"Once upon a time, in a kingdom far away, there was a family. They were just like every other: a loving mother, a doting father, and two young boys.

"Then, one night, when the boys were just babes, their mother was taken from them, lost in a dragon's fire that destroyed the only home they'd ever known. This broke a strong man, and their father eventually lost everything he had to getting revenge…everything except his sons."

"Chuck…" Gabriel warned, his voice lower than Y/N had ever heard.

"The elder son became the parent to the younger. He scoured the land for work, for safety, for anything to protect his brother. He fought, he stole—he did whatever he needed and never complained.

"The boys grew up, big and strong. Whenever their father was around, he trained them, made them into the best soldiers he could in the fight against the dragon. The younger son grew to hate his father, grew to hate his life, and so, one day, he left his family to find his own way in the world.

"Eventually, the father's quest for revenge killed him, and the boys were truly alone. The older son went to his brother and threw himself into protecting him. Nothing else mattered.

"Then, the younger brother was cursed. He was dying, and there was nothing that could be done. Nothing but the unthinkable.

"So, the older brother went to a powerful and evil wizard. In exchange for saving the youngest's life, the older sold himself to the wizard, to work in servitude for him forever.

"The younger brother was cured and the curse had left no trace. He was free to live his life as he wished, never to know what his brother had done to save him.

"The older son watched from afar as his younger lived his life: he met a beautiful princess and they decided to wed."

"Chuck," Y/N began, unsure of what she was going to say next. She felt like she was violating Dean's privacy just listening to this, but she wasn't able to stop.

"The older son made friends with the others in servitude, and he was as content as he could be. But then came a siren, a beautiful creature that captivated the him."

"I think I know this part, Chuck," Y/N interrupted, wringing her hands together.

"Plus, don't sirens lead men to their deaths? That's not a very nice thing to say about Y/N," Gabe tried to ease the tension in the room.

Chuck frowned. "Okay, I need to work on it, obviously."

Y/N stood. "Does Dean know that you're doing this?"

The bassist shook his head.

"I can't imagine he'll be all that happy when he finds out," Gabe added, sighing.

Before Chuck could retort, however, a knock came at the dressing room door. Castiel stuck his head in the door with an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry, but would you mind joining me, Y/N?"

The singer looked between her bandmates before nodding. "'Course, Cas." Before she followed the bartender out into the hall, she turned to her bassist and smiled softly. "Thanks, Chuck."

He smiled half-heartedly back at her. "Happy to help, Y/N."

Y/N had ended up helping Castiel with some inventorying. She quickly figured out that he didn't need any help, and she assumed that Dean had asked him to keep her company whilst he was busy.

She couldn't be happier to know that Dean had such good friends.

Chuck had put a paper thin pretense over his story, but she wasn't an idiot. Sure, some of the details might be a little fuzzy, but she knew the main parts: his parents were dead and he had ended up with Crowley to save his younger brother's life.

She wasn't sure how long she'd spent with Cas, though Meg came by a few times to check in, make sure everyone was okay and to show some measure of quiet affection with Castiel.

Y/N watched them with a soft smile. It was always subtle. A hand on the arm, standing just a tiny bit too close to each other, eye contact holding just a tiny bit too long. There was a quiet content intimacy between them, unspoken but comfortable.

Y/N found herself hoping that she and Dean would be like that one day.

Finally, the man himself came out. He had a small cut on his bottom lip and looked a little more rundown, but was otherwise fine. Y/N rushed over to check on him, immediately placing her hands on either side of his face.

He smiled down at her. "Don't worry, doll, I'm fine."

She sighed dramatically. "Good. I'm only with you for your looks."

He laughed at that, a bit of weight leaving his shoulders. "C'mon, let's go home, sweetheart."

Y/N stopped him, frowning. "Is Benny okay?"

Dean nodded. "Yeah, he's fine. Plus, you're my nurse, and I ain't sharin'."

She twined her arm with Dean's and rolled her eyes. "Glad to hear you care so much about your friends."

He chuckled. "C'mon, let me be selfish with you, doll."

Pink dusted her cheeks at that and she shrugged, mumbling out a "Guess I can let ya off the hook for that this one time."

They waved goodbye to everyone, got in the car, and were at Dean's apartment before she could blink. She took the same seat she had the night before, and he disappeared to get the first aid kit. When he returned, Y/N got right to work, disposing of the new bandages and rewrapping his hands.

"So, what story did Chuck tell you?" Dean asked after a few moments of silence. "Or did Cas save you in time?"

"N-No, he didn't," She gulped and refused to look up at him.

"Ah, so you had to listen to one of his tall tales. Alright, which one was it?"

"Yours."

"Mine?" she could practically hear the frown in his voice, and she didn't need to look at him to see the furrow between his eyebrows where they drew together.

She nodded. "Not everything, I don't think, but he told me about your mom, your dad, your brother…"

The cozy, quiet, comfortable atmosphere that had been in the room turned cold.

"I'm gonna kill him. He shouldn't've told you that," he practically growled.

There was a moment of unbearable silence. She couldn't bear to look up and see the disappointed look in his eyes and know that she put it there. She would've felt the same, so she couldn't blame him.

Without thinking, she began speaking, "You know, I grew up in an orphanage."

He started at that, which she scolded him for. "Don't move, Dean!"

"Wasn't expectin' that, is all."

"Well, I did. Then, y'know, things got real bad. Couldn't afford to keep all of us. So, I left when I was fourteen. Didn't like anyone there anyway."

"Y/N…you don't have to tell me anything."

She finally locked her Y/E/C eyes with his emerald ones. He looked confused mostly, but what she also saw was concern. He cared about whether or not she was comfortable. Her heart swelled at that thought, and she gave him a lopsided smile. "I trust you, Dean."

His eyes widened at that, and he seemed to be struck speechless.

So, she continued. "After leavin', I was on the street. Lived mostly at those soup kitchens, y'know? Slept under bridges and with old ratty coats I found in the trash. Finally got a job 'bout a year ago. Workin' at a bank, like a real, respectable lady.

"And people kept comin' in with all their money, flashin' it everywhere. Some of them were savin' pennies, but others? They had so much and they were so cruel. So I…" she gave a humorless laugh. "So I decided that somea us deserved it more. That I deserved it more."

"Please tell me you didn't."

"Wish I could."

His hand reached up to cup her face, his thumb stroking alone her cheekbone. "Oh, sweetheart…"

She shrugged, focusing again on his hand. "I got caught pretty quick. Then I went to the big house, stayed because I couldn't afford to get out. I couldn't sleep in there. Everyone was so loud, and there was always someone shoutin' 'bout something and…and the only way I could get to sleep was to sing myself a lullaby. Calmed me down enough to rest. That's where Crowley found me. Said he wanted to free the caged bird. All I had to do was sing in his club, and I'd be out. From where I was sittin', seemed like the better deal."

Dean sighed and pressed his lips to the crown of her head. "Thanks, doll," he whispered into her hair.

She looked up at him and smiled softly. "Fair's fair," she leaned up and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "Felt like you should know."

"Makes sense why you were so afraid of Bobby." He mumbled absentmindedly.

Her eyes widened and she froze a bit.

He noticed, of course. "Oh, shit, baby, I—"

She shook her head. "I think that's enough for one night, don't you?"

He let out a soft sigh of relief. "You're amazin'."

"I know."

He laughed as he leaned in for another kiss.