Technically, this is the end of this hilarious, wild whirlwind of a story! But I'm seeing stirrings in the RP that suggest this is an ongoing plot, so I added a bit about Adam at the end and we'll see what happens. As it is, the story could end here. But its future is in limbo!

To everyone who's reading it-you guys know who you are-you're all amazing!

They sat on the couch, facing each other; Maggie leaning back against the pillows and Sam sitting forward, plucking at a loose thread on the cushion. This was the same couch he'd slept on when Dean had brought him over from the hospital after the vampire attack; same couch where he'd crashed the first time they'd met.

He'd never looked less happy to be there.

"What's going on, Sam?" Maggie asked.

"Can you just," Sam hesitated. "Just let me get this all out at once. Okay?"

Something told Maggie she didn't want to hear this. That she'd be better off going after Dean, stealing a bite of his pudding, trying to cover up the travesty of the day.

But instead she found herself saying, "Sure."

Sam took a deep breath. "Look. What happened today…I mean, Dean and I were just stopping by for a few hours before a hunt, right? And look what happened. Ghouls, the…Father of All?" He met her gaze. Unflinching. "They hurt you, Mags. And all those Hellhounds, who knows what coulda happened if Adam hadn't called them off. I watched those things rip Dean apart. What if that'd happened to you?"

"Sam, that's not—"

"I don't like this, Mags. I don't like how much danger you're in every time we're around." He broke off for a few seconds, looking out the window into the black-as-tar night. "Dean's gotta make his own choice on this. But I'm thinking…I dunno. Might be a good idea for me to drop off the map for a while. Steer clear of you, of…everyone." He kept fiddling with the thread, spinning it apart. "If Dean can't handle that, we can always split up for a while, take on different hunts. Dean's strong, he's…the best there is. Better than Dad, better than anyone. He could handle it." He finally looked up, eyes glassy with exhaustion. "I dunno. I'm still working it out."

And Maggie's heart started fissuring. "You might be strong enough to stay away from me. Dean might be strong enough to do it too, but what about me? I'm not strong enough, Sam." She leaned toward him, fierce, gripping the back of the couch with one hand. "And don't you think running away is just an easy way out?"

He stared at her. Stricken. She'd hit him below the belt and she knew it. But he was talking from a sense of guilt he hadn't had a chance to sleep on, or really think over. And that was always a bad thing. He needed to wake up.

"I don't know," Maggie persisted. "If Adam changes his mind and goes after me again, and you won't be anywhere near to save me…you know what happens then. You'll lose me forever." She paused. "I may be your weakness, but I'm safer with you around."

Sam carded a hand through his hair. "Son of a bitch, Mags, I just don't know. Every single person we've ever let in, every time they get close, somebody gets hurt. Lisa and Ben. Jessica. And if you've got Cas, Gabriel, hell, even Crowley on your side, maybe you don't need the Winchesters. Y'know, we're just human, it's not like we have the kinda…cosmic powers it takes to keep somebody safe all the time." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "Dean's gonna kill me just for thinking about this."

Maggie chewed the inside of her cheek. It sounded like Sam had done a lot of thinking on that walk. And something Dean had told her, something she'd learned for herself, over and over again, was that Sam making up his mind was like Sam shoving his feet into wet cement. He'd never budge. Not ever.

And pushing against him would only fracture their friendship. Would only make him less her brother.

"I'm not gonna stop you, Sam. I love you too much." His head snapped up, and Maggie pressed her lips together, turned them down at the corners, and shrugged. "I love Dean too much. But if you leave…do you promise to visit me every now and then in the mental hospital? Because I'm gonna go crazy soon after you leave."

Unbelievably, Sam smiled. "Mags, you're not gonna go crazy. You're a lot stronger than you think. But look, we gotta talk to Dean, all right? See what he thinks. He's as much as part of this as you and me."

He sounded so final. Like he'd already made up his mind.

