Winchester and Cain

Chapter – 18 Part 2

Author's Note: Part 2 of Something Wicked is here!

"You're hiding something from me." Dean said from behind me.

I stiffened and turned to him, "What?"

"I don't know what it is... but you've been lying to me – and Sam's in on it too, I know he is. Steph, you can tell me anything. You know that, right?"

My eyes narrowed a fraction as I forced a smile on my face, "Dean, I'm fine." I insisted.

The older Winchester arched an eyebrow, "You really expect me to believe that?"

I refused my smile to waver as I stepped towards him slowly, deliberately, "Yes, I do. Because we trust eachother, Dean..." I tilted my head and stroked his cheek delicately, "You do trust me, don't you?"

I gasped and lifted my head up from the desk I'd been resting on, after realising what had happened, I sighed and hid my face in my hands, "Oh fuck!" I whispered into my palms.

"Hey, you're awake." I lifted my head up to see Sam take his seat next to me, we were in the library, and Sam had collected all manners of books and printed sheets of paper and strewn them in front of us.

"Why'd you let me fall asleep?" I groaned.

Sam looked at me and scoffed, "Is that a joke? Steph you look exhausted."

"I'm fine." I sighed exasperatedly, "You and Dean – both of you need to leave me be, let me handle it, ok? I'm not some fragile girl that needs to be coddled."

"...So you gonna tell me what you've been dreaming about lately?" Sam asked after a pause.

I bit the inside of my cheek as I stared at the younger Winchester, mulling over his question, "At first, I thought they were flashbacks."

"Huh?"

"Flashbacks," I repeated, "Of when I was her, Sam." I gave him a look and silently braced myself, gauging his reaction. But Sam's expression remained unreadable as he stared at me, "Since that night, I've been dreaming of the moment Mordechai stabbed me," My hand instinctively went to my chest as I remembered it, "I've been dreaming about when Darquesse escaped that house, and..." I dropped my gaze from Sam and stared at my hands in my lap.

"You've been dreaming about what we did." Sam finished for me.

I winced a little, "Yeah."

"So... flashbacks?" Sam asked.

I shrugged, "I figured they were, now I'm not so sure."

"What do you mean?"

I thought for a moment, then scoffed and shook my head, "No. No way am I sitting here whining about something so - so trivial."

The younger Winchester put his hand on mine, his warm palm gently brushing against the top of my hand before I let our fingers intertwine. I froze and looked up at him, Sam's brown eyes stared into mine as he tried to peer behind the wall I had.

When all these feelings began coming to life within me I dropped my stare with Sam and looked at our hands together, on one side it felt forbidden and wrong, but on another it felt so right. Sam opened his mouth to reply, but he was interrupted by his phone buzzing loudly on the table, with a sigh Sam took his hand off of mine and answered it, "Hello?" He said, keeping his eyes on me. "Hey Dean, how's the kid?" When he said who it was I retracted my hand from Sam's and looked away. "Steph and I are at the library, we've been trying to find out as much as we can about the Shtriga," Sam's lie came so effortlessly easy for him, but it didn't make me feel any easier, "Well, bad news actually, you know that hunt Dad did in Fort Douglas with you way back? Yeah, it's the same deal. Before that there was, ah," Sam scrambled around with the papers on the table until he found the one he was looking for, "Ogdenville, before that North Haverbrook and Brockway… every fifteen to twenty years it hits a new town. Dean, I think this thing is just getting started in Fitzburgh and in all these other places it goes on for months. Dozens of kids die before the Shtriga finally moves on, the kids just sorta… languish in comas before they die." I pulled a face as Sam finished reading, in the brief silence I could hear the sound of Dean's voice through the speaker, but I couldn't make out what he was saying. Instead Sam started shuffling through the papers in front of him, "Ah, I don't know. The earliest mention I could find is this place called Black River Falls dating back to the 1890s. Talk about a horror show..." Sam paused as he picked up a page with a grainy black and white photo on it, "Whoa." He muttered. I frowned and wheeled my chair over to him, stopping when my chair was up against his and our legs were touching, I squinted at the photo, trying to see what he was looking at, then it hit me. "Dean, we're looking at a photo right now of a bunch of doctors standing around a kid's bed. One of them is Heidecker. And this picture was taken in 1893." I narrowed my eyes as I looked at the sickly child in the photo and then Heidecker, next to me Sam was nodding his head as if Dean was able to see, "Yeah, absolutely sure Dean. Dean?" He lifted the phone away with a sigh, "He hung up on me."

