Chapter 54

Sam woke up early the next morning both confused and concerned when he realized he'd been sleeping alone in his bed. He tried to tell himself that it was probably nothing to worry about, but he couldn't help but worry anyway. Once he rolled over, he noticed Jessie's spot hadn't even been slept in, which only made his worry more pronounced. He flew out of bed, hurriedly throwing some clothes on before flying out of the room and heading downstairs.

The kitchen was completely empty when he arrived there, not even a pot of coffee was brewed or in the midst of brewing. His next stop was the livingroom, which is where he found his wife. She was lying down on the couch, pillows all around, a blanket half falling off and her laptop had fallen off the couch and was now standing up against it, like it had fallen out of her hands as she fell asleep. He couldn't help but grin.

After rescuing her laptop from being stepped on—or kicked—he attempted to wake her gently, only to find her dead asleep. He tried again, a little less gently, but still wasn't able to wake her. It wasn't until Bobby walked into the room calling her name harshly that she finally stirred.

She groaned quietly before opening her eyes. Managing a smile at Sam before righting herself on the couch.

"What time is it?" she asked groggily.

"Around seven," he replied, sitting down on the couch beside her.

"Coffee?"

"Not yet," he replied with regret. "I was too busy looking for you. Why didn't you come to bed?"

She yawned loudly. "I was busy researching. I guess I fell asleep."

"How late were you up?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "I dunno. Maybe three."

He wasn't sure if he should let her know his concern about her lack of sleep, especially since she hadn't had any coffee yet. Instead, he decided to change the subject.

"What were you researching?"

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, immediately grasping for her laptop, which Sam had laid on the coffee table. She opened it, clicked a few keys then shut it and placed it back on the table.

"Not yet," she replied adamantly. "After I shower and have coffee."

He watched her leave the room with concern. As soon as he was positive she was upstairs he took her laptop and opened it. However, she had locked it with a password. He knew no amount of trying would get it unlocked even if he had hours or even days. She'd challenged him before and he'd lost. He knew this time would be no different.

After setting the laptop aside, he lumbered into the kitchen much more aware of how drowsy he still was now that the imagined danger of his 'missing' wife was over. He was going to start some coffee brewing, but Bobby had already beat him to it. So he sat at the table silenty to wait for the coffee to finish.

Jessie had come downstairs by the time Sam had finished his first cup of coffee. He smiled brightly as she entered the room, but she only seemed to have eyes for coffee. Once she had her cup, she sat down at the table beside him, taking a long sip before returning his smile.

"So, are we gonna talk about this case, or what?" he asked impatiently.

"What case?" Bobby asked as he laid the newspaper he was reading on the table in front of him.

She rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Couldn't this wait until after my first cup?"

He glanced at her apologetically. "I guess I'm just excited to get back on the road."

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "That sounds more like something your brother would say."

He shrugged his shoulders, glancing quickly at Bobby, who raised the paper in front of him once again.

"Okay. What's this about?" she asked impatiently.

"Nothing," Sam replied innocently.

"Bobby," she called questioningly.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he replied from behind his paper.

She was silent, pensive for a few moments, then suddenly a knowing look appeared on her face.

"I get it. You both think I need to get away from here for a while, don't you?" she asked rhetorically. "You're so desperate to get me away from here you actually think a hunt is a good idea for me. Am I right?"

Sam tried to avoid her intense scrutinizing gaze while Bobby continued to hide behind his paper.

She shook her head with derision. "Oh, well, I guess you both might be thinking twice when I tell you about this case."

Bobby kept his head behind the paper, but Sam's sudden look of concern gave him away.

"So, I was right," she stated knowingly. "Good. Then you have no reason to talk me out of this."

An awkward silence filled the room, until Jessie finished her cup of coffee which she proceeded to almost slam down on the table before leaving the room heading towards the livingroom.

"Maybe this wasn't such a good idea, Bobby."

"You asked for this, son. Now you're gonna have to deal with it."

He sighed quietly. "I can't win with that woman, can I?"

Bobby laughed. "You're only just getting that?"

