That boy's a keeper. Walked me to my door and everything. Too bad I can't say the same for his brother. I think I scared him off lol. Ya did good, T. Sleep tight ... if ya sleep at all ;) Xx. - C

Tandy smiled, in spite of her predicament, and slid her phone into her back pocket. She was glad that Cadence had made it home safely, and that Dean had kindly delivered her to her front door, like she knew he would. That boy certainly was a keeper, but whether he would want to remain kept after what she was about to tell him, well, that was another matter entirely.

Tandy sucked in a deep breath, tasting the rain and swamp water. She had walked the single mile it had taken from the bar back to her home and was glad that the rain had not come again, although traces of it still lingered.

The bayou was quiet and forbidding, like it had been several weeks ago. She cast her gaze across the darkened lawns, spying hunched and unmoving figures through the blackness. The willows that lined their estate always seemed taller at night, terrifying and sinister. She could hear nothing save for the sounds of her own breathing and the occasional creak from the hammock chair as she swayed amidst the post-storm stillness. Nights like this always came with the promise of trouble, and tonight had been no exception, yet she couldn't shake the feeling that it was only going to get worse.

Slowly, Tandy emptied her lungs and angled her head towards the road. From somewhere in the distance, she could hear the unmistakable rumble of the engine as the Impala approached the plantation, growing closer, and tilted her head back against the cladding, praying to any god that would listen that Dean would be in a reasonable, if not forgiving, mood.


Dean cut the engine and wrenched his keys out of the ignition. Typically, he would have been more gentle, caring even, cautious not to damage his baby, but he was anxious. He had been anxious from the moment he had flipped open his phone and read the hasty words that were displayed across the screen.

He hit the ground at a sprint, tearing out of the Impala and up the marshlands towards the plantation, propelled forward by an overwhelming sense of compulsion, of nervousness, of frustration.

Tandy's message had been vague, grim. There was something blatantly ominous about the brief text that had left him feeling uneasy. Tandy wouldn't have just bailed on their date, not when it was going so well, and not without a damned good reason. Dean pondered on the events of the evening, trying to piece together where it had gone wrong. From dinner, to drinks, to dancing, he thought that it had gone exceptionally well. At least, it was the most successful date that he'd ever had. Doubt began to creep in at that moment and his thoughts became troubled. Was it something that he had said? Was he rushing into things? Maybe Tandy wasn't quite ready for such intimacy, or, maybe she was just scared to death by what would come next. What might come next, he reminded himself. But, she was the one who had kissed him. She was the one who had made the first move. Dean grimaced. The very thought of her having perhaps changed her mind left his stomach in knots and for the first time since their delicate kiss in her bedroom, the butterflies ceased their endless fluttering.

Dean was skittering across the pebbles, hopping, skipping, floating and then falling again, his feet pedaling in an ununified beat, fearful and frantic. His heartbeat pounded in his chest, stuttering, determined.

He spied Tandy in the galley, swaying back and forth in the hammock chair, idly toeing the deck with the tip of her sneakers. Her barley blonde hair was wet and tangled, curling at the tips where it had began to dry. He'd noticed that the roads had been somewhat wet when he had dropped Cadence home, but why was Tandy wet? Had she been out in the downpour? It certainly looked that way.

"What's going on?" He found himself asking, almost yelling, before he had even reached her. "Are you okay? Why did you leave all of a sudden? Where's Sam?!"

"Sam." Tandy breathed, a wry smile taking shape on her lips. "Well, that's just about the answer to all'a your questions, ain't it, Dean."

"What?" He sputtered, carefully taking a seat beside her as he raked his gaze over her face, her torso, her abdomen, searching for something that should not be there, a gash or a bullet hole. "You're not hurt are you?" He asked, clearly panicked.

Slowly, Tandy shook her head.

There was traces of blood on her chin, but she didn't appear to have any visible wounds, meaning that it was either an internal injury, or it wasn't her own. Dean's nerves kicked into overdrive and he hoped for the latter.

"Who's blood is that?" He demanded, gesturing towards her chin.

"Dean, there's somethin' ... somethin' about your brother, that you need to know." Tandy replied softly, avoiding his question, along with his gaze.

Dean squinted and shook his head, confused. Sam? What in the heck did Sam have to do with the blood on her chin? It wasn't his ... surely ... it couldn't have been. Not Sam's. Sam loved Tandy. God, was Sammy okay?

"Look, if this is another one of your suspicions, I get it, okay, but I thought we were passed all that?" He frowned and leant forward, placing his hand on her damp jeans. "Your mama hasn't said something to you, has she? I mean, Sam, hes ... he's okay, right?" He asked gently, fearful.

"Well, someone did tell me somethin' very interestin' about your brother, but it wasn't my mama." She admitted, dragging her gaze from her fingers over to his face. "Sam's fine ... in a manner of speakin'." She added quietly, and he almost didn't hear her.

"Then who?" Dean asked avidly. "And what, exactly, did they tell you?"

"It was, uh, Castiel." She explained slowly, hesitantly. "And he didn't tell me what, 'xactly, but he told me enough. So, I confronted Sam and he told me that he was ... is ... drinkin' demon blood ... so he can get strong ... strong enough to defeat Lilith."

"What?" Dean stammered. "That's ... what you're saying is ... it ... it's nuts."

