A/N: Holy viewing traffic, Batman! Can I just say how incredibly exciting it is to see the amount of people who are viewing this? Seriously, guys, these numbers are higher than I could have imagined when I wrote the first chapter and I am so thankful for each and everyone of you. From those of you who followed this from the beginning to those just finding it now, I love you all. Who's ready for a new chapter?! It took me a little longer to get up than I had hoped for, my work schedule is crazy right now. Anyway! Fair warning, there is some pretty awesome fluff in this one. Be prepared for some feels, folks!
It may not have been the best idea to drive without sleeping in almost twenty-four hours. The thought flashed like a lit up open sign in Dean's head as he pulled the Impala into the bunker's garage. His eyes glanced to the rearview mirror to make sure Kellen was still right behind them in Ana's car, he hadn't complained once during any of their stops about the long drive or the fact that he looked exhausted. Sam had tried to convince the kid to let him drive the car at their last gas station stop but Kellen had turned him down, saying that it would just be uncomfortable for Sam and that he was doing fine. Parking in his normal spot, Dean killed the engine and then turned to look at his brother who had passed out in the passenger seat. Shaking his head, he grabbed Sam by the shoulder and shook him, "We're here, wake up." Giving him one more shake for good measure, Dean glanced over his shoulder to see Kellen getting out of Ana's car and moving to get his bag. Stepping out of the Impala he glanced around the garage and smiled slightly to himself, he was glad to be back.
"What time is it?" Sam asked with a yawn as he got out of the car. The moment his form had completely unfolded he reached his arms up toward the roof in a stretch, sleeping in the car always made him a little stiff.
Kellen closed the trunk and met the two men by the Impala, "Almost seven." he offered, glancing at the screen on his phone. He sent a quick text to his family, letting them know that they had made it to their destination.
Dean popped open the trunk to grab his and Sam's bags, more than ready to get inside. Closing the trunk lid, he walked toward his brother and held out his bag, "Well I am ready to eat something and then pass out. We can get started on the research tomorrow." he offered, turning to lead them into the main part of the bunker.
"Sounds like a plan to me. Honestly, I could probably even skip the food." Kellen told them as they walked through the door. He followed behind the brothers and as they moved further down the hallway. Kellen could make out the smell of food as they continued on, though he couldn't tell what it was. His stomach grumbled as the smell grew stronger and he chuckled, "Okay, maybe not."
As they rounded the corner into the library Dean and Sam moved toward the table, each man setting his bag on a table that wasn't completely taken over by books. "Looks like they got some work done."
"Actually we'd just started pulling books we thought might have information we need when Ana decided that she needed to cook." Connor explained as he walked into the room from the kitchen. "How was the drive?" he could clearly tell that they were all tired, but he wanted to make sure they didn't run into any trouble along the way.
Sam skimmed through the titles of the books the witches had already pulled off of the shelves, "Long," he offered, "but I slept through part of it. Neither of these two would let me drive."
"Good, you're right on time." Ana spoke as she moved into the room, she was brushing flour off of her shirt as she walked in. When she finally raised her eyes to the group, she frowned when she spotted Kellen. "Seriously?!" She snapped, sending accusing glares at her father and uncle.
Dean held up his hands in a sign of surrender, "He's just here to help with the research." he explained, knowing that she still wouldn't be happy with them.
Continuing to glare at them for a moment longer, she slowly turned her attention back to Kellen who was slowly taking in the library around him. Closing the space between them, Ana jabbed her finger into his sternum, "If you think you're going to help once we have a plan, you have another thing coming. These books are as far as you're getting into this search, are we clear?"
Though Ana was shorter than Kellen and he outweighed her by a considerable amount the look in her eyes was deadly and it was a little surprising for him to feel a sliver of fear. "Books only, got it." he nodded, knowing that arguing with her now would be useless.
