Notes: Another new chapter. Decided to post this here as well as over on ao3 (updates go up quicker over there, by the way), although not much of edit needed in this one. Not sure anyone is reading over here, but if you have read the previous stories between these two, you know they will end up a little more tangled up for what will be coming eventually. Castiel will be making an appearance, and it goes without saying that he isn't my character, but I hope I haven't butchered him (or Sam and Dean and Bobby) completely.

Hope you enjoy it if you are reading. Comments always welcomed and appreciated, as it's usually good to know what people like or don't like. Especially coming back to finish this so many many years later.

Going to find Dean, Sam saw him in between the kitchen and the library with his arms folded in front of him trying to listen in on Bobby's phone call. "Call Castiel yet?"

"Bobby smacked me before I could. Told me to wait while he made a call first." Dean turned around, looking at his brother slightly annoyed. "But you heard what she said, Sammy. I'm not overreacting on this."

Stopping where he was, Sam gave Dean an interesting glance. His brother was worried. "Maybe a little, Dean. While it's possible there's truth to some of it, like that first bit, there still might be nothing to what this woman said to Manda. Not all psychics register on a sanity chart."

With a look that said Sam had to be joking, Dean shook his head. "I'm not. Manda's the one not taking it seriously like usual. Just being stubborn and acting like it's nothing."

Sam scoffed slightly, giving his brother an unbelievable look. How did Dean not see their likeness in that regard? "Remind you of anyone?"

Dean's expression hardened with irritation before he shrugged it off. He knew exactly what his brother was getting at. "Hey, I take things seriously when I need to."

Chuckling, Sam shook his head with some disbelief. "Not when it's been about you, Dean. Look at how you were most of the year before you went to Hell."

Dean shot Sam a harsh glare, and then started to pace the kitchen a little. "That was different, and we're not talking about me. Or maybe we are, because it was me she died on that night. You were there, we worked on her. Then those paramedics did and they said she was dead, but I'm the one who found her pulse after that. Sounds a hell of a lot like Manda was brought back to me that night, Sam."

"Think she was?"

"I don't know…" Sighing, Dean turned back around to face his brother. "I didn't then. Always wondered how she survived, though… possible she had a little help with that from up above, isn't it?"

"It is. Like how we ended up on that plane. So if that's the case, you want to know the reason why she was." Sam knew that was one big question his brother would have if there was any truth to what the woman had said to the female hunter. "And what that has it do with you."

Dean's nod was quick. It was already on his mind, and it was bugging him. The way he saw it, whatever reason Manda had been brought back for probably wasn't good, not if it had anything to do with him. "Damn right I want to know why. Wouldn't you? Or what any of the rest of it might mean for her?"

"Yeah, I would," Sam admitted. He was curious about it too, and what it might have to do with his brother. "Got any ideas besides thinking this is a ploy to get at you through her? You're thinking angels, right?"

Shrugging with a slight knowing look, Dean couldn't exactly answer beyond that when that was his biggest suspicion. "Could be they're watching Manda for now or looking for me through her. You have any ideas on it?"

Sam could only shrug in return. There were plenty of possibilities to choose from, but which ones were right, if there would even be any merit to any of this, he wasn't sure. "Let's hear what Bobby has to say when he's done talking to the sheriff's department. If you still want to call Castiel on this after that, then we'll call him to see if he knows anything about how Manda survived that night, if there's anything real in what this woman said to her. Or maybe he can figure something out with the angel powers he's still got."

Bobby hung up the phone, and kind of cleared his throat then, giving them both a serious look. "Well, boys, sounds like it might be the usual kind of crazy and maybe a little of ours. A few people were quite troubled by their encounters, said that woman somehow knew a thing or two that had happened or was happening to them now. A few more said she was just nuts, muttering incoherent gibberish. Sheriff thinks it's mostly harmless, but…"

Dean's eyes widened at Bobby, wanting him to finish it. "But what?"

"But the one deputy swore she vanished after turning the corner on them and they couldn't find her after that. Add in some of the things she said to a few of those folks got them spooked…" Bobby cocked his head a little as he trailed off.

Sam peered between Dean and Bobby. "What's your opinion, Bobby?"

"I trust what I heard from over there. Might be worth lookin' in to some more, find out if there's anything to what was said to Manda. Now you know that girl isn't going to like it much, Dean, but seems to me it's your call here." He glanced at the younger hunter, seeing this wasn't what he had wanted to hear.

Sam eyed his brother, watching as he rubbed a hand over his face, trying to stuff down whatever worry had surfaced. "Dean?"

"What?"

