Beth looked up from the book she was searching, her head tilted a little, listening. A slow smile curved her lips as she heard the Impala draw closer, then pull into the drive. The guys had been gone for a few days, and she was anxious to see them both. She laid the book on Bobby's desk and walked quickly to the door, flinging it open and running towards the car.
Sam grinned at her as he climbed out, and her smile faded. "Sam! Look at you!" She went quickly to his side, frowning as she reached up to touch his bruised face. He bent down and kissed her forehead, putting an arm around her shoulders as he walked her back to the driver's side of the car.
"Worry about him, Beth-I'm fine." Dean's door opened a little more slowly, and she closed her eyes for a moment, her jaw clenched. He had one arm in a makeshift sling, was limping and was covered in bruises. There was a huge slash cut into his blood-stained coat, and Beth put her arms around him carefully.
"What the hell happened?" she asked gently, kissing him softly. "You two look like you've been through a meat grinder. Sam, do you have other injuries that I can't see?"
Sam looked rueful. "Yeah, a couple. You can check me over inside, Mom."
"Bite me, Sam," she sassed back at him, helping Dean to the house. Once she had him settled on the couch, she turned to Sam, her hands on her hips, her eyebrows raised. "All right, smart-ass, let's see."
Sam looked at her stubbornly. "Beth, I'm fine. Just see to Dean."
Beth folded her arms across her chest and spoke his name, a warning in her eyes. "Sam..." He rolled his eyes and sighed, pulling off his long-sleeved shirt and then yanking his t-shirt off over his head, wincing in pain as he did so. "Oh, Sammy-broken ribs?"
"Broken or cracked, I'm not sure." He turned around, revealing a quickly-bandaged wound on his back. "Ok, Beth-that's everything. I promise."
Beth carefully removed the gauze. "That needs stitches, Sam."
He turned back to face her, nodding resignedly. "I'll go get the med kit-you'd better look him over," he said, nodding towards his brother.
Dean sat up straight as Beth helped him out of his jacket and shirts. "What was it, Dean?" she asked softly as she carefully removed a makeshift bandage from his side.
"Friggin' shifters-two of 'em. We thought we were up against one. Kind of took us by surprise." He sucked his breath in sharply as Beth touched the area around the gash, apologizing as she touched his banged-up face.
"And you dislocated your shoulder again?" He nodded, and she stood up, bending to kiss his forehead. "I'll get you some ice. Sam's back needs stitched worse than you do, so I'll take care of him first."
Sam straddled a kitchen chair, and she cleaned and stitched his wound as they told her about their latest hunt. Once he was bandaged, and his ribs taped up, she helped him pull a clean t-shirt over his head. He hugged her affectionately, then ruffled her hair, sparking a protest. "Thanks, Beth. Sorry I was so grumpy-I guess I need some sleep." She smiled at him, sweeping her hair back out of her face, and stood on tiptoe to reach his cheek for a kiss.
"It's okay, Sam. Go take a nap, I'll wake you up for some supper later." He nodded and headed slowly up the stairs. She turned to Dean. "Next."
He gave her a lopsided grin. "Okay, doc. Do your worst." He took a shot of whiskey out of the bottle sitting on the coffee table, then gingerly laid down on his side to allow Beth better access to his injury. "Where's Bobby?"
"Went to town a little while ago," she answered, focused on the stitches she was putting into Dean's side. He flinched a little, and she stopped, bending to kiss him softly. "Sorry, baby." She finished up and taped the bandage in place, then stood, gathering her supplies. "I'll get you some aspirin," she said, heading for the bathroom, but when she returned, he was asleep, his arm hanging off the side of the couch. She smiled down at him, placing his arm across his stomach and covering him with a throw. Then she headed to the kitchen to put together a home-cooked meal for the guys.
Bobby came walking in a while later, and Beth caught him at the door, holding a finger up to her lips as she pointed to the living room. Bobby looked in through the door, then came back to sit at the table where she sat peeling potatoes. "They both okay?" he asked, looking over at her.
She met his eyes, shrugging as she smiled. "More stitches, and they're both pretty banged up. Sam has some nasty-looking ribs this time. They said it was shifters, thought they were dealing with one but there were two."
"If it weren't for bad luck..."
"They'd have none at all, I know."
Bobby got up to head for the coffee pot, patting her shoulder on the way by. "I think they've got some luck-they have you, don't they?"
Beth smiled, shaking her head; then looked up as Dean's voice sounded from the doorway. "Luckiest thing that's ever happened to me." She blushed as she met his eyes.
"You got that right, boy." Bobby walked towards the living room but stopped for a moment, putting a hand on Dean's shoulder. "You all right?"
