Chapter Twenty

The hours of the evening ticked away, minute by minute, and Dean remained motionless by Ivy's bedside. He was exhausted beyond belief but he didn't want to miss it if she woke up in the middle of the night. Castiel had told him it was unlikely, but Dean still didn't want to miss it on the offchance that she did.

He missed her, dammit. He missed her something awful.

Ivy had been motionless ever since Castiel had put her under, but she suddenly shifted on the bed. A whimper escaped from her lips, and she started to move as if she was trying to find the sweetspot on the bed. The whimper escalated to a soft cry.

Dean was immediately at attention. "Ivy? Hey, sweetie, whoa, it's okay," he soothed, stroking her hair. "Shh. It's okay."

She remained unconscious, but she calmed quickly. Soon her breathing was normal, and she rested peacefully once more.

Dean rubbed his face, the need to sleep beating down his will to stay awake. After a few minutes he got up from his chair. He removed his socks and shoes slowly. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, he pulled off his shirt and his belt before lying down on his side next to Ivy. He put his arms around her, drawing her close to him. If she woke up in the middle of the night or had another nightmare, he wanted her to wake up in his arms so she'd know she was safe.

Charlie got up from the couch and pulled her underwear and T-shirt back on. Castiel, looking sufficiently rumpled, sat motionless on the couch.

"Cas?" Charlie said.

He looked up. "Does it always feel that good?"

"Well, mostly, yeah."

He nodded appreciatively. "I can see what the pizza man meant now."

Charlie stared at him for a long moment before saying, "Okay. Rule number one. No more talking about the pizza man."

Castiel nodded. "Yes. I am sorry. I…" His hands came up and his fingers were poised for some airquotes, but he paused and quickly clasped his hands in his lap. "…I forgot," he finished meekly.

Charlie bent down in front of him and kissed him gently. "Don't be sorry," she said sweetly. "I'm going to bed. Are you coming?"

"Can we do that again?" Castiel asked eagerly.

"Okay. Rule number two. Humans only have so many goes in them per day."

"But the pi…" Castiel paused abruptly again. "I meant to say, but the people in all those…films on the motel TVs seem to have many more goes in them than just one."

"It's called the little blue pill."

"And if I take it, will that help you?"

"It doesn't work that way, Cas."

"I'm confused."

"That's okay. You'll learn."

Dean woke up in the middle of a field.

"Interesting dream, dude," he muttered to himself, getting to his feet and taking in his surroundings. Dean could tell it was night, but it seemed too bright. Looking up to the sky, he saw that the moon was much larger.

"What the…"

"Welcome to the Otherworld, Dean."

He whirled around to come face to face with Ivy, who stood in the field with him. Her hair hung down her back, and she was barefoot and clad in a simple, dark-coloured dress.

"What do you mean?" he said hoarsely. "We got you back."

"We're dreaming, Dean," she explained, stepping close to him. "You know that."

"But what are we doing in the Otherworld?" he asked her, reaching out and taking her hand.

"I think…I think it's because…" Ivy's voice faltered. "I think it's because this is where I go when I sleep now."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, exactly," she said. "It's like…when Castiel put me to sleep, I snapped right back here. But not in the same way as before. I still feel connected to my body. It's like…well, it's as if I'm moving here like a ghost."

Dean's throat tightened as he pulled her to him. "Ivy, you were like a ghost back there today," he said softly. "I thought I'd…we had lost you."

Ivy looked up at him tenderly, but worry creased her brow. "Dean," she whispered, "I'm frightened. I don't know why I'm here again." She sank against his body in the protective circle of his arms and laid her head on his chest. "I don't know why I'm back here. I never want to see this place again."

Dean buried his face in her hair, his arms wrapped tightly around her.

"I can't figure out why you're here too, though," she said after a moment. "Not that I'm complaining about you being here with me. But it's weird that you'd pop over here in your own dream."

"Well, I was abducted by Faeries once before," Dean reminded her.

"I never got to say thank you," Ivy said, pulling away from him so that she could look up into his face.

"What for?" he murmured, stroking her hair away from her face.

"For not giving up on me," she replied. "I don't know how you did it, but you saved me, Dean."

Dean kissed the tip of her nose. "You're not getting away from me that easy," he joked. In a serious tone, he continued, "Lucy was surprised too. She couldn't figure out why the connection between you and me was strong enough to keep you grounded."

Ivy went up on her tiptoes and gave him a peck on the lips. "Whatever the reason, I'm glad you got me out."

