Sam noticed how Dean smiled at Lexi as she told him she had both had worse company and been worse company than Dean. He knew lexi had the ability to make anyone smile, no matter the situation but seeing her bring Dean's smile out felt like he had just witnessed a miracle happen. He also saw how Dean caught what the shadow of Lexi's engagement ring and his smile lowered ever so slightly, knowing it would be a heavy reminder of the fact the two of them were very much in the same stage of life, even if Lexi had been in it longer than Dean had, and managed to pull herself out of the darkest part of that tunnel.

He wasn't in the slightest bit surprised that Dean chose to mock him utterly childishly with a scrunching up of his nose and snarling it in the process. He wasn't going to retort with anything but it seemed Lexi's idea of continuing to get any extra ideas for what it was they were hunting whilst Dean showed her to the armoury distracted Dean.

Lexi looked between the brothers as Sam agreed to the plan and Dean muttered and stammered his reply. "i'll be at the table in the war room when you're ready" Sam replied to Lexi. Any other time, he probably would have told Dean to behave himself, considering the mischievous smile didn't escape his notice, but it was still a raw time so he didn't want to push his luck.

"Perfect! Lead the way when you're ready. The sooner we get back out there, the better I'll feel about it." Lexi smiled back at Dean. "Consider it your thanks for the food" she quipped at Dean, giving her own mischievous smile back at him as she stood up frm her chair at the table, then pushing it back under the table after herself. Sam got up also and headed to the war room and back to the table.

"Please be able to help each other" he muttered to himself about the two of them. He wanted to see them both happy again as he knew they deserved it. He hated seeing his brother in full grief, even though he knew it was more than reasonable and it was their way. Yet he also hated seeing Lexi have her moments of bad nights as well, he might not have known her for a long time, not like how he and Dean had known Mika for, but he had grown to really like Lexi and trust her with his life on hunts.

Dean stepped toward the doorway, shooting a glance back at Sam, before walking out into the war room, and turning to let Lexi catch up to him. As she approached his side, he looked down at her with a small smile, “You know Sam knows the way to the armory, too, right? This is his house too.”

He chuckled and walked up the steps into the corridor that led down to the rooms, and the various work areas that made up the bunker. After a few moments, they made it to a large metal door, and Dean reached out to turn the wheel that locked it, turning it and with some effort, he wrenched door open.

“The armory. There’s shotguns, land mines, all the holy water you could need, if you had a demon problem…these guys planned for everything. We just make sure it’s clean.”, Dean said proudly as they stepped into the tight corridor of the armory. Along the walls were various weapons and tools. Different sizes of ropes and chains hung on one wall, along with handcuffs with different sigils and symbols carved into them. On the other two walls were various guns, knives, and grenades.

“It’s a little tight in here. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, if you um…if you want me to wait out in the hall.”, Dean muttered awkwardly, barely looking up at her as he spoke the words. They were already pressed pretty tightly together, as he tried to get past her to walk toward the door of the vault.

Lexi walked behind the boys and caught up to Dean, noticing how he glanced back at Sam who was back with his nose stuck in the books. She looked up at him as he spoke to her and walked side by side toward the armoury, making a mental note of the way to it. "I know but he knows what we've been facing out there so therefore he's more useful on the books. Figured it'd best to do the two things at once instead of wasting time doing them one at a time" she replied to him honestly, though she did also want to put Dean to some kind of activity to help keep his mind off his mourning just for a little while longer and to get more of a read on the guy.

Reaching the large metal door with a safe style locking mechanism, she waited and watched him turn the wheel with some effort and was glad she didn't go alone to deal with it. Once it was open she saw how cramped it was in comparison to the rest of the bunker, but also saw just how well stocked it was. It honestly impressed her and it showed on her face as she stepped inside, instantly seeing how closely she was pressed to Dean in the process. Dean's pride in the armoury was evident and endearing, making her realise that only hunters could really find such a thing as endearing in someone else. "Impressive collection!" she smiled, looking around.

"It's fine, I'm not uncomfortable." she then replied to him at his considerate comment about not wanting to make her feel uncomfortable being this close to someone else. She glanced at him and saw how awkwardly he was looking down so not to make eye contact with her and she couldn't help but wonder if this was making him uncomfortable. "But if it's making you uncomfortable..?" she said trailing off her words, unsure of how to finish that sentence without either offending the guy or upsetting him.

Being this close to him, she noticed his features properly, how strong his jawline was, how striking his eyes were and damn, did he smell good. The shower and clean up did him justice, making her see how his ex girlfriend really could have fallen in love with him. She hoped one day he would find something or someone to help him move on from his grief and smile once again. She just didn't think for a single instant that it could ever be her. Sweeping some of her hair behind her ear, she looked up at the weaponry around her trying to decide what to take, looking for anything silver deciding that was as good a place to start as anywhere.

