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CHAPTER 28

"Come on," Dean whispered to his brother as they made their way toward the hotel door. Emma and Maggie were still sleeping, each curled toward each other across the beds. "Let's go check out the comic store. Let them sleep they had a long day yesterday."

"Right." Sam said, quietly, and followed Dean out the door. Once it was closed, Maggie opened her eyes. Rolling over onto her back, she stared at the ceiling for the longest time before looking over at Emma, who was still sleeping peacefully. For once, no nightmares. With a quiet giggle to herself and an excited jump to her feet, she padded over to the table before sitting down and pulling out her pad of paper.

Emma's Birthday she wrote on the top in big, blocklike letters, and as her friend slept, and the boys were out, she began planning.

It was not even an hour before the two were walking back into the room, their arms loaded with books. Emma had just then woken up, and was rummaging through her clothes, quiet. She blinked a few times as they walked back into the door, and gave Dean and his brother a tired smile. "Look at this!" Dean exclaimed as they walked in the door, and threw down an armful of books. Maggie looked up from her notebook, shutting it quietly and winking at Sam. Emma walked over, a sweater in her hands and looked down at the bed.

"Books?" she asked, picking one up. "I thought you said you were bringing back coffee." Dean smiled a little bit and handed her the last book in the series, turning it to toward the end. Emma frowned and picked it up from his hands, looking down at the pages in front of her.

"Emma and her friend Maggie were walking down a deserted road, laughing quietly to one another. The girls swung the machetes over their shoulders – another vamp nest taken care of. Emma's beat up Chevy truck was waiting for them at the end of the road, and as they swung themselves into the cab, Maggie spoke.

'Let's go home.' She said as she tossed the machete behind the seats, 'Luke is probably worried sick about me.'" Emma turned her head and stared at Maggie, who was standing now, openmouthed. Turning back toward the book, she flipped to the very end, and read: "Little did Emma and Maggie know, as Dean fell into the pit and Sam was left alone – that they would very much become a part of the brother's lives. And their own would change forever." Emma, having finished reading, looked at Dean across the bed, her mouth open. "What the hell is this?" Dean shook his head and Emma pulled off her leather gloves, resting her fingertips on the cover and spine of the book. She got flashes of teenage sarcasm, the back thoughts of a comic book clerk, and finally Dean's bewildered confusion. Pulling back on her gloves, she looked down at the books. "So who's doing it?"

"We don't know." Dean replied, "But we should get reading."

-+s+-

"Who's Lilah?" Emma asked as she looked up at Dean from the other side of the bed. One of the books was in her hand, and she had her eyebrows raised. Dean scrambled across the bed and grabbed the book out of her hand, yanking it away from her and retreating back to where he was before.

"This is freakin' insane." Dean said as his eyes skimmed over the page, his jaw was open. "How's this guy know all this stuff?"

"You got me," Sam said from the other end of the room, where he's sitting on his laptop.

"Everything is in here. I mean everything. From the racist truck to – to …" he looked up at Emma, "to me having sex. I'm full frontal in here, dude." Sam shuddered and Emma just laughed. "How come we haven't heard of them before?"

"They're pretty obscure." Maggie responded, looking at the website from over Sam's shoulder and pointing something out on the screen. Emma stood up and made her way over. "I mean, almost zero circulation. Uh… started in 2005. The publisher put out a couple dozen before going bankrupt. And, uh, the last one – "No Rest for the Wicked" is where he stopped."

Sam turned the computer to his brother. "Ends with you going to hell."

"I reiterate. Freaking insane." Dean said. Emma crouched down next to him. "Check it out," he continued. "There's actually fans. There's not many of them but still. Did you read this? … Although for fans, they sure do complain a lot. Listen to this – Simpatico says 'the demon story line is trite, cliché, and overall craptastic.' Yeah well screw you Simpatico. We lived it." The four of them laughed under their breath.

"Yeah well keep on reading. It gets better."

"There are Sam girls, and Dean girls." Dean continued. Emma frowned. "And what's a slash fan?"

