A Good Thing

Ariel showed up with a plastic bag containing Abadon's arm.

Dean stared at the severed limb. "This is your plan?"

"The scorpions are created with his blood. The curse is often the key to the cure. We need to freeze blood and tissue samples and have some people analyze the rest before we burn it."

"Don't we need, I don't know, something else? Like one of the scorpions?"

"Yes. We'll need one alive. God only knows how long that'll take. But when we get one, we may have a way to quickly neutralize the threat."

"So, we're all going to be vulnerable until we can trap one of these bastards?"

"No."

"No?" Dean raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not expecting that answer.

"No. Not for those who choose the right side."

"The right side?"

"You're side, Dean. You're Heaven's champion, Heaven's prophet. Anyone truly siding with you will be immune."

"But everyone else? What, they're just fucked?"

Ariel fixed him with a hard gaze. "Basically."

Two years later…

Dean actually did have a title. He was a four star general and Commander of the Armed Forces of the United States. The United States still, technically, existed even though they called themselves the Alliance. Even though sometimes he thought it only still existed in his mind. But there were others that still held the dream that was their country close. Like his father, who would always be a Marine and hold himself bound by his oath to preserve the Union. John had gone to Washington after its destruction and managed to retrieve the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. While most of the cities flew the official stars and stripes, Dean preferred the Gadsden Flag. It was an early American flag with a yellow background and a coiled rattlesnake about to strike. Underneath was the motto "Don't Tread on Me." John approved since it had also been an early Marine motto and it fit the purpose of Sparta, which turned out some of the toughest fighters in the Alliance, only rivaled by the Marauders of California and the Marines of New York

Dean had aids, and thousands of people who referred to him as 'sir.' Practically everyone who came into contact with him did, and the ones who had military training even snapped off smart looking salutes. Everyone except Sam. He'd tried for a while to get Sam to call him 'sir', but he only glared at him incredulously instead. All the people that called him 'sir' called Sammy 'sir' too and even though in a weird way it made more sense to him than the respect he received himself, in another completely different way it was even stranger. Because part of him would always see Sam as his baby brother. The baby he'd rock to sleep on the nights that their father was too distraught to do more than see to their basic needs of food and shelter. The four year old who crawled into his lap and rested his face in the crook of Dean's eight-year-old neck. The pudgy little kid who insisted that Dean check under the bed and in his closet every night at bedtime, just in case.

Ariel started calling him Winchester after he took to calling her Lion Heart even though she was his sister in law and therefore, technically a Winchester too. Ruby called him Dean without any biting sarcasm coloring her tone, which was good since, as Mike's mother, she would always be a part of the family. But for his part, Dean never really got past everything she'd done to his brother. Apparently, those old wounds healed slowly. Like tectonic plates shifting. He supposed if they lived for another hundred years or so, they might be best friends.

Cassie occasionally called him 'sir' on the thankfully rare occasions when she was pissed off at him and it came off sounding the exact opposite of respectful. De called him 'sir' all the time and it was almost interchangeable with 'Daddy,' which he secretly hoped she'd never stop calling him. She followed orders unquestioningly. But only if they came from him. With everyone else it was twenty questions. She was eight now and two years ago she'd beat the crap out of a school bully because he 'hadn't learned his damn lesson yet' and kept bullying a kid that De had decided needed her protection. And Dean hadn't even been able to blame her colorful language on Sammy, who he was sure had cursed in front of the kid far more than he did. Cassie had called him 'sir' for an entire day after that. No amount of dirty diaper duty he performed on their new son had been able to soften her. She'd finally just let it go, and it helped that he'd gotten De to apologize, complete with crocodile tears that would have earned her an Emmy back in the day. But his girl had a strict sense of justice and a deep need to protect the little guy and he seriously doubted that would be the last time she'd defy her parents and the rules to do just that.

