Chapter 6: The Kids are Alright Part 3

Oh I really should have known better. I leaned against the backdoor of the Impala as Dean went to Lisa's door and pounded. He really should have been a bit calmer then he was but I could tell he was worried. He still cared about Lisa, in a friendly way, and I'm sure he cared about that little boy she had. Ben was cute, I wasn't going to deny that but if he was fine and wasn't a changeling, we really didn't have time for this. Those kids were in real danger, who knew how long they had been where they were. It wasn't like they were staying at the Hilton Hotel in the nicest room; they were either underground or somewhere cold and dark.

Finally Lisa opened the door and started talking to Dean. I looked at Sam in the passenger, watching Dean. I breathed and looked down the street. I saw some kids playing with a ball on the sidewalk down the way. But when I looked at them, they suddenly stopped and looked back at me. Really creepy like. I decided it was then I needed to get back in the car. I pulled the door open and sat down on the leather, closing the door.

"I'm really glad we gave Riley to Bobby for this case. If one of those things tried to take her…"

"Don't dwell on it." Sam interrupted. "Point is she's safe from these creepy ass things, that's all that matters."

I nodded. "Safe for now really." I swallowed and looked up at the rearview mirror. I watched Sam frown softly; he turned in his seat and looked at me. "She won't be safe when she's back with us Sam."

"Yes she will. We'll let anything happen to her. You know that."

I sighed and I nodded. "I know, I know, I'm just being…"

"A parent?" He smiled at me.

I smiled back. "I was going to say paranoid…but yeah."

Sam smirked. "It's one in the same sometimes." He ruffled my hair and I smirked, fixing it. I looked out the window and saw Lisa slam the door closed in Dean's face. I frowned. I guess convincing Lisa to go to Six Flags with Ben hadn't gone well. Though I told him it wasn't going to be realistic.

I watched Dean walk around the back to the house and then jogged to the Impala, getting in the driver's seat. "They took Ben. He's changed."

I gasped softly. "What? Are you sure?" Poor Ben. I hoped he was okay, scratch that, I really hoped he was okay. If he wasn't…God, poor Lisa. I couldn't even imagine what she'd go through…what Dean would go through from the grief of not being able to help. I shook my head. I had to stop thinking that way; it certainly wasn't going to help anyone.

"Yeah, I'm sure. I checked his windowsill."

"Blood?" Sam asked.

Dean started the engine and pulled away from Lisa's driveway. "I don't think it is blood, and I think I know where the kids are."

Dean sped off down the street and turned left so fast that I slid across the seat. I squealed as I collided with the side of the car. "Geez, Dean, a little warning next time."

He smirked softly and parked outside an unfinished house. "Sorry…maybe you should wear that seatbelt more often."

"Right…because you two are such good role models for that." Sam and Dean glanced at each other, neither of them with seatbelts on and I smirked. "My point exactly."

Dean got out of the car and I followed him. As Sam got out of the car I noticed a red mound of dirt near the front lawn. I dipped two of my fingers in it and pulled them back out, rubbing them together.

I scoffed. "It wasn't blood. It was red dirt on the windows."

Dean nodded and checked out the half built house in front of us. Most of the frame was there and the front with the windows and doors was put together. The only thing that seemed to be missing was the ceiling of the thing; a blue tarp was covering the wood frame.

"Alright, I'll take the front, Sam and you take the back." Dean looked towards me and got a homemade flame bomb out of the trunk. You basically lit the material sticking out of the bottle and the alcohol liquid in the bottom would light up like a Christmas tree.

He handed me one. "Listen to Sam, understand?"

I rolled my eyes. He'd never change. He'd always become my father when a hunt started, when there were other people's lives, like Ben's and the other kids, involved.

"Yes dad, I understand." I wisecracked, handing the flame bomb to Sam. He smirked softly and shook his head.

Dean looked at me and smiled softly. He kissed my cheek and closed the trunk. "Don't wisecrack me…I'll punish you." He winked and Sam groaned.

"Too much information…too much imagery." I giggled and Dean ruffled my hair, pulled me close and kissed me deeply. Sam sighed and I felt him brush past us, heading towards the house. "Hello? You two we have a job to do, people to save…does this stuff mean anything to anyone?"

I smirked softly and pulled back. "Yes, yes, let's go!"

Dean pinched my ass and I jumped as we started to walk towards the house, a full grin on his face. Sam and I shook our heads almost in unison and I started to follow Sam towards the back of the house.

