Chapter 14

The wind set the grass off in gentle waves around her bare feet. The sun was warm and comforting, almost peaceful. A smile touched her lips as she tilted her face upwards. Closing her eyes, she took a breath of the sweet, fresh air. Rarely did she get to enjoy a calm day out in the world. A set of hand grabbed her around the waist but for some reason she didn't panic at the touch. She was surprisingly calm, relaxing into the arms that held her now. The wind caused her yellow sundress to flutter around her long legs as those teasing hands spread over her stomach.

His lips brushed over her ear, stubble scratching and tickling her enticingly. "You just gonna stand there daydreaming?"

"It's perfect day dreaming weather."

"You know I think this weather is perfect for something else entirely." Laughing, his lips trailed down her neck before dropping to her shoulder.

"You have a one-track mind sometimes."

"All the time. But then you're a bad influence on me."

He turned her in his arms before pressing a soft kiss to her mouth. His hands tightened around her waist and she looped her arms around his neck. It was strange, she didn't feel quite right but at the same time, there was nothing more that she wanted than to be in his arms. His name was a soft whisper against his lips.

"What are we doing here?"

He chuckled as they began to walk slowly, hand in hand. "Do I have to explain everything to you sweetheart?"

"No. I just… I'm not exactly sure how we got here."

"You need to relax Mae."

"I'm pretty sure we're not supposed to be here."

"Why do you want to fight?"

"I don't but don't you feel it?"

"Then," he said, pulling her around in front of him, "stop."

His green eyes made her stomach flip and she tried to keep her heart rate under control. Grinning he offered her a quirked brow, waiting for her to make the next move. She cupped his cheek then stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. Her fingers slid along his neck, into his hair and along his scalp.

"See? That wasn't so bad now was it, angel?"" Her fingers traced around his ear as she laughed.

"No, it wasn't. But..."

Those eyes were light but passionate as he kissed her again. She didn't avoid it or fight him, she kissed him back this time. However, when she pulled away, he was gone. She wasn't in the light summery dress any longer she noted as the air grew distinctly more chilled. The sky darkened as she found herself in that grove of trees she and Sam had found.

This felt more familiar, not more desirable by a long shot, but she could believe this more. "Dean?" She called out but receiving no response she began to inspect. "What the hell?" she muttered.

Just like earlier, she caught a movement out of the corner of her eye. This time the figure didn't disappear but that didn't make her feel like it was less of a hallucination. The figure turned out to be an older woman in flowing robes with long silver hair. "Great, what is this, Lord of the Rings? I swear I'll club the first hobbit I see."

"You can stop this."

"Stop what?"

"This is your fate."

"Meaning what exactly? Wait why am I talking to you?"

"You're powerful enough to break the spell if you focus."

"Focus? On what exactly? I don't exactly trust random strangers who show up outta nowhere."

"You can trust us."

Before Mae could ask anything more, she woke up. It was just a stupid dream. Her pulse wasn't wild, but it was slightly elevated. She wasn't panicked but she was confused, perhaps even disturbed by the dream. It didn't seem all that odd aspects of the case had worked their way into her dream or even that Dean had as well. Usually her dreams about him were more… explicit rather than sweet.

Falling asleep had not been her plan but she had taken a few healthy slugs of whiskey from her flask when she had returned to her room before trying to zone out for a few minutes. Perhaps it was that state that fueled her dreams. There was no reason, she thought, to go back to sleep now. With a soft sigh, Mae threw back the covers. She tried to think of the worst jobs she'd worked, and, in all honesty, she couldn't find one in her memories that was as taxing as this one was.

The thoughts and images that swirled around her mind, spurring her to argue Dean had shifted. She wasn't sure why or how, but it had. She wasn't feeling the same kind of anger build in her belly. No, it wasn't anger, it might have been fury, but this was driving straight into lust.

Closing her eyes, she tried to massage the tension out of her neck. The sensation of his soft lips just whispering over hers was something she could still feel. The simple thought of how warm his body felt against hers, through all the layers made her warmer now. There was a lot she disliked about that situation, about how they ended up outside the building, with him pressed up against, full of anger and... was it lust? Was it aggression or a need to dominate her in some way? She just couldn't be sure.

