Grab me by my ankles, I've been flying for too long
I couldn't hide from the thunder in a sky full of song
And I want you so badly but you could be anyone
I couldn't hide from the thunder in a sky full of song

Hold me down, I'm so tired now
Aim your arrow at the sky
Take me down, I'm too tired now
Leave me where I lie

And I can tell that I'm in trouble when that music starts to play
In a city without seasons, it keeps raining in LA
I feel like I'm about to fall, the room begins to sway
And I can hear the sirens but I cannot walk away

MY BLOODY VALENTINE

7 weeks ago - Christmas Eve
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Bobby's House

Beth's POV

It had been a rough couple of weeks. After the whole body swapping incident with those kids, we'd pretty much hightailed it to Bobby's and just laid low. And by laying low I meant that there was a hunt that Bobby had roped us into for a hunter he knew.

Still, a hunt close to our second home away from home was still a rest for us - at least we got to sleep in a familiar bed at night.

Now it was Christmas Eve, my favourite time of the year. I looked at myself in the mirror of the tiny upstairs bathroom, noting the large black rings under my eyes and the pallid complexion. I really needed that break we'd been talking about.

Brushing out my hair, I left it long and loose down my back until it hit the middle of my back. It wasn't often I got to wear it out, why not make the most of it?

There was a knock at the door and I quickly moved to unlock it, then peered out. "Yes?"

"Hey," Dean said, leaning against the door frame and crossing his arms. "You ever coming out of there, or do I have to join you?"

I laughed and shook my head, opening the door wider. "Sorry, just… thinking about things."

"Like?"

I shrugged, trying to be nonchalant about it, but I'm sure he hadn't missed the fact that I'd been spending more and more time in the shed turned makeshift-gym, working out - punching the stuffing out of the boxing bag. I could barely feel anything by the time I stumbled around to the bench behind the shed, next to the Magnolia tree that Sam had planted for our baby.

"Things," I said after a moment, "nothing for you to worry about." I leaned forward and kissed his cheek, mustering up a smile.

"Oh, yeah, that's comforting," Dean said with a frown, slipping his arm around my waist and pulling me into the circle of his arms.

Blowing out a short, hot breath I sighed and leaned into him, letting myself collapse into his arms and wrap my arms around his waist.

"We can't fix everything, Dean," I said after a moment. He simply held me, silent, for a few moments before he squeezed me close.

"I know," he whispered. "I wish things were different too."

Nodding, I buried my face into his neck and kissed the softness of the skin there.

"DEAN!" Sam's voice echoed up the stairs, followed by maniacal laughter and the sound of something heavy hitting the floor. "A little help here?!"

Dean chuckled, pulling back just enough to look down into my eyes. "Should we rescue him, or leave JJ to torture him to death? You know Cole has been teaching that kid self-defense already?"

I laughed, completely unsurprised by that comment. "I'm surprised he didn't know how to load a gun by the age of two."

Dean shuddered. "You remember what he was like… when Zach zapped us to the future?" I nodded, falling quiet. There was a lot from that future to contemplate; Dean noticed and his expression turned to concern.

"Hey, no, no, don't go there. I promise, you want to talk about any of that we can, tomorrow. But tonight, this is your favourite night. And everyone is waiting downstairs for you to announce it's time to leave."

I smiled, sucking in another deep, shuddering breath. He was right. This was my night, and for nearly a decade we'd been doing this tradition. It was nearing midnight, which meant we had to get going if we were to make the midnight mass - and as much as I felt like crawling back into bed for a week, or two, I couldn't just give up on the few important things in this family. I pushed all the pain and hurt to the back of my mind, burying it deep.

"Okay," I smiled. "Another time. Let's go, we don't want to be late."

Present Day
Bozeman, Montana
Motel Room

Beth's POV

It was barely dawn when I heard the shuffling around in the motel room. I opened one eye to peek sleepily at the disturbance. Sam was pulling on a pair of running shoes, and looked up at me as I lifted my head.

"Hey," he said with a small smile. "Sorry, go back to sleep."

"You okay?" I asked, frowning slightly.

"Yeah," Sam said, standing up and nodding at me, swinging his arms around to warm up. "Just restless, I need a run."

I sat up at that, and squinted at Sam. "It's barely light outside," I said.

"Beth, I think I'll manage," Sam chuckled, shaking his head. I wasn't convinced. I swung my legs out of bed and moved to the door, pulling back the faded green curtain at the window next to it and peering out.

"It looks cold, put on a jacket," I countered. "You could catch a cold."

Sam paused, frowning at me and looked at the shorts and tank top I was wearing. "Says the pot…" he said.

"I'm not going outside for a run," I pointed out, crossing my arms. I couldn't help but notice that it was cold though, the hairs on my arm were standing up and I was getting goosebumps.

Sam sighed, and reached down beside his bed, pulling out his winter jacket and brandishing it in the air. "Okay, fine, happy?" He asked. I smiled, nodding at him and stepping aside to let him past.

"Exercise is the best thing to get that restless feeling out," I added as he started to open the door. "But don't over do it."

"Yeah…. right," Sam said hesitantly. "Uh, Beth, are you okay?"

"Of course!" I said with a smile. "Just looking after my little brother."

"Okay…"

"Go, go," I said, taking his jacket and slipping his arm into the sleeve, spinning him around and making sure he was rugged up before he went outside. "Take your time!"

"Do you … want me to take my time?" Sam asked, confused, throwing a look back at Dean who was still sleeping in bed. "Like… how long do you need?"

I looked back at Dean, then at Sam again, seeing the implied reasoning behind his words and I blushed.

"No!" I protested. "This isn't… I mean.. I wasn't… that's not what I meant." Sam laughed at my obvious discomfort.

"Okay Beth, I'll grab breakfast while I'm out too," he said, shaking his head and taking a few steps toward the sidewalk.

"That's not what I meant!" I called out after him, but he just waved at me and then started to jog away. I saw the cold air waft from his mouth in a cold, white steam and stepped out into the cold.

"Sammy?! Put your hood on!"

Sam turned and looked incredulously at me, throwing his arms out as he jogged backwards.

"Would you go back to bed? Please!" Sam asked, and then he turned and started to speed up as he ran toward the park. I smiled when I saw him pull the hood up over his hair, and quickly shut the door on the cold.

Shivering, I turned back toward the warm bed I'd just vacated, and looked at Dean sleeping peacefully on his back, one arm thrown up behind his head. He shifted with a soft grunt, and his other arm slid out to my side of the bed, seeking me out in his sleep. I smiled at the movement. He was so adorable.

My gaze traced the line from his mouth, down his bare chest, to the blanket where it was tucked around his hips.

And sexy. Let's not forget sexy.

Suddenly I was grateful that Sam had misunderstood my good intentions on keeping him warm and safe from the cold. He'd just given me an excellent idea.

The blankets were pulled haphazardly around Dean's body from our broken night of sleep. We'd both been a bit restless at different parts of the evening, finally falling into a deeper slumber in the early morning hours. I debated letting him have a few more hours of uninterrupted sleep, and joining him in that… then decided that we could have that, after we gave ourselves a good reason to fall back asleep.

With a grin, I stripped off my clothes and loosened the blankets around Dean so that I could pull the end up, slipping under them.

Want to read about what happened under the sheets? Head on over to my story Dean & Beth: The X-files for the latest update

Several Hours Later
Victim's Apartment

Beth's POV

Sam had taken his sweet time getting back to the motel. I'd become worried about him, thinking he might have fallen into the lake, or run down a dark alley only to be set upon by …. well there wasn't anything I could think of that Sam couldn't handle by himself, but maybe there was something. Like, a den of chupacabra!

When he had returned with donuts, coffee, and the address of the apartment featuring our latest case I'd volunteered to go with him. I was seriously creeped out at our case of the two star crossed lovers who had… literally… eaten each other to death.

Romeo & Juliet mixed up with Hannibal Lector. Disgusting.

"You know, you didn't have to come with me," Sam said when he pulled the car up to the curb.

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well, I mean, you and Dean could have handled the coroner together why I did this," he said. I looked over at Sam, his big brown eyes looking at me with concern.

"Oh Sammy, you need a partner too sometimes," I said. "Dean can handle the coroner on his own, he's a big boy."

I wasn't sure Dean felt the same way, what with the incredulous look he'd given me when I announced I'd be accompanying Sam to the victim's house. He'd been a bit very quiet when we'd dropped him at the hospital. I pushed that thought out of my mind and focused on the task at hand - we had a job to do.

Climbing out of the Impala, I took a moment to adjust my pants suit and looked up at the unassuming apartment with its brick veneer and huge bay window overlooking the street. Sam shut the driver door and stepped up on to the sidewalk, I hurried over to him and smoothed out the lapels of his jacket.

"Here, Sammy, you've got it a bit… twisted…" I felt heavy eyes on me and looked up, stopping my hands at Sam's facial expression. "What?"

"Seriously, what has gotten into you?" Sam asked.

I stepped back, frowning, and dropped my hands down.

"Nothing. I don't know what you're talking about," I said. "I was just trying to help, sheesh."

Feeling a little put out, I scowled and looked up the steps to the apartment. "Come on, let's get this over with." I started up the stairs and when I reached the top, rapped on the door.

"Beth, I didn't mean to upset you," Sam said, joining me. "I can look after my own… suit."

"Yeah, of course you can!" I said, frowning. "I wasn't saying you couldn't. Just… well, helping."

I was gnawing on my lower lip. We'd been through a lot with the trip back in time, and then Cas being under the weather from all the time travelling. Ezekiel had disappeared again, his duty done. A few weeks we'd spent with Ben and Lisa, Dean was especially enjoying the time with the growing boy. He and Ben had gone with Sam to a few ball games, done the fatherly things that he'd never had with John. It had been nice. "My dad set me straight on a few things and… well… you know you mean the world to me Sammy…"

I was interrupted when the door opened.

My voice trailed off to look at a young woman, curly brown hair and hazel eyes. She looked expectantly at us. In unison, Sam and I both reached into our jackets and pulled out our fake ID badges, flashing them at her.

"FBI," Sam said. "I'm Agent Cliff, this is Agent Stephens. We just had a few questions about your roommate."

The first place that our interviewee Amy showed us was the kitchen. There was still blood on the Valentine's Day postcard stuck to the fridge, but it looked as if everything else had been cleaned up. She hovered just outside of the room in the adjoining living area where she was packing up things into boxes, as if afraid to come any closer.

"So...you were the one who found the bodies?" Sam asked.

"There was blood everywhere…" the girl replied, grimacing, "and... other stuff...I think Alice was already dead." This perked my interest, I looked up from the post card.

"But Russell wasn't?" I asked.

"I think he was, mostly, except... he was still sort of...chewing a little," she said, a look of complete disgust on her face.

"Oh," Sam said, looking at me and grimacing. "Uh huh."

"How do two people even do that? Eat each other to death?" Amy asked.

I was asking myself the same question, there was a number of things it could be… witches, ghouls, rakshasas… wendigo? I shuddered, recalling our own encounters with wendigos. It had been a while since we'd encountered one of those. Definitely didn't fit the bill here though, both our victims - and perpetrators - were dead.

"That's a really good question…" I murmured, looking around the pristine apartment. Whoever had cleaned up the blood and gore from the kitchen had done a good job on the rest of the house too. Or was it always this clean?

"Amy, the last few days, did you notice Alice acting erratically?" Sam asked, taking the lead on the questioning.

"How do you mean?" Amy asked, confused.

"Well, did she seem… unusually hostile, aggressive?" Sam asked.