He ran his hands through his hair in frustration, greeting his brother as he entered the room. He watched as he poured himself a coffee, then proceeded to sit down at the table in his usual spot. He was going to warn him about his wife's plans for them, but he decided against it when she appeared quite suddenly.

"Good morning, Dean," she said as she placed her laptop on the table before proceeding to pour herself another coffee. Once she was settled at the table with her coffee, she opened her laptop and began typing.

"Someone's in a good mood this morning," Dean commented, shooting her a smile.

"Of course," she replied, returning a smile. "I found us a case."

"It's about time," he replied happily. "Nothing like some coffee and a case to make a great morning."

Sam glared at his brother, making him shrug in response.

"Ok, so here's the deal," she began to explain. "I'm not a hundred percent positive what it is we're looking for, but I have a few ideas. I figured Bobby might be able to help me figure it out."

He placed his newspaper onto the table, gazing at her intently and silently.

"I had to go back a few months to put this together," she began to explain. "At first I thought we were dealing with Naguals." She grinned at Bobby who squirmed uncomfortably for a moment. "A newborn baby went missing, which is their M.O. However, a few days later they found the baby. It was dead, it's heart had been eaten but not the rest of it."

"Sounds more like a werewolf," Dean interrupted.

She rolled her eyes, gazing at him with annoyance. "Werewolves aren't in the habit of eating baby hearts, Dean. Besides, it wasn't the right time of the month."

"Okay, I'll shut up," he said as both Bobby and his brother shot him a dirty look.

"Anyway, a week after that, a pregnant woman was attacked in her sleep. At first they thought some crazy person had cut her open to take the baby, but after they did the autopsy, they realized the wounds weren't done with a knife, they were bite wounds of some sort."

"So, something ate the baby?" Sam asked with a horrified look.

"Apparently," she replied sadly. "And it wasn't the only one. There have been seven more of these attacks in the past two months."

Everyone went completely silent, Bobby breaking the silence a few short moments later.

"What do you think it is, Jess?" he asked.

She shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. All the lore surrounding monsters that eat pregnant mothers and fetuses is based in the Philippines."

"That doesn't mean that one of those monsters hasn't decided to vacation here. We've seen it before."

"I know," she replied. "Are you familiar with Filipino folklore?"

"I've browsed a little."

"Well, I thought it could possibly be a Matruculan. They usually kill the mother and eat the fetus. I couldn't find much about how to kill it, just the same crap copy and pasted from several sites. The husband of the woman must swing a balisong—a kind of knife—above the abdomen of the women while she's in labor." She snorted. "I don't know what that's supposed to accomplish, but I think I'd take my chances of some possible monster attack than someone swinging a knife over me."

"What else?"

"Then I thought it could possibly be a Manananggal, also known as a Tik-tik. They love the taste of fetus hearts, which they eat with a long tongue. But they don't eat live children's hearts, or kill the mother, so I'm pretty sure that's not it either."

"What's your best guess?"

"I think it's an Aswang. They say it's a combination of a vampire and a witch, and is almost always female. They say it looks like a normal person by day, but can shapeshift into an animal at night. Usually a large black dog, a boar, bat, cat or even a snake. They don't only eat fetuses, they also eat children and sometimes break into funeral homes to steal recently dead corpses, or break into homes to drink human blood. However, their favorite meal is fetuses."

"Have you checked any other news articles to see if any bodies had been stolen from funeral homes recently, or anyone complaining of being attacked by a vampire at night?"

"No, not yet. I fell asleep before I got that far," she replied slightly ashamed.

"Why don't you make breakfast while I do some research?" he suggested.

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance, but didn't argue with him. He was obviously worried about her lack of sleep, and probably about the case as well. If anyone else had suggested it she probably would've protested, or at least had a snide remark lined up. She also knew she wasn't going to win so there was no point.

"Fine," she replied, sounding as agreeable as she could.

