Chapter Six

There was a new darkness looming in Cleveland and the demon attack had just been the beginning. The later the night became, the more tired and restless everyone got. The meeting room was filled with young slayers, a research team as Giles had explained to Faith once they'd all gathered there hours before. The table had dozens of different books laid out along with a few now empty pizza boxes and soda cans.

"Has anyone found anything on Nereza?" Willow asked, the quiet din in the room becoming silent. "Nothing? We've been at this for hours now, guys, there has to be something in one of these books!"

"It's useless," Buffy groaned as she tossed the book she'd been flipping through for the last hour on to the table in front of her. "There is nothing that mentions Nereza. Wil, did you check the database?"

"Only about a hundred times," she replied, frowning as she pulled up the database on her laptop again. "Nothing even close to Nereza shows up. We have nothing but a name to go by and there are dozens of demons and Gods and Demi-Gods who summon Grappler demons to do the dirty work for them."

"Maybe I should call Sam?" Dean said to Faith quietly from their end of the table where they'd purposely separated themselves from the others. "He might be able to help."

"He's in California."

"Hey, this could be world-ending danger," Dean replied. "Sam will come. If anyone can find out anything on this Nereza character, it'd be him."

"Call him," Faith replied quietly.

"Call who?" Giles asked as he walked down to their end of the table to retrieve one of the books they had by them.

"My brother, Sam," Dean replied. "He's always been a pro at the researching gig."

"Ah, well, the more help we have in the matter, the better. And where is your brother located? Not locally, I'd imagine."

"He's in Stanford," Dean said as he fished out his cell phone from his pants pocket.

"He is a student there?" Giles asked and Dean nodded. "He would be willing to leave his studies to help us?"

"Guess we'll find out," Dean said as he dialed a number and held the phone to his ear as he headed out of the room for a little bit of privacy.

"Have you met his brother?" Giles asked Faith and she nodded. "Do you believe he'll be of help here?"

"Don't know, Giles, but I trust Dean and if he thinks Sam can help, then who am I to tell him not to bother calling him?"

"We could be in a very dire situation."

"What else is new," Faith muttered under her breath. "Besides, it's getting close to the time when the yearly apocalypse is bound to happen one way or another."

"You jinxed it!" Xander yelled from across the room. "Why would you jinx it, Faith?"

"She's probably right," Willow replied, frowning as she shot Xander at look that made him open and close his mouth several times.

"A demon attack on that scale is more than just a coincidence," Buffy said and all eyes in the room turned to her. "How many times have we been attacked since we've been here? Four times? And of those four times, how many times has it been that it's been more than just a demon or two? This is far bigger than it just being a coincidence that they attacked us in such a large group, tonight of all nights."

"You mean right as Faith and her boyfriend showed up?" Dawn asked and Faith rolled her eyes.

"You're not gonna give that up, are you?" Faith asked her. "For the last frigging time, Dean is not my boyfriend!"

"So, he's single then?" Dawn asked, wriggling her eyebrows a little. "Hey!" She gasped as Buffy smacked her lightly on the shoulder. "What was that for?"

"He's too old for you, Dawnie," Buffy said sternly. "Now just forget about it."

While the two bickered back and forth, Faith took the opportunity to go out into the hallway to check on Dean. He was still on the phone, but he wasn't talking and his face was slightly pale as he listened to Sam talk rapidly over the phone. Once he noticed Faith, he held the cell to his chest.

"We know who Nereza is," he said quietly. "Sam has some books with him and he found out who she is as soon as I mentioned the name."

"Well, who is she?"

"A very powerful Goddess that's supposed to be mythical, as in she isn't supposed to exist."

"Are you sure?"

"Sam, no just shut up for a second," Dean said into the phone. "You're absolutely sure that's who she is? Yeah, I realize that she's not supposed to be real, but you know as well as I do that a lot of things that aren't supposed to be real or exist do."

Faith leaned against the wall, watching as Dean just listened to Sam speak. A Goddess. That was way out of their level of expertise and even though Buffy had fought a Hell God before, Glory, she and a feeling they were dealing with something very different than that.

"Call me when you get here then and I'll swing around to the airport and pick you up," Dean said and he sighed loudly as he ended the call. "Sam is gonna get on the next flight here. He has resources these people don't have."

