Heaven and Hell

Sam looked between the two angels incredulously. This didn't fit. This didn't make sense with what Rose had theorized. "You want to kill Anna? Why?"

"She needs to be taken out of the way." Uriel almost snarled in explanation.

Sam and Dean didn't even dare to share a glance. Both were too scared to give away any information they had about Rose and Ali. Dean swallowed and raised his hands placatingly. He had to pretend like he didn't know that Anna could be an angel. She was just a girl. "Okay, I know she's wiretapping your angel chats or whatever, but it's no reason to gank her."

Uriel smiled sadistically. "Don't worry, I'll kill her gently."

Sam stepped forward, playing up the outraged and oblivious hero. "You can't do that. Anna's just a girl. She's human, she's not a monster nor any other kind of creature. She's an innocent."

Castiel narrowed his eyes. "She's far from innocent."

Sam and Dean both paused. Dean spoke what they both were wondering. "Meaning?"

Uriel gestured to Sam. "It means she's worse than this abomination you've been screwing." He turned back to Dean. "Or should I be pluralizing that statement?" Dean rushed forward and punched Uriel across the face.

"Dean!" Sam yelled.

Castiel moved forward to find Anna. Ruby blocked his path for only a moment before she was being thrown against the wall by the force of Castiel's shove.

Sam moved to intercept Castiel. "Cas, stop … please."

Without a touch of emotion, Castiel raised his hand and touched Sam's forehead. Sam fell to the ground.

Uriel pulled Dean up by the collar of his jacket before sending him crashing back to ground with another punch. Dean rolled over and called out to his unconscious brother. "Sam?"

Uriel smiled his sadistic smile. "I've been waiting for this." He raised a hand, intending to finally rid himself of the nuisance that was Dean Winchester.

"Sammy!" Dean called out, mouth full of blood.

Before Uriel had the chance to kill Dean, a bright light engulfed the room. Dean covered his eyes. When the light receded, Castiel and Uriel were gone. Dean looked around the room once before moving to check on his brother. Seeing Ruby already there, he glowered and went to get Anna from the closet. He opened the door to find her hands and arms covered in blood.

"Anna?" Dean bent down quickly and grabbed a shirt from the closet. He pressed the material against Anna's wounds, hoping to staunch the flow of blood.

"Are they gone?" She asked breathlessly.

Dean glanced to the side, where a sigil had been drawn in blood. Anna's blood. "Did you kill them?"

Anna shook her head faintly. "No. I sent them away… far away." Dean stared hard at the sigil. How had she'd known to do that? He asked her as much. "That just popped in my head." She nodded to the bloody sigil. "I don't know how I did. I just did it." Dean frowned in concentration. If Anna was an angel who was after Ali, she'd have wanted the angels here so they could help her find him. Why would she send them away? Why would they want her dead?

Dean helped Anna out of the closet and into the kitchen. Sam was awake and moving the broken furniture to the side that Dean had broken in his fight with Uriel. The pain flashing across Dean's face and back reminded him it had been less of a fight and more of a one sided beatdown.

Ruby came over to Dean and Anna and helped the girl clean her wounds. After making sure she would be fine, Dean left Anna with Ruby to talk with Sam.

"So, what do you think?" He asked his younger brother.

Sam considered Anna standing with Ruby. "I think Anna's getting more interesting by the second." He remained deliberately vague, he didn't want to talk explicitly about what Rose had said in case anyone was listening.

"Yeah… And what did they mean, 'she's not innocent'?" Dean looked around. "You think… whatever made her like this… she had to do something they didn't want her to do?" Was Anna falling from grace because she was going against the angels orders? Or because she was for it?

Sam shook his head. "I don't know… But that blood spell was some serious crap, man. Definitely not something a normal girl would know."

Dean nodded in agreement. Although they didn't know the motives behind her fall. Sam and Dean were almost entirely convinced that Anna used to be an angel. She had knowledge and access to the angels that no mortal or any other kind of being would have. That coupled with Rose's affirmation, and they were on board with Rose's theory. All they had to figure out was if Anna's connection to Ali was coincidental or intentional.

Not too long later, the group found themselves at Bobby's. Anna was sitting in the middle of the panic room in a chair, looking impossibly small. Dean pointed towards the metal walls. "Iron walls drenched in salt. Demons can't even touch the joint. You'll be safe here." He handed her a small brown bag with a symbol drawn on its front. "This is a gift from Ruby. It's a hex bag that'll keep angels and demons off your scent. Don't lose it." Anna nodded and held it in both her hands.

Dean bent down so they were eye level. "So, Anna, what's playing on angel radio? Anything useful?"

Anna shook her head nervously. "It's quiet. Dead silence."

Dean nodded and took a breath. "Good. That's not troubling at all." The worry and fear on Anna's face was notable. "Hey, it's fine. You're safe here. We're gonna take care of this and then you can go back to the white room in the nut house." Anna smiled despite herself.