"Anything that is out of the ordinary for Alice," I added, turning my attention to the girl who had picked up a small teddy bear from the fireplace mantle and was hugging

"No way. Alice never drank, never even swore. She was a nice girl. And I'm talking, like, a nice girl…" she said with emphasis, "like she still had her promise ring, if you know what I mean."

Now, I couldn't judge, I'd been twenty-one before I lost my virginity - to Dean - but circumstances had been different there. These kids were in college…. Promiscuity was kind of the in thing, wasn't it?

"She was a virgin?" I asked.

"No premarital," Amy replied with a nod. She looked over at me and lowered her voice, in a girl talk conspiratorial tone. "I used to wonder how she did it. I mean, you know, didn't do it. It was her first date in months. She was so excited."

Sam raised an eyebrow, looking over at me. I wondered if he was thinking about how he'd left Dean and I to the motel room this morning.

"Apparently, they were both pretty excited," he said.

Back at the Motel

Dean's POV

Man, this motel room was dreary. I'd seen more than my fair share of motel rooms in my lifetime, but this one… with its baby puke green walls, and red palm frond wall paper…. What the hell was up with that?

I sighed and looked back to the laptop in front of me, putting my feet up on the table and stretching out.

This had to be an open and shut case, surely. It had to be demons, right? Life had seemed so much simpler before we'd been introduced to demons. Four or five years ago they'd been unheard of in our lives, to the point that Beth's possession had been my first encounter with demons, and my last until those planes had started crashing over five years later.

Yes. Life had been so much simpler before demons and angels, and the damn Apocalypse.

I was tired. Even when I managed to get sleep, it felt empty, like there was a constant drip of energy seeping out of my body, one that was as fast as the method I used to fill it up. Last night had been more tiring than usual, when Sam had fallen asleep I'd taken my time teasing Beth to a silent orgasm, and then indulged myself. This morning had been a wonderful surprise, albeit only adding to the exhaustion currently weighing me down.

The motel room door swung open, and I looked up quickly, eyeing off the fast food bags Sam walked in carrying. Behind him, Beth was juggling the drinks, and effortlessly kicked the door closed with her foot as she came inside.

"How'd it go?" I asked. I was relieved to have them back - going to the coroner on my own had been… taxing. In more ways than one. I wasn't used to not having Beth at my side.

"Um...No EMF, no sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out," Sam said as he dropped the bags on the table. I pondered, a slight frown creasing my brow as Beth walked over and handed me a beer, leaning down to kiss my cheek.

I smiled, turning my head enough to catch her lips with a quick peck before speaking.

"Hmm. That's where I was puttin' my money."

"Nope," Sam said and Beth shook her head in agreement.

"Well, then what, then?" I asked, rubbing my eyes. Beth frowned down at me and quickly put the remaining drinks on the table, before sitting down on the chair next to mine.

"Are you okay?" She asked, leaning forward to cup my cheek in her hand.

"Yeah, I'm fine," I said.

"You don't look fine," she insisted, so I shrugged.

"I'm a little tired, but nothing to worry about," I admitted, then I remembered where I'd been before returning to the motel. "Oh, dude! At the coroner's... you didn't see these bodies. I mean, these two started eating a...and they just... kept going. I mean, their stomachs were full. Like - like...Thanksgiving-dinner full." I gestured with my hands, motioning out a huge stomach in front of me as I described what I'd seen. Beth looked a little green at the thought and I dropped my hands down to my legs.

"Talk about codependent," I finished. I could have laughed, because Sam called Beth and I codependent all the time, but we weren't anywhere near eating each other devoted.

"Well...I mean, we got our feelers out. Not much more we can do tonight," Sam said, taking a burger out of the bag and then looking over at us. "All right. I'm just gonna get going..."

Huh?

We both looked over at Sam at the same time. "Sorry?" I asked.

"Where are you going?" Beth asked.

"To get my own room," Sam said, hooking his thumb toward the door. "It's Valentine's day. You guys go ahead. Unleash the kraken, have your fun," he said, waving a hand around. "See you tomorrow morning."

"Unleash the kraken?" Beth asked, looking just as confused as I was feeling.

"Yeah, dude, this isn't Norway… speak English," I said.

"Guys, it's Valentine's day," Sam said. "Your favorite holiday, remember? I mean, what do you always call it... uh, unattached drifter Christmas? It's like the Olympics for your whole phone numbers competition?"

"Huh," I said. He had been paying attention. "I guess we're not feeling it this year."

Sam looked from me to Beth and smirked. "You guys aren't into bars full of lonely men and women?"

Beth shrugged at Sam. "Well, maybe in the past, but we uh, we haven't done that little game in a while now."

"Oh," Sam said, looking surprised. "Well there's always… romantic dinner, moonlit walks, crazy monkey sex… I don't know, most over-rated night of the year."

We were only a few weeks out from our second anniversary, and we'd kind of skipped the last few Valentine's Days what with the whole trying to avoid going to Hell, and then Beth having only been returned to me a few weeks earlier from the pagan Underworld where she'd been kept hostage by Hades. No, this holiday was fast becoming one of non-importance to us.

I stood up, stretching my legs and walked over to the sink, I sipped at my beer as I turned back to Sam and Beth.

"Well... be that as it may...I don't know. We haven't really done V-Day for a few years now…" I pointed out, looking questioningly at Beth. Did she want to go out for dinner?

"Yeah, it's kind of lost its appeal of late," she said.

Sam almost spluttered into his drink. "So… you're both not into having a room of your own and...you know?" He trailed off, the implications heavy in the air.

"Nah, I guess not," I shrugged, taking another drink while Beth had jumped up and was checking out something on the computer at the desk in the corner. Sam continued to stare at us both until I felt uncomfortable.

"Ahh. What?" I asked finally.

"When a dog doesn't eat… that's when you know something's really wrong," Sam said.

I rolled my eyes and looked up at him - I mean, dude, Beth and I had gone at it twice in the last twelve hours, what was he worried about? "Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted," I said, walking back to the table and glancing at the report again. "Nothing's wrong. We gonna work or what?"

"Nope," Beth said, looking up with a grin.

"Oh man, did you just make dinner plans?" I asked with a half-hearted joking tone.

"Nope," she said, grinning at me. "We're going to the movies."

Sam snorted. "She's totally making you go to that new Valentine's Day romantic comedy," he said. "What's it called? Oh…that's right... Valentine's Day. You are so screwed."

"Ha!" Beth said with a shake of her head. "Wrong again, Sammy. We're off to see The Wolfman. Scary and a classical remake. This is going to be awesome! Get your jackets!"

"Wait… jackets, plural?" I asked.

"Well, yeah, of course. I'm not leaving Sammy alone on Valentine's Day," she said. "What sort of family would we be? Come on Sam, you're coming with us." She skipped over to her side of the bed and leaned over, grabbing her leather jacket.

I exchanged a look of confusion and amusement with Sam, though to be fair he probably was starting to look more worried than anything. I thought about our destination and smiled, maybe a movie would be just what the doctor ordered to get our minds off our lives for a bit.

Several Hours Later
Cinema

Beth's POV

I was curled up under Dean's arm, my head resting on his shoulder as the end movie credits started to roll. The movie had been far from the distraction I'd planned. Instead I found myself contemplating what it meant to have a loved one turn into a beast. As the lights turned on in the theatre, and the few viewers who weren't off seeing the rom com next door exited, Dean and Sam stayed seated, as did I.

"Well, that was a bit disturbing," Dean said after a moment.

"Yeah," Sam said. "Not sure it was a good choice, Beth."

"Seconded," I said with a short nod.

"Well, if I ever turn into a werewolf, or a vampire, or anything like that, you have full permission to do what has to be done," Dean said.

"Dean...don't…" Sam started but I cut him off.

"Yeah, you know that's not going to happen," I said.

Dean looked from me to Sam, and I sat forward, breaking away from Dean's embrace, turning to look at our little brother. "We stick together, always." I added. "Right?"

"Uh, yeah," Dean said after a pause. "Of course."

"Beth, are you okay?" Sam asked. The tension in the air was palpable, and now they both had the concerned puppy-dog looks on their faces. I frowned, shrugging at them both and opened my mouth.

"Yeah, of course I'm okay," I insisted with a nod. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You've just been, a little…"

"... June Cleaver-ish," Dean supplied when Sam's words faltered. I looked at him with both eyebrows raised. June Cleaver? Was he for real?

"Uh, yeah, like that," Sam agreed. "I mean, not that it's a bad thing," he hurried to add when my facial expression changed to a look of dismay. "It's sweet. But… I mean, just so long as you're okay?"

"I'm fine," I said, looking back at Dean. "I mean, someone needs to look after you guys. And we've all been through a lot recently, so, excuse me for caring."

"Sorry, sorry, I didn't mean anything by it Beth," Sam said with a smile, looking over my shoulder at Dean.

Dean leaned into me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders and neck and pulling me back into him. "You're the best," he whispered, kissing behind my ear. "Don't ever change." I smiled at how his voice could still make my heart skip a beat.

"We should go get something to eat," Sam suggested, "I'm starving."

"Yeah," I nodded and reluctantly pulled out of Dean's arms to stand up, Dean following suit. "Good idea."

On our way out Dean glanced at his phone and then stepped away with a frown, dialling into his voicemail. After a moment, he rejoined us with a scowl on his face.

"Hold the food, we got more dead bodies," he said.

St. James Medical Center

Dean's POV

We'd taken a detour past the motel for our FBI suits - Beth insisting we should look the part, and then arrived at the hospital. I started to lead the way down the winding corridors to the coroner's office in back. Beth skipped alongside me, slipping her hand down to take mine. It wasn't exactly FBI protocol, but it was late, and no one seemed to be looking, I squeezed her hand and threw her a smile - it was good to see her feeling light hearted.

Sam on the other hand was looking like he was about to jump out of his skin. We passed some CEO looking board member in a suit with a briefcase half way along the final corridor, and Sam practically bent his neck on a 180 degree angle to watching the guy pass. Then he sniffed the air.

"You okay?" I asked, my step faltering for a moment before resuming.

"Yeah," Sam said. "I'm fine." It wasn't convincing by any means, but I didn't have time to pursue it as we reached the swinging doors into the morgue.

"Agent Marley, you just can't stay away," the jovial voice of Dr Corman said from the other side of a gurney. I glanced down to see a body under a sheet and dropped Beth's hand, stepping forward with a smile.

"Heard you tagged another double suicide," I said to the doctor. He was a cuddly looking fellow, older, head full of white hair and a matching beard. He could have easily played Santa at the hospital's Christmas party. He had that sparkle in the eye, and cheerful manner that immediately endeared you to him - I'd liked him on the spot.

"Well, I just finished closing them up," Corman said with a nod at the body on the table before him.

I gestured to first Beth and then Sam. "Doc, this is my partner, special agent Stephens, and one of our specialist consultants, special agent Cliff," I said.

"Agents," Corman said, nodding to them both. "I've finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples." He walked over to a corner, shrugging out of his white lab coat and hanging it up on a coat rack.

"Great," Sam said with a smile. "You mind if we take a look at the bodies?"

"Not at all," Corman said, opening a refrigerator door where there sat a number of plastic containers with different organs housed within. "But like I said….their... good-and-plenties are already tupperwared," he added with a grin.

"Peachy," Beth said with a forced smile.

Dr Corman turned to pick up his jacket and tossed me a set of keys. "Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please...agents….refrigerate after opening...:" With that he put his hat on his head and left us to our own devices.

