THEN:

Kuryiel placed a plate of food before Mara. "Please don't leave. You know Dean does care about you. He is afraid to get emotionally close to you. I will never forget his face when you died. He was devastated." She took a seat next to Cas.

"I understand what you are saying but I don't like when he acts fickle. I don't deserve it." Mara anger started to dissipate.

Castiel patted the woman's hand. "I agree. You don't deserve it. Give him a little bit more time."

Mara looked at both angels knowing they were being supportive to her and Dean. Mara knew the stubborn man liked her but refuses to accept it. Knowing this will not keep her here if he continued to act cold towards her in order to protect his feelings. "What are your plans for today? Meeting another angel?"

Kuryiel took a bite of her food. "Yes we are meeting a couple of them. I suggest you come with us to keep you distracted from." She paused for a few seconds. "The jerk." Castiel gave her a surprised look which made Mara laugh.


NOW:

Dean smiled as they returned to the location they met the Brocan. The man like creature squatted on the concrete slab that was near the running creek.

"Well? Do you have good news for us?" The older Winchester asked with his arms crossed.

Brocan felt the human's eyes on him. "I found Simber's lair. There was a map showing where he will be at a bridge in this direction." Sam spread a map in the ground. The troll pointed in south. Simber is going to harvest in..." He pointed at the night sky towards the moon. We have to meet when the clock is at..." Once again the being motioned the time with his fingers.

Sam's eyebrows raised "Oh you mean ten o'clock at tonight." He saw the large head nodded. "That's a couple of hours. We'll meet you at this bridge. You will have to let us kill him. We can't take the chance this troll might get away and start hunting humans again in the future." Both men and creature nodded in agreement.

The deep voice growled. "Do you wish to travel with me?"

Dean thought about it for a second. "No Thanks. I rather drive. When this is all over I can go back to the motel room."

The older troll rose up holding a short staff of a ruby red jewel a couple of feet away from the Winchester brothers. A moment later a flash of light and a distorted wave of energy appeared that gave the small background a fluid appearance of the grass and shrubs.

Sam was fascinated watching this portal manifested in front of the creature. He noticed the maneuver was silent as the troll took one step and vanished through the clear energy. "Wow. I hope we can have some kind of technology like this."

"I don't think it's technology. Perhaps some kind of spell charm that rips open a dimension or something." Dean explained. "I did not want to travel like that so let's head to the bridge before this Simber guy kills someone else."

The men drove off heading to their destination that was 10 miles away. Once they arrived to the location both sat in the car waiting to get this

Brocan waited patiently for the two humans to arrive. He hoped the capture will be fast. His thoughts stopped when spotted the car approaching the area. He listened to the men talking as they coming closer. Once they saw his face they approached him. "We need to hide here so Simber will not see us."

"Good idea. We have a weapon that can kill him." Sam pointed the sword that Dean held in his hand.

The massive creature looked at the sharp Iron in the old man's hand. "I hope it's a charmed weapon. No regular human weapon can my people."

Dean reached for a piece of paper with the charmed spell. "I am one step ahead of you. We are ready to take out this monster."

The larege troll looked around the corner of shrubs nearby with the two men next to him. There was a flash of light of a portal being opened. Brocan focused his target he instantly noticed adolescent troll and a feminine looking one following behind their main target. The brothers were ready to spring an attack. "Wait.' The troll whispered gruffly. "There are two more. It looks like a female and a boy."

The younger green eyed man looked around the troll spotting the additional creatures. "Could it be his wife and son?" Brocan nodded in agreement.

"That's just great. This killer is making human organ harvesting into a family business. Well, we will have to shut them down for good." Dean felt a burning anger.

The troll stood in front of the older man. "Simber is the only one out of the three that is wanted for his crimes. If you want to kill this troll, I will not stop you. The female and boy must stay alive. I will personally take them to our elders for helping Simber." Dean opened his mouth to protest. Brocan added. "They will be severely punished for what they done."

"Agreed." Dean spoke in low tone. "Both of you take care of the other two while I will take out the trouble troll here." Brocan looked concerned. "If I go near the others I may kill them. It's best for me to take out the bad one out of the group." The troll solemnly nodded in resignation. "Good so let's do a sneak attack."

