The Healing is Over:

At the motel, "Wait, so Marshall Hall died to save me?" Dean demanded, sounding pissed to hell. I dropped my head, letting bangs fall into my face. I couldn't even saw a word.

Sam looked as upset as I felt as he said, "Dean, the guy probably would've died anyway and someone else would've been healed."

I slowly looked up. "You know what we have to do, right?" We couldn't allow Roy to keep healing if his healing were killing others in their place.

At the tent, Roy had just laid his hand to the forehead of an old shriveled man in a wheelchair with an oxygen tank.

At the motel room, "I never should have been brought here." Dean said pissed, pacing back and fourth.

"Dean, we were just trying to save your life." Sam said desperate but Dean didn't care.

"We didn't know that it wasn't actually healing." I said in a pleading tone. "We didn't know it was a life for a life thing."

"Sam, Christina!" I flinched at my full name. "Some guy is dead now because of me."

"Don't blame yourself." I begged. "It wasn't like any of us knew anything!"

At the church, Roy held up one of his hands. "Pray with me friends." The crowd lifted they're arms in prayer at his request.

Back at the motel, "He's not trading a life for a life." Dean said.

"Then how is it happening?" I asked. If he wasn't doing it, then what could be?

At the forest, the woman had stopped and was leaning against a tree. She was gasping for breath, unable to breath.

Motel room, "Someone else is doing it for him?" Dean explained in total confidence.

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

I remembered something, "Is it about that old man you were talking about at the hospital?" Dean nodded.

In the woods, the woman turned around and panicked because of the old man in a suit is now standing behind her.

At the motel, "I didn't wanna believe it but deep down I knew." Dean said with a heavy sigh.

"You knew what?" Sam asked urgently.

"Mind sharing with the class?" I waved an impatient hand.

"There's only one thing that can give and take life like that." Dean said firmly. I tilted my head to the side confused and Sam looked the same. I couldn't think of anything off the top of my head. Maybe if I had a list of confirmed supernatural creatures she'd be able to narrow it down. "We're dealing with a reaper."

Back at the forest, the first woman was running terrified down the path, trying to get help in a crowded area. But this was her crime of coming out so early, nobody was around. The reaper walked towards her in calm slow motions.

Motel room, I straightened up startled. I had heard of reapers before of course but I had never actually tangled with one before.

In the forest, the woman looked behind her again. She started to cry as she noticed the man still steadily following her. But then she turned back and cried out as she ran straight into him. He'd gone from behind her to in front of her within seconds. She fell to the ground but she didn't even get the chance to run. He put a hand to her cheek, her eyes turned pure white. She grasped for breath but in the end, her struggle was futile. She was dead before she hit the ground.

At the church, the old man slowly started to stand from his wheelchair, falling to his knees as he did so. The color grew in is face and he steadily removed the oxygen tank, being able to breathe without. The crowd started to cheer as was normal. Roy smiled, pleased that he had done yet another good thing for his community.

Back at the motel room, the three of us were now surrounding the little table the motel room had to offer, research scattered across it. "You really think it's The Grim Reaper?" Sam asked. "Like angel of death, collect your soul, the whole deal?" This was way above my pay grade.

I tapped my nails against the table, "How are we suppose to kill death?"

"It's a good thing we're not killing death but a reaper." Dean said. He was looking at the papers they had on reapers. "There's a reaper law in pretty much every culture on earth, it goes by a hundred different names." I rested my chin on the palm of my hand, slowly flipped through several papers with reaper information. "It's possible that there's more than one of them." Of course there would be.

"But you said you saw a dude in a suit." Sam protested confused.

"Be happy he was at least wearing something." I said, not looking up.

"Maybe Sammy's just expecting him to be working the whole black robe thing." Dean dropped the papers he'd been looking over. "Reapers stop time." Freaking time stoppers, that power was just weird. "And you can only see them when they're coming at you which is why I could see it and no one else could."

"Maybe." Sam muttered. He was now looking at the laptop looking for any extra information.

"Well it's not like there's anything else that could cause what's happening." I said, looking at one of the pictures of a cloaked figure.

