If you've been waiting - sorry it's taken so long to get up!!! But you get a long chapter, and hopefully it isn't boring.


Running into Chuch just outside of Sam's room, Dean stopped.

"How's Manda doing?" Chuch asked about her friend upon seeing Dean's grim expression that disappeared quickly. She wondered what was wrong, but knew he wasn't about to open up about it.

"She's okay." For the most part the answer wasn't a lie, but it still held one within it. And that was all Dean offered since he didn't want to talk about it. "Going out?" He asked, noticing the keys in Chuch's hand.

"Just need to clear my head for awhile," she answered. It was true, but she also knew that Dean needed awhile to talk to Sam without her around, so she had told Sam she would take off for awhile so they could talk.

"All right." He walked into the room then, ending the short exchange abruptly.

Chuch shook her head as she got in her car. Dean hadn't given her much, but she knew what she had seen on him just a minute before – hopelessness. He had let his mask slip for a moment to reveal he felt just as hopeless as she did about this situation, maybe even more so.

Sam looked at his brother as he strode in, noticing a new heaviness present in his shoulders as he sat down. "Stitches go in okay?"

"Girl's tougher than she looks. Didn't ask for any of the breaks I took or even complain once." Dean chuckled, thinking of how Manda had sat through it without saying a word about it hurting or crying out in pain.

"Maybe she's like you when it comes to admitting there's pain from a wound like that." Sam knew his brother often didn't moan about the pain involved. A knock on the head might hurt, but anything else seemed to be nothing more than a minor irritation to Dean, and he was sure Manda handled pain in the same way from what he'd seen earlier.

"Maybe we're just tougher than you, Sammy," he smirked. Dean knew he rarely made a fuss about the pain when he was hurt since Sam always had to know he was okay even when he wasn't. It was just the way he was, he just stuffed down the pain and carried on.

Sam's look was annoyed as he flipped to where Dean needed to read from in the journal. "Something else bugging you?" he asked, not sure if he would even get an answer.

There was plenty bugging him, and he knew Sam could pick up on it. Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees, Dean was silent for a moment as he thought about how much to tell his brother. "We let this demon out, Sam. It got out of the devil's gate." The words stung as he said them out loud, and the guilt rushed forth in him.

"What?" Sam looked at him surprised. "How do you know that? And why didn't Manda mention that earlier?"

Dean sighed as he looked up at Sam. "You know how she is… and it told her. I know demons lie, but everything else it has thrown at her hasn't been one so far. Trust me on that." He wished it was a lie, but it wasn't. He knew it was telling the truth; too many demons had gotten out of the gate that night.

Now what was weighing down Dean made sense to Sam. His brother felt responsible for some of this, but it just wasn't his fault. "Dean, you didn't even know her when that happened. And plenty of demons got out that night, but why did it wait so long to go after her?"

"Who knows… but I sent her running straight into it, Sam. She got those scars because of me… that was the job she threw herself into after that fight we had." He went quiet then, remembering how he'd left and ignored Manda after that until running into her again. A part of him knew it wasn't his doing and that she blamed herself, but that still didn't take away the guilt he felt now.

Sam knew Dean blamed himself for having a role in this, and he wondered why. He was certain Manda didn't hold his brother responsible for it either, but Dean was an expert in collecting guilt to hold on to when he shouldn't. "Manda rushed right into that job, she said so herself. We've taken on jobs when we shouldn't have, and that's exactly what she did then. This demon was stuck on revenge for a long time, Dean. You didn't cause it to come after her, so what's happening now isn't your fault."

Dean's look was sour. Sam just didn't seem to understand it. "I helped get her here, Sam… and this demon is making damn sure she knows it. Hell, it even asked her to thank me for it…" he stopped, unsure if he should tell his brother about what she had held back for his sake. "It wants her alone and messed up like the two times she's chased it already, and it'll keep pulling all the punches to get her that way."

"Then she doesn't go anywhere on her own… I'm sure you decided that for her by now anyway." But Sam wondered if that was all there was to it, because from the way his brother looked, there was more to the story here. "But if she's holding things back, how do you know she's told you everything?"

Dean's body tensed even more. He knew there were no more secrets. She had let it all out, because if she hadn't then he wouldn't know about the visions of him. She would have hidden those from him to spare him the pain and anger. "I just do. Manda's good at keeping people in the dark about things, but she's told me everything about this, Sammy. Every frigging thing it has said and shown her…" he trailed off harshly.

