Notes: So this is where it went in my head all these years later. Not where it was intended to, and it might be a bit on the weak end of an explanation, but as I sort of wrote in to a corner, this is how it got out of that. It may just set everything up a little better for later as well. Also, please note that when working on it now the name Church is the character previously known as Chuch. I have changed her name all these years later, and so much love for the friend who allowed me to use her nickname back in the day.

Anyway, if anyone is reading - hope you enjoy it.

Needing a few minutes alone to collect her thoughts and emotions about what Castiel had been able to reveal, Manda had gone upstairs to do that along with putting together a spot to sleep that night.

Sam was using the one spare bedroom with a bed, Bobby's bedroom was still just that even if he wasn't using it lately on account of being in the wheelchair, which left another one bedroom that had no bed and was used to store some old furniture.

Earlier on she'd already brought the things she needed, her duffel bag, the sleeping bag she kept in her trunk, and a few extra blankets up to the room, so on her way there she stopped to grab a pillow from the linen closet.

Her ribs were still tingly from what Castiel had done to them, and the things he had said were just swirling around in her thoughts as she set up a makeshift bed for the night.

She had unzipped and laid her sleeping bag out flat in front of the wall, put the extra blankets on top, tossed the pillow above it, and then just stood there lost in thought. So angels wanted me to die, but one of them or God brought me back… and for what? But apparently it started long before that… so what does one of the worst nights of my life and all the loss that followed have to do with meeting Dean and ending up here?

Finding her standing there with her back to the door, Dean stopped in the doorway of the room he expected she was in. He hadn't been sure how to approach Manda once Castiel had left, but after twenty minutes Bobby had told him to either make sure she was okay or help give him a sponge bath, the choice had been easy to make. He had climbed the stairs quickly.

Now it took him a few seconds to realize she was planning on sleeping in here, but hadn't exactly been accounting for him if there was just one pillow. He knew what to do then, and walked in with heavy footsteps to pull her from her thoughts. "Got room for one more in that bed?"

Manda barely chuckled before turning around to look at him. "Not sure I do."

Looking a little wounded, Dean just closed the space between them then. "You really think I'm letting you sleep alone after all that? You might not want me here right now, but we're bunking together tonight. Deal with it, Chambers." His tone was firm, because even if she didn't want him there, he was going to be.

"Get another pillow then," she uttered, knowing it was useless to tell him to find somewhere else to sleep later."Before I change my mind."

He flashed a charming grin at her, and nodded towards the floor. "Why? There's one already here. I'll use it, you'll use me…"

There was a soft defeated sigh from Manda then. "Now you're pushing it."

"Not a chance. Maybe you don't feel like sleeping with me the fun way again, but you'll still sleep with me tonight. We both know that much, sweetheart. You're not going to refuse my arm over you either way when that's the only place you ever feel safe," Dean stated with a look that said she knew he was right.

She lifted a brow at him, her expression a little comical even if he had a point. "Maybe…and shut up. That's the only place you ever thought I was safe, Winchester."

"Because it was," he replied a little too quickly. "Still is. At least I know where you are when you're under it, and nothing is getting to you there without me knowing about it first."

Manda just looked at him, seeing he meant it. He was obviously concerned about what might still come to light once they heard back from Castiel. "So, did you learn anything useful by having Castiel crack in to my coconut?"

Dean chuckled a little at how she put it even if he could tell she wanted to know what he had gotten out of it. "Maybe… like how you once had to make one hell of a hard call for someone you loved. But you heard what Cass said about that, and everything else, and he sucks at lying. So you know I made the right call on this even if he couldn't tell us much more than what he did."

She pressed her lips together a bit hard, unsure for a moment what to say back. "Yeah… that was not at all enlightening in the least. Now I get to wonder why that one horrible night and everyone I lost started everything and put me on a path to meeting you…" her voice went a little hollow then.

