CHAPTER TWO

"Hey." Sam says as they walk into Dean's room. "I think maybe you're​ around and if you are, don't make fun of me for this, but, um... But there's one way we can talk." He pulls a Ouija​ board out of a bag.

"Don't worry, babe. I've already made fun of him immensely." Nyx says. Jeremy tried to see him, but he couldn't.

Spirit Dean chuckles. "That's my girl."

"Yeah, you two were made for each other." Sam says, and they both smile. "Now, come on."

They sit on the floor on one side of the board, and Nyx looks at Sam. "This is ridiculous." She tells him.

"Shut up."

"You two look stupid." Damon says.

"You shut up before I throw this thing at you." Nyx picks up the pointer for the board, but Sam takes it from her and sets it back down.

"Dean?" He says. "Dean, are you here?"

"Are you sure about this?" She asks.

"Will you just put your hand on it?" He practically demands, and she places two fingers on the pointer.

It starts to move toward yes, and her eyes widen.

"Nycole—"

"Not even I am that screwed up." She defends herself. "I didn't move it."

"Wait. Seriously?" Ric asks.

"I'm glad this is entertaining you two."

"Focus." Sam scolds, and she looks back at the board. "It hasn't been the same without you, man." The pointer starts moving again. "H-U..." He says as it moves. "Hunt? What are you hunting?"

"Even while he's dying, the dumbass is still working. There's something seriously wrong with you Winchesters." She says.

"Dean, it's in the hospital? What are you hunting?" Sam asks. "Do you know what it is?"

"Reaper." She says after watching what the pointer's spelling, and her body goes cold. "Dean, is it after you?"

It moves to yes.

"If it's here naturally, there's no way to stop it." Sam says.

"No, there has to be a way." Nyx says as she stands up.

"Where are you going?"

"To talk to John and find a way to save your brother. I'm done losing the people that I love." She tells him.

"Love?" Dean questions as he watches her walk out of the room. Sure, they've known each other for over a year, and have been flirting with each other for a long time, but they've really only been a couple for a few months now. And neither of them have ever said that to the other before.

Nyx walks into John's room, but he's not in his bed. "John?" She looks around, but the room's empty.

Sam walks in behind her. "Where is he?" He asks, and she shakes her head.

"I don't know."

"I'm gonna go through his journal, see if I can find something." He tells her.

"Okay." She nods and then goes to the cafeteria to get some coffee.

"Hey, can I talk to you for a minute?" Ric asks, and she looks up at him.

"Yeah, I wanted to ask you something anyway." She tells him, and they find somewhere to sit. "I know it's a long shot, but was there anything related to reapers that Isobel looked into?"

"Like the Grim Reaper?" He asks.

"Same concept, no robe."

"No, not that I remember. Her research was more vampire based than anything else. A little bit on werewolves and witches. She was more interested in escaping death than learning about it." He tells her.

"Wow. She really is completely useless to me, isn't she?" She mutters.

"Nycole, maybe you should work a little less on denial and a little bit more on acceptance." He says.

"I'll work on acceptance when they call time of death." She says. "Maybe not even then."

"Nycole—"

"No, Ric." She cuts him off. "My birth mother was a vampire and so was my best friend before she was killed. My ex-boyfriend is a werewolf and my sister's looking for her vampire boyfriend. I'm at the hospital right now because a demon tried to kill my boyfriend and his family. I've seen too much impossible to give up so easily." She tells him.

"I think you should come home with me and Elena." He says.

"Even if Dean doesn't​..." She clears her throat and takes a deep breath. "I'm not leaving Sam. We have to kill the demon who killed his mom and his girlfriend, especially if it kills Dean too."

"Maybe it's time to let Damon help him then. Let him give Dean his blood." He says, and she sighs.

"Doing that is a last resort."

"You can't find anything else, Nyx." He argues.

"It's not my call to save Dean that way. It's Sam and John's." She tells him.

"Then they need to make the decision before they run out of time."

"It's not that simple, Ric. I made this same decision not all that long ago and look how that turned out." She argues.

"Yeah, Caroline's a better version of herself." He says.

"But Dean wouldn't be. If the same thing happened to him, he'd be becoming one of the things that he hunts. I can't do that to him because I'm afraid of losing him. It's selfish and it's not fair to him."

"There's another choice, you know?" He says. "If he chooses not to turn. At least that way, you'd all get to say goodbye."

