Piper was sitting in her bed in their motel room, lost in her thoughts about Dean. She was worried. He had been reckless on their last hunt. They had essentially confirmed that John had sold his soul to save Dean, and he wasn't dealing with the revelation. He was driving too fast, drinking too much, and he hadn't come back to the motel two nights in a row. She wasn't mad that he was probably with women (well, be honest, not that mad…), she was concerned. He was sinking himself into his vices.

Sam gave a startled shout and fell between the two queen beds.

"Sam? Sam!" she shouted, jumping down and shaking his shoulders. "Sam!"

The door opened to admit Dean, chewing on beef jerky. He took a look at her face and froze. "Piper, what-"

Sam jerked awake, and looked at Piper like he had no idea who she was. She felt ice at the base of her spine.

Then he looked at Dean, and horror crossed his face. "No…"

xxxxx

Piper was in the backseat of the Impala, feeling more scared than she could remember feeling. Sam's vision had terrified him, and her along with it. She silently listened to the boys, being navigated by a GPS system.

"Continue on O-R Two-Two-Four West."

"There are only two towns in the US named Rivergrove."

Dean flicked his eyes to Sam. "How come you're so sure it's the one in Oregon?"

Sam was silent for a moment. "There was a picture. Crater Lake."

"Okay, what else?"

"I saw a dark room, some people, and a guy tied to a chair."

"And I ventilated him?" Piper shuddered at his use of the word.

"Yeah. You thought there was something inside him."

Dean made a face. "What, a demon? Was he possessed?"

A beat of silence. "I don't know." Sam replied quietly.

"Well, all your weirdo visions are always tied to the Yellow-Eyed Demon somehow, so was there any black smoke? Did we try to exorcise it?"

"No. Nothing, you just plugged him, that's it."

"Well, I'm sure I had a good reason."

"I sure hope so."

Dean glared at Sam. "What does that mean?" Another beat of silence. "I mean, I'm not gonna waste an innocent man." Sam just looked at him. "I wouldn't!" Piper winced as he yelled.

"I never said you would!"

"Fine!"

"Fine! Look, we don't know what it is. But whatever it is, that guy in the chair's a part of it. So let's find him, and see what's what. "

"Fine."

"Fine."

xxxxx

Piper ran inside ahead of Sam, who was carrying the woman they'd found in the home with two possessed men. "Hello? Hello? We need a doctor here!" The woman had been injured.

A young blonde woman dressed in scrubs came running into the lobby as Sam entered with the woman in his arms. The nurse's eyes widened at the sight of the injured woman. Sam's eyes widened when he saw the girl, and Piper knew she was the girl in his vision.

"Mrs. Tanner, what happened?"

"She's been attacked."

"Doctor Lee?"

Another woman in a doctor's lab coat ran in, immediately taking in the situation. "Bring her in."

Sam nodded. "Okay."

The nurse led them into a back room, where Sam placed Mrs. Tanner onto an exam table gently.

Dean entered, carrying the body of Mr. Tanner covered in canvas over his shoulder.

The doctor stared. "Is that-"

"Mr. Tanner?" Dean asked tightly.

"Was he attacked too?"

Dean shook his head. "Uh... No, actually, he did the attacking. And then he got himself shot."

The doctor paled. "Shot?" She looked at him. "And who are you?"

"U.S. Marshal. I'd show you my badge, but uh…" he gestured toward the body.

"Oh. Sorry. Bring him back here."

Piper had moved back into the exam room with the doctor, who began to assess the damage on Beverly.

Dr. Lee looked up at her patient. "Wait, you said Jake helped him? Your son Jake?"

Beverly nodded, more tears slipping down her face. "They beat me. Tied me up."

The nurse, whose name Piper had discovered was Pam, was shaking her head. "I don't believe it."

Dr. Lee glared. "Pam. Beverly... Do you have any idea why they would act this way? Any history of chemical dependency?"

Beverly started crying harder. "No, of course not. I don't know why. One minute they were my husband and my son. And the next, they had the devil in them."

Piper paled, looking back at the Winchesters to find them already sharing a look. Dean looked at her and tilted his head toward the door. She nodded and followed them.

