A/N - Ok so it's been ages since I updated - sorry about that - been very busy writing end of school reports but they all done now woohoo. I have now completed this story but I will be posting it up bit by bit cos I don't want to rush it.

Apologies for how uneventful this chapter is, I was just trying to tie up some character stuff so it's kind of a filler so I'm gonna post chapter 11 in a minute as well. Hope those of you who have been following this will stick with me after this boring ramble. It's gonna get better soon.

thanks again for reading thus far xxx

Chapter Ten

'You people infuriate me,' Castiel said, shuffling in his seat in the back of the Impala.

Dean looked at Sam in the passenger seat and rolled his eyes, smirking slightly. The sun was starting to set and they were only halfway towards their destination. Castiel had wanted to transport them the fifteen hundred miles they needed to travel to get to their destination but, to everyone's surprise it was Molly that had refused. Since Castiel was adamant they could not go without her, they had had no alternative but to drive. Dean, although no fan of Castiel's method of travel, was curious as to Molly's reasons and had managed to trick it out of her.

'What's the big deal with the refusal to go angel-style?' he had asked her at their first bathroom stop, four hours into the drive. Sam had gone into the store to get some food supplies, Castiel accompanying him in order to 'stretch his legs'.

The look of avoidance Molly had given Dean made it clear that she did not want to answer his question.

'Hey, you want me to trust you, start answering my questions,' he said slightly more harshly than he intended. He had a sneaking suspicion what the problem was and he figured he could persuade her in his own way.

'I just don't like it,' she said quietly, looking down at her hands.

Dean had fought hard to keep his smirk from covering his entire face. He now knew exactly what was wrong and he was enjoying every minute of it.

'Admit it,' he said trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

Molly lifted her head abruptly and looked at him, eyes wide and innocent. 'I don't know what you're talking about.'

Dean could feel his face aching with the effort it took not to burst into laughter.

'You don't like travelling angel-style?' he asked probingly. 'Instant arrival at your destination? No sitting in a car making awkward small talk? No needing to stop for bathroom breaks?'

She threw a scowl his way at the last 'perk' of angel travel he presented. Dean felt the grip on his suppressed smile beginning to slip.

'I notice you haven't been to the bathroom yet, our first rest stop in four hours. You sure you don't need a comfort break?' he asked, struggling to make it any less obvious that he knew what was wrong.

'Damn you,' she muttered, climbing out of the car and slamming the door so hard it made him wince. She lowered her head so she could look through the window. 'OK, so you were right about the colonic complications of angel travel. I'll leave you to do your victory dance.'

Another hour into their trip and Dean started chuckling at the memory again. He noticed Sam from the corner of his eye frowning at him.

'Dude, what's so funny?' Sam asked, sounded irritated. Jeez, if they were in for a long road trip, he needed to chill out!

'Nothing, why don't you ask your girlfriend?' Dean replied, refocusing his eyes back on the road making no attempt to hide his extra large smug grin.

Sam sighed and slumped down further into his seat. Dean could be so annoying sometimes, especially on long haul trips like this one. He was starting to wish Molly hadn't insisted on them driving. They could have been there and back by now. But, Castiel seemed unusually keen to do what Molly wanted and agreed, somewhat begrudgingly, that they should drive. As that seemed to work in her favour and no-one was keen to kill her right now, Sam was not about to argue.

Glancing at her in the rear view mirror now he found himself questioning how much of a weapon she could really be to Lucifer. Maybe that was just wishful thinking on his part, he still couldn't bear the thought of anything happening to her but he had managed to keep his distance for now. It was too confusing to keep turning over in his mind that there was still a possibility that his feelings were not entirely real. Besides he didn't need to give Dean anymore reason to doubt him either. For now, this needed to be like any other case. Do the research, follow the leads, and answer the questions. He needed to be professional – as if what they did could be considered a profession. He didn't remember hearing 'hunter of the supernatural' as an option at any high school careers fair as a child.

Molly caught Sam looking at her reflection in the rear view mirror. For a split second she maintained his eye contact before abruptly blinking and looking away, hoping that he hadn't thought she was staring. She sighed and gazed out of the window watching the monotonous repetition of empty roads going by. It had been like this for most of the drive so far.

After they had climbed into the Impala and begun their journey, Castiel had revealed that he had a lead on a demon that might be prepared to speak to them. Dean soon explained when confusion filled Molly's expression that occasionally, though very rarely, they came across demons that were not in league with Lucifer's plan.

'Demons are selfish,' he'd said with a slight knowing glance in Sam's direction. 'When it comes down to it, they're like rats on a sinking ship, out to save themselves.'

Molly didn't know what that meant for her or how it would help to solve the mystery of her father. Even now as she sat gazing out of the window listening to the silence that their road trip had become shortly after, she felt no reassurance that finding answers was a good thing. Hell, Sam's reaction to the siren thing had been bad enough; she didn't want to go through the same thing again - or worse. If they found out her father was twice as evil as her mother, he might not be so quick to defend her.

X X X

Swiping the condensation from the mirror, Molly readjusted the towel she had wrapped around herself and sighed. After she had successfully won the 'I want my own room' argument with Dean upon their arrival she had taken the opportunity to take the longest, hottest shower she'd had in a long time in an attempt to clear her mind of everything. It had worked for a little while. Now she was back to chewing over everything again.

