Lily woke the next morning with a smile on her face. She had turned in the night, and she felt Dean's body pressed against her back, his arm draped over her and holding her close. She lifted her hand to her face to rub her eyes and she felt Dean take a deep breath behind her.

"Good morning," he said.

"Good morning." She turned so that she was lying on her back, still in his arms. She put a hand to his face and sighed. "You're really here."

"I'm really here," he said with a smile. "And I really missed you."

He leaned down and captured her lips with his own. She hesitated slightly, almost as if she still didn't believe it wasn't a dream.

"I thought about you a lot," he said.

"What happened to you, Dean?"

"I ended up in Purgatory when Dick bit the big one."

"How did you get out?"

"There was a portal... a humans-only portal. I wasn't meant to be there, and that place knew it. Once I found it, it practically spit me out." Dean ran his hand down her arm, still in her long sleeve shirt. He lightly tugged at the material. "Take this off," he said with a grin.

Lily grinned back at him and sat up to pull the shirt off over her head. With her arms now exposed, Dean sat up. He could see them better in the morning light. He could see now that the scars covered all of her arms. He pulled the sheets back and saw that her leg were in the same condition.

"Lily, what the hell happened?"

"Crowley."

"Crowley?"

"When you disappeared, Crowley took me. He tortured me."

"How long did he have you?"

"About two and a half months."

Dean gently slid his hand over Lily's arm, not taking his eyes off of the scars. "How often did he..." He couldn't say the word. It brought back thoughts of what he had done in Hell. "How often did he do this?" he asked, pointing at her scars.

"Every day."

"That son of a bitch." Dean squeezed his eyes closed, his jaw clenched in anger. "I'll kill him."

"Dean..."

"I told him, Lily... told him not to even think about it."

Lily felt a shiver remembering Crowley's words to her about liking those thoughts. She wouldn't tell Dean what Crowley's reasons were for taking her. She knew he would blame himself, and that was the last thing she wanted.

"Dean, it's okay," she said with a hand to his face. "The scars are fading."

"This is not okay," he said. "How did you get away?"

"Sam rescued me." She immediately felt her eyes welling up, because she knew what his next question would be. She watched him smile slightly at the idea of his brother rescuing the woman he loved when he couldn't.

"Where is Sam?"

And there was the question. How could she tell him without breaking his heart? How could she tell him without causing him to feel the betrayal she had felt?

"I don't know."

"What do you mean, you don't know?"

"I haven't spoken to him in months."

"Why not? What happened? Is he okay?"

"As far as I know, he's fine... he gave up hunting."

"He what?"

"He said he thought it was time that one of you honored your pact to move on and live a normal life."

"Are you kidding me?"

Dean threw back the covers and got out of bed. He paced around the room, trying to wrap his head around his brother walking out. Even with the anger she had felt toward Sam, Lily couldn't stand seeing Dean that way.

"Dean... He thought you were dead. He thought he was doing what you would want him to do."

Dean stopped pacing and looked at Lily. "Did you think I was dead?"

Lily shook her head, and a tear slipped down her cheek. "No," she whispered. "I couldn't believe you were dead. I just couldn't."

Dean sat next to her on the edge of the bed and took her into his arms, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"That's my girl." They held each other for a moment before Dean spoke again. "Let's grab some breakfast, then we'll talk some more, okay?"

"Okay."

Lily got up and pulled her shirt and pants back on.

"Hey," Dean said, "don't cover up the view."

"Unless you want Kevin to see the view, I need to get dressed. I suggest you put on some clothes, too, so you don't make him uncomfortable."

"Kevin's here?"

"Yeah... I'll fill you in later. We've got a year to catch up on. Let's pace ourselves."

Dean pulled her into his arms. "We've got a year to make up for, too," he said with a smirk. "Maybe we can send Kevin to a spa or something for a couple of days."

"As much as I'm looking forward to making up for lost time... we can't send Kevin anywhere. I'll explain later."

