Hey everyone! I apologize for the lack of updates in the past weeks. I came home for the holidays and things got a bit chaotic, but I'm back to posting once a week again. Thank you so much for the great reviews, Guest, Guest, Guest 2.0 and missfites 3

Without further ado, here's the new chapter.

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Andrea wakes up to a terrible headache, as her entire body complains not only from all the drinking she'd done but also from all the magic she'd used before. Then, as images from last night flash in her head, she groans, not believing she had been that irresponsible.

With a sigh, Andrea forces herself out of the bed. Knowing she'd missed the sunrise a long time ago, and feeling too worn down to do it now, she skips her morning yoga completely. After a shower, she gets dressed, heading downstairs for some much-needed coffee.

She finds both Sam and Dean in the kitchen, and while the younger Winchester looks awake and ready, having clearly started his day earlier, Dean is slumped over the table, a mug in front of him. He looks up at hearing her and for a moment, awkwardness feels the room. When their eyes meet, something appears in his green eyes, but just as fast as it came, it was gone. Is that... regret in his eyes? A small voice asks inside her head, but she shrugs it off, choosing not to care, especially because of Sam's presence.

"You look like I feel," she tells the older Winchester, keeping her tone neutral and somewhat fun.

He stares at her for a moment. "You don't look how I feel. You look way too, uh, composed, for someone who drank like you did last night,"

Andrea laughs. "Thank the Universe for showers and make-up," She says, meaning every word. Then, she walks up to the coffee machine, inhaling the delicious and mouthwatering scent.

"Bobby wasn't happy about the mess you two left on the front porch," Sam comments, not looking up from his computer.

"It was just two bottles and two glasses, Sammy," Dean replies, waving him off. "Mugs are on the top cabinet," He says to Andrea before she can even ask. As she reaches out, he doesn't miss the way she flinches, her free hand all but flying to support her injured injured side.

"Thanks," she replies, pouring herself some coffee. She walks back to the table and sits there, quietly sipping on her coffee.

"Bobby got wind of a case a few hours from here," Sam says after a moment. "From what he checked, it sounds like a ghost. I told him we'd go,"

As Dean nods, Andrea takes a sip of her coffee. "Another ghost?" She asks, remembering the first time she'd helped them had been with a ghost. "Sounds fun,"

Just then, Sam and Dean exchange a look. "You sure you're up for it?" Sam questions, and as she opens her mouth to reply, Dean beats her to it.

"She should stay, Sam," He says all too fast, and Andrea stares at him.

"I'm right here," she comments casually.

"I mean, you should stay. You need to rest. Because of your ribs, your head, and uh, your magic. We can handle a ghost,"

Andrea stays silent for just a second, before putting on a smile. "Rest sounds nice," she says hoping her tone is as nice as she's trying to make it. "I also have some research I need to do, so time off will come in hand,"

The brothers stare at her, and then Sam stares at his brother. "What?" Dean asks, sounding a little annoyed.

"Nothing. It's just… she did help with our last ghost,"

"It wasn't a regular ghost, Sam," Dean shoots back.

Feeling the tension, and wanting to avoid an argument, she smiles, shaking her head, dismissively. "Look, you guys go fight, kill, or whatever it is you hunters do with ghosts, and I'll sit tight getting better and looking into some stuff I found the other day. You can call me if you need me, Sam,"

"Yes, Sam," Dean echoes and she doesn't miss the hard stare he gives his brother. "We'll call her if we need her," he pauses, standing up. "Finish your coffee and go pack your stuff. I'll check the guns and supplies. We leave in half an hour," As he walks out of the kitchen, Sam isn't sure of what just happened.

"Is everything okay?" He asks Andrea.

"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?" She asks, as if not knowing anything. Standing up, she washes her mug and mumbling something about needing to step outside for a smoke, she leaves him alone too.

No longer concerned about Sam or whatever, Andrea leaves the house and walks straight to where the Impala is parked, a few meters away from the house. Dean is by the trunk, doing something with salt and bullets she can't name.

"Can I talk to you?" She asks once she's close enough, startling him and making him drop a shell and get salt everywhere. "Why are you benching me?"

"Because you're hurt and you need to recover," he shoots back, not hesitating.

"I'm not some porcelain doll, Dean. I'm fine,"

He stares at her. "Really? How about we go back inside and you grab some stuff from the cabinets?" She seems puzzled by his words, and he explains. "I know it hurt when you grabbed the mug. I saw it. How bad is it?"