The sadness he felt at not being around much for the good times was tempered by the fact that Cassie usually got over things faster because she didn't want to argue the entire time she did have him around. Just as Ariel said, he and Sam were pretty much the front lines. The biggest problem they had by far was trying to defend people from the scorpion army, and damn if those mean sonsabitches weren't hard to kill. Fire didn't work (hello, Hell spawn numbnuts!), salt only made them moderately uncomfortable ('cause that would be too easy, right?), silver just pissed them right the fuck off and holy water burned them pretty badly but didn't kill them unless you could trap them in a vat of it long enough. Devil's traps held them but since they couldn't be exorcised, you had to figure out how to kill them all off once you trapped them. Blessed silver bullets killed them if you could get them in their tiny little fugly heads. Decapitation also worked. But live capture? He'd long since given up hope of that. They were about the length of his forearm and if the tails stung you, you were pretty much fucked if you didn't get help within an hour. Death was slow and lingering and they were still trying to figure out a way to counteract it or even manage the pain once enough spread to the soft tissues. Even for those of them immune to their sting, getting hit with their stingers still hurt like a bitch and could very easily lead to infection. Darth Sam was using them to leverage people into accepting the Pactum Magnus, an irrevocable decision, and his ranks were swelling. Fucking demonic scorpions.

Dean shook his head as he looked at the map spread out before him trying to decide where his attention was needed most. The demons had gained ground quickly in the beginning, but the humans were slowly but steadily pushing back now. He and Sam were only two people and they always, always, hunted together usually with Ariel until she got pregnant last year – now she insisted that either she or Sam was in the camp with their son. So she only went out scouting when Sam was home. John joined them on the east coast and Alex joined them on the west coast. Both brothers were happy with that because it meant that they got to see their father and Alex more than they thought they would, even if it was for hunts and their children couldn't come. And hunting it still was, because the enemy wasn't usually as blatant as a big chatty metal scorpion with a human head and dreads.

The war had gotten messier as time progressed. Ariel had been right about everything, including atheists taking up praying. Problem was a lot of people had begun praying to the wrong side. They worshiped Darth Sam, the demons and old gods like Ba'al and Ashtoreth that rose from the pit. A lot even sacrificed to them, and not their fatted calves either. No sir, they were sacrificing their first born children, parents, and best friends. Some were even having children just to sacrifice. They were offering themselves up as 'vessels' for possession. They were spying on the Twelve Cities for Darth Sam. Dean hated the collaborators even more then he hated the demons. There was just something especially evil about selling out the entire freaking human race, along with all the supernatural things that had sided with them against Hell.

His head snapped up as a familiar tingling in his spine pulled him out of his thoughts. Ariel was returning from a scouting mission he'd sent her on. He smiled slightly. He'd missed her, more then he cared to admit. Not as much as Sammy, though. The kid was always an irritable bitch when she was gone.

There was a soft knock on the door.

"Come," he said briskly.

His new assistant pocked his head in the door. "Sir, Ariel Lion Heart has returned."

He smirked and resisted the urge to tell the kid to tell him something that he didn't already know. "Send her in as soon as she reaches the building. Have you seen Enoch around? Or my brother?"

"Enoch is still shoring up the defenses along the eastern border and your brother is at the academy, sir."

Scorpions had gotten into the camp yesterday. They'd lost two people. Enoch had found a break in the ring of intertwined traps surrounding the camp. And Sammy was at the academy… likely beating the hell out of the new recruits. Dean almost felt sorry for them. "Thank you, Bill," he said by way of dismissal.

The young man left the room quietly and closed the door behind him.

Dean? Ariel's here. He heard his brother's voice in his head and smirked.

Don't you know how to use the damn walkies, Sasquatch? Yes, I know Ariel's here.

He felt more than heard his brother laugh softly. This is better than the walkies, man. I'll be right there.

He didn't have long to wait before Ariel walked in, shorter than him by a hair but still imposing in her long black fitted duster, katana strapped to her back. "Winchester," She said with a slight smile.

"Lion Heart. Sammy's on his way."

She fell casually into the chair across from his desk and put her feet up on the edge. "I feel old," she sighed.

