A/N: Please excuse any/all typos. I've been up all night. Damn Winchester muses.

Sam's green eyes pried open and instantly, he was thankful that he'd thought to close the blinds before he fell asleep. The sun seeping through the gaps of the window shade was strong enough as it was.

He glanced over at the digital clock on the nightstand at the edge of the bed, which read 2:31pm. With a yawn, he mentally did the math and came to the conclusion he'd slept a little over ten hours, the longest he had done in a while. Well, the longest he could remember anyway.

The hunter moved to turn over and bury his head back into his pillow, but caught sight of a body on the other side of the bed, curled up underneath the blanket. Sam chuckled quietly and reached out to shake her gently.

The blonde groaned and tossed, turning over to face him. "Five more minutes."

"What are you, ten?" Sam laughed and placed a hand on her right bicep. "It's already two thirty. What time did you fall asleep?"

Her eyes remained tightly clenched. "I don't know."

"Okay…" Sam continued to be amused by her behavior. "Let's take a different direction. What time did you come to bed?"

She reached up to rub her eyes as she yawned. "Six thirty, I think."

"That's about eight hours," he informed her, now resting on his side. "Not bad."

"More than I've had in a while," she mumbled back, still fighting off sleep. Sam burst out laughing yet again. "Stop it…" she whined.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Sam gave his best attempt to muster an apology. "It's just hard to take you seriously when your eyes are closed."

Her hazel orbs fluttered open in response and she scowled at him. "Better?"

"And I thought that me waking you up would be a lot more pleasant that when Dean does," he mused, a smile still playing on his lips.

She sighed and nodded. "I would have reached for my gun already." At this comment, Sam lost whatever control he had over his laughter. Frowning, she reached over and pulled the blanket off of the younger Winchester's body and brought it to her chest. "You know what, next time… send in Dean to wake me up. I'll take my chances."

Sam snorted and rose from the bed, rubbing at his eyes. "Suit yourself, but he'll just lift the mattress and let you fall."

Scarlett glanced up at him, in only a pair of boxers. Apparently, he had gotten over his fear of being partially clothed in front of her. As her eyes landed on the tattoo over his heart that matched his brother's, she was transported to the night before.

She remembered accidentally stumbling upon Dean and the notebook dangling from his fingers that was barely visible in the silhouette of the moonlight, but slightly more in the little sliver of yellow escaping from the hallway. Her eyes had focused on it and she found herself drawn into the room. Subconsciously, she rubbed her wrist as the memory washed over again. The way he had latched onto her wrist like he was holding on for dear life and how the only things she could see were the outline of his body, the contour of each muscle filled in by the darkness, and his eyes; the emerald pigment of his irises illuminated as he clung to her, head slightly turned to catch her reaction.

Shock was the one emotion she could recall feeling at the time. Then she realized feeling was much too light of a word. It hadn't been a passing emotion, it had been an all consuming one. But Scarlett wasn't sure whether it had been because she had just been caught off-guard or something else.

And there it was: the elephant that wasn't necessarily in the room, but more so in her head. His entire torso had been on display and she'd found herself speechless, a rare occurrence for her.

She'd been too tired to contemplate it before when she had left the room, but it had to be addressed now. It wasn't like she could avoid him for the rest of the day; she had to see him sooner or later. Although later was preferred.

As Sam pulled on a pair of jeans and attempted to hunt down his belt, her eyes studied him. He was equally as shirtless at the moment as his brother had been the night before and she hadn't been rendered mute at the sight of him. It wasn't as though Sam didn't have equally as impressive of a body as his older brother and she had always liked taller men. Her eyes narrowed in thought.

The woman had seen Sam half-naked before, on the first night the three hunters had spent in a motel together. And after that night, Scarlett had begun to share a friendship with him that was reminiscent of a brother and a sister.

The corners of her mouth twitched in satisfaction. She considered Sam to be like a brother, which would explain her lack of appreciation for his physique. Then again, it also explained her surprise at the exposed Dean Winchester, whom she had never seen without a shirt before. That had to be her answer.

The door opened without warning as Sam fumbled with his belt. Sure enough, the man in question in Scarlett's mind was leaning against the doorframe, dressed in a long-sleeved thermal with the top four buttons left open.

"Channeling Fabio, are we?" Scarlett mused sarcastically, a smirk plastered on her face. Internally, she breathed a sigh of relief. Clearly, her conclusion thirty seconds before had been right.