Truth be told, the last effects of her spell are wearing off, and she is due for another one or some painkillers very soon. Still, she lies. "Not bad,"

"Yeah, right," he answers unconvinced. "You're staying and that's final. We'll call if we need you,"

Andrea stares at him for a long moment, considering his words and his attitude, and after a second, something else crosses her mind, and she speaks again, her voice lower. "I just hope you're not letting, uh, let's say, uh, pleasure get in the way of business, 'cause that would just be bad form,"

Her blunt words and straight to business approach knocks him over a little, and Dean needs a moment to organize his thoughts. "You staying back has nothing to do with last night," he manages to say a second later, lying.

Andrea keeps staring at him. "Good, because last night was just sex," she pauses, changing her posture. "I have a rule regarding sex with people I do business with, but I was just too drunk to be rational last night. So, I hope you and I can be adults about it and not let it get in the way of our agreement,"

"Our agreement doesn't change, but right now you're too much of a deadweight to actually fulfill it. Stay, rest. Keep your magic for when we actually need it. Okay?"

Deciding not to let his words get to her, Andrea just nods. "Fine. I'll leave you to it. Have a safe trip,"

With that she walks away, leaving him alone again. The whole conversation had both surprised and annoyed him, but thinking about it, Dean feels some kind of relief. To be honest, he had been worried that their hook-up from last night would make things weird between them, and he had suggested her staying behind not only because of her injuries but also because he needed some time to think. However, hearing her say it was just sex, and speak of it so nonchalantly, removed those concerns from his mind.

.

After finishing the salt-rounds, he goes back inside the house. Sam's in the living room, putting something inside his bag, and Andrea's on the couch, her bag by her feet and her grimoire on her lap.

"What are you researching?" Dean asks after a moment.

Andrea looks up from her spellbook. "Dark magic. Killing spells, if you need specifics," she replies in a normal voice as if she's talking about anything else, and for a second, he sees a witch sitting there and not the weird chick that had been helping them lately.

"Oh, uh, don't want to bother you," He replies, and the weirdness is clear in his voice. "We should get going, Sammy,"

They say their goodbyes, and just as they leave the house, Dean shakes his head. "That was creepy," he comments, getting inside the car.

"Dean," Sam says, shutting the door. "Andrea's a witch," he says in a half confused tone. "Witches do all kinds of magic and spells. Besides, she's looking for a way to kill Lilith. You shouldn't be surprised,"

Snorting, he nods, "Yeah, I guess you're right,"

As he starts the car, Sam speaks again. "Uh, what's going on between the two of you?"

"What? What are you talking about?" Dean retorts, sounding and looking puzzled.

"That," Sam replies, pointing at him, "Your reaction just now, and the, uh, tension during breakfast? And then she went outside, and came back looking weird as well,"

Shaking his head, Dean sets his eyes on the road ahead. "I don't know what you're talking about. There's nothing going on. She went outside 'cause she was pissed about staying behind. Now, stop talking nonsense, and grab those infos Bobby gave us, uh?"

.

A few hours after the boys have left, although tired, Andrea is restless. So far she hasn't found anything and tired of sitting in the same place for such a long time, she decides to go out for a walk. After changing into some workout clothes and letting Bobby know where she's going, she leaves.

The salvage yard is outside of town, with nothing around for a couple of miles, and the quietness disturbs her. She likes noise, conversation, people, cars because it all distracts her from her thoughts. The silence, on the other hand, screamed things she'd rather forget. She picks up the pace as much as her ribs allow her, and jogs the next mile or so. When she reaches the town, Andrea goes to a park, where she sits on a bench, needing to rest for a moment.

Watching the children playing around with parents and pets, she remembers a time when all she wanted was just to have a normal family, be a normal child, teenager. Nowadays she'd resigned to the cards life had dealt her, and she tried not to think too much about the things she would never have, but now and then, moments like this would come and leave her thoughtful.

"Hi!" Andrea jumps, startled at the loud and bright voice. Looking to her side, she sees a cute blonde girl, around seven or eight years old, smiling.

"Oh! Hi," she replies, smiling back. "You scared me, missy," The little girl smiles, in a cute and naughty way that makes Andrea smile too.

"You are very pretty," the girl says.

"Why, thank you. You are very pretty too,"

"Is it your first time in the park?" The child asks, and when Andrea looks at her again, she continues. "I come to play eeeevery day, because I love the swings and the big slide and the trees, and I never saw you here,"

Smiling again, Andrea replies. "Yes, it's my first time. But since it's such a nice park, with swings and the big slide, I'll probably come back,"

At her words, the girl laughs. "You're silly! The swings and the slide are just for kids, not for grown-ups!"

