Having escaped the deputies, Dean still needed to find another way to stop Roy or Sue Ann, just in case Mae and Sam hadn't been able to yet. But then the street lights began to go out and he turned to see the man in the suit, the reaper. This time he wasn't there to bring him back from the brink of death.

But Dean didn't run, even as the reaper put his hand to the side of Dean's face. If Roy was trying once again to heal Layla, he was okay giving up his life for the woman he didn't know. She was probably a better person than he was. Mae and Sam would understand eventually. They could go back to being normal without him. It would be okay. He groaned in pain as he felt that overwhelming coldness grip at him again. He fell to his knees, gasping for breath but still convinced on some level that this was fair.

Mae and Sam on the other hand, now out of the cellar went after Sue Ann. She didn't seem all that phased by the destruction of her altar so they reasoned the cross must be the source of her power. They both knew that her new target was Dean. They had to stop her before she went through with her spell.

The tent was the only logical place for Sue Ann to go and that's where the pair ran towards. But as they ran, Mae felt something strange come over her. It wasn't pain exactly, more of a numbness and a buzzing in her head. It made her vision go blurry for a moment. Her stomach flipped and she was impossibly cold. She'd felt it before, when Dean was healed the first time. But this was different. Worse. It also didn't help them.

"We're close." She said to Sam, trying not to gasp, as he spotted Sue Ann behind the tent.

It must have been the spell. She stopped running, hoping Sam wouldn't stop because of it. Whatever the spell was, whatever this flavor of magic was left her reeling. She's had a run of bad luck with spells lately, she reminded herself. She didn't think she was being targeted, based on the altar but something was happening to her. She wondered if Sue Ann had somehow targeted her as she felt something tear deep within her. It didn't make sense.

Fortunately, Sam didn't stop. He ran right up to Sue Ann and ripping the cross from her hands, threw it to the ground. It shattered and as if on cue, Mae felt everything clear in time to hear Sue Ann. "My God! What have you done?"

"He's not your God." Sam told her.

The woman looked like she might try to run but she didn't get far before her color drained from her face and that unseen force dropped her to the ground. She collapsed and twitched several times before she lay deadly still on the ground.

"You okay?" Sam asked her when he finally turned around, "What happened?"

Mae shook her head. She had felt odd before but now she felt a little more embarrassed. "I don't know. Nothing. I'm fine.

On the drive to the motel, Sam told Dean about the altar, the cross, everything they had witnessed while Dean told them about the reaper. And Mae was silent the whole time, sitting in the back of the Impala, staring out the window. When they got back to the motel, it was late. Too late, she decided, to head back out on the road despite her sudden desire to put as much space between her and this place as possible. She couldn't explain what she felt and worst yet, she couldn't explain why.

She supposed she could have driven to another town or something, just to put some distance between her and whatever happened. But she couldn't leave things as they were. Dean would only be so understanding. If she left again or didn't tell him why, she wouldn't have more chances with him. More importantly, it felt wrong to just leave. Neither she nor Dean spoke to the other that night. He didn't ask her to stay, and she didn't offer it up. Maybe he just didn't want to be the one to say it. Mae stayed, nonetheless. But now, since Dean was alive and well, she decided to get her own room. Alone again, she didn't even undress before she lay down on the bed.

The morning brought the question of what she should do. On one hand, she could leave, high tail it out of there and while she knew it would hurt Dean, it was the easiest way. It was also the worst way. Maybe once she finished the hunt she needed to finish, she could try to make things up to Dean, come clean, and maybe he'd forgive her. That was a little too much thought for the future, she decided.

Mae shook her head. Her conclusion that morning wasn't any different than it was last night. She still couldn't do that to him. And she couldn't ask him to get involved in her life either. She wasn't going to give up her mission and they weren't going to give up theirs. That part she understood. No matter how she and Dean felt about each other, they would distract each other. Maybe once they found their dad, Sam found the creature that killed Jessica, and she took care of her unfinished business, then she and Dean had a chance. They could stay on good terms, all the same. It was only right to say goodbye.

Mae ran into Sam on her way to their room. He offered her a tight smile that held a little bit more guilt than normal.

"What's up, Stretch?"

"Nothing I just- you wanna get a soda?"

Her brow arched again. "It's 10 in the morning. Do you want me to get one?"

"A little."

"Why?"

He frowned and hesitated to tell her what he had done. He knew that Dean was upset about what happened and he thought it was only right for him and Layla to talk. Maybe it would make him feel a little better. "Layla and Dean-"

Mae cut him off with the raise of her hand. "Dude, whatever they want to do is fine by me."

"They're not having sex or anything. I don't think they are anyway. I just thought he should talk to her."

Her eyes widened a bit. "O-kay. Listen, why don't you just do whatever you were going to do, and I'll do what I was going to do.