T

"You know we should've though of this before, right?" I said as soon as Dean walked through the motel door, "A doctor's a perfect disguise, you're trusted and you can control the whole thing."

Dean nodded as he threw down his jacket but didn't sit, instead he paced agitatedly, "That son of a bitch."

"I'm surprised you didn't draw on him right there." Sam arched an eyebrow at his brother from on the sofa next to me.

"Yeah well, first of all, I'm not going to open fire in a freakin' paediatrics ward." Dean shrugged.

I did a little sideways smirk, "Always a good call."

"Second of all," Dean continued, "It wouldn't have done any good, because the bastard's bullet proof unless he's chowing down on something," He said matter-of-factly, "And third, I wasn't packing," He admitted, looking down at his jacket, "Which is probably a really good thing, 'cause I probably would have just burned a clip in him on principle alone."

Sam chuckled, "You're getting wise in your old age, Dean."

"Damn right," Dean nodded fiercely, putting a smile on my face, "'Cause now I knew how we're going to get him."

I tilted my head in interest, "How do you mean?"

"The Shtriga. It works through siblings, right?" Dean prompted, taking charge.

"Right."

"Well, last night..." The elder Winchester trailed off and raised his eyebrows at Sam and I.

"It went after Asher." I finished.

"So I'm thinking tonight it's probably gonna come after Micheal." Dean shrugged.

Sam nodded, "Well, we gotta get him out of here." He stood up and went to pass Dean, but his brother pushed against his chest.

"No. No, no, no, that would blow the whole deal." Dean shook his head.

"What?" Sam frowned.

"Yeah." Dean glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes, trying to figure out what he was getting at, then it clicked.

"You want to use the kid as bait." I realised, running a hand through my hair.

Sam gave his brother a look, "Are you insane? No! Forget it, Dean. That's so far out of the question."

"It's not," Dean insisted seriously, "Guys, it's the only way. If this thing disappears it could be years before we get another chance."

I stood up from my seat, "Dean, Micheal's just a boy," I chewed my lip nervously, "This doesn't exactly sound like a watertight plan."

Dean shook his head, "Dad did not send me here to walk away."

I scoffed, "Send you here?" I repeated, "He didn't send you here – he sent us here. We're a team, remember, princess?" I drawled.

Dean sighed and rubbed his left eye, "You don't get it. This isn't about you or Sam. I'm the one who screwed up, alright? It's my fault, and there's no telling how many kids have gotten hurt because of me." He admitted in a stressed tone.

Sam and I glanced at eachother in confusion, "What are you saying, Dean? How is it your fault?" Sam asked.

There was a long, uncomfortable silence.

The younger Winchester heaved a sigh, "Dean. You've been hiding something from the get-go. Since when does Dad bail on a hunt? Since when does he let something get away? Talk to us. Tell us what's going on."

Dean walked over to the sofa and sat down, I sat next to him and Sam pulled up a chair, "Fort Douglas, Wisconsin. It was our third night in this crap room and I was climbing the walls, man. I had to get some air. I went out for a couple of hours, when I got back it was late, you were asleep," A frown creased his forehead as he remembered, "There was this strange kinda glow coming from your room, Sam. And I – I got the rifle like Dad had told me and I went in to kill it… But God help me Sam, I couldn't do it, even with it leaning over you like that." Dean took a deep breath, "That's when Dad showed up, he just grabbed us and bolted. Dropped us off at Pastor Jim's about three hours away, but by the time he got back to Fort Douglas the Shtriga had disappeared, it was just gone. Never resurfaced until now," Dean ran a hand through his hair and I squeezed his other one comfortingly, "You know, Dad never spoke about it again – I didn't ask. But he, ah," He paused and took a deep breath, "He looked at me different, you know? Which was worse. Not that I blame him. He gave me an order and I didn't listen, I almost got you killed, Sammy."

Sam shook his head, "You were just a kid."

Dean stood up from the sofa, as if Sam had shocked him, "Don't. Dad knew this was unfinished business for me. He sent me here to finish it."

"But Dean," I hesitated, torn a little from disagreeing with him, "It's just, using Micheal, I don't know. I mean, how about I hide under the covers, be the bait." I offered.

Dean shook his head, "It won't work. It's gotta be close enough to feed – it'll see you and figure it out. Believe me, Steph, I don't like it. But it's gotta be the kid."

