Author's Note: Sorry for the long wait on this one. I had to rewrite the final scene about six times before I was happy with it. I hope y'all enjoy.

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

Chapter 12

The large wrought iron gate read Cassity Farm in giant gold letters. Truth be told, it didn't look much like a farm to any of them. When they heard the word farm they thought of cows and corn fields. Not the mansion sized home and fancy gates they saw before them. Dean brought the Impala to a stop a few yards from the house.

"All right," he said, "keep an eye out. Anybody with a Hellhound on their ass is gunna be showing signs. Alex," she perked up in the back seat, "you see any of those four legged monsters you let me know."

She gave him a mock salute. "Aye. Aye, Captain."

Dean rolled his eyes and started to get out of the car.

"What if we find someone?" Sam asked.

"You get 'em clear." He stashed the demon-killing knife in his jacket's inner pocket. "I spike fido. The crowd goes wild."

Stepping out of the Impala, they took in their surroundings. Not many people seemed to be milling about. A faint ratcheting sound was coming from a nearby tractor. They moved towards the sound and saw a pair of work boots sticking out from under the metal beast.

"Hey, pal, who runs this joint?" Dean asked.

The owner of the boots slid out from under the tractor. "You're looking at her." Alex's eyes went wide at the sight of the beautiful Hispanic woman. She was not what she was expecting, and judging by Sam's reaction, she wasn't what he thought they would find either.

"You… own the ranch?" he asked.

"Nope." She wiped her hands on an old rag. "Just manage the property. You guys here about the job?"

Dean quickly jumped in. "How'd you guess?"

"We get our share of drifters." She studied Alex for a moment. "Not many women though. Any of you ever worked a farm before?"

She saw through the BS pretty quickly when Dean tried to blow one past her. Alex quickly jumped in, assuring her that they were hard workers that learned fast and wouldn't disappoint. It didn't look like she believed them, but after a few moments she told them to follow her.

The hunters followed her towards the barn. They asked a few probing questions along the way to see what they could learn about the Cassitys. She managed the property for them and had done so for some time. So she knew a fair bit about them. Apparently the family was scattered to the four winds, but one of the daughters and her husband still lived in the main house. Walking into the barn, she stopped near a door and slowly pushed it open to reveal a small room with four simple beds.

"You bed down here," She said. "Breakfast is at 5:00. Dinner is at 8:00. In between, your mine. Any questions?"

Dean looked around what would be their living quarters and his face fell. "I miss my room."

The woman looked at him strangely. Sam quickly jumped to cover for his brother by assuring her that they understood. The job she was offering wasn't great, but it was their way in. Besides, earning some honest money once in a while couldn't hurt.

"We'll take the job," said Sam.

"Good." The woman extended her hand towards him. "I'm Ellie."

"Sam," he said as he shook her hand before introducing the others in turn.. " This is Alex, and that's my brother Dean."

Once everyone was acquainted, she advised them to get their stuff unloaded. She had work for them to do.

Dean muttered under his breath as he took another heaping shovel of manure and lifted it into the wheelbarrow. When Ellie had told them that it was crap work he didn't think she was being quite so literal. They'd been cleaning out the stables for the last half hour, and they were still nowhere near done. Resting his shovel against the wall, he wiped the sweat from his brow.

A horse stuck their head out to see what was going on. Dean walked up to the animal and said, "I hate you."

"No he doesn't," Alex said as she came over and began petting the animals snout. "He's just cranky because he has to work for once."

Dean became a bit agitated. "Hey! I work all the time!"

"Since when does having a beer and arguing with Sam count as work?" She flashed in a snarky grin before kissing the horse's nose and getting back to work.

Sam watched the exchange between the two of them with a smile. Seeing Alex mess with his brother like that was just pure delight. That is of course until Dean started to take it seriously.

"Hey. Hey. Hey," Sam said as he moved between them. "Relax okay? It's just a joke."

Dean was preparing to get in his brother's face when her heard Ellie arguing with someone.

"I don't care. Do I look like a hippie?"

The trio watched as a woman they knew to be Alice argued with Ellie over what they were feeding the horses. It ended when Alice pointed out that she was in fact the one paying for everything and walked away.

Ellie's shoulders slumped. She noticed her new workers watching her out of the corner of her eye and moved towards them.

"She's a real piece of work, huh?" asked Dean.

"Alice Cassity's a piece of something all right?"

Alex placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. "You okay?"

Ellie gave her a tight-lipped smile. "I'm fine. Besides, what are we gunna do? She's the boss." She walked away.

They waited until they were sure that she was out of earshot before starting their new conversation.

"So," Sam said, "what are we thinking?"

"Alice is a bitch?" offered Alex.

Sam became annoyed and made one of his famous bitch faces. "No. I mean about who made the deal." When he saw Alex's grin widened, he knew he'd been had. His own mouth began to twitch up at the corners as he began to smile.

The smiles proved infections as Dean joined in. It made him happy to see the two of them making some sort of progress. Watching them dance around each other was becoming painful. Hopefully this little interaction meant that things would get back to normal soon. Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, Dean brought them back to the task at hand.

