for those of you that don't know, i try and update every other day. that one day to relax and read other fanfics :D i, for some reason, don't remember some other people have different time zones D: i'm in the U.S sooo shrugs sorry if it seems longer for some people /

i update as soon as i can :D

enjoy this!

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Chapter 18: No Exit Part 3

"I should have dragged her ass back to the Roadhouse, like I wanted to." I said, coming into the apartment room and kicking the side of the couch.

Dean and Sam came in after me, quietly closing the door. Which I found to be a little ironic. I was knocking into things, making semi loud noises, and there they were gently closing the door. Like our neighbors would look down on us if we ended up slamming it closed.

"Andy, this isn't your fault. Jo knew she was the spirit's type." Dean said calmly, both of them approaching me like I was going to kick one of them in the groin.

"Don't you understand? That's why I should have stayed with her. I knew she was the spirit's type and I left her in the wall to get taken!" I said, taking a deep breath to prevent tears from making their way to my eyes again. I looked at Dean, somewhat pained. "How am I gonna tell Ellen?" I asked, voice breaking.

Dean shoved the thought away that I was going to hurt him and gripped my shoulders with his hands. His fingers rubbed my back and his thumb traced my collar bone gently as he spoke.

"Listen to me, we will get Jo back and Ellen won't even have to know okay? Besides, I'm sure Jo is the last person that would be telling this to Ellen." He said with a small smile. I smiled slowly. Not for the fact that I found what he was saying to be funny but because he was trying to make me feel better. "This isn't your fault."

I felt bad as the thought, 'How would he know?' popped into my head. Was he there? Did he hear Jo scream? I mean, I wasn't fond of the girl but I didn't want her to end up dead. If Dean or Sam would have been with her she wouldn't have ended up being taken in the first place. They were better hunter than me, always were and always would be. That's why shit like this happened to people on my watch. Hell, I was surprised Chrissie never ended up being pushed down the stairs.

"Look, we'll find her. She has to be inside the walls." Sam said, finally approaching me and Dean.

I looked at Sam and Dean's hands slid down my arms and held my hands. "We've been inside the walls all day. If none of the other girls are there, she won't be, either."

"Well, something was there to take her." Sam said softly and Dean glared at him. No need to glare, Sam was right.

Sam shrugged shyly. "Maybe we got Holmes' M.O. wrong."

A wise ass comment was breaching the end of my tongue when Dean's cell phone started ringing. He pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the screen, eyes going wide for a moment, and then looked at me.

I swallowed, the ringing of the phone creating throbbing waves as they reached my eardrums. "Who is it?" I knew who it was.

"It's Ellen." Dean said gently. It was near its last ring.

"Give it to me." I said but before he could shake his head no, I grabbed it from his hand and answered it. "Yeah?" I asked, my voice betraying the bravado I tried showing.

"You lied to me." Ellen screeched into the phone. Her voice was deafening but at this moment I was praying she destroyed my eardrums. "She's there."

I looked at Dean and he made a motion with his hand that looked like a circle near his ear. Although that looked nothing like what he wanted me to do, I put the phone on speaker.

"Ellen…" Dean tried. I knew he was trying to put up an excuse for me but I heard glass crack and I knew Ellen had just slammed a glass on the bar counter. She wasn't going to hear anyone's bullshit. And she was right, she shouldn't have had to. This was all on me; I was the one who had lied to her.

"No, Ash told me everything. The man's a genius, but he folds like a cheap suit." She said. I could picture her cleaning up the glass on the counter, squeezing the rag she was using for all it's worth.

She hesitated and then sighed. "And there's no need to put the speaker on like you're at a slumber party, Andrea." I looked down at my shoes, cheeks splotching with embarrassment. She said my name like she was my mother and she had caught me breaking a vase with a baseball. "You put my damn daughter on the phone. Speaker off."

Before I could reply, even though I had nothing to say but 'sorry, I let your daughter get kidnapped by a raging psychopathic spirit', Dean snatched the phone out of my hands. I let him, knowing he'd say something else Ellen wouldn't believe.

"She's gonna have to call you back." Dean said then thought of something. "She's taking care of feminine business."

Ellen was fed up at this point. "Yeah, right. Where is she?!" She yelled, tears coming through her voice.

Dean cleared his throat, running a hand through his hair. "Look, we'll get her back. She'll be okay, I promise."

"You promise?" She asked, a bitter laugh escaping her tear closed throat. "That is not the first time I've heard that from a Winchester." Dean looked at me and Sam but didn't ask Ellen what she meant. He probably figured she was too angry to answer anyways. "If anything happens to her…"

I leaned close to Dean, speaking into the phone. "It won't. I won't let it." I promised. I intended on not breaking it with this woman. "Ellen, I'm sorry. I really am."

I could see the eye roll. Angry tears building up in her eyes. "I'm taking the first flight out." I could see her rounding the bar counter, heading to pack things half haphazardly into a duffel. "I'll be there in a few hours."

She hung up. The phone click nearly killed me and I took the phone back from Dean, throwing it onto one of the couch cushions. It bounced off and landed on the carpeted floor. I could hear Ellen's sobs, the ones she was taking after she hung up the phone. I had to get Jo back. I just had to.

I couldn't be responsible for letting someone else die. I could stand at another funeral knowing the reason that casket was going into the ground was because of me. I couldn't let it happen. Not again. The thought was nearly killing; it happening would be the end of me.