"You're calling Castiel, right?"

"Yeah, Sammy. Told you I wasn't overreacting," Dean muttered, shaking his head now. This wasn't at all how he thought this day would end up, and some part of him wished he had let Manda leave that morning instead of getting her to stick around. "But first I better get Manda on board or she'll be more pissed off at me. She was pissed, right?"

A goofy smirk was on Sam's face as he looked at his brother. "Asked you before, remind you of anyone?"

Bobby chuckled seeing the annoyance on Dean's face, and nodded in agreement.

Dean clicked his teeth hard, giving them both a glare. "Just start making a new hex bag to hide her, Sammy," he uttered out the order with a hard tone. "And stop asking me that. I know how we're alike…" he trailed off as he walked away and headed outside to find the female hunter. And that's why I'm worried. Trouble never stays away from either of us for very long.

[ - ]

Wandering around outside, Dean heard where Manda was before he actually saw her.

Approaching from behind, he tried to walk as quietly as possible. Small pops of gunfire got louder as he got closer to where she was deeper in the salvage yard. He watched for a moment as she shot every can and bottle in a line off the top of some old junker car in Bobby's yard, then as she started shooting at more on one behind it. She unloaded the clip from her handgun, filled it with another. More shots went off, and he was only a couple more steps away when she spun around with the handgun pointed right at him.

"Just me, and I know you're pissed, but uh, you're not about to shoot me, are you?" Dean asked with a small smirk on his lips. He hoped she wouldn't anyway upon seeing the look on her face.

"Risk of sneaking up on me, jackass," Manda replied, keeping him in her aim for a moment before thumbing the safety and lowering the gun. "Maybe not. Thought about it once or twice, though."

"Ditto, smartass," Dean countered, taking another two steps closer. His grin turned into a charming one. "But if I was sneaking up on you, Chambers, you know I'm so good that you'd never hear me coming until I was already on you."

Manda shook her head with some annoyance, but the twitch of a smile was forming on her face despite it. Like usual, Dean was just trying to lighten things up. "Not in the friggin' mood, Winchester, so stop it."

"What? I'm not doing a goddamn thing but walking here." He took another step closer to her, the smile widening a little more.

"Sure, you're just walking over here working that charm, giving me that adorable smirk and attitude of yours. I know your game." She lifted her gun and pointed it at him again with a challenging grin. "Play my own version of it too, so maybe I should shoot you, teach you a lesson."

Dean took another step closer so he could easily disarm her if he had to. He knew she was kidding but if she wasn't backing down, neither was he. "Nah, you won't. You still love me for all that, Mandolin."

She shrugged, lowering the gun again before tucking it away inside her jacket. "Love you still or not, call me Mandolin again and I will shoot your ass, Dean." Her tone was hard, but the small smirk betrayed her.

"Doubt it… Mandolin," he chuckled. He took the next step towards her now being right in front of her. "You never stay mad at me for long either, so cut it out."

"No, never quite could, but still…" she trailed off, leaning in close, acting like she was about to kiss him. "Bang," Manda said with a tone just as serious as the look on her face as she used her finger like a gun against the middle of his chest. "Crap, that didn't work."

"Yeah, nice try." Dean smiled sweetly before he just gave her a soft kiss. She gave into it, and the finger poking his chest quickly dropped before he pulled back on her. "How about we call it even and make up the right way later?"

She searched his face for a moment seeing him try to lessen the blow. "Let me guess, you're out here because you're still calling Castiel and I don't get a say, right?"

He nodded, and his smirk disappeared giving way to seriousness. "It's both kinds of crazy. So just to be on the safe side with everything going on…"

Manda could read him, he was trying hard to hide it, but he was worried. She was too, had been since it happened. That was part of why she was out here shooting at cans and bottles, trying to put it out of her mind. Part of her just didn't want to know what it all might mean or might cost at some point. "Bobby agree after talking to the sheriff or whoever?"

"Said you wouldn't like it much, if that helps. But it's my call here, and I'm making it, Manda." His tone said he meant it as he searched her eyes. "I'm not overreacting either, and you know it."

She scoffed, but the protective part of Dean was already giving her that look that said there would be no arguing with him. "And you're what, worried about what it means for me or for you?"

Dean knew he had to answer this honestly when he caught her eyeing him curiously. "Both. If you were brought back for a reason that night, and if it was because of me, then I want to know that reason. You must too. It's not like we're still together, we might have this…"

"Knowing that reason might be worse than not knowing," Manda cut him off. "And we're not together because of things like whatever this is might happen, and now you're trying to protect me because..."