Dean just stared at her, his eyes searching hers intensely for a moment, wondering what she was getting at. He couldn't change what had happened to her any more than she could, but if it hadn't then they never would have met. Maybe she'd be better off for it but he knew he wouldn't be. His life would have still been the same, and if they hadn't met he wasn't sure how he would have gotten through some of it without having her to turn to since then. "And I'm sorry that path started the way it did for you, that you lost so much because of it, but I'm not sorry we met, Manda. You want to tell me you are?"

She reached out to gently caress his cheek and thoughtfully looked at him. "Do you really have to ask me that, Dean?"

His expression was a little sheepish for a brief second before he shrugged a little. "You might be, even if Castiel kind of told all of us how you feel…"

Manda smiled a little sadly, shaking her head. "No, but you were also on your own path then, and if Castiel hadn't plucked you out of Hell when he did, do you think we would've met?"

"Probably not," Dean answered truthfully. She was making a good point. "Guess a bunch of things started both of us on roads to meeting long before we actually did."

"Yeah, and then they crossed." She stroked his cheek lightly again. "Not sorry about that. Just the tolls paid on them, baby. Cost us both too much, and it made us the way we are."

He closed his eyes for a second to hide the pain. She was right about that. They had both paid high costs, lost a lot, and it had shaped them at different times but still in such parallel ways. "Yeah, it did, Chambers. So you know I also know a little about that whole my ass is supposed to be dead right now and got brought back for some reason thing that's burning a hole in your head now too."

Manda grabbed Dean by his shirt and pulled him close to her. "Do you ever know that one." She lightly kissed him. "We still have the worst things in common."

His look said it was true as he put his arms around her. Dean pressed his lips to Manda's for a deeper kiss. "Hey, still got a few good things in common too."

"Maybe… like whatever you just had Castiel do to my ribs?" She smirked, trying to change the subject now. "That still tingles a bit."

Dean chuckled. "It'll pass soon. But what was the weird look he gave you about when he did that?"

Laughing, Manda grinned a little mischievously. "I was thinking about how much he might like touching me in case he was still reading my mind. He must have been because he seemed very careful not to touch my rack."

Breaking into a hearty laugh, Dean knew she wasn't joking about it. "So that's why he looked so uncomfortable when he touched you. Got something else to tease him about, thanks. But at least you're not on that angel radar now, and that's good from what he could tell us."

"Yeah… he kind of told all of us how you feel too," she said with a small grin. "But on or off that radar won't change anything if there's more to this."

Rolling his eyes, he pulled her right against him. Then he just reached up to lightly brush her cheek with his fingers as he searched her eyes for a moment. "Manda, if they got you… or it turns out it's because of me, and I lose you for good…"

"Shhh, I know," she whispered, giving him a thoughtful look. "You'd get so reckless it would end one of two ways for you – bad or dead. Kind of know a little about that one myself, Dean. Think it wouldn't be that way again for me too?"

Dean was quiet as they looked at each other. He knew it had been that way for her once already, and it would be that way again if she lost him now. So there was nothing he could say then. He could only gently crash his mouth to hers for an open kiss that quickly got deeper.

Standing there lost in kisses that were quickly getting more intense, they wrapped themselves around each other. Manda's arms went over his shoulders and one of her legs went up and around Dean as one of his hands travelled from her waist to rest more on her ass as their kisses became more heated.

There was a hard and strange clearing of the throat from behind them. "Dean," Castiel said somewhat oddly. "Manda."

Their mouths parted as both pulled back their heads at hearing their names.

Looking over Dean's shoulder at the angel for a second who quickly averted his gaze, Manda chuckled softly as she let go of him. "Behold your superhero, Winchester. Do you wanna call him the Angel of Awkwardness or Creeping Castiel?" she posed the options.

Dean chortled, tilting his head as he thought about it. "Super bad timing, Cass, you perv." He pulled away from her and turned around. But he could only laugh a little more as he saw Castiel had turned his head slightly and wouldn't quite look him in the eye then. "We're still involved, remember?"

Castiel glanced somewhat nervously between both of them. "Yes, Dean. I saw that in full detail in her mind… can see that … but, uh, I-I have everything Chuck ever wrote concerning you and Manda." He held up a stack of papers in one hand.

