The Magnificent Seven
Part Two

The next morning, after a fitful sleep, I woke up with Dean's arms wrapped possessively around me. It was just another thing I'd have to get used to not having. I was stupid for staying. I knew that. Glutton for punishment, that's what I was.

"I hate that I'm hurting you," Dean said softly. "If you were smart, you'd probably leave."

It was as if he knew what I'd been thinking, which, due to our connection, he probably did. He could tell what I was feeling when our skin touched. He was a better reader than I was. I never knew what he was feeling unless he wanted me to. Unless I was looking into his eyes, of course. His eyes hid nothing.

"I'm not leaving you," I said firmly. "I don't care how stupid that makes me." I sighed, sitting up. "What're we going to do about this case?"

"You mean do I know what caused it?" Dean shook his head. "Never seen anything like it. Never heard of anything like it."

"Great. That's comforting." Heavy on the sarcasm there. "It's not surprising, though. I mean, hundreds of demons are out there. We're probably gonna see a lot of stuff that's new. Or very, very old, depending on how you look at it."

Things were silent until Dean's phone vibrated on the night stand.

"Yeah?" he answered. "The news? Why?"

I heard a low reply and knew it was Sam. Sam had gotten his own room last night because he'd still been reading and researching, and he knew Dean wouldn't let him if he'd stayed with us.

"Okay, okay, don't bite my head off."

Dean got up and turned the TV on, switching it to some local news channel. Some story was on about a woman killing another woman over a pair of heels. It happened right outside a clothing store.

"You think it's our kind of thing?" Dean asked me.

I shrugged. "I dunno. Normal people don't kill for shoes, do they?"

"I guess not. You wanna check it out?"

"Maybe we should."

Sam had called from the store. He'd been up early - if he'd gotten any sleep at all, anyway - and he and Bobby checked out the scene before calling us in.

When Dean and I got there Dean went in, and I stayed outside to look for Sam. It didn't take long since he was freakishly tall. He was standing at the back of a small group of people, taking everything in. I saw Bobby, too, standing a couple yards away, in a suit and tie, with his hair slicked back talking to a blond woman who seemed a little stunned.

I went to Sam and pulled him away from the group. I noticed he had bags beneath his eyes.

"Sam, did you sleep at all? You look like crap."

"Thanks," he quipped.

"No, seriously. You losing sleep is not gonna save Dean." I sighed, wondering what exactly would save Dean. "Now, what happened?"

"Well, apparently, that woman really wanted the shoes."

I glanced at the woman Bobby was talking to. "Well, she's not possessed. Or not now, anyway."

"Yeah. I know." He looked around. "Where's Dean?"

"Inside. We could go in, too, if you're done out here."

Sam nodded and we went inside the store, which wasn't open, but the workers were still there. The only reason we got in was because we had FBI badges.

My eyes zeroed in on Dean, who was chatting with a girl with wavy blond hair. Actually, I think he was flirting because he had his hand on her shoulder and he was staring into her eyes…and oh, hell no.

Sam cleared his throat as we drew nearer. "Dean, what're you doing?"

"I'm comforting the bereaved." He had a duh tone to his voice, and he smiled at the girl, but removed his hand from her shoulder. She walked away smiling. He turned his head back toward us. "What're you doing?"

"Our job," I seethed. "Someone died, ya know?" I looked over to where the woman had gone. "Please tell me you were flirting for a reason."

Okay, maybe I was overreacting just a bit. I usually wasn't a jealous girlfriend, but Dean usually didn't flirt with anyone other than me. He usually didn't give me a reason to be jealous.

Just then Bobby walked in in a suit and tie, which I had noticed earlier, but Dean hadn't seen him yet and was surprised.

"Whoa. Lookin' spiffy, Bobby. What were you, a G-man?"

"Attorney for the D.A.'s office. I just spoke to the suspect."

"And?" I asked curiously. "Demon?"

"I don't think so. There was none of the usual signs. No blackouts, no loss of control, totally lucid. She just really wanted those shoes. I spilled a glass of holy water on her just to be sure. Nothin'."

