A/N: Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this chapter!

Thank you so, so much to all the wonderful readers of this story! Your reviews / follows / favorites mean so much as an author! Thank you so, so much!

I do not own Supernatural, Sherlock Holmes, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or any other TV Shows, Movies, Books, and/or Songs referenced in this tale.

Chapter Warnings: Victoria and Sam are dealing with the effects of Lucifer using them, this results in a panic attack. This chapter is angsty, but I tried to put a little fluff in here as well. As always, please let me know if there is anything y'all would like to see. Thanks so much for reading!

Chapter 19

Home

"Need it?"

Victoria laughed.

"No, knead it." She put the dough on the counter between her and her nephew. "Take the palms of your hands.." She held her right hand up and pointed to the bottom of the inside of her hand, "and roll the dough out, like this." She began to push the dough out with her hands, then folding it in on itself and repeating the process a few times.

"Then, you pat it down with your knuckles." She showed him how to do that as well. She folded the dough over on itself again and repeated the process again. "Now you try."

She sipped her coffee as she watched Jack put so much concentration into the sticky dough. He looked at his hands perplexed.

"Sprinkle flour from the pile we put next to the workstation."

He did, marveling at how the dough once again became a cohesive pile. He kneaded it a few more times, just as she had instructed.

"Okay, now we put it back in the bowl that we buttered to rest."

"Rest?"

"Yes, so the yeast we used can work again, making it rise."

Jack nodded. "Can I have some coffee?"

She smiled, thinking about how her nephew told her on the phone while she was working the hybrid case that he only liked it the way she fixed it.

"Of course." She got up to make his cup and refill her own when she felt hands slip around her waist.

"I hope we didn't wake you."

"No, I felt when you left, but went back to sleep for a while. Is that an apple pie on the table?"

Victoria nodded. She reached up to get another cup from the cupboard to make Sam's coffee.

"The crust didn't take long to make because it didn't have to rest." Jack was so pleased with his baking knowledge.

"Tell your Uncle where the apples came from."

"Washington!"

"What?" Sam was still holding her, his voice was muffled as his head was halfway buried in her hair.

"Flying lessons are going wonderfully."

Sam whipped around to Jack, who winked at him.

Sam snorted a laugh, wondering where the kid had learned that.

Victoria turned around and handed Sam his coffee and placed Jack's in front of him. He was watching the dough.

"Oh my God, pie for breakfast?! Tor, are you sure you're not the angel in this house?"

Cas followed Dean into the kitchen, narrowing his eyes at him, obviously displeased with the joke.

"I thought Jack and I would give you a break. The pie is all yours, we're making cinnamon rolls for everyone else."

Dean got two mugs out and began to make his and Mary's coffee. "Do you want some, Cas?"

"Yes."

Dean rolled his eyes at the lack of pleasantries and got out another mug.

Cas tilted his head towards Jack and Victoria. "Did you two not sleep well?"

Victoria smiled sweetly at her nephew who allowed his eyes to leave the dough to look at his surrogate father.

"We had a similar dream to the last one, and just decided to get up, and bake. I told Jack it always helps me when there is a situation I cannot control."

Sam suddenly became very interested in his coffee. Dean handed the cup he made up to Cas before taking one of the others to his mom.

"Similar?"

Victoria sat down across from Jack, and held onto the mug, trying to let the warmth soothe her as her chest began to itch. "Yes, just differed in voices. This time it sounded like they were in a store?"

Sam sat down at the other end of the table and Cas sat next to him. "Buying what?"

"Clothes?"

"Do you think someone is trapped in a clothing store Dad? Someone that we need to go save?"

Cas actually preferred that option. "Maybe, Jack."

"How would we know where they are?"

"We can continue to work cases as normal, and hope that we come across this one."

Jack nodded, his eyes turning back to the glass bowl.

Dean came back in, got his coffee and a fork, and sat next to Jack. He took the pie that was currently in front of Sam and stuck his fork in.

"Oh. My. God. You're never leaving, Tor. Ever."

She smiled slightly as she got up to make more coffee. The dream had disturbed her more than she admitted. The voice was obviously buying maternity clothes, although Jack could not discern that. As she was teaching Jack to bake she was attempting to connect the dots. She only needed a bit more data. The itching grew worse and she began to absent-mindedly scratch her chest. She stood in front of the coffee maker, watching the drip.

"Aunt Victoria, it's at the top of the bowl, is it ready?"

