1 What’s Happening?

Lawrence, Kansas. April 1989

A woman paced around a living room, carrying a baby in her arms. She appeared to be in her mid-twenties, tall, with medium length, dark brown hair, and light brown eyes. The baby in her arms was only a few months old, her eyes were still a greyish color, but she had very dark brown hair that went almost down to her ears. Sitting on a couch nearby was a man with curly, blonde hair and light blue eyes. The baby's name was Amelia, the man was her father, Henry, and the woman carrying her was her mother, Jessica. They were a small, but happy family.

"I think she's finally asleep," Jessica whispered. It was around 9 pm, and she had been trying to get Amelia to sleep for about half an hour. "I'm gonna go put her in her crib."

Henry nodded, watching his wife walk towards the stairs. As soon as she disappeared up the stairs, he turned back to the paper he had been reading.

"HENRY!" A panicked scream echoed through the silent house. Henry threw down his paper and rushed up the stairs.

"Jess!" He ran down the hall towards Amelia's bedroom. Jess was clutching Amelia close to her, staring fearfully at a man standing at the end of the dimly lit hallway.

"I don't know who you are, but you need to get out of my house right now before I call the cops," Henry fumed.

The man at the end of the hallway sneered. "Or what?"

Jessica, who had managed to calm down, slowly handed a now crying Amelia to Henry. "Take the baby and get out of here," she ordered.

Henry took Amelia from his wife. "What? No, I'm not leaving."

"I'm not arguing! Get our baby out of here now!"

Jess pulled out a knife and lunged at the man standing down the hallway. The man flicked his wrist, and she was sent flying back in the opposite direction.

"You know you can't defeat me, Jessie," the man snarled. He flicked his wrist again, and a snap was heard. Jess fell to the floor in a heap, no longer moving.

"Who...what...what are you?" Henry began backing away.

The man blinked, and his eyeballs turned a solid black color. "The name's Raum." With another flick of his wrist, Henry was thrown back as well, dropping Amelia in the process. The helpless four-month-old was thrown back toward the living room.

"Amelia!" Henry scrambled to his feet, only to be thrown back again by another invisible force. He watched helplessly as a yellow ring appeared on the ground, sucking everything around it, including Amelia, inside, closing behind his four-month-old baby.

"No!" Raum screamed.

"Where's my daughter, you bitch?"

"I don't need to answer to you." Raum sneered. With one final flick of his wrist, Henry's neck snapped, and he fell to the floor, just like his wife.

————————

Las Vegas, Nevada. October 2018

A young girl sat waiting for the bus to arrive and take her to work. She pushed her light brown hair out of her face and looked at the time on her phone. 3:05pm. The bus was running late. She sighed, pulling her purse closer to her side. The twenty-year-old was a lifeguard at an indoor pool in Las Vegas Nevada, where she had lived practically her whole life, after being adopted by a family here when she was only four months old. Her parents had found her on the doorstep one summer night all those years ago, and since they didn't know when her real one was, had made the day she was found on her birthday, July 24th, 1998, and had given her the name Emily. They had spent some time trying to track down her birth parents, but nothing had come up, making them think the worst. Emily had a little sister, who was born when she was four years old on February 10th, 2003. She was the exact opposite of Emily when it came to appearances, likes, and dislikes, which made it obvious to some people that one of the siblings was adopted.

As Emily waited, lost in her thoughts, the wind began to pick up. That was to be expected, though. It was fall, which meant it was going to get chillier outside. She adjusted her headphones and put her phone back into her pocket, thinking the wind would die down again in a matter of moments. Only, it didn't. The wind got stronger, and louder until so much dirt was being thrown around, Emily could hardly see anything at all. She shielded her eyes in an attempt not to let anything get in them.

After what felt like an eternity, she heard the wind finally die down and removed her arm from her eyes. She looked around in a panic, not recognizing her surroundings. There were no buildings anywhere around her, but instead what appeared to be a forest. The road was dark, barely lit by the moon above. On top of that, it was now nighttime, instead of three in the afternoon like it had been a few moments ago. She pulled out her phone. No service. Great. She gripped her purse tightly. The only thing she could think of doing was walking down the road and hope to find someplace that was open and could help her. She took a deep breath and started walking down the dimly lit street.