Sam and the troll went in one direction and Dean went the opposite direction around the concrete bridge.

The older Winchester brother slowly walked around in a crouched position. He heard the grumble of the troll scolding the two that was with him. His hand moved to the leather strap that held the sword that was across his back. Once he got closer Dean instantly noticed the killer stop speaking to the other trolls. He saw the three creatures turn their head to search for something. "Damn! They must have caught my scent." He got close as he could until he saw Sam and the troll were the same distance on the other side. The next moment Brocan charged the three trolls with the two human men joining him.

The three creatures had an expression of surprise on their faces. Dean quickly approached the largest troll. He held the sword tightly in his right hand as he noticed his enemy grabbed a large hammer. The weapon was made with a wooden handle and a iron hammer head. It was not a sophisticated weapon but Dean clearly knows it can kill him if he is not careful.

The hammer swung quickly causing the older Winchester to duck to move away quickly. Dean swung the sword which slammed in to the iron hammer head. His teeth gritted as his arms painfully vibrated from the metals contacting each other. "Man! He's strong." His thoughts rang as he dodged another hammer blow.

Sam was thrown to the ground by the young troll when he failed to hit it with his fist. He rolled to his side to get up quickly before he could be grabbed. The creature looked a little scared as his young eyes glanced at his mother. "Hey, I will not hurt you. We have to capture your father since he is killing humans. You and your mother will be spared." His sentence was cut off when the young male troll yelled no rushing at Sam.

Dean was struggling with the troll. His swing of the sword was dodge feeling surprised the creature can move quickly away. His green eyes glanced at Sam fighting with a teenage boy version of the species. Brocan was also in battle mode swinging his hammer at the female troll. "Cas! we need you!" The older Winchester yelled. A couple of minutes later Mara appeared ready to fight. Dean gave her a look of disdain. "What the hell are you doing here?"

Ignoring him, she rushed at the Troll that swung his weapon at Dean. "Cas and Kuryiel are having a major meeting with two arch angels so they can't leave. Don't be so butt hurt they send me instead. I am fit to fight." Mara briefly stop talking as she moved quickly away from the moving hammer. She kicked the creature which Mara discovered her physical moves are not as effective. "We got a tough one here. I will go into Mia form so don't kill me by accident."

The older Winchester slammed the sword on the hammer grip trying to aim for his hand. He instantly noticed Mara changing into her true form. It still surprised Dean to see her like this. Her fangs looked serious when she was in fighting mode.

Mara did not like to change in to the Mia version often but it gave her more strength to fight stronger opponents. Her claws ripped into the hand made cloth of the creature.

The troll glanced sideways spotting the woman which made his eyes widen knowing what she is. He spend around with his weapon to strike her. She moved quickly out of the way. Mara kicked him once again that caused him to lurch forward from the force.

Dean noticed the troll moving forward and aim the sword at the troll's neck. The move was diverted by the troll side swiping the man causing the sword to fly out of his hand. "Damn It!" He was about to dive for the sword, the big creature attempted to reach for him.

Mara picked up the sword to feel its weight. For some reason she had to ask a question. "Did you do the sigil spell for this weapon?"

His face displayed a look of horror. "Oops I didn't!" As he was moving around the Troll, the green eyed man removed a piece of folded paper out of his back pocket. Balling it into his fist, Dean threw it at Mara. "Here! Do the spell!"

She picked the crunched paper from the ground. Holding the weapon one hand she spoke the sigil in a low tone. The sword emitted a reddish glow. Glancing at Dean, she saw him dodging the trolls swinging his large hammer. Mara rushed at the creature. "Keep him distracted!" She made attempts to strike him through his leather vest. The metal would not penetrate through making the Troll laugh with confidence. "Damn he has a charmed armor." She glanced at the trolls body to see if there was any skin exposure. Mara only noticed the creatures hands was uncovered. She stepped in quickly swiping the sword at his back as a form of distraction. When she got closer to her friend she quickly gave Dean the sword.