"Chuck's the prophet, right?" Manda moved to be beside Dean then. "The guy who wrote those books about you and Sam that you made me swear not to track down and read? And apparently he wrote about you and me at some point too?"

Damn it! You'll end up doing that now... "Yeah, that's him, and it looks like it," Dean kind of grumbled, and then lifted a curious brow towards the angel. "So, Cass, did Chuck actually know anything about any of it?"

Castiel finally looked straight at Dean. "He did. Chuck said he thinks and wrote that it was God who brought Manda back to you that night, Dean. She's important, you and her…"
"God?" they both inquired, cutting off the angel and staring at him with disbelief.

"Whoa, to me? And she's important?" Dean cut him off with an odd tone. "That doesn't explain much yet, like why or how."

"Or what I got brought back for." Manda eyed the angel curiously before her gaze settled on the papers in his hand, wondering this prophet had written. "Hang on, we're what, Castiel?"

The angel was silent for a few seconds, looking from one hunter to the other then. He was certain they wouldn't take his next words seriously. "The two of you are, as Chuck said the only word he could use for how it came to him when he wrote about the first time you met, soul mates."

Dean's face got a little scrunched up then as he tried to not to laugh but also process what had just been said. "Soul mates?" he scoffed sarcastically. "You're kidding, right?"

Manda let out a wry chuckle. "As in the dating profile must like long drives, classic rock, and ganking monsters kind of soul mates?"

Their heads turned to look at each other. Their expressions were somewhat comical yet questioning, and then both of them laughed a little too hard about it before their eyes met and the laughter gave way to silence. "No friggin' way," they both said at the same time.

Castiel looked at them awkwardly, seeing what they hadn't. Their reactions had been eerily similar. "It's all in here." He began rifling through the papers in his hand before stopping on one not too far into the pile. Then he began to read.

"Church had been right about her friend, she was gorgeous, fun, and definitely Dean's type. He knew it as he looked at her. Though, the moment Manda Chambers touched him as she called out his usual routine of hitting on a hot chick and matching it with her own, Dean felt like she already knew him inside and out. Standing there an inch apart with her hand on his chest, their eyes locked in a heated gaze, a thought crossed Dean's mind. He hated to even think it since it was laughably cheesy and not at all what he believed in. Unknown to him it was also a thought shared. Both hunters believed they had just in fact met their soul mate in the other, but quickly shrugged it off unaware that thought was actually true. However, that was the exact moment when Dean recognized Manda was different from all the other girls, likely to be a challenge, but worth it. She had also just made him feel like he was the only man in that bar right then with how she'd looked at and in him. For a second it even caused him to stutter on his words. His usual cockiness was nowhere to be found as he tried to play this with his typical coolness even when he felt all the blood rushing far from his actual brain."

Castiel stopped as he heard two sharp intakes of breath. He looked up to look at them and saw how both had wide eyes now, their faces were hard, and silence had filled the room.

Payback's some bitch… I wanted Cass reading her mind and now she gets to see in mine or at least read how it was for me thanks to freakin' Chuck writing all about our freakin' lives... Grabbing the papers from Castiel, Dean shot him an annoyed look. "I can read it for myself, Cass."

That was how it felt… that's going to be a hell of a read. "And so can I," Manda said with a slight smirk as she went to take the papers out of his hand.

"No!" Dean quickly uttered, holding them up above his head so she couldn't reach them. "I'll read it first and you can have it after that."

"Missing everything you don't want me reading? Think again," she shot back in a harsh tone.

"Dean, he only printed the copy in your hand. His printer was very slow," Castiel interjected. "But Chuck said he would email it to Manda since it's about her. I called to ask, but you weren't answering your phone. Sam did, and Chuck was sending it before I left. "

Manda just grinned. "Good. Thanks, Castiel."

"Yeah, awesome," Dean mumbled sarcastically and slightly annoyed. He checked his pocket and realized he had left phone downstairs in Bobby's kitchen.

