ugh. i was sick last night and woke up at 4PM today D: i would have posted sooner but time got away from me D:

this chapter is for hasiba :D i hope everything went well!

also, thank you for the reviews :D i'm glad you guys like it as much as i do writing it!

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Chapter 16: No Exit Part 1

"You don't understand." She said quietly, looking up at me with tears in her eyes. "He's dead."

O0o0o0o

For a moment I wasn't actually sure that she had said that and just sat there, feeling the condensation roll down my beer and over my fingertips. Sam was looking at me, practically staring me down to say something. What the hell was I going to say to her to make this alright?

Finally Sam cleared his throat and spoke to her gently. It almost made my skin crawl. She didn't need gentle. She needed the harsh reality of things. It was the only way she'd get through this unscathed.

"Chrissie, how did he die?"

She sniffled and Sam handed her a tissue. I fought the urge to roll my eyes. I didn't feel one bit sorry for her but I could tell Dean and Sam's faces were twitching with sympathy. What the hell? These were the same two people that wanted to cap her ass when I told them she had called. This was how Chrissie worked; off of sympathy.

"You didn't kill him did you?" I asked and Sam widened his eyes a bit at me.

Dean cleared his throat and hit the back of my chair ever so slightly with his foot as he sipped his beer. I knew he wanted me to be an adult with this whole situation but he had to understand that ever since we walked into this house I felt like I was sixteen years old again. He had no idea how insecure and upset she made me. All those years of her sticking by me just to one day tell me that my father was crazy and I was walking down that path too?

I sighed, shaking my head. "Sorry." It felt like bile in my throat.

"He was outside getting the mail and I heard horns blare and the next thing I knew he was hit by a car."

My face scrunched in confusion. That didn't make sense. His spirit wouldn't be attacking Chrissie or haunting this house if he didn't have something against her or died here. Sam looked at me and rose his eyebrows; he knew it too.

"Look Chrissie, you called for my help and that's what I'm here for. But we can't make Clark go away until you tell me what really happened." I said, as gentle as I could.

Dean shifted behind me and I saw him go and lean against the sink out of the corner of my eye. Chrissie's own eyes clouded over and she looked down at her hands playing with the ring on her finger.

"One night I came home and I heard rustling upstairs. He was with someone else Andy…in my own house." Tears cascaded down her face and I tried to ignore the kick to the stomach that they caused.

"He had to have known that you were coming back home." I wasn't accusing her of lying again; I was just trying to get the whole story.

"No, I was supposed to be on this business trip to Atlanta. But my boss mixed up the meeting dates and it was going to be next week instead. So I came home and went upstairs and there he was…with another girl."

I sighed, running a hand over my face. I felt like telling her that this was what karma did. How many times had her boyfriend found her with another guy? I couldn't count that on both of my hands. I felt like telling her this is what it felt like to have your heart broken. I felt like telling her that that's what she made me feel like when she called the Winchesters and my father crazy; heartbroken.

But I didn't say any of that, no matter how much I wanted to. It wasn't what we were here for. We were here to get rid of a spirit. Nothing else. "And what happened next?"

She blew her nose in the tissue Sam had given her and she looked at me and Dean. For some reason I wanted to make her stop looking at Dean like that. I wanted to say a whole bunch of things to throw in her face on how he'd never do that to me. But once again, that wasn't what we were here for.

"I freaked out, as you could imagine." She said, somewhat lighter than she was talking before. She was trying to smile but then frowned again when she continued. "He was with my friend Katie. And all I could remember as I saw them together was how much I had told Katie about Clark, how much I had trusted her."

"And Katie just ran out I'm guessing? Leaving you and Clark to have a conversation?" My stomach plummeted and my heart hammered in my chest at the thought that she had actually done something drastic and Clark paid the price for it. But I just shifted in my seat and waited for her to answer me.

She nodded and started crying. I attentively reached out and grabbed her hand, closing my eyes as I squeezed it. "He broke up with me, and I knew that Katie was waiting downstairs for him because he was grabbing all his stuff and packing it. So I started throwing his things at him. His duffel and his work shirts, his ties and his wallet. Well some of his stuff had landed on the stairs and…"

"He slipped." I finished for her.

Chrissie covered her face with her hands. "He broke his neck." She sobbed.

