Regarding Dean Part 2

Sam and Angela sat at the table in the motel room, looking at a picture of Gideon's dead body. Dean leaned against the wall and looked over their shoulders in fascination. Meanwhile, Grace was sleeping peacefully on one of the motel beds.

"Is that a dead guy?" Dean asked curiously.

"Yeah," Sam answered.

"Whoa," Dean murmured. "Never seen a dead guy before."

Sam shook his head slightly and laughed. "Uh, yeah, you have. Trust me."

"Hmm." Dean hummed.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door and the hunters turned to look at it. Dean shrugged and walked toward the door.

"Hey!" Angela stood up and pulled out her gun, Sam following suit. "No, D-Dean, wait a second."

Sam and Angela aimed their guns at the door as Dean opened it to reveal Rowena standing there. She stepped through the door and into the room.

"Who are you?" Dean asked curiously.

Rowena turned toward Sam and Angela. "Spell's progressed, I see." She noted before walking past Dean.

"You…" Dean closed the door and walked back to the center of the room.

"We wanted intel, Rowena." Angela shook her head. "Not a house call."

Rowena turned away from the couple to assess the spell that's been cast on Dean. "Oh, I have a feeling you'll come to thank me."

Dean reached out and touched Rowena's hair, a smile on his face. "Mm, your hair, it's all so bouncy."

Rowena laughed and beamed widely at Dean. "Why, thank you."

"Mm-hmm." Dean nodded.

Rowena turned her head and pouted at Sam and Angela. "Do we have to fix him?"

"Rowena." Sam deadpanned.

"Samuel," Rowena turned back to Dean to continued assessing him. "Those glyphs you found are an archaic form of Celtic. Ogham Chraobh. The Druids used it in their rituals, calling it the 'Language of the Trees.'"

"Wait," Dean looked at Sam and Angela. "Wait. Now the trees are talkin'?"

Sam, Angela, and Rowena looked up at Dean, and Sam seemed a bit startled. Rowena moved around behind Dean.

"Uh, Dean, hon, do you remember HBO?" Angela asked.

Dean's brows furrowed in confusion. "Um…"

"Cinemax?" Sam asked.

Dean's face cleared and he grinned. "Skinemax."

Angela pursed her lips. "Sure," she grabbed him by the shoulder and guided him to sit on the empty motel bed. "Great. All right, come here. We're just gonna…"

"Oh," Dean muttered.

"We're gonna sit you down right here. And, uh, yeah, go ahead. Um…"

Dean looked around with a smirk on his face. "This like live Skinemax, or…"

Angela grabbed the TV remote and turned on Scooby-Doo. Dean immediately perked up with a smile on his face.

"Hey!"

"Perfect." Angela smiled. "Stay here." She instructed as she motioned for Sam and Rowena to follow her a few feet away. "Come here."

"There's only one family of witches versed in this kind of magic," Rowena commented. "I thought them all dead for years, but when I saw those glyphs…"

Sam showed Rowena the photo of Gideon's. body. "Is this one of 'em?"

"Gideon Loughlin," Rowena said grimly.

Sam turned to look at her, hearing the tone of her voice. "Did you know him?"

"A bit." Rowena nodded.

"All right, tell us about this family," Sam replied.

"A hundred years ago," Rowena started. "The Loughlins came over from the Old World and turned a small town on the Mississippi Delta into their own personal fiefdom. Their children—Gideon, Boyd, and Catrina were like three rotten little peas in a pod. The family possessed a powerful spell book, a tome of Druidic magic called the Black Grimoire." She explained in depth. "Witches came from around the world to live with them and study its secrets… for a price."

"So, what happened to them?" Angela inquired.

"Hunters happened," Rowena answered. "Of course, I'd heard the rumors one or two survived, stealing away with their book, but I-I dismissed them as gossip."

Dean started laughing at the TV, and Angela, Sam, and Rowena turned to look at him. He saw them looking at him and turned back to the TV to keep watching.

"With Gideon dead," Rowena continued. "If you want to break the curse on Dean, we need to find that book."

Sam looked up at Rowena, clearly surprised. "Wait a second, you can't break it?"

Rowena looked slightly insulted and made a face. "Oh, of course I could, but witchcraft this complex would take time. More time than Dean's got. He's already begun to forget himself, everyone he's ever known, ever loved. Even you." She explained. "Soon he'll forget how to speak, how to swallow, and then… Dean Winchester's going to die."