After about 5, maybe 10 minutes, Emily noticed two lights approaching her from behind. She turned around, smiling at the first sight of life since the crazy occurrence. She frantically began waving her arms around, trying to get their attention. The black car drove past her, and she put her arms down, thinking they were going to keep driving. To her relief, the car pulled over to the side of the road just a few feet ahead of her. The driver and passenger side door opened and Emily started running towards the car, thankful whoever was driving had stopped. Two pairs of legs stepped out of the vehicle, which Emily now recognized as a 1967 Chevy Impala, and she stopped in her tracks.

'No. No. No. No. No! This cannot be happening,' Emily thought. 'I'm dreaming. I must be. There is no way that Jared Padalecki and Jensen freaking Ackles did not just get out of that car.'

"Hey!" Jensen called. "Are you alright?"

Emily didn't answer, only gawking at the two men in front of her.

"Can you hear us?" Jensen asked.

Emily snapped back to reality. "No," she answered. "I'm not okay."

"What happened?" Jared asked.

"I don't know," Emily answered. "One moment I was waiting for my bus in the middle of the afternoon and the next thing I knew, I was here, and it was nighttime. It was daytime, and now it's night."

"Do you remember anything? Such as passing out or anything?"

Emily shook her head. "The only thing I remember is it getting windy all of a sudden. I shielded my eyes from the dirt that was blowing around, and when I moved my arm away, I was here."

"Well, something must have happened because that kind of stuff doesn't happen in real life. Where are you from?" Jensen asked.

"Las Vegas," Emily answered.

"Nevada?" Jensen asked, a bit taken aback.

"No," Emily replied sarcastically. "Las Vegas, Florida."

"Okay okay okay!" Jensen threw up his hands as Jared let out a light laugh. "Why don't you tell us your name, then."

"My name's Emily, and if you guys could tell me where I am, that would also be very helpful."

"You're in New Harmony Indiana," Jared replied.

"What?" Emily asked in disbelief. "That shouldn't be possible."

"Which is why we're trying to figure out how it's possible," Jensen reassured. "But my brother and I are kinda in a hurry so why don't you come with us for alright?"

"Dean!" Jared started to argue.

'Wait? Dean?' Emily thought? "Wait," she asked aloud. "Brother? Dean? Dean Winchester?"

"Uh, yeah..." Jensen, no - Dean said slowly. Out of the corner of her eye, Emily saw a glint of something shiny out of Jared - Sam's sleeve.

Emily began to panic. "What!? No, no! No! That's not possible! You're not real! I'm dreaming; I've got to be!"

"You're not dreaming," Dean said.

"Then I'm dead, or something. I don't know! But Sam and a Dean Winchester are not real! They're fictional characters on a television show portrayed by Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki."

"Well, we're not them," Dean quipped. "And like I said we're kind of in a hurry so why don't you come with us for now?"

"Dean, no," Sam snapped. "She could be a demon."

"I'm not a demon, or any of the monsters that you guys hunt," Emily assured the tall man. "I'm scared and lost, and I have no idea what's going on, but I do know that none of this should even be possible, and I just want to go home or wake up!"

Sam and Dean exchanged a look. Finally, Sam sighed. "At least let us test you first, and then you can come with us, okay?"

Emily nodded, preparing herself for a splash of holy water and a cut on her arm. When the tests were done, Dean handed her a towel to dry her face off.

"There, see?" Emily asked as she dried off her face. Not a demon or even a monster at that."

"I still don't think it's a good idea though," Sam said quietly. "I mean we've got a lot going on right now with Lilith..."

"Wait, you guys are on your way to kill Lilith right now?" Emily asked.

"Uh, yeah." Sam acknowledged.

"In that case, you guys need to hurry and get going," Emily gestured to the car. "Listen, believe me, or not, I don't care, but where I'm from, this is a tv show. I've watched all of this before, and I know how it plays out. But you guys need to hurry and go before midnight comes."

"Alright, hop in." Dean beckoned to the car.

"Dean!"

"I'm not arguing, Sam!" Dean opened the backseat door, and Emily climbed in. Sam and Dean got into the front, and they drove off.

"Don't think we got your name," Dean recalled.

"Alright then, Emily, what do you know about what we do?" Dean asked after a moment.

Emily sighed. "A lot. I know your father became a hunter when your mom died when Dean was four, and he trained you guys to be hunters. I know that you guys hunt vampires, werewolves ghosts, shapeshifters, demons, and various other things, and I know about the deal that you guys are on your way to break." She sat up straighter. "Speaking of which, you guys need to listen to me. Lilith either isn't any more or won't be by the time you get there, in her vessel anymore. She's possessing Ruby."

