Well, the end of the year is upon us. This might be the last chapter I get posted before it's 2021. I tell you, this year has been a weird one, and I hope it calms down a little. Still, I'm proud of how far along I've been able to take this story, and I'm glad you've all been enjoying it. Here's to another year of writing it.

Chapter 31: Silence Between Us

It took a couple days before Sam found it in himself to talk to Emma. It wasn't that he was trying to shut her out, he just didn't really know how to handle what had happened. The girl was clearly in a bad place, withdrawn and sullen over what had happened in Yreka. He wanted to stress to her the gravity of her mistake but it didn't feel right to bear down on her about it. She already seemed to understand it well enough anyway. So what he was supposed to do, comfort her or punish her for it?

The hunter was feeling even more confused than ever. When he'd found she'd sneaked out and chased after her to the bistro, he hadn't had any idea what she was doing out in the middle of the night. Finding her on the floor, screaming and in pain had caused something to snap inside of him. He hadn't seen her then, not exactly. He'd seen Dean instead, on the floor ripped apart by hellhounds, in the parking lot as he bled out from a bullet in his stomach, all the deaths on Tuesday, and he'd just lost it. He had lost his brother. He wasn't going to lose the last thing he had of him too.

Emma was the last of his family but she was also the only connection he had left to his brother, a man he'd felt so bonded to that he'd been able to wrest control out of the hands of an archangel to save him. Seeing her in danger had filled his stomach with white-hot rage, the same he felt over Jessica's death and Ruby's betrayal. The same anger that filled him and made the job so much easier, that tore down all morality and just made it easy to kill anything in his path.

It was the kind of feeling that scared him, knowing deep down just how lost he could get in his own actions. It was easy, so damn easy to justify the things he did when he felt like that.

He'd sent her out to get dinner the next day, telling her to just pick up whatever she felt like for the meal. She'd only nodded and headed out, closing the door behind her as he went back to the bedroom. Getting the DVD had been autopilot, and Gabriel didn't even look surprised to see him anymore as Sam laid out on the bed and just talked to the computer screen. He didn't want to mention Emma, just needed a distraction, so he asked him to talk about anything he wanted. Sam actually hadn't listened all that much but the voice had soothed him as Gabriel just talked about hookers and porn stars. It was beyond stupid but somehow it still left him feeling better.

"I'm having trouble letting him go," Sam cut in about an hour later. "I don't know how to move on."

"Not that I don't like seeing you, but I don't think listening to me talk about frisky women is all that helpful."

Sam paused before shrugging, the move a bit awkward considering he was still laying down on his side.

"It does, actually," he admitted. "I don't know why."

"Oh Hell, you must be lonely then."

Sam considered the words honestly and had to admit to himself that it was true. Despite Emma by his side, he was lonely. He didn't know how to fix it. So much of his own pain was gnawing at him, and he still had to find a way to help her with her own. So how exactly was he supposed to do that?

"I've got to go," he said before he closed the computer and rolled over onto his back to stare up at the ceiling. The girl wasn't Dean but in a way she was. She wanted to be, wanted to be strong and tough like him, to belong to this family. Was there an issue with her being the only one he had left when he was all she had too?

He didn't move until he heard the front door open again, signaling she was back. Getting out of the bed, he went into the living room to meet her. She had a few bags of fast food tacos that she laid down on the table in front of the couch.

"Hey," he said softly. "Welcome back."

"Uh huh," she replied, not meeting his eyes.

The mood was thick enough to cut with a knife. That was enough. He had to be the grownup here and address it.

"Emma, sit down," he ordered. She risked a confused glance at him before she did as she was told and settled down on the couch. "Look, we need to talk about what happened before with Kate. This is just going to fester if we don't."

"Okay," she replied with a short nod of her head, though her eyes were trained on the floor.

"Why didn't you tell me what you were planning on doing?" he asked. If he could understand her thought process on it, maybe it would make it easier to address.

"I was going to at first," she confessed. "William begged me not to. He didn't believe you would want to help him because of what he was."

"And you agreed with him?"

