Notes: Sorry for the wait on an update. This chapter was difficult to get written for a number of reasons. Where to take it, how it flowed, and then just avoiding working on it. So, while I feel it might not be up to my usual par, at least it's done and being posted.
Hope you like how's it gone... enjoy!

After listening in while Bobby talked to another hunter who knew a little more about which other hunters were after Sam and Dean, the older Winchester sat there on the couch Bobby used as his bed these days, thinking how he hadn't wanted to quite believe it, but what Manda had told him had just been confirmed. Nobody had apparently wanted to tip Bobby off at first because he was known to be fairly close to the boys, but after a few calls around, he had managed to get some more information out of a hunter who owed him more than a handful of favours.

So knowing the hits just kept coming at him today, Dean now just felt an overload of worry, anger, and the huge amount of weight that just kept getting tossed on his shoulders.

"So that pain in the ass in my kitchen was right to be worried. Could've told you sooner if you ask me, but better late than never, I guess. But you boys had to know other hunters would be pissed off, blame you for everything, and might try coming after you because of it," Bobby's voice brought Dean out of his thoughts.

Sam sighed quietly. They were to blame, whether they wanted to admit that much to anyone else or not, both he and Dean had played their parts in starting this apocalypse and everything else that was going on now. "Maybe we are to blame. But do they really think killing us will stop this?" He scoffed loudly, looked at his brother then. Dean was being strangely quiet for at least the past ten minutes. "I don't."

"Neither do I. So, Sammy, to hell with them. I say let 'em try if that's what they want to do," Dean muttered, standing up then. "We got Lucifer and Michael after our asses, demons looking for us, angels too, and each side wants one of us dead. Other pissed off hunters we can handle."

Sam and Bobby traded looks of disbelief with each other then. Dean was either taking this well or just not seriously enough at all. It was hard to know at this point because his day was just going from bad to worse and probably now to hell and back from there.

Dean walked away and opened the doors between the library and kitchen again. There was enough for him to deal with already, bigger things to worry about than hunters that couldn't yet find him – he still needed to finish trying to figure out how to protect Manda and what was the best way to keep her and their baby safe and alive with Castiel's help.

Stepping into the kitchen then, he wasn't too surprised to find it was empty. Although part of him wasn't sure why it was, because looking at his watch then, he realized it had been nearly an hour since he'd left Manda and Castiel alone. Maybe she still felt nauseous, or they were outside talking about whatever it was she had wanted to ask the angel. He couldn't say he wasn't the least bit curious about how that was going, and also wished he had been sitting in on that conversation instead of the one that had just gone inside the library.

"What happened to Cass and Manda?" Sam asked, coming up behind his brother.

Dean shrugged. "She said something about feeling sick from too much pie, wanted some fresh air. He was gonna keep an eye on her and…" he trailed off as he glanced at the table then. Noticing the angel blade was also gone now, he mentally cursed himself for having left it there in the first place. He trusted Manda, but just couldn't be sure she was thinking clearly enough to not try using it on Castiel again. "Damn it, Chambers," he muttered angrily. "You just had to take it."

Sam stood there with raised a brow at his brother just as he turned around.

"I-I, uh, left the angel blade on the table… it's gone. Manda must've pocketed it again."

"So?" Sam gave him a funny look, wondering why that was a problem. It belonged to her now.

Dean shot a look of annoyance back at Sam. "She pulled it on Cass a little before you interrupted. He went to touch her stomach to check the baby out and she flipped."

Looking somewhat surprised for a second, Sam realized he could see her doing that. "With everything that's happened to her, what's going on still, and her hormones, that's actually not that surprising. But, Dean, Manda wouldn't actually stab Castiel."

"I know that," Dean snapped in return. And he did know it, but he hadn't been so sure of it earlier. "But if you'd seen her… I swear, Sammy, she didn't even bat an eyelash at the time. Just had that blade out and pointed at him in a flash, told him to back off and… actually, it was pretty hot." He cocked his head knowingly and smirked a little foolishly as he thought about how quickly she had reacted. The protective side of her had been in full force, and then she still hadn't backed down when Castiel had taken the blade from her.

