A/N The final piece to Dead in the Water. Follows on from Promises – Dead In The Water Part 2 (Chapter 11) Now that I've finished I probably could have just included it in Part 3, but oh well! It's shorter than the rest, you'll just have to live with it :)

This is Beth & Dean's POV of EarthhAngel's chapter "Dead in the Water – Holy Water" over at 'How To Save A Life'. I would recommend checking it out if you're not familiar with who Cole Singer (OFC) is and her relationship with John, because it's featured pretty prominently in this one.

This is Beth & Dean, the very beginning of their relationship while they're still hiding it from John. You'll definitely want to read Bring Me To Life (1,2 & 3) over at my story All Hell Breaks Loose and Part 1 & 2 (previous 2 chapters first if you haven't already.

One month down and it's in sight
oh, I'm guaranteed to lose my mind
It's dangerous to speak and sigh
You might know what I'm trying to hide

So from the cradle to quarter age
oh, I bought the book but didn't flip the page
oh, readiness is near. We steer
As far away from the coming of days

So, don't you worry
You'll be my resolution
Characters of no illusion
You'll be my resolution

RESOLUTION
DEAD IN THE WATER (Part 3)
5 years ago

Main Street, Lake Manitoc

Dean's POV

We'd returned to the motel, Dad and Cole still weren't back so we decided to take a stroll down the street and look around. As we rounded the corner leading to the police station, we saw Dad enter the police station with the Sheriff.

"What the...?" I muttered, seeing the truck parked out the front.

"Nice of them to keep us updated on the turn of events," Beth said, raising an eyebrow at me.

I smirked and nodded. "Come on, let's go gate crash," I said with a grin, which earned one in reply.

We entered the police station to find Dad and Cole in the front foyer with Sheriff Devins. As we joined them, Andrea looked up from behind the counter where she'd been sitting with Lucas.

"Nicole and John?" she said curiously, then looked past them. "Dean, Beth...I didn't expect to see you here."

The Sheriff gestured to Dad and Cole, raising an eyebrow. "So now you're on a first name basis?" He asked, opening the door into the office space. "What are you doing here?"

"I brought you lunch," Andrew replied, holding up some containers of food.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart; I don't really have the time," Devins said apologetically shrugging off his jacket and fiddling with it. I was looking at Lucas who was sitting and rocking beside his mother.

"I heard about Bill Carlton," Andrea said quietly to her father. "Is it true? Is something going on with the lake?"

"Right now we don't know what the truth is," Devins responded. "But I think it might be better if you and Lucas went on home." Lucas looked up at this statement, panic in his eyes. Suddenly he jumped out of his chair and surprised me by grabbing at me, pulling on my arm and whimpering.

I glanced and Beth who looked startled and then knelt as the boy continued to pull on my arm. "Lucas, hey, what is it?" I asked, but I didn't get a response. The boy was clearly distraught, holding on to me as Andrea tried to pull him away. "Lucas, Lucas. It's okay, it's okay," I tried to reassure the boy as Andrea looked a little worried. "Hey Lucas, it's okay," I said.

"Lucas," Andrea said, wrapping her arms around the boy. She pulled him off me, and guided him toward the door. He stopped crying, but continued to stare at me as they left.

Devins watched them leave, clearly upset, and when they were gone he stalked into his office. I continued to watch as Andrea pulled Lucas down the steps, the boy kept turning around to look back at us. He was upset, and it made me feel like we'd missed something.

"Hey," Beth said gently from beside me, putting her arm around my shoulder. "You okay?" I nodded silently at her, seeing that Dad and the Sheriff had already moved into the office. Cole was watching me too, a concerned look on her face as she stared out the glass doors the way Andrea had left.

Beth gestured for me to head into the office, and then they followed. There was only the two chairs, so I stood against the wall, leaving one free for Beth, she needed the rest. Dad was still standing, looking at Cole who shook her head, coming to stand next to me against the wall. Seeing that she wasn't going to sit, he took the remaining chair.

Devins took a seat on the corner of his desk, looking over at Dad. "Okay, just so I'm clear," He said, looking between Dad and Cole. "You two see, something, attack Bill's boat. Sending Bill, who is a very good swimmer by the way, into the drink, and you both never saw him again?" He looked sceptical, and I couldn't say that I blamed him.

Dad and Cole both nodded, but it was the short round that spoke. "Well, yeah," Cole said quietly with a shrug.

"That about sums it up," Dad said. Devins stared at them in surprise.

"And I'm supposed to believe this even though I've already sonar swept that entire lake. And what you're describing is impossible." He looked at Dad. "And none of yoy are really wildlife service," he said with a raised eyebrow.

I glanced over at Cole, who was giving me a mild look of panic.

"Yeah, see I checked with your superiors," Devins said. "Or who would have been your superiors. The department has never heard of any of you."

"See, now we can explain that," I offered, but when I went to come up with a suitable reason, I came up blank. I looked over at Cole with an expression that basically said jump in any time, Chewbacca!

