Chapter 19: Unreal

(Dean's POV)

I guess I must have woken up a little while after Charly killed the demon, because when I opened my eyes, dad was conscious and standing over me, while Sam was shaking my shoulders trying to wake me up. I hurt all over, but I wasn't going to let that stop me.

"Dean?" Dad said as I opened my eyes.

"Where's Charly?" I asked. I looked over and saw her lying on the ground just a few feet away, covered in someone else's blood. I knew she wasn't really hurt, but why did she pass out?

We all went over to her, and I knelt down beside her, but then I remembered something the demon had made her confess to.

She had an ability. The ability to control the feelings of people around her. She could make then feel whatever she wanted, or what they needed.

So what if she had used this on us and we didn't even know it? I mean, I knew I loved her right now, but what if she had pushed me along the road to it?

But did I care? Did it matter? I was so confused that I didn't even see her wake up.

"Is it gone?" She whispered to no one in particular.

"Yeah Char, its gone." Dad told her. Our eyes met for a minute, and I could still see the fear in hers. Now whether or not that fear was from when the demon had possessed me, or the fact that her secret was out, was something I didn't know. But I hated it.

"I'm sorry…" She choked out. What was wrong with her? Why was she so weak all of a sudden?

"Sorry for what?" I asked, getting closer to her.

"I know what you're thinking Dean… I can sense it… and I wish I would have told you so you didn't have to find out like this. But I promise, I never used my abilities on you. Never. I never used them on anyone… I pretended they didn't exist… it wasn't easy but I had to do it." She wasn't done, but she had to catch her breath.

"We need to get you to a hospital…" I told her, but she stopped me from picking her up.

"Wait… I couldn't ever use them. Because of the way I got them. I knew they could be a gift, and I knew that they could help people. But because of this stupid curse… my whole family died. I mean sure, the vampires didn't know about me… but my sister, and the baby… why do you think I was the one thrown from the house? And how does that happen? And I was stupid and selfish when I met you… because I knew…"

Her breath was getting shorter and we had to get her somewhere fast. But none of us knew what was causing it.

"I knew that I would lose you." And after that, she passed out again. I held her for a minute before picking her up. But Sam noticed something I didn't.

"Pale…" He muttered.

"What?" I heard Sara say. Sam walked in front of me and grabbed Charly's wrist and pressed his fingers to it. Then looked at me wide eyed in panic.

"Dean… she doesn't have a pulse." And my reality shot down.

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(Charly's POV)

I was talking to Dean one minute, telling him I was sorry and explaining, and then the next I was in a desert. Well, not really a desert, but it was empty and quiet. And I knew it had to be somewhere in between heaven and hell.

"Hello?" I yelled. "Any other lost souls out there?"

Was I dead? Was I dreaming? What the hell was this? Surely if I was dead I would be a spirit though, I had unfinished business….

Ok, so sleeping with Dean again wasn't unfinished business, dancing again wasn't unfinished business. But hey, I consider those things very important.

Truly, I had finished everything. The demon was dead. And I killed it. I put that knife through the possessed body's heart and….

Oh no… I murdered a perfectly innocent person… I mean sure it was for the greater good, but I killed him. In cold blood murder.

"Hello?" I yelled again, starting to panic. Then another figure appeared.

"You aren't supposed to be here…" It was a woman, she looked so familiar. As she stepped closer I saw who it was.

"Autumn?" I whispered. "What… wait… shouldn't you be an angel or something? Because I know you didn't go to hell… or at least a spirit…"

"I am an angel Charly, and you aren't supposed to be here, you are supposed to be alive." She told me.

"Well, then how did I get into this place?" I asked her, still in awe that I was staring at my big sister again.

"Because you need to learn a lesson." She told me, placing her hands on my shoulders.

"What lesson?" I asked, still completely confused...

She laughed a little. "Still the same old Charly, reckless, and dazed. Don't you see it?"

I thought for a minute and shook my head no.

"Charly, you have to stop killing yourself over things you can't control. You have to stop watching life go by instead of just living it. There isn't enough time for that!" Autumn the angel told me.

The tears were coming. This was my sister; the one person I always thought I would have and never imagined losing. But I did. And just when I was finally coming to terms with it, I had to have a supernatural intervention with her.

Life just sucked sometimes.

"But the demons dead now, I can live I will be fine! I have Dean, and the other Winchesters, and Sara… and maybe I can dance again! And I can put those stupid abilities behind me and not use them ever again and just live. I know I can it's what I've planned on." I explained, keeping the tears in.

"That's just it! You can't plan anything. Because you never know what is going to happen. I mean, just think about how many times your little plans have made you sick or almost gotten you killed! You can't do that to yourself anymore. Not unless you want to end up here forever… and if you really love Dean, and love that family, then you will stop." She explained.

Dean… oh my god did he think I was dead right now? Did they all think I was dead? Oh god… oh no…

The tears fell, the fell like a waterfall, and my sobs were in complete sync with them. I threw myself into Autumns arms and held on as tight as I can.

"I want to go back… I want them; I want to be with him… I want you back and Emma and mom and dad… and… I just… I want to live… please, please Autumn let me live…." I begged, sounding like a lunatic.

"Charly I was never going to let you die. And you will go back. Just not yet, not until you see what can happen if you don't stop what you are doing to yourself, and what could happen if you do stop." She told me.

