Hot as Hell
Part Three

It took all of thirty minutes to find Sam and Dean. Sam had taken most of his damage to his head - story of his life. He was always banging his head on something. Dean was okay except for the fact that he'd dislocated his shoulder. I'd healed Sam's head and he'd fixed Dean's shoulder.

During our search, the earth had stopped trembling, for which I was grateful. Oddly enough though, nobody ever came. No police, no firemen. It made me wonder if, like Bobby had mentioned earlier, the city officials were in it with Alex.

Alex, who had conveniently disappeared, along with Rachel and Eric.

The second Dean's shoulder was fixed I threw my arms around him. The movement reminded me that I was hurt and I winced, pulling away from him.

"Ow."

"Aly?" His voice, so full of concern, hurt me more than my wound.

"I'm okay. I think there's a bit of road or something…"

"Well, let's get back to the car. First aid kit and Dr. Dean will fix you right up."

I nodded as the pain hit me full force. That whole 'first aid kit and Dr. Dean' thing would've made me smile before…now it just hurt. It was normal, it felt normal when everything was definitely not normal. Everything was wrong, wrong, wrong.

At the car I removed my shirt and found the whole left side of my back had gravel in it. How had I not felt it? It was gross.

"This is gonna take a while," Dean said. "It's really bad."

"Yeah, I can actually feel that," I muttered, biting my lip.

"No, seriously, you lost a lot of blood," Sam said. The only reason he was even looking was because he had to hold a flashlight. "Anyone else…anyone else probably would've died."

I ran my hands through my hair, frustrated. "I know. I'm sorry. I'll try not to do it anymore."

Dean pulled a piece of rock out of my side extra fast - a response to my cavalier attitude, no doubt - and I jerked away and glared.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, pulling me back to him. "Just…don't talk like that. Please."

I looked at him and nodded. The world 'please' didn't make it past Dean's lips very often, so I couldn't just ignore him now. I wouldn't talk like that anymore if I could help it.

"So…what're we gonna do?" I asked. "I'm pretty sure we can stop this if we could stop Alex. We need to hurry…something tells me this is the calm before the storm."

All at once it hit me that the people who had disappeared were dead now. They weren't coming back. We had to stop this now. If only to avenge their deaths, this had to be stopped.

"A'right, we need to regroup," Dean said.

"Regroup where?" Bobby asked. "I came from the college. I'm pretty sure I was let out. If Alex is as powerful as he wants people to think he is, I couldn't have escaped so easy."

"Then that's where we need to go," Dean said. "His minions will probably just lead us to him anyway."

"Yeah, okay, and after that we'll just get chained up again," Sam said. "We need a better plan than none."

"He's probably expecting us anyway," Dean argued. "Like Bobby said, if this Alex guy is all that powerful…he expected us to get free. He maybe even wanted us to what with the explosion and all."

"Okay, then how do we kill him?" Sam questioned. "We don't even know what he is."

"Um…shapeshifter, maybe?" I suggested. "I can't feel anything from him, and the only thing that I couldn't sense before was a shapeshifter. Different kinds of shapeshifters."

Werewolves were a kind of shapeshifter - Madison had been a werewolf and I hadn't been able to sense her.

"Shapeshifters want human things. What does Alex want?" Sam asked.

"Power. Rachel said Alex was doing all this to gain more power."

"Well, whatever the reason" - Dean shrugged - "we know how to kill a shapeshifter. Silver bullet to the heart."

"What if he's not a shapeshifter?" I asked.

Dean grinned widely. "You'd be surprised how many things a bullet to the heart can kill."

At the college we were met, ironically enough, by five professors, who, by the look of things, had been expecting us. They had guns and they stripped us of ours. I knew that Dean had a silver dagger in his boot that they hadn't taken though, so we had one weapon, at least. They let us directly to Alex…and Rachel. Rachel, who was sweating profusely. And Alex was…comforting her? No, coaxing her, making her feel secure enough to do something for him. He was using her, and she was letting him.

I couldn't even pretend to be surprised.

"Ah." Alex turned to us. "What a nice surprise." We could tell he wasn't surprised at all. "Of course, that explosion was rigged to go off if you three escaped. Give you enough time to get away and building go boom."

His tone took me off guard. It sounded like he didn't think what he was doing was wrong. Like he thought it was okay to be doing all this.

Alex turned to the people who had brought us here. "Leave. Go…kill anything that gives you trouble."

I, being who I was, wanted to stop them, but they were human so I couldn't just snap their necks like I had the blue-eyed things.

"You have everyone else do your dirty work for you," Dean scoffed. "That's pretty pathetic."

Fury flashed across Alex's face. "How dare you? I am powerful and I am great, and you should kneel before me!"

Was this guy for real? Yeah, we'd kneel before him…when hell froze over.

