LEXI

Lexi couldn't help but smirk and smile at Dean insisting that he was fine, his accent really coming through thicker than before and yet again her stomach made back flips at hearing it. She saw how much he was smiling and laughing at the entire situation and she had to notice how different of a man he looked compared to when she first met him, the night she arrived at the bunker with Sam. He seemed like a complete shell of the man she was now witnessing before her. Lexi knew she would never tire seeing this new happier side of Dean and she most certainly wanted to stick around around to learn more about him.

"I'm getting that vibe from you already" Lexi teased back at his remark about being horrible at taking advice. Deep down at the back of her mind, she knew offering her hand to him and letting her guard down was a bad move, but she didn't listen to her own mind when she offered her hand anyway. A lesson she swiftly learned as the next thing she knew she was down on the ground and underneath Dean in the puddle on the floor. Staring up at him, Lexi could t help but chuckle and smile at her own rookie mistake after telling him how boasting will bite him in the ass.

"Okay, I deserved that. Note to self, don't teach Anya this mistake" she laughed, a laugh that echoed in her eyes as she looked up into his own green eyes. She couldn't peel her eyes away from his as he had her very much pinned on the ground. Could she have found her way out from under him? Easily, but did she want to straight away? Not in the slightest.

"Gotta say, I'm starting to think you're just desperate to get me wet" she teased as she felt the water seep into her the back of her shirt and soak the ends of her hair. Lifting one hand up, she placed it on his cheek as she forced her head up and stole a kiss from him unable to fight the temptation any longer. "you are so chaotic Dean Winchester but I love it" she smiled into the kiss before she made her move. Quickly looping her legs round one of his, she swung round to flip them both so she could pin him under her once again.

"But one thing you'll learn about me is I can be even more chaotic" she told him.

SAM

At the sign of telling him all was forgiven, Sam smiled and felt relieved that he had given her any wrong signals by his momentary lapse of confidence. He didn't even fully know why he reacted the way he did, it still baffled him but shaking it from his mind, he focused on the here and now. Anya's reply confirming for them to get out of the bunker for a bit, he nodded, quickly stepping into his boots before she lead the way out his door and down the hallway where the laughter from the other two got louder.

As it got louder and he heard a thud, he definitely didn't want to be around or know what they were doing to cause such a commotion in the kitchen. Grabbing his own car keys, he lead the way up the spiral staircase and out the bunker. He pointed to his car so Anya would know which one they were taking, not daring to take the impala without letting Dean know.

Walking over to the car, he unlocked it and waited for Anya to get in the passenger side before he got in the driver's side and headed out. "Anything you need to do whilst we're out getting your stuff from the motel? Other than the tattoo that is." He asked her, thinking that they might want to come up with idea to delay getting back ever so slightly if Lexi and Dean were going to be....doing whatever it is they were doing.

Dean matched Lexi’s laugh, scanning her eyes as she watched his. He could see the wheels turning behind those eyes, and he knew that at any moment, she could get one over on him. She was likely a better fighter than he was. He was more of a ‘beat someone into submission’ type, rather than a careful and meticulous with the fundamentals type.

He couldn’t help the sharp eyebrow raise at her teasing about him ‘being desperate to get her wet’. He couldn’t even make out if it was a dirty joke or if she was being literal, but honestly? Either way, she was right. He shrugged his shoulders with confidence in his eyes, and a head tilt that said ‘meh, you’re right’, before chuckling. Then her lips were on his, and he kissed her back, letting his guard completely down. If this was how their day was going to go, there was a high likelihood that nothing was going to get done, while Sam and Anya were out. Well…nothing work related.

He was so lost in the idea that he had her pinned beneath him, stuck where she couldn’t move, and she was willingly kissing him. He merely hummed at her assertion that he was just as chaotic as he knew himself to be. He didn’t even notice that she was gearing up to get one over on him. Then her legs were wrapped around his and he was on his back before he could even react.

Dean’s eyes shot open, and he smiled widely up at her, relaxing his shoulders and just leaning into the idea of being dominated by a very strong and capable woman that he adored.

“You may be chaotic…but I don’t think you understand how hot this is…” He grumbled, biting at his bottom lip as he looked up at her. He reached up and pinched her chin with his thumb and forefinger, “If you stick around long, you’ll ruin my stellar reputation. Or help it…I haven’t decided which.”



Anya giggled as she heard the thud from the kitchen on their way by. She had a feeling that ‘doing the dishes’ had turn into ‘soapy wrestling’ and the thought just made her happy, for some reason. She loved love, and she could see it a mile away that Dean and Lexi were slowly…or not so slowly falling in love. She followed close behind Sam as he grabbed his keys and took off toward the spiral staircase. On one hand, she never wanted to leave the safety and the quiet of the bunker. On the other hand, she was excited to get outside and feel the cool air on her skin.

The second the door opened and they were in the cool air, Anya closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Being in rural Kansas, the air was clean and crisp. The leaves falling from the trees all around them caught her ears, and gave her goosebumps. Fall was her favorite time of year. She made a mental note to step outside the bunker every now and then, so she didn’t miss the smell…or the general dampness of the air around them.

She picked one of the smaller leaves out of her hair as Sam unlocked the car, and she quickly got into the passenger seat, settling herself while waiting for him to get in. When he did, she smiled and glanced over at him as he began to drive and spoke up.

At first she shrugged, figuring they would just come back to the bunker and do work, but judging by his face, he was suggesting they stall a bit. Anya arched her back, and pulled her phone from her back pocket, typing her reply.

“It’s nice out today. We could maybe hit up a farmers market or one of those cute little fall carnivals. I read about a lot of outdoor events around Lebanon in the newspaper. Apple cider. Funnel cakes. Carnival games. Fall air. It could be fun. I’ll go get the tattoo. We can grab my stuff. Then fun. Unwind that tight coil that is Sam Winchester’s spine.”

She pressed play with a smile, and reached her hand out to pry his left hand from the steering wheel. She pulled his hand onto her lap, and toyed with his fingers, with a soft smile.

LEXI

Seeing his eyes open wide and quickly as she had him flipped back onto the floor, Lexi felt rather proud of herself that she hadn't lost her ability to get an advantage over someone larger than herself. She just never thought she would be using her skills on Dean of all people. His reply to her did take her a little by surprise bur it made her smirk rather proudly that he found what she just said actually rather attractive. She continued to smile down at him as he pinched her chin, keeping her hands either side of his head to keep herself up so she didn't completely fall ontop of him.

"Oh, a stellar reputation huh?" She replied, "well I'd like to think I'd help it" she chuckled, tempted to just keep him pinned but she knew as well as he did that they did have work to do and they couldn't act like naughty school children all day long. Rolling back onto her feet, she stood up and genuinely offered to help him up without any other motive this time. "We should probably get back on track...before we get anymore distracted by each other" she smirked.

Every single part of her wanted to be distracted by him, have a normal non hunting related day with him but she knew they had promised Anya to help her in every way possible and she was someone who never broke her promises, at least, not intentionally. "so uhh, how about you actually give that sister of yours a call? I can do more searching online in the war room" she suggested.

With him up on his feet, she headed out to the war room and sat down on the chair she did the evening before, as her laptop was still there waiting for her. Opening it up, she logged onto the internet and began to scroll through, not entirely sure where to begin after the dark web seemed like a complete bust.

SAM

Before Sam had gotten into the car, he noticed how Anya revelled in the cool autumn air and he instantly guessed she loved this time of year. It was just the way she was outside that gave him those vibes about her. She seemed to just suit this time of year if that was even a thing, he thought to himself.

In the car and driving into town, he gave a smile when she initially shrugged, not knowing what to do until she clearly thought of something, as her phone came out of her back pocket and she was typing away her idea. He listened to it as he drove and the thought of going to a farmer's market or autumn carnival made him want to curl his toes up and drop his head onto the steering wheel, but he didn't. Her sweet action of grabbing for one of his hands and placing it on her thigh making him soften just a little at her idea.