O0o0o0o0

I sat in one of the arms of the couch staring for a moment at the floor where the phone had ricocheted off the couch, even though Dean had picked it up ten minutes ago. Both guys were researching and I was packing up weapons I thought we could use. I scoffed; even though the weapon I had had with me when I was with Jo had done jack shit. I knew Dean was thinking I was taking this a little harder than necessary but it was just the way I worked. It was no wonder that I didn't want to have children. This fucking job; I'd lose them faster than you could scream rock salt gun. Yeah, I took it hard to the chest, losing people. Try losing all the people in your life in short period of time and then come talk to me. I knew Dean and Sam had lost their fair share but if you looked at them, I mean really analyzed how they did things, it didn't seem to bother them because they buried it. Far deep with the people they've lost so no one would ever know they were hurting. I felt it. Felt what needed to be felt and then moved on. It was easier than burying; it's because those feelings were like zombies. No matter how many times you thought you put them far deep into the ground they always seem to wake right back up.

Dean gently ruffling my hair brought me out of my thoughts and I looked up at him. "Did you find anything?"

He shook his head no. "Not yet, you want some help?" He asked, observing that all the weapons were basically sprawled out on the cushions of the couch.

I shook my head no, gathering up a few daggers and pellets of rock salt. "No, I got it. Go help Sam."

"Anything we could find is going to be on the laptop." Dean said gently. Like the tone of his voice mattered so much that anything higher would send me into a rage. "And you know how territorial that guy is about his laptop. I just hope he doesn't, ya know, do anything weird to it to mark it as his territory."

I looked up at him again, still feeling his hand in my hair, and looked at Sam. A small smile grew on my face at the thought Dean had planted and Dean smirked, removing one of the knives from my hands and pulling the duffel off the couch and onto the floor.

"That's what I wanted to see." He said smiling. He sat on the couch and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me down to sit on his lap. I leaned my back against the couch arm and brought my feet up, trying to avoid the shot guns that weren't put away yet. He squeezed me around my waist and I brought up an arm to encircle his neck. "I know you feel like crap right now, but you should do that more often."

"What?" I asked him, leaning my head against his. The sentence, 'Let Jo get kidnapped by angry spirits?' hung on my lips.

"Smile." He said simply, kissing my gently. "Even though it might do nothing for you, it makes me feel all the better."

I pulled him up from the couch and hugged him, silently thanking him for always making me feel better. I could feel his smile grow as I squeezed him and his arms wrapped tightly around me.

"Thanks." I said softly, kissing his neck.

He nodded and I pulled back from him, kissing him on his forehead as he cupped my face. "Feel better then?"

I nodded. "Much."

"Good, can't have you feeling like mud when we have our date tonight."

My stomach tightened excitedly. I had forgotten all about it. "I won't, promise."

"Hey guys," Sam said, grabbing our attention. "Think I found something."

I got up from Dean and took his hand to pull him up. "You need to lay off the Twix."

"I love Twix." He pouted then chuckled and pushed me towards Sam. "I'd say you'd need to lay off things you love, like pop tarts, but I figure I'd just get smacked upside the head for it."

I glared at him and nodded. "Damn straight you would."

He shook his head, a small smile pulling his lips. "What do you have Sam?"

Sam turned the computer so we could see what he was talking about. "If you look at the layout of the Holmes Murder Castle, there are other torture chambers inside the walls, right?" Dean and I nodded. "But there's one we haven't considered yet –- the one in his basement."

I looked at him confused. "This building doesn't have a basement."

Sam nodded. "You're right. It doesn't. But I just noticed this –- beneath the foundation, it looks like part of an old sewer system."

Dean grabbed his leather jacket while I grabbed the shot guns, loaded it into the duffel and grabbed the bag. "Let's go."

Sam was shutting down his computer and I grabbed his arm, nearly pulling it off as I pulled him to the door. Didn't have time for that right now. Ellen would be here to collect Jo and I'd be damned if she showed up and Jo wasn't here.

O0o0o0o0o0

"Grab the shovels." I said, hauling one of them out of the trunk while Dean grabbed the other one.

"How are we going to find this trapdoor?" Dean asked as he closed the trunk and Sam observed the open field.

"Trapdoors are usually metal right?" I asked them both, seeing a random guy on the field with a metal detector.

Dean and Sam glanced at each other, reading my thoughts.

O0o0o0o

"How'd you get it off of him?" Dean asked as they followed me, pointing out random patches of grass that could have been where the door was.

I shrugged, putting a strand of hair behind my ear as the wind blew. "Well, first thought was, 'well, I could always knock him out and take it,' but he was old and I felt bad hitting an old person."

Sam chuckled. "Valid Karma points."

I nodded, turning slightly with the slow beeping machine in my hands. "Then I told him a story about how my grandmother owned a house here a long time ago and that when she died of cancer yesterday I was determined to come out here and look for belongings." I smiled as Sam and Dean broke out into laughter. "He was very eager to hand it over."

"Your karma just shot in the ground Andy." Sam said, small chuckles just making their way into his sentence.

"I figured finding Jo would counter act it. Plus, I made him give me his address so I could return this to him." I turned again to hear a shrill beeping. "So we have to return this when we're done."

I removed the headphone that had only been sitting on one ear, so I could hear what Sam and Dean were saying, and pointed to the ground. "Here, start digging."

I gently discarded the metal detector, fully intending on giving it back to the old man. Dean and Sam were sweat streaked as they dug into the ground. I looked around for bystanders and realized it was a pretty hot day. Sun was beaming down; you could hear birds singing and see squirrels waiting for cars before running into the street. I was wondering where everyone was; but I guess the less people the better.

"You know," Dean said standing and leaning on the shovel as Sam hauled another mound of dirt above the surface. "We have three shovels in the trunk for a reason."

"Yeah, in case one breaks we have a replacement." Dean narrowed his eyes at me and I smiled. "I'm the fairer sex." I said simply, gaining one of those amazing, eye sparkling smiles from him.

"Yeah, yeah." He muttered, like he never he smiled, and continued digging.

