Piper woke up in the white bedroom. Before she could get her bearings, Loki had swept her into his arms, crushing her to his chest.

She laughed softly and wrapped her arms hesitantly around his waist. "Um, hi."

He leaned back. "Precious, are you all right? What happened? How did you guys get out of that convent?"

She examined his frightened hazel eyes. "Hey, I'm okay. I have no idea how we got on the plane, but I'm all right."

He crushed her to him again, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. "Good."

She chuckled against his chest, feeling inexplicably safe and warm in his embrace. "I thought you didn't like humans."

He put a hand on the back of her head, keeping her close. "Only you, Piper Finley. I don't know why, but I only like you."

xxxxx

Dean woke up slowly, fighting it a little. He was warm, he could sense sunlight pouring through a window, and he had a warm Piper curled against him, her head resting on his chest. He wanted to wallow in it for a while.

Unfortunately, he couldn't stay asleep. So he opened his eyes and turned to gaze down at Piper's head. Her hair, midway between the bright violet that symbolized freshly dyed and the silvery lavender hue that meant she hadn't done in it for a while, was spilled messing over her shoulder. Her breathing was slow and steady, peaceful.

Finally said it. He felt lighter than he had, and he felt heavier at the same time. She knew, but now, of course, she knew. He was no longer just some guy she was sleeping with. He was the man who was in love with her.

A flutter of panic wormed its way into his heart. How could he protect her? How could he make sure she was safe? She was a hunter. She would never let him put her somewhere, let him set her up to be safe somewhere away from the shitstorm that was his life.

"Dean, whatever you're freaking out about, stop it, because I'm still sleepy."

Despite himself, he chuckled. "Sorry, baby, just thinking."

She lifted her head to gaze at him. "Stop it. Five more minutes. Five more minutes of us, okay?"

He hauled her up to him so her face was level with his. "Whatever you say, kitten." He studied her lovely, sleepy, hazel eyes. "It's always whatever you say, kitten."

She smiled. "Mmm, good boyfriend." She kissed him softly.

He turned them so he was leaning over her, one hand trailing down her soft skin. He slipped his hand between her legs, finding her already warm and wet. He leaned back and cocked an eyebrow. "Already wet for me, Pipes?"

She smiled and ran a hand down his chest to wrap around his cock. "Already, handsome, always."

He shifted again and settled himself between her legs, laying burning kisses down her neck. "Oh, Dean," she sighed softly.

"Mmm, I like it when you say my name," he murmured against her skin, moving his hand down to move through her slick folds.

"Dean," she moaned, smiling a little, arching herself into his hand. "Dean, please, take me," she begged breathlessly as he put pressure on her clit, moving in tight little circles.

He smiled against her neck, nipping gently at the mark he'd left there last night. "I like it when you beg, too, kitten," he whispered in her ear. "Ask me again, baby." He slipped a finger into her slowly, curving it to hit that electric spot in her.

She gasped, arching her back again. "Oh, God, Dean, please take me."

He shook his head, running his tongue along the shell of her ear. "You're going to need to get specific, Piper," he purred.

She was writhing underneath him, it was enchanting. "Dean, please, baby, I want you inside me, please, fuck me."

He pulled his fingers out, lined himself up with her entrance, and thrust into her hard. He paused, his head resting on her shoulder, letting them both adjust for a moment.

She started moving again underneath him, rolling her hips and biting his shoulder gently. "Dean, please, Christ."

He chuckled. "Yes, ma'am."

He moved slowly, lovingly, worshipping her again. He put everything he felt, all of his devotion and love, into making sure that part of her lovely form was left unappreciated. He hummed against her ear, lay burning kisses along her collarbone, sucked a nipple into his mouth and teased her.

"Oh, God, Dean!" He she cried out, clenching around him. He moaned and picked up the pace, moving inside her through her orgasm and sending her spiralling toward the next one.

He was close. "Look at me, Piper."

She gasped and opened her eyes to follow his order. The lust blown hazel sent him over the edge.