"It's not really my thing but...sure. if it's what you wanna do we'll do that. It's only fair I let you have a good normal day before the hard training starts with Lexi." He replied, even though inside he was saying it begrudgingly. He did want her to have as many innocent normal days as she possibly could and it wasn't like Lebanon was a horrible place to be at this time of year. "but I'm only agreeing because you agree to doing the tattoo and getting your stuff first" he smirked.

With that said, he drove happily and did eventually reach the motel she was staying at, thanks to his GPS on his phone. Pulling into the motel parking lot, he parked up and turned the engine off. "Okay, let's grab your stuff first, dump it in the car and we'll get you protected with the tattoo after. That way we don't have to double back before doing the market and carnival" he explained, figuring that was the best course of action to take. He really wasn't looking forward to the carnival, but he was also determined to put his grievances about them to one side for Anya.

Dean raised an eyebrow and his smile widened as Lexi told him that she believed she would ‘help’ his reputation, “Is that so? Hmm.”

But then she sat back on her feet and Dean almost pouted, until it dawned on him that they were supposed to be working. Things had been so carefree and happily simple since dinner, it was hard to want to go back to the depressing and dreary reality of their day to day. But she was right. They had work to do. He reached his hand out, taking Lexi’s, but supported most of his own weight as he carefully stood to his feet on the wet floor. The drain in the floor was already taking care of the majority of the water, so Dean just shrugged in his mind about cleaning up the rest.

“Yeah. I’ll call her. She’s gonna love hearing from me…especially if she has to drive all the way to Kansas.” Dean grumbled, fishing his phone from his…LUCKILY…dry pocket. He texted Nat, instead of calling her, at first, just to make sure she was even available for a new job.

“Hey. SOS. Demon stuff. I need to talk to Cason and I wouldn’t mind seeing you. Why don’t you come out to Kansas?”

He locked his screen as his heart fluttered at the idea of meeting up with Nat …in a permanent home he had begged her to come live in. He stepped through and walked out of the kitchen to join Lexi in the war room.

“So, I texted her. I never know what she’s doing, you know? She could be in the middle of something. I’d hate to be the dumbass who got her killed because her phone rang.”



Anya could tell, just by the way that Sam stuttered that he wasn’t as excited about the idea of celebrating autumn as she was. She had to assume it was all of the Halloween references, considering the job he did. Who would want to celebrate a holiday about the spooky and creepy, when they saw that crap every single day in their real life? But for Anya, it was more about how romantic the autumn air was when it hit your skin, the spicy goodness of all the food and the drink, and just how hopeful and clean the air felt around you.

She smiled and squeezed Sam’s hand in a thanks as his reluctant smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth. She pulled her phone with one hand, and typed a quick message, “I promise you’ll have fun. You are allowed to have fun, Sam.”

Anya didn’t wait long after Sam parked the car. She nodded at his words, making sure he could see her eyes, and then quickly stepped out of the car. She held her hand out for the room key, and once he gave it to her, she placed it into the rusty doorknob, and turned it, pushing the door open. The room was simple, barely touched, other than the ruffled blankets on the bed. A large duffel bag, a spare pair of boots and a jacket lay at the foot of the bed, all packed and ready to move onto the next spot.

She didn’t waste much time, walking over and grabbing her duffel. She slung the jacket over her arm and grabbed her boots, before turning to Sam and giving him a look that said “This is it. Easy trip!”

Placing her boots under her arm, she walked past Sam, and opened the door, stepping back out into the cool air. She stood on the sidewalk and waited for him, wanting to get past the memories that she had unfortunately made while staying in this room…things she would never speak about willingly.

NATALIA

The night was a long one but for once, a pretty simple hunt for Natalia and Cason. Just as she was suspecting, it ended up being a pack of werewolves and although she was expecting to run into one of the things, she didn't find the hunt too hard to deal with, especially with Cason on her side. That wasn't to say she didn't come out completely unscathed and there wasn't a good fight on her hands. But now the sun was up and she was heading back to her car with Cason. “I bloody hate werewolves, they're always so…rabid” she complained with a sigh as they reached the car and she unlocked the doors. It was then she felt her phone vibrate and ping in her pocket, pulling it out and seeing it was a text from Dean. “Huh…wonder what he wants” she mused out loud. “Dean's text” she told Cason as she opened it up and read it. “Seems he has a demon problem and needs our help, or more accurately said…your help” she told him, “he just wants to see me” she smirked.

Climbing into the car, she debated between calling or texting her brother before deciding on just calling him once she and Cason were in the car and the doors were shut. The thought of driving to Kansas was hellish to Natalia. There was a reason she drove to California on and off over the last few months, she didn't want to have to go back to Kansas. She didn't want to face what past laid there, but she did also want to see her brothers and if Dean was reaching out for a change then something must be either really bad or something has made him get out of his funk and grief. Either way, she had the need to find answers to why he was texting her. “gonna call him” she told Cason, speed dialing Dean's number.

When he did pick up, she spoke up, “hey, so what's this big thing in Kansas that you two can't figure it out by yourselves?” She asked, despite actually wanting to ask how he was doing and she was glad he was back working on a case.

LEXI

Lexi didn't want to be in the way when Dean tried to get in contact with his sister. She didn't know how much chatter would occur in the phone call or if he'd even get through to the girl, so she figured that trying to make some start on finding some clues was better than nothing. One thing she wasn't expecting for certain was how quick Dean was actually going to be and that he just texted his sister. Yet his explanation of not wanting to get her killed because he called at a bad time was reasonable. She got the feeling from him very early on that family meant absolutely everything to him, Sam had told her as much on her trips with the younger Winchester before he brought her back to the bunker. “smart move” she replied to him, looking at him over her shoulder. “I'm sure she'll get in touch the moment she can” she smiled, glancing back at her laptop that was stuck on her default homepage with absolutely nothing on it to show she knew where to start with this case. Part of her just wanted to wait and see whether Dean's sister would get back in touch before doing anything as she really was stumped.

The dark web seemed absolutely useless this time round, she didn't know many of her contacts that could be in the area to ask around if they had seen the colt anywhere and she certainly didn't have a demon on her side like the Winchester's seemed to. Leaning back in the chair, she sighed and raked one hand through her hair, wrinkling her nose when she felt the ends of her hair were wet, forgetting for a split second she was moments prior on a wet floor. The cold reminder made her internally smile to herself as she let her mind drift back to having Dean pinned on the floor. Pulling her own phone out of her pocket, she began to scroll through her own contacts to see if there was anyone she could call or message just in case when she heard Dean's phone begin to ring.

“Seems your text didn't disturb her” she smiled, as she went back to her own phone so he could answer the call.

SAM

Anya's reminder that he was allowed to have fun did make him smirk at the time. He knew she was right, it just had been what felt like so long since he got to have any fun. Or what he would consider normal fun, he remembered how Mika would do all she could to try and bring some kind of normalcy to their lives in the bunker, especially when Natalia was around. The woman really was like a mother hen to them all, especially Natalia and her death just made Sam feel like there was no point for any of that. Yet here came Anya, appearing in his life and showing him that was a point for it and he had to let himself be a normal guy and not a hunter once in a while. Anya was going to be such a good influence on him he began to realize and he was willing to welcome it.

At the motel, he handed her the room key after getting out of the car and followed her to her room. Stepping inside to wait for her, he saw how basic the room was and it brought back all those memories of the times he and Dean would spend living from motel to motel and how run down some of those rooms looked. Seeing this room made him see that he did not miss those days at all, and was glad that unless a job took them too far out to drive back to the bunker, they didn't need to stay in grubby motels anymore. “I don't miss staying in these places…” he smirked and chuckled as Anya grabbed her belongings. He was slightly surprised at how little she had, but then again, it also wasn't a surprise as it wasn't like he or Dean ever had a lot of belongings when on the road either. As she gathered her things and came over and gave him a look that said everything he needed to know, he smiled and nodded. “Okay, let's head out” he said to her.

Letting her walk past him, he followed her out, closing the door behind himself and hearing it lock in place. He got a sense she couldn't wait to get away from the motel and part of him wanted to ask about what was on her mind, but he also got the vibe from her that she didn't want to talk about whatever was on her mind. “Here, give your things, I'll put them in the trunk whilst you go check out and hand the key back” he suggested to her, holding his hand out to take her bag, boots and jacket.