"Alright, good." She poked him once more before turning to look at everyone, "Dinner should be ready in a few minutes, I'll take Kellen to find an empty room and you guys get settled then we can eat." When no one moved at first, the brothers looking at her with raised eyebrows and Kellen too busy studying his surroundings, she rolled her eyes, "Come on. Chop, chop."
Dean turned to look at Connor as Ana led Kellen out of the library, "What's up with her?" he questioned, figuring that he would know since he was the only person who had been with her in the past twelve hours.
With a shrug the male witch turned to walk toward the kitchen, knowing that the timer would be going off any minute. "No clue, she's been like this since we woke up around four." he finally answered over his shoulder as he exited the room.
Dean turned to look at Sam, "It's not just me, right? She's too happy for the mood she left in this morning?" he inquired as he picked his bag back up off of the table, waiting for his brother to pick his up as well so that they could walk down the hall together.
"It's not just you, but would you rather her still be angry?" Sam questioned, shouldering his bag and following Dean's lead out of the library. "Connor probably got her to calm down, they are soulmates and they have that connection so he has to have an understanding of how to do that. At least one better than you or I do."
Thinking on his brother's words, Dean finally nodded, "I guess this is one of those things where it's better not to ask, right?"
"Ask what?" Ana asked as she and Kellen stepped out of the room he would be staying in, "Why are you two being so slow? It doesn't take that long to move your stuff to your rooms." she pointed out, getting the vibe that they had been discussing something private.
"Who made you Bossy McGee?" Dean grumbled, continuing down the hall toward his room.
Ana scoffed softly and shook her head, "What's his deal?" she aimed the question at Sam. Normally if her dad was going to make a snappy comeback it would have been better than that. Sam sighed and glanced at Kellen, he knew what was going on with his brother, but not everyone living in the bunker needed to know. Taking the hint, Kellen excused himself and headed back toward the library to let the two Winchesters talk. Ana's eyebrows scrunched together in worry, "What is it?"
"He's worried and stressed about everything going on." Sam began, tilting his head in a gesture for her to follow as he walked toward his room. "After the demon fight, the argument you two got in and the long drive he's exhausted."
Ana nodded, that all made sense. They hadn't slept in a day and a half, but both brothers were used to running on little sleep and having to function for one thing or another. "What has him so worried? Yeah, we're up against some demons and their big, bad plan to end the world, but it's not the first time we've dealt with something like this."
Nodding as they reached his door, Sam opened it and walked in. "You're right, it's not anything new to us, but things have changed. We're not at the center of it, you are and he probably feels like he has little to no control over the situation." He set his bag down by the foot of his bed and turned to look at his niece, "He's worried for you and what all of this means for you."
She lifted her hand and ran it through her hair, thinking on what Sam had said for a long moment before she sighed in frustration and squeezed her eyes shut. "It's a lot to deal with, honestly I haven't had near the amount of time I need to think about any of it." When she opened her eyes again, she looked up into her uncle's hazel ones and could see the worry that lingered there. "Everything is going to turn out fine, though. We just have to take it one step at a time otherwise we're going to get so wound up with fear of what could happen that we won't be able to do what's needed."
"How can you be so positive about this?" He asked, wondering when the realist he knew as his niece had turned into an optimist.
"Since I started having visions of the two of you, of the rest of our family, one thing became extremely clear to me. A Winchester is a force to be reckoned with and when we work together, there's not a whole lot that can go wrong." Ana gave him a soft smile. "I just can't allow myself to think of what can go wrong. We're going to stop Jade and then we'll do what we have to after that to make sure the cage stays on lockdown. Once that is over we can worry about the prophecy and everything else."