Dean glanced downward at the shirt and folded his arms over his chest. "Well, I guess I pale in comparison to Sammy here, whose model was Fabio on the cover of Chuck's books." He returned her smirk and turned his gaze towards his brother, adjusting his belt buckle. "Have a good night there, Sam?"

His eyes squinted at him. "Bite me."

"Her job," Dean retorted as he pointed at the blonde. "Not mine."

"Ugh," Her face contorted in disgust. "Screw you, Winchester."

"In your dreams."

Despite the fact that the very exchange caused her mind to swim with thoughts of punching him in his face, Scarlett was satisfied with the return to normality that she was experiencing around Dean. In fact, it was almost reassuring.

She arched an eyebrow. "Only in yours."

Sam rolled his eyes at the two and pulled a blue tee shirt over his head. "Do you smell that?"

"What, sex?" Dean cocked his head to the side and internally laughed as Scarlett shuddered.

"No…" Sam shook his head, huffing. "I smell charcoal and burgers."

"Burgers?" Dean's head snapped back into its normal position. "You think?"

"Yeah. I thi-" His younger brother nodded and the older Winchester rushed out the door, barely even closing it behind him. Then he laughed. "Man, he's so easy."

Scarlett joined him in laughing as she peeled herself out of bed in search of some clothes. "Thanks for defending my honor. You're my hero."

"I try." Sam smiled at her and began to attempt to reassemble the bed, despite the fact she was in it. "Dean can barely resist food as it is, put a freshly grilled burger on his mind and he's as good as gone."

"I'll have to remember that."

The much taller hunter stacked the pillows at the head of the bed. "You know, this is kind of your cue to get up."

"Is it?" Her head tilted to the side and she sighed, beginning to peel herself out of bed. "That's rather unfortunate. Remind me to thank your brother for being a bullet magnet that screws up my sleep schedule."

"How did he manage to do that?" Sam questioned with a snort as he smoothed down the comforter.

She temporarily froze, forgetting she hadn't told Sam about the events of the early hours of the morning. "Oh…" she trailed off, her brain working on overdrive. "You know, the whole being dizzy after taking a bullet for him thing. Damn nap in the car is going to take me a week to correct."

Sam nodded and Scarlett exhaled a breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding. "You picked the right people to be sleepless around. We're pretty used to it."

"I'm going to grab a shower," Scarlett decided, leveling the blanket on her side of the bed and heading for her duffel bag beside the nightstand. Once she grabbed a change of clothes, she looked back up at her friend. "Dean knows the plan for today. He'll tell you and Bobby."

"There's a plan?" Sam looked slightly surprised at the idea and then it waned from his face. "Let me guess, Castiel?" he asked, to which she affirmed with a bob of her head. "Alright, you shower then. Something tells me this is going to take a while."

"GET… OUT!"

The thunderous words echoed off the walls of the house and reverberated through the kitchen. Or maybe it was the thud of a body crashing into a wall. Either way, Dean found it hysterical.

A sigh was heard in the corner of the room and the three men turned to find Anna sitting on a countertop, legs dangling over the cabinets. "That will be another hour of explanations tonight."

Dean's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, matching the expressions on the faces of his brother and Bobby. "Anna? What are you doing here?"

"When Cas and I finished our assignment, we were to meet here," she explained, placing her hands on the edges of the mica. "But I think he wished to speak with Scarlett first."

"Hold on a second," Bobby cut into the conversation. "You decided that the appropriate meeting place would be my kitchen?"

"Well, not so much your kitchen as your house," she clarified, looking over at Bobby. "But I suppose they are one and the same."

There was a slight stirring noise in the air and then a monotonous voice cut through it yet again. "That was quite unexpected."

Anna looked over at her fellow angel, who was now standing behind the older Winchester. "When you said you wanted to speak with Scarlett, I assumed you would pick a time in which she was not in the shower."

Dean's head tilted to the left as he leaned on the table with his forearms. "You poofed in on here in the bathroom?"

"I suppose you could refer to it as that."

The corner of the hunter's mouth twitched in amusement. "Was she naked?"

Sam promptly punched him in the arm. "Dean!"

"What?" he replied innocently, eyebrows shooting towards the ceiling. "It's a relevant detail…"

"Why on Earth is that relevant?"

"Accuracy." Dean shrugged and then looked back at Castiel. "So was she?"