As they walked around the kitchen making breakfast, Lily kept her eyes on Dean. They made eye contact a few times, and they would smile at each other. As Dean cooked the bacon, Lily wrapped her arms around him from behind, laying her head against him.

"Aren't you supposed to be helping?" he asked. He had a smile on his face. Lily couldn't see it, but she could hear it in his voice.

"Can I just follow you around like a puppy? I don't wanna let you go."

Dean turned and wrapped his free arm around Lily, pulling her to his side. She rested her head on his shoulder. They didn't notice Kevin until he spoke.

"Dean?" Dean and Lily both turned around. "Where the hell were you?"

"Purgatory," Dean said.

"Seriously?" Kevin said. He looked at Lily. "You were right!"

Dean looked down at Lily. "Right about what?"

"She got the idea a few months ago that you might have gotten sent to Purgatory with Dick Roman," Kevin said. "We've been researching it ever since."

"How did you figure that out?" Dean asked.

"I didn't really figure it out. It was a guess."

"Some guess," Dean said.

"I was staring at a sketch in one of Bobby's old books and when I read the caption it said something about Purgatory. I remembered what you guys told me about that being like monster-Heaven... it was just a thought. It was all I had."

"She was relentless," Kevin said. "She refused to give up on finding you."

"Is that right?" Dean asked.

"I can't imagine my life without you, Dean. How could I give up?"

Dean leaned down a bit and kissed Lily lightly on the lips. It deepened, and Kevin became uncomfortable.

"I, uh... I'm gonna..."

"Hang on, short stop," Dean said, pulling away from the kiss. "Not that you're not welcome here, I mean, you helped us take down Dick... But, why exactly are you here?"

"I..." Kevin hesitated and looked to Lily.

"Dean, Crowley took him too."

The three of them sat down to breakfast and Lily and Kevin filled Dean in on the past year.

"So," Dean said, "we get a way to take Hell out of the equation... for good... and Sammy bolts?"

"I don't know, Dean."

He shook his head. He just couldn't understand why Sam would quit now. "Well, we're still at it, right?" He smiled at Lily and Kevin, but didn't wait for an answer. "This is gonna take time, so, I say we take a few days off. God knows I could use it."

"What do we do?" Kevin asked.

"Whatever you want, Kev," Dean said. "Just stay in the house. Crowley's gonna be looking for you. You'll be safe here."

"Maybe I should just start translating the tablet," Kevin said.

"Kevin," Lily said, "I can help you with that if you give me a couple of days to catch up with Dean."

"No, it's okay. The sooner this is over, the sooner I can get back to my life, right? If we send Crowley and all those demons back to Hell and lock the gates... I don't have to hide anymore."

"You'd still be a prophet," Dean said.

"Yeah, but... no more tablets. At least, hopefully none get uncovered."

When they finished breakfast Kevin wanted to get started on the tablet. Lily told him to use her study so he could have quiet. She promised to help him after she and Dean had time to catch up.

"You mind if we just sit and watch tv for a while?" Dean asked.

"Not as long as I can hold you while we watch."

"That's definitely a requirement," he said with a smile.

They moved to the sofa and she let Dean handle the remote. He had his arm around her shoulders and she was snuggled against his side. Her arm wrapped across his waist. She sensed a difference in him. He seemed very alert. Not really on edge, but not relaxed. She figured it had to do with Purgatory, but she was curious as to what it was like. She imagined that it couldn't have been as bad as Hell.

"Dean?"

"Hmmm?"

"What was it like?"

"Purgatory?"

"Yeah."

"It was... Hand-to-hand combat. Monsters were everywhere, and I put some of them there... and they knew it. Every day was running or fighting for your life."

"How did you sleep?" She sat up, wanting to give him her full attention and gauge his reactions to her questions. She didn't want to push.

"It's different there. You don't need sleep. You don't need food or water. You just exist, and all these things want to kill you."

She watched as he stared forward, his eyes darting back and forth as if he were remembering. His expressions were hard and almost unreadable. A tear slipped down her cheek and she took his hand in hers.

