Nothing. Rose had gotten absolutely nothing last night. She might as well not even run any scans. She didn't understand it. The only thing alien in the vicinity was herself, the only alien tech was her own. So whatever was happening, and whatever it was that was doing it, was completely new to her. The thought terrified her just as much as it excited her.

She filled two pitchers of beer and brought them over to the two fake FBI agents. "Looks like you guys are staying a while. I heard about Rick Deacon." The kid who got mauled by, what his girlfriend had said was, a werewolf. Rose was even more peeved then before when she'd heard. She needed to figure out what the difference was in these things killing people and modify her tech to search for it. She'd be damned if she lived in any universe and let innocents be murdered.

Dean nodded at her in thanks for the beer. "Yeah, this case just got complicated enough for our department."

Rose nodded. She figured as much. "Well, drinks are on me, mate. And, just so you know, I get off at midnight tonight." Rose smiled flirtatiously. Her tech wasn't working, but if she could figure out a bit more about what these boys knew, it'd help her out.

Dean nodded appreciatively at the statement. "Oh, it's not another, uh, girls' night out?"

Rose paused. Almost forgetting her lie from the night before. She laughed. "Nah, night before didn't even pan out anyways."

"Okay, then, Queen-y. I'll see you tonight." He smiled warmly at her and lifted up his beer to take a sip.

Rose winked. "Not if I see you first, m'Lorship." She left back to the bar, her short barmaid skirt flouncing as she did.

Sam raised his eyebrows a bit. "What's with the pet names?" Dean glared at him. "Have you picked out your first born son's name yet?"

Dean took a bite from his burger. "Shut up, Sammy." He said around the food.

Sam smiled, loving the obvious discomfort rolling off of his brother. He took a sip from his beer. "Well that's good at least. She's stuck here until 12 and then you've got a date with her. If anything happens during that time, it can't be her."

Dean shrugged. "That doesn't mean she's not a hunter. She could still know something about the case." He drank his beer and frowned as he thought. "There's something off about her."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, or her British accent is making you think about Bela." Dean made a face and Sam laughed. "See?"


Rose glanced at her watch. He was late. Which meant he was either a jerk, or someone else had been murdered. Rose didn't like it. Innocents were dropping left and right and she couldn't do anything about it. She couldn't remember a time she'd felt this helpless. Once this adventure was over, she was moving on. Rose had checked over her vortex manipulator on break and it was up and running again. There had been some interference from some pollen she'd picked up on another planet. However, the vortex manipulator had finally worked through it and flushed it from the system. She was good to go again, off to see the universe. But first she was being stood up.

Rose rolled her eyes and headed around the corner of the bar and down an alley. Dean was late, and she wasn't pathetic enough to wait around forever. She wanted to talk to him, but she wasn't going to be jerked around.

Bad Wolf flared up inside of Rose. Her eyes didn't even need to glow gold as she spun around and faced the theatrically dressed Dracula behind her. "Good evening." He greeted in an Hungarian accent.

Rose's eyebrows shot up. "'lo there, Dracula."

He smiled when she said his name. Rose took a step back but the man matched her and moved forward. "I have watched you many nights from afar."

"Yeah," Rose interrupted, "'cause tha's not creepy."

The Dracula continued on as if he hadn't heard her. "My passion knows no bounds! You are the reincarnation of my beloved, Mina." He moved towards her faster now. Rose backed up until she hit a wall. The Dracula leaned into her. "And I must have you."

Rose swung her fist and punched him across the face. Before he had time to recover, she kicked him in the stomach and ran down the alley back towards the street. Rose heard huffing and cursing from behind her and quickly glanced back.

"Marion!" Rose turned around and ran straight into Dean. He caught her around the waist and stepped back to stop them from falling. They turned and saw Dracula swish his cape. He stood tall, his chest puffed out as he glared down his nose at Dean.

"Son of a bitch." Dean breathed out as he took in the other man.

The Dracula's glare grew more intense. "You should not use such language in the presence of my bride."