"I didn't really know what you'd do," she admitted. "I don't know how you feel about things that aren't human. I… I should have told you. I'm sorry. I just thought it would be easier if you didn't know, and I know I promised you ages ago to not sneak off and to tell you things instead of keeping secrets but..."

She chewed on her lip and looked up at him.

"We're family. I knew you'd take my side over a hunter, but for William it seemed… I really didn't know what would happen. It seemed safer just to help him escape and then leave."

He sighed out and ran a hand over his face. He supposed that was the downside from keeping so much from her. She didn't know about Madison, Lenore, Amy or any of the others. He'd been on the side of so called monsters plenty of times and had allowed himself to feel sympathy for them. If she'd told him then he would have agreed immediately, but how was she supposed to know that?

"You know, not all hunters are the same," he said as he sat down next to her on the couch. "They're people just like everyone else. Some are good, some are bad. You have to judge by the circumstances. Hell, not all of them are even human."

She looked at him curiously but he only swallowed the lump in his throat and continued.

"When I was younger, a lot younger it feels like, I went on a trip to Scotland. I met a girl there, beautiful and forceful who turned out to be a hunter too. They call themselves breakers there, but it's the same idea. Turns out, she was actually a lot like the swan you rescued but a selkie instead. They're seals that are born from the souls of drowned victims and that come to shore in order to shed their skin and become human. I didn't know at first, even as I felt myself falling for her. I left thinking she was human and it wasn't until years later did I learn the truth. She contacted me, asked me to come back to help her and told me the truth. There was an infestation, more than just a few taking over the town, slowly choking it to death. I guess they weren't like most selkies, these ones mindless and dangerous. She had to put a stop to them and needed my help."

Though honestly to this day, he wasn't sure what for. He really hadn't done all that much, just been there for her emotionally. She'd handled most of it herself. Plenty of times he'd wondered if she had just wanted to see him one last time.

"She was a person, and I saw that. It didn't matter if she was alien to me, what she could turn into or what she was supposed to be. It was her choices that mattered, and she saved a lot of people's lives with her actions. That was all that mattered," he said. "William didn't deserve to be kept as some pet, and I would have put a stop to it if you'd only told me the truth."

"This girl, what happened to her?" Emma asked him.

"She… she died," he admitted. "She was worried about the infestation, that it might start all over again even if she was all alone at the end. They were kind of drawn to her, you see, and she was worried her presence would be enough to call more of them to her. So she ended it, as a hero."

The teenager stared down at the floor, fidgeting with her hands.

"Wouldn't it have been better not to have known her then, to not have to deal with that pain and uncertainty?" she asked.

"There's a lot of what ifs in this world," he informed her. "It's common, especially after you make a mistake. You always wonder what you could have done better. It's not that simple. It never has been. You just have to try to move forward as best you can and keep from making the same mistakes the next time."

"What was her name?"

Sam actually let out a bit of a bitter little laugh at that.

"Her name was Emma," he informed her. "Emma of the Isles."

The Amazon gave him a long and hard look, probably trying to decide if she believed him or not.

"You're making that up," she accused.

"No, really. It's true," he told her. "Look, I know Dean's death has been hard on you. It's not something that just rolls off your back. I also know that you felt abandoned by how he acted, but you can trust me. I will always be on your side, Emma. No matter what happens, I'm here for you. I won't leave you. Even if I hated every other nonhuman thing out there, you're still my niece. You always will be. I can't promise I'll always be perfect and that I won't screw up at times, but I'll always have your best interests at heart. Please, I just want you to trust me."

Emma hesitated for a second before she leaned in and rested her head on his shoulder.

"I need you," she whispered softly. "I'm always going to need you, Uncle. I never wanted to leave. I just agreed because Father insisted."

"I know."

She sighed as she wrapped her arms around him, clearly seeking comfort. A couple times she opened her mouth to say something, and he waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts before she would just close her mouth again. The silence dragged on for a while before she sat up to open the food.

"I don't want to leave, ever. This is where I belong, I know it, and I'll work hard to prove you can trust me. Just… promise me you'll never send me away, okay?"

