Dean cleared his throat once more, nodding his head. His voice was a little higher pitched when he spoke, “I’m fine. Um.”

When she touched his back, his eyes fluttered closed, a deep breath forming and leaving his lungs. His panic was over the idea that she could drive away, and never come back. Only this time, she wouldn’t be so close. She wouldn’t come back to Bobby, or anyone they knew. She would be gone for good. HIs shoulders tensed a bit at the thought, “Um. I’m fine. I just…”

Rage that normally followed panic was threatening to bubble up in his chest, as he stepped back from the counter, a fake smile planted on his lips.

“Sorry. Um…I think things are still a little raw from the fight with my dad. You know how he gets.”, he lied, giving a half smirk and a kiss to Mika’s forehead. He reluctantly turned to Bobby, raising a shaky hand, “How many car tickets you got out there, for repairs? I think I could use some time to get my hands dirty.”

He diverted his eyes back to Mika, thinking about her leaving again, as he pulled down the rage and fear in his head to try and not explode like a nuclear bomb. He honestly needed to hit something.

When Dean's voice went slightly high pitched as he tried to convince her that he was indeed fine. Mika of course didn't believe him at all, she had been around him long enough to know when he was lying through his teeth. The fake smile didn't make it any more convincing in her eyes, but she let him believe he was convincing her otherwise by giving him a smile and a nod as he then proceeded to kiss her forehead.

At the question toward Bobby, Mika couldn't help but look at Bobby as well to see what he could give Dean to do to try and vent out the frustration and rage he was no doubt feeling. "got too many. About 7 or 8 I think now. It's building up quicker than I can deal with it all" he admitted, "so if you think you can help me out today, by all means go for it" he told Dean. He had to think it was for the best that Dean changed his mind on going with Mika to the market and try to learn that she would come back to him. He knew probably better than anyone that Mika would never go to anyone else. Not even Ethan was in her life anymore as he distinctly remembered her breaking it off with him.

"look after him Bobby, I'm gonna go get dressed and head out to the market as the earlier I go, the better chances of a parking spot I can get" she smiled to them both, before giving Dean a reassuring look to say 'I'll be back before you know it'. Pecking his lips, she headed upstairs with almost a spring in her step as she ran up the creaking stairs skipping every other step. "NO RUNNING UP MY STAIRS!" Bobby called out before shaking his head. "I swear she's gonna break the staircase one day and go right through it" he grumbled.

Dean nodded to Bobby, raising his hands in a way to say that he was excited about the work that needed to be done. All he needed was a jack and a tool box, and he could distract himself a bit, to try and not think about what Mika was doing, and where. He ran a hand instinctively down the front of his bare chest, and then stretched, “Alright. Well. Most of them are probably just cleanings anyway. So, it shouldn’t take much. I could probably knock out half your list, today.”

When Mika confirmed she was leaving, his stomach sank again for a second, before her kiss brought it back up. It was reassuring, but he was so used to her lying that he didn’t know whether to believe his own peace. He kissed her back quickly, watching her walk away with a slight smirk.

“She’s a child, sometimes, Bobby. You know that.”, he quipped at Bobby when he complained about her running up the stairs. He pushed off and followed behind her, careful to walk, instead of run, “I’ve alway been your nice child. I never do anything wrong…”

As he joked, he exaggerated his steps up. Stepping into the bedroom not too far behind her, he sighed, stretching again. He half wanted to work out in the yard in only his sweats, but he knew Bobby would complain about him being ‘half naked’. So, he stepped up to his bag, which was still by the foot of the bed and threw it up on to the bed.

“You sure you’re going to be okay?”, he asked Mika, without looking at her, “I mean…you’re at least taking a gun, right? And your phone?”

He threw a t-shirt and then sweatshirt over his head, pulling it to rest around his waist. It was a different way of dressing than he was used to, not hunting. This was a vacation, and he was going to enjoy every second of his loungewear. The thought made him smile a bit.

Bobby nodded, deciding that Dean could do whatever and however much he wanted if it would help centre his train of thought and learn to accept what normality was like outside of hunting. "Sure kiddo" he replied to him, before he had to scold Mika for being a bloody child, despite very nmuch being an adult. WHen Dean followed her up and walked, making a exagerrated point then calling out how he was the nice kid, Bobby let a loud simple solo "ha!" at his words, before shaking his head with a smile on his face, fondness for the two of them clear on his face if there anyone was left in the room, which there wasn't. "bloody idjits" he fondly muttered his breath.

