We stayed and searched for days, rifling through internet searches and old books. Jodi and Annie made a run to a local library for some folklore and monster legend books. We went through those, and then, when we couldn't find anything, we went through them again.

"Bobby had some old storage facilities," said Sam a few days later. "He had a bunch of books and stuff. We should go check those out."

Dean nodded and glanced outside at the dark sky. "We'll leave in the morning," he decided. "Lucy, you should stay here."

I lifted an eyebrow. "Uh, how about no."

Dean sighed and stood, rolling his head around to work out a kink. "We don't know what the thing is, where it is, what it can do, why it's interested in you; we don't know anything. Bringing you out in the open is the last thing we want."

"I'm a hunter, Dean." I stood, tossing the book I'd been reading onto the coffee table. "I can't hide away just because something's out there. It's kind of in the job description to do the exact opposite."

"Not when it's strictly after you."

"Exactly when it's after me. What happens if the next time the thing shows up it decides to actually come after me? I can't put Jodi in danger like that! Or Annie!"

"I think we get a choice in this," Jodi piped in. She stood and came over to put her hands on my shoulders. "Sweetie, I can take care of myself. Though you're right, I don't want to risk my daughter if I can help it." She sent a soft look toward Annie, who shifted slightly under her glance. "If you need a place to hide out though, you can stay here.

"Now." She turned to Dean. "You don't tell this young woman what she can and can't do. She's old enough and smart enough to know what's best for herself. I get that you're worried, but keeping her locked away isn't going to do her any favors. You need her help with this, and she won't be ready for anything hiding away."

"Jodi's right," Sam agreed. "Dean, you know trying to lock her away won't do any good. She'll just sneak out and find something herself. She's a good hunter. She knows what she's doing. We gotta trust her."

I sent Sam a smile of thanks, and he returned it. Dean was standing in front of the couch, frowning as he studied me. I did my best to look intimidating and bad-ass, but I don't think it really worked.

"Fine," he said at last. "But you're staying with me. No wandering off."

I rolled my eyes, but nodded agreement.

We headed back to our motel room soon after. I kept my eyes peeled from the moment I left Jodi's house until the boys and I were safely in our motel rooms.

On their insisting, Sam was with me. This had been more Dean's idea, and we all knew he had wanted to be the one with me, but Sam had volunteered, knowing Dean would be a bit overwhelming.

Instead of going straight to bed as Dean had insisted, spouting some crap about how we needed sleep since we were hitting the road tomorrow, Sam and I stayed up late talking.

"You gotta understand, Lucy, he's worried about you."

I sent Sam a glare as I curled up on one of the chairs at the little table in the motel room with a mug of tea.

"That doesn't give him the right to hover twenty four seven. He can't just hide me away whenever something bad happens. I'm a big girl. I can handle myself. He needs to know that."

Sam sighed. "Dean knows that," he said. "He really does. You gotta understand, all his life he was the one taking care of me. That was his job. And when my dad came home from a hunt all worn out, Dean looked after him too. It's instinct at this point."

"He doesn't do it to you."

Sam snorted. "Yeah, he does. Or at least he did. He's gotten a bit better over the years."

"Well, he needs to get better with me!"

Sam sighed and reached across the table to take my hand. "Lucy, you've got to understand, the thought of losing you scares the crap out of Dean. It scares us both. We're the ones who dragged you into this whole mess; we don't want something to happen to you because of us."

I frowned. What?

"Sam," I said. "What are you talking about?"

Sam raised an eyebrow. "The wormhole," he reminded me. "If we hadn't come through right in your school, you never would have met us. You'd be safe in your own world right now, going to college, living a normal, safe life."

I sighed. "Sam that was never going to happen. That whole situation was a paradox. The wormhole never would have been created if we hadn't met, and we never would have met without it. That's not on you. That's on whatever weird thing I became when I absorbed all that angel grace."

"Which you never would have done if you hadn't gotten stuck here with us."