Dean looked at them, slightly concern. "Sucks for that guy."

Rowena, Angela, and Sam turned to look at Dean.

Dean shook his head a bit. "Huh."

~/~\~

Sam, Angela, and Dean were sitting in the motel bathroom. They all seemed worried about the spell's progression.

"So, after everything…" Dean trailed off. "That's it. This is what nails me."

"No," Sam replied firmly. "No, no, Dean, i-it…" he took a deep breath. "It's not gonna happen, all right?"

"Well, you both just told me my whole life story." Dean's voice wavered in fear. "And I gotta be honest, I… I can feel it, slipping out of my head. I mean, ganking monsters is one thing. But this…" he covered his face with his hand.

"You know, uh, we're gonna, um… hon, we'll figure it out." Angela assured. "All right? We will."

Sam put his hand on Dean's shoulder, then he and Angela stood up. They walked out of the bathroom and into the main room where Rowena was waiting for them.

"How is he?" she asked.

Sam stared at her and then walked past her. "Like you care."

Rowena frowned in offense. "Oh."

Sam walked over and sat on the empty motel bed. Angela sat next to her husband pulled him into her embrace.

"You know," Sam whispered. "I've seen my brother die, but watching him become… not him… This might actually be worse."

~/~\~

Dean stood at the sink and splashed cold water onto his face. He looked intently into the mirror at his reflection.

"Okay." He whispered to himself. "My name is Dean Winchester. Sam is my brother, Angie is my sister-in-law, and Grace is my niece. Uh, Mary Winchester is my mom. And Cast… Cas is my best friend."

Dean sighed heavily and looked unsure about everything he had just said.

~/~\~

"We need to find that grimoire," Rowena stressed.

Angela looked up at Rowena and scoffed. "Of course. Of course. That's your angle isn't it?"

Rowena looked at Angela as though she didn't know what she meant. "Oh?"

"Oh, come on Rowena," Sam muttered. "A powerful spell book shows up and all of a sudden, you're here to help? Altruism isn't exactly your style."

Rowena looked resigned and gave a small smile. "True. Also, it never hurts to have a Winchester owe you one."

~/~\~

"My name is Dean Wi—Winchester," he stammered.

He looked down in fear as he realized that he could barely remember his own name. He swallowed nervously and looked up to try again.

"My name is—my name is…"

The fear on his face was clear as day and he shook his head, tears in his eyes.

"My… My name is—is…"

Dean stared into the mirror and a tear slipped down his cheek.

~/~\~

Sam pulled away from Angela's embrace and stood up to grab his coat. "Gideon Loughlin's address was in his accountant's file. If the book is there, I'll find it."

Rowena smiled and she started to follow him. "Of course, you'll need me there to help—

"No," Angela stood up. "You and I are staying here with Dean."

Rowena frowned, clearly upset. "I most certainly am not!"

"Angie's right," Sam replied. "He can't come with me, and we're not leaving him alone with you."

Rowena calmed herself down and forced a small smile. "The Black Grimoire's written in ancient Druid. How do you propose to find a proper spell without me there to—

"Well, you said a few of the Loughlin's survived, right?" Sam asked.

"That was a rumor." Rowena reminded. "So, you expect one of them to—to what? Translate their ancient super-secret family spellbook for you? You just killed their brother. They'd sooner use your skin as an outfit."

Sam nodded his head and pulled out his gun. "They can try."

Angela walked over and stood on her toes to kiss Sam softly. "You stay safe, okay? I know you don't want me actively fighting because of the baby and all, but please call me if you need backup. I love you."

"I love you, too." Sam smiled softly, kissing her forehead.

Sam left the motel room and Rowena just rolled her eyes in annoyance.

~/~\~

Dean continued staring at his reflection, his eyes wide with terror.

"My… My…" he frowned. "I don't know."

~/~\~

Dean stood restlessly inside of a circle while Rowena gathered things, apparently getting ready to do a spell. Dean kept moving items around, which was clearly annoying Rowena. Meanwhile, Angela was making Grace a PB&J sandwich.

"Stop touching everything." Rowena took a small bottle from Dean.

"Sorry," he muttered.

Dean spun around in a circle and when he faced the table again, he grabbed the same bottle. Rowena snatched it from him again and handed him a voodoo doll and some pins to play with while she did her spell work.

"Ugh. Here. Play with this, and I'll tell you a story." Rowena told Dean.