T

With heavy hearts, the three of us trudged downstairs to where Michael was working obediently at the desk. He looked up at us from behind his mop of hair as we approached, "Can I help you guys at all?" He asked as we stopped in front of him.

Sam and I glanced at Dean, who cleared his throat awkwardly before he started, "You ever heard of a Shtriga? It's – it's a sort of, ah, monster…" He trailed off and glanced at us uneasily, whilst the tough young boy arched a suspicious eyebrow at us, "You might've heard of it – a cloaked figure, kinda cold? Yeah, they, er, they sneak in and kinda suck the life out of you, leaving this empty shell behind until you die." Dean gave a friendly smile, but Michael's mouth remained in a straight line, I glanced down at his hand and saw it was creeping slowly towards the phone that was kept on the desk, meaning his mother was still at the hospital with her youngest son.

"Right." The boy responded, keeping his eyes locked on Dean.

"Yeah, so," Dean fumbled for the right words, "The thing is, we know where this monster's gonna be tonight, we just need a little, um, bait."

There was a moment's pause as Dean's suggestion sunk in. Then the boy's eyes widened and he snatched the phone off of the desk and held it up threateningly, "You're all crazy! Just go away or I'm calling the cops." He shouted. I winced at the volume of his tone and glanced up at the ceiling, hoping there was no one upstairs that could hear that.

I bet you someone did. Hey, if you step aside for a moment I'll just take the wheel and go take care of it… Bet I could kill this Shtriga in five seconds.

I winced, "No thanks." Everyone turned to me and I forced a smile to show I wasn't crazy, "Sorry, I had, ah, something on my mind. Go on." I cleared my throat and looked away, waiting for them to resume.

Dean turned back to Michael but Sam was looking at me intently, "Steph can I talk to you upstairs for a moment?" He cleared his throat, taking hold of my hand and pulling me out of the lobby and up the stairs, once we'd reached our room and shut the door he bored his eyes onto me.

I ran a hand through my hair, feeling a little uncomfortable under his gaze, "What?"

"What do you think? I remember what Meg said, Steph. About her knowing about Darquesse. How you're barely holding on." Sam's big brown eyes were filled with concern.

I blinked once, letting Sam's words sink in for a moment, "Sam, I'm fine, ok?" I rolled my eyes and went to brush past him, but he grabbed my hand and pulled me back, "Sam!" I protested, "Let go of me." I glared daggers at him as I tried to wrench myself away from his iron grip.

"Stop saying that then!" He snapped, pulling me away from the window of the door so Dean couldn't see us.

I finally freed myself from his grip with an irritated scoff, "Saying what?"

"Insisting you're fine all the time. You're not and I don't like it. Dean's occupied at the moment and he can't see it, or maybe he doesn't want to. But I can. Steph, please..." Sam trailed off and I stared up at him, my retort dying on my tongue as his hands rested on my shoulders, "Just slow down a little, let me help you."

You don't need his help, you've got me

I sighed deeply, trying to ignore his hands, "Sam how can you help me? When Darquesse becomes me, she has no care for you or Dean. Trust me," I looked away, "She'll kill you both, I know it." I muttered.

No I wouldn't… Well, at least not immediately

"No she won't," Sam disagreed with a shake of his head, "She's you, basically, Steph. A little darker, maybe. More twisted, sure… but it's still you," Sam's hands moved down and rested on my waist, "And I know you wouldn't hurt us, ok? I trust you, Steph… and I-" Sam's dark eyes locked onto mine and he opened his mouth, but I shook my head frantically.

"No, Sam, don't, just stop right there." I protested.

"I-."

"Don't say it, please." I hid my face in my hands.

"Stop it," Sam pulled my hands away from my face gently and his thumb stroked my cheek, "I think I love you, Steph." He said.

My legs were shaking. My head felt weird and my arms were weightless.

"Sam..." I bit my lip, "You can't, ok?"

Oh, he so can, I'm getting bored of you and Dean anyway

"But I do, Steph." Sam insisted.

"I can't, I can't do that to Dean."

You did it to Fletcher

"But you haven't denied it," Sam raised an eyebrow as he studied me, "You feel something for me. I can tell."

He's onto you, Val, better back up before he figures out what you daydream doing with him...

"But it's wrong." I insisted hopelessly, "Sam I can't keep cheating on your brother, alright?"

Sam pinched the bridge of his nose, "He's cheated on you." He blurted, almost angrily, then his eyes widened as his words left his mouth.

The exclamation hit me like a powerful, painful fist.

