A/N I'm back with another chapter! Thank you to everyone who left a follow favorite and review. You guys are awesome and we just hit 200 follows! How crazy is that? 200 people are reading every chapter as it comes out. This just blows my mind, I honestly can't thank you guys enough for all the love and support. You guys are rockstars. On the subject of the Halloween one-shot event: I got a lot more submissions than I thought I was going to get so I haven't had to to fill them all. Sorry and also wow, I'm glad you guys were so into this! I've already pm'ed a few of the filled requests back to some of you guys and I'm going to keep sending them back as I finish them. I should probably be done with them all in the next week or so. Again thank you for all of your support. Remember, if you leave a review you get a sneak peek of the next chapter before it comes out! Enjoy.

Ch. 11

Green Eyed Monster

"Jealousy is a disease. Get well soon." - Unknown

Dean had seen Avery maybe once or twice the week after the shaman debacle. Once Slater had regained his mental and physical faculties he and Avery had a screaming match that rivaled the ones Dean had had with her in the past.

It was a lot of 'I trusted you's, and 'you betrayed me's, 'those Winchester apes' etc. from Slater and the usual self righteous platitudes that Avery had been fond of repeating to try and justify her actions.

"You didn't just put yourself in danger, Avery." Slater had growled angrily. "Imagine if that creature had discovered the power you hold. Imagine if it had figured out how to tap into the raw divine energy coursing through your veins!"

When Slater had said that, Avery paled. Slater's eyes widened and he hissed. "It fed on you didn't it?"

Avery looked at her shoes and Dean eyebrows furrowed.

"You avoided catastrophe through sheer dumb luck!" Slater roared. "You have a responsibility to the world to keep yourself out of the hands of every bad thing who wishes it harm and if you hadn't managed to kill the creature it could've run rampant, murdering thousands!"

"What are you talking about?" Dean had asked reeling. He knew that Avery was a super powered vessel but it was never clear how much of a danger she actually posed if the wrong person got their hands on her.

"Our power," Slater ground out. "Comes from the mouth of God himself. Pure creation is woven into our very beings."

Slater glared at Avery. "I can't believe you. After everything I've done for you. This is how you repay me."

"Tom, please—"

"No!" He yelled. "Don't 'Tom, please' me! I'm done with you. Understand?"

Avery looked shellshocked.

"Until you get over this selfish bullshit, I don't even want to see your face!" Slater said venomously.

Slater had turned to Dean and told him, "Watch her. Keep her safe, if not for her then for the world." Slater shot Avery one last glare. "Because I won't do it. Not anymore."

Slater had then disappeared with a rustle of feathers leaving Avery furious and on the brink of tears. Dean had decided to twist the knife deeper by letting her know that she'd driven away the only person left that could stand her.

"Fuck you," She had whispered with less venom then Dean had hoped and slinked away to one of her hiding places within the bunker to lick her wounds. Luckily, Sam hadn't been there to hear Dean say that because he would have ripped Dean a new one.

But Dean was angry. Angry that Avery had shown up in his life and screwed with his family dynamic. Angry that she was a danger to them but at the same time vulnerable and in need of protection because apparently she was a nuke and the outside world was North Korea. Angry that he couldn't look at her without remembering her broken and bloody, that it was his fault she had gotten that way. Angry that Avery could, at any second, let slip that Sam had an angel riding shotgun and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Angry that he had to babysit her now that she was a flight risk.

Dean was angry and when Dean was angry he got mean.

What Dean needed was a distraction, a hunt. And Cas had found him one.

"Four missing in Rexford Idaho," Cas held up a manilla folder. Dean put his glass of whiskey down and took it before flipping through the copies of newspaper articles inside.

Cas crossed his arms. "They've been presumed dead but no bodies have been released to their loved ones. There were also reports of a strange substance at the scene of the crimes."

"There is a God." Dean smirked under his breath. This was exactly what he needed.

"Of course there is." Cas frowned.

Dean rolled his eyes, "No I just meant— never mind. You did good work Cas."

"Good work on what?" Sam asked as he walked through the entrance of the bunker. He was decked out in his workout clothes and his hairline was wet with perspiration. Avery was trailing behind him, just as flushed and sweaty as his brother. Sam had convinced him to let Avery leave the bunker for workouts with him.

"I think I can handle her, Dean." Sam had rolled his eyes at him when Dean had suggested that Avery would use it as a window for escape.

"Cas found a case." Dean told Sam grudgingly and noticed when Avery perked up slightly.

"A case?" Sam frowned. "Shouldn't we be working on Metatron's footnotes with Kevin?"

Dean closed his eyes and huffed, he had been so close at getting out of research.

"Wait, footnotes?" Avery asked timidly.

"Yeah," Sam nodded. "Metatron left a bunch of notes on the tablets and we've been trying to find the language they're written in. No luck so far."

