A/N: Okay, so I adore this series - but it kinda bothered me how Cassie is iffy about what happens in the woods near the end of Killer Instinct. I understand why the question is left open, but in All In everything is so solidified that it just bothers me that Cassie isn't sure about her own decision in Killer Instinct. And, of course, it doesn't help that I'm for Dean all the way. ;)

{You know the drill - I don't own the Naturals! ;) }

Mild spoilers for Killer Instinct.

I finally asked myself the question I've been afraid to ask.

What if Dean hadn't come with Briggs?

If he hadn't appeared right then, when I was still shaking from nearly being killed by Webber and Briggs was trying to explain how they found Agent Sterling - and me - in the middle of nowhere, if Dean hadn't been there in that forsaken woods...

If it had been Michael instead...would it have been different?

Michael saw the answer on my face when he asked that question.

He knew.

He saw.

I think he saw it before I did.

Maybe I was just afraid to admit it to myself: it wasn't a mistake.

I was scared, and Dean was scared, and everything was crashing down and rising from the ashes around me - around us - but it wasn't a mistake. Dean could never be a mistake.

Never.

I loved Michael - I loved all my fellow Naturals - but I realized it wasn't like that. Not that kind of love. And somehow, deep down, almost from the start I'd felt he belonged to Lia, even if Michael didn't realize it yet.

And Dean - I couldn't untangle myself from him if I tried.

At this point, I couldn't imagine it any other way. I couldn't imagine not having the warmth of Dean's hand on my neck or the near-giddiness I felt when he dimpled. And profiling together - he understood my train of thought like no one else ever had. It was...perfect. We weren't perfect, but together...it felt perfect.

No, it felt right.

It was right.

It wasn't chance, it wasn't happenstance...

And it wasn't a mistake.

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