Her nephew's voice shook her from her stupor. She turned around. All four of them were staring at her, reminding her of when she first moved in. With one half-angelic addition.

"Yes." She resumed her seat and sipped from her coffee. "So, turn it upside down and put the bowl in the sink." When he came back, she continued the instructions. "Okay, so you remember our perimeter lessons?"

"Yes." He seemed less than thrilled.

"Okay, so, make the dough an approximate rectangle that is roughly eight inches by twelve inches and then tell me the estimate of the perimeter, and area." He looked perplexed and she pointed to the rolling pin next to him.

He did an almost perfect job. "Forty-inch perimeter and ninety-six inches squared."

She smiled. "Perfect. Now, get the butter we left out of the fridge earlier, and spread it out evenly on the rolled-out dough."

They were all enjoying watching the kid. They all took a certain level of pride in him. Dean was impressed with his progress and grew to like the kid a bit more each day. He even thought about taking him to the park and tossing a football around with him like Bobby used to do with him and Sam. Sam enjoyed watching Victoria interact with Jack. It brought out a part of her personality he didn't know existed. This part that awed him with its understanding and kindness, and fierce protectiveness. Although, he shouldn't be too surprised at that. He had witnessed the ferocity before, regarding his own well-being. Sam also enjoyed having Jack around as a nephew. Jack represented a part of life he didn't think he would get to have as a hunter. Cas enjoyed being a father figure, something he never imagined experiencing as an Angel.

"Done!"

"Sprinkle the brown sugar, and cinnamon evenly, and then we'll roll it up."

Victoria walked over to his side to help with the last part. She expertly rolled the dough onto itself, making a perfect-looking roll. "Will you bring the buttered square baking dish over?" When Jack had done so, Victoria began to cut the roll into sections with dental floss.

"Is that… floss?" Dean took a break from his pie.

"Yes, it prevents the sections from 'squishing'." Jack learned air quotes from his dad.

"I couldn't think of a more technical term at the time." Victoria explained.

Dean nodded and continued eating.

They placed the rolls in the pan and Victoria popped them in the oven. "Set the timer for twenty minutes."

"Last step, glaze. We need milk and powdered sugar. I'll get the powdered sugar and you get the milk."

Jack nodded, all business.

Victoria put a cup of powdered sugar into a bowl and Jack was still looking in the fridge. "Aunt Victoria?"

"Hum?"

"Whole, two percent, fat free, or almond?"

Everyone looked at Sam accusingly. He just shrugged.

The day had passed without consequence. Dinner was prepared the way it used to be, with Mary and Victoria cooking and the boys doing the dishes. This time they were allowed to do some angelically, in order to stretch Jack's powers.

Victoria thought about the dream, and her chest began to itch. She knew a way to possibly get more data, but the mere thought of what she could discover terrified her.

Everyone in the bunker was doing their own thing. Jack was working on training Loki; the dog was smart, but stubborn. He would listen around fifty percent of the time. And since Jack gave him treats regardless, he saw no reason to obey constantly.

Dean and Sam had a pot of coffee between them with some ancient scrolls they found in the basement. They wrote the words or symbols out and had Cas make a cheat sheet. Then they would all translate together and Sam would type up the translation and save it in multiple, secure electronic ways.

Mary was reading a novel Victoria recommended. They enjoyed discussing the books once they both finished them. It was their own personal book club. They had to pick new releases considering Cas's transferred knowledge of all literature into her head. Whenever she would read the first few lines, or sometimes even got so far as chapters, the plot would come back to her, ruining the remainder of the book. Unfortunately, Metatron did not grant Cas with the knowledge of all the monsters of literature, or all literature about monsters. That would have been far too convenient.

Victoria was reading through the "B" monsters, knowing she would have to reread since she was only paying half of the attention she should. She knew what she wanted to ask of Castiel, but she didn't know how to separate him from the hunters. She knew they would just find out anyway, so she went to sit at their table.

"Castiel?"

All of three of them looked up from their work.

"Yes Victoria?"

She sighed, anticipating the reluctance she would get from all sides. She dug her thumbnail into a groove that was on the solid table with her left hand and began to scratch at her chest with her right.

"I would like for you to share your memory with me of the day you and Dean found me in the woods."

"No." Dean was emphatic. "Absolutely not, Tor. That wasn't you."