Sam rolled his eyes. "Dude…hot? Isn't that line of thinking what got you and her into this in the first place? So stop thinking with little Dean right now and use your actual brain here, Dean." The younger Winchester let out an exaggerated sigh. "Manda can be downright ruthless at times, and that fearless recklessness of hers is scary, not hot. I've seen it, so have you."

"Oh shut up, Sam. That's not what got us into this. Okay, maybe it sorta was… but you know me and her are… we're… we're complicated on a good day," he uttered, struggling to keep from saying more than he wanted to. "Even Chuck said so, and that's one thing he got that right. But ruthless and reckless or not, Manda's not all hard edges and tough underneath that act she puts on sometimes… far from it actually."

Shaking his head, Sam just scoffed at Dean's avoidance of admitting to being her soul mate again and went to sit at the table. "Yeah, I know she's not. So, did Cass get to check the baby for whatever it was you wanted him to after that? What'd he say?"

"Uh-huh… not much." Dean went and helped himself to a beer then. "Apparently the baby got hidden at the same time Manda did, so that's a relief. Even if he was a little weirded out that he had no clue she was pregnant when he hid her with that sigil. And the bad news is there's nothing he can do to keep Zachariah out of her dreams. Well, he offered to try putting some warding on her brain to keep him out, but doing that might fry or zombify it completely, so…"

Sam let out a sarcastic scoff as he thought about that. "So that's out. Anything else?"

Dean hesitated to say anything and then he just turned around to face his brother. "Yeah, uh… Cass kinda let something else slip. The baby… it's a girl, Sammy." The faint hint of a proud grin took hold on his lips before he sipped on his beer.

Looking at his brother comically because for just a brief second he saw how different Dean's reaction to this was from earlier outside. It was evident how much Dean wanted this baby now, so Sam also grinned as he thought about how fitting it was that his brother was going to have a daughter. "So the next Winchester's a girl… hmm. You know, having a daughter kinda serves you right, Dean."

"Why's that?" The older Winchester scowled at the younger one.

"Payback for all the girls you've ditched over the years."

"Hey…" Dean started, and then just shut up. Maybe Sam had a point, but that didn't matter to him at all. Sometimes he felt guilty over it, and sometimes he didn't at all. "Look at our lives. We live on the road and hunt monsters for a living, Sam. The Impala's basically the only roof we've really ever had over our heads. So I ditched a lot of chicks, but what about me screamed I was sticking around? My game's not a long term one, and I bet every single one of those chicks knew it or at least suspected it at the time," he stated with a defensive tone.

Guffawing, Sam shook his head. "You didn't ditch Manda."

"Not entirely true. I kinda ditched her before I even slept with her because she got weird on me when I tried making that move. After that…" he paused and smirked. "Well, totally different story. But Manda wasn't another clueless chick I met on the road who knew nothing about what we do. Maybe unlike us she's got an actual house to go home to if she wants, but she still lives on the road, spends her life hunting the same goddamn evil creatures we do, and she's not used to sticking around either. And I ain't ditching her now either, but she ain't exactly sticking around either now, Sammy." His tone was hard and somewhat defeated then.

Quiet for a minute, the younger Winchester just stared at the older one trying to figure out what was going on with him just then. But he'd heard some sort of small confession in there. "And you're really okay with that, Dean?"

You know I'm not. Not anymore than I've ever really been okay with you going off on your own, Sammy. And you know I've never liked Manda being out there alone, so even the goddamn thought of it now that she's pregnant… I'm nowhere freaking near okay with it. Glowering for a brief second because he didn't want to answer his brother out loud, and didn't think he had to answer that, Dean just stared back at Sam, shrugged, and then sipped on his beer again.

"Sam, you know he ain't," Bobby grumbled loudly. "Hell, I don't think that girl really is either."

Dean groaned, put down his beer bottle then. "Yeah, well if either one of you wants to be the one to go ahead and tell Manda she's not doing this alone because she won't survive that way, you're welcome to find out how that blows over with her. But take a good look at my face just in case you're not sure how that'll end up for you."

Sam pressed his lips together tightly and shook his head as he eyed the bruise on Dean's face again. "No thanks."

Bobby wheeled himself up towards the kitchen then. "Dean, quit trying to pretend you don't give a damn. We all know you do. So go outside and check on that pain in the ass already. And put your mind at ease. Best make sure she hasn't completely lost her mind and offed Castiel by now while you're at it."

