Chapter 24

"I think I'm gonna be sick," Addy said as her and Dean entered their motel room from the coroner's office, "Those two…it was just…"

She shudders in disgust at the image of the couple that had eaten each other to death on the cold metal slabs.

"I've seen you put your own stitches in," he said, closing the door and loosening his tie, "And you're telling me that bothered you? Wasn't that bad."

"So you're telling me you'd be into me literally eating you while we were making out," she said, slipping off her heels and throwing off her blazer.

He chuckled, "A little too kinky, but I'd make an exception for you."

She turned back to him with a raised brow and in his hand he held a single red rose, "Happy Valentine's Day and all that crap."

She gently took it with a small smile, "How'd you manage to sneak this?"

"I have my ways," he said with a wink and she smiled wider.

"Thank you," she said with a blush.

"I have another way you can thank me," he said with a smirk and stepped closer to her.

"And what would that be?" she asked and he began unbuttoning her shirt, painfully slow, one button at a time, "What happened to waiting?"

"I got tired of it," he whispered, looking her in the eye and his fingers brushing her skin, "It's Valentine's Day and if I want to throw my woman down and fuck her until she's begging me to stop than I'll damn well do it."

He popped the last button and pushed her shirt apart to reveal her heaving breast, constricted by black lace. He grabbed the ends of her skirt, pulled it up until it was bunched around her thighs, and then picked her up as he wrapped her legs around his waist. The rose dropped to the floor as she grabbed his shoulders for support.

"Than what are you waiting for?" she whispered, searching his green eyes, "Do it."

They fell back onto the bed all desperate touches, loud moans and unfiltered grinding.

"Addy."

Addy looked up from the sink, water dripping from her face as she snapped out of her day dream.

"Sam brought the grub," Dean called from the other room.

"Give me a sec," she called back. Dean had handed her a single, red rose but that wasn't the way it'd turned out. He gave her a kiss on the cheek and then went to change in the bathroom. It was a sweet gesture, but he had been distant lately.

"You tell him what we found at the coroner's?" she asked, tying her hair into a ponytail as she emerged from the bathroom.

"Yeah," he replied, taking his food out.

"What about you?" she asked Sam as he handed her a food container, "Find anything?"

"No EMF, no sulfur. Ghost possession and demonic possession are both probably out but we got our feelers out. Not much more we can do tonight."

Addy sighed and opened the box to take a bite of her veggie burger and said through a mouth full of food, "How about some research?"

"Sounds good," Sam said and looked to Dean as he started looking through files, "You can go ahead and get going."

"Sorry?" he asked in confusion.

"Go ahead. Unleash the kraken. See you tomorrow…"he trailed off, realizing something and glancing quickly at Addy, "Never mind actually."

"Nice one dude," Dean says, opening his food.

"Oh come on," Addy said with a smirk, "I'm fully familiar with the bar full of lonely single woman looking to be a little less lonely on Valentine's Day."

"Nice to know," Sam said with a smirk.

"I think you two forget that I was actually alive before I met you," she said and then added with a mischievous smile, "And those bars are full with lonely men too."

Both the brothers looked at her with raised brows. She saw Dean smirk and went back to eating. He picked up his burger, looked at it, and then set it back down and shoved it away.

Addy and Sam exchanged an alarmed look.

"Not hungry?" she asked, trying to disguise her worry but Dean caught on.

"What?" he asked, looking between her and Sam.

"When a dog doesn't eat…that's when you know something's really wrong," Sam said as Addy looked Dean over.

"Remarkably patronizing concern duly noted. Nothing's wrong. We gonna work or what?" he asked.

"Guess so," Addy said half heartedly.

SUPERNATURAL

Later that night they walked back through the hospital halls to the medical examiner's office after getting a call about a double suicide. Addy turned to Sam to see him sniffing the air.

"Alright there, Fido?" she asked with a raised brow.

"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, snapping out of whatever it was.

They walked into the morgue just as the coroner, Corman, was leaving.

"Agent Gullin, couldn't resist my charm" he said and then looked to Dean, "Told you they always come back."

Addy chuckled on account of actually liking the old man, "Heard you got another double suicide."

"Well, I just finished closing them up."

"Dr. Corman," Dean said, gesturing to Sam, "This is our partner, special agent Cliff."

