Finally I have an update for you guys! I am so sorry it took so long, I've just been getting slammed with stuff for classes and work gets in the way. I already have the second half of this chapter written and I'll probably post it next weekend. Hopefully I can get back on track with writing this! I hope you guys enjoy this chapter. It's a little rough cause I don't have a beta.

Aubri took in as deep of a breath as she could manage after the coughs finished wracking her body. She shivered despite the fact that it was actually quite a warm evening. Her hand was shaking as she pulled it away from her mouth and tears began to trickle down her face when she saw the few spatters of blood on her palm. How was this happening to her? She had been a normal college graduate, all she had done was read from a book and she ended up here, wherever here was. Tears began to fall faster as she thought more and more about her predicament. She just wanted to go home; she would even talk to her mom more if she could go home. She reached out beside her, but her hand fell limp to the ground when she remembered Folsom wasn't there anymore. Animal Control had taken him away a few days ago and they wouldn't let her get him out because she couldn't afford to pay the fee. She wrapped her arms around her legs and curled up into the smallest ball she could manage as sobs began to flow freely. Sobs slowly turned into coughs, and her body jerked violently with the force of the coughs that broke loose. She knew she was sick, really sick, but she couldn't afford to go to the hospital, she had no money for medicine, she had nothing. Sobs slipped out in between coughs and over the sounds that were escaping her throat she heard a voice call out, "Hello?"

She heard footsteps slowly approaching and she curled up even tighter, trying to silence the sounds that were getting out. The footsteps got closer as a man approached her, "Hey are you ok?" He asked as he squatted down next to her.

Aubri slowly picked up her head to turn and look at him and an audible gasp escaped his throat when her blue eyes met his green ones, "Aubri? Aubs is that you?" He slowly reached out a hand to move the hair out of her face and she flinched away. His brow furrowed as his green eyes continued to stare at her intently, "It's me Aubs, it's Dean." He explained, as if giving her his name would ease the confusion she felt.

Aubri searched his eyes, and saw recognition mixed with worry in them before slowly shaking her head, "I… I don't know you."

~TFS~

"I think I saw a place a little while back, I'm gonna check it out."

"No, no, no, come pick me up first." Sam prostested.

"Dude, keep an eye on Aubs, I can handle this." Dean said before quickly hanging up the phone.

Aubri looked up from the book she was reading, "So these Djinn's, they're like genies? You're telling me that genies are real?" Aubri asked incredulously as she sipped on the soup she had sitting on the table next to her. She had been sick with a pretty bad cough the past couple of days. They had been laying low for a few weeks after Dean and Sam had escaped the jail, but a week ago they had dealt with a simple salt and burn that had them out in a cemetery digging up a body in the freezing cold rain. A few days later Aubri had developed a cough that she couldn't quite shake. "Like, 'never had a friend like me', grant three wishes, Robin Williams kind of genies?"

Sam shook his head, chuckling "Not exactly. They aren't that friendly. They live in ruins and take people there where they hang onto them and snack on them for a while. Pretty much they drain the life out of their victims."

Aubri made a disgusted face, "And Dean is going after that alone? Why aren't you going with him?"

Sam hesitated for a moment, knowing that telling her Dean wanted him to keep an eye on her would just set her off. "He said he could handle it by himself. Didn't want to waste time coming to get me."

Aubri held Sam under a scrutinizing gaze, brows drawn together as she looked at him. "He told you to watch me didn't he?" When Sam hesitated just a moment to long Aubri set down the book and threw her hands in the air. "I am a grown woman; I can look out for myself. I really don't need you to babysit me Sam."

"I know that, but you know how Dean gets sometimes."

"Yeah, he gets annoying sometimes, that's how he gets." Aubri huffed as she picked the book back up and kept reading.

~TFS~

He couldn't believe this was happening, mom was alive, but he and Sam didn't talk and all those people they had saved were dead. They were just normal people and apparently he was just an average Joe who would drink too much and had a smoking hot girlfriend. But where was Aubri? What had happened to her in this world? Was she even here? And who the hell was the creepy chick he kept seeing everywhere and the people he saw hanging in the closet.

