Chapter 1

He was on his porch, smoking his way through a pack of cigarettes when the truck pulled in. Caleb could only grin. Only Winchester would show up, unannounced, to a place where he owed money. And bring guests. He mentally checked his inventory and his fridge before bounding out to greet the man. If there was one thing that Winchester was good for, it was filling the nighttime hours with things that made him forget her face, if just for a few hours. "Winchester! You son of a bitch, it's been forever!"

"I know it." John nodded and turned to help someone out of the truck. "I need your help."

Caleb set eyes on the woman and instinct kicked in. "Please tell me you need to relieve yourself of that hot blonde."

Pissed. Blonde with spit fire. She reached for the truck and John yanked her back to his side and shut the door. "He's just jokin', darlin'."

"I might not be." Caleb ran his eyes over her. Long legs, curves in the right places and a gun tucked into her jacket. He definitely wasn't kidding. He tore his eyes away to look at the truck. Caleb would know that bag of drool anywhere. "That Dean in there?"

"Yep… Let's leave him for a minute. I got a story to tell you and it's easier to tell when he can't do any talking." John had his fingers looped through the woman's belt loops. She looked like she wanted to bolt at any moment.

Caleb led them into the house and passed out beer. Pixies. His mind ran through his books while John talked. The blonde was quiet, peering out the window behind Caleb every now and again. Darlene, though John mostly called her Darlin'. She rolled her eyes every time. It was amusing. She caught him watching her drink her beer and gave him the dirtiest look that he'd gotten in a long time. He just smiled back and wagged his eyebrows at her. Then John got to the really important part. Dean, the amnesiac, was tail-spinning. "Dean? Tail-spinning?" Caleb took a breath and used the walk to the fridge to think about what that would look like. He could never remember the kid being so much as nervous before. Tail spinning? "That don't seem like him."

"He's got no memory of being a hunter. He's learned all over again but lucky for him the tools were all at his disposal." John took a breath. "He's determined to solve it. I need help with him. I can't…" John's eyes slid to Darlene. She looked back. They had the same expressions on their faces. "She just wants to forget what happened and Dean can't let it go. If the numbers are right… I killed one. Dean killed another but there are two out there in those woods. Dean and Darlene got lucky but after what happened in there, they're still here. Maybe minus some communications skills but we've been working around it."

Caleb ran a hand over his head and for the first time in many years wished that he had a head of hair like John Winchester. The skin seemed offensive in front of such… He cut the thought off and forced his mind to the matter at hand. Why he was lingering on the woman was strange. Especially when she was so repulsed. Why hadn't he tried Rogaine? "So, she's mute but hears fine. He's deaf but talks fine."

"Yeah." John's hand fell on her knee. It didn't mean anything. People did that. It was comforting.

"Well, I got some space. I got a lot of books. I don't know if I got anything on pixies." Caleb ran his mind over the last bunch of books he had and if he had any from long ago that he hadn't read through enough. He looked through the window at the truck where Dean was still sleeping. "I can't imagine Dean spiraling. Let's go bring him in." He got to his feet, trying not to stare at John's hand on her knee. "How do you… I mean, if he can't hear?"

"They both sign." John shrugged and Caleb saw the annoyance when Darlene's elbow slammed into John's gut.

The jealousy flared. He almost laughed. He was jealous of an old man with creaky knees and a bad liver. Darlene wasn't really his type, anyway. Still, he wanted her enough, he wasn't afraid to be himself in front of John. "Oh… I see. She's taken."

John's eyes flashed something at Caleb. Regret. An apology. Something that Caleb didn't want to see. He bounded outside and had to catch his breath. He hadn't reacted this way to just seeing a woman since he was a teenager. She was John's and she was beautiful and had the good sense to be fed up with Caleb's stares and comments. He never usually felt bad for ogling women. Some even enjoyed it. This one kept her eyes on her beer bottle or on John. Maybe that's what it was. This one didn't want him.

Caleb clapped his hands on the side of the truck. That didn't work, so he opened the door and Dean almost fell out. The kid startled away and pulled a knife. Caleb held his hands up and smiled. Nothing. No recognition. That made him sad. He and Dean usually had good times together. Caleb forced himself to be deliberate. He got Dean in the house. He was as easygoing as the Dean he knew once he realized Caleb was a friend.

Dean got his project set up and talked the whole time. They got a routine going. Dean talked to the room. When the room wanted to talk to Dean, Darlene signed to Dean. They clashed with Caleb's precise style in studying but Dean had the right bead going. Darlene didn't like Caleb's manner. It made him want her more. Caleb asked the hard questions and got her ire for it. He got enough to get a tangent going on his own. Sam had set him up with some new software on his way out west but he didn't mention it in front of John.

Caleb scanned all of Dean's research on missing folks. The software did its work. They found the pattern. He stared at the pictures but he couldn't put his finger on it. Then Darlene, filled with energy, began running around the room, gesturing. Blonde hair, green eyes. They were key to this thing. Fuckin' pixies. Then she was gone. They could hear her puke. "You knock her up, John?"

"Fuck you." John followed her outside.

Caleb watched them through the window for a bit and got back to work on Dean's mystery. He watched her when he could. She took care of everyone. Fixing dinner from stuff Caleb had left out. Shushing Dean when he got too loud. Finishing John's beer so he didn't get too drunk. Caleb liked her. She made it clear that he disgusted her and Caleb found he liked it that way.