Andrea laughs too. "You got me there, but it's a great park anyways,"

"Yes, it is," The girl replies.

After a moment, she gets up, at the same time as a woman approaches them.

"There you are, Ellie!" She tells the girl. "You can't just disappear like this, young lady," The girl, Ellie, pouts, making a face. And the woman, most likely her mother, turns to Andrea. "I hope she didn't bother you,"

"Oh, no, she's a great kid," At that Ellie smiles brightly.

"Thank you," The mother says, extending her hand to her daughter. "Let's go, honey, say goodbye,"

"Bye, Ellie," Andrea says, waving. "It was a pleasure meeting you,"

Smiling, the girl waves back. "Bye-bye, Andrea!"

After they leave, Andrea stays on the bench, enjoying the feeling of the warm sun on her skin. It's only when the wind starts to get colder that she decides to make her way back before the sun goes down, knowing the dangers that could come with nightfall.

.

Back at Bobby's, she takes a shower and goes straight to where she'd stopped on her research.

Hours later, the hunter is about to go to sleep, after having had a full day, when he sees Andrea on the living room floor. She seems tense and deeply concentrated on whatever it is she's reading on her grimoire.

"You okay, girl?"

Andrea looks up, and he sees the tiredness in her face.

"Yeah, I'm just struggling to find what I need," she replies with a polite smile.

"Need any help?" He offers. Surprise appears on her face.

"You sure?" She questions. "I'm not exactly researching herbal potions here, Bobby, and from what I've been seeing, you hunters tend to get squirmy around heavy witchcraft,"

Shaking his head, Bobby walks to the couch and sits by her side. "I'm not the sensible type. Go ahead. What are you looking for?"

Andrea blinks, again surprised, but deciding to accept his help. "I'm looking for a spell that can kill Lilith, uh, I have quite a few options here, but my issue is finding one that will work on the demon itself, and not just damage or kill the human body she's in, you know?"

"Sounds interesting," Bobby says, standing up. "Show me your research so I can know where to start, and I'll hit the books I have here. Two brains are always better than one,"

Smiling, Andrea grabs the thick notebook on the floor. "Here," she starts, handing it to him. "As I read through my family's grimoire, I make notes there. That's all I found so far,"

Taking her notes, Bobby sits on his desk and starts reading from the beginning. Andrea's annotations are rich in details, and he can't help but be somewhat amazed.

"You've got quite a lot in here," he tells her after a long moment of reading. "Some of this stuff, this kind of magic, it's not something I've seen before,"

Andrea looks up and smiles. "Our magic is different, uh, your regular witch can do lots of things depending on the power they get from demons, but they're usually tied to more materialistic magic, like hex bags, cursed objects, that sort of thing," she explains. "It's different for soul witches. I can use hex bags and whatever, but my magic is more connected to me, to my intentions. So, whilst other witches focus on, let's say the physical, touchable part of the craft, I was taught to focus on words, emotions, and thoughts,"

Bobby mulls over her words for a second. "Who taught you?" He asks, curious.

His question takes her by surprise, but Andrea recovers quickly, keeping the smile on her face. "Mostly my grandmother. But I also learned a lot from my aunt and uncle," Memories flash through her eyes, but she pushes them away, and with a weird feeling in her chest, she focuses again on the spell she had been reading before Bobby spoke.

Knowing better than to pry, and having noticed the far off look in her eyes, Bobby saves his questions for later.

"This is pointless," Andrea says, hours later, pushing the grimoire away and rubbing her tired eyes. "If there was anything on how to kill a demon here, I'd have found it by now,"

Bobby considers her words for a moment.

"What if we're not looking in the right place?"

She looks up. "What do you mean?"

"I have some books in the basement, heavy witchcraft stuff as you said before. I don't really use them, but maybe you can find something there," he pauses. "We can look at them in the morning,"

"At this point, I'll look at anything," Andrea says, even though she's not expecting to find much on whatever books Bobby has.

She has a restless night, filled with weird dreams and nightmares. After her morning routine, Andrea finds Bobby and he takes her downstairs. As he shows her what he has, she is surprised.

"Where did you get this?" She asks, running her fingers over the covers and pages as he puts book after book in front of her.

"Over the years, I found stuff during some hunts, and I just bring them back here. I guess I don't like to waste knowledge,"

Bobby doesn't say it, but as she looks at the books, Andrea knows he must have gotten them from witches he'd killed. She never cared for other witches, knowing of their hatred towards her kind, but a small part of her can't help but wonder if they had met under different circumstances, would she have been another one to die and leave nothing but 'knowledge', as he had put it, behind?