Sam and Beth were straight into the bits and pieces of our latest victims. I was looking at a heart, in a small tupperware container, and quite thankful that I hadn't eaten at this stage. Not much threw me off my food, but I had to say the juicy innards of dead people was up there as something that could. I needed to distract myself…. Glancing over at Beth, and seeing the way she was staring into a microscope, looking at some piece of one of the victims, I got an idea.

"Hey, hey Beth?"

She didn't distract easy, that was for sure.

"Mmmmm?" She asked, not even looking up as she examined the organ (was it a spleen?) in her hands.

I held out my tupperware container and scooted a little closer, seeing her eyes flick toward me as I moved.

"Be my Valentine?" I asked with a quirky grin, offering her the heart in my hands.

Beth paused and pulled back from the microscope, her mouth turning upwards at the corner as she tried not to laugh too much. But I had her, I totally had her.

"Eh?" I asked again, grinning widely at her as I brandished the heart.

"Cute, Dean," she said, this time unable to hide the smile.

I felt pretty pleased with myself at her smile. "I thought so…" I said with a chuckle.

Beth took the heart from me, leaning over to plant a kiss on my cheek.

"You're always my Valentine," she said with a smile. This made me smile even wider, she had me, every time. I nuzzled her nose with mine and kissed her lips again.

"Good," I said after a moment.

Beth looked down at the heart she was holding, frowned after a moment and looked up at Sam.

"Hey Sam, does your heart have any marks on it?"

I scooted a little closer, trying to get a look at what she had noticed. Sam looked down at his heart again, this time more intently. After a moment, he glanced up and nodded. "Yeah, look at this," he said. They came together to exchange hearts and Sam dropped his down on the table. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. Wait a second. These are identical marks," he said.

I squinted in the poor lighting at the hearts. "What?" I could barely make out some kind of a symbol.

"Here," Beth said. "See?" I did see, but I couldn't make out what it was that I was seeing exactly.

"It looks like some kind of letter," Sam added, leaning in. "Oh no."

"What?" I asked, trying to look a little closer.

"I think it's…"

"Enochian," Beth finished his sentence, looking up and nodding. "Yeah, definitely."

"You mean like angel scratches? So you think it's like the tagging on our ribs?" I asked.

"I don't know," Sam said.

"Sure looks similar," Beth said. "I can't translate it, but it's definitely Enochian."

"Ah, hell," I said. I didn't wait for anything else. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and dialled before saying another word.

"Hello?"

"Cas," I said. "It's Dean."

"You need me?"

"Yeah," I said. "Room 31C, basement level...St. James medical center," I said, turning around to double check the number on the door, only to find myself face to face with the angel, trenchcoat and all, his phone up to his year.

"I'm there now," Cas said. Well, duh.

"Yeah, I get that," I said.

"I'm gonna hang up now," he said.

"Right."

Cas looked past me to Sam and Beth at the table, and Beth walked up to Cas with the heart in her hands.

"Here, Cas, can you look at this? It looks like Enochian?" She asked. Cas peered down and then moved them both back to the table where there was better light.

"You're right," Cas said after a few seconds. "These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well…"

"So, what are they? I mean, what do they mean?" Sam asked.

"It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate," Cas said.

I raised my eyebrow at him, coming to stand next to Beth. "Okay…" I said. Soulmates? "But who put them there?"

"Well," Cas replied. "Your people call them 'Cupid'."

"A what?" Sam asked.

"What human myth has mistaken for "Cupid" is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third-class," Cas said.

"Cherub?" I asked.

"Yeah, they're all over the world. There are dozens of them," Cas said with a short nod. Beth was frowning beside me, clearly taking in all this information and mulling it over.

"Cupid. You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?" I questioned.

Cas frowned at me. "They're not incontinent."

"No, but they do appear in most of the classical romantic eras…" Beth said. "Makes sense that there is a basis for the mythology. But… Valentine's Day? Couples? That goes back beyond the classical era of romanticism."

"Right," Cas confirmed.

Sam looked troubled. "So what you're saying…"

"What I'm saying is a Cupid has gone rogue and we have to stop him-before he kills again," Cas said.

"Naturally," Sam said, throwing his hands in the air.

"Of course we do," I chimed in. Because, what else did people do on Valentine's Day other than go on a hunt for freaking Cupid.

7 months ago
Christmas Eve
Dean's POV

Mass had been as dull and boring as always, but I had to admit, the carols were growing on me. Beth still loved it of course, and I was pleased to see that her mood seemed to have improved somewhat with us all slipping into our annual tradition.

For us, it had started back when she first joined our family, for Beth she had been doing this since she was born. As a young child, it had been her father leading the mass. There was no coincidence that Beth was our biblical scholar and expert now. She ran circles around me.

Trudging up the steps to Bobby's front door, I looked up as snow started to fall, and Beth let out a little squeal of excitement.

"It's snowing!" She said, a smile spreading over her face.

Beside her, Sam carried JJ - fast asleep - in his arms and into the house. I grinned, and slipped a hand around Beth's waist, pulling her into me and turning us around to look back into the night.

The salvage yard was poorly lit at night, but there was enough light from the front porch to see the snow starting to come down in earnest. It was beautiful.

"Going to be a lot of snow on the ground tomorrow," I said, nuzzling the back of her neck. "Maybe we'll get stuck here."

"Ha!" Beth snorted, turning her face to look sideways at me. "Like a little snow ever stopped you. We're going to Lisa's."

"I know," I said, kissing into her neck.

I had to admit I was nervous. Beth had been more and more distant lately around visits to see Lisa and Ben. She encouraged us to go, and if it went more than a few months, she scheduled a drive down to Indiana to ensure we kept in touch. It had been good for us, especially for Ben and I to get to know each other.

But with Beth, there was something missing.

As we walked back inside, Beth led the way up to our room and met Sam on the landing.

"He's sound asleep," Sam said. "You sure you want me to put him in my old bed?"

Sam, Beth and I had shared this room for years, rotating between the single in the corner, and the double. Most of the time it was Beth and I ending up in the double, or Dad and I had been in there, and Sam landed the single while Beth slept in with Cole.

Cole was gone for now. I found myself getting more and more frustrated with her and the lone wolf attitude she had going. She'd turned up two days ago, announced she was in the middle of a hunt, and left JJ with us and Bobby for Christmas.

"Yeah, he's fine," Beth said with a smile. "Are you going upstairs?"

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I'll take the king size bed up in Cole's room over that single, any day," he chuckled. With that he turned and started back down the stairs. "I'll put the presents out for JJ," he said. "Unless you want to?"

"We'll do it," I said, and Sam shot me a look that bordered on anguish. I shifted uncomfortably under his attention. He was no doubt thinking about the fact that if we hadn't lost our own child, we'd have been doing this for him. It wasn't the point, but so much of Sam's persona seemed to be about what was missing in life. Why did everything have to be about something we'd lost with him?

"Good night, Sam," I said, half-smiling, half-rolling my eyes at him.

Moments later Beth and I were in the library, the Christmas tree we'd picked out yesterday tucked into the corner with a bunch of Bobby's books stacked at the back. It looked out of place in this obscure dusty room, but when I saw Beth's smile it melted away any doubts I might have had about volunteering us for this duty.

She straightened from laying a couple of large boxes under the tree, and slipped her arm around my waist, leaning into me. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and squeezed her softly, placing a kiss the side of her head.

We stood silent, staring at the twinkling lights as they flickered through the varying colours until all I could see was a wash of colour. It reminded me of a Christmas, long before Beth joined us, and I sighed softly.

"What you thinking about?" Beth asked softly, her arm tightening slightly.

I looked down at my chest, and the bare space where I was used to seeing the amulet I'd worn for so long, before giving it to Cas. I reached up a hand and touched my breastplate, glancing over at Beth.

"First Christmas without it," I said quietly, and she nodded. Of course she knew what I was talking about.

"Cas will bring it back when he's found what he's looking for," she said, placing her hand over mine and leaving it resting on my chest.

"Yeah…" I said, but even I could hear the doubt in my voice.

Beth raised her face to kiss my cheek, leaning her forehead against the side of my head.

"Love you," she said, and it made me smile. I turned my head sideways, until I could kiss her on the lips.

"Ditto, sugarpie," I replied. For a moment I just watched her as she looked back at the tree, smiling to herself.

"For Pete's sake go to bed, ya pair of idjits, it's two in the bloody morning!" Bobby's grumpy voice sounded from under the window where his makeshift bed was now located.

I startled, having forgotten all about him being there. Beth giggled, and pushed me playfully toward the archway leading to the stairs.

"Sorry Bobby," she said, "good night! Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas…" Bobby grumbled back at us and then we hurried up the stairs, chuckling to each other.

Present Day
Restaurant

Beth's POV

Dead bodies or not, we were all starving by the time we finished up in the morgue, and Cas had an idea about where we might run into our rogue Cupid at the same time.

We found ourselves in a restaurant sporting a bar, still pretty crowded for the fact that it was going on ten o'clock at night. Then again, it was Valentine's Day, and the place was rife with couples out on dates. We were practically drooling as a waitress placed burgers in front of Dean and I, and a salad in front of Sam. I frowned distastefully at the salad, and shook my head, picking up my burger and taking a large bite.

"So, what, you just happen to know he likes the cosmos at this place?" Dean asked Cas from across the table as he lifted off the top bun of his burger and squirted extra ketchup on his meat patty.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of of garden the Cupid will come to- to pollinate," Cas said, looking at Dean's actions. Dean had the burger halfway to his mouth, but when he heard the word pollinate, he put it back down on his plate and frowned at it.

"Wait a minute. You're not hungry?" Sam asked.

"No," Dean said. I chewed on my second bite of burger, and raised an eyebrow at him, Dean stared back at me.

"Really?" I asked after a moment.

"What?" He asked. "I'm not hungry." I shrugged at the challenging look he threw me as Cas reached across the table.

"Then you're not gonna finish that?" He asked, not waiting for an answer as he took the burger from Dean's plate and lifted the burger to his mouth. I watched, curious, because I'd never seen the angel actually eat. Cas paused for a moment, burger suspended in the air, and looked sideways to the back of the room.

"He's here," Cas said.

This caught our attention, I glanced around the diner for something out of place, but saw nothing.

"Where? I don't see anything," Sam asked, doing the same.

I followed Cas' eye movements, seeing them dart around the room. He looked up at some tacky tinsel red hearts and little cupids suspended from the ceiling and saw them start to move as ifcaught in a breeze, Cas' eyes dropped to a booth, and I saw a red napkin blow into the face of a young man sitting with a woman.

"There," Cas said, nodding toward the back of the diner. Dean twisted in his seat to look.

"You mean the same-side-of-the-booth couple over there?" Dean asked, indicating the same man and a woman who had just changed their demeanour from nervous first date to snuggled up in the middle of a central booth, initiating a passionate kiss.

Cas nodded. "Meet me in the back," he said.

Dean's POV

By the time we reached the storeroom out the back of the restaurant, Cas was already there. He was standing in the middle of the room, his hands in the air as if holding on to a piece of rope.

"Cas, where is he?" Sam asked, getting straight to the point.

"I have him tethered," Cas replied, taking a step forward. "Zoda kama mahrana. Manifest yourself."

I looked around, waiting for some baby with wings to materialise out of thin air. And nothing. Beside me, Beth frowned in Cas's direction, and then looked around the room too.

"Uh, so… I'm… I'm not seeing anyone," Beth whispered as if afraid she was going to upset Cas or something by his apparent inability to manifest an angel.

"So, where is he?" I asked more directly.

"Here I am!" Called out a voice behind me, and just like that I was enveloped in big, strong arms wrapping around my front and lifting me off the ground.

