"Are you full?" He asked.
"Yes, thank you," she answered.

After falling asleep to a mindless children's show, he had taken her out for breakfast the next morning. It was early and they had found a diner without anyone in there but them and the waitress and cook that were working.

"Ready to go?" He asked.
"I need to use the bathroom first," she answered.
"I'll wait in the car," he said.

He sat in the car with the engine running when she came walking out with that same little smile he had seen the night before at the gas station. Somewhere deep inside his stomach turned a bit but he chose to ignore it as she got into the car and they drove back to the motel room.

"Can I go talk to the motel owner?" She asked after a little while of them just staring out in the air.
"What do you wanna talk with him about?" He asked.
"I like him," she smiled.
"Oh, you like him?" He smiled back and chuckled. "Sure, go ahead. I think you could use a decent man in your life."

She giggled and got up from the bed. When she was gone, he turned on the tv to the news channel. He was hoping to hear something about the stabbing from the night before but instead his eyes went wide as he saw the diner they had been on 30 minutes earlier.

"The waitress and the cook were found stabbed, similar to the stabbing last night at the gas station. There's reason to believe it's the same killer. If you got any information, the police would like to hear from you."

"No way! No fucking way!" He said loudly.

This time he couldn't ignore the feeling in his stomach. He turned his phone back on and called Roman. Roman answered after only one ring and he sounded like he had been up all night and he probably had. Dean wouldn't be surprised if Roman had spent the entire night searching for them.

"Where are you?" Roman asked.
"What the hell's going on, Roman?" Dean asked. "You've seen the news?"
"Of course I have. I have to try and keep track of her," Roman answered.
"We were at that gas station last night and I thought it was just a coincidence but we were also at that diner 30 minutes ago and something's not right," Dean said.
"It's her," Roman sighed.
"But she was with me. She couldn't do it that fast. Could she? And where would she get a knife from?" Dean asked.
"Where's your knife?" Roman asked.
"In the gloves department as always," Dean answered.
"You sure about that?" Roman asked.

Dean ran to his car and opened the gloves department.

"Fuck!" He shouted.
"It's gone, isn't it?" Roman asked.
"What's going on?" Dean almost whimpered.
"Okay, long story short. I met her at the hospital back when I had my hip x-rayed. I didn't know she had been in a mental institution. They drugged her with pills but they didn't work in the long run. She didn't wanna be this way so she tried upping her doze until she accidently overdozed. That's why she was there that day too," Roman explained.
"What do you mean this way? What's wrong with her?" Dean asked.
"I don't know. She doesn't know. No one knows for sure. Maybe she's possessed, maybe she's just fucked up, maybe it's aliens. Whatever! She's got some demons inside and she can't control them," Roman answered.
"Roman, please, I don't fucking understand," Dean said.
"She kills, Dean. She's got your knife and she stabbed those people and she's gonna continue unless you bring her back to me," Roman said.
"What the hell can you do?" Dean asked.
"What you stopped me from doing last night. You didn't exactly let me explain," Roman answered.
"Do you have any idea what it looked like from my point of view?" Dean asked.
"Of course I do but you should know better. Do you actually think I like doing that to her? No! For some fucked up reason neither her or I can explain, I got a calming effect on her. I can hold her down for a while but the demons always come out but we've come to learn I can chase them away by hurting her like that. I don't like it, I don't wanna do it, but I do it because I love her and I don't wanna lose her. Do you understand, Dean? I love her!" Roman said.

Dean shut the car door and leaned his forehead down on the roof of the car. It was all just so much information that he couldn't wrap his head around.

"Where is she now?" Roman broke the silence.
"Fuck!" Dean shouted again. "She went to talk with the motel owner."
"He's dead," Roman said.

Dean turned around and came face to face with Neith who stood there with that same smile on her face he had seen twice now. He looked down to see his knife in her hand.

"Neith? Easy there, girl," Dean tried.
"She's there?" Roman asked.
"Don't do anything you'll regret. I got Roman right here," Dean pointed at his phone.