I looked at Dean and Sam. Spirit thing made sense now. Clark's spirit thought Chrissie was the reason for his dying so now he was punishing her for it. I knew Chrissie and knew deep down the reason she was crying. She wasn't crying because Clark had died, she was crying because she was getting punished for it. I knew how she was. She was like this ever since she could talk.

Dean came closer to the table and set his beer on it. He bent over slightly and kissed my head and I leaned back into him as he stood there.

I watched Chrissie and I felt horrible for thinking it but for some reason I wanted to tell her all the things that had been building up inside me ever since I had left. I wanted to tell her that I was happy I had left her and that I was glad I hadn't gone and stayed with her mom and dad. That my life was so much better because I had chosen to stay with the Winchesters. How I would've of been with Dean and had a best friend like Sam. I wanted to tell her that because I left, my life was better than hers; because in all actuality it was. Dean and Sam would never betray me and I almost felt sorry for her that she didn't have people in her life like them. But then I remembered that she had chosen to live her life that way, just like I had chosen to leave with John. What was going on in her life now was her own fault, one way or another. And for once I wanted to tell her I was sorry.

O0o0o0o0

After she had cleaned up a bit and had a whole nother beer, she told us that Clark usually did things around night. She said it hadn't been such a big deal at first, even though Clark did things that were annoying. He seemed to act more like a poltergeist than an angry spirit. He'd knock things over, glass objects more than anything else, he unplugged things; like her alarm clock or her computer. He hid her work keys a few times and spilled drinks. It was lucky she didn't have any pets. Spirits didn't tend to like animals, most likely because animals had a certain perception to see and know when a spirit was lurking around.

"But then yesterday he started getting angrier, I guess." Chrissie said, leading us upstairs. We passed a bathroom and two guest rooms until we got to her own room.

It was a mess to say the least. Her bed was turned over and glass was covering the floor; from broken mirrors and glass knickknacks.

"He did all this?" Sam asked and stood outside the doorframe.

"And the other rooms were left untouched?" Dean asked. Chrissie answered yes to both.

"Probably because she only sleeps in here and this is where she found him and Katie." I said quietly, looking down the hall at the stairs. "He hasn't done anything physical has he?" I asked; the question harder to get out of my mouth than I had thought.

"No, he hasn't tried to…"

"Kill you?" I asked and she smirked, thinking it was funny. I was being totally serious. She didn't know how normal it was for a spirit to try and end your life because it thought you were the ending of theirs. Actually, it kind of puzzled me why Clark hadn't tried to drown her or push her down the stairs. I wasn't wishing it on her or anything like that. It just made me wonder.

"So I was wondering if you could maybe…stay the night?" She asked and my eyebrows rose. "Because whatever he does happens at night and I really don't want to be alone."

She must have read my mind because I knew for a fact that a motel wasn't far from here and that's where I suggested Dean, Sam and I go. But if she didn't want to be alone then we'd have to stay here. Plus, contrary to popular belief, I didn't want her to get hurt.

I nodded and gave her a small smile. "Well, I figure since you have two guest rooms…" She nodded and smiled as she offered them to us.

"Yeah, Sam can stay in one and you and Dean in the other." She opened both doors and ushered us to take a look. The rooms were bigger than you thought they were. But maybe they were just as big as her own room and you couldn't tell since her room was a catastrophe.

The bed was at least a king sized and there were two windows in each room. There was a desk in Sam's while a vanity filled the space in mine and Dean's room.

"Plus, I'll make you guy's dinner if you want." She offered and I turned to look at her as Sam and Dean went inside one of the rooms and plopped down on the bed.

"You don't have to." I said gently. I didn't want us to be trouble for her, even though I knew Dean and Sam would have smacked me if they heard me turn down a home cooked meal.

"I insist, plus, I kind of owe you." She said quietly and her eyes drifted to the floor. I could tell her eyes were telling me she owed me way more besides the spirit we were getting rid of.

I smiled and shifted on my feet, damning my inability to wanting to be her cousin again. "I guess only on one condition. If I get to help. I'm guessing you're making your famous spaghetti."

She nodded. "And pie."

I smiled as I heard Dean shift on the bed. "What kind of pie?" He asked.

Chrissie smirked and I mouthed apple. "Apple." She repeated and I swear Dean almost got off that bed and hugged her. "I'll start dinner in an hour." She said.