Sam looked curiously at Dean. There was something in his tone, in his tension that seemed to let out more than he wanted to. "Is there more to this? Because the link it has with her is stronger, Dean. That much is obvious here. None of the other victims had visions, they only heard the demon." He left the bait for Dean to disclose a little more, hoping he'd take it.

If he told Sam, then someone else would know what it was doing. "Her visions are about as disturbing as the ones you used to have, but if only hers were about other people instead of her or me," Dean said, wondering how much he'd regret talking about this. His eyes shifted off of Sam and focused on the wall.

"You're not about to kill her like in that one vision or are we talking about something she only told you now?" Sam figured he was something missing here. He hadn't detected she had hidden anything when she was telling them about what had happened until noticing the way Manda avoided looking at Dean. She had kept her eyes on him and Chuch, but hadn't looked at his brother at all. And now with Dean acting this way, he knew he was missing something for sure.

"This morning and this last time… it showed her visions of me doing things." Dean's tone was sharp and low. He would rather keep this to himself, but Sam already knew a bit about his time in hell, and he had to get this out. The anger and annoyance were festering still.

"What things?" Sam paused. His eyes stayed locked on his brother, and then it dawned on him. The visions probably only had to do with one thing, something Dean didn't ever want to talk about it. Sam knew then that Manda hadn't shared anything about this out of respect for his brother. "It gave her visions of you in hell?"

Dean knew Sam would figure it out quickly. "Like it was the freaking ghost of Christmas past, only mine instead of hers." His voice was raw, rough, and hard.

"So that's how you know the demon isn't lying, because it was real and you never told her about it before?" Sam had wondered if his brother had ever shared any of that with her.

"It was real all right. Damn thing showed her stuff I did once I was off the rack." Dean rubbed his hands hard into his knees, and then leaned back in the chair he was in. "I hate this son of a bitch," he grunted.

"Dean…" Sam paused, wondering how to get out anything else out of his brother. He hoped his brother had talked about it with her, but he wondered how she had reacted to learning whatever she had seen had been real. "You told her something along the lines of what you told me, didn't you? She understands right?" He was sure she did, and that she'd probably been even softer than Dean had been when dealing with her earlier or he would have been in an even worse mood than he already was.

Dean cocked his head and shot Sam a funny look. His brother had no idea just how much she did understand. "More than you know… but I've had my fill of chick moments from an actual girl, and at least I get to benefit from dealing with hers, so if you're about to spring one on me… save it, Sammy," he smirked.

"Dude… you're the one that came in here springing your chick moment on me," Sam chuckled. He knew Dean was done talking about this, and wouldn't push him for any more.

Dean had just broken down a bit, so Sam had him there. "Hardly one of those, and I just didn't want you feeling left out and brooding even more," he teased. "Now let me catch up on what you've found."

Sam rolled his eyes, then got up and handed Dean the journal. "Read it, and then we'll start figuring out how to save your girlfriend." He smirked, knowing his brother would hate the word he'd used.

Dean groaned. "Keep that up and when this is over not only will I kick your ass for using that word, but Manda will too," he said as he started reading from the journal, and barely heard Sam's snicker in return.

-

Manda was tossing and turning, the dream had a hold on her that she couldn't awaken from. But this wasn't a dream – it was the worst of her memories.

Screaming and then falling as she tried to run from her mother's lifeless body, she was crawling through the pain she was in from her own injuries to her father who was somehow still alive and coherent for the moment. Manda had pulled out her phone and called for help, knowing that they needed it now. She was busted up pretty good, but her dad was in real bad shape. The blood was gushing out of him and she knew she couldn't do much to stop it.

She tossed the phone and was telling her dad to hang on while applying pressure to the worst of his wounds the best that she could. But he was making her promise to take their rings, telling her it wasn't her fault, not to blame herself, and saying she was safe now. Then he was mumbling something about if the demon ever came back there was something she had to do, but he went silent suddenly as he slipped away from consciousness, and from her.

"Daddy, no!" Manda cried out as she bolted awake covered in a cold sweat.

Her eyes scanned around to find she wasn't trapped in the memory anymore, but alone in the hotel room instead.

She breathed a deep sigh of relief, and then buried her head in her hands. It only registered then that there was something hard in one of them.

Looking at her hand, she smiled painfully at seeing her phone which she hadn't fallen asleep with there. Dean must have slipped it in her hand before he left. She placed it on the night stand since there was no reason to call him, but he'd obviously been thinking she might have needed to.

