First: this update goes out to antariangirl93 and Wilderness_Rose - thanks so much for your encouraging words and for reading :)
Now... time to get to the chapter, which hopefully is fitting. I worked it a few different ways, and ended up with what lies beneath the line.


The bar yielded very little information in the end. Chuch and Sam had worked on finding out if the local guy who'd been murdered had been in there.

And once Manda had come in with Dean, they had worked on finding out if anyone had remembered seeing her.

It turned out that a bartender did remember seeing Manda there two nights in a row, but that was about it. Apparently she'd been alone, and might have talked to a few people, but she hadn't been seen doing anything much besides having a drink or two while she'd been here.

The only real piece of useful information was that the murdered man had turned out to be somewhat of a frequent visitor, and he'd been there on both nights as well. It was then that they knew it had been her for sure.

They decided that tomorrow they'd do some work on finding out more about him by talking to his family and friends. The staff at the bar knew him, and had told them a little, but nothing that panned out or gave a clue as to why a demon had wanted him dead.

So after the hunters had done their bit of questioning and shared what little they had learned with each other over a drink or two, Manda told Sam and Chuch what she'd told Dean outside. Now all of them knew about the weird stuff that was going on with her, and what she feared was happening.

Once Manda was done explaining everything, she looked at Sam and Chuch who sat across from her at a table. "So now that all of you know I'm the job at the moment, what do you think?" That's how she felt right then, that she was the job instead of working it because she was. As much as she hated to think it, it was the truth and it bothered the hunter in her.

"We've all been there, Manda. All of us have gotten mixed up in things that turned us into a job we've had to find a way out of," Sam sympathized with her.

"It's created a telepathic type link to you somehow," Chuch said. That much was clear, if she was hearing it. "But how and why, I haven't got a clue."

"Great, so am I sleeping next to Patricia Arquette in Medium or a not quite holy version of Stigmata tonight?" Dean turned his head to look at Manda beside him. Knowing a demon was inside her mind at times annoyed him almost as much as the influence the yellow-eyed demon had held over Sam before. He hadn't been able to stop that with Sam back then, and right now he couldn't stop whatever was going on with Manda. The protector in Dean hated that, feeling like there was nothing he could do to stop it from happening even when he wanted to.

"Dude…" Sam shook his head. Dean was just being his usual self, but he was also hiding his concern again for the female hunter who sat beside him, and the younger Winchester knew it as he looked at the older one across the table.

Manda chuckled, and knocked her knee against Dean's under the table. She knew he was joking, and while it made him sort of an ass at times, he was who he was and she wouldn't have liked him any other way. "I don't know… which one does Sam remind you of more?" She met his eye, the corners of her lips curling upwards slightly. She wasn't pushing him away again, but her normal sarcasm and strength was returning after finally breaking down and getting it out of her system.

Dean smirked because he knew Manda was switching back to the stronger version of herself again by throwing out the quip back at him so quickly. And he knew he was still staying with her back at the hotel too. He knocked his foot against hers in mild flirty return under the table. "Neither, he's Haley Joel."

Chuch sighed through a small laugh. Sometimes Dean and Manda were exhausting to be around when they got this way. And while her friend was in a situation that needed seriousness, she knew it was typical of both of them to be like this. She was thankful her friend was starting to act more like herself again though. Chuch had noticed her puffy eyes right away when she'd walked in the bar awhile ago, and knew then that Manda had finally broken down on Dean outside like she had needed to.

Sam ignored the teasing and got straight to the point. "So what's the source of the link… a demonic infection of some kind?" His mind was trying to focus on all the angles of things they knew or had dealt with before.

"My scars maybe?" Manda mumbled. "Each time I heard the whispering I couldn't make out or the three times it spoke, the scars were being phantom scratched."

"They're pretty red and raw looking, so it could be an infection of some kind, but there's not exactly a test or a pill for demonic infections is there?" Dean's voice had come out a bit harsh as he looked hard across the table at Sam. The last thing he wanted to think about was that some demon had infected the girl he cared about, but it was possible. And if that was the case, it would wish it had never come across her once he came across it.