"Oof!" I grunted, looking at Beth and Sam. "Help!"

"Oh, help is on the way," said the joyful fellow holding me up. "Yes, it is. Yes, it is." He squeezed me tight and then dropped me back to the ground.

"Hello, you!" The man exclaimed toward Cas. I got a glimpse of the intruder as he pushed past me and picked up Castiel in a similar hug to the one he'd just given me.

"Oooh," the man said as he squeezed Cas tight, causing the angel to grunt.

What I was looking at was a tall, fleshy man with fresh pink skin… soft like a baby, I thought. And he was as naked as a newborn too. I averted my eyes, looking at Cas who was peering at me over the man's shoulder, still embraced tightly.

"This is Cupid?"

"Yes," Cas said as Cupid put him down on the ground, turning to look at Sam.

"And look at you, huh?" He said cheerfully, putting his arms out.

"No," Sam said, holding a warning gesture up in front of him. He took a few steps away, but the angel teleported to right in front of him, and ignoring all social cues picked Sam up, hugging him too.

"Yes! Yes, yes, yes!" Cupid exclaimed.

"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?" I asked, confused by all the hugging.

"No, silly," Beth said from beside me. "I mean, clearly not, he's just… he's just saying hi, right? Hi Cupid!" The angel dropped Sam and turned around to beam at Beth, and when he opened his arms up she scurried over to give him a huge hug. Cupid laughed and squeezed Beth tight.

"This is… their handshake," Cas supplied.

"I don't like it," I said. I didn't like it on many levels. I didn't like the way I felt violated by the unwelcome naked man hug, and I didn't like the way he was squeezing my wife nice and tight right now, and I most certainly didn't like the fact that she seemed unfazed by all of this… skin and … hugging.

"No one likes it," Cas said.

"I like him!" Beth declared, twisting from where she was still hugging the angel, and looking at me.

"Oh God," I groaned, running a hand over my eyes. What the hell was going on with her?

"Mmm," Cupid said, finally letting Beth go and giving us all a big smile. "What can I do for you?"

"We have a couple of questions for you," Beth said.

"Why are you doing this?" Cas asked, straight to business. The angel flashed him a confused frown.

"Doing what?"

"Your targets... the ones you've marked...They're slaughtering each other," Cas said. I almost believed the look of surprise on the guy's face.

"What? They are?" Cupid asked in a high pitched voice.

"Do we really know it's him?" Beth asked, jumping unexpectedly to his defense. She was standing waaaay too close to him for my comfort. I didn't like it.

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay?" I said, ignoring Beth. "We know you been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!"

"What we don't know is why," Cas said, completely on my side. At least someone was.

"You think that I…?" Cupid stuttered, the words catching in his throat as he put his hand over his chest. "Well, uh...I don't know what to say." And just like that, he burst into tears, covering his face with his hands.

"Oh, see?" Beth asked, throwing me a frown. "You've upset him!" She put her hand on his shoulder and patted it, leaning toward him in a gesture of care. "There, there. They don't really mean it. They just… well, they got a lot of anger inside, you know?"

"Wait, what?" I asked.

"Uhhhhhh…" Even Sam was confused by that statement.

"What the hell is going on here?" I asked, and I meant everything. Not just the angel thing, and the killing, and the crying. I meant what the hell was going on here?

"Um... look. We didn't mean to, um...hurt your feelings," Cas said, moving up to Cupid and Beth. Cupid instantly stopped crying and embraced Cas in another bear hug.

"Love is more than just a word to me, you know. I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!" Cupid said.

Beth nodded enthusiastically. "That's right!"

"Yes, yes. Of course. I, uh...I have no idea what you're saying," Cas said, and I thought I heard him breath a sigh of relief as Cupid let him go and started to gesture with his hands.

"I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that that's nothing to do with me. I... I was following my orders. Please brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see."

He was standing in front of Cas, waiting. The latter stared into the Cupid's eyes, concentrating. We all waited for a breathless moment as Cas fell silent, and then after a moment stepped back, shrugging at me and Sam.

"He's telling the truth," Cas announced.

"Jiminy Christmas. Thank you," Cupid smiled.

"Wait, wait," I said, taking a step closer. "You said...you said you were just following orders?"

"Mm-hmmm," Cupid nodded.

"Whose orders?"

"Whose?" Cupid laughed, shaking his head at me. "Heaven, silly. Heaven."

I frowned, crossing my arms. None of this was making much sense. "Why does Heaven care if Harry meets Sally?" I asked.

"Oh, mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. Oh, like yours," Cupid said.

"What?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, the union of John and Mary Winchester. Very big deal upstairs, top priority arrangement. Mm." Cupid said. This was just getting weirder and weirder. I mean it was bad enough that a few years back in Lawrence we'd had some psychic telling us that soulmates were real, and I was meant to find Beth… and she me. Beth was convinced of it, but … divine fix ups?

"Are you saying that you fixed-up our parents?" I asked.

"Well, not me, but... yeah. Well, it wasn't easy, either. Ooh, they couldn't stand each other at first. But when we were done with them… perfect couple." The angel smiled at me, beaming from ear to ear. I wasn't having any of it.

"Perfect?" I asked.

"Yeah," he nodded.

"They're dead!" I was seeing red. How the hell was this a perfect arrangement? Was he serious?

The cupid's smile fell from his face. "I'm sorry, but... the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. Your parents were just, uh...meant to be," he said. "A match made in Heaven, Heaven!" I didn't even think about it. I just swung, and landed a punch straight in on his nose.

"Dean!" Beth yelled.

"Son of a bitch!" I cursed at my bruised hand - I hadn't even made a dent! Then the angel disappeared right in front of my eyes. "Where is he? Where did he go?"

"I believe you upset him," Cas said in his infuriating monotone.

"Well, can you blame him?" Beth asked, throwing her hands up in the air and shaking her head.

"Upset him?!" I spat out.

"Dean. Enough!" Sam ordered from beside me.

"What?"

"You just punched a Cupid!" Sam replied, the reproach evident in his tone.

"I punched a dick!"

"He has feelings you know!" Beth sided with Sam, although the latter was clearly just as worried as I was about our very own June Cleaver.

"Um...Are we gonna talk about what's been up with you two lately or not?" Sam asked, looking from Beth to me. I realised then that he was right, something was going on with us. But I didn't want to look at what that might be. I was feeling… angry. Empty. Lost and confused.

"Or not," I replied.

"Oh something is going on with him, I'm worried," Beth said as I turned and walked toward the door back into the main part of the restaurant.

"And you…" Sam countered.

"Me?!" Beth scoffed. I rolled my eyes and stopped, looking back at her.

"Really?" I asked.

"What?" Beth asked. "I'm fine! You're the one who just punched a Cupid! I mean, that is not...well it's not very nice. And you could have broken your hand!"

"Broken my… what the hell?" I asked, flabbergasted. "Since when do I…? You know what? I am not going to do this. Let's go! We got a case to work." With that I turned on my heel and stormed out of the room.

Next morning
St. James Medical Centre

Sam's POV

Dean and Beth were driving me insane. What the hell was going on with them? I was anxious enough without having to deal with their antics. Something was definitely going on here. Like, something bad, and I had to get to the bottom of it.

I had gotten a call from Dr Corman at the medical centre this morning. Dean and Beth had been curled up in bed watching their stupid Spanish soap opera. (How they knew what was going on with that show was beyond me.) When I'd asked them if they were going to get up and help out, Dean had shrugged and decided that he wanted a day in bed. Beth had been worried about him, and gone to take his temperature.

I used the phone call as an opportunity to escape the madness.

Corman met me by the entrance to the morgue and nodded as I walked through the doors. "You said you wanted to hear about any other weird ones."

"Okay," I nodded. He turned and walked to a gurney, and then gestured to the corpse on top of it. It was a middle aged man, and his stomach was disgustingly distended.

"Lester Finch," Corman said, handing me a file. "Pulled his records. Looks like this gentleman used to weigh 400 pounds or so, till he got a gastric bypass, which brought down his weight considerably. But then for some reason, last night, he decided to go on a twinkie binge."

"Damn…" A voice sounded from behind me. I turned to see that I'd been followed from the motel.

"Beth? What are you doing here?" I asked, seeing her in the doorway, suit and all.

Beth shrugged and smiled at me. "Well I'm looking out for you…" she glanced at Corman, "... partner. You know, we're FBI partners."

"Right," Corman said with a shrug.

"Right."

"Right," I said with another frown, turning back to Corman. "So, he died from a twinkie binge?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, after he blew out the band around his stomach, he filled it up till it burst. When he could no longer swallow, he started jamming the cakes down his gullet with a...with a toilet brush, like he was ramrodding a cannon." The way he said it, was so matter-of-fact that I almost didn't understand the full impact of what he'd just told me. Beth on the other hand was apparently fully visualising the scene.

"Ew!" She exclaimed, her face twisting in disgust.

"So, what do you make of it?" I asked the doctor as he pulled a hip flask out of the pocket of his white lab coat.

He shrugged. "I'd say that it was a very peculiar thing to do…" he replied, twisting the top off a flask and taking a sip of the alcohol inside. Clearly the good doctor was rattled by this one. I couldn't say that I blamed him.

Beth's POV

Sam was frowning at me, I didn't like it.

"When I left you, the pair of you were settled into bed with the world's worst Spanish love story playing," he said.

"And then you left," I said, looking pointedly at him.

"So you just… got out of bed?"

I stopped walking down the steps and looked at him.

"Well, there's a job to be done. We work hard, play hard, you know that," I said. "Besides, someone needed to make sure you were okay, you've been gone a while."

Sam stared at me, his mouth hanging a little open.

"I've barely been gone an hour!"

"Anything could happen in that time Sammy!"

He spluttered, and shook his head at me, opened his mouth and then closed it again, as if lost for words. I smiled, and stepped in to give him a hug.

"I know you're all grown up now Sam, but you've been through a lot. You just gotta know, I'm here for you, okay?" I asked, and I squeezed him tight. Poor Sam, he'd had such a hard time of things lately, what with letting Lucifer out into the world and all, and it had been partially my fault that had happened - if I'd been watching over him more, like I should have been, I could have stopped it.

"Uhh… okay," Sam said, giving me a quick hug and then standing there with his hands by his side. "So…"

My phone started ringing and I let go of Sam so that I could answer it.

"Hi," I said, seeing that it was Dean. "How did you go?"

When I'd expressed concern over Sam, and gotten ready to follow him, Dean had begrudgingly decided to join me. On the way here, he'd had a change of heart, and dropped me off before heading to the police station.

"I found something. Is Sam with you?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, hang on," I said, taking a moment to switch the phone to speaker. "He's right here."

"You first, what did you find out?" Dean asked.

"Hey," Sam said. "So, uh, this guy was not marked by Cupid, but his death is definitely suspicious." We'd taken the time to look at the organs… and found no Enochian, but that didn't preclude the death from the weird basket.

"Like, suuuuper weird," I added to Sam's statement. "Who the hell eats themself to death?"

"Yeah, well, I just went through the police blotter, and counting him, that's eight suicides since Wednesday and 19 ODs... That's way out of the seasonal batting average." Dean said.

"Yeah, if there's a pattern here, it ain't just love. It's a hell of a lot bigger than we thought," Sam said. He reached a hand up to rub at his temples, and I was instantly alert.

"Yeah, all right," Dean said. "You need me to pick you up?"

We weren't actually far, but the way Sam was looking I wasn't sure he could walk it.

"Yes," I said.

"No," Sam announced at the same time.

I looked questioningly at Sam and he shook his head, adding "no, it's out of your way, we can walk it."