Dean answered with a crooked grin. "Yeah, I'm all right, Bobby." He pulled out a chair and sat down across from Beth as she finished with her task. "Hey, Coop." He reached across to take her hand, and she smiled at him.
"I brought you some aspirin, but you conked out on me," she said softly. "How's your pain?"
He shrugged, wincing a little. "Not bad."
Beth gazed back at him, concern on her face. "You know, that shoulder's going to need surgery one of these days, if this keeps happening. I wish..."
"I know, Beth. But this is what I do. That's the way it is. I'm just glad you're here when I get home."
She looked down, blinking hard. "So am I." She met his gaze, her eyes still shining with unshed tears. "I'm just always afraid of what shape you'll be in when you make it here. My Mom said it takes a strong woman to love a hunter-I just hope I'm strong enough."
Dean's brows drew together as he stared silently back at her, quiet surprise in his eyes. After a moment, he found his voice. "Did-you just say you-loved me?" he asked softly. Beth felt her face grow warm again, and she was speechless for a moment.
"That kind of-slipped. I'm sorry, Dean, I'm not trying to push you, it just...came out." She stood up, pulling her hand gently away from his and grabbing the pot of potatoes, carrying them to the stove. She turned the burner on and kept her back to Dean, squeezing her eyes shut and silently berating herself. She had promised herself that she wasn't going to say it, wasn't going to let something like that hang in the air between them and cause friction, and now she had blown that promise right out of the water. She heard Dean step up behind her, and hung her head a little, wishing she could take back the words. He turned her to face him, then cradled her face in his hands and kissed her softly and slowly. Then he pulled her close, holding her so tight it was almost hard to breathe. He kissed her again, and she could have sworn there were tears in his eyes. Then Sam walked into the room, and Dean gave her one last squeeze before turning to ask his brother how he was doing. Beth smiled a little shakily to herself and started working on supper once again.
They all headed to bed early that night, and Beth crawled in next to Dean, grateful that she would have him there for a few nights again. She cuddled close and laid her head on his shoulder, and he held her tight as he took hold of the hand she had laid on his chest. She placed a couple of gentle kisses on his skin and spoke softly. "I hate it when you're hurt, Dean-but I'm glad to have you home." She felt him kiss the top of her head, and sighed contentedly, happy to be in his arms.
She was just beginning to drift off to sleep when she heard him whisper, "I love you too, Coop."
Beth grabbed the ringing phone from the wall, whisking eggs at the same time. "FBI, Assistant Director Talmadge's office, Special Agent Parker speaking. He is away from his office at present, but I can assist you. Yes, I can verify that we have an agent on site at Bemidji. Well, Sheriff, I can have Assistant Director Talmadge return your call, but I will warn you that he gets a little-belligerent, for lack of a better word, when people refuse to take the word of his executive assistant. He's a busy man, that's why they assigned him an executive assistant. Yes, sir, and you have a great day. Please call if you have any further issues." She hung up the phone and turned to take the eggs to the stove in one smooth motion, then looked up to see Dean leaning in the doorway, an amused smile on his face.
"Look at you, Bobby Junior." Beth grinned, her cheeks coloring a little as she poured the eggs into a hot skillet.
"Hey, he needed a little relief from these phones, so I made him teach me. Sometimes it seems like they're ringing nonstop. I don't know how he's handled it on his own for this long." Dean's arms slid around her from the back, and she leaned against him, stirring the eggs.
"I've never seen Bobby cook at the same time, though. Pretty impressive."
"Doesn't take much to impress you, does it?" she teased, turning to look up at him. He took the spatula from her hand and pulled her close, kissing her and silencing her protests about burning breakfast.
"You do a lot of things that impress me, Coop," he said, a suggestive lilt to his voice, and Beth hit him playfully on the chest as she turned back to the stove.
"Make yourself useful and butter the toast, would you?" Dean grinned, sweeping her hair off her neck and dropping a kiss there before complying with her request.
A few minutes later, they had the table set and Sam walked into the kitchen to find Beth lifting Dean's shirt. "Whoa, dude, go to your room, okay?" he said, and Beth looked up, frowning. But Sam was grinning ear to ear, and she shook her head at his teasing.
"I'm checking his stitches, you overgrown brat," she retorted, finishing her examination. "And just for that-come here, I need to look at yours." He came closer, turning around with his arms raised as if he was under arrest. She pulled Sam's shirt up, checking over the wound on his back. "All right, you pass inspection. How are your ribs feeling?"
"Sore. Can we eat now, Mama Beth?"
Beth turned, eyebrows raised, to look at Dean, who was grinning at his brother's sense of humor. "Don't encourage him," she said, shaking her head and going to the door to call Bobby for breakfast.
