Author Note: Just to clear up some confusion, I was forced to take down my chapter Letter to My Readers. It was non-story content posted mid-story which is against a rule. It had been reported by a CU member. I took down the chapter. Now the alerts for new chapters being published is off and you may not have gotten an alert about the last chapter. If you didn't, please go back one chapter and read the previous one first. Thank you.

This is my take on the episode 'Of Grave Importance'.

Blowing out a hard breath, Lizzy finishes checking Castiel's vitals as he lies motionless in bed. No change. Luckily Cass has had vitals at all for her to check. She would've had a hard time covering up why it is this man has no vitals yet is still alive otherwise. She wonders if that's a function of his vessel, Jimmy, coming through due to the poor current condition of the grace of the angel inside but she tries her hardest to not really think about it. She knows Jimmy had a life and thinking about that fact isn't something she can do.

"Liz?" a voice calls out and a rapid knock is heard on the open door. Lizzy looks up to see one of her coworkers, another nurse, standing there with a smile.

"Hey, Judy," Lizzy smiles right back.

"Figured I'd find you here," she says with a knowing expression. "You're awfully concerned about John Doe here."

Shit. She's on to her. "Yeah… well… it's sad, isn't it? The guy comes her on his own volition in a total psychotic break and ends up like this. He has no family, we don't even know his name… I think it's sad. And I think everyone deserves to have someone looking out for them."

Judy laughs. "You're so new to this."

"That I am," Lizzy answers knowingly. It's then that she sees the giant vase of flowers, all Gerber daisies in reds, oranges, and yellows, in her hold.

"Well, these came for you," Judy says, handing over the bouquet to her. "Edna signed for them downstairs and I was down there anyways. Brought them up."

"Wow, uh," Lizzy says, surprised by the arrival and takes the vase from her. "Thanks."

"You should be thanking the mystery man that sent them, not me," she laughs and starts to get nosy. "You know who they're from?"

"I have a good idea," she nods, knowing full well it's Dean. These look an awful lot like the flowers he gave her years back in California before their insanely wonderful, and one time only, date night.

"Oh man," Judy shakes her head. "This guy is totally in love."

"That he is," Lizzy says without excitement, placing the flowers on the table by Castiel's bed. Might as well spruce the place up for him, awake or not. The room is depressing.

"Well?" Judy asks impatiently.

"Relax, Judy," Lizzy huffs, puttering around to keep busy for the moment.

"Who is he? Boyfriend of something?"

"Or something," Lizzy answers simply, knowing she wanted more.

"Just a total open book, you are," Judy complains. "You come here out of nowhere, you don't talk at all about your personal life… you gotta give us something."

"Us?" Lizzy laughs.

"Yeah, the whole nursing staff is curious."

Sighing, Lizzy glances at the flowers and comes up with an answer. "They're from my baby-daddy."

Judy's silent for a beat. "You have a kid!?"

"Yes. I'm a mom," Lizzy answers, rechecking vitals to keep busy and hopefully end this conversation quickly. The less everyone knows about her the better at this point.

"And you never said anything!?"

"Didn't feel the need to. I'm kind of a loner."

"Well, your baby-daddy doesn't want you to be a loner," Judy rebuts.

"Yeah," Lizzy nods and ends it there.

"So… you had a kid with this guy and what, you want nothing to do with him?"

"It's… complicated," Lizzy tells her.

"Uh-huh," Judy says quietly, thinking. "Well, I say he better put a ring on it. You're clearly a good person and, for being a mom… you look amazing."

"Thanks," Lizzy rolls her eyes.

"Alright, better do my rounds," Judy says. "And heads up, I want pictures of the kid."

"Sammy," Lizzy says, her face smiling wide when she says his name. "My son."

"I want pictures at dinner!" Judy points to her and leaves the room, making Lizzy laugh. Judy meant well. Her nosiness is only there because she cares. She's been nothing but kind to Lizzy since she got there. At first it made her suspicious but once Judy was able to walk into Castiel's room after she's warded it to high hell then she knew she was just a nice person. Those do still exist.

Lizzy pauses a moment, pressing a hand to her chest as she looks at the flowers. Through her scrubs she can feel the wedding band and diamond ring where it hangs off of a chain she recently bought to wear them on. She didn't want to wear them on her finger anymore, not when things feel so awful between her and Dean, but those rings were a gift from Bobby. They were Karen's and that present has meant so much to her, just as much Mary's charm bracelet that she still wears around her wrist every day.

