ULTIMATE DISCLAIMER IN PROFILE AND CHAPTER 1!

ULTIMATE WARNING IN PROFILE AND CHAPTER 1!

AU, OOC. Mentions of SLASH.

Hey, everyone!

I'm sorry for being so late. I can only offer the usual excuse: life. But now I'm back with a chapter! YAY!

This started as an Interlude, but it ran away with me. Now it's more than 9 pages long! That's quite good, isn't it? Also, this contains some angst, some humour, some fluff, and an attempt at British swearing (sorry if the latter doesn't work out, I did my best). I hope you'll be satisfied!

One last thing: if you're not gonna hear from an update to this story, don't worry! I'm going to work on the next chapters pretty hard and I'll try to get them up here as soon as possible. And to everyone's joy, it will contain some ACTUAL SLASH! Isn't that worth the wait already? :D

So, here's the new chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: Mistress?

Days slowly passed turning into weeks, everything returning to the normal routine, as signs of the autumn crept into the last weeks of the summer and the last days of August. Sam's latest sickness had passed without a hitch and he could step back into his duties as if nothing had happened. Although he was ashamed by his stunt he'd involuntarily pulled, the others didn't even mention the incident.

After the apologies between him and the Master the air wasn't as tense as before with the two in one room. Dean was kind and friendly with Sam, who in turn obeyed his orders without complaints and finally felt completely comfortable calling his Master 'sir'. On the other hand, since he remembered everything from that day, Sam couldn't get the Master out of his head. He could never forget those heart-wrenching sobs that came from the strong man he met everyday, even if for a moment. The urge to be the one who would comfort him and be a shoulder to cry on was powerful every occasion he was close to the Master and it scared him.

What made their… relationship, if you could call it that, still tense, were the other instinctive reactions that wanted to break out of Sam, when his gaze just landed on the man. Dean was attractive, very attractive, but from what Sam remembered from his ill periods, the Master was also kind, compassionate and caring, just like Sam wished for the 'One' to be. Also Dean had an aura of composure that would be able to cool Sam's hot-headedness down.

It didn't help his situation that when the Master wormed his way into his mind, Sam would be flown back into a memory, making his heart long for that stolen moment they'd experienced without the weight of the real world. When Sam was in the Ballroom he often glanced at the piano, gathering his courage to sit down again and play something, but his bravery was thrown out the window almost as soon as it appeared.

As time went by, Sam realized that he couldn't do anything about his predicament… yet. So, in turn, he would concentrate on his fellow servants, namely Mark and Alex.

He couldn't help but notice the awkward but cute dancing of the two around each other. For all this while he spent his time with observation, trying to come up with something to help those two finally take that step forward and towards each other. Sam noticed the fleeting glances and eyeing, Alex always blushing like mad and Mark smirking in victory all the while; the almost unnoticeable touches on the arm or the small of the back, followed by embarrassed flushes and avoiding the other for a few minutes…

Sam knew he had to… help his friends, so when he had time – which he had a lot, thanks to the monotony of his work – he spent it with thinking up the best plan to speed the process a bit. As the last week of August rolled in Sam had the beginning of a plan in his head, which he intended to get to fruition as soon as possible. When he returned from doing the laundry, he was ready to take his step.

Unfortunately, Fate had other ideas.

As Sam stepped into the kitchen, he was greeted by a happy, excited cry. When he recovered from his surprise, Sam looked around and found Mark releasing Ramon's neck, who was laughing at the young man's enthusiasm, and barely caught the sour look on Alex's face, before he hid it behind a smile.

"What's going on?" Sam asked confused. The others turned to him with a look that clearly said: 'Oh, right, you don't know.'

"The Master just informed me" Ramon spoke. "We're gonna have a guest for the next week."

"Guest?" Sam swallowed in fear. How would a guest react to his presence? How would he react to theirs? "Who?"

"The Mistress!" Mark cried with joy and turned back to the others, chattering away happily.

Sam froze on his spot as he heard it. The Mistress? Who could she be? Is it a relative of Dean's… or his girlfriend? Maybe even his fiancée… Sam felt his throat constrict painfully from that thought and he felt like the walls had closed in on him. However, he couldn't escape from the room. He didn't want the others to know… and he was too upset to move.

