A/N – This chapter takes place during the episode 'What is, and should never be'. I originally wasn't going to write out this chapter because I didn't feel like inserting Lady made it very original, but I wanted to show Dean's closure after Lady's death. Also, I thought so soon after Lady's death she'd still be on his mind a lot. I hope everyone is okay with this, and I'm writing it with the expectation you've seen this episode and know what is going to happen at the end so there is no big cliff hanger.
As for the resurrection of Lady, as long as people are reading/reviewing I'm going to do it. I'm not going to create a new story, I'll just continue adding chapters. I'm not a fan of having the same story split up into several stories. While I polish up future chapters enjoy this version of one of my favorite episodes in Season 2. Share the story with your friends/forums/communities if you think others will like it!
April 15, 2007. Joliet Illinois
Sam flipped through pages of an old book, tapping his pen with a frown. After they handled the haunting in the Arkansas prison he had hoped Dean would give them a break. Stop at Bobby's for a few nights, check on their old friend. But no. Dean was committed to keeping his emotions bottled up. They were working a new case with several missing persons.
Sam dialed Dean's phone. "Hey, I think I know what we are dealing with here," Sam said.
"Yeah? What?" Dean asked.
"A djinn," Sam answered.
"You're kidding! A freaking genie?" Dean laughed.
"I don't know about that," Sam muttered. "But apparently they've been feeding off of people for centuries. They usually hole up in ruins, the bigger the better."
"You know what, I saw a place a few miles back. I'll go check it out," Dean said.
"No, no wait. Come back and pick me up first," Sam said.
"No, I'm sure it's nothing," Dean said, hanging up on his brother.
Dean turned around and began searching for an old factory he had passed earlier. He had been cruising around for over an hour, just searching for any signs of weird while Sam did research on the area. He hadn't found anything, but driving alone was comforting. Something where he could let his mind wander, but not too far because he still had to pay attention to the road.
He parked at the abandoned factory, a sign declared it a condemned building. He broke in, shining his flashlight on the floor and listening for signs that the building may be occupied by anything more than stray animals. The only thing better than driving was actually working, something that his whole mind had to be focused on and he couldn't think.
Knowing what he was hunting he was prepared. A silver knife dipped in lamb's blood in case a djinn was there. But he didn't think that the lambs blood had been something Lady had suggested they keep available as an ingredient to counter curses, it was just an added tool in their arsenal of weapons against the supernatural. He didn't think that the silver knife was the one she'd used to kill an incubus, it was just a knife. After the hunt was over he'd probably think about it, memories triggering each other, but right now he was eager to be in the hunt.
And ever better, it seemed he had reached the djinn's lair.
Dean caught a shadow of movement that couldn't be from any animal. He pocketed his flashlight and began walking toward where he had seen the movement, wanting to get the jump on the thing. Needing the chance to kill the evil thing that was responsible for several missing persons. Punish something that was responsible for taking away life.
He saw the shadow of movement too late, and was grabbed from behind by the djinn and pinned against the wall. He grunted, the thing was pretty damn strong. It looked human, but its face was covered in mysterious markings that may have passed for normal in Los Angeles but in Illinois would stand out. Dean grunted and struggled as the djinn's eyes glowed electric blue and it put its hand to his forehead.
For an instant Dean was in the dark, knocked out. Very little time seemed to pass when Dean woke up with a jerk as thunder cracked. He sucked in a few shocked breaths and looked around the dark and unfamiliar room. Faint smell of paint, stacked boxes. He wasn't in the factory, he appeared to be in someone's house.
He got out of the bed and patted his pockets, searching for his weapons, not finding them he felt naked as he walked through the dark house. More stacked boxes, as if someone was in the process of unpacking and had given up. He found his cell phone on a table and quickly dialed Sam.
"Dean?" Sam answered.
"Sam?" Dean said in a low voice.
"What's going on?" Sam asked.
"I don't know! I don't know where I am!"
"What? What happened?"
"The uh, the Djinn, it attacked me," Dean said
"The Djinn? You're...drinking gin?" Sam sounded confused.
"No, asshat! The Djinn! The uh, scary creature! Remember? It put its hand on me and I woke up in some strange place. Boxes all over the place."