He ran his hands over his hair and he continued walking down the sidewalk, heading home from his dad's grave. Wrapping his brain around all of this was a lot harder than he thought it would be. All he wanted was to be happy, for his family to be happy, but for all of those lives to be saved he had to sacrifice all of that. It wasn't fair.

He was walking past the entrance to a little alleyway when the sound of a cough stopped him. He turned slowly to peer into the darkness as the sounds of soft sobs and more coughs drifted out to him. "Hello?" He called out as he started to walk into the darkness. He could hear something shifting around as the sobs quieted, "Hey are you ok?" Dean squatted down next to the crying girl. Her clothes were in tatters, she was dirty, and if he was being completely honest she smelled a little ripe, but something about her was familiar, something was drawing him to her. When she lifted her head and looked at him he drew in a breath, gasping for the air that he felt had left his lungs. "Aubri? Aubs is that you?"

He reached out to brush some the hair away from her face, taking in the sight of her dirt smudged cheeks, cracked glasses that looked like they had been taped together again and again, and the sadness and defeat that clouded her blue eyes. When she flinched away from his hand he felt like someone had sucker punched his heart. "Aubs, it's me, Dean." He explained, voice straining over the emotions coursing through him. How could this have happened to her?

He watched her as her eyes scanned his face, trying to place it, "I… I don't know you."

Dean took a deep breath in through his nose, "Yeah you do, you just don't remember." He explained gently.

"You're crazy." She said, shaking her head.

Dean chuckled as he looked around, "it's been said, now, where is the drool machine?" When he saw the look on confusion on her face he tried again, "Where's Folsom? He's always somewhere near you."

Dean knew something terrible had happened to the dog when Aubri's eyes filled up with tears, "They took him." She said softly as fresh tears spilled over onto her cheeks. Then her eyes flashed suspiciously as she looked at him, "How do you know about him? How do you know my name?"

Dean rubbed a hand over his face, "I told you Aubs, you know me, maybe not here, not right now, but you know me. We're friends, sort of, when you aren't mad at me."

She saw the look of sincerity in his eyes as he said those words. When she opened her mouth to say something, she was hit with another round of violent coughs that left her feeling weak. There was more blood on her hand when she pulled it away, but she quickly wiped it off on her pants, hoping he hadn't noticed. When she looked back at him she could see worry written all over his face, "You've got that cough here too." He said quietly, seemingly deep in thought.

"What?"

Dean sighed, "Back where you know me, you're sick too, but you were getting better, Sam was taking care of you and your cough was going away. It doesn't look like it is here."

"That's what happens when you can't afford to see a doctor or get medicine, things get worse." She said, maybe a little too harshly. She shouldn't be too hard on him, sure he had probably escaped from the loony bin with all that talk about back where she knew him, but he was the first person who had actually been decent to her here, the first person who seemed to care. Plus he did seem to know a few things about her that a stranger wouldn't know. Yet another wave of coughs tore from her body and this time she felt a hand on her shoulder when they started to subside.

Dean pulled her up gently, "You're coming with me." He said, obviously not making a suggestion, but a demand. "We are going to get you a hot shower and, I don't know, soup I guess, that's what you give sick people right?"

Aubri stood next to him wearily. She wanted to say no, to tell him to just leave her alone, but the idea of a hot shower won out and she nodded her head as he pulled her along next to him.

~TFS~

As the hot drops of water pelted against her skin Aubri groaned in pleasure. She couldn't remember the last time she had had a hot shower, but she was pretty sure it was before she had read from that damned book and ended up wherever the hell she was. She leaned her head back and let the water run through her hair as she thought back on the walk to Dean's house. The entire time he talked, telling her things about her that only someone who was close to her would know. He even knew about the book. She didn't know how to explain it, but she trusted him when he said he knew her, and walking with his arm around her supporting her felt familiar, like she was used to him helping her when she needed it.

