My knuckles whitened against the tire iron as adrenaline raced through my veins. The smashed doorframe around me gaped open, the stone walls lining the cellar stairwell distorting the rise and fall of voices below, drawing me downward. So close. So close. So close. Dean's nearness pounded in my veins with every heartbeat and the soul-deep ache in my chest flared white hot. I had fought my way back to him and now only one obstacle remained – whatever was whispering in the shadows had to be eliminated.

I pulled in a silent breath, stepping back into the barn and creeping down the aisle. A strange flickering green light suddenly started teasing the shadows at the far end of the stalls, pulsing. The whispers grew louder as I slipped closer, reaching my ears as sharp, short words – a hurried string of Latin that was being repeated. But it was the tone that stopped my heart, the familiar deep murmur that I knew so well.

Sam.

My heart took off at a gallop. I raced past the remaining stalls, breaking into a sprint before throwing myself around the corner, unable to breathe until I saw him. There, hunched over a bowl of green flames, a book spread on the dusty floor beside him, his broad hands tracing the incantation on the pages. Sam. He lurched up defensively as I crashed through the doorway, but froze in shock, his gaze snapping from my features to the tire iron and back.

"…Alex?" My name was barely more than a breath before he jolted forward, wrapping me in a crushing hug and pressing me tightly against his chest. "Oh my god, you're all right – how did you-? I can't believe-" He shifted, tucking one hand to cradle my head, pulling back just enough to stare down into my eyes searchingly. "You're okay? You aren't hurt?"

I shook my head, unable to stop a sudden flood of tears from spilling over. They rushed down my cheeks, one after another as I drank in his presence, hardly able to process. A sudden flood of things I had been storing up to tell him rushed to the forefront but on the very next breath every word I knew escaped me, swept away by the pure joy that he was really here. But the grin I couldn't seem to hold back suddenly faltered as I noticed there were bruises on his face, a fading black eye and a gash across his cheekbone that shouldn't be there. Concern pushed everything else aside as I noticed more bruises and scabs covering the skin I could see. I pressed my hand to his uninjured cheek, not even bothering to ask if he was all right before sending my power coursing through him. Sam barely acknowledged it, his gaze checking me just as intently for injuries of my own. My power surged inside him as it found more damage beneath his clothes – several shallow knife wounds, a burn along his shoulder, deep bruises all over his body, and a cracked rib barely beginning to heal – each one telling me Dean wasn't the only one fighting that desperate edge for control that I had spotted in the security tape footage. "Sam, look at you…" My chest ached as I pulled in a worried breath, scrubbing a hand over my face to wipe away the traces of tears.

"Hey, I'm fine, don't worry about me." He winced as the power got to a deep, jagged cut running down his back, one he should've had Dean stitch up. I raised an eyebrow at him in frustration but he ignored it, pulling me closer so he could press a shaky kiss to my forehead. "You're here and you're okay. That's all that matters."

I hummed, soaking in every pounding pulse of his familiar heartbeat as my power finished healing his body, erasing even the smallest bruise as we held each other in the charged silence. I needed this, a moment to rest in the reassurance that he was whole, that I could make him whole again. Driving and hunting alone had given me far too many hours with nothing but my thoughts to consume me, and memories of our last day together had seemed to only get fresher with time. Sam lifeless and still, his body broken in my arms, the bitter scent of his blood covering me as Dean pleaded with me to save him, to heal a corpse. But I had done it, I had brought him back from that ledge, putting him back together and pumping life back into his veins. Though even that reassurance had proven hollow in the depths of the night, with only my tattoo to fight away the fear that something could've happen, anything could've taken them both away from me again.

He sighed against my hair, a tumble of words finally pouring from him. "God, I've been so worried about you. We haven't heard anything from Cas since you two disappeared, not even a text, and Dean—Dean's been losing his mind a little more every day. We wanted to find you. We tried, but there wasn't even a trace of where he'd taken you and we were searching blind. And we knew that even if we did find you, we couldn't risk drawing the angels to you. Damn, for all we knew they'd already found you and you were -" He cut himself off, sucking in a steadying breath, his eyes filled with exhaustion and distress.

Images from the security footage flashed through my mind. Gritting my teeth, I leaned deeper into his hold to try and absorb the solidness of him. "I know. Trust me, I fucking know."

Something about my heartfelt agreement made him pause. "Is Cas here with you?" He angled to get a better look at the doorway as if Cas was simply waiting to appear.

My ever-present worry for our angel rose to the surface. "No."

Sam's concern deepened. "Alex… Cas has been with you this whole time, hasn't he?"

I hesitated.

He froze. "You weren't alone, were you? No way did Cas leave you alone."

"I'm okay, Sam. See? I'm standing right in front of you—" He started to pull away as he ran a shaky hand through his hair, so I grabbed a hold of his shirt, keeping him in place. "Hey, look at me. Cas did protect me, Sam. But it was too dangerous for him to stay. He made sure I'd be safe from the angels, but he couldn't-"

Regret was stark in his eyes as a muscle jumped in his jaw. "I swear, Alex, if we had known—"

"I know, Sam. I know." I let out a rough breath, trying to reassure him while also letting his presence soak down deep to my core and ease the unending fear that had become my constant companion. "I was so afraid … I looked for you both everywhere. I…I've missed you, Sam. So much. There's so much to tell you-"

A sudden feminine shriek rose up from the cellar doorway and Sam startled, every inch of him going on high alert. I released him immediately as the screeching continued, shifting to a better grip on the tire iron. He moved quickly back to the bubbling bowl of fire in the middle of a sigil painted on the warped floorboards. I dropped my voice to barely above a whisper as adrenaline started pumping through my veins once again, relieved that high emotions had kept our conversation quiet. "What's going on down there, Sam?"