"So, since this is a dream," Dean said, "when I wake up you'll be left alone?"

Ivy noted the worry in his voice and did her best to soothe it. "It's okay, Dean," she assured him. "Just stay close over on the other side. If anything happens to me, I'll let you know."

Charlie padded into the kitchen to find Sam with a cup of coffee and a book. "Hey," she said brightly, heading over to the cupboard and getting a mug for herself. "What's new?"

Sam, startled, cleared his throat. He felt somewhat awkward. "Uh, nothing really, I guess," he managed to say. "And yourself? You seem cheerful."

Charlie nodded. "Yeah, I'm feeling good today." She started making herself some breakfast. "I'm going to take Ivy's shift down at the Motors today. Cas said she'll be awake soon but she needs lots of rest."

There was an awkward pause. Sam had a strange sensation in the back of his head; he realised with a start that the tickling feeling was Charlie discreetly poking around in his mind with hers.

"That…kind of doesn't help it be any less awkward," he muttered.

"Jesus. I'm sorry, Sam," Charlie apologised sheepishly. "Wow. Um. Yeah. Okay, we'll make sure that doesn't happen again."

"I'm not judging you or anything. It's just a bit…startling?" Sam floundered.

Charlie held up her hands in surrender. "Let's just move on to something else, why not? Please?"

Sam cleared his throat loudly. "Yeah. Good idea." He held up the book he was reading. "So I've been keeping myself pretty busy with research, and I've been putting it up against your family history. Long story short, I think I know when Titania and her minions will try busting out of the Otherworld."

Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Look at you, brain-box," she teased. "So hit me. What's the ETA?"

"June twenty-first," Sam replied.

"Makes sense," Charlie mused in agreement. "The veil's always the thinnest then, and they always come out anyway that day."

"Exactly. People who know about them will be expecting them to come – which is exactly why everyone will be caught of guard," Sam continued. "Nobody will be expecting hostility from the Gentry, right?"

Charlie nodded. "That's definitely the perfect time for them to do a massive prison break," she said. After a long moment she added, "Castiel told me that Ivy's spirit – and mine, too, for that matter – get torn up when we fight against Titania's magic, as if somehow her powers are able to cut our spirits and infect us. Does the lore say anything about what happens after that?"

Sam's voice was grave. "It does, yes," he confirmed. "There's Faerie blood in both of you, right? When Faerie magic comes into contact with your spirit and is able to cut into it, the magic in you reacts with it. And depending on the aura of the magic – if it's good or if it's evil, I mean – your spirit…kind of…well." Sam paused. "It sort of mutates."

"Excuse me?" Charlie exclaimed.

"I spoke briefly with Castiel and Faolán about it," Sam said hastily, "and they said that you should be fine, Charlie. Castiel's healing powers worked pretty well on you, apparently, and your spirit wasn't left to…fester."

"Gross," Charlie said. "So, wait then – what about Ivy?"

Dean woke up and was disappointed to see that Ivy was still out cold. His dream journey to the Otherworld hadn't lasted too long: life as a hunter had made Dean an extremely light sleeper, and after waking up once in the middle of the night his sleep had been shallow and punctuated with wide-awake moments. Even though he was used to sleeping with an ear to the ground and one eye open, so to speak, Dean was extremely more on edge now that Faerie business seemed to be underway.

He propped himself up on the pillows and rubbed the last traces of sleep out of his eyes. It was only nine o'clock; Castiel had said that the healing sleep would wear off near the late morning or early afternoon. A long day stretched ahead of him.

There was a knock on the door. Dean swung himself out of bed and pulled on his T-shirt. "Come in," he called out.

Charlie came into the room, a cup of coffee in one hand and a large bowl in the other with a towel over her forearm. "Hey," she said in a hushed voice as she offered him the coffee. "How is she?"

"Still asleep," Dean replied as he took the cup. "She slept through the night, though."

"Good. Castiel's Angel-sleep mojo is working then."

"I saw her," Dean blurted. "In a dream, I mean. Well, actually, in the Otherworld."

"Huh?"

"She said her spirit goes there now when she sleeps, or at least she feels that's how it's going to work from now on," Dean explained. "Doesn't make much sense to me, either."

"Faolán should be explain to explain that to us," Charlie said. "Or Sam."

Dean nodded in agreement. "Well, at least when she wakes up the Angel-sleep will have worked on her, right?" he said, forcing a bright tone into his voice.

Charlie frowned. "Yeah…about that…"