Dean took the doll and turned away from her. "Okay."

"Once," Rowena started. "A beautiful witch was, again, run out of her homeland by those pompous, self-righteous, murderous hooligans. You know them as the British Men of Letters."

Dean looked over at her and nodded slightly before turning back to the doll. "Hmm."

"She sought refuge with a family of witches. All she wanted was a roof over her head and a safe place to hone her magic. Yet they threw her out like… like she was common trash. Said she wasn't up to snuff."

Dean turned to look at Rowena again. "Oh, these witches sound like dicks. I think you got plenty of snuff."

Rowena seemed surprised by his statement and laughed. She cautiously glanced at Angela, who was preoccupied with Grace. "You can really remember nothing, can you?" she asked Dean. "What a gift not to recall the things you've done."

The witch looked away from Dean and back down to the table. Dean looked back over at her, brows creased together in confusion.

"What have I done?"

Rowena stopped and looked back up at Dean. "Oh, you're a killer, Dean Winchester."

~/~\~

Outside of the Loughlin's large house, there was a black SUV and a man dressed in a simple suit. The man was drinking something out of a flask when Sam came up behind him, gun cocked. The man raised his hands immediately.

"Who's inside?" Sam demanded.

~/~\~

Dean frowned deeply at Rowena. "Wait, I… I kill people?"

"Scores," Rowena answered.

~/~\~

Sam shot the man and he fell to the ground, dead, and the flask fell out of his hand.

~/~\~

"But… But… though you may be a stubborn pain in the arse with the manners of a Neanderthal and the dining habits of a toddler," Rowena continued. "Everything you've done, you've done…" she stopped and made a disgusted face behind Dean's back. "For the greater good."

"Oh, and that's supposed to make it okay?" Dean questioned.

"Dean," Angela walked over so that she was standing in front of him. "You are a good man, I promise you that. You're selfless, you're a good brother, and you are a great uncle."

"She's right," Rowena admitted. "You help those other than yourself. But me, I've done horrible things, and I told myself it was fine. It was the price of power. And power's what matters, right?" she shrugged, almost trying to convince herself. "Then I met God and his sister," she noted, earning a wide-eyed and disbelieving look from Dean. "The two most powerful beings in the universe, wasting it on squabbling with each other. I thought, if—if they can't be happy, or at least satisfied, how can there be any hope for me?"

Dean looked at the witch, baffled. "Why are you telling me this?"

Rowena smiled at him. "Because I know you won't remember."

She tapped him on the nose with her finger. Suddenly, Angela's phone rang on the table and she walked over to answer it.

"Hey baby," Angela greeted as she put the phone on speaker. "You're in?"

~/~\~

Sam walked quietly through the front door and his phone was on speaker. "Shh," he whispered. "Yeah, I'm in. All right. As soon as I get the translation, Rowena casts the spell."

Sam tucked his phone into his jacket pocket and started heading up the stairs. He slowly opened the door and walked closer to Catrina with his gun drawn.

"This gun is full of witch-killing bullets," he warned. "So, why don't you go to your grimoire and tell me how to break the memory spell."

Catrina turned to look at Sam, seeming unsurprised that he was there. "Boyd wanted to go after you, but I said, 'Why bother?' You're hunters. You'll hunt us down, right at our doorsteps. Hot and… fresh like pizza."

"I'm not asking you again." Sam replied firmly.

Boyd walked quietly into the room behind Sam. "Abi," he chanted, causing Sam to be thrown against a bookshelf.

Catrine started chanting a spell and her butterflies began to flutter their wings and a high-pitched noise could be heard, causing Sam to stop trying to get up and instead cover his ears.

"Age nunc intellectum," Catrina chanted. "Age nunc intellectum atque voluntatem omnem meam."

Catrina look satisfied with herself and laughed as Sam screamed in pain.

"Sam?!" Dean's voice sounded from the phone.

"Sammy!" Angela's voice sounded from the speaker.

"Aah!" Sam yelled in pain.

~/~\~

Dean woke up groggily in the passenger seat of the Impala. "Hmm?"

He blinked a few times and looked around the car. Grace was in the back seat sleeping and Dean noticed a note stuck to the windshield in front of him. He snatched the note down and read it.

"Your brother's been kidnapped by a witch. Angie helped me find your stupid car and left you here." Dean read quietly. "Stupid?"

Dean looked around the car and was about to get out when he saw another note stuck to the passenger side window.

