To Hell And Back

by belladonna78

Sequel to "Hell to Pay", and the fourth installment of my Supernatural fanfics. Check out my stories and AN for more info on where to start. This is Season 4 - How far will Beth and Sam go in order to save Dean's soul from Hell and be reunited with him? Dean/OC. Slightly AU but mostly follows the Supernatural show with my own spin. Rated MA for smut. Please read and review!

17. 24

Author's Notes

Fully original piece of fluff to pull together a few of the storylines that have been coming up in the last few chapters. Consider it a 'day in the life' when not hunting for Dean and Beth, and see how even on their days off, shit just keeps coming up for them, but they temper it with fun and games.

For the smut haters, sorry, there's some more in here – but not that much, just skip it if you don't like it.

---

Ask for money, and get advice
Ask for advice, get money twice
I'm from the dirty but that chico nice
Ya'll call it a moment, I call it life

One day while my light is glowing
I'll be in my castle golden
But until the gates are open
I just wanna feel this moment (ohhh)
I just wanna feel this moment (ohhh)
I just wanna feel this moment

---

24

---

7am – Beth's POV

It was raining, the windshield wipers beat furiously against the glass and Mom slowed the car down as we crossed a bridge. Someone had pulled over to the side of the road ahead of us, and with a concerned look Mom eased the car in behind them, grabbing her umbrella and opening the car door.

"Are you all right Mrs Hendersen?" Mom called out to the older lady, rushing to cover the older woman who had been standing in the rain.

She guided the woman back to the passenger side of the car and helped her into the front seat. The woman turned to me and I smiled as Mom rushed back around to the driver's side.

"Hello little one," the woman said and I smiled.

"Hi."

"Aren't you just the cutest?" She asked, looking at me and smiling. "Why I could just eat you up!" I gasped at the change in her voice and saw her eyes flash black in front of me.

"Mommy!" I called out, looking up as Mom got into the driver's seat, shaking out the umbrella and slamming the door shut.

"Quiet Ella, I need to think," Mom said, dropping the umbrella over the back of the seat on the floor next to me.

"But…"

"Hush, we need to get your Dad," Mom said, silencing me. "He'll know what to do," she said to the old woman with a smile.

"He would, but he'll be too late," the black-eyed woman said with an evil smile.

"Oh, your car will be quite safe…." I screamed as black smoke started to pour out of the old woman's mouth and into my mother. I pulled at my seat belt, unbuckling it and moving toward the door, whimpering. The old woman passed out in the front seat, and my mother turned to look at me.

"Mommy?"

The black smoke had disappeared, and I watched as Mom's beautiful blue eyes disappeared beneath black pits.

"Now, where were we?" She asked in a voice that no longer sounded like my mother. "Oh yes, I was going to eat you up…" She paused, looking around and it was as if she were feeling things for the first time. She closed her eyes for a heartbeat, then looked up at me again, curiosity in her eyes.

"My my… what have we here?" She said, and I started to cry.

"What have you done with my mom?"

"Oh, I've made her even better dear one," she said, smiling at me. "She's special your mother, I didn't realise. Maybe I'll let her live after all."

"Let her…no! You leave her alone!" I yelled at her and she laughed at me, slapping my face.

"Be quiet. Now I wonder… do you have the same gifts as your mother?" She asked. I frowned at her, not understanding what she was talking about. "Oh how precious. You don't know. Well no matter… we'll get to the bottom of it soon enough."

She reached for me and I shrieked, grabbing the umbrella that Mom had dropped on the floor and swinging it. The sharp tip hit her in the face and I screamed as connected with her nose, a crunching sound echoing through the car. Not waiting for another chance, I fumbled with the door, unlatching it and falling out into the rain.

My clothes were soaked in seconds, and I started to run up the road over the bridge.

"Help me! Somebody help me!" I screamed as I ran through the rain. I saw my mom get out of the car and start to give chase, yelling for me, and I ran even harder.

"Nooooo! Please, Thursday, please help me!" I called out for the angel that Mom had told always watched over me and I ran along the bridge, screaming as several cars came from the other direction, their lights shining through the heavy rain.

One car whizzed past me, but the other stopped, a young man getting out and I ran up to him.

"Help me!" I yelled, crying. "Don't let her hurt me!"

"Ella!" Mom called out as the man grabbed me and stepped toward the car. "Please, sir, you have my daughter," she said, reaching for me as the rain cascaded down around us. The rain had washed away the blood from her face, but her nose looked red and sore.

"No," he answered and I looked up at him, feeling strangely calm.

"No? I beg your pardon, but you have my daughter!" The thing inside my Mom was insistent. "Give her back to me."

"She's not your daughter you vile creature," said another man as he stepped out of the passenger side of the car. He had dark spiked hair and dark eyes, I felt safe with these two men.

Mom hesitated, looking from the man holding me to the other, and then smirked.

"You think you can stop me?"

"You know what we are, and what we can do," the man holding me said. "You will not take her, now leave the woman."

"I don't think so," Mom said, rolling her eyes at them. "Give me the child, and I'll think about letting you live."

"You don't frighten us," the dark-haired man said, staring through her. He took a step toward her, a long silver knife slipping out of the jacket he was wearing. Mom eyed it warily and then backed away.

"Fine, keep her, you can't watch her forever and I have something just as valuable right here, wrapped all around me like Christmas morning," she said. Suddenly without warning she vanished and I screamed.

"No! Mommy!"

"Mommy!" I called out, sitting up in bed, looking anxiously around me and clutching at the blanket.

"Hey, Beth, you're okay," Dean's voice sounded next to me and I felt his strong arms enclosing around my shoulders and pulling me in to him as I gasped for breath. "It's just a dream, it's just a dream," he said soothingly and I buried my face into his shoulder, whimpering softly.

"Didn't feel like it," I said quietly, softening as he smoothed his hand through my hair, running it down my back. It felt good to be in his arms, he could always chase away the darkest of dreams.

"I know," he said softly. "They never do."

Wrapping my arms around his waist I leaned heavily into him and he lay back against the pillows, pulling me with him. "Are you okay?" I nodded into his chest, sliding my hands around him.

"What was it about?"

"I uh… my Mom," I said, trying to recall specifics. "And the day she was taken by that demon…"

Dean nodded and continued to stroke softly along my shoulders, holding me as I spoke. Jefferson had filled me in months ago after the rising of the witnesses, and the story he'd relayed to me had turned my world upside down and started to trigger a series of dreams and memories coming to the surface once Cas had fixed my angel connection.

The first time he'd ever met us, and our fathers, had been when he'd been possessed by a demon. He'd found himself working under the very demon who had taken my mother, and been sent to kidnap me from the motel I'd been in with Dean and Sam while our fathers tried to locate my mother.

"I'm not sure I like all these memories that are starting to come back to me. Life was so much easier when I thought Mom just died in a car accident," I said, trailing my fingers along Dean's naked torso, tracing the hard lines of his muscles and then circling his nipple.

Dean moaned slightly at the contact and I smiled, it wasn't fair, but I needed a distraction from the dream.

"At least you know the truth now," he said. I kissed his neck, splaying my hand across his stomach, stroking it in large, teasing circles. I murmured a response and then started to kiss my way up his neck until I found soft, kissable lips.

---

8am - Dean's POV

"Kiss me," Beth said softly and I groaned, happy to obey.

"You sure you don't want to talk about the dream?" I asked when I'd lavished attention on her tongue and lips.

"I'm sure, I don't want to think about it right now," she answered, and as if to prove it she swung her leg over my hips, rising up to straddle me on the bed, smiling down as I lay against the pillows.

"Sam's out," she pointed out and I chuckled as her astute observation.

"So he is," I said with a grin.

Beth rocked her hips against my already eager erection, the fabric of her panties rubbing against my boxers, drawing a moan out of me.

"Maybe we should go find him? It's not like him to be gone this long…" I suggested and Beth raised her eyebrow at me.

"Hmmm, maybe we should, you know I have been a little worried about him," she said, throwing a concerned look at the door and starting to climb off me. I called her bluff, rolling with her and pinning her to the mattress, shaking my head.

"Yeah, I don't think so cherry pie," I said, kissing along her neck. She chuckled and slid a soft thigh between my legs, grinding it against me.

"Then don't tease…" she said with a grin.

"But you love my teasing."

"Depends on what you're teasing," she answered, grasping my face between her hands and pulling my head up so she could kiss my lips, sliding her tongue in to meet mine in a slow, tantalising tango.

I'd had enough talking, who knew how long we had before Sam really was going to walk back in. I contemplated using the chain, but then shrugged, he'd subjected me to the visual of him and Ruby; if he walked in on us then I considered it fair payback.

Deepening the kiss with Beth, I stroked my hand down over her chest and slipped it under the t-shirt she was wearing, squeezing her left nipple gently. Beth let out a gasp of pleasure and arched to meet me.

I pushed the t-shirt up and slid down, exchanging my hand for mouth, sucking on her pert nipple and swirling my tongue around it. Beth groaned and pushed at my shoulders, urging me to roll on to my back, I was more than happy to return to our original position. Keeping her nipple in my mouth, I moved us together, sucking and licking as she climbed over my legs again, her soft skin brushing against mine.

With a moan, Beth pulled back out of reach, her breast popping out of my mouth and I groaned my disappointment, running my hands over her hips. She grinned, sitting back and pulling at my boxers, letting out an appreciative breath when my already hard cock sprung free.

Grabbing at her hips, I pulled her back toward me, and groaned when my arousal hit her panties. They were soaked through and I arched up to tease her a little, sliding a hand between us and finding that little nub between her legs, circling it. Beth cried out with pleasure and ground her hips against me, pressing my hand hard between us.

She shuddered against my fingers as I rubbed her clit between my fingers, moaning softly. With an impatient groan I slipped my hand down further sliding her thin panties to one side and pushing my erection up to her centre, entering just a few inches and then pulling out.

"Oh god…" Beth moaned, rocking against me.

"He's got nothing to do with it baby," I quipped and she laughed softly, sitting back a little and sliding me in further to her. I pulled my hand out from between us and sucked in a deep breath as she let her weight go, impaling herself all the way down on me, flexing around me as she sat, her hands flat against my stomach, eyes closed and head thrown back.

Tugging at the t-shirt she was wearing, I pulled it half way up her stomach and she took it the rest of the way, removing it and tossing it on to the floor beside the bed. Her long dark hair flipped over her right shoulder as she leaned down to kiss me. I took a handful of it, caressing and tugging, drawing out a little moan as I kissed her again, smothering her moans with my lips.

I drove my hips up into her and delighted in her soft gasp as I filled her. After a few slower, languid thrusts she sat back, taking me deeper and I ran my hands up over her stomach, coming to rest on her perfect, pert breasts. I pinched a nipple and she started to rock faster against me.

"Oh yeah," I groaned. "God that's good…"

Beth smiled, leaning down to kiss me as she clenched her muscles around me, causing my whole centre to twitch. "God's got nothing to do with this baby," she whispered in my ear and I laughed as she sat back with a cheeky grin, balancing herself with her hands on my chest, palms over my nipples and teasing them as she moved.

I held her hips firmly against me as she rocked, meeting her movements with my own, pulling her down as I pushed up, connecting with her hot flesh. She started to moan softly, hair cascading down over her shoulders. I found myself captivated by her beautiful fair skin as she threw her head back, opening her neck up to me.

This position was sweet, but it wasn't going to get me off any time soon, and I needed her now. Her neck was too tempting and I sat up, pulling her snuggly in to me, clamping my lips on the soft skin between her neck and shoulder, sucking tenderly as I gripped her hips, lifting her up and down on my extremely hard cock.

Beth gasped from the change in angles, and I moved my right hand under her buttocks, continuing to move her against me as my left hand slid between us and found her clit, circling it as we rocked. I moaned into her skin as I heard her breathing pick up, and Beth's soft moans turned more guttural.

"That's it baby…" I moaned in her ear and she gasped, her legs starting to tense up as she let out a series of little moans and hard breaths, leaning back and grinding herself against me. I held her to me as she shook uncontrollably, her entire body tensing and as she hit her peak she cried out, rocking hard against me and melting in my arms, ending with a little whimper.

Leaning her back against the mattress I pulled out of her long enough to kick my boxers off the rest of the way and kneel between her legs, running my hands along her thighs. I found my way back to her centre, thrusting inside with one long motion, drawing another cry of delight from my beautiful wife. It was my turn and I pressed up inside of her, feeling her muscles constrict around me and milking me. I moaned, pushing and pulling in and out, grinding deeply as she wrapped her legs around my waist, holding me to her.

I could have drawn it out if I'd wanted, but my mind flicked quickly to the fact that we'd been at this for a while and Sam really could well and truly walk in on us. Much as I didn't care, I didn't want to hear about it for the rest of the day either. With this in mind I started to thrust harder and faster, Beth moaned in my ear as I pushed myself to the end. She drew her nails along my back and the sensation caused me to shudder.

I felt everything come to a head and sucked on her neck, the soft skin like velvet in my mouth as I gasped into her shoulder. Her whole body seemed to contract about me, squeezing and pulling me over. I groaned loudly, not holding back my pleasure as my cock twitched and then exploded inside her, long throbbing spurts shooting into Beth as she moaned with delight. I sank down on top of her, kissing her passionately as she continued to milk me, drawing out every little drop until I felt myself go soft and start to pull out.

"Mmmmmmmm," I moaned, kissing her deeply. "Good morning."

"Those are always great mornings…" she said with a smile, kissing me back.

---

9am – Beth's POV

The water from the shower was hot and soothing. I let it run over my hair and down my shoulders, thinking about the conversation I'd had with Jefferson two months ago. He'd had a lot to confess to me, and there were days, like this morning and the nightmare that I wished I didn't know the truth. Some memories were still only now returning to me, after having been subjected to at least three mind wipes from Castiel since the time my mother went missing. I let my mind drift to that day when I'd gone to the hospital to check on Jefferson, only to find him walking around as if he'd never been injured, healed courtesy of the angels.

"So tell me why it is my mother's spirit is following you around," I said quietly, looking at Jefferson with weary heart. He sighed and wrapped his hands around a cup of tea, looking across the table at me.

"You need to know that I never wanted to keep this from you Beth," Jefferson said and I already knew that I wasn't going to like what he had to say. "I was young, too young to argue with your father, and he was only doing what he thought was best for you."

I sipped at my own hot chocolate and watched him carefully, he was hedging, not wanting to get into it. "I have to know Jefferson, I'm not a little girl anymore."

"I know you're not, believe me I know… I've watched you grow up!" Jefferson said and I frowned. "Oh you won't remember," he said, seeing my confusion. "There's a lot you won't remember."

Jefferson went on to tell me about how when he was eighteen he had been possessed by a demon when he was out attending a rock concert. He'd found himself in Reno, accompanying a beautiful raven haired woman with sapphire coloured eyes. My mother, possessed. He'd been forced to kidnap three children from a motel room, two boys and a little girl with a gift, she could speak to angels.

I stared at him, my head starting to pound. As he spoke, flashes of memory came back to me; hazel eyes staring into my own, eyes I knew from years ago.

"I know you," I said to him and he smiled.

"We met a few years back. Your name is Ella," he said, nodding at me.

"Used to be, you can call me Beth now," I said. "Daddy calls me Beth."

"Beth," the boy said curiously and then shrugged. "Sure, suits you better."

I smiled, looking over at our fathers who were talking in the corner of the motel room.