"Because I still love you, you pain in the ass," he blurted out loud and quickly. "So would you just let me do that the one way I know how to?"

Smiling with a slight chuckle at how he put it, she turned around to look back at where she'd been shooting before, knowing she was about to give in to him. "Yeah, that much was obvious to me last night, Dean… but okay, fine. You win." She let out a quiet sigh.

Coming up beside her, Dean gave her a sidelong glance wondering why she wasn't putting up more of a fight, but then he saw her rubbing at the ring on her finger again. "I expected more arguing here, but okay. I'm going to call Cass so he can read your mind, use whatever angel mojo he can to find out what's what. Hell, he can even give you a rib tattoo to hide you from those winged pricks like he did for me and Sam, because if this is them and it's because of me, they don't get to find you that easily. That douche Zachariah would torture and kill you a thousand times over or worse, Manda. You'd suffer and he'd do whatever he can to break you until you beg me to say yes or stop it because of how we both still feel… and you won't beg me. You'll sacrifice yourself first, I know that much when you already did it once, and I- I can't let that happen to you."

Manda turned her head to look at him, seeing how much he meant it. "Hey, you should already know they can't find me…" She pulled something out of her jacket pocket and tossed it at him.

Dean chuckled as he caught it, surprised to see it was the hex bag he'd given her back when they'd actually tried dating. "You still have it?"

"Bet your ass I do. You did give it me to protect me, so of course I have it. Don't mistake my stubbornness for stupidity. Kind of like that any demons can't find me on purpose, and with what you tell me about the other team, I'm kind of glad they can't exactly do it either."

He smiled, because while he knew how she still felt, she had basically admitted she still liked him being protective over her. He reached out and tucked the hex bag back in her jacket pocket. "I've got Sam making you a new one right now. Great minds, I guess."

Shaking her head, Manda turned back to face him. "I'm not so sure I want Castiel digging around in my melon in front of you guys."

"Scared of what I might find out?"

"Would you want him going through yours in front of me?"

Pressing his lips together, Dean's look said she had him there. "I'll tell him to keep it to only relevant things." He pulled her to him. "Okay?"

"Not really. You at least gonna give me a few minutes to prepare for that?" The look she gave asked him to.

"Yeah, you can have a few minutes. So are we, you know," he paused, as he put one arm behind her back to bring her a little closer, "all good here?"

Manda just leaned into him and then let her lips meet his for a light kiss. "Yeah, we're good for now."

Dean smirked before he kissed her harder, and slipped his hand inside her jacket to grab her gun at the same time.

"What the hell, Dean?" she asked, feeling him take her gun and pushing him back.

Quickly pushing her aside, and then aiming and firing off a shot that hit a can still standing on the roof of a car, he just gave her a mischievous grin. "You missed one."

"Didn't miss it, show-off. You interrupted by trying to sneak up on me," Manda groaned with annoyance. Rolling her eyes at him, she took her gun out of his hand with a bit of force, and then started to walk away.

"Either way, you still missed it," Dean teased with a hearty laugh as he began following and pulling out his phone to now call Castiel. "And I let you hear me coming as a courtesy, sweetheart," he lied, rolling his eyes now.

[ - ]

About fifteen minutes later, Dean had made his call, explained what he wanted Castiel to do, and was now back inside waiting for the angel to show up and carry it out.

"Use a door sometime," Bobby gruffly uttered from the inside the library. "Dean, if you're looking for that lost mutt of yours, found him."

Dean laughed as Castiel walked into the kitchen followed by Bobby in his wheelchair to where he was with Sam and Manda.

"You lost a dog, Dean?" the angel asked, looking at Dean with wonder.

Not one of the four hunters could hold in their laughter over the question or the look on Castiel's face.

"He means… never mind, Cass." Dean smirked, still chuckling.

Castiel looked completely unsure of what was funny to them. And then his eyes landed on Manda.

"Hello again, Castiel," Manda said before pouring herself a double shot of bourbon.

"Hello again, Manda," Castiel replied. "Dean told me what happened and what he wants me to do. Are you ready yet?"

Not at all… "Yeah… how are we doing this?" She took a good sip from her glass.

"Hang on… do you want all of us here for this, Manda? Or just Dean and Cass?" Sam asked.

Bobby shot Sam a look that told him to shut up. All of them were curious as to what was going to happen or what Castiel might know.

"Long as he sticks to what's relevant, she's good with all of us listening in," Dean answered for her. "That's what we agreed on. So you'll stick to that, right, Cass?"

"What is relevant could be anything," Castiel answered honestly.