Dean turned and headed upstairs. He nodded at Ruby as he passed her. He still didn't trust the demon, but hopefully this whole debacle would bring to light evidence of her evil ways and they could kill her. Dean made a face as he climbed the stairs to the main floor. Despite what Sam said, Dean doubted his younger brother had it in him to kill Ruby. He'd grown inordinately attached to her in ways Dean didn't even want to know about it — or any more beyond what Sam had described in painful detail in the motel while they waited for Ruby. He could still hardly believing his little brother was sleeping with a demon.

"All right, what did you find on Anna?" Dean greeted his brother. Sam had taken the Impala and gone on an information hunt whilst Dean, the former angel, and the demon had made their way to Bobby's. The elder hunter was on a hunt in the dominican but had granted them access to the house regardless.

"Not much, just what we know already. Her parents were, uh, Rich and Amy Milton — a church deacon and a housewife. But there was something in the report. Turns out this latest psych episode wasn't her first." Dean crossed his arms and nodded for Sam to continue. "When she was two and half, she'd get hysterical any time her dad got close. She was convinced that he wasn't her real daddy."

"Who was? The plumber, hmm? A little snaking the pipes?" Dean smirked and nodded his head.

Sam shook his head but there was a slight upturn to the corner of his mouth. "Dude, you're confusing reality with porn again. Look, Anna didn't say. She just kept repeating that this real father of hers was mad. Very mad — like wanted-to-kill-her mad."

Dean raised his eyebrows. The kind of angry that she believed God might have been if she fell from grace, Dean thought. The look Sam was giving him told him his brother was thinking the same thing. It was looking more and more like Ali and Anna's crash was coincidental.

Dean nodded. "Alright, so what's she hiding?"

"Why don't you just ask me to my face?" Sam and Dean turned to find Anna and Ruby at the door to Bobby's study.

Sam and Dean shared a look. Sam turned back to Anna and gestured with his hand, silently conceding that they'd made a mistake. "Is there anything you want to tell us, Anna?"

"About what?" She crossed her arms and glared.

Sam didn't back down from the redhead's anger. "The angels said you were guilty of something. Why would they say that?"

"You tell me. Tell me why my life has been levelled... Why my parents are dead. I don't know. I swear. I would give anything to know." Anna's eyes teared.

Dean would have been inclined to believe her if he wasn't so positive she was an angel.

Sam nodded. "Okay. Then let's find out." He meant it to sound civil, but it came out as it was; a challenge.

Anna frowned in confusion. "How?"

"I brought someone with me." Sam explained. Dean raised his eyebrows, this was the first he was hearing of that. "She's waiting on the front porch. She's agreed to help you find out who you are and where you come from. If you're willing."

Anna nodded. "Of course I am."

Sam nodded. "Alright, head downstairs. I'll bring her down."

Ruby guided Anna back to the panic room while Dean silently mouthed to his brother, "who?"

"Pamela" Sam mouthed back.

Dean nodded in understanding. He raised his eyebrows, liking the move Sam made. If Anna honestly didn't remember anything, this would help them get that information. If Anna did know who she was but had been lying, she would have said no to Sam's request and they'd be having a whole different kind of 'discussion'.

Dean followed Ruby and Anna into the basement. A few minutes later, Sam was leading the now blind Pamela into the panic room.

"Hey, Pamela." Dean greeted. He came forward and hugged him.

"Dean?" Pamela groped Dean's backside, causing him to holler out a "hey!" as he jumped. Pamela laughed good naturedly. "Oh, something tells me those aren't free to feel up anymore."

Dean opened his mouth but didn't know how to respond to that. He didn't know how Rose would respond to Pamela's flirtatious character in general. A part of him wanted Rose to be jealous, a feeling Dean couldn't recall ever feeling before.

Pamela rested her hand on Dean's chest. "Hey, don't sweat it kid, it was a joke. Your existential crisis is gonna give me an ulcer." She moved past the Winchester and deeper into the panic room. "Hey, Anna. How are you? I'm Pamela."

"Hi." Anna nodded, looking impossibly small in her stature.

"Dean told me what's been going on. I'm excited to help. Though I must admit it's particularly in self interest. Any chance I can dick over an angel, I'm taking it."

"Why?"

"They stole something from me." Pamela removed her black sunglasses to reveal white eyes. "Demon-y, I know. But they're just plastic. Good for business. Makes me look extra-psychic, don't you think?" Pamela laughed heartily. "Now...how about you tell me what your deal is? Hmm? Don't you worry."

Only a flash of light and a popping sound alerted Death to Time's presence. He turned around and raised an eyebrow at the blonde woman. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Rose opened her mouth but paused, finally noticing where they were. They were in a clearing in the middle of a forest. It was the first time Rose had seen Death outside a restaurant or they're training room. Rose slowly made her way towards the taller man in black. He stood with his weight resting heavily on his cane.

"What're we doin' here?"