Every time she coughed, a look of genuine concern would flash across his face and he would hold onto her a little tighter, as if he was afraid she would fall apart. Just before they reached his house, he pulled out his cell phone, punched in a number, and put it up to his ear. There were a few moments of silence and Aubri could hear the faint sounds of ringing coming through the speaker, then there was a click and a quick, angry sounding "Hello?" that came through the line.

"Sammy, I need you to come over, I need your help."

"Really Dean? It's late, can't it wait til tomorrow? And it's Sam, I'm not five."

"No it can't wait til tomorrow, come on man, it's important."

"Fine, I'll be there soon."

Dean hung up the phone and shoved it back in his pocket before heading up the sidewalk to the front door of his house, pulling Aubri along next to him. As he reached for the handle, the door swung open and Carmen was standing there, a worried smile on her face, "Where have you…" her voice trailed off when her eyes landed on Dean's arm around Aubri's waist. Her brow furrowed and her pretty mouth turned down in a slight frown. "What's going on Dean?"

"I know her," he said gruffly, in a hurry to get Aubri inside, "She needs help, and she needs a shower." He saw a blush spread across Aubri's dirty cheeks and he felt her shivering against his side. Holding on to her a little tighter as Carmen moved to the side and Dean led Aubri into the house.

Once inside, Aubri moved out of Dean's hold and turned to face him, sadness and slight embarrassment evident in her eyes. "Thank you," she murmured, quickly looking away from his intense gaze.

He reached out and brushed a strand of hair out of her face, "It's no big deal Aubs, just go upstairs and shower cause you're smelling a little ripe and I'll see what I can find for you to eat."

Aubri nodded and headed up the stairs quickly, hearing the beginnings of an argument between Carmen and Dean floating up the stairs behind her.

Aubri shook her head, returning her focus to cleaning the dirt from her hair and body. Once her skin was bright pink from the scrubbing and heat of the water and her hair felt silky smooth she shut off the water. Climbing out of the shower, she grabbed the towel hanging near her and wrapped it around her body. As she looked down at the pile of dirty clothes she left on the floor, her heart sank at the thought of having to put the filthy garments back on her clean body. Picking them up, she walked out into the room the bathroom was connected to and her throat tightened when she was the neatly folded shirt and sweatpants that were on the bed in front of her. She should have known Dean would have thought of clothes. He seemed so concerned with taking care of her. She finished drying off before slipping into the clean clothes that she now realized were obviously Dean's from the way the legs of the sweatpants pooled around her feet and how the t-shirt hung off of her scarily thin frame.

Once dressed, she headed towards the stairs and as she slowly padded down them she could hear two male voices arguing. "I don't want to hear it Sam. She needs our help and we are going to help her. Geez, it's like I don't even know you anymore man." A voice that she recognized as Dean's argued.

"Dean, you brought a homeless person back to your house and you are talking about her like you've known her for forever. I just don't understand what you are thinking." That must be Sam whose voice was getting louder as Aubri approached the foot of the stairs.

Dean opened his mouth to continue the argument, but then his eyes landed on Aubri standing at the bottom of the stairs. His heart clenched as he saw her standing there looking so small and fragile as his clothes seemed to swallow her whole. "Hey Aubs, this is Sam, my brother." He gestured to the guy who was supposed to be his brother, but who acted nothing like him. "There's some soup over there if you want it." He nodded towards the steaming bowl of broth that was sitting on the counter.

Aubri's eyes landed on the bowl of soup and her stomach rumbled loudly. A faint blushed crept across her cheeks and she nodded, walking quickly and quietly over to the food. She dipped a spoon into the hot broth and brought it up to her lips, blowing on it to cool it off before she sipped at it slowly, a quiet moan escaping her lips as the rich broth slid down her throat. After that first sip she threw all manners aside and quickly downed the rest of the bowl of soup. Once the bowl was completely empty and her stomach full for the first time in months, she stood up and took the bowl and spoon to the sink, setting them down gently before walking over to Dean where he was talking with Sam in hushed, slightly frustrated tones. She felt tears well up in her eyes as she looked up at him, "Thank you. Thank you so much." Her voice caught at the end of her sentence and a few tears managed to slip out.

