That Drags You to the Ground:

"No… No real changes since the last time we talked… At least none that I can tell," Toni quietly said into her cell phone while completing yet another lap around Sam's bed.

"Well in all honesty Toni that's actually pretty troubling. I don't see any swelling or bleeding on the brain in any of the scans and even though the gash on his head sounded like it was pretty bad before it was stitched up there's no signs of a skull fracture… Which in of itself is really good… But it all means that I can't think of any good reason why he'd still be in a coma. Has…? Has this maybe happened before?"

Toni swallowed hard then turned her back on Sam's sleeping form hoping that she could lie more convincingly by not looking at her comatose boyfriend. "Umm… I'm not really sure… But I could check with Bobby to be certain. Umm… Would…? Would that make a huge difference?"

"Again I really don't know, but if he has a history of these episodes it could mean it's being caused by something else other than the blow to the head. Either way… If he doesn't wake up soon… Well… Okay I know you come to me to stay under the radar so there'll be no questions asked and all about…"

"God that is really unfair of me to keep doing to you. I so sorry for that," Toni interrupted while feeling her stomach churn under a ball of guilt.

Her friend laughed then replied, "Toni I wasn't trying to guilt trip you and you know that I wouldn't help you out if I minded, but I'm just saying that if he doesn't wake up soon then you might need to take him into the hospital… You might need to get him double checked just in case something's come up that I missed, even if it means compromising whatever mission you're on right now."

"Yeah… Yeah okay that all makes sense. I'll talk to Bobby and we'll make sure that we do what's best for Sam, I promise. Thank you so much for all of your advice and… Well everything. Seriously, you have no idea how much I appreciate what you've done. Really Doc you're the best."

"Wow…"

"What? What? Did you find something on the X-rays?" Toni shouted in near hysterics.

"No, no those are still clear. But Toni… I… I never thought that I'd hear that again."

"Hear what? Me being grateful? I do thank people on a regular basis you know."

"No," he replied with a chuckle. "No nothing like… It's that tone in your voice. After Will's… Umm… After the last time I saw you, I thought that you had lost it forever."

"Lost it? What…? What tone are you talking about?"

"The one you use when you're talking about someone that you really… Uhh… Care about. This guy… Umm 'Coma Guy'… He's reeled you hook, line and sinker, hasn't he Annie?"

Toni hesitated for a heartbeat, no sure which emotion was going to win out right now; embarrassment at being found out or annoyance at being teased like she had been when she was a teenager again. Before she replied, Toni stopped and turned around which left her looking down at Sam. "Yeah… Yeah, he sure has." When she heard the dreamy tone she was using, Toni quickly added in a petulant sounding, "Clarence.

"WHOA! Whoa! Warn a guy that you're going to pull that out when you're on speaking phone! The wife and kids still aren't privy to that Intel and I really don't want to shatter the illusion they have of me being suave."

"Kids…? Like plural? When…? When did you and Jane have a second baby?" Toni sheepishly asked with a hot blush spreading over her neck and cheeks.

"About two years ago… She had our third a few months ago," he replied with a calm, serene tone that said he knew how embarrassed Toni would feel at not knowing about his family and that he wanted nothing more than to ease that pain.

"What? How did I…? Oh…" Toni sat down by Sam's feet during her revelation. "Maybe if I didn't just blow into town, demand that you fix me up and then take off right after then… Then maybe we could have had an actual conversation by now and I would have found about your growing family. God, I'm so selfish… I'm so sorry Doc. I'm a horrible friend."

"Hey now Toni… You don't have to apologize. I promised Alex and Will that I'd help them to keep an eye on you a long time ago. If it bothered me I would have just changed my number so you couldn't get a hold of me. I'm happy to help you when I can, you know that so don't doubt it, okay?"

"And you've been nothing but an awesome friend to me. My… They'd be more than grateful… Really… And… The next time that I'm on the left coast, I promise that I'll come by for a proper visit with you, Jane and the kids before I get all bloodied up."

"Or you could be more careful and not almost get yourself killed the next time that you're out this way," he tease with a gentle tone.

Toni smiled and fought the urge to cry by lightly replying, "Yeah I guess I could try that too… But this IS me we're talking about, Doc. The klutziness gene is imbedded in my DNA, remember?"

Doc couldn't help but laugh at Toni using the line he had come up with to tease her during her youth. "Too true Toni… But yeah, a proper visit would be great. Jane would love to see you again and Danni has grown a lot since Will's… Since the last time we saw you. But I'm serious, if your guy doesn't wake up soon; you hurry out and get a second opinion, okay? Promise me that you will."

"Okay, I promise you that I will… On both counts. Thanks again Doc, you are a complete life saver."

"I try my best because, let's face it, I can't keep my job if I lose all my patients."

After Toni had her phone tucked away in her pocket again, she got up and knelt down by the head of the bed. She gently pushed back Sam's hair off of his forehead then placed a gentle kiss on his lips before whispering against his ear, "Please wake up Sam. I really don't know what else I should do to help you. Please, please, please wake up."

Sam didn't move at all except for his constant slow, steady breathing so Toni kissed him one more time then got up off the floor. Before leaving the room, Toni made sure to check that the IV bag was dripping like her friend had explained it should be and even though everything seemed to be working properly, she still didn't want to leave Sam alone.

She finally stepped into the hallway and closed the door as quietly as she could even though there was no one to disturb with the noise. Bobby found her with her back against the door, lightly banging her head against it with her eyes closed. She was taking in slow deliberate breaths, looking like she was trying to keep herself calm while he watched her for a few moments and then he made sure that all of the grime was wiped off his hands and tucked his rag into his back pocket before gently tapping Toni's shoulder.

As soon as he touched her, Toni jumped slightly and opened her eyes. Bobby had a feeling that the news she had just received wasn't the best, so he gave her a sympathetic smile saying, "Why don't we go sit down while you fill me in on everything Doc said? I think we might even have some rum left."