"This place is incredible" she commented, "not just this armoury but this whole bunker. It has such an amazing vibe about it" she added, looking over her shoulder at him, shooting him a smile as she did so. "you boys are lucky" she said once more.

Dean raised his eyebrows a bit confused when Lexi said she wasn’t uncomfortable, pressed up against him in the tight corridor of the armory. He stopped trying to move past her, momentarily, turning his face to hers. He scanned her face, noticing their height difference, and the way her auburn hair framed her face. His heart rate picked up uncomfortably in his chest, and he took a deep breath.

“Nah. I’m not un-uncomfortable. We just don’t know each other very well and being pressed up against a total stranger, well…almost total stranger in the middle of a tiny room just seems a bit um…pers-personal.”, he stammered out, stepping to the side enough to let her step into the deeper parts of the armory alone.

He watched her as she pushed the hair behind her ear, following her fingers with his eyes carefully, and then took another deep breath, clearing his throat. He placed his hand on one of the counters, turning his lower body to the side as she commented on the bunker again. He nodded his head, biting his lip, “It was kinda passed down to us by our grandfather. That’s a long story. It’s become a pretty good home, and we have actual beds.”

Dean laughed softly, as her smile pierced through him and caused his heart to race again. Coming here alone with her, while he was sober was a horrible idea. His brain was looking for some sort of human on human contact that wasn’t Sam, and he was finding it. Yet, he felt like his chest was going to explode with nervous energy. As he stared at her with a little more intention, he reiterated his thoughts from earlier in the night, his face serious, “And we have plenty of room.”

The way Dean stammered his reply just emphasised Lexi's opinion of endearment she had of Dean and the whole place she was surrounded by. She had to nod her agreement on his remark on being this close to someone she didn't really know was incredibly personal but she trusted him, in her eyes if he was Sam's brother then she didn't need to be worried in this moment. She felt like she was a good judge of character and although she knew Hunters were more than capable of doing some retty questionable things, she knew she'd trust Sam with her life and if Dean was that questionable, then Sam wouldn't let her anywhere near him alone.

She listened to him explain how the bunker was passed down to them by their grandfather, a story that Sam had never truly fully told her about and was one she most definitely wanted to hear at some point or another. She smiled more and sniggered lightly as he chuckled whilst mentioning the proper beds comment, knowing all too well how hard it could be for a proper decent bed to be available to hunters. The extra comment of 'plenty of room' also made her continue to smile and nod.

Grabbing some silver blades and ammo, knowing she was low on silver bullets she began placing the items down on another counter, as her fingers grazed over other weaponry lightly, showing that she really did look and respect what was before her. "and I appreciate being let to crash here for a couple of days. The motels around here look major dodgy if you ask me" she replied. Turning back to face him, she noticed him standing sideways slightly but said nothing, it wasn't her business and she certainly didn't know him well enough to know if it was normal of him or not.

"maybe one day you can tell me the story of how you got this passed down to you" she suggested, her own way of discreetly finding out more about the bunker and having an excuse to spend a bit more time with him to know him better. There was something about him, and as much she partly felt like she wanted to remain faithful to her first love, she knew he wouldn't want her to feel alone forever, and right now she was just learning about Dean like she had about Sam.

She couldn't stop looking and smiling at him, finding that since her fiancee he was one of the first people to make her smile this way again. He was a breath of fresh air to her, even if he was grieving and she felt slightly bad for wanting his attention, even if she didn't think he would want to look at her in any particular way in this moment of time.

"Guys! I found what we're fighti-" Sam's voice came through the corridor but got cut off when he saw the two of them staring at each other in the armoury. "Am I interrupting something?" he asked them both.

Dean couldn’t help wanting to offer to let her stay for a bit longer, just so they could have a real conversation about…well anything. She just seemed infinitely interesting, and he was surprised that Sam wasn’t more interested in her. While she wasn’t totally his type, the stories her eyes could tell, without a single word was definitely something Sam was into.

“I would love to.”, he said a bit quieter then he meant to, when she asked to hear more about the Bunker and the Men of Letters. The fact that she was the one that mentioned the conversation caused his eyebrows to raise as it landed hard in his brain. She said ‘one day’. She planned to come back. She specifically wanted to spend time with him.

His heart fluttered once again in his chest, followed by a small but fleeting tinge of guilt.

As she stepped closer to him, her smile not fading, Dean’s intense green eyes locked onto hers, and he smiled back at her. He attempted to get out of her way, as he stared at her, but neither of their bodies seemed in much of a hurry to move. So, he made the first move, bringing a hand down to her hip to steady her, so he could get by.

