"Third cousin," Sam said, pointing to Gwen Campbell. "Third cousin," pointing to Christian. "Something something, twice removed," pointing to Mark. He turned back to look at Piper and Dean. "They grew up in the life, like Mom. Like us." He paused and looked at Piper. "Well, like Dean and I. Not you, Pipe."
She smiled tightly, but something was wrong. She didn't know what, but something was wrong with Sam. The way he stood, the way he walked, the way he said, "Pipe." And she didn't know for sure that the Campbells were at fault, but she was looking for someone to blame, and they would work just fine.
Dean was frowning. "I thought all of Mom's relatives were gone. And, I'm sorry, it's just, you know. Why didn't we know about any of you?"
A voice behind them had Piper turning. "'Cause they didn't know about you."
An older bald man stood there, looking at Dean. The way Dean stiffened and paled made Piper suspicious of the newcomer.
"Samuel?" Dean asked, shock coloring his voice.
She frowned. "Like, your grandfather, Samuel?"
Samuel was smiling and approaching Dean. "They didn't know until I brought you all together." He pulled Dean into what looked like a rather uncomfortable embrace. It would have made her laugh if she hadn't been reeling at the implications. What the hell is going on here?
Samuel stepped back and looked over at Mark, Christian, and Gwen. "Guys, give me a second with my grandsons here, please."
As they filed out, he turned to look at Piper. She looked back evenly, not moving an inch.
His mouth quirked up at the corner, and he turned to look at Dean again. "Lot of resurrections in your face today. Take a minute."
Dean scoffed. "It's gonna take a little more than a minute. I mean, what the hell? How did this happen?"
Responding to his distress, Piper automatically stepped closer to Dean. She put her hand on his warm back beneath his shirts, offering a touchstone. She noticed both Sam and Samuel observe the movement. Samuel seemed to be cataloging, figuring out who she was, how she and Dean's marriage worked.
Sam's eyes were… Cold. Emotionless. It gave Piper chills.
"We're guessing whatever pulled Sam up pulled me down," Samuel said finally. "So, whatever this is, we're both a part of it."
Piper frowned. "But you don't know what that is?"
"Bingo."
"And you have no leads?" Dean asked incredulously. "Nothing?" Sam and Samuels hook their heads, making Dean exhale sharply. "Well, this… This is, uh…"
"Are there any more?" Piper asked. "Resurrections, I mean?"
Sam shook his head again. "Not as far as we know."
"Okay," Dean snapped. "Are we the only ones here that think this can't all just be fine?"
"Believe me, you're not," Samuel said in what was probably supposed to be a soothing manner. It just pissed Piper off. "I wanted to come get you guys, of course. Meet the missus and whatnot. But Sam was adamant about leaving you out, so we did. Until this."
"Okay, so you guys have been tracking the djinn?" Piper asked, looking between Sam and Samuel.
The latter raised his eyebrows and studied her more closely. "Yeah, we think they're out for revenge. Sam here says you staked one a while back. The djinn attacked Sam a few days ago."
Dean frowned. "Then how are you breathing air?"
Sam shrugged. "Samuel had a cure."
It was Piper's turn to raise her eyebrows. "You have a cure for djinn poison?"
Samuel nodded. "I know a few things. Stick around, I'll teach you tricks your daddy never dreamed of."
Piper was done with her grandfather-in-law's attitude. She smiled tightly. "My daddy was an accountant, so I'm sure you will."
Dean slung his arm around her shoulders. "Well, what's the plan? Do you have a plan to kill the sons of bitches who broke into our house?"
"Relax," Christian said from behind Samuel as the three "cousins" filed back in. "We'll handle it. Djinn are hard to draw out. You guys have been out of the game for a while. Leave it to the professionals."
Piper's mouth actually dropped open in outrage. "Excuse me?"
"Little suggestion," Dean snapped, tightening the arm he had around her. "They're easier to draw out when you have bait. They want Piper and I, they know where we live. Now, I know we haven't been hunting for a while, but I'm gonna stick my neck out and guess that's a pretty good place for us to go."
"See?" Piper snarled. "It's almost like we're professionals."
xxxxx
Piper hated having the Campbells in her home. She felt exposed and angry. She wanted to kick all of them out, maybe move away and change their names and just disappear.
But it was Sam, and not only was he alive, he was in trouble. So when Gwen gave her what appeared to be a genuine smile. Piper tried to be sincere in the one she gave back.
"Your house is really nice," Gwen said softly.
Try not to be a bitch, Piper told herself firmly. "Thank you. We really like it."
Gwen was looking around, and Piper tried to relax as the other woman took in the home she and Dean had worked so hard on. "So, the normal life. Is it weird?"
