Hello there, you wonderful people!

Before we get into this chapter, I just want to address some issues. I've gotten some reviews and messages on the topic, so I thought I'd answer you all here. You know, I personally don't like to read stories that explain everything like they were written for dummies, so I try not to explain too much - but now it seems like I haven't explained enough, so let me do it now:

Sooo, Jackie's ex Raphael - he is NOT the angel we all hate. I wrote some subtle hints, but maybe the hints weren't clear enough because many of you thought Raphael was the angel-Raphael. Anyhow - we'll learn more about this Raphael later (and he is a bastard too, but a different kind of a bastard). So, why did I name him Raphael and caused all this confusion? Well, because I am a huge fan of Cassandra Clare's awesome Shadowhunter novels, and the Raphael Santiago there is just pure gold. The name Raphael de la Cruz was also a hint towards Raphael Santiago and if you've read the Shadowhunter books, you're going to guess what kind of a monster our Raphael is.

Anyhow - I'm sorry for all the confusion.

And now we get to this chapter - which is (once again) nothing but dialogue. Believe it or not, I do have a plot in mind, but this dialogue just keeps flooding my head and I just had to write it down.

As always - thanks for all the reviews! I really appreciate them.

It took some time and a couple of beers before Dean finally calmed down.

And still, he was far from happy.

Sam could hardly blame him. Finding out about Jackie not being a human… Well, it was something Sam himself had to process from time to time, and he suspected it was easier for him because he was in love with her. For Dean, things were hardly so simple.

It was a miracle Dean hadn't shot Jackie to death, Sam thought with a frown, his fingers brushing the bullet hole in the wall nearby the door. He didn't even want to think about how they were going to explain that to the landlord. Or to Dad.

That thought made Sam groan inwards.

He had sent silent prayers and thanks to God for letting Jackie and Dean both walk out of their confrontation unharmed. Had it been Dad here to find Jackie…

Well, things would've ended much more bloody.

After all, Dad's motto was to shoot first and ask questions later, and the only reason why the bullet that Sam had just dug out of the wall had ended up there instead of Jackie's brain, was the fact that Dean had started asking questions before shooting.

Dad wouldn't have made the same mistake.

"So what, you're telling me your girlfriend is a demigod?" Dean asked, for what felt like the hundredth time.

Sam turned around to face his brother and stuck the deformed bullet into the back pocket of his jeans. Dean seemed to be physically okay - the fierce kick that Jackie had given him had luckily not broken any bones - but Sam could tell he was still far from cool.

"Yeah, basically," he replied. "The daughter of Taranis."

He had left out the bit about Jackie's Mom having been a fallen angel - not because he enjoyed lying to Dean, but because Jackie had said that angels were 'a bunch of murderous fucks' and the fewer people knew of her angelic heritage, the better.

Sam still wasn't quite sure what he thought about Jackie calling angels 'fucks' and 'dicks' and 'ass-hats'. It didn't agree with the idea he had held of merciful celestial guardians, who helped people - but who was he to argue? It was plain that Jackie knew angels better than he did. But it was also clear to Sam that besides being 'murderous dicks', angels had to be beautiful and lovely also, for Jackie was both of those things too.

"Taranis?" Dean asked, bringing Sam back to the moment. "Is that supposed to mean something to me?"

"Taranis is the Celtic god of sky and thunder," Sam explained.

"Huh. Figures." Dean shrugged, and opened a third beer, walked the couch, and sat down, lifting his boots to the coffee table.

"Yeah, I guess."

The traces of thunder still lingered in the air, even if Jackie had been gone for a couple of hours already. But this was nothing - when Sam had walked in and found Jackie standing naked over Dean, pointing the gun at his face, the air had been humming with electricity, the thunder roaring on the sky like an omen of the Apocalypse. It reminded Sam of the day Jackie had beheaded Chrissy, the demon girl, and then summoned thunder to wash the pavement clear of her blood - and later he had kissed her, and the taste of tequila and darkness on her lips had made him lose his grip on reality.

After that night, nothing had mattered to Sam, but her. After that night, he had been in a constant free fall, and even if it scared him, he wished to God it would never end, for if it did-

He couldn't live without her. And nothing could change that. Not even this stupid mess Jackie and Dean had gotten themselves in.

Sam had hoped he didn't have to tell Dean about Jackie's abilities - at least not before they'd be safe in Stanford. But well, shit had hit the fan, and now Sam had to fix it somehow. For he loved Jackie, and no matter their numerous arguments, he loved his brother too.

If Jackie ever hurt Dean-

That thought was almost as sickening as the one of Dean trying to kill Jackie.

Slowly Sam followed his brother to the small living room and sat down on an armchair near the couch. He leaned his elbows to his knees, feeling utterly tired.