Manda lied back down and reached for the rings around her neck. Her mind was frantically racing, wondering what her father had been trying to say, but she had no clue as to what it could have been. He'd never regained consciousness, and had died from his injuries a week later.

If only he were still alive then he'd know how to stop this and he'd tell her exactly what she should do now, but he wasn't and that was all her fault.

Groaning as she buried her face in a pillow, Manda was just too tired to keep thinking about everything. And having dreamt about the most devastating night she'd brought on herself a long time ago had only worn her down even more with the guilt and pain she could never escape.

The clock flickered in the room, but she didn't notice as she fell back asleep. And Manda never heard the quiet, dark laughter from a man with black eyes walk past her room, or how his fingers lightly scraped across the door.

-

What had found had been was more of the same, another regular Joe had died, and a retired hunter had followed him.

It was the retired hunter that'd had his scars ripped open far too deep, slashing an artery wide open in the process. He'd bled out quickly while Manda's parents had struggled to keep the demon from fleeing, but the slippery bastard had taken off again after ensuring the worst damage had been done.

Nothing new had been learned, except that it had started using a few new tricks, and was taking full advantage of them. Her parents still had no theories at that time either.

Reading the third and fourth encounters had left Dean with little hope, but his resolve to keep Manda alive was still riding strong in a contradiction.

Hadn't he been up against hopeless situations before? Ones where it seemed the odds were stacked so highly against him there was nothing else to do but work the job and wonder how in the hell he'd gotten through it later?

Manda was in a situation like that now, because from each angle Dean's mind was looking at it, she was going to die. But at least there were a few odds on his side that he could rely on.

There was the knife, Sam and his mojo, and there was the fact that there were four hunters here instead of just two. Somehow they could pull this off without killing the one that was in the middle of this, but Dean didn't know how yet.

He wished that Castiel would appear and know how to fix this, or that Ruby would show up with an answer or two. But they were wild cards. Dean knew he couldn't count on either of them unless they showed up for their own agendas, and considering the lack of anything so far, it was clear Manda's name hadn't been penciled in either one.

Closing the journal and looking up it, Dean found Chuch was back and hunched over a laptop, and Sam was just taking a break from reading the other journal. "So what do we do?"

"I wish to god I knew that answer," Chuch muttered. Every single way she had looked at this so far ended in one way – her friend wasn't making it out of this alive.

"If we don't turn up any theories, and we can't figure out how to break that link between them, then I guess we kill it." Sam looked at Dean. "And we hope that it doesn't kill her in the process, but she's probably not making it out of this."

Dean sighed. That had been his solution before, but the risk of killing her in the process wasn't one he wanted to take. "Now you want to use my idea… even if it kills her."

"She knows what could happen to her, Dean," Sam said, meeting the hard stare from his brother. "Manda knows the reality of this, and we'll do what we can, but if it kills her, don't you think she'd rather know we killed the demon too?"

"She would," Chuch added in quietly.

"We really have nothing else?" Dean looked from Chuch to Sam. There had to be something to stop this. She didn't want to die and he couldn't let her.

"Right now, no. We'll keep looking, and maybe you can check the other journals she has for something or ask her if she remembers anything else from back then." Sam saw how unacceptable his answer was to Dean as he looked at him.

"Look, how about we talk this out for now? The three of us are bound to figure something out, and if not then one of us will give Bobby everything we do have to get his input. He's cracked hard jobs before." Chuch gave them the option after sensing the tension in the room increase.

Sam thought it over quickly. "Can't hurt."

Dean was quiet and frustrated. "Fine," he said sharply, agreeing to it.

Chuch nodded, and then started to lay out what they did know.

The three hunters were combining their knowledge, but were coming up empty handed. Each of them felt like they were missing some part of the puzzle and were grasping at straws to figure it out. But the way all three of them were seeing it, the hunter they were trying to get out of this was doomed no matter what they did next.

The theories they were coming up with had no legs to stand on, and they kept returning to the one that had been Dean's first solution – to kill the demon as quickly as they could when it showed up.

-

Dean had been back in the room for a few hours now skimming through another of Manda's father's journals. He had taken it out of one of her bags, hoping an answer was in there, but there was nothing and it was beginning to feel useless.

He shut the journal, put it aside, and sank back on the bed beside her to think.

