Chapter 2

Present Day

Dean

Vamps. It felt so good to be back. I wouldn't go so far to say that I was enjoying myself but...yeah I was.

"Grace!" Serra yelled. I didn't hear panic in her voice, but I whipped around nonetheless. Serra was mid-motion, tossing Grace a triangular blade reminiscent of an angel blade, but it was wider and twice as long. Grace caught it deftly, smiling at her sister. "Now," Serra continued. "No abilities; just your wit."

"What?" Grace asked, narrowing her eyes as she tossed a vampire off. "Where's the fun in that? I'm just getting good."

"Kills don't count if you use your powers," Serra insisted.

Grace rolled her eyes and glanced back at me, "Aw, come on," she continued. "I'm out of practice and to hand. Why the hell did I even come, then?"

"Four," Serra grunted, decapitating another vampire. "Hurry up, you big baby. This nest ain't gonna kill itself."

I smiled as I bent to toss the vampire that approached me over my shoulder and decapitate it with my machete. I stood, blood spattered across my chest and arm. "Five," I smiled as both Sam and Serra glanced up at me.

"Oh, Jesus," Sam muttered with a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. "Here we go."

As I moved through the crowd of vampires and family members, I tried counting what was left of the nest. This was easily the biggest we had ever encountered, and I vaguely wondered how we hadn't noticed it before. There were at least forty vampires in this bar, and probably a few more out back. I shook my head, chuckling to myself. Ten years ago, I'd a shit myself, trying to go after a nest forty large. These days, well. This was a game.

"Six," Serra shouted from the other room. "Oh, wait," she grunted and shoved a vampire to the ground, separating his head from his body. "Seven."

Grace stood and watched, shaking her head occasionally as she watched her sister dance around, slicing and shooting as she moved through the crowd. I caught her eye and winked. "You'd better catch up," I muttered, knowing she'd hear me, even without the earpiece.

"I'll let her have her fun," my wife replied. "Let her think she's gonna beat me."

Serra barely had enough time to turn and throw a shady look towards her sister before another three female vampires attacked. Grace hardly looked worried though, still watching from her end of the room. Ever since getting her grace back from Delilah, she had an unnatural stillness to her movements, reminding me too much of Cas.

Sammy watched from the other side of the room as well, facing Grace. Worry creased his brow as he stared at his wife, obviously still doubting her abilities as a hunter. I had no idea why. She'd be able to take this whole nest on by herself, I was sure of it, if she needed to. Out of the corner of my eye, I could see Grace nod, agreeing with my thoughts. Serra lifted her guns in tandem once again, firing four rounds from each of the silver-on-black, Colt forty-fives, dropping two vampires on each side.

Grinning and out of breath, Serra turned to Grace, "Eleven!" she declared, as a vampire leaped across the room, fangs descended, taking her to the floor as he did everything he could to bite her. Her guns skidded across the floor as she hit the ground, though hardly leaving her unarmed.

Me and Sammy both jumped into action, heading towards the fight on the floor, but before we even had a chance to take three steps, there was a bright flash of blue light and a woosh of air as a pile of ashes collapsed onto Serra's chest.

"I told you," she grunted, getting to her feet and dusting herself off, "no abilities."

Grace sighed, "You're welcome."

…

Three Weeks Ago

Grace

Dean was late, but it happened infrequently enough that it didn't bother me. Usually when it did, he had gotten caught up talking to a client about the cars or the shop and I couldn't help but listen in on the conversations because Dean was so genuinely happy. He loved his job and our shop, and it was the first time in his life that he got to be good at something besides killing monsters.

Everyone in town loved my husband; the men loved him for his buddy/buddy attitude and knowledge about anything with an engine. The women loved him for his face and his body. I had to admit, I couldn't blame them.

I could still hear Dean talking lightheartedly to Stu as he closed up; rolling the garage doors down and wiping the grease off his hands. His hair was a mess and he had an oil stain on the shoulder of his dark blue Winchester Family Auto shirt. Smiling, I closed my eyes and pushed my grace towards my husband, imagining myself wrapped around him late into the night. I thought about running my fingers through his hair and kissing the tender spot behind his ear.

Laughing to myself, I listened to the conversation that followed.