Shaking his head with irritation as he walked away to do just that, Dean stopped outside of the kitchen doorway. "Give me a few minutes with her and Cass so we can try to work out a better plan or something. But after that, you just get ready to slap on a smile that broody face of yours for that picture she wants us to take, Sammy. I don't have much to my name, but that's at least one thing I can leave behind for my kid whether or not I get to be around once she's born." If she even gets to be born.

[ - ]

Returning near the front of Bobby's house with Manda holding onto his arm, Castiel felt her let go the instant they reappeared. He heard her inhale and exhale deeply, and saw her hand go straight to her mouth out of the corner of his eye. "Is something wrong?" he asked, concerned. "You're very pale."

Manda felt incredibly nauseous just then. She walked towards her car, and then braced herself with a hand out on the trunk for support when she got there. With her other hand, she soothingly rubbed along the side of her baby bump. "I'll be fine, Castiel. Just give me a sec to…" she broke off then, quickly turning around while grabbing all her hair to one side in one hand. She leaned forward and then just threw up near one back tire of her car. "Lose the pie," she said with a dry chuckle. "Jeez." Standing up straight again, she wiped the corner of her mouth with the cuff of her jacket's sleeve. "Remind me to drive if I ask you to zap me anywhere again."

Coming up towards her, the angel just watched her carefully. "Should I… do you want me to get Dean?"

"No." She leaned against the trunk now and then crossed her ankles out in front of her. "There's no search party out here, so he hasn't figured out we were gone yet. But there's no need to worry him. I'm good now."

Castiel nodded, trusting her word for it, but kept a scrutinizing eye on her to make sure she was in fact okay. The colour was returning to her face now so he figured she was all right.

"This angel blade my granddad left me… will it kill Zachariah?" Manda asked out of nowhere.

"Yes," he replied. "It'll kill esser angels like him and me, but not an archangel. But he's still more powerful than I am, and you may not be able to fight him."

Nodding, Manda just stayed silent for a second as she realized that the one thing that might have helped her, could possibly have changed her mind on carrying out her plan wasn't going to solve everything either. "When you were peeking around in my mind, you said something about how it wasn't the archangels. What was that about?"

Making sure he wouldn't be on the side she'd thrown up on, he took a few steps and went to stand beside her then. "From what I could tell, Zachariah was completely surprised to learn you were pregnant with Dean's child, Manda. That means the prophet was right – it was God who brought you back the night you died. My father did that, and the archangels knew nothing about it at the time. You have to understand our father hasn't been known to interfere for no reason at all. Even if this was fated, it may not be that simple. So Zachariah isn't just mad, he's worried about what you and what your child might have to do with everything now."

Giving him a ridiculous sidelong glance, Manda didn't know how to even process that information. Just the thought of it blew her mind. But she also couldn't help but wonder if God had cared enough at that time to bring her back, and for this reason no less, where the hell he was now and why the hell was he letting all of this happen to all of them. "Does that change anything or am I still screwed?"

"I don't know." Castiel let out a small sigh as he thought it over. "God made sure you survived that night. Your daughter's existence could be the reason why he did. Zachariah is now aware of this and he will stop at nothing to get to you because of it. You're in even greater danger now than you were before he figured this out. So you have every right to be worried for both of your lives."

Pressing her lips together in thought, she didn't know what to say. Castiel was just being completely honest with her about everything. She closed her eyes as she felt her emotions going haywire again. "Castiel, what would you do… if you were me?"

Staring ahead, the angel wasn't sure why she wanted his advice. He had seen how much doubt she had about her plan and the heartache it involved, and he was thankful he just wasn't in her position now or ever would be. "I'm not sure. But you've made a plan, and from what I can tell that plan might be your only chance to stay alive, Manda. Even if I want to believe my father might interfere on your behalf or even Dean's again… I don't know that he will. I've looked everywhere for him, but… he's just…"

Manda rubbed at the ring on her finger, stared up at the sky then. She let out a hard sigh, but a tear rolled down her cheek as she thought about carrying out her plan now. "He's not around. And there is no other way around this. So go ahead, talk to the psychic to be sure. I'm sure you pulled her details out of my head while you were poking around in it."

He nodded. "Yes, I did. That's where I'll be going once I leave here." He turned his head slightly at hearing the door to Bobby's house open. "Dean's coming to find us."