She sat back in her seat and tried to quell the itch. "Those dreams aren't coming from nowhere. I need all the information I can ascertain in order to form a theory."

Sam pursed his lips and closed his eyes. Victoria grabbed his left hand that was on the arm of the chair with both of hers. The itching let up a little. He smiled minutely at the gesture.

She swallowed her pride, and looked at the Angel with pleading eyes, "Please." She paused, taking a breath and unintentionally squeezing Sam's hand. "I know you all have noticed I haven't been the same ever since I came back, not including the whole soul thing. I was essentially soulless, then I was so weak walking was a chore, and now I'm more or less myself, and, I uh, I've been having flashbacks in my nightmares, and then dreams where I am an unborn child, I know that is what that it. Jack and I have those same dreams, and aside from my sister's DNA, the only other thing we share is the Grace, and if the Grace is the common factor then…" She couldn't continue, trailing off and looking at the floor.

Sam put his other hand on top of hers, pain filling every facial feature.

She looked up at him. "Oh, Sam. Was this your hunting trip?"

He nodded slowly, unable to lie to her anymore. Words couldn't find him.

She released her hands from his and sat back in her chair before getting up and heading out of the bunker.

Sam started to get up when Dean reached over to grab his arm. "Not now, Sammy."

"Dean, she…"

"Not now."

Victoria's chest was itching so furiously she thought she might scratch through to her heart. She felt her heartbeat fasten and her limbs go numb. She couldn't catch her breath. She sat down in the clearing behind the bunker's entrance to ground herself. She put her hands in the grass, gently letting the blades caress her palms. She felt the opening of a wild clover and tried to focus on the feel of the flower's soft, small petals. Suddenly the life of the clover ran through her mind, the flower emerging from the ground, the bud holding the clover's true beauty, the blooming, the bees that swarmed over and around it, the bee that drank its nectar, the hive the bee went to, and the honey that was collected by a beekeeper.

She leaned her head on Castiel's shoulder. "Thank you."

"Would you still like the memory?"

"No, I do not really see how that could help anymore."

"What do I do?" She felt a hot tear run down her cheek.

"It is what we will do."

"Can you access my memories from when I was drugged?"

Castiel paused, "Victoria, I, can we talk to Sam and Dean please?"

She nodded.

Sam Winchester had been the Devil's plaything ten years before he was even born. He was sought out and fed demon blood at the age of six months, and in an effort to protect him, his mother was killed by being burned on the ceiling, blood dripping from her body onto her baby below. He grew up without her and was cared for by his father and elder brother. A father who never even bothered to care about his son's interests and simply make him the perfect hunter. A father who left him and Dean alone for days on end and Dean would have to steal in order for the two to eat.

The woman whom he loved and wanted to marry was burned and killed the same way as his mother, two women he felt responsible for because he was the Devil's true vessel. He was tricked into drinking more demon blood, tricked into opening the last seal and releasing Lucifer into the world. A Lucifer he said "yes" to in order to save the world. A Lucifer who used his body to murder countless humans. The same Lucifer who tortured him in the cage. Who used his soul like a toy to the point where he can still smell the fire and brimstone sometimes in the middle of the night.

And since then? He has been mocked by him, tortured by him even more in hallucinations that caused him to live on the brink of sanity, watched him possess Cas and use him and Dean for his own selfish ends. Lucifer plagued Sam Winchester's life, and all Sam wanted from the time he was a boy was to be good. He even had faith, he prayed, he believed, he hoped.

And now Lucifer had managed to kidnap and pump his best friend, who just happened to be the woman he cared for deeply, full of evil sludge and use her to further his own evil purpose.

Sam Winchester had seen Lucifer use everyone he cared for like they didn't matter. This final act, however, was on the verge of breaking him. And why? Because he was in love with her. Neither of them could admit it to each other, not yet, but damn it, he did. He wanted to protect her, cherish her, care for her as she had never been cared for before; he wanted to let her know that she was more than enough for him. And instead the evil entity that so long had been entwined in his psyche, his physical being, and his life was now entwined in hers. And like so many other times before, he felt it was his fault.

Victoria read his demeanor as soon as she and Castiel walked into his room, where Dean was on the couch.

"No, no, no, Sam…" She practically ran to him and enveloped him in her arms. She was on her knees in the bed and pulled his head to her chest. She began to kiss the top of his head. He wrapped his arms around her.

Dean motioned for he and Cas to leave. They closed the door and Cas locked it from the other side.

