To Hell And Back

by belladonna78

Sequel to "Hell to Pay", and the fourth installment of my Supernatural fanfics. Check out my stories and AN for more info on where to start. This is Season 4 - How far will Beth and Sam go in order to save Dean's soul from Hell and be reunited with him? Dean/OC. Slightly AU but mostly follows the Supernatural show with my own spin. Rated MA for smut. Please read and review!

5. Are You There God?

Feels like we're chasing things we just can't reach
As we try to wake from this dreamless sleep
And I know we're better than these things we've done
The days run like wild horses over the hills
And we may not find it at 100 miles an hour
If we're still trapped by yesterday, we'll always be a hundred miles away

Seein' our ghosts, Seein' our ghosts,
Seein' our ghosts everywhere we go
Seein' our ghosts, Seein' our ghosts
Seein' our ghosts everywhere we go

---

ARE YOU THERE GOD? IT'S ME DEAN WINCHESTER

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

I jumped as a hand slid up my back at the same time a set of fireworks went off in someone's backyard nearby. The major fireworks were almost ready to begin, and I hadn't been expecting something to go off right at that moment.

"Haha, gotcha," Dean said, sliding his arms around my waist and pulling me in to his body, kissing the side of my neck. I rolled my eyes and leaned back into him, turning to nuzzle against his face.

"That's mean," I complained to which Dean chuckled and pulled me back down to the picnic blanket I had been standing over.

"You're getting slack," he said, raising an eyebrow, and I groaned.

"You sound like Dad...we're supposed to be on a break!"

"Doesn't mean you have to get sloppy, what if I'd been a...wendigo?" he asked, and I looked at him incredulously, it had been years since we'd seen one of those.

"A wendigo?" I asked, to which he nodded. "In Delaware?"

Dean shrugged. "Stranger things have happened," he commented with a sly grin as he took a sip of his beer. I laughed lightly and crawled over to where he was sitting, climbing into his lap, taking the beer from his hand and having a sip before putting it to the side on the cooler.

"Well then, I guess I'd just have to rely on my knight in shining armour to come rescue me," I said cheekily, settling in his lap and kissing him. Dean's hands trailed down over my thighs and I moaned as he changed direction when he hit the hem of my dress, sliding under it and along the bare skin of my thighs.

With a groan, he pulled back from kissing me and looked me in the eyes. "You're just trying to drive me insane aren't you?" He asked.

"What? A girl's not allowed to wear a dress once in a while?" I asked innocently, he smiled, sliding his hand a little further and raising his eyebrow at me.

"Uh, they usually wear underwear with said dress..." he replied, a thumb tracing along my pelvic bone in teasing circles.

"Happy fourth of July," I said with a kiss, taking his bottom lip between my teeth and nipping just a little before slipping my tongue in to meet his. Dean groaned and rolled me over to the picnic blanket, his hand snaking further along and lifting my dress a little.

"Thank God it's dark," he said with a grin, starting to get a little hands-on. I moaned softly, lying back against the blanket and pulling him a little closer.

Fireworks erupted overhead in a burst of colour and I gasped, Dean didn't stop his ministrations, simply turning slightly to look up at the fireworks at the same time as he teased my body into attention.

"Mmmm," he murmured, leaning in to kiss along my neck. "Let's see if we can't get the fireworks to come with the fireworks," he said and I groaned as he slipped a finger inside of me, stroking and sending a rush of heat through my body.

"Oh god..." I moaned, arching to his touch.

"God hasn't got anything to do with this sugarpie..." Dean said with a grin, claiming my lips and smothering my next moan with a kiss.

---

Present Day

Bobby's House
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Beth's POV

One thing about having Dean back, the world hadn't changed so much that he and Sam weren't arguing a day after he'd been brought back from the dead. Bobby was sitting at his desk in the library with a pile of books in front of him; Sam was sitting at the kitchen table with his own stack of research while I had claimed the couch, flipping through a book on angels. Dean was pacing between the kitchen and the library, at odds with Sam already.

"Well, then tell me what else it could be," Sam said, referring to Castiel, the angel we'd met the night before.

"Look, all I know is I was not groped by an angel," Dean argued, completely unconvinced of Castiel's story.

"Okay, look, Dean. Why do you think Castiel would lie to you about it?" Sam asked.

"Maybe he's some kind of demon. Demons lie," Dean said.

"He didn't feel like a demon, I didn't feel sick around him at all..." I offered up, frowning. "...until that damn headache."

"Plus, a demon who's immune to salt rounds and devil's traps...and Ruby's knife?" Sam asked. "Dean, Lilith is scared of that thing!"

"Don't you think if angels were real, that some hunter somewhere would have seen one...at some point...ever?" Dean asked, leaning back against the bench.

"Yeah. You just did, Dean," Sam snapped back.

"My Dad believed in them, so did Mom," I said, sitting up and frowning at Dean. It wasn't that implausible. "So did my uncle..." I added, "and you haven't come up with a reason as to why he's running around claiming to be an angel!"

"I'm trying to come up with a theory here," Dean said, sighing. "Okay? Work with me."

"Dean, we have a theory," Sam said, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, one with a little less fairy dust on it, please," Dean said.

"Okay, look. I'm not saying we know for sure," Sam said. "I'm just saying that I think we..."

"Okay, okay. That's the point," Dean cut in, throwing his hand in the air. "We don't know for sure, so I'm not gonna believe that this thing is a freaking Angel of the Lord because it says so!"

I groaned and stood up, closing the book in my hands. "Well I believe him!" I said forcefully. "I don't see any reason not to."

"Oh, come on Beth!" Dean said, tossing me a frustrated look. "Since when have we ever heard of angels in human bodies, appearing to people at all for that matter? If that's your uncle – the same uncle you haven't seen in like twenty years then it's more likely he's possessed by a demon."

"I told you, he didn't feel like a demon!"

"Are you chuckleheads going to keep arguing religion, or do you want to come take a look at this?" Bobby cut in and the three of us stopped to look at him. With a shrug, I wandered over to stand next to him, looking down at a large medieval tome sitting atop all the other books.

"I got stacks of lore – Biblical, pre-Biblical. Some of it's in damn cuneiform. It all says an angel can snatch a soul from the pit," Bobby said.

"What else?" Dean asked.

"What else, what?" Bobby questioned.

"What else could do it?"

"Airlift your ass out of the hot box?" Bobby asked and Dean nodded. "As far as I can tell, nothing," he answered.

"Dean, this is good news," Sam said.

"How?"

"Because for once, this isn't just another round of demon crap," Sam said. "I mean, maybe you were saved by one of the good guys, you know?"

I had to agree with him, it was a little bit of a relief to think that maybe for once all the prayers and faith had paid off.

"Okay," Dean said tentatively. "Say it's true. Say there are angels. Then what? There's a God?"

"At this point, Vegas money's on yeah," Bobby said, looking up at us. I walked around to Dean, laying a hand on his arm and looking up at his wary eyes.

"I don't know, guys," he said.

"Okay, look. I know you're not all choirboy about this stuff, you never have been," I said to him. "And you know, you always said I believe enough for the both of us, but Dean, this is becoming less and less about faith, and more about proof." Dean sighed, looking at me disbelievingly.

"Proof?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod.

"Proof that there's a God out there that actually gives a crap about me personally?" He asked, letting out a hot breath. "I'm sorry, but I'm not buying it."

"Why not?" Sam asked.

"Because why me? If there is a God out there, why would he give a crap about me?" Dean asked.

"Dean..." I said, biting my lip.

"I mean, I've saved some people, okay? I figured that made up for the stealing, ditching chicks and pre-marital sex. But why do I deserve to get saved? I'm just a regular guy." He looked at me and reached a hand out to touch my cheek. "You pray every night... you have an almost unlimited faith in angels and God, but you've had the worst things happen to you Beth. Why isn't he looking after you?"

"Well, apparently, you're a regular guy that's more important to the man upstairs," I said with a smile. "Besides, taking care of you is looking after me." Dean looked a little disturbed, a frown creasing his brow as he shook his head.

"Well, that creeps me out. I mean, I don't like getting singled out at birthday parties, much less by...God," he said.

"Okay, well, too bad Dean," Sam said. "Because I think he wants you to strap on your party hat."

I chuckled, shaking my head a little. There were a lot of unanswered questions, and I hoped I could get some answers soon because I was still reeling from the fact that I'd just come face to face with a being that I'd been praying to all my life.

Dean sighed, clearing his throat. "Fine," he conceded. "What do we know about angels?"

Bobby smirked and picked up a pile of old tomes from the side of his desk, dumping them in front of us. "Start reading," he said with a serious look. Dean looked at the books and sighed, turning to Sam.

"You're gonna get me some pie," he said, and then turned to me. "And you are going to start by telling me everything you know about angels," he said, grabbing the top book off the pile and looking at it in disgust. I chuckled, this was going to be a long day.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

Fireworks were raging inside of me and above me as I threw my head back on the picnic blanket, trying not to make it obvious what Dean was doing to me right in that moment. We had set up a good ten yards or so from anyone else on a grassy knoll overlooking the local school and football field, but even still, sound carried regardless of the fireworks.

Dean slowed his touch down, teasing me by dragging his fingers across my clitoris in an achingly slow and light movement. I groaned and grabbed his butt tightly in my hand, holding on and rocking into him.

