Notes: The update is late, and I apologize for it. It took longer than it should have, but that's because this chapter as well as this story has become difficult to write once again.

It feels like I keep writing it into a corner, and then has started to make me wonder who and what I'm writing it for at this point. But with slow work, multiple edits and then some, and a lot of thought, this chapter managed to get completed. Which was no easy feat for the very reason that I had no idea where to take it. So maybe this one reads like filler, and maybe it wasn't needed at all, but it is what it is, and that'll have to be.

As always, the non-canon swearing (which was like one word this time) has been edited out for this site, but remains intact over at ao3 if you prefer it that way.
Hope you enjoy!

After asking Castiel a few more things and then letting him leave, Dean went back inside and made his way to Bobby's library. The older hunter was still at his desk and Manda was sitting in the middle of the couch looking over her granddad's journal. There was no sign of Sam just then, so he gave Bobby a small nod before meeting Manda's eyes when her head lifted up from the journal and looked at him. It was obvious she had freshened up a bit since she no longer looked like she'd been crying on and off the last few hours, and she seemed to have relaxed a little, but there was still something off about her. He didn't know what it was exactly, but had a good idea on what it might be now that Castiel had told him what he'd seen earlier. "You good?"

"Uh-huh. Just wiped out," Manda answered with a soft yawn. "You?" She wasn't sure what he'd talked to Castiel about, but he didn't appear to be giving away anything that said the angel had spilled the beans on her. She was trying to get a read on him, but Dean just stood there with his arms crossed in front of him looking back at her. But he knew something. That much was obvious to her from how he was holding himself in the doorway.

Dean nodded. Maybe that's all that was off – she was just exhausted. She had to be at this point. He knew he was. "Yeah. Just finished hosing down that mess you left behind your car."

"What mess?" Bobby raised a curious brow towards Manda and then at Dean. "Oh, balls. There isn't angel wings and guts in my damn driveway, is there?"

"No," both Manda and Dean answered defensively.

"And thank god for that," Dean muttered under his breath.

"I got sick outside. That's all," the female hunter quickly added.

Going over to sit beside her now, Dean just looked towards Bobby with a knowing look. "Because you couldn't keep down your pie after making Cass zap your ass home for your granddad's journal," he stated gruffly.

Bobby cleared his throat a little too loudly, giving Manda an inquisitive glare, wondering what the hell she was up to. "You did what?"

Manda looked at Dean out of the corner of her eye. She really wasn't in the mood for this argument again. "Quit worrying. I'm fine. Castiel made sure of it. Watched me like a damn hawk and then some because he knew you'd tear him a new one if I wasn't, Dean. So relax." Her tone was curt and firm.

Looking at Dean who was now rolling his eyes in frustration at her, Bobby just shook his head. He wanted no part of that fight. "Well then… you misfits doing this line-up shot soon or not?"

Closing the journal in her hands, Manda nodded. "That's why I left that digital camera on your desk, Bobby."

"Sam?" Dean loudly called for his brother then.

Coming down from upstairs a moment later, Sam called out, "Yeah?"

The older Winchester motioned to the younger one to sit down on the other side of Manda when he entered the library. "We got a picture to take. Manda's beat, and I'm getting there myself."

Sam gave his brother a weird look as he caught a knowing glance from him. Dean was now clearly looking after the female hunter whether she wanted him to or not. "Sure…"

Bobby wheeled away from his desk with the digital camera Manda had mentioned. "Don't know why you need it on this damned thing instead of using my camera."

"Because this way I can print it out at anytime and anywhere I want. And it won't be in black and white," she replied with a chuckle.

Her comment earned a chortle out of Dean. "Do you even know how to use that, Bobby?" he teased.

"He got a crash course," Manda replied. She yawned softly again, and sat up a little straighter then, tucking the journal behind her to hide it.

"Yeah," Bobby groaned as he got to a small distance opposite the couch. "I'm not a helpless idjit, unlike someone else in this room." He smirked sarcastically at Dean, chuckling as the younger hunter just gruffly scoffed in return.

Sam went to sit down on the other side of Manda and then Dean stood up.

"Hang on, Sammy. I need to switch sides." Dean rubbed at the bruise on his face and tipped his head at his brother. "Might be good for the kid's sake to hide that bruise Mom left on Dad's handsome face earlier." He shuffled around Sam and then sat on Manda's left side now.

Manda chuckled softly as Sam barely rolled his eyes and went and sat on the right side of her. "Can't hide that bruised ego of yours over that though, huh, Winchester?"