He moved a hand down, and as soon as he touched her, she came apart beneath him again. He came hard, biting down on her shoulder and growling as he did.

He stayed on top of her as they came down, loving the feeling of her soft body pressed against his. He lifted his head and grinned lazily at her. "Shower, kitten?"

xxxxx

Sam had just gotten out of the shower when Piper knocked at the door. "Sammy? Breakfast."

He smiled and finished buttoning his shirt on his way to let her in. When he opened the door, she was smiling and holding up a bakery bag. "Dean's bringing the coffee from the car," she said, moving past him and into the room.

He watched her with a half smile. She was in her typical tank top and tight jeans, but she had what he could only assume was one of Dean's flannel shirts on over everything. Her hair was pulled back into a braid, there was a hickey on her neck, and she looked… Happy.

"Mornin'," Dean said gruffly, walking into the room a few beats after Piper. He walked to stand next to her, pressing a kiss to the top of her head as she arranged breakfast on the table for the three of them. "Should have gotten doughnuts," he said to Piper.

She rolled her eyes up at him. "Dean, doughnuts are purely sugar. You'd just be hungry again in an hour."

"I'm going to be hungry again in an hour anyway." She laughed softly.

Sam closed the door and watched them for a moment, enthralled. They moved together and apart like a dance, like they'd done it a million times before. He didn't even think they were aware of how they shifted and moved to accommodate one another. They moved like a team, and they were one.

A team that he was no longer a part of. Sam had rarely felt so lonely.

Piper must have sensed it, because she turned and hit him with a mega-watt smile. "Muffin, Sammy?"

He smiled a little at her. "Sure."

She brought him one and went up on tiptoe to kiss him on the cheek. "We're gonna be all right, Sammy, try to keep the faith," she whispered, then she went back down and turned to Dean. "Okay, where do we go from here?"

Dean held his arm out and she went to let him sling his arm around her shoulders. "I don't know, Pipes. I mean, where do we even begin?"

Sam started, guilt washing through him. He went to his bag and pulled out the hex bags. "Here. Hex bags. No way the angels will find us with those. Demons, either, for that matter."

Dean examined it, then him. Sam fought the urge to squirm. "Where'd you get it?"

"I made it."

Piper tilted her head. "How?"

Sam didn't really want to answer that question. He fought with himself for a moment. God, he felt so guilty, guilt didn't even begin to cover the way he felt.

He had been silent enough that both of them were staring at him now. "I, uh… I learned it from Ruby."

Piper's face tightened, and Dean nodded. "Speaking of, how you doing? Are you jonesing for another hit of bitch blood, or what?"

Sam shook his head. "It, it's weird. Tell you the truth, I'm fine. No shakes, no fever. It's like whoever… Put us on that plane, cleaned me right up."

"Supernatural methadone.:

Sam nodded. "Yeah, I guess." He let a beat of silence pass. "Guys-"

Dean shook his head and turned away. "It's okay, Sam. You don't have to say anything."

Sam scoffed. "Well, that's good. Because what can I even say? 'I'm sorry?' 'I screwed up?' Deosn't really do it justice, you know? Look, there's nothing I can do or say that will ever make this right-"

"Then why do you keep bringing it up?" Dean snapped.

"Dean," Piper said softly, a hand on his arm. "Dean, come on."

He looked down at her. "Look, all I'm saying is, why do we have to put this under a microscope? We made a mess. We clean it up. That's it."

Piper nodded, then looked at Sam. He nodded, too.

She sighed. "All right, so, let's treat this like any other hunt. What do we do first?"

They were interrupted from answering her by a knock on the door. Dean pulled a gun from his waistband, and Piper moved to the other side of the door, motioning for Sam to answer it.

When he opened the door, a woman who looked approximately sixteen years old stood there, hyperventilating. He frowned. "You okay, lady?"

"Sam… Is it really you?"

He looked back at Dean and Piper, brow furrowed. Dean was frowning, and Piper looked confused.

A small hand on his chest brought his attention back to the woman at the door. "And you're so firm," she said reverently.

"Uh, do I know you?"