Without hesitation, Casiel answered, "Yes."

Anna promptly smacked her palm against her forehead. "Cas, you can't do that."

"Cas, you sly bastard," Dean hooted as he stood and clapped a hand on his shoulder. "I didn't know you had it in you."

The angel's head cocked to the side. "Possessed what in me?"

The older Winchester laughed, "It's just an expression, Cas."

"Like sarcasm?"

"Sort of." He nodded and sat back down, still chuckling to himself. "Dude, she owned you up there."

"God damn plaster fell from the ceiling," Bobby grumbled to no one in particular. "Could have ruined my traps."

"Scarlett is not in ownership of myself and I assure you, if you ask, she will fix the plaster."

"Good," Bobby continued his sulking.

"But you will not be in here much longer," Castiel stated simply. "Anna and I have extended your safe haven so that it will be large enough for you in the coming days."

Anna interred in the conversation as to prevent any confusion. "You will remain in the room for 48 hours, after which you," he turned to Bobby, "Will remain until it is time to lay siege."

"Lay siege?" Sam asked in surprise. "Lay siege on what?"

"Lucifer's cave," she answered, hopping off the counter. "On the thirtieth day, you must fight his army to gain access to the cave. As soon as he is free, after midnight, you MUST kill him."

"Dean must kill him," Castiel corrected.

"So expect the three of us," Dean began, shaking his head incredulously, "And Scarlett to fight the devil's army by ourselves. Are you high?"

"Why would I partake in recreational drug use?"

Anna sighed, "An expression, Cas."

"Ah, yes." He nodded and then continued. "But you will not be alone. Anna and I have visited all of the hunters we could find. They know the Apocalypse is nigh and after a great amount of convincing, have agreed to partake in a… what is it called, Anna?"

"A conference call." Her lips twitched in amusement. "They will all call the phone we have placed in your panic room with a cell phone we have given each of them and do not worry, we have taken every precaution to ensure only a hunter will be able to take part in the call."

"It's like a virtual convention with whiskey and guns," Dean noted. "Except I don't get a happy ending…"

"Gross," a voice groaned from the doorway.

"Scarlett," Dean returned. "It's nice to see you are clothed."

"Don't worry," she retorted effortlessly. "You'll never get to see me without them anyway."

"Never say never…"

Anna rolled her eyes. "I think there are more pressing matters here. You are to lock yourselves in the panic room until we say."

"So what…" Dean folded his arms over his chest and leaned back. "We're just supposed to have a little gossip session and they'll all be on board?"

"No, I know better than that," Scarlett answered, despite the question being directed to the angels. "Castiel and Anna have explained that I exist. You just have to convince them that I know what I'm doing… that the angels know what they're doing."

"I think I'd rather be crucified."

"No, you wouldn't," Castiel deadpanned. "You have three hours."

And with one's final word, both angels vanished.

Bobby watched as much of his weapons stockpile and all of his book cases flew past the salted threshold. "I feel like I'm in Mary Poppins."

For the last two hours and forty minutes, Scarlett and the three men had stockpiled the room. Well, she had used her telekinesis to make the newly-expanded room feel like home.

The work of the angels had been quite impressive. The room looked exactly the same, only three times the size. The Devil's Trap was just as large as the ceiling, as it had previously been, only it had grown proportionately. It was as though someone had clicked the scale buttoned and upped it from one hundred percent to three hundred.

"So how is this supposed to work?" Dean asked out of the blue.

The blonde's head whirled around and her eyes landed on the older Winchester. "They're just going to call, Dean. You'll know of most of them, met a lot of them, even. They were purposely picked that way."

He took a few steps forward and scratched the spot just above his ear. "I have no idea what the hell I'm going to say to them."

"Look," she sighed, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans. "I really don't know what to tell you. I mean, Castiel had to do the talking for me when it came to telling you and Sam."

"Thanks for the help, Scarlett," he returned sarcastically and moved to walk away from her, his body now facing the opposite direction.

"Hey." She reached out and grasped onto his exposed forearm, causing him to swivel around. "I wasn't finished."

As his body rotated, Dean's emerald eyes fell on her face curiously and then lowered to the spot where their skin met. "Okay."

Scarlett pulled her hand away quickly. "The hardest part is over. They're convinced that angels exist. Just convince them that I do too."

"It was a lot easier when I saw you turn water into beer," he replied, folding his arms over his chest cockily.