He waited for her to hand him her things before walking to the car and popping the trunk, putting everything in for her, closing it and walking round to the driver's side where he leaned against the door, arms folded across his chest and waited for Anya to return. He kept his eyes peeled at everything all around him and on Anya to make sure he didn't need to jump in and help her out for anything, though he couldn't see a reason why that would be the case.

Cason cracked his nose back into place as he walked back to the car with Natalia. Of the two of them, as usually, he came out a bit worse than she did. As a demon, at least he was able to heal within the hour. So, better him than her. When Nat complained about how aggressive the werwolves were, Cason laughed softly and shook his head, “I mean, you’re the one who found the case. Dogs. I like my dogs…but I hate dogs, especially of the mostly human variety.”

As Nat pulled her phone from her pocket, Cason glanced down at it, and he frowned. Dean never contacted them, anymore. He was so deep in his own grief that Cason had expected to get a call from Sam of all people, telling them that Dean had basically starved to death in his room. When she explained what Dean was wanting, Cason’s eyebrows shot up into his hairline, “He wants my…help. Me. Wow, this is…”

Part of him figured it was some sort of ploy to get Nat to the bunker and ask her once again to stay with them. Cason couldn’t imagine living in such a place. Every weapon, shackle, chain, and doorway in the bunker was engineered specifically to hurt things like him. It wasn’t exactly a prized mansion they had inherited…

Cason walked around to his side of the car, and he dumped himself into the passenger seat and closed the door. He nodded as Nat said she was going to call him, and settled himself into the seat. They were driving to Kansas…nice.



Dean had just sat down in a chair, when his phone buzzed and he pulled it up with a frown. Natalia was calling him. She couldn’t just text him back. As usual, she wanted to hear his voice, suss out how he was doing. So, with a clearing of his throat, he answered the phone, but not before smiling at Lexi, “Gotta do a little manipulation, here…”

“Yeah…” He answered the phone simply, letting his breath out in a huff as he heard Natalia’s voice. She sounded tired but she sounded good. She sounded happy. Dean paused, trying to decide how to deal with the situation in a way that would actually convince Nat to come out.

“We have a girl who is stuck in a demon deal. Cason has helped a couple of kids before, and I wanted to see if he was willing to help this one. She kinda fell in our lap.” Dean explained calmly, and then he shifted his voice just a little, to appeal to Nat’s emotions, “And I don’t know if I’m in the shape to handle all this on my own. I could really use…well, I wanted to see if you wanted to come stay for a few days and help us mull this over. I’m still on the mend, you know? Have you heard anything out of Denver, lately?”



Anya could definitely echo Sam’s sentiments about staying in crappy motels. If she never had to see the inside of one again, she would be better for it. As she walked ahead of Sam with her things, she didn’t look back at the room, only trained her eyes on his car and walked over to stand next to it. She had completely forgotten the need to turn the key in, figuring that the owner already thought she might have run off with it. But when Sam brought it up, she sighed, dropping her shoulders as if to say ‘oh yeah. The key!’.

She handed her stuff to him, and with a bit of a pout, she stepped away from him and into the office, where the owner was waiting for her. With pride, he signed with a smile.

“So, you’re leaving me?”

“I’ve been gone for two days, Fred. I don’t really plan to be back, but thank you for everything you’ve done.” She signed back, her eyes glancing up to the bandage covering his eyebrow. She glanced around the office nervously, and then signed, “You okay?”

“Yeah. Some guys came, roughed me up and asked for some guy named Dean Winchester. Ring a bell?”

As soon as Fred was finished signing Dean’s name, Anya’s face went pale and she froze, staring off into space. The demons knew that she was with Dean, but maybe they weren’t watching. Maybe they didn’t know she was in the area at all, if they hadn’t found her when the hurt Fred.

“No. No the name doesn’t really mean anything. Did they leave?”

“Yeah, they said they needed to make some calls and wait for ‘her’ to show up, whatever that meant. They didn’t seem like very nice guys. Anya, are you okay?” Fred signed, the last few words slow, as he softened his eyes.

“I’m fine. I’m with someone who can keep me safe. Just…don’t tell anyone I left, okay? Don’t tell them which way we headed. Don’t tell them I’m with anyone. That’s the best help. Here…” She signed back, handing Fred the key. She then lifted her hand to thank him, and quickly turned to practically run out of the office, back to Sam. She chose not to tell him any details of the conversation, simply signed, “Let’s go. All is good.”

NATALIA

Natalia was under no illusions that Dean would no doubt at some point, do what he could to get her to come back to the bunker and see him and Sam. Despite her telling him countless times that until they made the bunker more safe for Cason, it was not going to happen. She was happy on the road, she was finally seeing more of the country living life on the road with Cason than if she stayed in Kansas, and she didn't have to walk around with the echoes of Mika following her. Cason's surprise at hearing that Dean wanted his help was hard to ignore, she was surprised herself. Sure, they had gotten on better in more recent years but it was still a surprise when Dean or Sam asked for Cason's help.

With Dean answering and replying, she heard the exact tone of his voice and knew what he was doing. She was almost tempted to put Dean on speaker so Cason could hear Dean for himself, but she also knew Cason would probably try to convince her to not accept to help Dean. As he huffed down the phone, she sighed to herself, he sounded so fed up that a job fell into his lap and he didn't want to deal with it. Then came the question she was waiting to hear..can she come stay for a few days under the guise of figuring out this demon deal. She tried to tell herself to not give into Dean's emotional manipulation, but she was still worried about him and like Cason, was convinced he would just starve in his room if she didn't visit. Putting the phone on speaker finally, lowering it to between herself and Cason she gave her answer… “okay, we'll come help you and Sam out. But only to help this girl with her demon deal situation.” She replied, finally giving in and knowing she would no doubt get called out for it by Cason when the call ends.

“As for Denver? Yeah, Anna called a couple of days ago for a chat and to catch up. They're all doing okay over there. Duke has named a horse after Mika apparently now and Anna is missing us all but she's happy where she is.” She explained honestly. “Anyway…” she tried to change the subject so she couldn't get emotional in her tired state, “from where we are it's gonna take like a whole day at least to get to you. I'll see if we can do a pit stop in Denver on the way as I'll need it” she told Dean, not quite ready to look at Cason in case he was giving her judging eyes for caving into her brother's requests. Not only that, she knew how much Cason still hated traveling by car, despite her having convinced him numerous times to take the wheel so she could take breaks over the years.

LEXI


Dean saying he needed to do a little bit of manipulation on his sister made her raise an eyebrow at him. She couldn't help but wonder why he couldn't be just honest with the girl, but who was she to judge? It wasn't like she had siblings she could have this kind of experience with. As he replied to Natalia on the phone, she couldn't help but listen in to what he was saying and taking in the tone of his voice. He was actually pretending he was still in an utter grief ridden funk just to get Nat to agree to come. She had to admit, Dean was good at playing the part as he didn't lay it on too thick to be unbelievable, but thick enough that if Lexi was Natalia? She would have believed it and agreed to his request. Then he mentioned Denver and her interest got piqued. She knew of Denver and that Sam would never go there for a hunt, she remembered when one evening they had off and in a bar together to just relax, she asked him about why he wouldn't go to Denver.

It took some convincing of the alcoholic kind for him to confide in her, but she did eventually get some kind of answer. There was a girl there who clearly meant a lot to him but he had to leave her with friends so she was safe. Lexi put it as a ‘the one who got away’ kind of situation even though Sam, by the sounds of it, enforced it onto the girl in question. Sam at the time admitted he was glad she got him to talk about it as he realized that she did get the situation to some extent. It was why she kept her ex out of the hunting life, kept him in the dark as much as possible to try and keep him safe. Why she took so many different routes home just to make sure nothing could follow her and learn her favored route home. Of course, eventually it was all for nothing and she lost her fiancé but she at least tried at the time. Sam never did tell her what Anna's name was or what she looked like. Just that there was a lot of history there he wasn't ready to share.

Lexi made herself stay quiet as much as possible so Natalia wouldn't hear her in the background of the call, not wanting to put Dean under any kind of interrogation by his baby sister.