"Enough," Devins said. "Now the only reason any of you are breathing free air is because a neighbour of Bill's saw him steering out that boat just before you did," he said. Beth looked back at us over her shoulder, a mixture of relief and worry on her face.

"Now we have a couple of options here. I can arrest you all on principle for impersonating government officials and hold you all as material witnesses in the Carlton disappearance. Or we can chock all this up to a bad day. You get in your cars, you put this town in your rearview, and you don't ever darken my doorstep again," he said pointing his finger at Dad, and staring at the man.

Dad refused to be intimidated, it was usually him dishing it out rather than receiving it. Cole shifted anxiously beside me and I could see that she was just itching to start a fight – typical.

"Door number two sounds good," Dad replied in a low voice.

"That's the one I'd pick!" Devins said, standing and opening his office door again. I looked over at Cole, she didn't seem to be agreeing with the decision, Beth still looked worried, and coupled with my own gut feeling like something was still wrong, I knew this wasn't quite over yet.

Dad and Cole drove back to the motel while Beth and I walked. We arrived with minutes between each other. As soon as we were in the motel room I decided to let it out.

"Dad, I really don't think this case is done," I said, looking over at the man; he was currently packing stuff into his bag, frowning.

"Dean," he said wearily. "I'm certain this case is closed. Cole and I saw Carlton get blown to kingdom come. The spirit got his revenge for whatever Carlton did to him."

Beth was looking conflicted, staying out of the whole debate. Cole on the other hand was only too happy to jump in with her opinion.

"Yeah, John, that's all true but..." she faltered, the look he'd given her enough to stop an elephant in its tracks.

"Look, Sweeney got his revenge on Carlton," Dad said stubbornly. "Carlton and everyone he cared about is dead. They all drowned. Case closed, goodbye, the end." I crossed my arms, but didn't open my mouth, he was on a rant and one just didn't interrupt Dad when he was in the middle of one of those. "Plus we've been officially run out of town by the authorities – if we stay we'll all be in a world of trouble."

I snickered, since when did that worry Dad? "Dad, so what happens if we take off and this thing isn't done?" I asked.

"Lucas was really scared, Dad," Beth interjected with a worried look.

He sighed, looking around at us – he'd just been completely ganged up on. Dad turned to Cole and sighed. "What's your take on this Nicole?" He asked.

She sucked in a breath and looked at him apologetically, which was curious to me. "I think that realistically, if this thing with Lucas is some kind of psychic ability that is tapped into the spirit, it would have stopped the minute Sweeney got his revenge," she said. "It clearly hasn't. John that kid was freaking out back at the police station."

Dad sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Okay, okay, but pack your bags because the minute we find out everything is fine, we're leaving," Dad said gruffly, shaking his head. He turned and looked at me, a raised eyebrow firmly in place.

"Who the hell are you, and what have you done with my son?" He asked. I smiled, I had been having a few chick flick moments today – Beth was definitely having an effect on me – I wasn't sure if it was for the better or not!

"Yeah Dean, that was practically a Hallmark moment," Cole said with a smirk. I glared at her.

"Shut up!" I snapped, brushing past her to the couch where I started shoving the remaining items that belonged to me into my bag. This conversation was over.

Devins / Barr Household

Beth's POV

Dean had wanted to check on Lucas, so we all decided to take a ride in the Impala and check it out. The house looked empty, but it was always hard to tell at this time of day. We decided to knock anyway.

"Okay, so are you sure about this Dean?" John asked as Dean pushed the doorbell, the latter was busy nodding his head, determined.

Without warning the door was thrown open and I looked down to see Lucas standing in the opening, panting and looking panicked.

"Lucas?" Dean asked, reaching for the boy. Lucas stepped back out of arm's reach and then ran up the stairs which had ominously had water running down them. Dean was hot on his heels. He stopped at a doorway and started pounding on it. Everything happened like a blur after that. Dean grabbed at Lucas, pulling him away from the door and handing him to me. I wrapped my arms around the boy and held on tight while Dean turned to kick in the door.

John rushed in ahead of the Dean and everyone recoiled with shock at the sight before them. There was an overflowing tub spilling foul brown water out from over the top. Andrea was stuck under the water, struggling against an unseen force, holding her down.

Falling to his knees beside the tub, John grabbed Andrea under the shoulders, trying to pull her up, but the spirit had too strong a hold. Cole went to the other end, reaching into the murky water and pulling the plug – it didn't help get the water to go out.

A few more moments and John managed to pull her free from the water with almighty grunt, both of them falling to the floor. Cole grabbed a towel and placed it over Andrea as she lay on her side, coughing up water. I let go of Lucas and he rushed forward to grab at his mother.

Cole reached down to help John to his feet while Andrea sat on the tiles holding Lucas and sobbing.

"Thank you," she said.

I took Dean's arm and nodded toward the stairs. "We'll be downstairs," I said quietly, indicating we should give the woman a chance to get dressed in privacy. Cole lingered at the top of the stairs until she was certain there would be no further water attack, and then she joined us in the living room.

"Can you tell us what happened?" I asked Andrea. We were all sitting in the living room around the coffee table except for Dean, who had wandered off saying he needed to check something out.