She looked at the angel then, attempted to pull herself together again. "Showtime. Follow my lead if you can't lie, honest one."

Heading towards the back of Manda's car, Dean kind of chortled to himself at seeing the female hunter and the angel side by side now. This wasn't how he thought he'd find them, but he was relieved to see they were both still here, standing, and getting along. "Should I be worried you two are about to run off together? This looks a little too friendly for my liking."

"Definitely. Castiel's a perfect gentleman, unlike you." Manda turned her head to look at him, watching as he rounded the back of her car then. "But you better look where you're going right now, Winchester," she said, pointing at the ground by her tire. "Or don't bother if you feel like this day hasn't been awesome enough already."

Looking down, Dean made a disgusted face. "Gross. You said you only felt a little queasy. But you really yacked there, huh, Chambers?" He eyed her up and down then, his expression shifting to concerned. "Hmm, guess you did too much pie. Are you," he paused, eyes quickly glancing between her stomach and her face. "Nothing's wrong, right?"

Sure is, but puking's the least of it. "No," she replied. She watched as he widely went around the area where she had thrown up before coming to stand in front of them. "I'm fine, Dean. Really. Ain't that right, Castiel?"

"Yes," Castiel answered just a bit too quickly. He nervously tried to avoid looking at Dean then. "Why wouldn't she be fine? Manda and I have been out here the whole time. We haven't been anywhere or done anything."

Dean looked between both of them, not sure what to make of this. Manda was playing it cool, and Castiel was being slightly more awkward than usual. He inquisitively looked towards Castiel then. Something was up, and the angel was the one who would crack first here since lying was not his forte. "Cass, you wanna tell me what's going on? Because that sure sounded like you left here to me."

Manda kind of nudged the angel in the side and gave him a hard glare to tell him to keep his mouth shut. She would handle this. "My totally obvious bodyguard here is just a bit worried you'll find out we took a little trip while you weren't looking. Now before you start yelling at him, it's not his fault. I talked him into taking me home for a few minutes to get my granddad's journal because let me tell you this much – driving for a long time with a baby basically pushing on your bladder the whole time totally sucks, Dean."

Dean stared at her like she was crazy before fixing his piercing stare at Castiel. "You were supposed to watch her, Cass, not give her an express flight home. Why the hell did you even agree to that? She's pregnant. Tell me she at least had that goddamn blade pointed at your throat when she asked." The anger was there in his voice as he was almost shouting at the angel.

Castiel returned Dean's hard look with his own, trying to follow Manda's lead now. Lying to Dean didn't feel right, but he'd just reminded him of why he needed to right now. "No. Manda just asked if I would take her there, and I warned her against it. But I still did what you asked, Dean. I kept a close eye on her the whole time, and I thought it was better if one of us was with her while she went home in the event Zachariah had managed to find her house."

Turning his glare on Manda then, Dean just shook his head. "And you… you're freaking pregnant Manda. Are you trying to hurt yourself and the baby? You got any frigging idea what happens to my body any time he's just zapped me somewhere? And I'm not knocked up." His voice got heavier as it got louder and more serious. He was fuming at her carelessness right then. "So that's why you tossed the pie by your tire. But you have no idea what might physically happen to you or the kid tonight, tomorrow, or a goddamn week from now because of that."

"Okay, maybe that helped, but I still had too much pie before that," she said, meeting his eye. The look she gave him told him to cut it out. "My body's already completely out of whack, Dean, and if I thought hitching an angel express flight would hurt our daughter at all, I wouldn't have done it. You really think I'd risk doing something that might hurt her or cause me to lose her?" Choking back the tears that filled her eyes, Manda just stared at him with an unspoken look that said he knew her better than that.

Silent, Dean just held her gaze for a minute seeing her heartache at the very thought of it. The look on her face said there was no way she would risk their child's life that way, and deep down he knew she wouldn't. He knew she'd rather die than lose the baby now. But the very thought of something happening to them and losing either one of them was just more than he could handle. "No… but what do you want your granddad's journal for now anyway? You know what he did."

