At Hell's Gates

by mrsemmettcullen12

What if Sam had a twin sister? This is the story of Dean and Sam with a sister, Alex.

39. I'm In Love With a Girl

This is my first story, so please be nice. Tell me what you think.

I do not own any of the characters (except for Alex) and I do not own any of the storylines.

Chapter 39

Dean awoke to the sound of a semi-truck blaring on his horn as he passed the motel they were staying in. The local interstate was right beside the motel, causing the siblings to hear all kinds of traffic. Dean looked over to Sam and Alex's bed and saw Alex still sound asleep, but Sam wasn't there. He lifted his head up slightly to see where Sam was. He looked towards the slightly open bathroom door and saw Sam on the phone. He was fully dressed and he was pacing in the bathroom.

"Yeah, yeah, okay. Alright, you keep looking too, okay? We'll talk soon," said Sam into his phone.

Dean quickly laid his head back down and closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep as Sam re-entered the room. Sam looked at his sleeping siblings. He sighed as he sat down on the corner of his bed. He nudged Alex, who groaned as she rolled over. He lightly smacked Dean's side and Dean sat up, acting disoriented as if he had just woken up.

"Hey. Up and at 'em, kiddos," said Sam.

Alex groaned again and pulled Sam's pillow over her head.

"Shh, Sammy, I'm trying to still sleep here," she said.

Sam sighed, rolled his eyes, and pulled the covers completely off of her form. Alex sat up, glared at him, and shot him the finger as she stood up, heading for the bathroom to brush her teeth. She left the door open so she could still hear her brothers.

"You're up bright and early. What are you doing?" asked Dean, rubbing his eyes.

"Oh, nothing. I was just going to the bathroom," lied Sam.

Dean looked over at him.

"Yeah?"

Sam chuckled.

"Yeah. Want me to draw you a picture?"

"Nah, I'll pass."

"Think I found us a job though. Bedford, Iowa. Guy beat his wife's brains out with a meat tenderizer," said Sam, tossing the newspaper article over to Dean.

Dean grabbed it and began skimming over the story.

"Yummy," said Dean.

Alex walked back into the room, sitting next to Sam on the corner of their bed.

"And get this. Third local inside two months to gank his wife. No priors on any of 'em, all happily married," said Sam.

Alex raised her eyebrows.

"Yeah, sure sounds like it," she said.

She stood up and stripped off her t-shirt, which was actually one of Dean's shirts. She had a sports bra on and she turned around, looking for her duffel bag. Her belly button jewelry sparkled in the sunlight streaming through the room as she bent over, looking for a shirt to wear.

"Alright, well, I guess we better have a look," said Dean, tossing the newspaper aside.

He looked over at Alex and saw the jewelry dangling from her belly button right before she slipped on a white tank-top. He pointed to her belly button.

"Alexandra Marie, what the hell is that?" asked Dean.

Sam snickered as Alex rolled her eyes.

"Dean, seriously. I've had my belly button pierced since I was fucking sixteen. Good Lord, you're just now noticing it?" asked Alex.

Dean sighed.

"It's slutty! And provocative!"

Alex flipped him the bird as she walked into the bathroom.

"Fuck you!"

Sam shook his head, laughing at his siblings. Alex slammed the bathroom door closed and Dean groaned as he fell back onto his bed.

"Look, why does the PD keep sending you guys? I already said I don't want a lawyer," said the criminal across the table from Dean, Alex, and Sam.

"They're lining up the firing squad," answered Dean.

The man looked into Dean's eyes.

"I'm pleading guilty."

"Alright, look. You don't want us to represent you, that's fine. Hell, it's probably not a bad idea between you and me," said Dean.

Sam glared over at Dean, clearing his throat loudly while Alex kicked Dean under the table.

"We just want to understand what happened. That's all," finished Dean.

The man looked down at the table in front of him. Sam cleared his throat once again.

"Mr. Benson? Please," said Sam.

The man took a deep breath before he began telling his story.

"What happened was I killed my wife. And you want to know why? Because she made plans without asking me first."

Dean's eyebrows rose.

"Crazy son of a bitch," muttered Alex under her breath.

"Then what happened? How did you feel? Disoriented, out of control?" asked Sam, very calmly.

"Like something possessed you to do it?" asked Alex.

"I knew exactly what I was doing, I was crystal clear."

"Then why'd you do it?" asked Alex, looking at the man across from her like he was insane.

"I don't know. I loved her. We were h-happy."

Mr. Benson began choking up, his eyes filling up with tears. Dean looked over at Sam and Alex, Sam nodding to him. Dean grabbed the medium size briefcase he had brought in with him and opened it. He pulled out one single piece of paper and a pen before closing it again. He slid it over to Mr. Benson, using the pen to point at something at the bottom of the page.

"Nine G's. That's a pretty hefty bill you've got here, sir."

"Where did you get that?" asked Mr. Benson, seeming very angry now as he looked over at Dean.

Dean shook his head.

"That doesn't matter because we have it. You see, certain charges, ones you don't want the missus to know, they show up under shady names like EMC Entertainment," explained Alex, raising her eyebrows as she nodded to the bill in front of Dean.

"Yeah, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh, we're talking about a nudie bar, for instance," said Dean, staring Mr. Benson down now.

"We just want to know the truth, Mr. Benson," said Sam, shooting Dean and Alex warning glares.

Mr. Benson looked down at the table again. He took in a deep breath.

"Her name was Jasmine."

"And she was a stripper?" asked Sam.

Dean smirked.

"Dude, her name was Jasmine," whispered Alex, rolling her eyes at Sam's naivety.

"I didn't mean for it to happen, I don't like to go to strip bars, but my buddy was having a bachelor party. And… there she was."

"Jasmine," clarified Sam.

Mr. Benson nodded before continuing on.

"She came right up to me and… I-I don't know, she was just… perfect. Everything that I always wanted."

"Well, if you pay enough, anybody will be anything," said Dean.

"It wasn't even about the money. It wasn't even about the sex, it was… I don't know. I don't know what it was, it's hard to explain."

"And… your wife found out?" asked Sam, looking confused.

"No, she never even had a clue."

"So then why'd you kill her?" asked Alex, leaning forward now.

"For Jasmine. She said we would be together forever if-if only Vicki was…"

Dean looked down at the floor.

"Muerte," he filled in for Mr. Benson.

"Afterwards, me and Jasmine were supposed to meet, but she never showed up. I don't know where she lives, I don't know her last name. I mean, I don't even know her real first name," cried Mr. Benson.

He looked down at the table again, shaking his head and sighing.

"I'm an idiot," he whispered to himself.

"And you didn't think to tell this to the police?" asked Sam.

"What for? The stripper didn't do it, I did it. And I know what I deserve. If the judge doesn't give me the death sentence, I'll just do it by myself."

Sam pulled open the door to Dr. Cara Roberts' office and saw her gulp down a handful of pills. She looked over at him as he pulled her office door open and his eyebrows rose as he took in the bottle of pills on her desk.

"Rough night?" he asked her.

She put her hands to her temples, cringing.

"Ah, correction. Fun night. Rough morning though. Can I help you?" she asked, looking over at him.

"Uh, yes, um…"

Sam stepped farther into her office and reached inside his jacket for his fake badge. He found it and flashed it in front of her face.

"I'm Special Agent Stiles of the FBI. You're Dr. Cara Roberts?" he asked, putting his badge back into his jacket pocket.

"As far as I know."

"Do you happen to do some work with the sheriff's department?"

She scoffed.

"Yes, when I'm not slogging it through the ER."

Sam looked confused and she shrugged, smiling.

"It's a small town, we multitask very well here," she answered.

Sam nodded.

"Well, I have some questions about a case for you. Um, several cases actually. Would you mind if I sit down?"

She pointed to the comfy looking chair straight across from her desk. Sam nodded and took a seat.

"Great, thanks. Um, Adam Benson, Jim Wylie, and Steve Snyder?"

"Oh, yeah, the men who killed their wives?"

"You handled the work ops, right?" asked Sam.

Cara nodded.

"Mmm-hmm. Autopsies for the wives and tox screens for the perps. Two for one special."

"Did you find anything?"

Cara shook her head, setting down the paperwork she had been rifling through.

"Not really. I mean, COD for the women was pretty clear. There was nothing unusual in their system."

"What about the husbands?" asked Sam.

Cara smiled.

"Can I see your badge again?" she asked politely.

Sam took his badge out of his pocket and held it up for her to see. She stared at it for a few seconds, looked up at him, and then looked at the badge once again. She smacked her lips together.

"There was one thing. Um, an anomaly in the blood work and I remember thinking how strange it was that it showed up in all three of the men."

Cara grabbed the files from her filing cabinet behind her and set them down on her desk in front of her.

"That what showed up?" asked Sam.

"Oxytocin. And all of their levels were crazy high," answered Cara.

She handed one of the men's files over to Sam, who looked over it thoroughly.

"Um, oxytocin?"

"Mmm-hm. It's a, uh, hormone that's produced during childbirth, lactation, and sex," said Cara, smiling over at Sam as she handed him the other two folders.

"Okay…"

"People call it the love hormone. Um, you know how it feels when you first fall in love, the whole weak in the knees, tattoo you on my chest thing? That's oxytocin."

Sam smiled up at Cara and she smiled right back at him.

"Of course, it eventually fades and then you're stuck with every relationship ever. That and the, um, painful regimen of tattoo removal," joked Cara.

Sam smirked and she smirked as well. Suddenly, Dean and Alex walked into the room then. Sam stopped smirking and looked over at his siblings.

"What'd we miss?" asked Alex, plopping down in the seat next to Sam.

"Um, these are my partners, Agent Murdock and Agent Stilinksi," said Sam, introducing Alex and Dean to Cara.

Cara gave them both nods of acknowledgment. Dean smirked at Cara and held out his hand for her to shake.

"Oh, agent sounds so formal, you can call me Dean."

Alex rolled her eyes, but Cara shook his hand gingerly.

"I'm Dr. Roberts."

She turned her gaze back over to Sam, giving him a mega-watt smile.

"So, um, can I help you with anything else?" she asked him.

