Andy's powers made getting into the places they weren't supposed to be, where whatever charm and influence either of the three of them might have traded upon, laughably easy. An elderly security guard simply let them in the county office that night. As Mae, Sam, and Dean searched boxes of files for the record of Andy's birth, he walked the guard towards the door.

For a moment, he had second thoughts. "Probably shouldn't have left you kids in here."

"No, it'll all be fine. All right? Just go get a cup of coffee." Andy told him, but added "These aren't the 'droids you're looking for."

Dean grinned. "Awesome."

"Settle down Sparky, you'd only use that power for evil." Mae teased as she looked through papers across the table from Sam.

"Also this." Dean replied.

Andy sat down at the table next to Sam.

"I got it." Sam said.

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Andy, it's true. Holly Beckett was your birth mother." Sam confirmed.

Andy scoffed and Dean's eyes flicked up to watch him, assessing if the kid was telling the truth about not knowing the woman. "Does anyone have a Vicodin?"

"Dr. Jennings was her doctor, too, I mean, he oversaw the adoption. You have a solid connection to both of them."

"Yeah, but I, I didn't kill them." Andy added.

"We believe you." Dean said, shifting his eyes in warning to Sam.

"Yeah." Sam said, even if he didn't totally believe it yet.

Dean still believed Andy but that left them back at square one. "But uh, who did?"

"I think I got a pretty good guess. Holly Beckett gave birth to twins."

The new information was a lot for Andy to absorb. He sat with his arms folded on his head, staring straight ahead in shock. There wasn't much to learn in the records but the four remained in the back room. Dean stood back by the fax machine as Sam paced looking over the records about Holly Beckett. Mae stood near Dean, arms over her chest.

"I have an evil twin."

"Holly put you and your brother up for adoption. And you went to the Gallagher family, obviously, and your brother went to the Weems family from upstate."

"Andy, how you doin'? Still with us?" Dean asked, genuinely concerned.

He straighten in his seat. "Um. What was my brother's name?"

Sam looked at the file. "Here. Um, Ansen Weems." Any shook his head, not recognizing the name, "And he's got a local address."

"He - he lives here?" Andy asked, surprised.

"Let's get a look at him. Got his picture coming off from the DMV right now. " Dean said.

Dean pulled the papers off the printer and was surprised. Mae leaned over his shoulder. "Huh." was all she said.

"Hate to kick you while you're freaked." Dean said and Andy gave a whuff sound in response as Dean handed the papers over to him. "Take a look at that."

Andy looked down and then back up, shocked.

Dean drove down a dark road, with Sam and Andy in the back and Mae at his side.

"All right, Andy. Tell us everything you know about this guy." Sam said.

Andy leaned forward, his forearms resting on the back of the front seat, his chin resting on his arms. "Well, I mean, not much. I... Weber shows up one day, eight months ago? Acting like he's my best friend in the world. Kinda weird, like, trying too hard, you know?"

"Yeah, he was giving hard fanboy vibes, and all we did was say your name." Mae said.

Sam leaned forward a bit, pinching the bridge of his nose. Mae took notice of the gesture and sat up straighter, on guard.

"Must have known you guys were twins. Why did he change his name? Why not just tell you the truth?

"No idea." Andy said.

The sensation grew more intense for Sam, who couldn't keep from grunting in pain, leaning his head back and pressing the palms of both hands against his eyes. Distantly, he heard Dean say his name questioningly but the vision took over.

It was night, he couldn't be sure if it was tonight or another night, but he saw Tracy on a dark bridge, wearing only white, satin slip. She walked slowly to the side of a ravine, though she was crying. She climbed onto the ledge, looked around, and after a pause and another look back, she leapt off.

With a yell, Sam came back to the here and now, but he needed to get out of the car. He struggled to open the door.

Dean looked back at his brother. "Sam? Sam! Sam!"

He stopped the car as Sam shoved the door open and leaned out. Dean got out of the car, running around to the other side. He grabbed Sam's shoulder. "Hey. Hey!"

Based on the description Sam was able to give Andy, he pointed them to a bridge on the edge of town. It was dark and deserted. Nearby, the Impala pulled to a stop. The three hunters got out and circled around to the trunk, which Dean opened.

"Dean, you and Mae should stay back." Sam cautioned.

"No argument here. Had my head screwed with enough for one day."

"What, you don't think I can fend off a murderer with a bloody nose and vertigo." Mae joked.