Dean swallowed, "It's no problem Aubs," he said earnestly, "really it's no big deal." He watched as she roughly swiped at the tears slipping out of her eyes before he continued, "You can sleep in that extra room upstairs if you want. Just get some rest so you can get better ok?"

Aubri nodded and turned to walk upstairs, but something stopped her and she turned around and crossed over to Dean quickly, surprising him by wrapping her arms around him in a tight hug. "Thank you," she whispered one more time before practically running up the stairs, trying to get the beating of her heart under control.

~TFS~

As soon as he was sure he heard Aubri shut the door to the guest room, Dean turned to look at Sam. "You gonna try telling me that helping her isn't the right thing to do again after that?" He questioned angrily.

Sam shook his head tiredly, not really wanting to argue with his brother anymore when he was obviously going through some sort of crisis. "No man," he rubbed his hand across his face, "all I'm saying is Carmen is obviously pissed and freaked out and no one knows what's been going on with you these past couple of days. You've been acting like a completely different person."

That really struck a chord with Dean, he wasn't the one who had changed, the whole world was different. Sure, seeing mom again, he never even dreamed it, and Carmen was smokin' hot, but all those people they had saved were dead here and he was having a hard time coming to terms with the fact that his happiness came at the cost of hundreds of lives that him, Dad, and Sam had saved. He let out a slow breath, suddenly overcome with weariness, "I don't want to argue about this man. I'm going to bed."

As he started up the stairs he heard Sam call out quietly behind him, "Call me tomorrow and let me know how she's doing."

Dean looked down at him and nodded, briefly seeing a flash of the Sammy that he knew before Sam turned and walked out the door.

~TFS~

The clock said 3:15 AM when Aubri woke up coughing. She felt like she wasn't getting enough air to her lungs and when she could take in a slow shaky breath, it only set off another round of coughs. The little blood splatters had returned and her hands shook as she covered her mouth, trying to keep quiet so she didn't wake up Dean and Carmen. She heard a soft knock on the door, so much for keeping quiet, she thought as she struggled to suppress the coughs.

"Aubri? You ok in there?" Dean called quietly, worry in his tone.

Aubri opened her mouth to say something reassuring, but yet another fit of coughing cut her off. She flopped back onto the pillow, her breaths coming quick and shallow as the coughs subsided. Her chest ached and she was fatigued, so when she finally managed to call out a simple "Yeah I'm fine," it came out sounding a lot more pathetic than she intended.

Dean opened the door and walked over to her, taking in the faint sheen of sweat that covered her forehead and upper lip, noting the quick rise and fall of her chest as she fought to get her breathing back to normal. "You are not fine." He murmured as he reached out and put a hand on her forehead, just like his mom had done to him when he was sick. Her skin was burning hot to the touch. He sucked in a breath, taking his hand away from her burning skin, and that's when he spotted the faint spatters on the pillow case. He leaned a little closer, trying not to let on that he saw something, but once he realized what it was his eyes widened and his heart kicked it up a notch, pounding in his chest. "Is that blood?" He asked a hint of accusation over the worried tone. How could she have not told him it was this bad, but then he remembered that she didn't know him, she didn't remember him, so why would she tell him something like that.

When he saw the embarrassed look on her face that confirmed it. "Come on, I'm taking you to the hospital." He commanded, grabbing her to help her sit up in the bed.

Aubri sat up with Dean's help and swung her feet over the side of the bed, "I'm fine, really Dean." She protested as she started to stand. Then the room started to spin and the edges of her vision started to blur and go black. "Shit," she muttered, putting a hand to her head as she swayed.

Dean grabbed ahold of her quickly, steading her so she wouldn't fall. "Can you walk?" he asked, brow furrowed as he looked down at her.