Sam studied Ana a moment, wondering silently to himself if he had ever had the same blind faith she had in that moment. The conclusion was easy to come to; not since he had found out the truth about the world. Oddly, after everything they had been through together paired with the fact that she was a witch didn't seem to be deterring her from believing that they would figure everything out. Taking in a deep breath, he blinked slowly before sitting down on his bed, "Ana-"
"No, Sam." She cut him off, knowing that by the tone of his voice he was going to try to reason with her, but there was no point for him to. "Look, I know better than most the dangers of this life. I've seen every death you've been through and the terrible things that have caused them, but this is the way I see it. If the prophecy about Connor and I having a child is going to come true at some point, hopefully years in the future, we both have to be alive for that to happen. If Connor and I are alive we have the ability to heal you and dad, then there's no reason for me to worry about Gabe or Cas because they can kick more butt than the rest us combined." Pausing, Ana bit the inside of her cheek to keep herself from freaking out, which was exactly what she was on the verge of doing. "I have to believe that if something life threatening was going to come our way and take one of us out of the picture that I would see it. I haven't had a vision since we saved Kellen, but I can't think that this power led me to you and this life just for it to let me down by not warning me about the death of someone I love."
It was then that Sam saw it. The happy mood she had been in when they arrived had been the most used Winchester move in the book, something that he and Dean were pros at doing, but it never worked for either of them because they knew each other too well. She must have gotten the acting genes out of the family, he thought as he stood up from his bed and crossed the distance between them. Now that he knew what she had been doing it was so much easier to see past the wall she had put up, the one that made it seem like everything was alright, to the deep-seated fear and pain that she was keeping inside. Seconds after he wrapped his niece in his arm, holding her tight to his chest, he felt her body begin to shake as she silently cried against him. Sam never had the practice Dean did with comforting people. His brother had this way of knowing instantly what to say to make things better, more bearable, but there had never been the need for Sam to really figure it out for himself. When it came to normal things he could figure it out, but when it was something dark and deep like this, he was at a loss. Sure there were times when he had comforted Dean, but they were short lived and far between. His big brother was too stubborn to accept more than a few minutes of consoulance, even when he returned from Hell.
-A-
Connor had been able to feel it the instant Ana broke down. It was like a shock of electricity through their bond, causing him to react instantly. Hurrying out of the kitchen, he ignored the questions Kellen called after him and ran in the direction he could feel her in. As he came down the hallway, he saw Dean leaning against the wall just before Sam's bedroom door and he wondered what was going on, but before he could ask Dean met his gaze and shook his head, raising a finger to his lips in a sign to keep quiet. Coming to a stop, he put himself close to the wall on the opposite side of the door as Dean and quietly moved closer until he could peek into the room. When his eyes landed on Ana wrapped in a crushing hug in her uncle's arms he understood why Dean hadn't stepped in yet. They had been waiting for this to happen, for the inevitable break down and though both men standing in the hallway wished that Ana would have come to either of them, they were both happy with the fact that she had gone to someone. Taking in a deep breath, Connor turned his attention to look at Dean, who was watching his brother and daughter with a look in his eyes that Connor couldn't quite put a name to.
-A-
Sam took in a deep breath, knowing that he needed to say something and hoped that whatever he came up with wouldn't cause Ana to feel worse. He had just opened his mouth to speak when she beat him to it. "I can feel you both, you know?" she spoke, not moving her face from where it was hiding against his chest and he wondered who she was sensing. It really shouldn't have surprised him when both Dean and Connor stepped into the view of his open door.
"How long have you been out there?" Sam raised an accusing eyebrow at both of them, not moving to let Ana go. She still had her face hidden against his chest and he wasn't going to pull away until she was ready to.
Dean shrugged, "A couple of minutes." he answered, eyes glued to the back of Ana's head. Part of him was hurt that she hadn't come to him for comfort, though their relationship could still be a little awkward at times they were still close.
Ana released a deep breath, letting herself lean a little further into Sam as she focused on the feelings of hurt and confusion rolling toward her from both of the men behind her. There was no way she could keep them in the dark, not after she had basically bared her soul to her uncle and got caught in the breakdown that followed. Taking another deep breath she prayed to any force in the world listening to give her the strength to get through this conversation without losing it completely. Pushing herself away from Sam, she glanced up at him with a tear-stained face and gave him a weak smile, a small sign of the thanks she felt for how he had comforted her. "We should talk." she finally said, turning slowly to look at her dad and Connor.