"Alright," he conceded, but it wasn't just to make her happy. He didn't think he'd ever want to let her go either. She didn't really need to worry about that. "But on the field you still do exactly what I say. I'm training you, and you're not to make decisions on your own, not until I know you can handle it."

"Deal," she agreed with a solemn nod.

The sun was just starting to rise, casting shadows over the ground as Emma breathed in deep before slowly letting it out. Steadying herself, she spread her feet to keep her stance firm and in control. Her fist struck out at the punching bag in front of her, hitting it again and again, harder with every strike. The chain holding the item from the wooden stand creaked as she started moving the bag, but she didn't slow down, wailing on the thick canvas until stopping suddenly.

Her eyes had changed again, but she'd lasted longer this time. It was getting easier to find her limit, to pinpoint the place where they shifted, just how much strength it took.

She took a deep breath and a few steps away from the bag, trying to calm down before she tried again.

"Emma?"

She turned around to see her uncle coming out of the cabin, looking at her in confusion.

"Have you been up all night?" he asked her.

"No. I got up about an hour ago. I thought I'd get to work," she explained. "Did I wake you up?"

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. You don't have to start so early, you know."

"This was your idea. I just want to do it right," she admitted.

It was true. After their talk about what had happened in California, things were a little easier. Focusing on her training seemed to help the both of them. He still sent her out on errands a lot though, to buy food or newspapers or gas up the cars, no doubt to get away from it all. She never said anything about it, figuring he needed his own time to process.

It was easier at times than others, and often she had to remind herself harshly that he was suffering loss and confusion just as much as she was right now. She wasn't the only one hurting and he needed to heal differently than she did. It refocused her on the fact she had to stop feeling sorry for herself and seeing every little thing as points to be added or subtracted from some kind of imaginary total that was his affection for her.

Especially when he had told her his idea.

"The fact of the matter is you're the most skilled at fighting hand-to-hand, and it's what you're most comfortable with. However, you've started to get afraid of anyone finding out what you are, and for good reason. I'll never allow a hunter to hurt you, but I think you'll feel better if you had some more control over yourself. So, you're going to learn it. I want you to find the point right before you change so you know how far you can take yourself. You're also going to practice more with shooting. I know you're not the best at it, but this thing you do where you get in close to fight is risky, so we'll work on that together."

She'd wondered if he had been thinking about how to help her in those times he'd sent her away, and it had only made her more determined to do right by him. She was going to stop thinking so much about what she wanted and needed, and more what he needed in return. Granted it would be easier if he would tell her what that was, but she had to firmly assure herself that he was her mentor and he only had her best interests at heart. If he needed time alone to work on this, she needed to accept that.

Which is why she'd been working so hard. In the month since they'd come back, she'd focused as much as she could on her training, but it hadn't just been with fighting or even learning lore. Her uncle had so much to teach and she wanted to be there with him, to learn everything he wanted to give her. When he'd come back with groceries one day he'd looked down at them before approaching her.

"I got some stuff for a pot roast. Frozen burritos and fast food all the time isn't healthy, especially for a growing young woman like you," he'd informed her. "We're going to start eating right from now on… you know, when we can. I know being on the road all the time doesn't help."
She hadn't understood why he had bothered to explain all of that to her, as if he'd been asking her permission, but she'd nodded her head and went back to reading the Odyssey for a moment before a thought occurred to her. Getting up, she walked up to him as he started getting things put away and coughed a bit in order to get his attention.

"Can I help make dinner?" she'd asked. "You know, to learn, Uncle?"

He'd given her a smile and assured her that would be fine, and soon they were making all the meals together, no matter how complex or simple they were. From there one of them had been looking around the cabin and made a comment about how the place was kind of a dilapidated mess and then he was teaching her minor repairs and making the place feel more like home. A second bed was put down and they sanded the walls and floors, even replacing the boards where there was still a burn mark shaped like a wing. Knitted throws that weren't moth-eaten and furniture that wasn't half-destroyed were purchased to replace the old items in the cabin that ended up tossed.

