It's a long one this time.

Hope you enjoy it...

- Diana's POV -

Using all of the strength and adrenaline I could channel from the others, I stabilized and patched Lisa up as gently as I could. When I had finished the stitches, I wrapped her newly closed wounds with the gauze I could find in the kit and gave her a few over the counter painkillers I had in my bag. She fell into a restless sleep, her head nestled on her son's lap.

We drove straight through the night and late into the next afternoon, finally stopping at a motel at least four, maybe five states away. Dean carried Lisa into the room and gently tucked her into bed, positioning the pillows and blankets how she liked them, then sitting down in a chair beside her bed, Ben on her other side. She began to stir not too long after we brought everything in and when Dean glanced up at us, then at the door, Sam nodded and gently guided me out.

Closing the door behind us, he turned to me, "We need to talk."

"Okay."

He sat down on the bench beneath the window of our room and motioned for me to sit beside him. I did so reluctantly, still feeling energized and fidgety from the adrenaline rush.

"Diana, you need to slow down with this whole power thing."

"Why? I'm helping people. I'm doing good. That's what I've always wanted to do. It's what you told me I could do. You said as soon as I could control my power, I could use it to help people."

"Yes," he sighed, "but you need to slow down. Take a break. Using that kind of power is exhausting, I know."

"I'm not tired, Sam," I rolled my eyes. "I'm so energetic all the time since I've started using it! Ever since Cas stabbed me, I get it! I know how to control the power and channel other people's strength and heal myself! I'm virtually invincible!"

"You see? That's what I'm talking about, Diana! You think you're indestructible but you're not! You're getting cocky and one of these days you're going to slip up!"

I glared at him. How dare he! "So, what are you saying? That I'm not good enough now? That I can't get the job done right?"

"No, of course not, it's just-"

"Oh I see. You're jealous!" He looked at me as if he hadn't any idea what I was talking about. Oh please! "You're jealous because you weren't allowed to keep your super demon powers and now I'm more powerful than you and you can't handle it!"

"No, Diana, that's not-"

"Oh, come on! Admit it! I'm a better hunter than you now and you're pissed!"

His jaw dropped. "What?"

"Ugh! I should've known this would happen!" I stood from the bench and clenched my fists, feeling my anger at his petty envy boil through my veins. "You are so ridiculous, you know that? You can't even handle being second best! You're throwing a hissy fit because you feel cheated because I was made for fighting and I'm naturally better than you are! Sam, you really need to grow up!"

He stood as well, his eyes blazing. "That's bullshit! That is complete bullshit, Diana, and you know it!"

"No, it's not," I growled. "That's why you're being so defensive but you don't have an argument!"

"You think you're such a great hunter?" Sam snapped. "Then why are you here? Why do you need us? We're just holding you back, aren't we?"

"I'm here because I care about you, you asshole!" I gasped, shocked that he'd ever doubt that.

"No, we care about you, Diana!" he yelled, jabbing his finger at me. "That's why we've been following up behind you and making sure you didn't get hurt! We let you take the lead so that you would feel like you were doing well and helping! Really, you've just been stumbling along while Dean and I cleaned up your messes! Since you woke up healed, you've been progressively becoming more and more obsessed with the hunt and using your great new power and been a downright bitch to us!"

I gasped again and slapped him hard across the face. He returned his glare to me.

"Does that make you feel better?" he barked. "Does your corrupted mind paint me as the bad guy now, so your hitting me is making you feel better?"

"Stop it!" I yelled, tears welling up and threatening to blur my vision. "Shut up! That's not true!"

"Isn't it? Isn't it true that you feel oppressed by us? That you can't reach your full potential because we're holding you back? Isn't it true that you think we're the bad guys because we don't want you using your power too much? My feelings for you are suffocating you, aren't they? My worry and care is driving you up the wall because you wish I would just leave you alone to play with the monsters and demons like little dolls because you are so powerful that nothing can hurt you! We're not groveling at your feet and that pisses you off, doesn't it! Doesn't it!"

"Stop it!" I screamed, shoving him back into the door. "You're twisting the situation, you son of a bitch! You're making it seem like I don't care, but I do! I care so much I put myself on the line for you and Dean! I just saved Lisa and Ben! I saved them from a vampire nest then stitched and dressed Lisa's wounds! I've spent the past two days going after monsters and saving people because you wanted to! I should be hiding or going after Crowley, but I'm not because you want to save civilians! I'm number one on heaven and hell's most wanted list and I'm out in public, drawing attention to myself for you! Don't tell me I don't care, you ungrateful bastard!"

"Do you hear yourself?" he groaned. "You saved Lisa and Ben! You are putting yourself on the line! You are most wanted! You, you, you, you, you, you, you! Not everything is about you, Diana!"

"I know it's not! Stop turning this around on me! I'm doing this out of selfless concern for you and your brother!"