"I wish I had found a way to get you out," she said. "I wish I would have figured it out sooner."

Dean turned and looked into Lily's eyes, and his face softened. "You did everything you could do, sweetheart."

He caressed her face with his hands, rubbing his thumbs over her skin, before letting his fingers sink into her hair.

"Thinking of coming home to you every day... That gave me the drive to fight my way to that portal. So, in a way, you did get me out. You gave me something to fight for."

Lily couldn't stop the tears from falling. "Dean Winchester... I love you, so much."

"I love you, too."

He slowly and gently kissed her lips, savoring each second. She let him have full control. For almost a whole year, she was in charge, and now she was ready to give the reins back to the man who handled them so well. She would start with this, letting him take full possession of her body. He already possessed her mind and heart.

One of his hands slid down her neck, down to cover her breast through her clothes. She let out a soft moan as he gently squeezed. Her hand went to his thigh and mimicked his movement.

He kissed along her jaw to her ear and whispered, "Maybe we should take this to the bedroom."

"Yes, please," Lily said, breathlessly.

Dean stood, almost unwilling to pull his lips from Lily as he kissed her until he had no other choice but to remove his lips and stand up straight. He held out his hand for Lily to take, and he led her to the bedroom. Lips and hands roamed as they undressed each other. Lily wrapped her hand around him, feeling his want, and reminding herself of his size.

Dean let out a breath and moved his hands to her hips. "Damn, sweetheart, I missed you."

Lily responded with a kiss, and a firm squeeze, causing Dean's hips to buck. He moved his hands to her rear, squeezing and pulling her closer. As she began to stroke him, she kissed down his neck to his chest where she licked and kissed until he groaned.

He pulled her hand from him and kissed her hard, laying her back onto the bed. He crawled over her as she scooted up, their lips never parting. When her head hit the pillow, Dean trailed kisses down her neck to her breasts, where he paid extra close attention. He used his tongue and hands expertly, watching her writhe beneath him. Her hands were in his hair, holding his mouth close as she arched her back. With a final flick of his tongue, he kissed back to her lips, letting her body calm just a little before slowly pushing himself into her. They locked eyes for a long time as Dean kept a steady pace, drawing out the pleasure they both felt. Even when he leaned down to kiss her, they kept their eyes open.

He stopped his movement briefly to lift one of her legs over his hip, and she followed his lead by lifting the other, wrapping her legs around him, pulling him deeper. When he started moving again, her eyes closed. A tremor rolled through her, and she gripped his shoulders. Dean felt her tremble, and picked up the pace, pushing her toward release. He followed soon after.

He stayed over her until she stopped trembling, then he rolled onto his back and pulled her close. Lily kissed his neck and slid her hand down his stomach until she had him in her grasp again. She kissed down his chest and released him as she continued lower.

"You ready to do this again already?" Dean asked with a smirk.

"I just wanna show you how much I love you."

Dean reached down and pulled gently on her arms. "Come here," he said. Lily slid back up his body. Dean took her face in his hands and looked into her eyes. "You never... ever... have to prove to me that you love me. You've shown me, so many times, in ways that have nothing to do with sex. Every time it's ever mattered... you've shown me how much you love me. I just hope you can say the same about me."

Lily felt her eyes welling up, and she tried not to cry. She felt like she had been doing enough of that lately.

"I can," she said.

Dean slid his hands up and down her arms as she held herself over him. His eyes glanced over the scars. "If I had been there, he never would have touched you."

"I know," she whispered.

"I'm sorry, Lily."

"It's not your fault."

Dean grabbed her face and kissed her deeply. His hands made their way into her hair, and he pulled her to him.

"Lie down."

"I'll get heavy if I lie on top of you like that," she said.

"I don't care. Just stay."

Lily tried to keep some of the weight off of him by straddling his hips and sitting back on her heels, then leaning forward to lie against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, grateful to be able to hold this woman in his arms again.