Sam smirked as he pulled out a gun from the weapons cache. Armed, he started walking towards the bridge, only to be stopped by Andy. "I'm coming with you."

"Andy, no." Sam said, shaking his head.

"If it's Tracy out there ... then I'm coming."

Inside Weber's car, Tracy was unbuttoning the dress she wore, crying as the he watched. "Okay. Slower. Tracy? I want you to listen to me very carefully, okay? When we're done here, I want you to head over to the edge of the dam. Okay?"

"Okay."

Weber leaned closer. "And when you get there, you're gonna think you can fly. And you're just gonna step right off." He stroked her cheek, pushing her hair back a little. "You - you can fly, can't you?"

Tracy sobbed. "Yeah. I think so."

"You might get scared, but I want you to say that it's okay. Just tell yourself, everything is okay."

The glass of the driver's side window behind Weber's head shattered and Sam shoved a handgun in his face. "Get out of the car! Now!"

Weber looked nonplussed by the move and tried to direct Sam. "You really don't want to do this."

Instead, Sam punched him, sparing no force. On the other side of the car, Andy opened the door and pulled Tracy out. "Tracy! Come here, come here, come here. It's okay."

"Andy! I can't! I couldn't control myself."

Sam pulled Weber out of the car and pinned him face down on the pavement, with the gun aimed at his head. Sam held his head up however. "Don't move. Don't move!"

Andy ran over to Weber and shoved a strip of duct tape over his mouth. Then, he kicked Weber twice, furious for what the other man had done. Sam shoved Andy away. "No! No, Andy, let me handle this, all right?"

"I'm gonna kill you!" Andy yelled at his twin.

"No!" Sam said, letting go of Weber to push Andy back and hopefully get him under control. "I'll handle this, I'll handle this!"

"I will kill you!" he repeated.

"Andy! Listen to me! Listen to me!" While Sam understood Andy's fury, they needed to do this smart.

Weber made eye contact with Tracy. She picked up a large stick, came up to Sam and struck him. He dropped to the ground.

Andy turned to look at her as Weber got up. "Tracy, stop!" Andy pleaded before using his power. "I said stop it!"

Terrified, she dropped the stick and backed away. Andy turned back to Weber as he pulled the tape from his mouth. "How did you do that?" Andy asked.

"Practice, bro. If you'd just practice, you would know." He balled the tape up and threw it on the ground. "Sometimes you don't need to use your words. If you have to," he tapped on his head, "all you need is this. Sometimes the headache's worth it."

Andy grabbed his brother. "You're a twisted son of a bitch!"

"Back off, Andy. Or Tracy's gonna do a little flying."

Turning, Andy saw Tracy now standing on the ledge of the dam, prepared to jump.

"Aren't you, Trace?" Weber said to her before turning back to Andy, "I'm stronger than you. I can do it."

"Okay, okay." Andy backed away with his hands up, "Okay. All right, just... just please don't hurt her."

"Don't be mad at me, okay? I know, it's, it's all wrong. I didn't mean for this to happen, it's just... Tracy? She's trying to come between us."

"You're insane."

"She's garbage!" Weber yelled. "Man, they all are! We can, we can push them, we can make them do whatever we want!"

"Are you really... are you really this stupid? Is it-?"

"Wha-"

"I mean, you, you learn you've got a twin..."

Sam started to come to.

"... you call him up, you go out for a drink, you don't start killing people!"

"I've wanted to tell you for so long, bro. But he didn't let me. He said I had to wait until the time was..."

"Who?"

"The man with the yellow eyes." Weber said.

Behind the twins, still on the ground, Sam overheard Weber's description and he had his confirmation that this was the work of the demon but still didn't know what that meant.

"What are you talking about?" Andy asked.

"He came to me. In my dream. He said I was special. He told me he's got big plans for me." He grabbed Andy's shirt, hoping to convince him of the truth he had learned and what it could give them if he only accepted it. "Wait 'till you see what's in store, Andy, for both of us! See, he's the one who told me that ... I had a brother. A twin."

"You think Sam can deal with this?" Mae asked in a whisper.

In the darkness, Dean frowned. Unfortunately, he knew what Mae meant. Sam was more willing than either of them to hear someone out. He also knew when Mae saw those people die, she had put whoever was behind it in the category of things that needed to be hunted, even if they were people. "He knows his job. He'll do his job. It's not like either of us are anything but a liability down there."

