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Sacrifice for Vengence

Chapter 1

"Where are we going now?" asked Sam.

"A friend of dad's called and said that he had a possible lead on something big." replied Dean.

"So, again where are we going?"

"Michigan."

"Great, last time we ran into Max. What is it this time? A fire starter?"

"I wish. That would be cool."

"Yeah, really cool until he brunt down a house with us in it!"

"Ah, you worry too much Sammy."

"Well forgive me, last time we came to the "wolverine state" you nearly got your brains blown out."

"Yeah, yeah whatever," said Dean sarcastically. "Look this guy found this book telling of some prophecy."

"What did it say?" Sam asked, slightly intrigued.

"Something about a child of a demon coming into its powers, will it be good or evil. You know, the usual."

"Great. I think I preferred the fire starter." responded Sam.

Sam and Dean stepped through the front door of Greg Scofield's house. Dean called out to the trusted and old friend of their fathers, while Sam looked around at the depressing decor.

"You're sure he still lives here? This place looks abandoned" said Sam.

"He's a hunter not friggin' Martha Stewart. What do you expect?" answered Dean, his voice dripping with annoyance. They had once again, been in the car together too long.

"Greg! Greg!...Gre"

"For God sakes, what!" came an angry voice behind them.

"Sorry, you weren't answering."

"So you thought you would just stand there and call my name a few more times. Instead of looking around to see if I was dead or outside..." he responded.

Sam smirked as he looked at Dean. He knew how much he hated being embarrassed by another hunter in front of Sam, especially over stupid things.

Dean just gave him a "shut it" look in return.

"What took you so long?" asked Greg.

"We were in Texas taking care of some shape-shifter. Once we finished, we left as quickly as we could."

"Why do you drive everywhere? This is important. You could have been here hours ago if you flew. Why didn't you fly?"

Sam tried to hold it back, but the laugh burst through his lips.

"Something funny?" snapped Greg.

"Sorry sir. It's just, well you see, Dean here is a..." started Sam, regretting letting the laugh escape.

"Well, I...didn't want to leave my car parked in the airport lot. Who knows what would have happened to it there?" Dean quickly spat out, putting together the words as he said them.

Sam yet again had to smirk in Dean's direction. He remembered fondly the case where he discovered the large chink in Dean's armor; his fear of flying.

"Right," Greg said skeptically. "Anyway, we have to get to business. This book," he stated as he lifted a huge and ancient leather-bound book, "is called The Book of Greyus and it says that a child was born of demon and human and is soon to come to its full potential. It is your job to find it and be sure to either kill it or make sure it is on our side."

"Well, why just us? Can't you help?" asked Sam.

"I already found out the child is in Michigan, going to school at the University of and now you want me to fight the thing for you too!?" Greg said disgusted.

"No sir. Sorry sir. We will take care of it from here, thanks for your help," Dean jumped in. He had long ago and too well learned not to question Greg Scofield.

Sam gave him an inquisitive look. He couldn't believe that Dean was as obedient to another man as he had been their father.

"Why did you cower like an abused dog when I questioned Greg?" asked Sam.

"Look, the last time I did that...well...lets just say I have regretted it ever since." responded Dean. A look of fear on his face as he flashed back to that time.

Sam decided he had better leave that one alone.

"So, we know that this half-breed is at the University of Michigan. How are we going to narrow down the search, it's not like it's at a community college." said Dean.

"Will you quit referring to him as an "it"?" said Sam, irritated.

"Sorry, what's your problem?"

"Nothing. It's...it's just it's part human too you know."

"Whatever, Nancy. Now come on. Let's go to the library, you can work your magic and we can narrow this thing down."

"It could take awhile."

"Your right, I'll search for a hotel and you go hit the books."

"Alright. Call you when I find something?"

"If you find something."

"Yeah, whichever." Sam was glad to be rid of his overbearing and rushed older brother.

The library was huge, as was the campus. Dean was right finding him would be a huge task in itself. Then making it go down the right "path" could be a nightmare. What if they had to kill it? Thoughts and fears where flying through his head, one after the other.

"I don't believe it! Sam?"

The girl's voice cleared his mind instantly. It sounded so familiar; where had he heard it before? As he turned around, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Standing in front of him was a beautiful dark haired girl with an all too familiar face. It was Nadia. She was his one temptation while Jess and he were together. Of course, she never saw him that way. He had always been just a friend and Sam had to keep telling himself that that was all she was to him; just a friend. She looked great.

"Nadia?"

"Sam, it is you. What are you doing here? Is this where you went after Jess?"

"Uh, no. I am just here with my brother; um....we are just doing some research."

"Oh, what for? Wait...you mean research for the family business?"

Sam had forgotten all about the fact that she knew the family secret. He had accidentally divulged it when Jess had broken up with him for that one night freshman year. The alcohol had gotten to his brain more than he realized and he couldn't stop his word vomit. He told her everything, hoping to impress her. Stupid night. He tried to take it back the next day, but she approached him and shocked him. She told him that it was cool, she would keep his secret; she was impressed. He thought about pretending it was all lies but, having someone know about his hunting childhood; took tons of weight off his shoulders. They talked about the cases his dad had covered and she never told a soul.

"Yeah...sorry I can't believe it...I never thought I would see you again."

"Me either," she said with a slight sadness to her voice.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

"I transferred. Decided law really wasn't my calling so, I came here for psychology. Actually, because of you, I specialize in parapsychology. I really like it here."

"Wow, I never pegged you as the shrink type."

"I never said I was going to be a shrink" she replied with a smirk on her face. "Is there something here, on campus? That you are hunting I mean" she said with a shake of her head when she remembered why he was here.

"Sort of."

"What is it?" she wasn't entirely sure he would tell her, even if he knew.

"Not quite sure yet."

"Oh. Wait, you said you were here with your brother. The famous Dean? Where is he?"

"Looking for a place to stay."

"Well, that will be nearly impossible. There is a huge game against Minnesota tomorrow. Hotels will be packed I'm sure."

Just then Sam's phone vibrated. It was Dean.

"Guess what."

"Everything is booked," said Sam.

"Yeah...how did you know?"

"Someone just told me there is a big football game tomorrow."

"Football? Yeah," Dean responded sarcastically.

"Someone?" said Nadia.

"Who is that?" asked Dean.

"I'll tell you later."

"Wait...that was a girl. Sam you dawg! Nice, but you are supposed to be looking for stuff on the case." The line was quiet for a few seconds, "I can't believe I just said that."

"Look, Dean. I will introduce you two later, okay? Right now I have to get to work. You keep looking for a hotel room."

Sam hung up the phone before Dean could argue.

"You're looking for a place to stay?" asked Nadia.

"Yeah, for a couple a days. But, like you said he couldn't find one yet."

"Well...my roommate is gone for a few weeks. You guys could stay with me. One can sleep in her bed and I can get a roll-away or sleeping bag or something."

"That is really nice but, I'm sure he can find something. He is very resourceful." He found it odd that he still responded to her as if he and Jessica were still together, afraid to betray her.

"Come on, we can catch up," she said eagerly. "I am sure he won't find anything. Besides, I insist. Call your brother and tell him to meet us here. I can't wait to meet him."

"It's alright, we'll be okay."

"Call! Now Sam" she said.

"Okay!" honestly, she always scared him a little.

Of course Dean was totally up for staying in a girl's dormitory for a while.

Chapter 2

Normally, Sam would have been hesitant in introducing a girl that was a friend, and that he sort of liked to Dean; he had a way of clouding their judgment. But Nadia was different. The bad boy thing would never work on her.

Sam had witnessed many men approach Nadia expectantly; and watched many leave like wounded animals. He knew the way Dean would express his "admiration;" cocky, bull-headed, and way too sure of himself. Oh yeah, he was definitely going to be shot down from his studly high-horse.

Over Nadia's shoulder Sam saw Dean walk through the library doors and waved him over. As he approached, Dean scanned the back of Nadia and, smirking gave Sam a thumbs up. Sam rolled his eyes.

"Well, little brother what cha got for me?" asked Dean, chest puffed out, preparing himself for the introductions.

Sam stood up and said, "Nothing yet. Dean this is Nadia, an old friend from school."

Nadia stood up and spun around to put a face with the brother she had heard so much about. She gave Dean a large smile and she saw that good-looks definitely ran in the family.

"Nice to finally meet you. Good looks, I see, run in the family," said Nadia as she shook Dean's hand. She hoped that Dean's good looks came with Sam's charm. They didn't.

"Ah," Dean modestly waved, "only some of it. Well Sammy, now I see why you stayed at that school for so long."

"Dean, we better get to work," Sam said trying to draw Dean back to reality.

"Yeah, in a minute. I'm trying to be polite, make conversation like your always telling me." Dean replied, mockingly offended.

Nadia smiled and then made a move for the record books. She spun around to Sam, completely forgetting about Dean, and said, "Well, I have nothing to do for a couple of weeks so, how can I help? And, Sam, before you even say anything, I am going to help. I am."

Dean was dumbfounded, still recuperating from her complete brush off. He tried again to get and keep her attention.

Sam was smiling the entire time, loving Dean's total confusion.

"Sure you can help, we could use all we can get" said Dean. Nadia again focused on him, smiling said "great" and turned back to Sam. "Where should I start?"

"Well, I need some help with these printouts and someone can look through the books" Sam left the choice open.

"Okay, I'll help you with the print outs and Dean, you can make yourself useful digging" said Nadia, smirking.

Sam kept his face down but the smile continued.

Dean opened and closed his mouth and crushed and taken aback, walked away.

"Sam, could you help with these books?" asked Dean from around one of the many book shelves.

Sam got up and joined Dean behind the shelf.

"Where are they?" asked Sam.

"What?" responded Dean.

"The books."

"Oh, I haven't found any yet."

"What?...whatever..." Sam turned to go back to the prints and Nadia but Dean grabbed his arm.

"Wait. First of all, why does she seem to know exactly what we're looking for? Why does she seem to know a little more about us than I would assume she would know?" asked Dean.

"Well...I kind of...a long time ago...accidentally..."

"You told her! Didn't you!?"

"No, no, well...yeah. I didn't mean to though."

"After how you yelled at me when you found out that I told Cassie, and know I find out that you also told someone" Dean yell-whispered.

"I was drunk!"

"You...you were drunk?" Dean said chuckling in disbelief.

"Yes. Jess had just broken up with me and I...I didn't mean to" said Sam, frustrated.

"You know what, whatever. Just...what is her deal?" asked Dean.

"What do you mean?"

"She totally blew me off...she wasn't even slightly interested" Dean said, pouting.

"You are unbelievable! You know that? Not every girl drops at the sight of you."

"I know not all of them do...just most" Dean smirked. "But, dude she is totally hot! We would be perfect together."

"Pa-leeze!" Sam said rolling his eyes. "She is a good friend and you're not going to do this" he warned.

Dean started to retort, but they were both stopped when they heard, "I found something!" from the other side of the shelf.

Sam and Dean rushed to her side.

Chapter 3

"What is it?" asked Sam.

"It looks...like a...family tree or something. I'm not entirely sure" answered Nadia. "Where are the books?"

"What books?" asked Sam.

"The ones you had to help Dean carry."

"I didn't need the help; I could have got them myself. It's just they were old and I didn't want to take the risk of dropping one" answered Dean, offended.

"We looked through them quickly back there and they weren't what he thought they were" said Sam.

Dean quickly covered by saying, "Yes they were; they just didn't have enough information."

"Right" said Nadia, smirking.

Dean just gave her a weird look; confusion combined with pouting with a little anger.

"Yeah, it is a family tree. Of the...Geryon family. I don't know if this helps us much. It doesn't say anything about any prophecy" said Sam.

"Sam, don't you think I know that. The book was called The Book of Greyus...Geryon/Greyus. There is something there right?" asked Nadia.

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't think so" answered Sam tentatively.

"I really think there is Sam; my gut tells me this is it. This is the key."

"The key?" snorted Dean.

"Yes" Nadia said, her voice ice cold.

Dean stepped back, raised his hands and his eye brows. "Sorry. It just sounded like something from a movie."

"I don't mean an actual key. I mean the key to where to look for other stuff" she replied nastily.

"Alright, so how do you think this helps us?" asked Dean.

"I think we should follow the tree, follow the name, and see where it leads. Maybe whoever you guys are looking for still has that name."

"It's a long shot" said Dean.

"But it's the only thing we have in 6 hours of searching. Why not? I'd rather follow a bad or empty lead than none at all. Besides, we can keep looking while we follow this one" said Sam.

Nadia gave Sam a thankful smile.

They followed the family line as far as they could and the name stayed Geryon. Hopefully the kid's name is still Geryon.

Nadia decided to use her account to search the name further, while the boys searched the public records for anyone named Geryon or Greyus. They came up with nothing.

Nadia had a bit more luck though; she discovered that the name switched to Orthrus. She also found that Geryon was the name of a demon-type monster in Greek mythology and Orthrus was the father of Eurythion. Eurythion was the guardian of Geryon's herd of red cattle.

"No friggin' way! We are not dealing with the great great great blah-blah-blah of some Greek mythological creature!" said Dean. He didn't seem to take the information very well.

"Look, all I said was that those were the names! They probably named themselves after the three-bodied creature. Alright!" Nadia stormed back.

"Okay, okay! Let's cool it! They may have taken the names and Dean, we have seen a lot of things; we know that they must have existed back then. It's weird but so are the other things we hunt" said Sam.

"You have got to be kidding me! Are you serious?" said Dean.

Nadia stood up and swung out her arms, "You know what? It doesn't matter; we just have to find this person, okay. So cool it and let's search for someone with the last name Orthrus. It's not very common...a good thing...and a bad thing."

"She's right, we have to quit and concentrate on the case here" Dean said.

Sam and Nadia looked and him and at each other, totally surprised that that just came out of Dean's mouth. Dean looked at them and said, "What?"

"Nothing. I just expected that to come out of Sam's mouth not yours. That's all" said Nadia.

"Well, I am not always what you expect" answered Dean.

"Alright, now we have to think of a way to get into the records room or Dean's office or somewhere where they have the names of all those attending" Sam said, thinking about where to sneak into.

"The Dean's office" said Nadia.

"What? That is like, the stupidest place you could try to break into. It is dangerous, there is always a secretary around, and we have to have a way in" said Dean.

"We do have a way in, an easy one. Fool-proof" answered Nadia, smiling.

Chapter 4

"Easy, foolproof? Right" said Dean.

"I have to agree with Dean..."

"Ah, you think?" interrupted Dean.

Sam gave him a shut it, annoyed look. "What I was saying was how are you going to get us, non-students, into the Dean's office to snoop around?"

"I'm not" replied Nadia.

"What?"

"I'm not going to get you in. I'm going to get me in."

"No. You're not going in there yourself," said Sam.

"Yeah, well then how are you going to get in?" asked Nadia, arms folded.

"How would you do it?" asked Dean.

"Dean..." exclaimed Sam.

"What is the one thing a man can't resist?" asked Nadia.

The room was silent. Both brothers looked at her confused, thinking.

"Wow. I thought you would have the answer in record time, Dean."

"Huh? ...oh, you mean?..." said Dean, head bobbing, eyebrows bouncing up and down.

"Yes. The possibility of sex happening, can get a man to do anything. Well...if he is straight anyway."

"Well, Sam, she has got a point" said Dean. "Wait, is he straight?"

Nadia rolled her eyes and smiling said, "Not only is he straight; but I happen to know that he is very,...hands on...with the female students."

"Really!" said Dean impressed.

"Wait, you're not going to..." said Sam, uncomfortable and shocked.

"Of course not! Sam!" She said offended.

"I didn't think you would but..."

"But what?" asked Nadia brows raised.

"Oh...Sam, I would quit now. While your...well, behind by less" advised Dean.

"I actually think you should listen to Dean" replied Nadia.

"Well, you don't gotta say it like it's the first time in history," Dean replied.

"Look, I am going to go into the office, talk to his secretary; tell her we have an appointment and she will let me in. And yes, I know she will. I have a friend who files papers in the office; she has seen many other girls do it."

"Why can't your friend just..." started Sam.

"Because, the Dean's secretaries are seniors who have worked in the office their entire collegiate careers. They have earned the Dean's trust. No one else is allowed in his office."

"I still say no," Sam stated.

"Oh, and you think that is going to stop me?" Nadia said rebelliously.

Dean was beginning to like her more and more. Rebelling against Sam, she was a girl after his own heart; he wished.

Nadia led Sam and Dean through the door of their new home; a girls dorm room. Dean was in heaven, he had passed three girls in bikinis and two in boy cut underwear.

"Now, I just have to find what to wear. Sexy, a little sluty, but mature."

"I've got it, a trench coat with nothing underneath!" offered Dean.

Sam and Nadia gave him a "you're wasting my time" look.

"What, like that's just my fantasy?" said Dean.

Opening her closet, Nadia stepped back to scan over her clothes. "I think I have three outfits that might work; you guys will have to help me decide." She grabbed some of her clothes and headed towards the bathroom.

"Oh, now come on, I won't look. It's Sam you gotta worry about" said Dean.

Sam spun around and punched Dean in the arm, "Not!" he said.

Nadia just rolled her eyes and continued into the bathroom to change.

As she slipped on the first outfit she realized she really wanted to know what they thought of her, badly. She slid on the black boots and stepped back into the room.

"What do you think?" she asked.

The first outfit was a suit with a short skirt and low cut blazer, showing the lace of her bra.

Sam repositioned himself uncomfortably and cleared his throat. Dean looked at her, then at Sam and said, "Well, I think that says it right there" referring to Sam's discomfort.

Nadia smirked and returned to the bathroom; for some reason, she hesitated to close the door completely. She didn't let it latch.

The second outfit consisted of a strapless shirt and shorts that came halfway up her thigh. God, Dean loved this.

"Nice, younger than the other one. But still, very nice" Dean commented.

The third time the door was left open a crack. She couldn't figure out why she did it, trust? Adrenaline? Curiosity?

"Now this is my favorite. I have this fantasy of a girl working on my car and we...," said Dean.

"It's nice" Sam jumped in.

"Definitely my favorite. Go with this one." Dean scanned over the simple outfit; a white tank top and tight jeans. "I always thought less was more."

Nadia was surprised by Dean's choice; he appealed to her a bit more.

Channeling Carmen Electra, Nadia walked through the door to the Administrator's Office. Honestly, she always had this side to her; hidden. She liked the feeling, the feeling she could take on the world, power over men.

Approaching the desk of the Dean's secretary, she kept telling herself it was all about confidence, she belonged there. The Dean wasn't in the office now; they had made sure of that. "Excuse me."

The secretary looked up, looked her up and down and said, "He is not here."

"Oh, I know. He told me to meet him here." Was it really this easy?

"Fine go on in" she responded completely disinterested and disgusted. She made Nadia feel dirty already and she hadn't and wasn't going to do anything.

"Thanks. Do you know when he'll be back?" she needed to know how much time she had.

"Half hour."

Closing the door behind her, she took a deep breath. This feels so wrong. I hate girls who did this. I have to. Deep breath, relax you have a half hour.

She made her way to the computer; "shit" she needed a password.

I hope he has it written down somewhere. She started looking coming up with nothing with every pad of paper and object she moved.

"Find it?" a voice sounded from behind her.

She jumped and spun, but saw no one. "Find it?" the voice said again.

"Oh, duh." The walkie talkie Dean had given her was stuffed into her back pocket. They where sitting out in the waiting room keeping an eye out for anyone entering the office.

She grabbed the walkie and put it to her mouth, "No, I need the password. I didn't even think about this, shit" said Nadia, feeling moronic.

"I thought he trusted the people in his office" said Dean.

"Shut up. Wait, where are you?"

"In the hall. Do you have any idea what it could be?"

"Perv, adulterer, gross? Have any preference? Sam is still in the office, right?"

"Yes."

"God, I wish it was just right on his desk."

"Who leaves their password right on their desk?"

"People who trust their staff" she said, still searching. "Wait..."

"Did you find it?"

There was no response.

"Nadia? Are you okay?"

"I got it! It was right on his desk!"

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that keeps all those pesky blind people from hacking into his computer" Dean said sarcastically.

"Funny. I know, not the safest thing to do."

"Well?"

"Orthrus...I found him! I mean her."

"Her?"

"Her."

Chapter 5

"Well? What is her name?" asked Dean.

"Cl..." the line went silent.

"Nadia? Nadia? What's wrong?" Dean asked concerned.

"Shhh!" Nadia's end replied.

"What is it?"

"Dean! He's back! He can't go in there!" Sam said as he came busting out of the office door.

"Shit" said Dean.

"Dean, Dean sir" Sam's voice sounded from behind the Dean.

The Dean stopped and quickly turned around, "What?"

"Uh..." Sam's mind went blank. What? Well, there is a beautiful young woman in your office that hacked into your computer and has no intention of sleeping with you; but just needs to find the name and location of a student who is half demon half human, that's all.

"What?" repeated the Dean as he grew agitated.

"Uh...someone broke into my girlfriend's dorm room."

"Your talking to the wrong person, I don't deal with this stuff. Talk to the janitor."

The janitor? Strange, Sam thought, why the janitor?

"Oh, okay." Now what? He had to think of some way to stall the Dean from going into his office.

It was too late, he was turning the knob. It didn't budge.

"What the...? Did you lock my door?" the Dean asked his secretary.

"No, sir. There is a girl in there, waiting for you. It should be open" the secretary nervously replied.

"And why did you let a student in my office without my being here?"

"Well, she said you told her to meet her in there. Normally it's okay."

"Well, normally I ask them to meet me here; normally. But not today" he said angrily. "And obviously she is not in there."

"She never left."

"Are you talking about the cute dark-haired girl that came in here earlier?" Dean asked from behind the feuding co-workers.

"Yes" said the secretary.

"Oh, she left a few minutes ago. While you were getting some water."

"Oh, I'm sorry sir" she told the Dean.

"Never mind, just get maintenance up here."

"Yes, sir."

Nadia was hiding behind the desk, eyes closed holding her breath. She knew she hadn't locked the door, now she wished she had.

The knob started to turn and stopped. It was tried again and then left.

She didn't understand. Why wasn't she being expelled right now? The door wasn't locked she was positive of that. She had left it unlocked for a quick exit.

It had been silent outside for a good 3 minutes. She wanted to peek outside but was afraid that as soon as she did, the Dean would be there. Suddenly the door shook, the handle again tried to turn. "Nadia!"

It was Dean; he was trying to get in. Why couldn't he get in? Crawling out from under the desk, she made her way to the door.

"Nadia, hurry. Open the door!"

"Shut up! I'm coming as fast as I can!" Nadia snapped back through the door.

She discovered the door was locked. How?

She cautiously opened the door to Dean and an empty office. "Where is every body?" she asked.

"Oh, well they stepped out for a bit; would you like me to get them all back in here?" he said sarcastically. "Who cares? Come on we have to get out of here. You got the info, right?"

"Yes."

Chapter 6

"So?..." asked Sam. They had gotten safely back to the dorm room; Nadia changed as soon as she walked through the door. Now she wore an oversized tee-shirt and sweatpants.

She pulled the piece of paper that she had only minutes ago retrieved from the Dean's computer, from off of her desk and plopped on the bed next to Dean. "Claire Orthrus. Room number 25 of..." she stopped, lowered her head, and started to laugh.

"What?" asked Dean.

"She is just down the hall." She said laughing and rolling her head to Sam, said "we spent days searching for someone that was 6 doors down from us the entire time." The ridiculousness of it was causing her to laugh uncontrollably.

Dean couldn't help but laugh at the irony and at Nadia; he hadn't seen her actually laugh at all. "You've got to be kidding me" the laughter was becoming overwhelming, his eyes started to water and that caused Nadia and Sam to laugh even harder.

It wasn't even that it was really funny. It was that they had gotten so little sleep because they had been searching for someone they could have found by just walking down the hall and asking, "What is your last name?"

The three of them surrounded the door marked 25. Dean reached inside of his jacket and pulled a handgun out, checked the magazine, and tucked it back into its pocket.

"What do you think she is going to do? Jump you?" Nadia asked.

"Maybe" he replied nonchalantly.

"Put it away, and keep it away," responded Sam.

"I will, but if something happens, you're going to be glad I brought it."

Nadia knocked on the door and turned to Sam and Dean. "Look, I'll take this and you will follow my lead."

Before neither Dean nor Sam could respond, the door was pulled open by a young blonde dressed in pink pajamas. She glanced over Sam and Dean, pausing briefly at Sam. Then she turned her attention to Nadia, "Can I help you?"

Nadia gave her best smile and said, "Hi, my name is Nadia...I live in number 19. I don't think we've ever met." She reached out her hand for Claire to shake.

Claire looked at Sam, Dean, Nadia's hand and relaxing slightly, took it and shook. "Claire."

"Hi, nice to meet you. Um...I' m here actually to introduce my friends to you. I thought it would be best to let everyone know that they would be staying with me; you know so no one freaks out thinking a guy is sneaking around here." There was no response from Claire. "This is Sam, a friend from my old school, and his brother Dean."

Claire slowly took each of their hands and stepped back, suggesting they come in. They did. Nadia sat in the planet chair across from Claire, while Sam and Dean stood behind her. Sam scanned the room; it was full of band posters and Greek symbols. Sam tried to memorize as many of them as he could.

"So, are you a..." began Nadia.

"Junior" Claire replied. "One more year and I'm headed for Greece." She cracked the first smile they had seen.

Sam's head snapped back to Claire. "Greece? Wha...what for?" He asked trying not to sound too interested.

Her brows dipped in question, "I am working on my degree in Greek mythology. What better place to study in than Greece?"

"No where" Sam smiled, mind racing.

"What was your last name?" Dean asked.

"Why?" Claire questioned.

"I just like trying to figure out people's ethnicities by their last name."

Nadia turned slightly towards Dean. He was better at this than she thought.

"Orthrus. But it won't be much help."

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, worried.

"My family changed their name about two generations ago. My great grandfather had some obsession with Greece. He finally took it so far as to change his family name. We are Swedish. ...believe it or not" she said smirking. "He named us after..."

"The father of the guardian of Geryon's herd of red cattle," Nadia jumped in, completely disappointed. This meant that all their work really did amount to nothing.

"Yeah. You like Greek mythology?" Claire asked.

Nadia just wanted to leave. "Yeah, it is very interesting. What they came up with to describe all the natural phenomena." Great, now she started a whole conversation.

Dean read and felt the disappointment on Nadia's face. They needed to get out of here, "Oh crap! I forgot to mention that you are supposed to see your professor today in like,...twenty minutes."

Dean snapped Nadia back into the room; she jumped up as she realized what he was doing. "Oh, well...I better go then. Sorry to leave in such a rush. It was very nice to meet you. See you around." They left Claire's room before she could stall them any longer.

"Now what?" asked Dean as he fell onto the Nadia's bed.

They felt as if they could cry. Nadia didn't even care about Dean on her bed, she fell down right beside him. "There is nothing to do but start all over again," she mumbled.

"Argh...tomorrow."

"Duh."

Everyone was quiet, dreading the next day. One-by-one, they all fell asleep where they were. Dean and Nadia on one bed and Sam on the room mate's.

Chapter 7

Sam had been the first to wake up. He looked at Dean and Nadia on the bed, side by side. Nadia was curled up facing Dean and Dean was on his stomach with his head turned towards Nadia. It bugged him.

He started scouring the left over printouts for a new lead, when he heard Nadia rollover onto her back. Her eyes opened a crack and closed again, only to repeat the maneuver again and again, the crack getting progressively larger. She had finally gotten them completely open when she brought up both of her hands to rub them. She felt Sam watching her and turned towards him, "Hey" she said sleepily. Sam just smiled in return.

Nadia grabbed her right middle finger and successfully cracked it and all the others on her right hand. She continued with her left hand but the ring finger wouldn't cooperate, she pulled harder. Suddenly her grip slipped and her elbow found Dean's face.

She had forgotten he was there, until he said "f***!" and without opening his eyes pushed Nadia off the bed.

Sam couldn't believe it. He was still laughing from Dean getting hit, which caused him to not get to Nadia before she slipped completely off the edge. She landed hard on her backside; but regained her bearings quickly. She sat up and punched Dean hard in the bicep.

Dean finally opened his eyes and found Nadia sitting on the floor giving him the evil eye, rather than Sammy. It took him a second to remember that she was the one sleeping next him...the one he had pushed off the bed. "Oh...sorry. I thought you were Sammy," he said rubbing his eyes. "Ouch, what the hell?" he exclaimed grabbing and rubbing his arm; the impact had only just reached his brain.

"Hah! That is what you get for pushing me off the bed!" Nadia said angrily.

"Well you hit me first!"

"It was an accident!"

"Mine was an accident too!" said Dean.

"No it wasn't. You knew I was there!" she yelled back.

""No, no, no! I knew someone was there. I thought it was Sam! It was an accident that it happened to be you, not him."

Nadia just gave him a dirty look and walked through the door to the bathroom. After she left, Dean made an angry cat noise towards Sam. Sam laughed but stopped as soon as he heard, "I heard that, Dean! And Sam!"

Seeing as how the day started, it surprised both Sam and Dean when Nadia suggested they take a bit of a break from campus and go to her house further north. They all agreed; they were sick of the noisy nights and being cooped up in the dorm room.

The house was in a small town and had become her's after her mother died.

As Dean drove there, Nadia told them all about how she had gotten it. How she kept going after all that happened, neither Sam nor Dean knew. She wanted to get it all out in the open in one moment, so she didn't have to tell it more than once.

"My dad died before I was born, so I only heard about him from my mom. I've never even seen a picture of him. The only thing I have from him is this necklace" she said as she reached up, grabbed the elephant head, and showed Sam and Dean. It was a simple but beautiful elephant head carved from wood. "He had gotten it in Africa. My mom always said to keep it with me, that it would protect me. She kept a lot of secrets about him; I came to believe he was a fugitive or CIA agent, or something. He did make a large account for me before he died, that is how I got to go to Michigan and how I pay the bills and how I got a dorm room big enough to stash away two non-student boys" she smiled.

"Anyway, I was raised by my mom until I was 15. Then, I came home one night to find her murdered in her room" she said quietly as tears welled in her eyes. She took a deep breath and continued, "After that, my grandpa moved in with me. I barely knew him, but we grew close. I don't think he knew any more than I did about my dad. Anyway..." she choked up a bit, took another deep breath and continued. "Anyway, one day I had run to the grocery store and when I came back he was...was..." she was trying to decide whether to tell them the truth or not. She decided to wait. "he was in the living room, blood was everywhere...when I got to him, he...uh...he said, 'I'm sorry for not telling you."

"What? Telling you what?" asked Dean, totally in suspense and horror. Sam elbowed him to shut up.

"I wish I knew" she said looking at him, the tears threatening to fall. She had learned to shut off her emotions towards her grandpa and her mother's deaths.

She breathed and shook off the pain and emotion. "Well, we're almost there."

Sam and Dean looked at each other; they were astounded at someone losing everyone they loved, violently to someone else; could be sane, let alone be this strong.

She can shut off her feelings even better than Dean Sam thought.

Chapter 8

Dean pulled the Impala into the dirt drive of Nadia's house. A shiver couldn't help but slide down Sam and Dean's back as they scanned the house. After Nadia's story it looked ominous and foreboding. It was small but seemed to tower menacingly over them as they stepped out of the car. Dean couldn't help but picture the images Nadia had described of her mother and grandfather, years of experience told him that something was doing this to her, something in that house.

Nadia grabbed her bag and headed to the door to unlock it and air it out. Sam and Dean walked to the back of the car; Sam was looking at the house with a fearful glint in his eye. Dean saw it and asked, "You know what I'm thinking?"

Sam said, "Yeah. That house holds more than just furniture" without taking his eyes off the window directly to his left side.

"Yeah, that and about Jessica Simpson in Dukes of Hazard" Dean smiled, his head tilted and eyes directed thoughtfully upward and to the side. Sam just rolled his eyes. "But, yeah man. I wish she would have told us that whole thing before we agreed to come here. You know, to her house of Death."

Sam gave Dean a dirty look but, he was right. He wished she had too. He took comfort in the fact that they were much better equipped than her mom and grandpa must have been. Dean and he both filled another duffle bag with salt, crosses, guns, and holy water and one of everything else they had. And they finally made their way through the door.

The atmosphere inside took them by surprise. It was light, comfortable, and homey. They immediately felt at ease. An arched wall barely separated the dinning room from the kitchen. The cupboards were a sage green, the appliances black. The entire house had an Italian feel to it. Sam noticed that there wasn't one white wall in the entire house, such a Nadia thing to do. Dean looked into the living room and for a second saw blood everywhere; but it disappeared in a blink. Nadia seemed eerily calm and comfortable as she showed them around, even in her mother's room. He saw no trace of her in there any longer. He could understand how Nadia could want to erase what had happened to her, even if it meant erasing her mother. There was only one photo in the room, small but in a fancy expensive-looking frame. The woman was beautiful, at first he thought it was Nadia, but looking closer he saw piercing blue eyes, thin lips, and light skin. It wasn't her; it had to have been her mother. "That is my mom," Nadia's voice came from behind him and caused him to jump.

"She was beautiful" Dean said softly.

"Yeah, she was" she replied.

"You look a lot alike...you know, besides the thinner lips, lighter skin, blue eyes, and look of..." he stopped himself.

"Of what?" she asked curiously.

He knew she would get it out of him sooner or later. "Of...calm and security," he said it like a question, asking if that was alright to say, safe to say.

"I don't have that?" she asked as if she were stating a fact.

"How could you?" he said.

Dean took Nadia to the grocery store and they loaded up on food, chocolate, and candy. You're never too old for candy, Nadia kept saying every time she picked up a bag. The radio had been off the entire ride there, but Nadia reached up and turned it on. Pat Benatar's "Heartbreaker" came blasting out of the speakers and Dean reached to change it. He didn't think she liked this stuff; he would find and tolerate Britney Spears if he had to. She grabbed his arm and looked at him. Then she joined in at the chorus.

Dean broke out into a smile and sang along. He couldn't help asking himself, "could she be more perfect?" She liked rock and roll; even knew the words, she was beautiful, sarcastic, stubborn, and she could sing. She amazed him. She was like this even after everything she had been through.

He got his question answered when she proved she could cook. Dinner was incredible, Pasta Primavera with roasted parmesan potatoes. She could be more perfect.

Stuffed to the point of throwing up, they all gathered in the living room to watch a movie. She didn't let Dean see what she had picked at the store. "What is it, Glitter or something? Some chick flick?" he asked disgusted.

Nadia gave him a disgusted look back, "chick-flick, no, definitely not." Dean was falling in love. "Sorry to disappoint you, Dean" she added as she put the DVD in. It took him a second to respond, "Ha, ha, funny."

"It is one of my favorites, not a lot of people know about it" she said as she sat next to him on the couch, looking at the remote.

This irritated Sam. He was supposed to sit in the recliner, Dean on the couch, and Nadia in the other recliner on the opposite end of the room as Dean. She didn't even scooch away from him as she naturally tilted closer. He turned to try and concentrate on the screen in front of him.

"Hostage" came onto the screen in an ominous red. She was right, Dean had never heard of it. The "Bruce Willis" on the screen gave it more of a shot. It was actually pretty good.

Sam volunteered to take her mom's bed, hoping to earn the thankfulness of Nadia. The plan back-fired, he had forgotten there were only two rooms. Dean, hadn't, he jumped at the chance "Perfect, you sleep in there and Nadia and I can share in her room" he smirked at Sam.

Sam quickly jumped in, "There is a couch you know."

The smile was wiped off Dean's face as he gave Sam a look that could kill. Nadia saw the war going on she wanted to join Dean in his anger towards Sam. Instead she reluctantly said, "The couch is a pull-out." Dean was growing on her by the day, and she hated it.

Dean was disappointed at that fact, of course it was. Sam smiled. Nadia pulled off the cushions and put them on the floor as Dean reluctantly pulled on the bed, it wouldn't move. Sam came over; ready to destroy Dean's plot to get into Nadia's room but, it really wouldn't pull out. Crap! The bed in her mom's room was only big enough for one person; he would have to sleep on the couch. He did, complaining the entire time.

It was the middle of the night and all of them were asleep. Nadia was only about half asleep when she heard it. A horrible, heart-stopping scream.

She sat up and looked around; she thought it must have been a dream; until she heard it again. She threw off the covers and lunged through the bedroom door where she came face-to-face with Dean. He had a look of terror, fear, and worry on his face as her looked her up and down. He had heard only one scream and was off the couch, It's finally after her! was all he could think as he ran to Nadia's door. He froze as her face matched his; caught in the light it was ghostly pale, staring back at him.

Chapter 9

In what must have been only seconds, but felt like hours; Dean scanned Nadia up and down and she realized the face in front of her was familiar.

"Are you alright?" Dean asked, seeing the tears in her eyes.

"What? Yes, why?" she said automatically, what just happened not yet registering.

"You're crying" he responded.

"No, I'm fine. When Inever mind, did you hear that?" she asked irritated.

"Yeah. I thought it was you," he replied.

"Obviously," she said motioning her hand up and down, signifying his location. She then rushed passed him and ran to the door, he followed close behind. Opening the door, the words spilled from her mouth defensively without thought; "When I get truly scared, my eyes water."

She threw the door open and looked at Dean, wondering what had so compelled her to say that, now.

They both rushed onto the porch, into darkness. They strained their eyes and ears for any movement, any sound. Nadia wanted so badly to hear her again, she swore she could still hear her screaming; a look at Dean told her it was just in her head.

After a half hour of searching and listening, they were both thinking the same thing; "Maybe it was you, screaming in your sleep" said Dean. It was more like a nervous question. In all his years of hunting, nothing made him feel like he did when he heard that scream, it was different.

"Maybe," Nadia responded without taking her eyes from the dark in front of her. Something told her it wasn't her; something told her they were just too late.

Dean could tell she had no intention of leaving anytime soon. He carefully grabbed her arm and led her towards the door. She followed without protest, shaking. "Only twice. She could only get out two screams," she said, lost in horror and amazement.

"Twice?" she caught Dean off guard, he only heard one scream. If it really was Nadia they heard, why didn't the first scream wake him or her? She would have awoken after the first scream. "You must have dreamt the first scream and it made you scream. There you go, two screams. And it explains why the first one didn't wake me." He said it for his benefit as much as hers.

Dean carefully sat her on her bed and returned to the couch when she convinced him she would be alright. He left the door open when he left.

She tried to replay the last hour in her mind; but everything was jumbled, out of order. She couldn't shake the feeling of fear and dread that first flooded over her an hour ago. She laid there for hours, eyes wide, mind working; until exhaustion finally allowed sleep to mercifully overtake her.

Chapter 10

Suddenly everything fell into place as Nadia woke that morning. She flew out of bed, barely getting the covers off her feet before she ran out the door. She slid onto her knees as she reached the side of the couch and reached for Dean's arm, to wake him. Her hand faltered as her eyes slowly registered the toned bare chest attached to his arrogant head. She never even noticed last night, she hated that she did now.

"'Ya like a picture?"

The sound of Deans voice sent her falling backward onto her tailbone. Heat flooded her face and she knew her cheeks were a telling bright red. Dean split a large smile and laughed as he looked at her through one slightly opened eye.

"Don't flatter yourself," she huffed as she got back up. "I only came out here to say" Just then two police cars and an ambulance flew past the front slider. Nadia and Dean glanced at each other as they both fell short of breath. Nadia was the first to pass through the door, Dean close behind, keys in hand. Just in time to see the back of Dean turning the corner out the door, Sam finally emerged from his bedroom.

"Man, what's going on? I think I heard sirens" Sam took off after Dean and Nadia, not knowing what to expect.

He found them standing on the porch, staring toward the scene of lights, running, and yelling. Dean hadn't needed to grab his keys; the police had stopped just down the road. The brothers followed Nadia as she raced to the scene.

All they could see when they arrived were flashing lights and people surrounding a feminine, stark-white foot sticking out of the ditch. Her entire body was just as white as the EMT's placed her on a gurney an hour later.

The newspaper the next day displayed her picture on the front page. She was 23 years old and lived just down the road; Nadia had seen her in her yard many times, she always waved. She had been on her nightly run when she was attacked. The medial examiner was quoted saying the cause of death was unknown; but another medial source said, "It was unnatural; I've never seen anything like it before in my life."

"Unnatural" was all it took to get Sam and Dean curious. They immediately threw on suits, grabbed a fake id from their box, and made their way to the morgue. It was an unusually long drive to the morgue, because it was located two towns over. The town was too small for a morgue; too safe to have ever needed one.

Chapter 11

The sterile environment and cold steel of a morgue, was the one place that made Sam wish he was anywhere else. As the medical examiner led them to the door marked "Creetin, Rachel," the smells of cleaners, latex, and death swam up Sam's nostrils. His mind told him not to breathe, but his hind brain kept the air flowing.

"So how did you guys find out about this so fast?" The ME asked as he opened the door and slid out the covered body.

"Oh, you know, read an article that says 'It was unnatural,' and the CDC comes running." Dean answered as his eyes scanned the surroundings; he could have been in any morgue in America. Sam's eyes were glued to the sheet in front of him. "So, this is her, huh? As unusual as we hear?"

"I didn't make that quote, but I couldn't have said it better myself. I've never, in 25 years, seen anything like it. Never read anything about it; talked to plenty of colleagues and, they think I am kidding." He responded; looking lost for words. "They hang up on me when I tell themwell, see for yourself," he said as he slowly pulled back the sheet.

The whiteness they had seen before, was nothing compared to now. She was almost transparent, except you didn't see any veins or color anywhere. The most disturbing thing, though, was that her skin seemed to have slightlyshriveled around her.

"Not a drop of blood," the ME said, not taking his eyes off her.

Sam shifted his eyes to the floor. Dean wanted to follow but, it was like watching a car accident, he just kept staring. "You, uh...you mean at the scene?" Dean asked, relieved to take his eyes from her shriveled face. "That's normal; I mean she could have been moved."

"No, I mean there is not one drop of blood in her entire body. It's like, like it was" he knew he would sound crazy once he said it, "sucked out."

"Sucked out?" Sam said, taken aback.

Dean elbowed him; and then it hit him, what he had actually said. "Waitsucked out?"

"I know, it sounds crazy. But seriously. There is no trace of blood at all."

"You mean like a vampire?" Dean asked.

The ME looked over their faces, surprised by their openness at the idea. "You guys are taking this way better then anyone else."

"Wellyou know we're trained for all situations" He said. "And all ideas," he quickly added as he realized what he said sounded like.

"Right. Anyway, uh no, not a vampire." Receiving a 'how do you know' look from both of their faces, he continued irritated. "Look, according to legend, they bite on the neck, right? Well there are no puncture wounds anywhere on her neck or anywhere else, for that matter."

"Okay. Were there any odd substances on her body or anything worth mentioning?" Sam asked.

"You know, besides being sucked dry," Dean joked.

The medical examiner politely and disgustedly smiled and said, "No, not that I've found."

"Alright, well thank you. Hope we don't see you againno offense," said Sam.

"Yeah, me too," the ME responded, looking at Rachel.

Dean and Sam headed towards the door, but Dean quickly turned and asked, "How long will you have her body?"

The ME stopped what he was doing; Rachel was still half-way out of the locker. "Until we find out what happened. As long as her parents don't push for a funeral; but I don't think they will, her dad wants revenge."

They again told him thanks and left the morgue with more questions than they had actually had answered.

"So, what did ya find out?" Nadia had been waiting on the porch for them the entire time.

"You been out here this whole time?" Dean asked. He noticed the change in her demeanor immediately. She had gone from guilt stricken to anxious and determined.

"No," she lied. Dean didn't believe her for a second, and she knew it.

They told her what they had learned, over dinner. They all lost their appetite as they unconsciously thought about what Rachel must have gone through. Nadia filled three Tupperware containers with the food they only mixed around their plates; then, turning them all over, she threw it all in the garbage.

None of them slept well that night as her last moments played over-and-over in their heads; the attacker, a faceless mass.

If they only knew what nightmare they would wake up to.

Chapter 12

They were all gathered in the living room; Dean and Sam each held a hot cup of coffee, Nadia preferred hot chocolate. The weather was unusually cold for this time of the year. Late July usually called for swimsuits and picnics; not sweaters and hot chocolate.

The entire room was silent until Nadia flipped on the television. The first image to fill the screen was that of a young woman; "murder" appeared under her delicate chin.

The reporter continued relaying information to the public. "Emma Gitchi was the beloved coach of the local swim team and was discovered murdered in the school swimming pool. Her body was discovered by two students. The medical examiner added her to his list of unexplained deaths; previously only bearing Rachel Creetin's name. The police say,  "It is too soon for serial killer to be passed from anyone's lips." Done with one story, she jumped to the colorful clips of the local free fair.

No one said anything.

Nadia regretted turning on the TV. She stood up from the couch, sat her cup on the counter, and walked out the door.

The cold of the morning didn't even register as she walked back to the surrounding fields. Starring out over the corn, thoughts flew through her head, unconsciously. 'Another one. Isn't it too cold for fireflies? Could I have saved them both? Is Dean really like he acts? Are they really brothers? Their so different. I wonder what their dad was like.' Lost in thought, she was oblivious to the footsteps behind her.

Sam and Dean watched as Nadia walked out the door. Dean got up to follow her, he himself followed by Sam. As Dean grabbed his jacket and a sweatshirt for Nadia, he saw Sam approaching from the corner of his eye.

"Where you going?" Dean asked.

"To talk to my friend," Sam answered defensively.

"Look, if you really want to help, then go do your thing on the computer and find out what this thing is. I'll take care of her," Dean answered exasperatedly.

Sam laughed and said, "No offense, but that isn't exactly your area of expertise."

"Not everyone needs puppy-dog eyes and someone to pressure them into talking."

"Oh, so that's what I do, huh? Well you never seemed to complain about it when you push me into talking to all the other freaked out people we meet."

"Yeah, well they were like you."

"What? You mean nice and approachable and not arrogant and"

"Sure Sammy, whatever," Dean responded.

Sam was surprised by Dean's quick surrender. He opened his mouth to continue but Dean just looked at him and said, "Sam."

Fuming, Sam gave up and stormed to his computer, determined to solve this mystery. Dean watched for a second, wanting to say something; but he turned and walked out the door, in Nadia's path.

Being cooped up in the house on the computer wasn't the only thing fueling his anger; he could tell Nadia no longer despised Dean. They understood each other in a way he couldn't, and it was eating at him.

Chapter 13

"You shouldn't be out here by yourself, especially now."

The voice caused Nadia to gasp and whip her head around so fast it took a few seconds for the figure to come into focus. When light finally lit the features of the unfamiliar face, her legs forced her to leap up from the ground. The force of the movement almost caused her to fall on her face and her legs would not move beneath her. She could neither fight nor fly.

The man quickly raised his hand in an effort to calm her, ""Whoa, it's alright. I'm not gonna hurt you, I can't. Not even if I wanted to." His lips then curled into a sneer that made Nadia flinch, "Nice necklace." With that said he lunged at her as she reopened her eyes to see a finally familiar and comforting face.

"Whoa, Nadia, it's alright. It's alright. It was just a dream," came the desperate tone of Dean's voice.

"What happened?" Nadia asked as she was finally able to swallow and speak.

"You must have fallen asleep right after you got out here," his face expressed concern at this fact. Only 2 minutes could have passed before Dean found her. He feared that something had caused her collapse.

Nadia said nothing in return to Dean as she thought back to the encounter that had just taken place. She had never had a dream or nightmare that had ever felt like that. She realized she was clutching her necklace; it felt more important now, for some unknown reason.

As she gazed back over the field she discovered that the edge of light had barely moved, it had all happened too fast. He seemed to have stared at her for hours.

Neither of them said a word for a long while; they just stared over the field watching each blinking firefly.

Dean seemed to notice Nadia relax, because he finally spoke, "That's kind of cool, the fireflies." His eyes stayed on the yellow lights as he gave a quick nod toward them.

"Yeah, they help me relax. Help me think," she replied.

Several more minutes passed before Nadia broke the silence. "When I was little, I used to think they were little stars that snuck out of the sky to all hang out down here." She had a slight smile on her face as she continued, "My mom never told me any different."

Dean turned towards her and smiled, she returned it; but then she said, "Needless to say, I was totally devastated when I learned the truth." All the dread and despair left them in the laughs they released through their entire bodies. It took a long time for them to finally stop. After they had both calmed down Dean said, "Well, sometimes even the freedom of the sky can be too constricting."

"Yeah," Nadia sighed as they turned back and saw no more yellow flashes, it was finally morning.

Nadia and Dean walked through the door laughing and saw Sam busily taking notes from his screen.

"You find something?" Nadia was first to ask, hopeful.

Sam jumped as her voice jerked him from his concentration. He first looked at Nadia and then at Dean and returned to Nadia, "Maybe."

He had turned back to the paper in front of him, leaving them in suspense. Dean was the first to break, "Well?"

"Oh," Sam said, shaking his head to clear it, "I looked up creatures that suck or feed on blood. I found plenty on vampire bats and vampires. Then, knowing neither of them fit, I stumbled upon the kappa."

"Kappa? What the hell is that?" Dean asked, deflated.

"Oh, I've heard of it; but all I know is that it's Japanese, right?" Asked Nadia as both Sam and Dean looked at her inquisitively and impressed. "Don't ask," she said.

"Anyway," started Sam, "yes, it is a Japanese water demon. It feeds on human blood, especially loves children, don't they all. If it is this that is killing around here, these may help us." And he began listing off different facts about the kappa from his notes.

"For a gift, it can be befriended by a human.

It can understand and speak Japanese.

It will not break an oath.

If bowed to, it must bow back; this comes in handy. It gets its strength from apuddleon its head.

And it's scarred of fire."

So it bows and loses its water and strength and it can be killed by fire, I guess. It doesn't really tell of a sure way to get rid of it."

"Who comes up with this stuff?" Dean asked with an air of humor in his voice.

"The kappa, I guess," responded Nadia with a smile and a shrug.

"Okay, so if it is a kappa; how do we know?"

Sam responded right away, "All the killings so far have been near or in water. Rachel was in about 2 inches of water in the ditch and Emma, the pool."

"Yeah, but we need more to go on than that."

"Does it leave any marks? Puncture wounds?" Nadia jumped in with the only form of proof she could think of.

"Actually, they suck the blood out of the person's" he gave a long uncomfortable pause and finally continued, "well, there bottom..." The last part he stated like a question.

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me!" Dean said, exasperated. "Well, good thing it's your turn to examine them this time," he smirked at Sam. "Be sure to wear gloves."

Chapter 14

Sam was waiting in the car for Dean to put on his suit and grab the ids from his duffle bag; and was thinking about Jessica. Would she approve of Nadia?

Nadia handed Dean the ids as curiosity finally got the better of him. "How did you know about the kappa?"

Caught off guard, she laughed as she straightened his tie. "At Stanford, this girl across the hall was obsessed with Japaneseeverything. And every time we went to the pool, she threw in cucumbers before she would get in," she answered.

"Cucumbers?" Dean asked, eyebrows raised.

"Yeah. Apparently the only thing they like more than blood, even children's, are cucumbers."

"Cucumbers," he repeated smirking. He thought she was messing with him, but her sincerity told him otherwise.

"Cucumbers," she replied, smiling at the disbelief on his face.

She followed him out the door and waved to Sam. "Wellgood luck."

"Thanks, wanna trade?"

"Tempting, really; but I'm not really a big brown-noser."

Dean laughed and gave her a nod of approval, "nice."

"Thanks, I just thought of that. Actually, I'm surprised you haven't brought it up."

"Oh, trust me, I have got plenty brewing. I am just saving them for Sam, poor guy, I almost feel sorry for him," he opened his mouth again to continue but Nadia beat him to it.

"Almost," she smirked; he turned and gave her a wink and said, "Exactly."

With Sam and Dean gone, Nadia decided she would do a little bit of digging on her own. The girl across the hall had also told her of many sites on Japanese culture and folklore. There was only one she could still remember, and that was only because of the greeting picture; a sumo wrestler being strangled by a dragon. Though the picture was a little out there, the information was surprisingly accurate. The mixture made it perfect for information on a blood-sucking Japanese water demon.

After only about 20 minutes, she found pages of information devoted solely to the kappa and scanning through it; found what she was looking for. The information that Sam found about how the kappa retrieved the blood from its victim was indeed and thankfully false.

Nadia dialed the phone to call Dean to tell him and was surprised by a sudden ringing from the bedroom. He had forgotten it. Next calling Sam she was disappointed to discover that he had shut it off. Now she had to muster up all of the courage and attitude she could and try the morgue directly. She knew that a lot of the time the attitude of 'just act like you belong here' worked to lull the other person into a false sense of security. Also, hitting fast and hard threw them off enough to get as many questions answered as possible before they realized what they were saying.

Armed with pages of notes and having waited what she thought was a sufficient amount of time; Nadia picked up the phonebook. Tearing through the pages in a rush, she finally came upon the number she was searching for.

Finally the other end was picked up by a tiny and sickeningly sweet voice, "Medical Examiner's Office, how can I help you?"

"My name is Clara Bella Rice, of the Center for Disease Control. I am looking for two agents, they should be there," Nadia spat out.

"Uh, no I don't believe they are here yet. No, they are not."

"Alright, well I need you to deliver a message to them when they arrive."

"Uh, sure."

"First, if they forget their cell phones again, they will be demoted," she hoped this would throw her off, it worked. "Secondly; the information that was received earlier is false. They instead, need to examine and get photos of the victims' inner thighs. And please be sure to tell the M. E. to very, very carefully examine the thigh as well."

"Yeyes, mam. Uh, MissRice you said?"

"Clara Bella Rice," Nadia clarified.

"Right, Clara Bella Rice."

"Thank you," she hung up before the woman could ask any more questions.

When the phone rang, Nadia jumped up, hoping to hear Dean's voice. Catching herself, she cleared her throat and slowed herself down. Never had a guy caused such unstableness in her emotions.

"Hello," she said nonchalantly.

"Nad?" Cutting off the last two letters of her name was a quirk displayed by only one person. Her best friend, Andrea, had always found it too much to say "-ia."

"Andrea?" Nadia was taken aback at the much unexpected voice on the other end. The two had not spoken in a month and a half; they were both too busy to pick up a phone. Their friendship remained strong though.

"Gee, nice to talk to you too."

"SorryI wasn't expecting you."

"Good, I wanted it to be a surprise!"

"It is, are you still at school?"

"I decided I needed a break for a bit. SoI am on my way home! Oh, guess what," she said disgusted. "I haven't been home in months and now that I am coming, my parents called and said they were going on vacation!"

"That sucks, how did you know I was here?"

"My mom saw you at the store when she was getting groceries for their trip. She figured you must have taken a semester off," this she said with an air of question.

"Well" Nadia had always been the more motherly of the two; the one to make sure the other went to school. "It was just supposed to be a vacation, but some stuff has been happening and we decided to stay a bit longer. I think I might take off the semester or just take classes online."

"Oh yeah, I heard about the girls. In" she stopped herself at the start of another rant, "we? You said we. Who are we? And there had better be enough room there for me."

"What? Andrea" Nadia warned. Andrea had a way of pushing herself on those she knew would not oppose her.

"Oh, come on! You have an entire house to yourself!"

"No, I don't."

"Okay, so you have another room for me at least."

"No, I don't."

"Well, I don't take up that much room. I can share."

"Andrea, I said we because; remember my friend, Sam Winchester? Well he and his brother are here."

"Boys? I am almost there," she abruptly said before she hung up the phone.

Nadia just stared at the phone in her hand. She loved Andrea, but she could make her hate her sometimes. Her phone attacks were the worst, there was no way to continue the conversation if she would not answer the phone. The first to hang up was the winner of the argument.

Standing in the living room, she tried to plan out the sleeping arrangements; when the phone rang again. With a deep breath, she cautiously picked it back up, "Hello?"

"It's me."

"Thank God," she was relieved to hear Dean's voice.

"Many women do," he answered without missing a beat.

"Ha."

"You know you do. What was that all about anyway?"

"My best friend called and invited herself over for awhile."

"Good, someone to distract Sam so that he will stop worrying about me and you." A few beats passed as he quickly added, "How are we gonna, you know?"

"Excuse me?" Nadia asked alarmed.

"How are we going to look for the kappa?"

"Oh, well she hardly ever stays around anyway. We'll have plenty of time to do all we need to. The real thing to be worried about is where we are all going to sleep?"

"Easy, two beds; Sam and her share and me and you."

"Oh, there we go; nice to have you back Dean. But, I must admit shy and embarrassed Dean was cute."

"Shy and embarrassed, please," he huffed.

"Anyway, what's up?"

"I want to know what we are supposed to be looking for."

"The kappa is supposed to leave some mark on the inside of the thigh. It apparently it jerkifies the body by emptying it from the femoral artery."

"Jerkifies, nice."

"Thought you would appreciate that."

"Is it a puncture wound or what?"

"Don't know, it just said it was on the inside of the thigh."

"All right, see you later. Oh, and Nadia"

"Yes?"

"Be nice. I'll bring home a pineapple or something."

"Great! And then you know what you can do with it?" She asked in feign excitement.

Dean laughed as he said goodbye.

"Alright doc, our new information points us to her thigh. Inner, to be specific," Dean said as he returned to the morgue, from the ME's office.

Dr. Tancredi looked at him as if he were the unfortunate prom date he was unable to shake, "Inner thigh."

"Yep."

"Well, I've been over these bodies hundreds of times and I've found nothing out of the ordinary." The doctor replied over his glasses.

"Come on, hundreds?" Dean said.

After this, the doctor was about to retaliate in a less-than-professional manner, when Sam intervened.

"OkayDr. Tancredi, could you please just take some photos and keep this information in mind?"

"Look, just tell your boss" he had regained his patience, but gained volume.

"Please. Look, I apologize for him; hehas a chemical imbalance." He raised a hand in Dean's direction as he saw him open his mouth in protest. Reluctantly, Dean stayed quiet as Sam continued. "If we go back and we don't have at least pictures, we're dead."

"Fine, I'll be sure you have them," he told Sam; stressing the 'you' to be sure Dean knew he despised him.

Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Yeah, just remember inside of the thigh. She said it would be inside the thigh."

Sam and Dean stood leaned back against a cart currently unoccupied and watched the ME take the photos. He left without saying a word and came back a couple of minutes later, envelope in hand. Handing the photos to Sam, he simply said, "Here."

"Thank you," said Sam, trying to be as convincing as possible that he actually meant it. "We are staying at a friend's, here is the number. Please call if you see anything later, that's not visible now. On the inside of the thigh."

The ME was already at the door to escort Dean, quickly out of his presence. He took the card, shoved it into his pocket without a glance and quickly closed the door behind them, before they could ask another question.

Chapter 15

Nadia kept glancing out the window, waiting and finally she was rewarded. But instead of the purring black impala, a bright yellow jeep rolled up to the porch.

She took a deep breath as she watched Andrea step out and grab four suitcases from the back seat. Though the number of suitcases was never really a good indicator of how long she planned on staying; Nadia was sure it was not just a few days, or weeks. She put on her best smile and hurried out to help her. After exchanging hugs and parking all of the bags in the living room; Andrea started right in.

"Well, I must say, you don't seem very happy to see me."

"Oh, come on, of course I am."

Andrea gave her a skeptical and hurt look, and waited for Nadia to elaborate.

"I really am, Andrea," she responded with a smile. "It's justthis isn't the best time, that's all." She suddenly felt awful for the way she had been treating her best friend. But, it was the truth; she really was happy to see Andrea, she just wished it was at a different time.

"Au contraire, it is the perfect time! There are boys hereat your house! So where are they?" She asked as she looked around. "You weren't messing with me, were you?"

"No. And what was that supposed to mean, 'at my house.'"

"You are the perfect, motherly one. Not the one that has boys staying with her." Andrea said with a big smirk.

"They are friends."

"Whatever. Where are they?"

"They are at the morthe" she searched for someplace that called for the attire of a suit, "church, with some friends." Now she had to be sure to find a phone to call Dean and tell him where they had been. They don't have their phones! Great!

"Church? On a Friday?" Andrea asked skeptically.

"Well, it wasn't churchit was some group or something." It was so much harder to lie to someone she knew than it was to the Dean's secretary.

"Okay," she replied, still not entirely sure she believed her. "Will they be back soon?"

"I think so. First, we have to figure out the sleeping arrangements."

"Well, if I remember right, Sam was pretty cute; so we can share."

Nadia rolled her eyes until Andrea said, "Wait, what about his brother? Is he cute?" At this, she spun her head to Andrea and suddenly wanted to strangle her "No," was all she could manage to say.

"Okay!" Andrea said with her hands up in front of her defensively. "Wait a secondyou like him!" She said as she leaned forward.

"Oh, please; what are we, in the second grade?"

"No, no don't you try to change the subject," she waved her finger in front of Nadia, as if scolding her. "You like him. You haven't liked anyone since Shawn Jackson inmiddle school!"

"Oh shut up. We have to get these arrangements figured out."

"Fine. Well let's seeyou and Dean can share. Then, Sam can have the couch and I'll take your mom's room." She said quickly before Nadia could respond.

"Ha, ha. Seriously now."

"Can't this wait 'til after I meet them?" Andrea pouted.

Nadia rolled her eyes again as she plopped, defeated on to the couch. "We need anotherduh! Another room! I am so stupid!" She said as she slapped herself in the head.

"What are you going to pull one out of your back pocket?"

"The den. Remember, when my grandpa moved in he refused to sleep where my mom did. So he converted the den to his room. The bedit's gone, crap!" She bit her lip as she thought, then she jumped to her feet and said, "Come on, we're going shopping."

Andrea took Nadia's extended hand, looked at her, and said, "Now that I can do," before she hopped to her feet. "We'll take my car."

By the time Sam and Dean got into the house, Dean already had his jacket off and was tugging on his tie. Sam took off his jacket and hung it on the back of a kitchen chair as Dean threw his on the floor by the couch. When Sam tossed the envelope of pictures on the table, the gust sent a white piece of paper floating to the floor. As Sam picked up the paper, Dean noticed the new pile of suitcases in the living room.

"I guess her friend is here," Dean said, looking around the house.

"Nope, they are out gettingsomething," Sam replied.

"What?"

Sam shrugged his shoulders as he handed Dean the paper. After he had read it he said, "They shouldn't be out alone."

Sam sighed, "You know that, I know that, heck, even Nadia knows that; but she'll never listen. She is as stubborn as you are."

Sam turned on the tv as Dean changed into a t-shirt and jeans. As he fell onto the couch and put his feet on the coffee table, he looked at Sam. "Come on Sam, put on something nice. Nadia's got a friend coming over. You want to make a good impression. Besides, you two might just hit it off."

"She already met me, remember?"

"Do you remember what she looked like?"

"No, not really. Why?"

"Well, then that means she probably doesn't remember you that well either. So, you get a rare second chance at a good first impression. Take it Sammy."

Sam just ignored him and immersed himself in a show he didn't even know the name of.

"Should I get a twin or full?" Nadia asked as she looked back and forth between the two sizes.

"Full, more room for two," Andrea responded as she nudged Nadia. "Besides, it's not like you don't have the money."