Sam flashed his brother the 'you're being a dick' look then.

"How do we get rid of this then?" Chuch asked. It was one of the things that all of them had on their minds right then.

"Kill the demon," Dean answered without hesitating. "We find it and kill it." He let his fingers just graze the back of Manda's shoulder with the scars since he had his arm along the top of her chair. He'd done it without thinking and realized it was only to remind her she wasn't alone in this, and that he'd kill the damned thing since that's what needed to be done.

"Sure, let me call it here like E.T. phones home so you can get to it then." She raised her hand and pointed out a finger then just like the fictional creature did in the movie. "Guess that telephone doesn't work both ways," she said sarcastically. She knew that in their line of work, you had to separate yourself from the things that happened to you sometimes, and she'd had her moment of weakness outside. She hoped it was the last too, because those moments just didn't get the job done, and she needed to detach a part of herself from it to do that. Sarcasm was a great defense for helping with that, and she knew she used it well.

Chuch laughed, her friend was definitely back to normal now.

Dean chuckled at her sarcastic use of the movie reference. He knew she had recovered from the breakdown she'd had in front of him, and he wore a tiny grin right then. "Cute, Manda, real cute, but it's a demon and not frigging E.T."

Sam shook his head, and smirked with chuckle at how much Manda and Dean acted like each other at times as he looked at them. But he liked her with his brother, even if it was disturbing how similar they were sometimes.

"All kidding aside you two…" Chuch started and paused, giving both Dean and Manda a 'behave' look. "We need to figure out what it wants still by staying connected to you, and then how we can find it so we can end this."

"Ruby might be able to help us with that one, I'll call her." Sam got up and headed outside to make the call.

"Terrific," Chuch mumbled under her breath. She didn't like Ruby, they had met once, and she just didn't like her at all, and hoped she wouldn't show up soon.

Dean picked up on the sudden dislike that came off of Chuch and chuckled. "Not exactly your favourite person, is she?"

"She's not yours either, is she?" Chuch shot it back, and then laughed when he gave her the 'touché' look and nod with a smirk in return.

"I still need to go through my parents' journals," Manda said then. She'd been debating on pulling them out to get started, but wanted to wait until she was back at the hotel.

"You still think it's the same one?" Dean asked her. He wasn't sure that's what it was, but if that's what she wanted to look into, it couldn't hurt in case she was right.

"It could be toying with me. You know demons and their lies, their so-called humour, but anything's possible." She hoped it wasn't the same one because of what'd she do if it was.

"Yeah, just as bad as politicians and they all think they're comedians." Dean knew this one could just be messing with her to throw her off completely if it wasn't the same one. Although, the reason as to why wasn't clear, not that he could see anyway.

"I'll take one of those to read through tonight if you want," Chuch offered.

"It can wait until tomorrow. You've all had a longer day than I have, so just get some rest back at the hotel and we'll hit them tomorrow." Manda smiled weakly at her friend.

Dean hid his smirk. If there was no reading to do, and if she didn't want to do it herself, they would be free to spend some time together again.

"We're all used to long days," Chuch smiled back at her friend. She didn't know why Manda was blowing it off now, unless she just didn't want to deal with it once again.

Sam came back then and sat down. "Can't get a hold of her."

"Figures," Dean scoffed, and then finished his beer.

"Can we get out of here now?" Manda asked. She just wanted out of this bar, and to maybe catch some sleep after starting on one of her parents' journals. Breaking down and passing out left her feeling a little drained even though she was trying to be strong again. And if she couldn't sleep, then she figured it was time to work out things with Dean after what had happened outside.

"Sure," Dean replied, and removed his arm from the top of her chair. He pulled out her car keys and slid them across the table to Chuch. "Drive her car back to the hotel."

Chuch looked at him oddly. "Uh… all right." Then she looked at Manda with a 'what's going on?' look.

Manda looked at her friend and then flashed a glance sideways at Dean to let her know it was his doing. "Just not up for driving… thanks, Chuch."