Rose snorted. "Yeah, never gonna happen, mate."

Dean glanced at her, she seemed completely under control. He turned back to the Dracula. "You heard the lady." Dean let go of Rose and swung a punch at the vampire. It connected, but seemed to barely faze the Dracula. The vampire bared his fangs and hissed at Dean as he lunged for him. Rose stepped back as they grappled. There was a tearing sound and a medallion went flying to the ground.

"Marion, run!" Dean hollered and the Dracula pushed him up against the wall. Rose rolled her eyes. That was less likely then the marriage to Count Chocula.

"You have no choice in the matter, Mr. Harker." The Hungarian man with delusions of cannibalism said. "Mina is mine." He bared his teeth. Dean pushed with all his might to keep the vampires fangs away from his neck where they were quickly descending.

Rose pounced. She grabbed the vampires shoulder, her other hand scrambled and eventually locked on his ear. She yanked back and the man lost his grip on Dean. There was a wet, ripping sound and suddenly Rose was holding his ear. Rose let out a small shriek as she stared down at the appendage. When she looked back up, Dean was chasing after the Dracula. Not one to be left behind, Rose booked it after them.

She caught up to Dean just as he rounded the corner and saw the Dracula practically leap half way up a metal fence then pull himself over. Dean jumped up, but didn't even make it halfway. Rose watched with confused bemusement as Dracula sped away on a moped.

"Seriously?" Rose asked. "A moped?"

Dean glanced at her. His eyes were burning with questions, which was the exact moment Rose remembered she wasn't acting nearly scared enough. She lifted up her hand, still holding the ear and made a noise somewhere between a whimper and a chocked scream.

Dean seemed to buy it, if only for a moment. "Come on, we'll go to the bar and you can wash your hands." He put his hand on the small of her back and guided her down the alley, his other hand gently plucking the ear from her grasp. Dean glanced at her. She wasn't even shaking. "You did good back there."

Rose smiled at him. "Thanks, that means a lot comin' from Neil Young." Rose smiled cheekily at him.

Dean let out a low laugh. "When did you figure it out?"

Rose waved a hand, "Oh about…" She frowned and trailed off as something in the dark caught her eye. She moved away from Dean and picked up the medallion that was on the vampire's throat earlier. "Hey, look at this." She lifted it up and flipped it around to the back.

Dean stared at it as Rose read the inscription. "It belonged to the Dracula nut." Dean remembered. He had torn it off in the fight.

"Yeah, and 's a rental from a costume place." Rose looked up at Dean, he didn't look too surprised. "I really hope you know wha's goin' on around here."

Dean nodded and looked around the dark alleyway. "Yeah, I think I do." He gestured to the side entrance that led into the bar. "Come on, let's get inside."

Rose nodded and pulled the bar keys out of her jacket pocket. That was when Dean finally realized she was out of her barmaid outfit. Her hair was down in the usual honey coloured big curls and waves. She wore a black leather jacket and jeans with black boots. It certainly wasn't girly, nor was it what he had expected from her. It was practical, durable, and something distinctly hunter-like.

The door opened and the two entered the closed bar and restaurant. Rose turned on the lights and headed back behind the bar. The tap turned on and she vigorously washed her hands. Dean found a cloth to put the ear in before he, also, washed his hands with a generous amount of soap.

Dean glanced at her again. She wasn't freaking out — at all. He wasn't sure what to make of that. "Are you a hunter?"

Rose looked up at him as she dried her hands. "'m assuming you don't mean do I like to kill Bambi's mum?" Dean turned off the tap and took the washcloth from her to dry his own hands. He shook his head. "I dunno wha' you mean then." Rose picked up two scotch glasses and a bottle before making her way over to a booth.

Dean frowned. His hand went to his cell which he pulled out and quickly shot a text to Sammy about what happened. Sammy told him he'd be there soon, then Dean picked up the cloth with the ear inside of it and followed her to the booth. They sat down across from each other silently. Rose poured them both a glass of scotch. "How'd you know my badge was a fake?" No regular person off the street would know that. Dean refused to believe she wasn't a hunter. But why would she lie?

