AUTHOR'S NOTE:

I think this chapter is one of my favorite ones so far, to be honest, and I hope that you guys like it too! There's a lot in it, so pay attention.

WARNINGS: Language, Blood, Sex, Violence, Dark Themes

ENJOY!

xxxx

"You're really wound up," Sam said as he made it outside.

Bobby was with Lily and Lana trying to get in contact with Florence and Sam wanted to make sure that his brother was alright. He knew what that look on his face was and they were all learning so much about their parents and it hurt. Lily had gotten to have some semblance of a life before they were taken from her, but at the same time, they had all been jipped as far as life was concerned and now all they had was each other…this was strange. Florence had definitely planned all of this and while she said it was for the angels, part of that was hard to believe.

She had faith that she had passed on to her daughter, but there were other ways to please the angels weren't there? On top of that, Dean was having a hard time with this because Sam knew exactly where Dean wanted to be and he couldn't be there because Lana had her walls up like they had been when she and Dean had started all of this and Dean wasn't sure how to tear the walls down. Honestly, Sam didn't know how to help him to do that.

"What if Lana and I turn out like Bobby and Florence?" Dean asked Sam suddenly, shaking his head. "I can't let her slip through my fingertips just because I'm terrified of being a dad."

Sam paused and then shook his head. "Lana isn't going to run off and make a baby with a demon, Dean."

"That's not what I meant, Smartass," Dean responded rolling his eyes. "I know that she tried to move on from me and I know she's pissed as Hell with me, but I just…all of that information and it didn't change my mind. I can still picture her toting around a kid on her hip that has my incredible good looks."

"Even trying to be romantic you're conceited," Sam teased, laughing and nodding. "I think that's good though, Dean…that you can love her no matter happens. Right now, I think that Lana could use you even if she's angry with you but I think we both know that she's just angry because you never went after her. She's angry because she never wanted to do this job, got sucked in, enjoyed it, and then didn't have a way out so that she could be a mother because you started acting like a total tool—hey, let me finished," Sam chuckled when Dean tried to cut in. "Florence is going to show up and she's going to tell us why the demons are all riled up and then what happens? Does Lana just go back to her life without you?"

Dean sighed loudly. "I never should have given her a life without me."

"Sounds overbearing, but I know what you mean."

Even though Dean gave Sam another look, the two of them smiled at each other as Lily handed Lana a cup of coffee. Other than Dean, nothing quite made Lana's eyes light up like caffeine in a cup, and so she smiled and then took a sip, loving the strong flavor and texting her mother yet again because when she was relentless it normally paid off. Besides, if the demons were restless enough that Anarazel came to poison her to 'slow her down', then her mother wasn't going to stay in the shadows for long—she always protected when she could.

"Are you and Dean ever going to talk about anything?" Lily asked calmly.

Lana smiled and shrugged. "It's inevitable at this rate. Whenever we end up in the same vicinity for a long period of time, one of us wears down, then we argue, then we have great sex and in the post coital bliss we actually talk things out. It's not the healthiest way to deal with problems, but this is Dean Winchester we're talking about."

"Oh, I know," Lily responded laughing. "He's still the guy on top of the pool table, you know?"

"I know…I also know that you told him about Lance and he's feeling territorial now," Lana said giving Lily a look. "Lance was a two time thing and I'm not going back there, but I'm still upset. Dean pushes my buttons like no one else does and right before diving head first into a hunt? I just feel like we should be focused but we're not. I don't want you or Sam or even Dean getting hurt and I just…he made me feel so bad, you know? He never wanted to talk about it after the one time we did and I needed more than that."

"All I'm saying," Lily began slowly, "is that if you and Dean talked to each other instead of to me and Sam…maybe something would get resolved. This isn't just about the baby, you just hide behind that because that hurts the most out of all of it. You're also upset that he killed that demon."

Lana pursed her lips together. "If he was alive now, this would all be easier and you know it."

xx

"Wait a minute, wait a minute…something bigger than letting Lucifer rise is coming?" Kat asked Florence as she rubbed her temples. "Look, Aunt Flor…Adam and I don't hunt. We know all about it and we lend the occasional researching hand, but we don't hunt…at all."

Florence smiled and nodded, stroking her hair in a motherly fashion. "I know, sweetheart, but you also need to be aware of what is going on. I already told Kat and she's on her way and soon I'll let Lana know. Right now, I'm making sure all of the loose ends are tied up because if a demon comes to you or Adam, I want you to be ready."

"I get that, and I know that Kate is going to get all mothering on me, but…how bad is it?" Kat managed to ask, dreading the answer.

"Let's just say that bringing Lucifer about was all part of the Apocalypse plan," Florence admitted with a gentle shrug. "Lana played her part in killing Lilith even though she didn't know she was playing the part and neither did I, and while Lucifer has been keeping his distance, something bigger is at play and Fecor is on the move. I have to go to my daughter…but you need to stay safe, Kat."