"I need to finish the car I'm working on," He tells her after a moment, "but I'll come and help you when I'm done,"

"Don't worry Bobby, thanks,"

.

Between old and moldy pages, several notes, and the loud music bursting on her ears, Andrea loses track of time completely. Suddenly, a mug appears in front of her.

Looking up, she sees Dean. Removing her headphones, she speaks. "Back already?"

"It was a simple case," he explains. "Brought you some coffee. Bobby said you've been down here for quite some time,"

"What time is it?" She asks, stretching her back and arms.

"Almost half-past five. The sun just set,"

Groaning, she stretches again, then rubs her eyes. "Jeez, I've been down here all day,"

"Found anything?" Andrea stares at him for a moment, before replying.

"Not really. There's a lot of info here, I'm learning a lot and I've been making a lot of notes, but it's not what I'm looking for,"

Dean nods, thinking for a moment. She waits for him to say something, but he just stands there. "Uh, is there anything else you want?" Andrea finally asks when his standing starts to annoy her, minutes later.

"I, uh… would you like some help?" She senses that wasn't what he wanted to say, but she decided not to say anything.

"Well, I still have to go through this pile over here, so…" she finishes with a shrug.

Dean nods, and walking out to the hallway, he screams for his brother. When Sam appears on the stairs he smiles. "Andrea needs some help researching spells. Why don't you give her a hand?"

From where she's sitting, Andrea shakes her head. "So you were volunteering Sam's help and not yours?" She asks laughing.

"To be fair, he's always been the bright one in the family," as Dean says that, he moves past Sam, patting his shoulder.

Before the younger Winchester has a chance to argue his brother is going up and out of the basement. He doesn't go after him, knowing that helping Andrea find a way to finish Lilith is their priority right now. As he sits inside the panic room with her, she explains everything she's done so far and then pushes a book to him. Opening the moldy pages, Sam prepares himself for the night that will undoubtedly be long.

A couple of hours later, both Bobby and Dean join them as well, going through the books the older hunter had on witchcraft and magic.

"Jesus," Dean says a few pages in. "Is this for real?"

Andrea looks up. "What?" He pushes the book to her, and when she sees it, she laughs.

"Yeah, Dean, it's for real, and it's called sex magic. It's a very powerful type of magic, FYI," The three hunters stare at her, surprised expressions on their faces. "What?" She questions.

"Nothing," they say in unison, and she laughs hard.

"Men," she complains, shaking her head.

"Is anyone hungry?" Sam suddenly asks. "I was thinking about going out to grab a bite."

Almost immediately, Dean throws his car keys at his brother. "Bring beer and don't forget to get me some pie,"

Sam turns to Bobby and Andrea.

"I'm fine with beer," Bobby says.

"I just need coffee or some energetic drink," she tells him.

Sam nods, grabbing the keys. "I won't be long,"

As he enters the car, Sam texts Ruby, letting her know where he'll meet her. They hadn't met since the showdown with the angels and demons, so he was in desperate need of another dose.

.

Ruby is already waiting for him at the motel he'd sent her. She got them a room and as they enter, everything happens fast. He's on her, kissing the demon hard, removing her jacket, and then his. They end up on the bed and after another kiss, she grabs a pocket knife from her waistband and pulling away from him, she cuts a deep line on her wrist and offers it to Sam.

He doesn't even hesitate. Taking her arm in his large hands, he lowers his head and drinks deeply, drinking her blood as if it was the gods' elixir.

It's over faster than he thought and they sit there for just a moment.

"So, how's life?" Ruby asks normally as if they hadn't just done what they did.

"Life's the same. We went on a hunt, now we're helping Andrea do some research,"

Ruby rolls her eyes at the mention of the witch. "Research what? How to be less useless? Not sure you'll ever find that,"

Sam ignores her sarcasm, an idea coming to his mind. "Maybe you can help us. She's looking for a spell that can kill a demon, kill Lilith. Have you ever heard of something like that?"

Surprise fills Ruby, and it takes her a moment to mask it from her face. "Baby Sylvester is aiming high, isn't she?"

"Come on, Ruby," He asks. "I don't have much longer. Do you know something or not?"

"I never heard of something like that," she pauses, thinking. "I mean, most witches get their powers from demons, so why would a demon allow a witch to prepare a spell that can off them? And why would said witch, get rid of the being that gave her power in the first place? Do you see it? A witch killing a demon doesn't make sense," He nods and she continues. "But I can look for you,"

"That would be great," he says, gratitude appears in his puppy face and the demon can't help but find it amusing and cute.

