Sammy and Dean aren't mine. Sob!

I've got one vote on the trequel (many thanks!). Five more and you get it. That is, if you want it. I hope you want it because I really want to write it.

A large, black wolf ran through the trees, jumping logs and branches in its wake. It paused after a few miles and sniffed the air. It could smell blood. She was close. Bounding away again, the scent slowly thickened, until the animal could barely breathe. Sure enough, close to the heart of the forest, a slim woman lay soaking in a puddle of her own blood.

"Chase!" Chris exclaimed. For the millionth time that week, Chris thanked God for the wolf's senses. It would have taken him days to find her without them. "Chase?" he asked approaching cautiously. Chase's wolf was vicious if you snuck up on it. Downright ferocious.

Nothing responded to his call, so Chris knelt beside her and assessed the damage. "Damn," he whistled eyeing her stomach. That thing had really ripped into her hadn't it? "First thing first," he muttered pulling a syringe out of his pocket. With a comfort that made him question his role in her life, Chris quickly emptied the vaccine into her blood stream. Chase didn't move. Frowning, Chris touch a hand to her skin. Cold. She was cold. "Impossible," he mused. Her skin shouldn't be cold. Loup garou weren't cold. Unless…he lowered his ear to her head. No. She was still breathing.

"Oh my…"

Chris turned and smiled a sad grin at Madison. "Found her," he stated grimly. "Where's Kisten?"

"I passed her a second ago…Chris? She isn't…"

"No. She's alive." He pulled off his jacket and wrapped it around her stomach. "How long has she been bleeding?"

Madison glanced at the sun. "Three hours."

"Go tell Lilly," Chris took a breath, "that she needs to get bandages soaked in GS. And put more blankets on Chase's bed." His eyes settled on Chase's paling form, "And Maddy? Make sure you prepare the boys. It won't help if they're freaking out."

Madison nodded and quickly ran for the house.

Chris sighed, "Did you actually think we were going to let you stay here? You have no concept of family, do you?" He slid his arms under her back and easily lifted Chase into his arms. Faintly wondering where Kisten was, her slowly followed in Madison's wake.

Four months he had known Chase. Four months of constant hunts, hurts, and highs. He sighed again. So many people were going to be hurt if she didn't….if she couldn't…. He shook the thought out of his head. She would. She had to. The pack would fall apart without her.

XxXxX

Kisten watched from the shadows as Chris carried Chase through the woods. She knew she should go help, carry some of the weight for the pack. For once in her life.

But how could she? Chase had done this to herself, catering to the whims of humans. Why Chase wanted to be like them and, when that failed, to help them, Kisten would never know. What good were they anyway? Making idiotic assumptions that got her family screwed over one time too many, and actually priding themselves on the fact? No. No, it stopped here. Chase wasn't here to stop her anymore.

It was easy enough to pick up on human scent, but just as Kisten was about to go and massacre as many good for nothing mortals as she could get her teeth into, Chase's voice popped into her head. You'll regret it. And that was all she needed to hear. Chase had always been reasonable, something Kisten joyously lacked, and that's what made her such a great leader.

Kisten felt a tear gather in the corner of her eye, but she quickly wiped it away. If Chase…if she…if nothing worked, who would be there to stop her? Kisten shivered at the thought. She had no self-control, not respect for mere humans. Who would talk her out of hunting the idiot teenage boys who hung around the outskirts of town setting things of fire? Or the men that kept cutting down trees, or the women that wouldn't stop and think that maybe those damn blankets fell off the clothes line by themselves?

She would have to grow up, and she sure as hell wasn't ready for that.

As selfish as it was, she wanted Chase awake. She wanted someone to tell her about their history and to describe the statues and cathedrals and paintings in Romania where people used to worship their kind. Most of all, she wanted someone to yell at her for being so selfish. Because she was too selfish.

And she needed to grow up.

"Chris!" she yelled running up beside him, "She's not…"

"She's still alive," he answered quietly. "Still here."

Kisten felt her muscles relax a little. Chase was alive. She was still here.

XxXxX

Madison ran as fast as she could. The scenery was a complete blur, including the steps that led into the house.

"Lilly," Madison yelled as the door clanged behind her.

"Where is she?" Dean asked. Where had he come from?

Madison held up a finger. "Where's Lilly?"

"Here." Lilly came into the room holding a vile of GS. "Where is she?" her eyes scanned the door.

"Chris has her," she hesitated, debating between explaining things or getting right to Chris's directions. "Bandages need to be soaked in GS. And Chase's bed needs more blankets." She ignored Dean's probing stare, and instead focused upon the systematic nod of Lilly's head.

"I'll get everything ready," Lilly said. With a sad look at the Winchesters she quickly headed in the direction of Chase's room.

"Why aren't they here yet?" Dean asked immediately. "It shouldn't take them that long to run."

Madison bit her bottom lip. "They aren't running."

"Why not?"

"Chase can't. She can't change." Madison felt like she should be able to tell them more, but what else was there?

"Can't change?" Dean nervously gripped the gun he was holding tighter. "Why not."

"I don't know." Madison hung her head. "I really don't know."

