Chapter 2:

It took so many long moments for Lex to gain the courage to step out of her rented Nissan Versa. One side of her brain wanted to be anywhere but here. The other side of her brain desperately wanted to be at Sam's side. John was her mentor, almost a father to her. Then there was Dean, a man she respected more than she'd ever admit. Both of them were in the hospital, dying and here she was out in her car scared to go in. But her fear of hospitals was overriding everything else.

Damn it Lex. Get your ass out of your car! It was worth a shot. The last time she was inside a death trap, known as a hospital, she was unconscious. Once she realized where she was, she fought tooth and nail with her brother to escape. It took three days. And what a horrible three days they were. Before that, it was the day she watched as her older brother took his final breath and before that when she was five. To this day she could still hear the sound of the defibulator sending shock after shock through her father's heart.

These places left a disgusting taste in her mouth, one that never went away. These places were full of death. Three out of five people who went to a hospital died. It was a crazy but true statistic. To know two of them could be people she considered family…. She needed to go inside but she could not rid the sickening feeling crawling through her skin telling her something bad was going to happen.

Slowly she let herself out of the car, one foot at a time. Her ankles buckled but it could have been the stiletto heels. She was never good at walking in them. After taking another few deep breaths she was fully out of her vehicle, looking at the hospital looming in distance like a prison for the dead and dying. The Sioux Falls Hospital was disturbingly welcoming. People should never like coming here, Lex thought in disgust. It called out like a friend with its large bay windows and flower bed gardens at the entrance. It was saying, please come and die. Lex swallowed the urge to jump back into her car.

With one foot in front of the other, Lex made her way toward the Medical Center. Nurses, orderlies and Doctors all took notice of her and smiled, trying so hard to be so friendly. Liars, Lex said to herself, shifting uncomfortably. It was the clothing, she forced herself to believe. Prior to Lex getting on the plane, she had changed out of her hunting clothes and into her work suit made up of heels, a pencil skirt, a white button up shirt and a gray blazer. She looked devastatingly professional. She hated it.

Her main reason for going to Louisiana was for a software engineering contract with a video game company. Her hunt in the Bayou was just her killing two birds with one stone. She figured getting onto a plan covered in dirt and smelling of gasoline would be a bad idea.

The moment Lex walked into the hospital, the smell overwhelmed her. Anyone who said hospitals didn't smell never took a real whiff of the place. They smelled of cleaning solution and medical ointment. It was nauseating. Lex choked it down making a direct V-line to the elevator and the ICU.

The Intensive Care Unit. People who came here rarely made it out alive. If she thought the smell was bad this place was worse. At least the main area did a good job of masking the smell of death. In the ICU it was to a point of overpowering. Over a dozen loved ones sat sleeping, crying, or just spaced out around a small waiting section. There were about thirty chairs surrounding a single array of TVs all playing the same boring show. No one here looked interested. If they were here it meant someone they cared about was inside the gated doors.

Lex looked about. All sorts of medical types came to and from but no one stopped to say anything to anyone in the waiting room. Perhaps they didn't know what to say, or there was nothing they could say. A man walked to a nurse sitting down at a desk right before the doors. It was apparent she was the gatekeeper. No one went through unless she felt they were worthy.

From her position, Lex was unable to hear the conversation, not that she needed to. She saw enough to get the gist. It was her turn. Lex rushed over to her. She was an older lady, with salt and pepper hair. Typically people have this white skirt idea of a nurse, but this woman wore green cotton pants, a matching shirt and the ugliest shoes she'd ever seen. Lex realized she looked warn and tired from the years of service. She must've seen a lot and nothing would be able to surprise her now. "Excuse me?"

"Mmm?" She didn't even look up from the computer screen.

"A father and two sons were involved in a car accident… they were brought here this morning. I was called…"

"Name," still no eye contact.

"Elroy McGilicuty."

"I meant your name."

"Alexis Fields" She was starting to get impatient.

"Sorry, we did not make a call to you."

"No, I know. The younger of the two called…"

"The ICU only allows family into the room, you'll have to wait until we can..."

She slipped. "Family? I knew it may be hard to believe but that is my family in there. Their all I've got."

"Take a seat a Miss, I don't want to be forced to call the orderlies."

"Please call the orderlies. I'd like to see how well they detain me."

"Lex?"

She spun around to the wonderful sound of his voice, and was meant by shock. He looked awful. His left eye was almost swollen shut, there were several deep cuts on his face and his clothing was covered in blood. But her heart fluttered to life just seeing his face. She was so happy to see that he was at least okay. He was a hunter. The damage looked bad, but he'd been through worse.