"You mean your house?" Sam replied and let out a sigh. "Dean, you're drunk. You're drunk-dialing me."
"I'm not drunk! Quit screwing around!"
"Look, it's late. Alright, just get some sleep and I'll...see you tomorrow, okay?" Sam said.
"Wait, Sam! Sam!" Dean shouted into the phone as Sam hung up. He rubbed his forehead and took another look at his surroundings. The boxes were labeled and a few had been unpacked.
He scrambled to the kitchen drawers, looking for a knife, when he heard a door open. But the drawers were empty. Lights turned on and he worked on hiding, not wanting the owner of the house to catch him on their property.
"That's my good boy," a woman said. "Oh, yeah, great, he got a lot of work done while we were gone," she said in a sarcastic tone.
A dog made a low sound and sniffed into the kitchen before happily panting at Dean. "Freddie?" Dean couldn't help but say it. His heart pounded in his chest as he rubbed the dog's head and inched towards the living room.
Lady was straining with bags in both her arms but smiled as she saw him. She let the bags drop, "Hey, babe! I missed you!" she said, walking up to him and wrapping her arms around his neck and giving him a sweet kiss that he found himself unable to return. He was in shock, he wasn't sure that he was breathing. "Nice work getting your stuff unpacked," she said, giving his rear a swat as she went back into the living room.
"Lady?" Dean finally managed to say.
"Yeah?" she looked at him curiously, and then her face changed to concern. "Dean, are you okay?"
He licked his lips, "I don't know. How...you...you're here."
She threw her hands up, "Okay, I know I said I'd be here earlier but we got delayed. Not my fault, the U-haul truck sort of stalled on the highway. Okay, maybe that was sort of my fault, but I'm only like an hour late."
"U-haul? What...what's going on?" he asked.
"Have you been drinking?" she asked.
"No!" Dean said defensively. "I..." he let out a breath and walked up to her and pulled her into a tight hug. His arms wrapped around her torso while he buried his face in her neck. She felt the same, damn she even smelled the same! "I'm so glad you are here." Unable to help himself he let out a laugh. "I've missed you."
She returned his hug and happily returned the kiss he gave her. She started laughing and pushed him away, "No, no, no! You were supposed to have all of this unpacked and cleared out of here. Let me be mad at you for...two minutes. Ah, only one because you are so damn cute."
Dean laughed with her and didn't let her go. A wish, the Djinn had given him a wish. As hard as he tried not to think about it Lady's death had been on his mind often. He had felt guilty and cheated by it. "Do you...do you remember anything?" he asked her, hoping she didn't. If he had gotten a chance to think about his wish it would have been that she never had to go through anything unpleasant or painful.
"About...?" she questioned him, arching her eyebrow in confusion. "Did I forget something?"
He shook his head, "Never mind, uh, never mind," he said quickly. If she didn't remember he didn't need to bring it up.
"Can we at least get the living room clear of boxes before we go to bed?" she asked him. "I have a truck full of my stuff we need to bring in."
"Uh, yeah, sure," he said. "Uh...we live here?"
She blinked at him, "Yeah, Dean. A lot nicer than your old bachelor pad, right?"
"I bet," he said, unable to hide the confusion from his face. "And, uh, just where is here?"
"I've had a long drive and I'm tired. No messing around, okay?" she laughed at him and grabbed a box. She pushed it into his arms. "Here is home."
He set the box on the ground and opened it, finding several picture frames wrapped in newspaper. He unwrapped each one carefully, looking at the photos with fascination. Him and Lady on a beach. Lady and Freddie posing together. And he came across one that looked recent. Himself and his mother.
The picture frame slipped through his fingers and the glass shattered. He had trouble coordinating his hands, even moving.
"Oh no!" Lady cried out. "Back, Freddie," she said, and shoved the dog in the bathroom and closed the door to keep him away from the broken glass. "Dean, are you okay? Did you cut yourself?"
"My...mom..." Dean said.
"Aw, I liked that frame," Lady said as she examined the damage. "I bet I can replace the glass. The picture is okay."
"Lady, you know when this was taken?" Dean asked, his fingers touching the picture.
