"Hello? Francine?" said the familiar shrill voice on the other end of the line.

Sam frowned "Uhm…No, it's-"

"Francine, honey, I'm gonna need to call you back. I'm having a very urgent conversation with my neighbor, Mr. Egar. Yeah- that one. Listen, honey, I'm gonna have to go now but you're still coming over, right? Good. I'll leave the front door unlocked for you. Hurry up, because we don't want to be late for the movie. Ta-ta."

When Sam heard the click on the other end, he looked up at his brother and Lory.

"Judith is stalling him. We need to go through the front door, quick."

Folding his arms across his chest, Dean shrugged, "Wonderful, we just have to get past whoever the hell just came into the house."

Sam exhaled heavily, his nose flaring.

"We bolt for it."

"All three of us?" Dean scoffed, shaking his head, "No…There's got to be another way."

"Dean, there is no other way," Sam groaned impatiently, "Unless…Lory- do you think you could rip the boards off the window?"

Dean rolled his eyes, "I don't see any cans of spinach lying around here…"

"With her telekinesis, genius," Sam shot back.

Lory sighed, her eyes darting between the brothers.

"I can… I can try… I don't know if I can do it without making noise…" she trailed tentatively.

"Try loosening the nails so you don't have to snap the boards."

"I've never been that precise before-"

"You're gonna have to try, sweetheart," Sam urged gingerly.

Dean's eyes flickered.

Lory nodded finally, closing her eyes and slowing outstretching her hand. Immediately the old wood began to strain.

"Someone's going to hear us," Dean sighed, shaking his head.

"Shhh, Dean, let her concentrate."

Dean's jaw clenched as he glared at his brother, but Sam couldn't care less, or even tell. His eyes were affixed to Lory.

The creaking got louder.

"Okay, this isn't going to work," Lory herself sighed.

Sam put a hand on her shoulder.

"I have faith in…" he began, but found himself instead touching the dashboard, sitting in the passenger's seat of the Impala.

"Jesus Christ!" his brother exclaimed next to him, "Lory, did you do this?"

"No, I did," a stoic voice began behind him "and one would think you would perhaps be a bit more reverent seeing as how it was heaven's grace that just saved you. And, by the way, you are welcome."

"Oh, I'd say we just broke even, " Dean grunted.

Lory, who had been silently staring at the angel in awe, finally spoke a barely audible, "Thank you," and gently smiled.

Castiel briefly returned the smile before allowing it to fade abruptly as he addressed Dean.

"I suggest you drive before we are seen… I am beginning to regret leaving one of heaven's most valued and blessed in your charge."

"First of all," Dean began, starting the car, "I thought we were in her charge. She's the one with the Jesus juice."

"It's more of a symbiotic relationship…" the angel shrugged.

"And secondly- like I'm going to let anything happen to my girlfriend."

"Girlfriend..?" Castiel repeated with a deliberate disapproving tone.

"Is that an issue?"

Castiel was silent for a while.

"I was about to seek revelation before I had to assist you. Try to stay out of any compromising situations…" his tone implied he meant more than danger as he shot a look to Dean, "You and I will speak again, soon, Dean."

And just as he had appeared, he was gone.

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"Go back?" Lory piped, "Are you insane? Why the hell would we go back there?"

"Because," Dean began, folding his arms across his chest, "we started a job and now we have to finish it. That's how we do things."

She sighed, "They're just corpses, Dean."

"She's got a point…" Sam said with his nose buried in an ancient volume.

"Yeah, and the parts stolen from those corpses could harm the living in the hands of someone who knows how to use them."

"We don't know that for sure…" she shrugged, "We don't know anything about what's going on in that house, really.

"Exactly why I'm not taking any chances," Dean said with a stubborn, irritable finality, "Now, if you want to stay here, go ahead. I don't remember inviting along in the first place."

Lory furrowed her brow at Dean and swallowed the indignity, looking at her shoes. She figured he was simply taking Castiel's chiding to heart.

