Dallas, TX

“I’m just not so sure this is a case, Sammy.”

Dean Winchester looked around the lobby of Tyler Publications The four story brick building set in an older part of the city was surrounded by bars and second hand shops. From the outside, they looked shabby but inside – all shiny chrome and polished floors. He smiled over at the blonde receptionist who glanced in his direction for the second time in the last time minute. “Do you know how much longer, sweetheart?”

“Just a few more minutes, Agent Young. Ms. Tyler is very busy.”

“This is a case. I know it.” Sam rifled through the file again. “This Allen Marchand has a heartattack in the office, but it looks like he was electrocuted. That’s not odd?”

Dean looked down at the photo showing severe skin burns on the former accountant’s legs and arms. “The report also says those burns didn’t occur at the time of death. I think you’re reaching.”

“I just have this feeling and so does Garth.”

Then both Sam and Garth were reaching.

He was as ready as they were to hunt since they hadn’t found a trail in a month.

“At least the view’s nice. I’m going to get a closer look.” Dean dismissed the shake of his brother’s head and walked across the dark wood flooring toward the receptionist.

The pretty blonde perched up on her elbows as he approached. “I’m so sorry it’s taking so long.”

Her accent which dropped the g from taking and drew long into lonnng made him smile. For a second, he thought of someone else and shook the thought away immediately. “Maybe after I speak with Ms. Tyler, we can have lunch?”

“I could go for that.”

“Good, so you pick out somewhere close and-”

Buzz! Buzz! The blonde tapped her headset as if on automated response. “Yes, Ms. Tyler.” She tapped again. “She can see you now. Fourth floor. And I’ll get someplace real close.”

“You do that.” Dean waved Sam toward the elevators. This wasn’t going to be as big of a bust as he’d thought. An afternoon with a cowgirl? And barbecue. That was enough. “You’re gonna have to get lost for the rest of the day.” He turned toward his brother as the doors closed.

“Seriously, Dean, this is a case and she’s like twenty.”

“All I’m hearing is consenting adult. Did you say something else?”

Sam groaned and faced the elevator doors as they opened onto the top floors of Tyler Publications. From what Sam had told him, the firm published a monthly women’s magazine that highlighted the usual – exercise, balancing work and family and nutrition.

What he hadn’t realized was how many women worked for a women’s magazine. As he stepped off the elevator, his eyes flitted from a buxom redhead to a shapely brunette. Finally they settled on a pair of delicately muscled light brown legs peeking out from a slim skirt standing in front of him.

Damn, now he had plans for dinner. “Ms. Cassandra Tyler?”

“Yes.” She turned around, her dark hair whipping around her head to reveal a slender face and large, soulful eyes.

Eyes which gazed over and through him at the same time.

“Cassie?” he asked in a hoarse whisper.

“De-” She took a step toward him, but Sam stepped between them.

“I’m Agent Morris. This is my partner, Agent Young. Is there somewhere we can talk, Ms. Tyler?”

If Cassie answered, he hadn’t heard. He simply followed Sam through a maze of cubicles until they reached an office marked with a brass plate – C. Tyler, CEO.

Cassie Robinson. Eight years since he’d seen her and that punch in the gut feeling hadn’t gone away. He breathed through it like any other time she crossed his mind.

“Have a seat.” She waved him and Sam inside. “So you’re here. Does that mean that I need to evacuate the building?”

Though she laughed, he could see the worry as her eyes searched his. “No, we’re just here to talk.” He held her gaze a moment longer and then turned to Sam. “Why don’t you go interview someone else?”

Sam looked from Cassie to him and back again. “Uh…okay. Did Allen have uhhh…a…assistant?”

“Belinda Howell. She’s in the second cubical against the windows.”

“Thanks.” Sam moved toward the door. “Nice seeing you again, Cassie. And you look…great. Really great.”

Dean whipped around in the seat to find Sam still standing in the doorway and staring. “Interview.” He said through clenched teeth.

Sam closed the door without a word. His brother was actually checking out Cassie.

Not that he blamed him. Cassie had replaced her jeans and t-shirts with the slim skirt and fitted blouse opened low enough to keep your attention. Her once curly hair now hung around her shoulders in a straight line, but her heart shaped lips remained the same.

And the heat inducing crush of her mouth against his was probably the same as well. “Ms. Tyler, huh?” He needed to remind himself of who she was and the world she lived in. One in which her employee’s death was unfortunate and she was obviously married. “How’s Mr. Tyler?”

“He passed away three years ago.” She eased into the chair Sam had vacated. “I never changed my name back.”

“I’m so sorry.” Dean lowered his head, regretting the flippant comment.

“It’s okay.”

Her voice softened as she intertwined her fingers with his. Without thought, he clutched her hand to his chest. Yes, the words stung that she’d been hurt but her touch was so gentle he couldn’t resist the soothing graze against his skin. “I’m so sorry, Cassie.”

Without him in her life, she shouldn’t have had experienced the pain he saw reflected in her eyes.

And yet she had.

“I knew he had pancreatic cancer when we got married. We hoped for a year together.” Cassie looked up at him with a joyless smile and swiped at her eyes with both hands. “But we got fourteen months. What about you? What have you been up to?”

“Not much.” He swallowed hard and glanced down, hoping that she wouldn’t be crying when he looked at her again.

“Really? Going to Hell wasn’t much?”

“What?”

“My husband was a megafan of the Supernatural books. And a beta reader for Chuck. He thought it was so funny that there was a character named Cassie Robinson.”

Dean cleared his throat to push down the lump that had started to form. “Do you read them?”

“No.” She shook her head with a faraway look in her eyes. “Greg liked that there was a monster that could be killed even when his couldn’t. They were an escape for him. Not so much for me.” She drew her hands through her hair and turned back to him. “Anyway, you’re here about Allen. How can I help?”

She’d rebounded faster than he had and Dean cleared his throat again. “Uh…tell me about him.”

“He joined the team about a year ago. Great accountant. He loved baseball. Even coached his son’s little league team. Aside from the consistent stat reporting, he was a wonderful guy.”

“Notice anything different leading up to his death?”

“He was getting sick a lot. Complaining about headaches, being hot all the time. I swear he had the air conditioning in his office turned down to thirty degrees. I don’t know how Belinda could take being in there.”

“His assistant worked in his office?”

“For a couple of hours each day.”

“We’re going to need to check out his office.”

“I prefer not during business hours. And also I prefer you don’t break-in.” This time her smile was real. It sparkled up to her eyes.

“Then what do you suggest?”

“I’ll meet you here at seven and open the doors.”

“Okay. Meet you here at seven.” He walked to the door.

“And Dean, my receptionist is on a work release program from juvie. She’s seventeen.” Cassie pointed to a set of monitors against the wall. One showed the receptionist station.

“Damn. You wouldn’t happen to have time for lunch would you?”

“No.” She laughed.

“Dinner?”

