I'M BACK! Woo-hoo! Hi guys! I missed you! Did you miss me? Thank you all for the love and support, it really means the freaking world to me. I'm so sorry this took even longer than I expected but you know the old saying "when it rains, it pours" these past few months my life has pretty much gone to complete shit, and even after I felt better physically, mentally I haven't been doing too good and it's really killed my motivation to even try writing anything of the quality I believe you guys deserve, so I really appreciate the kind words and those of you who are sticking around. I really, really, really can't express how sorry I am that this took so long. Anyways… Here we go! As always tell me what you think and stay awesome!

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Chapter 8: Dream A Little Dream of Me

It had been a few weeks since I'd last seen the Winchesters. I got random phone calls from them here and there to "check in", help with researching something, or to pose as someone to help out in a hunt they were on. Really it was just short phone calls and idle chitchat; I thought I might have missed them more but honestly, life had been so crazy I didn't have time to miss them. Bobby has been keeping me pretty damn busy. We drove back to Ohio so I could tie up my loose ends and I moved into one of Bobby's extra rooms. Although neither of us would never admit it out loud, we liked having each other around and being so close. It felt like we were making up for lost time and for the first time in a long time I felt like I was really part of a family. I took care of him and the house and although he constantly complained about me moving his shit around and getting him fatter than he already was, I know he secretly liked having someone take care of him for a change. While I wasn't cooking and cleaning I was studying. I made it my mission to research from every book I could get my hands on in Bobby's very extensive collection. I was also learning to become a better fighter too and, in my opinion the most important thing, how to kill the things that go bump in the night. Particularly, demons.

It had been a few days since Bobby left to go on a hunt in Pennsylvania, at this point I was used to being left behind to man the phones and I quote "study enough to make myself useful".

I heard one of my new cell phones start to vibrate from somewhere underneath all the papers and books I was currently looking through. Last I talked to Bobby he had me looking up everything I could find on something called "African Dream Root" and so far, it didn't look like anything I would ever want to mess with. Part of me (like 95%) suspected he was having me research everything simply for practice because it really didn't seem like I was telling him anything he didn't already know but I can't complain too much I was the one always complaining about him not letting me help.

"God damnit, hold on. I'm coming, I'm coming, I just have to find you first." I mumbled to myself trying to find this stupid phone hidden amongst the mess. "A-ah! Hello Mr. Winchester, what services may I provide you today?" I purred with a smile large enough I was glad he couldn't see through the phone.

"Hey, Princess any other day I'd have a list a mile long for you but this is serious." Dean's voice came through the receiver.

My heart skipped a beat, Dean never missed a chance to flirt with me over the phone and his voice was off "Oh, god! Are you okay? Is Sam okay?" I began to panic. Where they hurt, arrested, had something happened?! My mind was going a million miles a minute.

"It's Bobby." His words made my blood go ice cold "He's in the hospital, coma, they think. You should get here; we could use your help." Dean said.

"Yeah, I'll be on the next flight." I said quickly.

"No, Liv! You're keeping a low profile remember? Unless Bobby has had a chance to make you some really convincing fake ID's we can't risk it. Drive here use some of the cards I gave you or cash that's it, no paper trail." Dean's voice was firm and I knew he was right I just didn't want to waste any time. This is Bobby we're talking about!

"Yeah, yeah, okay." I said begrudgingly.

"See you soon Sweetheart." The phone clicked and the conversation was over.

"FUCK!" I yelled to no one in particular.

What the hell was I supposed to do now? I had no real way to get there, Bobby junked my car in an effort to 'help' *cough* force *cough* me to keep a low profile and so I couldn't go off hunting on my own. I had pretty much been on an unofficial lock down since the demon that possessed my dad confirmed what Ruby had said about me having a huge bounty on my head, and to bring me in alive. We didn't know why and I know it really bothered the three men in my life that I was at risk for reasons no one understood. Honestly, I think it's all bullshit just something else to try and distract the boys from doing what they're doing but no one listens to me. Guess it's time to test out one of the last lessons the boys taught me before they left… how to hot-wire a car. Pittsburgh, PA here I come!

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It was a long miserable drive full of anxiety and a few fits of hyperventilating; don't judge me, I got pulled over. How I got out of the ticket I'll never know and I guess I owe a nod to man upstairs that the car I stole hadn't been reported yet. In any case I was fully on edge, it was like 2am, and I almost missed the exit for the hotel Sam told me to meet them at for the second time. Needless to say, my day was not going very well.