I nodded and started closing the door. "I'll be downstairs."

"Oh and Andy." She said, stopping at the stairs and I hesitated, looking at her. "Thanks."

I smiled and shut the door. I knew it wasn't for helping with dinner.

O0o0o0o0

I sighed, thanking God as I jumped between Dean and Sam on the bed. Yeah, it was that big that Sam and Dean could lay on it and I could fit right between them. I buried my face in one of the pillows and sighed, taking in the scent of Lavender detergent.

"So, she's not so bad." Sam said as I turned over to lie on my back. Dean shifted and put his arm underneath me to pull me towards him.

I smiled. "You're just saying that because you think she's a hottie."

Dean chuckled and Sam looked at me somewhat embarrassed. He shrugged. "Kind of."

I laughed, smacking him with one of the pillows and he rolled over, hiding his face in the comforter.

"Dean doesn't hate her anymore either ya know." Sam accused, voice a bit muffled by the bed and Dean shrugged.

"My stomach doesn't hate her anymore. She's making me dinner and a pie."

I sat up and looked at him. "She's making everyone dinner." I whined. "Not just you." He smiled slowly at my tone and I rolled my eyes knowing a bit of jealousy was now cloaking my words. "Whatever, you like her so much you can stay here."

I tried getting up off the bed when Dean shot up and wrapped his arms around my waist, pulling me back and I turned around on his chest. "How are we going to go out our date if I'm here?" He asked me and I shrugged.

"That's my point."

He smiled and kissed me gently, holding me tightly to his chest as I laid my head down on his shoulder, snuggling against his button down. "Well, we at least know this is an easy job right? It's like the meal is paying us for our services."

"Great." Sam said, turning back over on the bed. "We're hookers now."

I smacked his shoulder and he laughed. "You knew what I meant, you ass."

"Maybe you shouldn't go downstairs to help her." Dean said and I figured he wanted me to stay in this room with him. "We all know how you cook and I don't want this one free meal to be ruined."

Sam broke out in laughter and I hit his chest, getting up from him. "My cooking is fine."

"Yeah, because you do it so often."

"That doesn't mean I ruin things." I pouted, sitting on the edge of the bed. I tried to think of the last thing I had actually cooked, my mind drawing a blank. Whatever it was it couldn't have been that bad.

Dean sat up, chuckling. "I'm kidding." He informed me, kissing my cheek.

I rolled my eyes as I felt Sam get up off the bed and head towards the door. "Well, since dinner is in an hour I'm gonna grab some stuff from the car."

"Could you grab our duffel?" I asked him and he nodded.

Dean got up and headed towards the door to close it as Sam left. "Don't forget the rock salt."

"So this'll be like a salt n burn case right?" I asked.

"Yeah, should be." Dean plopped down on the bed and took his shoes off.

"Well then why don't we just head out to the grave and get this over with. Then we can eat dinner and leave."

"Don't like being here, huh?" He asked quietly as each of his shoes created a loud echo in my ears.

I shrugged, looking down at my hands. "Kind of reminds me of things I'd rather forget. That's all."

It mostly just reminded me of how my family was. Before my mom and dad died. We were just a normal family. Happy and enjoying life; how any family should have been. Oblivious is what we were. We had no idea what was going on around us; didn't want to know.

"You know, I'm proud of you for coming here." Dean said and wrapped his arms around my waist. He rested his chin on my shoulder and I turned to look at him. He gently kissed my nose. "Most people wouldn't after what she said to you."

I shrugged slightly, that was seven years ago. Most people would have given up on holding that grudge long ago. "Most people don't have their ex boyfriends spirit trying to kill them."

Dean smirked. "You knew what I meant." He said, trailing one of his fingers down the bridge of my nose to reach my lips.

I smiled, kissing his fingers. He pulled back and yawned and that made me remember Sam or Dean really hadn't had any sleep in the past few days. I winced and got up to pull the bed sheets down.

"What are you doing?" He asked me.

"Unmaking the bed so you can take a nap."

"I'm not that sleepy babe."

I rolled my eyes and scoffed as I threw a pillow at him. "Right, tell that to the yawn you just had. Come on, you and Sam are both tired because I made you drive here."

Dean shrugged, watching me. "It's not like we didn't want to come here."

"All you did was complain."