"Agent Cliff. I've finished my prelims. I pulled the organ sets and sent off the tox samples," he said, tipping his hat, "Good-and-plenties are already tupperwared too but you're welcome to go and take a look."

"Leave the keys with Marty up front. And please, gentlemen and lady...refrigerate after opening," he said and with that he left.

Not too long later, Addy found herself examining organs with Sam and Dean on the metal table.

"Hey princess," Dean says and Addy looks up to see Dean pushing one of the hearts towards her, "Be my Valentine?"

She snored a laugh," You're a dork."

"Nothing going on my ass," Sam mumbled with a smirk and she hit him on the arm than noticed something.

"What is it?" Dean asked as she reached for the two hearts in her gloved hands and put them under the magnifying glass.

"Look," she said, beckoning them over to show them the two identical marks on the hearts, "Exactly the same."

"What is that?" Dean asked, examining it.

"Fuck," Addy mumbled under her breath.

"What's wrong?" Dean asked her.

"It's Enochian," Sam said with a sigh.

"That's what's wrong," she said, "We just got through tangling with them."

"Ah hell," Dean mumbled and pulled out his phone, dialing a number, "Cas, it's Dean…Yeah, room 31-c, basement level...St. James medical center."

He appears in a flutter of wings behind Dean, "I'm there now."

Addy smirked amusement as Dean turned around, face to face with Cas.

"I'm there now," Cas said.

"Yeah, I get that," Dean replied.

"I'm gonna hang up now," the angel said with a blank stare.

"Right," he said as Cas put the phone away.

"If you two are done," Addy said, beckoning Cas over, "Can you come take a look at this? We think it's Enochian."

"You're right, Sam. These are angelic marks. I imagine you'll find similar marks on the other couples' hearts as well," he said as she put the organs down.

"So, what are they? What do they mean?" Sam asked.

"It's a mark of union. This man and woman were intended to mate," Cas explained.

Addy looked at him as if he had two heads, "Glad to know that's the term angels use for it, but who put the marks there."

"Well, your people call them cupid," he said.

"Cupid," Addy repeated with a scoff, "Of course it's cupid."

"What human myth has mistaken for cupid is actually a lower order of angel. Technically it's a cherub, third-class."

"Cherub," Dean repeated, "You mean the little flying fat kid in diapers?"

"They're not incontinent," Cas said with his usual lack of humor.

"Okay, anyway. So, what you're saying-"Sam began.

"What I'm saying is a Cupid has gone rogue and we have to stop him before he kills again," Cas said with a straight face.

"Does anyone else see all that was crazy in the sentence?" Addy asked, rolling her eyes.

SUPERNATURAL

Addy sits next to Dean and across from Sam and Cas in the restaurant. Their waitress sets down salads in front of Addy and Sam and a burger in front of Dean.

"So, what, you just happen to know Cupid likes the cosmos at this place?" Dean asked the angel as he put ketchup on his burger.

"This place is a nexus of human reproduction. It's exactly the kind of," he trails off, eyeing Dean's burger, "garden the Cupid will come to pollinate."

Addy took a fork full of her salad and eyed Dean in shock as he picked up his burger and then set it back down.

"No," he said and noticed the looks they were giving him, "What? I'm not hungry."

"Then you're not gonna finish that?" Cas asked and Dean pushed the plate towards him. Just as he was about to take a bite, he paused, "He's here."

"Where?" Sam asked, looking around, "I don't see him."

"There," Cas said, gesturing to an overly affectionate couple on the other side of the restaurant.

"You mean the couple trying to swallow each other?" Addy asked with a disapproving look.

"Meet me in the back," Cas ordered and disappeared. They snuck out of the restaurant and into the alleyway to find Cas, holding his hand out towards a wall.

"Cas, where is he?" Sam asked.

"I have him tethered," he yelled and then murmured, "Zoda kama mahrana. Manifest yourself."

"So, where is he?" he asked and grunted loudly. Addy turned to see a large, nude man hugging Dean.

"Here I am!" he yelled with a large smile as they watched in horror.

"Oh, help is on the way. Yes, it is. Yes, it is. Hello, you!" he said, shaking Dean up and down like he weighed nothing than dropped him and turned to Addy, "And aren't you pretty?"

"Oh no," she said, backing away from him, but he grabbed her and hugged her tight as well, "Put me down. Put me down. Put me down."