Toni forced herself to smile but only nodded as Bobby took her arm to lead her into the living room. He left her to find a seat while he went to mix her drink. Toni was so dazed that she nearly sat down on the couch by Dean's feet, but quickly diverted her course to the table beside the couch. Bobby was still having to be the go between for Toni and Dean, but given their close quarters, he hadn't had a chance to pull either of them aside to try to knock some sense into either of them. So far he found that if he didn't attempt to force Toni to acknowledge Dean that she would still dish a plate of food for him at meals (although Bobby had to carry it over to him) and the snippy remarks were kept to a minimum between them, which Bobby could live with for now.

He placed the drink he had mixed for her on the table behind Dean as he sat down across from her and then kindly asked, "So what did Doc have to say Toni?"

In preparation of her impending tale, Toni took a large swallow of her drink then said, "He… He doesn't see anything on the scans and stuff that would be of any concern. From what he could tell there's nothing that should be keeping Sam in a coma… At least nothing medically should be…"

Bobby scowled but couldn't reply because Toni continued, "He suggested that we take Sam to a hospital if things don't improve soon."

Dean completely tensed up in his seat, but he swallowed his comments to wait for when he got a moment alone with Bobby to voice his concerns in order to keep from becoming a stronger target for Toni's wrath. Toni didn't let her eyes wander over in Dean's direction by just focusing on her hands that were wrapped around her glass. Bobby stopped himself mid-motion as he tried to reach across the table to take her hand replying, "Toni I don't know if it would be safe for us to take him to a hospital right now."

Toni nodded then quietly said, "Yeah I know, but… Umm… That's the update that I have… I know that it isn't much, but at least now we know the trauma isn't too severe, but we still don't know why Sam would be out and all… And from what I described there's no signs of infection on his scalp, which again is a good sign."

"That's true Sweetheart. Thanks again for having Doc take a look at all of it for us," Bobby offered while finally finding the courage to take Toni's hand across the table to squeeze it as an offer of support.

"It's no problem." Toni stood up abruptly and then announced, "I think I'll go check on Sam again."

Once she was out of the room, Dean twisted around and gave Bobby a look to which the older hunter replied, "Hey, I told you to apologize to her. Until you finally do, you should just get used to getting the silent treatment from her."

*****
Later
*****

"Do you really have to go? Can't I do this for you?" Toni asked with her arms crossed over herself to hug her torso tightly while hoping that she wouldn't have to beg Bobby to stay because she didn't want to left alone with Dean.

Bobby shook his head opening his driver's door replying, "I'm not just getting that part we need to fix the stove, I also need to talk to a few people to find out what they've found out for us. I know you're pissed off at Dean and you have every right to be, but I can't not do this because…"

"We have to find out more about the Leviathans," Toni finished for him with a meek, somewhat apologetic tone. "I know that you do but… Umm… Drive safe okay?"

Bobby ran his palm over the side of Toni's head then cupped her cheek replying, "I'll do my best. Now you… Just… Don't kill him before I get back, okay?"

Toni laughed sadly then replied with a sarcastic smile, "I'll try my best."

When Bobby got the phone call that prompted his somewhat hasty retreat from the cabin back to the real world, Toni had been in the middle of making lunch so once she got back inside she returned to doing just that. Dean tried to keep his movements to a minimum to keep Toni from noticing him and almost held his breath while she worked in the kitchen. Now that Bobby wouldn't be around, he figured that if Toni couldn't see him then she wouldn't have any reason to get mad at him. For the most part, Toni was content to just pretend that her boyfriend's brother didn't exist, but she knew that his injury had rendered him almost completely immobile, so she figured that it would be cruel of her not to bring the plate of food she had fix over to him now that Bobby wasn't going to be around to do it for her.

Dean tried his best not to show his disappointment when Toni placed his dish on the coffee table, but she caught his long, almost inaudible sigh none the less. As she released her grasp, practically dumping the plate onto the table now, Toni took in a deep breath then said through clenched teeth, "Yeah I know… Vegetarian again, but without a functioning stove my options are fucking limited. If you don't like it then you're more than welcome to play chef." She stood up to turn and look down at his casted leg with an unfriendly smile on her face that he could only see in profile. "Oh… That's right… You can't. So I guess it's either this or you starve."

Before she could turn and walk away, Dean caught Toni's hand in a lax grip. She stared down at where he grasped her wrist then offered him her best steely glare in response to his action. The look that Toni gave Dean seemed to be enough because he quickly released his hold on her and diverted his gaze to the floor. Toni stomped off to the kitchen to get her lunch while Dean remained stationary and closed his eyes as he silently cursed his stupidity.

He listened to Toni nearly hyperventilating as she stared down at her plate and then quietly said, "I'm sorry."

Toni whipped around so fast that she had to catch her plate before it fell to the ground asking, "What?"

Dean swallowed then tried again with a little more volume, "I'm sorry."

"For what? Being an ungrateful asshole?"

"For starters," he replied while visibly flinching. "I know we… You can't use the stove right now without risking blowing this place up or anything, so I shouldn't complain about the meals that you've been making for me."

Toni turned her back on him to hide the shocked look she was sure was on her face and then swallowed hard around the lump in her throat to hoarsely reply, "Bobby should have it fixed in the next couple of days."

She slowly picked up her plate, hoping that she wasn't shaking as badly as she felt like she was, before walking towards Sam's room to eat in relative peace. "And…" Dean called out, stopping Toni in her tracks. She slowly turned to face him as he said, "And for what I said in your truck. I might have been out of line."

Shit! Bobby just left and we're going to have THE fight? She looked down at her hands and then thought I should probably put this down so that I don't throw it at him. It would be a shame to waste food.

"Actually I think that it's more like you WERE completely out of line," she replied once her plate was on the coffee table. She gave the couch a long, lingering look but decided to remain standing away from Dean just in case things got too heated between them.

"Yeah, maybe. But Toni you have to admit that from where I was sitting, it did look kind of like you were going to run away."

Her jaw dropped, Toni knew that it did, but she did nothing to try to hide her astonishment before sharply retorting, "Actually I DON'T have to admit that. In fact, I don't HAVE to do anything but eat, drink, sleep, shit and breathe to stay alive, fuck you very much."