Seemed like forever even though in reality it had only been ten minutes, I heard a gonging noise and knew a shovel had hit the trapdoor. I knew to keep my mouth clamped down on a sigh of relief and the 'finally' that wanted to come out seeing as how I knew Dean would throw a shovel at me.

They threw their shovels out onto ground and Dean held his hand up to me to help me into the ditch. I grabbed onto him and slid down the dirt hill, almost losing my footing and crashing into Sam. Sam grabbed my one shoulder to steady me and I handed the boys their guns from the duffel. I threw the duffel back up as Dean and Sam gripped their hands on the trapdoor, pulling at it for it to open. The door groaned as it opened up and I felt like we were in a movie that when the trapdoor opened a mummy crawled out or something. God only knows why I would think of something like that right now but my brain was obviously fried from standing out in the sun. They leaned the door again the dirt mound and we all looked down the hole, seeing a ladder that led to the sewers.

"All right, O'Connell, I'll go first." I said, turning around and crouching to head down the ladder.

"What did you just call me?" Dean asked confused, hovering over me to make sure I headed down the ladder okay.

I shook my head, swearing at myself for calling him Brendan Fraser's character in that stupid movie. "Nothing, I'm going."

I could see Dean look at Sam and Sam shrugged. Had these two been living in caves all their lives? Somewhere along the way you had to know about the movie 'The Mummy'. I wasn't one for going to the theaters or renting Blockbusters but I did read what movies were playing every so often in the newspaper or checked the TV guide in the motel rooms.

I pulled my gun out as I reached the bottom, my senses being peeked as I looked around the dark sewer. I nearly gagged. Maybe all my senses turning to high alert was a bad idea. It smelled like decaying flesh and distilled water. Lovely. I looked up the ladder to see who was heading down and was greeted with Dean's ass momentarily swooshing in front of my face. I stifled a giggle and smacked him lightly, making him turn to grin at me and he jumped down and over the last few pegs.

"Like what you see?" Dean asked then disregarded my answer. "Well, I mean, obviously since you couldn't resist touching it."

I rolled my eyes. "Maybe it was somewhat disgusting being in my face like that."

He frowned and looked down at himself, like he could somehow see his ass by looking at his shoes. "I'm not disgusting." He paused and pouted at me. "Am I?"

I smiled and kissed his lips. "No." He smiled slightly. "But I've seen better."

He then glared at me and I giggled as Sam descended the ladder. I could bet my left leg Dean thought I was staring at Sam's ass and comparing the two. Honestly, Sam had a nice ass. But Dean beat him out two to one, hands down.

"Okay, according to the layout." Sam said, pulling a piece of paper out of his jacket pocket. "We have to go left and then crawl through some pipes."

I groaned. "Nothing easy huh?"

"What did you expect?" Dean asked me as we headed down a corridor and turned left. "We'd just come down here to find Jo sitting duck waiting?"

I shoved him. "No, you ass, I just figured we wouldn't have to climb through pipes."

"Or ones that narrow." Sam said, stopping. I nearly slammed into him. I stopped, glancing ahead of him at a big hole in the wall. Big enough for someone to crawl through. I couldn't wait to fuckin send this H.H Holmes back where he belonged. This guy was twisted.

"Sure that's it?" I asked him and he nodded, turning to look at the paper and then shoved it back in his pocket. "You guys gonna be able to fit?"

Dean walked up to it and tried moving his shoulders around. He paused and swore. "No, which means Sam won't be able to either."

I shrugged, moving to where he was, Sam following me. I put my arms in the hole, fitting my shoulders and knew that my waist would be able to fit as well. "I can fit." I said, pulling myself back out and looking at them.

Dean shook his head. "You're not going in there by yourself. No fucking way."

"I'm not even the spirits type, I'll be fine." I reassured him.

"Doesn't matter, Andy. Just because you're not blonde doesn't mean he won't try and kill you when he realizes what you're doing."

"Dean, I have to do this. I can't have Ellen show up without Jo being there. I just can't do it." I said, my voice straining at him. Dean sighed, looking at me and the hole. I looked at the hole and then around where we were, scrunching my eyes. "Besides, I've got an idea. And you and Sam need to be here and have it ready when Jo and I crawl out."

Dean was obviously pissed I was heading in there by myself but tried putting it aside to listen to me. "What is it?"

"We still have those bags of salt in the car?" I asked and Sam and Dean nodded.

O0o0o0o0o

I watched Dean and Sam tie bags of salt on the perch of ledges around the room and went to crawl into the pipe. I felt someone grab my leg and I peeked back out of the hole to see Dean look at my worriedly.

"Be careful okay?" He asked me and I nodded, giving him a small smile and kiss.

"I will." I motioned to the salt and the shotguns. "Be ready."

Dean quirked a cocky smile that I knew he wasn't feeling. "I'm always ready sweetheart."

I rolled my eyes, ducking back into the hole. My knees were hitting together as I maneuvered my way down the tunnel. Obviously I wasn't as petite as I previously thought and prayed to God I didn't get stuck in such a small space. Luckily, the pipe wasn't that long and I made it into another circular room within three minutes. Wasn't enough time to set off my claustrophobia and I breathed a sigh of relief as I brushed my hands off on my jeans.

I looked around the rusted room and metal cases in the walls. They must have resembled something like coffins because they were obviously big enough to fit people into. My stomach lurched. To fit girls into.

"Jo?" I called out attentively. A little louder this time. "Jo!"

"Andy?" I heard her screech. "Is that you?"

I looked around the room to see Jo's eyes look at me through a small space in her cubicle and I approached her, smiling widely. "Thank God, you okay?"

She shrugged and I knew she must be hitting her shoulder in the small space. "I've been better."

There were maybe seven cubicles, not including Jo's. "Anyone else alive?"

