~*****~

I hum into the phone, my spoon dangling close to Mary's mouth while I listen to Bobby. My other hand is scrawling out the details for Sam to look up. "Yeah, no-- you're right, it's definitely weird." I say lightly. "We'll check it out." Bobby grunts on the other end and I shut my phone.

"What's up?" Dean asks as he comes back from trying to get the juke box to work.

"Bobby found something in Wyoming." I mention.

"A job?"

"Maybe." I shrug. "Small town, no one's died in the past week and a half."

"That's so unusual?"

"Well, it's how they're not dying." Sam says as I finally get Mary to eat. "One guy with terminal cancer strolls right out of hospice, another guy gets capped by a mugger and walks away without a scratch."

"Capped in the ass?" Dean asks.

"Police say Mr. Jenkins was shot in the heart at point-blank range by a nine-millimeter." Sam reads.

"And he's not a donut?" Dean asks.

"Locals are saying it's a miracle." Sam shrugs.

Dean glances at me. I shrug in response. "Okay." Dean finally says.

"It's got to be something nasty, right?" Sam asks. "I mean, people making deals or something."

"You think?" I ask. "I mean, cheating death is kinda my thing, but a whole town making deals?"

"What else would it be?" Sam retorts.

"I dunno." Dean shrugs as he talks about a mouthful of food.

"Dean." I sigh. "Swallow before you speak, I swear, you've got worse manners than the baby."

Mary flings her arm and smacks the spoon full of oatmeal out of my hand. I grimace as the thick sludge like food hangs on my shirt. "All right, get that to go." Sam says with a sigh. Dean glances down at his burger. "Come on."

I sigh and wipe my shirt off with a napkin. Mary barely fusses as I wipe her down and hoist her upwards. Dean doesn't move.

"What?" Sam finally asks as he stares at Dean.

"Sure you want me going with you?" Dean asks.

"Why wouldn't I?" Sam retorts. I roll my eyes.

"I don't know. I don't want to be holding you back or nothing." Dean hums as he takes another bite of his burger.

Sam sighs heavily. "Dude, I've told you a hundred times, that was the Siren talking, not me. Can we get past this?"

Dean sniffs loudly and slaps his burger onto the plate. "Yeah, we're past it."

"I swear, it's like you're a pair of hormonal teenagers again." I mention irritably before stalking out of the diner.

~*****~

"Now, you three said you were bloggers?" Mr. Jenkins asked lightly.

"Yes, sir," I hum politely. "Flooredbythelord.com."

"All of God's glory fit to blog." Dean recites.

"Some of the people around town are saying what happened was a miracle." Sam says.

"It was, plain as day." Mr. Jenkins retorts.

"But, how can you be so sure?" I ask.

"How else do you explain it? The doctors can't. There's a bullet in my heart, and it's pumping like a piston." Mr. Jenkins states.

"Well, how do you explain it?" Dean asks.

Mr. Jenkins glances over to the other room, where a young girl sits, doodling on a piece of paper. "Look, honestly, I was nobody's saint-- Not exactly father of the year, either. But when that guy shot me, and I didn't bleed a drop? I just knew the Lord was giving me a second chance."

"Is that so?" Dean asks.

"I had this feeling-- Like angels were watching over me." Mr. Jenkins says softly. "I wouldn't expect you guys to understand."

"Well, we'll just have to try." Dean says.

"You wouldn't have happened to swung by a crossroads in the past week or so?" Sam asks.

"No."

"Maybe you met someone... with black eyes?" Sam continues. "Or red."

"Who'd you guys say you were again?" Mr. Jenkins asks.

I glanced down at the baby in my lap, and as if she felt the room, she began to wail. "I'm so sorry, Mr. Jenkins, but duty calls." I say. "Come on, boys."

"Thank you for your time." Dean says and follows me out.

"Real fucking smooth, Sam." I snap irritably as we get into the Impala.

"What?"

I shake my head and buckle Mary into her car seat.

~*****~

Dean and I opted to stay at the motel while Sam looked in on the cancer survivor. I heaved a soft sigh and paced around the room. "It's got to be something else, Dean... I don't think a whole town managed to make a crossroads deal."

"What, you think the reapers are takin' a holiday or something?" Dean asks.

I chew on my lip for a moment. "That's not a bad idea..."

Dean rubs at his face and leans back in his chair. "C'mere." He hums with a pat on his leg. I slip onto his lap and lean against his chest. We sit there in silence, gazing at the last death in town.

We both glance up as the door opens. I press my finger to my lips and silently shush him before he speaks. "Hey," Sam whispers.

"Anything?" Dean asks.

"That cancer survivor? He was clinically dead, his pulled the plug, and now he's taking her out for their twentieth anniversary." Sam explains.

