Reality

It had taken some time, but Dean Winchester had finally fallen into the routine of his apple pie life. He awoke each morning at seven o'clock, had breakfast with Lisa and Ben, went to work at his construction job, and would top it all off with a few beers at the local bar with some buddies he'd made. There were some days they'd even have cookouts with the other apple pie families in the neighborhood.

Even after a year, though, it all still felt off. He found himself remembering odd things throughout his new day to day routines, like pouring salt into lines instead of eggs or cracking open coffins instead of old boards from the homes he now renovated. Not a day went by he didn't think about Sammy and every time he did the sadness returned, threatening to overwhelm him until he numbed it again with another glass of whiskey. He didn't know if things were supposed to be getting easier or if he was simply supposed to just forget the way things used to be and though neither seemed very likely, he played his part. Dean played his part as the family man and he did it well, because that was the last thing Sammy had wanted from him and in some ways it was all he had left of Sam, this last promise.

Looking down at his glass, Dean gave the little bit of whiskey he had left a gentle slosh before downing it in one quick swallow. Nine thirty was bed time, just like it had been every night for the last year and he wasn't even remotely tired. He still wasn't used to a full eight hours of sleep every night.

"You coming to bed?" Turning back at the sound of Lisa's voice, Dean gave his watch a quick look over so that it seemed he'd lost track of time. She was already in her pajama's, her dark hair falling in loose waves over her semi-bare shoulders. She had a warmness to her that Dean wasn't used to in a woman and a part of him dreaded the thought of ever losing her or Ben, yet there was still the part of him that hoped everyday that Sam would somehow return and things would return to the way they were.

He gave her a smile, glancing back down at his now empty glass. "Yeah, I'll be up in a minute," he informed her.

"Okay." She only gave a smile, but Lisa knew Dean was remembering things and more than likely needed a minute. She always seemed to know, whether she told him or not.

Turning back towards the window, Dean approached the curtains, ready to pull them closed just like he did every night before locking both locks on the front door and heading upstairs, when he noticed something on the lawn. Dean's brows furrowed as he leaned closer to the window, trying to get a better look.

It wasn't some thing, it was some one. Dean's entire body fell tense as he tried to get a better look. He could just make out the silhouette of a person, a woman, to be more exact, laying unconscious in the middle of his lawn. Dean glanced quickly back at the stairs to make sure Lisa had gone to bed. Whomever the girl was, he felt it safer if he went to investigate alone first. People didn't generally just appear on other peoples' lawns and Dean knew first hand that looks could be dangerously deceiving.

Setting down his empty glass and pulling the door open slowly, as to not alert Lisa or Ben, Dean hurried out to the unconscious woman.

She didn't look very threatening, she was tiny and Dean was certain he could take her if things got out of hand. She was also dressed in simple jeans and a t-shirt which didn't immediately scream alcoholic in Dean's eyes, so how she ended up in his front yard was still a mystery. Her dark hair had even been pulled back in what must have at one time been a neat bun, though it now looked rather curly and unruly.

"Hey," Dean looked around, trying to see if maybe someone was out looking for the woman, only the neighborhood was dark and quiet, as it usually was around this hour. "Miss?" crouching down beside the woman, Dean reached out with his free hand to check the woman's pulse, it was hard to tell if she was breathing or not in such little light. No sooner had his hand rested against her neck, the woman's eyes shot open and she let out a loud gasp.

The woman sat up, clutching at her chest as though she'd had the wind knocked out of her. She began breathing heavily as she frantically looked around, taking in her surroundings. She was no longer in the playground, in fact she'd never seen this neighborhood in her life, and every inch of her body ached.

"Roman?" She called out, attempting to climb to her feet. He'd been not feet from her a moment ago, or at least what had felt like a moment ago. It had barely been noon and now the sun had well sunk behind the horizon.

"Whoa, careful." Dean reached out to try and steady the woman as she stumbled. It wasn't such a good idea to stand up so quickly after just being unconscious and her head was pounding.

"Wh-where's," she closed her eyes, attempting to shake away the headache she'd awoken to. That voice, she knew that voice, yet for some reason she couldn't place it. "What..." She wasn't sure what she wanted to ask as she looked around and stopped as she noticed who was trying to help her.

"Are you alright? You need to use a phone?" The girls eyes grew wide as she took in Dean's appearance. He hadn't yet showered, though he didn't think he looked bad enough to merrit such a look of surprise from the woman.

"Jen--Jensen?" She took a step away, gawking at Dean. She again looked around, this time her eyes wide. "Holy shit, am I dead?" Her voice cracked, as though she were about to burst into tears at the thought. Raising her hands to her mouth, the woman began taking quick, shaky breaths. She couldn't be dead, what about Roman, her baby? Her husband, Mark, had never been a terrible father, but he didn't have the patience to raise a child alone.