"But how is Roy controlling the damn thing?" Dean said getting frustrated.

Sam suddenly looked up, startling me up from nearly falling asleep on his shoulder. These last few days have really been taking a toll on me. "The cross!" Sam said looking excited like he'd just made a breakthrough.

"Babbling about a cross why?" I rubbed at my eye with the palm of my hand. I was slowly waking up from all the sudden excitement.

"There was this cross." Sam tried to explain. "I noticed it in the church and I knew I had seen it before." Seeing there confusion, he started rifling through several papers before loudly snorting at one he found. He held up a sheet with a card image printed on it.

"A tarot?" Dean asked, staring at the creepy black cross.

"Who the hell thinks it's a good idea to use tarot cards?" I scoffed, taking the picture with a scowl. I used to have in interest in them when I was little till I realized they were mostly used for witchcraft, trying to cast curses on neighbors and such.

"A tarot dates back to the early Christian Era, when some priests were still using magic?" Sam went over the history that he had come across during they're research. "And a few of them veered into the dark stuff?" Dark stuff, more like boarder line selling your soul crap. "Necromancy and how to push death away, how to cause it."

"So Roy's using black magic to bind the reaper?" Dean guessed.

"Trying to make death his bitch?" I shrugged.

"If he's riding the whirlwind, it's like putting a dog leash on a great white." Sam muttered, looking worried. Damn, Roy was going straight to hell for this one.

Dean stood up, putting his finished cup into the sink. "Ok, then we stop Roy." He leaned against the sink folding his arms over his chest.

"I guess we have no choice." I sighed heavily. I didn't fancy killing a human being but...someone who fooled with magic like this wasn't human.

"How?" Sam asked, seeming to be the only Winchester not thinking about killing him. Both Dean and I gave him a look that said exactly what we were thinking. He shot up out of his chair, "Wait, what the hell, we can't kill Roy!"

"Why not?" I looked up with a frown tugging on the corners of my mouth.

"Anyone playing God and deciding who lives or dies is a monster in my book." Dean said firmly. I hated to admit it but I agreed with him.

"No." Sam said firmly as if his word meant we had to listen. "We are not going to kill a human being." I wasn't seeing no other option personally. "We do that we're no better than he is."

"It's not the matter of being better than him." I finally stood. "But stopping him from killing innocent people."

"If you're so against killing him, then you got any bright ideas, collage boy?" Dean sneered.

"Ok," Sam stuttered for a minute under the sudden going with him instead of against. "If Roy's using some kind of black spell on the reaper, we gotta...figure out what it is." I crossed my arms, starting to tap my foot against the floor. "And how to break it."

That was how I found myself climbing out of the impala several minutes later with my brothers outside the healing tent. "So what do we do now?" I asked. This wasn't any ordinary salt and burn job so things were getting complicated.

"If Roy's using a spell, there might be a spell book." Sam suggested. He had to be getting these ideas from something after all.

"See if you two can find it." Dean said, glancing at his watch. "Hurry up, the service starts in fifteen minutes. I'll try to stall Roy."

"Then what are we waiting for around here?" I slammed my door shut.

We hurried towards the tent but got stopped by that angry protester that was arguing with the cop from earlier stepping in front of us. He held out a pamphlet of Dean, "Roy LeGrange is a fraud, he's no healer!"

This time, Dean took it, "Amen brother." Then he hurried past heading towards the tent.

"You keep up the good work." Sam said before heading across the street where Roy's house was.

I stopped to clasp him on his shoulder, "And don't let anyone tell you different." I hurried off after Sam.

At Roy's house, he was just now coming down the front stairs. He had Sue Ann helping him down holding one of his arms and another guy holding the other. They never noticed me peeking out from the shadows around the corner of they're porch. I turned and nodded as they disappeared out of sight. Sam pried open a stuck window and I squeezed myself through before he followed. Then we started out search silently throughout the darkened house. Sam looked through the bookcase while I turned to the desk. Everything was surprisingly neat and in precise specific places. I yanked open drawers and rifling through papers but finding nothing more than tax papers, bills, recites for ordinary things. "Hey," Sam grabbed my attention, holding up a tiny little book he found hidden inside a bigger book with a reaper and a cross on it.