"Well, as good as I am, I can't be in fifty places at once, Winchester." Scarlett managed to force out a smile, albeit a wary one, and Dean felt himself relax a small amount. Noting the stress in his rigid shoulders, she quickly added, "I can't make any promises. But I'll try and figure out something."

"Thanks." He nodded appreciatively and then took two steps back towards where Bobby was checking his bookcase. "I'm going to uh…" He glanced over his shoulder. "I'm going to talk to Bobby and see if he can think of anything. Fifteen minutes?"

Dean's back was already facing the blonde by the time she opened her mouth to reply. "Yeah," she sighed. "Fifteen minutes."

The fifteen minutes had passed slower than any amount of time any of the four could recently remember. It was torturous; not knowing if they could pull off the single greatest last-ditch effort to save the world. Hunters were the most skeptical people on the planet and now, they – scratch that, Dean - had the task of convincing somewhere around fifty of them that Heaven, God, and an immortal daughter of the Lord exists.

They stood around the circular table that held the phone, staring at anything but each other. Occasionally, Scarlett would catch Sam's nervous eye and she would flash him her best attempt at a smile, despite the fact that she wasn't really sure if everything would be okay or not. It was the best she could do at the moment.

Most importantly, she refused to look at Dean. They spent ninety percent of the day fighting with each other, slinging insults in an attempt to make the other miserable and usually, they succeeded. The sliver of the day that remained was the part that always surprised her, usually consisting of some sort of insight into his head or her giving a peek into her own mind. It shocked her how forthcoming she was sometimes with him, considering how much easier his younger brother was to talk to. Baring her soul to Sam was guaranteed to be met with understanding in some form. Doing so with Dean was more of a gamble and she never knew whether he'd make a snide remark or shock her with compassion.

But right now, as they hovered around the phone, Scarlett didn't want to chance seeing a look on his face she didn't know how to react to. She didn't wear speechlessness well and he didn't wear his emotions well, either.

Dean's cell phone vibrated on the table and he picked it up. She couldn't help but look at him then and instantly, as he silenced it and allowed his emerald orbs to fall on her, she regretted it. "Make the call."

Silently, the blonde nodded and placed her right hand over the keypad. Focusing, she closed her eyes as the group returned to silence. A few moments later, they popped open and settled on Dean. She nodded and mouthed, Go ahead.

"Hello?" he asked tentatively, pausing to see if he'd get any response at all.

"Angels, Dean?" a feminine voice snapped at him loudly through the speaker. "The end of the world is here and you send us angels? What the hell?"

Dean immediately froze. He'd know that voice anywhere. "Jo?"

Scarlett watched as Sam's face turned ten shades of gray and green as he leaned over onto his hands, pressed against the surface of the table for support. Jo, she thought to herself. She recognized that name. Jo… Harvelle, it snapped right into her head as though it had been there all along. Duluth was the next word that came to mind and she realized it had. No wonder Sam looked like he was about to keel over any second.

Her hand slid across the polished wood and rested on top of his lightly, curling around his much larger one to give an assuring squeeze. She knows. She formed the words on her lips without speaking a sound. And she understands.

Sam bobbed his head in comprehension. Now, he was only seven different shades.

"Of course it's me," Jo retorted bitterly. "Did you really think I wouldn't be the first person waiting in line to rip you a new one?"

Dean laughed nervously. "Is this about me not calling you?"

"We're so past that being your primary offense, Winchester," her voice crackled over the speaker.

"Listen, lady…" a young man cut in. "I'm sure you and Dean here got issues… but I'm pretty damn sure the rest of us have bigger ones."

"Pipsqueak, don't start with me or I'll hunt you down myself," Jo retorted with a huff, followed by a muffled "Joanna Beth!"

"Michael, knock it off with the Harvelle girl," a deep voice chided him. "She ain't nowhere near Wisconsin. I just saw her yesterday."

"Rufus!" The young blonde exclaimed in frustration and Dean glanced over at Bobby.

Then Dean's head snapped back towards the phone. "Wait, Michael… Wisconsin… are you that kid from the motel in Fitchburg? The one with the Striga?"

"You mean the one that helped kick its ass? Yeah, it's me."

"Damn," Dean whispered lowly and shook his head in disappointment. He knew that Michael had lost his innocence when it came to monsters five years ago, but he'd never expected him to turn to the hunt. Now, he regretted it even more.