As Dean made it into her room behind her, Mika was at her wardrobe, doors open and shuffling through them to find something to wear that was a bit more comfortable than her usual hunting gear, but finding she had very few clothes of that calibre. "Yeah I'll be fine, I do the market run a few times for him otherwise he wouldn't have any food or drink in the fridge and freezer at all" she smiled as she explained it to him. She also never minded doing the market run as she felt like she was earning her keep by doing these things by living in his house. "But yes, I'll have my phone and my gun on me" she added, knowing she didn't normally take her gun but she would this time if it would mean Dean would feel a bit more at ease.

Pulling out finally a ribbed long sleeved top with thumbholes and criss crossing strapping round the neckline, a pair of faded black jeans and a pair of combat boots that weren't covered in mud like the pair she sported last night, she got dressed after finding some clean underwear, before sitting on the end of her bed to pull her boots on. She had her jackets downstairs on the coat hooks, as were her car keys, so all she had to do now was put on some makeup and brush her hair to tidy it up. So she walked to her vanity where she dried her hair the night before and took around ten minutes out to brush her hair neatly, apply eyeliner and her signature red lipstick. Looking in the mirror she realised that now she was back to being her, all she could see in the mirror was Kenzi...'thats gotta change' she thought to herself.

She took a proper look at him and saw what he was wearing and smiled, almost not remembering the last time she saw him in such casual and comfortable clothing. Walking over to him, she slid her hands round his waist to pull him to her and looked him in the eyes, "I promise you I will be fine and I'll be back in an hour tops. I'll give you a text when I'm leaving the market and at my car on my way if it'll help reassure you I'm safe" she told him, wanting to do all she could to keep him calm about her going.

Dean watched as Mika dressed, still not wanting to take his eyes off of her for more than a few seconds. He could tell that she was excited to get out of the house and do the shopping, and for that, he couldn’t complain about her leaving, too much. He ran a hand through his hair, his anxiety easing a bit at how confident she was that she, herself was coming right back. He also felt foolish for how possessive he was being toward her, which normally wasn’t his style, at all.

When she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, he couldn’t help draping his arms over her shoulders loosely, “You better. I’ll be elbow deep in a car engine by then, but I’ll go crazy if anything happens to you, again…”

He whispered his response, a sad smile on his lips as he looked her in they eyes, “I mean it.”

He leaned his head down and kissed her deeply, resting a hand on the back of her head, but being careful not to mess her hair up again. Although, that would keep her around longer…

‘No Dean.”, he told himself in his head, before pulling away from the kiss and kissing her nose.

“Now get out of here. And bring me some pie…”, he muttered, placing one more kiss on her forehead, before slapping her ass and shoving her toward the door, “I’ll be in the garage.”

She knew that he would be worried sick even if he didn't say it, but the fact he did it just brought that fact all the more to the foreground in her mind. She knew he was being possessive and clingy, and although it wasn't usually his style and she usually detested it, she didn't mind that he was being like it in this moment. She could understand how it was coming from a very valid place and she knew if it was the other way round and she got him back after losing him for a long period of time, she would be acting exactly the same way. The thought of him being elbow deep in a car engine made her smile at him, deciding that was a sight she would not be complaining about witnessing. "I know you do and I will" she replied.

She kissed him back deeply to show him how much he truly meant to her, even though last night more than showed showed that. Oh how his kisses drove her crazy and knew if she didn't pull away soon, she would be purposely letting herself delay in going out. It seemed that Dean had the same thought as he pulled away first and then kissed her nose. At his order for her to get moving she smirked, especially when he said about bringing him pie. "as if I could ever forget the pie" she told him, pecking his lips once more then headed downstairs where as promised, the cash was left for the shop with a shopping lift. Her car keys placed ontop of the list.

Grabbing her jacket first, she pulled it on, shoved the cash and shopping list in her jacket pockets before grabbing her car keys and heading out, down the front porch and to her beloved 66 impala. Unlocking it, she opened the door and got inside, put the keys in the ignition and started it up before driving off down the road to the main town's market.

