Objectively, Sam knew his date with Sarah wasn't supposed to be a date. But she didn't know that and damned if he wanted to have the same illusion. She was a nice girl, not just nice but smart, funny and kind. He knew he needed to be more distant and far less taken with her. That was impossible.

What he could control was exactly how involved they would become. Sex was out of the question. If he was more like his brother, he would have started there but he wasn't like that. He wasn't about to get more involved with her when he had such a long list of reasons, he couldn't be with her.

He didn't know if the same could be said for Dean and Mae. He was a little hesitant to go back to the motel, not knowing what he might stumble upon. The two were…involved. Dean was in love with Mae, dangerously so. And Mae was…well, Mae was a little harder to pin down, but this didn't seem to be particularly casual or business as usual for her either.

Things seemed odd between them, Sam noted. Not that things had been normal between Mae and Dean in sometime. Since she had shown up on the scene, he thought. But there was no spell, no unmentioned tragedy or hostility lingering between them now. At least none that he knew of, that would contribute to their odd behavior. Maybe that was the issue, there was nothing lingering, and they would have to face each other.

They would have to see if they could spend time together, if the driving force behind being together was wanting to be together. Sam suspected neither of them had done that with another person in a long time. His brother barely had one 'real' relationship under his belt, Mavis notwithstanding. She had been married but had been on her own, hunting, for long enough that she probably had similar defense back up.

The pair not only had to work out normal relationship things but all that on top of their past and the trials that came with being a hunter. He smirked. It would be interesting to see his brother squirm because Mae wasn't going to be swayed by Dean the way most women were. He had to admit, to himself at least, he was a little bit jealous of the pair. Even with the tortured history and strange new dynamic, he knew they both loved the other, they were both somehow able to have a degree of closeness that he longed to have again.

Sam wondered if it was because they were both hunters and didn't need to lie to each other about that, if they were both damaged in ways that made it easier for them to find comfort with each other, or because they'd had a past romance that they were able to come together now. Or was it something else. Any reason behind it, he didn't see much hope for him, as long as he was still hunting.

Sam didn't enter the motel room to find Mae and Dean in any sort of compromising position, as he had feared. By then, they were all business; researching and checking weapons. It was unclear if they'd been like this the entire time. Dean sat on the bed, sharpening knives. While Mae was seated at the table, looking up something on her laptop. They both looked up and gave a nod of acknowledgment but returned to their tasks.

He joined Mae at the table, to do more research. Mae and Dean exchanged a look briefly but said nothing. He was expecting his brother to chide or tease him about coming back before morning. If Dean had been in his place, he most certainly wouldn't have. When he settled in a bit, he told Mae and his brother what he had learned from Sarah, leaving out only the personal parts.

"So, she just handed the providences over to you?" Dean asked after Sam had told them as much.

"Provenances."

His correction and Dean's faltering repetition made Mae smirk ever so slightly.

"Yes. I went back to her place, I got a copy of the papers."

"And?"

"And nothing, that's it. I left."

"You didn't have to con her or do any special favors or anything?"

Dean was only partly teasing, and it brought a questioning expression to Mae's face. What exactly had he done in the name of 'research'? She had certainly never done anyone special favors for information. Implied and suggested yes but never going any further. Well, not that much further. And Sam liked the girl too much to con her she thought.

"Dean, would you get your mind out of the gutter, please?" Sam spoke up to chide Dean.

Unperturbed, Dean laughed. "You know, when this whole thing is done, we could stick around for a little bit."

"Why?"

His brother could be too obtuse at times and he too often had a one-track mind. "So, you can take her out again. It's obvious you're into her, even I can see that."

The suggestion made him too uncomfortable. Mae understood the feeling all too well. At the same time, she was on Dean's side on this one. Despite her wanting Dean to take it easy on Sam when it came to jumping into something, it wouldn't hurt him to spend some time with someone other than hunters. For all the times he'd been a bad influence on her, this was one area she thought he was helping her get better. Maybe Sam wasn't quite ready yet though.

He deferred the offer, as quickly as possible. "Hey, all right, I think I got somethin' here." Mae leaned over to look at the papers and Dean joined them. With the papers in one hand, his other hand fell on her shoulder, kneading lightly.

"Portrait of Isaiah Merchant's family painted in 1910."

"Now, compare the names of the owners with Dad's journal."

Dean took a seat. "First purchased in 1912 to Peter Simms. Peter Simms murdered in 1912. Same thing in 1945. Huh. Same thing in 1970." He read as Sam pointed out the entries in John's journal.