She took a step forward and Dean tried to step back but only found himself up against his car.

"Stay there, Neith!" He tried raising his voice.

She took another step forward.

"Neith!" Dean yelled.
"Put me on speaker!" Roman yelled through the phone.

Dean quickly did as Roman requested, hoping he could somehow get through to her.

"Neith? Can you hear me, huntress?" Roman asked.

She stopped and looked at the phone in Dean's hand.

"Yes," she answered.
"Don't do it. Don't let the demons take over. Dean's gonna bring you right back to me, okay? Can you hold on a little longer?" He asked.
"I don't know," she answered.
"Drop the knife," he said.
"I don't want to," she said.
"Drop it, huntress. It's me. I won't let them win. I just need you to push them down for a little longer. I know you can do it," he said.

Five long seconds of silence which felt like an eternity and she finally dropped the knife. Dean quickly picked it up to get it out of her reach.

"What now?" He asked.
"How far away are you from the warehouse?" Roman asked.
"45 minutes, an hour maybe," Dean answered.
"Fucking step on it. I'll meet you there," Roman said. "Neith?"
"Yes?" She said.
"I'm counting on you, huntress. Don't hurt Dean. If you hurt him, you'll hurt me. Do you understand?" He asked.
"Yes," she answered.
"Just hold on. I'm here for you," he said.

Dean had never driven that fast in his life before. He nervously looked at her from time to time. She was moving around in her seat, not able to find any peace. Her body was shaking more and more the longer they drove and he had never been so happy in his life when he saw the warehouse. Roman stood outside waiting for them. He pulled open the door, wrapped his arms around her and yanked her out of the car. He moved fast into the warehouse and Dean followed silently behind.

Once inside he got her out of the shirt, put the leather straps around her wrists and picked up the chain. He looked at Dean, silently asking his friend if he was sure he wanted to stay and watch. Dean nodded and Roman nodded back before lifting his arm and letting the metal connect with her back. She fell to her knees with a grunt, biting her lip to keep herself from screaming. He continued whipping her back until she finally let go, her piercing scream filling the air and echoing through the building.

And just like that, he dropped the chain as her scream died out, understanding that whatever demons she was battling, they had been forced out for now. He quickly released her from the leather straps, picked her up and carried her to the bed behind him. He laid down with her, holding her, stroking her, kissing her, talking softly while she cried into his chest.

"I got you. You're safe," he said.
"I'm so sorry, babe," she cried.
"Ssh, don't think about it, huntress. You're safe again. I'm not letting you go," he said.

Dean took a couple of steps closer, watching as Roman held her and talked her to sleep within a few minutes.

"Thank you, Dean," Roman looked up at him.
"Yeah, no problem," Dean shook his head at how stupid those words sounded.
"Listen, I know this is a lot to take in but I need..." Roman started.
"Don't worry," Dean cut him off. "I won't tell a soul. You gotta sit down with me one of these days though and explain it all again."
"I will," Roman said. "I promise I'll try. I don't understand it myself but I love her and I won't let anyone take her away from me."
"Just keep her from killing," Dean again felt how stupid his words sounded.
"I will. I have so far," Roman said.

Dean swallowed hard. If he hadn't followed Roman there the night before and stopped him, she wouldn't have taken six lives within a day. He felt so guilty.

"Roman..." He whispered.
"No, Dean, don't blame yourself. You didn't know," Roman seemed to read his mind.

Suddenly Dean felt relieved that the motel kept things off the record. No one could prove he had been there and since he had paid with cash both at the gas station and the diner, no one could put him in those two places either.

He looked at Roman again and saw how his friend focused on his sleeping girlfriend. He was stroking her hair and holding her. The situation was anything but perfect, he couldn't even describe it as good, but if Roman was happy, he wouldn't do anything to ruin it.

"I'm gonna go," he said.
"Okay," Roman smiled a little. "Thanks again."
"You take care of her," Dean said.
"I will," Roman said. "I always will."