Chrys knew the moment she woke up, although she said nothing to Sam about it.

It doesn't really matter, anyway.


"I got one thing, one thing, keeping me going. You think you're the only one white-knuckling it here, Dean? I can't count on anyone else. I can't do this alone."

Dean shook his head. "You got Chrys, Sam."

Sam shook his head, too. "Dean."

Dean stood and grabbed his jacket, and Chrys rolled her eyes from where she was on the bed. Half of this bullshit wouldn't happen if they just talked to each other…

"I gotta clear my head," Dean said evenly, shrugging his jacket on as he walked toward the door. Chrys stood to follow him.

Sam frowned. "It's past curfew."

Dean walked out the door anyway. Chrys brushed Sam's hand with hers. "I'll find him, Sam."

He was frowning as she walked out, too. "But it's past the curfew!"

She ignored him to shut the door behind her. Dean was walking toward the Impala. "Dean!"

He turned to stare evenly at her as she caught up. Dean was worrying her. He was still surly and quiet, but he'd been that way since she'd known him, so that wasn't her concern. What was starting to scare her was the look in his bright green eyes. It was the haunted, empty look of someone who was on the verge of giving up. It was a look that Chrys was intimately familiar with.

She came to stand in front of him. "What's going on with you?"

"Nothing."

She rolled her eyes. "Please. For two men who run scams for a living, you're terrible liars." She tried to catch his gaze, but he wouldn't look at her. "Dean," she said softly, "What's going on?"

He opened the door to the Impala. "Nothing, Chrys, drop it."

She shook her head. "No."

He slammed the door shut, started the car, and drove away, leaving her there to fume.

Idiot.


When she got back into the motel room, the sound of wings alerted her to the fact that Castiel had just arrived.

The angel was leaning against the wall and staring at Sam. "I got your message. It was long, your message. And I find the sound of your voice grating."

Chrys chuckled and came to stand next to the angel as Sam stared. "What's wrong with you? Are you… Drunk?"

"No!" Castiel scoffed. He went to stand, but started to fall. Chrys caught him easily, still smirking. "I think yes," she said evenly.

Cass turned to look at her, blinking. Her eyes widened as she realized why he was looking at her. "Chrysanthemum, you-"

"It's Chrys, Castiel," she snapped quickly, glaring at him.

"What the hell happened to you?" Sam asked, eyeing both of them.

Castiel turned back to the tall hunter, seeming to have forgotten her, to her great relief. "I found a liquor store."

Chrys wrinkled her nose. "And drank it, by the smell of you."

The angel nodded sadly. "Why did you call me?"

He went to take a step forward, but stumbled, almost taking Chrys with him. She felt a beat of real fear, but Sam caught them before they could go down.

"Woah, there you go. Easy. Are you okay?"

Cass glared. "Don't ask stupid questions. Tell me what you need."

Chrys answered, "There have been demon attacks. Massive, right on the edge of town. And we can't figure out why they're-"

"Any sign of angels?" Castiel interrupted.

"Sort of. They've been speaking to this prophet."

Cass frowned. "Who?"

"This girl, Leah Gideon," Sam said uncertainly.

"She's not a prophet," Castiel replied evenly.

Chrys frowned. "Pretty sure she is. Visions, headaches, the whole package."

The angel shook his head. "The names of all the prophets, they're seared into my brain. Leah Gideon is not one of them."


A few hours later, Chrys was stewing on the bed when the door opened to present Dean. She glared at him. "We went out looking for…" She trailed off as she saw the blood splattered on his clothes. She stood, concerned. "Are you okay?"

He looked at her, a little out of it. "Yeah, it's… It's not my blood. Paul's dead."

"What?!" She asked, remembering the kind bartender.

Dean nodded as Sam walked in. "Jane shot him."

Sam frowned. "Shot who?"

"Paul."

Sam winced. "Fuck."

"It's starting," Castiel said from the couch.

Dean frowned at him. "What's starting? And where the fuck have you been?"

"On a bender," Cass snapped. Chrys chuckled.

Dean's eyebrows went up. "Did he… Did you say 'on a bender?'"

Sam nodded. "Yeah. He's still pretty smashed."

"It is not of import. We need to talk about what's happening here."

Dean stared at them for another moment, then shrugged. "Well, I'm all ears."