"What?" I managed after a long pause, fighting to keep a remotely calm expression on my face whilst a stormy ocean hurled inside of me.

Sam stared at me for a moment, then he reached out to my face with a sigh. I didn't move, didn't even breathe as his warm fingers brushed against my cheek for a second until he pulled them away, his fingertips wet and shining, "Don't cry Steph, please." He begged in a soft voice.

Ugh, we can't be that girl who cries. Get a hold of yourself.

"I'm not crying." I said in a shaky voice, I turned my back on him and faced the wall, vaguely aware of my arms hugging myself as I tried to keep myself together under the onslaught of emotion within me.

"I'm sorry, Steph, I-"

"Who was it?" I cut him off sharply, turning back to him with a newfound strength.

Sam held my steely gaze for several seconds before he crumpled, "It was with Cassie." He muttered.

I could've probably guessed that. I knew she was a slut.

"Cassie?" I repeated, making sure I had the bitch's name right, then suddenly the whole situation sounded almost comical, a laugh bubbled up from my throat that I didn't attempt to contain, "No, right. Of course he had sex with Cassie, I mean, why wouldn't he have sex with Cassie?" I spread my arms wide in emphasis, a lamp shot off the coffee table and smashed into the wall, a chair flew into the kitchen counter and snapped apart on impact.

You want to make an impact? Let me step in, just for a few moments, I can give Cassie a visit and be back here in no time. We'll make a weekend of it.

"Steph, please-."

"No," I shook my head, way too far from the point of being able to be calmed down rationally, "No way. How long have you known about this, Sam?" I demanded.

Probably ages

"The younger Winchester stared at me for a long, drawn out moment before shrugging simply, "What does it matter, Steph?" He asked.

My eyes narrowed, "'What does it matter?', "I repeated in a slow, deliberate tone, "What does it matter? Sam, it matters to everything! Dean went behind my back, he made me look like a fool and you – you knew and didn't tell me!" Some hair fell in front of my face and I angrily brushed it away with a shaking hand, as I did so a cup on the counter flew into the wall and smashed.

"Steph, come on, that's enough. Stop it!" Sam ordered, trying desperately to control the situation.

I scoffed, "Why should I? Dean didn't stop from sleeping with Cassie. You didn't stop and tell me. Why do I have to stop?" I glanced down at my hands, they were still shaking. As I watched them some plates on the dinner table shot towards us, Sam moved out of the way whilst they smashed before my feet.

That's it. Now you're getting it, if you want to see how you really break a room, just say the magic word.

Sheer power thrashed and coiled within me, I didn't even feel the need to breathe, strong arms pinned my own behind my back, and I started struggling instantly, "Let go of me, Sam." I insisted with a warning tone.

"No."

I hissed in annoyance and tried to thrown him off, but credit's where it's due when it comes to Sam's strength. "Sam get off me or I start screaming."

Want me to get us out of this?

"Not until you calm down." Sam replied simply.

"How the fuck do you expect me to calm down?" I snapped.

"Like this." Sam's warm breath was suddenly in my ear as he began kissing my neck, I stopped struggling and remembered how to breathe as he continued, when he found my sweet spot he nipped it lightly and I shivered into him, my anger beginning to morph into something much more reckless. After a few more seconds Sam let go of my arms and spun me to face him, where my lips met with his.

Well, there are worse ways I suppose you could've handled the situation…

I ignored the drawling commentary with a newfound ignorant bliss, and after a few more agonizing seconds Sam picked me up so I could wrap my legs around his waist, then he carried me off into his room.

T

I jumped out of the shower and towelled myself off quickly and thoroughly, Sam was still asleep and I heard Dean come in when I was in the shower, but I'd locked the door and I wasn't going to open it up for him anytime soon. I sat on the toilet seat and pulled one of my legs up to rest my chin against my knee, beginning to feel the damming pool of regret churn within me. "What have I done?" I whispered to myself, the words barely loud enough to be heard. I wasn't even in the favourable position of blaming my dark side, because she wasn't in control when I kissed Sam the second time around… or the third, or the fourth…

She wasn't in control when Sam laid me carefully down on that bed and -

I stood up quickly and shivered in response, I wasn't regretting the sex, it was good sex. Sam had been warm, and gentle and so, so

I stopped again.

Still feeling dirty, are we?

