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Author's Chapter Notes:

This takes place a month after Dean and Cassie return from their Oregon trip.




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.


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.

 

 












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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.