"Um, sure, just one more thing. This chemical, this…"

"Oxytocin," said Dr. Roberts, grabbing the three files from Sam's hands that he was currently handing back to her.

"Right, Oxytocin. What would cause those high levels that you found?" asked Sam.

Alex glanced around the room, noticing a familiar looking flower behind Cara's head. She committed it to memory and then tuned back into Sam's conversation with Dr. Roberts.

"Nothing that I've ever seen."

Sam and Dean nodded.

"Okay. That's it then. Thanks, Doc," said Sam.

He gave another warm smile to Cara, who smiled right back at him. He stood up from his chair, Alex and Dean doing the same. Alex walked out first, Dean right behind her. They turned to chat with Sam, but Sam had stopped in the doorway and was looking at Dr. Roberts.

"By the way, um, try a greasy breakfast next time you've got a hangover. It's the best thing for one of those, trust me on this one, Cara."

Cara laughed, showing her smile again.

"Watch it, buddy, I'm the only MD here."

Sam smiled again as he shut the door, following his siblings toward the front door.

"Dude, you totally cock-blocked me," whined Dean, shooting Sam a nasty glare.

Alex scoffed and stared at both of her brothers, wondering why they were acting so strange over some girl they had just now met that day.

"So Wylie and Snyder fessed up, huh?" asked Sam, completely ignoring Dean's comment.

"One emptied his IRA, the other his kid's college fund. All on the same thing," answered Dean.

"It's a club called The Honey Wagon," chimed in Alex.

"Did these guys all have affairs too with a stripped named Jasmine?" asked Sam.

"Yes and no. This is where it gets interesting. Each guy hooked up with a different chick," answered Alex, raising her eyebrows.

"So, what, are these girls all connected somehow?" asked Sam.

"Well, they all describe their stripper in the same way, the exact same way, actually. Perfect and everything that they've always wanted."

"You know, it's almost like they were all under some kind of love spell," said Alex.

"Yeah, it sure as hell seems that way," said Sam, agreeing with his little sister.

"Which would then cause them to become totally and completely psychotic," said Dean.

"Absolutely," said Sam.

They had reached the car now and Alex looked between her brothers.

"You guys seem really cheery suddenly, especially you, Dean," commented Alex.

Sam just shrugged while Dean smirked and waggled his eyebrows at her.

"Strippers, Alex, strippers. We're on an actual case which involves strippers. Finally," smirked Dean.

He pulled open his door and Alex and Sam climbed inside the car as well.

Later that night, Dean walked into the strip club, which was pulsing with loud music. He flashed his fake badge to get past the bouncer and then he walked up to the bar to grab the owner.

"Alright, I'm looking for three girls. Jasmine, Aurora, and Ariel," said Dean, having to yell over the loud music.

"You seriously think those names mean anything to me?" asked the owner, scoffing.

"One's a redhead, about 5'9", the other one's Asian, about-"

"Do you have any idea how many girls I deal with? Fake names, fake hair, fake tits."

Dean rolled his eyes.

"Well, you've gotta have some sort of paperwork. I mean, check stubs, some way to keep track of all of these strippers," said Dean.

The owner looked offended at Dean's word choice.

"Please. Exotic dancers. Independent contractors working for cash. I stay out of their hair and then they stay out of mine."

"Three of your customers murdered their wives. Now, you cannot tell me that you don't think that's weird."

"Yeah, I think that's super freaking weird actually. But you know what it ain't? My problem."

He shot Dean a sarcastic smirk before walking away from him. Dean looked across one of the many small stages and saw his siblings standing on the other side of him. He headed towards them, watching as one girl on stage removed her top.

"Any luck?" asked Alex, once Dean had approached them.

"No. You guys?" asked Dean.

"A little. Uh, we just talked to Bobby, which means we officially have a theory," answered Sam.

"And what's this so-called theory?" asked Dean.

"A siren," said Alex.

Dean glanced over at his siblings, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Like, Greek myths siren? The Odyssey?"

Sam and Alex both did a double take.

"Hey, I read sometimes," said Dean.

"Yeah, actually. But the siren's not actually a myth, it's more of that they're beautiful creatures that prey on unsuspecting men," said Sam.

"Yeah, they entice them in with their siren song," said Alex.

"Their song is more of a metaphor, like a call, their allure, you know?" asked Sam.

"So they shake their thing and then the guys zombie out?" asked Dean.

"Basically, yes. Sirens lived on islands, sailors would chase them, completely ignoring the rocky shores and dash themselves to pieces in the process," explained Alex.

"So just like Adam and his buddies," stated Dean, looking back to the stage now.

"Yeah," said Alex.

"So if you're a siren in 2013, looking for a bunch of morns to ruin, where would you set up shop?" asked Sam, glancing around the room.

"So whatever floats the guy's boat, that's what they look like?" asked Dean, looking back at his siblings again.

Sam and Alex nodded.

"Yeah. You see, sirens can read minds. They see what you want most and then they can kind of cloak themselves, you know? Kind of like an illusion of some sorts," said Sam.

"So it could all be the same chick? Morphing into different dream girls every single night?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, actually, that's probably right, Dean. Sirens are usually pretty solitary," explained Alex.

Dean rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"So how do we kill it then?"

"Bobby's still working on that aspect. But even if we figure that out…" began Sam, shaking his head.

"How in the hell are we gonna find her? It could be any one of these girls!" yelled Dean, frustration setting in for him now.

The three of them looked around the crowded strip club, not spotting the couple currently leaving the strip club holding hands.

The next morning, Dean sat at the table in their motel room. He had a book flipped open, but he wasn't looking through it. He was glaring at Sam's cell phone, which was lying on another open book in the middle of the table. After a few seconds of just staring at it, Dean grabbed it and looked through Sam's recent calls list. He saw his name, Alex's name, and Bobby's name at the top of the list. But an unknown number was below all of that. Dean scrolled down to the unknown number, hit redial, and waited as it rang once.

"Hey, Sam," said Ruby on the other end of the call.

Dean remained silent.

"Sam? You there?" asked Ruby.

Dean pulled the phone away from his ear and ended the call. He dropped the phone to the table just as Sam and Alex walked back inside the room. Alex bounded over to Dean and kissed his cheek. Dean kept looking at Sam and Alex looked at him strangely, wondering why he was acting so damn weird lately.

"Liam Bristol was definitely another siren victim," said Sam, slamming the door closed behind him.

"Did you two get in to see him?" asked Dean.

Alex nodded.

"Yep. He said he brought a stripper home named Belle and a couple hours later, he offed his mother. Belle, of course, went MIA," explained Sam.

"Wait, he killed his mom?" asked Dean.

"The woman he was closest to," said Alex, shrugging.

Suddenly, Sam's phone began ringing and Dean smirked, holding it up.

"Yeah, you, um, forgot your cell phone."

Sam looked at him and Dean stood up, tossing it to him as Sam took Dean's vacated seat.

"Hey, Bobby," said Sam, holding the phone up to his ear.

Alex sat down on the bed she shared with Sam and looked over at Dean, who was now pouring himself a cup of coffee. Sam put the phone on speaker then.

"It says you need a bronze dagger covered in the blood of a sailor under the spell of the song," explained Bobby.

"What the hell does that even mean?" asked Dean.

"You've got me, son. We're dealing with 3,000 years of the telephone game here."

"Best guess?" asked Alex, still curled up on her bed.

"Well, the siren's spell ain't got nothing to do with any single song. It's most likely some kind of toxin or venom. Something she gets in the victim's blood," explained Bobby.

"Um, what do you think then? She infects the men during sex?" asked Sam.

"Maybe."

"Hmm, supernatural STD. Nice," scoffed Alex.

"Well, however it happens, once it's done, the siren's got to watch her back. She gets a dose of her own medicine…"

"It kills her," said Dean.

"Like a snake getting iced with its own venom," said Alex.

"So, what, we need to just get the blood of one of the OJ's in prison?" asked Dean.

"It's not that easy. Those men aren't infected anymore. I have no clue where you're gonna get the blood that you need," said Bobby.

Alex sighed and looked over at her twin brother. She could see the wheels turning in his head and she had a really bad feeling about his current idea.

"I think I've got a solution," said Sam.

Alex groaned and fell back on her bed.

"Be careful though. These things are pretty tricky bitches. They'll wrap you up in knots before you even know what hit you," said Bobby.

The three siblings walked into Dr. Robert's office a few hours after their phone call with Bobby. She saw the three of them and brightened as she took in Sam.

"Dr. Roberts," said Sam.

"Agent Stiles. Just couldn't stay away, could you?" she teased him.

Sam smiled shyly and Alex and Dean looked over at him strangely.

"Actually, um, we're here on business. About the blood samples, the ones with the high oxytocin levels," said Sam.

"Do you still have them?" asked Dean.

Dr. Roberts nodded.

"Good because we need them," said Alex.

"Um, what for?" asked Dr. Roberts.

Dean began to explain, but a man dressed in a suit extremely similar to Sam's walked up behind Dr. Roberts then.

"Excuse me, Dr. Roberts," he said.

"Yeah?" she asked, turning towards the new guy.

"Excuse me," said Dean, pulling out his fake badge.

Sam and Alex did the same.

"We're a little busy here, buddy," smirked Dean.

The man pulled out his own, very real FBI badge, flashing it at the three siblings.

"Yeah, so am I, pal."

They all put their badges away and Sam spoke to Dr. Roberts.

"Doc, could you give us one second, please?"

"Um, sure," said Dr. Roberts.

She turned and began walking away, back towards her little office.

"What's your name?" asked Dean, looking at the new guy.

"Vick Monroe, what's yours?" he shot back.

"I'm Special Agent Sam Stiles and these are my partners, Dean Murdock and Alex Stilinksi," said Sam, pulling out his badge once again to show the guy.

"What office are you from?" asked Dean, staring the man down now.

"Um, Omaha, Violent Crimes Unit. I was sent down here to see about the murders," answered Vick.

"Hmm," said Sam.

"You?" asked Vick.

"D.C. Our assistant director assigned us," said Dean.

"Oh, which A.D.?"

"Mike Chiser," answered Sam.

"What are your badge numbers?"

"You're kidding, right?" asked Alex, scoffing at the jerk in front of them.

Vick just shrugged at her.