Manda was definitely in a Winchester worthy mess, and Dean was scrambling to find her a way out of it. There had to be a way, and he had to find it soon.

His mind was scouring for a way to solve this, but it still remained on the solution he'd first come up with – to kill this demon quickly when it came around. There seemed to be no other answer to the equation. Just to take the demon out and pray that it didn't take her with it.

It couldn't take her though, not now, and not from him. But lying there made Dean realize that the arrangement they'd had before had only been about keeping a distance between each other to protect themselves from something like this. It was way too late for that now. Way too late for how much had changed between them in the last few days.

Dean turned his head to look at her. It had been hours since he'd left and come back, and while he knew she'd been awake at some point because he'd noticed her phone wasn't where he'd left it, she hadn't stirred at all since he'd been back. She hadn't even moved in awhile, but just lay there sound asleep and still.

How do I do this without killing you or watching you die?
The thought plagued him as he watched her for a moment before turning his head back to stare at the ceiling. He couldn't do either, but it seemed that no matter what he might do soon, one was going to happen if not both.

Manda moved then, and absently tossed her arm over him in her sleep.

Dean sighed at how it was like an unconscious reassurance from her that it was okay. But it wasn't, because if he killed that demon and she died with it, he might as well have stabbed her instead. Her blood would still be on his hands, and the guilt and heartache to go with it would be there too.

He hoped it wouldn't end up like the vision of him killing her coldly, because when Dean got close to that demon, there would be nothing kind in him. There would only be the side that got the job done without a question – the ruthless side. He was itching to watch it die for what it had done to her, what it was still doing, what it planned on doing.

Manda jerked suddenly, pulling her arm away from him then. She gasped loud and hard as she awoke startled.

Dean turned on his side to face her, and placed a hand on her arm. All he saw was the look of relief as she gazed at him. "Bad dream?"

"Something like that," she sighed deeply. It hadn't been a bad dream. It had been the memory playing out again on a loop like it was haunting her, trying to push something forth in her mind that was beyond her. "Find anything useful yet?" She had spotted one of her dad's journals, and hoped there was something, but she knew his answer as she asked – there was nothing in them that would help her now.

Dean wished he had better news for her, but he didn't. There was no use in hiding it from her either as she still had to know anyway. "No… just a fourth victim that died from having his scars ripped open," he hesitantly answered.

"Great…" She wondered if that's what she had to look forward to. Her scars had already been ripped open, and it wouldn't take much for the demon to do it again if it wanted to.

He scanned her eyes only to see the stress, the worry, the hopelessness. "We'll find something, Manda," he said, moving his hand to her waist. "It's only a matter of time before we do."

Manda sensed the doubt in Dean as he said the words. "You know I don't want to die… but if you can't, then just make sure it's quick. Just tell me you'll end it if that's the only choice there is when this bastard comes?" Her eyes filled with tears, but she couldn't let them fall. She knew what she was asking of him, and it couldn't be any easier for him to hear than it was for her to say it, but she had to. She had to know that he wouldn't allow it to torture her anymore if there was nothing they could do to save her.

Dean's face twitched as he held in the mortified look. Did Manda realize what she was asking him to do? How much it would hurt him even if he could manage to do it? Hell, it'd almost be as bad as killing Sam for how deep his emotions for her went now. She wanted him to kill her if it came down to it, and while that tore into him in a bad way, he couldn't let her see it. He needed to her to believe that wasn't the only choice left. "Hey… you really think I'm letting it go that far?"

"Please, Dean… quit pretending there's more than a barely visible chance I'm surviving this and just tell me you'll end it if that's what needs to be done. I can't handle what it does for very long, and it'll make me hold until it's had enough of torturing me because that's what it did this last time. And we have nothing… whatever my parents had isn't in their journals." She stared at him anxiously.

It had made her hold on? Dean wondered if that had something to do with how it killed the people it linked itself to, torturing them past their point of being able to take it, and then leaving them dead when it was done. So maybe they stood a chance if they killed it quickly like he had thought. He propped himself up on an elbow and stared at her. "No, Manda, I won't, because it won't get to do that again." He felt more confident with his theory seeming to make sense now. "It might be small, but there's still a chance, so you stop pretending that dying is the only option here," Dean said roughly before pausing, catching the pleading in her eyes. "And how do you know it's not in one of them?" He hated that she seemed right though, because there'd been nothing to find yet.