"Stay." He read, making a face as he leaned back into the seat.

~/~\~

Sam, apparently unconscious, was tied to a chair in the same room as Gideon's body. Boyd was currently checking Sam's bonds.

"Boyd, you promised," Catrina said as she picked up an old-looking box and walked back over to the table. "Without Gideon, we are not a family."

Boyd looked up at Catrina sternly. "Well, you should've thought of that before you went behind his back and pinata'd the accountant."

Catrina looked over at Boyd and scoffed.

"Gideon told you to let it go," he reminded.

Catrina turned back to the box, which she had set down on the same table that Gideon's body was on. "And let us be cheated by some sniveling, weak human nothing?"

Boyd finished with Sam and walked over to his sister. "You got our brother killed."

"Mm. Well, we…" she opened the box and revealed a black knife. "Can bring him back."

Suddenly, they heard the door close and they both turned at the sound. Catrina seemed annoyed at the interruption and she handed the knife to Boyd.

"Do it. Please. For me?" Catrina gave him a small smile.

Boyd sighed heavily and resignedly took the knife from her. She left the room to go down to the door, brushing her hand against Gideon's head on the way. Sam quickly looked up and put his head back down as Boyd turned to face him with the knife in hand.

~/~\~

Rowena and Angela stood at the foyer and looked up as they saw Catrina coming down the stairs.

"Catrina Loughlin," Rowena greeted. "The years have not been kind."

Catrina scrunched her face up, almost as if she was disgusted to see them. "Who are you?"

"Rowena." The redheaded witch replied, earning no response. "Rowena MacLeod?"

"Oh, and I'm Angela Winchester. You have my husband."

~/~\~

Sam looked up as Boyd began to work on the spell to bring Gideon back. "You don't want to do this."

Boyd cut his palm with the black knife and seemed unsurprised that Sam was awake. "Well, well, well. Look who's awake." He said as he squeezed the blood from his palm into a bowl.

"Okay," Sam started. "So, whatever your sister has planned, you don't have to do it."

Boyd looked up at Sam. "You mean, swapping your soul for him?"

Sam eyes widened slightly in shock at that information. Boyd just smiled slightly and looked back down at Gideon.

"I'm afraid I do," Gideon drew a glyph on Gideon's forehead in blood.

Sam's brows creased together in concern and he started working to loosen the ropes that tied his hands together.

~/~\~

"Raggedy Ann," Catrina smirked as she recognized Rowena.

"Excuse me?" the redhead asked indignantly.

"I remember you," Catrina started walking down the stairs. "A rag doll all huddled up on our doorstep. I swore I could see the fleas nibbling away at whatever the hell was left of that dirty little body of yours. And still… still, you thought you were worthy of our magic."

Rowena and Angela watched Catrina come down the stairs.

"And when we disagreed… Oh… how you begged," Catrina taunted. "How you threw yourself down and… offered yourself to each of us."

Rowena closed her eyes, trying to contain her anger, and Catrina just looked at her in disgust.

"Boyd almost took you up on it, too." Catrina laughed. "But I told him, it would be cleaner with the pigs." She sneered.

"You know what they say?" Rowena clenched her jaw.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing heals old wounds like opening fresh ones."

"Hmm." Catrina hummed.

Rowena pulled her hand out of her jacket pocket and hurled magic at Catrina, causing her to go flying into a mirror hanging behind her, and glass shards littered the ground.

"Oh!" Catrina yelled in pain.

~/~\~

Dean looked again at the sticky note that said, 'STAY,' took it down, and decided to ignore it. He got out of the Impala and opened the trunk, where he found another note that said 'OPEN ME.' He opened the hidden compartment in the trunk and looked at all the weapons.

"Oh," he laughed in awe as his gaze immediately fell on a very large gun.

Dean's face fell visibly as he read the note on the gun that said, 'NO,' and he kept looking. He noticed another note that said, 'WITCH-KILLING BULLETS' and one last note on his signature gun that said, 'THIS GUN.'

~/~\~

Catrina, still on the floor, pinned Rowena and Angela to the wall. She started to pull herself up off the ground while she sang tauntingly.

"I'm just a little girl, I'm Raggedy Ann. Oh, Raggedy Ann. Falling apart at the seams," she picked up a shard of glass and threw at Rowena, landing it close to her face. "I've never been very good at darts. Do over!" she clapped her hands excitedly and looked for another glass shard. "Just a little girl, Raggedy Ann. Oh, Raggedy Ann."