"Well, maybe she's just some random wackjob," Dean suggested.

The woman from earlier walked by and Dean followed her with his eyes. What was wrong with him? He was acting like I wasn't even here. No, he was acting like he did before we got together.

"If it'd been an isolated incident, maybe," Bobby said. "But first the family, now this? I believe in a lot of things. Coincidence ain't one of 'em."

I nodded. "Yeah, I'm sensing a pattern. Sloth, envy, lust." I glared at Dean for the last one. Oh, and jealousy for myself. I couldn't leave that off.

"Anyway," Sam began, "there was no sulfur. I checked before you guys got here." He gestured at me and Dean.

"Maybe not, but there's a security camera," Dean said, looking behind himself. He looked at Bobby. "Think you can work your attorney magic and get us access to the tapes?"

Bobby straightened out his suit jacket. "I'll see what I can do."

The tapes held one thing of interest. It showed a guy - average looking - touching the suspect's shoulder, nodding to a brunette - the victim. The brunette paid for a green pair of heels and the blond - the suspect - followed her out of the store, where I knew the brunette had then been killed. Over shoes. People were idiots.

Although, if I'd interpreted the tape correctly, the blond had been persuaded to do it.

After getting a good look at the guy, we decided to split up. Sam and I were going to go through missing persons ads at the library, try and find out who our John Doe was. Dean and Bobby were going to ask around and see if anybody knew him, or if they could possibly run into him.

As soon as Sam and I started walking - the library was close by and it was nice out - I felt the familiar eerie chill. The same one from the night before.

I stopped, grabbing Sam's arm in the process. "Wait." I turned around, but there were too many people around for me to discern which one was a demon.

"What?"

"I wanna take a car. Dean's, Bobby's, it doesn't matter which."

"You felt something, didn't you?"

"Yeah." The feeling faded. "Now it's gone."

"Something's stalking you, do you think?"

I shrugged. "Or you."

At the library, it took about two hours to find the guy. His name was Walter Rosen, he was from Oak Park, just west of Chicago, and he'd gone missing about a week ago. The night the Devil's Gate opened.

"Great. He's probably possessed."

"Probably," Sam agreed. "So, what, he just walks up to someone, touches 'em, and they just go stark-ravin'-psycho or somethin'?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it. Sam looked at me like I'd gone crazy, but I didn't care.

"What's so funny?"

I shook my head. "Do you know how sad it is that this is a normal conversation for us? Demons and possessions and corpses. Is that how it's going to be for the rest of my life?"

Sam looked at me sympathetically. I knew he knew where I was coming from. He'd tried to get away from this life by going to college, but he'd only been sucked right back in.

He didn't say anything about what I'd said, but he did speak. "I'm sorry about how Dean was acting. I don't know what he was doing."

"It's not your fault." I shook my head again. "Anyway, have you found anything about…ya know?"

Sam's face fell. "No. Everything I've read sounds ridiculous. Maybe you were right. The only way to get rid of a deal is to make a new one."

I didn't like his tone. "If you're thinking what I think you're thinking then stop thinking it."

Sam smiled at my phrasing. "Is that even a sentence?"

"Yes. And I mean it. It wouldn't do you any good, anyway. Dean would just reverse it again."

"Yeah, I know," Sam said quietly.

"Good." My stomach growled and I groaned. I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. "I need food. After we're done here, we should go eat."

Sam smiled again. "Yeah, I wouldn't want you to starve under my watch."

After finding out all we could about Walter Rosen we went to some diner and I got chicken fingers and a salad; Sam got his usual healthy diet salad.

"Hey, if I ask you somethin' do you promise not to get mad?"

I stopped with a piece of chicken halfway to my mouth. "Okay."

"Why are you staying?" Sam asked curiously. "I mean, don't get me wrong…I don't want you to go anywhere, but…aren't you just making this harder for yourself?"

I took a bite of chicken, thinking of my answer, and swallowed.