In any other situation, she knew he wouldn't have acted that way. It wasn't his style and more importantly, it wasn't his nature. While he might have been aggressively flirtatious at times, he wasn't the kind who found gratification in force. In fact, if her experiences were any indication, he needed to be wanted. But there had been something uncontrolled in his eyes, just for a moment, before he backed down. Or took control of himself again.

Mae rubbed her wrists. No marks but he had held her tighter than needed. She had been more than willing to fight him, if this had been like the other times. And she certainly wasn't going to let him push anything further than she was comfortable. At the same time, she recognized that uncontrolled flash in his eyes. It met its twin as something in her. Maybe he saw that too. Maybe he didn't. But whatever that unknown, unfamiliar feeling was, it wasn't them.

The answer had to be simple, it had to be something that would slap them upside the head and remind them that they were a step behind everything. She went to collect her things but realized she had left her bag in the bar which was incredibly stupid. She needed the papers she had gathered and her notes there. While they had planned to unwind a bit, she wanted to make sure she had what she needed if something came up. She only hoped the bag was with lost and found and that someone hadn't stolen it.

There wasn't anything particularly incriminating in it since she took notes in code. It would look like a bunch of jumbled information, nothing more. The room next door was quiet, and she figure the boys hadn't left the bar yet or were already asleep. Going back was far more uncomfortable for her if either brother were there. Of course, Dean would be a bigger issue that Sam. She didn't care as much about the scene they may or may not cause but she simply didn't have another fight in her right then.

It would have been easier, less troublesome and perhaps wiser to just throw on a pair of jeans and get her stuff. Instead, she sent a quick message to Sam hoping he would subtly check it and remember to bring her bag to her. She also was mindful of the fact that if Dean saw it, it would only add fuel to his jealousy. She didn't want to give Dean another cause to doubt her, but this was easier than actually speaking to him or seeing him.

Mae felt like she was overthinking everything. It was enough to drive her insane. Maybe that was the point of this all. Drive people insane? Sure, as hell was taking a long enough time in her estimation. It shouldn't have been hard to drive her totally nuts, she was half way there already. But this was a slow drip sort of situation and she was not a patient woman when it came to something like this.

Sam hadn't written back. Maybe he didn't have a chance yet, maybe he hadn't seen the message, maybe he couldn't without raising his brother's suspicions. At least she still had her laptop, so she could perhaps try to do some extra research. There had to be something out there. If someone had been staging this thing, they had to find that level of detail somewhere. She turned on the TV as she started up her laptop. Closing her eyes, a moment, she pushed her issues with Dean to the back-burner.

There was something they weren't seeing, something. Tapping her fingers, she simply stared at the newspaper article on the girl's death. The soft knock at the front door startled her more than she would have liked to admit. It was probably over kill, she thought, to answer the door in shorts and a tank top while keeping her .44 hidden in her hand behind the door. Still, it brought her a certain level of comfort. Finding Sam Winchester at her door put her at ease.

"Hey," He said after she opened the door all the way to let him in. He tried to be casual, surveying her room, and really it just looked like any other hunter's room he'd seen. Not that he'd seen anyone outside his family set one up, but she kept her in kind.

Taking her bag from the tall young man, she gave a half-cocked grin. "Thanks."

Sam wasn't exactly invited in but casting a glance over his shoulder, shut the door behind him. "So…" he awkwardly began, tucking his hands in his pockets as he glanced around her room, trying to avoid looking at the redhead, "I brought your bag."

"Yeah, you sure did. Um, gold star."

He cleared his throat as he tried to come up with something more to say. "That's some tattoo," he said, pointing to what appeared to be a snake's tail showing below the hem of her shorts and disappearing up her leg.

"I guess. Um, well thank you for grabbing my stuff. I didn't anticipate things would go down like that and I just needed...space."

"No problem, Mae. So..."

"So...?"