She shrugged, "Looks like last Christmas. I think you two look cute together. Mary is gorgeous." She smiled and sighed, "I can't wait to see her tomorrow."
"Mom is...uh, you know my mom?" Dean asked.
Lady looked at him with concern again, "Of course I do. Dean, you are scaring me."
"I'm a little scared myself," Dean admitted. "I...Lady, I...don't leave. Don't move, don't go anywhere, okay?"
"Where am I going to go?" she asked.
"Just, stay here," he said, walking toward the door.
"Dean!" she called as he walked out.
Dean was taking large breaths of cool spring air and took running steps to the Impala parked beside a U-haul truck. The keys were inside and it started up. He backed out of the driveway and went down the street. It didn't take him long to discover he was in Lawrence, his hometown. And the house he had left was just down the street from the house his mother had died in.
It had been over a year since he had been in Lawrence, stopping a poltergeist from killing the family that had moved into his old house. And there he had seen the ghost of his mother. But he stopped in front of the house, pounding on the door and ringing the doorbell until lights came on inside.
He felt like he had been punched in the stomach when the door opened. He couldn't breathe, the breaths he did take didn't seem to satisfy his need for air. His mother was standing at the door in a robe. "Honey, are you okay?"
"Mom," he breathed, stepping forward and wrapping her into a hug.
She hugged him back, "Dean, what's wrong? Are you okay?"
He shook his head, "I...yeah. Yeah, I am." He released her. "I just...I had to see you."
His mother let him into the house and sat at the dining room table. "Did you have a fight with Lady?"
"No, no...uh...you know Lady?" he asked.
She raised her eyebrows, "Yes, I know Lady. Of course I do! Dean, what is going on?"
"You don't think that wishes can, can really...?"
"What?" Mary looked confused.
"Forget it," Dean breathed. "I get it. I'm just, uh...I'm happy to see you. That's all. You're so beautiful."
"What?" Mary couldn't help but smile at the sincere compliment.
"Hey, when I was uh, when I was young was there ever a fire here?" Dean asked, looking at shelves where pictures sat.
"No, never," Mary answered.
"I thought there was," he muttered.
Mary let out a sigh, "Okay, I get it."
He looked at her with wide eyes, "You get what?"
She smiled at him, "You just bought a house with Lady. You are going through a lot. It's a big step to take."
Dean looked surprised, "I bought a house?"
She laughed lightly, "When your father and I bought this house we were already married. One of the happiest moments of our lives, but it was still scary. Oh, I still miss him."
"Dad, uh...Dad's dead?" Dean said, his mood deflating slightly. "And the thing that killed him was a..."
"A stroke," Mary answered for him. "He died in his sleep, you know that."
"That's great," Dean let out a breath.
"Excuse me!" Mary sounded offended.
"That, that's great. That he went peacefully," Dean said quickly "That sure beats the alternative."
"You've been drinking," Mary said flatly.
"No, I haven't, Mom," Dean said.
"I'll call Lady and have her come pick you up, okay?"
"Wait, no!" Dean said.
"Why? Did you get in a fight with her?"
"No...I don't think so," Dean grimaced.
"Are you sure you are alright?" Mary asked.
"Yeah," Dean said. "I've never been better," he laughed.
"Can you make it home okay?" Mary asked. Dean nodded. "Why don't you and Lady come over for lunch tomorrow?"
"Yeah, we will," he said as she walked him to the door.
When Dean pulled into the house he had left just an hour ago the lights were still on. He walked in and Lady was working on emptying boxes. The stereo was on and she was bobbing her head to the music and humming along. Glass had been cleaned up and Freddie was stretched out on the floor of the kitchen. Dean couldn't take his eyes off of her. He had seen her pretty much destroyed, dragged down into the lake with spectral birds tearing at her.
But there she was. Whole and not bursting into flames. And she didn't remember any of it.
She turned to face him and frowned, "I'm just putting your shit wherever I feel like. Since you couldn't lift a finger to do it yourself. And where the hell did you go?"
"Sorry…uh, sorry," he muttered. "I just had to…something I had to check. I had to check on Mom. I'm sorry, Lady. Just, it's been a strange day."
"Mary is okay, right?" she asked.