"Yeah."

"It's not like we can do anything about it now, can we?"

In silence now, they stalked to the lookout with the binoculars and sniper rifle.

On the bridge, the twins still argued. "Why did you kill our mother? Why? And why Dr. Jennings?"

"Because they split us up! They ruined our lives, Andy! We could have been together this whole time. Instead of alone. I couldn't, I couldn't let 'em do that, I couldn't let them get away with that. No."

Dean crouched in the shadows, lining up his shot now that Sam was clear. To his surprise. Weber turned his head, peering in their direction. "I see you. Bye-bye."

Mae closed her eyes as the pain settled in again. "That little fucker." She whispered.

It hurt but she knew what was happening now, she could push it back a little more this time. She looked over at Dean, horrified as he calmly turned the rifle up and tucked the barrel under his chin. "Dean, stop."

"Love to Red, but I can't."

There were minimal options. She didn't know if she could stop him, she could barely stand and this kid was more powerful than Andy. She wasn't sure how long her ability to fight it would last before she passed out. Or he was able to mind control her to death. Even though it was stupid, she did the only thing she could think of and yanked the barrel away from Dean's head.

He fought back, trying to pull it back. He wasn't sure how long it might be before Weber made him turn the weapon on her. Or judging by the blood running freely down her nose, she had an aneurysm or something. "Get out of here Mae, somewhere safe."

"There's nowhere safe." She held onto the barrel with all her strength as he tried to pull it back. Mae closed her eyes as her vision swam. They both jerked when they heard the gunshot, squeezing their eyes closed tightly. After a moment holding their respective breaths, they opened their eyes, a relived sigh shared between them when they saw both were uninjured.

"Thank God." They said in unison.

Dean eased his finger off the trigger as they both relaxed their grip on the weapon. He lay the gun down and hugged her tightly. He said 'thank God' once again against her ear as he held the back of her head. When she pulled back, he wiped the blood from her face with his shirt sleeve.

"Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"You okay?"

He chuckled lightly. "Yeah, I'm okay. You?"

"I feel like someone tried to explode my head from the inside out but yeah, I'm okay."

"We should check on Sammy." Mae nodded, "but first." Dean angled her chin up and kissed her gently but passionately.

By morning, the bridge was busy with rescue and police crews. Normally, the hunters would have been either rushing off the scene or scrambling to come up with a believable lie. But Andy talked to the offices instead. Sam crouched by a wall, as a paramedic finished tended to his wounds from the branch Tracy hit him with. Mae and Dean stood nearby, cautious but quiet. Dean put his arm around Mae's waist, pulling her close. She mirrored the gesture

"He shot himself. And you all saw it happen." Andy told the officers.

"Yeah. We did."

"Look at him. He's getting better at it." Sam said.

As Andy walked back to them, he passed an ambulance where Tracy sat wrapped in a blanket. She refused to look at him and Andy continued sadly on his way.

"She won't even look at me." Andy said.

Sam agreed. "Yeah, she's pretty shaken up."

"No, it's, this is different. It's, uh, I never, I never used my mind thing on her before. Before last night. She's scared of me now."

"Give her time. It didn't help that Weber did what he did to her with his mind thing." Mae said, even though she wasn't sure it would help.

"Hey, Andy," Sam interjected, "I hate to do this, but um, we have to get out of here. Here., I wrote down my cell. You don't have to be alone in this, all right? If anything comes up, just call me up."

"Wha- what am I supposed to do now?"

"You be good, Andy. Or we'll be back." Dean said.

"Looks like I was right." Sam said as they walked back towards the car.

"About what?"

"Andy. He's a killer after all."

"No, he's a hero." Dean said. "He saved his girlfriend's life, he saved me and Mae's lives."

"Bottom line, last night, he wasted somebody."

"Yeah, but he's not a foaming-at-the-mouth psycho. He was just, he was pushed into that."

"Weber was pushed too, in his own way. Max Miller was pushed. Hell, I was pushed by Jessica's death."

"What's your point, Sam?"

"Right circumstances, everyone's capable of murder. Everyone. You know, maybe that's what the demon's doing. Pushing us. Finding ways to break us."

"Sam, we don't know what the demon wants, okay? Quit worrying about it." He slapped Sam on the shoulder.

"You know, I heard you before, Dean, when Andy made you tell the truth. You're just as scared of this as I am."

