground, and then hauled him to his feet, ramming him against the wall of the house. "Listen to me," I said to him. "I'm not a demon. Think, Rufus. All those omens."

"You go to Hell," Rufus spat at me. He raised a knee right into the crown jewels and I doubled over with a groan, catching a hit to the chest and face. Rufus lunged for me, dropping his gun, and I grabbed his shirt, pushing him back up against the wall.

"Rufus! The polluted water, the shooting star, the red Mustang—it's War. I'm telling you, it's War."

"You're damn right it is," he muttered, punching me in the face and then going for his gun. I sighed and tackled him to the ground, rolling him to his back and pinning him from on top.

"The Horseman!" I exclaimed.

"Horseman?" Rufus hesitated, just a little, but it was enough for me to be able to push further. I was getting through to him.

"Yes. He's turning us against each other. You're hallucinating," I pressed, and his breathing started to even out a little while he stared at me.

"The Horseman. War," he said, letting go of my collar.

"Yes."

He looked to each side of us and the smirked up at me, raising his eyebrow. "Did you figure this out all by yourself, genius?"

I snorted, and climbed to my feet, offering him a hand. "I had a little help."

"I bet you did," he said with a laugh. "Oh! Man! Jo!" We hurried back toward the house, bursting in the door, finding Ellen pointing a shotgun at us, Sam and Jo standing behind her.

"Whoa, whoa!" I said, holding my hands up

"We all on the same page?" She asked and I looked at Rufus, nodding.

"Good," Rufus said.

"Okay," Sam said. "we got to find War before everybody in this town kills each…"

Gunshots. Everyone ducked at the noise. It had to be Austin.

"Damn it!" I cursed. "Where's Beth?" My heart was racing.

"Upstairs," Rufus said. In an instant I was gone, my only thoughts on getting to her.

Upstairs

Beth's POV

There had been a commotion downstairs, and now there were gunshots. We were under attack, that much was clear. Then the door opened and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Dean, thank God. It's not demons," I said, overwhelming joy at seeing him rushing through the door to me.

"It's War," we said in unison, and he looked up, his eyes showing that he wasn't surprised I'd figured it out.

"I just can't figure out how he's doing it," Dean said, grabbing a knife and hacking at the ropes holding me. He cut me free and pulled me to my feet, wrapping his arms tightly around me as he squeezed me to his body.

"The ring," I said, muffled into his shoulder as I returned the hug, my arms finding their place around his neck.

"The ring…" Dean murmured. "The ring—that's right," he said, pulling back just far enough to be able to look at me, his hands still resting on my hips. "He turned it right before he made everybody hallucinate and go hellbitch."

"Right," I said with a nod. I had experienced the same thing.

"We got to move. Come on."

We made our way down the stairs carefully as there was an exchange of gunfire happening.

"It'll be that idiot Austin," Dean breathed, his back up against the wall as he peered out a window.

"People, cease fire!" I heard Rufus yell, and I chuckled as he cursed when several people continued to shoot.

"Stop shooting! Stop!" He called as we stepped into the demolished living room. I watched as he took a gun from a man and then slammed him in the head with it, turning to scowl at the sound of another gun going off.

"I'm getting too old for this," he muttered, pushing past us and back up the stairs.

"We're going after War!" Dean called out and then he grabbed my hand and led us out the back door.

"You think he'll be at the car?" I asked, running to keep up with Dean as he hurried us through the backyard and into an alley.

"It's where I'd be heading," Dean said. "Fun's over here." I nodded my agreement and we crouched low along the fence line, just in case anyone decided to take pot shots at us, but it seemed as if all the shooting had stopped.

We rounded the corner to main street and the mustang was sitting where she'd been left, the familiar figure of what had once been Roger sauntered casually up to it, seemingly unconcerned with the chaos he'd left behind him.

"Come on," Dean said and as War reached for the car door, we launched ourselves at him. Dean grabbed him from behind, holding him tight and War laughed at what was clearly the absurdity of it. I pulled out Ruby's knife, which Dean had used to cut my ropes earlier, and held it up.

"Whoa. Okay. That's a sweet little knife. But come on. You can't kill War, kiddos," was the quick reply to my action from War, he held his hands defensively in the air and Dean smirked.

