The reunion was not going the way Dean had anticipated.

On his way to Bobby's place, he had envisioned meeting the people he loved again. Laughing with Bobby, hugging Sam, and kissing Piper until he forgot his name.

The first problem was that Sammy wasn't there. And apparently hadn't been for a while. Bobby told him that Sam wasn't answering Bobby's or Piper's calls. Where the hell was his younger brother?

The second problem was that Bobby attacked him three times before believing that he was who he was. Which was irritating, but understandable and not that big a deal in the long run.

The third problem was that Piper wasn't in the kitchen with him.

"Where is Piper?" he asked, trying to be casual.

"Uh, out back," Bobby said hesitantly. He sat down across from Dean. "Listen, Dean, let me talk to her before you do. She's been through a lot."

Dean frowned. "So have I, Bobby. She'll be happy to see me."

"Oh, I don't know. I think she's going to be pissed off something fierce."

"Why would she be mad that I'm back?" Dean pushed his chair back and stood, already walking out of the kitchen. "I'll go find her."

"Dammit, Dean, sit down and-"

That was all Dean heard before he walked to the back door, opening it slowly and looking out.

She was pretty far out into the backyard, on a blanket. She was balancing on her left leg, her right leg up in the air, her left hand clasped around her left ankle, and her right arm pointing straight up. She was facing away from him, and he could see the dangle of headphone cords.

He frowned. She had lost a pretty significant amount of weight, and her hair was long and hadn't been dyed back to vibrant purple… It was in a very pale, lavender braid. What was going on?

He approached slowly, a smile spreading across his face as he heard AC/DC coming through the headphones that she had turned her head to drop. He had opened his mouth to speak when she beat him to it.

xxxxx

Piper sensed someone coming out into the yard, someone who wasn't Bobby. She didn't turn, just held her pose. Whoever it was approached slowly.

She turned her head enough that the buds nestled in her ears fell away from her. She slowly lowered her right leg, coming to a standing position on an inhale.

"Can I help you?"

"Piper, I'm back."

Her entire body stiffened. She turned around slowly to look at Dean. To look at something wearing Dean.

She felt rage start to pulse through her.

xxxxx

She was mad. She was really mad.

"Piper, baby, it's me, I got out."

Her silence was starting to make him nervous. Maybe should have let Bobby talk to her…

"I don't know what you are," her voice was soft, dangerous. She never broke eye contact, and she didn't move. They were close enough that he could touch her, but he liked all of his limbs attached, so he stayed still. "And I don't know why you're here for me," she continued, oblivious to his fear. "Maybe I exorcised the wrong demon, killed the wrong shifter." She shrugged. "It doesn't really matter."

She took a step closer, looking up into his face. "What does matter, though, is that coming to me wearing the face of Dean Winchester was a pretty big mistake."

He saw her tense, and before he could defend himself, she knocked him out cold.

xxxxx

Dean woke up in the kitchen, tied to a chair, watching Bobby and Piper argue.

"God dammit, Piper, I already did all the tests, and you know I'm not a demon."

"I know no such thing," she snarled. "Dean is in hell, Bobby, you don't get to just walk out of there. That's not Dean." She pointed at him.

"Yeah, I am, Pipes, and-" Dean was cut off when she backhanded him, tears shimmering in her eyes.

"You keep that name out of your mouth when you talk to me," she said softly. She turned back to Bobby. "I want both of you to take the tests. And if you won't, I'm shooting both of you and moving to Canada to take up bird-watching. I'm not kidding, Bobby, do it."

When they had both been sliced with a silver knife and had holy water splashed into their faces (Dean was getting pretty damn tired of people hitting him with holy water), Piper sat down. She was pale and drawn, silent, just watching as Bobby slowly untied Dean.

Bobby stood back up and made his way to the front door. "I'm going to leave you two alone to, uh, talk. Piper, don't kill him again."

When the door slammed shut, Dean turned to look at her. She wasn't looking at him, so he took the opportunity to study her. He wasn't pleased. She had more scars than he remembered, and she had definitely lost weight. She was still the most beautiful thing he'd ever laid eyes on, but she looked… Harder.

"Piper?"

She turned to look at him, and her eyes looked lost. Dean wanted to pick her up and carry her away, but thought that touching her might be a mistake. "Yes, Dean?"

"Are you okay?"

A ghost of a smile touched her lips. "Not remotely." She took a deep breath. "How did you get out?"

He decided on honesty. "I have no idea, I'm just grateful."