"Obviously if he figured out who Nereza was in what, five minutes when we've been frigging looking for the last three hours," Faith muttered bitterly. "Look, I need a smoke. Why don't you go break the news to the others and maybe we'll be able to get some sleep tonight instead of spending it going through a bunch of useless books."

Faith was tired and restless, just like everyone else was. She found her way down the hallway to a small balcony patio. It was cold, but the corner provided some relief from the harsh wind that whipped around the side of the building. The relief the first inhale of her cigarette flowed through her and she closed her eyes as she huddled against the wall, cigarette dangling from between her lips as she shoved her hands into her pockets.

She wondered what the difference between a Hell God and a Goddess was, if there even was a difference. Whatever Sam had told Dean, on top of what he relayed to her, he looked scared and she'd never seen him like that in the months she'd been with him, day in and day out. Would they be able to fight this Goddess and whatever she sent after them? The Grappler demon attack was just the beginning, they all knew that, but Faith wondered if it was just a test before the real attack would come. They did hold their own and Dean proved himself to everyone else and she knew that there had been a lot of doubts before that attack, especially when it came to whether Dean could hold his own or not.

Life was a lot easier out on the road, yet Faith had a feeling whether they decided to come to Cleveland or not, she would've ended up there one way or another. Maybe with Dean, maybe not. Even though she was feeling the urge to run from Cleveland as fast as she could, she knew she had to stay. The situation with Nereza could be huge, bigger than any of them could even imagine at the moment and if she ran, she'd prove herself to be a coward and definitely wouldn't be welcome anywhere near there ever again. And a coward she was not, even when she was still reeling from kissing Buffy during the middle of a demon attack.

Choosing to forget about it as much as she could, trying to convince herself it was just a slip up, a heat of the moment accident that just happened. She tried to convince herself she didn't feel the sparks the instant Buffy's lips had touched her own and that she didn't feel like the whole world had stopped for a few seconds when Buffy kissed her that second time. The harder she tried to forget, to push it all to the back of her mind, the more she thought about it and the more she could feel the ghosting of Buffy's lips over her own even when she bit her bottom lip in an attempt to feel anything else but that.

"I'm here for not even half a day and already she's messing with my head. Again," Faith muttered to herself and she rolled her eyes as she took a few long drags of her cigarette, each time she inhaled deeply and sharply.

"Hey."

"Jesus christ, Dean!" Faith yelled at him as he stood a few feet in front of her, seemingly have appeared out of nowhere.

"Whoa, what's with the big freak out, Faith?"

"I was…thinking," she replied lamely. "What are you doing out here?"

"Came to tell you the big research party is over now," he replied and he pulled his jacket tighter around himself. "So really, what's with the big freak out? Not the first time I've snuck up on you while you'd been deep in thought about…whatever it is you're deep in thought about."

"It's none of your frigging business."

"We're friends, right?"

"Partners," Faith corrected him and he just raised an eyebrow at him. "Friends too, sure, if ya wanna put a label on it."

"Talk to me then."

"About what? The weather and how frigging cold it is and how I'm wishing we'd stayed south and rode out the winter without actually experiencing winter?"

"You know, I may not have known you for long, but we've spent a lot of time together and there's one thing I know about you."

"Oh yeah, what's that, Dean?"

"That you're a really shitty liar."

Faith put her cigarette out in the empty flower pot on the table near her and quickly lit another despite the look Dean gave her. She knew how much he hated that she smoked and she'd even tried to give it up, making it a whole two weeks at one point before she was bitching at him and nearly put her fist through the Impala's windshield once.

"Something happened tonight, didn't it?"

"Yeah, demon attack, we were both there, all present and accounted for," Faith replied with a roll of her eyes. She hated that even in the few months they'd known each other, he could read her so well.

"Something else."

"What is this something else you're implying about, dude, cos I have no idea what the hell you're getting at here!"

"Don't know, why don't you tell me?"

"Ain't nothing to tell."

"Liar," Dean provoked her and she raised an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, I know, I got a set of steel balls right now, but sue me if I'm still all jacked up after that fight."

"You're spending way too much time with me and now you're starting to sound like me."

"Oh yeah, cos I'm all wicked bad ass and sexy as hell, all five by five, kicking ass better than anyone else," Dean replied in a high voice that had him ducking out of the way of Faith's fist flying towards him. "Damn, Faith, what the hell was that for? I was just joking around."