I ignored the little jibe from my head and instead turned to the bathroom mirror, I tilted my head as I looked at myself, the tall, slim and toned girl stared back at me with pretty dark eyes and she smiled for a few seconds before it dropped. I wasn't so sure I wanted to see that smile ever again. I didn't think I could lie to Dean much longer, either.

He'd know. The next time he looked at me he'd know, he was that kind of guy. I bit my lip – I could do this, I'd lied to so many before, why was Dean any different?

Besides, he did lie to you about Cassie, didn't he?

I took a deep breath and looked at the girl in the mirror one last time before I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around myself. "You ask too many questions." I replied to the empty room before I unlocked the door and stepped out into the cool living room/dining room/ kitchen of the motel, the cold air rushing onto my skin, warm from the hot shower and temperature of the bathroom.

I'd accidentally left the bedroom door to the younger Winc

n hester's room ajar on my quick escape to the bathroom, I could see that Sam was still asleep on his bed, the sheets covering up his bare body so Dean wouldn't have known what I'd done with his brother. I'd had the sense to grab my clothes and innocently fold them up on the coffee table beside the radiator – to look like I was toasting them up before I put them on again.

Well, it beats Dean finding your underwear in his brother's bed, doesn't it?

Dean himself was in the dining room area of the room, he was sat at the kitchen table with his duffel bag on the chair beside him, some stuff was laid out before him. As I neared him I recognised the video camera from when we'd used it back in Toledo, Ohio on the Bloody Mary case, with it was a much more professional looking security camera, Dean was tinkering around with it, probably trying to figure out how to work it, rather than leave the job up to his little brother.

Ah Dean, always looking out for his little brother…

I rolled my eyes at the comment as I crept up behind Dean and slowly let my arms hand loosely around his neck, my hands resting on his upper chest I kissed him delicately. "Hey Steph." Dean greeted after we parted.

I smiled warmly, trying not to focus on the guilt and regret battling within me, "Heya."

"What's with the 7pm shower?" He asked, his voice slightly teasing.

I tensed a little, "Oh, I felt a little gross and thought a shower might make time pass a little quicker, Sam went and took a nap, so there wasn't much happening here whilst you were downstairs talking to Michael." I sold the lie in a slightly strained natural voice, my eyes prickling a little as I finished the explanation.

Dean stood up from his seat and shot me one of his more irresistible grins, "I was just teasing," He said, "No need to look so upset." His hands found my waist and he slowly coaxed me to let the towel fall from my shoulders, "I like you like this, all fresh and nice smelling and stuff."

I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, and the fact that I'm naked right now has nothing to do with that?"

Dean shrugged, "Perks."

He caught me for another kiss, but as he deepened it I suddenly thought about Cassie, and her and Dean doing it on her plush carpet where we all had tea and spoke to her Mother… I suddenly pulled away and tensed up, Dean tilted his head and frowned at me, partly in concern, partly in confusion. "Steph, is something wrong?"

I shook my head, "No, no everything's fine, it's just a little cold in here, you know?" I replied quickly, tugging the towel back over myself.

Dean's eyes squinted a fraction , but it was enough, "Well, ok..." He said, rubbing my right arm and giving me a smile.

I cleared my throat forcefully, "So what's with the camera?" I asked, indicating to the device Dean had been playing around with.

"Oh, er, Michael's agreed to go along with our little scheme so I figured we get the kid a little comfort with a security camera, just in case we don't know when to come in before the monster takes the bait." The older Winchester answered, flicking on the camera to show me.

I nodded, "Oh right, that's a good tactic." I offered a half smile as Dean shut off the camera and set it back down on the table.

The sound of a door creaking slightly made us turn, and we were met with a very sheepish looking Sam, a sheet wrapped around his torso and his hair wild and tousled.

"Well well," Dean smirked at his brother in the doorway, "Are you not sleeping enough, Sam, or did you just feel like a little nap?"

Sam idly scratched the back of his head and shrugged, "I dunno, uh, just felt like I needed to take a little break for a few hours, you know?"

Dean paused for a moment, "You're one weird, nerdy dude, Sam." He said eventually.

The younger Winchester laughed and looked down at his bare feet, "Yeah… What's with the camera?" He asked, frowning at the device on the table.

Dean picked it up and tossed it to him lazily, it sailed across the room and found itself in one of Sam's huge, spade-like hands. "I was thinking of setting it up so we have an extra pair of eyes for the kid before the monster comes in for his fix."

Sam nodded as he looked down at the camera in his hand, "Right, right, it's a good plan. I'll go get some clothes on and, uh, get my computer to get a security feed going." He jerked his thumb back to his bedroom awkwardly.