His focus had already shifted and he picked up the leather-bound book from the dusty floor. "We ran into a problem. I don't have time to explain everything, but Dean's down there right now with a shapeshifter hybrid. She keeps drawing us out, trying to reach Cas." His hazel eyes flashed to mine. "She's one of Krieger's and she's out to avenge his death, willing to do anything to get to Cas. We don't know what kind of hybrid she is exactly, we just know that she's strong and none of our weapons have worked on her. And she is really pissed off." He shrugged in frustration, flipping back through the pages of the book quickly. "We found a spell, but we don't know if it will even work. She can teleport and she's fast. I've never seen anything like it. And she's relentless – she's dropped seven bodies already. She's fixated on Dean as the way to get to Cas, and she's been putting us through hell to get to him." Sam went still for a moment, staring blindly down at the book before raising his eyes to mine again. They were hollowed, ravaged with pain and my heart nearly stopped in my chest. Neither he nor Dean used that word lightly anymore. He said hell and he'd meant it with every fiber of his being. I thought that the distance separating us had been nearly impossible to survive, but whatever had put that look in Sam Winchester's eyes had my isolation paling in comparison.

He pulled in a steadying breath. "She's can force people to shift, and she keeps turning innocent girls into you and then… she hurts them. Breaks them. Makes them scream for rescue before she kills them, makes Dean watch. …She thinks if she can break Dean that Cas will come running. That's why it's always you. She's throwing him into his worst nightmare over and over and – he's getting desperate. He knows it's not you, but it looks like you and sounds like you – fuck, somehow they even smell like you. He's not been sleeping, he's barely eating- She's not managed to break him yet, but he's getting closer to that edge every time." Sam's head snapped up, his intense gaze seeking mine. "You haven't used the link, have you?" He pressed. "Have you?"

I fought to get my heart out of my throat so I could answer him. The pain he had been through, the despair that had etched lines in his face – it had been because of me. Because of watching me get killed. That pain in his eyes was grief. "No, something's still blocking it. I haven't been able to hear him since—"

"Stop trying to use it." Sam ordered shortly, his hands tightening on the book. "If he finds out you're here he's going to lose his mind. He'll do something crazy and get himself killed trying to protect you, you understand me? He can't know until this is all over." Sam paused, his eyes darkening. "He can't lose you again." The pain in his gaze deepened. "Neither of us can."

I tried to tamp down the instinctive urge to go find Dean that had started spiking my veins the moment Sam said 'problem'. "I can't leave him down there as bait, Sam."

"He's not bait, he's a diversion." Sam bit out. "And we're wasting time. Stay here, Alex. Help me finish the spell—"

"You know I can't do that, Sam."

"She's not just some shifter, Alex, please—" He grabbed my arm as I moved past him, his voice a harsh whisper. "Alex, wait!"

I jerked out of his grasp, the relentless pull toward Dean starting to make an almost audible howl in my mind. "That spell is no guarantee and I'm not leaving him down there alone. I'm a Chinuitor, damn it! We're stronger together, Sam, and I won't leave him down there as bait!" My voice rang out loudly, snapping across the sudden silence.

Sam and I both froze as all sound around us ceased. The moment stretched and I realized that we were just waiting for the shifter to come to us. To hell with that plan. I was going after that bitch. She thought she could break Dean using me? She was about to have another thought coming. Sam's furious cry filled the barn as I darted out of the stall and took off running toward the cellar door.

(Dean's POV – happening while Alex and Sam are talking)

She thrashed against the chains binding her to a wooden chair, her tear-stained face streaked with blood. Her eyes were rolling and desperate, her choked sobs filling the room as if her visions were wrapping around her throat and dragging her into the pits of hell. That's not Lex, not Lex, not Lex – the internal chanting that had started the moment I stepped into this hellhole rang hollow as I stared into the girl's face and watched her expression tighten in fear. She was a stranger, an innocent that Shrianna had plucked from this tiny farming town as a pawn in this brutal game. Shrianna had twisted her, morphing her into Alex so that every hitched breath and every broken plea forced its way beneath my skin, the wrongness burning deep in my gut.

"Watch her, Dean." Shrianna hissed, grabbing the next injection. "Watch the djinn blood slowly destroy what's left of her mind. Soon she'll never remember being anyone but Alex. Look at her – watch Alex's nightmares consume her. Aren't you excited? We'll get to watch those nightmares come to life, get to watch her relive all of them, Dean."

Every muscle in my body tightened as the girl whimpered, her broken pleading filling the room. "Stay away from me! Don't hurt me! Krieger, please! Stop! Please, I don't want to! God - no!"