"Damn," I said, flipping through newspaper cut outs, all of which that held someone that died. The one that died during Dean's healing was a teacher, but also openly gay. There was a jogging lady that was an advocate for abortion rights. "God help us from people who think they're doing God's work." Then I reached the last clipping, that protestor we'd just met was the next victim.

So we called Dean to let him know what was up. "Roy's choosing victims he sees as immoral." Sam said as we put everything back where we found it. "And I think I know who's next on his list." Sam climbed out the window. "Remember that protestor?" I followed after him. "We'll find him but you can't let Roy heal anyone, alright?" Then they hung up. We started running back towards the parking lot of the tent.

Inside the tent, "Layla, Layla Rourke," Roy called from the stage. "Come up here child." The crowd went into applause like they always did when a new name would be called. Layla looked stunned, her mother was crying big watery tears as she hugged her.

Dean was watching from the sidelines and turned pale as he heard who had been named, out of all people it would be her. He steeled himself before taking her arm before she could really pass. "Layla, listen to me. You can't go up there." He begged quietly.

Layla looked at him dumbfounded, "Why not? We've waited for months!"

Dean's eyes look red like he was trying not to cry. "You can't let Roy heal you."

Layla shook her head confused, pulling her arm away. "I don't understand. Roy healed you, didn't he? Why can't you let him try?"

Dean glanced around at the people who were starting to notice they're long going conversation. He turned back to her, "Cause if you do something bad is going to happen. I just need you to believe me."

Layla looked back at forth between Dean and Sue Ann standing on stage holding out her hand, starting to feel desperate. Then she looked at her mother who was gesturing for her to get on that stage. Layla looked back and slowly shook her head, "I'm sorry." She whispered, before stepping onto stage.

Sue Ann whispered to her as she passed, "You deserve this."

Roy took Layla's hand in his. "I knew the Lord was planning. I knew it was just a matter of time."

Outside, I could hear that protester guy, Wright, screaming for help. I turned around desperately because all I could see was Sam, the tent, and several empty cars.

Inside the church, "Pray with me friends." Roy raised his hands for the crowd.

Back in the car parking lot, I shrieked when I rounded an SVU only for Wright to nearly run me down screaming. "Will you shut up?!" I shouted at him, the screaming grating on my nerves.

That was when Sam ran up behind me, grabbing my shoulder when he nearly stumbled over the rocks. "Where is he?!" Sam screamed at the desperately screaming Wright.

"Right there!" Wright screamed desperately, pointing a shaking finger behind them, eyes wide with terror.

I couldn't see a thing, nobody behind us of course. "Let's go!" This guy could clearly see what we could not and that was a problem, a hunter with pretty much no sight.

Inside the church, Roy was second away from putting a hand to Layla's face. But in the back, "Fire! Hurry, tent's on fire!" Dean lied, screaming.

Everyone looked started but slowly started to rise from their seats. Layla's mother started to scream, begging for Roy to heal her daughter first. Roy silently raised a hand and the whole tent went silent. "Friends, if you'd all just leave the tent in an organized fashion, we'll figure out what's going on out there, and we'll come back."

Outside, "He stopped it." I sighed relieved, lowering the phone from my ear after Dean called. Sam and Wright looked just as relieved, breathing slowing down. I guess as a Winchester, I should have realized things were never that easy for our little family. Because Wright turned around only to start screaming.

Sam grabbed the phone from my when I was to surprised to move. "Dean, it didn't work!" Sam shouted into the phone. "The reaper's still coming!"

"We have to do something!" I screamed, starting to panic and feeling absolutely helpless seeing that Wright was pretty much dying before they're eyes.

"Roy probably isn't the one controlling this thing." Sam concluded. We were wrong this whole time?

"Well it has to be somebody!" I said. The feeling of helplessness was one I didn't want to feel ever again. To be forced to watch knowing you save people everyday, it's your unpaid job, but unable to do anything but watch.