She crossed her arms, annoyance pinched her lips. "Why didn't you guys tell me?"

"Don't blame us. You've been too busy sulking to notice anything going on." Dean pointed out, scoffing.

Avery's flush deepened with anger. "Well, if you had let me know, I could've saved you the trouble of all that research. There is no reversing the spell, not in the tablets."

"You've got to be kidding." Dean said frustrated. The task of getting all the angels off of earth was doubly daunting now that there wasn't a way to send them all back in one fell swoop.

"Damn." Sam sighed looking just as frustrated. "I'll tell Kevin." He jogged down the steps lightly and disappeared down one of the many hallways to Kevin's room where the prophet was sleeping off his last foray into the tablet translations.

"This is all my fault." Castiel said miserably. Dean had noticed over the past months that the former angel wasn't dealing with human feelings very well. They were overwhelming him even if Cas would never openly admit it.

"We're going to fin a way to fix this, Cas, I promise." Dean said strongly but Cas didn't look any more encouraged then before. "And, we have a case," Dean reminded him.

"Right," Cas nodded. Dean frowned when he saw Avery's gears turning furiously.

"Don't even think about it." He snapped and Avery looked up.

"What?"

Dean pointed a finger at her. "The only way you're going on this hunt is in your dreams, sweetheart."

"You can't keep me here." She fumed.

"Watch me." Dean smirked. "You're on house arrest until I say so."

Dean's empty glass shattered and Avery jumped. Dean watched her carefully as fear flickered over her features. Ever since Slater had left her in the dust, Avery's powers had kept manifesting unexpectedly and seemingly without her control, especially when she was emotional.

Avery caught Dean watching her and she huffed before stomping off.

"Why do you antagonize her, Dean?" Cas asked disapprovingly.

Dean shrugged. "It's just too much fun."

"Where's Avery?" Sam asked several hours later. Dean looked up from the gun he was cleaning and shrugged.

"I don't know, probably in one of her usual spots."

Sam frowned. "You know for someone who's strictly enforcing the lockdown, you'd think you'd care more to know that she's still even here."

Dean rolled his eyes. "I've been watching the door all day and I locked down the garage the second we got back from Enid. Trust me, she's still in this bunker."

"What about Slater?" Sam crossed his arms.

"I already painted extra wards." Dean snapped the gun back together. "Besides, I told you he's not coming for her anytime soon."

Sam watched his brother until Dean looked up and gave him an annoyed look. "What?"

Sam sighed. "I'm going to go find her."

Dean scoffed. "Suit your self." Dean frowned as he poured the last of the whiskey into his glass.

Sam stalked off in search of Avery, pissed that Dean was being such a jerk to her. Every single time Sam thought the two were starting to get along, something would happen and they would both be at each others throats.

He didn't get why Dean was being this way. Yes, Avery had no business going after the shaman, but Dean's reaction didn't make sense.

If Sam was right and Avery was trying to self destruct, then making her feel worse about herself wasn't going to help. Sam knew that Dean saw it too. They had both been there before, so why was Dean pushing her?

Sam grew more frustrated and worried as time passed and he couldn't find Avery. Where could she have gone?

Okay Sam, think.

Avery and Dean were more alike then they'd care to admit and when Dean was feeling down on himself he drank. So maybe…

Sam took off down the hall and slowed down when he could hear someone moving around in the 'cellar'. It wasn't really a cellar but it was so meticulously stocked with barrels of alcohol that Sam didn't feel right calling it anything else.

He pushed the door open gently and frowned when he saw Avery splayed out on the floor, a bottle of rum by her hand.

Her head came up slightly to see who had come in and she laughed drunkly.

"Sammy! What are you doing here?" Avery's head went back down and she giggled. "Have you ever noticed that when you're drunk and you lie down you feel like—one with the universe?"

"Wow." Sam said bluntly.

"It just," She sighed happily. "It just feels right." Avery brought the bottle to her lips and the rum sloshed down her front. "Whoops."

"Okay," Sam bent down and pulled the bottle away from her. "That's enough for you."

"Hey!" She complained. "Do you know how hard it was to get that thing open? The screwy thing wouldn't unscrew and it kept slipping out of my hand…"

Avery trailed off before starting again. "And holy crap was it hard to get drunk. I had to drink sooo much to get here."

Sam remembered what Slater had told them. "You're a vessel, you metabolize things faster."

Avery managed to sit up and she sighed. "You are so smart, Sammy."

"It's Sam." He corrected before trying to pull her up. She giggled and swung backwards on her heels. Sam wasn't prepared for the sudden shift in weight and he staggered down with her.

"Sit with me, have a drink!" Avery pleaded playfully.

"I'm good." Sam promised but sat down next to her anyway. He figured that she would keep being difficult until she burned through some more of the alcohol in her blood or until she passed out.