She feels guilty suddenly. The flowers, a very kind gesture from Dean, make her feel terrible that she took them off. He's trying, and she respects that, but her pain runs deep and she's not at a point that she can forgive just yet. Maybe she's a bitch for that since he was duped after all… but she can't bring herself to let it go and she can't force herself to not be hurt by it.

With a sign, Lizzy takes her phone out and dials Sam's number. She needs to update them on Castiel after the week he's had and she just plain needs to check on the boys as it's been a while.

"Lizzy, hey," Sam says quickly, making it obvious he's nervous. Dean must be with him and when Lizzy hears the Impala's engine roaring in the background she knows he is.

"Hey, Sam-I-Am," she answers. "Just checking in."

"How is he?"

"Comatose for a week now," Lizzy tells Sam on the phone while leaning against the wall of Castiel's room at the institution, her worry for him growing with every day he remains out of it. "I don't know what happen."

"So he just… went to sleep?" Sam questions as the Impala flies down the back roads on their way to meet up with Annie, an old hunting buddy that asked for their help with a haunting. "And that was it?"

"Pretty much," Lizzy nods, Castiel's form lying motionless in bed. At least his face is calm as he lays there, seemingly carefree when that can't possibly be the case. "I checked on him before lights out and then the doctor called me the next morning saying he's been dead to the world. He's breathing on his own and health-wise he's good… it's just as if his mind said fuck this and shut down instead of deal with the torture."

"If I had that option when I was dealing with it I'd have taken it too," Sam assures her.

"I'm just worried about him now," Lizzy says. "I mean, I was before but now I can't even ask how he's doing or try and get him to explain what he's seeing. It's frustrating."

"Just remember that he's an angel," he tells her, trying to calm her nerves. "Chances that he'll pull through are really high considering that."

"I know," Lizzy smiles a little, appreciating what Sam tries to do for her. "So where are you two headed to?"

"Bodega Bay. Helping an old friend with a haunting."

"California?" Lizzy wonders, trying to remember when that is.

"Yeah."

"Huh, Dean must be happy," she jealously responds, wishing she was heading somewhere that nice.

"Yeah, uh, he is… why don't you talk to him," Sam says quickly.

"No, Sam, that's fine…."

"L, hey," Dean's voice comes across the phone and she winces. Great. More discomfort in her life.

"Hi," she greets awkwardly. "How are you?"

"Can't complain too much," Dean answers. "You?"

"Staring at Cass all day waiting for him to wake up," Lizzy tells him. "It's about as exciting as watching paint dry."

"Or grass grow?"

"Exactly."

"Well, thank you for doing this," Dean says to her. "You're really taking one for the team and I know Cass has to appreciate it."

"He's family," she simply explains. "So, uh… be safe. Enjoy the west coast…."

"Do you have to go?" Dean questions, his tone sad as he can feel Sam's annoyingly sympathetic eyes staring at him.

"Should get back to work," she tells him. "Need to get Cass fed and check on a few others."

"He doesn't eat," he reminds her.

"The doc doesn't know that."

"Ah," he understands. "Hey, um… did you get the flowers?"

Lizzy looks at the arrangement on the side table, noticing for the first time the small envelope sticking out of it. She walks to it and plucks it out while answering, "Just a few minutes ago. Got the other nurses all jealous and nosy."

"Nice," Dean says, his voice showing just how conflicted he is about her reception of the gift.

"They're very pretty, thank you," she answers, opening the envelope and pulling out the folded note inside.

These reminded me of one of the best nights I've ever had because I was with you. I'm only ever happy when I'm with you. I'm sorry for everything, L. I love you, you know I do.
-Dean

"Glad you like them," Dean says back, the slight excitement he dares let show through in his voice isn't lost on her.

"Look, I gotta go. Not supposed to be on the phone during work hours. Just wanted to give an update."

"Yeah, right… you're a working stiff right now." He jokes and huffs a laugh but sounds so damn sad that she's about to end the conversation. "I'll talk to you when I can… I guess."

"I'll call you," she says emptily.

"I miss y…." He heard the line go dead. She didn't hear it. "You." He closes his burner phone and tosses it with total frustration over his shoulder and into the back seat. "Thanks for that Sam. That was about as pleasant as a kick in the jewels."

"You said you were gonna try so… I let you try," Sam explains himself.

