Last Chapter before the Epilogue. Enjoy!


Sam made good on his promise to call Maria every night. It was the third day since they left and he was telling her how they planned on storming the nest the next morning.

"It actually wasn't as difficult as we thought it'd be. " Sam told her. "The police were useless, as usual, but…"

"Sam, wait." Maria was instantly on guard. She heard a noise coming from the kitchen. She knew that Kevin had locked himself in his room to study the Angel Tablet and they had both already eaten dinner.

"Maria, what's wrong?" Sam asked and she could hear the panic in his voice.

"I heard a noise. And I'm fairly positive it wasn't Kevin." She told him. She picked up the knife that she had taken to hide in her room and approached the door.

"Maria, don't you dare go investigate. Dean and I can be there in a few hours. Lock yourself in your room and we'll call Kevin to do the same." She heard the keys jingle in the background.

"Don't be ridiculous, Sam." Maria said. "I'm going to check it out."

"Maria, I swear to god…"

"Keep quiet, Sam or I'm hanging up on you." He reluctantly agreed and she headed out into the hallway, knife posed to strike. She entered the kitchen silently, and saw that there was a person looking into the open refrigerator. The door was blocking the intruder's face, but Maria could tell by the curves of the body that it was a female.

She approached stealthy and when she was at a close, but safe distance, she cleared her throat loudly.

The intruder slammed the door shut, screamed in a high pitch voice, and lost her balance, falling backwards on the cold tile floor.

"Who are you?" Maria asked firmly.

"I live here! Who the hell are you?" The red head asked from the floor, eyeing the knife uneasily.

"What do you mean you live here?" Maria hesitated for a moment but didn't drop the weapon.

"I mean exactly that!" She screeched. Maria heard a sigh of relief coming from the phone.

"Maria, relax. That's just Charlie."

"Charlie?" Maria was officially confused. "But she's a woman!"

Charlie rolled her eyes. "Last time I checked, yeah."

Maria placed the knife on the counter, and Charlie, no longer having felt threatened, rose to her feet.

"I don't understand what's happening." Maria said quietly. She could hear Dean's laughter and Castiel's scolding in the background.

"Charlie is a girl. I'm sorry, I thought you knew." Sam said, gently.

Maria looked back onto every conversation she's had about Charlie and couldn't recall any time that a personal pronoun was used.

"I just assumed, with the name…"

"Is that Sam?" Charlie asked her.

Maria only nodded, embarrassed, before handing the phone to Charlie.

"Hey Sam, thanks for the memo." She told him sarcastically. Maria couldn't hear Sam's responses but they must have been about her because Charlie kept shooting glances her way. "Okay, see you when you get home." She handed the phone back to Maria.

"Hello?"

"I'll call you tomorrow morning, okay? It'll give you a chance to get to know Charlie. Sorry she scared you." He told her.

"It's okay. I'll talk to you tomorrow, Sam. Goodnight." She hung up the phone and looked at Charlie, who had hopped up onto the counter.

She held her hand out. "Hi, my name is Charlie. I am indeed a woman." She finished with a grin.

"Hi Charlie, I'm Maria. I've heard a lot about you, except of course, your gender."

"I'm sorry I scared you." Charlie told her. "I wanted to surprise everyone in the morning."

"It's okay. Sorry I held a knife on you. I'm so embarrassed." Maria apologized. They heard footsteps running towards them and Maria grabbed her knife before whipping her body around to face the new threat.

"What's going… why are you holding a knife?" Kevin appeared in the kitchen and put his hands up in defense. Maria put the knife down in a huff, already having enough with the night's events.

"Charlie!" He rushed past Maria and hugged his friend. "When did you get here?"

"I just got here, with a hell of a welcoming party." She joked. Kevin glanced at Maria and the knife and added up the pieces.

"Charlie, you know you can't sneak up on a bunker full of hunters with access to plenty of weapons."

"The plan was to go to my room and surprise you all in the morning, in daylight." Charlie said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. "I'm going back into my room." And he left the kitchen.

"I think I'm going to go to bed too." Charlie said. "We'll talk in the morning, Maria."

"I look forward to it." She smiled and the two walked back to their rooms in silence. "Oh Charlie," Maria called out before Charlie entered her room. "I have a few of your Supernatural books that I'm reading. Is that okay?"

The grin nearly blinded her. "Of course! Do the boys know?"

"They told me to read them. Said it would be easier than explaining everything."

Charlie laughed. "Oh they will never live this down. Goodnight!"

