Notes: It took awhile to write a new chapter, and as usual the swearing has been edited out for the update on this site. Not entirely pleased with how it turned out, but it works. Lots of editing and rewriting just to get the flow of it right.
There will be a little Sam and Dean moment. Things will also get just a little bit steamy after that in this one too. A mostly typical moment between Dean and Manda... and hopefully it seems right for them after many years of not writing these two.
Hopefully anyone reading is enjoying... and someone must be reading and liking it. The stats page tell me someone out there clicks multiple times on the chapters... hope that's for re-reading and liking the story. Reviews/comments are always welcome. And please let me know if I should keep updating here as well. It's somewhat discouraging to see that while there is some reading going on, there isn't much else. Are these stories that awful? Or maybe I just waited too many years to get back to it...
So, not sure when the next one will be posted. Hoping to get back to my original plan within the next chapter or two. Alright, enough of my notes... you can get to reading the latest chapter now.

Getting comfortable by taking off his boots and sitting against the wall on top of the blankets on the floor, Dean remained upstairs to start reading what Chuck had written about him and Manda. The soul mate revelation would have to wait. He didn't want to think about that just then, as unnerving as that might be, whatever might be on the pages in his hands was worse. There was no way he was letting Manda read any of it first even if they had both lived it and knew how everything had played out. Having read Chuck's previous works about him and Sam, he knew it was likely the prophet had used too much description for feelings or situations at times, and that bothered him. She was going to read it, and things he hadn't said or shared with her at the time were bound to be somewhere in there, so Dean just wanted to be prepared for whatever was in it.

Engrossed and a little irritated at the same time, Dean was unaware how much time had passed once Manda finally came back and was handing him a mug of coffee. Then she sat beside him, picked up the pile beside him that he'd already read, and started to read it herself.

It wasn't long before both were lost to the pages at different points since Dean was a good forty pages or so ahead of Manda. Neither spoke as they read, and the coffee was sipped until empty mugs were put aside. There were times one of them would stop and just sort of look at the other a little funny, let out an annoyed groan or sigh, or just reach over and lightly squeeze the other's arm or leg for things they had just read about.

Two hours later both had made it through their initial meeting, running into each other again a month later, and were now on the same story. Still a little more ahead, Dean was close to reading about the night he'd been unable to save Manda and she'd briefly died.

Looking up as he heard approaching footsteps in the hallway, Dean saw Sam standing at the bedroom's doorway. "What, Sammy?"

"Just wanted to know if either of you wanted more coffee? You've been reading for awhile now." Sam could see they were both still reading the printed copy Castiel had brought them. Unknown to both of them he had been reading his own downstairs too since he'd gotten Chuck to email all of it to him at the same time it had been sent it to Manda.

"Coffee's not gonna cut it," Dean muttered. "This is…"

"Something else," Manda cut him off. "I'm strangely unable to put it down and yet still want to rip my eyes out for how much of it is dead on. How's that even… oh wait, it's written by a goddamn prophet."

Chuckling, Dean just handed her more papers. "Might wanna go get a bottle of the good stuff, Manda. You'll need it soon."

Scoffing, Manda set aside everything, stood up and then started to head out of the room. "I need a break, never mind a drink or a head's up. My mind's officially more blown than yours apparently was the first time we hooked up, Dean."

Sam was the one laughing at his brother's irritated look as Manda walked out of the room. "Chuck still uses some interesting descriptions at times."

Dean eyed his brother a little curiously now. "Damn it, Sam. You had him email a copy to you too, didn't you? And you've been reading it."

Smirking sort of sheepishly, Sam stepped in the room. "Um, yeah. But I've been skipping the parts when you're… involved." He chortled a little awkwardly. "Wish I hadn't read some of that at first, Dean. But that's a pretty heavy word Chuck threw around about you guys… soul mates?"

Groaning, Dean shot Sam a look that told him to shut up now. "Not talking about that with you. And you really shouldn't be reading about what went on between me and her at times."

"Why not? If you two are soul mates it might have something to do with why that woman said what she did to Manda today. Sounds like that's part of why she's still alive."

Getting up, Dean was shaking his head. With everything he had read about the times they shared together, he wasn't actually sure what to believe now but he wasn't about to admit it to his brother. "Dude, come on, soul mates aren't real. We're not… Chuck obviously couldn't think of another word to use."

Sam gave his brother a look that said he had to be kidding. "There's more than enough lore out there on soul mates that there's probably some truth to it. Like so much else we deal with, why wouldn't they be real? Is it that hard for you to believe they might exist?"

"You believe in soul mates?" Dean scoffed, and his eyes widened at he looked at his brother curiously. "Why am I even asking? Of course you do."

"So what if I do, Dean? Sam shrugged a little. "From what I can see, and now reading what I have about you and her… I think Chuck's right."

Walking back into the room with a bottle of whiskey in one hand and a pillow in the other, Manda stopped, wondering if she had just interrupted something by seeing the way both brothers were looking at each other. "Uh… did you boys want to share a room like usual?"