"I mean, so far, Bobby's book doesn't mention any spells using severed noses…" Sam professed, "And I mean, one little witch versus the Apocalypse..? Weigh our options, here, Dean. We've got seals to deal with."

"Sam's right, Dean, it doesn't seem like there's any immediate danger-"

"I appreciate your professional opinion, but I think I know just a little bit more about this stuff than you, seeing as how I was hunting when you were still swimming around with a tail."

She looked up at him and said flatly, "Don't talk to me like that, Dean."

"Like what?" he erupted, "Honestly? Do you want me to pretend you know what you're doing at all let alone more than I do?"

"No, rudely, Dean, and what I want is for you to treat to me with respect," she said softly and calmly, yet with an undeniable sternness.

"Well, I would kiss your ass, Lory, but I wouldn't want to soil your chastity."

Her eyes quickly shot from Dean to Sam and back again, in disbelief that he would say such a thing in front of another person. Sam's eyes fixed sympathetically on Lory. Her lips trembled as though she were about to speak, but she shrank back, more hurt than offended, which meant too hurt to respond. Sam saw this.

"Dean, come off it, already!" he spat.

"Yeah, why don't you mind your damn business?" Dean challenged.

"Hard to do when you're putting yours out right in front of my face! You decided to verbally abuse Lory four feet away from me. Just leave her alone, already. Jesus Christ!"

"Don't tell me how to talk to my girlfriend, all right?"

"I'm just saying, maybe you should talk to her a little more like your girlfriend and a little less like your bitch."

"Guys, chill, it's okay!" she chimed in, riddled with panic.

Both men ignored her.

"If Lory has a problem with how I talk to her, it's her place to tell me."

Sam stood.

"She just did, and you humiliated her for standing up to you! Which is it? Is she your girlfriend or your child?"

Dean stepped a little closer to him, "And you're just dying to show me how it's done, aren't you?"

Sam stood silently, weighing his responses in his mind.

"Dean …" Lory said firmly, "Leave him alone."

Dean turned on her, "Oh, and now you're coming to his rescue. Role reversal. Gotta love it."

"You're damn straight I am, Dean," she nodded, standing up, her fists clenching slightly.

"Are you gonna hit me?" he smirked in slight amusement.

"I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to…"

"Is that right?" he nodded.

She raised her voice, "Yes! Yes, it is! What the hell is going on with you?"

Dean chuckled bitterly, "You know, it's funny. I could ask you two the same thing."

Lory narrowed her eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

He rolled his head impatiently, booming, "Oh, come on! Sam touches you more than I do! 'Sweetheart'. 'Hon'. You always got along with him better than you did with me, and still do!"

Through this, Sam was still quiet.

"What are you implying?" Lory was almost too afraid to ask, bringing her hand to her heart, for fear of it splintering right through her chest.

Dean's lips protruded slightly as he finally prepared to speak the words that had been rolling around in his mind almost as long as he and Lory had been together.

"You and him are both brainy… He's closer to your age…You like the same things…"

Lory spoke only one word to keep her voice from breaking.

"And?"

Dean spoke his words quickly, thinking they would hurt less that way.

"Maybe you picked the wrong brother."

Silent tears streamed down her face. She knew exactly what she was feeling in her heart at that moment. She realized that Dean was moody and crude and aside from his physical beauty and the heroism he showed everybody but those who loved him, absolutely nothing like she thought he would be. Just as well, she knew that since they'd met, Sam had been there to soothe every single verbal blow Dean afforded her. There was no denying that Sam was smarter and gentler than his brother, and she and Sam were basically counterparts, them both being tagged by the afterworld. It happened to be opposite parts of the afterworld, but the idea was identical. On top of feeling like freaks, they were both constantly finding themselves at the business end of Dean's mood swings. They were both outsiders. And whereas the chances of Dean ever taking a break from his own internal pity-party long enough to sympathize with them were slim, Lory and Sam already had an almost perfect unspoken understanding of each other. Lory knew this. She knew this very early on. But she also knew, more surely than any of those other things, that she loved Dean more than she had ever loved anything, including herself. Even though she adored Sam, she would rather let his older brother break her heart a thousand times than be with him.