"I used to work with a company tha' dealt with fake ID's a lot." Rose shrugged like it was no big deal.

"What? Like Homeland Security?"

Rose laughed hard at that. She threw her head back and left Dean in the dark about what was so funny. When she finally calmed down she took a sip of her scotch and nodded, a smile still in place. "Somethin' like that, yeah."

Dean opened his mouth to ask another question but Rose wagged her fingers at him and shook her head. "Nuh-uh, my turn. Wha' was tha' thing?"

Dean considered the blonde before him for a moment. She had handled everything considerably well so far. Had attacked instead of run, kept an open mind in the search for a suspect, picked up clues in dark alleys. She may not have been a hunter, but Dean was certain she'd make one hell of one. "I wasn't sure at first, but the ear you got pretty much gives it away. It's a shapeshifter."

Rose considered that. She'd faced shapeshifting aliens before, but she had already established that this wasn't an alien. "Righ' and is this then, normal behaviour for a shapeshifter?"

Dean scratched his head. "Yeah, not really. Though shifters in general tend to cause harm. We've come across a couple, and every time they've been killers."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Well of course they have. You're not gonna find them if they're law abidin' citizens are you?" Dean nodded his head in acknowledgement but didn't respond. He took a sip from his glass. "So wha' do we do? There like a place you take shifters? A special prison or somethin'?"

Dean shook his head. "No. To get rid of a shifter you need silver." Rose stared at him, waiting for him to elaborate on the next part of the instruction. Dean gestured. "Then we kill it."

Rose looked at him aghast. "What? You jus' kill him? No questions asked?"

Dean leaned forward. "He's killed people, Marion. We can't just let him walk about and continue to do that. We gotta gank him."

"But what if he was innocent. What if a shifter hadn't killed anyone?" The Doctor had always taught her to give second chances, to find an alternative route. Killing hadn't really been an option with him. Accidents happened and sometimes people couldn't be saved. Rose stuck by the Doctor's original premise though, you don't hurt those you can save.

"You said it yourself." Dean was calm. He wasn't budging on the topic. "If he hadn't killed anyone, we wouldn't be here." Dean saw the distraught on Rose's face. He sighed. "Look, shifters, werewolves, vampires. Take your pick. There are hundreds of monsters out there, but the one thing they all have in common is that they know about us. Hunters are everywhere. If a monster makes a wrong move, we'll find them. That's the way it goes. We hunt them, we kill them, and we save a lot of people along the way."

Rose sank back against the booth. She pouted at her scotch glass as she thought that over. It went against everything inside of her, but Dean had a point. If they knew, and they killed anyways, wasn't that like taking your second chance? Killing was wrong, needless killing was disgusting. Rose had to admit, she was in a completely different universe now. Apparently, this universe played by different rules. If she was going to stay there, if she was going to help people, she'd have to learn them.

Rose took a deep breath and straightened her shoulders. She looked right at Dean, staring straight into the new dangers she was allowing into her life. "How long have you been doin' this then? Killin' monsters, tha' is."

Dean shrugged. He hadn't looked up from his glass. "When we were younger our mother was killed by a demon. From that moment on, my dad started hunting them. He raised my brother, Sammy, and myself in the hunt. So I guess you could say our whole lives." Dean looked up at her then. She didn't have a look of sympathy on her face, more of understanding. "You lost someone?" The second the words left his mouth he wanted to punch himself. She'd said that she was a widow. Of course she lost someone.

Rose nodded. "Yeah, my dad died when I was a baby."

Dean nodded. He took another sip of scotch. "That's like Sammy, he never really got to meet our mom. Doesn't have any memories of her." Dean looked down at the table top again and missed it when Rose's eyes glowed gold. Rose bit her lip. Sam would meet their mom, almost the exact same way Rose had met her father. Time travel was a beautiful thing.