"I'm just following protocol, sweetheart."

"Look, man, whatever. Just call our A.D. and he'll sort things out, alright?" said Sam, trying to appease the man in front of them.

Sam handed him a fake business card and Vick nodded, taking it from him. He stepped away from them into a secluded corner by the closest vending machine, pulling out his phone to dial the number on the card Sam had just given him.

Sam, Alex, and Dean huddled together while Vick dialed one of Bobby's many fake cellphones.

"Thank God for Bobby, huh?" asked Dean, smirking.

Alex nodded. Vick walked back over to them after a few short minutes, holding out his hand for all of them to shake.

"I'm sorry, guys. And lady," said Vick.

He looked at Alex and winked. Alex smirked back at him.

"So, I think I've found a connection between all of these murders. They were all banging strippers from the same nightclub," said Vick.

"You don't say," said Dean, acting completely surprised.

"Yep. So I say, we should head down there and check it out."

"Just give me one second with my partners here, alright?" asked Sam.

Vick nodded and Sam pushed his siblings along, away from Vick a couple of feet.

"You two have to stay with him," said Sam.

Dean scoffed.

"Why me? Why can't Alex just do it?"

Alex rolled her eyes at Dean's whining.

"Because I've gotta get the blood samples," explained Sam, like it was the easiest thing in the world to understand.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with him?" asked Dean.

Sam just shrugged.

"Just… take him to the damn strip club! And keep an eye out for the siren. Come on, Dean, just focus on the naked girls, you'll forget he's even there," said Sam.

Dean finally relented.

"I'm not doing this for you, I'm doing this for the girls," said Dean.

Sam nodded and Alex rolled her eyes, sighing. She suddenly got a weird feeling about this whole thing. As Sam began to walk off after Dean, Alex grabbed his arm, pulling him back to her and in for a hug. He pulled her in for a hug, looking confused as he did so.

"Alex, what's wrong?"

Sam stepped back to look her in the eyes. He saw that she was biting her lip, a habit she only did when she was very nervous or very upset.

"Baby girl, tell me what's wrong," whispered Sam.

Alex took a deep breath.

"Sammy, I just have a super weird feeling, alright? Just promise me you'll be safe while Dean and I are gone?" she whispered.

Sam sighed, but pulled her in for another hug. He closed his eyes as she rested her head against his chest. He kissed her forehead gently and pushed her hair behind her ears.

"I promise I'll be careful," promised Sam.

Alex nodded into his chest and stood up on her tip-toes to kiss his cheek. Sam watched as she joined Dean and Vick and they headed for the Impala outside, which was currently parked on the curb outside the doctor's office.

Alex threw back another shot with Vick and Dean, her back turned on the girls stripping on the stage behind them. Dean and Vick were getting along splendidly, comparing likes and dislikes as they nursed a beer each.

"There aren't a lot of Feds as cool as us," said Dean.

Vick smirked at him and Alex flagged down the bartender for another shot of tequila.

"I've gotta level with you, man. I went to the crime scene this morning and found something weird," said Vick.

Alex and Dean both perked up then. Vick pulled an evidence bag out of his jacket pocket and slid it across the table to Dean. Alex leaned over to look at it as well. A group of purple flowers were resting in the bottom of the bag.

"Turns out a flower just like that was found at every crime scene. I went back through all of the files earlier this morning," said Vick.

Alex grabbed the flower from Dean, trying to remember where she had seen it before.

"I've got no idea what's going on with this case anymore, man, it's all just so weird," said Vick.

Alex's eyes suddenly widened as she realized where she had seen that particular flower before.

"Fuck. Sammy," she whispered.

She threw some cash down on the bar table and rushed out the door, leaving Dean and Vick behind in her wake.

"We've watched these security tapes twice. Whoever took those blood samples-"

"Must've tampered with these tapes. Who has access to your office?" asked Sam.

"Everyone, I don't ever lock it."

Sam groaned and Cara scoffed.

"What is so important about this damn blood anyway?" she asked.

"I think someone drugged the men, made them commit murder," answered Sam.

"What? What kind of drug?"

"Um, we're not actually sure yet."

"I don't know. I interviewed all of those men and they had their reasons."

"Yeah, but they all loved their victims."

Cara scoffed and sat up on her knees in her chair, facing Sam more fully now.

"Okay, well, haven't you ever been in a relationship where you really loved someone and yet you still kind of wanted to bash their head into the wall?"

Sam chuckled, crossing his arms over his chest.

"It sounds like you're speaking from experience."

"Yeah."

Cara walked over to one of her many cabinets and pulled out a bottle of whiskey and two glasses.

"Really?" asked Sam.

Cara nodded, a smirk playing on her face. She held out the glass for Sam to take and he took it from her hand.

"It's medicine. And I'm a doctor, so we're all good," said Cara.

Sam walked around the desk to stand beside her, sniffing the whiskey in his glass as he did so.

"His name was Carl. And we were married."

"So what happened?" asked Sam, sitting on the edge of Cara's desk now.

"Life happened. I don't know really, I mean, I loved him. I still do, I guess, but, um… I don't know. One day I just looked up and it was like I was living with a complete stranger and… You know what I mean though, right?" she asked him.

Sam shrugged.

"I guess. Or, I don't know, maybe."

"People change. God, I know I did. But, I mean, it's nothing to feel guilty about, it just happens sometimes."

"So you two split up then?"

"Yeah, I suppose that's the word for it."

Sam's cell phone began ringing and he pulled it out of his pocket. Alex's name and a picture of the two of them together flashed across his screen. Cara looked at his phone.

"Do you need to get that?" she asked him.

"No, not right now," answered Sam.

He shut off his phone and stuck it back into his pocket. Cara smirked.

"Whatever."

She stood up then and clinked her glass against his to toast. After taking a drink, she set her glass down on her desk and leaned over to whisper in his ear.

"Honestly, I have been thinking about you all night. Well, parts of you."

"Just parts?"

"Like your lips," said Cara.

She moved to stand in front of Sam and began removing his tie. Sam smirked as she did this. Sam pulled her in close and they shared a small, gentle kiss. Sam smiled against her lips and then Cara began pulling his shirt off of his shoulders. Sam pulled her shirt off and they both laughed as Sam picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist. The purple flowers behind her desk went unnoticed as they moved together.

Sam unlocked the motel room door and the door swung open. The lights were all off, so he flipped them on. Alex suddenly jolted up from her position on her bed, flinging herself into Sam's arms. Sam caught her as her legs wrapped around his waist. Sam rubbed her back comfortingly as he heard her begin to cry.

"Alex. What's wrong?" he asked her.

Sam carried her over to the bed and he sat down, Alex not letting go of him. Sam sat back, looking at her, worry and confusion etched across his face.

"Sammy, I'm so glad you're alright," whispered Alex.

Suddenly, Sam's phone began ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and saw that it was Dean calling.

"Dean?"

"Sammy! Where the hell have you been all night?"

"With Cara."

"Oh, it's Cara now, is it? Well, you weren't picking up your phone."

"We were trying to find the blood samples, someone stole them."

"Yeah, I'll bet. Listen, Vick found some flower petals at all of the crime scenes."

"Yeah, so?"

"Sam, Cara had Hyacinth flowers in her office. Hyacinths come from the Greek island where the siren myths all began," explained Dean.

"So, you think Cara's the siren?" asked Sam.

He looked to Alex, who was nodding vigorously now.

"She's only been in town for two months. And she has a dead ex-husband. He dropped like a stone, no warning whatsoever."

"Look, I just really don't think it's her, Dean."

"And why would you say that?"

"I don't know, a hunch. Dean, why is Alex acting so terrified right now? She hasn't let go of me since I stepped into the motel room," said Sam.

He looked over at Alex, who had moved away from him, her eyes wide with fear.

"Sammy, you slept with her, didn't you?" asked Alex.

"Sam, did you sleep with Cara?" asked Dean.

Sam sighed.

"Holy shit, you did. Unbelievable, man, unbelievable."

Alex sighed and ran a hand through her hair nervously.

"As for Alex, she's probably freaking terrified now. She ran out of the strip club earlier to warn you about Cara being the siren and you ignored all her fucking calls, you douche bag!" yelled Dean.

"Look, I'm telling you, it's not Cara, I feel perfectly fine," sighed Sam.

"Oh, I bet you do."

"You don't trust me."

"No, because this could be the siren talking right now."

"Just tell me where you are and Alex and I will come and meet you so we can all figure things out together."

Dean hesitated for one split second.

"No."

"Are you serious?"

"I wish I weren't, but I've gotta handle this, Sammy. By myself, apparently."

Dean hung up on Sam and Sam sighed.

"Fuck!" yelled Sam, throwing his phone against the wall.

"Sammy, please calm down," whispered Alex.

"You know what, Alex? Just shut the fuck up!" yelled Sam.

Alex gasped and she walked over to Sam, slapping him across the face. Sam's face flew to the side after Alex's slap.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again, Samuel Winchester. I've been trying to help your sorry ass and you just start sleeping with the enemy!"

Sam sighed as Alex stepped away from him. She turned her back on him and Sam walked over to her. He rested his hand on her shoulder and Alex sighed.

"Alex, I'm sorry. That was uncalled for. I just really don't believe that it's Cara, alright?"

Alex nodded and Sam smiled briefly, kissing her cheek.

"But if it's not Cara, we better figure out who it is real fast," said Alex.

Sam nodded and Alex sat down on the bed, beginning to attempt to piece the puzzle pieces of this case all together. Sam sat down beside her.

Dean sat outside of a local bar with Vick, both men watching as Cara looked took in her surroundings before walking inside the place. They were sitting in Vick's vehicle.

"Should we follow her inside?" asked Vick, looking over at Dean in the passenger seat next to him.

"No, no, no, I don't want to tip her off. Let's just wait and see who she comes out with," responded Dean, turning to look back at the cocktail lounge's front door that Cara had just walked through only moments before.

Vick sighed loudly.

"So you think… what, exactly? Because I'm at a complete loss over here, man."

"I think she's probably drugging these guys," answered Dean.

Vick scoffed.

"Okay."

"Look, I know how it sounds, alright?"