The boys traded a look of amazement, which they tried to hide from her. However she did notice. She just chose not to say anything. Staying unpredictible would keep them on their toes. Besides, she was too tired to start or finish anything at the moment. And since Bobby had mentioned it, she was hungry. So she set to work cooking up breakfast for everyone.

After breakfast, Jessie sat down at the table with Bobby to discuss what he'd found and to help with additional research, while Sam and Dean were in the library searching through some old books. They found the same information as she'd found online, so there was nothing new, at least not in Bobby's extensive library.

"I definitely think we're looking for an Aswang," Jessie said to the brothers as they walked into the kitchen. "Bobby and I found a few news articles about bodies being stolen from funeral homes around the area where the pregnant women were killed."

"Uh, that's great," Sam replied with very little enthusiasm. "Now we know what we're looking for."

She narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. "Can I talk to you privately in the livingroom, Sam?" she asked, heading into the livingroom without waiting for a response.

When Sam entered the livingroom, she placed her hands on her hips in frustration, but the concern in his eyes lessened her anger. She dropped her arms back to her side, sighing loudly.

"What's going on, Sam?"

"What do you mean?"

"It's always one step forward, two steps back with us, isn't it?" she asked with frustration. "Well, you're not gonna talk me out of

working on this case."

"I wasn't gonna do any such thing," he replied innocently.

"But you're worried, right?" she asked. "You're not gonna lie to me, are you?"

"No, I'm not gonna lie to you. But you can't ask me not to worry about you," he said with frustration and concern. "You're gonna use yourself as bait to lure this thing, aren't you? Isn't that your plan?"

"Yes," she replied without hesitation.

"And you can't see how I might be worried about you and our son?" he said in a pleading voice. "Or did you forget it's not just yourself that you need to worry about?"

She glared at him furiously. "How dare you even say that to me, Sam. All I've done in the past few months was to protect him. I'm not gonna let anything happen to him."

"Then why would you be so willing to risk both your lives to catch this monster?"

"You mean, other than the obvious reasons? Like, that's my job?!" she replied sarcastically. "Our job is to save people. What kind of person would I be to allow some monster to continue munching on poor innocent unborn children?"

He took a few steps closer to her, wrapping his arms around her in a comforting embrace. The tears she was on the verge of spilling began to roll down her face, which she had buried in his chest. He began to stroke her hair lightly, until she pulled away just enough so she could gaze into his eyes.

"I'm sorry, Sam. I guess it just kinda hit home for me, being pregnant and all," she replied as she wiped her eyes.

He smiled supportively, brushing away a tear from her cheek with his thumb. "I'm sorry, too. I should've realized how something like that might make you feel."

"I guess that's why I couldn't sleep last night. Once I found that story I just had to find out what was going on. It made me..." she suddenly trailed off.

"Made you what?" he asked with concern.

She averted her gaze for a moment, suddenly uncomfortable. She didn't want to talk about the case that ended up with her so drunk she slept with Dean, but she didn't have much of a choice. "It made me think back to those poor children those vamps turned. We couldn't save them and it killed me."

His eyes showed his discomfort with the subject the moment she mentioned it, but they were soon full of concern instead.

"It was tough on all of us, Jess."

"I know it was, Sam. But it's worse when I think about it now," she replied, tears beginning to fill her eyes again. "All I can think about is how I would feel if something happened to our baby."

"Nothing is gonna happen to him," he said, pulling her into a reassuring embrace. "I'm not gonna let it."

She knew she was being overly emotional, but she couldn't help it. So instead of trying to fight it, she buried her face in Sam's chest and quietly sobbed until she felt better.

"I'm sorry for being like this, Sam," she apologized as she wiped tears from her face. "Being pregnant really sucks sometimes."

"Only sometimes?" he teased with a grin.

She rolled her eyes with a smile. "You wanna know one good thing about it?" she asked, waiting for him to nod. "I could slap you right now and blame it on my hormones."

He chuckled lightly, although his smile faded as she kept a serious look. It was only when she laughed that he was able to relax and laugh as well.

"I love teasing you, Sam," she said with a grin, placing her hand on the side of his cheek. "Do you really think I would do that to you?"