"I'm just a little dizzy." She explained. She saw Dean shake his head out of the corner of her eye and then the ground disappeared from under her as he swept her up into his arms. Her arms instinctively went around his neck and she let out a squeak of surprise, "I can walk," she assured him through gritted teeth as he headed out of the room.

"This is easier and faster." He said shortly, keeping his eyes fixed ahead of him.

Just as he was about to head down the stairs he heard Carmen call out from behind him, "Dean, what's going on?"

"I'm taking her to the hospital, she got worse." He said as he started down the stairs, looking down at Aubri briefly, but not once turning to look back at Carmen. He finally got outside and gently laid Aubri down in the backseat before hurrying around to the driver's side and sliding into his seat before cranking up the engine. As he sped down the road he pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed Sam's number. It rang a few times before going to voicemail, "Sam, I'm taking Aubs to the hospital. I know you don't really care, but she's really sick Sammy." He paused, eyes flicking up to the rearview mirror to look at Aubri, sprawled out in the back seat, eyes closed and her breaths coming short and fast. "I'm worried about her Sam." He added quietly before hanging up and throwing the phone into the empty passenger seat.

The hospital loomed ahead of him and the tires screeched as he quickly turned into the parking lot and sped for the first empty spot he could find. He jumped out of his seat and ran around to the back, carefully pulling Aubri out and into his arms. Her head hung listlessly and she muttered a few incoherent syllables before her eyes fluttered closed.

Dean's heart was threatening to burst out of his chest and adrenaline was pumping through his veins as he sprinted through the front doors of the hospital, looking around desperately for help. A nurse spotted him and her eyes widened as she saw Aubri hanging lifelessly in his arms. "Help her." Dean managed to croak out as his eyes locked with the nurse's.

Everything after that was a blur. Aubri was taken from his arms, doctors and nurses rushed around him, asking him questions that he answered to the best of his ability, and the whole time Dean felt like he was watching it all from the outside. Finally, he was left alone to sit and wait. The doctors had said they would find him as soon as they knew something definitive, but that it wasn't looking good. She had been too sick without treatment for too long. Dean put his head in his hands just as he felt a presence sit down next to him. He turned his head slowly to the side and saw Sam sitting next to him. "Hey man." His brother said, a faint, sad smile on his face.

"It's bad Sam; even the doctor's think so." Dean shook his head before putting it back in his hands. "They don't know if she is strong enough to fight it off."

Sam reached out and awkwardly patted Dean on the shoulder, "I'm sure she'll be fine."

The two brothers sat in silence for a little while, until the shrill ringing of Sam's phone shook them both out of it. He stood up quickly and went to stand near the doors of the waiting room as he put the phone up to his ear. Dean watched him out of the corner of his eye as Sam spoke to who Dean could only assume was Jessica because of the goofy grin on Sam's face. When Sam hung up the phone and started to head back over, Dean quickly snapped his gaze back to his hands hanging uselessly in his lap. Sam cleared his throat as he sat down, "Jess said she's going to come by."

"She doesn't have to do that."

"Yeah, I know, I told her that, but you know Jess."

Dean's chest tightened, he didn't know Jess. He exhaled slowly, "I'm glad you have her man." Clenching his jaw he fought back the smartass comment that was trying to get out to negate the nice thing he had just said.

"Me too man, I don't know what I would do without her."

Dean bobbed his head, still looking down, when he heard the approaching clack of heels on the tile floor. His head snapped up and he saw a very attractive female doctor walking towards them. Normally, he would have some line to lay on her before she even got a chance to speak, but now he kept his mouth shut and waited for her to give him some news about Aubri. She had a serious look on her face as she opened her mouth to speak, "She's relatively stable now and we gave her something for the pain."

"What's wrong with her?" Sam asked when it became obvious that Dean wasn't going to say anything.

"She has very advanced pneumonia. Normally it is relatively easy to treat if the patient is brought to us when the first suspect they are sick, but somehow her illness progressed to a state that is harder to treat."

Dean finally found his voice and managed to croak out a question, "She'll be ok now that she's here now though, right? You said she is stable."