"A lot of good it did," he bitches.

"Did she like the flowers?" Sam asks, having caught Dean exiting the flower shop after he'd send Sam into the neighboring diner to grab dinner.

"Yeah, sure. About as much as she likes toothpaste or a friggin' lamp."

"I love lamp," Sam says quietly to his hands in his lap, seeing the opportunity to lighten things even a tiny bit.

Dean turns to stare at him for a split second. "My marriage is failing and you think you're a fucking comedian all of a sudden?"

"I'm not funny?" Sam innocently asks.

"No. Never."

"It'll get better, man," Sam swears to him. "Just hang in there and keep trying, prove to her you're not giving up."

"Yeah…."

Entering the Van Ness house once more, Sam and Dean know that Annie has to be in there somewhere. What they didn't ever expect to find is the dead man standing in front of them in the foyer, trucker hat and all.

"Hi, boys," the grumbling and annoyed voice says to them, assuming this is just another encounter in which the Winchesters won't be able to see him. He's lived like this for months now. It's highly frustrating.

But when neither of them continue on nor speak to each other as if he isn't there, he pays attention. When he glances back at the two brothers they're standing stock still and seemingly staring right at him.

"Bobby?" Dean questions with total shock.

"Wait," Bobby says, equally shocked to hear his own name spoken to him. "You can see me?"

Neither answer because they can't.

"You're staring, you know," he tells them. "Annie's here, too, by the way."

"Hi, Annie," Dean greets to the empty air.

"H-hi, Annie," Sam says.

Bobby jerks a thumb at the space next to him. "She says you both look uglier than she remembered."

"Bobby, h-how'd you stay here?"

"Yeah, well, uh..." Bobby starts, walking to a small table in the large foyer, opening the drawer with ease and grabbing out his old, dented flask he's stolen from Dean. He tosses it back to the hunter. "Suck on that, Swayze."

Sam's face gapes with recognition suddenly. "That's why you never answered me. I tried calling you. The, uh, talking board, the works… but I was always alone. Dean always had that thing in his pocket. That's why the EMF only went off half the time." He huffs a laugh at his own stupidity. "We thought we were going crazy."

"So, so, what happened?" Dean questions to the man he was positive he'd never see again. "Did you get stuck or, or what?"

"I wanted to stay."

"Bobby," Dean gets angry right away.

"I need to help," is the man's simple answer.

"Not if it means you have to... be this," Sam says cautiously, hurt that Bobby would stay here as a spirit because of he and Dean.

"Well, life wasn't comfy. Why should death be?" Bobby jokes.

"Lizzy's gonna kill you," Dean tells him, certain she'll want to at least kick his ass for this one. She's going to be so pissed.

"That'd be a touch redundant, don't you think?" Bobby jests lightly.

Dean sighs heavily and shakes his head, not liking how flippant Bobby's being about this terrible decision he's made.

And Bobby's face falls when he thinks about it. She is going to be very disappointed in him, he knows that. He knew that when he told that reaper to fuck off. She, of all of them, will be the worst about it.

"Now, come on," Bobby changes the subject. "Annie and I found all the bodies. Let's put 'em to rest. And keep my damn flask away from the fire... obviously."

"I'll miss her," Bobby comments to the boys, leaving the mansion and looking back at it. They burned Annie's remains, putting her to rest like she wanted, but he was fond of her so it's still a blow.

"Me too," Dean agrees.

"Yeah," Sam adds in.

"Well, you didn't know her like I did," Bobby says with playful knowing, thinking he's got something over them in knowing Annie. He knows all of her.

And Dean just laughs uncomfortably and Sam clears his throat with guilt. They don't tell him that Annie's got a thing for hunters.

"Well, uh…" Dean starts, pulling out Bobby's old flask and unscrewing the cap. "Here's to Annie. She got the hunter's funeral she wanted." He takes a big sip to bid her farewell. "Kind of like the one we thought we gave you." He eyes Bobby over.

"Dean," Sam gives warning but, of course, Dean doesn't listen.

"What were you thinking, Bobby?" Dean lets his disappointment fly. "You could be in Heaven right now, drinking beer at Harvelle's. Not, not… stuck…."

"Stuck here with you?" Bobby finishes with insulted disdain. "We still have work to do. I just thought that was kind of important, Dean."

Neither brother misses how quickly Bobby gets angry. He's been short with them before but it usually takes much more than one comment to get him there. The signs are all there.