"My Daddy is going on a business trip, is your Dad going with him?" I asked and the boy nodded.

"I don't like it when he goes away," I said quietly and the boy put his arm around my shoulders.

"Yeah."

"Will you pray with me? We can ask the angels to watch over them," I said hopefully, only to get a shake of his head.

"What's the point? No one is listening," he said.

"That's not true!" I insisted, pulling away and shoving him in the arm. "Angels are real!" The boy looked at me, shaking his head at me and rolling his eyes.

"I can't believe you still think that," he said and I sighed, my eyes starting to water.

"What's wrong baby girl?" Dad's voice crossed the room and I swiped at my eyes with the back of my hand.

"Nothing," I said, glaring at the boy.

"Dean…" the other man growled at his older son warningly.

"What? I didn't do anything!" The boy insisted, spreading his hands in the air.

"Play nice," the man said and Dean rolled his eyes.

Dad crouched in front of me and smiled, messing up my hair as I sniffed back a few tears.

"Are you sure you're okay?" He asked and I nodded, flashing him a big smile. "Okay, well, you're going to stay here with Dean and Sam for a little while, we won't be gone long, all right?"

"Okay Daddy," I said, nodding him and feeling my hair bobbing along my face.

"It's all right sir, I won't let anything happen to your daughter," Dean said seriously, looking at Dad, who smiled back at the boy, holding out his hand.

"I know you won't Dean, you're a good kid," he leaned in conspiratorially to Dean and I heard him speak softly. "You're an even better man than your father."

Dean smiled at that comment, then dropped his head, glancing over at the man standing by the door. "No sir," he replied. "No one is as good as my Dad."

"Well," Dad said, still smiling and patting Dean on the shoulder. "You're at least second best then." Dean nodded happily at that comment.

Dad turned back to me and then kissed my forehead before standing and joining Dean's father, whose name was John, at the door.

"Bye Dad!" Sammy called out from where he was watching TV on the couch and munching on a bag of popcorn.

"Bye Sammy, be good for your brother," John said with a smile and Sam nodded, shoving another handful of popcorn in his mouth and turning back to the TV. As the door closed behind the two men Dean went over and slid the chain into place, looking out the curtain as they walked off to a big black car.

Once the car had driven away, Dean turned back to me with a smile. "Soooo…" he said, tilting his head to the side. "Do you still pray to our angel?" He asked and I scowled at him.

"What do you care? You don't believe in them," I said, crossing my arms.

"Maybe you can believe enough for the both of us," Dean said quietly as he looked over at Sam.

"I believe in angels!" Sammy said around a big mouth of popcorn.

"Yeah, why am I not surprised?" Dean smirked with a roll of his eyes.

"Mrs Patterson says they're always watching over us," Sam said.

"Mrs Patterson is a crazy old lady with too many cats," Dean countered and I snickered a little at the teasing.

"Huh, knew I could get you to laugh," Dean said with a smile, going to the fridge and pulling out a can of coke, popping the lid and taking two glasses from the sink.

"You want a drink?" He asked, indicating the coke and I nodded, Dad hardly ever let me drink soda.

"You're allowed to drink soda during the day?" I asked.

"Sure, I can do whatever I want," Dean said with a shrug. "You want soda or juice, Sammy?"

"Juice!"

Dean snorted and shook his head, reaching back into the fridge and pulling out a bottle of orange juice. He poured out a glass for Sam, handing it to him and then put the bottle back in the fridge. I watched as he emptied out the can of coke into the two glasses and handed me one.

"Do you like comics? I got a few different ones…" Dean said and I wanted to screw up my nose at him, girls didn't read comics! His green eyes were watching me and I couldn't help but smile at him and nod, I didn't get to talk to cute guys very often, maybe I could pretend I liked comics. His smile was worth it and he led me over to the bed and pulled out a stack of little books from the nightstand.

"I got Batman, do you like Batman?" He asked and I smiled, nodding at him.

I had gasped at the memory presenting itself to me, looking up once more at the man sitting opposite me in the deserted little café we'd found.

"Batman…" I said with a frown, shaking my head.

"You remember something?" Jefferson asked and I nodded.

"Castiel said you'd start to recall a lot now that he'd fixed your angel line, or whatever he called it," he added.

"Yeah, little flashes of things, but it's more if people are talking about something, or if I do something that relates to what I've forgotten…what I don't get is why I've forgotten a lot of this in the first place," I said, shaking my head. Was it some sort of post-traumatic stress thing? Had my childhood been so horrible that I'd regressed it?

Jefferson sighed and leaned forward, taking my hand in his. "You know why Beth."

"Dad had Cas wipe my mind," I ventured and he nodded.

I sighed back at him and shook my head, I didn't want to believe it. "Why would Dad do that to me?"

"He was trying to protect you Beth, keep you away from hunting so you wouldn't end up like the rest of us." Jefferson said. I let out a short, almost hysterical laugh and shook my head.

"Well that worked out so well!"

"Beth…"

"No, Jefferson, I'm so sick of people planning out my life like that. You know, if I'd actually known about demons, and all the rest of it, I would have taken that amulet a lot more seriously… I would have worn it day and night, and that demon… I… I wouldn't have been possessed, my Dad would still be here."

"We don't know that," Jefferson said softly. "Sometimes we can't fight our destiny."

"Destiny? Now you sound like Missouri! Fact is, Jefferson, I never stood a chance, I was never given one." I said, fighting back tears. I thought about the sight of my mother's spirit in the library at Bobby's, attacking Jefferson and I winced, so many things I didn't know, I didn't remember.

I sighed, squeezing some conditioner into my hand and working it into a lather over my hair. Suddenly I felt hands slide up my back, over my shoulders and into my hair and I turned to see cheeky hazel eyes.

"Dean!" I said with a laugh and he chuckled, climbing into the shower.

"Sam's still not back," he said with a shrug, kissing my shoulder.

"Are you after some more?" I asked with a raised eyebrow and he laughed, kissing my lips.

"Always," he said with a grin. "But I'm also hungry, you've been in here for ages… I don't want to miss out on a shower because you use all the hot water."

He turned me around until he was standing under the water, and his hands came up to massage my hair, working the conditioner through my long tresses.

"Mmmm, that's nice," I moaned softly and he continued to work at my head while I leaned back into him. It was incredibly sensual to have someone wash your hair, we'd never really done anything like it until recently when I'd found him in the shower, struggling with a memory from Hell. Since then we'd regularly joined each other under the water, taking the time to simply caress and pamper each other, no sex necessary. It was a nice change from our usual romps in the shower.

Dean leaned my head back under the water, letting it rinse my hair out as he ran his hands through to get the conditioner out. I sighed softly and waited until he pulled me back against him. He was aroused again, I could feel him pressed up against my buttocks, and I ground my ass softly against him.

"Tease," he murmured in my ear before nipping softly on my earlobe.

"Mmmhmmm," I said with a giggle, sighing as his hands stroked along my soap covered stomach.

"Later," he said. "Listen…" And his words drew my attention away from us. I heard the door to the motel room shut and knew Sam had returned. "Time to go," he said with a kiss, and I sighed, fun was over, time to get back to work, or at least grab some breakfast.

---

10am – Dean's POV

Beth was telling me about the recollection of a forgotten memory from our childhood, one I didn't remember. It frustrated me that there were parts of my life that I didn't recall, that had been taken from us. Not for the first time in the last few months did I start to wonder just how different things might have been if I'd remembered Beth from when we were kids. This one time when we were together as early teens might have changed something when we were reunited five years later when her father had been killed.

"You fed me coke and made me read Batman comics," Beth said with a smile, pulling on her boots and lacing them up. I chuckled and kissed her forehead.

"Sounds like me," I said.

"Yeah…" Beth said wistfully. "I wish you could remember it."

"Me too," I said, sitting on the bed next to her and squeezing her softly against me. "I wish I could remember you as an eleven year old, you must have been cute. I didn't give up my coke and comics for just anyone you know."

"I guess I'm not the only one who had half her childhood wiped out like it was a blackboard that just had too much information on it," Beth said sadly.

"Well at least you're starting to remember it," I said to her, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice, I didn't want her to feel badly about the fact that I wished I could remember it too, at least one of us was starting to and I was enjoying the little stories she relayed to me about our secret past.

Beth shrugged and then smiled at me, leaning in to kiss me.

"So, what are we going to do today?" She asked, looking around the motel room.

"I'm working on a few leads," Sam chimed in from the table where he'd set up his laptop.

"Eh, I'm tired of being indoors, can't we do something different outside?" Beth said. Sam shrugged and turned back to the computer, clearly not interested in anything other than what he was doing.

"The car could use an oil change," I suggested and she nodded.

"That's a start," she said brightly. I grinned and pulled out a couple of dirty old t-shirts from my bag, tossing one to her.

"You'll need this then," I said and watched as she quickly changed out of the shirt she'd been wearing into one of my oily favourites. It was way too big on her, but she still managed to make it look good.

"What?" Beth asked, looking at me self-consciously.

"You look good in my clothes," I said with a wink. She snorted and stood up, rolling her eyes.

"I look ridiculous in your clothes," she countered. "But I'm glad you think so," she added with a smile.

Sam rolled his eyes at us and shook his head.

"Something to say there little brother?" I asked, and he looked up at us in our oiled up t-shirts while Beth pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Yeah, you two are ridiculously pathetic, you know that right?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at us. "You're like … I don't know… Mike and Carol Brady, without all the rugrats running about."

Beth laughed and shook her head. "Hey, somehow I don't think Carol Brady knew how to change the oil in a car, and I definitely haven't got a housewife bone in my body," she countered.

"That's true, Bobby tried to teach her to cook… remember?" I said and smiled as Beth laughed at Bobby's failed attempts to domesticate his 'baby girl'. It had been after Dad had died, and Bobby had taught her a handful of recipes, including his famous meatloaf which somehow she'd managed to dry up into a cinderblock. Only the soup had proven to be a success, and she had mastered French toast, but I wasn't surprised at that, it was her favourite. I remembered sitting in the library watching them banter in the kitchen through the open arch, never far from her during those days – kind of like now.

I stopped what I was doing and looked over at Beth again, she had moved into the bathroom and was brushing her teeth. She'd never been far from me, not since the day we'd rescued her, and now more than ever I found it hard to part from her, even for a few hours. If this was the co-dependence that everyone kept telling me we suffered then I wasn't sure I wanted to be cured, she fit me, and everything felt better when she was around.

"Ready!" Beth said, spitting out a mouthful of water and smiling at me through the mirror. I shook myself out of my thoughts and nodded, grabbing the keys to the car.

---

11am – Sam's POV

Looking out the curtains of the motel room, I shook my head as Dean and Beth bantered back and forth while they completed the oil change for the car. I'd never been that interested in the car, but Beth had taken to it like a duck to water once she convinced Dean to give her lessons on caring for it. Now I found myself a little envious of the connection they had, one which I didn't share and never would, despite Dean's attempts to teach me.

Letting the curtain fall back I turned back to the computer. It had only been a few days since I'd last seen Ruby and I was still smarting from sending her away. I found myself wishing that things could be different. My life was always so complicated and it seemed like I was always getting the short end of the stick. I pushed my thoughts of Ruby out of my head, reminding myself that I owed it to Beth. I had been a complete dick to her while Dean was in Hell, and Ruby had been the reason why, now that I could see that, the least I could do was stay the hell away from her. But it wasn't easy.

I looked over the latest news articles I was reading, there was a death of a magician in Sioux City which sounded suspicious, but I needed more information. I glanced out the window at Dean and Beth who were sharing a coke and laughing over some joke one of them had been telling. I decided I'd leave it until I knew more, they could use the break and it was rare that both of them were in good form.

---

12pm – Beth's POV

"Hey it's your job to wash the car," Dean laughed as he tossed me a rag across the roof of the Impala.

"Since when?!" I asked with a laugh. "I don't ever remember signing up for car wash duty."

"You're the youngest, that makes you the lackey," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"Sam is the youngest…" I pointed out and Dean snorted.

"Yeah, but Sam is a girl and wants nothing to do with the car."

"I'm a girl too!" I said, not really sure where I was going with this argument, I loved washing the car, and it presented me with the perfect opportunity to tease Dean.

"Not when it comes to the car cherry pie, you're a guy all over," Dean said and I chuckled.

"Yeah, okay, okay. Give me a minute, I'm going to go get some water," I said, picking up the bucket Dean had pulled out of the trunk.

I hurried back inside, thankful that the day had turned out a little sunny at least. It was rare this time of year, Christmas was just around the corner and it was cold, but with the sun shining I was going to pull it off.

Rummaging through my bag Sam gave me a curious look as I pulled out the blue bikini I'd bought a while ago for when Dean and I had been on a road trip and ended up at a casino, playing cards a poolside table. Usually I tossed clothing like that because at the end of the day, it took up space and I rarely used them again, but the skimpy bikini had come in handy from time to time, and took up the smallest corner of my duffel bag, so it got the nod. It was tucked away with the white lace babydoll nightie from our wedding night; that I wasn't going to part with either.

"A bikini? In December?" Sam asked incredulously as I walked out of the bathroom. I laughed and pulled a white t-shirt over the top of it.

"Well I'm not suicidal, I'll have the t-shirt," I said to him. Of course I didn't plan on it staying dry for very long, but I didn't say that out loud.

"You'll catch your death," Sam muttered and I giggled.

"Hmmm, and then Dean will have to nurse me back to health, I'm willing to take that risk just to see the look on his face. Let's see if I'm a guy now…" I muttered and Sam raised an eyebrow at me.

"What?"

"Nothing," I said with a shake of my head. "Just making a point."

"Oh you'll be getting more than a point out of him with that outfit," Sam chuckled and I flashed him a smile. Filling the bucket with warm soapy water I headed back out to the car, showing off my long legs as I bent over, putting the bucket on the ground. A guy driving by let out a loud wolf whistle and Dean's head shot up from where he'd been polishing a mirror.

"Hey!" He called out after the guy and then he looked over at me, licking his lips.

"Damn babe, you do realise it's December right?"

"Uh huh," I said nonchalantly, starting to wash down the side of the car. "I'm using hot water," I made a point of saying. Tossing a wet cloth to Dean, I grinned and tilted my head to the side. "You start on that side."

We'd started to get a little bit of an audience from some of the guys staying at the motel, apparently there was a conference on and the place was booked out, that was why we were sharing with Sam in the first place. I quickly gave the car a good wash as Dean worked down his side, his eyes rarely leaving me as I bent over to the bucket of water, and then scrubbed down the side of the car.

By the time I reached the trunk and was leaning over to wash the window Dean had reached his teasing limit. He was working his way along his side of the car, bucket and rag in hand, and I turned as he called out my name.

I squealed in protest as water hit me square in the face and chest, soaking me through while Dean dropped his now empty bucket, smirking at me.

"Dean!"

He raised an eyebrow, trailing his eyes down my t-shirt which was wet through, clinging to my skin and silhouetting my blue bikini underneath. It left very little to the imagination and the guys in the second storey room across the car park from us were almost drooling as they hung about having a few drinks.

"Woo! Take it off baby!" One of them yelled and Dean frowned, shaking his head.

"Don't you dare," he said as I raised an eyebrow at him and he stood next to me while I bent over, giving everyone a good show.