"It doesn't make any sense," Andrea said. "I'm going crazy..." she said, covering her face with her hands.

"No, you're not," I said, shaking my head.

Cole leaned forward and touched her shoulder, drawing her back from her thoughts. "Hey, you're gonna be okay, we're gonna help you – but we need you to tell us what happened, everything," she said.

I looked out the large windows toward the lake, the sun was just starting to show signs of sinking toward the horizon, it would be dark within a few hours, and we still were no closer to finding a solution to this puzzle.

"I heard... or I thought I heard... a voice..." Andrea said.

"What did it say?" John asked.

"It said 'Come play with me'," Andrea answered softly, her voice barely a whisper. "What's happening?" she asked fighting back more tears as she buried her face in her hands again.

Dean walked into the room carrying an old photo album which he put on the coffee table in front of Andrea. "Do you recognise any of the kids in these pictures?" He asked, getting straight to the point. I leaned forward and looked curiously at the old black and white photos.

Andrea looked at him and then down at the photos, flipping through a couple of pages. "No, um except that's my dad, here and here, he must have been like twelve in these pictures" she said pointing to a photo of three young boys.

John was looking at the photo she pointed to and then glanced up sharply like he recognised one of the boys.

"That's the connection," I said, nodding at the look in his eyes.

He looked down again and pointed at another boy in the photo. "That's Peter Sweeney," he said.

I frowned, "Peter Sweeney's spirit wasn't tied to Bill Carlton, it was tied to the Sheriff? Why kill Carlton's kids?" I asked.

"No!" Cole said impatiently. "It was to Carlton and to the Sheriff. They both had to have something to do with his disappearance." She glanced back down at the photo, frowning.

"Yeah, Chris Barr's drowning," Dean said, glancing sympathetically at Andrea. "It was a connection to them both, they were both involved with Peter."

"Wait, what about Chris?" Andrea asked, looking up startled. "My...my Dad? What are you talking about?"

Lucas had appeared in the kitchen and was staring out the window. Dean and Cole were closest, and they turned to look at him. "Lucas?" Dean asked, taking a step toward the boy. "Lucas what is it?" He asked again.

The boy didn't answer, instead he opened the door and ran away. I saw the panic cross Dean's face a split second before he chased after Lucas.

Lucas slowed down as he ran toward the lake, then veered off to a section of the woods. He stopped short in front of a mossy patch of grass, staring. He looked up at Dean and there was an understanding that passed between them, Dean swallowed and nodded. "Andrea, you and look should get back into the house and stay there okay?" Dean said. She looked concerned but didn't argue, taking Lucas by the arm and pulling him away.

Cole and I exchanged a look and headed to the Impala. It was time for shovels. I just hoped we had time to get it all done before darkness fell altogether.

"Is it wrong for me to be thankful there's only two shovels?" Cole asked with a grin. I chuckled and shook my head.

"At least it's not night time and a graveyard," I said with a laugh. It was two of the things I hated most. We were back with John and Dean within minutes, and I silently handed the shovel I was carrying to Dean – I had no intention of straining myself with any digging – I was supposed to be on light duties! Dean took the shovel without any complaint, smiling at me.

With a deep breath and glance up at his father, Dean started to dig, and Cole joined him. The ground was soft like a marshmallow after the recent rain, they made good progress. Unexpectedly Dean's shovel hit something that sounded like metal, he looked up at Cole, a grim expression on his face before stepping back to assess the situation.

I moved forward with John and we cleared a bit of dirt from around the item. It was a bar of some sort. Cole reached out for it when I stood back, but John stopped her with a touch of his hand. "Let us," he said quietly, stepping up to pull her away from the find. Together, he and Dean took a hold of the bar and pulled.

"Peter's bike..." Cole said softly when we saw what we'd discovered. I moved up beside her and looked at the bike in front of us. Cole tensed beside me and I heard the distinct click of a gun being cocked behind us. I froze, as did we all, my eyes meeting Dean's. He looked like he was ready to kill.

"Put the gun down Jake," he said, his voice low and threatening.

"How the Hell did you know that was there?" Devins asked, looking at the bike.

"You can't bury the truth, Jake," John said. "Nothing stays buried."

"I don't know what the Hell you're talking about," Devins snapped.

John looked furious. "You and Bill killed Peter Sweeney thirty-five years ago. That's what the Hell I'm talking about. And now you have one seriously pissed off spirit," John said, he was edging closer to the Sheriff, but unable to put himself between us and the gun without making it obvious.

"Dad!" Andrea's voice called out from behind the Sheriff. She ran up and started at him. Cole took a step toward Devins when his attention was drawn away from us, but he saw it from the corner of his eye, swinging back to face us, the barrel of his gun pointed directly at her chest. She froze, hands in the air.

"It's gonna take Andrea," Dean said, drawing his attention. "Lucas... and everyone you love. It's gonna drown them and it's gonna drag their bodies God knows where, so that you can feel the same pain Peter's mom felt. And then after that, it's gonna take you. And it's not gonna stop until it does." He was watching Devins, eyes carefully trained on him.