"Oh, we know," he said, and I smiled, slamming War's right hand down against the mustang and following with a swift chop of the knife, severing all four of his fingers. He howled as the ring fell to the pavement and then suddenly he was just gone.

"Phew," Dean said, sinking back on the car. I reached down and grabbed the ring, the adrenaline hitting me hard as I caught my breath. I stepped back toward Dean, who pulled me into his arms and held me as we both breathed a sigh of relief.

"I hate this," I said, burying my face into the side of his neck and breathing deeply.

"I know, me too," he said.

"It's only going to get worse," I added, a sense of panic starting to raise in my chest.

"You don't know that," he said softly, his arms tightening around me. One of his hands came up to brush the hair back from my face, lifting my chin up so he could look into my eyes.

"You did good, we just got to keep fighting whatever they throw at us," he said with a smile. I returned the smile and kissed his lips quickly before laying my head on his shoulder again.

"Thank god you're here," I said. "I couldn't do this without you."

"Me neither," he replied as he kissed my forehead. "Come on, let's go check on Sam and Jo."

13 years ago
Wilmington, Delaware

Dean's POV

Sam and Beth hadn't left me alone in the few hours since we'd gotten back to the motel. They begrudgingly followed orders to pack up the room and put our things in the car while I lay on the bed feeling weak, sore and sick. Dad was on the phone, already moving on to the next job despite the fact that I'd just copped a major blow.

"Yeah, he's fine," I heard him say. "No, no I can't leave them here. Dean should see a doctor, but not here, they'll know – I need to get us over the border…" I sighed and leaned back against the pillows Beth had piled around me and closed my eyes.

"Okay, we'll be there. No, no she's just a kid, she's not hunting. You'll have to find numbers elsewhere," Dad was finalising things and I pretended I was asleep as he wandered into the room from the bathroom. Beth had gone on her second ever hunt just a few months ago, but she was far from ready for the big jobs. Frankly, I was starting to hope she never joined us in hunting, as much as I wanted her with us.

"Dean?"

I smiled at the sound of her voice, opening my eyes to find I was suddenly alone in the room. "Hey," I muttered, looking curiously around the room. "Where is everyone?"

"You fell asleep, Dad didn't want to move you," she said. "He took Sam to get some food for the trip."

"How long have I been out?" I asked.

"Not long, maybe half an hour," she said, crawling on to the bed and laying alongside me. "How do you feel?"

"Like every part of me is broken," I admitted. "Stings like Hell."

Beth looked sympathetically at me and I reached out, pulling her against me so she could rest her head on my chest.

"You scared me half to death," she said.

"You and me both," I replied, leaning my cheek against the top of her head.

"Sam had a panic attack, I think," she said seriously and I felt my heart stop.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, he saw you and… well after you passed out for a bit he got all these chest pains and started to hyperventilate. I think that's why Dad took him for a drive too," she explained. "It was a pretty scary sight."

"You didn't freak out," I said.

"I knew you'd be okay," she replied quietly.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, you have to be Dean. We need you."

I thought about this, wrapping an arm around her and squeezing. One of the reasons I liked having Beth with us so much was because she could help share the burden of looking after Sam. I'd been doing it for so long on my own, not that I begrudged him that, it was only that in the last year I'd been wondering whether there was something more to life.

"I need you guys too," I said softly. "Always will."

Present Day
Mountain Rest Area

Dean's POV

I wanted to sleep for a week. I'd slipped War's ring into my jeans, and I could almost swear it wanted to burn a hole right through me. I was uncomfortably conscious of the fact it was there, and ever alert that I might lose it. We'd stopped for a bathroom break and something to eat after leaving Rufus, Ellen and Jo to sort out the mess at River Pass.

Looking at the ring now, it was innocent enough. Simple, plain, and just like the one ring in Lord of the Rings. Nothing evil ever screamed evil.

"So, pit stop at Mount Doom?" I asked Sam, as he sat pensively opposite me at the picnic table. Beth was in the nearby convenience store, and he'd been silent for almost the entire journey to this point.

"Dean…"

I knew he was in one of those self-deprecating moods where he was looking to be chastised, or something. I just didn't have the energy for it. I was tired.

"Sam… let's not," I started but he threw me a frustrated look which stopped me from going further.