Over the course of the drive I spoke to Sam a few times he filled me in on what they were finding. Turns out Bobby was there investigating the death of a professor who was doing secret studies on the dream root. At this point they figure the professor pissed someone off and the killer used the dream root to take him out in his sleep and then went after Bobby when he was getting too close. Unfortunately, they had no idea who wanted the professor dead or even why. So now we had Bobby in a coma, most likely fighting for his life and we had no idea who we were going after. So things were going well. The only bright side? Sam mentioned they may reach out to a contact that might be able to get them some dream root but he didn't seem too hopeful.

"Hey Dean. I'm sorry, I know it's late. My brain is a total mess, I missed the exit but I'm here now. Should I come on in or should I get a room? I don't want to keep you guys up if your sleeping."

"Nah, Sam's out but I'm up looking over the doctor's notes. You come on in, keep me company; if you know what I mean." I could practically hear Dean's smirk through the phone.

"With a line like that? How could a girl refuse?" I quipped back.

"Sammy tell you the room number?" Dean asked? They were staying in the same room Bobby had been.

"Yeah, I'll see you in a minute." I said.

I trudged towards their room with my bag full of all the research I had be doing, whiskey, and my personal essentials on my back. I also had a pie I managed to pick up from a diner a town or two over in one hand and a six pack in the other. When I finally reached the door I realized I had no free hands to knock really so I did what every sensible, mature adult would do. I just kicked it a few times instead of trying to rearrange everything so I could knock.

"Woah, cool it Princess are you trying to—Is that pie?" Dean answered the door. His face was comical as he eyed the pie like junkie.

"Yeah, figured you'd need a pick me up. I also have beer" I said holding up the 6-pack in the other hand. "And whiskey and all the research I was helping Bobby with are in my bag so let me in and we can get to work." I smiled

"Have I asked you to marry me yet? Because I feel like that is the direction we're going." Dean joked still eyeing the pie. I just shook my head and smiled. I missed them, just being here made it feel like everything was going to be okay. As pushed passed him to entered and set all my shit down I noticed an attractive brunette in a teal dress standing in the middle of room.

"Who's this?" I asked in a disapproving tone. I'm not sure why I didn't like her, I didn't know her, she hasn't even said two words to me yet, but she unnerved me. I could tell by the way she was looking me over, appraising me, I shouldn't trust her. I walked towards a desk where Sam was sitting to set down all my shit. "Hey Sam." My voice softened and my anxiety about the stranger melted away when I found those hazel puppy dog eyes looking in mine. I reached over and ruffled the hair on top of his head. I'm not often able to even see the top of Sam's head so I couldn't miss the opportunity.

"Hey! Quit it!" Sam laughed while smacking my hand away.

"I don't believe we've met." An English accent sounded from where the woman was standing.

"No, we haven't. I'm Li—" I started to walk over to extend my hand. Just because I didn't like her didn't mean I forgot my manners.

"Linney James." Dean cut in. "Bela Talbot, this is Linney James. She's a fellow hunter, close to Bobby. We thought she could help." I quickly shot a confused look at Dean then Sam but didn't try and correct him I figured he had his reasons.

"Well, Linney…" Bela said extending her hand "As mentioned, I'm Bela Talbot, nice to meet you." She smiled. I shook her hand apprehensively and only nodded in response. Dean not giving her my name only confirmed my suspicion that this broad was not to be trusted.

Bela turned to face Dean "So when do we go on this little magical mystery tour?"

"Oh, you're not going anywhere. I don't trust you enough to let you in my car, much less Bobby's head. No offense." The older Winchester responded with that comically lovely 'you can go fuck yourself' smile. Dean walked over to the closet and placed a jar with what looked like African Dream Root in it that I hadn't even realized he was holding into a safe in the wall. Bela must be the contact Sam mentioned earlier.

"None taken." Bela responded clearly annoyed and still watching Dean closely as he walked back into the room after locking the safe. "It's 2 am. Where am I supposed to go?" Bela asked. She can't be serious; it's obvious Dean doesn't trust her why the hell would she think he'd sleep in the same room as her.

"Get a room. Ah, they got the Magic Fingers, a little Casa Erotica on pay-per-view. You'll love it." Dean quipped back.

"You..." Bela huffed while grabbing her bag and coat walking to the door.

"Nice to see-.. Seeing you..." Sam said after her. It didn't matter Bela slammed the door behind her, completely ignoring him. "... Bela." Sam said meekly after the door was shut.