"I'm so sorry I left you in there. I just needed a minute, I'm so sorry." She kept kissing his head and holding him to her.

Sam broke away and looked at her. Victoria brushed the hair out of his eyes. His eyes searched hers, as if he were looking for an answer in the sea of blue, now only rimmed by lavender. "He…" Sam stumbled.

"Is no longer part of the equation." She smiled lightly. "Our nephew ensured that."

"What he did to you…" Again, Sam faltered.

"Is no worse than what he did to you, Castiel, or Elizabeth."

Sam looked at his hands, "Except we agreed."

Victoria tilted his chin up, so he would look in her eyes. "To save the world. All three of you sacrificed your bodies to save the world. You are the best kind of people." She kissed his forehead. "And you, Sam Winchester, are my kind of person."

He allowed himself to rest his head back under hers. "You need me to be strong, and you're comforting me." He snorted out a laugh.

"Sam, I told you after Aristede that you could tell me anything and that it is not a burden. We can be strong for each other. As any healthy couple should be."

She winced, she let that word slip.

"Couple?"

Of course he picked up on that.

"I don't think it is too much of a surprise Sam Winchester. I think everyone knows but us."

He looked up at her, his eyes seeking a response to a statement he didn't make. She pressed her forehead to his, her hand stroking his cheek. She enjoyed looking into his eyes, she was never sure of the color she would see – which added to the overall surprise of Sam Winchester, the man who kept surprising her. There was a light knock at the door.

"Hey." Dean coughed.

Victoria smiled and sat back against the bed, Sam did the same.

"Come in."

Dean and Cas came in, Cas shut the door behind him, and they both sat on the couch.

Dean rubbed his chin and ran his hand over his lips. "What's our plan?"

"Perhaps we should share what we know, so we can come up with a theory."

They shared all the information they could, although Sam left out the part about the second kidnapper he killed. He said he heard Victoria shout "Doctor" in her sleep instead. Dean and Cas covered for him, although they knew it would all come out later. The lies always came out.

Victoria tried to remove herself from the situation as much as possible and access the situation analytically. However, she occasionally felt her hand move to her chest.

"How long do we intend to give Agent Brooks before we delve into my memories?"

Sam shut his eyes, wincing.

"Tor, you know what happens when we break the protection our screwed-up minds give us."

"It's not protection Dean, this isn't a trauma response, it is drugs."

"Still." Dean sat back on the couch; arms crossed.

Victoria bit her bottom lip, tearing at the skin without realizing it. "Tomorrow night, no longer."

Castiel was silent, not wanting to be a participant in her memories being surfaced. He had seen her body when no one else had. He healed her before she could see in a mirror. His vessel's nostrils flared, and he looked up, with his chin tucked in toward his chest, creating a fearsome illusion. "I will not help you recover those memories."

Everyone looked at the Angel in varying degrees of surprise.

"I have seen Sam and Dean go through every kind of pain imaginable. They are the two strongest men I know, and I would never want either one of them to see what you looked like when I brought you to your apartment, bathed you, and dressed you." He averted his eyes. "I healed you before you could see. Whatever caused those marks, I don't think I'm strong enough to witness without having the ability to intervene."

She sharply drew breath. "Okay."

Victoria went over to the Being who had treated her so kindly the last little bit. She smiled at him as she put her hand on his cheek. She closed her eyes and shared with him the feeling she experienced when he held her, the calmness that came over her. "You mean the world to me Castiel, I apologize for not considering your feelings before suggesting we go into my memories."

He nodded.

Victoria went back to sit next to Sam. "Well, this has been a very taxing day. We obviously have some very heavy things to deal with in the not so distant future. But, maybe we can end the day with a little Netflix?"

"Now, we're talking."

Dean plopped down by Tor, causing her to lay halfway on Sam. Dean scooted as close to her as possible. He patted the empty space beside him. "Come on Cas."

Victoria never thought there would be a time in her life when she would be sharing a bed with two hunters and an Angel, but she found herself enjoying it, this was her family.

"Where is everybody?" Mary Winchester asked, looking around the empty kitchen.

"Asleep in Sam's room." The angel answered.

"Everyone?" Mary inquired again, a look of disbelief washing over her features.

"Yes. Dean, Sam, and Victoria fell asleep while watching Netflix, and Jack went in there later, he sometimes needs the comfort. He missed Victoria."

