Mia swallowed the last of her coffee and signed off the chart, handing it to Cas for his signature as Dean walked up beside her.

"Status?"

"Down to 15 in the waiting room, center stage is empty, 3 waiting for OR but stable in staging. 5 critical in west wing that need ICU beds with 10 in process, east is full at 24 but managed with 8 waiting for beds upstairs. Cas is in triage clearing out 4s and 5s, while the 2 attendings manage back here. 3 incoming but all sound manageable." She bit her lip and looked up from her computer screen.

"Good. There's coffee and water through that door." She pointed to a blue door to the left of the command center as she finished signing charts and picked up the phone. Dean shook his head, figuring that was as close as to praise as he was going to get and went to grab a water. When he returned Dr. Crowley was at the desk and talking to Mia, they stopped when he approached.

"Am I interrupting?" He looked from Crowley to Mia, their faces unreadable.

"I was just updating Mia on the GSW from earlier. He's in ICU, it looks like he's going to make it." Dean took a drink of water and watched Mia, looking for any sign of approval but she remained unreadable. It was 5 am and they had been working side by side for the last 10 hours, no sign of her tiring other than the empty coffee cup at her side. He had to admit, she made this place work, she never faltered and she never stopped moving, he wasn't sure she was even human.

"So where do you need me next?" She looked up in surprise, a flicker of what he hoped was appreciation in her eyes.

"Um…you can handle the 3 coming in, send to triage if you can, you know where the open beds are." He nodded and walked over to the ambulance entrance as the first medic came through the door, a young girl on the gurney and oxygen mask on her face and a worried mother at her side. Dean placed his stethoscope on her chest, feeling Mia's eyes on him and turning to look at her.

Mia bit her lip as he leaned over the gurney, smiling at the young girl and brushing a hand over her forehead as he concentrated on listening to her lungs. When he turned his head to glance at her she felt a flutter in her chest, turning her gaze to Crowley, who was smiling at her.

"Dr. Crowley?" She only called him that when she was irritated with him.

"Mia?" His eyebrow raised in question as he glanced over where Dean was directing the ambulance to east wing, calling for respiratory and racemic epi in the walkie talkie as the ambulance rolled past. Mia looked over at Dean again, chewing on her lower lip as she studied him.

"He'll do."

The sky was filled with the colors of morning as Mia walked out to the parking lot, zipping up her leather jacket in the brisk morning air and reaching in her pocket for her leather gloves as someone yelled her name. Turning she saw Dean jogging up to her, stopping and smiling down at her, his green eyes twinkling.

"I just wanted to say thank you." She looked up at him, taking in his green eyes and strong jaw, his broad chest covered in a tight grey t-shirt and a black leather jacket in his hand.

"For what?" He laughed and she tried to ignore the way it made his eyes light up, his full lips curving into a smile.

"Your approval, you're pretty bad ass." She smiled brightly and Dean felt desire slam into his gut, if he thought she was attractive when she was barely acknowledging his presence then seeing her lush lips smiling up at him, her blue eyes bright with excitement, well then she was possibly the most gorgeous woman he had ever laid eyes on. Her cheeks flushed and she tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Thanks, that's pretty impressive coming from you."

"From me?" She nodded, biting her lip and avoiding his gaze.

"Crowley has me review resumes and I had friends in the 64th Airborn." She watched as the shadows darkened his eyes, his gaze leaving her face and concentrating on the tips of her black boots.

"I'm sorry." His voice was thick with emotion and she instantly felt bad for bringing up what was possibly the worst day of his life.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, from what I heard, you were a hero. You can't save them all Dr. Winchester, no matter how much we want to." Her voice was soft, making him look up at her, his eyes softening and she felt a tug at her heart. She reached out, her hand coming up to his shoulder and hesitating before she touched him, feeling the warmth of his skin radiate through his thin shirt. He held her gaze, seeing her eyes widen and her lips part as his hand came up to cover hers, the wind picked up and her hair blew over her shoulder, the dark waves pulling at him as he caught the scent of jasmine.

"Call me Dean." Her lips turned up in the smallest of smiles and she nodded, pulling her hand from his and running it through her hair nervously.

"Dean…I'll see you later." She turned to walk away and he reached out, grabbing her hand and noticing the other carried a black helmet.

"Wait…at least let me buy you breakfast." She looked down where his hand held her wrist, amazed at how small her hand looked in his larger one. She pulled her hand away and shook her head.

"Sorry, I don't do the socializing thing." He shrugged, hoping she didn't see the disappointment in his eyes.

"No problem, see you tomorrow night." She nodded and turned away, heading over to a black Harley and Dean watched as she pulled her hair back and then slipped her helmet on, her long legs straddling the bike as she starting it up, the low rumble cutting through the quiet morning. As she drove off he shook his head, not what you need Winchester, he thought as he turned and walked over to his Impala, getting in and starting it up, sitting there and eventually lowering his forehead to touch the steering wheel. He closed his eyes, trying to slow his breathing as he started to hear the explosion. He could feel the panic in his chest, that clawing fear as he heard their screams, felt the fire lick at his skin. His fist pounded the dash and he felt his breathing slow, whispering softly.

"I'm sorry Sammy."