Dean laughed. "You look about twenty five. And at least you're not gettin' gray hair." He ran a hand through his, remembering all the times he'd given John grief over the gray in his beard. His father would just laugh and tell him to wait ten to twenty.

She smirked. "I've been on that motorcycle for about three days straight. I need a long hot bath. With lavender scented bubbles."

"You're such a girl," he mocked gently.

She snorted. "Whatever."

Sammy entered the small office, out of breath and still wearing the sweats he'd been sparring with the in. When he came close enough for her to catch a whiff of him, Ariel wrinkled her nose. "Whoa, you need to bath more than I do."

He huffed out a breath as he backed away. "That's why you're not getting a hug."

"Don't want one till I get you into a shower."

Sam gave her a smile that was a little too lascivious for Dean's taste. He liked it much better when he could embarrass his kid brother about sex. He could always make him blush like a school boy back then. Now, after two years of marriage, Sam was almost completely immune. And utterly shameless about how healthy his sex life was. "The two of you can take all the showers you want. After you tell us what's going on."

Ariel cleared her throat. "Two of the cities have decided that they will allow slavery. Three others think that's just fine with them, or at the very least that New Sparta doesn't have the authority to make one of the other Twelve Cities follow it's laws unless the city agrees."

"Fuck! Haven't these idiots heard of the Civil War? The fucking Emancipation Proclamation?"

"I tried everything I could think of, short of threatening to break the Alliance."

"Maybe the damn thing needs breaking!" Dean was pissed. Were they fighting Hell and Darth Sam just to turn around and enslave each other? Wasn't the whole damn point of all this freedom and free will?

"Dean… one fight at a time. Saving humanity from Hell has to take priority over saving it from itself. We make this a deal breaker, and the Alliance will fall apart. And we'll all be alone and isolated. Darth Sam will win."

"We'll still have seven cities."

"The only ones we can truly count on if the Alliance weakens are New York, California and Florida. Opposite corners of the country. They're too far apart to really draw strength from each other because there'd be no way to get reinforcements to them in time in the event of a serious attack."

Dean had done that on purpose. Each of the cities in hands of people he personally trusted – including this one – was within two or three day's drive of two of the others. But the downside was that they weren't close to each other. Getting from on to the other would take a long, dangerous cross country drive dodging monsters that had precious few weaknesses, demons and those freaking creepy scorpions. Not to mention roads that were starting to completely go to pot, especially in the Northern states.

"Much as I hate to admit it," Sam spoke up, "she's right, Dean."

"I'm always right," she shot back automatically. Sam just rolled his eyes but made no comment.

"What does Dad say?"

"You really have to ask me that question?"

Dean sighed and rubbed his eyes. "Guess not."

"Besides, I can't repeat any of it. I don't use that kind of language."

"Never thought I'd say it, but life was so much easier when all I had to worry about was the next damn hunt. Slavery! Just thinkin' about it makes my damn skin crawl. Okay, fine. No slave trading between cities, and if a slave makes it to a city where there is no slavery, they're free."

Ariel smirked. "They're not gonna like that," she said, not sounding like she cared if they did.

"Well, that's just too damn bad. I'll try to remember to cry myself to sleep tonight over it. But New Sparta is the equivalent of the federal government since Washington went up in smoke with all our elected officials and we get to choose how the cities deal with each other as long as they're part of the Alliance. They can have their damn slavery for now till I can do somethin' about it. Till then, those are their restrictions. The second our evil twins are dead? Slavery ends and they are not allowed to withdraw from the Alliance. If they want to fight a second civil war against the Spartans, Marines and Marauders? That's fine with me."

"That's the other thing. They want representation."

"Tough," Dean snapped without a pause. "We're under martial law. Nobody gets representation. Next."

Sam cleared his throat. "I don't see the harm in letting them have some sort of council. Nothing too powerful, just too placate them."

Dean sighed. "I'll think about it," he growled out. "Anything else?"

"No. That's about it. How's Cassie?"

