The days feel like years when I'm alone
And the bed where you lie
Is made up on your side

When you walk away
I count the steps that you take
Do you see how much I need you right now?

When you're gone
The pieces of my heart are missin' you
When you're gone
The face I came to know is missin', too
When you're gone
The words I need to hear
To always get me through the day
And make it okay

I miss you

WEEKEND AT BOBBY'S

Sioux Falls, South Dakota

Beth's POV

When I'd woken up two days earlier I'd been restless and itching for the sound of blacktop under my wheels. Without giving it a lot of thought, I'd tossed a change of clothes in a bag, along with my candle, a few weapons, and added the baby's diaper bag, clothes, toys, stroller and carrier to the mix then tossed it all in the blue '71 Dodge Dart that Dean had traded for the F250 so that I had a car with a back seat when he'd taken the Impala hunting again.

I'd set out initially tracking Dean's phone, something about driving in the same direction he was headed soothed my soul. During the trip I would alternate between hours spent flying down the road, singing along to whatever tunes I had cranked, with Sophia giggling in the back seat, and stops at various interesting hiking trails and places to get outdoors in nature. I'd planned to track down Dean and surprise him eventually, but for now, I was content being on the road.

When Dean and Sam veered off toward Wisconsin, my deep aversion to the state of my teenage years led me to vary my journey east, toward South Dakota. There was a river at the back of Bobby's property calling me - the same one where Dean and I had skinny dipped on my twenty-first birthday the night after we'd finally given in to our feelings for each other. It was coming up on my birthday and at the very least South Dakota wasn't far from Wisconsin. I planned on catching up with Dean before then; since I'd met him, I hadn't spent a birthday without him, other than when he'd been in Hell. I didn't intend to start now.

When I'd arrived at Bobby's to crash for a night or two I'd found him dragging a woman, kicking and screaming through a gag, toward the house. It didn't take much to assume it was something other than human - abducting random women wasn't really Bobby's style. I'd screeched the car to a halt, checked on the sleeping Sophia in the back, opened a window, then jumped out to assist.

"What the bloomin' hell are you doin' here?" Bobby asked as the woman lashed out with a foot, trying to kick him despite him having her under the armpits. As I approached I saw the woman's eyes glow red, and I raised an eyebrow at Bobby.

A crossroads demon, interesting.

"Selling girl scout cookies," I quipped. "Need a hand?"

Bobby dropped the woman heavily on the ground before the steps leading into the house and sighed, reaching up to take off his dusty baseball cap and run a shirt sleeve across his sweaty brow.

"Well since you're here, might as well make yourself useful," he nodded.

"Basement?" I asked.

"Yep," he confirmed, moving to pick her up at the torso again. "You grab the legs."

The woman started to kick again, connecting with my shin and I grunted from the sharp pain it caused. I rolled my eyes and punched her hard, knocking the demon out. Bobby looked suitably impressed as I nodded with satisfaction, then locked her legs together as I took hold of them.

"Any reason this thing is still alive?" I asked.

"Yeah, I got some questions for her," Bobby replied.

We were half way down the basement steps, myself taking the lead with the lighter half when my phone started ringing. It was Dean's ringtone and that distracted me for a moment. I automatically reached to my back pocket to answer, juggling the legs of the woman with one arm - of course she chose that moment to regain consciousness and kick out again, this time sending my phone flying across the basement floor.

Bobby grunted, struggling to hold her and chastised me. "Beth! Get your head in the game here!"

"Sorry!" I replied, admonished.

"Just get this thing tied up, then you can call lover boy back." The fact that he'd picked up on the caller being Dean and that was why I'd lost concentration was almost as bad as the time he'd caught us making out in the pantry when we first got together.

Together we got the demon across the other side of the basement to a devil's trap that Bobby had drawn earlier. There was a chair in the middle, and we securely tied both wrists and ankles to her arms and legs so that the demon was held in place. If she happened to break free of the restraints, which would be hard enough, she'd never get past the devil's trap.

I stepped back, admiring our handiwork, and thought about why Bobby would have kidnapped a crossroads demon. There was only one good answer:

Crowley.

It had been over a year since Bobby sold his soul to Crowley to get us the location of Death when we'd been hunting him for his ring. It had only meant to be a temporary arrangement, but Crowley being a conniving demon, had skipped over the fine print where he only had to make best efforts to return Bobby's soul to him. In other words, he was fully intending all along to hold on to Bobby's soul and that meant we had ten years to figure out how to get him out of this deal.

Bobby had known about this development almost as soon as the Apocalypse was averted, but he'd kept it from Dean and I at first so that we'd go and live a normal life - not worrying about him. The truth had come out when Sam came back into our lives, after the djinn hunt, when we'd gone back to South Dakota to collect Lisa, Ben and Sophia. He'd assured us that we had time and not to stress, but Bobby hadn't stopped all this time looking.

"Comfy?" I asked the demon and her eyes flashed red at me with a dark, angry stare. She was dressed in the same skimpy little black dress that most crossroads demons seemed to enjoy wearing to entice the male buyers, her long brown hair hung down around her shoulders, and she had plump lips which smirked in my direction, scowling when I didn't move any closer.

My phone started ringing again and I hurried to answer it, skipping back up the stairs to the library and outside, speaking as I moved to the car to get Sophia out before it got too hot.

"Hey you," I smiled, tucking the phone under my chin while I lifted the sleeping baby out of her car seat and settled her on my shoulder. I walked back toward the house as Dean's voice replied.

"Hey yourself, everything okay?"

"Yeah, of course, why do you ask?"

"You just took a while to answer, that's all," Dean replied and I raised my eyebrow - he'd only rang twice.

"I was in the shower," I lied, knowing it would distract him from wondering what I was really up to. I moved inside the house and into the living room, lying Sophia on the couch and then taking a seat next to her.

"Really? Now that's an image I like…are you wearing anything right now?" Dean asked, and I could hear Sam in the background groaning out loud.

"Really Dean?" He complained, and that made me laugh.

"You are incorrigible," I accused Dean, which earned me a chuckle.

"You know it," he said.

"But, I'm thinking that's not why you called?" I deduced, given that he was standing right next to Sam. It wasn't like Dean didn't call to talk dirty when he was away and the mood struck, but he tended not to do it with his brother in the room.

"Huh? Oh… no, sadly. But maybe later?" He replied, his voice hopeful.

"It's a date," I smiled, "when are you coming home?" He didn't know that I knew where he was and that it wouldn't be a tonight kind of answer.

"Uhhhh, soon, I hope," Dean replied.

"Well, you know, take your time," I said nonchalantly.

"Take my time? Why? Are you sure there's nothing wrong?" Dean was instantly suspicious. I never told him to take his time coming home.

"Nothing is wrong! I just meant… I'm uh, not going anywhere," I said, trying to save myself.

"Oh. Right. Well … I'll be a few more days I'm thinking," he answered.

"That works," I nodded, thinking both that it gave me a few days to help Bobby with whatever he had planned in the basement, as well as think about what to do for my birthday celebrations with him this year.

"Okay…" Dean still sounded suspicious at my response.

"So, why were you calling? Are you okay?" I asked, deflecting the attention away from me.

"Yeah, we're fine. We're in Wisconsin," he replied.

"My most favourite place."

Dean laughed at the sarcasm in my voice, everyone knew how much I disliked Wisconsin.

"Yeah well, your lack of love for the place is warranted this time. Six bodies, chests cracked wide open. No EMF, no sulfur, no hex bags," Dean said. "We did find this though - hold on."

He fell silent and I waited for a moment before he came back on the line. "Alright, check your messages," he replied and I shrugged, seeing that he'd sent a photo of a claw that I'd never seen before - it was curved, almost like a bear claw but it was pitch black with some ridges down the straighter side. I put the phone back to my ear and sighed.

"Well that's new," I said.

"Yeah. We need an ID ASAP," Dean said. "This thing is on a rampage. Call us as soon as you dig something up."

"Um, okay, but Dean… I'm a little busy."

"Doing what?" Dean asked.

"Uhhh, I'm just about to get Sophia up from her nap, and take her for a walk," I responded.

"Oh. Oh right," Dean said, a little taken aback. "Well that's okay, I'll just call Bobby, don't worry."

"No! No don't bother Bobby, it's okay. I'll take a look. We can take a walk later," I said.

"You sure?"

"Yep, I'm on it. I'll call you back," I replied, hanging up before he could say anything further.

I got to my feet, intending to go upstairs and get the portacot that Cole had used years ago for JJ. When I turned I noticed for the first time that Bobby was watching me from the hallway near the basement door, an amused eyebrow cocked at my conversation.

"Why on earth are you lyin' to that pretty boy of yours?"

"He doesn't know I'm here," I said, grimacing.

"Why the flamin' hell not?"

"He worries too much. If I told him I had just taken off for two days driving around aimlessly and ending up here, he'd want to come check on me - but, I'm fine, clearly. No need to worry him," I replied.

"If you say so," he muttered.

"Dean and Sam need us to identify this…" I said, showing him the photo Dean had sent.

Bobby frowned at the image and shook his head. "Well that's new."

"That's what I said," I agreed. "Any thoughts?"

Bobby glanced back at the basement door.

"They said it was urgent," I added. "Six bodies and counting."

He sighed and nodded, closing the basement door.

"You get the coffee, I'll get the books," he replied. "And for God's sake if one of those phones ring, you can have a turn at answering them! They've been non-stop for days." He pointed at the collection of phones hanging on the wall with all manner of names scrawled on tape to the receivers - FBI, Federal Marshalls, CDC, Police, Health Department.

As if to prove his point, the CDC phone started to ring and I hurried over to pick up the receiver.

"Yeah?" I asked. I'd watched Bobby play this role on and off for years, I'd always wanted to give it a try.

"Uhh, Assistant Director Tony Shaw?" Someone asked.

"Speaking," I replied.

"My name is Doctor Peter Ballard at Mt Sinai Hospital, I'm just calling about two of your field agents - Wallace and Jones?"

"What about them?" I asked. I had no idea who these hunters were, but that didn't matter.

"They're telling me we have to seal off the entire third floor?"

"And?"

"Ummm, they want to burn the whole floor…"

"Listen, are you a containment specialist Dr Ballard?" I asked, putting that firm, no-nonsense tone into my voice that I'd heard Bobby use more times than I could count.

"No, ma'am. But…"

"Well my agents are top of their field, Doctor. The best of the best. So if they say they have to contain that floor using fire, then I suggest you get out of their way before you have a full blown epidemic on your hands. Yeah?"

"Uh, okay?"

"Now get out of my hair before I slap you with a citation for interfering with disease control," I snapped, and this got the man spluttering on the other end of the phone before he apologised and hung up.

Bobby was listening and gave a chuckle as I placed the receiver back on the phone.

"Handled like a pro," he said and I grinned at the praise.

"That was fun!" I declared before heading into the kitchen to start the coffee.

The next few hours were spent poring over lore books, answering phones, and when Sophia woke up I put her into the baby carrier I'd picked up a few weeks ago, strapped her to my chest and hiked down to the river hidden behind the willow trees at the back of Bobby's property. I eased us down the steep embankment until we got to the pier, took her out of the carrier and placed her in my lap while I sat cross legged on the old wooden planks.

The river flowed quickly around the bend and past the pier. I reminisced with a smile, thinking about the water that fateful day when Dean and I had dared each other to jump into the water naked. It had been utterly freezing, but a good excuse to pull each other close and explore the newness of our relationship without clothing, my modesty (Dean hadn't any) somewhat protected by the water around us. It was one of the most important days of my life: the day we stopped pretending we didn't love each other.

"Your Dad should be here with us," I mused to the little girl who batted at a couple of butterflies dancing around us.

As if he read our minds my phone started to ring; it was Dean.

"Hey," I said, smiling into the phone.

"Hey sugarpie," he said, soft and gravelly all at the same time.

"I don't have anything on that claw yet," I said.

"That's okay, I wasn't calling for that," he replied. "Just missed your voice."

"Mmmm, I miss you too, we both do," I said, switching him to speaker phone and putting the phone closer to Sophia. "Say hi to Dada," I instructed her and she squealed.

"Hi Princess, how's Daddy's little girl?" Sophia didn't really reply, but she did smile and wave her arms around.

"Where are you guys?" Dean asked after a moment; I surmised he could hear the river and switched the phone off speaker and put it back to my ear.

"Just down by the river," I said. "Wish you were here."

Dean let out a heavy sigh. "Yeah, me too. A couple more days, promise."

"I know," I said, "I can't wait."

"Da!"

I looked down in surprise at the little girl in my lap.

"Did you hear that?" I asked, and Dean replied that he didn't.

"She just said 'Da'."

"Really?!" Dean asked, sounding elated. "Put me back on speaker." I smiled at the excitement in his voice and did as instructed, putting the phone in front of our daughter again.

"Hey Soph, who is it? Who's talking?" Dean asked and Sophia cooed again.

We waited for a moment but nothing more was forthcoming.

"Awww," Dean said finally. "I missed it."

"I'm sure she'll say it when you're here, and it'll be even better," I said. Dean didn't sound convinced, letting out a little sigh of disappointment.

I started to move the phone away, kissing the top of Sophia's head. "Say 'bye Daddy'."

"Da!" She blurted out again and this time Dean whooped on the other end of the phone.

"First word!" He shouted, and I could hear Sam asking a question. "I'm the first word!"

I chuckled, listening to him and Sophia laughed, this time reaching out and tugging on my hair.

"Sorry baby," Dean's voice came back on the phone and I moved it back to my ear. "I know you've been trying to get her to say Ma."

"It's okay," I laughed, shaking my head at him. "I'm glad you got to hear it."

"Now I really wish I was there," he added, and I could feel the heaviness in that statement.

"I know, me too," I replied. "We love you."

"Ditto," he said.

"Okay, let me get back to the books, I'll call you later. Be careful."

"Will do," he said. "And Beth? Don't take too long… we just had another body show up."

"Heading back now," I promised. "Break time is over."