"What is it that you have to say, Dean?" another man spoke up, whom Sam recognized as Joshua, a contact of their father's who hadn't been heard from in five years.

"Right, well…" Dean cleared his throat. "Either Castiel or Anna paid you a visit last night, so I'm guessing you know angels exist. I'm sure they told you about the issues going on upstairs, so I'm going to get straight to the point. We're pretty much all that's left. Wehave a plan. It's risky, but it's all we've got."

"And who is this we that you speak of?" another former contact of John's, by the name of Jefferson, asked.

"Me, my brother, Sam, Bobby Singer, and…" Dean trailed off and his eyes settled on the lone woman in the room. "Scarlett Lucas."

The whole group paused for a beat. Joshua spoke first. "That lawyer woman?"

"Lawyer woman?" the younger Harvelle woman repeated incredulously and Dean fought back his laughter.

Rufus clearly shared his amusement. "Jo, that woman's gotta be in her sixties by now. How you doing, Miss Lucas?"

"I'm fine, considering the circumstances, Mr. Turner," the woman replied warmly. "How about you?"

"How 'bout that?" he answered. "You sound exactly the same as you did when you were twenty-nine years old!"

Scarlett took a deep breath. "That's because I still am twenty-nine, Rufus. Or at least, physically, I am."

There was a deafening silence on the line and when Rufus finally spoke, his voice was deathly low, "Winchester, so help me God…"

"Don't take her father's name in vain," Dean interred. "It really pisses her off."

"Never took her as a Jesus freak," another man chimed in.

"She isn't. Shut up, Creedy," Jefferson ordered the man. "I just saw Scarlett in April," he explained to no one in particular. "And she looked like she was about that age."

"That's not possible."

Sam tilted his head in the direction of the phone as if to push her forward. "She still looks like that now."

"Bobby?" Rufus addressed his fellow hunter. "Is that true?"

"Yeah, s'true."

Michael's unabashed curiosity got the best of him. "So… what are you?"

The forty-five hunters who had remained silent listeners remained that way and the other five joined them. Unnerved by the quiet, Scarlett spoke, "I'm the child of God."

Scarlett stared at the phone in utter soundlessness from her seat against the wall, still shocked by what had transpired in the last two hours. Not only was her secret now out there, to more than the three other people in the room, they actually believed her. Granted, it had taken more than an hour and a few tricks on her part, but still, they knew the truth.

And they knew the plan: spend the next twenty-five days doing what they did best, hunting the things that went bump in the night. At seven pm on that twenty-fifth day, they had to be in Ilchester, Maryland to meet with Heaven's army. Until then, it was business as usual. Well, business as usual for them, anyway.

"I still can't believe you sent Jo all those spiders," Sam laughed heartily, knocking Scarlett back into reality. She flung an orange at him in response, causing him to duck so that it whizzed by his ear and landed against the iron panels with a dull thud. Picking it up off the floor, he held it in his palm for a moment, deciding what to do.

Dean and Bobby, who were previously busy scanning the bookcases off to the side of the room, had turned towards the source of the noise and were now watching the scene in front of them unfold with unabashed curiosity.

Sam's eyes shifted back to Scarlett and he half-smiled, throwing the fruit back at her. The blonde stopped it in mid-air before it connected with the wall she was leaning against. It hung, suspended beside her head, as she stared at him intently. She shook her head at him and placed her hands underneath her outstretched legs for emphasis. Then she sent the orange back his way and he caught it with his left hand.

Emerald eyes looked back up at her from the orange sphere as it rested in his hand. Her hazel orbs softened as she flashed him a reassuring smile and a slow nod of encouragement.

The hunter felt the weight of his older brother's eyes studying him, as well as a second pair he reasoned could only belong to Bobby. Both were likely afraid; afraid he'd return to his previous behavior at the price of demon blood running through his veins. But somehow, this felt different.

His eyes traveled back to his hand, but shifted slightly downward to his wrist in which the blue of his veins peeked out from the tanned flesh of his skin. Sam knew that his own blood was pumping through his body, the blood he shared with his brother; a combination of his father's and his mother's. Yet, there was also Scarlett's blood mixed in with his own. Sangreal, he thought to himself. Royal blood.

However, there was still the chance that a few drops of something else was present, something that belonged to someone else he did not care about or trust. Someone he had hurt for the greater good that didn't really exist: the maternity ward nurse.

Fear shot through his eyes like a bullet from the Colt.