He smiled. "With you, anything is possible."

"I suppose that's true," she replied with a smile, then leaned in to kiss him lightly. "Thanks for making me feel better."

"Always my pleasure."

"Now that I feel better, I'm gonna head up to my room and pack. It's gonna be nice to go somewhere I don't have to wear a thick winter coat."

His look of concern returned as the subject once again shifted to the case. He knew he wouldn't be able to talk her out of pursuing the case and he wondered if she should even try. After all they'd spoken about, he now knew how important it was to her. However, he couldn't help but worry. He also knew there was no way he could hide it from her. He could only hope she would understand. And hopefully not hold it against him.

"Hey, don't worry so much, Sam," she said reassuringly. "I might not be great when it comes to dealing with demons. But monsters I can handle."

He smiled lightly as she kissed him once on the lips before leaving his embrace to head up to their room. However, his smile disappeared the moment she turned her back to him. It didn't matter what she said, he wasn't going to stop worrying. That was his right as a husband, and soon-to-be father. Nothing anyone could say to him would convince him otherwise.

He walked into the kitchen, interrupting a discussion between his brother and Bobby. He knew he'd interrupted it, since they stopped speaking the moment he entered, both of them glancing at him strangely.

"What's going on?"

They traded a look between each other before glancing at Sam once again.

"I hate to suggest this, Sam," Bobby began, "but I think you need to convince Jessie not to go on this hunt."

He snorted. "That's not gonna happen, Bobby. If you don't want her to go on this hunt you'll just have to tell her yourself."

"She won't listen to me, Sam. But she might listen to you."

He laughed derisively. "I just spoke to her about this and there is no way she will. And honestly, I don't blame her."

"Are you being serious?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, I am."

"Don't you give a damn about her?"

"Screw you, Dean!" he replied angrily. "You just don't want her to come with us, that's all."

"What are you talking about, Sam?"

"Do you think I'm stupid? I know you better than anyone. You don't want her with us because you're afraid she can't hunt in her condition. I've seen the disapproving glances and the eye rolls when she talks about hunting."

"Can you blame me? It's not just her ass on the line out there."

He shook his head in anger and frustration. "You know what, Dean? You can stay here. Me and Jessie can take care of it ourselves."

"Sam—"

Sam left the room quickly before his brother could say anymore. He wasn't upset that Bobby thought she shouldn't be hunting, since he was looking at it from a protective point of view. But he was upset about his brother. He figured that he was only thinking about himself and how it impacted him.

As he walked up the stairs he realized that he'd been much too harsh with his brother. He knew he wasn't being completely selfish, he did care about Jessie and he was sure that was his true motivation behind not wanting her to hunt. But after his earlier talk, and how she handled herself the night before, he was sure she could handle herself. He just couldn't stop worrying no matter what he believed.

"What's wrong, Sam?" Jessie asked as he walked into the room.

"Why would there be anything wrong?" he asked, trying to play innocent.

"Well for one thing, you're answering my question with another question," she replied.

"It's just Dean being Dean. Nothing for you to worry about."

"Oh, okay," she replied, turning her attention back to packing. "Would you like me to pack for you?"

"That would be great," he said with mild enthusiasm.

She smiled as she approached him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Your brother will come around."

"What?"

She laughed lightly. "I'm guessing, 'Dean being Dean', has something to do with me hunting. Am I correct?"

He raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "How do you—"

She placed a finger on his lips to silence him. "I'm not blind, Sam. And I'm definitely not stupid. I've noticed his attitude when I discuss hunting."

"And you're not angry?" he asked as he grasped her hand in his.

She glanced down for a moment before speaking. "No, not exactly. I told you before, I understand why everyone might have a problem with it. But besides not being able to fit in tight spots, I haven't had any issues."

"Try explaining that to him."

She smiled lightly. "I'll leave that to you. I have packing to do."

He sighed in resignation. "Wish me luck."

She kissed him for a moment before she went back to packing their things, leaving him no choice but to head back downstairs to confront his brother once again.

