AN: I've always liked Cassie. I liked the good tension between her and Dean. It's a pity they didn't revisit her later in the series. This is me revisiting her... and Dean. Enjoy! SPN S12 AU
***SPN***
Mary was sitting at the table in the bunker, enjoying one of Dean's famous burgers. In light of herself being a dreadful cook it was amazing to find her son got the hang of it despite growing up on the move. She sighed and looked up, just in time to see Sam grab a plate from Dean and walk over to join her.
"He's a wizard with those burgers," Sam grinned and looked fondly at the burger, then his brother, before taking a bite.
"I heard that, Sammy," Dean called over his shoulder, not turning around as he flipped his own patty. Rolling his eyes, Sam shrugged at his mother's querying face.
"It's Sam, Dean," he automatically replied.
"See if I care, baby brother. You can threaten me, but you can't stop me from calling you Sammy," Dean explained non-chalantly as he expertly stacked lettuce, patty, tomato and what not on his creation. Sam could have sworn he even saw him salivating. "Unless you prefer Samuel."
Sam, who had just taken another bite out of his burger, almost choked on it, ending up in an indignant snort, which made both Mary and Dean chuckle. Strolling over, plate with burger in one hand, three bottles of his favorite brusky in the other, Dean settled at the table to complete the family dinner.
"Dean!" Sam challenged him when he'd successfully managed to navigate his food down the right pipe and washed down some crumbs with a sip of beer. "It's Sam."
"So, does that mean I only get to call you Sam, too?" Mary smiled at her youngest.
"Ye... um, that's different," Sam stuttered. "I mean, you're my mom."
"Hey, and I raised you, jerk. Who do you think wiped your stinky bum when you'd soiled your diapers?" Dean raised a challenging eyebrow.
"I... jeez, Dean, not cool. I'm eating." Sam felt cornered.
"Right. So I sort of get mom rights. That settles it. Bitch." Dean sounded rather pleased with himself. Silence once more settled over the dining table, only disturbed by sounds of chewing and food appreciation and the occasional clonking of a bottle being returned to the table.
"Dean?" Mary ended the wordless stint, pushing her empty plate aside and cradling the beer bottle. Dean looked up at her and stopped chewing.
"Yeah?" He squeezed out miracuously without dropping any food from his mouth. Mary chuckled.
"Thanks for the burger. Best I ever had!"
"Ummm, y'welcome," Dean mumbled, then resumed chewing, but he couldn't keep a wide grin off his face.
"Pity there are no kids to enjoy their dad's culinary skills," the female Winchester added as an afterthought. Dean froze and then swallowed noisily, before downing a big mouthful from his beer. Even Sam had stopped studying the lable on his bottle and the brothers stared at their mother.
"Err, yeah, you know... this line of work isn't exactly suitable for kids to grow up in, mom," Sam rasped as Dean was still trying to process his mother's insinuation. He got her. She was back from the dead, after thirty odd years. Her babies were overgrown men. Grandchildren would give her a way to see some offspring of hers growing up.
"I know," Mary admitted softly. "I didn't mean to imply anything. I just... I never wanted this for you. I wanted you to be able to have your own families. Teach your kids to ride a bike, throw a ball."
"Yeah, wishful thinking. The man upstairs had other ideas for us." Dean had found his voice again.
"Literally," Sam added. Mary nodded.
"I still can't wrap my mind around all the angel business, let alone God or his sister."
"Takes some getting used to," Dean nodded.
"So, have you never stayed anywhere long enough to have a girlfriend? I mean... you're... nevermind. Forget I asked anything." Mary's courage to find out more about her boys' love lives - or lack thereof - suddenly deserting her.
"Well," Sam sighed, kicking back in the chair. "There was Jess. She was my girlfriend at Stanford. She... died." Sam didn't want to get into details, yet. He was quiet for a moment. "Amy...," he started, but Dean cut him off.
"Amy? You were like what? Twelve? And she was a monster."
"Dean!" Sam growled. Dean held up his hands in surrender and Mary frowned. Monster caught her attention, but she knew she'd have to bide her time with that.
"Then there was Amelia," Sam continued, ignoring his brother. "Stayed with her for a year when Dean was... gone."
"Mom knows about purgatory, Sam," Dean chimed in, earning himself another glare from his brother. "Don't forget Ru..."
"DEAN!" Sam banged his hand on the table. "Not your story to share!"
"Okay, okay, chill out," Dean said soothingly.
"You know mom, actually you are a grandma," Sam supplied, glaring at Dean. "Her name was Emma. She was an amazone. Yeah, that's right. Her mom was, too. How was that about monsters, Dean?"
"Don't do that, Sam," Dean said in a low voice. "I didn't know she was a monster when I hooked up with her."
"What happened?" Mary tried to break her sons' glaring.
"Sam killed her," Dean supplied.