But for even suggesting that she would hop from one brother to another, Dean didn't deserve to know that. So Lory stood there, silent, with her wet face burning, but her eyes, cold.

Dean nodded.

"Right, then. Well, I'm going to go sleep in the car- give you two lovebirds some privacy…"

She instantly regretted it.

"Dean!" she called out to him, but the door already slammed behind him.

.Sam hooked her with a strong arm.

"Let him go, Lory..." he gently said, the unmistakable glare of the headlights gleaming into the room before suddenly trailing away, "Let him go..."

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"Where are the others?"

"Gah!"

Dean jumped and began to swerve a little. After reorienting the car on the road, he looked to his right and sighed.

He barked,"Stop doing that! Are you trying to kill me!?"

Castiel noted the bitter whiskey fumes as well as the the half-empty whiskey bottle between Dean's legs.

"Are you trying to kill yourself? You really should not drive while so intoxicated," he chastised flatly.

"What, being an angel doesn't pay enough so you started moonlighting for D.A.R.E.?" Noting the puzzled look on the angel's face, Dean cut in, "Don't even answer that."

"Where are Dolores and Sam?" Castiel persisted.

"Back at the motel," he said shortly, irritably. He gulped. "Why?"

"And, are you headed there?"

"No, I am not," he seethed.

"Good. I am glad I caught you alone."

"I don't imagine you're about to ask me to the box social..."

Castiel furrowed his brow.

"Box..?"

"Just say what you gotta say."

"Your relationship with Dolores Fletcher...has made quite a turn..."

Dean rolled his eyes.

"Yeah?"

"I am not completely sure that an intimate relationship with the prophetess is in your best interest..."

Though unsure about the current state of said relationship, Dean was ready to inquire exactly why not, but then something struck him.

"Prophet? Lory? Really? Hmm." Dean shrugged, slightly impressed.

He smirked smugly at a mental soundbite of one of Sam's old remarks about his taste in women.

"You may think of her as a psychic, but when one is granted the power of divine sight, he or she becomes and an instrument of the Lord. Dolores is far more than a common 'psychic'. When she has played her part in this war, she will take her rightful place in heaven, among the Lord's most favored servants. "

Dean's jaw clenched. He hated something in the angel's tone.

"Yeah, and, when will that be?"

"I do not know..." the began with a deliberate steadiness, but it waned when he looked down at his shoes, uttering, "But I am told that it will not be very long."

Dean suddenly slammed the breaks along the shoulder of the road and turned off the ignition. He bit his bottom lip, turning to Castiel.

"Don't screw with me," he growled dangerously, "How long?"

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"I should have gone after him..." said Lory, obviously to herself, as she paced the room.

Still, Sam replied from behind his laptop.

"It doesn't pay to go after Dean. He walks out for a reason. It's best to just let him go. But don't worry. He'll drive around, listen to some music, feel sorry for himself, drink it off, and come back to you in the morning with a hangover and open arms...." he trailed before muttering, "Not that I can imagine why you'd want to take him back."

She began with a sigh, "He can get a little out-of-pocket, but Dean and I have an understanding."

"What? That he treats you like shit and you take it? "

"Sam..."

"No, Lory," Sam groaned, shaking his head, "You can't defend him! Just accept the fact that he's a dick!"

"Oh, I know he's a dick!" Lory shrugged, "But what do you want me to do? Stop loving him? You've known he's a dick all your life but does that stop you from loving him?"

Sam shook his head.

"That's completely different. He's my brother- I have to love him. You, on the other hand, don't have to put up with his bull."

"I kind of do," she nodded slowly. "I'm with you guys regardless. Did you forget the way he acted before we were together? Either way, Dean's gonna be Dean."

"Before? How has he changed since you two have been together other than the fact that he hounds you about sex all the time?"

Lory was taken aback, and it was visible.