SAM

The way Anya had clearly forgotten about handing the room key back made Sam smile. She really was naive at times and it just added to her charm. As he waited for her by the car, he couldn't help but look towards the reception and inside the window, seeing her signing a full conversation with the guy behind the counter. It was clear that while she was staying here, she had obviously gotten on with the guy and he did look out for her. Something he didn't see very often in these kinds of motels. He may not have caught really anything that was being spoken as Anya's back was to him, but judging by the way the motel owner looked, they were discussing what happened to him. It got him curious and his quizzical mind was rather intrigued and needed to know what was going on. However he remained outside and kept out of it, knowing that when Anya was good to exit the reception she would. Whilst he waited, he pulled out his phone to see if there were any messages or missed calls from either of his siblings, but there wasn't and he couldn't help but wonder if Dean did actually call Natalia. So many thoughts ran through his mind intermittently about the case and how they could all help Anya, just wanting her safe.

As he put his phone back in his jeans pocket, he looked up and saw her walking back towards him and she didn't seem to be as peppy as she was before she went in. With an eyebrow raised, he wondered what was discussed to make her have such a change of attitude. He didn't exactly believe her that all was good, but he let her get in the car and got in himself, without saying another word initially. Sam pulled out of the parking lot of the motel when they were both in and headed towards the tattoo shop mostly in silence, even though the need to know what had her slightly upset or freaked out was eating away at him. She just didn't seem like herself right now and he felt the need to make things okay or cheer her up, but not knowing what has her stressed out, made things rather difficult. So he waited until they reached the tattoo shop, pulled into a parking spot outside of it on the main road and then turned his body to face her a bit. “I know you said everything is good but I get the feeling it's not. What's wrong Anya? You can talk to me” he spoke calmly and softly, but there was still that hint of concern for her in his tone. “If it's something I can help with I'd like to” he added, reaching out for her hand and held it.

Part of him knew he probably should have not said anything, but the bigger part of him just couldn't pretend something wasn't said to her that clearly got under her skin. If it had something to do with being able to help her and get answers she so desperately needed then he had to know everything. He had spent far too many years keeping secrets from people and it never ended well. The latest consequence of his own secret keeping was spending her life in Denver with friends and living a pretty normal life, whilst he was still a hunter.

Cason frowned at the conversation between Nat and Dean, as he knew where it was leading and he was way less than enthused about helping the Winchesters. The little vacation without them had been nice and quiet. He and Nat were in a place where things were nice…and quiet. When Nat put the phone on speaker and put it between them, Cason sighed at her next words and he sat back in his seat a bit.

“Find me somewhere to sit that is free of iron, salt, or any hints of spray paint. I don’t trust that place, Winchester…” Cason grumbled in between Nat’s words, and Dean nodded as he paced around rubbing at his eyebrow.

“As long as you stay in the main room, close to the wood tables and don’t touch any of the bookshelves, you should be good. I promise. I’ll double check for sigils. I’m really tryin’ here man.” Dean grumbled and Cason nodded with a shrug, as Nat answered Dean’s previous question about Denver.

“Fine.”

Dean smirked at Duke’s sentimental name for one of his horses. It showed Dean that at least one of them was handling Mika’s death in a healthy way. Duke had been burying himself with work on the ranch since the group went their separate ways, and in a strange way, even with their falling out in the past, Dean missed the hell out of the kid. But he was happy he had work to fall back on that wasn’t hunting. Hearing that Anna was happy just made his heart swell even more. She was okay, after his brother had practically dumped her on the only family she had left. He still didn’t agree with Sam’s decisions, but at least Anna seemed okay.

“I’m glad she’s okay.” Dean said softly, genuinely happy. “I miss hearing her voice around here, you know.”

Cason chewed at his lip as an idea came to his head, an idea that Sam would hate him for, but might lift Dean’s spirits and would add an extra set of somewhat experienced hands to this whole fiasco. When Nat spoke up, mentioning that she planned to make a pit stop in Denver, Cason’s idea grew and he would bring it up to her as soon as she was off the phone.

Dean nodded, “Yeah. Just…tell Anna hi for me, if you stop by the ranch. I’ll see you tomorrow night sometime? We can order in. Lots of horrible food that will make your boyfriend twitch. You’ll be in my house…my rules.”, he teased Natalia, knowing that Cason could hear every word.

After a moment, Dean ended the call with a simple, “Be safe.” And then turned to Lexi with a sigh.

“So, they’re gonna drive through the night and get here tomorrow sometime, I think. She said they’re stopping off in Denver. Boy, am I glad Sam’s not here to hear that…I think his head would explode, just hearing the name.”

Cason glanced over at Nat as Dean ended the call and he chewed at his lip before bringing up his idea with caution, “Maybe we should bring Anna with us. She knows just as much about demons as we do, and from the sounds of it, it might be good for Dean to be around her. I know Sam won’t like it, but he seems…busy.”



Anya tapped her fingers on the trim of the window in the car as they pulled out of the parking lot and on their way toward the tattoo shop. She didn’t know what to think about demons suddenly trying to track down Dean, through her. Someone must have seen them together, or must have caught wind that they were together. Some demon must have found out that she was coming for them, and was using Dean, or there was something Dean wasn’t telling her about himself…and now she was wrapped up in his tangled web of supernatural bullshit.

As they pulled into the parking lot of the tattoo shop, Anya flinched at Sam’s sudden speaking up, and she closed her eyes for a moment, not really wanting to tell him that demons were looking for his brother, and that she had an idea that it had something to do with her deal…or with something that Dean was hiding. But she also couldn’t lie to him. If they were getting to know each other and had any hope of possibly having a relationship in this horrible world, they had to be honest with one another.

Anya squeezed his hand as he held hers, and then she released his hand, looking up at him briefly. She pulled her phone and typed out a message, as best she could explain.

“Some demons showed up apparently at the motel. Luckily they didn’t kill anyone. They were looking for Dean, and they thought that I might know where he is, which means they know we’re connected, now. That’s all I really know.”

She pressed play and immediately typed another message.

“It looks like they didn’t find anything they were looking for, but I’m worried about your brother. What is he into that has demons stirred up enough to target those around him?”

NATALIA AND LEXI

It wasn't much of a shock that Cason would demand certain things for him to be able to be in the bunker. Natalia knew he wouldn't like the idea of being in there, but she also knew if she said no to Dean, then she would most certainly be nagged or begged to until she changed her mind. So she figured it was just easier to agree to help and get it over with so she and Cason could just go back to their half vacation lifestyle and doing the odd hunt.

"I'll tell them all you say hi, I know they'll be glad to hear it Dean. So yeah, tomorrow evening sometime. I'll keep you updated on our ETA in case we end up late or whatever. Chat tomorrow" she replied, amused at the idea of Dean purposely ordering in unhealthy food just to get under Cason's skin, before hanging up when Dean did. She then looked over at Cason with an apologetic smile, "I know it's not your favourite thing in the world to do, but I can't say no to him at the moment." She commented before listening to his idea for when they stopped at Denver.

"It's not an awful idea. You're right, Sam will hate it. But by the sounds of Dean's vague information they need all help on deck for this. So he'll have to suck it up and deal with it." She replied. Of course Nat did worry about how Sam would react to seeing Anna again, but she had to think about this professionally instead of sentimentally. Grabbing her phone from between them both, she quickly sent a text to Duke explaining the situation and if it was alright with them all, they'll pop in to stretch their legs and take a break from a 18 hour drive.

Clicking send, Natalia put her phone in the middle cupboard holder between herself and Cason and started the long drive back home. "If Duke responds, can you deal with it for me?" She asked Cason.

In the bunker Lexi looked up at Dean when it was clear he got done talking on the phone. She gave a nod of acknowledgement about what his sister's plan was and she did not envy the girl for doing that drive all the way Kansas. "rather her than me. I hate long drives" she smirked. Although Lexi did long drives regularly, she didn't enjoy them in the slightest and she wondered if that was one factor to why her own car was so done in.