Her cries pounded into my skull. Lex's voice. Lex's tears. Lex's terrible grinding pain echoing in my ears. Rage boiled just beneath the surface as I forced myself to block it all out and focus on the shifter bitch before me. I had played this sick and twisted game for Shrianna's amusement seven times now. Had fought to save Alex with everything I had only to end every battle with a battered corpse in my arms. When they died they reverted back to their natural form, which somehow made it worse. Seven times I had given a stranger a hunter's funeral, it only seeming right after what they endured on her behalf. I couldn't take them back to their families since Shrianna barely left enough to be recognizable as human, and allowing their families ignorance as to how torturously they died was a mercy I could grant. Even though they no longer looked like her, I put them to rest with the same dignity I would've given Alex. Each time I had forced myself to watch as the flames swallowed those unknown faces from my sight because it seemed wrong to put her in the ground, even knowing it wasn't really her and had never been her. Simmering rage had become my steady companion as Sam and I tried everything we could think of to take down this goddamn spawn of Krieger's experiments. But whatever Kreiger had done to her was still warping its way through her tiny body. Her powers were constantly evolving. Knowing it wasn't my Lex didn't make the images go away. Knowing it wasn't my Lex didn't keep her screams from echoing in my head at night. And we were here. Again. Only this time Shrianna had found a new way to shred what was left of my sanity.

The djinn blood Shrianna was using wasn't pureblood – no, she had chosen the muddied djinn bloodline, the one so far removed from the Alpha that it had completely twisted and darkened its power. The effect was relentless, throwing the victim into their worst nightmares and dragging them into the depths of their fears. And because Shrianna had shifted this poor girl into Lex, she was drowning in Lex's memories, experiencing first-hand those three months of torment, trapping in an unending horror.

For Lex, the real Lex, those things had sharpened her, had given her a core of steel and a gritty determination that wouldn't let loose. But this girl wasn't my Lex. The first moment the djinn blood had hit her system her mind had broken, hoarse screams ripping from her lungs and leaving her terrified, gasping for breath between alternating realities. Every moment she fractured further, and her broken stream of pleas was unending. The words spilling from her mouth told me about things Alex had never mentioned, about just what had happened when the vampires and demons had worked together to break her. Things that even Stokes hadn't taunted me with. Each choked, pain drenched word hit me like shrapnel, shredding my ability to block it out and focus on Shrianna until I snapped - charging Shrianna full out, even knowing it was pointless.

She rolled her eyes and simply disappeared, reappearing on the weeping girl's other side and out of my reach. I hit the ground where she had been half a second before, growling in frustration. She pointed at me with the syringe over Alex's head, irritation lining her tight mouth. "Really, Dean? Your petty attempts at hero are simply dragging this out. I warned you that her death wasn't on the table this time. None of this ends unless you give me Castiel. I'm trying to finish this game between us if you would just fucking cooperate." Her eyes hardened. "Call Castiel down."

"Never," I snapped, grip tightening on the knife in my fist.

Her gaze narrowed in frustration. The cellar grew still, Alex's weeping rising up between us. "Fine. But you do realize that anything that happens to this poor girl is directly your fault, don't you? You could make it all stop with just a word. You call him down, this charade ends. But if you want to be difficult, then we will make things difficult." She sighed theatrically, running the tip of the needle down Alex's neck, leaving a thin line of red behind it and gauging my reaction. "You know how this works. Given enough djinn blood, she'll stay in those nightmares permanently. The memories are real. The things she is experiencing are real. Is it hard for you to know that your Alex was going through all of it while you and Sammy were right here in town the entire time? That all of those things could've been avoided if you had just found the nest in time? It's really your fault she has those experiences, if you think about it. Seems only right that you're getting to watch those memories come to life. But we've only just begun to scratch the surface. She'll beg before we're done. She'll beg you to kill her, and you'll want to, Dean. Oh how badly you will want to. I'll be tempted to give in and let you, simply because I'd like seeing her blood on your hands for once. But no. You watching her die isn't doing the trick. No more Kill The Girl - Try Again Later turns in this little game we play." She gnashed her teeth, eyes going hard. "I'm tired of playing your games, Dean. Give me the angel!"

I locked my jaw, refusing to respond.

She arched an eyebrow at me and shoved the needle deep, forcing Alex to cry out as more djinn blood was forced into her system. More, when she was already so far gone. A blue shadow so dark it was nearly black spread from the injection site, crawling beneath Alex's skin as it raced through her veins. Alex's choked breathing stopped abruptly and my gaze snapped to her eyes. Her fear had shifted to abject terror as she sank deeper into the unseen reality that was the horror of Lex's past. "Sam – oh god, Sam! No!" Her pupils darkened and every line of her body tightened not in pain this time but in grief.

Oh god. If I thought watching her relive Krieger's torment was gut wrenching, realizing that Alex had buried Sam's death down even deeper in her memories tore something loose inside my chest. She considered the pain of Sam's death worse than the torture that had been inflicted on her in that cellar and had shoved it farther into the dark recesses of her mind.

Shrianna flashed me a cold smile. "You've gotten a little pale there, Dean."

"Shift her back." I demanded gutturally. "Those aren't her memories – she shouldn't have to go through this! This has nothing to do with her!"

"Give me Castiel and this all ends-"

"You're not getting Cas! He's not coming!" I snarled.

Alex fought her chains harder, the look in her eyes shifting and I realized her intensity was focused on things that only she could see. "No, Dean! Stop! You can't – oh god, Sam! You killed him!" Despair blazed from her gaze, burning deep in my gut and forcing things to the surface I was desperately trying to forget. Sam's blood on my hands. The shock in his eyes as I drove that knife deep into his chest. The sound of his body hitting the floor.