"Oh, come on," Sam continued wryly, "I only spend just about every waking moment with you guys. Did you really expect me not to notice?"

Lory plopped down on the bed next to him.

"But in his defense, he's gone from getting it at every rest stop to having to hold out for me."

Sam sighed.

"Lory, being in love means being glad to hold out for that one person."

"But a man has needs..." she shrugged.

His large hand encased hers entirely when he went to stroke it. He stared down into her sad eyes. Even while they sat, his long trunk caused him to tower over her.

He mused sagely, but with an undeniable earnestness, "When a man is really in love, he only needs to make his woman happy..."

Lory stared up at him intently for a long moment, sifting through him- his words, the intensity that beamed from his being. In this long moment, Sam stared back, countless things racing through his mind...

Should I kiss her? I really want to kiss her...Her eyes are so beautiful...Her lips look delicious...I heard virgins taste sweeter...She looks so sad...So vulnerable...She's staring back. Does she want me to kiss her? I want to kiss her...

But of those many, many things, his brother was not one of them.

I'm going to do it.

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Castiel raised his head slowly, but kept his eyes straight ahead.

"Based on the prophecies...and the rate the seals are falling...I would say, within a year."

He finally brought his eyes to meet Dean's, which were already beginning to sting. But instead of releasing the tears, he laughed a little.

"Where have I heard something like this before? Maybe, in the hospital? When Lory had a hole in her gut and you said your oh-so-reliable prophecies said she was going to kick it right then and there."

"I never said she would die then and there. Though, I admit, I was under the impression she would."

"Like you're under the impression she's going to die in a year," Dean nodded skeptically.

"What is written is not fallible by anything other than the will of God, Himself, and He has never interceded before. What is written in the gospel shall come to pass. Fulfillment of the prophecy is inevitable."

The angel did not know how to express the remorse that churned in his bosom. He wished he did.

Dean's eyes narrowed with a dangerous sneer.

"Well, you can take your prophecies and shove 'em up your angelic ass," he spat, enjoying the angel's flinching at a his profanity, "because my girl isn't going anywhere any time soon."

"Do not shoot the messenger."

"Oh, I would, you son of bitch, if the bullet wouldn't bounce right off you."

"I did not make this happen, so, wallow in your denial all you wish, Dean," the angel began with a stern impatience,"but do not take your frustrations out on me."

"My 'frustrations'?!" Dean cried out in disbelief.

Castiel sighed, "I understand how you must feel-"

"No!" Dean growled bitterly, his tears finally releasing, "You don't understand a goddamn thing because YOU don't have feelings! I don't even know if Lory even wants to even speak to me again after the dick I've been tonight. And I don't even want to think about what she and my own little brother could be doing right now back at that motel!"

The angel shrank at this.

Dean continued, waxing anguish, the tears falling faster as his face burned crimson, "And I've been driving around with that on my mind, half-trying not to crash into shit, and half of me wanting to, and then you swoop your heartless ass down here and tell me I'm going to lose the woman I love in a year?"

"Within the year," Castiel corrected.

"Oh, thank you!"

"That's just an estimation. I would have warned you earlier on, but from the way you two got along from the very beginning...Her devotion to you is critical in her role, however I did not expect you to grow attached."

"Yeah, well, I did," Dean said shortly.

"Yes, well... I see that I am too late. For this, Dean, I am truly sorry."

By the time Dean finally brought his eyes back to his right, the angel had disappeared. He sat staring ahead for a long moment. A sudden burst of emotion- rage, passion, despair, helplessness- caused him to slam his fist down on the dashboard.

"FUCK!!!" he roared, not from the dull throbbing in his knuckles, but for a hurt so deep that it could only be felt in one's heart- for surely a body would die long before reaching such pain.

Dean allowed himself one audible sob- one moment to fully feel the ripping in his heart- before wiping his wet face on his sleeve, speaking aloud, "Fuck this..." He turned the key in the ignition and did a one-hundred-and-eighty-degree turn before he sped off. "I'm getting her back."