Hi, guys. Happy Thursday! :) Time for a new chapter. I think things are going a bit slow, but there's so much stored for our guys, so be patient with me.

deadone1013, thank you for the review, it's much appreciated. I'm glad you like the development so far. :))

Read & Enjoy :)


Fear rushes through me, my heart pumping wildly in my chest. I don't even want to imagine what Naomi has prepared for me this time. The dark silhouette's approaching me, coming closer and closer. I'm scared, I know he's gonna hurt me, punish me... A shriek of horror rises in my throat as the dark form reaches out, grabbing my shoulder.

"No, Ben!" a familiar gruff voice shouts

I scream in fright and anger, pushing away the figure holding my shoulders. Clamor is echoing in my ears, incoherent voices yelling. In panic and guided by my hunter instincts I jump on my attacker and pin him to the floor. I raise my hand to strike and in that very moment, strong arms wrap around my waist, yanking me back and lifting me off my feet. I scream and kick, fighting as much as I can. All of a sudden I'm free, but Dean's right in front of me. God, Naomi sends him when she's determined to bend me emotionally. And this time I won't let her win. This time I fight. So I fling out at Dean, he's way stronger and manages to catch my hands no matter how hard I try to wrench from his grip. Struggling as much as I can, I succeed in kicking him and we both fall on the floor. I have to get to the knife in my boot, Dean's grip on me is too tight to break loose even for a second and I growl in frustration. After a couple of seconds, I realize he's talking to me and he's not trying to hurt me, just doing his best to hold me still while I fight tooth and nail, though he's pinned me to the ground. Then his voice reaches me.

"Calm down, it's me. You're safe" his reassuring voice makes me stop struggling and Dean patiently continues "You're safe, it's me. I promise you, you're safe"

Uncertainty is rushing through me. What if this is not real? What if this is just another one of Naomi's tricks? Seeing my doubt, Dean soothingly utters

"It's real. I'm real, Honey B. I'm real and you're safe. No one's gonna hurt you"

Honey B... It's really him and I immediately relax, relief washing me. I sigh as Dean kneels next to me and I sit up only to have a grasp of the situation I just put everybody in because I fell asleep on the couch in the conference room. Ben is shocked and a bit scared, Sam's face is a mask of concern and pity, and Moore's hand's on his gun, though he hasn't pulled it out yet. Thank god, at least Penny's not here. I blink furiously as tears start filling my eyes.

"Hey" Dean gently turns my face to him, his wonderful green eyes piercing me right to my soul "It's okay. Come here" and he pulls me in for a hug

As I bury my face in his shoulder I manage to choke out a desperate:

"Why? Why did you let me fall asleep?"

"You needed it." he soothes me, his hands rubbing reassuringly my back "You barely slept the last couple of days..."

"You shouldn't have" I cry and I grasp him for the shoulders, my nails digging into the fabric of his shirt.

I try to calm down, thinking of how pathetic I look. I need to steady my breathing, to make my heart beat normal again... I take a deep breath and push aside all the memories for Naomi that are trying to flood my mind. I also ignore the shame I feel and raise my head.

"Where's Penny?" I ask as I push myself up, Dean quickly follows me, and his hand is protectively wrapped around my waist.

"She, uhm..." Moore's stance changes and I see how his hand drops freely next to his body, though his profiler eyes are studying me "Uhm, she went for a coffee"

I look at the table where I can see Penny's laptop with a lot of running windows on the screen, most of which look like program codes. She was probably analyzing something.

"I need coffee, too," I say and as calmly as possible I leave the room "And I have to pee"


I don't know for how long I'm here, locked in the lady's room, and staring at my reflection in the mirror. I look awful - dark circles under my eyes and I'm so pale I could be the freaking Snow White... I splash my face with cold water and take a deep breath. I need to calm down and push away that feeling making my flesh creep. I'm safe, Meg saved me. Everything's okay. I need to get a hold of myself. To turn the hunter mode on again. Hunters are strong, fearless and have no nightmares. Or at least that's what the others see. And I need to keep up that facade. Pulling my hair in a ponytail, I put on an expression I hope looks hunter-ly and all professional and march out of the bathroom.

Just a corner separates me from the break room when I hear voices and instinctively glue my back to the wall.

"What's your problem, man?" I hear the exclaim and recognize Moore's voice

"Get out of my way." this deceptively calm voice hides murderous intend and I know it's Dean's

"Not before you tell me what's going on with Braeden"

"Not your damn business" Dean growls

"Hey!" there's rustling and a thud "She's all yours, man. I swear. I just want to help."

"All mine?" I can imagine Dean with complete bewilderment on his handsome face. " I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yes, you know" Moore sighs "Look, Braeden and I... We have history. But it's all in the past. I'm not blind or stupid. And I'm a profiler, it's my job to read people."

"So?" there's still an edge in Dean's voice

"My job is tough, but from what I hear and what I see, yours is twice harder. So all I'm saying is she's going through some rough times and she needs help"

"Wow, thanks, Einstein"

"No, wait. Listen. I don't know what happened but you feel guilty about it. Still, you're the only one who she trusts and who she lets past her barriers. She looks like she's been through Hell and back an..."