Jo nodded and stuck a finger out to point to a space right to the left, below hers. "Right there, I was talking to her, I think its Teresa Ellis." She said and I nodded. One of the missing girls.

I moved my face down to be eyelevel with Jo. "Mind if I get her out first and send her up?"

Jo shrugged. "Yeah, sure, I haven't been stuck in here nearly as long as her." I couldn't tell whether that was sarcasm or not but I hurried to release the other girl as fast as I could.

Not everyone was claustrophobic but I imagine Jo didn't like getting stuck in a tight little box either. So I told the girl that it was okay and that she should shag ass through that hole in the wall. I told her to call out for Sam and Dean and that they would help her get to the top. I emphasized on calling out their names when she reached the end of the pipe. I didn't want her getting shot or Dean and Sam exploding the bags of salt too early.

"Okay, I got it." I said, breaking Jo's box open like I did the other one.

She crawled out, jumping a bit to relieve tightened muscles. "Thanks. Sam and Dean waiting through there?"

I nodded. "Yeah, let's hurry before…" I heard footsteps approaching us and my voice trailed off, listening to the thumping. "We gotta move." I said hurriedly, knowing it had to be H.H.

I pushed Jo towards the hole and she slipped through as easily as I had. When her feet disappeared I started to crawl in too. But H.H grabbed my hair and yanked. I screamed being lurched back on my ass and reached for my weapon. I shot him in the face, the rock salt sending his ghost particles scurrying. I scrambled to my feet and pushed myself through the hole, crawling as fast as I could as I heard him scream as he rematerialized.

I looked back to see if he was crawling through and my heart nearly jumped in my chest as I saw him reach down and squeeze through. He was getting stuck but not stopping, screaming all the way. I looked back and miscalculated where the hell I was and fell out of the pipe, smacking my body against the ground.

I groaned as Dean ran to pick me up. He shuffled me over to where Sam and Jo were standing and bent down to take a look at me. I looked up at the pipe seeing H.H peak his head through.

"Now!" I screamed. Dean stood and shot at one of the salt bags, as did Sam.

The salt poured from the bags as they continued to shoot at all of them and it created a circle of salt around the room. I sighed in relief and leaned back against Sam's legs.

H.H looked around the room, now realizing it was salt, and started screaming.

"Scream all you want, you dick, but there's no way you're stepping over that salt!" Jo yelled and I rolled my eyes. Real nice lady like stuff coming from her mouth there, but I couldn't deny I was thinking around the same thing.

Dean handed Sam his gun and he kneeled down to look at me, putting a hand on my shoulder. "You alright?"

I nodded, shifting and grabbing his arm, inferring I wanted him to help me stand. My ribs bitched and I raised my shirt to see a nice black and blue mark forming.

"Perfect." I said; my voice turning into another groan at the end of the word.

He smiled, shifting an arm around my waist, careful to avoid the darkening bruise. "At least you didn't crack any ribs. That would ruin our date."

I grinned, remembering that I had that to look foreword to tonight and kissed his cheek. "A lot of Tylenol and some kissing? I'll be all better by tonight."

"Hmm." Dean said thoughtfully as we made our way back to the ladder and Jo and Sam went up first. "Maybe we should let Sam drive and get a head start on that second part."

I kissed him again and made my way up the ladder. Definitely was thinking about doing that.

O0o0o0o0

We ended up pouring wet cement into the trapdoor because a storm could easily get down there and wash that salt away. Yep, that's what our job had come to. Ripping off cement trucks and lying to old people about dead grandmas. All three of us were definitely going to hell. I smiled at Sam and Dean as we reentered the apartment; but at least I'd have some company down there.

I figured we could return the metal detector after we picked up all the stuff from our room. But we all seemed to forget that tiny little thing Ellen had mentioned to all of us on the phone. So as we headed into the room, there she was, standing there like a bit outta hell. If glares could kill people…none of us would have been alive.

She glared until she saw Jo walk in behind us. Then she looked indescribable. A look combined of anger, joy, relief, and depression washing over her face all at once. I stood back with Sam and Dean as I watched Ellen embrace Jo and hold her for all it's worth. It made me miss my own mom and Dean put an arm around my shoulder, pulling me tightly to him.

"You have no idea how lucky you are you got my daughter outta there safely Andrea Core." Ellen said as Jo pulled back.

"It wasn't…" Jo tried but I cut her off.

"No, Jo, it's okay. I'm sorry Ellen." I said and felt Dean squeeze my shoulders.

Ellen nodded, picking up her coat from the couch and shrugging it on, pulling on Jo's arm to head out of the room and down to the Impala.

I wasn't sorry that I had let Jo come, however, like Ellen I'm sure thought I was apologizing for. I was sorry she didn't see how much her daughter was made for this job because in all actuality, Jo had done really well. And her father would be proud; I made a mental note of telling her that. So what if she got captured by an angry spirit who was obsessed with blondes? Like none of us had been captured before. Hello? Angry townspeople who knew we were destroying their scarecrow, hillbillies, an asshole hunter who thought he was God…there was a lot more.

You just had to know how to get out of that situation when it happened. And Jo wasn't dead, when she very well could have been. She did well.

"Looks like we won't be doing a hell of a lot of kissing." Dean said disappointed and kissed the side of my head as Sam grabbed his laptop.

I smiled and shrugged. "Leaves more to the imagination for tonight."

Dean grinned and nodded, following me out of the room. I knew what he was thinking about on the drive back to the Roadhouse.

O0o0o0o0

Everything was silent until we got back to the Roadhouse. Dean had tried to drag Ellen into conversations, I'm guessing because she wouldn't stop looking through the rearview mirror to glare at me, and even tried to put the music on. Ellen shut it off and I leaned back in my seat, resting my head against Sam's shoulder. It was the longest damn drive I had ever been on; and that's saying a lot for someone who's been on the road all her life.