"I'm not cool with this shit," Dean said, after a while.

"So you keep saying."

"And I mean it. She's not a human, and she fucking almost wasted me-"

"After you took a shot at her!" Sam snapped. "What was she supposed to do? Just stand there and let you shoot her?"

"Damn right I took a shot at her, and I'd do it again," Dean muttered. "A demi-god, for fuck's sake. What's wrong with you? Couldn't you find a nice, regular girl to hook up with? Did you really have to pick from the monster squad?"

"She's not a monster, Dean."

"Tomatoes, tomatos. She's not a human and I don't trust her."

"Well, I do. She saved my life. That night with the demon… I would be dead if it wasn't for Jackie."

"And? Maybe she has an agenda you know nothing about, huh? Those pagan gods are a fucking nuisance. Human sacrifice, blood rituals, you name it. Maybe she's just waiting for the right moon phase to gut you?"

"Jesus, Dean! My girlfriend is not gonna gut me, okay?" Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, maybe she isn't a human, but she's a good person and I trust her with my life."

"Yeah, well. The last time I checked, it was our job to kill things that aren't human."

"No. The job was to kill things that hurt people. Jackie isn't hurting anyone-"

"She damn well hurt me," Dean stated. "Kicked the air off my lungs."

Sam turned to look at Dean, and couldn't help a small smile on the corner of his lips.

"So, you're admitting that you got your ass kicked by a 95-pound girl?"

"Hey, she was strong!"

"Still. She's like 5 feet tall."

Dean muttered something inaudible and took a long swig from his beer.

"Sorry, what?" asked Sam, still with a smirk.

"I saw your girlfriend's boobs."

Sam ogled Dean for a couple of heartbeats.

"Yeah - while she was kicking your sorry ass."

"Still."

"You're an idiot."

"Says the boy who's dating a monster."

"-whose boobs you were just checking out," Sam stated. "Were they human enough for you?"

Dean didn't reply, but the smirk that had disappeared from Sam's lips was now to be found on Dean's.

Sam couldn't help it - it pissed him off, that Dean was making these stupid comments of Jackie's boobs, that he had gotten to see what was only meant for Sam's eyes.

And at the same time, he felt like the smallest person in the whole world, for jealousy on a moment like this, was just… so petty.

He stood up, walked to the kitchen to take a soda from the fridge, and a couple of deep breaths. Leaning his back to the wall, he opened his drink - and for what felt like the thousandth time, he checked his phone, just to notice that Jackie hadn't replied to any of his text messages.

He brought the phone to his ear and tried to call her again, in vain. The call went straight to voicemail.

Why the fuck isn't she picking up?

Christ, if something's happened to her-

Sam pushed that thought off. It had only been a couple of hours - there was hardly a need to worry.

But it was hard not to. All too well Sam remembered the last time she hadn't answered her phone. It had ended in Jackie and Sam both almost dying in the hands of an enraged golem.

With a frown, Sam stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

He never should've let her leave this place like that, so visibly upset, so shaken. No matter Dean, Sam should've made sure Jackie was okay before letting her go.

Maybe I should go and check on her.

Pondering on this thought - what were the chances she was even home? - he walked back into the living room and sat back on the armchair. Dean had opened the TV and was now watching football, his feet still steadily on the coffee table, the bottle of Budweiser next to his sturdy boots.

Sam took a sip of his soda.

"So…" he said after a moment, glancing at Dean, who was staring at the football match as if it took all his concentration. "Just to make sure-"

"Yeah?" Dean glanced at him.

"You're not going to try and shoot Jackie again, are you?"

Dean shrugged. "Not much point, is there? I mean - she dodged that bullet neatly."

"I meant any kind of killing, Dean. I don't want you trying to murder my girlfriend."

"You should tell her the same," Dean replied, rather sharply. "'Cause I don't appreciate chicks pointing guns at me either. Even if they are naked."

"Dean-"

"I mean it. If you can't keep her under control, you need to ditch her. I don't care how much you say you love her or trust her. She is dangerous. Even if what you said is true, even if she's not hurting anybody right now - which we have no way of knowing - she is a loose cannon."

Sam swallowed the sharp comment that was already on the tip of his tongue.

Dean wanted him to keep Jackie under control. How fucking absurd was that? Jackie was a force of nature, she was a wild child, a firebrand, she was furious and wonderful in ways Sam had never thought any girl could be. To keep her under control? It was like trying to tame a lion, to put a leash on a tornado.

And that was exactly why he loved her so.

"You need to stop calling her names," he said. "She's not a monster or a loose cannon. She's my girlfriend and I love her, so unless you can show some respect, you shut up."