Guffawing, Sam looked past her to his brother. "Manda, make sure you teach my niece to throw a better punch than her father's," he half-joked with a lopsided grin.

The older Winchester shot the younger one a look that told him to knock it off or he'd hit him. "Oh, sweetheart, the only thing bruised here is my face… but if Uncle Sasquatch keeps that up, his might be too after we take this picture."

Rolling her eyes at Bobby who was holding the camera she'd given him to take the picture with, Manda just shook her head. "Gladly, Sam."

Bobby held the digital camera up, looking through the viewfinder on it first and then at the small screen below it. He didn't want to admit it, but the screen was a little more convenient for his eyesight. "Sam, scoot a little closer to your brother's baby mama. She don't bite."

"Uh, yeah she does," Dean chuckled. "Starts out a little soft with just a playful nip. Then she uses a bit more pressure, and kinda does this thing…"

Both Bobby and Sam grimaced and loudly groaned in annoyance to cut him off not wanting to hear the rest of whatever he was about to say.

Manda lightly elbowed Dean in the ribs. "Shut up. Like you're really one to talk. And it's not like you don't bite back."

"Chambers, you never complained while it was happening," Dean teased her with a grin. "Quite the opposite, actually."

Inching closer to her by an inch, Sam was now the one rolling his eyes. Things were basically back to normal between his brother and the female hunter if they were teasing each other like that again. He let out a mocking gag noise then. "Bobby, hurry up. Let's get this over. Hearing their twisted game of foreplay is making me nauseous."

"Damn right it is," Bobby agreed. "Okay, the pain in the ass in the middle needs to look a little more lively. Sam, Dean… you two idjits wanna at least try smiling here? Don't want that baby girl growing up thinking her family's a bunch of miserable misfits, do ya?"

Shaking his head, Sam moved over just a little, stuck his arm along the back of the couch behind Manda to close the small gap, and chuckled a little at Bobby's remark.

Dean grimaced at Bobby, leaned in closer to Manda, and then tilted his head a little to hide the bruise on his cheek. He slipped his arm around her from behind, letting his fingers curl over the side of her stomach. Then let his trademark smirk take over on his face, because if this was the only picture he got to take with his daughter present, even if it was while she was still unborn, he wanted her to know without a question that he was her father and that he loved her even if he wasn't around.

Sighing, Manda mustered up a wide smile she really didn't feel. Sitting there between Sam and Dean, all she felt now was guilty and heartbroken, knowing the actual reason behind this picture had nothing to do with her wanting a family photo like she'd claimed. Sure it would still be a nice family memento for her child, and that had sold the lie, but it was actually needed for the spell and nothing more. The guilt hit harder just then as she realized in a few days for them this moment and this memory would be gone. So as Dean's fingers touched the side of her stomach, her smile faltered just a bit.

"Everyone say idjits," muttered Bobby as he snapped the picture at that second. "Huh. I was right. Family of misfits."

"Thanks for doing that," Manda quickly told them, squeezing a knee on each brother. She shrugged out of Dean's hold then, reaching behind her for the journal, and then got up off the couch and walked towards Bobby to get the camera.

Sam gave Dean a look that silently asked what was up with her, and Dean just shrugged his shoulders in return, not sure what the brush off was about either.

Bobby took another look at the picture. Knowing her for as long as he had, he noticed Manda's minor unease had been captured and decided to keep his mouth shut about it for now. He knew Dean might notice it, but Sam wasn't likely to. He held out the camera for her. "That okay?"

Taking the camera and seeing the picture, she just nodded, trying to keep the misting in her eyes from taking over. Hormones and guilt were one part of why she wanted to cry again, the other part was just seeing how much Dean wanted this had been apparent on his face. "Yeah, perfect. Thanks, Bobby." She turned and then just headed into the kitchen, needing the space to get herself together again.

Seeing as both Sam and Bobby gave him a curious look over her behaviour now, Dean just sneered a little, but then got up off the couch anyway and went to find out what was wrong. Something was. And now he thought maybe it just had everything to do with what Castiel had told him outside.

Sipping on a glass of water by the sink while looking at the photo again, Manda just tried to shove down all the guilt and the pain that were eating away at her over this.

Dean came up behind her, recognizing an invisible weight he knew all too well on her shoulders then. His own shoulders bore that same weight most days. "So, do I get to see how this family photo turned out or not?"

Manda turned around, masking her emotions as best as she could as she looked at him and held out the camera. "Sure. Knock yourself out."

