I Don't Know You Anymore

by DontWannaBeAClue

Part Three in the Addy/Dean series roughly following Season 6 onward.

38. When The Well Has No Water To Hold

When The Well Has No Water To Hold:

Toby had been kind enough to consolidate all of the information he continued to find to keep me updated about Kevin Tran's missing person's file and so far there hadn't been any significant changes. I still thought that going to the family's home was the best place to start so that I could attempt to confirm or deny Toby's suspicions that whatever happened to Kevin Tran had something to do with so sort of Angel business, but I couldn't help but stop to talk to Kevin's girlfriend to get her take on the situation first hand.

The moment that I moved to open my car door (after making it to the Tran home much later in the day than I had anticipated), I felt a strong hand grip my upper right arm to halt my action. A breath later I heard a familiar gravelly voice say, "You have no reason to go into that house Adelaide. There truly isn't anything helpful for you in that home."

My mouth fell open momentarily in shock because the last time I had seen this particular angel he had seemed more than content to stay out of any and all human affairs, so his interference right now somewhat baffled me. "Cas…? Do you…? Does that mean that the family has been reunited? You mean that Kevin and…? That everyone is alright?"

Castiel nodded then said, "Besides… You have other places where you know that your help is needed right now." He turned just his head to make painfully direct eye contact as he somewhat awkwardly added, "This mother and son have been through so much and need this time together to heal. I'm sure that you of all people understand what that feels like… Plus they are both under the protection of my brothers right now. Please leave and find someone else to help? Please Addy?"

After that statement Castiel promptly disappeared and I was left alone once again just staring at the house and was left alone with my thoughts. His brothers… Shit angels WERE involved, but why? Well I guess it's over and they're in good hands now, right? Right? For some reason I didn't feel any more at ease about the situation after hearing that information, but I still wanted to respect Castiel's wishes.

I was just about to start up my car with the full intention of leaving when I caught some movements out of the corner of my eye near the far end of the yard that grabbed my attention. Thankfully there weren't any street lights close to where I was parked, so I was able to conceal myself in the darkness of my car fairly easily. That however wasn't good enough for me and I still moved into the backseat of my GTO to further conceal my presence just in case whomever I was spying on had better than human night vision.

When the two figures got closer to my car, the sight of them completely stole my breath away. Edgar (or more precisely the Leviathan that I had gotten to know as 'Edgar the construction worker') was dragging a spooked looking teenager down the driveway to an awaiting pickup truck. I knew it shouldn't have, but it did somewhat baffle me that the monster was carrying a woman, that I could only assume was Kevin's mother, over one shoulder. The teen (that I for some reason hadn't immediately recognized to be the missing high school senior that had brought me to Michigan in the first place) got into the passenger's seat without a struggle or word of complaint and then they drove away in the opposite direction of where I was currently parked.

Edgar… Fuck… Leviathans… Fuck… FUCK! But Cas said… SHIT! I thought frantically to myself as I crawled back into the driver's seat. Fuck! What the hell did the Leviathan do to the angels? I started to feel panic trying to overtake me and my hands started to shake so I gripped my steering wheel tightly and scolded myself silently. No time to worry about that right now. First we need to find out what they want with the kid so we can get him the hell away from those things… Somehow.

"Okay… Okay… Take a deep breath…" I coached myself aloud when I started to feel like I was going to hyperventilate. "First, get the fuck away from here. Second step, try to get a hold of Cas to find out why that kid is so important. Third… DON'T FUCKING FREAK OUT YET. Damn it Addy, just get the fuck out of here without causing a damn accident."

"So it WAS an angel thing," Toby mused sounding like another thought had started to preoccupy his over-active mind.

I continued to move around the kitchenette in my motel room as I replied, "Yeah it most definitely was… But why do I get the feeling that that isn't actually news to you? Come on Tobs, spill… What juicy tidbit of information do you know that I don't Buddy?"

Toby had the decency to sound slightly embarrassed when he replied, "Sorry Addy, I… Uh… Sam called to ask me to help him out with finding some of the ingredients they'll need to make a weapon that can kill Dick Roman." He heard my sharp intake of air in surprise which caused him to say the rest of his explanation in a rushed out run on sentence before I could attempt to speak. "Turns out Kevin is a prophet and he was able to read all of that weird text that Sam asked me to try to translate for them… It… That thing they stole, it's a tablet known as 'The Word of God'…"

"Word of God?" I questioned inadvertently in my state of near shock.