"Sammy?" Rose asked politely. She knew Sammy was the younger brother, the taller one.

Dean nodded. "Yeah, my partner. Really my younger brother… I'm Dean." She considered telling him her real name, but there was too much of a risk. The last thing Rose needed was these boys finding out there were two of her, they'd think she was a shifter.

Rose leaned forward on the table and stared at Dean seriously. "You said demons, werewolves, vampires. Those are real?" Dean looked up and nodded. His eyes narrowed a bit at the look on Rose's face. "Wha' else is there?"

Dean frowned and shook his head. "No. Marion, you don't want to get messed up in this."

"Why not?" Rose tried really hard not to be offended. She'd saved planets, galaxies and universes, all on multiple occasions. She could do this too.

"Because — because we move from motel to motel. We eat fast food for a living, we're never in the same place twice and we're working all ours of the night and day. We impersonate important people, get chased by the authorities and on a number of occasions have been thrown in jail. That's why. You really want to do that?"

God. Rose wanted nothing more than to do that all day every day. She missed travelling with the Doctor. Hunting, as Dean called it, sounded pretty similar. Rose smiled broadly. "Is it wrong tha', yeah, I really want that." Dean stared at her astonished. "Look, I travel all the time. Wha' you said is my life in a nutshell anyways. I try to help people, tend to get in trouble. Ya know, cultural differences." Rose waved her hand nonchalantly. "Bu' besides tha', 'm always on the move. Never stay anywhere long. Only been here a week actually, got stuck for a bit. After this is taken care, 'm gonna move out and head to the next place tha' calls me. If I find one of these things again, I won't hesitate to try and stop it."

Dean glared at her. "You're gonna get yourself killed."

Rose smiled cheekily. "Then teach me."

He rolled his eyes and tried to not show how much her smile effected him. "I don't have time to train you to be a hunter, princess." He raised the scotch glass to his mouth and paused. "But if I don't do something you're still going to hunt them aren't you?" Rose smiled. Dean shook his head. "I should just let them get you."

Rose laughed. "Nah, wha' would all our subjects think, prince?" Dean shook his head again and took a long sip of scotch. He was caving, Rose could see it. She decided to back off though, too much pressure too fast would make him snap. And he wouldn't snap in her favour.

The door to the bar opened and Sam walked in quickly. He eyed the two at the booth and made his way over. "Hey. You guys alright?"

Dean nodded at his brother. "Yeah, I think so. And I think I know what's going on." He pushed the cloth over to Sam. Sam opened it up and made a face.

"We ripped it off of Dracula." Rose informed him.

Sam looked to her and quickly noted the clothes and the lack of hysteria. "Hunter?" Rose and Dean shook their heads. Sam nodded, not understanding at all but willing to go along with it. "So the ear?"

Dean leaned forward. "Touch it." Sam did. "A shifter. Except this one is all holding buckets of crazy." Dean gestured to Rose and nodded.

She pulled out the medallion they'd found in the alley. She handed it to Sam. "Found it in the alley after the fight. Dean tore it off. 's from a costume place."

Dean took another drink of scotch. "All three monsters — The dracula, wolf man, and the mummy — all the same critter. Which means we need to catch this freak before he "creature from the black lagoon's" somebody."

Rose shook her head. "I don't think he will."

Sam turned to her, curious. "Why not?"

"Well 's jus'…" She fidgeted with her fingers as she collected her thoughts. Both the boys had their eyes trained on her. This was her time to shine, she knew it. If Dean was going to teach her to hunt, he'd need a reason. Rose was going to give him one. "All the other murders were pretty basic, scenes from horror flicks, yeah? Well he didn't try to kill me in the alley. An' I think he's drawn us into his fantasy. He called me Mina, and Dean, Mr. Harker."

Sam's eyes widened a bit. Dean looked between the two, confused. "Who's that?"

"Mina and Jonathan Harker are from the movies and novels. Mina was his intended bride, Harker the fiancé. He's fixating on you," he told Rose, "wants you to be his bride."