Castiel was slightly confused for a moment and then realized what was wrong. Dean was worried about what she was going to read. "I can assure you that Manda felt exactly the same as you did, Dean. There's no reason to worry about her reading it."

She nodded in agreement. "Listen to him, he's right."

"I'm not worried." Dean was downplaying it and just sort of shrugged, still holding the papers tightly in his hand. "Was there anything else, Castiel? Did he know anything related to what this messenger said to Manda?"

Castiel watched Dean for a moment, not sure he would handle the next part. "Chuck said all he knows is that she has her own destiny to fulfill. He isn't sure what it is, but it is part of why she was brought back. The other part was you, Dean. But he insisted he hasn't yet seen why or exactly what that has to do with you beyond being soul mates."

Manda was trying to wrap her head around that one as she stood there. "Which isn't good or bad news yet then. Just more along the wait and see line then."

"It appears so. But what Chuck wrote is all real, just as what he does know is. He's a prophet. He did say you could call him if you have questions about any of it."

Dean just looked at that stack of papers in his hand, and rubbed his face with the other. He was very curious to read what had been written, but at the same time he wasn't sure he wanted to for what might be in it. "Okay… yeah, not good or bad news then, and super. Some prophet… can't even tell you when the shoe drops until it's happening."

"Castiel, are soul mates even real? I know there's a ton of lore out there on them, but…" she trailed off in a pause, unsure of asking it outright. She knew how she felt about Dean, but learning all this had her questioning if that was by choice or design. "If we are, it isn't like we were fated or something, is it?"

Castiel peered at her pensively for a moment. "Some souls are fated to meet, and some are just naturally a match. Your lives, what you've both experienced, how you both are because of that, it has made you and Dean… extremely compatible for each other. From what I saw in your mind, Manda, and what I know of Dean, you two are very similar despite what differences do exist. Though, there is a way to find out for sure, and if it was fate's doing. I can check you for…"

"No," Dean uttered loud and firmly, cutting him off. Then he sighed heavily as he looked to the female hunter again. Don't want to know we met only because of that… destiny, fate, it's why we're supposedly here anyway. But I know how I feel about you, Manda, and I chose to… that part, loving you, wasn't decided for me... "We'll read what Chuck wrote first and go from there. Sound like a plan to you, Chambers?"

Seeing the way he looked at her, Manda knew he was wondering about it too but wasn't sure he really wanted to know. "There does seem to be quite a bit to read, and I'm kind of itching to get started on it…"

Dean nodded. "Castiel, you can leave, and we'll do that. Thanks for…" He held up the papers and then nodded towards Manda.

"You're welcome," Castiel replied as he looked between them for a moment. "If one of you changes your mind, Dean, Manda…"

"I'll call you, Cass."

The angel gave one curt nod before he simply vanished before them.

"Bobby was right, he really should use a door," Manda said as she just sort of looked to Dean then. "That is so…"

"Hard to get used to, and still awkward and a little creepy." Dean kind of smirked.

"Uh-huh." She reached out and put her hand on his arm. "So are you going to hand over those stories you're holding or am I getting my laptop out of my car?"

He briefly closed his eyes and sighed. "We'll share, but give me a head start, okay? Because you know how you didn't want Cass reading your mind in front of me, well, this is gonna be a lot like that for me."

Manda just patted his cheek gently before she cupped it, and gave him a soft smile. "Hey… according to a prophet we're sou. mates." She stifled a laugh at the word then. "And you already know I won't hold any of what's in there against you."

Dean just nodded with a playful smirk then. "We're going to have talk about that word after. But with how Chuck writes, well, you're going to hate and love me for some of what is in these stories about us, sweetheart."

"Already do without the stories, handsome…" She winked, and then leaned in to give him an open kiss. "Now I'll go start the coffee while you start reading… you ain't getting that much of a head start."

So this may be the last update for awhile. Trying to work on another chapter which will blend in to the original plot of where this story was always going to go and it is giving me writer's block. But once it is written, as it has been since updating again, it will be posted over on ao3 first. Is anyone reading? Are you liking it or not? Was this a little too predictable? Please let me know!