Sam grimaced, "As in … Sam-slash-Dean. Together." Emma and Maggie exchanged glances, each screwing up their faces in disgust.

"They do know we're brothers right?" Dean asked incredulously.

"That… doesn't seem to matter." Dean blinked before shutting the laptop and pushing it away from them.

"That's just sick. We gotta find this Carver Edlund."

"Looking to be like it's a penname." Sam replied as he shook his head. "No tax records, no known address. Looks like Carver Edlund is a pen name."

"I could try and hack into the publisher's system and get it." Maggie said as she moved Sam out of her way and sat down with the laptop. "It'll take me a bit though."

"I'll go talk to the publisher." Dean said, "See what's what."

"I'll stay here with Maggie." Emma said, coming to stand behind her friend.

"Oh no you're not. Sam, you stay here and help Maggie." Emma turned and looked at Dean, raising her eyebrows. "I'm not letting you out of my sight again."

-+s+-

Emma sat in the passenger's seat of the Impala, staring out the window as Dean drove down the city road. Her knees were drawn up to her waist, and she played with the hem of her jeans as they drove, her hands covered by leather gloves. Dean had the music on, but neither of them were listening to it. Finally, he turned it off.

"You haven't said much since you came back." He said to her after a long pause. Emma didn't say anything, just continued to stare out the window.

"I figured you're mad at me." She replied simply.

Dean shrugged his shoulders, "I am… but… I'm just glad you're back okay?" Emma felt his hand on her glove, and she lifted her hand up to hold his. She still didn't look at him. Emma thought that coming back would be easy, that everything would go back to normal. Well… she didn't think that. She wanted that.

"I just wanted everything to work out." She said quietly, her voice flat. "I didn't want you to get hurt."

Dean laughed under his breath. "It's the job, Emma. We get hurt all the time."

"I just…" Emma sighed and shook her head. "Never mind." Surprised by the sudden squeal of tires and the car swerving to the side, Emma sat up higher in her seat, and was shocked to see that there was no one else on the road. "Dean-" But he had already gotten out of the car and was walking around to the other side. He opened her door, and crouched down on the sidewalk to look at her. Emma met his eyes.

"What?" he asked with more force than she had expected. "You didn't want me to get hurt? That's your excuse?" Emma closed her eyes and looked down. "You hurt me by leaving. I don't let anyone under my skin and you made yourself comfortable there and I was finally okay with it, I told you Iove you… and what did you do? You left. You hurt me, you hurt Bobby, you hurt Sam and Maggie, you hurt all of us." Emma tossed her hair and looked away, blinking rapidly as she felt her eyes begin to water. Her face was stony, her nostrils flared.

"We have a job to get done," she said with fire in her voice. "We have a planet to save – and it didn't do any good for you to spend all your time trying to figure out how to save me when there are plenty of people out there dying."

"Oh wow, Emma. That's so noble of you." Dean said sarcastically, standing up. Emma climbed out of the car and put her hands on her hips. "You just tell me one thing, what kind of a world would I be saving? What kind of a hunter would I be if I can't get my act together because I'm too busy out there looking at you? Huh?!"

"I didn't want you to watch me die!" Emma's voice echoed on the deserted side street as she pushed Dean in the chest. He staggered back a couple of steps and Emma just stood there staring at him for the longest time. Finally, she sighed, shook her head, and got back in the car. "Let's go, we have a job to do."

"So you published the Supernatural books?" Emma asked pleasantly. She raised her eyebrows and kept a small notepad in her hand.

The publisher nodded her head. "Yep. Yeah… gosh those books…" she said dreamily, "You know, they never really got the attention they deserved. All anybody wants to read anymore is that romance crap. You know – Dr Sexy, MD? You know how those are. They really hook ya." She held her hand out to Emma, who smiled awkwardly.

"Right," Dean interrupted, "Well, we're hoping that our article can shine a light on an underappreciated series."

"Yeah! Yeah, because you know, if we got a little bit of good press then maybe we could start publishing again!" The publisher held out her hands, excitedly.