He nodded and couldn't help but smile, "She's perfect." Dean grabbed the box she had handed him earlier and worked on putting picture frames on a shelf above a desk. "So we bought a house?" he asked once that box was empty. It was all he could do not to stare in awe at the photos. His father wearing a Santa hat with a very young Sam and Dean on each knee. Him and people he didn't recognize gathered around a table with beers. Himself leaning against the Impala with a smug smirk on his lips.
"Got another one," Lady said, appearing by his side and setting another picture frame on the shelf.
The picture was the two of them, in front of the house they were inside of. They were standing beside a 'For Sale' sign while Lady held the 'Sold' sign. They were in the middle of a kiss.
"We bought a house," Dean said, chuckling to himself. The only thing he ever owned was the Impala, now he owned a house!
Lady let out a tired sigh, "Dean, you better not be having second thoughts about this. I quit my job, left North Dakota, just so we could live together."
He shook his head, "No second thoughts," he promised her.
She looked perplexed, "What is going on with you?"
He grabbed her hands and pulled her to her closer so he could kiss her. The dreams she was in had only made the loss feel worse, but this was no dream. He felt her warmth, tasted her mouth, heard her breathing. "This is...this is incredible," he said, grinning.
"That was incredible," she breathed, pulling him back to continue the kiss. "Mm, maybe it's time to christen the new house?"
Dean kept one arm firm around her back as the other scooped her legs up from under her. Her arms wrapped around his neck as he carried her into the bedroom, navigating the narrow walkway of boxes, before laying her down. She pulled him down with her.
"I missed you so much," Dean breathed into her neck.
She giggled, "I was only gone three days, Dean."
He looked into her eyes, it had been a month. A painful month. He put his mouth on hers, letting out a soft moan at the feeling of her body arching to meet his. Her eyes were intense and serious as she pulled his shirt off. Old scars and recent bruises were gone, as if he had never hunted. And as he undressed her he found smooth skin, not even a tattoo. And he understood just how clear his wish had been.
His mother had never died. His father had never forced them into a life of hunting. Lady had never been marked by her coven, she had never been forced into becoming a witch-hunter. They were just two normal people.
That didn't take away his memories. His memory of losing his mother or her. The constant pain and suffering he'd endured. And it was gone, he never had to experience it again. He had a lifetime of nights like this to look forward to.
"You waiting for an invitation, big guy?" Lady teased as she curled a leg around his back to pull him close to her.
"Shut up, Lady," he chuckled as he slid the head of his erection over her wet slit. Her body shuddered under him and he couldn't hold back any longer. Her hot warmth and lively body had been missed. He pressed himself into her opening while covering her mouth with his, teasing her mouth with his tongue as he buried his erection deep inside of her.
"Oh!" Lady let out a deep moan as he rotated his hips. Her hands moved over his back as her legs rubbed against his.
Dean could barely control his body as the sensations grew quickly, moving faster with need. With his face against hers as he breathed, "Is this okay?"
"Oh, don't stop," she moaned in his ear before kissing it.
He couldn't have stopped if the roof had fallen in on them, her needy breaths and caress of her hands on his body had him fisting the sheets to keep himself from losing it entirely.
"Oh, Dean," Lady moaned as he held her close to him. She took several pants of breath and let out several soft moans while holding him just as tight. "Oh...I should leave more often. My god, that was fantastic. Wow." Dean kissed her and held her close against him as her muscles unwound. She shifted until her back was to him, but he kept the length of his body against hers. The only person Lady always had time to snuggle with was Freddie, but tonight she wasn't getting out of spooning. He had his arm around her waist and held her there, his face resting in her hair that covered the back of her neck. He never thought he'd ever be with the woman he loved again, and he wasn't letting her go.
He was quiet as he remembered her being dead. Thinking he'd never get to see her strange excitement over trivial things like a pair of shoes, or hear her coddle her monstrous dog, or see the wicked glint in her eye or hear her ramble off topic or fall into a fit of giggles until she sounded like Woody the Woodpecker.
"Everything is going to work out," he said quietly. Nothing bad was going to come after them again. No demons. No witches. No pagan gods. He had a whole future. His mother got to live her life. He had his quirky psychic girlfriend back. And tomorrow he'd see his brother. "Things are going to be easy, from now on, Lady," he promised, looking at her to see she had fallen asleep.