They went over their options. Ellie and Carl were quickly ruled out. The rest of the family wasn't around. That left only one person. Alice.

After dinner, they had decided to go come up with a gameplan. Each of them would take turns watching Alice. Dean was on the first watch of the night. He'd come get Sam in a few hours, and then Alex would take the final shift before breakfast.

Alex stretched out on her bed to relax and get a little sleep. The beds in the bunk were surprisingly comfortable. They had slept on far worse. She had just shut her eyes when she heard Sam speak up.

"Why are you shutting me out?"

Her eyes flew open as she turned to face the man sitting of the bed next to hers. "What?"

"I'm trying here, Alex. I just don't know what else you want from me. Every time we start to get close you pull away, and I want to know why."

She sighed as she pulled herself into a seated position. When she looked into Sam's eyes, she could see the longing for answers. Telling Sam about the missing piece of his soul was inevitable. He would have to know some day. He deserved to know. She was just hoping she could find a way to fix it before she told him.

Steeling her resolve, Alex opened her mouth to speak just as a howl could be heard in the distance. Sam watched her eyes go wide and her shoulders rigid.

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear wha.." Sam trailed off as a second howl, far closer than the last sounded outside their door. His expression now mirrored hers. "Hellhound."

They scrambled to their feet, each grabbing their weapons as they went. They sprinted through the night in search of Dean, finding him peering around the side of the house. Sam gestured for her to follow him around the back so that they could meet up with his brother.

"You guys hear it too?" Dean asked as they came to stand beside him. They nodded.

"Where's Alice?" Alex asked as she double checked the ammunition in her gun.

Dean gestured to the figure walking across the grounds towards the barn. "Spread out. If you find the hound hollar." Sam and Alex nodded before the trio began fanning out in search of the creature.

A spec of movement in the corner of her eye caught Alex's attention. Her head snapped around to the side. The image wasn't clear, but there was a foggy outline of something moving on the other side of the house. She shook her head and looked again. It was still difficult to see, but she watched what she thought was a leg disappear around the veranda, a canine leg. Oh shit. She took off in a dead sprint for the house just as a man's scream of terror ripped through the night air

They watched in silence as the sheriff lifted the white sheet covering Carl's body and recoiled. Alex couldn't blame him. She'd been the one to find the body. His head had been nearly completely severed by the Hellhound's razor sharp claws. The sight had been so gruesome that it caused her to scream in terror as flashes of Dean and Joe's mutilated bodies suddenly swam before her eyes. Everyone had heard her scream and come running. Ellie had only been in the house and arrived first. Alex had regained her wits by then and tried to force her away from the scene, but it was too late. She had already seen what had become of the man.

Sam and Dean had arrived shortly after, Alice not far behind. Sam crashed Alex to his body and held her close, reassuring himself that she was alright. He'd given her a once over, checking for any injuries while Dean went around the corner. She called out to stop him, but he'd already caught sight of the body.

"Jesus," he'd said as he brought a fist to his mouth to stop the bile from rising. Dean had looked haunted as he approached his brother and Alex after that, no doubt reliving his own experience with the hounds.

Once the sheriff had arrived, he started interviewing Alex about what she had seen. She did her best to keep her answers as vague as possible as far as seeing a creature. She made up a story about how she was just walking around enjoying the evening air and getting familiar with the place when she had found him. Saying that she'd seen what she thought was a Hellhound head this way was a sure fire way to earn herself a one way ticket to the looney bin.

"God almighty," the man said as he started to stand.

Sam stood behind Alex, a protective arm around her waist. He hadn't seen the body. Based on his brother's reaction it was probably for the best. He was just grateful that Alex had not been any closer when the thing attacked. A chill actually moved across his spine at the thought of what could have happened.

"You said his head was practically ripped off?" he asked.

Alex looked up at him over her shoulder and nodded.

"And you are?" the sheriff asked.

"Just curious."

Ellie stepped in and explained how the three of them had been hired on just that morning. He gave the trio an appraising look before nodding. "Carl died bad. Let's leave it at that." He looked at Alex. "You gunna be okay, miss?"

She nodded as Sam pulled her a little closer, enjoying the feeling of protection and safety his embraced offered. "Yeah. I'll be fine in a few days."

Nodding again, he looked back down at the sheet covered body.

"They've been reintroducing wolves 'round these parts, but I never thought…"

Ellie cut him off. "This wasn't a wolf." Alex's eyes traveled from the sheet covered body to the woman standing a few feet away. There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes. Ellie clearly knew more than she was letting on. "I got to make some phone calls. The whole family's flying in for this."

"All the Cassity's under one roof," said the sheriff. "Good luck."

They watched as the body was loaded into the meat wagon and drove away. Dean waited until everyone else had cleared out before exploding.

"Son of a bitch!"

"Dean calm down," Sam said.

"Calm down? That was our one shot at finding this thing, and we blew it." He turned his attention to Alex. "I thought you could see these things. Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I wasn't sure if I actually saw it!" Alex shouted. Both brother's looked at her in question.

"What do you mean you weren't sure?" Dean asked. "I'd think a giant fucking demon dog would be pretty easy to identify."

