Rose stood with Sam and Dean by the boot of the Impala. Sam was rifling through the arranged weapons for ghost hunting supplies, or that was what Rose was guessing at least.

Dean shook his head at the abandoned Lumber Mill before them. "I'm not going in there."

Rose smiled. "I thought the whole reason you even came along was so you could protect me?" The real reason was that Rose and Sam had both agreed Dean shouldn't be left alone at any costs. Someone had to keep him from hallucinating, which was the next stage that'd be starting very soon.

Dean laughed in a breathless, scared way. He gestured to the Lumber Mill. "No one, Marion, and I mean no one, can protect you if you go in there. It's a friggen death trap. It's probably haunted!"

Rose laughed. "Yeah Dean, I think tha's the point."

Sam rolled his eyes and handed Rose a flashlight. "I need backup, and you're all I've got. You're going in, Dean." Dean opened his mouth but Sam cut him off. "Marion is too new, she doesn't count. She's still learning this stuff Dean, I need you to watch out for her. You can do that right?"

Dean opened a whiskey bottle that was lying between two shotguns. He took a long swig then put it back. He nodded. "Let's do this." He glanced at Rose. "Not scared." He declared. "Not scared, at all." Sam handed a gun to Dean. Dean laughed in a similar manner from before. "Yeah, no. I'm not carrying that. It could go off." He picked up another flashlight and smiled proudly. "I'll man the flashlight."

Sam glanced at Rose who smiled amusingly. "My hero." She whispered. Sam rolled his eyes and closed the boot of the car. He turned and led Rose and Dean into the Lumber Mill. Light filtered through the high and dirtied windows. The Mill was silent besides the crunch of wood chips beneath their feet.

Sam turned on the EMF reader, which instantly began to spike. He stopped and turned to Dean. His older brother had wide eyes and was taking deep breaths, at the instruction of Rose. Sam couldn't remember a time he'd seen Dean so vulnerable. Even when Dean was dead, he was still strong.

"'s not gonna work is it?" Rose figured. Sam glanced down at the EMF reader and sighed. He shook his head and switched it off.

Dean made an apologetic face. "Sorry."

Sam's face hardened and he turned around. "Come on." They continued on through the Mill for another minute before a reflection caught Sam's eye. "Wait…" Dean jumped at the unexpected command and was quickly settled by Rose's hand in his own. He glanced down at their clasped hands. Part of him knew this was bad, it was going to lead somewhere bad. The other part was really happy that she was going to protect him — wait what? "To Frank. Love, Jessie." Sam read aloud. Dean shook his head of any Rose and Dean thoughts and focused on the ring. He took a deep breath and calmed his nerves.

"I thought Frank had an airtight alibi?" Rose asked.

Sam nodded. "He did… which begs the question, why was Frank here?" Sam nodded towards a door and the three of them made their way into a room full of lockers. A rustling sound emanated from one of the closed doors. Dean's grip on Rose's hand tightened until it was painful. Rose raised the flashlight to the locker as Sam slowly approached it. He glanced at Rose and quietly mouthed counting to three.

The locker swung open and a cat meowed grumpily.

Dean screamed.

Sam and Rose jumped away from Dean as his eyes bugged and he continued to shriek. He gasped for breath and nodded. "That was scary."

Sam raised his eyebrows, clearly not amused. He looked to Rose who was covering her mouth to smother her laughter. "Yeah…" He turned and continued through the Lumber Mill.

Rose grabbed Dean's hand and dragged him along. "Come on then. Can't get left behind, can we?" The two hurried after Sam who was inspecting something in the dim light of the Mill. Rose cast her flashlight over the object."Wha's that?"

Sam shrugged. "Just someone's ID, I think. Luther Garland."

Rose's face scrunched up a bit as she thought on the name. "I don't know the name, should we know the name?"

"Well it's certainly something to look into." Sam pocketed the ID. "Could be nothing though."

"Hey," Dean said. Rose and Sam turned to see him standing by a workbench, "this is uh...this is Frank's wife." They stepped closer and saw the numerous drawings of Frank's wife across the wall and on the desk.

"Oh, wow." Rose gushed. "Those are gorgeous." Sam and Dean gave her a look. "What? They are." Rose rolled her eyes. "All righ' fine, who drew them? Because if it wasn't Frank, I'm sure he'd want to know who it was, yeah?"

Dean reached forward and pulled a page from the desk. It caught on a nail and tore part of the page off. Rose gasped at the same time as the machines in the Lumber Mill all turned on. Rose and Dean both saw the ghost before Sam. They froze, neither knowing what to do. The man was gigantic, tall and round. He had overalls on that seemed to be dirty and destroyed as he hunched in the corner of the room.

Sam turned and raised his shot gun. "Hey!" He shouted at the ghost. It turned to Sam, eyes wide and scared.

"Dean!" Rose shouted. She raced after the rapidly fleeing man. Sam glanced over at them, shot the ghost with rock salt, then ran after the two. He exited the Mill and covered his eyes from the suddenly too bright sun.

Once his eyes adjusted he found Rose and Dean by the Impala. He walked towards them and sighed. They were sitting on the ground together leaning against the car's exterior. Dean had the bottle of alcohol from before in his hand and he was downing it. Rose looked up apologetically at Sam.

Sam shrugged and nodded in understanding. They had come to the agreement that until Dean was uninfected again, Rose was to stay with him and keep him calm.

Sam glanced at his brother again. He couldn't help but think about their father and what he would have thought of the situation. Probably something cold and commanding that would have forced Dean to fight his fears and get the hunt done. Sam sighed. "Guess we got the right place." Was all he said. He wasn't dad after all, and he wasn't going to try to be him.

"Marion, are you sure about this?" Sam asked nervously.

Rose nodded and glanced over her shoulder at Dean who was sitting on the bed trying to stop his legs from shaking. "Yeah, he's in no shape to go with you. And we can't leave him here, righ'? I'll take care of him, Sam. You find out about the ghost and let us know what you get, yeah?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. This is Dean's phone. Call if anything happens." Rose nodded and took the phone Sam handed to him. "I'll call if I learn anything." Sam started to leave then stopped and looked back. "And just… try and keep him calm." Rose glanced at Dean again who was taking another drink of whiskey. She gave Sam a worried look but nodded.

At the sound of the door clicking shut Dean glanced over to Rose. "He left?"

Rose nodded and sat down on the edge of the bed across from Dean. "Yeah… he'd gonna look into Luther Garland."

"The ghost."

"Yeah."

There was a long silence before Dean spoke again. "And he's going to pretend to be…" He gestured with his hand. "FBI?" Rose nodded, a slight frown on her face. Where was this leading? "But he could get caught."

"Dean, I think he'll be fine."

"You just think, though, you don't know." He leaned forward, his eyes wide and intense. Rose bit back the erg to laugh. It really was comical though. "He could get in trouble." Dean whispered.

"Alright." Rose moved so she was sitting beside Dean on his own bed. She took the whiskey from his hand and set it on the side table. Then she grabbed his hands and held them firmly. "Dean, let's just take a deep breath." Dean breathed in deeply. Rose watched him for half a minute. Dean continued to hold the breath in. She shook his arm. "Now let it out!" He let the breath out quickly. Rose sighed. "Righ', let's watch something, yeah?"