I rolled my eyes. "It's not your fault. Ok?"

Sam looked doubtful, so I ran a hand through my hair and tried again.

"It's really not. It's no one's fault. Even forgetting the whole freakiness of the wormhole, I chose to stay with you guys. I could have gone home at any point before we got to this world. I didn't. You didn't make me do that, I wanted to stay. You didn't drag me into anything, and it's not your job to get me out."

Sam shrugged, his eyes downcast. "You're our little sister," he objected. "It is our job."

I stood and made my way over to Sam, wrapping my arms around him.

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere." I pushed on Sam's chin until he looked me in the eyes. "I can fight; I can handle myself. The only danger here is me killing Dean."

Sam snickered at that. He gave me that happy puppy grin of his, then threw his head back and laughed.

"You think I'm joking," I pressed. "But I'm not."

"Oh, I know." Sam's guffaws came harder.

I scowled and hit him lightly on the back of the head, then took my tea and curled up in bed. I glanced at my phone, which was plugged in on the nightstand, but there was nothing from Cas.

"Lucy?"

I paused with my hand halfway to the light switch. Sam's voice was scared, vulnerable. When I looked over I saw he had the same expression on his face.

"What is it?" I asked softly.

"Please," he said. "Just- be careful. Alright?"

I nodded, feeling my heart squeeze at the look on his face.

"I will," I whispered. "I promise."


The next morning we headed out, stopping at Jodi's first for a breakfast that wasn't from a drive through. We left after filling up with coffee, making our way to the first of several storage facilities.

"Cole lives near this warehouse," said Sam, pointing to a red dot on his map. "Do we trust him enough to get him in on this?"

Dean considered, and I rolled my eyes as I leaned forward in between the brothers' seats to get a look at the map.

"He's a good guy," I said. "I thought the two of you sorted things out. Call him. Don't press him though, I don't want anyone involved in this who doesn't have to be."

"Cole can handle himself," Dean shot back.

"Oh, but I can't?" I sent a glare up to Dean, and his back stiffened and his hands clenched on the wheel. "Either way, he's got a little kid. Whatever this thing is, I don't want it turning up at his house."

Sam and Dean traded looks.

"We'll leave that up to Cole," Sam said. "I'll give him a call."

He did, and Cole promised he'd head to the warehouse as soon as he got out of work.

"How's he supposed to get in?" I asked.

"I'm sure he knows how to pick a lock," Dean said.

"Are you sure Bobby didn't set any booby traps or anything? Is picking the lock to one of his storage facilities a good idea?"

There was a moment of silence, and then Sam was calling Cole again to tell him to be very careful going into that storage facility.

"I think Garth lives by that third one," Dean said. "Give him a call. Tell him to leave his litter home."

Sam snorted but placed the call. Garth happily agreed to help, and also- much to Dean's chagrin- enlisted us all to come for a visit at some point.

"Was the one time not enough?" asked Dean.

Sam snorted. "Come on, they're not bad. For werewolves at least."

Dean harrumphed.


We spent a couple of days rooting through Bobby's stuff at our chosen facility, and once we received word from Cole that he hadn't found anything that he thought would be helpful at his warehouse we headed towards Garth. When we arrived he was just finishing up, and he too had a grand total of nothing.

"Hey Lucy!" he called. He bounded over, the figure of puppy rambunctiousness, and grabbed me up in a hug.

I laughed. "Hey, Garth. How've you been?"

Garth shrugged as he set me down. "Pretty good. Really good, actually. Dean-O! Sammy!"

Both Sam and Dean scowled at their nicknames as Garth drew them into hugs. I stood off to the side snickering, and from the direction of the warehouse someone else started laughing.

She was a pretty blonde, wavy hair cut short about shoulder length. She was leaning against a beat up old Ford Ranchero that I assumed was Garth's, the keys dangling in her hand.