Quickly she ran over to him wrapping her arms about his neck. He pulled her in and held her there for several long moments taking in the comfort of her arms and her touch. It took a great deal of effort to let her go. "I didn't realize that was you… I mean…"

Dean said leaning up against the desk of the gatekeeper. /Who would've guessed you could clean up so well, Lex. You actually look like girl./ He turned to the nurse. /This girl's with us./ He said, of course no one would hear him. He was a ghost. God, he hated this. He was watching his loved ones as they worried for him, thinking he won't wake up. He was going to wake up. He was.

"Holy shit Sam!" Lex reached up and softly touched his face. "You look like shit."

Sam didn't move from her touch, instead he accepted it. It felt strange to accept it. It wasn't Jessica, and he felt guilty for allowing himself to enjoy it but right now he needed the human interaction. "It looks worse than it is."

/I think I'm gonna be sick./ Dean turned his head away unable to stomach his young brother's dreadful attempts at flirting. /When I get back in my body I'm gonna have to teach you how to get a woman Sammy./

Lex took a moment to collect herself, catching Sam's uncomfortably. "Has anything changed?" She asked pulling away.

"Dad's awake." For a single moment he wished she hadn't pulled away but was thankful she did. His guilt was getting even worse thinking about his family's predicament.

"And Dean?"

Sam's silence was enough for Lex to get the idea. "Sam…"

"They can't know how bad he is until he wakes up…" He paused. "If…"

"Don't say that Sam! We're talking about Dean here. He's one tough son of a bitch. He'll come out of this."

/Thank you Lex. At least someone around here has my back./ Dean barked stepping between them almost yelling at Sam for doubting.

"I hope so…"

"Sam…" Lex turned away. What could she say? There was not much she could say. Right now the only thing capable of making this all better was for Dean did wake up as good as new. She tried to find words only to catch a glimpse of something in Sam's hand. "What's that?"

Sam showed her the list John gave him. "I've gotta go to Bobby's. He's towing the impala back to his shop and Dad wants me to get some stuff."

/You tell Bobby there will be no scrapping my car! I don't care how bad it is! Even if there is only one working part I'll fix her. Make her all new again. Do you hear me Sammy!/ Dean shouted. Obviously no one heard him, but it made him feel better to at least think someone could hear him. The Impala was his baby and he'd be damned if Bobby scrapped her.

Lex caught sight of a couple of ingredients on the list and had to force herself from swearing out loud. "Look, you've been here all day. Take my car, go to Bobby's get some food, maybe take a shower and a change of clothes. I'll stay. If anything changes I'll call you." Lex handed him a set of keys. "I promise I won't leave their side."

Sam wrapped his arms about her again for another long hold. "Thank you Lex. I didn't know who else to call."

"I would've been pissed if you hadn't called me. Now go."

Sam went to this nurse. "She's family. She needs to be able to go in there." The nurse did not look happy, and nodded curtly as she buzzed the door open for Lex to enter. "I'll be back in a few hours."

"I'll be here."

Dean noted the look on Lex's face watching Sam leave. /You really do care for him… for us…/ Dean was truly surprised as he followed Lex through the corridors. /So this really isn't an act./ He could see her uneasiness but she rarely faltered. Dean would have wagered Lex would stop off at John's first. They were close, father-daughter close. But to his surprise she went to him first. His surprise continued to grow as he saw the tears forming in her eyes and run down her cheeks. Lex always came off as this tough as nails chick. But she was crying…

As Lex reached Dean's side, she couldn't stop herself from turning away. Dean looked so broken. This was not the Dean she looked up to and tried to emulate. The Dean she knew from John's stories was tough, strong, smart and capable. He was the embodiment of who she wanted to be, he was like her brother Leon. He was the perfect hunter. This was a beaten and shattered twenty seven year old boy. Lex couldn't hold back the tears any longer. The knowledge of knowing this is was the future all hunters had to look forward to scared her. It was worse knowing this was Dean. What if this was Sam… the thought left a bad taste her in her mouth. It didn't matter which brother. This was not how the Winchester Family was to end. They deserve a hunter's death… not this…

Lex took a cautious step toward him wiping away the tears as they came, thankful no one else was in the room with her. She had a persona to keep up. If Dean could see her now, he'd probably consider her too emotional or something along those lines. The thought made her chuckle. "Sorry…" She said aloud. Even though an unconscious man was lying before her, it felt wrong of her to laugh. "I was just thinking if you could see me crying you'd say something about it. Leon always did, and you remind me so much of Leon. Maybe that's why we butt heads so much. You are so much like Leon, and I hate that. I don't want you to be like Leon…"