He smirked and lay down on his stomach, preventing me from pulling back any of the sheets past the pillows. "That's because you refused to let me take my sawed-off in here with me."

I rolled my eyes and ruffled his hair. He sat up and fixed it even though it still looked the same. "Well, as Sam tells me you kind of like her now so good thing."

He got up from the bed and took off his button down, revealing a tight navy t-shirt underneath. "Not as much as I like you." He flirted and I giggled. "You gonna force Sam into bed too?"

I nodded. "Of course." With a roll of his eyes and an unhappy grunt he slid into the bed and I pulled the sheets up to his shoulders. "But you're the only one with the privilege of getting tucked in."

He smiled and leaned up slowly to wrap his arms around my back. He gently pulled me down till I was lying on his chest and kissed my lips. "Guess I'm pretty lucky then." He concluded. I'm glad it wasn't a question. He knew how lucky he was.

I smiled and got up from the bed and went close to the door. "Damn straight."

O00o0o0o

I headed downstairs, meeting Sam in the middle and convinced him he should get a little sleep. He agreed after much pushing and finally headed up the stairs. I found Chrissie in the kitchen, leaning over a pot over the stove. She had just started the sauce. You could tell by the way she was almost crazily stirring the wooden spoon in the pot.

The more work you put in it ahead of time the less work you had to do later. "Hey." I said and she turned around, smiling slightly.

"Hey, you could chop vegetables or make the noodles."

I nodded, walking into the kitchen, eyeing the bottle of red wine she had out for dinner. "I'll take noodle duty." I said, putting another pot on the stove after I filled it up with water.

I read the back of the shell box because it had been forever since I had made noodles and if I messed up this dinner Dean would have my head. "What?" I asked her, hearing she had said something to me but not really hearing it.

"I asked where Dean and Sam were."

"Oh, they're sleeping. They're exhausted. I made them drive all the way here." I said kind of guiltily.

"And Dean wouldn't let you drive?" She asked knowingly, like she could read my mind and knew how obsessive compulsive Dean was about his car.

I smiled. "Exactly."

"He's a good boyfriend, well I mean, he seems like one."

I didn't meet her eyes on that one. Something told me she had no idea what qualified as being a good boyfriend. But I responded nonetheless. "Yeah, he is. Best person I'll ever know." I said honestly.

"So you've been…hunting all this time?" Chrissie asked, putting bread in a basket and tending to her sauce again. She said hunting like saying a word you grimaced over. Like if I would have said blood out loud; that's what it would have sounded like.

"Yep, Sam took a break to go to college but other than that..."

"And how's John?"

She didn't care. She was just making small talk. She didn't care one lick about how my life had been because she didn't believe it. I could tell her all the killer clown, vampires, and dirty hunters things I wanted. She still wouldn't believe me. She needed to see it and touch it all at once for it to be real. That's why I was so surprised that she actually thought her dead ex boyfriend's spirit was after her.

I cleared my throat, feeling like I shouldn't have been telling her this because it was none of her business. Like it wasn't even my business since he wasn't my father. "He died."

Her eyes met mine and I knew the sympathy wasn't fake. "I'm sorry."

I nodded. "Yeah, me too. Dean took it really hard." Hell, he was still taking it. The fact that he wasn't breaking everyday made me extremely proud of him. But then again, he was probably just cracking on the inside, just where I couldn't see.

"So, does that mean your dad didn't really have a heart attack like you said?"

I hesitated, almost enough to drop the box of noodles in my hands. I forgot I had told my family that. "No, he was attacked by a Wendigo."

"And, what exactly is that?" She asked.

I was getting annoyed by having to explain all this to her, especially since I knew she really didn't care. "Like a huge dog." I lied and rolled my eyes, pouring the noodles into the boiling water. "Why did you call me?" I asked.

"I told you why. Because my ex boyfriend's spirit…"

"No, that can't be why." I interrupted. "You don't believe in that stuff, you called my dad crazy. You called me crazy." I said softly.

"Well, maybe I was just afraid okay?" She answered, not looking at me as she poured pepper into the sauce. "I mean I was seriously worried that all that stuff wasn't real and that you were losing your mind."

I scoffed quietly. "You made sure it wasn't leaky pipes and rats right? You made sure it wasn't everything you could think of before you called me."

She looked at me and bowed her head, not meeting my eyes. Because hers would tell me everything.

