Previously on Supernatural...

But despite Sam's warm grip on her fingers, Baby couldn't help wishing it was Dean's hand holding hers.

After two hours of walking through Valence, Sam and Baby had little to show for their efforts. All the cars they interviewed told a similar story; one day they just woke up human. Most had been alive for the whole four months, some less than that, but each one said the exact same thing.

It was after the mechanic came to fix me.

"That mechanic keeps coming up. I wish they were more specific about who he was," said Sam as they sat outside the town burger joint. A pile of burgers were piled on the plastic tray between them, and Baby was digging in with surprising gusto. "Anybody touch you before you transformed, Baby?"

"Can't be sure," she said around a mouth full of meat and buns.

"Weren't you paying attention?"

"That's not how cars work, Sammy," Baby informed him. "Our perception of the passage of time is vague, at best. Be lucky they even remember when the mechanic came around." Tossing the empty wrapper aside, she unwrapped another burger and took a large bite. "These are delicious. Now I understand why you and Dean eat so many that wrappers litter my backseats."

He smiled at her appetite. "Better slow down there. Eating too fast will make you sick." Picking up a burger of his own, he started to eat as he spoke. "So explain something to me. I know you're Dean's car now, but you were Dad's before that. Did you love Dad more when he owned you?"

Baby chewed slowly as she thought about her answer. "Yes and no," she finally said. "I love you boys in my own special way, and I loved John dearly when he was my owner. But - it's hard to really explain. He was my owner, but he didn't own me."

"There's a difference?"

"A world of difference, like night and day. An owner is just that, a person who drives you around. But if a person owns you, it's a bond that you feel all the way to your hubcaps. Dean owns me that way." She gave Sam a sheepish smile and said, "Did that make any sense at all?"

"Sort of," he replied, thinking of how Castiel had once described the connection between himself and Dean as "profound." He sipped his soda and changed topics. "What's the earliest thing you can remember?"

Pursing her lips in thought, Baby's silver eyes lifted skyward. "Hmmm...I can faintly recall when John bought me at Rainbow Motors with a little nudge from Dean," she said with a grin. "Then it's a blurry smear until John started driving me all the time. I gained more awareness as the years went on, more from exposure to him and you boys. It got to the point that I could almost tune in and out at will, like a radio dial." Finishing her burger, she leaned back and sighed. "But when John gave me to Dean...I dunno, it was like waking up from a half-remembered dream. Everything started getting so much clearer. I gained a sense of myself, of you and Dean and everything that you did. I was alive, you could say."

"But that was almost eighteen years ago. You're forty-six but you only look twenty-eight."

"I told you, it's because Dean's taken such good care of me. I never really aged after that." She looked away from Sam and blinked when she spotted a familiar blonde haircut across the street. "Hey, that's Madeline."

"Madeline?" repeated Sam, confused.

"She's the local '59 Eldorado that was at the last crime scene." Baby quickly finished her soda and stood up. "I'm going to talk to her. See you in a while."

He started to rise. "Dean said - "

"I know what Dean said, but she's shy. You can watch, but don't let her see you, okay?"

Sam gestured to his too-tall frame helplessly. "How do you expect that to happen? I'm not exactly inconspicuous."

"I dunno, use your ninja skills or something."

Before he could give a retort, Baby was across the street. He couldn't help giving a low whistle. Damn, she's fast.

She had to put on a bit of speed to catch up to Madeline before she was out of sight. "Madeline, hey. How's tricks?"

The Eldorado was startled by her sudden appearance. "Baby? What're you doing here?" she squeaked, trying to get a better grip on the plastic shopping bags she was carrying.

"Been asking around about how we've been getting changed. You know anything about it?"

Madeline looked around nervously. "You shouldn't be asking around like this. Somebody might not like it."

"Who? Do you know who did this?" Baby asked.

"All I know is that you shouldn't question when someone gives you a free upgrade. They might take it back."

The nervous way she said it made Baby suspicious. "If you know something, you have to tell me. My boys and I can keep you safe."

"Not likely." Hefting up her bags, Madeline started to scurry down the street - and promptly ran into a man at full speed. Baby cried out in shock as man and car-woman tumbled to the ground. The shopping bags spilled their contents everywhere.

"Forgive me," the man apologized, helping Madeline regain her footing. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

Baby quickly knelt to pick up the scattering objects. Reaching for a can of peaches, she felt a large hand cover her own. Shocked, she looked up and her eyes widened as she recognized the face staring at her. "Sebastian. This is a surprise."

His smile was slightly awestruck as he pointed to her in recognition. "Paula, wasn't it?"

"That's right." Smiling at the awkward young man, Baby held out an open bag. "What're you doing around here?"

"Just walking around. I grew up in a small town, you see, and I love breathing in fresh air when I can." Sebastian started heaping the groceries into the bag she offered. "Are you also taking in the sights?"