The hazy fantasies broke into pieces in his mind, shattering his heart with the force of it. How could he have been so stupid? How could he think that a superior would be attracted to their servant? How could he hope that maybe… maybe Dean would be the one…? He felt the sobs pushing their way upwards from his lungs, but he swallowed against them, fighting with all of his might.

Then just to torment him, the picture of a sunlit room and a piano slid into his mind. His heart was hurting from the memory of that gentle touch on his cheek and the sight of those piercing jade-green eyes. It was a moment he cherished all this time. It was rekindling the flames of hope every time Sam saw or met his Master. It fooled him into thinking he had a chance, despite the circumstances against him.

But life doesn't work that way, does it? It's never been like in the books or the movies. Real life was cruel and unfair, not sappy and romantic. It never ends with a happy ending. That's an illusion that people want to achieve, making them work harder and harder for it, but they would never be able to reach it. Just like perfection… or true love…

Sam couldn't bear the pain, which has grown in his heart with every line of thought, as they ran through his mind. Tears filled his hazel-green eyes, one rolling down his cheek with a gentle, somewhat soothing caress. Sam quickly turned his head away to hide it and carefully wiped its glittering track away. When he looked back, he noticed Alex watching him worriedly. Sam nodded with a shaky smile, inwardly begging to the young man to leave it, to believe he was fine. He saw the doubt in Alex's azure eyes, but luckily he didn't say a word and turned back to the others, smiling tenderly at Mark's happiness.

Pushing his own pain and hopelessness down, Sam decided to return to his task of getting Alex and Mark together. He already had a plan how to do it and no one, not even the Mistress's – he tried to leave the venom out of his thoughts – unsuccessfully – arrival could stop him. He had time to grieve for himself and his heart later.

The very next day the whole mansion was abuzz – even though only the five of them lived there. Alex was getting the plans of the meals ready for the guest, sitting by the table every time Sam glanced into the kitchen, surrounded by piles of crumpled papers. Mark was bustling about in the garden, trimming the bushes, watering the garden, mowing the lawn and so on. Ramon was doing errands and taking inventory of everything – and that meant everything: food, cleaning products, toiletries, you name it.

Sam just shook his head at their frantic behavior. Although, he had his own fair share of the work, he still made time to think and plan his moves to help Mark and Alex. His first mission was to get to know the two better, looking for a point where Sam could step forward. He was on a look-out for a chance to start it and an opportunity rose on a sunlit afternoon.

Sam was washing the dishes, Alex drying them and putting them away next to him. They were working for quite a while in repetitiveness, when Sam jumped as Alex threw a plate into the cupboard and slammed its door shut irritated.

"You okay?" Sam asked cautiously. Alex harrumphed but didn't answer. After a few moments Sam caught his friend muttering something, understanding only one word of it: 'Mistress' Sam realized he wasn't the only one troubled with the arrival of the guest.

"I thought you were happy about it" Sam remarked quietly.

"Oh, I'm ecstatic" Alex snapped out. "Don't I look like it? I'm just over the bloody moon- Oh, bugger!"

Sam snapped his head towards his friend just as a clatter echoed in the kitchen: a knife slipped out of Alex's hands as he tried to wipe it despite his fury.

"Sodding piece of- Argh!" Alex growled picking the knife up and flinging it into the drawer, banging it closed with such a force, the whole counter shook from it. Alex then chucked the dish-towel he was using onto the countertop then buried his face in his hands, breathing deeply to settle his emotions down. Sam wiped his hands down on his sweatpants, all the while trying to convince himself that what he'd seen was real, it had really happened.

"Hey" he spoke carefully, not very keen on aggravating the young man's mood. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm fine" Alex replied a bit too quickly.

"You expect me to believe that?" Sam asked with a smirk.

"I told you, it's nothing! It's irrational and stupid and so bloody ridiculous like never before…" Alex's rant was cut off by Sam pulling him into a comforting hug. Feeling the slight protectiveness in the gesture, the young man broke down into sobs, going limp in the boy's arms. Sam held his friend up, rocking him slowly, caressing the ebony tresses. He had a suspicion about the other's problem.

"Why aren't you happy?" he asked. "The others can't wait for her arrival, especially Mark…"

"It wasn't me…" Alex choked out, his voice muffled by Sam's shirt.

"What?" Sam frowned confused.

"He wasn't happy about me…" Alex cried, gasping for air. "I just…"

"I know" Sam sighed, tightening his hold on his friend, laying his head on the other's. "You just want to be the center of his attention… I know…" he closed his eyes in pain, thinking about Dean, his heart lurching in his chest from mourning his dashed hope. They stood there for a couple of minutes, comforting each other silently then Alex pulled away, wiping his eyes.