"That was mind control! I mean, it's like, like, that's like being roofied, man, that doesn't count."

"What?"

"No. I'm, I'm calling do-over."

"What are you, seven?"

"Doesn't matter. Look, we've just gotta keep doing what we're doing, find that evil son of a bitch and kill it."

"Yeah, I guess." Sam said doubtfully and then he got in the car.

Dean's phone cut off any other conversation as he answered. "Hello? Ellen. What's going on? Yeah, we'll be right there."

At the roadhouse, the trio of hunters sat at the bar. Ellen stood behind the bar. She called out to her daughter, who had been circling them, trying to glean any bit of information she could from the hunters. "Jo?"

"Hmm?"

"Go pull up another case of beer." Ellen directed her.

She protested. "Mom..."

"Now. Please."

As Jo left, Ellen leaned on the bar. "So. You uh, you want to tell me about this last hunt of yours?" Ellen asked.

"Nope. Not really." Dean replied, about to take a drink before he paused, "No offense, it's just kind of a family thing."

"Not anymore." She dropped a stack of paper in front of them on the bar. "I got this stuff from Ash. Andrew Gallagher's house burnt down on his six-month birthday, just like your house. You think it was the demon both times, don't you? You think it went after Gallagher's family?"

"Yeah, we think so."

Mae's brow arched up.

"Sam..." Dean cautioned.

"Why?" Ellen asked.

Dean Winchester wasn't interested in discussing any of this with Ellen. Mae was right; just because they knew her didn't mean they could trust her. "None of your business."

"You mind your tongue with me, boy. This isn't just your war, this is war. Now, something big and bad's coming and it's coming fast, and their side holds all the cards. Now, at best all we got is us. Together. No secrets or half-truths here."

"There are people out there, like Andy Gallagher, like me. And um ... we all have some kind of ability."

"Ability?"

He supposed it was Sam's prerogative to share this about himself, even though he and Mae would have to clean it up. He rolled his eyes, uncomfortable. Because she was near enough, Dean put his hand on Mae's knee, for his own comfort rather than anything else. Her hand covered his inconspicuously but she kept her eyes on Ellen.

"Yeah. Psychic ability." Dean shook his head, "Me, I have, um, I have visions. Premonitions. I don't know, it's, it's different for everybody. The demon said he had plans for people like us."

"What kind of plans?"

"We don't really know for sure."

"These people out there, these psychics - they dangerous?" Ellen asked.

"No. Not all of them."

"But some are. Some are very dangerous." Sam clarified.

"Okay, how many of them are we looking at?"

"We've been able to track a clear pattern so far. They've all had house fires on the night of the kid's six-month birthday." Dean said.

"That's not true.

"What?" Dean asked.

"Weber? Or Ansen Weems, or whatever his name is - I looked at his files, and there was no house fire. There's nothing out of the ordinary." Sam said.

"Which breaks pattern. So, if there's any others like him, there'd be nothing in the system. No way to track 'em all down."

"We can track some of them, maybe not all but some. And Weems was a twin. Maybe...maybe the demon did whatever it did to those kids because of that. Maybe we'd see the same thing if it targeted other twins. Or maybe he was just a one-off. Just because we don't see the pattern doesn't mean there isn't one. And sometimes, this demon is just a dick and likes to fuck people over." Mae said.

Dean raised his eyebrow at Mae's last statement even though he knew her history with the demon. He squeezed her leg. "And so, who knows how many of 'em are really out there?"

Ellen called out to her daughter, who was already standing behind her.

"Yeah?"

"You'd better break out the whiskey instead."

Ellen had invited them to stay the night but the trio declined, for a number of reasons. It would have been easier to stay in some ways but they were also far too exposed there. They didn't put much distance between them and the Roadhouse, finding the next town large enough that they could do laundry, get a few decent meals and regroup.

Dean didn't hesitate getting Mae alone in a room this time. He wanted to be with her, alone with her. It was purely selfish. He thought that maybe he should have stayed with Sam, make sure he was okay with everything after Guthrie but he wanted the comfort and bliss that came with spending time with Mae. He paced as Mae sat at the table with a spread of weapons in front of her that she was checking over to see what needed cleaning or maintenance.

"I can't believe Sam just told Ellen every damn thing. Can you?"

Mae raised an eyebrow, surprised that he was still this worked up about it. "Well...Sam is a little more trusting than you are. I'm pretty sure if I hadn't seen it happen to Sam, you wouldn't have told me that he was having those visions."