Sam wanted to laugh since Dean had probably given her the order that she was riding with him. There was protective, and then there was Dean when he cared about someone, and he knew Manda didn't have a choice no matter how much she might have fought him on it if that's what his brother wanted. He looked at Dean and only got a 'what?' look in return.

"Let's get out of here then," Chuch said. She would welcome the time to get some rest, it had been a long day, and she'd slept very little the night before. She grabbed the keys off the table and stood up. "Been awhile since I've gotten to drive the 'Velle."

"Take care of my baby… and park her by my room please," Manda laughed.

Dean chuckled as he got up. He liked the way she loved her car as much as he loved his.

Manda grabbed her bag from the floor, tossed it over her shoulder again, stood up and just started to walk when the pain in her head started. She weakly groaned, and then stumbled back a little as her sight went blurry, and then a vision took control of her mind.

She saw herself walking out of this bar after a man and stopping him in the lot. The short conversation between them played in her head, and then she'd driven after him when he had left. She could almost feel the knife in her hand at that point for how real the vision felt.

Dean grabbed her by the arm to keep her steady since he was closest to her. "Goddamn it, not again," he gritted out lowly.

"She has to be having a vision, that's what it was like for me," Sam uttered. He remembered how his reaction had almost the same as hers was now each time a vision had hit him.

"Manda?" Dean called her sharply. Her eyes were closed, and it was clear she was in pain by the expression on her face when he looked at her.

"Get me out of here," she panicked weakly as the vision left her, but the pain stayed in her head. And then she heard the voice rattle off.

Poor guy didn't stand a chance against you anyway, but not at all while I controlled you. Will you survive or die like he did when I come for you next, Manda?

The pain went off down her back and the heat coursed through her body again. "Dean…" Manda mumbled his name barely at whisper level.

Dean felt her getting warm. "I've got you, we're getting out of here," he said quietly. He wrapped an arm around her, and started to lead her towards the door like she'd just had too much to drink. He knew she'd succumb to unconsciousness quickly so he hurried to get her out of the bar before that happened.

Chuch and Sam were right behind them, and then Chuch was in front of them opening the door so Dean could get her friend out of there easily.

How sweet, boy wonder cares… how will Dean feel when he watches you die? The voice turned into hard, cold laughter once again, and then the silence of unconsciousness took over for her as everything went black.

They had barely made it to the door when Dean felt her go limp. He leaned her against him more, and then lifted Manda up slightly so he wasn't dragging her as he took her outside.

"What is this bastard doing to her?" Chuch asked once they were all outside.

Dean had leaned her up against the wall and started trying to get Manda to come to again.

"If it keeps doing this, it's going to wear Manda down fast… it has to want or need her for something." Sam just watched his brother, who was once again trying to rouse her.

Manda felt the hand smacking her lightly, heard her name being called, and knew it was Dean. She felt fairly weak as she opened her eyes and looked at him.

She came to quicker this time and Dean was thankful for that, but this was beginning to worry the hell out of him. This was the third time today, and it always hit her without warning. "Can't resist passing out around me can you?" He went for a soft joke as he saw the way she looked at him helplessly.

Manda felt the bile rising to her throat at the vision she'd seen, but more of it was over the words the voice has spoken this time. She couldn't find a voice to answer Dean, and just broke away as she half-ran, but mostly stumbled quickly over to bushes that were a little past the bar at the edge of the lot.

Dean walked after her briskly, but stopped when he saw her drop to her knees and heard her throwing up. His jaw tightened and his eyes got hard as he watched her. This demon might be having fun with her now, but once he got his hands on it, it would never have fun again.

"Let's get her back to the hotel, and then we can start working on this," Chuch said as she walked closer to where her friend was. Seeing Manda like this wasn't normal or right as she was always pretty tough, but right now she just seemed like the complete opposite, and that bugged Chuch.

"We need to know what she saw and heard this time," Sam added as he looked around to make sure no one was hanging around watching them.