"Hey you got me wet!" I teased with a grin, wringing out my t-shirt and baring my stomach to him and anyone else looking. His eyes narrowed at me before he reached out and spread the t-shirt down to cover me again.

"What are you worried about Dean? I'm just one of the guys remember?" I teased and he moaned, looking down over my legs.

"Cherry pie you are anything but one of the guys," he said, pulling closer and looking down into my eyes.

"Glad you noticed," I said with a grin.

"Sweetheart, everyone in the damn motel has noticed, now would you please go and put some clothes on?" He said.

"Awww come on man! We were enjoying the show!" One of my admirers yelled and I laughed softly at the comment.

"Show?" Dean said with a raised eyebrow. "Hmmm…"

He chuckled and then with one swift movement he tugged on the t-shirt, pulling it up over my head and letting it fall to the ground, much to the cheers and whistles of the group of man on the overhead walkway.

Dean pulled me in for a kiss, making a point of pinning me to the length of his body and running his hands down over my ass. I joined in the act, rubbing my knee along his groin and receiving another cheer. With strong arms, Dean lifted me up against him and I wrapped my legs around his waist while he kicked the bucket and t-shirt next to the car before carrying me back to the room.

There was the sound of more cheers and a few disappointed comments as he opened the door and brought me inside, kicking the door closed behind us. Dropping me to my feet he kissed me long and hard before smacking me on the ass and heading for the fridge.

"You've made your point, you're not a guy, now how about putting some damn clothes on? You're making your brother uncomfortable," he said, taking out a beer and opening it. I turned to look at Sam who was shaking his head at me and laughing silently as I stood dripping in the little foyer.

I shrugged and grabbed one of the terry towelling robes from a hook on the bathroom door, cinching it around my waist.

"Hey, what the hell happened to that innocent preacher's daughter I caught in my arms oh so long ago?" Dean asked as I headed for the shower.

"Huh, I don't know. Guess she married some wild boy and he sucked all the innocence out of her," I quipped and Dean chuckled, walking over to me and leaning in to whisper in my ear.

"That's not all I plan on sucking once Sam falls asleep tonight," he said softly and I felt myself blushing furiously.

"Ah ha! There she is, I think I missed my flustered innocent," he said with a tender kiss to my forehead.

"Don't make fun of me," I groaned, pushing my lips out in a pout. "Don't you like the sexy wife routine?"

"I love the sexy wife routine, but deep down you'll always be my innocent Beth," he said, kissing me on the lips this time. "I always was more a fan of the girl next door."

"Oh for Christ's sake!" Sam muttered, shaking his head and closing his laptop. "You two seriously need to get a room!"

"We have a room, you're looking at it!" Dean snapped with a frown. "Get your own!"

"Would that I could, Dean, but the motel is packed… no vacancies. Look I know you guys … got your mojo back… or whatever… but can't you just stow it for a day?"

I laughed and stepped into the bathroom, turning on the heat lamps. "Sorry Sammy, we'll try to control ourselves," I placated and he threw me a smile before standing up.

"Right, well I have some more research to do but I skipped lunch, did you guys want to do an early dinner or are you needing the room for things I'd rather not know about?"

"Room," Dean said.

"Food," I countered and Dean rolled his eyes. I stepped up and kissed him on the cheek. "Give me ten, I just want to warm up in the shower," I said to Sam who nodded.

"And I don't want to wear you out when you have so much… sucking…to do later," I said softly to Dean who grinned and took another sip of his beer.

"You're so going to regret starting this game," he said and I raised an eyebrow, winking at him before closing the bathroom door and starting a hot shower.

---

1pm – Beth's POV

"I'll get the special," Dean said, eyeing off the menu and then turning to me. I was reading through the options and not finding much of interest.

"Uh, a burger, with everything," I said absently after Sam ordered a cob salad.

"Hold the onions," Dean said, and the waitress flashed him a frown. "What? Do I look like I care? Ask her, she hates them – if you bring a burger out with onions she's just gonna send it back," he added and I looked up, nodding.

"He's right," I said with a smile. "You know me too well." Dean flashed me a smiled and kissed my cheek.

"Works both ways," he said.

"How long have you been reminding her about the onions thing?" Sam laughed, shaking his head. "Beth you forget like every third time you order burgers."

"I'm just testing him to see if he remembers," I said with a grin, but that wasn't true, sometimes I just felt uninspired by food, today was one of those days.

"You sure you don't want to order breakfast?" Dean asked me, turning concerned eyes in my direction, the food aversion hadn't missed his attention either. "Maybe French toast? They do breakfast all day here."

I shook my head. "Nah, I'm good," I said and he nodded.

"You know you've been a little out of sorts for the last half hour," he pointed out. "I was only teasing with the bikini thing."

"I know, it's not that… just thinking about that stuff from earlier," I said.

"Your mom?"

"No, the first time we met, after the chapel," I replied, shaking my head. "You don't remember."

Dean's eyes saddened and he reached out to stroke my face. "Sorry," he said softly and I shrugged.

"It's not your fault," I replied.

"Still…"

"Why don't you tell us about it Beth?" Sam suggested, shutting his laptop and looking at me. "What happened? Was Dean an ass to you? Or did he hit on you like he did everyone at that age?"

"Hey! I was thirteen dude, I was hardly running around at that age," Dean said and I laughed, shaking my head.

"No, you were the perfect gentleman, if you want to put it that way… even when…"

"When?"

"When our fathers were overdue and I was starting to panic," I said, my thoughts turning back to what I remembered of that day. I'd struggled for a few weeks, the memories fleeting and obscure, until finally I'd told Jefferson I couldn't handle it anymore and he'd suggested I visit Pamela and have hypnosis done. We'd been nearby working a case so I'd skipped out for a few hours when the boys had been investigating a boy's club that I couldn't get into.

Pamela had helped me, much like she did with Anna, to recall when the memories coming up weren't clear. Now they were returning with a vengeance, clear as a bell, and like surround sound nightmares.

"We'd been at the motel for two days…" I said, my voice starting to sound far away.

"They should be back by now!" I said adamantly to Dean who shushed me, moving me into the bathroom.

"Stop worrying Sammy!" He snapped at me, and I felt tears building in my eyes.

"I'm sorry!" I said, wringing my hands. "But I want my Dad!"

"I know, me too, but we have to be strong for Sammy, he worries enough already," Dean said, slipping his arm around my shoulders.

I sniffed back my tears and nodded, feeling more than a little silly. But I wasn't used to be away from my father like this, he was always around watching over me.

"Look, they'll be okay Beth," Dean said in a soothing voice, and I felt myself responding to him, leaning in to his comforting embrace as I laid my head against his shoulder.

"You promise?" I asked and he looked down at me, nodding.

"Promise," he answered with a smile. "Now come on, I'll go get us burgers from across the road if you want, do you like burgers?"

I nodded and smiled at him, pushing my fears for our fathers deep down inside. "I do, but no onions!" I said. He chortled and nodded.

"Right then, one burger, no onions coming right up," he said, leading us back into the main room. "You stay here with Sammy."

I agreed and flopped down on the bed, looking at the TV show Sam was watching. He smiled up at me and crawled over next to me.

Before Dean could get out the door it was kicked in, and I shrieked, grabbing Sam and pushing him behind me. A blonde haired man entered the room and I screamed when I saw his pitch black eyes – they were terrifying!

"No!" Dean yelled, running for the gun by the bed, but he was too slow. The man grabbed Dean and cracked his head against the wall, knocking him out. Sam yelled out for Dean and I pushed him behind me, moving for the bathroom.

"Run, Sammy," I said, urging him toward the door where there was a window he could escape through. "Run now."

Suddenly the bathroom door swung shut, and I found us propelled through the air, slamming against the wall. We were pinned, unable to move and the man smirked, moving in front of us.

"Too easy," he said with a tilting of his head. "My mistress will be most pleased."

I looked up at the boys and they were captivated by the story. "I still can't believe Jefferson was possessed and that's how he met our dads," Sam said, shaking his head.

"I can't believe I've been jumping through hoops for you since you were eleven," Dean said with a chortle and I laughed, nodding.

"Yep, had you wrapped around my little finger I did," I said with a giggle.

"You wish!"

"No onions Dean… you never forget, not once, and that's after you had your mind wiped, if that's not wrapped around my little finger I don't know what is," I said with a grin.

"That's just being… considerate. Besides, even though I denied it because Ms Suffragette Waitress over there looked like she was going to remove my crown jewels if I dared suggest I might not kiss you because of onion breath… she was right at the end of the day."

I stared incredulously at him and shook my head. "Really?"

"Well, I much prefer non-onion breath if I have a choice," he grinned at me.

Rolling my eyes I looked down as the waitress returned carrying a plate of onion rings and placed them in front of Dean.

"Really?" I asked and she snorted as she walked away.

"Did she just snicker at me?" Dean asked, pointing at the waitress. "Doesn't she want a tip?"

"Oh knock it off Dean, like you never leave a tip," Sam said with a laugh, grabbing an onion ring and munching on it.

I stared long and hard at Dean with amused eyes, waiting for him to break. He reached for an onion ring and I raised my eyebrow. He saw and paused, glancing nervously over at me.

"Onion ring babe?" He asked, pushing the plate toward me.

"Uh, no, but thanks for offering," I said with a laugh, leaning forward to kiss his cheek. He turned his face to the side and met my lips, kissing them tenderly.

"You know I'd kiss you regardless," he said softly so only I could hear and I grinned.

"Well, let's not go too far," I replied just as softly. "Even I have my limits."

"Really?" He asked and I nodded. "What?"

"I don't know, I'm sure there's something. Well, I'm sure I wouldn't … no wait, I have kissed you with blood on your mouth, and when you were dead… Hmmm, damn. I don't know, but I'm sure they exist," I said with a smile.

Dean's response was to bite down on an onion ring as Sam rolled his eyes at us. I leaned forward again and whispered in Dean's ear, "You can still brush your teeth before tonight," I said and I playfully nipped at his earlobe, getting a slight groan out of him.

---

2pm – Dean's POV

I'd like to say that there was something about the way Beth oiled the guns, wiping them back and forth, and doing the general maintenance that drove me to distraction, but the reality is that anything she does achieves that reaction in me. I chuckled to myself thinking about our strange life together as I snapped the shotgun back together.

I stretched, the muscles in my back pulling, and groaned at how stiff I felt.

"Man, how long has it been since we've done a decent workout?" I asked and Beth looked up thoughtfully.

"Weeks," she said, frowning. "Unless you count the roll in the hay," she added with a smile.

"Mmmm, well, that was fun, but I think I need a longer, harder workout than that," I said and Beth raised an eyebrow.

"You trying to kill me?"

I laughed and shook my head, saying, "How about we go for a jog after we finish up here? We haven't done that in ages."

Beth nodded, stretching her legs out in front of her and patting her stomach, sighing and then saying, "Yeah, I think I could use it, these jeans are starting to get a little tight."

"Pffft, you're gorgeous," I said dismissively, shaking my head, eyes trailing down over her stomach and thighs.

"Ha! You won't be saying that when I'm old and grey, with sagging boobs and a pouch for a stomach," she said. I looked at her and felt a nostalgic feeling wash over me, at a loss for words. Instead of answering her I just stared, trying to imagine us old together. It never seemed to stick with me, somewhere deep down I had a fear that we'd never get that far – like life was going to hand us the short end of the stick again and take what we had from us.

"What's wrong?" Beth asked, putting the knife she'd been sharpening down on the bed beside her, a slight furrow crossing her forehead.

"Nothing," I said, shaking the thoughts from my head.

"Yeah? Try again," she said, standing up and crossing over to where I was sitting on the other bed. She pulled the gun out of my hands and tossed it on the bed, swinging her legs over mine to straddle my lap, sitting and looking into my eyes. "This is me you're talking to," she added knowingly.

I blew out a hard breath and nodded, looking into those big pools of chocolate brown watching me carefully.

"You think we're going to get to be old and grey?" I asked softly, watching her.

"Of course," Beth answered with a kiss to my nose. "Don't you?"

I shook my head, sighing. "I dunno… some days maybe, most of the time I think we're going to die bloody and so we need to live for today."

Beth's eyes looked a little pained as she tilted her head and then leaned into press her forehead against mine. "I haven't watched you go to Hell and back, literally, to lose you now Dean," she said determinedly. "You know, we've had everything we've ever cared for taken from us, I think God owes us one, the least he can do is give sixty years."

"Sixty years?!" I said, almost falling off the bed.

"Well yeah," she said with a smile, kissing me. "Imagine getting to our sixtieth anniversary."

"Sweetheart I'd have to be like a hundred to do that," I pointed out and she laughed.

"I'm counting from the day we got together, not married, because I've been in love with you longer than that even," Beth said softly and I nodded. I knew exactly how she felt.

"So, like, instead of having to be a hundred, I'd just have to be… eighty-three?" I asked, doing the math.

"Doesn't seem like long enough," Beth said thoughtfully, nuzzling down my neck and kissing my skin.

"God no…" I said. "I think we need to find the fountain of youth," I moaned softly, even a hundred years wouldn't be enough.

Beth started to breathe a little more erratically, and I realised her shoulders were shaking a little as she wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me into her body. I pulled her tightly to me and rubbed along her back as she buried her face in my neck, and I could hear her fighting back little sobs.

She got like this sometimes, especially since I'd gotten back from Hell, and while I'd tried to get her to talk about it, at the end of the day she just wanted to be held and comforted, so I'd learned to let it go and do that.

I don't know how long I stroked along her back and she cried silently, her tears wetting the material of my t-shirt, but Sam walked in at least twice and seeing us having a moment, came over to kiss the top of her head and then left us again just as quietly.

Finally, with a shuddering breath she sat back a little, wiping at her eyes with the backs of her hands. I grabbed one of the clean rags off the bed and offered it to her and she took it with a small smile, wiping her nose.

"Sorry," she said quietly, looking down at my chest while avoiding my gaze.

"Don't be," I said, brushing my thumb along her left cheekbone and kissing her forehead gently.

"No, really, you don't need an emotional wreck to deal with," she sighed, looking angry with herself.

"Hey, Beth, you think I don't feel the same way when you help me through all the stuff I've had to deal with lately?" I asked and she looked away.

"It's not the same."

"Yeah, it is. Hey," I turned her to face me, looking deeply into her eyes. "I love you," I said and delighted in how it brought a smile to her mouth. Maybe I should say it a little more often, I thought to myself, but she always said I told her daily in other ways. There was no doubting it though, saying the words out loud seemed to comfort her like none other.

"I love you," I said again, just to drive it home. "Everything you do is important to me, and I always need you, however you are. I'm just worried, that's all."

"How did you get through forty years?" She asked, tears brimming in her eyes again.

"Huh?" I asked, confused.

"Forty years Dean… god, it was four months for me and I fell apart," she said. "I don't ever, ever want to be separated from you again. I don't think I could bear it."

Ah, so that was what was going through her pretty little head. I swallowed back a lump in my throat and held her face in my hands again, kissing the tip of her nose and then her lips. "I thought about you, every day," I said. "I knew you'd never give up trying to save me. Even after I… after I got off the rack."

She let out another sob and wrapped her arms around my neck, burying her face back into my shoulder. "I'll always come for you," she said, "always."

"Ditto," I said, squeezing her tighter.

"And you're right, we are owed something for the shit we've been through. I want at least another sixty years with you," I said, kissing her and smiling at her tear streaked face. "Which means we're gonna have to be damn fit, so buck up, time for that jog, huh?"