"It's the silver, isn't it?" Sam asked coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "Or the blood loss form the penangalang."

Madison nodded. "Probably." She glanced out the window. "Listen, guys, she's in bad shape."

"What do you mean?" Dean's face had gone white.

She took a deep breath. "She's sort of, well, unconscious."

"Sort of?" Dean's voice rose, "Sort of?"

"Dean," Sam pulled Madison closer, "calm down. I'm sure she'll be fine."

Madison tensed, and she knew Sam felt it when his grip tightened. She glanced up to find him staring sadly down at her.

"Fine?" the eldest Winchester began pacing from one end of the room to the next. "Fine? She's un-freaking-conscious! How is that an omen for fine?"

"Dean-" Madison tried.

"No." He kept pacing, but lowered his voice, "How could this have happened? How could I let this happen?"

"Dean-" Sam took his turn.

"Don't give me any of that share your feelings crap you're always pulling, Sammy. This is not a Dr. Phil moment."

"Dean!" Lilly came in with her hands on her hips. "If you're not going to remain calm I would advise you to leave this house. Tension will be running high, and I would not hesitate to say that anyone of your current stress will be killed." Hands still on her hips she went back to her task.

"I need some air," Dean muttered shooting daggers at Lilly's retreating back.

Madison watched him go as a saddened silence settled in the room.

"She's not going to make it, is she?" Sam asked turning Madison around to face him.

Burying her head into his chest, she replied, "I don't think so."

"There's got to be something though," Sam tried, "Anything."

"She's got a lot of silver in her system, Sam. I don't think she can fight it anymore."

"But she's got to. Dean, he can't-"

Madison shook her head. "Don't."

"What?"

"Don't talk for your brother. He needs to handle this himself. You can't carry his emotion for him."

Sam nodded, "But that doesn't mean I can't try."

A slight laugh escaped into the room. "Yeah, I guess it doesn't."

There were heavy footsteps coming up the stairs. Madison jumped up to open the door, and Chris walked in with a motionless Chase in his arms.

XxXxX

It had been twenty-four hours.

She had been lying there, still as stone, for twenty-four hours.

He hadn't left her side for twenty-four hours.

Lilly couldn't watch it anymore.

She walked past Sam and Madison talking in hushed tones about Dean's condition. She walked past Kisten randomly flipping channels on the television without really paying attention to any of it. She walked past Chris measuring Chase's next dose of GS. And she walked by Chase's room where a feeling of despair hung a warning over the door.

Somewhere, in all her walking, Lilly made it to her haven- a small, screened in back porch that housed an array of painting supplies and a few abandon coffee cups. No sooner had she dropped down into a cushioned, wicker chair did she hear the sound of heavy footsteps tentatively move in behind her. She kept watching the river float by until he cleared his throat.

"I'm glad to see you're getting some fresh air," Lilly commented as Dean sat beside her.

He laughed mirthlessly, "Yeah."

"I love it out here," she took a deep breath, "the only thing you can smell is the river. It's very cleansing."

"Cleansing. Right."

The was a long silence. It wasn't awkward, but it was slightly uncomfortable all the same. Dean shifted in his seat. "Hey, Lilly?"

"Yes?"

"She'll wake up soon? Right?"

Lilly looked at him and saw the hope pooling in his eyes. She broke the stare and returned her sight to the river. "I've known Chase for a long time," she began, "and much better than you do."

"I barely know her," Dean agreed, "but-"

Lilly held up a hand. "That's not the point." Brushing off the interruption, she continued, "I knew her mother, her father, eventually her sister and brother. She was born in Romania, but after Adele was born, her family moved to France. There were so many deaths where the used to live, her father was terrified they would be found out."

"Found out by who?" Dean leaned forward a little, seemingly desperate for whatever piece of Chase he could grasp.

"There was a multitude of hunters in Europe at that time. Great hunters that killed everything supernatural they could find. Good or bad."

"What time was that?"

Lilly smiled. "Do you know how old Chase is?"

"Twenty-four," he answered matter of factly.

"No," Lilly corrected softly, "she's two hundred and forty."

Dean's jaw dropped. "She's how old?"

"For every ten years we live as immortal, we gain one human year." Lilly glanced over at him. "Imagine the terrible two's!"

He cracked a small smile at the thought, and Lilly turned back satisfied. "Anyway, her family fled. Chase's father, Luc, made it to the states where he meet up with a true werewolf named Damien." Lilly grimaced slightly at Dean's tangible reaction, but continued. "As I'm sure you know, Damien's miniscule pack couldn't grasp the lifestyle Chase's family embraced, and, eventually, killed them. Except Chase, of course, who was meant to be leader one day."

"Why was she meant to be the leader?" Dean was fully enveloped in the story by now, and out of the corner of her eye, Lilly could see Sam and Madison lurking in the door way.

"There was a…prophecy, for lack of better word, concerning her. That's why Damien and the others finally stopped hunting humans, they wanted to appease Chase."

"What'd the prophecy say?" Sam sat down across from Lilly and Dean.