"Well, for starters," Chrys began, "Leah's not a real prophet.

He frowned. "Well, what is she, exactly?"

"The whore," Castiel deadpanned.

Dean's eyebrows went up again. "Wow, Cass, tell us what you really think."

The angel shot Dean a bitchface. "She rises when Lucifer walks the earth. 'And she shall come, bearing false prophecy.' This creature has the power to take a human's form, read minds. Book of Revelation calls her 'the Whore of Babylon.'"

Dean sighed. "Well, that's catchy."

Sam nodded. "The real Leah was probably killed months ago."

Dean looked at Chrys. "What about the demons attacking the town.?"

She shrugged, confused as why he was asking her. "They're under her control. The Enochian exorcism isn't real, either."

Castiel started chuckling. "It actually means, 'you, um, breed with the mouth of a goat.'" At their blank stares, he sobered. "It's funnier in Enochian."

"So the demons smoking out, that's just a con? Why? What's the endgame?"

"What you just saw, innocent blood spilled in God's name."

Sam nodded. "You heard all that heaven talk. She manipulates people."

Chrys smiled bitterly. "To slaughter and kill and sing preppy little hymns."

"Her goal is to condemn as many souls to hell as possible" Castiel informed them dryly. "And it's… Just beginning. She's well on her way to dragging this whole town into the pit."

Dean nodded. "Alright. So, then, how do we go Pimp of Babylon all over this bitch?"

Castiel disappeared, and Chrys frowned. "That is annoying as fuck."

Sam nodded and came to stand next to her. He snaked an arm around her waist, and she leaned into him, jumping when Cass appeared again. "God dammit, Castiel," she snapped, "Cut that shit out."

He gave her a long, even look that shut her right the hell up. Fucking angels.

He placed a wooden stake on the table in front of them. "The whore can be killed with that. It's a stake made from a cypress tree in Babylon."

Dean nodded. "Great. Let's ventilate her."

Castiel shook his head. "It's not that easy."

Dean threw his hands in the air. "'Course not."

Cass met each of their gazes, finally ending with Chrys's. "The whore can only be killed by a true servant of heaven."

Chys frowned. "Meaning…"

"Not Dean. Or me. Sam, of course, is an abomination."

Chrys frowned. "Hey!"

Sam squeezed her tighter as Cass looked at her. "Don't worry, Chrys," the angel said softly, "You're an abomination, too. You... Will be abominations together."

I'm going to kill him.


"This was a clusterfuck," Chrys said softly, slinging Castiel's arm over her own shoulders and hoisting him to his feet. They had just watched Dean, somehow now good enough to kill the demon who had taken Leah's face, stake the Whore of Babylon.

He nodded blearily. "It did not go smoothly." He blinked at her, then tried to stand on his own. She rolled her eyes and caught him again. "Chrys, you shouldn't-"

"Shut up, Castiel," she hissed, looking ahead to make sure that Sam and Dean hadn't heard as they helped Pastor Gideon up the stairs. "Just… Just shut up, all right?"

"You do not want Sam to know," he stated as they started up the stairs.

"No, I don't," she said evenly, "So shut your goddamn trap."

He nodded, and they were silent for a few moments. Timidly, unsure if she wanted the answer, "Can you, um…" She swallowed hard and made sure again that the Winchesters were out of earshot. "Can you tell if it's healthy? I mean, it's early, I think it's only been a few days-"

"She," he murmured softly. "She is fine, and she's four days old."

The night I realized Sam loves me. Chrys blinked her tears back, struggling to control her emotions. "Oh."


They were back at the motel, and Sam was watching Chrys like a hawk.

She was acting weird. She kept staring off into space, and acting like she didn't know what to do with her hands. On top of that, he thought she was avoiding him. He was worried it was as a result of their night of… Whatever it had been. He'd thought he'd finally told her how he felt about her, and that she'd felt the same way, but her behavior now was making him question that.

He was shaken from his thoughts by Dean handing a bag of ice to Pastor Gideon. "How's the head?"

The father winced. "I'm seeing double. But that may be the painkillers."

Dean huffed out a laugh. "You'll be okay."

The man sobered. "No."

Dean shrugged and started away. Chrys sat next to the pastor and was speaking quietly to him as Sam turned to watch his brother. "Where are you going?"

Dean rolled his eyes. "I'm just gonna grab some clean bandages out of the trunk, relax."