"Okay then, I'll see you in 10 back at the motel," Dean said.

"Yeah, okay," Sam said, and I hung up the phone.

"Hey," I said to Sam. "What's wrong?" I gestured to my temples, mimicking the movement Sam had done earlier in rubbing his own forehead.

"Uh, nothing."

"Doesn't look like nothing, Sammy," I countered, crossing my arms and looking at his sternly.

"I just got a headache that's all. Why are you here?"

"I told you. I'm keeping an eye out for you," I replied.

Sam threw his arms out and looked toward the sky. "You… you know you don't…" But whatever he was about to say came to a dead halt. Sam paused, as if he'd heard something I hadn't, and then looked to his left.

I followed his gaze and saw a bald man in a suit, walking across the street away from the medical centre. He looked familiar, and I realised that I'd seen him before at the morgue, and he'd been holding a briefcase then, just like he was now. Sam started to hurry after him, and I was left with no other choice than to follow him.

The man turned into an alley and Sam started to sprint. All I could hear was the sound of harried footsteps, starting to turn panicked as the man realised that Sam was on to him. He stumbled, and Sam slammed into him, pushing him up against the wall. Within a moment, Sam had pulled Ruby's knife out of his jacket - a surprise addition to the equation - and pushed it up against the man's throat.

"I know what you are dammit," Sam hissed.

My eyes widened, there was only one real option. "Demon!" I said.

"Aaah!" The man cried out as Sam cut a small knick into his neck.

"I could smell you," Sam said, his face pressed almost into the demon's.

"Winchester," the man snarled back.

With a burst of energy, the demon lashed out, pushing Sam away from him and into me. I stepped to the side, avoiding the impact at the last moment as Sam went staggering backwards. The demon lunged forward and I lashed out with a right hook, hitting him in the face. It felt like I was hitting a brick wall, but I didn't back down.

The demon spun to attack me, throwing himself forward with a couple of punches and then a round kick which I blocked with my forearms, pushing him back. Sam recovered and stepped into the frey, slashing with the knife and knicked the demon's arm this time.

"Aah!" The demon dropped the briefcase he was carrying, and looked from Sam to me. He was outnumbered, and he knew it. Without so much a backwards glance, he took off running down the alley away from us.

"Hey!" I yelled after him. "Come back!" I started to run, but Sam grabbed my arm, shaking his head.

"Let him go," he said, breathing heavily. "Grab the case."

I wanted to argue, but then I saw the way Sam looked at the knife - like he was wanting to lick the blood off it. It caused my heart to jump into my throat.

"Here," I said, stepping up to him. "Let me get that," I added, taking the knife from him and hastily cleaning the blood from the blade with my shirt.

Sam shook himself, and looked at me with a smile before bending over to pick up the briefcase.

I was left holding a knife, and with a gut full of anxiety over how Sam had been looking at the blood from a demon.

Seven Weeks Ago
Christmas Eve

Beth's POV

By the time we made it up into the bedroom, Dean was more than getting up close and personal. As we hit the bed, his hands were up my top and brushing over the lace of my bra; his lips pressed into my neck where he planted kiss after kiss.

"Dean…"

"Mmmm?"

"Hey?" I said, pulling back slightly, getting a groan of complaint.

"What?"

"Remember… we have a visitor..." I said, and Dean paused, his left hand half way down my pants and cupping a buttock. He turned to glance at the dark corner of the bedroom where the single bed, usually occupied by Sam, now had our surrogate nephew JJ sleeping.

"Son of a bitch," he muttered, turning back to drop his forehead against my shoulder.

His hands didn't move however, as he slowed his breathing and listened for any telltale signs that we'd woken the boy. After a moment we realised that JJ was sleeping soundly, and let out a little sigh of relief.

"Okay, so we'll just have to… improvise," he said finally. "Because sugarpie I'm not done here."

I giggled and kissed his lips, feeling him pull back and start unbuttoning my jeans. With practiced ease, Dean soon had me stripped down to my underwear, and the bra was quick to follow, along with a pile of his own clothes on the floor.

Tucked under the blanket in our own bed, Dean's hot breath travelled along my collarbone and up my neck until I felt a little nip at my earlobe.

"Mmmm…" I murmured, tangling my hands in his hair.

"Mmmm," he agreed, rolling me over to my side and sliding in behind to wrap an arm around my waist, his hand cupping a breast as his legs intertwined with mine. "I swear you're made for me."

That comment got my attention and I turned my head to look sideways at him. "What do you mean?"

"Huh?"

Dean's focus was elsewhere, his lips on the back of my shoulder, hands wandering further south where he'd started to massage along my inner thigh.

"Made for you?"

"Oh," he paused, his hands stopping as he kissed my neck. "You just fit, everything about you. Like… I don't know. We were meant to be."

"Like ...Cupid shot you with a bow and arrow?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. Dean pulled his head back from where he'd been sucking on my neck and rolled his eyes at me.

"Firstly, there's no such thing as a cupid. Secondly, that would be too damn random for my liking. No, you're something more, this is more than just random dumb luck." He returned to my shoulder and I felt the graze of his teeth across my skin, sending shivers along me, but my mind was still on the conversation.

"You really believe that?" I asked, twisting further around. Dean could see that I was losing interest in the physical and taking us into a discussion and he groaned.

"Damn you," he said, his lips pausing in their explorations. "Okay. Yes." Rolling me on to my back, he turned my face to look at him, kissing the tip of my nose as his hand came to rest on my stomach. "Yes, I believe it."

"Soulmates?"

Dean shrugged. "If you want to use that term, sure," he said.

"I didn't think you believed in that," I said, reaching up to touch his face. He'd never expressed much of this before.

I felt fingers intertwine with mine, bringing my hand up to Dean's lips where he placed another kiss. "Well, there's too many things that've happened to just ignore it," he said finally. "Call it fate, destiny, divine intervention… I don't know know, I just know you were put in my path more than once. And every time there has been something there, an attraction beyond my understanding."

"Yeah," I said softly.

"So, yes," he said. "I am completely yours. We fit together. I'm incomplete without you."

"That… may actually be the most beautiful thing you've ever said to me," I smiled, leaning up to kiss him. Dean smiled back against my lips, and then deepened the kiss, turning it from a soft, gentle interlude to a hungry, passionate encounter. I felt the way his lips pressed to mine, his tongue seeking out mine, making me breathless with the intensity.

His hands buried into my hair, tightening and tugging on my scalp as he slowly, deliberately drank from me. I moaned softly, unable to do anything other than surrender to that moment.

When he finally pulled back, I let out a short gasp and dropped my head back to the pillow. "Wow."

"I haven't even started," he whispered, and his hand slipped down between my legs, teasing. "Let's see if you remember how to be quiet…"

"Oh god…." I groaned.

"He aint got nothing to do with this sugarpie…."

Present Day
Motel Room

Dean's POV

When Sam and Beth got back to the motel, they were teeming with tension. I looked from Sam to Beth, seeing her looking at Sam warily. He walked further into the room and placed the briefcase they'd secured from the demon on a table.

Within minutes they'd filled me in on the story of how they'd encountered the same man from the hospital, and he'd been a demon.

A demon?

"What the hell does a demon got to do with this, anyway?" I asked.

"Believe me, I got no idea," Sam said, turning to look at me with a sigh. He was still rattled from the fight, I assumed.

"You okay?" I asked.

"Yeah, yeah," he nodded. "I'll be all right."

The look on Beth's face told me she believed otherwise. She was fidgeting with Ruby's knife, staring down at its blade, and I had a moment to wonder just what the hell had happened out there in that alley.

"Are you sure?" I questioned. "Beth?"

She looked up at the sound of her voice, eyes wide like a startled deer. "Huh?"

"Are you okay?" I asked, taking a couple of steps over to stand in front of her, looking her over. She didn't appear to be hurt in any way, but something was bothering her. When she glanced at Sam, I started to worry.

"Yeah, of course," she lied. "I'm fine." I opened my mouth to argue, but she shook her head at me, stepping around me and walking toward the table.

"Can we just see what's in the case?" She asked.

I sucked in a breath and let it all go. Yeah, sure. Why not? "Okay," I agreed.

We were all standing front of the briefcase, staring down at it's unassuming black leather, and simple locks. After a moment, when neither Sam or Beth moved, I stepped a little closer and placed my thumbs on the release buttons. "Let's crack her open. What's the worst that could happen, right?"

When they didn't argue, I slid back the buttons and pushed open the lid, holding my breath.

"Whoa!" Sam exclaimed, and I shielded my face as a bright light shot out of the briefcase and then disappeared through the ceiling.

"What the hell was that?" I asked.

"It's a human soul," said Cas, and we spun around to see him standing at the other end of the room, holding a half eaten hamburger in a wrapper. "It's starting to make sense," he announced, taking a big bite out of the burger and chewing loudly.

"Now, what about that makes sense?" Sam asked.

"And when did you start eating?" I asked. I mean, let's be honest, I like to eat and I'd never, ever seen Cas with the need to chow down on food.

"Exactly," Cas said, pointing at me. "My hunger... it's a clue, actually."

"For what?" All three of us said it at once, and I flashed a grin at Beth, whispering, "jinx."

Beth grinned back at me, but then turned her attention back to Cas who continue to chew the mouthful of food he was eating and started walking toward us.

"This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger," he said. "Starvation, to be exact… specifically...famine."

"Famine?" Beth asked, a brow creasing that pretty face of hers.

"As… as in the horseman?" Sam added.

Cas nodded, taking another bite of his burger and chewing without speaking. I felt my stomach sink at the thought. We'd barely gotten out of the last encounter with a horseman, and now we were smack in the middle of another one?

"Great," I muttered. "Th- th-that's freaking great."

"I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food," Sam said, gesturing to the nearly finished burger in Cas' hand.

"Yes," Cas agreed. "Absolutely. But not just food. I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something… sex, attention, drugs, love…"

"Oh, well that would explain why our puppy-lovers that Cupid shot went… overboard," Beth said with a nod.

"Right," Cas said with a nod. "The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it." He took another bite from his burger, as if unable to stop himself.

"Okay, but what about you?" I asked. "I mean, since when do angels secretly hunger for White Castle?"

Cas shrugged and looked at the burger in his hand. "It's my vessel... Jimmy. His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect." As if to demonstrate, Cas took yet another bite from that burger, he was completely unable to control it.

"So, Famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?" The very thought of it made sense, but I didn't have to like it.

Cas swallowed his mouthful of food and started to recite a Biblical passage. "And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty... "

"... and great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger will seep out and poison the air," Beth finished softly. I shivered at the thought.

"Well that's just great," I muttered, looking at Beth. There had been something off about her, and I started thinking about all the things she'd been doing in the last few days. The nurturing, the whole June Cleaver behaviour. Beth had always been a bit protective over Sam, and me, but she'd never mothered us like that.

I frowned, thinking about how much we'd lost in the last few years. Our own baby, and then recently we'd spent Christmas Eve with JJ, doing all those fun family things that we hadn't been able to do with our own kid. And then she'd insisted we go down to Lisa's so that I could spend Christmas Day with Ben.

Sam had said she'd been fussing over him so much it reminded him of when she'd first joined us, and started to take on the same kind of protective role over him that I had.

It was starting to make sense, and my heart started to beat a little faster, thinking about the level of pain she must be in right now.

"So, what does Famine want with us? Why the hunger?" I asked, slipping my arm casually around Beth's waist. I felt her step closer to me, and pulled her tight, resisting the urge to just give her a big hug right then and there.

"Famine is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims," Cas replied.