He held the weapon and instantly saw the red glowing energy disappearing. "What the hell?" He blocked the Trolls weapon with his. "Mara the sword stopped glowing! What is going on?"

Mara tried to jump onto the Trolls back and he roughly elbowed her off making her slam into the concrete bridge wall structure behind them. The impact took the breath out of her lungs. Feeling a sting of pain in the middle of her back she heard Dean's words rushing over beside him. Mara leaped to the right side running toward the human man. They moved quickly out of the way of the hammer being swung at them. "I don't know. It was glowing earlier." She touched the handle and the sword started to glow again. The woman realized why the sword was acting particular. "I think it only works with the person speaking the sigil spell. I will have to kill him."

"Okay...then I will distract him while you do the deed." Both nodded glancing at each other in agreement as the massive being charged with his weapon. The hammer came down fast moving the two people away going opposite directions.

"You have to do better than that ugly. With your face like that I wonder what your mother looks like. Her mug must be far worse than yours." Dean taunted the troll watching the expression change to rage. "Come and try to kill me if you can." He hurled a few more verbal insult counting on getting the creature so angry it will act out in anger making a mistake.

Sam was using a steel pole he found on the rubble to block the blows of the young troll. "He's starting to tire me out." Glancing at Brocan he noticed that he finally pinned the female troll to the ground bounding her with iron form of cuffs to her hands and feet. The tall man sighed with relief watching the large troll running toward the younger one. The older creature turned his head to see where the older man was doing and instantly notice a female human was fighting Simber. He watched steadily while he pinned down the squirming teen monster.

Simber lunged at the human man insulting him. "I will kill you!" It was hard to keep his eyes on both the man and the woman that was attacking him.

Mara moved quickly with extra energy of her true form. She finally got her chance to strike the monster when he grabbed Dean's left arm. She heard the older Winchester cry out in pain as the large hand squeezed the flesh and bone. With her strength, the sword came down on the wrist.

His green eyes looked in fascinated horror watching the sharp dull shine metal come down on the troll's wrist. The sound of crunching bone as the red glowing metal went through was something he will never forget. Dean moved back quickly feeling the large hand fall off his arm as the creature howled in pain. His eyes took in the view of Mara come in taking off the other huge hand leaving the troll virtually helpless.

The auburn hair woman felt a little empathy for the screaming creature. She gazed at the stumps that was spurting blood and knew she had to put the troll out of its misery. "You will die and go to a better place." She spoke to Simber with assurance then she ram the sword into his left eye to pierce his brain. The woman quickly moved out of the way as the large body fell to the ground as it died in nerve spasms.

"Give me the iron cuffs Human." The troll gruff voice yelled the tall man standing near him. Soon as Sam placed it in his hand he placed the circular metal around the adolescent troll's wrists and worked his way to his ankles. The boy creature started to yell his father's name . "Be quiet youngling" He stood up leaving the howling teenage being on the ground.

The large troll had the two survivors huddling near the previous portal. He spoke in a language to the bound mother and son troll. The creatures were crying of the loss of their loved one. Brocan used a large sack to place Simbers body inside. He felt the two human men observing the scene of the aftermath.

Brocan stood up approaching the three people. "You did well fighting and I will be returning with his body and these two.' His large finger pointed toward the two crying beings in cuffs. "You helped me stop Simber. I will share my gold with you when I receive it."

"Don't worry about sharing the gold." There was a look of stunned surprise in the trolls large eyes. "We don't need it." Dean replied. "I do want my cellphone back."

The troll bent over grabbing his burlap sack. "Here is your talking box." The cellphone looked so small in the massive right hand.

The green eyed man took his device. "Thanks. I'm glad there will be no more organ harvesting."

Brocan inclined his head for respect. "My thanks for helping me. I hope we cross paths someday again." The troll held out his huge hand.

The older Winchester gripped his which gave the impression his hand was almost small as a child to an adult. "Maybe one day if you find another human killing troll."

