Notes: There was a lot to consider for this chapter, and it couldn't be rushed so it took a little longer to write than I wanted it to, but once you've read you'll probably see why. Hoping it has worked out because there was a lot of editing and debating what made the cut.

All that said...

Warning: This chapter contains content that might be disturbing to some readers. Without giving too much away, if you've been following the story, you do know that the OFC is pregnant and there are some obvious things that could happen to her. So... you have been warned.

As usual, it was posted over on ao3 first last night with the swear words, and then edited for here to be minus them.
Hope you'll like where it's gone! Now get comfy, it's a little bit of a longer chapter.

Somewhat propped up by pillows behind him, Dean had one arm flung over the front of Manda, his hand locked on her shoulder while she rested back against him on an angle now. He knew she was quietly crying on and off to herself as he held her. She had warned him she probably wouldn't be able to stop from crying and had managed to only shed a few tears during sex, but now he could tell there were more than just a few. He knew sex hadn't hurt her, but it had been pretty emotional for both of them, and now he wasn't sure what was causing her to cry other than just another surge of hormones. "That just your hormones going haywire again?" he asked in a soft tone.

"Annoying, right?" Manda wiped at her eyes with one hand, curled her fingers over his forearm with the other. She leaned her head back a little more into him and looked up to see his face then. Dean was concerned, and while it was mostly her pregnancy hormones, it was also because she knew this was probably the last time she was ever sleeping with him, but she couldn't tell him that. "I'm acting like a total emo pain in the ass. It's awful, I know."

Dean chuckled and smirked. He'd been thinking it but she'd said it first. "Yeah, Mandolin, you are. But those hormones of yours definitely helped out with one part of tonight," he teased. "Well, it was that or you're really missing sex… and me."

She couldn't help it then, she laughed. And even if he wasn't exactly wrong about any of that, because he knew it was all three of those things, she also softly nudged him in the ribs with an elbow for teasing her about it. "Watch it, Winchester."

"Hey, I'm not complaining. Far from. You know I don't mind letting you steer." He let go of her shoulder then to rub his hand up and down her bicep. "Sure you're okay?"

Manda nodded and yawned. She put her hand over his, laced her fingers with his and then moved their arms a little lower over her on top of the sheet covering them. "Could just use the cuddling part now. You know me."

Dean bent his head a bit, pressed his lips to Manda's forehead. "Uh-huh. 'Kay, well, you wanna nod off, go for it. I've got you. You're safe. Nobody's touching you tonight but me."

His other arm slid over her then and he shifted behind her, moving them both a little so that somehow she was even closer than she had been. Dean was just making sure she felt as safe she could in his arms, and she knew that while he hadn't said it, he needed the cuddling too. "All right. But are you sure you're okay?" she asked.

"Me? Oh, I'm amazing," he muttered with a small chuckle. He knew why she was asking, he'd gotten a little too soft now. "Been a hell of a day, Chambers. That's all. I'll live."

"Yeah…" She leaned her head back a little more again and then stretched up a bit to peck his jaw. "Sorry about that, Dean. Can't take back how it went down, but for what it's worth, I really am sorry I didn't tell you sooner. And for the punch."

Dean just closed his eyes for a moment as he heard the sadness in her voice. Neither of them could take back how that moment had gone down earlier. He knew he'd been an asshole to her earlier when he first found out, and he knew she was sorry she had kept her pregnancy hidden from him for the last few months. But none of that mattered much now. They were still here in bed together at the end of the day, still in love with each other, and both of them still knew that nothing would probably ever change that now. It wouldn't for him. "Yeah, you should have… but it's all good," he told her. "I know now. So we're good, Manda. Don't think otherwise."

Manda just squeezed his hand a little tighter then, willing herself not to cry again. Dean had no idea how much that broke her inside because of what she still had to do in a few days, or just how much she needed to hear it from him tonight.

He just held her as close as he could then, and a few minutes later Dean figured she must have drifted off by now because she felt completely relaxed against him now. "You still awake?"

"Mm-hmm," she muttered sleepily. "Why?"

He tilted his head so his mouth was near her ear, and then he just lightly brushed his hand back and forth over her stomach a few times. "What I said this afternoon… I, uh, I didn't mean it like that," he uttered in a low tone. His hand stopped moving and he splayed his fingers out on her baby bump then to kind of cup it. "This… our kid… sh-she's not a mistake, Manda… but she's a surprise. One I sure as hell didn't see coming right now, not in the middle of all this crap. So I'm sorry for… well, you know…"

Manda let go of him to sit up, pulled the sheet close to her and then turned more on her hip to look at him. She smiled a little sadly, and just reached out to graze her fingers along his cheek, wiping away a tear that rolled down his bruised cheek then. He clearly felt bad about earlier and now was just apologizing for being a complete and utter ass at the time. "I know," she whispered, her voice breaking. "It's all right, Dean, I know you didn't mean it like that. And hey, she was a surprise to me too, and it freaked the hell outta me. So it's okay, I get it." She leaned in to give him a loving kiss.