"Oh really? And how do you know that?" Devins asked, glaring at him.

"Because that is exactly what it did to Bill Carlton," Dean answered simply.

Devins looked at us in disbelief, shaking his head. "Listen to yourselves. All of you are insane!"

"I don't really give a rat's ass what you think of us, but if we're gonna bring down this spirit, we need to find the remains, salt them and burn them to dust," Dean said with a quietness that belied the rage simmering beneath his eyes.

"Please tell me you buried Peter somewhere? That you didn't just let his body go into the lake?" John asked with a frown.

"Dad, is any of this true?" Andrea asked.

"No, don't listen to them. They are liars and they're dangerous," Devins said and I looked him incredulously.

"Something tried to drown me. Chris died in that lake! Dad look at me!" Andrea said strongly, walking over to face him. "Please tell me you didn't kill anyone," she said again. Devins was unable to look at her, the guilt clear in his eyes. "Oh my God!" She exclaimed, seeing it as well. Jake lowered his gun and I said a silent prayer of thanks, moving slowly toward Dean who reached out for me, stepping between Devins and myself when I got close enough.

"Billy and I, we were at the lake. Peter was the smallest and we always bullied him," Devins said sadly, pausing to get his thoughts together. "This time it got rough. We were holding his head under water. We didn't mean to. But we held him under too long and he drowned."

I swallowed, thinking about how horrible it would have been for a kid to die that way.

"We let the body go. And it sank," Devins said to John, who exchanged a frustrated look with Dean. He turned toward his daughter, beseeching her. "Andrea, we were kids, it was a mistake. But to say that I had anything to do with these drownings, with Chris. Because of some ghost? It's just not rational."

"All right, listen to me, all of you," John said suddenly, taking the lead as he always did. "We have to get you as far away from this lake as we can. Right now!" His tone was definitive, there would be no arguing with him. This time I happened to agree with him.

Andrea turned her gaze away from us and gasped. We all looked over and saw Lucas on the dock.

"Lucas!" Devins yelled, Dean started running for the dock, the rest of us following behind him. The boy fell into the water with a cry and John and Dean were in the water not thirty seconds later. Cole, Andrea and I reached the edge of the pier. Andrea looked like she was going to jump into the water, which was a bad idea, and probably exactly what the spirit wanted.

Cole grabbed her arm. "No! Andrea you need to stay on this dock," she said.

"But Lucas! No that's my son!" Andrea screamed, trying to pull her arm out of Cole's grip. I put my arm around her from the other side, holding her to me.

"They'll get him, we just need to stay on the dock," I said, and she stopped fighting, tears running down her face.

Dean's head broke the surface and he looked around wildly when John resurfaced. "Dad, anything?!" Dean yelled and John shook his head. They dove again while we waited breathlessly on the dock.

I saw Dean's head come out of the water again. "Anything?" I called out to him. He looked over and shook his head. Suddenly he was pulled under, and then broke the surface kicking and gasping for air before being pulled under again.

"Dean!" I screamed, watching as he was dragged under the water. I let go of Andrea and shrugged out of my jacket, ignoring the pain in my shoulder. Cole grabbed me and shook me hard.

"What the Hell are you doing?!" She asked me sharply and I looked anxiously out to the water. "Beth, you can't go in there!"

"Like Hell I can't! It's Dean!" I said, pulling free of her.

"I'll go," Cole said, pulling off her jacket and shoes. "You're still injured, you definitely aren't going in there!" With a glare she dove into the lake, coming up several yards out and swimming toward where Dean had gone under.

The Sheriff suddenly waded out into the water, calling out to the spirit. "Peter, if you can hear me...please, Peter, I'm sorry. I'm so—I'm so sorry." Devins said.

"Daddy, no!" Andrea called out, seeing her father in the water.

"Peter. Lucas – he's, he's just a little boy. Please it's not his fault, it's mine. Please take me!" Devins said. I stared in horror, but my mind was on Dean.

John broke the surface of the water. He had Lucas in his arms and was swimming toward the shore. "What are you doing?!" John yelled when he saw Cole in the water.

"Dean! He's been pulled under, Sweeney has him!" Cole yelled. John looked about urgently, handing the boy to Cole as she reached him.

"Where?!" He yelled at me and I pointed toward the section of water.

"Your left! Twenty feet!" I called back to him. He nodded, looking at Cole.

"Get out of the water and stay there! That's an order!" He yelled at her. "Jake, get out of the water!" And then he started swimming toward Dean's last location.

It had been too long, way too long. I couldn't hear anything other than the blood rushing in my ears. I fell to my knees, whispering a silent prayer to the angels, and whoever else was listening.

Cole reached the dock and together Andrea and I pulled Lucas out of the water. He was coughing up water and looking scared and shaken. Cole followed, looking like a drowned cat and checked his vitals.

The rough wood under my knees was biting into my knees, but I didn't move. I clung to the post in front of me, praying for a miracle. I couldn't lose him after all we had been through to get this far. I choked back a sob as I mentally counted the minutes he had been under the water.