His thumb brushing the skin of her hip caused his breath to hitch in his throat, and he leaned in close to her face, scooting himself to the side, just as Sam showed up at the door and Dean turned his head, his eyes wide, “Um. NO! No no no. It’s a little um…a little tight in here. We really should widen this little walkway. Here…”

Pressing Lexi’s hips against the counter, he scooted past her and raised his hands, as if to try and prove to his brother that he had no ulterior motives behind the small touch, but his heart was still racing wildly in his chest as he stood by the door and crossed his arms, “Lexi um…she found the weapons you need and stuff.”

All of Lexi's previous thoughts of not being someone Dean would take a second glance at, or it being way too soon for him to even look at another woman in the same way he did his past girlfriend all came flying out of the window as he scooted closer to her, smiling back. His green eyes glistening in the light of the armoury as his eyes seemed to smile back as well as his lips, a smile that seemed to compliment her own perfectly. It made her guiltily wonder where he had been all her life and why it had taken all these months to meet him, after knowing Sam all this time or why she hadn't met him before she met her now deceased fiancee.

She too had moments of curiousity of how Sam never hit on her during their time of knowing each other but she always appreciated how different he was by not seeing her as someone to just hit on, he saw she was a woman who was grieving and having to salt and burn her fiancee and mourn his departure of this world. He respected her wishes and actions all the way and never once used her grieving as an excuse to try and win her over. Instead he befriended her when she really needed it and that meant more to her than the idea of getting with him. Now she was also was wondering if it was because the universe was waiting to make her meet Dean.

The fact that neither of them were in a hurry to move away from each other made her intrigued, her eyes flickered down toward her hip as Dean placed his hand there before her eyes flickered back up to his, the smile never leaving her lips or her eyes as he began to lean in closer to her face and.....Sam interrupted them. Gulping and running her hand through her hair to shake off the ever growing intense moment she was about to have with Dean, she looked at Sam as Dean acted incredibly awkward and defensive over Sam's question.

"uh-huh, sure. Anyway, I hope a lot of that is silver because we're dealing with a Strigoi" He explained, looking between the two of them. "A european vampire?" Lexi asked, eyebrow raised, the name ringing a bell in her mind from her past days of reading about other country's lores and mythical beings out of boredom. "The very one. The lore changes around with them but every version says a silver blade to the heart or decapitation of the head can kill them" Sam explained, feeling like he really did interrupt something, which tugged at the corner of his mouth in an upwards direction making him smirk ever so slightly. oh he was most certainly going to drill Lexi about this on the way out to the hunt, away from Dean's ears and eyes.

"nasty sons of bitches. The original being that sparked the whole typical vampire we know today in fiction. We're gonna have to be careful, but lets get moving" Lexi replied, grabbing the stuff she picked out and carefully exiting the armoury, being careful to not knock into Dean in the process.

Back in the hallway, she gave Sam some of the gear to carry. "Guess we'll see you later tonight then" she turned to Dean, her eyes sparkling in the artifical light of the bunker hallway.

Dean stood quietly near Sam, folding his arms awkwardly across his chest as Sam and Lexi talked over the case they were working on. His heart rate was beginning to slow back to normal, but he could feel the tension coming off of Sam, wanting to ask questions. Dean didn’t offer to clear the air, only stayed quiet until they finished their conversation, and Lexi grabbed her stuff.

As she passed him, he took a deep breath, and moved back out of her way to let her pass him without another touch. He turned to his brother, shooting him dagger eyes to tell him not to ask, and then turned as Lexi glanced back at him. His eyes softened into a bit of a dreamy gaze as he met her eyes, noticing how bright they were, and how much they seemed to glitter with a different light of the harsh industrial lighting.

“Y=Yeah. I’ll um…I’ll see you when you get back. I’ll just be in my room.”, he stammered out, scooting around his brother, “You guys be safe. I’ll just um…”

As he opened his bedroom door, walking backward, he stumbled into the heavy wood and caught himself on the doorknob, waving at Lexi, “I’ll be in my room.”

He stepped into his room, quickly closing the door behind him. He leaned his forehead against the door and panted, taking slow and deliberate breaths to attempt to calm his anxiety. It wasn’t arousal. It was guilt. It was anxiety for feeling any sort of attraction to another female in what felt like ‘too soon’. He pressed his palm flat against the cool wood and closed his eyes, “it was just a weird close moment. She’s just a guest. She’s a guest, and she’s in a rough spot. Just keep your hands to yourself, and she’ll be gone in a few days.”

Yet the thought of her leaving in a few days tugged at his stomach, and he sighed. He didn’t want her to leave. Truthfully, he wanted her around. He wanted to see her smile as she came down the hall every morning, and see her standing in the kitchen in his apron, cooking whatever meal she came up with that day.

But he couldn’t allow himself to be comfortable around her, if it meant that he might be attracted to her. She had to go…or he had to toughen up.