Rose sighed and leaned her leaned her head on her hand. "Wish I could say it was the first time a crazy — anything — fixated on me."

Sam wasn't done though. "But to fixate on you, my guess is that the shifter has to have seen you before or been around you."

Dean's eyebrows shot up. "Ed Brewer." Sam nodded.

"What?" Rose frowned at the both of them. "Ed's harmless. Fancies me, sure, but he isn't a killer."

"Marion, he called you a goddess. You should have seen the look of worship on his face. The man isn't all there. Do you know where he lives?"

Rose shook her head. It wasn't Ed, she knew that. "No, bu' he works at the old theatre." Rose crossed her arms. "It isn't him."

Sam and Dean exchanged a few words, and then Sam was heading out to find Ed. Rose stared stonily at the door for a moment. She knew it wasn't Ed. Her increased powers from Bad Wolf mixed with this universe's Time Vortex told her that. She could feel it in the pit of her stomach. She sighed. If it wasn't him, Sam would just leave him alone…right? Rose asked Dean. He gave her a look, one Rose couldn't really decipher, then told her none too kindly that Sam wouldn't hurt her boyfriend.

"You really want to do this?" Rose looked up at Dean, shocked. She'd been completely lost in her thoughts. She nodded quickly. Dean huffed. "Most people get dragged into this life, Marion. They don't chose it. Once you're in, it's almost impossible to get out. Hunter's don't have happy endings."

Rose sighed. She could see that. Most companions didn't have happy endings. But it was worth it, to travel the stars and see the universe. She was immortal now, all her loved ones long dead, in a completely different universe. And Rose wouldn't have it any other way. She'd go through all the hardship of her long life, over and over again, if that's what the price was to have travelled with the Doctor. "I could help so many people Dean, you have no idea."

Dean stared at her like she was some complicated puzzle, and in lots of ways she was. "What makes helping people your responsibility?"

"What makes it yours?" She countered. After a moment of silence, Rose got up from the booth and locked the door to the bar.

Dean stared at the counter top. "Last few years, I started thinking that way. That it was all my responsibility, you know? And, uh, it started sort of weighing on me. Of course, that was before…" Dean shifted in his seat uncomfortable. Rose walked back over and stood by the table. "A little while ago, I had this — it's called a near-Death experience. Very near." Still staring at the countertop, Dean didn't see Rose's eyes glow gold again. He also didn't see them fill with horror, then tears. Rose slipped into the booth beside Dean, drawing back the rage and anger inside of her. They'd tortured him.

Dean continued, oblivious to Rose's inner turmoil. "And, uh...when I came to… Things were different. My life's been different. I realize that I help people. It's not just a responsibility. And I don't just help them. I save them. I guess it's — it's awesome. It's kind of like a gift… Like a mission. Kind of like a… a mission from god."

Rose smiled. She wanted to kiss him. That thought alone almost gave her pause. Dean was the first man she'd wanted to kiss since she met the Doctor. Well, she didn't count Jack. But Rose really did want to kiss him, and she knew he needed the comfort, knew he wanted to kiss her. She bit her lip, staring at Deans, it was just one kiss.

"So does tha' make you my guardian angel?" She smiled, her tongue poking out from between her teeth. Dean's eyes fixated on the tongue, watching it disappear between the most beautiful lips he'd ever seen.

"Man, I hope not." He whispered.

Rose leaned forward as her eyes fluttered shut. Their lips met in a soft, tender kiss that had Rose melting in his arms. He pulled her closer, his hand sneaking between her jacket and shirt to rest at the curve of her waist. Rose moaned at the feel of his warm hands holding her close. She felt Dean's lips curl up into a smile as he continued to kiss her. Rose pulled back a bit and laughed, she smacked his shoulder, wanting to wipe that smug look off of his face. Dean chuckled and kissed her bottom lip, he pulled her closer again and they continued to laugh and kiss. It was sweet and fun, and better then Rose had hoped for.