When he reached the kitchen, Dean was alone at the table cleaning his gun. He glanced up to acknowledge his brother's presence but went back to the task at hand without so much as a word. He sighed, unsure how to broach the subject with his brother again.

"Dean—"

"Sam, can we not have this discussion again."

"We are having this discussion again, Dean," he said adamantly. "I meant what I said before. If you're afraid she's not in condition to hunt then stay here, but I won't tell her she can't go. She's made up her mind and I'm not about to try and change it."

"I knew you were whipped," he replied with a sarcastic grin.

"That has nothing to do with it," he replied angrily. "As much as I didn't want to admit it, she's more than capable of hunting. Don't forget she's the one who saved your ass last night."

He snorted. "With your help."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Do you even hear yourself? You and I hunt together all the time. We save each other's asses."

"Exactly. Together."

"And what do you think we're gonna do on this hunt, leave her alone?"

He glared at his brother in response but stayed silent, returning back to cleaning his gun.

"Dean. I don't want her to hunt either. I'm scared something's gonna happen to her. But I can't keep her a prisoner, now can I? Besides, nothing's changed. Maybe you haven't noticed, but she moves just as agile as she always has."

He stopped cleaning his gun, gazing up at his brother questioningly. "Are you still trying to convince me, or yourself?"

He shook his head. "I'm fine with this, Dean. Besides, weren't we just saying that she needed to get away from here for a while? This is the way to do it."

Dean felt torn. While he knew Sam was right, Jessie was up to hunting. He still thought she shouldn't be. It wasn't because he was worried about his own ass, he was worried about his brother. If something happened to her, he wasn't sure what Sam would do, and he really didn't want to find out. But he had to admit, sticking around Bobby's house and waiting for demons to come knocking wasn't such a great idea either.

"You're probably right, Sam," he agreed.

He narrowed his eyes in suspicion at his response, but decided not to call him on it. He'd agreed—albeit reluctantly—and that was good enough for him. Although he didn't exactly feel like he'd won anything, he was glad the 'fight' was over.

It was only about an hour later when the three of them hit the road in the Impala. Jessie had put up a bit of a fight over taking Dean's car, but it was more for show than anything. She knew it would be best to take only one vehicle, and she knew Dean would never agree to take hers, but she had to at least try. Especially since the drive to Galveston, Texas was about nineteen hours from Sioux Falls. She wanted to be comfortable. Somehow she feared the Impala wasn't quite going to fit that category.

They managed to travel for four hours without interruption before Jessie finally made Dean find somewhere to eat. She'd brought some things to snack on, but it took a lot more than snacks to satisfy her hunger these days. And while Dean complained about stopping, he was just as famished as she seemed to be. Or at least he managed to eat more than she did, including two helpings of pie. She teased him about having sympathy hunger, which Sam had a great laugh about. Although Dean wasn't quite as amused.

The trio headed back out on the road for several hours before Sam suggested finding a motel so they could catch a couple hours of sleep. He wasn't so much tired as he was concerned that Jessie needed some proper sleep, not dozing off while sitting up in the backseat. And while she said she was fine, he insisted anyway.

She woke up a few hours after she'd fallen asleep with a heavy need to urinate. And although she needed to go badly, she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed, she was so warm and comfortable sleeping beside Sam. But after attempting unsuccessfully to fall asleep again, she climbed out of bed.

On her way out of the bathroom, she took a wild stab into the dark, her fist coming into contact with something solid. She'd assumed it was Dean, but she couldn't be sure until she heard him curse.

"What was that for?" Dean asked in a hushed voice.

"Don't sneak up on me in the dark," she admonished quietly.

"I wasn't sneaking," he lied. "I just needed to use the bathroom."

"Right," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "Are you sure you weren't testing to see if I still have my hunting instincts?"

"What? I would never do that."

She chuckled lightly. "Whatever you say, Dean. Just don't try that again or next time it might not be my fist."

He groaned.

"And next time it might not be your shoulder."

He snorted before shuffling into the bathroom and closing the door behind him.