Dean laughed when she mentioned she never forgot his pie. She was right. But he had to joke and boss her. His smile faded and he closed his eyes as she stepped around him, after another small kiss. He placed a single fist against the door, clinching the tips of his fingers to his palm, his nostrils flaring.

“This is ridiculous.”, he muttered to himself, alluding to his anxiety. Dean was good at pushing down anxiety. He was good at being okay. Huffing, he stepped back over to the bed, and pulled his one pair of tennis shoes from his bag, dropping them on the floor and slipping his feet in without loosening the laces. He then exited the room and trotted down the stairs, realizing she was already gone.

He sighed, hearing her car start and walked toward the back door, “Bobby, I’ll be in the garage! If you need me, you’ll have to come get me…I won’t hear you yell.”

He then opened the garage door silently, and stepped into the garage, heading for the first car he saw with a note: A 1966 Mustang Shelby.

It took Mika around ten minutes to get to the market and about another five to actually find a parking spot as it was slightly busier than she predicted for some reason on this day. With a parking spot found, she turned off the engine, removed the keys and got out of her car, locking the door behind her. Pulling out the shopping list she headed inside, grabbed a trolley and started the shop. She noticed there was far too much bad stuff on the list making her mentally scoff and shake her head at Bobby, knowing that was going to change. She made a point to get fresh food with only a few bits for the freezer and made sure to head to the bakery section where she picked up an apple pie for Dean.

As she went round she checked off the things off the list with a small pencil she found in her pocket before finding the beauty section and pharmacy area where she took a little bit of time to look through all the hair dye colours before finding she was being drawn to the hot pink highlight kit and the black dye. Shoving them in the trolley, she grabbed some hair scissors and headed toward the till points, picking Dean up a bottle of his favourite whiskey as a treat as well and joined the queue. Thanks to how busy it was, it took her a bit longer to get through before she could carry the bags back to her car, but luckily she was still in the time window she gave Dean. Placing the bags on the roof of her car so she could get her car keys out, she unlocked the car, placed the shopping in the back seat of her car then got in, sitting down and pulling out her phone, seeing she had been roughly 50minutes so far, "perfect" she muttered to herself and sent Dean a quick text:

"hey, back at the car, on my way back,
see you in 10. Xx"

Clicking send, she chucked her phone on the passenger seat and began her drive back home.

Dean was leaned deep into his fourth car, flying through most of them with just a crank of a few bolts, which had disappointed him, a bit. He had wanted a few complicated projects to keep him busy, but honestly, things were moving pretty fast, until this particular car.

It was Bobby’s Chevelle, and what the hell had he done to this thing? He pulled a nearly solid black hand from the guts of the car, rubbing the back of his wrist against his forehead as something caught his eye. He reached in, pulling lightly on the fabric that had wrapped itself around the compressor belt, “What the hell, Bobby Singer?”

As he struggled with it, it slowly came free while he cussed and grumbled at it, rotating the belt. His phone pinged, which caused his head to shoot up from under the hood, grabbing the filthy shop towel he had draped over the grill. He wiped his hands quickly, which didn’t do much good and picked up his phone, checking his messages.

Seeing her text, he sighed audibly in relief, “There you are…”

He texted back quickly:



He then turned back to the car, tossing his phone back onto the parts cart. With one final tug, he managed to pull a bloody shirt from the compressor of Bobby’s Chevelle, holding it up with a curled nose.

“What the hell, Bobby…Not your car…”, he groaned, realizing it was probably the shirt of a monster from a hunt. He tossed the shirt up on to the cart by his phone, and began putting the belt back onto the compressor.

As Mika was pulling out of the parking spot she had she saw her phone light up with the text back from him, deciding she would look at it briefly once she got the first set of traffic lights, which she did indeed do as it turned out the first set of lights were taking a while to actually change. Seeing that he was still in the garage wasn't too much of a surprise to her as she did remember Bobby saying that there were a few that needed fixing up. With the lights turning green, she put her phone down and continued the ten minute drive back to Bobby's and instead of parking out front like she normally did, she did what she hated doing normally and drove round to the back.

