"Dean? What's up?"

"Hey Oliver. Am I interrupting any masked vigilanti-ism?" Oliver and I could be sixty years old, broken down and cranky but I'd still find some way to make fun of his costume.

"It's daylight, so no."

I loved that flat, pretend offended tone he used. "Ahh, right. Caped crusaders only strike at night."

Coyote rolled her eyes and snickered.

"I do not wear capes. Is there something important you need to talk about or are you just bored?"

"Bit of both."

There was a few seconds of silence, "I'm waiting."

"Oh, yeah right." I could just picture his face, "So how would Team Arrow like to trade in criminals for monsters for a bit. We have a kind of big problem here and need some out of the box thinking."

"What's the problem?"

"This could take some time to explain so get comfy."

"Dean, is there anything in your life that doesn't take some time to explain?"

"Uh, no. Not really. Here goes." I told him from the beginning, they'd need all the facts for this. Things tend to go badly when people don't know the whole story. I'd finally learned that lesson after the Mark. He didn't interrupt with any questions or random exclamations of my possible insanity. He knew us well enough to know that pretty much anything can, will or has happened to Sam and I. "So, to sum up, former hunter turned vampire returning from Purgatory with a huge chip on his shoulder, at the very least."

"You have been to Hell and Purgatory?"

"Yup."

There was a long pause, almost too long, "And Heaven? Have you met God?"

He'd lost that businesslike tone and sounded almost vulnerable. "Been to Heaven once or twice, haven't met God directly. He may have slipped one in on Sammy and I at some point. Met archangels though and you've met Cas. I've also met the King of Hell, roadtripped with him, but that's a whole other story. Why?"

"Do you think.. I mean when people pray..does anything out there really care?"

I hadn't heard him that shaky since the night we'd stayed up late in his penthouse suite and he opened up about the island and his past. I sighed, "Honest answer? Some angels do, angels like Cas and a few others. The majority of the ones we've come across though are dicks. As far as God goes, not even the angels know where he's been for the last few eons. What's wrong?"

"Nothing, just been opening up to Felicity more. Talking about the past, you know how that goes I'm sure. When things were at their worst, I used to pray, especially at the beginning. I don't know if I ever believed, but I prayed, mostly out of desperation I guess. You must have too."

That brought a few not so good things back, "I did once, I did a full angel broadcast actually. It didn't end well."

"Oh. I see. So, all of that was wasted energy I guess."

There was a lot more dissappointment in his voice then I'd ever expect to hear, "Not necessarily, remember Shado and Yao Fei came back to help you in that warehouse. My opinion, for what it's worth, is this. I've lived with a Shaman for a year, I've seen what she can do, how her Spirits help her. Are there things out there that help? Yes. Is there an entire choir of angels and a God who's whole job is to take care of humans? From what I've seen, no. Nothing in any world I've ever been on is that black and white. Hell, a vampire became a second brother to me in Purgatory. We've had demons that have helped us, the King of Hell being one of them. Did he do it for his own reasons? Sure, but the fact is he's saved our hides a few times, just like Cas. If praying helps you sleep at night, go for it. I'd never tell anyone what to do when it comes to that. I may know a lot more than most people, but I still don't know everything."

"Thanks, that gives me something to think about anyway." He took a breath and switched back to business, "About this Gordon. How do you think we can help?"

"Other than the Eighth Wonder of the World aka Felicity helping us track things and gather info, I think we need people that no monster or hunter knows out here. We need someone that doesn't move, think or act like a hunter to surprise them, give us a chance to get close. You guys don't, that might throw them off. Sam and I are pretty sure they are tracking hunters, I want to switch things up. Hunters, even Sam and I, we don't think in group strategy, coordinated attacks, all that. We can wing it, sure, but I want your's and Dig's input. If I roll into a town with a group of hunters to try to take out a group of Gordon's friends or even Gordon himself, they'll see us coming. You and your group, not so much, not with your higher class gear, cars and looks. Monsters won't give you a second look."

He mulled that over for a minute or two.

"Wait," Coyote said, "Are you saying I'm low class?"

Whoops, "Course not, but you've hunted before."

"Yeah, years ago." She corrected, with quite a bit of sass, "I could be a stealth hunter, you and Sam though, never happen."