"Come on… that's mean…" I moaned to him as he chuckled and started to stroke me in earnest again. I shuddered, feeling my climax coming hard and fast as he kissed me. I moaned into the kiss, arching to his touch and gasping for air as a warm rush of energy pulsated out, spreading down my legs and up my stomach. The pulse built on top of itself, aching and crashing as I rubbed my body along Dean's, my knee pressed between his legs and against his arousal as his fingers worked me.

"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" I jumped when a scream went up nearby, almost muffled by the exploding fireworks overhead and Dean looked up, his hand paused.

"What was that?" I said, looking down toward where the sound had come. People were starting to run toward a family at another picnic blanket and Dean frowned, pulling his hand out.

"Son of a bitch!" He said, groaning and getting up, pulling me to my feet as we walked down the incline to investigate what was happening.

As we reached the gathering crowd of people Dean pushed his way through the people.

"Police officer, coming through, coming through, police…" He pulled me with him, and when we got to the scene in the centre of the crowd I gasped.

Spread out on the grass, blood spilling everywhere, was a man in his mid-forties, his intestines ripped out in a bloody mess. There was a woman nearby, the one who had screamed I presumed, who was rocking and sobbing as she held a little girl in her arms.

Dean and I exchanged a look of concern as he moved toward the woman and I went to inspect the body, grimacing at the mess that was once the man's stomach. It didn't look to me like a human attack, or even any wild animal you'd find in Delaware.

I stood, walking over to Dean and looking at him as he knelt down next to the woman. With a shake of my head, he sobered, and turned to the woman.

"Hi, I'm Detective Ford, can you tell me what happened?" He asked. The woman looked up at him with desperate eyes and I glanced back at the body. Looked like our little holiday had just been cut short. What a buzz kill.

---

Present Day

Diner-Cafe
Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Sam's POV

I hadn't even reached the diner when Dean started calling me with a shopping list of food to get him.

"And Beth wants jelly beans," Dean said, adding to the list. "Don't forget the chips."

"Yes, Dean, I'll get the chips," I said, rolling my eyes.

"And for the love of God, don't forget the pie!"

"Dude. When have I ever forgotten the pie?" I asked, amused by his response. Dean paused, thinking about that question.

"Uh, never?" He asked.

"Exactly." I got out of the car, shaking my head. When I turned around I saw Ruby hanging out by the side of the diner, my eyes met hers and I saw a hesitation there, she looked nervous. "I got to go," I told Dean.

"Yeah well don't take all day, I'm hungry!"

"Yeah, all right. Bye." I said, hanging up and starting immediately for Ruby. She looked at me with her big brown eyes.

"So, is it true?" She asked, moving around the side of the diner. I looked at her and frowned.

"Is what true?"

"Did an angel rescue Dean?" She questioned, fear sitting behind her eyes.

"You heard," I said curiously.

"Who hasn't?"

I put my hands on my hips, nodding at a truck driver as he came out of the diner and walked past.

"We're not 100% sure, but I think so," I answered. Ruby's mouth dropped open a little and she looked frightened.

"Okay," she said breathlessly, her chest rising a little faster. "Bye, Sam." She turned to walk away but I grabbed her arm, pulling her back to face me.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait. What's going on?" I asked, confused.

"Sam, they're angels. I'm a demon. They're not gonna care if I'm being helpful," she said. "They smite first, and then they ask questions later." I felt my heart beat a little faster at the thought of her being in danger, frowning.

"What do you know about them?" I asked.

"Not much. I've never met one, and I don't really want to. All I know is that they scare the holy hell out of me," she said. "Watch yourself Sam."

I scoffed, shaking my head. "I'm not scared of angels."

She looked at me like I should be, sighing and then turning around to walk away.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

The woman's name was Vanessa Davis, she was the man's wife and the little girl, Emily, was their daughter. They'd just been watching the fireworks when he's started screaming and clutching at his stomach. It had happened in the course of thirty seconds, one second he'd been fine and the next he'd fallen to the ground, his stomach spilling out of his body.

"How does that happen?" Vanessa asked, looking at Dean who had a grim face on. "I mean, there was no one here around us, there was nothing," she said, looking up at me. "Can you explain that?"

I shook my head at her, thinking that this was starting to sound more and more like one of our cases the more we heard. The real police had arrived and were making their way across the yard. I met Dean's eyes and inclined my head in their direction.

"Okay, well, I need to take a few more statements Mrs Davis, these officers coming will help you with anything you might need."

"They might need you to tell your story again," I put in and she looked at us confused. "We're off duty, so officially, they will probably ask you to make a statement."

"Right," Dean said with a nod. "But we're going to start investigating this right now, we'll get to the bottom of it," he promised, handing her a business card. "Here are our numbers, tuck them away for now and if you need anything, don't hesitate to call, okay?"

Vanessa nodded and put the business card into her jeans pocket, sniffing and wiping her nose with a handkerchief. Dean stood up and took my arm, leading us away from the crowd.

"What do you think did it?" I asked once we were out of earshot and heading for the car.

"I don't know, she didn't see anything, didn't hear anything, it's like the damn Hollowman attacked," he said.

"So what's our next move?"

Dean stopped and sighed, looking at me. "Well it isn't picking up where we left off," he said with a disappointed look. I laughed, shaking my head.

"Oh come on... we can't research all night," I said with a grin. He chuckled and slid his hand around my waist, tracing light circles at my hip.

"I was kind of hoping you'd say that," he said, kissing my cheek. "Let's go."

---

Present Day
Bobby's House

Beth's POV

When Sam got back with the car, Bobby and I went out to meet him. I opened the back door and climbed in while Sam looked at me in confusion.

"Keep the engine running," I said to his raised eyebrow.

"Why? What's going on?"

Bobby leaned in the open window and looked at Sam. "I got a friend one state over – Olivia Lowry. I've been trying to reach her on this angel thing. It's not like her to ignore this many calls."

"Olivia Lowry – a hunter, right?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. We're gonna go check on her. You guys follow me," Bobby answered as Dean came out of the house carrying a few books and tossing them in the back seat with me.

"Scoot over," Dean said as he came around to the driver's side of the car. He reached over and grabbed the bag of food Sam had brought and looked inside with an excited grin. His face fell and he looked up at Sam.

"Dude?" He questioned

"Yeah?"

"Where's the pie?!" He asked with an incredulous look. Sam swallowed and shrugged while Dean continued to stare at him.

"I guess I forgot..."

"Forgot?! You know what? The next time you ask me 'Dude when have I ever forgotten the pie?' you know what I'm gonna say? Today! Today is when you forgot the damn pie!" Dean complained. I reached forward with a chuckle and squeezed his shoulder.

"We'll stop on the way and get you some," I said and he sighed, looking at me and starting the car.

"Nah, moment's gone," he said, and he pulled out of the drive following Bobby.

---

Present Day
Olivia's House

Beth's POV

It took us eight hours to get to Olivia's, I was just grateful that she was living in Nebraska now, rather than the first time we'd met her many years ago when she was living in Ohio, that would have been a bit of a longer drive; eight hours in the car with Dean and Sam who were still debating the angel possibilities was enough.

Bobby entered the house as soon as we got there. We all pulled out our guns, even Sam, and followed him into the little foyer.

"Olivia?" Bobby called out. He led the way into the kitchen which adjoined the living room. As we rounded into the living room he froze. Olivia was on the floor, covered in blood and most definitely dead. I grimaced, turning away, it was almost too gruesome to look at, her enter chest was shredded like she'd been gutted.

Bobby turned on his heel and walked quickly for the door.

"Bobby?" I called out after him but he didn't stop. Exchanging a look with the boys, we continued into the house to investigate further.

Sam pointed to the doorway that separated the living room from the kitchen. "Salt line," he commented. A bag of salt was lying on the floor, she'd only gotten part way to pouring a barrier.

Dean looked over at a weapons locker and moved to pick up a discarded item, turning to us. "Olivia was rocking the EMF meter," he said, holding it up.

I nodded, swallowing hard. "Spirit activity," I said.

"Yeah... on steroids. I've never seen a ghost do this to a person," Dean said. I looked at Olivia again, feeling a little green around the gills.

"Yes we have," I said quietly and he looked up at me. "Remember? Delaware?" His eyes widened a little and he looked at Olivia again.

"Yeah, yeah... not quite as violent as this though, I mean, ribs and all... it's like something almost exploded from the inside out – it wasn't anything that bad in Delaware," he said. I agreed.

"What was in Delaware? You guys never told me this," Sam asked.

Bobby came back into the house with his phone in hand, he looked pale and was breathing hard.

"Bobby are you all right?" I asked, dismissing Sam's question.

"I called some hunters nearby..." He said.

"Good, we can use the help," Dean said.

"...except they ain't answering their phones either," he continued.

"Something's up, huh?" Sam asked.

"You think?" Bobby asked sarcastically. He took another long look at Olivia and the turned again and walked out of the house. I sighed and glanced down at the body. Whatever this was, it didn't sound good.

An hour later we had called around a lot of different hunters. Dean was on the phone to Jed who hadn't answered, we'd decided to go pay him a visit while Bobby took another hunter who wasn't answering.