"Why should we believe you?" Sam huffed.

"Do or don't, I don't care. But it might help you save your brothers' life if you know this. When you guys get to the front door of the house you think Lilith is in; Ruby will run up to you, having escaped the demon trap that you left her in. It won't be Ruby though. At that point, it'll be Lilith. Do what you want with that info, but I'm just trying to help."

Sam and Dean looked at each other but didn't say anything. The three people in the car sat in silence for a long time after that.

"Hey, Dean?" Sam finally asked after a while, breaking the silence.

"Yeah?"

"You know if this doesn't uh... this doesn't go the way we want; I want you to know...."Sam struggled to find the right words.

Dean cut his brother off. "No. No, no, no, no."

"No what?" Sam asked. Emily sat in silence, listening to the conversation.

Dean looked over at Sam. "No, you're not gonna bust out the misty goodbye speech, okay? And if this is my last day on earth, I do not want it to be socially awkward."

Sam sighed, looking out the window, and Dean turned back to the road.

"You know what I do want?" The older brother asked, reaching for the radio. He turned it on and Bon Jovi's "Wanted Dead or Alive" came on.

"Bon Jovi?" Sam scoffed.

"Bon Jovi rocks, on occasion," Dean argued.

"And I walk these streets," Dean began to sing along to the song. "A loaded six-string on my back

I play for keeps." He nudged Sam.

"Come on," he pleaded.

"'Cause I might not make it back," he continued singing. "I've been everywhere."

Sam started singing as well. "Oh yeah!"

The two brothers continued singing along to the song as they drove down the road. After a while, Dean stopped, looking at his brother, who continued to sing.

___________

Eventually, Sam stopped singing as well. The three people in the car sat in silence once again. As Dean drove on, lights began flashing behind the Impala, and Emily recognized them as the lights on a police car.

"We getting pulled over?" Sam asked.

Dean looked out the side-view mirror. "I've got a busted tail-light. It's not like we're in a hurry or nothing." He pulled the car over to the side and rolled down the window. Sam handed over the license and registration. A policeman walked over to the window, shining a flashlight into the car.

"Problem officer?" Dean asked, avoiding the officer's gaze.

"Licence and registration, please," the officer ordered.

Dean handed him the required papers, and the officer looked them over.

"Do you realize you have a tail-light out, Mr. Hagard?" the officer asked.

Dean looked up at the officer for a moment, before looking away again. "Yes… yes, sir. Uh… you know I've been meaning to… take care of that." He paused for a moment. "As a matter of fact..." he said quietly.

Dean threw open his car door, ramming it into the officer, and then jumped out of the car.

"DEAN!" Sam yelled. He opened his car door as well and got out.

Dean punched the officer a few times in the face as Sam ran around the car to stop him. Dean reached down and took out a knife from his belt, thrusting it into the jaw of the officer. The officer began to flash with light as another car pulled up behind the Impala.

The other car stopped, and Bobby Singer hurried out. Emily sunk into her seat, not wanting to deal with the older hunter just yet.

"What the hell happened?" Bobby asked.

"Dean just killed a demon," Sam marveled. He looked at Dean. "How'd you know?"

Dean stood, breathing heavily as he looked back and forth between Sam, the dead officer, and Bobby. "I just knew," he finally said. "I could see its face. Its real face under that one."

_________

Sam, Dean, and Bobby hid the police car with branches behind some trees by the side of the road. Emily was still buried in the backseat of the Impala.

"So what," Sam asked when they were done, "now you're seeing demons?"

"I've seen all kinds of things lately but... nothing like this." Dean gasped.

"Actually it's not all that crazy." Bobby declared.

Dean looked up at Bobby. "How's it not that crazy?"

"Well, you've got, just over five hours to go?" Bobby asked. Dean nodded. "You're piercing the veil, Dean," Bobby continued. "You're glimpsing the B side."

"A little less new age-y please," Dean snapped.

"You're almost hell's bitch," Bobby explained. "So, you can see hell's other bitches."

Dean looked shocked, then like he'd been mocked. "Thank you."

"Well, actually it could come in pretty handy," Sam pointed out. "And this proves that the girl we met earlier wasn't a demon, you would have seen whatever you saw with the officer."