"Then stored until it was donated to a charity auction last month, where the Telescas bought it. So, what do you think, it's haunted or cursed?"

"Either way, it's toast."

In anyone else's world, breaking into an auction house warehouse and burning a haunted painting would have been their one adventure story. However, the two Winchester brothers and Mavis Singer didn't really live in anyone else's world. Even with the B&E, larceny, and destruction of property, it was a fairly uneventful night. After the deed was done, they returned to the motel.

Sam and Mae were more than ready to hit the road but for different reasons. Sam was uncomfortable because of all the feelings that had come up since Jessica's death, this wasn't one he'd expected. He was unsure about these feelings. Or rather, he was quite sure about them and about Sarah. He liked her far too much for his own good and for her own good as well.

That voice in the back of his mind pointed out that Mae and Dean were trying to make it work. They might not have had a traditional relationship, but it seemed as close to one as anyone could get while hunting. But Sarah wasn't Mae and he wasn't Dean so there wasn't any chance for anything more.

Besides, his brother and Mae had issues, more than their share by most standards, and the likelihood that she would stick around for the long haul was slim, in Sam's assessment. They had their own hurdles, but they needed to work out all the loose ends that were left from their teen years. After that, maybe things would fall apart, maybe they wouldn't, but he wasn't sure they could have this relationship and hunt. Sam was hardly looking to them as models for dating while hunting.

Still, for Dean's sake, and Mae's too, he hoped it would work out. They were a good match for each other. He hadn't had the opportunity to see his brother in a real relationship. Ever. Not that he was looking for that, but he didn't really think his brother was capable of keeping one. But maybe that was more the job than his personality. And he'd never seen his brother so interested in a woman as a person. Dean was sweet to her, even when he was frustrated with her.

It was such an odd term to associate with his brother, but it fit. Mae seemed a bit unbalanced by it too. Sam suspected that was part of why Dean did it, not that he didn't care about her or want her to be comfortable. It was actually kind of nice to see them both somewhat out of their elements but not fighting it entirely. And, he stopped himself, he didn't need to be analyzing their relationship. It was just another distraction from the issue at hand; getting the hell of Dodge before he had to deal with anything else.

Since she hadn't spent that much time in her own room, aside from sleeping once they'd returned from burning the painting, Mae had packed her things up quickly and had joined the brothers in their room. Dean came out of the bathroom, uncharacteristically frazzled. "We've got a problem, I can't find my wallet."

"How is that our problem?" Sam shared a conspiratorial glance with her.

"Cause I think I dropped it in the warehouse last night."

"Dude, seriously?" Mae asked. They were vigilant because, duh, she thought, they were committing a crime.

"You're kidding, right?"

"Yeah, it's got my prints, my ID—well, my fake ID, anyway. We've gotta get it before somebody else finds it, come on."

They found themselves back at the warehouse, searching hurriedly through the aisles for the missing wallet.

"How do you lose your wallet, Dean?"

He just shrugged, as if it wasn't all that much of a worry at this point. They kept looking until Sarah came into the warehouse and took notice of the three of them.

"Hey, guys."

Sam put down a piece he had been holding and attempted to look nonchalant. "Sarah! Hey."

It shouldn't have made her smirk and yet it did. There was something all too humorous about Sam trying to look casual.

"What are you doing here?" Sarah asked. She looked genuinely happy to see them, well Sam anyway, back at the auction house.

"Uh, we—we're leaving town, and you know, we came to say goodbye."

It wasn't a great front and Mae thought it was because he liked her so much that he was unable to come up with a better line.

Dean however took that chance to correct his brother. "Oh, what are you talkin' about, Sam? We're stickin' around for at least another day or two." Everyone but Dean was confused by this. "Oh, Sam, by the way, I wanted to give you that twenty bucks I owe you."

Now, he took out his wallet, from his back pocket where it had clearly been all along. His brother was annoyed for falling for such a lie and Mae's expression was somewhere between annoyance and amusement. "I'm always forgettin'." He explained, quite amused and proud of himself as he pulled out a 20. "There ya go."

Sam was annoyed but still grabbed the cash. "Well, we'll leave you two crazy kids alone. We gotta go do something…. somewhere."

Slipping his arm around Mae's shoulder, he guided her away. "Okay that was just mean. And you could have told me you hadn't actually lost your wallet."

"Oh, come on, he wouldn't have gone back and talked to her on his own. And where's the fun in telling you, sweetheart?"