He didn't stop pacing but he did pause to think a bit. "You're probably right, not when Sam had that particular vision. But, I mean, I'd tell you now and not just because you would have seen a couple of them on this job. Or because Sam would have blabbed to you too by now."

She smirked as she set down the handgun she had been examining and picked up a blade, wiping it with a soft cloth before she began sharpening it. "I think he's just as worried about this as you are and he knew this is bigger than us. And we need help. So, why does it surprise you that he'd tell someone?"

"Because, if he weren't my brother, if I didn't know him... if I knew what he's sharing now, I'd probably have to end him."

She tried to look at him subtly. There was every chance he would shut down on this subject. "I thought your dad was wrong about that."

"He is." Dean said, seemingly trying to convince himself of it more that her. He sat down across from her. "But, you know, other hunters might agree."

"Maybe, maybe not." Mae said with a shrug.

Dean frowned. It was hardly the first time she implied she might kill Sam if it came down to it. He'd certainly asked her before if she would, and while as a hunter, he appreciated that she wouldn't balk at a job just because it was hard, he wasn't comfortable with the idea either. "What's that mean?"

Mae set down her knife. "I'm not about to take out Sam, okay? Not because he has these visions. Not because the demon has some plan for these kids. Not until he starts doing shit like that Weber kid or whoever he was or that Max Miller guy. But, you know, if he does start down that road, you're the one who should worry the most."

"Why, 'cuz I'll have to kill him?"

"No, because if those kids are any indication, they start going after the ones they have the biggest issues with. Since your dad is gone... you're the next in line."

Dean frowned. "Sure, we disagree and argue from time to time but it's not that bad."

"I'm not saying it's bad. I'm saying that the demon pushes these kids. Who's to say that's not how he'll try to push Sam. Lucky, you've got me on your side." She said with a grin, "your crazy ginger girlfriend who talks to foxes and doubts her own humanity."

"Wasn't sure if you heard that." Dean kicked her boot gently, a playfulness in his voice as he tried to redirect the conversation. "Speaking of my crazy ginger girlfriend, what's got your panties in a twist?"

"Nothing," she said, feigning bewilderment.

Her mouth twitched in such a way and one shoulder rose in an evasive half shrug that told him loud and clear something was rolling around in her mind. "Even if I didn't know what your little expressions meant, you've clearly been overthinking something, unless it was this thing with Sammy."

Mae pursed her lips. She finally sighed and looked up at him, to her surprise she did actually want to talk to him about it. "It kinda is. You know, Sam was immune to the twin mind control thing or whatever. And you weren't."

"Yeah, but that makes sense, right? All these kids are tied together because of the demon. I'm just like everyone else they were able to control. "

"But... what about me? I wasn't exactly immune. I wasn't walking and talking like nothing was happening but they couldn't force me to do anything they wanted. I could feel them, you know, when they tried."

Dean looked at her, somewhat concerned. Mae didn't fit into the pattern of Sammy and the others. She didn't exhibit any sign of psychic abilities. Except for that woman she sometimes saw. He wasn't sure that he would classify that as an ability. Maybe she had just hit her head one too many times or maybe her husband's death had caused her to have a legitimate breakdown. Either of those seemed far more likely that her being tied to the demon or, as the kitsune had suggested, that she wasn't human.

Besides, he had seen that woman or apparition once. He chalked it up to his worry over her and the weird connection they had when he thought the possessed sheriff might kill her. But she was right, neither Andy nor Weber had been able to control her. Andy was still alive' they could test her theory out with him when he was feeling a little less lost. He couldn't dismiss her concerns or the possibilities. "Yeah?"

She nodded. "It felt like-you ever been possessed?"

"No."

"Okay well, it- this thing with those twins felt similar. It wasn't the same but similar. And I could fight it. If I had more practice, maybe I could fight it all the way."

"Mae-" Dean wasn't sure if this conversation was more uncomfortable than the one about Sam. "what's your point?"

"Well, these kids have powers and maybe I have some kind of immunity or resistance to them. If I do, maybe we can use it. I don't know. Maybe I'm just a different kind of freak."

His stern expression softened as he shook his head in disagreement. "No, we're not using you for that, for anything. We don't-we don't need to worry about that."