Suddenly the Sheriff was pulled under the water, the Spirit claiming his prey. I gasped at the speed in which this had all happened, he had been there one moment, gone the next. I reminded myself that Dean would fight, he wouldn't go willingly.

The surface of the lake broke once more and John gasped for air, his arm wrapped around Dean's neck as he pulled his head out of the water.

"Oh god!" I whimpered, watching as John swam them toward us.

As John reached the dock, Cole reached over the edge and grabbed Dean by his shirt, lifting up with a mighty groan. I took a handhold and together we pulled him over the edge, rolling him on to his side. He was cold, his skin grey. Cole cleared his airways as I leaned over him, talking to him.

"Dean! Dean don't you leave me, open your eyes! Don't you leave me!" I said with a sob, barely a whisper. Cole felt for his pulse as I reached into my pocket for the phone. We needed help, now. I couldn't help it, the reality of what had just happened started to settle in around me like a cold blanket.

"No. Oh God no," Cole said. I dialled 911, sobbing as I watched Dean's face before me. My body had gone numb, and I was shaking uncontrollably as John climbed out of the water, coming to stand with us. "Oh god! Oh god, god, oh god!" I kept rambling into the phone, but I couldn't stop myself, even when the dispatcher came on the line.

"Beth. Dammit Beth listen to me!" Cole said sharply to me, her words jolting me back into my body. "We can get him back but I need you to hold it together!"

I looked into her eyes, the words on the other end of the phone calling me back to myself. I nodded, silent tears running down my cheeks. "Yeah... uh we need an ambulance right away, my brother was in the lake, he's not breathing and has no pulse," I stated. I gave our address and started to rock while kneeling beside Dean.

Cole grabbed the phone from my hands and gave it to Andrea. "Tell them I have a 23 year old male, approximately 160 – 200 pounds. Not breathing and no pulse. CPR has been started!" She instructed.

"Now you!" She said, turning urgent and angry eyes to me. "Breathe for him! Got it?" I nodded, feeling the shock seep into my bones. I could do this, I could breathe. I leaned down, taking Dean's chin in hand, my other hand over his forehead as I pulled back my sobs, catching my breath.

Cole started compressions and there was the sickening sound of ribs cracking as she put pressure on his heart. I blocked it out, my mind only on the sensations of Dean's mouth under mine. I fought back my sobs as I breathed to the count of Cole's compressions. I tried not to think about how different things had been this morning on the banks of the lake, his lips warm and soft, not cold like they were now.

It seemed like a lifetime before the paramedics arrived, Cole was still going strong on the compressions, stubbornly refusing to give up on Dean. I felt myself being pulled back by John as they put a mask over his face.

"I've got a twenty-three year old male approximately two hundred pounds, drowning victim, was under approximately five minutes. We've been doing CPR, so far no response." Cole blurted out at one of the paramedics.

"And you are?" The paramedics said to her as they cut open Dean's shirts, baring his chest and drying it off with a towel. They attached some leads to his chest and I allowed John to hold me against him while we watched on in horror.

"Nicole Singer, RN at Upper Connecticut Valley Hospital in the ER," she replied. The other paramedic tried to pull her away but she fought them off like a tiger. "Back off man, I'm not ready for a break yet, he's my goddamn brother!" She snapped.

Finally Dean was transferred to the stretch and maybe something in transferring him shocked his system, maybe the CPR had worked, maybe it was a miracle from God, but I almost fell to my knees when he moved and coughed up a lung full of water, gasping for air.

"Dean!" I called out, moving toward him, but John's arms prevented me and held me close. They rolled Dean on to his side and I watched, bursting into fresh tears as he coughed up more water. "Thank you, thank you... thank you..." I said in prayers of gratitude, unable to stop the tears as I watched him come back to life before my very eyes. I moved to the side of the stretcher, hovering close but staying out of the way of the paramedic. A couple of times I caught Dean's gaze and when he saw me he smiled. It was short-lived, he was fading in and out of consciousness as the paramedics worked on him.

"All right we're ready to move him to the hospital," one of the paramedics said. "One of you can ride with him." I looked up desperately at John and he glanced over at Cole. The pair of them were soaking wet. I was bad enough, feeling patches of water where he'd held me against him earlier.

"Beth, go with him," John said quietly and I breathed a sigh of relief. "We'll be along once we're changed."

I climbed into the ambulance before he could change his mind, and I grabbed Dean's hand, clasping it between my own as the doors were shut on us. Dean opened his eyes and looked at me, his hazel eyes looked weary and unfocused and he squeezed the hand I had holding his.

"Hey..." he said, licking his lips and forcing a smile.

"God Dean!" I said, leaning as close as I could to him. "You scared me to death."

"Pay-back's a bitch," he said with a chuckle and he pulled me closer, kissing me.

"Don't ever do that to me again..." I said, tears in my eyes. He gave me an anguished look and nodded.

"Ditto," he said quietly, closing his eyes.