"No," both Sam and Dean replied quickly looking at her.

"Sammy's just telling me he believes in soul mates, and how he thinks maybe we are."

Rolling his eyes, Sam still noted the strange look pass between Dean and Manda then.

"Okay." Manda tossed the pillow at Dean. "So Sam thinks you and him are soul mates and not just brothers?" She smirked as she sarcastically gasped, jokingly brushing it off. "That's me off the hook then. Thanks for clearing that up, Sam."

Dean caught the pillow and gave her a hard look that said she had to be kidding. "Ha-ha. Now who's pushing it, sweetheart? Because if it's a pillow fight you're looking for then Sammy's gotta go."

Sam was shaking his head as he started to leave the room not wanting to hear how either would continue to deflect it or deny what was probably true. "See… Chuck's right, you're definitely soul mates." He heard both Dean and Manda let out exaggerated groans as he went back downstairs.

Closing the door, Manda gave Dean a look that said sorry. "Guess that's out of the bag, huh?"

"Yeah. He's been reading everything too. My feelings, your feelings… every goddamn word of it." Dean sighed as tried to strangle the pillow in his hands before he sat down again. He propped it behind his back, and then held up the mug he'd been using.

"Can't blame him." Sitting beside him again, she poured them both a shot. "This job, our lives, it's weird on a good day, but this… reading it, this is next level weird, Winchester."

"You can say that again." Tapping his mug against hers, he just looked at her before he took a sip of whiskey. "But it's still an understatement."

"Maybe it is for you and Sam, but not for a hunter like me." Manda took a sip from her own mug and sighed. "Better get back to it, though. See why apparently God decided my time wasn't up."

Picking up from where he left off, Dean nodded. He knew that was likely where some things that had gone on that she still didn't know about or fully remember would be, and that he needed to know how to handle what she might have to say about it later. "Yeah. Imagine there might be a few things to talk about once we're done reading about that... "

[ - ]

Having finished reading about the night Manda had died and supposedly been brought back to him, Dean had drifted off while thinking about everything and waiting for her to finish reading about it since he'd gotten a head start. Half asleep on top of the blankets on the floor, he felt movement beside him and then heard the whisper.

"Dean," Manda called him softly. "You still awake?"

"Mm-hmm, what?" he answered somewhat sleepily. He opened his eyes a moment later to see Manda leaning in over him. "Stopped reading where I did, right?"

She nodded. As much as she wanted to keep reading what was still left, she wasn't sure how much more she could handle for the night. What had happened earlier that day, having Castiel read her mind, learning Dean and her were apparently soul mates, and reading about their relationship and the night she had died and been brought back to life was doing her head in. "You were right. Hate and love you a little more for some of it. Like on that night, when everything happened, and you thought that was it…"

Chuckling softly, Dean reached up and brushed his fingers along her cheek as he noticed the way she looked at him thoughtfully. "So I got a little emotional. You died on me, Manda. Like the day after we actually got together. You finally stopped being so stubborn about it, and then that friggin' demon nearly kills you and it and you wanted me to finish the job? So yeah, maybe I got a little emotional. I can have my moments too. " His tone was a little defensive, but the emotion on his face wasn't guarded at all.

"Definitely didn't hate you for that, Winchester." Searching his eyes for a second, she put a finger under his chin, and then gave him a gentle kiss. Reading about it had obviously brought more feelings to the surface in both of them, and she was feeling the need to be close to him from it. "But that was more than a little emotional… what you did, how you felt… wish you'd said something about it after."

"Wouldn't have changed anything between us," he downplayed it, pulling her in for another soft kiss. "You pulled through, we dated for a few weeks, split, and still ended up here. Can't stay together, don't exactly stay away from each other for too long either."

Manda shifted to be on her side and kept herself propped up on an elbow facing him. She was silent for a minute, thinking about what he said. "Yeah… but why is that? Can we talk about that word now?"

Propping himself up on one elbow to face her, Dean just studied her. It was obvious she was having a hard time trying to make sense of everything. He wasn't exactly sure what to make of most of it himself. "Come on, Chambers, tell me you're not buying into it. You don't really believe that soul mate crap, do you?"

Shrugging, she looked him in the eyes. "I don't know what to think about any of it, not just that," she answered honestly. "Maybe it's crap, but with what Chuck wrote…" she trailed off. "How he claims the angels wanted me to die because of what that would do to you, but God intervened and brought me back for you and my own destiny that has yet to play out. And how it sounded a lot like those two reasons might be tied together, even if we're not together now."

"It did sound that way," he admitted. That thought had run through his head when he'd read it too. "But we both heard what Castiel got out of Chuck about it, and if the prophet still isn't even sure of why or what…"

"Then why would some random psychic feel the need to say anything to me about it? We both were in the dark about it until that." Lying on her back then, Manda closed her eyes and sighed heavily.

"You wanna call Chuck and ask about that? We can, you know." Dean asked after a minute of her silence. It was clear to him that she was still trying to digest it and thinking about everything.