"Yes, Andrea, I know I'm "rich". So what?"

"So, splurge a little is all I'm saying."

Nadia ignored her as she walked over to a salesman. "Excuse me; I would like this bed, today."

The salesman's brows raised; he had a big one. "Okay, what size?"

Nadia could feel Andrea's eyes on her, "Full." Andrea broke a smile. "Also, I would like to see what pull out couches you have or futons."

"Yes, mam."

As he led them to the couches and futons, Andrea kept staring at Nadia; until she hit her knee on a table. "Ouch!" Nadia just smiled at her and kept walking.

They walked in between the couches and Andrea couldn't help but press the 'Dean matter.' "You know, I've been thinking and I have come to a conclusion." Nadia continued to look around and pretended not to be listening. "Dean must be this likeperfect, really smart, quietnerd." She was surprised when Nadia broke out laughing at the idea of Dean being described as any of the things she listed. Andrea laughed too, but she didn't know why. "What?"

Still chuckling at the concept, Nadia managed to say, "You'll just have to meet him."

Because Nadia had turned out to be such a big spender in such a small furniture store; the store had sent a driver to follow her home with all the stuff she had bought. The truck was now filled with what would definitely be classified as splurging. Not only did it contain the bed they had went there for; but also a pullout couch, new table and chairs, two large rugs, a side table, and a desk for Sam.

They were greeted by Sam and Dean as they pulled in the driveway.

"Wow," Andrea said. "Which one's Sam?"

"The one with longer hair."

"The taller one?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. Dean is hot too. Like, really hot." When she saw Nadia give her the evil eye, she immediately said, "Don't worry, I'll gladly take Sam."

Though she believed Andrea when she said she would stay away from Dean, Nadia still felt on edge.

"Dean, Sam this is my best friend, Andrea."

Sam and Dean both said 'hi' and shook her hand. Nadia was closely watching Dean's reaction to Andrea and was overjoyed when he was the first to change the subject. "What's all this?"

"Well, I knew this whole sleeping thing was going to give us all problems so" she swept her hand toward the back of the truck as the door slid open.

"You bought all this?" Dean asked, "For us?"

"Don't worry. Remember when I told you my dad left me money? Well, I have plenty. And we needed this stuff."

Andrea saw that Dean was still not convinced so, she jumped in, "The bed will go in her grandpa's old room which we will clean out and make into one of our rooms. The couch actually pulls out, and the table and rugs the house needs. The table and chairs too, they are falling apart. Oh, and the desk is for Sam."

Though they felt bad, both Sam and Dean knew that, like Sam had said, Nadia was stubborn. So, instead of arguing, they helped unload the truck and take everything into the house and onto the porch.

Dean was impressed to find that though Nadia was slim, she was actually surprisingly strong.

After awhile, Nadia jumped off the truck and grabbed Dean and pulled him to the side of the house. "Look, Andrea was asking where you guys were and I thought you would be coming back any second so, I told heryou were at church with friends."

"Church?"

"Give me a break; I had to think of somewhere where you would wear suits and besides, it wasn't actually church. It was a group or something."

"What group?"

"I don't know. I didn't get that far!"

"Okay." After a couple of minutes thinking, Dean said, "How about a service for Emma Gitchi and Rachel Creetin?"

"Why would you be there?"

"I don't know. Weare really interested in this investigation stuff and so we like to run our own investigation."

"Stupid, butit could actually work. It would explain why we are doing some of the stuff we are doing and we could still work on some stuff while she is around."

"Yeah, what a good idea Dean," said Dean, suddenly impressed with himself. Nadia just rolled her eyes and told him to get this story straight with Sam, just in case she asked about it; then they went back to work unloading. To both Dean and Nadia's satisfaction, Sam and Andrea really were hitting it off.

As Sam, Dean, the truck driver, and Andrea finished unloading the truck, Nadia started making dinner. When the truck finally left, empty, Andrea joined Nadia in the kitchen while Sam and Dean started unwrapping the furniture and putting the tables together.

"Wow, now I understand why you laughed when I said what I thought Dean must have been like." Andrea said with a big smile on her face and her brows raised. "He is hot, yes, but also arrogant, really stupid sometimes, definitely not perfect, and so not a nerd. Sotell me, why do you like him?"

"Uh! That is not nice! You haven't known him long enough to know that, yes he is all those things, but he is also sweet, surprisingly caring, hilarious, and extremely loyal. And he has also been through a lot; and not like soap opera a lot, likemy kind of a lot. His mom was murdered too and his dadwell, he gave his life for him. And Sam, you know about Jess, right?"

"Yeah, you told me a while ago," Andrea said, regretting asking such a, now, stupid question.

"Anyway, maybe that is one of the main reasonsbecause we both sort of understand each other."

"I get it. Really, I do," she smiled. "It's good, to see the way you two look at each other."

"What do you mean?"

"It's hard to explain, you just know it when you see it."

Neither Nadia nor Andrea had any idea that Sam had come in to ask a question and had stopped when he heard Dean's name. He had been on the inside porch listening to every word said. He felt stupid to think that Nadia would come running to him just because they had seen each other again and he was "free." It was this moment that he decided to forget about what he felt for her and that he would stop pining, and possibly take Dean's advice about Andrea. He decided to open up to this new idea.

After waiting a sufficient amount of time, he walked into the house, smiled at Nadia and Andrea and changed into a "nice" shirt. So it would be his third impression, so what?

Chapter 16

That night Sam asked Andrea if she would like to go for a walk. This surprised both Dean and Nadia because, only hours before, Sam had coolly brushed of all of their comments towards the match of Andrea and himself. While they walked around the yard, Dean and Nadia sat awkwardly in the living room. Dean finally resorted to looking closer at the pictures and knick-knacks in the living room.

"You played softball?" A large frame hung above the television set and contained two photos. The top photo consisted of Nadia kneeling on one knee, bat in hand, smiling at the photographer. The other was a group picture; all the girls were dressed in white uniforms. The logo on the shirts was a smiling ball with flames trailing from it; cheesy but better than most he had seen on the team photos in sponsoring restaurants. Nadia's picture caught his attention because of the sad and forced smile on her face. He had a feeling this was taken right after one of the murders.

"Yeah. That year was the year my mom was killed. I don't know what I was thinking going that day, or even why I have it hanging in here now," she said with a smile.

Awhile passed before Dean asked, "Any good?"

"Of course," she smirked.

"We'll have to see."

"Okay, and what is something you are good at and would like me to beat you at?"

Laughing, Dean said, "Oh, you think so, huh? Okayshooting." 'Shooting' came out slow and drawn-out.

"I've always wanted to try it. You're on. There is a range not too far from here. Tomorrow?"

"Perfect, that is if you feel like getting crushed tomorrow."

Nadia just gave him an odd smirk that made him feel oddly uncomfortable.

Andrea and Sam came in a bit afterward and joined them in the living room. No one said anything for a long time then; finally, Andrea got up and got ready for bed. Nadia joined her in the bathroom as they brushed their teeth, door shut.

"So, what did you guys talk about?" Nadia finally caved.

"At first, it was uncomfortable. We didn't say anything. Then, he stated some random fact and we started talking about nervous habits and a bunch of stupid stuff I don't even remember. But, it worked."

"Funny; Dean and I have talked, no problem before, even if we were alone, but tonight."

"It was different."

"Yeah, I don't know why."

"You know, he seemed sad. Sam, I mean, he was justhurt."

"Why?"

"Beats me. Boys," Andrea sighed and rolled her eyes. They both laughed.

Because of their plans to go to the range the next day, Nadia decided to check the weather. When the tv came on, the 7 day forecast was just finishing and the next story was starting. Before she could hit the power button, "the spree continues" caught her attention. It had happened again.

Everyone stopped what they were doing as the reporter went on;

"early this morning, three more bodies were found in different areas of town. Ashley Clarkson was discovered in her backyard where she had gone to feed her pet rabbit. Her parents say that the attack must have happened in minutes. Gabriel Nunez and Samantha Kelly were found in a friend's house where they were spending the night with another girl. The third girl was unharmed and it is thought that the killer strictly targets 23 year olds; because the unnamed girl was 22 years old. The police are stumped because of the fact that the attack must have happened while she was sleeping right next to them. Tests are being done to see if the girl was possibly drugged and to rule her out as a suspect. More on the story will be shown on the 6 o'clock news tomorrow morning."

Dean, Sam, and Nadia were all going over the new facts laid out before them and trying to see if the kappa could fit in these cases. They were dumb-founded at the fact that the third girl had slept through her two friends being attacked. Of course, this was not the first time Sam and Dean had heard of this happening. The hook man had shown them just how adept the supernatural was to killing silently.

Ten minutes later, they all climbed numbly into bed. Dean now slept on the new pull-out couch, Sam was now in the den, and Andrea slept in Nadia's mother's room.

Nadia lay in her room for at least two hours, her eyes constantly flying to the window in her room. She had already closed the shade and pulled the curtains, but she constantly felt like she was being watched. She would be 23 in a couple of days, Andrea was 23, the monster was in her town, and he was targeting 23 year olds. He was targeting them.

Giving up, she quietly opened the door and tried to feel comfortable again. She looked around and kept looking to Dean, sound asleep on the couch.

He could feel her looking at him; he opened his eyes, "Are you alright?" She just looked at him and he slowly pulled back the blanket and, without a word, she climbed in. She felt safe, no one was watching her. Dean draped his arm over her side and they both silently fell asleep.

Sam woke to see Nadia curled into Dean and felt the knife dig deeper. He kept his eyes glued to the carpet as he walked into the bathroom and closed the door excessively hard.

Both Nadia and Dean jumped at the sound and she quietly climbed out from beneath the sheet. She felt embarrassed and, though she knew someone had already seen them, she went in her room as if she had never left.

She stood at the door and listened to try and defer who had woken up so early. She prayed it wasn't Andrea, she would never hear the end of it.

"Hey, man," came Dean's voice, letting her know it was Sam. She didn't find this any better than if it had been Andrea, she couldn't decide why.

No response, other than a door shutting could be heard from Sam.

Nadia jumped back as her door opened, nearly hitting her in the forehead. Dean squeezed in the room and asked, "Do you still want to go to the shooting range?"

Taken aback, Nadia thought about it and said, "Yes. I'll pretend it's him."

"Sam?"

"What? No, the killer."

"Sam's acting weird; let's go as soon as possible."

Nadia wasn't going to argue, she didn't want to face Sam or Andrea right now. Grabbing her clothes, she ran into the bathroom to change from just the oversized shirt she was wearing and into jeans and an AC/DC t-shirt. After throwing on some makeup, she met Dean in the car, "Nice shirt."

"Thanks, let's go." She felt like she was running away from facing the truth, but it felt invigorating. She glanced over her shoulder and thought she saw Sam through the kitchen window, but the shape was gone in a flash.

Ten minutes and many stressed arguments over the directions later, they pulled into the driveway of a very square, brown, brick building. Dean grabbed his favorite gun from the trunk and they made their way inside. Looking around, Dean saw foam covering all the walls, two trophy cases against the wall, and felt the wind blowing in from the back. The building was actually a lean-to type where one shot out the back at targets in a field. It was different than he imagined, but he was confident he could still easily out-shoot Nadia; no problem.

Nadia led him to a counter where a short, heavy man sat reading a magazine. It was early but, there were already ten men filling 10 out of the 15 shooting cubicles. When the man asked what she would like to use today, Dean tried to jump in to help her. But, before he could say anything, she pointed at a 12 gauge and he handed it to her.

"You're sure you want to use that?" He asked; hiding the fact that he was impressed she chose a shotgun and not a hand gun. He had always preferred the feeling of having a shotgun in his hands over holding the small piece of metal that was a handgun. Also, he loved the sound of cocking a shotgun; a heavy sound, not a fragile click.

"Yup," was all she said as she walked over to the second cubicle and loaded the gun.

Dean loaded his and asked, "How about a bet? A hundred bucks to who ever gets the most bulls-eyes? That is that orange spot in the middle of the ring of circles."

"Thanks, I was dumb-founded there for a second," she answered sarcastically. As she opened her mouth to answer his question, a large man walking across behind them said, "I wouldn't do that, if I were you."

"He's right; you might want to listen to him, Nadia."

"I was talking to you, man," he responded looking at Dean.

Dean got a confused look on his face and then chuckled, taking it for a joke.

"That's sweet, Ivan," Nadia said to the man, with a smile. "Don't let him frighten you, Dean. I've known him for a long time."

Dean just smiled, still confused, and nodded to the man. Ivan shrugged, gave Dean an 'I warned you' shake of the head and continued walking.

"So?" Asked Dean.

"You're on," she smirked; then she quickly added, "The orange, right?"

Dean nodded and suddenly noticed a growing crowd behind them, shaking it off, he took aim. Emptying 5 rounds on the target 100 yards away, he sat the gun down and, cockily, brought the target forward. He had made 2 rounds completely in the orange, 2 half way in, and the last was just outside.

"Not bad," said one of the men behind them, with a smirk. He saw Nadia smile out of the corner of his eye, he felt uneasy.

Nadia picked up the gun, locked it hard into her shoulder, and Dean got even more uneasy. That was usually the first mistake someone, especially a girl, made; they never pulled it hard enough into their shoulder. Taking aim, she said, "Now, I watched a video on the internet yesterday, let's see if they know what they are talking about."

She took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, squeezing the trigger and firing all her rounds in a matter of seconds. She laid the gun down and brought the target forward and watched Dean the whole time, as it made its way up.

His face changed from curious, to anxious, to nervous, to shocked. Every shot except one was completely surrounded in orange. The last was three-quarters of the way in. His mind went blank as he heard the men behind them laugh and sigh in awe and jealousy. He could feel Ivan shaking his head, knowing he had just lost 100 bucks. He could hear the crowd break up behind him and he was suddenly overcome with a strange urge.

(Feelings Show)

He surprised Nadia by stepping forward, placing his hand on the small of her back, and pulling her towards him, while pushing her against the wall as he pressed his lips hard into hers.

The sound of her head hitting the wall was all she heard, she felt nothing. Not the ground, the wall, the eyes, nothing but the overwhelming urge to jump him right there.

Trying to stay calm and dressed as they pulled apart, she said, "I have a confession to make."

"I think I know what it is," said Dean smiling, their eyes still closed.

"You chose shooting. I didn't know you'd make a bet. I guess you should have taken a closer look at those trophy cases."

They both laughed out loud as they finally looked at each other. The group of spectators had all left, except one. A lone man stood watching them and said, "You know how many times I've brought my wife here? Never once has that happened." He walked away shaking his head, leaving Nadia and Dean laughing in his tracks.

"I think I can forget about the bet, your response to being beat was payment enough."

Walking out to the car, they both tried to focus all their might on getting into the car. Once there, they both sat fidgeting until Dean turned towards Nadia and she quickly grabbed his head and pulled him to her. They sat for what would definitely be categorized as a "make-out" session and finally made it home. Once inside, they both found it hard to remember Andrea and Sam were there as well. Nadia did a lot of biting her lip when ever Dean walked passed and Dean finally gave up and went out to wash the Impala. This of course was done just outside the kitchen window and in plain sight of Nadia, causing her lip to bleed a couple of times, and whip-lash when ever Sam or Andrea came into the kitchen. She had been cleaning the same spot on the stove for half an hour, Andrea had definitely noticed.

Chapter 17

That night, Nadia had again sought the comfort of Dean. Too afraid that Sam or Andrea would come out in the middle of the night, they did nothing but kiss and talk. When Nadia realized how little she knew about Dean, she suggested they play 20 questions.

She went first, "Okaywhat is your favorite color? I'll get the stupid ones out of the way first."

"Black."

"Surprise, surprise. Favorite food?"

"Well, we haven't really had a lot of home cooked meals, soyour pasta primavera was pretty frigg'in awesome."

"Aw, what a shameless answer. Okay, you get brownie points." She smirked, "Favorite movie?"

"That's a hard one. I don't think I can pick just one, I like the Godfather, Ghost Busters, The Notebook, you know, that kind of stuff."

"Funnyfine, moving on. What is your favorite childhood memory?"

He lay next to her, quiet, for quite awhile. Finally he said, "One time me, Sam, and my mom and dad were all at the park. This dragonfly landed on Sam and he totally freaked. My mom, of course, told him it was alight and not to be afraid and my dad, went and caught one. He came over and he made Sam look at it and made him hold it; of course, he cried for awhile, but eventually he got over it. So, later that day Sam begged them to go to the pet store. Now remember, this was before we started hunting andnow thinking about it, it seems impossible. But anyway, Sam went and he found the cages of mice. He made my dad come over (he was terrified of them). Sam made my dad hold one of the mice; and of course he did, I mean, he couldn't refuse to do what he had just made Sam do. Of course, Sam didn't think it was that big of a deal, so he lost interest pretty fast and he walked away. As soon as he didmy dad threw the thing into the air, jumped back and jogged out the door to wait for us.

"I think I chose that one, partly because we were all together and, of course, it was hilarious. But as much as I respected and was awed by my dad's bravery, while we were hunting, I always remembered that moment. Because it showed me that you can be afraid of something, as long as you power through it when it really matters. You can't not fear anything, or you won't have respect forlife."

"Fear is good."

"Well, yeah, if you want to sum it up in that bland way. I think mine waspoetic."

"It wassorry."

"You know, no one really asks 20 questions in 20 questions so, it's my turn. What is your favorite color?"

Just as Nadia was about to answer, they heard the handle of Andrea's door turn. Nadia threw the blanket over herself and tried to will her body to sink into the bed; but the bar that held the pull-out up, wouldn't let her.

She could hear Andrea walk out to the bathroom and shut the door. She stayed covered until she heard the door open again and Andrea walked back into the living room, "Hey Dean." Nadia could hear her open the door to enter her room when she heard, "Nadia" and the door closed.

She was frozen under the covers as she realized what had just happened. Why she was so afraid of Andrea finding out about her and Dean, she didn't know. It just seemed like it had to be a secret.

When she finally got the nerve to pull the covers down, Dean was looking strangely at her. "What?"

"Well I was thinking, you know while you were hiding under the covers, that since she knows; I could just go tell Sam and we couldyou know," he smirked, eye brows raised.

"No! I meanI don't know what I mean," she pouted.

"Why are you so scared of them knowing about us being together?"

Hearing him say 'being together' made Nadia feel odd. She liked it, but she also feared it. "I don't know. Honestly, I don't know." She said as she tried to figure it out herself.

This irked Dean, he couldn't help but think that it was Sam and only Sam that bothered her. He couldn't help thinking that she liked the one sided attention she got from Sam. Was there more than that?

Watching Dean roll over, brushing her off, Nadia tried to think of an answer to that question. One she had asked herself many times. She couldn't think of a good reason why it should cause panic whenever, she thought of Sam finding out. Stupid reasons kept popping into her head: he would feel left-out, Andrea would already give her enough crap about the situation; she didn't need another, and Sam didn't think too highly of his brother when it came to relationships, she didn't need him looking down his nose all the time. All of them were flimsy at best; but she felt sick whenever she thought of the idea. She also felt guilty looking at Dean; it wasn't fair to him. It was times like this when she was reminded just how much she liked being single, alone, free.

Finally she slid out of the bed and into her own. With a few unexplainable and unexpected tears, she drifted off.

Walking through the dark of a familiar, yet unknown place, she could hear Dean calling them both. Andrea pointed ahead to where she thought he was and they jogged forward. The coldness grew as they came closer, piercing through their sweat shirts. The figure was tall, too tall. Too slender. It was too late, they tried to turn and run but blue filled their corneas. They dared not move, afraid of where they would go.

Nadia woke up in a cold sweat, frantically searching her room, wishing Dean was beside her. She could feel a huge pit in her stomach; she knew it had happened again.

Dean woke to the flashes of the television; as his eyes adjusted to the light, he saw Nadia sitting on the edge of the bed. The way she was hunched over, staring at the screen, he knew. Sitting up he saw the crime scene tape and the body bag being lifted into the ambulance. It had struck again, whatever it was.

He was flooded with guilt, he had been distracted. It had been two weeks since the last killing, he should have solved the case by now, he should have killed the killer by now.

He brushed his hand over Nadia's as he got up to wake Sam. It was time for another visit to the morgue; Dr. Tancredi would be so pleased.

Dean and Sam were putting on their suits as Nadia came into the living room in a black business suit of her own. Dean looked her up and down and knew what she was planning, "Oh, no. No, you're not coming."

"Why not? I want to know what is going on."

"You do know. We tell you. Now go change into something comfortable because you're staying here." He waved her into her room and continued trying to tie his tie. Dumbly, he expected her to take "no" for an answer. She walked straight out to the Impala and sat, glued, to the seat.

Dean looked at Sam and they both ran out to the car. "You're not going, Nadia. Now get out!" Dean said, impatiently.

"Why?"

"Why? Becauseit's not safe and this stuff isn't for amateurs. You could blow our cover."

"Please. I got us the name, I got into the Dean's office, I got past the secretary."

"And you would have been caught, if not for us."

"You don't know that."

"Hah, it's a pretty safe bet."

"Yeah, you mean like your bet at the range?"

Sam looked at Dean, confused. "You lied!"

"And you believed every word of it! Besides, what do you think you are doing to the Medical Examiner? Being totally honest?" She was yelling now and so was Dean, but he couldn't think of anything to say. He had bought every word of it. She was a good liar.

"And I wasn't even lying very well!" Nadia chuckled. "I was trying to give you a clues and a chance to figure it out. But you didn't!"

Dean just glared at Nadia and huffed as he gave up and got into the car. "Sam, you stay here. Someone" she said, looking at Nadia, "needs to watch out for Andrea."

Sam didn't argue. He didn't want to be in the car with the two of them right now. He couldn't help smirking as he walked back onto the porch and into the house.

Chapter 18

Dean started to tell Nadia to follow his lead, when she blew past him and into the building. He hesitated in shock and anger for a second, and then he ran through the doors after her.

She was already at the front desk talking to the secretary when he caught up. As he came up to her side, he was shocked even further when the secretary waved her into the morgue; but stopped Dean to check his badge. Catching up again, he couldn't help but be impressed and he let curiosity get the best of him, again.

"How did you do that? You don't even have a badge or i.d. oranything."

"Didn't need one. She remembered my aggressive attack on the phone and I think she was still scared of me. So, I used it to my advantage. I must admit, I thought it would be harder. Should have known better; just by the fact that you do it all the time." She said, staring straight ahead.

Dean's stride hit a hitch for a second as he glared at her. "Oh, I'm dying laughing," he said, mockingly. Finally they reached the morgue doors. "Hey, how did you know how to get here?"

(Mercy)

Nadia spun her head to him, a question on her face. Dean felt like an idiot, of course she knew where the morgue was. She had probably been here more than he had. "Sorry. Won't the ME"

"He's new," she interrupted, knowing he was worried the ME would recognize her.

"Oh."

Nadia took a deep and threw her shoulders back again, before she pushed the doors open again. The smell seemed to smother her; she struggled not to think about how familiar it was. She took another deep breath and continued forward, when she felt a hand catch her arm. "You okay?" Dean asked with a worried and sincere look on his face.

She looked at him for a long time before she answered, "Yeah."

The ME looked up from the body of a young woman that looked too familiar, it was Rachel Creetin. His eyes slowly closed and he took a deep breath when he saw Dean.

"That's right, doc. I'm back!" Dean out stretched his arms as he smiled at the ME.

Nadia looked from the medical examiner to Dean and back again, "Dr. Tancredi, my name is Clara Bella Rice, I am in charge of this investigation. I'm sorry about him," she said with a glance back to Dean.

"That seems to be a recurring theme. Nice to meet you, Ms. Rice."

"I'm sure you know why we're here."

"Yes, she just arrived. Give me a minute to take care of her."

"Of course," Nadia said as she glanced at the white face of a girl that could easily have been her.

The doctor slid Rachel back into her locker and changed gowns and gloves. He walked over to the cooler and opened the heavy door.

As he rolled out the covered body of the latest victim, Carla O'Connor, Nadia couldn't help but flash back to those days. Those days when she stood in this room, watching, waiting as the ME pulled back the cover to verify the fact that her mother and grandfather were laying there. It always seemed cruel to her; the fact that she had found them in her house, the EMT's took them away, and she had to come to verify they were burying the right person.

Carla had been killed in her home, that was all Dean and Nadia knew already. "We are taking a different approach to this case. Sam is interviewing the family, his strong suit, and I am joining Dean in areas he is more inept for." Nadia told the ME, yet another stab at Dean. Dr. Tancredi's smile grew bigger; he grew to like her more and more.

Dean stood in the background trying hard to remember that she was supposed to be his superior. But that didn't mean he couldn't curse her out in his head.

"Could you give us some more info on the victim? We know very little until Sam calls."

"Well, I don't know that much yet either. But here is what I do know:" and he began listing them off. "She was the first to die at home and with the rest of her family there as well. She died in the kitchen, in front of the refrigerator. Her parents were just around the corner in another room. That is about it."

"Thanks" Dean interrupted her to ask the ME, "Was there water anywhere around?"

Dr. Tancredi gave him a questioning look and, taking into account who was doing the asking, he obliged. "Now that you mention it, yesI believe she was getting water. You know, one of those in the door jobbies."

Nadia and Dean look at each other as Dr. Tancredi pulled down the sheet covering the small body of Carla O' Connor. Nadia was surprised by how little she felt towards the victim; it was not a comfortable feeling to feel so comfortable.

As the doctor went on examining and telling them how little he was finding, both Nadia and Dean were becoming more and more discouraged. Nadia kept replaying the voice in her head telling her, "inside the thigh." What were they missing? "Still nothing on the inside of the thigh?"

"No. No mark or wound of any kind. Trust me; I have replayed that piece of information over and over again inside my head forweeks now, and nothing."

"Inside the thigh," Dean was saying slowly, more to himself than anyone else. "It's funny, it's almost like it's"

"Inside the thigh!" Nadia interrupted. "Of course!" She said smiling at their stupidity. Coming closer to Carla and leaning over her legs she asked the doctor, "Is there anyway we could look inside the thigh?"

"Of course!" Said the doctor, index finger pointing upward as he made the realization himself. He grabbed a scalpel and slowly made a long cut down the inner thigh of her left leg. Cutting across both ends so that the skin would stay pulled back for inspection; Dean realized what was happening and moved closer.

The left leg came up with nothing and they all silently prayed something would be found under the skin of the right leg.

As the skin was pulled back, they were all amazed by how they could have missed it for so long. Halfway down the thigh was a large black spot. The color bled into the muscle around it and in the center was an even darker spot. Dr. Tancredi grabbed a simple straight metal tool and touched the darker middle. All of them jerked back slightly as the tool easily fell into a hole in the tissue. It was definitely a puncture wound, like none they had ever seen before.

"It is a straight feed to the femoral artery. What could have done this? What could empty their bodies completely, in a mater of seconds like this?" The doctor said with a look of awe and horror on his face.

"Your guess is as good as ours," Dean said, matching Dr. Tancredi's expression.

That isn't entirely true, thought Nadia. If kappas are real, could it do as the doctor described?

Leaving the photos of the wound in the Impala, Nadia and Dean walked up the path of 4519 Bailey Rd. Dean knocked on the door as Nadia asked if it was really necessary that they interview the family this soon. Of course she knew it was, but she needed to feel forced into doing so.

A woman even frailer than Carla came to the door, tissue in hand. She slowly closed her eyes and reopened them when she saw them standing on the porch. She simply stepped back and allowed them in as she asked, "So, where are you from?"

Dean jumped in, "My name is Dean Tull and this is Clara Rice. We are from the Center for Disease Control. I am sorry to come here like this, so soon."

"The CDC? You think this is a disease?"

"We are not sure yet, mam. All bases are covered."

"Not very well," Mrs. O'Connor said as she led them into the living room to sit.

Nadia felt compelled to say the same things she thought were so stupid when she was told them. "I am so sorry to be here this soon. We just need as much and as detailed information as we can get so that we can figure this thing out."

"No, I understand butthis thing killed my daughter."

Dean and Nadia both felt stupid and ashamed as they looked to the floor and a way to change the subject.

"Could you please just tell us what you can remember?" Dean asked carefully.

"She went out to get some water and Jeff and I were sitting just around the corner in here" her voice cut short as she tried to continue through it in one setting. "Just seconds after we heard her get the ice, we saw thisthisbright, bright blue flash." Nadia was suddenly overcome with fear at the mention of a blinding blue flash. "It was so bright. Jeff and I hollered to her to find out what was going on butwe heard nothing. She didn't answer." Dean laid a comforting hand on hers as he waited for her to go on. "I went out there to see where she was and what had happened and I saw herI saw her" She was overcome with tears and was unable to finish.

Nadia and Dean waited until she had started to recollect herself. Nadia struggled to wait; she was flooded with curiosity about the blue light. Finally, she could no longer take it; she asked, "Did you find out where the light had come from?"

"No, we searched all over for what kkilled her and we saw nothing out of the ordinary." She whispered the last part of 'ordinary;' to imply that seeing her daughter dead on the floor was ordinary, made her feel ashamed.

"Had she or you or your husband ever seen a light like that before?"

"No. Never. Oh God, do you think we may have caught what ever killed her? Should we go to the doctor's?"

Dean glanced at Nadia and she replied, "That may be a good idea. But, do not worry too much. We have no evidence that this is even a disease."

"Thank you very much for your time. And again I'm sorry. I know that doesn't help, but" Dean softly told her.

She told him "Thank you" in a voice just above a whisper as she walked them back to the door.

Driving back to the house, they both fell quiet. They both understood all too well the feelings she was going through.

Chapter 19

"Two questions; why so curious about the blue light and why tell her to go to the doctor's?" Dean asked once they were both back on the road towards home.

"I had thisdreamabout a blue light," she said as she looked out the window. It came out more like a question.

"And"

"AndAndrea and I were somewhere and there was this figure and we thought it was you. When we got closer, it wasn't you and when we tried to runthere was this blue flash, that's all." She said as nonchalantly as possible.

"You've got to be kidding me"

"Excuse me?" Nadia asked mad and defensively.

"You too?" Dean continued. "This isn't even funny, okay," he said, looking up towards the roof of the car.

"What are you talking about?" Nadia demanded.

Dean realized Nadia didn't know about Sam's visions and he knew it was too late; she would never let it go. He could feel her staring at him while he thought about the best way to describe it; without sounding crazy. "Sam has this ability. Touhsee the future. Well, to see someone about to die."

"What? He has premonitions? Why didn't he tell me?"

He kept forgetting how much Nadia knew and he never failed to be surprised by her melancholy reaction to such out-there things. "I don't know, maybe he forgot," he replied snottily.

Nadia was surprised by his angry response, but she ignored it. Too fascinated by Sam's "new" ability.

"And the other?" Dean asked as he stared straight ahead.

"What other?"

"Why did you tell her to go to the doctor's?"

His sarcasm was starting to wear on her, "She needs to do something. She needs to feel productive," she said softly, reflecting back to

Dean hated that she always had something to say to make him bite his tongue. He pushed harder on the gas pedal and neither of them said anything else the entire ride.

When they got back home, they found Sam and Andrea in sickeningly good moods. Sam was on the computer and Andrea was sitting beside him as they sat laughing at YouTube videos. When Dean and Nadia walked in Sam and Andrea both grew quiet; they remembered vividly how they had left.

Nobody said anything. Then Nadia surprised them all when she broke a large smile and said, "Jeez, what's the matter?"

"Nothing, we were just afraid you two were still biting each other's heads off," Andrea answered.

"We need to get out," said Sam. "We are all too cooped up and in each other's way all the time."

"Yeah, I know the perfect thing," Andrea teased. "I know you guys will like it and it's one of Nadia's favorite things to do."

"What?" Nadia said, cautiously.

"It is the fair's last day and, guess what is the main event?"

Sam and Dean looked at each other, totally confused. But Nadia's smile grew bigger as she realized what Andrea was suggesting. "Perfect."

"I know, right?"

"I gotta go change," said Nadia as she hurried to her room.

"Whoa, wait a second. What do you think we are going to do?" Dean asked.

"It's a surprise," Andrea said as she opened the door to her room.

"I don't think so. What is it? We aren't going anywhere until you talk. For all I know it could be riding sheep or pigs or something."

Nadia's head popped around her door frame, "I've done that before, sheep not pigs, it's harder than you think."

"What? When did youno, where are we going?"

Seeing that Dean really wasn't going anywhere until they told him, she tried a different approach. "Fine, I'll tell you. Come here for a sec."

After slipping off his shoes, he walked over to Nadia. She curled her finger, calling him inside where she pulled him to her by his the collar of his shirt. She closed the door, "We are going to the fair, what we do there, is a surprise. Okay?" She kissed him before he could answer. "We will all be together. We'll be safe. You can keep me safe," she said before she kissed him again.

"Well, I suppose it would be okay. I mean there will be a lot of other people around, right?" He said as his hands slid farther and farther down her back.

She smiled and said, "If you want them to be."

"Oh, really? I think I like just you and me."

"Me too," she slid her hand underneath his shirt and around his back; this was headed way past her plan, she didn't care.

He started to pull her shirt over her head when he said, "You know, you are the strangest girl I have ever met. One minute you're yelling at me, the next you're trying to rip off my shirt." He quickly added, "But I love strange girls," before she could be offended.

"Strange girls are good for you. We're underrated." She let her shirt fall to the floor.

"Definitely."

His hand ran down her neck and chest, his lips slowly following. She pulled his shirt up over his head, running her hands over his chest and abs. She took in every bump and crevice. Supporting her lower back, they both fell onto the bed.

Dean continued softly kissing her neck as he tried to unhook her bra with one hand and dug his fingers passionately into her side with the other. She reached down to unbutton his pants and gently ran her hands down his hips and thighs, pushing his pants down as far as she could reach. She then brought her legs up and around his hips, squeezing them tightly together.

He was pulling her shoulder straps down her arms, when Andrea knocked on the door, "Nadia, hello?"

Nadia tried to sit up quickly, but Dean was in the way and their heads found each other. They heard the doorknob start to turn as they were each rubbing their foreheads. "Just a secondthere is something in front of the door; I don't want it to break!" Nadia tried to keep the fear and urgent tone out of her voice.

"Nice cover," Dean said as he threw on his shirt and buttoned his pants.

"Thanks," Nadia said as she searched the room, "where is my shirt?"

"Here," Dean handed her the waded up, inside out shirt, "I'll stall her."

Nadia was too busy pulling her shirt on to answer him. He slid out into the living room and told Andrea she was going to change. "Oh, like I've never see them before," and she walked into Nadia's room.

"Andrea!"

"Oh, please" she pushed the door shut as Nadia realized she forgot to refasten her bra. While Andrea's back was turned to her, she fastened it as quickly as she could.

Andrea turned to Nadia and got a weird look on her face, "I think you need a hair brushwait" she looked her up and down. She had turned the shirt right side out, but had put it on backwards. "Oh my Gosh! Nadia you andand Dean!" A huge smirk covered her face.

Nadia gave her a look and Andrea said, "Oh, ohNadia I'm sorry. Why didn't you just tell me to go away?" She looked as if she had just caused one of Nadia's parent's deaths. "Were you afraid of me finding out?"

"No, Sam." She regretted it as she said it.

"What about Sam?"

Nadia dropped her chin to her chest and in a look of surrender said, "I don't know! I don't know! Why do I care what he thinks? Why am I petrified every time I think he'll find out about Dean and me? Why?"

"Whoa, relax. Deep breath," Andrea said with an overwhelmed look on her face. "Now start again."

"Andrea, I really, really like Dean; so why does it mater to me what Sam is thinking? I don't understand why I feel like I have to hide this. It's almost like, likeI like him too. But I don't, he is just a friend. But that is what it feels like, like I am cheating on Sam with Dean. Why?"

"Girl you have to be blind."

"What?" Nadia replied, taken aback.

"Sam likes you. Or he did, I think he is trying to change that. He sees you and Dean and he's trying to deny his feelings, trying to cover hisdisappointment. His heart; and I know that sounds corny but, it's true."

"What are you talking about, Sam doesn't like me."

"You're right, he loves you. But, I think he really wants you and Dean to be happy. He is really trying to forget about you. And, with a little help from me I think he can," she smirked. "It's likebecause of how much he loved Jessica, he wants her back (understandably); but because of that, he is projecting those feelings on you. You were there when Jessica was around; you are the closest thing to her right now; in his eyes."

"I thought I was the psychologist."

"Well, there is no "para" in this so, that is why you are blinded."

"Parapsychology has a lot to do with psychology"

"Okay, okay maybe I picked up a few things from you. Besides, you are blinded because it is happening to you and you never were very good at this love stuff."

"Sowhat do I do?"

"Well, in my opinion; tell Sam. You were sensing his affection for you and so you felt guilty and like you were cheating on him. If you tell him, get it in the open, and forget about it; you can be with Dean guilt free. And the best thing to dois to have sex with him, Dean I mean," Andrea smirked.

"Andrea!"

"What, you know you want to."

"So. I gotta get changed."

"Wear something sluty, for Dean."

"He doesn't like that stuff," not totally the truth, but close enough. "He'd rather I wear this," she said as she held up a Metallica shirt.

"You two deserve each other; you're both weird."

Nadia changed into jeans and the Metallica shirt and went out to face the music, she had to tell Sam.

Chapter 20

Nadia stood, wrenching her hands together, as she tried to figure out how to bring up the embarrassing subject. Deciding that truth, careful truth, was always best; she took a deep breath and just spat it out. "SamSam could I talk to you for a minute?" It was too late now; she was hooked to the conversation.

"Of course," Sam said cautiously as he got up to follow her.

She led him out to the much-out-of-place slab of cement in the middle of the yard. The slab had been there as long as Nadia knew; she and her mother used it for picnics and to grill on. Besides that, it just looked weird. Nadia sat in one of the hard plastic chairs and Sam sat in a softer canvas ones. Both of them sat waiting for Nadia's brain and mouth to work together.

Finally she leaned forward and ungracefully started.

"Sam, I had aa little talk with Andrea aboutyou andI."

"Yeah," Sam answered, feeling exposed and embarrassed.

"YeahShe told me youyou Well, you see, you left Stanford so fast and loved Jess so much; that you are now projecting those feelings on the only one who reminds you of her. Me." Nadia said quickly, keeping her eyes on the ground, in order to try to make Sam feel slightly more comfortable.

Sam shifted uncomfortably in the chair and cleared his throat. "That, uh, that makes sense"

"It does, doesn't it?" Nadia said as she realized it herself. "Well, I can't take all the credit, I heard it somewhere."

Sam gave her a funny look, "Look Nadia, I did love youbut over the past week or two, I've been realizing what you just said and I know Dean likes you so I am trying to back off and forget about what I felt, but it is going to take a while. And Andrea is growing on me so, that helps." Nadia smiled at him. "I couldn't stand her at first, but maybe opposites do really attract."

Nadia laughed as she thought about her first feelings for Dean. "I know exactly what you mean. I detested Dean when I first heard him open his mouth; but know" her eyes quickly shifted to the floor.

"It's alright. Maybe if you guys are more open about your relationship, that would help mein some twisted way." He squinted his eyes, trying to think of how that would work.

"No, I get it. Dean and I being secretive leaves room in your mind to think you have a chancesorry; I didn't mean it like that." Sam smiled at her as a way to tell her it was okay.

"Something like that, yeah."

"Sam, I know how you feel about Dean and girls"

"I don't want you to get hurt but; honestly, I have never seen him in love. So, I can't say whether he is or not; whether he'll hurt you or not. But I do know that he really likes you, no question." She smiled at him, "This was easier than I thought it would be."

"Yeah it was," said Nadia. "See, you didn't really love me."

"An illusionmaybe. Or maybe Andrea has just grown on me more than I thought," he laughed and so did she.

They both got up to go back in the house and Nadia grabbed his arm. Looking up at him, she said, "Sam, I do love youyou're one of my best friends."

"You too," and he kissed her on her forehead.

They walked silently to the house.

Andrea and Dean were squeezed over the sink of the bathroom, staring out the window at Nadia and Sam.

"What are they doing?" Dean asked.

"I think she is telling him."

"Telling him what?"

"That she likes younot him," Andrea answered still staring out the window.

Dean looked at her and back to Nadia, "Good."

"Yeah."

"The, uh,surprise starts in like, half an hour" Andrea urged.

Nadia ran in the bathroom to grab a hair tie, brush her hair one more time, and touch up her makeup. She paused in the doorway with a nagging feeling she was forgetting something.

"Come on, Nadia!" Said Andrea as she ran out the front door; finally Nadia gave up and followed her.

Once in the Impala, Dean tried one more time, "One more chance to tell us."

Nadia leaned forward and said, "And one more time to tell you, it's a surprise," into Dean's ear.

"Fine," he threw the car into drive and slammed his foot on the gas. Nadia went flying back into the seat and when she overcame the force pushing her back; she reached up and punched Dean in the arm, "Jerk."

Dean listened to the sounds coming from the other side of the stands as he got a bright red stamp on his hand. "Sounds good so far," he said as he read the stamp, "Stop?" Well, that doesn't help any."

"It's a small town. We use the same stamp for every event; one with any word so it can't be transferred." Nadia smirked.

The sounds of roaring engines came from far inside the entrance. Breaking through the crowd, they followed Nadia and Andrea across a muddy dirt track, to smaller metal bleachers on the other side. Andrea pulled out two blankets from her huge purse and laid one on the bleacher and handed the other to Dean. He started to lay it down too but, Nadia stopped him, "You're gonna want that in front of you."

"Well that's not at all ominous." He said as he sat on the blanket Andrea had put down and laid the other on his lap.

He turned around as far as he could, in order to see what was happening in the pit. Seeing that most cars looked like they had been hit by trains; he asked, "A derby?"

Nadia smirked and said, "Demolition derby, to be exact."

"I've never been to one. Family wasn't exactly the fair-going type, if you know what I mean. Well, unless there is a killer clown that enjoys fillet mignon a la parent," he said quietly.

"You're gonna love it."

"No thanks, chicken and pork are the only white meats for me."

Nadia rolled her eyes.

The announcer cracked over the intercom, "Sorry about the wait, ladies and gentlemen, there are some issues in the pit. If you would like to get food or play some games, we will give you plenty of warning time before the event actually starts. Again, we are very sorry."

The silence after his announcement lasted for only a second; because the air was pierced by police sirens coming for behind them. The four of them looked at each other, all fearing the same thing; it had struck again.

"Nothing to worry about, ladies and gentlemen. Someone just mixed a little too much alcohol and testosterone," the announcer said, to calm everyone.

"Well, it could be awhile. Let's get some food," Andrea said excitedly.

They all got up but Nadia was stopped by Sam asking, "Should we take the blankets?"

Andrea turned and smirking, said "This isn't New York, Sam. They'll be here when we get back."

Sam and Andrea went to the food carts and Nadia and Dean split off to look at the games. When they finally got past the kids games Dean said, "Oh, I've always wanted to do this (you see it in movies all the time). I am going to win you a prize." He said with a huge dorky smile on his face, she found it absolutely adorable.

Laughing, Nadia said "I've always wanted someone to win one for me. Which one?"

"Shooting of course."

"Oh, are you sure about that?" She asked through clenched teeth.

"Ha, ha, ha! Very funny."

"You're never going to live that one down. You know that, right?"

Dean smirked sarcastically at her as he handed two dollars to the host of the game. The game consisted of a pellet gun (chained to the counter) and moving plastic ducks. Hit 1 and get another turn. Hit 2 get a bracelet. Hit 3 and you won a picture. The ultimate was hitting 8-10 out of 10 shots; that earned you a movie-worthy stuffed animal.

Dean sat on the stool and took aim. After 6 shots, all had laid a duck flat on its side. Now the shots were critical and Dean was feeling the pressure.

The seventh shot skimmed off the back of a mallard. "Oh come on! Piece of crap!"

The eighth pellet hit the same mallard square in the side, tipping him over. "That's what I thought."

He needed to make at least one out of the next two to get Nadia a stuffed animal. After letting out a deep breath, he shot and hit the top of one of the duck's heads. It tipped but failed to fall. "Son of a"

"Dean! Dean, relax. It's just a game," Nadia jumped in.

"Yeah, just a rigged game!" He spat as he took aim again. The last shot, they were both silently praying would nail the duck. Again, it tipped but didn't fall. "You've got to be fucking kidding me!"

Nadia was stilling staring at the duck, willing it to fall. It did.

"Who's you're daddy?! Eight, eight hits; that is a stuffed animal," Dean said to the host, daring him to disagree.

The young man sitting at hosting the game had noticed how upset Dean had become with the ducks; and he decided not to take the chance. "Sure does. Congratulations!" He smiled, "Which would you like?"

Dean turned to Nadia, "Well?"

She threw her arms around him and feigned, "My hero!" After pecking him on the lips, she scanned the strings of animals. "The elephant."

He handed her the large elephant and Nadia and Dean walked back to the food. "The elephant!" Nadia exclaimed.

"You have the elephant," said Dean confused.

"No, my necklace! I knew I forgot something. Crap!"

"You want to go back and get it?"

"No, that's alright."

Nadia and Dean both got an elephant ear and a pop when they met up with Sam and Andrea again. As they were grabbing napkins, the announcer stated that the derby would begin in 5 minutes.

"How can fried dough taste so good? Seriously," Dean kept exclaiming.

"Are you going to save any for when we actually sit down?" Asked Nadia.

"There was another cart over there, wasn't there? I can get another after this one," his eyes got big at the idea.

Sam, Andrea, and Nadia all smiled and shook their heads.

The blankets were still there and right after sitting down, Dean got up to get another elephant ear. Nadia went with him.

She stood back as Dean ordered his ear. "Well, well if it isn't the one angel on earth that chooses to grace us with her presence. Still look great, Nadia." Nadia would recognize the voice anywhere; Kyle Ralland. A pig of a guy, who had tried all through out high school to date her; or more correctly, tried to sleep with her. She had never before known such an urge to push someone in front of a train.

"Kyle," she said, not hiding the distain and disgust from her voice.

"Oh, come on don't be like that. You know, I just got a new bed; what do you say we try it out. It's verybouncy," he sneered.

Her gag reflex was subdued by the view of Dean standing behind him, listening to every word. "Excuse me," he said as he pushed his way by Kyle. He stood beside Nadia, "What's up, babe?"

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought," he glared at Kyle.

"Nice to see you again, Nadia." Kyle said after sizing up Dean.

They turned to go back to Sam and Andrea; when she suddenly felt a hand on her butt. Seeing that Dean's hands were both firmly on his elephant ear, she decided to take care of it herself.

She quickly reached behind her, grabbing Kyle's hand and twisted his entire arm; forcing him to bend forward. "Allow me," said Dean, lightly touching her arm; and he forced his knee up into Kyle's face, breaking his nose.

She let go of him, letting him fall to the ground. Looking at him for awhile, she said "Thanksbabe."

Dean had noticed Nadia stop; and had looked back just in time to see her grab Kyle's hand from her butt. "You're welcome. And I didn't even drop my ear," he smiled. "Oh, you might want to get that looked at," he said down to Kyle.

Nadia and Dean returned to the bleachers and sat down as if nothing had happened. Dean couldn't help smiling at how hot it was; knowing his girlfriend had just kicked a guy's ass. Nadia was smirking at how flawless their team work was.

Chapter 21

Dean was hooting, hollering, and cheering as loud as anyone; embarrassing Sam and Andrea but matching Nadia. Nadia had been to so many derbies that she could almost read the drivers' minds. She was giving Dean a play-by-play and teaching him the subtle clues that pointed to where the car was headed. Nadia couldn't stop watching Dean as he invested himself totally into the event.

A quarter of the way through, she became so distracted laughing at him, that she didn't see #65's rear end come spinning towards their seats. It was too late by the time she realized why the other three were holding the blanket in front of them. A huge glob of freshly wetted mud landed smack in the center of her forehead. She was too stunned to wipe it off before anyone noticed.

Dean had to do a double take before he burst out laughing and was soon joined by Sam and Andrea. She glared at them and Dean said, "Oh come on, it's funny. Fine, hold still" and he gently wiped the mud off her forehead.

Nadia went back to watching the cars, determined that that was all she was going to watch. Dean, though, was still watching her as she threw her hands up in front of her face. Still smiling, he turned towards the track and was greeted by hundreds of brown dots flying towards him. Andrea and Sam had not been paying attention either and when they saw the mud coming they tried to grab the blanket but it was too late. Nadia's lap filled with spots of mud all different sizes; the rest of the group wasn't so lucky. Dean's mouth had forgotten to close and, as a reward, a nickel sized glob of mud blotted out his front teeth. Andrea and Sam's faces and hair had been peppered with small specks of mud and Andrea was picking a few pieces out from down the front of her shirt.

This time the roles were reversed, Nadia couldn't stop laughing and Dean was the one grudgingly wiping the mud from his teeth; spitting out what he missed. Andrea and Sam were laughing at each other and themselves. As Dean looked at them he sneered, "Well isn't that just healthy."

"Oh come on, it's funny," Nadia said sarcastically. "You should be able to laugh at yourself, Dean."

"Didn't see you laughing."

She ignored him and watched as the last two cars slowly worked their way to each other. Each exhibited empty spaces where their rear tires had once been; the process was slow.

Before the final heats were run to declare first and second place over-all, the announcer invited everyone up to stretch their legs. Andrea and Nadia pulled Sam and Dean up as The Macarena started.

"No way, I am no dancer," Dean stated, refusing to get up.

"Fine then, just get up to stretch your legs," said Nadia.

He finally did stand up and Nadia and Andrea looked at each other, conniving. They both grabbed the hands of Dean and Sam, respectively, and tried to make them dance. "Come on, please?" Nadia asked but Dean continued to refuse. She pushed out her lower lip and looked at him with saddest eyes she could muster. He gave in. Sam was more willing and Andrea was already refreshing the moves in his memory.

Nadia was slowly teaching Dean the moves and soon he was enjoying himself and adding his own to the mix. Soon all of them were doing the "sprinkler" and thrusting their knee to the opposite elbow. The people around them were eventually jumping in and mixing it up; with a nod from the announcer, the entire grand stand was laughing in no time.

After the derby was finished, it was time to find a good spot to watch the fireworks. As they left the stands; Nadia and Andrea were walking ahead, followed by Sam, Dean, and a crowd of others trying to find their cars. They were planning on lying by the car to watch, when Nadia looked around a second and stopped cold.

Dean soon crashed into her, "Jeez, NadiaNadia, are you alright?" Concern suddenly grasping hold of him.

She looked around and suddenly realized where she had seen the place in her dream before, here. "YeahI justI just remembered something."

"What?"

She looked uncomfortably at Andrea, wishing Sam would lead her away. "Remember that dream I told you about?"

"The one with the" he paused, remembering Andrea was there, "with the flash?"

"Yes, it was here. I knew it looked familiar, I didn't recognize it in the light. But, it was here."

Dean looked around uncomfortably, was it just a dream? Could they take that chance? "We'll stay right back here, okay?"

Hoping that their knowing now, would keep them safe; she continued forward. They kept walking and she kept making sure she could still hear their footsteps behind her. Suddenly she saw that the barn that was by where the Impala was parked was to her right instead of her left. Shaking the mistake off as just the fear getting to her, she continued to lead Andrea and the boys to the car.

Her heart stopped as she heard running behind her; her and Andrea spun around. A little ways back some teenagers ran across their path and two girls stopped and walked in the opposite direction. The group that had been following them broke into two; half following them and the other following the other girls. Nadia could see the two shapes of Dean and Sam following them.

Andrea had no idea what was going on, but was terrified by the fact that Nadia was so shaken. Her eyes darted in every direction.

After what felt like hours, they reached the barn. Confused, Nadia and Andrea stopped as they saw no Impala sitting in front of them. Panic was starting to creep over Nadia and grew as she realized there were no longer footsteps behind her. She couldn't remember the last time she had heard them.

Sam and Dean jerked back as the teenagers ran in front of them. When they passed, they had to jog to catch up to Andrea and Nadia. Staying about 10 feet behind them, Sam wondered what was happening. He didn't want to break their concentration by asking, so he stayed quiet.

Dean was staring at Nadia and got an odd feeling as he scanned over her. His steps started to slow and he stared as the girls passed under a light ahead of them. Frozen, he said, "Sam."

Sam looked at him, and seeing the look in Dean's eyes, he followed them to the light. He froze as well, when he saw a blonde and a red head illuminated. They were the right sizes but; Nadia and Andrea were brunette, dark brunettes.

They finally regained mobility and spun around desperately to find them. Not a single person was in sight. The Impala was ahead of them, lit just enough by the street lamp to let them know the girls weren't there.

"Nadia! Andrea! Nadia! Andrea!" They both started to yell to the emptiness around them.

Chapter 22

A strange feeling of déjà vu washed over Nadia as she heard her name being called. She stood frozen as Andrea, panicked, threw her head from side to side in search of the calling's origin. Nadia stared straight ahead of her. The air was sucked out of her lungs as she watched a black figure come around the corner of the pavilion ahead of her. It looked as if it were 10 feet tall and was much too slender to be either Sam or Dean. The figure stopped and seemed to stare at her and Andrea. She felt as if she were staring down a raging bull with her back to a cliff.

"Nadia, is that Dean? I think I hear Dean or Sam. Someone is calling for usNadiaNadia" Andrea was continually hitting her on the arm with the back of her hand. Finally, getting no response, she looked at her and slowly followed her eyes to the figure. She inhaled sharply and froze with her hand still on Nadia's bicep. "Sam?" Andrea said in a meek voice.

They continued to hear their names being called from the direction of the figure and Andrea started to slowly move towards it. Nadia grabbed her arm but she pulled away and continued moving. Fighting every fiber of her being, Nadia forced herself to follow Andrea.

They slowly worked their way to the pavilion and still could not see any of the features of the mysterious figure calling them. It was just off the other side of the pavement in the shadows, out of the way of any particle of light. As much as Nadia was screaming in her head to run the other way, she was also drawn to the figure as if it held the answers to deep secrets that were worth the risk.

Nadia was the first to step onto the cement, Andrea closely behind. Suddenly Nadia's heart soared as she heard footsteps coming from the right of her.

Dean and Sam's hearts were beating so fast they thought they might explode. They yelled as loudly as they could as they whipped their heads in every direction, hoping Nadia and Andrea would come around the corner of some building, walking nonchalantly towards them.

Suddenly Sam's head started to feel like it was being opened with an axe. He hadn't felt pain like this since he was last in Michigan and saw Dean being shot in the head by an unmanned gun. The stabbing pain shot from front to back in his brain and the scenes around him started to melt away.

Dean heard Sam fall to his knees and he tried to him pull up and back to what was happening now. "Sammy, come on man. We have to find her. We have to find her!" He said, grabbing Sam's shoulders and shaking him.

Finally everything came into focus as the picture changed. It felt like he was watching everything on a television screen. Three bodies laid eerily still on the ground beside a red pavilion.

When he saw Dean's face again, neither of them said anything. He just looked at Dean, trying not to let the fear show too much in his eyes.

As Dean looked down at his little brother and looked into his eyes, he knew. Something was definitely wrong. "Where were they Sam? Where were they?" He yelled when Sam didn't answer.

"Aa pavilion. Here, somewherea red pavilion."

Dean frantically looked around and his heart dropped; as far as he could tell, there were at least five pavilions and they all could have been red. He yanked Sam to his feet and said, "Come on, Sammy. We have to run. Come on!"

They took off together running around one pavilion after the other, each armed with a handgun and holy water they had grabbed from the trunk.

"Nadia, are you all right?" The voice came from the small figure that came from their right. As it passed under a lamp, she saw it was Kyle Ralland. He was looking at the big figure across from them.

In a split second, the figure shot an arm straight out towards Kyle. Nadia barely heard a scream before he was slammed into the side of the building next to them. The sound was one she would never forget, she heard his head crush against the building and all the bones in his left side break from the impact. A large dent was made in the siding of the now, even redder building.

Andrea was still screaming, at both Kyle and the figure. She was shaking uncontrollably, Nadia was numb.

Finally, satisfied that they were alone, the figure pulled off what appeared to be a black robe. A blue light seemed to emanate from the form, allowing Nadia to see the figure was a woman. Her hair was as dark as Nadia's and her eyes were an unnatural blue that seemed to be adding to the light around her. She was tall and muscular and wore a black long-sleeved shirt and black pants. Her head was tilted slightly downward as she stared fiercely at the two of them.

"Well, well, well. I just came out here to feed my friend a few more 23 year olds, but it seems I hit the jackpot," the woman evilly smiled. "Nice to finally meet you, Misswhat dirty name did your mother stick you with again? Oh yes, Bella. Nadia Bella, pretty," she sneered.

"How do you know my name?" Nadia demanded with every ounce of courage she could muster.

"I know a lot about you," she smirked, "even more than you know about yourself." She said every sentence in a slow, measured way. "I know all about your dad and your mom and, oh yeah, your poor miserable grandfather. Like he could have protected you?" At this she full out laughed in a way that made Andrea recoil and take a sharp intake of air.

"You know nothing about them!" Nadia yelled full of anger.

She laughed at her anger, "Speaking of protection, did you forget something? That was very stupid, helpful though." Nadia's fingers touched her neck softly, remembering the necklace and what her mother had always said about it.

"Ah, yes, Nadia the necklace. So, I know nothing about them, huh? I know all about your father. I know that your mother was a filthy, cowardice mortal."

"Of course she was a mortal," Andrea blurted. The woman raised her arm again, Nadia screamed "No!" and Andrea tensed. She looked as though she was trying to scream but, nothing could be heard.

"Don't worry, as long as you cooperate, she'll be fine. I just shut her up for awhile," she shrugged. "Now, where was I? Oh yes, your grand-pappy," she again laughed. "I know how he begged for his life like a child. I know how he flailed when I pinned him to that wall. Upside down, one of my personal favorites," she sneered.

Tears of pain and anger were rolling down Nadia's face.

"Oh, did I hurt your feelings? Imagine what it felt like when my brother left the family for trash! We reclaimed or pride though, when Tresuné butchered your father. That colt did come in handy for something." At this she smirked and watched Nadia's reaction intently.

"What are you talking about?" She didn't want to know, but a deeply buried part of her dug its way to the top.

"Boy, your mom didn't tell you anythingdid she?" she tilted her head. "About whom your dad was, or more, what your dad was. About me"

Nadia's brows dipped in confusion. "I'll take that as a no," she directed all of her focus on Nadia. This must have released Andrea from her binding, because suddenly she screamed, spun and ran. Nadia tried to jump in the way before the woman noticed, but it was too late. A blue light shot from her hand and hit Andrea; she screamed as she fell to the ground. Nadia was frozen and breathless for a second. When feeling returned she started to run to Andrea's side; the woman yelled, "Leave her!"

Nadia continued but she stopped as pain shot through her stomach. It felt like she had been stabbed with a rusty machete. She looked over her shoulder and saw the woman staring angrily at her; her hand raised, fingers tightly bent. "Making friends with the things that hunt your family? Traitor! The Winchesters! Murderers! They killed your uncle, you traitor! They killed Tresuné! We are the only ones you can depend on, not them." Nadia tried to continue moving to Andrea but every time she moved the pain shot harder. "The only ones you can depend on are demons! Family! Your family; the Greyus family! We will never stop hunting you, never." Nadia refused to let her words penetrate her brain, refused to let them stop her. She had to get to Andrea.

"Sorry, but black isn't my color," Nadia managed to force out.

"Funny. I see the Winchester boy is rubbing off on you. In more ways than one?"

"Shut up, you bitch. Sounds to me like you're just jealous. My dad found my mom, I found"

"Dean?! You can't even say it yourself! Love?" She huffed. "Who needs love; it's a load of crap."

Nadia surprised herself when she laughed, ignoring the pain as she worked her way to Andrea. "You sound like the ugly girl at prom, in denial about why she couldn't get a date." At this, the pain flooded her entire body and she screamed louder than she had ever done in her life.

Dean spun around when he heard the ear piercing scream. It sounded detached, other worldly, muted somehow. "Nadia," he said, barely above a whisper.

"Hit a sore spot?" Nadia said, the pain straining her voice.

"You're just like your father; a smart ass. Forget them, come to your family. Trust me, evil suits youand black is optional."

"Sorry, but I have a family, she is my family." She was now laying flat on the ground, army crawling to Andrea.

"I can take care of that," the woman said as she ripped a necklace from her neck, not taking her eyes or hand from Nadia. She tore the cork from the top of the small glass bottle that was the necklace, with her teeth and spat it to the ground. "I'd like you to meet a friend I made in Japan," and she slowly tilted the bottle until a single drop fell to the ground. The flash was as blinding as Nadia remembered; expecting it, she had closed her eyes. When she reopened them, she saw a large serpent winding its way toward Andrea. Its sharp green eyes were focused solely on her. It was covered with slime but, it left none of it in its wake. Nadia was so hypnotized by its eyes she didn't notice how close it was to them both. It broke its eye contact with her when it opened its mouth. She was snapped back into the moment when she saw the thing's single long, thin fang. The end of the fang burst open for a second, revealing a thick straw-like tube that drew in and out of the fang itself. The end closed and the mouth opened wider over Andrea's leg.

Nadia threw up her hand and yelled, "No!" Her entire body felt like it was being stretched and her eyes shifted to the woman still standing far away. She saw surprise and fear flash through the woman's eyes and everything was wiped out by a bright white light.

"That's all of them, Sam. You said they were here. Where are they?" Dean asked angrily.

"II don't know, Dean. I know it was here" Sam responded confused as he looked around.

"We have been to every pavilion, Sam, and nothing!"

"I know Dean! I know."

As Dean opened his mouth to yell again, the entire ground beneath them started to shake and everything around them dimmed. Not only did the lamps' light dim, but every color around them muted. The shaking started to stop and their surroundings looked like they were covered in heat waves. The lamp posts and buildings were waving as if they had been in the Sahara too long.

The colors grew brighter and deeper, the dimness ceased. Dean and Sam looked at each other. "What the f" Dean said before he fell backwards over an unknown object. When he rolled over and got a closer look, he saw a familiar face; one that only hours before he had broken the nose of. Kyle lay white and blood covered beside the exhibition center. "Sam? What thehe wasn't here a second ago" as he spun his head around, he froze as he saw two familiar figures in the distance. "Nadia," he whispered.

Sam pulled out his cell phone and dialed 911 as he ran to Andrea, checking for a pulse. "She's got a pulse, weak butDean, Dean!" He tried to snap Dean out of his trance; he had just continued to stare at Nadia from where he sat. Finally Dean got up and went to her.

He kneeled beside her, not knowing what to do. He stared at her pale face and finally got his extremities to move. His hand shook as it hovered over her stomach; he wanted to touch her but was afraid to. He carefully touched her face, his hands stuttered as he did so. "Does she have awhat the hell?" Sam said, seeing the serpent lying at Andrea's feet. Shaking the fog from his head, back to the situation, he asked, "Does she have a pulse? Dean?" Worry seeped through his voice as he watched his brother, shaken more than he had ever witnessed before, look down at Nadia's white and limp body.