"I'm staying for the same reason you are." I took another bite, though I had suddenly lost my appetite. "I love him, Sam. Unconditionally. And I don't want his last memory of me to be my back walking out the door. He won't remember me for leaving." He'd remember me for staying, for being the only one in his life who never abandoned him no matter how bad things got.

Bobby called about an hour later and told us to meet him and Dean back at Tamara and Isaac's place. I wondered why and he called me an idjit and told me to just get there.

I heard screaming in the background. Tamara sounded like she was in agony. What was happening to her? Had she been hurt?

"Bobby, what's goin' on?"

"Isaac is gone. Demons got him."

"What? Where?"

"We'll explain when you get here, so get here fast."

"Fine, fine. Keep your pants on." I flipped the phone shut and Sam and I went on our way.

At Tamara's house, I immediately felt the presence of a demon. It was inside, I was sure.

"And I say we're going back!" I heard Tamara's scream through the door and I looked at Sam before we walked in.

I followed the feeling and sound of Tamara's shouting of "I left my husband bloody on the floor," to the back room where Walter was sitting under a protective circle. He was tied to a chair and trapped.

"You can't go back," Bobby said calmly, obviously trying to be the voice of reason.

"You can stay here, but I'm heading back to that bar!" Tamara screamed.

"What bar?" I asked, announcing our presence.

"The bar we found this guy in," Dean said, pointing at Walter.

"Oh…" We explained who he was and where he was from.

"Ooh, good thing you did your homework," the Walter-demon said. He sounded snarky.

"Hey, no one's talkin' to you," Dean said.

"No, but you're talking about my meat suit."

Tamara shoved past me and I grabbed her wrist. "Where're you going?"

"To get Isaac."

I bit my lip, reminding myself to be patient. "Tamara…I don't know what happened exactly, but Bobby said he's gone. There's no point in going back. I'm sorry."

She wrenched her arm free. "I have to go."

"I'll go with her," Dean volunteered.

"It's suicide, Dean!" Bobby said, not so calm this time.

"So what? I'm dead already."

I pretty much glared at the back of his head at that. Did he want me to hit him? I mean, first the girl, now this?

"How are you gonna kill 'em?" Sam asked. "You can't shoot 'em, the Colt doesn't work anymore. You can't stab 'em. They're not just gonna wait in line to get exorcised."

"I don't care!" Tamara yelled, and now I wanted to hit her.

"You don't even know how many of them there are," Sam confronted her.

"Yeah, we do," Bobby contradicted, moving to a dresser loaded with books and picking one up. "There's seven. Do you have any idea who we're up against?"

I, always quick on the uptake, said, "the Seven Deadly Sins."

Bobby nodded. "Live and in the flesh. Way to steal my thunder, by the way."

Sam and Dean had their usual how do you know this stuff expressions, and I felt slightly insulted.

"Oh, come on. It wasn't that hard to figure out. The family that was too lazy to eat, and then the woman who was so envious she killed someone? Then Bobby said 'seven'. Add it all up, it all spells duh!"

Sam and Dean looked insulted now. We were even; they insulted my intelligence, I, in turn, had insulted theirs.

"What is that, anyway," I asked pointing to the book Bobby was holding.

"Binsfield Classification of Demons. In 1589, Binsfield I.D.'d the seven sins. Not just as human vices, but as actual devils."

"Yeah, but sin is already innate or else sin couldn't control us, right?" I asked. "Which one do we have, anyway? Envy?" I hoped the guy was just loaded with one and not all seven.

"Yeah. You gave me the idea when we were in the store, by the way. When you put two and two together," Bobby said. "Good thinking. Quick thinking."

"Why do we need to know what they are?" Tamara complained. "I don't give a rat's ass if they're the Three Stooges or the Four Tops! I'm gonna slaughter every last one of them."

"If you're gonna fight them, you might wanna know about them. I mean, how do you kill sin?" I asked as patiently as possible.

"Besides, we already did it your way," Bobby seethed, stepping closer to Tamara. "You burst in there half-cocked and look what happened! These demons haven't been topside in half a millennium! We're talking medieval. Dark Ages. We've never faced anything close to this! So, we are gonna take a breath, and figure out what our next move is!"