She shook her head. "It's not that. It's just… it was all fuzzy. Like it was only a shadow or something. There was no real shape to it. Not like before. Before they were solid. Now, now it's like they're made of smoke."

"Hey it's okay," Sam said as he ran his hands up and down her arms in a soothing gesture. "We were all looking in the wrong place anyway. Right Dean?" He looked to his brother for confirmation. Instead all he got was a disgruntled reply.

"Yeah. Fine. Whatever." He began to walk away.

"Dean where are you going?"

He just kept walking as he spoke. "To find a way to fix this."

Alex let out a sigh and sagged against Sam's body. Dean was pissed. Understandably so. If anyone should have been able to spot what was really happening it should have been her. Instead, she'd let a kind man die. Then to top it all off they were back to square one when it came to completing the first trial.

"Hey." Sam's voice broke her train of thought. She turned to face him as he placed a hand on each of her shoulders "Don't worry about it. You know how Dean is. He's just being a jerk. Give him a couple minutes to calm down, and it will be like nothing ever happened." She nodded. Sam was right. Dean tended to get worked up over things, but once he had a chance to calm down his brain kicked back in and all was well. "Come on. Let's go see if we can help him find something."

They cut through the barn on their way to their bunks. They paused at the doorway when they saw Alice brushing a horse.

"Go on ahead," Alex said as she studied the woman. "I want to talk to her for a minute."

"You sure?"

She nodded and looked up at him. "Yeah. Go make sure Dean's not doing anything stupid okay?"

Sam walked away without another word. Moving farther into the barn, Alex grabbed a pair of work gloves and tried to make it look like she had a reason to be there. Alice didn't take notice of her until she spoke.

"You okay, Mrs. Cassity?"

"Fine," she replied in a hollow tone.

"You sure?"

"I really am." She seemed amazed by that fact. The more she spoke the stranger it all sounded. It was as if her husband's death hadn't affected her at all. She started to talk about their past and how she used to make fun of him.

"When did the two of you start dating?"

Alice began talking about a Valentine's Day party years before where everything had changed. "Suddenly he was cute and smart and funny. It was magic."

An uneasy feeling formed in the pit of Alex's stomach. Carl had made a deal to win her love. Not to get them money. That meant there was still another hound out there. I've got to tell the boys. She place a hand on Alice's arm and focused. "Let me know if there is anything I can do to help." Try as she might to get a feel what the woman was, she couldn't make it happen. No longer having her powers was becoming a real bitch.

Making haste, Alex trotted over to the bunkhouse and threw open the door to find Sam and Dean in the middle of an argument.

"No, Dean. No!" shouted Sam.

Alex looked back and forth between the brothers as she shut the door. "What's going on here?"

"Dean's planning on summoning a crossroads demon."

"Like hell." She marched forward and stood between the two brothers. "Not going to happen."

"You got a better idea? Plan 'A' bombed, so welcome to plan 'B'. We get some red-eyed bitch in a trap, then we hold a knife on her until she calls us in a pooch special delivery."

"And what happens when Crowley hears what you're doing and sends a whole pack of Cujos after us huh?" Dean didn't have an answer. "Besides, he wasn't the only one who made a deal."

"What?" the Winchesters asked in unison.

She relayed all she had learned from her conversation with Alice. There was still a Cassity out there somewhere that made a deal, and tomorrow they were all going to be in one place. It was time to double down.

Dean couldn't argue with her logic. "Two days. Then we do it my way," he said as he tossed the bag aside.

"We'll only need one." Dean walked past her and towards the door. "Where are you going?"

"To get a drink."

The door slammed behind him. Alex's eyes shifted from the now closed door to the tall man still standing in the room with her. As she looked at him, she started thinking about the look on Alice's face as she talked about remembering loving her husband. The connection between them had been severe when the hound took him. Much like her bond with Sam had been cut when Crowley took the piece of his soul. Looking at him now, all of her insecurities began to resurface. What if when I'm gone he thinks of me the same way?

"Alex you okay?"

She shook herself out of her thoughts. "Yeah. Yeah. I'm good. Just tired. I'm gunna go clean up and hit the sack."

Sam watched her gather her things and walk to the showers, not believing for a moment that whatever she had been thinking about a moment before wasn't bothering her.

They watched as an SUV pulled up to the estate. An old gray haired man stepped out first. Two women followed him. Ellie pointed out each of the family members to them. From what they heard, they were quite the interesting collection of souls.

"How do you know all this?" Sam asked.

"I've been working on this farm since I was 13, and I've got eyes." They all shared knowing smiles. "Okay," Ellie got back to business, "tonight is an all-hands-on-deck situation. I'm gunna need two of you inside, one cooking, the other serving dinner and pouring drinks. A lot of drinks."

Dean slapped Sam and Alex on the back. "Have fun you two. I won't wait up."

Ellie looked over at Dean. "And somebody's gunna man the grill."

This peaked Dean's interest. "What kind of grill?"

Alex wiped her hand against her forehead. The final pie was in the oven and she could finally breath for a moment. Looking through the glass door, she could see Dean flipping the steaks and decided to take him a glass of water while she got some fresh air.