“Maybe. Close the door, please. I have work to do.”

~~~

“Dean, are you going to talk to me?”

Dean continued walking across the parking lot, focusing solely on the front doors of Tyler Publications.

Sam stepped in front of him halting his forward march. “Listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to…”

“Drool?”

“It’s just that she doesn’t look like the girl I remember. She’s different.”

“Yeah, I know. It’s okay.” He patted Sam’s shoulder. “It’s fine. Let’s get this over with.”

She was different. After reminding the receptionist of the conditions of her work release program, he’d spent the rest of the afternoon thinking about how different Cassandra Tyler was from Cassie Robinson.

He and Cassandra knew what it was like to claw your way back from Hell. And it was a sexy look on her.

Cassie opened the door for both he and Sam to enter. “So what do we do now?”

“You wait in your car and then we can talk about dinner.” Dean rubbed his hand down her arm. They weren’t going to find anything so he’d be free in fifteen minutes.

“If anything happens here, I’m financially responsible so I need to know how to frame my lie for the insurance company. The real one.” She crossed her arms under her chest and stared up at him.

Dean looked at Sam who averted his eyes. “Just stay down here.”

“You send some murderous ghost down the elevator and I’m here by myself? Hell no, I’m going with you. See, I even changed into sneakers.” Cassie pointed her foot in his direction and then hopped onto the waiting elevator.

With a groan he ushered Sam into the elevator as well.

Once they arrived on the fourth floor, Sam began checking the general area and he followed Cassie to Allen’s office. He took out the scanner and nothing registered.

“Stay by the door. Please,” he said before she could tell him not to order her around. He checked the windows, under the sofa and a cardboard box containing what looked like family photos in a corner on the floor. “No one ever came to pick these up?”

“Allen and his wife were going through some problems and he was actually sleeping in the office. I’m hoping one day she’ll come by.”

Problems at home. Maybe Allen was into something that gave him those burns. “How close was Allen to his assistant?”

“The usual. Nothin-…Arghhh”

“What?” Dean rushed to Cassie’s side, his gun drawn. “What do you see?”

“Arghhh!” she screamed again, pointing to the ground. “Kill it! Kill it!” Cassie latched onto his sides, positioning him between her and what looked like a large beetle. “Oh my God, Dean. Shoot it!”

“It’s a bug,” he said and holstered the gun.

“Kill it!” She tightened her fingers around his ribcage and he brought his foot down on the insect.

“Happy?” he turned around to face her and then coughed.

“Yes,” she coughed back at him. “Ughhh, what is that smell?’

“I don’t know.” The unctuous odor had stung his nose as well, but there was something else. The floral spritz she used in her hair. That scent overwhelmed him more quickly than the other. He lowered his head and kissed her.

Sweet and soft.

Over and over.

Until the jerk of his zipper, he hadn’t realized that he’d lifted her onto the desk.

“Dean,” she moaned, wrestling his jeans open.

I shouldn’t. The thought bloomed in his mind and then burned in the heat of Cassie’s fingers on his bare skin. Dean pushed her skirt further up her thighs and hooked his fingers into the waistband of her lacy pink panties.

“Yes, please,” Cassie rasped, kissing and nipping along his neck. “Dean, please.”

I shouldn’t.

“Please.” Cassie yanked his head down to hers and then came a burst of heat that burned him from the inside.

~~~

Two hours later and the heat still hadn’t left his body. He glanced across the vacant dining room of Dmitry’s. Cassie sat at a table near one of the large windows with her face covered with an ice pack.  “What the hell was that thing, Leila?” Dean groaned and leaned back against the curving bench seat he shared with Sam.

The Dmitry family had been hunters for centuries. Though Leila preferred running the Greek restaurant instead of hunting, she could be counted on for a free meal and information. The price was that she had to record it for her archives. “Dean, can you tell me what happened?” Leila typed on her laptop as she spoke. “And speak slowly. I don’t type as fast as I used to.”

“I stepped on a bug. Cassie kissed me and then-”

“You kissed me.” Cassie called out.

“Then we were on the…desk…then the sofa. I couldn’t stop.”

“Like you were possessed?” Sam asked.

“No, I was there for the whole thing.”

“Cassie, what about you?” Leila called over her shoulder.

“I was there.”

Dean lifted his gaze in time to see Cassie graze her fingers over her teeth and immediately felt the rush of heat through his body.

“Eyes straight ahead.” Leila turned her laptop around so that he could see the exact beetle he’d see in Allen’s office. “Was this the bug you saw?”

“Yeah.” Dean moved the bag to the back of his neck. “What is it?”

“A love bug. I don’t remember any accounts of one being used in hundreds of years. Cause it doesn’t work. It can’t make someone fall in love. They’ll have sex with you, but they’ll feel the same way afterwards.” Leila looked from him to Sam.

“And Belinda Howell really liked her boss. You should have seen how torn up she was, Dean.”

“So she has a crush, but he’s a good guy. Loves his family and she puts some creepy crawlies in his office. See if she can’t speed up the ruining of his marriage process. Why’d he bite it?”

“It’s the problem with the spell. As you can see it makes you physically hot. Repeated use and one or both died. It lost popularity very quickly.”

“Is Cass okay?” Dean asked.

“One time? You’ll be fine in a couple of hours. And if you could bring me back a live one, I’d love to add it to my collection.”

“No,” Sam answered before he could. “Dean, did you find a hex bag in there?”

“I wasn’t really looking. We’ll head back over there. Leila, burning the bag should work?”

“Yes. But there seems to be someone playing with dark magic that they don’t understand.”

“Sam and I will take care of that in the morning.”

“Why don’t you sit this one out?” Sam’s hand clamped down on his shoulder. “Garth and I can take of it. Take Cassie home.”

I shouldn’t. Anything could happen while he wasn’t there.

“Take her home.” Sam nodded.

Moments later, he was driving Cassie’s car to her house as she talked about her company and the neighborhood she’d called home for the last two years. By the time, they reached her front door it seemed that they had nothing left to chat about. “Are you staying tonight?” she asked.

He tried to answer, racked his brain for some remark that would make this less serious than it had quickly become. He only nodded and then followed her inside to her bedroom.