"Yeah apparently that one is about the Leviathans and lucky for us it has the recipe to put together a weapon to kill the Leviathans," he replied in a forced clam tone because he had heard the mild panic in my voice and he knew I could crack if he acknowledged it in any way. "I couldn't really get into all of the finite details with Sam, but he did ask me to help to figure out what 'Father of the Fallen Beasts' means and… Umm… Uhh… To…"

I couldn't really focus on anything that Toby had just said because I knew that his hesitation meant that he had something really uncomfortable or disturbing to tell me. But his reluctance made me want to comfort him above anything else so I was able to sound relatively calm when I spoke next, "Hey… Buddy, it's okay. Whatever Sam asked you to help him with… Tobs if it means that we can get rid of the Leviathans for good…? Shit I'd give up my left arm in a heartbeat, so please just rip off the Band-Aid, okay?"

Toby scoffed softly in amusement before he said, "Actually I think you giving up any limb could pretty much fulfill the slot for a bone of, quote a righteous mortal, end quote, but…"

"But you suggested that they use the remains of someone who had publically devoted their life to doing God's work," I stated with calm certainty. We both chuckled then I added, "Which is a much more practical suggestion for sure. Fighting once armed is definitely not something I would love to do on a regular basis for the rest of my life… The few times I had to were enough for me."

"Yeah that's what I was thinking too, so I… Umm… I sort of suggested that they… Uhh… That they check out the tombs at Our Lady of Mercy for that particular ingredient."

I unconsciously sucked in a sharp breath as I felt my chest tighten. Now Toby's reluctance and hesitation made more sense to me. Although Castiel had done a stellar job of white washing my pregnancy while I was a teenager from everyone's memories in Kidder, the Connors still knew how near and dear the Sisters at the convent had been and still were to me. Even though they didn't know the specifics, my surrogate family knew that those women had helped me during one of the most difficult times in my life when they couldn't help me and I was more than happy to keep conversations about that topic as vague as possible to keep from inadvertently blurting out the truth.

"I… I know that they're kind of like family to you, but I…"

"It's fine… Seriously Toby it's totally fine," I interrupted over his self-deprecating commentary. "It's actually a really great suggestion. And you're right, if they got to the tombs… Well those aren't the women that I befriended, so… Yeah… Hell, if I tell them to use my name then the Sisters might even give them full access to all of the old death records as well as their catacombs…"

Toby's voice remained quite soft and somewhat uncertain when he replied, "I was… I was thinking that same thing, but I wasn't sure if it would be okay for me to tell Sam and Dean to… Umm… To make that suggestion."

"In all honesty Tobs I don't really think there's anything… And I mean ANYTHING I would object to you suggesting if it means that we can banish the Leviathans from our planet for good," I added in the hopes that I could calm his nerves about this subject once and for all.

He let out a heavy sigh then said, "Okay… Good… Good… So…" Suddenly his tone started to shift and almost sounded like he was trying to tease me when he continued, "So I noticed that you said 'if I tell them' and not 'if you tell them'… So… Uhh… So does that mean what I think it means?"

Although I tried my best not to, I let out an anguished groan before replying fairly evenly, "Yeah Toby it does… Well I'm pretty sure it does, but then again I can't always predict what crazy scenarios that imagination of yours will come up with if it's given enough time to run wild." I paused there expecting Toby to whine in protest at my attempts to tease him, but to my surprise my attempt to torment him was just met with a soft scoff of contempt. Damn! He's growing up too fast I thought to myself because Toby really had matured by leaps and bounds over the past couple of years and yet I kept thinking the old tricks I had used in his youth would still work to cut the tension we felt right now. "But yeah… Sam and Dean were here too. Actually I don't think you need to worry about figuring out who the 'Father of the Fallen Beasts' is because they were able to get a vial of blood from the Alpha Vampire today."

"WHOA! What?" He exclaimed sounding thoroughly shocked. "Okay… Wait…! What did you just say?!"

I chuckled softly as I briefly explained, "Edgar led me to the Alpha's house… Dean and Sam were there and they were able to get the vampire's blood without having to strain any muscles, so I guess that's ingredient number two down…"

"Edgar…?" Toby questioned with a very careful voice. "The last time we talked about… Him you sounded pretty freaked out about the prospect of seeing him again, but… Umm… Now… Uhh… You sound pretty… Umm… Amused?"

I followed Edgar at what I hoped was a safe distance to a large, sprawling estate complete with a mansion that looked like something I had only ever seen on film. I had no idea why Edgar was here or to whom the house belonged and I almost had to force myself not to chicken out from going inside to find out why the Leviathan was meeting someone here.