"Night." Maria walked into her room and closed the door with a click. She placed the knife back under her bed and sat down. She felt completely drained of energy and only wanted to sleep. She hadn't slept as well as since she was with Sam and hated that she was so dependent on his presence to get a good night's sleep.

They had literally known each other for a week and she couldn't sleep without him next to her.

Maria had never been one to believe in love at first sight. Although she was a romantic at heart, she was also practical, and knew that the strength of her feelings for Sam weren't exactly normal.

Her head hurt to even think about it, so she curled up under her comforter and turned off the bedside lamp before falling into a restless sleep.

The next morning, Maria was making eggs when her phone rang.

"Good morning, Sam." Maria said cheerily.

"Good morning. You sound happy this morning." She could hear the smile in his voice.

"I'm just happy to hear from you is all. Even if I'm extremely worried."

"Don't be. The nest isn't as big as we thought it was. It shouldn't be an issue." Sam reassured her.

"Sam, you can assure me all you want…"

"…It won't make you worry less. Yes, I know." Sam sighed. "So have you and Charlie had a chance to talk yet?"

"No not really. We went to bed almost right after the incident. And she's still asleep now."

"You probably won't see her for a while. She likes to sleep in. Anyway, babe, we're about to head out. I'll call you when we're on our way home."

"Be careful." She said again, before hanging up. She settled in at the bar with her coffee, eggs and the last Supernatural book. Kevin was right, they were rather quick reads. She understood more of what Sam and Dean went through their entire lives and she was quite hesitant on joining the hunt. As much as she wanted to help people, she didn't think she'd be able to do what these boys have done.

And she wasn't exactly sure how to tell Sam.

She knew he'd be happy, because it would mean she wouldn't be in harm's way. But on the other hand, she wondered if he'd feel like they wouldn't have that connection anymore, and would ask her to leave. She knew it was probably irrational, but the seed of doubt had been planted and there was no digging it back up.

She still wanted to learn everything she could and even help them when they go on hunts, but as far as killing the creatures, there was a line of comfortableness that she wasn't too keen on crossing.

Besides the fact that she was already so worried about Sam, and she didn't want him to have to experience the same thing. At least if she was behind the scenes, doing the research, then she could give them the best information available to get the job done.

But what if she was making a hasty decision? She hasn't actually been on a hunt yet (save for Amber) and doesn't exactly know everything that it entails…Who was she kidding? She was a very emotionally compromised person. She knew exactly what would happen, and she'd be devastated for days, probably living in the weapons range with her bow.

That's why being a cop never worked out. Outside, she had a tough exterior, and confrontation did not scare her. She was Italian, for god's sake. So sure, she could do the simple arrests, break up the fights, seize the drugs, but it only took a domestic abuse case before she handed over her badge and gun to her then husband.

No, she knew that being a hunter was not for her. The fact that she thought she could, showed how badly Amber's death had affected her. She chastised herself for wasting the men's time and briefly contemplating just leaving, but she knew that it wouldn't solve anything. She didn't want to leave. She felt more at home here than she's ever felt since her parents died.

Before her thoughts could take a more disturbing turn, Charlie walked into the kitchen in an oversized t-shirt. Maria felt a pang of jealousy, and squashed it down immediately. Just because Charlie was a woman did not mean that either of the guys has been with her (besides the fact that Charlie has been in their lives far longer than she has and Maria has no type of claim on either of them).

"Good Morning," She said, effectively concealing the inner turmoil.

"Morning. It smells delicious in here!" Charlie sat down on the stool next to her.

"I made eggs. Would you like some?"

"Please. Thank god you can cook. The only one around here with any type of cooking talent is Dean." Charlie said as Maria got to work on her breakfast.

"Well, I've been cooking for most of my life. My grandfather was a chef, and my mother was a great cook." Maria explained. "Besides, eggs aren't too difficult. I can always teach you."

"I'd rather be lazy and have it made for me if it's all the same to you." Charlie said with a grin. "But really, I'm dying to know how you got the boys wrapped around your finger so quickly."

Maria glanced at her and saw no hint of malice in her face or tone, and chalked the brash question up to Charlie's type of personality.

"I saved their asses from a werewolf." Maria told her.

"That's awesome!" Charlie exclaimed. "Isn't it fun to wipe the floor with their egos? The last time I was home, I saved them too, from the Wicked Witch."

Maria raised her eyebrow, not exactly sure how to tackle that particular subject.

Charlie laughed at her expression. "Really, it was the wicked witch from Oz, you know Dorothy, flying monkeys, the whole nine."

"So that's all real?"

Charlie nodded. "You'll learn quickly not to be surprised by things."

"So did you all meet Dorothy, then?" Maria asked, genuinely curious as she placed the eggs in front of the red-head.