"Yeah, we do dude. I don't exactly have a choice if I can use it or not and maybe it's only useful against Andy and his dead brother. You boys shared all our dirt, or most of it with Ellen and she's right-this is war and we need every advantage we can get because they're playing us all."

Dean's gaze fell from hers. With a furrowed his brow, he picked up one of her knives, holding the hilt in one hand and holding it in place with the index finger of his other hand, rotating the blade slowly, not pressing or turning hard enough to draw blood. After a few moments, he looked back up at her with skepticism. "What's the deal with you and Ellen?"

He received a sigh in response. "No deal," but her voice was tight.

"You don't seem to get along with Jo either. What, you wanna be the only girl hunter in the room?" Dean asked, scoffing.

The woman shook her head, annoyed he would suggest something like that. "What? No. I don't give a shit about that. I get along fine with Jo. We've just never had a lot in common, okay?" she shot back. "Ellen is well intentioned, okay? But yeah, she and I just...don't get along all the time."

"Why not?" Dean prodded.

Mae rolled her eyes and leaned back, putting her weapon down on the table. She ran a hand through her hair in exasperation. "Jesus Christ, Dean," he sighed. "You and your brother just love to poke at people."

"What? It's not like she's your best friend or anything," Dean continued, "She your real mom? Did you two date and it went south?"

A small smirk spread across her face but quickly faded. "I don't bicker with everyone I dated once," she muttered.

Dean made an exaggerated hum, indicating he doubted that, which earned him a mild kick under the table. "I bicker with you because you're an annoying busybody. And I never dated Ellen. She's not my type. And she's straight. And old enough to be my mom." She paused to think a moment, "I'm pretty sure she's not. Although honestly virtually any woman her age could be my mom I guess."

"So... what is it? She seems like she might be able to help us some and it's not like we have a ton of friends."

"Hey, Ellen's good, at least on putting the pieces of something together. Even without whatever Ash pulled for us, she would have figure it out. I've never seen her in the field but she's no stranger to what goes down. We should probably work with her. It really doesn't matter if she and I get along. It's not like we don't get along either. She just...I don't know, she always seems like she wants to... get me on the straight and narrow, you know? No more hunting, one-night stands, or bar brawls."

Dean set down the blade and studied her once again. Sometimes, it was hard to separate the hunter from the woman. The woman was pretty, statuesque, and had wide, blue eyes that could look almost innocent. He knew she could fight, with him certainly but she wasn't starting fistfights with regular humans. "You don't strike me as the bar fight type."

Mae scoffed. "I told you, people do a lot of different things to cope. Ellen's unfortunately seen me in a rougher state that you ever have, okay?"

"You not starting fights isn't the worst thing to want for you." He took her hand, tugging gently to get her to stand and guided her to him, encouraging her to sit on his lap. "And I agree on the one-night stand thing, unless it's with me."

Mae closed her eyes when Dean pressed his lips to the hollow of her throat. "I'm pretty sure we can't have a one-night stand," she countered, "because we're basically living together. Although, she doesn't seem too keen on that either."

His eyebrow arched as he pulled away from her. "You know what I mean. What business is it of hers if we're together?"

"See? it's annoying. I don't think she knows for sure it's you but you're more my type than Sam is. I may have told her I was banging both of you."

Dean laughed. "Yeah, you might not get along with her in part because you antagonize her."

"I'm sure. But what I decide to do isn't any of her concern when I'm not busting up her bar and not paying off my tab. I think she just wants ...you know, people not to die doing this sort of thing."

"How dare someone show concern for you? Those people must be a buncha assholes."

"It's not like I have an issue with people caring about me."

"Really? Because you do seem to start fights with anyone who does."

Mae's head quirked to the side as she looked down at Dean, finding the hard edge in his voice surprising. "Are-are you upset with me?"

He stroked her thigh reassuringly, softening his voice. "No, I'm just saying...maybe you get uncomfortable when people show you any basic concern. Then you try your damndest to keep us away from you."

Mae opened her mouth to protest but if anyone knew the behavior, it was Dean, on both sides of it. She pressed her lips together and focused back on his handsome face. "It's not an entirely unexpected reaction, given everything."

"I'm not saying it is. I'm saying it's a thing you do. And, as someone who cares about you, I just want you...safe and not miserable. Is that so bad?"

"Obviously not. But you know, we have a history, a relationship. You're a part of my life. It's not weird for you or Bobby or Sam to be worried about my dumbass choices."