"Well, I think you're suffering from a superiority complex. Or delusions of grandeur."

Dean was doing the whole piss-your-enemy-off-by-being-a-smartass thing, and I vaguely wondered if he had a plan that involved something more than making Alex angry. Like maybe drawing Alex closer so Dean could kill him. That would be awesome and convenient.

Suddenly Alex transformed into the thing Rachel hadn't wanted to show me. His skin turned a green scaly color, his eyes took on a reptilian shape. His teeth grew into fangs and they glinted in the light. His hands grew into talons, two on each hand.

All I could think was ew and he looked like the thing from the Black Lagoon.

It was odd though, because even though Alex had turned into this reptile-creature thing I could still tell if was him. Maybe it was only because I'd seen him transform. Whatever. The more important thing was the fact that he had fangs and teeth now, which was going to make it harder to get close enough to kill him. Without us dying too, of course.

Dean must've been thinking the same thing because he grabbed my hand and pushed his thoughts into my head.

Can you hear me?

Yeah, I thought back without taking my eyes off of the Alex creature.

Distract him for me.

Um…Okay. I didn't exactly know how to do that, but I'd try because Dean asked me to.

I was supposed to distract Alex? This ugly creature thing that could bite me with his sharp fangs, or gut me with his talons? I was supposed to distract that?

Okay, well, the whole mocking thing that Dean had done earlier seemed distracting enough, so I would go with that.

"Hey, Alex," - I stepped forward - "what kind of coward has to use scare tactics just to get people to do what they want? I mean, you're not even scary."

Ugly, maybe, but not scary.

In the back of my mind I was hoping Sam and Bobby knew what Dean and I were doing. I hoped they weren't thinking that I was just being stupid and reckless.

"I think maybe you're overcompensating for something. Comin' up a little short between the legs there, Mr. Thompson?" Oh, God, was I really saying that? Me?

When I was close enough, the creature took a swing at me with his talons and I ducked. Alex's transformation made him slower…and slimy. It flung onto my shirt…and burned through. The slime was acidic and it was eating through the material and to my skin.

The Alex creature swung at me again and I caught his - its? - arm, and immediately felt the sting from the acid on its skin. I turned us around, still hanging onto its arm, so we would be facing away from Dean. Dean would be able to do whatever he wanted without the Alex creature knowing. When I twisted, something popped in the arm I was holding, and the creature hissed and then snarled at me, swinging at me again. This time it actually sliced my arm with its talons.

I cried out in pain and let go of its other arm to clutch at my own. And then the Alex creature snarled again. In pain. Its eyes widened and it made a high-pitched weird sound, and then the creature slumped forward onto me, making me fall backward.

"Aly!"

"I'm okay. Just…get him -"

Oh God, the thing wasn't dead. It was trying to bite me now.

"It's not dead, it's not dead!"

The thing wasn't on me long - Dean moved it off me fast, grunting in pain in the process. Dean had apparently been burned from the acidic slime from the Alex creature's skin.

Then I heard a crunch and then smelled a very serious stench. When I looked towards the foulness I saw that Dean had used the dagger from his boot to slice through the creature's neck and now it was dead.

With the problem done, the pain from the acid-slime came rushing back. I would be okay once I washed off. But Dean… I forced myself up so I could see if Dean was okay. He was; he was actually standing over me to see if I was okay.

"Aly?" He grabbed my hands, which were raw, and then let go. He removed his outer shirt and washed both of our hands with it. Like I'd thought, I healed as soon as the acid-slime was gone. Except for my arm where I'd been cut. Whatever had been on Alex's talons had gotten into my skin and that would have to heal on it's own, I guess.

Then it hit me that Dean had said my name. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay? I didn't know that thing had acid or whatever coming out of it. If I had, I wouldn't have asked you to -"

"I know," I cut him off gently. "I know. Now, give me your hands."

He complied, guilt still shining through his eyes. I knew it was because of his self-deprecation but I wished he wouldn't blame himself for everything. It's not like he was responsible for the Dark Ages of the fall of the Roman Empire. He hadn't know the thing had acid-slime stuff, he'd said so himself, so it wasn't his fault.

After his hands were healed I focused on Sam and Bobby, who were standing - kneeling over - Rachel. She'd fallen to the floor and was now…having a seizure? Her body was spasming. She was even foaming at the mouth.

"What's going on?" Dean asked. "What happened to her?"

"I don't know," Sam said. "She just started shaking. We put her on the floor so…she wouldn't hurt herself."

What were we supposed to do here? If we were to hold her down she could hurt herself or even one of us. But why was she even doing this anyway? What had happened? What had set her off?

As she continued shaking, the room began getting warmer and warmer. The words she'd said at the motel came to my mind. She couldn't always control her abilities. And now was clearly one of those times.