Beth laughed and nodded, wiping at her eyes again. It was good to see her smile.

---

3pm – Beth's POV

We didn't work out as much as we used to when John was alive. I wasn't sure if that was because half the time Dean and I had been escaping for work outs was because we were so incredibly frustrated with not being able to be together, or whether it was because John was just pushing us too hard. Either way, now that we were on our own, our workouts had been few and far between.

I was feeling the effects of that this evening as I jogged behind Dean who never seemed fazed at all. How he did it I had no idea because he worked out even less than I did. It was Sam who always seemed to be on the go, not us. I resolved to make changes to this in the New Year, right after Christmas, because I hadn't been lying when I said my jeans had been feeling a little tighter.

Until then, I pushed myself to keep up with Dean who was checking out a couple of girls passing us in the other direction. I didn't fail to notice that they were almost falling over each other to get a look at him. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as he flashed a grin back at me.

"Hey, so phone numbers game…?" He asked, his voice trailing off as he turned and jogged backwards so he could look at me.

"What about it?" I asked, keeping my breath steady and even.

"Kind of hard to make it work wearing wedding rings," he said with a grin and I laughed, nodding as I jogged up next to him and he turned so we could jog side by side.

"What are you trying to say?" I asked, glancing over at him and feeling a little apprehensive.

"Well… what do you think about that?" He asked, looking back at me and ducking down a little dirt path that cut through the park we were running in.

"Are you asking me if it's okay if you take your wedding ring off to hit on other women?" I asked, raising my eyebrow at him and feeling slightly annoyed.

"Well… yeah I guess that's one option," he said, slowing down a little.

"Uh, yeah I guess it is," I said, trying to keep the bitterness out of my voice. It was just a game, after all, one that I'd invented, and at the end of the day I knew Dean would never act on it. "Yeah, sure, why not?" I said with a shrug, pushing past him and starting to run a little faster, my breath catching in my throat.

Dean grabbed my arm and pulled me to a stop, frowning.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… really?" He asked, looking at me. I sighed, bending over and catching my breath now that we'd stopped.

"Yeah, sure, I mean, I know you'd never act on it," I said, hoping I sounded more nonchalant than I felt.

"That's hardly the point cherry pie," he said, and the tone in his voice stopped me dead.

"Well what is the point Dean?" I asked, feeling a little frustrated.

"You'd seriously take off your wedding ring to pick up guys, even if it is a game?" He asked and I frowned, standing with my hands on my hips.

"Isn't that the point of this conversation?"

"Uh, no, not really," he replied.

"Well then what the hell are you going on about Dean?" I scowled.

"I was kind of thinking it was time to hang up our hats on the whole game," he said with a frown, pacing in front of me. "But maybe you don't…"

"Wait," I cut in, holding out my hand. "Really?"

"Well yeah, I don't want to take off my ring any more than…"

"Really?!" I asked, smiling and tilting my head at him.

"What?"

"You want to call it a night on one of your favourite games?" I asked and Dean sniggered, shaking his head at me.

"It's not really fun anymore baby," he said. "Not for me."

"We've been through a lot," I conceded with a nod.

"Yeah, we have."

"And we're married now," I said.

"Yes, we are."

"We've also been together a long time and I trust you," I said, and I meant what I said.

"I trust you too, but that's not the point," Dean said with a grin.

"The point, again?" I asked, crossing my arms.

"I'm done playing games," he said, spelling it out for me. "I don't want see you flirting with other men, even if it is for fun, and you shouldn't have to see me doing it either."

"You flirt with other men?"

He rolled his eyes at me. "You know what I mean…"

"I do," I said with a nod, smiling and running my hands up his chest.

"But I don't want you to change Dean, you're a sexual person, I know that, and I don't care if you look at other women occasionally, so long as you always come home to me."

"Looking is one thing," he said, kissing me. "But I'm not taking this ring off, so unless you want to try and play this game while we wear them…"

I raised my eyebrow and laughed. "I bet you could still get numbers, in fact, I bet you'd get more because of the forbidden factor," I said.

Dean smirked and then started jogging again, pulling me with him, saying, "That goes for you too."

"Shall we test it out tonight?" I asked with a grin, feeling my attitude change a little about the game after hearing Dean's doubts.

"Really?" He asked dubiously as he jogged alongside me.

"Yeah, why not?" I asked with a grin. "But I have one request…"

"What?"

"I want to watch, maybe I can be your wingman," I said with a grin and he chuckled.

"Really?"

"Yeah," I said, stopping and grabbing his arm, pulling him to the side of the jogging trail and running my hands along his forearms.

"Nothing sexier than watching my hot husband at work…" I said, looking up at him innocently.

Dean groaned and shook his head at me, saying, "God you are one hell of a wife."

"Don't you forget it baby," I said with a grin, "Now… race you back to the motel!" I took off down the trail, ignoring the burning in my chest and my heart that was threatening to stop on me, there was no way I was losing this race.

---

4pm – Beth's POV

I beat Dean back by a matter of seconds, crashing through the motel room door with a laugh and chuckling when Sam startled back from the table, grabbing his gun.

"Easy little brother," I said with a grin while Dean grabbed me from behind, groaning his exertion.

Sam dropped the gun back to the table and rolled his eyes at us.

"Do you guys ever just behave like normal people?" He asked, getting up to grab a soda from the fridge.

Dean sniggered and shook his head, letting me go and heading for the shower. "Normal? What's the fun in that?"

Half an hour later I was sprawled out on my stomach, head to the mattress and watching reruns of the daytime Spanish soap opera Dean and I had taken a liking to. We'd both picked up a lot of Spanish in the time we'd been watching it, and told Sam it was research.

Sam in turn wanted to know how we were going to fight monsters with a vocabulary that was limited to such phrases as "I am your real father," or "You bastard!" Dean countered with the line "Get out and never come back!" in Spanish and said he'd just use that during an exorcism.

I stared at the TV, not really taking it in, but enjoying the soft stroking of my ankles and calves that Dean was doing from his end of the bed. Closing my eyes, I sighed and let my mind wander back to what we'd been talking about at lunch, the day we'd been kidnapped by a possessed Jefferson.

The memories of that day had been coming back in patches, but I still didn't recall a lot of what happened while we were taken. I concentrated on what I did remember, breathing evenly and sending myself into a semi-meditative state like Pamela had taught me, calling on the memories to return.

As I lay on the bed, drifting, a flash of an old industrial warehouse came into my mind. I stuck with it and saw long hallways of iron, and being dragged along by another demon while Jefferson led the way to a series of steel cages.

"No!" I screamed and started to struggle, trying to break free of the demon holding me. Jefferson had Dean thrown over his shoulder and was holding on to Sam's arm, pulling him as he moved.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Jefferson snapped at the demon holding me. "Can't control one little girl?" He turned, shoving Sam into the cage and then slapping me across the face. It stung and I fell back against the demon holding me, whimpering.

"That's better," he said with evil black eyes. "Now shut up!"

He dropped Dean's unconscious body to the floor of the cage and then I was roughly thrown in after him, the door clanging shut ominously as the lock tumbled into place with the twist of a key.

"Please don't hurt us," I said quietly and received a laugh in reply.

"Little girl, you're at the mercy of our mistress now, she'll be the one deciding your fate."

He left with the other demon and I fell to my knees next to Dean, sobbing. Sam joined me, taking my hand in his and I remembered what Dean had said about having to be strong for Sammy, that he already worried too much. I sniffed back my tears and braved a smile for him.

"It'll be okay Sammy, angels are still watching out for us," I said and he smiled back at me with a nod.

"Dean?" Sam asked, shaking his brother. "Is he dead?"

"No," I said. I shook Dean by the shoulders and this time he started to wake up, blinking groggily at us.

"Hey, you okay?" He asked when he saw me looking down at him.

'No!" I cried when I realised he was going to be all right. He sat up and I threw myself into his arms, all thought of being brave for Sammy having flown out the window now Dean was awake.

Dean wrapped his arms around me and then reached out for Sam with one hand, placing it on his shoulder.

"Where are we?"

"I don't know," Sam said, looking around. "They locked us in here and left."

Dean looked around the cage and sighed. "Great…." He muttered, his hand rubbing my back. "Just freaking fantastic."

We were still in the same spot hours later. I sat next to Dean in the dark as the sky turned dark and the air got cold. Shivering, I wrapped my arms around my knees and Dean put his arm around my shoulders and pulled his jacket off, placing it over Sammy, who had curled up on the floor next to him and fallen asleep.

"I'm scared Dean, I want my Dad!" I said, tears coming to my eyes again.

"I know Beth, I know, and they're out there looking for us right now, I promise. We just have to wait it out, they will find us." He promised and I nodded, trusting him.

By the time the sun had risen again I'd fallen asleep curled next to Dean and Sam. Sam was still sleeping when I groggily woke up to find Dean sitting against the wall, staring out a high window across the hall, revealing nothing but overcast sky.

During the time I'd been asleep Dean said a woman had come to see us, she had dark hair and blue eyes that kept changing to black when she spoke. He said she had seemed particularly interested in me.

"Why?" I asked, confused and he shook his head.

"I don't know."

Sitting back silently next to him, I smiled when he reached out and took my hand. I instantly started to feel better. More than better, I started to feel a little excited, even given the circumstances we were in. Here was a really cute boy holding my hand, and he felt so nice and strong next to me. I blushed furiously, trying not to think like that, I was only eleven and shouldn't be looking at boys like that!

"What?" Dean asked, seeing me look away to hide the fact that my face was probably all red.

"Nothing," I said defensively, pulling my hand out of his and drawing my knees up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them.

"Yeah, right," he said, turning to look at me. He reached out and turned my head so I was facing him, a little smile on his face.

"You're cute when you get all embarrassed," he said and my mouth dropped open.

"Who says I'm embarrassed?" I asked, trying to look away again but he was still holding my face, his palm pressed against my cheek.

"Well maybe you're cute all the time then," he said, tilting his head to the side and looking at me thoughtfully.

"You think I'm cute?"

"Yeah, you're really cute," he said, his eyes seeming to darken just a little.

"Did you think that the day we met?" I asked, curious.

"Hell no! You were a freaking mess," he said. "All crying and stuff." I let out a little indignant cry and tried to pull away, but he caught me, his other hand coming up to circle around my neck.

Without warning he leaned forward and kissed me on the lips and I gasped, pulling back a little, but he held me firmly. His lips were soft, and gentle, and tingled as they brushed across mine. I felt myself blushing furiously as a little moan escaped my mouth and he pulled back with a smile.

"Nice."

"Why did you do that?" I asked, frowning.

"Because you're cute, I like you."

"Uh, okay…" I said quietly, looking down, a smile spreading across my face.

"What? Don't you like me?" Dean asked, looking at me with a strange expression.

"No, that's not it. You're … you're really cute, you have beautiful eyes," I said, feeling a little braver.

"You think so?" He asked and I nodded with a smile.

"So do you. And you have really soft lips," he said and I tilted my head to the side.

"Have you kissed many girls before?" I asked, feeling my stomach tighten a little.

"Oh yeah," he said dismissively. "Lots." But there was a flash behind his eyes that I didn't know how, but I knew otherwise.

"Well," I said finally. "That was my first kiss," I admitted, looking down at my hands.

"Really?" He asked, looking surprised.

"I'm only eleven! And my Dad says I should wait until it's someone special," I said.

"Wow, okay. Why did you kiss me then?" He asked.

"Well, you kind of kissed me, but I liked it. And you are special."

"Yeah right, special like the short bus special," he sniggered and I rolled my eyes at him.

"Don't say that, you're really smart," I said, watching as he smiled from the compliment.

"Can I kiss you again?" Dean asked and I smiled, biting my bottom lip.

"Uh, sure, I guess." I said, leaning my head to the side.

He leaned toward me and I giggled nervously as our noses bumped before he tilted his head to the side, trying again. When our lips connected I felt a surge of excitement race through me, I was kissing a really cute boy! And he liked me! I put my hands on his shoulders, leaning a little closer and moaned as his hands pulled at my waist, and then one slid up into my long brown hair, holding my head.

The kiss was gentle and like nothing I'd ever felt before. My heart started to race and my hands were shaking as they rested on his shoulders. I had no idea what I was doing, I just knew I didn't want it to stop as softly and slowly Dean brushed his lips back and forth along mine until I moaned softly.

We pulled back a little breathless and I felt myself going all shy again.

"Was that okay?" He asked and I nodded.

"That was nice," I said with a smile.

"Really?"

"Yeah, but you know what you're doing," I commented and Dean looked down, sighing.

"Okay, not really, that was my first kiss too," he admitted and I giggled at him.

"Really?" I asked, feeling a little special.

"Don't tell anyone," he said with a grin.

"Who am I going to tell? My Dad?" I asked with a little laugh, watching as Sam started to wake up, looking over at us.

Footsteps sounded on the metal walkway and my thoughts turned to our predicament again. Listening to the person get closer I started to breathe heavier, we were in a lot of trouble. Dean picked up on my distress and pulled me in for a hug, holding me tightly.

"Don't worry Beth, I won't let anyone hurt you," he said.

---

5pm – Beth's POV

I sat up with a smile, turning to face Dean who was still watching the television. He looked over when I turned my attention to him and smiled.

"Can you believe this guy?" He asked, gesturing to the TV and I realised he thought I was following along with the storyline.

I grinned, climbed up into his lap, sitting across his thighs and blocking his view.

"Hey! I'm trying to watch…" I silenced his complaint with a kiss and he moaned, his hands sliding up to hold me. "What's that for?"

"Do I need a reason?"

"Hell no," he said with a chuckle, kissing my neck.

I sat back, looking at him with a goofy smile on my face and he started to look a little uncomfortable.

"What?"

"I know something you don't know," I said with a grin.

"Oh man, do I want to know?"

"Well, it is rather incriminating. Tell me, when was your first kiss?" I asked and Sam looked up sharply at the comment.

"Oh this is bound to be interesting," Sam said, leaning his chin in his hand and turning his full attention to the conversation.

Dean looked uncomfortably from Sam to me. "Is this a trick question?"

"Maybe."

"Why do you care?"

"Because, I'm curious when God's gift to women lost his kissing virginity," I said with a soft kiss to his lips.

Sam snorted and shook his head. "Dean's probably been kissing girls since the sandpit," he said.

"Uh uh," I said, shaking my head. "I think he might have been a bit of a late bloomer," I said with a smile.

"Oh really?" Sam asked, looking at us curiously.

Dean shifted a little uncomfortably and then sighed, looking at me. "You really want to know?" I nodded my response; he swallowed hard, looking over at Sam, the TV forgotten.

"Uh, a girl called Robin," I said.

"How old?"

"Really?" He groaned. "We're gonna get into this? It's embarrassing."

"Come on, spill the beans Dean," Sam urged with a grin.

"Sixteen," Dean muttered and Sam chuckled.

"Didn't hear you," he said.

Dean cleared his throat and sighed, looking up at me. "Sixteen," he said a little louder.

"Serious?" Sam asked with a smirk. "Man even I was younger than that," he sniggered.

"Really?" Dean asked Sam and he nodded, grinning from ear to ear.

"No way man."

"I was fifteen," Sam said. "That beats your first kiss by a year."

"Nuh uh," I said with a smile, shaking my head.

"What?"

"Wasn't his first kiss," I said, my smile spreading even further across my face.

