Author's Note: I have the next chapter finished. I will post it tomorrow.

Chapter Fifteen

"Glad you could join us," Sheila sniped as Liz and Sam made their way into the meeting room.

All of the hunters who had gathered at Bobby's, about thirty-five in all, had squeezed into the basement and were waiting for the meeting to start.

Liz looked for Dean and found him sitting by himself in one of the corners. He looked up at her but quickly looked away. Bobby got her attention before she could worry too much about it. He signaled for her to come stand at the front with him. She pushed her way through the crowd and managed to make it to the front.

Bobby waited on her before he began. "Okay, settle down," he said. He paused while the various conversations died down before he continued. "It looks like everyone is here now, so we'll get started. If I asked you here, it's because I think you are one of the best hunters out there right now. Liz and I discussed it, and we came up with a game plan that we think might actually work. We divided all of the hunters between the two of us. She took the responsibility for assigning jobs to a handful of people and I got the rest. In a minute, I'm going to turn the floor over to Liz. I know that some of you have a problem with her, but you should know upfront that if you can't work with her, then you can't work with me and you should leave right now while you still can."

Bobby waited for anyone to move toward the door. No one did, so he continued. "Right. Now Liz is going to…"

"Before I decide whether I'm staying, I want to know why we should do anything she wants us to," one hunter piped up. "She's one of them. She's a Barrister for crying out loud."

Liz straightened to her full height. "I'm not a Barrister anymore; I'm a Winchester. I know that a lot of you have lost people to this war. I've lost people, too. I'm one of your leaders now. I know I've been moping around, but that stops now. We are about to go into full-blown war, and there will be no time for insubordination or handholding. If you don't like me, that's fine. You will do what I say, though, or I will kick you to the curb so fast your head will spin. Do you all understand?"

No one said anything, so Liz relaxed a little bit. "Good. Bobby and I have decided to split you into three groups. Bobby's going to be in charge of two of them, and I am responsible for the other. If I call your name, you will get your assignment from me. Otherwise, you report to Bobby. Dean, Sam, Sheila, Jo, Jeremy, Katy, Linda, Cassie, and Alex are with me. Everyone else, talk to Bobby. After you get your assignment, you shouldn't share it with anyone, not even me or Bobby. We designed it so that if one of you is captured, you only have information about your particular assignment and not the resistance as a whole."

"And what if you get captured?" Katy asked in a snotty voice.

Liz counted to five in her head before responding. "I have been trained to withstand the torture techniques that my brother uses. I'm the person who's most likely to not divulge information."

"So you're saying we have to hope that you can take what they're dishing out?"

Liz glared at Katy. "Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Lucky for you, if they capture me, they're almost certain to have other things on their minds than what we're doing here to stop them."

Katy rolled her eyes. "I think I'll focus on making sure you don't get caught by the enemy."

Liz took a deep breath and let it out. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend," she told herself.

Katy looked confused. "What?"

Liz smiled sardonically. "I was reminding myself why I shouldn't beat the hell out of you."

"It would probably make your life a whole lot easier if you would," Dean chimed in. "Katy respects power. She thinks you're weak, so she's testing you."

Liz cocked an eyebrow at Dean. "And here I thought it was because she's in love with you and sees me as a threat."

Dean shrugged. "Well, there is that."

Liz ducked her head to hide her smile then turned to face the group. "Okay, those of you with me, follow me." She headed up the stairs without checking to see if anyone was following, confident that they were.

She led everyone to Bobby's office and motioned for them to sit down. She dug in one of his drawers and pulled out a stack of manila folders. They each had a name written on the front, and she handed the envelope to the corresponding person.

"Don't open them here. Wait until you're alone then read through them. If you can, memorize them and destroy them. If you can't, just make sure you keep that envelope in a safe place. Any questions?"

No one had any, so the group broke up. Dean lingered a moment trying to decide whether he wanted to talk to Liz or not but decided he didn't and hurried out of the room.

Sheila was waiting on him as he stepped out into the hall. "So, your woman's plan should be interesting anyway," she told him. She fell into step with him.