"We have to stop her, get her under control," I said. "She's gonna get hotter and hotter. She'll create a fire sooner or later."

"Well, how're we supposed to stop her?" Dean asked incredulously. "It's not like we can just make her stop shaking. Can we?"

All four of us were clueless about that one. The only way I knew how to permanently stop someone…

"I can do it," I said, and Dean looked at me, his eyes asking 'how?'. I shook my head and then moved closer to the convulsing girl on the floor. I took a deep breath and touched her arm with my hands, grabbing tight. Her skin was hot to the touch, and I silently wondered if she was going to explode or implode. If it was the latter, I could just let it happen naturally…I wouldn't have to…

I didn't reach out to her this time; I focused on puller her in. I didn't want her soul, it wasn't mine to take. I just wanted her life force. I needed to pull it away from her.

I felt the first strands of whatever I was tugging on come into me, and I immediately felt wrong. It was… The method of it was almost like pulling a demon from a person, but it felt completely different. Wrong, because I wasn't saving a life, I was taking it.

I couldn't close my eyes. I didn't want to watch the last threads of life washing away, but I had to. Her face would be forever etched into my memory.

And then…she was gone, but I had nothing to do with it. I stared down at the now unmoving body of Rachel, taking her in. Dean's hand was over her mouth and nose, making it impossible for her to have breathed.

"Dean, what're you doing?"

Dean didn't answer me, he just shook his head at me and looked back down at Rachel. Rachel was cooling off fast, so I guessed that meant we weren't in danger of burning to death anymore.

After we were sure that both Rachel and Alex were dead and neither were coming back, we decided to try and leave. Dean didn't say anything to me about…trying to kill Rachel. It may be cynical or callous, but that way I saw it…I'd had to do what I did. It was an easier and less painful way to take someone's life away. Less painful for Rachel. It would've been hard for me either way. And then Dean had done what he did. Why had he done it? I'd had it under control.

Surprisingly enough, we had no trouble getting out. The humans were happy and even a little relieved that Alex was dead. They were free again. I hoped they thought about it before they joined the next evil cult that came along. Even the things with the blue eyes were scattered without their master. Like they'd only been here for him, which…minions, so, duh.

Back at the motel I got a room of my own, leaving Bobby to his, and Sam and Dean to theirs. I wasn't feeling that much into company at the moment. And yet there was a knock at the door. My solitude wasn't meant to be. When I opened the door I saw Dean on the other side. An angry Dean.

"What?"

"Can we talk?" He didn't wait for an answer, he just came in. "We're gonna talk."

"Not feeling up to a conversation right now." I closed the door anyway. "I actually kind of wanted to go to sleep." Total lie, there.

"Go to sleep?" Dean crossed his arms over his chest. "You can actually sleep after what you tried to do?"

"What did I try to do?" Oh God, I didn't want to talk about this. Not now. I hadn't had time to process and go through everything on my own.

"You were gonna kill that girl," he said, barely keeping his voice under control. "With your abilities. Without even trying to save her first."

"Well, you did kill her, so…" I clenched my jaw, hating myself for throwing that at him. He probably felt horrible enough as it was.

"I did it so you wouldn't have to."

I didn't know what to say to that. I hadn't asked him to do that. I never would have. Ever.

"I just - I thought it would've been easier for her. For Rachel." I wasn't angry, not like he was. I was…defensive maybe, but not angry. "We couldn't save her. And I thought…you know what it feels like. It doesn't hurt. It's like getting tired and going to sleep."

"Yeah, but why use your abilities when you can do something naturally?"

"Killing people isn't natural at all," I countered. "It was hard. You don't know how wrong I felt doing that. And, ya know" - I was getting a little angry now - "you can fight monsters naturally without weapons if you want. Don't recommend it though."

"That's different. You're protecting people, keeping them from getting hurt. This time you weren't helping someone, you were killing them."

I so wasn't in the mood for a lecture. I knew all this anyway, but it didn't change anything. It did make me a little ticked that he was saying the exact same thing I'd been thinking earlier while I'd been…killing Rachel.

"Aly, you're using your abilities way too much. Whenever something happens you don't even think, you just…I mean, taking someone's life away? It's not what your abilities are for and it's not good for you."

"You told me. You told me not to stop. I said I would for you, but you said -"

"You're scaring the hell outta me," he interrupted me. "You were gonna kill someone and it's like you don't even care!" I looked away from his accusing stare. "I mean, what do you want me to do, stand here and keep my mouth shut?

I didn't say anything. I didn't even look at him. I was scaring him? He thought I didn't care? Of course I cared. Just because I wasn't crying about it didn't mean I didn't care.

"If I didn't love you so much, maybe I would!"