Dean nodded and turned on the television. They flipped through the channels until they landed on some cartoons. Dean looked sidelong at Rose. "You think Sam will find anything?"

Rose pulled the cellphone Sam had given her from her pocket. "I hope so. He'll call if he does." Dean nodded. "How are you? Feeling okay?"

Dean looked startled for a moment. "Yes. Why? Why wouldn't I be okay? Do you not want me to be okay?" Dean's eyes widened.

Rose took Dean's hand again and quickly cut him off. "No! Of course not, Dean. I jus' want to make sure you're alrigh'. Do you want'a grab some food?" Dean glanced around the room nervously. "I can order in." Rose offered. Dean smiled happily and nodded. Rose laughed and got up. She picked out the take out menus from a drawer in the side table and sat back down beside Dean. Rose looked over the various Indian, Chinese, and Thai food menus. She laughed. "Wow, feels like I live off this stuff."

Dean laughed nervously. "Yeah, I know what you mean." His eyes darted around the room, taking everything and nothing in all at once. Dean glanced at the menus. "Chinese?"

Rose smiled. "Oh definitely." She opened Dean's phone and dialled the Chinese place. Dean pointed out things on the menu and talked loudly the entire time she ordered. They argued a bit, and Rose won because Dean thought she was scary and wasn't afraid to admit it in his condition.

A few minutes later, Rose was pacing in front of Dean. "You're making me anxious." He told her.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. I jus'… I want'a know what Sam's doin'. You think he figured somethin' out yet?"

Dean shrugged. "He said he'd call."

Rose collapsed back onto the bed beside him. "Yeah, guess you're right." They sat in silence for a bit. The only sounds that broke the tranquility was the noise of the radiator and the bouncing of Dean as he fidgeted on the bed. "So wha' do we do while we wait?"

Dean rubbed his jaw. He needed something to distract him. He knew he needed that. He looked over at Rose — well he couldn't distract himself that way. But… "Do you know any card games?" Rose quirked her eyebrow and smiled nervously.

A little while later, Rose and Dean were set up at the table surrounded by Chinese food playing a game of Go Fish. "Do you have…" Dean looked over his hand. "An eight of hearts?"

Rose pursed her lips. "Go Fish." Dean sighed a picked a card from the stack.

Dean eyed the blonde across from him. "I still can't believe you don't know how to play poker."

Rose shrugged. "I told you. 'm not much of a card person. Played a bit when I was a kid though." Rose moved her cards around. "Three of diamonds?"

"Go Fish." Dean took a long drink from his beer, and shoved a dumpling in his mouth. "But your husband must have taught you." He swallowed the dumpling and concentrated on his cards. "Four of spades."

Rose pulled one from her hand and handed it to Dean. He smiled like a child and giddily placed it face up on the table with his other pairs. Rose smiled. The distraction was certainly doing its job. Dean had calmed down considerably, he might even make it past the usual 48 hour mark. Rose was especially glad that the hallucinations hadn't started up. She figured they still had time though, so anything could happen. Rose shook her head and focused on the conversation and the game. "Go Fish." She said to his next request. "Yeah, my husband wasn't much into cards himself."

Dean's brows drew together. "So what did you guys do?"

Rose didn't know how to answer that at first. What did Dean think? That couples only played cards? Rose gave him a cursory glance and went back to her cards. "Oh you know," she smirked at him, "stuff. Jack of hearts?"

Dean laughed and shook his head. "Alright! Brits gone wild." Rose rolled her eyes and laughed.

The sound of Dean's phone ringing cut into the conversation. Dean jumped and squeaked. Rose gave him a wide eyed look as she flipped the phone open. "Yeah?" She nodded. "'kay." She nodded again and glanced at Dean. "Who? Oh, okay. I'll tell Dean?" Rose paused and listened to Sam on the other end. "Yeah of course… Playin' Go Fish." Rose laughed and said goodbye then she hung up the phone.

"Sammy?" Dean asked nervously. He rubbed his hands down the length of his thighs worriedly.

Rose smiled kindly at him, hoping to calm him down some. "Yeah, he said he went to the Sheriff's office, but he wasn't seein' anyone today. So he went to talk to Luther Garland's brother." Rose set her cards down and picked up a box of noodles and chopsticks. "So the brother said that lots of people were scared of Luther way back when, yeah?" Dean nodded as he ate another dumpling. "'cept Luther was a teddy bear, wouldn't hurt a fly. But apparently, the brother thinks that Frank killed Luther."

Dean shook his head. "Why?"

"Jessie worked at the Mill with Luther." Dean's mouth made an 'o' shape. He shook his head again, still not getting it. Rose rolled her eyes. "Luther had a crush on Jessie, and when she went missin', Frank thought Luther did it. They…" Rose made a face. "They dragged his body behind their car up and down the road by the Mill."

Dean rubbed his forehead as he absorbed that information. "What about Frank?"

Rose shrugged and shook her head. "Nothin'. Think he had too many friends in high places to put him away."

Dean looked down at his arm. "So that's what this is then, road rash. And I'm guessing Luther swallowed some wood chips when he was being dragged down that road."

Rose nodded. "So you're gettin' his symptoms then? Of how he died, tha' is."

Dean growled under his breath. "Lucky me. We need to burn this ghosts bones and get me to normal, pronto."

"Yeah, 'bout tha'." Dean looked up at Rose like a deer caught in headlights. Rose bit her lip. "Sam mentioned somethin' like that. He said it wasn't actually an option…"

Dean leaned forward across the table. "And why not?"

"I donno, somethin' about Luther's remains bein' spread across the road. He said he's gonna figure another way to do it."

Dean laughed. "Another way? What other way? Ask the ghost to leave?" Dean stood up suddenly, knocking the chair he'd been sitting on back as he did so.

Rose stood up with him. "Dean what are you doing."

He pointed at Rose sternly. "Don't. I'm done with this. I mean, come on, Marion. What are we doing?!"

Rose looked around the table. "Eating?"

Dean shook his head. "No. We're hunting a ghost!"

Rose chocked back her laugh. "Really? Well we're doin' a pretty bad job of it, don't ya think?" Dean paused for a second and frowned in confusion. Rose pushed forward. "Dean we aren't doin' anything. You need to calm down. We can talk this out."

"No!" Dean shouted as he came round the table. Rose stepped between him and the door. "Because you know what Marion? You're worse than Sam and I. Why? Because you are actively choosing this life!"

"And that's a bad thing?" Rose tried desperately to keep her voice level, but she could already feel herself getting caught up in the fight.

"Yes!" Dean laughed at her like she was crazy. "Of course it's bad. Our lives suck. I mean, come on, we hunt monsters! What the hell?! I mean, normal people, they see a monster, and they run." Dean stopped and pointed at Rose. "You should be running. But you're not no, no, no, you — you are trying to learn about things that want to kill us. You know who does that? Crazy people! You...are insane!" Dean moved past Rose towards the door.