Dean seemed supremely satisfied with himself as turned back to Sam and I. He must have noticed Sam's odd behavior as well because as soon as he looked at his brother, his faced had a look of confusion that I'm sure was extremely similar mine.

"Why are you guys looking at me like that" Sam asked rather defensively.

"You're the one who's been acting like a weirdo since Bela got here." Dean responded with a shrug.

"Yeah, you just acted like a middle school kid who's crush just walked into, well, out of the room. Have a dirty dream about her or something?" I joked nudging him with my elbow. Dean's eyes just about popped out of his head when I said that and he just started laughing hysterically. I didn't really think it was that funny but whatever.

"What? No! I didn't… Shut up Dean." Sam jumbled out.

"I'm just messing with you Sam." I said with a genuine smile and handed him a beer. Dean was still trying to stifle his laughter. I couldn't help but feel like I was missing something but I decided to change the subject instead of press the issue. "So why'd you give her a fake name? I mean clearly she knows who you, Sam, and Bobby are… why am I the only one with an alias?" I asked Dean.

"You have a demon APB out for you." Dean responded.

"Yeah? And you two don't?" I countered crossing my arms over my chest.

"Yeah, we do. But we still don't know who or why they want you and I'm don't trust Bela not to sell your location to the highest bidder or to save her own tail if she deemed it necessary." Dean said with a shrug. "I still don't really trust her reasons for helping us out now if we're being honest but we were kind of out of options."

"Okay, yeah, whatever I guess I'm 'Linney' now… So why is she here?" I asked.

"We called her to see if she could help us get some of that African Dream Root. She is in the same business as your Dad was. A dealer of sorts." Sam finally joined the conversation. So I was right she was the contact they mentioned earlier.

"I see… well, I don't like her. She rubs me the wrong way." I mumbled more to myself than anyone else as I dug out the bottle of 'hunter's helper'.

"How does someone go about rubbing you the right way?" Dean asked with a cocked eyebrow and a wicked smirk.

I stopped and turned around to find Dean standing behind me I presumed to wait his turn to pour himself a glass of whiskey. "Oh, honey." I said lightly tugging the collar of his shirt and sliding my hands down to rest on his chest. "If you don't know how to rub a girl right by now you never will." I finished in my most sultry voice and tossed and wink in for good measure. Then I started laughing and handed him a glass.

Dean looked mildly flustered and Sam looked down right amused by how easily I seemed to get under his brother's skin. "I still have a hard time believing you're a virgin…" Dean mumbled.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah because that's a title I am just so thrilled to have I feel the need to lie about it." I scoffed.

"Pretty sure any red blooded male would be happy to help you out with that Liv, if you were serious, that is." Sam quipped while pulling some of my notes out of my bag. Unfortunately for me and the universes never ending need to embarrass me, a black lace thong managed to hook itself around the metal spirals of the notebook Sam was pulling out. He looked at them and looked a mixture of amused and embarrassed.

"That an offer?" I joked snatching the panties away. "Or are you just flustered over Bela being here?" I smiled smugly.

"Ha-ha, very funny." He snarked back at me. "I'm not the one who packs 'fuck-me-panties' for a hunt" Sam scoffed.

"Fuck me panties?" I asked confused.

"The type of panties you wear when you want someone to see you in them." Dean explained while also swiping the underwear from my hand. "And these Princess," he said letting out a low whistle while holding them up "are most definitely 'fuck me panties'." Dean smile broadly.

"Whatever, men are weird. Maybe, I just like them." I huffed while snatching my underwear back. "Plus, I worked in I little lingerie boutique as a second job for a little bit in college. I got a wicked employee discount all my underwear is fun; I don't do granny panties. Doesn't mean they're 'come hither' or 'fuck me panties' or whatever." I was rambling again and trying my best to hide the blush blooming across my cheeks, damn Winchesters.

"Yeah whatever." Both men said in unison. All I could do was roll my eyes and stuff my underwear back into my bag.

"Now are we doing this or what?" Sam asked Dean.

"Doing what?" I asked in a mild panic to it. Were we still talking about sex and panties?

Dean's mind must have thought the same thing because his face looked just as confused and shocked as mine by his brother's question. "Not unless she's offering." He said. I cocked an eyebrow and looked at Dean to which he just shrugged.

"No Dean, not Liv." Sam sighed and ran a hand down his face. Clearly, we didn't follow his change of subject well. "Talking to Bobby." I stated.