"Thanks," he said quietly. "Talk soon."

By the time we got back to Bobby's house it was late afternoon. I climbed the steps, enjoying the last of the fading sun. As we entered the library Bobby slammed a book shut.

"Balls!" He exclaimed and I raised an eyebrow at him.

"What?"

"I'm gonna need a book from the University," he muttered, getting to his feet and rounding the desk.

"Okay, well, let's go?" I said, laying Sophia down on the kitchen table on top of a change mat and grabbing the diaper bag. "We'll be ready to go in a minute."

"Now?"

"Dean says we're on a clock, more bodies are piling up," I said.

We walked out to my car and I went to put Sophia in the car seat when Bobby looked at my rear tire and muttered under his breath.

"Well… dammit…"

"What?"

"You got a flat."

"Really?" I asked, looking at the tire and cursing under my breath. "I'll get the jack."

"Nah, let's just take my car, it'll be faster - we can sort you out when we get back," Bobby said, leading the way to a beat up Chevelle in desperate need of a paint job.

"Jesus Bobby, does this thing actually run?" I asked, seeing him glare at me.

"'Course!" He said. "Now hurry up!"

I sighed and quickly moved the baby capsule from my car into the backseat of his, amazed that there was even something to anchor it to, but managing to have it all fitted inside five minutes. I reflected ruefully that I could have had the tire changed in the same amount of time but didn't argue. Bobby held Sophia, a smile on his face as he talked to her while I got the task done. I figured it was a nice opportunity for him to have some bonding time with the baby, so not all was lost.

We were soon on the road into town, turning off from the drive and onto the black top. Bobby drove slowly, almost at a crawl as we initially started the journey and I raised an eyebrow at his lack of urgency; I soon realised he was watching a house across the road. There was a pretty blonde lady, about Bobby's age, outside pruning a couple of fruit trees near the end of her drive. She stopped to watch us drive past, smiling and waving.

Bobby smiled sheepishly and waved back and then sped up as we passed her.

"Ooooh," I teased. "Who is that?"

"Huh?" Bobby asked, playing dumb. I pointed behind us at the woman fading into the distance.

"Oh. New neighbour."

"She's pretty," I pointed out.

"Is she?"

"Like you didn't notice," I laughed. "I saw that little smile when she waved at you."

Bobby snorted, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talkin' 'bout," he claimed.

"Ha. Sure."

I didn't get much in response, Bobby just shook his head at me and continued to drive, changing the subject to the task at hand, and the research he'd been doing. We were closing in on the monster that Dean and Sam were chasing, and Bobby thought the book we were after now would have some further answers.

The Library car park was empty when we arrived and we soon learned why - the place was closed.

"Balls!" Bobby muttered, trying to open the doors but they were locked. He looked in through the windows and then glanced at me.

"I'll check around back," he said, and started to walk around the corner.

"But I…"

"Be right back!" Bobby called out, cutting me off. I sighed, watching him go and shaking my head at his impatience.

"These grumpy old men," I said to Sophia. "Always in a hurry… when we can just…" I pulled out my lock picks and worked the front door until it clicked open, "let ourselves in." I slipped the tools back in my jacket and opened the door, looking around for an alarm and finding nothing.

There was however the sound of breaking glass at the back of the building. I sighed, closing the door behind me and hurried through the stacks of books to an office tucked in the corner. I watched Bobby pull himself through a now broken window and fall to the floor with a grunt.

"Balls!" He yelled and Sophia giggled. Bobby turned to see us standing there and his mouth dropped open.

"How the hell did you get in?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Picked the lock."

"What?"

"I have skills, you're just impatient," I said, walking over to hold out a hand, which he took so I could help him up to his feet.

"Okay, so where is this book?" I asked, and he nodded toward the back of the library where there was a rare books collection.

"I got it," he said. "You keep watch."

I rolled my eyes but made my way back to the front of the library, just in case someone happened to have heard the broken window and called the police. I passed a shelf of old fairytale texts and stopped, picking out the Classic Grimm's Fairy Tales. With a smile, I settled into an overstuffed armchair by the door with Sophia in my lap.

"Oooh what do we have here?" I asked. "Ah, this is one of my favourites!" I opened the book to Hansel and Gretel. I'd just gotten to the part where the siblings pushed the witch into the furnace, when Bobby walked up, listening in.

"You can't read that to her!" He said with a frown.

"Why not? She can't understand what I'm saying - it's all about the tone," I said in a sing-song lilting tone.

"You're going to traumatise the kid," Bobby claimed.

"I am not," I snorted, "my Dad read this stuff to me as a kid, look how I turned out!"

Bobby rolled his eyes in response and I gaped.

"What?" I asked defensively. "I'm fine! We're fine, aren't we sweet girl?" Sophia giggled at the question and look of disapproval from Bobby. I looked at the book Bobby was holding and nodded.

"You find what you're looking for?" He nodded.

"Okay then," I said. "Let's get going!" I stood up with Sophia in my arms, keeping the fairy tales book with me. I had decided to take it with me and read it later.

We let ourselves out of the library, locking the front door behind us. We were settled into the car when Bobby turned the key over to the sound of a spluttering engine.

"Come on… come on!" Bobby muttered as he tried again, but I sighed, knowing from the sounds that it was more than a flat battery .

"Balls!" Bobby said softly, looking at me.

"Told you we should have changed the tire," I said with a grin, getting out. "Pop the hood, let's take a look at her."

It was late by the time we got home, Sophia was fast asleep. I'd had to break back into the library again at one point to make her formula up in the small kitchen in the back of the building. She was so well-behaved, given that a quick trip had fast turned into hours, while Bobby worked on the car and eventually had to hike to a nearby gas station for a new timing belt.

I had Sophia snoozing in the car seat by the time he got back and was ready to replace the faulty part, my stomach rumbled from the lack of food I'd had all day long - we'd been gone five hours at this point and it was almost 12.30am. I waved Bobby toward the drive thru of an all night burger joint, ordering some dinner before we turned back toward the car yard.

It was almost 1am when we arrived home, and I carried Sophia inside, placing her in the porta cot I'd set up in the living room by the couch. I lay down next to her after chowing down on a burger and fries, and told myself I'd just take a short nap.

It was two hours later when I woke up, looking at my phone in dismay. I hadn't meant to leave Bobby to do all the research on his own. I sat up, feeling a little groggy, and frowned at the man who was sleeping at his desk, his head propped up in his hand.

"Bobby?" I whispered, moving over the the desk. "Bobby?"

"Huh?!" Bobby started awake and looked at me.

"Maybe you should get some sleep?" I asked, taking a seat opposite him. "I can take over from here."

"Nah, you need your sleep for the little one," he protested.

"I'm fine," I insisted. "I've had a nap."

"I'll be alright with a fresh pot of coffee," he said and I smiled, rolling my eyes. I got up to make the coffee without arguing. I knew better than to fight over something I wasn't going to win. Bobby downed a couple of caffeine pills with the coffee and we both got into the books while the baby slept soundly. I smiled, reminiscing about all the times when we'd been younger and in this room making salt rounds, or silver bullets, or just poring over books like we were now.

It was 5am by the time we were happy with the result we'd come up with.

Sophia woke up with a cry and I moved to pick her up, taking her into the kitchen to change her, and then feed her a bottle while Bobby called Dean.

"You're hunting a Lamia," Bobby said when Dean answered, putting him on speaker so I could listen from the couch.

"Bobby?" Dean asked. "Why are you calling?" I shook my head and motioned with my free hand for him to not tell Dean where I was. Bobby rolled his eyes at me.

"Uhhh, Beth had me take a look at a few books for her," he replied.

"Huh. Okay," Dean said, accepting this reason without question. "So a Lamia?"

"It's a monster," Bobby continued. "Juices hearts, chugs the blood. Never heard of one popping up outside of Greece though."

"Yeah, well, looks like this freak is immigrating. It's snacking on cheese heads," Dean said which made me chuckle.

"How do we gank it?" Dean asked, sounding like he was chewing down on food

"There's a couple of ways. Easiest is a silver knife blessed by a padre," Bobby replied.

"Gotcha."

The man on the other end hung up and Bobby looked at the phone still in his hand.

"You're welcome," he muttered at the now dead line.

"Did he just hang up on you?" I asked.

"Yeah," Bobby said, putting the phone on the desk. "And?"

"That's rude," I pointed out.

"Well I hate to break it to you Beth, but those two idjits don't have the best manners when it comes to huntin'," he said with a broad yawn as I burped Sophia and settled her back into her porta cot. She would sleep for a few more hours now, and I fully intended to do the same.

"I've never noticed them talk to you like that," I said, and I didn't like it. I'd always thanked Bobby for the things he did for us. There was a lot of behind the scenes help that Bobby gave, often taken for granted by the boys - things like playing the role of our various supervisors. We weren't the only ones taking advantage of that unpaid service either.

"Well you're noticing now," Bobby pointed out.

"Hmmm," I nodded, then noticed how tired Bobby looked. "You should get some sleep, you've been at it all night."

"Hey!" A woman's voice floated up to us from the basement. "I'm still here!"

I shared a look with Bobby that told me he wasn't going to be going to bed anytime soon. I nodded, and suppressed a yawn.

"Let me get the salt," I commented, moving to the kitchen and rummaging in the pantry, coming back with a canister from the bottom shelf. I drew a circle with it around the portacot and felt a bit better. "Okay, let's go."

Bobby looked like he was going to argue, but changed his mind at the last moment, shrugging and leading the way down to the basement.

"Hey there, Cranky. You were gone so long, I just assumed alcoholic coma," the woman said, her eyes flashing red.

Bobby snorted and looked at me. "Where were we?"

"Your soul," I pointed out and he nodded.

"Right," Bobby said, turning to the woman. "Talk."

"Look at you, all in a rush," she snickered. "Foreplay…gets you more play," she added, uncrossing her legs and then re-crossing them as she spoke, like she was Sharon Stone in Basic Instinct. Only difference was our interview wasn't going to end well for her.

"I want Crowley's name," Bobby said and she smiled impertinently at him.

"His real name, back when he was flesh and blood."

The demon's eyes bled from red to their natural brown colour and she pouted. "Does tying up demons in your basement make you feel better about that time that you killed your wife?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

I scowled and picked up the bag Bobby had shown me earlier in the day when we'd been talking about his plan with this demon. I held it up for her and she looked at me in confusion.

"What's that?"

"You don't recognise them?" I asked, unzipping the bag and showing her a set of dirty bones inside - they were human. "They're yours."

I turned and placed the bag in a large metal tub that Bobby had in the corner of the room and Bobby lit a flame thrower, standing over them. The demon stuck her chin defiantly in the air and sniffed.

"It won't work," she said. "It's a myth."

Bobby stared at the pilot flame flickering at the end of the flame thrower. He looked over at her after she spoke. "Then you got nothing to worry about," he replied, pointing the flames over the tub. The demon screamed as the fire came into contact with her bones. Bobby left it a few more seconds to make sure his point was heard, then pulled back.

The demon's skin was red and blistered at her neck.

"I can't," she said, gasping for breath.

Bobby didn't even hesitate, making the flames higher this time and pointing them into the metal tub; now that the bag had burned away, the fire hit bones directly. The demon screamed as her flesh started to bubble and cook.

"You don't know what he'll do to me!"

"Right now I'd be more worried about him," I said, watching as Bobby alternated between burning her and not.

"You don't get it. He's the King," she gasped, Bobby turned the flames back to the bones and she whimpered.

"King of the Crossroads. I've heard the speech," Bobby replied, not caring.

The demon groaned with pain. "No," she said. "King of Hell."

"What?" I asked, as surprised by the admission as Bobby was.

Upstairs the doorbell rang and Bobby glanced up the stairs, blowing out the pilot of the flame thrower.

"Who is that?" I asked, thinking about Sophia in the library.

"Well I don't know. I'm not expecting anyone," he said.

The doorbell rang again.

"You gonna get that or what?" The woman said and I exchanged a look with Bobby that said we needed to deal with our unexpected visitor before getting back to torturing the demon in the basement.

I ran up the stairs to get the door, Bobby wasn't far behind me but he moved at a much slower pace. I looked through the peephole and recognised the woman from earlier, Bobby's new neighbour, standing on the front porch and arranging her hair while balancing something in her hands.

Oh this is an interesting development, I thought to myself.

With a grin I threw open the door and the woman looked surprised to see me standing there. She was dressed nicely in a pretty floral shirt, unbuttoned at the top to show just a peep of cleavage, her long blonde hair tied half up, half down and cascading around her shoulders - she'd topped off the ensemble with some mascara and eye shadow. She was definitely not here just to borrow a cup of sugar, I surmised.

"Hi!" I said with a friendly smile.

The woman's mouth fell open, but she recovered quickly and nodded, smiling pleasantly at me. "Uh, hi, I'm Marcy," she said, looking at me curiously.

"Beth," I said, offering her a smile.

"Are you Bobby's… daughter?" She asked, hesitating over the relationship part. I smiled.

"Something like that," I said, "just visiting for the weekend."

"How nice. Is uh, is Bobby home?"

"Oh he's coming, hang on a minute," I replied, turning to see Bobby exit the basement door into the hallway. He reached us, giving me a stern look, which I returned with a smile of innocence.

"Marcy," Bobby said. "Uh, hi? I see you've met Beth?"

The woman nodded, then turned her attention to the man now standing next to me and beamed.

"Bobby Singer," she said, taking a deep breath. "How long have we been neighbors?"

Bobby shrugged, looking from me to her. "Six months?" He guessed.

"Well, don't you think it's time you welcomed me to the neighborhood?" She asked, holding out a glass pie dish which was covered in a tea towel. Bobby took the dish in his hands and uncovered it to reveal a pie.

"My famous ginger peach cobbler," Marcy announced, looking from me to him. "Take a whiff. Seriously, I'm a genius."