It didn't go unnoticed, at least not to the only woman in the room. And while Dean and Bobby knew Sam too well not to pick up on his worried expression, only Scarlett understood the reason behind it.

Her head tilted to the side as her eyes held his gaze and it was almost as if he could hear her voice in his head. "It's gone, Sam. All of it's gone. This isn't Ruby or Azazel or that R.N. Lillith's lackey possessed. They're not a part of you anymore, Sam… but I am. This is you and me, Sam. Just you and me."

Resolve circulating through his body, Sam stared at the fruit still in his hand and began to focus. Noting his brother's acquiescence to his telekinesis, Dean took a step forward, but was met by Bobby's outstretched arm. His head whipped to the older man at his left, who shook his head and then glanced back to the younger Winchester.

By the time both men were once again looking at Sam, it appeared as though a vein was going to pop out of his head at any moment. And just when Dean was convinced his head would explode, the sphere rose a few inches into the air. Less than five seconds later, it dropped back into his hand.

Sam grunted in disappointment, but Scarlett smiled at him genuinely. "That was pretty good for your first time, Sam."

"I want to try again," he stated firmly, his gaze never leaving the fruit. "I want to get this right."

"Alright," the woman replied with a quick nod. "But you need to relax. Popping a blood vessel in your face is not going to help you move the orange. It's only going to give Dean another reason to make fun of you."

Dean shrugged and then nodded nonchalantly. "Yeah, it'd be pretty funny."

"We have another two days until we have to leave," she informed the tallest of the three men, who barely shifted his eyes. "You can practice all you want until then."

"Oh absolutely, that's incredibly productive, Sam," Dean snorted sarcastically, taking a step closer to Scarlett. "Lucifer's getting closer to being freed every second and with each second that passes, people are coming closer to dying. But hey… why not try and hurl a freaking orange across the room with your mind?"

"Everyone's dying, Dean," Scarlett interred, turning her head away from Sam to stare up at him. "Some more slowly than others, but everyone's clock is ticking."

His emerald eyes darkened as his body swiveled to face her and he began to walk towards her portion of the wall. "Everyone except you that is."

She held his stare, her irises displaying more green than gold at that particular moment. "I died inside a long time ago, Dean. I don't have much to live for anymore, I might as well be in the ground."

He froze mid-step, his desire to pick a fight now gone. "You don't mean-"

"Yes, I do." She nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world with a passivity that made him uncomfortable. "I'm basically an orphan. The only family I had after my parents died was back in England and I don't know what happened to them. The Lucas and Parker lines could very well have died out long ago. The love of my life died before we could start a life together. I've never had a friend long enough to regret leaving him or her behind. All I have left are Castiel and Anna… and I don't need to be on Earth to see them."

"You have me." The words escaped Dean Winchester's lips before he could stop them. "And Sam. And Bobby."

Scarlett's gaze dropped to her hands. "That's nice of you to say, but I doubt you'd take a bullet for me like any of you would for each other. And that's okay. I don't blame you. I've known you for less than a week."

"And in less than a week, you managed to save my life. I wouldn't exactly call that nothing," Dean retorted, standing above her. "Plus, Sam kind of likes having you around to geek out with. That's not really my thing."

A smile tugged the corners of her lips upward and she rose to her feet, dusting off her jeans. "And I like having Sam around …" she trailed off as she walked across the circular room towards the man in question, still attempting to levitate the fruit. Her blonde hair swirled around her as she turned back towards Dean for a moment. "You too, Dean."

He marveled at her incredulously, his eyes slightly widened and his lips parted as her focus returned to his brother. If he were to be one hundred percent truthful with himself, Dean would have to admit that there was a large piece of him that liked having her around too, one that was slightly overwhelming and more than a little disconcerting.

Not that he'd ever be one hundred percent truthful with himself or anything.

A/N: So there it is, Chapter 10. You guys have no idea how much I hemmed and hawed over this chapter! I guess that's what I get for devoting two and a half weeks of my life to mid-terms. Sorry this one didn't come as fast. Plus, it's very hard to write when right after your midterms finish, there's a Supernatural repeat. And it wasn't even an oldie, but goody. Sympathy for the Devil was too fresh to inspire me.

On an interesting side note, my roommate and I were watching Jeopardy the other day and the topic was Bible Study. The question, for $1200, was "In this book, Death rides a red horse." When I loudly yelled Revelations, followed by screaming, "Thank you, Supernatural," she got a little scared. But I was happy, haha.