"Great, nothing's off the damn table then," Manda muttered. "You can all stay. So, Castiel, does this work like a psychic reading?"

"A little, you can stay sitting and I'll just start looking for, as Dean said, what's relevant." Castiel walked over and sat across from her and Dean.

Dean looked at her out of the corner of his eye, and then put his hand on her knee under the table. "I'm asking questions. Good to go?"

Manda took another sip and finished her drink. "Best get on with it."

"You heard the girl, Castiel," Bobby chuckled. "Dean did tell you what was said to her, right?"

"He did. Now let me see what's in her mind." Castiel let his eyes search deep into Manda's as he seemed to be looking inside her mind now. "That was not an angel you met, not a prophet either, but still a messenger. A devout believer with a psychic gift, and a message she had to deliver once she saw you. Interesting… "

Some relief washed over Dean briefly until he had heard the last word. "What's interesting?"

"The night in question. Manda Chambers was on our radar back then because of her connection to you, Dean. We were aware you two were…" he paused, "and you still are…"

"Involved," Manda offered the word with a half-smile, seeing how Castiel now awkwardly dropped her gaze.

"Yes, that's a good way to describe it," Castiel replied.

Dean kind of smirked at the angel then, seeing some small discomfort in him. "I've already had the sex talk with you, Cass… but okay, not the point. The night Manda died?"

"Even with you there that night there were orders not to interfere with the situation, to stay away. I followed the orders I was given. That demon only wanted her dead, not you, Dean."

Each hunter sort of looked at each other and Castiel with some slight wonder.

"Orders…" She harshly bit the word out. "I died."

"From who?" Dean quickly asked.

Castiel had started holding the female hunter's gaze again to begin combing her mind more deeply. "You were supposed to die that night. I was told the orders came from my father, but now know the archangels were probably giving them. Either one or the other brought you back the night."

Told you it might be worse knowing, Dean… Manda scoffed, just closed her eyes for a few seconds as she tried processing it.

Bobby let out a whistle.

Sam traded a brief look with his brother, knowing this wasn't going to go over well with him.

Dean's face registered the confusion, but also anger. "What?" he snapped. "I watched Manda get beaten to the last inch of her life and then almost had to kill her myself before the damage that son of a bitch did to her did it anyway. But you're telling me either the All-Mighty or one of those asshat archangels wanted that to happen just so they could bring her back after it, Cass? What friggin' purpose does that serve? Don't give me that bull about that just being God's way or that it was a test either."

"I don't know, Dean," Castiel answered. "Angels don't question their orders, and I wasn't ready to disobey then."

"Yeah…" Dean grunted harshly. "Just obeyed like a good little puppy without the perk of ever getting a Scooby Snack."

Manda just absently poured another shot in her glass and another that she slid in front of Dean. She downed hers quickly. "Enough, Dean. Drink the shot and let Castiel finish doing what you asked him to do. What you talked me into doing."

Her tone had been the one that said not to argue, and as much as he wanted to, he had asked it of the angel, and of her. "Fine. So, was she brought back to me for a reason like this messenger said?" Dean asked. He raised his glass and took a sip.

Castiel was now digging through everything he could to analyze the female hunter and things she'd seen or been through. What was relevant and what wasn't just wasn't exactly clear to him. She was incredibly guilt ridden, full of so much pain she could never rid herself of, and exhausted of the life she was living because of how much she had lost to it, might still lose to it. It was obvious to him that Manda was a lot like his human friend, but she was also deeply worried for and about Dean Winchester. She was more worried about him than she was herself. It was also apparent to him how much she loved Dean, and why she did. He found it curious that the two hunters had been attracted to each other given their likenesses, and how similar their lives were, but maybe it wasn't. Maybe that had been the plan all along. He knew it could be. But for what, he wasn't sure when that answer wasn't in her mind as he went through everything in her mind between her and Dean.

"It's possible it was for you, Dean. But I'm unable to see that. She bears nothing of it in her mind that I can find."

Manda just stared back at the angel. "And no reason why then, Castiel?"

"I'm not sure. You were brought back for something. A role to play. Your own destiny. They would have had a reason to do it, and maybe it has to do with Dean. Sacrifice can be a test. You were ready to die for him that night. You would again if you had to… you love him."

"Yes," she answered without hesitation, unable to somehow stop from just saying it.

The look on Dean's face turned a little serious. "So what?"

"It's how she feels about you…" the angel trailed off, looking to Dean then. "And how you still feel about her…"

"Stay the hell out of my freakin' head, Cass," Dean's tone was harsh. "You're not allowed to flap around in there."