"Yeah, are you sure about that, because it sounds like crazy on toast. All these different strippers, they're magically the same girl, but then they're not even strippers at all, its Dr. Roberts."

"This is all kind of hard to explain, but I have my reasons and they're all pretty good ones, so you're just gonna have to trust me on them."

Vick nodded, looking away from Dean.

"Yeah, okay. I guess."

"Thank you. That's actually incredibly nice to hear," said Dean, opening his flask and taking a drink from it.

He offered it over to Vick, who chuckled, but drank from the flask with a smirk on his face the entire time. He handed it back over to Dean again, who continued drinking from it again.

"So let's say she is drugging our victims. How's she even pulling that off?" asked Vick.

"She could be injecting them. Or passing the toxin through physical contact."

Vick looked down at the flask in Dean's hands, nodding.

"Or it could be through saliva."

Dean nodded, looking down at his flask then. Suddenly, the pieces came together and Vick smirked.

"You really should've wiped the lip of that thing before you drank from it again, Dean. I should be your only sibling. Alex, Sam. You can't trust either one of them. Not like you can trust me. In fact, I really feel like you should get both of them out of the way. So that we can be siblings. Forever," said Vick.

Dean looked over at him.

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

Sam unlocked the motel room door and Alex walked inside first, her smile fading as she saw Vick sitting on her and Sam's bed. Sam and Alex both looked at him with confusion. Vick smirked over at them, one leg resting on his thigh as he sat on their bed.

"Vick. What are you doing here, buddy?" asked Sam.

Suddenly, Alex screamed as Dean came launching towards the both of them, holding a knife in his hand. Sam shoved Alex away from him just as Dean grabbed him around the chest, holding the knife up to Sam's throat. The motel room door slammed closed with Dean's weight against it. Alex looked up at her brothers from the floor where she had fallen.

"Dean?" asked Sam, holding the knife to his throat at bay.

Vick stood up from his seat on the bed, looking very smug. He began walking towards Dean and Sam.

"I gotta tell you, you are one ugly ass stripper," said Sam, looking at Vick, who was standing in front of him now.

"Well, maybe. But I got exactly what I wanted, I got Dean," responded Vick.

"Dean, come on, man, this isn't you," said Sam.

"Dean, you can fight this. Let Sammy go," begged Alex, standing up and staring at her oldest brother.

"Why don't you cut him just a little on his neck right there?" asked Vick, whispering closer to Dean's ear.

Dean obliged Vick's orders, and Sam groaned and winced as Dean slightly cut his neck. Blood began dripping slowly from Sam's open wound.

"Dean's all mine," said Vick, standing in front of Sam once again.

"You poisoned him," said Sam.

"No, I gave him what he needed. And it wasn't some whore in a G-string. It was you, Sam. The little brother that looked up to him, that he could trust. And now he loves me."

Dean tightened his hold and Sam groaned louder this time as he flinched again.

"And I gotta tell you, Sam, that kind of devotion, watching someone kill for you is the best feeling in the whole entire world."

"Is that why you're slutting all over town then?" asked Alex, glaring at Vick with hatred in her eyes.

Vick looked over at her, his smirk still in place on his arrogant, monstrous face.

"I get bored, like we all do. And I want to fall in love again. And again and again."

"I tell you what, I have fought some nasty sons of bitches, but you are one needy and pathetic loser," said Sam.

Vick looked over at Sam once again.

"Well, you won't feel that way in a minute here."

Sam and Alex both looked confused again. Vick grabbed Sam's mouth and Alex watched in horror as the siren used her venom, squirting it into Sam's open mouth. Sam fought, but it was useless. He looked at Vick with admiration suddenly and walked toward Vick once Dean let him out of his chokehold.

"So I know you two have a lot you want to get off your chests, so why don't you guys discuss it and whoever survives can be with me… forever?" said Vick.

Alex stepped in between her brothers then and Vick growled.

"Alex, get out of their way," he said.

"No way, you slimy bastard."

Vick stalked towards her and grabbed her around the waist, pulling her away from her brothers. Alex fought against his hold, but he was way too strong. She began screaming and Vick slapped a hand over her mouth, immediately silencing her.

"Shut up, slut, or I'll kill you too."

Sam and Dean looked at each other, in a sudden standoff now.

"Well, I don't know when it happened. Maybe when I was in Hell. Maybe when I was staring right at you. But the Sam I knew, he's gone," began Dean.

"Is that so?" shot back Sam.

"And it's the demon blood or the psychic crap. It's the little stuff. The lies, the secrets."

"Oh, yeah? What secrets?"

"Your phone calls to Ruby, for one thing."

"So I need your say so to make a phone call now?"

"That's the whole point. The hiding things from me! What else aren't you telling me, Sam?"

Sam's eyes looked evil.

"That's none of your damn business."

Sam smirked. Dean shook his head at his little brother.

"See what I mean? We used to be in this all together. We used to have each other's backs!" ground out Dean, his teeth gritted together now.

"Okay, fine. You wanna know why I didn't tell you all about Ruby? And how we're hunting down Lilith? Because you're way too weak to go after her, Dean. You're holding me back. I'm a way better hunter than you are. Stronger, smarter. I can take out demons you're too scared to even go near."

"That's bullshit."

"You're too busy sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. Whining about all those poor souls you tortured in Hell. Well boo-fucking-whoo."

Alex screamed and ducked as Dean threw the knife he was still holding in his hands at Sam. Sam ducked as well and threw a punch at Dean, but missed. Dean landed a right hook to Sam's right cheek and the boys began pounding on each other relentlessly. Alex ran to get in between them, but Vick grabbed her once again, holding her back as she yelled for them to stop, tears streaming down her face. Sam cried out as Dean held his arm down, hard. Sam eventually got free from Dean's hold and punched Dean several different times, causing Dean to fly back from the force of Sam's punches. Dean fell through a decorative pillar by the wall, smashing it into a million little tiny pieces. Sam charged towards him, grabbing him by the collar of his leather jacket.

"You're not standing in my way," ground out Sam.

Sam pulled Dean up and held him against the door as he punched him in the face repeatedly. Dean found a surge of adrenaline and got the upper hand on Sam. He tackled him through the motel room door, breaking it down completely. Vick let go of Alex momentarily and stood up, moving closer into the hallway to watch the brothers fight. As Sam lay on the ground, the broken motel room door underneath him, Dean spotted the axe in the hallway that was supposed to be used only for emergency purposes. He broke the glass with his covered elbow and pulled it out, holding it down at his side. Sam groaned in pain as he rolled over, trying to get back up from the fight.

"Do it. Do it for me, Dean," said Vick, walking around the brothers to stand in front of Dean now.

Dean nodded as he looked back down at Sam on the floor, whose eyes had widened as he looked back up at Dean now.

"Tell me again how weak I am, Sammy, huh? How I hold you back?"

Dean began to bring the axe down in a wide arch, but halfway through its path, a hand grabbed the handle of the axe. Dean looked over as Bobby stabbed him in the shoulder with a medium-sized dagger. Dean held his shoulder in pain as Bobby grabbed the axe completely, throwing it to the ground. Alex ran into the hallway to watch as Bobby rounded on Vick, who had just begun to run away, back down the hallway where Bobby had just come from. Sam turned his head to watch them, his eyes widening in fear for Vick.

"No, no!" yelled Sam.

Bobby ignored his calls and ran around the corner, flinging the knife directly into the center of Vick's back. Vick fell to the carpeted floor in the hallway, seeing his real monstrous form in a mirror before he completely died. Blood oozed from the corners of his mouth and Bobby walked over to him, making sure he was completely and totally dead as a doornail. Sam sat up, the spell now broken. He surveyed the damage that he and Dean had both caused in the motel room and in the hallway. The brothers looked at each other, both of their eyes wide. Alex stared at both of them sadly.

Sam sighed as Bobby handed all three of them a bottle. They all leaned up against the Impala as they stood in an abandoned parking lot. Dean glanced down at the bottle Bobby had just given him. He scoffed and then looked back over at Bobby, his eyebrows raised in a questioning glare.

"Soda?" asked Dean.

"Well, you boys are driving, ain't you?" asked Bobby.

Both boys shrugged and opened their soda bottles. Bobby drank from his while Alex smirked as she drank from her Bud Light bottle.

"Thanks again, Bobby. You know, if you hadn't shown up when you did…" Sam trailed off.

"You three would've done the same thing for me. And you have, more than once, I might add. Of course, you could've picked up the phone. It only took one call to find out that Agent Vick Monroe wasn't exactly real."

The three siblings each looked a little bit sheepish at this obvious piece of information. Bobby stared at all of them, especially Dean and Sam.

"Are you three gonna be alright?" asked Bobby.

Sam nodded.

"Yeah, fine."

"Yeah, we're all good," agreed Dean.

Bobby nodded reluctantly and with a slight wave of his fingers, he was headed for his car.

"Okay. Well, then, see you."

He climbed inside his vehicle and took off, heading for his home. Alex sighed once he was gone and looked over at her older brothers.

"You know, those sirens are nasty little things. The fact that it got to you, that's no reason to feel bad, alright?"

Sam and Dean nodded. Dean looked off into the distance.

"You gonna say goodbye to Cara?" asked Dean.

"Nah. I'm not interested," answered Sam.

Sam began kicking at a small rock with the toe of his left shoe.

"Really, why not?" asked Alex, staring at him curiously.

"Well, what's the point?"

Dean smirked.

"Well, look at you, Mr. Love 'Em and Leave 'Em."

Sam sighed.

"Dean, look. You know I didn't mean any of the things I said back there in that motel room, right? That it was just the siren's spell talking?"

"Of course, me too."

Sam nodded then, his eyebrows raised questioningly at his older brother.

"Okay, so, we're all good now, right?" asked Sam.

"Yeah, we're all good now."

Dean began walking over to the driver's side while sipping from his drink. Sam sighed, but Alex smiled over at him.

"We're all fine, Sammy. I promise," she said.

Sam pulled her in for a small side hug before letting her climb inside the Impala. Alex stretched out on the backseat and then Sam climbed into the passenger seat, him and Dean slamming their doors closed at exactly the same time before they took off for their next job.

Alex rolled her eyes as Dean messed with the jukebox machine in the corner, unable to get it to work.