Death looked out at the landscape. "I was taking a break, believe it or not." Rose raised her eyebrows. "I know, astonishing," Death drawled. They stood side by side, Death and Time, watching nature flourish before them. "We don't have any training scheduled."

"No."

"You're working a case, aren't you?"

"Yup."

Death sighed, exasperated with the young woman beside him. Only Rose seemed to have the ability to really make Death feel his age these days. Despite her own years, Rose Tyler was youthful by character. It often amused Death how opposite he and Time seemed to be. "Time, what's happened?"

Rose stared out at the green forest. She could see mountains in the distance behind a haze of fog. "I found my son."

Death looked around. "Have you?" Rose nodded. She continued to look out into the middle distance. "But you haven't gone to get him yet, have you?" Rose didn't say anything. "Why not?"

Rose turned her golden eyes on Death, he was shocked by how watery they were. "'s gonna be so dangerous for him. Everyone's after him. It'll be a massive risk to have him here."

Death nodded slowly. "You're not wrong. Any side that gets a hold of him will have complete control over you. Alister is the most valuable being in all of existence, and you make him that."

Rose roughly pushed her hair out of her face. She let out a hard breath. "I don't know what to do."

"You can't leave him in the TARDIS for long."

"I know that." Rose snapped. Ali had already been in the TARDIS for four months, all alone. She had to get him out of there as soon as possible.

There was a long pause as both of them considered the predicament. "You could take him and leave."

Rose's eyes widened. She turned to Death. "What?"

Death considered the mountains, their outline slowly being eaten away by the dense fog. He turned to Rose. "You know how to leave this universe and get to your own. Alister, and you yourself, would be safer there."

"How — how did you know that? That I could get home?"

Death looked back towards the mountains. "You'll tell me eventually."

Rose shook her head and laughed ruefully. "But ya see? You're contradicting yourself." Death raised an eyebrow in question. "I can't leave yet, because there are things that I've done in the future that I haven't done myself yet. Circular paradox. I can't leave yet."

"Is that the excuse your going to go with?" Rose opened her mouth, but Death raised his hand to forestall her. "I only mean, that you don't need an excuse. You feel obligated to leave because this world is dangerous and you feel another would be safer. But you've built a life here. There are people who need you. That alone is a justifiable reason for staying. Especially when you consider that because of how powerful you are, no matter what universe you find yourself in, Alister will always be a target." Death sighed deeply. "You needn't feel guilty, Time. As long as you're by your son's side, he will be safe."

Rose scrubbed her face with her hands and took a deep breath. "Thank you." Death only nodded in response. "Now I just need to find a way to get to him without all of heaven and hell after me at once."

"They'll figure out you have him eventually."

Rose nodded and shrugged. "'s unavoidable. But a showdown with Ali standin' in the middle… no. I can't have that. I need to get him somewhere safe and then I can deal with the angels and demons."

"This is all assuming Alister hasn't left the TARDIS."

Rose shook her head. "The TARDIS wouldn't let him leave."

"You're positive?"

Rose paused as she considered Death. If the TARDIS had access to her full capacities then she'd keep Ali safe. But if she'd been hurt or damaged in the fall, there was a chance she'd be unable to keep him inside.

Rose raised her arm and began punching in the coordinates to her vortex manipulator. "Thank you, I'll come bring Ali round once I've got him." Rose refused to leave her optimism behind. Alister was in the TARDIS. The TARDIS wouldn't have let him go. He was there. He had to be.

Without another word, Rose activated her vortex manipulator and disappeared. Death sighed and looked back out to the peaceful landscape. He raised his face to the sky and sighed deeply. He wished his friend would find her son, but something told him it all wouldn't be so easy.

"I remember now." Anna proclaimed. Sam, Dean, and Pamela stood back from the suddenly confident young woman. Pamela had hypnotized her and put her under before forcing her to look back into her past.

Dean stood from where Anna had thrown him against the wall in her hypnotized state. He shared a look with Sam, before the younger brother looked to Ruby who stood outside the iron walls of the panic room.

Sam turned back to Anna and asked the question on everyone's mind. "Remember what?"

"Who I am."

Dean swallowed. This was it. Moment of truth. "Who are you?"

"I'm an angel." The room was tense.

Rose had been right.

"Don't be afraid," Anna implored, "I'm not like the others."

Pamela's brows drew together. "I don't find that very reassuring."

There was a pause, as Anna didn't know how to respond to Pamela's unease. She changed the topic instead. "So...Castiel, Uriel — they're the ones that came for me?"

Sam crossed his arms. "You know them?" He tried not to show how his mind was racing. Things were progressing along faster than they'd expected. He knew what Anna would suggest soon, she was going to want to go after her grace which meant going to where she fell. They needed to stall for as long as possible. Rose had asked for 24 hours minimum. They still have 18 hours to go.

Sam's attention turned back to the conversation at hand. Anna was explaining that Castiel and Uriel used to work for her, she'd been their leader.

