They of course never got around to discussing what had happened when he came out of the shower, for which Steph was infinitely grate for. Although Dean's standoffish demeanor as he shrugged on his grey house robe told her that he wasn't overly happy with something. With his reservations regarding her caretaking role seemingly resolved she could only guess that it was about the way his advances were shrugged off earlier.

That made her think… Could he really be into her? Or was he just taking advantage of the fact that she was obviously into him? Dean was definitely the ladies' man, and wasn't shy to hook up with anyone, anywhere, but in this particular instance things would get real awkward real fast if that was all this was to him.

Steph shook off those thoughts quickly, not wanting to dwell on them any further. Besides, her heart wasn't solely his either. This situation would just get all three of them hurt if acted on, and she wasn't planning that.

Entering the kitchen she could smell the aroma of coffee brewing, and – surprise, surprise – there was Sam sitting by the table, reading the news on his laptop, which was a precarious little thing if you asked Steph. If he found anything potentially supernatural among those, they wouldn't hesitate to just up and go, no matter what condition they were in. She wasn't confident in her ability to convince them to call one of the other hunters they knew to handle it.

"I don't know why I was expecting anything else," Steph muttered to herself sort of amusedly, but also roiled by the fact that neither of the boys could stay put for two minutes, cold or no cold. Stupid, stubborn sonuvabitches. At least Sam had the decency to put on a hoodie to avoid getting chilled.

"Hey," the younger Winchester looked up, a bit surprised to see Dean right in her tow, since he had been pretty conked out when they got back. "Do you need help?" his eyes flickered back to Steph, about to get up to assist right as she was going to fridge to get the eggs.

"Just sit and look pretty. Both of you," she shot a firm glare at both of them, and Dean finally took a seat by his brother, his face like a scolded child's. The girl softened at that. "Still up for eggs and bacon? I can make something lighter…"

"Don't you dare!" Dean protested with that serious face of his that Steph always found comical. "And I thought waffles were on the menu too."

"All right, don't get your panties in a twist," the girl chuckled, putting her hands up in surrender. Though honestly she wouldn't be surprised if neither of them really had an appetite. She just had the same thing and sure as hell she wasn't craving heavy foods.

"I think I'll go with toast and jam after all," Sam piped in self-consciously, purposefully avoiding Dean's eyes, who was looking at him like he was a traitor.

"I'm glad at least someone can be reasonable," Stephanie rewarded him with a warm smile before quickly throwing a dirty look to Dean to get him to stop silently pestering his little brother. He was sick after all, so what if his stomach wasn't feeling up to the greasy stuff?

Steph busied herself with cooking, a cacophony of sniffling and light coughing as background noise behind her back to break the silence. As if her turning her back on them automatically meant she wouldn't hear them or notice, they had been so careful to avoid doing any of those if they could help it while she was facing them. Sneaky little bastards that's for sure. But she wasn't fooled. Steph was glad at least they didn't put up any protest to her preparing the meals, even all the way from day one. She always enjoyed being in the kitchen, but actually cooking for someone else was a feeling that had eluded her life for a long time, so she now basked in every minute of it.

When done she placed their orders in front of them, getting some granola and yoghurt for herself to eat.

"So…" the girl began, getting the boys' attention, preparing for yet another bravado of hers, hoping it would help handling the sick Winchesters better. "This is how this is going to go. Anyone with a fever over 101 will stay in bed. Those who comply will be free of pestering from me and can even choose their own entertainment to prevent them from going stir crazy. How's that sound?"

"And those who don't?" Dean challenged cheekily, because who else would question the authority of anyone but his father's if not him? Sam was the opposite, he was inclined to follow the rules whenever possible, except if the terms came from John. His death might have changed many things but this one thing stood fast even after so many years and hardships.

"I'll be their worst nightmare," Steph replied with an overly sweet smile, worthy of an Oscar performance if she could say so herself, that sent an involuntary chill down both of their spines. "No, but seriously. Is it so much to ask that you guys just do the rational thing and take it easy?"

"No, you are right, Steph," Sam relented, his face full of remorse for giving her grief. "We just don't want to burden you."