Bobby glanced sideways at me, and I grinned at him and inclined my head. I was eating up this side of him that I'd never seen, and couldn't wait to tell Dean about it. Bobby rolled his eyes at me and sniffed the pie appreciatively, then smiled at the woman. Marcy smiled back at him.

"Help me! Somebody help me!" The demon's voice echoed up from the basement, and Marcy looked past us into the house, curiosity on her face. Bobby froze for a moment, but only a pro would have seen it, before he launched into an explanation.

"It's, uh, stupid horror flicks," he said with a shrug and I nodded next to him.

"Guilty pleasure," I added.

Marcy smiled at us. "I love scary movies," she said. "Hey, have you see Drag Me To Hell?"

Bobby looked at me and I saw his eyes widen slightly.

"Uh, trying to avoid it," he said, turning back to the woman.

"But it's fantastic," she pressed. She took a deep breath and nodded. "Saturday, seven o'clock, my house. I'll fix you dinner, whip up a batch of my famous white-chocolate popcorn, and we'll watch it. Deal?"

I grinned, nodding appreciatively at the woman - I liked her, she knew what she wanted and wasn't afraid to go after it.

"That uh, that sounds super Marcy, but uh…" his voice trailed off and Marcy, looking to save face, nodded as she tried to quickly regroup.

"Oh! Sorry Beth! I don't want to take Bobby away from his family when they're visiting," she said, smiling apologetically.

"No that's -"

"Okay, no worries," she cut in. "Um, hey, one other thing. Uh, my wood chipper – it's a piece of crap, you know. It just broke down on me and – and I hear that you're quite handy. Maybe you could come over and take a look. You know, just whenever…"

Bobby nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I'll see what I can do."

"Absolutely he will, I'll make sure he pops over soon okay?" I cut in, smiling brightly at her.

Marcy smiled in return, seemingly pleased with that answer. "Okay."

The two of them smiled at each other, awkwardly trying to figure out a way to say goodbye, finally settling on a stiff handshake, Marcy holding Bobby's hand a little longer than was needed. I could see clearly that she was smitten with our dear old surrogate Dad.

"Well, okay…" Marcy said as she released his hand. "I'll see you soon." She gave a little wave goodbye, starting to walk back down the porch steps. We watched her go, she glanced back a few times, as did Bobby when stepped back into the house, starting to close the door in front of me.

"I told you she likes you," I said triumphantly.

"Balls!" He denied.

"Why are men so dense?" I asked. "That woman isn't out making peach cobbler for the whole neighbourhood. Hell, I don't even make peach cobbler for Dean."

"Oh shut up," he said. "Why did you rush up here anyway? Shouldn't you have been down there keeping the damn demon quiet?"

"And miss this?!" I asked. "Not on your life."

Bobby scowled at me and walked back through the library and into the adjoining kitchen. I was starting to feel hungry just looking at the pie. I checked on Sophia, she was still sound asleep, so I decided to make a coffee to bring down to the demon interrogation.

Five minutes later we were back to it, me leaning casually against the door to the panic room and sipping my coffee, while Bobby trudged back down the stairs to pick up the flame thrower again.

"Aww. She sounded nice," the demon said as Bobby joined us. "Are you going to make sweet love to her before you stab her to death, Bobby? That is your usual thing, right?"

The man ignored her, relighting the flame thrower. I placed my mug on one of the basement stairs and pulled out the demon knife we'd originally gotten from Ruby, which had once been my Father's, and checked the edge.

"You know, I really, really don't like your lot," I said to the demon as I approached her.

"Likewise," she spat at me.

"You were telling us about Crowley's name?" I asked, feigning the niceness.

"Bite me!" The woman snapped. "I'm going to tear you to pieces and then eat your baby!"

I took the knife and sliced along her arm, the blade burning as it opened a long red welt in her skin to match the burns at her neck. "I don't think so," I whispered to her, setting steely eyes upon her.

Bobby, a little more impatient than me, set fire to the bones in the metal tub again, and the demon threw her head back, screaming once more from the pain.

"I want Crowley's name now!" He yelled. The demon's skin started to blister and burn, starting around her neck but the longer he held the flames the further it spread, starting to creep over her chest.

"Crowley's name!" I demanded.

She cried out again, in agony, and then whimpered, nodding.

"Okay!" Bobby stopped the flames and she gasped for breath.

"Okay! MacLeod."

I glanced back at Bobby who took a few steps toward her.

"Fergus MacLeod. I swear. We call him Lucky the Leprechaun behind his back," the demon said.

"MacLeod's Scottish, Einstein," Bobby said.

"You got what you want, now send me back," she said. I smirked, turning around to grab the can of lighter fluid from the bench at the back of the basement, soaking the bones in the tub with it.

"No!" The demon cried out, watching me. "We had a deal!"

Bobby shrugged, turning back to the tub.

"Gave it my best effort," he said, quoting the same fine print in the crossroads agreement that had got us into this predicament with his soul.

"No!" She muttered. The realisation of what he was saying hit the demon the same time as Bobby torched the bones again, this time not stopping, even with her screams. I watched as the demon went up in flames, and as the bones started to char and burn so did the body before me until there was nothing left but a charred body. The demon was well and truly dead.

"Huh," I said when it was all over with. "Well that's one myth we just proved to be fact. We should go on Mythbusters!"

Bobby grinned and I felt myself getting excited at the prospect of the hunt to come.

Several hours later

We had a map of Scotland on the library desk, but admittedly with a name like MacLeod we were staring at a needle in a haystack search. I was sitting at the phone bank, Sophia in a portable high chair strapped to one of the kitchen chairs as I spoon fed her stewed apple.

Bobby's personal phone rang, and he looked at the caller ID before answering it.

"Yeah, Garth, what do you got?" He asked, listening to the hunter while he explained the situation. "Never heard of a vamp doin' that. It doesn't sound like our kind of thing. Better drop a dime to the FBI." He hung up and then the phone next to me, marked FBI - Willis started to ring.

I answered it. "Willis." I recognised the voice instantly on the other end.

"Oh hey Garth. Yeah, I'm just giving the old man a break," I replied. He went on to explain that Bobby had told him to ring the FBI, and so that's what he was doing. I sighed, running a hand across my face and rolling my eyes at Bobby, who was sitting at the desk listening curiously.

"No, Garth, not us, the FBI. The real FBI!" I hung up and shook my head. "How is he still alive?"

Bobby sighed and shook his head. "Beats the Hell out of me," he muttered. "That boy must have nine lives."

Beside me the CDC phone rang and I picked it up.

"Yeah, Shaw," I said, tucking the receiver under my chin as I continued to feed Sophia.

"Tony Shaw?" The caller asked dubiously.

"That's right," I replied. "Doctor Tony Shaw."

"Tony?"

I sighed loudly into the phone. "Yeah, Tony," I said sternly. "Short for Antonia. What do you want?"

The man went on to impart an implausible scenario that no one in their right mind would ever go for, but which was everyday life for a hunter trying to get to the bottom of a kill, and I waited for him to get to the end of his tirade.

"Uh huh," I said as he drew breath for a moment. "Yep. Well that sounds right to me."

He argued with me some more and I blew him off. "Well they're the experts, I say you do what they recommend or you all are going to live to regret it. Or… not. You know what I'm saying?"

I hung up and shrugged at Bobby. "Doctors sure do like to argue a lot."

The phone rang again, this time the Federal Marshall phone, I didn't mind those calls, they were a lot less about challenging my authority and more about just wanting to place the blame on someone else if things went wrong.

"Uh huh. Of course she's one of ours. And if she says she's gotta dig that grave up, you better damn well let her," I said, hanging up again.

I'd just put Sophia down for her afternoon nap when the Police phone rang.

"Yeah?" I asked, rolling my eyes at Bobby who had poured himself a whiskey and was watching with amusement. "Yeah he's one of mine," I said, almost laughing at the reply I got. "What do you mean Peter isn't a girl's name?"

I sat back and frowned, putting the displeasure into my voice.

"Well you just take that up with my hippy parents why don't ya? And while I'm at it, why don't I write you up for disrespecting a female superior officer?" The man on the other end quickly back tracked.

"That's what I thought. Now get back to my men and you go along with whatever they say, or that'll be my foot up your ass," I barked, hanging up.

Bobby was holding back a raucous laugh, shaking his head at me.

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms. "You know you really need to pick some more unisex names if I'm gonna be helping out here in future," I added, shaking my head and getting up to pour myself a coffee. I stirred in milk and sugar, and started to take a sip when the damn FBI phone rang.

"Jesus, how do you get anything done around here?" I asked Bobby, who snorted and raised an eyebrow at me.

I picked up the phone and sighed. "Willis."

"Beth?" Sam asked on the other end, I cringed and looked at the phone, then held it up to my ear again.

"Uh, yes?"

"What are you doing answering the FBI phone?"

"Uh, long story?" I replied.

"Yeah, right. Okay. Well, here you go officer - Special Agent Willis, my CO," Sam said, and then the phone was handed over to a police officer who wanted to check out the story Dean and Sam had been giving them.

"This is Willis," I said, listening to the man who was talking about how Dean and Sam had broken into a water treatment plant and been busted while trying to chase down their lead lamia suspect.

"Uh huh. Well what are my boys telling you, Sergeant? That's right. If they say they had a good reason to do that, then… they did. They have my full authority to get the job done. Don't make me come down there!"

The phone was handed back to Sam, and his voice came back on the line.

"Thanks," he said. "Does Dean know you're at Bobby's?"

"Uh, no?"

"Should he know?"

"Well, there's no point worrying him - I'm just visiting. Helping out a little - I got bored," I replied.

"Yeah, okay. Well, I gotta go," Sam went, and I was a little surprised I didn't get more of a lecture out of him. He really was out of sorts lately.

"Super," I said. "Be careful going after that lamia!"

Later On

I was sitting at the kitchen table on the laptop, drinking a coffee and randomly researching the Amulet of Hesperus when there was a loud banging at the door to my right. I looked up to see a face I hadn't seen in a long time - dark, wrinkled and angry - at the glass window.

Rufus Turner.

The last time I'd seen Rufus had been just before Dean had been pulled down into Hell. Bobby had sent us to see him when he'd turned up a lead on Bela Talbot, who had stolen the Colt from us and sold it on to the highest bidder. Rufus had been less than sensitive to our predicament, telling me at the time to suck it up and get used to the idea of losing Dean to the Hellhounds.

I'd been less than impressed, with him, because of it.

Bobby beat me to the door, opening it to the relieved look of the older hunter.

"Oh good, you're home!" He said breathlessly, as if he'd been running a marathon. "Listen. You gotta help me bury a body!"

Sophia had startled at the ruckus, and was starting to make noises from where she'd been sitting on the floor in the library, ten feet away from me, playing with a toy steering wheel that Dean had bought her recently. I recognised the sounds she was making as pre-crying, and stood up to collect her into my arms, turning back into the kitchen as I bounced her on my hip.

"What's she doing here?" Rufus asked as he saw me, then he looked closer. "Is that a baby?!"

Bobby rolled his eyes. "Yes, it is."

"What happened to eat dirt and die?" I asked, recalling a previous call a few years back when Rufus had called Bobby for help. They'd been feuding, though I never found out why.

Bobby shrugged and looked sheepishly at me. "Got over it?"

I snickered and shook my head at them, well aware of their on-again-off-again friendship. I turned to Rufus who was standing there with a scowl on his face.

"Well?!" He asked impatiently. "You gonna help me or not?"

"Where's the body?" I questioned, he smiled.

In moments we were outside in the sunshine, walking toward a truck that Rufus had driven into the yard and parked out of sight. I put Sophia in her stroller, strapped her in and handed her the toy she'd been playing with.

"Why'd you bring it here?" Bobby asked as we moved.

"The law is on my tail!" Rufus said. "What was your guess?"

Bobby stopped to look incredulously at Rufus who scowled. "What, what, what? They got lucky."

"Yeah, or you're getting slow," Bobby retorted.

"Yeah, I'm getting slow – says mister sits on his ass all day taking calls," Rufus scoffed, and I shook my head at the grumpy old men, it was worse than a sitcom.

We reached Rufus' truck and he lowered the tailgate, pulling back a tarp and revealing a young Asian woman, dead. There was nothing telling about her current appearance to indicate what kind of monster she was.

"Vamp, shifter, what?" Bobby asked with a frown.

"None of the above," Rufus said, and he reached out to pull back on the lip of the body, revealing a mouth full of pointed teeth.

"Okami?" Bobby asked, surprise in his voice. I looked up sharply at the comment, peering over their shoulders.

"Where'd you kill it?" I asked.

"Get this: Billings," Rufus said, closing her mouth.

"The only time I ever saw one of these was in Japan," Bobby said.

"Duh. No one's ever seen one of these except in Japan," Rufus said, but he was wrong.

"I have," I said, and both men turned to look at me, stunned. "In New Mexico, new years at the turn of the millennium. Dad said it was rare - she'd been a holdover from a Japanese American migration."

"Did ya kill it?" Rufus asked, and I smirked at him.

"What do you think?" I replied, raising my eyebrow at him. Of course we'd killed it, Dean and I had gone in undercover to a nightclub where the Okami had been feeding on couples - she'd told us she liked soulmates, and I'd more than once pondered how she'd seen in Dean and I what we hadn't even seen in ourselves at that point. This was long before John had given us his blessing to be together, and we'd been fighting our attraction tooth and nail at that point.

"For what it's worth, Sam and Dean are tracking a Lamia in Wisconsin," Bobby said.

"Get out. I thought they never leave Greece," Rufus said and Bobby shook his head.

"Monsters lately. Is it me, or is it weird?" He asked.

"Yeah well, it's definitely something," Rufus pondered, looking down at the dead body again before snapping his head up, seemingly shifting focus. "So, you got a shovel?"

Bobby chuckled and nodded at me. "We got better than that."

Within minutes Bobby had gotten his excavator from the back of the yard, driving it into a clearing where he used the bucket on the machine to dig a large hole in the ground. Sophia watched from under her little sun hat and clapped her hands at the bright orange and noisy digger, while I positioned her out of the way.