I turned my head as I heard a muffled whimper. I froze as saw a shadow of a man drag a struggling young woman down the street…to a bridge. It couldn't be…the same bridge right? It couldn't have been David. Where had the young girl come from? She wasn't anywhere in my dream. Or maybe I was overreacting. That that man wasn't David and that woman wasn't an innocent about to be drowned or worse.

Regardless of whether or not it was David, the girl was in trouble. The man obviously wasn't helping this young woman out. He was dragging her to the bridge while she whimpered and struggled. I couldn't just ignore this, Sam and Dean could handle the changeling.

I went to tell Sam but he was already in the house when I turned to look at him. I shook my head and turned to run down the street towards the bridge. Dean was going to be pissed Sam let me out of his sight, even though it wasn't really his fault. Dean couldn't blame Sam for me not sticking close to him throughout the hunt. He'd have to give us a break on this one; Dean would just have to get over the fact that I needed to be here. On this bridge. Regardless if my life was being threatened.

I stopped short as I got to the bridge; it was old and creaky as I carefully stepped on the wood. Screw a car driving over it, it didn't seem like it could hold the weight of ten people.

"David!"

The man stopped short and my fears were confirmed. This was the bridge. He turned to look at me, his hand was over the young woman's mouth and her eyes widened as she saw me, pleading for help. She whimpered as David jostled her closer to the edge.

"Whoa, David, stop!" I moved closer and some wood gave out under my right foot. I shifted quickly to avoid my ankle going through the hole. I stood still for a moment to observe the foundation of the bridge. It wasn't falling and breaking apart completely…yet.

As I got closer, I could see that David was visibly upset. Instead of trying to order him, I moved to comforting. "David, what happened? What's…what's wrong?"

He swallowed so thickly that I could almost hear it. "You don't…understand. I can't stop."

I looked at the girl and then David's arm around her waist. It was loosening but I couldn't pull her away yet. I just needed a little more from him.

"What do you mean I can't stop?"

He looked at me and his eyes were so cold that it looked like ice had settled in his pupils. "I just…I can't. You don't understand." I was growing frustrated but I didn't show it. "Every time I close my eyes, I feel like I'm drowning. I do drown. The dreams…I can't sleep. I can barely get any sleep."

I sympathized with him for a whole minute. I knew what it felt like to have dreams, something fabricated and harmless, to take a turn into becoming something real and hurting you to the point where you almost die. But that didn't mean you took someone else's life into your own hands.

"You can't punish these girls…for something they didn't do."

He looked down at her and then back at me. "He said…if I do this it will stop."

I frowned. "Who said David?" I stepped closer; I was close enough to the girl to take her from him. But I waited.

The sky cackled with lighting, the thunder rumbled, and a hard rain welled inside the clouds. It trickled at first, dotting my clothes like teardrops. But then harder and harder until it sounded like rock salt pellets hitting the ground. I was soaked in moments and shivering from being cold and fear.

David frowned and it looked like the saddest thing in the world and it looked like his eyes were tearing up because of the rain. "The man with the Yellow Eyes."

I sighed softly and looked at the wood beneath my feet. Even though that son of a bitch was dead he was still torturing people like Sam and me. People "chosen" to be in a psychic army. What a load of shit.

"Listen to me, the yellow eyed man is dead. I helped kill him." He looked into my eyes and they bore into me, chilling my spine. "You don't have to follow what he says anymore. He was…a liar. He did this to you…you…you're hydrokinesis."

He let the girl go then and she took off in a sprint, I barely had time to even make sure she was alright. I turned and watched her go towards the house Sam and Dean were in. She ran past it and down the street until her figure disappeared into the darkness.

Suddenly David grabbed my arms and pulled me towards him. I grunted and went to kick him but he twisted my arm and turned me about until my back was against him, arm pinned behind me.

"He didn't do anything to me." He whispered in my ear. I closed my eyes and swallowed. I should have never left Sam. "I was born…" He stopped and swallowed. "I was born…this way."

If he was just…born with the abilities, why would Yellow Eyes have anything to do with him? I went to speak but he beat me to it.

"Those dreams…he said they were messages for me. To help him…the dreams would stop if I just…I helped him."

He was so emotionally distressed, his body and mind were broken, and he was talking in numerous circles that I couldn't follow.