"Not sure that'll help, and I'm not sure I want to know more or why. Knowing all this is already more than enough." Opening her eyes to see Dean now leaning in a little over her, she reached up to softly graze her fingers along his cheek. "Do you think he's right? That we're soul mates? And don't tell me you didn't consider it even for a second."

Giving her a look that asked if she was being serious first, he pressed his lips together and took a moment to think it over then. He couldn't help but wonder if they were after reading it all, and what Castiel had said about it earlier. "Beats me. I didn't exactly believe in angels before I got out of hell, but it turns out they're real. They're mostly a bunch of dicks, but still completely real. So who knows? Do you think we are?"

"We do have a strong bond, click in so many ways..." Manda dropped her hand from his cheek and let it slide slowly down his arm. "Maybe I just don't want to believe we only met because of fate or something else, but after reading what we just did, and with what Castiel did know and how he said they exist… I don't know."

Their eyes locked, and that bond between them only seemed like it had gotten a little stronger and had intensified a little more. It was obvious to each other that they both felt it at the moment.

"We do…" Leaning in a little closer, Dean just looked back at her. He knew that by softly touching him the way she was, she was feeling the same need he was to be close to each other now. He reached out and rested a hand on her waist. His thumb gently brushed back and forth. "So do you want me to get Cass back here to find out if it's because of that? He offered to."

"No," she replied firmly, running her hand up and down his arm then. "I know how I felt, still feel about you, Dean… and that was my choice. Could have kept pushing you away, but when I stopped, that was all me. Wasn't because of any God, demon, angel, prophet, or some supposedly decided for me destiny."

He smirked at how she put it. He'd thought that same thing when Castiel had mentioned there was a way to check if their connection was fate's doing. It made him think that maybe there was some truth to it. That maybe they were soul mates of some kind, he just hoped it was of their own doing and nothing else. "Damn right it was, sweetheart. Just like it was mine to stick around then. So Chuck can suck it, we both used free will there. Still do."

Laughing, she stretched up to meet his lips for a tender kiss. Then she just searched his eyes. "Uh-huh, but soul mates or not, tomorrow morning you're still going one way and I'm going another..."

Rubbing his hand along her waist now, he put his mouth on hers again for a deeper kiss. "Last night together for… well… not sure, maybe ever?"

"Hope not…" Manda ran her hands through his hair when Dean got closer and started to kiss down her neck. "But it could be, so we…"

"Might want to make the most of it, right?" he finished the line for her as he came back up to look at her with lust that he could see was mutual. Sliding his hand under the end of her shirt then, Dean just grinned charmingly as he fingers crept across her skin. "Good idea, I've been waiting all day to pick up from where we left off this morning."

Kissing him gently, she quickly rolled them over. She sat up, straddling him then, meeting his eyes with a heated gaze. "So, Dean…" She smirked, running her hands up his chest. "Was that first night we slept together really completely mind-blowing for the first time in years?" she teased him with the description Chuck had used for his thoughts on it.

Guffawing, his look said she must be kidding as he sat up. His eyes locked on hers as his hands ran up her thighs to her hips, and he pulled her closer. "You don't know what it was like? You were there… so was it really stunningly breathtaking for the first time in years, Manda?" He teased back with the words Chuck had used for how she thought of that night, and with the start of a kiss he didn't actually give her.

"Thought you knew how it was, you were there too," Manda retorted before giving him an open kiss that went deep and hard quickly before she was sliding the open unbuttoned shirt over his t-shirt off his arms.

"Least Chuck got one thing incredibly right," Dean muttered against her lips in between lengthy, heated kisses. His hands were travelling over her slowly, and then he was quickly pulling her shirt over her head before turning them over to get her under him. She had wrapped a leg around him as they turned, her foot was gently rubbing up and down his leg, so he let one hand creep up her thigh slowly on the way to undo the button on her jeans.

"That the sex is electric every time?" she asked, using the description they'd both read earlier. Her chuckle was warm and intimate as she looked up at him. Her hands started to slowly pull up the sides of his t-shirt, her fingers brushing his skin gently along the way. "Last night sure was."

He cocked his head at her, and the he look on his face said he agreed. "Not the word I would've used, but that's the gist of it." He let her get the t-shirt over his head and off him, and then he grinned.

"He got quite a few things besides that right, handsome," Manda said, taking his face in her hands. She kissed him with desire, and let it get more passionate for a few minutes before she pulled back on him.

Dean was breathing hard as he gave her a knowing look. There had been too much that was right about them. Some of it still was. He gave her a sweet, open kiss, and soon felt her fingers undoing his jeans then. "Yeah, maybe he did…"

Smiling sweetly, Manda held his gaze then. "So, this ain't exactly the panic room, but, uh… "

"It'll do, and he'll get over it." Dean chuckled as he laid one more kiss on her before he trailed more down her as he went to get her jeans off so they could get on with enjoying each other a little more, and spend what might be the last night they ever got to be together this way again.