"But now they want to kill you?" Pamela questioned sharply.

Anna shrugged, not very concerned with the situation. "Orders are orders. I'm sure I have a death sentence on my head."

Pamela's head cocked to the side curiously. "Why?"

"I disobeyed... which, for us, is about the worst thing you can do right after having a difference in opinion. Something else I also did." Anna looked paced to one end of the panic room.

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Meaning?"

Anna crossed her arms and looked back at the group over her shoulder. "I felt that a certain order of business should be dealt with differently. Heaven didn't like that. So I fell from grace, hoping to accomplish my mission myself."

"What mission?" Dean asked in a voice he hoped did not convey just how vastly interested he was. Ali, was she talking about Ali?

Anna shrugged and shook her head lightly. "It doesn't concern you, you wouldn't care." Anna and Dean stared at each other for a moment. Dean felt like she was testing him, almost daring him to go too far and reveal what he knew. This was a completely different woman from the meek one that had stood where the angel stood now only moments ago.

Ruby sighed and leaned against the wall outside the panic room. "I don't think you all appreciate how completely screwed we are." She shook her head and rolled her eyes.

Anna nodded in agreement. "Ruby's right. Heaven wants me dead."

"And Hell just wants her. A flesh-and-blood angel that you can question, torture, that bleeds. Sister, you're the Stanley Cup. And sooner or later, Heaven or Hell, they're gonna find you."

Anna continued to nod, completely agreeing with the demon. She paced back towards the others. "I know. And that's why I'm gonna get it back. I'm going to get my grace back."

Dean raised his eyebrows. Oh no, they were moving too quickly. Rose needed more time than this. "You can do that?" He asked Anna nervously.

"If I can find it."

"Alright. So, where's this grace of yours? Do you even know?" Please say no, both Sam and Dean thought.

"Lost track." The two brothers forced themselves not to sigh in relief. "I was falling about 10,000 miles per hour at the time."

Sam shrugged. "Well I don't know what to say then. It could be anywhere, right?" Sam looked to Dean and they shook their heads despondently.

"Wait," Ruby interjected, "When you say falling, do you mean like," she gestured with her hand, "literally?"

"Yeah," Anna nodded, confused, "why?"

"Well I mean, if humans could see it, they might have thought it was a comet… or I dunno, like a meteor or something?" Ruby looked to Sam. "You guys could find that, couldn't you?"

Dean widened his eyes and sighed, as if Ruby were asking for something huge. "Well I mean yeah, sure, in theory. But it might take a while. Hours, possibly a day or two at best."

Ruby nodded. "Well then we better get started." Anna nodded and smiled. The two girls headed up to the main floor.

Sam and Dean exchanged a long look, both silently fearing if Rose would have enough time to do everything she needed.

Pamela sighed, annoyed. "Now I know you both aren't going to let a blind woman find her way back upstairs."

The brothers jumped and rushed to aid Pamela back to the main floor. After a brief discussion, Dean decided he would drive Pamela home and Sam got to work on his 'research'.

They needed to kill a few more hours. If Sam spaced out his findings right, he could give Rose until early morning. If Dean drove a long enough route they could even stretch it to early afternoon. But that was the best they were going to be able to give the time traveller.

"Here." Sam finally said, hours later. "In March '85, a meteorite vanished in the night sky over northwestern Ohio." Ruby came around and looked over his shoulder at the laptop's screen. "It was sighted nine months before Anna was born, and she was born in that part of Ohio."

Ruby smirked at him. "You're pretty buff for a nerd."

Sam rolled his eyes but couldn't stop the small smile that touched his lips. "Look, I think it was Anna and here, same time — another meteor over Kentucky."

"And that's her grace?"

Yes, Sam thought, it most definitely was. "Might be."

"All right. That just narrows it down to an entire state." Ruby looked around impatiently. Sam watched her and for the first time questioned why she was so annoyed. Sure Sam was taking his time finding information he already had, but Ruby didn't know that. What was she so anxious to get to?

"Look, it's a start."

Ruby sighed and shook her head. She half sat on the table and stretched her legs out before her, her arms crossed over her chest. "I'm sorry, Sam. I shouldn't have brought you this mess. If I had known, I would have kept my trap shut."

Sam opened his mouth but paused. Ruby looked sad, sure, but she was hiding something. She still would have brought them this case. He knew it, she knew it. So why bother lying about it?

When Sam didn't respond, Ruby continued. "I mean, you do not want to get between these two armies. It's Godzilla and Mothra. If one side doesn't get us, the other one will."

"And they're all after one thing."

"Yup! One very powerful thing." Sam didn't want to admit it, but Ruby almost sounded like she was talking about Alister, not Anna. Ruby continued her rant, oblivious to Sam's misgivings. "And you could totally take out the one side. Alastair should be no match for you."

Sam shook his head. "I'm sorry, who?"