Chapter 23

Two weeks had passed. Two weeks since the derby. Two weeks, since they watched Nadia and Andrea being shoved in the back of ambulances. It had been one week and five days since Dean had even laid eyes on her. It had also been one week and five days since Andrea had woken up and told them what had happened. One week and five days since Dean realized what Nadia was.

Andrea and Sam were there everyday; sitting next to her, talking to her. He was there everyday, sitting in the hall.

He didn't want to see her that way; at least that was what he told them. He hated the truth. He hated that he feared seeing her, feared what he would feel, he hated that he feared her. She had become something else to him; she had become something he hunted. She had become a demon, inhuman, partly human; only partly. His heart had been torn before, but never to this degree. Was she Nadia or was she prey?

He dreaded her waking up and not finding him at her side. He dreaded facing her. He hated that he felt sick when he thought about her.

Everyday he was being told how the immense exhaustion was fading, she was improving. She could wake any day now. Sam kept pushing him to go in there; comparing her to himself. "What if it were me?" he kept saying. He tried to make it seem like the two situations were the same; they weren't. His chest ached when he thought of leaving; his head screamed in protest when he thought of staying. Finally Sam said something that made his decision easy, "Do you want to die wondering?" He stood up and walked down the hall.

He was shaking as he pushed the door open, his eyes glued to the floor. Stopping just through the door way, he took a deep breath and forced his eyes on her. He was breathless as he stared her in the face.

She was Nadia. He hadn't expected horns or jagged teeth; he had seen too many demons to know that wasn't going to happen. He was confused and shocked as he saw that she hadn't changed at all. The face he saw was the same he had been awed by the first time they met. She was the same girl he fell for. The girl who liked rock music, who was an amazing cook, the girl he would pass the gun to if it really counted. The girl that he hated at times, but couldn't stop thinking about. She was the one he had felt such fear over losing. This girl lying in the hospital bed with tubes sticking out of her everywhere, this half demonwas Nadia.

As he stood there, the reality of what she was rushed over him and he didn't care. He started to laugh as he was overcome with the urge to shake her awake and tell her; he didn't care. He understood how Sam felt with Madison; she was what she was, she couldn't help it. Nadia's future, though, wasn't guaranteed; it could be changed.

He walked over to her and grabbed her hand. He sat in the chair Sam had sat in every day for two weeks. And for the first time in two weeks, he fell into a deep recuperative sleep.

"She is stable and she is showing much more brain activity. She should wake any day now."

"Thank you doctor," Sam said.

"I don't know what happened to herI haven't seen that kind of exhaustion in tri-athletes. I don't know how she, physically, held on. Anyone else"

"Well, I'm not like everyone else. Am I?" Nadia said softly; looking at Dean, he could see she knew in her eyes.

Sam and Andrea smiled and let out sighs of relief. Dean smirked and said, "No, you're not," there was a slight sadness in his voice.

The doctor was at her side checking all her vitals. "How long have I been out?"

They looked at each other until Andrea finally said, "Two weeks."

Nadia softly laughed through her nose as if she couldn't believe it and said, "Well, have always enjoyed sleeping."

They all laughed as all their fears for her left their shoulders.

"What happened?"

"That's a long story," Dean said and then looked at the doctor, urging him to leave. When he did finally leave and shut the door behind him, Dean asked, "What do you remember?"

She took a deep breath as she tried to put the pieces together. "It was like my dream; we thought it was you calling us. We followed your voice and saw a black shape come around the corner."

"You followed me. I lead us into that," Andrea said, the guilt weighing down her words, tears filling her eyes.

"I could have stopped you if I really wanted to," Nadia replied reassuringly. "I knew it wasn't either of you butI kept going anyway. Then Kyle came and she threw her arm out and he justflew backwards. The sound" she let out a breath, "after that she took off a robe, I think, and she was blue. She started talking about my family and my necklace. Thenshe made Andrea be quietmore about my mom and dad." Her eyes shifted down to her feet, "Tresuné killed him."

"Who is Tresuné?" Dean asked.

"Apparently my uncle andthe yellow-eyed demon," she said as if she was afraid Dean would slap her. "He killed him with the colt."

Sam and Dean looked at each other. "And," Sam said, Dean staring at the floor.

"And Andrea ran and she sent a blue light into her back," she said this like she knew it was crazy. "I ran after her and she did something to my stomachit hurt so bad. She started talking about how I was betraying my family by being friends with you two," she looked at Sam and Dean. "Then she told me about Tresuné and she brought you up, Dean...and I made fun of her," she shrugged. She didn't like that very much, she really dug into my stomach and I screamedreally loud.

Then she ripped off a necklace and dropped a drop of water onto the ground and there was the blue flash I saw in my dream"

"It wasn't water," Andrea interrupted, nervously. She hadn't told Dean and Sam this when she woke up.

Nadia looked at her confused, "How do you?"

"I was awakenot for it all," she quickly added. "I woke up when you screamed and I didn't want her to know, so I stayed quiet and It was a rock, a pebble. It hit the ground and then there was the flash."

"A pebblewell that makes even less sense, if it was the kappa," Sam said. Nadia figured they had filled Andrea in on the entire situation; it was kind of hard to deny it now.

"Who knows," Dean said frustrated, "it's dead anyway."

"It is?"

"Yeah, you killed it," Andrea replied.

"Ohokay."

They all laughed, "We'll let you two talk," Sam said walking to the door, followed by Dean.

Andrea and Nadia worked out all the details of what had happened. Nadia found out that Andrea had woken up after two days of being in the hospital. She also found out that her and Sam had grown a lot closer; after all, she had been the first one on his mind when he saw them laying on the ground. "Near death experiences have a way of bringing people together," Andrea said.

Nadia looked at Andrea, smiling until Andrea noticed and said, "What?"

"I don't know. I mean you're not running or forcing me into a psych ward, for one thing," Nadia smirked.

"Like I could go back to a normal life, it would seem so" she searched for the right word, "boring."

"That it would," they both laughed. Andrea went back into the hall to let her rest so more. Dean walked through the door a minute later, "I figure you've rested enough."

"Me too," she smiled.

They talked and straightened a lot of things out. "Who would have thought I would fall for the niece of my arch nemesis?" Dean smirked.

"Oh come on, it happens in movies all the time."

Chapter 24

Though Dean acted happy and comfortable around her, Nadia could tell that who her uncle had been was pushing him away. If he came into the living room and the only place to sit was next to her, he suddenly remembered something and left. She felt like he was crawling in his skin whenever he looked at her. He hadn't touched her since he held her hand just before she told him what she remembered that night. She lay on her bed every night trying to figure out how she can get things back to the way they were; but she couldn't take back what she was. She blamed her father, her grandfather, and she blamed her mom the most. With as much as had happened to her in her life, she always felt comforted by the fact that she had had her mother to remember. Now, thinking of her only meant thinking of what she had kept from her. She forced her out of her mind.

Sam and Andrea were constantly talking about the tension between Nadia and Dean; constantly trying to fix it. Finally, Sam made Dean listen.

"Dean, what is with you?" He asked. "You have barely talked to Nadia since she got out of the hospital, almost a week ago. She almost died, Dean."

"I know, alright. II had just gotten over the whole, her being half demon thing, and then I find out she. She is related to the thing that killed mom, killed Jess and dadkilled our family."

"It freaked me out too, Dean. ButI know her. She is the strongest, best person I know. If anyone can handle demon blood, it's her. Dean, you love her." Dean looked at him surprised and then looked back at the Impala's engine that he had been distracting himself cleaning. "Has what you liked about her changed? I mean besides the fact that she is depressed because you will hardly even look at her and every time she comes into the room, you leave?"

Dean stared down at the engine block, feeling guilt seep over him. He had seen the hurt in her eyes, but he always blamed it something else. "Sam, what ifwhat if she can't handle this? I can't loose some else to these demons, Sam."

Sam's face softened, "If there comes a time where she can't, we handle it then. Until then, I think we should get her as much on our side as we can. I don't know about you, but if she goes dark side for a bit, I'd rather have her remember us fondly rather than with hate," he joked.

Dean smirked, "Yeah that would probably be better, huh?" They laughed and were silent for awhile, "I'll try to forget, Sammy, I will; but sheI don't knowshe has got to do something to make me forget." He looked at his brother; the younger but the one who was always helping him make the right decision and reassuring him. He was always doing the things he, himself should be doing. But then again, Sam wasn't usually the one dying or facing shooting someone he loved or having to give up the happy normal, fantasy life for reality. He couldn't help but think he was usually getting the raw end of the deal.

Nadia wanted to get away and the first thing she thought of was her baby. She walked out to the barn and pulled the old doors open, being as quiet as possible while everyone was asleep. "Nadia," a voice behind her made her jump and spin around. Relief flushed over her, followed quickly by guilt and sadness when she saw Dean.

She didn't say a word as Dean came up beside her. The air was awkward between them and Dean stared into the darkness of the barn. What little bit of light was making it inside, showed the sleek, unmistakable lines of an older car. "You have a car?" He asked, and Nadia sensed all of his aggression and angst leave him. She jumped at the chance to talk freely, like they had done before.

"Yeah," she flipped on the switched. Dean couldn't help but smile as he took in all of the smooth and flawless curves and beauty of what was setting in front of him. "First thing I bought with my dad's money, my first car, first choice, my baby. Saw her for sale and had to get her," she watched Dean admire her car, "'69 Ford Mustang, beautiful isn't she."

"Yeah she is."

"I was thinking of taking her for a ride, get her cleaned up andI think she needs a new paint job, she doesn't really fit me now."

"No, she doesn't." The blue of the car seemed laughable when matched with Nadia now. It needed t be, "Darkblack."

She looked at him, wondering if he thought about the impalathe black impala.

"She needs to be black," he said, nodding to the mustang.

"Wanna come?" She asked carefully.

Dean hesitated and was about to say no, but looking the car over again, he knew he had to say, "Yeah."

Dean got into the passenger's seat and Nadia opened her door, went back to flip off the switch, and climbed in behind the wheel. "I haven't been in her in a long time," she said praying it would start. With a deep breath, she turned the key and the engine had no problem turning over. She rumbled to life and purred beautifully as Nadia sat for a second before shifting it into gear. She slowly pulled it from the barn and down the driveway. She looked a Dean, gave him a devilish grin and gunned it down the road.

Dean grabbed the door for a second then said, "So much for letting them sleep."

Nadia and Dean gave the mustang a thorough hand washing. Afterwards she went into the next town and pulled into Sucre's paint shop. One of the perks of living in a small town meant that shops that specialized in something like painting, were never too busy. They agreed on the right shade of black and she paid. Staying in the waiting room was out of the question. The paint job would take at least an hour and they needed to talk; and their conversation wasn't exactly normal.

"Want to go for a walk?" Nadia asked.

"Sure."

With no destination in mind, they started off down the street. After half an hour of silence, they wound up in the town's cemetery. When Nadia looked in front of her, she noticed that she had come right to her grandpa's grave. They sat on the bench nearby, between her grandpa and mother's graves. After sitting in silence for a long time Nadia suddenly said, "Grape jelly." Her eyes didn't move from the headstone as Dean's flew confused to her face.

"I hated grape jellybut he loved it. We would take turns, when we ran out of grape we would buy strawberry and vice versa. That is what I went to the store for that day, grape jelly. When I got back, I knew something was wrong as soon as I opened the door. Everything was in slow motion; I saw him in the living roomthe jar crashed to the floor. It was like a movie.

"He was hanging on the wallupside down," her right thumb was nervously scratching her left. "He had cuts all over his arms and legs and face. There was blood running from all of themdripping and gathering on the floor. I ran over to him and tried to pull him off the wall, but he wouldn't budge," tears were slowly running down her face. "He kept telling me to stop, that it was too late," she bit her lip, trying to keep the tears under control. "Finally I just broke down and knelt in front of him and he tried to talk." She took a deep breath, "He said, 'I'm sorry I didn't tell you' and then somethinginvisible sliced his throat. He still tried to talk for a few secondsI'll never forget his eyes, his face." She was shaking and taking sharp, unsteady breaths, "I never knew what he meant guess I do now."

Dean's eyes were softer and he shifted them to the ground. He wanted to say something, but what? He had seen a lot but; he hadn't seen his mother dying on the ceiling and his dad had justdied; there was no torture, no blood. Although he knew where his dad was now, somehow it still felt better to know that he was dead and experiencing all he was. Nadia's grandfather had been alive, tortured, she had seen him dieunable to safe him.

"He at least tried to tell meshe never even tried. She died while I was at school. I remember getting off the bus and it was so cruel; the sun was so bright, it was perfect out. Ironic, huh? I went inside and couldn't find her and when I pushed her door openI could smell the blood. I couldn't see her faceand then I realized sheshe didn't have one," she closed her eyes and tried to catch her breath. "They had smashed her heathey tried to erase who she was. She had a deep cut across her stomach, like they had started to disembowel her. I just stood there, frozen. It didn't even register who she was. After a few minutes I called 911, still in shock. I remember being so calmit makes me cringe to think of how unaffected I was at first."

"Your body was protecting you," Dean said softly.

"Yeah," she said as if she were trying to convince herself. "Dean," her eyes stayed glued to the tombstone, "I know it freaks you out what I am, and who my relatives areit freaks me out too. They took my dad and my mom away, they killed my grandpa; and now I can't even think about my mom without hating her. I don't want to hate my mom. They took everything away from me; I can either let it kill me or I can accept it. And I am determined to use what they did give me," she looked him straight in the eye for the first time since the garage, "to destroy every one of them and anything along the way." Dean recognized the look in her eye; it was the same look he saw in his dad, the same look he saw in himself when Sam died. The look of an overwhelming need for justice, for revenge.

Dean realized, right then, that she had done it; she had made him forget about who she was. Her passion and thirst for revenge revitalized everything that once drove him to hunt, to help people. He suddenly wanted to scour the newspapers for even a hint of a case. But first, there was something else that he wanted, needed to do.

He kept his eyes glued to Nadia's and slowly raised his hand to her cheek. He wiped the tears from under her left eye and leaned towards her. She leaned towards him and they kissed, softly, in a way that wiped away everything that had happened in the last week and reassured them both of what they felt. Nadia scooted closer to him and, suddenly cold, curled into his side. His arm was draped over her shoulders, holding her tight, and they sat for over an hour. Neither of them saying a word.

When they got up to leave, they walked by Nadia's mother's tombstone and Dean tripped over a root that protruded from the ground. Trying to regain his footing, he kicked the empty vase that stood next to the stone. The vase broke and what little bit of dirt it had in it, poured out. "I'm sorry," Dean said quickly picking up the pieces.

"That's alright," she said with a soft smile as she kneeled down to brush the dirt off the base of the stone. As she did so, she noticed a small symbol that had been placed into the concrete. Dean noticed she stop and blow the dirt from the indent, "What is it?" He asked.

"I don't knowa symbol of some sort. It looks familiar, but I don't know why. I think I've seen it before."

Dean got up and looked at 10 other headstones and none of them had any mark on them. He came back and took a closer look at it, "II think I've seen it too, somewhere." They looked curiously at each other.

"Do you thinkit has some sort of tie toyou know, my family?" Nadia asked, cautiously.

"Maybe. Come on, it's getting colder than Rudolph's ass out here."

"Actually, his ass is probably pretty warm. They are built to stay warm."

"Yeah okay, Sam," he rolled his eyes.

They headed back to the paint shop, both plagued with where they had seen the symbol before.

Chapter 25

Dean was sitting on the couch lost in space, as Nadia came into the living room. "Driving ya crazy isn't it?"

He snapped back to reality as she plopped down beside him. "Yeah. I know I've seen it before, I just can't figure out where."

"I know what you mean," she said, placing her hand on his thigh, "I've seen it somewhere before too. I don't think it was that long ago either." She huffed as they both stared straight ahead, each scanning their memory of any familiar shape.

Andrea and Sam came through the front door and they both looked Nadia and Dean up and down. A couple of seconds passed as looked at each other and shook their heads as they continued taking off their jackets.

Nadia and Dean looked at each other and she asked, "What was that all about?"

Andrea looked at her, raised her eye brows and responded, "What was that all about? Gee I don't know, maybe it was about the fact that you two go back and forth more than a tennis ball at a match." Sam kept his eyes down and chuckled.

"Good one," Dean said sarcastically.

"What's up?" Sam asked as he saw the expression on Dean's face.

"We saw this symbol today and we can't figure out where we've seen it before."

"What's it look like?" Sam said, remembering the time at the Hell House when Dean had spotted the logo for "Blue Oyster Cult;" a realization that broke the case.

Dean grabbed the pad of paper Nadia had used to draw the symbol on as soon as they got home and threw it to Sam.

Taken by surprise when the pad came flying at his head, he threw up his hands. He did manage to catch it against his thigh after it had bounced off his left palm. He gave his brother a dirty look, to which he received a smile, and looked at the marks on the paper. What he saw looked like nothing more than lines drawn scribbled, without any certain meaning.

"Am I supposed to be seeing something here? Besides lines?" He asked.

"We think so. We have both seen it before but, neither one of us can figure out where," Nadia said.

"Well, good luck with that."

"Lotta help you are, Sammy," Dean said.

Sam shrugged, handed the pad to Andrea, and walked into the bathroom. Andrea sat on the arm chair closest to them. She looked at the paper and tipped her head as she pushed her lips outward. Nadia sensed recognition in her eyes, "Do you know what it is?"

Andrea opened her mouth without taking her eyes from the page, "I think soI mean I think I've seen it before too." She hunched her shoulders and fell back defeated and said, "But I don't know where, either. Sorry. But I am sure I have seen it before." She tossed the pad on the table next to her and they all sat for a long time, racking their brains yet again; until Sam came out of the bathroom.

"Hope you turned the fan on in there," Dean harassed with a smirk.

"Ha, ha. Nice car, Nadia; didn't know you had one," Sam said, nodding towards the door.

"Thanks," she smiled, "she's my baby."

Sam frowned and dropped his shoulders, "Not another one," he sighed.

Nadia gave him a curious look but before she could say anything, Andrea rolled her eyes and said, "Oh, you have no idea."

"Oh, I think I do. You'd think that owning the car would keep Dean from salivating all over itno, not so lucky."

"Her. All over her," Dean corrected, moving his hand along with each syllable, stressing the last one.

Nadia laughed as she understood what Sam had meant by "another one."

The Book of Greyus hadn't been touched since they brought it to Nadia's. In fact it was still sitting in Dean's green duffle bag that also held holy water, multiple hand guns, wooden stakes and, (who knows when you'll need one) about 25 lighters.

Since bearing her soul, Nadia felt that much of the pressure she had been feeling for days was gone. And she instead, was thinking of all the questions she had about what she could and couldn't do. She dug into his bag and, after being poked multiple times by knives, got a good enough hold on the huge book to bring it out.

She had it open on the porch railing in front of her and was staring down at the pages, when she heard the slider being pulled open. Turning, she saw Dean step through the door frame and close the door behind him. "Hey," he said, seeing the corner of the book from around her arm.

She flashed a quick smile and turned back to the book as Dean came up beside her. "Find anything interesting?" He asked.

"I don't know," she said, frustrated.

"Well, what are you hoping to find?"

She took a deep breath, shifted her eyes over his head, and chuckled, "Honestly? A list of the things I have the ability to do or don't," she shrugged.

"It usually doesn't work that way, sorry. Sam just had dreams and stumbled upon his" he struggled with the right word to use, "ability. So did all the others."

"Yeah, I figured. I just wish I could," she looked back at the book as she said, "snap my fingers and presto." She snapped her fingers as she said it. She looked back at Dean and asked, "Are you alright?" His eyes were wide open and his head was pushed back in surprise. "What?"

"Ddo that again," he said cautiously.

"What?"

"Snap your fingers."

"Why?"

"Just, do it. Okay?"

"Fine," and she looked at her hand and snapped her fingers. She jumped back as she saw a flame spring to life just above the tips of her thumb and pointed finger. Her arm shoved the book over the edge of the porch when she jumped. Neither one of them tried to catch it; they simply stared at her hand. They looked at each other as Nadia brought her hand up to snap her fingers again. Again the flame jumped from her finger tips and as soon as her fingers came apart, the flame vanished. She repeated the move over and over again; always getting the same result. She finally spoke, "Holy.."

"Shit," Dean finished.

They looked at each other, eyes wide. "Well, I guess that goes on the list of things you can do," he said, shocked.

"The book," Nadia remembered. The book was old and fragile; a fall from that distance could tear it apart. Dean and Nadia looked over the railing and were both yet again stopped cold. A faint but, recognizable mark adorned the inside of the back cover; a now familiar symbol. They looked at each other for a second and quickly spun, opened the slider, and ran out the front door to the front of the house.

Dean picked the book up and they looked at the symbol for a long time, scanning the page next to it and the cover itself. Each page was blank and smooth, except for the mark and a slightly raised square beneath the mark itself. They brought it back in the house and placed it on the table, both wondering what to do now.

Neither of them noticed Sam enter the dining room, "Hey, the mark."

Nadia said, "YeahI neverI never looked at the back cover, inside or out. So, I don't know how it could be so familiar."

Dean suddenly realized that he hadn't looked at it before either. Before he told her, he remembered what had happened before the book fell. "Dude, this is nothingyou have to see what she can do."

Sam almost laughed at Dean's astounded face; eyes huge, brows dangerously high, and mouth slightly opened. "What?"

Dean turned to Nadia and popped his brows up down and back up, "Show him."

She was slightly annoyed by his excitement, but she had to admit she was excited too. She raised her hand in front of them all and snapped her fingersnothing happened.

"Wow, you can snap your fingers," Sam said, not sure whether this had been what they were really both so excited about.

"What happened?" Dean asked urgently.

"I don't know."

"Well what were you thinking about out there, that made you able to do it?"

She thought and remembered how much she wanted to know what she could do. She summoned those desires again and snapped her fingers, this time the flamed jumped right to attention; and Sam just jumped. "Holy" Sam started to say.

"Frick," they all turned when they heard Andrea's voice, her eyes were just as big as the rest of theirs and her mouth hung slack.

Chapter 26

"How is this thing so familiar when none of us have even looked at this cover of the book?" Dean said, annoyed. He wasn't only being annoyed by this fact, but also because Andrea kept asking Nadia to snap her fingers again and again. "Would you two knock it off, already?"

"Sorry," Nadia and Andrea said, surprised by the anger in his voice.

"I don't know, Dean. I don't know a lot of things, I am finding out," Nadia said as she threw up her hands. "Well, I guess I have always had a lot of things I don't know; even about myself."

Dean was still scanning the back cover and running his hand over the symbol and the raised edge beneath it. "I think there is something under here."

"Like what?" Sam asked.

"Well, let me just activate my X-ray vision, here" he gave Sam a frustrated look and was greeted with rolled eyes.

Dean left and went into the living room and dug around in his duffle bag. Finally he was satisfied and came back with a small, thin knife. He worked it under the paper that was glued to the cover and cut down the side. Once he was finished he folded it back and they all saw a piece of paper had been folded and placed underneath. Nadia reached over his arm and pulled it out. They all looked at each other and she took a deep breath and opened it.

She froze, staring at the paper, "You've got to be kidding me."

Dean, Sam, and Andrea glanced at each other, all wearing a look of confusion on their faces. Dean was the first to ask, "What is it?"

Nadia pushed her bottom jaw to the left and looked away from all of them, angrily. "It's from my mother," her eyebrows were raised as she looked at Dean.

"What?" Dean was shocked at the words that came out of her mouth, "I don't know how I am still surprised by what you say sometimes."

"Ha, try being me."

"Wellwhat does it say?" Andrea cautiously asked.

"It says, 'Nadia, I know you must have a ton of questions; here are some answers"

"And?" Andrea leaned forward in anticipation.

"And, what else? Its another clue."

"Well, let's see it. May be this will be the last one," Dean said.

She handed him the paper and they all looked at it. It said, 'Sometimes the oddest places are what are safe; because they cover well the secrets we have.'

All three of them raised their right brows, in unison. "Yeah, I don't know," Andrea said as she fell back onto her heels.

Dean tossed it onto the middle of the table and looked at Sam, who looked just as clueless as he did.

"Well, its someplace strange andsafe," Sam paused for a long time, feeling stupid at what he just said.

"And probably someplace that you and her went to orsomething," Andrea offered.

"Yeah, thatdoesn't narrow it down at all," Nadia responded, totally defeated.

They all migrated to the living room; Nadia and Dean side by side on the couch and Sam and Andrea together on the larger recliner. No one was able to push the words from their minds and let the arrogance of Dr. House take over.

Her blue eyes pierced her daughter's stunningly green ones as she looked at her across the table. The wind caught the edge of the table cloth, causing the red and white stripes to blend together. A strand of hair fell across her face; its lazy movement matched the branches blowing in the wind. Sunlight beat down on their smiles, wearing them down until she placed an umbrella of protection over them both.

"I love picnics," the child smiled, raising her shoulders in overwhelming excitement.

"Me too. Now eat your food before the bugs eat it for you." Her order was tender as she scooped potato salad onto both of their plates.

"Can't we eat on the grass?"

"No," a slight change flashed into her eyes and vanished as she forced a smile, "too many bugs."

"The cement doesn't protect us," the child said as she bobbed her head arrogantly.

As she watched her daughters dark hair flow with the movements of her head, she realized this was yet another time she regretted teaching her so much. She was definitely becoming too smart for her own good. She was threatening to learn secrets that were long kept and needed to stay covered. But, there would come a time she would need to know. She would need to learn all the lies and secrets she was hiding from her, for her protection. She would need to know, "Sometimes, the strangest places are the safest."

Not knowing how to respond, the child surrendered and turned to her food. There would be thousands of other petty arguments to win through the years.

The sunlight faded and the mother and daughter shrank in the distance. She so desperately wanted to stay there, watching them foreverto be with her again.

The cold of reality washed over her as she opened her eyes to the dream catcher that hung from the ceiling. Nadia sat up as she heard her mother's voice play over again in her ear, 'Sometimes, the strangest places are the safest.'

She was suddenly driven by an unquestionable purpose as she threw the covers from her legs and grabbed two sweatshirts. Pulling the door open, she caught 3:37 glowing red on her nightstand.

Bent over Dean, she whispered, "DeanDeanDean!" The outline stayed infuriatingly still on the bed. Finally, she reached down and shook him and then resorted to pulling off the covers.

"Whatwhat are you doing? It's"

"Three forty by now."

"Yeah so again, what are you doing?"

"I remembered something!"

"What?"

Nadia let out a loud frustrated sigh; feeling like time was running out, "I think I know what my mom meant."

Seeing Dean finally setting up, she threw the extra sweatshirt at him and hurried around the end of the bed and towards the door. He jumped up as he saw her speeding away; threw on his jeans and tried to put the sweatshirt on while following her.

She watched him, growing angrier, as his knee met unfairly with the corner of the bed frame. He gasped and grabbed his knee and almost had his head through the opening when he lost his balance. Regaining it by stepping to the left, he ran straight into the side of the arch that separated the living and dining rooms. "Son of a" his head finally found its way through the hole as he glared at her.

"It would have been a lot easier, safer, and faster if you would have just put it on over there," she snapped, barely a whisper.

"Yeah, and it would have been a lot easier if you would have just waited and not took off," he matched her tone.

She rolled her eyes and grabbed the flashlight from the counter. Stepping out into the inside porch, she slipped on her crocs and continued out the next door, which snapped back at Dean, hitting him in the forehead. Rubbing his forehead and stepping softly on his damaged leg, he said, "Oh no, that's okay, I've got it," sarcastically to her back.

He followed her to the cement slab where she stopped and turned on the light. She walked from side-to-side, sweeping the beam across in front of her. Dean stood on the grass watching her; he had to smirk as he looked her up and down. Her hair was hurriedly pulled back, most of it falling around her face, and sweatpants four sizes too big billowed around her indistinguishable legs. An extra large Michigan sweatshirt completed the ensemble. "What are you looking for?"

She spun around and looked at him as if she had forgotten he was there, "The symbol."

He joined her in the middle of the slab and did his best to keep up with the light as she frantically swept it over the surface. When they reached the last corner Dean said, "Of course it is going to be the last place we look." As if on cue, the light caught the glint of something metal in the cement. They both climbed onto their knees to get a closer look. Their eyes met as they saw the same lines that adorned the book, in the surface of the slab they had walked over so many times.

"What now?" Dean asked.

Nadia fell back onto her butt, unable to answer. Dean copied her and they sat for a long time, replaying the sentence in their heads.

"I had a dream, of one of the times we had a picnic on here. We used to do it all the time. I was only about5, 6 years old. I wanted to eat on the grass and she said there were too many bugs. I said that the slab didn't protect us and she said, 'Sometimes, the strangest places are the safest.'

Dean was just thinking about the situations that caused her to bare her soul; the cemetery and sitting on a cold cement slab, in the cold and the dark. "What about, 'They cover well the secrets we have?'" he mocked in a voice worthy of a Star Wars film.

Nadia bit her upper lip and thought hard, "They cover well the secrets we have. They coverthey cover." She slapped Dean's arm, "They covercover"

"Cover," they both jumped to their feet and Nadia ran into one of the barns and came back with two garden spades.

They both started digging under the corner. Scoop of dirt after scoop of dirt, they anticipated the "thunk" of metal against wood. As the hole went deeper and further under the cement slab, they bent closer and their anxiety grew. Finally, Nadia reached deep underneath the slab and heard a sound that made her heart stop. Metal on metal.

She worked the spade around the metal rectangle and pulled it out. Brushing the dirt from it, they saw a simple safety deposit box; including the key hole.

"It needs a key," Dean said, sounding like he was about to cry as he dropped his shoulders.

Nadia, on the other hand, smiled, "I think I know where it is."

Dean looked at her skeptically, "Man, if we have dig to the septic tank; sorry, but your all alone in that."

Nadia laughed and stood up, and without a word, walked back to the house. She was so ecstatic, she didn't even care, she stripped off her pants and sweatshirt on the inside porch and went inside.

Dean was still on the porch, shocked at the fact that her clothes were now piled on the floor. Having less to hide, he stripped off his sweatshirt and jeans and followed her inside, and hiked up his "Rock & Roll" boxers; too preoccupied with the box.

She unfolded the newspaper that lay on the table and sat the box on top of it. She brushed the dirt from the key hole and stared at it. Finally, Dean couldn't wait any longer, "So, where's the key?"

"I can't get it right now," she replied without taking her eyes from the box. She was awed and scared by the prospect of having her questions answered.

"Why not? Get it."

"I can't right now, alright?" She snapped.

"Why?"

"Because, Sam is sleeping and it's in his room."

"So? Sneak in there and get it."

"I don't want to wake him up."

"Chances are, you won't."

She knew he was right but part of her was terrified of opening the box. Would it be a type of proverbial Pandora's Box? Or really a Pandora's Box, releasing something she didn't want to know?

"Look, Sam and I have literally opened the doors to hell, so I think it's safe to open it. It couldn't be anything worse."

They both spun as they heard a door open. Nadia shot to her feet and heard footsteps too heavy for those of Andrea. She realized she was in nothing but bra and underwear and jumped behind Dean. The lights were still off; she hoped she could go unnoticed as he walked to the bathroom. Oh God, please let him be going to the bathroom, not getting a glass of water! Her lips were pressed together, arms crossed in front of her, as she tried to think herself as small as possible.

Sam stopped, startled as he noticed Dean standing beside the table in his boxers. "What are you doing?"

Dean opened his mouth and shifted his eyes around the kitchen, looking for an answer. "Icouldn't sleep, so I" he puffed air into his lips let them come apart with a slight "pop." "Ithought I would geta drink," he popped up onto his tip toes for a second, with the response. "Yeah, I thought I would get a drink." He smiled and tried to look as innocent as possible. "So, I think I'll back up, slowly," he turned his head slightly towards Nadia as he said it. He carefully lifted his left foot and moved it backwards, smiling the whole time. He repeated the maneuver with his right foot.

Sam looked at him as if he were crazy, "Alrighty then. Opposites really do attract, huh?" He walked into the bathroom, not waiting for a response.

"Ya know, I don't think that was meant as a compliment," he referred to Sam's comment.

"Yeah, you're brilliant," she replied as she moved around him.

"Get the key," Dean remembered.

She gave him a pleading look"fine." She carefully and quickly walked into Sam's room and over to the wall where the key hung. Gripping the key in her hand and letting the chain hang from it, she turned to leave. Once she was turned all the way around, she heard Sam at the door and she spun back around and dropped to the floor. Nice interception, Dean. Frick.

She laid on her back, listening to Sam toss and turn until his breathing finally changed and deepened. As quietly as possible, she crawled around the bed and towards the door. She heard Sam lift his head and she froze on the floor right to his left. Her lips pressed hard together and she waited again; this time even longer, just to be sure. Finally, after an eternity, she slowly opened the door and crawled into the living room.

"Nice." Dean's voice caused her to jump as it pulled her from deep concentration. She turned to see his head tipped, smiling as her looked at her.

"Perv."

They both decided to wait to open it. Actually, the inside of the lock was too packed with dirt to even get the key inside and exhaustion was also gripping them, relentlessly. They both crawled into bed.

Nadia placed the necklace that her mom had worn everyday; a silver chain with a simple silver key, on over her head. Her mother had said that is was the sister to her elephant necklace, it kept her safe.

Chapter 27

As exhausted as Dean was while at the table next to Nadia, he couldn't sleep. More specifically, he couldn't get the picture of Nadia out of his head, nor the feeling of her pressed against his back. Her protector.

Nadia lay staring at the ceiling, the same feelings running through her. She hadn't felt that safe with someone in a long time. She drummed her fingers on the bed at both sides and chewed on her lip.

Nadia's door slowly opened and Dean quietly stepped inside, shutting the door behind him. He stood just inside the door, his back to the bed, wondering if this was the right move, the right time. With a deep breath and determination, he turned and moved to the side of her bed. She surprised him by sitting up, he couldn't think of anything to say. For the first time in his life, he felt scared of what she might say. Rejection? Emasculation? Blatant fear of what she might accidentally do to him?

"UhI"

Suddenly she grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her. She reached her face up to his and pressed her lips to his. They slowly pulled away from each other, "You too, huh?" Dean asked.

She kicked the covers off and he slowly bent over her, kissing her passionately. His hand pressed against her jaw and his fingers dug into her neck. Her hands slid up his bare back, taking in every curve as her nails dug into his skin.

The new clothes she had put on didn't stay that way for long. His fingers slid up her sides, pulling her shirt over her head. After dropping it to the floor, his hands gripped her back, holding her up. He pulled her hard against him as he kissed her neck and chest. Slowly, they both lay back onto the bed and his fingers poked beneath her sweatpants and the band of her underwear. They soon joined the growing pile on the floor.

She pulled her legs up around his hips and gripped tightly. She pulled her legs down and he kicked his boxers to the floor. She pushed him over and pushed his back to the mattress, running her hands over his chest and abs. Adrenaline brought beads of sweat to both of their bodies. Everywhere they touched seemed to sear, red-hot.

He ran his hands through her long hair, brushing it from her face. They shifted again as he threw her on her back. Their breathing labored and he caressed every part of her body. A moan rumbled deep in his throat, causing the fire to spread even faster through their bodies. Finally, every muscle in her back contracted and caused it to arch. Her fingers pulled the skin of his back, downward and his hands gripped her hips and thighs.

Dean pulled the covers over her legs and torso and they seemed to mold into each other as they fell asleep.

Nadia pulled on a robe and hoped neither Sam nor Andrea was up yet; the sound of the tv told her she wasn't so lucky. She let out a deep breath and stepped into the living room. Looking up from the floor, her eyes met with Sam's and she felt heat flood to her face. Gluing her eyes back down, she practically ran to the bathroom.

When she got the nerve to come back out, she saw the door open again and Dean step out. The complete opposite of her; he held his head high and smiled at them all. She was frozen beside the bathroom door as he came up to her. She suddenly couldn't breathe as he bent down, as if out of habit, and kissed her. The house melted away for a couple of seconds but, came back with a vengeance.

She saw Andrea and Sam looking into the dining room. Sensing Nadia's discomfort; Andrea jumped on Sam's lap, a knee on each side of his hip and grabbed his head, pressing her lips hard against his. Nadia couldn't help but laugh at the familiar look of embarrassment on Sam's face; they were alike in so many ways. Andrea and Dean, on the other hand, had no problem with letting others know what they had been up to.

They all looked at each other until Nadia and Sam burst out laughing, soon joined by Andrea and Dean. There seemed to be an all together understanding between them all. Of what? None of them were really sure.

"So this was under the cement slab?" Sam asked. They had filled Andrea and Sam in on Nadia's realization the night before.

"Yeah," Nadia said as she stared at the box on the table.

"Why?"

"Why the slab?" Sam nodded his head, "I don't know. I mean, my mom and I used to have picnics out there all the time; she said it was safe."

"Well, that makes sense, with the riddle. But, why is it so much safer?"

"Sam," she stared him directly in the eye, "I don't know. Maybe there's a spell around it or something."

Sam was about to reply when Andrea slapped the table, unable to control her curiosity anymore. "Would you open the thing already? Who cares why the cement slab is safe? Open it!"

Nadia looked at her with a "my word" look on her face until Dean seconded her request.

Dean had already ran the box under water to dissolve as much of the dirt into mud as possible. A few grains remained and they could be heard grinding as Nadia turned the key. They fit together perfectly. She couldn't help but take a deep breath to calm her hands as they shook when she grabbed the corners and lifted the lid.

Her breath stopped short when the light hit a black rectangle lying in the center of the box. Dean, Sam, and Andrea craned their heads around her arms and over the lid to see what caused the look that now filled Nadia's face.

The square was unmistakable and the thin cardboard case that surrounded it told them all that it held as much as 8 hours of life-changing information. The edge of the tape held a bright white label that stated, "Answers for Nadia: Love mom."

Nadia felt like she was trying to swallow a grapefruit but she couldn't tear her eyes from the label.

Dean caught the fear on Nadia's face and felt a familiarity in it. It was the same fear that he felt every time someone brought up his dad. Would what they had to say change the man he knew?

Finally Dean grabbed the tape and headed out to the living room to place it in the VCR. The static stopped immediately and a beautiful face filled the screen. Her blue eyes conveyed sadness to them all, making them feel on edge.

Her thin lips parted with a forced smile and Nadia's chest tightened when she heard her mother's voice say her name.

Chapter 28

"Are you alright?" Dean asked Nadia after hitting the pause button on the remote.

Tears were gathering in her eyes as she stared into the familiar eyes of her mother's. After a long while she closed her eyes, took a deep breath as she turned to face him, and said, "YeahI'm fine. Go ahead," she nodded towards the remote in his hand.

Dean wanted to stop the tape and run over it with the impala, when he looked her in the eyes. He could tell that she was as torn as he was; she wanted to hear what her mother had to say but she also wanted to forget how much she had lied to her. He pushed the play button and they listened to the voice that seemed to break through time.

"Nadia. I always thought it was so stupid in the movies when they said, 'If you're reading this, I'm already dead' but, I guess I am," her eyes shifted from the camera. "You have a ton of questions, I'm sure andI guess I should start from the beginning.

"You're dad and I met in November of '82. I used to go to the cemeteryI know it sounds weird, but I used to go there to think. There was never really anyone there, except that day." She smirked, "He caught me looking at him (he was gorgeous) and he came over. We talked for hours and, well, it went from there.

"Anyway, to the important stuff. Deus told me"

Andrea interrupted, asking, "Who is Deus?"

Nadia looked at her, "My dad," she tried to leave it at that but Andrea continued.

"I thought you didn't know"

"I did," her voice was slightly harder, causing Andrea to return to the screen. Dean pressed the play button again.

"told me that he was a demon after about a year. At first, of course I freaked out, but then I realized nothing changed. He told me about his familyall of them and how they thought of him and me. He didn't fit inthey were all evil, so evil and he wanted to help people. He was always trying to make up for what his family did and they were always trying to change him. Your account, the one he made for you, was furnished by other people. His brother, Contego, is a nybbas. He would cause people to go insane and do things such as kill or rob banks. Deus would get the money back and return it to the bank. They were always so thankful that they tried to reward him a cut of the stolen money. At first he refused it but, when we found out about youhe opened the account. His biggest payday was after Contego stole 10 million dollars; your dad got 3 million. I'll never forget the day he told me about that," she smiled and shook her head, "it was crazyit's still crazy to think about.

"Anyway, about his family; he had two brothers and two sisters; Contego, Cyprien, Theminos, and Tresuné. Contego, was the nybbas, or a demon which attacks while you are sleeping, giving you horrific dreams. Cyprien is the eldest sister and she is moreaquatic. She has the ability to work with water and things in the water. She also can produce mirages. Theminos, or Themi, is the only one you can even slightly trust. Her and Deus were close and she is the only one who isn't trying to kill you and I. She is a jokester; I think that pretty much describes it, right there," she smirked. "They all can easily be identified by their eyes. Contego has grey eyes, Cyprien's are blue, Themi's are orange, and Tresuné has yellow eyes. Your father was incredible; he still remembered what it was like to be human. Most of them had forgotten that long ago. He had incredible green eyes, just like yours. I think it was his humanity that made him able to have only his irises green; even when they flashed all demon. All the others' are completely colored. I know what you're thinking, it was all just parts of the human he decided to jump into that day; but he wasn't like that. He would never take someone's life away. He only chose those that were…" she struggled with an acceptable word, "empty."

She took a deep breath and her face turned serious, "Tresuné, is another story. He is justpure evil. He is the strongest of them all, and he knows it. Deus told me about this awful plan he has with children all over the country. He is using them to fight for him. It is awful," her face was filled with sadness and disgust. "Deus tried to stop to him, multiple times. But he only had a way with nature; animals, wind, and especially fire. As powerful and as driven as he was, he couldn't stop Tresuné. He had his entire family behind him and Deus was trying to protect you and me.

"After Deus told me about what he was, I had to tell someone." Her eyes dropped to her lap and she started to wrench her hands together, tears gathered in her eyes. "So, I told the only person I couldmy best friend, Mary. We grew up together in Kansas and I moved here to Michigan after your dad died." Dean and Sam glanced at each other, could it be a coincidence? "I don't think I ever told you that. We lived in Lawrence and moved here for more safety. She had two boys," she smirked "Dean and Sam." Everyone's hearts stopped as they realized the connection between Nadia and Sam and Dean. "They were great; Sam was so little and Dean was a riot. He was such a smooth talker, even then. You two clicked; I mean you were only 2 the last time you saw each other, 6 years ago, but you loved playing with him. Puppy love."

Her husband, John, was a great man too." Her eyes dropped again and she took a deep breath, "Because of me, Tresuné killed Mary. Because of me telling her what Deus was she, in his eyes, had to beeliminated," she spat out the word as tears ran down her face. Everything around Dean seemed to melt away, Clara's words sounded miles away; Nadia's mother had caused their mothers death; she caused two innocent boys to become soldiers. She had caused his dad's death, Sam's death, and his eventual death. He had finally found the person to blame, the one at the beginning of it all and; it had to be someone linked to Nadia. Hearing his dad's name again, he snapped back to reality. "When John called and told me what had happened, I had to tell him what I knew. He thought he was crazy, seeing her on fire on the ceiling, and I had to tell him. He wouldn't talk to me for a long time and then one day, he dropped by here and we talked it over. I agreed to help him find Tresuné any way I could; Deus left me a lot of stuff to help protect us. He looked at you as a future asset to hunting and suggested I get you into self-defense classes and gymnastics, so I did. I hated the thought of you fighting these things, but I knew you would have to. Deus told me many times that there would come a time when you would have to fight to live. John just wanted to take it a step further and make you a hunter. In the end I knew that was what you would do, when you started the classesit came so naturally to you and you loved it.

"So we started planning for later. We placed a devil's trap under the cement slab, placed stronger protections on your necklace, and taught you things you would need to know. I gave John the book of Greyus when I realized that Tresuné was getting close to finding us. Your necklace has protections that make you invisible to all of themat least until you reach 25. He gave the book to a friend to keep. I also have a colt that your dad said was very, very important. Neither John nor I know what it can do, but I keep it hidden and safe.

"If you run into trouble, go to John. Or Sam or Dean; they will help you. That is, if John told them about you and I; I doubt it. When you find the boysI want to tell you to tell them all of this, butI know what it did to John and me and I don't want that to happen to you. You need them to be on your side, sodecide for yourself, whether to tell them or not.

"Wellthat is everything I know. I'm sorry for keeping this from you for so long; I hope you can understand why I did it. I love you and be safe." She blew a kiss to the camera, got up, and the screen went blue.

Nadia didn't want to breathe, she didn't want o move, but wanted to run. She could feel Dean and Sam's eyes on her and she wanted to leave and never face them again. She had been ready to face who she was; but was she ready to face who her mother was?

Finally she made her legs work and she walked outside to the mustang. She stood with her hand on the handle for a long time and with a deep breath she opened the door and climbed inside. The key felt likd it weighed 30 pounds as she turned it in the ignition. She pulled out of the driveway and drove without any certain amount of focus. "Bubbly" floated from the speakers, a direct contradiction to the tears running down her face.

Chapter 29

Her mother blowing her a kiss kept flashing through her head as she drove. I hate you. I hate you. You lied to me my entire life and know you ruined the only thing I had left. You made the person I love sick at the sight of me. I hate you.

She was jerked back to the road ahead of her by a horn. The semi heading towards her was frantically blowing its horn, realizing she was in the wrong lane she jerked the wheel back to the right. For a split second she almost jerked back in front of the truck, she had lost everything.

She wished she had never been born, wished her parents had never met, wished Tresuné had gotten to her dad before he walked the cemetery that day. She always thought her life couldn't get any worse, but then, it had only just begun.

After they watched Nadia walk out and heard her pull away, Sam and Andrea watched Dean walk out behind her. Sam felt numb, he stared at the television willing Clara to come back on and say it was all a joke. Anger flared inside of him; it was her fault his mother was dead, her fault he would never see Jess again. Andrea's hand on his shoulder made him tense; he wanted it off of him.

Dean stood beside the door of the Impala, staring at the glass. The urge to kill something over took him as he saw Clara's facesaw Nadia's face. For no reason in particular, he walked to the barn that had held Nadia's Mustang and he pulled open the heavy doors. He didn't know what he was looking for as he flipped the switch. The fluorescent lights slowly flickered to life and threw light on all of the odd shapes that covered the ground.

Mats were laid out all over the cement floor and punching bags hung from the ceiling. A bench piled with weights sat on the back wall and fighting sticks leaned against the cold cement. A balance beam spread across the side wall. Then something familiar caught his eye. An old sack of sand sat up on a shelf, tied to a rope that was fed through a pulley that hung from a beam in the ceiling. Large yellow eyes were painted on the canvas and were outlined in a deep black.

A flash back took him to when Sam, his dad, and he had lived in Indiana for a short time. A bag swung from the rafters of their barn and he jumped out of its way. His dad had yelled at him for moving like a wuss, not a soldier; "If you're going to jump like that, at least point the gun at your target!" Now he was staring into the same yellow eyes he had seen come flying at him that day; on the property of the person who killed everyone he loved. He got a strange feeling as he realized that his dad, John, must have brought it here a few years ago. Watching the tape, he got the impression that Clara and his dad had lost touch when he was still young. Now he knew John had to have given it to her when he was at least 19; when he was hunting with him. His dad had taken the time from hunting to bring her the bag he had, himself, trained with.

As much as he wanted to hate Clara, to hate Nadia; he knew there was more to the story then they had been told. Nadia and he were more alike than he cared to admit. She was trained to fight, just like he was; she was even trained by his dad. Did she know? This whole time, did she know John?

As she stared at her mother's headstone, she wished she could go back to that day when she and Dean had first found the symbol. If she hadn't found it, she wouldn't have found the box and the tape; she wouldn't have heard her mother's voice again. She wouldn't have had to reach her lowest point yet.

What always gave her hope; the fact that her life couldn't possibly get any worse, was now soiled just like the memory of her mother. Her entire life, she had leaned on her mother and hated her father; now she was finding comfort in the reality of her father's life.

She felt defeated as she lowered her head, closed her eyes, and said, "I wish someone would just tell me the truth andnot try to kill me at the same time."

"I hope you mean that," came a voice from behind her. Nadia spun her head around and saw a women with long dark hair and crossed arms. She jumped off the bench as she noticed the color of the woman's eyes. The orange matched that of the trees behind her. The woman had a knowing, yet comforting smile on her face as she looked Nadia up-and-down.

"You'reyou're" Nadia tried to spit out the words running through her head.

"Themi, is I think the word you're looking for. Huh, who knew mortal and immortal could be so nice. So you've watched the tape."

Nadia swallowed hard, "Yeah," she said angrily.

"Not what you were hoping to hear?"

"Not exactly. Doesn't really go over too well; hearing about how your mother got the rest of the audience's mother killed."

"Ouch, the Winchester's you mean?" She raised her right index finger and mockingly waved it in Nadia's direction. "I wouldn't go advertising the fact that you've already met the brothers. It wouldn't go over too well with the rest of the family. And I'm not talking uncomfortable tension over dinner with the in-laws." She tipped her head to the right, "But then again, I guess you know the story; both sides."

"It was a real struggle to choose a side," Nadia said sarcastically. "Why are you here anyway?"

Themi turned from Nadia and slowly took a couple of steps, "You brought me here." She eyed Nadia, trying to gauge her reaction. "I guess I have to give you a crash course in yourabilities. That is what you mortals call them, abilities? Guess it is better than "powers," that sounds a bit toosuper hero."

"Oh, and I was hoping to become the next wonder woman."

Themi smiled and tilted her head, "You're just like your dad; a smart-assbut smart. Now, have you discovered any thing yet?"

Nadia shifted her eyes to the ground, checked all around them, and decided it was safe; she raised her right hand and snapped her fingers. Flames immediately jumped from her finger tips.

Themi's eyes lit up, "Nice. One of my favorites. I was always jealous Deus got that particular ability. Is that all?"

Nadia felt hurt at those words, she felt inferior, "Yes."

Themi took a deep breath and blow it through her pouched-out lips. "We have a lot of work to do. First, mirages." She smiled with a mischievous glint in her eye. "Now, you have to picture what you want the other person or people to see. For example," she raised her hands upward and in the blink of an eye she became an elderly man. "I am still me but anyone else, sees me as" she searched for a fitting name, "Frank." Her words came out raspy and rough. She returned to her earlier form, "You try."

The childish part of Nadia was fascinated and excited by the prospect of becoming anyone she wanted. But the rest of her wanted to stay an average mortal, incapable of doing such things. The child won her over. She pictured the first person she thought of and a strange feeling grew from deep in her chest. She looked around, unable to tell if she had succeeded; Themi's face told her she had.

"Interesting," the word came out with an air of disappointment and disgust.

"Did I do it?"

"Yeah, on the first try. Means there is a powerful attachment to who you took on." She looked over the chiseled jaw, short brown hair, and strong eyes of Dean Winchester. "There is more to you and Dean than friends," she stated, her eyes narrowed.

Nadia felt like she had been caught in a lie; all she could do was turn her eyes to the ground. The pulling in her chest changed to a pushing and she knew she had lost concentration and changed back to herself.

"I don't know what it is with you and your dad and having to shake up the order of things." Nadia could feel Themi's eyes burrowing into her. "Anyway, moving on; playing with the mind. This is fun; I use it a lot in my line of work," she smiled. "You can make someone forget, or create fake memories, ormake them think they areoh, I don't knowa donkey," she grinned childishly.

"A donkey? Why would you"

"Hello, jokester. Anyway, this we need subjects for" she glanced around the cemetery.

"No way. You are not just going to find someone and erase their memory!"

"I'm not, you are. And besides, you can't erase it foreverit comes back."

"Me? MI am not going to"

"Yes, you are," she interrupted. "Now, come."

"No."

Themi blew frustrated air out her nose, "Yes. Do you want my help or not?"

"I can handle not doing this. Besides, I could likefry someone's brain or something."

"Oh, don't be so melodramatic!" She stopped and thought for a few seconds, "Oh, you know, this could come in really handy; I think even Dean would appreciate it."

"What makes you say that?"

"He didn't tell you" she smiled. "His precious little face can be found on America's Most Wanted."

"You're lying."

"I have been here all of what 15 minutes, and I have been more truthful with you than someone who has been therehow long?"

"Yeah, well that whole trust thing isn't really big in my book." She didn't want to believe her; but another part of her wanted to believe that Dean had something hidden too.

"Come on." Nadia followed Themi out the cemetery and down the road into town.

They walked down the street looking for a practice target. Nadia looked over the lake to her left and had a twinge of curiosity ping in her stomach; did she have power over water as well? The feeling of fingers on her arm returned her focus to back to the mission that lay ahead. Themi nodded towards a young man opening a door furnished with golden arches, symbols more recognizable than Christ himself, making his way back to his car.

"Wonder which is his," Themi said. Nadia's brows dipped in confusion and she started to continue walking on. "Where are you going? Here is your perfect target, now hurry before its too late."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Be a little creative would ya? Make him forget which car is his, simple as that." Nadia was still wary at the prospect of messing with someone's mind. "You are not going to fry anyone's brain, alright?" Themi rolled her eyes, tired of this debate. "Come on, he is almost there."

The man was digging into his pocket for his keys, as he pulled them out, curiosity got the best of Nadia. She concentrated as hard as she could on making him forget which car he drove. The keys were now in his hand and on their way into the key hole to unlock the driver's side door. The tip had slide into the slot, when his hand stopped and he removed it. He looked the car over from front to back, stepping away; he looked over the parking lot. Nadia couldn't help but smile at the look of absolute confusion on his face.

She turned her head as she heard a giggle break next to her. Themi looked back at her, smiling, and said "Nice." Nadia smiled back before she realized that she shouldn't find this so entertaining; and she wiped it off her face. Even the smile on Themi's face disappeared and turned serious, "You can smile you know, you have a right," only a slight air of sarcasm hung over the words as she said them.

Unexpected emotion washed over her. She could feel tears threatening to fall and she turned her head away from Themi and back to the man still turning circles in the lot across the street. "I may have a right, but others don't seem to think so." She swallowed back her tears and asked, "Now what?"

"Now you concentrate on him remembering."

Nadia did as she said and the man looked down at the keys in his hand and, looking back up, headed again towards the car he had been at before. After opening the door, he threw everything from his hands into the passenger seat and rubbed both hands over his face. He dragged his hand over his head and down around the right side of his neck, looked around once more and climbed in. As he pulled away, they could see the silhouette of his head still swinging from side to side.

"Now you go back home and face your fears." Fear flushed over Nadia as she thought of seeing Dean's face again. "You guys may not get through thisbut you have to count on someone outside of the family. Someone who hates us as much as you do."

"You do realize that I am included in that specified area of hatred?"

"Maybe right now, butyou're going to need someone to keep you mostly on track." Nadia looked Themi in the eye, confused, "Because not matter how hard you tryyou can't stay good forever." Before Nadia could even comprehend what she had been told, Themi was nowhere to be found; and she was left to wander back home more shaken then she thought still possible.

Chapter 30

Dean barely heard the sound of the mustang's engine over the racing of his heart. The tough grey fabric of the punching bag had chewed up his knuckles, but he didn't feel them. The engine grew louder as it stopped to his left and went silent. He heard the door shut after a few seconds hesitation. He grabbed his sweat shirt from the bench and stood staring at the floor, second guessing his intentions before pulling the shirt over his head and walking out the door.

As the cold air bit the sweat on his skin, it felt as if it were happening to someone else's body. He stopped and watched Nadia walk towards the house, head down, continually stopping to take reassuring breaths. "Did you know him?" Her body tensed to a stop, but she was unable to face him. "John, my dad, did you know him? I ask you this, because you see, thisthis was his." He shook the bag toward her. "This, bag, was his." He bit the words to keep from yelling.

Her body followed her head around to face him. Her face was a mix of confusion and the attempt not to cry, "What are you talking about?"

He rolled his eyes and thrust the bag toward her, "This right here, was his and somehow it ended up here. So how did that happen?"

She started to say she didn't know but a memory popped to the surface. A man stood beside a large truck in the driveway, her mother stood before him with her arms crossed. She had arrived early from Andrea's and felt like she had stumbled upon a secret affair. She had been hurriedly introduced and he had just as quickly left. Her mother had told her he was just a friend who gave her old equipment he didn't use anymore. Her eyes rose back up to Dean's, "II didn't know"

"Of course you didn't. You never do, right. You're just left in the dark." He tried not to think of what they had done just a few hours ago, it made hi stomach roll.

"Real mature, Dean. I met him once, alright. My mom told me he was a friend of hers, we exchanged "hellos," and he left before I even got his name. That's it, that fast." His sarcasm was turning her fear into anger.

His breaths were growing quicker and deeper as he tried to hold down his temper. Slowly he came to grips with the fact that she was not her mother or his father, and angrily brushed past her toward the house. She stood her ground even after he left, but soon her knees felt weak and she sat on the weight bench for an hour before regaining the courage to go inside.

Stepping through the door, she felt like she had walked into someone else's house, where she was unwelcome. When she finally did look up, her eyes met with Sam's. Her bottom lip drew into her mouth and she bit down; they both froze, staring at each other, until she quickly walked to her room with tears treacherously running from her eyes.

She collapsed onto the chair of her desk and drew her right hand to her mouth. Her head tipped down and she squeezed her lids together; seeing Sam's face staring hatefully back at her. Her mother's face flashed in her head, followed by Sam's, Dean's, and the man in the driveway. She leaned forward and pulled her fingers through her hair, clenching into fists at the base of her neck.

The computer that sat on her desk beeped and caused her head to clear. The message was unfamiliar; orjI_. Without a second thought, she clicked on it and found a letter from Themi. It read:

Nadia,

What does the devil do with traitors? Hell if I know, but I may just find out; I thought of a way you may just be able to make nice with the Winchester brothers again. The one thing I promised your dad was that no matter what, I would make sure you were safe; if I can pawn some of that responsibility onto them, even better.

Okay, enough with the gushy crap. Our family has had a long standing feud with the Narcros family. They are lesser demons that have long made their wish to get rid of us known. With us gone, they become the most powerful family down south. Anyway, one of their little spawn is making some trouble near by. I figure if you can stop her, it could show the brothers where you really stand. Good luck.

P.S. Be careful who you change into, she knows all about the brothers.

Nadia read the letter again, thinking only one thing; with this target on my back, is it even possible for me to hit the 25 mark?

Themi's logic appealed to her immediately and she pulled up all the local papers, in search of anything suspicious. She wasn't sure how obvious it would be; she could only hope that her first attempt at hunting wouldn't leave her without even a chance to see Dean again, no matter how mad he was at her.

A few hours later, she found a curious group of articles based on married men that had gone missing from some local hotels. Many of the articles made mention of them having been seen with an unknown female. The female's physical description sounded similar in all the articles.

Going out on a limb, Nadia typed what she knew in the Google search box; female demon. The top results mentioned the succubus or incubus; a femme fatale demon who targets men for reproductive purposes. Following this lead, she read up as much as she could on the succubus and quickly, and without eye contact, returned to the mustang.

Upon getting behind the wheel, she realized what she was doing. She was attempting to hunt something she thought was a succubus; with the only prior knowledge of hunting being that which Sam had told her in his stories years ago. Knowing she couldn't just take off in search of something that may or may not be a succubus, she decided she needed to know more about the missing men themselves. She threw the car into gear and headed to the one place she knew she could find the locations of all of the families.

She sat staring at the words "police station," wondering what to do next. She grabbed her phone and started to bring up Dean's number but stopped and glanced back at the door. Hitting the "end" button, she punched in the numbers, one by one as she saw them on the door.

She almost closed her phone when a voice picked up on the other end. Oblivious what the voice had said, she spat out her question, "Yes, I need to know the name of the leading investigator in the missing hotel men cases."

There was a pause on the other end, "That would be Detective Irvinewould you like me to transfer your call?"

"No thank you," Nadia hung up the phone, her mind racing on what to do next. She went over Themi's letter again in her head and remembered her P.S. Nadia shoved her phone in her pocket and, keys in hand, stepped out of the car and towards the door she had been staring at moments before.

Once inside, she was disappointed in the lack of hustle and bustle that was always shown on tv. Contrary to her hopes, almost everyone noticed her enter and watched her scan the faces that, in return, scanned her's. Now she was stuck trying to come up with some way to find Irvine without actually having to talk to him or anyone else, for that matter.

The restroom sign she recognized from the corner of her eye offered the only solitude in the building. She walked inside as calmly as she could and sat inside a stall, hosting a conversation inside her head. What now? She took a deep breath to stop that repetitive question and thought about what she needed to do. You need to find Detective Irvine without alerting his attentionhow? She leaned forward suddenly as a proverbial bulb lit in her head. She focused, opened the door, and looked into the mirror; not sure if she would be able to see it or not. The blonde staring back at her with her haired pulled tightly back, a blue jumpsuit on, and a box under her arm, told her she had succeeded. She walked back out into the lobby of the station and straight to the secretary's desk.

"I have a package for a Mr. Irvine."

The secretary pried her eyes from the computer screen, where Nadia could see a solitaire screen reflecting in her glasses, and eyed the new messenger suspiciously. "The mail was already delivered."

"Yes, this was accidentally left in the normal deliverer's truck and I was asked to deliver it on my rounds." She was careful not to make any implication that the normal deliverer was either male or female.

"You can set it on his desk. He is the one with the orange tie." She flimsily pointed into the room and went back to the important tasks at hand; Jacks weren't going to lie themselves onto Queens.

After a second's hesitation, Nadia walked toward the third desk. Detective Irvine kept his desk cluttered with papers, sticky notes, and fast food wrappers; but he was impeccably clean. His hair was almost identical to Dean's and his suit jacket was carefully laid over the back of his chair. The opposite of the other officers around, he was strikingly handsome; fit and tanned. He was buried in the papers on his desk when Nadia stepped up beside him. "Excuse me," she said cautiously. His head snapped up at her voice and his eyes went from being clouded and stressed to intrigued, as he scanned her up and down.

"Yes," his voice had a sudden authority and his back straightened.

"I have a package for you. You are Mr. Irvine?"

"Please, call me Alex," his face broke into an amazing smile which, she could tell, he knew all too well.

Another stunningly humble man. She fought the urge to walk away and smiled back, just as warmly as he had and handed the box to him. He took it without taking his eyes from her. She smiled again and turned to walk away, she had seen him and now she needed to get away from him. "Wait, where are you going so fast?"

She turned and smiled, "I have work to doand from the looks of it, so do you," she nodded toward the mess on his desk and continued toward the bathroom; smirking in response to the sound of amused laughter coming from others at his expense.

Finally making it to the bathroom, she bent down to look under all of the stalls and thankfully found no feet. She returned to the familiar image of herself and couldn't keep a smirk from forming on her face. Then she realized she needed to get rid of him, at least for a little while. She looked back at the mirror and into her own eyes, "Fool-proof." She sighed, rolled her eyes, and returned to the blonde.

When she came back out of the bathroom, she glanced toward Irvine's desk and saw him throwing away wrappers and other papers that suddenly weren't as important as they were earlier. She walked to the door and turned around, pushing it open with her back, and looked at Irvine. As if the other officers knew her plan in detail, they nudged him and nodded toward her. He looked at her and she used the one thing she knew would almost always work; she smiled and nodded slightly to the parking lot.