Mary cracked the door to Sam's room and smiled at what she saw. Jack was turned to the side facing the wall, Dean was on his back next to him. Victoria was next to Dean curled into Sam who was also on his back. Loki was at the foot, sprawled out across all of them. Cas appeared next to her.

"They deserve so much better."

Mary patted him on the back and let her hand move to and remain on his shoulder. "You all do, Castiel."

He smiled at his shoes. "We better go before Dean realizes we're here."

Dean woke up in the middle of the biggest chick-flick moment of his entire life. "Oh hell no." He whispered to himself as he crawled out of the bed, his hunter skills enabling him to not wake anyone else up.

"Sleep well?" His mom asked when he made it to the kitchen.

"Yup."

She smiled into her mug. "Good."

Dean cleared his throat after getting his coffee and looked to his mom. "We, well me and Cas, uh, need to tell you something about Victoria before the rest of them wake up."

Mary didn't look up from her coffee for a while, not able to meet her son's eyes. Her boys, including Castiel, had managed to protect her from everything that goes bump in the night since her return, including the Devil himself. She had fought a lot of monsters back in her younger days and had been killed by a minion of Lucifer himself, but since she'd been back, she hadn't seen the ugly side. Nor had her boys allowed themselves to show her how it had affected them.

"Mom?" Dean asked gently.

"Umm, I'm fine." Mary smiled at her eldest son sweetly. "I just, I don't know what to say."

"Yeah, we uh, get the feeling."

"And Sam?"

Dean rubbed his forehead. "The kid is strong. Hell, they both are. But I think this one hits Sammy a little different because it's…"

"Lucifer." Cas interjected, self-loathing rife in his voice.

Dean breathed out a sigh and patted his best friend on the back. "Not your fault man, we've been over this."

"Dean, if I hadn't said yes..."

Dean put his face in both of his hands. "We get it, all right? But look man, with that thinking, hell, which one of us wouldn't be at fault? Huh? Me, you, Sammy, hell, even Mom." Dean flinched. "Mom, I'm…"

"No, you're right. If I hadn't made the deal, none of this would have happened. And I know that, and I live with that every day. But if I just let that take over? I wouldn't be any good to any of you. Amara gave me a second chance. And I'm not going to ruin it. So, I'm going to be here, for all you boys, and Victoria too. And whatever else is in our future. I'm here."

"Damn straight. And you, Cas? Hell, what is this now, your seventeenth chance? Just live it out man, okay? Just be with your family and help us with whatever crap we come up against."

"Always."

Dean got out of his chair. "I better start breakfast. I have a feeling our sleeping beauties will be up soon."

"Morning Sunshines!" Dean announced as he put a plate of ham and cheese omelets on the middle of the table and one vegetarian one as Sam, Victoria, and Jack came into the kitchen.

Victoria poured and made up three cups of coffee, set two down in front of Sam and Jack, and gave Dean a peck on the cheek before sitting down herself.

Dean placed two boiled eggs into Loki's bowl. The dog ate quickly and happily.

Breakfast was almost as routine and welcomed as dinner. Maybe even more so, because there was coffee and pajamas involved. Sometimes Victoria would inquire where the coffee came from and Cas would tell the story of the country of origin, about the farmer who grew it, the laborer who picked it, how and where they were roasted, and what the weather was like when the beans were shipped to the grocery store. One time there was a discrepancy in where the beans came from and where the bag said they came from so Cas always checked before beginning the story, because Victoria was none too pleased they were "false advertising" on the bag. She even called the 1-800 number on the back but realized she could not back up her information.

However, Cas soon learned they did not like to learn about the origin of the eggs.

Dean's cooking was always praised, and just as the boys did the dishes in the evening, the women did them in the morning.

Although none of them said it, this is what they all wanted in the end. Yes, the occasional hunting of monsters and killing evil bastards was part of the thrill and sometimes even enjoyable. The possibility of danger always lurked, however, no matter how skilled they all were. With each new addition the dangers intensified, making all the hunters uneasy. Aside from Jack and Castiel, they knew their bodies would weaken, wither, and eventually die. They knew their days of helping by killing monsters was numbered. So, this right here, this breakfast, coffee, conversation, this was their end game. With an ageless Cas and Jack right there with them.

While Mary and Victoria were cleaning the kitchen and Jack and Cas were training, Sam pulled Dean aside before his older brother could get the scrolls out.

"I got a name."