After watching ten minutes pass on the clock of my GTO, I slowly emerged from the safety of the driver's seat to follow Edgar's route. I forced myself to try to stay calm by focusing on my breathing and that seemed to be working up until the moment when I nearly fell on my ass after tripping on a large, very visible rock. As I straightened myself out, I cursed my stupidity silently because I had become so focused on my breathing and trying to appear calm that I had completely forgotten to actually pay attention to where I was going or to check for anyone that might be watching me and my feeble attempts to be stealthy.

Good fucking job dumbass! I cursed in my head as I hid behind the first tree I saw in order to take some time to further collect my wits. Okay… Let's try this again and this time… No tunnel vision, okay? Dipshit!

After checking the yard for any possible prying eyes that I may have missed before, I stepped out from behind the shrubbery to continue on my previous path to the house. As I slowly moved towards a door I started singing in my head,"Creepin' up on you is the wrong thing to do. I found your address, got your phone number too. Visit all the stores where you buy all your clothes. Been to secret places you think nobody knows."

Once I was safely though the doorway (without any nasty interruptions) I couldn't help but silently laugh at myself for the choice of song my subconscious came up with to help keep me on point. Usually the songs I hummed to myself were the same songs my Mum had liked to sing on the job, so for me to sing one that was basically narrating my actions with such accuracy really did seem ludacris enough to elicit a laugh or two.

The sound of agitated male voices drifted from a room down the hall quickly sobered my demeanor and I rushed towards that sound without worrying about meeting anyone (or anything) in the hallway. At the doorway I had my gun held tightly in my right hand and then I aimed it at the far end of the room once I reached the open doorway at the Alpha Vampire who was calmly seated at what looked like a long dining table. To my surprise he had an amused smirk spreading across his face as he watched Edgar grab someone by the lapels of their jacket and pull them closer to his face.

"DEAN!" I screamed like a novice on her first hunt (Stupid girl, I chided myself instantly) when the face of Edgar's intended victim registered in my mind.

Dean threw a quick, confused look at me over his right shoulder. I should have known better than to do anything that might potentially draw Dean's attention away from the monster that had his jacket in an unnaturally tight grasp. But I for some reason felt that I owed him a heartfelt cry because no matter what had happened between the two of us; the love, the hate, the indifference, the pain, the ecstasy, the loss, the hurt… No matter how I had treated Dean in the past, he seemed to always come through for me and thankfully on more than one occasion he had actually gone out of his way to save my life. So yeah… Right now I kind of felt like I owed him some sign of absolute support, no matter how misplaced it truly was during this moment of time.

Edgar's grotesque Leviathan teeth retracted almost immediately at the sound of my voice, but he maintained his unbreakable, vise-like grip on Dean's jacket due to his preternatural strength. Once his face had returned to its humanoid façade, his eyes focused on me where I was still standing frozen in the doorway behind Dean. Suddenly he stammered in a confused daze, "Lonnie…? Is… Is that…?"

Before he could finish his question, Sam easily sliced a machete through the flesh of the Leviathan's neck. I remained cemented in my spot as I watched Edgar's head fall to one side onto the floor with a sickening and wet THUD.

The feeling of relief at seeing the monster that had been plaguing my nightmares for the last few months ran through me again during the memory of the event of his decapitation. "Well… 'Amused' isn't really the emotion that I was going for right now Buddy. It's more… Relieved? Tobs, I… Edgar… Well, he's dead…. Or… Err well he's as dead as we can get one of the Leviathans right now…"

"WHAT! Really?" He questioned without even attempting to try to hide his disbelief. "But… I mean… Would you…? Do you mind me asking how…? How You…? Umm… How was he finally 'stopped'?"

"Not at all Buddy. Sam sliced his head off at the Vamp's house while Edgar was trying to eat Dean. I disposed of the head myself so there's no way that it'll be finding its way back to the body anytime soon."

"Wow… That's… That's… AWESOME! So what is your next move going to be?"

"I'm really hoping to sneak in a little celebration before I help the guys to find the last two pieces of the weapon's puzzle."

Before he spoke again I could more than picture the cocky grin that was spreading across the teen's face because Toby had long ago given up saying out loud that he knew that Dean and I would be getting back together, but he had never actually given up the hope that we would actually get back together. "Oh yeah? And what do you have planned for your celebrations…? If you don't mind me asking."

"Well since we can't have anything with high-fructose corn syrup, I took it upon myself to take your oh so sage advice to heart and I whipped up one of his favorite pies from scratch." I heard him take in a deep breath to reply so I quickly added, "But it is kind of too bad that we can't figure out what Dick did to that additive because it had such an interesting side effect on the vampires here in town."

