Before either one could react Roman charged, spearing Dean and sending them both through the wall behind him. A red haze of possessive fury descended on him as he continued his assault, not stopping until a searing pain felt like to was trying to push its way through his skin. He roared in confusion and anger, blindly seizing whatever it was with both hands and threw it over his shoulder with a snarl.

Dean groaned as the attack momentarily stopped only to have Mackenzie come down on her back with a heavy thud right next to him, clutching the back of her head when it bounced off the floor. A vicious snarl came from behind him before a large mass of grey and white fur lunged forward, Loki a motion of fang and claw as he leapt, teeth sinking deep into the solid muscle of Roman's forearm. Instinctively he lashed out against the pain, Loki's teeth tearing gouges in his arm before the force of the blow sent the animal across the room with a pained, squealing yelp. Crashing into the remains of the dresser he fell silent, his furry body unmoving and head twisted at an unnatural angle.

With his chest feeling like a mass of sharp agony and breathing a challenge, Dean struggled to find his feet. With rationality thrown right out the window he threw himself at Roman, putting whatever he had left into tackling the other man to the ground but achieved little more than making the Samoan stumble back a step or two before he laced his fingers together and bought his fists down on Dean's back like he had swung an axe handle. He felt something break under the impact before once again being thrown into the nearest piece of destroyed furniture.

Desperately trying to shake off the daze she was in, Mack scrambled forward as Roman stalked towards Dean's prone form, the screen of her phone lighting up as it slipped unnoticed from her pocket. He suddenly turned, impossibly fast, and seized her by the throat. Eyes wide in panic she clawed at his fingers, surprised when he actually let go as the silver of her rings touched his skin and he pulled away like she had just tried to burn him. Furious, he snatched her left wrist and twisted until she cried out, positive he was going to break it.

"Roman, stop," she pleaded, knees beginning to buckle as she tried to twist her arm to relieve the pain screaming through her joints, "I'll go wherever you want, just stop, please."

Dean felt like the embodiment of lead and agony. He could hear some frantic begging coming from somewhere, the voice sounding familiar, but couldn't focus at all. Two figures stood over him, one tall and powerful, the other smaller, more submissive. He shook his head in an attempt to clear his thinking, only to be hit by a wave of nausea. As out of it as he was, the sense of very real danger was still clear in his hazy, sluggish mind and tried to move. The effort caught the attention of the bigger form who snarled and raised a foot, the pleas rapidly escalating into an opposing shriek as it came down onto the side of his head...

Roman woke up out of his doze when the Jeep came to a halt and looking around he noticed they had pulled up at a gas station. Turning off the engine Mack stared out of the wind-shield for a moment and he took the opportunity to study her. His mind felt quieter now, the beast resting for the time being and giving ample opportunity for his continuing guilt to gnaw at him. They had been on the road for hours yet her knuckles were still white with the grip she clung to the steering wheel. There were dark bruises along her arm, around her wrists and even her throat from his brutish manhandling. Every muscle and minuscule action practically screaming just how tense she was by being forced into such confined quarters with him. No, she wasn't simply tense, she was down right terrified.

She was about to get out when he reached out for her but stopped as she impulsively shied away from him, his hand hovering half way between them.

"Don't touch me."

With that she wrenched open the door and stalked over to the bowser to fill up the tank. He looked down at his hands for a moment as they slowly curled into fists, the wounds from the bite he had suffered already healed over. Christ... what had he done? By killing Loki and leaving Dean in a motionless, bloody heap before dragging her out of the house he had hurt her in ways he never would have dreamed of thanks to this curse he had been damned with. Ambrose had been left in a bad way... a really bad way. Mack didn't even know if he was dead or not, all she had was that dark, gaping maw of uncertainty. At that moment he absolutely loathed himself and what he had done, but there was nothing he could do to take any of it back.

Mackenzie leaned against the back end of the SUV, head resting against her forearm while staring morosely at the nozzle but not actually focusing on it. She wanted to cry, to scream, just let out all the grief, confusion and anger before it pulled her under. But she couldn't, the outcome was too unpredictable to chance. Her eyes closed for a moment, she was so tired and had been driving for hours. It was too much to hope that this was all a bad dream and when she could finally wake up everything would be like it was before. Loki standing by the side of the bed, willing her to get up and feed him breakfast. Roman with half his weight pressing down on top of her in that oddly comforting, secure way that also ensured she couldn't clock him with a random right hook in her sleep. And Dean...

… Dean.

She clenched her fist, nails digging into the palm of her hand so hard it began to shake and her throat burned as the emotions threatened to force their way through. Taking a few deep, shaky breaths she forced it down like everything else, though it was becoming increasingly harder to do. Why did he have to go and do that? And why now? Christ his timing sucked...

The gas stopped pumping automatically when the tank was full and she put the hose back then walked into the station, grabbing a few things on the way to the register. Energy drinks, candy bars, No Doz, anything that would help fight off sleep and exhaustion. What she wouldn't give for some Adderall right now. She purposely ignored the curiously concerned stare of the cashier who's eyes kept trailing over the dark, angry marks on her arms and neck, throwing a pair of cheap sunglasses onto the pile of purchases to cover up her eyes that were no doubt bloodshot. She knew she looked like a mess but no longer had the energy to care. On the way back to the truck she cracked open one of the large cans after popping a few more of the caffeine pills than was recommended on the bottle, willing them to kick in sooner rather than later.