"I like a man who can handle his meat," she heard Ellie say to Dean as she came through the door. Ellie walked past her without a word. When the hunter looked to her friend she couldn't help but notice the little smirk on Dean's face and roll her eyes.

"Here ya go, Romeo."

She handed Dean the water and watched as he gulped down the cool liquid. "Thanks," he said as he handed her back the glass. He glanced through the window and saw his brother's visibly tense stance as he helped fill wine glasses. "You probably ought to get in there and help Sam before he kills someone."

Alex looked inside and saw Sam clench his jaw as one of the daughters waved her hand in a dismissive gesture. She took the now empty glass from Dean and went back inside.

She quickly set about bringing food in from the kitchen. A resounding smack filled the room when she leaned over slightly to place the bowl of mashed potatoes in the middle of the table. Her mouth dropped open in shock as she looked over at the now laughing Noah Cassity. Why you son of a… Sam took hold of her arm and pulled her away before she could let him have it for slapping her ass. Her losing her cool and getting them kicked off the farm was not going to help anyone.

Insults began flying across the table.

"Get cancer and die, old man."

"You first, sweetie."

Sam was shocked. "Are they always like this?" he asked Ellie as he opened another bottle of wine.

She shrugged. "More or less."

"How can you stand to work here?" Alex asked. She took the bottle from Sam.

"I love the property. I love the animals, and I tune out the people."

They shared a little laugh. Tune them out they did until they started talking about a charming man that hand spent an evening with them some time back. Their ears perked up when they started trying to remember the name. Both Sam and Alex stood up straight with wide eyes when they finally got it right. Crowley.

The instant they could slip away, Sam and Alex went in search of Dean. They found him putting out the last of the grills flames. Both of them started to talk at once, dying to share with Dean all they knew.

"Woah. Woah. Woah," Dean said as he held his hands up in front of him to signal to the others that they needed to stop. "Just calm down. Now what the hell are you two on about?"

"It's Crowley," said Alex. "The demon that made the deal was Crowley."

"Crowley?"

Sam nodded. "That's what they said. Apparently, he swung through town 10 years ago, to the day."

Dean sighed and ran a hand down his face. "That's just great. Any idea who signed the dotted line?"

"No idea," said Alex. "They all had a reason to. I mean you should hear them in there. It's freaking bedlum!"

The conversation halted as Dean's phone began to ring. He dug in his pocket and looked at the caller id before answering, placing it on speaker.

"Hey Kev. What's up?"

"Hey Dean," they heard the prophet say from the other end of the line. "Good news, uh, I think...kind of."

"Way to sound convincing there Kev," Alex deadpanned.

"Hey Alex. Sorry. Um, I found something on the tablet about the Hellhounds… uh, this mean anything to you?" He began quoting from the tablet. "The dire creatures may be seen only by the damned or through an object scorched with holy fire."

"Like Holy Oil?" Sam asked.

The three hunters all looked at each other for a moment before agreeing that It was the only logical conclusion.

"We could us a window," Dean offered.

"Or glasses," said Kevin.

A smile spread across Alex's face. "Kevin your a genius. Now get some sleep okay? You're earned it." They could hear the smile in Kevin's voice before Dean closed the phone. "We've got the stuff in the trunk right?"

"Yeah." Dean put his phone back in his pocket. He pointed to Alex. "You two stay here. Don't let JR and the gang out of your sight. I will take care of the, uh, X-ray specs."

Alex nodded and started to move back towards the house with Sam close behind.

Sam and Alex listened carefully to the family's conversation for any clues as to who else made a deal but didn't seem to be getting nowhere. All they heard was hatred and resentment. They had just cleared away the desert dishes when they heard Cindy's comment from the other room.

"Oh look," she said. "Daddy's drunk and armed. Must be Christmas."

The two hunters exchanged a panicked look before peering out the large window to see Mr. Cassity and his youngest daughter heading off into the night.

"Stay here," Sam said as he placed a hand on Alex's arm. "I'll go with them."

"You sure?" Sam nodded. He was almost through the door when Alex called out to him. "Sam." He turned back to look at her. "Be careful."

He smiled. "Always."

The rusted out tin cans on the shelves held everything from paint brushes to old horseshoe nails. Surely there must be a pair of glasses somewhere in one of them that they could use. Dean searched through each of the canisters as quickly as he could. "Bingo," he said as a found a couple of pairs of glasses. Holding them up to the moonlight, he could see that they weren't to terribly scratched. "These 'ell do."

Taking the pitcher of holy oil from the trunk of the Impala, he moved to the side of the barn and poured a small amount onto the asphalt before igniting it. He passed both pairs of glasses through the flame before placing one pair into his pocket. The other pair he placed on his face as he stood. The world seemed muted somehow when he looked at it through the scorched was as if someone had placed a blue filter on the world that made shadows less obvious and light more hazy.

Dean spotted Ellie moving his way and quickly stomped out the flame before she could see it. He gave her his best "I wasn't doing anything" look as she approached.

"I like it…" It took Dean a moment to realize what she meant. When he did, Dean removed the glasses and put them into his pocket with the other pair he'd made for his brother. "... the whole Clark Kent look."