I nodded, throwing the empty box away. "Fine, I'll just treat this like any other job." I said, disappointed.

To think I actually thought she called to talk to me, to tell me she missed me and that she was at least a little bit sorry. She still thought I was a hack, after all these years. But I guess she figured whatever she could get to stop the glass from breaking and from her room being trashed she'd use it.

"Is dinner almost ready?" I asked her, small tears stinging my eyelids.

She nodded and gently took the steaming noodles from the stove and poured them in a strainer in the sink.

"Great, I'll go get Sam and Dean."

I hurried out of the kitchen before the first tear hit my cheek.

O0oo0o

I opened the door and quietly closed it. I leaned against it and closed my eyes, listening to Dean's breathing. I made my way over to the bed in the darkness and laid down next to him, throwing an arm over his waist and nuzzling my face back up against his neck. He grunted in his sleep, feeling me squeeze him and slowly began to wake up.

I sniffled and he turned in bed, facing me. "Hey," He said gently. "You okay?"

I nodded even though he could feel my tears hit his hands as he cupped my cheek. He pulled me to him and hugged me tightly. "That's it. I'm getting my sawed-off." He said heatedly and held me even closer to him.

I laughed, even though it was full of tears. "Can we just get this thing over with after dinner?" I asked him, my voice breaking. "I just don't be here anymore."

He nodded and rocked me gently. "Yeah, of course." He said softly and kissed my head. "We could also leave now and just let the damn spirit push her down the stairs."

I smirked and pulled back, wiping my face. "We can't do that."

Dean's mouth turned into a pout. "We can't?"

I smiled, sitting up and he turned the bedside lamp on. "No we can't. She asked for our help and we're going to give it to her."

"Even if she doesn't deserve it." Dean sighed and ran a hand through my hair.

"It's not completely her fault. I got my hopes that she had changed."

"Andy, it's not your fault that her brain can't expand enough to except things like that."

"I guess asking her to believe in goblins and ghosts is enough to make anyone think they need psychiatric help."

Dean pushed the covers off him and stretched. "Oh, I don't think she has mental issues. I just think she needs an attitude adjustment. That may have resulted from the big stick up her ass."

My mouth gaped open. "Dean!"

He laughed and rolled his eyes, putting his leather jacket on. "What?"

I giggled and got up. "Nothing, come on, dinner's almost ready."

He shrugged as he opened the door for me. "At least I got you to smile."

I kissed his cheek. "Yes, you did. Thank you."

Dean smiled. "My pleasure." And with that he went to wake up Sam for dinner.

O0o0o0o0

We headed down to dinner and ate in silence. I'm guessing Dean had informed Sam on how Chrissie had made me cry…again. Which was just great, it made me feel like a bag sap. You could tell how tense Sam and Dean were just sitting there eating and it made me wish I had never said anything at all.

"So Chrissie where is Clark buried?" I asked. "We need to salt and burn the bones to get rid of his spirit."

She cleared her throat and shook her head. "Of course you do." She said quietly and Dean dead eyed her. She really was just giving him the excuse to bite her head off.

"What was that?" He asked.

I sighed. "Dean…" I said gently and Chrissie didn't repeat what she had said, but did look at Dean somewhat threatened. "Just tell us where he's buried."

"Autumn Road Cemetery."

"On Autumn road?" Dean asked, totally serious.

"No, on winter road." She snapped making Dean narrow his eyes at her.

"Okay, Chrissie I suggest you don't piss off Dean or Sam alright?" I asked her calmly. "Because we have about twenty different types of weapons in the back of our trunk and I could tell you right now they're not second guessing about going to find one."

"Not to mention we're doing this favor for Andy." Sam said, pushing the spaghetti around on the plate. "If she wants to leave, we're gone."

"Leaving you with a very pissed off spirit." Dean chided. "And whether you want to believe it or not, it will get worse. He may even kill you."

Chrissie sighed and looked at me. "What do you need me to do?"

"Just let us take care of it. He'll start to act up when he realizes what we're doing but if all goes well, he should be gone before morning."

She looked at her plate and I took a sip of the wine she had given us. "Thank you." She said quietly. She didn't mean it, which just pissed me off. I stood and threw my plate in the sink, making it clatter against the glasses already there.