"It's the truth, Dean." Tandy replied, taking on an assertive tone. She felt the need to defend herself. She understood that Dean may have been reluctant to accept the disturbing news about his brother, but she didn't lie - omit the truth, perhaps - but never would she lie. Especially not to him. "Sam admitted it to me, and he even introduced me to her ... it. Earlier. Just after we danced. I didn't wanna believe it either, but then I saw the damned thing for myself. Castiel said that he was headed down a dangerous road, and tonight, I saw just how dangerous it actually is." She continued and the uncontrollable twitch that manifested in Dean's eyebrow when he grew angry flickered madly the more she divulged.

Silence fell between them, punctuated only by their heavy breathing.

"Okay, so, let me get this straight." Dean said, placing his hands before him as though he were trying to piece together the madness. "Castiel shows up, out of the blue, and he tells you that my brother is up to something, drinking demon blood, so that he can take out Lilith, and then Sam just so happens to introduce the two of you, willy nilly, just like that, all in the same night?" He asked, sounding dubious.

Tandy sighed. "Well, when you put it like that I can understand why you might be doubtful, but, more or less, that's it in a nutshell, yep." She confirmed.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" He spat as his irritation morphed into full blown anger. "I mean, c'mon, Tandy, when something like this happens, I expect you to tell me!"

Tandy was tempted to roll her eyes. Was he her daddy or her friend? ... Or her lover? The thought puzzled her. In any case, she didn't have time to ponder on that now, so she murmured, "I'm tellin' you now."

Dean scoffed and leant back in the hammock chair, disbelief and incredulity taking residence on his face.

"So, say that I believe you, what happened next? I mean, clearly there was a scuffle." He commented, gesturing, again, towards the blood and her matted hair.

Tandy bit her bottom lip and nodded.

"Well, I tried to send the darn demon back to Hell, obviously."

"Tried to?" Dean asked.

"Sam, uh, he stopped me and it ... it got away."

"Oh, he did, did he?"

Tandy read the look on Dean's face, the unbridled rage, and shook her head vehemently. "No, Dean, no, don't be mad at him, it ain't his fault!" She explained quickly. "And he certainly wasn't tryin' to hurt me. The blood is his. He cut his hand after I, uh, after I knocked him on the back'a his head. But, Sam, he's okay, and he's not to blame. He's been tricked. He needs our help!"

"Oh, I'll help him alright." Dean hissed, his voice low, dangerous. "Sneaky little bastard." He then turned his eyes on her and instead of subsiding, the vitriol increased. "Tandy, how could you do that? How could you be so reckless? If there was even the slightest chance of danger, you should have come to me!"

"Dean, I wanted to!" Tandy replied, reaching for his hand. "I did, but Sam, he made me swear!"

"And you're just a regular woman of your word, aren't you, no matter who gets hurt in the process?" He seethed, pulling away from her, almost as though he were scared that her touch might somehow inflict further damage.

He rose from the hammock chair and rattled his keys.

"Dean, stop!" Tandy said, concerned. "Where're you going?"

Dean turned to her and smiled darkly. "Oh, don't you worry your pretty little head off about me, sweetheart. I'm going to make damned certain that Sam gets all the help that he needs."

Tandy threw her hands in the air, gesturing for him to take it easy. "Hey, just hold on, okay, you ain't bein' rational." She said.

"Rational?!" He snorted, his voice rising several decibles. "Are you kidding me?! Tandy, you're lucky I don't start with you!"

"Dean, m'sorry!" She replied helplessly. "But I promised Sam I wouldn't tell you, he made me swear!"

Dean glared at her and the tension between them reached a crescendo. "Harbouring his filthy little secret from me is not a healthy way to start a relationship, Tandy." He grunted.

Tandy raised her eyebrows and her lips parted in shock. The mood shifted, became heavier, if that was even possible. "A ... a relationship?" She stuttered. His words had stunned her. Was he saying that ... that they were together? Officially? As in, boyfriend and girlfriend? After only one date? Tandy felt suddenly and overwhelmingly parched. She needed water. Or whiskey. Probably whiskey.

"Look, forget it." Dean mumbled as he backed away from the galley and descended the steps towards the driveway. "You just stay put." He commanded, taking on a bossy tone. "Don't go anywhere. Don't leave this galley. Don't even move a muscle. I'll deal with you later."

Tandy exhaled and sunk deeper into the hammock chair, watching him leave. It groaned beneath the sudden bearing of her weight and she snickered, feeling as weary as it sounded.

It was impossible for her to just 'stay put', not with things as they were, and yet, she couldn't find it within herself to get back up. Not at that moment, at least.

She contemplated calling her mama then, but decided against it. Admittedly, she'd been avoiding her mama for the past few days, claiming that research had been preoccupying her time and though it held some semblance of the truth, it wasn't the whole truth. She hadn't yet told her mama about the Shadow Man. If her mama knew that he had taken an interest in her, she'd try to intervene, and Tandy was frightened by what that might mean for her. The last thing she needed right now, amidst the Winchester drama and the end of everything, was her mama doing something reckless, and as kind as Maggie Kinsella may have been, she definitely had a reckless streak a mile long. Something that she had passed on to her daughter, apparently.

Having finally found the energy to take action, Tandy sprang to her feet and headed for the shed, in search of her keys. She stumbled down the stairs and collected her phone from her back pocket, quickly opening the mapping app that she had downloaded. Sam would live to regret teaching her how to track someone via their GPS signal. At least, that was if she could get to him before Dean did. Tandy quickened her pace. For his sake, she hoped that she could.