"No!" Dean exclaimed. Emma looked over at him, "No, no, no… God no. I mean, why …" Emma raised her eyebrows at him, "Why would you want to do that? You know, it's, uh, such a complete series, what with Dean going to hell and all." The publisher put her hand over her heart, emotions pouring out of her eyes.

"Oh my god! That was one of my favorite ones, because Dean was so… strong… and sad… and brave." Emma glanced at Dean out of the corner of her eye, giving him a subtle smile. He glared. "And Sam… I mean, the best parts are when they'd cry. Like in Home when Dean had to call John and ask him for help." She fanned her face and turned away. "Gosh, if only real men were so open and in touch with their feelings."

"I totally know what you mean," Emma was saying as Dean asked "Real men?"

"Well yeah, I mean… how often do you cry like that?"

"Right now I'm crying on the inside." The publisher looked taken aback.

"You think this is funny?"

"Lady, this whole thing is funny." The publisher leaned back as she sat down in her chair, glaring at the two of them. Emma smiled at her.

"How do I know you're legit?"

"We're legit." Emma said, taking a step forward. "We're really big fans. I mean, I personally… I just love those boys. Sam's so caring but he pretends to be shielded, and Dean…" Emma looked back at Dean, "He's really strong and has this really hard shell but underneath … he's the most amazing man I've ever met… I mean, read about. You know, I feel like I know them."

"I know… exactly how you feel." The publisher said, her eyes tearing up as she leaned forward and touched Emma's gloved hand. Emma took her glove off and held the woman's hand in hers. "I really hope they don't ask for Chuck's address… they seem really genuine but he'll be pissed at me for sure."

Emma turned and looked at Dean significantly, before picking up her phone. "Excuse me, I'll be right back."

"Emma?"

"Hey Sam, any luck with the hacking yet?"

"Not yet. Got any information to narrow down all this information?"

"His name's Chuck." Emma said as she glanced backward at the house.

"Okay thanks, we're on it."

"Wait don't hang up." Dean came walking out of the house, a small scrap of paper in his hand. "What do you have?"

"Chuck Shurley."

"Guys? Chuck Shurley?"

Maggie giggled joyfully. "We got an address. I just sent it to you. See ya in twenty."

-+s+-

The rundown – no, ramshackled house was set back against an overgrown lawn. As Maggie and Sam climbed out of Emma's truck, they saw that Dean and Emma were already there, leaned against the side of the Impala waiting for them. As the four of them stood looking at the house, Emma and Maggie exchanged glances. This was going to be interesting.

The steps creaked beneath their feet. Sam and Dean stood in the front of the four, Emma and Maggie standing not too far behind. As Dean rang the doorbell, they heard footsteps on the other side of the door. Who opened it was a small skinny man, with a beard. He wore an undershirt and a pair of boxers, covered by a shaggy robe.

"You Chuck Shurley?" Dean asked authoritatively. The man looked taken aback for a moment.

"The Chuck Shurley who wrote the Supernatural Books?" Maggie asked.

"Maybe," he said warily. "Why?"

"I'm Dean," Dean said, smiling sarcastically, "This is Sam. The Dean and Sam you've been writing about." Emma went to open her mouth and say something, but before they could continue the conversation Chuck closed the door in their faces. Dean leaned forward and rang the doorbell again.

"Look, uh… I appreciate your enthusiasm. Really, I do. It's… it's always nice to hear from the fans. But, for your own good, I strongly suggest you get a life." Maggie was giggling in the background as Chuck tried to close the door and Dean stopped it.

"See, here's the thing. We have a life. You've been using it to write your books. It's not funny." Dean advanced on Chuck, forcing him to back up into the house. The rest of the group followed, Emma closing the door behind her.

"Look, we just want to know how you're doing it." Sam said calmly.

"I'm not doing anything!"

"Are you a hunter?" Dean demanded.

"What?" Chuck shouted, "No, I'm a writer!"