"Ellie, hey."

"Hey." Her voice was a bit lower than normal as she spoke. "So…" She closed the gap between them and placed a hand on Dean's chest while looking him up and down. "I think you're really hot." Dean was a bit surprised by her boldness but said nothing. "You want to go to my room and have sex?"

In every possible scenario his brain had run through for this conversation when he saw her coming his way, this was definitely not one of them.

"What?"

A smile played at the corner of her mouth. "I… sorry. I don't usually do this. I guess I'm feeling my oats." She moved to close the space between their lips when Dean spoke again.

"I can't."

Ellie stopped moving and just looked at him for a moment before backing away in embarrassment. "I-I'm sorry. I, uh, it's Alex right? You're with her. I'm so sorry."

"Oh. No. No. No. God, no! Alex is with my brother, not me." Dean gave her a quick once over and had to stifle a groan. "I want to. Believe me."

"No, it's okay. You don't. It's fine. I guess I'm gunna…" she motioned over her shoulder and turned to leave.

Dean called out to her. "Ellie, um… rain check?"

A sad expression crossed her face. "This is one night only." She looked at him for a moment more before leaving. Dean watched her retreating form in curiosity for a moment before deciding to go find his partners.

Cindy and Alice had retired to the living room while they waited for Sam to return with their father and younger sister. The longer they were away, the more nervous Alex became. She started washing the dishes they had cleared away from the dinner table to keep herself preoccupied. Cindy called to her from the other room for more wine. She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and walked into the other room with the open bottle.

"So," Cindy asked, "what's the deal with you and tall, dark, and handsome? You seem pretty cozy." Alex just glanced up at her before focusing on the wine glass again so she wouldn't overfill it. "Oh come on. I've got to know. Is he that big all over? I mean, does he get the job done if you know what I mean?"

"Cindy!" Alice chided her.

"What? It's just a question." She looked back at Alex who was trying very hard to keep her cool. "So, what's he like?"

Alex was just about to tell her where she could shove her wine glass when she heard the unmistakable sound of gunfire off in the distance. All three women looked towards the window.

"Stay here," Alex said as she moved towards the door. She started reaching for the gun hidden at the small of her back until she saw Sam and Mr. Cassity running towards the house. She let out a sigh of relief.

Opening the door, she watched as Dean ran towards his brother.

"Where's the girl?" Alex asked when they reached the door. Sam gave her a look of remorse as he shook his head. That's all she needed to know that Margot was gone.

"What was that thing?" Noah Cassity asked as he sat with his near frantic daughters.

Dean was more than willing to shoot straight with them all at this point. "It was a Hellhound. See, when you sell your soul to a demon, they're the ones that come and rip it out of you."

"Demon?" asked Alice.

Alex gave Dean an admonishing look. "Way to be subtle, Dean."

"We don't have time for subtle anymore, Alex. One of you made a deal, and we need to know who it is right now."

The family still seemed to be horribly confused. Dean went into telling them all about Crowley and the ten year ticking clock. Nobody seemed to believe him. They looked at the hunters as if they had all lost their minds and remained silent.

"All right," Dean said. "Sam, Alex, seal 'em in."

Sam tossed Alex a bag of goofer dust from his coat pocket and they went about spreading it near every possible exit.

"What is that stuff?" Noah asked.

"It's called goofer dust," Dean explained. "It'll keep the Hellhound out…. for a while."

"What is that - how long?"

"Long enough for me to stab it in its throat." The old man began to stammer and complain about how they couldn't do this. Dean quickly silenced him by drawing his gun and continuing on. "Yes, I can. You want to know why? Because it's what I do. And buddy I'm the best. See, I gut old yeller out there, and maybe - just maybe - you walk away. I don't - you're meat." He pointed the gun at him. "So, sit down, shut up… and put these on." He produced a pair of handcuffs from his back pocket.

The handcuff idea didn't go over so well. Alex eventually had to tell them that either they could put them on, or she would do it for them. When nobody moved, she took the cuffs and started securing them to the furniture. She gave Alice an apologetic smile as knelt down to fasten the cuff.

"I don't… Why are you doing this?"

"So I can save you life."

Noah didn't like that answer very much. "Like you saved Margie?"

Alex looked away. The guilt she felt was almost overwhelming. She should have spotted the hound sooner. If she had done that, then this whole thing would be over. Sam could see the weight slowly crushing her and stepped in.

"Look, I get that you're upset. But don't blame her okay? She could be the one thing that keeps the rest of your family alive."

They shut up pretty quickly after that. Once the hunters were satisfied that the room was sufficiently secure, they gathered in the far corner to talk about their next move. Dean wanted Sam and Alex to stay with the family while he went looking for the hound. That was an idea they quickly shot down.

"I'm gunna come with you," Sam said.

"Wrong."

"No Dean," said Alex. "There is no way in Hell you're going out there by yourself. If anyone is going to go out there alone it's going to be me. I don't need any stupid glasses to see the damn thing if it's coming for me."

"No. If you go out there he'll be distracted." He gestures to his brother. "And I need both of you to be safe."