"No that's not… Damn it… I didn't…" Dean closed his eyes again and pinched the bridge of his nose saying, "I just… Fuck, I just wish I knew what to say to make it so you don't hate me be…"

"And I just wish I could punch you in the face," Toni commented quietly over the rest of Dean's statement.

Dean's eyes shot open, but the look on Toni's face held absolutely no humor in it at all. He slowly lowered his hand from his face and then extended both arms out, palms up replying, "Well I'm sitting right here, so go right on ahead if it'll make you feel better."

Toni stared at the floor, clenching her fists open and closed a couple of times as she took in a long, deep breath and then said more to herself than Dean, "No… No… Will and Alex always said that you never kick someone when they're down. Only bullies fight dirty like that."

"And you're not a bully…" Dean almost questioned, but made sure to make it sound like a statement when he saw the pissed off look on Toni's face when she looked up at him. "Right, you aren't. Fine. Look… What can I do to get you to forgive me?"

Toni huffed loudly then answered, "You could try genuinely apologizing to me."

"I'm sorry," he stated as humbly as he could. Toni raised an eyebrow as if to ask 'For?' to which Dean stumbled over his words saying, "Umm… For…"

When he trailed off with an unsure look on his face Toni shouted, "OH MY GOD! DEAN! You can't ask someone to forgive you if you don't even know what you're apologizing about!"

They both threw their hands up in exasperation then Dean quipped, "Look, I'm not really that good at this, okay?"

"AND I AM?" Dean swallowed audibly, but was smart enough not to verbalize his next comment. "It's because I'm the girl right? I'm supposed to know what to do here? Well, you're wrong! I'm no better at this then you are, you sexist pig!"

Toni turned on her heel and started towards the hallway, but stopped when she realized she had forgotten to pick up her lunch. Her sole intention of turning back towards Dean was to quickly grab her plate, but then she caught the look on Dean's face. She wanted to talk herself out of guiding him through the apology because she thought that he deserved to suffer for his insensitivity. But she had been working with her dad and his counselor to improve their communication skills, so she knew that she had the ability to fix this and really didn't want to be petty when they were hiding from a monster that had Bobby so spooked.

"Dean… It… It really hurt that after everything… After all of our talks… After I thought that we had become friends… After… Well… All of that you that would think that I would just turn my back on Sam like that when he needs me… Us…" Toni explained slowly as she pulled up a chair to sit by Dean's feet.

"Yeah… I get that now… But for some stupid reason I thought that it was true at the time. I mean after what happened… Umm… After you picked us up at the hospital, you just up and took off in the middle of the night, so I figured that that's how you deal with uncomfortable situations… You know, you avoid them by…"

Toni ran her fingers through her hair and once they reached the back of her head, she lowered her face towards her lap, tugged her hair out from her head and then let out a loud, guttural, wordless scream to interrupt the rest of his reasoning. "I WASN'T RUNNING AWAY!" She got up to her feet so that she loomed over the injured male then yelled, "I WAS JUST GOING HOME TO SEE MY DAD BECAUSE I REALIZED HOW MUCH I MISSED HIM! FUCK! WHY WON'T YOU BELIEVE THAT?"

Dean shrunk back a bit in his seat, completely wide eyed as he asked, "Realized? What…? What made you realize that you missed him?"

Toni had been geared up for a screaming match, but Dean's calmer question took her by surprise and she stumble back a couple of steps asking, "What?"

"You said 'realized'… That usually means that something happened to cause you to have the revelation," Dean explained hoping that he could keep this relative calm between them.

Toni tried to take another step back, but ended up sitting on the coffee table, effectively blocking Dean's view of the TV. Dean sat forward to grab one of her arms to keep her from falling backwards and then offered politely, "Or you don't have to tell me. It's okay. I haven't earned the right to ask."

Toni swallowed then then shook her head, so Dean quickly added, "Anyway, I'm sorry that I was an ass and thought the worst of you. I know that I was wrong now."

"No…" Toni whispered while still shaking her head. Dean tried to retract his hand but Toni quickly grabbed his wrist then lifted her head up with tears glistening in her eyes. When she realized she was holding his hand in both of hers, she dropped it and abruptly stood up explaining, "Dean… Look… I've been working on it, but I'm still not really good at all of this either." She paused during her pacing then motioned her hand between the two of them then continued, "I'm not really good at talking stuff out and all."

"You and me both," Dean agreed with a relieved sigh. It was progress, so he wasn't going to be anything but positive right now.

Toni couldn't help herself and chuckled admitting, "It's one of the many traits Sam says we share." She took in a long, deep breath then set her shoulders as she tried to explain, "At school Sam always wanted me to talk about my feelings because that's what he always did. I was never good at it… Will was the only person that I was comfortable talking to because he always got what I wanted to say without me having to actually spell it out. Alex… Well he only really like talking about his truck… Anyway because of Sam I found out that I can put my feelings into words… Just not in person… Well face to face is the hardest…"

Since Toni was talking to instead of yelling at him, Dean stayed silent and tried not to move too much. "The whole not talking didn't work for Sam and he really hated it when he woke up alone when he had gone to bed with me beside him, so I had to learn to compromise. Will suggested that anytime I couldn't say my feelings out loud that I should write him a letter instead… So that's what I started to do…"

"Like he did in Illinois," Dean said more as a statement than a question.

"Yeah," Toni answered as she sat down on the coffee table in front of him again. "And like I did before going home… That night. Sam and I have an agreement that it can't be considered running away if the other person knows where to find you."

Dean blinked slowly then said with his eyes still closed, "Which is why what I said was so… Hurtful."

Toni was nodding when Dean opened his eyes and paused momentarily when he saw tears welling up in her eyes. Since she was avoiding eye contact, he softly asked, "Toni? Are…? Are you okay?"

She just shook her head as the tears trickled down her cheeks. Before she replied, she laughed sadly but didn't attempt to dry her cheeks at all. "I'm fine." She raised her eyes to Dean and laughed again, more self-consciously at the concerned look on his face saying, "Really, I'm okay. I just forget how much I miss them until I talk about them."

"Your brothers?" He asked cautiously because he didn't want to upset her any more than he already had.