Rolling her eyes, she chuckled in spite of herself. "Okay well maybe Sam isn't interested in talking to her like this."

"The hell he isn't. C'mon, he's got a crush on her. It's fine."

"Right well, you don't have to chase every crush."

"Why not?"

"Because Sam's a relationship guy. Not like…"

They stopped. Dean knew where she was headed, either purposefully or by a slip of the tongue. He thought he had been fairly clear about a relationship with her. "What? Like me? Because I think I've been pretty good at being a relationship guy with you."

Once more, she rolled her eyes. "Dude, you were hitting on chicks the other night."

While she was right, it didn't change his feelings or intentions. Maybe it wouldn't be a traditional relationship and it certainly wasn't headed to marriage or anything like that, but it was commitment. They had discussed his wandering eye and he had hoped it wouldn't come up again. He was well aware of the fact that it was not the smartest decision he had ever made. "Aside from that-"

Mae placed a halting hand on his chest. "I'm not picking a fight about that, okay. I just...you know what I think about you trying to trick him into getting close to someone."

"I promise you, I'm not pushing any more than he's willing to be pushed. Besides, it's good for him. Maybe if he's not moping around, we'll get some alone time."

There was that. Spending time alone with him was more appealing than before. It didn't hurt that he was somehow able to coax unexpected amounts of pleasure from her body. Being with him was better than she anticipated, not just physically but in the moment, the idea of the physical part set her alight with desire for his hands on her. She cleared her throat. "So, what, you're his love broker now?"

"Hey, I just want him to be happy. Is that too much to ask?"

His voice softened and it was laced with earnestness. Mae wasn't surprised by his concern. It was in character for the man, but he didn't always express it that way. "Of course not. But can't you understand that it might be tough for him to... move on? It can feel like tarnishing a memory. And…the way he blames himself…it's not like you can just turn that off, even when you want to."

"I get that, I do but it's not a bad thing for him to see that at some point, he could move on with his life or even love someone else. Dad never did. I mean, sure, he'd hook up with chicks but...he never let himself get close to anyone after mom. And I'd hate to see Sam end up like that because, you're right, that's not the kind of guy he is."

Mae looked at him, suddenly in a different light. He was both smarter and more observant than she or perhaps Sam gave him credit for. And she was surprised to hear him talk about his dad and mom that way. Of course, Dean was right, she didn't like it, but he was right about Sam. "So why are you so cool with all of this? Wouldn't it be easier to not babysit so many clearly broken people?"

"We're all broken. And you and Sam are…family, you know? I don't see any other way than to try to make things better for all of us. I'm not playing a game here Red" When they finally came to stop at the car, Dean ran his fingers through her long, wavy hair with a downright goofy grin on his face. His hand rested on the side of her neck, thumb stroking her earlobe. "So why do I get the feeling that you think I'm setting you up?"

God, he could find the strangest places on her body that made her melt. "Not you. Just...I guess I'm...waiting for the other shoe to drop. I feel like maybe this is all just a weird set up for both of us, not by either of us."

"If it is, let's just enjoy it while we can. And if it turns out to be the one piece of happiness we get in this life, then at least we have it."

She nodded even as he leaned down to kiss her. The man left her doe eyed and made her heart flutter. That part had never changed and damned if she didn't just want more. When she didn't over think it, it was almost perfect being with him. The kiss certainly was. Mae let herself fall under the spell of his mouth again, the slow burn it sent through her body. His hands were firmly reassuring as he grasped her by the waist, pressing her against the door of the car. She wasn't sure when she would have stopped if Sam hadn't burst out of the auction house, all but running at full speed. "It's back."

"Do… do I want to know what you're talking about?" Mae asked as Dean reluctantly parted from her and Sam rushed past them.

He only paused for a moment. "The painting."

Mae and Dean exchanged a highly displeased look before the trio got in the car. Sam and Dean sat up front again and Mae leaning forward, one elbow on the back of the seat and resting her chin on her knuckles. "I don't understand, Dean, we burned the damn thing."

"Yeah, thank you, Captain Obvious. All right, we just need to figure out another way to get rid of it. Any ideas?"

"Okay, all right, well, um…in almost all the lore about haunted paintings, it's always the painting's subject that haunts them."

"Yeah? All right, so, we need to figure out everything there is to know about that creepy-ass family in that creepy-ass painting. What were their names again?"

A/N-Thank you for all the kind feedback. It really does make my day (and makes me post new content quicker!)