Sam, Dean, and I were shocked. I'd never seen Bobby lose his temper like that. He was usually a pretty together guy. I made a mental note to never piss Bobby off because the wrath of Bobby wasn't a pretty sight.

"I am sorry for your loss," Bobby finished softly.

Tamara didn't say anything, but I could tell she wanted to. Even though I was stunned by Bobby's outburst, I was overjoyed that it had shut Tamara up. She'd been starting to irk my nerves.

I looked at my two guys and noticed the looks of disbelief on their faces. They shook their heads, and then Envy, who had been pretty quiet up to now, laughed.

"So, you know who I am, huh? Miss Alyson Daniels didn't even have to look in a book."

If it hadn't been for the vibes the demon had been giving off, I would've forgotten it was here, but now it was drawing attention to itself.

We all went and stood in front of the demon and I saw it's eyes turn immediately black when it looked at me.

"Why're you here?" Sam asked. "What're you after?"

Envy didn't answer. He just sat there looking smug.

"He asked you a question," Dean said. "What do you want?"

Envy laughed, but again didn't answer. Dean pulled out a flask he carried with him; I knew it was full of holy water. He flung a little on Envy, who then flinched and groaned in pain.

"We already have what we want," the demon answered unwillingly. "We're out." He chuckled. "We're free. Thanks to you, my kind are everywhere. I am legion, for we are…many. So, me, I'm just celebrating. Havin' a little fun."

"Fun?" Sam questioned.

"Yeah, fun. See, some people crochet. Others golf. Me? I like to see peoples insides on their outsides."

Tamara stepped forward. "I'm gonna put you down like a dog."

"Please," Envy teased.

"He's just trying to provoke you," I said, grabbing her arm. "Don't give him the satisfaction."

Envy laughed. "You really think you're better than me. Which one of you can cast the first stone, huh? What about you, Dean?" Envy looked at him. "You're practically a walking billboard of gluttony and lust." Dean didn't deny it. What would be the use? Then Envy's eyes fell on Tamara. "And Tamara…all that wrath, ooh…" He tsk'd a few times, taunting. "It's the reason Isaac and you became hunters in the first place, isn't it? It's so much easier to drink in the rage than to face what really happened all those years ago."

Tamara pulled free of my grasp and punched Envy twice.

"Stop!" I grabbed her again. "There's still a human in there!"

"I don't care!" she yelled.

"Well, I do. You may not care if a human life is lost, but I do."

"See what I mean?" Envy said. "And you call us sins. We're not sins, man! We are natural human instinct. And you can repress and deny us all you want, but the truth is, you are just animals. Horny, greedy, hungry, violent animals. And ya know what?" He leaned forward like he was getting ready to reveal a secret. "You'll be slaughtered like animals, too. The others? They're comin' for me."

"Well, that doesn't give us much incentive to keep you around much longer, does it?" I questioned.

He smiled. "What're you gonna do, kill me? You can't do that without killing my meat suit."

"Oh, we're not gonna kill you," Dean said. "We're gonna send you back to hell. Someone send this clown packing."

"My pleasure," Tamara said, picking up a random book off the dresser and starting to read in Latin.

The guys and I went to another room as Envy began to scream in pain.

"I don't think we're gonna have to worry about hunting them," Bobby said. "I think maybe this joker's right. They're gonna be hunting us. And they're not gonna quit easy."

"You guys, why don't you take Tamara and head for the hills? I'll stay back, slow 'em down, buy a little time," Dean suggested.

"Would you just stop with the suicide missions?" I asked, exasperated. "You may be ready to die, but we're not ready to lose you, so just drop it, okay?"

Not missing a beat, Dean said, "There's six of them, guys. We're out-manned, we're out-gunned. We'll be dead by dawn."

"There's five of us," I countered, "and I can handle two by myself. So we're even." I wasn't actually sure about the me-handling-two thing, but I was willing to say anything to get Dean to stop sacrificing himself.

"Besides, there's no place to hide that they won't find us," Bobby said.

"And if we're goin' down, we're goin' down together, all right?"