"Dean wait!" Rose called. She moved towards him but he backed into the open doorway and gave her a mean look.

"NO! You stay away from me. I already have one sickness, I'm not catching yours as well!" The door slammed shut behind him as he stormed out of the motel.

"Dean!" Rose called. She searched the table and floor quickly for her cell phone. If she ran after Dean, they'd need a way to get a hold of Sam later. "Come on, come on, come on." She found it under the table and grabbed it just before racing out of the motel room. "Dean!" Rose stopped and looked both ways. "Damn it!" She shouted. She flipped open the phone and dialled Sam's number. "Dean's gone." Rose explained with out preamble.

"What? What happened?" Sam questioned from the other side of the line.

"I don't know! He just started to freak out, sayin' I was crazy because I wanted to hunt. Sam, I have no clue where he went."

"It's okay Marion, stay where you are. If he comes back, lock him in the bathroom. I'm going to drive around town and try to find him."

Rose nodded and took a deep breath. "Yeah, sure."

"It's alright Marion. We're going to find him."

Sam slammed the motel door shut behind him. His eyes search the small space expectantly, but all he found was the worrying face of Rose. "He didn't come back?"

Rose shook her head. "I'm so sorry Sam. I have no clue where he went." Sam sighed as he ran his hands through his hair. "You think he's in danger?"

"The hallucinations could start at any time now. Dean may be a hunter, but right now he's practically defenceless."

Rose abruptly sat on the bed and dropped her face into her hands. "This is all my fault." She mumbled into the palms of her hands.

Sam sat next to her and gently rubbed her back. "Not it's not. He would have freaked out about something sooner or later."

Rose gasped and sat up, eyes wide. "Wha' if he dies!" Rose turned horrified eyes on Sam. "Oh my god Sam. Wha' if I killed him?"

Sam shook his head. "Marion you didn't—" He was cut off as the door to the motel was thrown open once again. Dean slammed it shut again and locked it. He leaned against the hard wood and sighed. "I looked everywhere for you, Dean. How the hell did you get here?"

Dean glanced over his shoulder at his surprised looking brother. He spun around and took a seat on the bed across from Sam and Rose. "Ran." He replied easily. "What do we do now? I got less than four hours on the clock. I'm gonna die, Sammy."

"Yeah, you are." Sam replied. Dean's brows drew together in confusion. "You're going back."

"Back?" Dean asked fearfully. He glanced at Rose who sat impassively at Sam's side.

"Downstairs Dean, hell. It's about damn time, too." Sam looked to Rose. "We even carved out this bombshell to get inside your head." Rose stood and stepped towards Dean. Her hand reached up and gently brushed his shoulder, but her face remained cold and emotionless. "Truth is," Sam blinked and his eyes were black. Dean jumped back but Rose grabbed him and held him in place. "Sam was right all along. She's not human Dean."

Dean's eyes widened and he turned to Rose. She smirked slyly and pushed him against the face of the bed. Dean strained to get back up, but her grip was inhuman. Rose raised her knee to the bed and climbed over him. Her eyes twinkled and glowed gold. "Are you disappointed?" She leaned closer and smiled wickedly. Rose looked over her shoulder to Sam. "I think I hurt his feelin's." Sam laughed.

"No!" Dean shouted. He fought with all his strength against Rose's grip. But she held him firmly to the bed. "Get out of them! You leave them alone!"

Rose laughed and ducked closer to the struggling Dean. Her lips brushed his ear as she whispered, "No one's inside me Dean. Never was, never will be. I don't need a thing inside me to create nightmares."

Sam pitched forward so his face was also in Dean's view. "Dean!" He shouted. "Hey, hey, hey, Dean." He said, trying to catch his brother's attention.

Rose was cradling his head gently with her hands. "Dean? You alrigh'? Dean, please. 's me. 's — Marion. It's Marion."

Dean flipped through the channels on the television as he tried to find something non terrifying to watch. Rose sat beside him, biting her nail nervously. Sam had left almost an hour ago to meet up with Bobby.

The phone rang. Rose and Dean both jumped. Rose scrambled for the phone in her pocket and quickly answered the call. "Wha's wrong?"

"Nothing." Sam said on the other end. "Don't worry. Just let Dean ride out the trip, okay? He's — he's gonna be fine. We got a plan."

Rose nodded. "Great. Will it work?"

Sam paused and in that moment Rose felt her stomach lurch. Oh god, Dean was going to die. "Tell Dean to hang in there." The line went dead.

Rose turned to the anxious looking Dean. "He's got a plan." She said as confidently as she could. They had under two hours before Dean's heart gave out. Oh my god, she thought.

"Is it a good plan?" Dean asked. Rose shook her head and shrugged simultaneously. She had no clue. Dean nodded, resigned to his fate. "Right."

Dean shot up like a cat at the sound of barking outside the door. The door rattled and Rose jumped to her feet. "Wha'? What was that?" Something slammed against the door and the barking got turned to see Dean slowly backing away from the door. "Dean?" Dean shook his head.

Hell hounds. They were back. They were coming for him.

The door broke off the hinges and collapsed inward as a giant figure came crashing through the door. Rose jumped back when she saw the silver glint of a gun.

"Sheriff?" Dean realized. The man was pink eyed and swaying as he waved the gun towards Dean and Rose. "What are you doing?"

The Sheriff glared at Dean. "Why are you looking into Luther Garland's death?" He grabbed at his chest as he felt his heart constrict inside.

Rose stepped forward and gestured calmly with her hands. "Sheriff, there's somethin' wrong. You're sick, 'kay? I need you to give me the gun. You don't want to hurt anyone, righ'? Just breathe."

The Sheriff lunged forward and grabbed Rose by the collar. "Frank O'Brien was my friend." He shouted at her. Dean pushed forward to release Rose from the Sheriff's grip but the officer raised his gun, stopping Dean in his tracks. "So he made a mistake. So I didn't bust him. So what?" The Sheriff explained to the two hunters. "And you're gonna bring me down over that?!" He turned back to Rose and glared angrily. "No, ma'am." He brought the gun around and fired it. Rose collapsed to the ground.

"No!" Dean shouted. He lunged towards the Sheriff and knocked his gun away. They grappled and punched until suddenly the Sheriff was clutching his chest again. Dean's eyes widened as he recognized what was about to happen. "Al! Calm down!"

The Sheriff pushed Dean off of him with surprising strength and tried to pull himself away from the hunter. "Stay back." He gasped, his hand still clutching his chest. "They…" His eyes closed and his body sank to the ground.

Dean turned around and raced towards Rose's unmoving body. "Marion?" Her shirt was covered in blood — so much blood. He reached for her pulse. "No." He whispered. Dean cupped her face in his hands and tried to will her back to life. "Come on. Come on. Please."

"Oh Dean." A little voice greeted despondently. Dean jumped and turned to the little blonde in a pink dress sitting next to him by Rose's body. The gasp caught in his throat at the sight of Lilith. She shook her head sadly at Rose's body. "You killed another one didn't you?"

Dean shook his head. "What?"

