Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

In Hell, 4 months after the hellhounds

Alex screams as a blade cuts into her chest yet again, the leftover marks from the earlier torture run across the entirety of her body. A man’s laugh rings out as the form grabs onto her. The touch, unfortunately, was familiar to her but no less disgusting. Blood drips from multiple places on her body, as she takes a deep breath to scream again… then there was silence and nothing…

****************

Alex looks around and waits a moment as her eyes adjust to her surroundings. There’s not much as her eyes burn, but she begins ot notice small details, the smell of dirt and old wood, the uneven wooden walls surrounding her. She reaches into her pocket, not finding a lighter, and sighs, her breath ragged. She tries to wet her lips and fails. Taking another deep breath, she closes her eyes and holds her hand out, trying to focus on her magic, not having felt it in so long. There’s a small flash as the light forms in her hand, and if she weren’t so dehydrated, she knew there would be tears from her eyes at how thankful she was. 

Alex looks around and notices with quite a bit of confusion that she’s in a wooden box, a coffin, for lack of better words. She drops the spell and clears her head again, before putting her hand back up, and focuses on the words of the blow back spell. There’s a stutter of purple light in her hand before she shakes her head and tries again. Suddenly, there’s a brighter burst, and the box blows open, most of the dirt with it. The rest of it falls on top of her.

She shields her eyes and face until the movement seems to have stopped, and she knows no more of the dirt would shift. Then comes the hard part: she begins to dig herself out of the dirt, filling the gaps underneath her fingernails as she claws at the dirt, using one arm to block her face as she does it.

After what feels like forever, she feels her hand break through the barrier of earth, her hand feeling a warm breeze against it, and light starts to come through. She pushes her other hand up as well, pushing the dirt out of her way as her muscles ache and scream at her to stop. After a few moments of arguing back against her body, she pulls herself up and feels the air on her face. She’s in a field, but it looks like it could have been a wooded area before; the trees were all on the ground, though, as if something had exploded to cause them to burn and die.

Alex looks around and notices two wooden crosses haphazardly put together at what she can only assume was the head of her grave, and another grave next to hers. She stands up and takes a long stretch, about to leave, when suddenly she sees a hand burst through. Her eyes widen, and she runs over to the spot as much as her tired body will allow. 

Alex starts clawing at the ground to help release the only person she could imagine being in the ground. As the ground breaks way, she grabs onto the hand and starts pulling. Dean’s head comes above ground, gasping for air as he crashes flat onto the ground, and he escapes his grave. Alex looks at him with shock before crashing down with him, wrapping her arms around him, holding him. “Dean,” Her voice hoarse.

She feels his arms grip her as well, returning the desperate hug, “Lex…” His voice was just as tired as hers.

“Dean, how? Why?” Alex asks, as they both stand up and look around.

Dean shakes his hand, “Water first, food, Sam…” 

Alex looks at him, seeing his defeated look, and nods, “Let’s go.”

*****************

The two of them walk down an empty road through the hazy heat as they notice an abandoned gas station ahead of them. Dean gets to the door first and pounds on it, “Hello?” He calls out.

“No, one’s there, Dean,” She pants out, holding her hand out, “Reserare,” she mutters, her throat straining as she speaks.

Dean opens the door, and the two of them make a beeline for the coolers in the back of the room, grabbing water bottles and gulping them down, gasping at the refreshing feeling, finally able to breathe. Alex sighs and grabs another bottle as Dean moves to the front counter and picks up a newspaper. He holds up the paper to Alex, “September,” He tells her.

“Four months,” She confirms, grabbing a canvas bag from one of the shelves and starting to put more water bottles into it. “Go ahead to the bathroom and clean up a bit. I’ll start packing up some supplies before we get going, then clean up too.”

Dean nods and moves to the bathroom, washing his face in a dingy sink, before looking up at his reflection. Looking at his black t-shirt. He frowns, pulling his shirt down to look at his exposed chest. His mind flashes back to a memory of his chest being ripped apart.

He shakes his head to clear the memory, staring at his unblemished, unscarred chest in the mirror. He looks down, noticing an outline of a mark on his left shoulder, and pulls up his sleeve, finding a raw, scarred, almost burned handprint on his upper arm.

The door opens, and Alex walks in, looking at him, “Dean, what is that?”

“I don’t know,” He turns towards her, “Have you noticed anything?”

Alex shakes her head, “I haven’t really looked.” She turns her head and drops the flannel off her left shoulder, not seeing anything.

“What about the other arm?” He asks.

She shrugs off her flannel all the way, and sure enough, on her right upper arm, was the same brand that Dean had on his left. “Yeah, we will need to get some answers soon.” She sighs and slips her flannel back on, moving past Dean and to the sink to clean herself up. She shoves the bag of supplies at him, “Go see if you can find us a ride.”

Dean moves out of the room as Alex starts to wash her face in the sink. Dean walks around the gas station and looks in the bag to see what Alex has grabbed. Walking by a magazine shelf, he stops for a moment and smirks. He notices some of the adult magazines and picks up a copy of ‘Busty Asian Beauties’ before shoving it in the bag, too. 

Alex walks out and sees him at the magazine stand, “Oh, come on, Dean, we just got topside.”

“Hey, it’s been four months, and I don’t see us getting much alone time once Sammy knows we are.” He shrugs, moving to the register and pressing a button, snapping his fingers in satisfaction when it pops open. He starts looting the cash out of the register.

“You know, we don’t have to sneak around now. Not like Sam can feel guilty about us going to Hell for him while we are together, when we’ve come back.” Alex leans on the counter, watching him pull out the cash.

The TV behind him flicks on, showing static. Dean turns around and shuts it off, only to have a radio on his other side turn on to white noise. Alex turns around and grabs two containers of salt, tossing one to Dean, who catches it. They move quickly as if they hadn’t been gone from the job for the past 4 months, and start pouring salt around the windows and doors.

A high-pitched tone begins, and the two hunters clutch their ears the best they can while they try to finish pouring the salt. The noise continues, feeling like it’s getting louder. Dean crouches first, groaning in agony as he drops the salt to cover both ears. Alex falls not long after him, the sound becoming too much. Right before she places her hands over her ears, she feels like she hears some words within the tone. The pitch is too high, though, and she ducks her head down. 

The window above Dean’s head shatters as the sound continues. He grits his teeth before leaping to his feet, grabbing hold of Alex, and helping her up. More glass shatters from the ceiling and the windows. He looks around cautiously before leading Alex outside with him and back towards the road.

They take a moment to compose themselves. Alex cleans some blood from Dean’s ear with the edge of her sleeve. “What the hell was that?”

Dean shakes his head, “I don’t know, but we need to get up with Sam or Bobby, or someone, maybe they have an answer.”

Alex nods and motions towards a phonebooth nearby, “You can try Sam first, though we both know that number probably isn’t in service anymore.”

Dean moves to the booth, Alex following as he picks up the phone and drops some coins in, dialing the last number that Sam had before the hellhounds. The phone plays a tone before speaking, “We’re sorry. You have reached a number that has been disconnected.” Dean hangs up the pay phone and hands it to Alex.

Alex waits for Dean to put some more change in before she dials Bobby’s home number and listens to it ring, only once before a voice comes through, “Yeah?” Bobby’s gruff voice answers.

“Bobby?” Alex asks.

“Yeah?” Bobby responds.

“It’s me,” Alex tells him, hopeful.

“Who’s me?” Bobby asks again.

“Dad, it’s me, Alex.” She sighs as she hears a dial tone, and motions for Dean to pay again, and she dials once again.

“Who is this?” Bobby’s voice returns, angrier than before.

“Dad, you’ve gotta listen to me.” Alex tries.

“This ain’t funny. Call again, and I’ll kill ya.” He growls into the phone.