He'd even begun to help her clean up the Plymouth, giving it a fresh coat of cherry red paint and show her how to fix it up and properly maintain it, explaining she really should have a car of her own.

It was all little things, but as they worked together the place started to feel less like a hideaway and more like a home, and through it she began to feel comfortable with Sam again. She could tell he was really trying hard too, which only caused her to want to make things easier on him by showing her appreciation and willingness to listen. Studying and cleaning weapons helped her focus too, giving her a sense of calm she'd been sorely lacking lately.

He'd found her one day with the Impala's trunk empty and her on the floor, cleaning everything off as she softly hummed Styx to herself. She'd been about to greet him when he'd paused at one of the blades. It shone brightly in the dim lighting of the cabin since she'd just finished cleaning it, curved and with fine detail pressed into the steel, though it was more a sickle than a knife. He'd picked it up and rolled it around in his hands, seemingly in thought for a moment before he'd handed it over and smiled at her.

"You should keep this," he'd told her. "It was mine but I never used it much. I want you to have it. Your knife is good for stabbing, but you should have some variety and this is great for decapitation. I think it'll come in handy."

She'd felt so touched by his actions, she hadn't been willing to part with it since. Everything he was doing for her seemed to be helping and while losing Dean still hurt, she was sure it always would, at least she still had him.

"I'm getting better at this," she said as she laid a hand on the bag he'd bought for her, feeling the thick canvas under her fingers. "I'll try to keep from practicing so early in the morning though."

"Just wait until I wake up on my own," he chuckled before stretching. "Since you're out here already though, shall we spar? It'll work up an appetite before breakfast."

"You're on. Loser does the dishes?" she asked to which he chuckled and nodded.

She didn't waste any time, launching at him. Her muscles were already warm from her training, but she wasn't about to allow that to stop her. It had been another idea of his, to keep up sparring with her. Honestly, at first she'd been a little scared of it considering last time when she'd lost control of her temper and clocked him one, but he informed her that's exactly why she needed to do it.

"When you make a mistake you work to correct it, not shrink back from the idea you might do it again," he'd told her. "Besides, it'd be good for you to practice against someone who doesn't have the strength you do, to learn it isn't going to win you every fight."

Comments like that always made it sound like she was training more to defend herself from fellow hunters than to stop monsters, but she supposed that was going to be a concern all of her life and it was better to confront it than pretend it wasn't a problem.

As they moved and struck at one another, she did her best to read him and his movements. After doing this for a while now, she was learning his moves pretty well but he knew her just as much. It was a fun way to push themselves, to try to pin each other and wiggle out of the holds. They both had their advantages, his size and her strength, though it was a rule she was supposed to hold back as much as possible, just another way to find the sweet spot where she could use her abilities without exposing herself.

His foot swept out underneath of her, and she rolled with it, springing up as soon as her back hit the ground, kicking out at him and catching him in the stomach. Watching him stumble back, she pressed her advantage and punched out at him before he blocked her, grabbing her wrist and spinning her around to kick at her. Knocking it aside with her own leg, she rammed her shoulder into his chest only for him to wrap his arms around her stomach and lifted her before slamming her back down.

"Owww," she moaned as she laid out on the ground, putting her hands together to signal the time out. "Okay, dishes are my job today."

"You okay?" he asked as he helped her up.

"Yeah, I'm good," she said as she rubbed at her back. A hot shower and she'd be fine, easing her muscles before they could knot up on her. "I'll be in soon."

He patted her shoulder and headed back in before she turned back to the bag and made a fist, gently hitting it. It wouldn't be true to say things were perfect now. Sam still seemed to need time to himself. Getting sent out for 'milk' nearly every other day seemed to be code for him needing some space. She pretended not to realize what he was doing, and had outright ignored the time she'd caught him in the middle of the night pouring some out in the sink, quietly going back to bed and not saying anything when he'd told her they needed more the next morning, just assuring him she'd take care of it. Emma had taken an extra hour out, texting him to tell her she was going to hang out at the library in town for a bit before she got back. It was to give him extra space but also not worry him when she didn't get back in the time it would have normally taken.