"Oooooh! Right that! Yeah, of course that's what you're talking about." Dean said with a cute little fluster to his voice.

"I thought you said he was in a coma?" I was getting really confused now.

"Now that we have the dream root we are going to 'dream walk' in his head see if we can figure out what's going on, maybe even bring him back." Sam explained.

"Okay, um, we doing this right now? You guys have everything we need?" I asked.

"We? No way sweetheart, you're not coming we have no idea what's going on in Bobby's head." Dean said sternly.

"What?! No! Come on! What am I supposed to do? Just sit here like a creep and watch you guys sleep?" I protested, offended that he thought I wouldn't fight him on this.

"You can go to the hospital and wait with Bobby so he's no alone when he wakes up. Liv, Dean is right we don't know what we're walking into here and Bobby would kill us if something happened to you." Sam tried to reason with me.

"Fine. I'll go wait with Bobby but I may or may not throat punch you both once you're out. And I'm taking the impala for a joy ride." I pouted. "You two be safe, okay? I can't lose you too." I said seriously.

"You're not losing anyone tonight sweetheart. And do not, I repeat DO NOT dare drive my baby while I'm tripping in Bobby's head" Dean glared at me.

"We'll see you in a little bit, try not to worry too much" Sam added.

"Oh, yeah, that's likely." I scoffed and then walked over to both of them and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. "For luck." I blushed lightly not able to make eye contact. "I'll be back." And with that I was off to go see Bobby.

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I don't know exactly how long I was at the hospital sitting in one of those god awful chairs reading and holding Bobby's hand but at some point I fell asleep. I know this because I woke up to Bobby nudging me awake and telling me to gather my shit so we could sneak out. Apparently, he wanted to skip the hassle of giving fake insurance information, go figure.

"You act like you've never done this before." Bobby criticized.

"I don't know if you remember Bobby but unlike Sam and Dean, I haven't. I was kept away from this life up until very recently." I grumbled back trying to look as inconspicuous as possible to medical staff as we made our way to one of the exits. Bobby only rolled his eyes as we walked quickly down one of the many halls.

"Miss James!" I heard a male voice call from behind me. I took a second for me to piece together that the voice was directed at me being that I gave the hospital the name Dean had given me earlier.

"Shit, Bobby keep going. I'll meet you back at the hotel, your car is in the front lot." I said quietly as I discretely handed him his keys. I had driven Bobby's car to the hospital earlier, figured he'd want it when he got out of here instead of being shoved in the backseat of the impala. Bobby gave me a look but knew this was the best course of action so he proceeded to the exit. "Oh, hey Doctor…" I said trying my best to block Bobby's retreating form the doctor's line of sight. I had met him earlier he came in and checked on Bobby while he was still in 'La-La Land' but I couldn't remember his name for the life of me.

"Doctor Schmit." He finished for me.

"Oh, yes, right, Dr. Schmit. I'm sorry, I'm horrible with names." I said trying my best to seem light and carefree.

"Please, you can call me David. You're here visiting your Uncle right? I'm sorry I meant to come back and check on you to make sure you didn't have any questions but I wanted to give you some time and then I got sidetracked on some of my rounds. Did you have any questions for me?" He asked brightly while not so sneakily giving me a once over. I could tell were this was going, he was trying to flirt… but as long as I could stretch out the conversation a little longer I knew Bobby would be in the clear.

"Oh, well I don't know where to even begin really." I feigned distress. "I mean my uncle and I were very close he was really a father figure to me" not really a lie. "I mean; he never gets sick! Is he ever going to wake up? What are our options? Have you ever seen anything like this before?" I forced my eyes to water a little. "I'm just really upset and here alone, I don't know what to do…" I sighed. I was never really much of an actor, at least I never thought I was but he seemed to eat it up.

"I don't usually do this but I just got off my rounds. How about you and I go down and grab a coffee from the café? We can talk more in private, in my office?" He offered while gently placing a hand on my shoulder. His eyes glittered with triumph like he'd done this a 100 times before and knew exactly where this was going and it honestly made me wonder how many women actually fell for this crap.

"That sounds really nice, thank you." I lied. "But can I meet you down there? I'd like to stop by the little girl's room. I can practically feel my mascara getting ready to run." I faked a small chuckle.

"Yes, of course. Closest ladies room is down the hall, second door on your left." He smiled. "How about I just grab two coffees and you can meet you back here in 5?" He asked.

"That's perfect, saves me the embarrassment of getting lost." I joked.