"What do you want?" he asked in annoyance.

Sheila sighed. "There's something I promised Liz I would do."

That got Dean's attention. "Really? You promised Liz you would do something? If I didn't already know that the world was ending, I would after you told me that."

"Hardy, har har. You're so funny. I promised her that I would apologize to you for that stuff that happened in…"

Dean held up a hand to stop her. "That's none of Liz's business," he said angrily.

Sheila shrugged. "I get the impression that she feels like it is."

"How do you figure that?"

"Well, you are her business, so what happens to you is her business. And she's right, I should apologize for what I did. It was…not my finest moment."

Dean shrugged off the apology. "That's an understatement. It was a long time ago, though. I'm over it."

"All the same, I'm sorry for what I did."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Apology accepted. Now can we forget that that week ever even happened?"

Sheila smiled. "Gladly. You know, you're pretty damn lucky to have Liz. There's not many people who care for you as much as she does."

Dean squinted at her. "Are you seriously defending Liz?" His eyes lit in sudden understanding. "Oh my god! You like Liz. After all this time, you like Liz! What happened? You hated her. You mocked her every chance you got."

Sheila held up her hands. "Don't be an idiot! She's a prissy bitch, and I don't like her one iota. She has her moments, though. I'm big enough to admit that."

"It'll make you feel better to just admit that you like her," Dean said with a teasing grin.

Sheila sighed exaggeratedly. "Fine. If you must know, I do kind of like the little princess. I mean, she brought you to your knees, so she can't be all bad."

Dean laughed. "Sheila likes Liz. Sheila likes Liz," he taunted.

"If you tell anyone that, I will deny it till the day I die. And then I'll kneecap you."

Dean laughed some more. "Sheila likes Liz."

Sheila glared at him. "Aren't you mad at her or something? Like you said, she is getting in your business and you don't like it."

Dean shrugged. "You're right. I guess I'll go discuss with my lovely wife about how she should keep her nose out of things that aren't her concern."

Sheila latched onto him so that he couldn't leave. "Be nice to her, Dean."

"I'm always nice to her," Dean insisted.

Sheila jerked against his arm to keep him from walking away. "I mean it, Dean. In case you can't tell, she's in a fragile state."

Dean pulled his arm out of Sheila's grasp. "You should take your own advice and mind your own damn business, Sheila."

Sheila glared at him. "Did anyone ever tell you that you're pissy when you don't get your way?"

Dean answered her glare with one of his own. "I'm not pissy," he insisted.

"Whatever you say, cowboy."

XXX

Dean went back to command central and made a beeline for Liz. "I need to talk to you, Liz," he said with an unidentifiable emotion in his voice.

Liz looked at him. "Okay, I need to…"

"Now," he said almost angrily, grabbing her arm and pulling her with him. "You can have her back in a few minutes," he told Bobby as he passed him. He shoved her into the first empty room he came to and shut the door behind him.

Liz watched him curiously. "So what do you need to talk to me about?" she asked.

Dean growled in frustration. "There's something that I need to get off my chest. I need you to know that I don't regret my life, Liz. You were dead, and I moved on."

"I don't remember asking you to regret your life," Liz replied defensively. "I expected you to move on. I even told myself I wanted you to. I didn't mean it, but I knew that you had to."

"I didn't wait around for you, Liz. You were dead, and I didn't become a monk because of that. I couldn't tell you the number of women I've slept with over the last five years. There were a lot of them."

Tears came to Liz's eyes, and she turned away so that Dean wouldn't see them. "I know. It was harder to keep you out of my head when you were…with them."

Dean turned her face so that she was looking at him. He wiped off the tear that had spilled down her right cheek and kissed her softly. "You didn't let me finish. I'm trying to tell you that I missed you."

Liz laughed through her tears. "Well, you're not doing a very good job of it."

Dean laughed with her. "How about this: I missed you every time I was with another girl. I missed you whenever I heard some crap song that I just knew you would have loved. Basically, I missed you all the damn time. It didn't matter who I was with. It didn't matter what I was doing. I wanted you there so bad I could taste it."