"You met him in the church. Practically the grand inquisitor downstairs. Picasso with a razor." Sam thought back to the church. That demon? His name was Alastair? It was almost comical how close it came to the name Alister. Ruby shook her head. "You're out of shape."

Sam sighed. They'd had this argument before. "Ruby…"

Ruby shook her head. She wasn't having any of it. "No, your abilities — you're getting flabby." She gave him a serious look. "You know what you got to do."

Sam stood and walked a few steps away. "No." He crossed his arms, face set. "I'm not doing that anymore." Dean and Rose were both worried for him. And despite how much he hated to admit it, Dean had made a pretty good case. Demon blood wasn't the way, it wasn't helping him. He would kill Lilith, but he'd do it without the demon blood.

"Sam…"

"I said no."

The sound of the Impala's engine caused both of them to go back to their research, discussion over for the time being. Dean had returned from dropping off Pamela and demon blood was not a topic to be discussed in front of him.

The elder Winchester checked in on his brother and the demon before making his way through the house and out the backdoor, intent on finding Anna. Dean didn't like the idea of leaving her to her own devices for so long. They still had no proof that she'd planned to kill Ali, but Dean was inclined to think she was guilty until proven otherwise.

He found the angel on the steps of the back porch, the moon lighting up the night sky and revealing dark shadows among the piled cars and junk of Bobby's salvage yard. Dean sat down beside the young woman.

"Pamela get home okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah. She said she was sorry. It's just after last time, she, uh... This is just a little too rich for her blood."

"I don't blame her. You guys should do the same."

"Haven't you heard? This is sort of our job." Anna smiled ruefully at that. "So what was it? What difference of opinion was it that could make a perfectly happy angel decide that falling from grace was the better option?"

Anna sighed and looked up at the moon. "I don't why it is, but angels have always feared beings with more power than them. Maybe it's left over from what Lucifer did, his creation of evil. Or maybe it's an effect from our Father deserting us. Whatever it is, angel's fear power. But the worst ones, like Zachariah and Raphael… they crave power. They want to use it for themselves." Anna turned and fixed Dean with a long look, one Dean couldn't begin to decipher. "Some things are so powerful, they should never be put into the hands of others."

"Anna, what did you try to do?" Dean's heart was hammering. Did Anna know about Rose and Dean? Anna hadn't met Rose, maybe she didn't know that Dean know about Alister… why else would she be saying this? What else could she be possibly talking about it?

"I didn't try anything, Dean. I succeeded." Dean couldn't breathe. "The angels are angry because I took away their means for greater power. That's not something I'll ever regret."

"What did you do?" Dean needed her to answer. He needed to hear her say it. But at the same time, he knew if he heard her say it he wouldn't be able to stop himself from attacking her.

"What needed to be done." With those final words, Anna stood and headed back into the house.

Dean sat on the wooden steps, his heart racing. He didn't know what to say. Ali wasn't dead. He couldn't be. Rose had seen the TARDIS disappear and she's said the TARDIS would keep him safe. Ali would be fine. Rose would open the TARDIS and her son would be there. She probably already had him, was taking him somewhere far away. Somewhere safe.

Dean swallowed and stood. He rubbed his sweaty palms against his jeans. Everything would go according to plan. This would work.

Dean turned at the sound of the backdoor opening. Sam stood at the doorway, face serious. "Game time?" He asked his younger brother.

Sam nodded, face tense. Dean took a deep breath before following his brother back into the house.

Sam sat at his computer and pulled open a tab on his browser. "Union, Kentucky." He announced to the group. "Found some accounts of a local miracle. In '85, there was an empty field outside of town. Six months later, there was a full-grown oak. They say it looks a century old at least."

Anna nodded and stepped over to look at the browser. "The grace. Where it hit, it could have done something like that, easy."

Sam held up a finger. "That's not all." He clicked on a different tab. "Four months ago cherry blossoms bloomed across the entire tree. Which is strange because it's not a cherry tree."

Dean frowned and shook his head "I don't understand. Two acts of miracle? What does that mean?"

Sam turned in his seat, excitedly. "Anna, do you think you're grace could have separated by accident on its way down? Did you hit anything while you fell?"

Anna's eyes widened. "Why?" She didn't answer the question.

Ruby narrowed her eyes and crossed her arms. "Well, did you?"

Anna nodded, flustered. "Yeah, but… so? You think that could have divided my grace?"

Dean turned to his brother. "What was the day that the tree bloomed?"

"September 18th." Sam informed. "The day you got out of hell," he turned to Anna, "and the day you started to hear the angels."

Ruby shook her head in confusion. "But that means whatever she hit had the other half of the grace. So what, it took 19 years to fall out of the sky?"

Sam nodded once before turning to his brother and smiling. "Or it time travelled."

Dean's eyes widened. "You don't think?" Dean went to grab his phone. "I'm calling Rose."

Anna looked shocked. "What? Rose? Who's that? And what are you talking about, time travel?"

