If you've been liking the story so far, then you know what time it is... it's reunion time.


They had made the drive in a little over eight hours, and Dean had just turned off on to a dirt road. They were almost at Manda's now, another ten minutes or so down this road and they'd be pulling up in front of her house.

It'd been three months since he'd seen her, and now that he was almost there, he hated that it had to be under these circumstances.

This ride should have been for that weekend she had joked about. Sam shouldn't be sitting next to him in the car, and Dean shouldn't have been prepared to listen to what little she knew about her missing her days or to help her figure out what had happened.

"Supposed to be the fifth turn on the right," Sam said. Dean had been quiet for most of the ride, and Sam really didn't bother to press him for much either.

Dean nodded and continued to drive.

They passed the third driveway then and Dean noticed that each house on this street was on a fair amount of land. It made sense to him. Her family would have had to have a bit of property that was fairly private.

The fifth one came up on the right, and Dean turned the car in and drove down a pretty long driveway. The house sat far back from the road, which once again made sense to him.

Her Chevelle was parked out front and Dean stopped behind it instead of parking near the large detached garage that was to left at the top of the driveway.

"So this is her place huh?" Sam asked as he looked at the old farm three-story farm house that Manda called home.

"Must be, that's her car." Dean took a look at it before he got out of the car.

The house itself was a fair size, it had a wrap-around porch, and everything looked to be well kept. The house had a kind of coldness to it though, like it was obvious it wasn't lived in, but the grass was short, so she must have had someone maintaining the place for her.

"Did she ever tell you how she got this place?" Sam wondered since she obviously kept things hidden.

"Family." Dean had never asked her for any more details, if she wanted to give them to him then she would have. She didn't like talking about it, so he didn't ask her.

Dean smirked and gave a short chuckle as he walked up the stairs at the side before heading to the front door. "Look up Sam."

Sam was just making his way up the stairs now when he looked up at the roof that hung over the porch. There were a few symbols painted in a light colour that was hard to see.

"Wonder if it looks like Bobby's place inside," Sam muttered amused.

"Only one way to find out." Dean knocked on the door.

A minute or two passed and there was no answer. Dean knocked again and waited.

Another minute passed and Manda still didn't come to the door.

The brothers looked at each other and then one went one way while the other went the other way on the porch.

Sam wandered over to one of the windows and peered in, noticed the salt line across the sill on the inside.

Dean walked over to another, noticed how the porch creaked in all the right places to alert anyone on the inside that there was someone wandering around outside. He looked in a window, noticed a salt line first and then saw her lying on a couch. She appeared to be asleep. "She's inside, looks like she's sleeping," he called out to Sam as his eyes lingered a little longer on her before he walked back to the door.

"Notice the salt at the windows?" Sam was back at the door now too.

"Yeah, she's not taking any chances." Dean was glad she wasn't. He was certain she had laid salt at every window and all the outside doors.

"Try the door?" Sam suggested.

Dean turned the knob and discovered it was unlocked. He looked at Sam and smirked. Even though he wished she had locked it, he was glad it was open. She was only expecting Chuch and probably hadn't planned on falling asleep.

He was about to step inside when he looked down and noticed a slit in the floorboard at the door that was overfilled with salt. The door cleared it when it opened and didn't disturb the line. Dean smiled a little more at the setup, it was smart.

Both bothers walked inside and looked around for a moment. The house was brighter on the inside, more inviting. It was clean and furnished well enough to make it feel like a home, but it wasn't cluttered or overly decorated.

"Lucy, I'm home," Dean called out the old well known TV quote as they walked towards the living room.

The house remained silent.

They reached the living room, and Sam stayed more in the doorway. He would let Dean wake her and wait to see what happened.

Dean walked over to the couch and stood there beside it. "Time to rise and shine Manda," he said, but not too loudly as he looked down at her. He didn't want to alarm her, but he needed to wake her.

She didn't answer still, and just lay there on her back with her knees raised, one arm hidden at her side, the other hanging over the side of couch, and breathing softly.