Dean sighed, getting it through his thick head that we weren't leaving him behind. "Well, let's not make it easy for them."

A strong wind suddenly ripped through the room, and Tamara came in from the other room. She tossed the book aside.

"Demon's out of the guy," she said.

"And the guy?" Sam questioned.

"He didn't make it." No emotion, just a matter of fact statement.

I prayed that when Dean was gone that I wouldn't lose my respect for human life like Tamara had.

"A'right, well, let's get to work."

Tamara and I checked the salt on each of the levels of the house, while Sam and Dean and Bobby got the weapons and the holy water together. We were using salt rounds for the shot guns, or they were, anyway. I couldn't use a shot gun without it knocking me on my butt.

I didn't like working with Tamara. Really, truly, I didn't. I could see a little of myself in her. I could see how I would be after Dean was gone. Bitter, enraged, wrathful.

"I left Isaac back at that bar," Tamara said, checking a salt line on the opposite side of the room as me. "We swore we'd never leave each other."

I didn't know what to say to that. What was there to say. There was nothing I could say to comfort her. Her husband was gone and he wasn't coming back.

"I had a daughter once," she said softly, turning to me. I looked at her in confusion at why she was telling me this. "I saw you earlier, the question in your eyes. You were wondering how I got like this."

"Well, it did seem a little easy for you to kill that guy."

Tamara shook her head. "I wish I could disagree with you." She looked me up and down. "How old are you, Alyson? Sixteen, seventeen?"

"I'll be nineteen in a few months."

"You had to grow up fast. I can see that." She laughed bitterly. "The difference between you and me is that you still see them. The victims. The damage. I don't anymore. I don't know which is worse." She sighed, looking at me again. "I can see it in you, too, though. If you're not careful, you're gonna end up just like me. You don't wanna do that."

"No." I shook my head. "I don't."

After that, we finished checking the salt lines in silence. We'd said all we needed to say.

Downstairs, Dean and Sam were making sure the ammo was even and filling up flasks of holy water when I reached them.

"You know what we should invest in?" I asked, sitting down. "Super Soakers. We could squirt holy water on the demons without getting too close."

Sam grinned at my suggestion. "Oh, yes. Pump action water guns."

"Hm. The demons will never see it comin'."

Just then Bobby walked in. "Bathtubs on the top and bottom are filled with holy water."

"We're tryin' to keep as many of the people alive as possible, right?"

"Right," Dean said.

That familiar eerie feeling came over me just before a radio came on by itself.

"They're here," I said.

All five of us looked out a boarded up window near the front door. There was nothing in sight.

"Tamara! Tamara!" Isaac's voice came from a distance. "Tamara! Tamara! Help me, please!"

I looked at her and I could tell she was debating what to do. She knew he was gone but it was her husband calling to her. Of course she felt she needed to go.

"Tamara! I got away, but I'm hurt bad. I need help!"

I could see Isaac at the front porch now. He had blood flowing out of his mouth, and he was dragging himself up the steps. He knocked on the door and I saw Tamara step forward. She had the palo santo in her hands.

"Baby! Why won't you let me in?"

Tamara gasped and looked at Bobby.

"It's not him. One of those demons is possessing his corpse."

Isaac pounded on the door again. "You left me behind back there. How could you do that? We swore! At that lake in Michigan, remember? We swore we would never leave each other."

"How did he know that?" Tamara sobbed desperately.

"He's just messing with your head," I said softly, grabbing her hand. "Don't let him get to you."

"You're just gonna leave me out here? You're just gonna let me die?" I saw Tamara squeeze the wood in her hand so hard I was scared she was going to leave an indention. "I guess that's what you do, dear." Tamara's sobs stopped; now she just looked angry. "Like that night those things came to our house. Came for our daughter! And you just let her die, too!"

The next couple things happened too quickly for anyone to stop them: Tamara yanked the door open, ruining the salt line in the process. She crashed through the front door, tackled Isaac down the front steps, and when they reached the ground she pinned him down with the palo santo.