In the tent, Dean noticed Sue Ann was the only one still in the tent half hidden by the stage. She had her back to him and was muttering away in Latin. "Sue Ann." He said into the phone to Sam and Chris before spinning the old woman around. Sue Ann stopped with a startled gasp. She was holding onto a cross on a chain around her neck. It was the same cross Sam had saw.

Outside, I was trying to hold Wright off the ground as he was reaper. But just as it started, it seemed to stop...and Wright was still alive. He was clearly breathing but looked traumatized of course.

In the church tent, Sue Ann was quickly tucking away the cross inside her shirt. "Help! Help me!" She screamed as if he'd been attacking her while he'd barely touched her. Dean back away, he shouldn't have been surprised. At that moment, two cops grabbed him by his arms, pulling him out of the tent.

I left Sam to help Wright as I noticed two cops shoving Dean out, followed by Sue Ann. "What's going on?" I demanded.

"He attacked me." Sue Ann said firmly, looking every bit like a preacher's wife as she looked me up with judgmental eyes. "And no doubt the apple doesn't fall far from the tree."

"Excuse me?" I demanded, getting pissed. I was about to punch this bitch, cops around or preacher's wife be damn.

Sue Ann just sighed, looking like she was doing us a huge favor. "I just don't understand." Sue Ann told Dean. "After everything we've done for you." Yeah, like killing a teacher just because he was gay. "After Roy healed you." Roy isn't healing anyone, he's just trading lives of those in the tent for those outside it. "I'm just very disappointed in you Dean." Dean stared at her and I clenched my fist. "You can let him go." Sue Ann told the cops, making her look mercifully. "I'm not gonna press charges." She looked at them both with barely hidden disgust. "The Lord will deal with him and his sister as he sees fit." Did she think she was going to get off scotch free for pretty much murdering people. What happened to Thou not murder?

The cop jabbed Dean in his chest. "We catch you round here again, we'll put the fear of God in you."

"I'm so sure." I sneered, hands on my hips before I dragged Dean off. We didn't get far since Layla stopped us. "What'd you do?" I whispered to Dean. "Piss off everyone in that tent."

"Why would you do that Dean?" Layla looked like she was about to burst into tears. "And it could have been my only chance."

"He's not a healer." Dean tried to explain.

"I know it's hard to understand," I trailed off. How could you explain Dean being healed but not wanting her to be healed. It seemed almost cruel.

"He healed you." Layla said desperately.

"I know it doesn't seem fair and I wish I could explain." Dean said softly. "But Roy is not the answer, I'm sorry."

Layla shook her head sadly, fighting tears the whole time. "Good bye Dean, Chris." She turned her back to us. "I wish you luck, I really do." And then she walked away.

I patted Dean's shoulder softly as he stared after her. "Dean, you know we had to do what we did."

Dean nodded. "I know." He muttered. "...She deserves it a lot more than me." I gasped, saying his name.

I couldn't argue as Sam joined us. Not because I didn't want to but because Roy and Sue Ann were having a loud conversation with Layla and her mother. Anyone passing, like them, would be able to hear easily. "Private session tonight, no interruptions." Roy promised. "I give you my word, I'll heal your daughter."

"Thank you reverend." Layla's mother simpered. "God bless you." Looks like we'd have to interrupt a private healing.

At the motel, Sam was sitting on the bed while Dean paced and I took a seat in the chair at the small table. "So Roy really believes." Sam realized.

"He thinks he's actually healing people." I sighed, propping up my feet on the table.

"I don't think he has any idea what his wife's doing." Dean said. Well if he did or didn't, we had to end his wife's evil.

"I found this hidden in they're library." Sam showed Dean the book he had snagged. "It's ancient." It looked more than ancient to me. "Written by a priest who went dark side." Of course he would. "There's a binding spell in here for trapping a reaper."

"Which explains how Sue Ann is controlling it." I sighed, but how did she ever get her hands on such a book.

"Must be a hell of a spell." Dean muttered, flipping through the pages of the book.