Just as I had anticipated that it would, my comment piqued Toby's interest and he thankfully refocused his attention to quickly ask, "What do you mean?"

"Well I won't go into details right now because neither of us have time for the long version… But here's a bit of a teaser… It's way more effective than dead man's blood."

"Whoa! Really! That's freaking awesome…! But I guess it kind of sucks too… But I promise that I won't keep you from your celebrations… And I can't wait until you get home so you can tell me all about every detail that happened while you were up there… Stay safe, I love you Addy."

"Love you too Buddy. I PROMISE I'll drop by as soon as I can fill you in on everything so that I won't leave in suspense for too long, okay?"

After hanging up the phone I pulled out a six pack of beer from the fridge and then I checked the temperature of the pie I had left out cooling on the counter while I was on the phone with Toby. Satisfied that it was cool enough to carry, yet warm enough to taste at its best (especially if vanilla ice cream was involved), I picked it up as well and left my room to meet up with the Winchester brothers.

As I made my way down the hallway, I was somewhat surprised to see the door to the Winchester's room wide open. Although at the same time it didn't really faze me all that much because in the past, on more than one occasion, we (well at least Dean and I) had grown accustomed to leaving the door open for each other during a job, so I just figured that they were continuing that tradition right now without saying anything aloud. That was until I arrived at their door and witnessed the state of their room.

If I didn't know any better, I would have thought that someone (or something, but someONE seemed more likely right now) had broken into the Winchesters' room and ransacked it, but that didn't feel quite right. Then I head Dean calling out "Bobby… Bobby?"

Sam was deeper in the room by an opened safe in the closet as he said, "Dean…?" He finally turned towards his brother then called out, "He's gone."

They both jumped and turned to face me when they heard a bottle break when I dropped the boxed six pack of beer that I had been carrying to the floor beside me. I turned my eyes to the bottles that remained intact in the cardboard container as well and then I felt my jaw clench tightly. I knew that the flask Dean had been using looked beyond familiar, but when I couldn't immediately place its origin to a single person or place I pushed it from my thoughts because I figured that it really wasn't all that important. But now I had a veritable slide-show of times where I remembered Bobby drinking from the same metal receptacle which had me seeing red at nothing more than their stupidity over my own.

"Bobby?" I questioned with an angry bite. "Bobby's been haunting the two of you?!"

Dean just shrugged but it was Sam that finally replied verbally, "Yes… But…"

I threw the pie that I was holding in my right hand at him and Sam ducked just in time to keep the pie from hitting him square in the chest. He stood up to look at the mess of pastry and fruit behind him as I spat out, "How long…? How long have you known that HE was still around?"

"Just a little after the thing with the Shojo," Sam replied sounding somewhat embarrassed and guilty. Dean remained silent and just stared at the ruined pie as if it was a puzzled that needed to be solved solely by him.

"And you didn't say anything to… To… Toby? Damn it…" I muttered more to myself than to either one of them.

"Addy look…" Sam started as he took a large step towards me without actually attempting to reach out and touch me.

I took another large step back from him with my hands out to ward off any attempts for him to approach me while saying, "No! You know what? Save it Sam…" I then turned to leave but I couldn't help myself from stopping to disdainfully call over my shoulder, "Oh… And DO enjoy the pie!"

"We can't eat anything like that right now," Dean replied sounding thoroughly confused. "It could be contaminated and all, you know?"

I almost didn't, but I couldn't help myself and I turned back around to face him so that I both of them could see the sneer on my face when I responded, "I actually baked it fresh today… From scratch… So there's no additives, no preservatives and NO high-fructose corn syrup in my pie at all, just like usual."

Immediately after my declaration I turned on my heel and calmly walked to my room. In the back of my mind I figured that someone (or something) had already trashed the guys' room, so what difference would a spilled pie and a couple of broken bottles make in the grand scheme of things? But more than that, I needed to just get away from both of them right now because I didn't trust myself or what I would do or say to either of the brothers right now in light of our newest revelations.

Of all of the things that I had hoped to learn today, Bobby being a ghost wasn't one of them. At my room I slammed the door closed at the thought that not only was he a spirit, but that he had to have become a vengeful spirit. That was the only scenario that could explain the damage to the motel room. Not to mention the fact that he most probably had to have possessed some poor unsuspecting person in order to open the safe and remove the flask so that he could move around as freely as he would have been able to while he was still alive. Bobby Singer, hunter, researcher extraordinaire, one of the most dependable men in my life was now a pissed off ghost that had no qualms with possessing someone in order to accomplish his goals and I barely had the words to try to describe my feelings about that right now.