"You know, before I got here I idolized Dean." Avery said wistfully.

Sam looked at her, surprised at the new topic of conversation. "What do you mean?"

Avery sighed. "Dean was a hero, you know? He was strong and brave, kind, funny, he was always there for you when you needed him. I don't know, when I met him—I didn't think he would be this way."

Sam frowned. "What way?"

Avery seemed to go limp. Like it was costing her so much energy to keep herself together that her body gave up. "He goes out of his way to make me miserable." She said quietly. "And, I get that I've made some mistakes but…he's been treating me like the dirt under his shoe long before I deserved it."

Sam felt guilt course through him. He'd watched Dean bully Avery countless times and he never really did anything to stop it.

"I'm tired Sam." Avery said. "It's so… exhausting to be around people who don't want you there. It just makes me feel so—"

"Don't say that." Sam scolded. "We want you here."

Avery looked at him. "You don't have to lie to me Sam. The only reason I'm here is because its too dangerous for me to be anywhere else." Avery cast her gaze down to her hands. "There are too many bad guys out there looking for me, to use me as a weapon. If the wrong person got their hands on me? Well, that would be bad."

"That isn't the only reason." Sam disagreed.

"Isn't it?" Avery asked. "It's not like I'm one of you. I'm a monster, a hybrid. Destined to be God's sock puppet." She said bitterly. "And monsters never last long around the Winchesters anyway."

Avery looked at Sam before he could protest. "And they shouldn't. This is the way it's supposed to be."

Avery sighed and went to stand up but staggered violently enough that Sam's hand shot out to steady her. The second Sam's hand touched Avery's arm something shot through him almost like an electric shock.

"What was that?" Sam asked. Avery frowned at him before giving up on trying to stand up.

"What was what?" She asked.

Sam stretched out his hand again and let his fingertips just touch the surface of Avery's arm. Again that electric like shock traveled through his fingertips and up his arm but Sam resisted the urge to pull away before instead of electricity traveling through him he felt emotion, more specifically Avery's emotions. This was...incredible.

Sam's eyebrows pulled together with a mixture of astonishment and pity. Astonishment because, holy crap Avery had accidentally made an empathic link with him, and pity because she was so…defeated. He could feel what she felt in that moment and it felt like he was suffocating in loneliness and misery. Sam remembered the last time Avery had made an empathy link. It was when Dean had been torturing her. And the field of her influence that time wasn't restricted to skin on skin contact.

"I—is this how you feel all the time?" Sam asked her sadly.

Avery frowned at him before glancing back down at where his hand touched her arm. Her eyes widened in realization before she jerked away and flushed. "I'm so sorry. I-I can't control it. These things keep happening without me meaning to—I'm sorry." Avery had been losing control more often then she cared to admit.

"Don't be." Sam sighed. "No wonder you want to leave. I'm sorry that you've had such a rough time here."

"It's not your fault, Sam." She frowned.

Sam shook his head. "But it is. I should have done more to make you feel at home. I mean, you lost so much in such a short period of time. And your whole world has been turned upside down."

Avery had an unreadable expression on her face and Sam inched his hand forward. Curiosity burned through him. If he could just touch her than maybe—

"You've been so good to me, Sam." She whispered gratefully. Sam's fingertips skimmed across her hand and a surge of affection that surprised him, moved into his chest to mirror hers. Sam suddenly realized how close they were to each other in the cramped room. His hand was just barely touching hers and their faces were inches apart.

He could see her flushed skin clearly in the dim light and he swallowed.

What the hell am I doing?

Dean frowned when he could no longer hear Avery or Sam speaking through the slightly ajar door. Dean had decided to grab a drink from the booze closet (Sam had been trying to get him to call it 'the cellar' to no avail. It wasn't even in a basement for christ's sake) when he heard the two speaking.

He had been about to walk in until he heard Avery start talking about him. Of course Dean had no choice but to eavesdrop and was surprised to hear that apparently Avery had held him in very high esteem until she met the real deal. Dean couldn't help but feel disappointed in himself, that he couldn't live up to her expectations. Not because he wanted to please her or win her approval. Of course not. But because they were such good expectations.

He wished he was as strong, or brave, or kind as Avery had hoped he'd be. And sometimes Dean was, but so far he had been everything but that to her.

Dean's jaw dropped when he heard— could that be? No.

Were they…kissing?

Without thinking, Dean threw the door open and Avery and his brother jumped apart like they had been burned.

"Oh my god." Avery buried her face in her hands and Sam started to turn beet red.

"It's not what you— we were just—" Sam stuttered but Dean held up a hand.

"No need to explain. I was just getting some whiskey." Dean's eyes fell on the bottle of rum in Sam's hand and then Avery's hand in his other.