I saw a safe way out of this, "Which is exactly why we need Oliver's team."

"Nice save Dean," Oliver said.

"Thanks."

Coyote frowned but let it slide.

He chuckled, "I see your point though, we could come in looking like business people, rented cars all that."

"Exactly."

"Only problem is once we start taking out these groups they'll start putting two and two together quick. Even if I suit up and we go undercover so to speak it won't take too long to figure it out. You need to get solid intel on where to strike."

"Good point. Sam's gathering some info. I told the hunters to go off grid for now until we had a plan."

"You need bait hunters. Ones who act normal and try to draw these guys out."

I really didn't like that concept.

"I know, it's a risk," Oliver continued, "But if you guys all hide that will make it kind of hard to find them. In these situations both sides are playing cat and mouse. It's possible that whatever tipped off this hunter Gerald was planned to do just that. Pull you guys in and give them hunters to follow."

"Shit, I hadn't thought about that. This is why we need you guys. This is a lot more of your ballpark than ours."

"I agree. Do you want us to come to your house or the Bunker?"

I thought about it. The Bunker was even farther off the beaten path than my house and a lot less people knew about it's existence. "Let me run all this by Sam, see what he thinks is better. Downside to the Bunker is no real internet access, Sam and I use our cell hotspots. Felicity will have to bring something to get her usual speeds for access if she comes."

"I'm quite sure she can handle that."

"All right, I'll talk to Sam then one of us will call you back. Sound good?"

"I'll fill everyone here in. Roy and Thea are still on vacation though."

"Sam was going to call Roy and tell him to hide his car just in case. So they may be heading back anyway."

"Okay. Talk soon then."

"Yeah." We hung up. I called Sam, it didn't even finish ringing before he picked up.

"Hey, just got off the phone with Roy. He and Thea are cutting their trip a bit short. I told him not to but he said it that this was more important. They'll head back to Starling some time tomorrow when they can get the next flight out."

"All right, I filled Oliver in on Gordon's history, Purgatory, all of it. No reason to have them going in blind. He mentioned that our new enemies may be staging kills to draw hunters out so they can track us, hadn't thought about that. I'm now extra happy we told everyone to stay clear of hunts for the time being. He did say though that both our side and there's are going to be playing cat and mouse so we may need bait hunters to attract attention and draw them out. He pointed out that his crew's anonymity will go downhill fast as soon as they start taking monsters out so we have to be damn sure of our facts when we send them out to hunt. I'm not thrilled with bait hunters but he has a point."

"Me either but you're right."

"He's willing to get the crew together and head out this way, wanted to know if they should come here or the Bunker. I think the Bunker's safer but Felicity may have problems hacking into things from there."

"She can stay in Starling, she has everything she needs there," he stated a little too forefully, "No reason to have her out here. Just makes more sense."

That and I'm pretty damn sure he didn't want her anywhere near monsters, he didn't need to lose another woman he cared about. "Good point. So have them go there?"

"Yeah," there was a beat before he kept talking, "And you? Staying there?"

"I..." I looked at Coyote, she didn't give any indication of what I should do. "I have to think about it."

"We will need someone on research, that'll help a lot, you know that."

He was trying to make me feel better, but fact was this was quickly becoming personal. "I know. I'll let you know later. Update me if anything else happens. Get anything useful from your houseguest?"

"No, getting ready to up the ante on it though."

I chose not to think about what that would entail, "All right. Be careful."

"Yeah. Call ya later. Oh, check the server in a few. Uploaded a bunch of stuff, should be done soon."

"Okay."

Coyote didn't say anything and I needed to move, do something. "I'm going to go clean Baby up."

"Want company?"

"No, you've got work to do. I'm good."

I texted Oliver on the way to the garage to head to the Bunker, set my phone down on the counter and grabbed a cloth and some Armor All. I got into the driver's side and started rubbing the little bits of dust off her. Sam already had people that just gathered information, they were just as crucial to getting the job done as the guys out in the field and coordinating something like this would need people like that. Of course once Felicity got on the job, she'd be able to sort through things a lot faster than any normal human could, but she could miss something. She wasn't a hunter, she'd need eyes like mine to find shit. Right? I could do this, help out and not get anywhere close to an actual hunt. No one would blame me, they all knew where I stood. Sam wouldn't be alone, he'd have Dig, Oliver and Roy with him, they could keep him safe. Probably better than I could.