"You... want me to drive?" Roman asked uncertainly after she had climbed back into the seat, grimacing at the pain that lanced through her abused wrist as she slammed the door shut.

"No."

If she had to sit in the passenger seat with nothing to do she'd go mad, at least focusing on the road kept her brain occupied. Polishing off the rest of her drink Mack started the engine and got on the road again, the growing silence awkward and uncomfortable. Reaching over with one hand she turned on the radio to see what the local airwaves had to offer; news, a top twenty pop countdown, some campaigning politician being interviewed and a fevered sermon from an evangelical who prescribed to an old testament world view of thinking. Unbelievers, sinners, the wrath of God and the lures of the devil... She really didn't need to hear how some unproven deity was punishing her right now simply because there was no empirical evidence of its existence for her to believe in it. Giving up Mackenzie turned it back off, maybe the silence was the better option after all.

A few hours on and the sun was slowly sinking into the horizon. Every now and again Roman would fidget in his seat, shifting restlessly with increasing frequency, the occasional expression of discomfort and pain would crack the mask he was trying to maintain. Mack would steal a glance every so often, wondering just what his problem was and convinced she wouldn't be able to take any more unpleasant surprises.

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"Don't feed me that bullshit," she snapped, immediately regretting the tone. Their circumstances were about as much his fault as it was hers, but it was hard to remember that after everything that had happened over the past few days, "Sorry."

He ran a hand over his face, unsure how to explain it. The aches that had started up the day she had run to Dean were getting worse.

"I don't know why, but everything hurts," he finally admitted, "Like everything is trying to grow but there's no room for it all. Does that sound crazy?"

"Nothing sounds crazy any more," she replied quietly after a moment, pulling over at an approaching rest stop.

Climbing out she headed for the back of the SUV and opened it up, pulling the generously stocked medical kit towards her. As she rifled through it's contents Roman came to see what she was doing before she pulled out a plastic bottle that rattled with the contents contained within. With one hand Mackenzie held his wrist and slapped it into his upturned palm. Absently her thumb stroked across the inside of his wrist as her eye caught a particular spot of his tattoo sleeve, something inside feeling like it was beginning to break. The brief contact had been enough to finally push the strained barrier of self control over; he was warm, familiar. It reminded her he was still flesh and blood, at the mercy of the monster he was now trapped with inside. Or was she simply trying to cling to a fading dream because the dark reality was too much to bear?

"This... everything... It's all so fucked up..."

Abruptly she spun and stalked off a few feet, feeling as if her very being was unravelling uncontrollably. Could this warped merry-go-round please stop so they get of the ride?

"I'm sorry," he murmured, "I'm sorry for what I did to Loki..."

She knew where he was going with this but at the same time didn't want to hear it, positive the admissions would make everything far too clear for her to handle, "Stop. Just stop."

"I'm sorry for what I did to Dean..." he continued, edging a little closer.

He was standing right behind her, his hands tentatively reaching out and rested on the curve of her hips, "Roman..."

"I'm sorry what I did to you. For hurting you over and over." Her arms snaked around herself tightly, as if the words had a physical impact that forced out a strangled sob. In response he held her closely but forced himself to keep going, "Most of all, I'm sorry that I can't promise you that it'll never happen again..."

She could hear the strain in his voice as the words trailed off, realising that although they were a different set of obstacles, his were taking as much of a toll on him as the ones she faced. Mack didn't know whether to feel comforted by that in some sick, twisted way, or dread the unspoken implications. As the emotional storm broke through she could no longer even stand upright, slowly sinking to her knees on the sharp, loose gravel. Roman's hold grew tighter as he went with her, unsure if he was making things worse or not, but couldn't bring himself to let go as she broke down and cried uncontrollably and unabashedly. Soon Mackenzie fell quiet but still they didn't move, silence again reigning supreme as the sky slowly turned from blazing orange to more mellow shades of pink and red as dusk began to settle in.

"So what were you going to dope me up with?" he finally asked, holding up the orange container he read the prescription label and realised what they were. Mack had used them herself when nightmares got too much and was unable to get any sleep, "Sedatives?"

"I don't know what else to do," she admitted miserably, her voice hoarse and raspy, "I keep thinking you're going to flip out and... well..."

The thought if him going primal in such a confined space was something that hadn't really occurred to him up until now, and it really wasn't a pleasant one. However the most obvious question was would they even work? He considered it for only a second before taking the cap off, he wasn't going to simply roll over and let this thing win yet again if he could help it.

"Here's to modern science," he said and swallowed the pills without hesitation, grimacing a little as they went down without water, "I hope to hell this works." He looked at the woman in his arms, noticing she was barely staying awake now, and eased them both to standing. Taking most of her weight he led Mack to the rear passenger side and opened the door, "My turn to drive, No arguments."

She didn't have the energy to give him one if she tried and curled up on the back seat. Physically and emotionally drained, empty and numb she took the bottle from him and took a few herself, slowly drifting off into an exhausted and dreamless sleep...