Pulling up in front of Rick's house, Rose got out of the car first and went up to the gate. Dean looked over the top of the car at Sam, "I don't like it," he said. "She shouldn't be here!"
"So what, we're just gonna leave her tied up in the motel while we track this thing? Besides, Dean, this guy trusts her more than he does us," Sam answered him. "I don't like it either, man, but what else can we do?"
Rick's wife answered the door and on seeing Rose, immediately threw open the screen and pulled her in for a hug. "Richard says you're here to save us!" she said, "Come in, come in!" She ushered them into the house, hugging Dean and Sam as they entered too.
"That is not what I said, Emma, and you know it," Rick said, entering the room. "They were just asking questions, that's all." Rick shook hands with Dean and Sam. "What else can I do for you?"
Rose was shaking off the feeling of being hugged, when Emma put an arm around her. "Here," Emma said, "Come into the kitchen with me while I make some coffee." She looked at her husband with wifely authority, "You need to tell them, Richard. They should know the whole story." Rose looked over her shoulder at Dean and shrugged as Emma ushered her out of the room.
Rick motioned for the brothers to sit down and Sam sat in the chair opposite Rick, while Dean leaned on the doorframe of the hallway where Emma and Rose had exited. He could hear Emma chatting away and Rose's muffled, one-syllable responses.
Sam said to Rick, "We were just wondering… after you showed us Jose's grave… well, I did some research and the papers said he'd been murdered. What can you tell us about that?"
"Jose wasn't killed by those… dogs, or whatever. When word spread that he'd made a deal with the devil himself, several of the men believed he was responsible for what was happening. So they…" he stopped, his head dropping to his chest, "They snuck into his house one night and killed him."
"So the attacks started before Jose received all that money?" Sam asked.
"Yes, about a month before," Rick answered, unsure of why Sam wanted to know.
"Rick, what can you tell us about the men who died before Jose was murdered? Did they ever work at the plant?" Sam continued his questioning as Dean leaned back in the doorway, still listening for Emma and Rose.
"I don't know," Rick answered. "I'm sure they did. We all did at one point or another. I worked there as a teenager myself. What's this about?" he asked.
"We're not sure yet," Sam said. "It's just a theory we're working on. You mentioned cutbacks at the school. Were there cutbacks at the plant too?"
Rick's eyes brightened, "Yes! Now that you mention it, there had been cutbacks at the plant. So it is possible that the men who died had worked there recently. But… why do you ask?" he still wanted to know.
"Like I said, it's just a theory," was all Sam would tell him.
Emma came back into the room, smiling up at Dean as she walked past him carrying a tray with coffee and cookies on it. She handed a cup to each of them and sat the plate of cookies down on the coffee table. Going over to sit on the arm of her husband's chair, she prompted him, "Tell them the rest."
Rose walked in behind Emma, holding her right hand against her body, palm facing inward. Dean took her by the elbow and escorted her over to the couch where they sat down. They both reached over for the same cookie at the same time, their hands touching as they grabbed it. Their eyes met and Dean instinctively pulled his hand away, letting her have the cookie. He turned his attention back to Rick. "What else do we need to know?" he asked, "What haven't you told us?"
"After Jose's death," Rick paused, putting his hand to his eyes, "after his death, the attacks increased. And…" he caught his breath, almost unable to get the rest of the sentence out, "we believe the men responsible for his death are the ones getting killed now."
"The papers said his killer, or killers, were never found," Sam said, leaning forward. "How can you be sure it's the same men?" He looked at Rick and then at Emma for a reaction.
Rick shrugged and clasped his hands together, "I can't be certain, of course," he said. "It's just," he looked up at Emma, "It's just speculation."
"Well, we need to try and figure out where this thing might strike next," Dean said. "And stop it."
"I may have an idea who will be next if my theory is right," Rick kept glancing up at Emma. "But I am only guessing at this point, you understand."
"Of course," Sam said to him. "Anything you have to go on, we'd appreciate."
They stood to leave, and Rose reached for another cookie. Emma grabbed her and hugged her again, saying, "Your family must be proud of you! And they must love your boyfriend!" she added, smiling over at Dean.
Rose pulled away from the hug, "Oh, he's not…" she started to say and then thought better of it. Better not to have to say too much, she thought. "Yeah, he's great," she said sheepishly.