This time when held her, he kissed her slowly. And for the first time in a long time, the hunt seemed very far away.

~~~

“Lunch is ready.” Cassie’s voice carried up the hallway as he sat down on the edge of her bed to put on his shoes. The shower and getting dressed was the longest he’d been out of bed since arriving last night

“I’m going to the patio.”

“Just let me call, Sam.” Dean yelled back. He dialed thinking that he’d have to say good-bye to her soon. Shit, it got harder every time. “Any news?”

“Found the hex bag but no Belinda. We’re headed over to her place now.”

“What’s the address?”

“Dean, we got this. I’ll pick you up in the morning.”

“Okay. Okay.” He gave Sam her address before disconnecting and headed out to the patio.

Cassie’s hair had curled in the shower and now hung in loose spirals. She looked more like the girl he’d met in Athens and he grinned.

“Bacon cheeseburger and sweet potato fries.” She smiled up at him.”

He squinted and sat down in the chair opposite hers. “Sweet potato?”

“They’re good and it makes up for the fact that I’m eating a bacon cheeseburger.”

He bit into one of the fries and then started on the burger. He only got a few bites in and then pushed his plate away. Sitting here, eating lunch, talking about going out for drinks. He couldn’t do this. Not with her. “I’m leaving in the morning, Cassie.”

“That sounds very final.”

“You know what I do. And I’ve learned that it’s better if it is final.”

Cassie drew her legs up into the chair and rested her chin on her knees. That sad little smile appeared on her face. “I lied, Dean. I did read those books. Every single one. And I am so sorry that things didn’t work out with her. I really am.” She turned to face him and tears slipped over cheeks. “I would love for you to be happy.”

Dean swayed back in his chair and sucked in his breath. He watched Cassie take the dishes back into the house unable to speak or even think about what he would say. All he could do was sit and feel the cold darkness welling up inside. That was the way it had to be, not those few hours of warmth they’d shared.

Two weeks later…

One shape shifter, devouring joggers had met the Winchester brothers.

Sam picked his bag off the bed of the Alamon Motel outside of Henderson, Nevada and headed out to the parking lot. “Hey, you wanna head into Vegas for a couple days?”

“I gotta make a call first.” Dean waited for Sam to close the door.

Like Cassie had asked, he hadn’t woken her before he left. He’d slid into the Impala listening to Sam talk about the disappearance of Belinda Howell. Then they’d worked the job.

And for two weeks, he’d missed the sound of her voice. He took a deep breath and dialed her number.

“Dean?”

“Hey.” He took another breath before talking. “I’m on my way to Vegas. Do you think you can take a day or two off and meet me?”

“Sure. I’ll book the rooms. I can’t be involved in credit card fraud.” He could hear the smile in her voice and he smiled too. “Give me ten minutes to get everything done and I’ll call you back.”

“Listen, Cassie. This isn’t going to happen all the time.”

“But sometimes?”

He could hear the laughter in her voice and fought back one of his own. “Maybe, sometimes. Just get back to me.” He clicked off and shook his head.

The door opened and Sam stared down at him. “What are you looking at me like that for?”

“You’re smiling. And there’s no pie or porn.”

Dean drew his mouth into a tight line and picked up his bag. “Cassie is going to meet us in Vegas. She’s calling back with the hotel information.”

“Really?”

 

“Yeah, really. Let’s go.” He walked toward the car, feeling the smile inch across his face again.

Fulgram, Texas

 

The North Texas Sky

 

An orange pink glow settled across the north Texas sky as Dean parked his baby half a block away from Cassie’s house. Home, he allowed himself the brief thought before stepping out onto the narrow street.

Once he and Sam removed their bags, they followed the tree lined lane up to a stone walkway. In the older Dallas neighborhood, sidewalks and driveways were few and far between. However, Cassie’s bungalow was a lighthouse in the darkness. Though the journey to it was inconvenient, it was never treacherous.

“You sure this is alright with Cassie? I don’t mind finding a motel for the next couple of nights.”

“Sam, it’s fine.” As the last year of sometimes had become all the time, neither he nor Cassie saw the need to relegate Sam to the background for a few nights a month. Not when there was a comfortable bed and a home cooked meal his brother could enjoy as well.

This last year was what Sam probably wanted anyway, not him. No matter the dreams that plagued him or the lilt of Cassie’s laugh, in his heart he felt one of the cruel sisters of Fate twisting a blade. Ready at a moment’s notice to cross his name off the list. And he’d given them plenty of chances – hesitated once too often with the thought of never seeing her again.

Those twins. As he turned the knob into the short hallway which led to Cassie’s living room the thought assaulted him again. Since he’d met them, a long gone Castiel and children at a pond had randomly appeared in his dreams. That is what they were – dreams.

Real life was a set of rules: Cassie didn’t call when he was on a job. If he didn’t make it back, then someone would let her know. And they never spoke about anything beyond the two or three days they spent together. Never. While he got a little peace from his world, he’d often wondered what she got from the deal?

Why did her voice lift when she spoke to him?

“Which way?”

“Oh yeah, okay.” Dean readjusted his bag over his shoulder and walked further into the house. “The kitchen is over here. She never has anything good, so we’ll have to hit the 7-11. The patios out there. Killer grill. This is the living room. Plasma TV. No feet on the coffee table. Back there is Cass’s office.” He continued down the main hall. “Guest bath. Don’t use the towels on the rack. This is you.” Dean opened the door of the guest room.

“Nice.” Sam said as he tossed his bag on the bed and looked around the room.

“Better than the last place we stayed in. But if you hear those same sounds coming from Mommy and Daddy’s room, it’s okay.” He chuckled at his on joke, but Sam only shook his head. “What?”

“Maybe before Cassie gets back from her party, we can talk about where we go from here.”

“Alright, let me shower and we can start tracking this coven again. Man, I hate witches.”

“Not the coven, Dean. Us. You’re happy here. Normal decorative towels and outdoor grills kind of happy. I think you should stay this time.” Sam swallowed hard and stuffed his hands into his pockets. “I’m gonna miss you, but how many chances are you going to get?”

Dean straightened, every muscle in his body tensing in an instant. Giving up the hunt? He couldn’t. “Sammy, take a Midol and then come talk to me.” He headed up the hallway to the bedroom he shared with Cassie without looking back.

“I can’t.” He said as he closed the door behind him and inhaled the lemony scent which permeated the entire room.

Smells like sunshine even in the winter, Cassie always said.

Dean dropped down onto the bed, his eyes drawn to the single framed photograph on her nightstand. It showed him under a tree looking out over a lake, Baby was in the background. He smiled about that lazy day in the sun – quiet and Cassie in his arms. The memory alone should have satisfied him because he out of everyone knew that next time wasn’t guaranteed and yet he wanted it so badly.

Ai Boutique Hotel, Downtown Dallas

“Ooo, damn.”

Cassie turned her head toward the entrance of the hotel ballroom to see what had stopped Laura Wilthew in mid-sentence.

“Wow.” Cassie blinked slowly but the image of Dean in a black tux framed beneath the arched entrance remained. He adjusted each of the sparkling cuff links at his wrists and then swept a hand through his hair. At that moment, James Bond had nothing on her baby. “Damn.” Cassie blinked again and then turned back to Laura who was still staring. “Excuse me.”

“Honey, I’d run over there if I was you. ‘Cause even I’m thinking about knocking you down.” Laura shook her long auburn hair over her shoulders, and waved in Dean’s direction.

“Cousin or not, I’d cut you.” Cassie said in her sweetest southern belle voice.

"Honey, you aren't quick enough." Laura’s laughter rang in her ears until Dean took her in his arms and pulled her just outside of the entrance.

“You look amazing,” he said and then kissed her. All other sounds were muffled by the soft moan in his throat.

It took everything to pull her head back and catch her breath. “So do you. I didn’t think you could make it tonight. How did you get the-”

“I got it.” Dean fingered the jeweled ribbing of the dress’s neckline and her flesh tingled with each swipe of his finger.

“I missed you, but this is work remember?” She pushed him back, creating a small space that wasn’t filled with the scent of earth and fire and hedonistic pleasure. “The main course is done but there is dessert still on the table. Key Lime pie.”

“I’d like to dance.”

“Really?” She looked up at him and hesitated as he led onto the dance floor. He caught her in an easy rhythm and whirled her around the floor to the strands of the sonata. “It must be the tux.”

He laughed and kissed her again.

She was drowning, her lungs filling to explosion and yet there was no air. Looking up into the mossy green eyes darkening to a muddy brown, a scream inched up her throat.

“It’s the lights,” Dean said as he lifted his head from hers. “You look beautiful.” He whirled her again and again.

The reason for screaming disappeared.

As did everything else, except for the feeling of enchantment. He was hers finally. Forever. She felt it in every fiber of her being. Tonight was the night.

“Let me take you home,” Dean whispered against her ear.

“I’d like that a whole lot.” She pecked his lips.

He smiled back at her still holding her in his arms. “I can’t wait to get you home. I love you so much, Cassie.”

Her heart dropped into her shoes. The word love didn’t flow out of Dean Winchester’s mouth, it had to be wrenched out of his throat. “Let me run to the restroom first.” Cassie kept her gait steady and the smile on her face until she made it into the bathroom. With shaky hands, she called Dean’s cell.