"Jefferson, it's Beth, you need to call me back, as soon as you get this. I don't care what you're doing, or who you're doing, just check in." I said, hanging up my phone and shaking my head at Dean as he glanced back at me in the mirror. He grimaced and grit his teeth.

"Cole's all right," Sam said, "although she cussed a blue streak at me..." I smirked and looked out the window. He kind of had that coming. "She's gonna spirit proof where she is, something about being a few days out from Bobby's." I nodded, hopefully she'd be safe enough now she had a heads up something seemed to be after all the hunters.

By the time we found Jed it had gotten dark and a sick feeling had started to sit in my gut. Dean dialled Bobby with a grim look and waited for him to answer.

"Hey Bobby," he said. "We're at Jed's. It's not pretty. He looks even worse than Olivia. What about you?" Bobby answered and Dean shook his head at us while he listened.

"What the Hell is going on here, Bobby? Why did a bunch of ghosts suddenly want to gank off-duty hunters?" He asked, listening a little longer. "Yeah, we're on our way."

"What?" I asked as Dean started to walk back to the car.

"Carl Bates and RC have redorated in red too," he commented as we got in the Impala. "Time to get back to Bobby's until we figure out what's going on."

---

Impala

Sam's POV

Four hours into the return trip Beth had taken over driving, Dean was exhausted and a menace to people on the road. We pulled into a little gas station, thankful there was something open in the middle of the night so we could fill up. I got out to get the gas pumping and Beth pulled out her phone, starting to look a little panicked.

"Jefferson, I'm waiting on my call back, this isn't funny, call me," she said, hanging up.

I shook my head and walked toward the toilet. Always a little disgusted by the filth you found in some of these backwater bathrooms, I quickly relieved myself and then turned to wash my hands. The air suddenly turned cold, and I could see my breath as I exhaled, creating a foggy mist. The mirror started to fog over too and I wiped it away with my hand, feeling my heart start to race. When I looked in the mirror, Henriksen was looking back at me and I jumped, not expecting that.

"Hi Sam, it's been a while," he said with a smile. I looked at him, he was wearing the same suit he'd had on the day we'd left him in Colorado, right before the wedding, right before he'd died.

"Henriksen. Are you – did you...?" He flickered before my very eyes as I stumbled to get my question out.

"I didn't survive... if that's what you're asking," he answered.

"I'm sorry," I said, feeling my heart sink.

"I know you are," he said.

"Look, if we'd known Lilith was coming..."

"You wouldn't have left half a dozen innocent people in that police station to die in your place," he interrupted, and I nodded, swallowing hard. "You did this to me," Henriksen said. "It was your fault. She was after you, and I paid the price. You left us there to die!"

He grabbed me, shoving me into a locker, and then grabbing my jacket. I looked down and noticed a brand mark on his hand before he swung me around into the mirrors and then rammed my head into a sink. The sickening sound of my head hitting the porcelain rang right through me as I fell to the floor, gasping for breath, searing pain shooting through me.

Henriksen stood over me, and then a gunshot went off, and Beth was standing there with the shotgun, looking wide eyed at the space where Henriksen had just disappeared from.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

I was frowning at computer screen and Dean looked over curiously. "What's up?"

"Well... this isn't the first death of someone in Vanessa's family recently," I said, looking up at him. "Her mother died from suspicious dog attack injuries two weeks ago, and a few days later her brother fell down the stairs at the family home and broke his neck."

"Wow, it is just me or that a run of really bad luck?" Dean asked with a frown.

"Well there's certainly something going on," I said, sitting back in my chair and glancing at my watch. It was eight in the morning. "We should go question her some more after breakfast, that's if the cops haven't already hauled her in."

Dean nodded from where he was reading through a book on black dogs. "Well, I thought maybe it was a black dog," he said. "But they're not in the habit of knocking people down stairs."

"No, they're not."

Two hours later we were sitting in Vanessa Davis' house and she looked shaky and upset.

"Thanks for seeing us so early Mrs Davis," I said with a smile and she nodded, rubbing at her eyes, she looked as if she hadn't slept a wink over night.

"I talked to your other officers last night, they seemed to think it was suspicious that my husband is now dead, am I going to be arrested?"

"Why don't you tell us what happened to your mother and brother?" Dean asked, avoiding the question.

"Uh... well Mum was out for a walk and a neighbour found her not ten yards down the road... a dog had attacked her. My brother, he... he came down for the funeral and he took a wrong turn or something in the dark and fell down the stairs. I don't understand how any of this has to do with Jeffrey's death!" She started to cry and dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to cover everything ma'am," Dean said with a smile. She frowned but didn't argue.

"Mrs Davis, sorry, do you mind if I use your bathroom?" I asked, looking at her apologetically. She looked up and nodded, pointing toward the stairs.

"First door at the top of the stairs," she said, I smiled and left Dean to question her further.

As I got to the top of the stairs I took an EMF reader out and waved it along the bannister, the reader spiked and flickered the closer I got to the top. Glancing back toward the living room, I could just see Dean sitting on the couch talking. I crept along the landing at the top of the stairs and followed the energy spike on the EMF into a room.

"Who are you?" A little voice asked me as I started to enter the room, and I looked around to see the girl from last night standing between me and the bathroom.

"Um, I'm a police officer. My name is Beth. What's yours?" I said, releasing the handle to the bedroom.

"Emily," she said.

"Emily, that's a nice name. Well, Emily, I'm here to help find out what happened to your Daddy," I said. She looked at me sceptically and then pointed to the EMF reader in my hand.

"What's that?"

"This? Well, it's a machine that tells me if there's any weird things happening in your house. Can you tell me if maybe the house gets cold at different times, or the lights turn on and off?" I wasn't fully convinced I should be saying all this, but the one thing I remembered about being a kid was that you generally appreciated not being treated like an idiot.

Emily looked thoughtfully at me, and then nodded.

"It gets cold when my Grandpa comes around," she said.

I looked at her curiously. "Grandpa? And where does he live?" I asked.

"He's dead, but he visits me," she said in a matter-of-fact tone.

"Oh," I said.

I stood up, thinking this new information over.

"Beth?" Dean's voice sounded from below on the ground floor, I looked over the railing and nodded at him. "You ready to go?"

"Yeah," I said with a nod, noting Vanessa standing next to him and warily watching Emily. "I'm good."

I hurried down the stairs, glancing up once more at Emily and frowning. We had to learn more about this Grandpa and whether or not he was the cause for the family murders.

---

Impala

Beth's POV

It was a quick run back to the car as I helped Sam into the back seat, sliding behind the wheel and peeling out from the gas station in a hurry. The sound and motion woke Dean who looked up and around at my pensive expression, and then Sam's bloody, beaten face as he dabbed at the bruises and cuts with a cloth.

"What the hell happened to you?" He asked.

"Spirit," I said, watching the road. He looked down at the shotgun next to me and sobered, shaking his head. "Call Bobby," I added. "These things have found us too."

Dean nodded, opening his phone and dialling, listening to it ring. "Damn it, Bobby! Pick up!" He glanced back at Sam. "How you feeling? You okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" He asked, not holding anything up.

"None," Sam answered with a roll of his eyes. "I'll be fine Dean."

"What kind of spirit?" Dean asked.

"Henriksen," I answered and he looked stunned.

"Henriksen?"

"Yep," Sam said, grimacing again as he touched a tender spot on his face.

"Why? What did he want?" Dean asked, looking like he didn't quite believe that our former FBI-agent turned demon hunter would turn into a sadistic killing spirit.

"Revenge," Sam answered. "Because we got him killed."

"Sam..." Dean said warily.

"Well we did Dean," Sam insisted.

"All right. Stop right there. Whatever the hell is going on, it's happening to us now, okay?" Dean said. "I can't get a hold of Bobby, so if you're not thinking answers, don't think at all."

"Did you get on to Jefferson?" Dean asked, looking at me. I shook my head, starting to feel worried, he frowned and started to dial his phone, waiting for the pick up.

It went to voicemail for him too. "Jefferson, it's Dean, you need to check in man."

---

Present Day
Bobby's House

Dean's POV

It was daylight when we got to the house and Bobby didn't greet us, even though his car was there. We went into the house, shot guns loaded with rock salt and ready to go.

"Bobby?" I called out softly as we entered, there was no response. We passed into the kitchen and through to the lounge when I spotted an iron poker on the floor. I snapped my fingers at Sam and Beth to get their attention and moved carefully into the room. Nothing. Someone was going to have to check upstairs and outside.

I gestured to the stairs as Beth came up beside me. "I'll go. You guys check outside." She nodded and looked at me worriedly, and I could see the fear of splitting up sitting heavy with her, but there was a big area out in the junkyard to check.

"Be careful," I said quietly and she nodded.

"You too."

They headed for the door together, and I crept up the stairs. As I reached the top of the stairs all the doors to the bedrooms slammed shut. I looked around and the door leading up to Cole's attic bedroom started to open, even though no one was there.

I walked forward, gun at the ready. "Come out, come out, whoever you are," I said, waiting to see who was going to reveal themselves.

"Dean Winchester," a voice sounded behind me and I turned around. "Still so bossy," a young woman said with a smile. She had shoulder-length brown hair and looked dirty and scruffy. I stared at her, trying to place her. "You don't recognise me?"

I frowned, looking at her harder.

