Part 13

Kansas, Spring 2011

Liz had just handed Castiel another stack of pages when her door opened. Dean. He stared at her. He nodded to her. She sat on her bed. They comforted each other until the tears didn't fall anymore. Then Liz had kissed him. He had kissed her back. Clothes shed, Liz writhed on top of him. He felt so good. His hands, his mouth. He made her come twice before he rolled them over and thrust into her until he was empty. He laid on top of her for a long time, rolling strands of her hair around his fingers, running his nose along the line of her neck. Her hands clutched at his shoulders. The after that they had been cheated of the last time. Dean talked a little. Random bits of information.

They were asleep when John burst into the apartment. John stood at the foot of the bed for a long moment, face turning red. Liz took a breath before nudging Dean off the bed. John tossed her robe at her and waited while Dean put his clothes back on. It was a long time before John found his tongue. "What the hell is this?"

"You have her back, John. What was I supposed to do?" Liz asked softly. "Hang around and watch you remember her?"

"I don't remember her."

"You will. There's no place for me." Liz pulled her robe tight against her body.

"So, you fuck my son."

"Don't do that, John. He's not a consolation prize." She stood and crossed her arms. "This is me, telling you, that you and I are done. It's just the way it has to be."

"Dad." Dean tried to say something but there was nothing to say. Liz had been right before about not telling him the truth. "Let her go."

Liz took a breath and looked at Dean. He understood. That was more than she could hope to ask for. She watched the confusion on John's face. He was so torn. "What the hell is going on, Liz? Just clue me in."

"It's the end of the world, John. We all have our part to play." Her voice wavered but her eyes didn't. "Save it. Not for yourself. Not for me or your boys. Save it for everyone else."

"It's our job, Dad. It's what we do." Dean tried to cut in, deflect some of his anger.

"I don't know you from Adam." John got in Dean's face. "I don't know anything about saving people except what I read in what could be made up history. All I really do know… is that my alleged son just fucked my girlfriend."

"It's not the first time, John." Liz whispered, slipping her hand around Dean's bicep to pull him back. To ally herself with him. "Probably won't be the last." She met Dean's eyes first, then looked to John. "I told you… you can't give me what I want. Maybe Dean can't either… you have a job to do. It's the only reason you're back." She was holding on to Dean's arm to keep herself on her feet because John's eyes had steel in them. "Mary's your wife. The love of your life. Don't blame her for what I'm doing to you."

John stormed out and Dean caught Liz to keep her from falling. Dean set her back on the bed. "Tell me that was necessary."

"Isn't that what you wanted?" Liz sniffed.

"Not like that."

"Couldn't have happened any other way. You know him, probably better than I do."

"She's not my mom." Dean's chin quivered. "She looks like her. Just like she did when I was four. She doesn't remember me."

"It's coming, Dean. They're going to remember and it's not going to be pretty. I need you to keep them together."

"Or what?"

"You will. I know you will."

"He told me." Dean admitted to her. "You know… about what happened after I left you in Georgia."

"I know."

"What do you think they want with our baby?"

"I don't know, yet." Liz stared up at him. "Think we could have done this the normal way?"

He grinned at her. Bright as day. It didn't reach his eyes. "Hell, no."

"I'm glad that you're such a good sport."

The smile fading to a truer version of what he felt. "Dad raised me to be a good soldier."

Castiel was waiting when Liz got out of the shower. She dressed for comfort. They stared at each other for a long time. "What now?"

"You wait until they're done."

"He hates me."

"He won't for long."

"Why did I have to take care of him?" Liz demanded. "Any of them?"

"You are something special, Liz." Castiel paced the apartment. She set the coffee to burn on the stove. He kept talking while she got herself ready for another day of typing and waitressing. "Elizabeth is an old name. It means "word of God." Somehow it was fitting that such a special person have such a name. John, Mary, Samuel. All biblical."

"And Dean?"

"In times past, Dean was not a name but a title. An authority figure. A head of a church or college…" Castiel shrugged. "English is one of the weirder languages." He looked out the window. Rain had begun to fall. The Winchesters were on the road out of town already. "Something about you keeps the demons away. They try but they can't get in. As long as John was near you, they couldn't touch him. They tried. He never even felt it."

"Seizures."

"Perhaps. Or like you said, my brothers fighting over what you should write next."

"You couldn't stop them?"

"I'm a little brother. My big brothers could smite me for breakfast."

"Who is inside him?" Liz poured herself coffee. "Adam… who has the body?"

"I don't know."

John sat in the backseat. It felt wrong. Like he should be driving. He kept stealing glances at her. Mary Campbell Winchester. She was doing the same. Their boys sat up front. Sam was on the phone. Dean was explaining some things. As he did so, things started appearing John's mind. A glanced at Mary and he knew she was seeing the same things.

Waking up in bed together and just staring. Sighing heavily when Dean cried from his crib. The joy at welcoming Sammy into their lives. A normal life.

Mary looked at him. "I was… lost."

"Me, too." John held his hand out. "I'm John."

"Mary." She smiled. "You do what I used to. I see that in you. It wasn't there before."

The memories came pouring back when she put her hand in his. They laughed as the memories settled. They had spent time in this backseat before. She fell into his arms and kissed his lips. They laughed softly. John held her close. Liz fading away in his mind. This was his Mary. He'd fucked her senseless a time or two on this very bench seat. Dean had been conceived in this car. Maybe Sammy, too.

When they finally settled, it was dark and they were hundreds of miles from Stull, Kansas. Mary looked to the front seat. Her boys were grown. They were hunters. Her civilian husband was a hunter. They were all far better at the job than her own family had been. The car was silent.

Dean had watched the backseat off and on while the emotional rollcoaster had its highs and lows. They were staring at each other. Not sure what to do with one another. "So, Mom… tell us about your family. We never knew about them."

Mary's smile was sad. She looked to her husband and for the first time in life, told the truth. "My family comes from a long line of hunters. We trace back to England. One of my ancestors killed Jack the Ripper. Dad said we were directly descended from that guy… or girl. Story goes a few different ways…"