"So, that's what was in the briefcase...the twinkie dude's soul?" I asked.

"Lucifer has sent his demons to care for Famine, to feed him, make certain he'll be ready," Cas confirmed with a short nod.

"Ready for what?" Sam asked.

"To March across the land," was the reply.

Beth's POV

Dean's arm around me had been a comfort. Now that I knew what we were dealing with, my mind was racing. I was trying to think about what we could all be suffering from. It was clear as day to me that Sam was struggling with his addiction to demon blood. The way he'd looked at the blade, the dripping blood from that demon. I was trying to think of a different explanation but there wasn't one.

At the same time I didn't want to say anything, because if I did, he was going to get into trouble, and I had to protect him. But if I didn't say anything, was that really protecting him? I was at war with myself.

Sam was in the bathroom, the door open, and I could hear him running water from the basin. I took the moment to change out of my FBI suit, wriggling into some jeans, and pulling on a blue shirt.

"So," Sam spoke. "this whole town is just gonna eat, drink, and screw itself to death?" He walked to the door, holding a wet cloth to his neck. He looked sick and I felt my stomach churn just looking at him.

"Yes," Cas replied from the bed he'd taken a seat on, his mouth full of food. "We should stop it."

"Absolutely," I agreed, feeling my heart start to beat a little faster.

"Yeah, that's a great idea. How?" Dean asked.

"How did you stop the last horseman you met?" Cas asked. He hadn't been with us. We'd taken on War by ourselves, and ….

"We cut off his ring, War got his power from it," I replied. Dean nodded and walked to his jacket which was hanging on the wardrobe. He reached into an inner pocket and pulled out the ring to show Cas.

"And after we cut it off, he just tucked tail and ran. And everybody that was affected, it was like they woke up out of a dream," Dean continued. "You think Famine's got a class ring, too?"

"I know he does," Cas nodded, looking a little green around the gills.

"Well, okay," Dean said. "L-let's track him down and get to chopping."

"Yeah," Cas said, eyeing off his food bag sadly. Clearly he had no more burgers.

"What are you?" Dean asked. "The Hamburgler?"

"I've developed a taste for ground beef," Cas said.

Their words were like background noise on a TV as I followed Sam and stood in the doorway to the bathroom, watching him fight with himself, his breathing irregular and short.

"Well, have you even tried to stop it?" Dean asked.

"I'm an angel. I can stop anytime I want," Cas replied obstinately.

"Whatever," Dean muttered. "Sam, Beth, let's roll."

"No," I said, looking into Sam's eyes as he turned around. He was conflicted, and all I could see was the little thirteen year old boy who needed a haircut, the same one I'd promised John to love and protect, just like Dean.

"What?" Dean asked.

"We can't," I said. "Can we?" This was directed at Sam who shook his head at me, a look of frustration entering his eyes.

"Dean...I, um...I can't. I can't go," Sam said, looking up and over my shoulder.

"What do you mean?" Dean asked, his voice was short and sounded like he was about to lose his temper.

"The blood…" I whispered to Sam, and he nodded at me.

"I think it got to me, Dean. I think I'm hungry for it…"

"Hungry for what?" Dean asked, completely oblivious to what was going on.

"You know," Sam said, his eyes turning sad.

"He's hungry for demon blood," I said, twisting to look at Dean and seeing his eyes widen just a bit.

"Oh you gotta be kidding me," Dean said, glancing sideways at Cas. "You got to get him out of here. You got to beam him to, like, Florida. Anywhere but here."

"It won't work. He's already infected. The hunger is just gonna travel with him," Cas said.

"Well, then, what do we do?" Dean asked.

"You go cut that bastard's finger off," Sam replied.

"Right," I agreed. Dean could deal with it, he and Cas had it in the bag. I would stay here and…

"You heard him. Let's go Beth," Dean said. He moved to the bed where I'd put Ruby's knife earlier, picking it up and turning to face me.

"Me?" I asked, frowning.

Dean stopped, exasperation showing on his face. "Yeah you. What's that supposed to mean?"

"Uh, well… shouldn't I stay here and look after Sam?" I pointed out. I mean, it was clear as day what the priority was here.

"What?!" Dean asked.

"No," Sam said, shaking his head. "No, that's not necessary."

"It is necessary, Sammy, I can't leave you here alone," I said, turning to look at him. Sam smiled, reaching out to put a hand against my cheek and shook his head.

"You gotta fight it Beth, it's just… it's just a need to go back to when things were simpler. I see it now. You can fight it, you're stronger than me," he said.

"No…" I whispered.

"You go with Dean, he needs you. But, guys…" This time he looked up at Dean, sharing a silent moment with his brother. "Before you go, you better...you better lock me down - but good."

In no time Dean had Sam cuffed to the pipe under the bathroom sink. We tested it, Sam pulling as hard as he could on it, and it didn't budge. He wasn't going anywhere in the near future.

"All right, well, just hang in there. We'll be back as soon as we can," Dean said.

"Be careful. And... hurry," Sam said.

Dean pushed me out of the bathroom, and Cas shut the door, blocking it with the dresser that was in the room. If Sam somehow managed to get free of the cuffs, then he would have to contend with that too.

"I don't like this idea," I said, feeling my heart start to race at the idea of leaving Sam there.

"Believe me, no one likes this idea, but we're out of options," Dean said.

"I can't…" I said. The very thought of leaving the room had me in a panic. I was starting to feel the shortness of my own breath. He glanced at Cas and then pulled me aside, dropping his voice.

"Beth…"

"I can't Dean!"

He frowned, taking me by the shoulders. They felt comforting, but it wasn't enough.

"I can't move," I whispered. "I can't leave him."

"Hey, I know something is going on with you," he said. "And we will talk about it soon, I promise. But, I need you on this, I need your head in the game. Are you with me?" He pulled back to look into my eyes. I thought I might drown in the concern I saw mirrored there, the deep swirling green that was like looking into my very own soul.

I pushed the fear that was sitting on my chest deep down and shoved it into the pit of things I didn't ever look at. I could do this.

"Sam is gonna be okay," Dean said, looking at me. "I need you now."

"I'm always with you," I said.

"You sure?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "You always come first Dean, always."

He looked conflicted at that, and I felt myself responding, reaching out to hold his hips. Feeling myself torn between the two of them. Sam was our responsibility, but Dean was right. We had to do our job, and part of that job meant leaving Sam here where he was safer than he'd been if we went up against Famine while he was with us.

"I'm okay."

"Yeah?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," I swallowed. "I'm with you."

St. James Medical Centre

Dean's POV

I was feeling pulled in every direction, but at the same time there was only one place I was headed. Straight toward that horseman. I rounded the corner of the medical centre toward the morgue, recognising the young fellow at the desk.

"Hey, Marty. Is Dr. Corman around?"

"You haven't heard?" He asked me, a slight frown coming to his forehead.

"Heard what?" I asked, feeling Beth come to a standstill behind me, listening and watching.

Marty gestured for us to follow, leading us into the morgue where he pulled back a sheet that was covering Dr Corman's dead body.

"Guy's been dry for the last 20 years, but this morning, he left work, went home, and drank himself to death," Marty replied. I recalled the flask he'd been drinking from and grimaced. I had not seen that one coming.

"It's Famine," Cas said from the other side of me.

"Pardon?" Marty asked, looking at the angel. I scowled at Cas's inability to be discreet, and pulled him aside, smiling at Marty.

"Would you give us a minute, please?"

Marty shrugged. "Sure." He turned and left the room, while I walked around the gurney, looking at Dr Corman.

"Crap! I really kind of liked this guy," I said, feeling sad. It seemed like we were losing too many good people lately. I thought about Ellen and Jo for a moment, and then sucked in a breath, pushing that deep down inside where I could bury it under all the other pain and loss, and not look at it.

"He was so sweet," Beth agreed with a nod, patting my arm comfortingly. I smiled at her, because she was the one ray of sunshine out there. I just wanted to make everything better for her, and I was being reminded that we were far from getting to that place of "good".

Cas put his hand on the Doctor's chest, and paused for a moment.

"They haven't harvested his soul yet," he said. I turned my attention back to the job at hand, planning and trying to stay one step ahead of what had to come next, pushing everything else out of my mind, just like Dad had trained us.

"Well, if we want to play 'follow the soul' to get to Famine, our best shot starts with the doc, here," I said.

Short Time Later

We were in the Impala, staking out the medical centre. From what Sam and Beth had seen earlier, the demon would come out the front, with a briefcase. Cas appeared in the back seat without notice, and I looked back to see him holding a bag of burgers.

"Are you serious?" I asked, stunned at the amount of food the angel was putting away. Cas unwrapped one of the burgers from the bag, closing his eyes and taking a long sniff of the meat.

"These make me...very happy," Cas announced, taking a bite and chowing down.

"How many is that?" I asked.

"I lost count. It's in the low hundreds," Cas replied. I whistled, shaking my head.

"That… is really unhealthy, even for us, Cas," Beth pointed out. "You really need to… I don't know… eat a salad or something."

"I'm fine," Cas said. "I'm an angel, burgers are not going to be what kills me. What I don't understand is...where is your hunger, Dean?"

"Huh?" I asked.

"Well, slowly but surely, everyone in this town is falling prey to Famine, but so far, you seem unaffected," he said, taking another bite and chewing as he watched me with bright blue expectant eyes.

"Hey, when I want to drink, I drink. When I want sex, we uh… well we have it. Same goes for a sandwich or a fight," I said with a shrug, looking over at Beth. She nodded in agreement. I thought about how much I'd denied my desires for Beth when we were younger - and how that would be playing havoc with me if we'd come across Famine back then. But now? I was pretty much the definition of instant gratification these days, especially when it came to Beth and being able to act on my feelings for her.

"So...you're saying you're just well-adjusted?" Cas asked.

"God, no," I snorted. "I'm just well-fed."

"That's true. He is," Beth agreed. I was fully aware of that with the dull ache in my body from our double session the other day. Not that I was complaining, but there were days when we probably pushed our limits with sex, still it was nice when it happened.

"And what are you hungry for Beth?" Cas asked.

"Me?" Beth asked. Cas nodded.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm fine."

"Yeah, no, you're not," I said. I wasn't worried about her, I could see what was bothering her. She was reverting to early-Beth, back when we were young, and we'd been charged with looking after Sam. And she was mothering everyone around her. It was highlighting to me just how much she was missing, and needing that family around her. The one thing I couldn't give her right now.

"Stop saying that to me," she said, frowning. "I'm fine, I can do my job. I am here, aren't I? I am doing what Dad wanted us to do… we're hunting monsters, killing them, this is us."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the vulnerability was so evident in her chocolate brown eyes that I faltered, simply nodding after a moment.

"Yeah," I said, licking my lips. "The family business."

Beth nodded.

Only things had changed, hadn't they? Dad was dead. Sam had unleashed Hell on Earth. I was wanted by Heaven to set things right. And some archangel had prophecied that our child was important.

Be damned if I wanted to bring a child into the world who was just going to be wanted by Heaven, like me. But could I deprive Beth of that? Could I take that away from either of us?

I looked out the windshield, staring into the darkness. I had no answers for that.

Seven Weeks Ago
Christmas Day
Cicero, Indiana

Beth's POV

Ben and Dean were in the backyard, playing with Nerf guns as they chased each other around an obstacle course that they'd set up with Sam months earlier.

I stood at the back sliding door and watched them from inside the kitchen, a mug of hot chocolate cradled in my hands. Ben let out a short laugh and sprinted out from behind a couple of tyres to where Dean was hiding next to the garden shed. He somersaulted to the ground as Dean spun to attack, and nerf bullets narrowly missed the boy's head. With a triumphant cry, Ben turned his gun on Dean and shot, hitting him squarely in the chest.