"What did he want you to do?"

He leaned close and placed a small kiss on my neck. "Kill. You." The thunder rumbled again across the sky.

My eyes widened and I tried pulling away, he was stronger. I would have tried stopping hard on his foot and then bringing my leg back and tripping his sorry ass, but the bridge was too fragile. If I brought him down there was a good chance the bridge would go with it.

I didn't understand. If Yellow Eyes was dead, dead for a few goddamn months now, how could David still be having dreams? Was it like an aftershock, like waves from a storm still crashing onto the beach after the storm has passed? Or was it a curse, something that couldn't be shaken or taken away. Was every child Yellow Eyes infected doomed to be cursed with horrible dreams and the power to do awful things? To go down a path…that they weren't meant to be on? Killing the demon was supposed to help people, to make things better…and it hadn't. Maybe it was better for the Winchesters and me…but I had forgotten all the other people that were in this with us. All the infected, psychic children.

I shook my head and he turned me again, his lips grazing mine. "I'm so sorry Andy," I could hear Sam and Dean call my name in the background. "I don't really have a choice." He kissed me gently, his mouth tasted like desperation. "I just…need it to stop."

My eyes glanced to the bridge and I gasped softly. Why hadn't I noticed…remembered that not all the water was coming from the sky. The water from the lake was rising up, above our heads. It looked angry and ready to swallow me whole.

He pulled back from me and the water encircled me quickly and in one fluid motion it lifted me from the bridge. I screamed I felt it jerk me to the side...but I didn't hit the water below like I was supposed to. Like I had from my dream. I did fall, however, the water wall had dissipated and I fell from the air. I grabbed the side of the bridge and my whole body jolted as my downward motion stopped. I grunted and tried to pull my weight up.

I looked up as I Sam grabbed my arms and started pulling me up. "I got you." He said, pained as he tried to pull my weight up from it hanging over the bridge.

As he pulled my arms I managed to catch a glimpse of what had happened. Dean had tackled David as the water took me into the air. So when David lost his concentration, the water started falling like gravity had intended it to. Which meant I could only follow in its direction. Dean was unleashing a series of punches across David's face as Sam managed to get my torso above the side. I used my leg and to hoist myself towards Sam just as David kicked Dean hard...from the amount of swearing I could tell it was not anywhere good.

Dean fell back on his ass and groaned, curling into himself for a moment. He tried to retaliate as quickly as he could…but who could blame him for getting a slow move on it. I heard there was nothing worse than a man getting kicked in the crotch. That was a low blow from David…but I guess rules of fairness weren't really assigned for life and death matches.

The force from Dean's fall rocked the bridge and I heard a sickening cracking noise, a noise that reminded me of an iced lake cracking when there was too much pressure on it.

Sam's eyes and mine met once just as the bridge's edge, the one I had grabbed onto to avoid falling into the river, shuttered and broke apart. The break was like one card in a house of cards falling over; everything tended to go with it.

Sam and I tried to make a run for it but there was no solid ground to move on, I felt myself fall backwards and saw Sam falling towards me. Everything was in slow motion until we hit the icy water below.

O0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

The river's current was fierce. It pulled me in every direction like a rag doll. My entire body was frozen from the moment I hit the water. I wouldn't know the difference if Sam was still holding onto me or if he wasn't; I couldn't feel my numb limbs.

I tried to get to the surface, to breathe, but I didn't know which way was up. It was pitch dark and the unbelievably bitter temperature was making it hard to move.

I felt something tug me. I couldn't distinguish if it was Sam or if it was another current. I couldn't speak and I couldn't breathe, all the air had rushed out of my lungs from the impact of the fall.

I never thought, not once in my dangerous, wacky life, that I would die from something as simple as drowning. Getting my heart ripped out by a werewolf, getting the life sucked out of me by a vampire, a changeling attacking, a windego ripping my skin apart, a vengeful spirit hitting me over the head with a heavy object or making my death just as gruesome as there's had been… were all possibilities. Drowning from falling off a bridge…had never crossed my mind. But then again, neither had dying from old age. I guess after this any death could be possible for a hunter.

I felt myself slip farther and farther into the darkness of the water, my ears were ringing and my chest hurt like rocks had been piled onto it, my throat ached with the urge to breathe and limbs stung like they had been frostbitten.

I wondered, just for a moment, if I was going to die before Dean.

Then the world was as black as the river water.

