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

Chapter 14

Stretching her tired muscles, she looked over at her bedmate with a smile. Sam's hair was tousled and sticking out all over the place. His lips were slightly parted allowing soft snores to escape. It had been incredibly late when they'd made it back to the bunker. Each of them had been so tired that they'd gone straight to bed. Alex had actually been headed down the hallway to her own room when Sam had taken a hold of her hand and pulled her into his.

They hadn't really talked about anything since their night together, but it didn't matter. One look in his puppy dog eyes and she knew where she was supposed to be. Consequences be damned. She'd worry about eternity later. Now as she laid there looking at him, she knew she'd made the right choice.

The sensation at the back of her throat warned her that another coughing fit was coming. She'd had several recently. There hadn't been any more blood, so she'd just shrugged it off as a cold her body was trying to fight off. Deciding that trying to go back to sleep was pointless, Alex very carefully got out of bed and padded down the hallway for a drink of water.

The kitchen light hummed slightly overhead as she flipped the switch. The harsh light stung her eyes for a moment before she made her way to the cabinet for a glass. She noticed the freshly brewed coffee and assumed that Dean was already up. She thought about drinking the coffee for a moment, but decided to stick with her original plans for a glass of water.

The first drink of water tasted wonderful. It soothed her sore throat and refreshed her senses. The second was not so rewarding. A coppery taste met her tongue when she swished the water around in her mouth. The taste was so horrible that she actually spat the water back into the glass. She stared with wide eyes as the water turned pink.

Running to the sink, she spat into it and nearly screamed in terror at the sight of her blood. She looked at herself in the mirror. Pull it together, Alex she told herself. She immediately turned on the sink and started working to rinse out both the glass and the sink. If either of the boys thought anything was wrong with her they would make her stop the trials. She was not going to let that happen.

She was so focused on what she was doing that she didn't notice Dean walk into the kitchen for his second cup of coffee. He studied her. Her movements were frantic and harsh. Even with her back to him, he would bet his stylish "dead man robe" she was frowning.

"What's wrong with you?" he asked.

Alex did her best to keep her face neutral as she spun around to look at him. "Wh - nothing. Why?"

Dean motioned to the sink with his mug, "because you looked like you were in the middle of something there."

Looking to the sink at her back, Alex made sure every trace of blood was gone before she looked back at him. "I uh just getting something off the bottom of the sink." He didn't look like he really believed her, but any chance he had to question her disappeared when his brother came into the room behind him.

"Morning," Sam muttered as he shuffled around Dean and made his way to Alex. He gave her a quick peck on the lips in greeting. She silently prayed that there was no trace of blood on them as they pulled apart.

"Either of you heard from Kevin?" Dean asked.

Sam poured himself a cup of coffee. "No. I haven't." He held the pot up to Alex asking if she wanted a cup. She shook her head no.

Dean came up behind him. "Here give me some of that." Sam filled his mug. "What about you Alex? You hear anything from brainiac recently."

"No. Not yet."

The three of them moved into the control room and continued talking.

"What's it been? Like three weeks?" asked Dean. "I mean come on man. It's a book. Read it."

Alex took a seat across from him at the map table. "If reading God's handiwork were that easy, Dean, we wouldn't need a prophet to do it." She quirked an eyebrow at him. He nodded his concession. "You hear from Cas yet?"

Dean shook his head. "Nothing."

"Okay," said Sam. "So no word from Kevin, and Cas is MIA. Now what?"

"Personally I vote we take a couple days off," Alex offered. "I think we could all use a few days to just research and recharge before we hit the trail again. At least I could."

Sam agreed with her. While they could all use a break, he was actually kind of worried about her. There were bags under her eyes that hadn't been there before, and the number of coughing fits she was having made him a bit uneasy. Alex didn't get sick very often, thank God, but when she did she was down for the count. Hopefully taking a few days off would let her body heal.

The concept of the human soul is far too complicated a matter to fully understand in its enti...

Alex slammed the book shut in frustration. "Fuck!" It was all the same. Every single book she found said the same thing, and it was really starting to piss her off. All she had done for the last week was research ways to mend a soul with little to no progress.

"Still no luck?" Sam asked as he walked into the room.

He placed a steaming cup of hot coffee in front of her as she held her head in her hands.

"It's ridiculous. You'd think with all their knowledge the Men of Letters would have learned something about severed souls." She rubbed her temples for a moment before reaching for her mug. Sam's mug made a soft thudding sound as he placed it on the table before going to stand behind her. A soft moan escaped Alex's mouth as his large hands began to work at the knots in her neck and shoulders. "That feels nice."

He gave a soft chuckle. Once he was convinced that she was at least somewhat relaxed, he took his seat to her right once more. "Better?"