There’s a dial tone again, and Alex sighs, her eyes burning slightly at Bobby’s anger. Dean puts a hand on her shoulder and looks around, noticing an old, beat-up pickup truck in the parking lot. He uses his head and motions over to it. Alex looks and nods before they both make their way over to it. Dean kneels and begins hotwiring it, his eyes lighting up when he hears the roar of the engine come to life. 

Alex climbs into the passenger’s seat and Dean into the driver’s seat. They pull out of the parking lot, Dean hitting the stereo the moment they hit the road. There are a few minutes of just music while Alex examines Dean from her seat, as if trying to figure something out. “You remember it, don’t you?”

“Nope, not a thing,” Dean tells her, but she hears the lie immediately.

“Don’t lie to me, Dean. If I remember it, I know you do as well.” She frowns, “I’m not asking you to share Dean, I know you won’t. But don’t lie to me about it; we both went through it.”

He glances at her from the corner of his eye and then looks back towards the road, “Fine, but we aren’t telling anyone else. I don’t need Sam looking at me with pity and thinking he can fix the trauma we went through.”

Alex thinks for a moment, “I can’t argue with that. Now what about the whole, us situation?” She grabs his hand that isn’t on the wheel, “That still secret?”

Dean hesitates, “Let’s see what dragged us out of there first, then we can get back to that, though I promise, I’m gonna make it up to you for all those missed months.” He grins and winks at her.

She rolls her eyes but grins, not letting go of his hand. Her thumb rubs the back of his hand in circles. Her mind trying to avoid the memories of Hell creeping back in. She hides the shudder that runs through her body as she remembers, though, hands on her that should never have touched her. She blocks it out as she forces her mind back to the thoughts before Hell, the good times with Dean, as they continue down the road.

****************************

Alex and Dean stand on the front porch of Singer Salvage. She reaches up and knocks on the door. She could have easily walked in, but something told her that wouldn’t be the smart idea when Bobby wouldn’t be expecting his dead daughter and her boyfriend at his door as it was. The door opens, and Bobby stands in front of them, looking at them suspiciously. Dean smiles cautiously, and Alex bites her lip. “Hey, Dad.”

Bobby shakes his head as he looks between the two of them, “I, I don't…”

“Yeah, us either,” Dean tells him as he pushes past Bobby into the house. “But here we are.”

Alex follows Dean in, “We don’t mean to surprise you, we are just as confused as you are.” 

Behind them, Bobby takes a silver knife and grips it. Alex turns around with a sad smile, “I’m just glad to see you again.” She moves to hug him, and Bobby lunges at her, slashing. Dean grabs his arm before he can reach Alex, twisting it.

Bobby breaks the grip and backhands him in the face. Dean puts up a hand to stop him, “Bobby! It’s us!”

“My ass!” Bobby snarls, Dean shoves a chair between them, and Bobby, his hand still out. 

“Dad! Stop!” Alex yells at him. “Your real name is Robert Steven Singer. You became a hunter after your wife got possessed, you took me in when I was just a kid, not knowing anything about me, and…” Alex glances at Dean, “You’re the closest thing Sam or Dean has to a father.” She pleads, “It’s us. Please.”

Bobby lowers the knife and steps forward slowly. He places a hand gently on Dean's shoulder, as he glances at Alex as if taking them in. Suddenly, he slashes again, but Dean quickly subdues and disarms him. “We are not shapeshifters!” Dean yells at him.

“Or Revenants!” Alex yells as she sees Bobby about to argue.

Dean shoves Bobby away and snatches the knife from him, holding it out in front of him. “Alright. If we were either, could we do this – with a silver knife?” Dean rolls up his sleeve and grimaces as he slices his arm above the elbow with the knife; blood drips out of the cut.

Alex grabs the knife from him and does the same thing, slicing into her palm. “Please believe us.”

Bobby looks between them, “Alex? Dean?”

“Yeah, hi.” Alex smiles, waving at him.

“That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you,” Dean adds.

Bobby breaks and grabs Alex for a hug first, squeezing her tightly. Alex returns the hug with relief, and a few small tears threaten to fall as she hugs him. The feel of having her dad hug her again was almost too much. Bobby breaks away and grabs Dean for a hug as well, “It’s… It’s good to see you two.”

“Yeah, you too,” Dean says as Bobby pulls back.

“More than good.” Alex smiles and starts healing her hand.

“But… how did you guys bust out?” Bobby looks between them.

Dean shrugs, as Alex moves to heal the cut on his shoulder, he keeps talking, “We don’t know. We just, uh, we just woke up in pine boxes…” Bobby suddenly splashes water from a flask across both of them. Alex sighs and wipes her face as Dean spits the water out, “We aren’t demons either, you know.” 

“Sorry. Can’t be too careful.” Bobby looks a bit embarrassed as he turns to a grin. They go further into the house, Dean wiping his face with a towel, “But that… don’t make a lick of sense.” He continues.

“Right, because our lives always make sense,” Alex says sarcastically as she crashes onto a couch.

Dean nods, sitting down next to her, “Yeah, you’re preachin’ to the choir.” 

“No, you don’t get it. Your chests were ribbons, your insides were slop. And you two’ve been buried four months. Even if you could slip out of Hell and back into your meat suits-” Bobby explains as he sits in his armchair.

Dean nods, “I know, we should look like Thriller video rejects.”

Alex motions between them, “And yet, here we are.”

“What do you remember?” Bobby asks, leaning forward.

“Not much, as for me, I remember hellhounds using us like chew toys, and then nothing.” Alex shrugs.

Dean nods, confirming, “Then we come to six-feet-under, that’s it.” Dean frowns, “Sam’s number’s not working. He’s, uh… he’s not…”

Bobby shakes his head, “Oh, he’s alive. As far as I know.”

“Dad?” Alex asks, catching on to the last part he said.

“Wait, what do you mean, as far as you know?” Dean turns quickly to look at Bobby.

Bobby sighs, “I haven’t talked to him for months.”

Dean’s eyes widen, “You’re kidding, you just let him go off by himself?”

“Dean…” Alex places a hand on his arm, “I’m sure he has reason for why he hasn’t been able to keep up with Sam.” Alex glances at Bobby, a look saying, ‘You better start explaining.’

“He was dead set on it.” Bobby, tell them.

“Bobby, you should’ve been looking after him,” Dean tells him, getting angrier.

Bobby shakes his head, “I tried. These last months haven’t been exactly easy, you know. For him or me. We had to bury you two.” His face drops at the reminder.

“Yeah, about that, why were we buried?” Alex frowns.

“I wanted you two salted and burned. Usual drill.” Bobby says as the two nod along in agreement. “But… Sam wouldn’t have it.”

“But you’re my dad, you couldn’t win that argument?” Alex raises a brow.

Bobby looks a bit sheepish, “I don’t want to admit I had a bit of hope still.” He tells her, “That and well.” He motions towards her hand still on Dean’s arm.

Alex grins a bit as Dean pulls his arm away, “Thanks, Dad.” She says, looking at Dean next, “Don’t feel so bad, he knows. I told him the day we died, he kept it from Sam for us, but he had questions.”

“And we will be layin’ down some ground rules later, boy.” Bobby gives him a warning look.

Dean rubs the back of his head sheepishly, “Right, uh, anyways,” He shakes his head, “I’m glad Sam won that one.” He changes the subject back to the one from earlier.

Bobby shakes his head, before silently agreeing to go back to the earlier topic, “He said you'd guys would need bodies when he got you back home somehow. That's about all he said.”

Dean looks at him suspiciously, “What do you mean?”

“He was quiet. Real quiet.” Bobby mutters, “And then he just took off. Wouldn’t return my calls. I tried to find him, but he didn’t want to be found.”

“Damnit, Sammy.” Alex groans.

Bobby looks at her, confused, “What?”

“Oh, he got us home okay. But whatever he did, it’s bad mojo.” Dean shakes his head.

Bobby turns towards Dean, “What makes you so sure?”

“Dean’s right, you should have seen the grave site, Dad. It was ridiculous.” Alex tells him, “It was like they were setting Gadget off all over again.”