A moment later the portal closed silently as the three people headed toward the black Impala. The two men loaded the weapons into the trunk of Dean's car. Mara opened the back passenger door to slide in and waited for the brother's to get inside. Her cell phone chimed to see a message from headquarters asking for assistance regarding a case. She read quickly instantly replied that she will give an assessment in a few hours.

The driver's side door opened. "Hey you could have helped instead of looking into your fan mail."

"You are doing such a good job packing your own things. I did not want to get in the way." Mara replied expressing a humorous tone. She glanced at the grinning Sam knowing her words caused a stir in the older brother.

Dean drove everyone back to the motel room feeling exhausted and dirty. They booked a room for Mara that next door to theirs. The older man turned on the lights of his motel room making his way toward the overnight bag that was left on the bed. Sam walked inside while Dean asked Mara to come by after she cleaned up.

"This hunt was a tough one. Those damned trolls were hard to fight. Brocan will definitely get a big reward for capturing the wife and son with the body of the other troll."

Sam sat down on the bed taking his boots off. At least we encountered our first one and know how to destroy them."

Dean pulled out some shorts placing it on his bed. "I wish Cas could have helped us but I'm glad Mara showed up." He saw his younger brother hide his grin. "Hey, she should be resting at the bunker not fighting trolls."

The taller man sat up straight glancing at his older brother. "I understand you are concerned about Mara. She's a grown woman that can make her own decisions. You can't control her man. If you keep acting like this she will leave. Is that what you want?" Sam was getting tired of Dean's domineering behavior.

The older Winchester sat down brooding. "No I don't want her to leave yet. If she decides to go back to where she comes from I will not complain." His green eyes saw his brother's expression. "Yeah, she grew on me. Who would not blame me for enjoying a hot looking woman around." He paused realizing what he just said. "Sammy she is not human so it changes everything."

Sam shook his head in disagreement. "It does not change anything. She is not killing people. She has proven more than once that she can be trusted and her people have a reputation of protecting innocent people. Mara being non-human is not a valid reason not to like her."

The room became silent. Dean knew what was said is true. In his heart he was used to being with human women. "I'll think about it."

"Make a decision soon. I think she likes you too and if you don't want her then you have to be straight with her." The brother headed to the bathroom. "That's all I have to say about this." Leaving Dean lost in his thoughts.

Mara sat quietly on her bed wearing a towel taking in every thought that transpired next door. She felt frustration from both men. One in denial and the other person trying to reason with his older brother. The woman rose picking up the article of clothing that Kuryiel manifested for her. Mara felt grateful to have an angel for a friend. "That's the only close person I have in the world." Her mind acknowledge since she was a revenge path to kill the ones that murdered her parents. Mara quickly dressed to see if the brother's want to chat before it got very late.

Dean was watching TV until he heard a soft knock. Standing at the door was Mara wearing an white T-shirt and jeans. "You cleaned up nicely. I take an angel came by to give you some clothes."

"Not exactly, When I asked Kuryiel to bring me some clothes, it appeared on the bed. She would be the perfect shopper as a business." Her tan eyes twinkled in humor.

He chuckled. "She would if people would not be freaked out by her powers." His hand motioned for her to take a seat on the bed. "Are you feeling okay?"

Mara sat down noticing his room was not as dust free as hers. "I'm fine. A little tired but that's to be expected. It's not everyday I get to fight trolls. Those are tough beings."

Dean handed her a bottled water. "That is something I can agree. Thank you for help us. If it wasn't for you, we probably would not have figured out that I needed to the sigil spell and kept fighting the bastard."

"It's okay, we got him. That other troll is probably with the elders on how to punish the woman and boy." She saw Sam come out of the bathroom with damp hair wearing a t-shirt and sweatpants.

The older Winchester thew a bottle of water at Sam. "Yeah and he's getting a big award for the troll corpse. Brocan told me he will be able to support his family on the gold for a few years. I wish him the best of luck wherever he is."

The pretty woman took a drink of her water. "My people met their kind before. Very gruff and territorial. When other species of people populated and inhabiting here they decided to leave this realm from being tired of war." Dean gave her a sardonic look. Mara continued. "Don't get me wrong. They love to fight but too many died and the trolls did not want their women dying off from battles. They discovered a place they can live in seclusion from everyone here and left."