"No, no, no, you're right. It's definitely weird. Okay, Bobby. Thanks," said Sam.

Alex looked at Sam expectantly as he hung up his cell phone. Dean walked back over to his siblings when he saw Sam hang up his phone.

"So what's up?" asked Dean.

Sam placed his cell phone back into his jeans pocket.

"Um, Bobby found something in Wyoming," answered Sam, turning his attention back to his computer.

"A job?" asked Alex, scooting in her chair so that Dean could sit beside her.

"Maybe. Small town and no one's died in the last week and a half."

Dean took a bite of his lukewarm hamburger.

"That's not so unusual," said Dean.

"Well, it's how they're not dying. Um, for instance, one guy with terminal cancer strolls right out of hospice, another guy gets capped by a mugger and walks away without a single scratch," explained Sam.

"Capped where, exactly?" asked Alex.

Sam held up one finger as he clicked on the online article and began reading.

"Police say Mr. Jenkins was shot in the heart at point blank range by a nine millimeter."

"And he's not six feet under already?" asked Alex, shaking her head in disbelief.

"The locals are saying it's a miracle," said Sam, looking up from his computer screen.

Dean nodded.

"Okay."

He shoved some more fries into his mouth. Sam closed his computer.

"It's gotta be something nasty, right? I mean, people making deals or something?"

"You really think?" asked Alex.

"Well, what else could it be?" asked Sam.

Alex just shrugged.

"I don't know," answered Dean, his mouth full of unchewed food.

Alex looked at him with disgust. Sam nodded, grabbing his computer and stuffing it into his backpack.

"Alright. Dean, get your food to go because we're leaving, now."

"Come on," said Alex, getting up to leave with Sam.

As Alex and Sam headed for the door, Dean remained sitting, chewing his food slowly and thoughtfully. After a couple of steps toward the door, Sam and Alex both turned back to look at him.

"What are you doing?" asked Alex.

"Are you sure you want me going with you?" asked Dean, ignoring Alex and looking straight at his little brother.

"Why wouldn't I?" asked Sam, looking thoroughly confused now by Dean's behavior.

Dean picked up his hamburger again.

"I don't know, I wouldn't want to be holding you back or anything."

Alex sighed deeply.

"Oh, Lord, here we go," she whispered to herself.

Sam rolled his eyes at Dean's immaturity.

"Dude, I've already told you a hundred thousand times that was the siren talking, not me. Can we please move past all of this?" begged Sam.

Dean set his burger back down on his plate and wiped his hands off with a paper napkin he had on the table beside his elbow.

"Yeah, we're past it," answered Dean.

He stood up then and walked with his siblings to the exit of the small restaurant.

"Now, you three said you were internet bloggers?"

Sam nodded while Alex smiled sweetly at the man sitting across from them.

"Yes, sir, ," answered Sam.

"All of God's glory, fit to blog," chimed in Dean, smiling over at the man next to him.

Sam cleared his throat before speaking once again.

"So, um, some of the people around town are saying that what happened to you was a huge miracle."

The man shrugged.

"It was, plain as day."

"Well, how can you be so sure?"

"How else would you explain it? The doctors certainly can't. I mean, there's a bullet embedded into my heart and it's still pumping like a piston."

"Well how do you explain it?" asked Alex.

The man looked over into the next room where his little girl sat reading with her mother. He sighed before answering all three of them. He looked down at his kitchen table as he spoke.

"Look. Honestly, I was no one's saint. And I'm not exactly father of the year either. But once that guy shot me and I didn't bleed a single drop, I just knew that the Lord was giving me a second chance at life."

"Is that so?" asked Dean, trying to attempt a smile for the man, but failing.

Mr. Jenkins smiled anyway, nodding as well.

"I had this feeling. Like angels were watching over me. But I wouldn't expect you all to understand anyway."

Mr. Jenkins leaned back in his chair, staring at all three siblings.

"Well, we'll just have to try, won't we?" answered Dean.

"You wouldn't have happened to swung by a crossroads the past week or so?" asked Sam.

Mr. Jenkins looked thoughtful for one split second.

"No."

"Maybe you met someone. With black eyes? Or red," continued Sam.

Mr. Jenkins leaned toward Sam then.

"Um, who'd you guys say you were again?" he asked them.

Alex smiled sweetly over at him, nudging Sam under the table as she leaned forward to speak with Mr. Jenkins.

"Never mind. Thank you for your time, sir."

The three of them stood up, leaving Mr. Jenkins' house.

Dean was sitting at the lone desk in the motel room that night, searching for clues on Sam's computer when Sam walked back into the room.

"Hey," greeted Sam.

Dean nodded at him as a greeting and Alex sat up on her bed. Sam shut the door behind him.

"Did you find anything?" asked Alex.

"Yeah, that cancer survivor? He was clinically dead. His wife pulled the plug earlier that day and now he's taking her out for their twentieth wedding anniversary," said Sam, smirking sarcastically at his siblings.

"Any sign of a deal?" asked Dean, putting his chin in his hand.

"No. What about you two, find anyone dying around here?" asked Sam.

"Um, not since Cole Griffith. He dropped ten days ago and he's the last death I could find in this place," answered Dean.

Dean clicked on the kid's obituary picture, making it bigger on his computer screen. Sam shook his head.

"So what are you guys thinking?" asked Alex, standing up and joining her brothers by the desk.

"Well, maybe it is what the people say it is," said Dean, standing up from his chair and stretching.

Sam scoffed and Alex looked at her older brother.

"Miracles? Dean, in our experiences, when do miracles just happen?" asked Sam, taking a seat in Dean's now vacated desk chair.

Dean shrugged as he began pouring himself a cup of coffee.

"Well, I'm just saying. There's no deals, there's, uh, no sign of any skeevy faith healers. I mean, these souls just ain't getting dragged into the light, you know?"

Alex snapped her fingers as a thought just came to her. Her brothers stared at her.

"Maybe because there's no one to carry them," she said.

Dean put down the coffee pot after pouring himself a fresh mug. He walked over to join his siblings again.

"What do you even mean?" he asked her.

"Well, grim reapers, that's what they do, right? Take souls to the Promised Land? So, if death ain't in town…" Alex trailed off, looking over at both of her brothers expectantly.

"Then nobody's dying," finished Sam.

Alex nodded, smiling triumphantly.

"Then, what, the local reaper's on strike or something? Playing the back nine? I don't know, Lex."

Dean took a sip from his coffee mug and Sam looked back at the picture pulled up on his computer screen.

"Well, then let's talk to someone who might," offered Sam.

"The kid?" asked Alex.

Sam nodded.

"The kid's a doornail, Sammy," said Dean.

"That's exactly my point, Dean. Look, if he's the last person to die around here, then maybe he's seen something. So, we should probably talk to him," explained Sam.

Dean smirked, bringing his coffee mug up to his lips to take another drink.

"I love how matter of fact you are about all of that."

Sam smirked.

"Strange lives," said Alex, flopping back down onto her bed and sighing deeply.

About an hour later, Sam had everything set up around Cole Griffith's grave. The candles were flickering with bright orange and yellowish flames burning atop them. Dean was leaning against the headstone to the right of Cole's while Alex gently sat against the one to the left of Cole's. Dean flipped to another page in their father's journal.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" he asked Sam.

Sam looked up and over at him. He saw his breath as he exhaled.

"Nope. But if the spirit's around, these should smoke him out," answered Sam.

He poured out some herbs from a large sack onto the frozen ground. Dean closed his father's journal rather forcefully, looking off into the cemetery.

"What?" asked Alex, looking over at her oldest brother.

"This job is jacked, that's what."

"How so?" asked Sam.

"If you want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse, hey, let's light those fuckers up, right? But this job? It's fucked up. I mean, if we face whatever this is, people are gonna start dropping dead all over this whole damn town. Good people too."

Sam sighed, standing up from his crouched position.

"Look, I don't want them to die either, Dean, but there's a natural order," said Sam.

Alex scoffed and Sam and Dean both looked at her.

"What?" asked Sam, looking a little but hurt and offended at Alex's outburst.

Alex stood up and walked over to them, being careful so as not to tread on Sam's recent hard work.

"You're kidding me, right, Sam? A natural order? You don't see the complete and total irony in that for us? I mean, us three, we're like the poster children for the unnatural order, all we do is ditch fucking death," explained Alex.

"Yeah, but the normal rules don't really apply to us, do they?" asked Sam.

Alex and Dean just stared at him in disbelief. Dean began chuckling, but Sam wasn't laughing, so he stopped suddenly.

"Sammy, we're no different over anyone else!" yelled Dean.

"I'm infected with demon blood and have been since birth. Fuck, Dean, Alex and I sometimes have fucking visions! You've literally been to Hell. Look, I know you want to think of yourself as Joe the plumber, Dean, but you're not. Neither am I and neither is Alex. So the sooner you accept that, the better off we're all gonna be."

Dean looked up at the cloudless night sky, exhaling a deep breath and seeing his breath as he let it go.

"Joe the plumber was such a douchebag."

Alex snickered and Sam nodded.

"So are you gonna help me finish this then?" asked Sam.

He crouched back down and Dean and Alex stood up, moving towards Sam.

"Hey! What are you three doing here?" called out a voice behind them.

The three siblings whipped around to see an older, middle-aged man behind them, a flashlight in his right hand as he stared at the three of them menacingly. Sam looked over at his two siblings quickly and then turned his attention back to the man in front of all of them.

"Um, look, just take it easy," warned Sam.

The man stepped forward and shined his flashlight down onto what they had created in front of Cole Griffith's tombstone.

"What the hell is this shit?" asked the man.

"Oh, um, this, this… This is not what it looks like," explained Dean.

He chuckled nervously and the man looked over at him.

"Really, because it looks like devil worship," said the man, his tone more threatening now.

Dean's eyes widened.

"What? No, no, this is not… devil worship, this is, this is, um…"

Dean trailed off and looked over at his siblings apologetically.

"I really don't have a good enough answer," said Dean.

Sam and Alex rolled their eyes at him.

"Look, we're leaving," said Sam, giving the guy a small smile.

The man shook his head, walking towards all of them now.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere ever again. Sam."