"Th-thanks" he murmured.

"You're welcome" Sam squeezed his friend's shoulder. With that they returned to the dishes.

"Can I ask you something?" Sam spoke after another few minutes.

"Go ahead" Alex was now back to his quiet, peaceful self.

"What do you think" Sam started uncertainly, "about Mark?"

Alex froze for a moment then continued to wipe the spoon in his hand.

"Why do you ask?" came the question but Sam already had an answer for it:

"I don't really know about him, so I thought I'd ask you. You two seemed closer. But I can ask Ramon…"

"No, no" Sam hid a smile at the expected response. "He arrived after me. The Master took him in because he wanted to protect him from crueler owners. You know…" Sam nodded, handing another spoon to Alex. At first he was scared like everyone would be, but after a while it turned out that he's quite nice and funny, he befriends everybody so easily… Sometimes he can be a little immature but, oh, well…" Alex's gaze unfocused as he got lost in his memories of Mark. Sam smiled when the spoon was lowered, forgotten for a while. After a few seconds the young man snapped back to reality and the present and returned to the drying.

"Can I tell you something?" Alex asked a bit fearfully after a silent inner-conflict.

"'Course" Sam replied without hesitation.

"Ever since I found out about being a hermaphrodite" Alex began, "I noticed that I was a bit more… girlish than usual. It could be because I had a sister…"

"What do you mean by girlish?" Sam asked. Alex blushed ten shades of red at that.

"Well, and don't laugh, I often dreamt about my first kiss and even my wedding" Alex paused, probably waiting for the teasing, but Sam just nodded to him to go on, an idea suddenly forming in his head. "And I wasn't afraid of my thoughts and feelings, or upset because of them, but rather proud and happy. I think it would also be wonderful to carry a life inside me, to help create it with someone…"

Sam had a good guess who Alex wanted that someone to be. Now he decided to step further in his plan.

"What were you dreaming about for your first kiss?" he asked casually, but inside he was excited and hopeful. Alex didn't notice anything of it.

"It's a nice place outside" he spoke dreamily. "Maybe in a forest or a park… The weather is warm, but not too hot, probably like it is now… The moon shines down on us… He wraps his arms around my waist then slowly pulls me closer until…" the words were drowned out by a dreamy sigh shoving its way out of Alex.

"He?" Sam asked with a smile.

"At first it was a faceless someone, but now…" Alex blushed harder then shrugged and dropped the subject. Sam knew that events can finally take place according to plan. 'Phase 1' was complete.

Sam was tearing at his hair in frustration. No matter how hard he tried, he never could bring 'Phase 2' into action. As the autumn was slowly taking over the mansion, Mark's work in the garden was growing in amount. He was mostly outside trimming the hedge, raking the dry leaves on the ground, and tending to the garden in the back. And to top it all off, Sam's workload doubled, as well, because of the Mistress's arrival. In the past days he waxed the parquet on both the front and back porch, he washed the windows, all of them, twice, he vacuumed the bedrooms, washed every linen in the mansion, dusted every room, scrubbed every bathroom until they were sparkling, polished the porcelain vases and trinkets, cleaned all the plates, especially the golden-rimmed ones and washed the tiles in the entrance hall four times. He was exhausted.

At last, and Sam blessed every deity that possibly existed for that, on the weekend and a couple days before the arrival of the guest, he got a chance to talk to Mark. Neither the Master, nor Ramon, not even Alex could make something up for him to do, so he escaped into the gardens just before dinner, breathing in the fresh air so deeply that he smelled the lemon-scented window-cleaner he'd used just the day before. As he looked around, he noticed Mark trimming the hedge around the backyard. It seemed he was finishing, because only one or two feet of bush was waiting for its turn. Sam smiled, feeling the conspiratorial excitement bubble in his stomach. He hurried down the stairs before Fate had a chance to interrupt and joined Mark.

"Looking good" he spoke far enough away from the young man not to scare him. Alex had told him that Mark could get stressed easily, thanks to the piled-up work, which wasn't doing much good for his condition. Even from a safe distance, Mark jumped, surprised by Sam's voice, but a second later he smiled widely.

"Thanks" he said, the snaps starting up again. "I'm doing my best."

