AUTHOR'S NOTE:

And here is the next chapter, guys! It's got a lot in it, including Florence being there and cliffhanger I think you guys will actually like. ^.^

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

ENJOY!

xxxx

Dean felt like he had screwed up yet again the moment that Lana left out that door and his heart sank as he nodded to himself. This was partially his fault and there was nothing that he could do about that, except maybe take responsibility for his actions and man up. So, he headed out with her and leaned on the counter as she made herself some coffee, Lana avoiding looking at him right now.

"I want more than that," Dean found himself admitting.

Lana shrugged gently like she didn't care, but they both knew that she cared quite a lot. "Okay,"

"You know, this is all your fault," Dean told her with a sigh, shrugging when she shot him a glare. "Don't look at me like that, Lanni, you know it is. You had to wear that hot little black number at that wake and then seduce me with your hunting skills and ability to banter with me. You out of absolutely nowhere, decided that you loved me and wanted to be with me and I lost myself in you and loved it…every minute of it."

"But you won't stay, will you?" Lana asked him, tearing up.

She knew what he was trying to do because she knew him well enough, but the fact of the matter was that Lana didn't want to do this anymore. Lana didn't want to have to hunt anymore and Dean wasn't done with his revenge so this was like a bandaid. This was Dean coming back into her life to break her heart again and she didn't want that…that and she sure as Hell didn't want Sam and Dean to hurt Lily.

Lana loved Lily like a little sister and actually really wanted to see Lily and Annie interact again because it was nice to see her practically sister hang out with her actual sister. On top of that, the love she had for her made her want to protect her on a constant basis and since she was a little angry with the boys, it made that feeling go into overdrive. More than anything, she wanted to make sure that Lily was happy.

"All we've ever done is run away," Dean told her, shaking his head. "Things get hard and one of us runs."

Taking a deep breath, Lana nodded. "You've been running since we met. I just thought that I could catch you and I was obviously wrong. My Mom is waiting, Dean."

"Lanni," Dean said gently.

"No, I can't do this right now," Lana told him as she headed out of the kitchen.

Dean sighed loudly and got himself a cup of coffee, knowing that no matter what he did he wasn't going to get through to her. She was a stubborn piece of work—one of the many things he loved about her—and he would just have to talk to her later. Right now they had to meet with Florence, so Dean headed out into the living room and then smiled a little because there she was in all her glory. Florence knew how to get from one place to another rather easily…something Lana figured out how to do when she gave into her powers.

That was another thing about Lana: she was beginning to become what she had always been meant to be and it was terrifying. Part of Dean being afraid of being a 'dad' was because of the blood his kid would have, not anything other than that. He had grown up a hunter and Lana was something that he was supposed to hunt—offspring of a witch and a demon. Now he knew that Florence was more than okay with having said daughter, and it opened a door for more questions than answers.

Lana was supposed to be a pawn and she had done what she had needed to do. Florence had raised her to be good, however, and Lana was the best person that Dean had ever known. She'd gone on hunts with them, fought the bad guys and loved him more than anyone had ever loved him and he loved her. Things were shades of grey with them and he was more than okay with that. Now her mother was here and something other than Lucifer rising was happening and Lana still felt really, really bad about the Lucifer thing.

She thought she was saving the boys.

Honestly, she couldn't have known that she was breaking the last seal, and there was more to her than even the boys knew. This vessel thing was happening and they weren't sure how to handle it because maybe they didn't want to know. Sam wanted to be with Lily and Dean wanted to be with Lana, even though he was hiding behind hunting. Still, Dean didn't want to talk about most of this and Lily wanted to quit eventually and Lana wanted her to get to have a normal life.

Lana wanted a normal life.

"Good to see you again, Dean." Florence said smiling at him. "Honestly I didn't realize you guys were still together."

Lana shook her head. "We're not."

"Really? Because last I knew you got your ability to conceive back and you tried for a baby," Florence explained before she nodded. "Which, of course ended badly, right. Okay, so you want to know about Anarazel, right? You want to know about why you're dragged back in to something bigger? Seems to me that this is going to be a long conversation…"

Florence hadn't meant to bring the baby up like that, and Lily found herself standing in the doorway wishing she knew what to say. She and Sam had touched on it more than once, but Lana didn't like to talk about not being able to have kids because they were dark years after her accident. Then she'd died and come back and thought she was shiny and new, but the angels had made it so she couldn't have a baby…until she did everything Castiel told her do. Then he'd healed her and she and Dean were so excited and then that hunt…that hunt that made Dean pull a 180 and no one knew why.

"I helped Lucifer to rise and he said he'd leave me alone," Lana explained, taking a deep breath. "I'm able to be his vessel."

Sam and Lily both looked at her. "I'm sorry…what?"

