Previously on Supernatural...

His inner scolding was interrupted by the sound of his cell phone going off. He flipped it open and snapped, "Sam, please tell me you've got a lead."

Looking down at Madeline's corpse, Sam felt the bile rising to the back of his throat. Every inch of exposed skin was sliced or broken, blood caking her face and hair. Mottled finger-shaped bruises peppered her arms and wrapped around her neck, showing just how strong her attacker had been. The beautiful older woman hadn't stood a chance.

"Geez, that's awful," came Dean's rough murmur as he joined his brother. "She looks like she tangled with King Kong and lost."

"This is different from the other car-girls. It's like someone took a tire iron and just whaled on her," Sam said. "Every bone's been broken, every organ ruptured. This was personal." Suddenly he noticed something was missing. "Did you find Baby?"

"Yeah, but then she pulled a Fast and Furious on me."

"And you let her go?"

"She's got a V8 engine in perfect condition with almost three hundred horses at her disposal, how could I - ?" The ringing of Sam's phone interrupted Dean's excuse. Shooting his brother a look, Sam pulled out his phone and answered.

"Hello?" His eyes widened as he glanced back at Dean. "Baby? Where are you?" He listened for a few minutes, frowning in puzzlement, then said, "Okay, I'll tell him. We'll finish up here in another few minutes. Stay there and keep the door locked. Yeah, see you in a bit."

"Well?" Dean demanded in worry as his brother hung up.

"She's safe. Back at the motel. Said she found some things out, and to tell you that she was sorry about what happened earlier." The younger man raised an eyebrow at his sibling. "What did you do?"

"Nothing!" At Sam's disbelieving scoff Dean glared at him, then quickly dropped his gaze in guilt. "I found Baby downtown and started getting her back to the motel. Dude, she was plastered. Drank herself halfway through a bar and put a couple men under the table by the time I found her. She...she started saying stuff about her being ugly and a freak, and saying that I didn't care about her..." He shook his head as if the very thought was ridiculous. "Next thing I knew, she was crying and I - "

The way he was faltering, Sam had to ask. "Did you kiss her?" Sure enough, Dean coughed and sputtered, his face turning bright red. "You did, didn't you?"

"We wound up against a wall."

"And?" Sam nodded in expectation, but when nothing seemed to follow the admission, he impatiently repeated, "AND?"

Dean sighed. "And that's it. I came to my senses, told her no, and then - "

"Wait, you told her no? Seriously?" Sam's eyebrows shot up to his hairline and his eyes went wide with shock. He looked over Dean and demanded, "Who are you and what have you done to my Impala-obsessed manwhore brother?"

"You really think I'd - " Dean shot him a dirty look, then ran a hand over his face. "I wouldn't do that to her. Hell, none of this would've happened if she hadn't been drunk."

It was clear how upset this was making Dean, so Sam wisely drew the conversation back to the case.

When they returned to their room, Baby was sitting cross-legged on Dean's bed, her eyes glued to the television screen with a look of pure wonder. Cautious after their last encounter, Dean shuffled closer to see what she was watching. The sight of a signature yellow suit made his eyes widen. "Kill Bill? Really?"

"It was on," Baby said, watching Uma Thurman and Lucy Liu as they duked it out. "Learn anything new?"

"Not much more, except that whoever killed Madeline had little fists and a really big grudge." Sam came over to sit next to Baby as Dean headed for the mini-fridge. "What about you? You said you found some stuff out."

"After I left Dean, I ran into Sebastian again," Baby said. Dean instantly stiffened, but the Impala didn't notice. "He was upset about Madeline as well, but for another reason. He said that he was leaving Madeline at her owner's home when another man came up and led her away, and she seemed to know him. Called him Christopher."

"Christopher Braxton?" Dean guessed, coming over with three beers. Sitting beside Baby, he handed one beer over to his brother and held the other out to her. "The showroom owner?"

The smile she gave him was small and bright as she took the beer, popped the lid off, and took a swig. "One and the same. He gave me a description, and when I came back I managed to find a picture online." She pointed to Sam's laptop on the table, which showed the aforementioned picture. "I showed it to Mr. Hendrix, and he said that this guy was the mechanic that last worked on Sheila before she changed. Couple car-girls I ran into also said he was familiar-looking."

"You've been busy," Sam said, impressed.

"Had to work off that booze. Which also got me thinking." Now she met Dean's eyes. "I don't think I was just tipsy when we...you know...kissed," she said carefully. "When I left you and peeled rubber out of there, the haze cleared almost instantly. Like it was a kind of spell."

Dean's eyes went wide as he followed her train of thought. "You think Braxton's a witch?"

"He must've put some kind of sex-hex on me. It's the only way I can explain what happened earlier with, you know - " She made an uncertain gesture, coughed meaningfully, and took another drink.

"Maybe he slipped it into your drink," Sam posed. "Did you see Braxton there?"

"No, but I did drink a lot in that bar," she admitted. "But I really didn't notice anyone in there acting odd." A sudden yawn caught all three of them by surprise. "Geez, I'm running on empty again and it's only been a few hours, what the hell? These human bodies have sucky gas mileage."

Smiling fondly at her odd words, Dean leaned over to bump shoulders with her. He glanced back at his single bed and sighed. Might as well, to be sure. "Look, how about you sleep in the bed tonight? I'll take the couch."

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. "Why? We can both fit in the bed."

Unconvinced, he gave her a cautious look. "You're not gonna molest me while I sleep, are you?"

"Depends. You gonna pull a gun on me like you did this morning?"

"I expected to wake up alone!"

"You pulled me into bed!"

"Did not! You shut up!" he snapped at Sam, who had finally succumbed to his laughter. "What would you have done if you woke up sharing the bed?" But by this time, Dean was unsuccessfully trying to keep a straight face. "And you," he said, pointing at Baby, "you don't get to laugh, you're supposed to be on my side!"

Baby broke out laughing at that one, leaning back so far as to collapse on the bed in a heap of giggles. Twisting his lips in a mischievous grin, Dean quickly attacked her midsection. Her giggles turned to squeals as she tried to squirm away from his tickling fingers. "Dean, stop! Stop!"

"Surrender!"

Her bright eyes flashed with spunk and fire. "Never!" she proclaimed. She tried to roll away, but the hunter managed to pin her down. They both froze in surprise, Baby's giggles fading into rapid gasps, as green and gray eyes locked. There was a flash of something in her eyes, but when he blinked, all he saw was amusement.

Nevertheless, he pulled away. "I'm thirsty. You?"

"Nah, I'm good."

That makes one of us, at least. He quickly headed for the mini-fridge for a bottle of water. He stood up and cracked the top off for a sip, turning back to look at Baby. "It's late. We can mix the witch-killing bomb in the morning and you can help us check out the showroom."

"Me?" she asked, perking up.

"Yeah," he said as Sam emerged from the bathroom. "Your find, your lead."

Her smile could've blinded them. Hopping to her feet, Baby skipped over to Dean and kissed his cheek. "Thanks, Dean!" Two more skips brought her to Sam's side, and she used his arm to pull herself on her toes to kiss his cheek as well. "You too, Sammy! You guys won't regret it!" she promised as she went into the bathroom to change.

Sam couldn't help the smile that tugged his lips sideways as he watched Dean chug his water bottle dry in five seconds, a blush coloring his freckled face. "Can't remember the last time I saw you blush when a girl kissed you. Has it really been that long?"

"It hasn't - That's - I'm not - " The blush darkened to full crimson before Dean finally barked, "Shut up, Sam!"

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