thanks so much for the reviews, follows, and favorites! this is the last part i planned for this story! depending on the response i get i may continue into a few more parts (like one shots), no full story unfortunately due to time constraints but just a few other supernatural episodes i've thought about crossing over with this! anyway...hope you like this!

Part 4!

Hold My Hand

Flashback - 1983

"Uncle Dave!" a four year old Alex squealed excitedly as her dad had picked her up before answering the door, his long time friend on the other side. The twins were being especially difficult to put down tonight, with Dean running circles around his mom in the kitchen right now as John had just caught Alex.

"Hey kiddo!" he greeted her warmly as she leaned forward from her dad and Dave took her from him, John grabbing his bag and leading the way into the house. "Where's your mom?" he asked, though Mary came through from the kitchen with Dean under her arm.

"Hey Dave," she smiled at him, holding Dean up a little. "Want another one?" she joked, though Dean was being extra squirmy and she set him on the floor. She didn't know why they were being so difficult tonight, though she now suspected it had something to do with Uncle Dave coming to visit.

"I'm sorry I got in so late," he apologized, his flight into Kansas City getting delayed on top of issues with the rental car place.

"Oh, it's ok," Mary assured him, John passing by to take Dave's bag to the guest room. While she was happy to have Dave there as he was John's best friend and best man at their wedding, she couldn't help but note that Carolyn hadn't made the trip with him. "Dean, Ally bug, can you show Uncle Dave the new baby?" she asked enthusiastically.

"He's still up?" Dave asked curiously, surprised he was even seeing his godchildren at this hour; part of this trip was because he hadn't been able to see the new baby yet due to his crazy work schedule.

"Oddly enough, the baby still goes down easier than these two," Mary joked as Dean was already flying up the stairs. Dave followed his lead, carrying Alex behind him. Dean lead the way to the nursery, climbing up the side of the crib and looking in on his still awake baby brother.

"Hi Sammy," Dean greeted him, showing his baby brother off to his uncle.

"Wow," Dave nodded, smiling at his new nephew; Alex was already starting to fall asleep on his shoulder. "How do you like being a big brother Dean?" Dave asked him.

"I already am one," Dean reminded him as he was a few minutes older than Alex.

"I can't believe I forgot," Dave joked but was still serious enough for the four year old to believe him.

"Daddy!" Dean exclaimed as he came to the doorway, running over to John who scooped him up.

"Hey buddy," John said, holding him close. Sam was starting to fall asleep and Alex was now out like a light in Dave's arms. "You sure you don't want to borrow one?" he joked. "Because we're seriously outnumbered now."

"Mmm, these kids need someone who can be home," Dave said, voice hinting sadness.

"That bad?" John asked, knowing his friend had a massive fight with his wife Carolyn, though things were strained for awhile; Dave just nodded. "Well, Mary's gone to bed. Help me get these two down and then I've got a drink with your name on it," he smiled.

"You've got yourself a deal," Dave said, heading out of the room first.

"Night Sam," John said as he turned off the light and left the room.

Dave wasn't sure when he had last fallen asleep on the couch after drinking but that's what happened tonight. He had admitted to John that he and Carolyn decided to split, leading to drink after drink. His eyes were hazy as they opened, doing a quick scan; John had fallen asleep as well in his chair. Too tired to move he settled back against the couch cushions, faintly hearing steps upstairs. Mary must be up to feed the baby, he thought to himself, drifting back to sleep. It was no more than a few seconds though before he bolted upright as he heard a scream.

"Mary?!" John called as he had heard it too, heading up the stairs with Dave following close behind. John lead the way to the baby's room first, looking around. He looked in on Sam who was awake but not fussing, just blinking his big eyes at his father. "You heard that, right?" he asked Dave who had stopped in the doorway, turning to him now.

"Yeah," Dave shrugged, not sure what had been going on. There was no way they both imagined it. "Maybe she had a nightmare," Dave offered as nothing seemed to be amiss upstairs, everything peaceful.

"Maybe," John nodded in agreement, turning to check on Sam one more time, reaching his hand in. Looking down at his hand he noticed blood droplets now, first on the bed and then on his skin. Looking up he spotted Mary, falling back in shock. Sam started screaming now as the fire broke out.

"John, we gotta go!" Dave said, snapping him back to focus. John grabbed Sam, rushing out into the hallway. That's where they nearly ran into the still sleepy-eyed twins.