"Any sign of a deal?"

"No. What about you? Find anyone dying around here?" Sam asks.

"Not since Cole Griffith." Dean sighs. "He dropped ten days ago. It was the last death I could find."

"So, what are you guys thinking?" Sam asks.

"Maybe it is what the people say it is." Dean shrugs.

Sam scoffs. "Miracles?"

Dean helps me stand and saunters to the coffee machine as I sit on the bed. "Dean, our experience, when do miracles just happen?"

"Well, there's no deals. There's uh, no skeevy faith healers. I mean, those souls just ain't getting dragged into the light. I mean, Lottie had a great point, reapers are probably on a vacation." Dean retorts. My brows furrow. Since when did I think of it?

Sam furrows his brows and hums. "That's probably it. There's no one around to carry them to the light."

"What?" Dean hums.

"That's what reapers do, Dean," I shrug. "Death obviously ain't in town. So?"

"Nobody's dying. Local reapers on strike then?" Dean asks. "Playing the back nine? I don't know."

I hum and start tapping at my chin. "Let's talk to someone who might." I shrug.

"Well, baby, last I check, Huggy Bear ain't available." Dean teases.

"No, dude, the kid." Sam retorts.

"The kid?" Dean asks. "The kids a doornail."

"Exactly." I retort. "Look, if he was the last person to die around here, then maybe he's seen something. We should talk to him."

"God, you're so matter of fact about everything. Strange lives." Dean sighs.

~*****~

It was a chilly night, but out in the graveyard? Well, it felt way colder. I watched Sam cautiously as he prepared the alter on Cole Griffiths' grave. "You sure this is gonna work?" Dean asked as he skimmed through John's journal.

"No," Sam sighed. "But if his spirit's around, this should smoke him out." Dean gives an audible huff. "What?" Sam asked.

"This job is jacked, that's what." Dean commented.

"How so?" Sam asked.

Dean sighs. "You want me to gank a monster or torch a corpse, hey, let's light it up, right? But this? If we fix whatever this is, people are just gonna start dropping dead. Good people."

"Dean, we don't want them to die, either," I say lightly. "But there's a natural order to the world that must be followed."

"You're kidding right?" Dean snorted.

"I'm sorry?"

"You don't see the irony in that? I mean, the three of us, we're like the poster children of the unnatural order. All we do is ditch death." Dean comments.

"Yes, but the normal rules don't really apply to us." I say irritably.

Dean chuckles. "Lottie, Sam and I aren't any different than anybody else."

"Oh really?" I snap at him. "Sam's infected with demon blood. You've been to hell. I know it sounds callous, but dammit-- Dean, I know you want to think of yourself as Joe the Plumber, but you're not. None of us are-- hell the baby isn't." Mary gurgles at the mention of her name. "The sooner you accept that, the better off you're gonna be."

Dean just sighs. "Joe the Plumber was a douche."

I roll my eyes. "You gonna help your brother finish the damn alter or do you want the baby?" I snap.

Dean blows out a loud breath and nods. "Hey!" We all glance over quickly. "What are you doing here?"

"Uh... just..." Sam trails off. "Take it easy."

The man approaches us cautiously and shines his light over our alter. "The hell is this?"

"Okay, this-- this--" Dean stammers. "This is not what it looks like."

The man snorts. "Really? 'Cause it looks like devil worship."

"What?" Dean says immediately. "No! No, this is not devil worship. This-- this is-- this-- this is, uh-- I don't have a good answer." Dean says as he glances at us.

"Look, we're leaving," Sam says gently.

"You're not going anywhere.... ever again..." The man says ominously. "Sam."

The face of the man melts away suddenly, and I'm reeling in shock at the horribly rotted face of a demon. "Alastair." Dean says softly. "I thought you got deep fried, extra-crispy."

Alastair smirks. "Nah. Just the pediatrician I was riding. His wife's still looking for him. It's hilarious. Anyway... No time to chat. Got a hot date with death."

"Dean!" I shout as he gets flung over a few tombstones, and cracks against a thick slab. He doesn't move. My legs fly out from under me. I curl my body around Mary instinctively as I crack against a few tombstones. The baby is wailing something awful as I lay on my side, keeping her cradled against me. My heart is pounding violently. "You're okay, you're okay..." I whisper softly as I gently lay her on her back, my fingers scrabbling wildly over her small body to make sure she's uninjured. She keeps wailing, but thankfully, she's unharmed. The blood stops rushing in my ears, and I turn my gaze onto the pair, only to see Sam fling Alastair to a tree. "Sam--" I say softly, my heart beginning to pick up again as the panic sets in. We knew he'd been heading off to see Ruby again, but this-- this was something I didn't expect. Not after he'd said he was done with his powers.