She shook her head. "You don't understand. You were in ribbons. I was too scared to

touch you, I thought you would break apart." Her voice broke in the last word, and tears started to fall down her cheeks. The urge to take her in his arms was almost overpowering. He wrestled with it for a moment, and won.

"I don't know what's going on. I should look like a Thriller reject."

She turned away again, then sighed and stood. "Okay, then." She seemed to gather her thoughts. "I guess I'll go make up your and Sam's room."

He stood and blocked her way to the rest of the house. "Kitten, look at me."

She did, her chest heaving. "What?"

He reached out to touch her arm and she jerked herself back. "Don't," she asked softly.

He frowned. "Piper, what is it? What's wrong?"

She laughed harshly, and he winced. What had happened to his girl? "What's wrong? What isn't wrong, Dean? You went to hell. I saw them drag you there myself. I stood at your funeral. I have been grieving for four months, I've been going crazy, and now you're just here, in front of me, real." She took a deep breath. "I just need a second to adjust, Dean. I was…" she looked down. "I was trying to move on, to deal with you being dead, and now I don't need to, so I just need a second."

This wasn't what he envisioned when he saw her again. He had expected her throwing herself into his arms, he expected her to hit him, he expected her to cry. He hadn't expected her to not want to touch him. "Is there someone else?" he asked softly, angry.

She stilled, then looked up at him, furious again. "You… You think you died, and I jumped into bed with the first person who asked?" Her voice was low and dangerous again.

He saw the hit coming this time and caught her arm as she swung at him. "I swear to God, Piper, if you hit me again-"

She yanked her arm away from him. "Screw you, Winchester, you don't get to tell me what to do." She shoved past him and walked up the stairs. "Make up your own damn bed."

xxxxx

Piper was laying on her bed again, staring up at the ceiling. She hadn't moved since she had slammed the door on Dean.

Dean. How was he back? How was she supposed to react? Did she kiss him for being back, did she hit him for leaving?

Bobby had knocked about an hour earlier, asking if she wanted to come down to eat. She had stayed silent, not trusting herself to speak. She might burst into tears.

She was laying in the quiet, willing herself to calm down, when Dean started pounding on the door.

"God dammit, Piper, enough. Let me in."

She frowned at the door. "Go away, Dean."

More pounding. "No, Piper, let me in, we're going to talk about this." She was silent. "Piper," his voice was rough with warning, and she tried to ignore the shiver it sent through her. "Open this door, or so help me I will break it down."

She fought with herself. She shouldn't give in to his demands, it was a terrible precedent to set now that he was back.

She stopped. Dean was back. He was back, he was everything to her, and she hadn't lost him. She could be angry later, but for now she wanted to see him, to touch him, to show him how much she had missed him.

She stood, unlocked the door, and opened it slowly. Her breath caught as she looked at him, angrily staring down at her. He was beautiful.

She stepped back to let him into the room, not taking her eyes off of him as she closed the door. The tension skyrocketed, she could feel every frustrated move he was making down to her bones. She wanted him.

"What do you want to say?" she said softly, meeting his eyes. She watched their green depths darken, and his body shifted. She trembled in anticipation.

xxxxx

"What do you want to say?"

Dean looked at her, the frustration thrumming through his veins quickly turning into a different kind of tension. She was still too thin, she had a scar under her right eye that they were going to have a serious talk about, but he way she was looking at him set him on edge.

"Piper," he growled, taking two long strides to her. He grabbed her at the waist and pushed her up against the wall, her arms going around his neck with a soft cry as he kissed her hard.

He picked her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as he set her up against the wall, hands kneading her ass. He was desperate for her, he was drowning and she was the only way to breathe.

She was running her fingers through his hair, whimpering into his mouth and grinding herself down onto his cock. "Dean," she moaned into his mouth, tugging at his hair to tilt his head back so she could run her teeth against his neck.

"Christ, Piper," he gasped. He picked her up and turned around, tumbling onto the bed with her in a tangle of limbs.

He pulled her shirt off even as she was tugging at his. "Pants," he said roughly as he reached behind him to pull his shirt off. He stood briefly to unbuckle his jeans and rid himself of them, eyes glued to the sight of her naked and waiting for him to come to her.

He fell back onto her, nuzzling her neck and pushing his hand down to caress her core. She was already warm and wet, and he slid a finger into her easily. Her back arched and her nails scraped down his back, making him dizzy for a second.

"Dean, God, please, now," she gasped, biting his shoulder hard.

He moved between her legs and entered her roughly, then stilled. "Christ, you're tight," he murmured into her ear, relishing in the gasp that earned him. "This is going to be rough, kitten," he growled as he started moving in and out of her.