"Damn it!" I nearly shrieked as I shoved the last few articles of clothing that I had strewn about the room back into my duffle bag. "DAMN IT! Where would he go? Who is he after? What the fuck do I do next?"

As I packed the last of my personal items into my bag, the answer to one of my questions hit me like a ton of bricks. "Dick Roman… Dick shot him and now he's going to try to get his revenge… Fuck!"

Since the motel already had my credit card information on file so I wasn't worried about leaving without checking out, but I did stop to pull out my wallet. The room was messier than I normally would have left a place I stayed at in the past because of the baking I had done earlier in the day, but I couldn't afford the time to tidy any of it up, so I pulled out some cash to leave as a tip for the housekeeper who was going to be stuck with cleaning up my mess. With that done I moved to the door to do a final once over of the room to make sure that I hadn't left anything important behind. Yes, I was in a hurry, but there was no excuse to have to replace a firearm or any other essential tool of the trade just because I wanted to get away from this place as quickly as I could.

As soon as I was out the door I caught a glimpse of Sam a few feet to my right down the hall. Thankfully the exit was in the opposite direction of where he was standing, so I just turned to my left and stalked down the hallway without acknowledging his presence. It of course was no challenge for Sam to catch up with me in just a couple of long strides and the he grabbed my left arm in an attempt to capture my attention.

When I didn't so much as flinch or slow my steps, Sam tugged gently on my arm pleading, "Addy please… Please just give me a minute to explain."

I don't know what came over me or why my resolve to ignore him broke so easily, but I actually did stop in my spot and dropped my bags at my sides. As I pivoted around to face the youngest Winchester, I shoved him back with both hands as violently as I could shouting, "Explain? EXPLAIN? Whatever could there be for you to 'explain' Sam? What could you possibly say to me right now that could even attempt to justify how you and… And…" I had to take a moment to swallow some of my rage to keep myself from absolutely breaking down into tears of frustration before being able to continue more confidently. "To justify how you and Dean lied to me… And to Toby." Now that I had my second wind I shoved my hands back against his chest several times until I finally had him backed up against a wall.

Sam just stared down at me with his mouth gaping open in shock, which for some unknown reason actually helped me to gain some momentum. I poked my finger, hard, into the same spot over and over on one of his pecks with savage precision as I said in a menacingly calm tone, "You fucking lied to me! ME! After everything I've been through with you and your damn brother… After all of the stupid, sappy pacts and promises we made to each other… I fucking believed every single thing you promised me Sam… Everything…" By this point my tears were flowing freely and my words had lost some of their heat, but I tried my best to ignore my sadness as I continued to rant as strongly as I could. "We pledged… No… Fuck it… You know what Winchester? I'm done. I'm done with the whole fucking lot of you. Dean Winchester, the almighty monster hunter and his faithful side-kick brother Sam obviously know more than anyone else on this planet about defeating evil, so why do the rest of us even try to intervene with them? You two have each other, so why do I even try?"

Feeling almost completely numb from my outburst, I turned away from the shell-shocked looking hunter to retrieve my duffle bags. Sam remained still and silent in his spot against the wall, reeling from the words I had just spat out at him. His breathing finally started to slow down while he tried to digest those words and tried to make sense of it all.

"Addy," he finally called out in a soft, cautious voice once he felt that he had finally caught up. "Addy wait… Please just give me a minute… We need…"

"NO!" I cut him off with a low, angry growl. I didn't bother to look over my shoulder at him (in all honesty I wasn't sure that I would be able to maintain my steely exterior if I saw the hurt look in Sam's eyes) and stated as resolutely as I possibly could, "No. I'm done Sam Winchester. I am absolutely fucking done with trying to prove myself to everyone that I AM a worthy hunter… And that includes you and your brother… So fine… You go your way and… Well… Like always I'll go mine. Goodbye Sam… Don't bother to call me and I'll be sure to delete your number too because obviously every word we said to each other was utter and absolute bullshit." By this time I wasn't sure if he was listening or if he could even hear me anymore, but I still added quietly, "It… It just hurts too fucking much to think that you of all people don't trust me."

Before he could utter any words of rebuttal, I rushed out of the building as fast as my feet could carry me. I quickly threw my bags into the backseat over the front seat because securing them in the trunk seemed like it would take too damn long for me to make a truly dramatic exit. Once behind the wheel of my GTO I almost broke down into tears, but I quickly reminded myself that I couldn't allow myself the luxury of anymore tears just yet. I couldn't show that weakness to the Winchesters, not that they were close by to witness it, especially after I had made such a spectacle of telling Sam that I was irrevocably angry with them when in truth I was actually completely heartbroken and deeply wounded emotionally. I once again felt like the kid that everyone was trying to ditch on the playground even though Sam had constantly tried to assure me that I was their equal partner which had always led me to believe that I was a welcomed addition to their team.