“And then there was this… this force, this presence, we don’t know, but it, it blew past us at a fill-up joint. And then this,” Dean strips off his jacket and pulls up his sleeve to reveal the handprint, Alex doing the same thing with her flannel, the two standing up.

Bobby stands up as well, getting a closer look, “What in the hell?”

Alex shakes her head, “Yeah, same question we had. Never seen anything like this before,”

“It was like a demon just yanked us out. Or rode us out.” Dean shrugs.

“But why?” Bobby asks.

Dean sighs, “To hold up their end of the bargain.”

“You think Sam made a deal.” Bobby doesn’t bother asking.

Alex shrugs, “We’ve done it already before, just makes sense that he would too.”

***************

Alex comes down the stairs, drying her hair with a towel, a clean pair of jeans, and a t-shirt, with her boots on. She walks into Bobby’s office, seeing Dean on the phone, sitting at Bobby’s computer. Bobby was standing behind him with a familiar silver band in his hand. He smiles at Alex as she approaches and tosses it to her, “You might want that back.”

Alex catches it, recognizing her silver bracelet. She smiles and examines it, “You kept it.” 

“I wasn’t gonna leave it down in the ground with you. You realize how many protective charms are on that piece of silver?” He tells her, but she can see the real meaning behind it as she slips it onto her wrist and approaches the desk, giving Bobby a quick hug.

“Thanks, Bobby,” She tells him before looking at what Dean’s doing.

Dean holds the phone close to his ear, “Yeah, hi, I have a cell phone account with you guys, and uh, I lost my phone. I was wondering if you could turn the GPS on for me.” He waits a moment while the person answers, “Yeah. Name's Wedge Antilles.” There’s another pause, “Social is 2-4-7-4.” Then a final pause, “Thank you.” Dean hangs up the phone and crosses to a laptop on the table.

“How’d you know he’d use that name?” Bobby raises a brow at him.

“You really don’t think Dean knows his little brother?” Alex smirks, her hand going onto Dean’s shoulder.

“You kiddin’ me? What don't I know about that kid?” He opens the laptop to a web browser; Dean types in the address for the phone network, picking up one of the liquor bottles that were scattered across the desk, “Hey, Bobby? What's the deal with the liquor store? What, are your parents out of town or something?”

Bobby looks at him grimly, “Like I said. Last few months ain’t been all that easy.”

Alex gives him a sympathetic smile, “Don’t go drinking yourself into a grave next time. No need to join us. There was still plenty of work to be done here.” She tells him.

The laptop beeps; the display shows a city map with a blue arrow pointing to a star. The locator reads: Phone Location: 263 Adams Road, Pontiac, Illinois. “Sam's in Pontiac, Illinois.”

“Right near where you two were planted.” Bobby points out.

“Right where we popped up.” Dean frowns.

Alex sighs, “That can’t be a coincidence.”

***********************

The three hunters walk down a dingy motel hallway, and Dean knocks on the door, the number 207 inside a heart. The door opens, and it’s some young woman with long, wavy black hair, tanned skin, and dark eyes, wearing only a tank top and underwear. She looks between them expectantly, “So, where is it?”

Dean looks at Bobby and Alex, confused, “Where’s what?”

“The pizza… That takes three people to deliver?” She looks at them, confused as well, getting frustrated.

“Maybe we should double-check the room number…” Alex frowns. She looks at the girl, feeling off. She wasn’t sure if it was just from coming from Hell or what, but she was feeling suspicious of the girl.

Sam steps into the light. He is grim and focused, and wears a grey t-shirt and jeans. “Hey, is…” Sam stops dead when he sees Alex and Dean. He swallows, shocked, his eyes flicking between the three of them.

“Heya, Sammy,” Dean says quietly with layers of emotion.

Sam is silent as Dean steps into the room first, ignoring the woman who steps aside to let him in. Alex stays back with Bobby, watching, trying to let the brothers get their moment. As Dean gets closer, though, Sam pulls a knife and lunges at Dean. The woman screams, and Dean blocks Sam’s attack, and Bobby pulls Sam off, gripping him around the shoulders. Alex moves forward to stand with Dean at that point as Sam struggles against Bobby. “Who are you?!” Sam yells.

“Like you didn’t do this?!” Dean snaps at him as Alex keeps a grip on his arm.

Sam looks at him, confused, “Do what?!”

“It’s them. It’s them.” Bobby tells Sam as he holds him back, “I’ve been through this already; it’s really them.”

Sam stares between Alex and Dean as the struggle slowly goes out of his body, “What…”

Alex lets go of Dean, and he starts advancing towards Sam cautiously, “I know. We look fantastic, huh?”

Bobby lets go of Sam, who looks on the verge of tears as he steps forward and pulls Dean into a desperate hug. They embrace for several seconds, heavy with emotion, as Bobby looks on with tears in his eyes. Alex gives a small smile, watching them, letting them have their moment, knowing she will get her hug in a moment. Sam pushes Dean back to arm's length. The random woman looks on, looking confused. “So are you two like... together?”

Sam turns to her, as if having forgotten she was there in the first place. “What? No. No. He’s my brother.”

“Uh.. got it. I… I guess.” She looks between them as if not fully believing him. “Look, I should probably go.”

Sam nods, awkwardly, “Yeah. Yeah, that’s probably a good idea. Sorry.” He apologizes.

************

Sam, now wearing a white button-down, opens the door to let the woman, now dressed in a blue plaid shirt, out. She looks back at him, “So, call me.”

Sam nods, leaning against the door frame, “Yeah. Yeah, sure thing, Kathy.”

The woman looks back at him, disappointed, “Kristy.”

“Right.” He responds as she leaves, and Sam shuts the door. Sam comes back into the room and sits down. Alex smirks at the door before remembering the real reason they were here. She sits on the coffee table while Dean stands above Sam, his arms crossed. The three newcomers look at Sam suspiciously. “Alright,” Alex starts, “Let’s get to it.”

Dean nods, “So tell me, what’d it cost?” He frowns at Sam.

“The girl? I don't pay, Dean.” Sam grins.

“As cute as that is, that’s not what we are talking about, Sam.” Alex shakes her head.

Dean gives her a look before looking back at Sam, “That’s not funny, Sam. To bring me back, and Lex. What’d it cost? Was it just your soul, or was it something worse?”

Sam’s eyes widen, not really believing what he’s being told, “You think I made a deal?”

“It’s really the only thing we can think up.” Alex tells him, shrugging, “I mean, every demon we ran into told me multiple times there was no way out of the deal for Dean, let alone me.”

“Well, I didn't.” Sam looks between them.

Dean leans in intensely, “Don’t lie to me.”

Sam sighs, “I’m not lying.”

Dean moves forward, towards Sam, “So what now, we’re off the hook, and you're on, is that it? You're some demon's bitch-boy? I didn't want to be saved like this.” 

“Neither did I, Sam; we wouldn’t have made the deal in the first place if we thought it was better for us to be alive compared to you,” Alex adds in, fidgeting with her bracelet, glad to have it back on her arm.

Sam stands up and turns on them angrily, “Look, I wish I had done it, all right?”

Dean grabs Sam by the front of Sam’s shirt, “There’s no other way that this could have gone down. Now tell the truth!”

Sam breaks Dean’s grip, “I tried everything. That's the truth. I tried opening the Devil's Gate. Hell, I tried to bargain, Dean, but no demon would deal, all right? You were rotting in Hell for months. For months, and I couldn't stop it. So I'm sorry it wasn't me, all right? Dean, I'm sorry.” Sam snaps, turning to Alex, “They refused even more about you, said they were making great progress or something, they didn’t even let me get the offer out before they told me they weren’t freeing you.”

Dean relents, sighing, “It’s okay, Sammy. You don’t have to apologize, I believe you.”

Alex nods as well, getting up to finally get her hug from Sam as well, “We both do.”

Bobby looks between them, “Don't get me wrong, I'm gladdened that Sam's soul remains intact, but it does raise a sticky question.”