"What's the matter with you?" Stu asked as he watched Dean freeze in the middle of the garage.

Dean shook his head once, trying to focus on his real-life surroundings, not my grace, as it wound its way around his shoulders. "What?" he asked, his eyes squeezed shut. "Uh, nothing," Dean finally took a deep breath, focusing on the greasy rag he held. "Grace is…pulling me home."

Stu laughed. "Looks like Grace is doing more than that," he commented. "You are beet red. Keep it PG, huh?"

"Tell that to my half-angel wife," Dean muttered, rolling his head from side to side, still trying to shake my grace from his body. "I'm coming, I'm coming," he muttered, mostly to himself. I grinned again, still standing in my kitchen.

Turning my attention back to what was left of dinner, I stacked the kids' plates and rinsed everything in the sink. Serra walked in from the garage with Johnny, her loyal black lab, trailing behind her, wagging his tail obnoxiously. "Hey, puppers," I greeted, letting him lick the palm of my hand. "Can I give him the crusts of the kids' sandwiches?"

Taking a drink of her beer, Serra nodded. "Yeah," she commented. "Dean's not home yet?"

"Are you just waiting for him so you can be here to see what he does about the field trip?"

Narrowing her eyes, Serra glared at me, trying to think of another reason she might still be at my house. "No," she cautioned. "I'm spending time with my nephew and nieces."

I laughed. "You're a little ridiculous."

She shrugged, leaning against the counter near the sink as I washed the last of the pots. "I'm bored," she sighed, tossing her beer bottle into the recycle can next to the counter.

"Jeeze, Serra, you're as bad as the kids," I rolled my eyes and shook my head as I considered my sister. "Just because we've been home for more than three weeks in a row and things are back to normal for once," I clicked my tongue in disgust. "Be thankful you're bored."

Serra turned and crossed her arms, staring at me. "You can't tell me you're always happy living the apple pie life," she grumbled. "This isn't us. Even when we're happy and safe, we should still be out, saving people. You have more talent in your fucking pinky finger than all of us put together and you're telling me you're happy doing dishes?"

Lifting my eyebrows, I nodded once, "Yeah," I replied harshly. "Yeah, I am. My kids are happy, home, and safe. My house is still standing. My husband has a job and we're able to put a roof over everyone's head." I dried my hands and tossed the towel on the counter. "No one is hunting us for fifteen minutes and we finally have a chance to take a breath. I guarantee that life will not always be this easy. We're gonna have to deal with our Gatekeepers in the next few years. We're probably gonna have to deal with others trying to kill them." I breathed through my nose and tilted my head at my sister. "So yeah, I'm going to happily scrub this pan, in my kitchen, while my kids play on the floor, waiting for their father to come home from work."

"You're such a buzzkill," my baby sister replied.

Rolling my eyes, I turned back towards the sink and rinsed the pan I held.

Serra leaned towards me and smiled mischievously. "I hear there might be a coven of vamps in Iowa," she whispered.

"No," I answered without looking up.

"Grace, think about it. We wouldn't even break a sweat."

I repeated myself, "No."

"Grace, come on."

I turned towards my sister again and took a deep breath, lowering my voice. "I am not your mother. If you want to go off and hunt vampires, then so be it," I shook my head as I continued, "but let me just make one thing clear. I am not coming to rescue you, and I am not going to be the one to explain to your kids why you're gone. You tell them."

Serra rolled her eyes, "You used to be fun."

Stacking the pan on top of the pile of clean dishes, I replied, "Yep, before my husband was a demon and my kids were kidnapped. Before I was tortured in Hell and then killed by an angel, I was a blast."

"Alright," Serra waved her hand dismissively in the air as she turned towards the living room, "When you pull the stick outta your ass, you lemme know." She bent to pick Charlotte off the floor and gestured to Levi as she turned towards the back door.

"Jody and Billy are coming for dinner tomorrow night, don't forget," I added as she wandered out the door with her entourage of kids and dog behind her.

"Ooh!" she answered, "I want lasagna."

"Alright," I replied, nodding.

To the outside person, our sudden change in conversation and attitude towards each other would be hard to follow, but to my sister and me, it was just another evening. It's how we functioned, and it wouldn't be surprising if countless other sisters out there in the world did the same exact thing.