His voice sounded across the line after a single ring. “You live in Texas and you don’t have barbecue sauce?”

“Where are you?” she choked out.

“In your kitchen. What’s wrong?”

“Oh, God. Oh, God.” Her whole body shook, and then Dean’s true voice reached her ears.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dean, you are waiting outside of the bathroom of Ai’s to take me home.” Her voice cracked. “What do I do? What do I do?”

A moment of silence passed and then an authoritative voice spoke. “Is there another way out of the bathroom? A window? A vent?”

No windows. And the vent was too small. “There’s only the door.”

“Alright Cassie, listen to me. You go back out there and pretend you’re with me. You drive home and I’ll be there. Don’t let on that you know. Do you understand?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t get to you in time so you have to be sure. Can you do it? Can you get home?”

She sniffed and dried the streams of tears running over her cheeks. “I can do it.”

Cassie walked out of the bathroom and into the Dean-like being’s arms. “Do you have the car?”

“No,” it said with a slight grin.

“Then I’ll drive.” She tried not to look at it as she walked out of the hotel and across the parking lot to her car.

Driving faster than she normally would, it still took twenty minutes to reach her house. Twenty minutes of its touches through her hair, along her neck and down her legs. Pretend you’re with me. She repeated the words in her head, but couldn’t muster more than a word or two in response to the thing’s attempt at conversation.

When they reached her house, she hurried up the walk and unlocked the door.

“Cassandra!” The thing growled from behind her. “He’s here.” It caught her around the waist, pushing her ahead of it into the house. “He’s here.” It walked her forward into the living room.

“Let her go.” Dean stepped out of the shadows with a shotgun pointed in their direction. Sam came from the left with a smaller gun.

“Not yet. I have a question for the lady. How did you know? I’m so good of what I do.”

“Shut up and let her go.”

“Ah, my sweet, it was not to be tonight.” It kissed her cheek and then it was gone in a puff of ginger scented smoke.

“What the fuck?” Dean chucked the gun onto the coffee table. “Sam, what the hell was that?”

“I don’t know but it’s gone.”

“Are you alright?” Dean’s gaze pulled her into his arms.

No, she wasn’t alright. Tears flooded over her cheeks and she gasped for breath. His world touched theirs for the second time.

Honestly, could she endure it?

 

The "L" Word

 

Hours later, Cassie placed the empty wine glass on the nightstand in her bedroom.

Dean slid in next to her. “Are you ready to talk about it?”

“I guess.”

Dean wrapped her in his arms. “I’m here. Nothing is going to hurt you.”

Cassie whooshed out a long breath and started. “I was at the party and you came in. And we danced and I kissed him and I really thought it was you.”

“How did you know? What made you call?”

Cassie dropped her head into her chest.

“It’s okay. It may help us find out what this thing is.”

“It told me how much it loved me.” The words hung in the air and she rushed on to finish. “Then, I knew it wasn’t you.”

Dean let out a small joyless laugh. “Of course you did.” His hands tightened around her. “Anything else? Did you smell sulfur? Notice black eyes?”

“The eyes were green like a crayon. Forest green, I think. Does that help?”

“Everything helps. I’m going to find this thing, Cassie. It won’t ever touch you again. I promise.”

In her heart, she knew he would. He wouldn’t rest until the job was complete. And since she was the job, where would he turn to find peace? “I don’t want you to save me.”

She shook her head and Dean lifted her chin up so that his gaze met hers. “You don’t have the choice, sweetheart.”

 

What Was His Name?

 

After three days, Dean and Sam had gone through all of Cassie’s contacts and they were no closer to finding out what they were dealing with or who it was.

The only person that stood out was her cousin, Laura, who at the age of thirty-two was grieving the loss of her third husband. Cassie had forbid him from slicing the woman’s wrists with a silver knife. Thirty-two with the body of a twenty year old and each husband wealthier than the last? Witch, his mind had grasped the idea and refused to let go.

“Why?” Sam had asked. “She loves Cassie. They’ve been best friends since they were kids.”

His brother’s voice and adverted gaze made him realize that he was alone in the investigation of Laura Wilthew. “Did you sleep with her?”

“She’s not a witch or a shape shifter or a demon. She’s just upset about her husband. And…and…and…the thing with Cassie. You can’t be pissed about that. You used to do it all the time.” Sam had smirked up at him and the feeling of loneliness settled across his chest.

Dean read through the list again as Cassie sat down next to him on the sofa. Laura for the time being was off the list, so who else? Employees, friends, former in-laws and family members. Name after name floated in front of his eyes. All except for one. “What was his name?”

“Who?”

“The guy. Six months ago. You were on a date.”

“It wasn’t a date. He was a freelance writer and was pitching some ideas.”

“What’s his name?

 

I'm Michel

 

After an hour of convincing Cassie that he’d be fine without Sam, Dean arrived at the small house of Michel Richard. The man he recognized from Cassie’s sofa leaned against a convertible, watching the men load items into a moving truck. A woman flitted back and forth across the yard yelling, “Be careful!” at the top of her lungs.

“Hello, I’m Agent Young.” Dean flipped the ID out in front of him. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Hmm…I thought I’d be higher on your list, Dean Winchester.” The man glanced in his direction, fixing him to his spot with the mossy green eyes.

Dean tucked the badge back into his pocket, relieved not to focus on the swamp like stare. “You know who I am. Who are you?”

“My name is not important. What is important is that my dear sister has shown me the error of my ways and we are leaving. Our sweet Cassandra remains yours.”

“What the fuck are you?”

“So you can figure out how to kill me? I don’t think that would be wise.” Michel crossed his arms and shook his wavy brown hair over his shoulders. “I will tell you this – silver won’t work.” He laughed. “Neither will your demon knife. But it is finished. Let this go, Monsieur Winchester. I will not contact her again. I’ve followed her from Missouri to Tennessee to Texas and she’s never noticed me. I will find another. Maybe one of my own kind. Though Cassandra reminds me so much of a lover I once had. Another human in 1892.” Michel’s eyes took on a faraway look. “I loved her.”

“I’m going to stab you for the hell of it.” Dean’s hand twisted around the shaft of the demon blade.

“That isn’t necessary.”

Dean looked up to see the woman standing in front of him, her accent more pronounced than the man’s. “My brother and I are leaving. He will not bother her again. We don’t harm humans. We are the good folk.”

“I fell in love what else can I say? My heart overtook my head. It is the same with you is it not?”

Dean stepped away from the car unable to speak and watched them drive away behind the truck.

Yeah, it was the same.

 

The Fairy Revealed

 

“He won’t bother you again.” Dean dropped down onto Cassie’s bed and brought his hand up to his head.

“What was he?”

“One of the fae. A freaking fairy who fell in love with you. He could have given you a wonderful life, if I wasn’t around.”

“I love my life with you.” She tried to kiss him but he turned away so that her lips grazed his ear.

“Why? He followed you to three different cities and you didn’t look at the guy twice, why?”

“Because I’ve been in love with two men my whole life. One of them is gone. And the other is lying next to me.”

“This can’t work, Cassie.”

“I know this ends badly. You die. I die. The fucking world goes to hell in a hand basket. Nothing ends well for any of us. Please, baby, know that I know that. I’m ready for it. That what this has taught me. I’m ready. I could lose you tomorrow as long as I have this moment.” She bent her head to his, her tears wetting his cheeks.

“I want something else for you.” He breathed out.

“We don’t get exactly what we want, baby, but it’s enough isn’t it?”

 

The Choices Have Been Made

 

“I’m leaving.”

“Lock the door on your way out.” Cassie grumbled and turned over in the bed without opening her eyes.

“I love you.”

“I love you, too.” She pulled the blanket over her head.

Dean made his way through the house and out to the Impala. He slid into the passenger seat, the non-dream still fresh in his mind. As Sam pulled into the lanes of the neighborhood, he rested his head. “You remember those twins from a few years ago? The time travelers?”

“Yeah,” Sam chuckled. “I think about them sometimes. If they’ve been born yet.”

“You ever think they were mine?”

Sam twisted his hands around the steering wheel. “If they were, they loved you.”

“The girl, she was going to take you out. I saw it in her eyes.”

“No, she was scared. But she couldn’t let Daddy see that.” Sam glanced over at him and then turned his gaze back to the road. “Dean, I’ve been having dreams. Vivid dreams.”

“Me too.”

“These kids, do we lead down the same road?”

“Do we have a choice?”

For the first time in years, Castiel answered into the silence. “The choices have been made.”

Dallas, TX 2015

 

For the second day in a row, the insides of Cassie’s eyelids burned. She groaned, trying to get the numbers on the thermometer to focus.

101 degrees.

Obviously the antibiotics and aspirin weren’t helping. She stumbled toward the thermostat and lowered the temperature. If her fever didn’t stop rising, she’d have to go back to the doctor. Crap. She had meetings to attend. A magazine to run. “Crap!”

Cassie yanked the blanket from her bed and slung it across her bedroom window. A thin sliver of afternoon sun peeked through, but it was better than the glaring rays which had radiated through the curtains. With a deep breath, she lifted her t-shirt over her head and let the cool air tingle over her body for few minutes.