I'd gotten all the dust off, so I grabbed the can, covered the dash with the conditioner and started working it in.

Hell, if I had another fucked up dream like that out in the field I'd be a liablity, not a help. Right? I didn't have the edge anymore, didn't want to have the edge anymore. It was going to get nasty out there. If it was Gordon running things he'd have to be even more damaged than I was when I got back from Purgatory, not that he'd been all that stable to begin with. He'd want to make things bloody, especially now. You don't recruit monsters and keep them on a tight leash without a promise for some serious feeding frenzies later. Who was I now? I'd like to think a happily retired hunter.

I heard some kids run by the garage, my hand froze mid swipe. If they tracked me down, this whole damn town would be possible collateral damage. Every single one of these people would be leverage to use against me. The cloth slid from my hand just about the same time my face landed on the steering wheel. "Shit. A hunter's worst nightmare. Fuck."

My phone buzzed, "Of course. I'm sure this will be the call saying I won the lottery." I answered it just before it went to voice mail.

"Now what?" I asked.

"Tom and Sarah." His voice was dead, cold and filled with rage all at the same time. Double shit.

"How bad?"

"They were on the way to their safe house, got run off the road. They..." He was fighting for control, "Ripped him to shreds, made her watch, then turned him, left him tied up, gave her a machete and a message."

"Which was?"

"And now it begins."

"She call you?"

"Yes, after she killed him."

Baby looked so beautiful sitting there, she looked like a show car. No one would never know by looking at her the number of times she'd been utterly destroyed, the amount of blood, tears and pain she'd seen. How much laughter she'd heard, the miles she'd traveled. They couldn't imagine how many hours I'd spent getting her frame straight, scavenging parts, rebuilding her from basically scratch. Guess the last year people could say the same about me. If you didn't look too close, ask too many questions, I'd seem like decently attractive guy, good sense of humor, loyal and cool to hang out with. At least until you took a better look and saw the scars on my body, spent a night with me watching me sweat and struggle against my memories or, if you were stupid enough to threaten someone I knew. Then you'd see the real me. Just like Baby, if you opened her trunk, unlocked the weapons box or ripped the upholstery off the roof, you'd see what she was really was. You may not understand it, but you'd know that she wasn't just a pretty face.

"Dean? Hey, you with me?"

"Everyone else accounted for?" That couldn't be my voice, it was so dead.

"Yeah, seems that way. At least the ones I stay in contact with. I'll tell the rest to reach out."

"Coyote and I have to figure some stuff out but I'll be there tomorrow."

"All right..."

He had something he wanted to say. "Say it."

"I'm sorry, about all of it."

"Don't be. Shit happens, just happens more to us than anyone else on the fucking planet." I didn't let him answer before I hung up.

I walked into the house, slammed the door and saw Coyote jump and spin around to look my direction, "What..." She got one look at me and froze. "Happened?"

"Tom's dead, of Tom and Sarah. They tortured him, turned him, left her there to kill him and tell us that things have started. I'm going to the Bunker tomorrow." Tom and Sarah had been helping with the truck stop. We'd had them over for dinner a few times too. They were good people.

Anger flashed in her eyes, which quickly changed to wariness, "Stop, think."

"Coyote..." I snarled, then caught myself. She was saying that for a reason.

"How did Sam find out?" She asked without batting an eye at my mood.

"She called him. Why?"

"So, no actual confirmation that this happened?"

"What do mean?"

"Do we know if shifters aren't involved? Someone could have stolen her phone, touched her, shifted."

That brought on a whole new level of paranoia, "We don't, but here's the problem with that whole scenario."

"What?"

"One, if they know enough to know to call Sam we're already fucked."

She nodded, "Granted."

"And two, if shifters are already involved we can't trust anyone. Which brings this whole thing to a screeching halt."

She whistled and leaned back in her chair, "We also don't know when this whole thing actually started either. All of this seems rather sudden don't you think? You go on a hunt to get vamps for Jacob that you just happen to run into Kate at which throws up a shit ton of red flags, then attacks start happening. I think you and Sam stumbled into something and they're speeding up their time table. They may have recognized you two and are panicking now, especially since everyone bailed so fast on that hunt."