O0o0o0o0o00o0

Some sort of sound hit my ears. The sound of a muffled voice. I leaned up as water rushed up and out of my windpipe. I gasped and coughed hard, haggard breaths making their way into my lungs and past my lips again.

"Christ." Sam said, pulling me close and rubbing my back. I just collapsed against him, shaking so hard it looked like my body was having a seizure. He was shaking too. Not as hard and not as often…but he was. "I thought…fuck, I thought you drowned."

I swallowed; the ache in my throat almost awful enough to stop me from speaking. "I almost did." I opened my eyes, not even realizing they were closed. I tried to take in my surroundings as best I could. "S-ss-amm." I stuttered, my lips starting to shake. The cold had finally reached my entire body.

"Shh. It's alright," He turned his head and leaned down till his lips were near my nose. He kissed it gently. I would have made a comment about how…well fuck, I had almost drowned and he was being inappropriate. I just took it that he was relieved I was alright and let it go. I'd yell and complain and set him straight when I could feel my body again. "The current took us pretty far down the river." I felt him swallow. "I hope Dean's alright. Far as I know…that bridge took everyone into the water."

I closed my eyes again. "C-cc-ccooldd." I managed to say.

He nodded and gently leaned back. "I know, I know. I have to check you out before I lift you, I don't want to make anything worse if you broke a bone."

I just…I just sat there. I couldn't feel anything. He had to know that. And I think he did. He didn't ask me if I felt like I was hurt, he just surveyed by squeezing and touching my legs, arms, and ribs through my clothes.

"Amazingly enough, I don't think you broke anything." He lifted my shirt, I felt the fabric against my skin…but it felt like a layer of cotton was between me and the shirt. "Pretty bad bruising. But nothing is broken."

I barely nodded; I opened my eyes to look at him again and swallowed. His hair was tussled about, mud caked the side of his face and his lips had the slightest tinge of blue to them.

"You…ss-ssaaved mm-ee." I got out.

He smiled, and it was warm and genuine and everything that was Sam Winchester. Softly, like a feather hitting the ground, "Yes, I did."

I realized then…that that's all there would be after a year. Him saving me, me saving him. No third person. No Dean. After a year, there would only one person I could trust my life with. It was the same person that had saved my life from the pull of the rivers angry and cold current.

I wondered if this is how it was going to feel, the feeling of just Sam and me against the world, for the rest of my life.

O0o0o0o0o00o0o

I was going in and out. My eyes were heavy, making it hard to stay awake. My body shook in Sam's arms as his long legs walked over uneven woodlands, trying to get to the Impala. He was talking to me, but I didn't have the energy to respond to him. And even if I did, I'd sound like a stuttering fool with my teeth chattering.

"Almost there." He kept reassuring me, which made me feel like he didn't know where he was or that we weren't any closer to the car than the last time he told me.

I just nodded and tried to wiggle my fingers. I had some feeling back in them, luckily, but I still couldn't feel most of the rest of my body.

"Jesus, is she alright?"

I turned my head. "D..d..ddean."

He touched my cheek. "Hey sweetheart." Dean smiled gently. "She's freezing." That was to Sam, obviously, he wasn't looking at me anymore.

"I know." Sam gently passed me into Dean's arms. "What happened to you? You seem…well not soaking wet and cold to the bone."

I felt Dean's chin hit my head as he nodded and carried me up the semi-steep hill to the car. "That's because I didn't fall into the river. I move pretty well for someone who's been kicked in the nads."

Sam winced out of sympathy. "We'll get you an icepack back at the motel." He held his hand out. "I'll drive."

Dean just looked at him as Sam opened the back car door. "Just because your nads are fine doesn't give you permission to drive my baby."

I rolled my eyes and Sam let out a semi-irritated sigh. If I wasn't freezing, tired, or achy I would have commented on the two meanings of that "drive my baby" sentence.

"Sit in the back with your girlfriend." He snagged the keys from Dean and got in the driver's seat.

I looked up at Dean as he sat next to me and closed the door. "D-dddon't wanna ss-ssit with mmee?"

He smirked softly at my impaired speech and kissed my nose. He slid his leather jacket down his arms and set it on his lap and peeled some of my wet clothes off. When I was left in my jeans and bar, he wrapped me up in the jacket and pulled me close.

"There's no one else I'd rather sit with. " He said softly, rubbing my arms and back.