I forced an eyeroll, "You do that, Sam. Me and Dean are gonna go set up the bait room and get some more ammo."

The younger Winchester caught my eyes just for a fleeting moment – a mere second where everything Sam and I did together in that room just a mere hour ago came rushing up to the surface… and then Sam shut the door and the memory dispelled.

I turned back to Dean and squeezed his hand, "I'll go put some clothes on, and then we'll go set up that room."

T

I stood behind Dean and chewed my lip anxiously as the older Winchester finally switched on the video camera, he turned back to me and raised his eyebrows in a smug, cocky smirk as the camera beeped in confirmation of working. I rolled my eyes at him and we both peered into the lens of the device, the lens showed us our darkened reflections, but I knew there was someone looking back at us; Sam, in the room next door, was sat at his laptop watching the live feed with no issues. "Are we good, Sam?" Dean called to his brother, knowing he could hear.

"A hair to the right," Sam's muffled reply drifted to us, I reached out with a poised, fluid movement and adjusted the camera just a few millimetres to Sam's right, "There, you got it."

Just as I flicked the camera to night vision mode the door swung open and Michael walked in, "So what do I do?" He asked as he sat down onto the bed.

Dean stood up and crossed the room to sit next to him, "All you need to do is stay under the covers." He explained simply, his tone friendly.

Michael nodded slowly, "And if it shows up?"

"We'll all be right in the next room," I tried assuring the boy, "We'll come in with guns, so as soon as we do, all you have to do is roll off the bed and get under it as fast as you can."

The kid didn't look too convinced, "But what if you shoot me?"

Despite the situation, and the dangerous plan, Dean cracked a small smile, "We won't shoot you. We're good shots. And we're not gonna open fire until you're in the clear, ok?"

Michael took a small breath, and he nodded tentatively, so I lowered down until I was eye-level with him, "Have you heard a gunshot before, Michael?" I asked.

"Like in the movies?"

I laughed lightly, "I'm afraid it's gonna be a lot louder than in the movies. So I want you to stay under the bed and cover your ears. Do not come out until we say so, yeah?" I looked at him seriously.

Michael blinked at me twice, "Uh-uh." He agreed, his voice a sort of squeaking whimper.

"Hey, are you sure you want to do this?" Dean frowned at him. After Michael didn't answer, the older Winchester ran a hand through his hair, giving me the only sign that he was stressing out about the boy's safety, "You don't have to, it's ok. I won't be mad or anything."

Finally, Michael gave us a shaky grin, "No I'm ok," He said, "Just don't shoot me."

Dean returned the grin, but it didn't meet his eyes, "We're not going to let anything happen to you. I promise."

I looked at the flimsy covers of the bed and felt a little nauseous - if one of us actually did hit Michael, then there couldn't be anything to help him until the monster was dead… if we killed it, that is…

Hey, I'll be there the whole time. What could go wrong with me there? I'll even take the wheel if you're not feeling up to it.

T

"Oh my dear," A smooth, corrupting voice sounded behind me as a hand rested on my shoulder, I didn't shrug it off as I continued to look ahead of me, "We're in the position of a… partnership, you and I. I feel as if we could both be," The owner of the voice paused for a moment, but I didn't care, "Very helpful to one another, don't you think?" I turned slowly to face the stranger, their face shrouded in shadow.

My eyes sprung open and I sat up, trying to act like I'd not just had another one of those crazy flashback-dream things. The three of us were all sat around Sam's laptop watching our security feed, on the screen you could see the grainy outline of the bed, and the small misshapen lump indicating Michael. "What time is it?" I asked in a tired voice, leaning against Dean's shoulder and stifling a yawn.

"Almost three," Sam answered, checking his watch, "Dean, are you sure these rounds are gonna work?"

Dean kept his eyes glued to the screen, watching Michael carefully, "Consecrated iron rounds, and yeah, it's what Dad used the last time."

There was a short interval of silence, during which I allowed my mind to wander, where I began to speculate on my latest dream. What could it mean? Who was that proposing some sort of partnership? Was I me or… other me?

"Hey Dean?" Sam's voice broke the quiet, "I'm sorry."

Sam's brother shifted, and I inwardly stiffened.

Oh no, here it comes. The confession to end everything.

I ignored Darquesse but my stomach coiled and thrashed in fear – what if Sam tells him what we did? What if - "For what?"