Manda let out a strangled chuckle. "Oh sure, he can have full access to mine, but yours is off limits."

Sam let out a laugh. "How you feel about Manda's not exactly a secret, Dean… least not to anyone here."

"Sam's right on that one," Bobby weighed in.

Dean let them both have a hard glare knowing they were right, and then downed the rest of his shot.

"Do you know anything about the rest of what she said to me?" Manda asked, ignoring the other hunters.

"Maybe. There was something that set you on a path to here, and it led you to Dean. The night you were sent by yourself to go after a vampire, and where your boyfriend…" Castiel was able to see that in her mind. How that one event had been able to bring her to this point.

"Tyler," Manda cut him off by whispering out the name with a painful and soft tone.

Castiel saw all the guilt and the heartache she held from that night in her mind. "Tyler's death wasn't your fault, Manda. There was nothing you could have done to save him. He was dying, and he forgave you for helping end his pain."

Dean's eyes widened at the revelation. He knew the story of when Manda had been seventeen she'd been sent on her first solo hunt and let her boyfriend come along only to watch him be ripped apart by the lone vampire she was supposed to take out. What he hadn't known was that she apparently must have played a role in his final minute. She'd never even said his name to Dean before, not as far as he could remember, and now he knew why. "Manda, you never said…" That you had to do that at that age. Aw, baby, not sure I'd have been able to do that then myself…

A tear rolled down her cheek. "That I couldn't watch him go through five more minutes of gasping and gurgling on his own blood while trying to hold his neck together. You want to know how I told him I was sorry, that I loved him, and then let go to watch him bleed out in seconds while holding his head in my lap. No, Dean, I didn't say. It was my fault he was there, and having to do that… it broke me. And what it led to after that broke me even more."

Bobby wheeled over and poured her another shot without question. "It was a mercy, girl. There was no way that boy would've survived it. Your folks told me as much two days later." He pushed the glass at her.

Manda just bit down the tears, looked at the older the hunter. "Yeah, and then I got them killed, Bobby." She picked up the glass and raised it at him before taking a sip.

Bobby wheeled away with the bottle of scotch to pour his own now. "Told you back then, ain't your fault, kid. Just that son of a bitch demon's doing."

Placing his hand on her leg and giving it a gentle squeeze, Dean just didn't know what else to do for Manda then. "So, Cass, is there anything else?"

"There will be truth to what this messenger said or else she wouldn't have said it. You were right to call me. She needs to be hidden just like you and Sam. Just like I was, Zachariah was aware of Manda's connection to you before. If he knows you're still… involved and how you feel, Dean, he'll use it to get to you."

"Yeah, that's what I thought." Dean sighed. "Cass can burn that tattoo into your ribs before he goes, right, Chambers?"

Nodding, Manda just closed her eyes.

"Hey, Cass, if it has anything to do with Dean, would Chuck know about it?" Sam posed the question. He'd been thinking it over as he listened, wondering what the prophet might know.

Castiel looked at the younger Winchester then. "He may, Sam. I will find him and see what he knows when I leave here. So if Manda doesn't mind, I'd like to mark her with the sigil now."

"Go on," Manda answered, standing up and walking away from the table a bit. "Get it over with, and then stay out of my goddamn head for good, Cass." Her tone was hard and cold.

Looking at her, then at Castiel, Dean just sort of chuckled. "Do it."

Standing up and going over to her, the angel just read her mind as he looked at her briefly. She meant what she said, that much was loud and clear. He put a hand awkwardly on her chest after a second to carve the Enochian sigil into her ribs to hide her from all angels.

Manda's eyes widened and then she felt the burning deep in her ribs. "One of you could have warned me angel groping feels like heartburn times a thousand."

"Yeah… sorry." Dean got up and kind of smirked at her. There was some relief in him now that she was permanently hidden from Zachariah and any other angel including Castiel.

Castiel removed his finger when he was done, and then he just looked at her again a little oddly. "As Sam suggested, I'd like to visit Chuck and let you know what I find. Dean…?"

"Go," Dean said. "Thanks, Cass."

"Yeah, thanks, that was real fun," Manda muttered, walking out of the room then.

Castiel nodded before he just vanished and left the three male hunters looking between each other.

Sam looked at Dean. "Well, that was…"

"Helpful," Dean sarcastically finished the sentence.

"Yeah, for who?" Bobby muttered, taking a sip of scotch.

"I know, Bobby," Dean snapped, rubbed a hand over his face. "But at least she's hidden for good now."

There is another chapter up, but I am still a little unsure if I should keep updating here... But if you did check this out - thanks for reading! Hope it wasn't too terrible.