Chapter 28

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dark Angel or Supernatural characters. The characters of Lexi, Jake and Jackie are from a Supernatural AU Verse that I write. I hope you like it. Thanks to everyone that has been reading this story and thanks for the reviews. Reviews would be great!

May 30th

Two weeks after Ben and Alec's tenth birthday party Lexi found herself sitting in one of the rocking chairs on the back porch with Stella in her arms. She was watching her boys in the yard. Ben and Alec were playing a game of hide and seek while Dean and Jake were feeding the chickens. In actuality, Jake was taking handfuls of feed from the bucket his father was holding then just throwing feed at the chickens and running away. The sound of Dean's laughter drifted back to her making her smile. It sounded so carefree that for a moment she forgot what they were about to do in a few days time. She closed her eyes wishing she could be as relaxed as her husband, maybe a little cat nap outside would help ease her mind.

"Hello, Princess."

Lexi turned towards to the sound of the voice to find Azazel sitting in the rocking chair next to her. Her eyes widened as she shook her head, "You can't be here, you're dead."

"Maybe. Maybe not. Or maybe I'm somewhere else. Do you know where demons go when they die?"

"Hell?"

Azazel smiled at her and leaned in closer, "We'll save that for another time."

"I'm dreaming..."

"Doesn't mean I ain't real, Lexi. You make a father proud you know that? Beautiful grandchildren that are gonna grow up big and strong. And you Princess, deciding to unbind your powers. I knew you'd come around sooner or later."

"I'm not...that's not why I did it."

"Ya know that saying,'The road to hell is paved with good intentions.' Well sweetheart this is the epitome of that saying."

"No. I'll never be that thing again."

"You're gonna have to embrace who you really are. When you do Princess, come find your dear old dad. You're smart you can figure out where I am. There's so much I need to teach you..."

Lexi inhaled sharply her eyes flying open. Sam was coming up the porch steps carrying some books. He stopped looking at Lexi with concern, "You okay, Lex?"

"What?"

"You okay?"

"Yeah, yeah I'm fine."

Sam took the chair next to her saying softly, "You don't look fine. Truth is Lexi, you haven't been acting like yourself since we unbound your powers."

"Sam you wouldn't..."

"What? Understand. C'mon Lexi, I'm probably the only other person on earth that understands how you feel and what those powers do to you. You can talk to me."

"I've been having strange dreams...my d...I mean Azazel's been talking to me in my dreams like when I first got my powers."

"Lexi, that's impossible. Dean killed him."

"I know that Sam but I dunno..."

"I take it you haven't told Dean about this. So the yellow eyes in your dreams, what's he saying to you?"

"Same crap as last time when he was alive and well."

"You need to tell Dean."

"I know, Sam, I know."

Lexi waited until she had put the kids to bed to talk to Dean. She wanted to get him alone and since Sam and Jackie were living in one of the smaller houses after bed time was the only opportunity she would have. She found Dean in the living room sitting playing his guitar as he sang quietly, 'I picked up my bag, I went lookin' for a place to hide when I saw Carmen and the Devil walkin' side by side.
I said, "Hey, Carmen, come on let's go downtown." She said, "I gotta go but my friend can stick around." Take a load off, Fanny. Take a load for free. Take a load off, Fanny and you put the load right on me. You put the load right on me...'

Lexi sat across from Dean in the love seat smiling at him, "The Weight, uh?" Dean blushed slightly and put down his guitar while he nodded his head, "Oh, don't stop. I love listening to you play, Dean."

"What's wrong, Lex?"

"Nothing. Why would you ask me that?"

"Cuz I saw the heart to heart you were having earlier with Sammy. Hell, Lex, you two haven't exactly been bffs since I knocked you up with Jake."

"We're not that bad..."

"Yeah, well, you're not friends like you two were ten years ago either."

"Things change."

"Yeah, I guess so." Dean rubbed his chin as he studied his wife. She was looking down at her hands worrying her bottom lip between her teeth. It was a telltale of her's that Dean has always thought was cute but right now it made him sick to his stomach with worry. "Lex, tell me what's got you all tied up in knots."