She wasn't entirely sure why he always wanted to be alone but she told herself not to take it personally. It was only an hour or two every couple of days, and if he needed it then that was all that really mattered. He'd told her before it wasn't her job to worry about him, but she still did. Family had to support one another but perhaps she needed to show her support in other ways. If this is what he had to have to process his own emotions then it was her job to give that to him, to allow him his space. It wasn't because he didn't care about her, but because he was a person with his own feelings and needs. Supporting him in any way that she could was the best action for her to take.

It was also why she'd decided against telling him what Blaise had said, or about her blood. There wasn't any point in getting into it. The Amazon had never made it any secret that she wanted to be around her family, and maybe they had never understood how deep her need for them went, but they knew it was there. She'd asked to stay, offered to help, and made it clear they were important to her. Getting into the nitty-gritty of it would not accomplish anything but make Sam think she could never stand to be alone. She knew what he would do, would keep her under watch at all times, do it to reassure her but it could end up hurting him just to ensure her comfort. Whatever he was doing alone seemed to be helping him, and that mattered more in the long run than some pull of her blood that she didn't even completely understand herself.

Maybe more time with the Amazons would have better explained it to her. Maybe they would have gone into more details about it. She hadn't known Ares had done that intentionally, but surely that would have been a lesson she'd have received later on. As much as she'd been able to soak up in her time with them and her mom, there would have been more along the way. They would have imparted wisdom onto her, a better understanding of what she was, but these were also the people who had left her. They'd come back, yes, but they'd come back expecting a body because she'd been nothing more than a distraction to get away. She missed them, the pull was still there, but it was so very weak in comparison to what she wanted from the Winchesters.

Perhaps she had imprinted on her father first, or maybe he'd actually earned her affection. It didn't matter now, only that it had happened and she had to be comfortable with that. The ties for her tribe could be broken or ignored, just as they could accept losses in battle. Loyalty didn't mean being unable to continue on without someone, so why worry Sam into thinking she couldn't go one day without him or something crazy like that?

The fury had been right. She needed to clean up her own mess, to take responsibility for herself and stop acting selfishly. It was technically keeping things from Sam, but he was clearly keeping things from her too. Lying and the need for privacy wasn't the same, and she found comfort in telling herself if Sam ever remembered what had been said under the ghost's influence than she'd tell him the truth but also assure him that it didn't mean that would go insane if he ever left her, or at least she was fairly sure anyway.

Emma was also firm on keeping the summoning to herself, mostly because it had hit her several days later if she'd done so earlier to just handle William's problem she could have kept her hands clean. The fury did handle theft and kidnappings after all and the swan had certainly qualified. Not even thinking of it had just been another bit of proof she needed to get her head on straight.

So all of that wasn't lying. It just also wasn't burdening him with things that might not even matter. After all, Sam had made it clear he was going to stick with her through thick and thin. She had what she needed and that was what should matter to her. Everything else was just extra and it would only be as important as she allowed it to be.

She was still learning a lot, but she also felt that she was finally starting to grow.

"I'll come back for you later," she said in challenge to the bag before walking back inside to get cleaned up and eat.

Time had dragged in Hell, every day passing by felt like a razor pulled over his very soul, and Dean had been happy to get out of it. Right now though, he had to wonder if Purgatory was the same. Everything felt like it was taking forever for him, anger bubbling in his stomach at every little delay.

He looked over at the monster laying out against a tree, tied to it by a chain they'd been lucky enough to find. Benny was bent over him and talking to him, but it didn't seem any progress was being made. The vampire eventually straightened up and walked over.

"I don't think he knows, man," he admitted.

"Oh, he knows," he hissed out. Dean had long since learned when people were lying to him, and he was too desperate to be above torture right now. He didn't care how long it took, how badly he had to hurt this bastard, he'd get him to talk. "Where's the angel?"

He didn't get an answer and he pressed his knife to the thing's gut. He could cut him deeply without hitting any internal organs, could make the son of a bitch feel it for as long as he wanted to. Every day without Castiel was making him feel more feral, determined to find him no matter how many he had to kill before he reached him.