Seeing the strong, confident woman he was in love with broken in such a way made Connor feel helpless. There was no way he could have believed that she had been okay after everything that had happened in the last week, but she had kept so much hidden from him so he didn't accurately know how she was doing. It was clear now that she was worse off than he could have imagined. "Why did you hide this from me?" his tone filled with his own pain from being kept at arm's length via their connection.
"I…" She sighed, looking directly into Connor's eyes as she tried to think of a way to explain properly why she hadn't let any of them in. It wasn't something she had really wanted to do, keeping things locked inside was something Ana was a master at and because of that she knew how much it didn't help. In fact, almost every time she hadn't spoken to someone about her problems it had ended up feeling worse at the end. This was different though, there was no time to spare on a breakdown like she had just done with Sam. There were demons and angels after her family, both of which were working toward releasing Michael and Lucifer from the cage which was something that Ana refused to let happen. "We have our hands full enough without trying to deal with this at the same time."
Dean scowled, hating that she felt like anything came before dealing with the repercussions of what she had been through. Did they have a lot on their plate? Yes. Were they fighting a battle they had fought many times before? Yes. But nothing came before what they could do for one another to keep each other at least somewhat mentally healthy. "You've seen how much of our lives? What could possibly make you think that we couldn't take the time to help you through this?" he finally questioned, arms crossing over his chest as he looked at his daughter. Family always came first; before a hunt, even before the end of the world and if she hadn't figured that out by now he was about to make it pretty clear.
"Oh, I don't know. How about making sure Michael and Lucifer stay in the damn cage?" Ana snapped, her hands rubbing over her face before she pushed them through her hair. Her eyes focused on the floor just in front of Dean's shoe as she spoke, "I may have some problems after everything that has happened, but if we don't stop whatever plan Jade is bound to be cooking up then it's not going to matter anyway because mankind is most likely going to end." Pausing a moment, she raised her eyes to meet her father's and shook her head slightly before continuing, "Either we don't fix this and we keep them locked up or we work through my issues and possibly miss saving Earth's population. That's how I see it."
Sam glanced between Ana and Dean, wondering if their personalities could be any more alike in that moment. Maybe it was her experience with the visions of them before they met or maybe it was just the fact that she was one hundred percent Winchester, but either way Sam was confident in the fact that he could get through to her faster than he ever could with his brother. With the added help of Dean and Connor they would help her move past what happened… hopefully. "Who says we can't do both? At the moment we have no idea what Jade's next angle is going to be and though we're obviously going to have to work through what we can with that, it doesn't mean that we can't also be there for you. Ana, what you went through was horrible, probably one of the worst things you could go through personally, and because of that we can't just let you continue on like this."
Dean nodded in agreement, though he'd been given the same speech by his brother and ignored it, now that it wasn't aimed at him the elder Winchester was all for what Sam was saying. "He's right, Ana. Trust me, we've been to Hell and back, literally. We've gone through Heaven, I went to Purgatory, Sam ran around soulless… Point is that we've been through a ton of crap and though I'm never the first one to ask for help, sometimes you have to just deal with your problems, push down your pride and accept the help being offered to you. Especially if it's family, this family, because we never let anything slide."
It was silent for a moment as Ana argued with herself in her head, knowing that they all just wanted to help her get to a better place, but there was just too much going on. Their focus needed to remain on the problem at hand and she wasn't going to change her mind about that. Slowly moving her eyes from her dad's to Connor's, she wondered why he hadn't said anything since he had asked his one question. Maybe she had pushed him too far, kept him too blocked from what was going on with her. It had been a thought she had kept to herself for a while, but Ana had just been waiting for something to happen to cause Connor to change his mind. They may be soulmates, but he had pointed out once that it wasn't unheard of for someone in her family to go against what fate had planned. So, as she watched him silently stare across the room at the wall behind her and Sam, wondering if this was finally going to be it.