The rest of the bar lights flickered on and Rose and Dean pulled apart.

Lucy stood by the bar, jaw dropped. "Holy crap. Oh, my god. Marion. Guys, I'm —I'm sorry. I thought you guys were going out."

Rose flushed and shook her head. "Lucy, 's fine. Really."

Lucy held up a bottle. "I just — I came to borrow a bottle. I kind of got something going back at my… Anyway, uh, you guys look really busy, so I'm just gonna get out of your hair." Lucy made to leave.

Rose laughed. "Seriously, Lucy, 's been a crazy night. Stay for a drink."

Dean looked at Rose then back at Lucy. The last thing he wanted was for Lucy to stay. Rose's kisses were like M&M's. He could sit there for the rest of his life and just — he turned to Lucy. "Yeah. Stay for a drink." What the hell had gotten into him? Sit there for the rest of his life? This town was clearly screwing with his head. Rose smiled at him and he forced a smile back.


"Oh, that sounds awful." Lucy gushed. "Marion, honey, are you okay?"

Rose shrugged. "Yeah, 'm fine. Just wish I got more then a right hook an' a kick at him." Dean smiled at that, loving the big fight in the little packaging before him.

With his arm wrapped around her shoulder, Dean played with the end of one of her curls. He seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly disentangled himself from her. Rose shot him an inquiring look but was quickly distracted by something on the table. She picked up the bottle of alcohol that Lucy had shared with them.

"Let's hope it doesn't come to that." Dean finally responded to Rose's earlier statement. Lucy pulled out a napkin and blotted her lipstick.

Rose set the bottle down on the table top, hard. She looked sharply at Lucy. "Wha' did you do?"

Dean frowned between the two of them. Lucy leaned forward and smiled at Rose in a way Dean quickly identified as altogether too creepy for his tastes. "God, you really are fantastic aren't you?" Rose flinched at Lucy's words, though Dean couldn't see why. "So much smarter than any of these buffoons give you credit for. Perfection."

Rose blinked blearily and swayed as she climbed out of the booth. Dean stumbled out behind her. The room swam around them as the drugs that Lucy had put in the alcohol finally kicked in.

"It's you, isn't it?" Dean growled. He swung a punch at one of the three Lucy's he saw, but missed entirely. The force propelled him towards the table and his hand landed on the bottle they'd been drinking from. He smashed the end of it against the edge of the table.

"Lucy please." Rose pleaded. "You don't want ta do this. Please jus'…" Rose trailed off as she stumbled.

Dean shouldered Rose out of the way and brandished the broken bottle. "Too late. I'll skin you myself." The bottle fell from his limp grasp and Dean collapsed to the ground.

"Dean!" Rose cried. She slumped down beside the hunter and checked his pulse. Her fingers fumbled along his neck. Eventually she gave up and simply checked through the Time Vortex. She sighed, her body sagging against Deans. He was alive. Her body felt like it was being weighed down with sandbags, but she forced herself to look to Lucy anyways. "Lucy, stop this. 's not gonna end well… for…" Rose slumped forward and she collapsed on top of Dean.


Rose gasped awake. She sat up quickly as her eyes glanced around the room. It was an old, medieval looking castle. Rose rubbed her hands along the modern material of the blankets beneath her. "Medieval lookin', but no' actually." She mumbled to herself. Rose crawled off the bed and headed to the door. She paused when she saw the long satin white dress hanging near the bed. She snorted at it and headed out the door.

Whatever drugs Lucy had given her had worked its way through her system. If she had been a regular human, she was sure she'd have been out for much longer. That gave her a particular advantage. Maybe she could find Dean somewhere around here and they could escape.

The hallway was stone or — Rose reached out a hand. Fake. The entire place was one giant fun house. Rose tilted her head to the side a bit. Prop house would be more accurate. She continued down the hall until she heard voices coming from behind a door. She paused and leaned her ear against the wood.

"You do realize what happens. At the end of every monster movie?" Dean was saying.