Lilith giggled and lightly punched Dean's arm. "You're always doing that. Killing things you don't understand." Lilith sighed sadly. "Oh well!" Lilith bounced up to her feet and smiled down at Dean. "It's time to go back now."

Dean shook his head and crouched closer to Rose's body. "You – you are not real!"

Lilith smiled. "What's the matter, Dean? Don't you remember all the fun you had down there? You do remember. 4 months is like 40 years in hell. Like doggy years. And you remember every second." She clasped her hands behind her back and leaned towards him tauntingly. "I'm real Dean. I'm really here, and she's really dead."

Rose gasped and sat bolt upright. Lilith and Dean jumped back from the blonde as her eyes glowed gold, Dean clasping at his chest as he gasped in fear. "You are not real." He chanted as he squeezed his eyes shut. "Not real. Not real. Not real."

Rose crouched in front of Dean and grabbed his head as he rocked back and forth. "Dean, you need to calm down. Dean breathe, just breathe." Dean's eyes glanced over Rose's shoulder and widened. Rose looked in the same direction but saw nothing. The hallucinations, Rose realized. "Dean!" She shouted as she tried to get through to him. Dean fell back and his breathing became irregular as he continued to gasp for breath. "Damn it, Dean." No — this wasn't happening. She wasn't going to let him die. "I'm sorry." She whispered.

In that second Dean's eyes focused back in on her. They widened as he saw Rose's own eyes glow gold. The entire room erupted in bright light as Rose leaned over Dean, her hands on his chest. A burning feeling like liquid fire coursed through his body and everything around Dean was suddenly gold.

Miles away in an abandoned warehouse, the spirit of Luther Garland erupted into bright gold light before Bobby Singer and Sam Winchester. His screams echoing in the silence of the Lumber Mill.

Rose stepped back from Dean. His eyes were closed and he wasn't moving. Was he—? Rose's breath caught in her throat. "Dean?" She choked out.

Dean groaned and it felt like the weight of three separate universes had been lifted off of her. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "What happened?" He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why are you covered in blood?"

Dean nursed the beer in his hand as he thought over the events he'd been told. They were on a side road by the highway, the area was empty for miles. Rose sat sideways in the shotgun seat of the Impala with the door open so she could rest her feet on the gravel. She watched the boys as they mulled over what had happened, her heart pounding furiously as she did so.

"Seriously?" Dean asked finally. "Vanished? Just like that?"

Sam shrugged. "I don't know, Dean. It was weird. Like this bright golden light, right out of nowhere. I've never seen anything like it."

Bobby sipped his beer and nodded at Dean. "You should ask your angel friends about it."

Rose's jaw dropped. "Wha'? Seriously? Like feathery winged angels workin' for god? Those angels?"

Dean didn't look impressed. "Yeah, don't get too excited. They're just douche-bags in nice suits."

Rose smiled and bounced in her seat a bit. "Too late! Can I meet them?"

"No." Dean said at the same time Sam said, "Yeah Dean, let's all meet them." Dean glared at his brother. He pointed a finger at him and declared sternly, "No."

Rose pouted. "Why have you only met them, then?"

Dean rolled his eyes at Rose's petulant tone. "Because I'm special." He glared at her. "Drink your beer." Rose glared back at him and sipped her beer.

Sam and Bobby did nothing to hide their amusement at Rose and Dean. Sam twirled the empty beer bottle between his hands as he considered his brother. "Yeah. How you feeling, by the way?"

Dean shrugged. "Fine." He ignored Rose's piercing gaze on him. She'd seen him when he'd had his hallucinations. Rose knew the real answer to that question. "Like I said, don't remember a thing."

Bobby smirked. "You sure, Dean? 'cause this line of work can get awful scary."

Dean glared at Bobby. "I'm fine. You want to go hunting? I'll hunt. I'll kill anything."

Rose rolled her eyes. "Righ', 'cause tha's not overcompensation." Sam snorted and Bobby burst into laughter. Dean turned slowly and glared at the small blonde. Rose smiled, her tongue poking out of her teeth.

"Well aren't you two just the cutest damn thing." Bobby commented sarcastically. He looked sympathetically at Sam. "You have to live with that?" Bobby shook his head. "Well, we best head out if we want to make it back before night."

Rose looked between the boys. "Go? We're goin' with you?" She shook her head to clear it of the confusion.

Sam nodded and started to pack up the cooler of beers back into the back seat. "Yeah, Bobby found some stuff to do with the seals and Lilith. Thought we'd all head back and get cramming a bit."

Dean smiled down at Rose. "Don't worry, Marion. It won't take long, then we can hit the road again."

Rose shook her head again and stumbled to her feet. The beer she was holding fell to the ground. "Wha'—? Wha's goin' on?" She looked at the boys, bleary eyed and confused. Her eyes fluttered shut and she collapsed.

Dean caught her easily and hoisted her up into his arms. He nodded his head at Sam who opened the trunk of the Impala. Dean placed Rose in the boot of the car where the three men stood over her.

"You sure about this, son?" Bobby asked.

Dean nodded. "I saw it. She was shot in the chest. She died, and then she woke up, glowing. And she did something to me too. I don't know what, but… it effected Luther's ghost too."

Sam considered the peaceful face of the young woman. "So we figure out what happened, how she did it."

"And what she is." Dean added. He turned to Bobby. "The drug will last until we make it to your place?"

Bobby nodded. "And then some. But if she ain't human, then I can't guarantee nothin'. We better head out now."

Dean nodded. His gaze turned back to the blonde he had chosen to trust. "You fucked with the wrong boys, sunshine."

Rose awoke to the feeling of someone forcing water down her throat. She coughed and choked on the liquid as more was forced down. She ripped her head out of the firm grasp that held her in place and spat the water out. She continued to cough, her lungs burning and her throat was sore as she tried to expel the unwanted drink. When her fit had finally subsided, she dragged her heavy head up to stare at the Winchesters.

"Morning, dear." Dean greeted with a cruel smile.

Rose licked dry lips. Dry? Salt. Salt water. Of course. Her eyes flickered to the windows — it was night. "Hi, honey." Rose said roughly back. What the hell had they given her? Her body felt hard and heavy, like stone. She looked down at her arms and found them bound to the chair. She tried to move her legs, but found the situation there much the same. Rose's eyes moved to Sam. He was standing beside his brother with his arms crossed, face impassive. Rose sensed another person behind her, the person who held her head earlier. Bobby? It was probably his house they were at.

"Have a nice nap?" Dean asked snidely.

Rose bit her lip. She knew this wasn't going to end well. This was what she had feared was going to happen. The Winchesters found out she wasn't human. Rose couldn't even really act surprised. She had come back to life right before his eyes after all. Rose swallowed dryly before she pleaded, "Dean?"

"What are you?" He asked roughly.

Rose tried to look as defenceless as possible. "I donno wha' you're talkin' 'bout, Dean." She shook her head softly.

Dean's face hardened. "I saw you. I saw your eyes glowing. And then the ghost just magically up and glows itself away? No coincidence sweetie. What are you? A demon? A pagan god?"