"Would you stop?" Connor snapped, shattering the silence in the room with his desperate plea. "I have never given you a reason to think any of those things, yet you stand there and assume the worst. I'm worried about you and hurt that you'd hide all of this from me, but nothing could make me want to turn my back on you." He paused, taking a moment to glance at the shocked expressions on Sam and Dean's face. "We need a minute." Not giving them time to respond, he wrapped his power around Ana and brought her with him as he teleported out of the room. They didn't need an audience for the conversation they were about to have and he wanted to get out of the bunker so they wouldn't be interrupted. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust from the florescent lights in the bunker to the soft glow of the sun as it set over the water. Connor had brought them to the cliff that he so often found her at after she had first learned to teleport. It was off of the western coast of Ireland and though it could get pretty cold, it was always beautiful to look at. "You're getting worse." It was an observation he had started to make while they were at Kellen's house yesterday, but he hadn't known to the extent that he did now.
Ana sighed, why she even thought she could keep that from him after what he had witnessed in Sam's room, she had no clue, but she had hoped that somehow he had missed it. "Yeah." she nodded slightly, walking toward the edge of the cliff to look down at the bluffs below. "I thought I was doing alright there for a while, but I guess I'm not."
Walking over to stand next to her, he watched her for a moment before turning his attention out toward the water. "Did you really think that it wasn't going to get bad again? I don't understand it a lot of the time, but I knew that after what had happened with Laylah, Brandon, Kellen being missing and then the attack... this was bound to happen." Connor turned to face her, reaching out for her hand, "What I don't understand is why you kept it from me of all people? And don't give me any lines about trying to protect me or whatever other crazy things you come up with, we've talked about this. I wasn't meant to be your soulmate so you could keep me out of any sort of danger, mental or physical, I'm supposed to be the person you don't have to keep things from."
"I know, Connor, alright?" She shook her head and turned away from him, this wasn't something she wanted to talk about right now, but she knew that he wasn't going to let her get out of it. He would just follow her wherever she went until he got her to talk. "It was slowly getting worse before all of this happened anyway. I can't just predict when it's going to get better or when it's going to get worse."
"You don't need to be able to predict it, you just need to be able to ask for help. Ana," he moved quickly so that he was standing in front of her, "You've told me what happens when you keep this all inside. If it's getting worse now, it's just a matter of time before everything that has happened recently takes hold and makes it even worse than that. Get it through that stubborn head of yours that you need to talk about this!"
Ana let out a frustrated sound, "What is there to talk about Connor?! Laylah tortured me with my worst memory, I killed Brandon, almost died taking on a bunch of demons and then had to reveal to my family the one thing I wanted to keep from them. Add that on top of the fact that I've been hunted down by angels and demons the entire time my father has been in my life and this past year and a half has just been one fight after another! Of course I'm not handling any of it well, but who would?"
It took Connor a moment, but as he watched her, he knew there was something else that was bothering her and whatever it was had to be the reason that everything was coming out this way. "What's really bothering you, Ana? There's something other than what we've been up against."
"I haven't seen any of it." She barely whispered as she shook her head, "Other than the vision about Brandon right before he appeared in the cemetery and the one I had about Kellen while I was asleep, I haven't had any visions in over a month. Not when Kellen was originally taken and not when my family was being attacked by a mass amount of demons. Sam had asked me why I was so positive with what we're up against, I told him it was because if this gift, my visions, were meant to help then I would see if any of us were going to get hurt and I can change it." Ana brushed away the tears that slipped from her eyes, "But what if I don't? What if for some reason my visions no longer work like they used to and because of that I lose someone I love?"
He watched her a moment, hating that she had been keeping this all inside, "I don't know what it is, but we'll figure this out. Together. You have got to stop trying to take this all on alone, let us help you. Please?" Connor took both of her hands in his and held on to them tight, "I can't stand to watch you continue on like this."