"Ah. But this movie is mine." The Hungarian accent quickly identified the other speaker as the Dracula — Lucy. "And in it, the monster wins. The monster gets the girl. And the hero, he's…electrocuted." Rose's eyes widened. Wait — what? "And tonight, Jonathan Harker. You will be my hero." Rose was just taking a few steps back to help her get the momentum to kick the door down when suddenly — the door bell rang. Rose raced back to the door and leaned her ear close again. She heard the tail end of Dracula excusing himself and his footsteps receding.

Rose counted to five then threw the door open and ran into the room. It was a science lab, right out of Frankenstein. There were test tubs and stone walls and Dean strapped to a propped up metal slab. Rose raced towards him, hand diving into her pocket for her sonic screwdriver.

"Marion?"

Rose paused when she noticed his appearance. There was a moment of stunned silence before she burst into laughter. He was dressed in a fully decked out Oktoberfest costume for men. "Oh, oh tha' is just rich." She wiped a tear away. "Can I get a picture?"

Dean glared at her. "Did you bring anything to get me out?"

Rose nodded but didn't move. She eyed him. "You know, it really is becoming. Love the knee highs." His glare grew darker. Rose rolled her eyes. "Fine." She pulled out her sonic screwdriver and unlocked the first metal strap across his shoulders.

Dean frowned at the warbling noise that emanated from the black cylindrical device. A light at the end lit up bright blue. "What is that?"

Rose paused and gave him a confused look. "Did you want to get out or have a science lesson." Another glare later and Rose almost had Dean out. "We should hurry, I doubt he'll go long before checkin' in on me."

Dean nodded and stumbled off of the metal slab as Rose finished unlocking his confines. A loud crash echoed from the direction Rose had entered. "I think he figured out you're missing." Dean received the glare that time.

They ran towards a door but froze when the entrance Rose had used slammed open. The wood splintered and fake stone wall behind it dented. Dracula stormed in, his eyes dark and furious. "Mina!" He thundered then pointed at Dean when he saw the man with his hand on Rose's wrist. "Unhand my bride!"

Rose scowled at him. "Bride? You actually think I'd marry you?" Before Dean could stop her, her feet were carrying her across the room towards the shapeshifter. "Ya murdered people! There are families out there mourning their children because of you. You did that. You brought pain to this world, an' 'm not gonna marry you."

Dracula's face became solemn. "This is for your own good, my love." He moved quickly and threw Rose to the side. She slammed against a large metal contraption and collapsed to the ground.

"Marion!" Dean moved forward but the Dracula stood in his way.

"Now it is time to get rid of you for good, Mr. Harker." Dracula raised his hand theatrically and swung his cape with a flourish. Dean raised his fists and tensed his body, prepared for a fight. Shifters were stronger than humans. Dean knew he stood little chance for long. He had no silver on him, and for all he knew Marion was dead across the room.

BANG!

Dean's head whipped around to see Sam standing at the base of the stairwell, gun raised. Dracula collapsed to the ground. The bullet had gone straight into his heart. The fake vampire gasped and blinked in a slightly confused, shocked manner. He tried to say something, but was stopped as he coughed up blood instead. A moment later, Dracula was dead.

Dean hesitated for only a second before he raced over to Rose's prone body. She was lying on her stomach, facing the wall. Dean was about to roll her over and check for a pulse when she gasped away. She sat up quickly, back still to the room and the Winchesters.

"Marion?"

Rose shook her head and blinked the golden hue of the vortex from her eyes as it slowly dragged the life back into her momentarily dead body. When she felt the vortex finally recede from her mind she turned around. Dean was staring at her, eyes wide and afraid. Rose's brows drew together. "Is he dead?" Dean looked over his shoulder and Rose followed his gaze. The shifter lied motionless on the ground, chest red where blood had pooled from the single bullet wound. She hadn't wanted to kill him at first, but being murdered tended to sway your opinion.