"Daddy-" Dean started but was cut off by his baby brother being placed in his arms.

"Take your brother outside as fast as you can," he instructed. "Dean, Alex, go!"

"John!" Dave snapped at him, following him back into the nursery.

"Make sure they get outside!" John shouted back.

"We have to get out of here!" Dave said, grabbing him by his shirt.

Derek sat downstairs at the hotel, thinking over the details of the story Alex had told him.

It hadn't been long after the four of them got back to the police station that the Winchester twins got a call from Sam. It seemed that while he had been driving he had attracted an unwanted passenger in Constance Welch. With Dean having had just enough time to change before the call they took off to find their younger brother. Alex insisted they go to the hotel without her, that things would be fine and she would meet them there. Derek wondered if life was going to be like that now, even more worried about what she was running off to than he already was at the BAU.

She made it back to the hotel alone, going right to Derek's room. Even though it was late she knew he would be awake. And even after everything they went through earlier she wasted no time in starting to tell him the truth, telling him he could ask her any question he wanted. He had started by asking how she even got pulled into this life in the first place.

And now here he sat, long after she drifted off to sleep, at a table near the hotel bar. Though it was past closing time he still needed a place to sit and clear his head. He loved Alex, he knew that. This was all a lot to take in though. After all, as of a few hours ago, he didn't even believe in ghosts. Lost in thought, he barely noticed Rossi sitting across from him.

"Trouble sleeping?" he asked lightly and Derek let out a small laugh.

"Just a little," Derek commented. "I'm just having a hard time wrapping my head around this I guess," he admitted; Rossi nodded understandingly.

"I get it," he agreed with him. "Look, if I had never seen..." He trailed off at the memory of Mary on the ceiling.

"...she told me you were there that night," Derek admitted; Rossi seemed a bit surprised.

"She told you about that night?" Rossi questioned. He knew Alex intended to let Derek into this part of her life now, to tell him more of the truth, but he didn't expect that part to come out so soon.

"She did," Derek nodded. "She, ah, also told me they got left with you a lot when they were young."

"Even with this job, I was the one that was around more," he said lightly, though the situation had played out so sadly as the years wore on. He was trying to read Derek's expression now, though he was coming up empty. "She's been through a lot Morgan," he told him now. This life was hard, so he couldn't exactly blame Derek if he wanted out. On the other hand, he had adored Alex since she was a kid so he wasn't keen to see her hurt.

"I won't put her through more," Derek assured him. "I love her." They had said it on the bridge to each other for the first time earlier, but it felt good to say again, especially now that she openly reciprocated.

"She loves you too, has for awhile" Rossi informed him and Derek smiled a little. "It's just with her life-"

"Al?" Derek cut him off, seeing her nearly fall out of the elevator. She was disheveled, clearly just waking a moment ago, her eyes panicked. Barely noticing them at the table, she was pulling her jacket on, still wearing the leggings and shirt that she had put on for bed.

"Alex!" Rossi called after her, both of them rushing over and cutting her off at the door.

"Al, baby, what's going on?" Derek asked worriedly as he looked her over. "Where are you going?" he asked as he noticed the keys in her hand.

"I have to leave, I-" She was clearly shaken but neither man knew by what.

"Can you sit first?" Derek tried to insist but she just shook her head.

"Alex, what happened?" Rossi asked.

"Dean called, I," she couldn't stop thinking about what happened, how life changed so suddenly. One day she was living in DC happily with her boyfriend and the next... "I have to get to Palo Alto."

"What. Happened," Rossi was saying seriously, scared himself now. Derek could tell he loved those three kids like they were his; Alex started to break down in tears.

"There was a fire, at Sam's apartment," she started off. "The boys are fine but..." She squeezed her eyes shut like she was trying to block it all out; as if reliving her mother's death once that night by telling Derek about it wasn't enough. "It's his girlfriend Jess, she died just like my mom did."

"...what?" Rossi asked in disbelief; Derek recalled how Alex said they never knew what killed Mary.

"The ceiling, the fire, everything," Alex was listing as she wiped at her eyes. "It's the same signature, it's the thing that killed my mom and it's back." She had stopped crying but her hands were still shaking.

"You're not driving," Derek told her seriously, taking the keys from her easily.

"You don't get to decide that," she told him, taking it as him telling her she couldn't go. "I have to leave, I-"

"Al," he tried to stop her.