"Meet me in the morning back at the highway," Rick told them. "I'll see what I can do to get you on the next job." He turned to Rose. "I want you to thank your uncle for us," he said. "But, Mija… isn't he a little upset with you for changing up the family crest?"
Rose shot a look over at the brothers. They had clearly heard what both Emma and Rick had said to her. "Nah, not really," she brushed off the statement saying, "I'll be sure to tell him what you said."
Back in the car, Dean turned around to face Rose in the backseat. "Okay, let's have it," he said bluntly.
"Have what?" she asked, an innocent expression in her blue eyes.
"Whatever it is you took from their kitchen," Dean answered, not wanting to play games. "A knife, scissors, whatever it is, hand it over."
Rose held her right hand out to them, palm open. She had what looked like some kind of brown icing drawn onto her palm in the shape of an eye with Aztec symbols surrounding it. "I didn't take anything," she hissed at him. "It's just henna. I'm waiting for it to dry. Emma did it for me… for protection." She saw Sam studying the symbols and pulled her hand back.
"I didn't do anything wrong," Rose whispered under her breath, her blue eyes filling with tears as she thought of Emma's statement on how her family should be proud of her.
As the brothers stood over the trunk of the car loading up their weapons, Sam motioned toward the backseat. "We can't take her with us, Dean," he said. "Not on this job. What do you intend to do with her?"
"I dunno yet," Dean answered as he loaded silver bullets into the chamber of his pistol. "I'll think of something."
"This is just great, guys," Rose said from the backseat of the Impala. "I get that I can't come along on the jobsite, but when are you gonna start trusting me?" She was lying across the seat, her hands handcuffed behind her.
"Uh, that would be never," Dean said as he leaned into the car and finished tying her feet together with a rope. He tossed a blanket over her, while from the other side of the car, Sam put a hand to Rose's head, reassuringly.
"Don't worry, we won't be long," he promised as he put the bandana back in her mouth again and reluctantly pulled the blanket over her face. He shot a frustrated look over at Dean as they closed the back doors to the Impala. They walked across the street and up to the corner where the men were gathering. Sam walked up to Rick. "Are you sure the car's okay over there?" he asked, leading him to believe he was concerned about the car and not letting him know that his concern was for Rose.
"It'll be okay," Rick answered him. "Everyone knows you're here to help. No one's going to bother your car. So that's your baby, huh?" he added.
"Uh, no, it's his," Sam answered him, shifting his weight uncomfortably and pointing at Dean. "But if anything were to happen to it…"
"I get it," Rick said, "Not to worry, it'll be fine."
A pick-up truck stopped beside them. Sam and Dean were standing within earshot as he heard the man say to Rick, "I need three men to help my road crew."
"That's fine," Rick said to the man, "We'll go." He motioned over to Dean and Sam to follow him as he went around to get into the back of the truck. The brothers looked at each other, surprised, and followed Rick into the truck bed. Dean sat in silence in the back of the truck, staring at Rick. Sam started to say something, but stopped himself. Rick just stared out at the highway going by.
At their lunch break, Sam walked up to Dean, both of them wearing hardhats and orange vests. "Have you seen anything?" he asked.
"No," Dean answered, biting into his sandwich. "I've been watching him all morning, and so far nothing at all."
Rick joined them, sitting down on the tailgate of the pick-up that had brought them. Dean looked over at him, finally asking what had been on their minds all morning. "What makes you think the attack will be here? Today?" he asked, knowing the answer.
"Because I'm the last one," Rick said. "Because I'm the one who led those men to Jose's house that night."
"But he was your best friend," Sam protested, his confusion showing on his face.
Rick looked at him with a hard stare. "Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," he said. "And sometimes it's the hardest thing you've ever had to do in your life. We thought we were doing the right thing!"
"Yeah, well, you were wrong," Sam answered Rick, but he was looking directly at Dean.
Just then, something shook the truck so hard it was as if it had been struck by a car. Dean and Sam both pulled their guns out, putting Rick between them as they turned to face whatever had hit the truck.
"Do you see it?" Sam asked Rick, remembering that only the person the Hellhounds came after could see them coming.