"Son of a bitch. I need a way to tell who's who fast. There's got to be some way.." then it hit me. "Cas."

"The angel?"

"Yeah. And you. You can see vamps and weres right?"

"Yes, but I can't be all over the country."

"Cas can't either but between the two of you we might be able to work something out."

"Why bring him in at all?"

I had been avoiding him for a year, I felt bad calling him now but this was getting to be way too big, "Because he's the only thing that's bigger and badder than they are. Short of Crowley, who I never want to see again." I could have had Sam call him, but I'd rather not have an awkward reunion with him in front of Oliver's crew. Even though he'd volunteered to give me space I probably could have called him once or twice.

I crossed the living room, sat down at the dining room table, dialed the number I had for him and hoped it was still good. Coyote took the seat across from me, she was keeping her face as neutral as possible. It didn't hide the anger and pain in her eyes.

"Dean?"

That was his raspy voice all right, "Cas. Hi."

"Hello."

Normal people? I'd assume the awkward pause meant they were pissed off at me, with Cas it was more than likely he had no idea what to say.

"Are you well?"

"For the most part. Have you talked to Sam today?"

"No, our usual day for speaking is Saturday. He seems to consistently call me Saturday mornings when he's eating breakfast. I still haven't figured out why that is my allotted time."

Somehow, no matter what horrible fate we were staring down, talking to Cas could still make me chuckle. At least on the inside. Years now, years and he's still this clueless sometimes. It amazes me. "I'm sure he has a reason for it."

"Of course, Sam is very organized."

"Right, look, uh I know it's been a year and all but something's happened. We need your help."

"We? As in you and Running Coyote?"

"No, as in me and Sam. Actually pretty much every hunter out there."

"You and Sam? You're returning to hunting?"

Coyote must have heard the question because she reached across the table and placed her hand over mine. She knew what I'd been mulling over in the garage and what the slamming door had meant, I had to make a choice. Sit on the sidelines and try to be a crappy version of Felicity or do what I do best, hunt. When I'd walked in I'd been pissed, still was, but that had been emotions. I had to think rationally to commit to this, not go off half cocked. That was why she'd told me to stop and think, not just because of her very pertinent shifter theory.

I ran it all through my head one more time. Events were, as usual, trying to sweep me along with them. What mattered to me was what always had and always will, people who I know, who I love, who I call family. Sure, I could sit here and hope no monsters came to town and try to massacre these people, send Sam and Oliver out to do the dirty work but would I be able to accept that. They would, but could I. For some odd reason Henry came to mind, how he went from utterly disdaining hunters to respecting us, and not just because we were his grandkids. Same with Magnus, sure he went way off the deep end but he'd had a point, what is all that knowledge good for if it sits there. I'm not, nor will I ever be a Man of Letters. Yeah, sure, I love research but sending someone else out to get killed, that wasn't me and it wasn't Sam either. If it was, he would have retired right along with me.

"Yes. Not permanently, but for the time being, yes."

Coyote gripped my hand tighter and leaned closer to me, "Then so am I," she whispered.

I shook my head, "Cas hold on." I muted the phone. "What? No. I don't want you.."

She stood up, her face set in stone, so was her mind. Damn it!

"Finish with Cas. Meet me in my room upstairs when you're done." She walked past me without another word.

I wanted to go after her but first things first, I unmuted the phone, "Sorry Cas. I'm back."

"It's that serious."

"Yes, listen," I rattled everything off to him. "I figure since you can see the true faces of demons, you should be able to see monsters as well."

"I can, in a way. It's not the same as it is with demons since they are not possessed of course. You see..."

"Great, so you can. Perfect." I wasn't in the mood for an extended existential discussion, "Can you get to the Bunker within the next day or so?"

"Of course."

"Good, hit the road. I'll see you there."

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"It will be good to see you again, even if it's under these circumstances. I have missed you."

That hit me a bit, "Yeah, same here. Look, thanks for.." What was I supposed to say, staying away because I didn't want to have you attract bad crap to me? That was pretty damn selfish.

"Understanding?" He filled in.

"I should have at least called."

"No, you shouldn't have." There was no hesitation in his words.

"Really?"