He reminded himself that Mae was nothing if not direct. "Okay, what the hell is up with you and Dean?"

Turning back to the small motel table she had her laptop set up on, she set the weapon down and tossed the bag in an adjacent chair before taking a seat herself. "Wish I could tell you."

"It's getting really bad."

If only he could catch her eyes, better assess what she thought of the situation. He didn't think it was intentional, not on Mae's part of his brother and he was beginning to sense that neither did they. But the redhead remained somewhat elusive.

"I sorta caught on to that too. If I could stop I would." She paused, looking down at her hands. "And I know Dean wants to too. I just… it can't just be a coincidence that we're like this. This spell… I think we're both under it."

That's what the woman in her dream said. She had yet to break that part of her dream down more and it could have been nothing. But there wasn't anything on this case that seemed like nothing. Everything seemed to be some kind of clue, some kind of indication that they were up against something major. But it seemed right. They had suggested the same thing, among other causes. A spell made sense.

"Yeah but why the two of you? Why aren't you fighting with me or anyone else for that matter?"

She shrugged. "Honey, if I knew that one, we might actually be closer to finishing this job."

"Any word on the translation?"

Like flipping a switch, she met his gaze and reengaged now that they were focusing more on the case. "Looking into it as we speak."

Sam nodded and because she appreciated that they were still working on a job, he took his laptop out of his messenger bag and set up at her table too. Carelessly, he moved the bag he had just brought her and took a seat. Her eyebrow arched up, unsure if Sam was aware of what happened between her and Dean. He seemed to know but didn't seem to understand the degree of his brother's distrust of the two of them together.

"Good. I think I found something that might help us on that front."

"Does Dean know you're here?"

"He's still at the bar. I told him I was going to clear out for a while in case...in case I didn't want to be in our room when he came back."

"I don't think that my room is the solution."

"Don't worry about it."

"You're not the one he's getting rough with over it."

"I talked to him. I think he understands that we're not doing anything wrong. If it comes up again, just leave it to me."

Her laugh was sharp. "I don't need you...defending my honor. Or getting your ass kicked for me."

"I can hold my own with my brother. Besides, it's...I don't think he's really jealous. I just think he wants things to be... easy with you. Like, if you had asked him to dance."

"I wouldn't have. He would have turned it...sexual and...it wouldn't have been fun with him."

"You need to tell him if you don't want that with him because I'm pretty sure he thinks that's where whatever the two of you have is going."

Her gaze shifted from his, focusing on nothing. "I don't...Listen, I'd tell him if I knew. But um, I don't really want to talk about this with you so... what did you find?" She asked.

"Well, I was checking out our witch's MySpace page-"

"You found that? How?"

"Geez, you and Dean are two of a kind." Sam muttered under his breath.

Mae frowned but let it go. Looking over Sam's shoulder, her frown deepened. "Angelface? What kind of witch calls herself 'Angelface'?"

"Angela Morell for one."

Scrolling down the page he brought up the long line of comments that had caught his interest. Mae's lips twisted with concentration as her eyes skimmed down the page. "Well that's promising," she said.

"Yeah that's what I thought too."

"Hmm…well looks like you earned that full ride of yours Stretch." The familiarity of the light teasing was a relief and his smile became more genuine. "So... anyone can see this, yeah? And he's hardcore... perving on her."

"I guess."

"Kids these days. Now tell me… our frequent poster, goth boy would be…?"

"Grant Tanner."

"Grant Tanner? Well that's something finally. So, I guess we track down this kid and rough him up."

He showed her the young man's home page as well and there weren't any signs that he had been online since the Morell girl had died. "If he's still around."

"C'mon, by the looks of that kid the only thing pulling him away from here is some sort of Dungeons and Dragons weekend slumber party."

"Slumber party?"

"I don't know, I was the girl who spent most of my time in high school dodging the nuns and smoking in the bathroom. And you know, getting into trouble with your brother."

Her smile at that was encouraging in some way because even if Dean didn't see it, she did have a soft spot in her heart for his big brother.