"Bobby didn't just snap a shot of his thumb, did he?" He leaned in a little closer and took the camera from her, smirking as he went to look at the screen.

Guffawing, she just watched him and took another sip of her water.

Seeing the picture on the display screen, Dean took a good look at it, putting that image somewhere deep in his mind. He wasn't going to ask for a copy. He wanted his family, not just a picture of them. But as he looked at it closer, he saw that her smile wasn't the grin it should have been, and wanted to question it. Same went with how he'd seen her tense up the second she'd realized he was behind her just a moment ago. Something was definitely wrong. "Think it's safe to say the kid's gonna get good looks from both of us and not Sammy's awkwardness from my side. Even on a bad day we look ridiculously hot together." He let out a low, flirty whistle, turning off the camera then.

Manda laughed. She'd seen the emotions in his eyes and on his face as he stared at the picture, but of course Dean opted to make light of things instead. She went along with it for his sake. "You remember when we walked into that party on that train gig? Jaws dropped, handsome. Hell, even yours hit the floor when I first walked out of the bathroom in that dress."

Smirking, Dean had a glint in his eye at that memory. "Hey, so did yours when you got a look at me in that suit. The look you were giving me said you were trying to decide if we should still do the job or have sex first," he mused. "But the job was on a time limit, and lucky for us everyone was too busy drooling when we hit that party and no one saw that salt gun despite that thigh high slit in your dress."

Manda's smirk was sheepish. He was right about that. "You did."

Dean just grinned widely, remembering that's why he'd also reached for that salt gun instead of his own that night. "Well yeah, but I saw and felt everything else you were packing under that dress at the end of the night, too, gorgeous."

Nodding, she just looked at him, seeing how much he enjoyed the memory. Guilt crept back up in her then because taking that memory from him and the many others they shared wasn't fair at all. "Dean…" she started, her throat constricted with the threat of tears. Her gaze swept down to her stomach. It stopped her from almost breaking down and telling him everything else right then.

Watching her get teary-eyed, he wasn't sure if it was just hormones that had her like this or if it was everything else going on as well. He reached out with one hand and brushed some hair behind her ear, lightly stroking her cheek as he did so. "Hey, it's okay. I know. Cass told me what he saw, Manda. What that goddamn son of a bitch did to you and the baby in a dream," he gruffly said. "You could've said something."

So that's all he spilled, just that. Thank god, she thought, searching his eyes. She shrugged a little, looked at him heartbreakingly. "Why trouble you with that gruesome image? It was a dream, nothing else. You know how that jerk is."

Squeezing his eyes shut for a brief moment, Dean wanted to get mad, but she was just doing what she'd always done – trying to lessen the worry for his sake and spare him some kind of pain. He knew that's what it was because he also did it with her and Sam. "Hell yeah I do. So don't think you can stand there and tell me that's all he did, or that it only happened in one dream." He was pushing now, wanting to get whatever else she might have kept quiet about to keep him from worrying.

Now she was the one closing her eyes for a moment. She needed to throw him off this track. "Doesn't matter. He thinks using that tactic will get me to turn on you, give you up. And he's too busy being a dick to realize he's making all the wrong moves on me, Winchester."

He couldn't help it, he laughed at her attitude. Zachariah was definitely making all the wrong moves if he thought that would work on her when it came to him. "You, uh… still love me that much, huh, Chambers?"

She smirked. "Thought you knew by now I'm not one to kiss and tell." She winked at him then.

Shaking his head with a wide grin, Dean just held her gaze then. "Oh I know you, sweetheart. That's why I know every time it's been down to my sweet ass or yours you put mine first and don't give a crap about what happens to yours. Which drives me insane," he admitted. "But that's just one of those things we have in common. I kinda do the same thing when it's you or me, don't I?"

Manda nodded with a silent yes and a knowing look. "Which is why I'm only going to say this once – if it comes down to that, don't you dare do something stupid for the baby and me, Dean. I'm not asking you to. I mean it," she told him. Her tone was firm and severe. "Okay?"

Opening his mouth to argue, and realizing she knew him all too well as he saw her look was deadly serious to drive her point home, he just stood there for a moment in silence. He loved that she wasn't asking him to, but he couldn't agree that he wouldn't do something stupid to save her and their daughter if that's what was needed. She knew that, so she had to know he loved her that much in return. "Then don't you dare do anything stupid for me either, Manda," he firmly told her in return. Leaning in real close, he just pressed his lips to her forehead. "Don't go sacrificing our kid or yourself. Not for me. No ifs or buts allowed here. I mean that. Okay?"

