I apologize for how long this took! A month for less than 4,000 words!? SHAME!

The Mustang is incredibly silent.

Aside from the engine and the Tom Petty album Lou put on, neither has said anything for the first hour of the ride. Sam's too pissed that Lou let a vampire go and now it's killed someone. Lou's too pissed that Sam won't put his trust in her and believe that Benny is good people. Both are just too damn pissed to even try to speak.

But it's starting to get awkward. Someone has to break the silence. Lou is hardheaded as all hell, more so than even a Winchester, so Sam knows it has to be him.

"What's the plan?" Sam asks her, looking to start any conversation he can.

"I get to Boston," Lou answers, hands gripping the steering wheel too tightly.

"And then?" he asks her, his voice tight with tension.

"I get to Derek and kill whatever thinks it was a smart idea to go after my brother," she answers, voice full of attitude and a silent yet petulant 'duh'.

"Okay… but you can't bring any weapons on board," Sam reminds her, aiming to talk logistics before she gets on an airplane.

"I have an old stockpile in a storage space in Waltham. I can get whatever I need there. Have some shotguns and knives… some old salt bags and a rosary or two. I'll be fine."

She never glances at him once through the terse conversation. Her eyes remain glued to the road as her shoulders tighten up with stress.

Sam doesn't miss the body language. He's learned that Lou speaks volumes with her body.

"How you gonna track down the demon you know nothing about?" Sam wonders, pushing her to speak.

"I don't know, Sam! I have to get there first… like always! Get off my ass," Lou explodes with anger at his prodding. She's not over any of the crap he pulled so she's not ready to play nice yet.

"I just want to know you're prepared," Sam counters.

"Whatever," she grumbles.

Once more, the silence takes over and it's highly uncomfortable.

Lou's been stewing in her fury ever since they got in the car. She just can't believe Sam, her own husband, would be so fucking sneaky. Dean, she'd expect this from. Not Sam. She and Sam are open about everything.

Or so she thought.

"Fuck you, Sam," Lou rockets out before she could rethink the offensive statement.

"Fuck me!?" Sam gets insulted right off.

"Yup. Right in the ass," Lou stands by her words.

"No, Lou. Fuck you," Sam says with force. "You got someone killed!"

"No I didn't!" she yells right back. "Benny didn't do this!"

"Yeah, he probably did!"

"You don't know that!"

"Lou, what are the chances that a girl gets killed by a vampire in the same town that a vampire's been living… and it's not that vampire that did it!?" Sam challenges. "If it walks like a duck and sucks blood like a duck…."

"I vouched for him, Sam!" Lou presses on. "I told you he was solid. I told you he was cool and wasn't into bleeding people and you put a hunter on him anyways!"

"Because he's dangerous!"

"You didn't trust me!" Lou finally lets it out.

Sam pauses there to look out the side window. He knew this was the part that bothered her the most. Yes, it's angering her that he had someone watch Benny because she knows and believes in him. But he went against her. He didn't trust her.

"I married your ass because I trust you," she continues in a very acidic tone. "I always will. And that's really hard for me to do…."

"I know that," Sam fires out, meaning it despite his harsh tone.

"And I had hoped that you married me because you trusted me," Lou spills. "I get that I'm the one far more likely to fuck up out of the two of us. I'm a pain in the ass and I've not always proven my trustworthiness to you. But I've clawed my way back from that and I feel like I've earned some trust back!"

Sam can't answer to that. She has earned his trust.

"I've… I've proven myself to you over and over again," Lou reminds. "I've worked through a lot of my shit to do that. You should trust me."

"I do," Sam swears to her.

"Bullshit!" Lou gets mad all over again.

"I trust you, Lou!" Sam yells back, not letting her dominate this argument. "I just don't trust a monster!"

"He's a good dude!"

"And I thought Ruby was a good one, too!" Sam lets it all fly. He's trusted evil before. He never should have.

"Good point! You could fuck Ruby but you can't trust my judgement on one vampire?"

"You fucked Benny!"

"I was a monster at the time! Doesn't count!" she yells in rebuttal. "You were human. What was your excuse?"