"No! That's just what you tell yourself in your corrupted mindset to make you feel better about yourself! But it's bullshit!"

I threw my hands up in the air, the tears finally blinding me. "You're impossible!" I screamed, then started to stomp away.

"Where are you going?" he demanded, grabbing my arm. I wrenched it out of his grip.

"Away from you!" I yelled back, then turned on my heel and continued to march away.

"Fine!" he called after me. "But don't come crying to me when the demons in the shadows catch up to you!"

I ran away, devastated. I was heartbroken at finding that Sam's feelings for me were not what I thought they were.

Of course he didn't care about you that way, snapped a voice in my head. He's a selfish bastard. But you, you're special. You're powerful. You can help people. All you have to do is ditch Sam and Dean.

Could I really do that? I mean, after all they'd done for me, could I really just leave them alone?

Why not? They left you alone. All they ever did was tell you to wait until you could control your power, and now that you can, they're so afraid of it, of you, that they're oppressing you, trying to suffocate your dreams and potential. They don't want you to help people, but you must. You know you must.

As I was walking through the streets of the nearest town that night, I found myself witness to a mugging. A burly man was chasing a young woman down a back road, snatching at her purse and skirt. When he finally caught her, he yanked her purse away from her, tossed it on the ground, and shoved her up against a wall, sliding his hand up her skirt.

Look at that pathetic piece of shit, whispered the voice. He's going to rob and take advantage of that girl for no reason other than he's a selfish bastard. Fight, Diana. Fight for justice, just the way you were created to, just the way your father always told you to. Give that man what he deserves.

As I approached them, I began to channel the burly man's strength and my hand swiftly found the handle of my knife.

- Dean's POV -

Sam stormed back into the room, jaw set, eyes flaring.

"I'm taking the car," he grumbled, then grabbed the keys and slammed the door behind him.

"I'll be right back," I told Lisa and Ben, then ran out after my brother. "Hey!" I called as I caught up with him in the parking lot. "We heard the yelling. What's going on? You guys have a fight?"

"Yeah," he growled, opening the door. I stopped him before he could get in and drive off.

"Whoa, hold on a second. What happened? Talk to me?"

"Nothing, Dean!" he snapped. "We fought, she stormed off! I have to take a drive to clear my head, then go find her and drag her back by her hair, all right? Is that okay with you, Dean?"

I held my hands up in surrender. "Whoa, chill, man, I'm just making sure you're okay. You guys've never fought so bad. What's goin' on?"

"Just don't worry about it!" he slammed the door shut and turned the key, rousing the engine loudly. "Go back inside with Lisa and Ben! I'll be back later."

He drove off quickly, leaving me in the dust. I walked back into the motel room to find Ben making sandwiches and Lisa sitting up in bed, knotting and unknotting her fingers.

"Hey," I smiled softly at her. "How you feeling?"

"A little sore, a little tired, mostly confused." She sighed, then met my gaze. "Dean, why did you make us forget you?"

I exhaled and returned to my chair at her bedside. "I thought it would make you happier. You wouldn't have to worry about all the monsters under the bed that I told you were there and you wouldn't have to worry about me. You wouldn't have to wait up at night, praying that I walk in the door unharmed. You wouldn't have to worry every time I left you that it was the last time you'd ever see me. I thought it would make life a little easier for you."

"Dean, I worry about you because I care. Because I love you. We both do."

My eyes shifted from her to Ben and back again. I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. "I love you both too. That's why I asked my friend, Cas, to make you forget me. Because loving someone like me only causes pain, heartache, and death. I couldn't let that happen to you and Ben."

"Dean," Ben said from across the room. "You've been like a dad to me. You've been so good to my mom. We love you. And you love us. How could you just leave?"

My heart broke for him, then shattered further when Lisa's eyes met mine. "I didn't want to, I swear. I love you both so much. You're my family."

"Family doesn't walk out on each other!" Ben snapped. Tears began to fill my eyes.

"I know... And I'm so sorry... I was just trying to protect you... Can you ever forgive me?"

"Come back with us."

"Ben!" Lisa shot him a look that asked him to back off and be quiet. She returned her gaze to me. "Dean, I know that I told you that I couldn't handle worrying about you all the time and that it wasn't fair of you to expect us to wait for you while you went off and risked your life."

"And you were right."

"Yes," she nodded. "I was. And I am. I still feel that way, Dean. I want you to make a decision before we go. I want you to decide whether or not you can leave all this behind for us. If you can quit hunting again and come back to live with us, we will welcome you with open arms. But if you can't, we need to cut you out of our lives. Completely and permanently. Okay?"

I hung my head, staring down at my hands, folded in my lap. When I looked up again, I nodded, then stood, went into the bathroom, and shut the door.