"Those guys were whacked out of their gourds." Dean said.

Sam looked puzzled. "What do you think? Multiple demons, mass possession?"

Piper spoke up. "If it is a possession there could be more. I mean, God knows how many, it could be like a Shriner convention."

Sam scoffed. "Great."

"Of course, that's one way to wipe out a town, you take it from the inside."

Sam wasn't convinced. "I don't know, man. We didn't see any of the demon smoke with Mr. Tanner, or any of the other usual signs."

"Well, whatever. Something turned him into a monster. And you know if you woulda taken out the other one there'd be one less to worry about."

"I'm sorry, all right? I hesitated, Dean, it was a kid!"

Dean shook his head. "No, it was an 'it'. Not the best time for a bleeding heart, Sam."

Piper frowned. "Winchester…"

Dr. Lee chose that moment to leave her lab and glare at the three of them.

Sam asked, "How's the patient?"

Dr. Lee's eyes were flashing. "Terrible! What the hell happened out there?"

Piper sighed. "We don't know."

The doctor rounded on Dean. "Yeah? Well, you just killed my next door neighbor."

"Hey, we didn't have a choice." Dean was holding his hands up defensively.

"Maybe so, but we need the county Sheriff. I need the coroner…"

"Phones are down," Sam interjected.

"I know, I tried. Tell me you have a police radio in the car?"

Piper nodded. "Yeah we do. But it's not working, either."

Dr. Lee put a hand to her head. "I don't understand what is happening."

Dean sighed. "How far is it to the next town?"

The doctor's eyebrows raised. "It's about forty miles down to Sidewinder."

Dean nodded. "All right, I'm gonna go down there, see if I can find some help. My partners will stick around, keep you guys safe."

Piper opened her mouth to object, but Dean had already started away.

xxxxx

"What if we all have it? What if we all go crazy?" Pam asked, horrified.

Piper gritted her teeth. The nurse was starting to piss her off. They had found out that the dead husband had a virus, some sort of demon virus. Piper was pacing, nervously trying to resist reaching for the gun tucked into her waistband. Shooting the nurse will solve nothing, shooting the nurse will solve nothing...

Dr. Lee was more comforting. "You've got to stay calm. All we can do is wait. The Marshal's bringing help."

But Pam was shaking her head. "I can't, I… I've got to go."

Piper frowned. "We can't leave."

"No, you don't understand. My boyfriend's out there, I gotta make sure he's okay."

Piper resisted another urge to reach for her gun, and followed Pam out into the hallway, catching her by the elbow. "All right, wait, wait. Please. Look, I know you're upset, all right? But it's safer if you stay here for now. Help is coming." Piper turned her head and watched the Impala roll up in front.

Sam, who had been watching the scene in the lobby, sighed in relief. "There they are." He went to the door to unlock it and let Dean and another man, who were both armed, in, and then locked the door again behind them.

Sam looked at them anxiously. "Did you guys, uh, get to a phone?"

Dean shook his head. "They have the roads blocked." He looked at Mark. "I need to talk to them.

Doc's inside." Mark walked into the back of the clinic as Dean turned back to Sam and Piper.

Piper spoke first. "What's going on out there, Winchester?"

Dean shook his head again. "I don't know, I feel like Chuck Heston in the Omega Man, I mean, Sarge is the only sane person I could find. What are we dealing with, do you know?"

"Yeah. Doc thinks it's a virus." Sam said cautiously.

"Okay, great. What do you think?"

"I think she's right."

Dean's eyebrows rose. "Really?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. And I think the infected are trying to infect others with blood-to-blood contact. Oh, but it gets better. The uh, the virus? Leaves traces of sulfur in the blood."

"A demonic virus?"

Piper scoffed. "Yeah, more like demonic germ warfare. At least it explains why Sam's been having visions."

"It's like a Biblical plague," said Dean.

Sam nodded again. "Yeah. You don't know how right you are, Dean. We've been poring through Dad's journal, found something about the Roanoke colony."

Dean waited, then nodded impatiently. "And?"

"Your dad always had a theory about Croatoan. He thought it was a demon's name. Sometimes known as Deva or sometimes Resheph. A demon of plague and pestilence." Piper supplied.