Dean would hear her car before he saw it come round the corner where she beeped her horn in two short bursts to let him know it was her and she was very much safe and sound. She pulled in as near to the back door as possible near the garage before doing what she needed to and stepping out of the car, going to the back seats door and grabbing the brown paper bags of shopping. "yo! Fancy taking one of the bags for me?" she called out to him as she kept ahold of the second bag she just pulled out before with her free hand, locking the car. She would have added that she remembered his favourites but decided to leave it as a surprise instead as she fully planned on getting him to help put everything away.

She was also curious to what he'd say the moment he would find the boxes of hair dye in one of the bags, or if he wouldn't notice until she actually went to actually dye her hair.

Dean heard the familiar sound of an Impala engine rounding the corner of Bobby’s house. He picked up a cleaner shop rag, and clapped it between his hands, wiping as much of the grease as he could from his fingers. Its as going to be no use, until he got ahold of some orange soap. Not that Bobby minded a bit of grease around the house, anyway. It was part of the allure of the Singer home.

He stepped out of the garage as Mika’s car came into view, and smiled brightly, his shirt now covered in black smears. There were random smudges of black on his face from wiping sweat, and even a couple of black streaks in the lighter areas of his hair. He quickly rushed over to her, grabbing the bags from her as she pulled them from the car.

“Good to see you. It’s been forever…”, he joked, leaning in and kissing her temple quickly. His tense shoulders relaxed a bit at the fact that she was home. He knew she was safe. He smiled once more, trying not to touch her anymore than he had to, with his dirty clothes.

He glanced down at the fresh food in the bags, completely missing the hair dye as he snooped. He then smirked and looked up at her.

“He’s gonna be so excited that you modified the shopping list, you know…”, he muttered to her jokingly as he started walking back into the garage to take the groceries in, “I’ve been the good child. I fixed the Chevelle…”

When Dean came into view and she saw the greasy state he was in she couldn't help but smirk. It was strangely attractive seeing the man she loved in such a way but quickly shook those thoughts from her mind as she asked him to help her out. With his joking words of it being forever she chuckled, smiled as he kissed her temple and half rolled her eyes, "forever the drama queen" she teased as she saw how much more relaxed he seemed to get now she was back home.

She started walking back toward the back door with him as he snooped in the bags and saw the fresh food in them, unable to refrain from making a comment. "yeah well, he had shit junk on it and nothing but. I still got some of it but I ain't eating crap all my life. I'm a growing girl!" she replied, amused that her not so sly action with the shop noticed before laughing at his remark about the good kid.

"such a suck up!" she teased him, gently knocking his shoulder with her own as they stepped inside and straight into the kitchen where she put the bag down on the worktop. "oh Dean, there's a treat or two for you in the bag you got" she commented as she began to unpack the bag she just put down, pulling out the fresh vegetables and fruit first before pulling out the box dyes that were at the bottom of the bag.

Dean scoffed at her words about the junk food Bobby had on the list. Bobby knew him as well as he would know his own son, and most of the food was stuff they would agree on. So, he raised his eyebrows at the idea of eating something that wouldn’t destroy his heart by age 30. He also knew that she was a little more picky about what she put in her body, which made it a little more challenging to get uniform groceries. For that, he rolled his eyes, “You’re just a princess…”

When she nudged him, he nudged her back a little roughly and shrugged his shoulders. He was a suck up. Maybe it was because he wasn’t Bobby’s blood and he felt the need to fight a bit harder to get his approval, but either way, he was the good kid. Laughing at her comment, he reached before the door and grabbed the finished tickets for Bobby to call his clients and tell them their cars were done.

As he stepped into the house, he yelled out before stepping up behind Mika, “Bobby! The Vans, the mustang and the Chevelle are done!”

He then stepped up behind Mika and sat his bag on the counter, hugging her waist quickly before digging into the bag. He gasped at the sight of both pie and whiskey, pulling them out with a wide smile. His smile faded a bit into confusion, when he saw the hair dye.

“Um…”, he started speaking, sitting the whiskey down gently, but holding the pie to his chest, “That’s not food. Needing a change?”