Sam smirked a little too. "I thought you were more or less an A student."

"Failing classes doesn't make you a badass. Besides, Uncle Bobby wouldn't have let me hunt if I let my grades slip."

The two fell into a congenial rhythm working for nearly 2 more hours, tracking down as much information as they could on Grant Turner, before they realized it. With a stretch, the shaggy haired giant of a Winchester couldn't hide his yawn and Mae laughed a bit. "Sam, go to bed."

"I'm fine."

"We've done a lot already. Besides if we did go looking for this kid, we'd look massively crazy going after him at," She looked at her wrist watch, "2:30 in the morning. And that's like twice as crazy as we'll look anyway."

His smirk led into another yawn and he decided she was right. "Dean's still not back yet."

To be honest, she hadn't really noticed that the room next door was still silent. But at the mention of where the older hunter might be, Mae seemed to tense. "He's a big boy. Surely you'd like some time to yourself."

"Yeah, I just… I'm worried."

"No offense dude, but you're such a girl."

Sam rubbed the back of his neck as he stood and stretched tall. "Alright, I guess. We'll pick this up in the morning."

"Sure, thing Sasquatch."

He sighed, shaking his head. "You and Dean."

"Aw… shut that pretty mouth of yours Sammy."

Dean felt the fire burn in the pit of his stomach as the need gnawed at the back of his neck. Nothing was making it go away, not the alcohol, not an attractive and willing woman, nothing. He knew the only thing he wanted right then was Mae. There was still a lingering reminder in the back of his mind that he didn't want her, not like this. It made any desire he had for other women pale when he thought about the redhead. She inflamed him, that slow burning passion now seemed like a blaze.

If he could just find something to quench the flames, he could actually do his job. How could this be getting worse? They had been about ready to kill each other, and they were worried about fighting more and more. This felt more dangerous and less connected to anything. At least when they were arguing, no matter how over the top and disproportionate the reaction, it had a foundation in something. A mild disagreement, under whatever was influencing them turned into a screaming match. But this feeling... they were not flirtatious, the were not exchanging any sort of romantic overtones.

The only thing that this feeling seemed to feed on was misplaced jealousy and long buried feelings for her. The only time he came close to feeling normal was when he was far away from her. Maybe he needed to step away from this, let Sam and Mae finish the job. That voice in his head still told him, he couldn't totally trust that something wouldn't happen between the two. He knew he needed to, both his brother and his former lover assured him of that much.

In his heart, he knew she wasn't interested in Sam. Sam wasn't interested in her. He also knew hadn't really been interested in his father either. She hadn't said as much but he knew that it was more likely she saw John Winchester as a father figure, not love interest. But that didn't do much to contain the jealousy he felt towards either man. With a growl, he slammed down the rest of his whiskey before throwing some bills on the bar and stalking out into the night.

Alone now, she smirked to herself, what she could only classify as need has subsided while she put all her energy in to working. The low buzz that seemed to fill her body before was revving up again, threatening to destroy her barely maintained control. The yawns that had helped Sam shuffle off seemed contagious as she found herself overcome by them now too.

Her system wouldn't have said no to another nap or, God forbid, a few genuine hours of sleep. Still, she didn't feel as if sleep would come. She was a little too wired to simply easy back into sleep. And her dream had bothered her a bit more than she expected. It had an incredibly… real feeling to it. Almost like déjà vu. Only she knew she had never actually seen or spoken to the woman in her dream before. Too much TV maybe.

Standing now, Mae paced the room, wishing the solution would just come to her and perhaps she could leave a note for the boys before getting the hell out of dodge. Running away wasn't her style exactly but she if she couldn't bring herself under control, she couldn't do anything. As easy as it was to work with Sam, as much as she wanted to have that with Dean, she knew it would swing back to uncomfortable.

She sighed and ran her hands through her hair, the frustration that filled her was reaching the point where she might snap. It had to be this case. People were acting strangely all over this town. "No," She said to herself, "not all over town. It's me and Dean, those officers and probably our dead witch… and someone else? Oh, damn, we have been so stupid."