"Don't thank me." I said angrily, heading to the front door. "Just doing my damn job."

Sam and Dean followed a few moments later. It was off to Autumn Road Cemetery.

O00o0o0o

"You sure you want to do this?" Sam asked as we gathered salt and lighter fluid to head to the gate of the cemetery down the street. "We could just let the spirit push her down the stairs."

I looked at Dean and he shrugged. "Do you two live off the same brain wave or did you talk about this?"

Sam smiled at Dean and shrugged. "Alright, so maybe we were planning her demise…for a little."

I chuckled and shook my head, throwing a duffel over my shoulder as Sam grabbed the shovels. "It's okay guys, I appreciate it believe me." I said closing the trunk and turning to head to the gate. "But it's okay."

We headed to the gate and I threw the duffel over it once we realized it was locked. Sam gently slid the shovels through the gate so that they wouldn't make a loud clattering noise as they hit the pavement.

"We're gonna have to jump it." I said and motioned for Dean to put his hands out so I could climb over.

"Sam's first so he can catch you."

"No, Sam's taller. He should go last, he's less likely to need the boost." I said thinking. Dean nodded as Sam cupped his hands for Dean to put his foot in.

Dean held onto Sam's shoulders as he stepped in Sam's hands. Sam boosted Dean up and he carefully climbed over the gate, jumping back down.

"Okay, you're next." Sam said quietly and I held onto him as Dean did. He hoisted me up and over and I jumped into Dean's arms.

"Nice catch." I said smiling and he kissed me, setting me back on the ground.

"Hey, you're not gonna catch me like that?" Sam asked Dean as he climbed the gate and Dean flicked him off.

I giggled, picking up the bag and put it over my shoulder. "Aw, come on Dean. He just wants to be caught and kissed."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean said and pushed me as Sam jumped down.

Sam brushed his hands off on his jeans and sighed. "Great, this place is huge." He said wryly. "It's gonna be like finding a certain needle in a stack of needles."

"We should have asked her exactly where in the cemetery." Dean pondered.

"Well if it wouldn't have been for my rushing out, we could have asked."

"It's not your fault." Dean said quietly, looking around at the graves.

"I'll call her." I said pulling out my cell.

"You want me to talk to her?" Dean asked and I shook my head, dialing the number.

"No, I don't think she liked being threatened by you at dinner." I said with a smile and he shrugged.

Chrissie answered on the third ring, she sounded like she was out of breath and crying. My face scrunched up in concern. "Chrissie, what is it?"

"He's here." She grit out, screaming and then I heard glass break.

"Shit." I muttered, gaining Sam and Dean's attention. "Chrissie, listen to me, I know you're scared but you have to concentrate for me okay?"

She sniffled and I heard glass crackle. I hoped she wasn't stepping on it or getting hurt because of it. "Okay." She repeated, whispering. Like the spirit couldn't hear her if she did so.

"Where is Clark buried? Specifically in the grave yard."

"Um, Sector three I think." She answered and her voice cracked. It was as loud as glass.

I looked up and around. Sector three. We were in Sector five. "Alright, listen I'm gonna give the phone to Dean and you stay on with him, talk with him if you have to. We're gonna find the grave."

I gave the phone to Dean and gave him this concerned look and he nodded, taking it from me. "Hey Chrissie, you alright?" He asked and I smiled slightly at him. All the roughness from his voice was gone as he tried to be comforting. For me if not Chrissie.

"Come on, we've got to head to Sector three." I told Sam and he nodded, following me. Dean trailed lightly behind, talking to Chrissie. I wasn't really paying attention to what he was saying and all I could tell was that every five minutes he was asking her how she was doing. Making sure she wasn't dead.

We headed in one direction, turning around when we ended up in Sector two. Then headed to another to come to Sector four.

"Jesus Christ." I muttered angrily, looking around. "Is this a graveyard or a maze?"

Sam ran a hand through his hair. "Come on, only one more way to go." He motioned ahead of him and tightened his grip on the shovels. We were running out of time.

We headed down that road and finally ended up in Sector three. "Alright, look around." I urged at them and they took off, Dean still on the phone with Chrissie. I could tell he hadn't said anything for a while except an 'are you okay' every five minutes. He was only there for comfort purposes.

"There." I said hurriedly, seeing the grave stick out haphazardly out of the ground. Which was odd seeing as how he hadn't been buried that long ago.

