Author's note: Wow! The number of favorites and follows I have received already is overwhelming. You guys rock! Thank you all. Also to Leah Tatyana Nicole, I am sorry that the preview I sent you does not appear in this chapter. Things change a bit in the editing process. There will be a moment similar to that in the future. I promise.

I do not own Supernatural or any characters found there in. Alex and the Mayfair mythology are my own.

Chapter 1

"Alex?"

She gave him a slow half smile.

"Hey Dean," she said as she put her blade away. "Welcome to Purgatory."

He stared at her for what felt like an eternity, completely dumbfounded. The woman standing before him, covered in blood, was the same one he had seen follow his brother into the pit years before. So great was his bewilderment that it took him a moment to realize what she had said.

"Wait, did you just say Purgatory?"

Alex placed her blade back in it's sheath and picked up her bow. "Yeah" was her only response.

Dean stood and looked around in trepidation. He could hear more of the hideous creatures approaching.

"Come on," Alex said as she scanned the trees. "We can't stay here." She turned and started marching in the opposite direction. She was already a yard into the trees before she realized Dean wasn't following her. She turned and looked back at him.

Dean was still rooted to the spot. Everything was happening so fast that he was having a hard time wrapping his mind around it all.

"You can stay here if you want," she said, "but you'll be dead in an hour." She started moving back towards him, stopping a few feet in front of him. "Look, Dean, not to get all Terminator on you, but come with me if you want to live."

They walked in silence for what felt like hours. Dean kept alternating between studying the woman in front of him and scanning the trees for things that go bump in the night. Alex never wavered. She moved ahead with a singular determination. Each step took them closer to a destination that only she knew.

Soon they came to the mouth of a cave. Alex strode in confidently without pause, Dean following closely behind.

"Where are we going?" he asked.

"Somewhere to rest for the night." Dean looked back at the mouth of the cave to see that it was in fact still daylight. When he commented on it she responded, "It won't be for much longer. If we're going to get far enough back into the cave to light a fire without drawing attention we need to do it now. Oh I almost forgot." She turned and looked at Dean. "Make sure you only step where I do. I've got traps set all over this place."

Dean started taking extra care to step in the small footprints Alex made. He was so engrossed in watching his feet that he didn't notice she had stopped until he ran into her. There was hardly any light left in the cave at this point, but Dean could still see the annoyance in her eyes.

"You didn't have to follow quite that closely," she said.

"Yeah well… just wanted to be sure." Alex rolled her eyes at him. Dean noticed that they seemed to be in the very back of the cave. "This it?"

Alex crouched and pointed to a small opening in the rock that was just big enough for them to crawl through. "Not claustrophobic are ya, Dean?" He watched her take off her weapons and place them in front of her as she began crawling into the dark hole.

The dark crawl space wasn't terribly long, but when Dean emerged on the other side everything was pitch black. He could hear what sounded like rocks hitting one another as small sparks appeared. Soon a fire roared to life in the center of a cavern.

It was obvious that this space had been lived in for a while. Dean could clearly make out what appeared to be a few beds along the walls. Alex knelt in the center of the cave tending to the fire. As she stood, Dean could see her putting away the flint she had used to start the fire.

"Welcome to my humble abode," she said, spreading her arms as if showcasing her surroundings.

"You live here?"

Alex shrugged. "I'm not sure I'd call it living. More like where I go at the end of the day when I'm too tired to fight anymore." She started moving around the space, putting away her weapons and such. It didn't take her long to realize that Dean was still just standing in the entry way. "You gunna sit down or what? You're gunna give me a complex."

Dean moved farther into the room. When he was near the fire, Alex enveloped him in the tightest bear hug he had ever received. He was only caught off guard for a moment before he returned her embrace. "Man it's good to see you, Alex."

"Yeah. Wish I could say the same." Dean pulled back from her in confusion. "So how'd it happen?"

"How'd what happen?"

"How'd you die?" She stepped back and took a seat on one of the logs placed near the fire.