Dean had just leaned down a bit and reached out to lightly rouse her with a soft shake when his phone went off in his pocket. He froze for a split second since as it did and then noticed it was the ringtone he had given her. "What the…"

Manda bolted up, grabbed his arm and swept his feet out from under him in one fast movement. She had him on his back on the floor before he knew it, but had held on to him as he went down to keep him from hitting the floor too hard. "Welcome home Ricky," she greeted Dean with a return of his TV show reference.

Sam chuckled at seeing how she had taken down Dean quickly.

"You've gotten soft on me in three months Winchester," she teased as she crouched over him on her knees. "And I told you I'd call soon," she waved her phone in her hand and smiled slightly at him. She knew Chuch had called them and was cursing her friend in her head at that moment.

Dean was surprised at how fast she had moved, but now knew she'd heard them come in and wanted to catch him off guard since they weren't supposed to be here. If this was how she was going to play it, then he'd go along with it for now. She had called him by his last name too, something she only did when she was teasing and challenging him, and even if he was a little angry with her, he still liked it. "Not soon enough, and you should lock your door Chambers." He grinned as he flipped her to be on her back now and leaned over her. "Who's gotten soft again?"

"Like the lock would have stopped you. And hey, if you want to make this a fair fight, I'm game." She stared up with her brows raised at Dean who wasn't on her, but a bit over her on his knees now.

Dean looked at her and found her hard to read. He wasn't sure if she was happy to see him or not, but she was playing around like she was. He could see the shadows under her eyes now though, the dark circles starting which showed she hadn't been sleeping much. The demon had probably deprived her of that while it possessed her, and now it continued to with the worry she had after it had left her. "So am I," he challenged her. His grin took on the playful suggestive look then.

"Hello Dean," Manda said softly as she reached up and touched his face for a second. She knew she'd been stupid not to call him then, and she was glad he was here even if she was pissed off at being uninformed that he had been coming.

"Manda." Dean's grin lost the playful nature to it and went a little sweeter as he saw the relief in her eyes showing she was glad to see him. It had also been three months after all, and he did miss her despite the annoyance he had at her and her stubbornness for not calling him.

Sam coughed. Maybe it had been awhile since they'd seen each other, and they certainly had a chemistry that was hard to ignore when they were around each other, but he didn't need to see this. "You two want to save that twisted game of foreplay you've got going on for later?"

"Twisted maybe, but it sure is a whole lot of fun. And hi Sam, nice to see you again," Manda called out from the floor and continued to look up at Dean. She definitely missed him, but as much as she wanted to throw her arms around him, she wouldn't yet.

"Hey Manda," Sam called out back to her.

Dean chuckled, she was right. Maybe it was a bit twisted, but it was always fun. "Sammy doesn't know what a good game of foreplay is, he's too busy crying through it," he said as he got up and then held out a hand to help her up.

Sam groaned. "Dude, don't you ever get tired of that one?"

Manda grabbed Dean's hand and let him help her up.

"No." Dean let go of Manda when she was up on her feet and took a better look at her. She looked exhausted, and he knew she was trying to maintain a brave front on top of that.

"Guess I have Chuch to thank for your surprise visit. Remind me to kick her if I don't kill her first." Manda wasn't angry at them, but she was a bit angry with Chuch. She had asked her friend to not call either brother, and apparently that had meant the opposite.

Sam nodded. "She thought it was best if we knew, so you can't blame her for calling for me."

"You should have called Manda." Dean's tone was serious and a little hard.

Manda sighed, they were right and she knew it. Dean was obviously a little upset with her for not calling him too. "Well, since I've got more guests than I was expecting, I better go get a room or two ready as we wait for Chuch to get here. Go grab your stuff and then make yourselves at home guys." Manda headed out of the living room and to the stairs then.

Dean watched her walk away from him. He wanted to follow her, but held back since she had just sort of blown them off at the mention of her not calling. She would only shut down on him if he had followed her, he knew that much.

Sam looked at Dean questioningly.

"Looks like we're staying," Dean said. Then he headed out to the car to grab his bags.

Sam followed.

"She's not holding up too well is she?" Sam posed the question once they were pulling their stuff out of the trunk.

"You think?" Dean mumbled as he grabbed his stuff and closed the trunk.

They headed inside and left their stuff by the stairs. She wasn't back yet so they wandered around the main floor a bit.