He stood up and pulled on his jacket as he followed her out the door. Of course, he had to give one last look to his friends he knew wished they were him, and gave them a wink. When he turned back around, the blonde was nowhere to be seen. He finally saw her in front of a U.S. Postal Service truck and he quickened his steps. He watched her walk around to the other side of the truck and followed.

Coming around the corner, he smiled at her and saw something coming towards him out the corner of his eye. Before he could turn, a sharp pain shot through his head and blackness flooded his eyes.

Nadia pulled Irvine's unconscious body between the dumpsters that, at the moment resembled a mail truck. She dropped the metal pipe back to the ground and walked back into the station. She was greeted by questions of, "What happened?" and "Did she decide your package didn't pass inspection?"

She, or Irvine, smiled and responded, "She didn't pass inspection."

"Are you crazy? She passed everybody's inspection, even Gloria's." A young red-head said, nodding to the secretary.

"See now boys, that is why I get the goods." She wasn't exactly sure what that meant, but it sounded good. By the looks on some of the others' faces, she was sure they didn't know either. They dropped it and went back to work anyway.

Nadia pulled the USB drive she had grabbed from home, from her pocket. With a glance around, she plugged it into the computer tower. She pulled up a search box and typed in "hotel/missing" and was delighted to find the file she was looking for, immediately. She wasn't sure how long Irvine would be out and she needed to be as fast as possible. She saved the files to the drive and returned it to her pocket. Then, without a word, she walked back out of the station and behind the dumpsters. Seeing Irvine just as unconscious as before, she returned to herself and went back to the car. Pulling up to the road, only one thing was going through her mind; I can't believe I just did that... I can't believe it worked.

Chapter 31

She pulled her laptop from her messenger bag and waited for it to come back to life. After what felt like hours, she pushed the drive into the slot and watched the file box appear. She clicked on the new folder and scanned over the men's names and addresses. Deciding to start from the top, she read everything she could find on the first alleged victim; Daniel Hartley.

He was 30 years old, his wife, Heather, was 28 years old and had two children. He lived in a familiar house on Third Street; a yellow two story with a small yard. Heather, had said they had a happy marriage; don't they all?

She had last seen him when he left for work at 10:00 that morning and had had a short phone conversation with him around 4:00 when he let her know he was going to be a little later than usual. He worked for a local construction company that was working on a large development project about an hour away. His usual arrival time was 6:00 p.m., but was now being pushed closer to 8:30.

The officers' interviews with his coworkers stated that he had no reason to work any later than normal and that he had left the site at his usual time. None of them had received any indication that Daniel was in a relationship with anyone other than his wife.

Nadia saved the file to her computer and told it to standby, as she drove straight to Third Street.

She knocked on the door and was taken aback for a second when she saw a man's hand do the knocking; this is going to take some getting used to. She heard footsteps inside approach the door and saw the curtains in the window to her left move. The click of a deadbolt sounded before the door opened and a large woman stood in the opening. Her face was striking but was soon clouded as worry settled over her eyes.

"Mrs. Hartley, I don't know if you remember me but I"

"How could I forget?" She said letting Irvine know how stupid the question was.

"I'm sorry. I just have a few more questions for you....if I could."

"Of course, I don't know how much help I will be, but" her arm swept into the house, inviting the detective inside. They both retreated to the dining room where they sat across from each other. Nadia was trying to figure out what those questions were, while at the same time, keeping focused on being Irvine; in the back of her mind.

They sat staring uncomfortably at each other for what seemed an eternity, before Nadia thought of a couple of questions that didn't sound totally stupid. "Mrs. Hartley, did you have any work done on the houseor anything that would call for a stranger to come here?"

"No, not that I can think ofI mean I had a Mary Kay party a couple of weeks ago, but that's all."

She leaned forward in interest, "Did you host it or do you sell the Mary Kay yourself?"

"I hosted it. A friend of a friend did the showwhat does this have to do with what happened to Daniel?"

"We are not sure on that at the moment. You would be surprised what types of things can break a case. Do you have a list of all the people who came to your home?"

"I can make one. The host's name wasKathy Stone. I'll have to make you a list of the others that I can remember. Are you implying that one of them was the woman my husband was supposedly seen with? Because we were happy. I gave him all he needed."

"I am not implying any such thing, mam. It is just a lead to follow." Heather looked down at her hands, unconvinced. "Is there anything that sticks out in your mind about Kathy?"

She looked at the detective with an odd look in her face, "She was very curious about my kids, if that is what you mean."

"Curious how?"

"I don't get what this has to do with any thing."

"Please, Mrs. Hartley."

She let out a frustrated breath, "She wanted to know their names, agesthe usual. There was one strange thing, though," she remembered, "she wanted to know if they were both healthy. I thought it was a stab at me because of my weightbut then I heard her ask the others the same questions."

"That is odd. I think that is all for now, if you could just make me that list, I will be on my way."

Heather got up and grabbed a piece of scrap paper from her counter and started to write down the names of those that had attended her party. Nadia could only hope that one of them would eventually turn out to be a member of the Narcros family. After receiving the paper from her, Nadia returned to the mustang and headed to the next house.

Before going to Steven Turner's house, she pulled into an empty turn-off to look over the list she had gotten from Heather Hartley. Three of the six names looked very familiar and she pulled the police file back up onto her computer screen. Sure enough, all three of the women were wives of three of the missing men. Seeing this unmistakable link, Nadia knew that someone who wasn't on both of the lists had to be her Waldo. A total of seven men were missing and four of their wives had been at that party. Daniel Hartley's wife Heather, Steven Turner's wife Stacey, Buddy Claire's wife Marie, and Lincoln Purcell's wife Stephanie. The only men missing this link were; Greg David an intended victim, Dominic Burrows, and Alex Macone.

A quick conversation with Mrs. Turner told her that she had gone to a Mary Kay party recently, just not Heather Hartley's. One name was familiar though, Kathy Stone, the consultant. Nadia knew she had Waldo. A quick call to Alex Macone's wife, told her she had to be right; no coincidence in the world could bring about a connection like this. She kept pushing back the feeling that this was all too simple.

"Do you know where Nadia went?" Andrea asked Sam.

"Who cares?" Dean answered before giving Sam a chance to do so.

"Okay, that's it," Andrea said, frustrated. "I have spent the last few hours being just as mean to my best friend as you two have; because of you, Sam. And before you say anything, I don't want to hear it. You two have made me be someone I never wanted to be. And yes, I know you didn't force me, butit is either you or her," she directed at Sam. "And don't "who cares" me, Dean. I know you do. You can deny it all you want to but you know that she is as much at fault here as you are; none at all. She hates her mom as much as you do right now. She spent her entire life hating her dad and now she hates someone who, throughout her life, has been the one she could count on. Do you know what it is like to hate a parent? Can you even imagine what she is going through; because I can't.

"Not only is she half demon, but she just found out that her mom is the reason that the person she loves' mom is deadand dad, and Sam at one point in time. What is sad, is that you two are so much alike and different that you can't see past what you were raised to see. We have no idea where she is right now; she could be out somewhere risking her life. And I wouldn't at all be surprised if she was doing it for you," she glared at Dean.

"For me, I have given her no reason to risk anything for me," Dean snapped back.

"Yes you have. You fell for her and she fell for you. She isn't someone who goes from one person to another. She falls for someone and she falls hard. So why don't you stop pouting here while things are killing people out there; and work with her? She has abilities you couldn't dream of and they just might mean the difference between life and death sometime."

"She's not tool, Andrea. She doesn't just come in handy sometimes."

"There, right there Dean. You just betrayed yourself. And your right, she isn't a tool; but she could come in handy."

Dean started to retaliate, but Sam interrupted him, "She's right, Dean." He picked up his head and looked at his brother, "You act all tough, but I know you're scared just as much as I am. And I never asked you to do what you did; and I don't care if you asked me not to save you, I am going to. Nadiashe could help us. She has connections we could never have; as much as I don't like it, it is the truth and no matter how hard we try, we can't escape that."

Andrea was completely lost; she looked from Dean to Sam and back, trying to decipher their code. But Sam was careful not to divulge too much.

"Even if we could use herwe trained for years, Sam; she can't just start hunting in a couple of days no matter what she can do when she snaps her fingers."

"I know Dean, but think about it... Her mom told her everything her...her family could do; how do we know she can't do them too? If she can do even half of those thingsshe just might be the strongest thing we have ever encountered. We saw first-hand what the yellow-eyedTresuné, could doshe has all that in her blood and all the others' too. I hate to sound like dad, but he was right, she is the ultimate weapon in this fight. With God knows how many demons we let out, we need all the help we can get."

Andrea gave up on searching for answers and sat on the chair to wait it out; just then someone knocked on the door. She jumped up, expecting Nadia but soon realizing she wouldn't knock on her own door. Dean stood up slowly and met eyes with Sam before grabbing a 9 mm from the top of his duffle bag. He held it with both hands at his right hip and walked towards the door. Sam motioned for Andrea to go into her room; she did so without hesitation.

Dean carefully peaked out from the shade on the door and his shoulders dropped and he turned and looked at Sam with annoyance. He tucked the gun into his waist band and pulled the door open, "Ruby."

"Hey Dean, long time no see," she stood in front of him, smiling, hands in her back pockets and her weight shifted to her left side.

"Mrs. Hartley, sorry to disturb you again, but I need to know if you have any idea where I can find Ms. Stone; or if you could tell of anyone who might know." Nadia once again became Detective Irvine and sat on the side of the road, hoping to track down Waldo as quickly as possible.

"UhI don't know; but Marie Claire might. She recommended Kathy."

"Do you have a number I could reach her at?"

"Yeah, (517) 374-8920."

"Thank you very much." She was about to hang up, when Heather quickly grabbed her attention again.

"I was hoping you would call, because I remember something about one of the women at the party."

"Yes," she tried to hide her anticipation.

"Carley Chambers, at the party she kept talking about how she was about to get divorced and she was excited about it. She kept saying she was going back to her maiden name; Chambers. I am not sure what her married name was. I just thought it might be important."

"It could be, very; thank you, I have to go." She hung up and immediately called Marie Claire.

Ruby pushed past Dean without invitation. "Sam, I missed you," she looked around the house and back to Sam, "giving up the hunting life?"

"You'd be the first to know," Dean said.

"How sweet," she feigned. "I was referring to the houseor are you just squatting again?"

"It's a friends'," Sam said, eager to move on.

Ruby smiled and shifted her eyes past him to a photo on the wall; her smile vanished. Her face hardened as she moved towards the picture; Sam and Dean glanced at each other, confused. "Please tell me that is not who I think it is."

"And who would that be?" Dean questioned.

"Clara Bella," she didn't take her eyes from the face in the photo.

"No, not Clara. It's her daughter," Sam took a chance in order to watch her reaction; Dean looked at him as if he were crazy.

Her body tightened at the words, but she forced herself to relax and turned with a smirk on her face. "Too bad, I liked you. It's going to hurt." She watched Sam, referring to something unknown to both the brothers.

"What is that?" Sam asked nonchalantly.

She took a deep breath, "Let me tell you a story." She looked from Dean to Sam. "I am a Narcros; well that is my family name. I know all about the Greyus family; we have had a long standing family feud. I'm not talking the colorful game show type; thinkMt. Vesuvius. They have always clung to the top, above us; but I just found out something from my sis that is going to change all that. She, Nadia," she motioned to the photo, "is really the only thing keeping them there. In a few of hours, though, there is going to be a shift in power."

Dean and Sam stood still, realizing what she was implying. Suddenly, Dean pulled the gun from his waist band and slammed Ruby against the wall behind her. "Where is she?" He angrily asked, inches from her face.

"Dean, you I wasn't expecting. Over reacting aren't weor are we not?" She smirked, as if she had just found out a secret she had been digging years for.

"I said; where is she?" His jaws were clenched tightly together; fighting the urge to tell Sam to bring him the colt.

"I don't know, honestly," she raised her hands innocently. "What I do know though, is thatwell, never mind." Dean pressed the muzzle harder under her chin, "Go ahead, Dean. It won't do much. But, as I said, I like you so; one clue and that's it. I would start at the home of someplace everyone should be able to trust, you know, public safety and all that."

Dean pulled her away from the wall and slammed her back against it, for emphasis; before running around the bed, grabbing the duffle bag, and heading out the door.

"Get out of here," Sam said to Ruby as he went into Andrea's room to retrieve her and followed Dean out to the Impala. He already had it started and into gear by the time Sam and Andrea jumped inside. Sam saw Dean glance at him, "I couldn't just leave her there with Ruby." Dean shook his head and spun out of the driveway.

Chapter 32

"Hello?"

"Can I speak to Marie Claire, please?"

"This is her."

"Mrs. Claire, my name is Alex Irvine, I am a detective working on your husband's case." Nadia waited briefly for a response but continued on without one. "I received your number from Heather Hartley. I am interested in finding the consultant of the Mary Kay party Mrs. Hartley hosted; I am told you may know where to find her."

"I don't know where she lives, if that is what you are asking. I met her in a bar."

"Which bar would that be?"

"UhJimmy's, on main street. Does this have something to do with Buddy?"

"It may, I'm sorry but I have to go. Thank you." Nadia hung up the phone and thanked God she knew exactly where Jimmy's was; thank God this is a small town. She wiped the car around back in the direction of Main Street and raced the car through a 35 mph zone at 60. Not a cop in sight; not that it much mattered, she could become one if need be.

Andrea directed Dean to the police station a town over; being that there wasn't one in their town. "Do you really think she went there?" Sam asked Dean, while gripping the door tightly.

"What else do you think of at the words 'public safety'?" Dean replied.

"Still, do you think it is a good idea forfor us to walk right into a police station?" Sam glanced in the mirror at Andrea's interested face.

Dean noticed and looked back at her too, "We are wanted by the FBI for murder, bank robbery, fraudyou name it."

Sam quickly added, "It's not how it sounds."

"We made America's most wanted," Dean interrupted.

"It's not something to be proud of Dean," Sam scolded.

"Oh, he is just jealous because he isn't considered as dangerous," Dean smirked, Sam let it go. "Besides, what else are we going to do?" Sam surrendered the point.

They parked in front of the station and Dean jumped out without hesitation. Sam told Andrea to stay put and joined Dean on the walk inside. Dean walked straight to the secretary and Sam glanced around at the bulletin boards, thankful not to see their faces.

"I am looking for a friend of mine," he pulled a picture of Nadia from his pocket; Sam wondered when he had grabbed it, but left it alone.

The woman looked at the picture and up at Dean, "Yeah she was in here today. Used the bathroom and left, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Look, she came in and went straight into the bathroom; never saw her come out. A delivery woman came outnever saw her come in, in fact." Her eyes looked upward, thinking back to that time.

"Well that doesn't make any sense," Dean snapped.

"Look young man, I saw what I saw and I didn't see what I didn't see; simple as that. Besides, we had enough commotion and weirdness happen today."

"What do you mean?" Sam jumped in.

The woman noticed him for the first time and seemed to relax at the sight of him, which irked Dean. "That delivery girlshe takes a package to Detective Irvine, seduces him into going outside with her, then he comes back in a minute later." The looks on their faces, urges her story on, "He makes some jokes with the others, you know dirty onesanyway, he does something on the computer and leaves again. He comes back in about ten minutes later and says someone knocked him out, that girl. Everyone tells him that wasn't possible; he was just in here, right? Well he insists she knocked him out and he has a huge goose egg on his head too. Against our better judgment, we believe him so we look for this woman; she's nowhere to be found. Her postal truck is long gone and so is she. Anyway, we find out that even the package is gone; and no one saw either the woman or Irvine walk out with it."

"This is a police station, don't you have surveillance cameras?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, and also this isn't Lansing. We barely have enough money here to complete my pay check every week; you think we can afford cameras. Who would break into a police station here anyway?"

Sam interrupted her, "Where is Detective Irvine?"

"He was just taken to the hospital. They thought he may have a concussion."

"Is he still there?"

"Yeah, the officer who took him called in to let us know the situation, just before you two came in. Anyway, back to what I was saying. When he checked his computer, he discovered files had been copied. The missing hotel men files."

Dean and Sam look at her oblivious to what she is referring to. "The missing hotel menthey have been all over the papers." Still getting no recognition, she pushes on, "These men went to a hotel with an unknown woman, you know, to have an affair; anyway they go missing, nowhere to be found. Those are the files that Irvine, not Irvine copied."

"Everything?" Sam asked.

"Yeah. The victims' addresses, the interview records, everything." She sat back, arms crossed, "What Irvine, not Irvine wantedwho knows."

"Look, we need the addresses of those victim's," Sam pushed.

"Yeah, right. I already told you way more than I should have. No way are you getting those files."

"Our friend is missing; these files could be the only link we have to find her. She is in danger."

"Sorry."

Dean let out a frustrated breath and Sam could tell he was about to snap; he raced through his mind for someway to get those files. She looked at Dean's clenched fists and wrote something on a piece of paper. She glanced around the station and whispered to them, "Here is the address of the first victim; it's all you are going to get."

Sam took it and grabbed Dean's arm to pull him out the door before he punched the woman. They had enough on their wrap sheets as it was.

Nadia walked into Jimmy's and sat at the bar. She scanned the faces for the tall blonde that Marie had described to her. She ordered a daiquiri to keep the bartender at bay. Not seeing any blonde, she spun her back to the door and sipped her drink.

She was about to get the bartender's attention to ask about Kathy when she caught sight of an all too familiar face in the mirror. A handsome, sharply dressed man walked through the front door and caught her looking at him. She threw her eyes back onto her drink hoping he hadn't noticed, frick. The sound of footsteps behind her told her she hadn't been so lucky, frick.

"A coke, please. I couldn't help noticing you checking me out."

Nadia rolled her eyes and smiled, "I thought you were my boyfriend arriving."

"Ouch, boyfriend huh? Too bad."

Nadia tried to ignore him and hoped he would read her signals loud and clear; again luck was not with her tonight.

"Name's Irvine, Detective Alex Irvine."

She fought the gag reflex at his lame attempt for 007 suavity. "NaNatalie."

"Did you forget your name for a second?" He chuckled.

"Something like that," she said before taking bigger swallow of her drink. She continued to scan the faces reflected in the mirror.

"Look like you could use another drink in a second."

She looked down at her half full glass, "No thanks, one is plenty." As long as you go away soon, it will be.

Ten minutes later he told the bartender to give her another and refused to take no for an answer. She decided it was easier to just take it rather than argue; besides, if he stuck around much longer, she would need another anyway. Why not get it for free?

"So your boyfriend is coming, huh?"

"Yeah, he should be here any second," she spun her head around to the door and the others at the tables and playing pool. When she came back around he offered a toast and she took a sip.

"What's he like?"

She thought it was an odd question but; it was just easier to play along; he was blind and deaf when it came to reading signals. "Tall, brown hair, green eyes, sweet but stubborn."

"Oh, you almost had me; but you had to say, green eyes."

She smirked and took another sip. Either the booze was getting to her or it was just the conversation; but she started to feel light headed. He continued to talk and she continued to grow dizzier. Soon the outline of his face was fuzzy and he sounded like he was under water.

"Are you alright?" He gently sat a hand on her shoulder and she felt completely off balance.

"Yeah, I think the bartender just got the ratios a little off." She pressed her finger tips to her forehead and closed her eyes, trying to shake off the nausea.

The bartender came over and asked if she was alright. "She'll be fine," Irvine offered.

"I think I'll just call a friend and go sleep this off."

"No, come on, I can take you. You can give me your address and I'll take you home. We can even use the lights to get there even faster."

Logic was too blurred to make any sense in her head and she complied. The bartender eyed him suspiciously but, Irvine showed him his badge and told him he was going to take her home. The bartender nodded and collected the money from the counter.

Irvine held her up as she slowly walked to his car and he carefully sat her inside. As she faded out, she heard the sirens go on as promised.

Dean pulled the Impala into the driveway of Heather Hartley's house. Cutting the engine, he looked at Sam and they settled on a cover. They told Andrea to stay in the car and they knocked on the door. They quickly repeated and checked their aliases before the footsteps reached them.

The door was pulled open and a woman looked them over, "Can I help you?"

Dean answered, "Mrs. Hartley?" The woman nodded, "I am detective Turner and this is my partner, detective Hooch. We are looking for a young woman who was last seen around this area."

He showed her the photo and she looked it over, "I'm sorry, I haven't seen her. Could this be connected to my husband's disappearance?"

Sam decided to go with the easiest answer, "Possibly"

Heather interrupted him before he could go on, "Because that other detective, Irvine, already asked me questions about a Mary Kay party I had; how could this all possibly be connected?"

Dean leaned forward at Irvine's name, "Irvine? He was here today? When?" He finally gave her enough time to answer at least one of the questions.

"He was here about 30 to 45 minutes ago. Why? Shouldn't you know that?"

"Uhhe is on an undercover jobwe don't always know where he is at any given time," Sam hoped she took his lame answer as it was. Luckily, she did. "Was that the last time you heard from him?"

"No, he called about 10, or so, minutes ago. He wanted to know if I knew where the woman who hosted the party was. I didn't; but I gave her the number of the woman who might."

"And that would be?"

"Marie Claire."

"Was there anything else you two talked about?"

"UhI told him that one woman, Carley Chambers, was getting divorced and I didn't know if knowing her married name might be important; Chambers was her maiden name."

Dean had no idea what that could possibly have to do with anything; but if the only link to Nadia thought it was important, so did he. "Could we have Mrs. Claire's number and the same list you gave Detective Irvine?"

"I suppose." She went deeper into the house and came back a minute later, paper in hand. "Is he like, in trouble or something?"

"Who?"

"Detective Irvine. I mean this sounds like a review of his actions or something."

Sounded good to Dean, "Yes it is. If he calls again, please let us know." He handed her a card with his cell number, they said their "thank yous" and "good byes" and climbed back into the car.

Dean pulled into the parking lot at Swifty's Park while Sam dialed Marie Claire.

A short conversation filled with many of the same questions as a minute ago, let them know that Irvine had called to ask about the location of the Mary Kay consultant, Kathy Stone. Marie told Sam that she had directed him to Jimmy's bar. He gave her his number and told her to call if she heard anything from Irvine, and hung up the phone.

"Okay, he called her and wanted to know where the Mary Kay lady lived; she didn't know. She had met her at a bar called Jimmy's. She thinks that Irvine went there to look for her. Kathy Stone, the Mary Kay lady, is a tall blonde with blue eyes; no distinguishing characteristics."

"I know where that is, Jimmy's. It is in the middle of Main Street," Andrea said, glad to be of help in some way. She directed Dean to the bar and was once again, left in the car while they went inside.

The fact that Nadia had been missing for nearly and hour and a half, weighed heavily on Sam and Dean's minds as they entered the small, dark bar. They both quickly scanned the room for a blonde and found that the closest thing was the bald man near the pool table.

Dean was all business as he walked straight to the bar and pulled out his knock-off police badge. "Detective Turner, I need to know if you have seen this woman." The bartender took the photo and walked towards the kitchen doors for better light.

"Oh yeahits mostly old men and booze hounds in here; something like that doesn't come in everyday. What happened to her?" The bartender directed towards Dean.

"She is missing."

"I knew there was something suspicious about him," the bartender shook his head as he walked back to them.

"Who?"

"That copor wannabe cop, I guess." Seeing looks of confusion on their faces, he continued "This guy came in here, never seen him before, odd for this town; anyway, he started hitting on her. She kept telling him she had a boyfriend, it was obvious he was going to yet nowhere; but that didn't stop him. She had a daiquiri and he bought her another one, again she didn't want it, but he was wearing on her and I think she just took it to make it easier to listen to him. Anyway, after that, she started to get a little tipsy and she didn't look so good. It was fast too man; I thought she just must not drink a lot. He helped her out of here. Showed me his badge and, what was I gonna do, call the cops?" He shrugged and filled a mug for an older man three seats down. He came back down to them, "He pulled away, sirens on and that's all I know. But if you ask me; it looked like something besides the usual was in that drink and I had nothing to do with that."

Sam and Dean glanced at each other, said thank you, and returned to the Impala. They sat staring out the windshield, the worry growing more prominent on their faces. Andrea asked them, "What is it?"

Sam turned to her and said, "We are going to drop you off at your parents' house."

"What? No you're not. Something is wrong, what is it?"

"It's going to be fine. But in order for that to happen, we need you out of the way and somewhere safe."

Andrea started to protest further but the look on both of their faces told her it was a lost cause. She surrendered and threw her back against the seat and crossed her arms; didn't mean she had to be happy about it.

Chapter 33

Nadia's head felt like it was about to split in half as she lifted it. She opened her eyes in short, frequent bursts but saw nothing but darkness. Slowly shapes started to emerge and she started to see that none of them were familiar. Keeping her eyes open as long as she could, and moving her head as slow as possible; she scanned the shapes around her.

She could feel the comfort of a bed beneath her and a pillow under her head. She started by looking to her left and still had no idea where she was; suddenly she heard a voice to the right of her.

"Holy water." As she spun her head in its direction, nausea and pain shot through her body. She had to stop and close her eyes for a second and take three deep breaths; before looking at the person sitting across the room. "Oh, not such a bright idea."

The smile that Nadia saw had once been one that she thought amazing but now flooded her with fear. Irvine sat slumped in a chair, arms folded across his chest, smirk on his face.

Nadia threw her arms forward to push herself off from her stomach and away from him but something cut into her wrists. She looked down and saw a zip-tie holding her wrists tightly together. At the same time, she suddenly became aware of the same tightness around her ankles.

"A trick courtesy of your familythe holy water, not the tying up; that is strictly human," he smirked. "See the Greyus' used that trick on one of my family years ago, but hey; if it ain't broke don't fix it. Isn't that how it goes? Greyus' are good for some things. Feels like a bad hangover, but comes on like heroine; is that pretty close?"

"Who are you?" Panic was slowly creeping over Nadia as she kept trying to pull her hands from the ties, a task she knew impossible.

"Why, I am the famous Kathy Stone," Irvine's smile changed into one with the petite lips of a female. His frame shrank into the feminine shape of a too thin, but beautiful blonde. Marie had been right; her eyes were an uncomfortable, unnatural blue. "We have something in common." Her face turned hard, "That pipe to the head hurt by the way. Luckily for you, though, I shape shift. If I were just a mirage of Irvine, that wouldn't have worked. You did help me though; you didn't feel me pull the necklace off you as I fell. No more protection." She swung the elephant head from her hand.

She looked down at her empty chest, "What do you want with me?"

"Not much. See, you are the only thing keeping them in power; your gone, their gone. Simple as that. It really isn't personal."

"You want to kill me."

"Smart girl. But I can't. I have a boss like everyone else and he demands to do the honors. Wait 'til you meet him; you think what you can do is impressive, you have no idea."

"Satan himself."

"Oh no, he hasn't made a showing in thousands of years," she chuckled at the idea. "No, this is the big kahuna's right hand man.

"You know, I thought my little sis's plan to use the Winchester brothers to get to you was foolish and reckless; but I guess she was right. Unfortunately for her, she was just too distracted with little Sammy. Now you're all mine," she took a deep excited breath before continuing. "Can you imagine the welcome and the power that will be given to me after defeating such a threat?" Her face contorted with pleasure, as if she had just tasted something utterly delicious. "I can hardly wait until he gets here. Now," she stood up "excuse me while I make a call."

She paused in the doorway, "Poor Ruby, I almost feel sorry; she spent so much time waiting for the brothers to find you and all I had to do was go to a bar. Makes you almost feel badalmost," she turned back to Nadia, "don't bother screaming," she closed the door behind her. Nadia threw herself back onto her stomach to try and see anything beyond the door, but it was fruitless.

Little did her sister now, that Ruby was relaxed on Nadia's couch; smirking as she pictured her sister's face when the Winchesters spoiled her big plans.

Sam and Dean were back on Main Street after dropping off Andrea. "What now?" Sam asked again.

"For the third timewe find Nadia," Dean fought the urge to punch his brother.

"I know that. I mean where do we start?" They were driving through all the streets of downtown, looking for any sign of her.

"There," Dean speeded up and swerved to the curb behind the lonely black mustang.

"She must have parked back here to hide the car; not a very good job, I'll admit." By the time Sam looked back to Dean, he saw an empty seat; the door still wide open. He quickly climbed out and trailed Dean to the car; where his brother was already kneeled down tying to pick the lock, without any cover. Sam quickened his pace and glanced around for anyone watching.

"She probably wasn't expecting to be drugged and carted off by a cop."

Dean pulled the door open and looked around for anything that may tell them where she went. All the car contained was Nadia's laptop, which Sam grabbed and took back to the Impala to search; while Dean continued foraging through the car and trunk. Finding nothing, he came back to the Impala and sat as patiently as he could; luckily he didn't have to wait too long.

"She has the police files; they were still opened when I turned it back on."

"How did she get them?" Dean asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine." As interested as he was in the answer to that question, Sam scanned the list of alleged victims. "Hey, let me see that list Heather gave you," he kept his eyes on the screen but held his hand out to Dean.

"Who?"

"Heather Hartthe list of women who went to the Mary Kay party."

"Oh," Dean pulled he paper out of his pocket and handed it to his brother. He, again, waited as he watched Sam's eyes flash from the screen to the list and back again.

"I think I know what Nadia wanted with the consultant." He turned the computer towards Dean and pointed to the list of men, "Four of the men on the list in the police file, were married to women on this list."

"Is that all of them?"

"No, there are three other victims that don't share a last name with the women at the party; Dominic and Carley Burrows, Greg and Samantha David, and Alex and Allison Macone. Dominic, though, is thought to be an intended victim; he was attacked but someone in a room next door came before who ever it was, could take him away."

"Carleywasn't that the name that Heather said was getting divorced?"

"Yeah, so?"

"Maybe, because she wasn't divorced yet, the cops had her married name; and," he looked at the paper in Sam's hand, "Chambers was her maiden name."

"So you think that Carley Chambers is Carley Burrows."

"Yeah, and if that is the case; Dominic Burrows could be the next target," Dean looked at his brother, knowing that this could potentially be the only link to finding Nadia.

Dean started the car and pulled away from the curb but stopped a second later and looked at Sam. Understanding, Sam dialed the number for Heather Hartley.

"Mrs. Hartley, this is detective Hooch, sorry to bother you again, I just have a quick question. Do you have Carley Chambers' number or address?"

"I don't have either," Sam closed his eyes in disappointment, "but I can look in the phonebook." She paused for a second and then said, "I guess I can't, I don't know her married name."

The split second of hope the Sam felt, once again disappeared. "Could you look up a Dominic Burrows?"

"Sure," the line went silent as she flipped through the pages. "Dominic Burrows; 847 Mandy Lane, his number is (517) 374-1259."

Sam typed the information on a word document he had pulled up, "Thank you very much Mrs. Hartley." He hung up before getting a response.

Dean looked at the address and stepped on the gas, "I remember passing that road."

Nadia racked her brain for even the stupidest idea that could get her out of there or at least let someone know she was in danger. She had no idea how long she had before this "right hand man" showed up.

She tried to twist her hand around enough to snap her fingers and melt the tie away, but it was too far down. She went through all the things her mother had told her that her aunts and uncles could do, out loud. "Jokester, lot of good that would do right now; get inside dreams, really handy that one is; water, yet again, nothing; fire, that could come in handy but how?" She looked around her and laid her head on her hands, in defeat, until she noticed the blankets beneath her. With a little smirk, she snapped her fingers and held the flame against the sheet. Painfully slow, a circle of embers grew around the flame. She carefully blew on it to keep it lit and held her wrists over it. She continued to blow on it as the nerves under skin started to scream in protest. She gritted her teeth and continued the painful process for almost a minute; before she heard footsteps at the door and the knob turned. She pressed her wrists harder against the hole, trying to suffocate and hide it.

Kathy sat on the edge of the bed next to Nadia's right hip. "Lucky for you," she said through gritted teeth, "he can't make it for another hour." Her face changed into a forced smile, "So, until then we'll have to get to know each other."

"Not interested."

"Ouch, that hurts. So, tell me about yourself; I am dying to know how you found out," she laced her fingers and leaned forward in genuine anticipation.

"Go screw yourself."

"I think you have been around the Winchesters too long. You're starting to sound like Dean."

Nadia glared at her, "There are worse things."

"Too be like you, you mean?"

Nadia made no indication of yes or no. She needed to get rid of her so she could search for a way to get free; "You know, I hate the Greyus' as much as you do." She acted overly enthusiastic and plastered a huge smile on, "So why don't we be friends and hunt them together?"

Kathy burst out laughing, "That's, that's a good one Nadia. Really, it's funny," she spat out.

"Thanks, I try. I have a question," without waiting for a reply she asked, "why did you take those men and where are they?"

"Really, Nadia, I would have thought you would do a little more research on succubuses." She took a deep breath, "Our whole purpose is to reproduce. So, I became Kathy Stone, Mary Kay consultant," she said in a perky voice. "Free to go from home to home and meet married women. If they have multiple healthy kids, then their husbands are prime real estate. And as to where they are; once I have what I need, they are of no use."

"You kill them."

"They are empty vessels, why would I keep them around? Besides all of them so far, I have taken to get your attention. Oh, don't look at me like that. I still have one that, oh, is perfect." She leaned forward as if she were talking to a girlfriend, "He has four kids and is still primed and ready to go."

"You're sick."

"I do what I have to, what I was born to do; just like everybody else." She sat looking at Nadia and then her eyes shifted to her bound hands; then quickly back to her face. Nadia knew what had happened; when she looked down, she saw that her hands had slightly moved off the burnt patch. Before she could cover it up or try to explain it, her head yanked back. Kathy had grabbed a handful of hair from Nadia's head and pulled it forcefully back. Pain shot through Nadia's head, "I give you nice blankets and this is how you repay me?" Her face was mere inches from Nadia's and her hand was still wrapped around her hair.

Her head was back as far as it could go, "Bitch."

Nadia's breath grew labored, "Thanks for the thought anyway."

Kathy mocked a laugh and pushed her off the end of the bed. Nadia landed hard on the floor. She lay moaning for awhile but when she opened her eyes, she saw a light coming from under the door. She glanced at Kathy who was furiously pulling the sheets from the bed; and she focused on looking through the crack. A slit of tan tile and a tan metal frame started back at her. They were familiar somehow. She turned back towards Kathy.

"There, like to see you try something now." Her arms were full of blankets; she dropped them to the floor and changed back into Irvine. Grabbing Nadia around her midsection, he lifted her. His hands dug into her back and she knew he was trying to lift her in the most painful way he could; even if it was the hardest way for him. After struggling to get her torso on the bare bed, he pushed the rest of her onto it too. He changed back into Kathy and took the blankets back off the floor.

"What is your real name?" Nadia had the sudden urge to know. Kathy kept walking, without missing a beat, shutting it tightly behind her.

Nadia lay staring at the ceiling and heard her come back a minute later. She was once again Irvine and he sat a bucket on the floor and closed the door again. He flipped on the light and grabbed the bucket. With one hand underneath and one on the edge of the top, he swung it backward and foreword again.

A blanket of water crashed over Nadia. The cold cut through her clothes and caused her mouth to open and fill with water. She coughed and spat the water out and Kathy answered, "Evelchick. Now be good, I have a man to harvest," before turning off the light and closing the door behind her again.

Once Nadia could get air back in her lungs, she screamed, "Bitch!"

Chapter 34

The impala roared into the driveway of number 847. A woman opened the door and watched them walk up the walkway.

"Nice car."

"Thanks," Dean said. "Carley Burrows?"

"Used to benot any more. It's Chambers now."

"But you were married to a oneDominic Burrows?"

"Yes, up until a couple days ago. What does this have to do with?"

"Sorry," Sam interrupted, "I am Detective Hooch and this is Detective Turner; we are investigating the hotel men cases."

"My husband wasn't one of them. He was at a hotel, but that is one of the reasons we got divorced in the first place."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah men are pigs," Dean rudely and impatiently injected. "We need to know where he is."

Carley didn't seem to like his tone too much, so she directed her response to Sam, "He is at his favorite place; the hotel. Probably with that whore again."

"Which hotel would that be?" Sam asked.

"The only one in this town, the Jordan Lake Hotel," she looked suspiciously at them. "Shouldn't you know that there is only one hotel in this entire town?"

"Well" Dean looked at Sam, "we're new here."

"Is there anything else?" She was suddenly in a hurry to get back inside.

"No that's all, thank you very much," Sam smiled.

It felt like they were living there entire lives; jumping from place to place, in just one day. The Impala backed out onto the road and they were off, again, in search of someone who was not Nadia.

Lying on the bed, shivering, Nadia tried to place those tiles and the smell that seeped under the door. She started to go through all the places she had been to enough times where things like smells and tiles would be so familiar. Home, obviously not, the morgue, no, schoolshe tried to suddenly sit up but rolled right back onto the bed. School! That was it; those tiles were ones she had looked at for four years. And the smell was unmistakable; pubescent teenagers and pencil shavings. She laughed when she thought of how long it had taken her to place where she was. With a new found hope of escaping alive, she looked over the room for the hundredth time. It was too small to be a regular classroom; it had to be either an office or a special-ed room. Evelchick must have cleared out everything and placed only a bed and chair inside. Hope dwindled with every bare surface in the room.

She struggled to sit up, but was finally able to do so. As she swung her legs around the corner of the bed her heel hit a sharp corner of the bed frame. She took in a sharp intake of breath and squashed her face together; she suddenly realized what a gift that pain was. If magic couldn't help her, good old-fashioned human ingenuity would have to.

She started to rub the edge against the tie; at times, slipping and stabbing it into her own leg. After five minutes, her legs throbbed and her abs were exhausted from keeping her balanced. She pulled her ankles apart but nothing happened. After a few minutes rest, she continued rubbing. Looking around her leg, she saw that she was making progress. She continued rubbing as she went over the layout of the school in her head; when she got her feet undone, she would need to cut her hands free. She needed to get to the kitchen as quickly as possible. Tracing the fastest roots from all the corners and wings of the school to the kitchen, she felt a sudden freeness at her ankles. The tie had finally broken.

She took a second to rejoice and then got to her feet as fast as she could. She slowly and carefully grabbed the handle; it was locked. She bit her lip and thought of what to do next. Tack learning how to pick a lock to the "to do" list. Her brain jumped back to the last time she felt this trapped; under the Dean's desk. The door. She knew she did not lock the door but, when she needed it to be, it seemed to lock itself. Maybe if she wanted it bad enough, she could get a door to unlock itself; and she wanted it plenty bad enough.

"Excuse me; I am looking for Mr. Dominic Burrows."

"And you are," a mean looking middle-aged man glared over his glasses at Dean.

Dean plastered a fake smile on his face and replied, "Dominic Burrows, now please" as he held up his badge.

The man reluctantly stood up and limped over to the pad of lined paper that held the names and room numbers of all his guests. He then reached into the cabinet next to him and grabbed a key, "Here you are officer," he voiced dripped with sarcasm.

Dean grabbed the key from him and walked out of the office. Sam told him "thank you" and jogged to his brother's heels. "Superstitious?" Dean asked, holding the key so that Sam could read it.

"Thirteen." Sam paused for a while, "Doesn't pay to be superstitious."

"Doesn't pay to be a hunter either, but somebody's gotta do it." Sam rolled his eyes and followed Dean across the parking lot to number 13. "Here we are," Dean glanced at Sam, who pulled his gun partially out from his pocket and nodded an "okay."

Dean knocked on the door and stepped back, his hand on the cut off shotgun hidden in his jacket. The first knock brought no one to the door, so he knocked again. Still no one answered.

"Looks like nobody's home," Sam said.

"Can I help you?" A voice from behind them almost caused Dean to point the shot gun in the man's face.

"You Dominic Burrows?" Dean asked, looking the guy up and down. From the look of Carley and the way she talked about her husband; Dean expected to see a tall, handsome man. Instead he saw a short, balding man with a large nose and thin lips. Must be his sense of humor, Dean thought.

"Yeah, what's it too ya?"

They both showed him their badges, "Detective Turner" Dean said and nodded to Sam, "and Hooch."

"Seriously? Turner and Hooch?"

"Seriously," Dean answered, without a trace of humor in his voice.

Dominic shook off the comment, "You here about my attack?"

It was Sam's turn, "Yes sir. We believe you may be at risk again."

"You gotta be kidding me." He paused and glanced frustrated around him, "Alright, come on in." He unlocked the door and left it open for them as he walked inside. He sat the paper bag he had in his arms, onto the bed and slipped off his coat and gloves. "So"

"First, have you seen this woman by any chance?" Dean once again took out Nadia's picture.

"I wish. I think that is a mistress even my wife couldn't…wouldn't have argued about."

Dean flashed a quick, un-amused smile and took the picture back.

Nadia concentrated as hard as she could on getting the door unlocked. A quiet click made her heart soar. Grabbing the knob, she took a deep breath and turned it as quietly as she could. Carefully pulling the door open, she had her eyes glued to the scene that appeared through the crack.

The room opened to a hallway, splitting to the left and right. Nothing jumped at her; nothing threw her back from the door. She quietly stepped into the hall and constantly flashed her eyes to the left and right as she slipped her shoes off.

She worked on getting her bearings. She had been right in thinking she was in a special-ed classroom; now the kitchen was a straight shot to the left. She took one more look to the right and took wide, careful steps to the edge of an intersecting hallway. She looked ahead, behind, and down the hall; nothing. She took a couple of seconds to listen and hearing nothing, glanced around again and shot across the hall. Stopping on the other side, she took one last look around and ran to the rear entrance of the kitchen. The door was open, as it always was, and jumped inside. She pressed herself against the wall and waited to clam herself down again.

She craned her head around the corner and saw not a single person in the entire room. Directly across from her was a magnetic strip attached to the wall; ten knives of varying sizes hung from it. Once over there, she would be completely exposed; but she needed her hands free.

No risk, no reward. She lunged across the room, grabbed a knife and dropped to the floor. She slid behind one of the three huge mixing pots bolted to the floor. She glanced around and spun the knife towards her and started sawing through the plastic.

"Why do you think I'm still a target?"

"Well, all the others are missing and presumed dead; you were a failed attempt. She was interrupted. We think she will want to finish what she started," Sam responded.

Dominic was about to respond, when a knock sounded from the door. He stood up and walked to the door. Dean and Sam stood, hands on their guns. Dean moved so that he would be able to see who was at the door as soon as it was opened. Sam stood back further, out of sight, just in case an element of surprise was needed. He laid something on the ground at his feet and braced himself, ready to fire.

A red-headed woman stood in the door frame; she held a large bag that seemed to be near breaking point. She looked over at Dean, "Oh, I'm sorry; I didn't know you had company." Her voice was soft and fluid as she smiled from Dean to Dominic.

"No problem," Dean smiled as he stepped forward. He stared at her as he said, "Cristo." Still watching the woman intently, he saw Dominic out of the corner of his eye and was surprised when his face flew in his direction. Dean spun his head towards him and saw liquid black eyes staring back. He tugged at his gun and wished they hadn't waited until after questioning to make a devil's trap in the room. Before he had the gun entirely in his hand, he shot backwards and slammed against the wall.

Sam yelled, "Hey!"

Dominic shot around to him and started to walk towards him; Sam lifted the gun to Dominic's head and waited. He felt something grab his neck press him hard against the wall. He dropped the gun and kept his eyes on the black ones staring back at him. He caught motion behind Dominic and realized the woman had vanished.

Dominic was only feet from him as he was caught mid-step and Sam smiled at him. In a split second, Dominic's face changed from wrath to confusion. He looked down and saw that he was standing on a rug that was decorated with lines and symbols that filled every demon with fury.

Dean finally rose to his feet and pointed his gun at Dominic. "Dean, wait," Sam said, holding a palm towards him.

Dean walked around the end of the bed and looked down at Dominic's feet. He looked at Sam, confused and after a pause, he said "Nice one Sammy."

Chapter 35

The bindings snapped apart and she took a second to take a deep breath before carefully laying the knife on the floor beside her. She glanced in every direction as she squatted and tried to figure out the next step to her plan. Through the door she had come through, she stared at the grey door, marked "Janitorial."

Like the kitchen, she remembered the door to the janitor's closet was nearly always open and she could only hope it was unlocked. Being able to get through the door wasn't the worry; once she was to the door, there was nowhere to hide. She shook her head remembering that a lock door didn't matter to her; that was going to take some getting used to.

Keeping crouched down; she slowly made her way to the doorway. After another deep breath, she stuck her head out into the hall and glanced to the left and right. Oddly, the bareness of the halls didn't make her any more comfortable with the idea of being as exposed as she would be in a second. After another look each way, she jumped softly to the door and grabbed the handle. Before turning it, she again glanced down the hall to the right and to the left, through the thin steel mesh that separated her from the exits at this corner of the building. As she turned the handle, an ice cold breeze crawled up her right arm.

She slowly turned her head to her right. Her chest tightened as the terrifying characteristics of what she thought was human became more pronounced as it slowly walked towards her and beams of light landed across its face. Its thick tongue slide across its lips and it flashed a crooked smile, adorned with large canines. The smile faded as quickly as it had appeared and its eyes focused on her.

Nadia saw it shift its weight onto its left leg and they both lunged forward at the same moment. Nadia fought to keep her balance as she fell through the door. Before her head connected with the beam behind the door; she grabbed it and used her momentum to swing around it and kick the door shut. She turned the lock just as the beast slammed its weight into the door. Fear welled up inside of her and tears rushed into her eyes as she slid down to the floor, back against the door.

She looked at the ceiling, trying to breathe the tears away and to think clearly. As her eyes slid back down, her breath caught in her throat as sunlight glared through another open doorway. The scratching stopped, and the air instead filled with a horrible sound; like that of a knife being dragged across a chalkboard.

She slammed her back against the door and thrust herself off the floor; as she realized the sound was steel being torn, bent, and shaped. She ran to the door and hesitated for a second, trying to decide whether it would be better to make a break for outside or stay locked in here until school started again in three days. Surely a janitor would come in earlier to clean and get ready for the end of the weekend; but how long could these doors really last?

"Where is she?" Dean demanded as he pistol whipped Dominic again.

Dominic tipped his head; eyes closed, and sucked the blood off his lip before answering. "Like I told you before," his eyes opened and focused angrily on Dean. "There is no way in hell I'm telling you."

Dean hit him again. "What do ya say we send you there to look harder?" His face was mere inches from Dominic's.

"Go ahead. I have someone coming; and once he kills your precious Nadia, he'll usher me back here were I can live like a king. And trust me; he is way beyond your little parlor tricks," he glanced down at the rug beneath him.

"That right?"

Dominic smirked and changed into a thin blonde. Before she could slip her hands from the ropes, Dean grabbed them and pushed his face towards hers'. "Kathy Stone I presume?"

She smiled, "How sweet, you know me. I'm touched."

Before Dean could pull the gun back again, Sam interjected, "I know where she is." He had been quietly searching for any hint of Nadia's location in Dominic or Kathy's words.

Dean and Kathy's heads spun to him. "I think I might, anyway."

"There are trillions of places I think she might be, Sammy," Dean snapped at his little brother.

Sam ignored his brother's comment, "What if Ruby's clue was for more than just the police department?"

"Ruby," Kathy angrily spat.

Dean and Sam ignored her, "Where else should everyone feel safe?"

"Home, work, school, your car, the park, the bathroom, Sam there are thousands of places you should feel safe." Dean looked at his brother who was staring at Kathy's shirt. He was about to smack him to pull him back to reality, when Sam's head snapped to Dean; his eyes wide.

"School. Dean she is at a school."

Dean looked at Kathy, whose eyes were flooded with disbelief. She blinked and shook it off, "What gives you that idea?"

Dean couldn't help but wonder the same thing as he turned back to Sam. "We need to know for sure. No 'I think…' Sam."

"I know, Dean. I'm sure." Before he could ask, Sam said, "You said it yourself, you should feel safe in school. And she," he nodded to Kathy, "has chalk across her shirt; right at chalkboard level."

Dean looked at the faint yellow line across Kathy's shirt. Then he grabbed the duffle bag Sam had brought in from the trunk, slid the gun in his waist band, and walked to the door.

"Wait, wait! I'll tell you where she is!" Kathy pleaded to their backs.

They paused and glanced at each other. Sam stepped in front of Dean and opened the door as Dean turned to face Kathy. His right hand slipped into the duffle bag and he pulled out the colt. Kathy's eyes grew in fear; and without a moment's hesitation, he pulled the trigger. Her head snapped back as a hole formed in her forehead. Red sprayed the face of an old man staring intensely from a cheap gold frame; her head settled the side, eyes slightly closed and her mouth hung slack.

The gun slowly lowered to his side, "No thanks."

Sam met his brother's eyes and he felt a chill at how little what he had just done affected him. The thought of what his brother would do for Nadia, made him uncomfortable.

The school was old, the tiles were dated, the gym lacked air conditioning; the doors, she knew, were just as cheap. Just as thin. She had no choice but to try and run as fast as she could to make it outside where she had a better chance of finding help.

She didn't even look to her left as she broke into a sprint. Just as fast as she had started, she regretted taking her shoes off. You couldn't say the janitors didn't keep the floor polished. Every step she took, her toes slipped a bit as her body was thrust forward. She could hear the thrashing and ripping behind her become frantic.

The door couldn't have been anymore than 50 yards away, but it seemed like she was running on a treadmill; churning her legs but going nowhere. Suddenly she heard feet hit the ground just paces behind her. You lose a step every time you look back, she tried to focus on that fact as she ran. She fought every fiber in her body to keep her face towards the door. It was gaining. It seemed like it took two steps for every one of hers.

Her chest ached with the lack of breath. Her right hand was searingly hot and her brain was telling her that something was different. She glanced down at her hand and saw something glowing in her palm. Suddenly she felt her legs slowing in surprise and she fought to keep running; she could feel the vibrations from its pounding feet.

Ten yards from salvation, a figure jumped out from an alcove just ahead of her. Her hands came up defensively in front of her and a flash shot towards the dark figure. The upper part of her body shot to the left and her legs lagged behind. The shift in weight caused her to fall over.

Her elbow slammed into the cement floor and nausea washed over her within seconds. The beast behind her hesitated for a second as he watched the other figure fall to the floor and disappear. Nadia watched the same scene and looked down at her palm; the glowing ball was back. She met the beast's eyes and as he lunged for her, she shot her hand outward and another flash knocked him back, slamming him against the wall.

She was paralyzed in amazement for a full 30 seconds, until he started to regain his composure and stand again. She pushed herself off the floor and returned to her first mission.

"Which school?" Dean asked.

"I don't know. There can't be too many here, right?" Sam nervously said.

"We need to know."

Sam pulled his phone from his coat pocket and dialed. "Andrea? How many schools are there here?" He waited, "I don't know. She could be in an elementary school or high school, I don't know. Don't worry about it; I'll tell you later. After we get her. How many schools are there here?" He waited again. FourThreeMiddle School too? Alright, thanks." He pushed end and shoved it back in his pocket as he turned to Dean. "There are four elementary schools, three Christian schools, just here, and the high school and middle school; which are next to each other. It's one of the largest school systems in Michigan."

"Of course it is," Dean said sarcastically. "Okay, I'm gonna take a chance here and guess that she isn't in a Christian school."

"Probably not. And it has to be close; I don't think Irvine or Dominic or Kathy or whoever, would want to leave her too far away."

"Okay so, the middle school and high school are next door to each other"

"I say we try the high school first. It's bigger and; from what Andrea said, more of the meetings and things go on at the middle school. There is a better chance that Kathy would have been safer keeping her at the high school than at the middle school."

"Hope you're right," Dean said as he turned off M-43 and onto Brown Rd. and towards the high school. "Now," he paused at the southeast corner of the school, "where do we go in?" He glanced at the five doors all around the east and south sides of the school. Stupid Architect.

Sam struggle for a second, "I have no idea."

She was almost out the door when she felt the beast's hand sweep behind her, inches from her skin. He was going to get her before she got to the door. She spun to thrust her hand at him again but he grabbed her arm and swung her down to the floor, face first. She was able to twist herself around onto her back before he landed on top of her. One arm was still free as he opened his mouth wide over her face.

She gathered all the strength she had left, and slammed her fist into his face. His grip loosened a bit as he leaned to the side. She wrenched her other wrist free from his grip and punched him as hard as she could in the throat. He gasped and grabbed his own throat.

She had to get him off from her, but there was nothing to get any torque on in order to roll him off. Just then, she heard a car door shut. She could either take her chances that the driver wasn't Evelchick, or stay quiet and find another way out of this.

In her head she screamed as loudly as she wanted to out loud. She kept punching and scratching and pinching; doing whatever she could to keep him concentrated on pain instead of her.

Dean stopped the Impala dead center of the south side doors. Sam started towards the one on the right and Dean toward the one on the left. Dean was stopped short by a cry of pain; but it came from Sam.

Sam had collapsed onto the sidewalk, his hands gripping his head. Dean knelt at his side and tried to coax him out of the vision. When Sam opened his eyes, he gasped for breath, "Something's attacking her."

"Where, Sam, where?"

"I.I don'tthere was a brown building. It's here, somewhere."

"Here, at the school?"

"Out side of the school. She is close to a doorby the brown building." He stood back up and looked all around him; as did Dean. Suddenly he stopped, looking across Dean. He took two steps to his left, Dean followed. "There!" He took off running, Dean following close behind.

"Nadia! Nadia!" Dean yelled, hoping they weren't too late.

Chapter 36

A harsh, angry growl erupted from the beast's throat. "Get off me!" Nadia said back to the contorted face hanging over her. A familiar voice grew louder from the other side of the doors. In the split second that she took her focus off her attacker, he grabbed her neck and slammed her head against the floor. The impact forced the air from her lungs and lights flashed in her eyes as his hand dug deeply into her neck. She struggled for breath and prayed that what she heard was real.

She hit him and squirmed as much as she could but consciousness was slipping away. In this position, all the moves she had learned to escape being strangled flew out the window. Blood was pounding in her ears and just as she was slipping under, she felt a spray of liquid hit her face and the constriction around her neck, vanish.

"Are you sure about this Sammy?"

Sam ignored his brother as he continued to the doors he saw in his vision. His hand slammed onto the handle and just before he collided with the door itself, it opened. Dean had his gun drawn as Sam cleared the path in front of him.

Just through the doorway, he stopped short as his eyes fell onto a man hunched over a limp body. Without a second thought, he called for the man's attention and raised the gun directly at his head. Before he could blink, the man's face blew into pieces, spraying everything around him. He slumped to the floor.

Dean ran to Nadia and checked her pulse. Déjà vu flooded over him as he felt a weak pressure against his fingers. He tried to wipe some of the blood and matter off her face; as he did so, her chest heaved upward. He pulled his hands away and looked down at her, whispering "Nadia?"

Her eyes flew open, "Dean!" Dean grabbed her arms before she could punch him; and her eyes finally met his. She instantly burst into tears and he pulled her up to him; holding her tightly and fighting tears himself.

Once they returned to the house, she went into the bathroom and looked at herself; wondering what was on her face. Seeing the red, white and pink, she turned to the toilet and vomited. When her stomach was finally empty, she jumped immediately into the shower and stood under the scorching water for an hour.

She pulled back the curtain and pulled back in fear; a second later, she closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. Opening them again, she stared into Dean's eyes and stepped out of the tub and into his arms where he wrapped her in a towel. They stood together for a long time until she said, "When is it my turn to save your ass?"

Dean laughed, "Well, if you would stay out of trouble"

"Shotguns aren't the easiest things to carry in your waistband."

He smiled again, "No. It really bites when you need to run."

"I should get a handgun if I am going to be making a habit out of this." They stayed quiet for a long while, until Nadia took a deep breath and said, "Thank you."

He squeezed her tight and kissed the top of her head. Closing the toilet seat, he sat while she got dressed. "I don't care if I have to follow you into the shower; I am not leaving you alone again. That is how committed I am."

She turned to him and had to smile back; his smirk always made it impossible not to. He followed her out into the living room.

Sam had gone to get Andrea and bring her back; so Nadia and Dean caught up with each other.

"I talked to Themi," Nadia said nervously.

"What? You talked to her alone? What were you thinking?"

"Yes, I talked to her alone. Because, neither Sam nor you wanted anything to do with me." Dean looked away, conceding the point. "Besides, she wasn't that bad. It was kinda.fun." Before he could say anything, "I learned a lot. Watch"

She thought hard of Sam and felt the familiar pulling in her chest as she watched Dean jump back, eyes wide. She laughed and changed back. "And, I can make people forget things or make them do what I want."

"What do you mean?"

"Themi and I walked across the street from the McDonald's and she told me to make this guy forget which car was his. So, I concentrated hard andit worked! It was hilarious; he was all confused and he kept looking around the parking lot. When I made him remember again, he kept shaking his head." She was laughing but stopped when she saw the familiar look of fear on his face. It was the look he had every time he learned something new about her and her past; it was a look she hated.

Then he smiled and said, "You so have to do that to Sam." Then his face changed again, "Don't even think about using that on me!" She looked back at him with a hint of a smile, "I mean it, Nadiadon't even think about it."

"I won't" she thought for a second, "I promise."

They heard Sam pull into the driveway and Nadia jumped up, "So you want to have some fun, huh? Watch this."

She stood in front of the door and changed into Sam. Dean smiled and they both waited for Andrea and Sam to walk through the door. Hearing the screen door to the inside porch open, Dean quickly said, "No, change into a clown. He hates clowns."

She smiled and changed into a clown that would scare the pants off "It." Dean bit his lip to keep from laughing too soon; and he walked over to the kitchen table and sat down.

"I told you, she is fine." Sam rolled his eyes again, as he shut the Impala's door.

"I don't care; you guys still should have brought me along. I spent four years in that school; I could walk it with my eyes closed."

"It wasn't a question of how to get to her. We didn't know where she was to begin with."

"Well even so, I always get left out of all the fun stuff"

"Yeah, if you call risking your life, fun."

"Bungee jumpers, sky divers, cliff divers, police, those guys who go over Niagara Falls; all of them seem to think it is." She counted them off on her fingers.

"You are not a jumper, diver, a cop, or an idiot; so, drop it." He turned to her as he opened the screen door. He dropped the two plastic bags of shoes Andrea had to have, to the ground.

"Hey, be careful. A few of those were expensive."

Sam laughed as he opened the door and stepped into the house. He lifted his head up and stopped cold, eyes wide.

Where Nadia had once stood, there was now a six-foot three man with a stark white face and bright red lips. Its hair was cherry red and a foot long in every direction. Blue and red dots covered the white, two-sizes-too-big, suit that draped around its frame. The large shoes stood in sharp contrast to the rest of the look; shiny and as black as the Impala. Its brows were unnaturally high on its forehead and hideous blue shadow pasted its eye lids.

Sam's heart rate shot through the roof and his throat seemed to close as the painted lips split into a heart stopping smile. The corners of its lips were dangerously close to touching the bottom of its eyes. "Hello Sammy" it said in a voice matching Dr. Lector's.

Andrea had stopped cold too; taking shelter behind a, perhaps, even more scared Sam. The rest of the contents in his arms came crashing to the ground and he started to back up slowly. Then he heard a laugh that seemed detached from the horror in front of him. He slid his eyes to the right of the beast and saw Dean laughing hysterically on the kitchen chair. He dipped his brows in terrified confusion.

"Oh Sam, it's alright. I'm sorry, that was mean. It's me, Nadia." Sam's eyes snapped back to the clown that now had Nadia's voice and in a blink, shrunk and contorted into her figure.

"Nadia?" he looked from her to Dean and suddenly felt like he could burst into tears in any second.

She touched his arm and he started to hyperventilate as he continued looking from face to face, utterly confused. Dean got up too, suddenly concerned for his little brother.

They waited for both Andrea and Sam to clam down again before they told them what had happened; what Nadia could do. They didn't seem to think it was as funny as Nadia and Dean had in the beginning.

"So you can make yourself look like anybody?" Andrea was yet again fascinated and excited to test the constraints of the new ability.

Dean smiled, "Yeah. You know how some couples keep it interesting with wigs and costumes; why go to the trouble?"

Andrea and Nadia rolled their eyes. "Is this interesting enough for you?" Dean looked from Andrea to Nadia and shot back slightly in surprise. The distinct figure of a three hundred pound sumo wrestler now sat where Nadia had been.

Andrea laughed and said, "Makes you hardly able to control yourself, huh Dean?"

Dean looked the wrestler up and down. "First of all, I don't swing that way; second, anyone who thinks they can pull off that color is so not my type," he swatted the air with his hand and looked away, un-amused.

Nadia changed again, "No, this is more your type. Am I right?" A long-legged blonde now filled the chair; complete with Daisy Dukes.

"Very funny. Okay, you can change back nowthen you'll be my type."

"Ah, how totally shameless," she smiled. "But, I don't remember how," she pasted a confused look on her face, "I think my IQ must have dropped too much."

"Funny," he smirked back.

"I thought it was," Andrea chimed in.

"Of course you did, you can understand the feeling," Dean smirked at her.

Andrea and, now, Nadia's mouths dropped open; Nadia's with a hint of a smile. Sam pressed his lips together and forced a smile off his face and was finally able to say, "Hey."

Nadia hit Dean with the back of her hand. Noticing that she was back to normal, he turned to Andrea, saying, "Now you want to talk about not being able to control myself" he grabbed Nadia's left shoulder and the base of her neck and pulled her back to kiss her.

Nadia sat back up with a surprised and embarrassed look on her face, cleared her throat and said, "Well"

Andrea smiled and said, "Wow, I'm impressed; I didn't know Neanderthals knew who to dip."

"Oh, so that's how you want it to be?" Dean cocked his head to the side.

"You started it."

"And I'll finish it."

Sam jumped in, "Andrea, you don't want to start a competition with him. He is ridiculous; he won't stop. We pulled pranks on each otherand he put Nair in my shampoo!"

They all looked at Dean; who looked back at them all innocently. "I don't know what he is talking about. Butif I did, I would recommend you listen to him. I don't lose."

Nadia couldn't help herself, "Yeah, unless your shooting."

Dean gave her a dirty, "shut-it" look and she looked away from him, refusing to make eye-contact.

Andrea raised her hand in a halting motion, "Wait a second. What is it with the shooting? You bring it up," she looked at Nadia, "and you give her a look" she said to Dean. "So, what happened?"

Nadia and Dean looked at each other and Nadia decided it was time to come clean. "He challenged me to softballso, I told him to pick something he was good at. I would do that and he would play softball; which we still have to do, by the way. So, I took him to the range"

"Under false pretenses!" Dean jumped in.

"Fine, yes; I didn't tell him I could shoot"

"You told me you had never been! Let alone tell me that you"

"Has a bunch of trophies," Sam added with a remembering smile.

"You knew? You knew and didn't tell me?"

"Well it didn't exactly come up in conversation. And I only just remembered anyway" Sam said defensively.

Dean huffed and fumed, refusing to look at anyone.

Nadia brushed him off and continued, "Anyway, he shoots and getstwo inside the orange."

"And two halfway in," Dean added.