Mika just ignored his comment about her being a princess, instead just scoffing at his words as her only reply. She didn't take offence to his words, as she was so used to him calling her a princess. It was never a case of her not liking junk food, of course she did but she also believed in a balanced diet and she didn't want either of the two men in her life just living off of junk and nothing else. She didn't see the harm in looking after them both. SHe did still buy some of the things Bobby requested, it's not like she changed absolutely everything.

She smirked when he nudged her back a little harder than she nudged him, but took it nonetheless. She actually found it quite sweet that he was a bit of a suck up to Bobby, and enjoyed calling himself 'the good kid' out of the two of them as it meant there was always a playful atmosphere between the three of them and if that she was the rebellious one then quite frankly? So be it. After he called out to Bobby, she heard her uncle call back from the hallway as he came back downstairs, "Alright! Thanks boy!" before Bobby muttered under his breath 'ten points to Dean' so neither of the 'kids' could actually hear him. It was entirely petty but he had to admit there was some kind of enjoyment out of pitting the two of them against each other in the sense of giving them points for whenever they did something he wanted.

Seeing Dean find the pie and whiskey and clasped booth like they were items of the holy variety she had to chuckle before he spotted the dye and looked utterly confused. She noticed how he put the whiskey down on the counter but not the pie and had to smirk softly to herself over it before letting her face become a bit more serious and look at him in the eyes. "I think it's time I said goodbye to Kenzi and become me again....but a new me" she told him honestly.

Dean smiled when Bobby gave him his confirmation of doing a good job, and almost reveled in doing something write for a change. Cars were definitely something outside of hunting that he was good at. So, what a better challenge?

He popped open the lid to his pie, and walked over to the silverware drawer to grab a fork as Mika explained the hair dye and his eyebrows raised at the talks of change. He couldn’t disagree with the idea of bringing the old Mika back, in a way. She was standing right beside him, but there were times that he looked at her, and just saw the lies and the confusion. He saw the scavenger hunt, and the pain.

Taking a decently sized bite of pie, he leaned against the counter, a bit of black grease from his shirt smearing against the wood top as he did so, “So soon? I mean…I’m happy for it, because this whole look…”

He pointed in a circle in front of her with his fork, before digging in for another bite, “…it’s not you, obviously. But don’t girls normally do this sort of thing at salons or something? What if you burn all your hair off?”

He was joking, trying to lighten the subject of Kenzi being brought up again as he chewed and gave a cheeky smile. He noticed the colors of the hair dye and stared at them for a second before back at her, thinking of her in them. The thought of her not having white hair anymore, and not being so distant and cold sent a tiny spark through his chest.

“I’m proud of you…”

When Dean popped open the lid of the big pie she bought him and went straight for the cutlery drawer she couldn't help but smirk slightly and think 'typical Dean Winchester' whilst she was explaining things to him. His reaction wasn't strictly one she was expecting, not that she really thought about his reaction and what it could possibly be, but for some reason the raised eyebrows wasn't one of them. She would have been lying if she said or thought that her choice for change was just for her own doing, because it wasn't. She wanted to give not only her closure in the Kenzi saga, but also Dean.

She watched his every move intently as he leaned against the coutnertop and putting grease on it in the process, 'I hadn't long cleaned that...' she thought to herself, knowing only a day ago before she went on the hunt she did as deep a clean as she possibly could in the kitchen. She couldn't stay mad at him for it though, or even get mad at all actually before listening to him reply to her plan, watching his actions at the same time. At his teasing remark about girls going to a salon to get their hair changed and speaking about dye burning all her hair off, she smirked and rolled her eyes once more, a common reaction to most teasing remarks he was giving her.

She was about to reply to his remark when his next short sentence caught her off guard for the split second, making her smile softly and warmly at him. "Thank you...hearing you say that means the world to me" she replied to him, "And yeah some girls might but I didn't go to a salon to get this current colour done, so why start now? But yes, I think now is the right time. We're back as us, the lies are over with and I want to do all I can to make amends for everything this alter ego has done to you...to us. It's time to say goodbye, she's hung around for far too long. I may not be the shy bookworm I once was but I'm not Kenzi either. We deserve to say goodbye to her and get closure....once and for all" she told him honestly.