She chuckled as she headed to the fridge, although she was quickly disappointed when she opened it to find she'd drank the last of her juice already and all that was left in the fridge was beer. She was going to get herself a glass of water from the tap, but decided against it. She wasn't really thirsty enough and it wasn't exactly what she was thirsting for. So she climbed back into bed, snuggling up to Sam who moaned as she made herself comfortable but stayed asleep. Closing her eyes, she could now smell his manly scent, which made her feel a familiar pull in her loins. She now wished she'd insisted on Dean having his own room. As difficult as it was, eventually she drifted off into a peaceful slumber.

Jessie awakened several hours later feeling rested. She rolled over to find the bed empty before opening her eyes and scanning the room. She spied the brothers sitting at the table speaking in hushed voices. It made her suspicious, but she wasn't paranoid—or at least she tried telling herself that. She did her best to ignore it as she headed into the bathroom to get ready for the day.

Breakfast was waiting for her when she got out of the shower. The boys insisted on eating it in the car since they were both in a hurry to get back on the road. And while she would've rather sat down and eaten a decent breakfast, she couldn't argue with them. She wanted to get to their destination as soon as they could as well. They needed time to canvas the town before it got dark.

After travelling for much of the day, with only a few quick stops along the way, they made it to Galveston by late afternoon. They grabbed a quick bite to eat before checking into a motel that was somewhat centralized to where many of the attacks had happened. Jessie immediately pulled out her laptop and began researching addresses of witnesses for the boys, so they could go and question them while she stayed in the motel. Normally she would've objected to staying behind, but she needed some alone time. After promising to stay in the motel, Sam and Dean left Jessie to canvass the neighbourhood.

As soon as she was positive the boys were far enough away, she headed down the street to a small diner and called Crowley on her phone. As hard as she tried to deny it, she needed what he had.

As usual, he had to tease, berate and trade barbs with her before giving her what she needed. At this point it was entirely usual. If he hadn't given her a difficult time she would've been worried. It was the strange and ominous warning he gave her that concerned her. But as always, he wouldn't elaborate so she stormed out of the diner after paying for her coffee and headed back to the motel room.

Once she was able to focus again, she began to continue her research until she exhausted every possible lead she'd had, and even some she came up with by accident. While she was positive she knew exactly what they were hunting. She wasn't exactly sure how to find it, or how it was choosing its victims. She didn't want to wait until it attacked another pregnant woman, she wanted to catch it before that happened. And although she was entirely willing to use herself as bait, she didn't want to if there was another way. She just couldn't see one at the moment.

It was about three a.m. when the boys sauntered loudly into the motel room, startling Jessie awake, who'd fallen asleep with her head on the kitchen table. Her first reaction was to reach for her gun, which was lying on the table beside her. However, Dean flipped the light switch on before her hand reached it.

"That's a nice look for you," he said with a grin, pointing to the red mark on her cheek from partially lying on a book.

She rolled her eyes, placing her hand on her cheek. "I'd say the same but you look like crap."

"Yeah, thanks," he replied sarcastically. "While you were sleeping, I was out canvassing all night. And don't forget who was up all day driving."

"Would you like an award, Dean?"

"That's enough, both of you," Sam interrupted wearily. "We're all tired and cranky. Can we give it a rest?"

"Of course," she agreed, looking at him with concern. "Did you find out anything?"

"Not really anything we didn't know already," he replied sitting down at the table beside her.

She stood up from the table, walked around to where he was sitting and began to rub his shoulders. "I think you just need some sleep, Sam. We can worry more about it in the morning."

He stood up, turned around, wrapped his arms around her and kissed her lightly.

"I think so, too," he replied with a light smile.

She returned his smile. "Good. Because I'm still tired. But I have to use the bathroom first."

"Hey! What about my shoulder rub?" Dean asked as she turned away.

She turned around to say something sarcastic, instead rolling her eyes and continuing her way into the bathroom. She was still too groggy to think of something witty to say, so she'd rather not respond at all.