Finally we reached the parking lot and Ellen quickly got out of the car, slamming the door. Jo looked at me sympathetically and went to follow her mother inside. I looked at Dean and Sam. I guess I should try and follow and try to apologize again.

I approached the already screaming women as I closed the door, Sam and Dean waiting on the porch.

"Ellen?" I interrupted and they both stopped, looking at me. "This is my fault. Okay? I lied to you, and I'm sorry. But Jo did great out there. I think her dad would be proud."

Jo smiled warmly at me and Ellen snapped. "Don't you dare say that! You outta know better, seeing how your father died."

"Excuse me?" I asked, confusion filling my voice more than anger at the moment.

"I need a moment with my daughter –- alone." She said pointedly, but I was already out the door, crashing into Sam and Dean as I headed down the steps.

"That woman has some God damn nerve." I said quietly as Sam and Dean followed me to the car.

"What did she say to you?" Dean asked.

I had half a mind to tell him. But I knew what would happen. Dean would go back in there and tell Ellen just how out of line she was. But I couldn't do it. The woman thought she had lost her daughter. I couldn't do that to her; no matter how angry she had made me.

I shook my head. "Nothing. She's just upset that's all."

Dean knew I was lying. I could tell by the way he carried himself as he leaned against the car. But I figured he was letting it go because he didn't want to go in there as much I didn't want him to.

Jo suddenly appeared outside, standing on the porch and looking at us for a moment. She was glaring at Sam and Dean. The look didn't go unnoticed even though it was gone as fast as it appeared on her face.

"Andy, can I talk with you a minute?" She asked me and I nodded, getting up from the car and looked back at Sam and Dean a moment.

"That bad huh?" I asked her, seeing tear tracks on her face.

She nodded and looked down at her feet. "Yeah, that bad. But I don't want to talk about it okay?" I shrugged one of my shoulders, inferring that I'd let it go. But what did she want if she didn't want to talk about it? "I have something for you."

I followed her inside the bar and instead of heading across the room, she turned a sharp right and I saw a small staircase. I let her lead me up the stairs until I was in a small room, I'm guessing her bedroom. It was cozy, to say the least. Small rooms always seemed cozy to me. It had a single bed and a window that when looked out of you could see the parking lot. I saw the Impala and realized the guys must have gotten inside to wait for me. I turned to watch her rummage through her closet, searching for something specific.

I looked around at the vanity and at the forest green walls. It was a calming color and thankfully didn't remind me of motel rooms. It was a nice feeling, being in someone else's room. The only bad thing was it made me miss my own. The one I left behind was I was fifteen. I saw a small teddy bear on her bed, among the pillows and smiled, picking it up and handling it carefully.

"My dad gave that to me." She said with a small smile and I nodded, placing it back down.

"I figured."

She ran a hand through her hair and placed some of it behind her ears. "Here, I heard you had a date tonight with Dean." It almost made me mad that she eavesdropped but what she was handing me made me shut my mouth on the comment. "You should wear this."

It was a knee length purple dress. It was form fitting and was made of a shiny, smooth material. The purple wasn't obnoxious either. It was a rich dark royal purple and my eyes gazed over it. It was strapless and the top of the dress had small tight ruffles. I'm guessing to accentuate your boobs if you had them. But it was a classy dress, not in any way slutty. And it made me feel bad the number of times I had called Jo a hooker in my head.

"Oh, Jo, I couldn't possibly take this from you." I said standing, even though my hands were itching to grab it from her.

She shook her head no and gently handed it to me. "No, you saved my ass today and you were right. I was no near cutting edge enough for this job."

I sighed, feeling guilty. "Everyone has slip ups. Even the Winchesters and I do, I mean, I could tell you some very interesting kidnap stories. I meant what I said, your dad would be proud."

She smiled wetly and I prayed she didn't cry on me here. "Thanks and fine, if you don't want to take it for that consider it reparation for the groping of your boyfriend in the hall."

I raised an eyebrow and nodded, smiling slowly. "Well if you insist."

I wasn't pushing the envelope here. I had nothing to wear for Dean's date tonight. And even though I knew he didn't care so much about what I wore, I did. I was a girl after all and wearing the same black dress on this date would ruin it a bit for me.

I set the dress on the bed and racked up all the nerve I could muster and hugged her. She seemed hesitate but hugged back just as tightly. This whole dress giving thing was making me feel the little sister vibe again and I just had to hug her.

I smiled; pulling away and picking the dress back up. "Thanks, for the dress."

"You're welcome. Have fun on your date."

I grinned. "He's planning it so; hopefully we don't end up in a ditch somewhere or at a car show." Even though I knew that was highly unlikely.

I made sure she had my number and that I had hers because she was a nice friend to have even though I was biting my tongue on the comment. Yeah, she was a friend. And I knew Dean and Sam were going to grill the hell outta me for it too.

O0o0o0o0

"Is that too much eye shadow?" I asked Sam. "What time is it?"

"Okay, as I said ten seconds ago it's 11:15 and no, it's not enough. Did you even put it on?" He asked me, moving about in the small closed bathroom.

"I did, I guess." Had I? I was moving around so fast I probably hadn't. I felt like a thirteen year old on her first date. I was waiting for the curling iron to heat up and I saw Sam smile at me through the mirror as he zipped up the dress. I tucked the hanger strings in the dress and smiled at myself in the mirror.

I looked nice and bit the comment off that I looked better in this than Jo. It was only because my chest was a bit fuller than hers.

"Thanks for helping me out again, by the way. You had no idea how many times I had to assure Dean you were just helping me get ready in here."

Sam chuckled, amused. "We can make grunting noises if you want."

I giggled. "No, I can't have Dean have any heart attacks."