"After she tried to kill you, Dean. And you couldn't do it," Sam explained, less strain in his voice now. "I couldn't let her kill you."
"I know, Sammy."
There was a moment of silence before Sam spoke again.
"Ben."
"Ben?" Mary queried.
"Lisa swore he isn't mine, Sam," Dean sighed. "I have no reason not to believe her."
"Well, have you met him, Dean? His looks, his mannerisms? His likes?"
"She said she had a type," Dean mumbled. "I lived with them for over a year. Don't you think she'd eventually have told me if he were mine?"
"No, she wouldn't have," Sam stated, scratching his neck. "She knew that sooner or later you would be sucked back into hunting, and she knew you'd break apart if you had to stay. And she knew that if you knew Ben was yours, you would never leave and it would tear you apart."
Dean swallowed. "Doesn't matter. No proof means not mine."
"I'm sure Cas could say for sure."
"No, Sam." It was Dean's turn to bang his hand down. "We're not going there. Not now, not ever!"
"Boys," Mary chimed in. "Don't fight. I was just... I guess I was somehow thinking a grandchild could give me what I missed with you. Let it go." She could sense it was a sore spot with Dean.
"Personally, I think you should have given Jo a real chance, Dean. She was totally into you, and a hunter. We could have set up camp at the Roadhouse... or elsewhere, go on hunts from there... and you could have spawned a half dozen hunter brats." Sam's tone was light, playful.
"Please, Sammy, leave Jo out of it. I... she...," Dean didn't know what to say.
"Well, she loved you. Clear as day."
"Who's Jo?" Mary carefully inquired. Dean just shook his head and got up.
"Dean?" Mary frowned.
"I just need a moment," Dean replied in lieu of an excuse and left the room heading towards the garage. He didn't want to talk about Lisa or Ben, but least of all he wanted to talk about Jo.
"Are you going to tell me about Jo?" Mary addressed Sam after Dean was out of sight. Sam looked at her for a moment and nodded.
***spn***
Dean was sitting in his beloved Impala, trying to figure out why that topic was unsettling him so much. He would have been elated to hear Lisa say Ben was his. But Sam was right. He'd have stayed and it would have torn him apart. As for Emma, that adventure - for lack of a better term - had been downright scary.
Jo. Now that was a touchy topic. Sam was right again. Dean hadn't been oblivious to her attraction to him. Hell, he'd been attracted to her the moment she punched his nose. She was a hunter, had spunk, good looks... and ended up dead because of him, even though he tried not to love her. It had taken him a good while to get over her death, not that he showed it. And then she came back. As a ghost. And just like that, Dean had been shaken again.
Dean's fingers were tracing the pattern of the steering wheel, not that he was aware of it. He was lost in his mind, thinking about people he loved and lost. The chirping of his phone made him jump. Quickly snatching it from his pocket, Dean glanced at the caller ID and snorted humorlessly. What were the odds that he ran away from talking about old flames only to get a call from one. Dean's finger hovered over the red button. He didn't wanna chat. Then he moved it over to the green and accepted the call.
"Heya Cassie, long time no talk. What's up?"
Silence met his words and Dean frowned. He hadn't talked to Cassie in years, not since Sam and him helped saving her from the vengeful ghost of the killed driver. Damn. That weren't years, it was a decade.
"Cassie?" Dean sounded worried much to his dismay.
"Not Cassie. It's Cadie," a young, female voice corrected him. "My mom told me to call this number if there should ever be trouble... of the weird kind. Are you Dean?"
Dean swallowed. Her mommy. Cassie had a little girl. Somehow that stung and Dean didn't even know why. Sure, they had a thing, once. Or rather twice. But it had never been about commitment. Shaking these thoughts off, Dean hurried to reply.
"That's me. Where's your mom, Cadie?"
"She disappeared. People here get snatched. They disappear. And the damned police don't know what to do," Cadie ranted, voice changing from scared to unimpressed. "It's five people missing now, including my mom. When this started, she'd said she wished you were here 'cause you'd know what to do. But she didn't wanna call you." Cadie was quiet for a moment. "Now, she's gone. And I'm calling you. Can you help me get my mom back?"
"You still in Missouri?" Dean asked.
"Yep. Never moved."
"Right. We'll be there in the morning. Sit tight, Cadie."
Dean shut the door of his trusted chevy and strode back his family. Two sets of eyes met him, both immediately sensing something was up. Sam's eyebrows knotted in a silent question.
"Got us a case, I think. We're heading to Cape Girardeau. You coming with, mom?" Mary nodded as Sam's eyes grew wide.
"Isn't that were Cassie lives?"
Dean sighed, studying his feet. Then he nodded. "She's missing."
"How do you know?"
"Because her daughter just called me."
.
.
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AN2: Thank you for reading. TBC... if you liked it, please leave me a review! :)