"When are we ever safe, Dean?" Sam asked.

"This is different."

"How?" Sam and Alex ask in unison.

Dean sighed. He didn't know how to explain to them that securing their future meant more to him than his own life. He'd seen them literally go through Hell and back to save each other. He couldn't let that be for nothing. He was willing to make this sacrifice for them, for their future.

"So I'm gunna do these trials," he said. "I'm gunna do them alone. End of story. You're staying here. I'm going out there. If landshark comes knocking, you call me." He looked at Alex. "Don't try to be a hero." He turned his attention back to his brother. "If you try to follow me. I'm gunna put a bullet in your damn leg." Dean walked away. He paused as he opened the door and turned back to warn Alex. "That goes for you too, sweetheart. You stay with Sammy and make sure the Brady bunch in there doesn't get turned into puppy chow." With that, Dean went off in search of their four-legged friend. Sam and Alex watched him go for a moment before going back to check on the family.

Sam stood at the large picture window peering out into the night with his scorched glasses while Alex sat on the far side of the room, shotgun in hand, keeping a watch on all the doors. Dean had been gone for about half an hour now with no sign of the hound. All the family had done the entire time had been to argue. Cindy and Noah were the worst. Every time one of them would start in on the other, Alex would roll her eyes and suppress the desire to groan out loud.

It was apparently getting on Sam's nerves as well. He turned and shouted, "All right. That's enough!"

"Oh, is it, four-eyes? Is it enough?" Cindy spat back at him.

Alex started to bristle. When Noah Cassity said something about not understanding why they thought that one of them made a deal she couldn't hold her tongue any longer.

"You want to know why?" she said as she rose to her feet. "Your family struck oil where there wasn't any. Everyone suddenly seems to be having these big, life altering wishes going on, and Crowley is an ass that loves to screw people over. That's why I think someone made a deal. Now, if one of you would be so kind as to step up and admit that you did it everything will go much smoother." She paused. Crickets. "That's what I thought." She took up her position again with a huff causing Sam to smile.

She did always have a way with words. He watched her for a moment. When her eyes met his, she returned his smile. He had no doubt that it had felt good to say all of that after listening to them bicker all night long. A silent conversation passed between the two until Noah spoke and ruined the moment.

"I need to take a leak."

It was Sam's turn to huff. "Hold it."

"Yeah, at my age? Not really an option, so either you let me go or get me a bottle."

Alex stood. She grabbed a vase and dumped the fake flowers onto the floor before presenting the now empty vase to the head of the Cassity family.

"Here ya go."

Everyone had been so preoccupied with Cindy and Noah's bickering that they hadn't noticed Alice slowly working her way out of the handcuffs until she suddenly made a break for it. She was out of the room and through the door before anyone could react. Alex immediately started to give chase. Sam caught her by the arm as she reached the door.

"No, you stay with them. I'll go get her."

Alex started to protest, but he was already through the door. A chilling howl pierced the air as she moved back into the sitting room. She raced to the window, but couldn't see anything. Sam shoved Alice back into the room."Did you hear that?" he asked.

"Yeah." Another howl sounded. "We should go help Dean." She started to move through the door only to slam into Sam's massive frame.

"I'll go. You stay with them encase it get's here first." She started to protest. Sam grabbed the back of her head and pressed his lips to hers in a brief but fierce kiss. "I'll be right back." With that, he disappeared into the night to look for his brother.

Sam raced through the night, gun at the ready, in search of his brother. The glasses on his face felt awkward. They kept trying to slide down his nose. His heart began to race when another howl sounded in the night, much closer than before.

"Sam!" Dean shouted as he emerged from the barn. Sam raced to his brother. "Where's Alex?"

"She's with the family. Dean, the Hellh…"

Dean cut him off. "Good. She can keep them out of the way. It's after Ellie."

"Ellie?"

"Yeah. I'll explain later. Look, she's holed up in her room." He motioned to his right. "I'll go this way. You go around back. You see anything, you holler. Understand?"

The resoluteness in his brother's tone left no room for argument. Sam simply nodded and went off in the direction Dean had indicated. He was halfway around the barn when he hears his brother's shout of pain and took off running.

Dean was positioned against the far wall, eyes closed. He held a hand to his bleeding side as the Hound snarled just a few feet from his face. Scanning the room, Sam saw the knife lying on the ground a few yards away from him. Sam raised his shotgun and fired two shots into the beast side before diving for the knife. His fingers were just about to close around the object when something akin to a freight truck drove into him. Sam landed on his back and let out a sharp cry when a slicing pain exploded across his side.

The hound's howl was so close now that Alex kept expecting to see it at any moment. She kept a watchful eye out the window and a ready hand on her shotgun.

"Are they really going to kill us?" Alice asked.

Alex turned away from the window. "Not on my watch."

The two women exchanged small smiles until shots could be heard outside. Alex spun back to the window, eyes wide, hoping to see the boys. There was no sign of them. Another shot sounded.

"Everyone just stay here," Alex ordered as she dashed for the door.