I peeled out of the parking lot and didn't stop until I found a rest stop miles away from where I felt like my work had completely crashed down around me. After using the facilities and giving my face a quick scrub to wash away the tracks of my tears, I perused the vending machines to make a few choice purchases (even though I was no longer feeling the hunger pangs that had been plaguing during my drive). Once I got back to my car the food I had purchased was quickly discarded into the passenger's seat in the hopes that the previous, ravenous bought of hunger that I had felt previously would find me at some point in my travels. As it was, right now I tasted only ash in my mouth as I rested my hand on the slight bulge of my cell phone in my jacket pocket. I had felt it vibrate while I was driving and was happy to use the current State laws against driving whilst using a handheld device as the perfect excuse not to answer my phone. But now that I was completely stationary at the rest stop I realized that I had a significant decision to make.

What's your excuse now Addy? I asked myself before I forced my hand to pull my phone out of my pocket and illuminated the display screen. To my surprise there wasn't a voicemail waiting for me or a missed call like I had predicted, but there was an unopened text message awaiting my attention. So…? Who do you think that it's from?

Since there was an off chance that the message could be from Toby, I knew that I was going to check it out no matter what else was happening in my life. Of course the name didn't read 'Derek Jeter', instead the text message was from 'Daniel Jones' which gave me a moment of pause.

"Shit… Sam," I sighed as I read the first line of his message under his clever pseudonym.

"I'M SORRY ADDY, YOU'RE RIGHT" it read prompting me to press the button that would reveal the rest of the words of his message. "WE SHOULD HAVE TOLD YOU ABOUT BOBBY. EVEN THOUGH YOU HAVE NO REASON TO BELIEVE ME, I PROMSE YOU THAT I WON'T BOTHER YOU (OR TOBY) UNLESS ONE OF US IS DEAD OR DYING. TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF. I REALLY AM SORRY ABOUT EVERYTHING."

"Shit… Shit…" I cursed again as the first tears of remorse started to fall.

As I eased my car into the driveway, I pulled out my phone and pressed the 'T' key to ring through to that speed dial number.

"Addy?" A groggy sounding voice questioned over the line.

"Sorry I woke you up Buddy, I was hoping to just leave you a message because I wanted to let you know that I'm going to be home for a little bit… Starting tonight, so if you have any free time coming up over the next couple of days…"

"Seriously?" He asked sounding more awake without sound more alert.

"As a heart attack," I answered with a soft chuckle. "But we can get into all of that later, it's late… Well actually it's too early for you to be awake, so you go back to sleep and just head on over whenever you're finished your homework and chores and such, okay?"

"Okay," he agreed through a long yawn. He seemed to be close to falling back asleep, but he still managed to sneak in a quiet "Welcome home" before he hit END CALL.

I couldn't help but chuckle because this felt absolutely normal to me. Toby was happy that I was home and then he promptly fell back asleep without even hinting to the fact that he sensed that my world was crumbling around me. But maybe if I played my cards right then I could keep up this charade for a little while longer and God willing he might never find out the truth. I know it was beyond wishful thinking, in fact it bordered on delusional, but it was actually the easiest problem for me to solve right now. Wonderful, fooling my nearest and dearest family member into thinking that nothing had changed with me was the 'easiest' item on my agenda to accomplish… I was not excited about the upcoming weeks.

After pulling my bags out of the backseat, I carefully extracted a small, long rectangular box out of my center console. Even though I knew that no one (well no mortal person) was aware of the contents of this box, I couldn't resist the urge to lift the lid to double check that everything was as it should be… That the syringe of blood I had procured from the Alpha Vampire was safely nestled inside the box and was completely undisturbed.

"See you next season," the vampire calmly retorted from where he was standing at the far end of the long dining table.

"Looking forward to it," Dean commented with a sneer. He and Sam turned to leave but Dean paused when he noticed that I hadn't moved at all because my eyes remained laser focused on the head that lay near my feet. "Lay! Come on, we gotta go!" He called out to me in a hushed yell.

My eyes moved up from my feet towards almost reluctantly as I whispered, "I'm sorry… I can't."

Dean spared a quick glance at the vampire in the room who appeared to be thoroughly amused by what he was witnessing. Dean's jaw clenched and then he stomped over to my side so that he could keep his voice as low as possible while he tried to reason with me.

"Lay we got what we came for, so now it's time to go."