Because Layla was still there when Mae got to the room, she didn't knock, and she didn't go in. She wasn't trying to eavesdrop, but she wasn't trying not to either. Sam hadn't closed the door all the way. While she felt a twinge of jealousy, moreover, she felt remorse and sympathy for both Dean and Layla.

Mae ducked out of the way as Layla left, hoping she'd go unnoticed before opening the boys' room a few minutes later. "Hey," she said.

She didn't go all the way in. instead, she stood in the doorway. Dean was wide eyed, surprised, and perhaps a little worried that she had heard any part of his conversation. He didn't want to deal with a fight with her right then. "Hey Red, I'm… I thought you would have been long gone by now."

While the notion made her heart squeeze with the knowledge that there wasn't anything, she had done to convince him otherwise. She didn't detect any sort of sharpness or malevolence in his tone. She only shook her head no.

"Well uh, Sammy an' me will heading out soon."

"Yeah, I figured, what with the packing and all."

Their conversation was odd. Usually they would be fighting by now or talking comfortably but instead, they were on eggshells. They both avoided anything that might be provocative, avoided eye contact and it left them inhabiting the room with an overwhelming sense of awkwardness.

"So… feeling better?" Dean offered her a cockeyed glance in response. "Stupid question, I guess." She said.

He nodded but sat on the edge of the bed with a sigh. "I don't know how I'm supposed to feel about this."

"I don't know either, but can I suggest that you be grateful? Because I am."

She had been uncharacteristically nice to him lately. Or, he corrected himself, she'd been nicer to him than he wanted her to be. He been hurt when she told him she needed space. It seemed needlessly mean but she hadn't been particularly mean lately, all because she thought he was dying. Now he wasn't and he wasn't sure what that meant. "I'm glad to be alive, maybe even happy but you know the rest."

"Well, I never met that guy personally, I don't know anything about him, but I do know you and I can say that the world isn't a better place without you." She took a seat on the bed next to him. "That doesn't make it right and I know that doesn't ease your guilt, but you can't trade back so you'd best make it worth it. You have to live a life that makes it worth it."

His head angled as he looked at the lovely slant of her jaw, partially obscured by her long red hair. He loved her profile, her pretty face, those plump lips and slender nose. It used to be rounder, but she'd lost the baby fat and now her face showed off that alluring bone structure. Damned if he didn't wish things were different.

Because he didn't want her to move her hand, he laid his over the top after he gave a long sigh. "You know, I really could have used a friend Mae. I mean, that's what we said right?"

"I was here the whole time, and I was...friendly."

He shook his head. She was either being too literal or deliberately ignoring the subject and he wanted to talk about it. He wasn't going to let this wound fester this time. "I mean before that. That whole time we weren't talking, I could have used a friend. I don't know if we could have ignored everything that happened between us or what might happen or if we even need to but...I've missed you. I just really could have used someone to talk to."

"Well, there's always Sam-"

He interrupted her. "Except for when he's the problem."

She frowned. "What's wrong with him?"

"Nothing, he's just… it's like we're not on the same page."

"Haven't you always kind of been on separate pages? The two of you are pretty different."

"Not like you an' me, right?"

Her lips pressed together in a thin line that eventually morphed into a tiny smile. "Well, that's probably true. I'm here now though, what's wrong?"

He stood up now, pacing a little, trying to figure out why, even when she was trying to do what he wanted her to do, he was aggravated by her. "Past is past Mae. It's fine."

"So, what now, you're pissed off that I wasn't around to be your emotional sponge and make you feel better? I wouldn't drop things on a dime for you, like you wanted, so you'll punish me by stonewalling me?"

"No, I'm not focusing on shit that isn't important. Sam and I will work things out. I'm just saying that while he's riding my ass, it would have been nice to be able to call someone- you- and say, my life sucks right now. And I wasn't asking you to drop anything to do that. You could have...just fucking talked to me."

"I'm sorry. I didn't think you had come to see me as your confidant."

He gave a deep sigh. He hated it when she was so proper and well-mannered. "You always used to be. It didn't seem weird."

"You can't just expect one night to change everything."

"It did for me."

She closed her eyes, feeling that bittersweet twist of emotion come over her again. "C'mon…"

"I'm serious Mae. I like being with you, when we weren't focusing on all the screwed-up stuff or fighting or under some damn spell. And you do too! I know you do, you just...won't say it. It's driving me insane, when I think about how things can go smoothly but then you slam on the breaks."

She didn't want to watch him pace. Her eyes focused over on the window, although with the curtains closed, there wasn't much for her to look at. "It's not you Dean. I like you…when you aren't completely annoying me, I like the time we spend together too. And I get that...maybe it's not fair, maybe it doesn't make sense to you but...there's something I need to get done. The problem here, it's me."