"I just know… my dad… he…" she stumbled with the words and stopped as her voice broke with the pain. The memory surfaced again, and the guilt from that night stung. It always would when she let it be felt. She closed her eyes, hiding what resided in them from Dean.

Dean watched the painful look take over on her face, knowing that thinking about it hurt. The pain he had knew she had from then seemed to be increasing in her, but there was no other choice but to ask, no matter how hard it was for her now. "What about him?"

"He tried to tell me something before… before he couldn't stay conscious any longer." Manda shut her eyes tighter, holding back the tears that longed to spill out. This wasn't the time to cry, she could cry her heart out if she was still alive when it was all over. She shoved the tears back down and tried to muster up a braver, stronger front now.

It was obvious to Dean how raw her old emotional wounds were now, and how hard it was getting for her to hide them. He softly stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers. "Do you have an idea what he might have said or maybe if he mentioned something before that day?" he asked softly.

"No, all I know is that he said was there was something I had to do if it came back, but he didn't get to tell me what that was," she paused, and opened her eyes. "I wish I knew…"

It was obvious her father had known something, and Dean hoped to hell and back that it was in the journal somewhere, but probably being like his dad, it would be one of those things he'd kept to himself. He'd already noticed the similarities upon going over her dad's journals, and how they resembled his dad's one in a creepy way at times.

But he knew Manda was beating herself up to figure it out now and that the more she thought about, the more likely it was she'd only end up getting pissed off from frustration. "How about getting distracted for a little?" he asked, changing the subject.

"I could do with getting out of this room for awhile." Manda sat up. It was true, but there was something she wanted to do, somewhere she needed to go now.

Dean scowl was small. He didn't want to take her anywhere right now. "Not what I had in mind… but are you sure you're up for going anywhere?"

Manda stood up, stretched carefully since her back was throbbing, and winced at the pulling from the stitches in her back. "Yeah."

He saw the wince and knew her back had to be hurting her, but she wasn't complaining about it. "Want to grab a drink, get something to eat?"

She turned, looked at Dean. He wasn't going to be pleased when she told him what she had in mind. "No… and you're not going to like where I want to go," Manda answered.

"Where?" It took a split second for Dean to work it out. Then his brows furrowed, his jaw tightened, and he glared at her. He knew exactly where she wanted to go and nothing good could come of it. "Damn right I don't like it, Manda," he said harsh and loud. "No freakin' way. You can just sit your ass back down if that's where you think we're going now."

"You either come with me or I find a way to slip out of here and go anyway." Manda posed the choices at him in a hard tone and with a look to match it. "I don't want to go by myself, but I will if I have to, Dean." Her stubborn streak was kicking in as she turned away again and dug out a few pills that would dull a bit of her pain. She swallowed them with a sip of bottled water, and went to dig out a few weapons, knowing he'd go with her.

Dean stood up, walked over to her, and grabbed her by a wrist. He turned her to face him. "You're sure about this?" He hated the idea of her going there, but there was no way he could let her go on there alone, or change her mind. She had that just try to stop me look about her now, and he knew she'd fight him with all her strength if he tried to, which made her a pain in his ass right now. This was the last thing he needed – her defiance and stubbornness coming out against him when all he was trying to do was protect her. Why couldn't she just let him do that when most of her actions showed him that's exactly what she wanted?

"Believe me, I like it even less than you do," she paused, looking at him. "But I need to go to the spot where I got my parents killed." The need to go there was strong, and come hell or high water, Manda was going there tonight.

"Why?" He wondered why she was set on going there when he didn't see anything but more pain for her resulting from it, and how it would be a completely perfect place for the demon to ambush her.

She stared at him, the resolve to get there one way or another wasn't one she was going to question. "I was dreaming about that night… and maybe going there will make me remember something I've blocked out. What else have I got to lose at this point?" she paused. "And if this wasn't me, I know I'd take the person this was happening to there, wouldn't you?"

"I would, but it is you." Shaking his head and letting go of her, Dean grimaced. "You're sure that's all you want to go there for? That this demon isn't leading you there so you'll walk straight into a trap? 'Cause with how the damn thing's been screwing with you, it would make sense." He stared in her eyes, needing to know that wasn't what this was, because if it was then there was absolutely no way she was leaving this room tonight.

"It's not, but if it is then it's a good thing you're going with me." Manda finished arming herself then, grabbing her holy water flask as the last item she needed. "Bastard's going to come around no matter where I go, and you can't keep me hiding in this room forever, Dean. But if there's anything I've forgotten or have a hope in remembering what my dad was trying to tell me, then being in that place will bring it to the surface."