"You are not a burden, but you know what would help me take care of you? If you guys bunked in the same room until this lasts," Steph suggested, since for one reason or another the Winchesters had chosen practically the farthest rooms from each other in the Bunker, which she could never really quite understand. Running back and forth between those two would be a challenge if this cold or flu or whatever worsened, which she was guessing it would.

"Nah-ah, he snores like a truck driver when he is sick!" they boys exclaimed simultaneously in loud wacky protest, pointing at the other one.

And that answered that. As she giggled at their in synch reaction she could just practically imagine their misery, inevitably being confined to two queen bed motel rooms when either of them was down with something over the years. That had to account for a lot sleepless nights.

"Okay, how about Dean, you move into my room for the time being since it's right beside Sam's? It would really help if you weren't so far from each other in case you both end up with high fevers," she tried again between spoonfuls of yoghurt. The fact that Dean wasn't really eating, just pushing his omelet and waffles around on his plate didn't avoid her attention either. And if Dean wasn't hungry that meant that something was seriously wrong. Hence her predictions.

"And where will you sleep?" the older Winchester made a face at her, the buds of something nervy already forming in that skull of his, she could tell.

"I'll just lie down in the library on the couch or something," Steph didn't want to add that she wasn't anticipating much sleeping in her near future, if her own progression with the illness was anything to go by. And the boys had much more ammunition for nightmares too…

"Or… you could just sleep with me," Dean suggested nonchalantly, earning a wide-eyed 'what the fuck, dude?' stare from Sam.

"Or I could just sleep with you," Stephanie muttered back absentmindedly before her brain to mouth filter could kick in and she could consciously realize what she was saying. She instantly went scarlet red, trying to find something to do to avert the attention from what had just left that blabbering mouth of hers. "You are not going to finish that, are you?" she reached for Dean's plate to dump the uneaten food in the trash, when he yanked it back from her grasp.

"Hey! Give it back!" the hunter grunted, setting the plate back on the table and made a show of stuffing a few forkfuls into his mouth. Gotta give points for the effort, but Steph saw what a struggle it was for him to keep it down and she knew for a fact that it had nothing to do with her cooking skills.

Stephanie rounded the table and stood between the brothers, placing a comforting hand on both of their shoulders as she pulled them closer to her.

"No one is going to judge if you don't feel up to eating it," she whispered warmly into Dean's ear, placing a tender kiss on his temple. Yupp, definitely feverish, she could tell. And he didn't pull away from her touch either, just closed his eyes briefly. "Nor will it hurt my feelings."

Reluctantly Dean ceased his efforts of shoving food down his throat, propping his head in his right hand defeatedly. Just to avoid playing favorites she turned to Sam next, who had pretty much consumed all of the toast much to her delight, and kissed him on the forehead too. Maybe not as bad as Dean's but surely he had the beginnings of a fever there too. He sort of got that deer caught in the headlights look on him for a second, but then when her intention became clear he almost sighed contentedly as he leaned into her touch. That really did things to her, but she tore herself away to get back to business.

"So… the earlier ground rules…" Steph continued, reaching into her pockets and pulling two thermometers out, handing one to either of them.

"Where did those come from?" Sam inquired in amazement as he took the one offered to him.

"Let's just say getting laundry done wasn't the only thing I was working on," she winked conspiratorially to the both of them. Knowing the boys, they wouldn't get into bed before nighttime anyway, no matter how bad they might be feeling, so she quickly set up the area around the flat screen for them to lounge the day away, bundled in blankets and stuff, watching movies or something, which hopefully would have them dosing off in a matter of minutes anyway.

"Yeah? And what's… hiii…" Dean tried to sass her before his body betrayed him by hitching his breath at the worst possible moment. He quickly turned away from Steph and buried his face into his hands. "HEH'sheew-uhm… HAE'hshshshsh… dabbit…" he sighed congestedly. Obviously those came out much wetter than he had anticipated and now he was in bit of a pinch if he didn't want to reveal the mess in his palms.

"Bless you. Here," Steph handed him two tissues from a travel pack she had in her pocket too. Preparedness my friends, preparedness.

He took it gratefully, giving his nose a good honking blow.

"HRAETSH'SHEEWW" Sam twisted away from her right the second Dean was done, and Steph couldn't help but sigh as she passed him a tissue too.