Dean stepped away from the counter and smiled when she reacted to him telling her he was proud of her. He leaned in and gave her a grimy kiss on the lips, before talking against her lips briefly, “Well, I want to watch. Every step of the way, saying goodbye. Saying hello. All of it.”

He kissed her one more time, rubbing his dirty nose against hers and smudging a bit of black against it. When he noticed what he had done, he laughed with full teeth, his head thrown back, and tried to clean it with his sleeve, only to make it worse.

“Oh jeez.”, he giggled, looking down at his shirt. He looked back up at her apologetically, “I need a shower. Then I want to watch this change. You’re welcome to join…or watch…or do whatever it is that Mika does.”

He opened the fridge, shoving his pie on the top shelf with the first phrase, then turned and placed his hand on the counter with the second phrase, before finishing up by booping the end of her nose.

Even though he was dirty from car grease, Mika kissed him back before smiling softly at him saying he wanted to be a part of the whole process which meant just as much to her as him telling her he was proud of her. "and you can be" she replied to him.

She kissed him back again but when he rubbed his dirty nose on hers she wrinkled her face up knowing that could only transfer the dirt onto her. Yet seeing him notice what he had done and burst into full blown genuine laughter at his mistake was worth it in her eyes. She was glad that he tried to clean it up but just kept making it worse, so she playfully swatted his hand away from her face.

"I'm gonna do my damnest to get this grease off my face thanks to you at the sink, and I'll meet you upstairs? I can put the last couple of bits away too" she told him as she watched him put his pie in the fridge. As tempting as it was to join him in the shower, she needed to behave herself and she was certain the dye needed going on dry hair as well. "and Dean? I love you" she smiled.

Dean shrugged, looking around at what little she had to do, “Suit yourself. I’ll be out in a bit.”

He scoffed and turned around to walk upstairs turning sharply when she called his name one more time, and said the “L” word to his face. He raised his eyebrows, standing still for several seconds, before clearing his throat with a soft smile, “Um. I know.”

His soft smile widened a bit, and he winked at her. These were all subtle body language cues that he used to let people know that they were safe, or that he loved them and just couldn’t say the word out loud. He then carefully turned around and walked up the stairs, trying not to touch the bannisters.

He opened her door, stepping into the bedroom once again with a sigh, taking in the fact that he was still here. She was here, and she loved him. He smirked as he removed his shirts, and tossed them onto his bag to try and not ruin any of her laundry. He shoved his sweats down, and toed off his shoes.

“She loves you…”, he whispered to himself, biting his lip as he turned the shower on and stepped in as the water heated up, “Hot damn…”

When Mika said the big four letter word to him, she mentally wanted to hit herself and question why now of all times, she blurted it out. Yet when he smiled from the staircase and said 'I know' with the wink, she smiled back and thought that maybe, just maybe, she didn't bugger it up by telling him that after all. She let him continue going upstairs as she grabbed the last couple of bits and put them away in either the fridge or cupboard depending on the items and leaned against the worktop for a moment to digest that she did very well tell him how she felt.

Sure it was always there in some form or another, but she had never told him it on that calibre before. She wanted to before they got separated, but she was still young and really didn't know what it meant to say those three words, so she always kept it to herself. But after everything they had gone through together the last few years, she realised that ues, she did love him. Truly love him. Snapping out of her thoughts she grabbed her dyes and headed upstairs, noticing Bobby in the other room on the way up. She heard Dean walking around upstairs figuring he had made it to her bathroom.

Instead of instantly going into the bathroom like she originally planned to tow Ash the grease off her nose, she walked into her room and pulled out an old tatty t-shirt with little holes in it sporadically and an old pair of athletic leggings to change into so she didn't risk getting dye on her good clothes. She pulled off her jacket and threw it on the bed before pulling her ribbed top off and changing into the old one then continued in doing the same with her boots and jeans into the leggings, then she walked into the bathroom after he was well and truly in it, placed the boxes of dye ontop of the cabinet above the sink so she could finally get the grease off of her face.

Grabbing an flannel she always kept to one side for such stains, she turned the tap on, wet it and pumped some of her more hevy duty soap onto it, then continuing to scrub her face after seeing the mess he left on her face. It was probably one of the few times she didn't even say anything to him, as she focused on doing what she was and so he could do the same, even if it was difficult to not strip down and join him.