Maggie's throat constricted, pulling tight against her eyes. "I can't believe you want to give me up like that, Sam…"

"I don't! You think this is easy?" Sam's face flushed with anger. "This is the same thing Dean and I were trying to talk our mom into. Leaving dad would've been hell for her. But it could've saved a lot of lives, Mags! And I'm just trying to save yours." He cupped his face in his hands, then looked at her again. "I promised Dean, first time he told me you two were together: I'd never let him lose you like I lost Jessica. So if Dean stays with you, then I go. I draw them off. This crap always kind of floats around me, anyway. You, Dean…you'd be safer if you didn't have Lucifer or Adam or God knows what else on your asses. Because of me." He spread his arms wide in a shrug. "But if Dean's got a solution, I'd love to hear it. I really would. 'Cause this? This is killing me."

"You sound pretty sure, all things considered." Maggie said.

Rather than sparking Sam's anger, the words seemed to soften it. "You think I want to lose the only family I've got? You and Dean and Bobby and Cas, that's it. That's it for me. And I don't want to lose any of you. I'm just—I'm sick of seeing people get hurt because this job follows us home."

"It's never been your fault, Sam. Never. And it never will be!" Maggie insisted when he turned his face away. "Monsters are everywhere, they're not only around you! Everyone knows how dangerous the job of a hunter is. You knew what you're going into, but you also know you're good at it." She reached over, grabbed his face in her hands, forced him to look at her. "I will never be safer without you around, Sam. And Dean…I'm not you, I'm not his little brother he loves so much, Sam. I'm not enough to make him happy. If you leave, we'll never be happy. Ever. Not without you."

Sam grabbed her wrist, pushed her hands away, and sat back, leaning his palm against his forehead. Maggie stared at the door; embarrassed that the tears she'd been fighting all day were finally leaking out. Now. After everything. "Now this is killing me. I knew the day would come. But not after what we've been through today…"

"Maggie." Dean's voice, from the kitchen, captured both of their gazes. He was leaning against the doorway, arms crossed, chin down. Quiet. Maggie wondered how long he'd been standing there. "Sam is right. You're always gonna be in danger when we're around."

Maggie glared at him even though her eyes were stinging. Whose side are you on, buddy?

Dean didn't flinch away from her thunderous expression "But I can't leave you just like that. I can't go on a hunt without going insane knowing you're away. I can't leave knowing I'm not gonna see you for months. I can't stand days, and we're talking months, here."

Well, that was pretty much the most honesty she'd ever gotten out of him. Maggie just stared at him. Wondering if her mouth was hanging open.

Dean scooted his way onto the couch, draping an arm around her shoulders. "I'm trouble, girl, I warned you the day I met you and you still wanted to talk to me. That's why I love you. You are stronger than you think, just like Sammy said."

Maggie glanced at Sam, and he smiled, a wet, puppy smile.

"But Sam." Dean added, catching his brother's eyes. "I can't leave her here. I can't. I can't let you go either. We're gonna have to be careful. More careful than we were today. We're hunters, Sammy. We love what we do, we can protect her. Cas'll help us. We'll do our jobs just like we've done so far. We stay with Maggie."

"The family that slays together, stays together, huh?" Sam said, and for some reason that cracked Dean up. It had to be a Winchester thing. "All right, Dean. You call the shots. But you both gotta promise me something."

Maggie turned, huddled against Dean's side, to look at him. "What's that, Sam?"

His mouth opened. He stared at them.

And snapped it shut. "Nevermind." He shucked off his jacket. "Look, I'm pretty wiped out. Think you could let me have the couch?"

His dismissal hurt worse than the rest of it. But Maggie didn't fight it when Dean tugged her to her feet. "Yeah, get some sleep, bro. You need a shower, too, you smell like blood and piss."

"Thanks." Sam sat down, hanging his wrists on his knees.

Maggie leaned down and kissed his hair. "Goodnight, Sammy."

"'Night." He said, softly.

Maggie was at the base of the stairs when she looked back, saw Dean scruffle up Sam's hair, and then he followed her upstairs. Sam laid down, arm curled under his head.

Maggie felt the worry for him eating her from the inside out.

They ended up in Maggie's bed, staining the clean white sheets with flecks of blood from their clothes. Maggie stared out the window, heard neighborhood dogs barking and felt her head spinning. With everything that had happened. With the prospect of losing Sam.

"Hey. C'mere." Dean grabbed her waist and hauled her toward him, her back to his chest. Maggie closed her eyes.

