Sarah didn't know which one of them was more nervous while they waited for Dean and Bobby to return. During the wait Sam told her all about how much control he was getting with his powers and how he'd been able to expel loads of demons without killing their host. Personally Sarah was all on board for the last bit, it had always made her sad how few of the possessed people they'd been able to save on the show. Especially considering most of them had never asked for it and had often been at the wrong place at the wrong time. She couldn't help but think that there would be a price for all of these 'cool', new powers, but she saved that conversation for when Dean was there and they could both give Sam more information.

They gave Dean some time to settle after getting back, not wanting to throw it at him as he walked through the door, but he but must have caught their mood, because he watched them grimly as the night progressed. When they finally cornered him in the lounge room Sarah winced; they hadn't even started and he already looked royally pissed-off. She hadn't wanted to be there at all, thinking that they were better off working through it privately, but Sam had wanted her there. He seemed to think Dean was calmer when she was around and therefore less likely to deck him when the truth came out.

They came to a stop in front of Dean and stood awkwardly for a moment before she nudged Sam, "Dean, Sam has something to tell you."

"Congratulations," he said attempting to look around them at the TV.

Sarah and Sam looked at each other not sure how to respond.

He sighed giving on the TV, "You think I wouldn't know, with the two of you sneaking around giving each other goo goo eyes."

"Goo goo eyes? What are you talking about?"

"You and Sam. What are you talking about?"

"Dean there is no me and Sarah. We're trying to tell you about me and Ruby."

Dean looked almost relieved for a second before he processed the rest of the sentence. "Ruby! Ruby Ruby?"

Sam took a breath and forged on, "Look Dean you were gone for months and I had to keep on fighting. Ruby came back and helped me hone my powers. She's been helping me save people."

"Save people? Are you out of your feakin' mind?" Without any warning he punched Sam in the face.

"Woah! Calm down Dean," Sarah lunged between them.

"Calm down? Do you even know how far from the reservation he's wandered? How far from human? Does he?"

"He came to tell you the truth and he's asking you for understanding. Dammit he's been using his powers to save lives, not set fire to the local orphanage."

"You know what Castiel said," he growled.

"Yeah well Sam doesn't. Maybe if you'd told him the truth we could have sorted this out days ago." Sarah panted as if she'd just finished a marathon, still unwilling to step back in case Dean took another swing. She looked from one to the other, neither one of them looking at anyone. Sam looked guilty and sad, whereas Dean just looked pissed off and betrayed.

"What did Castiel say?" Sam asked finally.

"He said to stop you," Dean ground out, "Or he would. So tell me, if God doesn't want you doing it, how can it be a good thing?" It was a low blow considering how Sam felt about Gad and angels, but Sarah had to agree.

"Sam," she started softly, "The truth is we have little information about it and too many questions. We do know you're part of some demon jailbreak; don't you think that training you to use your powers might be the first step?"

"But Ruby…"

"Ruby was sent to hell a traitor," she cut in, "Do you honestly think she broke out on her own or that the big boss demons trusted her when she said she wouldn't do it again?"

Sam didn't have an answer and they ended up with a kind of truce, with Sam agreeing not to do the freaky ESP and Dean agreeing not to be a dick. He went into detail telling Sam about his time in the past and their mother's part in Sam's curse. Sarah knew from the show that Sam knew about his demon blood, but Dean hadn't, so as Dean explained she asked what she hoped were subtle questions so the fact could come to light gently rather than smack Dean in the face. She figured his faith in Sam was shaken enough.

When they finally went to bed she felt as though the boys had worked through it pretty well and while parts of their relationship had frayed nothing seemed to have snapped. She only hoped things went as smoothly when Ruby came into the picture.

###

Sarah came awake with a gasp jeeze she hadn't had that dream in a while. She'd been trapped in hell again, with Dean in chains screaming for his brother. At least this time she'd been aware that it was a dream, but dream or not there was no way she was falling back to sleep with those images floating around in her head. She headed downstairs to get a drink and just as she was about to head back up the stairs she noticed flickering lights coming from the lounge room. Walking through the door she saw Dean sprawled out on the couch, watching some old Western with the sound so low she could barely hear it.