"What?!"

"I'm sure it was a dozy. Would have to be for you to want to stick around and haunt someone. Who was it? Were you haunting Sam? Did he live a good life after you died?"

"Whoa. Whoa. What are you talking about?"

"You were a ghost right?" Dean's brows drew together as he sat down opposite of her. "Who finally put you to rest?"

Dean's mind was spinning. "What are you talking about?"

"Well, that's why you're here. Purgatory is for monsters, Dean. The only humans I've ever seen here were ghosts that got the salt and burn treatment. I'd always hoped that I'd never see you or Sam here unless you were breaking me out. From the look on your face when I said purgatory I'm going to gues that isn't it, so since you're here my guess is a hunt went south and you stuck around to keep an eye on Sammy. Sound about right?"

He shook his head from side to side as he let her words sink in. She thought he was dead. "I, uh, I'm not dead."

"You're not?"

"No. I was just standing a little too close to Dick when he blew."

"Who's Dick?"

Dean told her the story of the leviathan, how Cas had taken all of the souls from Purgatory into himself and somehow took those monsters in as well. A thought came to him, "Wait, if Cas took all the souls from Purgatory, what are you doing here?"

Alex looked confused. "You mean Sam never told you?"

"Told me what?"

"What happened to us?"

Dean raised his eyebrows. "No. Hell, he didn't even remember his time in the pit."

Alex shook her head and gave a small huff. "That explains a lot." She took Dean's expression as a sign to continue. "We didn't go to Hell, Dean. We went to Heaven."

The hunter was astonished. How could Sam not remember that? When they met Joshua he told them that they had been there before and didn't remember sure, but if they were not meant to remember Alex should have no recollection of it either. Her voice cut through his revelry.

"It was wonderful." Alex had a far off look on her face as she took a seat and began to described the little piece of paradise she had shared with Sam. The softness in her voice displayed the fondness with which she viewed those times. "Ash came and visited us a time or two. I even got to see Pam again" Dean smiled. "He kept talking about what it was going to be like when you joined us. Yeah," she nodded, "they told me about your little field trip to the garden."

Dean shook his head, still trying to understand what she was saying. "Then what happened? How did Sam end up in Hell and you get stuck here?"

Alex lay in Sam's arms as they basked in the afterglow of their lovemaking. Time seemed to stand still here. There were no worries. No pain. Dean was safe. Cas had promised them that. The visit from Ash earlier in the day was not entirely unexpected. Sam had told her about running into him in Heaven when he had visited with Dean while she was under Lucifer's power.

Was it still the same day? Time didn't really have a meaning to them anymore. In truth, Alex wasn't even certain that there was a difference between night and day anymore. There was just…the moment. And at that very moment, Alex was very much enjoying the thought of helping Sam wash that slight sheen of sweat off.

"We should probably get cleaned up," she said.

Sam merely grunted, his eyes remaining closed. The arm that was not holding her to his side was thrown above his head. Alex's weight on his chest was a comfort he once feared he would never feel again. Now he had her for all eternity.

They would have been content to spend that eternity doing exactly the same. Until one day when an unexpected visitor came calling.

They were resting on the couch, watching on of Alex's favorite Katherine Hepburn films when an angel they had never met suddenly appeared before them.

"Dean is in danger," he said.

The couple quickly rose to their feet.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

Alex chimed in, "Castiel promised us that a legion of angels would protect him. Dean is fine."

"Castiel is in no position to make that promise," he said. "The angels are at war. All those who were protecting your brother have been recalled to the battlefield."

Sam was confused. "Why are you telling us this?"

"The angels that were guarding your brother are loyal to Raphael. He has agreed to return them to their posts on one condition."

Sam and Alex's emotions were balancing on a knife's edge. Their perfect paradise had been shattered in a single moment. While they had been basking in each other's company, Dean had been left as a lamb to the slaughter. He was an incredible hunter. Maybe even the best the world had ever seen, but he was only half as good without his brother by his side. The Winchester's had accumulated a lot of enemies over the years. They may not know how long they had been away, but they were sure that it was long enough for the whole of the supernatural world to hear the news. That meant they would all be gunning for Dean and anyone close to him would be collateral damage.