She glanced up meeting her husbands eyes then took a deep breath. "Azazel's been talking to me in my dreams again. He whispers to me. He calls me 'Princess' and says 'I make a father proud.' It's more than that though. He keeps telling me if I want to beat Manticore I have to face up to what I really am, that I have to embrace being his daughter. That I have to give in to my powers like last time. I can't...I..."

"Lex, it's not really him. He's dead. I killed him."

"But, Dean, last time..."

Dean got off the couch and sat on the loveseat next to Lexi. He pulled her against his chest then rested his chin on the top of her head. He ran his hands slowly along her back and whispered, "Shhhh. They're just dreams, baby girl. And this isn't like last time. You're not gonna turn and go bat shit crazy. I promise you I'm not gonna let that happen. We're gonna go in there and free those kids and then we're gonna torch that place to the ground. After that, I'm gonna lock your powers down and you won't ever have to worry about them again."

"But what if I..."

"You're not, Lex."

"Dean, how do you know?"

"Cuz I trust you." Dean pulled back slightly moving his hands to cup his wife's face. Her eyes were full of doubt and fear. It killed him to see how scared she really was. He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear then leaned in to gently brush his lips against hers. When he pulled back he held her chin up so she couldn't look away from him and said, "I'm not gonna let anything bad happen to you. I promise."

June 1st

Today was the day they would be leaving the safe house and heading to Manticore's new headquarters. The new location was west of Sheridan near the border of Montana in the middle of nowhere. Alec and Ben were both nervous. They didn't want their adoptive family to take on them but they also knew it was something they had to do. None of them would ever be safe if Manticore was still around.

Alec looked up from the bag he was packing chewing on his bottom lip. He knew Dean Winchester was just as capable any highly trained solider but it didn't stop him from worrying. Manticore was a big bad monster in his ten year old mind. It was clouded in secrecy, a faceless entity that was capable of horrors that still lived vividly in his head, he couldn't help but be afraid. The man that he now saw as his Dad was going to rush into the belly of the monster and attempt to destroy it. Alec zipped up his bag and slug it over his shoulder, his game face fully in place.

He met his twin on the porch but didn't look up to meet his older brother's eyes. Instead, Alec kept his eyes trained on his father and Gavin Connors who were having some kind of in depth discussion. Alec figured they were probably going over the place of rendezvous and any contingency plans that might be needed. After a few minutes both men nodded and Dean was heading towards the porch. He stopped in front of them hugging them both. He pulled away looking Alec and Ben in the eyes, "You behave for your Uncle Gavin and watch out for your little brother and sister. We'll see you kids in a few days."

"Dad..."

Dean smiled at Ben carding his fingers through the boy's hair, "We ain't saying good bye, Benny. We're gonna go take care of Lydecker and the rest of those douche nozzles and be back before you know it. I promise you that. We're coming back."

Ben nodded and launched himself into his father's arms. Dean rocked on his heels from the force of Ben's weight then reached out with his right arm and tugged Alec into their hug. Alec buried his face in his dad's neck and squeezed him tight. He then pulled away and schooled his features asking, "Where's Uncle Gavin taking us?"

"To a safe house the Connors have out near Big Horn. You'll be safe there."

Dean stood up taking the boys' bags and gesturing for them to follow him. They walked over to the SUV where their mom was anxiously giving instructions to her Uncle Gavin. She stopped mid sentence when she saw them approaching her. She pulled each boy in turn into a tight hug and pressed kisses into their hair. Lexi looked at Alec and Ben whispering, "You boys be good and..."

"Watch out for Jake and Stella." Alec finished for her with a serious look on his face. "Don't worry mom. We'll keep them safe."

She sighed then smiled sadly at Alec, "You sound so much like Dean..."

"Lex," Dean called from the Impala, "We gotta get going..."

Lexi nodded pulling the twins in one last hug before saying goodbye to her uncle, Jake and Stella again. She walked over to Dean stopping to turn around to watch the SUV pull away.

Dean walked up behind her wrapping his arms around her waist while he whispered in her ear, "They'll be fine, Lex. I wouldn't have let them go with Gavin if I didn't think he could keep them safe."

"I know, it's just..."

"I know, babe. C'mon we gotta hit the road."

She got in the front passenger door turning to look at Sam and Jackie in the back seat. Jackie nodded her head then looked out the window. Sam moved forward squeezing Lexi's shoulder saying firmly, "We got work to do, Lex."