"It's not right, and you know that," Dean still pushes it.

"Sorry. You're right," responds Bobby, his caustic tone showing his anger. "What was I thinking?"

He flashes out and vanishes.

"Nice job," Sam sarcastically says to his brother, blaming him for making Bobby leave so quickly.

"Shut up, Sam," Dean says and grumpily pulls out his keys, this new development rubbing him the completely wrong way. He yanks open the Impala's door and plops behind the wheel, Sam following him as they prepare to leave.

"So, what do you think we should do?" Sam wonders once he settles into his spot.

"We did what we should do," Dean tells him, gripping the wheel tightly. "Now I don't know."

"I mean, do you think it's possible we could… I don't know… make it all work somehow?" Sam suggests, not ready to part with their father figure again if he can help it. Seeing Bobby again felt like coming home. It felt good and not a whole lot has felt very good lately.

"I have no idea. Maybe," Dean starts to rationalize, wanting to make it work but already knowing better. "I've never heard of it. But you know what I do know? It ain't the natural order of things."

Bobby silently watches on from the backseat, staying out of their sight. He keeps a steadfast face as he does.

"Because we're the poster boys of natural order?" Sam challenges, knowing neither of them should speak on the issue.

"I don't want to be," Dean turns it around. "Do you?"

"No," Sam laughs sadly with his answer.

"And when L finds out about this shit?" Dean shakes his head. "She already had a hard enough time getting over losing him. She finally accepted it and, and got over Sammy not having a grandparent."

Bobby's face drops. Sammy. He'd been distracted by trying his damnedest to get the boys to see him, to used his ghost juice properly, that his anger when he couldn't clouded everything else. Sammy. He misses his lil' idjit suddenly.

"Yeah," Sam nods, knowing the connection between Lizzy and Bobby had gotten very strong through her pregnancy. They were thick as thieves at the end there and the love Bobby developed for the little boy was immeasurable. "We gotta be smart about how we tell her."

Bobby makes the decision for then right then. They won't have to tell her. He will. Focusing whatever there is left of his mind on Sammy, Bobby blinks out and disappears from the car.

"Everything is supposed to end," Dean comments, his anger at Bobby's terrible postmortem decision making just killing him in the moment. "You know, he was supposed… and now... What are the odds this ends well?" He sighs with loss. "What are the odds?"

"Hey," Lizzy greets in a tired voice as she pulls her set of keys from the doorknob and walks into the small, shabby house she and Lou were able to somehow convince the landlord to rent for the time being. She drops her keys in the bowl on a small table by the entrance and shuts the door behind her, locking it up tight. She walks over the rug in the entrance that covers the devil's trap painted there and looks right at Lou in the open living room.

"Thank fucking God!" Lou says with exasperation as she stands up from the brown, worn couch with excitement. "Finally! An adult!"

"Ha-ha," Lizzy patronizes right back, rolling her eyes and she drops her jacket onto a wooden chair in passing. "You're fine, Louie."

"Incoherent baby babble is not fine," she rebuts, picking up Lizzy's leather jacket she just dropped and threading her arms through it. "And I need a drink and some very late night dinner."

"Heading out then?" Lizzy asks, walking for the playpen in the room to peek in. Her boy is sleeping peacefully, his little face relaxed and sweet. It makes her smile. It's a rare thing that she smiles these days and really only Sammy can do that to her.

"For a little. I'll get you something…."

"Chicken-y," Lizzy finishes for her, looking over her shoulder at Lou.

"Chicken-y it is," she smiles and puts her phone in the jacket pocket, feeling something already in there. She pulls out the mini envelope and looks at it. A single, capitol letter is written on it in what is clearly Dean's handwriting. "What's this?" she asks, pulling the card from the envelope.

"Oh, uh…." Lizzy shakes her head as Lou opens the card and reads. She didn't even try to stop her because why bother. "Dean sent flowers to work."

"What!?" Lou asks, reading the note that's surprisingly sweet and sadly full of effort.

Lizzy just shrugs as Lou reads. Her sister looks at her with wide eyes when done.

"Who the fuck is this guy!?" Lou wants to know, holding up the note with shock.

"Told you he was different now," Lizzy smirks a little, always liking the whole told you so moments with Lou.

"Guess so," Lou says with wonder, rereading the note.

"Then again, he banged some other chick. That's not so different than the guy you used to hate," Lizzy points out.