Then the real trouble started. Since the salt line had broken when Tamara had opened the door, the other demons were able to come inside. One of them stopped and looked at me and Bobby. It smirked our way and Bobby grabbed my arm to pull me back away from the front door.

We moved back about ten paces until our backs hit the wall. I was wondering what we were doing and then the demon that had been following us stopped and looked up. There was a protective circle above him; he was trapped.

Bobby smirked. "Fat, drunk, and stupid is no way to go through life, son."

I looked at Bobby. "Should I take care of him now or wait?"

"Well, all the others went upstairs. Sam and Dean followed them. I can take care of this guy."

"Okay."

I went upstairs and followed the feeling to where it was strongest. I heard the demon downstairs scream; Bobby must've started the exorcism. Then I heard "Come on. You really think something like that is gonna fool someone like me? I mean, me?"

I hurried to the voice. Sam and three demons were in a room alone. Where was Dean? It didn't do much good to sneak up on them. Sam's eyes flickered to me and then they looked at me, their eyes black.

There were two male demons and one female. The one male was wearing a lawyer type suit and I could feel which sin he was coming off of him in waves.

"Pride's a sin, ya know," I quipped, stepping into the room. I saw that if Pride took one more step he'd be trapped in a protective circle. Was there one in each room or something?"

Pride grinned and waved his hand. The ceiling immediately began to crumble, breaking the protective circle, which made it useless.

"The root of all sin, actually," Pride claimed. "And you are Alyson Daniels, and he is Sam Winchester." He glanced at Sam, taking a step forward. "That's right, I've heard of ya - we've all heard of ya. The Prodigy, the Boy King. Lookin' at ya now, I've gotta tell ya: don't believe the hype."

I glanced at Sam now, who looked sort of confused and then made my move. I centered myself almost immediately and focused on the other male demon, who immediately began to scream. I narrowed my eyes and clenched my fists by my side, willing the demon to leave the body. It was over before it had really begun. It hadn't been hard at all.

Though it announced my plan to the other two, and one lunged for me, and Pride grabbed for Sam. The demon hit me in the side of the head and I saw stars for a second, before getting my bearings again.

Just as I was getting ready to get rid of the female, a blonde girl walked in. My age, maybe a year or two older. She had a knife, though, and she sliced it across the female's neck, causing a spark of light to fill the area around the wound.

Without stopping to see if I was okay, she went to Pride, who was knocking Sam around, and pulled him away, slicing his neck, too. The same weird light came and I realized it was because the demons had died. The knife could kill demons. The Colt produced the same light when demons died from it…this girl had a demon killing knife.

I boosted myself up and went to help Sam.

"Who the hell are you?" Sam and I asked the girl in unison.

"I'm the girl that just saved your asses," she said. No attitude, just a statement.

"I had it covered," I said, and she smirked.

Then she turned around and walked out of the room. Sam and I glanced at each other before hurrying after her. But she was already gone.

"Huh." There was still a demon around. I could feel it, and then I heard it. A woman screaming. Sam and I followed the sound to the bathroom where Dean had been dunking a scantily clad woman in holy water.

"Hold her still," I demanded.

This time it was harder to pull the demon out. This demon fought. It didn't want to leave the body at all. Obviously, it liked it here.

I paid attention this time. I saw the long stream of black demon smoke being drawn out of the woman's mouth and then I saw the scorch marks it left around the body when it faded into the floor.

The woman passed out and I blinked a few times in surprise. Sam and Dean were staring at the place the demon had disappeared. Sam was actually standing there in open-mouthed shock.

My body pretty much gave out on me then. I guessed I'd overtaxed myself. Sam caught me before I hit the floor and then everything went black.

When I woke up I was still on the floor so I knew I hadn't been out long. I tried moving, but I realized every muscle in my body ached and I stopped trying to move, period.

"Aly?" Dean's voice filled my head loudly. "Are you okay? What happened?"

"Tired," I answered.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Sam asked.

"Mm-hm." Although I was having problems forming sentences, apparently.

"She exorcised two demons tonight, Dean," Sam said. "It obviously took a lot out of her."