Caleb left John alone with his computer. He watched the older man hunt and peck for a moment before going out to join Dean in his research. Caleb found the books that Dean needed and gave a summary of things he knew. The Tuatha de Danaan were the real deal. Pixies. Real Pixies. Beings from another place or dimension. They got into the metaphysics and the lore. Dean frowned as he tried to follow Darlene's hands. She had him open books for her so she could have context. Dean read over her shoulder. She seemed to be comfortable with Dean's proximity but the second Caleb got within two feet, her eyes turned murderous and she was storming away with her books. So Caleb did it to make her silently harrumph and storm away again and again. Dean was so caught up in his studies that he didn't notice.

In the mid-morning, Darlene had emerged from the bedroom she shared with John in such a state that Caleb had to catch his breath. When he saw her, he put her aside, firmly. The hair, the skirt, the pearls. She was… not meant for their world. She should be someplace where they served brunch and cocktails and had doormen and people who emptied ashtrays when no one was looking.

Caleb wanted to throw her down and have his way with her but instead, he whistled and she cut him to the quick with a look. She glanced around the room and crossed her arms. She breathed out harshly. She made a motion with her hands. Caleb had learned that one well enough. Where's John?

"Still in there." Caleb motioned to the study where John had been cooped up with the computer. "I'd say he was looking up porn but I wouldn't bother with that shit if I had you in my bed at night."

She signed something that made Dean laugh. She stormed into the kitchen for coffee. Dean turned to Caleb. "You really get under her skin."

"Oh yeah? You think she wants me?"

Dean squinted at Caleb's lips. Caleb repeated the question and waggled his eyebrows for emphasis. Dean laughed. "Dude… Look at me. I'm hot. She still fucks the old man."

"You telling me that I don't have a shot?"

Dean stared at Caleb. "I don't remember you, dude. I'm trying."

"I'm not going to steal her." Caleb backed up. "I got high hopes."

Dean laughed and lowered his gaze to his knees. "So does she."

Caleb tapped his shoulder so he would look up again. "What's that?"

"Try watching him instead of her." Dean returned to his wall. Darlene returned with the coffee pot and refilled all their cups. Refreshed, she started signing for Dean again. They had just started having a good time when John came out of the study with his little stack of paper and turned Darlene's world upside down. Caleb caught John up on what they had been discussing prior to his entrance. Caleb watched John. He kept his eyes on Dean and on the information at hand and Caleb's vision kept wandering to the door. Finally, he had to ask. "Your girl gonna be alright?"

"Yeah. She's made of the strong stuff." John only nodded and didn't make a move to the door until the next evening.

John disappeared to take care of Darlene, or Claire, and Caleb took care of Dean while they sorted out this Pixie mess. John eventually came back out with Dean's car and took off in the truck. Caleb's seething and drinking were kept to a minimum. It was just like John to ask for help and then bail when the hard part came. Then Caleb made himself pause. No. John would be there for the hunt. The prep stuff sometimes bored him and Caleb would probably be more angry if no one was taking care of the girl. The beautiful girl who had lost her memory of her life and her poor dead child and a world without monsters. What Caleb would give to live in a world without monsters…

Caleb did his best to work with Dean. Dean who needed ears more than he needed ideas. The ideas were there. The homework was done. The puzzle just needed fine tuning. They kept a routine and that seemed to calm Dean. Knowing what came next. They read chapters on the Tuatha De Danaan. They read up on iron works. Caleb retaught Dean a few exorcisms and watched the kid write each word down in a journal just like his father did. They got eggs and bacon down for every meal. They cleaned guns and washed the cars. Work and study and work and study. Dean had some cash and paid for some guns. John hadn't given an indication on when he'd return. Could be five minutes or five days or five months. Dean was gearing up to do the hunt himself and Caleb would probably go with if John didn't show up in time.

When they returned, Darlene, as she wanted to be called, was calm and that strength pulled at Caleb, so he bowed out of the hunt, citing better people to do. She'd rolled her eyes at him and started gathering up Dean's research. He helped load up the truck. When he said his goodbyes on the driveway, he'd been himself, the self he'd become since coming into the world of darkness. "Hey John." He tossed him a thumbs up and gestured at Darlene, then whistled. He had to step back at the same time John wrapped an arm around her waist to haul her away. When she was on her way to the truck, glares sent over her shoulder, Caleb shrugged that he couldn't help it. "The woman's hot. Too hot for you. It's fuckin' tragic is what it is."

"You know, Caleb… you're actually a good person. If you acted less like a jackass, maybe you'll get a girl someday." John shook his head at him.

"I get plenty of girls." Caleb grinned bright white and wide, his best imitation of a Winchester grin that he'd seen diminish ladies to a puddle of want. John had just stared at him for a moment before glancing over at his son. "You take care of that one, huh? She seems nice."

When John's gaze hit the ground, he finally saw it. What Dean was talking about. He wanted to haul her out of the truck but knew she wanted to kill those damned Pixies herself. John didn't know what to do with her. Caleb was sure he did plenty with her but was more sure that none of it was his idea.

He rounded the truck to say his goodbyes to Dean. Dean stared at Caleb for a long while. "Are we like… buds?"

"Totally." Caleb nodded. "When you can hear again, swing by. New bar in town Hot chicks."

"I'm in." Dean answered immediately with a grin which seemed to surprise him. He shook his head and kept grinning. "Yeah, I'm in."

Caleb watched the truck back out and then turned to look at his house. He'd bought the house when he was engaged to marry his girl. They had planned to fill it with children. Now it was filled with weapons. It sent him straight into the bottle. She was a pretty face. He didn't know much about her. He did have all his memories of his girl. High school, work. Not many years but a lot of fun while it lasted.

TBC