When silence was his only answer, he started to press it down before a hand grabbed his wrist and yanked it away. He was about to snap at Benny that he knew what he was doing, only it wasn't the vampire he was looking at.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to insist you stop that," Eve said as she glared down coldly at him. "Now."

Dean pulled his arm free and backed up several steps and glared over at the vampire.

"Nice warning you gave me," he snapped out, but Benny didn't seem to hear him, staring at the woman with an expression the hunter couldn't quite place. It seemed to be between awe and honest fear, neither that he'd seen before for the vampire. That didn't bode well.

"He wouldn't be able to help you against me and you know it," she informed him. "I'll ask you once, don't make this difficult. I only came here to talk."

"Oh yeah, why should I believe that?" he snarled at her, even as he wondered if he could outrun her. He had no phoenix ash on him, and he hadn't come across a single one in his time here. If she came after him then he was screwed six ways to Sunday.

"Well, I only wanted to talk the last time we met," she said as she crossed her arms over her chest.

"Lady, you tried to bite and infect me."

"And you said you didn't work with demons," she countered as she walked up to him, a soft and coy smile on her lips. "It's bad form to lie to a mother."

He frowned but didn't take a step back, refusing to give her any more ground.

"You think I don't know what was going on? How your angel ripped out every single one of my children from here, burned them up like fuel for his crusade? He's lucky he returned them, but I know which ones never made it back. My children, treated like coal for the war machine, and due to your help."

"I tried to stop him. He-"

"Oh, I know. That's the only reason you're still standing here. Well, that and one other thing. You want to find him, don't you?"

She turned her back to him and knelt down in front of the monster tied up, her thin fingers slowly untying the chains and helping him to his feet. Laying her hand on his chin, she patted his cheek gently.

"I'll tell you where he is, but I want something in return," she said, still looking at the creature. "Go on, the hunter won't hurt you."

He hesitated for a second before running for it, and Dean had to fight every urge to go after him. He'd caught the damn thing fair and square but he wasn't about to get himself tangled in a fight that he couldn't win, not when Castiel was still out there alone and needed him.

"What do you want?" he asked her.

"Lots of things, but for now all I want you gone," she said as she faced him again. "I don't much appreciate a hunter running around and terrorizing my children."

"Lady, they seem to do that just fine on their own," he retorted.

"It is in their nature. Some fight it, some don't," she replied with a shrug. "Killing on instinct is one thing. Torturing them for information is completely different though. I want you to stop hounding them for information. I'll tell you where your angel is so that way you can get to your portal and get out."

"So then there is one, for sure?" Benny asked.

"You didn't know?" Dean asked him incredulously.

"Even rumors you can put stock in are still rumors, brother," Benny replied.

"It's real, I can assure you of that," she stated. "You think of Purgatory as some kind of locked box, a safe with only one way in and out, but it's more than that. This of it more like a honeycomb, a maze of tunnels that lead to more places than you can imagine. The portal is one of them, something that only opens when a human approaches it. I've never seen it work myself but I am aware of its existence. If you're only willing to go to it with Castiel, then all the more reason for you to find him."

"There's a catch here," Dean said. There was no way that this would be so easy. He didn't believe it. "What aren't you telling me?"

"Earth is in a transition period right now," she explained. "You sent the king of the Leviathans back here, and many of his followers were lost without his leadership. They've been trying to find a mew path, only to get preyed upon by hunters and demons alike. Not to mention they're also starting to fight among themselves. It's getting them back here, slowly, one at a time as they die. I'm currently trying to get them under my control, but they're strong and dangerous, even to me. Luckily I have one thing in my favor, they all want the angel. Unfortunately, he's fast. Any time they get near, he just runs. They'll never catch him, and because of that I can't catch them. If he keeps fleeing from the fight then this will go on forever."

"And when I find him?"

"Convince him not to leave you again," Eve replied with a smile. "You'll get in close, and he's like a beacon. Every single one of the Leviathans can see him, but he won't run if it leaves you behind and puts you in danger. He'll stay and fight, and the three of you will incapacitate them for me to collect."