"What's the condition?" Alex asked.

The angel leveled his gaze solely on her. "Castiel should never have brought you here. You are the Mayfair. You have no place in Paradise. By the nature of your very birth you should be rotting in Hell as we speak." His words cut like the cold hard steel on a highly sharpened blade, fast and clean. He turned his attention to Sam. "You gave Lucifer permission to claim his vessel. It is unatural for you to escape the fire down below while he burns for all eternity. All Raphael asks is that you accept the true nature of your eternal resting place and return to your rightful home."

Sam could feel Alex trembling beside him and pulled her more tightly into the circle of his arms. It was a fate they had both feared, but had once been willing to accept to save those they loved. Now they were faced with that choice again. By agreeing to the archangel's terms, they would save one of their own but condemn themselves to eternal suffering.

'Dean would do it for me,' thought Sam. 'He has done it.'

"Okay," he said. "I'll go, -"Alex looked up at him in shock. "- but Alex stays here."

"No, Sam," she said. "You're not going anywhere without me. If you go, so do I."

They studied each other's faces for a moment as the contemplated all they had learned. Silence was the only sound to be heard as they looked into each other's eyes. The look in one mirrored the other. There was a finality there that neither could argue with. A decision had been made, and they were in total agreement. No discussion was required.

Dean was stunned. "Wait a minute. You two gave up Heaven because some asshole angel told you it would keep me safe?"

"Pretty much," she said as she took a drink of water.

"What the hell, Alex!?" Dean exclaimed. He leaned forward on his knees and continued. "You were in Heaven. Everything was perfect. Why would you give that all up?"

Alex looked directly into his eyes as she spoke, her voice calm and steady. "Because it was you, Dean!" He moved away slightly at her outburst. "You, Sam, and I are a team. No, we're family. There is nothing we wouldn't do for each other. If things were reversed, can you honestly tell me that you wouldn't do the exact same thing to keep one of us safe?"

He looked away. What she said was true. Dean had willingly gone to Hell for Sam once. Knowing everything he did now about what would be waiting for him upon arrival, he would gladly do it again. Memories of his time there began to race through his mind, coupled with what Death had told him about the state of Sam's soul when it had been recovered.

Sam had barely kept it together. Dean was there to ground him. Sam and Alex had done much the same for him. He was grateful for that. A thought crossed his mind, and he looked to the woman sitting across from him. She was back to staring into the fire. Watching her, Dean could see subtle changes in her. The mirth that used to dance in her eyes was gone. Instead of dancing with laughter, they were as hard and cold as stainless steel.

Clearing his throat he asked, "So what happened?" She shifted her eyes to his face. "How did Sam end up top side, and you get stuck down here?" She looked back into the flames and began telling her story again.

The smell of her own flesh roasting filled her nostrils as another piece of flesh was slice from her bones. A cry of pain stuck in her throat. Her ability to scream in pain had left her long ago, her vocal cords bleeding from the abuse and causing her to taste blood when she tried. She could hear Sam's screams serve as evidence of his own anguish.

She had lost track of how long it had been. The years had melted into a constant stream of blood and pain. One of the few consolations she had in her turmoil was that Michael and Lucifer were getting much the same treatment that she and Sam were. Their screams of agony joined in chorus with their own.

Each day passed much like the last, until one day the walls ripped open in a burst of light and an angel appeared in Hell. He began fighting back the demons that tortured them as he made his way towards Sam. He cut the hunters binds, setting him free.

Sam fell to his feet, to weak to stand on his own. The angel pulled him up by the arm, healing him as he went. Before he could flee with Sam in tow, another group of demons rushed in and began attacking him.

With the angel distracted, Sam was able to take up one of the bloody knifes used to torture his beloved and set her free. He cut her binds and pulled her into his arms.