Rose's face crumpled. "Dean, please." She implored.

"Is Marion even your real name?" Dean and Sam's eyes on her were heavy. The guilt of her own betrayal washed over her.

She hesitated. "My name is Rose Marion Tyler." Dean threw his hands into the air as if that made it all worse. "Dean, please! 'm not a demon!"

"Yea?" Dean spun around and stuck a finger in her face. "And why should I believe you? You've been lying from the start. Sammy even knew there was something off about you. But stupid me, I trusted you. So what is it? Lucifer? You working for Lilith?"

Rose looked between the boys desperately. Bobby walked around a red painting on the ground that Rose noticed was encircling her. The three hunters stood before her, armed, as they waited for her explanation.

"Dean I swear, 'm not here to hurt you, any of you. 'm a traveller." Dean rolled his eyes. "No listen — I travel through time," the hunters glanced at each other uneasily, but none of them were shocked by time travel, as Rose knew they wouldn't be, "and space." Sam's brows shot to his hairline and Dean chocked on his snort of disbelief. "'m serious! Look."

Rose's eyes glowed gold and the ropes around her ankles and wrists dropped to the ground. Three guns instantly cocked as the hunters prepared for her to attack. Rose simply crossed her legs as she made herself comfortable in her chair, then she pulled out a small device from her pocket. It was larger than a watch, but of a similar design. The material was a black metal that was far more sleek than anything the hunters had ever seen. There was a clear glass surface and when Rose tapped it, something the men could only equate to a digital hologram screen popped open. It hovered about a foot above the watch in the air like something out of Star Trek.

Rose looked up at the jaw dropped expressions of the hunters. She smiled. "I use this to travel, yeah?" She tilted it so the screen also tilted towards them. Sam leaned forward a bit to see the writing that was running across the digital surface. A constant stream of numbers and letters fled past with odd little symbols in between that he'd never even seen before. "'s a vortex manipulator."

Bobby rolled his eyes and pulled Sam back by his shoulder. Sam ducked his head. "And for those of us who slept through science class?" The elder hunter asked.

Rose licked her lips as she thought that question over. "Time is a vortex, yeah? Complete and total raw energy. This taps into it and allows me to move to any time, and any place I want in tha' time."

Sam lowered his hand gun slightly so it was pointing towards the floorboards. He quirked an eyebrow at the advanced technology in the woman's hand. "Where did you get it?"

"I built it."

Dean's brows shot up. "What? Seriously? You built that?"

Rose bristled at his tone. "Yeah, not just another pretty face — thanks." She turned the face of the vortex manipulator back towards herself and minimized the screen to the smaller glass surface. "I modelled it off my late husbands design."

Sam turned the safety on his gun on, then tucked it into the waistband of his jeans. He ignored the glare from the shotgun holding Dean. "He was a human?" Sam asked Rose. Technology like what Rose had was far beyond anything he'd ever heard of. Dean had time travelled, but that had been by magic. She could have been from the future, if she really was a time traveller.

Rose nodded her head from side to side. "Half." She finally answered. "Half human, half Time Lord." She slipped her vortex manipulator back into her pocket to avoid their stares.

Bobby's head cocked to the side as he thought over the name. He'd never heard of the title before. "What's a Time Lord?"

Rose drew her shoulders back defensively, she knew how this was going to go over. "'s an alien."

Dean burst into laughter. His gun dropped down to his side as he clutched his stomach. "Oh thats good." He pointed at Rose as he laughed. "You almost had me there for a second."

Sam glanced at his brother. "Dean, I don't think she's kidding."

Dean straightened. "What?" He looked at Rose seriously. There was no smile on her face, no hint of a joke. "You honestly expect us to believe in aliens?"

Rose glared at him. "I can't make you believe anything Dean. But you asked for the truth and tha's it. 'm not a demon and you can't hold me here." She crossed her arms and stared stubbornly ahead.

Dean glared back at her as he thundered, "Well you aren't allowed to leave either. Not until we get some answers."

Rose laughed humourlessly. "Wha's the point? You don't even listen. You don't care what I say, you want your theories to be right' and I'm sorry Dean. But you're wrong."

Sam placed a hand on his brother's shoulder and gave him a stern look. This was turning into a lover's quarrel and that was the last thing they needed. "If that thing really is what you say it is, why are you still here? Why didn't you leave before?"

Rose sighed and uncrossed her arms. She pushed a locked of hair behind her ear. "It broke down. Pollen from an alien planet." Dean snorted. "'s true!" Rose defended stubbornly. "Bu' it started back up again, bit after the third murder with the shifter. Look, I swear 'm not a demon or anythin'."

Bobby nodded as he digested that information. He glanced at the eldest Winchester with worry. That man wasn't going to let the whole probably-evil-and-a-demon rampage he was on go until they tested it out. "Well then you won't mind us testing you to find that out." It wasn't a question. They were going to test her for every damn monster they could find.

Rose shrugged. "By all means."

Dean's eyes blinked open. Sleep left him as he awoke in his warm bed at Bobby's. So very rarely did he ever actually use the room. His eyes focused in on the blonde facing him. Rose's light breath ghosted across his face from her parted mouth. Dean smiled and leaned forward. He placed a gentle kiss to her forehead, then quietly crept from the bed. He glanced down at the woman curled into the sheets. Rose moaned and wrapped herself around his pillow, her nose stuck into the corner. She was wearing his plaid shirt, so grossly large for her but — perfect.

Dean snuck out of the room and headed downstairs. It was dark outside, which meant they'd probably slept through the day. The main floor was devoid of sound or life, except for the kitchen. Dean stepped into the room rubbing his eye as he squinted at the light. Why would someone leave the lights on?

"Dean."

Dean jumped and spun around with a spatula clutched in his hand. Cas glanced unamused at the kitchenware. Dean sighed when he saw the angel. "Damn it Cas, could you knock on a door first or send a letter?"

Cas frowned curiously and titled his head. "Why would I send a letter to your subconscious?"

Dean opened his mouth, paused and closed his mouth, then opened it again. "Am I dreaming again?"

"Yes."

Dean paused as that knowledge came to him. Rose was not actually upstairs in his bed. They weren't together. They didn't hunt as a couple. Nor were they creating memories Dean would cherish for the rest of his life. Rose was an unknown monster of some kind, sitting in an uncomfortable chair in the dinning room. Dean threw the spatula down onto the kitchen counter. He was not upset.

"You are upset." Cas stated.

Dean glared at him, hands on hips. "No I'm not."

"Yes. You are. Why are you upset?"

"I'm NOT upset." Dean thundered.

Cas glanced up at the ceiling. "Dean," he whispered, "lower your tone."

Dean glanced up the ceiling too, not knowing what he was looking for. "Why?" He whispered.

"She'll hear us." Cas said quietly, his eyes still on the ceiling.

Dean shook his head slowly. "Who?" He asked. Who was there? "Rose? She's asleep up — no. But she is asleep — I think." They'd finished the tests and told her to stick around while they did some research. She'd been fine with it, passed all the tests with flying colours. Rose had seemed more than happy to help, complacent and compliant as she was. Dean must have fallen asleep whilst researching, again.