I buried my face in his neck, soaking up as much heat as I could. He shivered from the contact of my cold skin.

"D-david?" Hardly any stuttering. That was good.

Dean swallowed and I saw Sam look back at us through the rearview mirror.

"David…didn't make it."

I closed my eyes and couldn't bring myself to ask why.

O00o0o0o0o

"Dean…come on, I'm f-f-freezing." I swallowed as I sat on the closed toilet, watching him fiddle with the faucet knobs for the tub.

He looked at me. "You want to be even more f-f-freezing?" I glared at him for the fake stuttering. "Don't glare at me shivery girl. I'm trying to get the water at least lukewarm." He turned back to the tub and muttered something along the lines of, "Fucking motel piping".

I looked down at my damp body, wrapped in one of Sam's button down shirts, which Dean wasn't thrilled about. I had managed to get my hands to stop shaking when we got back to the motel room and removed the rest of my clothes in the bathroom. Dean didn't have any clean button down shirts, since it was his turn to do a laundry run and he was avoiding it until the last possible moment. Sam had given me one of his to wear until Dean got the water to a temperature he approved of.

For some reason, when he wasn't complaining about the water, he was commenting on how Sam just gave me that shirt because he wanted to picture me naked in it the next time he wore it.

With a sigh and a bar of soap hitting the back of his head, Dean dropped the topic. Thank God. Otherwise I was going to throw something heavier than soap.

"How's your…nether regions?"

Dean smirked. "Nether regions?" I shrugged. "Since when has your mouth become so polite with phrases for my crotch?"

I rolled my eyes and then shivered, pulling the shirt closer around my body. "I'm sorry my mouth doesn't resemble a gutter 24/7."

Dean turned and gave me a devilish grin. "I kind of like it when it does…huge turn on." I couldn't help but smile and shook my head.

He turned the feel the tap again. "Finally, perfect temperature."

"Of course…because I'm practically dry by now." I quipped.

"Shh." He tapped my nose playfully as he came over to stand in front of me. "You're still caked with mud. You look like you lost a fight with a chocolate monster."

I pouted. "I would rather it be chocolate than mud."

Dean smiled and licked his lower lip, he slowly pulled Sam's shirt off my body. "Covered in chocolate huh? How naughty…"

I smirked and moved to step in the tub. I sat in the porcelain basin as Dean kneeled and plugged up the drain. The tub started to fill with warm water. "What is it with you and your downstairs brain tonight?"

He shrugged and wet a washcloth. "Not my fault you're mentioning yourself covered in chocolate."

"Being aroused sounds like it could be painful in your damaged state."

His face looked like I had taken a battering ram to his car. "I do not have damaged goods, Andy!"

I laughed and then covered my mouth to stifle it. "You want me to ask Sam to help instead?"

He pouted, just slightly and goddamn it, I wanted to bite his lower lip. "Low blow."

"Just trying to help un-arouse you." I insisted as he started to wipe the mud off my arms. The clear water was already becoming the color of the river.

Dean reached for the drain plug. "Want to help with something? How bout not talking to anyone that could be a psycho killer that wants to throw you over a bridge."

I frowned as the water drained and he filled the tub back up with clean water. "That wasn't my fault." I said softly and looked down.

Dean washed my knees and my legs. He then put the cloth down and tilted my chin. "I never said it was. Okay?" I looked into his eyes and nodded. "Not everything is your fault."

I shrugged gently and pulled my chin from his hand. "Feels like that sometimes."

He smirked and shook his head. "I'm sure I've said this many, many times. You're too much like a Winchester, taking everything to the chin like that. You don't have to balance everyone's lives on your shoulders, sweetheart. Not fair to you."

Dean worked the shampoo into my hair. We didn't speak for a long time. Partially because we didn't agree. It wasn't my fault…but it was. It had to be someone's fault.

"You gonna get in?" I finally asked and he shrugged.

"If I get in, we won't get back out." He said with a smirk. I smiled softly as he rinsed my hair and drained the tub. "I'll get one tomorrow morning. Besides, the mud on Sam has to be crusted to a hard shell by now." He helped me stand and wrapped me up in a towel. "I'll get you some clothes."

He left for a moment and I got out of the tub, drying off. I heard Sam and Dean talk about some things; what case we had next, when we were heading next, random odds and ends.

"Shower is all yours." I said, sitting on the bed.