Catrina bent down and picked up a large shard of glass. She stood up to inspect it and was about to throw it toward Rowena and Angela when she heard the sound of a gun cocking. Catrina turned and saw Dean standing there with a gun pointed at her.

"A gun?" she laughed. "You really think that's gonna work on a…"

Dean held up the note that said, 'WITCH-KILLING BULLETS.' Catrina scoffed and turned away. Dean shot her immediately and she went down, causing Rowena and Angela to fall to the floor once the spell was broken.

~/~\~

Sam and Boyd were both startled by the gunshot. Sam managed to get his hands free and threw himself at Boyd, knocking the knife from his hand. He punched Boyd harshly, knocking him further away, and Sam picked up the knife. However, using magic, Boyd made the knife extremely hot and Sam dropped it quickly.

"Aah," Sam grunted in pain.

Boyd took the chance to run out of the room and down the stairs, Sam hot on his heels. Dean saw them coming down the stairs and aimed his gun at them. Boyd froze on the landing while Sam froze a few steps up. Dean was confused as to who he should shoot and aimed the gun at Sam.

"No, no, no. Brother." Sam pointed to himself. "Witch," he pointed at Boyd.

Dean nodded and shot Boyd, who crumpled onto the floor and Sam sighed in relief. Dean, looking quite proud of himself, gave Sam a thumbs-up.

~/~\~

Sam and Angela were waiting impatiently in the foyer, and Angela held Grace, having grabbed her from the car. Suddenly, there was a flash of purple light at the top of the stairs and Rowena could be heard saying a spell. After a moment, Rowena and Dean emerged from the room and started walking down the stairs.

"Hey. Is that it? Is—is it done?" Sam asked anxiously.

"Who's this hippie?" Dean asked.

Sam looked horrified and Angela's face visibly fell. After a few moments, Dean and Rowena broke out in laughter.

"Look at their faces," Dean laughed. "Oh! Kind of like the time when I ate all your Halloween candy, Sammy. You remember that? Classic?"

"Not funny." Sam scoffed, a half-smile on his face.

~/~\~

Rowena carried her back to a waiting cab from the motel while the boys, Angela, and Grace followed behind the witch.

"I can't believe you called Rowena." Dean looked over at Angela.

"I can't believe you rode Larry." Angela retorted with a smirk on her face.

"Hey. I was awesome on that bull. I was like a god."

Rowena stood at the open door to the cab and turned to face the hunters. "Now, should you experience any odd memories from when you were hexed, conversations, you let me know?"

Dean stared at Rowena knowingly. "It's blank, mostly. Really."

Rowena nodded in satisfaction and got into the cab, closing the door. Sam went up to the open window of the cab.

"Oh, just a second."

"If you want to thank me, you can send a wee gift basket." Rowena suggested.

"The book." Sam demanded.

Rowena stared at Sam for a moment, then sighed deeply and reached over for the book, and handed it to Sam. "You're no fun."

"We owe you one," Sam replied. "Small one."

The cab drove away and Sam tucked the book under his arm. Dean, Angela, and Grave walked up beside Sam and they watched the cab speed away.

"So, how you holding up after the spell?" Sam inquired.

"That thing kicked my ass," Dean admitted.

"Tha's a bad word Unca Dean." Grace reprimanded as they walked toward the Impala.

"Sorry, Princess." Dean chuckled.

"You know," Sam cleared his throat. "I gotta be honest. I was actually, uh, a little jealous at first."

Dean's brows furrowed. "Of what? The curse that nearly killed me?"

"No, just, you know… some of the things we've done, we've had this weight for… forever." Sam shrugged. "And seeing it gone, uh, you looked happy."

"Huh. Well, look, was it nice to drop our baggage? Yeah, maybe. Hell, probably." Dean replied. "But it wasn't just the crap that got lost. "I mean, it was everything. It was us, it was what we do, you know? All of it. So… that's what being happy looks like? I think I'll pass."

Dean took out his keys and had them in his hands as he placed his hands on the roof of the car. Sam looked at him for a moment.

"It's the, uh, the shiny one that's—

Dean rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Get in the car."

A/N: Hey, guys, I hope you liked this chapter! I'm trying to get back into the rhythm of writing and posting. To be honest, it's kind of hard lol. Anyway, I hope you're all doing well! Love you guys, xoxo :)

~Emily