"Whoa, hey you're not dead, alright?" Dean raised his hands defensively. He could sense a panic attack coming on and he didn't want her to wake up the neighborhood. "Jensen, is that somebody you know?" She didn't respond as she continued to slowly step away from him. It was a dream then, it had to have been. The last thing she remembered was being pulled from the jungle gym, though it didn't seem high enough to knock her unconscious.

"Not exactly," she sounded confused as she wrapped her arms tightly around her torso. If this was a dream, she should wake up soon enough, either at the hospital or still laying in the mulch. She could only pray that Roman was alright.

"Well," Dean gave his awkward chuckle he usually did when he was feeling uncomfortable. "I'm real sorry, but you uh... you can't stay on my lawn all night, lady.You got somewhere to go?" She wasn't exactly an ugly woman and Dean feared Lisa might get the wrong impression if she saw them talking outside after hours in the lawn.

"My name's Ella, Dean." At the mention of his name, Ella could actually see Dean tense beneath his layers of clothing. His face fell and all Ella could do was smile at his reaction. This was the most vivid dream she'd ever had and she wondered if it was because she had been knocked unconscious instead of fallen asleep. When Dean didn't respond, Ella decided she might as well have some fun as she waited to wake up. "I am an angel of the Lord." She'd dramatically tossed her arms out to her sides as she fought to keep a straight face, Dean's expression changed to that of anger.

"What the hell are you doing here?" He seemed to snarl as he leaned threateningly towards her. Dream or not, Ella hoped that Dean Winchester was chivalrous enough not to punch a woman who was a good foot shorter than himself, though with his hatred towards angels, she wasn't yet ready to put it past him.

"Joke! I was--I was joking, I'm not an angel." It was now Ella who was raising her hands defensively. "I'm just a person." She wasn't sure what kind of reaction she'd been expecting, though that hadn't been it.

But she wasn't just a person, or so Dean believed. 'Just a person' wouldn't have known his name or about angels, but he couldn't just snap her neck in his front lawn. She didn't seem like a threat, but Dean knew first hand that looks could be deceiving.

"Listen lady," Ella coward away from Dean at the intensity of his words. Though he was extremely good looking up this close, he was a lot larger than he appeared on her television screen and she found him suddenly more intimidating than attractive. "I don't give a crap who or what the hell you are, if I ever see you again I will drop you so fast you won't know what hit you."

"You are really not very nice in person, you know that?" She had to keep reminding herself this was only a dream, and not a very pleasant one at that. As he continued to glare at her, she found herself needing to look away from Dean, so she examined the pretty blue house that must have been his. "Is this your house?" Ella only managed to take one step towards the home before Dean's hand wrapped around the top part of her arm. Lisa and Ben were inside and he'd be damned if she thought she was just going to waltz past him.

"Last chance." Ella winced as Dean's grip tightened, and she could already feel that there would be bruising.

It was only now that she began to panic. The pain felt impossibly real as she struggled to get out of his grip to no avail. Her dreams involving the Winchester's didn't usually pan out quite like this.

"Dean, let go of me!" She tried to sound threatening, though her voice was shaky. This was her dream, she should have had some ounce of control and yet nothing was happening.

Swinging her away from the house, Dean tossed Ella back into the grass. She was acting strange for a monster, but monsters were good actors. There was a pistol just under the drivers seat of his pickup truck, loaded with silver bullets. It would have been best to just end her now, but the noise would alert the whole neighborhood and with her being so much smaller than himself, he doubted anyone would believe he shot her in self defense.

Squeezing her eyes shut, Ella pinched her arm, trying to force herself to wake up. She'd had enough of this dream, she just want to go home, back to her normal family. When she opened them again, Dean Winchester was still standing in front of her, glaring down at her in anger as she had yet to leave. Ella pinched harder, watching her caramel skin fade to a light purple as she tried holding the pinch, hoping she'd awake from the pain. Only, she didn't.

"What's," Ella felt the air grow thin as she slowly began to realize she wasn't waking up at all, the pain was there and it was real. "This isn't possible." She breathed, watching Dean as he watched her. In one last, desperate attempt to wake herself up, Ella raised her arm to her lips and bit down.

"Hey!" Dean approached her quickly, pulling her to her feet by her collar and starting for the garage. He had knives in the garage, he could end her quietly without anyone being the wiser.

Ella didn't struggle as she fumbled to stay on her feet, watching the blood trickle down her arm. She could even taste the metallic liquid in her mouth. She had just bitten herself, really bitten herself and now Dean Winchester was dragging her away somewhere around the house. Her life was actually in danger.