"I'll see you in 5 Miss James." He said with a wink. Again, I felt my stomach turn.

"You can call me Linney." I said with a sugary sweet tone and smile.

"Okay, Linney." He smirked and took a small step forward and tucked a stray piece of hair behind my ear. I shuddered. I'm sure by the look on his face he thought the shudder was out of arousal but in fact I shuddered because the way he was eyeing me made me sick much less him actually touching me. Never the less, I plastered on my fake smile and powered through giving him the best doe eyes I could muster.

"See you soon." I turned and started walking down the hall. As soon as I made sure David was in fact walking down to the café and not following me I started to book it towards the exit. I honestly felt like I needed a shower, which was odd. I wasn't sure why I was so put off by him. He wasn't an unattractive man and he wasn't even creepy or anything just the average player type, which I'm sure being a doctor and all really helped his game. Furthermore, at this point in my life I was pretty desensitized to men shamelessly flirting with me especially after working in bars for years. I mean look at how I am with Sam and Dean, we flirt and make innuendos all day with each other and I don't think twice about it. Hell, it's fun, sometimes the highlight of my day. That's when it clicked. I was put off by the doctor because he wasn't Dean or Sam… did I actually have some type of feelings, like feelings, feelings developing for them. No, that can't be it. We just joke around and have fun, it's not like I'm falling for one of them… both of them… no, that's crazy and stupid.

I was so preoccupied in my own head I barely realized I had in fact gotten out of the hospital, down the drive, and was now walking down the road… in the opposite direction of the hotel. Great. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and realized the damn thing was dead, I forgot to charge it. Double great. Shit, what was I supposed to do now? I could just walk back to the hotel but that would most likely take at least 45 minutes maybe an hour and I couldn't go that long without letting the guys and Bobby know I'm okay. They'd flip their shit and probably start looking for me. I could hot-wire another car but I didn't feel that confident out in the open like this.

About 10 minutes down the road I was able to find a bar that was actually open for breakfast, go figure. Thankfully, the girl working was kind enough to let me use their phone to call Dean. He was not thrilled about having to come get me but with the promise of pie, beer, and a pretty face he had a hard time saying no. He told me to sit tight for a little bit it'd be about 30 minutes before he could there, I guess they were trying to hunt down the kid responsible for putting Bobby in a coma. He said he's explain it all when he got there.

"Hey there, this seat taken?" A voice sounded from behind me. Before I could even answer they had already sat down. "Why do I feel like I've met you before?" they asked. I still hadn't really looked at them, I was busy stuffing my face with waffles. When I finally turned to look at the stranger who was foolish enough to interrupt me and my waffles I was taken a back. He was not what I was excepting, he was a little shorter than me I could tell even though we were both sitting. His eyes were what struck me they reminded me of whiskey, golden and warm almost inviting; they also held something else I couldn't put my finger on but there was more to him then he let on. His hair was a lighter brown and combed back neatly. Finally, his smile, well, smirk really. His smirk was full of mischief, like he knew something I didn't and it brought him the utmost pleasure.

"I'm not sure. I'm sorry, I can't say I recognize you…" My defenses were up but he intrigued me and I felt compelled to talk to him. "Are you from around here?" I asked.

He laughed and shook his head still sporting that same smirk "No babydoll, I'm not from around here. I travel around a lot, you?" he answered and continued to eye me in a way that I'm pretty sure I would have found uncomfortable from anyone else.

"No, not from here. Guess I did most of my growing up in Ohio. Now? I'm just float around to where I'm needed I guess." I answered honestly.

"You're not supposed to be here babydoll." He said looking me dead in the eye and suddenly I felt like there were sparks between us. Not like lovey-dovey, cheesy poetry 'sparks' but literally electrical current type sparks.

"What do you mean, a girl can't enjoy waffles and a beer?" I tried to play dumb to the odd sensation and laugh it off while attempting to come up with an escape plan.

"No. You aren't supposed to be here. Now, let's see what good 'ol Sam and Dean-o do when you skip out for a tick? Should be fun, right?" He smiled.

I began to panic and started to stand to run but all he did was wiggle his eyebrows and snap of his fingers and I could feel myself starting to lose consciousness. The last thing I heard was his voice fading out slowly. "I'm not going to hurt you babydoll, unless of course I have to. Just need to barrow you. Help those idiots realize how things are." And then nothingness.

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Oh snap! Let me know what you think! Again I'm so sorry you had to wait long for an update and thank you for being amazing. Stay awesome everyone!