Much better.

Climbing into bed with only a pair of panties on, she tucked the sheet under her arm and closed her eyes. It took a few minutes to adjust the pillows beneath her head, the cold pack against the back of her neck, and the pile of her sweaty hair away from her face.

But when it was done she actually felt partially alive again. The air from the ceiling fan fluttered the thin sheet over her legs, creating a gentle breeze and the pounding in her head subsided to a dull thud.

She might actually be falling asleep because for a moment, she thought she heard the tumbling click of the front door. Maybe Dean was home.

No. He would have dropped his bag in the foyer, rumbled through the fridge and then called her name as he walked down the hallway. She smiled even though it made her cheeks hurt. She loved the deep throated sound of her name when he returned home. It hadn’t yet stopped sending a pleasant shiver down her spine. “Mmm.” She was definitely drifting.

Finally sleeping.

And in the next moment, a thunderous crack shook the walls and jerked her from her quasi-dream. Her eyes fluttered opened in time to see a flash of guns in the semi-darkened room and she let out a long screaming groan.

“Cassie, are you alright?”

“What are you doing?”

Her words mixed with Dean’s and jumbled in her head while she struggled to pull the sheet from her waist up to her neck. “What is wrong with you two?”

“So sorry.” Sam turned around and walked out.

Dean holstered his gun and then strained his neck from side to side. “Why are you naked?” He swallowed hard, his eyes darting around the room. “Ohhhh, are you sick? You’re just sick?” He chuckled, and then went into a rambling fumble of words and phrases. “…I tried to call…guns…Sam’s idea…reasonable explanation.”

The pain started in her temples, inching its way through her and she began the process of getting comfortable again. “Please stop talking.” It hurt too much to decipher what he was saying.

 

***

 

“Sweetheart, it’s time for your pills.”

Cassie turned over in bed and Dean’s smiling face came slowly into focus. “What time is it?”

“Two in the morning. You’ve been out for eight hours.”

She struggled up against the headboard, noticing that she was wearing a t-shirt and that her hair hadn’t fallen into her face. “You did my hair?” She reached up and twirled her fingers through the lopsided ponytail.

“Yeah.”

He avoided her gaze and dropped two tablets into her hand.

“Are you hungry? I can make you some soup.”

She swallowed the pills, shaking her head, and then snuggled down next to him. A moan rumbled across his chest as his fingers scraped down her arm. “Dean, what worried you so much this afternoon?”

“Uhhh, nothing.” His voice pitched higher, then lower and then he repeated himself. “Nothing at all.”

Though she knew the dull ache in her head would return, Cassie rose up on her elbow and stared into his eyes. “You left me eleven messages, three texts, and came into our bedroom with your gun drawn. That says worry.”

“Alright.” He turned her onto her back.

Even in the darkness, she could see the glazing of his eyes. The veil he used to protect her had descended.

“You always answer my calls.” His lips curled up into a devilish smile. “I find you naked in the middle of the afternoon without me home and I overreacted.”

“Hmm…mmm…” After eighteen months together, he was still hiding behind that smile. “What was the job?” she asked, feeling his body tense beneath her fingertips.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Well, you owe me.” Cassie locked her arms around his waist. “This afternoon, your brother saw me topless with crusty eyes and most likely drooling. So you owe me more than a missed phone call. What were you working on?” She wrapped her legs around his as he tried to untangle himself.

“Cassie, let go.”

“Start talking. This actually hurts me more than you.” She winced.

Dean relaxed next to her, half holding her in his arms while she raked her fingers through his hair. After a long while he began to speak.

My God, she repeated in her head as he told her of the beatings he’d received, those drawn out moments when he thought he was dying and the exact second he believed he wasn’t ever going to see her again.

My God.

 

***

 

Dean opened his eyes after finding that Cassie wasn’t on either side of him. The blanket had been pulled down from the window and lay across body, the soup bowls and glasses for juice had been removed the nightstand. “Cassie!” he yelled into the empty bedroom. There was no answer but the smell of bacon drifted through the opened door. He made his way out into the hallway.

He found her in the kitchen moving around as if she hadn’t been almost comatose two days ago. The loose curls of her dark brown hair flowed over her coffee with cream colored face while she set plates of bacon and scrambled eggs on the table. “You shouldn’t be up.”

“I’m well enough to go zip lining with you today.” She stumbled over to him, smiling weakly.

Son of a bitch. “You heard me talking to Sam?” Dean lowered his chin into chest and slunk down against the open archway. Earlier, he’d tried so hard not to raise his voice. Yes, they had a job to do. Yes, he’d been a prick and asked Sam to give up so much. Yes, to it all but…not her…not again.

“Sam needs you. And when he needs you, then something more important than my bout with the flu is happening. I’ve called my cousin and she’s on her way here to stay with me until this thing is over. So you won’t have to worry about me fainting alone.”

He laughed, holding her steady against him. “I’m supposed to be taking care of you. Not the other way around.” In the last two days, he’d opened and heated endless cans of soup, made sure she’d taken her medicine on time and helped her in and out of the bath. And yet she was the one making it all better for him. Not just this hunt but the ones to come.

“I don’t know how to make you believe it, but this job doesn’t scare me.” She pushed up on her tip toes to kiss the corner of his mouth. “In my heart, I know you’ll come back to me until you can’t.” She kissed the other corner and then rested her body against his.

The sprigs of curls popping out from the loose ponytail tickled under his chin and he laughed again. “No wonder I love you. You’re as crazy as I am.” He cradled her into his arms and looked down at the sexiest smile he’d ever seen. “I’ll go on one condition. Call me. Even if it’s just to tell me good morning.”

“I’ll call every day.”

And then the impossible happened.

Her smile brightened, illuminating the nooks and crannies of his soul. And for all he knew of Heaven and  Hell and Earth, he’d never witnessed anything as beautiful as Cassandra Robinson Tyler beneath him with her back bowed in the throes of ecstasy.

“Oh my…Cassie.”

The sweetest song ever sung.

 

***

 

Six weeks later…

“Achoo! Sorry. I’m coming down with a cold.” As promised, Cassie made her morning call to Dean. Though today, she was the one dulling the apprehension in her voice while all she heard was a smile in his.

“Again? Maybe you get the house looked at. For mold or something?”

“Something. Sweetie, I really have to run this morning. I’ll see you a few days.”

“Sure. I should be there by Thursday.”

“I love you.”

“Love you too.” He clicked off.

Long after the call ended she held the phone to her ear, staring at the thin strip of white plastic pinched between her fingers. Two distinct pink lines glared before her.

How was she going to tell him that he was going to be a daddy?

Enid, Oregon 2015

 

 

 

“Dean, I’m pregnant.”

 

“Dean. We’re pregnant.” Cassie paced along the wooden floor of the lake house’s covered porch, the peeling blue paint of the planks blurred before her eyes. No matter how she said it, it didn’t portray the emotion she wanted – abject happiness.

 

“It just sounds stupid.” She sat down on the top step and inhaled the crisp and slightly chilled air of the early June morning. Far different from the oppressive heat she’d left behind in Texas and yet, she couldn’t take a deep breath without a stutter.

 

What had begun as I’ll see you in a few days had turned into one and half months apart from Dean. It had been six more weeks of waking up each day wanting to tell him about her morning sickness, her first ultrasound and the elation of hearing two heartbeats. Twins! She smiled at the thought of them.

 

I told you. One day, I’d be happy when I was here! She wanted to shout into the fog swirling up from Lake Innisbrook.

 

As a child, she’d spent her summers on the lake with her grandmother. Each year, Eugenia Wilthew gathered her grandchildren in the house for a summer of swimming and campfires and sing-alongs. On paper, it would seem like a good idea but…then there was the reality of those long days and nights.

 

She and Laura had spent countless hours on the porch listening to the other cousins laughing inside the house. The two of them didn’t fit in with the bony ginger-haired Wilthews. They called Laura portly and warned her about the number of cookies she ate. And they called Cassie dark and told her to stay out of the sun whenever possible.

 

Those few months each year had sparked a fear in her. She was too different to be loved outside of her hometown in Missouri. She’d carried that fear throughout her teens until that one night when they’d proved her wrong.

 

And now in the swirling mist and the towering trees, her heart thudded with the love of her children and the man who first stole her heart.

 

Hopefully, he’d feel the same way once he knew.

 

Cassie forced herself up from the porch and headed out to the rental car. Since Dean and Sam had ended their hunt in central Oregon, she was more than delighted to suggest they meet at the lake house along the coast.

 

No matter his reaction, this was the perfect place to tell him. If he was pleased then they could enjoy the beautiful area together. And if he freaked out, the dense forest could hide his body.

 

With that thought, Cassie began the drive into the town of Enid.

 

 

 