Kat nodded and let her aunt kiss her forehead again, watching as she left the house and Adam came in. It was time that she explained some things to him and she knew he'd want to talk to Sam and Dean, but that was normal because they were his older brothers. He owed Lana his life and he was glad he had family, but he was also glad that he got to be normal: go to school, enjoy his girlfriend; look forward to a normal life. He wasn't about to take this for granted…but like Kat, he probably wouldn't want to stay still either.

xx

Lana knew it was a trap the moment that Bobby said he needed Lily and Sam for a little 'side project'. Whatever the 'project' was, Lana was fairly certain that it had something to with her and Dean talking out their issues and while she knew they had to, she just didn't want to. She had been perfectly fine with the way that Dean had made things between them, because even though it hurt, it was something to focus on. It wasn't healthy and she knew that, but she also knew that everything bottled up inside of them was just going to explode into an argument, not a talk.

"Wanna play chess?" Lana asked Dean with a smirk on her face.

Dean gave her a look. "Seriously?"

"I figured it was an ice breaker and the look on your face was worth it," Lana replied as she sat on the couch and crossed her legs underneath her. "So…they left us here to talk, you know. Should we do that, or spite them and not do a single thing they want?"

"I think we should definitely…not play chess," Dean told her with a laugh. "If we start opening up, one or both of us is going to start yelling…"

Lana nodded in agreement and yet she kind of felt like maybe yelling some more was worth it and maybe she could do this. The two of them, after all, needed to let everything out and she had missed him so desperately that sometimes she couldn't take it because there had been times that arguing then resulted in making up and then she'd at least get Dean's arms around her again…she missed that. She missed everything about him. His smell, his touch, his sighs of comfort and pleasure…all of it.

"You abandoned me," Lana said plainly, looking at him. "You and I have always gotten through everything, but what you said to me was the last straw and deep down you had to know that."

Dean sighed and sat down on the couch with her. "You caught me off guard."

"That's my job!" Lana protested, tossing her hands up in the air. "You told me once that I kept you on your toes—that my honestly and my needs for more kept you grounded in normalcy."

"I have to kill every demon responsible for all of our hardships," Dean found himself saying, shrugging as he shook his head. "I'm not done yet."

"Done doing what?" Lana asked exasperatedly.

"There are still demons out there responsible for getting our kid killed!" Dean thundered suddenly.

That admission and how loud Dean got voicing it made Lana jump a moment, startled, but the words settled in. She knew that he had taken her miscarriage pretty hard, but he had never really let on how hard, just said it upset him and been there for her while she was recovering…but he'd just gotten so involved in hunting. It made sense to Lana that Dean would be doing this for revenge, but why hadn't he told her? She wouldn't have just packed up and left if he had just been more honest with her.

"You were pushing me away on purpose to keep me away from demons," Lana told him, shaking her head. "Knowing that my place was beside you, you said all of those hurtful things to me to make me leave."

"You don't mean that," Lana said slowly, clearly incredibly hurt by his words.

Dean hadn't meant it to come out like that, but something inside of him told him that this was for the better—it was breaking his heart, but he needed her safe. She'd done the same to him before on a much less hurtful level, but she would do it again in a heartbeat to save him and they both knew it. Regardless of how much they begged each other to let them in and trust them, they would do anything to protect the people that they loved…at any cost.

"I do," he said nodding. "I told you all that stuff about settling down and having an apple pie life because hey, you were pregnant. I was never, not going to own up and be a dad but now…now you can get out if you don't want this, but I do. Hunting makes me feel—"

"—like you mean something," Lana finished for him as tears started to leak out of her eyes. "So that's it, huh? Everything we've been through was for nothing? You just placated me because you knocked me up?"

Dean took a deep breath. "I told you before we got in this deep that I didn't want you to get attached, Lana. I let everyone down and a hunter? That's just who I am. Now you can make a clean break and get away from me."

"Dean, I know you better than this…"

"Obviously you don't…"

"I knew you couldn't mean half of the hurtful things you said, but you said them and you wouldn't take them back," Lana told him shaking her head. "God, the only reason I jumped right into bed with Lance practically was because I thought you honestly decided you didn't care. I thought something snapped for you. I mean everything we've been through—Lilith, Sam dying, me dying, you dying and going to Hell…we wanted a baby, remember?"

Dean knew his voice was trembling. "Yeah…yeah, we did…"

"What do you want right now, though?" Lana asked him slowly, wiping a tear away but keeping eye contact with him.

"I want to know how long we've all been pawns in this game of life or death between Heaven and Hell," Dean said without skipping a beat. "Right now, I want to find your mother, find the demons, and figure out what it is that Lucifer really wants."

Lana nodded and then stood up, ready to leave the room and Dean knew it. "That's what I thought—good news is my mother texted me back…we've got a meeting place all set up."

Note: They're stubborn, okay? That's just how they are programmed. You guys will get another chapter soon, I just got caught up in work and in Iron Man 3 tonight so, yeah. Feedback is always appreciated!