"You have to let me leave," she said now, voice racing. "What if it comes for you next?" He realized what she really meant by leave now.

"You don't get to decide that," he echoed her sentiment from before.

"Derek."

"I'm in this," he told her seriously, holding the keys up. "And I'm driving you both to Palo Alto, all right?" Alex didn't put up a fight as the three of them left for the car.

It was morning when they got to Palo Alto, pulling the car into a small diner parking lot that Dean told his sister to meet them at. Dean came over to find them, having parked on the opposite side while Sam waited in the car. Alex jumped out of the car first, running over to the sidewalk and hugging Dean tightly. He hugged her back, knowing she was scared; he would be lying if he said he wasn't scared too.

"Wish I would have gotten this greeting yesterday," he said lightly, unable to help himself; deflecting was his default. Alex pulled away, nudging him slightly.

"Where's he at?" she asked.

"In the car," Dean told them. "He, ah, isn't up for this I don't think."

"It would overwhelm him," Alex agreed. "What do we do now Dean?"

"What do we do?" he asked her, looking between all of them, a little surprised. "What, are we gonna come back to DC and do this your way? No offense," he told Rossi and Derek right away; they waved him off that it was ok.

"Can't be any worse than doing it the way we did growing up," Alex reminded him. "In case you haven't noticed, it's back."

"You're damn right I noticed," he snapped at her. "And when you didn't answer your phone the first time, I thought it came for you too," he informed her.

"...sorry," she apologized, knowing they were no good snapping at each other.

"Look," he sighed now. "We're lucky I got him to sit till you got here. The coordinates dad left are for a town in Colorado, Sam thinks if we find dad he'll know something."

"Colorado?" Alex asked, confused. "I can't go to Colorado."

"...I didn't ask," Dean pointed out to her; now she was irritated for a different reason.

"Why not?" Alex asked.

"Alex, you have a life," he reminded her, motioning to Derek. "What did you tell me on the phone yesterday? A job, a boyfriend, and a townhouse?" he listed as he quoted her.

"I can't," she agreed with him. "But you guys can't just take off and-"

"I think you should go," Derek told her.

"What?" Alex asked him in shock. "Derek, I can't just-"

"Come here," he told her, leading her closer to the car so they could talk privately. "You need to go with your brothers Al."

"But, the BAU, I can't-" She was trying to reason that work wouldn't let her leave to avoid talking about them. Did he want her to go?

"I think the team will understand," Derek told her. Surely with as many strings as Rossi pulled to get her this job, he and Hotch could do just as good of a job to cover her leave of absence.

"And what about us?" she asked softly.

"I don't want you to go," he clarified. "Not at all." He wasn't sure he would sleep the entire time she was gone. "But, this is the thing you've been after your whole life. You have to go," he reiterated. She pulled him close now to kiss him.

"One case," she told him as he let her go. "This one case with my brothers to track my dad and then I'm home," she compromised.

"Deal," he agreed as he kissed her again. "I love you Alex."

"I love you too," she told him, hugging him quickly then letting go before it became too hard. She hurried back over to Dean who had figured what happened and nodded at Derek in thanks before they left to find their dad. Derek and Rossi sat in the car for a moment in silence, not even starting it yet.

"She'll be ok," Rossi assured him now.

"It's just one case," Derek echoed what she said before and Rossi nodded as Derek started the car.

What Derek didn't know was one case would become two as their dad wasn't in Colorado, with them taking off for a job in Wisconsin shortly after. She called while they were on their third job because they needed help investigating a plane crash in Pennsylvania. They went over the border to Ohio for a job after that, with Sam and Dean dropping her in DC before running off for a job in Saint Louis involving some of Sam's friends from school.

What he also didn't realize though was how none of that mattered once she was home after being gone two months. She was barely in the door that night before he had his arms around her.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured against him as he held her tight, breathing in his scent. "I shouldn't have been gone so long."

"We worked so much, I was barely here," he assured her, though if she was home she obviously would have worked those cases with him.

"All right if I stay awhile?" she asked him with a smile as she pulled away.

"More than all right," he smiled back, kissing her now.

thanks for reading! :) i really hope you liked this! for anyone wondering which episodes of supernatural i've thought of doing i've thought of doing the one where they go back to lawrence, the one where they go to chicago and john's there, and something involving the accident at the end of season one/john's deal in season two...anyway, let me know what you thought about this!