"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.

"God this is so frustrating!" I said with sigh. "When we were kidnapped by Jefferson, well, evil Jefferson. You kissed me, and you tried to be all cool about it, but you later told me it was your first kiss."

Dean stared at me open-mouthed and Sam spluttered.

"What? Really? You were Dean's first kiss?"

"Uh huh," I said with a grin. "Fancy that?"

"Fancy that," Dean said, a smile spreading across his face.

"Man, if you two weren't meant to be, I don't know who was," Sam said, shaking his head and standing up. "That is unreal," he added, picking up his laptop and heading for the door.

"Hey, where are you going?" Dean asked, and Sam rolled his eyes.

"I am over the Spanish soap and the love sick looks you two have been giving each other, I'm going out for a bit," he said, and with that he walked out the door, closing it behind him.

"Hmmm," Dean said thoughtfully, turning back to me. "Well that's convenient."

---

6pm – Dean's POV

Beth laughed at the look on my face as Sam left and I grinned, pulling her closer.

"He has a point though," I said, watching her eyes glimmer as she smiled.

"He does?"

"Yeah, what are the odds that we've been running into each other since you were eight, and playing big parts in each other's lives? How is it we can't remember any of it?"

"Cas… Dad had him wipe our minds," Beth said with a sigh.

"Man, I'm really pissed about that, are you serious?"

"You know he did, we've been discussing it," she replied.

"No, I know that. I mean…" I smiled again, kissing her lips softly. "You were my first kiss?"

She grinned and nodded. "You were mine too."

"Sam's right," I said, glad that Sam had left so I didn't have to hide how I was feeling.

"About?"

"Us," I kissed her again, this time drawing it out and sliding my tongue along her lips. "The more and more I hear, our lives just seem like we were meant to be together."

"That's really schmucky Dean," Beth said with a grin.

"Yep."

"I like it," she laughed, kissing me again.

"Well, you were the one who said we were soul mates," I pointed out and she shook her head.

"Missouri said that, but I didn't necessarily disagree," Beth said with a giggle.

"Hmmm," I said, grasping her hips and guiding her back to the mattress. Her t-shirt fell back, baring her soft, flat stomach and I pressed my lips to it, kissing and then sucking softly. Beth moaned and arched against me, wrapping her legs around my waist and pulling me against her.

With a growing hunger that had only been partially sated this morning, I trailed my lips up along her pale skin, and nuzzled against her bra, licking at her nipple through the lacy fabric. When her nipple hardened, I drew it into my mouth and gently clamped down with my lips. Beth groaned and slid her hands into my hair, holding my head in place.

My cock was hard already and I pushed against her hands, working my way up along her collarbone, slowly grinding my erection into her thigh as I found her lips and started to lavish them with attention.

"So, first kiss, was it good?" I asked in between short brushes of my lips to hers.

"Uh huh, not bad for a rookie," she said with a giggle.

"Was there tongue?" I queried, sliding my tongue along her upper lip and drawing out a moan.

"No, neither of us really knew what we were doing," she answered with a sigh.

"Hmmm, well that's a shame," I said with a grin.

Beth smiled again and pulled my face down to meet hers, kissing me passionately. I closed my eyes and started to kiss her back deeply, my hands sliding along her sides.

There was the sound of wings flapping a slight wind swept through the room, and looking up Beth let out a surprised gasp, pulling back from me. I turned to see a tan trenchcoat in my face and I rolled my eyes.

"Cas, what the hell man? Can't you see we're busy?" I asked of the angel who was now standing not two feet away at the edge of the bed.

"You're always busy Dean, and I have questions," Cas replied, his facial expression remaining unchanged.

"Questions? About what?" I asked.

"Ezekiel," Cas said, turning to Beth. "I want to know how it is he knew about Anna."

"Hey, whoa whoa whoa," I said, sitting up as Beth moved alongside me, sitting against the headboard. "What do we have to do with this?"

"Beth has been talking to Ezekiel behind my back," Cas said.

"Didn't realise she was a one-angel girl," I quipped and he frowned at me.

"She's not…"

"But you just expect her to toe the line with you, is that it?" I pushed, not liking the way he was speaking about Beth.

"No… but…"

"Look, Cas, don't start getting on that high horse of yours, if it weren't for Ezekiel then you lot would have happily wasted that poor girl," I said and he turned to me. Something passed behind his eyes and I wondered just how willing he had been to go through with it.

"Cas," Beth said softly, looking up at him. "Ezekiel came to me, he was concerned about what you were getting involved in. He wanted to protect Anna."

"Of course he did," Cas said.

"Well we don't know the reasons," Beth said. "Why don't you tell us?"

"I can't get into them, that's angel business," Cas said, frowning. "Where is Ezekiel now?"

"I don't know," Beth said with a shrug, "It's not like we're talking all the time, I haven't heard from him since Anna went missing."

"Why do you want to know?" I asked, looking at the angel. "Don't tell me you can't find them."

"We can't," Cas said, frowning. "They have, how do you say, fallen off the radar?"

"Good for them," I said smugly, nodding.

"You don't know what you're saying," Cas said and I felt anger rising in me.

"You know what? I don't really care, Cas. All you angels have done is dick with us from day one, and I've about had enough," I said.

"Dean!" Beth said cautiously and I sighed, tired of having to toe the line with these guys just because they were the ones to pull me out of Hell.

"You want to do something useful?" I asked, looking at him. "How about taking away all these damn memory wipes you so kindly put on me?"

"Why would you want that? They are there to protect you."

"No, they're there because our fathers were being dicks and thinking we couldn't handle the truth, but at the end of the day, there are things they didn't know about us and that I want to remember. Beth is starting to recall things, and I want to as well." I climbed off the bed, coming to stand in front of him, staring him down.

Cas eyed me off thoughtfully and then nodded.

"If you wish, I can remove them," he said.

"I do."

"Very well," Cas said, and just like that he touched a couple of fingers to my forehead and images and sounds came crashing down around me. First of the motel room we'd been in, of Beth's smiling face as I handed her a glass of coke, and then being locked in the cage, leaning forward, my heart racing as I kissed her and she gasped from surprise, trying to pull back. Later, Jefferson coming to get us, and we escaped with him now that he wasn't possessed, only to see our father's fighting with the possessed body of Beth's mother. Beth screaming echoed through my mind as I gasped, falling to my knees and grabbing at the bed.

"Dean!" Beth said, her voice sounding far away as she slid her arm around my shoulders.

Images continued to flow, we were in a motel and someone, Cas, possessed Beth and was told to wipe our minds, and the last thing I remembered was Beth looking at me, but not really seeing me, and then she said, "You will see her again," before touching my forehead and I collapsed.

I gasped again, looking up at Cas.

"You son of a bitch," I said, shaking my head. "How could you do that to us?"

"I didn't do anything I wasn't asked to do," Cas said.

"You had no right, neither did they," I muttered, shaking my head. "Damn I feel like I've been mind raped."

"Are you okay?" Beth asked, looking at me as if she understood the bombardment of memories suddenly pressing at my already overwhelmed and tired brain. I reached up, sliding my hand around Beth's neck and pulling her toward me, pressing my forehead firmly to hers and taking a deep breath.

"Yeah." I said in answer.

"Now, Ezekiel?" Cas said, looking at Beth and ignoring the obvious discomfort I was in. I rolled my eyes, freaking angels, who'd have them?.

"I don't know where he is Cas, he's gone," she said, looking at him.

"If you see him, call me," he said and like that he was gone, a quick burst of wind and the sound of wings disappearing. I groaned, sitting back on my heels.

"Man, I could really use a drink," I said and Beth chuckled, pulling me to my feet as she stood up.

"So let's go get one," she said. "You need to change that shirt though," she said and I looked down at the oily old t-shirt I'd been wearing since this morning.

"Yeah, right…" I nodded, pulling it off over my head.

"Hmmmm," Beth said thoughtfully, running her hands along my back as I leaned over, rifling through my duffel. "Man you have a sexy back," she said, kissing it.

I chuckled and stood up, pulling a fresh t-shirt over my head. "That right?"

"Mhmmm," she said with a grin, sliding her arms around me.

"I'll keep that in mind," I said as I kissed her again. "Let's go get that drink, huh?"

"Yeah, think I could use one too." Beth said.

I paused, looking down at her with a smile on my lips, and she turned deep brown eyes to look at me.

"What?"

Without saying a word I leaned down to her, taking her face in my hands, just like I had the first time I kissed her. I brushed my lips along hers, back and forth, softly and then flicked my tongue out to run along her upper lip. Beth moaned, and I realised with delight that she'd been letting out that little moan whenever we kissed since she was eleven years old, I'd been the first one to cause it.

"Mmmm," I said pulling back. "I was the first one to hear that moan you make when you kiss."

Beth smiled and kissed me quickly again, saying, "And you'll be the last person to ever hear it too."

"I like that," I said, kissing her again. "Guess I got to be your first for a few things…" I added with a cheeky grin.

Beth blushed a little and looked down, nodding and whispering, "Yeah…"

"Are you disappointed?"

"No!" She said, looking up at me urgently and shaking her head. "I like it, it's not like I didn't get the chance…"

"Yet you didn't take them?" I asked curiously.

"It never felt right. Deep down I think I was waiting for you."

"Wow, considering how hung up you were on pushing me away, you would have been waiting a while..." I said, brushing my hand along her cheek.

"Well, the heart wants what the heart wants, and I figured it out in the end," she said softly and then smiled up at me. "I also like that I got to be your first at something."

"Cherry pie you might not have been my first lover, but you were the first woman I made love to, and apparently kissed, and definitely fell in love with, so you're a lot of firsts for me too," I hoped that she could see the truth in that. I know it still hurt her a little that we had lost our own child and I had Ben with Lisa, and that was something I couldn't take back, could never make right. But that had just been sex, and at the end of the day I'd been thinking about her the whole time when it had happened.

Beth smiled and nodded, slipping her arm through mine. "Love you," she said softly, kissing my cheek.

"Ditto," I replied, pulling her toward the door. "Now come on, those drinks are waiting!"

---

7pm – Beth's POV

I lined up the shot and with practiced eye sent the cue ball down the table, banking off the centre diamond and around the striped ball I was trying to avoid, hitting my own solid and pocketing it in the corner. The cue ball continued to roll until it was sitting in front of the black and lined perfectly with the nearest pocket.

"Phew," Dean said with a whistle. "Damn girl, when did you get so good at this?"

"I've always been good at this, I was just saving your ego," I said with a grin, winking and lining up the final shot. With a simple stop shot, I sent the black into the pocket and looked up at Dean. "Guess it's your shout," I commented with a grin.

"My ego is hurt!" Dean said with a laugh and tossed his pool stick on to the table with a sigh.

"Awwww poor baby," I teased, sliding around the table and patting him on the shoulder.

"I'm sure you can think of a way or two to make me feel better," Dean said and I laughed, shaking my head.

Dean had relaxed a lot since we'd left the motel to get a few drinks and play a couple rounds of pool. He was leaning casually against a tall table and sipping on a beer, smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"So what do you think Sammy has up his sleeve? He's been slinking around with that computer for the last half a day and being all cryptic about whatever he's doing," I asked and Dean rolled his eyes.

"Probably on some porn site he doesn't want us to know about."

I burst into laughter at the thought of Sam watching porn and Dean grinned, shaking his head.

"Hey you remember that time in… where was it…?"

"Greenville," I supplied with a shake of my head.

"Oh yeah… he was so watching porn when we walked in on him," Dean said, taking another sip of his beer and waving the bottle around.

"He so was," I agreed with a nod.

"Not that I could blame him, if I didn't have you, I'd be watching it all the time."

"Ewwww, that's so nasty Dean!" I said, screwing up my nose.

"Says my bad girl preacher's daughter who…" he leaned in to whisper in my ear. "Let me screw her brains out six ways to Sunday the other night."

"That's different," I said, turning my head to face him, brushing my lips softly across his.

"Oh?"

"Yeah, I'm your wife," I said.

"Well speaking of which… wife and wingman, you ready to start with this game of yours?" Dean asked and I stopped, suddenly having second thoughts.

"Maybe we should grab something to eat first," I suggested, looking at Dean.

"Yeah sure," Dean said with a nod. "You okay?"

"Yeah, just hungry. I didn't realise it had gotten so late," I said, hoping my voice was as steady as I wanted it to be.

Dean put his arm around my shoulders and led me over to a table that had been recently vacated.

"Not much in the way of food here, you want to go somewhere else?" He asked, looking up at me with soft eyes.

"Nah, I'm sure we'll find something," I said, glancing at the menu, but not really feeling all that hungry.

"Okay, well, no onion rings, right?" He said with a chuckle and I smiled.

"Right."

"Wouldn't want those prospective phone number droppers to get turned off," he said, a strange expression in his eyes as he looked around the room.

"Yeah, right."

"So you think I should start with the blonde in the corner, or the red head by the pool table?" Dean asked and I felt my heart skip a beat.

"Uh, well I don't know Dean, who do you think?"

"Well you're my wingman, you're supposed to make the call," he said with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh," I said softly, looking down at the menu again.

"Or you could just tell me what you're really thinking," he said, leaning his forearms on the table and staring across at me.

"What do you mean?"

"How about you tell me that you don't want to play this game anymore?"

I looked at him, speechless and then glanced at my hands, saying nothing.

"Okay, I'll go first then," he said, sliding around to the chair next to mine. "I don't want to play this game anymore Beth."

"But you love the game," I said, sighing up at him.

"I used to have fun with the game, sure, when we were younger, but things are different now," he said.

"We're an old married couple and we haven't even hit our first anniversary," I sighed. I started to feel my stomach turn into knots and wrung my hands out.

"What's wrong with that?"

"What if you get bored?" I asked.

Dean chuckled and leaned in to kiss along my neck. "Baby, there's nothing boring about you," he whispered in my ear before placing a kiss at the base of my hairline behind my ear.

"I'm sorry," I said. "I feel really lame. I know I have no reason to be jealous, but just the thought of …"

"Hey," Dean cut in, pulling my left hand into his and stroking along my fingers with his own. "You have nothing to apologise for. I should have put a stop to this a long time ago."

"Really?"

"Yeah, you think I like it when you come up with a number you've gotten from some guy who wants to take you home and undress you, and touch you, and…" he shook his head, smiling.

"You never said anything," I said.

"Well, we hadn't really played it when we were trying to get me out of going to Hell, and this is the first it's really come up," he explained.

I smiled at him, once more amazed at how he always managed to say just the right thing, just when I needed to hear it.

"You're not hungry," he pointed out, nodding at the menu. I shook my head.

"Me neither. Come on," he said, pulling me off the stool I was sitting on and through a crowd of people. We hit a cleared spot and I realised it was a dance floor and smiled. We hadn't been on a dance floor since our wedding.

"May I have this dance Mrs Winchester?" Dean asked, looking at me and holding out his hand, just like he had the night we'd taken our first dance as husband and wife.

I placed my hand in his and let him pull me into his arms, swaying to the beat of the slow song playing. Dean slid his arm tightly around my waist and pressed me to his body, resting his lips against my forehead as we spun in circles to the music and everything seemed to slip into place.

---

8pm – Dean's POV

Beth was in a much better mood after leaving the bar, but we were both starving at this point. I made a quick stop in at the Chinese restaurant across the road, watching as she lugged our duffel bags into the 24-hour Laundromat. She paused to shake her head and I chuckled at what I imagined was some frustrated muttering coming from her. Unlike Sam, who was always on top of his laundry, we tended to leave everything to the last minute.