"Oh, well, I'm glad my doomed soul is good for something," Dean scoffed.

"Damn right it is," Bobby snapped. Lilith's probably got demons stashed all over town. We can't let them sound the alarm. She knows we're here, we're dead before we're started. And what girl, Sam? You boys stop to pick up a hitchhiker during all this?"

"We nearly ran walking along the side of the road," Sam explained. "We did the tests, and she's human, but she knows a lot about us. Says she's from a world where our lives are somehow a tv show."

"And you believed her?"

"I don't know what I believe, Bobby," Dean said. "But she didn't have anywhere to go, and I didn't want to leave her on the side of the road."

"Well, what exactly do you propose we do with her during this?"

"After we kill Lilith, we can send her on her way," Dean explained. "I don't want to get her involved in all of this."

"Well, where is she?" Bobby asked.

Sam walked over to the backseat of the car and opened the door. Emily cautiously got out and walked over to Dean.

"I don't know what you're playing at here girl," Bobby snapped, "but if you pull any funny business, or if I find out you're not who or what you say you are, I'm ganking ya'. Understand?"

Emily nodded, not really in the mood to say anything.

"Can we go, please?" Dean asked before walking back to the Impala.

They drove the rest of the way in silence. When they got there, Sam and Dean figured it was best if Emily stayed in the car. She didn't argue, and the two Winchesters got out.

"Don't touch anything," Dean ordered before he, Sam, and Bobby headed toward the house.

______

Emily waited for what felt like forever for the Winchesters and Bobby to return. She hoped they would listen to what she had said about Lilith. She also wondered if it would make any difference or if Dean would still die.

Ten minutes later, screams were heard from inside the house and Emily could only assume the worst. She covered her ears, trying to block out the sound. A flash of light came from the home and Bobby hurried from his spot over to the house where Sam and Dean were. After what seemed like ages, Sam and Bobby came out of the house. Sam trailed behind slowly as Bobby carried Dean. They put the body in the trunk of Bobby's car.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?" Bobby asked. "Bury him, I mean?"

"Dean's gonna need a body when I get him back," Sam sniffled.

"But Pontiac, Illinois? That's a good four almost five-hour drive."

Sam didn't say anything as he got in the Impala and drove off, leaving Emily and Bobby behind.

"Guess we better follow him," Bobby said. "Come on."

Emily hopped into the passenger side of Bobby's car, and they followed Sam to the burial site.

Burying Dean was a quiet process, for everyone. Bobby was focused on digging the hole, and Emily was sitting in the back seat with the door open and her feet on the ground outside.

That was when Sam turned to look at Emily, who was standing next to Bobby and the Impala. He suddenly grabbed her by the shirt and raised a fist. Sam's hand shook, and Emily shielded her face, waiting for the punch. Instead, she was dropped back onto the ground.

"What the hell was that, boy?" Bobby asked.

Sam took a few steps back, his eyes welling up with tears. "She knew. She knew what was going to happen. She knew about Lilith taking over Ruby's vessel. She tried to warn us about it but me and Dean. We didn't listen." Sam began to cry. "If we had just listened to her, none of this would have happened."

"There is no way you could have known she was telling the truth." Bobby pointed out.

"But she was. We could have stopped this if we had just listened to her but we didn't." Sam had given up on crying and was now yelling his words.

Sam kicked a pebble into the road in frustration. Without another word, he got into the Impala and drove away.

Bobby and I watched in silence as Sam drove off. "You can stay with me for a few days," Bobby said suddenly.

"What?" Emily asked, not sure if she heard him correctly.

"Sam and Dean said you had nowhere to go," Bobby repeated. "You can stay with me for a bit until you find somewhere else to go."

"Thanks" Emily smiled. The only response she got was a huff. Getting into the passenger side of Bobby's car, they headed to Bobby's house.

As expected, when they got there, Sam was nowhere to be seen. Bobby unlocked the door, and they headed inside. Bobby's house was a little bigger than Emily had expected for some reason. Not by much, but it would seem smaller on a tv screen.

"There's a spare bedroom upstairs, second door on the left, you can sleep there for now. You'll have to set the bed up though, and by that I mean get the mattress on it. Don't expect any help though," Bobby instructed as soon as they were inside.

Emily headed towards the mentioned room and headed inside. About 10 minutes later, she had a mattress and some sheets and pillows on it. Hoping she would wake up and find that this was a dream, Emily lied down and fell asleep.