"Dean, as I said, Sam and I talk frequently. He has told me how happy you have been, how happy she has made you. How you have had time to truly live, not suffer as you have for so long. I would not risk jeopardizing that, I know how my presence can serve as a beacon for other things. Do not feel guilty for not speaking with me, please."

"Wow, uh, all right. I guess I'll see you at the Bunker."

"Indeed. Drive safe."

He hung up. I didn't have time to savor that moment because I had to go talk Coyote out of going full hunter. She had other responsibilities now, she had her people. They'd need her here. I made it up the stairs and went into the room. I'd never actually been in it before. Once she told me what it was, I'd kept out. Not because she asked but because I didn't want to corrupt it somehow. I had looked into it plenty of times and I'm pretty sure I'd remember a gun safe. She'd shoved the spare clothes aside and was pulling out a crap ton of weapons. It didn't take too long before I recognized a few, it was her old hunter's weapons stash.

"No, not just no, but hell no." I said, I was standing in the doorway. I still didn't feel all that comfortable with the idea of stepping into the room.

She didn't even bother to stop unpacking the weapons, "Telling me what to do now? Bad idea."

"Damn it sweetheart! You have your people to look after, your jobs, your life here. You can't just up and leave! They depend on you."

She stopped unpacking, that's when it dawned on me that pissing her off when she was within range of a whole pile of lethal things was probably not the best way to go about this. "And hunters aren't my people? The hunters that have gone out of their way to help my people? The same hunters I spent years with before I was a Shaman? Is that what you're insinuating?"

I'd started this off on the completely wrong foot, "No, not all. What I am saying is that you are..." I thought about it, "Rephrase that. There is only one Shaman here, whereas with Oliver's crew, Cas, Sam and I and the rest we can handle this. You have clients, deadlines, tribal meetings. All those things that you need to take care of."

Both her fists clenched, her jawline bulged from the sheer force of her emotions. "And do you think any, and I mean any, of that will mean a damn thing to me if I lose you? You could sit this out, you're not. What gives you the damned right to tell me what to do? After what you said back at the Bunker? After that nightmare? After this last year? You think you can walk out of this house, wave to me as I forlornly stare after Baby and then go about my lfe? How dare you! You are my family, you and Sam and Cougar. My tribe? These people? Yes, I care for them but they have no damn idea who I really am. You do. So shut the fuck up. You made a declaration of intent back there, I even fucking clarified it. You said all that matters to you is ending up next to me, well all that matters to me is always being next to you. Come hell, highwater or monsters. Do you understand?"

All of a sudden I was shoving her against the wall and burying my face in her neck, my teeth slid along her collarbone and I felt her shudder in pleasure. I didn't even remember moving, it wasn't important, she was. We were. "Yeah, I understand." I whispered, pulling another shudder from her.

Her hands went to pull off my shirt, I grabbed them and pinned them on the wall. Our breaths were coming in almost perfect sync, there were no words, there didn't to be. I slid up against her, shifting my hips along hers, her moans switched to a low, almost subvocal growl. A delicious tinge of pain shot down my arm from her using the only thing she had, her teeth, to make an impression. I shifted my hands, took both her wrists in one of my hands and slid the other one down into her pants. That's when I was reminded how swollen and scraped up my knuckles were. That was not a good kind of pain.

"Mother fucker!" I slowly pulled my hand out of her pants, "Right, new plan." I ducked down, threw her over my shoulder and carried her into our room. She was laughing the whole way.

"I can't stay mad at you, seriously."

"Good." I gently set her down on the bed. "Okay, now those come off." Which took me about three seconds, my clothes followed about four seconds after that. I settled on top of her, she wrapped her legs around me. We'd had all the foreplay we needed this time around. I looked down at her; she was smiling, excited, happy. For a second, one second, that dream came back to me and I stopped moving.

"Babe?" She unlocked her legs and shifted to kneel in front of me. Then she rose up on her knees and guided me inside, she set the pace and the dream vanished, consumed in that moment of feeling whole again.

Hunting, my demons, the darkness, years of pain, none of that had any power over me right then, and I'd fight with every last inch of my life and my soul to make sure that tomorrow, the next day, a year from now, they never would again. The only thing I'd allow to consume me anymore was her, us.

-End (not end, end. End of this book. Fear not loyal readers. The next one will be started shortly, and yes. It will pick up right where this one left off.)