"Your best is pretty good" Sam noted, sitting onto the ground and folding his legs under him. He watched the young man work for a while then spoke up again:

"So, you're kinda excited about the Mistress."

"Uh-huh" Mark nodded still smiling.

"Why is that?"

"She's very kind to me, even more ever since…" Mark trailed off uncertainly, his voice trembling. "She's not as caring as Alex, though, she never could be…" he fell silent again, now a slight blush gracing his features. Sam just smiled in victory. He didn't forget the fear in the young man's voice, however, only storing it in his mind for later observation. "She helped me so much and treats me like her son… But now that I think about it" Mark tilted his head to the side, the shears lowered as he sank into his thoughts, "she does the same to Alex. And he deserves it, poor guy…"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked confused. Why would Alex behave so hostile, if the Mistress has been good to him so far? Maybe it's just jealousy.

"Alex was in the slavery since he was nineteen years old" Mark explained, snapping at the last branches expertly. "I just don't understand how his family can be so neglectful. I mean" Mark cut the very last branch off with a little more force than necessary then turned to Sam with anger in his eyes. "In the last six years he never even heard a word from them. Of course, I know finding someone amongst these institutions is possibly the hardest job ever, but it's like they never even tried to look for him! Like they disowned him or something! How can a family do this to one of its members?"

Sam lowered his gaze sadly onto his lap. He never could've guessed or imagined what Alex must have gone through during these years. Alex was so peaceful and collected, but he must feel so alone. Even Sam's father promised to look for him, that they will meet again. That promise was the only thing keeping him sane all this time. But to actually leave someone completely alone, desert him? That's a new level of low in his eyes.

Sam was startled out of his thoughts as Mark plopped down next to him, putting the shears onto the grass between them.

"That must be horrible" Sam whispered, his heart going out for his friend.

"You have no idea" Mark answered grimly, his tone giving away the possibility of a similar situation. "How Alex can stay so strong and loving is beyond me."

"Maybe because he has someone else to care for" Sam guessed and looked at the young man, their gazes meeting. Mark seemed to think this through.

They sat there silently for a couple of minutes then Sam gathered his courage to ask:

"What do you think about Alex?"

Mark looked at Sam surprised and a bit confused.

"Why do you ask?"

"Well" Sam started a bit timidly, "I like to think of him as a friend but I barely even know him. So I thought I'd ask you. You two seem to be close."

"Thanks" Mark smiled, the traces of his anger vanishing from his eyes. "Good to know." He paused to gather his thoughts. "He was here before me, so probably Ramon can answer you better, but I'll try… Alex is the kind of person you can always count on. He's caring and gentle, a complete mother hen at times."

"Yeah, I noticed" Sam remarked, chuckling along with Mark.

"But we love him for that" Mark continued with a shrug. "He's just amazing… Can I ask you something, too?" he turned to Sam, who nodded.

"I know" Mark's voice was trembling from embarrassment this time, "you've noticed that Alex is not… indifferent to me." A blush started creeping onto the young man's cheeks as he said that word. "I just wanted to know that, since you're quite good friends with him, maybe… you could… help…?"

"Help?" Sam was taken aback by this turn of events. Could it be that his plan can come to execution more easily than he thought?

"Yeah, you know…" Mark scratched at the back of his neck uncomfortably. "It's just… every time I try to talk to him, I… I get tongue-tied… apart from the usual rubbish I spill out…" Sam pushed at Mark's shoulder playfully with his own.

"It's not rubbish" he said with a smile. "Just childish."

"Shut up" Mark shoved him back, both of them laughing. "So" the young man spoke again after they calmed down, "will you help?"

"Yeah, why not?" Sam replied. He got up onto his knees, bouncing a little from enthusiasm, feeling like he was six years old again. "But first you need to know something."

However, just as Mark leaned closer, a voice called out from the back door of the mansion:

"Sam, could you come inside?"

Sam collapsed onto the ground with a groan, as Alex's voice reached the spot they were sitting. He buried his head under his arms and groaned again for good measure.

"Don't wanna…" he mumbled.

"Look who's childish now" Mark chuckled. Sam slowly staggered up, paying attention to land a whack on Mark's head with a pout. The young man just laughed then picked up his shears and stood up, as well, starting towards the shed in the back corner of the yard. With a sigh Sam made his way to the house.

"I need you to clean the dishes" Alex said, when Sam reached him.