Alex scooted closer to Sam as she realized who was currently standing in front of them. Dean nodded his head, a look of pure hatred all over his face as Sam's jaw clenched. The man's eyes rolled back into his head, revealing his pure white and demonic eyes.

"Alistair," stated Dean.

The man's eyes returned to normal then.

"I thought you were deep-fried, extra crispy," said Dean.

"No, just the pediatrician I was riding at the time. Actually, his wife's still looking for him too. It's hilarious," answered Alistair, shaking his head at Dean.

Dean glared back in response, so Alistair turned his attention over to Sam and Alex.

"Anyway. No time to chat. Got a hot date with death."

Alistair flung up his palm and Dean went flying across the graveyard, hitting a headstone and falling to the grass.

"Dean!" screamed Alex.

Alistair smirked over at her next, but Sam stepped directly in front of her, glaring at the demon in front of them. Alistair smirked, but Sam held his ground. Nothing happened when Alistair move his palm, so he tried again.

"You're stronger, Sam. You been working on this with your little slut?" asked Alistair.

"Oh, you have no idea," said Sam.

He flung up his palm and Alistair went flying into a tree trunk. Alex looked on in horror as Sam exorcized the demon from the man's body, the black smoke flying up into the inky black sky.

Sam pulled open the door to the motel room and chuckled when he saw Dean lying back on his bed, an icepack pressed up to his forehead. Alex was lying beside Dean, her hair falling across her shoulders perfectly as she sat up when Sam entered their room.

"How you doing?" asked Sam, looking at Dean.

"I'm in pain, that's how I'm doing. I think I have a concussion," answered Dean.

"You want some aspirin?" asked Alex.

Dean looked over at her sitting next to him.

"No thanks, Lex."

He slowly sat up, sighing as he did so.

"So demons, huh?"

Sam sighed and held up the small leather book he was holding.

"Yep, so much for miracles."

"And what happened with Alistair again?" asked Dean.

Sam glanced over at Alex quickly and subtly. Alex bit her lip and raised her eyebrows, but Sam's gaze flickered away from hers.

"Um, I already told you. He tried his weird flinging thing on me and it didn't work so he bailed."

"Well, how come he couldn't fling you? He chucked you pretty far last time."

Sam just shrugged.

"I have no clue."

Sam turned to the coffee he had made earlier and began pouring himself a cup. Dean looked back at Alex, who had her bottom lip between her teeth. Dean sighed and looked at Sam's back.

"Look, Sam, do me a favor. If you're gonna keep your little secrets, fine. Just don't treat me and Alex like we're idiots, alright?"

Sam turned to look at his siblings.

"What? Dean, I'm not keeping any secrets."

"Yeah. Whatever. So, did you go back and Q and A the dead kid?" asked Dean.

"Didn't have to. Bobby called me earlier today. He did some digging," answered Sam.

He sat down on his and Alex's bed and held up the little brown leather book he was currently holding.

"And?" asked Alex, sitting beside Dean now.

"He thinks I'm right. Local reaper's gone. But not just gone, kidnapped."

"By demons?" asked Alex.

Sam nodded.

"Why?" asked Dean.

Sam opened the book he was holding, his eyebrows raised.

"Listen to this. Any bloody death under the newborn sky, sweet to taste, but bitter when once devoured."

"And what the hell does that even mean?" asked Dean.

"Well, it's from a very obscure, very arcane version of Revelations."

"Which means exactly what you think it means," whispered Alex, looking at Dean sadly.

"Basically, you kill a reaper under the solstice moon," began Sam.

"Which is tomorrow night, by the way," piped in Alex.

"If you do that, then you have yourself a broken seal," finished Sam.

"But you can't kill death," said Dean.

Alex and Sam both shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe demons can. But where the hell are the angels is what I wanna know. We could actually use their help for once," said Sam.

"Well, it looks like we're taking care of this one ourselves," said Dean.

"So what are we gonna do, just swing in and save the friendly neighborhood reaper?" asked Alex, falling back on the bed again.

"If you've got a better idea, I'm all ears," said Dean.

"But Dean, reapers are invisible. The only people who can see them are the dead or the dying," explained Sam.

Dean nodded, looking down at the floor.

"Well, if ghosts are the only ones who can see 'em…"

"Yeah?" asked Alex, sitting back up and looking at her oldest brother.

"Then we become ghosts," said Dean.

He smirked at his plan and placed the icepack back onto his forehead.

"You must have a concussion," said Alex.

"It sounds really crazy, I know."

"No, it's definitely crazy," said Sam.

Dean raised his eyebrows while Sam and Alex sighed.

"How?" asked Alex.

A few hours later, Alex watched from her place on the bed as Sam pulled open the motel room door to reveal Pamela and Dean waiting for him. Pamela walked into the room, immediately shaking her head already.

"I can't even begin to tell you how crazy you three are."

Dean walked in right behind her. Pamela stood in the center of the room, her usual pair of black sunglasses resting on her face.

"Well, Pamela, you're a sight for sore eyes," said Sam, slamming the motel room door closed.

Pamela chuckled at his tasteless remark.

"Aww, that's sweet, Grumpy. What do you say to deaf people?" asked Pamela.

Dean hid his smile and Alex slapped Sam's arm.

"Now, which one of you three braniacs came up with astral projection?"

Dean raised his hand and then remembered Pamela couldn't see him.

"Um, that would be me," he answered her.

Pamela scoffed.

"Of course. So, let's be perfectly clear here. You three want to rip your souls out of your bodies and take a tiny little stroll through the whole entire spirit world?" asked Pamela.

Alex winced.

"Yep, that's exactly right," answered Dean.

"Do you have any idea how heavy duty insane that is?"

"Maybe, but that's where the reaper is, so…" explained Dean, trailing off.

"So? It's still nuts," said Pamela.

"Well, not if you know what you're doing."

"But you have no freaking clue what you're doing!"

"No. But you do," said Dean.

"Yeah. I do. And I'm sick of being hauled back into your angel, demon crap!"

"Look, I would love to be kicking back with a cold one watching Judge Judy too. We're talking the end of the world here. Okay? Pamela, we really need your help," pleaded Dean.

Pamela shook her head at him sadly.

Sam pulled the last of the curtains closed, making the room fairly dark. Dean and Alex finished lighting all of the candles while Pamela sat in a chair in the middle of the room.

"So tell me something, geniuses. Even if you do break into the veil and find the reaper, how are you gonna save it?" asked Pamela.

"With style and class," joked Dean.

Pamela scoffed.

"You're gonna be three walking pieces of fog. You can't touch or move a single thing. You'll all be defenseless, hotshot."

"Well, I seem to recall a bunch of ghosts beating the shit out of us," said Sam.

"Yeah, but they've had plenty of time to practice," answered Pamela.

"Well then. I guess we better start cramming!" said Alex.

"Alright then. Lie down, close your eyes," said Pamela, patting the bed directly in front of her.

Dean heard Pamela's voice a little while later, so he sat up on his bed, looking over at her.

"Well, there's nothing like shooting blanks. So what's Plan B?" he asked her.

Pamela never responded, almost as if she hadn't even heard him.

He looked over at the other bed, where he saw Sam and Alex asleep. A slight noise sounded from behind him, so he looked around and saw Sam and Alex standing behind him. Sam shrugged while Alex looked terrified and worried.

"Alright, let's do this thing," said Dean.

Sam, Alex, and Dean were walking down an empty street when Sam held up his hand, stopping all of them from walking any further.

"Hey, hey, three o'clock. Kid in the window," said Sam.

All three of them looked up and saw a kid looking directly down at them from a window across the street.

"Now am I crazy or is he looking directly at us?" asked Sam.

"That's because we've seen him before," answered Alex.

"Um, we have?" asked Dean, looking at his sister.

Sam looked over at Alex as well.

"Yes, the local newspaper. Cole Griffith, the last person to die in this town," answered Alex.

As the three of them continued looking at the boy, he suddenly flickered from their sight, disappearing. They all exchanged glances, very confused. They headed for the house, looking for Cole.

As they walked up the stairs, Cole's mother came brushing past them. She didn't even flinch as she walked right through Sam's form. They stepped into Cole's bedroom and saw Cole standing by his dresser. Cole grabbed a soccer ball and flung it at them. They all three ducked and walked farther into the room.

"How are you doing that?" asked Dean.

"Who are you three?" asked Cole.

"Relax, Cole. It's alright, buddy," said Sam.

"How do you know my name?"

"Look, this isn't gonna be easy to hear, but… you're dead," explained Sam.

"You're a spirit. Us too," added in Alex.

The kid scoffed and raised his eyebrows.

"Yeah, thanks Haley Joel, I know I'm dead."

Sam and Alex looked taken aback at the kid's attitude change.

"What do you want?" asked Cole.

"Well, we just want to talk," answered Alex.

"About what, exactly?"

A couple minutes later, Sam, Alex, and Dean were sitting around Cole's kitchen table while Cole leaned against the doorframe, watching his mother in the kitchen. She poured herself another glass of alcohol while she continued crying. Cole sighed.

"I was outside all morning. They tell you to be careful when it's cold."

"Cold air can cause an asthma attack?" asked Dean.

Cole shrugged, nodding.

"And then I was in my room. It all happened so fast, I called out for my mom, but nothing came out. Everything started spinning and then I was just standing there, looking down at my body."

Cole sat down at the table with them then.

"And that's when you saw the man," said Alex, looking at the little boy sadly.

Cole nodded.

"The creepy old guy with the black suit on. He wanted me to go with him, but I didn't wanna go."

Cole looked back at his mom sadly.

"Reaper," said Sam.

His siblings nodded.

"So how'd you get rid of him?" asked Dean.

"I didn't. The black smoke did though."

"Black smoke?" asked Sam.

"It was everywhere. I hid in my closet and when I came out it was gone and so was he."

"Do you know where the black smoke went?" asked Dean, leaning on the edge of his chair.

"No. But I know where it is," answered Cole.

Suddenly, the lights began flickering and Cole jumped back away from the table. His eyes widened with fear and even his mother noticed the flickering lights.

"They're back," said Cole, looking up towards the ceiling.

"Who?" asked Alex.

Cole flickered out of sight before he could answer her question. Sam, Alex, and Dean looked around the place and they were all swept back by a strong burst of wind. A white form danced up the stairs and the three siblings stood up quickly.