I kept my face tilted down and away so that the only person who could clearly see any part of my face was Dean as I replied, "I know, but I… I can't risk him coming back… I… I dodged him once, I don't know if I can do it again."

The sensation of Dean gently grabbing my forearm caused me to jump slightly and then I turned my face so that I could look at him straight on. I don't know what he saw, but his facial features softened the instant that our eyes met and then he quietly said, "Okay… Okay. I think I get it. Just… Be careful, alright? I don't like the idea of you being alone with Fang Face over there for too long."

A brief burst of laughter bubbled up through my chest at that comment and I did nothing to try to suppress it. It was completely inappropriate and yet it was exactly what I needed in that moment in order for me to feel more at ease. I quickly pecked Dean's cheek then assured him in a soft voice, "I'll meet you back at the motel within the hour."

Although he looked like he wanted to say something else, Dean just squeezed my forearm again and then gave me a nod of understanding before he turned to leave. Once Dean walked past him, Sam just turned to follow his brother without saying a word or having anything said to him. I watched them leave and once they were out of sight I then turned my attention back to the head that was still thankfully sitting by my feet.

A soft chuckle to my left caused me to jump and then goose bumps spread across my skin when I heard a velvety smooth voice ask, "So is this how they are going to repay my kindness? Leave the dear, sweet Adelaide Jones who has tried to single handedly strike the fear of… Your God into the hearts of all of my children to finish me off instead of soiling their own hands?"

"What?" I gasped as my head shot up to look at the man to my left. The angry look on his face caused me to unconsciously take a step back and I had to swallow hard a few times before I could talk around the lump forming in my throat. "No… No…" I coughed a couple of times and then was finally able to more clearly state, "No, sir… That isn't why I stayed behind."

His eyes narrowed to show his suspicions about my motives. Calling the Alpha Vamp 'Sir' may have been a little over the top, but I swear that it felt like the right thing to do in the moment.

"Then why are you still here Adelaide Victoria Jones?"

I couldn't help but flinch at the tone he used while saying my full, legal name, but I still tried my best to sound unaffected when I replied, "He…" I jutted my chin down to the dismembered body on the floor. "Edgar kept me captive… I… I want to make sure that that doesn't happen again, so I thought that I could help you with disposing of the body. I mean I was just thinking that you wouldn't want him to be able to go back to Dick and tell him that you gave the Winchesters one of the key ingredients that they need to make a weapon that could potentially destroy him."

The vampire cocked his head to one side as he calmly replied, "You do have a personal vendetta against this one and I won't stand in your way of that, but…" He stepped around the table to walk towards me as he continued to say in a somewhat smug and happily satisfied tone, "But your heart rate jumped during your explanation… There's something you aren't telling me Adelaide. What is it Adelaide? What are you dying to tell me, but are too afraid to say out loud?"

I shivered slightly at the feeling of his breath on my skin and I had to take a moment to try to compose myself. When I did try to speak, I was really glad that his face was so close to touching mine because my voice came out much breathier and quiet than I had wanted it to when I answered, "They have no backup plan."

He reached a hand up to gently stroke the side of my face with the back of his hand as he whispered to me almost intimately (mostly to distract me from the fact that he was kicking Edgar's head further away from his body because it had somehow moved a few inches while I was talking), "And why is that such a terrible thing Adelaide? I don't expect this is their first time jumping into the pool feet first without a life preserver… Why is this time so different?"

I didn't want to say it, hell I didn't even want to think it, but with him standing this close to me I knew that he could feel my unease and my pulse rate speeding up so I threw caution to the wind and opted to tell him the truth in the hopes that it would bring him into my corner, "It's different because…" I had to take in a deep breath to try to calm myself before I could speak in a slightly more steady voice. "They're blinded by their grief more this time. They want vengeance for Bobby's death and don't want to just do what's right for humanity."

"Oh, but that isn't all that different from when Dean shot the demon that had destroyed his family by taking all of their lives, little Sammy included."

"No," I nearly sobbed out because of my discomfort at not only being this close to a creature I had worked the majority of my life to destroy, but also at having to admit these feelings out loud to another living soul… Well another conscious being. "No, this is different. Dean was avenging his mother and he had over twenty years to compartmentalize those feelings before fighting Azazel, but now… Now the wounds are so fresh… Too fresh…"

"And yours aren't?" He questioned while still standing too close for comfort.