- Sam's POV -

I drove and drove down winding back roads and finally stopped by a local lake. I got out of the car and sat back against the hood, watching all the families play in the water and then picnic on their blankets as the sun went down. I exhaled, dropping my head back to stare up at the stars, seeking for answers or something that might make me feel better. When they proved unhelpful, I sighed again and stood, preparing to go back, but came nose to nose with Cas.

"Jesus!" I jumped. "Cas! What the hell are you doing!"

"Looking for Diana," he replied. "I thought she would be with you, considering your lack of sense."

I shot him a glare. "Well, she's not."

"Where is she?"

"Why would I tell you? You want to hurt her! Why would I- Wait a minute, why can't you find her yourself?"

"As her power grows stronger, my ability to sense her weakens. Control must be increasing." He stared around us as though Diana might appear from the trees at his will.

I rolled my eyes, leaning back against the car again. "Yeah she's getting pretty good at controlling it."

Cas furrowed his brow at me. "What? No, I meant that the power's control over her must be increasing."

I stood up straight. "What? What do you mean by that?"

Cas looked at me as if I was stupid. "I mean what I said, the power's control over her is increasing."

"But what do you mean that the power is controlling her?" I asked frantically, my mind racing.

"The power, once exorcised, will naturally want to continue to grow and be in use. If the body is not complying, it will infiltrate and, eventually, overtake the mind to control as it pleases. While a human soul is the only vessel strong enough to contain the power, the human mind is no match for the activated power. She will be quickly overcome by the seductive strength and control she feels as it uses her."

"Well, what's it gonna do?" I demanded.

"Whatever it is she wants."

"What?" I asked, confused. "You said it was going to control her!"

"Yes, it will feed off her desires. Whatever it is she would want to use the power for, it will turn around on her and likely magnetize it. You're her... Whatever it is you are. What are her desires? And, no, I don't want to know her sexual desires."

I slapped a hand over my face and groaned. "Cas, you're a real piece of work, you know that?" He cocked his head to the side, eyebrows drawn together. "Never mind," I sighed. "Um, she wants to help people. Make people happy. Protect them. That couldn't go badly, could it?"

"It depends on what she finds," Cas shrugged, "and how powerful she's becoming. For example, if it is still weak and she runs into a robbery, she might return what was stolen and send the criminal on his way. If it is strong and she runs into a child who stole a penny from his mother's purse..."

"What, Cas?" I shouted.

"Well, she might kill him."

"What!"

Cas sighed. "Do you see why I need to kill her now?"

"Cas! Just shut up, all right!" I yanked the door open and fell into the driver's seat, turning the key and bringing the car roaring to life.

"Sam! You must take me with you," Cas ordered.

"Like hell I will," I growled, slamming the door and racing away.

As I flew back down the dirt roads, rocks clanging against the metal belly of the Impala, turning so sharply round each corner, I thought I might flip over at any moment, but I just couldn't care. My mind was racing, my heart was pounding, and all I could think about was what I would do if Diana was destroyed and the last thing I'd said to her was that she could never come to me again. I had lost far too many people, made far too many mistakes, suffered far to much loss to lose her now after having built up more hope and happiness than I had felt in a long time. I'd almost lost her two days ago and, when she whispered in my ear, I knew that I would never feel the way I'd felt with her ever again. Of all the times that I had felt love, it seemed now that I had never truly loved or been loved. I'd almost married Jessica, I loved her so much, but even that couldn't compare to all that I felt now. And knowing what I felt, really realizing all that it meant to me, now more than ever, I couldn't bear to think of Diana so hurt by anything that she might have done under the influence of the power she was harboring, let alone what she might suffer if Crowley or the angels got their hands on her. Despite what we'd said earlier, despite the way she had acted in the past few days, I knew that I loved her and that I would do anything for her. I couldn't break my promise. I couldn't leave her alone in this. I promised I would protect her and, if it was the last thing I did, I was going to own up to that promise.

I was so consumed by my thoughts of Diana, loss, love, and promises that I barely noticed the woman until I was seconds away from hitting her. I slammed on the breaks and the car screeched in protest, skidding to a stop just in front of her. Breathing heavily, my heart pounding, I stared with wide eyes at the woman standing inches away from the hood. She was tall and lean, her limbs long, her flexed muscles outlined by her skintight leather armor that covered her body, neck to toe. Her long dark hair was pulled back from her face, giving her a practical and elegant appearance. Her skin was flawless, her dark eyes like a hawk's gazing down at me hungrily. A silver bow and quiver of arrows that appeared to be made of pure moonlight were strapped to her back. Her perfect lips stretched into a slow, sultry smirk and her voice reached my ears in a low, silky tone, as though she were sitting right next to me.

"Hello, Sam."

Brownie points if you can guess who the mystery woman is (it's not really that hard)

Please, please, PLEASE can I get reviews? I'm not really motivated to continue unless I get feedback

Just tell me if you're liking it or not?