She pulled her hand away. "No, but I know you. You're Sam Winchester. And you're-" she looked at Dean. "Not what I expected. I'm Becky." She frowned. "Where's Piper?"

Piper came around the corner with a smile. "Hi, I'm Piper. Can I guess that you're a fan of the Supernatural novels?"

The woman's eyes were wide as she took Piper in. "Your hair… Isn't black."

Piper laughed. "It is not, you're right."

"I read all about you guys. And I've even written a few-" She giggled and looked down, and Sam had a feeling what she was about to say was not something he wanted to hear. "Anyway," she said cheerfully. "Mr. Edlund told me where you were."

Dean stood and came up to stand next to Piper. "Chuck?"

Sam ushered Becky in and closed the door behind her. "He's got a message," she was saying. "But he's being watched. Angels. Nice change-up to the mythology, by the way. The demon stuff was getting kind of old."

Piper rolled her eyes. "Right, what's the message?"

Becky was still staring at Sam. "He had a vision. 'The Michael Sword is on earth. The angels lost it.'"

Dean's eyebrows went up. "The Michael sword?"

Sam looked down at the woman in front of him. "Becky, does he know where it is?"

She nodded eagerly. "In a castle, on a hill made of forty-two dogs."

Piper blinked. "Forty-two dogs?"

Sam looked at Becky. "Are… You sure you got that right?"

She nodded again. "It doesn't make sense, but that's what he said." She stepped forward and put her hand on his chest again. "I memorized every word. For you."

Sam was uncomfortable. "Um, Becky… Can, uh… Can you quit touching me?"

Piper laughed out loud when Becky refused.

xxxxx

When the knock at the door sounded, Piper bounded out of her chair and answered it. "Bobby!" she shouted happily, flinging her arms around him.

His arms came around and held her close. "Hey, Piper, glad you kids are okay."

She let go and grinned at him, moving out of the way so Dean could come up and hug Bobby. "Hey, Bobby." Sam came up next, slapping Bobby on the back.

Piper closed the door behind the men. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"You mean by angels, demons, or Sam's new superfan?" Bobby asked with a chuckle.

Sam laughed. "You heard."

"I heard, Romeo. So… Sword of Michael, huh?"

Dean nodded. "You think we're talking about the actual sword from the actual archangel?"

Bobby was pulling a book out of his bag and putting it on the table. "You better friggin' hope so. Michael looks like a winged woman and the other angels like naked babies with wings."

Bobby pointed at a picture in the book. The three of them crowded around him, and Piper leaned a little into Dean, who wrapped an arm around her and put his hand on her waist. "That's Michael," Bobby was saying. "Toughest son of a bitch they got."

Dean snorted. "You kidding me? Tough? That guy looks like Cate Blanchett." Piper laughed.

Bobby shot them both a look. "Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me. He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword. So if we can find it…"

Sam was nodding. "We can kick the devil's ass all over again. All right. So, where do we start?"

Bobby handed books to each of them. "Divvy up and start reading. Try to make sense of Chuck's nonsense."

Sam stared at the book in Bobby's hand, and sympathy rose in Piper. "Kid?" Bobby asked. "You all right?"

The look on Sam's face had Piper walking away from Dean and approaching him to put a hand on Sam's arm. "No, actually," Sam said softly. "Bobby, this is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sam," Dean said warningly.

Sam ignored him. "Lilith didn't break the final seal. Lilith was the final seal."

"Sam, stop it," Dean snapped, coming up to stand next to Piper. She gave him a quelling frown.

"I killed her," Sam continued, "and I set Lucifer free."

The look on Bobby's face sent disquiet down Piper's spine. She frowned. "You what?" Bobby asked.

The pain in Sam's voice hand her coming forward to wrap an arm around his waist. "You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen. I brought this on."

"Bobby glared at Sam. "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."

Sam winced, and Piper frowned, her unease growing. "I'm sorry, Bobby," Sam said softly.

"Oh yeah? You're sorry you started Armageddon? This kind of thing don't get forgiven, boy. If, by some miracle, we pull this off… I want you to lose my number. You understand me?"