"Man, I know what I want for Hanukkah," Rufus said with a grin when Bobby was done digging the deep, rectangular hole in the ground.

I moved to help him move the body, but Rufus was stubborn, and the body was small so he easily was able to carry the Okami over and drop it to the bottom of the hole, still wrapped in a dark sheet. Bobby used the bucket to push the majority of the dirt back in the hole to cover the body, and then we got to work raking the remaining dirt so that it was flat ground once again.

While we worked, Bobby filled Rufus in on the soul voiding mission he'd been working on when I'd arrived.

"So the son of a bitch's name is Fergus MacLeod?" Rufus asked.

"That's the son of a bitch's name," Bobby confirmed.

"Where are you gonna look?"

"Scotland," I replied, leaning on the rake I had in my hands,

Bobby nodded in agreement with me. "Crowley let slip that he likes Craig. It's, uh –"

"It's Scotch," Rufus interrupted, stopping what he was doing. "Only made and sold in a tiny area on the north tip of Caithness county. It's peaty and sharp, with a long finish of citrus and tobacco notes."

He went back to raking while Bobby and I stared at him. Rufus must have felt our gazes weighing heavily on him because he stopped once more and looked at us.

"Hey, what? What am I, a heathen?" Rufus asked, throwing his arms out questioningly. "I know what Craig is."

"Well, I got a hunch that that's where Crowley lived and died back when he was a human, a few hundred years before he got the big squeeze in hell and came out a demon," Bobby continued.

"You know I've got contacts over there," Rufus said, pausing raking. "I could make a few calls."

"Well, I ain't askin' for no help," Bobby replied stubbornly.

"I ain't askin' for your permission!" Rufus retorted. I watched all this from where I finished up smoothing over the dirt in front of me and shook my head.

"Good lord," I muttered under my breath and smiled at my daughter. "Grumpy Old Men."

Late Afternoon

Rufus was long gone.

Sophia was back in the portable highchair, and I'd put her in the kitchen to eat; the peach cobbler was looking more enticing by the minute as I uncovered it and held a knife over the surface.

"Hey Bobby! You want some peach cobbler?" I called out to the man in the library, and at the same time my phone started to ring. It was Dean.

I put the knife down and picked up the phone.

"Yeah?"

"What's another way to kill a lamia?!" Dean practically shouted down the phone, a whole lot of ruckus sounding in the background.

"What happened to the silver knife…blessed by a priest?"

"That didn't pan out," he replied. "What's plan B?"

The sound of breaking glass echoed over the phone and I winced at the noise.

"Dean!" Sam's voice called out.

"Is that Sam?" I asked.

"Yeah, you might wanna hurry," Dean said.

I looked up urgently and walked into the library, catching Bobby's eye.

"Plan B on the Lamia?" I asked the man and he frowned, but reached for the book we'd been going through the night before, starting to flip through the pages. I looked over his shoulder, listening as Dean entered the fray with the lamia, along with Sam. There was the sound of more crashing and then Dean's voice came back on the phone.

"Come on Beth, we're getting pummeled here…"

"POLICE!" I thought I heard the shout over the phone at first, but then I realised that someone was at Bobby's door, pounding.

"Balls!" Bobby muttered, handing me the book and pointing to a passage. I nodded as he left the room to answer the door while I read the ingredients.

"OPEN UP SINGER!" The police on the other side of the door shouted and I grimaced thinking about Rufus' earlier visit, not to mention the dead demon in the basement, but I stayed on the phone.

"Dean, okay, where are you?" I asked.

"In a church. In a rectory," he replied.

"Is there a kitchen?"

"Yeah."

"Find salt… and rosemary," I said. Dean was panting on the other end of the phone, I could also hear a bunch of cabinets banging around. I walked into the kitchen to check on Sophia who had started to cry with the banging at the front door. I rushed to the pantry, quickly finding a teething rusk for her to gnaw on while I then cut to the fridge and grabbed a bottle of milk to warm up.

"Rosemary, found it!" Dean's voice sounded triumphantly on the phone.

"Good, good…" I said, starting to heat a pot of water on the stove. I heard voices and turned around to see Bobby, Sheriff Jody Mills - who we'd met several times since helping her with a zombie rising in town - and another man in a suit sporting a FBI vibe standing behind me. My eyes opened at the sudden intrusion, and I saw Bobby moving to place a painting in front of the phone bank on the wall of the library while I smiled and waved at the visitors.

"Now blend the herbs," I said to Dean, hearing more crashing over the phone. "Saute over a high heat." I hoped he was going to understand the cryptic nature.

"She's uh, just on the phone to my Mum…" Bobby said, coming back into the kitchen.

"Cook well," I added and heard Dean grunt in reply, there was another crash, this time it sounded like Dean had dropped the phone, followed quickly by a spine shattering screech.

"Fire in the hole!" Dean yelled and I nodded.

"Okay. Great. Great," I said, pretending to be cool, calm and collected. "Enjoy the roast, Grandma."

I hung up the phone and looked sheepishly at everyone in the kitchen.

"Sorry about that," I said. "What's going on?"

The man with the FBI attitude looked at me, and then held up a sketch of Rufus to me, before showing it to Bobby.

"Have you seen this man? Rufus Turner, aka Luther Vandros, aka Ruben Studdard," he said.

"No," Bobby replied quickly. "I've never seen that dick."

"How do you know he's a dick?" FBI asked.

"Lucky guess," Bobby said sarcastically and Jody rolled her eyes from where she was standing behind the Agent.

"What about you ma'am?" He said to me, pushing the picture into my face again.

"Nu uh. I try not to associate with …people the FBI are after," I said, shaking my head.

"Funny," the Agent scoffed. "'Cause I got a couple of guys working the highway said they saw him pull in here. Carrying a body."

"Well that's ridiculous," I said, shaking my head. "You're the first people we've seen all day."

Bobby nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah, and look, it's a work day, we gotta…"

"I just want to take a look around," the Agent said, and Bobby took two steps, getting up in the guy's face with a scowl.

"You got a warrant, sonny?"

The FBI guy gave as good as he got. "Well, do I need one, sir?"

They stared off at each other and I looked at Jody, gesturing to her as if to say 'what the hell?' She shrugged and then stepped up between them, patting them both on the chest.

"Okay fellas, put the rulers away. Zip up," she said, giving them both a stern look before turning to the Agent.

"Look," she said. "Bobby here is a kind of a ….crank. And he ain't what you call a fan of big brother, but me and him…" Jody turned to look at Bobby and raised an eyebrow. "How long I been arresting you now? Ten years?"

"Thereabouts," Bobby shrugged.

"Yeah, we got a history, so... what do you say just let me scope the place out? That okay? You could just wait outside," she said, look into the FBI Agent's eyes. He contemplated for a moment, eyes flicking to me then back to Bobby before nodding shortly.

"Five minutes," he said, and he walked back out to the front porch. I watched him leaving, thinking about the new grave we'd just covered over and looked at Jody.

"Why did you send him outside?" I asked.

"'Cause I didn't think you'd want him in here," Jody said urgently, looking around.

"We don't," Bobby said. "We've got a body in the basement."

"My point," Jody nodded.

"Yeah, but we've got another body buried in the yard," he continued, and Jody's eyes widened at the disclosure.

"Damn it," she muttered, hurrying back to the front door and opening it, calling back into the kitchen. "He's not there."

"Balls!" Bobby said, storming out to join Jody.

I sighed, and turned off the burner on the stove, picking Sophia up out of the stroller and balancing her on my hip.

"Never a dull moment, huh baby girl?" I asked her as we exited the kitchen side door into the car yard, walking directly toward where we had buried the body. I saw the Agent already standing in the area, and behind him Bobby and Jody walked up, looking anxiously at the ground.

I rounded a car and prepared to make excuses for the freshly overturned dirt when I realised there was a gaping hole in the ground. Bobby saw it at the same time I did, and the Agent turned to look at him.

"Do you mind explaining this?" He asked, and I swallowed hard, looking pensively around the yard thinking I was suddenly very exposed.

"What?" Bobby asked nonchalantly. "You never had a septic tank explode on you? I got it pretty well cleaned up, but watch where you step."

The FBI Agent stopped, and checked the bottom of his shoes while I tried not to chuckle at the genius reason for the hole. Across the recently vacated grave I shared a worried look with Bobby, one that didn't get missed by Jody.

As soon as the FBI and Jody were gone we ran into the house. I put Sophia in her porta cot and handed her a toy to play with, which thankfully she was happy to accept without tears, while Bobby grabbed a bag from the basement.

He was dialing Rufus by the time he hit the library again, handing the bag off to me.

"Get back here!" Bobby said, putting the phone on speaker and laying it on the desk while I unzipped the bag and started to pull out an assortment of knives.

"Get back- I'm two states over, Bobby. I can't!"

"The Okami ain't dead," Bobby said, picking up one of the daggers and then shaking his head.

"Of course it is," Rufus scoffed.

"Did you use a bamboo dagger?" Bobby asked while I fished out a copper knife, a silver dagger with Viking runes carved into the blade, and a curved sickle looking weapon.

"Yeah," Rufus replied.

"Blessed by a Shinto priest?" Bobby checked and Rufus snorted.

"I'm not an imbecile, Bobby."

"Did you stab it seven times?" I asked, recalling the Okami that Dean and I had encountered. John had been very specific it had to be seven times, something about days of the week.

Rufus paused on the other side end of the phone and then he said, "five times."

"It's seven!" Bobby said, throwing his hands up in exasperation.

"No, I'm pretty sure it's five," Rufus denied.

"No, it's definitely seven," I said, shaking my head.

"The damn hole is empty!" Bobby added, the silence following that one sentence spoke volumes.

"What was it feeding on when you found it?" I asked.

Okami had a type. When Dean and I had hunted one about thirteen years ago, the Okami had been feeding on couples - in particular it had a preference for couples it thought were bonded. It had never occurred to me to ask how such a creature knew if people were predestined to be together or just having a really good night together, but it had chosen Dean and I when we were undercover. I had always wondered about the additional condition of soulmates it had mentioned while it was taking us to its lair.

Dean and I hadn't been dating then, that having been during the years of fighting our feelings for each other to keep a promise to John to not do anything stupid, like fall in love. Being undercover had given us a very good excuse to take our frustrations out on each other, and Dean had escalated the situation from zero to ten in no time at all.

"Single white females," Rufus said, breaking me out of my nostalgic thoughts, "while they slept."

"Huh," I said. "The one we killed was into couples… while they… errr… weren't sleeping."

Bobby snorted and looked at me with a raised eyebrow. "I bet that was one hell of an undercover job you two love birds went on," he said, speaking as if he'd just read my mind.

"Bobby!" I said, blushing but smiling at the same time.

"Forget their hunt," Rufus said, "what about this one?!"

"Well, don't look at me, I'm not single," I said, shaking my head.

Bobby's face drained of all colour and he glanced out the window toward the road. I made the connection almost instantly, the nearest single, white female we knew had been by to visit earlier. The Okami might have picked up her scent, and even if not, she lived just down the road!

Marcy.

We'd taken my car because of the baby seat. Bobby hadn't wanted to take me at all, but I was adamant that he might need the back-up. All the same, I agreed to stay in the car, unless there was an emergency.

Bobby raced up the steps to Marcy's house, and kicked the door in without knocking, entering. I grimaced and hoped that we weren't wrong about this, because if we were it was going to take some clever explaining as to why we were breaking and entering. Of course, if we were right, that was gonna take some explaining too - there really was no good outcome on this.

Minutes passed, and I watched impatiently from the front seat, Sophia securely strapped into the back of the car. I reversed down the drive a little to put some space between us and the house, and as I did Bobby came flying out the living room window in a shower of broken glass.

"Bobby!" I jumped out of the car, hesitating for a moment until I saw the Okami jump on to the window sill, looking down at the man who was groaning and still on the ground below. I made my decision, locking the car doors and then pulled out my gun and ran for them.

The Okami pounced toward Bobby, and he rolled out of the way just in time. I fired a bullet at her, hitting her in the chest, but then she lunged for Bobby again. He sidestepped, and the creature ran into a tree, causing her to stagger back a little disoriented.

"Dagger?!" I yelled, and Bobby scowled, shaking his head.

"Inside!"

I saw the wood chipper that Marcy had been talking about, it looked almost brand new - no way it wasn't working like she'd claimed earlier. I ran for the control box and hit the switch, the machine whirred to life immediately. I chuckled, grateful that I'd been right about Marcy's motivation to get Bobby over to the house.

"Over here!" I called out.

The Okami attacked Bobby again, knocking him a few steps back. I pounced on her back, pulling her off him as he tried to kick her feet out from under her but failed. The Okami was strong, she spun around and then reared back tossing me off her and into the tree she'd run into earlier. I gasped, winded and then saw her tackle Bobby to the ground.

"Bobby, no! Look out!" Marcy had come outside, dressed in a nightgown and robe, and was screaming at the sight in front of her.

I grunted, pushing myself toward the Okami who was trying to bite the man, grabbing her around the neck and pulling her back. Bobby rolled out of the way and to his feet, then grabbed her arms. Together, we shoved her toward the noise of the woodchipper, and into the machine.

She hit the blades with a sickening squelch and I grimaced, watching the creature get pulled through the machine, blood spraying Bobby and I in the face, while the rest of her flesh went shooting out the other end, right where Marcy happened to be standing, covering her from head to foot.

Bobby grimaced and turned the machine off.

"I thought your chipper was broke," he said to the gore covered woman who was standing before us in shock.

"I just said that to get you over here," she said.

"Told you," I said, nodding at Bobby.

He paused, and looked from the chipper and its bloody contents to the woman in front of us.

"Oh. Well, I guess I could come over for dinner some night. Might be fun," he said with a shrug.

Marcy's eyes widened, if that were possible, and she shook her head quickly, stuttering over her words.

"I don't think so."

Bobby sighed and looked at me with an expression that mirrored his words.