"Sam briefly and vaguely told me about Denver. Said something about leaving a girl behind for her safety if I remember correctly. He kinda explained it badly when we were drunk in a bar one night" she replied to him about how he knew Sam wouldn't have enjoyed hearing Denver get mentioned, let alone anything else. Lexi was still surprised Sam got as drunk as he did that night when he admitted what his issue was with Denver, but she also knew she wouldn't have gotten any information out of him if he was sober.

SAM

Anya's flinch did make Sam feel a tad guilty for asking but when she started explaining, he was back to feeling glad he asked. Of all the things that she could have said, he wasn't expecting to hear that demons were on the prowl for Dean Winchester all over again. Sighing, he lifted a hand up and rubbed his temples. He was thankful that the demons didn't kill anyone so close to their home, but he also didn't like that demons were around and nothing had alerted them in the bunker like it somehow usually did.

None of this made sense but yet, made all of the sense at the same time. He racked his brain for a moment on how to breech the subject with Anya about what Dean did to get the first blade from Cain. It was the only thing that made sense to why Dean would have a pack of demons on his tail, which also meant he would have to let Lexi know at some point.

"Uhh...I got an idea of why they're searching for him. He has the First Blade, as in Cain and Abel first blade. It's what the mark on his arm is all about, if you've noticed it. It's the only thing I can think of and I'm gonna have to tell him when we get back Anya." He replied with a heavy sigh. He really hoped that none of this Cain stuff would come after Dean so soon, especially when Dean had been going through so much lately. He was still convinced that if he wasn't grieving and went on an suicidal rampage, Crowley wouldn't have convinced him nearly as easily to get the first blade to kill Abaddon. He'd even go as far as to be convinced that if Mika was still around, she'd have talked Dean out of this crap.

"Anyway, let's get you tattooed up and protected whilst we still can" he told her, deciding it was pointless to worry about Dean and demons now. Opening his car door, he got out waiting for Anya to get out so he could walk with her inside the shop and explain what it was she needed doing.

Dean walked over to the library briefly, pressing on one of the books in the front shelf. As he did so, the bookshelf opened to reveal a liquor cabinet with plenty of bottles and glasses. He grabbed a couple of glasses in case Lexi needed a drink and then snatched a cheap screw top whiskey from the bottom shelf, before closing the door and strolling back up the steps to the war room.

“Oh Denver…” Dean sighed as he approached the table again, and sat the bottle and glasses down. He pulled one of the rolling chairs to sit in, and groaned as he sat back and unscrewed the lid of the bottle. “Denver is Sam’s big bad one big mistake, regret, emotional atomic bomb…all of it wrapped into one. To put it mildly, I think that my brother was going to marry that girl, if our life had slowed down long enough.”

Dean truly believed it, too. If he had managed to get Anna and Sam out of the life, like some of the others had managed, he would have fully endorsed them tying the knot and living happily ever after in the most boring life possible. He would have died to give that to them. They deserved it after being demon toys their entire lives.

“See, sometime before you met up with Sam, there were these trials. The idea was that we could slam the gates shut on Hell…forever. It seemed easy enough. Each trial was pretty straight forward. The first one, I was going to take on.” Dean explained, pouring a tall glass of whiskey for himself. “Sam…being Sam, put himself in there, and got saddled with all of it.”

Dean took a drink of his whiskey as he shook his head, “And then he started getting sick. The girl, Anna, walked in on him one day. He was having a…a seizure. He was sick. His fever was more than any human could take. We’re talking brain melting heat. Anna was scared to death. She called me and we managed to get him back to a somewhat safe spot, but after that, something in Sam snapped. The second he got to feeling okay enough to travel, he made me drive them to Denver under the guise of ‘checking in with family’.”

The memories of Anna’s face, when Sam explained to her that she couldn’t leave with them, and he wasn’t going to let her watch him die made Dean shudder, and he closed his eyes to push down emotions that he didn’t even realize were still there, under the surface.

“She was everything to him. He walked away from her, practically threatened to kill me if I spoke her name out loud, and swore that he would never go to Colorado again. Even after he…well…after the trials, and everything he dealt with, it’s been rough on him. Then…then we lost Mika, and I can’t even begin to talk about that.” Dean’s voice cracked and he finished off his glass of whiskey, spilling his guts to Lexi in a way that he obviously had needed to…to someone, anyone for months.

Dean reached across the table, where John’s journal sat, wrapped up and stuffed full of papers and photos. He pulled it toward him, and flipped it open, pulling a few photos of the group, Sam and Anna smiling together at Bobby’s, Duke and Anna hugging, and finally, one of Sam and Anna, all busted up but happy, cuddling on a couch. He slid the photos across the table to Lexi, and tapped his finger on Anna in the group photo.

“Let’s just say that the few times they have run into each other, things have been a little more than chaotic and toxic. They fall back into old habits. They wrap up in each other’s emotions, and then they leave…He eventually ends up within a hundred miles of Denver and it all starts over. God forbid she ever showed up here.”



Anya’s eyes widened as Sam explained the reason why demons were after Dean. No matter what idea she might have had about what he was going to say, his actual words trumped it completely. She thought back to seeing Dean shirtless in the hall, and the weird brand that she had seen on his forearm. She had assumed it was some sort of scar, or other hazard of hunting. Maybe he had been branded by a random hunter or had been involved in something she didn’t know about. Never had she thought it would have something to do with…Cain and Abel. Jesus.

She almost suggested that they just go back to the bunker and tell Dean about what had happened on the outside, but Sam didn’t seem to agree as he suggested that they go ahead with their plans. Anya tapped her finger against her phone, trying to decide on an argument, but maybe the demons couldn’t find Dean. That might explain why they hadn’t already found him, this close to the bunker. Maybe that was why they were looking for someone connected to him, so that person would take them back to the bunker.

Anya sighed, not quite sure she agreed with leaving Dean and Lexi with no information, and she nodded. She opened her door and stepped out of the car, with a slump of her shoulders. As they walked up to the door of the tattoo shop, Anya scanned the parking lot with a bit of nervousness, but there were no people outside, only a random assortment of empty cars. They were safe, for the time being.

She allowed Sam to show the artist at the counter what they were wanting to have done, and the artist turned to Anya, “Where you want it sweetheart?”

Anya carefully lifted her shirt, and realized that her hip bone was bruised, so she turned her back to the artist and pulled her hair to the side, showing him the back of her neck. He gestured for her to follow him back to his table, and began to set up his station. Anya held up a finger at him, and he nodded, telling her to take her time.

She turned to Sam and typed a message, before lowering the volume on her phone and holding it close to Sam, “If we need to save our fun time for another night to make sure that Dean is okay, we can. Maybe check in with them and make sure he’s okay?”

LEXI

Lexi found herself watching as Dean walked towards the library without so much as a word, just opening a secret drinks cabinet and walking back with two glasses and a bottle of cheap whiskey. The fact it was still day time and he was doing this told her that this one hell of a story and there was a lot more to it than Sam ever let on that drunken night in the bar. She closed the laptop so the screen light wouldn't distract her and she turned in her chair to put her whole attention onto what Dean was going to say. She wanted to learn more about Sam, just as much as she wanted to learn more about Dean. Ever since Sam helped her not lose her mind through grief when he found her in her home distraught staring at the dead body of her fiancée, she felt a kinship to the man. She wanted to protect him as much as he protected her and helped her. He became a true friend and the very thought of something upsetting him so much, upset her. So when she heard Dean say he was convinced Sam would have married this girl in Denver was a surprise to her. Of the two brothers, Sam did strike her as the one to get married first, but she knew him as such a dedicated hunter, the idea of him finding a moment to marry someone was surprising.

She listened still as Dean began to explain what happened in their lives before she met Sam. Trials? Closing the gates of Hell forever? It was all such big news to her, something she didn't even think was even remotely possible. She couldn't imagine what must have been going through their minds when doing these trials, or what went through Dean's head when Sam stepped in and took the full brunt of the first one- whatever that trial was. She didn't say a word, just letting Dean talk as much as he needed to as it was clear he had a lot of this bottled up for a long time. Hearing that Sam had a seizure because of the trials broke her heart, sadness filling her eyes, unable to think of how scared this girl and Dean must have been finding Sam in such a scary situation. Lexi saw him shudder as he relieved those memories in his head, making her grab the bottle of whiskey and pour herself a drink as he began to speak again and explain just how much Anna meant to Sam. She couldn't think of Sam as someone who threatened his own brother with death for speaking someone's name, he always was so compassionate and caring in the time she had known him. It was like she was learning a whole new side of Sam that was driven by so much heartache.