"Well, that, that's terrific. Why here, why now?"

"I have no idea."

Piper felt the blood drain from her face. "Who knows how far this thing can spread?" She looked between the two of them. "We gotta get out of here, we gotta warn people."

Mark started yelling from the other room. "They've got one! In here!"

The three of them shared a look and ran into the next room. "What do you mean?" Dean shouted.

Sam took one look at Beverly. "The wife. She's infected."

Mark looked at them. "We've gotta take care of this. We can't just leave her in there. My neighbors, they were strong. The longer we wait, the stronger she'll get."

xxxxx

Pam was pale. "You're gonna kill Beverly Tanner?"

Piper looked at Dr. Lee. "Doctor, could there be any treatment? Some kind of cure for this?"

Dean whipped around. "Can you cure it?"

The doctor's eyes were wide as she looked between them. She was panicking. "For God's sake, I don't even know what 'it' is!"

Mark looked at Dean. "I told you, it's just a matter of time before she breaks through."

Pam was horrified, looking between the two of them. "Just leave her in there, you can't shoot her like an animal!"

"Sam." Dean summoned and walked to the door that Beverly was locked in. Piper pulled Pam away, putting her arm around her and leading her over to where the doctor sat, shocked.

The boys went to the door, Dean and Mark with their guns at the ready. Sam carefully opened the door.

"Mark, what are you doing?" Piper heard Mrs. Tanner's voice, though she couldn't see her. "Mark, it's, it's them! They locked me in here, they, they tried to kill me! They're infected, not me! Please, Mark! You've known me all your life! Please!"

Dean glanced at Sam. "You sure she's one of 'em?"

Sam swallowed hard and nodded, his face twisted. Mark looked away, tears in his eyes, as Dean stepped forward and fired two shots.

xxxxx

"You might kill an innocent man, and you don't even care! You don't act like yourself anymore, Dean. Hell, you know what? You're acting like one of those things out there."

Piper's stomach was churning, her eyes flicking between the Winchesters as she watched them argue. She thought she was scared before, and it was nothing compared to this. How far could Dean go before he didn't come back? On the other hand, how could they risk letting the man live?

"Mm-hmm," Dean was muttering as he shoved past Sam. He looked back at Piper, and she felt compelled to follow him. Before Sam could, he turned and locked the door behind them.

"Hey! Open the damn door, Dean! Piper, get back here! Don't do it, Dean! Don't!"

Dean looked at Piper flatly, and she turned toward the room she knew Dean wanted to go into.

"Well, let's go then," she said quietly. She was with Dean, no matter what, and she was worried that he was right. What if the kid was putting them in danger?

Dean nodded and they slowly started down the hallway. He dropped the clip out of his gun and replaced it. Piper pulled her gun from her waistband and held it at the ready. Dean opened the door to the lab and walked in slowly, closing it behind Piper.

Duane started struggling against the ropes that held him to the chair. "No, you're not gonna... No, no, I swear it's not in me!"

Pam moaned. "Oh God. We're all gonna die."

Mark glanced at her, then looked at Dean. "Maybe he's telling the truth."

Dean shook his head, determined. "No, he's not him, not anymore."

Duane was still struggling. "Stop it! Ask her, ask the doctor! It's not in me!"

Dr. Lee looked pale and drawn. She looked down at the floor. "I...I can't tell."

The restrained man started to sob. "Please, don't. Don't, please. I swear, it's not in me, it's not in me, I swear, I, I swear it's not in me. No, don't."

"I got no choice." Dean pointed the gun at Duane. Piper felt a chill at the base of her spine. She stepped forward and placed her hand low on Dean's back, but didn't say anything. He hesitated, trembling. He finally lowered the gun. "Damn it!" He walked out. Piper blinked in shock, then scurried after him.

xxxxx

An hour later, Sam was sitting on a stool in front of Dr. Lee, who was bandaging his wound. He was quiet, his face somber and worried.

Dean was pacing aggressively. "Doc, check his wound again, would you?"

Mark glared. "What's she need to examine him for? You saw what happened."