Sam groaned. "Finally. This mud is starting to become a part of me." He went into the bathroom and shut the door.

Dean chuckled, setting clothes down next to me. He slid the towel off, placing kisses over my shoulder bones.

I smiled and kissed his forehead taking over his duty and put my clothes on. I laid back on the bed, comfortable in my sweatpants and green camisole. I watched Dean take his shirt off and unbuckle his jeans.

"Oh, Bobby called. Sam said Riley is starting to get restless." He smiled and put his pants in the wash pile.

I played with the bottom of my shirt. "She misses you."

Dean glanced at me. "Us."

You. She misses you. I turned on my side and faced the headboard. I saw the walls shake from the effort of the pipes behind the plaster. Motel room pipes always had a bitching factor when it came to using too much hot water. I swallowed and looked down at the pillows. I had no problem admitting that our little girl had a fondness for her daddy. Sure, she loved me as much as a three month old could. But her capacity and understanding of love seemed to teiple in strength when she was around Dean. Hell, even when she wasn't around Dean she just…I couldn't think of a simpler term, she just wanted him. Wanted to be in his arms, hear his voice, and feel the warmth of his skin. Even if she didn't quite understand it, he calmed her. She was so much like me.

It made me wonder how it was going to be…when Dean was gone. I could picture her crying at the top of her lungs until she just fell asleep from exhaustion. Would this go on until she forgot how it felt to be close to him? Would it take days, months…years? Or maybe she'd never forget him…like I never would. Condemned to feel his touch, hear his voice, and smell his comforting cinnamon scent.

I felt the bed dip beside me and Dean's hand on my shoulder jolted me from my thoughts.

"Sorry." He said gently for scaring me and kissed the back of my shoulder.

I sighed softly and nodded. His one arm propped him up on his side by his elbow. His other arm slipped around my waist. I leaned back into his chest and he peppered kisses along my neck.

"What did you mean by 'you'?"

I swallowed and shook my head. I didn't want to talk about it. "Nothing, forget I said anything." He sighed and leaned back a little and I frowned, turning on my back to look up at him. "We gonna fight about this?" I was so tired of fighting over stupid shit sometimes. We didn't have the time to fight over stupid things anymore.

"No." But he sounded short and angry.

I rubbed my forehead. "Right. Dean what do you want me to say?"

"You think Riley loves me more than you?"

"No," I said, exasperated. His face went sour. He so didn't like my tone. "I just…" I changed the sound of my voice…I remained calm in what I was trying to say. "think that she loves us differently."

"She's three months old!"

"Dean, a three month old…can play favoritism." Alright so I didn't know what the hell I was talking about but it sure felt that way sometimes. "My mom told me I did when I was around that age. "

He rolled his eyes. "Because your mother is such a reliable source."

My mouth fell open and I felt the urge to slap him. Why did he always have to cause a fight out of nothing?

I just stared at him a moment. "What is this Dean?" He didn't answer. "Why…why do you keep…picking fights with me out of nowhere? I mean if you have some sort of goddamn bipolar disorder, we can get it checked out." I snipped.

He scoffed. "Little late to be worrying about life disorders, Andy. Seeing as how I'll be dead in a few months."

I just looked at him and didn't respond. After a long moment my eyes started to sting and fill with liquid, though I couldn't tell if I just needed to blink or if they were tears.

"I'm…"

I cut him off. "I'm sleeping next to Sam tonight…I just…I can't be near you right now."

I turned and crawled into Sam's bed, facing away from Dean as I curled into the sheets and pillow. I didn't look back at him and didn't answer Sam when he asked why I had changed beds. Dean muttered a semblance of a reply, but nothing I could make out. I looked up as Sam got in bed next to me. The tears were long gone from my face and he pulled the covers up and over my shoulder.

I swallowed as he mouthed, "Are you okay?". And with a slight head nod he felt like it was enough affirmation to mouth, "What happened?".

I shrugged gently. What could I say? That Dean was mad over nothing? That I was angry over Dean being mad over nothing? What could I say? That I wanted time apart when we barely had any time left? That I was scared…terrified that my inklings about Riley might come true? That I felt like Dean was fighting with me most of the time because it was easier than the latter. Easier than living.

My breath shuddered and Sam pulled me into his arms as Dean turned the light off. Dean's spirit was dying before his body was…and the fact that I was crying in Sam's arms while Dean was alive in the bed next to me was something I'd regret in the morning.