Piper smiled a little. "It's been the best year of my life."
xxxxx
Dean watched Piper talk to Gwen in the living room from his spot in the kitchen. To anyone but him, his wife looked collected and relaxed. But he saw the tension in her spine and the tightness around her eyes. She didn't like this any more than he did.
"Dude," Sam said from behind him. "Golf?"
Dean turned to see Sam looking at his golf bag with a cocked eyebrow. Dean thought about defending it, but he was more concerned with getting to Piper before she decked someone. His lovely wife had been on edge since they'd laid eyes on Sam, and he wasn't sure how much more her normally very long fuse could take.
So instead, he shrugged. "Yeah, Pipes says I'm pretty good."
Sam looked surprised. "How would she know?"
"Played in high school," Dean replied absently, starting to move out of the kitchen.
Before he could, Samuel was walking in, blocking the way. "Nice house."
Dean sighed. He was never going to get back to Piper at this rate. "Yeah, yeah, go ahead. Call me a soccer mom or whatever."
Samuel chuckled. "'Soccer mom,' huh? Well, I'll have to look that up on the 'intranet.'" He sobered. "You know, believe it or not, I… I get it, Dean. You wanted a normal life. Your mom wanted a normal life, too. You remind me of her, actually. The attitude, or one thing. Your brother tell you what we been dealing with the past few months?"
"No, not really."
Samuel sighed. "I've never seen anything quite like it. Been working 'round the clock."
Dean crossed his arms. If he wasn't going to be able to help Piper, he could get information. "So what's going on?"
A shrug from the burly older man. "We don't know. But whatever it is, it goes way past a couple of djinn acting off. Nocturnals attacking in broad daylight, werewolves out on the half moon, creatures that we've never even seen before. We don't… We don't even know what they are. I'm knee-deep in half-eaten human hearts and exsanguinated ten-year-olds, and it's all making me... Uneasy."
"So what's your theory?"
Another shrug. "You tell me. All we really know is it's all hands on deck. We're counting on each other right now. That's how it is with Campbells." He met Dean's eyes. "We need you, Dean. You and Parker both."
"It's Piper," Dean snapped. Before he could continue, he felt a small, warm hand on his back. Piper stood next to him, looking at Samuel evenly.
"We have bigger problems at the moment," she said softly.
Samuel looked a little irritated when he looked at her, which made Dean's hackles rise. "Such as?"
"The djinn aren't going to come in if you're all in here. Everyone but Dean, Sam, and I have to go."
Dean nodded. "She's right," he said gruffly as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her close to press a kiss to her temple. "Good thinking, kitten."
Samuel frowned. "So, what? I'm supposed to leave you here with no backup?"
"Piper's right," Sam said, standing next to them. For just a second, it felt like it used to. The three of them against everyone else. Dean, his wife, and his brother, standing up for the world, for everything.
Then Sam spoke again. "They're smart. They'll wait till they weren't outnumbered."
Samuel heaved a sigh, then nodded once, sharply. "All right, we won't be far. You call when they come, you hear?"
xxxxx
Dean was pacing, and Piper knew he was angry at her. So she serenely waited him out, knowing he was close to breaking.
She was proven right when he picked up one of their lamps and tossed it across the living room. "Fuck!"
"Dean, sweetheart, it wasn't your fault. It wasn't our fault."
He glared at her where she sat on the couch. "I could have saved Sid. You stopped me, and I could have saved him!" he shouted.
She shook her head unperturbed. "No, you couldn't have. You know that. It's not because we've been out of the game, it's not because of anything we did or didn't do. It's because he wasn't a hunter, and that djinn was willing to kill him to hurt us." She stood and wrapped her arms around his neck, though he was still stiff against her. "Stop, it's done."
"Am I interrupting?"
Sam's voice had her turning to see her tall brother-in-law standing in the doorway. He still made her nervous, and his silent approach hadn't helped at all.
Dean finally wrapped an arm around her and tugged her until they were standing side-by-side. "So, where's Samuel and the rest of them?"
Sam shrugged. "Don't know. They left in a hurry. I'm meeting them back at their place." There was a beat of silence, then, "You, uh, you guys coming with me?"
Before Piper could, Dean answered. "No."
Sam frowned. "I thought you said-"
"I did. I changed my mind."
What?
Piper realized that he was saying no for her. He was saying no for this life they had. Dean Winchester would never leave Sam to hunt by himself, even if it was with "family." He'd rather die than leave Sam alone.
Unless it was for her.
She looked up at her husband. "Dean," she said softly. "We should talk about this."
He kept his eyes on his brother. "Piper, we can't just up and leave," he whispered.
"Why?" she whispered back.
"Look, uh… I'll… Give you some time to think about it," Sam said from the doorway.
Piper blinked. She'd almost forgotten he was there. She put a smile on her face for him, though it wasn't convincing. "Thank you, Sam. We'll be in touch."