She nodded. "Yeah. Thank you."

"No problem." They sat in silence for a moment enjoying their coffee. Even though she was more relaxed, Sam could practically hear the gears in Alex's head turning.

When she had possessed magic a lot of mystical knowledge just came to her. It poured out of her like water when she needed it. Now it was a bit more difficult. Old spells came to mind with perfect recall. It was just the new stuff that seemed to be missing.

"You know I'm not going anywhere right?" Alex pulled herself from her daydream and gave him a weak smile. He took hold of her hand and brought it to his lips, placing a soft kiss on the back of her hand.

"I know."

And she did know that. She knew that he had no intention of going anywhere. The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach just wouldn't listen.

Sam stood up and pulled her hand slightly. "Come on."

"Where are we going?"

"You need a distraction."

A sparing match may not have been what first popped into Alex's mind when Sam had offered to distract her, but she had to say it was working. Getting up and getting moving was clearing her head. The physical exertion was forcing her to relax and let out a little frustration.

Ten minutes in, the two of them took a small break to get a drink of water. She almost forgot how to swallow when Sam took off his shirt. Seeing his perfectly toned torso always got to her. He was covered in sweat. Each gleaming muscle flexing and straining with every little movement.

Alex eventually came back to herself and finished her drink. The two hunters were just preparing to start up again when her body was racked with another round of ragged coughs.

The now familiar coppery taste of her own blood hit her tongue. Alex covered her mouth with the back of her hand and quickly turned her back to Sam before he could see what was happening.

"Alex, you okay?" he asked, voice full of concern as he placed a hand on her back.

Wiping her lips, Alex slowly stood back up. She smeared the blood on her hand across her black yoga pants in hopes that their dark color would hide the blood. "I'm good," she said as she turned to face him. "Stupid cold. Guess I overdid it a bit huh?"

His brow knit together. "Yeah I guess. Maybe you should go lay down for a bit."

She nodded her agreement and slowly left the room. Sam's eyes never left her. Something wasn't right. He knew that. He just couldn't quite figure out what it was.

The arrow flew wide left of the target and buried itself in the drywall. It was the third shot in a row that hadn't hit the bullseye. In fact, each shot Alex took got farther and farther off target.

"What's wrong with you?"

Alex jumped at the sound of the deep masculine voice coming from behind her. Turning, she could see Dean leaning against the doorframe, arms folded across his chest, and a scowl on his face.

"Jesus, you scared me," she said, placing a hand on her heart.

That was enough to prove to him that something was wrong. Nobody snuck up on Alex like that. "I can see that. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm fine." She turned to go retrieve her arrows.

"Bullshit." He pushed off the wall and met her at the end of the range. A particularly stubborn arrow refused to come out of the wall. Alex wiggled and pulled the shaft, but it was no use. So Dean reached around her and swiftly pulled in loose with a single tug. He suddenly became even more suspicious. The arrow had not felt particularly stuck. It was something that Alex definitely should have been able to handle.

She thanked him for his help before turning to put her weapons away. Working with them was only making her fear and suspicion grown, and she wasn't ready to really deal with that yet. "I know your lying." She tried to keep the look of fear from her eyes as she watched him move closer. "I've know you a hell of a long time, Alex. Longer than Sam even. I've seen you use that thing. There's no way you miss that shot." He crossed his arms and glowered down at her. "So tell me, what is going on with you?"

There was a brief moment where she thought about telling him everything. She thought about telling him about the blood and how terrified she was of what she would be like after the second trial, but she couldn't. He would tell Sam and that would cause a whole other mess of trouble. It was best for her to just keep her mouth shut and push forward.

"I already told you, Dean. I'm f…"

He waved her off. "Yeah, I know. Your fine. If you can't tell me, at least tell Sam. He's the one who sent me down here." She looked confused. "He thought you might talk to me since you aren't saying anything to him. He's worried about you Alex, and frankly so am I."

Seeing the look on his brother's face when he had to tell that he hadn't gotten anything out of Alex was like a dagger to the heart. They both knew that something was wrong, and Alex's refusal to talk about it only convinced them that it was something serious.

He took a seat on the edge of his bed and looked up to the heavens.

"Cas," he prayed, "you got your ears on? Listen, you know I am not one for praying, 'cause in my book it's... it's the same as begging. But this is about Alex. Cas, something's wrong, and she's not talking. She's covering pretty good, but I can tell she's hurting. I'm afraid these trials are going to kill her and if they do…" his voice broke. He paused for a moment as he struggled for composure before continuing on.

"Sam can't handle losing her again. I don't care what Alex thinks. I know my brother and there is no way he makes it out of this if she goes down. So I'm asking you, please, keep an eye out for her okay?" There was no response. Dean's shoulders sagged. They were on their own.

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