“Right, the same question we’ve had since we crawled out of the grave.” Alex sighs.

“If he didn’t pull us out, then what did?” Dean frowns.

*******************

Alex and Dean sit on the couch, Bobby sitting in a chair he had pulled up from the little table, and Sam enters, passing out bottles of beer to them before sitting across from Dean in an armchair. Dean opens his bottle and takes a sip, “So what were you doing around here if you weren’t digging us out of our graves?”

“Well, once I figured out I can’t save you, I started hunting down Lilith, trying to get some payback,” Sam tells him.

“All by yourself.” Bobby gives him a pointed look, “Who do you think you are, your old man?”

Alex nods, “And you left my dad by himself,” She frowns, taking a sip, “I thought I told you to keep an eye on him for me.”

Dean sees something, frowns, and crosses towards it as Sam looks at Alex and Bobby, feeling guilty, “Uh, yeah, I'm sorry. I should have called. I was pretty messed up.”

Dean picks up what he'd seen: a pink flowered bra. He holds it up. “Oh yeah. I really feel your pain.” 

Sam smirks, looking away with an embarrassed look, “Anyways, uh, I was checking these demons out of Tennessee, and out of nowhere they took a hard left, booked up here.”

“When did you hear about it?” Alex asks him.

Sam turns towards her, "Yesterday morning.”

Dean shares a look with Alex as he nods, “When we busted out.”

“You think these demons are here ‘cause of you?” Bobby asks them.

Sam raises his brow and leans forward onto his knees, “But why?”

“Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be out, trying to take me back.” Alex shrugs, offering the only thing she can think of, “You said it yourself, Sammy, they didn’t want me out of there.”

“Yeah, I don’t know — some badass demon drags us out and now this? IT’s gotta be connected somehow.”

Bobby turns to them, “How you two feelin’, anyway?” 

Dean shrugs, “I’m a little hungry.”

“Actually, I could probably eat too; those protein bars we took from the gas station were crap,” Alex adds, agreeing with Dean, even though she knew that’s not what Bobby was talking about.

“Now, you two know that’s not what I meant.” He looks at them, “Do you feel like yourselves? Anything strange or different?”

“Or demonic?” Dean drops his head and shakes it before looking back at them, “Bobby, how many times do we have to prove that we’re us?”

Bobby frowns at him, “Yeah. Well, listen. No demon's letting you two loose out of the goodness of their hearts. They've gotta have something nasty planned.”

Alex sighs, “We’ve told you guys, though, we feel fine. No black eyes, no injuries, nothing saying that we are gonna drop dead again.” She shrugs, “I mean, hell, even my magic still works fine.”

“Okay, look, we don’t know what they’re planning.” Sam shrugs, “We got a pile of questions and no shovel.” He looks between them, “We need help.”

Bobby nods, “I know a psychic. A few hours from here. Something this big, maybe she's heard the other side talking.”

“Hell yeah,” Dean grins, “It’s worth a shot.”

Bobby gives a tilt of his head, “I’ll be right back.” He leaves the room.

Dean stands as if to leave, but Sam stops him, “Hey, wait.” Sam stands up, “You probably want this back.” Sam reaches into his collar and pulls out a cord. He places Dean’s necklace into his hand.

Dean looks at it, and Alex smiles as she sees the hidden emotion, knowing how he must feel, since she felt the same getting her bracelet back. Dean slips it on over his head as he smiles at Sam, “Thanks.” 

“Yeah, don't mention it.” Sam smiles, seeing the amulet back around Dean’s neck. He looks between Alex and Dean, “Oh, hey, what was it like?”

“What, Hell?” Dean looks over at Alex with a shrug, “I don't know, I, I must have blacked it out. I don't remember a damn thing.”

Alex shrugs, “Yeah, I ain’t got a clue either. Last thing either of us remembers is the hellhounds tearing us up.”

Sam nods, “Well, thank god for that.”

“Yeah,” Dean adds, turning away from Sam and giving Alex a look, as if saying he’s glad Sam bought their story, as he moves to the bathroom. 

Alex leans back onto the couch as Dean leaves, and Sam goes to get a snack from a vending machine. She closes her eyes as she takes a deep breath, finally feeling like things might start getting back to normal, at least whatever normal was for them.

************

There’s a flash of red, Alex’s face covered in lines of dried tears. There's pain, not just on the outside, but inside her as well. A pressure thrusts into her as a laugh echoes around her. Her mouth opens, but nothing comes out of it. 

*************

She jerks up, rubbing her eyes with her fingers, pressing them into it as if she can wipe the image from her mind. She looks around and sees no one looking at her as she releases a sigh and leans back again.

*****************

Bobby leads the younger hunters down a set of steps. “She's about four hours down the Interstate. Try to keep up.” Bobby gets in his car. He looks over at Alex, “You riding with the boys or me?”

Alex glances over at the boys, “I gotta ride with them.” She grins. He nods at her before starting up the car.

Sam pulls the keys for the Impala out of his pocket and tosses them to Dean, “I assume you’ll want to drive.” Dean catches them easily.

Dean chuckles, “Oh, I almost forgot!” He approaches the Impala and runs a hand along it lovingly. “Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?” Dean gets in the driver’s side and settles in. He sees an iPod plugged into the stereo, pauses, and gives it a dirty look.

Alex slides into the backseat, and she tries to hide a smirk as she sees the iPod jack, “Oh, Sammy…”

Sam gets into the passenger’s seat, smiling, and Dean glares at him, “What the hell is that?”

“That’s an iPod jack,” Sam says, pointing at it.

“You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up.” Dean glares at him.

Alex tries to hold back her laughter at his reaction. Sam shrugs, “Dean, I thought it was my car.”

Dean sneers, sighs, and turns the key in the ignition. "Vision" by Jason Manns begins to play. Dean rolls his eyes and glares at Sam again, looking pained. “Really?” He asks as Sam shrugs innocently. Dean rips the iPod out of the jack and tosses it in the back seat.

“Hey, watch it.” Alex rolls her eyes, takes the iPod jack, and puts it on the floor away from her. “Just drive.”

They start heading down the road, following Bobby. All three of them back in their normal spots, things slipping back into a familiar feeling.

Dean looks over at Sam, “There’s still one thing that’s bothering me.”

“Yeah?” Sam glances over at him.

“Yeah, the night that we bit it. Or… got bit,” Dean chuckles at his own joke, “How’d you make it out? I thought Lilith was going to kill you.”

Alex leans forward onto the front seat, “Actually, Dean’s right, that doesn’t make much sense. She really should have torched your ass and found a way to send you downstairs with us.”

Sam shrugs, “Well, she tried. She couldn't.”

“What do you mean, she couldn’t?” Dean purses his lips.

“She fired this, like, burning light at me, and... didn't leave a scratch. Like I was immune or something.” Sam shrugs again, trying not to look at Alex or Dean.

“Immune?” Dean asks.

Sam nods, “Yeah. I don’t know who was more surprised, her or me. She left pretty fast after that.”

“That’s weird.” Alex frowns.

“Yeah, what about Ruby? Where is she?” Dean joins in.

“Dead, for now,” Sam says bluntly.

Dean bites his lip, like he’s not sure he wants to ask, “So, you’ve been using your, uh, freaky ESP stuff?”

“Dean,” Alex scolds him.

“No,” Sam comments, trying not to feel offended by the question.

“You sure about that?” Dean tilts his head a bit, glancing at Sam from the corner of his eye, “Well, I mean, now that you’ve got… immunity, whatever the hell that is… just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you’ve got going on.”

Alex slaps his shoulder, “Why are you doing this?”

Sam sighs, “Nothing, Dean. Look, you didn’t want me to go down that road, so I didn’t go down that road. It was practically your dying wish.”

“Yeah, well, let's keep it that way,” Dean tells him as Sam broods. Alex rolls her eyes, knowing the peace of being back was short-lived.