"This is what I looked like before that demon cut off my hair and dressed me like a slut," she said with a stony look. Suddenly I saw it, and I was shocked.

"Meg?"

"Hi," she said with a smile. "It's okay, I'm not a demon," she said, holding her hands up in the air as I pointed the gun at her.

"You're the girl the demon possessed," I said.

"Meg Masters. Nice to finally talk to you when I'm not, you know, choking on my own blood," she said, taking a step toward me and I held the gun to her. "It's okay. Seriously, I'm just a college girl," she said innocently, then her face turned serious. "Sorry – was. I was walking home one night and got jumped by all this smoke. Next thing you know, I'm a prisoner...in here," she said, pointing to her head. "Now, I was awake. I had to watch while she murdered people."

I swallowed, feeling a bit guilty about that. Beth had told me what it was like to go through that experience, it's why she was always an advocate for saving the person who a demon was possessing where we could. It had changed my entire perspective about her. Unfortunately she hadn't really talked about it until after the experience with Meg. We didn't even know Meg was a demon at that point. We hadn't come across demons much since Beth's possession, they were rare, not like they were now, and at the time we'd thought Meg was a witch summoning daevas.

"I'm sorry," I said, swallowing hard.

"Oh yeah? So sorry you had me thrown off a building?" She asked.

"Well, we thought..."

"No, you didn't think! I kept waiting, praying! I was trapped in there screaming at you! 'Just help me, please!' You're supposed to help people, Dean. Why didn't you help me?" Her voice almost broke with pain and I bit my lip.

"I'm sorry," I said again.

"Stop saying you're sorry!" She snapped, slapping me across the face and knocking me to the floor.

"Meg, Meg..."

She kicked me in the face, connecting with my jaw. I dropped the gun and rolled in on myself, crawling away from her.

"We didn't know!" I said rolling on to my back as she kicked the gun behind her.

"No..." she said, crouching down in front of me. "You just attacked. Did you ever think there was a girl in here? No. You just charged in, slashing and burning. You think you're some kind of hero?"

"No, I don't." And it was the truth. I was nobody.

She grabbed my jacket, pulling me toward her. I looked down and there was a brand of some sort on her hand. "You're damn right. Do you have any idea what it's like to be ridden for months by pure evil... while your family has no ideas what happened to you?"

"We did the best we could," I said, even though I knew it hadn't been enough. Meg shoved me back and stood, kicking me again.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

"Here it is," I said, pulling up an obituary on the Grandfather. "Gregory Davis... killed in a hit and run, they never found the person," I said.

"How long ago?" Dean asked, looking curiously over my shoulder.

"Uhh, three years ago?"

"Yeah but why is he on a killing spree now?" He asked, sitting down next to me.

"I don't know," I said.

"Well, whatever the issue is, looks like we've got a little graveyard digging to do tonight," he said with a grin, looking at me. I groaned, just what I hated to do.

"Yay..." I said unenthusiastically.

"Come on, it's been a while since we've had to do a good salt and burn, you'll get out of practice," he said with a chuckle. I laughed.

"Perish the thought that we have a life without grave desecration and vandalism," I commented, looking at him and his bright hazel eyes. What would it be like? I wondered. To live a normal life with Dean? No hunting, no evil beings, nothing except normal everyday things to worry about like going to work, and paying bills, and maybe... just maybe having a family. I glanced down at my hands, shaking my head.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said, smiling and leaning in to him. "I love you," I said, kissing him softly.

"That's out of the blue," he said with a grin.

"What? I'm not allowed to tell you how I feel?" I asked, inclining my head.

"I didn't say that, I'm not complaining," he said, smiling and kissing me again. He pulled back to look at me thoughtfully, a little upturn of his mouth as his eyes softened. "In fact I like it," he said with a grin.

"Oh really?" I asked. "Thought you weren't into that chick-flick stuff," I commented with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm not," he said, "but we're not in a chick-flick, are we?" I shook my head, chuckling and moving to sit in his lap, draping my arms over his shoulders.

"Nope, we're more in the worlds longest horror story ever," I said.

"Exactly, so declarations of love and adoration should be frequent," Dean said, grinning. "And of course accompanied by lots of sex." I laughed, claiming his lips and drinking from him, my tongue dancing around his as I moaned softly.

I pulled back and looked at him expectantly. "Well?"

"Well what?"

"What about my undying declaration of love?" I said with a smirk.

"Oh no, no no no, that's just for the girls. Only chick-flicks have guys doing that stuff, I have to be a man, protect you from the big bad creature, I don't have time to tell you how I feel," he said.

I raised my eyebrow and shook my head. "Well, how will I know how you feel? After all, I'm not the only girl you save during the horror movie..."

Dean rolled his eyes and pulled me in to him, trailing kisses along my neck. "Sugarpie... if you don't know how I feel by now, I'm at a loss as to what to do," he said, looking up at me, kissing my lips softly. "It wouldn't matter how many I saved, you're still the one and only girl for me." He said quietly. I grinned, kissing him again.

"Now, that wasn't so hard was it?" I asked.

---

Present Day
Bobby's Junkyard

Beth's POV

I jogged back through the cars from the gym, there was nothing there. Sam's head popped up on the other side of a row of cars and his eyes met mine as I started down another aisle. As we passed a section of cars the air suddenly grew cold and I paused, looking at Sam whose breath was foggy. He met my eyes and nodded toward the cars.

He thumped on a trunk, grabbing a nearby crowbar and using it to pry it open. I squeezed through a gap between a couple of cars to join him and raised the gun up as the trunk opened with a groan. Empty. Sam looked at me and moved on to the next car, opening the trunk, it too was empty.

"Bobby!" Sam called. "We're here Bobby!" We looked around urgently through the car. I spotted a reflection in a mirror, it was iced up which was strange in the heat of the day. I gestured to Sam and pointed, the van was piled up on a couple of more cars.

"Bobby! Hold on, Bobby! I'm coming!" Sam called out, jumping up on the bottom car and looking through the door into the van. "Bobby!" He said, using the crowbar to pry open the back doors. As soon as the doors open Sam was sent flying back by the Spirit, hitting the car below.

"Sam!" I yelled, moving toward the back of the cars. A spirit in the form of a little girl jumped out on Sam and I fired the shotgun at her: she disappeared. Bobby was in the back of the car fighting with another little girl, I turned and aimed at her, pulling the trigger and sending rock salt at her, sending her to join her sister.

Bobby climbed out of the car with a look of relief as I helped Sam up, he was bleeding from the eye and panting heavily.

"That was close," Bobby said. "Thanks."

---

Bobby's House

Dean's POV

"It wasn't just me, Dean," Meg continued, standing over me as I crawled backwards along the floor. "I had a sister. A little sister. She worshipped me. You know how little siblings are, right? Beth worships you, so does Sam. They'd do anything for you. She was never the same after I disappeared. She just...she got lost. And when my body was lying in the morgue, beat-up and broken..."

"Meg," I said, holding a hand up to her.

"Do you know what that did to her?! She killed herself!" She said, kicking me in the stomach. I doubled over, groaning, but taking it because she was right. I deserved it. "Because of you Dean! Because all you were thinking about was your family, your revenge, and your demons! Fifty words of Latin a little sooner, and I'd still be alive. My baby sister would still be alive. That blood is on your hands, Dean!"

"You're right," I answered, and she kicked me again, hard. I groaned, reaching for the gun at the small of my back, it didn't have rock salt, but I'd seen something that would do just as well. I pulled it out, pointing it at Meg.

"Come on, Dean, did your brain get french-fried in Hell? You can't shoot me with bullets," she said smugly.

"I'm not shooting you," I said, and I aimed the gun at the ceiling where there was a chandelier hanging over her. The bullets caused the ceiling to give way, the chandelier pulling from the plaster and crashing to the floor. I sighed, looking where Meg had been standing and then up at Beth as she ran up the stairs, looking at me with eyes full of worry.

"Iron," I said to her, laying back. She smirked and shook her head at me, coming to help me to my feet.

Beth looked back at the chandelier and chuckled. "Man, Cole is gonna kill you, she loved that chandelier," Beth said, grinning at me.

"Greeeat," I said, a little bit of a stabbing fear going through me. The midget could be scary when she was mad.

"You okay?" Beth asked, running her hand along my chest as if checking for broken bones.

"Yeah, did you find Bobby?" I asked. She nodded, and slipped an arm around my beaten body, helping me limp a little to the stairs. I'd be all right in a minute or two, but one thing was for sure, new body or not, my age seemed to be catching up with me, I couldn't take a beating as well as I used to anymore.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

We'd just finished digging up the bones of Grandpa Davis and burning them when Dean's phone started ringing. He looked confused at it and then answered.

"Yeah?" He said and then he nodded as someone spoke on the other end. "Yeah, this is Detective Ford," he answered. He gestured to me and then started hurrying toward the car. "Yeah, we'll be right there!"

"What is it?"

"That was Vanessa, she said there's something in the house, she's terrified," Dean said, jumping in the front seat and starting up the car as I climbed in next to him.

"But we just took care of the ghost," I pointed out and Dean nodded, looking at me soberly.

"Apparently Grandpa might not be the problem," he said.

We arrived within ten minutes to the Davis house and exited the car. The lights were flickering on and off upstairs as we ran to the house, knocking on the door and letting ourselves in.

