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This is an ongoing fanfic of mine and will bring in the kiddos of these two. I hope you enjoy.




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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.


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.












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Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.