Dean went into the kitchen, and checked out what she had to eat since he was hungry. The fridge had food, but nowhere near enough for all of them. It did have some beer in it though, and for a moment he thought about helping himself, but then decided against it. He could have a few later after she talked about what had happened. He found some coffee and put on a pot before he went back to the living room, sat down on the couch and stuck his feet up on the table. Her house was already beginning to feel a little like home to him.

Sam had felt weird about wandering around Manda's house, but she had said they could make themselves at home. He found a room that had been made into a library and noticed all the books and a notebook that were scattered in on the floor in a weird pattern. She'd been doing research of some sort, so Sam walked in and went to get a better look at what she had been reading up on.

Manda took awhile getting the two spare rooms ready even if she believed she only needed to get one ready or that it might have been pointless to even bother at all. Sam might end up with Chuch, but she had no idea and didn't care. She figured Dean would end up in her room and while she wanted him there too, it was possible he wouldn't once he found out the little bit of information she hadn't mentioned yet. He only knew what Chuch knew, but they'd all know the rest of it after she got here and Manda told them everything. And he was already upset with her for not calling, but she wondered if he knew she hadn't intended on calling him at all.

Sam had looked at all the books she had out. All of it had to do with demons. The notebook was filled with notes. There was also a journal sort of like his father's that had belonged to someone else. The writing in it wasn't the same as the writing in the notebook which was hers.

The stuff she had written down and the books she had out gave Sam the impression this was more than just a possession. There was something else going on here, and Chuch had been right to call them. Manda was in more trouble than she was letting on, and Dean wasn't going to take that well when he found out. Sam sighed as he left the library and headed back out to find his brother.

Manda came back downstairs and went to find them. She saw Dean sitting on the couch and Sam had just sat down on the other end as she made it back into the living room. "The rooms are ready guys," Manda said as she sat in a chair.

"Rooms?" Dean asked and turned his head to look at her.

"I'm on the third floor, Chuch is always in the master, and there's a spare room for each of you. Sam, take your pick," Manda paused, "Dean you can take a spare or head up to my room, your choice." She looked at Dean and hoped he could read what she wanted.

"Thanks." Sam got up and then headed to get his stuff to go upstairs.

Dean smirked as he read her eyes and face. She was willing to stick to their agreement, and since he was here that meant they were together. He got up and went to go take his stuff upstairs.

Manda headed to the kitchen since she could smell coffee. Someone had put on a pot, and she was thankful for whatever brother had done it. She was dead on her feet, and trying to maintain this front of being okay was only draining her of what little she had left for energy.

Sam tossed his stuff in a spare room. He could have gone to Chuch's room, but he wasn't presuming anything. It had been quite awhile since he'd seen her, and he wasn't sure what would happen.

He was just coming out of his room when he saw Dean going for the next set of stairs that were through a doorway. Sam knew the choice wasn't really a choice, he'd seen the look Manda had given his brother and even if she hadn't, that was where he would have probably gone on his own anyway.

Sam wanted to stop Dean before he went to her room to tell him what he'd seen, but he didn't. It was for Manda to tell him since she had already avoided him by not calling him and had been keeping some things to herself. Sam knew they were going to fight about it, but it wasn't his place to interfere now. He went back downstairs to find her before Dean came back down.

Dean made it to the top of the stairs, walked into her room and found she had the entire third floor as a room.

There wasn't a lot of furniture in the room, but enough to make the space not feel empty. He put his stuff by a night table on one side of her bed as he noticed how large it was. Dean was willing to bet it was going to be comfortable since she was bound to be sick of crappy hotel beds when she did come home. He was looking forward to going to bed tonight now that he had seen it.

One corner had been turned into a bathroom, the open door revealed that much to him. She had the rest of the normal bedroom things about, but his eyes settled on the photos that were on the dresser.

Different stages of Manda's life in a few frames were before him. There were a few shots of her with her parents at various ages before they'd died. One of an older man sitting on top of the Chevelle with a younger her, and Dean wondered if that was her grandfather. The last picture was of a teenage Manda with a guy, and Dean knew that was the boyfriend that had been killed when she'd let him come on a hunt. There had been no pictures like this downstairs, and Dean could understand why she kept them up here and out of view for anyone else. It was out of her love and her guilt that the smiling faces in the pictures stared at her while she slept or didn't.