"Oh good, giving you even more things to make you dangerous."

"They're mine anyway, by right of conquest. I ate their leader," she informed him. "You should be thanking me. The first thing he would have done would have been to find and end you. Here in Purgatory it's the only way to keep something down forever, to consume their flesh and soul. Which is why I can't risk going after them myself, even if I do have a pretty impressive strike team."

"Strike team?"

"My firstborn, the alphas," she explained. "They can handle a single Leviathan with all of them working together, but it's a slow process and they don't always wander around alone. Besides, if one of those beasts ate my children, there would be no recovering them. I'm much more willing to risk you than them. All I ask is that you just fight your way out, like you were planning to already. You battle, decapitate them, and I handle the cleanup. In return, if you're able to find the portal, I'll personally ensure you get through it safely and then you're out of my hair."

"You're asking me to do what I was already planning on doing anyway," he stated.

"Yes, but I'm willing to be honest and tell you how I benefit from it. Dean, I really mean this when I tell you I want you and Castiel dead more than almost anything, but my children are much more important to me. I'll have order, and this realm will be all mine soon. You being alive makes that a much easier goal than you dead. What will you do? Sit here and wait to be killed and refuse to rescue your angel because you'd rather spite me?"

The hunter glared at her, pissed but knowing she had a point. Even if he blew her off and found another monster to torture for the information he wanted, it would still move her towards her goal too. Like Meg, it wasn't a deal, more just moving towards something they both happened to want.

"If you end up betraying me, I don't care how long it takes, I'll end you," he hissed at her.

"Same to you," she replied. "As for your angel, he's down in a clearing about three days from here. There's a stream close by to the north. Follow it and it'll take you there."

"What if he's gone by then?"

"He tends to stay in one place until they catch up to him and then he moves. He should still be there by the time you reach him, but if he isn't then I'll find you and tell you where he is again."

"Right, and you can keep track of him so easily how?"

"I can see through the eyes of my children. They see him, I see him," she informed him. "More than that like I said before, every Leviathan can see him. His aura is more than strong enough to see in this place."

"Then you-"

"You're losing time, Dean. You should go before I decide it's not worth it working with you," she stated evenly before turning to Benny. "You're to assist him in any way he needs, understand?"

Once again, it was a case of someone already doing what they wanted but Benny nodded slowly to her anyway. Her smile never left her face, seeming pleased with the answer.

"Good boy," she whispered. "I can't offer you much more than to show you both the way. You're still going to have to fight to get to the portal on your own though. I'm too busy to protect you every step of the way after all, and there are plenty here who will want to try to kill you, not just the Leviathans. Still, I wish you luck. Try not to disappoint me, either of you."

She faded back into the treeline, leaving the two alone.

"Okay, what the hell was that?" Dean asked Benny. The vampire only stared after her before shaking himself from whatever had affected him.

"We should go," he replied.

"That's it? We should go? That's all you've got to say?"

"I heard her in my head," the vampire confessed. "It was like a lullaby singing to me."

"Oh great. Some kind of control over you?"

"I wouldn't be surprised. It seems to be gone now. We should try and find Castiel before he has a chance to move again."

"Before we do, anything weird going on in your head? Feeling hungry, urge to rip my head off, anything like that?"

"Not that I'm noticing."

The hunter supposed that was the best he was going to get, but it didn't mean he liked it. Still, it wasn't like he had much choice in the matter. He was going to have to find the angel one way or the other, unwilling to leave without him.

Even pushing himself without rest, it took days to reach the clearing, just like Eve had informed him. Monsters didn't clear the way either, making it a fight to get there. She could have at least put out the word she wanted her children not to mess with them, but he didn't figure she was going to go that much out of her way for him. Either he died in the attempt to get out of this place, or he lived and played his part in her little plan. She got something she wanted either way.

It made him want to take the damn bitch's head off, not that he knew if it would have done any good. Might have made him feel better at the very least.

Pushing past the underbrush, he felt relief flood him when he saw Castiel perched over the water, washing his hands. He couldn't contain his excitement as he called out to him.