"There was none and that's the point. I shouldn't have trusted Ruby. Or Brady. And all the other demonic asshats that tailed me my whole life. This is about me! It's about you learning from all my stupid mistakes! It's about how I don't trust anything inhuman, not anymore!" He exhales hard, sitting back in the passenger seat. "I'm not letting some vampire trick you into thinking he's good when he's not."

Lou shakes her head when she thinks about it. "We're so fucking damaged."

Sam just huffs a laugh in agreement.

"I know you've been burned, but I swear to you, when Lizzy reports back that Benny didn't do this… you'll have to trust me on this one."

"If she can say, without a doubt, Benny didn't kill that girl… then I'll try."

"Try?" Lou questions, wishing he could just plain trust instead of trying to trust.

"Might be the best I can do," Sam remains honest.

"So shitty," Lou bitter comments to herself before glancing at him. In a still sharp tone, she says to him, "Sorry for bringing up the whole fucking Ruby thing. That was over the line."

Sam nods, knowing it was.

"I was pissed and wanted to hurt you. Now… I feel like an asshole about it."

Looking at her profile, Sam nods once. "Thanks for saying that."

"Yeah…" Lou accepts.

"And I know… the Benny thing, what you guys had…."

"It was a whole foxhole thing," Lou quietly explains her physical relationship with the vampire and friend. "All superficial. And a desperate grab for comfort."

Sam nods, still not honestly past it. "Just a friend."

"With benefits. That's all."

Sam pauses, thinking. "You know, once upon a time… I was a friend with benefits."

Lou just glances at him with upset. "You think I'm gonna leave you for the vampire, don't you?"

Sam huffs. "No, I don't think you're gonna leave me for Benny. It's just… weird to think about."

"I generally try to just forget about that fact that your dicks been inside a demon. Maybe you should try the same."

"That easy, huh?"

"It can be." Lou nods once, knowing it's how she copes with Sam's many past indiscretions and bad choices.

The silence between them settles back in for another mile.

"Uh…" Lou's voice remains upset and hard. She sighs with frustration. "I love you."

"Yeah. Love you, too," he answers back, tone also still irritated.

"Still pissed at you."

"I'm pissed at you."

Lou rolls her eyes. "Gonna be a long three more hours," she complains as they keep speeding down the highway to the airport.

The Impala is incredibly silent.

Aside from the engine and the Seger album Dean put on, neither has said anything for the first hour of the ride. Dean's too pissed that Lizzy let a vampire go and now it's killed someone. Lizzy's too pissed that Dean won't put his trust in her and believe that Benny is good people… and that she's had to leave her son yet again for a job she no longer wants to do.

Someone has to break the silence, though.

"You think Cass can seriously handle this?" Lizzy wonders aloud, glancing briefly at Dean for the first time since they pulled out of the driveway.

"The guy broke into Lucifer's cage on his own. I think he can handle a toddler for a couple days," Dean answers, tone sour.

"I just hope he calls if he has questions," Lizzy worries. "Sammy's a handful."

"Apple doesn't fall far from the tree, you know," Dean grumbles.

"I know, right?" Lizzy huffs, thinking how right he is. Sammy is very much like his father. Then she rethinks his statement. "Wait, are you calling me difficult?"

"Are you kidding with that question?" Dean fires back.

Lizzy's eye bug out of her head with disbelief. "Dude! You do realize that you are the most frustrating person alive, right?"

"Compared to you? Pff!" Dean childishly rebuts. "You're so fucking stubborn. If I wasn't already an alcoholic, you'd drive me to be one."

"Fuck you!" Lizzy fires back. "I am absolutely nothing compared to the frustrating-as-fuck asshole that you are."

"L, since the day we met, my party line has been 'yes, dear'."

"You finally lost your shit! Because that is the biggest load of crap I have ever heard in my life!" Lizzy gets too fired up, her face turning red with her anger at him. "You never listen to anyone but your warped self! And it's never once worked out for you!"

"You're right! I married you, didn't I?" Dean spits out, immediately regretting it.

There's a silence in the car, air thick with hurt feelings. "Baby. Ouch," Lizzy tells him simply, her voice soft and filled with pain.

"Yeah, that was too far," he grumbles in admittance. "Look, we'll just admit that we're both stubborn dicks, okay?"

"Fair," Lizzy agrees.

"Okay. And can we just admit we're pissed because we aren't on the same page right now?"