"Vanessa?!" Dean called out and she came running out of the living room.

"I don't know what's going on!" She said, running out of the living room to meet us with a panicked look. "The lights...they just..."

"Where is Emily?" I asked, looking around for the little girl.

"Upstairs in her room," Vanessa said, pointing toward the door where I'd gotten the concentrated EMF reading from earlier in the afternoon.

I spotted a set of iron fireplace tools, and grabbed the poker, moving up the stairs. Dean followed, holding another iron tool that was used to turn logs over, it was just as deadly to a ghost. I hurried up the stairs to the room and opened the door.

Emily screamed when I burst into the room, and I looked at her, suddenly a white skinned child with long claws and evil smile appeared behind Emily. I moved, swinging the poker as Emily screamed again and ran away. The spirit disappeared as I connected with the etheric form.

Dean looked at me, breathing hard and I turned in horror. "Angiak!" I said and he nodded, running down the hall to the stairs again. I grabbed Emily's hand and pulled her with me down the stairs, following Dean.

---

Bobby's Library

Beth's POV

"So, they're all people we know?" Sam asked as I cleaned up a cut on Dean's face. He waved me off for fussing and I shook my head, moving to sit down on the couch.

"Not just know. People we couldn't save," Dean said, sitting down on the couch next to me and starting to load his gun with salt rounds. "Hey, I saw something on Meg. Did she have a tattoo when she was alive?"

"I don't think so," I said, shrugging.

"It was like a … a mark on her hand – almost like a brand," Dean said.

"I saw a mark, too, on Henriksen," Sam said, nodding.

"What did it look like?" Bobby asked

"Uh, paper?" Sam asked, and he took the paper offered to him and started sketching the mark, holding it up to Dean, who nodded.

"That's it," he confirmed, handing it to Bobby.

"I may have seen this before..." Bobby said.

"It's the mark of the witnesses," a voice sounded from the other side of the room. I looked up to see Jefferson leaning heavily against the doorway and I jumped, going to him.

"Jefferson! Are you all right?" I asked, looking him over. He was covered in small cuts and bruises, and looked like he'd tangled with a rose bush. He nodded, smiling weakly.

"I'll live," he said, and then held up his phone. "I got your messages. Consider this your check-in." I shook my head, rolling my eyes at him.

"You oaf, you could have just called," I joked. He chuckled and nodded.

"Next time." He looked over at Bobby and they exchanged a knowing look. "We need to move," he said. Bobby nodded, grabbing a couple of books off a shelf nearby and heading for the kitchen.

"Follow me," he said.

"Where are we going?" Sam asked, always one to question.

"Some place safe, ya idjit," he answered, grabbing the books to him and leading us away. We followed him down into the basement and he opened a big iron door to another room. I stared in awe, we'd never been down here even as teens. The room looked like it was made from iron, it was like a bunker.

As we stepped in I looked up, there was an exhaust fan over head circulating air from the outside, and it was crossed with a giant iron devil's trap. The lights came on and we looked around, there were more devil's traps painted on the floor, and the walls were lined with weapons of all descriptions from guns to axes. Huge bottles of holy water lined the top shelves and there was a cot in one corner, a table and other assorted conveniences like a radio nearby.

Bobby closed the door behind us, sealing it with the handle and it groaned ominously as the locks tumbled into place.

I shuddered, suddenly feeling a little claustrophobic. I touched one of the walls, it looked like iron with rivets holding it together, there was a fine coating of salt over it too. "Bobby, is this...?"

"Solid iron. Completely coated in salt. One hundred percent ghost-proof," Bobby said with a nod.

Jefferson chuckled and followed him. "You built a panic room?" He asked.

Bobby turned to look at us all and raised his eyebrow. "I had a weekend off," he said, shrugging.

"Bobby." Dean said, picking up a gun and turning to the man.

"What?"

"You're awesome!" He said, turning to see a poster of Bo Derek wearing a swimsuit on the wall. "Oh!" He said with a chuckle. I rolled my eyes, shaking my head and Bobby looked a little chagrined, moving to take it down. I laughed, boys, they would always be boys.

A short while later we were sitting at the desks making salt rounds for the shotguns. Dean paused, looking up at me.

"See, this is why I can't get behind God," he said randomly and I frowned.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"If he doesn't exist, fine. Bad crap happens to good people. That's how it is. There's no rhyme or reason – just random, horrible, evil – I get it okay. I can roll with that," he said, and I nodded. "But if he is out there, what's wrong with him? Where the hell is he while all these decent people are getting torn to shreds? How does he live with himself? You know, why doesn't he help?" I stared up at him and then glanced at Jefferson, who was leaning on another table talking to Bobby. I raised an eyebrow at him, he was the minister after all.

"Oh I'm not touching this one with a ten foot pole Princess," he said with a smirk.

"Yeah," Bobby agreed, nodding. I shrugged at Dean, having no answer.

"I don't know Dean," I said softly and he sighed, reaching out to run his hand along my cheek.

"Found it," Bobby said, suddenly, looking at Jefferson. "You were right."

"Right about what?" I asked.

"The symbol the boys saw... the brand on the ghosts," Bobby said.

"Yeah?" Sam asked, standing up and walking toward him.

"It's the mark of the witness," Jefferson said, moving to sit on the cot with a groan.

"You said that, but witness? Witness to what?" Sam asked.

"The unnatural," Bobby said. "None of them died what you'd call ordinary deaths. See, these ghosts – they were forced to rise. They woke up in agony. They were like rabid dogs. It ain't their fault. Someone rose them... on purpose," he said.

"Who?" I asked.

"Do I look like I know?" Bobby asked. "But whoever it was used a spell so powerful it left a mark, a brand on their souls. Whoever did this had big plans. It's called 'the rising of the witnesses'."

"Yes, it figures into an ancient prophecy," Jefferson said, looking at me. I frowned, what the hell were they talking about?

"Wait... wait. What book is that prophecy from?" I asked, trying to see what he was reading. Now that he was talking about it, I was sure I'd heard this term before.

"You know it," Jefferson said, looking at me. Again I frowned, thinking about where I'd come across that term. Dean stood up and wandered toward Bobby as well, crossing his arms, his brow furrowed in concentration.

"The widely distributed version's just for tourists, you know," Bobby said. "But long story short..."

"Revelations," I said as the realisation hit me, feeling a sinking horror take root in my gut.

Bobby nodded. "This is a sign," he said.

"A sign of what?" Dean and Sam asked in unison.

I swallowed, looking from Bobby to Jefferson. "The apocalypse," I said softly and Dean's eyes opened wide.

---

Five years ago
Millsboro, Delaware

Beth's POV

When we reached the living room Vanessa was looking freaked out.

"Vanessa, did Emily have a sister?" I asked, looking at the girl urgently.

"What? Why would you ask that?!" Vanessa questioned.

"Just answer the question!" Dean snapped.

"Yes... older sister, she … she drowned before Emily was born," Vanessa said.

"Drowned?" I asked, it didn't fit the profile. Angiaks were children who were abandoned in the wild. "Are you sure?"

"Her father too her camping, it was an accident!" Vanessa insisted.

I glanced at Dean and groaned. "Oh tell me he didn't..."

"I'm thinking so," he said, turning to Vanessa."Where is she buried?"

"She wasn't, she was cremated," Vanessa said. "What has this got to do with anything?!"

Suddenly the angiak appeared behind her. Dean yelled, trying to reach the creature before it could attack but he was too slow. The claws of the creature pierced clear through the body of Mrs Davis and she spluttered in shocked silence before falling to the ground.

Emily screamed as Dean swung his iron bar at the creature, it disappeared again.

"It's not going to stop until..." I looked at Emily, my statement trailing off and Dean nodded, starting to go through trinkets in the room. "There has to be something," he said, opening a cupboard to reveal a silver set of baby items. One of them was a container for baby's first lock of hair. I moved, going through another cupboard in the kitchen, finding the salt and starting to draw a line. I ran out, and moved for the bag we'd carried in to get more.

"It's not here!" Dean said, finding the container to be empty.

"Well there has to be something holding her here!" I said, and I turned, looking in horror to see the spirit back, and advancing on Emily.

"Dean!" I said, calling out and he lunged for the spirit with his iron poker.

I looked at Vanessa and something caught my eye, a silver locket around her neck, now covered in blood. I ran for the locket and pulled a lighter out of my pocket just as the Spirit lashed out at Emily, and there was a spray of blood that flew across the wall to the girl's screams.

Dean swung the bar, but he was too late, the little girl was dead before she even hit the ground. I gasped, and opened the locket, there was a piece of hair in there. Taking the lighter, I flicked it open and held the hair over it, watching as it sizzled and burned away with the sickening stench that always accompanied burning hair.

I stumbled to my feet, hands covered in blood as Dean grabbed my arm, dragging me to the door.

"Emily..." I said, shaking my head.

"She's dead, Beth, we need to go, now!" He said, pulling me with him. I felt hollow and weak as he shoved me into the passenger seat of the car, tossing our bag on the back seat and getting behind the wheel.

---

Present Day

Bobby's House (Panic Room)

Beth's POV

"Apocalypse? The apocalypse, apocalypse? The four horsemen, pestilence, $5-a-gallon-gas apocalypse?" Dean asked.