A hint of a blush graced Charlie's cheeks. "Yeah, we did."

"Okay, spill." Maria urged. "I can feel the heat of your cheeks from here."

"Well, that's where I've been, in Oz, with Dorothy… my girlfriend."

The green monster slept peacefully in her chest.

"Hold on, Dorothy is your girlfriend? And you've been living in Oz?" Maria's head swam. "I really do have to stop being surprised by things."

Charlie nodded with a chuckle. "These eggs are delicious by the way. Okay so we were talking about you. Sam mentioned that he cared a lot about you and told me not to scare you away."

"He did?" Maria hid her grin behind her hand.

"Yep. I always found Sam harder to crack than Dean. But that could just be because Dean and I are exactly alike and I know what he's feeling before he even knows, but I digress. How does it feel to be the only one besides Dean to get inside his head?"

Maria quickly processed that information. Sam didn't particularly seem like he wasn't forthcoming with any information but then again, they haven't exactly discussed much about themselves in their short time together.

"I don't really know. We haven't had much time to talk." Maria said honestly.

"You're still the first girl he's brought home to meet the rest of the family." Charlie pointed out.

"I sort of blackmailed them into taking me with them to become a hunter." Maria blushed.

Charlie floundered. "Those jerks! When I told them I was hunting, Dean's head nearly exploded! That right there proves how much Sam likes you. They hate when people decide to be hunters."

"Well, after reading the books, they'll be happy to know that I no longer want to be a hunter." Maria told her.

"They will be so happy." Charlie told her. "Sam especially."

"I hope so. I don't want to have to leave." Maria said.

"You don't have to worry about that. Once you're in, you're here to stay. Speaking of which, where's Kevin?"

Maria looked at the clock and it was well past the usual time that he was usually up. "I'm not sure. I'm going to see what's taking him so long."

She walked back towards his room and knocked quietly. She heard a grunt in response and opened the door to reveal Kevin, sitting hunched at his desk with his hands clutching his head and looking down at the tablet in despair.

"Kevin, are you okay?"

He turned his head towards her and she saw his bloodshot eyes. "Have you been up all night?" She asked, mortified.

"Dean hates to see Cas like this. He wants me to find a solution." Kevin said in a raspy voice.

Maria felt a well of anger build up in her chest. Dean will be hearing exactly what she thought about the situation. She helped him stand, despite his pathetic attempts to protest, and led him to his bed.

"Sleep, Kevin. I'm making an executive decision and you are taking the day off. I'll bring you in some tea and breakfast but otherwise, you are sleeping today."

Kevin gave her a small smile and was out like a light the second his head hit the pillow.

She walked back into the kitchen and Charlie must have seen the stony expression of her face because she jumped up in alarm. "What happened?"

"He was up all night reading the goddamn tablet because 'Dean hates to see Cas like this'. I am going to kill him." Maria ranted. Charlie narrowed her eyes and nodded in agreement.

Maria made him tea and a breakfast sandwich, all the while stewing angrily. She went back into Kevin's room and placed them on his nightstand. She sat on the edge of the bed and gently shook him awake.

"Kevin, honey, you need to eat something." Her motherly instincts were kicking in. Kevin smiled gratefully in his sleep-induced haze and took a few bites of his sandwich. He sipped the tea and whispered a thank you before falling back asleep. Maria resisted the urge to kiss his forehead. He looked so young and helpless and all she wanted to do was wrap him up in her arms and keep him safe.

Charlie was not in the kitchen when she got back but noticed that she had cleaned it before leaving.

Maria decided to let off some steam and go shoot. She changed into jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt before putting her long hair into a pony tail. She left her bedroom and headed downstairs.

She opened her case and took out her bow, once again treading her fingers over the smooth familiar surface.

She was shooting for almost an hour and she almost missed the muffled ringing of her phone. She wrestled it out of her pocket and answered it. "Sam?"

"The one and only,"

"Are you hurt at all?" Maria asked worriedly.

"Couple of scratches here and there. We'd managed to kill most of them before a few woke up. It got a little rough after that but we're all okay. We should be back tonight." Sam told her.

"Good, now let me speak to that weasel of a brother of yours."

"O-kay," Sam said, and she could hear the confusion in his voice. Now that she was assured they were all safe, she was going to give Dean a piece of her mind.

"Hello?"

"Dean Winchester, you have got some nerve!"

"Maria, what are you…"

"That poor boy has been up all night because of you! I walked in and he could barely keep his head up because you need a solution to get Castiel his wings back. Well guess what, Dean?" Her voice rose. "He's still a kid! Prophet or not! It's bad enough that he can't be a kid; the least you could let him do is sleep! I know you want to help Cas, but that shouldn't come at the cost of Kevin!"