When Manda drew back from him, Dean saw her eyes were misting over again. The look she gave him was somewhat weird and he shifted a little under her gaze then. "What? You're looking at me like I might just pull a Cass and just disappear in front of you mid-sentence."

"Nothing." She brushed her fingers along his cheek again. She just wanted to remember this and the way he'd just been looking at her. In a few days it was all she would have left to hold on to. Moments with him like this one were moments only she would remember once the spell was done. "Just… you know I love you, right? Like stupid love you… end of time, forever, no matter what and all that nonsense kind."

"Wow, soft and sappy. Those hormones are really doing a number on your tough girl rep." He rolled his eyes at her but a goofy grin spread across his face. Even if he often felt he didn't deserve it, he knew she really did love him that much. So he wanted to dismiss her as just being overly emotional now, but there seemed to be something else behind it that he just couldn't quite get a read on as he looked at her. "But obviously, yeah, I know you do. Why?"

"Just remember that, okay? Whatever happens out there after this… whether we both make it out alive on the other side or not. Promise me, you'll remember that much." She wanted him to know it now, wanted it to be the one thing he remembered most if he managed to break that spell one day because he was bound to still be pissed regardless of why she did the spell.

Dean reached out and stroked her cheek, just searching her face right then. It seemed important to her that he know, and part of him wasn't sure why. Maybe she was just covering her bases in case Zachariah or more demons did catch up to her soon. "I'll remember," he muttered, sitting up then to give her a soft kiss. "Kinda hard to forget, though. So are you."

A tear dropped from each of her eyes and she nodded. But he would forget, and only because she was going to make him. "Right back atcha."

He smirked widely, leaned back against the pillows and yawned loudly. "'Kay, you emo pain in the ass… if you can stop crying for more than a few minutes and not spring another of your chick moments on me here, let's try to get some sleep."

Chortling softly, she just shook her head and then settled into the spot next to him on her back. "You just had your own moment on me a minute ago, but I'm the emo one?"

Dean let out a hearty chuckle. "Yep." He realized she hadn't curled up to him like usual, but knew that was because she couldn't sleep on her stomach these days, so he turned on his side towards her, laid his head near hers and then tossed his arm over her. "You've always been the emo one in our relationship, Chambers, and you know it."

She grinned a little sheepishly, and then turned her head to look at him as he fidgeted, trying to get comfortable and even closer somehow. He sighed, and just gave her a look at that said this wasn't going to do, so she moved her arm out to let him get closer. A second later his head was more on her chest than her shoulder, and his arm tightened over her just above her baby bump. "Uh-huh, whatever you say, handsome…" she uttered, laughing just a little. Folding her arm behind him then, she put her hand on the back of his head and just gently grazed her fingers through his short hair. "Long as you know you've always been the pain in the ass one, I'm okay with that."

"Shut up," he groaned, but his voice held the hint of a laugh. He wasn't admitting or denying it. Closing his eyes with a smile then, feeling her fingers working some sort of soothing magic in his hair, he just pressed his cheek a little more into her. Months of missing Manda, of wishing she was basically right where she was right now – safely beside and with him – had finally come to an end. So, he let his exhaustion kick in, and the way she just kept sweeping her fingers back and forth were helping relax him even more. Sleep would come in no time if she kept it up, and it didn't bother him one bit that maybe now she was the one actually doing the cuddling since she was technically still under his arm. "Night, babe. Get some sleep."

"Night, Dean," she said quietly, tilting her head a little to kiss the top of his. "Sweet dreams."

[ - ]

Sound asleep a few hours later, Dean was dreaming of all kinds of mouth-watering pies stacked on an incredibly long table. The banner above it that said this was an all-you-can-eat buffet, and there were plenty of beautiful women behind the table serving pie in lingerie under their aprons. He licked his lips and smirked as he took it all in.

One of the women gave him a seductive smile as he stood there trying to decide what kind of pie to have. She held a plate out at him with what looked like a huge slice of peach pie, and unable to turn it down, he took it from her, returning the smile with his own very interested grin. The woman shook her head and wagged a finger, telling him he had to sample the pie first. So there he was holding the plate and just about to take a forkful of pie when he heard an unwelcomed voice from behind him.

"Of course. Lust and gluttony are your classics. Always the sinner, Dean, and somehow still an archangel's vessel." Zachariah said, clicking his tongue and walking towards the hunter.