**************

The Winchesters and Singers stand on a porch as Bobby reaches and knocks on the door of an old-fashioned house. A woman in her thirties opens the door. Strongm beautiful, long, dark hair and dark eyes, with a ready smile. “Bobby!” She greets him, grabbing him into a hug, lifting him briefly from the ground. Alex laughs at the sight of Bobby being picked up. Sam and Dean share a look with smirks on their faces.

“You’re a sight for sore eyes.” Bobby jokes.

The woman steps back and looks at Alex and the boys appraisingly. “This must be your daughter and the boys.” 

“Boys, Alex. This is Pamela Barnes, best damn psychic in the state.” Bobby tells them, motioning to the proud-looking woman.

Alex smiles at her and gives a small wave, “Heya.”

Dean smirks, his voice failing to hide his little flirt. “Hey.” Alex tries to hide her annoyance at Dean’s tone.

“Hi,” Sam says a bit awkwardly.

Pamela looks closely at Alex, “The conversations I’ve had with your dad did not do you justice. I was expecting some little girl in pigtails.” She smirks, “And you just got outta Hell? You’re looking good.”

Alex chuckles, “Yeah, thought the flames would give me a bit of a tan, but it seems to have failed.” She jokes back.

Pamela grins and then turns to Dean, “Dean Winchester. Out of the fire and back in the frying pan, huh? Makes you two some rare individuals.”

Dean shrugs, his smirk staying evident, “If you say so.”

Pamela nods towards her door, “Come on in.” She ushers them in, and the door shuts behind them.

“So, Dad says you might have heard something about our little predicament.” Alex looks around. “Any luck with that?”

“Well, I Ouijia’d my way through a dozen spirits,” She starts before shaking he rhead, “No one seems to know who broke you two out, or why.”

“So what’s next?” Bobby asks.

“A séance, I think. See if we can see who did the deed.” Pamela suggests.

Bobby’s brow furrows, “You’re not gonna… summon the damn thing here.”

Pamela waves him off, “No. I just want to get a sneak peek at it. Like a crystal ball without the crystal.”

Dean shares a look with Alex, who nods her head. He turns back to Pamela, “We’re game.”

*******************

Pamela spreads a black tablecloth covered in symbols over a small table. Alex moves and leans against the door frame, watching the boys who are watching Pamela. Dean cocks his head as Pamela squats in front of the cabinet, revealing a scrawled tattoo across her lower back that reads ‘Jesse Forever’.

Alex frowns and rolls her eyes as she sees where Dean is looking. He doesn’t seem to notice her disapproving look, though, as he speaks up, “Who’s Jesse?”

Pamela laughs, “Well, it wasn’t forever.”

Dean shrugs, “His loss.”

Pamela stands with several pillar candles in her hands and stops in front of Dean with a smirk. “Might be your gain. “

Alex crosses her arms across her chest and waits for Dean’s reaction. He doesn’t say anything, but she can see the smirk on his face as Pamela passes him and Sam.

“Yeah, she will eat you alive, dude.” Sam comments as if Dean had already said he would.

“Hey, I just got out of jail. I could handle it.” Dean comments.

Pamela passes by again, giving Sam a wink, “You’re invited too, grumpy.” Sam chuckles at the comment as Dean’s eyes look less enthused at the idea.

Alex walks by him, her shoulder accidentally hitting against Dean’s as she pretends to go help Pamela set the candles up. Dean looks at her sheepishly when Sam turns his head, his eyes following Pamela and missing the interaction between his brother and Alex.

*********************

The hunters and Pamela sit around a small table, six lighted candles in the center. “Right,” Pamela starts, “Take each other’s hands.” Pamela sits at the head of the table, Dean to her right, Sam next to him, then Bobby, and finally Alex sits on Pamela’s left, all of them joining hands, “And I need to touch something our mystery monster touched.”

Pamela slides her hand along Dean’s inned though, and he jumps, “Whoa. Well, he didn’t touch me there.”

Pamela smirks, “My mistake.”

“Just… here,” Alex says, starting to hate the jealousy she has forming as she slips her flannel off, and the handprint comes into view. Sam stares at it, shocked, looking over at Bobby as well to see his reaction. “If it helps, you can grab onto Dean’s shoulder as well,” Alex comments, realizing too late that she had stressed the shoulder part.

Dean looks around, trying to act like Alex speaking like that was normal. He takes off his flannel as well and lifts up his t-shirt sleeve, revealing his brand as well. Sam continues to stare. Pamela’s hands both lay on each of the brands on the hunter’s arms.

“Okay,” Pamela says as the group closes their eyes. Pamela begins to chant. “I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle. I invoke, conjure, and command you, appear unto me before this circle.” A television flicks on to static; she continues. “I invoke, conjure, and command... Castiel? No. Sorry, Castiel, I don't scare easy.”

“Castiel?” Dean asks.

“Its name. It’s whispering to me, warning me to turn back.” Pamela explains as the white noise and static around them continue, the table begins to shake.

Alex feels goosebumps run up her arms, “Pamela, I don’t think you should keep going.” She tells her, a bad feeling running through her veins.

Pamela ignores her, “I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face. I conjure and command you, show me your face.”

As the noise and rattling become more violent, Bobby speaks up, “Maybe we should stop.” He echoes Alex’s earlier comment.

Pamela shakes her head, “I almost got it. I command you, show me your face! Show me your face now!”

Suddenly, the candles flare up several feet in the air, and Pamela begins to scream. Her eyes fly open and are filled with a white-hot flame. She collapses; the rattling, white noise, and flames die out.

Bobby moves quickly and catches her, lowering her to the floor, “Call 9-1-1!”

Sam scrambles out of his chair and into the next room. Dean crouches over Pamela and Bobby. Alex kneels and puts her hands over Pamela’s eye sockets, “Sana cutem et claude vulnus.” There’s a purple glow, but it does nothing. “I’m sorry, I haven’t gotten used to bigger healing spells, I can’t do it.” She comments, grabbing some rags off the counter to try to clean up Pamela. She’s still conscious, but bleeding and burned, her eyes just empty, black sockets as she sobs.

“I can't see! I can't see! Oh god!” Pamela calls out, sobbing harder.

In the next room, Sam’s voice echoes as he calls for an ambulance.

*********************

Alex and Dean sit at a table in a diner giving the waitress their order, “Be up in a jiff.” She says before walking away. 

Alex turns to Dean, “So, now that we have a moment, you wanna tell me what all that was back there with Pamela?”

“What do you mean? We’re still waiting to figure that out, I’m sure she will be okay though.” Dean raises a brow at her.

Alex shakes her head, “Yeah, so not what I meant.” She frowns, “I mean, I know we agreed not to talk about it until figuring out whatever pulled us out of Hell, but was there a reason you openly flirted with her back there?”

Dean smirks, “Wait, are you jealous, Lex?”

“It’s not jealousy, it’s not liking someone flirting with what’s mine, especially when I just got it back.” Alex crosses her arms.

“That would be jealousy,” He grins.

Alex rolls her eyes, “You’re avoiding the actual question here.”

“Lex, it wasn’t anything, it’s just who I am.” He motions to himself, the smile not dropping.

Sam enters, talking on his cell phone, “You bet.” He says before hanging up and sitting, looking between the two at the tension. “What’s going on here?”

“Nothin’,” Dean shrugs.

Alex rolls her eyes, and Sam notices, “It sure doesn’t look like nothin’.” Sam turns to Alex, “You two hiding something from me? Is this about Hell?”

She shakes her head, “It’s not about Hell, don’t worry about it, Sammy.” She tries to coax him.

“Well, if there’s something going on that you guys aren’t telling me, you should probably come clean. I mean, this whole thing seems off.” He looks between them.

“Dude, drop it, we got bigger things t-” Dean is cut off as Alex rolls her eyes yet again and pulls Dean in for a kiss.

“There, it’s done and over with.” She says as she leans back into her own chair.