"Close your eyes." He said gently and I did so as I saw him pick up the light brown eye shadow. I felt him gently apply it with the sponge wand applicator and felt something else slide against the edge of my eyelids. "Okay, open."

I did so and looked at the mirror. Impressive. My eyelids were now a slight golden brown color and on the edge was a line of smoky purple. It seemed wisped; like it was barely on there. The only thing that brought it out was the dark purple of the dress.

"How'd you learn to do that?" I asked knowing full and well if Dean tried he'd get things everywhere. "You're not gay are you?"

Sam burst out laughing. "No, but thanks."

I chuckled and shrugged. "I just know that many women will be sad to see you off the market that's all."

He closed the makeup with a small smile and shook his head. "No, I uh, watched Jess sometimes when she did hers."

I smiled sadly at him and tried bringing a little laughter back to the conversation. "Well, thank God you did, knowing me I'd definitely make my eyes look like I got punched."

Sam smirked and sat on the tub as I started curling the ends of my hair.

"Do you know where he's taking me?" I asked him, holding the end of the curling iron in my hand as I let go of my hair, satisfied with the big wavy curl I had made.

He nodded. "Mm hmm. You're gonna like it, don't worry."

"I'm not worried, just curious." I put a few more big curls in my hair, not wanting to over do it and handed Sam the black barrette I had on the sink. "Would you?" I asked him and he nodded, taking it from me and standing.

He came up behind me and put both hands on the sides of my head, swooping up some hair to pull back into the barrette. He let some of it hang by my face and gently closed the barrette. He let his hands drift to my shoulders, giving them a tight squeeze.

I smiled, I looked alright I suppose. I wasn't one for makeup or curling hair but Sam insisted Dean would fall head over tin cups. So how could I not? Plus, this was probably the last date I'd be on for a while. Mise well go all out.

I turned to Sam. "Okay, honestly? How do I look? Feel free to make fun." I said jokingly and Sam just smiled, shaking his head.

"You're beautiful Andy. And I'm not just saying that because of the way you look tonight." Sam said gently.

I felt tears come to my eyes at the kind gesture and I hugged Sam, as tight as I could. He smirked and put his arms around me and I let him kiss my head, even though I knew I shouldn't have been letting him.

"Thanks Sam."

"Well, it's 11:30. I'm sure Dean wants to arrive on time." He said and I nodded, letting go of him and looked at the door.

I opened the bathroom and Sam closed the door behind me, staying inside to clean up I guess. Or maybe he wanted the moment Dean saw me just be for the two of us. I smiled as Dean turned around; he was sitting on the edge of the bed watching TV. He stood and I saw he was wearing black dress pants with a black button down shirt carefully tucked into the pants. He was even wearing a tie, which I applauded him for.

"You know, I was kidding about the Twix thing Dean. You don't have to wear black to make yourself look slimmer." Not that I was complaining, he looked amazing in black. It was one of my favorite colors on him. That and any shade of blue.

He clicked off the TV, looking over my slowly, mouth slightly open I might add. "Andy…you look…" He shook his head, like he couldn't find a word to describe me with. Finally he sighed. "Gorgeous."

I blushed, looking down at the dress. "You think?"

He smiled, coming up to me to put his arms around my waist. "I know." He said firmly and I smiled, kissing him.

He took my hand and led me towards the door. "You know, this is Jo's dress." I said, just throwing it out there to see what he would say.

"Jo couldn't pull that dress off is she tried." Dean said and laughed.

We headed down to the Impala and he opened the door for me as I went to sit inside. I smiled at the chivalrous gesture. "Thank you."

He smiled and kissed my cheek. "You're welcome." He closed the door and rounded the front of the car, shuffling the keys out of his pocket. He got in and sat inside, turning the heat on low. "Okay, so here's this."

He reached back behind the seat and pulled out a single white rose. He tapped my nose with it before giving it to me and I smiled, smelling it. "Where are we going?"

He shrugged. "I don't know, I thought you were driving." He said, pulling out of the parking lot and smirking.

I rolled my eyes. "Still the secrets?"

He shrugged. "I figure it doesn't matter so much as where we're going than how happy you are when we get there."

I nodded, trying to be serious as I said this. "Right, because all of it depends on how happy I am for tonight to happen."

Dean looked at me slowly and I grinned as he realized what part of tonight I was talking about. "Well, then, guess I better make sure I make you as happy as possible."

I smiled, squeezing his leg as I looked out the window. He didn't know that he had already made me as happy as I could possibly ever be.

O0o0o0o0

"I've never heard of this place." I said looking up at the building as Dean took my hand to help me out of the car.

It was among other buildings but stood out a bit taller than the rest. It was red brick and the elegant neon sign said the name's place was "Isabelle's. Fine dining and wine tasting."

"Where'd you find this place?" I asked him as he shut the car door and we approached the glass doors with a black awning over it. There were lights next to the doors that reminded me of some elegant castle and I looped my arm through Dean's as he knocked on the door.

"It turns out that Bobby knows the guy who owns this place."

"You called Bobby for ideas for our date?" I asked incredulously as I saw a man approach the doors.

Dean chuckled. "No, I was looking at this place for reservations and Bobby happened to call at the moment and I told him what I was doing. It was just one of those check up calls to see if we were all doing alright." I nodded and snuggled closer to Dean. "Turns out this guy owes Bobby a favor and he said he'd he could get him to do something for me."

The guy unlocked the doors and smiled at us as he opened them. "Dean Winchester I presume?" he asked. He was young, maybe twenty? He was tall, his skin a rich brown, and had on black dress pants and a white button down. His voice reminded me of a young John Winchester and he was very cute.

Dean nodded and took the guys open hand to shake it. "Joey right?"

"That's right." He then looked at me and I shook his hand as well. "Man, Bobby told me your girl was pretty but he didn't mention beautiful."