"Manda…" he groaned. He had a bad feeling about this, but she was right. Damn stubborn and difficult, but right. "If anything feels wrong there, we're leaving. No if or but or trying to ditch me. I won't hesitate to cold cock you if that's what it takes to get you out of there. You either stick with me or you just stick to this room."

"I'm sticking with you. And sorry I'm being such a pain in the ass right now, Winchester." She smirked.

"You're a major pain in the ass sometimes, Chambers. But there's one thing I need to check before we go." He needed to see that she was fit to fight, because if she wasn't then they weren't going anywhere until tomorrow.

"What's that?" Manda asked curiously.

Dean grinned as he made a fast move against her and found she was ready for it. The rest had done her some good, and while she wasn't as sharp as he would have liked right now, it would do. "Good… just needed to make sure you won't rely on me to do all the fighting if we get ambushed."

Punching him a bit hard instead of playfully in the arm, Manda smirked. "I'm relying on you to keep my ass safe, Dean."

Dean chuckled as he rubbed his arm just for the dramatic effect. "Guess I'll just have to keep it in sight at all times then."

"Don't you always?" she laughed. "Ready to go?"

Putting on his jacket and making sure he had the knife, Dean nodded. "You're certain you can handle going there? That you need to do this?" He had to make sure, because she had been through enough today without returning to a place that was bound to bring out bad emotions.

"I appreciate your concern, baby. It's sweet. And I'm sure… besides, what can go wrong when I've got the notorious Dean Winchester at my side and looking after me?" She smirked confidently at him before heading for the door.

"First mistake… you asked that question," he teased, following her out the door. But things usually went wrong for him, and he was learning it wasn't much different for her.

Manda stopped in front of him, turned, grabbed a hold of his open jacket and pulled him to her. "Regardless of what happens, thanks for everything, Dean." She kissed him hard and deep then, like it was the last time she ever would, because for all she knew it could be. She wished it wasn't, but there was that chance it was. "But if it goes wrong and I'm done for, just get the hell out of there," she whispered, hugging him tightly.

Dean wondered if she had the same bad feeling he did about this. "Nothing's happening, but if it does, don't worry about me… just fight like hell, babe," he said in a low tone, and held her a little tighter than he normally did.

"I love you," she said softly, allowing the emotion to fill her voice now instead of blurting it out like she had the first time. She wanted him to hear it the way it was meant to be said just once, just in case.

He knew he should say it back. She deserved to hear it at least once, and when this was over, Dean decided he'd find a way to get out the words. Letting her go and cupping her chin in one hand, he smirked. "Save that girl moment for later, and tell me then, better yet, show me."

Manda could see the unspoken words in his eyes. His love for her was evident for a second. He couldn't say it, but it was there, and while a part of her wished he'd say the words just once, she wouldn't push for it. Seeing it was enough for her. "I'll do both later." She grinned for his sake before they both went to get in the Impala.

Dean called Sam, wanting him to come with them, but discovered he had gone out with Chuch. He knew waiting for them would be the safer bet, but Manda was ready to go now.

Things seemed to be going wrong already, but Dean shoved down his worry and smirked awkwardly at his girl who had to be filled with same uneasiness he was.

Their eyes met to release and reflect a shared thought as they left hotel's parking lot. Please don't let this be a mistake…


Many thanks to the new readers who have commented/added the story to their favourites, and to the regulars that have been reading it from the start! :)
I had lots of trouble coming up with this chapter, and a stressful situation that popped up didn't help. But eventually it got done. Hope you've enjoyed it.
We had a brotherly moment to get through (hope that was just right), a demon lurking just outside, a bit of a hard question to get out (Manda basically asking Dean to kill her couldn't be easy for either of them), and now they're about to go somewhere bad... If you guessed there's trouble coming up - you're right. Now to get that going, and to decide the fate of Manda... Can she be saved or is Dean going to watch her die?
Comment if you wish! Always curious to know what the readers think :) Thanks for reading this increasingly long story (and lengthy chapter) so far! :)
Will try to get the next chapter up within 2 weeks, but no promises. I've been mulling it over since beginning to write this one - and now that I'm at this point - I'm stuck and in for some headaches to pull this off. Maybe the idea is more elaborate than my imagination/writing abilities at this point...