"Sorry, and two halfway in. A guy at the range told him no to bet me; but he wouldn't listen. He bet me a hundred bucks he could do better than me. I wasn't going to pretend I didn't know to shoot."

"That's what girls do. When they like someone, they lie and pretend to be the perfect match for them."

"Well, I am not a girl and you are the one that made the move. Besides, would you have done that if I sucked?"

He started to mouth back but stopped and thought.

"What do you mean the first move?" Andrea asked.

"He kissed mefor the first time. He slammed me against the wall and laid one on me," she answered, trying to cover the embarrassment she felt with humor and annoyance. She couldn't bring her self to take her eyes off Dean and shift them to Andrea or Sam.

"I hope it was more romantic than it sounds."

Nadia and Dean looked at the ceiling, thinking back to that day and of the old man making a comment about the passion they showed. Finally looking at each other again, they couldn't help laughing; while Sam and Andrea stood confused, yet again.

"You guys wear me out," Andrea sighed.

Chapter 37

"Look, all I'm saying is that people are dying somewhere and eventually we have to get back to our jobs." Sam had been reminding Dean of their "obligations" for over a week and Dean was in no hurry to return to a life of cheap motels, credit card fraud, and fast food. The past few months had been filled with a luxurious bed with a gorgeous woman, no need for any money, and food worthy of the finest restaurants.

"I bet Andrea would be stoked if she knew you were this desperate to get away from her."

"I am not desperate to get away from her; I can see her again. Besides, you only have a short time left; we have to find some way to save you."

"How many times do I have to tell you? If I live, you die and that is not going to happen."

"There has to be some way to keep us both here to save yet another damsel in distress." Dean gave him an odd look and Sam added, "By the way, have you even told her yet?"

Dean's eyes shifted out the window, "Is that a crow or a red-winged black bird?"

"Crow; nice try."

Dean gave an annoyed sigh, "No, okay, I haven't even mentioned it. As far as she knows, I am as healthy as a horse, and trust me, she knows," he raised his brows. "Besides, all I need is another person looking at me with sad and guilty eyes. I just want to live out my last days right here; getting fat, laid, and happy."

"She has to know, Dean. What are you going to do; just die and leave her stunned and dumbfounded? Every person she has ever loved has left her; are you going to join the list?"

"Oh Sam, now that isn't even fair." They stared at each other for a long time, until Dean gave in and said, "Fine, I'll find some time to tell her; eventually."

"Dean," Sam warned as Dean walked out of the room.

Nadia and Andrea were at the store loading up on groceries for the week; each of them, pushing a nearly full cart. They passed glass cases filled with jewelry when Andrea asked, "I know Dean is a hunter, sowhat do you think your ring is going to look like?"

Nadia stopped and nearly caused an old woman to run her cart into her heals. "Excuse me?"

"Oh come on, you guys are so getting married."

"Okay, did your brain just go back to sixth grade or something?"

"You don't want to get married?" She sounded like Nadia had just said she wanted to cut off both her legs.

"I am so not ready to get marriedand neither is he."

"He doesn't want to get married?"

"I know he wants a family; but I don't think he could give up hunting to do it."

"You'd have kids! Oh, they would be gorgeousoh, that is so not even fair to the all the other kids. The gene jackpot."

"God, Andrea, shut up," Nadia rolled her eyes and continued walking.

"Seriouslywait!" Andrea threw her hands in the air and looked all around her. She hurriedly walked over to a teenage girl, "Excuse me. This is my friend and this" she pulled her phone from her purse "is her boyfriend."

The girl looked and Nadia and the phone; while Nadia rushed over to pull Andrea away. "So he's taken?"

Nadia's steps hesitated; "Yes" she faked a smile.

Andrea continued on her rant, "If they were to have kids, how would you describe themin a word or two."

The girl looked back at Nadia and Dean's picture, "Damn lucky" she said matter-of-factly.

Nadia asked, "Are you done now? I think you've made your point."

Andrea smiled, "Thank you, you've been immensely helpful." She walked away, "Now I'm done."

Nadia jogged back to the carts, to catch up with Andrea. "I cannot believe you just did that."

"I wouldn't start planning too far ahead." A voice behind them sparked an eerie recognition in Nadia.

"What are you doing here?" Nadia whispered as she glared into the orange orbs staring back at her.

"Nice to see you too," Themi smiled and flashed her irises back to normal. "And you must be Andrea."

She reached out her hand towards Andrea but, Nadia quickly grabbed her arm and spun her around, leading her away. "I repeat, what are you doing here? I don't come interrupting your daily life" she searched for an acceptable description of her job, "…pulling people's legs."

"Why would I pull someone's leg?" Themi asked genuinely confused.

"It's an expression. It means, playing jokes onwhy are you here?"

"Why a leg? A leg is not funny." Nadia took an impatient deep breath and Themi finally answered. "I heard you talking about marriage and babies," she cringed. "And I thought I should let you know that that is not going to happenat least not with a Winchester anyway."

"Why? Because, if I marry or bear the fruit of a Winchester; all the particles of the earth are going to become unstable and the world is going to implode?" She flushed as she thought of bearing Dean's fruit.

Themi's face filled with deep confusion and caution. "No. Because Dean isn't going to be around long enough."

"What are you talking about? Dean has been around plenty long enough for me tobear his fruits."

She looked like she was going to be sick, "Okay, definitely could have returned to hell without knowing that." She shuddered and continued, "You are not going to" she swallowed, "bear his fruitsbecause he is going to be gone." She still looked like she was bothered by something else and she couldn't hold back any longer, "By the way, you can thank your dad for your looks. That is demon blood running through your veins and it makes everything about you irresistible. It's easier to fit in when you look like that," she swept her hand to Nadia.

Nadia was distracted, "What did that hurt your demon pride or something?" she thought back to what the stranger had said and Themi's face turned to annoyance. "I don't care if this is because of you or not…" suddenly she remembered what she had been about to say. "I know he'll continue hunting; we'll find time to see each other now and then. I could even become the third musketeer," she was fighting back the panic that was growing at Themi's words.

"Wow. You guys have great communication, huh?" She started to speak slower, "You are going to be here, as in grieving at the cemetery, here; and he is going to be gone, as in hell, gone."

Nadia felt like she had been punched in the gut and she walked back to Andrea, not hearing another word Themi said. She handed the keys and debit card to Andrea, "3326" and walked outside. Andrea went through the line as fast as she could; while Nadia sat in the car, staring at the dashboard in shock and anger.

The ride home was completely silent. Andrea barely had the car slowed down when Nadia jumped out.

Sam was sitting on the couch reading more out of his dad's journal and Dean was filling a glass with water as he saw Nadia storming up the walkway. "Oh boy," was all he could say before the doors, simultaneously flew open without having a finger laid on them.

Sam jumped to his feet and Dean sat the glass down. Without hesitation, Nadia turned directly to Dean, "I need to talk to you."

He swallowed hard, eyes wide in fear, "Are you alright?" He asked her cautiously.

Her words came out short and tight, "That depends on what you have to say," suddenly her mood shifted more towards loss as she fought back tears. "But, I have a feeling I'm not gonna be."

Chapter 38

"This is unbelievable. History taught me that demons are bad, they're liars and thievesbut ironically enough, they are the only ones I have been able to trust lately; while you two continually lie to me! Unbelievable."

"You still haven't told me what is wrong," Dean said softly.

Nadia looked at him with fury, her hands tensely at her sides; as she began to speak, her palms started to glow. "Don't act like that. Don't act like you don't know what is wrong with me." Her words came out with a cold, piercing anger.

Dean couldn't take his eyes off her hands, fear growing inside of him just like the balls of fire in her palms. What disturbed him the most was the fact that she didn't even seem to notice what was happening.

"I had to find out that your expiration date was coming up a bit sooner than you made me believe. You are going to die Dean," her voice shifted to fear and pleading. "You are going to die in a few months and you couldn't even tell me that."

As the glowing grew dimmer, Dean's eyes shifted to the floor, "I should've told you, I know. But I look at Sam everyday; and he looks at me like I have some inoperable cancer, that he gave me. I can't deal with you looking at me like that too."

She looked down at him for a long time, before saying, "Bull. Bull shit."

Dean looked up at her, surprised.

"You didn't tell me because you thought I couldn't handle it."

"That isn't it at all, Nadia. I didn't tell you because I didn't wantI wanted to live out the rest of my days, like nothing had changed between you and I. I knew you would leave..."

"Leave? Why would I leave?"

He continued, "You would leave like Sam did. You would try to save me and you can't do that; because if you do Sam dies." He stared into her eyes, pleading for her to understand. "Besides, even I've checked into itthere is no way to break the deal I made. But it was worth it."

"So you'd rather make Sam live without you; then have to live without him?"

"He has had a normal life; he knows how to live without me. I've been a hunter my entire lifeand hunters that have no one, they become as bad as the things they hunt." He was quiet as he thought for awhile. "The funny thing is," he laughed "now I find out that I'll go to hell and I'll actually become what I hunt."

"A demon."

Looking up at her, he realized his mistake, "Nadia, I didn't mean"

"I get it. I've always been this way; you know what it's like being pure, 100% human and how they are. Who would want to let that go?" She shifted her eyes to the ground as she sat next to him on the couch, "I'll try to forget. I'll try toto act like nothing happened." She laid her hand on his leg and looked him in the eye, "I can understand wanting to live life without having people look at you like you're different, like you're a freak."

Nadia was sitting in a lounge chair on the porch staring at nothing in particular, when Sam walked out the screen door and pulled a chair up beside her. She kept her eyes forward and he joined her gaze out across the field. He took a breath and took his time before saying, "We have to do something."

"He said nothing could be done," her tone was the melancholy of shock and grief.

"Yeahwell we have some things he doesn't; we know some things he doesn't." She looked at him for the first time, not a tinge of interest, curiosity, or confusion on her face. "We can do things people say can't be done. That doesn't stop us," Sam said, his eyes still straight ahead.

Nadia slowly turned her head back to the front, "No offense, Sam, but premonitions and fire appearing at the snap of a finger are two very different things." She sighed, "But you're right. We have to do something."

"I killed the demon he made the deal with," Nadia turned to him, "it didn't help any. She said she has a boss and heis who we have to get to."

"Evelchick said that someone important was coming to take care of me. 'The big guy's right hand man,' she said. And I'm pretty sure she didn't mean the one upstairs."

"Could be who we need."

"Could be."

"I don't care what he says, Nadia, he doesn't want to die; and I am not better off without him than he is without me."

"I know. We can do all we can," she turned back to him, "without him being any the wiser."

"Sounds good to me. Talk to you later?"

"Every minute he's not around"

Sam waited a minute or two for her to finish her thought; when she didn't, he got up and walked back into the house.

Nadia, Sam, and Andrea tried as hard as they could to act as normal as possible; but tension lingered. Nadia took the mustang to pick up the pizzas Sam had ordered; it was the first time she hadn't cooked. She just continued to stare into the distance, lost in what should have been and what she had to do.

After eating, Sam joined her for a walk around the property. Not much was said until they rounded the corner of the barn farthest from the house, out of sight. "I need you," Nadia looked around her, as if waiting for something to fall from the sky.

Sam stopped and looked at her, confused, "I'm here." Nadia didn't even seem to hear him as she continued looking around her.

"Not you, dimwit." The voice came from around the corner opposite of them; soon a tall woman with wavy jet black hair stood in front of them. Sam noticed the resemblance between the woman and Nadia before he even took notice of the color of her eyes. He stepped back, not taking his eyes off her. "Relax, Sam," she smiled, "you're safe. For now."

"Yeah, wellsays you."

She laughed, "You hunters have some real trust issues. You know that?"

"We learn fast."

She turned to Nadia, "And how can I be of service to you this time?" Her face melted from a smile to distaste.

"Dean."

"Oh. I had a feeling."

"What do we do?"

"We? There is no 'we.'"

"Fine, what do I have to do?"

Themi crossed her right leg over her left as she walked forward, turning from them both. Clasping her hands in front of her and turning back to them, she said, "There is nothing you can do."

Nadia looked at her feet and back to Themi, "There has to be something." An air of desperation entered her voice.

"WellI'm sorry, there isn't. You see, they want the Winchesters badly down south and the only thing that could change their mind would be to get y" She caught herself and licked her lips with a strange look on her face; somewhere between empathy and indifference.

"Me."

Sam was tensely following the conversation with his eyes. Hearing this, he froze on Nadia's face.

"You," Themi dipped her chin downward and looked up at Nadia.

"Nadia, don't even think about it. You'll be doing the same thing he is doing to us," Sam tried to reason.

Nadia curled her lips into her mouth and didn't take her eyes from Themi as she responded, "Don't worry, Sam. I'm not thinking about it." Perfectly in sync, Themi disappeared and Nadia turned back to the house; Sam was still frozen in place, a fist clenching tightly in the pit of his stomach.

Chapter 39

Days had passed since Nadia, Sam, and Themi's conversation. Nadia had avoided Sam at all costs and Sam had given up on trying to talk sense into her. He had walked into the dining room on many occasions and had seen Nadia scramble to exit out of multiple screens on the computer.

"I think I may have found a case, Dean," Sam looked around the computer screen. "Bobby called the other day and said we should check it out; I've been scouring the internet ever since, getting more information. It could be pretty serious."

Dean tossed the newspaper he had been glancing over onto the table, and sighed as he looked at Sam. "Sam, I told you I don't want anymore cases."

"I know. But we can't just let people die because you want to sit on the couch and take a nap whenever you want."

"We save one person and four more die; why bother?"

"Dean! Why bother? Why have you bothered the last 25 years?"

"Because of dad and because I knew nothing else."

"It's more than that. I know how hard you take it when someone dies."

"Yeah, that's kind of the point. That's not really an awesome feeling I want to relive over and over again."

"So, you'd rather not try, and be blind to their deaths than try and fail?"

Dean gave him and obvious look, shrugged and replied, "Yeah."

Sam just rolled his eyes and turned back to the screen. He decided that in order to sell the case to Dean, he had to make a stronger argument. Dean returned to the paper and tried to focus on the words and not on the people, as Sam said, dying.

Nadia was up early eating breakfast and glancing over a note pad. She looked up as Sam came in and closed the pad just fast enough to be suspicious but slow enough to make him think he was reading too far into it. He sat in the chair across from her, "I need your help."

She licked the milk from her bottom lip and took a second to think about his request. She waited for him to continue.

"There is a case, a good one; but Dean won't even consider it. And I thought that maybe ifif you encouraged it, he would be more open to the idea."

Nadia leaned back in the chair and gave him a curious look for awhile, "So you want me to talk him into doing something he doesn't want to do. Something that could very well get him killed before his, already, short time is up?"

He looked down at the table, "Well, when you put it like that"

"What is it?"

"Men are being killed by their wives."

"Is that really that unusual? I mean it isn't like it never happens."

"I know, but five men in one town?"

"Okay," she leaned forward, "so it's getting a little more unusual. Why haven't I heard of this?"

"Because it is in Montana, for one. And it's pretty obvious their wives are the ones that whacked them. One night they go to bed, no problems and the next morning the wives wake up next to mutilated bodies, covered in blood. The thing is; the wives have no memory what so ever. Actually, that's not exactly true. They were all startled awake by a nightmare where they were stabbing their husbands and when they look over to check that they are still alive, well"

"So you're thinking this is what? Something that gets into their dreams?" her thoughts flashed to Contego.

"Possibly. That is why I need Dean's help."

"Montana. That is a long drive; it will take at least three days to get there. The body count could get a lot higher by then."

"Yeah, about thatyou think you could talk him into flying while you're at it?"

"Why, is he afraid of flying or something?" the idea seemed ridiculous to her.

Sam chuckled, "You could say that."

Nadia smiled, "I'll see what I can do."

Sam got up to go into the bathroom, when Nadia interjected, "What about the wives?"

He looked back at her, "What about them?"

"Even if you find what is making them do this, they are still on trial. And if the evidence is as good as you seem to think; they are still going to prison. Their lives are going to be ruined and they had no control over what they did."

Sam took a deep breath and replied, "You can't think about that; you'll drive yourself crazy in this business. You have to think about the other men and women you saved by stopping the monster Sometimes you have to stick to thinking about the future victims and forget about the past ones." After a couple beats, he continued into the bathroom and Nadia stared at the door, mulling over what he had said.

"I had a dream last night," Dean said as he rubbed his face and fell into the chair next to Nadia.

She smiled, "Oh yeah? As long as you weren't dreaming about killing me; it's all good."

He gave her a curious look but let it pass, "No. I had a dream about Carrie."

"Oh, well that makes me feel awesome."

He smirked over at her, "Hey, just because you have steak, doesn't mean you don't dream about a little hamburger."

Nadia leaned back and crossed her arms, "Nice. I can't be mad because you called me steak; but I can't let you completely off the hook because you still dream about hamburger. What a conundrum."

He split into his signature, flirtatious smile that she couldn't resist, "Boy, you are lucky you have that smile."

"Anyway, I was talking about Carrie White." When no tinge of recognition crossed her face, he continued, "Pig blood, prom, killed her mom with telekinetically thrown knifes, house burning and sinking into hellringing any bells?"

"The movie?"

Dean face filled with an awed disgust, "Yes the movie!"

"Well, excuse me; but with what you dowho knows what is real and what is fiction."

He let out a frustrated sigh, "I had a dream that you were Carrie. Which, once I thought about ityou totally could be. Soany houses that have recently made there way back to hell?"

"Ha. No, I didn't even go to my prom."

"Really? What you couldn't get a date?"

She looked up in thought, "Partly. You see, my grandpa had died not too long before senior prom and, well, everyone kinda thought I was cursed." She played it off like it was no big deal, like it was funny, but Dean could see the hurt on her face. "But, hey, I thought I was too. And as it turns out, I sort of am." She paused, "So actually, you're not wrong. I could have made a kick ass Carrie; minus the whole knife thing." Nadia dished Dean up some scrambled eggs with cheddar and pepper jack cheese and she sat while he ate.

"That's always comforting," Dean remarked. Nadia was lost in thought again and the silence dragged. "What's wrong?" he asked before he took a sip of milk.

"Sam asked me for help this morning," realizing that it sounded like he had wanted her help, she decided to play on that fact. "He found this case and said you wouldn't help him, so he asked me."

Dean stopped with the fork halfway to his mouth, "What?"

"These people need help, bad. And fast. And, since I don't mind flying, he asked if I would help him. You know, use my abilities and stuff. The case is pretty bad. Five men were killed by their wives in one town. They were stabbed and mutilated and the wives all woke up from a nightmare were they killed them; next thing, they wake up beside dead bodies."

He sat the fork down and leaned back, intrigued. "And they are sure that the wives did it?"

"The angles of the knives place the attacker next to and over the bodies." Nadia and Dean turned, surprised, to Sam who was leaning on the archway that separated the dining and living rooms. "There weren't any signs of forced entry or shoe prints other than the residents'. So yeah, it's looking pretty air tight."

"Where?"

"Montana," Nadia answered.

Dean shifted his weight and inhaled deeply as he thought. "You should do it," he stared at Nadia.

Nadia was picking stuff off her jeans, but her head shot up and she stared back in disbelief, "What?"

"You should go with Sam. He is going to need someone when I'm gone. I can't think of anyone better."

"You're not serious," she was filled with fear and excitement; she never intended for him to actually agree to Sam's supposed plan. "I mean, it is awesome; but Sam told me about Joe. She had hunting in her blood and you wouldn't let her go, she had to force her way in."

"Fine, how about thisI'll go too."

Nadia smiled, "Like a twisted version of the three musketeers."

"Ha, not quite," Dean said.

"You told him that I wanted your help," Sam said with an air of humorous disbelief.

"Hold it," Dean raised his hand and slowly turned to Sam. "You didn't?"

"No, yes he didjust not in that particular fashion," she shifted her eyes nervously around the room, avoiding any eye contact. Dean finally caught her attention, "What? He did ask for my help. It was just my help to get you hunting again; and that was all I was trying to do. SorryI made it sounded like he asked me to help him hunt, so I thought that maybe you would volunteer yourself to help, instead; and then everyone would be happy."

Dean shut the trunk of the Impala, where Nadia's, Sam's, and his bags lay, and he said, "So, I think what we all want to ask, is if this is your favorite Uncle, Contego."

Nadia looked over at him, "I hope so," she walked over to the passenger side and opened the back door. Dean still stood by the trunk as he watched her walk away, confused. She looked back at him and smiled, "Two down, one to go." She referred to Contego, Cyprien and Tresuné.

He slowly tipped his head back and looked at her down his nose, "Right." She climbed inside as Sam walked out to the car, "It's about time, Sammy boy. I was starting to think we would have jet packs before you were done saying goodbye."

Sam ignored him and climbed into the passenger seat and turned the radio off before Dean got seated. "You sure about this?" he asked in reference to the flight that they were all scheduled to be on.

"You know, your big mouth is making it hard to forget about."

"Sorry," Sam smirked. Dean pushed the car into gear and pulled it easily out the driveway.

"Are you sure we can't drive?" Dean looked in the rearview mirror at Nadia.

She smiled, "You know we can't. Who knows how many more will die by then."

"Yeah, yeah. Hey, is there anything you can do to knock me out or something?"

Sam jumped in, "I'd be happy to."

Nadia laughed, "I was going to say the exact same thing." Dean looked at them both, completely unamused. "I don't know; I'm learning as I go along, remember?"

"Well, what good are you then?"

"Hey, ouch!"

Dean didn't say anything the rest of the way to Lansing Airport.

The terminal was as desolate as Nadia remembered; the few people walking around were trying, unsuccessfully, to look busy. Her chair shook as Dean tapped his foot and fidgeted. When their flight number was announced, he looked as if he was 7 and his teacher had just called on him to write the answer on the board. He rubbed his hands against his sides, inside his coat pockets and swallowed hard before he stepped into the sleeve that lead them to the tarmac.

The flight attendant at the door smiled at him and asked, "Nervous flyer?"

He looked at her and clenched his jaw, "Yeah." Once he got past her and stepped inside, he turned to Nadia, "A psychic, that oneGod, seriously, what gave it away? The sweating, fidgeting, or the fact that my face is as white as a nun's ass?

Nadia chuckled, "Dean, it's alright; everything is going to be alright," she said slowly.

"Don't patronize me!"

"I'm not," she tried to hide the air of amusement from her voice.

Sam was ahead of them, struggling not to let his laughter pass his lips. When Dean turned back ahead, he stopped in his tracks; causing Nadia and the five people behind her to run into each other. "Dean, what the"

"You have got to be kidding methree freak'in seats! I thought this was an airplane not a sardine can." He looked to his left and saw a row of two seats and, to the right, a row of one; all separated by a narrow aisle covered with worn and dirty blue carpet.

Sam turned and said, "Well, look at this way; if we go downless shrapnel."

"I hate you," Dean glared and Sam smirked.

"Now boys, we are going to make this trip enjoyable. You are both," she pointed her finger from Dean to Sam, "going to sit down and behave yourselves."

Dean and Sam grudgingly sat in their seats and Nadia joined them and looked from one to the other, "Are you kidding me? That actually worked?"

Sam glanced at her but Dean didn't even seem to have noticed her say anything. He was tugging at his collar, "Is it hot in here? Do you think it is hot in here? God, it's so hot in here. Can we just get this thing over with already?"

"Dean, calm down. Look at me," she turned her torso toward him, "there is only one way to find out if I can do something for you." Dean looked at her irritated and blank. "To try. Nowclose your eyes and look at me."

"How can I look at you if my eyes are closed?"

"You know what I mean. Close your eyes and try to relax," Dean opened his mouth to snap back at her, "try to relax" she said slowly. She took his hand and closed her eyes, willing him to relax. Before she knew it, his grip went from vice-like to limp. When she opened her eyes, his where closed and he was sound asleep.

Chapter 40

The plane had landed without a hitch. But, they soon found out that Nadia's ability had back fired a bit; Dean didn't remember anything after breakfast. Sam and Nadia spent the walk to the rental car, re-briefing him on the case.

"You could have erased my entire memory!" Dean was still whining about the fact that five hours of his life where missing.

"Give me a break, it was my first time. There are bound to be problems," Nadia said, the lack of sleep on the plane was causing a short fuse.

"Yeah, well I would prefer if those problems catch something on fire rather than mess with my brain."

"Relax, Dean, there isn't much to lose anyway," Sam smirked.

"You're hilarious, Sammy. Really."

"Now boys," Nadia sighed as she dug the keys back out of her pocket.

"See now if I had driven the Impala, we would already be gone."

"Gone from where, Indiana?" Sam said.

Nadia turned to Dean, "I know how much you love that car; but if we had taken it, we would still have days to go. And you didn't have a single problem flying." Dean looked at her, brows raised, "I said flying." She started walking again, "Here it is."

Dean stopped, dropped his head, and stated "I'm going home. I don't care if I have to fly and be aware of every second of it." He stared at the purple minivan that sat in front of him; then turned to the Camero to the right of it. "Now, what was wrong with this?"

The Camero chirped and flashed its lights and Dean spun around, looking for the tenant. Nadia looked at him and pulled her bags behind her, towards the Camero, "Well Dean, if you really want the mom mobile I can see if it's still available."

"No that's alright," he said in a bummed out tone, "I guess I can make do with this."

He reached his hand toward Nadia, who gave him an "I don't think so" look. "I booked it, I drive it."

"You erase my memory, you give me the keys," he retorted.

"Sorry, but you wore that one out already." She hurriedly opened the door and hopped in behind the wheel. Dean pulled the passenger seat up and waited for Sam to close the trunk and climb in.

Sam stood with a dubious look on his face, "Yeah, I think not."

"Get in, I'm older."

"And shorter," he said as he motioned his hand to the back seat.

Dean glared at him and suddenly said, "Okay," and climbed in. Sam hesitated; surprised by Dean's sudden mood swing, before he climbed in.

"You're welcome," Nadia whispered to Sam.

"Hey, what am Iyou're supposed to bewhy am I in the back..." he snapped his head to Nadia, "Nadia. Stop messing with my head!"

Sam turned to Nadia and started laughing.

The entire way to Babb, Montana, Dean complained about being in the back seat and Nadia threatened to change his mind to that of a golden retriever. This tactic kept him quiet for short spurts.

Nadia pulled the car off the road, turned off the ignition, and got out of the car. Dean and Sam looked at each other. "Uh Nadia, I'm sure there are bathrooms down the road," Dean called out the door, before it slammed shut.

Sam pulled himself out the other side and Dean pushed the seat forward to follow him. He looked around, "What are we doing?"

"It's called scenery, Dean," Nadia said.

"People are dying."

"I have wanted to come to Glacier all my life," she stared at the mountains surrounding them. She abruptly turned to Sam and Dean, "You guys have been all over the country, and you've never taken the time to look at the beauty of where you were, have you?"

Sam looked up at the top of a broad, slate-colored mountain and Dean huffed, "Sometimes you are such a girl." He refused to concede and look up.

Nadia rolled her eyes, "You should know," she whispered in Dean's ear before climbing back into the car. Sam looked up the road as Dean quickly glanced at the range before climbing back into the back seat. He always hoped he could retire and start a normal life, but as time was running out to do so; he decided that looking at a few mountains wouldn't hurt.

Babb was a blink-and-you'll-miss-it town; consisting of a diner, hotel, and grocery store (a very, very small grocery store). But, just down the road was its claim to fame, "Two Sisters" restaurant. This bright, multicolored building sat just off the road and showcased, inside, a vast collection of license plates and bumper stickers. The bathroom, Nadia found out, could only be reached from outside and left much to be desired. It seemed as if the only janitors the place had were the raccoons that came to scatter garbage around while looking for food. The food, though, was worth its reputation.

Heading back to the main drag, they had little straining to do to decide where to stay and a trip to the store to pay for the room, told them that most of the town was owned by one family. Dean had the eerie feeling that as soon as night hit, the entire town was going to turn into some bloodthirsty cult; whose favorite dish was out of town visitors. How screwed up are you when that is the first thing that pops into your head, he asked himself. He shook off the uncomfortable déjà vu of Burkitsville's sacrificial hosts and their apple pie.

Thankfully, there was no large amount of distance between the car and the door to their room. Everyone's bags were inside in a matter of minutes and Nadia pulled a large cooler out of the trunk. Neither Sam nor Dean had noticed that is was even included in the mess Nadia had dragged behind her on the way out of the airport. Then Sam realized she must have bought it at the one decent sized store they had stopped at.

"Please tell me you have alcohol in there," Dean sighed as he fell onto the bed. No one had yet noticed that it was only one in sight.

"Ohwhat I have is so much better than alcohol," she smiled as she pulled open the lid and sat three glasses on the table.

"What could be better than alcohol?"

"This," she pulled a gallon of chocolate milk from the cooler and twisted off the cap.

"Milk," he said with disappointment.

"Chocolate milk."

"Milk."

"It's chocolate milk, and not only is it chocolate milk; but it is the best chocolate milk in the world."

"Its milk," Dean said as if she was just not getting that fact through her head.

"This is Mooville chocolate milk that is only, right now anyway, in mid-Michigan. Nashville's own, and though it is on the more expensive side, it is so worth it." Dean started to say something but Nadia jumped in, "I swear to God, Dean, if you say 'its milk' again"

He hurried to find something else to say, "How much?"

"For a gallon, $4.29."

"$4.29 a gallon! For milk."

Nadia decided not to even wait until she poured hers and Sam's glasses; she needed Dean to shut up before she slapped him. "Try it, and then tell me it's not worth it."

He rolled his eyes and took a swallow and then he tipped the glass and chugged. When he was done he burped and said, "Shut up."

She smiled and poured hers and Sam's.

"One of my biggest weaknessesalong with; apple pie, Ben and Jerry's Half Baked, Riesens, and immature boys." She smirked at Dean.

"There is only one bed," Sam stated.

Nadia and Dean snapped back to reality and looked around the room too. Nadia walked to the door on the right and Dean opened the one on the left, simultaneously. Nadia's opened to a nicely remodeled white bathroom that stood in stark contrast to the dark paneling that covered the rest of the place. Another door stood on the wall to her left and when she opened it she came face-to-face with Dean who was about to open the door himself. She looked around him at another room, fully stocked with a trash can and desk. Just like home. She followed Dean back out the way he came and Dean told Sam, "This is ours."

Sam had no arguments; there was only one tv and it was in his room. Unfortunately, he found out too late that it only received three channels; two of which were news 24/7.

After a nap, Sam went to the store to interview the owners about the recent tragedies, while Dean and Nadia went across the street to talk to the entire three people at the diner.

The two older ladies at the store were happy to help with anything but the recent murders. Trying to get the women to even acknowledge that the killings had happened was like trying to get Lindsay Lohan to walk in a straight line. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get them to see it. After using every trick in the book, he returned to the room and hoped that Nadia and Dean were having better luck. They had to be; Nadia was a living, breathing truth serum.

Dean scanned the diner while Nadia scanned the menu. A young woman in jeans and a t-shirt came to the table, "Can I help you?" She directed her smile at Dean and Nadia quickly drew it away from him.

"I would like a hot chocolate, please."

"And you?" She turned to Dean.

"Water."

She seemed disappointed as she turned and walked to the kitchen. The kitchen was a room as big as the janitorial closet she had hid in back at the school. A large grill took up half of the room and a fryer and counter were the only things sharing the space with the cook; a man wearing jean shorts and a Hawaiian shirt.

"Where you guys from?" Asked a man sitting at the counter. His face was half covered with a thick beard and his hands were rough and forever dirty from years of hard outside work. His jeans were well worn and Nadia had a feeling his heavy, dependable boots were the only shoes he owned.

Dean pulled his upper half around to the man, "Michigan."

The man threw his head back in a way that made Nadia think he expected it. "Nice place."

"Yeah, not like this tough," Dean smiled. "We are depressingly deprived of mountains and wide open spaces."

"Funny, I pegged you as someone who likes more the hustle and bustle of the city; likes always being on the move. Not you though," he nodded to Nadia.

She smiled, "I grew up in a small town."

"Yeah, it's more than that" he tipped his head; unable to put his finger on what it was that was different about her.

"You'd never guess," she smirked and left it at that.

"What makes you think I like to be on the move?" Dean asked, intrigued and slightly bugged.

The man puffed out his cheeks as he blew air between his lips, "You have practical boots on, not work ones, but ones that do what you need; of course that sort of contradicts the whole city thing. But your jeans and clean face point towards city life. The old jacket, though, says you are trying to live up to something or someone? You took a green, military style duffle bag into the hotel; only that duffle, which says that you are used to packing lightly. But, there is also something about you that says you have seen more in your life than most peoplenot necessarily a good thing." Dean was listening with a thoughtful and exposed look on his face. Nadia was fascinated by how accurate he was. The man shifted on his stool, "but, that is just an old country man's opinion."

"I happen to know a lot of old country men who happen to be right most of the time. City folk have learned to focus on themselves; there is always someone that needs to be ignored. While those in the country need to know those around them; they need to cohabitate and compete." Nadia said, not looking away.

He crossed his arms and leaned back as he listened. Dean felt unneeded. The man inhaled as he leaned forward, "What can I do for you?" Dean was astounded at his sudden openness and he wondered if it was real or forced.

"We are looking for information about the killings here."

He narrowed his eyes for a second, "Like?"

"The 5 w's; who, what, where, when, why."

"Well, I don't know nothing about why; but5 men killed by there wives throughout town in the past couple weeks. Wives say they don't remember anything; that's about it."

"Yeah, well, we're looking for something that wasn't in every newspaper and all over the internet," Dean said.

He looked at them for awhile before he sniffed, rubbed his knuckle across his nose and stood up. "Keep the change, Kay," he smiled at the waitress who had been pretending she wasn't listening, and grabbed his coat. "Folks in this town are all about protecting each other," he didn't look up from his coat in his hand.

"We aren't looking to cause trouble, we're looking to help."

"In that case, I gotta truck outside," he still didn't look up as he put his coat on and walked out the door.

Dean looked at Nadia who had already stood up and started towards the door, hot chocolate untouched. He threw five dollars on the table and slide out after her.

Chapter 41

The man leaned against the driver's side door of his truck and folded his arms across his chest. Once Dean and Nadia stood in front of him, he reached out his hand "Name's Jack."

Dean cleared his throat and reached out his hand, "Clark."

Nadia looked at him and when she reached for Jack's hand she said, "Actually, I am Nadia and this is Dean."

Dean whipped his head to her and she ignored him. Jack looked at Dean for awhile before he surprised Dean by laughing. "Clark? I didn't believe it for a second."

He had a way of making Dean feel stupid and inept. He resented it.

"I don't know much more than what I already told you. But, and I don't know if it's important or not, two of the women were neighbors and good friends of mine and they told me some things. They said they had been having these dreams about doing different stuff and then they would find themselves doing it later; without even thinking about it. Now, these were things that they wouldn't normally be caught dead doing."

"Like what types of things?" Dean asked.

Jack look a quick and uncomfortable look around before continuing. "Well, things like physically hurting their kids, themselves, and burning some valuable things and family heirlooms." Dean dipped his eyebrows and looked at Nadia. "Look, I don't care if you believe me or not; but they would never do those things on their own."

Nadia asked, "So you think they were forced to do them?"

"I don't know howbut I have gone over and over this and there is no other explanation.

"I'm sure they all knew each other?"

"Yeah. All their kids went to school together; they all went to the parent functions, same church."

Dean added, "Is there anyone you know of that would want to hurt the husbands?"

"Or the wives," Nadia added.

Jack gave her a curious look and she could sense the same one coming from Dean. "The person could be hurting the wives by having them kill the men they loved and sending them to prison for the rest of their lives," she said defensively.

"Not that I can think of. I mean" he started to say.

Dean interrupted him, having heard it a thousand times, "Everyone loved them."

"Yeah."

"Were they all from around here, originally; husbands and wives?"

"Spent their whole lives here, the wives anyway. Most of the husbands did too."

"Thank you," Nadia said, "Is there a number where we could reach you? In case we have anymore questions?"

He told them his cell phone number and added, "I would prefer you didn't. But if you docould you call?" He looked at Dean, who nodded. Then he looked back at Nadia, "I have a wife" He looked as if he were about to elaborate but instead, he turned and climbed into his truck.

Dean and Nadia watched the old grey, dirt covered ford back onto the road and drive off to the south, before turning and going west. They stood silent for a long time before walking back across the road and into the hotel room.

Sam was in the shower when Nadia and Dean returned. He hollered out to them, "I hope you had better luck than I did. I couldn't get those old prunes to say a word after I mentioned the murders." The water stopped and they could hear him hurriedly throwing clothes on. He came out in only a pair of dark red sweat pants Andrea had gotten him; rubbing a towel against his head. "So?"

Dean ignored Sam's question and turned to Nadia, "You made him talk to you, didn't you?"

She looked at him, like he was crazy to think she even could do such a thing. "No."

"What? You expect me to believe that it was just the shared country blood that made him talk?"

"Guess so." She ignored him and turned to Sam, "We met a guy named Jack. He knew all the women and men really well. He didn't know much; but he did say that before the murders, they dreamt of doing out of the ordinary things and then that day they put them into action. Of course, he said they never would do these things on their own."

"Yeah, hitting their kids, hurting themselves and burning things," Dean said with an air of dismissal.

"Not just things, valuable things." She gave Dean a dirty look.

Sam sat on the only chair in the room, "So you think they are being controlled?"

Nadia and Dean both said, "Maybe," at the same time.

"By what?"

Dean sighed, "Do we have to do everything?"

Nadia spun around to him, "Jeez, you are acting like a five year old!"

He stared at the floor, pouting and stood up and walked towards the cooler, "I need some Mooville." Nadia started laughing and was soon joined by Sam. Dean stopped and dropped to the floor, smiling and rubbing his face, "I am so tired."

Nadia jumped into the shower while Dean lay down in the other room; the heater in the wall, cranked up to high. When she got out, he was sound asleep and his shirt and pants were thrown onto the floor. Instead of turning the heat down, he seemed to have decided to strip down to his boxers. She turned it down in order to force him under the covers so that she could get in the bed. While she waited, she went out to Sam's room and the tv.

Sam jumped up and threw himself under the covers; for he was stripped to his boxers as well. "Where is the thermostat in this place? I'm dying out here."

She sat on the end of the bed, "You should feel it in there," she threw her thumb back towards where she had just come from. "What are you watching?"

"I don't know, it is this or news or news."

She stared at the tv without really seeing it. "Hustle."

"What?" Sam asked, thoroughly confused.

She pointed to the television, "Hustle."

Before either of them knew it, they were both sound asleep and as the heat dropped Nadia climbed under the covers.

The sound of a cleared throat beside her woke Nadia. She turned and saw Dean standing at the side of the bed.

"Huh?"

"You tell me."

She looked at him confuse and half asleep. She rubbed her face and turned her head, further confused by the sight of Sam on the pillow next to her. She looked back him and down at the sheets partially covering her. Her nightgown was halfway up her stomach, exposing her blue boy-cut underwear; the sheet barely covering her. She kept looking around until she remembered what had happened.

"Oh. I fell asleep. We were watching tv and we both must have fallen asleep, without realizing it."

"Uh, huh."

"Dean, you couldn't possibly think that we"

He looked as if he were about to say something but he stopped and looked down at her.

She couldn't believe what he was implying, "Dean!"

"What? Look at you two."

Sam lifted his head off the pillow, "What is going on?"

"That's what I would like to know," Dean said to him.

Sam looked at Nadia lying next to him and he pushed himself away. He went a bit too far and he fell backwards off the bed. Before even getting up he said, "Dean, we didn't do anything. I swear."

"I know," Dean shrugged and walked into the bathroom.

Nadia didn't know what to do; she was at an absolute loss for words at Dean's sudden change of opinion. Sam looked at her from the floor, just as confused. She jumped up; pulling her gown down when she realized it was still tucked into her underwear, halfway to the bathroom door. Sam turned away and looked at the floor; admittedly not fast enough.

Nadia opened the door and found Dean in the shower. She stood in front of it, "What was that all about? Did you seriously think I slept with your brother or were you just being a dick?"

He pulled back the curtain, "Are you kidding? Like you would go for Sam after you had this," he rolled his eyes and closed the curtain.

Nadia was angry, flabbergasted, shocked, and turned on all at the same time; why, she had no idea. She slipped off the gown and underwear and stepped inside the cramped stall. Before she knew it, she was pressed against the wall, gripping her soapy legs around his.

Sam sat uncomfortably in the other room, tv turned up considerably loud.

Sam, Nadia, and Dean split up to go to all of the crime scenes. Dean and Sam were dressed as FBI and Nadia took on the figure of the local sheriff; who was a little tied up at the time. Not that she needed to, not a single person was at any of the houses and the nearest neighbors were at least a mile away.

All of the scenes were remarkably similar. Each of them hosted a bed with light colored sheets; which seemed to further contrast the blood that covered them all. Blood also covered the night stands, walls, floor, and parts of the ceiling. Nadia noted the unusual fact that only parts of the ceiling had blood on it; it was as if something blocked the other parts. Sam and Dean noticed the same phenomenon.

They talked through three-way calling while they examined the houses. Nadia made them wear gloves when she realized that they normally did not; a stupid oversight, she thought.

"There isn't anything suspicious in the rest of the house, here. Just some knick-knacks, toys, and photos; hey she was a cheerleader, nice." Dean commented into the speaker.

Nadia rolled her eyes to and invisible audience, "Not much here either. Knick-knacks and photosoh boy, another cheerleader."

"Me too," Sam said.

"Probably wasn't much else to do in school around here," Dean commented.

"Probably not. That school down the road looked like a one-room school house," Nadia remarked.

"Look, I'm gonna head to the Garmon's," Sam said. "Talk to you in a bit." Nadia and Dean had dropped Sam off at the two places that were within walking distance.

"Well, it looks like we'll take the last one. Come and get me driver," Dean remarked before quickly hanging up.

Nadia snapped her phone closed and went out to the car. A few minutes later, she blew past Dean as he stood at the end of the driveway waiting. She went over the hill, just out of sight and waited 20 minutes on the side of the road before she saw Dean crest the hill. He opened the door and climbed in without a word. She knew he had been too stubborn to call.

They arrived at the next house and saw no one around. As they reached the door, they heard rustling inside. They both slid their handguns from their waistbands and Dean quietly opened the front door. Nadia swept to the left and Dean moved to the right, around the staircase. Dean moved through the kitchen without a sign of the intruder; once into the den, he saw books and photos strewn all over. Nadia swept through the living room and found boxes of pictures open and photos covered the floor. A children's bedroom came up next and as she quickly turned around the doorframe, she almost shot as she saw Dean through a window that looked into the den. For a few seconds they were staring into each other's guns.

Dean looked questioningly at her and she drew her hand across her throat to signal that she had found nothing. He shook his head and pointed upstairs as the noises started again.

They slowly walked up the stairs; Dean faced the top of the stairs and Nadia climbed them backwards as she watched the bottom. When they reached the top, Nadia turned and as she did so, a small man walked out of one of the rooms and stopped cold as he saw them.

"Hold it right there," Dean said. His gun held steady on the man, "FBI. Who are you?"

Nadia pulled out her fake FBI badge, glad she had brought it, now that she was no longer Sheriff Jean. She noticed he was holding a framed photograph of the same cheerleading squad she had seen at the last house; along with a bag of toys.

He was shaking as he said, "BenDober."

Dean snickered, "Seriously?"

The man's face shifted from fear to anger, "Dober, not Dover. Dober."

"Dude, I'd kill my parents."

Nadia ignored Dean's comment, "What are you doing here, Ben?"

He looked at her as if he had only just noticed her, "I was getting some things for the kids. I am watching them until another family member can be found. Here," he pulled a note from his pocket and handed it to her, "it's from the sheriff."

She took it and was glad she wasn't the sheriff anymore. The note stated, "I sheriff Jean, hereby give temporary guardianship of the Moore kids to Ben Dober."

She showed it to Dean and they looked at each other, "This is a crime scene you aren't supposed to be here" Dean told him tensely.

"I know, they just wanted some things from home."

Dean thought for a minute before saying, "Get out of here and don't cross this crime scene again," he nodded down the stairs.

Ben swallowed hard and slipped between them and down the stairs, picking up speed as he went.

Dean watched him leave, "I think he took more than just some things for the kids." He turned to Nadia, "You see that cheerleading photo?"

"Yeah," Nadia replied. Something about that fact was bothering her.

Chapter 42

The house was eerily similar to the other ones Dean and Nadia had gone to. It was a simple but sturdy two story building with none of the luxuries but all of the necessities. A modest master bedroom and two children's rooms filled the upstairs. There were two barns on the property; each the picturesque red and white that covered all stereotypical country paintings. The trees were perfectly spaced, allowing a near flawless shade to sunlight ratio. As Nadia looked over the yard, she could picture the family sitting at a picnic table eating a summer feast.

"This place gives me the creeps," Dean said as he returned from one of the barns and found Nadia staring into the distance. "It's toWisteria Lane."

Nadia turned to face him, "Wisteria Lane?" Her brows were raised and she had a slight, knowing smile on her face.

He looked at her and realized what he had just revealed, "I meanor whatever it's called." He cleared his throat and wouldn't make eye contact.

"One of your guilty pleasures?" she smirked.

He ignored her and returned to the car; which she let him drive, finally. The way back was dusty, but he took no precautions to keep the vehicle clean.

"About time," Sam said when Nadia and Dean walked through the door. His jeans were covered in the pale dirt from the road; as was his face, hair, shirt, and shoes. "I've been looking at these old high school year books I got from the last house, the Garmon's." Nadia walked around to his side to look at the book he was holding and Dean picked up another from the pile on the corner of the bed. "All of them were in the same class," he looked at Dean.

"All the wives?" Nadia asked.

"All of them," he turned to her.

Nadia looked across to Dean; who shared the same confused look on his face. He asked Sam, "You think that had something to do with all this?"

"I don't know, butnone of the wives are in the last one; not one of them graduated."

"What happened to them?" Nadia asked.

"I don't know. They are all there until junior year and when senior year rolls around, poof, they're gone."

Dean grabbed his phone and said, "Well, I wonder what caused our desperate housewives to head for the hills," as he pulled up Jack's number.

After a long talk to a reluctant Jack, he agreed to meet all three of them down the road at the school's playground. "Great, now everyone is going to think we are pedophiles, too" were the first words out of Dean's mouth after he ended the call. "Well ladies, we have a half hour until the coward can sneak away from his wife; so what are we gonna do? I mean, I know what we can do," he swung his finger between Nadia and himself, "but what about you, Sammy?"

Nadia looked at him, "But what are we gonna do with the other 28 and a half minutes, Dean?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, his face unchanged, "Oh, now that was just cold." Sam quietly laughed from the corner.

After awhile of Dean glaring at Nadia, Sam said, "I am going to keep working on this case; you knowwhat we came here for?"

"What else can we do, here? The only two people who know what really happened are either in jail or dead, the townspeople are avoiding us like the plague, and the only one who will talk to us can't do so for another," he looked at his watch, "28 minutes."

"That may be true, but we can look at the yearbooks some more."

"And do what? Guess who scored the most, the school slut, and who didn't get any?"

"I have a question," Nadia said. She looked up at Dean, "Why does everything come back to sex?"

"It doesn't; everything comes back to diapers."

She looked at him, utterly confused, "What?"

"We are born, we need diapers; we get olddiapers. It's all about diapers."

She closed her eyes and rubbed her right temple, "I think I may have screwed up your head a bit more than we thought."

Sam laughed, "No, unfortunately his was always like that."

Dean snootily lifted his chin and said, "And you love it."

"It would be pretty boring without your idiosyncrasies," Nadia said thoughtfully.

"Damn right."

Sam had already begun flipping through a yearbook, "Oh, definitely the slut."

Dean spun around and looked for himself, "Good eye, Sammy."

Nadia laughed, "It all comes back to sex," Dean looked at her, "and diapers" she rolled her eyes.

Nadia was the first one to glance at her watch and see that the half hour had passed, ten minutes ago. They raced out to the car and Nadia swung the front end around, threw it into drive and kicked up stones on her way out. "At least we don't have to worry about traffic." It was dusk and there was not a car as far as the eye could see; which meant no cops, either. Nadia reached 90 mph in the short mile to the school house; where she didn't even bother with the brake pedal. Instead, she threw the emergency brake back and turned the wheel. The headlights swept a bit too far, but she was able to pull them back and stay on the driveway. They were all delighted to see that Jack's truck was still there; and Sam and Dean were delighted to see the shifter in park.

Jack's eyes were as big as saucers when the headlights hit them and he was scrambling to get into the driver's seat. Dean jumped out and was able to get him to relax and stay.

"I thought you were my wife," he kept repeating. "I thought you were my wife."

Dean whispered to Nadia, "Dude, what is the deal with the wife?" She just shrugged and walked up to Jack, to offer further comfort and familiarity.

"Mr.uhJack, this is Sam. He is Dean's brother." Jack shook Sam's hand and pushed his shoulders back in an effort, Nadia guessed, to calm him self down. "We have a few more questions for you; about the wives of the victims."

He nodded his head nervously and snapped his head toward Sam when he spoke. "Sir, none of the wives graduated school?"

Jack gave him a curious look, "What makes you say that?"

Sam glanced at Dean, "They aren't in the yearbook their senior year."

He thought for a second, "Well, maybe they were sick that day."

"All five of them?" Dean said.

He nervously shifted his weight, "It happens."

Dean was about to speak again when Nadia spoke, "Are you alright? The other day you spoke to us fine; you didn't seem nervous at all."

He looked at her but quickly shifted his eyes away. "I'm still a little jumpy from earlier, that's all."

She nodded but didn't believe him. Sam continued, "It would have been 1964; when they were seniors."

Jack looked as if an astonishing light bulb had turned on in his head, "The war."

Sam, Dean, and Nadia were taken aback until Dean asked, "Vietnam?"

"YesI left in 1961 for the war. I was gone. They were a year behind me, I was a sophomore."

"They were freshman," Sam said, disappointed. "You were gone in 64 and 65?"

"Yeah, I was fighting in the jungles of Vietnam at the time. That's why I came back here; it's was as far from the humid jungles as I could think of."

Nadia felt defeated, "And you have no idea what happened to them?"

"No. I always assumed they had graduated." They were all silent, "My sister did write to me about something happening while I was over there. She didn't say what had happened; it was some big secret."

"Wait" Sam raised his hand, "you would have been, what 15, 16?"

"Yeah well, while others were fleeing, I was lying to get in."

"They tightened up security so that wouldn't happen."

"Tell me about it. I had to pretend my name was Louis for years; he was my cousin. For years I heard how much we looked alike, so"

Dean was the first to ask, "What about your sister? Can we talk to her?"

Jack blew air forcefully through his lips, "Not unless you have some supernatural powers." Dean tipped his head and looked at Nadia, "She is dead. Died not too long after I got home."

"Is there anyone that you think would talk to us about it? I mean, everyone around here is pretty tight-lipped," Nadia said.

"That's an understatement." A long time passed as he thought, "Kay, at the diner, she might. She may have been told what happened by her parents. She wants to get out of here; more of a city gal. Everyone else is all about protecting the town, ignoring what happens; she may be more open to the idea."

"Thanks," Sam said as he shook Jack's hand.

Nadia did the same and when Dean reached out his hand, he said "Hope you won't get into too much trouble with the misses."

"From your lips," he turned around and climbed into his truck. Dean, Nadia, and Sam watched him leave and were about to discuss what had happened when they heard something big moving behind them.

Dean swallowed loudly, "There are bears around here, aren't there?"

Nadia was already slowly backing away while Dean and Sam stared at the spot where they thought the sound had come from. "That or a buffalo. Either way, I'm not sticking around to find out." She hopped into the car as Dean and Sam fought each other to get inside. Before she pulled away, she shook her head in disbelief, "Give'em vampires or werewolves, no problem; but a bear and they run for the hills." This time, Nadia's risky driving was more tolerable and welcomed.

The diner was closed when they reached the hotel. The emotional draining caused Nadia to fall onto the bed, fully dressed. "Oh I see how it is. When you're in Sam's bed you are practically naked; but in your boyfriend's you are covered up."

She was too exhausted to argue or even think his comment was cute; so she lazily stripped off everything but her bra and underwear. Then she rolled over, curled up, and pulled the sheet up to her chin.

Dean ignored her attitude, "That's better." He climbed under the sheets and pulled Nadia as close to him as he could. His lack of further movement made Nadia smile, turn and kiss his cheek. She felt completely comfortable and secure. They had no worries as they lay wrapped in each other's arms. He kissed her forehead and they fell into a deep uninterrupted sleep.

Chapter 43

Nadia awoke before Sam and Dean. She slipped into a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt before making her way across to the diner. She sat in the same booth where she and Dean had been just days before; she could see the door to their room and still saw no movement. Kay was working again and Nadia wondered if anyone else was employed, allowing a day off. She topped off an old man's coffee and Nadia had a sudden urge to ask him how often he came here. But Kay started walking her way.

"I remember you. Where's yourboyfriend?" she asked.

"He's still sleeping," Nadia smiled.

"Darn," she smiled.

Nadia knew exactly what she meant by here comment, "Yeah, I'm lucky." Kay could have told her she was going over to throw herself at Dean, and she wouldn't even have cared. As sickening as it sounded in her head, she felt completely secure in their relationship.

"What can I get ya?"

"A hot chocolate and a menu for know, please."

"Sure thing," she grabbed a menu from the counter and handed it to Nadia. "Let me know when you're ready."

Nadia thanked her and scanned the menu. It was full of the type of home cooked, comfort food that was only found out west and down south. Though her head told her to think of how unhealthy it had to be, she couldn't help but order the biscuits and gravy.

"Great choice," Kay said as she sat down her hot chocolate.

It was amazing what one exhausted nights sleep could do. Kay was beginning to feel like an old friend, when a day before, Nadia wanted to slap that flirtatious smile off her pretty little face.

Soon, Nadia was the only customer left in the place and she took advantage of the fact to ask Kay about what had happened in 1964. The only thing was that she was having trouble deciding how to go about doing it. She could simply make her tell the truth; but she wanted the satisfaction of doing something the old fashion way. Manipulating the mind the same way Dean had gotten so good at getting the facts; nothing was going to get in the way of his respecting her as a hunter.

Before Nadia could decide, Kay sat across from her. "I saw you talking to Jack." She didn't elaborate any further.

"Yes," neither did Nadia.

"It's hard to get people around here to talk about the bad things that happen; even if you've lived here all your life." She talked as if she were stating facts, "They say the wives killed them in their sleep."

"So I've heard."

"I babysat for Mrs. Moore for five years; I can't believe she could do such a thing."

"The evidence is pretty convincing." Nadia let her move the conversation along at her own pace.

"Are you a cop?" Nadia shook her head. "A lawyer?"

"God no; too much stuff to remember."

Kay smirked; she was beginning to like this mysterious girl more and more. "I'm Kay."

"Nadia."

"That's so much more interesting than Kay," she rolled her eyes.

She was a peculiar girl, but Nadia could tell she wanted to talk. "Well, my family was interesting."

"Was?"

I'll show you mine, you show me yours; "My mom, dad, and grandfather were murdered."

Kay's face changed from intrigue to shock, "You lost all of them at once?"

"Nothey all died at different times. I never met my dad; he died before I was born."

"GodI am so sorry."

"What doesn't kill you"

"I thought my life sucked; being stuck somewhere I don't want to be."

Nadia looked around, "You have a bigger family than you know. My town thought I was cursed soI became the stereotypical old man with the house on the hill; where kids dared each other to go near." She was quiet for awhile, "Not that you should give up on your dreams; but you have a place where people love you, care about you, and where everyone knows you. You should know that you have all those things. No matter what happens, you have a place where you can always come back too; there is always going to be someone who knows you, remembers you, who wants to see you happy."

Kay stared out the window until she heard the bell "ding" from the kitchen. She retrieved Nadia's plate and sat it on the table. She scooted back onto the seat and looked back out the window again. Nadia started eating her food, it was delicious, and forced Kay to talk. Nadia had shared all she was going to; it was Kay's turn for show and tell.

"I don't believe for a second that Mrs. Moore killed her husband; at least not consciously. They had one of the best relationships I have ever seen."

Nadia sipped her hot chocolate, "Appearances can be deceiving."

"I know. That is why I know she didn't do it. My parents fight, a lot; but when other people are around, they shut it off. I know when people are faking getting along. They never were. Don't get me wrong, they fought; whether I was there or not. They never let it simmer just because I was in the house."

"What did they fight over?"

"The one thing I remember the most wasthey were fighting about the past and what it was doing to them now. Whatever that meant. They brought up Mr. Dober a lot. I never heard why, but I heard his name and Mrs. Moore would always end up crying."

"Do you think they were having an affair?"

"Who, Mr. Dober and Mrs. Moore?" She laughed, "Have you seen Mr. Dober? No, no way. He is weird and a pervno way. I got the impression that they both hated the guy."

That struck Nadia as odd, "Why would they have given guardianship of the kids to him then?"

"Mr. Dober? I didn't know they had." She scratched her head, "I don't know what to say."

Nadia decided to make her move, "I heard someone talking about the "incident" that happened in 1964. Do you know what they were talking about?"

She thought for a while; then her eyes lit up in recognition. "Oh my gosh, I just put that together. I haven't thought of that story in a long time; that must have been what they were fighting about."

"Mr. and Mrs. Moore?"

"Yes," she looked at the table, her mouth slack.

"What happened?" Nadia leaned in.

"Uh"she fought to straighten everything out in her head. "Prom was coming up and Mr. Dober, Ben, didn't have a date. No wonder, he was a complete dork. Anyway, he asked Mrs. Gavin; but she said no, because she was going with Tommy, Mr. Gavin. Pickings are slim even nowadays; there aren't many options. So he asked Samantha, now Mrs. Martz, and she was going with Joe Dubois."

There were only four guys that the girls could go with, thank God the odds are better now, so he had a good shot at getting a date. Or so he thought, I mean what girl would choose to go to a prom of nine people, alone, right? So he asked Alexis Pete (Mrs. Dubois) who was going with Frank Garmon. So he has two options left; Mrs. Garmon and Mrs. Moore. Oh my God! They are all there; I mean, except Brad Moore and Henry Martz, they moved here afterward. Everyone involved in the killings is right there!"

She was flabbergasted and in shock. Nadia was on the verge of yelling at her to finish the story. "What happened? I need you to tell me."

Kay gave her a curious look and continued, "Mrs. Garmon and Moore both said "no" they would rather go stag. It was a crushing blow to him. I mean, can you imagine?"

Nadia felt like she was about to scream, "This may sound weird, but were they all cheerleaders?"

"Yeah, in fact that is what they did. They made up this whole cheer routine about how pathetic and gross he was and how they would rather go stag than with him. It was really pretty awful; they did it right in the middle of prom, on the dance floor. He took off, dropped out of school and they got expelled. They even removed the girl's pictures from the yearbook. Ben only came back two years agothat was when I heard the Moore's fighting; that must be why."

Nadia reached in her pocket and didn't even now what she grabbed, but she threw it on the table and said thank you as she ran out the door. Dean had just emerged from the hotel room and was angrily striding across the road. He looked up when he heard running coming his way. He saw Nadia just before she ran into him, unable to control her excitement.

"I know what happened! You won't believe it!" she kissed his cheek and ran across the road, without a glance in either direction. Dean was still standing stunned in the parking lot of the diner. He saw Kay staring out the window and waved.

Kay couldn't help but smile as she watched Nadia jump into her boyfriend's arms. "Ah, how sickening," came a voice from behind her. She turned and saw Jackson, the cook, wiping off the counter and looking out the window. She turned back and waved at the stunned man in the parking lot. She couldn't help it; she was a hopeless romantic at heart. Even though she had just made a huge break in the case, she felt no rush to tell anyone; she had already told the one person she really felt could truly do something about it.

Nadia could hardly keep from screaming once she made it into the room. Sam jumped to his feet as she burst through the door. She had to shift her weight from side to side in order to keep from telling the whole thing before Dean made it back.

He finally opened the door and the words came spilling from her mouth. She told them everything, stopping to clarify who was now who and who were the two horrible girls who had made the whole thing happen.

"Every single one of them," Sam said astonished.

"I know, isn't it great?" Nadia said.

"It's never thiswrapped up at the end."

"So every one of them is connected to Ben Dober?" Dean smiled, "Okay, I'm sorry; I can't say that with a straight faceI would kill my parents."

"But how is he doing it?" Sam asked.

"I know, that is the only thing not wrapped up," Nadia said, her previous high, gone.

"Maybe they are being controlled," Dean said.

"You think Ben is some" Sam searched for the right word but came up empty, "thing?"

"Or he is controlling some, thing," he mocked his brother.

"Can nybbases be controlled?" Nadia asked.

"I've never heard of it; but that doesn't mean anything."

"I'll call Bobby; maybe he knows what we're up against," Sam offered.

Nadia grew discouraged and guilty, "We were right there, he was right in front of us; in their house. With their picture; and we just let him go," she threw up her hands.

Dean walked over to her and said, "We'll get him, I promise. We had no idea; besides, I was the one who let him go."

"But I looked to you to make that decision and we had no reason to believe anything other than his story." She paused and her face turned to an expression of horror, "Oh God, what if he hurts the kids?"

Dean suddenly grew very serious, "He won't hurt them; we'll get him first. He has no reason to hurt them; he doesn't know we are on to him yet."

Nadia hoped he was right.

Chapter 44

"According to Bobby, nybbas are weak, coward demons. They are what the devil would send out on errands, basically," Sam told Nadia and Dean after he hung up the phone.

"So can they be controlled?" Dean asked.

"He has no reason to think otherwise; in fact, he said that he wouldn't be surprised if one was being controlled. They have trouble facing those who challenge them."

"Did he know if there was any way to track the controller down?" Nadia eagerly asked.

"Not now. But he gave me an incantation to protect us in case Ben, or whoever is controlling the thing, decides to sick him on us. A couple things may sound familiar," he looked at Nadia. "I think your grandparents may have used this for name ideas. Sort of a stab to the hunting community." Nadia looked at him confused and waiting. He started reading off from a piece of paper he had jotted notes on; "Deus," he glanced at Nadia, "servo miki. Tutela meus vishus ex vulnero, tutela meus animus ex malkum. Contego miki ex hostium." He sat the paper back down and said, "We are supposed to say it before we go to sleep and right after we wake up."

"Deus and Contego," Nadia repeated, as if she had expected it.

"There is also a tattoo," Sam said to no one in particular.

"Another one?" Dean said before he turned to Sam, "Which do you prefer, Harley or Indian?"

"Tattoos are not strictly for bikers or gangs or ex-cons. All sorts of people have them now. You can see 80 year olds getting inked on Miami Ink." Nadia rolled her eyes.

"A show all about tattoos?"

"It's a good show. Anyway, back to the whole demon running wild thing"

Sam responded, "Bobby's sending me an e-mail of the tattoo." He scrolled down his computer screen, but found nothing.

"Does he even know how to use a computer?" Dean asked.

Sam shrugged, still staring at his computer screen. "He'll probably go to a library, they can help him."