Dean left the room to make the fake phone call to Rose, after their fake revelation of facts both Winchester's had already known. Sam turned to Anna and Ruby and explained. "Rose is a friend of ours. She's been looking for her son, who she knew had fallen from the sky. But he'd been protected in this time machine thing — it's complicated. But if you hit him, there's a chance a part of the grace attached to the ship so when it time travelled…"

"The grace time travelled with it." Anna finished. She tried to keep the look of dawning horror off of her face.

"Exactly."

"Would he… would the son be alive?" Anna asked quietly.

Dean entered the room with a swagger and a charming smile. "Rose thinks so. She's going to meet us there."

Sam smiled and shook his head. "Man, this is… Wow. Rose has been looking for him forever."

Despite Ruby's rather sour look and Anna's tense posture, the Winchester brothers couldn't help but find themselves inconceivably happy for their friend.

Rain poured down on the dark highway, thunder and lightening sounded just above the Impala. Dean glanced sideways at his brother. "We should find somewhere to camp out. Wait out the storm."

Ruby narrowed her eyes at the rain from her position in the backseat. "We can drive through this, easy."

Anna nodded. "We should get to the tree as fast as possible."

Sam shook his head. "No, Dean's right. There's no point driving as fast as we can only to crash." He glanced at the angel and the demon in the backseat. "Not all of us can survive a car crash."

Dean turned down a dirt path and pulled over by a deserted barn on the edge of the woods that lined the highway. The group piled out of the Impala. Sam and Dean grabbed the weapons, while the girls headed in before them.

Sam glanced at his brother. "How long do you think the rain will last?"

Dean grabbed the duffle of weapons and hauled it over his shoulder. He knew what Sam was asking, how much longer did he think they could hold out for Rose? Dean shook his head, sprinkling water as he did. "I dunno, man. Just the night, I think."

Sam nodded, mouth pinched tight. He hoped it'd be enough for whatever Rose had planned.

They hung out in the barn for a few hours before Anna said she needed to go pee. She was gone for twenty minutes before Dean went in search of her, Ruby commenting the angel probably got the lost in the dark and wet forest.

Alone, Ruby moved to where Sam was sitting on a wooden crate. "I'm not sorry." She said, her voice full of the same stubborn attitude that she'd always had since they met the demon over a year ago.

Sam raised his eyebrows, the smallest quirk lifting the corner of his mouth. "I'm not surprised."

Ruby crossed her arms and leaned against the crate as she looked up at Sam's face. "I know you're having doubts about the demon blood—"

Sam stood. "They're not doubts."

"But look at all the people you've saved!"

"Ruby, that's not the point, okay?" Sam tried desperately not to raise his voice, but this was a never ending argument that always seemed to put him on edge.

Ruby threw her hands in the air. "Then what is? I thought you wanted to save people, Sam? I thought you wanted to kill Lilith? Since Dean's gotten back all you've done is cower down and do what he says."

"That's not true!"

"If it weren't true than you'd be doing what needs to be done, right now. Alastair is out there and he's after us and you have the ability to stop him."

"And we will!"

"No, not with the blade. You tried that, remember? And the colt? Long gone. So how about you man up and—"

"I have made my decision." Sam's voice was low and authoritative. Ruby closed her mouth, face set in stone. She turned on her heel and left the barn. Sam didn't stop her.

A few minutes later, Dean entered the barn alone. He ran a hand through his wet and dripping hair. Sam frowned curiously at his brother, noting the lack of Anna and asked, "did you lose her?"

Dean shrugged and Sam's brows rose as his brother blushed. "Turns out she did need to pee." Sam smirked and rolled his eyes. Dean took one look around the barn before coming to stand before his younger brother still sitting on the crate in the middle of the barn. "Where'd Ruby go?"

"Stormed out."

Dean nodded. He tried to appear uninterested but failed miserably. "Lover's quarrel?" Sam sent Dean his ever distinct 'bitch face'. Dean made a gesture of innocence. "What? You said you're sleeping together so technically…"

"We're not talking about this."

Dean threw his hands in the air, mumbling, "You try and talk to a guy…" Sam rolled his eyes. After a minute, Dean turned back to his brother. "Do you think Anna's talking to…" Dean raised his eyebrows and looked at the roof of the barn.

Sam sighed and shrugged. "Honestly, I hope not. But there's something about the way this has all been playing out. I think she might."

"Cas would tell us though, right? If the angels went after Ali, he'd warn us."

"I donno, Dean. Cas has helped us out, but he's also lied to us before and he's never met Rose." Dean sighed and paced back and forth. "Whatever happens, Ali is going to be okay. Rose is spectacular, she'll be able to keep him safe." Dean made a face of mild disbelief at Sam's comment. "What?"

"Rose, spectacular?" Dean almost laughed. "Man, you haven't given her an inch of trust since we met her. You two fight constantly. The only reason you tolerate her is because she's a good hunter and an asset and you can't deny that."