Ana sniffled and fought back the tears that threatened to take over, she had cried enough. Now was the time to decide what the hell she was going to do about her problem and put that plan into action. Taking in a deep breath, she nodded, "We'll figure this out. Together." she repeated his words with a soft smile, "But first we should go back to the bunker and eat dinner, because I worked pretty hard on that baked chicken and they'll eat it all if we don't get back soon."
Laughing at the truth behind her statement, he returned her smile as he moved his hands to cup the sides of her face, "I love you." he whispered as he leaned down and pressed his lips to her's. Though the words were rarely spoken between the two they both knew that the feeling was there and that it was strong, but how could it not be? They were soulmates, afterall.
The feeling of his magic wrapping around her was the first sign that he was teleporting them somewhere, most likely the bunker, the second sign was the sound of disgust that was emitted from her father's throat when they appeared in the kitchen. "Seriously? Get a freaking room, I don't want to see that." Dean grumbled, averting his eyes from the young couple.
Ana laughed as they separated, turning to see that Connor had brought them into the one room that held all three men they had left behind earlier. Turning, she frowned at him slightly, knowing that he had done it on purpose. When he just grinned, she rolled her eyes and turned back to what the others were doing in the kitchen and it seemed that her guess had been right. Though there was still food left, they had already begun to serve themselves, "Alright, so what's the plan after dinner?" The question was aimed at all of them, assuming that they were all tired and ready to get some much needed rest.
"Well first I'm going to go wash my eyes out with soap and then I'm going to try to sleep through the nightmares that your little display will probably cause." Dean answered, turning to give his daughter a tight smile before returning to the task of filling his plate with food.
Sam laughed, "That's nothing compared to what I've caught you doing." he pointed out, taking a drink from the bottle that was sitting in front of him. "Pretty sure the three of us are going to go to bed after we eat. We can start going through all of those books tomorrow." He informed her, having no reason to believe that they were going to change the plan that Dean had offered up when they had arrived.
Connor moved around the kitchen to get himself a plate of food, realizing that he hadn't eaten all day. "Sounds good, Ana and I can finish going through the books in the library so that we have the ones that could help pulled out and ready to go-"
Kellen snickered at Connor's wording, stopping the moment that four pairs of eyes were turned on him in looks varying somewhere between questioning and disbelief. "Sorry, continue."
Ana laughed, really laughed at the men around her. Mostly at Kellen, but the looks that he was receiving were pretty funny too. "I forgot how you get when you're sleep deprived." she shook her head as the eyes that were focused on her friend slowly turned to her. She shrugged, "What? Ever since we were kids when he got really tired he could find the simplest of things hilarious. As we got older it went from finding things funny to finding them dirty, even if it made no sense."
"That was a good one though." Kellen commented, pointing and squinting at her in challenge. He may have been extremely tired, but 'pulled out and ready to go' almost made him choke on his food.
"If taken far enough out of context, then yes, it was good." She smiled at him, moving across the room to tap her clenched fist against his extended one.
Dean rolled his eyes, "Alright, I have had enough of you people for a night." he commented as he gathered up his plate and beer bottle. Before he left the room, he stopped next to Ana and placed a kiss on the top of her head, "Thanks for dinner." he told her softly before walking out of the room.
Smiling to herself, Ana watched her father leave the room before turning to get herself some food. If she and Connor were going to get through what books they hadn't in the library it was going to be a late night, which was probably a good thing. They had slept for six hours earlier and though their sleeping schedule was pretty messed up anyway, she didn't want to make her's any worse. Joining Sam, Kellen, and Connor at the one small table in the kitchen the group ate and talked for a short period of time before both Sam and Kellen excused themselves for the night. After they finished eating, Connor and Ana cleaned up the kitchen and headed into the library, ready to finish going through the collection of books so that they didn't have to look through the shelves when they began their search the next day.
A/N(2): I would love to know what you think about this chapter! As always, thanks for reading ;)