Sam was fascinated with the story. "I will add this experience to the Men of Letters journals. I wonder if humans been to where the trolls live"

"Perhaps, but I have no knowledge of this." Mara admitted.

The younger Winchester nodded his head. "We will never know. None of the Men of Letters been to the Troll realm." He opened the browser on his laptop. "Dean needs to stop acting like a shy school girl and flirt with this women."

Mara suddenly smiled hearing the words in the younger man's head. Her tan eyes panned over to the green eyed man changing channels on the TV. "I'm going for a walk to get some fresh air."

"By yourself in a strange place?" Dean asked immediately.

She wanted to laugh at his automatic concern for her as if she is human. "Yes, unless you want to be my chaperone." Mara knew her comment would strike a nerve by seeing him frowning. "I will be on my best behavior outside." Walking towards the door, she heard Sam said Good night and be safe out there.

Dean was behind the woman feeling a little frustrated by her comment. He was not trying to bully her but he wanted Mara to be safe.

The auburn haired woman walked briskly away from the door feeling angry and frustrated. "I am not a invalid. He needs to know I can protect myself." Her thoughts spewed out. Mara reached the end of the parking lot the feeling the tension in her body starting to calm. She used her Mai ability to use night vision to see the landscape perfectly clear. Looking across the street there was a field with a few shrubs displayed that intrigue her to cross the road. There was a crunching sound on the ground as she walked in the starry night.

Sam typed on the keyboard. "You really did a good job impressing her." with a tone dripping with sarcasm.

"I don't want to hear it from you." Dean snarled feeling a little embarrassed to be put in his place.

Sighing as he started into the laptop screen. "Dean you treated Mara like she is a kid that needs a babysitter. What did you expect for her to say?" His eyes shifted the man sitting on the bed with his arms crossed. "I would have told you off the same way. From what Mara told us, she has been on her own for years so you can't control her."

Dean rose from the bed walking toward the man at the table. "Dammit Sam! I was not trying to control her. I want her to be safe. I lost a lot of people I cared about and she..." He stopped his sentence in the process of revealing his feelings.

Sam knew his brother liked Mara and hoped he can force him to admit it. His older brother was very stubborn and has this need to shield himself from feeling anything as self preservation. "Hey, All I'm saying is to respect the woman."

The older man sighed in resignation as he grabbed the remote. "I hope she will not wonder around all night." He grumbled as he changed the channels.

Her auburn hair blew in the breeze as she walked almost a quarter of a mile away. The night sky was clear which made the stars shine bright from the lack of city lights. Mara noticed small animals scampering for food and felt relaxed in the atmosphere. Her mind momentarily scanned the Winchester brothers from the distance and picked up their thoughts as they argued with each other. She respects Sam defending her. There was the realization Dean felt concerned because of his feelings. Mara felt how strong it was slowly becoming and it moved her. Feeling the need to return, she walked back to the motel.

Dean grabbed his shorts and the t-shirt that was left on the bed. As soon as he made his way to the bathroom, he heard door of the room next to him shutting. His eyes closed in relief that Mara returned to her motel room. Feeling clean and tired, the green eyed man walked by his brother ignoring the glance as he closed the bathroom door. "I'm getting some shut eye since we have a long drive ahead of us."

The frustrasted woman sat in the back seat of the impala wishing the Kuryiel would teleport her back to the bunker. She called out to them this morning receiving no answer. Her hopes were distinguished realizing she had to endure a long drive back with the two men. Feeling lost in her thoughts, her tan eyes glanced at the man that reflected in the rear view mirror. She saw instantly him look away toward the street."

The drive was lengthy and Dean did what he could to play some music that Mara may like. He even tried to have small talk with her but she was curt with her answers. Her attitude eventually made him go silent as he listen to Sam converse with the woman from time to time.

Mara stealthily glanced at the driver still feeling slight disappointment. She willed herself not to enter Dean's dreams yesterday evening. The last thing she needed is witness an erotic dream about her or someone else.

End of Chapter 22

More to Come