She took their plates to the sink to do the dishes quickly, calling over her shoulder. "Take your temperature, guys."

And to her great surprise they complied. She honestly did a little victory dance in her head and she was glad that they couldn't see her face right that moment, because surely it would have been written all over it. A minute later she heard the thermometers start beeping almost simultaneously and then Dean cussing under his breath.

"Lemme see," Steph coaxed after wiping her hands on the kitchen towel, holding her palm out for the instruments over the dining table.

101.2 for Dean and 100.8 for Sam. She had to laugh, both right on the edge of the arbitrary line she had drawn for them, just on different sides of it. No wonder Dean was so disgruntled. He always hated being seen as weak. Especially because he always felt that he should be taking care of Sammy.

"You know… I'll be happy if I just have you guys horizontal and under blankets… do you want to see what I have set up in front of the TV?" the girl offered the alternative with a coy smile.

The bait worked like a charm, both of them perked up a bit, and she quickly rounded the table again, taking their hands and leading the two giants to the little living area nook of the library. She had pulled the convertible couch out, and had put little side tables on both sides, both equipped with tissue boxes, medicine, the whole nine yards.

"When did you do all this?" Dean wondered out loud.

"I have something to confess…" she began in all seriousness as she glanced between the brothers. "I can secretly time travel."

Sam gave her that exasperated/unamused look of his that was usually reserved for Dean.

"Getting laundry started doesn't take that long…" Stephanie explained with a shrug. She had plenty of time to do parts of this each time she passed the library. She just had to get some tea going to complete the set.

"You are the best librarian/nurse there ever was, Steph," Sam praised in awe as he appraised the scene.

"Yeah, the only thing that could top it if you were my kind of librarian… slash nurse…" the older Winchester smirked, awfully pleased himself that he was finally able to fire off this joke. It had been itching at the back of his mind for months.

"Dean!" Sam hissed at him with a little shove, glancing down to Steph worriedly to see if she was offended or flustered by the comment.

Steph just laughed heartily, hugging her boys closer to herself by their hips, while they shared a confused look at her reaction. She could only guess what Dean's kind of librarian looked like, but surely it involved something pervy and not a lot of clothes. She didn't mind Dean just being Dean, and had gotten used to his inappropriate jokes a long time ago. She didn't feel like this was an expression of specific attraction towards her, more like a general preference to women.

"Okay, get settled, I'll be back in a sec with some tea," she said once she was over her momentary glee, already turning to leave when Sam scooted over to the other side of the couch.

"Nope, no way, lady, you are staying right here," Dean grabbed her by the waist and pulled her down right between them with a swift move. After haphazardly yanking the afghan over themselves, he got the remote, flicking through channels absentmindedly with one hand, never actually having let go of Steph with the other, just sort of had her tucked to his side.

Sam was sitting there kind of awkwardly for a moment until she noticed that he was left out and motioned for him to snuggle up to her. Which he did without having to be asked twice, throwing a hand over her stomach as he lay his head down on her shoulder.

Stephanie was cocooned in feverish warmth from all sides but honestly she couldn't picture a more perfect scene for herself. She and her boys chilling out in front of the TV, all tangled up in each other. She really wanted to pinch herself, because surely this was a dream or something.

"HAE'raetsheh"

"HEH'shshew-um"

As an instant reality check both brothers sneezed loudly, jerking forward to try and not sneeze on her. Yes, that one detail could have been different, she always preferred the Winchesters healthy, alert and action ready, given their line of work.

"Bless you both," Steph smiled fondly, drawing them back to her side promptly as soon as they were done blowing their noses. She saw that as a precaution both of them got a couple fresh tissues ready in their hands in case this happened again, dabbing at their running nose here and there between sniffles. The vulnerability was almost too much to bear.

"You know, this is actually kinda nice," Sam commented with a sigh as he let himself be pulled even closer to Steph, enjoying her hand in his hair, rubbing away the slight headache.

Dean just grunted in agreement.

"I told you so," she chuckled. She was glad she finally got through to them and that she was able to show them just how nice having a female in caretaking role in their lives could be.

"Okay, pumpkin, you win," the older Winchester smirked, kissing her on the top of her head.