Taking one last look at the scene before him just as everything vanished including the plate in his hand, Dean turned around with a scowl, realizing the angel had hijacked his dream. "Great, just what I needed to end today. King of the douchebags had to show up," he muttered, displeased by the appearance of said douchebag. "You guys always gotta interrupt quality siesta time. So what the hell do you want now?"

"I wouldn't say that was quality. Certainly not imaginative either, and I can't say I'm surprised." Zachariah stopped quite a few steps away and looked at the hunter before him. "But, if you must know, I wanted to check in, see if you've had a change of heart regarding our offer yet. You saying yes to Michael is inevitable. It's really just a matter of when. So call me an optimist even if I'm a realist, but I've got a good feeling today's the day you'll sign on that dotted line." The angel smirked smugly. "Whaddya say? Can we seal this deal and finally sign you up to bat as the winning team's MVP?" He mocked hitting a home run then.

He scoffed. "About that… the answer's still go flap yourself." Dean paced a few steps and grinned in return. "If you even know how to do that. I mean, it's just… well, aren't all you angels kinda like dolls? Missing all the good parts? Or is it you're just clueless about how to use them?"

Giving a look that said he was completely unimpressed, Zachariah didn't bat an eye. He loathed Dean's attitude, and simply reminded himself that the older Winchester was just a means to an end. They needed him, well, him and his attitude not so much. All they needed was his vessel, but the catch still was that the blundering Neanderthal of a human inside of it needed to say yes first. So the angel was here yet again to work on persuading him, growing increasingly more irritated with Dean's holdout in the meantime. It was now time to play a few cards that might help. The angel's face twitched with a small sneer. "Have it your way. You chose the topic. So let's talk for a minute about those adventures in fornicating of yours then. Seems you were quite the busy bee just a few months ago… and it was pollinating season. Or so I hear."

Not letting a damn thing be seen on his face, Dean's insides cringed. He knew what was coming, knew this bastard was about to bring up Manda's pregnancy. "Jealous? Because I could give you a few tips on how to get the ladies to like you and what to do with them, Zach. See, while a bunch of chicks dig a total jerk, you're a condescending asshat and…"

Zachariah cut him off, clapping slow and mockingly. "Condescending…" he muttered. Taking a few steps forward, he shook his index finger at the hunter. "Now I'm surprised. That's a big word for you, Dean. Was it one of the ones on your GED exam? Though, before you answer that, mind if I ask you this skill testing question – when you say a bunch of woman like jerks, are we talking about your mother or your soul mate?"

"Shut your freaking pie-hole, you goddamn frigging son of a bitch," Dean snapped harshly.

"Remember who you're talking to and mind that filthy tongue of yours with me, you blabbering little pissant," Zachariah cruelly sneered in return. He took another step forward towards Dean then, regaining his usual demeanour, fixing the sleeves of his suit's jacket. "I'm merely pointing out their similarities are quite striking. I believe you pathetic human messes call it having mommy issues."

Dean said nothing, just stared back at the angel with a cold, calculated look.

The angel's laugh was short. "Hit a nerve, am I right? You really are… easy. Too easy, and not just with the ladies, kiddo."

"Yeah, okay. So maybe I've got a few issues…" Dean paused before he raised his voice, almost yelling, "Because my mom was killed by a frigging demon when I was four, and you pricks just let it happen. Guess that was all so you could stand here now bugging me some more about letting your golden boy wear me like a cheap suit that's too snug and has me itching in all the wrong places. Again, fun as that sounds, no thanks."

Looking exasperated, the angel just held his hands up as if asking for a little help from above. "You're just not getting the message. Of course. Simple and clear doesn't work with the village idiot. Never has. Maybe we should try show-and-tell instead. It'll be basic enough." Zachariah snapped his fingers, grinning.

Dean almost jumped at seeing how Manda just appeared beside him then. He gave her a sidelong glance, noting the sheer surprise on her face that quickly turned to anger. But he saw how fear also crossed her expression for a split second. That meant this wasn't just some conjured up version of her. Zachariah had just brought her for a three-way into his dream for real. This was about to get bad, and the protective side of him was scrambling into full gear trying to figure out how to keep her safe even if this was just a dream.

"Manda, so glad you could join our exciting soiree," Zachariah greeted her with a wide smile.

Manda rolled her eyes then shot a quick glance at Dean. She saw how on edge he was, the rage and the worry just under the surface. He didn't like this one bit and she didn't blame him. She had no idea how the hell she'd gotten here. A second ago she'd been dreaming of being on a road trip with her granddad and then the next she was here. "Ugh. Not the angel I had in mind for a threesome. Beg all you want, Zachariah, but it ain't happening."

Dean chuckled. "Got that right. And while I knew you had a thing for Cass, that ain't happening either, Manda."