"Yeah, I guess," she trails off, the words on the small card so honest and as open and truthful as Dean can possibly get. Lou knows how hard it is for him to do things like that so she knows what it is she holds in her hand. A damn near miracle. "But he didn't mean to."

"And I'm sure a lot of men never meant to cheat on their wives," Lizzy laughs a little, pulling out her breast pump after a long day at work. She has some bottles to make.

"You gotta see things the right way sooner or later," Lou bites out and pockets the note card. "Alright, I'll be back in a bit."

"Not too late," Lizzy asks. "I might pass out if you take too long."

Lou holder her hand up in scout's honor. "One drink!"

"Yeah, sure," Lizzy laughs lightly and rolls her eyes.

Leaving quickly, Lou jumps into the car and starts it up. As she sits there for a second she thinks about everything happening between Lizzy and Dean. It's a fucking, unmitigated disaster.

And honestly, she's doesn't want to kill Dean.

At first, yeah, sure… she's was going to castrate him for what he did. But then she sat with it for a while, thought about it, heard the apologies from Dean, saw him trying his hardest to make up for it… and she's starting to see how much he regretted this move.

Before she knows it, Lou is parked in front of a pay phone in town outside the dive bar she intended to grab a drink at and maybe make some cash on a game of pool or two. She's dialing the current number she has for Dean's cell phone and waiting as it rings, the flower card still in hand.

"Lou?" Dean's voice answers the phone. "Everything alright?"

"Tell me about the best night you ever had with Lizzy."

"What!?" Dean's voice questions with shock.

"Tell me," Lou asks of him again. "Get me on your side. Why was it one of your best nights?"

"Lou, fuck… I'm not gonna talk about this with you."

"You want Lizzy back then you want me on your side, trust me," she reminds him sternly. "Best night. Go."

She hears him sigh heavily. "Hold on." Lou then listens to the sound of Dean groaning with complaint, telling Sam he'll be right back, and then the slam of a door. She knows they were at a motel at that point at night which means they must have wrapped up a hunt early. A couple seconds of what she can only assume is Dean pacing or walking to a quieter spot and he finally talks. "So I take it you read the note I sent specifically to Lizzy."

"She left it in her jacket pocket. I borrowed her jacket. So sue me," Lou fires right back. "I'm not the one on trial here. Start talking. Why did those flowers make you think of Lizard?"

He sighs again and she can practically hear his embarrassment. "A few years back Sam told me I kinda sucked at being a husband or whatever and he was right, so… we were in Santa Barbara and I took her on a date. I gave her flowers that looked a lot like the ones I sent her."

Nodding to herself, Lou tries to imagine Dean on a proper date… and can't. "Having a hard time picturing that but ok."

"Hey, I can actually be a stand up gentleman when I try."

"Yeah. Sure. So what made the night so amazing," Lou keeps pushing him.

"I don't know… we just… it was nice," Dean says in his awkward way, feeling uncomfortable talking this way with Lou. "We went to a restaurant, had some drinks after, spent the night in a really nice joint that Sam found online. I think they called it a boutique hotel or some shit."

"Not answering my question."

"What do you want from me, Lou?" Dean gets mad. "You're clearly after something."

"You're trying to save your marriage, right?"

"Of course."

"Well, I want that too," Lou tells Dean.

"Seriously!?" he disbelieves. "I figured you get the divorce papers drawn up for us."

"You're not really married, dumbass," she reminds sharply. "Plus… I may have, maybe… changed my mind about you."

"What was that?"

"You heard me, douchebag."

"Never thought I'd see the day," Dean laughs a little.

"Shut up for a second, huh?" Lou fires out, leaning against the glass wall of the phone booth. "Look, I've seen you with them both. Dean, you're a good father, a great father. And you're shockingly a good husband too… when you're not banging your wife's doppelganger."

"Fuck you, Lou…."

"Sorry!" Lou apologizes for the way it comes out. "I know you never meant for this to happen. And I know you're insanely sorry. I've never in my life seen Lizzy as happy as she was when with you and Sammy, not even growing up when life was rainbows and sans-monsters. You are what makes her life good, you and Sammy. I think dismissing you and giving up is the wrong move on her part."

"It is," Dean replies. "Thank you for seeing that."

"Now… before I stick my fucking neck out and possibly get my ass kicked by my very own sister for you, you better tell me why it is this thing is worth saving. Why was that night worth mentioning in your last-resort bouquet?"