"Another reaper," whispered Alex.

"Hey!" yelled Dean.

They all ran for the stairs, looking up them towards where the reaper had disappeared to.

"Wait, we need to talk to you!" yelled Dean.

As they stood at the bottom of the staircase, a figure came waltzing down. Alex looked at him, a flicker of recognition in the back of her mind flaring up while Sam and Dean had no clue who he even was.

"Alex," he said, looking down at her.

"Do I know you?" asked Alex, looking confused.

"Oh, we go way back, sweetheart," answered the young man.

He pushed past the three of them, walking into the living room of Cole's house. He stood to face all three of them once he was in the middle of the room, his hands stuffed into his front pockets.

"You don't even remember me?" he asked Alex.

Alex looked him over intently, scrutinizing him.

"Honestly, no. So you're probably going to have to refresh my memory," answered Alex.

Jack smiled and stepped forward towards Alex. Once he was close enough, he pushed a lock of hair behind her ear and leaned in, placing a gentle kiss on her lips with a hand on her cheek. Both of their eyes closed and Alex saw it all in black and white: the car crash with the semi-truck, the hospital, meeting Jack in the hospital, John making a deal with the yellow-eyed demon, Jack touching Alex's face, Alex gasping for breath once the deal for John's life was finalized.

Jack stepped away from Alex, letting go of her face. Alex looked at him in front of her, recognition finally setting in. Alex took a step back.

"Jack," she whispered.

"That's one of my many names, yeah," he answered.

"So you do know him," said Sam, his arms crossed over his chest.

Alex answered Sam's question, never looking away from Jack's face.

"From the hospital after the car accident."

"The accident with Dad?" asked Dean.

Alex nodded. Sam scoffed.

"So this is the reaper who came after you."

"Yeah," whispered Alex.

Jack turned to Sam and Dean.

"Well, this was fun. Now, if you'll excuse me."

Jack went to push past Alex then, but Alex held her hands up, stopping him from going any further.

"Wait a second, wait, wait. You can't… You can't take the little boy," said Alex.

"Why?"

"Demons are in town, that's why. They've already snatched your reaper pal and the kid knows where too."

"So?" asked Jack, shaking his head.

"So, you should shag ass. For all we know, they could try and snatch you too," explained Sam.

Jack looked over at him.

"Except that this town is off the rails. And someone has to set it all straight."

"Well, yes, we understand that, but… these are special circumstances," said Alex.

"What, your whole angel/demon dance-off? I could care less. I just want to do my job and do it well."

"Right, yeah, and we wanna help you do your job, so if you would just bail from this town-" began Sam.

"No," said Jack, cutting him off.

"Well then, could you just hold off until we fix this? Please," asked Alex.

Jack looked into her eyes and sighed after a few seconds.

"Alright, fine. But just so we're clear. When I start reaping again, I'm starting with that kid."

Sam nodded from beside Alex.

"Understood. I'll go find him," offered Sam.

He began to walk off, but Dean stopped him.

"Wait, wait, wait. What are you even going to say to him?" asked Dean.

Sam sighed and looked between everyone in the room before looking back at Dean to answer.

"Whatever I have to."

Sam took off for the stairs and Dean looked back at Alex and Jack. He cleared his throat as he gave Alex a very fatherly, stern look.

"I'm gonna, um, go help Sam," whispered Dean, taking off after Sam up the stairs.

Sam and Dean slowly walked into Cole's room, looking for Cole. They pushed open the door and walked farther into the room. As they looked over the place, they saw that the closet door was slightly open so they headed for the closet. Sam and Dean both leaned against the wall by the closet and slid down it, sitting on the floor while Cole sat on the floor in his closet.

"This is all a little overwhelming, isn't it?" asked Sam.

"Pretty scary, too," chimed in Dean.

"The worst is my mom," offered Cole.

"It must be hard seeing her like this," offered Sam.

Cole scooted closer to the light shining in through his open closet door.

"She's always coming in here. Talking to me, telling me how horrible sad she is. I knocked some stuff over once to let her know I'm here, but she only gets sadder."

"Yeah, well, you might want to ease up on the flying soccer balls," joked Sam.

Dean chuckled gently. They sat in silence for a few more minutes until Cole finally spoke up once again.

"I'm not telling you where that black smoke is."

"Hey. What if I told you if you helped me, helped us, you wouldn't have to leave here? Ever?" asked Sam.

Dean looked at him strangely, but Sam ignored him.

"What about the man downstairs?" asked Cole.

"Who, Jack? Nah, he wouldn't bother you. No reaper would. You could just stay here with your family for as long as you wanted," explained Sam.

"You could do that?" asked Cole.

"Yeah, you bet I can do that," answered Sam.

"You swear?"

Dean looked at Sam, not understanding why his brother was lying to this poor kid. Sam looked straight ahead, gritting his teeth together as he answered Cole's question.

"I swear."

"I'll tell you, life sure is funny," said Jack, pacing in front of Alex back down in the living room.

"What do you mean?" asked Alex.

Jack smirked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"You and me, together again."

"Are you making a move on me?"

"You're the one that got away, Alex. You'd be very surprised how little that happens to me."

Alex looked at Jack, nodding slightly before speaking once again.

"Can I tell you something between you and me?"

Jack just shrugged.

"Who the hell am I gonna tell?"

"After our little experience, for that whole entire year, I felt like I had this hole in my gut. Almost like I was missing something. I didn't know what, but you know what it was? It was you. The pain of losing my father and then my own twin brother. I just... I wish I'd gone with you for good. But I guess things are different now, huh?"

"What? The angels on your shoulder?" whispered Jack, smirking at Alex.

"So you know about that, huh?"

Jack nodded.

"Well, don't get me wrong, but most of the ones I've met are just dicks with wings."

Jack's smirk grew wider and he stepped closer to Alex. As he began moving closer, Sam, Dean, and Cole came walking down the stairs and into the room, Sam clearing his throat as they walked in.

"Hey, guys," said Sam.

Cole glared at Jack, who smiled at him.

"Hey, Cole. I'm Jack. I'm not going to hurt you."

"It's okay, Cole. Just tell them what you told me and Sam," encouraged Dean.

Cole looked back at Dean, who smiled slightly and nodded encouragingly.

"I saw the black smoke at my funeral."

"At the cemetery?" asked Alex.

"No, at the funeral home. It was everywhere."

After Cole spoke, the lights began flickering once again like earlier before. They all looked around the room except for Jack, who looked very calm and collected. Alex looked over at him.

"Are you doing that?" she asked him.

Jack looked back at her.

"No," he answered her back.

Suddenly, a large cloud of black smoke burst through the front door, larger than any they had ever seen before. It swept through the house, covering all of them up. They all crouched down and when it was over a few seconds later, all of them looked around. Jack was no longer there.

"Jack?" asked Alex, yelling his name.

"Cole, are you alright?" asked Sam.

Cole nodded, swallowing nervously.

"How the hell are we supposed to fight that?" asked Dean, breathing a little bit heavily.

Sam sighed.

"I don't know. Learn some ghost moves?" suggested Sam.

Dean and Alex stopped moving altogether, looking at their brother.

"By tonight?" yelled Dean.

Sam just shrugged, throwing his hands up in frustration.

Out on the front porch of Cole's house, Dean was staring down a small white windmill, trying to make it move. Sam and Alex stood behind him, watching him focus.

"It's not gonna move at all if you never concentrate," said Cole, staring at Dean.

"I am concentrating!" yelled Dean.

He shot a quick glare over in Cole's direction and then turned back to the windmill. A few seconds later, it moved one time.

"Aha, here we go, baby!" yelled Dean.

The windmill stopped moving and Dean's face fell. Cole scoffed.

"What, did you pull a muscle, old man?"

Alex and Sam held back their laughs. Cole focused on the windmill then, making it move steadily. The front porch swing also began moving, along with the wind chimes. Dean smirked.

"Dude, you are so Amityville!" he yelled.

"And this isn't even the good stuff."

Back inside the house, Cole practiced punching on Sam. He punched Sam right in the side and Sam doubled over in pain.

"See, if you want to hit something, you just have to get really mad," explained Cole.

"Yeah, got it," said Sam, his voice strained as he stood back up to his full height.

"Now you try. Hit me," said Cole, looking over at Dean.

Dean's smirk faltered.

"Um, I think I'll just stick to picking on someone my own size," said Dean, pointing over towards Sam.

Cole smiled and then came back and smacked Dean, sending his head flying to the right. Sam and Alex burst into laughter and Cole turned to Sam.

"Now, your turn. Hit me as hard as you can."

"Dude, I'm not gonna play fight club with a twelve year old," said Sam.

Cole punched Sam directly in the face, so Sam came back to finally hit him, but Cole disappeared. They all looked around the room, very confused, until Cole reappeared in the corner of the room.

"Whoa, whoa. You've gotta teach us that," said Alex, pointing at Cole, her eyes wide with amazement.

Cole smirked widely.

Later that night, Alex, Sam, and Dean stood in front of a rather large building covered in all kinds of demonic signs. People walked straight past them, as if the building was invisible to them.

"Let's go inside," said Sam, heading towards the already halfway open doors.

As they all stepped inside, they began looking around. The moon was high up in the sky and shining brightly into the otherwise dark building. Sam and Alex walked around the giant staircase to the right while Dean took the left side. They met in the middle, shrugging once they saw each other. As they walked back to the front of the building where they had come in from, they saw a rather large sitting room off to the right side. In the middle of the room was a large circle with all kinds of symbols drawn around it. In the middle of the circle were Jack and another, older reaper. A demon was standing guard, his back facing all of them.

"Guys, check me out," whispered Dean.

He disappeared like Cole had taught them and reappeared seconds later behind the demon. He tapped the guy on his shoulder, punched him in the nose once he turned around, and then disappeared before the demon could punch him in retaliation. The demon began looking around frantically, but he saw no one. Seconds later, Alex, Sam, and Dean appeared all around the man. Sam and Dean took turns punching him in the face as the man scurried away from them. As the boys followed him into the corner of the room, the man suddenly ran back to where they had just come from. As he ran back towards the circle, another man walked into the room, a large iron chain in his fingers. He clipped it from one wall to the next, locking the Winchester brothers in the corner.