Rose let out a breath. A tiny piece of fear crept into her heart as her eyes flickered between the worried looks of the Winchester brothers. If Sam or Dean had seen the gold from of the vortex when she had been brought back to life, she was done for. Neither of them would believe she was anything but a monster. Rose briefly considered if she should even be associating with them, considering how dangerous it would be if they ever found out she wasn't human. No — she needed help, especially if she planned on fighting monsters herself.

"Now what?" She asked.

Dean stood and held out his hand. Rose took it and he pulled her up. "Now we get out of here before the cops respond to any calls about a gunshot." Sam nodded at them and the three of them headed up out of the basement, and to Rose and Dean's surprise, out the main floor of a suburban home. Dean's car, the Impala, was sitting across the street and the they quickly filed in.

It wasn't until Dean went to open the door that he realized he was still holding Rose's hand. He dropped it like it had scorched him and ducked into the car. Rose gave him another look and slid into the back seat. Sam gunned the engine and the Impala sped out of the sleeping neighbourhood.

Sam drove them to the motel that they were staying at. The boys would need to pick up their things and head out as fast as possible. Sam glanced at Rose and Dean as they fidgeted around each other in front of the car like a couple of teenagers. Sam rolled his eyes and shook his head. He'd seen his brother holding Rose's hand — holding it like a life line. He rolled his eyes and left them in the parking lot.

Rose glanced over at the door to the motel room as it closed behind Sam. Dean scuffed his boots on the pavement for a minute before he roused up the courage to look at Rose. "Marion, I still don't think it's a good idea."

Rose shrugged. "Tha's okay Dean. If 's not a good idea, you won't be there to see it. I can handle myself. Been doin' it for years, I'll manage on my own."

Rose turned and began to head out of the parking lot. She couldn't decide if she was happy or sad. Happy that the Winchesters hadn't found her out, sad that she wasn't going to travel with them. Not sad that she wasn't going to get to kiss Dean again — nope. She was perfectly — Dean grabbed her arm and spun her around. Rose's breath caught in her throat as she stared into his bright green eyes.

Dean swallowed. "I understand, okay?" Rose frowned in confusion. "I understand that it's your responsibility. I don't know how it happened, and I won't ask. But I'm not going to let you just run off and make a mess. Some serious shit is going on right now and I don't need to be worrying about you."

Rose nodded. Right, she got it. No hunting. Not like he could really stop her though. She tried to shake off his grip but he tightened his hold and growled in frustration. "No, Marion, you don't understand." He sighed and ran his other hand through his short cropped hair. "I'm going to worry about you anyways. So you might as well stick around so I don't have to run across the country to save your tight ass."

Rose preened a bit and smiled. "You mean?" Dean nodded. Rose jumped up and wrapped her arms around his neck, squealing as she hugged him. Dean laughed and patted her back. Rose pulled back a bit to thank him. Dean's eyes dragged down to her full, gorgeous lips and he quickly disentangled themselves from one another.

"Yeah, about that." He waved a hand between them. "We probably shouldn't…"

"Right."

"Things'll just get…"

"Complicated."

"Yeah."

"Totally understand."

The two stood and stared at each other for one long heated minute. Rose inwardly groaned, feeling like this was going to be reminiscent of her adventures with the Doctor. All sexual tension and no release. Meanwhile, Dean was inwardly cursing himself. He'd said to Sam earlier he wanted to bang the chick, and now the chick was going to be with them. It didn't help that Dean obviously couldn't control himself around her. Sam was going to die from the hilarity of it.

"So," Rose finally said, crashing into Dean's mind the way she had been almost every minute since they met. "once you and Sam are packed we'll grab my bag from my apartment and head out, yeah? We wanted to beat the enforcements didn't we?"

Dean nodded. After a second of scrambling to pick his concentration up from the ground, he practically fled into the motel.

Rose crossed her arms and stared at the door, a small smile on her face. She couldn't help but feel excited. Travelling again, helping people, and getting into a whole lot of trouble. The Doctor would be proud.


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