Dr. Lee looked at Sam. "Did her blood actually enter your wound?"

Mark scoffed. "Come on, of course it did!"

Piper stood up and glared. "We don't know that for sure."

Duane, from the corner. "We can't take a chance."

Mark didn't take his eyes off of Dean. "You know what we have to do."

Dean's face was tight. "Nobody's shooting my brother."

"He isn't gonna be your brother much longer. You said it yourself."

Piper snapped. "Nobody is shooting anyone!" she glared at Duane.

He sat up and walked closer. "He was gonna shoot me!"

She stood face to face with him. "You don't shut up, I might shoot you!"

"Dean, Piper, they're right. I'm infected. Just give me the gun and I'll do it myself."

Piper's eyes widened and her heart stopped. What?

Dean shook his head. "Forget it."

Sam looked at both of them pleadingly. "Dean, I'm not gonna become one of those things."

"Sam, we've still got some time-" Piper started to beg.

"Time for what?" Mark interrupted. "Look, I understand he's your brother, and I'm sorry, I am. But we gotta take care of this," he said, pulling out his handgun.

Piper drew her gun and pointed it at Mark. Dean looked at him coldly. "I'm gonna say this one time. You make a move on him, you'll be dead before you hit the ground. You understand me? I mean, do I make myself clear?!"

Mark dropped his weapon in exasperation. "Then what are we supposed to do?!"

Dean thought for a moment, looked at Sam, and looked at Piper for a long moment. Then he dug into his pocket and tossed his keys to Mark. "Get the hell out of here, that's what. Take my car. You've got the explosives, there's an arsenal in there. You two go with him. You've got enough firepower to handle anything now."

Piper's eyes widened, but she nodded. This is what it had come down to, and she had already made her decision. She would see her Winchesters through this, or she would die alongside them.

Mark looked shocked. "What about you?

Sam realized what was going on. "Dean, no. No. Go with them. This is your only chance!"

Dean looked back at his brother and smiled. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy."

Mark shook his head. "No, he's right. Come with us." Dean just looked at him. "Okay, it's your funeral."

"Piper, lock the door behind them," Dean said quietly. She stood to follow them to the door.

Dr. Lee turned. "I'm sorry. Thanks for everything, Marshals."

Dean grinned. "Oh, actually we're not really Marshals. Hey, Mark?"

Mark looked back and made eye contact with Dean. Piper only had a moment to realize that Dean was right behind her and to wonder at the look in their eyes before she felt him shove her forward into Mark's arms.

"Sorry, Pipes." Dean said as he shut and locked the door behind her.

"No!" Piper shrieked, fighting with everything she had to get back at the door. "Winchester! Dean! Open this door right now! " She elbowed Mark in the side and ran to the door, fighting to get it open. Tears stood in her eyes as she shouted at Dean. "God dammit, Dean! Open this door!"

When he made no move to turn, she took out her gun and pointed it at the door. She felt strong arms go around her and started fighting as Mark hauled her away before she could shoot the damn thing open.

xxxxx

The next night, after leaving the supposedly abandoned town, Dean pulled into a gas station parking lot. They all climbed out to stretch, and Dean tossed the credit card at Sam. "Go inside and pay, Sammy."

Sam frowned. "Screw you, Dean you-"

Dean flicked his eyes to Piper, whose back was turned. She had refused to look at or engage with either of them since they'd left the clinic in Rivergrove. "Just go, Sam."

Sam nodded and walked inside.

Dean put the gas pump into Baby and thought about how to approach Piper. She was mad, he understood. She had every right to be. How could he convince her that he couldn't let her die for them? She didn't deserve this… She had been mostly untouched by this curse so far, and he didn't want her to have any part of it. She could fight beside him every day, but if it came right down to it, Dean didn't want her dying beside him.

He sighed and approached her, standing next to her. "Piper…"

"Stop it, Winchester." She didn't look at him. "I don't want to hear it."

He winced. "Pipes, come on…"

"No."

She turned to walk back to the Impala, and Dean quickly stepped in her way. "You're not getting back into that car until you talk to me, Piper."

She didn't make eye contact, just looked at his chest. "Is that so?'