Toni nodded again, sniffled and then quietly said, "Yeah."

Dean didn't really know how to deal with a tearful Toni so he said the first thing that came to mind in a truly heartfelt tone, "I'm so sorry Toni."

After Dean finished his statement, they both stayed perfectly still. An uncomfortable minute passed before Toni finally raised her head again and tried to smile through her tears replying, "Thank you."

Suddenly with those two words the atmosphere seems to feel lighter in the room. They both could visibly breathe easier, but offered each other nothing more than an uncertain smile. They maintained eye contact then Toni tentatively said, "So… Umm… At counseling when Dad and I end up in tears we… Uhh… We usually hug it out… I… I don't really know what to do right now."

"Has it worked for you guys?" Toni frowned with an almost suspicious look, so Dean clarified his question. "The whole hugging thing? Has it been working for you guys?" She blushed then replied with a very quiet "Yeah" to which Dean offered, "Well if it ain't broke…"

Toni stared at him in disbelief, but he just smiled brightly and opened his arms as wide as he could while she asked, "Are you sure?"

Just as Dean moved his had to nod, Toni jumped off the coffee table and wrapped her arms around his torso. Toni let her arms fall gracefully around his waist as she buried her face into the flannel of his left shoulder. Her tears had started to subside, so she took in a deep cleansing breath through the layers of Dean's clothing. She was certain that the breath would help her to relax further into his embrace, but when she was hit with the all too familiar scent of motor oil, Gaultier cologne and male musk, it caused her to shudder into another onslaught of nearly violent tears.

Dean heard her sob and froze for a second then stroked the back of her head softly saying, "Hey… Hey… It's okay Toni… It's okay…"

"Get over here Chiclet! I've got something to show you!" Alex called out just before he hooked his arm around her neck and pulled her in close to his body.

Toni almost smiled thinking that it would just be one of his usual brotherly hugs, but when she found her face pressed into her brother's arm pit she knew that it wasn't an accident. It wasn't the closeness that bothered her, it was the moisture she felt that served as proof that her older brother had been out in the heat working on his truck for most of the day that she found so offensive. She waited until he stopped walking before she reared her fist back and landed a solid punch into his stomach, making sure that it would hurt. He doubled over taking Toni with him, but she was able to push out of his hold and stand up straight to pant in a few breaths of fresh air, away from the smell of sweat just beyond the layer of Gaultier cologne that clung to all of Alex's clothing.

As she tried to fill her lungs again, Toni panted out, "I… Fucking… Hate… You."

Alex laughed heartily, quickly pecked her cheek and then he tugged her hand replying, "And I love you too Little Sister. Now seriously, get your ass over here so I can show you what I've been working on."

The smile on Alex's face made Toni want to punch him again because he looked so smug, but then it shifted slightly and the only response she could utter was, "Alright Alex… What upgrade did you finish this time?"

Dean continued to pet the back of Toni's head, but his words got trapped in his throat as Toni tightened into strong fists around his shirt. She eventually pushed against Dean's chest to look into his face then took in a shaky breath to explain with an embarrassed tone, "Your cologne… It… It's the same that…"

"Okay… Whoa if I'm interrupting something…" a humorous sounding voice commented from the hallway furthest from the couch.

Toni and Dean stared at each other for about two seconds before she practically threw Dean's shirt at his chest. They both turned their faces towards the voice and suddenly Toni was on her feet running towards its source. She leapt into Sam's arms and simultaneously wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. Sam was too out of it to control such a maneuver, so Toni forced her weight back a bit to balance them but she didn't release him while Sam tried to find his balance.

Once Sam stopped wavering, Toni clasped her hands on his face to kiss him before replying, "Nothing!" She more felt Sam's uncertain glare than saw it causing her to say "Well nothing that can't wait." Toni felt Sam sway so she dropped her legs and pulled Sam towards the chair that she had vacated a long time ago saying, "Oh… Sorry… You must be hungry… Here, sit and have something to eat."

Sam stared down at the plate in his lap and looked up to protest, but his eyes stopped on the plate sitting close to Dean and asked, "You're eating vegetarian?"

Dean smirked at the shocked look on his brother's face then smugly replied, "What can I say? Toni can be a very persuasive woman."

The extra wagging of Dean's eyebrows caused Sam's jaw to drop in utter disbelief, but he wasn't able to reply before Toni rejoined them. She gently forced his mouth closed to place a soft kiss on his lips saying, "It's actually more of a survival technique. The stove's broken so it's either he eats that or he'll completely starve."

Sam glared at his brother, but Dean continued to just smile brightly as he put a forkful of salad into his mouth. Dean grimaced instantly when the food hit his tongue causing Sam to laugh to himself. He then leaned over, kissed Toni's cheek and squeezed her knee whispering, "Thank you."

She looked up and grinned then once her mouth was empty she instructed firmly, "You need to eat so you can heal. Now eat up Winchester."

Sam smiled, squeezed Toni's knee again then replied, "Yes Ma'am."

****************
A Few Weeks Later
****************

When Toni opened the door to the cabin, she immediately heard the sound of a power grinder filling the air. She entered slowly and surveyed the room, but after a quick sweep with her eyes, she saw no one in the room but Dean who was standing beside the couch. She waited until Dean raised his right hand and cut the power to the tool before she dropped her two duffle bags with a purposeful, loud thud.

"What the hell are you doing Dean?"

He jumped slightly then looked over his shoulder at the woman standing in the open doorway with her hands on her hips to flash her the signature disarming Dean Winchester smile. His eyes trailed down to the two bags that were now by her feet then coyly said, "Hey now… Is that any way to treat your artillery? A gun could go off pretty easily if you keep tossing them around like that."

Toni stepped towards Dean and waved her hands at the bags replying, "Never mind the weaponry Dean, Casper made sure that they were all stored properly and safely. Now back to my original question, what the hell were you doing with a freaking angle grinder?" Dean wasn't facing her by the time Toni got to his side and when she saw what he was fidgeting with she inadvertently shouted, "YOU CUT OFF YOUR CAST? ARE YOU INSANE?"