"Looks like you two were having fun." Dean couldn't hold back the venom in his voice. He didn't know why the idea of Sam and Avery kissing, holding hands, pissed him off so much.

"I'm gonna go." Avery said hurriedly, pulling her hand out of Sam's and squeezing past Dean before disappearing down the hall. She couldn't even bring herself to look up from her feet she was so embarrassed. The second Avery stopped touching him, Sam seemed to deflate and the embarrassment coloring his cheeks faded. Realization flooded his features.

Dean and Sam stood there silently for a moment before Dean crossed his arms. "So…you and Avery?"

Sam's eyes widened. "No! It's not like that."

Dean scoffed angrily. "Isn't it?"

Sam gave him his signature bitch face. "You don't understand, she accidentally made an empathic link—she was drunk, and lonely, and miserable—I was there and I could feel how she felt—"

"You're rambling." Dean cut his brother off deadpanned.

"And you," Sam accused. "You've been treating her like shit this whole time. I mean, no wonder she wants to leave, Dean! All you do is verbally abuse her every chance you get!"

"I do not!" Dean said indignantly. "Alright say I do," Dean amended at Sam's incredulous look. "She throws just as much crap my way as I do hers. But you're too busy protecting your little girlfriend to see that, aren't you."

"She's not my girlfriend." Sam insisted.

"Isn't she?" Dean asked.

"No! I felt the way she felt after and it was nothing. Okay?" Sam sighed.

"And is that how you feel, Sammy?" Dean cocked an eyebrow.

Sam's eyebrows furrowed. "I don't know how much of it was me and how much— It was strange. I could feel what she felt and it felt like I was feeling it. I-I think we just got…caught up in the moment."

Dean felt relief rush through him and he couldn't quite place why he was feeling it. So instead he smirked and decided to tease Sam. "Yeah? And how was that moment? Any good?"

Sam's eyes were unfocused as he remembered what the kiss was like. "It was…sad."

Dean frowned when he didn't get the reaction he wanted. "Sad? Were you really that bad?"

Sam's gaze snapped up to Dean. "What? No, I told you. She made an empathic link. I could feel how she felt and she felt…sad. Lonely."

Dean's frown deepened.

"She was just lonely, Dean. That's all it was." Sam repeated before his eyebrows pulled together in confusion. "Wait, what do you care if it was good or not?" He asked.

"I don't." Dean said quickly.

Sam's eyes widened before he smiled slightly in disbelief. "You do don't you? Are you…are you jealous?"

Dean glared at him. "Shut up."

"You are!" Sam laughed. "No wonder you've been such a dick to her."

Sam's grin widened. "It's a little cliche isn't it? This isn't a playground Dean, you can't pull the pretty girl's hair to show her you like her."

"Shut up," Dean growled. "I mean it. And I do not like Avery. She's annoying and headstrong. She's drives me up the freaking wall on good days! Not to mention she isn't even human. She's probably a thousand years old!"

"Whatever helps you sleep at night." Sam chuckled. Dean ripped a bottle of whiskey off the shelf with a noise of disgust and stormed off leaving Sam to laugh to himself silently. It suddenly made so much sense. Dean was too proud to admit he liked Avery, especially after all the fighting those two had been doing. So now his brother was stuck liking a girl who either hated him or thought he hated her.

Avery watched stonily as Dean finished packing his bag into the impala. Cas was already sitting in the front seat waiting while Dean exchanged some last words with Sam.

"Call me if you need anything." Sam nodded and clapped his brother on the shoulder.

"I'll let you know." Dean smirked before shifting his attention to Avery. "Don't have too much fun while I'm gone." He said suggestively and Avery blushed.

Sam sighed and Dean climbed in to the Impala. Avery and Sam stepped back as Dean revved the engine twice and drove away. The garage door slid down and Avery felt her heart plummet as the locks engaged loudly, their clangs reverberated through the cavernous room.

She was never going to get out of here, was she?

"Listen," Sam started. "About yesterday…"

Avery grimaced and blood rushed into her cheeks. "I'm sorry. I— it happened really fast and I don't want it to be weird—"

"No me neither." Sam said hurriedly.

Avery turned to him. "Can we just be friends that kissed that one time? No awkwardness?"

Sam gave her a relieved smile. "Yeah, just friends…" He smirked and shrugged. "That kissed that one time."

"Eww, stop it." She blushed again.

"Ew?" Sam said indignantly. "Excuse you, I happen to know for a fact that I'm a great kisser."

Avery, eternally grateful that Sam was being so graceful about the whole situation, teased him back. "Yeah, whatever helps you sleep at night, Winchester."

P/N What did you guys think of all of that? ^^^ Did I jump the shark? Let me know what you guys thought about the kiss. Did you hate it? Did you love it? Leave a review and you get a sneak peek of the next chapter!

Love always,

Lucy