Sam frowned and watched Dean walk out. He turned back to see Chrys holding the pastor's hand, a sympathetic look on her face. He felt his heart beat faster, watching her comfort the man.

The sound of the Impala's engine had him whirling and running out the door. When he got out, the only thing he saw was Dean speeding away.

"Dean! Dean!"


"Sam, it's gonna be fine."

Chrys watched him clench his jaw, and wished she'd kept her mouth shut.

He opened his mouth to snap at her, but she interrupted him. "I know, I know, I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

She turned to look out the window of the stolen car they were driving. She had known that Dean was going to pull something like this, but there hadn't been any point in trying to stop him. He had made the decision before they even got to the town with the Whore of Babylon.

And there wasn't any point, anyway. Chrys didn't know how this was going to work, and she was struggling to keep her faith in the Winchesters. But… Lucifer was going to win. It broke her heart, for more reasons than one, now, but she knew it. He was going to win, Sam was going to say yes, and there was going to be a showdown. Maybe Michael would be wearing Dean, maybe he would be wearing someone else, but it was going to happen. She knew it, she could feel it, Lucifer was going to win.

"I know it will be all right, Chrys," Sam said softly. "I know Dean pretty damn well. I know where he's going."

She nodded, keeping her gaze out the window, her hand falling absent-mindedly to her belly.

"Are you okay?"

She turned and looked at him. "What? Yeah, I'm fine, why?"

He stared at her for a moment, then turned his eyes back to the road. "I don't know, you're acting weird. And you're holding your stomach."

She felt her eyes widen and she turned to the front, her hand flying down to her side. "Yeah, yeah. Just, uh… Nervous."

He nodded and put his big hand on her thigh. She jumped a little, then relaxed as his warmth sank into the spot. "All right, beautiful. Just making sure."

She smiled and placed her hand on his, threading her fingers through his big ones. "Thanks, Sammy."


Sam watched Chrys get ready for bed after they'd found Dean and subdued him, suspicion still stirring in his heart. She was acting weird, and had been all night. He thought maybe it would get better once they got to Bobby's, but so far, she was still being strange.

They were in the bedroom they shared when they were at Bobby's. She pulled on one of his t-shirts, pulling her hair out of the collar and pulling her toothbrush out of her bag with the other hand. He frowned. "All right, what's going on with you?"

She blinked. "What?"

He stood and walked toward her. "What gives? You sleep naked, Chrys."

She blinked again, then looked down at herself. She looked at him and shrugged, but the blush rising on her cheeks gave her away. "It's cold, Sam. Shut up."

He chuckled and stepped forward, almost closing the gap between them. He reached up and ran a finger along the collar. "Not that cold, beautiful."

She looked up at him, wide blue eyes unreadable. "Do you want it back?"

He shook his head, running his hand up the side of her face to cup her cheek. "No, sweetheart, it looks better on you."

She smiled, a real, lovely smile that makes his heart beat faster. "Flattery will get you everywhere, Sam."

He smiled and pressed his lips to her forehead. "I know," he whispered, smiling against her skin. "Let's try to get in a couple hours of sleep before we have to find a way to kill the devil."

She smiled and leaned up to kiss him gently. "Okay, handsome."


Sam woke up a little to turn over, moving to wrap an arm around his woman. Before he could, he cracked an eye open to look at her lovely sleeping form.

She was laying on her back, her hair spread across the pillow in crazy tangles. Her face was turned away from him, one arm stretched over the end of the bed, the other at her side, with her hand resting on her stomach.

He frowned a little, his sleep-muddled brain trying to figure out whatever idea was working through it. He felt his heart beat faster, but still couldn't understand what the hell was going on.

He shook his head a little and wrapped an arm around her. She sighed and rolled toward him, tucking her head under his chin. He felt a smile stretch his lips as she settled close to him, leaned back and pressed his lips to her forehead, then closed his eyes again.

As he fell asleep, he felt a wave of protective possessiveness wash through him, and he held her tighter to him.


**I kind of love this chapter, so I'm excited for you guys to read it!
**It may be a few extra days before the next update, beautiful readers. We throw a big party every year for the holidays, and I'm running around like a crazy person trying to get ready for it. I'm sorry!
**Feedback gives me the warm fuzzies and keeps me going.