"I wasn't."

Dean held his hands up as he stepped back from Faith. "What's your problem?"

"You getting in my face about things you don't understand, that's my problem."

"You mean Buffy?"

Faith clenched her jaw and in her head she was beating Dean to death, yet in reality she stuck to glaring at him as he took a few more steps away from her, putting a safe distance between them.

It had bothered her before when Dean thought there was something more between her and Buffy, but it bothered her more now since he didn't seem to be letting go of the issue. To make it worse, she'd kissed Buffy and now everything was a giant mess inside her head and the only way she knew how to deal was by trying to ignore it and that meant Dean as well.

"You didn't tell me the whole truth, did you?"

"You're not gonna let that go, are you? I already gave you the whole Buffy and Faith history story and yeah, I left out some details that weren't entirely important. I'll tell you once, I'll tell you a hundred frigging times, there was never anything between me and Buffy. Never will be. Now would you just drop it before I kick your ass so hard you'll be in the hospital for a week?"

"Could've fooled me," Dean replied quietly. "See, whether you like it or not, Faith, I know you. This act of yours doesn't work on me. You want to know why you're so pissed off at me?"

"Enlighten me."

"You're in love with her," he said as he stepped dangerously close to her. "You don't want to be, but you are, and it pulls you apart inside being around her. I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that's why you ran away from her in the middle of the night, because you were scared things were changing between you two, that you were getting closer to having exactly what you wanted and that was Buffy. And you're pissed at me because I can see it and I'm calling you on it. You wanna take a swing at me? Tell me to go fuck myself? Go right ahead, Faith."

Dean was testing her. He knew how to get under her skin. He knew her better than she wanted to admit he did, but then again he had been the only one she'd let the walls down for, even if she hadn't told him everything about her past, or about Angel, or why she really was in prison or the fact that she'd broke out to save Angel and that she was sure she was still wanted for murder and was always looking over her shoulder, thinking that one day she'd be caught. For someone who didn't know everything about her, he sure knew enough about things she didn't even want to admit to herself.

Am I really that transparent? Can anyone else see that or is it just him? Faith wondered and she took a long drag of her cigarette, her eyes moving down to look at her boots.

"I'm right, ain't I?"

"What, you want a medal or something?" Faith snapped. "Jesus."

"So," Dean said with a small smile. "Since we're gonna be here for a while, have you ever thought of telling her how you feel?"

"Hell no. You do realize who you're talking to, right? I don't do love. I don't do relationships or commitment of any kind."

"Not true," Dean replied. "What do you call us? Friendship takes commitment and you've been pretty damn good that that. Friendship is also a relationship and there's gotta be a little bit of love in there—of the friend kind—if you stuck around with me for this long, right?"

Faith rolled her eyes. "Do you ever get tired of being right?"

"Only when I'm not, sweetheart."

"Stop calling me that!"

Dean chuckled as he causally threw an arm around her shoulders. "Lighten up, Lehane. It's me, in case you've forgotten. You don't gotta lie or hide shit from me. What happened tonight that has you acting like a spoiled little kid who didn't get everything they wanted for Christmas?"

"I kissed her," Faith muttered as she shrugged him arm away. "I kissed her. Don't even know why, just did, you know? And then after I took out a demon from the balcony, she frigging kissed me!"

"And that's bad?"

"Catastrophic!"

"Aren't you being a little over-dramatic about a couple of kisses here, Faith?"

"It's Buffy."

Dean scratched the back of his head, looking like he was trying hard to understand why Faith was making such a big issue out of a moment she and Buffy had together in the middle of a demon attack.

"I still don't get it, Faith. It was what, two kisses? Since when does kissing someone rile you up like this? I've seen you kiss random men and you never battled a single eyelash about it," Dean said softly and he paused, watching her as she took another drag of her cigarette and avoided looking at him completely. "Is this because Buffy is a chick? There's nothing wrong with that, you know. In fact, any time you wanna kiss her again, I wouldn't say no to seeing a little girl-on-girl action."

"Asshole," Faith chuckled, unable to stay mad at Dean. "Do us both a favor and just drop it, all right? Just forget we even had this conversation."

"So, what, you're just gonna forget how you feel about her, shut it off like it's some kind of switch you can shut off?"

"Did it before, I can do it again."

"Just like that?"