"That's the one. The rise of the witnesses is a... a mile marker," Jefferson said with a grimace, stretching out his leg and for the first time I noticed that he had injured it.

"Okay, so, what do we do now?" Sam asked.

"Road trip," Dean said quickly, nodding at me. "Grand Canyon, Star Trek Experience... expensive penthouse suite overlooking Vegas where we never leave the bedroom," he added as he sat down next to me again with a weak smile. I smiled and shook my head leaning in to kiss him quickly.

"First things first. How about we survive our friends out there?" Bobby said.

"Great. Any ideas aside from staying in this room until Judgement Day?" Dean asked.

Bobby nodded and tapped his pen on the book a couple of times, leaning back over it to read.

"It's a spell...to send the witnesses back to rest. Should work," he said.

"Should. Huh. Great," Sam replied with a shake of his head.

"If I translate it correctly," Bobby added. "I think I got everything I need here at the house," he said, looking over at us.

"Any chance you have everything you need in this room?" I asked hopefully.

Bobby snickered. "So, you thought our luck was gonna start now all of a sudden?" He said, I smirked and shook my had. "Spell's got to be cast over an open fire."

"The fireplace in the library," Sam said.

"Bingo."

"That's just not as appealing as a... uh... ghost-proof panic room, you know?" Dean said with a chuckle.

In a short amount of time we were ready to leave the panic room and find our way up to the main part of the house. We were loaded with shotguns and salt shells, although there wasn't as much as we wanted of those to go around as Bobby was quick to point out.

"Cover each other. And aim careful. Don't run out of ammo until I'm done, or they'll shred you. Ready?"

I swallowed and looked at the others, my stomach twisting into a thousand knots of nerves. Jefferson limped up beside me, sighing and nodding.

"You're hurt," I said.

"I'll live," he replied.

"You should stay here," I countered but he shook his head.

"I won't be doing any running around, but I can watch Bobby's back at least," he said. Bobby nodded and pulled open the door, sitting on the stairs waiting for us was a familiar face.

"Hey, Dean. You remember me?" Ronald asked. I thought back to that time in the bank with the shapeshifter when he'd held it up, sending us into a siege situation with the FBI. It had been the start of a whole lot of treacherous times for us, we'd had to lay low, real low, in order to get the FBI off our backs, and then I'd lost the baby... somehow it all seemed connected in a strange way, even though they weren't.

"Ronald, huh?" Dean asked. "With the laser eyes? I wish I could say it's good to see you."

"I am dead because of you." He said, standing up. "Because of all of you. You were supposed to help me!" Ronald yelled.

Bobby shot Ronald and he disappeared, Dean looked surprised.

"If you're gonna shoot, shoot. Don't talk," he said, starting to lead the way up the stairs. I carried a bag of salt in one hand, the shotgun in the other. While Bobby and Jefferson set up with the book and translation I started to pour a salt circle around them, Dean knelt down in front of the fireplace and started to light the fire.

Bobby looked at Sam. "Upstairs, linen closet – red hex box. It'll be heavy."

"Got it," Sam said with a nod.

Something shimmered before me and I looked up into the face of Emily. "Beth," she said. "You killed me Beth," she said and I gasped.

Dean turned, pointing his shotgun at her and fired, looking at me. "Don't," he said. "Don't even go there."

Bobby looked at Dean. "Kitchen. Cutlery drawer. It's got a false bottom. Hemlock, opium, wormwood."

"Opium?" Dean asked.

"Go!" Bobby snapped and Dean ran out the door.

A pair of girls appeared next to Bobby. "Bobby. You walked right by us while that monster ate us all up," one said.

"You could have saved us," the other said.

Jefferson aimed and shot at the girls. "Oh shut up!" He snapped.

"I'm gonna check on Dean," I said.

"I'll do it, he's closer, you go get Sam," Jefferson said and I nodded, heading for the stairs.

When I reached the upstairs landing I could hear someone talking.

"You know what really pisses me off Sam?" She asked, and I recognised the woman as Meg, how Dean had described her earlier. Sam turned and fired at her, but she simply rematerialized next to him.

"You saw how I suffered for months. I thought you must have learned something. I thought I died for something."

"Meg," Sam said. I raised my gun and pointed it at her, but her next words stayed my hand.

"But what you're doing with that demon, Ruby… how many innocent bodies has Ruby burned through for kicks? How many girls just like me? And you don't send her back to Hell? You're a monster!" She screamed at him.

I fired at her, and looked at Sam as she disappeared. Sam swallowed, looking over at me.

"Oh we seriously have to talk when this is over, let's go," I said, starting back toward the stairs.

---

5 Years Ago
Impala

Beth's POV

I stared at the blood on my hands, shaking. "That poor girl... oh my God!" I said.

"Beth, we did our best," Dean said.

"Yeah but we failed!"

"Don't think about it," he said, shaking his head. "We have to get out of this state, as far away as we possibly can," he pushed down on the accelerator as the car lurched forward and he pulled us onto the road out of town.

"We failed, we got that little girl killed," I said again, rocking.

"Beth, you have to focus. It happens, we did our best," Dean said, looking at me worried. "We did our best."

"It wasn't good enough," I said softly, closing my eyes and leaning back in my seat. "It wasn't good enough."

I thought about the creature and shook my head."An angiak... they're so rare... we..."

"We couldn't have known," Dean said, casting a glance at me and sighing. "We had no way of knowing."

"How can people do that to their own children?" I asked, shaking my head. Angiaks were the spirits of children left in the wild and exposed originating during hard centuries where tribes couldn't feed everyone, especially the weak children. The children would die, and come back hungry, angry... and take it out on the whole tribe.

As time had passed, the tribe became the family who had left the child to die. They were rare because people just didn't do this kind of evil thing anymore. Except this father, he'd obviously drowned his child, or left her to drown, to die exposed in the wild.

"If we could have just got at the thing faster..." Dean said, already problem solving for the next hunt.

"With iron?" I asked, looking curious.

"Well throwing salt isn't the best idea," he said with a chuckle. I paused, thinking about it.

"No, but who said we had to throw it?" I asked, turning to him and picking up the shotgun that was lying between us on the seat. I opened the gun and popped out a shell, holding it up. "What if we could shoot it?" I said, raising an eyebrow. Dean stopped to nod, a smile twitching at his mouth.

"Did I mention you're a genius?" He asked.

---

Dean's POV

I started going through the kitchen drawer, grabbing the items Bobby needed when the doors slammed shut between the library and kitchen.

"Dean?!" I heard Jefferson call out as he banged on the door.

"I'm all right, cover Bobby!" I yelled back as I searched through the drawer for the opium.

Henriksen appeared next to me and I glanced at him. "Victor."

"Dean."

"I know," I said, trying to head off the inevitable discussion. It was pretty clear where he was going to be going with the whole you're to blame for my death discussion.

"No. You don't," he countered and I frowned.

"It's my fault you're dead. I left you behind. And the minute I heard about that explosion, I thought 'I should have known'. I should have protected you," I confessed to him, and he looked at me while I reached for the gun I'd laid on the counter. Henriksen waved his hand and the gun went flying across the room.

"Unh-unh. Not so fast," he said. "You think you left and Lilith came and we all died in a beautiful blast of … white light? If only. Forty-five minutes," he added and I stared at him.

"What?"

"Over forty-five minutes. Lilith said she wanted to have some fun. The secretary, remember her? Nancy, the virgin. Lilith filleted Nancy's skin off piece by piece. Right in front of us, made us watch. Nancy never stopped screaming."

I felt myself pale, I knew exactly what that felt like and it was beyond description, you wanted to die as soon as it started, you were begging for death before they were even half done and a snivelling shell of a person by the end.

"No…" I said, I didn't want to believe it.

"I was the last," Henriksen said.

"Victor…"

Henriksen reached inside my chest and gripped my heart. I gasped from the pain, this was nothing new to me either, but I hadn't been a soul inside a human body when it had been done to me in Hell. I stumbled, unable to move as my heart constricted, and I struggled to free myself.

"Tell me how it's fair," Henriksen said. "You get saved from Hell – I die. Why do you deserve another chance, Dean?"

Jefferson was banging on the door, trying to get access, and Sam and Beth rushed in from the other entry to the kitchen. Sam raised his gun and shot Henriksen as Beth rushed toward me, catching me with her arm under her shoulder before I dropped to the floor, weakened.

"Are you all right?" She asked, looking at me.

"No," I said, shaking my head and clinging to her. I'd never been so happy to see her in my life.

"Come on," she said as Jefferson got the doors open and we all headed for the library. Sam covered us from behind while Jefferson limped toward the salt circle.

I was reloading my gun when Vanessa appeared, looking at me and then Beth. "You killed us, you could have saved us if you'd just gotten to that locket sooner," she said.

Jefferson shot her and shook his head at us.

Ronald popped up; the spirits were coming fast and thick now. "Ronald. Hey, come on, man. I thought we were pals," I said, trying to reason with the guy.

"That's when I was breathing. Now I'm gonna eat you alive," he said with an evil grin.

"Well… come on, I'm not a cheeseburger," I said, cocking the gun and pointing it at Ronald, however he vanished before I could pull the trigger.

Bobby started to recite the ritual, his Latin flowing easily and fast. The windows flew open and wind started to blow through the room, blowing the salt away. Almost instantly we were set upon by the spirits. Vanessa and Emily, Meg, the girls, Henriksen. We circled around Bobby, facing out as we took our shots where we could and he continued to recite the spell.