Nadia and Dean sat on the bed impatiently waiting for something to do; whether it was getting another tattoo or killing a demon. They were desperate. Minutes passed like hours; until finally Sam sat up straighter and said, "Got it." He clicked the envelope open, as Nadia and Dean looked over his shoulder. An ornate image flashed onto the screen. The symbol looked like a submarine scope on top of a sickle, that sat on a "U" on a triangle that had a circle off to the right of it, and upside down "T" under the triangle and halfway inside of a bent trumpet. An arrow shot from the right arm of the trumpet. Hard to explain without a visual; no wonder he sent a picture. A small old cross finished the tattoo between the two ends of the trumpet.

Beneath the symbol, Bobby had written further instructions and information.

The damn thing can only be killed while it is messing with some poor sleeping bastard's mind. Once you have it, cutting off its head and burning the corpse is the only way to get rid of it for good. But, I would shoot it with the colt just to be sure.

-Bobby

"Well, that is comforting. Someone has to be bait," Nadia looked from Sam to Dean.

That was too close of a call. They were too close, way too close to ruining the whole thing. Ben paced back and forth; over the door that was the gateway to the children he had procured as further punishment for the humiliation he felt years ago. That woman and man had come so close to ruining all his years of planning and it was all because those pipsqueaks wouldn't shut up. He suddenly grew very upset and the crying below him seemed to grow louder and louder; he couldn't stand it a second longer.

The door slammed to the floor and the children yelped as the blinding light hit there dirty faces. Soon a familiar and terrifying shape blocked all the light as he climbed down the ladder and glared from one face to the next. All of their faces reminded him of that night; their mother's eyes, her nose, her mouth. The Moore kids caused him the most fury; he could hear their mother's mocking laughter as she told him, "I wouldn't go with you if you were the last boy here. Oh wait, you are."

Adam Moore saw the man's hand thrust at him and as he tried to twist away, he was caught by his hair. Pain split through his skull as he was pulled into the man's arms. No matter how he fought, he couldn't escape back to the hole he now sought safety in. He was slammed against the dirt-saturated boards, unable to get the air to return to his lungs. He heard the door slam shut again and the lock slide into place as a hand clenched around his ankle. He took a chance, he screamed as loudly as he could; but a swift kick to his head cut his plea short. Everything was black and the sounds grew more and more faint.

The boy was easy to maneuver and place onto the table. The restraints were just short enough to keep his arms and legs from coming free.

"Your mother was a bitch. Did you know that? Of course you didn't, she never told you what she did to me then, did she," he tightened the straps. His focus drifted for a beat and then returned to his task, "No, of course notshe put on the face of the perfect mother and wife. The others were different, they had dates already; but sheoh, she made it worse than it had to be." His lips quivered in anger, "All she had to do was apologize, but no, she couldn't even do that. Don't blame me for this, it is her fault. I went to her two years ago and asked for an apologyshe laughed!" He was yelling now, anger shaking his entire body. "That was when I knew. I knew what I had to do. I had to make her pay, don't you see? She made it so I had to leaveI had leave the state and she couldn't even say two little words!" He seemed to clam himself in seconds, "I read, I read a lot." He fidgeted constantly, like a junkie with withdrawals, "I knew there had to be something that would be justice enough for what they did. I found this book and," he smiled, "it was perfect. It told me everything I needed to know, needed to do. I started preparing, just in case. You see, I never would have gone through with it, had she apologized. But it's too late. It's too late for an apology now. If I hadn't had a deadline, then I'm sure I never would have gone through with it to begin with."

He fidgeted and looked around the old barn, "I'm glad you were hers; the others were biggerharder to handle. You're sister, should I get her?" He was blinking constantly, rubbing his thigh, "No, no I won't make her watch; I'm not that cruel. Her time will come. Yes, yes her time will comeher time will come." He grabbed the scalpel from the table behind him and turned back to Adam; looking him over, head to toe.

They were struggling, fighting over what to do first; go to Ben's house and hope to find the children or decide how to get the nybbas. If the kids weren't there, they would tip Ben off and he could kill them; if they were, the nybbas would be free to kill some more. Nadia was torn the most; she had a vendetta against her family, and this could be Contego, but she wanted to save the kids. "I just don't think we should go in there willy-nilly and hope they are there somewhere."

"Nadia, we have to do something and personally, I can take the nybbas getting away and seeing those kids alive." Dean told her again.

"What if they're not there?"

Before Dean could respond, a knock sounded from the door. Nadia opened it a sliver and saw Kay's worried face on the other side. "Kay? Is everything alright?"

"I remembered you said that Ben had custody of the Moore's and I had this bad feeling; so I called the police station." Dean and Sam looked at each other, fearing that she had blabbed the whole thing to them, "I asked who had custody of the other kids and they looked it up." She paused, "He does. He has sole guardianship over all 10 kids." Her eyes flashed between Nadia's and she nervously picked at her thumb as she talked.

Nadia turned to Dean and nodded. In a matter of seconds, Dean had his duffle full of guns, knives, salt, silver, iron, and ammunition. Nadia and Sam were hurrying to the car.

"Did you tell the cops anything else; about what you told me?" Nadia quickly asked Kay as she opened the door.

"No."

Nadia nodded and nervously licked her bottom lip, "Thank you."

Kay nodded in return as Dean ran passed her and swung himself into the car. They left Kay standing outside the hotel, watching them drive away.

"You have the address?" Nadia asked Sam or Dean.

Sam answered, "Yeah, I know right where to goMapquest." While Dean and Nadia had been arguing about what to do, he had been scouring the internet for anything on Ben Dober. He told her where to turn and within minutes they were driving up to a large, dark, and menacing house.

"Why aren't the houses ever nice and inviting?" Dean asked, preoccupied with looking for any sign of child or man.

Adam was slowly waking up; his face felt like it had been run over by a truck. He looked to his left and saw the same color wood that he had been staring up at for days.

"Ah, morning sleepy head. I was afraid you were going to miss all the excitement."

The man's voice caused Adam to snap his head to the right. Mr. Dober, a man he had met only once before, looked down at him. His eyes gradually moved down his face, chest, and arm. He flailed and tried to get away when he saw the scalpel in his hand; but the restraints dug into his wrists.

"Shhhwhat's the matter? Oh this," he lifted the scalpel, "this is nothing; just something for me to bring justice with. You know, like a gavel. The big hammer a judge uses. Think of me as a judge." He stroked the boy's face.

Nadia carried a shotgun full of slugs and a belt around her waist held rounds of ammunition. Dean and Sam carried nearly the same equipment as they circled the house. Nadia moved straight for the barn.

Dean and Sam met around the back of the house and Sam ran to the front door as Dean opened the back. Guns drawn, they moved swiftly from room to room. Sam was the first to head upstairs and Dean was close behind. They had done this so many times; that they seemed to read each other's thoughts. Dean entered the room on the right and Sam turned to the left.

The rooms were completely empty, save for a bed and the cheerleading photos from each house. They each moved to their respective last rooms. There was nothing new for Sam to see; the room was eerily identical to the others. He joined Dean, who was still standing in the doorway, staring into the room.

He followed as Dean slowly stepped inside. "This guy has some major issues," Dean looked from wall to wall and saw hundreds of photos covering each; two of the walls focused around the last two photos from the women's homes.

"These have to be from more than just two years," Sam said amazed and horrified.

"Yeah, I think our friendly neighborhood psycho was stashed away somewhere this whole time."

"Each wall is dedicated to one woman."

"This one seems to be special," Dean looked from photo to photo of Heather Moore. "More space, no interruptions."

Sam looked at the window in the wall of Amy Garmon, the door in Samantha Martz's, the closet of Alexis Dubois' wall, and the closet doors that were host to Sheila Gavin. Ben's feelings about Heather were definitely different, stronger.

The smell of manure and old straw filled Nadia's nose the instant she stepped through the doors of the barn. She held he gun tightly as she carefully stepped inside. The light coming through the doors she had just entered was all that lit the barn. She carefully searched for a light switch, not taking her eyes from ahead of her for more than two seconds.

She flipped a switch and watched carefully as light after light flashed on and more and more of the barn became visible. She moved from stall to stall and found nothing. "Adam, Kate!" she yelled, hoping on of the kids would call out for help. She heard nothing. She turned and for the first time saw what was in the middle of the floor.

Dean and Sam jogged guns up, to the barn and stepped inside. Dean saw Nadia standing in the middle of the floor, staring down. He walked up beside her while Sam followed, scanning the surroundings.

"He's not here," Nadia said in an emotionless voice. "Neither are they."

Dean followed her gaze down to the floor. There laid an axe, table with restraints, wheel barrel, shovel, chains, and large gauge needles. The three of them stared at the equipment, destined to hurt, kill, and maim.

Ben couldn't help talking to the crying boy secured to his table. He carefully sliced down each of his legs and laughed, "They'll go to my house, you know? They will think that they were too late. You see I left tools, dubious looking tools, lying right in the middle of the barn. I wish, I wish that I would have thought to put pig's blood on the axe and groundall over. I didn't have time." He moved to his arms and face, oblivious to the screams and tears that came with every cut. "No more dancing for you, no more using your arms or legs. No girl will like you with your face looking like this," it sounded like a critique as he ran his fingers over the gashes on his face.

Adam was slipping into blessed shock; adrenaline fought to keep the pain away.

He smiled, "You know my favorite part of all this?" He leaned and whispered into his victim's ear, "Where we are." He laughed loud and deep. "This is where it all happened. This is where" he looked up, "they destroyed my life."

He stood up and walked over to his wide selection of devices that leaned against the wall. "What to choose, what to choose." He spun around and thoughtfully asked, "Do you think they will figure it out in time to save you?" He tipped his head and stared at Adam, "NoI don't think so either." He turned back to scan his choices.

The three of them sat back in the car and silently stared ahead in shock and disbelief.

"I can't believe it," Dean kept saying. "I can't believe we were too late."

"Why?" Nadia asked.

Dean looked at her like she was crazy, "Why? Why? Because I wanted to find themI wanted them alive."

"Nowhy here? He didn't grow up here. What is the significance?"

"He is psychotic, he doesn't need any significance."

"He does. They always do," her face and tone hadn't changed.

"What? Like where they practiced cheerleading, where he ran to after it all happened." He couldn't think of another example.

"Where it all happened," Sam said.

They all looked at each other and Nadia threw the car into reverse. Dean was confident that if they didn't make it in record time, it wasn't for her lack of trying.

She wasn't slowing down for the stop sign that was approaching and the truck coming perpendicular to them wasn't stopping either. Dean and Sam gripped the side of the car, "Uh, NadiaNadia" The turn was coming closer and closer, as was the truck; the driver's head faced directly forward, giving the car no notice. "Nadia, there's…there's a truck"

Without taking her eyes from ahead of her, she simply said, "Stop." Before Dean could yell at her, he noticed the truck, simultaneously, screech to a halt. She slowed only enough to make the turn and she was headed down the main drag, straight for the school house.

At a hundred miles an hour, the short distance turned into seconds and Nadia made an even riskier turn than she had the night before. The car had barely stopped when they jumped out of the car and ran to the schoolhouse.

Ben heard a car flying up the driveway and his decision making process jumped into high gear. He grabbed the axe and turned to Adam, "I told you, I didn't think so." He raised the blade as the doors swung open.

Dean kicked in the doors to the school and found a completely empty room. A quick glance around showed that there was nowhere else to look. They all spun around, their faces desperate.

Nadia stopped and looked out the window, "There," she pointed to a small barn that sat a good distance from the school house.

They burst back out outside and ran as fast as they could to the building. Nadia reached it first, followed closely by Sam and Dean.

Her eyes flew around the inside and as she made eye contact with Ben Dober's small and familiar face; she saw complete psychosis in his eyes. He was beyond reasoning as Nadia saw his muscles flex as he swung the axe downward. She heard Sam and Dean yell, "No!"

Fury rose up inside of her like none she had ever felt before and she saw him fly backward and slam against the wall. The axe hit the table and fell to the ground.

Dean and Sam were taken aback and they both turned to Nadia. She was staring straight at Ben, jaw clenched, fury in her eyes. He was held high against the wall as she slowly walked straight to Adam, who lay unconscious and bound, without taking her eyes from Ben. Dean and Sam were still frozen in place as they watched Nadia look down at the little boy lying on the table, "He's alive."

This seemed to have released the brothers, as they hurried to her side. They looked down at the bleeding and pitiful boy below them. Dean looked angrily up at Ben, "What's that saying?" He turned to Sam, "There's nothing worse than, what?" He stared back at Ben.

"A woman scorned, I believe," Sam replied.

Ben was struggling to release himself from the wall, he looked down at Nadia, "Who are you?"

"I wouldn't worry about that," her expression was fierce and hard.

"Let me down."

"Okay," he fell forcefully to the ground and she threw him back up against the wall.

"They humiliated me!" He tried to justify himself.

"You couldn't get a prom date," Sam said with disgust. "Why couldn't you just go stag like everyone else?"

"They deserved" he started to say.

"No!" she yelled, "You deserve everything you get." He gave her a curious and fearful look. She clenched all the muscles in her neck and as she did so, Ben started to choke and try to gasp for air. The sounds of his gasping grew more and more desperate, more and more muffled. Adam began to moan and cry and Nadia grew even angrier; her body started to quiver as she sent him slamming into the north wall. Sam and Dean were at Adam's side, freeing his bindings. As she heard him becoming more and more painfully alert she wanted Ben to hurt as much as she could possibly make him hurt. "Strangulation is too easy," she said as he looked her pleadingly in the eyes, before slamming back into the wall in front of her. Dean glanced at Sam, concerned, and he watched Nadia as she glared at Ben and sent the axe he had threatened the helpless six year old with, sailing back at him. It swept passed Nadia's shoulder and Ben's eyes became full of fear just before it sliced into his chest. He tried to gasp for air as the life slowly drained from his face, he didn't take his eyes from her cold, unsympathetic gaze. Finally his head rolled to the side and their eye contact broke for the first time.

Adam was taken to the hospital in a car better than any ambulance. The driver could make people stop and turn on command and as sharp as the turns were, the men kept him steady as a rock. He was soon unconscious again and Sam was thankful he did not have to look in those desperate eyes again.

They sat in the waiting room, talking to officer after officer trying to explain what had happened. "It was self defense," Dean said. "You didn't see what he was about to do to that boy."

Nadia was still as shut off as she had been at the barn; she didn't need to explain herself, he knew what had happened without her saying a word. His mind heard and saw what she wanted him to. It was self defense; they were protecting a boy from a murderer who had confessed to all of the other killings; or so they believed. Adam was conscious just long enough to tell them were the others were, before he slipped into a coma. Though the doctors said it would be days before he awoke, if he did at all, Nadia, Sam, and Dean stayed in the waiting room. Two hours later, a doctor came out to let them know that Adam had passed away.

"He survived that, just to have a heart attack," Dean said, flatly and quietly.

They sat in disbelief, yet again, for thirty minutes; before walking silently and defeated out of the hospital. They stopped at the school and watched as the kids were hydrated and fed. One officer pointed their way and a young boy tapped on the glass of the car. Nadia opened the door, "Thank you," he looked in at Dean and Sam. He walked away as quickly as he had come, leaving Nadia staring at the ground. She slowly closed the door and closed her eyes as a tear ran down her cheek. She rested her head back on the seat and took a deep, shaky breath. After awhile she opened her eyes and drove back to the hotel and lay tensely in bed.

Chapter 45

Nadia watched hours drag by as she stared at the wall and ceiling, hoping sleep would come; but knew that it wouldn't. She could feel Dean wake up and gently turn his head to see if she was still awake. He never turned his back to her even once while he was asleep and she found that strangely comforting. When her body finally forced her to sleep, she felt Dean quietly roll out from beneath the covers and go into the bathroom. She knew it was morning but she didn't care.

As he pulled on his jeans, Dean stopped and looked back at the door to the room he had just come from; where Nadia finally lay sleeping. Suddenly he felt like he had to do something and he hurried to finish getting dressed. As he turned his sock so that the bottom was where it was meant to be, one small thing popped into his head and he hurried outside. He walked the short distance to the store next door and he dug through his memory for any little thing she may have mentioned in the past. As he thought of the Mooville setting in the cooler, he smiled as he pulled open the door. The same two women who had been so tight lipped with Sam, stood behind the counter smiling. "Hello," they said simultaneously.

He smiled and gave a quick nodded, "Do you have Reasons?"

They looked at each other and the older one asked, "We have manywhich would you like?"

He grew frustrated by their humor, "They arewell, I don't know what they are really." As he said it, he grew more and more certain he would fail at his new mission.

The women looked questioningly at each other and shrugged; but a voice came from the doorway to another room. Before he turned, fear shot through him as he thought of Bela; for the voice had a soft English accent. It came from a young girl with contrastingly sharp, but beautiful features. "They're candy," she glanced at the women, then back at Dean, "Chocolate caramel covered in chocolate, actually. They are quite delicious," she walked past him and pointed to a rod that held ten dark brown bags. He noticed the spelling and thought for a moment she must have been mistaken. "They are European," she said as she studied his face; to her, that seemed to explain everything.

"Thank you," he pulled all of them off the hanger and she looked at him, amused.

"Have quite a fancy for them, don't you?" she smirked.

He looked down at the pile in his arms, "They're for my girlfriend," he still felt incredibly awkward saying that, "she's depressed."

"And you wish to cheer her up?"

"Yeah," he suddenly felt uneducated as he listened to her speak.

"Well, that's very sweet of you. Is there anything else she might want?"

He looked at her; taking her question to be pointing out that he wasn't doing enough. "Do you have any Ben & Jerry's.Half" he tried to remember what Nadia had called it.

"Baked?"

"Yes," he thankfully said.

"I like this girl alreadybut I'm sorry, we unfortunately, don't carry any of that."

He sighed, "That's alright; I'm surprised you guys had these."

She leaned in and smiled, "You're welcome. They are my absolute biggest guilty pleasure; I made them order them," she nodded to the women at the counter.

"Thanks," he walked to the counter. He stopped and walked back to the rod and slid one bag back into place. She laughed as he walked to the counter.

As he walked out the door, he heard, "Good luckhas she ever been to Glacier?"

He stopped and shook his head, "Don't know why I didn't think of that." He looked back and waved and went back to the room.

Sam was drinking a glass of chocolate milk when Dean came in. He looked over the glass and asked, "Got anything good?"

Without missing a beat, Dean replied "Not for you," as he opened the door to Nadia. Then he looked back out at Sam, "Get dressed, we're going sightseeing."

Milk fell onto Sam's leg as Dean's demand caused him to miss his mouth; he wiped it off and flashed a confused look at where Dean. Sam instantly saw the welcomed shift in Dean's mood so he got dressed, packed, and waited.

Nadia woke up as she heard Dean walk into the room. She turned to him and saw the bag in his hand, "What's that?"

Without a word, he dumped the bag out onto the bed and couldn't help smiling at Nadia's face. She pulled back as the bags fell onto the bed; when she realized what they were, she smiled. He brushed the hair off her face and kissed her cheek.

"If you want to try one, you better do it now. It could be hazardous to your health later," she smirked.

"Oh really?"

"Yup," she unwrapped one and reached her hand out for to him. He leaned forward and took it with his teeth.

She watched as he enjoyed it and with his mouth still full, he asked, "How do I not know about these things; Mooville, Riesens" he shook his head.

"There is always a riesen to have a Mooville," she smiled.

Dean rolled his eyes, "Cheesy much?" He held up his hand, "I'll be right back." When he came back, he handed her a full glass of chocolate milk. "By the way," he said as he sat on his side of the bed and looked down at Nadia as she lay her head on his lap, "you have to get dressed we have things to do, people to see." He refused to reveal any more and she excitedly got dressed and packed.

They loaded the car and Nadia sat in the passenger seat, smiling as she replayed Dean dumping the Riesens on the bed. She watched the mountains of Glacier as they grew closer and closer to the entrance. When Dean flipped on the right blinker, she smiled and bit her lip as she looked at him and back out the window. Sam gave an angry sigh as he, yet again, shifted in the back seat.

Dean paid the entrance fee without a complaint at the price; though she knew it was hard for him to do. She grew more and more excited as she watched the mountains and water go by the window. She had brought her camera and plenty of film, just in case. When he turned into the first 'pull-away' and she grabbed it from her bag; he looked at her and smiling, shook his head.

"What a surprise, I never would have thought," she glanced at him as she raised the camera to her eye.

They had been all the way to the end of "To-the-Sun-Road" and back again; five rolls of film later, they were parked at Logan's Pass. Nadia gave Dean a pass as when started to complain as he made it to the end of the board way and stared up at the path that continued as far as he could see. She had refused to look at the map to see how long the trek was but, it was only a matter of time before she was telling herself it couldn't be that much further. She was disgusted to find that every time she did so, the next turn brought another long up-hill stretch.

The climb was beautiful and wouldn't have been so bad, if it weren't a climb, and if the oxygen deprivation wasn't starting to drain them. As people blew passed them, Dean and Nadia grew even more disgusted and snappy.

As they topped one hill, three mountain goats were crossing the path ahead of them. Dean looked at them and said, "You guys better hope you are gone by the time I get back here; I may just find out what goat tastes like."

"Yeah, and cuisine ala county jail," Nadia replied, breathlessly.

"Been there, done that."

"Yeah, well I wasn't as big of a fan of the chicken as you were; so take this," Sam handed Dean a package of peanut M&M's and continued, "and shut up."

Dean ripped it open and dumped them all in his mouth. He stood still as he chewed them and swallowed; after a couple of beats, "Yeah, still hungry."

Nadia had kept walking and she called back, "We made it…well sort of."

Dean looked at Sam, "How could we have almost made it?" Sam shrugged and walked up beside Nadia, Dean followed.

"I see why they call it Hidden Lake," Sam looked down at the steel blue lake far below them.

"We are supposed to go down there?" Dean pointed to their right and down at the fainted path in the distance.

"It goes all the way to the bottom, so yeah. But I saw the lake…" she looked from Dean to Sam.

Dean smirked, "Me too."

They turned and walked back down the path from which they had just come. Nadia finally looked at the map she had brought and felt pathetic when she saw that the entire trail was only 1.5 miles one way, to the overlook where they had decided to turn around; the elevation loss of 460 feet made her feel a little better when she thought of the oxygen loss; and the fact that this was the first time she had ever experienced it.

As they came back down, three rangers stood at the end. Dean and Sam's hearts raced; they may be dead, but if they were recognized their cases could be reopened.

Nadia overheard two women talking about bears and one said that a grizzly was spotted about 40 yards away. She noticed the look on Dean's face and said, "Relax, it's just a bear."

"Bear?" Dean's eyes grew.

"The rangers are there to make sure the bear doesn't come too close," she pointed.

"I don't know if I like that any better," he said.

They walked safely passed the rangers and back to the parking lot. Mingling in with everyone's cars, were big horned sheep; which made Dean no less nervous.

"Just keep a safe distance, don't threaten them, and you'll be fine," Nadia smirked and rolled her eyes.

When a break in the animal traffic came, they all hurriedly climbed in the Camero. Dean was in such a rush to get in, that he silently sat in the back. Nadia took some pictures of the sparse glaciers; that she, sadly, found out would be gone in 30 years if global warming continued. Admittedly, she took more than pictures but did leave nothing but footprints; rocks from St. Mary's Lake, Lake McDonald, and the path to Hidden Lake weighed down her pocket. A weird souvenir, but one she didn't fell guilty about taking. Her mother had always taught her to take rocks, because they were more than abundant and it wasn't something everyone else would have too.

They returned back to the main road 8 hours later and headed back to the airport. Dean drove, Sam slept, and Nadia watched the mountains grow smaller through the back window. She was going to miss this place.

Dean was more than reluctant to let Nadia try her fear of flying remedy again; but in the end, he succumbed, purely out of exhaustion. The flight back home came with a lot of turbulence and Nadia was glad Dean was knocked out; and wondered if she could do the same to herself. She never liked the taste of alcohol but, needed it to calm her nerves. Three shots later, she was just relaxed enough to fall asleep too.

When she awoke, the plane was just about to touch down. She shook Sam awake and then Dean; who seemed to remember everything just fine.

Chapter 46

Dean had never in his life experienced homesickness; but as Nadia's house came into view, he thought he may have an idea what it felt like. He parked the Impala in front of the house and they all lazily climbed up the steps to the porch. A note was stuck inside the screen door and Nadia grabbed it without a glance and unlocked the door.

Once inside, they all dropped their bags in the living room. Nadia looked down at Dean's as it hit the floor and she glanced back up at him.

"What?" he asked.

"I hope none of those are loaded," she said as she walked to the table and sat down to open the envelope.

"I wasn't born yesterday." He sat across from her as Sam grabbed a glass from the cupboard; and motioned to Dean to ask if he wanted anything, he shook his head.

"It's from Andrea," Nadia said as she read. "She got a job/internship in California, at some high end salon. She is going to take it," she looked up at Sam who was standing beside her.

After a few beats, he shrugged his shoulders and said, "She should, it's a good opportunity."

"Sorry," Nadia said before looking back at the note. She looked at the calendar on the wall, "She leaves tomorrow. We need to go see her."

Dean already had his keys in his hand, "I thought she was going to college?"

"She is…was, she finished cosmetology school a few months ago and couldn't and didn't want to find a job; so she enrolled in a few classes."

"What do her parents do?"

"Why?"

"If she can afford to just take some classes, spur of the moment…and she isn't working…"

"They aren't footing the bill," she replied.

He nodded and opened the door for her and followed them out to the car. Nadia reached in her pocket and handed her keys to Sam. "You'll probably stay longer."

He looked down at his hand and watched her get into the car. He glanced at Dean, who winked at him and climbed in the driver's seat. Sam slid into the Mustang's and adjusted the seat.

"You know, it's funny…I never really talked to her all that much…you know, for a best friend. But I always knew she was there if I needed her…now…" Nadia said, staring out the windshield.

"Now, she isn't going to be," Dean glanced at her.

She nodded and continued her line of sight ahead. "Makes you wish you appreciated it more before."

Dean shot his brows upward as he thought of life. Something he always took slightly for granted and, now that his days were numbered, it continued to pop into his consciousness.

The door was open when they arrived and suitcases covered in dolphins were scattered about the floor. Tissues littered the coffee table and Nadia knew that they all belonged to Andrea's mom. No one was within sight as the walked into the living room. Nadia motioned for Dean and Sam to sit on the couch, while she went down to the basement to look for Andrea. Dean quickly grabbed her arm and handed her his handgun. She took it without question.

She slowly descended the stairs and thought of movies where the character always calls out for the person they're looking for; stupid. She kept her mouth shut and stepped as delicately as she could; she wanted to surprise anything that was down there as much as it surprised her.

The door to Andrea's room was slightly ajar and Nadia could hear things being thrown and moved around. She pushed it open with her right shoulder and held the gun pointed to the floor in her right hand. She didn't want to accidentally shoot anybody. Before she could see the whole room, she heard the door upstairs open again and startled voices float down the stairs. Andrea's parents were back and they didn't sound happy to see strangers in their house.

Just as she was about to quickly run back upstairs, the door beside her swung open and she jumped back, gun drawn. Andrea stood in the doorframe, eyes wide and hands held high. Nadia dropped the gun back to the floor, "Sorry, sorry. I thought someone might have broken in."

Andrea burst into tears and hugged Nadia, "I don't want to go…I mean I do, but I don't." Nadia could barely understand her through her sobs. "You'll be here and I'll be thousands of miles away!"

"That's what they make planes for, Andrea," Nadia rubbed her back. She heard more footsteps above and Dean nervously called her name. She smiled, "We better get up there before you're dad pulls out a shotgun."

They turned the corner into the dining room and Andrea told her dad, "It's alright. They are friends."

"Friends?" he eyed Sam and Dean.

"Yes dad, friends. This is Sam and Dean, Nadia's boyfriend," she motioned to each of them.

Leona Pail, looked at Nadia and gave a "nice job" smile; Nadia couldn't help laughing and Leona wiped the smile off her face as her husband looked over at her.

Nadia pressed her lips together and said, "Sorry, Mr. Pail."

Sam stepped forward and held out his hand to Simon, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Pail."

Simon eyed him skeptically, but the boys smile eased him and he shook his hand, "Simon."

Dean smiled and reached out his hand, "Nice to meet you. I'm Dean."

Simon said, "I have ears," and finally shook his hand.

Dean looked at the floor and sighed, "Sorry." Of course he likes Sam better, they always do. He wondered what others saw in him that made them so suspicious.

"Relax Dean, this is as close as you're gonna get to meeting my parents; and you survived," Nadia smiled.

"Nonsense," Leona said, "you are meeting the parents."

Nadia smiled, "Dean, this is Mrs. Pail," Leona snapped her head to Nadia, "sorry, Leona."

"Much better, and Sam," she shook Sam's hand. He got the exact opposite feeling that she knew her husband had gotten when looking at the boys; she liked Dean better. Luckily for Andrea, her dad preferred Sam.

"You got my note," Andrea said.

"Yeah, we just got back and came straight here." Sam replied.

"I'm so proud of you," Nadia patted her on the back. "You must be excited."

"I am. I just wish it was closer."

"Now don't get me started again," Leona told her daughter.

Simon sat in the large recliner. He was a formidable man; wide shoulders, jet black hair, rough and worked hands, and big arms. Dean sat uneasily on the end of the couch farthest from him, Nadia and Leona a buffer between them. Sam sat on the floor beside Andrea; careful not to do anything that would uncover their relationship.

They talked for a long time about their trip out to Montana; sightseeing, as far as Leona and Simon knew. Andrea told them all about the job and the salon; her excitement becoming more evident.

Leona insisted they stay for dinner and no one objected. While Andrea and Nadia helped in the kitchen, they strained to hear what the guys were talking about in the living room.

The conversation was lacking considerably between Simon, Dean, and Sam. Dean wished he were anywhere else and Sam felt like he had to watch everything he said.

Suddenly Simon asked Dean, "You shoot?"

Fear first surged through Dean, "Yeah…"

"Thought so," he nodded to the holster on Dean's belt; a recent gift from Nadia, "45?"

"Among others."

"Come here," he lifted himself out of the chair, "you too," he motioned to Sam. They both jumped to attention and followed him outside. Dean looked back nervously towards the kitchen and caught Nadia's eye; she smiled and turned back into the kitchen. Dean took a deep breath and sighed before following Simon out the door.

"They're cute," Leona said as she pushed the strips of steak off the cutting board into the skillet.

Nadia was cutting up green, red, and orange peppers for the fajitas; while Andrea rinsed off three bunches of asparagus. Andrea turned the water off and stared down at the colander, before turning and taking a deep breath to gain courage. "Mom…Sam and I are…he is…" she tried to search for the words.

Leona continued stirring the meat, "You like him."

"Yeah…no…I think I love him…"

"Think?" she said surprised, looking at her daughter for the first time in minutes. "I could tell when you saw him. You were…comforted for the first time in…awhile."

"Dad will kill him."

Andrea's parents were strict, overprotective Christians; her dad more so than her mom. She was 23 years old and still had never brought a guy home; let alone told him that she had ever dated…anyone. He refused to see that she was no longer his responsibility and Andrea had spent years secretly rebelling in every way she could think of.

"Not on purpose," Leona smiled. She laid her hand on Andrea's shoulder, "I'll talk to him; but honestly, you're leaving tomorrow, and…what he doesn't know won't kill him."

"So you're the one I should blame?" Nadia said to Leona.

"For what?" she asked with a smirk.

"For her rebellious streak that keeps getting her into trouble."

"Hey, I never said I wore a halo when I was your age."

Simon pulled open the doors to his shed and revealed a decent gun collection of his own. Sam and Dean grew more uneasy; they had faced demons, ghosts, vengeful spirits, vampires, and werewolves; but so far, parents were the worst.

Simon grabbed a 10 gauge from the rack and slid a shell inside, "Shooter's choice."

Sam scanned the arsenal and chose a 12 gauge. He wasn't about to challenge Simon into a shoot out with an equal weapon; he could handle being a wuss here. His prerogative was logic. Dean, on the other hand, grabbed a 10 gauge right away. He felt that he needed to prove himself, not shy away from the challenge. His prerogative was purely ego.

Simon slapped a box of shells in Dean's hand and walked back outside and Sam grabbed a box off the shelf for himself. They followed Simon to a large dirt pile where targets were already set up.

"The one sleeping with my daughter goes first," Simon looked at them both. Dean avoided eye contact and tried not to look towards Sam. Sam was frozen as he looked at the gun in Simon's hands; when he was finally able to swallow, it felt like a watermelon had ledged in his throat. Simon looked at Dean and said, "For your sake, you better not come up here."

Dean raised his hand and stepped back. Sam gave him a "what are you doing? Are you crazy?" look and tried to speak. "Uh, sir…I'm not…" he rubbed his neck, "I would never disresp…" he cleared his throat and Simon interrupted him.

"Everyone thinks I am oblivious to the way my daughter is. I know she has moments of poor judgment; but lucky for you, I'm not sure you're one of them; yet. So get up here and prove it to me."

Sam slowly walked forward and took aim at a clay pigeon that laid on the side of the mound; unconventional, but he wasn't going to bring it up. Focusing on everything his father had taught him, he slowly let out a deep breath, shoved the large man whose eyes drilled into him out of his mind, and squeezed the trigger. Pieces of bright orange went flying in every direction and Dean couldn't help but flash a proud smile.

Without a word of praise, Simon looked at Dean, "You're up."

Dean stepped forward and searched for the hardest target he could find. He finally settled on a two inch wide wooden stake. When he pulled the butte of the gun tightly to his shoulder, he couldn't help but think about the kiss at the shooting range and smirk as he squeezed the trigger. The stake snapped cleanly in half. He looked straight at Simon when he turned to walk back next to Sam.

Simon watched him walk past and fought back a smirk of his own. He raised his gun and turned to the side; Dean and Sam thought he was turned too far to hit even the farthest target to the side. The gun fired and neither Sam nor Dean saw any sign of damage on any of the targets. Simon walked by them and went into the woods 20 feet. When he came back, he held a grey rabbit in his fist. "If I am going to waste hard-earned shells, I'm going to make my target pay me back," he walked back to the shed.

Dean looked at Sam and said, "If I would've known I was supposed to be shooting Thumper, I would have."

Sam shrugged, "Hey, he's Andrea's dad; I'm the one he has to like." He dipped his brows in disbelief, "Was that rabbit deaf or something? What was it still doing here?"

Dean ignored his last comments, "Did you not hear the whole conversation earlier? He is as much Nadia's dad as he is Andrea's." They both returned the guns and shells to the shed and headed inside.

The table wasn't meant for 6 people; but they all managed to squeeze around it. Leona and Andrea sat on either side of Simon and Sam sat beside Andrea and Dean, Nadia completed the circle.

Each person had a large tortilla filled with meat and peppers on their plate. As they sat and ate, Dean and Sam started to grow more comfortable. "So, did you teach Nadia how to shoot?" Dean asked as juice ran down his chin.

Simon glanced up at him, "Didn't anyone teach Nadia how to shoot but Nadia." He looked at over at her, "Wish I could take the credit; but I had nothing to do with it."

"So, what do you two do?" Leona asked Sam and Dean.

Nadia, Andrea, Sam, and Dean all glanced at each other, until Sam answered, "Well, we are sort of…investigators."

"Really, like private investigators?"

"Sort of," Dean replied. "You could say we go after things you thought were only written about, in legends."

"Things?" Simon asked.

"Well dad, most of them are so awful that they don't even deserve to be called people," Andrea jumped in.

Sam reached for the bowl of asparagus and Simon noticed his hand shake as it moved towards him. Suddenly Simon leaned forward and said, "Boo!"

The bowl slammed back to the table and the asparagus and butter ran around everyone's plates and silverware. The bowl had tipped Sam's glass and before he could do anything about it and Coke rushed onto his lap.

Simon burst out laughing and seconds later, so did Nadia, Dean, and Andrea. Leona slapped her husband upside the back of his head and got up to get a towel. Dean scooped the asparagus back into the bowl as Nadia grabbed a wet wash cloth from the sink. Andrea and Leona worked on cleaning up the pop and Nadia worked on cleaning up every slimy trail of melted butter.

After the table was cleaned off and everyone had finished eating, Andrea invited Nadia, Dean, and Sam down to her room; a look from Leona kept Simon silent. Dean and Nadia sat on her couch. "You need to take those off," Andrea told Sam.

"No, I'm fine," Sam said.

Andrea brushed off his remark and grabbed his pants and started to unbutton them before Sam realized what she was doing. "Whoa!" Dean said, "Other people in the room!"

Sam pushed Andrea's hands away and took them off himself. "What are you going to do with them?" he asked as Andrea walked to the door.

"Wash them," she said.

"No way! If your dad sees them…I'm dead."

"Relax, he won't see them," she was out the door before he could respond.

When Andrea reached the top of the stairs, she could hear her mom and dad around the corner. "Mom, could you come here, please. It's a woman problem." It was a code that they had perfected over the years; Leona was to go to her daughter alone. Simon knew that Andrea had said the line too many times to always mean it; but the trouble was, he never knew if the situation was real or not and he was too afraid to find out.

Leona met her at the top of the stairs and took the jeans out of her hands. "Laundry, it's always laundry," she overemphasized to Simon, who she knew lurked around the corner. When she heard him go into the living room, she said, "You are lucky Nadia is down there, or even I'd have a problem with you bringing me your boyfriend's pants."

Andrea smiled, "I can't send him home with Coke-saturated jeans. Could you just throw them in with our things so dad won't notice?" She looked at her with puppy-dog eyes.

"If men only knew the conspiracies that went on under their own roof," she said as she threw the jeans into the washer.

"That's why they call themselves the head of the household, not the brain," Andrea retreated back to her room.

Two hours later, Nadia and Dean stood in the doorway of Andrea's room; ready to go back home. Andrea grabbed a box from under her bed and ran back to Nadia.

Inside, sat a small grey webcam. "So we can still see each other…at least. You have to buy the computer, though," Andrea quickly added.

Nadia smiled and rolled her eyes, "As big of a pain in the butt as you are, I'm gonna miss you." She hugged her and thanked her for the gift. "When you get there, I want you to find a decent apartment and call me. I'll take care of it."

"You always have to show me up! But, I don't even care this time. Thanks, I thought I was gonna have to live in a roach infested crack house." She turned the Dean, "I love having rich friends."

Dean smiled and said, "Yeah, good-bye to you too." Nadia rolled her eyes again before hugging her one last time and she told Andrea that she loved her.

Sam stuck behind for a half hour; until Andrea said, "Get in the car, go around the corner and when I call, come back; lights off. I'll let you in."

Sam felt extremely uneasy about the plan but; he couldn't help the feelings that arose. He already thinks I'm sleeping with her, he thought.

He told Simon and Leona goodnight and he drove around the corner and waited.

Less passionate than Andrea and Sam, Dean and Nadia fell into bed and hardly said goodnight to each other, before falling into a deep sleep.

Sam left the car around the corner and cut through other people's yards until he finally reached Andrea's back door. He sat in the shadows of the tree line and waited for his phone to ring.

Once Andrea and Sam reached the door to her room, they couldn't even make it to the bed; before they started pulling each other's clothes off. Andrea fell back onto her couch and pulled Sam down on top of her. Her right hand gripped the hair on the back of his head as he kissed her neck and sunk his fingers into her lower back. He pulled her into the sitting position and ran his hand down her neck and over her chest, following it with his lips. She lay back down and wrapped her legs around his waist; but he lifted her and carried her to the bed. She shoved the pillows from around her and kicked the covers down to the bottom. Her hands wrapped around the logs of her headboard as she bit her lip to stay quiet. Every muscle in their bodies seemed to contract and relax simultaneously. His hands followed her arms over his hand until their fingers intertwined. Ecstasy filled their lungs and it was impossible to breathe, until Sam finally rolled off her and onto his back. They laid side by side panting and dripping with sweat.

Andrea's alarm went off at 6:00am. Sam shot straight up and quickly threw on his clothes as he listened to Andrea, "My parents will be up at 6:30 to take me to the airport. You should probably be gone by then."

"You think?" Sam replied.

He was headed out the door when she grabbed his arm and pulled him back to her. She ran her hand through his hair, "Why didn't we do this sooner? It's not fair; all the guys out there will be filled with plastic and silicone to look half this good," she smiled.

He kissed her and said, "You're the aggressive one, you tell me. Why didn't we?"

She looked down at her feet, "I've never been one to settle down…maybe it happened now because I know it won't happen again."

"It could happen again; in case you haven't heard, I travel a lot. You know hunting things." He smiled again and kissed her hard on the mouth, pulling her tightly against him. He looked at the clock and turned to leave, but she stopped him again.

"Wait." He looked questioningly at her and she looked embarrassed to ask, "Could you just show me those abs I'm running away from again?"

He laughed, "So it's the abs, not the face you were talking about?" She shrugged her shoulders and pulled his shirt up.

"Perfect," she smiled.

They stared at each other; each willing the other to stop him from leaving. But when movement sounded from above them, they smiled one last time and Sam shot up the stairs and out the door. He didn't look back even once on his way back to the mustang; but Andrea was continually searching for him out the window as she brought her things upstairs.

Chapter 47

Nadia woke up to Dean bouncing on the edge of the bed. She slapped his arm and told him to "knock it off."

"Sam's not here," he smiled.

She lifted her head off the pillow and dropped it back down before saying, "I find it slightly disturbing that you are this excited about your brother going for a romp in the hay." She rolled over and faced him.

He raised one eye brow, "You are so country."

"Thanks."

"When you say it like that, it is disturbing…it's just that…I mean she didn't say anything to you about them doing the dirty already; did she?" Nadia shook her head and he continued, "It's just…he needed it. I was getting sick of him looking at me like I was a crazed rabbit."

Nadia lifted the covers, smirked, and raised a brow, "Well, Mr. Rabbit," she grabbed his arm, "how bout you bring some of that craziness over here?"

Dean paused, thoughtfully, "Well, I guess since Sam finally got some…" He swung himself over her as she laughed and wrapped her arms around him."

Sam opened the door as quietly as he could but; the noises coming from Nadia's room told him they weren't even paying him any attention. He went in his room and turned on the radio to drown them out. He lay back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling and realized, for the first time, that he no longer felt guilty. He no longer felt like he was betraying Jess; that fact was something he found both relaxing and unsettling.

Nadia was making breakfast and Dean was surfing the internet when Sam finally showed his face. His eyes stayed glued to the floor as he walked straight to the bathroom. Nadia and Dean couldn't help glancing at each other and quietly laughing. Dean quickly spun back to the screen and hurriedly typed. He sat with his finger hovering over the "enter" button until; finally, Sam came back out of the bathroom. As soon as the door opened, the unmistakable sounds of Barry White's "Let's Get it On" came smoothly out of the speakers.

Sam's face immediately turned red and he glared at Dean. "Oh come on, Sammy. You're a man!" Dean smiled.

Nadia fought as hard as she could to keep from laughing; and because of that, tears were forming in her eyes and she had to bite her lip. "Dean, leave him alone," she could barely get out before having to bite her lip again. She turned around and pretended to whisk the eggs again, still fighting laughter; but she just kept playing it over and over again in her head and it was growing impossible. Finally, she whispered, "Excuse me," and hurriedly walked outside. As soon as she stepped on the outside porch, the tears started running down her face and her body was shaking with laughter. As hard as she tried, she couldn't stop; every time she thought she was done and turned to go back inside, she started laughing again.

Dean was watching her out the window of the kitchen and laughter was growing in him too. Sam walked up next to him and saw her. At first he was angry, but within seconds, he was smiling as he watched her continually take deep breaths to try to calm her self down, only to turn and burst out laughing again.

After a long time, Nadia wiped the last tears off her face and rubbed her aching cheeks. She came inside to find Sam and Dean laughing at her. "Thought that was funny, huh?" Sam said in feigned anger.

"Sorry; but I am just not one of those people who can just laugh about something for a few seconds and be done. It plays repeatedly in my head and I can't help it." Sam brushed it off and they all sat down to one of the last breakfasts they would ever have like this.

Dean continued to surf the net while Nadia worked out in the barn and Sam read on the couch. While looking for the notes Sam had typed up on a nybbas, he found a suspiciously large file titled, "Address book." He double-clicked it and found a large spreadsheet filled with addresses of restaurants and stores. Confused, he continued to scroll down and, as he was about to exit out of the file, he noticed a tiny and very light line at the bottom of the page. He couldn't make out what it was; but on a last attempt, he found that he could highlight it in 'header/footer' format and change the font from 2 to 12. What appeared was a link to a document titled, "Trogan." With pictures of condoms in his head, he cautiously clicked on the hyperlink and slowly leaned back in the chair when he saw what the file contained.

Dean scrolled through page after page of much of the same research he and Sam had done on a few of the more established deal-making demons. Also, he found typed copies of many of the pages of his dad's journal and scanned copies of his drawings. He was shocked as he looked over these pages. He felt betrayed and violated as he read pages and pages of words that were no longer in his father's tight and messy handwriting.

When he reached the end, he found notes he had never seen before. It was full of incantations, drawings, symbols, and spells that were supposed to keep a human safe from demons and the devil himself. He was gripped by the words on the screen, when he heard the outside door open. He couldn't decide if he wanted to confront Nadia about the file or let it go for the time being. Without a second thought, he hit the "undo typing" button and exited out of the file; just as the door was pushed open.

For the first time in his life, Dean looked at someone other than Sam and his dad and was determined that there had to be another explanation for everything that told him something was wrong. She had to be looking into ways to help save him; but what bothered him, was that she went to such lengths to keep it a secret.

She smiled at him as she came inside and, out of habit, he returned it. "I feel disgusting; I can't wait to get into the shower. If anyone needs to go to the bathroom, you better get it done," she looked from Dean to Sam and back again, before glancing at the computer screen, "Everything alright?"

"Yeah; why wouldn't it be?"

She shrugged and went into the bathroom.

Night seemed to come much faster that day. Dean and Sam were sound asleep when the clock turned to 3:30a.m. Nadia had been watching it for awhile and she suddenly felt a sense of urgency; she had to get up.

She slid her feet into green slippers that waited patiently on the floor beside the bed. She filled a glass with ice tea and mixed in two spoonfuls of sugar. She pulled the beat-up leather journal from Dean's duffle and curled her legs under her as she sat in the desk chair. She opened the "Address book" file and double clicked on the faint line at the bottom. She read the last couple lines and flipped through the journal to find where she had left off. Once again, she engrossed herself in John's small, slanted writing.

Two hours later, she closed the journal and carefully laid it back in Dean's bag. She scrolled up to where she had pasted all the incantations she had found. She kept reading one over and over again; wondering if it was worth the risk of putting all her faith into the few little words. She looked at the clock in the bottom corner of the screen and calculated how much time Dean had left. Her legs tingled as she put her weight on them and grabbed a sweatshirt before going outside; she knew what she had to do.

Dean woke up and saw the empty bed next to him and listened to the sound of typing coming through the door. He tried to shake off the anxiety he was feeling; and spent the next half hour staring at the ceiling until he finally fell back to sleep.

All Nadia could hear was the sound of dirt crunching under her feet as she walked to the opposite side of the yard. The knot in her stomach was growing with every step and she was starting to shake.

She walked to the back of one of the barns and leaned up against it; eyes closed, slowly breathing to calm her nerves. She was about to talk, when she dropped her hands to her knees to try and fight the urge to vomit. She breathed in deeply and blew the air slowly through her lips as she turned her face up to the sky. Finally, she was able to clam herself enough to say, "Themi." She waited and the more time that ticked by, the more butterflies reappeared in her stomach. She was about to call out again, when she heard footsteps behind her.

She froze and fought the urge to throw up again, until she heard, "Just keep it off the shoes, alright?"

Nadia turned and faced her aunt, "I…I have a request."

Themi cautiously raised one brow, "I'm not going to hold your hair back." When she didn't get a response from her, she continued, "What can I do for you, oh prodigal daughter?"

"I need you to get someone to meet with me."

"Okay…I'll bite. Who?"

"Whoever can change Dean's deal."

"This again," she said exasperated. "How many times…"

"There has to be someone I can talk to," Nadia said forcefully.

Themi stopped mid-sentence and looked at her for a long time, finally conceding, "You know who that is right? The same guy who's in charge of everything else. The big kahuna himself."

Nadia paused, trying to regain some confidence, "I…I don't care. I have to do whatever it takes."

Themi fought with the very tiny caring feelings she felt for her niece and those that were a part of who she was. Ultimately, nature won out over familial bonds and Themi said, "Your funeral. Where and when would you like this…meeting…to take place?"

Confidence and purpose were growing in Nadia, "One week, 11:00a.m. at the Sunfield United Brethren Church."

A small smile flashed on Themi's face, "Maybe you're not as dumb as I thought. Holy ground; to keep him a bay and you safe." She paused, "I'll give him your message. Good luck…you'll need it." She turned and started to walk away; but turned back as if she remembered something, "I hope you have an air tight plan; he is good at finding loopholes." Before Nadia could respond, Themi was gone again.

Nadia may of just signed her death warrant and now she had to go back to bed and pretend like nothing happened; her ability to mask her feelings was about to be tested like never before.

Chapter 48

Before anything else, Nadia had to try out the incantation that she was about to stake her and Dean's life on. She tried to think of an excuse to get out of the house alone; but she could feel tension between Dean and herself and he seemed set on keeping his eye on her.

She carefully sat the last plate in the dish drainer and, as casually as she could, said, "I have to run to the grocery store to get some things for dinner."

"The fridge and pantry are full of food," Dean skeptically answered.

Nadia paused and pressed her lips together, "I know, I just couldn't find anything that sounded good. I feel like having…" she tried to think of something she knew wasn't anywhere in the house, "…pork tenderloin."

"I'll go with you, I could use a few things," Dean said nonchalantly.

"Sounds good," she said with feigned enthusiasm. "Let me jump in the shower and then we can go." She needed a place to figure out how to get rid of him long enough to do what she needed to. She was almost expecting him to join her in the shower as well. Luckily, though, Sam had to talk to him and he figured there wasn't much she could do alone in the bathroom.

Nadia let the hot water run down her back as her mind raced. If they went to the store, the church was right next door; all she had to do was get to it without him following her. She could easily have changed his mind for him; but when they had gotten back from Montana, she had promised him she wouldn't mess with his head ever again (at least not in anyway that a woman already can't). Now she was stuck trying to do it the old fashioned way; and so far the only thing she could think of was to run for it.

Dean was waiting for her when she opened the bathroom door. He hopped up from the kitchen chair and opened the door for her, "My car or yours?"

Nadia smiled and shrugged, "Whichever."

She followed him to the Impala, where he opened the door for her. She said, "Who says chivalry is dead?" as she climbed inside.

"What is chivalry again?" he asked with a smile.

Metallica's "Wherever I May Roam" came through the speakers, "My theme song," he said before turning the volume to a near deafening level.

Dean held the pork loin in his hand as Nadia walk aimlessly through the aisles trying to stay as long as possible. "Got an itch?" Dean asked.

She looked at him confused before following his nod to her hip and she realized that she had kept touching her pocket to make sure the paper was still there. "Yeah, it's gone now."

He nodded and they continued walking. Nadia grabbed whatever looked even slightly appealing, until it was too much for either on of them to carry. "I'll get a cart," Nadia quickly said.

"No, I'll get it," Dean said as he brushed past her.

At this point, Nadia was growing frustrated and desperate. She stood in the aisle and waited for Dean to come back and when she put her hand on a shelf to lean against it, she knocked over a bottle of ketchup. As she set it back up right, a light clicked on in her head. She turned around and saw bottles and bottles of all kinds of juices in front of her. She reached for a 46 ounce bottle of apple juice (which she hated) and unscrewed the top almost completely. Just to be sure, she unscrewed a strawberry-kiwi and grape juice; before she heard a cart headed her way.

Dean turned the corner and she picked the things she had been carrying up off the floor and dropped them in the cart. "On a bit of a junk food binge, huh?" Dean asked as he looked down at the contents of the cart.

Nadia looked down at the chips, chocolate, pickles, peanut butter, cookies, and cake mixes that nearly filled the cart. "You're right. We should get at least one thing healthy," she looked around and said, "How about juice?"

"Strawberry-kiwi's not too bad," Dean shrugged, not at all enthused.

"My favorite too," Nadia reached for the juice and made a perfectly timed and spaced turn too soon back to the cart. The apple juice on the edge of the shelf next to the strawberry-kiwi section, tipped over and she hardly tried to get out of the way as it poured down her side and crashed to the floor.

She stopped in mid movement, mouth open and carefully sat the juice bottle back onto the shelf. She shook her hands to get some of the juice off them and looked at Dean who had jumped clear back to the end of the aisle. "Would you get someone who works here while I go back to the bathroom to clean up a bit?"

"Sure," he grabbed her hand to help her get over the puddle on the floor and then set off the find someone with a mop.

Nadia walked to the swinging doors without a glance back; but once through them, she looked out to see where Dean was. He was standing over by the cash register waiting for his turn to receive the cashier's attention. Nadia ran down to the bathrooms to wash her hands and left the door shut and light on as she came back out. She was relieved to see that no one was in the meat room as she hurried through and out the other side. She quickly glanced down the aisles as she hurried back across the store. Dean and an employee were just turning the corner of the juice-filled aisle as she looked around the other end. As soon as Dean and the employee looked down at the puddle, she hurried across and sprinted to the other end of the store. Luckily, they were the only customers inside; so no one stared at the strange girl running through the store. She sprinted towards the lobby but was forced to drop to the floor as Dean and the cart turned the corner of aisle 3. He turned to look at the bananas and when his back was to her, she quietly ran the short distance to the counter and crouched down until she reached the lobby and was out the doors.

Nadia ran as fast as she could across the field to the church parking lot. Once she was in, roughly the center, she pulled the folded paper out of her pocket and smoothed it out as best she could. After taking a second to catch her breath, she looked up, "Please let this work," and she read from the paper:

Protectus fero karme ba'al zehvo revelous formas

When she was finished, she looked around her and thought that the incantation hadn't worked; until, in the distance, she saw a faint white mist just above the ground. As she got closer, the mist was thicker and stayed in a line all the way along the church grounds. She followed it as it turned the corners of the property; but as she got nearer to the road, the line was fainter and far back from the property line. She turned around and looked at the church and the mist that encircled it. She couldn't help smiling as she tried hard to remember exactly where it was; before reading the line again and watching it disappear.

Now she knew where holy ground ended and she had 6 days to come up with an acceptable, loop-hole free deal.

She tried not to stay too long; enjoying her first small victory, as she remembered Dean was still back at the store. She took one last look at the church and said to herself, "I am putting my life in your hands, don't let me down," before running back across the field and into the store. She paused to catch her breath in the lobby and saw a truck unloading through one of the garage doors that led to the back of the store; where she needed to be. She jogged back outside and waited for the man to disappear into one of the coolers before she walked back to the bathroom. She quickly washed up and glanced at the clock on her phone; she had been gone for 10 minutes. She jogged back to the swinging doors just as the delivery man came back out of the cooler. He stopped suddenly and Nadia spun around him and, placing her right hand on the dolly, jumped over the two crates of milk on he was carrying. She continued towards the doors and turned for a quick smile as he called after her, "Ever thought of playing football?"

Dean was walking towards the doors when she appeared through them. "Finally," he said.

"Sorry, it was really sticky," she smiled and brushed past him.

He stopped where he was and watched her walk past, "I suppose you're all done now?"

She stopped and spun around; "Actually," she walked back and grabbed a Ben & Jerry's Half Baked from the freezer, "yes." He followed her back to the cart and cash register.

They managed to spend over a hundred dollars on junk food that would probably never get eaten.

Four days had sped by since the day at the store and Dean was starting to feel the pressure from all sides.

Dean decided to tell Sam about what he had found under "Address Book." Always the optimist, Sam told him that there must be some harmless explanation. He encouraged his brother to use his words, without expectations, when discussing the topic; something he knew was never going to happen, no matter who he was talking to.

Nadia was in her room writing on a notepad. She was so engrossed in the task she didn't even realize he was in the room until he stepped up beside her. She jumped and shut the notebook. "Good lord! That's what knocking is for," she told him.

"Sorry. I wanted to talk to you about something," he replied.

"Okay…" she carefully said.

He sat on the bed while she turned the desk chair towards him. He took a quick, deep breath as if he were about to begin multiple times; but stopped, unsure how to start. "I was on the computer and found something…" he looked up at her, hoping she would take the burden off him; luckily she did.

She sighed and looked from Dean to the floor to Dean again, "I thought you had."

"Nadia, what is it?"

She gave him an odd look, "Notes. I want to be prepared."

"Prepared for what?"

"For…whatever. For whatever I have to do to save you."

"I don't want you or Sam to do anything that puts you at risk, just to save me."

"Just to save you. You mean like you did Sam?" Anger was growing in her voice.

"Yeah, and that worked out real well."

"Well, I'm thinking about down the road; unlike you did, obviously! I'm not going to go into anything driven by anger or desperation. I will put a little thought into it; it's kind of a big decision!"

Dean took a second to think and calm down. He rubbed his face and sighed, "My dad's journal."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask…I just…I wanted the best and most accurate information I could possibly get and there it was just feet from me."

"You could have asked," he looked at her.

"Really?" she skeptically asked him. "Because you keep saying how you don't want my help or Sam's…or only certain kinds of help," she quickly added when he started to argue. "Then you turn around and say how you don't want to die…I don't want you to die," her eyes started to water and she looked at the floor. "But if you really think I stole that information and you have to honestly ask me what I am using it for…" she stared straight at him, a tear running down her right cheek, "than I guess we're not as over this as I thought. You still question who I am; and I don't know if I can take it anymore." Before he could respond, she picked up the notepad and walked out of the house.

Once she got outside, she wanted to run but the car seemed too constricting. She walked as fast as she could to the big brick barn opposite the house and pulled open the huge, heavy doors. Using nothing but the light of the sun, she entered the barn and waited for her eyes to adjust. She scanned the large, dark space until she found what she was looking for. She wiped the dust off the seat and pushed the switch "on." She pushed the gas lever on and did the same with the "choke." With both of her hands on the seat, she closed her eyes, sighed, and said, "Please start for me." She pulled hard on the line and the bike started a low, struggling rumble. She left the choke on for a second or two and carefully turned the throttle. When she finally turned the choke off, the bike stayed going but quickly died. She tried again and left the choke on longer; this time it stayed going. She swung her leg over the seat and snapped her helmet on. When she got the bike through the doors, she saw Dean come out of the house and look straight at her. She stared at him for awhile before turning the throttle and shooting across the yard and down the road.

Dean sat on the bed rubbing his face, thinking about what she had said. He questioned whether he really was over the whole demon thing and if he still thought she could always be the person she was. He fell back on the bed and closed his eyes. He saw her face, eyes wet with tears that were brought on by the thought of him leaving her. He sat up and jogged outside. He looked around and saw that she wasn't in her car. He thought was must just be around the property somewhere; until he heard a small engine come to life across the yard. When he found where it was coming from, he saw Nadia sitting on a dark green mini bike. She saw him and he thought she was about to come up to the house; until she turned the throttle and he watched her go down the road. If he hadn't felt like a jerk, he would have found the fact that she had a mini bike funny.

He stepped down the stairs and sat on the top step, waiting to see her come back over the hill, just down the road. When hours passed without a sign of her, he tried calling her phone but she wouldn't answer; for him or Sam. After a roll of the eyes, Sam told him not to be worried, she'd be back; but something told him this time would be different.

Chapter 49

Nadia had no particular location in mind as she drove down the road. In fact; she had, so far, done a horrible job of running away. She didn't have money or even her debit card and without that critical component, she had no place to stay until Sunday. She pulled over to the shoulder of the road and shut it off. As she stared down at the faux gas tank, she knew she had to go back; but she didn't want to see either Sam or Dean at the moment. Ignoring the fact that Dean and Sam probably wouldn't leave the house anytime soon, she searched her head for any form of shelter for the night. She pulled out her phone and checked the time; 8:00 p.m. She went down her short list of contacts until she found who she was looking for.

"Hello?" the soft, comforting voice of Maria Epps asked. It was her voice that instantly made Nadia like her; that and the fact that when she found out that it was her house that she would be house sitting, she didn't run for the hills.

"Maria, its Nadia," Nadia said, sitting on the edge of the seat, looking back towards the house.

"Nadia! How are you?"

A few beats passed as Nadia thought about the question, "Well, I've been better."

"Are you going back to school?"

"No, not now. I actually need you to watch the house for awhile, I don't know how long. I have some friends staying there now; but I am sure they'll be leaving soon."

"I heard you had some hotties stashed away over there." She paused, "When should I come over?"

"I don't know for sure, yet. Could I call you when I know?"

"Of course."

"I actually have another favor to ask, and you can absolutely say "no," there is no pressure or anything…"

"Anything."

"I got in a fight with one of my friends and I kind of…ran away, to cool off. And I kind of left without any money to get a hotel room; and I am on the mini bike. But, anyway, I don't want to go back and get anything, which would just be humiliating."

"I'll make up the spare room," Maria said before Nadia could continue.

"I don't want to impose," Nadia said cautiously.

"Don't you?" Maria asked.

"Well, yeah, but I don't want to have any expectations," Nadia smiled.

"No expectations, no impositions. I just have one question; why did you leave your own house?"

Nadia was quiet, "Well, I didn't say he got in a fight with me."

"Understood…I think. See you in awhile?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Nonsense, I stay at your house for free for months at a time…I think you should be able to come here for a night."

Nadia laughed and told her "thank you" again before hanging up and taking off down the road again. This time she headed back towards the house and pulled off behind the woods next to the property. She hid the bike from view of the road and sat down, leaning against a large Maple and waited for the lights to turn off. After an hour, she knew they weren't going to go to sleep anytime soon and she racked her brain for an alternative solution.

She grabbed her phone and started a text message to Sam.

Can you come get me at the corner of 43 and Dow? Out of gas.

She hoped that Dean would be as persistent as he normally was and would insist on going with him. Thankfully, she watched Dean follow his brother to the Impala and pull out of the driveway.

She had a very small space of time to get what she needed and leave before they returned. She started the mini bike and carefully steered it out into the open and back into the barn. She closed the doors and ran into the house.

Her first stop was the computer and she pushed a flash drive into one of the ports and saved the Address Book file and a few others to the drive and then deleted them. Next, she grabbed an over night bag and filled it with: shampoo, conditioner, toothpaste, toothbrush, socks, underwear, phone charger, CDs, purse, money from her lock box, her notebook, clothes, her pillow, her laptop, and a couple pictures.

She was about to leave, so she texted Sam again;

Sorry to drag you into this.

When she opened her sock drawer, she found a small jewelry box and she slowly picked it up and sat on the edge of the bed. Her hand shook as she debated on whether or not to open it. With a deep breath, she slowly opened the box and a note was taped inside;

I have a feeling you are up to something…Good Luck, Sam

She was taken aback and lifted the note off the bottom of the box and underneath was a very familiar necklace. The golden face looked up at her, complete with horns and forehead swirl; it was a spitting image of Dean's necklace and she could hardly keep from crying again. After putting it on and looking at it for a long time, she remembered the urgency of the situation and she grabbed the bag and hurried outside. She turned and looked down the hill at the corner and saw a car turning onto her road; she knew they were on their way back. She ran to the mustang and grabbed her key chain out of the glove box and started the car. She kept the lights off as she turned out of the driveway and hurried down the road.