That made Dean finally turn his eyes off the football and arch his brows.

"Did you just tell me to shut up?"

"Yeah. You've got a problem with that?"

"Wow. Aren't you bitchy?"

"And you're being a jerk."

"For telling you the truth?" Dean shrugged. "I don't trust Jackie. I have a bad feeling about this and I'm worried about you. I don't want to sound like a jerk, but I'd rather do that than watch how some supernatural chick guts my little brother."

"Dean, I am not a kid - I know what I'm doing."

"You never know what you're doing."

Dean turned his gaze back to the TV, though Sam was pretty sure he didn't even know which teams were the ones playing.

They were silent for a while, Dean gulping his beer, Sam his soda, but the silence between them wasn't the good kind of silence, not like it usually was between them. This silence was full of things unsaid, and it sat between them on the couch like an uninvited guest.

It was Dean who finally broke that awkward silence.

"You're gonna have to tell Dad, though."

That made Sam almost jump.

"Are you out of your mind?"

"Dude, you have to."

"I'm going to do no such thing."

"Come on! Just think - what if it had been Dad in the kitchen this afternoon, huh? Would he have missed that shot?"

Sam pursed his lips, clenched his fists.

"No. He wouldn't have," he admitted after a lengthy pause.

"So - you got to talk to Dad. You really don't want him finding out the way I did."

"Dad doesn't have to find out, Dean."

"What are you talking about? Of course he has to know. He's gonna find out one way or the other! It's only a matter of time if you're gonna keep on seeing Jackie."

Sam let out a long sigh and leaned back in his chair.

"Dad doesn't need to find out, because I'm going to move to Stanford this summer. And you've heard what he's said. That if I go, I don't get to come back. He's gonna kick me out of here, out of this family, so yeah, I don't think that he needs to know this."

"Sam come on. Dad's not gonna kick you out. He was just mad-"

"You wanna bet?" Sam felt his anger stirring again. "I am going to Stanford. And Dad is never going to forgive me for it. And you know what? It doesn't matter how he finds out about Jackie - if it's by accident, or if I tell him - it doesn't matter because just like he's never going to forgive me for going to college, he's never going to accept her as she is. If he ever found out that she's a demi-god, he wouldn't stop before Jackie was dead, and you know it. So I can't tell Dad. And I have to go to Stanford, and take Jackie with me before Dad finds out."

The line of Dean's jaw turned hard, his eyes were so emotionless it hurt. They were like mirrors, like green glass, and Sam had no idea what went through his head.

"It sounds to me an awful lot like you're the one who's anxious to cut yourself off." Dean finally replied. "Like you're just looking for a reason to leave us."

"It's not like I want to do that."

"But you're going to? Because of some chick? Damn, Sam-"

"Because of my future. And Jackie's not just some chick. I love her."

"You've known her for like three weeks."

"Yeah. And those weeks have been the best of my life. You want to know why?"

"Because you're finally getting laid?"

"No, Dean. Because Jackie isn't holding me back. She doesn't tell me what I can't do, but what I can do." He leaned forward, his elbows sharp and heavy on his knees. "And you know what? I really need someone like that in my life. Someone who thinks the world of me, someone who believes in me."

A short silence. Dean reached to take the remote control and turned off the TV that no one was watching anyway.

"Sam, I-"

"And yeah, maybe it is stupid, but I don't care that Jackie isn't human. I don't care at all. And you shouldn't either."

"I think the world of you, Sam," Dean said, and suddenly his voice was very silent.

"You what?"

"You take it for granted, you know? That I've always been there for you. And that's fine, I get it. That's what it means to be your big brother. But I don't want you to go to Stanford either, Sammy. I want you to stay here, with me and Dad - but if you go, and even if you go with her, I don't want to lose you because of that." A moment of silence. Dean stared at his feet on the table. "I just don't wanna lose you."

"Dean-"

Sam struggled to find words. His throat bobbed. The silence drew on for too long, and Sam wanted nothing more than to tell Dean it was all going to be okay, that they were all going to be fine, that nothing would ever change between them-

But that would be a lie, he knew, and he was done lying to Dean.

"Yeah, forget that I said anything," Dean stated, but didn't meet Sam's eyes as he stood up and took his jacket off a hook on the wall. "I'm going out. Don't wait up."

"Dean, come on-" Sam was now on his feet too, but Dean was already by the door, gripping the handle-

"Yikes!" yelped Jackie, as the door opened and Dean walked straight into her, sending them both tumbling down the front steps in a swirl of tequila and breaking glass.

Another cliffhanger? Where do they keep coming from?

And shall we NEVER get on with the plot?

Lol. Let me know what you thought of my Sam and Dean.