"She was" Dean shortly says

"What?" Moore's voice sounds confused

"She was in Hell, she surrendered herself to save me. Then she was kidnapped by the feathered ass douches"

"Wait, what? What are you talking about?"

"Demons, angels... All this is real" Dean spits the words "And they had her. I don't know what exactly they did to her but from what she told me..." Dean's voice cracks for a second "When we got her back, she was badly beaten and since then she has those nightmares that make her... She's like that because of me. I promised her dad to take care of her and the worst part is I don't know how to help her."

"Be there for her. Make her feel safe like you did today. You're her anchor. Just be there when she needs it and in time she'll get better" there's a pause, then Moore offers "Now let's get back in"

Their steps fade away. My head is a mess. It's quite strange to hear a conversation about me. It's sweet they are concerned about me. I sigh. The problem's even I don't know how to stop the nightmares. And I feel awful because Dean feels responsible for what I went through. Dean... A huge grin spreads across my lips. Dean. Well, one mystery solved. Moore knew from the moment he saw him that the hunter's jealous and I was blind to that. But somehow knowing he's jealous of me makes me happy. With that stupid smile, I head to the break room for coffee.


"Hey, there you are" Sam approaches me and takes a mug while I stir my coffee, hiding in the break room for the last half an hour.

"Coffee?" I ask and pour him

"Thanks" he awkwardly smiles "I need this"

"I know" I chuckle "You're caffeine maniac"

"Yeah" he huffs "Let's go back."

I hum in agreement and head to the conference room, Sam close behind me. Then I spot Moore and Dean, leaned on the railing next to the few steps leading to our destination. Penny marches from the conference room, her doll face full of some mix of excitement and urgency. Duncan sees her and a huge grin spreads across his face.

"What'd you got, sweetness?"

"Mama's hands are dirty, 'cause she's been diggin'" she quickly says, I barely distinguish one word from another as she speaks "And I want to preface this by saying I did not break any rules by getting this info so fast. I may have scratched, massaged, but no breaks. Not a one."

"Gonzalez!" there's a warning in Moore's voice, still his eyes shine with amusement.

"I not only cross-referenced all of your victims and sorted who were killed by your unsub, but I also managed to remove the ones that are not his doing. And by the security footage video you got me, I snagged him."

"So you know where he lives?" Sam asks confused by her fast-talking

"The name also helped" she shrugs "There aren't many Stynes, you know. The name's Eldon Styne but found no bank records, no nothing. Which is quite impossible and I'll keep diggin'"

"Look," Moore says seriously, profiler mode on, looking intensely at me "For all we know, I can tell you if not a psychopath, he's a master manipulator capable of putting on an innocent facade and has managed to find the perfect cover for his crimes." Moore's face is all dark and his eyes shine dangerously "He hunts all over the country and his victims are different genders and living different parts of the U.S., which means he's not traditional unsub. He's smart, uses the clinical studies as a ruse to get his victims. He doesn't stay in one location for long and moves quickly and efficiently. His sophistication level and the forensic countermeasures suggest he's experienced..."

"Duncan" I interrupt him "He's evil and crazy. We know that."

"He's not just crazy, Braeden" he sighs deeply "He's very dangerous. Promise me, you'll be extra careful on this one"

"Oh, darling" I playfully wink at him "I always am. You know, protection and all..."

"It's not funny" Moore's deep voice is exasperated, face grim

"I know. That's my lifestyle. I'm a hunter, always on the edge and the only way we survive through the day is by laughing in the face of danger. Don't worry" I squeeze reassuringly his shoulder "I've got two big boys watching over me" I nod towards Sam and Dean "We'll be fine and..." I look around, unpleasant feeling creeping down my spine "Where's Ben?"

"What the hell?!" Dean grumbles, staring at the screen "What he thinks he's doing?"

"Obviously, stealing a car" Sam simply says, earning a death glare from his brother.

"After being on my computer" Penny rages "No one touches my computer but me!"

"Easy, Mama" Duncan calms her down "He's just a kid."

I lean closer to look at the video footage Gonzalez is showing us. After we spent a good half an hour looking for Ben around, Penny tracked him through the security cameras covering the whole Bureau's territory. And now we're watching a footage for an hour ago where the kid is slim jimmying the lock of an old Honda Civic. After a couple of seconds, he hot-wires it and takes off.

"When we find him," I growl "I'm gonna kill him."

Penny's fingers fly across the keyboard and just seconds later she says

"He got on the highway. I can't track him there..."

"No need," Sam says "He's going after the Stynes."

"We gotta go." I head to the door "Now!"

"Before Ben gets himself killed" Sam adds following me

"You go" Moore calls from behind "I'll make sure the car's owner won't press any charges."

I hear a ringing tone and turn around to see Dean pulling his phone out of his pocket. The moment he answers, his stance changes, his eyes widen in worry and his face goes pale.

"Dean" I reach to him "What's wrong?"

"There was a car crash" he barely mutters, "It's really bad. Ben's in hospital."


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