As Dean scooted out of the armoury after Lexi, they both watched him acting incredibly awkward around them both. Sam wondered what the hell went on before he arrived and Lexi wo dered if she did something wrong, which she hoped greatly that she hadn't, but with the way he was suddenly acting she had to question her actions. The last thing she wanted was to make Dean uncomfortable or awkward and she knew it would play on her mind for. A little while, but not enough to cause an issue on the hunt.

They both watched as Dean walked backwards toward his room and then stumbled after opening his door. Both wanted to chuckle but managed to stifle it. "okay, we'll see you later" Sam replied just as Dean closed his bedroom door. He really hoped his brother would be okay on his own again, always hating leaving him alone during these months.

Looking down at Lexi, he gestured for them to get moving, to which she nodded in agreement and followed him down the hallway, taking a glance at Dean's door as she passed it by, then continued walking through and up the curved staircase to the garage where the car resided. "he'll be alright... Right?" she asked as they walked to the car and unlocked it to put all the equipment in the trunk. "I hope so" Sam simply replied.

-----

Arriving at the last crime scene, both Lexi and Sam tracked the clues to try and find the Strigoi. It felt like forever, but was in fact a good three hours, tracking its whereabouts and it soon felt like a dead end, making Lexi sigh in frustration as they stood in an alleyway, looking around. "this is stupid, how can the tracks just disappear?" she asked, "I don't know Lexi, it doesn't make sense" Sam agreed looking around to make sure they didn't miss anything.

Suddenly a fellow red headed woman appeared in front of them with glowing blue eyes, unnaturally so. "you really shouldn't have followed me hunters" she warned, making them both snap their heads round to her and in that instant they knew they were lured into a trap.

----

Mika watched on from the corner of Dean's room, her heart breaking all over again seeing him grieve her like it was yesterday. He seemed to perk up not that long ago when this new woman showed up. Something she didn't think she would be thankful to see but was. Yet it still broke her heart she was dead and he wasn't. She wanted nothing more than to be alive again and with him. To be able to hold him and stroke his cheek, to kiss him again.

Yet demons managed to put an end to the whole coming bsck from death for her. They found the one thing that killed her for good. She could barely remember feeling the phoenix guardian leave her as her soul ascended to Heaven. Now here she was, through a lot of negotiating and pleading, visiting him without being seen.

"Oh Dean..." she muttered, walking over and standing close to him. "you need to let me go"

Dean stood at the door, his head pressed almost painfully against the wood as he steadied his breathing. Taking a deep breath through his nose, he furrowed his brow as a familiar smell washed over him. His eyes shot open and he whipped around, turning toward the area he assumed the smell was coming from, due to its intensity.

“Mika?”, he asked in a whisper, looking around the room with wide eyes. Sure, he still had things of hers. And they smelled like her. But, this didn’t feel like a thing. It felt like she was standing in the room with him…like a ghost.

“If you’re um…if you’re here, I really need you, right now. I don’t know how you would be here. I mean…I watched you burn. I know you’re gone.”, his voice broke with his words, but he took a deep breath, opening his mouth to take in air in what seemed more like a gasp, “But I can’t do this. I can’t do this alone. Please…”

He turned a complete circle, feeling like a total idiot. Obviously she wasn’t in the room with him. Obviously she wouldn’t be able to haunt the bunker. The place was warded against everything the Men of Letters had ever fought against, ghosts being one of those things. Reminding himself of that fact, he stepped over to his bed and sat down at the foot, placing his head in his hands as the pain moved from his stomach to wash over his body, “What the hell is going on?”

Dean glanced over at his tv stand, which sat close to the end of his bed, and he reached out, grabbing an almost empty whiskey bottle. Giving it a moment’s thought, he unscrewed the cap and polished off the bottle as tears streamed down his face, his eyes still staring at the corner he had suspected Mika was haunting.

Mika's heart seemed to continue to break even in death as she watched Dean break and cry and beg for her help to get him through this process of living without her. She wished she could help, but until she could convince Castiel or another angel to let her be seen by Dean, it was hopeless. Yet it was clear he was sensing her in some way, so she knew she needed to keep pestering the angels for help.

She watched him turn in circles before going to the whiskey bottle and the edge of his bed where he stared exactly where she was standing, making her smile softly seeing that even though he couldn't see her, he was still so intune with her presence, he could somehow unknowingly pinpoint her location. Though the smile didn't last long as she watched him finish the whiskey bottle off, never wanting him to drown his sorrows in alcohol.

"I'm trying to do what I can to help you Dean, I just need Cas to agree in making you see me" she said, even though she knew he couldn't hear her either. She walked forward, her footsteps not even making a sound as she sat down beside him, her hand resting on his shoulder. "I'm always with you Dean, even when I'm not. You once told me I'm your flame when we found out who was my guardian, that I'm your strength, I'm still those things" she spoke, even though it was pointless.