"Because you don't trust me," Lizzy answers, sitting back heavily, arms crossed as she watches the passing trees. She isn't mad so much about this. She's sad. She's let down that they're once more in this distrustful place and it's once more taking its toll on their relationship. "The last time one of us couldn't trust the other… it got ugly."

"And I don't want that again," Dean admits, their separation being one of the most truly painful times in his life. "But you lied first."

"What are you, five?"

"And what the hell am I supposed to do with my wife hanging out with a friggin' vampire?" Dean reminds her of what this is all about. "Am I not supposed to worry about that?"

"Dean, you worry about everything," Lizzy rolls her eyes. "And I know that, even if I tell you that he's safe and a good guy, you can't trust me about it."

"Of course, I trust you about it!"

"Then what the fuck is the problem here!?"

"I don't trust a vampire!" Dean booms out, making it clear that he still has faith in her.

Lizzy shakes her head, huffing in annoyance. "Lou's right. You guys are racists."

"No, we're hunters!" Dean strongly reminds her. "We know what the evil shit out there can do! We've both seen what vampires are like first hand. Remember when Lou turned?"

"No, I forgot," Lizzy responds with extreme sarcasm as she'll never forget Lou turning and the mess it created from there. "And if Lou, who turned and has been a vampire before, still trusts Benny… what the hell are we all butting heads over this for!? Who would know better than Lou!?"

"I'm not losing you again!"

The force and volume of his voice is what puts Lizzy into a stunned silence. They keep fighting over this issue because she thought it was all about his mistrust. Maybe it isn't just that.

"How would you lose me if I'm friendly with a vampire?" Lizzy asks honestly, her voice calm and collected now. She needs him to speak, not shout, in order to understand him.

"I… I don't know," Dean sputters out. "But I can't take you disappearing again. I can't do that. And any threat to you… I'm not just gonna sit by and let it happen."

"Benny isn't a threat to me," Lizzy switches it up and aims for sincerity. "Benny is the honest-to-god reason why I'm here and not still in Purgatory… or dead. He taught me everything I needed to know to survive that place. He showed me how to make weapons and told me about the portal… he's never going to end my life. He saved it!"

Dean keeps quiet. She's making sense but something still just won't sit right about the whole benny thing. He can't let this vamp go, it knowing Lizzy and all about her. Benny could come for her. He could turn her. Dean could lose his wife again. Even if she says it won't happen… he knows it could.

"I know you trust him. I know you believe in him. I'm just having a hard time seeing how being acquainted with a vampire can end well for us. That's all."

Lizzy quietly nods, thinking. "Hot Shot, I know I'm asking a lot… but you need to give him a chance. When we get there, we need to get Martin off Benny. Tell him we'll handle it and send him on his way. Then… we figure out what's going on down in Louisiana, take out the vamp that actually killed someone, and you need to sit down with Benny and see what I see in him. Or at least see something other than a bloodthirsty monster."

When done, Lizzy takes a very deep breath. She needed to let that out, probably has since Dean first met Benny and freaked out. He's a good friend, not a monster. Well, not just a monster.

"I don't like it, L… but if you're this sure and this pigheaded about it…." He stops there. Giving in has never been easy for Dean. "Fine. I'll try…."

"Thank you," Lizzy immediately relieves.

"I said try!" Dean points out. "But I am what I am…."

"Okay, Popeye," Lizzy quietly laughs with his choice of words.

Dean bites his tongue with a clenched jaw, trying to let her shit timing to make fun pass. "I've been the same way for a long time now. I was raised a certain way."

"And you're far better than that," Lizzy says with pure certainty.

"You say that…."

"I've always said that," Lizzy reminds him. She sighs heavily and reaches over, placing her hand onto his forearm as he drives. "And I'll always believe it."

Dean looks over to her, seeing the sincerity, before looking back to the road. "You're sucking up."

"Is it working?" she grins.

He won't answer.

"Nice," Lizzy smiles slightly, leaning over the front seat to kiss his cheek, hoping she's gotten through to him at least a little.

The house is silent.

Generally, it isn't so quiet. Sammy makes sure of that. However, there's a stalemate going on of epic proportions and neither parties are willing to budge on the issue at hand.

Sitting on one end of the kitchen table, hands folded on the smooth surface and chin resting on hands, is Sammy. His green eyes are locked on the blue ones challenging him directly across the table.