"Ya think?" Dean said, voice strained. His eyes softened when he looked at me. "Are you really okay?"

"I hurt," I said. "I can't move."

I realized my head was on Dean's lap and he was stroking my hair gently. Suddenly, it didn't matter that he'd been flirting with some random girl earlier. I'd never expected to be the center of his universe. I'd never expected him to not look at other girls just because he was with me. And he cared about me; he was with me.

"The girl, is she okay?" I asked.

"She's fine. She passed out, too," Sam said.

"Go check on her," I said. I'd never really exorcised a demon before and I didn't know the effect it had on people.

"Are you okay to stand?" Dean asked, helping me into an upright position. I found I could stand, but I was too shaky to walk. Dean caught me beneath the knees and picked me up. "Come on, we're gonna get you downstairs."

"The guy. There was a guy I exorcised. Check on him."

"Just let me take care of you first."

"I'll check on him," Sam volunteered. "Take care of her."

On the way downstairs I told Dean about the blond girl and the demon-killing knife. I could tell he'd never heard of such a thing. I got the same reaction from Bobby when I told him.

I realized, when we got downstairs, that the man the demon had been possessing that Bobby had exorcised was still alive. He was in the middle of running out the door, actually.

When Sam came back down, leading the woman who had passed out, I knew the other guy I'd exorcised hadn't made it. Sam led the woman out and said he was going to check on Tamara. I'd all but forgotten she was even here.

"You gonna be okay?" Dean asked me. "We've gotta start burying the victims."

"Burying?" Bobby asked. "Don't you mean salt and burn? These guys are vengeful spirit material."

"Yeah, yeah." Dean looked at me, still awaiting an answer.

"Oh, um…yeah, I'm good. Go do whatever you have to."

I felt bad for not helping move the corpses and for not helping dig the ditches to burn them in, but I just couldn't move. I was worn slam out.

I had actually gone to sleep and when I woke up the sun was shining brightly through the cracks in the boarded up windows. I didn't know how long I'd been out, but when I'd gone to sleep it had still been dark and now it wasn't.

I felt a little better after I woke up and I actually got up to move around. I felt sore like I'd done an extreme workout the day before.

When I made it to the front door a chill hit me again - the eerie one - and I tensed.

"Hello, Alyson," a semi-familiar voice said from behind me.

I turned around and a few paces in front of me was the blond girl from before. She was pretty. She was also…possessed. And she knew my name. That didn't surprise me so much anymore; it seemed like every demon knew my name.

"You've been following us for two days," I stated.

"I have," she admitted.

"Why?" I demanded.

"I have my reasons."

"Hm. They can't be good reasons, coming from you."

She shrugged noncommittally. "If that's what you wanna believe."

I stepped forward and she took a few steps back. Interesting.

I smirked. "Scared?"

"Careful," she corrected. "I know what'll happen to me if you get the urge to get rid of me."

"Then why are you here, risking your…life." Or whatever the demonic equivalent of life was.

"Because I know you're weak right now."

"Weak?" I questioned.

I focused on the sheath attached to her leg with the knife in it and pulled the knife out with my mind. I held it steady an arm's length away from her.

"If you try to grab it, I'll kill you."

Her demon eyes flashed black in irritation. "I'm here to help you, ya know."

"You wanna help me?" I laughed shortly. "Okay, you do remember you're a demon, right?"

She rolled her eyes. "Do you wanna fight or do you wanna shut up and listen?" I considered the offer. "Fighting won't save your boyfriend."

"What do you mean?" I asked harshly. What did she know?

"I mean, I know how to keep him alive," she said, and just like before there was no attitude, it was just a statement of fact.

I breathed shakily. "And I'm just supposed to believe you? You're a demon. Saving lives isn't what you do." I shook my head. "Why would you come to me in the first place?"

"I told you. I want to help save Dean." She shook her head. "You'll need help. You can't save him alone."

The knife nicked her cheek and the flashy light came from the wound. She didn't make a sound, but she did flinch.

"I hate you," I seethed.

She smirked. "And I'm all you've got."