------

The strigoi quickly launched herself at Lexi and Sam, with unnatural strength she threw Sam to the side and into the brick wall. The biggest impact happening on his back, making him groan as he dropped to the ground. "Sam!" Lexi called out, turning her head to the strigoi and daggering her eyes as she ran toward it, swiping her silver blade toward them, but it dodged easily enough, swinging it's arm round and down, a loud crunch sounding through as Lexi's shoulder dislocated and made her scream in pain.

Sam clambered up onto his feet and pulled his gun from his waist and, aiming it to fire off a couple of rounds, but he wasn't quick enough and he missed. The strigoi ran to him and punched him square in the jaw, her focus dropping from Lexi who grabbed her blade once more after dropping it, awkwardly holding it in her right hand as she was normally left handed. Running for the strigoi, she lunged forward managing to get a cut in its back to get it away from Sam. With a screech in pain it turned again to Lexi and threw her into the industrial bin, her body flying upward, crashing into the above escape ladder then down onto the bin and rolled off the ground. Her blade dropping by Sam.

"you bloody bitch!" the strigoi cursed at Lexi, walking toward her and lifting her up off the ground, punching her in the face and cutting her lip in the process. "that all you got?" Lexi coughed out with a smirk, even though she was hurting a lot more than she was prepared to let on. Sam grabbed the blade and crept onto his feet once more, creeping toward the strigoi and with a swift seemless lunge, plunged it into the strigoi's heart from behind, making it drop Lexi again. To play safe, Sam chopped the head off as well and threw it in the trash, panting.

"you alright?" he asked Lexi, helping her up onto her feet. "I've had worse, but also had better, you?" she replied, looking up at him. "same" Sam smirked, helping her back to the impala so they could head back to the bunker.

The drive back was slower than when they left as both of them hurt greatly, Lexi lifted her shirt up and saw bruising already appearing on her rib area of her abdomen and sighed in annoyance. But they did eventually reach the bunker. Sam managed to bring the bag in as Lexi walked with discomfort to the door, inside and down the stairs. "Dean! We're back!" Sam called out.

Dean felt the presence grow a bit stronger as Mika sat on the bed beside him and touched his shoulder. He couldn’t quite feel her touch, but in a way, he knew she was touching him. He closed his eyes, just breathing in the presence and turned his head toward his shoulder, “If you’re here. Just stay for a while? Please?”

He sniffled and scooted himself back on the bed, leaving his boots on as he laid his head back against his pillows and turned over onto his side. He stared at the wall, turned toward the side of the bed that she would normally rest against, and he settled, sniffling as he pushed the grief down, with the help of a decent amount of whiskey.

---

After a little bit, Dean was starting to drift in and out of sleep, seemingly for the first time in months. But at the sound of the bunker door closing, and Sam’s voice calling out through the large and echoing room, Dean sat up and stared at the door. He gave some thought to whether he wanted to walk out, and face Lexi again, with Mika heavy on his mind. He shuddered, the pang of guilt that he had managed to avoid earlier in the day creeping back up.

After a few moments of thought, he rolled off the bed, and walked to his door, holding his hand against the doorknob. He paused, and held it tightly in his hand, as something in the back of his mind told him it was okay. They needed him.

He pulled the door open and stepped into the hall, walking quickly toward the war room, toward Sam’s voice. He stepped into the open room, and turned his gaze up the stairs, “Hey! You guys okay…Holy crap you both look like crap. What happened?”

Dean rushed over to the stairs and reached his hand out for Sam’s arm as he stepped into the room. He checked Sam’s demeanor and the way he walked, and after a moment, his shoulders relaxed. He didn’t seem hurt bad enough to fall over, or for his giant head to be damaged too much, “You okay? You gonna make it?”

His eyes then fell on Lexi, who looked worse. He didn’t want to rush to her, and make her uncomfortable, especially after what had happened in the armory. He stared at her for a moment, trying to assess her injuries without his hands, “What can I do?”

Hearing the other two come back, Mika felt relieved that Sam had returned to his brother once again, and by the wording Sam used, this new girl Lexi was back as well. She never thought she would be so relieved to have another woman near Dean, but there was just something about this Lexi that made her instantly like her. Maybe she reminded her of herself or Natalia, or maybe it was because she overheard Sam talk about how Lexi lost someone she loved also. She didn't know for sure but she did like the woman. She looked at Dean as he got up and went to the door, "go to them Dean, they need you" she spoke before disappearing once more for the time being.

Back in the main room, both Lexi and Sam looked down at Dean at the bottom of the stairs and Sam just patted Dean's arm, "I'm fine. Lexi got it worse than me...somehow" he explained as Dean clapped eyes on the woman. "put my shoulder back in would be helpful" Lexi replied to Dean's asking if what he can do. "damn bitch managed to dislocate it before throwing me into a escape ladder and industrial bin" she told him.