"Yeah, you gotta build a black alter with seriously dark stuff." Sam explained. "Bones, human blood." I shivered in disgust. "To cross a line like that, a preacher's wife." It made me sick thinking anybody would actually go dark side. "Black magic murder, evil."

"To do something so dark, and saying its in the name of God." I shook my head.

"Desperate." Dean said. "Her husband was dying, she did have anything to save him." That didn't give her the excuse to keep doing it or doing it at all knowing it would kill someone else for her husband to live. "She was using the binding spell to keep the reaper away from Roy." By using the darkest of magic, trading one life for another.

"Cheating death, literally." Sam said.

"Yeah, but Roy's alive, so why is she still using the spell?" Dean asked.

"Use magic once and it become an addiction." I said. I've ganked a few witches that explained how they were only using it to get a new promotion at work or to get back at they're cheating fiancé until they're finally started using magic on the simplest of problems to kill those that gave them the slightest irritation.

"Now, she's forcing the reaper to kill people she thinks are immoral." Sam stated.

Dean scoffed, rubbing a hand down his face. "May God save us from half the people who think they're doing God's work."

"Exactly what I said." I muttered, scratching a hand through my hair. This job never got any easier, did he?

"We gotta break that binding spell." Sam said as if we didn't know that.

Dean turned the book around, showing us a picture of the weird black cross. "You know, Sue Ann had a Coptic cross like this." I sat up hopeful that we had a lead to go off on. "When she dropped it, the reaper backed off."

"Perfect, destroy the cross and we destroy Sue Ann's power over the reaper!" I slapped a fist into my palm.

"Wait, do we just have to find the cross or destroy the alter?" Sam asked. I groaned, it was going to be hard enough getting close to Sue Ann to snatch that necklace without drawing attention to the cops.

"Maybe both." Dean shrugged. "Whatever we do, we better do it soon or he's healing Layla tonight." And kill someone else in her place.

That night, our car and one other were the only ones in the darkened car park outside Roy's healing tent. "So whose the other car?" I asked, tucking the tiny spell book I've been flipping through in my inside coat pocket.

"It's Layla's, she's already here." Sam said. Dean slowly nodded, looking almost heartbroken.

I poked my head between the seats in front of look at him. "Dean..." I started cautiously.

But Dean was just staring with blank eyes at the tent. "You know, if Roy woulda picked Layla instead of me she'd be here right now." And one more innocent person would've been dead. "And if she's not healed tonight she's gonna die in a couple months."

"What's happening to her is horrible." Sam admitted. "But what are you gonna do?" We couldn't go around playing God just because someone was to nice to be marked for death. "Let somebody else die to save her?" It was wrong and we'd be no better than Sue Ann herself. "You said it yourself Dean, you can't play God." Dean said nothing, just silently coming out of the car. With nothing left to say, we quickly made our way to get a peek inside Roy's little faith healing tent. Roy was talking to a crowd of ten or so people, Layla and her mother included.

"I don't see her." I muttered, eyes scanning for the one person that didn't seem to be there.

"Damn it, where Sue Ann." Dean cursed.

"House." Sam guessed.

We circled around the tent towards the house. Dean stopped us there, "Go find Sue Ann, I'll catch up."

"What the hell, Dean?" I demanded as he pushed Sam and I around the corner of the house.

"What are you gonna," Sam never got to finish.

Dean had seen two cops walking down the front stairs holding coffee. "Hey!" He screamed to get their attention. "You gonna put that fear of God in me?" The cops dropped their coffee cups and took off after Dean who ran with a cocky grin stretched across his face.

They were barely gone before Sam and I were up the stairs, peeking into the windows but it was dark...to dark for Sue Ann to be there. Sam and I shared an equal look of confusion before I nodded at something I could scarcely see behind him. There was a light coming from the cracks of the basement door near the steps.

Elsewhere, Dean was sneaking around someone's recently parked camper. The cops were on the other side searching for him with flashlights. "You see him?" The first cop asked annoyed. The second cop shook his head, just as annoyed.

Back at the house, I pulled open one of the doors while Sam yanked open the other. I glanced around nervously. Seeing no one looking, we ducked inside, slamming the doors shut behind us.