"Dean," Castiel said, taking one small peek into the hunter's mind then. Dean was incredibly worried about their child, even more so about Manda, and trying so hard not to let it show. It was also very clear now that he wanted his daughter, wanted to be with Manda, and wanted so badly to have the family he only let himself dream of having. But some part of Dean also suspected there was a catch, that he couldn't actually have that family. So knowing what he did know, the angel was now sorry his friend wasn't going to be part of that family for much longer. He wouldn't even remember they existed in a few more days unless there was a way around it. He hoped there was. "What else was it you wanted me to do? You told Sam we weren't done when he came to get you."

Sighing with some relief, Manda looked at the angel, thankful he had just changed the topic. "Dean wants you to hide me somewhere because he doesn't trust me to stay alive on my own. Doesn't think I'll make it that way."

Dean rolled his eyes. "Chambers… that's not… you need somewhere to go soon. You even said it yourself. In a few more weeks you won't be able to fight, and running isn't going to get any easier as you get further along either. Now, you don't want to stay there but your house is hidden and protected, goddamn it, so maybe you should've stayed there."

Questionably looking between both hunters then, Castiel could see both sides of this argument clearly. "Dean, you're right, it is. Her house would be the best place for her to hide, but Zachariah is relentless and unmerciful. Manda and I discussed that and we both agreed she wouldn't be entirely safe there if he finds it. Now taking her to another time or alternate universe might help, but she is pregnant…" he trailed off.

"Whoa, whoa… you talked about all that without me?" Dean asked irritably. He rubbed at the furrow in his brow, wondering why he hadn't been involved in that conversation. It was part of why he'd called the angel out here in the first place.

Manda scoffed. "Winchester, what the hell did you think we were doing this last hour? Making out and rounding at least third base by now? Castiel knows what Zachariah's capable of, so you bet your ass I asked him where I should go when I need to slow down. I know in another two months or so the running's going to have to stop. I don't want to be on the run near my due date. But going home isn't the smartest choice here."

Nodding, the angel took a step towards Dean. "Manda's better off hiding the way she has been. Zachariah's still looking for you and now he's vowed to find her as well. Dividing his resources will prove to make the search more difficult for either one of you. Until any of us can figure out a safer place for her to hide around the time she's ready to give birth to your daughter, I assure you that if she needs my help, she has it. Manda can call me the moment she suspects there's trouble or that she might have been found by either Zachariah or more demons. You know I'll guard her or take her somewhere else in an instant."

Closing his eyes and trying to keep his emotions in check, Dean just spun around a second later so they couldn't see him struggle with it. Castiel was basically telling him it was best to let her go, and everything in him was screaming he couldn't. Selfishly he just didn't want to let her go at all because he knew he might never see her alive again. "And you'll call him without being stubborn about it, Manda?"

"Why wouldn't I?" She took a step towards him and put her hand on his shoulder. "But are you gonna let me leave here on my own without being stubborn about it, Dean?"

Dean sighed softly, unable to reply. Because he wasn't sure he knew how to do that at all. So when she removed her hand from his shoulder, he turned around to look at her. "You wanna go inside and freshen up or something? You puked not too long ago, you've got that been crying look, and we gotta take that picture still. But I, uh, need to talk to Cass alone for a minute."

Feeling a little worried about them talking without her, Manda just searched Dean's eyes for a moment. She reached out and gently stroked his cheek. Lying to him hurt, and it was taking everything out of her, but she had to do it. "You saying I look like crap?" She lifted her brow at him then. "Or are you just trying to make a plan for what to do with me without me knowing about it?"

Smirking, and not feeling it at all, he shook his head at her. "Well… you've looked better."

"So charming." Rolling her eyes, Manda just turned on her heels to face the angel then. "Thanks for the adventure, Castiel. And checking out the baby." She leaned in to give him a quick hug. "Using a little truth to it always makes for a good lie," she whispered in his ear, before she pecked him on the cheek. "Maybe next time I'll get you out of that trench coat and finally find out just where you hide those wings," she teased.

Castiel gulped when he felt her lips on his cheek, and he got even more nervous as he saw Dean's eyes meet his at that moment. "Yes… you're welcome," he said, feeling weird about this whole thing now. But her message was clear – she was reminding him not to tell Dean. So seeing the look on Dean's face then as he watched her walk away, he knew he couldn't tell the hunter about what was really going on.