Piper was shocked, then incensed. Bobby would never. She shoved Sam back behind her quickly. "Christo!"

Bobby's eyes flashed back, and Piper snarled. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus-"

He punched her hard in the face, cutting off the exorcism. "Piper!" Dean shouted, rushing forward.

The door burst open and three other demons rushed in. One of them grabbed Sam and tossed him across the room, and one grabbed Dean and pulled his arms behind him.

Bobby swung again at Piper, hitting her on the other side of the face. She cried out, and put her arm up to defend herself from the next attack. She kept blocking his blows, but couldn't bring herself to hit him back. It was Bobby. "Exorcizamus te, omnis immundus spiritus,
omnis satanica potestas-"

He punched her in the stomach, catching her off-guard and cutting off her second attempt at an exorcism. The breath vacated her body, and she was struggling to breathe when he spoke.

"You know, surrogate Daddy is tired of your bullshit, little girl," the demon taunted. "I can hear everything. He wishes he had beat you when he had the chance, maybe you'd be a little more obedient." Her stomach rolled when it grabbed her and shoved her against the wall. "Maybe he would have gotten a little bit more than a 'thanks' for putting up with your whiny ass."

Tears gathered in Piper's eyes and she struggled against the thing's hold around her throat. She still couldn't bring herself to hit him.

"Hey!" a voice that Piper didn't recognize shouted, and she turned to see a woman with long black hair toss the demon-killing knife to the thing possessing Bobby. "Would you get rid of her already? We've got bigger problems."

He caught the knife and turned back to Piper. "Just having a little fun." He raised the knife.

Piper's tears spilled over. "Bobby, I'm sorry," she whispered.

The thing paused, and the black faded from Bobby's eyes. His shocked, sorrowed eyes met hers before he drove the knife into himself.

"No!" Piper cried, falling to her knees as the lights flashed through Bobby's body and he fell. "Bobby, Bobby, come on, please!"

She heard Sam, Dean, and the woman speaking back and forth, but she tuned it out to put her hand against Bobby's face. "Bobby, please, stay awake for me, we'll get you to a hospital, we can do this, just stay awake for me."

She didn't jump when Dean's hand came down on her shoulder. "Come on, Pipes, let's get him to the hospital."

xxxxx

"Piper, Dean thinks he knows what Chuck's clue was about. We're going to go check it out."

Piper was sitting next to Bobby in his hospital bed, her elbows on the bed, and she wouldn't take her eyes off of her father figure. She hadn't taken them off of him the entire time they'd been here. "Okay. Be safe."

There was silence. "Pipe, I'm-"

"If you say you're sorry again, Winchester, I will shoot you," she said softly. "This wasn't your fault, Sam. Bobby's a hunter. Hunters get hurt. That's all."

"Okay, Piper." Sam came forward and pressed a kiss to the top of her head.

She sensed Dean come in before he placed a hand on the back of her head, smoothing her hair down. He stood next to her, and she leaned against his leg, wrapping an arm around that leg. "Oh, Dean," she said softly.

"Hey, we'll be all right, Pipes, just keep the faith," Dean said calmly, smoothing her hair softly. "We'll be back as soon as we can, okay?"

She nodded. "Okay, baby." She finally took her eyes away from Bobby to look up at Dean's handsome face. Years later, through tragedy and apocalypses, he still makes my heartbeat faster. She leaned her face up, and he leaned down to kiss her softly. "Be careful, Dean."

xxxxx

Hi everyone! Here's my notes:

I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or the characters. (heartbroken)

Reviews give me the warm fuzzies and keep me going.

**All righty, I have questions for you guys! I plan on going pretty in-depth on quite a few episodes of S5, but S6 and S7 are some of my least favorite seasons. I have some plans for Purgatory, but really nothing else until S8 and S9. So, my question is this: If I skip most of S6 & S7, just do a couple of key episodes here and there, would that be all right by you guys? Or do you want in-depth, like the rest of this fic has been? Let me know! Love you, beautiful readers.