"No, listen," Sam said. "This is important. I know you don't trust me." I looked away, dreading this conversation going any further. I couldn't deny that I was worried about him, that if I'd had my way in River Pass he would have been isolated from contact with the demons – had there been any.

"Just, now I realize something. I don't trust me either," Sam continued. I looked up, surprised at him. He nodded and continued.

"From the minute I saw that blood, only thought in my head...and I tell myself it's for the right reasons, my intentions are good, and it, it feels true, you know? But I think, underneath...I just miss the feeling. I know how messed up that sounds, which means I know how messed up I am."

Sam paused, his eyes wandering to the store behind me, and then coming back to look at my face.

"Thing is, the problem's not the demon blood, not really. I mean, I, what I did, I can't blame the blood or Ruby or...anything. The problem's me. How far I'll go. There's something in me that...scares the hell out of me, Dean. In the last couple of days, I caught another glimpse..."

"So what are you saying?" I asked.

Sam sucked in a breath, his face twisting into that pained, unhappy look he got when he was about to punish himself for something.

"I'm in no shape to be hunting," he said. "I need to step back, 'cause I'm dangerous. Maybe it's best we just...go our separate ways."

I pondered what he was saying. Silently considering the idea that maybe he should go his separate way for a bit. Beth and I had a hell of a fight on our hands if we were going to take down the devil, and truth be known, I couldn't ensure that Sam wouldn't get hurt in the process. I couldn't ensure that we wouldn't all get killed. The difference was, I didn't have a hope in hell of convincing Beth to stay out of this fight – but maybe, just maybe if I cut Sam loose he'd have the good sense to get out of hunting, find a girl, settle down. Everything Beth and I wanted to do, but couldn't.

"Well," I said finally. "I think you're right."

Sam looked at me with a surprised expression. "I was expecting a fight."

I shrugged. "The truth is I spend more time worrying about you than about doing the job right. I worry about you more than I do Beth, and that's saying something. And right now, I just, I can't afford that, you know? Not now."

Sam nodded, looking down at his hands. "I'm sorry, Dean."

"I know you are, Sam," I said, my voice breaking a little. I didn't know what to say. Was I really letting my little brother walk away? I'd fought so hard to keep him in the hunt all those years ago when he left for Stanford, now I was just waving him goodbye?

Sam stood up and I panicked for a moment. "Hey, do you, uh, wanna take the Impala?" I asked, reaching for something, anything to keep that connection that was fading fast. He shook his head and smiled.

"Nah, it's okay," he replied as Beth walked up carrying a tray of coffees and a bag of doughnuts.

"Hey, where you going?" She asked as Sam picked gathered his phone from the table.

"He's leaving," I said and she frowned.

"What? Why?"

"I shouldn't be hunting right now, Beth. I need to take a break, regroup, get my head on straight," Sam replied, barely able to look at her.

"That's crazy. You shouldn't go off on your own, anything could happen," she protested, putting the coffees and doughnuts on the table.

"Beth, let him go," I said quietly, looking down at my hands.

"No!" Beth said, shaking her head and rounding the table toward Sam. "No, this is crazy. Every time we split up something bad happens. Every time. You'd think we'd learn something from that."

"It's okay," Sam said with a reassuring smile that looked genuinely like he believed what he was saying.

"No, it's not," she argued, grabbing his arm. "Look we've had our problems, I won't deny that. But. At the end of the day you're my brother, Sam."

"I know Beth, and I'm sorry for everything I've put you through. Both of you. This is something I need to do for myself," he replied, kissing her on the cheek and then taking a few steps toward the car. He hesitated, turning to look back at us with a sad smile.

"Take care of yourself, guys," he said. Beth stared, shaking her head.

"Yeah, you too, Sammy," I replied when she said nothing. Sam nodded and walked over to the Impala, pausing just long enough to grab his backpack out of the back seat, and duffel from the trunk. Then he wandered toward a pickup truck that was parked nearby. They spoke for a moment, before the driver nodded and Sam rounded to the passenger side.

Beth's POV

"Sam!" I called out, finally moving my legs to give chase. I caught him as he reached the side of the vehicle.