"Do you really think he'll do it? Leave us?"

"Who, Sam?" Dean sounded nonchalant…like he wasn't thinking the same thing. "Nah. He talks a big talk, but he knows where his heart's at. After everything that happened, he's not goin' anywhere."

"And if he did?" Maggie craned her head back to meet his gaze. "Would you go with him?"

"Is this that, 'make your choice, me or him' speech that all the girls do?"

"No," Maggie shook her head. "Just wondering if I'd have to kick you out or if you'd follow him on your own."

Dean hesitated. "Yeah. I'd go with him. And I'd find a way to work things out with you."

The silence was breathable, and welcome.

"Can I ask you something, Dean?"

"Just did, sweetcheeks."

She rolled her eyes. "When we met in that diner. During that hunt. What made you notice me? I was just another girl."

"I got a thing for redheads."

"Dean, I'm serious."

There was another pause. "Truth is, you reading that stupid book on ghosts, I dunno…I just wanted to talk to somebody who'd get it. Didn't figure you'd get it this much. Or that you'd met friggin' Gabriel as a kid. Small world, huh?"

"I guess I owe him for that."

"Cas says he's back."

"Yes. He is."

"Figured. He was too annoying to die."

Maggie laughed, snuggling back against his chest. "For the record? I'm glad you and Sam didn't die today."

"You and me both." Dean nuzzled her hair. "Still gotta work things out with Crowley. And I don't trust that Adam guy."

"Me, either. At least, not totally. Things still don't make sense." Maggie admitted. "But if it'll buy us some time? I'll believe anything, at this point."

"'Kay. So, you believe that I love you?"

"Hmm." Maggie turned toward him, propped up on her elbow. "With the way you're always leaving, Winchester? That, I might need some convincing on."

Dean smirked. "Hey, I keep coming back, don't I?"

He kissed her; and rolled over, pulling her with him, so she was laying with her head on his chest. She could hear his heartbeat.

"By the way." She said after a minute. "My hair. It's orangeish-red."

Dean laughed. "My mistake. It's still sexy as hell." He stroked that orangeish-red mop out of her eyes.

And Maggie missed whatever he said after that, because she was already asleep.

Up and awake a little after sunrise, Maggie went down the list of chores: make coffee. Make breakfast. Clean blood off the floor. Study for her final exam.

She was just finishing up cleaning the kitchen when she heard Dean moving around; going in and out, throwing the duffle and weapons into the trunk. It squeezed at her heart, knowing they'd be gone for a few weeks this time. Tennessee was a long ways away, a lot farther than she liked, and they wouldn't be able to stay in touch, either.

Dean came into the kitchen, first; coffee, pie, cereal, more pie for the road. Maggie sat and flipped through a book with her foot on Dean's knee, and tried not to worry about the fact that Sam never came in. Not once.

Finally, Dean polished off the pie, leaned over and kissed her.

"Guess I'll see you in a few weeks." He scissored her bangs off her forehead and met her eyes. "You take care of yourself, Maggie. You need anything, call Cas. All right? He can probably get a message to us."

"I'm sure he can." Maggie rested her forehead against his. "You boys…be careful. Please. Those werewolves are bad news."

"Ha! Buncha wolves is a piece'a cake for us." Dean shoved his chair back and got up. "Guess Sam's waiting out in the car."

Battling off her disappointment, Maggie nodded. "Love you."

Dean tossed a grin over his shoulder. "Yup."

And he was gone.

Maggie flopped back in the chair with a sigh.

A hand gripped the back of her neck, making her jump. "Maggie? What happened yesterday? Are you all right, kitten?"

Just the demon she wanted to strangle.

Maggie twisted around in the chair, glaring pure venom at Crowley. "Yeah, I'm fine. No thanks to you." Crowley looked taken aback and Maggie lurched to her feet, jabbing him in the chest. "That was Adam, father of all, who was after us. But I'm sure you know the guy. He says that you told him Dean had killed Eve in cold blood, but you forgot to mention he saved her from what you were about to do."

Crowley backed up against the fridge and Maggie was right in his face, almost yelling but not quite:

"Crowley, I could have died in here yesterday. I had hellhounds chasing me.