There was complete and utter silence on the other end.

Finally, Dean spoke. "I…you're right. I'm sorry."

She could hear Sam sputtering in the background.

"I'm not the one that needs to be accepting your apology. But I appreciate it nonetheless."

The sputtering got louder and Maria knew that he passed the phone back to Sam. "I…how…what…"

Maria grinned in triumph. "No need to question my methods, Sam."

"I'm just… speechless. I'm just speechless."

"I'll see you tonight, love. I can't wait." She told him before hanging up.

Kevin woke up a few hours later, looking exceptionally better than before. Charlie and Maria were eating lunch when he padded into the kitchen.

Charlie ruffled his hair. "How you doing?"

"Better, thanks." Kevin replied. Maria scooped some pasta onto a plate and gave it to him.

"I took care of Dean." Maria said and Kevin looked horrified. "Don't worry, he knows he was wrong and if he doesn't apologize to you tonight, I'll be sure he is well acquainted with my arrows."

"Can you stay forever?" Kevin asked.

She patted his hand gently. "I'll do my best."

The three of them planned on what to make the guys when they arrived home for dinner. They decided unanimously on burgers, fries, and salad (mostly for Sam of course). They piled into Maria's truck and drove a few miles to the store, where they go the ingredients for dinner.

Maria raised a questioning eyebrow when Kevin placed an apple pie in the cart.

"It's for Dean. He can't be mad for very long if he has pie in front of him." Kevin explained.

"Kevin, I told you, there is no reason for Dean to be mad. Besides, I can make a better pie than that pre-made crap." Maria then proceeded to get the ingredients for her grandfather's homemade apple pie recipe.

The guys were expected to arrive within the next two hours so Charlie and Maria got to work on dinner and dessert while Kevin sat with his laptop in front of him, commenting here and there on the smell, or how Sam doesn't deserve Maria.

"Remember when I asked how you had these guys wrapped around your finger?" Charlie asked suddenly and Maria nodded, putting the pie in the oven. "Well, I figured it out. You're kind of the mother hen of the group. You want to take care of everyone and won't take crap from any of them. They feel safe around you. I know that I do. Dean's the oldest, but I think you're the wisest."

Maria was caught completely off guard with the description. "Wow, Charlie. I'm so happy you feel that way. I feel so comfortable here, more so than I've felt in years."

Charlie bumped her hip into Maria's. "Just make sure you stay. We all like you more than Sam anyway."

"Hey! I resent that!" Maria whipped around and saw Sam, Dean, and Castiel walking into the kitchen. She launched herself into Sam's arms and hugged him, peppering his face with kisses.

Dean remained uncharacteristically silent and Maria let go of Sam to walk up to him. She smiled warmly at him, to let him know that she wasn't that mad at him, and hugged him.

"It smells delicious in here." Castiel commented after Charlie hugged him.

"Burgers, fries and apple pie," Charlie rhymed.

"Pie?" Dean asked hopefully.

"That would be Kevin's idea." Maria said pointedly.

"Maria made it though… from scratch." Kevin said.

Dean rubbed the back of his neck and said, "Listen Kev, I wanted to apologize. I shouldn't have been so hard on you. Your health is important too."

"It's alright, Dean. We all want to find an answer." Kevin told him.

"But it's not really alright. I shouldn't put one member of this family above another member. So I'll check myself, but if I do it again, don't hesitate to punch me, okay?" Dean told him and Kevin laughed.

"Dinner should be ready any minute," Maria said with a smile on her face. She had her arms wrapped around Sam's waist and he pulled her close to his body.

"So, this apple pie's a family recipe?" Dean asked her.

"It is."

"I don't know if that was a good idea." Sam told her. "He will never stop pestering you for it if he loves it enough."

"It's pie," Dean scoffed. "I'm sure I'll love it."

"Well the pie won't be ready for some time yet. But if you want to start making your burgers, the fries should be done soon. And there's some salad as well."

Dean crinkled his nose. "Rabbit food…that's Sam's department." He was the first in line to grab a burger.

Sam placed a kiss at the top of her head. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." They watched as Dean and Charlie argued about the uses of mustard.

"The family's all here." Sam said blithely. "You sure you want to be a part of this crazy place?"

"I couldn't imagine not being a part of it." She answered honestly.

"Dean and I are taking a couple of days off." He told her. "Charlie's renaissance fair is the day after tomorrow and she's the queen. Dean's a closet nerd and loves larping. So we'll probably go to that. But otherwise, we'll have time to be together. Maybe get to know each other a little better."