Embracing him in a hug then, she nodded against him. Her plan wasn't stupid, she wasn't doing it just for him, and she wasn't sacrificing herself or the baby either. But it sure as hell was going to cause a lifetime of heartache for her even though it had to be done to help keep them all alive. He'd understand it one day maybe, if he ever remembered that was, and that was only if Zachariah still didn't kill her anyway or if Dean wouldn't die in whatever else might happen after she made him forget her. She wasn't naïve enough to think that might not happen regardless of carrying this out. "Glad we understand each other on that."

Slipping his arm around her waist, he drew her just a little closer against him then. "Just making sure we do." He laid another kiss on the side of her head, and then out of curiosity because he'd asked Castiel if it was true, he inhaled to see if she smelt like him.

"Dude," Sam exclaimed, walking in and catching his brother sniffing near Manda's ear. "Did you just…"

"No," Dean groaned back, knowing he'd been caught.

Manda pulled her head back and then looked up at Dean. She had heard him inhale a little too deeply. "Yeah, you did. You totally sniffed me to see if I smell like you because of what Zachariah said," she called him out on it, laughing.

Letting her go, he rubbed a hand into his neck shooting hard looks at both her and his brother. "Hey, Cass said it's true," he quickly uttered with a defensive tone. "But I can't… you don't... you smell like you still."

Sam shook his head with a disturbed and amused look on his face as he walked towards the fridge.

Lightly shoving him backwards in the chest, she just laughed a little and shook her head. "Good to know." She turned around then and put her glass in the sink. "But look, I'm gonna head upstairs and take it easy now."

Grinning to himself, he just watched her from behind. "'Kay. I'll be up in a bit. Know you might need one of my arms over you to help you fall asleep," he teased.

The younger Winchester scoffed and hid a smirk as he walked away with a beer in his hand.

Laughing deeply, she grabbed the camera and the journal off the counter. "Sounds more like you might need the cuddling, Winchester." She teased him back, turned around again and saw him roll his eyes at her even if he was smirking. "All right, I'm off to count sheep. Night, gentlemen," she called out, leaving the kitchen.

"Smartest thing I've heard you say all day, Manda," Bobby joked with a sarcastic grumble.

They all heard her tell Bobby to piss off as she walked up the stairs, and each of them suppressed a grin at her attitude.

Sam saw the look on Dean's face change though the moment he knew she'd made it all the way upstairs. "What's up?"

"So what didn't that girl mention, Dean?" Bobby asked, peering back at the older Winchester who was giving him an odd look. "What? Don't look at me like that. I've known her a hell of a lot longer than you have, son. Something's not right with her, or didn't you clue in on that."

Dean could only tilt his head with a look that that was all true. "Of course I did," he answered, matter-of-factly. "But I'm not sure. Cass saw something Zachariah did in one of her dreams. She downplayed it with me, said it's nothing and not to worry. But what that frigging son of a bitch made her watch, what he did to her and the baby in that dream…" He trailed off with a harsh scoff, trying to shove down how much it disturbed him. "Might be what she didn't want us to know. And I swear the next time I see that bastard, I'm ganking his winged ass. Because there's no way in hell he's getting to find her. Not while I'm still alive and kicking."

Notes: When writing this one, I could totally see Dean doing the sneak sniff to see if Manda does smell like him after what she said Zachariah told her in a previous chapter. And then him getting busted for it. Comic relief needed in this one. Like Sam joking about teaching his niece how to punch, and the teasing between Dean and Manda.
I wanted Dean to have this moment, to put that photo in his mind for later, and before it's taken away from him. It also gave me the space to have Bobby start to see the cracks in Manda as she tries to keep it all under wraps and together for now. So this is how it went down. It was a little shorter of a chapter than usual, but that's because of the issues with where to take it and how to transition to the next part... look forward to some fluff and more since it's going back to some one-on-one time between Manda and Dean. Hope it was still read worthy and that you are still sticking with the story!

Thanks for reading!

Side note – Upon re-watching a bit of season 5, I realized I had made an error in labelling Zachariah an archangel. How I got that in my head as I wrote this story is beyond me. He's not. So that mistake has now been corrected in chapters 21 – 24. Not much of an edit, but it had to be noted and done. Still, there's another detail I won't be a stickler for at this point – Bobby has a cot in his library, not a couch. At least I've recognized the mistakes. Ha!