"I don't want to say goodbye. I want to save him, and I want him to be human when I do it."

"We don't always get what we want."

"Yeah, I think I know that better than anyone." She says. "I want my parents, and John, and Jenna, and Richard Lockwood, and Sheila Bennett to be alive. I want my biological mother to have been​ a better person. I want Vicki and Mason to be alive and human. I want Caroline​ and Tyler to be human. I want Matt to have a better family life. I want my family to be happier. I want Mary to be alive, and I want Sam and Dean and John to have the lives that they want and deserve. I want my kids to have normal lives. But none of that is going to happen." She says. "So, Dean is going to make it of out this alive and human one way or another. Because he deserves it more than anyone that I know."

"I'm sorry, Nycole. I really am." He says, and she takes a deep breath.

"I should go." She says. "I'm not done looking yet."

"Think about coming home, Nycole."

"Eventually." She says and then stands up and walks away from him. She runs into her brother on her way back to Dean's room.

"It's Dean." Jeremy says, and her heart drops. "He's awake."

"Wait. What?" She asks.

"He's okay." He says, and she takes off running down the hallway. She runs up behind John, skidding to stop, and Dean looks at the two of them as she narrowly avoids crashing into his father.

"How you feeling, dude?" John asks him.

"Fine, I guess." Dean says "I'm alive."

"That's what matters."

"Where have you been?" Nyx asks as she looks up at John.

"I had a few things to take care of." He says as he looks down at her.

"Well, that's specific." Sam says.

"Come on, Sam." Dean looks at his brother.

"Did you go after the demon?"

"Sam." Nyx sighs, and he looks at her for a second before looking back at his dad.

"No." John says.

"You know, why don't I believe you right now?"

"Nycole, can I talk to you for a minute?" Damon asks as he walks over to them.

"Not now." She says without looking at him.

"Nycole." Elena speaks up, and she turns and looks at them. Her sister motions for her to go with them, and her eyes narrow.

"You two are relentlessly​ annoying." She says as she follows them halfway down the hall.

"John's the reason Dean's alive." Damon says, and she looks at him.

"What?" She questions.

"He found the demon last night, but not to kill him."

"I don't have time for this, Damon." She starts to turn away, not believing him, but Elena grabs her arm.

"Hear him out." She says, and Nyx sighs as she looks back at him.

"I heard—" He stops as Sam walks past them. "I was looking for John because you and Sam couldn't find him. I tracked him down to the boiler room, and I heard him talking to someone — a man."

"And?" She prompts.

"The other guy said he'd save Dean if he could take John instead." He tells her, and she shakes her head.

"No. No, John would never make a deal with the demon that killed Mary and Jess and countless other people." She says.

"Not even to save his son?" Elena asks.

Nyx turns around and rushes back to the room. She hears what John's saying. "You know, I put... I put too much on your shoulders. I made you grow up too fast. You took care of Sammy. You took care of me. You did that. And you didn't complain — not once. I just want you to know...that I am so proud of you." He's saying goodbye.

Damon was right.

"This really you talking?" Dean asks, confused and surprised by his father's words.

"Yeah. Yeah, it's really me." He says, and a tear runs down his cheek.

"Why are you saying this stuff?" He asks as tears fill Nyx's eyes.

John walks over and puts his hand on his son's shoulder. "I want you to watch out for Sammy, okay?" He says.

"Yeah, Dad, you know I will." Dean tells him. "You're scaring me."

"Don't be scared, Dean." He leans down and whispers something in Dean's ear.

"John." Nyx gets his attention as he walks out of Dean's room. "Tell me that he's wrong. Tell me that Damon heard you wrong." She says, and he smiles at her.

"Dean deserves the best. And you are the best thing that has ever happened to my boy." He says. "You're a smart girl, Nycole. You'll survive Klaus somehow." He starts to walk past her.

"John." She turns around as he moves past Elena and Damon.

"Nycole?" Dean calls, and she looks at him from the doorway of his room.

Not long after, they hear Sam yelling for help. Damon takes off running, and Nyx goes to help Dean up from his bed. They all end up at a room where nurses are trying​ to revive John. Ric and Damon are standing a few feet away from the room, down the hall.

A nurse tries to keep the Winchester boys and Nycole out of the room. "No, no, no. That's our dad." Dean tells her, not letting her push them out. "That's our dad!"

They try to resuscitate John, but it's no use. He's gone. And then the doctor calls time of death.

10:41 am.