The younger Winchester's broad shoulders shrugged helplessly, beside Dean I braced myself, "You know, I've given you a lot crap, for always following Dad's orders. But now, I finally get why you do it."

My mind heaved a huge, relieved sigh. Oh thank God.

"Oh God," Dean cringed sarcastically, but kept his eyes fixated on the screen, "Kill me now."

Sam and I laughed softly, although mine was more of a forced chuckle to hide my anxiety. Dean suddenly leant forward in his seat, I moved my head off of Dean's shoulder and yawned again, "Wait, look."

I paid all my attention to the security feed, there was no movement where Michael lay, but in the corner of the room, where moonlight highlighted the night vision colour tones, a fleeting shadow crossed over the square on the floor, cutting it off for less than a moment. I narrowed my eyes and concentrated all my attention onto the film, maybe it was a trick of the light, maybe… the window slowly slid open, a thin, almost skeletal hand reached inside. My hand reached for my gun off the table as Sam and Dean did the same, "Do we go now?" I whispered as the Shtriga entered the room, the shredded drags of cloak that hid it's gruesome body flowed slightly in the night breeze from the open window.

Dean shook his head, "Not yet."

I glanced at him but didn't fight against him, I held my position and sat frozen in my chair as the Shtriga moved towards Michael and leant over the bed. I couldn't imagine what Michael must be thinking, probably wondering why the hell we weren't in the room yet. The Shtriga lowered what must have been his head and opened something that looked like a mouth, I gave Dean a panicked glance, "Dean!" I hissed, giving him a shove. He'd been watching the scene with wide distant eyes, his mind clearly elsewhere as he watched the monster… probably reliving that night when he was alone with Sam in his mind. The boys jumped up and we bolted for the door, I snapped my palm out and the door blasted open, the three of us bursting in with our guns raised and aimed at the dark figure.

"Michael get down!" Dean yelled, I waited until he rolled safely under the bed before opening fire, the Shtriga saw it coming and moved clear of the bullets, I threw the gun down and held both my hands out, the Shtriga was suddenly thrown into the wall and pinned, giving the boys an easy target.

The Shtriga died with a final twisted, inhuman scream that made me wince.

Once I was certain it was dead, I let my hands drop and the force that held the monster to the ground disappeared, and Shtriga slumped to the floor. Dean sighed in relief and approached the Shtriga, his gun by his side, but not yet holstered. He nudged the fallen monster with his foot and relaxed, glancing back at Sam and I with a smile. With a perfect assassin's haste, the Shtriga rose, one of it's skeletal claws snaked around Dean's throat and slung him into the wall, I cried out in shock when I heard the sickening crunch that followed, my hand reaching out and gripping Sam's in fear.

"Dean!" Sam roared in panic, the air shifted wildly and the Shtriga suddenly appeared next to Sam, throwing him across the room and ripping him away from me. I stumbled from the force of Sam's momentum and crashed into the dressing table, the mirror falling with me, I shielded my face with my arms as shards fell down on me. Meanwhile, Dean was slowly coming to and the Shtriga had shifted all its attention onto Sam, two withered, inhuman hands had prised the younger Winchesters' mouth open, while one of Sam's arms struggled to reach for something to use as a weapon. Like a mirage, something shifted in the space between Sam and the Shtriga, but I knew what it was doing, the younger Winchester slowed his movements and his skin paled, like a fish on land drawing it's final breaths.

I struggled to shaky feet, glass crunched beneath them as I staggered towards the Shtriga and Sam, "Hey!" I roared, but the monster gave me no attention. Tapping into my seemingly ongoing rage, I flexed my fingers and a wall of shadows slammed into the creature, the tendrils tearing at it's cloak and scoring across it's shadowed face. The Shtriga backed away, one of it's arms reaching up to protect it's injured face, without further hesitation, I snapped my palm out and one of the guns whisked into my grip. I snapped back the safety and raised it to the monster just as it recovered, firing a shot straight into it's face, right between its clouded white eyes.

The creature crumpled to the floor and Sam lay gasping in great lungfuls of air on the floor, by the wall Dean slowly got to his feet, a hand on the side of his forehead, "You ok little brother?" The eldest Winchester managed, his voice dull with pain.

Sam managed a thumbs up and I bent down to offer him a hand, he grasped it and I hauled him to his feet, then we joined Dean to look down at the dying Shtriga, little wispy blue orbs of energy were collecting out of it's mouth. I handed Dean back his gun and he wasted no time in firing three bullets straight into it's chest, his expression rigid and stony. The last of the light escaped the Shtriga before the creature disintegrated upon itself, crumbling to ash and then to nothing.