She raced in the direction the shots had come from. Her heart was racing. Sam's name kept running on a loop in her mind. Have to get to Sam. Have to get to Sam. She heard him cry out in pain just before bursting through the door, shotgun at the ready. Dean lay barely conscious on the far side of the room while Sam was struggling to hold the demon dog off of him. It was snapping violently at his face. Alex raised her gun, but quickly dropped it. They were too close together. It wasn't salt rounds that she was packing, and at her current distance she couldn't be sure she wouldn't hit Sam.

That's when she saw it. The blade was laying between her and Sam. She dropped the gun and moved without hesitating. She slid to her knees and grabbed the blade. Momentum carried her forward into a roll. She crashed into the beast, pulling him off of Sam. They continued to roll, the Hound thrashed in her grip as she came to a stop on her back. The creatures hot sulfur laden breath spread across her face. Tightening her grip on the knife, she plunged it upward into the animal's side. It's growls turned into howls of pain as she sliced open it's abdomen. Hot black blood poured from the hound, bathing Alex in the sticky substance.

Dean groaned as he lowered his shirt back down. Alex had just finished stitching his side, and he was feeling it. His head was fine. Just a knot from where he'd hit it when the Hound had attacked him. Both of the boys had gashes in their sides. Since Dean seemed to be bleeding more, she'd checked him first once she'd had washed as much of the Hounds blood off of her as possible. Most of it clung to her clothes and not her skin. She'd never been so thankful for wearing layers before in her life. Her favorite jacket was ruined, but everyone seemed to be okay for the most part. That's what was important.

"You need to go to a hospital," Ellie said as she watched Dean hop down from the table he'd been sitting on.

"Oh, I've had worse," he replied.

Ellie looked to Alex as she finished cleaning up the supplies she'd used. Getting no answer from her, she turned her attention to Sam. "Yeah," he said with a nod. "He's had worse."

She had a hard time believing that. Then again, just a few days ago she'd never met a hunter. So what did she know?

"So, what now?" she asked.

Dean was the one to answer her. "Now you start running. We'll make you a hex bag. Alex here's pretty good at them. If Crowley can't find you, then he won't be able to sic another mutt on you."

"So, I'm not going to Hell?"

"Not today."

Those words hung in the air for a moment as both Sam and Alex struggled to hold their tongues. She was still going to end up in Hell eventually. There was no way around that. It was actually the first topic up for discussion once Dean asked her to leave the room. His only response was that it wouldn't happen if they could close the gates. The mention of the gates suddenly reminded Alex of the spell.

"Give me the spell," she said as she stood up from where she had crouched to retrieve her bloody clothing and held out her hand for the piece of paper Dean has written it on. Instead of giving her the scrap of paper, Dean grabbed the shirt out of her hand. Alex shook her head and sighed. "It's not going to work Dean."

He didn't listen. "Kah-nuh-ahm-dahr." He waited for a moment but nothing happened. He tried it again.

Sam stepped up next to Alex and placed a hand on her shoulder. He exchanged a brief look with her before turning his attention back to his brother. "Dean…"

"Doesn't matter," he said before turning to face the others. "We'll track down another Hellhound, and I'LL kill it."

A sad look crossed Alex's face. "No, Dean. We're not."

"Alex, I didn't pass the test."

"But I did!"

They hadn't realized that they had been increasing in volume until she had shouted. Both hunters took a step back. Alex took a deep breath and continued.

"You may not have passed it, Dean, but I did. And I'm doing the rest of them."

"Like Hell you are." "No!" The boys said in unison.

Sam studied Alex's face when she turned to look at him. She clearly had not expected him to jump into this discussion, but he'd heard the resolute tone in her voice and panicked. He could only imagine the road that lay ahead for her if she did decide to continue these trials, and the thought scared him. Nothing Heaven had ever asked of any of them had been pleasant. The last time they'd played by the rules they'd both ended up in Hell. He didn't want that to happen to her again.

"Look guys," Alex looked back and forth between the two brothers, "I'm closing the gates of Hell, and that's all there is to it."

Dean started shaking his head, "No. No, Alex. There is no way that I…"

"That you're what Dean? That you're going to let me?" She took a step closer to the elder Winchester. "You don't have a choice Dean. Look, this is a suicide mission for you. I may not be able to read your mind anymore, but I know you Dean. You walk around with this giant weight on your shoulders like it's all your responsability, but it's not. We're a team. I've got this one. So take a knee and let me handle it."

"Alex, come on…"

She placed a hand on his chest. "No. Dean, please. Let me do this." There was a pleading in her eyes when he looked at her. "You're needed here. A lot more than I am." Dean cut his eyes to Sam. There was a look of both pain and confusion at her words that caused Dean's heart to constrict in his chest. She had to know that she meant more to Sam than this, but she continued. "While I don't plan on bowing out when this is over, we all know it's a possibility. But while you want to die, I want to live. I've fought to hard to just throw in the towel now. So I'm going to do this, and you are going to make sure that if anything happens to me Sam is okay. He needs you, Dean. So please, let me do this."

Alex's eyes pleaded with Dean as Sam looked on. Dean just nodded and handed her the slip of paper. Before she could take it out of his hand, he grabbed a hold of her with his other and forced her to look at him. "Fine, but if we find another one I'm taking over. Got it?"