Sam and Dean pulled off the road at the corner and looked around for Nadia; but she was nowhere to be seen. "Maybe she was going to push the bike back here and isn't here yet," Sam suggested.

"Or she saw me and hid," Dean sighed.

"What happened?" Sam finally asked.

Dean glanced at him, "She thinks I still don't trust her."

"Don't you?"

He didn't answer right away, "Yeah…I do."

"Very convincing; I don't understand why she didn't believe you," Sam sarcastically remarked.

"We didn't even get that far."

"You mean you didn't deny it…"

He frustratedly blew through his nose, "She didn't give me a chance. Yes, admittedly, I thought maybe she was right; but…my whole life I have been taught not to trust anyone but you and dad and Bobby."

"So was I," Sam pointed out.

Dean rolled his eyes, "You're different."

"No, I just give people a chance," his phone vibrated and he pulled it from his pocket and saw that it was a text message from Nadia, "you don't."

Sam read the message as Dean said, "Where is she?"

"I don't think she was ever here," Sam said.

"What?" Dean asked. Sam held his phone so that Dean could read it and they both shook their heads and Dean turned the car around. "F***!"

In the rearview mirror she saw headlights sweep over the hill as she headed down it. Any later, and they would have seen her rear lights sink down over the hill's crest. She pushed hard on the gas petal and stared straight out the windshield until she turned into Maria's driveway 8 miles away. She pulled behind her garage and grabbed the bag out of the passenger seat.

Before she could knock, the door opened and Maria gave her a hug. "Thank you, again," Nadia said.

"Would you shut up already?" she looked at her with raised brows. "The spare room is just down the hall of the left. I really wish I could stay up and chat; but I have to be up ridiculously early."

"That's fine, I am tired and I have a lot to do before tomorrow," she said as she threw her bag and pillow on the bed. "I have to be up early too."

"Big day?" Maria asked.

Nadia took a deep breath and paused with her mouth open, "You could say so."

"Well, good night. Will I see you tomorrow?"

"I don't know; it all depends on what happens tomorrow."

"I don't know how you live with so much uncertainly," she shook her head and walked down to her room.

Nadia pulled the shade down on the window and took out her laptop and notepad. She pulled off her shirt and jeans and dropped them on the floor. She stood staring at the flash drive and computer; thinking of how, just a few months ago, she was a normal college student perusing the campus and going to classes. A sudden shiver ran up her spine and down her arms and she jumped under the covers and waited for her body heat to warm them up; it took twice as long as it had these last few months. She turned the computer on and plugged in the flash drive. All the graphic images and odd languages once again filled the screen and she became engrossed in them again. She had finished copying from John's journal and read all the information she had collected five more times.

The chorus of "Wherever I May Roam" pulled Nadia out of a deep sleep that she immediately knew wasn't even half finished. She grabbed her phone and dismissed the alarm. She sat up and suddenly remembered why she had set the alarm for so early. She had three hours to prepare for the biggest test of her life.

She pulled her clothes out of her bag and laid them out on the bed. What do you wear to have a chat with the devil? "I can't believe I just asked that question," she said. Defy him with white or try to make him feel more comfortable with black? Again she rolled her eyes at the ridiculousness of the question; but she couldn't help seriously struggling with the thought. The only positive thing was that she only had four colors to choose from; black, white, brown, or blue. Black has always been more associated with evil, white with good, blue with water and God supposedly made the seas, brown…neutral…not too light, not too dark..."Brown it is."

She took a quick shower and went over the incantations in her head. Maria's water didn't stay hot nearly as long as it did at home and Nadia was soon gasping for breath while rinsing out her hair and her back was arched so that the icy water could fall straight to the bottom of the tub. She jumped out, brushed her hair, and slipped into jeans and the brown short sleeved shirt.

She hopped onto the bed and stared at the computer screen, without really seeing it. She was thinking of when she first found out about Dean's deal and the look on his face when he talked about it. The screen went to black as the screensaver came on and she could see herself looking back at her. The look Dean had when he talked about Sam dying and his desperation to save him was now being mirrored back to her. The "Jaws" theme song (or notes) played from her phone and as she looked at it, dread and fear rushed over her. Cute…that was a stupid attempt at humor, she thought sarcastically to her self.

She put her clothes and products back into her bag and shut off the computer. She tried to take as many trips back and forth to the car and house as she could; hoping some epiphany would suddenly hit her before she left. None did.

She turned the key in the ignition and like always, the mustang sprang to life. She found herself asking it why? Why can't you just die, for one day? Her phone seemed to be counting down as she stared at it…10:25…10:26…

Dean was the first one to make it into the house; but nothing looked different as he walked into the kitchen. He headed into the bedroom as Sam walked into the bathroom.

They both walked simultaneously out of their respective rooms and Dean was the first to speak. "She took her pillow and her purse."

"Shampoo, conditioner, and tooth brush too."

Dean turned back into the bedroom and Sam followed him. "Clothes, underwear, socks…all gone" Dean said, shaking his head with every item he read off. He walked and stood in the doorway, looking out into the living room and Sam looked inside her top drawer; where he had sat the necklace, it was gone.

"She didn't take that much. She'll be back, Dean," he said to his brother's back.

"I know, but will we be here when that happens?"

"She's not just gonna let us leave without saying goodbye."

Chapter 50

The parking lot was almost completely filled when Nadia arrived; a sign she hoped was very good for her. It was 10:50 when she found the center of the lot and read the incantation again. She was happy to see that all the occupants seemed to be strengthening the line. Instead of a light mist, it was now as solid looking as the clouds that spotted the sky. It was unusually warm for this time of the year; but she started to shiver when the clock turned to 10:55.

She fought the sudden urge to run when 10:56 came. And by 10:58 she was starting to surrender to the thought that she could die in two minutes. She had not moved from the spot where she first stood; on the side of the church with the least amount of windows and on the "safe" side of the line.

If a watched pot never boils, then a watched clock should never change; unfortunately watching it seemed to make it only go faster. She found it hard to breathe when it read 11:00 a.m. Her head snapped in every direction as she searched the property. She brushed her hand over the necklace Sam had given her and she reached back and unhooked the protective necklace her father had given her. She let it fall to the ground and she suddenly felt as if she were stripped naked.

A man was walking towards her and she smiled and said "hello" and waited for him to walk past her. He stopped in front of her and she uncomfortably looked from side to side.

"Expecting horns and a pitchfork?" He looked around him, "Which wouldn't be too hard to get, from the looks of this place."

She was amazed at how calm she was, "Not what I expected, yes. But not in looks…more in the feelings you instill." She paused, "I have to ask; did it just piss you off to lose the golden fiddle?"

"Funny," he feigned an unamused smile and then brushed it off, focusing on the comment at hand. "Yes, well, I can't go around without a man suit; there is a lot of evil here."

"Well, you have that whole man thing down very well," she rolled her eyes.

"Don't look at me. He," he glanced upward, "is the one who made them so…egotistical." He stared at her with a small smile on his face, for a long time. "I'm impressed; using holy ground. Most people wouldn't trust it; it's too easy."

"Why complicate things?"

He chuckled, "My thoughts exactly. Now…what can I do for you?"

"You can forget about a little deal that was made."

He tipped his head, "I would remember if your name came across my desk."

"Not mine," now she was getting nervous, "Dean Winchester's."

"Dean Winchester?" He looked at her for awhile again, confused, "What is this some hunters' movement? Save one of our own type thing?"

"Not quite."

"I'll bite, what do you want?"

"Like I said, you take the price off his head; call off your hounds."

He laughed, "First of all, he still has a few weeks. Secondly, it's not quite that easy. You have to have something I want."

"I do."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Me."

This time he laughed a complete, loud laugh. "Let me get this straight. Dean trades his life for his dear brother's and now, you want to trade your life for his? Don't you see the problem here?"

"Yes. That is why I want to make you a deal. Give me a task and if I don't complete it in a reasonable amount of time you get me."

He tipped his head again, "Curious. Do you have something in mind?"

"Of course but I don't think any of what I would like to do would suit your…standards."

"You're probably right. Give me a minute to think, will you?"

"As much time as you need. Just remember, I have to agree to it too."

"Of course," he said as if he would never have thought different.

He walked back and forth, hands behind his back. On the outside, he wasn't a very intimidating man. His hair was thick, dark, and graying on the sides. He was tan and in his 60's or 70's. He wore a sharp black pinstriped suit with a red tie and white dress shirt. His eyes were a lighter version of her own and they were topped by thick dark gray brows. If he hadn't been the devil, Nadia would find his smile quite comforting. Finally, he returned to the spot he had been before. "I have a knack that comes in quite handy."

"Oh, yeah?" Nadia asked.

"Yes. I can figure out the thing that scares someone the most and play on that. But with you; what drives you and scares you are one in the same." He studied her and she worked hard not to show any emotion on her face. "Revenge; for your mother and father and gramps. But, like back in Montana; taking someone's life shakes you up. I must give you props though on your methodology; taking his weapon and killing him with it, very impressive. You've got style. Anyway, back to the matter at hand; the deal." He took a deep breath, "I really could use a good Reaper." Nadia fought back any reaction; but wasn't completely successful this time. "One thousand souls in 8 months."

"You want me to kill 1,000 people in 8 months?"

"Yes."

She thought for a few seconds, "A thousand people in 18 months."

"Eight."

"A year."

He thought, "Accepted; see I'm easy to work with."

Nadia ignored his last comment, "Dean lives until (and after) I finish or the year is up and Sam is fine as well."

"You kill a thousand people for me and you all deserve to live. You should know, though, that I have never had a reaper that has pulled numbers like that; and I've been around awhile."

"Do you have a list or something?"

"I think reaper's choice would be much more fun; don't you?"

She was hoping he would give her the choice of who to kill, "For you," she couldn't sound happy with the choice he made.

"Of course for me," he smiled.

"Accepted," she said.

"Let's see," he reviewed, "1,000 souls, one year, your choice, Sam and Dean live (if you succeed) anything else?"

This is where she had to pool all her loop-hole shutting practice into play. "If I complete this…task, you have to leave Dean, Sam, and I and all of our loved ones alone."

"You are going to make it very difficult for me to find a loop-hole in this one, aren't you?"

"Isn't that what I am supposed to do?"

"Yes; but I have yet to be beaten by a deal."

"Good thing there is always a first. Now; continuing…you cannot give the authorities any sort of a helping hand in finding the person who commits all these murders. And, you cannot tell anyone, person, demon, or group of people what deal we made. Also, you are to leave Dean, Sam, and our loved ones alone while I am doing this task. You cannot interfere when I am collecting these souls; in anyway, shape, or form. No giving them weapons they didn't or don't have. And, last but not least, you are not to sick any demons on me, Dean, Sam, or our loved ones that do not find me or Dean or Sam or the aforementioned loved ones; on their own accord."

"Very careful with your words; smart," he thought for a minute. "Accepted. Now, you start in five days; you wouldn't believe the amount of paperwork involved in making a deal."

"Looking forward to it," Nadia flatly said.

"You know if you weren't batting for the other team, I would quite like you."

"You have no idea how much that means to me," she said sarcastically.

He laughed, "Shake on it?" He said as he reached out his hand. "Now I can't cross the line but you can. Don't worry I won't yank over here or anything; trust me."

"Said the devil," she pointed out. She cautiously stretched out her hand and crossed the white line that still lay between them.

She grabbed his hand and they shook; but just as Nadia was about to pull away, a searing pain shot through her arm and into her chest. She felt like she had been branded with a searing hot poker between her collar bone and shoulder. She yanked her hand away and laid it on the burning area. She pulled her collar to the side so she could see the skin and saw a red burn in the shape of a pitchfork.

She looked up at him hatefully and he said, "Don't worry; it goes away when you finish. It's just a reminder."

She carefully let her shirt lay back over the mark, "Yeah, cause I can't tell you how complaints I hear about forgetting deals made with the devil."

"Still, I hope you can appreciate the irony."

"A pitchfork, cute."

He smiled, "Nice doing business with you," he said before he turned and walked away; only to vanish a few yards away.

Chapter 51

Nadia was leaned back as far as the seat would go, staring up at the ceiling of the mustang; she didn't know what to think of what she had just agreed to. She heard voices growing closer to her and she quickly put up her seat and started the car. She glanced into the rearview mirror and backed out of her parking space. A tall woman with light brown hair waved at her as she sped out of the driveway and onto the road. She was disturbed at how much she suddenly felt like she should not be there; like she didn't belong on holy ground either.

Thoughts flew through her head as she drove. As much as she fought it, they all seemed to come back to Dean and Sam. She wasn't paying any attention to where she was going as she drove. Instinct lead her back home and the sound of the tires on the rough dirt road brought her back to reality. Her head cleared the instant she realized where she was and fear shot through her; but she couldn't get her foot to change from the brake pedal. She turned into the driveway and took a deep breath. She looked around inside the car for something to take inside with her; but bags full of clothes were all that filled the trunk and those had to stay there. She took another deep breath, shifted into park and turned the car off. "And the count down begins," she said to herself as she opened the door and stepped out. She dreaded each step, but longed to see Dean's face again and apologize for how she had left before.

Dean was sitting on the couch trying to lose himself in television and his dad's journal; but nothing was working. His head was running through all the things that could be happening to Nadia. The last time she took off, she had been abducted and nearly killed; this time there was no way he could track her down in time to save her.

He was surprised when he looked up at the clock on the wall; time had passed more quickly than he had expected; it was 11:45 and he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the couch. He could hear Sam typing on the computer and thought he must be half asleep when he heard a familiar engine coming closer. He ignored it until it grew closer and more real; and he fought to open his eyes and look out the sliding glass door. He sat up as he recognized the gleaming black mustang crawling down the road. He waited for it to turn into the driveway before saying something to Sam and walking towards the door.

Nadia walked slowly towards the house with her head down. When she heard the inside door open, she stopped and took a deep breath. Her eyes looked up at the screen door right as Dean looked out from behind it. He slowly pushed it open and neither of them took their eyes off each other for a long time.

Finally, Dean stepped onto the porch and held the door open for her. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth as she looked back down before continuing into the house.

Without a word, Dean and Nadia sat on the couch and Sam sat in the chair across from them. Nobody knew what to do, what to say.

After nearly ten minutes, Sam said, "Well this is uncomfortable."

Nadia couldn't help but laugh as she thought about the meeting she had just had, "You have no idea." She paused and laid her head on Dean's shoulder and with a shaky breath, said, "I'm sorry. I tried to pick a fight to try and make it easier."

"To make what easier?" Dean asked.

"Can we just not right now?" she stared off into the distance.

Dean didn't push the subject. He just sat on the couch, Nadia's head on his shoulder, and closed his eyes.

It wasn't long before they were all asleep and a storm started to roll into the area. Thunderstorms this late in the year are rare phenomena; brought upon by short lived warm fronts coming into the area.

White petals lazily fell to the ground around folding chairs and a white wooden arch covered in large purple flowers. Once again, Nadia told her mother that she didn't want all the white, over-the-top decorations and the entire unnecessary hubbub that buzzed all around. "It's your special day and it only happens (hopefully) once in a lifetime. You want to remember it forever."

"Dean waiting for me at the end of the aisle is all I need. Whether he is in a tux, his leather jacket, or pajamas; I don't care. The flowers only stick to everything and the archway is just…too much," Nadia responded.

"Now your dad worked hard on that arch; so you are going to use it." Nadia rolled her eyes and looked at herself in the mirror. "It is bad enough that I am letting you wear that and not that beautiful dress I showed you."

"Mom, that dress was covered in lace and had a 30 foot long train!"

"Okay, so it was a little much," she conceded.

"A little? Mom, it had a corset and hoop skirt…I couldn't even have sat down!"

"Still; people don't come to weddings to see people get married in white summer dresses and an old leather jacket."

"I told you…I didn't want a big, puffy dress and that jacket was John's. We never wanted any of this. We would have preferred Pastor Mark doing the ceremony in the backyard with just you, John, and Sam and Andrea."

"Yes, I know that. But even John wishes he had waited a few more days before giving that jacket to him. And all the rest of your friends would have felt left out."

"What other friends? Everyone out there are friends of yours from the church; I don't even know half their names."

The commotion outside was beginning to die down and the door of the house opened and John stepped inside. "It's time…wow, you look beautiful."

Clara huffed and rolled her eyes, "You have seen her in countless dresses like that one before."

"Yes, but it was never her wedding day. And I was never giving her away to my son before," John smiled.

Clara rolled her eyes, "I'll see you outside. Don't be late."

"I know, mom," Nadia rolled her eyes to John. "I don't think Dean knows what he gave up hunting for."

John smiled and touched her cheek, "I think he knows exactly what he did it for."

Nadia smiled at him and took his arm as he led her outside, just as Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" began to play. She nodded towards the music, "You think that has ever been played anywhere like this before?"

Suddenly the sky grew grey and thunder shook the ground and all the light of the day gave way to the harshness of reality. Nadia was sitting bolt upright and so were Dean and Sam. A deafening crack of thunder had awoke them all from their unconscious hopes and fears.

Nadia rubbed her eyes and the crash of the inaccessible reality of her dream, felt like a cutting depression in her stomach. She would never have her mother force a hideous dress on her, John would never walk her down the aisle and she would probably never even have an aisle to walk down; whether she failed or succeeded in her task. Dean could never give up hunting; neither of them knew how to live a normal life.

"Something wrong?" Dean asked.

She smiled and played off the encounter humorously, "I had a dream. We were…getting married," she raised her brows. "But, my mom was there and your dad."

"Really? And what did this wedding look like?"

"Well, I wanted just a simple ceremony in the backyard; my mom forced me into having lots of guests and an archway (that my dad made by the way; not sure if that meant he was alive or not) and lots of flowers. But, the song I walked down the aisle to was… 'Nothing Else Matters.'" Dean raised an impressed brow and Nadia continued, "You wore your leather jacket."

"Okay, when you were talking about flowers and stuff I was concerned; but with Metallica and my jacket, I guess it could have been me." He smiled, "What made you dream that?"

Nadia shrugged, "I guess, lately I am thinking more about the things that can never be."

"Been there, done that," he paused, watching her intently. "That tends to happen when all seems lost…so, what were you trying to make easier by picking a fight?"

She knew she had to tell them some part of what she had done. "I had a conversation with someone this morning," she glanced from Sam to Dean. "I found a way to save you."

"What are you talking about? Who did you talk to?"

"I don't think you'd believe me if I told you."

"Nadia, what did you do?"

"I got you at least another year."

Sam jumped in before Dean could respond, "How…I tried everything."

"Well, I have some connections that are a little…out of range for you."

"What did you do?" Dean asked again, anger mounting in his voice.

She stared at the floor and didn't say anything for a long time. "I can't tell you."

"What do you mean, you can't tell me? Nadia, what did you do? Just tell me what you did."

"I can't."

"Is that part of the deal?" Sam asked.

Nadia's eyes snapped to his face, she knew he had realized what she had done. He knew she had made a deal.

"No. I just don't want to tell you," tears were building.

"Why?" Dean asked, trying to stay calm.

"Because…" she fought them back, "I'm afraid of what you'll think."

"Of the deal?" Sam asked.

She shook her head, "Of me."

Chapter 52

Nadia was about to tell Dean that she had five days until she had to leave; when he told her that he didn't want to know. "I have lived under an expiration date for a year; I don't want to do that again. I know I have another year, at least; but I can't count down the days again. Don't tell me when the year starts or ends; I don't want to know."

"You'll never have to worry about a time limit ever again. I don't care what it takes; I am going to complete this deal."

"You have to leave, don't you?" Dean asked her.

She couldn't look him in the eye, "Yeah. But I'll be around."

He nodded and thought for a long time, "We'll have to go back to hunting."

She wasn't sure if he liked the idea or dreaded it, "Everyone's safer that way." Suddenly, a thought occurred to her; what if he ended up hunting her, and he didn't even know it? She shook it off and smiled. "Lord knows you've been handy to have around."

He laughed, "Ditto."

"You know, if I were to just look in the window and didn't know any better, I would think we were normal," Dean quipped as he sat at the table; grilled cheese sandwich in hand.

"We are…" she handed him a plate, "we just have a few…quirks." She shrugged and laid her own sandwich on her plate.

"Quirks?"

She smirked as she chewed. After she swallowed, she said, "My birthday is in a couple of days," she continued to stare across the table, the wall.

Dean stopped mid-bite and looked at her. He pulled the sandwich from his mouth and sat it down, "Well, I hope you're not expecting any diamonds. I mean I only just found out you had a birthday," he wiped off his mouth.

Nadia smiled, "Well, if I have the demon style of aging, you still have decades to work up to the flashy stuff.

"I won't have that long."

"Oh right, well…I could always make a deal…"

"Not funny."

"Sorry. Remember back, months ago, when we started to play 20 questions? Well, we never did get that far."

"Yeah, and if I recall correctly, you asked me four questions and got four answers and I never even got one. I think it is only right that I start with, when is your birthday?"

She smirked, "November 19th. Two."

"Crap, it's soon." He sighed, "Three; What is your favorite position?"

She rolled her eyes and suddenly grew very nervous, "I have a confession to make." He gave her a worried and curious look. "All I know are the ones we have done."

"Really? You're not one for experimentation?"

"No I am, to a point, it's just…I've never really had a…research partner until recently."

Dean pooched out his lips in confusion as he thought about what she had said. "Who's the research partner again?"

She chuckled and bit her lip, "You," she winced.

He took a bite of his sandwich, "You don't have to have a boyfriend, just have a few…escapades."

"Yeah, I'm sort of…escapade-less," she stated like a question.

Dean stopped chewing and said, "Are you saying," he quickly swallowed before finishing, "you're a…virgin?"

"Kind of ironic, huh? The half demon virgin." She watched him struggle with the idea, "Are you alright?"

He finally snapped back to reality, "Yeah."

"Are you mad that I didn't tell you then?"

"Mad? Hell, no. That is a lot of pressure on a guy."

She laughed, "Yeah, on the guy," she quipped.

He thought for a few seconds as he finished his sandwich. Then he wiped his hands on his napkin and smirked, "That is kinda…hot, though," his eye brows shot up.

"It is, huh?" He nodded and she continued, "Well, what are you going to do about it, Casanova?" She couldn't help being surprised by how easy and light the conversation was at a time like this. She supposed it was the idea of being away from each other for a year that made fighting and tension a waste of time.

He shrugged, "I don't know; I kinda have to go to the bathroom." She backhanded his arm playfully and he laughed and leaned forward, "No, I think what you need is a bit more, experience; and I think the only one who can help with that is sitting right here." He put his hand behind her head and pulled her toward him, kissing her softly on the mouth.

"Really, cause I have had a lot of offers for the very same thing; and what better way to get more experience than to have some escapades with a few more research partners?"

"Ouch. Babe, this research partner is all you need; trust me."

Nadia stood up and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him up off the chair and toward her room.

"Wait," he gabbed her hand and smirked, "been there, done that." She raised her right eye brow and he gave a devilish grin.

Nadia followed him outside, "Where are we going?" she asked nervously.

"To another section of the lab," he smirked. Nadia didn't say anything as she followed him out to the Impala.

Dean slid into the backseat and pulled Nadia in on top of him. "Where is Sam?" Nadia asked.

"Who cares?" he said through kisses.

"I do," she tried to pull away.

"He went for a walk."

"How long ago?"

"You know, you are really making this difficult."

"Sorry, but I don't want him to…"

"Catch us; I know. But that is part of the fun; will we get caught or not?" He slid his hand up her back, lifting her shirt, "Now shut up and let loose, would ya?"

Nadia took one last look out the windows, smiled and eased herself onto him.

Dean was leaning against the rear passenger door, his arm draped over Nadia as she sat curl up against him. "Well, that was…uncomfortable," Nadia said.

Dean laughed, "Yeah, I like classics; can you imagine if I had a Toyota?"

Nadia smiled and shrugged, "I would have been fine; I am very…flexible." She looked up at him, "And very cold. You would have the bright idea to do this in November."

Nadia pulled on her clothes and threw her hair into a ponytail and climbed out into the brisk outside air; Dean right behind her. "My head hurts. You don't have to be so rough," Dean said, rubbing the top of his head. Nadia turned to him and hit him in the forehead with the heel of her hand; before continuing into the house.

Sam came jogging through the front door, "Holy frick, it is getting cold out there." He rubbed his hands up and down his arms as he walked into his room to retrieve fresh boxers and a t-shirt; before jumping in the shower.

It was 2:00 in the morning before Nadia and Dean finally fell asleep. Minutes seemed to fly by as she hit the last 81 hours of her life as she knew it.

Chapter 53

Nadia woke up early and couldn't think of anything to do but make a list of things she would need in her task. What does one take on a quest to kill 1,000 people? She thought. After making the eerily harmless list of clothes and deodorant; she started to think, for the first time, about how daunting the task truly was. Where was she going to find 1,000 people to kill and not start a mad witch hunt? Salem? They must have learned, right? Her mind sailed through the possibilities but she stayed focused on those the world wouldn't miss; not the majority anyway. Those that the world was better off without. Death row.

She quickly became disgusted with herself as she realized she was finding joy in planning to kill people. It wasn't the killing, though; she knew that, it was the fact that she was going to kill those who were already condemned to death. A loophole; he never said anything about killing anyone earlier than already planned. One problem; even the simultaneous death of condemned prisoners was gong to set off a few alarms. And there weren't all that many targets that fit her profile anyway.

Dean rolled over and Nadia couldn't help but watch him sleep as she thought about being away from him for a year. She tucked the notepad under the mattress and curled up on the bed and watched him sleep for a long time.

When he finally awoke, he jerked his head back and said, "Dude, creepy much?"

"Sorry," she laughed.

"How long have you been up?"

She shrugged, "A while."

"And you have just been staring at me?"

"Not the whole time; don't flatter yourself," she rolled her eyes.

Dean was beginning to go through withdrawals. It had been months since he had shot off a single round. He was beginning to miss the smell of gunpowder that lingered in the air like a satisfying promise of protection and strength. His guns were the most loyal friends he had ever had and he was starting to feel guilty for leaving them out.

He asked Nadia again if she was sure that she didn't want to go along. She missed the feeling of metal in her hands as well; but she had other business to attend to. Luckily, Sam decided to stay at the house too; she had some things to share with him.

Dean closed the doors and turned the key, "Party poopers," he said before cranking up the volume and roaring out of the driveway.

Nadia turned around to Sam who was holding a hot cup of coffee in a chair on the porch. She looked down at her bare feet and suddenly realized how cold it was getting. The months had flown by and snow was going to start falling soon. She shivered and rubbed her arms, "I need to tell you something, Sam."

Sam glanced at her and back across the yard, "To be honest, Nadia, I'm not really interest in hearing anything other than what you did; why Dean isn't dead right now."

She watched him intently and then turned and looked back across the field at nothing in particular, "Like I said, I need to tell you something." She walked inside the house and Sam's eyes followed her. He realized what she meant and jumped up, quickly following behind her.

She was pacing in the living room, "You should sit down," she said without pause. She continued pacing and trying to decide how much she wanted to tell him, if anything at all. She knew she needed someone in contact with her that was always going to be with Dean; she had to tell him. Minutes dragged by as she built up enough courage to say anything. When she did, she spat it all out as fast as she could.

"You would have done anything to save Dean, right? No matter what it meant?"

Sam was taken aback and he hesitated, "Yes…why?"

Nadia took a deep breath and told him everything. "I only did it because I love him and there was nothing else I could do. I had to do it; I had to. The only thing he wanted more than you and Dean was me…so I made a deal." She saw the look on Sam's face and quickly said, "I didn't trade him for me, if that is what you are thinking. I made a deal. I let him choose…with boundaries and provisions, of course. I did a lot of thinking about this; I didn't just go in there willy-nilly. I did my homework. I went to the church and stayed on holy ground and he was on the other side. Who? Right, you want to know who? The…the devil. Yes, the dark prince himself. Actually he was sort of nice, funny, comforting…you know if you didn't know who he was. He was really tan…anyway; I made a deal that I would work as a reaper for him. You know, go around collecting souls and all that. Except that I have to kill them in order to do so; because I'm not an actual certified supernatural reaper." She paused and took another deep breath, "Now for the bare bones of the thing; I have to collect 1,000 souls in one year. Starting Saturday, this Saturday. The 20th, the day after my birthday; I didn't realize that fact at the time. "

She stopped and turned back to Sam, who was stunned, flabbergasted and frozen. He just kept opening and closing his mouth, trying to sort out everything and think of something to say. "A thousand."

"Yes, I have to collect a thousand souls," she carefully said.

"You have to kill a thousand people," he shockingly corrected her.

She closed her eyes and hesitated, "Yes; if you look at it like that."

"If…Nadia you agreed to take a thousand people's lives. There is no other way of looking at it."

"I know, Sam; but it was either that or Dean was going to die."

He looked away, still trying to contemplate the number in his head. "I understand that, but Dean…he would never have wanted you to do that. If he finds out."

"Sam…he can't find out. I know he would have told me not to even consider it; but you would have told him not to trade his life for yours, right? I can do this. Look I was really careful about what I said and what we agreed upon. He never said who I had to kill; it can be anybody."

"I'm sorry, but I'm just not seeing the brilliance in that."

She sighed and licked her lips, "I can choose anyone I want." She could see that Sam still wasn't getting it, "People like death row inmates; they are already going to die, but I can make them count towards my 1,000. Think about it, killers, abusers, rapists…"

He stared at her, "That is vigilantism; taking the law into your own hands. You can't play God; decide who lives and who dies."

She looked down and back at him, "Oh, please don't give me any of that lawyer crap. How many times have you seen people who…have been here long enough, done enough damage. Yin and Yang. Good and Evil. God has miracles and angels that bring and keep people in this world; the devil and demons take them away. They both play there part in keeping a balance. If either of them were taken away…there would be chaos. We need both sides."

"What about Dean and me? By your logic, we are interrupting that balance ourselves. We help people, save them, kill demons; do all the things you think only God should do."

"No, Sam. I said God has angels; not all of them came down from heaven. They don't have big, white fluffy wings. Some of them were born here to keep the balance. Keep the demons' numbers down."

"So were angels?" he remarked.

She rolled her eyes, "In a matter of speaking. I mean; think about it from the perspectives of those you save. Here are people being chased and hunted by things that they never believed in before; things that no one else believes in. Cops laughed at them, friends think they are losing their minds. Then, just in the knick of time, these two guys jump in and save them; and afterward, they vanish, never to be seen or heard from again. Shotguns and salt may not be as majestic as white robes and swords; but they were saved, none the less. By people who seem too good to be true."

Sam watched and listened intently, remembering why he had been so intrigued by her in the first place. They had had many deep conversations like this before; she always had such a unique perspective and was always so persuasive. "Yeah okay," he sighed, "so were angels. What I am worried about is how it is going to affect you. Killing isn't easy, even when it's a demon; let alone a human being. I mean, you heard what Themi said."

She fell into one of the recliners, "I can't stay good forever; I know. You think that if I get a taste for blood…that's it." Sam shrugged his shoulders and she continued, "Maybe if I get a whiff of something bad in the area I'm in…I could kill the thing and counteract some of the bad juju?"

Sam chuckled, "I'm not going to say that we couldn't use the help. We let loose a whole hell of a lot of demons; we need all the help we can get. But, you should focus on what you have to do. Save yourself and save Dean."

"Well, you took this much better than I thought you would."

He threw up his hands, "I have to be logical about this; there is nothing I can do now. So I might as well help as much as I can. What do you need from me?"

Nadia took a deep breath and thought, "I need to stay in touch with you while I am…away. I need to hear how Dean is doing; to hear his voice, even if it is in the background. Also, I need you to teach me as much about hunting as you possibly can in three and a half days."

Sam shot his eye brows upward, "I'm flattered you think so highly of me." He sighed; "Three and a half days…" he just shook his head in amazement. "I guess we better get started," he shot up from the chair and paused, "I don't even know where to begin. At least I don't have to teach you how to shoot."

"I think I'm okay there," she smiled.

Chapter 54

Sam had spent the rest of the day teaching Nadia protection spells and how to make a Devil's Trap. Thank God she was a quick learner and she used one of her best studying techniques (rhymes and making the first letter of each line into a different, easier word) to help her remember the Latin incantations; three years of Spanish helped her with others.

Nadia was accustomed to book work and knew that it was pertinent to success; but the physical work was, by far, her favorite. Sam placed targets around the yard, far out of sight of the road, and challenged her to hit them with fire. It wasn't until two hours of trying to make a line of fire, on the ground, go directly to the targets that she discovered an easier way. Frustrated and tired, she angrily threw her hand towards the target and sent a ball of fire to the left of the target. She and Sam both stood stunned and after a brief pause, slowly turned to each other with smiles on their faces. Even Sam was beginning to fall victim to the sheer fascination and impossibility of what she could do. A few hours later, every ball of fire she threw, went sailing straight at every target; were it immediately burst into flames.

The awe was wearing off and Nadia was trying to think of what else she may be able to do. "Themi said that Cyprien could control water…I wonder if that is genetic too?" she smiled.

Nadia finished dragging one of her old plastic kiddy pools behind the barn and Sam soon rounded the corner with the hose in hand. He put the open end in the pool and let go of the spot where he had been holding onto a kink; holding the water back. Water immediately began to circle the inside of the pool and Nadia watched it for awhile, trying to decide what she should try to do. Sam kinked the hose again and screwed on a controllable sprayer, while Nadia tried to make the water ripple and wave.

Sam had been watching her out of the corner of his eye, "What are you trying to do?"

She jumped at the sound of his voice, "I'm trying to make a wave. Even a tiny one would be nice."

A half an hour passed without any movement and Sam suggested, "Maybe you should get mad? It always seems to get things going."

"Do I look ecstatic?" she snapped.

Sam raised a hand defensively, "Sorry."

Nadia closed her eyes, tipped her head up and took a deep breath to calm herself; she could still see the boredom and disappointment on Sam's face. When she snapped them open again, she directed every bit of anger and frustration into the pool. She wanted the water to swirl into a whirlpool; but what she got was another thing entirely. Sam was sitting Indian style on the ground next to the pool, his chin cradled in his right hand. Boredom was beginning to glaze over his eyes as he continued to stare into the pool; his mind anywhere but there.

Nadia's ferocity seemed to slam into the water, as a fountain of water angrily shot upward and all around. Sam closed his eyes and gasped as a wall of water smashed into his face.

All at once; the anger, guilt, and sadness Nadia felt, gave way as she fell to the ground laughing harder than she had in a long time. She wiped tears from her cheeks and she looked at Sam, who was also wiping water from his face. He couldn't help but laugh along as he looked Nadia in the face. "Did you do that?" he spat out when he caught his breath.

When she finally regained her composure, she nodded. "I tried to clear my head and shot out all my anger at once."

"I think it worked," he said looking down at his drenched jacket and pants. "By the way," he gasped, "this water is frickin' cold."

She laughed again; but they both jumped up as they heard the Impala slow on the road. Nadia tried to wipe the mascara from under her eyes and Sam wiped at his pants, hopelessly. Giving up, they both around the barn and towards the house.

Dean was just about to close the car door when he saw them running towards him. He thought, at first, that Nadia had been crying; but then he suspiciously eyed Sam and his wet jeans. "Well Sam, I guess you weren't ready for big boy underwear after all."

Sam gave him a not-so-amused smile and Nadia tried not to laugh. Dean waited for an explanation. Nadia was the first to speak, "I wanted to see what else I could do. Cyprien could control water…so I thought maybe…" She looked at Sam and shrugged, "It needs a little work," she smiled. "Oh," she excitedly said, "you have to come see what I can do." She grabbed his arm and pulled him back the way she had come.

Sam said, "If you don't mind…" he looked down, "it's cold." He went into the house to change and Nadia and Dean continued back to her firing range.

They turned the corner and all Dean saw was scorched ground and piles of ash. Nadia left him and returned carrying an old upholstered kitchen chair. She sat it just on her side of the property line and returned back to Dean's side. "You might want to step a little to the left," she recommended. He took a couple of steps over and waited. Nadia glanced at him with a smile and braced herself. She held up her palm and the familiar, yet still striking, flame rose from thin air.

She gripped the flame like she held a softball and raised her arm, ready to throw. Her arm shot forward and her hand stopped sharp, palm facing straight at the chair. He watched as a softball-sized ball of fire was launched into the back of the chair. The entire object burst into flame as it fell backwards and within seconds, it was nothing but a charred metal frame.

Dean stared at it, mouth hanging slack. Nadia's face snapped around at the sound of Sam's voice, "Pretty crazy, huh?"

Dean continued to stare in silence and Nadia was beginning to fear his reaction. He slowly turned to Sam, "Crazy? That was…awesome." Nadia took a sigh of relief and smiled. He glanced around and saw the pool, "What about the water?"

"Well, like I said, that needs some work," she said.

Sam and Nadia followed him over to the pool. "Well," he motioned to it, "work."

Sam stepped back and sat in the mouth of the barn's opening. Nadia smirked as she watched him and then turned back to Dean, "Alright." She stepped up to the side of it and took a deep breath. She glanced at Dean and then back at the still water's surface. She closed her eyes and built up the first emotion she encountered. She felt Dean's eyes on her and when she snapped them open, the surface began to ripple as if she had just leisurely thrown a small stone into the center.

Dean had a small amazed smirk on his face and as she watched him, her heart started to ache. "Whoa," he said and stepped back. Sam jumped up and hurried to the side of the pool. The ripples were becoming more intense, sharper.

The commotion around her was silent as she again thought about having to leave. Dean and Sam took another step back as the entire amount of water swayed from side to side fiercely. Dean's eyes snapped from the pool to Nadia's and this seemed to snap her back. She looked down and watched the water in amazement herself. It started to die down and she fought to replay her emotions to keep it going.

She quickly grew bored of the swaying and wanted desperately to create a whirlpool. She stared hard at the water, willing it to spin. What emotion could possibly make a whirlpool? She thought. The harder she willed it to swirl, the more the water seemed confused. The swaying was dying and it was trying to spin. She suddenly felt like she was watching herself trying to do this and this seemed to strengthen the motion of the water. She was reminded of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. She felt like she knew she could do it because she had already done it; like Harry being sucked dead by the dementors who was being watched by Harry and his patronus.

When she snapped back to the water; it was swirling in a perfect circle, drawing the outside water to the center. She smiled and looked at Dean and Sam; who were mesmerized by the showcase the water was putting on. She slowly let her grasp go and water filled the center and the swirling died into slow, lazy movement.

Dean's eyes slowly met Sam's and they turned to Nadia who smirked and shrugged, as if it was all in a day's work.

They all walked silently back to the house and Nadia threw together some cheese burger Hamburger Helper and they all ate and talked about their new discoveries.

Chapter 55

Nadia gave an angry sigh as she opened her eyes and discovered that only three hours had passed by since she had lain down. How can I survive on just a few hours of sleep a night? She looked jealously at Dean as he slept, dead to the world. Nice to know you're so worried, she unfairly thought, before throwing off the covers and walking out into the living room. She went to the bathroom and threw water on her face and stared into the mirror as she calculated how long she had left. 41 hours; she had so much left to do.

She washed her face, threw on some makeup and got dressed. Then, she stood in the kitchen, unsure what to do next. She grabbed her keys and walked outside; hoping that something would fill the time she had before the credit union opened. She had four and a half hours until it opened and her mind was sluggish as tried to think of everything she had to take care of before she could go anywhere. Maria was already set to watch her house again and she realized that that was it, she had nothing else. Anything important to her was either on the property or on her; she touched her necklaces and jumped as a Harley roared passed her. "Geez," she sighed. Anger flared suddenly, "Tough guy," she spat.

She continued to fume for a reason she didn't know and was oblivious to what was approaching her from behind. She glanced at her speedometer and pushed the car to 65. She saw a flash of light just before a crotch rocket blew past her, as if she were parked. "The sign says 55!" she hollered after him.

She had been thinking about Dean, yet again; even if he did let her go without argument, she knew he never really would. He would keep tabs on her every move and that was something he could not do. If he knew where she was all the time, then it was only a matter of time he started noticing masses of people dying in the same cities. She needed to make herself invisible, disappear from even those who knew her best. Her hands gripped the steering wheel as she thought of giving up her baby; something she knew had to happen. It would stay parked in the barn, not seeing the light of day, for a year. She started to miss her already; and shook it off to focus on the excitement of what she would get to replace it.

It had to be something fast (for quick escapes), quiet (for approaches), she had to be able to disappear into shadows and it had to be agile. Batman Begins flashed into her mind; she loved the chase scene on the highway when simply hitting the brakes and turning off the lights, made the giant crawler vanish into thin air. But since that had yet to be created or put into mass distribution, she could push that out of her mind. Black, was all she took from the formidable bat toy.

Okay, black…that narrows it down, she thought to herself. She looked to more movies for inspiration; Italian Job and mini coopers (possible), Fast and the Furious and street cars (too rare), I Robot and futuristic floating cars with auto-pilot (unlikely). But Will Smith did give her another idea. At the time it was ancient and ran on, OMG!, gasoline. It was agile, fast, and beautiful in black. A Harley is beautiful, menacing, and loud; but a crotch rocket, while not so majestic, is quiet, fast, and more agile. In other words, it was perfect.

When she reached the credit union, a mere half hour had passed and she continued down the road towards Grand Rapids. All she knew was that she wanted a black crotch rocket and she needed it delivered to Maria's house today.

She passed more car dealerships than she could keep track of; but not a single bike place came into sight. Pulling into a McDonald's to regain her bearings and connect her phone to the web, she scoured the net for the nearest shop. Three locations immediately popped onto the screen and she pulled back onto the deserted road and headed to the nearest one. While waiting in the parking lot, she searched Google for the newest styles of crotch rockets and got lost in all the accessory choices. Before she knew it, two hours had passed and hunger was churning hard in her stomach.

Luckily, restaurants lined both sides of 28th street; unfortunately only a couple were open. At 6:30 in the morning, she found Denny's, McDonald's, and IHop; amazingly healthy choices. As she pondered the menu of all too familiar value meals, she thought about how only months ago, she was consistently running 3 miles a day, putting in an hour of kickboxing, and an hour of gymnastics. Now, she was trying to decide between grease drenched sausage and dried out ham.

By 7:00, she was, yet again, a fixture in the parking lot of "The Hog's Den." She choked down every bit of her sausage egg McMuffin and swore she could feel her arteries clogging; oddly, though, it was comforting at the same time. She threw the wrapper back in the McDonald's bag and wiped her hands free of grease. After throwing the bag on her spotless floor, she resumed the monotonous task of waiting.

Nadia had two more hours until any other sign of life walked into the store and she had nothing to do. She went over and over the incantations Sam had taught her and continually watched the always faithful flame jump to her finger tips. When the streets started getting busier, she was too afraid of getting caught to continue that time-waster. She once again looked at the clock; she had one hour until the place opened and 36 hours to enjoy normalcy. She started looking around her car for a magazine, book, anything that could make time go faster. She cursed herself for being so anal about needless things staying in her car. Every search came up fruitlessly until her fingers unanticipatedly stumbled over something under the driver's seat.

She pulled out a cheap blue spiral-bound notebook that she had never seen before. She cautiously opened it and was startled to see Dean's slanted penmanship on its pages. Small fragments of paper marked where many pages had been ripped out and on the first full page, was written:

Nadia,

I know it's hard to understand how I could have made that deal, but Sam is my family. He is all I have. Or all I had at the time. Now, I am torn because; if I knew you then, would I have done it? Or would I have let him die?

A large "X" scarred over all the letters and she turned the page to where he had tried to continue fresh.

Nadia,

Thinking back to that day, part of me wishes I had never made that deal. All I could do was what was right at the time. I never thought I would meet someone like you and be scared to death of what was coming. I don't want to die. I have seen what I will become and it scares the shit out of me. What would Sam do if I became what we hunted? I am glad you will be there for him; he needs someone. He tries so hard not to show it; but I know that he is as scared as I am.

Another "X" crossed out his words; but on the next page were just a few, simple, straightforward words that broke her down and built her up simultaneously.

Nadia,

I love you no matter where I am or who I become.

Dean

Right there in that parking lot, without a single spoken word, Nadia understood everything. What he felt were feelings she knew all too well. "…or who I become" kept running through her head; would he love her no matter whom she became? For a fleeting moment, she second guessed her decision. She was strengthened and distressed by his words and his fears. In this one, single moment she knew beyond a doubt that nothing and no one was going to stop her. In a life of isolation and lies, Dean was the person who promised to love her no matter what. The only person who had never lied to her.

She jumped and wiped her eyes as knuckles rapped on her window. Startled, she took a couple deep breaths and wiped mascara from under her eyes, before rolling the window down an inch.

"Are you alright?" asked a middle aged man with striking grey hair and sharp features.

"Yeah," Nadia laughed it off. "Do you work here?" she said as she nodded toward the building.

He looked towards the store as if he had forgotten what was behind him. "Oh, yes. Did you need something?"

Nadia was annoyed by his air of assumed male mechanic superiority, "A bike." She rolled the window down further, "A crotch rocket to be more exact. As black as possible."

He smirked, "Any model in mind?"

"Not at the moment. I'd like to see and then decide," she pushed back.

He swept his arm in welcome, "Follow me."

Nadia rolled the window back up and grabbed her purse, before following him inside. He held the door open for her, "When were you hoping to get this?"

"As soon as possible. If I can't find something I like here, there are plenty more fish in the sea," she sharply said as she stepped inside.

"Well, in that case, I guess I better impress. What price range are you thinking?"

"None. If I find something I like, that is all that matters."

He raised his eyebrows and led her further inside.

Chapter 56

"We have all the top sellers; Yamaha, Kawasaki… But if you don't care, I guess I'll just show you all of them."

"I just want to see all the ones that you have in black. I don't have time for painting," she said as she looked around overwhelmed by them all. "They look so much alike," she said, looking from on to another.

"Oh, but they are so different. For example; this one, a Kawasaki Ninja ZX-14 runs about $11, 799 and has more horses than this ZZR 600, $ 7,399 and also a Kawasaki."

She crinkled her face in thought, "It's…nice, but it's too big. I need something without so much bulk behind the front wheel." She looked over both bikes and didn't want to say it, but she didn't want something so heavy either, "I need something more agile," she used instead.

"Well all of the bikes have a black option, it's a popular color; but…for those we have today…" He walked across the floor to a line of smaller, gleaming black Yamahas stood, "I'm Nick, by the way." Nadia followed him and could feel a twinge of love as she set her eyes on one in particular. Nick noticed her focus on the bike and smiled; "Now I haven't seen that look in someone's eyes in awhile. 2009 Yamaha YZF-R6, has a sticker price of $8,599. She's a nice bike; agile, black, fast, perfect for you I think. Go ahead, see how she feels."

Nadia grabbed the left handle bar and swung her leg over the frame. The seat was comfortable and the handle bars were just far enough away from her body to be comfortable. "I know about aerodynamics, but why do they have to make you practically lie down?" she asked as she thought about long rides in this position.

"It will take some getting used to; but a few long rides and it will feel normal. Want to take her for a spin?"

Her grandpa had taught her how to ride on an old Harley and all the gauges and levers in front of her were intimidating. She could hear his voice behind her saying, "You watch, one day there will be more bikes than cars on the road; the way gas prices are going." She smirked as she read $3.99 on the sign across the street. She smiled at Nick and said, "Um, I learned on a bike that was…a little older. Think you could show me the ropes real quick?"

"Sure. It wasn't a crotch rocket, huh?"

"No, not quite," she thought of the 1970 Harley Davidson chugging along underneath her.

Twenty minutes later, Nadia was cautiously pulling out onto the road and following Nick to a very low traffic paved road where she could stretch her legs. Another employee had arrived while they were talking and was now holding down the fort while Nick enjoyed a free ride. As she turned onto the road and pulled up next to Nick as they both stopped, butterflies were stirred up as she looked at the long stretch in front of her. The Harley could never quite make it over 60 mph; and she could feel the Yamaha urging to break 90. Nick went over all the gears again and shot off down the road. Nadia took a deep breath, made sure her helmet was tight and slowly turned the throttle; gaining speed little by little.

34.5 hours.

At the same time that Nadia was breaking out of her comfort zone, Dean was breaking through layers of sleep. He crawled out of bed, without noticing she was gone, and went into the bathroom. As he rubbed his face, the haze started to lift and he realized something was off. "Shit," he exclaimed as he pulled up his boxers and ran his hands under water. He threw the door open and ran to the window where emptiness filled the spot where her car was supposed to be. "Shit, shit, shit! He ran back into the bedroom and grabbed his phone. Speed dialing number one on his phone, he listened to it ring and ring as no one answered. He tried again and again without success. Finally, he threw Sam's door open and shook him awake.

Sam pulled the covers over his head, "Leave me alone."

Dean tried to talk but grew too choked up and breathless. "Is she gone," he finally got out.

Sam turned and took the covers off his head, "What?"

"Is she gone," he repeated, unable to make eye contact until the words came out.

Concern and fear gripped Sam's heart. He had never seen his brother like this, "What day is it?"

Anger flared in Dean's voice, "Friday, November 19th 2008; her birthday."

Sam shook sleep from his head and though back to his conversation with Nadia, "No. No, she's not. She shouldn't be."

"Then why isn't she answering the phone? I called three times and she doesn't pick up," anger and worry were shaking his hands as he flailed them through the air.

"Dean!" Sam tried to snap him back, "I don't know, okay? I don't know why she isn't answering her phone. Maybe she is somewhere where she can't get service or she forgot to turn it on or it's on vibrate and in her purse or…"

"Yeah, or maybe she's at the movies!" he sarcastically spat at his brother.

"Dean, I swear to God!" he snapped back.

"Yeah because he's been a real help so far!"

"Sit down, shut up, and give me the phone," Sam said through grit teeth.

Dean stopped pacing and looked incredulously at his brother while he did what he had been told.

"She said she wasn't leaving until…not yet. Okay? She hasn't left yet. She has a lot of affairs to set in order…"

"She ain't dying yet!" Dean interrupted.

"Okay, she has a lot of things to do before she goes gallivanting around the country. She wasn't raised on the road like you and I were. She has a house and…other things to take care of. She can't just pick up everything and head out."

Dean sighed, knowing Sam was right but he wasn't about to accept that. He got up, threw on some clothes and Sam followed him as he grabbed his keys off the counter. "What are you going to do, Dean? Drive around and hope to just bump into her?"

Dean gave him an irritated look and sat the keys back down. He couldn't decide what to do; go out and look for her, stay and wait for the phone to ring, or go to the range and shoot out all of his frustrations. Finally, he decided to stay put and sat on the couch, the house phone on one side of him and his cell on the other.

Chapter 57

Air rushed by and the fear seemed to go with it as she raced down the road. She always thought it was so cheesy when people talked about how freeing riding a motorcycle was; now she understood. The slow pace of the Harley was nothing like going 80 miles an hour on a deserted road with this power underneath you. Nick's figure was growing bigger and she knew the ride was over and was tempted to blow passed him. She slowed to a stop and before he could ask, she pulled the helmet off and simply said, "I'll take it." Nick smiled again, put his helmet back on and they both headed back to the shop.

Nadia sat in a chair across the desk from Nick and concentrated on what she now had to do. A bike in her name was easy to trace and she knew Dean would be right behind her; she had to disappear.

"Okay now that I have all the papers, we can start filling them out, Ms. Sawyer," he smiled at her. She smiled back; she was beginning to enjoy her new found abilities. "What was your first name again?"

Nadia quickly searched for the first name she would be able to remember, "Aidan." She thought of Andrea and a sleepover in fifth grade where she noticed Nadia spelled Aidan in reverse. That she could remember.

"Okay," he paused as he wrote, "If you could just fill this out, I'll be right back." He handed her a single sheet of paper, oblivious to the fact that it was the cornerstone of her new life.

She dug through every bit of her past for roads and numbers that she would remember well for the year to come. She was now;

Ms. Aidan Sawyer

523 Psycho Path

Traverse City, Michigan

The street was one that she stumbled upon while surfing the internet one day and she thought it was morbid at the time, but sadly fitting now. The number 523 stood for the five members of her demon family and the age she discovered who she was.

Nick was back with more paperwork and scanned over the one she had just finished, before entering the information into the computer. He paused with his hands poised over the keyboard, "Psycho Path?"

She laughed, "Believe it or not."

He shook his head, "A ways from home, aren't you?"

"I am visiting friends and after what I spent on gas to get down here, I decided I needed something a little more forgiving."

He laughed and continued typing. "I just have to do a credit check…"

Nadia tightened up and interrupted him, "Actually, I am going to pay cash for everything. You don't need to do a credit check for that, do you?" She caught the look on his face and quickly added, "I know what you're thinking; the money must be illegal, right? It's not that…I just…I emptied out my bank account because I need to disappear." He gave her a questioning look that she could feel herself giving to her brain. She thought fast, "It's my husband. He beat me for years and I told my self it would never happen again. I just want to disappear before…before he follows through on his threats." Tears were not hard to bring as she thought about leaving Dean. After a tense moment his face softened and he reached out and put his hand on hers and said, "Alright, I just need you to sign a few things and we're all set." He turned the papers to her and showed where she needed to sign each.

Nadia started to sign her name, "Sorry, I forgot what my name was there for a second," she stopped herself and signed her new name for the first time. By the fifth paper, it became easy and natural to sign as someone else.

She had drove to Grand Rapids as Nadia Bella; daughter to murdered parents, isolated member of the community, half demon, target to the entire demon world, and girl in love for the first time but on a mission to kill. As she drove back, she thought about whom she was now; Aidan Sawyer, daughter of who knows, and beaten wife on the run.

The bike was going to be delivered to Maria's house today by 5:00 p.m. She felt her stomach flip as she realized that tomorrow was D-day. A new count down started for her when the sun rose and she would have to leave the man she loved, without a goodbye.

She had just learned how to ride a crotch rocket and she was about to entrust her and Dean's lives on one.

She dug into her purse for her phone and looked at the envelope on the screen telling her she had messages and missed calls. She turned it on speaker, punched in her password, and waited as the mechanical voice told her she had missed 5 calls and had 3 messages. Warmth flooded her as she listened to Dean's voice, "Nadia, it's me. Where are you? Okay…call me." "Nadia, where are you? Why aren't you answering the phone? I am starting to get worried; the last time this happened, you were nearly eaten by a werewolf. Call me…now." She smiled until she heard the fear and worry in his last message. His voice was slower and more deliberate this time, "Nadia, seriously, where are you? Sam said you weren't leaving yet and I want to believe him, but… I don't know, maybe I want you to tell me…no, no I don't. Just call me and tell me if it's today, if you're already gone. I…I uh, just call me alright." She nearly side swiped a car in the other lane as she listened to him struggle to try and say the words. She smiled and tears filled her eyes as she sighed and said, "I love you too."

Dean looked possessed as he stared passed a spot on the floor, imagining all the awful things that could be happening to her. "Dean, I'm sure she is alright," Sam said for the millionth time. Dean glared at him and he sighed and continued, "Okay, maybe I don't know it…but I'm sure she'll call as soon as she gets the messages." Dean and Sam both jumped as Metallica filled the air. Stunned, Dean stared at the phone before realizing that the screen read, Nadia. "See," Sam said.

"Nadia? Where are you? Are you okay? Answer me!" he spat out.

"I would if you would give me a chance," she laughed.

"It's not funny!"

"I know. I'm sorry. I just got your messages."

"Where are you?"

"On my way home; and before you ask, I went to Grand Rapids for some things."

"Did you get some paper?"

She was taken aback, "No, why? Do we need some?"

"Must be. I mean that must be the only reason you didn't leave a note. Unless you forgot how to write."

"I'm sorry. I didn't know you were going to get this upset."

"You are supposed to leave soon for a year and you didn't expect me to get upset when I woke up and you were gone."

"You don't think I would have found some way to tell you goodbye if I had left?"

Chapter 58

31 hours

Nadia pulled back into traffic that she was much more comfortable with and headed to the credit union. She had stopped in a few days before and ordered two new debit cards with the names D. Winchester and S. Winchester stamped into the front. A risky move since they were both supposedly dead; hopefully no one would think to make the connection. As she walked through the doors she realized that she should have asked for a new one for herself. She could fix that problem later.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes, I talked to Sarah a couple of days ago about some new cards…" she committed no more.

"Okay. I'll let her know you're here."

Nadia sat in one of the many red chairs in the waiting area. She looked over the room and saw mothers struggling to keep their children at their sides and filthy men cashing hard earned paychecks. It was odd what things made her think of her dire circumstances and what she would never have. "Miss Bella?" A woman in her thirties stood looking curiously down at her. "You can follow me into my office now."

Nadia smiled, "Oh, sorry. Thanks." She followed her into the center office and sat in the grey straight-backed chair across the desk.

"Now, you ordered two different debit cards to be taken out of your account; correct?" Sarah Collins asked.

"Yes."

"Okay." She pulled an envelope from her locked desk drawer, "I must say this was an unusual request."

"I know," there were some perks to having a large account, even in a credit union, "it is an unusual situation."

"Must be. Anyway, here are the D. Winchester and the S. Winchester cards; and they are both added onto your account. So they will draw directly from there. Of course they are debit, credit, and atm cards as well. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

"Yes, actually. I would like to make a separate account. Under the name Aidan Sawyer."

The woman gave her a skeptical look, "Is this for some else as well?"

"Yes. I have a friend that moved to California and is struggling a bit with housing and finances; I'd like to help her out. The thing is, I am taking a trip all around the country and so I won't always be able to send her money when she needs it. This would just be much easier." Though it was simple to just make her enter the info and create an account in seconds without all the effort; Nadia still liked the rush that came from getting away with something.

"Well we won't have the card for about a week, how soon are you leaving?"

Nadia hesitated, "Tomorrow. I know I should have came in sooner, but this all happened so fast and I just thought about her. That sounds worse than I meant it to," she laughed.

Sara smiled, "Alright. I will fill out the paper work if you can just wait a second…" She started typing, "Can you spell the name for me, please?"

"A-i-d-a-n S-a-w-y-e-r."

"No middle name?"

Before she could think, she blurted out, "Dean, Aidan Dean Sawyer." She was taken aback and asked herself, what?

"Sorry?"

"Nothing."

She went back to typing, "Address, phone number, employment."

Nadia got her phone out of her pocket and read off Andrea's address, "I'll have to get back to you about her phone number, she lost her's. As far as employment, she is uh…in law enforcement; but doesn't have a job out there yet. Wants to be an actress; hence the move."

"Alright, I will get this going and I need you to call me as soon as possible with the telephone number."

"Of course. Thank you." Nadia shook her hand and returned to the car. 12:00 p.m.; 30.5 hours

She hurried home so that she could stop worrying about Dean having a heart attack. The wind was piercingly cold now and blew hard at her car; trying to push her off the road. She looked in the rear view mirror at the box full of riding gear. She had stocked up on leather chaps, a leather jacket, leather pants, gloves, and a sleek black helmet. She couldn't help but laugh as she thought back to Nick at the bike shop, "I think we have a new crime-fighting super hero." Ironic that he would say that. The outfit was definitely hiding something.

It was really too bad she couldn't show it off to Dean, she had a feeling he'd like it. A blonde wig and she could be Olivia Newton John's double.

Dean had been keeping himself busy scanning all of Nadia's clothes, committing them to memory. He was going to know when she left. He thought briefly of sabotaging her car until he heard her finally pull into the driveway.

Not wanting to look too desperate, he sat at the computer and searched the internet for nothing in particular. He didn't move when she walked in; he was cool. "Hey."

She cocked an eye brow, "Hey," and looked at Sam who rolled his eyes and shrugged his shoulders. She sat her purse on the counter and walked over to him, "What ya doing?"

"Just looking up some stuff," he nonchalantly responded.

She smirked and kissed his cheek, "As long as it isn't Busty Asian Beauties," she messed up his hair and winked at Sam. He froze and watched her walk into the bedroom before slowly turning and glaring at Sam.

Nadia was exhausted from days of little sleep, so she tried to take a nap. As soon as she was about to drift off, her phone rang. It was Andrea.

"You sound like crap."

"Nice to hear from you too," Nadia absently responded.

"What cha up to?"

Nadia sighed, "Devil's work."

"What did you do, get a job?"

"You could say that. But I mean actual devil's work; I met him, face to face. Not as scary as you'd think."

"You're serious," Andrea said incredulously.

"Yup. Good news, though, I saved Dean. He is no longer staring down the fiery depths of hell."

"That's great, how'd you manage that?"

"Like I said, I met the devil. We made a deal," Nadia flashed back to the old man's face.

"What!?"

"I made a deal. It sucks. No, it worse than sucks; it blows."

"Details."

Nadia filled her in on all the details of the agreement. She, yet again, reassured herself and Andrea that it was her only choice and that she could find the most humane way to complete such a task.

"Well, you will not believe what happened to me!"

"Unbelievable, Andrea. I literally made a deal with the devil and you still think it is all about you!"

Andrea sighed, "I don't, of course I don't; but what do I say? I know you and I know you'll do it no matter what I say or think. I also know that you'll get it done; no matter what it takes. And how could you not? You have lost your dad, mom, and grandpa; of course you are going to fight like hell to hold on to Dean. Do you want me to say that I think it is a bad idea, fine. What were you thinking? There you go. You want to hear about all the people you are going to murder? I'm not going to talk about it. Sorry, but I'm not. That's not what you need. You know I am a sucker for love stories and chick flicks; and your guys' is epic. No matter what the consequences, I always want the couple together in the end."

"Leave it to you to compare us to The Notebook." The line was silent for a long time, "I have to leave him; for a year. I don't know if I can do that. When I am here, with him, then I can fight whatever is a threat to him. But if I am across the country…I can't do anything."

"I am sure you'd find some way to kick a demon's ass even if you were in Antarctica."

"Thanks. He doesn't want to know when."

"Well that is the question isn't it? Would you want to know when you were going to die or not? He has faced this down once and that was bad enough; but he feels helpless and responsible for your doing the same."

"I can't tell him what I have to do."

"I wouldn't either."

"I thought I was the psychologist?"

"You study it; I am a cosmetologist, I live it."

They both laughed, "I almost forgot; I am having something mailed to you. It will say To: Aidan Sawyer. That's who I am about to become. It may make it easier to be someone else during all this."

"Aidan, Nadia. I remember that day. I'll be on the lookout. Are you coming out here?"

"That's the plan."

"Then I am so staying with you at the Ritz."

"Do they even have a Ritz?"

"I don't know. They have to it's Los Angeles. Happy early birthday, by the way."

Nadia laughed, "Thanks. Bye."

"See ya soon."

I wasn't until Nadia hung up the phone that she realized Andrea never had got around to what happened to her. Oh well, couldn't have been that important.

Chapter 59

Sam needed to get out of the house, so he drove into Lansing and waited for something to grab his attention. He was thankful that Nadia still had her mom's Oldsmobile tucked away in the garage, tank full.

Meanwhile, Nadia was busy in the bathroom setting up music and lighting candles. She went to the bedroom doorway and saw Dean lying on the bed with his head resting on his arm, flipping through the channels, "Dean?"