"You've dreamt her." Cas accused, he gave Dean the usual cold look the angel always seemed to have. Dean shook his head, not understanding the implications. "She is telepathic," Cas explained, "if she wants to, she can access the dream. You've allowed her entrance."

Dean took a step towards the angel. He pointed at him, catching onto the underlying tone. "And you're scared. Because she's evil, right?" He knew it. He so knew it. That lying little —

"We are uncertain." Son of a bitch, Dean thought.

He glared at the angel. "Uncertain? What — the big boys upstairs don't know who the little blonde girl is? Come on, it's not like she's the Big Bad Wolf."

Cas looked sharply at Dean. "What did you say?"

Dean stepped back. "Uh… What? Nothing, it's just a fairytale."

Cas moved closer to Dean, his gaze unwavering. "But why did you say it? What about her led you to that thought?"

"I don't know!" Dean exclaimed frustratingly. They both paused and looked up at the ceiling. They waited a full minute in silence before they dared drag their eyes away from the floor above. "Why?" Dean whispered. "What does it mean?"

Castiel stared at Dean uncomfortably. "I'm uncertain."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Is there anything you are certain of?"

"You can trust her."

"Trust her?" Dean hissed incredulously. "She lied. She's talking about aliens, for Christ's sake, Cas."

The angel looked confused. "So?"

Dean's face grew serious. "Cas, are you telling me aliens are real?"

If possible, the angel looked exasperated. "Humans. For all your strengths there are also faults. You are all so very self centred. First you refused the idea of the heliocentric universe, simply because you could not understand why God would not want one single creation to be at the epicentre of everything he has done. Now the world struggles with the fact they aren't his only creation. We are all creations of God, Dean. One day, maybe your species will leave it's cave and enter the light." Cas paused as he considered his own words. "Plato was so far ahead of you humans."

Dean blinked. That was far too much information for him to deal with on top of his current predicament. He bypassed the entire spiel and moved onto important questions. "How can I trust her if you don't even now what she is?"

"We don't know what or who she is. But we know her intentions. There is nothing but purity in the words she has spoken. She has secrets Dean, we don't know the level of danger these secrets hold, but currently she poses less threat than your brother."

Dean glared at the angel. "I told you. I have that under control." He'd talked to Sam and he wasn't drinking demon blood anymore. That wasn't a thing, nor would it ever be again. Dean was going to keep what was left of his family safe, even if that meant from themselves.

"See that it stays that way."

Dean jolted awake. He was lying on a small sofa in the library. Bobby was pouring over an old tomb by his desk and Sam was shuffling around the kitchen somewhere by the sounds of it. Dean rubbed his eyes.

"Well hello there Sleepin' Beauty." Bobby greeted sardonically. Dean groaned and pulled himself off the couch. He stretched and something popped. Bobby glanced at him, amused. "Gettin' a little old?"

"Feels like it." Dean looked around at the books strewn across the room. "Find anything?" He asked as he peeked through the doorway to Rose in the other room. She was still sitting in that chair. He'd seen her get up and stretch a couple times — not that he was actively watching, he simply noticed whenever she did it — but she had yet to leave the devils trap painted on the ground. Cas said she was pure in intention, Dean reminded himself.

Bobby took off his ball cap and scratched his head before putting the hat back in place. "Yeah, not that I can tell. Demon and witchin' books don't usually talk about aliens and time travel. That angel of yours transported you back in time though, maybe he'd know somethin' about this vortex."

Dean nodded. "He did."

Bobby set his book down. He waited a moment before he grew impatient. His eyes widened and he gestured with his hands. "And? I ain't gettin' any younger here."

Dean sighed. "She's clean."

Bobby shook his head. "Dean, she came back to life. That takes some serious power."

Dean nodded, his eyes still focused on the blonde in the other room. "I know. The angels say we should watch her, and that everything she has said so far is the truth." He turned to Bobby finally. "I'm gonna get some answers from her. Why don't you guys clear out?"

Bobby raised an eyebrow and gave Dean a long look. "Alright, I got a call about a job two towns over. Sam'll out it check to see if it's the real deal. I'm headin' up and gettin' some beauty sleep of my own." He stood up and started to head out of the room. He paused and raised a finger to Dean. "No funny business."

Dean smiled cheekily. "Well someone's got to get some under this roof."

"Ha Ha. You're hilarious." Bobby rolled his eyes and headed upstairs. Dean turned to the dinning room and his humour quickly disappeared.

Rose glanced up as she heard him enter the room. Dean walked across the hard wood floor and stopped in front of her. He crouched down so they were at eye level. Rose said nothing. "I have some questions for you, and I need you to be completely honest."

Rose nodded. "Alrigh'."

"Why did you stick around? You said your time machine started working up again before the third death. Why didn't you just leave?"

Rose shrugged as she considered the question. "By tha' point I'd realized somethin' was wrong. So I stuck around."

Which brought him to his other question. She chose the life of a hunter, "Why?" Dean asked, truly confused how anyone could ever want his life.

Rose leaned forward and her eyes glowed gold. Dean clutched the arm rest of her chair as he forced himself not to flinch away. "A great man taught you to fight for what's right. I had a great man teach me the same." The glow receded from her eyes though Rose's own eyes were still significantly gold tinted in colour.

"Are you human?"

Rose raised her eyebrows as she considered her answer. She hesitated. "I was born human. If tha's what you mean. But I doubt if I am anymore. A long time ago I had a chance to save the man I loved, and also the world. I took it. But it came with a price. I became sor' of alien. My own breed of different. There's nothing in any universe like me, Dean. 'm not a demon. 'm not really even an alien. 'm jus' me."

Dean rubbed his jaw as her words sunk in. "What did you do? To save the world?"

"I absorbed the Time Vortex."

Dean's brows furrowed. "You said that was raw power."

"It is." Rose didn't expand.

Dean gestured with his hand for her to continue. "And it gave you powers?" He prompted.

Rose grimaced. "Sor' of. I guess. I can't die, can't age. Can see the future and the past. Not all of it, mind, jus' bits and pieces. But since comin' here, 's all started to change."

"How so?"

"I've become more powerful. When I reach into the vortex, my eyes glow gold. But since I came here, 's like the vortex can reach me any time. My eyes won't glow. It jus' happens, yeah? There's somethin' off about this vortex. 's different from the one's 'm used to."

Dean took a moment to digest that before he spoke again. "What do you mean when you came here? Like this…" he gestured with his hand, "planet?"

Rose licked her lips. Another bomb incoming. "Universe actually."

Dean's brows shot up. He stood up and stepped away from Rose as that information sunk in. Rose leaned forward self consciously. "Do you want to take a minute?"

"No." He cleared his throat. "No. I'm fine." He turned to the unconvinced Rose. "Seriously." He pulled over another chair and sat it in front of Rose. He plopped down into it and rubbed his clammy hands along his jeans.

"'s why I used a fake name." Rose explained gently. "I dunno if there's another Rose Tyler in this world."

