Sorry for the delay, just started a new job

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- Kara's POV -

"Sweetheart, you're fine," I sighed, watching as Diana squirmed in her dress. After she'd slept for practically two days straight, "the power," as Dean and Sam called it, reactivated to jumpstart her healing process. Her shoulders were perfectly functional, if a little sore, her nose, after I'd set it, was just bruised up, and her various gashes that were originally sewn closed by my unprofessional hand were now raw, but closed. Her feet hurt her the most, but she was slowly becoming able to spend more and more time moving about, not that the bruised toes and burned soles had really stopped her in the first place, just slowed her.

"I feel ridiculous," she groaned, putting her face in her hands, careful not to bump her nose.

"Why? It's comfortable, isn't it?"

"Well, yes but-"

"And you look beautiful."

"But-"

"But what?" I asked, taking her hand. "Diana, it's just a maxi dress, not a gown. You're going downstairs, not to the ball. Who are you trying to impress, really?" She cast her eyes down to her lap and I raised my eyebrows. "Oh... So, this is a legit thing, huh?" She chewed her lip and nodded. "I see... Well, if he's a good one, he'll think you're just as beautiful as I do."

"My nose is black and blue, I'm covered in raw, pink scars and I can barely walk," she sighed. "A floor length sundress only covers so much, Kara..."

"Oh, stop it," I ordered, pushing her arm lightly. "You're gorgeous. Always have been, always will be, no matter what. He's seen you in worse shape. Don't do that."

"Do what?"

"That thing you do when you're at your worst. When you're feeling self conscious and nervous and want to crawl under a rock. You convince yourself it's not worth it and you try to run and hide, but that's not you, Di! You're only feeling this way because you're tired from all that you've been through! Injuries that render you incapable of moving automatically send you into depression, but you will not let that stop you!" I jabbed my finger at her. "You are a fighter, Diana McKnight and you are not going to let some pink lines on your skin and little bruises on your nose stop you from going after that big hunk of a skyscraper, out there! You are smart and strong and gorgeous and you never give up! Now, get your pretty little ass out there and knock that boy's socks off!"

As soon as I'd started to raise my voice and flail my arms wildly, Diana smiled, and soon she was giggling. At the end of my speech, she threw her arms around me in a tight hug, which I returned, before helping her out of her room and to the library, where Dean and Sam were brainstorming other ideas to throw off the manhunt and maybe still transfer the power somehow.

- Diana's POV -

I held my hand up to stop Kara before she could clear her throat, removed myself from the support of her arms, and somehow managed to limp over to Sam, whose nose was buried so deeply into a book, you'd think he was suffocating. He was murmuring something softly to himself, lost completely in thought.

"You know, you might need glasses if you need to hold the book that close to your face to see the text," I smiled over his shoulder. He glanced up once, absentmindedly, then completely turned his head again. His face broke into that smile that makes my heart beat faster and I couldn't help but return the grin. "Hi."

"Hey," he finally said, setting his book down and standing to wrap his arms around me. "How are you feeling?"

"Eh, I've been worse," I smiled, squeezing him gently.

He released me and held me at arms length, still grinning widely. "You look great."

I felt my face flush involuntarily and I was actually thankful for my discolored nose, likely distracting from my reddening cheeks. "Thank you." He dropped his arms and I turned to meet Dean's embrace as he crossed to me.

"They were worried," he told me, shrugging when we parted, "but I knew you'd be fine."

"Oh yeah," I smirked, "I could tell you weren't concerned at all. The anxious pacing outside my room was just because you were restless and wanted to go on more cases."

"Exactly," he winked. With a quick glance at Kara, he excused himself, nudged my chin lightly with his fist, and disappeared into the next room with her. Placing my hands on the table behind me, I hoisted myself up so that I was perched on the edge, facing Sam.

"So, you're okay?" he asked again, his eyes raking over my arms, worrying at each little scab or bruise.

"I'm fine, Sam, really," I promised and he nodded. "Are you okay?"

"Me? Yeah, why?" I raised my eyebrows at him. "What?"

"Don't lie to me, Sam, I can always tell," I said.

"Cannot."

"Your nostrils are flaring, you're licking your lips, and your jaw muscle is spazzing," I said, reaching up to touch his jaw lightly with a finger. He inhaled sharply at my touch and I retracted my hand, casting my eyes down. "Sorry."

"No," he sighed, taking my hand in his. "Actually, I want to talk to you about something."

I braced myself and looked up at him again. "Okay."