I smiled at the little victory.

"Oh Dean won't be liking that," Lisa chuckled, coming to stand beside me.

"I can't believe he missed," I said, shaking my head. "That's not like Dean."

It was a big miss for the hunter, and showed that perhaps we'd gotten a little sloppy recently with our training. I found my thoughts returning to the days before Sam had left for college, and the rigorous training John and Bobby had put us all through as teens. They'd been preparing us for this very moment, when we'd be on our own in the world, facing all kinds of monsters and challenges, and they'd prepared us well.

Too well, perhaps.

"Can't win all the time," Lisa said with a smiled, patting me on the shoulder before turning back to the kitchen.

"No, you're right," I said quietly, turning my back on the boys who continued to play outside.

"Speaking of…" Lisa said hesitantly, glancing over at me. "How are you?"

"Me?"

"Yeah," she nodded, moving behind the island bench and picking up a mixing bowl from the counter, watching me as she simultaneously spooned the casserole mix she was holding into a dish. "You don't really talk about how life is … well, treating you, I guess."

I shrugged, letting out a silent breath. What was there to say?

"Yeah, see, that right there. You guys, you live this … crazy life. And I admit I don't really want to know what you're up to most of the time. I know it's rough. But seriously, Beth, I see how you are with Ben, I see how you care about him, and that you encourage Dean to build that relationship with him."

I frowned, taking a sip of the hot chocolate I was holding.

"I don't see your point, Lisa. Of course I'm going to, Ben is family, he deserves this - they both do."

"Yeah," Lisa said, turning and sliding the dish into the hot oven before closing the door. "But what about you?"

"Me?"

"Wow, you are as selfless as Dean says you are," Lisa smiled, shaking her head. "Okay, I'll be blunt. You guys lost a baby, years ago. You clearly love kids, both of you, yet you haven't tried again, have you?"

I shook my head at her. It'd been a rough few years. First Dean had gone to Hell, and then there'd been Lucifer to deal with - we were still dealing with it. When we'd stopped and moved to Minnesota we'd talked about a family, we always talked about it. But when it came to planning… things just got in the way.

"There just hasn't been a good time," I said after a moment.

Lisa laughed, and glanced out the door at Ben. "Beth, stop trying to plan it, just… I don't know, do it. There's never a good time to have a baby. You adapt."

"Maybe," I said.

"The world is not going to end just because you stop and start a family," she said, pouring herself a coffee. "Maybe it's exactly what you guys need."

I looked down at my mug, and the murky chocolate liquid inside it. It looked how I felt.

We'd just lost Ellen and Jo, Sam was in and out of the family unit, with us one moment, and gone the next. Dean was still blaming himself for their loss, second-guessing himself on what we could have done differently, how we could have pulled it off. Or if we should have avoided walking into such an obvious (after the fact) trap.

"Maybe," I said again, looking up at Lisa. "But it's really not the right time."

Her look clearly disagreed with me, but she must have heard the finality in my tone because she dropped the subject. All I could think about was how much simpler life was twelve years ago, when John was in charge and all we had to do was follow orders, keep Sam safe.

Present Day
Montana

Beth's POV

"Look, there," Cas said suddenly from the backseat.

We all saw it at the same time. A man in a black suit coming out of the hospital, carrying a briefcase. He got in a black SUV, and slowly drove off. Dean eased the Impala into gear and started to follow him.

I felt my heart start to pound in my chest as we wove through the streets, keeping our distance so that the demon wouldn't suspect he was being followed.

Before long we were arriving on the outskirts of town and a Biggerson's Restaurant which looked shut down, but for the suspiciously dressed buisinessmen hanging around the outside. Dean put the car in park and sighed.

"Demons," he said. I nodded my agreement.

In the back, Cas was biting into another hamburger and I shot a concerned look at Dean.

"Okay, so when we get there, what exactly is the plan?" I asked.

Dean looked in the rearview at Cas and shook his head. "Hey, happy meal," he said, and I had to hide a smile at the veiled comment. "What's the plan?"

Cas swallowed and looked from Dean to me, holding his angel blade up in the air. "I go in, I cut off the ring hand of Famine, and I meet you back here in the parking lot."

"Well that sounds foolproof," Dean said sarcastically. I was about to agree with him but Cas had already disappeared. "Oh great," Dean added.

"This is a bad idea," I concurred.

"This is the worst idea we've possibly ever had," Dean agreed. "Maybe we should have brought Sam too."

"No, that's a worse plan. We need to keep him safe, not walk him into the equivalent of a... a damn opium den," I argued.

"Yeah, maybe," Dean muttered, under his breath. "But at least we'd have three of us… this, well, Cas is taking too long, something's wrong." He grabbed the shotgun lying on the seat between us and got out of the car. I quickly followed, racing around to put my hands against his chest.

"What are you doing?" Dean asked.

"I can't let you go in there," I said, shaking my head. My hands were shaking, my legs felt like they were going to give at the knees, and I felt sick to my stomach.

"What?!"

"I can't…" I whispered. "It's not safe. I can't protect you."

"Beth, we've been in worse…"

"No we haven't!" I snapped, shaking my head. "No, not like this. Not… with so much to lose."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Dean asked, frowning at me.

I stopped short. "You," I said after a moment. "I could really, really lose you Dean." I moved up and wrapped my arms tightly around him, feeling his chest rise as he sucked in a breath and seemed to count to ten. His arms encircled me, holding me firm as he took another couple of breaths before speaking.

"Beth," he said finally. "It's just Famine. He's playing on our fears and insecurities, on what we need and want most." He looked down at me, lifting my chin so that he could meet my gaze. "I'm not going anywhere. We are going to get that long life together - the type where people joke about how we can stand to be around each other. I promise. But … we're not getting it if we don't get in there and cut off that bastard's ring."

I nodded, he was right, of course he was. But I couldn't do it. I couldn't bring myself to move.

"I ...I can't…"

"Yes you can," he said, stepping away from me and grabbing the tops of my arms. "Now snap out of it!" His raised voice shocked me, I hadn't heard it in a long time, not since my Dad had died.

"Do you hear me?" Dean asked, frowning.

Dumbly I nodded.

"Good, we move, now, head down, focus, and don't do anything stupid, okay?"

"Okay," I said with a dry mouth. I centred on the pain I'd felt when my Dad had been killed. I took all that fear and unknowing that had paralysed me then and I shoved it deep. I buried it beneath all the other doubts and I added the fear of losing Dean to it too. I felt a calm wash over me, all emotion pushed behind the facade. The mask.

My breathing stilled with the certainty in his voice. It was like listening to John give the orders. For a moment I felt like we weren't barrelling down a highway toward our doom, and we were going to pull through this like we always did.

I saw Dean doing the same, and I took a step toward the diner.

"Are you good?" Dean asked.

"Yeah," I said curtly. "Let's do this."

Dean's POV

Having to yell at Beth was doing my head in. Yet I had to keep us moving. We couldn't fail at this, we couldn't fall behind. If we didn't get to Famine before the night was through, there was no telling what might happen. We were already one man down, I couldn't afford to lose Beth.

We were walking into a trap, that much was obvious. I handed her Ruby's knife. "They'll be expecting me to come in the back, so let me distract them, then you can follow." It was risky, but it was the best chance we had in this siege-like situation.

"Okay." She hefted the knife in her hand, looking down at it. I waited for a moment, seeing her slip into the past where she was a fifteen year old girl holding a bloody knife after having killed her father. She sucked in a breath, pushing it down.

"Oh god…"

"Can you do this?" I asked. I was sickly worried that she'd panic in that restaurant, that Famine would get too much.

As her eyes met mine I saw the fierce determination that I'd fallen in love with in her expression. "Yeah."

"Okay, be careful," I said, glancing at the back door where I would be entering. "Don't get dead."

She smiled, shaking her shoulders out. "You too."

I couldn't kiss her. I couldn't do anything other than start walking. If I did anything else it would be too much like goodbye. This wasn't goodbye.

I made my way around the back of the restaurant, finding the entrance to the kitchen. It was unlocked, they clearly weren't afraid of unannounced visitors. The restaurant was dark as I stepped boldly into the interior, cocking the gun.

Nothing.

I moved quietly around a wall, and found a man with his upper body buried in a vat of oil, the hot liquid still bubbling around him. The stench of cooking meat was almost unbearable and I grimaced, stepping quickly past him. Nothing I could do for this guy.

As I came to the service window, I could see into the rest of the restaurant. Bodies littered the booths, flies buzzing around them. Then I saw Cas on his knees.

"Cas!" I whispered through the opening toward him. "Cas!" He turned, a mouthful of raw meat in falling from his lips as hands grabbed me either side. I fought, slamming the butt of the shotgun into one demon's face, and then punching the other. But it was shortlived - they had me. I was walked by two demons straight into Famine's lair.

In front of me was an old man, he looked at least a hundred, with wrinkled and flaccid skin hanging off his bones as if he'd been starved for years. Big black eyes stared back at me over a long, pointed nose that had an oxygen tube clipped to it. He was small, and looked weak, but I was no fool - I knew he was stronger than he looked, he had to be.

"The other Mr. Winchester," Famine announced, straightening slightly in the wheelchair he was sitting in.

I threw my arm out, gesturing to Cas. "What did you do to him?" Cas ignored the question and continued to eat from the pile of raw meat on the floor.

"You sicced your dog on me. I just threw him a steak," the horseman replied.

"So this is your big trick? Huh? Making people cuckoo for cocoa puffs?" I asked, turning back to him.

"Doesn't take much…" Famine said with a shrug, "...hardly a push. Oh, America. All-you-can-eat, all the time. Consume, consume. A swarm of locusts in stretch pants. And yet, you're all still starving because... hunger doesn't just come from the body, it also comes from the soul."

"It's funny, it doesn't seem to be coming from mine," I pointed out. Beth, yes. Sam, absolutely. Me on the hand, I couldn't explain what was going on with me.

"Yes. I noticed that. Have you wondered why that is? How you could even walk in my presence?" Famine asked.

I smirked. "Well, I like to think it's because of my strength of character."

"I disagree," the man said, wheeling his electric chair over to me. He reached out and touched me with a withered hand. The demons held firm as I tried to recoil, but I couldn't. The pain as he touched me was intense, but not unbearable. I grit my teeth, groaning through it. I needed him where he was, I had to stay the course until Beth could back me up. "Yes. I see. That's one deep, dark nothing you got there, Dean. Can't fill it, can you? Not with food or drink. Not even with sex."

"Oh, you're so full of crap," I said, rolling my eyes at him.

"Get away from him!" I felt myself freeze as Beth's voice echoed through the room. I turned to see her in the open, standing at the front of the restaurant, a rage filling her face.

"No, Beth…" It was too soon.

Ignoring everything around us, she ran at Famine, brandishing the knife. A demon moved to intercept her and she shoved the knife into his stomach, his mody lighting up from the power of the blade as he fell dead to the floor. Another, and another, and she took each of them down until finally two demons tackled and disarmed her.

I was still feeling the effects of Famine's touch, weak, and I fought to get away and go to Beth, but the demons held strong.

"No… no!" I yelled, as they pulled Beth to her feet. She was sobbing, looking at her hands, and then fell down to her knees.

"She's strong, Dean. And her hunger is… fueled by her need to protect you and your brother. But she's not strong enough to withstand me. Not like you… she still has a will to live, but you…"

The horseman turned his face back toward me. "Oh, you can smirk and joke and lie to your wife and brother, lie to yourself, but not to me! I can see inside you, Dean. I can see how broken you are, how defeated. You can't win, and you know it. But you just keep fighting. Just... keep going through the motions. You're not hungry, Dean, because inside, you're already...dead."