He looked at her for a beat, then nodded. "All right. I just, uh… I hope you'll come with."
He turned and walked out.
She followed him out and shut the door behind him, experiencing mixed feelings when he just walked out instead of trying to talk to her again. On the one hand, she was grateful that he hadn't, because he gave her the creeps. On the other hand, it was completely unlike Sam. He would have hugged her or kissed her forehead or any number of affectionate touches. Instead, he just left, got in his nondescript sedan, and drove off.
She flipped the deadbolt and joined Dean again in the living room. He was sitting on their sofa, head in his hands.
"So," she said softly, coming to sit next to him. "Wanna tell me why we're lying to Sam?"
He lifted his head and turned to look at her. "I'm not, Pipes. We can't just up and go."
She tilted her head and reached up to run her fingers through his hair. Getting long. He needs a haircut before we go. "Why not?"
"We have a life here, kitten. And you saw me back there. If you hadn't stopped me, I could have gotten all of us killed."
She shrugged. "So you've been sidelined for a while. It'll come back."
His eyes were raw and upset when they met hers. "I don't want it to come back."
She understood. Somehow, they had found some peace here. Sometime between the jobs and the block parties and the loving one another, they had carved out a home for themselves. And here was the world, threatening to snatch it away again.
But she also understood her husband, so she smiled. "I know. But we're going. We were always going." She stood and put her hands on her hips. "I think it should only take a couple of weeks to get everything sorted out. We can put notice in on Monday, and let the landlord know we're breaking the lease."
He stood next to her, and she turned and smiled gently at him. "Shouldn't be too hard."
He was staring down at her. "What do you mean, 'always?'"
She frowned. "What?"
"What do you mean, 'we were always going?"
She reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing her flush against him, and savored the way he wrapped his arms around her automatically. "Dean, it's Sam," she said softly. "As soon as we saw him, we were going. It's Sam, he's your brother."
He just looked at her for a moment, then pressed his lips to her forehead. "I'm so sorry, kitten," he whispered roughly.
She just held him. "Stop, it's okay. I know."
xxxxx
The next day, Piper wasted no time.
It was a Sunday, so she spent the day going through their things, separating what they needed, what had to be tossed, and what could be donated ("Dean, we can't just throw everything away, people could use this stuff!"). His wife, being a hero even when they weren't saving the world.
Dean watched her all day, helped when she asked, and in general stayed in awe of her. She wasn't angry, upset, or crying. She just looked determined.
In the middle of the day, she was in the living room, sifting through boxes. She was wearing tank tops and shorts, her hair wrapped up in a handkerchief. She was frowning.
"How the hell did we get this much crap? We've only lived here for a year."
He was overwhelmed by her, again. There were a hundred things he wanted to say to her. To apologize for, to beg her forgiveness for, to grovel for. She was the sun his world revolved around, and here he was, dragging her away from happiness. Again.
But she wouldn't want to hear it. So instead, he came to stand behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. She leaned back against him and lifted the blanket she had in her hands. "Where did we even get this?"
He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck. "Don't know."
He smiled against her when she tilted her head for him. "Well, it's ridiculous. There's a lot to go through here, honey."
He nodded, but put his hands on her hips and pulled her snug against him. "Yeah."
Her breath caught, and victory made him smile again. "Dean, we have too much to do."
"Yep." He ground himself against her ass, just a little, making her whimper.
She dropped the blanket and turned in his arms to smile up at him. "Well, maybe just a little break."
He wrapped his arms around her and lifted until she put her legs around his waist. "That's what I thought."
xxxxx
That night, before they went to bed, she went to the bathroom to brush her teeth. When she did, she took her birth control out of the cabinet and looked at it carefully. The brush slowed in her mouth, then she took it out and spit, still looking at the little case.
She carefully put it on the counter and left the bathroom with a broken heart.
xxxxx
Dean went into the bathroom to take a shower before bed. He stilled when he saw the little case on the counter.
It was the right thing to do. Kids weren't an option for a hunter. They were a liability, and God forbid, they could get hurt.
So he left it on the counter and got in the shower. He never told Piper about the time he spent crying.
xxxxx
She quietly started taking birth control again, and children wouldn't be brought up again for years.
xxxxx
Hi, beautiful readers! Here are my notes:
I own only Piper Finley, the original character. I don't own Supernatural or any of the characters. (heartbroken).
Reviews, comments, and kudos give me life and keep me going.
And, as always, thank you for reading, you beautiful, beautiful people.
**Hi, I'm back! I'm sorry about such a long time between updates. My work had a big fundraiser (which was a HUGE success), but it made my mental state a total wreck. Then a friend of mine has been going through something really rough, and I've been trying to be there for her. THEN I finished two of my stories, and they straight up drained all of my creativity. But I'm back, and I missed the hell out of you guys! 3