Liz glanced away guiltily. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I went away."

"You should be. I'm so mad at you that I can barely stand it. I'm furious with you, Liz. That doesn't change the fact that I'm mainly just grateful that you're back. You came back to me. I know I should make you explain yourself, but I just don't care. You're back, and that's all that matters."

Liz started to close the distance between them but Dean put his hand between them to stop her.

"Sheila told me what you had her do."

Liz watched him for a few seconds, unsure of how to respond. "Oh?" she said finally.

"Yeah. She told me all the sordid details. She said you told her to apologize."

"I did," Liz admitted.

Dean shook his head in bewilderment. "Why would you do that? It's none of your business. It—"

He kissed her mid-sentence, wrapping his arms around her and hugging her to him. When the kiss ended, they were both breathing hard."

Liz cupped his cheek. "I thought you were gonna yell at me," she said.

Dean kissed her temple. "So did I," he confessed.

Liz laid her head on his shoulder. "I like this better."

"Me, too."

Liz left her head on Dean's shoulder for a few more moments then stepped away from him with a regretful sigh. "I'd better get back. War doesn't plan itself."

Dean gently pushed her against the wall. "They can handle it without you for one night," he insisted and pulled his shirt over his head.

"What are you doing?" Liz asked.

Dean's eyes twinkled in amusement as he answered, "I know it's been awhile for you, but do you really need a tutorial?"

Liz blushed prettily. "Okay, fine. Why are you doing that?"

Dean sighed. "Liz, tomorrow the world might end. If it does, I want my last night on this hellhole to be with you."

They stayed staring at one another for a moment, neither one of them moving. Liz glanced behind Dean. "Then I guess we'd better lock the door."

Dean grinned. "I got it."

While Dean was locking the door, Liz took off her shirt. Dean grabbed her hands before she could take off her pants.

"This is a problem," he said as he traced his hand over Liz's tattooed arm and shoulder.

"I know."

Dean looked up from the red and blue tendrils and met Liz's eyes. "I don't know what to do about it."

Liz smiled sadly. "There's nothing you can do."

"That's not the answer I want to hear."

Liz cupped his cheek. "Trust me, it's not the answer I want to give, either."

Dean kissed her then, and the next several minutes were spent that way. The kisses became more desperate the longer they kissed until Dean finally broke away. He pushed down his pants and started fumbling with the button on hers.

"This would be so much easier if you were still wearing that ridiculous skirt from yesterday."

Liz kissed along his jaw. "I wasn't really thinking of having sex against a wall with you when I dressed," she said between kisses.

Dean pulled back, laughter in his eyes. "And here I thought you prided yourself on being prepared for anything," he teased.

Her answering laughter made him smile wider. He unzipped her pants and went to work on her bra. It took him two tries to get it unfastened, his hands were shaking so bad.

Liz smiled at him. "And I thought you prided yourself on being Mr. Smooth."

Dean kissed her shoulder and up her neck. "I did until I met you."

There was fire in both of their eyes when they locked gazes. Liz jerked Dean into a kiss, but Dean quickly broke it.

"This isn't going to work," he said, voice strained. "I'm dying here, Liz. Take off your pants. I need you to take off your pants."

He pushed the pair of jeans down desperately. Liz took over for him, shoving the garment to her knees and kicking them the rest of the way off.

She met his embrace, hopping up and wrapping her legs around him. Their lovemaking was passionate and demanding, as if the world was ending that night and they would never see one another again. It was over quickly, and when it was, they collapsed to the floor in a tangle of arms and legs and heaving chests.

Liz laughed giddily as she settled onto the carpeted floor. "You couldn't have picked a room with a bed?"

"I had other things on my mind."

Liz was still euphoric. "I like the other things you had on your mind," she told him.

Dean got up and rustled around trying to find something for them to lie on. He found a blanket stashed in the closet and grabbed it. "We've got a blanket. It could be worse."

Liz laughed again. "It could be."

Dean covered Liz and crawled under the blanket with her. She snuggled into him, and he started tracing over the colors on her arm again.