As for the last two Supernatural episodes that we've seen since Chapter 9 was posted…

I thought Fallen Idols was pretty good. I actually thought Paris did a good job in the role she was expected to play. And it was awesome seeing her "whale" on Dean. Too funny. Great fruitarian quote thrown in there between the boys. Interestingly enough, there was a Christine reference made in there and if you recall, I made a reference to that same movie/book in Chapter 8. I love coincidence! Although the best line of all was Dean's: "I've never even seen House of Wax."

As a Spanish-speaker and Spanish minor in college, I very much appreciated the two scenes in which the language was used. The first one being with the housekeeper, who only knew English phrases like "Can I go home now?", and then between Sam and Dean ("Mucho loco"… "Muy… muy loco). Both were hysterical.

There was a LIIIIIITTTLLLEEE piece of me that was just dying to have Leshii turn into John, but I think that was just so I could see JDM again. I thought it was fantastic that this episode subtly, yet firmly cemented that in life, there's no one Dean worshiped more than his own father.

And I Believe the Children are Our Future was a much heavier episode, even though it was funny. I liked that Sam was trying to prevent Jesse from going down the same path that he did and that Jesse's actions gave them a little more hope that someone out there mad the right decision. (Emotional line of the night goes to Castiel, in response to Sam's suggestion that Jesse could make the right choice: "You didn't. And I can't take that chance.).

The similar structure of events to Tall Tales didn't go unnoticed, but it was a lot more lighthearted and I enjoyed that. Well, except for the babysitter scratching out her brains. Great scenes with Dean and the roast beef cooked via joybuzzer. Even better scene with the Winchester boys when Dean tests his theory about the joybuzzer on Sam after talking to Jesse. BEST SCENE of the night goes to the scene with the hair on the hand. (Sam: Oh, dude, that's not what I think it is, is it? Dean: I got bored. And the nurse was hot. Sam: You know you can go blind from that too… and you are not using my razor.) I was in stitches for a good ten minutes.

By the way, who watched this episode and immediately said: "Oh my God, I WANT A CASTIEL ACTION FIGURE?" All of you? That's what I thought. CW, get on that. Maybe, we'll get all of our classic rock anthems back then.

But the conclusion got us back to an emotional scene, where Dean asks Sam if he wants to drive. I think this is the first REAL point this season in which I can see the wedge between them really retreating.

I cannot wait for The Curious Case of Dean Winchester. I love the idea of Dean at eighty years old, especially going toe to toe with Bobby. I'll save my opinion of what little I've seen for the next chapter!

BUT BACK TO THE STORY!

I hope you're all enjoying the evolution of the dynamic between Scarlett and Dean. I think with every chapter, it's changing a little bit. But there's one very specific aspect of Dean I've been careful to conceal (I won't say whether it's physical or emotional) that she has yet to see of him and it's paramount to their relationship. And by relationship, I mean interaction/friendship/whatever it is that they have.

And I told you I'd bring back a few familiar faces! Jo, Rufus, and Michael, oh my! Did anyone notice Ellen Harvelle in the background of all of that bickering? She was in there too! Oh… and Jefferson and Joshua were contacts of John mentioned in season one, with Creedy being Kubrick's cohort in season three whom I feel went legit after his and Gordon's deaths, for those of you who didn't pick up on it. It's okay… I'm sneaky like that.

I'd also just like to mention that not only did I bake an apple pie from scratch on Sunday, but I applied for a job in Mr. Tod's Pie Factory, which some of you might have seen on Shark Tank. It's a cute little shop near Rutgers that makes the most delicious baked goods, mainly pies and cheesecakes, that's doing a national wholesale business, as well. Dean Winchester would be proud. And Sammy too… he wouldn't have to constantly get Dean his pies. I'd be more than happy to provide home delivery.

SHOUT-OUT TIME:

AnnabelleLee13194 – Oh, YES for Apple Pie. Thank you for giving me assurance on my characters. I also dislike that same double standard. I hate whiny lead female characters. And let you tell me something, I'm a Dean!girl, so his subwoofer voice drove me bonkers. But I'd definitely jump Sam in a second too. Even with his pouty face and all. Uh… and did you know Jensen is rumored for a new Resident Evil movie? Yeppers, he is! I'm really worried that Bobby won't make it out of 2009 alive, but one can only hope.