There's a pause on the line, the silence taking over for a moment.

"Because without her I have no fucking reason to live the life I live," Dean admits. "Without L… what's the fucking point?"

"You have a son, Dean."

"And I will do everything in my power to stay alive and be there for him. I will never let that kid down, ever," Dean answers, his tone protective. "But I'll be living in misery if she's not with me. The thought of having to share Sammy… make schedules and, and be cordial when she drops him off with me for the weekend… that's makes me sick. I can't do that. I have to have her every day, as my girl, and not just as the woman I have to pretend not to think the fucking world of every time I see her. L and me… we're supposed to be together. And nothing can change my mind on that."

Lou keeps quiet, never having heard Dean speak this way before. Not once.

"That night… she was… I've never seen L like that," he explains. "She was stunning… and not because of the smoking dress she wore. And those heels, uh…."

"Focus," Lou says, getting him on track as she knows her payphone time is running low.

"She smiled for hours," Dean recalls, her teeth never hidden the entire night. "She was so fucking happy. And that night…." He stops short and takes a second to compose himself. "Lou, I'm not living without that. Call me fucking crazy, or selfish for wanting her for myself, but my life is worth dick if I can't have her. And I know, I know, that she's not gonna be happy unless she's with me either. You can't ever convince me that this isn't mutual."

This call requires a coin deposit to continue…

"Shit!" Lou says, reaching into her pocket to grab another quarter, coming up empty. "Dean, I'm out of change. I'm getting cut off."

"Yeah, alright…."

"We're gonna fix this," Lou promises. "I'm gonna do whatever I can… but you gotta come back and visit ASAP. I can only do so much."

"We can head back in a few days," Dean tells her, wanting some time to figure out the Bobby thing before he and Sam return.

"That'd be a good idea," Lou tells him. "Prove you're not done. Keep fighting. And see Sammy as much…."

Your call has been disconnected. If you'd like to make a call….

"Fuck," Lou complains and hangs up the handset with a slam. She gets out of the phone booth and hoofs it quickly to the bar, ready to drink and think for a second. She believes Dean one-hundred percent. Never in her life did she think she'd ever support someone that cheated, especially if they cheated on her sister and best friend, but there's an exception that proves every rule, right?

"Dinner is served," Lou announces at roughly eleven at night.

"About time!" Lizzy bitches as she gets up from the floor where she's been playing with a still awake Sammy.

"What the hell is he still doing up?" Lou asks as she shivers with the low temperature in the room. "And why is it freakin' freezing in here?"

"Sammy's thrown off from the very long nap he took this morning," Lizzy answers and steals the bag of take-out containers from her sister. "And the heat, I have no idea. Think it's busted and in this old building? I wouldn't be surprised."

"The thermostat's on?"

"Yep."

"Damn," Lou says, never taking off Lizzy' jacket. "I'll call Hal tomorrow if it's still acting weird.

"Thanks," Lizzy smiles and sets up on the coffee table in view of Sammy. "Ready to eat?"

"Always!" Lou cheers, sitting down next to her sister. They start laying out their food, stealing fries and pickles from each other as they do.

Sammy makes a noise of frustration and struggle from the floor.

"Poop time?" Lou questions.

"Nope," Lizzy laughs, watching as Sammy struggles to reach for the stuffed elephant toy a couple inches away. "Just can get to his current favorite toy."

Lizzy gets off the couch and onto the floor. She reaches out to slide the toy closer to Sammy but before she can even touch it the stuffed animal moves across the floor on its own and into Sammy's outstretched hand.

Eyes wide, Lizzy freezes in place. "What the fuck?"

She on her feet in a second, dashing for the front door stash of weapons.

"Whoa, what's going on!?" Lou asks, alarmed right away.

"The elephant moved," Lizzy says, a shotgun in one hand and a canister of salt in the other.

"What?" Lou wonders, standing quickly as Lizzy tosses Lou the shotgun loaded with salt rounds.

"I was going to give it to Sammy when it moved itself to him," Lizzy says quickly, making a salt circle around Sammy. She and Lou both step inside of it and Lizzy picks her boy up, resting him on her hip.

"Would explain why it's so fucking cold in here," Lou remarks, her eyes looking all around. "Figures we'd find a haunted house to rent."

"Alright! Whoever's here better have the balls to show themselves!" Lizzy yells out to the room, pressing a hand over Sammy's outer ear and pulling his head into her shoulder, blocking him from a shotgun blast if it comes to that.