"This is still a problem," he said, tracing the red and blue tendrils that snaked down her arm with his middle finger. Liz closed her eyes and sighed with pleasure. Dean followed his fingers with his mouth, and Liz gasped. He pulled back. "What do all these lines mean?" he wondered.

Liz tugged Dean's arm until it was wrapped around her then she snuggled against him again. "As far as we can tell, the blue line is your line. The red is the curse trying to kill me for sleeping with Sam. You told me to do it, though, so your mark has spent the last five years trying to neutralize the curse. Every time a new red line appears, a blue one also appears to stop it. I'm still dying; it's just taking a whole lot longer than it would have."

"Is there anything I can do to make it better?"

Liz took a deep breath and let it out. "It's better when we're touching." She rolled so that she was facing him. "You shouldn't worry, though. I don't know how long I've got, but I'm not going to die from it tonight. Not tomorrow, either."

Dean tried not to show the despair he was feeling. "You don't know that."

Liz smiled reassuringly. "Yes, I do."

Dean pressed his forehead to hers, and they stayed that way for a while.

"Do you think Jo will try to make a big deal about you and me?" Liz wondered. "Katy's bad enough as it is."

Dean pulled back and brushed the hair from Liz's face. "Jo has other things on her mind right now. It's pretty safe to say that you are the last thing on her mind."

"You sure?"

"Positive."

XXX

"Where is Liz?" Jo asked in annoyance. "I thought she was going to help us iron out logistics. This was her brilliant plan, and she's not even here to make sure it's carried out right." Jo managed to inject as much sarcasm as possible into the word "brilliant".

"Liz is debriefing Dean, I would imagine," Bobby said, straight-faced. A smile tugged at him lips, but he pushed it away.

Sam snorted in laughter, then tried to cover it by shuffling the papers in front of him.

Jo rounded on him. "What's so funny?"

Sam ducked his head to cover his smile. "Nothing. I think Bobby's right, though. They might be gone awhile. I'm sure she had some detailed plans to go over with him."

"What are you talking about?" Jo demanded in a shrill voice.

Sheila clapped her on the back. "They're having sex, sweetheart. It's not that hard to figure out."

Jo looked momentarily at a loss but recovered herself quickly. "Oh. Well, why didn't you just say that?"

Sam cocked an eyebrow. "Do you really want me to answer that?"

Jo glanced around the room. "No," she said and scuttled out of the room.

Bobby glanced dispassionately in the direction that Dean had dragged Liz. "Hopefully, they're finished by now. There really are some things I need to go over with Liz."

Ellen appeared at his side. "Oh, leave 'em alone. You can talk to Liz tomorrow."

Bobby rubbed his face tiredly. "I wish that were true, but this needs to get done."

XXX

Dean tugged on Liz's earlobe with his teeth. "Still feeling overwhelmed by all of this?" he asked teasingly.

Liz blushed. "Last night was overwhelming!" she insisted. "I hadn't had sex in five years. It wasn't exactly how I pictured our reunion." She threaded their fingers together and kissed his knuckles. "It was still good, though," she admitted.

Dean squeezed her. "It was definitely intense."

"I'm terrified of this. It's been so long since I cared about anything that you have so much power over me right now. I don't like feeling out of control. I'm so happy right now, and it would take so little to ruin that all."

She snuggled against Dean so he wouldn't see how vulnerable she felt admitting that.

Dean scooted so he could see her and still be touching as much of her as possible. "You think I'm not scared? I know what life was like without you. I don't want to go back to that."

Liz's eyes became unfocused as she stared off into the distance. "Me, either."

Dean ran his hand down her tattooed arm. "What about the curse? Are you feeling stronger?"

"It's hard to tell. I feel sleepy mainly. I wish we could stay here all night. I love this. I love being here with you."

"I love you," Dean said softly.

Liz's eyes popped open and she rolled so she was facing Dean. "What did you say?"

"I said that I…"

There was a knock at the door, breaking the moment.

"Are you done yet?" Bobby asked grouchily. "It's been forty-five minutes. We need to get moving."