I took in a deep, cleansing breath then stepped out of his hold before I more easily said, "No… And yes… I… I still mourn losing Bobby…" I explained honestly knowing that he would pick up on any attempts I could make at deception. "But I've had to deal with avenging immediate pain for much longer than either of them have… I know how to use that pain to make the bad guy pay for their transgressions without it clouding my judgment as much… At least not straightaway…"

He chuckled lowly in his throat and actually let me step even further away. He then look down at Edgar's body then asked, "Alright, but even if I give you my blood…? How do you expect to get the other ingredients that you need to make the Leviathan killing weapon?"

I picked up Edgar's head by his short hair and then I turned to the vampire and very confidently stated, "Don't worry yourself about that, I'll figure it out."

I took my time putting all of the ingredients together from my stock in the garage and refused to admit to myself that I was going so slowly because I was afraid. I had no guarantees that this would even work and after my performance at the vampire's home I knew that I couldn't afford not to succeed. I just couldn't allow myself to lose face to him. He thought that I truly believed that the Winchesters might not be victorious when in fact I truly just wanted them to have more than one weapon on hand when they went up against Dick Roman. I hated the idea that the one they were making could get stolen or knocked away from them or any other number of things that could happen to it before they could kill the chief Leviathan because then where would we be?

When I had everything together, I said a silent prayer and then I like a wooden match on the box's side. I couldn't help it and I just stared at the flame on the match end for a moment before I forced myself to throw it into the bowl. The contents burst into a brief, high flare of fire and then I was left looking at just a smoldering bowl of charred remains.

"Adelaide," I heard a familiar voice call out from behind me. "To what do I owe this immense pleasure?"

I snatched up a bottle of scotch form the table before I turned around to face him so quickly that I almost fell to my knees. "I need to ask you for a favor."

He took the bottle that I had been holding at an arm's length to examine the label more closely. He then twisted the lid off the neck of the bottle, sniffed the contents and then he gave me a quirked eyebrow as part of his questioning look.

"Glass! Of course you need a glass so that you can have a drink," I nearly shouted in my haste. I didn't even have to turn or take my off of the new comer in any way to reach behind myself to grab the tumbler glass I had brought out with me and left on the table top so that I could pass it to him.

He poured himself a glassful of the amber liquid and then he took a hearty swallow and smiled contentedly at the glass in his hand. "It's been a while since I've been able to enjoy a glassful of this." He then took his eyes off his drink and I had to force myself not to squirm under the weight of his gaze. "But enough about me and my comforts… What was it that you were saying before my dear, sweet Adelaide?"

I stayed in my spot as he slowly made his approach towards me to put the glass and bottle back down on the table. He then started to circle me while I continued to try my best not to shake in my spot or to show him my fear in any other way.

"I said that I need to ask you for a favor," I repeated just over a whisper.

"A favor you say," he mocked as he gently took a hold of my right upper arm. I closed my eyes to try to keep from reacting to the direct eye contact that he was doing his best to force between the two of us. "And what…?"

When he didn't finish his question I opened my eyes and gasped loudly. Instead of being in my garage like I had anticipated, I was now standing in front of Crowley in a brightly lit office where the color scheme was dominated by anything made in white. The demon squeezed my arm that he was still holding as if he was trying to tell me to stay calm and quiet, but I couldn't help from feeling anything but tense at our current change of scenery.

Crowley of course didn't miss a beat and just looked at someone who was standing behind me to calmly state, "Hello…" He then slowly moved his eyes to look up at the ceiling where a red and black devil's trap was revealed at the flick of a switch. I silently gasped again, but Crowley once again didn't allow this road block to change his demeanor as he continued his fairly cordial greeting, "Dick."

"Mister Crowley, we have so much to talk about. Take a seat." Crowley eased his weight into a chair that had been sitting behind him while I remained completely frozen in my spot. "And you… Miss…?"

Crowley smiled smugly up at me from his comfortable chair, but I forced myself to ignore him the best that I could right now. I hated to admit it, but I need him even more now if I wanted to live to see another day and the worst part about my predicament was that he seemed to know this fact as well.

After taking in a slow, deep breath, I slowly turned to face the smiling monster that was still standing behind his desk. As soon as he saw my face, his smile wilted away piece by piece until he had a confused frown dominating his face and he didn't try to hide his shock as he said, "Lonnie…" He paused a moment to compose himself and more cheerily said, "It's been a while since we last spoke… And I'm sure that you're just dying to tell me all about what you've been up to lately young lady."

I didn't have to turn around to know that Crowley's face had fallen out of his smug smirk at Dick's familiarity with me. The Leviathan continued to smile so widely that he looked like the perfect predator while I was feeling like the proverbial prey. I swallowed so thickly that I'm sure they both could hear it and tried to come up with a witty retort, but all I could manage to get out of my overly dry mouth was a weak, "Dick…"