"That there would be a ruler that would one day bring all our kind together against a true evil. Such a ruler would be a stronghold, a stone, for our kind. No longer would we be hunted, but revered." Madison smiled sheepishly at her intrusion. "She's told me the story."

"How did they know it was Chase?" Sam asked.

"A stone, Sammy," Dean quickly explained, "Stone."

Lilly nodded. "I can't say if it is her or not, but either way, the pack refused to let her go. Damien wanted her for his son." Lilly looked back and forth between the brothers, "You know how that went."

Both boys looked at their feet.

"Anyway, Chase fought every year she was with them. She obviously wanted no part of their life. But there was one, his name was Nathan, he originally started the pack, who…had ways of keeping her there."

Dean's eyes filled with hate. "He hurt her didn't he?"

"Most of the scars you'll find on her are from him, yes."

"He's dead?" Dean's fist clenched.

"Yes."

"Lucky bastard."

Sam stifled a laugh.

"Go on," Kisten appeared in the doorway. "She met Thomas next, didn't she?" The girl sat beside Madison.

"Yes," Lilly's easy smile returned, "And part of her truly loved him, but we all know the hardship that befell them." The was a deep silence since Lilly had no need to go on with the story. Everyone knew Chase's life from there.

"My point, Dean, as well as answer to your question, is that Chase has been fighting all her life; a longer life than most can ever imagine."

"And she's made it through everything." Chris took a seat beside Lilly and placed his arm over her shoulders.

"She has," Lilly agreed. "And therefore, I hope she doesn't have to wake up."

XxXxX

Dean stared open-mouthed. "You hope she dies?" He didn't just hear that.

"I don't want her dead, Dean," Lilly took a steadying breath, "but she's been dying a long time."

He shot up. "She's not dying. Not if I can help it."

"Listen," Chris tried to calm him down, "no one wants her to die, but if she does, and she very well could, you have to know that it hasn't been for nothing."

"She's not dying." Dean repeated.

"Relax," Kisten commanded, "You getting all upset won't help a thing."

"Easy for you to say," he said turning on her.

"Dean."

"Dude." Sam and Madison spoke at the same time.

With an unbearable weight on his chest, Dean glared at the group. "You're sick. All of you." He stormed back into the house, down the darkening hall, and back to Chase's bedside. "I'm not letting you die," he told her, "I'm just not."

Her only response was a few shallow breaths.

"You told me you could love me once, Stone. Hell, you told me you did love me, and yeah, I know I can be an inconsiderate jerk, but don't give up on me yet." He rested his

forehead in his hands. "I shouldn't have sent you after those kids, I should have kept Sammy there. I should have protected you."

"Dean?" Madison edged into the room.

"What?" Dean snapped quickly straightening up.

Madison edged over to him. "She wouldn't want you blaming yourself."

"What she would want is kind of unimportant right now, don't you think?" he said crossly.

She shrugged. "Just stating the obvious."

"Whatever," he stood up. "I'm getting some air." With a last glance at Chase, he made his way to the front porch and collapsed onto the steps.

What else was to blame but him? He should have kept her safe, should have known that someone would try and kill her- something always did. It was his fault.

Dean laid back and watched fireflies lazily drift between the stars. It was funny, but they didn't even unnerve him. He thought for sure…

X

"Dean!" Someone was shaking his shoulder. "Dean!" And yelling. Loudly.

"Wha?" he groaned

"Dean…" the voice was filled with regret and immediately he jumped to his feet. Lilly was standing in front of him with tears streaking down her face.

"No." Dean stared at her. "No!"

Lilly nodded, "Just a moment ago."

"She's not…she can't…" he was shaking, "no…" He pushed past Lilly and ran up the stairs to Chase. She was waiting for him, she was always waiting for him.

"Dean-" he passed Sam in the hall, but he couldn't stop.

All the lights were off in the room, but Dean knew enough to feel his way over to a dim lamp on the bedside table.

Chase's face was bathed in a golden light. Her skin was pale, almost translucent, and it made her features all the more distinct. But something was missing. Dean leaned closer to her. She wasn't breathing.

"No." Dean wouldn't believe it. "You can't." And then he felt them. Those damn tears that were always threatening, always on the verge of drowning him, pooled in the corners of his eyes just waiting for the chance to drown him. Let them, he thought, let them kill me.

"Dean," Sam's tentative voice carried through the dark.

"I don't want to talk, Sammy." Dean replied.

"It's just…none of the wolves can come in here. The smell makes them sick."

"Smell?"

"Death."

Dean laughed to himself. This pack was no better than the last. "So?"

"So we have to…Chase needs to be…"

"I know, Sammy." Dean gazed at the body in a mixture of emotion. "Give me a minute."

The door closed with a click, and once again Dean was left alone with his thoughts. And those fucking tears that still wanted to show themselves.

"How could you do it?" he asked her. "How could you wait until I wasn't with you?" He hid his face in the thick blankets that still surrounded her now cold body. "Why wasn't I with you?"

He wiped his eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "Do you hear me?" he yelled. "Why wasn't I with her?" He collapsed onto her blankets once again. "I'm so sorry," he sobbed, "so sorry."