"Alcohol helps," Faith shrugged and Dean just laughed. "What do you say we go find us something to drink?"

"You already know the answer to that."

"Good," Faith smiled at him and she put her cigarette out and led the way back inside. As they approached the elevators, she turned to him and stopped him from hitting the button. "What we talked about out there, stays out there."

"You can trust me. Won't say a word."

And she knew she could. Out of everyone who had been in and out of her life, she could trust Dean with her life if came down to it.

Dean was checking out her room when she'd come back from the common room with a six pack of beer she'd found in the fridge in there. Handing him one, she sat on the couch and cracked hers open.

"It's nice."

"It's just a room," Faith replied and she took a swig. "But it's nicer than some of the places we've been."

"Yeah, it is," Dean said with a nod. "I think you should stay here, you know, after we deal with Nereza and it's all over."

"What?" Faith asked, glaring at him as he sat down on the opposite end of the couch. "You don't want me to be around anymore, is that it?"

"No, that's not true and you know it, Faith. You belong here—"

"Why, because there are slayers here?"

"That's one reason," he replied and he sighed heavily when she flipped him off and downed nearly half of her beer. "You would've ended up here eventually, you know that, right?"

"Eventually as in not now or any time soon."

"Look, Faith, I don't wanna fight with you tonight," Dean said tiredly. "Whatever your issues are, I get it, it's complicated and you're right, maybe I don't understand, but that doesn't mean I don't want to try." He shook his head and sipped his beer for a moment, giving Faith some time to let the words sink in. "I am not trying to ditch you or make you feel like I don't want you around anymore, that's really not the case here, but from what Giles told me of this place, it seems like you'd be better off here in the long run."

"And what about you? You're just gonna keep doing what you do by yourself?"

"What do you think I was doing before I met you?" Dean asked and Faith rolled her eyes. "Look, we had a good thing going while it lasted, but right now we're in something huge and I'm just trying to look at the bigger picture for once. Besides, I got a feeling that once Sam gets here and gets deep into this situation, he's gonna stick around for a while and I won't be as alone out on the road as I have been for a while, you know?"

Faith sighed loudly as she stared down at her can of beer. She was trying to understand why Dean wanted her to stay and she kind of got it, she did belong there, yet the problem wasn't whether or not she belonged there, but whether or not she was wanted there. That was the only thing that would make her stay and it didn't matter if anyone else said that she was wanted, it all came down to what Buffy wanted, how she felt and if Buffy wanted her to stay, if she flat out asked her, then Faith knew she wouldn't even hesitate and she'd stay.

That's what it all came down to, Buffy. Dean had been right before about why she'd really left them in the middle of the night. She had been scared, scared because her and Buffy were finally getting along and old feelings were starting resurface, feelings she really didn't want to have to deal with all over again. Yet it had felt different and it was different and that scared her, scared her because she had caught a glimpse of something she wanted more than she cared to admit. So, she'd done the only thing she'd ever been good at and left without looking back.

Get it together, Lehane. You're not the type to get hung up on just one person like this. You're not even the type to be stressing over a couple of kisses that meant nothing, Faith scolded herself, a deep frown forming over her lips as she tried to forget about Buffy just for a minute.

"You know, even if you stay here, I'm sure there'll be plenty of opportunities for you to come help out and deal with a couple of jobs that are a little more up your alley than mine," Dean said, smiling at Faith as he grabbed another can of beer and cracked it open. "You know, just because we might not be around each other all the time once this is over, doesn't mean I'm gonna be outta your life."

"Right, like you could get rid of me that easily, dude," Faith chuckled. "And I like that idea, about coming out to help you deal with shit you can't do on your own. In fact, I think I'm already looking forward to doing just that. What do you think is gonna happen here? I mean, none of us have ever dealt with a Goddess before."

"Sam said that the Goddesses are never usually violent, but they can display malevolent behavior. Nereza must have something she's after and whatever it is, it's here," Dean replied and he scratched the back of his neck. "No idea what it could be. It could be one of the girls, maybe it's the witch?"

"Whatever it is, we're gonna figure it out," Faith shrugged, the exhaustion, both mental and physical, kicking in harder than before. "And the witch has a name. Willow."

"Right, I knew that."