"Lucifer said that both Sam and I could be his vessel," Lana admitted, shrugging. "So is Fecor here because of me? Or because of you?"

"Because of me," Florence said slowly. "Because I had a daughter with Azazel and they want her."

"They want her?" Dean asked, moving toward Florence. "What do you mean they?"

Lily took a deep breath. "Are you saying this is all a set up?"

Lana and the boys looked at her and she shrugged, trying to put it all together because it was obvious to her. She was trying to make a connection and it seemed like a demon kind of thing to have a plan and Lana was this specimen that both sides wanted to have her and she had chosen her side…the demons hated that. They wanted for her to be a demon like Azazel had wanted her to be—someone to lead the armies out of Hell—but she became a good guy and not it was time to make her suffer.

"It just seems to me that they brought us all together to maybe bring Florence out of hiding…so…what are you?" Lily asked Florence. "What makes you so important?"

Lana looked at her. "My mother is a witch that had the daughter of a demon."

"I'm from Purgatory…" Florence admitted after a moment.

"What?" Lana asked her, starting to hyperventilate. "Did you just say that you were from Purgatory?!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on…what the fuck?" Dean asked her. "What exactly is happening?"

Florence took a deep breath and sat on the couch, trying to figure out what to say because she didn't know how to explain this. She'd been around for a long, long, time, making a deal with angels and becoming good friends with Mary and then the boys were born and then Lana and then Florence tried to settle down and had Annie and then Azazel killed Annie's father and it made her want to even more be on the side of good. She didn't know what to do, but she knew that she had to explain if it was the last thing that she did.

"I came out of Purgatory, which let me tell you, is a terrible, terrible place," Florence began, shaking her head. "I was young and naïve and began to hang around with a bunch of demons until I found faith. I found faith and made a deal with angels to grow old and serve the lord and I've been doing that ever since. Then Azazel found me and I wanted to protect Mary like I couldn't the first time, but he possessed me…he wanted a baby. He wanted a weapon and I wanted a child and so when he left me, I took off and I tried to mask you with my natural abilities and then somehow along the road you found Dean and Sam and the demons found you."

Lana shook her head. "I was fighting demons before I met Sam and Dean."

"Sam and Dean helped you make a name for yourself amongst the demons," Florence told her with a shrug. "Azazel was after them and then his own daughter fell for the eldest and he wasn't a happy camper."

"So this is our fault?" Sam asked slowly.

"No, no—this is not your fault," Lana said quickly, reaching out to take Sam's hand. "I was going to be found out sooner or later."

"Granted that we screw up people's lives, it was probably our fault," Dean said shaking his head. "So you're the offspring of a demon and a creature from Purgatory?"

Florence laughed a little bit. "There are beasts in Purgatory, but I'm not a beast. I'm just a soul that escaped and tried to have a better life."

"But that kind of makes me a monster," Lana told her, sitting down and putting her head in her hands. "I'm just a monster and I had that miscarriage on purpose."

"Give me a moment with Lanni," Dean said aloud.

Everyone nodded and left the room, Lana shaking her head as she held it in her hands, wishing she could figure it out. This had all been a plan gone wrong and she'd tried for so long to be the good guy, but she was being ridiculous right now and so Dean got on his knees and put his hands on hers. She tried to pull her hands away, but his hands found her face, Dean determined to get through to her no matter what.

"Dean, stop, you're off the hook," Lana told him, looking him in the eye as he brought his face in closer to hers.

Dean shook his head. "I couldn't be off the hook if I tried."

Lana was about to say something else when Dean pressed his lips to hers, practically melting at the physical contact. He'd missed her these last six months and hated himself for the terrible things that he had said, and yet when faced with this new information, he wasn't even running. Florence had reminded him that through it all he had wanted to be with Lana and had wanted to have a family with her and this changed absolutely nothing. Sam had been right all these years about shades of grey, and Dean was finally realizing that.

So he kissed her, passionate and true, pulling her in close and smiling a little when she nipped at his bottom lip gently. She felt that spark between him and she knew that this was what she wanted—and she knew that Dean wanted it too. There was nothing like that spark and he'd never felt it with anyone the way he felt it with Lana. In fact, he had never been as in love with her as he was right then seeing her reaction to what her blood defined her as.

"You are the best person that I know," Dean whispered against her mouth. "You are not a monster and I want you, okay? I avoided you because all I brought to your life was pain, and I said those terrible things because I thought I could get you killed and I couldn't live with that."

Lana nodded, leaning her cheek against his hand. "If anything I'm going to get you killed."

"You know I won't let that happen," Dean teased, kissing her again. "After this hunt…let me prove to you how much you mean to me."

Note: More Lily and Sam next chapter, I just wanted to have some of the information out in the open for now. Next chapter tomorrow! Feedback is always appreciated!