And worst of all, I'm about to lose Sam because he's convinced it's all his fault. So thank you, king, yesterday was full of adventures!" She spat the last three words and slapped him.

Crowley grabbed his stinging cheek. And for once, appeared at a loss for words.

Then the anger surged back in. "Why are all of you so convinced that it was my fault? I had nothing to do with any of this, in fact, the reason I disappeared was because I was being attacked. One second I was with you and the other I was tied up in an abandoned shack surrounded by ghouls, so don't point fingers at me, Kitten. You know good and well that I would have died to keep you safe. If Sammy thinks that him leaving you will make you safe then he's even stupider then I thought."

Maggie stared at him; and felt the edge sloughing off her anger. "Adam told me that he had talked to you. And that you had told him to attack me, because I'm Dean's weakness. I don't know who to trust, I'm so confused…"

"I never even met with the bastard!" Crowley snarled. "Magdalena, when are you going to understand...apparently you're a weakness of mine too, kitten. I spent all night tied up and tortured. When you got the ghouls off your back they just disappeared and left me in that fucking shack! Meg of all people was the one who helped break me out! I promise you darling, if there's one person you can trust, it's me."

Maggie went back to her chair, sank into it, pillowed her face in her hands. "I don't know, man…you've got to understand me, there's too many people around claiming they care about me. There's someone who really doesn't and I need to find out who that is

"I can understand that, Kitten." Crowley rolled his eyes. "I just wish you would trust me."

"That might take some time. Last night was hell." She glanced up at Crowley. "Since Meg saved you, are you gonna stop going after her and let her go?"

"Well, until you sort that out." Crowley said blandly. "As for Meg. Yes, I suppose I'll have to grant her clemency, for now, but if she pisses me off she won't get a second chance."

"Well then, at least now she's forced to be nice to me." Maggie grinned. "And the Winchesters."

Crowley lifted an eyebrow. "Wouldn't be too sure of that."

Maggie blinked. "Wait. What do you—?"

"Tah."

Crowley vanished.

"Still a demon!" Maggie snapped at thin air. "Stupid, freaking…"

"Dicks?"

"Holy—!" Maggie almost knocked her chair over, glancing at the doorway. "What is this, 'Drop In and Give Maggie A Heart Attack Day'?"

Gabriel grinned. "Sorry sweet thing, as soon as I exposed myself I got a call from Heaven. I never thought they were gonna let me out of there." He shrugged off the doorpost and fell into the chair in front of her. "I was just waiting for those two to leave. Then Crowley showed up. Sticky, messy stuff." He kicked his feet up on the table. "I hope Dean-o is alright. Couldn't let anything happen to him, his moose brother might go crazy. Although, I'm sure he's not the only one who would go flying off the deep end."

He gave her a significant look.

Maggie told him the condensed version, from Adam to Winchester. Gabriel listened intently, and then nodded.

"Well, that just figures." He grabbed a piece of pie out of the box and started munching, pointing it toward her. "You got wrapped up in a whole world of trouble, sunshine. And I bet it's not half over."

"Comforting, Gabe. Really."

"Hey, I'm the one who pulled you into this world in the first place. I gotta be straight with ya, here." He stood up, dusting the crumbs off his pants. "Anyway! Cas has got me runnin' around like a chicken with its head cut off. So I don't really have time to talk. Just wanted to check in."

"Wait!" Maggie said as the angel strode for the door. He stopped, looking back. "Can I trust Crowley? Or Adam? Can I trust any of them?"

For once, Gabriel's face was serious. Dead serious. "Trust the humans, Maggie."

With a fluster of invisible wings, he was gone.

The only thing that Maggie figured would hold her attention was studying. She flipped her book open on the table and tried to dig her mind into it.

Fifteen minutes later, she was interrupted by a knock on the doorpost.

"Go. Away." She said.

"Well, I…kinda forgot to say goodbye."

Maggie looked up, fast, angling around in her seat.

Sam leaned into the room, an impish smile on his face.

"You came back!" Maggie exclaimed.

"Dean sorta made me." Sam admitted, walking in, pulling out a chair and sitting next to her. "So, I guess we probably need to talk, huh? Now that the dust's settled, I mean. I know you're trying to study, I just—feel like crap about the way I handled things yesterday." He shrugged one shoulder. "Mags, I'm sorry. Forgive me?"