"I was actually speaking with Madeline," Baby replied, gesturing to the other woman. "But she was about to leave anyway."

"In that case..." Shy blue eyes lifted from Baby to meet Madeline's gaze. "Would you mind...if I accompanied you, Madeline?"

The Eldorado nodded, her expression slackening to something akin to affection. "I'd be very pleased by that," she said in a breathy tone. Looking back at Baby, she smiled and said, "Excuse me."

"Madeline, we should still talk about - "

"Of course," was her abstract reply, eyes back on Sebastian as she gave Baby a dismissive wave. "Later. Goodbye."

"Bye," Baby whispered, watching the pair head down the street with their heads bowed together. The closeness made something in her chest tug in longing. Lucky woman, that Madeline.

Dean was watching TV when she returned to the motel room. "So you were chatting up Sunny Jim from the showroom?" he asked, switching off the TV and turning in his chair to face her. When she frowned in puzzlement, he waved his cell phone. "Sam texted me."

"His name's Sebastian," was her short reply. She strode across the room and sat on Dean's bed, facing the older Winchester with a hard look in her eye. "And since when did you care about who I see? What's got your boxers in a bunch?"

"I've been going over the files again. Couple witnesses say that they saw a man with a few of the girls before they vanished. Dark-haired, handsome, clean-cut." He wasn't jealous, he told himself, but he hated how his words sounded. They were sharp and biting, like a domineering boyfriend accusing his girl of making eyes at another man. Which isn't half untrue, his heart told him. You care about her. She's the only other thing outside of your family you've ever really cared about. Cassie, Anna, Lisa, Ben...everyone came second to Baby. And she's the only thing you care for that you haven't completely lost.

Admit it. You're scared she's gonna up and leave you too.

Baby crossed her arms. "Sebastian is a sweet young man, and I'll thank you for not accusing him before we have evidence."

The way she defended this guy rubbed Dean the wrong way, and he didn't bother hiding the fact. "You got a lot to learn about huntin', Baby. First thing you learn is not to let your emotions get in the way."

"My emotions?" she repeated, voice breaking. "You think I want to have emotions? You think I like having these blasted feelings? They've done nothing but confuse me every which way, and I hate them!" Silver eyes flashed up angrily, and Dean could swear there were tongues of hellfire dancing in their depths. "Dean, I've been human for almost two whole days and I can't calm down enough to think straight! You know how to push everything back and feel nothing, but I can't! I feel everything, and it's too much!" She speared her fingers into her tangled locks and clutched her head, shaking furiously. "Everything's too damn much," she mumbled weakly.

Seeing his Baby this shaken up was absolute torture for the hunter. It struck him just then how hard the whole experience was for her. He hadn't really considered her feelings, and if what half she said was true, she'd been under an enormous weight. And if Dean knew anything at all, he knew how that weight could hurt.

So he dug into his duffel bag and pulled out a pack of cards. "Wanna learn how to play poker?"

From the way her head snapped up in shock, Baby hadn't been expecting that. "Huh?"

"Poker. I can teach you."

"Why?"

"Playing cards usually helps calm me down." Dean gave her a sheepish grin. "Maybe it'll help calm that mess you're having trouble with."

Three hours later, the hunter and Impala were playing for pocket change and laughter was ringing through the motel room. Dean laid down his hand with a triumphant smirk. "Full house."

"Awww, not again," she sighed. She tossed her cards down on the discard pile, a smile of her own decorating her lips. "You're pretty good."

"Lots of practice, Baby. Lots of practice hustlin' for my meals and your gas."

Baby was still giggling when Sam opened the room door. The way he stood in the doorway conveyed that he was the proverbial bringer of bad news. "Sammy, what is it?" she asked, half-rising from her chair as panic mounted in her system. "What's happened?"

"Baby..." His hazel eyes betrayed the information even before he said it. "Madeline's body was found an hour ago."

"What?" Her eyes widened in horror. "Where?"

"Off in a back alley." Sam's face creased with pain. "Baby, I am so sorry."

Dean saw how she reeled from the information, shock and loss plain on her face. The amount of pain in her eyes was almost a physical blow to him. He and Sam were used to people dying on this job; Baby wasn't. Not in the human sense.

"You know how to push everything back and feel nothing, but I can't! I feel everything, and it's too much!"

He reached out to embrace her, but she easily ducked away from his arms. "I - I need to take a walk," she stammered. "I gotta - I hafta think about - "

Then faster than he could blink, the door banged open and she was gone. Dean grabbed his jacket and jammed his cell phone in his pocket. "You head to the crime scene, see what you can find out."

"What about you?" Sam asked. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going after Baby before she does something stupid."

Sorry this took so long! Drop a review on your way out please!