Dean smiled at me, surprisingly not threatened and nodded. "That she is."

I blushed again, squeezing his arm. "Thank you." I said quietly.

"Well, come on in." He said, a big smile again as he opened the door for us. "Welcome to Isabelle's."

He relocked the door as Dean and I went inside and I got a good look at the dining room. Hundreds of tables were scattered about; the inside looked bigger than the outside. To the far right was the kitchen, I was guessing, and to the left was a bar. But everything was cleaned up and put away; they must have closed at ten or eleven seeing as how they had a bar.

"Your table is this way." He said, grabbing menus and motioned us to the elevator. Was there another floor? We followed him into the elevator and I saw he pushed the button labeled, 'roof'.

I grinned, hugging Dean's arm to me and he smiled too, seeing I was happy and kissed my head.

"You two been together long?" Joey asked us as the elevator passed the second floor.

"A little more than a year." I said.

Joey smiled knowingly as the elevator dinged. "Best times if you ask me. My girl and I have been going on three years."

"Congrats." I said and he nodded in thanks, holding open the elevator doors for us.

I nearly gasped at the sight. On the roof was a lone table, a smooth black cloth covering it. There were white plates and wine glasses and white and pink rose petals covering the chairs and the ground. The moon was so bright it provided some lighting but there were some small candles too and streaming light bulbs, something that reminded me of Christmas tree lights, which hung above the table.

"Oh, wow." I whispered and let go of Dean's arm, walking over to the table to observe everything.

I heard Dean order us wine and tip Joey a twenty for helping out. Joey had a hard time excepting the money since he was doing a favor for Bobby but eventually took it after a little pleading from Dean. Then I heard the elevators close again and turned to see Joey was gone and only Dean was standing there, hands in his pockets.

"You like everything?" He asked me and I squealed, running up to him to place my arms around his neck.

He laughed and wrapped his arms around my waist, picking me up from the ground for a moment. "Yes," I replied. "I love everything. Especially you."

Dean smiled and kissed me before placing me back on the ground. "I love you too."

"This wasn't a hassle right?" I wanted to make sure this wasn't a pain to put together. I would have felt horrible. But I realized that job of mine designated me to feel horrible. That had nothing to do with tonight.

He shook his head no and leaned his forehead against mine. "No, I didn't do anything." He said with a laugh. "I called Bobby and he told Joey what I wanted and he put it together."

"Huh," I said pulling away and picking up some of the rose petals. "Maybe instead of sleeping with you tonight…"

"Don't even think about it." Dean cut me off with a playful manner even though he was totally serious.

I giggled as Joey came back out of the elevator and approached us with wine. We thanked him and decided this was a dessert kind of night. Dean ordered apple pie, with some type of warm caramel cinnamon syrup on the top. I almost laughed at the thought that that was what Dean basically tasted like. I got some type of warm chocolate truffle cake that had syrupy goodness coating it and Joey nodded at the excellent choices and went off to fix the orders.

"I hope you didn't think I was being cheap." Dean said, somewhat embarrassed as he sat on one of the chairs. I brushed the petals off mine and sat down. "You could have ordered actual food if you wanted it."

I shook my head no and sipped the dark red wine. It was bitter but somewhat ironically sweet in the aftertaste. Was that what that expression meant? Bitter sweet? "No, I'm with you. Dessert sounds really good right now. Plus, I want to try some of your pie."

Dean shook his head and sipped his wine too, sloshing it around in the glass for a moment. "It's gonna cost you." He said with a smile.

"You can't have any of my cake." I said defiantly but grinning all the way.

Dean just looked at me and leaned foreword and picked up some petals from the ground and threw them in my hair. "Who said I wanted any of your cake?" He asked suggestively.

"Well, Dean Winchester, what else could you possibly be after?" I asked, feigning innocence and he grinned getting up from his chair to loom over me.

"You really want me to get into that here?" He asked, leaning down to kiss me. "Joey might get the wrong idea."

Just when I was thinking, 'screw Joey' Dean switched gears and moved away from me. He went towards the elevator and I saw a stereo sitting on a small table. I looked around and saw speakers around the place. This roof must have been used for parties when need be. I couldn't think all this work was put into this just for me.

The speakers crackled and a slow guitar started to play. I recognized the soft tune as the song 'Wonderwall' by Ryan Adams. I smiled as Dean sauntered towards me, hand out.

"So what do you say Andrea Core? Gonna dance with me?" He asked.

I smiled slowly, getting up from my chair and grabbed his hand. "Well, who else is gonna step on your feet?" I asked.

He smirked and wrapped an arm around my waist, pulling me tightly to him. I moved my arms around his neck as his hands knotted against my back. We rocked slowly, from side to side and Dean's chin came down to rest on my shoulder, slowly breathing in the scent of my hair. I leaned the side of my face against his chest and took in the scent of cinnamon. It was screwing with the sweet taste of wine that was left in my mouth.

I said maybe,
You're gonna be the one that saves me
And after all
You're my wonderwall.

That's when I realized all my senses were heightened again. I could feel and hear Dean's heartbeat, slowly throbbing against my ear, each beat reassuring and calming me. I could smell Dean. His cologne, his after shave, the small arousal swirling within him as his fingers stoked my back. My sight was sharp because of the tears building in my eyes. You know the type of tears that happened because you were so happy. And scared at the same time that you'd never be this happy again; wouldn't be allowed to. Like you only had so many blissfully happy moments in your life and you were terrified this was your last one.

I don't believe that anybody
Feels the way I do
About you now

I snuggled closer to Dean. I could feel him smile as he kissed my head.