Henriksen knocked Dean's gun from his hands as he was reloading, he spun to find an extra gun on the desk, Bobby's, turning to shoot. The click of an empty gun sounded and I spun to shoot Henriksen instead as Dean picked up an iron poker, hitting at Emily. Meg appeared and sent Sam flying against the wall, pinned in place by a desk.

"Sam!" Jefferson called out, spinning to hit Meg, but the desk didn't actually move.

"Cover Bobby!" Sam said.

Bobby continued to recite the spell as we shot at the girls approaching Sam while trying to cover Bobby at the same time. Suddenly Bobby finished but he turned to find a new spirit in front of him who reached out and plunged a hand into his chest. Bobby stumbled.

I was stunned, recognising instantly who the woman was in front of us, she hadn't aged a day. "Mom?" I whispered. Jefferson looked over and took aim but his gun clicked empty as Bobby fell to a kneeling position, dropping the bowl the with ingredients.

"Jefferson!" Bobby called and Jefferson spun, closest to him and caught the bowl. "Fireplace!"

I watched as my mother launched herself at Jefferson while he struggled to move on his injured leg. She slashed at him with claw like hands, and I screamed as a spray of blood went across the room and Jefferson fell to the floor, a stunned look in his face. He had just enough presence of mind to toss the contents of the bowl in the fire before falling on his front to the floor. The fire flared blue and the spirits all suddenly disappeared.

"Jefferson?!" Dean asked, rushing to the man as I dropped my gun, running to the medicine cabinet and grabbing supplies. Sam pushed away the desk, freeing himself and helped Bobby to his feet. He nodded, indicating he was okay.

I grabbed gauze and bandages, and clean hand towels out of the cupboard, running back to where Jefferson was lying on the floor, gasping for breath.

"Oh god, oh god," I said, applying pressure to the wounds that were across his chest. Sam was on the phone calling an ambulance and Dean held Jefferson up a little as I wound bandages around his torso to hold the compress in place. "Don't die on us," I said and Jefferson laughed, blood spitting out of his mouth. "You've got some explaining to do about what I just saw," I said with a frown.

"I'll be sure to keep that in mind," he chuckled and then had another coughing fit.

I held his hand, this man who had been our friend for over a decade, always checking in on us, watching out for us, and there seemed there was more to that story now. I frowned, wondering how it was that my mother had ended up a spirit called to rise and attack us.

---

Later that night

Beth's POV

Sam had gone up to bed when we got back from the hospital; Jefferson was stable but was still sleeping off the anaesthesia when we left. I had wanted to stay but Bobby had insisted I go back with Dean who looked like he was struggling a little with an internal demon. When he fell asleep on the couch, completely exhausted, I moved to grab my candle and go out to the little garden where Sam had built a memorial to my son.

I lit the candle and watched it flicker as it sat on a stone pillar I'd purchased for prayer candles. Sitting on the bench I pulled my knees up to my chest, hugging them to me and closed my eyes.

"Castiel," I whispered softly. "Are you listening?"

"Yes," a voice said suddenly and I jumped, not expecting the man to appear right next to me right then and there.

"Geez, you scared the daylights out of me," I said, standing up to face him, staring in awe at his face.

"Sorry," he said, looking at me. "What are you looking at?"

"My uncle…" I said, reaching out a hand to touch his face and then pulling it back, feeling a little awkward. "Is he… awake? Does he see?" I shuddered, remembering the demon that had ridden me for hours, and how horrifying it had been, unable to move.

"No, he is asleep for most of it," Castiel replied and I nodded. "But, that is not why you called."

"No," I said, trying to form my words. "What you said about my family, what did you mean?" I had been puzzling over it ever since he'd said it, and at the moment he seemed to be the only one with any answers.

Castiel looked quizzically at me. "Both your father and mother's families have long lines back to religious practice. But your mother's, it has a special connection to the angels."

"How?"

"She is descended from a long line temple priests and priestesses loyal to our Lord," he replied. "They were initiated into the mysteries and teachings, and bore the responsibility of communicating with him through many of the angels. They also agreed to be vessels for us when we are sent to do God's work on Earth."

I thought this over and nodded. "Okay, so why didn't I know about you? Why haven't I heard you like my mother did?"

Castiel frowned and looked at me curiously. "I thought you were ignoring us." I laughed and shook my head.

"Do you know how hard I pray for your guidance? Why would I ignore you?" I asked.

He frowned and looked at me harder, reaching out his hands and placing them next to my head. "You could hear us as a child," he said, and I looked at him, stunned. I didn't remember any of that.

"Something has happened," he said. I felt my knees go weak a little as a flash of light passed through my head, and I closed my eyes even though it wasn't outside of my me. My head started to thump behind my eyes and I groaned a little, raising my hand to my forehead.

"When I was in New Orleans, a woman, she said to ask you about the energy bolt I was hit with," I said, opening my eyes to look into his piercing blue gaze. It was a little intense, he didn't even blink when he looked at you. I shook my head.

"Blink," I said and he looked at me confused.

"Excuse me?"

"If you're going to try and pass yourself off as human, you need to blink once in a while," I said and he raised his eyebrow, blinking.

"I see, thank you."

I nodded, he was a curious thing and I couldn't believe I was standing in front of an honest-to-God angel having a conversation where I was telling him to blink occasionally.

"Yes, the energy bolt opened you up to the world beyond this one," he said. "It amplified your abilities to feel us," he said.

"To feel demons," I clarified.

"Unfortunately that seems to be a side effect of your possession," he said.

I groaned again, the closer I got to him the more my head seemed to pound. "Are you causing this?" I asked, gesturing to my head.

"Hmmm, possibly," he said, tilting his head. "Imagine you have an ability inside of you, part of your DNA, and it is a connection to Heaven. You have the ability to connect with me and speak with me as you would a phone call"

"Through prayer?"

"Prayer is the easiest way. Also through your dreams, and other methods. The energy bolt has opened up your line to feel demons too because of the stain that demon left on you when it possessed you. It forced its way inside of you, which is not easy for demons to do with angelic vessels, they have to be very strong."

I thought about that, it seemed like the demon that had possessed me knew exactly what it had been doing, it had been on a mission, not just a random possession.

"Can you make it stop?" I asked, how much of a relief would that be? I found myself excited by the prospect.

"No," he said. "You are a vessel, it will never be off ," Castiel said.

"Then fix it, surely I'm not supposed to be sick every time I cross paths with a demon!" I snapped, crossing my arms.

My display of temper didn't seem to affect the angel in any way whatsoever; he tilted his head and examined me, looking almost right through me, as if he was looking into my very soul.

"No, you're correct," and without any explanation or warning he reached out and placed two fingers to my forehead. I felt a rush of energy wash through me and was overcome with a feeling of weakness. My legs gave way under me and I heard Dean shout as I fell to my knees, the dizziness I'd had when I first started having these feelings was now tenfold, the sickness in my stomach had returned and I felt like I might vomit at any moment.

"Ahhhh!" I groaned, grabbing my head as hundreads of voices seemed to teem through it in a jumbled mess of words and images. "God!"

"What have you done to her?!" Dean voice came through the haze and I felt him grab me around the shoulders and turn me to him. The last thing I saw was his hazel eyes peering at me full of worry before my surroundings faded.

I looked up and found myself in a garden full of trees and flowerbeds, the sun shining overhead, birds singing and flying around.

'Where am I?' I thought to myself, spinning in a circle.

"Nowhere," Castiel replied and I found him standing in front of me. "We're inside your mind."

"My mind?" I asked, confused.

"This is one of your memories, a time your parents took you to the botanical gardens," Castiel explained, and now that I thought about it, it looked familiar.

"What is going on?" I asked, turning shrewd eyes to Castiel.

"I have fixed your connection to me, but you are now hearing all the voices of our line," he said, as if I was supposed to understand a word he had just said.

"Wait, I thought I was a vessel for you?" I said, crossing my arms.

"You are, but there are others of the same angelic line who are connected to you," he said.

"How many?" I asked.

"There are twelve multiplied by twelve lines," he answered.

"No I meant... wait... there are one hundred and forty-four lines?" I asked, doing the math quickly in my head. He nodded silently at me.

"And how many angels are there within these lines?" I asked.

"One thousand," he replied.

"One … thousand... right. There are 144,000 angels in Heaven?" I asked, rubbing my forehead with my hand.

"At least, I'm not counting the first among our kind, and the ones I do not know of," he answered. "Is this a problem?"

"Only that I just had a thousand voices and thoughts running through my head, and I must be... I don't know, having some kind of breakdown if we're locked inside my head. No, no problem, why on Earth would you say that?" I said, rolling my eyes.

Apparently angels didn't appreciate sarcasm: Castiel just looked at me with an infuriatingly calm expression on his face, made all the more stranger that it was coming from my uncle.

"I can't function on a daily basis if I have to filter through all this noise," I said pointedly, hoping the direct route might achieve a better answer.

"I see," Castiel said, looking thoughtful. "Well you only need think of me, and the others will fade," he said.

"So it's like tuning a radio," I said thoughtfully, starting to pace in front of him.

"I am not familiar with this item," he said, and I sighed.