"amongst other attacks, but main thing is we got her" Sam added, walking straight to the war table and sitting down, dumping the bag on the floor. Lexi followed suit and sat down with a grunt, lifting her hand up to her lip and wincing as she touched where it got cut. "have to admit, was not expecting the damn thing to be that strong. I feel like I went a round with the incredible hulk or something" she quipped in a complaining tone.

Sam smirked and nodded his agreement at her comments, the strigoi was stronger than they expected, but he was mostly thankful it threw them and not tried to kill them via biting or ripping. With a sigh, he stood back up, "I'm gonna grab some ice packs and the med kit. Dean can you make sure there's no other injuries on Lexi whilst I grab what we need?" he asked of his brother, knowing deep down it was probably a lot to ask of him, but he really didn't want to risk leaving her alone and risk her passing out. She hit her head pretty hard when she went into the ladder and that concerned Sam the most.

" Sam I'll be fine" Lexi told him, "you're not okay, and I'd rather you didn't possibly pass out from that head collision you had if we're both out the room" he countered which made Lexi back down. Satisfied that she actually listened to him, he walked to the kitchen to get the required items.

Heading straight to the freezer first, he grabbed the ice packs and some towels to wrap them in, placing one of his own head as he went to the cupboard for the nearest first aid kit, grabbing it and bringing it back into the war room, handing Dean the first aid kit and other ice pack for Lexi and sitting back down on his chair.

Dean furrowed his brow when Sam patted his arm and explained that Lexi had ended up more on the wrong side of the hunt. Things must have gone really South, if Sam got out in better shape than anyone he was hunting with, but judging by his own appearance, Dean had to assume his head had taken a nice little knock….as usual.

“Alright, come here…”, Dean grumbled, backing up and holding his hands out to her as she walked over to the table. He pulled a rolling chair right beside her, and turned the chair to face her before sitting down. As Sam walked into the kitchen, he stood again and strolled over to the library, pulling a flashlight off the top of one of the bookshelves. Strolling back over to the table, he leaned his knee on his chair and reached a careful hand out to place a finger on the bottom of Lexi’s chin, pulling her eyes up to his.

“Look at me.”, he grumbled, turning the flashlight on and shining it over her left eye a couple of times in flashes, and then her right with a sigh. He frowned and sat the flashlight down on the table, “Not the worst I’ve seen. But I think you do have a little concussion. Keep that up and you’ll have a calloused brain like Sam.”

As he teased her slightly, he traced his fingers over any blood stains he could see, making sure none of them were actual skin breaks, other than the one on her head. To his relief, it seemed to just be her lip and her head. He sighed, and leaned back a bit, “Stand up. Hold onto me if you need to.”

As he helped her stand, he brushed his hands gently over her shoulders, shoving her jacket down her arms, and then reached his hands down to her wrists, tugging the sleeves free of her hands. He tossed her jacket on the table and did the same with her overshirt. He winced externally as the bruising of her shoulder, from being dislocated. He reached his hand up and gently brushed his fingers over the bruises.

“You know this is gonna suck, right?”, he asked her with a sad smirk. He walked around to her back, and pushed on her lower back to have her stand straighter, he took a deep breath. Bringing a hand around to the front of her shoulder, he placed the heel of his palm against the front, and brought his other hand around to wrap his fingers around the top of her shoulder, as his wrist rested against her skin, “One…two…”

Without saying three, he suddenly tensed, her shoulder popping loudly as it fell back into place. He held her for a moment, wrapping one of his arms around her body to hold her tight against his chest and let her relax from what he knew had to be a horrible jolt of pain, and at the closeness, he pressed his nose against the back of her head, inhaling deeply as he closed his eyes. On one hand, he was glad he fixed her shoulder, on the other hand, his stomach cramped painfully at the fact that he had hurt her. But breathing so close to her, his heart rate steadied, and he relaxed, “I’m sorry."

As Sam headed to the kitchen, Lexi just remained seated on the chair as Dean pulled a chair closer before heading to the bookshelf to get a flashlight. She sighed, trying to ignore the pains she was feeling from her head to her abdomen and even went to try and shrug off her jacket but winced as it hurt too much so decided against it alone.

With Dean's return, she let him lift her chin with his finger and flash the light in her eyes to check for a concussion and refrained from the very urge to squint away from the light as he did so. At his guess of her level of concussion and his remark about being like Sam if she wasn't careful, she had to smirk and lightly scoff an amused chuckle. "I'm still smarter than you are" Sam retorted as he heard what Dean said.

"but to be fair, she took one hell of a few hits from the bloody thing. She went into an escape ladder, onto one of those massive trash bins and then the ground and got right back up" Sam added, him being impressed by Lexi's stamina on the hunt evident in his tone. "not even I got up that quickly" he added.

