The Girl With A Past ((Completed))

Miss Independent

((Elena))

All Elena could think about was the kiss. Dean had tried to tell her something, she knew what it was, or at least she thought she did, and she had kissed him. But when she walked away, he looked so surprised and Elena started to think that maybe she'd misinterpreted it. Could Dean really think about her that way, even with how much she liked Sam? Dean was so angry, when he punched the wall, Elena thought he'd broken his hand. But he didn't seem to notice until Elena touched him, made him think about it. Was that really how he went through life, doing things without thinking, and ignoring them until they posed a problem?

Elena brought a finger up to the skin of her lips, remembering what it felt like to kiss Dean, and wondering what she was going to do. She falling in love with two brothers at the same time. Again.

~

((Dean))

Dean didn't even notice the sting of his possibly broken knuckles, or the bandage that tugged at the circulation in his fingers. All he could think about was Elena. She had kissed him, after all that time he'd spent being delicate with her, trying to think about her feelings. Dean knew how she felt about Sam, she could see it in her eyes when she looked at him.

But she'd kissed him.

Dean was more confused than he'd ever been in his entire life. He'd never felt like this, not even with Lisa. He felt like he was competing with his brother, and that was so unbelievably stupid because Sam didn't care! He didn't have the capacity to care for Elena, not like Dean did. But if they got Sam's soul back, there was a good chance he would. Elena already loved Sam; was it possible that Dean could lose her for good if the real Sam came back?

Dean blinked the thought away when he heard footsteps on the stairs beside him. He looked over to see Elena coming down the stairs quickly, with Bobby following close behind. He was immediately alert, seeing the distressed look on their faces.

"What? What is it?" Dean demanded, standing up to meet them.

"You don't hear that?" Elena gasped, astonished.

Dean turned his ears on, channeling out all the thoughts that blocked them, and suddenly he heard it. Sam was screaming from inside the panic room. Dean rushed up behind Bobby, yelling at him to open the door, Elena hot on his heels. Bobby quickly unlatched all the locks and pulled the iron door open.

"No! Get away from me!" Sam screamed desperately.

Dean was surprised to see Death walking towards his brother, a black bag swinging at his side. "Who the hell are you?" Elena demanded. Dean realized she'd never seen or heard about Death before.

"It's Death. The horseman." Dean told her, not removing his eyes from Death's wrinkled, pale face.

As they watched, Death sat on the bed next to Sam, subtly setting his bag down. "Don't. Don't!" Sam exclaimed. He struggled against the restraints on his wrist, looking desperately at Dean.

Death wordlessly opened his bag, bright, white light bursting into view from it, illuminating Death's face, and making Sam's eyes go wide. "Now, Sam. I'm going to put up a barrier inside your mind." He said, looking at Sam.

"No, don't touch me." Sam interrupted, his voice stretched with fear.

"It might feel a little... itchy." Death continued, ignoring Sam's pleas. "Do me a favor. Don't scratch the wall. Because trust me, you're not going to like what happens." Death instructed slowly, as if to get the point across.

Dean watched the whole thing, fear and relief turning his heart into a battlefield. "Please, don't do this." Sam begged his big brother, a desperate plea in his eyes. Dean heard an intake of breath from Elena, knowing how much this must be hurting her.