Sam’s eyes widen as Dean smirks, feeling smug at the way she kissed him, “You know, when you get all controlling like that, it really gets me going.”

“Oh shut up,” She shakes her head as if annoyed, but there’s a smirk on her face.

“W-when did this happen?” Sam stutters, unable to wipe the surprise off his face.

“The hand of glory,” Alex bluntly states as if it wasn’t a big thing.

Sam’s eyes widened even more. “This happened before Hell?”

Dean nods, “Yeah, you were pretty clueless there, little brother.” He smirks, “I was sneaking out almost every night.”

“Every night?” Sam asks, still having a hard time believing it.

“What Dean means is that you were a bit preoccupied trying to find a way to help us survive, and we didn’t want to bother you with it,” Alex explains, giving Dean a pointed look.

Sam shakes his head, finally gathering his thoughts, “Wait, why didn’t you two tell me?”

Dean shrugs,  “Like Lex said, you were a bit busy with the whole save our souls business.” His arm slings over the back of Alex’s chair, not even trying to hide it anymore.

“You guys could have told me still.” Sam looks at them a bit dejected.

Alex sighs, “We weren’t wanting you to feel guilty when we were gone,” She gives him a sympathetic smile, “We just wanted you to be able to move on with your life.”

“By lying to me?” He frowns.

“By not saying anything at all.” Dean points out.

“This is insane.” Sam looks between them, “I can’t believe you two are together.” 

Dean smirks, leaning into Alex more, “Really? Is it so hard to believe? I mean, look at me.”

She rolls her eyes and pushes him slightly, “What he means is, we were all stuck in the same car and sometimes the same motel room, it was bound to happen, especially when we know there’s nothing between you and me.” Alex tells Sam, “It’s called Stockholm Syndrome.” She adds jokingly. “You get stuck with someone long enough, feelings are bound to happen.”

“You wound me,” Dean smirks.

Sam takes another look between the two of them, and then a look comes to his face, acceptance, “You know what, it really does make sense.” He points at them, “You’re both insane.”

“Ouch,” Alex frowns before smirking, “But you know something, you are too, since you put up with us. And you know, I am your best friend.”

He laughs, “I hate that you’re right about that.”

“Anyways, now that that's been handled,” Dean comments, “What’d Bobby say?”

Alex leans back in her seat, feeling Dean’s arm still there, “She going to be alright?”

“She’s stable. And out of the I.C.U.” He tells them.

Dean scoffs, “And blind, because of us.”

“And we still have no clue who we’re dealing with,” Sam adds.

“Well, we have some clue.” Alex shrugs.

“We do?” Sam looks at her.

Dean nods, “We got a name. Castiel, or whatever. With the right mambo-jumbo, we could summon him, bring him right to us.

“You’re crazy. Absolutely not.” Sam shakes his head.

“We’ll work him over. I mean, after what he did?” Dean argues.

Sam frowns, “Pam took a peek at him, and her eyes burned out of her skull, and you want to have a face-to-face?”

“Yeah, but would he actually do anything to us? I mean, he did drag us from Hell, obviously, he doesn’t want us dead.” Alex adds.

“And I don’t think you got a better idea.” Dean looks at Sam.

“Yeah, as a matter of fact, I do.” Sam crosses his arms, “I followed some demons to town, right?”

Dean shrugs, as if asking him so what, “Okay.”

“So, we go find them. Someone’s gotta know something about something.”  He tells them. The waitress appears with some plates of pie and sets them on the table. Sam nods at her, “Thanks.”

The Waitress plops down in a chair at the end of the table. Dean looks at her, smirking. “You angling for a tip?”

The waitress glances at him, “I'm sorry. Thought you were looking for us.” Her eyes go demon-black for a moment; a uniformed man by the counter and a cook behind the counter also show the demon-black; the Uniformed man goes to the door, locks it, and stands in front of it. The waitress’s eyes go back to normal, “Dean. To hell and back, aren’t you a lucky duck?”

“That’s me.” He says, with a lack of humor in his eyes, even with his voice being sarcastic.

She turns to look at Alex, “And you… You are a bit of a surprise to see topside again.” She examines Dean’s arm around Alex, “I heard you were almost where you needed to be.”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Alex says, trying to sound nonchalant.

The woman smirks, “Oh, but I think you do. Even if your memory was wiped when you got pulled out, that demon blood in you should have taken enough effect down there for you to remember.”

“Sorry, don’t recall a thing.” Alex crosses her arms, “Just a little witch.”

“Yeah, and I don’t get off on watching babies cry.” The waitress gives her a look, “I’ll be sure to pass on the message to your friend down there that he should have done a better job than he did. I’m sure he misses you.”

Alex glares at her, gritting her teeth, “You do that.”

The waitress looks back at Dean, “So you get to just stroll out of the pit, huh? Tell me. What makes you so special?”

“I like to think it’s because of my perky nipples.” He grins, making Alex chuckle, before his face drops to a serious expression again, “I don’t know. Wasn’t my doing, I don’t know who pulled us out.”

The waitress gives him a yeah, right look. “Right. You don't.”

“No. I don’t.” Dean says more bluntly.

“Lyings a sin, you know.” The waitress leans forward.

“I’m not lying. But I’d like to find out, so if you wouldn’t mind enlightening me, Flo…” Dean leans forward, reading the name tag on the demon’s uniform.

“Mind your tone with me, boy. I’ll drag you and your girlfriend here back to Hell myself.” She glares at them.

Alex smirks, “You know, now when people make that comment, I’m not so annoyed,” She chuckles, “They’re actually right now.” Dean smirks along with her.

“You’re hilarious, but what’s funnier is seeing you in chains.” The demon threatens, “Let’s go ahead and test my theory with you and him going right back down.”

Sam, who has been staring daggers, has a small twitch of the corner of his lips at Alex’s comment before going back to glaring at the woman. He shifts, ready to attack, but Dean holds his hand up to stop him, and Sam settles back into his seat.

“No, you won’t do that,” Dean tells her, realization crossing his face.

The demon gives him a look, “No?”

Alex looks at Dean, who smirks, “No. Because if you were, you would have done it already. Fact is, you don't know who cut us loose. And you're just as spooked as we are. And you're looking for answers. Well, maybe it was some turbo-charged spirit. Or, uh, Godzilla. Or some big bad boss demon. I'm guessing at your pay grade that they don't tell you squat. Because whoever it was, they want us out. And they're a lot stronger than you. So go ahead. Send us back. But don't come crawling to me when they show up on your front doorstep with some Vaseline and a fire hose.” Dean leans in towards her, his voice dropping low, threateningly.

“I'm going to reach down your throat and rip out your lungs.” The demon threatens back.

Dean stretches out his neck, a challenge in his eyes. He throws a right hook at her, which she takes. Alex tries not to laugh at how, any other day, the other demons would have been on their ass like white on bread.

Dean throws another, and the demon still does nothing but glare at them, looking more and more nervous. Dean tilts his head, proving his point, “That’s what I thought. Let’s go, guys.”  Dean motions to the door, standing up. Sam leads the way, as Dean throws his arm over Alex’s shoulder as she follows.

Dean pulls a roll of cash out of his pocket as the demon sits there fuming. He peels off a ten-dollar bill and drops it on the table like an insult, “For the pie.”

Alex waves with a smirk over her shoulder as she pulls Dean with her and out the door with Sam. The three of them stalk out of the diner and across the street, tense and quick. Alex looks at Dean and shakes her head, “I know, you were pretty confident, but that was a stupid move to try.”

“We got out of there, though, didn't we?” Dean grins.

Sam looks back at the diner, “WE’re not just going to leave them in there, are we?” 

Dean shrugs, “Well, yeah, there’s three of them, probably more, and we’ve only got one knife between us.”

“I’ve been killing a lot more demons than that lately,” Sam argues.

“Not anymore – the smarter brother’s back in town,” Dean smirks.

Alex sighs, “That remains to be determined.” 