"Again?" Sam whined. "If I clean them some more, they're gonna break. I wouldn't be surprised if the golden streak on them is faded already."

"Not those dishes" Alex smiled with the patience of a mother, as he led the way back to the kitchen. "I meant the ones I'd used for cooking."

"And then?" Sam asked warily, opening the faucet to fill the sink with hot water.

"And then what?" Alex looked at him confused.

"And then what would I have to do?"

"Nothing" Alex shook his head at the suspicious look sent his way. "Promise. We don't have any tasks for you… today" Sam groaned again and banged his head into the counter dejectedly. Alex clapped his shoulder in encouragement and they returned to the dishes, Alex drying them as usual.

As soon as they were done and they ate their food, Sam took a shower and fell into his bed, sinking into sleep the moment his head landed on his pillow. Before he was consumed by the darkness, he was vaguely aware of small hands tucking him in and a kiss landing on the top of his head. His last thought was full of recognition:

'Mother hen'

True to Alex's words, Sam's duties were seemingly endless. He had to vacuum the rooms – again, dust everywhere – again, and wash the windows – again. He didn't have a chance to continue his conversation with Mark, but now the weight of his own thoughts reappeared, resuming their torture on him. The Mistress is going to arrive the next day. The one person that stood in the way of his hopes and dreams was coming… He did everything to dismiss his bad thoughts, trying to distract himself with his tasks, but the more hours passed, the closer he got to the unwelcome event the more it hurt, the more it tore at his broken heart.

Finally the night before the Mistress's arrival, he couldn't ignore his pain anymore.

The silvery light of the moon had fallen into the bedroom through the open window, bringing the cool breeze of autumn with itself through the summer heat. Sam was staring out into the yard, watching the leaves of trees rustling in the wind.

Tomorrow… Tomorrow is the day… The day when his hopes will be destroyed… The day when his dreams will be shattered into dust… The day when the Mistress arrives… Sam fisted the cover of his pillow, so tightly that he wouldn't have been surprised if blood oozed down the white material. He hiccupped a few times as he swallowed and breathed against the sobs trying to break out, sniffing softly to calm himself down. He shut his eyes tightly to chase the tormenting pictures away, forced his mind to empty itself from the tormenting thoughts, to get himself to the blissful darkness of sleep.

Suddenly the mattress dipped at his side. When he looked up, letting a couple of tears loose, he found Alex sitting next to him on the edge of the bed, gazing at him with the same worry as on that morning a week ago. Sam buried his face into his pillow to hide the signs of his misery. He hadn't even heard the rustle of sheets, when the young man had stood up. A hand lay on his shoulder comfortingly, but Sam knew it was no use. He hiccupped again, but shut his mouth tightly, his body jerking from the suppressed sobs.

"Would you like to talk about it?" came the hushed voice of Alex.

"N-no… 'M fi-ine…" Sam shook his head. He shut his eyes even tighter, trying to calm himself down and desperately wishing to fall asleep.

He was startled by the unexpected pull on his arm. When he glanced up again, he met with Alex's fingers wrapped around his wrist and pulling him forwards and towards the young man. However, he felt boneless and too tired to fight. The next moment his head was pillowed by Alex's thigh, an arm wrapped around his shoulders, while the other hand began petting his hair, the touch tender and caring.

"It's going to be alright" Alex whispered almost inaudibly. "Everything will be fine, you'll see…"

Every emotion in Sam's heart just exploded from the comforting tone that floated into his ears, like a mother's lullaby, the words running into one another through the fog of despair, hurt and unrequited love. Feeling overflowed by the flood inside him, he broke down into harsh sobs. He curled up against his friend, burying his face into Alex's thigh and stomach and fisting the soft material of the young man's sweatpants. He felt the embrace on his shoulders tighten drastically and the fingers combed through his hair so gently as if they were petting a newborn kitten. He didn't hear anything else, only his despair and Alex's soft crooning that did everything to calm and comfort him.

However, despite all the effort, one thought wedged itself into Sam's mind, digging its claws deeper and deeper until it was finally, although quite reluctantly, accepted:

'Tomorrow is the day when you will lose Dean… forever…'

Sam woke up, his eyelids heavy and his head pounding slightly. He was covered with the blanket, a semi-wet towel on his temple. He tried to open his eyes and was surprised by the effort it took to do it. His eyes were bleary and stinging, so he scrubbed at them with his knuckles. As he sat up carefully, the towel slipped down his face and landed in his lap, but he ignored it.