He turned his head but his eyes stayed on the tv, "Yeah?"

"Boy, you had better take your eyes off that screen," she placed her hands on her hips.

He imitated an angry cat and turned, not expecting what he saw. Nadia was donning a very tight white tank top and shorter than Daisy Duke cut offs. He could see the straps of her black bra setting seductively on her shoulder. She was barefoot and one sat shyly on top of the other.

She smiled, "I was thinking I would take a shower; but I could use some company."

He swallowed hard and asked, "You feeling okay?"

She faltered out of character, "I feel fine. I just thought we would have a little fun while the boss was away. But.," she sighed, "I guess I can take one all by my lonesome…"

He jumped up off the bed, "I could use a shower. I'm starting to smell a little ripe."

She rolled her eyes, "That's attractive."

He kissed her softly on the lips, "I think you've got me beat."

"Why, did Dean Winchester just say that someone was prettier than him?" Nadia mocked in a sweet southern drawl.

"If you tell anyone…I'll have to kill you." He spun her around and gently pushed her toward the bathroom; he couldn't resist a swat on the butt.

She spun around and grabbed his arm, "Bear in mind I can kick your ass," she warned and led him through the door.

Music was drifting softly from the speakers of a small radio on the counter. Candles sat on every available surface and dozens of smells filled his nose; lavender, lilac, cinnamon, and cucumber melon.

"Wow," he said as he swept the room, "what is all this for?"

"I didn't want even Satan himself to stop us from living like normal people do."

"You mean like people in movies do."

"Well…yeah; but does that really matter?"

"Not for a second," he looked her up and down, "I always have been a big movie buff."

She smiled and pulled the shower curtain back to reveal a very sudsy tub of water. "Allow me," he politely bowed before unbuttoning her shorts.

"What a gentleman," she said with her eyes closed. She pressed her lips hard against his and pulled his shirt over his head.

Her shorts dropped to the floor, followed quickly by her tank, and underwear. He slowly pulled her bra down her arms before carefully leading her backward to the water. She quickly reached out and turned the volume up a couple of clicks. He struggled to get his right pant leg off his foot while Nadia sat cautiously down in the water.

They sat in the tub for a long time. Dean slowly ran a bar of soap over her skin and knew every inch of her body. She enjoyed rubbing him down with a loofa; he made her promise she wouldn't tell a soul. It wasn't long before they could stand it no longer and made love while Rachael Yamagata's "Sunday Afternoon" played in the background. A song all about struggling with an addiction to another person; fitting.

He rolled onto his elbow and kissed her shoulder and neck before whispering, "Happy birthday," softly in her ear.

Heat rushed to her skin under his lips and she drew in a ragged breath, "Thank you. I almost forgot."

"Are you ready for your present?" he smirked. "Warranted it's not much…"

She frowned and sighed, "No diamonds?" she said, playing with him a little bit before turning to kiss him softly back. She smiled, "What more could I ask for?"

He raised his brows and tipped his head as if to say, 'You're right.' Then he reached over her to the bedside table and opened the top drawer. Pulling his hand back over her, Nadia noticed a small black box in his palm and confusion and anxiety flashed through her. "Now, it's nothing special so don't get too excited…" he read the expression on her face, "or freaked out." He opened the box and inside was a simple silver ring with a design engraved in it that was too small for her to read. "It's just a ring that I thought you could use and…" he looked away embarrassed, "that I wanted to give you."

She smiled at the discomfort on his face, "What is it and when did you get it?"

His body relaxed at her words, "It's a special ring that I had Bobby make…" the embarrassment returned. "He thinks I'm crazy, by the way." He smirked, "A Winchester giving a girl a ring!" he shook his head in mocked astonishment.

She smiled, "It's beautiful, Dean." She was a bit shocked when he grabbed her left hand and slipped the ring on her finger; probably just a mistake, she thought. She shook the feeling off "Why is it so special?" He gave her a sly smirk but didn't answer and she understood right away, "More protection?" she sighed.

He seemed to notice the new necklace she had on for the first time, "Sam already gave you your gift?" He seemed a bit peeved at this realization; but he shrugged it off. "You ought to be protected against every bit of evil that could possibly come your way now," he smirked.

She rolled her eyes, "Thanks."

He shrugged and laid back on the bed, "It's definitely a first for me…" he mused. Then his mood shifted, "I want you to tell me." He lifted his head slightly to look down at Nadia who was curled tightly to him, her head on his chest. "I want to know."

Nadia snapped her eyes open in surprise, torn from her reverie and made to face reality. She sighed and shifted her herself into a tighter ball, "No you don't."

"Is it today? Tomorrow? In a week? When?" She ignored him until he lifted himself into the sitting position and forced her to do the same. He looked her straight in the eyes, "Nadia, please…I want to know. I know I said that didn't before; but that was before and I've had time to think now."

"That's always scary," she sighed in an uncommitted attempt to lighten the mood.

"Seriously," his voice was stern and there wasn't an ounce of humor within miles.

She turned directly in front of him and grabbed his hand as if he were a small child that she had to explain was too small for a ride. "I know that you say you want to know and maybe you really do; but I can't. Because if you know, then I can't pretend that it is all a dream. Every time you look at me, you are going to have that guilty, desperate look in your eyes. Remember how you told me you hated the way Sam looked at you?'

If you are oblivious; then you walk around happy and smiling and that makes me smile. And I have a second of not torturing myself with thoughts of leaving." She sighed again, "So, no. I won't tell you. I only told Sam because I couldn't bear it any more, I had to tell someone. I also need someone to look after you."

He licked his lips and sighed, "Alright."

Nadia looked at the clock; 28 hours; their schedules were totally askew. It was only 7:00 in the morning for crying out loud. She blew air through her lips and jumped up, "I should make something to eat."

Dean was completely taken aback, "Uh…okay." He followed her into the kitchen where she stopped in the center of the room.

She spun around and said, "I have a better idea. Let's go out to eat." Dean shrugged and opened the door to usher her out.

Nadia could no longer fight the exhaustion of such little sleep. The hum of the Impala lulled her into a deep sleep.

The atmosphere around her grew suddenly cold and she slowly awoke to find herself deep in a dark and thick forest. As she looked around, she slowly remembered where she had been just seconds ago and panic started to set in. "What the…" She desperately searched for any sign of life. Upon realizing that there wasn't one living, breathing person or animal around, she remembered that Dean was with her; yet he was no where. "Dean," she whispered, fear gripping her insides. She tried to get her bearings but it was impossible. There were no stars in the sky, no other form of light, just pitch black. The trees around her seemed to dare her to move, to speak. She started to call out but thought better of it. After all; there were demons out there who wanted her head on a platter.

The air temperature suddenly dropped 10 degrees and Nadia got the sensation she was no longer alone. She spun around and saw a couch with a man sleeping on it and a young woman looking down at him. She looked around; but there is no one else anywhere. The woman turned and reached her hand towards Nadia and a knife flew into her palm. Nadia was stunned when she saw the girl's face; it was her own. She watched as this Nadia bent and softly ran the tip of the knife along his cheek until he slowly awoke. He started to jump up but was stopped cold when he saw the knife in her hand. She slowly bent down to within inches of his face and menacingly whispered, "I have been watching you for a long time. And I have been," she closes her eyes and bends her knees with pleasure, "dreaming, thirsting for this moment. I am going to enjoy making you feel everything they felt." She bent down to his ear, "I only wish it would last longer." Then she thrusted the knife into his abdomen and pulled it toward his chin as far as she could.

Nadia is frozen, staring at the man, her mouth hanging slack. She moved her eyes to the other Nadia; who turned and smiled at her. She was cold and frightening. She stared back at her and flames flashed in her hand and the knife disappeared. This Nadia was wearing dark jeans and a hooded black sweatshirt; she gave off a dark and foreboding presence. "Boo!" she laughed. "Trippy, huh? Yeah, well I had to get through sometime…" she watched her for a long time, then carefully said, "You think you can avoid this…" she watched her reaction. "You think that if you go away for a year, bitter and desperate everything is A-okay? A thousand people and you're gonna be the same ol'Nadia? Well, I have news for you."

She stepped forward and Nadia fought to hold her ground. "If you just embrace it, give in we can do great things. You think it is impressive to snap your fingers and poof, a flame appears? Ladies and gentlemen, this amazing ability was brought to you by Bic," she mocks. "So you can slosh some water around in a kiddy pool; a swift kick and so can a 2 year old. If you let me come out…oh, the things we could do. You'll uncover abilities no one knows. You know what, we were always more of an action person," her eyes closed and she tipped her head down and clenched her jaw. The leaves of the trees all around her shook as the wind picked up from 0 to 60 mph. It bit through Nadia's clothes and sucked the air from her lungs. Just as she felt like she was about to pass out, the wind stopped abruptly and the leaves regretfully fell back into place. "This is what you are supposed to be. I know that you think that because daddy fought it; even though he was full blooded, you should be able to do the same. He was a fluke," she yelled, "a coward!" She tipped her head and took a deep breath to clam herself. "You don't stand a chance. Humans can be just as cruel and ruthless as any demon. It's not like your half angel. You don't stand a chance and the sooner you realize that the better off we'll be." She watched Nadia's reaction and smiled again, "I know you saw that look in my eye after I killed him…it was familiar to you. You got a taste for it back in Montana. That was a nice first venture out and I think it was a roaring success."

"I had to kill him. If I didn't then…" Nadia started to protest.

"Then what? That boy would have died? I've got news for you…he did die!" she sneered. "Despite your best efforts, he died. It's hopeless to fight it. The sooner you give in the happier you'll be. Because if you don't; you'll be fighting it the rest of your life."

"Like you care about my wellbeing."

"Hah, are you blind? I'm in you, I am you. Therefore; your wellbeing is my wellbeing." Neither of them said a word for a long time until black Nadia's eyes light up. "Oh! Oh," her excitement drops, "I almost forgot." She smiled, "you think that the thing you made a deal with was Lucifer. The actual Lucifer himself?" She laughed whole-heartedly. "Most of the demons don't even think he exists. And the guys upstairs would never let him walk free up here. At least that is what they make everyone think. You see, I think that he is here; a little bit in every person here. 'The devil made me do it.' Who knows, maybe he did." She stopped pacing and looked at Nadia, "It's nice, isn't it…easy to think that that is why people act the way they do. To think that it is beyond their control; it's innate. Nature vs. Nurture."

Nadia looked away, ignoring her, "Where is Dean?"

The smile slipped off dark Nadia's face, "Oh my God! You are face to face with yourself in a full-blown conversation and you are worried about that arrogant dick?" She fruitlessly waited for a reply, "He is fine," she conceded. "He is tucked safely away in his precious Impala. You know, I think he is overcompensating a little there."

"He's not, trust me," she sneered.

"I know, I was there." She paused, disgusted, "Dean should appreciate that. Two for the price of one."

Nadia shook that off, "Where am I?"

Dark Nadia scrunched her face, "Physically or mentally?" Getting no response, she continued, "Physically you are still sweetly dreaming away in the passenger seat. Mentally you are here, in the only place where you can no longer run from the inevitable."

"Right, and that inevitable is you?"

"Now you're catching on. That is why I keep telling you to just give up and give in; it is inevitable," she slowly stretched out the word. She was about to continue, when she rolled her eyes and exasperatedly said, "This is invitation only."

Nadia was completely confused and bewildered. She looked around her again when she realized that the other Nadia is no longer talking to her. She searched more frantically when she heard, "Sorry to crash the party." The voice is familiar but she can't place it. A figure started to emerge from the trees and she was relieved to see Themi.

"Thank God," she sighed.

Themi looked at her and smiled, "Not quite." She glared at the dark Nadia as she walked passed her, "Aidan."

"Theminos," she hatefully glared back.

Hearing her new identity connected to this repulsive twin, gave Nadia a new level of fear. She was slowly starting to think that maybe she was right; it was inevitable.

Themi stood beside Nadia, "Leave her alone you shameless blood parasite. Let her go…now," her words were ice cold.

"I'm the parasite? You're the one living vicariously." She turned to Nadia, "She is no angel," she indicated Themi.

"No shit, Sherlock," Themi responded before Nadia could even make her mouth open.

"She got here by using Contego. She still has ties with them, works with them. Give her time and she will stab you in the back, literally."

Nadia turned questioningly to Themi, who rolled her eyes and said, "Yes, I used Contego. He is with you right now; but he can't hurt you. I needed him to get here, that's all," she glares at Aidan. "I couldn't pull you out myself."

"I can't believe you. You are working with him?" Nadia told Themi.

"Oh yes, let's ridicule me for making deals with unsavory characters…" she replied. "Now we have to get out of here soon, because you are almost to Lansing and Dean is going to try and wake you up. If you don't wake up on your own, she" she nodded to Aidan, "could make a not so pretty appearance."

Chapter 60

Aidan's demeanor darkened even more as she glared at Themi and said, "Now Themi, why'd you have to go and ruin the surprise?"

Without taking her eyes off from Nadia, Themi responded, "Oh, sorry about that; but I didn't get the invitation, remember?"

"Why are you guys always so sarcastic? Can't you ever just have a serious conversation?" Nadia asked and even as she said it, she realized how stupid the question was at a time like this.

"I think you're focusing on the wrong thing here," Themi replied incredulously.

Aidan was happy to answer, "I guess it's a bit of a habit from home. Makes the days pass a little easier."

Themi spun around to Aidan, "Stop stalling her!" She turned back to Nadia, "You, need to come with me, now!"

Nadia looked from Themi to Aidan and back again, "She's right. Even you said that I can't stay good forever; so what's the point in trying?"

Themi angrily sighed and was about to lose her temper on Nadia, but she took a deep breath and calmed herself enough to reason with her. "Okay. Say you're trying to save a ship full of people; you know you can't save every single one of them. So, do you leave them all to die or do you try your best and learn from the losses?"

"That is a stupid question," Nadia rolled her eyes.

"Exactly. It could be twenty years before you change. Think of how many lives you could save in that time. You're just gonna give up and let all those people die? Yes, you may reach the thousand people; but do you really think Dean is gonna take you back then? You think she is gonna come back to him? No. She is gonna leave for good and Dean is going to hate you because she is you."

"If saying that when I succeed at this task means that I am going to become her and I will never see Dean again is your way of trying to get me away from her side; it's a little convoluted," Nadia pointed out.

Themi groaned in frustration, "That is not what I am saying. Each person you kill makes it that much easier for you to kill the next one and on and on. By the end…I'm not sure if you'll be able to fight her enough anymore."

"Aww…is that compassion I hear in your voice, Theminos? That is just darling. Really, it brings a tear to my eye," Aidan said, hand to her chest.

"Bite me," Themi responded without taking her eyes from Nadia. "We have to go now."

"That still doesn't make me feel any better. All you keep saying is that I am going to become her and Dean is going to hate me," Nadia pointed out again.

"You are going to become her; no question. My point is that you don't know when. It could be tomorrow or when you're too old to fight it anymore. What I'm trying to say is that the easier it gets to kill the harder it is to remember who you were and what you believed before. And I know that I am too late to point that out, you already made your bed, but I believe that the more time you spend with good people; the easier the memories come."

Nadia look to Aidan and back still unsure what to do. She wanted to believe that she would be fine with living as Aidan if it meant Dean was safe and she could never see him again. But she knew she wouldn't be. "Okay," she looked at Themi and then at Aidan, "let's blow this popsicle stand."

Themi smiled, grabbed Nadia's hand and said, "You have spent way too much time with Dean." Nadia felt a familiar, yet sharper, pull in her stomach as she watched Aidan shrink away. Before they were gone completely, Aidan managed to yell out, "See you soon!"

Dean shifted the car into park and turned the key. The calming rumble of his love's engine was cut short as he turned to Nadia. She was sound asleep, curled into the passenger side door. Her head rested awkwardly on the Impala's sleek but uncomfortable door. He knew she hadn't slept more than a few hours this past week and he was afraid of what that meant; her time was coming. He wanted to let her sleep but knew that the longer she did that, the faster the time would come when she would have to leave. He leaned over to gently touch her shoulder and wake her but he nearly jumped out of his skin when she suddenly jumped awake.

27.5 hours

The light was blinding when her eyes snapped open and she stared blindly forward, waiting for sight to come. She blinked repeatedly until it all rushed back to her. Dean's voice snapped her back to reality, "Jeez…"

She snapped her head to him and closed her eyes and gave a sigh of relief, "You're okay."

"You only just about gave me a heart attack; that's all," he replied.

"Sorry." She grabbed his hand and leaned back and closed her eyes in relief.

Dean raised a confused brow, "Bad dream?"

She rolled her eyes and chuckled. She looked around outside the car. "How long have we been stopped?"

"Just a few seconds…"

She sighed, "Oh boy that was close."

"What the heck happened?"

She glanced at him and smiled, "Ever had a really realistic dream?"

Dean thought back to his unforgettable experience with African dream root, "Yeah."

"That was all it was. I was trapped and had to make a choice between blowing up a ship full of people in order to live the "good" life or learn to live with a…deadly parasite." She turned from him long enough to give herself a confused look. Dean just gave a speechless nod. Nadia shifted herself in the seat and caught her reflection in the side mirror and swore she saw Aidan. Of course you saw her, she looks exactly the same as you do, she rolled her eyes at herself but couldn't shake the feeling she had gotten from the reflection.

Nadia suggested they go to FunTyme. A place full of air hockey tables, video games, and all the other indoor fun you could think of; the perfect place to lose yourself.

25 hours 10:00 a.m.

They filled their pockets with tokens and Nadia headed straight to the air hockey tables, Dean at her heels. The table was surrounded by rowdy teenage boys so she simply sat back and watched for awhile. Dean watched her and asked, "Want me to clear them off?"

Nadia grinned, "That's okay…how about we have a little fun with it?" Once she had found the leader of the pack she stepped forward, "Not bad…not great but not bad."

He glanced around to his buddies, "Oh, yeah? Think you can do better?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I've played a few times; I'm not too bad."

He laughed, "Not too bad?" He shrugged his shoulders, "Alright, you're on."

Dean, smirking, shoved two tokens in the slot and pushed the mechanism into the table until a puck fell out and the air started. He handed the puck to the kid, "Ladies first. Good luck, you're gonna need it." Dean had no idea how Nadia's hockey skills were but he recognized that familiar look in her eyes. The same one he had been taken by at the shooting range months ago.

The kid shot straight for the goal; a mistake she knew he would make. He figured that she would assume he would try something fancy off the side; but she knew otherwise. The puck bounced right off her paddle and back into his own goal slot. She smiled and he remarked, "Lucky."

He lined the puck up in front of his paddle and subtly glanced to the right. Nadia's paddle flew to the puck as it bounced off the side of the table and she sent it back off to her right and into his goal.

Growing frustrated, he hit the puck as hard as he could and sent it off the side of the table and flipping through the air, just missing a friend of his. Dean picked it up off the floor and handed it to Nadia. As he did so, he leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Play fair."

She looked him in the eye, "I am."

He nodded, "Then kick his ass."

She leaned toward him, "I am."

Within minutes she crushed him 7 to 0. The next game he challenged her to a bet of $10; the easiest $10 Nadia had ever made. More and more of his friends challenged her and by the time they got tired of making easy money off broke high school kids, Nadia had $110 in her pocket. Dean couldn't help the smile he wore on his face as they walked around deciding what to do next. Nadia played a few horse racing arcade games and Dean went straight for the ones with orange plastic guns fastened to them.

Hours flew by and before they knew it they were leaving laughing, $110 richer, and three hours lighter.

22 hours 1:00 p.m.

Chapter 61

The ride home was comfortable silence. Nadia was curled into Dean's side watching the snowflakes rush the windshield and enjoying the security she felt like this. Like nothing could touch either of them; they were safe in their world away from it all. But as Dean shifted his posture and wrapped his arm tighter around her shoulders, she caught sight of the numbers that glared back at her from the clock and panic started to press in around her again.

She took a deep breath and turned her face to his and kissed his neck. Dean smirked as he looked down at her, "That's a dangerous maneuver, you know. Don't start something you can't finish."

She glanced back at him and felt the future tugging at her again as she said, "I always finish what I start." She hoped he didn't hear the sadness in her voice as the fist gripped her insides tighter. Dean ran his finger carefully up her side and chuckled when she shakily inhaled and bit her lip. "Are we there yet?" she sighed impatiently. She felt his thigh flex as her hand slid around to tuck it underneath his inner thigh. He laughed and the Impala roared as he forced her to pick up speed. "I mean I love the car and all; but I would really like my own bed this time," the words came out soft and seductively against his neck.

His breathing grew more ragged before he responded, "Five minutes, I promise. If I have to cut across a field..." They both laughed but could feel their heart rates escalate and it grew harder to concentrate on the road and not on the very, very near future.

As soon as they pulled in, Nadia's phone rang and she debated whether or not to answer it. "It's Sam," she glanced at Dean.

"Who cares," he sighed as he grabbed her hand to yank her from the car.

"It could be important," he knew how little time she had left, "it'll just take a second." She smiled at Dean's face, "I promise."

He rolled his eyes as she flipped the phone open, "Well…I ain't waiting out here," he mumbled and headed into the house.

Nadia was relieved for his low tolerance of cold weather; he didn't need to hear any of this. "Hey Sam."

"Hey. You been home all day?" he sounded uncomfortable. Nadia faintly wondered if it was just that he didn't know how to start this particular conversation or if he was thinking of what she and Dean would have been doing if they were home all day.

"No, we went for a ride and hustled a little air hockey," she made an effort to make her voice sound light.

"Ah…" there was a long pause, "I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to stay at a hotel. I know this is a hard time for you and…Dean. You probably want to be alone."

She couldn't help but smile and blush, "Uh, thanks." Neither of them said anything for a full minute. "I don't know what to do here, Sam."

"That's makes two of us."

"I want to tell him, but…I can't say goodbye. I've never had to before. I always thought I would have liked to. To my mom and my grandpa; but now that I have the chance…I can't do it."

"You just have to. Just be glad that you don't have to kill him," he thought back to Madison and tried to lighten the mood; didn't work so well. "Sorry, I wasn't thinking."

"I know," she forced a laugh. "Twenty one hours and fifteen minutes," she sighed at her watch. "I feel like I have a date with the firing squad. How can saying goodbye to someone be comparable to death row?"

"Love," he said like it was so obvious the question was stupid.

"I love you, Sam."

"I love you too…little sis."

She chuckled, "You're not much older than I am."

"Much being the key word."

She blew air noisily threw her lips and saw the shade on her bedroom window move for the fourth time. "Dean's waiting. Part of me wants to stay right here, away from him."

"But…"

"But most of me wants to run into the house and spend every second I can with him."

"So why are you still on the phone?" Nadia could hear the smile in his voice and shrugged her shoulders.

"Eleven?" he asked.

"About…"

"I'll be right down the road, call me when you leave," his voice was a whisper. "We've been through a lot together, Nadia. I'll be there when he wakes up."

"He's going to blame you because you knew and you're there. I hate that." Tears were threatening to spill over.

"It won't be the first time, and I'm sure it won't be the last." They were quiet again for a long time. "See you in a year… We'll be here, both of us. I promise. And if you ever need anything, you know my number. Love you."

Nadia shakily took a breath and pressed her lips together to fight the tears, "You too." She quickly snapped the phone shut and turned away from the house to try to catch her breath again. She had a long time to fight the wave that was just on the horizon; she had to keep it together to keep Dean in the dark.

21 hours 8 minutes

As Nadia regained control over herself, the burning desire she had felt minutes ago returned with a vengeance. This time the heat in her stomach was no longer an urge or a want, but a need. She shoved the phone in her pocket and ran onto the porch. Before she could make it through the screen door, Dean pulled the house door open and stepped back into the chilly air. Her brain lagged behind as she threw herself at him, a fierceness pressing her lips to his. Dean staggered backward from the force and surprise of her attack; but that was soon wiped away as his arms couldn't pull her close enough to himself. They barely made it through the door before she jumped into his arms, her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. In the seconds it took her to drop the shirt to the floor and Dean to catch his breath, he reminded her, "I thought you wanted your bed?"

She clung tighter to his neck and he grabbed new fistfuls of her hair as she breathlessly said, "Can you get that far?" There was a challenge to her words, something she knew he would respond to. He smirked and forcefully swung the door shut before he turned and walked as fast he could to the bedroom. They fell hard to the bed, "Impressive," she breathed.

He whispered, "You have no idea," softly into her ear. His lips traced their way down her neck and chest as he unbuttoned her shirt and pulled her further onto the bed. Few seconds passed before all of their clothes were on the floor…and dresser…and desk.

They lay side by side on the bed fighting to breathe normally. "Wow," Dean mouthed. Nadia laughed, thinking back to every second that had just happened. "That was…intense," he continued. This time had been different; they both felt the need that pulled them aggressively together. On any other day that aggression would have scared Nadia; it was painful and angry but still not enough. She was trying to block out the clock that now glared sideways at her from the floor. She fought back the intense urge to jump him again and chuckled at herself. So instead she muted the drawing pain by pressing herself as close to him as she could; fitting her curves perfectly around his.

But it wasn't long before she began to trace his muscles and kiss his chest, neck, and jaw. He laughed, "Whoa, slow down. You have to give me a few minutes."

She forced her lips away from his and sighed, "I know," and he chuckled at the sadness in her voice. For a long time, he traced his finger all over her skin and she wanted slap him; but she decided to just tell him, "You are not helping," through clenched teeth.

He playfully pulled away from her and lay on his hands; "Sorry." He sighed and said, "I really am quite exhausted anyway…" and closed his eyes.

She watched him, frustration building as she realized he would eventually end up doing just that. She wanted to help him fight that need but she also needed him to be out when it was time for her to leave; she couldn't bring herself to say goodbye. At least not to his face. She glanced quickly at the time, 20 hours, give or take a few minutes; no he couldn't go to sleep yet. It was only 3:00 p.m. She was surprised by how long she had when she looked at it as present time instead of counting down. They still had all day.

Dean was expecting a slap or something of the same caliber, so he was surprised when nothing came. Fear shot through him as he thought maybe she had believed him or maybe there was a reason she would want him asleep. Her demeanor on the phone with Sam, so obvious even from far away; made his stomach knot. Couple that with the aggressive, fearful, hungry, and fantastic way she had come at him only an half an hour ago; and he knew their time was nearly gone. He snapped his eyes open to make sure she was still beside him. Relief flooded through his veins as he saw every perfect inch of her laying thoughtfully next to him and he had to touch her to be sure she was real. He suddenly felt a pressure to mesmerize everything about her; the way her skin feels, the smell of her hair, the lines of her curves. The pressure of his hand on her cheek pulled her back to the present and she smiled stunningly down at him. The happiness and love in her eyes was reassuring. "Again?" he slyly smirked.

She laughed and softly brushed her hand from his hair to his chin and leaned over him to press her lips softly to his. Her lips were barely far enough from his to whisper, "Abso-frick'in-lutely."

They spent the rest of the day watching tv together or fixing mandatory snacks to fuel their trips in and out of the bedroom. While in the bathroom, Nadia stumbled upon her newly gathered birth control and nerves fluttered suddenly into her throat. She hadn't forgotten to take a pill that morning but she still felt suddenly unprepared for all the testing they were doing today. She read the case and popped another in her mouth. Better safe than sorry. The image of Aidan slitting people's throats while nine months pregnant made her instantly sick to her stomach. Nadia had never really yearned for children; she had too bad a luck to subject someone else to that. But she couldn't deny the tiny warm feeling she got when she thought of a little Dean running around the house. She laughed and whispered, "God help us all," to herself. "I don't think the world could handle another Dean."

She shook those thoughts out of her head; they were impossible. Dean was no stay at home dad and she just couldn't see herself bringing a child into what they both knew was out there. Besides that warm feeling wasn't that big. She shut and locked that door before returning to Dean and the NCIS marathon they had become absorbed in. The passing of episode after episode sent hour after hour quickly out the window. Before she knew it, it was 8:00 and they only had 15 hours left.

She suddenly felt like they were wasting precious time and she turned the tv off and jumped up in one fluid movement. "I feel like we should be doing something," she glowered down at him.

His eyes moved slightly wary toward the bedroom, "I honestly don't know how much more I have in me…" He gave himself a shocked look, "I can't believe I just said that."

Nadia's jaw dropped but she recovered herself, "Neither can I. But I didn't mean that."

He raised an eye brow, "What did you mean then?"

She bit her lip and thought for awhile, "I don't know," she surrendered.

He thought about that and unwillingly offered, "I could teach you some things…about hunting I mean." He hated the thought of her out hunting without his protection.

This time she raised a brow, it was not like him to offer to help make her more lethal. "Like what?"

He acted irritated at the question, "I don't know. What do you want to know? You are already a better shot than me, you have super powers, and you can control people's minds…what is there? You, don't really even need me."

She was taken aback until she realized what he must have heard in her words. "Dean, I…I didn't mean it like that. Of course I need you. It's scary how much I do," she looked away and blushed as that slipped out. "I just wondered what you were talking about. I mean physical stuff, mental, information, weapons, what?"

"Oh," now he looked away in embarrassment. "Is there anything you don't feel comfortable with?"

Nothing popped into her head; she already had his dad's journal memorized and her mental and physical abilities did put her a few steps ahead of even the most experienced hunters. She could feel him waiting and hurried to find something to make him feel better. "My hand to hand could use some fine tuning," it was a lie, but she could see Dean was happy about the fact.

He stood up and grabbed his jacket and shoes, "Well let's go then."

Chapter 62

In the beginning Nadia held back and fought to become slow to pickup some of the things he showed her. Impatience got the better of her though, and she was soon fighting back harder and with perfectly mastered moves, new even to Dean. Her gymnastic ability made her deadly in the crowded spaces of the barn. She was soon jumping on the benches and swinging from one side of the barn to the other on the old wooden beams. Dean was growing frustrated, "Would you hold still?"

She paused and looked at him confused, "Why would a stand in one spot and wait for the fight to come? When I could out maneuver and take you down much faster?"

"Oh, you think you could take me down, huh?" he tried to hide the damage she did to his ego.

She gave a sly smile, "I do." Just to prove her point, she grabbed the pole near the east wall in her right hand and swung her body around until she could grab the built-in ladder with her left.

"Cute. But you're forgetting that you know every inch of this place; you won't always be so lucky." He nodded to where she had just been, "You've probably done that move hundreds of times before you got it perfect."

She grimaced at the truth of that statement, remembering how many times she had painfully fallen to the concrete floor. "A few."

He gave a smug smirk, "See. Let's take this somewhere unfamiliar…" He thought before turning to walk out the door. Nadia jumped from the ladder and couldn't help showing off further in the comfort of the barn by running up the wall in front of Dean and flipping over. She landed in a low crouch and smirked smugly back at him. He rolled his eyes and grumbled, "Show off." Then he rolled his eyes and mocked her tone as he said, "My hand to hand could use a little fine tuning."

Nadia laughed, "Sorry, I was just trying to make you feel better," she wrapped her arms around his neck from behind and kissed him just under his right ear.

Dean sat in the Impala impatiently drumming on the steering wheel while Nadia went back inside to change clothes. "Women," he sighed as he thought of their recent argument.

"I don't know where you're taking me; that is why I need to change. I want to put on clothes that I don't care if they get dirty or ripped."

"You are already in jeans and a t-shirt for crying out loud!"

"Yes, good jeans and one of my favorite shirts. I don't know why you're freaking out; it will only take a minute!"

"Fine! Change!"

"I will!"

Honestly he didn't care that she wanted to change; he just hated feeling useless. His entire life he had been the one who was always a little bit better at hunting than Sam. He had been a born hunter, something that he took comfort in. He had defied death more times than anyone had a right to. He had fought monsters and won time and again but now, when it mattered most, he could do nothing. He had lost his mom and dad to the world he fought against, saved dozens of lives and yet, it always came back to him losing what he wanted most. Now he simply had to let Nadia walk away and hope to see her again…someday.

His thoughts were interrupted by the opening of the passenger side door. Nadia sat down and refused to even look at him. He knew he deserved it, she wasn't the one that was doing this to him (at least not directly) but he still pulled out of the driveway without a word.

The ride seemed much longer than it actually was as Nadia struggled to figure out what his problem was. Time was running out and she needed some way to make this better. The sight of twisted metal and lots of dirt caught Nadia's attention and caused her to look around more carefully. "A scrap yard?" she worked hard to sound neither disappointed nor disgusted. "They don't keep this place locked?"

He gave a knowing smile but responded only to her first question, "Unfamiliar, lots of places to hide, not all that pleasant." He smirked at the last part.

Defiance popped to the surface, "Bring it on," she looked at him, brows raised.

"Always the optimist." He parked the car and opened the door, but halfway out he turned and warned, "No mind tricks. You need to learn to fight without them…just in case."

She fought against every urge she had to roll her eyes and snap back that she hadn't always had these abilities. She slammed the door behind her without a word and walked around to the front of the car. "What first sensei?" she glared through the headlights.

"First," Nadia jumped as his voice came from behind her, "you learn to always be prepared."

"I didn't know I had joined the boy scouts," she answered dryly and crossed her arms.

"This focuses more on always being aware of your surroundings; you never know where the attack will come from."

"Should I be expecting cardboard cuts out of guys in masks and families having picnics to pop up around me?"

He gave a sarcastic smile, "Sorry, I just didn't have enough time. You'll have to put up with me tonight."

She snorted, "I've been doing that for awhile now."

She watched Dean run his tongue along the inside of his cheek, fighting back a comment, "You seemed to enjoy it today."

She shrugged, "I never said you weren't useful…for a few things."

"Oh," he shook his head. He pulled two hand guns from the back of his waist and handed one to her, "Ready?" He changed into an older jacket and zipped it as high as it would go.

She took the gun; just glancing at the canister screwed into the handle and gave a creepy smile, "Watch me hunt."

Dean smiled back and then turned and ran around a pile of scrap while Nadia counted patiently to 50. "Ready or not here I come!" She paused and listened, eyes closed, focusing on certain areas at a time. Movement caught her attention to her right and she wasted no time sprinting towards it.

She crouched down beside a car and listened again while her eyes swept around her. The sound of jeans being dragged across a metal edge came faintly from the other side of the car. She smiled, slowed her breathing and crouched lower until she could see just behind the front tires. His silhouette shifted and she fired through the small opening, "Shit!"

She changed positions to another pile while she laughed, "One."

Dean rubbed his arm and turned back the direction he had come. Frickin' good at everything, he thought. But I've got a few tricks up my sleeve… He grabbed a mirror that had broken off some piece of crap and slowly slid it along the ground until he could see around the corner. "It's a shame you know."

She spun around and searched intently around her, "What's that?"

He didn't move, "To put welts on a body like that." He watched through a small hole in a piece of scrap as she slowly snuck closer to his pile.

"Well, doesn't seem like you have to worry about that," she stretched to peek over a car hood.

"We'll see about that," before Nadia could turn around Dean fired a round at her back.

"Frick!" she twisted around to look at her left butt cheek, where a bright yellow spot now glared back at her. "Oh, you are going to pay for that," she hissed through clenched teeth. She ran, still crouched down towards his mocking laughter.

"Don't worry, I'll make it all better when we get back home," the smile was very evident in his voice.

She found a car that looked sturdy enough to climb onto but she knew she couldn't do it silently, she needed a distraction. Glancing around she found a heavy something from something and got ready to throw it. She tucked the gun in her waistband and positioned herself so the she could quickly make it onto the car. She threw the chunk as hard as she could and pulled herself onto the hood as it banged into and down another pile of metal. Her movement was sufficiently hidden in all the commotion. Dean came running around the corner with his gun at his side and an anxious look on his face. For a second Nadia thought about not taking advantage; but couldn't resist. He would do the same if it were the other way around. She knew he would be a quick draw so she crouched down ready to jump and loudly cleared her throat. He spun around gun raised as Nadia jumped sideways off the hood and fired twice. He fired too but his first missed her completely and the second shot only nicked her shoulder. Hers on the other hand, both hit him square in the chest. She hit the ground feet first but let the force of the landing go throughout her body as she rolled and landed one knee on the ground. She raised the gun beside her face and blew on the end of the muzzle, "I believe that's game."

Dean looked from her to his chest, stunned. He used to think that her ability to take of herself was sexy, now it was just ticking him off. He didn't want her to let him win, but it would still feel better if she did. He practically growled in frustration before stomping away.

Nadia stood, "Ah come on, Dean… If it will make you feel better, you can shoot me right here; I won't even try to get away." She was a little surprised as he turned and pointed the gun directly at her; she bit her lip and squeezed her eyes tightly closed.

If it were anyone else, he would have done it. If it were Sam, it wouldn't have been given another thought; but it was Nadia. As he pointed the gun at her he was suddenly sick to his stomach as he even thought of pulling the trigger. "Aargh! If it were anyone else…" and he continued on to the car.

Her eyes snapped open in time to see him turn away from her. She got an odd sensation as she thought over his words, if it were anyone else. She weirdly wasn't entirely sure if that comforted her or not. She shook it off, glanced at her watch, midnight; 11 hours left. She blew air through her lips like she had just been punched in the gut. She sprinted to his side and walked quietly with him back to the car.

She was barely a step behind him when he reached the door and spun around, "What?"

The anger and annoyance in his voice stopped her short and her head jerked back. She swallowed and anger bubbled as she snapped, "I love you," she could feel the sneer on her face.

His face jerked back in surprise and softened immediately, "I…love you too." He was surprised how easily the words came out.

Her expression softened too and a smile slowly lightened her entire demeanor. She reached up and grabbed his face between his hands and gently kissed him. "Getting better already, it hardly stings," she grinned.

A forceful chuckle bursted between his lips, "I think it still needs a little more TLC." He brushed his hand over the yellow dot her had left her with.

"Whatever you say, doc."

Dean held the door open for her and she slid across the seat until Dean could get in. They rode home the same way they had earlier.

Chapter 63

They lay together for hours and Nadia fought as hard as she could against the exhaustion that threatened to overtake her. It didn't help that Dean was continually yawning next to her. The adrenaline was nearly all gone and she was losing the battle. Her head was resting comfortably on his chest and the warmth was irritatingly comforting. She leaned her head back in order to see his face and was a little miffed to see his eyes closed. She poked his stomach to see if he was really asleep, and got no response.

If you stay here, you are going to fall asleep, she told herself. Get up, move. Come on, get up! She sighed and used her right leg to grip the edge of the bed and pull herself off. She put on sweat pants, a tank top, and a heavy sweat shirt before dragging herself into the kitchen. Coming up with an idea of something to do was like trying to pull a rug from under a boulder.

Out of nowhere, she was reminded of Sarah McLaughlin's "I Will Remember You," as she stood in the middle of the kitchen, just staring at the door. Every time she blinked she had to remember how to open her eyes again. Without really thinking she stepped towards the door and reached for the handle. The air bite at her face and sucked the air from her lungs. Ok, now I'm awake… she thought to herself. She took a deep breath before walking down the driveway and standing in the middle of the road. She looked to her left and right, not sure what exactly she was looking for; something to catch her attention, she supposed.

Nothing moved anywhere around her and she suddenly recalled the dream she had had of Aidan and Themi. She was desperate for something to happen, something to move, to distract her. Then she realized there was only one way for that to happen; she had to make it change. She started running without so much as a thought to drive her. She just ran and ran. Away from the house, away from Dean, from her mother, her grandpa, her father; she ran to escape it all. Her muscles burned in protest, they didn't have anything left but she kept running. Breaths came sporadically and tears started to burn her eyes. She ran to leave it all behind. She stupidly thought that maybe, if she could run fast enough, she would be too far away for life to catch her. That she could get ahead too far to care…but she did care; that was the problem. Soon her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, forehead to the ground. Her chest was tight but the sobs fiercely forced themselves out.

She crawled off of the road and laid in a field, curled into the fetal position. It was half an hour before she rolled onto her back and watched the stars before letting herself, finally, drift away.

For hours she saw nothing but Aidan's face constantly come in and out of focus; like a decision trying to be made. But soon there was light behind her lids and warmth touched her face and Aidan was gone, suddenly replaced by the one thing that mattered most. Dean looked back at her with her favorite smirk, one that instantaneously caused her heart to race and butterflies to swarm her insides. Reluctantly her eyelids fluttered open and she stared at two sides of the blades of grass in front of her face; one bright and beautiful, the other shadowed and unknown. As she lifted the watch in front of her face, her entire body felt surrendered to the inevitable. She was so close to not caring, to wanting it to be over already, to not have to count down the hours anymore. But she forced herself to standup and walk back to the house; she knew she needed to be there when he woke up; and she only had 6 hours left. It felt like there was a rope tied around her, forcing her to keep going; but slowly realization forced its way through and she started running.

Nadia paused in front of the door and forced herself to clam down, to steady her breath. He couldn't see her like this. She quickly looked herself over and realized that her entire right side and back was covered in dirt. What did you expect? You slept in a field for three hours… a sudden thought occurred to her, how did I not freeze? It hadn't been as cold at it had been the last few days, but there was still a light dusting of snow on the ground; I must have been too tired for my body to even register it. She shook the thoughts from her head and hurried through the kitchen and into the laundry room where she stripped out of her dirt-caked clothes and threw them into the washer to hide the evidence. One thing she didn't have to worry about was Dean deciding to do laundry.

Now she was feeling the cold and she hugged herself as she ran back to the bedroom, pausing to turn the heat up. She carefully climbed into bed and curled into Dean, who snapped awake and cringed from the chill of her skin. "Sorry," she whispered.

"Good lord! What'd you do, stand outside naked?" he wrapped her in his arms and pulled the blanket around her. She knew he was joking so she casually shrugged and didn't answer. He craned his neck to see what time it was, "Six o'clock? Did you get any sleep at all?" his voice had an edge of concern.

"A few hours," she smiled up at him and nuzzled back under his chin.

He felt her shiver again and rubbed her back and arm, "You know you would warm up faster if you were naked…" His brows danced over his eyes and his finger traced her spine, light as a feather. She looked down at the skimpy bra and panties she had on; she practically was.

She shivered again, but not from the cold. "Wow. That really is all men think about isn't it?" She laughed, "You sure you have it in you today? I mean, I know yesterday…" she thought back to his wary face at the thought of returning to the bedroom once again and chuckled to herself.

"I've had a few hours to recharge my, um…batteries." Just to prove his point, he rotated his body to face her and hooked her leg around his waist.

She giggled, "Batteries, huh?" She felt him nod his head against her neck and surrendered at the tickle of his breath on her collar bone. He pushed her back against the bed and slid himself over her, his lips crushing hers. A low moan sounded in her throat and for a split second she blushed in embarrassment but he only pressed himself harder against her.

She thought it was going to be a repeat of the other afternoon, spending most of their time in bed; and wasn't displeased to realize that was exactly what was going to happen. They watched tv and ate breakfast in bed, never able to stop touching each other. She couldn't keep her hands from tracing all over his chest and abdomen. And he didn't seem anymore inclined to not lightly run his fingers from the nape of her neck to her knee. This was doing nothing for her resolve to not spend every minute in the throws.

By 8:30 she insisted on at least venturing out into the living room.

"Have you ever said it before?" she asked Dean carefully, unable to even glance up at him.

"What?" he was deeply confused.

"I love you," her eye flashed to his face and quickly away, "and meant it I mean. Not just to get into someone's pants." She tried to laugh that off.

Surprise, anger, and chagrin all flashed across his face in a second before he responded. "To someone's face? Once," he looked uncomfortable with this line of questioning, unsure if she wanted him to say yes or no.

"Cassie," she guessed and knew she was right when she glanced at his face. She nodded and continued to stare down at her hands, "I was just curious because I never have. Said it before I mean," she flashed him a smirk and returned to her hands. She sighed, "It sucks."

He chuckled quickly in shock, "Well, thanks…"

"No, I…I didn't mean it like that. I just meant that is sucks that I finally feel this, we finally feel this and…" she let his connect the dots. The guilt and pain on his face told her that he knew exactly what she meant. "Well, at least you'll be alive to feel it again," she joked.

A strange look came across his face and Nadia searched her words again to see what he had heard. Then she realized it sounded like she was saying he would find it again…with someone else. A sudden pain stabbed her in the abdomen and tears stung her eyes. She pretended to scratch the side of her neck to nonchalantly look away from him while she pulled her self together.

What did she mean? What had she signed up to do? Had he, yet again, forced someone out of his life by making them save him? These questions raced through Dean's mind but he shoved them away, in a year; she just meant in a year you'll feel it again.

She had composed herself and glanced at the clock yet again, 8:30 a.m. She gritted her teeth and angrily thought; why couldn't I have gotten the ability to stop time? Panic came back with a vengeance, 2 and a half hours!

She couldn't just think about spending every minute with him, she had to make sure she was ready to leave when it was time. A bag of clothes was already in the trunk, along with her favorite hand guns (recently obtained by Sam through shady sources), a hunting knife, her bag of toiletries, and a flask of holy water. Sam had helped her gather most of these; the knife and the flask, which had been under the Impala's passenger seat for years; it had yet to be used. He promised her that he would replace it before it could be missed and insisted that they had more than enough knives to spare. She smiled as she recalled his laugh when she showed him the small (to him) container of salt, "That will last you about 2 windows…maybe." She insisted that it was enough for the time being, oblivious to the fact that she needed to keep her load as light as possible. The mode of transportation she had chosen wasn't exactly the most efficient when it came to year-long voyages cross country.

She had the debit/credit cards she had gotten for Dean and Sam in an envelope with a letter she had written to each of them, tear stains and all, and a hefty bundle of cash. She thought it better to separate the cash, half to each of them, to keep the bickering to a minimum. At least her father had given a few things that could help her; supernatural abilities and near-endless funds, just being two of them. Her mom had left her the house, she supposed and the knowledge of how to defend herself; but part of that credit also went to John Winchester apparently.

When the time came, all she had to do was jump in the car and take off to Maria's where the bike was already waiting. She had stopped by yesterday to see just how much she would be able to comfortably carry with her. She would always have to have a backpack; but the other bags could be strapped to the back of the bike. She already had her iPod (might as well try and make the thousands of miles alone as endurable as possible) and new pre-paid cell in a bag strapped to the bike. Dean would be fast to track her down on hers…

"Earth to Nadia," Dean waved his hand in front of her face.

"Huh?" She shook her head, "Sorry, I was day dreaming there for a minute."

"Understatement," he rolled his eyes.

"What time is it?" she jerked her head looking for the clock, disoriented.

"Nine…" He gave her a concerned and humored look but she just shook her head and flashed him a smile. She kissed him on the cheek and jumped up to use the bathroom.

Duplicates of everything she already had in a bag in the car sat around the bathroom. A toothbrush, lotions, shampoo, conditioner, hair brushes, and make up; it was odd to see these harmless things setting there, knowing they would never move when she left. She went through the drawers and was again taken by surprise by her birth control. Nerves bunched in her stomach, I'm sure your fine. You took two yesterday; you're probably good for a few more hours… She quickly took one for today and then stared at it for awhile before tuning and throwing it in the trash; she wouldn't need it after today. At least not for a year. She flushed the empty toilet and returned to the kitchen. The clock caught her attention again as the tick-tocking seemed to grow louder and louder.

She needed to be preoccupied so she went to the refrigerator and locked the not-so-distant future back in its tight little box once again. She hummed as she dug around for something to make and keep her hands busy.

Dean's head popped up at the familiar quiet building of Styx's "Renegade." He couldn't help but smile as he watched this perfect female specimen hum a classic rock song and walk gracefully from cupboard to cupboard. She was his. Not in a sense he had ever felt before; but in a complete and sufficient kind of way. He almost couldn't believe it when his libido shot up again. He quietly pulled himself off the couch and walked into the kitchen. Nadia was too preoccupied to hear him come up behind her until he slipped his hands around her stomach and pulled her to him. She gasped in surprise and then laid her head back on his shoulder, "Seriously?" she quietly laughed.

"It's your fault. You're some kind of drug I can't and don't want to give up; especially when you hum things like that. Good tune," he smirked and turned her around.

She smiled, "Ah, but you have that smirk…" she let the thought trail off as she pulled his face to hers. She jumped up at the same time he lifted her and pushed her to the counter. He gently sat her down and she arched her back as he pulled her close him. "This is getting a little ridiculous," she sighed.

Chapter 64

9:30 a.m. 1.5 hours

She had an hour to enjoy being free, then everything was about leaving. She felt guilty leaving Sam to pick up the pieces. But she knew that would consist more of being tolerant of his anger than actually comforting; she wasn't sure if that was better or worse. It didn't matter now, there was only one thing she could do about it and that was impossible. He would never find out from her exactly why she was leaving.

They were lying on their backs on the living room floor, staring at the ceiling. Dean was counting tiles for the tenth time to keep his mind off the urgency he felt radiating from Nadia. She was trying hard to cover something up in her eyes, on her face, in her voice; but he had an idea what that was and tried not to think of it himself. That was impossible. Every kiss, every touch scared him in what he felt there; like she was afraid it would be the last time. Anger flashed through him again because this was his fault. It was always his fault. His existence seemed destined to cause pain and death; he was just trying to balance it out by hunting and saving people. His hands contracted into fists but his expression was tight and oblivious. He had always been good at hiding things, lying; you had to in this line of work. Sam and dad had been the only ones that could see through it before and he wasn't sure if Nadia could now too.

Nadia could felt he sudden hostility pulsing off Dean so she broke the silence to distract him. "You really shouldn't feel…emasculated." She saw Dean's head whip around to her from the corner of her eye, "I have had a lot of time on my hands." His brows pulled down in confusion but she continued without looking at him, "I never got invited to birthday parties or other events, so I kept myself busy. I would sit in the yard with my eyes closed for hours just listening to everything around me. Then I would focus on different noises and commit then to memory. Soon that wasn't enough so I started to focus on certain areas at a time and pull those sounds to the front of my mind; make them louder. Like when your in a crowded bar and you see someone you know or are attracted to, so you focus on them and what they are saying. Their voice becomes clearer and all the others become background noise. That was how I knew where you were last night. I heard your jeans scrap against a piece of metal; I knew the sound instantly."

Dean turned back to the ceiling, completely absorbed in her words. "After my grandpa died, I went to the gun range everyday for six months. Everyday, just trying to lose myself and comfort myself that they wouldn't have it so easy when they came back for me. Little did I know the bullets would do nothing," he could hear the dark irony in her voice. "That was when I started to do the competitions. I thought I was already there anyway and was getting pretty good; why not gauge myself against others. The fact that I was the only girl in them fueled me a little too," she smiled and she heard a silent laugh of air shoot out of his nose. "I had a barn full of obstacles, mats, punching bags, and knowledge of gymnastics; why not put them together? I started jumping from one place to another but that got boring fast so I tried to do it as complexly as possible," she rolled her eyes at herself. "I have always shied away from the path of least resistance. Broke my wrist twice and screwed up my ankle pretty bad for awhile the first time I tried that stunt I showed you earlier. But now I have them down, its second nature. I even climbed every tree on the property, some with the help of a ladder, I'll admit. That got old fast too."

"What'd ya do then?" She jumped a little at the sound of his voice.

"School. College."

He laughed, "I pity the fools who tried to get in your pants," and she joined him. It was quiet again for awhile, "You are perfectly prepared for this life…hunting; but you go into the psychological side of it," he shook his head in disbelief.

"I didn't know they existed until I met Sam, remember?" her heart tightened at the mention of his name.

"Right. You were just bored," his tone sounded like he didn't believe her.

"Right."

"It's funny…I spent my whole life being molded into a hunter and here, you, craft yourself into one more ready then I could ever be. Maybe ready isn't the right word…" he searched for something that fit, "more equipped then I will ever be."

She rolled her eyes, "Every cloud has a silver lining." As the words came out of her mouth she rolled her head to read the clock 9:45. "Forty five minutes," she whispered to herself.

Dean had closed his eyes to try the exercise she had just talked about and focused on Nadia herself. Her breathing was slow and steady but her voice caught his attention as he caught the last of her words. "Five minutes?" he rolled onto his side and tipped his head with interest.

This shocked her as she realized he had been listening much closer than she had been expecting. "You heard that?" she tried to sound light and interested.

"I was trying out your sonic hearing thing…" his eyes tightened as he studied her face.

She flashed him a smile and pretended to be distracted by the clock, "Needs some work, I said 15 minutes."

He looked up too, "What's at 10?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I was just going to see what's on tv. That's all." He nodded his head, unconvinced.

They had the tv on but Nadia wasn't paying attention to it so she went into the laundry room to change the load from earlier into the dryer. She was about to throw the whites into the washer until she realized she wouldn't be here to take them out so she dropped them all back into the basket. Maria was already scheduled to watch the house; though she had no idea why. She was already set to come in a week to clean out the refrigerator, do the last of the laundry, and shut the water off. Nadia was sure Dean would be gone by then.

She grabbed the envelope of money from the freezer chest and the extra keys she had made out of a box of junk. She tucked them in the pile of clothes she was taking into the bedroom. Out of habit, she glanced at the time; 10:23. She paused in the living room, looked Dean up and down and said, "You should change your clothes."

He looked over the sweat pants he had on, looking confused and a little hurt, before shrugging and saying, "I'm fine."

She sighed and looked guiltily at the pile of clothes in her hands and he suddenly jumped up and went into the bedroom. She stood in the doorway as he changed and then put the clothes down on the desk, before crossing the room to sit on the bed. "I'm sorry," she whispered, just loud enough to be heard.

He raised a brow before sitting down beside her, "What for?"

She didn't answer his question; instead she looked him directly in the eye, "I love you…more than anything."

He watched her anxiously for awhile and started to ask what was wrong; but her lips stopped his from moving.

The kiss was distinctly different now; urgent, pleading. She forced her lips off his and moved them to his ear, "Sleep…" His body suddenly went limp beneath hers, his eyes closed and his face blank and peaceful. "I'm sorry, I know I promised never again…" she kissed his forehead, cheeks, eye lids, and lips one last time before pulling herself away from him. She laid her hand on his heart for a moment. Then his necklace caught her eye and she carefully pulled it over his head. She took off hers and traded them. She didn't know why she did it, she just wanted to.

She felt nothing yet as she took the envelope and the few pictures that had been taken of them together, mostly by Andrea, and went into the kitchen. She had to keep the command for him to sleep in the back of her mind, where the command to breath and blink worked non-stop. The envelope didn't seem like enough as she sat at the kitchen table and faintly heard the keys drop from her hand next to it. Her eyes swept once more around the house, briefly pausing at the bedroom doorway. It felt as if everything was trying to draw her back, keep her from leaving. But the need to save what she loved was stronger than all of it and she walked straight to the mustang. She checked the trunk and carefully stuffed the photos in the front pocket of the backpack without looking at them. The sound of the engine made her jump and a slow tear rolled down her cheek. Her finger flicked it away and she took a deep breath, she couldn't lose it yet. As she pulled out of the driveway the clock clicked to 11:00.

Chapter 65

Sam heard the engine of the mustang roar to life and waited several minutes before starting Nadia's mom's Oldsmobile and heading towards the house. When he got there, his eyes unwillingly swept to the bottom of the hill and to the stop sign where he saw a shining black car pull away.

He parked the car back in the garage where it had been for so long and took a couple of deep breathes before climbing out. His eyes didn't move from the ground as he walked to the house and through the door.

Nadia barely made it to Maria's before the tears made driving impossible. How was she going to race away on a motorcycle when she could hardly see to walk? She pulled the car into Maria's garage, she would take it back to the house when she went to clean, and grabbed the bags from the trunk.

Maria heard the familiar engine drive up and went to the window. Nadia's entire demeanor sagged with grief and Maria fought with the compulsion to go outside and comfort her. She gathered up the courage to at least go and help her when one of the bags fell and Nadia just stared down at it.

The bag slipped from her fingers as she struggled to set them on the seat and she stared down at it unable to make herself want it pick it up. Not even the sound of walking behind her could make her move and Maria picked the bag up and sat it on the bike before looking her directly in the face. She didn't say anything when she saw the agony in her eyes and decided it was better to help than to try and comfort her. For this, Nadia was grateful.

She strapped the bags on the back and shrugged the backpack onto her shoulders. Before climbing on the bike, she wiped away the tears and shut the pain away until it was possible for her to bring it out again. She threw her hair into a low ponytail and shoved the helmet on her head. She was grateful that the visor didn't allow Maria to see her face anymore as she nodded towards her in a "thank you."

She started the bike, took a deep breath, and shot down the road; slightly relieved to be running away. Then she let the last hold she had to Dean slip away; she released his mind and let him wake.

He heard the word flow from her lips but before he could argue he was trapped in silence. His head screamed in protest but he couldn't break through. He was in a dream that he hadn't allowed to happen and he wanted out. He could faintly hear his heart beating fast in exertion and it suddenly calmed with a slight pressure to his chest. It lasted only a minute before he could no longer fight and let the fear lock him up; he just waited to be released.

Sam hesitated with his hand on the door knob before bringing himself to step into the kitchen. It was absolutely silent but at the same time he was deafened by the rush of blood in his ears. He felt as if he had been hanging upside down for a long time. This wasn't how it was supposed to go; Dean wasn't supposed to be hurt more after being saved from hell.

He went over the last few months and wished he had never introduced Dean and Nadia. He wished he had never let Nadia into their world. Why couldn't she have continued to hate Dean? Why did he have to fall for her, of all people? What is with our family? Why can't we just be happy? Why can't we just accept our lives and forget about what we'll never have?

Dean was sagged halfway onto the bed and Sam's mind wiped clean of all questions and accusations. He turned the desk chair around and sat across from his brother and waited. He knew there was nothing he could do, Nadia had to release him. The questions were about to start again when Dean's eyes snapped open. He stared at the ceiling not saying a word and Sam was getting worried. He was stopped mid-thought when his brother's mouth opened to speak.

He felt the weight release him all at once and before his eyes opened, he knew what had happened. He could feel Sam staring at him as he stared blankly at the ceiling. He started to say something but his mouth was suddenly dry. He swallowed and said, "She's gone." His voice was hollow and the words sounded surprisingly well accepted. A lot of him did feel that way, like he had accepted it; but he knew it was only a matter of time before he snapped. Last time the Impala had paid the price, this time he feared he would blame the one person who was no longer there to hear it.

Sam started to say something again and again but came up blank. He knew exactly what he would say to anyone else; but this was Dean and he had no idea how to go about it. He had never seen his brother in love before; he had never been there when it was just Dean and Cassie. He had no idea what would happen now, Dean had been so changed by Nadia; he had become different person. But Dean wasn't soft, he didn't want hugs and reassurances; he wasn't hateful, he didn't want to hear the accusations Sam had just flashed through. So what did he want? All Sam could bring himself to say was, "Sorry."

Dean sat up slowly and scanned the room; all he wanted to do now was leave. Leave this place and all its feelings and memories behind him. That was his life after all, connect and leave before it got too personal. It was too late for that; he had let himself get attached. He had allowed himself to fall in love. And why not? She was perfect for him. She loved classic rock, classic cars, she was incredible in every way that mattered…but he knew it was bound to end like this. How else could it end? Happily? Not with people like us; not with two people whose lives were filled with nothing but despair and loss. Not with people who lived in a world surrounded by monsters. Happily ever after didn't exist.

"We should leave," he told Sam and himself as he stood and shifted gears. He grabbed his duffle bag from the floor and pulled out the drawer Nadia had given him to use. He had never unpacked his bag before; he had lived his whole life from a suitcase. He had everything in the bag in minutes and headed to the bathroom.

Sam followed him into the living room where he went into his room and packed what was left in there.

Dean glanced into the laundry room and spotted some of his and Sam's things. He shoved his in his bag and put Sam's on the table. He went into the bathroom and methodically grabbed his things from the counter, shower, and medicine cabinet. By the time he was back in the kitchen Sam was at the kitchen table staring down at a large envelope.

Sam continued to stare at it, unsure what to do and Dean grew impatient. He grabbed the envelope, barely noticing the keys, and ripped it open and dumped it on the table. Two thick stacks of money hit the table, followed by two bank cards, and envelopes with each of their names on them.

Sam grabbed the money and stared at his hands in shock. Dean slowly picked up the cards and read them. The first signs of anger flashed forward and he closed his eyes and fought it back. Neither of them wanted to acknowledge the letters but Sam was the first to pick his up.

Sam handed Dean his and he shoved it in his bag without a second glance. Then he walked straight to the Impala, desperate for the distraction of driving.

Sam hesitated before following Dean. He closed and locked the door behind him without a showy final glance around. He shoved the keys from the table in his pocket and jogged to the car. After putting his bag in the trunk he did glance back at the house; it felt like leaving home.

After an hour, Sam grew bored and pulled the letter from inside his coat and felt the frustration wave off of his brother. He pulled the sheet of paper from the envelope and unfolded it into his lap. As he started to read he could hear Nadia as if she were speaking to him,

Sam,

I hope your not expecting some grand, touching goodbye letter like you see in movies; because I don't know how to write one of those. And this isn't goodbye anyway, so here are the essentials. The cards are ATM, debit, Master Cards; so no more credit card fraud! I figured Dean would refuse to use them so I left some cash too. The cards are directly linked to my account, so eat healthier and stay at some ritzy hotels, okay? The keys are to the house; don't be afraid to use it anytime you're in the area.

Thank you for all you have done for me and what you'll continue to do for me and your brother. I hope that both of you remember why I did this. Keep an eye on him for me, please. And I am sorry for anything he does or says to you. I hope he doesn't hate me for what I did; I know I promised to never use my abilities on him again... I can only imagine what he said when he woke up! Don't let him get away with too much, remember that above all, he's Dean. A self-absorbed, know-it-all; but also the best, most loyal and irritating person I have ever met. He'll always have your back and so will I.

I will call. If you ever need me, that will give you my number. Please put it under some obscure name so he doesn't find it. I can't handle that yet. He shouldn't even bother tracking my phone; it will only lead him back home.

Thank you for everything, again. Don't worry about me. Please remind him that this is harder for me than he will ever know. Talk to you soon. By the way, your PIN # is 7264. If you ever forget, it's SAMI on your dial pad. I guess you can probably figure out what his is… I figured not even he could forget that. Please, please don't ever be afraid to ask me for anything…I have connections, remember? 

Love you,

Nadia

He folded the letter back up, shoved it in the envelope, and put it back in his inside pocket. "Well, we don't have to worry about credit card fraud anymore…" He knew Dean didn't care but, he needed to break the silence.

Dean tightened his grip on the steering wheel but kept his face forward and mouth shut. He saw Sam start to say something from the corner of his eye so he hurried to interrupt "Could you not? Make yourself useful and find us a job."

Sam sighed and thought back to after dad had died. Avoidance; Dean's idea of coping. He pulled out his phone, "Hey Bobby…Yeah, I know. It's been awhile. Uh…we were…helping a friend with something. Look, we've been out of touch for awhile and we were wondering if you had anything for us?"

Dean fought where his mind wondered at the mention of "a friend" and took a deep breath, throwing himself into what information Sam was getting. He turned the radio up as loud was allowable under Sam's annoyed eyes and focused on the road ahead. He locked the past few months away and allowed the excitement of a hunt take over.