Staring back is Castiel, hands also folded and chin also on hands. They mirror each other with narrowed gazes.

"I do not think it's wise," the angel tells the young man.

"I wanna go to the park," Sammy continues to fight for what he dearly wants today.

"I would prefer that we didn't leave the house," Castiel responds calmly.

"Daddy said we go to the park today," Sammy rebuts simply.

"Your father isn't here," Castiel reminds him.

"Daddy said."

"And I'm in charge of you for now. I wouldn't be comfortable bringing you out of the house, at least not yet."

"Daddy promised!" Sammy starts to lose his cool, sitting up sharply.

The angel sighs, frustration building as he leans back in his chair. "But he isn't here. And I am…."

"I want daddy!" the child all out screams, his own frustrations exploding.

"Don't yell!" Castiel booms out in response when he can't quite figure out what to do with the very strong-willed child. They've been in a stalemate for a near half hour already.

Sammy's eyes grow two sizes as he stares at his best friend, the one that has never once raised his voice at him. This was scary. And confusing. Why is Cassie mad at him? He just wants to go to the park, like he was told he would.

Little green eyes well up with unshed tears and Castiel can feel the absolute shattering of his heart and his determination.

"You yell at me," Sammy says quietly, looking down into his lap, hands dropped to his sides as he suddenly looks two times smaller in his kitchen chair made for full grown adults.

When Castiel sees a silent tear drop off the little boy's cheek and onto his lap, he knows he didn't handle this correctly. He rolls his eyes and thinks hard, already seeing that his babysitting could have been a hasty decision.

"Samuel," Castiel starts, standing up from his chair to walk to Sammy's. He crouches to the floor next to the little boy and looks at him. Sammy won't peer up from his lap. "Samuel, please look at me."

He listens, watery eyes on the angel.

"I'm sorry," he tells his young friend. "I know this seems awfully unfair, but I am not quite prepared for taking you out into the world."

"I just wanna go to the park," Sammy responds, not getting quite what Castiel is trying to explain.

"I understand that. And I know your father told you he would bring you to the park today. But… I'm a little new at this babysitting thing. I don't really know how to perform any task as a primary caretaker of a young child. I'm starting to see that maybe I wasn't as ready as I had assumed."

With all the big words, the two-year-old just looks back at Castiel with confusion.

"I think I am a bad babysitter," he clarifies.

"You my friend," Sammy remind the centuries old angel. He sniffles and reaches out to his buddy, his hands on his cheeks. "You take care of me."

And if that doesn't just make even the most hardened warriors just simply melt into a puddle…

"I will try to," Castiel nods as the boy holds his face.

"We go to the park now?" Sammy asks, grin wide and award winning.

Castiel can see just how an entire year with just his father while Lizzy was in Purgatory has affected Sammy. He's using his charm to get what he wants. He knows his smile and his sucking up can get him what he wants. This boy truly is a small Dean.

"I'll make you a deal," Castiel says, thinking on his feet. "Today, we stay here. We can draw, play outside, eat whatever you want for dinner even."

"Chicken nuggets!" Sammy shouts immediately, gripping Castiel's cheeks with excitement. And there it is again. Just like his father, the way to appease Sammy is through his stomach.

"Chicken nuggets. And ice cream for dessert," Castiel wheels and deals.

"Yeah!" Sammy cheers, hands off the angel's cheeks and clasps them together.

"And tomorrow, if everything goes well here with just the two of us… I will take you to the park."

"Okay!" Sammy smiles wide and happy.

"Really?" Castiel disbelieves that it was this easy to fix the situation.

"We go outside!" Sammy directs and climbs down from his chair, pushing Castiel lightly out of the way. He then books it to the sliding door that leads to the backyard. "Come on! You push me on the swing!"

Blinking once, Castiel realizes that this whole thing is going to be exhausting and insane. Figuring out children, their ever-changing emotions and desires, is going to be impossible. He's only lived with the child for a week. He doesn't know him all that well. He's seen the way Dean and Elizabeth can appease him without always letting him win. They made it look easy. He assumed it would be easy.

This is not going to be easy.

"Come on, Cassie!" Sammy shouts from outside, his voice excited.

The angel stands tall, sighs once, squares his shoulders, and heads outside.