"Can't sleep?" She asked as she slid down next to him.

"Nope," he looked at her out of the corner of his eye, "You?"

She gave him a soft smile, "You kidding me? I never miss a midnight showing of…" She looked at the screen, but couldn't remember ever seeing this one before.

"Paint Your Wagon," he supplied helpfully and chuckled when Sarah nodded sagely, as if she'd known all along. They sat in comfortable silence for a while before Sarah started to speak.

"I know you remember everything about your time there and everything else," she started not daring to look over at him, " And I know you're totally fine about it and don't need to talk about it and even if you did I know you wouldn't bring it up with Sam, because you'd worry he'd feel too guilty about it. But if you ever do, need to talk that is…" She trailed off hoping he understood what she meant.

He turned to her and gave her a cocky smile that didn't reach his eyes, "Sweetheart, I'm Dean Winchester. I go to hell on holidays and I don't get touchy feely."

Sarah still couldn't meet his eyes but smiled gently, "I know, but if you ever feel like taking a day off from being big bad Dean Winchester I promise I'll be there to listen, no matter how much your high pitched whine hurts my ears." Dean chuckled again and Sarah thought it may not have sounded as forced as before.

They finished Paint Your Wagon and started watching some black and white detective noir that neither of them had seen before. Dean fell asleep halfway through and his head gently flopped on her shoulder. Sarah fought the urge to squeal in fan-girl delight that The Dean Winchester had his head on her shoulder. He looked peaceful, which for him was a rare occurrence and Sarah was loath to move him but she knew that his back would be killing him in the morning if he didn't get to bed, so she gently shook his shoulder. "Dean," she whispered.

"Mmmmm," he murmured, turned his head and kissed her. Sarah froze, his lips felt so good but she knew that the kiss wasn't for her and that he would be embarrassed when he realised what he was doing. Then again this was Dean, he'd probably just laugh it off and make some crude comment guaranteed to make her blush. She moved back and shook him harder, "Dean it's time to go to bed."

"You coming?" He asked his voice all sexy and rough. Then his eyes focused and he must have realised who she was because he blushed slightly and straightened. "Sorry, I was having a good dream."

Sarah felt a twinge in the vicinity of her heart and told herself to get over it. She gave him a bright smile, "Sounds good but you better get going or you'll regret it in the morning."

He nodded in agreement and stretched his back out. "You coming?" He asked again.

"In a minute," Sarah gestured to the TV, "I want to see how it ends." Dean nodded and soon she could hear him making his way up the stairs. Holy moley it was going to take one hell of an ending to make her forget the feel of his lips against her.

###

Sarah was still thinking about the kiss the next morning as she headed downstairs to make breakfast. She told herself she was being an idiot, but she hadn't been able to stop herself from taking some extra care with her appearance. She knew she'd never be any competition for the beautiful girls Dean ran around with, but the white, summer dress with its yellow flower print made her feel pretty and girly.

Sam gave her an appreciative glance as he came in the kitchen and said good morning. And even though she was hopelessly attracted to Dean it gave her a glow to think that another hot guy had briefly checked her out. She thought about Dean's comments about them last night and smiled softly. She and Sam got along really well, but there definitely wasn't anything between them. Bobby came in soon afterwards and as she dished them up bacon and eggs, she tried not to make it obvious that she was waiting for Dean.

She needn't have bothered. Dean staggered into the kitchen five minutes later with a mumbled good morning and dug into his breakfast, barely sparing her a glance. As Sarah speared her eggs viciously and stewed in what she viewed as her second rejection in twelve hours Sam filled them in on a call he'd gotten last night from a hunting friend called Travis. Apparently he was worried about a Rugaru. Sarah had never heard of that one before and Bobby explained that they were creatures that began as humans and transformed after tasting human flesh eww.

Even though she was still feeling miffed she couldn't help give Dean an excited grin when he told her to grab her stuff.