There was a shuffling by the bed as Michael crawled from under it, "So it's gone?" He asked, his eyes wide.

I smiled and walked over to the boy, resting a badly cut up hand on his shoulder, "Yep. It's gone." I confirmed, smiling back at the boys, meeting Sam's eyes for a few seconds before looking away. When I looked back up he was still staring at me, his expression unreadable.

T

"So what are we having today, burger or grilled steak?" Dean gave me a smirk as we loaded the last of our bags into his car, one of my hands was bandaged and Dean sported a charming bruise on his forehead from when he was thrown into the wall.

I scoffed and shook my head, "You know, surprisingly I think I'll stick with coffee today."

"Woah, Steph, way to push the boat out." Dean snorted as he closed the trunk of his car.

"Hey, at least I'm having something stronger than Salad-Boy over there." I held my hands up in defence, pointing at Sam.

The sound of a throat clearing made us all turn, "Joanna," Sam greeted the motel's owner warmly, "How's Asher doing?" He asked.

"Have you three seen Michael?" The woman asked, rubbing her tired, heavy lidded eyes.

Michael ran outside from reception, "Mum! Mum!" He called.

Joanna enveloped her son into a tight embrace, suddenly the overwhelming Motherly fretting Joanna was doing reminded me of my own Mother back home with Alice, trying to convince her to eat her toast in the kitchen whilst her Father hummed a Thin Lizzy song as he happily burned his own batch of toast.

"I've got some good news," Michael's Mother jolted me out of my daydream, "Your brother's gonna be fine."

The kid grinned, "Really?"

"Yeah. No one can explain it – it's a miracle! They're gonna keep him overnight for observation and then he's coming home." She replied, her eyes welling with grateful tears.

"Aww," I smiled, "That's great."

"How are all the other kids doing?" Sam asked.

"Good," The woman nodded, "Rea good, actually. A bunch of them should be checking out in a few days. Dr. Travis says the ward's going to be like a ghost town."

Sam tilted his head, "Dr. Travis? What about Dr. Heidacker?"

Joanna shrugged, "Oh, he wasn't in today. I think he must have been sick or something."

"Yeah," Dean agreed, always the perfect liar, "Yeah, he must have."

The Mother turned to her son, "So did anything happen while I was gone?"

Michael glanced at us with a small smirk, "Nah, same old same old."

His Mother smiled and ruffled his hair, "Ok, so do you wanna go see Ash?"

Michael's expression lit up and he did that adorable little gasp that kids do when they're excited, "Now?"

Joanna nodded and Michael shot off towards the car in record time, I smiled as we watched him go, "I, ah, I'd better get going before he hotwires the car and drives himself." She gave us a parting smile and headed over to where Michael was stood beside their car.

Sam suddenly sighed, "It's too bad."

I frowned at him confusion whilst Dean shrugged it off, "Oh, they'll be fine."

"No no, that's not what I meant. I meant Michael. He'll always know there are things out there in the dark – he'll never be the same, you know?" The younger Winchester rubbed the back of his neck as he looked away, "Sometimes I just wish that..." He trailed off and looked down at his shoes.

I tilted my head, "What?" I pressed.

Sam looked up at me and gave me a small, impish grin, "I wish I could have that kinda innocence."

The three of us were silent as Joanna's car pulled out of the carpark, "Well," Dean finally spoke up, "If it means anything, sometimes I wish you could too." Dean being Dean, the anti-chick-flick guy, got into the car pretty quickly.

Sam turned to me, "I never thanked you for saving me last night."

I gave a small shrug in return, "Don't mention it."

"Right," The younger Winchester cleared his throat, "Are we ever gonna talk about what we did before last night?" He asked carefully, gazing at me intently.

I held his stare for a long moment before I shook my head minutely, "Like I said, Sam. Don't mention it."

Author's Note: Part 2 is FINALLY here! I'm so so so so so so sorry this is so late, I had my birthday last month, and college is succeeding in crushing my spirit. Which sucks. Anyways, I've been juggling some great ideas about the season finale – DID YOU GUYS GET THE LITTLE *HINTS* FROM THIS CHAPTER?! Let me know in your reviews below if you did ;) Don't forget to check Steph's adventures out on Twitter! itsStephEdgley

Word Count: 7,358 words 15 pages