Shrianna shrugged carelessly. "The angel will come when your pain is at its greatest. He stays close to you Winchesters, and when you suffer, he appears. How many times has he swooped in to save you in the past? Every living creature knows that he brought you out of hell! He turned his back on the heavens for you! He brought down an army of angels to kill Krieger and save you! You are his weakness, Dean Winchester. And when he comes for you, I will make him pay for what he's taken from me! Krieger should have survived – he was meant to rule this earth! Castiel destroyed my future at Krieger's right hand! He took everything from me and I will destroy him!"

Alex continued to wail helplessly, her pain making my skin itch with the need to kill something, to vent this pressure building in my chest. It felt like I had been down here for years, forced to be a puppet in Shrianna's games. She was constantly evolving and adapting in her powers and her strength now nearly made her indifferent to pain. The cellar bore signs of our ongoing fight, chunks torn from the stone walls, blood smeared across the floor. She may barely feel it, but I could still make her bleed. And the frustration biting at me kept pushing me to do something. Sam said he needed time to finish the spell, and time is what I was going to give him. But that didn't mean I had to stand here with my hands up my ass and just let her tear Lex – not Lex, not Lex – apart. Sam had to be finishing that goddamn spell soon, I just had to buy him a little more time. And the bitch sure did love to talk, so I gritted my teeth and pushed past the pain bleeding off Alex to give Shrianna what she wanted – fucking conversation. "We've done this seven times, bitch, and Cas hasn't shown up yet. What makes you think this little experiment with djinn blood is going to break me into calling him down?"

Her gaze lit with ferocity. "Because this time is game over. I'm not letting you out of here until he shows. Even if he does, you're never setting foot outside this cellar again, I promise you that. And just think - no matter how well he's hidden dear little Alex, when you die, so will she. Handy little trick with that soul link, hm? But before we get to the fun part, we've got find that sweet spot that makes Dean Winchester give into the pain, the one that sends sweet Castiel to your rescue."

I stalked toward her with a growl, pushing back any possibility that she might succeed. My death I could come to terms with, but not if it dragged Lex down with me. "She's not Alex. None of them have been Alex. This stranger means nothing to me. This will never break me down-"

"You sure about that, Dean? Every time she whimpers, you cringe. Every time you look at her, you hesitate." Shrianna vanished for a moment and suddenly something was wrapped around my throat and she was dragging me backwards. I flailed, striking out and landing blows that would have put a human on their ass but she didn't even slow. She slammed my head into a metal pole that ran from the dirt floor up into the wooden floor joists above. White pain flashed behind my eyes and by the time it eased she had my hands chained behind the pole and my feet chained together. I roared in frustration. She reappeared a split second later across the room at the workbench that ran the length of one wall, a variety of tools littering the surface. Some were already bloody. Her fingers trailed over the power drill and the hand saws and my gut clenched. "Do you know how much pain the human body can endure, Dean? You tortured in hell, I'm sure you have a fair idea."

Shrianna continued along the workbench, caressing the tools with care. "I know better than to think that pain is the way to break you down. See, I was in that warehouse with you when Krieger started making you pay for Alex's betrayal. I was there when he wrenched those sounds from you, when he left you in so much pain that you could hardly stand. But when he came back, you were back on your feet. Just knowing that Alex was only steps in front of you had given you back everything he had taken from you. I learned that fucking Winchester determination will keep you spitting in the face of pain until you're six feet under. So no, torturing you has never been my plan. But torturing her…" Shrianna made her choice, turning toward me with a simple stretch of leather cording as long as my arm. It was thin and reedy, less than an inch wide. "Seeing her in physical pain alone wasn't enough to reach you. But watching her mind shred from the inside out at the same time..." She flashed me a delighted grin. "That and the torture should work together quite nicely. All we need now is to prod her muscle memory, giving the djinn blood a little encouragement to guide her reality to just where we want it."

Shrianna disappeared and I snarled, hating the uncertainty that ate at my gut. God, I hated this fucking bitch. Come on, Sam, come on…

A blink later Alex was no longer chained to the chair but trussed up to the wooden floor joists that ran the length of the cellar above us. She was hanging by her wrists, her toes barely touching the dirt floor. The change in position had her swinging frantically around, her eyes searching the room blindly for her attackers, her gasping sobs finally giving way to panicked silence. Shrianna reappeared, stroking the strip of leather in her hands with satisfaction. "I have a secret, Dean. One I've kept through all of our little games together. But seeing as this will be our last one…" Her voice faded and she flashed me a relishing grin. "I used to watch her. The real Alex. Her months in that cellar. Most of her nightmares, the moments that haunt her. I was there, watching from the shadows. I've hated her, Dean, for a very… long… time."

My gaze was riveted to that simple stretch of leather, her blood red nails caressing it softly as my thoughts spun.

Shrianna moved in front of Alex, looping the leather harmlessly around her neck in a loose circle. She trailed her fingers along the edge of Alex's face and Alex suddenly focused clearly on her, the shift of realities almost painful to watch. "Please." Alex whimpered. "P-please don't do this."

Shrianna smiled almost gently, and those blood red nails trailed along the flannel shirt that Alex wore as she walked around her. She grabbed a pair of pruning shears from the work table and sliced open the back of Alex's shirt briskly. Alex shuddered, burying her face in her arm and her breath shortening rapidly as the tattered fabric hung limply from her shoulders.