"I know it is." She pinned him with a sharp stare but realizing there was no judgment in his words and more importantly realizing that it was the truth, her expression softened. "But I don't care, okay? Do you?"

"Yeah, of course I do. The things that happened—my getting hurt, screwing your dad and my-everything other little thing—There are reasons I am like this. And I need...I need to do something. I don't want to tell you want it is right now, okay? But it's important for me to do. I-I don't know when I'll finish it, I don't know if-"

"What the hell are you talking about?"

She sighed. There wasn't a way to make it make sense without telling him all the things she wanted to keep from him. Once she finished her hunt, it wouldn't matter and he wouldn't need to know. "You're right, there is something between you and me. I don't know what it is but...I can't get it to go away. I get that ignoring you was...ineffective at best and hurt you at worst. So, I'm sorry."

"I hear a pretty big 'but' in there."

Mae shook her head. She swallowed, hard. She had not come over her to discuss this, but he had this way of making her want to tell him everything. And maybe Sam was right, he deserved at least a piece of the reason she was acting the way she was. "It's a small to medium but... like I said, I need to...finish something I started, put an end to something I... did."

"You know, if it's the sort of thing that's in our line of work, we could help you."

"No."

"No? As simple as that?"

"As simple as that. It's too big a risk."

"You know that sounds crazy."

She gave a weak smile. "Crazy's my thing."

"Well...if you won't let me help you that way, maybe you could still talk to me, in the meantime. You know, so I know whatever your hunting hasn't killed you. Or, you know, I'm not too shabby in the research department. I could help in other ways Mae."

"Maybe."

"I realize this is going to sound... hypocritical maybe but I'm willing to take the risk Maes, even if it's dangerous."

She stood up, brushing her hands over her pants momentarily. "We're kinda outta faith healers to bring you back if..."

Dean smirked just a bit. For some reason it was a relief to have her talk about it. He knew there was more, something bigger that perhaps she thought was shameful or too painful to talk about yet. Dean just couldn't imagine what it could be. Maybe a hunt gone wrong where people died, and she felt responsible for it. That was the most likely scenario. It made him see her in a different light, not quite so cold and distant about her own damn life. She looked much more human. If her intention had been to push him further away, she hadn't managed. Maybe this wasn't the worst thing to happen to him because it had managed to break down a big chunk of that wall she's put up.

He turned to her, talking her hands in his. "Mae, I don't want to play this game anymore. I don't want this to be goodbye. I don't want us to just ignore whatever this is."

Now she turned to look at him with sad, blue eyes. "What do you think is going to happen with us? You think I'm going to shack up with you and hop from crappy motel to crappy motel with you and your brother?

Dean shrugged as she slid her hands from his. "I can think of worse things. What's so wrong about that?"

"I'm not exactly the team work kind of girl"

"The hell you aren't. We do good work together and you know it. Plus, there's something here."

"I'm not denying that but c'mon how feasible is it for us to go off hunting together and have some sort of relationship?"

"We could try."

It was so crushing to argue with him about this because he simply couldn't see her argument. Maybe he really could accept her, warts and all but she didn't feel the same way about herself. "Okay, here's the deal Dean, in an effort to be more truthful. I still need some time. Being with you muddies the waters and after this… well, it should be clear that I'm... I do have feelings for you. What I'm hunting...I need to do it alone. I have to finish this thing and I know you get what that's like."

"Yeah." He didn't know what, but it was in her voice, that little hitch at the last part that screamed 'secret' to him. Maybe it had to do with her possession and something that had been unearthed because of that. He knew it had left her more than a little frayed and they left while she was probably still vulnerable. Maybe she was still shaken up over it. "So, where does that leave you? Us?"

"I-could...possibly...maybe my original premise that keeping you at an arm's length would make things easier was only right for me. And if I consider what you're going through...maybe we could find a happy medium between radio silence and you feeling me up while your brother is in bed three feet from me. So maybe we call, even if that means I don't talk to you for a couple of weeks."

"I'm fine with that up until the no talking part. It doesn't have to be a lot, but a few weeks is too much. I want more than a few phone calls and you showing up if I'm about to die, okay?"

He had this joking tone in his voice, but it wasn't real. It wasn't difficult to see when you knew the man well enough. Still, she smiled and used the same joking mask to help assuage his fear. "Sure. If your brother's about to die, I'd come for that too."

"Be serious for just a second, okay?"

"Okay. I'll call you if that will keep us from having another dust up."

"About you calling me anyway." He said with a grin.

"Fine. But… and this is not some strange compliment, but we have to keep our distance for a while because when I'm with you…"

"You can't keep your hands off me, can you?"

She rolled her eyes. "Believe me I can." But it was followed with a saucy kind of half smile. "I just don't always want to."