"He needs to rest," the paramedic said pointedly and I nodded, but I didn't move. Dean smiled, as he felt my hand on his arm, touching him, just reassuring myself that he was all right, that he was alive.

"Don't leave me," I whispered to him.

"Never," he replied quietly as he drifted off to sleep.

Hospital

Beth's POV

Every part of my body hurt, I was chilled to the bone and felt like I wanted to pass out. When we arrived at the hospital I was quickly pulled away from Dean as they took him into the emergency room and examined him. It was too crowded, the noise from the people causing me to feel dizzy and confused. I had to get away, just for a moment. I found my way to the chapel and I sank into a pew, kneeling as I leaned heavily on the seat in front. Prayers of gratitude fell from my lips as I felt the comfort of the chapel close in around me like a soft cocoon.

"Beth?" Andrea's voice startled me out of my revelry. I turned around to see the woman standing at the back of the chapel, looking tentatively at me.

"Hi," I said, pushing myself up to a seated position, I forced a smile to my mouth.

"Are you all right?" She asked, looking at me with concern.

"Yeah... yeah. Just, well you know. It's been a big day, and I'm still recovering from my own injuries too." I answered.

She nodded at me, looking around the chapel at the statues and flowers on the altar at the front.

"Dean said I would find you here," she said. I smiled and nodded.

"Well, he would know. Is he okay?" I asked, standing up.

"Yeah, yeah he's fine, they've just moved him to a room and he didn't want you coming to the ER to find him," she smiled. I glanced around, looking for a clock, how long had I been up here?

"Oh, okay," I said, moving toward the door. I shook my head to clear it, and followed Andrea to the room where Dean was now sitting up in bed, looking his normal self. Lucas was sitting with him, chattering away about whatever he was drawing, smiling like an ordinary little boy.

"All right, if you're gonna be talking now, this is a very important phrase, so I want you to repeat it one more time," Dean said to Lucas, who looked at him intently.

"Zeppelin rules!" Lucas cried out and Dean laughed.

"That's right. Up high!" He said, holding his hand out, Lucas slapped his palm against Dean's and grinned. I smiled watching them joke together.

Dean shot me a smile when he saw me standing there. I smiled in return, relief flooding my face once again when I saw he was alive and well; I moved to stand at the side of his bed. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself into his arms, but I couldn't. I looked over at John, standing against the wall in the room, looking pensive and dark.

"Are you okay?" I asked Dean quietly, looking him over. He nodded, smiling at me.

"Where's your Dad?" Dean asked Andrea, and she bit her lip.

"He didn't make it," Cole said quietly from where she was sitting in the chair. Andrea nodded, and looked at Dean sadly.

"God... I'm sorry," Dean said to her, frowning.

"Yeah, me too. But...you saved my son. I can't ask for more than that. Dad loved me. He loved Lucas. No matter what he did, I just have to hold on to that." Andrea said.

We all nodded and Andrea started to look anxious. "Come on Lucas, it's time to go home," she said. She looked over at John and Cole, smiling. "Thank you, for everything. I'm glad you're okay," this last part she said to Dean who nodded.

"You take care of your mom, okay?" Dean said to Lucas who nodded profusely.

"Thank you," Andrea said again, resting her hand on my arm. She leaned in to hug me and smiled as she pulled back. "Don't let him go," she said softly with a wink. I smiled and shook my head.

Cole left with them, excusing herself because she needed some air. I moved around to the other side of the bed, sinking gratefully into her vacated chair. I was exhausted.

"Okay, well it's getting late," John said, looking at me. I raised an eyebrow at him and smirked. "I presume you're staying?" He asked, looking at me wearily. I nodded and he shook his head. "Have it your way, I'll be at the motel getting a decent night's sleep." He said with a chuckle. I almost laughed. Sleep was probably going to be the last thing he was getting when Cole got a hold of him.

"Get some rest," John said as he left the room.

Dean looked at me and chuckled. "Alone at last," he said suggestively and it made me laugh.

"Yeah, fat lot of good that's going to do us," I said with a grin, standing up and kissing him fully, my tongue circling his as I sought to determine just how badly this near-death experience had effected him.

"Come on," Dean said when I was through exploring his mouth and nibbling on his bottom lip. "You look exhausted, time for bed... and no on-call room either!" I laughed and moved to shut the door to the room.

Dean lay down on his side, waiting for me to kick off my shoes. John had brought Dean's bag up from the car. I was still partly wet from him grabbing me earlier, so I took a moment to search through Dean's bag, pulling out a t-shirt and putting it on. The sweatpants were too big for me, but I slipped into them anyway because they were dry. I pulled the string at the waist tight and tied it.

"Great, now I'm going to start losing my pants too..." Dean muttered, watching me in the semi-dark of the room. I chuckled, and shook my head.

"Well I might let you keep something," I said, climbing on to the bed with him. I rolled to face out, and Dean slid the side railing into place behind him while I did the same. He groaned a little as he settled in behind me and I remembered the broken ribs.

"God, we have had the worst run of luck," I said with a tiny laugh. "Now your ribs are broken too..." I said.

"Yep, I see a lot more chick flick movies in our future and very little else." Dean said with a sad sigh.