"Story of my life."

Bobby called Rufus while I fed Sophia a bottle and then got her ready to go down for the evening. I walked the library floor, baby on shoulder as I hummed - amused that Dean had gotten her used to Metallica, and now Sandman was one of her go to lullabies.

"You're still alive, huh," Rufus said when Bobby got through to him.

"Don't act so surprised," Bobby quipped.

"How about Godzilla?" Rufus asked.

"Put her down," was the reply.

"So you just happened to have a bamboo dagger blessed by a Shinto priest laying around?" Rufus asked. I smirked, because Bobby actually had one in his possession, and why wouldn't he if he'd had to use it previously. Dean and I tended to keep the weird weapons ourselves, and I knew that somewhere in the back of the Impala was the old bamboo dagger we'd used when we killed the Okami that night at the night club.

"Wood chipper," Bobby responded, as if it was the most natural weapon in the world.

"Oh, okey dokey. Wood chipper, that – that pretty much trumps everything."

Bobby nodded and poured us both a drink as I chuckled, moving to place Sophia down in her porta cot as she slumped against me, dead to the world.

"Look, listen, Bobby, thank you. I screwed up."

"Forget it," Bobby said. "I figure –I still owe you more than you owe me."

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, as if Rufus didn't know how to respond to that, I smiled and took a seat on the couch, accepting the glass of whiskey that Bobby handed to me.

"Alrighty, then add one more thing to the list. I got a lead on your boy Crowley."

I looked up in surprise, smiling as Bobby reached for a pencil and notepad.

"AKA – Fergus Roderick MacLeod. Born in Canisbay, Scotland, 1661." Rufus said.

"Great. I don't know what that's gonna get me," Bobby said.

"Alright –Well, then, behind door number 2, Bob, Crowley had a son."

"Did he now?" Bobby asked, looking very interested in this piece of information.

"Yeah, by the name of Gavin." Rufus continued. "Moved across the pond when his parents bit it. Captained a trading ship – that went down in Massachusetts in 1723. Couple of Cousteau wannabes found the wreck about 30 years ago."

"They fish out his bones?" Bobby asked. I was listening intently, wondering just what Bobby had in mind.

"No. No. They did find his signet ring though," Rufus said. "It's part of the "Treasures from the Deep" exhibit at the Maritime Museum at Andover."

Bobby looked at me. "I need that ring."

"Oooh. Oooh Are you, um – you askin' for my help, Bob?" Rufus said teasingly. I could almost picture the man's cheeky smile and mischievous eyes, dark and amused at this turn of events which he'd practically orchestrated himself. Bobby scowled and looked at the phone like he was going to strangle it, and that made me snort in amusement.

"Bobby?"

"I'm asking for a ring. And – I'd appreciate your…help… getting it." Bobby made a face like he was having a tooth pulled. I could relate: the time Dean and I had gone to Rufus looking for answers it had been equally as painful.

Rufus chuckled on the other end of the phone. "I'm way ahead of you brother. I'm headed for Andover now. I should be there about midnight. Call you when I've got it."

He hung up and Bobby let out a long breath. I smiled, and raised my drink at him.

"You're thinking hostage exchange, aren't you?" I asked. "You get the ring, you can summon Junior's ghost. If you get the ghost you can swap Crowley, his son for your soul?"

"Something like that," Bobby nodded. "Though I'm hoping to get more information out of the boy than just a bargaining chip."

"Like?"

"Like how Crowley came to be a demon in the first place, maybe where he's planted too..."

The experiment with the crossroads demon was now coming a little clearer, I liked it, and I nodded.

"Not a bad plan, let's hope it works."

My stomach rumbled, and I remembered the pie in the kitchen.

"Hey, you want some of that peach cobbler?" I asked.

Bobby stopped writing a couple of notes, and then he looked at me over the books piled on his desk, a contemplative look on his face.

"What?" I asked, sitting a little straighter on the couch, preparing to get up.

"You wanna tell me why you're really here?"

I frowned at him, and took a sip of the whiskey he'd handed me, trying to act nonchalant.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, you turn up unannounced, baby in tow; you haven't told Dean where you are, and don't seem to have any intention of doing so; and you're angry… if the way you're talking to these cops and so on on the phones is any indication," he said, gesturing to the phone bank on the wall.

"Bobby, you talk to people like that all day long!" I protested.

"Yeah, me. That ain't you baby girl," he said. "The only time you get this angry is when you're scared."

I sighed and looked down at the glass in my hands, the truth of what he was saying settling heavily on my chest. I didn't even know where to start. The last few weeks had been hard.

"I dunno what to say, Bobby," I said, sucking in a deep breath.

"How about you start with why you're not telling Dean about this little road trip of yours?"

I shook my head, and felt the prick of tears building in my eyes, blinking them back as I continued to stare at the my drink still in the glass.

"Tell him what?" I asked eventually, looking up at Bobby. "That I'm… I'm not happy at Battle Creek?" Bobby's eyes widened, but he stayed mercifully silent. "That I'm miserable without him? That I spend my time counting the days until he'll be home and we're together again?"

I took another deep breath.

"I'm here… I'm here because I'm not coping, Bobby. The routine of just, normal day in and day out stuff, it's driving me insane. I spend all day staring at the phone, waiting for him to call me so I know he's still alive and breathing. I don't sleep, I barely eat… all my effort goes into Sophia - as it should - but I'm bleeding out, I'm a shell of who I used to be."

Bobby watched me, his eyes soft and non-judgmental, and he nodded at my confession.

"That's all normal, Beth," he said. "Having a baby, a newborn, is hard work. It is routine."

"I know," I whispered, wiping the tears from my eyes. "I know that, and I love her, but…"

"You miss Dean," Bobby said.

"I feel like I'm missing an arm, or a leg, I … or a lung. I can't breathe. Bobby, I've been having panic attacks for the first time since… well…" I trailed off, shaking my head.

"Since before he went to Hell?" Bobby guessed.

I nodded, biting down on my lip.

"You need to tell him."

"Tell him what?" I asked with a short laugh. "That I'm a dysfunctional, co-dependent housewife that can't be normal without him?"

"There ain't nothing normal about our lives, it's not anything he doesn't already know," Bobby reasoned.

"How can I do that to him?"

"Do what?" Bobby asked.

"If I tell him that, I'm essentially asking him to stop hunting with Sam. To stay with me, all the time. He'd be just as miserable as I am. I can't."

"Beth, that boy lives and breathes for you," Bobby said, leaning forward on the desk. "This isn't a burden you have to carry alone."

"But I am alone," I cut in.

"You're not," he argued. "But you will be, if you don't start letting him in on these thoughts."

I sighed, looking around the room we were in, the dusty old books piled on every available surface, the fireplace unlit and still housing ash from the last Winter, this place looked like someone hadn't lived here for years. I thought about that, and what Bobby was telling me.

"Bobby," I said. "Why didn't you want to have dinner with Marcy?"

He frowned and looked at me. "Don't make this about me, girl."

"I'm not," I replied. "I just… she seems nice? This life, you said it yourself, it's solitary - I know what happened to your wife was horrible. But it was like… twenty-five years ago. Have you ever thought about meeting someone else?"

"You trying to tell me that if Dean hadn't come back, you'd start dating again?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at me.

I sucked in a breath, shaking my head. "No. But then, you don't seem to be nearly as dysfunctional as we are," I replied.

Bobby laughed, standing up to pat me on the shoulder.

"Oh I'm not," he said as he passed by me to the toward the kitchen. "You pair of idjits take the cake on that front."

"Then what?" I asked, turning to look at him.

"I uh…" Bobby sighed, looking down at his hands. "I wouldn't know where to start," he admitted, after a moment. "What on earth does a classy woman like Marcy see in a… a broken down old man like me?"

"Oh Bobby," I said, standing up to face him. "You're not that old." I stepped over and placed a kiss on his cheek, smiling as I patted him on the shoulder. "And we're all broken."

Bobby snorted.

"I'll tell you what," he said, looking me straight in the eye. "You tell that pretty boy of yours what's going on in your head, and let him try to come up with a solution - with you. And I'll try to repair things with Marcy, after the disaster of tonight's adventures, and ask her out to dinner and a movie. Deal?"

I felt my breath catch, and glanced around the room again. His side of the deal seemed a damn sight harder, now, than what he was challenging me to do.

"Okay," I agreed with a nod.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah," I said, feeling my resolve settle a bit. "How hard can it be?"

"As hard as you wanna make it, I suspect," he replied as he wandered toward the kitchen. "In the meantime, we have pie."

We didn't get to the pie.

As soon as Bobby opened the fridge to get the cobbler his phone started ringing. He glanced at it, then threw me a confused look, picking it up.

"Dean. You alright?"

I looked up in curiosity, I hadn't expected him to be calling anyone else at this late hour, and was a little surprised that he hadn't called me yet; it had me instantly worried.

Bobby nodded at my questioning expression, as if to say Dean was okay, and then spoke.

"I sense a 'but' coming on."

He didn't automatically switch to speaker which told me that it wasn't the first time Dean had called to talk privately.

Whatever Dean said, Bobby rolled his eyes and looked at the ceiling, letting out a sigh. I smirked and sank on to the couch, curious, but not trying to be too prying. Bobby didn't have much to say, he was listening intently to Dean on the other end. I started to flip through my phone, typing a text response to Jefferson who was touching base.

"Dean," Bobby said after a moment. "Dean. I got another call."

A heartbeat as Bobby looked at the caller ID and then sighed. "Just hang on. I gotta take this. It's important."

That caught my attention more than anything, and I sat up straighter to see Bobby put Dean on hold and then switch the phone to speaker. In the background I could hear sirens, and the sound of a car moving very fast.

"Rufus?" Bobby asked. I frowned, moving closer to the phone and perching on the side of the desk.

"The good news is I snagged the ring, Bobby. However -"

"Tell me that ain't…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" Rufus cut off whatever Bobby was about to say. "Three guesses and one of them - it ain't the paramedics."

I exchanged a helpless look with Bobby, feeling anxious at the sounds of the sirens which seemed to be getting louder.

"Listen, Bobby. Bobby, I gotta stash this ring," Rufus said.

"Well, don't swallow it," Bobby replied.

"Right!" Rufus replied. "I'm swallowing it, Bobby!"

"No, no…don't-" I said.

"Don't swallow it!" Bobby snapped.

There was silence and then we could hear the sound of Rufus swallowing something, followed with water and Bobby groaned.

"Damn it!"

"Oh, Hell," Rufus muttered.

"Hands where I can see them!" Someone shouted and we heard it echo over the phone.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Rufus said. "That is unnecessary force! I know my rights!"

Bobby sighed and hung up the phone and then clicked the phone back to Dean.

"Still there, Dean?"

"Bobby, what the Hell?!" Dean snapped and I cringed, moving away from Bobby and throwing him an apologetic look.

I was already thinking ahead to what happened next. I called Jefferson as I moved to the computer, seating myself in front of it.

"Hey," I said, when he answered. "I'm gonna need a favour."

"Anything, what's going on?"

"I need flights from Sioux Falls to Andover, with a layover in Battle Creek, pronto," I said. "And, maybe you'd like to join me, partner?"

"Oh this sounds like fun," Jefferson replied, "leave it with me." He hung up.

Dean was ranting on the other phone, and when I heard my name mentioned, I looked up. Bobby was staring at the phone, frowning at Dean's tone, and I noticed he hadn't turned off speaker phone either, so he wanted me to hear when was being said.

"You know, you are the one person that I can talk to about this stuff, about Sam, and leaving Beth behind in Michigan – I mean I don't –I don't even know which way is up right now," Dean was saying. "Bobby?"

"I – I hear you, son. I – it just ain't a good time," Bobby said, his thoughts clearly on Rufus and what was happening right now.

"Yeah, okay. You know what – Forget it. I mean I'm baring my soul like a freaking girl here and, uh – And you've got stuff to do. So that is – that's fine. That's fine but, seriously, a little selfish."

I opened my mouth to call him out on speaking so rudely to Bobby, but the latter held up his hand to warn me off.

"It's not all about you," Dean continued in his rant.

Bobby leaned forward, looking intently at the phone. "Where's your brother?"

Dean stopped talking and I could almost hear his confusion, but he recovered and said "Outside."

"Get him."

I smirked, the look on Bobby's face right now was not one of fatherly love; he was angry, and I couldn't disagree with his reasoning. While Dean was collecting Sam, Bobby moved over to the cabinet and refreshed his drink.

"You're on speaker, Bobby." Dean said.

Bobby took a deep breath and shook his head.

"Dean. Sam. I love you like my own. I do. But sometimes – sometimes…you two are the whiniest, most self-absorbed sons of bitches I ever met!" I snorted softly, thankful I hadn't been taking a drink right in that moment.

"I'm selfish? Me? I do everything for you! Everything! You need some lores scrounged up and Beth ain't available - you need your asses pulled out of the fire – you need someone to bitch to about each other – you call me and I come through – every damn time! And what do I get for it? Jack with a side of squat!"

I was as stunned as I'm sure the boys were on the other end.

"Bobby-"

"Do I sound like I'm done?" Bobby cut Dean off.

"Now look. I know you've got issues. God knows I know. But I got a newsflash for you. You ain't the center of the universe! Now, it may have slipped your mind…that Crowley owns my soul! And the meter is running! And I will be damned if I'm going to sit around –and – and be damned! So how about you two sack up and help me for once?"

There was silence on the end of the phone, and I could imagine the stunned expressions of my husband and brother as they processed everything Bobby had to say.

"Bobby," Sam said finally. "All you gotta do is ask."

"Anything you need… we're there," Dean added.

I smiled, that was more like the boys I knew. Bobby shook his head and let out a breath.

"Well you hold that thought, because I'm gonna have a job real soon for you pair. I'll have Beth fill you in shortly," Bobby said. My mouth dropped open as he more or less revealed that I had been contacting, and possibly doing more, while Dean had been away hunting.