Was he right? It had been a long year since getting out of Hell. Yet, I had Beth, I had my freedom, and we would keep fighting until the end.

"Let them go," A voice said from behind the horseman. I winced as I recognised the voice.

"Sam…" Famine said, turning his chair back toward the front of the restaurant. I looked up and saw my brother, his face stained with blood, standing in the doorway, alone.

"Sammy, no!" I called out. Two demons guarding the horseman moved to attack Sam, but Famine held up his hand before they could even get halfway to him.

"Stop! No one lays a finger on this sweet little boy." His voice was almost loving, filled with affection as he looked at my brother. "Sam, I see you got the snack I sent you."

Sam hesitated, glancing at me and then back at the horseman. "You sent?" He asked.

"Don't worry. You're not like everyone else. You'll never die from drinking too much. You're the exception that proves the rule. Just the way...Satan wanted you to be. So…" Famine lifted his hands up, gesturing to all the demons in the room, "...cut their throats. Have at them!"

"Sammy, no," I said, shaking my head.

"Please, be my guest," Famine encouraged Sam.

Sam lifted his hand up, closed his eyes, and I watched in horror as all five demons were pulled from their hosts in a huge black cloud. The demon smoke pooled on the floor of the restaurant, and I felt my chest heaving as I considered what was going to come next. Could I pull Sam back from this if he went too far? How was I going to protect him?

Then all of a sudden Sam lowered his hand and shook his head.

"No."

Behind me Famine sighed. "Well...Fine. If you don't want them...then I'll have them."

Within seconds the black smoke was pulled off the floor and devoured by the horseman, disappearing into his mouth in a bottomless feeding. Sam stepped forward, extending his hand toward Famine.

Famine smirked at Sam and his gesture. "I'm a Horseman, Sam. Your power doesn't work on me."

Sam grinned back at him. "You're right," he said. And he looked behind Famine to the same shadow I was watching, and a glint of silver in the darkness. "But it will work on them." With a single motion of his hand, Sam reached out and pulled, as if holding on to an invisible tether.

"Aaaahh!" Famine cried out as the souls were ripped from his body. Beth crawled on her hands and knees to the demon that had disarmed her, and then looked up at me through tears. I nodded, almost reading her mind, and within seconds she tossed Ruby's knife through the air to me. I moved to grab Famine's hand, but it was already too late. With a final cry Famine slumped in his chair, eyes empty and dead.

"Beth!" I called out, running to help her up. "Are you okay?"

I looked her over, seeing her nod. "Yeah, yeah… did you get the ring?" I frowned, looking back at the dead horseman, ring still in tact. Cas was getting to his feet behind him, looking disturbed, and as I spun around, I could ee Sam bleeding from the nose.

"Sammy!" Beth exclaimed, running to catch him as he fell to his knees, her arm wrapping around him and under his shoulder. "Oh God… are you okay?"

The look he gave us told me that he was anything but okay. I moved to quickly cut the ring from Famine's hand, just in case.

I pocketed the ring in my jacket, and looked around us. Bodies littered the floor. I wondered if they were dead or unconscious after having the demons expelled from them. I didn't really want to wait to find out. I was more concerned about Sam.

"Come on," I said, moving toward him and Beth. "We gotta get out of here."

7 months ago
Christmas
Cicero, Indiana

Beth's POV

It seemed that I'd spent a lot of time in bathrooms staring at mirrors lately. I found myself in the same place again, looking at the small round plastic pill box in my hands.

I counted out the pill for the day and hesitated.

What if Lisa was right? What if there was no time like now to just… try? To stop putting everything else ahead of what I wanted - what we wanted - the most?

I'd already buried one child. There were no guarantees.

"Hey Beth?" Dean called out from across the hallway where the spare room was located. "You coming?"

I started, looking down again at the box, feeling a little guilty that I was even thinking about this without talking to Dean.

"Yeah!" I called back to him. "Just a sec."

I hesitated again, looking down at today's little white pill, sitting there as if it was taunting me.

All I had to do was take it. Or throw it in the bin.

A banging at the door startled me and I jumped back a step, seeing the door open and Dean stick his head around it.

"What is taking you so long? I can't believe you let Lisa talk us into a double date," he groaned.

I slipped the pill box behind my back and flashed him a smile to hide my thoughts, stepping toward him and kissing him softly.

"Oh come on, she's nervous," I said. "It won't kill you."

"Well, now, we don't know that. I mean, this poor dude, he's about to go on a date with the three of us… both women who I've slept with. Like, seriously, this is a recipe for disaster," Dean said.

I rolled my eyes at him and sighed. "We don't have to announce to him you're Ben's father, tonight."

"Huh, yeah, okay, true," he said, stepping into the bathroom and shutting the door. "I still think this is ridiculous. Why can't she go out with him on her own?"

"Maybe she wants our opinion on the guy?"

"Like I care about the guy!" Dean said, slipping his hands around me. "I'd much, much, much rather be here with you… on our own. And I'm sure this guy is thinking the same thing!"

"Yes, well, maybe Lisa would like to get to know the guy's personality before he gets all handsy." I pointed out. Dean's hands tightened on my hips and he sighed.

"Yeah, okay, fine," he muttered. "So, come on then. What are you doing in here anyway?"

I bit my lip, and looked down at his chest.

"Hey, come on, something's been up with you since yesterday," he said, lifting my chin so he could look into my eyes. "Spill."

I sighed softly and shrugged, showing him the pill box. "Last few days of the cycle," I announced. "Need to go see a doctor for a new prescription."

"Oh," he said, frowning at the box. "Oh okay."

I chewed on my lip and then popped out the pill and put it into my mouth, swallowing. "That's all," I said after a moment.

He took the box out of my hand and tossed it in the bin by the sink, turning to look at me.

"Or, we don't."

"No?" I asked. "That's a big step."

"And?"

"And...what about Lucifer?"

"What about him?" Dean asked with a shrug.

"End of world, hunting of Sam, you know… the usual," I pointed out.

"Near as I figure it, there's always something going wrong in the world," he said. "Maybe we should make something right."

"Really?" I asked, surprised.

"You think I don't see how you look at Ben and JJ?" He asked, his eyes softening. "Besides didn't you get some divine decree to have a baby?"

I sucked in a breath and frowned at him. "Exactly. I don't want our baby to be some… some… plan by Heaven. I want it to be our plan, our wants. Us."

Dean pulled me a little closer and kissed the tip of my nose. "And it is," he said, bringing one hand up to cup my face.

"It just feels like completely the wrong timing…" I whispered.

"Yeah I know," he sighed, leaning his forehead against mine. "Okay, so maybe now isn't the right time, but… you know I want you to be happy, I want us to be happy. We were happy, in Minnesota, weren't we?"

"Yeah," I whispered, tears in my eyes.

"Okay, so maybe not right now," he said. "But, let's figure something out soon, okay?"

I nodded, savouring the feel of his face close to mine, the way his breath ghosted across my lips before I pressed mine against his mouth. With a slow, almost desperate need I kissed him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him closer.

By the time we pulled apart, the world almost felt normal again. I smiled, and blushed slightly at how turned on I became just from kissing this man.

"Mmm," Dean murmured, looking down at his crotch and groaning slightly. "Damn you."

He shifted slightly, readjusting his now half-erection inside his pants and then flashed me a grin. "You're going to pay for that tonight," he promised.

I laughed and reached around him to open the bathroom door, giving him a soft push out into the hallway. "Promises, promises," I teased, before looking back into the bathroom. Dean was always moving toward the stairs as I turned out the light, my gaze falling down to bin next to the vanity.

I quickly pulled out the pill box and looked at it one more time, before setting it back on the sink. "Not yet," I whispered. "But soon."

Present Day
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Bobby's House

Dean's POV

We'd driven as fast as we could to Bobby's. Sam passed out on the drive there, and Beth clutched at my hand for half of it, as if scared to let go. By the time we'd arrived, Sam knew what the plan was. He didn't like it, be he also knew it had to be done. But this time, Beth was determined to do it differently.

I watched from outside the panic room, the door still open as I stood on the threshold. Inside Sam was screaming, thrashing around on the cot that we'd secured him to.

Beth was sitting beside him, a wet cloth in hand as she bathed his forehead, and held his hand.

"Let me out of here!" Sam begged. "Beth please! Help!"

"It's okay Sammy," she replied, placing the wet cloth against the side of his neck. "It's gonna be okay."

It sure didn't feel like it was going to be okay to me.

"Are you sure about this?" I asked Beth, seeing her look up at me with a pained expression.

She nodded. "I'm not leaving him."

I sighed, and smiled at her. It was this dedication to Sam that I both loved and hated about her. "Okay, well, I'll be right out here."

I couldn't sit in there and watch. Not right now. Maybe later, but it was killing me inside.

"I know," Beth smiled. "We'll be okay."

Sam's body tensed again, and he started to yell from the pain rippling through him. I hesitated, not wanting to leave her in there, but then I saw her face. She wasn't moving.

"Dean!" Sam yelled. "Dean let me out of here!"

I closed the door, locking it and peered through the window at the two most important people in my life.

"That's not him in there," Cas said next to me. "Not really."

"I know," I said.

"Dean, Sam just has to get it out of his system. Then he'll be…."

"Listen," I interrupted him. "Can you watch them for bit? I just, uh…. I just need to get some air," I said. I had to get out, away from anyone talking at me. Cas nodded as I pushed away from the panic room and up the stairs, out into the scrap yard.

I wandered without thought, taking in the old twisted metal of the yard that felt like my soul right now. As I reached the end of the yard, I was drawn toward the old makeshift gym, and what I knew was lying behind it. The memorial.

It looked just as I remembered it from Christmas. The magnolia was just starting to bloom with the promise of Spring and I stepped up to the blossom, seeing yet not really taking in the beauty of that flower. I don't know how long I stood there, thinking yet not really conscious of any thoughts.

After a while I dropped to the bench under the tree, taking in a deep breath and looking at the little angel baby statue marking the burial place of our child.

Maybe Famine was right, maybe I was dead inside.

"Please…" I whispered, feeling a tear come to my eye. "I can't…" I couldn't think of Beth locked away with Sam right now, the pain she was going through, the fact that I couldn't give either of them what they really wanted: a normal life. I whispered to no one in particular. After all, who was listening?

Angels? God?

Did I really believe that?

I had always said there was nothing looking out for us, that Beth believed enough for the both of us. But the truth was, I believed in what I saw. And a part of me wanted to believe that something out there was looking out for us.

"I need some help," I finished,looking up.

"Please?"

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Song for this chapter is - Sky Full of Song by Florence + The Machine
The lyrics don't exactly fit, but the whole melancholy feel to this song was just right with this episode.

Hello and welcome to all the new readers! Obviously this is part of an ongoing series. You're going to want to start with Book #1 - Highway to Hell if you want to read more about Dean and Beth and how they got to here.

Thank you, as always, to my continued supportive readers and your comments. I love love love to hear from you and appreciate all the feedback given via PM and reviews. I hope you enjoyed this episode as we start gearing up toward the final showdown with Lucifer!

I'm hoping to pop a bit of an appearance from Jefferson in the next one - but will see how it works out. Let me know if you want to hear more from him, I still have his Chronicles to get started on too! And maybe maybe maybe get an update done to "Where Angels Fear to Tread" too... before I get ahead of that storyline too far. (So many ideas, so little time to write!)