I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "Who are you, anyway?"

"Ruby. My name's Ruby."

"Well, Ruby. You can have your stupid knife back," I said. I had considered keeping it, but it wasn't mine.

She grabbed it from the air and then before I could say anything else she disappeared.

I rolled my eyes, not surprised. Damn demon. Probably should've taken her out as soon as I sensed her, but…Dean. What if she could help? What if she wasn't lying? I had to know for sure before I got rid of her.

Outside, I watched as Tamara drove off in her car - I guessed she'd just been squatting here. Then Bobby took off in his Chevelle. Sam and Dean watched him and then they came over to me.

"Hey," Sam asked. "Feeling better?"

I shrugged. "I guess."

"So…where to?" Dean asked us.

"Uh, I dunno," Sam said. "I was thinkin' Louisiana, maybe. I was talkin' to Tamara and she mentioned this hoodoo priest just outside Shreveport that might be able to help us out. You know, with your demon deal."

Dean didn't even consider it. "Nah." Like he didn't even care that he was going to die and go to hell. "No hoodoo spell is gonna break this deal, all right? It's a goose chase.

"We don't know that -"

"Yes, we do," Dean interrupted. "Forget it. It won't help. We're not goin' and that's that."

I let out a sharp breath. "Dean, what's wrong with you? Do you…wanna die? Is that it? Because if that's it, you should just let us know now so we can give up. I mean, first the suicide missions and now this? We want to save you, but it's like you don't even care."

Dean looked like he was about to say something but I cut him off.

"And don't give me the whole 'I'm already dead' speech because that's a bunch of bull. You're heart is still beating, Dean, which means you're still alive. Stop acting like you have a death wish or something."

"Aly…" Dean say, warning in his voice. He didn't want to talk about this.

"Don't Aly me. You don't get to get out of this. Why are you acting this way?"

"You can't save me," he said softly. "Neither of you can."

"Why not?" Sam, who had been a silent bystander until now, said.

"Because if we trap the crossroads demon? Trick it? Try to welch our way out of the deal in anyway? You die, okay? You die," he said to Sam.

I grabbed onto Sam's arm - he was nearest and I needed something to keep me standing. All the air had rushed out of my lungs at Dean's revelation. Agony rolled through me and my mind rejected what he was saying. He couldn't be saying what I thought he was saying, could he?

"Those are the terms. There's no way out of it."

"No," I said, shaking my head. "No."

Dean was right in front of me, yet I could feel the despair like he was already gone, like he'd already been taken from me.

Sam's hand found its way to my back. Whether it was to steady me or to steady himself, I wasn't sure, but his hand was fisted in my shirt.

"How could you make that deal, Dean?"

"Because I couldn't live with you dead," Dean said simply, like he was talking about the weather. "Couldn't do it."

I'd told Sam that myself once recently, but now that reason sounded…unacceptable.

"What, so now, I live and you die?" Sam asked, and he sounded so vulnerable I squeezed his arm. The arm I was still holding onto because I wasn't sure my legs would support me. "You're a hypocrite, Dean. How did you feel when Dad sold his soul for you? 'Cause I was there, I remember. You were twisted and broken. And now you go and do the same thing…to me. What you did was selfish."

"Yeah, you're right," Dean admitted. "It was selfish. But I'm okay with that. After everything I've done for this family, I think I'm entitled. Truth is, I'm tired. And I don't know, it's like there's a light at the end of the tunnel."

"That's hellfire, Dean," Sam corrected.

"Well, whatever. You're alive. I've got a year to live. I'd like to make the most of it. So, what do you say we kill some evil sons of bitches and we raise a little hell., huh?"

Dean was grinning. That was something I used to find infectious. I would grin when he grinned, because he was grinning. But now I wanted him to stop. It was all wrong. He shouldn't be grinning because he was going to die. He shouldn't be acting like everything was going to be all right, because nothing was ever going to be all right again.

Nothing.

Okay, so anyway...I like this chapter for some reason. I don't know why, exactly, but I like it. LOL. Anyway, as usual, let me know what you think. Thanks. :)