She nodded her agreement and looked to the paper in her hand. "Kah-nuh-ahm-dahr."

Liquid fire seared her veins, burning so intensely that she could actually see them glowing in her forearms. She let out a cry of pain and fell to her knees. Sam was at her side in an instant, pulling her into his arms and calling her name.

The pain left nearly as quickly as it started. The rush of sensation left Alex gasping on the floor. Feeling weak, she leaned into Sam and took comfort in his presence.

"Hey, hey, talk to me," he said as he brushed a strand of hair from her now sweaty face. "You alright?"

She nodded and moved to stand back up. Sam kept a hand on her arm to steady her as she rose.

"Yeah. I'm okay. I-I can do this."

Both brother's just watched her for a moment as she regained her bearings. Something had clearly just happened to her, but they both knew they weren't going to get anything more out of her. Dean took his attention off of Alex and shifted it to his younger brother. Sam look almost pained as he observed her. The words she'd just said about Sam needing him replayed in his mind. If she thinks that my brother needs me more than he does her, she's dead wrong. Dean quickly made an excuse to bow out of the room for a while to give them a moment. They needed to talk, and there wasn't much chance of them doing that if he was still around.

"Hey," Sam said the moment Dean closed the door behind him, "you sure you're okay?"

Alex looked down at the hand he hand placed on her arm to turn her towards him before look up at him. "Yeah. I'm okay." She gave him a sad little smile before looking away. Her eyes landed on the bloodstain on his side. "I better take a look at that," she said as she gestured to his side.

"No really. I'm okay."

"Sam, please."

Her tone was final. While she turned to gather the supplies, Sam slipped out of his plaid shirt and pulled the other over his head so that she could more easily access the wound. The sight of his naked torso made her mouth run dry. He was still the most gorgeous specimen of a man she'd ever seen. Regaining her composure, Alex made her way towards him and started cleaning away the blood.

Sam's cut wasn't nearly as deep as his brother's, but it was twice as long. It ran from up near his chest all the way down his side, disappearing under the hem of his jeans. Alex's hand stilled when she reached his waistband.

She cleared her throat. "Take your pants off."

"W-what?" Sam asked.

She gesture to the gash in his side. "It, uh, goes down farther than I thought. I need to take a look at it. So take your pants off."

Sam just looked at her for a moment before standing to remove his pants. A palpable tension rose between them as he watched her tend to the cut. Her touch was gently as she checked for additional damage and carefully bandaged his side.

"I don't think it needs stitches," she said as she taped the last piece of gauze in place. "It wasn't as deep as I thought." She stood to move away. "You don't need any stitches." Her eyes met Sam's and time stopped.

No words were said for several minutes as they just stared at each other. The air between them crackled and popped until Sam finally reached out and pulled her to him. Her lips quickly yielded to his as he tilted his head to deepen the kiss. His tongue traced along her bottom lip until she opened to him, their tongues moving together in a dance they knew all too well.

Sam stood and pulled her flush against him. His hands trailed down her body until he found her luscious backside. Giving it a squeeze, he lifted her up to wrap her legs around his waist. A strangled sound of pain escaped him as her leg came into contact with his freshly bandaged side.

Alex quickly backed away. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay," Sam said as he reached out to pull her back towards him. "I'm fine." She took another step back.

She shook her head no. "We can't."

"What? Alex I'm fine."

She shook her head. "It's not that, Sam." She let out a sigh. If they were going to take that next step, then he needed to know everything.

"Did I do something wrong?" he asked. She shook her head. "Is this about Amelia? Are you still mad at me for not looking for you? Alex I swear I…"

"No," she cut him off. "It's not that."

"Then what is it."

Alex turned and looked out the small window. She waited for several minutes, searching for the right words to say. Eventually she realized there weren't any. So she just started talking. She talked about Heaven and Hell. About the centuries she spent in Purgatory trying to get back to him. Then, she told him about Crowley.

"He took a piece of your soul, Sam."

"What?'

She took a deep breath before continuing. "When he took my magic he took a piece of your soul too."

He was confused. What could he have in his soul that Crowley would want? "What piece did he take?"

Alex turned to look at him. He could see tears glistening in her eyes as she spoke. "He took the piece that tied your soul to mine." His brow knit in confusion. "Soulmates share a piece of the other's soul. That piece is what binds them together for eternity. That's the piece that Crowley took from you, Sam. That's why you were able to stop looking for me. That's why you were able to be happy with Amelia, because your soul isn't tied to mine the way mine is to yours. Not anymore." A tear slide down her cheek before she could brush it away. "That's why I can't be mad at you Sam. You're still my soulmate, but I'm not yours anymore.I never told you because I thought I could fix it. I thought I could find a way to get it back to you, but now..."

Tears flowed unchecked after she finished speaking. Each tear was like a small dagger in his flesh. Sam moved forward and pulled her into his arms. He held her against his chest as she cried out her fear and frustration. He could only imagine what it must be like for her to carry that weight. So he did the only thing he could. He held her. He held her and promised himself that he would find a way to fix it.

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