Faith rolled her eyes as she laughed at Dean. "Look, I'm gonna crash. Take the beers or leave 'em," she said, waving to the few beers that were left and sitting on the small coffee table. Dean got to his feet and grabbed them before he headed for the door.

"Night," he waved over his shoulder as he opened the door and stepped out.

"Later," Faith called out before she leapt up and shut the door behind him and locked it.

Faith grabbed her duffel bag from where it sat near the bedroom door and walked into the dark room. She tossed her bag on the big bed that took up most of the room, definitely not a standard hotel room bed from what she could tell. Shrugging, she stripped out of her clothes and pulled back the sheets. It'd been a long time since she'd gone in the buff, never daring to sleep in less than her panties and a tank top with Dean in the same room. The sheets felt cool and smooth against her skin as she laid down and pulled the duvet over her body.

Sleep was far off despite how tired she felt. Already it had been a long day, one that had seemed to never end and she knew, just from a nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach, that tomorrow would be the same and so would the day after that and the day after that…

March 14th

They had been in Cleveland for a week and Sam still hadn't shown up. First his flight was delayed twice because of weather and then it was cancelled. When he tried to get a refund for his ticket and change it to the next available flight, his credit card threw up a bunch of red flags and he was arrested for an entire day on the assumption he was in possession of a stolen card.

Dean had left Cleveland three days ago, driving across the country to pick Sam up in case he ran into any more problems trying to fly out to Cleveland. Faith had stayed behind, not because she wanted to, but because Dean did. It left her miserable and angry, yet once she'd found the training room, she spent most of her time in there, trying to avoid just about everyone else as much as she possibly could get away with.

"I heard there is something big happening," one of the young slayers said from across the training room as she and three others jogged on the treadmills at a brisk yet leisurely pace. "And by big, I mean apocalypse big."

"No way, there would've been a memo!"

"I also heard that they have no idea just what is going on. That demon attack last week was a part of it," the first girl said and she shook her head as she glanced over at Faith who was hitting the weights. "It's probably a good thing that she's here now. I mean, we're good at fighting and all, but we've still got a long way to go before we're as good as she and the General are."

Faith snickered as she pulled a few more reps and placed the handheld weights down on the rack. After nearly two days in Cleveland, she learned that many of the younger slayers called Buffy the General behind her back and she also learned that Buffy was highly aware of it and that it pissed her off to no end. There was just nothing she could do about it. But Faith could. She should. She wanted to, but that would just create more problems than she was willing to deal with.

Picking up her towel, she wiped at the back of her neck and headed for the doors, leaving the young slayers to gossip to their hearts content, especially now that she wasn't in the room.

"Faith, I was just looking for you," Xander said as he came to a stop after jogging down the hallway.

"I've been in there all morning, how hard did ya look?" Faith quipped and she winked as she headed for the elevators, looking forward to a nice long, hot shower to sooth her aching muscles. "What do you want, Xander?"

"Actually, we were kind of wondering if you'd heard from Dean? He's been gone for a few days and—"

"He's not in California yet," Faith cut him off. "Probably won't be for another day and then once he's picked up Sam, he won't be back for what, a week tops?"

"A week? Do you honestly think we have a week?"

"Has anything happened since that demon attack?" Faith asked him sharply and he sputtered as he shook his head no. "So, don't stress about it, Xander. Whatever Nereza is after, taking out her pet demons obviously put a little damper on whatever plan she has. Bought us some time, who knows how much, but hey, I'll take whatever time we got right now."

The elevator doors opened and Faith stepped inside, hitting the top button quickly as Xander just stood there, his mouth gaped open slightly. With a little wave as the doors slid shut, Faith backed up against the wall and let out a heavy sigh. She watched the numbers light up as the elevator zoomed up swiftly and her stomach lurched as it came to a stop on the fifth floor and the doors slid open quickly.

"Oh," Buffy said in surprise as she noticed Faith standing in the elevator as she walked in, her attention otherwise on the folder she had open in her hands. "Faith."

"B," Faith nodded and she hit the top button again as she stood to Buffy's left.

The past week, they'd barely spoken to one another and the only time Faith had been in the same room as her alone had been two nights ago when she'd wandered down to the cafeteria to make herself something to eat and Buffy had the same idea, already down there and snacking on a plate of freshly cut fruit.

"You seem to be settling in," Buffy said as she closed the folder and held it tight in both hands. "Enjoying the unlimited use of the training room?"