"Desperate times call for desperate measures Toni… It had to come off," he explained nonchalantly as he sat down on the couch to peel the plaster away from his skin.

"DEAN…! Dean… Stop!" Toni scolded him as she sat down in from of him and tried to still his hands. "Dean! If you take it off now you could fuck it up by re-injuring it or worse. Why…? Why would you do this? Do you want to be in pain?"

He stopped momentarily to lean towards her, causing Toni to swiftly sit up to avoid any uncomfortable physical contact, and pulled out a piece of paper that was almost trapped under her thigh. She took it slowly with a deep frown etched on her face as she unfolded it cautiously.

As she read the note's neatly written message: "BACK IN A FEW DAYS. I'M FINE. SAM" Dean informed her of news that sounded like it was of grave importance, "And he took my car."

Toni looked up at Dean, then her eyes moved towards the door replying, "I saw that your car was gone when I got back, but I… Shit… Shit… Triple shit!"

"Yeah," Dean agreed as he tried without much success to extract his leg from the cast. "And he's turned off his GPS…"

"How…? How do we find him then?" She asked quietly as she put the note back where Dean had found it.

Dean continued his struggle with the cast, so Toni gently stilled Dean's hands once again. This time she took over and tenderly pulled at the unyielding plaster saying, "I'll extract, you explain."

He smiled then replied, "I figure that I'll start at the convenience store he went to yesterday. I can't stop thinking that he must have seen something interesting there because he seemed a little weird… Well weirder than normal when he got back."

Toni nodded then tried to close his jeans over his leg, but gave up when the slit just kept reopening. "When you stand up, make sure you're really careful, okay" She instructed as she moved over to where they were storing their bags. When she turned around with his and her own bags draped over each shoulder, Dean let all of his confusion at this new situation show on his face. "What? You sure as shit aren't going after Sam alone… And I sure as fuck ain't letting you drive my truck with that half healed leg."

Dean scowled and tried his best to grab his bag's strap off of Toni's shoulder, but Toni easily caught his hand in both of hers to stop him. "Please let me help you Dean. I'll just be the driver, wherever you need to go… You can take point on all of the interrogations. Please Dean," She pleaded while maintaining a near death grip on his hand.

They stood there staring at each other then just as Toni was about to open her mouth to continue to beg Dean, he answered, "Alright… Two heads are better than one. Why don't you go pack up your truck while I change?"

She resisted the urge to kiss or hug him and just nodded while calmly saying, "Okay, I can do that. Thanks Dean!"

While she waited for Dean in her truck, Toni called Sam's cell knowing full well that it would most likely just go straight to his voicemail because she needed to try whatever she could to find him. "Hey Sam, I know that you say that you're fine… But I'm not. I'm worried… I'm scared… I… I don't need to know where you are right now, but I really do need to hear your voice. Just a quick call so I can hear for myself that you are doing okay… Please? Please Sam, just one call… And… Be careful."

"So we stop at the 'Gas & Sip' then we drive until we find him," Dean said as he slid into the passenger's seat without throwing so much as a glance at the driver.

Toni stared at her phone for a heartbeat and then shook her head to clear away any negative thoughts that were trying to invade her consciousness replying, "Right gas… Filling the tank up would be more than helpful."

Dean almost asked her if everything was okay, but he couldn't let himself get overly distracted right now. Toni seemed to be willing to compartmentalize and he was more than happy to facilitate that. He half expected her to argue when they got to the convenience store, but she just slipped out of her seat and moved over to the gas pump without a word. When she was done, she was waiting for him behind the wheel when he was finished and remained silent until Dean placed a newspaper on the seat between the two of them.

Toni picked it up and didn't quite get the significance of the article she was reading. Even with her doubts, she figured that Dean had read or seen something that she didn't so she tried her best to just swallow her confusion as she said, "Bozeman… That isn't too far from here."

"Nope, but before we get settled there we have to make a couple of stops along the way," Dean replied as he pulled out his phone and started looking up some information.

Toni opened and closed her mouth a couple of times, but didn't say anything before putting the truck into gear and moving out of the Gas & Sip's parking lot. They, or rather Dean, decided that it would be best for them to split up to hopefully cover ground faster. Dean ended up at the Coroner's office while Toni was assigned the library.

She wasn't entirely certain what she was looking for, but Toni was more than happy to wade through newspaper archives instead of having to deal with dead bodies. She kept the article that Dean had found as a reference of what she thought she should be looking for until she heard back from Dean.

"Is there anything that I can help you with today Miss?" A soft voice asked over Toni's shoulder.

She had found a few recent articles detailing similar incidents (and one about the same death as Dean's article) that their first clue in it, so the Librarian sat down and excitedly said, "Oh! You're looking into our potential serial killer!"

Toni started at her in a stunned silence for a moment then smiled as she confidently answered, "Yes Ma'am. I'm studying Criminology over at W.S.U and I'm making my specialty multiple or serial murderers."

"Oh well then this one should have everything that you're looking for in an interesting case."

Toni gave the older woman a questioning look, so the Librarian took her by the hand to lead her away from the table where she was stationed. Since the library worker seemed ever so eager to show her something, Toni followed her through the gate labeled "Staff Only" without any words of protest. She felt her phone vibrate a couple of times while she stood watching the other woman type on her computer to bring up some files, but she ignored the impending calls or messages to keep from being overtly rude.

Once she found what she seemed to be looking for, the Librarian's face brightened completely under a huge grin. "Her it is… I didn't think I would have deleted this files Miss…"

"Toni," the younger woman answered. This was met with a disapproving frown, so she quickly added, "Sorry… I'm just not used to having to use formalities… We all just use our first names in class and all."

"Oh, of course. Well in that case, I'm Barb. Now come on over here so I can show you this," Barb replied cheerfully.

Toni followed her instructions and slowly moved to a spot behind the Librarian's chair so that she could see over Barb's shoulder. On the screen she could see some scans of what looked like some rather old newspaper articles. She wasn't really able to read any of them because she was only looking at their smaller icons until Barb double-clicked on one of them to make it full sized.

"Lincoln… Like Nebraska?" Toni questioned quietly as she started reading over the article.