"Bobby!" I hissed, a little annoyed but Bobby simply grinned at me with a little challenge.

"Beth?" Dean asked. "Wwait… what does Beth have to do with any of this?"

"She's the only one that's been helping me," Bobby said.

"Why didn't I know this?"

"What part of you being a self-absorbed son of a bitch didn't you get, doofus? She didn't wanna worry you until we had something concrete. Now we gotta go and deal with something, I'll call you later."

Bobby hung up before Dean could say more, and five seconds later my phone was ringing. I looked down at it, sighing when I saw it was Dean. "Thanks for that," I said, shaking my head with a sarcastic smile. Bobby snorted in reply and turned to his computer, shrugging.

"Hey Dean," I said innocently when he answered. "How are you?"

"Oh like you don't know," he said with a stern tone. "What's going on?"

"Nothing, just a little road trip," I answered. "I needed to get away."

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Dean, really, are you?"

"Yeah, we're fine, grilled that lamia up just fine and dandy," he said. "I was gonna come home tomorrow, but …we caught another case already. Last one, I promise. I'll be back in time, whether this hunt is done or not."

The inference hung heavily between us. He should have been on his way home for my birthday tradition of pie and sunrise, now, and he knew that. The fact that he wasn't, told me he was more concerned for Sam than he was letting on. Dean hadn't missed my birthday since we'd met - with the exception of when he was in Hell - and I knew he wouldn't start now, even if it meant I had to go to him.

I felt a twinge of annoyance that Sam had already found another case for them when Dean hadn't been home in weeks. It almost felt deliberate - like he was taking up Dean's time and pulling him away from his family without thought of what we all needed, and how much Dean was missed. I wondered what Dean had been saying to Bobby when I couldn't hear, but it sounded like he was also annoyed at Sam from the little bits I could glean. I would have to ask Bobby when I got back, for now, I had a plane to catch.

"Okay," I said to Dean, finally. "I mean, you gotta do what you gotta do right?" I didn't want to push him, but the separation was eating at me. I knew Bobby was right, I needed to talk to Dean about how I was feeling. But, the job came first. Sam, like usual, was coming first.

"Doesn't mean I like it," he replied softly. "I'm sorry."

"I know," I said. "We still have plenty of time. Just make sure you do come home."

"I'll meet you in Sioux Falls?" he said.

"I'll keep you updated on where we're at, don't wander too far," I smiled. "I'll see you soon."

I hung up and started to grab a few of Sophia's things nearby, moving to put them in her bag as Bobby watched.

"Where are you going?"

"Isn't it obvious?" I asked, looking at him as I zipped up the bag and placed it by the front door. "Field trip to Andover."

"What?" Bobby asked, an incredulous look exploding across his face.

"Jefferson is organising tickets, I just need to drop Sophia to Lisa on the way, and then I'll go pick up your jailbird."

"And how d'you plan on doing that?" Bobby asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Easy. I'll flash my FBI badge and extradite him to South Dakota on murder charges," I replied.

"Murder?!"

"It's gotta take precedence over petty theft, right?"

"Huh. That might just work," Bobby mused, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "Maybe I should come with you."

"No," I said. "You need to man the FBI phone in case they check my credentials. I have plans for a partner."

"Dean?" He asked.

I snorted and shook my head.

"No, Sam has them doing another case," I replied.

"Already?"

"It's constant. It's like he doesn't want Dean to come home," I said, and the annoyance was clear in my tone.

"I'm sure Dean doesn't feel the same way," Bobby said. "I can tell you, he's just as frustrated as you Beth, he's worried about Sam."

"I figured," I nodded. "Something isn't right with him Bobby."

"Dean said the same thing, wanted to ask me about Sam during the last year since he got back."

"Have you noticed anything unusual?" I questioned.

"Well, I haven't rightly seen all that much of him, mostly talked on the phone. He seems distant," Bobby replied. "Not as emotional. But, I suppose you have to expect something given what he's been through."

"Yeah, true," I said. "I'm worried."

"We all are baby girl, we all are." Bobby said.

Next Afternoon

ANDOVER AIRPORT

The flights had been relatively uneventful, with the exception of Sophia crying for the first ten minutes as we ascended into the air. I'd fed her, as recommended by all parenting pages for flying with infants, and the sucking motion seemed to have helped with the air pressure changes and painful middle ear pressure. After that, she'd giggled her way through the flight, engaging those around her with her bright smiles.

Lisa had met me at the airport, and we'd done the exchange along with some concerned discussion around Dean and his absence. Lisa and Ben had been feeling it too. I'm sure I hadn't exactly been adding to their peace of mind given I'd up and left a few days earlier, then essentially had to dump my daughter on her. I realised I was going to have to make it up to her, and soon.

By the time I hit Andover I was dressed in my FBI pant suit, carrying an overnight bag only, and my computer in a messenger bag slung over my shoulder.

Jefferson, by comparison was standing at arrivals, his own carry luggage in hand, wearing a bright red, green and blue hawaiian print shirt over black suit pants.

"Hawaiian shirt? Really?" I chuckled at the sight of him, leaning in to kiss his cheek.

"You interrupted my beach vacation," he pouted.

"You live in Miami, in a beachfront condo!"

"That doesn't mean I've been home, Princess," he said.

"Really?" I asked as we started to walk toward the car rentals desk. "What have you been up to?"

"What else? You may have noticed the uptake in obscure creatures?" Jefferson asked.

"It's come to our attention," I nodded.

He stopped and smiled at the desk attendant, giving her his name and credit card before turning back to me and lowering his voice, his eyes flicking around to make sure no one could overhear us.

"I had an Amarok three weeks ago," I said quietly.

"You were in Alaska?" I asked.

"Seattle," he said with a shake of his head.

"Well that's a long way from home," I commented, thinking about how the wolf-like creatures hunted the Inuit, and as colonisation had occurred they'd branched into the remote settlements as they started to pop up.

The desk attendant finished checking us in, handing Jefferson back his card, along with some keys and getting him to sign a docket. Jefferson moved the pen across the page with a flourish and then flashed a cheeky smile at the woman, one almost as incorrigible as Dean's flirtatious grins.

"Indeed," Jefferson said as he turned back to me and steered me toward the parking area. "As was the Aquabuamelu that was in Reno - you don't usually see them outside the Middle East. And a Camazotz found its way from South America all the way to Dallas last week."

All of these creatures were out of place, and it wasn't just a couple of random occurrences like we had personally experienced.

"Bobby and I killed an Okami last night," I said, Jefferson threw me a curious look.

"The last time I heard of one of them outside Japan was when you and Dean killed one in… what was it? Arizona?"

"New Mexico," I corrected.

Jefferson nodded thoughtfully. "That was over a decade ago too."

"Exactly," I said. "And Dean and Sam just killed a Lamia in Wisconsin."

"Huh. Well after we do our little stint for justice here, I'm on a flight to Montreal - there's been reports of a Gogmagog just North of there."

I snorted and looked incredulously at Jefferson. "A Gogmagog? Those aren't real."

"I assure you Princess, they most certainly are. They just don't usually venture out of England."

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, feeling once again like the weight of the world was pushing down on my chest. The hunter part of me was on high alert, looking at all possibilities, and not liking the picture that was starting to form in front of my eyes. The mother inside of me wanted to run, get her family to safety, and ride out whatever was coming in a bunker somewhere. Both parts of me knew this wasn't an option. So I felt panicked instead.

"I wish I knew. But it feels big," Jefferson said as we reached the vehicles. "But, one hunt at a time, Beth. Just breathe."

I didn't know if he'd read my face, or just knew me so well to guess how I was reacting to all this information, but either way I knew he was right. I took a couple of deep breaths as instructed and then tossed my bag alongside his when he opened the trunk to our rental.

"You are going to change that shirt, right?"

Police Station

Andover, Massachusetts

Jefferson had seemed truly hesitant to shed his last remaining thread of beach life, but as we reached our destination he'd done so quickly and efficiently, changing into a simple white shirt and blue tie.

"So, why are you off hunting instead of home with Sophia and Ben?" He asked as we walked along the sidewalk.

"I needed a break, and when I reached Bobby's, he needed the help," I shrugged.

"I thought you guys got out?"

"Yeah well, with Sam back, Dean is hunting more and more. He tried not to, but, you know how it is."

I didn't think Jefferson would be a fan, which is why I hadn't told him too much about the hunting arrangements we'd fallen into. True, Dean and I had been trying to keep it closer to home, and I was joining him when I could, but the last month or so… Sam seemed to be pulling them further and further afield.

"How do you feel about that?" Jefferson asked, stopping at the bottom of the steps leading up to the doors of the precinct.

"I dunno, it's fine, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Well, we thought about it and decided that we shouldn't get too rusty - we had a djinn come at us, Jefferson - it could have killed Ben and Sophia, Lisa… it did get our neighbours," I reasoned. It was a good argument, but I didn't think it was going to stand up to much cross-examination.

"You can't play all the odds Beth, I guarantee, that only leads to spreading yourself too thin," Jefferson replied, his eyes deep with concern, like always.

"Well, we can't just sit back and pretend like there's nothing out there in the dark either," I protested.

"Are you sure about that?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned, crossing my arms.

"I mean. You and Dean, you've been hunting a long time. I thought when you settled in Blue Earth that might be the end of it, but you were both pretty quick to jump back in when Sam came calling," he pointed out.

I sighed and started to climb the steps toward the front door.

"He's our responsibility," I said as I opened it, holding it for Jefferson to walk past me. The words were rote, and so rehearsed and repeated over the last decade and a half that we didn't know anything else.

"No, he's not," Jefferson argued.

"We promised Dad." Another often repeated reason.

"And I promised your Dad, Beth, to keep you safe," he said as we moved down the corridor toward the front desk.

"I know, and you do," I nodded.

Jefferson looked pensively ahead, a muscle in his cheek twitching. "I'm not so sure about that," he said quietly.

"I promise, we're okay. We're being careful," I said as we reached the desk, both reaching into our jackets and then flashing our badges at the duty officer.

"Hi, we're here for the prisoner transport," I said with an air of authority. You belong here. You have the orders behind you. Don't take no for an answer. John had taught us to bluff our way into almost any situation, and when you had a badge in front of you it just added to the act. Today I got to play the fun part.

"Um, we aren't aware of any transport order?" The desk clerk looked like he was barely out of the Academy, he was going to be easy to convince, we just had to play our parts.

"Are you kidding me?!" I said, frowning sternly. "You didn't get our paperwork?" The boy in front of me shook his head, eyes wide. "Look it up - Rufus Turner. Murder extradition. We have a plane leaving in less than an hour!"

The boy frantically started to look up his database, but I knew he wouldn't find anything. I turned to Jefferson, sighing loudly.

"Can you believe this?" I asked. "I swear to God, Peterson can't get one, simple, task…." I threw my hands in the air, going full method. "I'm done, I'm done! When I see that spineless sack of….well I'm gonna kick his ass!"

Jefferson was the voice of reason.

"Okay, just… take a moment before you rush off to dismember one of our fellow law enforcement officers," he said placatingly, a slight smirk on his face which he dropped as he turned to the desk clerk. "I'm sure Officer… Drew?" He looked at the boy's badge, and got a frantic nod in reply. "Officer Drew can clear this right up? Yes?" He smiled at the man as he said this while I shook my head angrily and crossed my arms.

"Uh, yeah, sure?" The man said, but he looked uncertain of how to proceed. Jefferson reached into his pocket and pulled out a business card, handing it to the Officer.

"You should probably call our Director - Willis," Jefferson said with another smile, and a nod. If you nodded at someone they would copy you, and this made it much easier to get them to go along with you.

"Yeah, yeah that makes sense," the Officer said, nodding.

Drew took the card from Jefferson and dialed it. Bobby must have been sitting on the phone because it was answered almost instantly. We waited; I had to walk down the hallway a little and stare at the roof like I was trying to calm myself down, when really I was trying not to giggle at the absurdity of the whole situation.

"Yes. Yes, no of course not Sir! Right away Sir," Drew said, then hung up as he looked at Jefferson, a little pale in the face.

"So, that checks out," he said.

"Of course!" I said, tossing my hand in the air.

"Let me just get the keys…"

Officer Drew practically ran away from the desk, collecting keys from a wall safe and disappearing into the back rooms. I hoped that he wasn't going to check in with his superiors, or that he wouldn't be interrupted so that we could just get out of here as quickly as possible.

"So what are you doing at Bobby's?" Jefferson asked, leaning casually against the wall and resuming our previous conversation.

"Oh just a little research on a demon," I said.

"Anyone I know?" Jefferson asked.

Crowley was the King of the Crossroads, or had been, and Jefferson had a complicated relationship with another crossroads demon, so potentially he had heard of Crowley before. Of course, if I told him that we were going after the new King of Hell, he'd probably have a coronary.

"No, I don't think so," I said elusively.

"Do you need any help? You know I have contacts," he continued.

"I think we're good, thanks. But if Altea hears about any crossroads demons going missing… uh… it wasn't us?" I said with a grin.

"Is that so?"

"Mhmmm," I nodded, batting my eyelids innocently at him.

"I'll be sure to not mention it then."

"Probably for the best," I agreed.

Jefferson shook his head and then smiled as the missing desk clerk appeared in view, a grumpy Rufus in tow. He'd done it, and without so much as a questioning secretary in sight.

"You terrify me sometimes," Jefferson said and I flashed him a smile.

"Why do you think I don't tell Dean what I'm up to?"

Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Bobby's House

I wondered if it was possible to feel the effects of jet lag when flying from one end of the country to the other and back inside of twenty-four hours. I was tired, feeling it in my bones as Rufus and I arrived at Bobby's house. I sighed, looking at my phone and pulling up a couple of recent texts from Dean.

Poltergeist in Peoria.
Hate these things.
Too many memories.

I sighed, thinking about the poltergeists we'd encountered over the years. They were never fun, and several times I'd almost ended up dead. He wasn't over exaggerating when he said he hated them.