"Beth…" What I saw in Sam's eyes when he said that gave me pause for thought. What was I holding on so tightly for? Wasn't this what I wanted all along? Sam safe, out of the hunt, and living his own life? I sucked in a breath. No. He should stay with us, bad things happened every time he went off on his own. These things and more rattled around in my head, and finally I sighed.

"Okay… you need to do this, fine. But you keep in touch, Sam. You call me, at least once a week and tell me where you are, how you are, okay?" I said.

"Okay," he said with a smile.

"Promise me," I replied sternly, giving him my strict no-nonsense look.

"I promise, Beth," he said. "I'm sorry."

My heart broke, but I couldn't let him see it. "You take care of yourself, Sammy. Be safe. And find that… normal life, huh?"

"Yeah. You too Beth. Take care of Dean. Maybe you should go back to Blue Earth, try that retirement thing again?" He said and I turned to look at Dean who was staring at the ring again, lost in his own thoughts.

"Yeah… I think that chicken flew the coop," I said, turning back to Sam.

"It's never too late, Beth," he argued. But he was wrong.

I shrugged, throwing my hands up in the air. "There's a war coming. Like it or not, we were bred for this - Dean and I. You got out, you know a different life. We don't. I'm not sure retirement is in our blood."

Sam considered this, watching me and then looking over at Dean. "Well, maybe when this is all over."

"Yeah, maybe," I said, though I didn't really believe it.

Sam looked at the driver and sighed. "Look, I gotta go," he said, holding his hand up to the man who had been waiting patiently for us to finish speaking. "Goodbye Beth." He stepped forward and enveloped me in a big hug, squeezing tight and I grabbed hold of him, fighting back the fear that I might never see him again. Then he was gone, the truck moving down the road, and me standing there watching it go.

I wasn't alone as the truck turned the corner, heading back to the interstate. Dean had joined me and slipped his arm around my waist and I leaned heavily against him with a sigh.

"He thinks we should go back to Blue Earth, give up hunting too," I said.

"What do you think?" Dean asked.

"I think we have a war to fight, and nothing is ever that simple with us," I replied.

"Yeah…"

"Do you think we'll ever get that, Dean? To be happy?" I asked, turning to look at him. He smiled, squeezing me against his side.

"I am happy - every day, with you," he replied and I couldn't help but smile at the sentiment.

"I know," I said, "but that's not what I asked."

He was quiet for a moment, nodding silently and then looking up at me. "Yes," he said, determined.

"Yes?"

"Absolutely we will," he replied. "I made a promise, and I keep my promises."

"Just not right now," I said softly.

"No," he said just as quietly. "We've got a mess to clean up."

I let out a long breath and nodded, looking back in the direction Sam had gone. "Yeah…"

"I started this," Dean said.

"Dean…"

"No, Beth. I wasn't strong enough, I caved when I was in Hell and I started all this," he said without any hesitation. "By God, I'm going to do whatever it takes to end it."

"We all failed," I said.

"You didn't."

"I didn't keep Sam safe, I let him leave with Ruby… I let her manipulate him like a finely tuned violin," I said, voicing the one thing I hadn't said to Dean yet.

"That's not your fault."

"Yes it is Dean," I said, turning so I could wrap my arms around him. "I fell in a heap because I lost " you. And I lost my focus."

Dean didn't say anything for a moment, just held me as we thought about all the ways in which we could have done better. "Well," he said finally. "I'm back now - and we're going to set things right. The Angels want a weapon in me? They can shove it - I'm nobody's puppet. We'll find another way."

"Together," I said, looking into those determined green eyes. "Promise me."

"I promise," he said with a nod. "I'm never leaving you again."

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Song for this chapter is: How Far We've Come by Matchbox20

I was watching the latest episode of Supernatural while working on this and OMG I cannot WAIT until I get my angelic mythology mixed in with this. I hope to make the story even more interesting and intriguing. I'm excited, and I know I've got a long, long way to go until I get to season 11, but I am looking forward to the ride!

Hello to all the new readers, and thank you so much to everyone who has either PMed or left a review – it really means a lot to me and keeps me motivated to keep writing :D I'm glad you've enjoyed the road so far, and continue to do so as we head into Season 5.

Don't forget we do have a Facebook page, which I try to remember to update, and throw things on when I'm in between stories, so come pay us a visit! Just search for Dean & Beth Supernatural Fanfic and you should find us :D