Manda stood up, wiped her mouth with the end of her sleeve, and took a deep breath but didn't turn around. "It's going to kill me." Her voice broke just a little before she regained it. "It's going to kill me like it made me kill those men." She grabbed her parents' rings around her neck, and held them tightly for the comfort they offered.

Dean gritted his teeth harder at the words. He saw the way her shoulders carried the weight of fear riddled with tension, and knew she wouldn't turn around yet when they would see how torn up she was inside over whatever the voice had said to her this time. Breaking down again wasn't an option for her, he knew that, but he also knew that sometimes she just wasn't as strong as she was supposed to be for how she'd been raised and trained to be. Neither was he at times if he had to admit it.

"Manda… what happened this time?" Chuch had asked because it needed to be. She figured Dean might have, but he was standing there tense and on alert.

"I saw it… I saw how I followed this guy out here, talked to him… and then how I followed him home." Manda saw it again in her mind as she told them, and then she could feel the stickiness of blood on her hands that wasn't actually there, and she gripped the rings a little tighter.

"What did the demon say this time?" Dean walked a little closer to her now.

Manda was silent for a minute or two as she tried to put on the best game face she could before she turned around and just looked at him. "It told me the guy didn't stand a chance against me when it controlled me, and asked if I'd live or die when it comes for me." Her voice was raw as she heard the words repeat in her head.

"So it is coming for you?" Chuch looked at her strangely. "What the hell is this thing up to?"

"It… it asked… it asked me… how you'll feel when you watch me die, Dean," Manda barely got the words out as she looked at him, and all the fear she'd been pushing down came flooding back to her eyes then.

Dean's face twitched with rage. The damn thing was messing around with her, and maybe also with him now. But if this was happening to her because of him, he had no idea what he'd do. "Damn thing is looking to get ripped apart," he grunted out angrily. Then he walked the few steps between them. He didn't care at that point that Sam and Chuch were there, he just needed to touch her and calm a little of the fear in her for now. He cupped her face with one hand to make sure she kept looking at him. "You're not going to die, Manda, but this bastard will."

She nodded as she tried to believe him, but inside Manda felt her time was running out now no matter what Dean wanted to say. In this town where she'd almost died and lost her parents before, she felt as if it would come full circle and this time around she'd only leave here one way, and it wouldn't be alive.

"We should get out of here," Chuch spoke up then as she scanned the lot herself. It was too open and even if there were four of them, only three of them were in a position to fight right now. Although she figured Dean would more than make up for it at the moment. She could see his softness towards Manda with how he'd just reached out to her, but she could also see the intense rage in him he'd use to protect her right now.

"Demon's got to be close by. We should get back to the hotel where we can keep her mostly safe for now," Sam agreed. Each time he'd had a vision when he'd had them, the yellow eyed demon had been somewhat close. He looked around again, but saw nothing unusual.

"Probably is… so let's get you out of here, Chambers." Dean rubbed her cheek with his thumb before his hand left her face. It was the best he could offer her at the moment, and whatever other comfort she might need from him would have to wait until they were alone in a little while.

Chuch headed for Manda's car. "Meet you back there soon," she called out.

Sam headed for the Impala. "Okay, Chuch."

Manda took another deep breath and started walking to Dean's car.

He was right beside her on the short walk over to the Impala. She didn't speak, but just headed for the backseat, and neither did he before he climbed into the driver's seat. But his face was grim and his eyes were hard as he met Sam's gaze from the passenger seat.

Sam knew this bothered his brother a lot, and that Dean was probably starting to think he'd caused this to happen to her somehow just by hearing her repeat the demon's words.

As Dean glanced on and off at Manda in the rear view mirror on the way back to the hotel, he saw her staring out the window as if lost in thought. She was playing tough, and kept her face hard and emotion free from the angle he could see. He wondered if she would retreat into herself now.

It was clear the girl he'd grown fairly close to in a few months was now worried she was going to die soon. He knew exactly how that felt since he'd gone through it himself, and Dean hated that this was just another way they would understand each other a little more.

It was weighing on his mind then, the words Manda had said. How this demon was going to kill her, and how it asked her how he would feel when he watched her die. And he hated to think that this was somehow his doing or some demon's twisted game to get at him by using her, but it was there in his mind as he pulled up to the hotel.