When she came out of the bathroom, Dean was sitting on his bed taking his shoes off and Sam was already lying down in his bed. She hadn't really thought about it before, but she suddenly found it odd how both brothers were so used to sleeping in their clothes. In the past she'd found occassion to sleep fully dressed, but most often she at least put some comfortable pants on, she found it difficult to fall asleep in her jeans. Passing out from being drunk notwithstanding.

By the time she crawled into bed with Sam, he had fallen asleep facing away from her. She was slightly upset she couldn't crawl into his arms, but she was tired enough to fall asleep without worrying about it too much. In fact, she was asleep almost as soon as she was comfortable.

Jessie woke up just before the sun came up in the morning, waking before either of the Winchesters. After following her regular morning routine, she slipped out of the motel room to grab coffee and breakfast for everyone.

She was surprised that neither of them had awakened when she left, but even more surprised when no one awakened when she returned. Even after making plenty of noise setting the coffee and food down, neither of the boys woke up.

She decided to drink coffee and eat while researching, leaving the boys to sleep. She'd never known them to sleep in, but she figured there had to be a first time for everything. And she thought they deserved it. Especially Dean. He had been up almost a full twenty four hours, as well as stopping the night before that to sleep at a motel for her, even though it was the last thing he'd wanted to do. She may always give him a hard time—and vice versa—but she really appreciated everything he'd done for her.

Sam woke up shortly thereafter, just shortly before his brother. He used the time to steal a few kisses, which almost led to something Dean wouldn't have appreciated waking up to see. It took a lot of willpower on both of their parts to separate themselves. And even more willpower on his part to get into the shower alone. And by the time he was finished, Dean was awake and already eating the food she had brought for them earlier.

"About last night?" she asked when Sam sat down at the table to eat his warmed up breakfast. "Did you find out anything new?"

"No," Dean replied, feeling slightly insulted at being ignored. "Nothing we didn't already know."

"So all we know is the pregnant victims had only that in common and the dead ones had that in common," she replied. "What about the bitten ones?"

"Same."

"You mean there are no common denominators?"

"Not that we found," he replied. "What about you?"

She sighed in frustration. "Same."

"There has to be some sort of pattern to the attacks," Sam stated.

"What can I say, Sam. I couldn't find anything," she replied with irritation. "Check the maps if you want. I marked every attack we know of."

"Is there at least a centralized area?" Dean asked as he got up to take a look at the map on the wall.

"Nope," she replied tersely.

He scanned the map, noting she'd posted the news articles with a color code to show how each victim died. It was then he realized how much she had in common with his brother. She'd always been eager to research, just like Sam, but he'd never really noticed that about her. He wasn't sure why. But he now understood why they seemed so well suited for each other.

"This map makes the attacks look completely random," he remarked.

"I know," she replied with disappointment.

"I guess we've got our work cut out for ourselves this time."

"Yeah, I guess we do," she replied absentmindedly.

He laughed teasingly. "Looks like you and Sam will be in heaven."

She turned to Sam, who rolled his eyes at the same time she did, causing them to giggle lightly.

"What's so funny?"

"Well, Dean," she began, a devious grin on her face, "since we're delegated to the research, I guess you get to be errand boy."

"What?"

"Yup," she replied, grinning brightly. "Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. Coffee. And whatever else we need."

Sam laughed. "You talked yourself into that one, Dean."

He groaned before standing up from the table, mumbling something about 'not fair' and 'two against one' as he headed into the bathroom. It only caused the couple to giggle at him, which caused him to slam the door a little harder than he normally would have.

"I guess you'd better get your laptop out, Sam. We're in for a lot of researching," she said, after she stopped laughing.

He reached out his hand, gazing into her eyes. "I hope it's not all gonna be work."

Remembering how close they'd gotten into doing something with Dean around earlier she pulled her hand away slowly with an embarrassed smile. "Maybe later. But right now it's time to work."

"Yeah, ok," he replied with disappointment. "Work."

She turned her attention towards her laptop hiding a smile.

A/N: Sorry it's been so long since an update, but I've been struggling with things. I'll try to do better.

Thanks for reading!