She still didn't know everything about her birth parents, she was becoming increasingly confused about controlling her powers and then there was Sam…Her stomach tightened uncomfortably as the image of the shock and near revulsion on his face crossed her mind again. She hated that he had looked at her like that, hated that she couldn't stop thinking about him. Yearning was such a weak character trait, she had always been so strong about matters of the heart.

A loud knock on the door shook her back to reality. She tightened the bath towel again and trotted to the door of the room. Without thinking, she turned the handle and pulled it open.

Speak of the devil, she thought and nearly laughed at the irony of that expression.

Sam stood in the doorway, his large frame almost filling the space. His hands were stuffed into the pockets of his jacket and he hunched his shoulders slightly. He looked as awkward as she felt. He took a step towards her, crossing the threshold.

'I heard you won an argument with Dean.' he said, a light smile on his face. 'You'll have to teach me how to do that sometime.' He was trying to break the ice.

She shrugged awkwardly and avoided looking at him, trying her hardest not to make a big deal out of how close he was to her. She could smell the scent he wore alongside the faint mustiness of his jacket which clearly got worn a lot more often than it did dry-cleaned. Not that it smelt bad, she thought before reminding herself that she should not be thinking about how good he smelt when she had only a towel to protect her modesty.

'Umm, come in,' she said, stepping away from him. 'I'll be right back, just need to throw some clothes on.'

Sam nodded as she disappeared into the bathroom. He walked further into the room and closed the door behind him. Molly called out something but, with the bathroom door almost closed, her voice was muffled.

'Sorry, what did you say?' Sam asked, ambling slowly in the direction of the bathroom, glancing around the room as he did so.

'I said it was just a case of making Dean realise what he really wanted.' There was a hint of amusement in her voice.

Sam grinned as he leaned his back against the wall beside the bathroom door. He could hear the ruffling of material as she got dressed.

'And what was that?' He replied, starting to relax a little.

'A break from me.'

He heard her chuckle from inside the bathroom and had to smile again himself. It was always amusing to know someone had got one over on Dean. He could be so stubborn at times. He guessed it was just because his brother was always so focussed on the job. The bathroom door opened suddenly and she stepped out.

'Well, nice work,' Sam smiled down at her receiving a wide smile in return.

'So, what do you want?' she asked after a brief moment of awkward silence.

She walked over to the bed and started putting her wash bag into her holdall. Sam stepped towards her and then stopped, deciding it was best he didn't get too close again, it was too distracting.

'Um, Castiel said he tracked down this demon he wants to talk to,' he said, shoving his hands in his pockets again.

'About my Dad?' she asked, quietly, not looking up from her bag.

'Yeah,'

Molly sighed. 'You know, I've been thinking, maybe I don't want to know,' she looked up at him, her expression suggesting she knew she didn't have much choice either way.

'Why not?' Sam asked. 'Don't you want to know where you came from?'

Molly shrugged and looked down at the floor.

'You saw how Dean reacted when he found about my mother, what do you think he's going to do when we find out about my father or when he finds out about my other ability whatever the hell that is,' she said.

Sam hung his head for a moment, knowing that although she didn't say it, she wasn't just talking about the way Dean had reacted. With a sigh, he looked up again. Molly was still staring at the floor as though she were afraid to face him. He crossed the room in two large strides and gently took hold of her chin, lifting her face to look at him.

'I'm sorry,' he whispered, trying hard to focus on the task of reassuring her instead of getting lost in her eyes.

'For what?'

'For the way that I reacted,' he said, noticing how her eyes had started to shine with the threat of tears. 'I was a jerk.'

Molly shrugged and shook her head so that he lost his grip on her face.

'It doesn't matter now,' she said.

'Yes it does!' Sam snapped without intending to.

She looked up at him, clearly surprised by his tone. He lowered his face slightly so that she could see how serious he was.

'I won't let anyone or anything hurt you, OK?' he promised.

Molly nodded feeling her heart pound with the way he looked at her 'OK.'

Sam exhaled heavily as though the promise was a great weight off his shoulders and cleared his throat, his attitude suddenly changing. He gave a mock-punch to her arm.

'Cool, so let's go see this demon,' he said before marching to the door and holding it open for her.

Molly managed a half-smile, picking up her coat on her way out of the door. She knew what he was trying to do with this sudden playful manner. He was trying to make it clear he would be her friend but that was all. He had clearly realised he was getting too close again and was trying to distance himself.

She tried to ignore the tight feeling in her chest as she began to understand that whatever had nearly happened between them was certainly never going to happen again.

'Hey Cas,' she said, putting on a brave face upon seeing the angel waiting in the parking lot. 'What's happening?'

'The demon is at a bar a few miles from here. We need your particular…talents.' He said, pausing as though trying to explain himself as delicately as possible.

Molly pulled a face, at first not quite understanding Castiel's meaning. When it dawned on her, she got a nauseous feeling in her stomach. She didn't normally use her ability to extort information. She wasn't even sure she knew how.

The insistent beeping of a car horn stopped her from thinking about it any further. Dean sat in the driving seat of the Impala, engine already running with an impatient look on his face.

'Come on already!' he demanded.

'Yeah, yeah, keep your pants on,' she muttered to herself as she followed Sam and Castiel to the vehicle.

A/N - Like i said, sorry bout this chapter but it will all link eventually.