Not Lex, not Lex, not Lex—

"Krieger would use her." Shrianna said conversationally. "He played with her. She entertained him. Fascinated him. He was surprised with how strong she was, said he wanted me to watch and learn. Said she had something he could never recreate, a core of steel that he didn't understand. He nearly worshiped her by the end, and I hated her. I would have killed her if he had given me half a chance, shown him who was the strong one then. So I've enjoyed this. Our games. Seven times I've gotten to live out the things I've imagined doing to her, gotten to listen to her screams, been able to see the light go out in her eyes at my hand. What a happy coincidence that the thing that will cause you the most pain could also bring me such satisfaction. I thirst for Castiel's blood and I will avenge Krieger's death. But the added bonus of being able to tear her apart again and again and again… I've relished every moment of it, Dean. And every time we've been through this, I've learned something new about you, learned just how I need to twist the knife. Each of those little skirmishes were just for warm ups. Right now? I can almost taste the agony coming off you." She flashed me a radiant smile that suddenly made her look young and carefree, her black curls framing her face playfully. Shrianna pulled the leather from around Alex's neck and folded it in half, giving it an experimental swing. "You do know that a whip was what finally caused Alex to scream in that cellar, don't you? She lasted an entire month without making a sound, no matter what they put her through. And then one day…"

Didn't surprise me a fucking bit that she lasted that long against them. Lex was a badass. "Damn it, you psychotic bitch, enough—"

Alex's scream of agony tore through me and I lurched forward until the chains jerked me ruthlessly to a halt. Alex jolted forward in her chains, her gaze going vacant again as she got sucked into the memories. Hurry the fuck up, Sam!

Shrianna just continued to smile. "We're just getting started, Dean. The djinn blood ensures that every little taste of pain I give her here she's experiencing to an extreme. Her mind is telling her she's back there again, and she's stuck in the very worst loops imaginable." She let the leather snap out again and Alex's scream was choked out as she struggled to breathe through the layers of pain her mind was compounding. "All those horrors that you could've prevented, Dean. All the pain that you could have protected her from if you had just known to look for her." The leather cracked against Alex's skin again and again. "How long can you watch her suffer before you give into that darkness that is always snapping at your heels, Dean? I can feel it inside you. It's been growing every time you reach out through your precious soul link and can't reach her." Her cruel smile took on a satisfied edge and she lashed out in quick succession, the strikes snapping out brutally until Alex's wailing screams echoed and the chains around me bit harshly into my skin.

"Fuck you, bitch," I snarled, straining to distract her, to keep her occupied if only for a moment. "No fucking way you're strong enough to fuck with magic that old—"

She finally paused in her attack, giving a careless shrug and pulling aside her collar to reveal the raised scars of a circular sigil, a mirror image of the scars on Alex's ribs. "Don't underestimate the lengths I'll go to in order to get my vengeance. The secrets of creating an Asuat died with Krieger, but there are ways to access any telepathic link. A sigil carved into a human body sends out a siren call to anyone tapped into deep magic, like ripples on a pond. Your angel friend has done an admirable job of hiding where those ripples are coming from but I am tapped into that link between you. And thanks to that, I can let her hear your last painful thoughts before I end you both. She'll drop dead no matter where she stands." Shrianna laid into the girl with a new vengeance.

Alex – not Lex, not Lex, not Lex – choked, horrible sounds of agony escaping her. Her entire body shuddered in pain, hanging limply from the rafters. Then, Lex-my fierce warrior goddess-strained toward me, those beautiful green eyes pleading. She struggled against the chains. "Please kill me! Please!"

I bellowed and lurched against the post at my back, desperate to do anything to make it end. But a sudden shout from above made me freeze, both Shrianna and I jerking toward the sound.

"…I can't leave him down there as bait!"

Terror lit me up from the inside as the sound of her voice registered.

Lex.

She was there. Just above me. Living. Breathing. Whole.

Shrianna's screech of triumph filled the room and a wide manic grin on her face was the last thing I saw before she slammed my head into the post I was chained around - once, twice, three times. Everything went black, my last thought one of soul deep horror as the cellar door burst inward.

(Alex's POV)

I slammed through the cellar door, red hot power bursting to life in my veins when I saw that bitch's hands buried in Dean's hair, smashing his head back against the metal pole. I roared and barreled toward her, gathering my power fiercely. "Get your fucking hands off him, bitch!"

Her smirk of triumph twisted to angry confusion in a blink before she disappeared entirely, sending me crashing to the ground where she had been standing, tire iron skittered from my hold. God fucking damn it. I scrambled up to my knees, grabbing the hunting knife from the back of my jeans, glancing furiously around the room for where she'd reappear.

Dean moaned, his head hanging limply against the post, blood dripping down the side of his neck as he struggled to come to. He was battered all over and it was clear from the damage that he had been down here with her for a while.

"Dean? Dean!" I had barely lurched toward him when Shrianna reappeared, throwing an arm around my throat and dragging me backward.

"I don't know what kind of fuckery is disguising you, but only one person could make Dean panic like that, Alexis." She hissed in my ear, her hold tightening viciously. "Whatever spell the angel did to hide you, it can't protect you now. You're playing my way now." She cut off my airway and I thrashed in her hold, blood roaring in my ears as fought to get skin to skin contact with her. One touch and I would tear her apart. One touch was all I needed— A sharp pain darted out from my neck and a cool slick liquid spread beneath my skin. "I never imagined you'd come hunting for me. What fun, now we get to see what Djinn blood will do to you. Everyone handles it a bit differently, don't you know? How wonderful that you came straight into my little game with Dean, though that might have been a tad reckless. What, are you thinking the spell little brother Sammy is cooking upstairs would turn me to dust and save the day?" She cackled in my ear, flipping her wrist to reveal a tattooed sigil while keeping her hold on me. "Guess again. It won't work. Krieger created me to rule at his right hand, remember? He was no fool."