Liz held up a finger. "Hold that thought," she said and scrambled up. She grabbed Dean's shirt and threw it on. She cracked the door open and glared at Bobby. "Five minutes. Give me five more minutes," she said. Her eyes begged him.

Bobby sighed. "Make it thirty. If I need you, I'll come find you."

She smiled gratefully at him. "Thank you."

He nodded. "Don't mention it. But I'm dragging you out in thirty minutes."

She nodded. "Of course."

She closed the door and leaned against it. Dean appeared before her and pushed a lock of hair behind her ear.

"I said that I love you," he told her. "I've wanted to tell you everyday since you went away. I love you."

"I love you, too. You know that I do. I love you so much that sometimes you were all I could think about. I spent several years in a constant state of waiting for the few minutes a day that you would be without your necklace and I could be with you for just a few minutes. The only thing that kept me sane was knowing that I was helping to keep you safe."

"Can I kiss you, already? We only have thirty minutes, and I think I need to show you again how much I love you."

"Please do," she said happily.

XXX

"I'm not a drunk," Dean said abruptly into the darkness. It had been well over thirty minutes since Bobby had knocked at the door, but neither one of them seemed in any hurry to break their embrace and go find him.

"Yes, you are," Liz replied. Her voice was sleep-filled. "You're my drunk, though."

Dean shook her gently. "Hey! You can't go to sleep. We have five years to make up for. We need to get started."

Liz smiled, her head lolling to the side. "I'm not gonna be able to make up for them all tonight," she mumbled drowsily.

Dean shook her again. "I know that. But considering that it is now after midnight and we are in a new day, you haven't even begun to make up for any lost time."

Liz was fading fast. "How do you figure that?"

Dean brushed her hair aside and kissed her neck. "Let's say I go easy on you and say that we only would have had sex 3,000 times in the time you were gone. If we have sex once per day, your totals remain the same because the first time is sex we would have had anyway. So, you've met today's quota but haven't started on your back pay. And you're not going to get anywhere by going to sleep."

Liz yawned and stretched. "Can I ask you something?" she wondered.

Dean nodded. "Anything."

"What do you know about Lauren?"

Dean looked at her funny. "I know I don't want to talk about her when I have you naked beside me and could be doing naughty things instead."

Liz smiled a little in response to his comment. "I'm serious. Do you like her? Is she nice? What does Sam see in her?"

Dean sat up, playfulness gone. "Why are you asking about her?" he asked moodily.

Liz sat up, too, and kissed Dean's shoulder reassuringly. "I just haven't met her. Sam seems pretty smitten with her."

"Are you jealous!?! Are you thinking about Sam right now!?! I guess that's typical."

Liz grabbed Dean's face and turned it so he was looking at her. "Hey! I'm not thinking about Sam, at least not in the way you're implying. I was drifting off when I remembered that he was acting really strange earlier. I thought I'd try to figure out why while it was on my mind."

Despite himself, Dean was curious about what Liz was saying. "And you think that Lauren has something to do with Sam acting weird?" he wondered.

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. Tell me about her."

Dean grimaced. "I hate her. Sam hasn't been himself since he met her. If you ask me, the bitch is poison. I know that everyone just thinks that I'm upset because Sam doesn't hang out with me as much anymore, but that's not it."

Liz rested her head on Dean's shoulder. "You have great instincts, Dean. If you think she's bad, then she probably is."

"I know this is gonna sound bad, but I really kind of hope she is evil. I'd love to have a reason to kill that bitch."

"If she's evil, we'll figure it out. There's no point in thinking about it tonight. Besides, I have other, more pressing matters to deal with."

"Oh yeah?"

Liz nodded. "Yeah. I'd like to get my sex debt down to at least 2,997 before sunrise."

Dean tried to remain aloof. "Are you sure you wouldn't rather debate Lauren's merits?"

Liz smiled and used her finger to trace over Dean's lips. "Yeah, I'm sure. There'll be other times to plumb the mysteries of Lauren. Unless you'd rather talk about her."

"I'm good."