He dropped her with one final squeeze and she shuddered, wiping imaginary germs off her body as he went and hugged Cas. He went for Sam next.

"And look at you, huh?"

Sam tries to run but it's futile as cupid disappears and reappears in front of him.

"Is this a fight? Are we in a fight?" Dean asked frantically.

"Should I shoot him?" Addy asked.

"This is their handshake," Cas said.

"I don't like it," Dean said back.

"No one likes it," Cas replied.

"What can I do for you?" he asked and Addy tried very hard to keep her eyes on his face.

"Your targets, the ones you've marked, they're slaughtering each other," Cas accused him.

"What? They are?" he asked with a quivering lip.

"Listen, birthday suit, we know, okay? We know you been flittin' around, popping people with your poison arrow, making them murder each other!" Dean yelled.

"What we don't know is why," Cas added.

"You think that I-Well, uh...I don't know what to say," and he turned around and began sobbing in a high pitched tone.

"Somebody should go talk to him," Addy suggested and they all gave her a look, "I said it so I'm not doing it."

"Give 'em hell, Cas."

Slowly, the angel stepped towards the sobbing cupid.

"Um... look. We didn't mean to, um...hurt your feelings," Cas said awkwardly and Cupid turned and embraced Cas in another hug.

"Love is more than a word to me, you know. I love love. I love it! And if that's wrong, I don't want to be right!" he sobbed, holding Cas tight.

"Yes, yes. Of course," Cas said, patting his back, "I, uh...I have no idea what you're saying."

The cupid finally let him go, "I was just on my appointed rounds. Whatever my targets do after that that's nothing to do with me. I- I was following my orders. Please brother. Read my mind. Read my mind, you'll see."

Cas and the cupid stared off for a few moments and then Cas turned to them and said," He's telling the truth."

"Jiminy Christmas. Thank you," he said in relief.

"Wait a second. You follow orders?" Addy asked as Cas stepped away from him.

"Yupperooney," he replied with a grin and she rolled her eyes.

"Whose orders?" Dean asked.

He chuckled," Heaven, silly."

"Why does heaven care if Harry meets Sally?" Dean asked.

"Oh, mostly they don't. You know, certain bloodlines, certain destinies. Oh, like yours," he said to Addy.

"Mine," she repeated and shook her head in disbelief, "Why would heaven want me born? I was the fucking main ingredient to the apocalypse…never mind I just answered my own question."

"Oh come on your parents are so in love," Cupid said and she snorted a laugh.

"My mother has threatened to cut off my father's balls," she yelled at him, "You call that love."

"Well females from your bloodline tend to have very interesting ways of coping with love," he said with a shrug, "Just like you do. Of course ignoring it is just your way of coping with falling for Dean."

"You talk too much!" she yelled with clenched fist.

"You're not the only special one here," he said with a smile and looked to Sam and Dean, "The union of John and Mary Winchester was a very big deal upstairs, top priority arrangement."

"Are you saying that you fixed-up our parents?" Dean asked in disbelief.

"Well, not me, but...yeah. Well, it wasn't easy, either, " he said, thinking back with a smile, "Ooh, they couldn't stand each other at first. But when we were done with them. Perfect couple."

"Perfect," Dean repeated and Addy knew he was about to go off.

"Yeah," Cupid replied cluelessly.

"They're dead!" Dean yelled.

"I'm sorry, but the orders were very clear. You and Sam needed to be born. Your parents were just meant to be," he said with the same goofy grin and then sang, "A match made in heaven…heaven!"

Before he can keep singing, Dean punches him square in the nose and he disappears.

"Son of a bitch!" Dean mumbles, clutching the hand he'd punched him with.

"Dean what the hell?" Addy asked him.

"Where is he? Where'd he go?" he asked, looking around.

"I believe you upset him," Cas said in a monotone voice.

"Upset him?" he yelled, shaking out his hand.

"Dean. Enough!" Sam yelled at his brother.

"What?" he asked.

"You punched a Cupid!"

"I punched a dick!" he yelled and met Addy's eyes. She was studying him with worried intensity.

"Um...Are we gonna talk about what's been up with you lately or not?" Sam asked.

"Or not," he said and walked off.

Sam looked to Addy, "Could you please?"

She rolled her eyes, "Don't I always."

She hurried after him and caught up in the middle of an alley.