Lois87 – Thank you! I'd do HEADSTANDS if Sam would ask me to, let alone Dean. By the way, in an interview with the NY Post recently, Kripke said that "Even though we're closing this chapter, there's no reason another chapter can't open. However this story ends, it will end with a return to the 'Supernatural' status quo, which is a world full of vicious monsters and demons that are ripping mankind limb from limb. There's still going to be plenty of stories for the Winchesters." Good news all around!

Mellie91 – Thank you, m'dear! And as for Scarlett and Dean (all shippers are welcome to create their own nickname for the pairing!), you never know. Dean doesn't really know how to be a boyfriend, Scarlett doesn't know how to be a girlfriend since she hasn't technically been in a relationship for over 250 years. Even that wasn't really a relationship. So they're both romantically inept. Needless to say, it'd be interesting.

Kari10 – Thank you! As I said to Mellie91, I'm more than open to pairing nicknames from Scarlett/Dean shippers! I think you'll enjoy a very interesting moment that I'm planning, that I'll mention in the spoilers at the very end.

Lemonwedges4 – I definitely took into consideration your desire for a more "angsty" Anna. This chapter didn't really call for in much more than an facilitator for humor, but when she is needed in later chapters, I will certainly remember your note! This chapter is a MUCH longer one. Hope you enjoyed!

PATDfan2012 – Thanks! You asked and you shall receive… more Scarlett and Dean moments abound!

Klandgraf2007 – Glad you liked that moment. Bet you liked the one at the end of this chapter even more! I'm not entirely sure what you meant in your review, but the spoilers I dropped were in this chapter.

Artemis of the Storm Riders – Glad you liked that end scene! I might drop them into another time/location at some point, but it won't be in the immediate future. It might be a little while down the road, after a relatively significant event that has yet to take place. I definitely kept your comments about Anna in mind during this chapter's writing. I tried to make her a little less immature, but funny in her own dry, yet girlish way. That's the best I can explain it. Haha.

Chocolatemud – Glad to hear it! Oh, Cas and his humanity. And endless well of humor!

Lady Rayvynne – Thanks, I think the journal is going to be brought back for another purpose in the next chapter or two. You shall see! And that complex is going to come back and BITE HIM down the road. Definitely send me a message to my inbox if you want my email. I'd love to check out the first few pages!

Midnight LeAnn – I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I'm going to give some spoilers out at the end of my author's note from now on. And that includes this chapter's note! As for Castiel's humanity, as Misha once said, "It all started with a smirk…"

RubberDucky94 – Thank you so much! That was an overwhelmingly flattering review. Do me a favor… pass that on to Kripke, Gamble, and Edlund. Thanks, haha. But really, I appreciate your praise. Sorry I didn't get to post earlier, but I'd hate to do crappily in school and know Sam and Dean are to blame. I just picked at the chapter here and there. But I hope it was worth it. Don't worry, this story WILL get finished!

Anonymous – You didn't leave a name, but I wanted to thank you for your compliments nonetheless. And I can appreciate your love of all things Dean for certain! I'm especially flattered that you think of each chapter as an episode, mainly because it makes me feel as though this story really WORKS as I intended it to. I actually was toying around at first with something that because you reminded me of, I'm going to share it with everyone now. Thanks again!

So I'm getting to the parts that I'm sure all of you will enjoy that began with a few reviewers last week, but will now continue to appear at the end of each chapter's authors notes: The Cutting Room Floor, SPOILERS (gasp!), and Comment Requests.

The Cutting Room Floor: In this chapter, I originally intended to have the scene between Sam and Scarlett in the morning feature a romantic, yet non-sexual twist resulting in a momentary Sam/Scarlett pairing. It was to wind up being a dream in Dean's head. I thought better of it.

Spoilers: The following chapter is going to get back to business as usual, with Scarlett joining Sam and Dean on a case. However, while on the hunt, Scarlett's curiosity concerning John's journal gets the best of her.

Comment Requests: I need pairing names from all you shippers out there! I've been getting reviews for Scarlett/Sam and Scarlett/Dean moments. And I need pairing nicknames! While some of you like Scarlett/Sam romantically, I'd like to be able to just give their moments a name! SOOOOOO… I'm taking suggestions. Let's dust off our thinking caps, people!

Anyway, thanks for being so loyal and for the thirteen reviews that blew my mind!

Have a great week!

Danielle