He remembered everything from the night before: crying, feeling so heartbroken, a voice comforting him, telling him it would be alright… He remembered receiving the same treatment that he gave to Alex a few days ago. As he looked around he saw the others sleeping like nothing happened during the night. But as he looked closer, he noticed that Alex was nowhere to be found. Where could he have gone? Especially this early in the morning? The sun hadn't even risen yet.

As the time sunk in, Sam's head began thrumming even more painfully, protesting against the lack of sleep. Sam rubbed at his forehead and temples trying to ease the pressure in his brain, but he was interrupted by the opening of the door. Alex stepped in sitting onto Sam's bed. The young man's face was pale, the cheeks flushed, the azure eyes slightly reddened. Could it be that… Alex couldn't sleep either? Maybe that he was even… crying?

"How do you feel?" Alex whispered, stroking Sam's arm.

"Like crap" Sam croaked out. Alex gave him a glass of water.

"Get yourself under a little control, wash your face then meet me in the kitchen" Alex ordered as he stood up then walked out of the room.

Sam sipped at the cool liquid, washing his parched throat down. If Alex looked like this after a night watch over him, then Sam must be a horrible sight. His eyes were still stinging and they were most likely puffy and red. He sipped at the water again and made an attempt to empty his mind – fruitlessly. All that was going through his head was of the Mistress's arrival, his heart filling with both nervousness and hatred towards the destroyer of his dreams.

With a sigh he got up and walked out of the room, the sun rising at last to bring the new day. He made a detour to wash his face as Alex instructed, glancing momentarily at his worn features. He was right: his eyes were reddened and puffy, but the cold water helped with the swelling. Wiping his face he went into the kitchen where Alex was waiting for him at the table.

"Sit down" the young man spoke in a hushed voice, motioning towards a chair. Sam did as he was told and Alex picked up the box that was lying on the table beside him. The box revealed a tube of some kind of cream. "Turn this way" Alex said and Sam turned the chair towards him. "Look at me and don't close your eyes" Sam was confused now. What did Alex want to do to him now? And what was that cream that Alex just squirted into his palm?

The young man put the tube down and dipped his index finger into the white cream. As Alex reached out towards Sam, the boy tried to move away instinctively.

"Don't move" Alex said, now smiling. "I won't hurt you." Sam stayed where he was and Alex carefully smeared the cream just under his eyes. Sam realized that he was rubbing it on the puffy skin.

"Marigold" Alex spoke, working efficiently. "It works wonders on inflamed and swollen skin. I usually use it after…" the young man trailed off uncomfortably and Sam didn't push the subject. After a couple of silent minutes Alex wiped the rest of the salve on his finger into his sweatpants.

"Thanks" Sam whispered, massaging the salve into his skin some more. He noticed Alex using up the rest of the cream in his hand for his own eyes.

Just as they finished, a phone rang in the mansion. Sam looked up towards the ceiling because it seemed to come from the Master's bedroom. When the ringing died down, Ramon stepped into the kitchen, dressed and ready for his duties.

"Sam" he said. "Could you come up with me to the Master?"

Sam sighed dejectedly. He was hoping to avoid his Master for today, especially after the guest gets here. Without a word though, he stood up and followed Ramon upstairs and into the bedroom, where Dean was just wrapping up the phone call. While the others were distracted, Sam massaged the cream some more into his skin, not wanting them to notice it or the signs of his crying.

"Alright" Dean spoke into the phone. "See you soon. Bye." He put the receiver down then stepped to the servants. "Ramon. Glad you came up." Dean smiled at the man. When his gaze landed on Sam, a frown appeared on his brow. Sam just barely caught it before lowering his head hastily. "The Mistress will arrive soon. We're going to bring her here."

"Yes, sir."

"Meanwhile" Dean stepped to Sam, who shrunk away a little at the sudden attention. When Dean continued, his voice was a touch gentler. "I want you to prepare the bedroom in the right wing, Sam."

"Yes, sir" Sam answered timidly.

"That means airing, dusting and bed-making, alright?"

"Yes, sir" Sam nodded. "Of course, sir."

Silence followed his reply. Sam felt like he was under a dozen spotlights, the gaze shining down on him almost burning his skin. He knew it was the Master.