"Then how do you know so much about demons?" Dean shouted. Chuck fell back into the couch. Emma rounded Dean and began looking around the room. It was cluttered and there were beer bottles everywhere. Emma leaned down and, with her gloved hand she picked up one of the bottles, before setting it on a small table. Still thinking hard, she wandered around the room, hardly listening to the conversation behind her.

"I'm Sam! And that's Dean! That girl over there – her name's Emma. And this, this is Maggie."

"Sam and Dean, Emma and Maggie are fictional characters. I made them up! They're not real!" Emma wasn't watching as Dean dragged Chuck outside. Maggie and Sam followed.

Running her hand along the mantle, Emma stared at the dusty pictures resting against the brick wall. One of Chuck when he was young, one with his family, one with the publisher. A framed cover of Supernatural was sitting on the ground beside the fireplace, sitting next to a pile of clothing. Emma slowly removed her glove, crouching down and taking the picture into her bare hands.

What she heard made her frown deeply. Chuck seemed so full of hope, giving these books that he loved to the world that he thought would love them too. Putting it back, Emma sighed.

"What are you looking at?" Chuck's voice came from behind her as the four of them came back through the door. He suddenly looked very tired, and Emma smiled at him.

"Just lookin' around." Emma said as she leaned against the table. "You really thought those books were gonna do something huh? Make you rich, prove to your daddy that you're not what he thought you were?"

Chuck didn't say anything, just walked into the kitchen and pulled out a bottle of whiskey. "I can't believe this."

-+s+-

"He thinks he's a god?" Emma was saying as she picked up the bag from the counter. She smiled at the waitress, winking before walking outside and to her truck. Maggie came out of the gas station with bottles of coke, skipping up to the car and tucking them into the cupholder. Frowning at Emma, Maggie lifted her hands in question. "Nothing," Emma mouthed, and shook her head. "I don't know, maybe a psychic? … I don't know. Either way – you got another manuscript? Okay well meet us at the Laundromat and we can take a look at it. Make sure you have all the clothes. Okay, Sam. Yeah, we'll see you soon."

"Give me that. That gets hung dry … Jesus." Emma was saying to Sam as she pulled a blouse out of his hands and threw it into another pile.

"I'm… sitting in a Laundromat, reading about myself sitting in a Laundromat reading about myself. My head hurts." Dean complained as he sat back against the counter edge.

"There's got to be something this guy's not telling us." Emma said, tossing the next line of clothes into the basket and carrying it over to the dryer. "Y'know Dean, you could get off your ass and help Maggie fold."

"I'm doing serious business here," Dean said to her and she smiled at him sarcastically. "'Sam tossed his gigantic darks into the machine. He was starting to have doubts about Chuck, about whether he was telling the whole truth'."

"Stop it."

"'Stop it,' Sam said.' Guess what you do next." Emma laughed as she slipped the quarters into the machine. "Sam turned his back on Dean, his face brooding and pensive.' I mean, I don't know how he's doing it, but this guy is doing it. I can't see your face, but those are definitely your 'brooding and pensive' shoulders." Emma laughed as she shut the door. "You just thought I was a dick."

Sam and Emma exchanged a glance before Sam turned to look at Dean. He looked impressed.

"The guy's good."

Emma spent a lot of time sleeping these days. She knew that it was because of the constant fighting inside her body, trying to keep Sara at bay, and when she slept it felt like the only time she could get away from her. Thoughts that weren't hers had started to penetrate her brain again, and with sadness she recalled that Pamela was now dead. As Emma rolled over on the queen size bed, Dean was seated at the edge, reading through the manuscript. He had just reached the next chapter.

"Emma was sleeping soundly beside Dean, who sat hunched over on the edge of the hotel bed, reading Chuck's manuscript in the dim light of a lamp beside him. He found himself thinking about her, about how glad he was to have her back – even though it felt like she wasn't really back with him. With a heavy heart, he reached over and gently brushed his hand against her side, watching as she moved under his hand and rolled toward him. He loved that. It was going to make what he had to read next harder to bear.

Emma was going to die. It was just a matter of time until Dean knew when. And when the time came, Dean wouldn't know what to do.