"Well...if we can manage to live through next week, maybe things will start to look up?" I said, leaning back a little so I could turn my head and look at him.

"Sounds like a plan," he said with a grin, kissing my cheek. "And you know how I love it when a plan comes together." He nuzzled into my neck, licking and rubbing his five-o'clock shadow against the soft skin. I shivered at the touch, moaning softly.

"Get some sleep sugarpie," he said softly, settling back into the pillow and sliding his arm around my waist. Pretty soon sleep claimed us.

Motel Room
3 days later

John's POV

I sat in the darkened motel room nursing a beer as I watched the scene before me. More and more I'd been noticing the little things, but not until three nights ago at the hospital had it really hit me just how blind I had been. I'd left Dean and Beth in the hospital room, intending to go down and take Nicole back to the motel. Instead she'd thrown me a curve ball, and wanted to leave us, return to her work... leave me.

I'd returned to Dean's room to tell them I was going to drive Nicole back to Ohio only to find the door closed. Upon entering they'd been curled up on the hospital bed fast asleep. It wasn't unusual for them to sleep in the same bed, but something about the way Dean held Beth, the peaceful looks on their faces – it helped me see something I'd been denying for some time.

That's when all the different moments that had seemed just a little out from the others started to flash before my eyes. The little escapades into the woods jogging, the extra hours training, Dean freaking out when she'd been thrown out the window and then refusing to leave the hospital, Beth telling me she had a secret that would change everything. I'd thought she'd meant Nicole and me when I found out she knew about us, but then I heard Beth begging Dean not to leave her on the docks, the panic that had been in her eyes – more than the love of a sister. They'd hidden it pretty well, but I'd also been distracted, probably more that I was in denial.

I sighed, watching them before me now. Dean had started the night off on the couch, but when I woke up to use the bathroom half an hour ago, I'd found him wrapped around Beth in bed, just as they'd been at the hospital. Now I had a decision to make. They'd behaved exceptionally well, hell, if I wanted to really admit it, they were probably more professional the last job than I had been.

My heart ached to look at them, all these years I'd been denying them the opportunity to explore any kind of feelings they might have for each other. They'd been there for a long time, I knew that – probably since I'd made them promise not to do it, which had been five years ago. I watched them now, wrapped in a fond embrace, and I sighed. How had I gotten things so wrong? Beth rolled over in her sleep, her face coming to rest against Dean's shoulder and she smiled, a little sigh escaping her lips. It made me smile to see them happy like this. I took my beer and stood up, moving silently toward the door. I pulled myself up on the trunk of the Impala, my beer dangling from my fingers as I stared into the night, contemplating all my new realisations.

Life had just gotten a lot more complicated. I'd dropped Nicole in Ohio to pick up her car, and just as I thought I was going to let things end, fade away to the nothing from which they'd come, she'd surprised me, her declaration of love and need for me unseating a long lost desire to have something more than this vendetta. To make something more for our lives.

"This isn't over," I'd said to Nicole. "it will never be over for me." I'd held her, mine, my own, and known in that moment that regardless of where the hunt took us, we would always find our way back to each other. Yes, we had to be apart for now, we had different goals, but we accepted that, and life would never be the same for it.

I thought about all the other changes that were occurring. Sam going to college, and now Dean and Beth, and I knew I had to say something. I had to talk to them. But it could wait until morning.

The motel door opened behind me and I knew without looking that it was Beth. She moved with a silent grace that Dean never bothered with. She hesitated on the threshold of the door until I glanced back at her. She saw the look and moved forward, pulling on a jacket as she came to join me on the back of the car, leaning against me in a companionable silence.

I looked over at her, taking another drink from my beer, and swallowing it down. "I never wanted this life for them," I said quietly, watching her as she looked down at her hands.

"I know," she said quietly. "They know that too."

"Do they?" I asked, because I wasn't so sure. They'd never really known anything else, how could they possibly know the hopes and dreams I'd held for them both, for all three of them? I'd never told them, because it was easier not to, and keep them safely tied to me. I thought of Patrick, and sighed. "And you, what kind of life did your Dad want for you? Have I let him down, bringing you with us?" I asked.

Beth glanced over at me, a slight shake of her head settling her brown locks around her face and shoulders. "You did what had to be done. Lord knows it wasn't easy for you. You already had two boys... you didn't need a daughter to complicate the situation," Beth replied.

I smiled at that, patting her knee a couple of times. "I always wanted a daughter," I said with a sad smile. "So did Mary."

Beth smiled back at me and it made me think of the young woman I'd found that fateful winter day, locked in a devil's trap, locked inside her own body.

"Do you ever want something else? Like Sam?" I asked her, watching her like a hawk.

"No," she said quickly, not even hesitating. I was surprised, surely she wanted a life away from hunting? A family of her own? "My place is here with you, and Dean," she said simply. "I want no other life."

Dean. There it was, she had just told me what she wanted more than anything else. The one thing I'd been denying them all these years. I glanced back at the motel room door, thinking about my son asleep in the bed that she'd just left. Didn't he deserve something more, a little happiness, with all the heartache he had endured? Didn't they both deserve a chance at happiness?