Then it came…the words ‘then we lost Mika'. That name she recognised. Sam had told her about Mika and how she was everything to Dean, to them both. Had been together since they were kids, defied so many odds only to be ripped apart on a hunt. Sipping her drink, her eyes followed his hand as he reached out to John's journal, watching him flip it open and pull out photographs. Lexi reached out and pulled the photograph closer to her as he tapped on Anna in the group photo. They all looked so happy and like a tight knit family. The thought that it was now just he and Sam and by the sounds of it, sometimes their sister was devastating. Life had been so cruel to the brothers and it didn't feel fair in the slightest. “She's adorable” she remarked about Anna before he explained what usually happens if Sam and Anna do end up seeing each other. “I guess we can only hope that doesn't happen” she sighed, when she spotted another photo of Dean with a woman who she could only surmise was this Mika.

“This her? Mika?” She asked carefully, showing that she didn't want to pry too much but she couldn't hide that she didn't notice the photo. The two of them looked so happy in it and Mika looked so utterly in love with him as she sat beside him on a couch, leaning into him, hands on his arm. Lexi had to admit to herself, she didn't think Mika would look like how she did with the dyed hair and dark eyes, but they looked good together. She could tell that Mika was quite the personality just by what she could see in the photo and dare she say, the two of them looked like they were meant to be together until the end of time. Lexi felt awful for him but it was a loss she knew all too well. A loss that also eventually led her to Dean. Taking a sip of her drink, she stood up, Patting his thigh as she did so. “I'll be right back, stay there” she said softly, walking out of the war room and to her room where she went through her spare duffel that was solely for clothing and dug down into it, pulling out a small pouch full of photos and headed back to Dean in the war room.

Back in the room, she sat back down where she was, opened the pouch and pulled out one photo of her and her ex, pushing it towards Dean. “this is my one that got taken from me. His name is…was Owen.” She said, forcing herself to correct her wording into past tense. The photo showed herself with Owen in a photo studio whilst he was clearly the one taking the photo of them both, whilst he had made her laugh mid photo, looking very proud of himself for making her laugh, whilst keeping her very close. “He was an avid professional photographer and extremely talented….” She said sadly. “That was taken moments before he proposed to me” she added, getting choked up to the point she made herself take a swing of her drink to regain any kind of self control.


SAM

Sam knew it would be a shock to hear his theory of why demons were trying to find his brother. It was truly the only thing that made any kind of sense and that Anya was the first one out of her and Lexi to be told that bit of information. He didn't want to tell her like that, but he had to let her know it wasn't because of her that demons were after Dean. At least, as far as they knew, solely responsible. Demons were always after them, so he didn't want Anya to feel bad for what had transpired.

Inside the shop, he let the artist talk with Anya and discuss where she wanted the design, glad that the artist was able to interpret where she was signaling with no words. It was one reason he explained why they had gone in to begin with, because he didn't want Anya to get frustrated like she did in the tech store. He followed the two of them through to the guy's station and looked at Anya as she felt the need to tell him something via her phone. He leaned into the phone's speaker so he could hear what she wanted to tell him clearly, making his eyes glance across at her in the process. At the end of the message he gave a nod. “Okay, I'll give them a message. I'll just be at the front of the store waiting on the couch okay?” He replied, leaning over kissing the top of her head before walking back to the front of the store. Sighing, he wondered how to word the warning without completely ruining what he presumed was a light hearted happy vibe in the bunker between Dean and Lexi. Pulling his phone out, he opened up the chat between him and Dean and hovered on it for a few minutes as he sat down to wait for Anya.

He hoped he wasn't going to interrupt anything and just started typing:

’Hey Dean, just a heads up. Before leaving the motel with Anya's belongings, she told me demons had attacked the owner asking where you were. They're on the hunt for you and know somehow Anya is connected to us. She's getting tattooed now so she's protected and I'm keeping an eye out. But needed to give you the heads up’

He clicked send and sighed, staring out the window looking at nearly everyone with suspicion.

Dean watched and poured himself a bit more whiskey as Lexi looked at the photos he had placed in front of her. As she commented on Anna being adorable, Dean nodded and a fond smirk covered his lips. She was adorable. She had hated him off and on the whole time that he knew her, but she never failed to stick up for both he and Sam. She was a needed light in Dean’s life that he had taken for granted, a lot. There were times he was tempted to reach out to her, but with his connection with Sam, he resisted bringing up any bad memories for her…or any temptation for her to come to Kansas. He nodded his head in a wide, and exasperated way when Lexi stated that they should hope Anna didn’t show up at the bunker.

“Yeah, well…she avoids Kansas just as much as Sam avoids Colorado. They both know how things are with them.” He grumbled, taking a small drink. He paused his drink as Lexi pulled a photo of Dean and Mika, his heart falling into the pit of his stomach. He tilted his head back and pressed his lips together with a small nod, “Yeah…yeah that’s her.”

His voice was more hoarse than he had expected, emotion threatening to break that really pretty barrier he had built between himself and handling her death. He liked not thinking about it, but he knew that eventually, there wouldn’t be much of a choice. He would have to try and move on. Eventually it wouldn’t hurt so bad, but he couldn’t imagine what that day would even look like. As Lexi patted his thigh, Dean perked up a bit and he nodded, watching her with a furrowed brow as she stepped away from the table and headed down the dorm corridor. Right on cue, his phone buzzed and he pulled it from his pocket, looking at the screen with a frown.

He read over the message a few times, suddenly a bit worried about Anya and Sam being out alone. Sam could handle himself against a demon, but Anya was new to all of this. He didn’t even now if they took weapons with them. He pushed down the worry and texted Sam back with a deep breath.

‘Just take care of her. Make sure you have what you need to keep yourself safe and move normally. Don’t draw attention to yourself. And keep her close, Sammy.’

He sent the message and laid his phone back on the table as Lexi came back, a pouch in her hands. Dean turned to look at her, following her hands as she pulled a photo and pushed it toward him. His chest clenched as he realized she was opening up about her own loss, and they had reached a point of actually sharing their big traumas with one another. Hearing her correct herself into the past tense, Dean could feel the struggle in her voice and he knew that struggle well. It took a long time to be able to refer to Mika in the past tense, and he wasn’t even sure he could in normal conversation…even now.

He picked up the photo and took in how happy the both looked. The photo was beautiful and it captured Lexi’s real and natural smile to a fault, something that almost pulled a smile onto Dean’s lips. But as Lexi spoke about him, he realized how much their emotions and their loss echoed one another, “It does look like a happy day. Like…you look genuinely happy. I’m so sorry you lost him.”

Dean looked up from the photo, and he took a deep breath, scanning her face as she took a drink. He could tell that she was on the verge of becoming emotional, and he fought down his own lump in his throat, laying the photo on the table in front of him before drinking down the last of his second glass of whiskey, “That’s why we keep them, the pictures. Happier times and all that. It’s how we hold onto them. I’m sure Sam would rather I got rid of them all, but I can’t. You shouldn’t…”

Thinking of everything they had both lost, Dean was reminded of Sam’s text and he absentmindedly glanced at the mark on his arm, glaring in the dim light of the bunker. He rolled his arm just a bit, trying to ignore it as he tapped his glass on the table, tempted to pour more whiskey.

“Moving on is tough…” He randomly muttered, staring the bottle down with his eyebrows raised.

LEXI AND SAM

Sam felt his phone vibrate with a message back from Dean moments after he messaged Dean, which got him thinking that Dean and Lexi were actually behaving themselves for once. The message was what he was pretty much expecting, the usual stay safe, be prepared and stay equipped with anything he could all whilst keeping Anya safe. It was what he was already doing for the most part. He always had some weapons in the car, but he didn't have anything on him right now. He did however have the ability to still keep Anya safe in the shop.