"Yeah, it's been great," Faith nodded. "Being on the road, don't get to spend some quality time training. Feel like I've been missing out."

"We have a private training room, if you don't want to be bothered by the girls," Buffy replied, not looking at her and opting to stare up at the numbers as the lit up with every floor the elevator climbed. "There," she said as she pointed to B3. "It'll ask you for a password."

"Let me guess, it's not "Hellmouth", is it?"

"No."

Faith laughed as she stared at Buffy. Was she nervous? Faith raised an eyebrow as she stared long and hard at her and watched as she flinched when she realized Faith was staring at her. She was totally and completely nervous, maybe even a little bit annoyed to top it all off. Faith chuckled softly and wiggled her eyebrows, forcing Buffy to turn her attention back to watching the numbers light up.

"So, B, what is it?" Faith asked. "What's the password or do I gotta figure it out on my own like the last time?"

"My mom," she whispered so quietly Faith barely heard her. "You, uh, you do remember her name, don't you?"

"Like I'd ever forget," Faith replied and she watched as Buffy tensed up and let out a scoff. "I didn't mean it like that. Your mom was cool. Didn't deserve to go being so young still. Sorry ya had to lose her the way you did."

"Thanks."

Faith cold feel the bristly, icy undertones in Buffy's voice and she moved to lean back against the wall again. Faith tried to see the label on the folder that Buffy was holding without raising any suspicion. She subtly and with much exaggeration, yawned just enough to lean forward and catch a glimpse at the label. Raising an eyebrow, she leaned back against the wall, wondering what the hell Buffy had a file on her for and what exactly was inside of it.

"Please enter the password," the computerized voice sounded out.

"You want the honors or shall I?" Faith asked as Buffy jerked her head to look over at her. "You know what the biggest fight of my life was, B? It was in the Hellmouth," she said and the elevator continued, accepting the password. "It wasn't cos it was this great big fight to save the world, it was cos I finally was fighting at your side like I was supposed to right from the beginning. Took me a long time to realize that being at your side was where I belonged," she finished quietly and the elevator came to a slow stop and the doors slid open. "You and me, B? We're good together. Just a shame it took us a long time to see that, huh?"

Faith winked as she backed out of the elevator, leaving Buffy standing there blinking, unmoving, speechless.

Faith let out the breath she didn't know she was holding until she was halfway down the hallway to her room. She risked a glance over her shoulder and saw Buffy fumbling with her keys as she stood in front of her door at the opposite end of the long hallway. Faith rolled her eyes and pulled out her key from the small pocket inside her tight fitting sports bra. She barely had the key in the lock when she heard the footsteps hurrying towards her, practically thundering down the hallway, the sound echoing off the walls.

"Got something you wanna say to me, B?" Faith asked as she turned to her and quickly snatched the folder out of Buffy's hand. "What's this?"

"Your record," Buffy replied. "Your new one, at least."

"What?"

"Up until this morning, Faith, you were still wanted for murder and for escaping prison. If you're going to stay here and help us, we can't have the police becoming suspicious if you're on their radar, so we had to do something. We need you here," Buffy said and the words almost sounded strained, forced. "I need you here," she said quietly, her tone taking a completely different turn as she lowered her eyes to the floor. "I don't know what we're dealing with, but I know it's something big and something that I feel that I need you here to help me—us deal with."

Faith opened the folder and inside was a formal copy of a police record. Some of her priors were in there, nothing as major as murder and the fact she'd been convicted for twenty-five to life. She handed the file back to Buffy and opened the door to her room.

"You can thank Willow. And yes, it's completely legit. A little bit of magic, a little bit of good old fashioned hacking. Congratulations," Buffy said, her voice a little dry as she backed away. "You're officially free now, Faith. You're welcome."

Then why doesn't it feel like I am free, huh? Faith thought, but she didn't dare say it out loud. She couldn't even bring herself to thank Buffy either.

Buffy scoffed as she turned on her heels and walked down the hallway, leaving Faith standing there wondering just what the hell just happened between them. With a shrug, Faith walked into her room and kicked the door shut behind her. She walked over to where she had her cell charging on the kitchen counter and picked it up.

"Four missed calls, great," she muttered as she hit the button to retrieve her messages from Dean and hoped to hell he was just calling to check in and not calling because something had happened.