I did look at him now. He didn't say he loved me very often, so it got my attention now. Maybe for the wrong reasons.

"You love me?" I scoffed. "You won't even be with me. I mean, I would understand if I'd done something wrong, but…I feel like I'm being punished here."

The anger lessened for a second. "I'm not doing this to punish you, Aly, you know that." The anger came back full force. "And that has nothing to do with your abilities. Stop changing the subject."

"I'm not. I… You don't know how I feel, Dean. You…"

I sat on the bed and ran my fingers through my hair. I'd been doing that a lot lately, mostly when I didn't want to talk about something.

"I have to do these things because at least I can control that. I'm getting stronger. If I had been strong before…I could've saved Sam, healed him, and you never would've had to -" I cut myself off, feeling a crying spell coming on.

The bed creaked as Dean sat beside me. I refused to look at him. I hadn't wanted to say any of that. I didn't want him to know how messed up in the head I was, but I couldn't seem to stop speaking.

"And it hurts. Because you chose hell over me. And I know it was to save Sam, but it made me feel I wasn't enough. Because…you'd rather be in hell and have Sam alive…than be here with me without Sam."

There. I'd said it. All the hurt I'd been holding in. All the reasons I'd been acting strangely, not like myself. I hadn't known Dean had even noticed, but I guessed he had.

"And now you're pushing me away when I need you most and I just…I don't know what to do with myself." My eyes watered and I sniffled once. "I never expected to be your number one priority, but it hurt when I realized you didn't love me enough to let me help you."

God, I wanted him to leave. If he wasn't going to stay, I wanted him to leave. Because I was weak and stupid when it came to Dean. Too weak to do anything other than what he wanted, and too stupid to leave. The smart thing would be to leave now and never look back. But I couldn't. And I couldn't handle it if I bared my heart to him and he just left.

"You never told me any of this," Dean said, placing a hand on my leg. I tensed and stood up. He couldn't just do that.

"I couldn't. I didn't want you to know how…horribly messed up I am. I didn't want you to worry. Not when you have more than enough to worry about already."

"You didn't want me to worry?" He stood up too. "Good job with that." He came to me and wrapped his arms around me. "Come 'ere."

"No," I said weakly, pulling away. "Not if…not if you're just gonna leave again. I couldn't stand if you held me and then left."

Instead of backing off, he pulled me close again. His hands slid up to cup my face and he stared into my eyes intensely. My breaths came in small pants and he lowered his lips to mine. It was the sweetest kiss we'd ever shared, and it wasn't even really a kiss, it was a light brush of skin on skin. I shuddered from it.

He…he couldn't leave. Not now. Not after that…right?

"I'm not going anywhere."

Oh, thank God. I slumped against him and slid my arms around his waist. He led me to the bed and sat me down. He kneeled in front of me.

"I'm sorry. I really am. I didn't know how…hard it was for you. I mean, I knew you were hurting, but…I didn't know it was this bad. I thought you'd be able to handle it. It doesn't make sense for you to love me so much. I'm just me."

"I know you're you. That's why I love you."

This beautiful man in front of me was…so oblivious to the fact that he was everything I needed. I'd made it clear how much I loved him, right? It wasn't my fault he didn't know, he was just being Dean. Right?

"And you were right. I wouldn't let you help me. I didn't know how. Truth is, if the same thing happened tomorrow…I still wouldn't know how. But that has nothing to do with how much I love you. It's just…taking care of Sam was ingrained in me when I was a kid and…I couldn't just let him die. I couldn't."

I knew that last part. I didn't like it, but I knew it.

"And I thought keeping you at a distance would help make it easier…later. But…you're kinda goin' off the deep end."

I didn't even have the will to glare at him for that. Technically, he was right. I was going crazy having him so close but not being able to have him. I'd have lost it a long time ago if I hadn't had him. He'd been the one who'd been my anchor. Had kept me grounded in this tipsy-turvy world.

"I won't push you away anymore. Not now that you told me what it's doing to you."

How had he not known? Was I that good at hiding things from him, concealing all that I felt?

"So…you're gonna stay tonight?"

"Yeah," he said and kissed my hair. "Yeah, I'll stay."

"Good." I leaned forward and pressed my forehead against his. "Because you make me feel better."

Sometimes it felt like our relationship was the only sane thing I had in this decidedly insane and unfair world. While he was here I needed him with me. I was glad he was beginning to see that.

Okay, so...I think this chapter ended weird. Or, maybe not weird exactly, but I thought it was missing something. I wasn't even going to make Dean change his mind yet, but I think with Aly just being flat-out honest about what she was feeling, he would probably see the error of his ways. I loved the part about him not understand why she's so in love with him because that's just so Dean. So yeah...to sum up, I have mixed feelings about this chapter. Anyway, enjoy, and thanks in advance to those who review.