"Just don't get your hopes up, Sam. You know you're the only one who can kill Lilith,"

Sighing, Sam gets up. "I should go," Ruby nods and he leaves without saying more.

.

After waiting a few minutes, just to be sure the hunter was gone, Ruby teleports herself to where she was currently staying. Grabbing a bowl, she quickly and efficiently sets up the ingredients she needs for a spell. Once done, she grabs a jar with the most crucial ingredient - the blood of a human child. The cooper smell fills the room as she pours the blood over the other stuff inside the recipient, and she waits.

A young girl suddenly materializes in the middle of the room, pure evil on her face.

"You better have a good reason to summon me like this, Ruby," she says with a cold and emotionless voice.

"The anima maga is looking for a spell to kill you," Ruby replies quickly, knowing better than to get on the other demon's bad side.

Lilith's face immediately changes. "Is she now?" She asks, and putting a hand on her chin, she starts walking around, deep in thought.

Ruby just watches in silence. A few minutes tick by until Lilith speaks again. "This is an opportunity, Ruby dear," she says with a demonic smile on her face. "I knew Andrea wouldn't disappoint me," she continues, still thoughtful. Then, she turns to Ruby. "You are going to be a good girl and do exactly what I'm going to tell you,"

When Sam gets a text from Ruby later on the next day, saying she's just outside of Bobby's house, he isn't sure of what to do, knowing very well that Andrea hates her and that even if Dean was currently not hating her as much, there was still no love between them.

"Uh, guys, Ruby's outside," Everyone looks at him, surprise on their faces.

"What does she want?" Dean asks.

Looking at Andrea, Sam replies. "I asked for her help. Don't get mad," he quickly adds. "I told her what we are looking for, and I thought that since she's been around for a while, maybe she could know or find something we don't,"

Andrea stares at him for a whole minute, her face blank. "You shouldn't keep her waiting," It's all she says before lowering her head to go back to what she was reading.

Taking that as a positive sign, he goes outside and brings Ruby in. Unable to enter the panic room, the demon stays by the door. "Have you ever heard of Spirit Trapping?" She asks, looking at Andrea, going straight to the point and not bothering with pleasantries.

The witch, however, doesn't say anything, not even looking up from the book in front of her. Sam, Bobby, and Dean stare at them for a moment.

Annoyed, Ruby snaps. "Oy, I'm talking to you, special needs,"

At that, Andrea finally looks up. "Why would I trust, or even hear anything you say?"

"Because if I wanted to screw you over, I would have delivered you to Lilith myself a long time ago," The demon shots back. "I'm not your enemy, dumbass,"

"Ruby's not going to hurt you, Andrea," Sam says. "She's here to help us,"

For a moment Andrea considers everything they say, and everything she's been through this past couple of months. She had always been told not to trust hunters because they were the enemy. However, after getting to know them and having stayed with them, she knew they weren't the enemy and they weren't evil. Could it be that the same would happen with Ruby? She couldn't say.

Sighing, she looks at the demon. "You said Spirit Trapping?"

Ruby gives her a dry smile. "Yes. It's a spell that can lock a spirit inside a body," Andrea can see exactly where she's going in her reasoning, and she mentally kicks herself for not thinking about it before.

"Demons are in their essence, spirits," The witch says, thinking. "If Lilith's locked inside a body, we could, in theory, kill her," she pauses, looking up. "It could work,"

Dean studies her face. "Are you sure?"

Andrea nods. "At least in theory, yeah. I think it could work,"

"That's great," Sam comments, happy. "What do you need for the spell?"

"Ingredients vary, but she'll need a massive amount of magic," Ruby replies. "I mean, locking a regular spirit inside a body is already a hardcore spell. We're talking about locking a centuries-old demonic spirit, so…" she trails off, and Andrea feels a chill run down her spine.

Feeling the eyes of the three hunters on her, she voices her decision. "It doesn't matter. I'll do it,"

"How exactly are we going to do this?" Bobby says, talking for the first time.

"First things first, I need to find the right spell to use," Andrea pauses, sighing. "And that means I need to go back home,"

"Home?" Bobby asks.

"Yeah, home. Salem, Massachusetts," she adds, a bit sarcastically. "And I'll need your help. Salem is what witches call a power place. There's something about the, uh magical energy there, that makes it attractive to witches, so there's always a lot of them there. If you recall, regular witches hate my kind, and demons are hunting me as well, so for starters, I need you to come with me, for, uh, let's say, security purposes,"

The hunters exchange a brief look, but Dean's answer is almost instant. "Count us in, Andrea,"

She offers him a smile and stands up. "I'm gonna go pack my stuff. The faster we go, the faster we can get this over with,"