"I'd like that. There are a few things I need to tell you." Her nervousness spiked.

Sam must have sensed this because he kissed her gently and said, "We'll talk later."

After dinner, Maria served up the apple pie and from the look on Dean's face, she had a feeling she made her grandfather proud.

"Damn, I think I just died and went to heaven." He said. "Cas, I swear this was the solution all along. This pie's so good it's sure to give your grace back."

Maria rolled her eyes at his dramatics.

"He's right, babe. This is the best pie I've ever eaten." Sam said, his eyes closed.

"Well, you lot are easy to please." She looked around at the faces of pleasure and sighed. She'd never been a sweets person so while they ate, she cleaned the rest of the kitchen.

Maria tugged on Sam's hand when he was done. She was anxious to tell him her decision, and didn't want to waste anymore of either of their time if he wanted her gone.

They went into her bedroom and she sat next to him on the bed. She wrung her hands nervously in her lap and he grabbed one, stilling them.

"Maria, what's wrong?"

"I don't want to be a hunter." She blurted out before she could stop herself.

"Wait, what?" His eyes were wide.

She took a deep breath and steadied her voice. "I finished reading the books and I don't think I could do through what you and your brother do. I don't mind confrontation, which is why I joined the force. But on my first domestic case, the wife and son were badly beat, and I resigned that same day. I am a very emotional person, and I know I wouldn't feel comfortable killing anything, monster or otherwise. I still can't get past the overwhelming grief of having to kill Amber."

"So you don't want to stay?" Sam asked quietly.

"Oh god no, Sam. I don't want to leave!"

"Thank god." He pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so happy you don't want to be a hunter."

"You are?" She asked incredulously. "I thought you were going to ask me to leave."

He pulled back. "Why the hell would I do that?"

She looked at him sheepishly. "Because that was the reason I'm here in the first place."

"No, the reason you're here in the first place is because I wanted you here. And now that you don't want to hunt, I can keep you safe. That's all I care about." Sam told her.

She smiled at him and placed a kiss on his lips. "I'm so happy to hear that. I still want to help. Even though I can't kill these things, doesn't mean I'm a delicate flower. I can still take plenty care of myself. I can go on hunts with you and do the research. I want to make sure you're kept safe with the best information I can gather."

"We'll make a great team. I can't believe you thought I would make you leave. I'm not sure why I feel so strongly about you so quickly, but the fact of the matter is that I do, and I'm not willing to let you go anytime soon." Maria felt her heart swell with love. "I want to tell Dean that we have a reason not to hate the books!" And before she could as much as move, he bounded out of the room.

She followed him curiously, and she could barely contain the laughter as she saw six-foot-four Sam, bouncing on the balls of his feet in front of a warily looking Dean sitting on the couch.

"I have a solution, Dean! Make them read the books!" He exclaimed.

"How is that going to put the angels back? It'd probably just piss them…"

"Not the angels, moron. People who want to become hunters!" Sam told him.

"I don't get…"

"He's talking about me." Maria interrupted, seeing Sam on the edge of frustration. "I've decided not to be a hunter and sit back on the research side of things."

Dean stood from the couch. "So the books did it for you? We can keep you safe now because of the books? Well I wish that shit worked on you." He shot at Charlie, who just grinned in response.

"We?"

"Of course it's we. You're still family. So you may be shacking up with Sam, but family protects each other." Dean told her seriously. "And from the looks of it, you've been plenty taking care of all of us." He patted his full stomach.

"Well, maybe I'll have to start being a little healthier with what I'm cooking. We don't want you to get any fatter." Maria teased and Dean looked like a kicked puppy.

"I don't think you look fat, Dean." Cas told him and Dean slung an arm around his shoulders.

"See, this is how you treat your family!" He told Maria.

Everyone shared a knowing look, oblivious to the hunter and his angel.

"Kevin, why are you so quiet over there?" Sam asked.

The prophet's head shot up from behind his laptop. His cheeks were flushed in embarrassment. "I'm just, um… writing…fanfiction."

A fight ensued, where Sam and Dean tried to overpower the prophet for his laptop, who had managed to lock it just in time. This broke out another fight, which involved begging Charlie to use her hacking skills to break in.

Maria sat next to Castiel on the couch, and linked her arm through his.

"What have we gotten ourselves into, Castiel?"

He merely shook his head, smiling contentedly, and the pair watched the never ending chaos that was their family. This was home, for in the words of Bobby, "Family doesn't end in blood."


Just the Epilogue left, friends. I hope you enjoyed the story!