"Alright." Dean took a moment to absorb that. He didn't feel so betrayed about that lie anymore. "But you said the Time Vortex is different? Is it dangerous?"

Rose paused as she thought about that. Her brow furrowed. "I don' think so? 's sor' of like…" Rose paused and focused on Dean. "Picture a string of DNA, 'kay?" Dean nodded, slightly confused as to where this was going. "Everythin' about it is normal. Then there's this like extra strand of DNA attached. I can see it." Roses eyes turned gold suddenly. Dean leaned forward, drawn in by the ethereal glow this time. "It leaves sor' of like a residue behind. This gold an' glittery appearance." Rose's hand reached out and danced along the edges of Dean's arm. Dean's eyes followed Rose's wandering hand to his shoulder before it finally stopped. He looked up at her no longer glowing eyes. She smiled. "I've got it. So do you."

Dean raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. "I'm glittery?"

Rose laughed and drew her hand back. "Like a seven year old's art project." She smiled with her tongue poking out between her teeth and suddenly she was that barmaid again. Dean couldn't help but feel life was simpler when they'd been lying to each other. Rose leaned back in her chair and gazed around the room as she gave Dean time to digest everything they'd discussed.

One last thing was bugging him though. "Are you telepathic?"

Rose couldn't hide her shock. "How'd you know that?"

"Little birdie told me." Dean's face hardened a bit. "I asked you about your powers, and you didn't mention this."

Rose shook her head. "'s not a power. Telepathy is in everyone's capability, 's just a matter of if you were born with a higher affinity for it or not. I wasn't, but the vortex probably did somethin' to tha'. But tha' aside, 's still not a power. The only reason I even learned to use it was 'cause my husband was telepathic." Rose looked away as she became lost in a train of thought.

Dean studied her as he followed his own train. She wasn't human, but she wasn't evil. She'd done something for the earth, saved it, and in a sense she was rewarded. Though Rose probably saw it more as a curse than anything else. Maybe she really was good. The angels — though douche bags — were good. Creatures didn't have to be evil, did they? And Cas had said it, she was pure in her intentions. All she'd done from the moment they met is try and help people. That's what he did, wasn't it? He lied because people would think he was crazy otherwise. That's what she did too.

Or maybe he was just making excuses because he liked her.

"Alright." Dean announced. Rose turned to him. "Here's how this is going to go. You do everything I say. You don't get in trouble. You don't die. You don't do any of your," he waved his hand at her, "alien powers. One wrong move and I'll gank you."

Rose raised an eyebrow. "And if I decide to leave?" She didn't think she would, but she had to ask in case.

Dean's face grew serious. "I'll hunt you down, and trust me when I say I've got friends in high places."

Rose pursed her lips as she considered the threat. Even if he had friends who could travel in time, as he clearly had, would they be able to find her in any time across the universe? She highly doubted it. So if things with these boys did eventually go south, Rose figured she still had a way out. "Alrigh'. 's a deal."

Dean stood up and held out his hand. Rose took it and he pulled her to her feet. He pointed past her to the stairs. "Up the stairs, first door on the right. You can borrow the shower in there. I'll lay out some clothes for you."

Rose looked at him, confused. "Where are my clothes?" He hadn't gone done something stupid had he?

"In the Impala with Sam. He had to run out to check out a case. He'll call if he needs help." Yup, Rose thought, stupid. She nodded and headed up the steps and into the bedroom. Dean watched her leave the devil's trap and had to wonder, why didn't she leave it before?

Rose locked the bathroom door and stripped down. After flipping the lid of the seat down, she hung her clothes over them so they wouldn't get to damp or wrinkled. Then she turned on the shower and waited for the steam to start pouring out.

The shower was mainly a bathtub shoved into the corner of the room with a shower head coming out of the messily tiled wall. It wasn't anything fancy, nor was it the worst bathroom Rose had ever seen. It was clean, though that seemed more so from disuse than anything else.

She swung open the mirror to reveal the cabinet hidden behind. There was a shaver, aftershave, a toothbrush and floss. Rose raised her eyebrows. Well, it wasn't like she expected it to belong to a woman.

Rose closed the mirror and headed towards the heated shower. She tested the water on her hand then climbed into the bathtub. The hot water felt like heaven. She'd had a couple showers since travelling with the boys, but a motel shower and a real one were two completely different things.

Rose looked through the shower caddy and found some soap and hair products. She sniffed them and couldn't stop the smile from spreading across her face. It was Dean's scent. She looked around the inside of her shower with renewed interest. Dean was letting her use his shower? Rose held the shampoo beneath her nose and savoured the intoxicating scent. She had never felt so giddy about using shampoo before.

Rose could hardly believe that Dean was actually letting her stay with them. She figured it was so they could keep an eye on her, but really. The fact that they weren't trying to kill her — anymore — was really good. The situation had gone much better than she'd hoped for. Now Rose didn't have to lie and if she found something out using Bad Wolf then she could tell the boys instantly. Rose smiled, it might actually make hunting easier.

A long shower later, Rose climbed out of the tub wrapped in a fluffy white towel. She peeked out of the shower into the darkness of the bedroom. The light from the bathroom spilled out and made a long rectangle across the floor and bed. Rose spotted some folded clothes on the edge and smiled. She flicked on the light and snorted at what Dean had laid out for her.

A red plaid button down, a plain white shirt and boxers. Rose glanced back into the bathroom behind her. The clothes she'd been wearing were her fake FBI clothes still. The last thing she wanted to do was wear those dirty things again. She turned back to the clothes on the bed and winced. Rose had never been one to wear her boyfriends clothes. Not that Dean was her boyfriend…

Rose sighed in defeat. The tower crumpled to the ground and she got dressed. She buttoned up the plaid shirt most of the way and rolled up the sleeves. The end of the shirt hung past her mid thighs, so she didn't feel to scandalous. The boxers seemed to help as well. They looked like long, grey cloth shorts beneath a very boyish plaid dress. Rose winced again, not her best outfit. But she couldn't argue with the comfort the clothing provided. She'd decided to forgo the white shirt and even then, she felt warm and shielded in the oversized clothes. Rose raised the button down to her nose and inhaled yet again more of Dean's scent. Yeah, she thought, he's never getting this back.

The house was almost silent when Rose headed downstairs. However, she quickly followed the sounds of someone in the kitchen. She paused by the archway to take in the sight of Dean standing in the kitchen with a knife in hand as he chopped away at some random food. Rose tilted her head to the side. Wonder if he'd make a good housewife, Rose thought.

Dean glanced over his shoulder at her. He paused when he saw her, his eyes widening a bit. Rose glanced down at herself. Nope, all bits covered. She looked back up.

"Hey." He greeted. He glanced at the potato in his hand. "Uh… you hungry?" He turned back to his cutting board and silently cursed himself. Of course he'd give her the exact shirt she'd been wearing in his dream. Why was he so stupid?

Rose walked towards him and noted the marinating steak and cut up vegetables. Her brows drew together. "What time is it?"

"Three am." Dean replied nonchalantly. He went back to cutting potatoes. Rose stared at him. Dean glanced back at her after a moment of silence. "Should I be taking that as a no?"