Seeing how awkward Castiel looked now, Dean chuckled at her comment, and the angel's discomfort. "Easy there, big guy. She's joking. You're not her type." He watched as she headed towards the house. "But are you and her like BFF's now or something?"

Looking at the hunter like he had no idea what he was talking about, Castiel was slightly confused by the term. "What's a BFF?"

Scoffing and rolling his eyes, Dean just ignored that question. "So did you, uh, read Manda's mind or get anything outta her about Zachariah or those dreams?"

Castiel nodded. The time to lie was now, and Manda had thankfully just whispered a tip on how to do it. So he quickly filled Dean in on what he had learned, telling him that it was in fact God who had brought her back when she'd died, and now that Zachariah was aware of this, he was worried about what part Manda and her baby might play in everything. How that fear was probably what made the angel promise to kill them both, and how he'd stop at nothing to carry it out. But when he told the hunter about the bit of the dream he had caught a glimpse of in her mind, and that she had confirmed what he saw had in fact happened in one of those dreams, he watched his human friend's expression turned from grim to dark.

Dean just listened to Castiel explaining what he'd managed to find out and get out of the female hunter. It made sense to him then why Manda had been reluctant to tell him, vague on the details of those dreams, and why she was as tense as she was. But knowing now that Chuck had been right, that it was God that had brought her back to him the night she'd died at the hands on that demon, left him with a whole lot of wonder and so many more questions.

Not saying anything for quite awhile and then rubbing his hand over his face, Dean went and leaned against her car and looked up at the sky. "Okay. We know God brought her back… so what does that mean, Cass? Is this all fate? Do you think Manda's got a shot at surviving now because of that? That our kid might actually get to be born?"

Settling back against her car beside his friend, Castiel just looked up to the sky then as well. He had no idea what Dean really needed to hear now. "I'm not sure. But from what I know, I think it's safe to say Manda will do anything she can to make sure of it, Dean," he answered honestly then. Telling Dean some of the truth while omitting the rest of what he knew seemed to have worked because the hunter didn't seem to be the least bit suspicious that Castiel had left anything out. "Just like I know you will do everything you can to make sure of it yourself, and that there's still this world for your daughter to grow up in whether you're alive at the end of this or not."

Nodding to no one, Dean just kept looking at the sky then. "What the hell am I supposed to do to protect them? That's my baby she's carrying, and Manda… that woman might be the biggest pain in the ass going, but I love her, Cass," he admitted in an outburst. "So just what the hell do I do to help them now?"

Hesitating to speak, wanting so much to tell him the rest of what was going on but knowing he couldn't, Castiel just watched Dean try to cope with yet another thing he didn't want to. "I don't have an answer for that. I do know that God had a hand in her survival before, and this is a result of that. Fate or not, it'll end one of two ways – Manda and your daughter will either live or die. Zachariah really wants her dead this time, and he will do everything he can to make sure that happens. Which means there might be nothing you can do to save them, Dean. So maybe you should trust her to be out there on her own, and make it harder for Zachariah to find her."

Looking down at the ground then, Dean just fought the misting starting to cloud his eyes then. "Yeah… well, all the more reason to take that son of a bitch out ASAP." He sighed, and straightened up then. "Look, I should get back inside, make sure Manda's alright and spend a little more time with her before she takes off again."

Castiel realized then Dean was just shoving down what he felt now. So not telling him what he knew was hard, and it hurt. "Yes… you probably should do that while there's time, Dean. You don't know when you might see her again after this." Or that'll you even know who she is if you do… he thought. And right then he felt something he now realized was sadness for this whole situation. He knew that's what it was since he could sense the hunter standing beside him was feeling the exact same thing at the thought of having to let the woman he loved and the child he feared he might never get to know go after tonight.

Notes: So that's where it went. Felt like there should be a little brother time in there, and that Castiel how to figure out how to lie to Dean here. Dean also needed to get a little closer to being able to let Manda head off on her own again after this... and Manda seems stuck with her plan at this point. So what's left of the time they'll be spending at Bobby's could get interesting... or not. Who knows, right?
This story seems like it's moving a little slower now than I thought it would, but... it's moving.
Hope all the flow issues worked out and things make sense. Also hope you are still sticking with the story and enjoying it!
The next chapter may take awhile... so if you are waiting for it, sign up to be notified for updates or check back randomly.
As always, thanks for reading!