Dean could have sagged in relief. "Piper, I ju-" he had started to say when she punched him in the face. He was fairly sure he felt a crack. "God dammit, Piper, what the hell?"

She was making eye contact, and he kind of wanted her to look away. She sure wasn't cold anymore, fire was crackling in her eyes and her face was contorted with fury. "What the hell, Dean?" Her quiet question scared him a little. "What the hell? You want to know what the hell? Well, let me tell you. Screw you. Screw you and all of this crap you won't tell me." She was advancing on him, and Dean found himself taking a step back. Irritated at himself, he stopped and let her come to him until she was inches away. "Screw you for not trusting me to make my own damn decisions. Screw you for locking me out of that room while you intended to die." There were tears in her eyes, and she glared up at him for a long moment.

He couldn't take it. "Piper…"

Before he finished, she hit him hard in the face again. "No, Dean, I am done with this." His heart stilled, and he couldn't find the breath to move his hand to his face again. "I'm done with your suicidal, kamikaze, 'I'm not good enough,' bullshit." She was smacking him the chest to punctuate her words. "I am in this fight whether you like it or not, whether you want me here or not. And I am not, I repeat, I am not going to let you off yourself." She stopped hitting him and looked up coldly. "Got that, Winchester?"

He opened his mouth again, then caught her hand when she tried to hit him a third time. "God dammit, Piper, quit hitting me."

She yanked out of his grasp. "You don't get to tell me what to do." She looked away from him, and he rubbed his cheek as her lip trembled. "I can't believe that crap you pulled, Winchester," she said softly. "I don't kn-"

Dean never learned what she was about to say, because she was yanked forward into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her, refusing to give in to her struggles to get away. They only lasted a moment, anyway, and then she put her arms around his waist and lay her head against his chest. She didn't cry, but there were some sniffles.

He lay his non-bruised cheek against her head. "I'm sorry, Piper."

She didn't move. "I know."

"I didn't… I just didn't think you deserved to die in there with us." Silence greeted this observation.

"Pipes, come on. I'm just…" He swallowed, trying to stem his own tears now. "I'm just tired, Piper. I'm tired of carrying all of this around."

She looked up at him, meeting his eyes with her lovely hazel ones. Her hair was pulled back, a few free wisps brushing against her face. "Why would you think you have to carry it around by yourself? Why do you think I'm here, because of your pretty face?"

"Well, I am a god," he chuckled.

She squeezed him for a moment, searching his eyes. Then she closed hers, let out a deep breath, and put her head back down on his chest. "Dean, I'm here for you. For anything. You want to just hunt down this bastard and kill him? That's fine. But if you want to talk about it, I'm good at that, too."

Dean held her close and put his head down on hers again. When she had come back, he had been determined to not let her get involved. She had done nothing to deserve that, he wanted her to go away and be happy. Preferably without hunting. He wanted her to go have a normal, happy life, like a woman her age was supposed to be having.

But for some God-forsaken reason, she seemed determined to stay with him. "I don't think I did anything to deserve it, but I'm glad you're sticking around, kitten." he said softly.

She raised her head and smiled at him. He looked into her eyes, and tried to identify the emotion in their depths. Her eyes widened a fraction, and seemingly against her will, her gaze dropped to his mouth. Dean felt it like a punch to the gut, and found his own gaze dragged down to her mouth. His thoughts went to kissing her, to moving down her neck and leaving his mark on that spot that for some reason he was sure would drive her crazy.

His eyes started to drift close when a shout rang out. "Dean! Piper! Everything okay?"

Piper paused, then laughed out loud. No matter how irritated he was at the interruption, her laughter made him grin. She stepped away, and he felt the loss of her warmth and softness. He watched her turn to Sam. "Fine, Sam, I just had to kick your brother's ass for a second."

Dean laughed, remembering that his face hurt like hell. "You're really more of a hellcat than a kitten, kitten," he said cheerfully as he slung an arm around her shoulders and they started walking back to the car. He craved her closeness.

She grinned up at him. "Don't you forget it."

xxxxx

A/N: Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:

I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural, or the characters (heartbroken).

Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.

If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.