Lexi let Dean trace his fingers down her to make sure she wasn't too bloody or had any other injuries that not even she noticed, feeling glad that he didn't spot any. She stood up when he requested her to and hissed as he helped get her jacket and overshirt off her arms, only now properly noticing how badly her shoulder had bruised from the dislocation and noticing how much Dean winced from the sight of her.

"not my first rodeo, so yeah, it will suck but I'm a big tough girl I can handle it" she replied to him with an equally sad smirk on her face. With his actions, she stood straighter and mentally braced herself for what was to come next as he began counting but popped her shoulder back into place before he got to three, making her groan and yelp through gritted teeth a few profanities.

She felt herself internally shake from the pain coursing through her so when Dean held her close to him, she felt extremely thankful and found herself leaning into him out of natural instinct as she tried to relax and breathe through the pain. "don't be sorry, I'm glad you helped" she told him back.

Sam watched as his brother let himself be close to Lexi to help her and when he heard her shoulder pop the way it did, even he had to wince as he held an ice pack to the back of his head. "all good?" he asked. "yeah...yeah" Lexi said as she managed to through the majority of the initial pain, with the thanks of having Dean so close to her.

She realised how much she had missed being held after a hunt, even if it was in this instance and not for any other, but it brought her a sense of calm, like she was for Dean.

Dean opened his eyes and kept his arm around Lexi for a few moments as she relaxed in his arms. He carefully relaxed his arm from around her, but kept his hand on her shoulder as he lowered her back down to the chair, and held her steady for a moment.

“You’re gonna want to stay awake for a bit, with that concussion.”, Dean muttered as he walked over to the nearest empty chair and pulled it to him, before sitting and turning his eyes back to Lexi, “I’m not far down the hall from you. So, you can knock if you’re feeling weird.”

He turned his eyes to Sam, and stared at his brother for a second, double checking that Sam seemed fine. Other than the sore head, he looked normal, and even his demeanor toward his head didn’t seem as if he was injured too badly. Dean took a deep and relieved breath, “Well, we’re all alive! It’s a good day.”

A smile came to his lips, and Dean turned his gaze back to Lexi, giving her a warm smile. He would have his ears open, all night, and chances were, he wouldn’t be sleeping. For some reason, he was incredibly paranoid about Lexi’s concussion. Maybe it was how much she reminded him of Mika, when he and Mika would go out on hunts and he would have to patch them both up when they returned. Maybe it was because she was fiercely independent and untouchable, and yet he felt the need to touch her at ever second he was near her.

Whatever it was, he needed caffeine. It was going to be a long night.

As Dean relaxed around her, Lexi relaxed more and gladly went back down to the chair to sit back down with his help, not complaining about him wanting to hold her a moment even though she had the security of the chair. At his muttering, she nodded lightly, not surprised to hear such advice.

She looked back at him after he sat down near her and smiled at his offer, "thanks" she replied as he turned to Sam to check on him, wondering how the hell he came out relatively unscathed compared to her still. She couldn't help but smirk at Dean's remark about it being a good day because they were all alive, and she found herself noting how it was quite the statement for someone like Dean to make, all things considered.

"What about you? You good?" Lexi asked Sam, to which Sam nodded, "I'm fine. A banging headache but nothing I can't handle" he replied, as he noticed Dean looking back at Lexi and her looking back at Dean, smiling just as warmly back at him, as he was to her. It was in that moment particularly, compared to all the other moments that he truly saw how Dean did seem to be rapidly getting smitten with Lexi. Not to mention he could tell that Dean was concerned about Lexi's concussion and if he had his own way he would probably be next to her 24/7 and not let her out of his sight.

"Either of you need anything? I dunno about you guys but I could use a drink" Sam commented, standing up again and putting the ice pack down on the table at the same time. "I'm also glad this hunt is now over. It's been what..two days of trying to find the damn thing?" he added, looking at Lexi for confirmation, which she nodded. "Yeah it's been a good couple of days at least. As for wanting anything? Yeah go on, I'll gladly have a beer" she replied, even though she would love nothing more than to go to bed, but she also remembered Dean told her not to go to sleep just yet.

Sam noted Lexi's request then looked to Dean for his answer if he wanted anything. He also knew at some point he would have to privately chat with Dean about Lexi. He didn't want to pressure his brother into anything, but at the same time, he wanted to let his brother know if he was as smitten as it seemed he was, it was okay to be so.

Dean kept his gaze, smiling a bit wider when Lexi met his smile, after asking about Sam’s wellbeing. It was hard not to notice that they seemed on the same page, or maybe it was her concussion. Either way, her eyes were warm and she seemed to appreciate his efforts to make sure she was okay. He didn’t even notice Sam looking at him, mulling over the way he looked at Lexi.

He tore his eyes away from her for a moment, to look at Sam, “I want you to keep an eye on your own head, stubborn ass. You need anything, you don’t hesitate to come get me. I’m not doing anything, anyway.”