Dean closed his eyes, and without trying he fell asleep. Nightmares had been almost constant since Lady's death, and tonight was no different. A jumbled mix of her being consumed by blue fire, being pulled into icy water, Max there laughing at them…
Dean woke up abruptly, his heart pounding in his chest. The sky was lightening outside as dawn approached, and Lady was still asleep in his arms. He kissed her shoulder gratefully. For a long time he just laid there, eyes open because he didn't want to fall back into nightmares. And then he looked up as the bedroom door was nudged farther open so Freddie could trot in.
Dean smiled as Freddie looked up at him with large brown eyes. His biggest competition when aiming for Lady's attention and affection had always been the damn dog. Freddie had saved their asses a few times, he really did like the dog. But it was still bitter knowing his girlfriend would rather share her bed with a smelly mutt than with him. Freddie's tail wagged hopefully as they looked at each other. "Oh, why not. Get up here," Dean said, and Freddie jumped up on the bed. Lady let out a sleepy noise with the movement, but as soon as Freddie settled into the open space on the bed next to her she dropped an arm on him as if he had been there the whole night.
Dean frowned a bit. Lady was a pain in the ass to sleep next to, she jerked awake at the slightest noise. She had explained when she heard pieces of the future they were at an amplified volume. But she seemed to be sleeping soundly right now.
And Dean wondered. If Lady had no coven...did that mean she had never been given her psychic visions? Her sneak peaks into the near future? He snapped his fingers next to her ear. She didn't jerk at the sound until he made it. She mumbled something incoherently and tightened her grip on Freddie, but didn't completely wake up. Lady was still a bit off and goofy, but she was actually normal. Dean let out a short laugh and got out of bed. There was no way he was going back to sleep. Now that the fear of the nightmare had passed he was too jittery and happy to go back to sleep.
He went to the living room and looked through a few boxes. Some things he had no clue what to do with, he wasn't sure how they could even be his possessions. Since he was four years old everything he had was required to fit in the Impala, he had never had much. Now he had enough to fill up a house. Photos, clothes, towels, movies, CDs.
He found a box full of loose pictures and sat on the couch to look over them, getting acquainted with the life he didn't remember living. Holiday pictures of his family together, baseball games, school events, him dressed as Batman for Halloween.
He set the box down to look through again later, and picked up one of the bags Lady had brought in. One wasn't much more than an overnight bag, packed with her essentials. Inside he found a wallet and he went through it. She had a driver's license, and a last name. Lady Mason. She had a checkbook and ATM card. Lady was a legal citizen.
A few hours later most of the living room was unpacked when Lady walked out of the bedroom with a sheet wrapped around her, "You let me sleep in with the dog?" she asked. "You are awesome," she chuckled.
Dean walked up to wrap his arms around her and give her a kiss, "I just...I'm really eager to get unpacked. Everything is already perfect, and it just keeps getting better."
She looked impressed at the work he had done while she slept and then looked a bit worried, "Did you get any sleep?"
"Yeah! Of course I did! It isn't like I stayed up all night," he said quickly. It was only a half lie, he had gotten a few hours of sleep. "Still a lot of work to do, but we'll make this place a home yet."
She smiled at his enthusiasm and kissed him again. "Mmm. Think you can put Freddie in the backyard? Not sure I want to flash the neighbors so soon after moving in."
"Sure! Of course," he said as she went into the bathroom, dropping the sheet halfway there. "We have a backyard?" he looked at Freddie. "C'mon, pal." He opened the door in the kitchen and Freddie trotted out into the cool morning. There was a large backyard with a high wooden fence that even Freddie would have a hard time jumping over. "See you, pal," Dean said, closing the door to Freddie and hurrying to join Lady in the shower.
After their shower he left Lady to do some unpacking, letting her know they had plans to go to his mother's for lunch, and left to go to a nearby college.
For the most part Sam was his go-to guy for research on things he didn't know about off the top of his head. However Sam didn't have any memory of the djinn. Without Sam the next easiest thing to do was tap the mind of a local expert.