She had to grin. Had to. "Sam, I couldn't stay mad with you for two days, of course I forgive you." She pushed her book away and propped her elbow on the table. "So you're not leaving me and Dean, are you?" Before he could answer, she added, "Please, stay with us, we're all gonna be safer together. I don't wanna lose you, nor does Dean want to let you go away. Just…just stay, Sammy."

Sam nodded and pulled a smile that wasn't exactly a real smile. But it was close. "Yeah, Mags. I'm staying. I know it's dangerous, and...I know it's probably not gonna get easier, no matter how long we do this. But the fact is, y'know, we've lost just about everything. Walking away from family, that's not how dad taught us to do things. Not the way Dean taught me, either." He shrugged. "More than that, I guess I'm just not that kinda guy." He glanced out the window, the same window where Maggie had seen the hellhounds the night before. "Sometimes, I'd like to be. I think it'd be easier. But then I look at the way I see Dean with you…the way was sitting with you in his arms on that couch…and that's happiness. It's not," Another shrug. "It's not perfect. It's not Stanford, it's not what I thought happiness was when I was a kid. But you, and Dean, and Cas and Bobby—being with you guys. I dunno. It's the only happy thing I've got left." He met her eyes, forehead crinkling with sincerity. "So I'm staying. You can count on it."

Maggie smiled, softly. "I knew you'd stay, Sam. I just knew it. I couldn't stand the thought of you being away…without Dean. Without me. I'm so happy you're staying. And remember my promise? Just come back from the hunt and I'll make that week off the best week in your entire life, Sammy."

That got a genuine grin out of Sam. Castles. She knew he couldn't wait. "God, y'know, after yesterday? Think we've definitely earned that week off. Just, no bringing Crowley in, all right? Not this time."

Maggie nodded. "No Crowley. Promise."

There was a comfortable silence while Maggie wondered if Dean was waiting in the car, Aerosmith cranked up loud, waiting on his brother.

Sam seemed to be thinking the same thing. "Well I should go. We're just about to take off for that case, meet up with Bobby, I just—didn't want to leave things the way they were. Since we're not gonna see you for a few weeks." He stood up and curled a gentle hand around her arm. "'Bye, Mags. You take care of yourself. And we'll text you whenever we can." He smiled. "Dean's gonna be hell to live with, that's for sure." He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Love you, little sister."

Maggie pulled away just enough to look up at him. "Sam? Just be careful, be very careful with those beasts."

"You got it." He smiled, and let himself out.

So Maggie said the rest of it to the silence her boys left behind. "I'm gonna miss you, big brother. I'm gonna miss my Dean." She closed her eyes. "Take care, Sam. And I'll see you soon. I love you."

And left one thing unspoken, hanging in the air as the Impala gunned away down the street.

Why had Adam lied to her?

Maggie shook her head.

Shook her head against a creeping coldness inside her mind.

Adam paced the warehouse; haggard, tired, skin ashen and eyes drawn with sleeplessness. The bawling from the cradle hadn't stopped in the last two hours. He had tried everything; singing songs in every dialect he knew. Drinks, both human and monster-brewed, poured down a little throat raw with screaming. Giving the child his own blood. Holding it, setting it down, swaddling and unwrapping it, changing its underclothes. Nothing soothed it. Nothing helped it to sleep. It seemed lost, adrift in a void and crying out constantly. As though it hadn't grasped the fact that he was there.

He strode toward it again, frustrated, and knelt to splay his fingers on the tiny, heaving chest of the restless infant Shapeshifter.

"Speak to me!" Adam implored it. "Tell me what you need!"

The child—human, by all estimation, except that he knew by bloodline that it was his—mewled pitifully and bucked away from his hand. Adam's throat seemed to swell, his mind reaching for that of the infant, the way Eve had taught him, in order to soothe it.

But he encountered a solid mass, a hot, feverish force inside the child's mind. Something that prevented him from communicating with it. From comforting it.

The same grip of pulsing raw quiet that he had found in the minds of a dozen other children today.

Whatever had been stalking Maggie…

It had touched them all.

Fin...?