"You're the fool," I choked out. "You should've escaped when you had the chance!" I threw my hand out wide, just grasping the edge of the tire iron. I gripped it tight, slamming it over my shoulder into her head with enough force to knock her out. She barely snorted in irritation as it burst open her forehead, blood spraying down on me from the impact.

"Lex!" Dean moaned behind me, splitting my focus for a single moment. "Run! You have to run!"

The blood spattering down on me from Shrianna suddenly started to crawl across my skin, and I blinked, sure I was seeing things. What had she said? Djinn blood? She had injected me with fucking djinn blood?

Shrianna used that moment to throw her entire weight forward, knocking me off balance and taking us both down to the floor, rolling until she had me pinned beneath her. I bucked and fought, but in spite of her tiny frame she was strong. She glared down at me, her narrow eyes lit with fury. "You think you're going to take me down?" She scoffed. "You and I have a score to settle, bitch. I'm going to take great pleasure in taking you apart a piece at a time. I've gotten awful good at it by now." She grabbed a fistful of my hair and wrenched my head up to stare at the figure hanging from the rafters.

Oh god. There was a girl there, matted brown hair clinging to her tear stricken face as her shirt hung in tatters from her shoulders, her bloody back criss-crossed in weeping welts. Immediately my own back tightened as memories suddenly clawed their way to the surface. The girl's body didn't seem too damaged but she looked like she was in agony, eyes rolling back in her head and her mouth frozen in a soundless scream, the strain in her features telling me more than words ever could. The moment felt endless and she looked as though she was on another plane entirely, completely disconnected from what was happening. My gut clenched as realization sank its talons into my chest. She was me. Battered, bloody, blackness creeping through the veins along her neck - it was like a mirage of things to come only it was real. She was real.

"That's what the djinn blood will do to you in a matter of minutes. I know you inside and out, Alexis," Shrianna hissed in my ear, her grip on my hair tightening. "I know your secrets, I know your fears, and I know your weaknesses. I'm going to enjoy our time together."

"No!" Dean bellowed, throwing himself against the chains that kept him pinned to the post. "Don't fucking touch her! Lex, fight!" He fought harder, muscles bunching as the chains cut into him, blood rushing to his face as he roared. "Sam!"

Shrianna rolled her eyes in irritation. "Now, adding brother dearest would just make things a bit crowded in here, don't you think?" She flung me away from her and I skidded across the floor, slamming head first into the stone wall. She got to her feet and crossed the few steps to the doorway at the base of the stairwell. Sam was shouting and his heavy steps could be heard running above us. Shrianna smirked, grabbing hold of the wooden joist supporting the door frame that led to the criss-crossing wooden joists running the length of the ceiling. I struggled to get back to my feet as she gave it a playful shove. The hundred-year-old timber buckled at her touch, caving in the stairwell ceiling with a thundering crash and sending up a plume of plaster dust and wooden splinters. Sam yelled, but the words were indistinct beneath the loud settling of the building.

"Now then." Shrianna dusted off her hands with satisfaction before grabbing a blade from the work bench and flinging it in a clean arc, spinning it end over end. It sank into its target with a thud and Dean cried out gutturally, the blade quivering in his shoulder. "Cry for your angel while I destroy your soul mate," she taunted. "See if he'll come to save you now."

Power roared to glorious life inside me, racing along my veins and rushing strength to every extremity. I straightened, fury growing as my fists clenched, adrenaline pumping into me even as things around me began to dim, this cellar and my hated cellar blurring and fading in my vision. I held to the present by sheer strength of will. "No more. No more girls dying in my place, no more fucking with my family. No more hunting down Cas. No more!"

"What are you going to do about it, little Lexi?" Shrianna taunted, the excitement in her eyes burning bright. "I'm stronger – I've always been stronger. So tell me … any last words before I take you apart?"

"Say hello to Krieger, bitch." With that, I let loose. The power pounding inside me suddenly eclipsed everything – sound began to roar in my ears and I could feel a shout dragging out from deep inside my chest as the entire room went white. Instantly I could feel everything – all three of their hearts racing, blood pumping, the air caught in their lungs – I felt like I was inside their skin, the very oxygen in their veins within my control. With barely more than an instinct, I shielded Dean and the girl and let loose on Shrianna. Her body writhed in pain as I let the power sink its hooks down into her bone marrow. Fury rose up and coiled around my power, suddenly jolting out of my body with an arc of energy that snapped across the distance and grabbed Shrianna in its clutches. It snapped and crackled like lightning but I could feel it as if it was an extension of myself, a physical manifestation of the power that I could always feel restlessly waiting inside me. It coiled around her, wrapping her limbs in a tight hold and dragging her back toward me. She screeched and clawed at it, struggling to get away, visibly attempting to transport herself out of the hold. She flickered and faded for barely a second before I realized this, too, I could control. She solidified abruptly, screaming in frustration. Flashes of Krieger bent over me with his carving knives and a smile of delight on his face suddenly filled my vision, rising bile in my throat. Krieger disappeared and Grady took his place, the knife clutched in his sweaty palm and his eyes avoiding mine as he cut into me over and over again, reopening old scars. I funneled all of the pain I felt from the memories into Shrianna as she was dragged inexorably closer toward me. All sound ceased to escape from her at the onslaught of the pain.