Lexi let Dean take in the photo, and what she was saying to him. She hadn't looked at that photo in such a long time it felt like, but she had looked at others in the pouch once in a while, when it didn't feel like it was too painful to do so. She nodded at his condolences for losing Owen, feeling like over this last year it's all she had heard from people when they found out he was gone. She appreciated the words given to her, but it never got easier to hear. It was only remotely easier with Dean because she knew he was going through the same thing. “And I'm sorry you lost her” she replied before he spoke up again. She knew he was right, Lexi couldn't imagine ever getting rid of the photos she had of Owen. He was a large part of her life and she didn't want to ever erase that. He made her the person she was, always reminded her that there was more to life than being a hunter, even if he didn't know she was a hunter when he was alive. “I could never get rid of them. These photos aren't just memories for me of my life with Owen, but a piece of him and his talent.” She replied to him as she saw him looking down at the brand on his arm.

She saw how he was ogling the whiskey bottle, tapping his glass as he toyed with the temptation to have yet another drink. As tempting as getting drunk and falling into old habits was, Lexi knew she couldn't let them do that, so she grabbed the bottle and pulled it away from him. “It is tough, and I'm still learning how to properly, but I've always said as humans? We never really move on as such, we just learn how to live with the grief until it doesn't hurt so much. Only time gives us that lesson” she told him, looking him in the eyes. “But I know one thing for certain and that is that it gets easier when we're not alone and not staring at life down the neck of a bottle” she added. “From what Sam has told me, you've spent far too many days relying on whiskey to get through this grief, but you don't have to anymore Dean. You got me now, someone who really knows what you're going through and will go through.” She reached out for his hand and held it, rubbing the back of his palm with her thumb. “Neither of them would want us to mope about the past. We were happy not long ago” she commented, giving him a small smile as she also tried to cheer up from bringing them down memory lane.

She felt bad bringing up Mika, but hoped that by her bringing up Owen it made things the tiniest bit easier to cope with thinking about Mika. She was falling for Dean rapidly but she didn't want to replace Mika, she just wanted to be a new chapter in his life just as he was in hers. With a sigh, she decided to change the subject to the brand on his arm, “so…by the way you're looking at that brand I take it there's a pretty big story to that? Would it be too much to ask what that story is?” She asked him tactfully, refusing to let go of his hand just yet.

Dean turned his eyes from the bottle of whiskey, as Lexi’s hand came forward and she moved it away from him. He had to admit that the temptation was there to fight her over the bottle. It was his fall back to wash the emotions back down that he didn’t want to deal with. But then she began to speak, and he looked up, catching her eyes. If it was Sam telling him this, he would have already rolled his eyes, scoffed, grabbed the bottle and disappeared into his room, but he pressed his lips together and nodded at her words. Obviously, she had some experience with those same habits. Maybe her advice was exactly what he needed…

Her words about them having a lot in common rang true. She understood a lot of what he was going through, but there was still a huge secret lingering in the air that he didn’t even know how to bring up. He was swimming in grief, but he was also dealing with a constant rage that he struggled to swallow down. Mix that with a self sacrificial death wish that tugged at his chest every single time he left the bunker…he was a wreck.

He squeezed Lexi’s hand, matching her soft smile with his own and he nodded, “You’re right. There’s plenty of crap to dwell on. The past isn’t exactly something we can afford to get lost in, these days…don’t I know that…”

Dean’s brain flinched, and his ears rang a bit when she brought up the mark on his arm. He hadn’t exactly hidden it, choosing to ignore it and not bring it up, in hopes that she would just think it was some kind of weird remnant of a hunt from days long past. He thought about it for a moment, and he sighed, “Well…that story might sour any hopes of a good moment we might be having here.”, he finished his words with an incredulous chuckle, turning his arm over while still holding her hand. He looked over the mark and took a deep breath.

“But…if you’re going to stick around, now would be the time to scare you off.” He started, looking back up at her face. He scanned between her eyes, trying to decide how to tell her, and finally settled on just telling her straight out, “It’s the Mark of Cain. Like…THE Cain. There’s no good explanation for how I got it, other than I needed a means to an end for a really REALLY bad demon problem. So, I let a demon…”

Dean paused, as the words made him feel a little like an idiot, “I let a demon manipulate me into taking the damn thing. Now, the big bad demon is dead, the tool I killed her with is locked in the trunk of my car, and I’m stuck with the mark and all the crap that comes with it. I should have told you earlier…things are bad, Lexi. I wanted a normal few days. I wanted to feel human for a bit. But things are really bad.”

LEXI

Lexi hoped that she was getting through to him, even when he told her she was right, she hoped he meant what he said. She was in deep now with him and his brother, choosing to stay for a while, help them help Anya and continue to let herself like Dean a great deal. Then he said about how the brand might dampen the good thing they had going on and it made her worried about what that story fully entailed. She felt scared for him and what he could have done. If it was so major, then why didn't Sam tell her about it? Was Sam also trying to ignore it and hope that she wouldn't at some point ask him about it? She didn't know the answer but she knew it had to be bad if Dean was now clamming up.

She kept ahold of his hand as he looked up at her, scanning her eyes as he basically said now was the time to scare her off. That made her more worried but also determined to not run off. She was a hunter, she could handle what he was about to tell her. But what he did eventually say was something she never saw coming. It felt like she was just hit with a truck as the words sunk into her mind. He LET a demon manipulate him? The brand was the mark of Cain? This was a big deal and one she wasn't in the least bit prepared for, but she couldn't run. She couldn't just leave him. Not now. It was clear how terrified he was about the situation and if she felt if she left him now, he would be even more lost.

As the words sunk in, Lexi remained silent for a moment or two as she tried to figure out the right words to say to him. She could understand why he wanted a normal few days and to feel human for a while if he had all of this on his shoulders. Letting go of his hand, she just scooted up close to him and hugged him tightly. "I'm not running anywhere" she said first, wanting him to hear that more than anything. "I'm glad you've told me, it's a lot to say out loud, but you have to know I won't go anywhere. I'm not one to run away at a hurdle. If I was, I'd be a pretty crap hunter" she said, her voice remaining calm even though deep down inside she was anything but calm.

"I'm going to stay and help you through this okay?" She said once more, pulling back just enough to look him in the eye. "I'm gonna help you" she repeated, one hand stroking his cheek as she tried not to get emotional in front of him. She had to help him, she couldn't lose anyone else in her life. She had fallen hard for Dean and she wasn't going to just let him slip through her fingers. Even if he never felt the same way towards her, she wasn't going to abandon him, people like them needed to stick together.

Dean let the air hang around himself and Lexi as she took in the words he had spilled onto her. He hoped that his words didn’t come across as too scared, although in reality…he was terrified. He didn’t feel like himself, if he was anywhere near the first blade. He felt like all there was…was rage. As the silence hung heavy in the room, he suddenly heard the wheels of her chair rolling across the concrete floor and then her arms were around him and Dean melted into her touch a bit. Every part of his brain told him to push her away, to tell her to run or to break her heart to where she didn’t have a choice but to leave. It was his way of spiraling right back into the mode he needed to be, in order to get things done. If there was no one for him to hurt, he could handle being reckless. He could handle dying, if it was necessary. But knowing that he would possibly leave someone to deal with the same grief that had eaten him alive, it complicated things.

Lexi saying that she wasn’t leaving caused Dean to bury his face in her shoulder with a shuddered sigh. This was his time to force her to go, but he didn’t. He just let her talk. She said what he had kind of feared she would say. She wasn’t leaving. She wanted to help him, although that was the last thing he wanted. He wanted her on the moon, if it would keep her away from all of this.

As she pulled back, Dean’s eyes scanned between hers, and he swallowed down emotion that was threatening to bubble up and roll down his cheeks, right in her hands, “I don’t um…I don’t want you to help. I don’t want you anywhere near this, Lexi. You have to understand. This is…this is probably not going to end well. And if this goes wrong, I don’t want you to watch me die. Understand?”

He took a deep breath, and leaned his head forward, pressing his forehead against hers, “And I don’t know what I would do if you got hurt…or worse. I think it would kill me, at this point. I don’t think I would survive losing someone else I love.”