"No," Rick said, fear in his voice. "I don't see anything."
They heard a growl and Sam was knocked to the ground. Another growl and Rick grabbed at his leg as a gash appeared out of nowhere on his calf. Dean fired his gun into the air in front of Rick and pulled Rick behind him, still shooting. Sam jumped to his feet and ran to support Rick, pulling him away.
"Where is it?" Dean shouted at Rick as he backed towards them, gun held up, ready to fire again.
"I don't know!" Rick protested, grimacing in pain. "I don't see anything!" From behind him came another growl and another gash appeared on his other leg. Sam shot this time, aiming at the spot in front of where Rick's wound appeared.
"This isn't working, Dean!" Sam said.
"I know!" Dean answered, thinking as quickly as he could. He pulled out a small silver flask. Without warning, Rick screamed and fell to the ground, gashes appearing on his back as if he were being mauled by a bear. Quickly opening the flask, Dean threw the holy water over Rick's back.
They heard a sudden whimper as if a dog had been struck, and then it appeared on the ground beside Rick, growling and whimpering. It was black and had the head of a dog, but was the size of a large grizzly bear, and its eyes were glowing red. Now that the beast was visible, both Dean and Sam emptied their weapons into it with no effect – the bullets seemed to pass right through it. Sam pulled out a 2nd flask of holy water and threw it onto the beast's face, causing it to cry out in pain, but not killing it.
A car came screeching up behind them and the brothers turned to see the Impala, and Rose jumping out of the driver's seat.
"What the…" Dean didn't have time to finish his sentence as Rose ran straight at the Hellhound, her right hand out, chanting in Latin. The beast shrunk back at her words, but she grabbed its massive head, placing her right hand over one of its eyes and continued chanting.
Howling and snarling in pain, the Hellhound's body convulsed under her grasp, but Rose didn't release her hold on its head. The convulsions and howling stopped and the Hellhound slipped out of Rose's arms to the ground, dissolving into smoke and ash.
Dean and Sam both stared at Rose in amazement, eyes wide. She turned and kneeled over Rick, helping him to sit up. "It's okay," she said to him. "It's over."
Rose and Sam walked out of the hospital to Dean waiting by the car. "He's going to be fine," Sam said. "The wounds were severe, but not life-threatening. He's gonna have one heck of a hospital bill, though."Rose looked up at him. "It's taken care of," she said.
Dean opened the back door for Rose to get in. "You ever touch my car again, and I will hurt you," he said to her.
"Next time, bring me with you then," she answered back. "Oh, and sorry about the door handle," she added, reaching into her pocket and pulling the inside handle out and handing it to Dean. She looked at Sam as he got into the car. "I guess this doesn't help the trust factor any, does it?"
Driving away from the hospital, Sam turned his full attention on Rose. "What the hell happened back there?" he demanded.
Rose looked at him, wide-eyed. "What do you mean?"
"How did you... how did you stop that thing?"
"Sam, seriously, I have no idea what you're talking about! Okay, so I got tired of waiting and I hot-wired Dean's car. I admit it was a stupid thing to do, and Dean, I'm really sorry, but, well, I was concerned, okay? And... a little scared," she admitted to them with defeat in her voice.
Dean slammed the brakes so hard it threw Rose into the back of his seat, throwing up dirt and gravel as he pulled the car to the side of the road. He got out of the car, threw open the back door and yanked Rose out of the car. Slamming her against the car and putting his weight against her, his arm at her neck, he growled at her, "Stop playing little miss innocent and tell us how you killed that Hellhound!" Sam jumped out too and tried to pull Dean off her before he choked her to death, but Dean just turned on him and said, "She knows more than she's letting on and I'm going to get answers out of her -- one way or another!" Sam backed off. Dean let up on the pressure he was putting on Rose's neck but didn't release her.
"I... I don't know what you're talking about!" Rose cried, her eyes growing wild with fear that Dean really was going to seriously hurt her this time. "I'm sorry I took your car, okay? What more do you want me to say? You know the kind of neighborhood you left me in! I got scared, and... well, I was afraid of what might happen..." her voice dropped, "I was afraid of what might happen to you." She all but whispered the last sentence.
"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it!" Dean growled at her, tightening his grip again.