At last, she was dragged within my grasp. I pressed my hands to either side of her skull and tightened my hold, feeling her bones creak beneath the pressure. Her eyes rolled up to mine, her mouth gaping with anguish and fury.

"No one fucks with my family." I hissed. And with that, I let my power blaze. It felt like I was caught in a tornado, with light and sound and heat all around me and forcing away the illusions and memories that swamped me. There was no conscious thought, no intentional targeting of what I wanted to do. Just this rush of power so great it swelled, filling the room with blinding blue and white light until it felt too small to contain me. All of the agony of the past several weeks funneled straight into the heat, building up the ferocity of power coursing through the room and roaring through Shrianna's body. Her body thrashed in my hold, but I released a new flood of energy, wanting to obliterate her existence on this earth. The glorious blue and white light ravaged through her veins and crawled beneath her skin until this black ooze started to pouring from her eyes, ears, and nose. But suddenly there was a flare of resistance - a dark, oily energy that suddenly spiked from her, wrapping its tentacles around my throat and breaking my hold, throwing me across the room to slam into the stone wall.

Shrianna shrieked, a blood curling scream of rage. "You – you bastard!" Her gaze darted around the room, peering into the corners as blue arcs of energy crackled in the air. "Where are you, Castiel?! Where are you?! Her powers are far too weak for that, that had to've been you! Where are you!?"

"He's far from here, you fuck nasty bitch," I smirked, stalking forward, reveling in the power still pounding in my veins, stronger and deeper than I had ever felt it. My body felt like it was vibrating, humming with the remnants of energy arcing through the air. "That was all me."

Rage lit her violet gaze as she straightened, jerking back toward me. "I saw – Krieger poured so much demon blood in you that your energy could never be that pure! Unless…" Shrianna's gaze narrowed viciously. "Castiel…he wrapped you in angel grace, didn't he? Didn't he? That's why no one could find you!"

"It doesn't matter what he did, I'm going to destroy you," I swore viciously. "You'll never hurt my family again."

"You think angel grace will save you, Alexis? Nothing is strong enough to protect you from me, nothing!" Shrianna's dark, oily energy filled the air almost a living, breathing thing and the blue light crackled in response.

Oh, it's on, bitch.

We both lurched toward each other with a banshee cry. The air started to roil and fill, light and dark energy arcing off each other. The air crackled and thickened, swirling around us in a fog as the power rose like a tide within me, igniting every inch of my skin and bursting from my fingertips. It exploded outward, slamming Shrianna against a wall and knocking her feeble attempts to defend herself to the wayside, her dark energy swirling around uselessly. A heartbeat later, I was there, wrapping my hands around her neck and shoving her higher up the wall. The fog around us thickened, light and dark fighting for supremacy. Words bubbled up inside me, hissing forth without conscious thought. "Cas may have wrapped me in angel grace but all that demon blood your beloved Krieger forced into me is still there, too." My grip tightened and she flickered, her weak attempt to teleport barely registering. The power rushed to a higher decibel and my ears began to ring, the fog around us swirling angrily. I sent a blast of power through her and she bucked helplessly as it began to tear her muscles and tendons apart. Black ooze started pouring from her eyes, ears, and nose again and she choked on it, eyes widening. "Krieger was a psychopath," I growled, sweat building up on the back of my neck as my insides started to blaze with the power, the cellar feeling too small to contain what was building. "He was a coward, he was weak—"

She struck out, her fingers scrabbling against my shirt to grab hold, curved into talons as the light started to fade from her eyes.

"He was killed far more easily than he deserved. The angels destroyed what was left of his soul, Shrianna, there's nothing left of him on this earth or in heaven or hell. He's simply gone, as if he never was. Which is exactly what I'm going to do with you." I dropped a hand from her throat to her chest, and pushed my way forward, ignoring the crunch and grind of moving bones. "You came after my family, bitch. You put them through hell using me. For that alone, I'll erase you from existence." I dove inside her, forcing my way into her cells, her very marrow of being. It was there, I knew it. I could feel it pulsing inside her, a sick and twisted darkness that fueled her. It was different than her heart, different than any of the physical parts that made up a human. Chinuitor light and power, the essence that I had drawn on every time I healed someone, had used to knit Sam back together after the werewolf attack, heal those people on the trail to rescue Dean, and create Sam a new heart after Krieger killed him – that wasn't the force I had been drawing on this time. It was the other side, the one that I had pulled from when I attacked Grady, had killed him and shredded him from the inside out. The ever present darkness inside me, the place where I hid my darkest fears and worst memories rose up at my call, tainting the fog around me and creating a thunderous roar as I let it loose. It seemed to feed off the djinn blood coursing through my veins, the darkness it had pulled to the forefront. The power rushed through me, and I had to suck air deep into my lungs to keep on my feet as it whipped out of my body and into hers. I focused it, digging deep into Shrianna, tearing through her being until I found what it was searching for. Her soul.

"STOP!" Castiel's shout boomed across the cellar, sending a percussive blast that threw me sideways and slammed me up against the wall, Shrianna collapsing from my hold.

"No, Castiel! Her soul is mine!" I screamed. I scrambled to my feet but he threw out a hand, a weak wave of angel power pushing me back against the wall.

"Stop, Alexis! Stop!"

