Chapter Twenty-Three: Memories bring back memories.

"Dean." Cas stood at the door as he put things together in his duffel bag. "Dean," Cas said, again, when Dean ignored him.

"What, Cas?" Dean finally snapped.

"Why are you so angry at her?" Cas jumped straight to the question.

"I'm not angry."

"Right. You're not 'angry'." Cas put the word 'angry' in double air quotes, displaying his random instances of sarcasm.

"Fine. I'm angry. I'm not – I'm not really angry with her. I'm just angry because she just knows things. And it's flipping me out. I can't understand her. I don't know if I should trust her or protect her – and everything in my head screams danger when I see her. The worst is, that I don't know if she's the danger, or if it's coming for her."

For a few seconds, no one spoke.

"Alright. I've gotta- need a few minutes. I'll meet you in the library. That ok?" Dean cleared his throat.

"Okay," Cas left, leaving Dean alone with his thoughts.

Dean sat down on his bed after Cas left, trying to collect the threads of his emotions. It felt like his head was a muck of thoughts.

The image of Reina kneeling at Cas's feet, covered in bloody cuts, flashed across his mind. He had tried to stop thinking about it ever since he'd seen it. But now other images joined in the montage - the image of Cas and Reina in her room, Reina and Sam yelling 'surprise!', Bobby and Reina sitting in the middle of books and pages, ran through Dean's head.

She had already made herself belong in a world where Dean felt out of place. And he realized that he was insulted by the fact that she liked it here so much when all he wanted was to be able to do what she had and go away from this world.

And that feeling of overwhelming protectiveness: it reminded him of the fatal attraction, the strange pull he had felt around Amara. It was this particular feeling that made Dean wary of her. But he realized as his thoughts ran the laps around a track – this wasn't her fault, that she'd been dumped into a dangerous world, and that she had been doing her best to keep up. He shouldn't be blaming her for trying to fit in and succeeding.

.

.

.

"What's taking him so long?" Bobby wondered aloud as they waited for Dean.

Meanwhile, Reina was convincing Sam. "Look, it'll be okay. I- I'd be the odd one out there. And you know what's coming. You've dealt with demons like this before. Just ward the house as soon as you're there. I wonder if we could tell them this already, but no one will believe someone like me exists, and actually, I'm not comfortable with telling anybody else."

"But you'd be alone, here," Sam said.

"I have food. You've given me a phone, the wi-fi password – and I have the TV remote. What more do I need?" She laughed. "Plus, you guys would be back in a few days, and I'll call you, and you'll call me," She shrugged, "It'll be okay. I just wish I could meet Jody." She wistfully stared away for a couple of seconds. "I really like her. She's such a badass." Bobby smiled at Reina's description of Jody.

"She is. Totally. That's why you should come," Sam said as Dean came out carrying his duffel bag.

"Ready to go?" Bobby asked, getting ready himself to leave.

"Bye," Reina waved as the four men filed outwards. "Wait." Dean stopped and turned around. "You're staying back?"

"Yeah. I am." Reina nodded.

"Look, I know I was a little - and I – I want you to come." The words spilled out of Dean's mouth in a rush.

Reina stared at him (and so did the rest of them) before finding her voice. "You – you do?"

"Yes. I – It isn't – and I've said some-

"Okay. Gimme a minute." Reina spoke, interrupting anything Dean was going to say. He was internally relieved that he didn't need to voice his feelings.

And then he wondered if she had made it easy for him on purpose.

.

.

.

Sam spoke loudly and pointedly as they got to the cars. "Hey Dean, I guess me and Cas will keep Bobby company for a few hours."

Cas blinked and got Sam's intention a few seconds later. "Yes, I agree with Sam." He smiled innocently, and Reina wanted to burst into laughter at the angel's lack of subtlety. Both Cas and Sam got into the Car after Bobby hurriedly, before Dean could get a word in edgewise.

"Guess you'll go with me," Dean spoke, getting in the driver's seat of Baby. Reina tried to hide a large smile that was trying to spread on her face as she got in beside Dean, and almost lost it, and smiled wide as she heard the Impala engine rev.

.

.

.

For an hour, no one spoke, only the sound of Music in the Car.

"Hey." Dean had been observing her for a few minutes now. She'd been ignoring her book and smiling out the window.

"Hey, you." She replied, slowly turning away from the view outside, towards the one inside.

"What were you thinking about?"

"Me? Nothing," she replied, watching Dean take his eyes off the road and give her a look of disbelief. "Fine. I was thinking about what I'd imagined this moment to be like."

"Which moment?"

"This one right here. Sitting in the Impala. The windows down, the breeze coming in, music playing, and speeding down the road."

"You, uh – this is what you dreamt of?" He asked, shifting a little to turn towards her, leaning on hand on the window.

She took a moment to compose her answer. "Back home, before uhm – there was this wonderful car. A garage owner had a few vehicles from movie sets. And I'd my eye on this gorgeous car. I'd been paying monthly installments on the repair, and saving up for the final payment. Every free weekend I'd go up to the garage, take a look at the progress. It was taking a little long since some parts weren't easily available, it was an old model, plus it had been more of a show car than a stunt car. But that was the one I wanted." She took a breath and adjusted in her seat.

"The owner one day asked me, why I didn't just buy a car, at the rate I was spending I could have gotten a newer model, cheaper."

"So, what did you tell him?" Dean asked, finding himself interested in the story.

"I told him that this car that I'd seen at his garage, the first time I saw it, I knew it was my Baby. It needed TLC, a lot, but this was the Car I saw myself making memories with. The Car that could be my home."

"Wow. That sounds poetic. Like my Baby is to me." Dean smiled. "Baby's been my home, since, oh, forever. She's been with me through thick and thin."

"I know," Reina said softly. He stared at her smiling face and then broke into a smile of his own.

"Of course, you do," He rolled his eyes, but there was a twinkle in them. "I'm sorry you didn't get to make your memories in that Car." He said, seriously, but was surprised when she replied.

"But I am making memories in that car."

"Oh?"

"I, uh, was buying a 1967 Chevrolet Impala," Reina said, staring at the road intently, a slight blush escaping her. Dean noticed it, wondering what it meant.

"I was modeling it after Baby, but here I am, sitting in the actual Baby. Not just from a TV show set, the real Baby." She said, wistfully running her fingers over the Dashboard. "I made a connection with this Car, and watching the bond you and Sam have with this Car – I guess that's what I wanted from my Baby."

Dean looked at her with a strange expression that she couldn't understand. He was feeling a little odd himself. He was trying his best to come to terms with what she represented. But every time she revealed something new, it was – well, it was interesting, but also perhaps suffocating.

.

.

.