As Sam stood up, and asked if they wanted anything from the kitchen, Dean sighed and crossed his arms, glancing between Sam and Lexi. Maybe he was rusty, but he felt like they both needed to be watched over. He hadn’t seen injuries come into the bunker in a while. Then again, he hadn’t been out of his room enough to check Sam over in a while. He turned his head toward Sam as he stepped toward the kitchen, “Yeah. I’ll take a cup of coffee. Or rather a pot of coffee. I’m gonna be up a while.”

He gave his brother a look, confirming that he was going to stay awake to listen for Lexi, just in case her head was worse off than he thought. He planned to just hang out at his desk and watch some bad tv after she turned in, or maybe he would go and sort through the vault down from his room, so he could be closer to her room, and could hear her better.

“You sure you’re good?”, he asked Lexi, turning his eyes back to stare at her with a serious look. He tapped his fingers on the table, and raised his eyebrows, his gaze a bit intense as he scanned her face, “I don’t know your tolerance to this sort of thing, but if you want, you’re welcome to come watch a movie or something, until you ride out this six hours.”

Dean's reply to him made Sam smirk and roll his eyes, giving him the teasing look of 'yeah yeah, alright dad'. "I know and I will" he said out loud however, before still hovering to make sure he could hear what they both wanted from the kitchen. At times Dean's over protectiveness over him when it came to injuries could be annoying, but this time he fully understood it and so he always let it slide, knowing it was Dean's way of knowing that everything was alright.

"I'll bring the pot and mug out" he confirmed to him, not finding it surprising that Dean planned on being up for a long time and with the look his brother gave him, he knew instantly why. He nodded at Lexi's request also for a beer and continued his walk to the kitchen, leaving the two of them alone in the war room whilst he focused on getting a fresh batch of coffee made up for Dean and grabbing a couple of beers for himself and Lexi as well as grabbing some painkillers and some water to see to his headache.

Lexi turned her attention back from Sam's exit of the room to Dean when he asked her once more if she was certain she was okay, the constant worry and paranoia of her well-being being a welcome familiar feeling to her. She gave him a small smile to try and reassure him as much as possible as she listened to his offer to join him for a movie until he was satisified that she wouldn't just pass out at the drop of a hat. The intense gaze he gave her caused a tight knot in her own stomach, a knot that almost could be described as butterflies in her stomach as she hadn't been given such a look in such a long while.

"I'm sure I'm fine. I can take a hit, I'm a tough girl." she told him with a soft smirk. "My eyes aren't bloodshot this time or my head bleeding so it's already a plus" she added with a soft half chuckle, then realising she wasn't sure if he would find such a comment amusing. Yet what she said was true as she still remembered the hunt where she got into a fight with vampires and she got her head bashed into a brick wall so hard it cut her head open and made her eyes go bloodshot. It wasn't a night she ever wanted to recreate as that night she considered it a miracle she got back to her motel room before vomiting and passing out on the floor....alone.

"But the idea of a movie to ride out the next six hours does sound good" she smiled as Sam returned to the war room with Dean's pot of coffee in one hand and a mug and the two beers in his other. He placed all the drinks down on the table nearest to Dean then grabbed his own beer.

Dean raised an eyebrow at Lexi’s description of her typical dangerous brand of concussion. He would probably be even more paranoid if she looked that way, if he was honest. He wouldn’t even want her to touch anything soft, in case she passed out and didn’t wake up. He sighed, and shook his head with a small smile, “Well, let’s not go down that road. I said it was just a small concussion. So, a little beer and some RNR and you should be fine…but you’re a guest and I don’t want to take any chances, despite my brother being a good nurse.”

He laughed a bit, and watched her face as she agreed to watch a movie with him. His laugh faded and he tapped his fingers on the table in front of him as Sam stepped back into the room, and Dean’s gaze only left Lexi’s face when Sam began passing out drinks. He picked up the coffee pot and poured himself his first cup of coffee, turning his eyes to Sam.

“So, I think we’re gonna be up a while. I’m gonna try and pick a movie that won’t bore Lexi to death faster than her concussion kills her. You gonna be okay? There’s only so much room in my bed.”, he explained to Sam with a cock of his eyebrow and a snigger as he took a drink of his coffee, “Unless you want a floor pallet. I’m sure we can work something out…”

He turned his eyes back to Lexi with a teasing smirk, and held his cup close to his mouth, before taking a drink, amused with himself. Now that they both seemed okay, he could relax, even if Mika was still haunting the back of his mind, after the situation before Sam and Lexi came back home. He shuddered, pushing the thought aside and sat back in his chair, relaxing for a moment while they all sat around.

“And why do I have a feeling you’re dying to talk to me about something?”, he asked, turning his eyes back to Sam’s face.