Nothing.

"Come on, you coward!" Lizzy yells. "You're gonna touch my son then you better be ready to eat rock salt!"

"No exceptions for family?"

Turning sharply behind themselves, Lizzy and Lou come face to face with Bobby as he stands just a couple feet away from them, outside the salt circle.

"B… Bobby?" Lizzy asks, her eyes bugging out and her heart in her throat. It's him.

"Yeah, hon," he says, a slight smile in his voice as he looks right at her. "It's me."

"What…. I mean, wh… what…."

"The fuck, Bobby!?" Lou finishes for her. "You're dead!"

"As disco," he smiles, looking at Sammy with something just too sweet in his expression.

"We burned you," Lou keeps going as Lizzy's speechless for a moment. "Hunter's funeral."

"You did," Bobby nods.

The girls go silent as Bobby keeps his eyes on his grandkid, Sammy just looking around the room and not really aware of what's truly happening in the room.

"How's my lil' idjit there doing?" Bobby questions with a sweet, loving smile but gets ignored.

"Why are you here?" Lizzy asks, anger and fear mixing into an unsteady tone.

"What do you mean?" he questions right back with confusion.

"Bobby, what the hell?" Lizzy gets upset. "You shouldn't be here. You should be… why aren't you up top? With Karen?"

"You kids needed me," Bobby says simply, his hands held out to his sides. "So… here I am."

"Oh God," Lizzy sigh with his answer.

"Bobby, this was… this was the wrong decision," Lou tells him, backing Lizzy up.

He looks hurt immediately.

"We need you. Of course, we need you," she clarifies. "But you did your time. Life was… hard, Bobby. You didn't have it easy. Go live the sweet life now that you can."

"Go find Ash," Lizzy tells him. "He's up there and he figured out the heaven code. He can find Karen for you…."

"I stayed for you," Bobby nearly growls out, getting mad quickly.

"And we love you for that," Lizzy says, smiling with tears in her eyes. "You know we do…."

"Funny way of showin' it," the older man grumbles, getting more heated.

"We want what's best for you," Lou says, still trying to get through to him.

"And you don't think I want the same for you ingrates!?" he fires out, a light bulb from the lamp nearest him blowing out with his burst of angry energy. Lizzy, Lou, and Sammy all flinch with the breaking sound accompanied by the darkening of the room.

The two girls just look at Bobby with shock, unsure of where to go from here.

"You don't want me comin' 'round, then tough," Bobby keeps going. "I've given up everything for you. I gave up my life looking into this Levi crap so that you all could have a safe life away from huntin' someday. You don't want me comin' here then too damn bad!"

"That's not what we're saying," Lizzy cuts into Bobby's mad rant. She hands Sammy to Lou and very cautiously steps outside of the salt circle, standing in front of Bobby to prove she isn't afraid of him. "Are you kidding me with that? Bobby, after everything you and I have been through together… how could you possibly think I'd ever want you gone?"

"Then what's the problem?" Bobby grumps right back.

Lizzy's eyes fill and her throat gets thick. "We care about you. We want you to be happy."

"I ain't happy unless you kids are happy."

"Oh," Lizzy hangs her head and presses her hands over her face for a moment, the sight of the sickly, ghostly Bobby hurting her so much. She looks up at him with a tear-streaked face. "Please, Bobby. Just go. We care about you too much to let you stick around like this. Go find Caleb. Go find Ellen and Jo and tell them we're hanging in there. Have a fucking beer with John…."

"They ain't you!" Bobby's eyes darken and his fists ball up at his sides.

Lizzy tenses up and she can hear Lou inhale sharply with fear behind her.

"I love you," Lizzy cries, her eyes pouring down her face. "Don't be mad at me."

Without a word more, Bobby blinks out and disappears. The room warms up quickly and the two women look at each other.

"Damn it," Lizzy lets out, her eyes closing for a moment as yet another wave a tears rush down her cheeks.

"Oh holy fuck," Lou says with shock, watching Lizzy press a hand over her mouth as they both take a moment to think about what just happened.

"I need to call Dean. Lizzy rushes for her phone as her hands shake. When something this big, this wrong happens, she still knows who she can run to and trust to help.

Tapping her foot a mile a minute, Lizzy waits as the other line rings. After just two Dean picks up. He must have seen it was her calling.

"L?"