“Dean, we’ve got to take ‘em. They are dangerous.” Sam continues to argue.

Alex shakes her head, “No, Sam, now is not the time. We have too many unanswered questions right now; we need to wait. We can come back and handle them. They aren’t leaving until they get answers either.”

“She’s right, they’re scared. Okay? Scared of whatever had the juice to yank us out. We’re dealing with a bad mofo here. One job at a time.” Dean moves to the driver’s door of the Impala.

“Is this how it’s going to be now, you two agreeing against me in everything?” Sam frowns.

Alex shrugs, “Guess we will find out. But I’m still on your side in the fact that your brother is frustrating.” She pats him on the shoulder before climbing into the backseat.

****************

Alex leans against Dean on the couch, a big book on her lap, while John’s journal is sprawled open on his lap. The two sleep, Dean’s arm wrapped lazily around Alex. Sam peeks at them for a moment, shaking his head, unable to help the bit of betrayal still inside at the fact they had kept it a secret, but the happiness he felt, knowing they had found each other, overcomes it. He clears his head, though as he moves towards the door, sneaking out, making sure they don’t wake up. As he exits the motel room, he moves to the Impala and drives away.

***************

The television flicks on, static and white noise come from the speaker, and the radio starts whining as well. “What the hell?” Alex asks as she opens her eyes and starts to sit up. The motion wakes Dean, who rolls over and quickly grabs a shotgun off the bed as Alex stands up next to him, grabbing a knife off the table.

They look around cautiously, and Alex looks over, seeing Sam’s bed empty, “Where the hell is Sam?”

Dean shakes his head, “We’ll find him in a bit. Stay ready.” He tells her, keeping the shotgun aimed up. The painful high-pitched noise from the gas station rings through the air, and Dean grabs his ear with one hand, keeping his gun up with the other. 

Alex clenches her jaw as she tries to block out the noise with one hand, when all of a sudden she hears pieces of it, “Dean…. Talk… alone… come….” She drops the knife as the sound becomes too much. A mirror on the ceiling shatters and rains broken glass down on them. Dean moves towards her, and just before the noise becomes too much for him, he wraps an arm over her as the glass comes down. He crumples to the ground with her, clutching both his ears as all the glass shatters in the room explosively. The hunters both let out screams as it starts to feel like their ears are bleeding.

Bobby bursts into the room as more glass shatters. “Alex! Dean!” He runs towards them.

****************

Alex sits in the backseat as Bobby drives his car, Dean, in the passenger seat. Dean takes a rag and wipes away some blood from his face as Alex heals herself of the small cuts. Bobby looks between the two. “How you doin’?”

“Aside from the church bells ringing in my head, peachy.” Dean throws the rag down onto the dashboard.

Alex frowns, “Okay, but did you hear anything other than that noise while it was happening?” 

“What do you mean?” Dean turns to face her from the front.

Alex thinks for a moment, “Nothing, it was probably just my imagination.” She leans forward and starts healing the small cuts on Dean, not even bothering to ask. Dean pulls his phone out and begins dialing Sam.

************

Sam sits in the Impala outside of the diner, knowing it is still full of demons. His cell phone rings and he answers it, “Hey.”

“What are you doing?” Dean asks.

Sam watches the diner closely, “Couldn’t sleep, went to get a burger.” 

“In my car?” Dean questions him, his tone a bit accusing.

Sam shrugs, “Force of habit, sorry.” He watches as one of the demons moves around inside, “What are you doing up? Thought you and Lexi would be taking advantage of the alone time like I’m guessing you used to do before I knew.”

“Well, uh, Bobby’s back. We’re going to grab a beer.” Dean tells him, playing a part.

Sam tilts his head as he sees the demons all relax again. “All right, well, uh, spill some for me, huh?” 

“Done.” Dean answers, “Catch you later.” He finishes before hanging up.

*********************

Bobby looks at him, “Why the hell didn’t you tell him?”

“Because he’d just try and stop us,” Dean tells him.

“From what?” Bobby asks.

“Dad, it’s obvious,” Alex adds as Bobby continues to look at her. She sighs, “We are going to summon the damn thing.”

Bobby looks at her with shock before Dean cuts in, “It’s time we faced it head-on.”

“You can’t be serious!” Bobby yells out.

Dean grins, “As a heart attack. It’s high noon, baby.”

“Well, we don’t know what it is. It could be a demon, it could be anything.” Bobby shakes his head, trying to convince them not to do it.

“It doesn’t matter, we’ve gotta try it, I mean, who knows what this thing thinks we owe it for dragging us out,” Alex adds.

“That’s why we’ve got to be ready for anything,” Dean pulls out Ruby’s knife, “We've got the big-time magic knife, you've got an arsenal in the trunk…”

Bobby grips his steering wheel, “This is a bad idea.”

“Yeah, I couldn't agree more, but what other choice do we have?” Dean cocks his head.

“We could choose life.” Bobby offers.

Alex grins and leans forward, “Where’s the fun in that?”

“Bobby, whatever this is, whatever it wants, it's after us. That much we know, right? We've got no place to hide. We can either get caught with our pants down again, or we can make our stand.” Dean’s joking tone is gone as he speaks.

“We could use Sam on this one.” Bobby shakes his head.

Alex pats him on the shoulder, “We need to just leave him out of this. We just dropped the bombshell of us dating, and then with us coming back from Hell, it’s best if he just takes a bit to himself.”

Dean nods, “Yeah, he’s better off where he is.”

**********************

Sam sneaks into the darkened diner and slips his lock-picking tools into his shirt pocket. He hears a song playing on the jukebox as he continues to sneak around quietly. He sees the cook from earlier face-down on the floor, his hands bloody. Sam crouches and turns the man over; the man is dead, and his eyes are burned out, and there is dried blood on his cheeks.

A figure tackles him from behind, and after a moment, he realizes it’s the waitress. They trade blows for a few moments until Sam shoves her away. He notices her eye sockets are empty, burned out, and blood is trickling down her face. She looks both terrifying and terrified. He looks at her in shock. “Your eyes.”

“I can still smell your soul a mile away,” She growls at him.

“It was here. You saw it.” Sam realizes.

The waitress starts to sob as she realizes fighting is useless: “I saw it.”

Sam leans in, gripping her shirt, “What was it?”

“It’s the end. We’re dead. We’re all dead.” She cries.

“What did you see?” Sam insists.

“Go to Hell.” She snarls at him.

Sam cocks his head to the side, “Funny. I was going to say the same thing to you.” Sam steps back, plants his feet, and shuts his eyes in concentration. He extends his right hand towards the demon. She heaves and begins to vomit black smoke into her hand; in seconds, the waitress has collapsed to the floor as the demon is sucked down into the pit. Sam opens his eyes and crosses to the woman on the floor. He checks her pulse and sighs in disappointment. “Damn it.”

The kitchen door opens, and a woman comes out. He looks up, apparently not surprised to see her, the same woman from the motel when Alex and Dean had shown up. “Getting pretty slick there, Sam. Better all the time.” She smiles at him.

Sam stands, and they share a smoldering look. He looks down at the corpse at his feet, his face falling. “What the hell is going on around here, Ruby?” He asks the woman.

Ruby shrugs, “I wish I knew.”

“We were thinking som high level demon pulled them out.” Sam looks over the bodies.

“No way. Sam, human souls don't just walk out of Hell and back into their bodies easily. The sky bleeds, the ground quakes. It's cosmic. No demon can swing that. Not Lilith, not anybody. I mean, if Alex had turned, then maybe she could have gotten herself out of there, but neither of them could have been sprung by a demon.” Ruby shakes her head.

Sam frowns, looking at Ruby, “The what can?”

Ruby looks over the bodies as well, “Nothing I’ve ever seen before.”

*****************

Bobby draws a symbol with white spray paint on the cement floor. As he stands and examines the floor, walls, and ceiling of the empty warehouse, all of which are covered in the same symbols. Alex walks over and tosses an empty can of paint into a nearby bin, “We sure this is going to work?”