A pitying look crossed the doctor's face, "We are going to do everything we can, but we aren't sure how much more her body can handle. She's been very ill for quite some time and her lungs aren't in very good shape, but we can make her comfortable for the time being."

It hit him like a ton of bricks when Dean realized that what the doctor was really saying was that Aubri probably wasn't going to make it. He nodded and cleard his throat, "Can I go see her?" he asked quietly.

"Only family is allowed to visit when someone is this ill." The doctor said, "It's hospital policy."

Dean's gaze hardened, "I am the closest thing she has to family here ok. She doesn't have anyone else." He could see the doctor's resolve begin to weaken, "It's not fair for her to be alone."

That hit home and Dean knew it as soon as the doctor let out a sigh, "I guess we can make an exception." She turned to walk in the direction they had taken Aubri, "Follow me."

Dean stood up and looked back at Sam who had stayed seated, "I'm gonna wait here for Jess." Sam explained, "You go on ahead."

Dean nodded and followed the doctor through the winding hallways of the hospital until she finally stopped in front of a door. "Try not to upset her; we'll have to ask you to leave if you do." She said pointedly.

Dean nodded in understanding before stepping into the room. He sucked in a breath when he saw Aubri lying in the hospital bed. There wasn't much of a difference in the color of her skin and the stark whiteness of the sheets and the quick rise and fall of her chest as she struggled to breath even with the help of the machines was unsettling. He quickly crossed the room and pulled up a chair next to the bed, reaching out to take her hand. "Hey Aubs." He said gruffly, fighting back the emotion that was threatening to spill over.

Aubri's eyes opened slowly and she turned her head slowly to look at him, careful not to jostle the mask over her mouth that was providing her good oxygen. A smile ghosted across her face when her eyes landed on his face and her fingers tightened weakly around his hand.

"The doctors are gonna patch you up good as new and then we're blowing this joint." Dean said, forcing a smile onto his face. "Sound like a plan?"

Sadness filled Aubri's eyes and she shook her head slowly. She knew she wasn't going to leave the hospital. She could feel her body giving up and if she was being honest with herself, she was tired of fighting. If only she had met Dean sooner, maybe she would have fought harder, gotten better, not that it would mean anything, he had Carmen. Now she was just tired of fighting.

At that slight shake of her head, Dean gripped her hand even tighter. "Don't you give up on me Blondie."

Aubri closed her eyes for a moment and then opened them again slowly. She reached her free hand up and pulled down the oxygen mask. "I'm tired Dean." She rasped out, "I'm so tired." She put the mask briefly, inhaling as deeply as she could before removing it again. "Thank you, thank you so much." She whispered, tears springing to her eyes as she replaced the mask.

"For what?" Dean asked quietly.

Aubri removed the mask again, "For caring, for being so nice to me. You are the only person who has cared or even looked twice at me the whole time I've been here. It just… it means so much… so much not to have to…" Aubri's voice trailed off as the tears spilled over and she shakily replaced the mask. It means so much not to have to die alone on the street. Aubri finished in her head as she felt Dean's callused hand brush the tears off of her face.

Dean clenched his jaw tightly, fighting back the tears he felt welling up. He would not cry, not in front of her. If even one tear escaped that meant he had given up on her and he wouldn't do that. He held even tighter to her hand, eyes locked with hers as he watched her try to fight off sleep. Eventually her weariness won out and her eyes fell closed as she fell asleep. He watched a peaceful expression wash over her face as she let sleep take her and after a few minutes he leaned forward, pressing a light kiss to her forehead before leaning back in his chair and settling in for the rest of the night.

Even though I hate cliffhangers I thought this one (which isn't even really much of a cliffhanger) was necessary because it was the only place that it made sense to split up the chapters. I hope you guys enjoyed it and I'll have another update for you soon. If I get a lot of reviews, say five to ten, I will post the next chapter earlier since it is already written. If not though I will post it next weekend as scheduled. As always review at will and thank you for reading!