The professor he went to see had information on djinn. Dean urged him to skip the parts he already knew and asked, "So what about this wish? You think they can really do it?"
"Um, no. I don't think they can really do it. You understand these are mythical creatures?"
"Yeah, I know. But, uh, I mean in the stories. You know. Say you had wish that you never even said out loud. You know, like that, uh, that a loved one never died. Or that something awful never happened?" Dean looked at him hopefully.
"Supposedly, yes. I mean, they have godlike power. They can alter reality. Past, present and future."
"Why would the djinn do it? It was self-defense? Or maybe it's not really evil," Dean muttered, mostly to himself. They must have the djinn all wrong, because it had given him the perfect life.
"Son?" The professor looked at him seriously, and Dean looked at him with his full attention. "Have you been drinking?"
Dean chuckled, "Everybody keeps asking me that. But, uh, no."
He left the college, going to his car and out of curiosity opened the trunk. It was empty except for some random junk. No false-bottom, no weapon stash. "How about that, baby? We're civilians," he chuckled happily and slammed the trunk closed. He took in a deep breath, everything was wonderful, fantastic, beautiful and perfect.
Until he saw a strange woman staring at him from across the street. She didn't fit in with the regular foot traffic, standing still and facing him. She wore a long white nightgown, looked pale and ill. And there was a faint buzzing sound. Dean's good mood soured when the woman vanished and the sound went away. A spirit? He shook his head, not his job. Not anymore.
He returned to his house, his home. Lady was moving boxes from the U-haul truck into the house and it was almost empty. "You work fast," he said.
"I want to get rid of the truck before lunch," she said, kissing him. "Mary called to make sure we're still coming over. I told her we'll be there around one. Is that okay?"
"It's perfect. Everything is perfect," he said, wrapping his arms around her and kissing her neck.
She giggled and returned the affection, "I'm not sure what has gotten into you but I'm liking it," she said, caressing his face.
"So, uh, you and Mom...you like her, right? You get along?" Dean asked.
"Of course! I love Mary," Lady said. "She made the most gorgeous man alive, after all."
Dean grinned. "And, uh...the Masons, in North Dakota?"
"Yeah, what about them?" she asked.
"Uh...how are they?" Dean asked.
"They are good," Lady said.
"And Max...?" If that old medicine woman was still alive he'd correct it swiftly.
"Maxine," Lady corrected. "She doesn't like to be called Max."
"Yeah, but isn't there like...a grandmother named Max?" Dean asked.
Lady shrugged, "Not that I recall. Mason and Greta's parents are dead. Uh, I don't remember them mentioning a Max."
"And you have their last name," Dean said, a bit curious and confused.
"They were the best foster family I ever had," Lady said. "They adopted a nutty teenager when most people kicked me to the curb after two weeks. Yeah, I took their name." She let out a sad sigh, "Dean, you know I don't like talking about..."
"I'm sorry, I know," Dean said quickly and put on his best smile. So she still didn't want to give up her history, fine by him. Maybe her childhood had still been bad enough that she had needed a foster family, but she was here and happy. "I'm just really glad you are here now. And that everything is okay. Lady, I am so happy. I've never...I can't remember ever being this happy. For you, Mom, me. It is, really, a wish come true." He chuckled, "This is so awesome."
Dean spent the rest of the morning hauling boxes, getting rid of the U-haul truck, unpacking and reveling in the little things that were his. Hangers in the closet, laundry baskets, a shower curtain, folding chairs and a local phonebook. Things that had been useless to him in his nomadic lifestyle, but now were a necessity in this new perfect life.
He drove Lady to his mother's and inside he couldn't wipe the grin off his face as he listened to the two women talk happily. Mary had an interest in the house and Lady was sharing ideas and asking questions. They laughed, mostly at Dean and his ridiculous happiness, and enjoyed sandwiches and lemonade.
"Dean, when do you have to go back to work?" Mary asked.
"Work?" Dean looked at her with wide eyes.
"At the garage," Mary specified.
Dean thought about it. He was a mechanic? Well, that suited him just fine. Instead of working on just his Impala he'd work on other people's cars, and get paid for it. His father had been a mechanic, even owned half a shop before their mother had died. He wondered if that was the shop he worked at, or if it was a different one. He'd figure it out eventually.