"Sorry." Rose shook her head. "Yeah, I could eat. Do ya need help?"

Dean plopped a bag of green beans in front of her. "Take the ends off of these?"

Rose nodded and began breaking off the tips of the beans. "Thanks for the shirts."

Dean nodded and hummed in response. They worked in silence for a few minutes before Dean finally burst out, "Alright I can't take it anymore. I gotta ask, do you have heat ray vision?"

Rose tried to hide her smile, but failed miserably. "Dean, 'm not Superman." Dean nodded and shrugged dejectedly, like a school boy who'd had his puppy kicked. Rose took pity on him. "Bu' I've never tried, so we'll have to test it out."

Dean smiled childishly and Rose couldn't stop the laugh that bubbled up. "So what else can you do?" He studied her face as he asked. It didn't look much different, though he knew she wasn't wearing any makeup, since that had been with her clothes. Her hair had started to dry naturally, and he was happy to see it was a wavy, almost curly look. Dean always thought a woman looked more vulnerable without her makeup, so many of them wore it like battle armour. Rose seemed more comfortable with herself, almost at peace.

Rose's smile faded a bit. She looked at Dean worriedly. "You really wanna know, Dean?" Right, Dean thought. Magic.

Dean took a deep breath and let it out through his teeth. "Would it help on a hunt?"

Rose raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, probably. Bu' I thought I wasn't allowed to use my gifts?"

Dean dumped the potatoes into a pot of boiling water. He set the cutting board and knife back on the counter and turned to Rose. "I know what I said. But I don't think you're evil Rose." Rose smiled brilliantly. Dean rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I know, I'm an idiot."

Rose shook her head. "No. You said my name." Dean watched her as she went back to snapping the ends of the beans. He didn't know what to think of that. Rose certainly felt natural on his tongue, but he'd had no clue earlier that it wasn't her name. "Originally," Rose explained, "when I first noticed tha' is, we thought I'd just live longer than an average human."

Dean crossed his arms and leaned against the counter. "You and your husband?"

Rose nodded. "Yup." She replied, popping the 'p'. Dean noticed it was something she did usually when she was talking about her husband. "Then there was this invasion." Rose paused what she was doing and turned to Dean. "Tha' is one major difference in this world. Hardly any alien contact. In my home universe, if London wasn't about to explode, something was definitely wrong." Rose waved her hand and went back to the green beans, completely missing Dean's shocked face. "Anyways, alien invasion. I got hit by a sonic blaster."

Dean raised his eyebrows.

"Space gun." Rose clarified. Dean nodded. "And well, when I didn't die, it was sor' of a give away tha' somethin' was wrong. We did a bunch of tests and figured out I could, if I learned to harness it, control the Time Vortex."

Dean's mouth opened. He blinked. "Wow. That's like — major."

Rose laughed. "'s not as exciting as it seems." She glanced at him. "You jus' gonna stand and look pretty, or you gonna help me?" Dean stepped up beside her and started helping her with the green beans.

He preened a bit. "You think I'm pretty."

"Yeah," Rose sighed, "pretty lazy." Dean nudged her with his shoulder as she laughed. "Anyways, vortex, not as excitin' as it sounds. Controllin' the vortex is what allows me to see the past and future, but tha's about it."

Dean shook his head as he tried to make sense of that. "I don't understand. If that's all you can do, how did that save the earth?"

"This is just left over, the powers I have, they're nothin' compared to what I did when I had it swimmin' though me." Rose paused and stared at the counter. "I almost died." She whispered. "A human isn't meant to hold tha' sor' of power, nothing is. So I guess I changed myself."

"You guess?"

Rose shrugged. "Don't really remember to be honest. Bu' my husband told me."

Dean nodded and started throwing the ends of the green beans into the compost. "I still don't really understand what you can do."

Rose snorted. "That makes two of us, mate." She thought she did, and then she came to this universe and everything changed. New universe, new rules.

They cooked for a bit longer, chatting as they went. Dean told Rose more about the Lilith situation, everything that the angels had told him. Rose didn't have any new insight into the problem, but Dean wasn't too surprised by that. She hadn't even known what a devil's trap was until he explained it to her over dinner. They'd set up in the living room, with the food on the coffee table and the television quietly playing in the background.

"Oh… See, tha' makes sense." Rose nodded as she spooned some mashed potatoes onto her plate. "I thought it was sor' of like a line I shouldn't cross or you'd get angry. Never seen anythin' like it before."

Dean had to wonder how it was that she'd made a time machine that could fit on her wrist. "The symbols didn't give it away?"

Rose gave Dean a confused look. "Symbols?" She got up from her seat on the couch and headed into the dining room. She looked at the circle on the floor and turned back to Dean. "What symbols?"

Dean raised his eyebrows. He got up and made his way to her side. He pointed at one of the red symbols painted to the floor. "That's a symbol."

Rose shook her head. "That says, faith."

Dean frowned at the devil's trap. He looked back at Rose. "You can read the devil's trap?"

Rose's head tilted to the side as she read the words contained in the circle. "Guess so. Huh, I knew I could understand and read any language, bu' I didn't think tha' applied to archaic symbols."

Dean and Rose sat down together on the couch once again and dug into their meals. Dean glanced at Rose. "And here I was doubting your brilliance."

Rose nodded solemnly. "'s the hair, isn't it?" Rose picked up a lock and looked at it critically. "Maybe I should go back to brunette." Rose cut into her piece of steak and savoured the taste as she ate it. It felt like it'd been centuries since she'd had a home cooked meal. Vaguely, she realized that was because it had been. "So you let Sam off on his own cases sometimes?" Rose was surprised by this. She had the brothers pegged as a bit co-dependent, and extremely overprotective.

Dean sighed. "Not usually. But he was on his own while—" Dean paused and took a deep breath. He turned to Rose, eyes wide and vulnerable. "I was in hell." He said it like a revelation, a confession. He watched Rose, looking for disgust, horror, shock.

Instead, he found understanding. "I know."

Dean's eyes widened. That was the last thing he was expecting from her. "How did — no," she could see the past, of course she knew, that wasn't the right question, "how much do you know?"

Rose hesitated as she deliberated over her answer. "I won't tell Sam." She finally said. "Your secret's safe with me."

Dean sighed. He wasn't sure if he was relieved or upset. He wanted Sam to know but he didn't want to tell anyone at the same time. "No one knows." He whispered.

Rose reached across the couch and took his hand. "I know." It wasn't clear if Rose meant that she knew he hadn't told anyone, or if she was giving him strength in the knowledge that now she knew. Either way, Dean felt suddenly a million times lighter. For the first time since he'd risen from hell, he actually felt okay.

Thanks for reading! :)

Favourite part of this chapter?

ps. I was thinking about doing some original episodes in this story. But the plot is simply so ingrained into every episode, it's hard to even skip an episode and only do a couple in the season and make some others up to make it my own. So let me know what you're thinking, I'm open to ideas. PM too! I don't mind :)

Also, name mistakes involving the Rose/Marion alias has been fixed, thanks sunraye36!