"Come on," he said. "Alex, come on. I'm getting you out of here."

He started pulling her towards the fighting angel of their salvation. Upon seeing her in Sam's arm's the angel became very upset.

"No! I was only sent for you!" he yelled to Sam.

"I'm not leaving without her!"

"I'm sorry."

The angel actually looked apologetic as he grabbed Sam roughly by the arm, causing him to lose his grip of Alex as he began pulling him towards the exit.

"No!" he yelled. "Alex!"

She reached her hand towards him. He grabbed her hand with all of the strength he could muster.

"No wait! We have to take her with us!"

The angel kept insisting that he was only sent for Sam, but he continued to fight to get free and reclaim her hand. Finally, he manadge to latch on and began dragging her after him. They were nearly home free until one of the injured demons grabbed Alex's ankle and began to pull her back to the Pit. His grip on her was so strong that her hold on Sam began to lessen.

"Sam!" she called.

"Alex!"

He reached for her with both hands as she began slipping from his grasp. As her hand began to slip through his fingers he could feel his soul going with her. Just as she was about to lose her hold on Sam completely, she summoned all of her strength to kick the demon off of her leg. The demon let go with a howl of pain, but it was too late.

"No!" Sam bellowed as his soul reached out and attached himself to her. Without something solid to hold on to, she lost her balance and fell forward onto her face.

"Sam!" she cried as she pulled herself up onto all fours and reached for him, but he was already too far away. All she could reach was the shadow of him, a shadow that as she fell to the ground came with her. Alex watched in horror as Sam was dragged away from her. She looked at the two pieces of him. A pale shadow came to rest at her side while his body moved farther and farther away. The look in his eyes as he did became hard. They no longer looked at her with the love they had once held.

The remaining demons began to scramble towards the shadowy figure of Sam next to her. She looked at it. The eye she saw there held the look she knew so well. "Go," it told her. "Hurry!" It turned and tried to fight of the horde of demons bearing down on them.

Alex drew herself up and ran towards the remaining light the angel left in its wake. She could no longer see Sam or the angel. The gap threw which it took Sam was rapidly closing. In a last desperate attempt, she leapt forward towards the closing gap and just managed to make it through.

She landed hard on cold ground in the middle of a forest. She could hear creatures closing in on her from every side. Sam and the angel where nowhere in sight.

"I've been here ever since." Alex hung her head slightly as she finished. She kept expecting Dean to say something, but there was only silence. Eventually the silence stretched on to the point of discomfort. Alex looked up at Dean who was sitting there dumbfounded.

He was looking at her with what she could only describe as pity. She didn't look away. She met his gaze dead on and waited for him to say something.

"Wow! Alex I… I uh…," he struggled to find the words to express what he was feeling at that moment. What do you say to the person who left Heaven for Hell to save you and then got stuck Purgatory because an angel only wanted your brother? There is nothing you can say to make up for that, but Dean wanted to try. "Alex, I'm so –"

She cut him off. "Don't you dare tell me your sorry, Dean." There was something akin to venom in her voice that caused Dean to raise his eyebrows in astonishment. She hardly ever spoke to him like that. "I'm not. I know you and Sam looked for me. That's all that matters."

Dean just nodded. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that Sam had come back not caring where she was, or that they were so busy dealing with the leviathans that they had actually spent very little time looking for her after the initial leads ran dry. He simply nodded his understanding and left things as they were.

"Get some rest, Dean. We have a busy day tomorrow."

"What are we doing tomorrow?"

Alex stopped in her process of settling into her resting place and said, "Tomorrow we start your training."

"Training? Sweetheart, I've been hunting my whole life. I don't think there is anything you can teach me."

"Oh really? Than tell me, Dean. What are the three most likely monsters you're going to run into in Purgatory and how do you get rid of them? Where else can you take shelter when darkness comes?" Dean didn't answer. "I thought so. Now get some rest. We've got an early start tomorrow."

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