They'd barely reached the garage doors when Ella finally began to panic. She had to get home, to Roman, to Mark, this wasn't possible.

"No! Dean!" Cupping his hand over her mouth, Dean gave a quick look around to make sure no neighbors witnessed him drag a woman into his garage. Ella kicked out as Dean held her tightly against his torso, trying to keep her still. He had to listen to her, she needed his help.

Biting down on his hand, Ella fell down hard against the cement floor of the garage. Dean swore under his breath as he shook off the pain. Ella quickly scrambled away from him, crawling on her hands and knees.

"You have to listen to me!" She called out to him as he grabbed hold of her ankle, stopping her just as she'd gone to crawl underneath the tarped Impala.

"Sorry sweetheart, I don't listen to monsters." Ella rolled onto her back as Dean pulled her towards him. His year off had really taken its toll on him if this little woman was putting up a fight.

"Poughkeepsie!" She wasn't sure what reminded her of the word, but it worked. Dean stopped, gazing down at Ella in shock. There was no way in hell she could have known about that word, no one did except for Sam.

"H-How did you..." Letting go of Ella's ankle, Dean leaned back, resting on his knees. Was Sam back? Did this woman know something?

Ella didn't move for a moment, afraid that if she sat up Dean would again try to kill her. She shouldn't have been too surprised though, Dean had always been the brother to shoot first and ask questions later. She breathed heavily as she watched Dean sit back. Her heart was still racing, but now that he had calmed down, she needed his help.

"You told me." Ella whispered, pulling her legs closer to herself. "And I need your help, so please..."

"Sam, is he..." Dean had never met Ella, there was no way she'd heard that word from him, but she had mentioned angels earlier and this wouldn't be the first time angels had messed with his head. He didn't even know if she knew anything about Sam, but she knew their code word, maybe she knew something.

Ella took a moment to think before answering. Dean was living in a house, and the Impala was tucked away in the garage which could only mean he was living his apple pie life with Lisa and Ben. So the last thing Dean remembered happening to Sam was him falling into the cage with Michael and Lucifer.

Ella gave a gentle nod, "Sam's alive." Dean let out a sigh of relief. She'd decided to leave out the bit about his soul as she still needed to figure out just what the hell was going on. "But--"

"Where is he?" Dean interrupted. If his brother was alive, he wanted to know where he was, he needed to see him. If only to make sure Ella was telling the truth.

"I--I don't know," Ella shook her head, trying to focus on her own problems. "I just need your help--"

"What are you?"

"I'm just a person--please!" Ella raised her voice as Dean had opened his mouth to interrupt her again. She didn't have time for this, she just wanted to get home.

"No, you listen to me lady--" He didn't believe for a second that she was just human and he couldn't understand why he was even listening to her in the first place. She was more than likely lying in the hopes of catching him off his guard, Sam probably wasn't even alive.

"No, you listen to me!" Ella had now sat up and though she didn't dare make a move towards Dean, she was surprised by her own tone. Dean must have been too because he stopped and though he looked annoyed, he waited. "This isn't right, I don't belong here."

The look on Ella's face made Dean want to believe her, but the hunter in him warned him to be cautious.

"Yeah? And why should I believe you?" He'd addressed her as if she was a thing and not a person, which would have hurt Ella's feelings under normal circumstances. Her mind was on her little boy, Roman. Was he still at the playground? Was he alright? Or had he been pulled into this reality with her?

"I," Ella sighed, hanging her head in defeat. She had no idea why he should help her, he was suppose to be out, hell he hadn't hunted in a year. Just as she'd been ready to give up, Ella remembered why Dean should help her, "because it's what you do." Dean tilted his head, raising a brow. "Saving people, hunting things--you're a freaking Winchester."

Dean was silent for a moment as he pondered her words. She wasn't wrong, but he still didn't know her and she seemed to know an awful lot about him which he found unsettling. Giving a sigh as he stood up, Dean didn't understand what was running through his head.

"Alright." Extending a hand to her, Ella watched him for a moment before reluctantly taking it and letting him help her off the floor. "But before I help you, you gotta pass a few tests." Ella watched Dean as he walked around to his tool box, wrapping her left hand around the bleeding bite on her right arm. "And you gotta help me find Sam." He was looking at the silver knife in his hands as he spoke, turning it over as he did so. "Then I help you. Deal?" He had to make sure she was human, and Ella had a feeling she wasn't going to enjoy this very much. She had to get home though, and if there was anyone that could help her, it was the Winchesters.

Taking a deep breath, unable to tear her eyes from the knife in Dean's hand, Ella gave him a nod. "Deal."