I shoved past his feeble resistance without a thought, rampant energy still pumping through my veins and my ears still roaring. My violent gaze dropped to where Shrianna lay on the ground. She was still, her glassy gaze pinned to Castiel as her hand stretched toward him graspingly, a gaping hole ripped through her chest clear to her spine and her skin seared as if by fire. All damage I had caused in my search for her soul, yet it wasn't enough – it wasn't. Words poured out of me without thought. "Cas, I want her soul! It's mine to destroy!"

"Alexis!" Cas was there suddenly, right in front of me, his hands firm on my face. His touch burned my face, jolting my gaze from Shrianna's corpse on the floor to his and dulling the roaring in my ears. His bright blue eyes were piercing, his grip tightening and forcing my full attention on him. "Come back, Alexis. You're in the grip of the demon blood within you, you have to release the power –"

I roared, throwing him back from me and he stumbled. "Not until I obliterate her soul!"

Cas held up his hands warningly. "It's gone, Alexis! Her soul has already moved on – you killed her to protect Sam and Dean. They're safe now – she's gone and you saved them. It's all over - come back! You have to release the power, Alexis!" Cas's plea suddenly penetrated, his words hitting me in a rush. Demon blood. Come back. Demon blood. Come back.

I shoved away from him, stumbling farther out into the room. The power was racing through me, still out for blood but I could do this – I had to do this. Trying to reel it in was like trying to wrestle a tsunami, my ears roaring and every inch of taut with power. Blackness spread beneath my skin, stretching down from where she had injected the djinn blood in my neck and reaching ever downward. Heat raced up and down my spine as I tried to wrangle it back into submission but as I released the power, the djinn blood began to take over. Memories, nightmares, pain and degradation – all swelled up like a cancerous sore inside me, all the things I fought to keep down and tucked away in order to keep moving forward. It was like a poison spreading insidiously – I forced myself to shut down, to block it all out for a single solitary moment. Poison, surely if I treated it like a poison I could heal it from my body. The dark energy was clamoring to be used, to be drawn on but I ignored it, stretching only for the Chinuitor light. It responded slowly, trying to edge out the dark energy before slowly spreading through my veins. I only let a thread of it loose, afraid that it would rise out of my control. Slowly, with each beat of my heart, the blackness sliding beneath my skin began to fade and awareness began to grow. It felt like eons had passed when the last of it disappeared and I fully came back to myself. My legs felt rubbery, every inch of me beginning to shake as I forced myself to release the last of the power simmering in my veins. The fog swirled hectically for a moment before finally fading, dissipating as if it had never been. Light crackled and snapped across the room but it wasn't the pure white light it had been, it was a sick, greenish gray tinge like the sky before a tornado. Oh god. What had I done? "…Cas?"

"I'm here." Cas was at my side in an instant.

I looked up at him, his blue eyes fiercely intent. "…Thank you." He nodded once in acknowledgement before wordlessly helping me to my feet. Once upright, everything started to process in a rush, and a bolt of fear struck my chest. Dean. He was slumped against the post nearly in a fetal position and suddenly I wondered what all had been happening on the other side of the fog that had enveloped me. Had I hurt him? Oh god, no. He was back. I finally had him back. What had I done?!

Dean moaned, shifting painfully in his chains and I choked back a sob. I stumbled across the room, dropping to a heap beside him. "Dean? Dean, I'm right here."

He grunted, starting to fight his chains.

I scrambled behind him and fumbled to get them loose. "Hang on, Dean, I've got them, easy-"

Barely conscious, a stream of thoughts bubbled to the surface before he was even aware of his surroundings. Get out! Get out of here! She'll kill you! RUN!

The overwhelming chaos of Dean's emotions suddenly flooded my system and I reeled from the impact. There were no more words from him, barely coherent thoughts. Just fear. So much goddamn fear that if he made one wrong move, I was going to disappear again. Emotion ravaged my senses, and I had never been so happy to be buried beneath fear in my life. Dean, I'm right here – Dean, I'm here! It's over! She's dead!

Every muscle in his body froze. …Lex?

I burst into sobs, throwing the last of the chains away and suddenly I was in his arms. They wrapped around me painfully tight, pulling me into his chest. He was dropping kisses all over my forehead, muffled unintelligible words escaping him. But I could hear him. At last, I could finally hear him again.

God, Lex, I can't – you're really – how do I even… I love you. I love you so fucking much. I can't even try to … this month has been… you're here. You're here.

I was sobbing too hard to even try and form coherent thoughts. He was here. In my arms. Warm and firm and solid and wrapped all around me. And that hole in my chest that had been so gut wrenchingly empty these past endless days was finally complete.

"God, I missed you. I thought – I wasn't sure if you were even – I couldn't feel you. At all. I was so terrified, Lex, I thought I'd lost you." His grip tightened and he hoisted me up into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist. He buried his face in my shoulder, and I could feel his tears soaking my neck.

"I know – I know – I couldn't find you, and Cas was gone and then—"

The door to the cellar crashed open and Sam burst through, jerking us from the moment. Dirt and blood streaked Sam's face and his hands were torn to pieces. The shambles of the collapsed doorway gaped behind him with a small opening where he had managed to tunnel and crawl through. His gaze took in the room, the corpse behind us, the girl hanging unconscious from the rafters, the energy still crackling in the corners, Dean and I wrapped together, and Cas.

Cas.

All three of us suddenly processed that he was here at the same moment, swinging toward the angel in shock.

Cas took a trembling step forward. "I think … I need… to sit down…"

We all darted forward as our angel began to collapse.