LEXI

Dean just burying his head in her shoulder told her he did want her around, even if his head was telling him differently. So when he looked at her, and told her he didn't want her to help him, he didn't even want her around it tore her heart a part. She understood his reasonings, especially after she had opened up to him finally about Owen, but it still hurt a lot to hear him say he didn't want her around to watch him die. She gave a small nod to show she did understand, but that didn't mean she was going to accept the reason. She wasn't going to just up and leave and not turn back.

Lexi let her eyes shut as Dean pressed his forehead against hers and spoke once more about him not wanting to see her get hurt. That she also understood, but what truly made her pull her head back and look at him, was his last statement. He was openly admitting he was falling for her. Just as she was falling for him. They were so far gone from being able to walk away from each other when the night before Dean asked her to stay and live with them for a while.

"No...no you don't get to say that Dean. You can't say I have to leave and not be anywhere this or you, then end your reasonings with admitting you love me. That's not how this works" she told him, refusing to look away from him. "I know you're scared of losing someone else, I am too but I'm not someone who can be easily convinced to just walk away. Like it or not I have fallen for you as well and I can't turn my back on you. Or Sam or Anya for that matter. That's not who I am" she continued.

"You can say the nastiest things to me, break my heart all you want but I'm not leaving. You say you can't lose anyone else you love, well neither can I Dean. If fighting tooth and nail to try and not have you die is what it takes, then I want to fight with you. I want you to have the extra chance in me to best this. So don't you dare tell me to leave after telling me you love me. Nothing you say will change my mind. Nothing." She finished saying with conviction.

Every part of her wanted to cry, but she refused to in front of him. That could be done in private when she was alone. Dean was her second chance at happiness and she had to keep ahold of that. She pressed her lips against his firmly, letting it linger for a moment before pulling back again. One thing he was right about this was that it certainly put a dampener on the mood throughout the bunker. She couldn't even say anything else for a moment, just letting it all sink in for the both of them.

Dean flinched as Lexi pulled back to look at him, and his last words were obviously what did it. He couldn’t decide if it was a mistake to let her know how he felt, or not. Judging by her words, and her refusal to allow her to push him away, maybe the timing was bad. He would much rather suffer in silence, than have her killed because of her own stubbornness. But the longer she spoke, the more his face softened. He couldn’t imagine saying anything cruel to her just to push her away. He had hoped that telling her how dangerous the situation was would do the trick.

He just didn’t have it in him to be hateful, anymore…not toward someone he loved. He sighed and tried to interrupt her, “Lexi…”

But she doubled down, making it clear that she was there, no matter what. She wasn’t leaving. He would likely have to tie her up and drop her off somewhere in rural central Kansas to convince her to leave and he wasn’t even sure that she wouldn’t just find her way back to the bunker anyway. He placed his hands on her thighs and brushed his thumb across them, looking away from her eyes for a moment as he thought about his next words. He wasn’t the ‘I love you’ type. It took a lot to pull the words from his throat, and he had managed to break one of his long standing rules thanks to whiskey, fear, and a host of other emotions.

“Lexi, I…” He started, trying to find his words as her lips pressed to his, and he kissed her back, letting his eyes flutter closed at the welcome closeness. Sure, he wanted to push her away, fly her to Egypt, anywhere that wasn’t right next to him as the worst of the demon crap crashed down around him. But there was just no way. She wouldn’t leave willingly, and he didn’t have it in him to push her out with his old ways. He was too tired. As she pulled back from the kiss, he tightened his fingers around her thighs and sighed. “I’m sorry. I just want you to know what you’re getting yourself into. That’s all. I want you to keep yourself safe…and to let things play out how they will.”

He leaned a little closer to her, trying to salvage some part of the day without everything being quite so heavy, “But now you know everything. No more secrets. No more confusion. You know everything I do. Do you um…do you wanna do some work? I make a decent sidekick. But until Nat gets here, we can’t really do much. I need the intel.”

Dean smiled softly, and he leaned in, pressing a gentle feather light kiss to her lips. “I’m sorry. Can you forgive me for…being me?”

LEXI

Lexi had to get everything off her chest before he began speaking again. She had to let him know that although, yes, she was being incredibly stubborn, she was also willing to be smart about the situation if she were to stay. To her, this wasn't just a case of 'im falling bad for you and don't wanna lose you like some cliche lovesick teenager'. This was a case of 'I'm falling for you but I'm also a hunter who sees a job here and I want to help, as well as refusing to lose anyone else'. She knew getting close to someone like Dean was probably one of the riskiest and most stupid ideas she had, but she couldn't help how things were guiding her. Whether that be called fate, emotions, or whatever.

She listened to what he was saying, appreciating that he was being honest with her about what she was getting into by being around him and in turn, his brother. "I swear to you I'll be smart and keep myself safe with this." She replied, letting him keep ahold of her as they spoke with each other.

As he leaned just that bit closer, she watched him the whole time, not taking her eyes off of his, nodding at his words about how she was now up to date with what the boys have been involved in. "Well, like you say, with your contact and sister here, there's really not much we can do. I can't train Anya until she gets back with Sam either. So we're at a bit of a stand still" she replied before he asked her if she could forgive him after giving her the lightest kiss he had ever given her.

Returning the kiss before she decided to speak, she gave him a soft smile. "There's not anything to really apologise for. I get why you kept it from me for this long. But I'm happy you've been honest now. So please don't apologise. Sam already told me you're more closed off than he is before we even met. And you wouldn't be the worst hunter I've met over the years who sinks to those kinds of habits" she smiled.

She had met plenty of hunters who had a giant wall wrapped round their hearts and emotions, who were solely work motivated and nothing else. Even hunters who would resort to sexist behaviours just to keep female hunters away and safe. It was all a bravado most of the time, but still something she witnessed. Dean was far from any of those kinds of hunters in her eyes, from what she knew of him thanks to getting to know him in the bunker, and from what Sam told her. "I just hope you can handle my stubbornness" she smirked softly.

It was then she got pulled out of looking Dean in the eye and being honest with him by her phone ringing behind her on the table. Sighing at being interrupted, she leaned back in her chair to reach out for her phone and answered it, not recognising the number initially. "hello? Lexi speaking" she answered, keeping her free hand on Dean's knee. "oh hi there, it's the Daven Garage. Just calling to say your car is ready for pickup" she heard on the line and she couldn't help but smile ever so slightly. "that's amazing, I'll be down in a bit to collect. Bye" She replied before hanging up and looking back at Dean.

"Seems my car is ready so fancy coming with me to pick it up?" She asked him, deciding it was probably the better option than moping in the bunker until Sam and Anya got back. She figured if they stayed in the bunker they would just swell on the information dump they both just had and could do with something a bit more positive.

Dean fought the urge to frown at Lexi bringing up the way that Sam spoke about him. It wasn’t that surprising. His personality irked the hell out of his brother plenty of times, and almost got him killed just as many times. But it was a reminder that Lexi was Sam’s friend first, and a lot of the things she knew about them and their dynamic was from Sam. He smiled a little wider when Lexi admitted to being stubborn. She was indeed the most stubborn woman that he had known in a long time. No one could top Mika, but Lexi was damn close.

“I have a bit of a thing for stubborn women.” He murmured with a wide smile. Lexi’s phone ringing pulled their eyes apart and Dean sat back a bit but didn’t move from his spot. He just watched as Lexi spoke on the phone, making sure that it wasn’t bad news from anywhere, or that Sam wasn’t calling with a problem. But from the sounds of it, it was good news. Dean raised an eyebrow, asking quietly what the call was about when Lexi explained that her car was ready.

With a relieved sigh, Dean nodded, “Yeah. Yeah we can go grab it. I wanna check it over, anyway and make sure they didn’t mess anything up. A woman dealing with a garage usually never ends well.”

He reluctantly pulled away from Lexi, and glanced around the table for his car keys. He found them with his eyes, over in the corner of the map, where Sam’s were missing. Dean was really tempted to pick up his phone and text Sam, just to make sure he and Anya were still good to go, but he also wanted to give them space. Demons weren’t after them. They were after Dean. He was the one who needed to look over his shoulder, for now. With the first blade in the trunk, worst case scenario would be if he had to use it.

“Alright. Keys are acquired. Let’s get some clothes on and we can head out.”