Peoria was also moving in the wrong direction, away from either Sioux Falls or Battle Creek I noticed. I couldn't shake that uncomfortable feeling in my gut, but there was also no evidence to back up my suspicions; the range from Kenosha to Peoria wasn't that out of place that I could start making accusations.

Be careful.

I typed back to him as Rufus and I walked up the steps to Bobby's front door, Rufus knocking.

'I miss you' I started to type, but then I thought about it and decided not to send it, deleting the words from the screen. I sighed again and left it at the last line. It said everything really. Be careful, come home, I love you.

"Miss me?" Rufus asked with a big smile when the door was answered. He pushed past a silently amused Bobby and walked into the kitchen.

"Well that didn't take long," Bobby said to me as I joined them.

I shrugged, and helped myself to a beer out of the fridge. "We had a good CO scaring the wits out of the desk clerk," I said.

Bobby nodded, and then looked back toward the door.

"No Jefferson?"

"He had to press on to Montreal, something about a Gogmagog."

Rufus snorted and poured himself a whiskey from the bottle that was on the kitchen table. "Those things don't leave England," he commented.

"Just like lamias don't leave Greece? Okamis, Japan?" I asked. "He's had a few other odd encounters in the last few months too - like an Amarok in Seattle."

"What the hell?" Rufus asked, and I simply shrugged in reply.

Bobby cleared his throat and looked expectantly at Rufus. "Please tell me the ring is still in your stomach."

Rufus chuckled and fished around in his pants pocket, pulling a ring out and held it up.

Bobby looked at the ring, a distasteful expression crossing his face as he considered where it had been.

"I'll go boil some water," he said.

"What?!" Rufus asked innocently, but there was amusement in his eyes. I shook my head and turned my thoughts to what came next. If we could get some answers in the next few days I was going to be calling on Dean, plus or minus Sam - depending on whether they had finished this poltergeist job or not.

Later that Night

We'd cleared space in the kitchen; swept the floor clean, moved the table to one side. Bobby now paced around the altar he had laid on the floor boards.

In the center was some parchment with arcane symbols drawn on it - a circle with a triangle in the middle, and other sigils for summoning entities around the outside of the circle, as well as within. Four pillar candles - two black and two white, sat lit at each corner, and beside the parchment was a large silver bowl with various pungent herbs mixed within.

I poured a circle of salt around this altar as Bobby placed the ring belonging to Crowley's son inside the middle of the triangle. When I was finished, Bobby started chanting a summoning spell in Latin, and I stepped back to watch.

"Amate spiritus oscorte tae quadaramos aramos nobiscume quarde ahpule nos chikitara."

Half way through the chanting the ring had started to hover, by an unseen force, about a foot above the floor. As Bobby reached the end of the spell, he took a handful of powder and threw it over the altar, the candles flared upwards in unison and the room suddenly plunged in temperature, so much so that I could see our breath fogging up as we exhaled into the cold room.

On high alert, I noticed a flickering start to the left of me, in the open entry to the library. After a few moments the ghost took the form of a young man in disheveled clothing - pants, shirt and a thick woolen coat that looked like it was soaked through by rain. His short dark hair was curled and also wet, and I realised that this appearance was likely due to the way he'd died - when his ship sank at sea.

"Gavin MacLeod?" Bobby asked.

"Yes," the spirit said, pausing to look around his surroundings. "Is - is this Hell?"

"That's gonna depend on you," Bobby said, staring at the man. "You Fergus MacLeod's boy?"

Gavin nodded slightly, not giving much away.

"You and me... we're gonna have a nice long chat."

Several Days Later
Bobby's House
Sioux Falls, SD

Bobby's POV

Beth had volunteered for what I suspect was gonna be the best part of this whole shindig, and I couldn't say that she wasn't half pleased when Sam had decided to stay with me and help with summoning Crowley. She and Dean had gone on their half of the mission, while I had Sam helping me in the basement with ours.

It didn't take long to gather the ingredients for the summoning spell. The worst part had been waiting on everything else to line up before I could conduct it.

Now, I was standing in front of the silver bowl, ingredients all mixed together, surrounded by the accompanying black candles and appropriate sigils. I used my knife to cut my palm, finishing up with the final required ingredient - blood, then after exchanging a glance with Sam, nodded and lit a match, dropping it into the bowl and watching as the whole mix burst into a large red flame.

The spell worked instantly, Crowley appearing behind me in a fancy black coat, looking very annoyed.

"Well," I said as I faced him, "you look like hammered crap."

"And you're a vision as always," Crowley batted back, hands in his pockets and calmly raising his chin to me. His eyes turned upwards to where I had a devil's trap painted on the ceiling, and this time the demon rolled his eyes.

"Don't we both know how this game ends? Really Bobby, you gotta know when to fold 'em," he said in his infuriating Scottish accent. "Tell him Sam."

"Word on the street is that ever since Lucifer went to the pokey, you're the big kahuna downstairs," I cut in.

Crowley sighed and shrugged. "I see you've been reading the trades."

"Trouble in Paradise?" Sam asked.

"Mate," Crowley said, looking at the other man. "You…have no idea."

Crowley pulled a glass out of one of his pockets and plonked it on the bench behind him, turning his back on me and pouring himself a drink from the flask in his other pocket, taking a moment to drop an antacid into the liquid.

"I thought… when I got the corner office… I thought it was all going to be rainbows and two-headed puppies," Crowley turned back to face us. "But, if I'm being honest, it's been Hell."

"I thought that was the point," I said as he finished off his drink in one long hit.

"You know what the problem with demons is?" He asked.

"They're demons," I supplied and Crowley nodded with a small smile.

"Exactly. Evil lying prats. The whole lot of them. And stupid. Try to show them a – a new way, a better way. And what do you get? Bugger all. You know, there's days that I think Lucifer's whole "Spike anything with black eyes" plan wasn't half bad."

He paused to consider what he'd just said. "Hmm. Feels good to get it off my chest. We should make this a thing."

Sam snorted and I shook my head. "Do I look like Dr. Phil to you?"

I had reamed Dean and Sam a new one the other day over their offloading on me, I wasn't about to take it from a podunk demon.

"A little," Crowley said, looking at me. I flashed him a dirty look and the demon shrugged.

"Anyhoo. Obviously not here for a social call. So on with it," the demon said.

"I want-"

"Save you the recap," Crowley cut in. "In fact I'll do the shorthand for you."

He pointed at me and then started to speak in a mocking mimicry of my own voice.

"I want my soul back, idjit." He then pointed at himself, returning to his own voice.

"'Fraid not."

Crowley pointed at me again. "But I'm surly and I got a beard. Gimme! Blah, blah, blah. Homespun cornpone insult, witty retort from yours truly. The bottom line is, you get bubkes. Are we done?"

Sam smirked and shook his head. "Just getting started."

I looked to my left by the stairs, and was pleased when Gavin appeared in his ghostly visage. Crowley, unbelievably, looked startled.

"Gavin?" Crowley asked, looking at his son. "Is that you? It – it's been so long." The ghost didn't respond, simply staring at his father. "I love you so –" The demon stopped speaking and laughed out loud in amusement.

"Sorry. Your soul for my boy, is that it, right? I've got to give you credit for thinking outside the box on that one, but – problem is... I loathe the little bastard. You want to torture him, just let me pull up a chair and watch. Hell, burn his bones and send him down to me and we can have a family reunion. That right, son? You picked the wrong bargaining chip this time, my friend."

I felt a moment of satisfaction as the demon started to put the pieces together.

Well, he thought he was completing the picture, but he didn't know what we knew.

"He ain't a chip," Sam said with an amused look.

Crowley glanced sideways, confused.

"I was just using him to dig up dirt on you. And since Gavin hates you maybe even more than you hate him, he was more than happy to squawk," I filled him in.

This time Crowley did look worried, and that told me I was on the right track.

"What did you tell him, son?"

Gavin smiled at his father, it was cold and wicked, and he seemed to be enjoying this as much as I was.

"Everything," Gavin said, before flickering and disappearing from the basement.

"I know it all now. Fergus. You may be king of the dirt bags here but, in life, you were nothing but a two-bit tailor who sold his soul in exchange for an extra three inches below the belt."

Crowley shrugged and didn't even look chagrined. "Just trying to hit double digits. So, you got a glimpse behind the curtain. And?"

"And - now we know where you're planted," I said. I picked up the phone sitting on the table next to me, where I'd called Dean and Beth earlier, and held it up so that we could all hear the speaker.

"Say hi to Crowley," I said.

Graveyard
SCOTLAND

Beth's POV

"Hiya, Crowley," Dean crooned when we heard Bobby address us.

"Dean," Crowley replied, barely missing a beat. "It's been a long time, we should get together. You, me and the missus."

"Sure," Dean said. "We'll have to do that… when we get back."

"Back?"

"Yeah," Dean said with a grin, slipping his arm around me. "We're on vacation, gone international. In fact, we're in your neck of the woods."

We had in fact been in Scotland for the better half of the last twenty-four hours, travelling to the Northernmost point of the country, and then seeking out the small, ancient graveyard Gavin had led us to. After we'd found the grave we were looking for, it had all been pretty straightforward after that - avoiding the authorities while we dug up Crowley's bones.

"Did you really use to wear a skirt?" Dean teased and I could almost hear the venom in Crowley's reply.

"A kilt," he said. "I had very athletic calves. What's the game?"

"Dominoes," I chimed in. "In fact, we just dug yours up."

"This is ridiculous," Crowley said, sounding like he was talking to Bobby more than us. "The whole burning bones thing - it's a myth."

"I know an employee of yours who would disagree," Bobby's voice entered the conversation and Dean shook his head incredulously at me.

"Can't believe you got involved in this," he whispered at me.

"I didn't do much, I just helped carry the body," I shrugged.

There was a pause on the other side as Crowley considered the statement from Bobby.

"That's where she got to," he said finally.

"You demons. You think you're something special. But you're just spirits. Twisted, perverted, evil spirits. But, end of the day, you're nothing but ghosts with an ego," Bobby said.

"That's right Crowley, we torch your bones, you go up in flames," I said.

Dean clicked his lighter, making sure it was near the phone mic, and chuckled. "You hear that, Crowley? That's me flicking my Bic for you."

"Your bones for my soul. Going once…" Bobby started to count down as Dean continued to play with the lighter, every click of the flame starting was loud and clear.

"Going twice."

There was a pause and then Crowley cursed.

"Bollocks!"

Dean stopped what he was doing and we both listened with bated breath for some kind of indication of what to do next. We knew Crowley was contained in the devil's trap so he couldn't just come and attack us, but it was still a little nerve wracking.

"You can go ahead and leave in the part about my legs," Bobby added and I smiled, glad he'd thought of that.

Another pause, and then Bobby's voice sounded once more.

"Pleasure doing business with you," he said. I breathed a sigh of relief, closing my eyes with a silent prayer of gratitude.

"Now if you don't mind…." this time it was Crowley speaking.

We were still holding on to the phone when Crowley appeared behind us.

"I believe those are mine," he said, looking defeated as he walked up to us with a bag in hand.

Dean straightened up, his eyes going steely as Crowley stopped in front of us.

"You know, now that I think about it, maybe I'll just…" he clicked open the lighter as he paused, and then finished with, "napalm your ass anyhow."

Crowley looked at Dean, and to be honest I felt a little sorry for the demon.

"Dean," I said, reaching out to close the zippo and squeeze Dean's hand a little. "He's a dick, but a deal's a deal."

Crowley stepped up to me and looked into my eyes, sneering. "I don't need you fight my battles for me, Bambi. Get bent."

He leaned down to inspect the bones as he put them into the bag he was holding, then he rose to look at the pair of us once more.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I've a little hell to raise," he finished, vanishing before our eyes.

I breathed a sigh of relief knowing that was the extent of the exchange. I took Dean's hand, smiling as I walked over to the stone fence of the graveyard and stared out across the countryside while Dean moved the phone back into hearing range.

"He's gone," Dean said.

"I appreciate you both lending a hand," Bobby said after a moment.

"Hey, any time we get to punk Crowley works for us," Dean replied with a grin.

"Still, knowing how much you love flying the friendly skies –I guess a nine hour plane trip was no picnic. What did you do, drink your way through it?"

Dean hated flying. It had taken me threatening to go alone, or worse - take Sam, to get him to agree to getting on the plane. This had worked the last time we'd gotten on a plane, so I'd been fairly certain it would work again.

"I was fine," Dean said dismissively like it was no big deal.

"No, he white knuckled his way through four puke bags," I grinned, leaning over to kiss him lovingly on the cheek. "But he was sober."

"If some nutjob decided to try something, I was ready. I had a fork," Dean added.

Bobby laughed and it was nice to hear the sound after so long of him being in a bad place. "Listen. Um – about the things I said earlier. I was in a tough spot and I – I guess I was –"

"You were right, Bobby," Sam said, his voice coming across the line. "We take you for granted."

Dean nodded, though only I could see it. "Yeah. You've been cleaning up our messes for years, Bobby. Without you, I don't even want to think about where Sam and I, even Beth, would've ended up."

There was a long pause as we all let those words sink in. John had raised the boys, raised me into adulthood, but it had been Bobby who had taught us about what it meant to have a father who always had your back. We would have been lost without him, especially since John had died.

"Okay then, let's roll credits on this chick flick." Bobby said with a chuckle, using Dean's famous line. "You kids enjoy your holiday."

"We will Bobby, and thanks," I said with a smile.

"Try some of the local grub, I hear it's… exotic," Bobby said.

"Oh yeah, no, definitely. We are. I hear they have an Olive Garden," Dean joked and I chuckled at his expression. We hung up the phone, still leaning on the cold stone fence. I shivered and Dean pulled me close, slipping his arm around my waist and staring out over the beautiful Scottish moors. There were towering mountains across the valley, with a mysterious fog creeping over the watery landscape the lapped at a hill with a long abandoned castle built into the side of it.

"This place is stunning," I said, placing my head on Dean's shoulder. "Hard to believe anything so beautiful could turn out a soul like Crowley."