~~~

 

The tinkle of the bell on the front door of Orchid’s Café drew Dean’s attention again.

 

Not her. Damn it, Cassie.

 

She was never late. Dean checked his watch and then glanced over at Sam. “What?”

 

The dumb grin hadn’t left his brother’s face for the last thirty minutes. “I’m just wondering if you figured out what you’re going to say.”

 

“It’s a pretty standard question.” Dean said and sipped from his coffee, scanning the street aside for any sign of Cassie.

 

“But women like a little more showmanship. I found this video.” Sam whipped his tablet around. “Maybe you can take a look.”

 

“I’m going to shove that thing down your throat.”

 

Sam chuckled and clicked the play button anyway. Classical music in the background, ice skating rink and the guy down on one knee professing his love to the gushing girl. “It’s not every day that a hunter asks someone to marry them. And definitely not you.”

 

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

 

“Dean, you’ve actually escaped Hell and Purgatory and now you’re eating a breakfast burrito. That’s not normal.”

 

“Yeah. She knows that.”

 

Cassie knew and it didn’t diminish the sparkle in her eyes. Three months since he’d seen her and that light still heated his skin.

 

The nest of vampires he’d tracked and killed hadn’t been able to douse it.

 

And the ring? Well, it only accelerated the lick of the flames.

 

While investigating, he and Sam had entered a pawn shop owned by a former hunter and the simple black pearl set between two squared diamonds on a gold band had garnered his full attention. There was no hunt only that ring. After a day and a half of hustling pool, he’d come back to buy it.

 

His version of an engagement ring for the woman who’d made him believe that he was more than a hunter - a human being who had a chance at love. “She knows.”

 

Dean pushed up from the table as the door opened once more and Cassie walked toward him. Hopefully this pounding in chest wasn’t an illusion, wasn’t a dream or a cruel spell. If she needed the one knee thing then he would give it to her. “Hey, Sweetheart.” He hugged her, nuzzling his cheek against the soft curls at the top of her head.

 

“I missed you.” As slender as her body was, her grip seemed much stronger than his. “So much.”

 

“I missed you, too.” He breathed her in and everything disappeared around him. He’d once laughed about guys like this, holding some girl in a public place- no hot kissing. Just some ass clutching some girl like he’d been thrown a life line.

 

And he had been. “I missed you more than you know.”

 

Cassie gazed up at him with her soft brown eyes. Maybe she responded, but it was Sam he finally heard.

 

“Guys, you’re blocking the aisle.”

 

“Sorry,” Dean ushered Cassie into the seat next to window, smiling at the man who looked like he’d stepped out of a Land’s End cataloge and was late to a clam bake.

 

“Hmmm.” The man gave him a quick smirk disguised as a smile and then zoned in on Cassie. “Aren’t you Eugenia Wilthew’s granddaughter? Cassie?”

 

Cassie straightened in the chair. “Yes.” Her voice deepened and a strange sensation flowed from her into him. Cassie was always…always welcoming with a huge smile, arms opened wide. So why did he feel a tremble in her limbs at the nearness of the man?

 

“Bernard Haynes. From across the lake.” Bernard raked his hand through his dark brown hair and puffed out his chest. “I’m sheriff now.”

 

“That’s wonderful, Bernard. Um, these are friends of mine. Sam and Dean.” Cassie slid her hand down his leg and the slight shiver stopped.

 

Bernard didn’t look in their direction. “If you’re staying out at the lake, I warn you to be careful. Two hikers have been killed in the area in the last week. They had their hearts ripped out.”

 

“Some kind of animal?” Sam asked.

 

“Bear attack, but I’ve lived here my whole and never saw anything like that. Almost forty years and no bears attacking and then this.” He shook his head. “I can help you find other accommodations if you like.” He out a card bearing his name and the town’s logo.

 

“Thanks, Bernard.” Dean plucked the card from between the man’s fingers and handed it over to Sam. “But bear or no bear I can take care of Cassie. Agent Young with the DC division.” Dean flipped the card from his pocket

 

“I’m sure you can.” Bernard’s gaze remained solely on Cassie. “You call if you need me though.”

 

“Thanks, Bernard. But I’m sure Agent Young is going to keep me safe from anything out in those woods. And I mean anything.”

 

Dean turned to face her and her soft brown eyes held him still for a moment before she kissed him.

 

Somewhere in the distance, the bell tinkled, Sam cleared his throat, and the sheriff mumbled something else. But for him, he was lost in the sweet kiss of the woman he loved.

 

 

 

~~~

 

Cassie flipped on the lamp next to the mirror in her bedroom. It didn’t matter that the curtain was open and the sun shining, the room was always dark. It had been the only thing she hadn’t figured out how to change in the room.

 

Since she and Laura had purchased the house from the rest of the Wilthew grandchildren three years ago, they had redecorated. Their grandmother’s scratchy plaid furniture had been replaced with soft deep red chenille and the framed watercolors of wildflowers had been replaced by large vibrant cityscapes from all over the world.

 

The city she’d chosen for her bedroom was San Francisco on New Year’s Eve – fireworks exploding over the bay. If she hadn’t fallen asleep as soon as Dean had driven them back to the house, the photograph would have finally come alive in her mind. Yet, she’d been too tired after breakfast to do anything except sleep.

 

She combed through her hair, added lipstick and a small amount of bronzer to her cheeks and forehead. Cassie groaned wondering when she was going to get that pregnancy glow and walked out into the main room of the house.

 

It was one large room which served as a kitchen, dining area and living space. And today it was apparently command central. When Dean had mentioned that he and Sam may research the hikers while she slept, she hadn’t imagined this.

 

Dean and Sam huddled around a laptop screen and Bernard poured over a stack of photographs. “This looks like working,” she said as she crossed through the space not waiting for Dean to respond.

 

Damn, it. She needed to tell him and she wanted to do it without the audience. “I may make a few phone calls.” She mimicked his voice as she opened the refrigerator and took out the Cobb salad she hadn’t been able to finish from dinner. “Doesn’t he understand vacation?” she mumbled before shoving a sliver of cold ham into her mouth and slid the container across the countertop. “It doesn’t involve crime scene photos.” Cassie flung open an upper cabinet to search for a fork.

 

“You’re right.” Dean’s squeezed her waist, then her hips, and then her ass.

 

Mmmm. She immediately relaxed into the hard contours of his body. They’d been together for almost two years, was he always going to have this effect on her? She moaned softly as he began the process again.

 

“They’re leaving.” He turned her around to face him, his eyes blazing with mischief. “And we’re going to enjoy our afternoon.” He bit into his bottom lip and then whirled around to face the others. “Guys, I’m going to start my vacation now.”

 

She snaked her arm around his waist and felt a quiver across his abdomen.

 

“Now.” Dean intertwined his fingers with hers and he sucked in air between his teeth. “I’m starting now.”

 

“Ah, Dean, one moment. Please.” Sam stood up, holding his hands in front of him. “Cassie, two minutes and he’s all yours.”

 

“I don’t think--”

 

“Go ahead.” She gently pushed Dean forward. Two minutes? She could wait two minutes so that no one else had to die alone in the woods. “I can catch up with Bernard.”

 

Dean looked over his shoulder at her and whispered, “Just make sure he understands that the good ole days are over.”

 

“Go,” she said with a laugh. One of the many things that she and Dean disagreed on was that she had enough normal in her life and just needed him. “You only have two minutes.”

 

“Alright, Sheriff, Sam is going to head over to the coroner’s office with you in a few minutes.” Dean patted Bernard’s arm as he left the room with Sam.

 

“Thanks.” Bernard smiled then stood watching her. “I heard you own a magazine.”

 

“We aren’t going to do this.” Cassie crossed her arms and shook the curls from her face. “I said the whole catching up bit for him. So he could do his job.”

 

“I know that.” He stared down at the floor for a few moments and then met her gaze once more. “It’s been a long time and I’m glad I have this chance to apologize for what happened that summer.”

 

“Great. Leave. Sam can meet you in town.”

 

“Okay.” Bernard backed toward the door, but made no move to open it. “Cassie, I really liked you. I really did. I was just a--”

 

“A kid?” Cassie fought to keep her voice quiet. Bernard didn’t deserve the fury that swirled within her. “I was fifteen years old when Brittany and my cousin decided to throw me in the lake. I was a kid screaming that I couldn’t swim.” The memory of the moonlit night flooded back to her but now there were no tears, just a white hot anger. “And you just watched them do it. But it’s okay because in those moments of thrashing around until my feet touched bottom. I fell in absolute love with myself. And I knew that I didn’t need you or Brittany or anyone else to make me feel that. So thank you and get out of my damn house.”

 

Bernard froze. His mouth moved but he was silent.

 

“Dean, I’ll call you later.” Sam propelled a dazed looking Bernard through the door and pulled it closed behind them.

 

“You almost drowned?” Dean stood in the bedroom’s doorway. “Why would come here?”

 

“Because I own it now. It’s my version slaying a dragon and all I can think about is you kissing me.”

 

“Then come here and I’ll kiss you all over.”

 

The mid-afternoon snack was forgotten, as was lunch and an early dinner.

 

 

 