"You're a grown woman now Beth," I said, smiling at her, my heart over-spilling with the pride I felt in seeing her grow into an incredible young lady, strong, independent, faithful, loyal and compassionate. "I'm proud of you, of who you've become."

"Thanks," she said with a smile, a slight blush creeping into her cheeks.

"Dean..." I said, not sure where to start. She glanced up at me sharply, her face becoming guarded and wary.

"He's not your brother, you know that right?" I asked, watching her.

She nodded. "I know..." she said, and I saw the rejection there, the secret fear that she would never be one of us, that she wasn't one of us already. That wasn't what I'd meant to bring up in her, and I scrambled to clarify my meaning.

"No. No, I didn't mean it that way Beth," I said quickly. I let out a breath I hadn't even realised I was holding and slid off the back of the car, turning to look at her as I took her hands in mine.

"You will always be my daughter Beth. Nothing will change that. But Dean...he's not your brother." I said. She seemed to be contemplating what I was saying. I realised that I'd been so vague about things I really needed to spell it out now, so that she had no worries.

"I'm not blind Beth. I see how you both feel about each other. I won't say I'm not concerned, but only because I don't want either of you to get hurt. When you were teenagers... well hormones take over. But now, I've seen you both grow with each other, and you've both done your best to live by my rules on it." I paused, looking at her. She took in a deep breath, frozen at what I'd just said.

"You've both sacrificed a normal life to this world," I continued, squeezing her hands. "The least I can do is not stand in the way of what little comfort you can find in each other." I finished and Beth looked like she was in shock.

She opened and closed her mouth several times, looking for the life of her like she didn't know what to say to that. I chuckled, it was so cute to watch the reaction.

"Just don't go all mushy lovesick on me... the pair of you have to be able to do your jobs!" I reprimanded her, because frankly, it was true – and it wouldn't be me if I didn't pull them up on something. She nodded quickly, grabbing me and pulling me into a big hug.

"Thanks Dad," she said, kissing me on the cheek. I smiled at the sound of the name. She'd started calling me that shortly after her sixteenth birthday, and I'd never corrected her. I liked it, and I saw her as my own now, she always would be my beautiful baby girl, she completed our family, she made it better.

She moved to get off the car and I helped her slide to her feet, gritting her teeth against a slight twinge of pain.

Dean woke up with a start when we walked into the room. "Huh? What?" He muttered as his eyes adjusted to the dark and he saw me standing at the edge of the bed with Beth. "Dad!" He exclaimed. I sighed internally at the look of fear he gave me when he realised I'd just busted him in Beth's bed. There was nothing I could do to undo the drill sergeant routine I'd put on him. He would always have that fear of making a mistake with me, and I knew I hadn't helped with that.

He started to sit up in bed, but I reached forward and pushed him back against the pillow. "Go back to sleep Dean," I said quietly, taking off my jacket and shoes, and climbing into bed. I turned my back to the pair of them with a long sigh and settled in for some sleep.

I heard Beth shrug out of her own jacket and it hit the floor with a soft thud. There was the sound of her moving under the sheets and blanket of the bed she was now sharing with Dean, and then her soft voice echoed what I'd just told my son.

"Go back to sleep Dean," she said softly.

"What the Hell...?" Dean muttered, and I had to stifle a laugh.

When I turned back around, re-adjusting my position in bed, they'd both fallen asleep again, Dean with his arm wrapped around Beth while she slept with her face up to his chest, a tiny smile at her mouth. One day I could let them go, I would encourage them to get out of the life, find a home for themselves, maybe even start a family if that's what they wanted. But for now, they at least had each other, and I had them, and we were a family. Everything else could just take a backseat for a little while.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

Song for this chapter is: Resolution by Matt Corby

I'm going to be starting the X-files tomorrow, which is basically a compilation of all the sexy Dean and Beth moments from the last three Seasons. I'm just being completely voyeuristic and would like them all in the one place too!

Is anyone interested in my doing a Chronicles of Jefferson ? Because he's going to have a few little stories to tell once we hit Season 4 in particular about things he knows from Beth's past, particularly around her mother! Plus, there will just be moments when I bring him in for a particular story where I need a guy and Dean & Sam won't work. Just wondering if you want him to stay featured here, or get his own little story with the occasional chapter?

I've also been doing a lot of writing around stories for the end of Season 3 / start of Season 4. A lot of backstory will be getting told in the early stages of Season 4. Just wondering if there's anything in particular people would like to see? I can't guarantee it'll be incorporated, but I'm happy to try if inspiration takes. I've asked long-time readers in the past about this, and some people stated they'd like to see some of Sam and Beth's journey in the four months Dean is in Hell, this will definitely be covered in several chapters, and a lot of it is already written! Please make any other suggestions you feel as well.

Shout out to The A Team by the way with Dean's last comment about plans :) Gotta love the A Team!

Next up is Fresh Blood

Please leave a review, you know I love them! Mahalo :)