"It's beautiful," Dean agreed. "But it's harsh, and unforgiving land." He sucked in a breath, lost in his thoughts for a moment. "It's not the countryside that makes us, it's the people around us, and obviously Crowley didn't have what we have."

"I'm lucky I had you, Dad and Sam," I said, looking up at him. "Who knows what would have become of me if I hadn't."

"I'm glad we never had to find out," he said softly, kissing me tenderly.

"Mmmm," I said as he pulled away. I smiled, glancing back at the castle, feeling a heaviness on my chest at the thought of having to leave right away. "I wish we didn't have to pack up and go."

"We don't," Dean said, grinning and taking my hand, starting to pull me through the graveyard back to the rented car we'd parked at the gates.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I wasn't kidding about a vacation," he said. "It's long overdue, and it's your birthday in two days, so… we're going to celebrate it here."

I was speechless as he chuckled to himself, still pulling me alongside him.

"Really?" I asked finally.

"You better believe it sugarpie," he said, stopping to hug me close. "You think I flew all this way just to burn some bones? I'm going to make it worth our while."

EPILOGUE

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands
Scotland

Dean's POV

We'd stayed a few extra days in Scotland. I suspect Beth thought it was because I was avoiding getting back on a plane, especially when I'd insisted we take the ferry to Kirkwall rather than a much shorter flight. Maybe that part was true as well, but mostly, it had been a long time since we'd had any alone time together - and it was her birthday.

I'd found us a cute little B&B on the shores of the island overlooking the ocean, and we'd settled in around 10pm last night, and the sun had only just been starting to set at that hour. It was surreal - and I realised just how small this world really was when starting to consider things like midnight suns and long ass days of sunshine - or, equally, in the Winter long ass nights. How anyone hunted here with the things we knew, I'd never understand. I was certain it might drive me crazy after a while. At least in America we had fairly consistent days and nights, even with seasonal changes.

Sunrise this morning had happened early: around 6am.

I'd woken up at 5am to meet our host who had generously gone out of her way to find me something that was close to a pie in this weird ass country. I'd asked for pie when we arrived, and quickly realised that pie in Scotland had a meat filling - what the hell was up with that? Mrs O'Brien soon realised what I was looking for and hooked me up with a traditional Scottish dessert. I couldn't wait to show Beth.

The skies over the water were still awash with a deep purple and speckles of stars flickering, but these were soon going to fade as the rising sun inched toward the horizon, a light peach shimmering up from rippling waves.

I moved into the bedroom and leaned over Beth, who was still dozing, and brushed my lips across her forehead. She sighed softly and her eyes fluttered open, a smile breaking out when she saw me.

"G'morning," she murmured, stretching out her arms and I grinned when the sheet fell back from her chest, exposing her breasts.

"Mmmm, good morning," I replied appreciatively, slipping my hand around her waist and stroking her side with my thumb. "How do you feel?"

"Good" she replied, sitting up to kiss me. "This was a great idea."

"I'm not done yet," I replied, grinning and handing her a fluffy bathrobe. "C'mon."

She dutifully slipped into the robe and I guided her up from the side of the bed, slipping my arms around her and pulling her close, kissing her softly until she let out that little moan I loved so much.

The deck was next, right outside the french doors of the bedroom. I grabbed a blanket from the end of the bed, and led her out into the cool morning air, settling her on the bench looking out over the ocean, and tucking her in with the blanket over her knees.

"Be right back," I said, and I raced inside to get the hot chocolate I'd left warming on the stove, and the dessert out of the fridge. I put it all on a tray, along with some spoons, and carried it out to Beth, smiling as the very tip of the sun started to break over the horizon.

"Perfect timing," she commented as I placed everything on the little table in front of us and then joined her under the blanket, reaching out to hand her a glass dessert bowl with a layered sweet treat.

"What is this?" Beth asked, looking at the layers of what I knew to be cream with toasted oatmeal, raspberries and whiskey.

"This… this is what the Scots call Cranachan," I announced, placing a spoon in her free hand and then getting my own from the tray. "Apparently, chocolate pecan pie is a myth over here, this here is the dessert to eat. Though I personally have my doubts about the oatmeal."

"Well, when in Rome," Beth shrugged with a smile, dipping her spoon into the combination and getting a good mouth-sized amount. She slipped it between her lips and I watched with bated breath to see her reaction. She closed her eyes, tasting and then smiled, nodding.

"Mmm! It's good!" She announced. "Did you know there's whiskey in this?"

"It was the selling point," I said with a grin, digging into my own dessert and trying it. I swallowed and nodded my approval. I could see how Beth would like the tartness of the raspberries - she'd always been a lemon meringue fan. I personally would have preferred a sweet apple pie, but in the absence of that amazing invention, this was a pretty good runner up.

I slipped my arm around Beth as the sun started to rise, sending the skies into an array of peach, yellow and pink. I put it back on the table and pulled her close, smiling when she lay her head against my shoulder and sighed happily.

"Happy birthday," I whispered into her hair, kissing her temples and she smiled up at me.

"Thank you," she said, kissing my lips.

There was nothing much else to say at that moment. I smiled, and looked out over the ocean, thinking how amazing it was that we were at one of the northernmost points on the map, and yet the sunrise always looked the same, regardless of where we were.

I'd been doing this for fifteen years with Beth, every birthday - except the one where I'd been in Hell - the same tradition her father had always done before me. It was a celebration of welcoming in the next year of her life to come. I'd added the pie component to the first birthday I'd shared with her, the one after she'd joined us when her father was killed. She'd been distraught, wondering how she was going to face the sunrise without him, and so I'd stepped up to get her through it.

This was one tradition I was never going to give up on.

In fact, Sophia was turning one soon and I planned for us to do it with her as well.

After a while the chill started to get to us. The sun had risen into the sky, and I noticed Beth had started to shiver a little so I slipped my arms under her legs and around her back, lifting her up and carrying her back inside, getting a giggle from her as she snuggled in close.

Well prepared, I had lit the fire in the living area of the small cottage; I took us there now, settling her in my lap with her back against the arm of the plush couch, her legs resting across me so I could run my hands up and down them.

The fire kept us warm, no need for the blanket now, which was good because it had fallen off when I'd picked her up. This gave me much better access to her bare legs under the robe she was wearing, but I wasn't interested in that just yet. I covered her up as best I could with the robe, and pulled her in against me, delighting in the way she just seemed to fit to my body.

Her hair was soft and luxurious when I ran my fingers through it, stroking and then turning her to face me so I could stare into her deep, chocolate coloured eyes.

"You know I love you, right?" I said after a moment, my voice husky and deep.

Beth smiled, and nodded, before leaning over to kiss me.

"I know."

"Okay," I nodded, smiling. "Good. I don't say it out loud nearly enough."

"Dean, you say it," she said, reaching out to caress my face. "You tell me all the time."

"Yeah, but I don't say it all the time," I countered and she chuckled.

"I still know," she said.

"Okay, well, just the same…" I said, thinking about how I was going to word the next topic. "Beth?"

"Mhmm?" She looked at me, her eyes wide and curious and it killed me.

"I love you, and I would do anything, anything, for you," I said again. She frowned this time.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine, I'm good," I nodded. "But… I'm not sure you are?"

She took a deep breath and I saw her bite her bottom lip, a sure-fire tell that I'd hit the mark.

"You've been taking more and more trips away…not just the random one to Bobby's this week."

"You know about those?"

"Of course I know, babe," I said, brushing my thumb across her cheek. "You think you're the only one who talks to Lisa?"

Beth sighed and looked down at her hands, nodding.

"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked.

She looked up at me and there was a haunted look in her eyes, it broke me. I wanted to kiss them away and squeeze her tight until she wasn't hurting. But for me to do that, I needed to know exactly what I was dealing with.

"Because it's not fair on you," Beth whispered, looking at me sadly.

"Don't say that," I said, shaking my head. "I thought we were past having secrets."

"I'm sorry," she said. "I didn't know how to talk to you about this."

"Okay, well we're talking now. Tell me what's wrong, please."

Beth sighed and wrung her hands in front of her, twisting at her wedding ring which again told me how much she was struggling right now.

"I miss you," she said after a moment. Every movement of her body told me she was being honest; her shoulders slumped, hair hanging in her face as she stared at her hands, and her breathing had picked up, and I wasn't sure if she was on the verge of a panic attack, or just really upset.

"Oh Beth, I miss you too," I said, reaching a hand out to simply hold the back of her neck gently. She nodded and took a couple of deep breaths, visibly calming herself down while I waited patiently, hoping she was going to elaborate on the problem.

"It's more than that," she said, looking up at me with eyes that were haunted.

"Tell me."

She let out a shuddering breath and shook her head.

"It's so stupid," she said. I didn't say anything, simply watched her with all the love I could muster fed to her through my eyes.

"We've been doing this for fifteen years," she said after a moment.

"Yeah, I know," I smiled.

"Fifteen years, always together," Beth continued and I started to see where she was going with it. We had been inseparable up until Sam got back from Hell, and then we'd decided to try this home-base hunting arrangement as a way to give Sophia, as well as Ben and Lisa, some kind of stability and normal life.

"But not lately," I said quietly and I saw I'd hit the mark with the way her eyes shimmered with unshed tears.

"I hate it," she whispered. "I hate being away from you. I hate that you're gone for weeks, sometimes months, on end. That you're off with Sam putting yourself in danger and I am powerless to do anything about it if you get in trouble. I thought it was hard having you gone to the garage for a few hours a day; this is worse."

She grabbed the hand I'd left resting across her legs and squeezed it, looking at my ring and twisting it the same way she'd been doing to her own.

"I know how that sounds," she admitted, shaking her head. "But I ache when you're gone, Dean. I count the steps you take to the car when you leave, I watch as you drive off down the street and I want to run after you, but I'm paralysed. I hardly sleep, I barely eat; I go through the motions of each and every day, when you're not with me, just waiting for you to call so I can hear the sound of your voice and know that you're okay. Nothing… not even Sophia, helps with that."

"Oh Beth…" I didn't know what to say, I knew how she felt, but I didn't want to interrupt.

"I'm sorry," she said with a sob. "I'm not strong enough to do this. I thought it would get easier with time, but it's not. It's getting worse! So I… I started just taking Sophia in the car for drives. I thought maybe being on the move would ease the pain, but it just made me more restless. I didn't want to tell you because I didn't want to be a burden."

"Sugarpie, you're not a burden," I whispered, touching her face and watching as she closed her eyes and leaned into my hand.

"You think I don't feel exactly the same way?" I asked after a moment, seeing her eyes pop open in surprise.

"You do?"

"Of course I do," I said, my heart started to race and I pulled her into me, tucking her head under my chin so she was in close. "Why do you think I call so much? It's torture."

"You never said anything…"

"I was trying to save you the worry," I said. I chuckled, shaking my head and then kissed the top of her head. "We really gotta stop doing that."

Beth laughed and nodded, but she didn't pull away to look at me. Instead she wrapped her arms tightly around me and squeezed like her life depended on it.

"So what do we do?" She asked after a moment.

"I don't know," I admitted. Part of me wanted to stop and go back to the way things had been in Cicero before we'd reunited with Sam. The other half of me wanted to keep hunting, and I was worried - as I knew Beth was - about our wayward brother who was not acting himself.

I sighed, and placed a hand under her chin, lifting it so I could peer into her eyes.

"What I do know is I want… I need you with me. Why do you think we're here?" I said, gesturing to the room. "I wanted to do something special for your birthday, but more so I just needed to be with you, no interruptions, no kids, no brother, no hunting. Just you, me, and God willing a bottle of good whiskey once we hit up the Highland Park Distillery in town." Beth chuckled when I said that, and it helped me to smile - at least I could still make her laugh, that was one thing. I didn't like that I was the reason for her pain.

"We are going to take that holiday we so desperately need, sugarpie," I announced. "Lisa is taking care of the kids, we have nothing to do other than enjoy this moment."

I'd planned several days worth of activities including some nature hikes, and a visit to St Magnus Cathedral which was said to be the northernmost chapel in the world, and I planned to make the most of it.

"So let's take a beat," I said, kissing her soft lips.

. "But…"

"No buts," I cut in, shaking my head. "We will get to it over the next few days, but we don't have to decide anything right now. What I do know is I can't do any of this without you."

I grinned, deciding it was time to lighten the mood a little, running my hand up her leg and under the robe, along her thigh.

"Because as sexy as you are on the phone, I am aching all over for you in the flesh when I'm away," I said, leaning in to kiss her neck as I slipped my thumb between her legs, getting a gasp of pleasure from the woman in my lap.

"Mmhmmm," I said with approval. "That's what I'm talking about…how about a little birthday celebration, part two?"

I pulled back to see Beth's eyes start to darken with the anticipation of what was to come.

"I promise," I added. "We will come back to all the other stuff. No more separating. I need you with me. Okay? "

"Okay," she smiled, nodding at me and then she captured my lips with her own, pressing against me with a need that matched my own.

I smiled into the kiss, and lifted her up again, my eyes set on the huge soft bed in the other room. First I was going to take my time, reconnecting with this angel in front of me, until we were one again.

Then we could get breakfast.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

The song for this chapter is "I miss you" by Avril Lavigne

I saw a post the other day about how SPN should have finished at Season 5. Given where it landed Dean and Beth - with a child, done with hunting, and living the life they had been craving, I can't say that I disagree and part of me thinks I should have called it quits there.

I'm finding it quite a challenge to integrate how they return to the hunt while raising a family, I hope that I can strike a decent balance as we move forward, and I have a lot of fun ideas that will bring the focus to Dean and Beth's relationship while they juggle their desire to be happy, safe and together with their old, lingering orders to keep Sam safe.

I'm also seeing how the very end will be written to incorporate that, and how it fits in with my own ending that I wrote so long ago. But, we are a long ways off getting to the end of S15! Onward we go :)

Please leave a review, they are really treasured and motivate me to keep going.