"I just got a visit from an old friend of ours," she tells him, her voice still shaky and choked a bit.

"Shit," Dean says away from the phone before coming back. "You saw Bobby?"

"How did you know?" Lizzy asks with shock.

"We just saw him for the first time too," Dean tells her.

"Oh God, are you guys ok?" Lizzy checks on them, knowing how difficult it had to have been for them. Bobby has been in their lives since they were young children. He was the father that their own father never had the capability of being once Mary died. He was far past important to them.

"We'll be fine… or at least better than you," Dean comments with a light, concerned tone. "You don't sound ok."

Lizzy pauses as she presses a hand over her mouth hard, trying to contain her breakdown so she can talk to him. When only a sniffle comes out instead of a verbal response she knows she gave herself away.

"Baby, I'm sorry about all this," Dean tells her, looking to comfort her the best he can from far away.

"I'm fine," Lizzy lies to him, wiping her face with her free hand. "I'll be fine… it was just… hard to see him."

"I know," he assures her. "Sam and I were just talking about what to do about him… and we don't know what. We're headed your way to discuss it. We figured it'd be best to look out for each other and make these decision together."

"You're coming here?" she asks, slightly sad at hearing that. She was enjoying the time apart to sort her head and think things through. It was easy.

"Yeah… that's ok, right?" he asks, getting the feeling that maybe it's not.

"Well, yeah. That's fine. Why wouldn't it be?" Lizzy once more lies. "Sammy's missed you. It'll be good to get some time in with him."

She can practically hear Dean swallowing down all the disappointment he has that she only mentions Sammy missing him.

"And it'd be good to see you too," Dean pushes it. Pushing it is all he has left. When things started to crumble he bit his tongue more often than not. It didn't work.

Lizzy just huffs awkwardly. Dean just moves on.

"Hey, uh, Bobby told us he's been holding onto that flask of his I took. That's what's tying him here," Dean starts thinking out loud. "But I have it with me."

"Ok…."

"So how the hell did he get to you guys?" Dean asks her. "If he's attached to an object and I have the object…."

"What made him able to jump your ship and board mine?" Lizzy finishes. "That's fucking weird."

"Never heard of that before."

"Me neither." She thinks it over quickly. "Let me do some digging. I'll see what I can find and Lou can search while I have to work."

"How's our patient doing?"

"Still passed out, just like this afternoon," she says. "I'm worried about him."

"He's an angel," Dean assures. "He'll be fine."

"But you're not here," Lizzy says back. "You don't see him just… laying there. For a week he's been completely out. I've never seen Cass look this vulnerable. Honestly it scares the shit out of me."

"We'll deal with it if he doesn't wake up in a while," Dean promises her. "We're not gonna leave him there… even if he deserves it."

"I don't know… I'm kinda having a hard time staying mad at the dude that's comatose because he took Sam's Cage-burden from him."

"Sam wouldn't have had that issue if Cass didn't break the wall in the first place," he angrily counters.

"I'm not so sure. Sam's wall was cracking before Cass busted it down in the first place. Maybe he just sped it up."

"He tried to end the world."

"He tried to end Raphael… for Sammy's sake," she gently reminds. "Cass is one giant ball of flaws but faulting him for that is just hypocritical. We're all a mess, just like him. We make mistakes and sometimes we have to fight to forgive."

Dean sees an opening and takes it. "You're right. We all make mistakes. Every single one of us."

And now Lizzy sees the opening she gave him. "Dean…."

"And sometimes we have to fight to forgive," Dean keeps going. "L, I… I made a mistake. I'm not a perfect person, in fact I'm as far from perfect as a person can get. But the word sorry doesn't even come close to showing the remorse I feel for what happened."

"We were crumbling anyways…."

"And we both let that happen," Dean says. "But I'll take the blame for that too. I don't care. Blame me for everything that's gone wrong between us. The rest is up to you, L."

When did this conversation turn into them again? Lizzy's so sick of talking about their problems.

"You just gotta figure out how to forgive me."

"Easier said than done," Lizzy comments quickly. "When do you think you and Sam will be getting here?"

Dean's heart drops when she moves on as quickly as possible. "Tomorrow. Should be in by five-ish."

"I have a late shift," she tells him. "I'll be back around eleven."

"I'll see you then."

"Yeah. Bye, Dean."

She hangs up and sighs heavily. At least he gave her nearly twenty-four hours' notice to mentally prepare.