Sam threw a shovel at Dean and he caught it, handing me the phone. They started digging and I held a flashlight up as they did so.

"Chrissie, you still okay?" I asked her.

"I locked myself in the bathroom." She said shakily. "He's breaking everything. I can hear him scream too and thumping down the stairs."

I grimaced. He was probably reliving his death over and over. "Just stay cool." She was plenty scared for someone who still didn't believe in this sort of thing. But I refused to bring that up. I suddenly heard pounding on a door and heard Chrissie jump and whimper. "What's going on?"

"I didn't know, he's pounding on the door." Chrissie cried.

I heard metal hit metal and Sam looked up at me mouthing they found the grave. Dean threw the shovels up on the ground and leaned down to pull the box open.

"Hold on Chrissie." I said and pushed the phone down on my shoulder, holding it there as I popped open the salt.

I sprinkled the corpse with it and Dean and Sam hopped out of the grave; Dean opening the lighter fluid and spilling it about. This was going to be messy. Some skin and muscle were attacked to the bone and soon this whole place was going to smell like flesh and embalming fluid.

"Light it." Dean told Sam.

Sam threw a match into the grave and everything lit up for a moment. I grimaced at the smell but was glad when I heard pounding stop through the phone.

"It's done Chrissie. You alright?" Nothing. "Chrissie?"

The line was dead.

O0o0o0o0

"We have to go right now." I said, fear making itself highly present in my voice.

"What, why?" Dean asked, concern filling his eyes at my tone.

"The line went dead." I whispered and Sam looked between me and Dean.

"Go, I'll finish here. Just come back here and pick me up." Sam told us and started refilling the grave as the fire died down.

Dean nodded and grabbed my arm, pulling me towards the entrance. We hopped the fence again, God only knows how we didn't get severely injured while doing it and ran to the car. We jumped in and he started it, skidding out in the road and back to Chrissie's.

"You tried to call her again?" Dean asked.

I nodded. "Several times, she won't pick up."

Dean's hand found it's way off the wheel and squeezed my leg. "She'll be okay." He said strongly because he knew I couldn't.

We got to the house around ten minutes later and I thought how it had taken us twenty minutes to get to the cemetery. I got out of the car before Dean did and rushed to the front door. It was unlocked. I looked around the house, finding the downstairs pretty much let alone. Nothing had been thrown about. But on the stairs was glass and I had to hold onto the railing as I carefully made my way up there so I wouldn't fall.

Chrissie had been in a bathroom and I stopped in front of the room, heart freezing in my chest as I saw the door had been thrown off it's hinges. I heard Dean enter the house and pound up the stairs, halting behind me as he saw the same thing.

My breath caught in my throat as I made my way closer to peek inside. The light was still on and the room was a mess.

"Chrissie?" I asked, seeing her huddled form in the tub.

She moved her face from the fetal position in the tub and looked at me, tears cascading down her face. I saw the smashed phone against the tub. We really had done in the bones just in time.

"I saw him." She said brokenly. I guess the spirit had never shown itself to her until now.

I kneeled down and looked at her and I felt Dean approach the doorframe. "Did he hurt you?" I asked.

She shook her head no, leaning up. "He told me he was sorry." She broke off in sobs and threw herself at me, pulling me into the strongest, most desperate hug I think I've ever felt.

I held her and stroked her hair for what seemed like hours. Dean whispered he was leaving to go get Sam and I nodded for him to do it. When he came back with him I was still there in that bathroom, holding Chrissie as tightly as I could.

It took her that long to say it and even then I couldn't believe it was coming from her. "I'm sorry," She said and meant it this time. "that I didn't believe you."

I guess a dead boyfriend was all it took. But seeing a spirit like that could alter anyone's perception.

O0o0o0o0

We decided to leave that night, even though after we cleaned up the glass it was reaching four AM and the guys still didn't have any sleep. I promised I'd drive if we left; they knew I didn't want to stay here and didn't argue. Thank God. They were too tired to argue.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay? At least get some sleep?" Chrissie asked as the boys passed her and we all stood on the porch. I swear anyone could read minds.

I shook my head no. "No, they'll sleep in the car." I waved the keys and Dean shook his head, now realizing I'd picked his pocket. "Whether they want to or not." I said giving Dean a look and he rolled his eyes and smiled. "Thanks though."