With out time for me to protest, she touched my hand and we were consumed by a light.

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When the light faded, I saw Dean, sitting in front of a TV in an old crappy motel room. His face was disheveled and his eyes were tired and sad. He almost didn't look like the same person.

"Dean…" I whispered. I wanted to reach out and touch him, but Autumn pulled my hand back.

He reached in his pocket and pulled his wallet out and was staring at something inside. He smiled for a minute then the sadness in his eyes became even more apparent. It was a picture… a picture of me. He grabbed a bottle of whiskey he had sitting by him and took a swig of it, then he dropped his head in his hands. He wasn't crying, but he wanted to.

"Autumn what happened? Why is he like this?" I begged to know, I couldn't stand it. This wasn't my Dean.

"In this reality, he killed you. When the demon possessed him he slit your throat with the knife. Look at the calendar…" I did, and it was exactly a year from the date that in my world, I had killed the demon.

"But he didn't, he didn't hurt me. How is this supposed to teach me anything?" I was getting angry. She normally wasn't this bad of a big sister.

"Because you never know what is going to happen." And that was all she said before touching my hand again and leading me to another world.

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(Dean's POV in reality)

We were are the hospital, and Sam was wrong. She did have a pulse… just barely.

Apparently she had suffered from some kind of post traumatic shock and distress and it was messing her heart up. They didn't know what was going to happen but it wasn't looking good. And I wasn't being patient.

It just didn't make any sense to me. Why shock? Why distress? Shouldn't she be happy that the thing was dead?

I couldn't sit down. I paced back and force in the waiting room, just wanting any information that they would give me.

"Dean calm down." Sam said. I just ignored it.

"Yeah Dean… you have to stop this, it won't do her or you any good." Dad told me. I just smirked.

"Well me sitting there on my ass won't do her any good either." I spat back

"This isn't good for you… you have to calm down you've just been through a lot and stressing out is going to end up putting you in a hospital bed right next to her." Dad replied.

"Good! Cause you know what, my whole life was spent searching for that thing. My entire existence revolved around it for twenty eight damn years until I met her. And I'll admit I was stupid and I should have watched her more carefully to make sure that something like this didn't happen…. But you knew dad, you knew her history all along, you knew things that could have helped her and you told me nothing! And now, she is laying in there dying and there isn't anything I can do about it. So the demon may be dead, and that awful part of my life may be over, but if Charly dies, then the best part of my life is going to be over to." I yelled.

I never imagined I would be the one to feel this way. The mushy stuff was Sam's job. But today I couldn't help it.

I needed to hit something. I needed to vent. So I walked out of the waiting room. But the first thing I saw when I walked out was the window into Charly's room and all the machines she was on. The purple circles under her eyes and her pale skin almost made her look like a completely different person.

At this point I had two choices, I could walk out of this hospital, and go find something to hurt, and possibly kill. Or I could go in there and wait for what was going to happen.

It was between being Dean Winchester, or being a grown up, and caring about someone enough to put my anger and temper aside and be there for them.

So I walked into her room, sat down next to her, and grabbed her hand.

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(Charly's POV)

I was still upset from the vision of the depressed Dean, that I almost wasn't ready for the next scene that she showed me.

It was me, I was backstage and it was after a performance… in New York. I was getting congratulated and telling other people good job. Then someone called for me and said there was someone there to see me. I smiled, grabbed my robed and walked out the door. There, backstage was Dean, he was dressed up.

Wait… did Dean Winchester seriously just watch a ballet?

"Dean… did you really just sit through this whole thing for me?" I said to him, well the other me said to him. I guess we thought alike since we were the same person and all.

"I figured I was going to be dragged to at least a couple in my life so why not start now. You were beautiful by the way… but I don't like your partner…" The other me just laughed at him.

"Don't worry about him. But in your life huh? Think we're going to be together that long?" The other me teased. I still had my Pointe shoes on and I was tipping up on them to get to his height.

"I would hope so." At that moment he finally took his hand out of his pocket and handed the other me a box. I opened it… and it was a ring.

"At least… that is I am asking so…" He said as the other Charly's jaw dropped. A smile formed on my face, both me and the other me.

"And I am saying…." I was teasing him, good job. "I suppose I could… I mean it would be a pretty big adventure… and there isn't really anyone else I like taking adventures with except you… so… yes."

I laughed at the way I answered, and so did Dean. He put his arms around my waist and I stood all the way up on my Pointe shoes so that I was eye to eye with him. And then we kissed.

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In a couple seconds we were back in the deserted place. I was in shock.

"I want to go back… I want to be happy and I swear I will just live I won't hurt myself anymore I promise…." I whimpered. Autumn smiled.

"I know… but right now, in your world, you are very very sick, they think you are going to die. You're going to go back… but you won't remember this. And you aren't going to be ok for awhile, but you will be, as long as you just do what I have told you." She said.

"I promise… I miss you Autumn." And that was the truth.

"I know Char, I miss you to… but you can't dwell on me anymore. One day, when it is finally your time, which hopefully won't be for a long time, we will be together again. And not just us, but mom and dad, and Emma, and even Dean and Sam and John… but right now you need to live." I didn't get to reply to her, because I was thrown out of that world, and back into my own.