There are many things that I would like to say to you
But I don't know how

I never wanted it to end. And I wanted to tell him everything that I had ever felt about him since the moment I realized I loved him. I raised my head and felt him raise his. He leaned his mouth down on mine, brushing his soft lips against my skin. I settled for the kiss instead. Something told me as I kissed him, he knew, because I knew exactly how he felt about me.

O0o0o0o0

We ate dessert, forks constantly hitting into each other because we kept trying to take stuff off each other's plates, and finished up the wine. We thanked Joey again and again as we piled into the elevator and I smiled sadly as I saw everything disappear as the doors closed and we headed back down to the ground floor. Dean put an arm around my waist, knowing I was sad at letting perfect moments go. We shook Joey's hand and told him to take care, promising we'd show up again to dine even though we knew it was unlikely. It was polite, especially after what he'd done for us.

Dean opened the car door for me again and I got inside and waited for him. He got in and we drove back to the motel chatting over the dessert and what we could do when we got to the room.

"We could watch a movie." I joked. We both knew what we were doing.

"Yeah, or look for a Jesus Seminar on the radio." Dean said, playing right along.

I laughed, leaning back against the seat as he parked the car and got out. He opened the door and I got out the same way, holding his hand.

"How bout…we get you out of these clothes?" I asked him, pulling slightly on the collar of his shirt.

He pulled a room key out of his pocket and I realized it was a different room number than the one we were staying with Sam in. He had planned this, I gave him that.

"I thought you'd never ask." He said, a cocky grin pulling his lips, reaching his hand down below the end of the dress and sweeping his hand up to my thigh.

I giggled, pushing him off. "Room. Now."

He whined but I pushed him towards the number and went inside. I smiled seeing, yet again, rose petals on the turned down bed sheets, lighted candles on the nightstand and the Hershey chocolate bars on the pillows.

"You and that candy huh?" I asked him.

As soon as he got the door closed he picked me up in his arms and plopped me down on the bed, moving his hands up the outside of legs, looking for my underwear.

He made a face and I giggled as he found the straps of the thong I had on. "For a minute I didn't think you had any on."

He pulled down, the fabric swooshing as he took them down my legs. He then unbuckled the high heeled shoes I had on and let them plop onto the floor. I sat up and ran my hands over his chest, undoing his tie and slipping it over his head. I slowly unbuttoned his shirt as his hands pinched the inside of my legs.

"What about the chocolate?" I asked him, distracting him a moment as he looked at the pillows. I leaned up on my knees, my dress covering the hand near my pelvis.

I pulled off the shirt and threw it on the floor, itching to get the t-shirt off him as well, wanting skin to skin contact. He pushed me down on the pillow, making the petals jump and dance on the white sheets. He took one of the bars and opened it, breaking a piece off. He put the end of it in his lips leaning down for me to suckle the other half. It was like kissing, but not. The chocolate melted and dipped into our throats along with each other's taste. It was amazing and when the chocolate was gone our tongues licked the insides of our cheeks, picking up cinnamon, chocolate, caramel and that deep red wine.

I felt his hands slide the dress down, freeing my breasts since I hadn't needed a bra. He cupped one thoughtfully and let his lips circles each. By then I was undoing his belt and sliding it off.

"Was tonight everything you hoped for?" He asked me. Even now he was worried about how he was doing.

I pushed my lips to his, taking his lips into my mouth as I squeezed his strong arm muscles. "Everything and more." I said gently and he smiled, pulling the dress all the way down to my feet.

He sat up momentarily to remove his jeans, along with his briefs. I smiled; mise well go all at once. I felt hot and unbearably passionate as he leaned back down on me; his own swelling and quivering warmth brushing against my own. I couldn't help but moan and squeeze his shoulders.

Just because he knew it drove me crazy, he did it again, this time gaining a wonderful moan from him along with mine. He was controlling himself; you could see it in his eyes. He wanted it all, right then and there. But tonight was different. It was about drawing out the pleasure and happiness. That was all that mattered. He did the same movement a few more times before we were both panting and almost crying our whimpering was so frequent.

He leaned down, holding my thighs and rested his chin on the bed between my legs. He let his tongue dip into blazing heat and I bucked ever so slightly, trying not to hit him in the face. Even though I knew he wouldn't have minded that. He swirled his tongue and finally pulled out, pushing another piece of chocolate in his mouth. He leaned down and kissed me, a whole new bunch of tastes filling my mouth.

I moved my hand down in between us, gripping swelling warmth. He groaned and whimpered into my mouth, panting as he swallowed the chocolate. A few shifts and it had him sweating, mouth quivering against my own. We finally stopped playing around, not being able to take it any more if we kept it up. He shuddered and pushed himself into me, not stopping as he did so. No starting out slow. Just moving as fast as he needed to; pushing until my muscles gripped him and we came together.

He was breathing heavily and collapsed next to me, pulling me into his arms.

"So…chocolate is definitely something we should be using more often." Dean said, with a smile.

I kissed his chest. "Yeah, chocolate is absolutely of the good."

Dean leaned up slightly to pull the sheets over me, not wanting me to catch a chill. He kissed my head. "I love you." He said.

I wrapped my arms around him, holding him tightly. "I love you too. Thank you for everything. It was wonderful." I said, small tears making their way out of my eyes and hitting his stomach.

He rubbed my back with his one hand and brushed the tears away with the other, not saying anything about them since he knew they were happy tears. "I'm glad you're happy."

"You are too right? I never ask, I mean, I just always assume…" I leaned up and he caught my lips in his.

"You make this life…more bearable." He said gently. "I don't remember what being happy was like when I wasn't with you."

I smiled and kissed his cheek, laying my body over his. He wrapped me in his arms and the sheets as I laid my head down on his shoulder, feeling sleep over power me.

It was funny he mentioned that.

Because as I thought about it, falling asleep, I couldn't remember what it was like either.

o0o0o0o0o0o

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