At the Van, the cops were peaking under it with they're flashlights. Seeing nothing, they continued on to search elsewhere. On the roof of the van, Dean watched them leave with relief.

In the basement, I looked sick at the alter with a lit candle, dead animals torn apart on top and around it. I swallowed hard showing Sam because there was a photo of Dean from a security camera in the center. His face was crossover with an X in blood.

Both Sam and I turned around started as we heard footsteps coming up behind us. "I gave your brother life and I can take it away." Sue Ann said proudly. Blind rage overpowered me, anyone threatening my family made me pissed beyond belief. I shoved hard on the alter, scattering the pieces as it went tumbling over. The sudden noise startled Sam which what gave Sue Ann time to make it up the basement stairs. Sam ran after it but Sue Ann slammed the door on him, forcing him back down the stairs. Then the sound of something being placed in the door, locking them. "Can't the two of you see?" Sue Ann begged through the door. "The Lord chose me to reward the just and punish the wicked." Damn I wanted to kill this bitch so bad. "And your brother is wicked and he deserves to die just as Layla deserves to live." I dug my nails into the palm of hands as I clenched my fists in anger. "It is God's will." It was God's will telling you to murder, I wasn't buying that crap. "Good bye Samuel, Christina."

Sam pushed at the doors again as Sue Ann walked away. "Hey, enough with the door, help me with the window." I called. There was one high window in the basement half boarded up from the inside. Using a brick I found on the ground, I shattered pieces of the window I could get to. Sam pried off the old wood and we were back in business.

Inside the church tent, "Pray with me now." Roy took Layla's mom hand. "Pray with me friends." Outside, Dean was heading towards the tent when all the lights suddenly went out. Then a few more slowly came on down one pathway. Dean paled because of the reaper walking towards him in the light. Inside the church, Roy put a hand to Layla's head. Just outside the door, Sue Ann was chanting and holding the cross to her chest. Outside and inside, both Layla and Dean fell to they're knees, eyes rolling in the back of they're heads.

I had been searching for Dean while Sam went in the direction we heard Sue Ann running off to. "Dean!" I screamed, seeing him fall. As I did this, Sam was breaking the cross from around Sue Ann's neck and shattering it. I rushed to Dean's side panicking as he sat up, gasping for breath.

Inside the tent, Rot pulled a hand away from Layla looking confused. "I don't understand..." Layla would never be able to be healed by Roy now, she was chosen a few days to late, ever since the Winchester's rolled into town.

Sue Ann died that night, the reaper now free from her bidding. Of course the reaper would go after her who made him a slave, forcing a copy of Layla's sickness into her and time starting it so she was dead within seconds.

"Are you sure, you're okay?" I asked worriedly, hovering near him in case he fell again.

"I told you I'm fine." Dean muttered, looking like was doing okay as we met Sam at the impala. "...just one hell of a week." I nodded, it had been so for all us of. I shivered in fear at the thought that I could have lost my big brother this weak after being together for only six and a half months. It didn't seem like nearly enough time. It was the closest we'd ever come to death these last few months.

"We should get going." Sam said quietly.

At the motel room, "What has been bugging you?" I asked, sitting down on the bed beside Dean. He had been acting weirder than normal ever since that reaper nearly killed him.

"We did the right thing here, right?" Dean asked worriedly.

"Of course we did." Sam insisted. Healing was one thing but Sue Ann was killing people, trading a life. She shouldn't have the power to decide who lived or who died.

Dean looked to the ground with a lowered head of shame. "It doesn't feel like it."

And then Sam was pulling me out for a soda because he had secretly called Layla over to say goodbye. "I still think we should have stayed and listened." I grumbled, nursing my soda and sitting against the impala on the ground.

"I know you do." Sam said, sipping his coke while leaning against the impala standing next to me.

In the motel room, Dean said his last words to Layla. How although he didn't believe in God or ever prayed...he was going to pray for her. Layla looked like she was about to cry as she smiled. "Well, there's a miracle right there." And then they parted, never to meet again.