~~~

 

“We’ve lost them! Be ready in case they come your way.”

 

Even with the noise in the background, Dean heard the tremor in his brother’s voice before Sam disconnected. His heart thudded to a stop as he looked over at Cassie. She curled into the arm of the sofa balancing a bowl of spaghetti on her knees, laughing at whatever flickered across the screen, unaware of the chase going on outside.

 

“Stay here.” He rushed into the bedroom and grabbed his bag.

 

Earlier Sam had found evidence of shifters combing the woods surrounding Lake Innisbrook. While Bernard had never seen anything like the mauled bodies of the two hikers, the deaths had occurred each year up and down the coast from Canada to Mexico since the early sixties.

 

The death toll had reached nineteen in a small Washington town in 1969 and since then the kills had dwindled. Now there were only one or two murders in a town, three at the most. The pack, Sam had surmised, was dying but there were two left to follow in the family business.

 

And those two were dangerously close to Cassie.

 

“Lock the door and don’t open it for anyone except for me.” He shoved a gun into her hand. “Do you know how to shoot?” Other would-be-fiancés weren’t asking that question and yet he had to.

 

“I used to practice with my Dad. But only with a shotgun. What’s wrong?”

 

“Sam lost the trail. About the gun, it’s the same premise, both hands. Just don’t open the door. This is holy water and I’m putting it outside. Tell me to drink it before I come in.”

 

“And then what?”

 

“You’ll know if you have to shoot or not.”

 

Dean swept out into the night on the trail the shifters.

 

 

 

~~~

 

“Oh, shit!” Cassie leapt from the couch and ran for the windows at the front of the house. For hours she had sat holding the gun to her chest and then nearing eleven at night, shouts rang out in the silence. And an inhuman growling that seemed to shake the walls.

 

At first she could only see Sam and Bernie running into the clearing in front of the house and then she saw it.

 

The beast – part hairy clawed pig and part dog – tore at Sam’s back until he fell back into the woods. The thing then turned toward Bernard and swiped at his legs so that he dropped inches from the porch. Without thinking she opened the door, aimed and fired a shot.

 

“Oh. My. God.”

 

The thing fixed her with a yellowed-eyed stare. Dragging its wounded paw, it took a staggering step toward her.

 

“Hey,” Dean yelled from the clearing in the woods, limping toward the house. His face was streaked with blood and dirt but his cocky grin was unmarred. “I’m the one who just burned your boyfriend, bitch.”

 

The thing turned as if it understood and then took off running. Dean walked towards it, stumbling to the left and the right as if to embrace the beast.

 

“Nooo…,” she screamed and fired.

 

The thing cried in pain as blood poured out of its back, but not before it had clawed Dean’s shirt open.

 

“Baby?” Cassie dropped the gun and ran towards Dean’s crumpled body, bypassing the twitching half-animal / half-human who lay gasping for breath. “Baby?”

 

She laid her body across his, not bothered by the trickles of blood from the scratches, listening to his heartbeat and his hitching breaths.

 

“Are you alright?” he asked as his eyes opened and closed.

 

 

 

~~~

 

“Those weren’t bears.” Bernard shook so hard that he flung beads of sweat in every direction.

 

“No. And we’ve got to get rid of that body. Can you understand me, Bernard?” Sam pulled the sheriff up from the porch and led him over to the nude body of the female lying in the dirt.

 

Dean watched them drag the body into the woods, all the while Sam quietly explaining to the sheriff what exactly had happened. “Are you sure that you’re alright?” Dean hugged Cassie to his chest and stretched his legs out so that the porch’s swing rocked them gently.

 

“I’m okay.” She pushed out of his hold and held up the ring box. “You dropped this.”

 

Dean patted the pocket of his jeans finding that it had been torn away. “This wasn’t my plan. I want you to know that.” Dean shook bits of drying mud from his hair, tried to straighten what was left of his tattered shirt, and then opened the box.

 

“Cassie, I love you and you know that’s not easy for me to say. Especially considering tonight.” He whooshed out a long breath, clearing his mind of the shifters and the guns and the blood. “But, uhm, I think we have something special. Something more than the hunt and I think you believe that too.”

 

Cassie nodded and her mouth opened into a wide o.

 

He laughed. After saving his life from a shifter, she still had the capacity for surprise. “Will you marry me, Miss Cassandra Robinson?”

 

“Yes,” Cassie squealed as he slid the ring onto her finger. “I’ll marry you! Oh, my God. I’m getting married and I’m pregnant. How wonderful is this?” Cassie threw her arms around his neck, pushing him awkwardly back into the arm of the swing.

 

Pregnant? His mind spun around the word while Cassie gushed in his ear.

 

“We’ll have a simple ceremony. I’ll have to wear off-white or cream. Laura can plan it. She likes that kind of thing. Which last name will we use? Can I be a Winchester?”

 

Dean grasped Cassie’s arms and held her away from him. “You’re pregnant?”

 

Cassie covered and uncovered her face with her hands. “This wasn’t the way I wanted to tell you either, but yes. We’re having twins. We’re going to be a family.” Cassie pushed her lips against his.

 

My family, echoed in his head as Cassie’s body melted into his.

 

In that heat, he smiled. His wife and his children.

 

 