"No," She said, shaking her head and clutching her sweatshirt around her body. "Thank you."

I nodded and repeated my statement from the other night, although it was much nicer sounding then before. "Just doing my job."

Chrissie nodded and opened her arms so I could hug her goodbye. I moved towards her slowly and hugged her, my hands digging in to the fabric of the sweatshirt as I did so. I didn't want this to be the last time I saw her. Contrary to popular belief; I did love her. She was my family after all.

I pulled back and she pushed hair behind my ear. "Your father, would be very proud of you." She said gently and I smiled, tears coming to my eyes.

I could barely get the words out. "Thank you."

She nodded and looked to Dean and Sam, who I encouraged to give her small hugs also. They did so, with small smiles on their faces and Chrissie finally backed inside her house and closed the door.

We headed to the Impala and Dean brought me into a hug while Sam stroked my hair for a moment.

"I'm glad you guys are here." I said softly, rubbing my face along Dean's jacket.

Dean smiled and kissed my head. "We're glad you're here too."

Sam nodded and opened the car door. "I think that kind of goes without saying."

I kissed Dean again before he opened up the passenger door to get inside. I flipped the keys in my hands, rounding the car to get in. I looked one more time at the gray and white house before shaking my head and getting in the car, knowing full and well this was probably the last time I'd see her and the house.

I started the car. But that was just how my life was.

O0o0o0o

I stopped at Harvelle's Roadhouse, figuring Sam and Dean were asleep and Jo and I were on kind of good terms so why not. Maybe they had a case we could get started on.

I shut the car door gently, not disturbing either Winchester as they were deep in sleep. Poor guys. I exhausted them way too much.

"I am your mother, I don't have to be reasonable!" I heard screaming from the bar and for some reason clutched the knife in my back pocket. That was from adrenaline or something because obviously they weren't getting attacked by a mother demon or something. Ellen was fighting with either Jo or Ash.

"You can't keep me here!" And the winner was Jo.

I contemplated whether or not I should stay, this conversation was obviously none of my business and it wasn't like I couldn't look in the paper for a job. But my inability to mind my own business made the decision for me and I quietly opened the door to the bar, sliding in.

"Hey, if you don't wanna stay, don't stay. Go back to school!" Ellen yelled, chaotically putting glasses away.

"I didn't belong there! I was a freak with a knife collection!" How I knew how that felt. One of the many reasons why I stopped going to school.

"Yeah, but getting yourself killed in some dusty backroad, that's where you belong?" She asked Jo and noticed I was standing by the door. "Bad time." She said, telling me to beat it.

Jo turned and saw me. "Wait. I wanna know what she thinks about this."

Ellen scoffed. "I don't care what she thinks." She said harshly and I looked at Jo questioningly, my hand on the doorknob.

Before she could usher me out again the phone rang and Jo ushered for her to answer it, obviously gesturing that she was refusing to. While her mother was distracted she grabbed a folder from the bar and shoved it into my hands.

"Three weeks ago, a young girl disappears from a Philadelphia apartment."

I looked at her and then the file, giving her this look that clearly said, 'come on, why you doing this?' She looked right back at me, basically asking for a chance and I sighed, opening the folder even though I knew Ellen would have my head for it.

"And this girl wasn't the first. Over the past eighty years, six women have vanished –- all from the same building, all young blondes. Only happens every decade or two, so cops never eyeball the pattern."

"Who put this together? Ash?" I asked.

"I did it myself." She said somewhat proudly and I nodded, a bit impressed.

"Well, I mean, I've got to admit, we've hit the road for a lot less." I said softly and I jumped as Ellen leaned over the bar counter, smacking a beer glass somewhat roughly on the surface.

"Good. If you like the case so much, you take it."

"Mom!" Jo spit out, glaring crazily.

"Joanna Beth," Ellen said evenly. "This family has lost enough. I won't lose you, too. I just won't."

I looked at Jo sympathetically, pushing my cell phone number towards her. I told her I'd call her and tell her how the case went since I was taking it as a favor. I nodded at Ellen as I left and sighed as I flipped through the folder Jo gave me. She had no idea how lucky she was to have her mom say that to her. I only wished my father had said something like that after my mom had died. Maybe if he did he'd still be alive.

o0o0o0o0

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