"Nevermind, I get it, I think. But does that mean I'm always going to hear your thoughts?" I asked.

"No, I can shut it out if you wish. I can teach you to control it over time so that you can turn it on and off at will," he said. I nodded, that sounded good. Anything sounded better than what I'd just heard.

"Please, that would be good," I said, stepping toward him.

His blue eyes stared piercingly at me, and then nodded. "Focus on my voice, and only mine," he said as the white noise returned, and once more I was back in my body, grasping at my head, Dean was holding me to him and on the phone with his free hand talking to the 911 operator.

I reached out and grabbed his shoulder, groaning. The voices started to fade as I honed in on the one voice I was listening for, Castiel. Dean froze when I moved, and he picked me up and moved to sit down on the bench, settling me in his lap.

"I'm okay," I whispered, my eyes still closed as I worked on fine-tuning this new ability. Dean stopped talking into the phone and then I heard him apologise to the operator and hang up.

Finally the noise receded and it was just me in my head, and Castiel, who was mercifully quiet for the most part. I caught minor glimpses of things he was thinking about, and one memory stood out in particular.

I stared at him, my mouth dropping open.

"You were there…" I said incoherently, Dean looked at me.

"What? Who was where?" He asked.

"When she died on the operating table, yes, I was." Castiel replied. I remembered it now; he'd been in a nurse's body, a young woman who had told me I wouldn't remember the events, but that everything was going to work out.

"You said you were always with me…" I said, eyes widening as memories triggered by that statement started to flood my mind.

All these of all the times I had seen Castiel and not realised it. The day I was born where he was inhabiting a nurse, the time I nearly rode my bike into oncoming traffic and a stranger stepped off the street to stop me, the substitute teacher who had waited with me until Dad had come to collect me after school one day… and more, now I had other memories coming back. I gasped, looking up at Dean.

"Oh wow…" I said, looking up at Dean.

"What?" He asked, frowning.

I looked up at Castiel and gaped. "That was real?" I asked. He looked at me and nodded, eyes penetrating me with their stare.

"Was what real?" Dean asked, looking completely confused, not following the conversation at all.

I didn't answer; I simply rolled Dean's t-shirt up on his left bicep to reveal the scar there. I placed my hand over it again, like I had already done a dozen or more times, but this time I looked harder. It fit, perfectly. It was my hand print burned into his flesh.

I looked up at Castiel. "You used me as the vessel to pull Dean out of Hell?" I asked.

"You did consent," Castiel said.

"I thought it was a dream!" I said. Dean was looking from me to Castiel.

"That was the only place I could talk to you," Castiel replied.

Dean shifted in frustration, placing me on the bench and getting up to pace.

"Are you serious?" He asked, and Castiel nodded.

"She was my only choice," he said. "I needed a physical body that could pass into the realm of Hell, angelic forms cannot do that."

"Look, I don't care who you think you are, but you had no right to put her in danger like that. What if you hadn't succeeded? The whole reason I was down there was to keep her out of Hell!" He said angrily. Castiel didn't react at all; it was as if we were talking to a brick wall.

"She prayed for it, it was the best way to free you," Castiel pointed out.

"It doesn't matter," I said, standing up and grabbing Dean's arm. "It doesn't matter, you're here, and that's all that counts. If that was the only way, then it's done, and I won't take that back."

He paused and sighed, nodding.

"You should be grateful Dean, without Beth's connection to you, we may not have gotten to you," Castiel said and Dean scowled.

"Yeah, well, I still don't agree," Dean said, shaking his head and standing in front of Castiel. "What are you doing here, anyway?"

"Beth called me," Castiel said and Dean turned to stare incredulously at me. "Excellent job with the witnesses," he added and Dean spun around.

"You were hip to all this?" He asked.

"I was, uh, made aware," he said, looking at Dean.

"Well, thanks a lot for the angelic assistance. You know, I almost got my heart ripped out of my chest," Dean said.

"But you didn't," Castiel said.

"I thought angels were supposed to be guardians. Fluffy wings, halos – you know, Michael Landon. Not dicks."

"Read the Bible," Castiel said patiently. "Angels are warriors of God. I'm a soldier."

"Yeah? Then why didn't you fight?"

"I'm not here to perch on your shoulder. We had larger concerns," he said.

"Concerns? There were people getting torn to shreds down here! What about Jefferson? He's not out of the woods," Dean countered. "And, by the way, while all this is going on, where the Hell is your boss, huh, if there is a God?"

"There's a God," Castiel said. I bit my lip, watching them, not sure I wanted to get in the middle of this argument.

"I'm not convinced," Dean said. "'Cause if there's a God, what the Hell is he waiting for, huh? Genocide? Monsters roaming the Earth? The freaking apocalypse? At what point does he lift a damn finger and help the poor bastards that are stuck down here?" Dean was in fine form, his eyes flashing angry at the angel as Castiel stood there and watched him.

"The Lord works in…"

"If you say 'mysterious ways', so help me, I will kick your ass," Dean growled. I stood up and put my hand on Dean's arm, throwing him a warning glance. He took a breath and looked at me, concerned.

"So, Jefferson and Bobby were right… about the witnesses," I said, bringing it back to today's events. "This is some kind of a … sign of the apocalypse?"

Castiel nodded. "That's why we're here. Big things afoot," he answered.

"Do we want to know what kind of things?" I asked.

"I sincerely doubt it," Castiel answered. "But you need to know. The rising of the witnesses is one of the 66 seals."

"Okay. I'm guessing that's not a show at Seaworld," Dean said.

"Those seals are being broken by Lilith," Castiel replied.

"She did the spell. She rose the witnesses," I said, frowning. Why wasn't I surprised?

"Mmhmm. And not just here. Twenty other hunters are dead," Castiel answered.

"Of course. She picked victims that the hunters couldn't save so that they would barrel right after us," Dean said.

"Lilith has a certain sense of humour," Castiel replied.

"Well, we put those spirits back to rest," Dean said.

"It doesn't matter. The seal was broken," Castiel said.

"Why break the seal anyway?" Dean asked.

"Think of the seals as locks on a door," Castiel said.

"Okay, last one opens and…?"

"Lucifer walks free," Castiel said.

I swallowed looking at him hard. Lucifer. The prince of the angels cast down to Hell for defying God. He was epitome of evil.

"Lucifer?" Dean asked. "But I thought Lucifer was just a story told at demon Sunday school. There's no such thing."

"Three days ago, you thought there was no such thing as me. Why do you think we're here, walking among you now for the first time in two thousand years?" Castiel said.

"To stop Lucifer," I said softly, biting my lip.

"That's why we've arrived," Castiel said with a nod.

"Well… bang-up job so far. Stellar work with the witnesses. That's nice." Dean said sarcastically.

"We tried. And there are other battles, other seals. Some we'll win, some we'll lose. This one we lost. Our numbers are not unlimited," he said, looking at me. I frowned, 144,000… no, it didn't seem so big in comparison to some things. "Six of my brothers died in the field this week," Castiel said. "You think the armies of Heaven should just follow you around? There's a bigger picture here. You should show me some respect. I dragged you out of Hell, I can throw you back in."

He vanished before I could even say anything to that and I hit Dean on the arm, scowling.

"Jesus Dean!"

"What?"

"If you think I would cope with you going back to Hell, think again. Don't go pissing off the damn angel!" I said, rubbing a hand across my weary eyes.

"Sorry," he said a little sheepishly. He reached out and pulled me into his arms and I sighed, leaning into his embrace and holding him tightly.

"What did he do to you?" Dean asked after a moment, lifting my chin to look at him.

"He fixed me," I said with a shrug.

"Fixed you?"

"Yeah, no more demon sense… just… angel talkback radio twenty-four seven," I answered.

"Oh that sounds better," he scoffed, shaking his head and starting to walk back toward the house with his arm around my waist.

"It's not too bad right now, and he said I can learn to control it," I focused, there was a soft murmur in the back of my mind, like someone talking behind closed doors, but it faded if I tried to block it out, paying more attention to the sound of Dean's voice, the environment around me. "It's better than the sickness that comes with the demons."

"Well… we'll see," Dean said as he took my hand and pulled me up the steps into the house. Sam was walking around in the kitchen when we entered and he looked at us curiously.

"Where you guys been?" He asked. "Are you all right?"

"So… you got no problem believing in … God and Angels?" Dean asked him. Sam paused and shook his head.

"No, not really," he said.

"So I guess that means that you believe in the Devil?" Dean questioned.

"Why are you asking me this?" Sam asked with a confused look.

I looked at Sam, suddenly recalling what Meg had said in the heat of battle. I narrowed my eyes at him. Not now, but soon, he had some questions to answer. Maybe Meg had been referring to before Sam had sent Ruby packing. But my gut told me there was more to it; I was going to be keeping a closer eye on my little brother for a while.

Sam looked curiously at us and shrugged. "Well?" He asked.

"Why don't you fill him in sugarpie?" Dean asked, heading for the kitchen. "I need a beer!"

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AUTHOR'S NOTES

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Song for this chapter is: Ghosts by Sons & Lovers - an absolutely haunting and amazing song. Look it up on youtube!

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Jefferson gets to tell his story soon about what happened while he wasn't answering his phone!

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Hope you enjoyed the chapter :) Please leave me a review!