 

~~~

 

“Are you having any strange cravings like those women on that show who eat detergent?”

 

“No.” Cassie finished braiding her hair and then snuggled down next to Dean. “What do you watch when I’m not around?”

 

“Different things,” he chuckled. “Twins? We have to get two of everything.” He continued talking with a faraway look on his face and a curious smile like he actually could see them both.

 

“Do you know something I don’t?” Cassie popped up on her elbow and his little smile grew into a wide grin.

 

“I’m just happy. I didn’t think I was this was going to happen. Ever.” He pecked her lips and then drew her into a tight hug. “But first we have to get married. Do you want to see the JP tomorrow?”

 

“We’re having a wedding. I was thinking maybe a vineyard in California. Something small.” Cassie snuggled in closer to Dean, relishing the warmth steaming from his freshly showered body.

 

“I’ll have to see if I have any felony counts in California pending.”

 

“Oh.” Perhaps, marrying a hunter wasn’t going to be as easy as she’d envisioned two hours ago. “We could get married on an island. It’s still legal but without the warrants. Of course that will have to be soon because I can’t fly after the fifth month.

 

“Whatever you decide,” Dean yawned and flipped off the bedside light. “I’m not going anywhere until they’re born. Until I see their faces.”

 

“What are you going to do for six more months?” Cassie laughed. For the life of her she couldn’t grasp the concept of Dean without the hunt.

 

“I’m going to be a regular guy who is about to get married and have two amazing kids. But right now, we’re going to get some sleep and have a normal day tomorrow. I promise.” Dean kissed her forehead and then turned over, dragging her arm around his waist as he did so.

 

Soon she alone was awake, listening to his soft snores, the birds calling to each other along the shore and the lap of the waves against the battered canoe. I’m just happy, played in her head like a lullaby.

 

So very happy.

 

 

 

 

Outside of Dallas, Texas

 

Cassie sunk down into the kitchen chair under Dean’s watchful gaze. For a moment, she breathed easily watching a small smile play across his face. For a moment everything was still and quiet and rest seemed so near. Then just as suddenly, she yawned and was reminded that she hadn’t slept for more than a few hours at a time since they had returned from Oregon.

“Bad dreams?” he asked, the smile disappearing.

“It’s stress.” Cassie rubbed her hands over stomach. “The pregnancy. Getting married…or not.”

“Yeah.” Dean eased his chair back from the table. “I’m on my out. Do you want something?”

She wanted to know where he went when he drove out into the early mornings. She wanted to know what he thought about when he stared out into the night. And yet she couldn’t make herself ask. “I’m good.”

“I won’t be long and we’ll get this thing figured out.” He pecked her cheek and then made his way of the kitchen.

Figure it out? As far as marriage was concerned, there was no way in.

Dean Winchester was a wanted felon in some states, legally dead in others and he’d never paid taxes. Not to mention that her friends and co-workers knew him as Agent Young.

Cassie whooshed out a long breath, wishing for normal.

“But that’s not what we have, huh, my babies?”

We’ll just have to figure it out.

***

Dazzling circles of light bounced on the white tabletop in Dmitry’s Restaurant. Much too bright for his mood, but the bustle of the morning staff provided just enough noise so that his mind didn’t wander too far.

“I’m sure she’s saying Siagaras.” Dean shouldered the phone to his ear, while he flipped through the scraps of paper containing the notes he’d written in the night. For the last few weeks, Cassie had talked in her sleep though she never remembered the conversations when she awoke. Only that she was tired and a little disoriented. “Sammy, maybe you’re spelling it wrong.”

“Dean, the closest thing I’ve found is a village in India.”

“Maybe it’s some deity or something.”

“Or maybe…maybe it really is getting to her about the wedding.”

Of course it was. He’d watched the light dim in Cassie’s eyes and heard her footsteps grow heavier and heavier when she entered the house each evening. It was the wedding that didn’t seem possible and as she’d said earlier, the pregnancy wasn’t always easy. But there was something else. Something he could control. “This thing has a name. It comes when she’s sleeping and I can’t wake her up. I need you to find out what this is.”

“I’m working on it. And uhm…I’ll see you later today. I got some personal stuff going on this morning.”

“Are you ever going to tell me that you’re still sleeping with Cassie’s cousin?”

“Heh…How did you know?”

“You’re terrible at lying to me.”

“I’ll keep that in mind but for now let’s figure out this thing with you and…we’ll talk about Laura later.”

“Sure.” Dean disconnected and pushed the phone into his pocket. Hopefully, one day they’d laugh about how Sam had developed personal stuff on the same days as Laura Wilthew had personal stuff that kept her away from Tyler Publications. But he doubted it.

No matter what happened between Sam and Laura, the laughter would only last for a moment before someone started talking in their sleep. “Agarus?” he repeated, trying to make the word make sense.

“What’s Agarus? Is that why you aren’t spending the day with that pretty girl?” Leila Dmitry slid into the booth opposite his as if he’d asked her to join him. “And where’s your brother?”

“Have you ever heard of starting a conversation with…I don’t know…Good Morning?”

“Not when I’m feeding somebody for free.” Leila glanced over at his empty plate and back up to him.

Irritating as the older woman was, she could be counted on for researching. Especially since his brother was busy. “Alright, I got a name of something. People talk to it when they are sleeping and they can’t be woken up.” He chose his words carefully, not wanting to cause alarm among the hunters up early enough to grab their meal from Leila.

“Hmmm, could be a possession – ghost or demon or a bona fide medical condition. What else?”

“Sam and I think it’s called Agarus or Siagarus. Ever heard of that name?”

“Siagarus?” Leila chuckled. “Are you saying, exagoras?”

Leila’s breathy inhale and exhale of the word instantly brought forward the image of Cassie’s lips moving in their sleepy murmur. “Exagoras? I think so. Who is that?”

“Not who. It’s a Greek word. It means to exchange but like…” Leila opened and closed her hands in front of her as if she was trying to pull something from the air. “It means to…Shit! I haven’t spoken Greek in so long. Give me your phone.”

Dean handed it to her, his heart racing.

Exchanging what?

“Ah…here it is. It’s like a ransom. Or redemption.”

Redemption? If anyone needed redemption, it was him not Cassie. “That doesn’t make sense.”

Leila lowered her head, her voice barely a whisper, “You’re right. Doesn’t even warrant me writing it down.”

***

By the time Dean found his way back to the house he shared with Cassie, it was early afternoon. Sam sat on the porch looking as if he didn’t have a care in the world. I looked like that a few weeks ago, he reminded himself and sat down next to his brother.

“Cassie said she’d be back. She’d call if she was late.”

“How did she look?”

“Tired. Worried. Like any other woman who is pregnant for the first time. She seemed fine, Dean.”

“So you think I’m overreacting?”

“I do. Maybe talk with her doctor. Seriously, Dean, this thing doesn’t have to be anything supernatural. Enjoy your time off. Enjoy watching your children being born. Not every hunter gets this.”

“You’re right. We’ll see a doctor like other people.” Dean stared out as children rode their bikes past the house. Though the thought of redemption nagged at him, he forced himself to sit still and talk to his brother about anything except hunting.

Mostly they were silent.

***

“Hi Baby. Is Sam still there?”

“Cassie, where are you?” Dean’s fingers tightened around the phone and his voice lowered deep into his throat. He had eaten dinner, watched the sun set and paced through the house waiting for her to return home.

“I am at the Ai Hotel in downtown. Come meet me and pack a bag. And bring Sam.”

“Why?”

“Because I figured it out. I have to go. See you soon.”

“Cassie? Damn it!” He tossed the phone onto the sofa and looked over at Sam. “We’re going to some hotel.” Dean didn’t give Sam time to ask any questions, not that he had any answers. He was going to a hotel for some reason, but at least Cassie sounded happy.

After packing, he and Sam drove to the downtown location. It then only took a few minutes to find Cassie and Laura in the lobby.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” Cassie crossed the distance between them in a matter of seconds and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing his face as she did so. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Okay,” he chuckled, his earlier irritation disappearing in her giggles. “What is it?”

“We’re getting married right now.”

“Wh-what?”

“You were right. I haven’t slept in weeks. I’m so stressed about trying to have this wedding and talking to the attorneys that I’m missing what may be the only time I have you all to myself. So Laura and I had an idea. We have a ceremony here, just the four of us and well, Laura’s friend. She’s a minister for the Church of Light...”

“Stop. You want to have a wedding and a reception on an island. This isn’t what you want.”

“I want to be with you, Dean. That’s what I want. Do you not want that anymore? Is that why you leave every morning?” She dropped her hands away from him, staring up at him with stony eyes. “Dean?”

He pulled Cassie through the doors, away from the stares of Sam and Laura. “I leave because I can’t give you what you want. I come back because I can’t live without you. I do the same thing every day. I feel like I’m going to be doing this for the rest of my life.” A part of him hoped that she would give up and walk away. It might save them all.

But of course she didn’t.

Cassie smiled, that smile that showed she was happy and he would soon be as well. “Oh you crazy, crazy man. I love you. Come on, marry me. And don’t stare at the minister.” Cassie dragged him back through the lobby out to a small courtyard.

In front of a gurgling fountain stood a tall, reed-thin woman. Moonlight reflected from her bald head and illuminated the multicolored tattoos covering her bare arms.

“Really, Cass?”

“Don’t stare,” she whispered. “Just say yes and kiss me when you’re supposed to.”

The ceremony began with a poem from the tattooed woman and ended with kissing Cassie. Everything in between was only him staring down into her eyes and smiling. Maybe Leila had been right after all.

Exagoras.

He’d been redeemed.