"Dean!" she called and he didn't stop until she put her hand on his shoulder and made him turn to her, "Hey. What's going on with you?"

"Why does there have to be something going on with me?" he asked frustratedly, "He pissed me off so I punched him."

She shot him a look, "Do you really think I'll believe that?"

"Well it's the truth," he said as she crossed her arms and narrowed her eyes at him, "Don't give me that look princess. It won't do any good."

"I'm not giving you a look," she said with a shrug, still staring at him.

"Yes you are," he retorted, "You're doing it right now and I'm telling you it isn't working because I've got nothing to hide."

"Than tell me what's going on with you," she challenged.

"Damn it, Addy," he said pinching the bridge of his nose, "Would you please just drop it?"

"No," she said simply, "I want you to tell me what's wrong."

"Nothing I just…" he trailed off.

"Just what?" she asked lightly and gently put her hand to his face, "Dean, if something's bothering you I need you to tell me so I can help you."

He removed her hand, "What makes you think you can even help me?"

She opened and closed her mouth, searching for words.

"Because I highly doubt you can," he said and a hurt expression crossed her face, "I don't need you coddle me."

She scoffed, "Don't do this, Dean."

"What? Pull an Addy?" he asked and she recoiled back, "Ignore the people who care about me?"

She pursed her lips in anger, "Alright fair enough, but-"

"But what?" he asked, "Don't ask me if I'm okay if you're not willing to answer the question when I ask you."

"Okay, Dean," she said in a quiet voice, "If you don't want to tell me than don't."

He sighed, knowing he'd hurt her, "Addy, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's okay," she said, "You're right. But if you do wanna talk I'm right here, okay?"

"Okay," he said.

"We should get going," she said with a small smile and lightly squeezed his arm before walking off.

"Fuck," Dean mumbled under his breath once she was gone.

SUPERNATURAL

When Sam came back from the hospital with a suitcase he'd taken from a demon none of them knew what it was. They stared down at it.

"What the hell does a demon got to do with this, anyway?" Dean asked.

"Believe me, I got no idea," Sam replied.

Addy looked to Sam," Everything okay? Did the demon hurt you?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'll be all right," he said unconvincingly.

"Let's crack her open," Dean suggest and they shoot him a look, "What's the worst that could happen, right?"

Carefully, Dean pulled it open. A bright light escaped and while Dean and Sam shielded there eyes, Addy was knocked back with the force and fell onto her back.

"Woah are you okay?" Sam asked, pulling her up.

"What the fuck was that?" she yelled, a cold settling over her, "It went right through me."

"Human souls gravitate towards supernatural forces such as yourself Adriana," Cas said, appearing behind them with a half eaten hamburger, " It's starting to make sense. "

"Now, what about that makes sense?" Sam asked as Addy rubbed her arms to get rid of goosebumps.

"And when did you start eating?" Dean added.

"Exactly. My hunger..." he paused and took another greedy bite from the hamburger, "It's a clue, actually."

"For what?" they asked at the same time.

"This town is not suffering from some love-gone-wrong effect. It's suffering from hunger. Starvation, to be exact. Specifically...famine," the angel explained, still stuffing his face.

"Famine? As…as in the horseman?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"Oh you've got to be fucking kidding me," Addy mumbled.

"I thought famine meant starvation, like as in, you know, food," Sam questioned.

"Yes. Absolutely. But not just food, " he said between bites, "I mean, everyone seems to be starving for something…sex, attention, drugs, love..."

"Well, that explains the puppy-lovers that Cupid shot up," Dean said.

"Right. The cherub made them crave love, and then Famine came, and made them rabid for it," Cas explained.

"But what about you?" Addy asked, "I didn't know you craved…Burger King."

"It's my vessel, Jimmy. His, uh, appetite for red meat has been touched by Famine's effect," he said, still eating.

"So, Famine just rolls into town and everybody goes crazy?" Dean asked.

"And then will come Famine riding on a black steed. He will ride into the land of plenty," he began quoting, "and great will be the Horseman's hunger, for he is hunger. His hunger will seep out and poison the air. Famin is hungry. He must devour the souls of his victims. "

"So, that's what was in the briefcase-The twinkie dude's soul?" Dean asked in disgust.

"Lucifer has sent his demons to care for Famine, to feed him, make certain he'll be ready."

"Ready for what?" Sam asked reluctantly.

"To march across the land," Cas said gravely.