Sam raised his hands placatingly. "Dean, that's not true."

Dean shook his head, annoyance coming through full force. "Oh don't try and bullshit me, Sam. I know you, you don't like her."

Sam raised his eyebrows but tried to remain objective. He didn't want this to turn into an all-out fight. "Rose and I fight, yes. And you said it yourself, she's great hunter. It's been handy having her on the team, yeah. But I don't hate her. She's getting involved in our fight, and I can see she has your best interests at heart—" Sam broke off when Dean started laughing ruefully. Aggravated now, Sam snapped, "What?"

Dean shook his head, still chuckling. "You just don't change. You are completely oblivious. Sam, she doesn't give a shit about my view in this. If I took your side she'd bite my head off. Rose doesn't care if I think you're right or wrong. She wants you to see what Ruby is doing. She's invested herself in 'our' fight, because she cares about you." Sam closed his mouth, not knowing how to respond to that. "Look man, I don't know what your beef is with Rose, but get over it. She hasn't done anything but try and help you."

Sam shook his head. "I know that, and I know it's stupid and completely unreasonable but I can't help… I feel like this fight and her part in it has driven a wedge between us." Dean opened his mouth and Sam raised a hand to forestall Dean's obvious denial of the fact. "Like I said, I know it's stupid. I know we were fighting about this before she ever showed up." Sam sighed and turned to face his brother straight on. "Look, I would never want to see Rose or her son hurt. And I would never ask her to leave. We may fight but Rose is good, she's good for you."

Dean couldn't help the look of shock that crossed his face. "Rose and I aren't—"

"I know," Sam smirked, "which by the way is still hilarious." Dean rolled his eyes and Sam went on, "And you may deny remembering hell as much as you want, but you've been different since you've been back. And don't get me started on how you know Alastair." Dean frowned and looked away, arms crossed defensively. "Since Rose showed up, you've been better, happier. I don't know if you've been talking to her about hell, I don't really care. But I would never ask someone you care about to leave. And I could never hate someone who cares about you as much as I know Rose does."

Dean swallowed, not knowing what to say in response to Sam's speech. He was saved by the return of Anna. The brothers stepped away from one another, having had their fill of brotherly bonding and emotional talk for probably a while.

The sun was almost at it's peak in the sky when the four of them showed up at the field the nest day. Dean hopped out of the Impala and headed towards the old oak tree and the blonde figure beneath it.

"Rose!" Dean called out excitedly when he got closer. Rose didn't turn around. She held one hand against the ancient oak, her head bowed. As Dean approached it slowly dawned on him that her shoulders were shaking. "Rose?"

Rose fell to her knees.

"Rose!" Dean rushed towards the crying woman and wrapped his arms around her trembling body. Rose leaned into Dean's chest. "Rose," Dean whispered into her hair, "what's wrong? What happened?"

"He's not here," Rose chocked, "he's… he's gone." A heartbreaking cry tore from Rose's throat. She wrapped her arms around Dean's neck and pressed her face into his shoulder. The tears wouldn't stop. Her body shook with the strength of her sobs.

"What?" Dean clutched the crying mother, his heart sinking. "No… This wasn't — this wasn't supposed to happen."

"He's dead?"

Anna's tentative question broke through Rose's despair. The blonde's head shot up, her eyes glowed dangerously with rage and Time. Anna and Ruby took a step back. "As if you didn't know." Rose pulled back from Dean as she glared at the angel who'd fallen from grace just to murder her son.

Dean turned to Anna, standing by Sam and Ruby. "Anna?" He kept his voice neutral, but Sam and he had already agreed Anna was probably guilty. A confession was all that remained.

Anna straightened her posture, not backing down from the judgemental stares. "Something had to be done."

"You bitch!" Rose ripped herself from Dean's arms and lunged toward the redhead. Dean grabbed Rose around her waist before she'd moved even a foot. Rose pulled against Dean's hold for only a moment before she fell to the ground again, broken. Dean held her as her body shook with renewed sobs.

A flutter of wings made Dean look up again. Castiel stood before them. His face was impassive, only the slightest hint of confusion in the upturn of his brow. Behind him was Uriel and a handful of angels that Dean had never seen before.

Castiel looked around before his eyes found their way back to Dean. "What is going on here?"

Dean nodded towards Anna. "Ask your little child killer." Rose chocked. Castiel turned and fixed Anna with a hard look.

Anna rolled her eyes. "Don't look so surprised, Castiel. You know what I fell from grace to do. The child needed to be taken out."

Castiel marched forward, anger in every step. "No orders were given," he growled to his once superior. "The boy was never meant to be killed."

Uriel raised an eyebrow at that. "Officially."

Castiel whirled around to face his brother, aghast. "What?" Instead of answering, Uriel pulled a chain from beneath his collar with a glass vial hanging from it. The vial contained a bright blue and white light. "What is this?" Castiel demanded.