"Ramon, drive the car to the entrance, please!" Dean ordered, the weight of his gaze not relenting, and Ramon hurried away with a 'yes, sir'. When the door closed after the man, Dean stepped closer to the remaining servant. Sam must have looked ready to bolt, because the Master grabbed his wrist gently. "Is everything okay?" he asked, barely beyond a whisper.

"Yes, sir" Sam replied, trying to lower his head even further. He was so close… he would see the irritated skin… the glitter of gathering tears … the misery of dashed hopes in his eyes… And then Dean grasped Sam's chin and lifted his head up. Sam shut his eyes tightly against the tears that doubled.

"Are you sure?" Dean asked, worry so clear in his voice like a fresh spring water in the mountains. It ran over Sam's body in waves, biting into his flushed skin soothingly. But Sam couldn't pay attention to it. There was that touch again, just like on that afternoon… by the piano… just before that perfect moment that kept his hopes up… His hopes that were destroyed…

By the Mistress…

Sam wrenched his head and wrist out of De- the Master's hold and stumbled back.

"I need to prepare the room for the Mistress, sir" he rushed out and made his hasty escape to the back hallway, ignoring the call behind him. He needed to get over it. There was no chance for his dreams to come true! 'Get yourself together, you moron!' he screamed inwardly, as he made his way through the kitchen, swallowing his sobs down. Only when he arrived at the proper door did he notice that he had the feather duster in his hand. He didn't even remember getting it out of the closet. With another sigh, he stepped into the room to do his job.

When he opened the window, the room was filled with the purr of the Master's car as he and Ramon drove away to welcome the Mistress. Sam watched the black beauty glide through the gates, leaving two tendrils of dust behind. He sighed, as the day of his auction came back to him. The Master's voice had been hiding some worry, when he'd asked about Sam sleeping in the backseat. Sam remembered that, even though he'd been terrified from the outcome of his new 'home', the rumble of the engine had quickly soothed him into sleep.

Sam turned away from the window and began dusting the furniture in the bedroom, not letting his traitorous thoughts invade his mind again. Although he didn't have too much work to do, he was exhausted by the time he finished. His legs felt like lead as he dragged himself back to the servants' quarter.

Not a moment later that he collapsed into a chair, Alex's voice drifted towards him through the fog of tiredness:

"Why don't you take a nap, until they come back?"

Sam nodded and retreated to his bed, landing on it with a soft 'oof'. Soon he was carried away by the flowing river of darkness and sleep.

It felt like minutes later, when he was awoken by Ramon shaking his shoulders. Sam groaned but pushed himself up, scrubbing at his eyes sleepily.

"Whazzit?" he mumbled, pouting at the chuckle Ramon gave as a reaction.

"The Master wants to see you" he replied. "He wants to introduce you to the Mistress."

Sam's heart deflated at that. Why should he meet that damned woman? Why should he face the cause of his misery?

"Why?" he asked only, keeping his turmoil to himself. The answer came with another amused chuckle:

"Well, she has to meet the new servant, if she's going to visit here in the future, doesn't she?"

Sam realized that he can't get out of this without exposing his secret, so he reluctantly got up and followed Ramon towards the… Great Ballroom? Before he could ask though, he was ushered inside. What welcomed him made him freeze and momentarily lose the ability to breath.

Inside on the couch sat a middle-aged woman. She had beautiful golden-blonde hair framing her heart-shaped face, the color similar to the Master's. She was petite but strong, although his features were gentle. As she looked up, she smiled brightly, too familiar jade-green orbs shining down on him like rays of sunlight.

"Sam!" At his Master's cheerful voice Sam jerked back to life and immediately lowered his head. The Master appeared at Sam's side and led him inside the Ballroom and closer to the woman, who stood up. "I'd like you to introduce you to Sam, our new servant" Dean spoke to the Mistress. "He does the cleaning everywhere in the mansion."

"That's quite the job for a young man like you" the Mistress had a calming, kind voice. Sam was confused. This was the Mistress? Dean's… fiancée…? She was so much older…

"And Sam" Dean's voice cut through Sam's musings. "I want you to meet Mary Winchester nee Campbell… my Mother."

And even though no one was aware of his misery from the past week, Sam felt extremely ashamed and foolish for his thoughts that had been plaguing his mind.

TBC

So, how was it? Not that bad, right? Edible?

So, don't get worried if I'm quite late with the next chapter! I'm not gonna leave this story behind, okay?

See you at the next chapter!