This was even more apparent as she'd pulled back from me during our dance and frowned, asking when was the last time I'd washed the t-shirt I was wearing. I couldn't remember, and that left room for consternation.

I took the proffered bag from the lady behind the counter and flashed her a smile before jogging across the road and joining Beth at a table where she was sorting out our clothes.

"Hope you have a lot of quarters," she commented with a grin and I noticed she'd piled clothes on at least four washers in a row.

I pulled out two rolls of quarters and sat them in front of her with a grin. "Yup."

"Good, because I'm seriously getting down to pretty much… this…to wear," Beth said, pulling out the little white lace nightgown she'd worn on our wedding night. It had an instant effect on me, my cock twitching as I looked it over.

"Hmmm, well would be a shame to waste that… put it on."

"I'm not putting it on!" She said with a laugh, shaking her head.

"But your jeans are dirty," I pointed out, and she looked down at them.

"They are not."

As she was looking I opened a packet of soy sauce and splashed it down the front of her and she gasped, looking up at me.

"Dean!"

"Told you they were dirty," I said playfully.

"Oh yeah?" She asked with a grin, taking the lid off some sweet and sour chicken, and using a spoon she flipped sauce down my top, watching as it dripped down on to my jeans.

"Oh that's mature," I said with a smirk.

"Oh dear, looks like you're all dirty," Beth said with a grin, running her eyes along my body.

"Yep," I said. "Can't have that." Taking a look around and shaking my head I pulled my t-shirt off, tossing it on the pile of clothes next to us and then unbuttoning my jeans, pushing them to the ground.

Beth gasped appreciatively at me standing there in nothing but a pair of boxers.

"Your turn," I said with a raised eyebrow and she shook her head.

We were starting to get a few looks from the couple of patrons using the facilities and I chuckled, moving to place our clothes in the machines, tossing in a cup of detergent with each wash, adding quarters and setting the machines to wash.

I reached the last one and tugged at the hem of Beth's t-shirt, grinning. "Come on, prude," I said and she laughed, shaking her head.

"I dare you."

"Really Dean? You dare me?"

"Yep, double dog dare you," I said with a smile.

"Okay," she said, nodding at me and looking around. "Fine."

"Fine."

"No problem," she said, looking at me.

"None at all."

She rolled her eyes and then ducked into a small alcove where you could purchase laundry detergent from a dispenser on the wall, or get change for the machines. She came back out a few minutes later dressed in the white knickers which she'd already been wearing, and more importantly her lacy, white wedding nightgown.

I sucked in a breath and sighed, she looked absolutely stunning. Apparently I wasn't the only one to think so as several of the men in the room stopped to stare at her while she walked over to the last machine we'd claimed and tossed her shirt and jeans in with the rest of the load.

"Happy?" She asked, spinning to face me with a grin.

"Oh yes," I breathed, looking at her. "You look amazing."

"So now what are we going to do for the next couple of hours while we wait for all our clothes to wash and dry?" She asked. "We're not exactly dressed for going out."

I sniggered and pulled out a deck of cards. "You need to work on your poker face," I said and Beth laughed, raising an eyebrow. "Think anyone will want to play here?" I asked.

"Baby, I think everyone here is going to want in on this game after you double dog dared me to wear this thing," Beth said with a smile.

I chuckled, and then said, "Well, food first, I don't want you passing out from hunger."

---

9pm – Dean's POV

The dryers were on the last leg of the laundry cycle and not a moment too soon because I was starting to feel the cold sitting around in just my boxers. Aside from Beth and myself, everyone else here had finished their laundry a good half hour ago, but they'd stuck around for the poker game.

Beth was currently perched on a washer, long legs crossed with her white lace babydoll nightie pulled over her knees as far as it would go – it really wasn't covering much no matter how hard she tried. She looked up at me and winked, a little smile touching her mouth.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to read her. She'd been playing well, only having used her tell once or twice that I'd picked up on: she was learning. One of the guys was paying way too much attention to her feet, and not enough to the cards at hand. I reached out and smacked him upside the head.

"Eyes forward hero," I said, "that's my wife you're checking out there."

Beth laughed and rolled her eyes, stretching her legs out and crossing them over again.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you poured soy sauce all over my jeans," she said. "Now quit trying to stall, do you call or fold?"

I eyed her off, there were only three of us left in the game and sitting on the table in front of us was a collection of twenties and fifties.

"I see your fifty, and raise you fifty," I said, throwing a hundred on the table.

"Oooh," Beth said with a giggle, tilting her head to the side.

"What the Hell…?" Sam's voice sounded from the front of the Laundromat, signalling that our fun was at an end.

"Great, here comes the rain," I muttered as Sam walked down toward the back where we were sitting, eyes looking at us in amusement.

"Hey Sammy," Beth said with a smile. "Come watch me kick our brother's ass."

"Brother?" Asked the man I'd whacked upside the head. "I thought you said she was your wife."

"She is doofus," I replied. "It's a long story."

"Hey nothing to do with me man… what you all do over in West Virginia is your own business…" He muttered and Beth laughed.

"Mmmm, oh you are a naughty boy, falling in love with your sister," she teased and I smiled, shaking my head at her. This got a raucous laugh from the one guy left in the game as he looked over to see Beth wink at me and poke out her tongue. She tossed her hair behind her and looked at her cards. Sam looked a little bemused at the comment and decided to play up on it.

"Well you know what they say, keep it in the family," he said as he slid his arms around Beth's waist to my eternal amusement and kissed the side of her neck.

"Goddamn," one of the men muttered as Sam's hands wandered down over her thighs and came to rest on her knees as he looked her cards.

"Interesting," he said with a grin before pulling away, but not before slapping her playfully on the ass.

"You figured out her tell yet Dean?" He asked.

"Oh I'm all over it dude," I muttered, thinking that I knew her tells, but she'd been very good at hiding them tonight.

Sam kissed Beth's forehead and chuckled, headed for the door again. "I'll be at the motel whenever you two get done screwing around," he commented. "We need to talk."

"Talk talk talk, that's all you ever want to do man," I complained and he raised an eyebrow.

"Don't forget, it's my night with our… sister there," he said with a wink at Beth, and I felt my mouth drop open as the men around us chuckled.

"Oh Sammy, you bad boy," Beth giggled, winking at him. Once he'd left, she turned her attention back to the game.

"Yeah, he was just… joking, by the way," I said to the men who shook their heads at me.

"Hey, your business man," Tiny, the one person left in the game, said to me with a clap on the shoulder. "But I wouldn't be handing her over to anyone…"

"I'm in," Beth said, throwing money on the pile and drawing us back to the game.

"I'm out," Tiny said with a sigh. "You guys are too rich for me."

I raised an eyebrow at her and then chuckled. "What you got baby?"

"You first," she said with a smile.

I flashed her a smug look and placed my cards on the table. "Full House," I said, looking up at her.

Beth sucked in a breath and tutted. "Oooh, close," she said, before jumping down from the washing machine and placing her cards on the table. I looked down in horror to see four aces peeking back at me. "…but no cigar," she finished, leaning over to kiss me.

"Damn…" one of the men said as I kissed Beth back, reaching out a hand to smack him upside the head.

"I told you man, stop checking out my wife!"

Tiny chuckled and stood up, gathering all the money and handing it to Beth. "There you go little lady, be sure to buy yourself something nice. But don't share it with him, give me a call, find out what it's like to be with a real man," he said with a wink, passing a phone number to Beth.

Beth laughed and accepted them both, kissing the giant man on the cheek. "Thanks Tiny, I'll keep it in mind," she said with a smile as she walked over to the dryer that had just finished, and started pulling jeans and t-shirts out.

I felt my muscles tense from the cold and groaned as I stood up, damn what a stupid idea it had been to do all our laundry at once. I sighed, stretching my arms over my head and feeling my back muscles twinge from sitting in one place too long.

A memory suddenly flashed before me, and I gasped, leaning forward on to the machine Beth had just vacated.

We'd been here all night and most of the day when he came for us. The blonde haired, blue eyed man who had captured us and put us in the cage. Beth let out a frightened cry as we heard him return, and I pushed her behind me with Sam.

The man claimed to be helping us now, and as I looked into his eyes there were definitely something different about him. Just the same, I decided to test him.

"If you were really talking to my Dad he'd have told you the password," I said to the man, knowing full well that Dad would never use anything like a password.

The man looked panicked, glancing about and swallowing hard.

"Password? He didn't give me a password!" He said urgently. "I swear he didn't say anything about a password, just told me that this was my moment and I better not let him down."

I smirked, wanting to laugh.

"I want to see my Dad," Beth said from beside me and my heart ached a little when I looked at her. She was so frightened, but the look she gave me, complete trust that I was going to get her through this.

"It's okay Beth," I reassured her, "my dad sent this guy, we're getting out of here."

When the man looked at me confused I laughed, stepping forward and out of the cage. "My Dad doesn't do passwords," I said to him, "but he definitely puts the fear of God into people…and you got that mister."

I held Beth's hand in my left, and took a knife that the man proffered me in my right. That felt better, at least I'd have something to fight with if it came down to it. Sam hovered right behind me and I followed the man down the iron hallway.

We were moving through an open space when a crash occurred. Looking to our left we saw Dad smash through a wall, fighting with another man. He punched the man and then jumped to his feet, crouching into a low fighting stance. Beth's dad ran out from another door way and taking a knife, stabbed the demon through the throat, blood splurting out of his neck and across the room. I stared, horrified and intrigued all at once.

"Mommy!" Beth screamed all of a sudden, and I saw a beautiful woman walk out into the room at the same time Beth's dad called out her name. Beth broke free of my grip and started to run toward her mother.

"Beth, no!" I yelled, forgetting about anything else and starting to run after her.

Beth's mother turned toward Beth and started to walk in our direction, I'd nearly caught Beth when her Dad scooped her up in his arms, reaching out and directing me back toward Sammy.

"Get away from her!" Beth's dad yelled and the woman smirked.

"You won't hurt the body, Patrick," she said. "You won't kill your own wife."

"Maybe he won't," Dad said, appearing behind with the knife I'd seen Patrick with earlier. "But I will."

The woman paused and looked back at my Dad, I stared at Beth who was struggling in her father's arms, calling out and sobbing for her mother, I felt my heart break a little at that.

Dad and the woman exchanged a few lines and then Dad ran at her, slashing her arm open with the knife as she scooted to one side.

"Ow!" She said mockingly.

"There's more where that came from," Dad said.

I saw her stop, looking at Dad in his fighting stance, knife in hand, and then at Patrick and Beth. She made a decision and waved her hand in the air.

"Sic 'em boy," she said. "Good bye Patrick, better luck next time," she added, and then with a flip of her hair, she walked away.

The next few moments were a blur as Dad pushed Sammy and me out of the warehouse and toward the car, shouting for us to run. I looked for Beth, seeing that she'd been handed over to the man who had rescued us, and she was crying into his shoulder. Patrick stopped dead, and looked back toward the warehouse, then he and Dad got into an argument, my Dad shouting at him to get in the car and get to safety.

"It's Grace!" Patrick yelled at him.

"No it's not! It hasn't been Grace for a long time!" Dad shouted back at him.

Dad got in the car and started it, and with a cloud of dust he spun the wheels and drove off. I looked through the back window for Beth and saw that her Dad had chosen to get in the car, pulling around to follow us, I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back next to Sam.

"Dean?" Beth asked, and I looked up, seeing her watching me with concern. "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm okay," I said, nodding. "I'm good."

She smiled and then pulled on a pair of jeans fresh from the dryer, hopping around from the heat still contained in them. I chuckled, shaking my head at her and the memory, thinking our lives were all kinds of bizarre.

Beth cried out with delight as she pulled a t-shirt over the nightgown, hugging herself in it. "Mmm, warm!" She said, grinning over at me and then sliding her arms under the t-shirt, managing to somehow weasel her way out of the nightie and pull it down over her hips and legs.

I moved to kiss her quickly, brushing my thumbs across the front of her perky little breasts, drawing a slight gasp from her. "No bra?" I asked softly, raising my eyebrow at her.

"Still drying," she said with a grin, slipping her leather jacket on.

"As good an excuse as any," I said appreciatively. She laughed softly and handed me a pair of jeans.

"You better put these on before you get any more excited baby," she said, glancing down at my semi-hard cock. "Or Sam really will be sleeping in the car tonight."

I groaned as she slid her fingers just under the waistband of my boxers, tracing along my soft skin teasingly.

"Tease," I whispered, leaning down to pull on the warm jeans she's handed me and then reached for one of my own t-shirts while she started to fold the rest of our laundry and put them into neat little piles.

"You love it," she said with a smile.

"Only if it goes somewhere," I said, taking a few t-shirts and helping her fold, my piles not quite as neat as hers.

"It always goes somewhere Dean, you know that," she said with a grin, and I had to admit, she was right.

I turned my thoughts back to Castiel, and the moments following the memory that had just popped into my head. We'd gone back to the motel and using Beth's body, the angel had wiped our memories at our dad's requests. I had been so livid! I'd stumbled on this girl, not for the first time, and she was funny and pretty, and she seemed to like me as much as I liked her. Then she'd been taken from me with nothing more than a forgotten line uttered to me. 'You will see her again.'

It would take almost four more years before I saw her again, and in that time I didn't remember her at all, but my heart did, somehow it had always known.

"Yeah," I said, looking over at my wife. "I know."

---

10pm – Beth's POV

The laundry all done, we tossed our duffels into the back of the Impala and then Dean drove around the main street, peering out the window.

"What are you doing?" I asked curiously and he chuckled, shrugging his shoulders.

"It's Friday night, something has to be open," he said cryptically and I raised my eyebrow at him.

"Baby, the only thing open is the bar, and we've already been there," I pointed out.

I was quickly proven wrong when, with a triumphant cry, Dean pulled the car to the curb, looking in at a cozy diner that held a handful of people.

"Come on," he said with grin, jumping out of the car.

I chuckled at his enthusiasm, wondering just what he had in mind considering most of the time we'd just be heading back to the bar.

"I don't think they serve whiskey here, Dean," I commented as he came around and opened the car door for me.

He laughed and pulled me to my feet, slipping his hand around my waist. I gasped as his fingers trailed a little further under my top and brushed against my bare breast, moaning softly as he stroked over my nipple.

"Naughty," I whispered in his ear and he grinned, winking at me.

"Come on," he urged again, pulling me inside. The diner was a quaint little mom and pop place with neat little booths sporting black vinyl seats and red and white checked table cloths. Fake flowers in vases sat at the end, and each booth had cute little animal themed salt and pepper shakers and matching sugar bowls. We sat down at the booth sporting a bambi-like deer sugar bowl, curled in a sleeping pose.

An older woman came up and smiled brightly at us, brandishing a notepad and pen. She had on sensible flat shoes, black trousers and a bright pink shirt that clashed severely with the red lipstick plastered to her pouty lips. Her hair was teased out so that it curled around her face and a pair of glasses perched on her nose.

"What can I get for you gorgeous?" She asked Dean with a wink.

"Oh I definitely think we're going to have to go some pie," he said, flashing me a grin. I laughed, shaking my head and wondered just how that was going to go down after the Chinese dinner we'd finished a little over an hour ago.

"Good choice," she said, nodding.