"You told me something when you thought you were dying, in that motel... And you told me that you meant it not long ago... In these past few months, I've watched you learn and grow and just keep running head first into a life that you didn't expect, didn't want, and didn't know how to deal with... And I've recently realized that everyone else has known something that I didn't know until a little while ago, and that you don't know at all... Even though you should've been the first to know, after I figured it out... So, I need to say it now..." He cast his eyes down to take a deep breath, then brought them up again to meet mine as he took both of my hands gently into his. "Diana, I've always thought you were beautiful, ever since we saw you at that bar... And, I related to you so easily and found you so warm and sweet to me and my brother, despite his initial sour attitude towards you, that I felt safe enough with you that I could open up and tell you things that I don't tell anyone, because I don't trust anyone and because I don't have anyone to trust with those things... And I never felt like you were judging me harshly when you looked at me, but rather that you were always waiting... Waiting to see what I'd do or say next so that you could find out who I am as a man, rather than a hunter or a freak... And no matter what happened, you always smiled at me in such a way that made me want to do or say something else, anything else that would keep you smiling... You fell into my life at such the right time, for you to help me and for me to help you, that it's impossible for me to believe that it was an accident... That we were an accident... But even if we were... I'm grateful for it... You are a light in the darkness of this repetitive and depressing life... You helped me remember why we do these exhausting, terrifying, thankless jobs... You helped me remember why we hunt... To save people... To make light, love, happiness, and hope possible for them... Just the way you make it possible for my brother and just the way you make it possible for me... You are the most incredible woman I've ever met, Diana... Your mere presence awes me, because you just seem to emanate light and warmth and love... I never stop thinking of you and hoping that I will be able to see your smile... To hear your voice... To touch your hair, look into your eyes, to hold you... And everyone else can see how much I ache for you... How much I want and need you... You make me want to be the good man that you see in me... And every time I think about that night that you told me that you would never stop fighting for me... I know that I would never stop fighting for you either... I know that it took me a little longer to tell you how I felt than you probably hoped it would... But I hope that when I tell you now, you will smile at me in that way you do that makes my heart beat faster and my face feel like it's going to tear because I can't seem to stop smiling back... Diana, I love you... More than you will ever know, I love you... And now that I've said it out loud, I don't think I'll ever be able to stop. I love you."

I felt my heart swell up into my throat and it was like I couldn't speak or breathe for agonizingly long seconds, but the pain was almost sweet. My entire face split into an enormous grin and I felt giddy and ridiculous and even a bit silly, but I just couldn't care in that moment. Everything was amazing and I was just so overwhelmed with joy.

"I love you too," I finally breathed and giggled as the relief visibly washed over Sam. Only once it relaxed did I realize that his entire body had tensed in anxious anticipation. We immediately reached for each other and he brought his lips down onto mine and I immediately melted in his arms, and I felt that falling feeling, but this time it was different. This time I wasn't falling to the roaring waters under the bridge and I wasn't falling through the center of the earth. I was falling, with Sam, safely locked in his arms, into sheer, warm, glowing bliss.

- Sam's POV -

So, maybe if we hadn't been totally out of our minds with relief, adrenaline, fatigue and, in her case, pain killers, we might have made it upstairs but, as it was, we were alone in the library for a while.

"We're in the library," I laughed, throwing my arm over my eyes. She giggled beside me.

"Hey, I have no regrets."

"Nah," I agreed, rolling over on top of her, grinning into her kisses. She stretched up to kiss my chin lightly and I hummed happily, dropping my head to her shoulder, my lips lingering on her skin, her delicious scent filling my nostrils like a toxic gas, making me dizzily happy.

"You're hungry, aren't you?" she giggled, running her fingers through my hair. I nodded against her and she laughed again. "All right, let's go."

"No, I'm all right," I sighed, kissing her neck lightly. She shivered beneath me.

"Not in two minutes, you won't be," she smiled, tugging my hair gently, lifting my lips away from her skin.

"But that's it two minutes," I insisted. She smiled and rolled me off her.

"Get dressed."

Within five giggly minutes that almost seemed normal, we were dressed and in the kitchen, Diana throwing ingredients into a bowl until I realized that it was pancake batter. We were laughing and throwing flour at each other and pretending that we were a normal couple when Kara came in with a grave expression.

"What?" Diana asked, her smile slowly fading. "Kara, what is it?"

"There's someone outside," she murmured, her voice shaking. "Dean needs you. Now."

I scooped Diana up to follow Kara out and I knew she was worried because she didn't protest at being carried when she could walk. When we got outside, I set her on the ground, but kept one arm around her waist, holding her tightly to my side. Dean looked up and pointed with his chin across the dusty dirt road to a gleaming white Cadillac. The ashen faced, thin man gracefully emerged from the car and crossed the road, slowly, the air cooling at his very presence. He pressed his fingertips together, gazing at us each in turn, before turning his eyes down to Diana again.

"We need to talk."

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