"Good. Nervous, but good. She was up at 4am cleaning and that's never good sign. Speaking of which, I probably need to get home before there's bloodshed." Cassie was in the last few weeks of pregnancy, and Johnny was just coming into his terrible twos. De was good at helping, but Dean felt much better when he was there. He didn't think spoiling his pregnant wife would ever get old.

Ariel figured it out by accident. If she hadn't actually moved, it could have had tragic results. De was playing around Sam's desk with her brother and cousins when one of them tripped her. The agile little girl managed to correct herself before she actually hit the ground, but she stumbled into the wall and one of the decorative swords mounted there fell. Ariel's first instinct was to run and grab her. Her second was to gently nudge the little girl out of the way with a mental push. She did both. The push didn't work and if she hadn't been so used to pushing herself through shock, she would have been stunned into inaction. Instead, she pushed harder just before her hand closed around De's wrist. But the girl was still in the same spot when Ariel reached her and pulled her away from the wall just in time to keep her from being impaled. Dean was not going to like this.

She cornered her husband as soon as he came into the office, making sure that the kids couldn't hear her from the other side of the room. "Sam… has De ever been around any Sons to your knowledge?"

He frowned at her. "You mean besides you?"

"Yes, besides me."

"No. Why?"

"I need to know for sure."

"Oh… wait. There was that one we got to watch her while we saved you from the demons out in the desert."

"Azrel?"

"I don't know his name."

Ariel felt something cold wash over her. "He was my lieutenant. He insisted on coming with me. 'Baring witness,' he called it."

"Ariel? What is it?"

"I think he blessed her."

"That's good, right?" Sam sounded like he was confused.

Sam was right… it was good. Someone had to be the angel-touched, and it was good that she was found out so quickly. It was definitely an honor from the standpoint of Heaven (and that included the faithful Sons). Azrel most likely thought he was repaying a kindness. But being angel-touched meant a dangerous life, meant becoming a living weapon. Dean wouldn't like that, wouldn't want that for his daughter, and Ariel couldn't blame him. It wouldn't matter that it only worked with someone who would be formidable anyway, someone who was born to be a warrior, that as a high ranking Son and a warrior himself, Azrel would have seen the potential in De. He would have rightly judged that her rectitude would be a reasonably safe bet from seeing her father's. Dean wouldn't see any of that. He'd just see that Heaven had apparently picked his child to be the one person in creation who could kill the antichrist. And Ariel could only see what a target it would make a child that had become almost as dear to her as her own.

She heaved a sigh. "I don't think your brother's going to think so. Remember what I told you? About the angel-touched?"

The first year she'd been in the camp, Dean kept his distance after he'd offered his condolences on her first night. Only saw her in passing and never interfered with her business. Then at some point during the second, Lisa started tending bar at the only watering hole in town. They started talking again and it was easier laughing with her than it was with Cassie. Not that he and Cassie didn't still have fun, and not that he didn't love her so much that being separated from her was damn near physically painful. No… it was just that so much of his time with his wife was always so significant it was nice to just have some light conversation and a laugh or two with someone that got him at the end of a hard day.

Being with Lisa was the opposite of stressful. Lisa was also opposite of Cassie in general. In a lot of ways, Lisa was a lot like him and it was easier to find common ground.

"It's like livin' on a military base."

Dean snorted. "It kind of is a military base, Lis. Shouldn't be so tough for you. Easier to find your type, right?" He threw her a casual wink as he took another sip of beer. It was past closing time and the bar was mostly empty.

"Yeah. Maybe ten years ago this would've been a dream come true. But now… I don't know. I kinda want what you have."

"A wife?"

She laughed. "No… I mean, a family. Someone to come home to instead of memories."

"Ben was a great kid."

"He was the best. I miss him so much. I really don't know how I survived losin' him."

Dean looked away. He couldn't bear to see her pain. Couldn't even stand the thought of losing one of his children. He knew he'd never survive it. He reached out and cupped her cheek. It was just meant to be comfort. She leaned into the touch and turned her head enough to kiss the palm of his hand, her eyes on his. Open and inviting and he knew that he could have her if he wanted.