He wasn't going to watch her die though. That damned thing had to be lying, and Dean was determined to prove it by keeping her alive.

I'll feel just peachy when she watches you die you son of a bitch. The thought ran through his head as he hoped that the bastard doing this to Manda could somehow hear his thoughts right then. Completely peachy and satisfied once your evil ass is toasted and my girl is still alive. He finished the thought as he walked into her room with her to make sure everything was okay for when he left her alone to take care of a few things.

Dean thought about why he'd called her his girl so easily in his mind as he wandered around the room and looked for clues that might have been left over if the cleaning staff hadn't been thorough. He figured it was because that's how he thought of Manda when they were together or because she was seemed bound to be once this thing was over.

If this demon wanted her, it would have to go through him, and Dean wasn't about to let it take her from him. He still hadn't confessed to wanting her at his side a little more often, and that was incentive enough for him to do whatever it might take to keep her alive.

He smirked to himself as he watched Manda go about making sure the room was protected with all the usual things she used as he finished looking around. He'd come up with nothing and went to sit on the bed.

"You can go now, Dean." Manda walked back to the bed where he was sitting when she was finished doing her normal routine she did in each hotel room.

"You okay?" He looked at her and stood up. He had to ask, she'd been quiet ever since they had left the bar.

"Yeah." She looked back at him, and could tell was worried about her. "I'm okay for now, so go do what you need to."

Dean believed her. Despite everything that was happening, she seemed to be doing okay right now. "Stay in here, Manda. Sit tight for now… I'll be back in awhile." His voice was serious as he gave her the order.

She nodded, knowing it was better not to argue with him now, and she didn't want to either. "I could use a few minutes to myself, and I've got some reading to do anyway," Manda said as she reached in her bag, and pulled out one of her dad's journals she'd never been through.

"Give me the other one, I'll take it to Sam to get started on." Dean knew they had to search through them in case there was something in either one that held a lead.

Manda reached into the bag, and then handed him the other one.

Dean took the journal from her. "I'll give this to geek boy when I grab my stuff… and you just keep that fine ass of yours in this room, Chambers." He went for a little teasing to get a better read on her, and to double check that she wasn't about to get stubborn and leave.

"I'll still be here when you get your own fine ass back here, Winchester." She flashed him a smile as she took the bait into his game.

Dean gave her his best cocky grin. "I do have a fine ass."

She chuckled as she kicked off her shoes. "You do… when you aren't just being an ass that is," she teased, and yet told the truth. Not that it mattered to her, she could be bitchy just as much as he could be an ass, and she knew it.

"Right back at you, sweetheart," Dean chuckled as he teased her back. They were both difficult at times, but he knew they were alike that way, and it didn't bother him too much. She could irritate him, and he knew he did it back to her, but somehow they always got over it quickly.

"Glad we understand each other then." Manda grinned.

He laughed as he headed for the door. "We always do," he smirked as he left.

Manda was his girl; he just hadn't said it out loud yet. And maybe the timing wasn't right, but whatever happened now, Dean knew he needed to get out the words sooner or later.


So I brought back some of Manda's witty/bitchy/sarcastic side. She did finally crack last chapter, so that has to be a relief, but as you see it didn't last for long. And then she just played into the normal routine her and Dean have afterwards again.
Now, Dean gave her a moment of softness in the middle of his anger, which I found was just enough. There was no real threat lurking right then, and he saw her fear. And then later, I didn't want to make him get soft with her yet because he needs to go talk to Sam on his own... so the simple 'you okay?' had to do and seemed typical. It's not like she was giving away anything that was going through her head, and she's wearing her tough girl mask at the moment.
Writing the four of them together was hard, but hopefully I pulled it off.

To get started on the next chapter now... and perhaps bring them a little closer together given that Manda does believe time may run out for her soon enough.

Review if you wish to! I will never demand it, but if you take the time to - know it is appreciated :) And that I'm always curious to know what you guys think!