"You are off until Wednesday, right?" Lady asked, giving him a strange look.
"Yeah, that's right!" Dean agreed quickly. "Hey, Mom, it, uh, looks like the lawn could use mowing. Want me to take care of it?"
Mary's eyebrows went up, "You want to mow the lawn?"
"You kidding? I'd love to," Dean said.
"Knock yourself out," Mary said, exchanging a look with Lady. "You'd think he'd never mowed a lawn before."
"He's acting strange, but I'm sort of digging it," Lady said quietly as he walked out. "I better drag him to the mall before he goes back to normal."
He grinned at the womanly laughter he heard as he walked out of the house. He found the lawn mower in the garage and got to work. Dean walked the lawn mower across the grass. He'd never used a lawn mower in his life, at least not for its intended purpose. He had very distant, memories of watching his father push the lawn mower up and down in lines across the yard when he was a child. Right now he was enjoying the simple manual labor, outside in the sunshine and heat while the two most beautiful women he'd ever had in his life were talking about wallpaper and interior design.
He killed the mower when Lady stepped out of the front door with a beer in her hand. She met him halfway and wrapped an arm around his sweaty neck, "You look like you could use a break," she said, handing him the cold beer.
He held her waist and kissed her happily, "How are things inside?" he asked.
"Good. You know, girl talk," Lady said. "She's gushing over her wonderful son that is helping her do chores, and I'm getting all hot and bothered watching you work."
"I'll take care of that later," he promised, leaning down to nuzzle her neck until she began to giggle and pull away.
"I'm going to finish helping Mary clean up," Lady said, giving him a happy smile before retreating back inside.
Dean sat on the front steps with his beer, looking at the freshly cut lawn and inhaling the scent of the grass that hung in the air. Suburban bliss, he had it. A two bedroom house, girl, dog, job. And he watched as a car pulled to a stop in front of the house. When he thought he couldn't be happier, that if it happened his chest could explode right out of his chest, he was suddenly happier.
He saw Sam's familiar frame in the car and was already on his feet to greet his brother. But the attractive blonde in the passenger seat took a few seconds longer to recognize. Jessica was alive. Of course, if the demon had never attacked his mother it had no reason to go after Jessica later.
"I don't believe it," he muttered, crossing the lawn quickly and wrapping Jessica in a hug. "Jessica!"
"Uh...good to see you too, Dean," Jessica said, patting his back.
He let her go and hugged his brother, "Sammy!"
Dean looked his brother over. He looked confused, but there he was. "Look at you!" Dean gushed. "You're with Jessica! It's...I don't believe it."
"Yeah," Sam said, putting an arm around Jessica's waist protectively.
"Where'd you guys come from?" Dean asked, wondering if they lived nearby.
"We just flew in," Sam answered. "From California."
"California! Stanford, I bet!" Dean said excitedly. Sam had never been drug out of college, had never lost Jessica. "Law school? Right?"
Sam pointed to the half-full beer in Dean's hand, "I see you started off Mom's birthday with a bang, as usual."
Dean's smile faltered a bit, "Wait...Mom's birthday? That's today?"
Sam looked a bit annoyed, "Yeah, yeah, Dean. That's today. That's why we're here. Don't tell me you forgot."
Dean shrugged and gave his best innocent smile. Sam shook his head and rolled his eyes while leading Jessica to the house. Inside the house Lady greeted Sam and Jessica with a polite smile and handshake, while Mary greeted both with a warm hug. Dean put his arm around Lady's shoulders and whispered in her ear, "Did you know today is Mom's birthday?"
She frowned at him and pinched him a little too hard for it to be friendly, "You are lucky you have a nice ass," she said quietly with a roll of her eyes. "Mary, we're going to head home and get some work done. We'll see you guys tonight."
Dean took the exit she gave him and walked outside with her. "You know, I think I'd really like to hang out with Sam and Mom," he said.
"We will tonight," Lady said. "We're going out to dinner tonight for Mary's birthday. We need to get ready, and give her some time with her other son."
A/N – Song for this chapter:
Desperately Wanting, by Better than Ezra