She cried out, writhing beneath him. He sat back and put his hands under her knees, adjusting her angle, and started pounding into her. She pulled the pillow out from underneath her head and covered her mouth with it, but he could still hear her muffled cries, and they were driving him to the edge.

He moved his hand down and moved his thumb in tight circles on her clit, watching her clench and cry out in response. Her orgasm seemed to last forever, pulling him down with her. Ecstasy tore through him, and he collapsed on top of her, nuzzling her neck as they both came down.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and clung to him. "Welcome home, baby."

xxxxx

They spent two days in bed while Bobby tracked Sam down. Piper suspected that he was giving more time together, he probably already knew where Sam was, and she was grateful.

She had just snuck down to grab leftovers out of the fridge, warmed them in the microwave, grabbed two forks and ran back upstairs. Dean was sitting on the bed, his back against the wall, blankets around his waist. She was distracted for a moment by his bare chest, then kicked the door shut behind her and joined him.

He pulled her close and she went willingly, curling into him and handing him a fork. "Spaghetti," she told him, laying her head on his shoulder and enjoying her position for a moment.

They ate in silence, his thumb rubbing circles into her lower back. Once it was gone, she added it to the pile of dishes and silverware they had acquired. Dean ate like he was starving, and she found herself starving more often than not, too.

When she came back to him, he lay on his back and settled her on top of him. She went to lay her head on his chest, but he tilted her head up with a finger under her chin and examined her face.

She smiled at the scrutiny. "Like what you see?" she teased.

His thumb ran across her cheek, touching the scar under her right eye. "Where did this come from?"

She closed her eyes and leaned into his hand. "Shifter in New Orleans. He almost got me, thank God for Garth."

He stilled and she opened her eyes to see him glaring at her. She laughed as he asked, "Who is Garth?"

She leaned forward and kissed him, purring with satisfaction when he responded. "Not a threat to you, caveman," she murmured against his lips. "He's a friend, a really good friend. He helped me a lot while you were… Gone."

He sighed and pulled her down for another kiss. "Piper, what happened while I was gone?"

She nestled her head under his chin, unable to look at him while she said this. "I got a little reckless. I hunted pretty much nonstop until Bobby sent Garth to help. Garth convinced me to slow down a little." She thought for a second. "Which was a good thing, because I'm lucky I didn't get seriously hurt. That vampire nest in Odessa wasn't my brightest move."

"You… You hunted an entire nest… Of vampires… By yourself?" he rumbled underneath her, clearly irritated.

"Yes, and I'm fine." She lifted her head to look at him, her hair spilling onto his chest. "It was stupid, but I did it, and I'm fine."

He groaned and tilted his head back. "That is both the dumbest and hottest thing I've ever heard."

She grinned as he looped an arm around her waist and rolled her until she was under him. "Hottest thing, huh?" She started nibbling on his collarbone as he let his hand drift down, his fingers starting a familiar rhythm on her clit.

"My Piper, in black leather, walking into a room full of vamps with a machete?" He smiled and bent down to lick the side of her neck, his fingers causing her to arch her back. "Very sexy."

She was laughing. "Dean, I wasn't in black leather," she protested, feeling the words 'My Piper' down in her soul.

"Don't ruin this for me woman, hush," he admonished as he kissed his way down her stomach.

She hushed.

xxxxx

Piper was deeply asleep when Dean had his first nightmare.

He was on his back and she was laying on his chest when he started moaning. She woke up groggy, trying to figure out what was wrong. He had broken into a sweat and was starting to thrash.

He tensed, and she moved just in time to avoid his attack. He lunged at the spot she had been in just after she flung herself away, landing on her ass on the floor. He seemed to shake himself awake, breathing hard and trying to take in his surroundings.

She stood and slowly approached him, hands held up. "Dean?"

His head swiveled to look at her, a haunted look in his eyes.

She slowly lay a hand on his shoulder, giving him plenty of time to move away. "Dean, baby, are you okay?"

He turned quickly and crushed her to him, burying his face in her neck, his chest still heaving. She wrapped her arms around his neck and scraped her nails lightly against the hair at his nape, cooing nonsense into his ear.

He pulled her back with him soundlessly, still wrapped around her desperately. She held him, still whispering soothingly, until he fell into a fitful sleep.

He lied. He remembers hell.

xxxxx

Hi, everyone! Here's my notes:

I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or the characters. (heartbroken)

Reviews and comments give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.

If there are any mistakes in continuity, canon, or geography, blame me.

**Sometimes, the characters do things that make me so happy I squee. That's what Piper did in this chapter.