Dean couldn't help but be shocked. From the first time they met he made it known he didn't trust her. After The Hellfire Club, he respected her greatly as a hunter, but the trust… it was hard for anyone to gain his trust though she was quickly earning it. They had a few phone conversations, one of which was him asking her help to track down the vampires that got away. He told her to wait for them help once she found them. During that conversation she made it known he had an "older brother complex" and she didn't need an older brother. Her exact words were 'I had an older brother, he's dead and I'm not looking for a replacement,' and then she said she could handle a couple of vampires, especially ones scared and on the run. Dean was about to argue with her. The only reason he didn't was because they had other fish to fry. Like the yellow eyed demon…and the Colt…

She took a moment to gather her thoughts. "You have to come back Dean. I know we've only known each other a couple of months, but I've known about you two for years. John used to tell me all these stories about his two boys. I made it a goal to earn your respect Dean, not just as a hunter but someone you can trust and rely on. I can't do that if you don't come back to us. And if you can hear me and you remember this when you wake up, I'll deny everything." Lex took a long pause. "Ah hell Dean, don't come back because of me and my stupid monologue… come back for Sam and your Dad, they'd kill each other without you around to play referee. They need you now more than ever. With everything that's happened, I honestly don't know if they will last together without you. You're the glue holding your family together…."

/I will come back Lexi. I promise./ There was something in his voice that caused him to be taken aback. No, it was something he suddenly realized about himself. He was pushing Lex away out of fear. The moment he met Lexi he knew there was something important about her and he felt the need to protect her from the world. He hated she was a hunter because he won't be able to protect her. But the question was why… Dean snorted at his realization chalking it up to his paranormal ghostly state.

Lex ran her hands through her strawberry hair as a nervous habit. On her way here, she made several calls to people looking for anyone who might know anyone who could help. Eli was even on the case looking up old school lore to try and find anything. Nothing and so all she could do was wait. She sucked in a stifling breath, leaned down and kissed Dean on the forehead. "Come back to them…" she whispered and walked out.

Before she stepped into John's room she took a moment to gather her wits. It took several minutes before she felt confident enough to face him. He didn't even realize she was there. His eyes were adverted to the far corner of the room and it looked like he mentally wasn't home. Lex choked down some tears seeing how badly he was banged up. His arm was broken, he'd sustained a lot of deep cuts and bruises. The most significant damage was the only thing no one could see, his heart. He was quickly losing one son… and about to lose another.

"Hey John…"

He snapped back to reality. Instantly several different emotions ran across his face. Happiness to be seeing Lex. Anger that she was here when she should be as far away from this place as possible, and confusion about why she was here and how she knew to come here. "Sam called you. I didn't realize you two were getting so close."

"Starting to see the flaw in your plan regarding us meeting."

"Lexi, you really shouldn't be here."

"Not, how are you doing Lex? I am glad you are here Lex… no I'm getting … 'you shouldn't be here Lex…' Maybe that's because you plan on summoning Azazel here."

Dean busted through the room to his father's side. /Dad! Please tell me she's wrong./ Dean swung around and pushed against his father's bed. He maybe a ghost, but he could see the look in his father's eyes. She was right. /God damn it… I'm dying and you want to call Yellow eyes here?/

John looked away from her quickly. "Lex…"

"Save it John. I saw the list of ingredients you gave Sam to pick up. Given that he walked out of here and this place is still intact, I'm guessing he doesn't know."

/What are you planning dad…/

"You didn't…"

"… tell him what you're planning? No. But do you honestly think Bobby won't? Damn it John! The moment Sam finds out he's going to be pissed. You do know he's going to assume your plan is to go toe to toe with Azazel… Why in the hell…"

"Lex, I have my reasons."

"You always do and let me guess, you don't ever plan to share with the class?" She paused a moment laughing at herself. "Of course not. That's not who you are, is it? I've known you since I was twelve years old John! That's ten years of my life and in those ten years you've never changed your ways, even after everything!"

"Lex, please."

She sucked in a breath, quickly pushing her anger aside. Right now was not the time. "You should go see your son. I'll go grab you some java… yes I know black."

"Thank you Lexi."

/Why dad? I'm dying and you want to have a show down with Azazel. Please say something!/ But of course no one could hear him.

She stopped for a moment, thinking about just walking out but something stopped her. "If neither you nor Bobby man up and tell him… I will. I swear. I care a lot for him John. A lot, and he has a right to know what his father is planning…" With that said, Lex walked out the door.

/Damn it Dad! What are you planning! Why summon a demon! God damn you dad! God damn you!/