"You must be Lucy," she called. "I'm Bess. It's good to meet you."

I smiled, approaching Bess to shake her hand. "You too! How are you?"

"Very well." Bess patted her stomach, which I noticed was very round. Seeing my look, she grinned and nodded, confirming my guess.

"Congratulations!" I pulled Bess into a hug, and she laughed.

"Thank you!"

I pulled away, not wanting to disturb her baby. "Boy or girl?"

Bess shrugged. "We don't know. We want to be surprised."

I nodded. Understandable.

"What's going on?" asked Sam. He, Dean, and Garth were approaching.

"We're pregnant!" Garth bounced to his wife's side, grabbing her hand in his.

"Hey!" Both Dean and Sam grinned, pulling Garth into hugs. "Congrats!"

Garth looked as happy as a little boy on Christmas.

"So," said Bess. "Dinner?" She glanced over to Dean, who suddenly looked uncomfortable. "Or we could get together after."

"After," agreed Sam, nodding. "Definitely."

We stayed and talked a bit longer, then drove off to find a motel. After eating dinner we headed over to Garth and Bess's house, a pretty little house out in the countryside. Immediately, Garth drew us inside.

"We've been working on it for months," he said. "The whole family. But none of us can agree on a paint color. What do you think?"

Garth swung open a door, and we stepped into the baby's room.

The walls were a plain white, but each piece of furniture was a deep brown. A cradle was in the center of the room, with a changing table against one wall. A rocking chair sat in the corner, perfectly positioned so that the light of the fading sun streaming in the window lit up its various mahogany hues. There was a dresser pushed against the wall, and when I pulled on one drawer, I found it was stacked with baby clothes.

"They were mine and my brothers' when we were babies," said Bess, coming up behind me. "Once the baby is born and we know what gender they are, we can buy some more clothes."

I nodded, fingering an adorable little onesie.

Bess pulled me over to where Garth, Sam, and Dean were looking at paint swatches. Already they were arguing over which was best.

"I like that one," Sam offered, pointing to a red color.

Garth shook his head. "It's too bright," he objected. "We need something calming."

"What about this?" Dean pointed to a powder blue.

"That's a boy color," objected Sam.

"So?"

"What if it's a girl?"

"What if it's not?"

I rolled my eyes. "This one?"

Everyone followed my gaze to a minty, pastel green. It looked like mint chocolate chip ice cream- without the chocolate chips. Or the ice cream.

Bess nodded. "I like that." She looked at Garth. "Didn't I suggest that?"

Garth scowled lightly, more playful than anything. "Maybe."

"It's not bad," admitted Dean.

Sam nodded agreement.

"Great!" Bess snatched up the paint swatch. "Lucy, will you come with me to the store tomorrow to get the buckets? I could use a hand. And a few less men."

She crinkled her nose, and I laughed. I imagined her house had been swarming with her apparently male dominated family over the course of her pregnancy. I'd have been going mad at that point too."

"I'd love to!" I frowned. "Hold on, is it safe? Not for me," I said quickly, rushing to undo any offence I'd accidentally caused- she was probably thinking I had a problem with her being a werewolf- "for you. Has Garth told you what's going on with me?"

Bess nodded, seriousness taking over her face. "I know," she said. "Don't worry; I'm tougher than I look. And we'll be in public; nothing will happen."

I nodded, doing my best to look more reassured than I felt. "Alright then," I said. "I'd love to come."

Bess nodded happily. "I can come pick you up tomorrow," she said. "Around noon?"

I grinned. "I'll be ready."


I am so, so sorry for the long hiatus. Things have been so crazy lately. Thank you to everyone who has stuck with me despite that.

Just like with the prequel, Angels, Demons, and TV Shows, I am more than willing to take suggestions for things you'd like to see Team Free Will encounter in the story. I might write it into this fic, or I could post it as a one-shot. Let me know!

Once more, I'm very sorry about the long wait for this chapter. Have fun reading!