The car ride after that was incredibly tense and unbearably silent. I had seen Dean checking the Colt earlier that morning before we headed out, and he had eyed Sam suspiciously, not even sparing me a second glance.

"So, I've been waiting since Maple Springs," Dean finally broke the silence. "You got something to tell me?"

Sam looked over at him, confused.

"It's not your birthday."

"No."

"Happy Purim?" he laughed nervously. "Dude, I don't know. I have no idea what you're talking about-"

"There's a bullet missing from the Colt," Dean cut him off. "You want to tell me how that happened? I know it wasn't me. And I doubt it was Ellie. So unless you were shooting some incredibly evil cans..."

"Dean..."

"You went after her, didn't you? The Crossroads Demon? After I told you no."

"Dean, I swear, I didn't-"

"It was me," I piped up.

It got deadly silent again following the quiet declaration. Sam turned around completely in his seat, staring at me with wide eyes and Dean just glared at me in the rearview mirror. I held his gaze, not willing to back down.

"You could have gotten yourself killed!" he finally snapped at me.

"I didn't," I replied simply.

"And you shot her."

"Well, I would have used my powers to do it, but I felt like using the gun would be a bit more poetic," I quipped. "Plus she was being a smartass."

I saw Dean tense slightly at the mention of my abilities that I was still trying to figure out before forcing himself to relax as he addressed me once more.

"So what? Does that, does that mean I'm out of my deal?"

I felt a pang in my chest and I glanced down at my lap.

"Don't you think I would have mentioned that little fact, Dean? No. Somebody else holds the contract."

"Who?"

"She wouldn't say."

"Well, we should find out who. Of course, our best lead would be the Crossroads Demon... oh wait."

"That's not funny, Dean," I glared back up at him.

"No, it's not!" he agreed. "It was a stupid freaking risk, and you shouldn't have done it.

"I shouldn't have done it? You're my... friend, Dean. And if there's anything I can do to try and save you, so help me, I'm going to do it! And I'm sure as hell not going to apologize for it."

Dean was silent, moving his gaze from the mirror to stare out at the road. Sam was just sitting awkwardly in his seat while I shook my head in exasperation and turned to stare out the window. The tense silence was back, and I tried not to think about how my voice had caught slightly when I called Dean my friend.

⁘

We were interviewing a witness who was holding a photo of a victim that drowned in the shower while impersonating two detectives and their intern. I glared at Dean when he demoted me, but he just ignored me. The witness, an elderly woman of nearly 70, was Ms. Gertrude Case... and apparently she had a thing for Sam.

"But I don't understand. I went over all this with the other detectives."

"Right, yes," Dean nodded. "But, see, we're with the Sheriff's Department not the police department- different departments."

I rolled my eyes at his explanation.

"So, Mrs. Case," Sam began.

"Please," Gert interrupted, staring at him intently. "Ms. Case."

"Okay. Um, Ms. Case, um... you were the one who found your niece, correct?"

"I came home, she was in the shower."

"Drowned?" I clarified.

"So the coroner says," Gert shrugged. "Now, you tell me, how can someone drown in the shower?"

"How would you describe Sheila's behavior in the days before her death?" Sam continued. "I mean, did she seem frightened? Maybe she said something out of the ordinary, or...?"

"Wait a minute," the old woman interrupted. "You're working with Alex, aren't you?"

"Yep. Absolutely. That's," Dean laughed, "Alex and us, we're like this."

He held up two fingers crossed over each other to demonstrate our relationship with whoever the hell Alex was.

"Why didn't you say so?" Gert smiled. "Alex has been such a comfort. But I'm sorry. I thought the case was solved."

"Uh... Well, no," I shook my head. "Not yet. I'm sorry, but where's your restroom?"

"Just down that hall to your left, dear."

"Thanks."

Ignoring Dean's stare, I bolted down the hall and just barely made it to the toilet before I was throwing up my guts. I hadn't experienced nausea like this since before Yellow Eyes possessed me, but it was just as unpleasant of an experience as I remembered. Once I had finished regurgitating my lunch, I stood, flushed the toilet and rinsed out my mouth with some water from the sink. Staring in the mirror at my pale reflection, I thought back to what the demon had said.

"For one, I'm not a monster and I'm not about to take two souls for the price of one..."

I brought my hand up to my stomach. It was completely flat, no signs that anything was different, but I couldn't help but wonder. Dean and I had done it a few more times since Sam interrupted us the first time, this time with the door locked so he couldn't just walk in on us, but we had always been so careful... Except for two weeks ago. We were both drunk off our asses and not thinking clearly and I couldn't for the life of me remember if there'd been a condom in use or not...

A knock on the door interrupted my thoughts.

"Ellie, everything okay in there? Dean's waiting outside."

"Yeah. Yeah, I'll be right out!"

I swallowed one last time, staring at my wide-eyed expression in the mirror before slipping out of the bathroom. Sam was leaning against the opposite wall, his hands in his pockets while he waited for me.

"You good?"

"Yeah. Yeah, just felt a little bit nauseas for a minute. I'm fine."

"Nauseas like-"

"No," I shook my head. "No, that hasn't acted up since before  I was possessed. I'm sure it was nothing. Come on. Wouldn't want to keep Dean waiting."

I could feel Sam's eyes boring a hole in the back of my head as we walked out of the house.