"It's iron!" yelled Sam.

"Sam!" yelled Alex.

She ran towards them to free them, but the demon grabbed her and pulled her hard into his chest. She struggled to free herself, but he held onto her struggling form tight. Suddenly, Alistair appeared in the room.

"Find the place okay, Winchesters?" he asked.

He began walking towards them, the boys and Alex glaring daggers at him. He grabbed a shotgun from off of the wall where it was resting and aimed it at Dean's stomach. Alex's eyes widened as he shot Dean with it, Dean disappearing.

"Rock salt's not so much fun anymore, is it?" asked Alistair, turning his attention onto Sam now.

Dean reappeared then, gasping for breath.

"You bastard," said Dean, looking at Alistair and shaking his head.

"Go to Hell," spat out Alex, still struggling against the other demon.

Alistair looked over at her, smirking.

"Oh, if only I could, sweetheart. But they just keep sending me back up here."

"To kill death?" asked Dean.

"To kill death twice, it takes two of them to break a seal. But I figured another one would show up again soon."

Alistair shot Sam next, walking up as close as possible to Dean without crossing the iron chain.

"By the way, it's, um, so good to see you again, Dean."

Dean smirked.

"You can shoot us all you want, but you can't kill us."

Sam reappeared again then, holding his stomach and breathing heavily.

"Ah, is that so?"

Alex's eyes widened. Alistair smirked and set down the shotgun along the wall. He picked up a weird looking knife. It was curved and had a wooden handle.

"You're gonna kill a reaper with that?" asked Dean.

"An old friend lent it to me," said Alistair.

He walked over to the circle where the two unconscious reapers were lying. He knelt down next to the older reaper and yanked him up by his collar. The reaper's eyes shot open and his eyes widened as he took in the curved knife at his neck. The siblings looked on in horror as Alistair looked down at the reaper, beginning to chant an incantation. After the incantation was over, he slit the man's throat, killing him. They all turned away as bright lights flashed in the room. Alistair stood up from his knees with an evil smirk on his face. As he walked over to Jack, Alex looked up at the ceiling and saw a chandelier hanging from the ceiling. As Alistair grabbed Jack by the collar and Jack began struggling, Dean exchanged a glance with Sam. Alistair began chanting the same incantation again and Alex closed her eyes, picturing the chandelier perfectly in her mind. She blocked out everything else and focused hard. As Alistair got to the end of his incantation, Alex pictured the chandelier falling in her mind. She opened her eyes and watched as it fell, knocking the paint off of the circle slightly. Jack flickered out of sight and reappeared in front of Sam and Dean, unhooking the iron chain in front of them.

"Bye-bye," said Dean, smirking as he, Alex, Sam, and Jack disappeared.

Alex, Jack, and Dean reappeared in front of Cole's house. They all looked around for Sam.

"Where's your brother?" asked Jack, looking at Alex and Dean.

"We'll go find him. You get out of here," said Dean.

As Sam reappeared in his regular body, he watched in horror as a demon stabbed Pamela straight in the stomach.

"Pamela," said Sam.

He watched her fall to the floor and the demon looked over at Sam. Sam flung him against the wall and stood in front of him, exorcizing the demon from the man's body. Once he was finished, Sam rushed over to Pamela, kneeling down next to her. Pamela began laughing humorlessly.

"What's so funny?" asked Sam, looking severely worried.

"I can't die. Not in this town. Look."

Sam looked at Pamela's wound, which was healed now.

"Pamela," said Sam.

Pamela shook her head, slapping his shoulder.

"Don't you worry, Sam. How about you make me a drink, huh?"

"You need a doctor."

"Make me a drink, Sam."

Sam nodded and stood up.

Dean and Alex walked around a group of trashcans in the dark, looking for their brother. As they walked out from behind the last large dumpster, a voice spoke from behind them.

"You can run, but you can't hide," said Alistair.

Alex and Dean whipped around to face him, Dean pushing Alex behind him.

"Not from me, Dean. I'm inside that angsty little noggin of yours."

Alistair began walking closer to them, so Dean and Alex stepped backwards with every step Alistair took forward. Suddenly, a flash of bright light hit Alistair directly and he disappeared. Alex and Dean looked in the spot where he had previously just been.

"What the hell?" whispered Dean.

"Guess again," said a gruff voice behind Alex.

They whirled around once again and saw Castiel standing directly behind them.

"You three just saved a seal. We captured Alistair. Dean, this was a victory."

"No thanks to you," said Dean.

"What makes you say that?" asked Castiel.

Dean and Alex looked shell shocked.

"You were here the whole entire time?" asked Alex.

"Enough of it."

"Well, thanks for your help with the damn rock salt!" yelled Dean.

"That script on the funeral home, we couldn't penetrate it."

"So that was angel proofing," said Alex.

Castiel nodded.

"Why do you think I recruited your three in the first place?"

"You recruited us?" asked Dean, looking shocked once again.

"That wasn't your friend Bobby who called, Dean. It wasn't Bobby who told Sam about the seal."

"It was you," stated Alex.

Castiel nodded, looking down at the ground.

"If you want our help, then why the hell didn't you just ask?" asked Dean, gritting his teeth to rein in his anger.

"Because whenever I ask, you seem to do the exact opposite."

Dean took in a deep breath.

"So what now, huh? The people in this town, are they just gonna start dying again?"

Castiel looked him straight in the face.

"Yes."

"These are good people. Don't you think you could make a few exceptions?" asked Alex, beginning to sound angry.

"To everything, there is a season," answered Castiel.

"You made an exception for me," offered Dean.

Castiel took a few seconds before answering.

"You were different."

A few seconds later, Alex and Dean watched as Castiel disappeared from sight, his huge wings flapping as he disappeared. Jack walked up to both of them after Castiel was gone.

"Dean. Alex. I could use your help."

"Hey, Cole," said Jack.

Cole jumped as he turned and saw Dean, Alex, and Jack standing behind him, Jack dressed all in white. Cole looked past Jack to glare at Dean.

"Tell your brother thanks for nothing."

Alex looked up at Dean, very confused, but Dean just shook his head slightly.

"Look at her, Cole."

Cole looked back at his mother, who was sobbing hysterically as she looked at an old scrapbook containing his pictures and mementos.

"Do you see how unhappy she is?" asked Jack.

"That's why I wanna stay with her."

Jack looked over at him sadly.

"As long as she can feel you, she'll be in pain. Because she can't let go. Because you won't let go of her."

"Why won't anyone tell me what's on the other side?" asked Cole.

"Maybe nobody wants to ruin the surprise."

Dean and Alex slightly smirked.

"That's not an answer though."

Alex sighed.

"He won't answer you, Cole. Reapers never do. But trust me, staying here is a whole lot worse than anything over there," said Alex.

"Why?" asked Cole.

"Because one day, your family will be gone. And there will be nothing left here for you," said Alex.

"It's okay to be scared," chimed in Dean.

"I'm not scared," said Cole, sounding angry and hurt now.

"We're all scared, Cole. That's the big secret. We're all scared sometimes."

"Are you guys coming?" asked Cole tentatively, sounding like a scared little child now.

"Oh, I'm sure one of us will be there sooner than you think," answered Dean.

Cole glanced back over his shoulder at his mother, who was still crying while she looked at his baby pictures. He uncrossed his arms over his chest and slightly nodded, stepping towards Jack now. Jack pulled Cole into his side and closed his eyes. Dean and Alex looked away as a bright white light flashed. Once they looked up, Cole was gone. Jack turned to look at the siblings, who stepped closer to him.

"Look out for that little boy," said Alex, giving Jack a stern, almost motherly look.

Jack nodded.

"Look out for yourselves, you two."

"What do you mean?" asked Dean.

"I've been around death from the get-go. And you know what I see the most? Lies. He's in a better place, at least they're together now. You all lie to yourselves. Because like you said, Dean, deep down, we're all scared. Stop lying to yourself, Dean."

Dean looked taken aback.

"What?"

"The angels said there's something good in store for you. A second chance. Really? Because I'm pretty sure, deep down, you know that something nasty is coming down the road. Trust your instincts, both of you. Because there's no such thing as miracles."

"What are you saying?" asked Alex.

Jack said nothing, just stared at them for a beat longer until he disappeared. They glanced around the room, but knew he was long gone. Dean and Alex both began to hear whispering all around them. They looked at each other and were suddenly transported back into their bodies.

Dean and Alex both sat up at the same exact time, gasping for breath. They both looked over at Sam and Pamela. Pamela was drinking from a small bottle of whiskey while Sam looked on in alarm and worry. They saw blood gushing from the stab wound in Pamela's stomach and both of their eyes widened.

"What happened?" asked Dean.

"Alex, where's Jack?" asked Sam, looking over at his twin sister.

"He's…" Alex trailed off and shrugged sadly.

Sam looked back over at Pamela, sighing.

"Pamela. I'm so sorry," apologized Sam, looking deeply saddened.

Pamela whipped off her black sunglasses and adjusted her position on the bed.

"Stop," she whispered.

"No, you don't deserve this," said Alex.

Pamela chuckled darkly.

"Yeah, you're right, I don't. I told you, I didn't want anything to do with any of this. Do me a favor? Tell that bastard Bobby Singer to go to hell for even introducing me to you three in the first place."

She began coughing as she tried to chuckle again and Dean sighed.

"Take it easy, Pamela. If it's any consolation, you're going to a better place."

Pamela sighed.

"You're lying. But what the hell, right? Everyone's gotta go sometime."

Dean and Sam looked down at the floor while Alex began crying. Pamela waved towards Sam, who leaned in closer. Pamela began whispering in his ear.

"I know what you did to that demon earlier tonight, Sam. I can feel what's inside of you. If you think you have good intentions, think again," whispered Pamela.

Once she was finished talking, she began coughing up blood profusely. Her eyes closed and her head lolled off to her right side.

"Pamela?" whispered Alex.

Pamela never responded, so Dean tried again.

"Pamela!" he yelled.

She didn't respond, so Dean and Alex looked over at Sam.

"What the hell did she say to you?" asked Dean.

Sam looked away from him.