Dean stands at a table setting up equipment and looks around at the symbols around the room, “I don’t know, that’s a hell of an art project you two got going there though.”

Bobby tosses out his can of paint as well, “Traps and talismans from every faith on the globe.” Bobby tells him as Alex looks at the walls, feeling proud of herself. She looks back as Bobby talks again, “How you doin’?” He asks Dean.

Dean points at each item on the table as if taking inventory, “Stakes, iron, silver, salt, knife. I mean, we're pretty much set to catch and kill anything I've ever heard of.”

Bobby sighs and looks at them, “This is still a bad idea.”

“Yeah, Bobby, I heard you the first ten times.” Dean responds, “What do you say we ring the dinner bell?”

“Might as well get it over with,” Alex turns to Bobby, “We obviously aren’t changing our minds.”

Bobby nods reluctantly. He goes over to another desk, takes a pinch of some powder from a bowl, and sprinkles it into a larger bowl. The bowl begins to smoke as he chants in Latin.

************************

Ruby and Sam sit across from each other at a small table in the diner. Ruby leans forward onto the table with her arms, “So. Million-dollar question, are you going to tell the other two about what we’re doing?”

Sam nods, “Yeah, I just gotta figure out the right way to say it.” Ruby gives him a look, “Look, I just need time, okay? That’s all.”

Ruby leans back in her seat, “Sam, they’re going to find out, and if it's not from you, they’re going to be pissed. Especially Dean, you could probably win sympathy from Alex.”

“He’s going to be pissed anyway. I mean, he’s so hardheaded about this psychic stuff, he’ll just try and stop me.” He sighs.

Ruby shrugs, “Look. Maybe I’ll just take a step back for a while.”

“Ruby, you…” Sam starts.

Ruby cuts him off, though, “I mean, I'm not exactly in your brother's fanclub. But he is your brother, and I'm not going to come between you.”

“I don’t know if what I’m doing is right. Hell, I don’t even know if I trust you.” Sam comments bluntly.

Ruby scoffs, “Thanks.”

Sam continues anyway, “But what I do know is that I'm saving people. And stopping demons. And that feels good. I want to keep going.”

*****************

The three hunters sit on top of some tables, swinging their legs, looking bored as they continue to wait for something to happen. The ritual had been finished a few moments ago. Dean looks over at Bobby, “You sure you did the ritual right?” Bobby gives him an irritated look, “Sorry. Touchy, touchy, huh?”

“Dean, if anyone was going to do this ritual right, it would be Bobby.” Alex points out. Slightly offended that Dean would question her dad.

As if on cue, a loud rattling shakes the roof. The three of them arm themselves with shotguns and take positions at the far end of the warehouse. Dean glances at the others, wishful thinking, but maybe it's just the wind.

The door bursts open, and a handsome man, looking to be in his thirties, walks in. He has dark tousled hair, intense blue eyes, a squared jaw, and a stoic expression. He’s wearing a business suit and a trench coat as he stalks into the building. The light bulbs above his head shatter in a shower of sparks as he passes them. As he approaches, the hunters both open fire, but the shots do not even slow him down. Dean takes out Ruby’s knife as the man gets closer. “Who are you?” Alex comes up next to him, holding her hand out, ready to blow him back if needed.

The man looks between the two, his expression darkening at Alex, but returning to emotionless as his eyes reach Dean’s again, “I'm the one who gripped you tight and raised you both from perdition.”

“Yeah. Thanks for that.” Dean rears back and plunges the knife into what they can now assume is Castiel, going deep into his chest. Castiel looks down, unconcerned, and pulls it out, dropping it to the floor.

“Retrorsum iacere,” Alex yells out, and her hand blows out a blast of purple, and while he does seem to stumble back a bit, it seems to have almost no effect on him. Behind him, Bobby attacks; without looking, Castiel grabs Bobby's weapon and uses it to swing him around. He then touches Bobby on the forehead with his fingertips, and Bobby crumples to the ground.

“Dad!” Alex yells out, crouching next to Bobby.

Castiel looks at Dean, “We need to talk, Dead. Alone.” Castiel watches as Alex checks Bobby’s pulse. Dean, glaring at him, “Your friend’s alive.”

“Who are you?” Dean asks.

Alex stands up, “We just want to confirm, because we are pretty sure by now who you are.” 

Castiel ignores Alex and looks at Dean, “I will not continue to talk until that mutant is gone or on the ground with her father.” He gets ready to place his fingertips on Alex’s forehead as he had done to Bobby.

Alex puts her hand back up and backs away, “Back off, you aren’t touching me. Especially calling me a mutant, you jackass.”

“You are a mixture of two very crude beasts, a witch and a demon, this is just a fact. So you should be grateful that mutant is the only thing I’m calling you, take it as a compliment if that satisfies your need for explanation.” Castiel tells her, his expression staying stoic.

“You really should work on your flirting skills, then.” She glares.

Dean steps forward, “Wait, if you don’t like her, why did you spring her? Or did something else bring her back?”

“No, it was unfortunately me.” Castiel tells him, “Though it was not by choice. My orders were to bring her back before the demons could succeed in turning her into one of them. My superiors were concerned that she might become a liability if demons were left to their own devices. I for one suggested we just end her completely and destroy her soul, what little soul she may have.”

“Really turning me on with all this.” Alex rolls her eyes. “Glad to know I scare someone out there.”

“Speaking of, what are you?” Dean asks Castiel, coming to stand next to Alex.

Castiel looks at him, “I’m an angel of the lord.”

Alex laughs, “Oh, this is too good… An angel? If that’s true, you’re saying an angel saved a demon’s daughter from Hell?”

Dean shakes his head, “Get the hell out of here. There’s no such thing.”

“This is your problem. You have no faith.” Castiel tells them. Lightning flashes, and on Castiel’s back, a great shadowy set of wings appears, stretching off into the distance. The light goes back out, and the image of the wings goes with it.

Dean scoffs, “Some angel you are. You burned out that poor woman’s eyes.”

Castiel looks down for a moment before back at the two hunters, “I warned her not to spy on my true form. It can be... overwhelming to humans, and so can my real voice. But you already knew that.”

“You mean the gas station and the motel. That was you talking?” Dean asks, and Castiel nods. “Buddy, next time, lower the volume.”

Castiel exhales, “That was my mistake. Certain people, special people, can perceive my true visage. I thought you would be one of them. I was wrong.”

“Wait, that’s what I thought I heard?” Alex’s eyes widen, “I thought I heard some words through that ringing back at the motel.”

Castiel turns towards her, “Yes, it would seem your polluted blood has given you some advantage in understanding me. At least my real voice.” He glowers at her.

Alex smirks at Dean, “I can understand angels, guess there’s something good I got from that bastard.” She jokes about Yellow-Eyes, finally feeling like she had gotten something worthwhile.

Dean gives her a look before turning back to Castiel, “And what visage are you in now, huh?” Dean motions to Castiel’s body, “What, holy tax accountant?”

Castiel looks down at his body and fidgets with the tie as if it were uncomfortable, “This? This is... a vessel.”

“And I’m the monster?” Alex crosses her arms.

“You’re possessing some poor bastard?” Dean looks at him angrily.

Castiel looks at them unfazed, “He’s a devout man; he actually prayed for this.”

“Well, I’m not buying what you’re selling, so who are you really?” Dean asks again.

Castiel frowns, “I told you.”

“Well, if it’s true, you’ve already given the reason for rescuing me, and trust me, I’m flattered Heaven sees me as a threat, but why Dean? I mean, I love him, but why was he rescued?”

“Good things do happen,” Castiel answers back.

Dean shakes his head, “Not in my experience.”

Castiel tilts his head, “What’s the matter? You don’t think you deserve to be saved?”

“Why’d you do it?” Dean pushes.

Castiel’s face gets even more serious if that was even possible, “Because God commanded it. Because we have word for you.”