He looked around a little more and wondered what it would be like to have a place like this to come back to when he grew tired of the road. Maybe it would be weird because it'd been so long since he had an actual home, but it would be nice.

Sam found her sitting in the kitchen drinking coffee.

"Hope your room is okay," Manda said as he sat down across from her.

"Yeah, thanks again." Sam looked at her and could see how hard she was fighting off her exhaustion now.

"No trouble, thanks for coming." She avoided looking at him.

"Manda, I saw the books… there's something else going on with you isn't there?" Sam knew he had to say something.

Manda looked up at him then, nodded and then shot him a 'be quiet' look as she saw Dean coming.

Dean came in the kitchen then. He looked at them oddly since he had heard them talking quietly but hadn't caught what it was about, but both of them had shut up though as he entered. "Chuch just pulled up, and I see the coffee's ready."

Both Sam and Manda looked at him.

"I'll go greet her," Sam said as he got up and left.

"Thanks for making a pot." She yawned and then stuck an arm up to help prop up her head.

Dean nodded and then went to pour himself a cup. "So, the Chevelle belonged to your grandfather huh?"

"Yeah, that was his baby first. And before you ask, the house was his too."

Dean sat across from her. "You mentioned before that he was a hunter too I think."

Manda nodded. "He only had this place because he hated living on the road and my grandmother needed somewhere to raise my dad and uncle. He trained them here when he wasn't hunting, and then trained me mostly when I was here too."

She was opening up a bit more about her past now, so Dean stuck with it. "Didn't you say you moved around a lot?"

"This was the main spot to ditch me until I was trained and old enough to go on hunts. Sometimes I was here for a week, sometimes a few months. But granddad died when I was sixteen." She paused as she thought about her past. "He left the car to me and the house to my parents so we lived here up until they died, and then it became mine. The place is paid for, there's a trust in place that pays for the bills and maintenance, and I can't bring myself to sell the only real home I've ever had," she said quietly.

"You're a trust fund kid?" He looked at her strangely, he hadn't seen that coming.

Manda's chuckle was short and soft. "Granddad came from money before he became a hunter. He set up the trust to make sure there was always a place to come back to. There might be a little left over to keep me from being broke, but as you can see by where I stay while out on the road, there's not that much left over."

"Well, I could get used to being a kept man," he joked and raised a brow at her.

Manda was too tired to joke around with him. "I'll see what's keeping Sam and Chuch." She got up and left Dean at the table.

Dean wondered if he had said something wrong at first, but he knew she was worn out. He decided he would find a way to make her get some sleep after she had told them the details since she clearly needed it, and the rest of them could start to take over by searching for answers without her.

Sam had met Chuch outside to greet her, and then taken a few minutes to fill her in on what he had found in the library.

Chuch had known Manda was hiding something, and now this just confirmed that.

They had just made it back inside when Manda met them by the door.

"Hello Chuch," she said with a tone that was a bit angry.

"Manda, before you start getting bitchy with me, you know I had to call them. You should have called Dean, and even more so from what I just heard from Sam." Chuch had kept her voice low since she knew Dean didn't know any of it yet.

"Yeah, I guess," she muttered as she walked back to the living room.

Chuch and Sam looked at each other. Manda hadn't gotten sarcastic or put up a fight, which wasn't like her. They followed her in.

Dean was already sitting in the living room. He had heard the whispering at the door, and seen the way Manda and Sam had shut up before. Something else was going on here, and he wanted to know what it was. "So, does someone want to tell me what the hushed tones are about or do you want to start talking now that we're all here Manda?" he asked as he looked directly at her and waited for an answer.


Ok, so now you know about more about Manda, like her last name and a little more on why and how she has the house and the car. If you read the last story, you know about her past and how family will always be a sore spot for her.
How'd you like that greeting between them? It couldn't exactly be a normal 'hi nice to see you' or gushy one.
I'll post the next chapter soon.
Thanks for reading, hope you're enjoying it! Review if you want to :)