Dean stopped himself mid-thought, realizing that they'd stepped into dangerous territory. He pulled his hand away from her face. "Look… Lisa. I can't do this. I love my wife."

She looked away and cleared her throat. "Yeah. Okay. I'll, uh, see you around."

It was awkward for a while after that whenever he went into the bar and she was tending rather than Ellen or Jo, but eventually it wasn't anymore. He'd only been with Lisa for one weekend, even though it had been one of his more memorable flings, so he was sure that he could handle it. Until he had his first fantasy about her. It wasn't so much a fantasy as it was a flash, a quick pornographic image in his head that left him half aroused and half nauseated.

He left the bar and walked out into the brisk autumn night. He didn't even realize where he was going until he ended up at the land tables, the place where Sam and Ariel liked to hang out. He pulled out his Sat. phone and called the only person he could think of.

"Hey, Dad. What're you up to?"

"Playin' teethin' ring for your little brother. Seems I'm the only thing Jack likes to chew on."

Dean snorted. "Sounds familiar." Now that he had John on the phone, he couldn't think of how to say what he needed to. The silence stretched out between them for a few seconds.

"Dean? Everything alright?"

"I don't know, Dad." Dean sighed and went silent again.

"Son?"

"Is it possible to ever be friends with a woman?"

"You askin' me?" John chuckled. "I'm not exactly Mr. Popularity, son."

"But you had friends, Dad. Especially before… when you were married to Mom."

"Yeah." He heard his father take a deep breath, heard Jackson babbling in the background. A small part of Dean wanted to resent the baby. He was part of John's 'new' family. But he couldn't. Jackson was his family too, and he was just an innocent kid. "Sometimes it's possible. But attraction is a funny animal. When you're married, you gotta be careful. It's way too damn easy to do something you can't ever take back. So tell your Daddy about the mess you've gotten yourself into."

Dean snorted. "You remember Lisa?"

"The girl you thought mighta had your kid?"

"Yeah. Well, they found her two years ago. Her son died. She's tending bar for Ellen now and…" Dean trailed off again, bit his lip. He suddenly wasn't sure calling John was the wisest choice. The last thing he wanted was for his father to be ashamed of him.

"Please tell me you haven't actually done anything, Dean."

"No! Dad… I'll admit that we came close once. I stopped it but… dude, I just had this urge to bend her right over the damn bar. I mean, I have fantasies about other women all the time, but never anyone I know. And it's always just, you know, nothing. This wasn't… this wasn't nothing."

"Then stay away from her."

Dean was silent for a while as he thought that through and realized that he didn't want to stay away from her. He wanted… he wasn't sure what exactly he wanted. But staying away wasn't it.

"Tell me what you're thinkin', kiddo."

He took a deep breath. "That it's easier to talk to her."

"Course it is. She's not your wife. You don't have nearly as much invested in how she feels or what she thinks or if she's happy. There's no stress, no kids, no decisions that need to be made. Which is what makes it so dangerous. You want a stress free relationship? Hang out with some guy from the military. Buy De a dog. Don't go lookin' for it with a woman that's not your wife, 'specially not one you've already a good time in bed with."

"Yeah. Yeah, you're right."

"'S why I'm the Dad, son."

Dean rolled his eyes and chuckled. "You know what old man? I'll talk to you later."

"You'd better. And Dean… you got a good thing goin'. Don't screw it up. No matter how good any relationship with this woman turns out, I guarantee you'll regret it."

A/N: Alright. I've been naughty. I've been very bad about updating my stories lately. I apologize. Part of the problem is that I was entering a writing contest and have been totally consumed with editing. I'm done with that now (phew!). And I know that I didn't mention Abadon again, but I promise that he'll be in the next chapter.

Thanks, lotchness! I'm glad you enjoyed it and I hope you like this update.

Hi Cassamy! Glad you love Ariel and Sam together. There will be more of them in the next chapter. And I'm also glad you're enjoying evil Dean. Even though he's a very bad boy, he's very entertaining to watch.

Welcome to my story, Lilykep. I hope you continue to enjoy it!

-Angie