Seeing the expression on her face, Sam stopped him. "Rose, just what do you remember?" he asked.
"Huh?" she asked, looking over at Sam. He was her only hope of escaping Dean's wrath right now. "I, uh... what are you talking about?"
"From the time we left you tied up in the car until now," Sam said calmly. "What do you remember?"
Rose didn't understand why he was asking but she answered, "I remember getting the door handle loose and using the pin from it to undo the handcuffs. Then I hotwired the car and drove to the road you were working on..."
"How did you know where we were?" Sam prompted her.
"Huh? Oh," she shook her head, trying to remember. "I... I don't know. Something inside me just sort of led me there." She looked back at Dean, "Just like the night we met in the strip club. Something told me you'd be there, and that I had to be there too... to help you. I can't explain it. It's just this feeling I get sometimes."
Dean loosened his grip on her again, searching her face for any sign that she might be lying. So far he couldn't see that she was, but she was good at keeping secrets, he knew that. "What do you mean, feeling?" he asked her.
She looked down, unable to look him in the face. "I know who you are," she admitted to them. "John Winchester's boys. And, you..." she looked up at Dean again and then quickly looked away seeing his intent stare, "All I have to do is concentrate hard enough and I can find you. It's the amulet. It leads me to you," she held up the silver African amulet she wore.
Dean studied it with faint and distant recognition, as Sam said, "Us? How can an amulet show you where we are?"
"No, not you," Rose said to Sam. "Him," She put her hands on Dean's arms, still holding her against the car then let them drop. She looked him in the face, saying, "It leads me to you."
Dean released his grip on her and slammed on the car with both hands on either side of her, so hard it made her jump. He turned his back on her, trying to sort out what she'd just told him. Turning back, he said, "What makes you think we're gonna believe you?"
"How else did I find you?" she answered in a small voice.
"Okay, okay," Sam said, still trying to calm the heated situation down. He turned to Rose, "So you drove to the worksite. Then what?"
Rose looked at him. "You know what happened after that. You were there. I got there and Rick was on the ground with those gashes all over him and the two of you standing over him with your guns drawn. He was injured, so I ran over to help him. I don't understand. Why are you asking me this?"
Dean was watching her closely but she showed no signs at all that she was lying. Sam looked over at his brother, then back at Rose, "You really don't remember?" he asked.
Rose looked back at Dean, staring at her like she was a ventriloquist's dummy then at Sam again, "Don't remember?" she said. "How could I forget? All that blood, and..." she looked down at her own shirt, still covered in Rick's blood from holding him before the ambulance arrived. They had followed it straight to the hospital and she hadn't had time to change. "How did he... how could he... how did he get away from it?" she asked, leaning back on the Impala for support, her legs giving out from under her. Sam ran to catch her so she wouldn't fall to the ground. Leaning on him, she looked over at Dean. "You got it, right? I mean... you must have or Rick would be..."
"No." Dean said through gritted teeth at her. "No, we didn't get it."
She looked at him dumbfounded and tried to pull away from Sam, "Well, then we have to go back there! Whatever it was, it's going to go after him again! We have to..." she stopped as Sam pulled on her arms, not letting her go.
He looked down at her, so small next to him. "We didn't kill it, Rose. You did." He grabbed her right wrist, turning the palm upward. "You put your hand over its eye, and..." Sam stopped now. It was his turn to be dumbfounded. "Dean..." Sam said and turned Rose's wrist so that Dean could see her palm. The henna tattoo had vanished. There was no trace it had ever been there.
Sam got back in the car, putting his cell phone in his pocket. Rose was in the backseat, hugging herself with both arms while Dean just stared at her, ice running through his veins. How could she honestly not remember?
"Emma says she doesn't remember giving Rose a henna tattoo. She said all they did was chat over coffee and cookies while we talked to Rick in the living room." Sam said to Dean.
"Because that's what we did!" Rose insisted. "How is he?" she added in a whisper.
"He's fine," Sam answered, "He's resting. She said he should be out of the hospital in a couple of weeks. And she said to say thank you for taking care of the hospital bill."
Rose sighed, relieved, as Dean pulled back out onto the road. He turned up the stereo and they sped along the highway, no one else saying a word as Foreigner's Long, Long Way From Home blared out the speakers of the Impala.