"Anna came to us last night," Uriel explained. Sam turned a sharp glare on Anna who remained stoic, "she offered either the location of Time's Child… or the location of his corpse." Rose couldn't help the sob that escaped her. Uriel looked around arrogantly. "I see no corpse."

Anna raised an eyebrow. "A crying goddess isn't poignant enough for you?" She gestured to Rose, completely unresponsive in Dean's arms.

Uriel smirked sadistically. "Your grace?" Uriel held his hand out.

"Not so fast."

Sam spun around, horrified at the appearance of Alastair and a dozen demons. He moved away from the group and slowly backed up until he stood by Rose and Dean. He stared hard at Ruby, his mind racing with her betrayal. Ruby stood by Anna, between Heaven and Hell, completely unaware that she was losing Sam.

Uriel glared at the demons and snarled in question, "What are you doing here, you decrepit mongrels?"

Sam licked his lips and quickly added his own question, "How'd you even know we were here?"

Alastair gestured nonchalantly towards Rose. "Well I came for the kid, obviously." He glanced to Sam and mentioned, "A little birdie told me to stop by."

Rose turned her golden glare from the grass to the demons and angels before her. The assembly took a visible step back. "You're too late. He's dead."

Alastair nodded once, careful of his place before a being far more powerful than he. "My condolences." Dean didn't know how to take the sincerity in Alastair's voice, it was something he'd never heard before. Alastair turned to the angels. "I guess I'll just have to go for the consolation prize."

The demons rushed the angels, intent on taking Anna alive. A battle of Heaven and Hell erupted before the hunters that quickly increased in ferocity. Dean tightened his grip on Rose and attempted to pull her away from the fray. Rose fought him, refusing to leave her space before the old oak.

"Rose," Dean implored, "we need to go." But Rose wasn't listening. The tears were streaking down her cheeks and she refused to leave her son.

Two demons approached Sam and threw him telekinetically away from his brother and Rose. "Sammy!" Dean turned and pressed his lips to Rose's temple as he whispered, "Don't die," then he turned and raced after his brother.

Dean froze when Alastair stepped between him and Sam. "Oh Dean, ever the hero…" Alastair paused and played with the demon blade in his hand. "Well, not always the hero." Dean growled and threw a punch.

A few feet away, Sam had successfully thrown off one demon when the second was mysteriously taken down. Sam turned and found Ruby standing before him. Sam glared before throwing all his weight into a punch straight to her gut.

Ruby folded in half. She coughed and spit out blood. "Sam! What the hell?"

"You betrayed us!" Sam roared. He threw another punch that Ruby ducked, missing it by a hair.

"Sam stop!" Sam grabbed Ruby by the collar and punched her hard. His grip on her shirt forced her to stand upright as he delivered a second, equally bruising punch.

"What else have you been lying about?"

"Sam." Ruby implored desperately.

Anna ducked under the blade of a demon and lunged forward. She grabbed the glass vial dangling dangerously from Uriel's hand and threw it to the ground. "Shut your eyes. Shut your eyes! Shut your eyes!" A bright light erupted and flashed across the bloody field.

Alastair, Ruby and the assembled demons all vanished. Bodies of the various vessels that had been murdered in the fight were the only ones left behind. Dean gasped, back pressed into the ground, face bloody and hurting from his second fight with Alastair. The demon blade fell from where Alastair had been holding it only a second ago. Dean turned and grabbed it before rolling to his feet. He glared at the remaining angels.

Castiel stepped forward, his eyes were softer than the hunter had ever seen them before. "Dean I —"

"Just go, Cas." Dean ground out, his voice rough from being chocked by Alastair.

Castiel shook his head, genuinely sorry. "I didn't know."

Dean nodded, he opened his mouth but Rose's broken sobs stopped whatever he was going to say. "I know, just…" He looked over his shoulder to Rose, sobbing helplessly into Sam's shoulder. Sam gave Dean a look, not sure what they could do to make this better. Neither of them were sure anything could make it better. Dean turned back to Castiel. "Just go. We'll talk later."

The angels disappeared in a flutter of wings.

Dean shook his head. How had things gone so utterly wrong? He turned and made his way to his brother and Rose. The demon blade slipped from his fingers and he fell to his knees beside Rose. Rose pulled back from Sam's embrace and flung herself into Dean's arms. Dean held her against his chest. He kissed her hair and whispered soft words of meaningless comfort, knowing it would make no difference.

His heart broke for Rose. The Doctor and their children had lived their lives and died thinking that Ali was lost forever. Rose had travelled to a completely different universe to find her son, she'd searched for centuries. And he was gone. He had died in a ball of fire and grace. Dean's arms tightened their hold on Rose at the thought of how terrified Ali must have been. He'd only been a child.

Dean shared a look with Sam over Rose's head. Rose's cries echoed out across the bloody field. She'd lost her son once, but now he was truly gone forever.

:)