"What do you recommend?" Dean asked, turning his big green eyes to her and I watched her get sucked into his universe. It was a common phenomenon around Dean, women fell over themselves to get even a tiny piece of that gaze as he looked at you like you were the only star in the sky. I smiled softly, thinking about how I loved that about him, that he gave each and every person he spoke to his undivided attention, he made it about them.

"Oh we have a great pumpkin pie, not to mention apple, peach, rhubarb, chocolate pecan…"

"Lemon meringue?" I asked hopefully, feeling a craving for that sweet tart. She looked at me and chuckled.

"Sure thing honey, put you down for that?"

I nodded and smiled over at Dean. "Dean?"

"Ohhh, so many choices…" he groaned, thinking about it. "Make mine… a peach… no wait… chocolate pecan," he said with a nod.

"Coming right up," the waitress, whose name was Elaine according to her nametag. "Something to drink?"

"Hot chocolate," we said in unison and she laughed delightedly at us, walking away.

Dean reached out and took my hand in his, stroking along the back and over my knuckles. His touch was light and tickled, drawing a giggle out of my mouth as I smiled at him.

"So we're angel-less for a while, saved the day and all the rest, what say we head down to Cicero for a few days and visit Ben?" Dean asked, his eyes taking on that guarded look they often got whenever he brought up his son.

"Yeah, that would be nice," I said, smiling at him and squeezing his hand, it had been almost two months since the last visit. "Christmas is just around the corner, we should try and make some plans."

"About that, we're going to Bobby's for Christmas Eve, right?" He asked, and I nodded.

"Of course," I said. "Unless you have other plans?"

"No way, I've been looking forward to this," he said.

"You have?"

"Yeah, of course. I told Bobby to put me in charge of the decorations this year. We'll go up there a few days early, we'll pick out a tree, wreath… mistletoe. Just like our first Christmas together."

I felt my eyes getting a little watery at the thought of Dean willingly going and picking out Christmas decorations, usually I had to drag him along, or at least he made out like I was dragging him. I was starting to have second thoughts about that now, and it made me smile even more.

"Oh you two are so cute! Not often you see a married couple swooning all over each other," Elaine said as she brought back our pieces of pie.

Dean grinned up at her and nodded. "Yeah well, not every married man can say his wife saved his life."

"Really?" Elaine asked, smiling down at him.

"Every day," he said, looking over at me and I noticed a flash of pain hidden behind his eyes as he squeezed my hand slightly.

"That is so sweet!" She giggled to herself. "Oh he's a keeper," she added to me.

"Yes he is," I said with a smile.

She bustled off to serve another customer and I looked across the table at Dean, his hand tense under my own.

"Do you want to invite Lisa and Ben up to Bobby's for Christmas?" I asked, wondering just how much longer we were going to get away with keeping our Christmas Eve tradition just between the two families – Singer and Winchester.

"Nah, she's got plans or something with a group of friends," Dean said, indicating that somewhere along the way this conversation had already been had, I was just getting filled in now.

"Hmmm, well, maybe next year," I said quietly, squeezing his hand. "Will we go down for Christmas Day instead?"

"Yeah, that sounds good," Dean said with a smile. He reached out a fork, and spearing off a section of my pie, offered it to me and I moaned softly in anticipation, leaning forward to slip the bite into my mouth, letting it dance across my tastebuds.

"God that tastes good…" I said, watching as Dean fed himself a piece of pie from his own plate and groaned his appreciation.

"Oh yeah," he agreed with a smile. I reached out and used my thumb to wipe a bit of chocolate from the corner of his mouth and he caught my thumb in his mouth, sucking it clean. "Mmm."

"Like that?" I laughed and he nodded, his eyes sparkling with his humour.

"So what do you think Sammy wanted to talk about?" Dean asked, turning our attention to the little brother who had been uncharacteristically playful at the Laundromat earlier.

"Who knows, he's been buried in that computer all day," I said with a shrug, putting another bite of pie into my mouth and smiling at Elaine as she brought us our hot chocolates.

"Sorry about the wait lovelies, here you go," she said with a smile.

"No problem," Dean said. "Thank you."

"You know, this is the way to keep your marriage strong," she said to us. "Little dates, getting away from the kids and everyone else… just the two of you." I smiled at the unsolicited advice, and felt a pang of sadness in my heart over the children comment. I pushed it down because she couldn't possibly know. For all she knew, the kids were home being babysat by their grandparents while we had a night out on the town.

"You're right," Dean said. "It's the little things."

"That's right!" Elaine said with another smile and turned on her heel, returning to the front counter after clapping Dean on the shoulder.

"You okay?" Dean asked, the look on his face telling me plain as day that he'd not missed my reaction to the children comment.

"Yeah, same old stuff, you know?" I said, tilting my head to the side.

"Yeah, I know."

"So…Sammy? I have a feeling he's going to ruin our fun tonight," I said with a grin.

Dean laughed and nodded, taking some more pie into his mouth.

"Why do you think we're here? I was hoping to outlast him, let him fall asleep before he could talk us to death!"

I chuckled and moaned softly again at the delicious taste of tart lemon filling my mouth as I forked some more pie into my mouth.

We ate in comfortable silence for a while, finishing off our pie and drinks before Dean got up to pay, exchanging some cheeky banter with Elaine. I smiled, waiting by the door as he joined me, slipping his arm around me and leading me to the car. He opened the door, holding it for me as I climbed into the car. It was getting late and I yawned, sitting back against the seat. Dean climbed in next to me, shaking his head.

"Looks like it's a competition, who will last the longest… Beth or Sam, or the dark horse Dean…"

I laughed and leaned over to kiss him. "The dark horse is always the one to bet on."

---

11pm – Beth's POV

Jefferson shifted uncomfortably in his chair and then looked across the table at me.

'Maybe we should go somewhere more private," he suggested and I nodded, eyes wide as he took my arm, escorting me out of the café. He led us down an alleyway and across the road to a dog park. The beauty of it was, people came here to watch their dogs, not the people around them and it was the middle of the day, so it was quiet. We sat on a park bench and were quickly in our conversation.

"What happened to my mom, Jefferson?" I asked pointedly, turning to sit cross legged on the seat and staring into his blue eyes.

Jefferson sighed and looked down at his hands, taking a deep breath and then looking up at me.

"It happened around the time Meg showed up, you guys were in Chicago." I nodded, feeling my heart start to race. She'd been there? Right there!

"John had been chasing her for some time, that's why he disappeared, or at least, part of it. He came to me, just before Chicago, said we had unfinished business, that it was time to get Grace back. All he needed was the demon's name and they could do a tracer spell on her."

"They?"

"Cole was with him," he said and I sucked in a breath. Of course she was, I had always wondered why she'd been so out of touch during the time John had been missing. She had said they'd broken up, but she'd been in love with him for so long… and then the baby. Now it made sense.

"I had a contact," Jefferson said elusively. "She was able to lead us to a demon who knew the name of the one possessing Grace."

"And?"

"We got it out of them, and discovered the name of the demon. Abaddon."

"Never heard of it," I said, frowning.

"Me neither." Jefferson said. "We did a tracking spell…"

"Why didn't you summon her? Like Sam does Ruby?" I cut in, frowning.

"John thought it better to let her come to us," Jefferson answered. "We had a trap set for her, and we wanted her guard down."

I nodded, and he continued. "While you were fighting daevas, we were trying to get information out of Abaddon, what she was doing with your mother, how was Sam involved in everything, the mission of the yellow-eyed demon…"

"Dad never called me…" I said, tears welling in my eyes. "He was right there with us, while you were with her, he could have…"

"It wasn't her, Beth. It would have been more distressing to you to see her like that."

"I deserved the choice! I'm not a baby Jefferson!"

"I know, and I'm sorry. I should have called you. I should have made John see reason. I failed you again."

I sighed and tilted my head to the side. "No, you didn't. You've been more of a friend to me than most."

"I promised your father I would watch out for you Beth," Jefferson said, smiling sadly. "I'm sorry to say it's only been the last few years where I've come close to fulfilling that promise."

"Better late than never," I grinned at him.

"Funny about that, your mother said something very similar," he said nostalgically, and I immediately came back to the story he was telling.

"Did she suffer?" I asked, not sure I wanted to know. "Was she still as beautiful as the day she was taken?"

Jefferson smiled sadly at me and nodded to the last question. "She hadn't changed a bit… they never do…" the last part made me look quizzically at him, curious what had prompted that statement.

"How did she die?"

"John exorcised the demon, and she lived… the first thing she asked about was you," he said and that brought a smile to my face.

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. You're her daughter Beth, she lived for you." I bit my lip to stop it from trembling.

"But she didn't make it?"

"No… the injuries she'd sustained throughout the time she'd been possessed were too much. She wasn't surprised when John said you were beautiful, that you were happy. She got this faraway look in her eyes and said 'I always knew she would be.' And she knew you and Dean were in love… said she'd always known from the moment she first saw you…I don't know how."

"I do," I said softly, thinking about when we'd been taken back in time. She'd met us, and because of her connection to Castiel, she'd known I was her daughter from the future, and she also knew Dean was my husband, John and Mary's son. I didn't elaborate and Jefferson chose not to push.

Jefferson stopped for a moment, his voice breaking and I reached a hand out to take his.

"I held her as she died, Beth. She thought I was Patrick… I told her I loved her, and that I… that he'd be waiting for her when she woke up," his voice broke and a couple of tears ran down his face and I found myself crying too, leaning closer to him.

"Thank you," I said softly, thinking about how I'd have given anything to be able to tell Dean that I would see him on the other side when he died. How comforting that would have been.

The sound of footsteps startled me out of my memories and I looked behind me to see Dean moving toward me down the church aisle. I brushed away my tears and sat back in the seat behind me.

"Hey," he said quietly, sitting next to me. "You disappeared." I nodded. Sam had been watching TV when we got back, and he'd wanted to talk, but Dean had told him to stow it until the morning, we were tired and wanted to sleep. He must have been more tired than he was letting on because he was the first of us to fall asleep, Sam not far behind. I had lain awake, thinking about how much I loved spending time just doing ordinary things, like dancing, or eating pie, even doing laundry. Simple things, a simple life.

Cuddled up to Dean I had realised that I'd forgotten to say my prayers, and recalling the beautiful stained glass windows of the church down the street, I had dressed, leaving a note for Dean and then walking down to the chapel which was still lit up. We were fortunate to be in a town that still believed in churches being open all the time, and as I'd knelt in the front row, I'd been caught up in the memory of my conversation with Jefferson.

---

12pm – Dean's POV

I never understood why Beth insisted on praying in churches. Seemed to me, and Sam as well, that you could pray anywhere you found yourself. But she always liked to find a chapel nearby and go there. She said it was peaceful, and conducive to the task, that she could pray anywhere, sure, but why not surround herself in the beauty of God at the same time.

When she disappeared I always felt a pang of panic. Used to be she never left a note, instead I'd wake up and she would just be gone. But those days were long past us. Hell had done a number on my head, and we didn't spend much time apart with the exception of her prayer time.

One night I'd come racing into the church she'd been in, frantic because she'd been gone after I had a particularly bad nightmare about her, and I'd scared her half to death, crashing through the doors. After that she started leaving me notes, and while I didn't like her going off on her own, it was comforting to know where she I would find her. It didn't mean I wasn't going to check up on her.

Tonight was no different. I'd woken to the note, and then found her in the chapel crying. It broke my heart to see her like this, up and down, today had been an emotional roller coaster for her and as I entered the chapel, she looked up at me and through the tears she smiled.

"Our lives could have been so different, Dean," she said quietly, climbing into my lap the way she always did when she needed comfort.

"I know. I liked you, I really liked you way back then… and they took that away from us," I said softly.

"I know," Beth said sadly, stroking a hand along my cheek. "All those years wasted, I mean, if we'd known when you came for me, if I'd remembered you…"

We fell silent, sitting in the chapel and listening as rain started to fall outside, pattering softly against the tiles on the roof.

"Cas says everything happens for a reason," Beth said finally, leaning her forehead in to mine.

"Yeah, and sometimes people just dick with you," I scowled.

"I suppose we have had twelve years …of hanging out and being together," Beth commented softly.

"Not all of it was as a couple though," I pointed out.

"Yeah. We were idiots," she said and chuckled at the incredulous look I threw her. "Okay, so mostly I was an idiot pushing you away. But that's over now, here we are, and we're okay."

I sighed, nodding. I wasn't happy about it, but she was right. Live for the now, because there was no point dwelling in the past, that was something Bobby had always said to me. The past only got you a big heaping pile of misery, and you couldn't do anything to change it even if you wanted.

I slipped my arms around her and kissed her forehead.

"No point in dwelling on what might have been," I said, brushing the hair out of her eyes.

"Yeah…" she said, nodding and burying her face into my neck, her breath tickling across my skin.

"Come on," I said, scooping my arms under her legs and around her waist. I stood up, lifting her easily with me, and she cuddled in to me. "Let's get you to bed."

---

1am – Beth's POV

"She told me to tell Dean to look after you," Jefferson said softly, blinking back tears as he relayed my mother's dying wish. I laughed and wiped the tears out of my own eyes.

"Did you?"

"Damn straight I did!" He said with a chuckle. "The day you got married I read him the riot act." I grinned at him and shook my head.

"Oh he'd have loved that," I said and he laughed, nodding.

"You know what he told me?"

"No."

"He said that he knew he'd screwed up, he should have done this a long time ago. That he should have told you he loved you when you were sixteen years old and he figured it out for himself, and then he never should have let you go. He said you were his soul mate, the only woman he'd ever love, and that he'd spend his life looking after you."

I gaped, staring at this man who was like a young version of an uncle to me. "Dean… wait… Dean said that?"

"Yeah Princess, he did." Jefferson said with a smile. "And he was right."

"Right about what part?"

"Well, I found the whole 'rest of his life' thing a little dubious given he was headed for Hell, but I'm referring to the soul mate comment. You two have a connection, I can't explain. It's been there a long time. Patrick told me that the boys spent time with him and Grace when you were just two years old, right after Mary died. You and Dean connected even then, and Grace, somehow she knew – she said you would mean the world to him one day, as he would to you. You've known each other your whole lives, and had it taken from you, Beth. But every time you reunited there was a spark, and Castiel, when he wiped your memories after that day I met your father… he said to Dean, 'you will see her again', and it was like a promise, like he knew."

"Wow," I said, flabbergasted. I knew Dean and I had strong feelings for each other, and Missouri had hinted at the soul mate thing, but I'd kind of flippantly dismissed it as new age fluff.

"So, are you starting to see Beth, that there is a season and reason to everything under the sun," Jefferson said softly. "Things may not always make sense, but there is always a purpose, for everything under God."

"Now you sound like my Dad," I said with a smirk. He laughed, nodding.

"Who do you think taught me?" He asked and I sighed, wishing I could remember more of Jefferson when he'd been studying with my father. The only consolation was that the memories seemed to be returning with time. Until then, all I could do was wait.

I was suddenly hit with an image, I was fourteen and Jefferson was sitting next to me as I tearfully relayed my latest disaster of a boyfriend to him. He had put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to him, gently stroking my hair with his hand.

"Don't be in a hurry Beth, give it time. You have a soul mate, and he's waiting for you. You've already met him, you just don't remember, but give it time and you'll see him again, I promise."

"How will I know it's him?" I asked, trusting what he said implicitly.

