Ji-a was a mess in the morning. Dean felt a little guilty about that. He woke up at five to her vomiting bile in the bathroom.
"You okay?" He asked, sitting on the floor just outside the door.
"I'm fine," Ji-a insisted.
"You lie to me I'll tan your hide," Dean said.
"Okay," Ji-a corrected, "Then I'm definitely not fine."
"Can I come in?" Dean asked.
"Yeah," Ji-a agreed. A moment later he heard the door unlock.
Dean sat down on the edge of the tub. Ji-a was sprawled on her front on the cold tile, vivid purple bruising showing through the pale fabric of her dress.
"What do you need?"
"A time machine so I can go back and avoid last night entirely," Ji-a mumbled into her arm.
"Barring that…" Dean prompted, "Come on. I don't believe for a second you've never been in a situation where you got roughed up then had a couple drinks. What works for the pain hangover combination?"
"Ginger until I stop puking," Ji-a said, "Not like the chews or anything. Just straight raw ginger root. Then pancakes."
"We can do that," Dean assured her. He got up to go to the store, but she grabbed the leg of his pants.
"Send Sam," Ji-a said, "Don't leave me."
Dean knelt and stroked her hair.
"I'm not going anywhere," he murmured, kissing her head.
They stopped at a diner in Des Moines for breakfast.
"Pancakes helping?" Dean asked. Ji-a was looking marginally less pale and drawn than she had been.
"Definitely," she agreed.
"So," Dean turned his attention to Sam, "Utah."
"I've got eight incidents of cattle mutilation near Canyonlands National Park plus two lightning storms. All in the last month," Sam spread his notes on the table.
"Demon?" Dean asked.
"Most likely," Sam agreed.
"Wait a second," Ji-a put down her fork, "Demons?"
"Yeah," Dean replied, "Thought you were used to this stuff by now."
"Monsters. Used to those," Ji-a said, "And if you'd said any number of specific folk demons I wouldn't be surprised. But you're talking…demon demons?"
"Unfortunately," Sam replied.
"This'll be fun," Ji-a said.
"We won't tell Seventh-Day-Adventist Grandma," Dean said, "And besides. We're on the Angels' side."