Barb stood up and motioned for Toni to take her place on the seat explaining, "Yes. They're from over a decade ago… At that time I was working at the University and all of the students couldn't stop talking about the murders… We all kind of got swept up in the craziness… But the most interesting part about all of it is that they mysteriously stopped almost as suddenly as they started."

Toni was halfway through the fifth article when she looked up and asked, "Just like that? They stopped? No more deaths?" The librarian shook her head then Toni asked, "There were no suspects?"

"None that were ever printed in the papers."

"Huh… And by any chance in the last…? Fourteen years, have you heard of any similar deaths between here and Nebraska?" Toni asked as she quickly clicked through the other scanned articles.

Barb shook her head again then replied, "No… At least not until the bodies showed up here…"

Suddenly Toni had a frightening thought, but she tried her best to keep her fear from showing on her face. She attempted to control her breathing with slow, shallow breaths, but held her last breath to keep from tensing up when the older woman took a few steps to stand behind her and placed a hand on Toni's shoulder. Toni's hand automatically moved to the small of her back and she cursed herself because she had locked up all of her weapons in her truck since she was JUST doing research at the library.

"And I've been trying to do a nationwide search for similar events between now and then to no avail," Barb continued as she squeezed Toni's shoulder.

Toni tensed unconsciously then asked, "What about anyone else that moved here that lived in Nebraska at that time?"

"No… No one that I know of… Then again, those really aren't records that a humble librarian would be able to access easily," Barb replied with a somewhat uncomfortable laugh. She felt Toni further stiffen under her grasp so she let go of her then moved around the desk to look at the younger woman. After a heartbeat she almost whispered, "You think it's me."

Toni stared at the harmless looking woman standing across form her and couldn't do anything but swallow hard. Barb looked genuinely shocked, but Toni knew better than to believe the wide-eyed, innocent look. Sociopaths could lie to you without a single flutter of their pulse rate, so she was sure that a homicidal preternatural monster wouldn't hesitate to play the role of a harmless librarian with her to try to fool her and lull her into a false sense of security.

She shrugged then tried to nonchalantly say, "Well you said so yourself, there have been no deaths like this pop up on the radar in the last fourteen years and you're the only one that was around both times."

"Toni," Barb scolded her in a sharp authoritative, almost motherly tone. Toni's face didn't change, so the librarian tried a different approach saying, "Toni, I'm a woman that's well over… Fifty."

Toni smirked knowing that Barb had shaved at least ten years off the age that was showing in the gray of her hair and wrinkles of her face then pleasantly replied, "I believe that women of any age are more capable than our society would like to lead us to believe that they really are."

Barb chuckled with a faraway look in her eye saying, "If this was any other situation I would be more than happy to hear a young lady like yourself advocating ideals such as that… However, given the circumstances, I hope that you understand why I won't be thanking you for the apparent compliment." She then took a couple of steps forward and placed her hands, palms down flat, on the desktop.

Toni looked down and saw Barb's oversized knuckles and gasped out a sad sounding, "Oh… Crap."

"I take it from the look on your face that you understand what this means," Barb softly said as she pulled her hands off the desk and his them behind her back.

"Yes Ma'am," Toni whispered. She scolded herself silently one more time before making eye contact and more confidently explaining, "I help out my Dad's friend every summer with her garden when I'm visiting him because she can't hold her tools due to her arthritis. There's no way that you could hold the weapon that hilled these men… I… I can't even… I sincerely apologize for my rudeness."

Toni got up to leave without making any further eye contact, but stopped when Barb gently grabbed her by the forearm. "I took no offense to it Toni. Although you sentiments were misguided, it's refreshing to hear that someone is trying to keep an open mind about potential suspects. Now… Would you like a copy of these articles?"

"Really?" Toni asked quietly. "Even after I accused you of…? Umm… Being a killer? You'll still give them to me?"

Barb was already behind her computer printing out a few of the files as she replied, "Of course I will. Hopefully the project that you're working on can help the police finally find this creep and that it will help you get a great job in law enforcement."

Toni took the copies that the older woman was holding then extended her right hand saying, "I'll try my best. Thank you so much for your help Barb. I can't even begin to tell you how much I appreciate your insight."

The Librarian smiled brightly and firmly shook the younger woman's hand happily replying, "You are more than welcome. Good luck to you."

As she exited the library, Toni finally pulled out her phone to check on the calls she missed while she was talking to Barb. She smiled softly when she saw that she had two missed calls with corresponding voicemails. Even though she had a good feeling that she already knew who they would be from, Toni still double checked her call log to see had placed the calls to her. Unsurprisingly the most recent one was from Dean, but her heart skipped a beat when she saw the earliest one was from Sam and not her dad like she had predicted.

Dean's message was short and directly to the point, "I know what we're hunting. Meet me at the motel."

Toni scoffed softly at the abruptness of Dean's voicemail and his assumption that she would remember the complicated formula for finding the motel where Sam would be staying. Of course the first thing that she did at the library was to look it up in the Yellow Pages and wrote down its name, so she did know where she would be going, but she still resented Dean ordering her around all the same. Luckily for Dean, Toni didn't have a chance to dwell on that resentment for long because Sam's voice followed Dean's message right away.

"Hey Toni it's me… I'm sorry that I can't tell you where I am right now, but I really am doing okay. I swear to you that I am… But… This is just something that I have to take care of on my own… Which really isn't a proper explanation, I know, but I'll fill you in when I get back to the cabin… Umm… Hopefully tomorrow. Please don't be upset… And I know… Dean must be pissed at my disappearing act, so I owe you big time… Anyway, I'm fine and I'll see you soon."

When the message ended, Toni was tempted to replay it to try to decipher the hidden context that she was sure was behind every word that he spoke. She was convinced that Sam wasn't telling her something, but she couldn't for the life of her figure out why he would do that right now, especially after the blunt promises they had made each other about maintaining absolute honesty between them.

She was just about to replay the message when her phone came to life against her ear and it startled her so much that she answered it without checking the caller ID with a sadly hopeful, "Hello?"

"Hey there Angel… Is everything okay?"