"Your heart will know, all you have to do is listen." Jefferson said, kissing my forehead and squeezing me tightly against him.

I woke up, staring at Dean's back as he lay on his side. He was relaxed, and I ran my hand down the middle of his back to his boxers. Changing direction, I trailed my fingers lightly over his hip and around to his stomach, caressing as I stroked back up to his chest, playfully circling his right nipple with my fingers and starting to kiss and lick at his neck.

Dean awoke with a groan before he rolled back into me and turned with twinkling green eyes. "Hey beautiful, you after something?"

I nodded with a grin, glancing over at the sleeping form of Sam.

"Oh yes," I breathed softly, moving back slightly so I could roll him to his back, leaning down to capture his nipple in my mouth, playfully flicking my tongue across it and drawing a moan out of him.

"Sammy asleep?" He asked, the unspoken question in his voice. Were we free to fool around?

"Uh huh," I said with a grin, drawing his nipple back in to my mouth and swirling my tongue around it. Dean responded with a low moan, trying to stay quiet and not wake up Sam. I grinned. These were my favourite nights, almost clandestine as we moved slowly against each other, savouring, loving, and while we didn't set out to, it always ended up a competition to see who could get each other to come the hardest without screaming the room down.

With a cheeky grin I started to kiss my way down Dean's stomach, and he sighed, watching me, knowing exactly what was coming.

"God I love my wife," he groaned softly, throwing his head back against the pillow as I reached my destination and with a chuckle started to tease him.

---

2am - Dean's POV

Beth moaned softly as she rolled in her sleep and I watched her fight waking up, turning her face to bury it into my neck with a happy sigh.

I kissed her forehead and smiled, adjusting my arm until it was comfortably placed around her shoulders and she had pressed her hand against my chest, tucking just below her chin.

I hadn't been lying when I'd said I loved my wife, but it wasn't just the sex. Sure, that didn't hurt at all, but it was these moments after which were my favourite.

As teenagers Sam and Beth had mostly shared a bed. Dad, in what turned out to be a pretty good judge of character, had tried to keep us separated when it came to sleeping arrangements, even though we spent all our time together training.

Now that I could see what had happened when I was thirteen, and how taken I'd been with Beth, I wondered if Dad must have seen it too. Even though our memories had been wiped, had he worried that they might come back? Or that we'd still have the feelings in spite of not remembering?

Whatever the case, we'd been a month or more into her being with us before Beth had to share a bed with me, and that had only been because the couch had been ridiculously short and Sam fit better on it.

After that, it was every now and then, and slowly as we grew closer in our friendship, she'd started to get closer when we slept too. She would have nightmares, often, and it was usually Sam who had to comfort her, and she'd cry herself back to sleep. But when I was the one with her, she would curl into me, take a deep breath and with a little sigh she let herself sink into my chest and she was almost back asleep instantly.

Dad had started to notice how quickly she got over the nightmares with me, and whenever she had them, I'd find myself getting the look from him.

Without a word I would climb into bed with her and Sam, and she'd turn into my arms, falling back asleep with her face tucked under my chin, and Sam would cuddle her from behind and we'd end up sleeping sandwiched into the bed, the three of us. "Good job Dean," Dad would say when Beth would fall asleep, and it was the only time I ever got any sort of encouragement out of him.

It was also short lived, and soon enough those looks became stern messages of warning instead of encouragement to care for her. Something had happened ten months into having Beth with us, Dad had returned from a hunt and he was beyond reasonable, assuming something was going on with me and Beth, and making us promise that we would only act as brother and sister, never explore anything else. Looking back now, I should have told the hypocrite to shove it up his ass, but I hadn't known about Cole back then.

I shifted in bed, changing my position from lying on my back by rolling on to my side. Beth moved with me, we'd been doing this dance for so many years that we just naturally fell into place with the other without waking when the other changed position. She rolled on to her side and I slipped my arm protectively around her waist, pulling her length back against me. I slipped my right leg between hers and she sighed softly, her smooth legs circling mine as she got comfortable. I was pressed tightly to her, my face buried in her vanilla scented hair as I closed my eyes and fell back asleep , thinking to myself, this was as close to Heaven as anything.

---

3am – Beth's POV

We'd started out the night wrapped around each other, but that changed as soon as we'd both managed to fall asleep. I didn't know how long we'd been asleep, but the clock told me at had barely been an hour when I was startled awake with a cry.

Turning I found Dean on his back, one arm reaching out for me as his head thrashed around on the pillow. He grunted and then let out a little whimper as his eyes tightened further and he buried his face into the pillow.

"Dean?" I said softly, looking over at Sam who was still mercifully asleep. I reached out a hand to touch his face, but it didn't pull him out of his slumber.

Another cry and he sat up, eyes wide and gasping for breath. I reached for him, pulling myself up beside him and wrapped my arms around him.

"Hey," I said, rubbing my hand along his back in large circles. "It's just a dream."

"Yeah… yeah… I know, I'm okay," he said, shaking his head and reaching for the bottle of water on the nightstand. He uncapped it and drank greedily from the contents, sighing as he placed the lid back on and set it back on the table.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah…"

"Sorry baby," he said, leaning over to kiss me.

"It's okay, you know that," I said, lying back down and staring at him, my hand on his thigh.

"God I'm so tired," he muttered, rubbing a hand across his face.

"I know, lie down," I said, patting the pillow next to me.

He lay obediently next to me, face to face, and extended his arm out around my waist.

"You want to talk about it?" I asked, watching his hazel eyes dart around the room and then turn back to me.

"Nah, I'm okay," he said, kissing my nose. "I just want to get some sleep."

"You going to be able to?"

"Hmmmm," he said with a cheeky grin. "What do you have in mind?"

I laughed softly at the obvious inflection in his voice, shaking my head. "Whatever you need baby," I whispered, and I meant it.

"Tempting, but that's part of the reason I'm so tired," he said with a chuckle. He patted the mattress next to him, opening his arm out and I took the hint, rolling to face out and wiggle my butt in against his warm groin where there was already a slight arousal happening.

With a happy sigh he pulled me back in against him like he had earlier, and buried his face in my hair, breathing deeply.

"Good night baby," I said softly and I could have sworn he was already out cold, receiving nothing but the sound of his steady breathing in reply.

---

4am – Beth's POV

I had to pee. I was so tired. I was warm. I was comfortable. I had to pee.

These thoughts ran through my head as I stared at the clock. I'd gotten forty-five minutes of sleep since Dean's nightmare, if I was lucky, and my head was starting to pound. My bladder felt worse. With a sigh I slipped out of Dean's arms and he whimpered a complaint, grumbling at me as I sat on the edge of the bed. I chuckled and leaned back to kiss him, whispering "I'll be right back grumpy…"

This seemed to placate him in his sleeping state, and I padded across the room to the bathroom, not even bothering to turn on the light as I sat down to do my business. I was finished quickly, washing my hands and then returned to bed, staring down at Dean in the semi-darkness of the room.

With a smile I slid back under the covers and turned my back to him again. How we did it, I would never know, but he told me I was exactly the same, moving in my sleep to accommodate when he needed to change position. This time, it was as if he sensed my return, opening his arm and pulling me back in to him, his other arm stretching out under the pillow I was using and cradling my head.

I stared at the clock again, and I noted five minutes had passed. I must have been exhausted because the last thing I remembered was the minutes ticking over and then I was out, falling into the sweet embrace of sleep.

---

5am – Dean's POV

I'd managed a few hours' sleep, that's all I knew, after the nightmare. Sam getting up and changing for a jog woke me and I groaned, my semi-erection pressed into Beth's butt as I held her to me. I rolled on to my back, looking over as Sam waved a greeting in the dark room.

"You're nuts," I groaned at him and he grinned, shaking his head.

"Good morning to you too," he said as he opened the door and stepped out into the foggy morning air.

Bathroom; that was what I was thinking about, not jogging. I pulled myself wearily out of bed and into the bathroom, and I hummed to myself as I relieved my bladder of yesterday's drinking. All I wanted to do was go back to sleep, for a week.

With a yawn I crawled back into bed and falling flat on my face, arms stretched out in front of me, I passed out.

---

6am – Sam's POV

They'd had a rough night, anyone could see that, and I was fairly certain it wasn't all sex related. Dean had passed out early the night before, which meant that something was going on with him, he was weary. Beth wasn't much better.

When I got back from my jog they were both sprawled on their stomachs, faces buried in their pillows, and I noted with a smirk that Dean still managed to get his arm out and around Beth. His right arm was draped across the small of her back, and I took note of their state of undress at the same time.

They'd clearly fooled around while I was asleep as well, thankfully this time I hadn't woken up in the middle of it. Of course, I was feeling the effects of tiredness myself lately, it had been a big couple of weeks.

I took a quick shower and when I was done changing, sat down at the computer, waiting for them to wake up. I was sure now that the case in Sioux City was something we wanted to look into. The added fact of there being magicians would appeal to Dean.

As the clock moved closer to the top of the hour I heard a groan and Dean turned green eyes to look at me.

"Okay, what is it Sammy? You've been staring at us for the last half hour, it's starting to creep me out."

I chuckled and averted my eyes as Beth shifted position and almost flashed her breasts at me. Not that I hadn't seen them before, but she was my sister, I didn't want to see that. She pulled the sheet up around her and blinked sleepily at Dean who had rolled on to his back and was now sitting against the headboard.

"What's going on?" She asked.

"I've got a case," I answered them both and they raised their eyebrows at me.

"It's not even…." Dean glanced at the clock nearby, "…seven am, and you have a case?"

"Yeah, well I have been looking into it yesterday too," I said and he nodded.

"I told you he was up to something," he muttered to Beth who smiled in reply.

"It's in Sioux City, and well… you'll like it. It's Magic Week," I said, casting my line with the bait. Dean took it, hook, line and sinker.

"Magic Week?" He asked, leaning forward, a glint to his eye. "You want us to go all the way to Sioux City... for magic?"

"Yep, a magician died, but get this, it wasn't from his own trick, it was from somebody else's. He wasn't even in the room."

Dean grinned and looked down at Beth who was yawning. "Sam loves magic," he said with a smirk.

"Is that right?" Beth asked with a grin, looking over at me.

"Oh come on guys, a man is dead here."

"Had his own magic kit as a kid..." Dean continued, winking at Beth.

I sighed. "Okay, serious guys. You can make all the fun you want of the talent when we get there."

"Or non-talent, as the case may be," Dean countered.

"So, are we going?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

"Yep," Dean said, not waiting for an okay from Beth. "We'll leave in an hour… but Sam? You're driving. Yesterday was freaking exhausting. We need some damn sleep!"

---

AUTHOR'S NOTES

(Sorry for the length, a couple of responses to anon reviews included)

---

Song for this chapter is – Feel this Moment by Pitbull and Christina Aguilera

---

Thank you to all the people who left reviews last chapter, I think I've managed to reply to you all, and if I haven't then I sincerely apologise. Know that I love and adore each and every comment I receive and always look forward to them. A fellow writer has often said on his own posts, reviews and ratings are the 'payment' we receive when using a free site like this, and your way of letting us know you value the time we put into keeping the story alive.

So with that in mind, please leave a review! Mahalo

---

Guest Comment Response #1

I had a guest comment left today in Hell To Pay wanting to know why I wrote in Ben as Dean's actual son, unlike canon storyline. Hard to reply to guest posts, so going to address it here - hoping they get this far with the series. First, I would just like to say thank you for the review, I always appreciate the feedback. To answer your question, there are several reasons I wrote it that way. Mostly it's because I always felt that Ben should have been Dean's, and I liked the fatherhood aspect it brought to Dean, and that it allows me to explore a different aspect to Dean and Beth's relationship as she tries to deal with her insecurities around giving Dean a family. I also really like Lisa, and she will feature in Season 6 as she becomes a good friend to Beth. Ben will also be showing up in Seasons 8 & 9 if I stick to where I'm going with the storyline, and I'm looking forward to exploring him as a character/person and Dean's teenage son more. I know some of my plot changes sometimes appear to come out of left field, but believe me, there's always a reason for it, so strap in and enjoy the ride because I never said I wasn't going to mess with canon story, I said I was writing this the way I think it should have been done from the start – there were quite a few people who fed back to me that they didn't want me to write in Ben as Dean's son, but I did it anyway because I see a story attached to Ben and Lisa that goes beyond what they covered in the show (can't go into more without giving away spoilers!). I like to think you guys have stuck it out with me in spite of this decision and are still enjoying the series?

---

Guest Response #2

In response to another anon review posted about Anna kissing Dean in front of Beth, there's two aspects to this comment. 1. Yeah, Anna's a bitch, I don't like her, never have, so the fact that people aren't happy with what she did, just says I portrayed her how I see her. 2. Beth isn't a bitch, and she's more one to internalise her jealousy when she suffers it. Given the situation she was hardly going to go all out on the girl (which would be OOC) while Cas and Uriel are standing around ready to kill her anyway. 3. Happy to have others out there doing different characters to Beth, variety is the spice to life – there are a lot of people out there who really like Beth and her personality, and I'm grateful for that.

I have said this before, but I think it warrants being said again. I don't read other Dean/OFC fic because at the end of the day I don't really have time, plus I don't want to be influenced by what others are doing, and to be honest I don't really want to read about any other pairings with Dean. I said in the beginning, I don't understand how people think hard breaks hard, and the pairing of Dean with what I affectionately call girl-Deans seems contrary. IMHO Dean needs strong but soft, someone he can relax and let his guard down with, not always wondering when the next jibe is coming from, or getting into a competition as to who is the strongest or more alpha. If we look at the canon storyline, we see Lisa was the only one Dean stuck with over time, and she is similar in personality to Beth. Then take a look at Cassie or Jo, strong and aggressive – a girl-Dean – and well, we all know how they ended (or in the case of Jo, never even started).

Thank God for variety though, and I'm glad you have a character out there who is acting the way you think she should. Maybe it's just me, but I thought I made it pretty clear who was doing the advancing with Dean and Anna, and I'm not sure how Dean was supposed to handle it other than how he did. I have never wanted to take Dean too OOC from who he is, he is a flirt, we all know that, and while that has changed over time with Beth, it's still there a little, and I'm not sure that's ever going to change – the more co-dependent they get, the less that comes out, but it'll be a gradual change I think, and one that I want to explore over time. Curiously I was already going down this route, the phone numbers conversation in this chapter had been written for days before your review and did make me chuckle because we're starting to see Dean and Beth grow up a little now.

---

OK. Moving on. The move is over, now the unpacking begins! Internet is back on, so I'm hoping to get updates out on a more regular basis too. There's a few originals coming up which always take a little more to write.

---

I also had a challenge piece which I posted in a new story if you missed that. It's under the story Long is the Way and it's pretty self-explanatory in the notes.

---

There will be more to Jefferson's story soon too, just need to get my head around it and write it. I'm going to be covering how he met Altea, and the extent of their relationship. Jefferson is going to be a bit of a surprise I think, not what people expect, and he's not above breaking the rules.

---

Don't forget we have a Facebook page – Dean & Beth – Supernatural Fanfic if you want to come and like us, I post fun little tidbits there, and fanart when I get to it. I also more than welcome your own contributions if you want to add them. It's been a little neglected in the side of fanart lately because I've been so busy, but hoping to get back into it sometime soon.

---

And finally, welcome to all the new readers, great to have you here. Hope you're enjoying the story!