"Cas!" he yelled, not giving a damn about being quiet at the moment.

The angel looked around until he saw him, slowly standing up before Dean walked up to him and hugged him tightly. He'd missed the angel so bad, but things were okay again, as long as he had the guy. He couldn't keep himself from laughing, glad finally something was going right for him.

"Damn, I missed you," he said as he pulled away and took in his appearance. Had he actually grown a beard? He didn't know angels could even do that. Dean himself hadn't changed at all in his time here, but he was too elated to even be confused by the weird rules of this place. "Nice peach fuzz."

"Thank you," the angel replied, sounding more confused than anything.

"I want you to meet someone," he said, figuring he should start explaining. "This is Benny. Benny, this is Cas."

"Hola," the vampire said, but he was more busy scanning the treeline to make any kind of conversation.

"How did you find me?" the angel asked.

"The bloody way. Went after some monsters and Eve caught up with us," he confessed. "She said she'd tell me where you were as long as I collected you and got out of here. She mentioned Leviathans were trailing you. Are… are you okay, by the way? You know, with the whole head thing?"

"No, I'm perfectly sane, but then ninety-four percent of psychotics think they're sane, so we have to ask ourselves what is sane?" Castiel said before shaking his head. "I believe more accurately it could be asked if my mind is more focused than it was before. It felt like it was split apart, spent drifting into space itself. I noticed everything, every shape, color, and living being no matter how small or large it was. It made focusing practically impossible."

"How about now?"

"It's easier, like it's been able to pull itself together into a more solid piece rather than fragments," the angel confessed. "You never should have come to find me."

"You know, I perfectly agree," the vampire spoke up. "This has been a wild goose chase after all."

"Never should have… Cas, you never should have sent me away!" Dean snapped at him, feeling himself start to get angry. "Asking you not to leave me was not some invite for you to ghost me off to parts unknown! It's the same thing! You know how many things I've killed to try and find you?! I prayed to you, every night so you'd know where I was!"

"I know," the angel said softly.

"You know, and you didn't come find me?!"

"I was trying to keep you safe, Dean. I-"

"Did it ever occur to you I'd rather have you by my side anyway! I don't care about you being good luck or bad for me, or anything like that! I told you how I felt because I need you! Was it that easy to throw away?!"

The angel shifted around a little before shaking his head.

"Just leave me… please," he begged softly.

"Sounds like a capital idea. Come on, Dean. Let's roll," Benny replied. "Up to him if he wants to come with."

Dean was fairly sure the vampire had been ordered to help out with this, but he seemed pretty uncomfortable with that. It didn't matter. He wasn't leaving without Cas.

"Cas, we're getting out of here. We're going home, and don't you even tell me you can't," he said when he saw the angel was about to reply. "Benny, tell him."
The vampire didn't look like he wanted to but eventually relented.

"Purgatory has an escape hatch," he admitted. "Honestly though, I have no idea if it's angel friendly, no matter what the lady says. She mentioned getting to it, not if you could go through."

"Dean, this sounds dangerous. If you can get out then-" the angel said before Dean glared at him.

"I'm not leaving without you. Either you come with me or I keep following you," he said firmly. "No arguing, got it? You want to keep me safe, then get me to that portal."

The angel looked for all the world like he wanted to deny him that, but instead only nodded in consent.

"Of course. I understand."

End of Chapter 31

Winchesters always have been stubborn. Kind of hard to argue with them about anything.

Also, the story of Emma of the Isles comes from the comics Supernatural: Caledonia. Usually I stay away from the expanded material of the SPN universe, mostly because of conflicting information and the quality is all over the place. One comic from another series has Dean out vampire hunting… despite not knowing vampires even exist yet. Oh, and it also has a lovely little story about Sam and John threatening to shoot each other over a hot dog of all things. No surprise Dabb wrote that particular noncanon piece of garbage.

Still, the comic about the breakers fit well in the show without contradicting anything and it's a decent little story, so I decided to use it. That and both characters having the same name always makes me chuckle. The other comics aren't going to receive any mention, cause like I said before, they kind of suck.