Toni exhaled heavily to calm her nerves before replying, "Oh… Hey Dad… Yeah… Everything's pretty alright. I'm sorry if I sound jumpy but this job sort of has me on edge for some stupid reason."

"A job has you nervous? Are you safe?" He asked while trying to keep his sheer panic from reaching his voice.

"Yes Sir, I most definitely am safe… In fact, Dean says that he has this one pretty much figured out and I'm just heading over to meet up with him so we can finish it up."

"Dean? Just Dean? You mean that Sam isn't travelling with the two of you?"

By this time, Toni had reached her destination so she found a parking spot and started scanning the surrounding area for any sign of Dean. When she couldn't find him, she flopped back in her seat and had a short debate with herself about how she should express her worries to her dad.

"Well Sir… To be frank and honest that's precisely what is causing me to be on edge. Sam left us a kind of cryptic note that he would be back in a couple of days and that was it. Dean and I managed to follow him here and Dean seems to know what this job is all about… Sam left me a voicemail saying that it's something that he has to take care of, but he won't give me details right now. I just… I guess I don't understand why he's being so secretive with me all of the sudden," she managed to explain without giving into any one of her conflicting emotions of sadness or rage too much. "Why…? Why would he do that to me Dad?"

The question seemed to catch both of them off guard, but Toni felt no regret about requesting her father's advice and assistance so bluntly. Fearing that Toni would want to retract her last statement, the Colonel waited a couple of seconds before he replied, "Angel? Do you really want my honest assessment of this situation?"

"Yes Sir, I do," Toni answered confidently and without hesitation. "This is… I mean… If you feel that you are able to shed some light on it and are comfortable sharing with me."

Her dad allowed himself to chuckle softly before he said, "Yes Angel I think I can and I'm happy to share. Now, you and Dean obviously found the same or close to the same clue that Sam had found for this mission… Now… If Sam says that it's something that he feels that he needs to take care of… Well then it sounds like it might be a bit of unfinished business for him to me… You know like back when Dean had to take care of that Shtriga in 'Something Wicked'."

"Unfinished business… So you think that he's hunted something like this before so he feels guilty that the same thing has started up again?" Toni clarified with the slightest hint of tears in her tone because she couldn't believe that Sam would shut her out during such a crisis.

"Based on the Intel you provided to me that would be my conclusion."

"Shit…" Toni sighed out before she could stop herself.

"Toni?" Her father asked in a tone that Toni wasn't sure if he was chastising her for swearing or if he wanted her to clarify the mild profanity.

"I'm sorry that I cussed Sir, but if you are in fact correct then I really can't get mad at him." Toni paused there and the Colonel almost jumped in to ask her what she meant by that, but Toni continued without him having to prompt her. "He gets a free pass for not giving me details if he's under emotional duress. Okay… I have officially stepped away from the edge now. Thank you for your help Dad. I love you so much."

The Colonel let out a surprised laugh then replied, "I'm always more than happy to help you out Angel. And I'm just a phone call away if you need me for any other reason. You make sure that you take care of yourself. I love you."

While she was saying her goodbyes with her dad, Toni saw a dark, 'Dean-like' figure as a show at one of the motel room's doors. Whomever it was quickly checked over their shoulders as if to check that no one was watching them and then they started to do something with the door lock, so she hastily put away her phone to rush over towards him before he could slip inside the room.

"Dean? What the hell are you doing?" She questioned in a hushed tone while she continued to keep an eye on the parking lot to ensure that they weren't being observed.

Dean pushed the door open then smiled and replied, "Sammy wasn't polite enough to leave us a key. Ladies first."

Toni frowned at him but quickly moved into the room to keep from drawing any further attention to them. Dean followed her and then closed the door, but before she could ask anything else they both heard the distinctive sound of keys jingling at the door's lock. Dean threw his finger to his lips to tell Toni to keep quiet even though she had already moved around the bed so that she would have a completely unobstructed shot at the door with her favorite handgun raised in a two fisted hold.

As soon as the door opened, Dean threw a violent right cross into Sam's face and Toni nearly screamed a shocked, "DEAN!" as he calmly stated, "Howdy Sam."

Toni threw her handgun onto a bed then she ran over to the door and pulled Dean back by the shoulders shrieking, "You are insane, aren't you? You are going to give him permanent brain damage if you keep pummeling his head like that!"

Dean flexed his fingers as Toni fell to her knees to check on Sam as Dean replied, "I thought that your Army friend said that his brain was fine."

Sam was too dazed to reply, so Toni glared at Dean saying, "That was then Dipshit… It doesn't mean that you won't still fuck him up!" She then turned her full attention to the injured man in her arms asking, "Sam? Are you okay? Can you stand up?"

He simply nodded to all of her questions, so she helped him to get upright onto his feet. Dean was already inside the room pacing which left Toni to help Sam move into the room all on her own. Sam groaned a few times, but he didn't seem to mind using the smaller woman as a sort of crutch even though their height difference made it pretty awkward. Once they were through the doorway, Sam bent over to whisper to Toni that he was okay to walk, so she released her hold on him and turned back towards the door in order to secure it properly.

"New rule," Dean announced to the room while Sam moved towards the kitchenette area. "You steal my baby, you get punched."

Toni remained by the door and threw her hands up saying, "Only time I've even driven the Impala was to bring it back to you, so don't look at me."

Dean shook his head at her attempts to joke them out of a fight and then turned to his brother sternly asking, "The hell were you thinking Sam…? Running off like that? I mean, for all I know, Satan could have been calling your plays."

Sam pulled out a can of pop from the fridge and then held it to his left eyes as he looked between his girlfriend and brother. Before he answered Dean he directed his commentary to Toni asking, "Hey…? Toni… Would you mind giving Dean and I a minute?"

She had to physically shake her head to clear her mind before she could properly reply, "Sure… Yeah… No problem. I'll just go and see if I can find you some ice for that eye."

Sam stepped over to her and just barely had enough time to peck her lips and say 'Thank you' before Toni slipped out the door and closed it. Toni felt too numb to function properly for a few minutes, so she ended up hearing Dean's muffled voice while he yelled at Sam even though she couldn't quite make out the words. Although she had been really close with both of her brothers when they were alive, she had been the only one out of the three of them that had ever had had a yelling match with either of them for any reason. She knew that Alex and Will disagreed on pretty much every aspect that two guys could have a differing opinion about, but they both seemed to just accept that because they were brothers that they wouldn't agree on everything without having to prove it to each other with an elaborate fight, so she never felt comfortable listening to anyone fight.

Toni finally managed to move away from the door towards the ice machine, but she realized as soon as she opened it that she didn't have anything to put ice into. The motel's office showed no signs of life, so she instead went over to her truck to try to find anything that might be remotely useful.

By the time that she emptied a plastic bag that had been filled with bullets and ammunition and then refilled it with ice, the voices in Sam's room were completely hushed and nearly nonexistent. After trying to see into the room more than once unsuccessfully, Toni finally knocked tentatively at the door. Sam answered it without saying a word and then they managed to maneuver around each other without having to say anything else.

After Sam was seated on a bed with the makeshift ice pack pressed to his face, Toni finally whispered, "Where's Dean?"

Sam thrust a thumb over his shoulder then answered, "In the bathroom getting ready for bed."

Toni nodded and then walked over to Sam so that she could pull him down for a kiss while she simultaneously picked up one of the pillows from his bed. He watched her with a frown on his face as she picked up his jacked in her other hand and then moved towards the ratty looking couch in the room. Toni smiled at him and tried to reassure him saying, "I'm the smallest out of the three of us, so I'll take the couch. Sweet dreams Sam."

The next day, just after Sam and Toni had bought take-out breakfast for the three of them, Dean informed them that they would be heading to Spokane for at least a day. Toni wanted to protest that they would be heading back to Whitefish, Montana instead of going further west, but she held her tongue because Dean was offering Sam the keys to the Impala to drive. Sam had traveled with Toni to give her the 'Cliffs Notes' version about why he had to do this last hunt alone and its eventual outcome and now she was more than ready for some alone time to collect her thoughts. She was pretty sure that she wasn't upset with Sam about not killing someone that had once saved his life, but deep down she knew that he had let a murderer go free. She wasn't sure that she fully sympathized with the reason why Sam's friend had given for killing the men that Toni had read about in the newspapers, so she was hoping to take this time to get her emotions in check before going everything with Sam more in depth.

Once they made it to Spokane, Dean abruptly left Sam to check them into the motel and again Toni wasn't inclined to argue with that decision. She was more than happy to find herself alone in a room, straddling Sam's lap with her lips caressing his without reservation or interruption.

Sam was the first one to break the embrace and the mood by pulling back to ask, "Really Toni? You aren't mad?"

All Toni wanted to do was continue kissing Sam until they completely lost themselves in the moment, so she stood up to get some distance from him. Sam let her detach herself form him with a worried eye and just watched Toni in silence while he waited as patiently as he could for her reply.

He braced himself for a thorough tongue lashing, but instead he heard her softly say, "No I'm not. It was your unfinished business that you needed to take care of and I respect that." Toni stopped halfway between the bed Sam was still sitting on and the door before adding, ""But that being said, I still wish that you had trusted me enough to tell me about it all before you pulled a whole Renegade Lone Gunman on me… I mean us."

"I know… I know," Sam agreed as he stood up and took a couple of tentative steps towards his girlfriend. "But when I left, I wasn't one hundred percent sure that I was right. That doesn't change the fact that I should have told you more. I know that I should have and I hate that I didn't."

Toni didn't make any move to stop him, so Sam took both of her hands in his then placed a soft kiss on her lips. While he was still holding their hands close to his waist, which was closer to being chest height on Toni, she unconsciously licked her lips while trying to regain her focus so that she could come up with some kind of coherent response.

"I hate that you didn't too," she replied softly. "But that being said, I DO completely understand why you did it so let's not over think it, okay?"

Sam smiled more easily, leaned down to kiss her again and then he pulled into a tight hug so that their torsos were completely flush. Toni let him continue to kiss her along the length of her neck and behind one ear and allowed herself to become almost completely compliant in his arms. While he was worshipping her flesh with his lips Toni almost let it go too far, but she came back to herself and managed to stop him before he could lift her off of the ground.

"Sam… Sam…" She breathlessly protested.

He dropped his hands to his side, but kept his body intimately close which made direct eye contact between the two of them practically impossible as he replied, "Shit… You are mad."

Toni stroked his forearms then kissed his chest through his shirts where she could feel his heat beating erratically as she reassured him saying, "No Sam, I'm not… But we don't know how long Dean will be gone for."

Sam leaned back and gave her another unsure look so she stood up on her tip toes to kiss his lips explaining, "You know that I've never been much of an exhibitionist, so I'd rather not have an audience while we… Well you know… You and Dean already have enough to talk about and I don't think you want to add the imagery of us… You know… To the list…" Sam opened his mouth to protest so Toni quickly added, "Plus I barely slept last night, so I'd like to catch a nap before Bobby gets here. I probably won't retain anything he's going to tell us later if I don't rest."

While Toni was still gripping his forearms, Sam took a step back and said, "Yeah, you're probably right. I should try to sleep too." They shared a sad smile then Toni turned away to walk towards the door as Sam called out, "I love you Toni."

She paused at the door and looked over her shoulder to tearfully reply, "I know."

After she closed the door, Toni held onto the outside door handle and closed her eyes while she regained her ability to breathe. As she started down the walkway to the motel office (because she knew she wouldn't be getting any sleep if she stayed in the same room as the brothers), Toni abruptly stopped and turned to stare in the direction of the Winchesters' room to decide if she had done the right thing or not with Sam. She was sure that she wasn't actually angry with Sam and yet she couldn't help but feel like she mistakenly left him with that impression.

Sam was still standing with his forehead against his room's door when he heard a soft knock rap against it. As soon as he had the door open, two hands met his cheeks and pulled him down for a kiss.

"I love you too," Toni stated resolutely while looking him straight in the eye.

They smiled at each other almost stupidly and then Toni pecked Sam's lips again before almost skipping towards the office.