Zachariah's eyes widened as he looked from one to the other and back again, figuring out a few things very quickly. "Well… just my luck, and this is interesting. You two are actually together somewhere right now… even though Manda's been hell-bent on staying far away from you, Dean. All that time, keeping that dirty secret of your wretched offspring to herself. Heck, she even let me know about that gigantic mistake before she finally had the guts to tell you about it. She did tell you, right?" He saw the twitch in Dean's face. " Oh good, you know. Well now, I don't suppose one of you finally saw the light and wants to tell me where you're hiding or at least turn the other in?"

"Oh yeah, sure," Dean said with a grin. "We're, uh, at this little motel in the middle of… what was it again? Oh, that's it… None Of Your Friggin' Business."

Manda chuckled. "And here I thought we were holed up in that quaint little town of Kiss My Ass."

Dean smirked at her and shrugged. "It's one or the other. Hell if I remember now. All those road signs look the same after a few miles. Thought the last one we passed said it was something like two hundred miles to Asshole Angel, but it looks like we hit there sooner than expected."

"Wow, you two really are soul mates…" Zachariah groaned and then Dean was gasping for air and Manda was clawing at her throat. "Right down to the coping mechanisms of the jokes and the sarcasm, and the just not listening. It really is… nauseating."

"Leave… her… alone," Dean choked out. It felt like his lungs were being crushed, and how it felt this real in a dream was beyond him. He reached for Manda as he saw her eyes bulging as she furiously clawed at her throat.

Shaking his head, the angel just waited, watching the female hunter fall to her knees with her hands fumbling now at her throat. He was making her choke on her own tongue at the moment, and the hatred in her eyes was evident even through her panicked desperation of impending death. And then she fell over. "She's fine," he casually said, looking towards Dean then. The death glare the hunter was giving him was unmistakable, and for a brief second all that channelled fury towards him gave him a pause for concern. He knew that if given the chance Dean wouldn't hesitate to take him out for this. "She's been through worse with me. Or hasn't Manda told you about our late night dates yet?"

Manda gasped deeply from the floor, feeling air hit her lungs and life coursing through her again before she slowly pushed herself back up on her feet.

Dean stopped struggling to breathe himself then. How this was possible in a dream was beyond him, but it felt very really. "Oh, I know all about how you just showed up like a stalker one night and haven't left Manda alone since. But when the lady says no, you need to accept it, Zach. And if she really is my soul mate then you know she's never gonna say yes to your sorry ass."

Zachariah glared at Dean. "She is your soul mate, Dean. Maybe it's time you to accept that. But I believe there's one small and sorry but noble reason why Manda will come around."

Letting out a painful cry, Manda's hands shot to her stomach. The sharp pain of a cramp nearly blinded her. She knew what the angel was making happen to her. But she told herself this just wasn't really happening, no matter if it felt like it. Because as the cramping intensified and a wet feeling spread between her legs and down the jeans she was wearing, it felt beyond real. It felt a lot like it had on her way to the hospital after those demons had attacked her – her baby's life was hanging in the balance now. "If you're not actually from hell already, you will be soon enough. I'll make sure of it," she managed to grit out through clenched teeth.

Looking at her, Dean knew what was going on without much thought by the blood dripping on the ground at her feet. That son of a bitch was somehow causing her to lose their baby. He realized they were both actually asleep and it wasn't really happening to her since this was only a dream, but he was far past caring about what was or wasn't real right now. The pain on her face and the heartbreak in her eyes, and being completely unable to help her or do anything to end it was torture for him. "Stop it!" he growled, intently staring at the angel then. "Stop it right now, or I swear to god, Zachariah…"

"Harmless threats, really, because well, I'm an angel. But go ahead and swear to God all you want, you know my father left the building some time ago. Now… do you want to meet your child?" the angel asked, eyeing Dean curiously. "This could be your one and only chance to, Dean. I mean… Michael might not leave you intact enough to be worth a damn, and Lucifer just wants you dead. And it is an apocalypse… throw in one pregnant hunter with the fruit of your cursed loins, and me on her ass?" He shrugged with a bit of a sheepish smirk. "The odds are stacked and that's a hand to bluff with, but you know the house always wins."

Manda bent then, clutching her stomach with tears in her eyes. "House loses sometimes," she whimpered, the pain feeling so unbearable now she was on the verge of collapsing.

Dean grabbed a hold of her arm just as she was about to keel over, unable to just stand there and watch her suffer this way any longer. "You're gonna be okay. It's not real, but I'm here and I've got you, all right?" he whispered, leaning in a little closer to support her, wishing with everything in him there was a way to end this nightmare. He never wanted to see this, never wanted Manda to go through this at all. Watching her endure this was about to rip him apart and send him after Zachariah with only one outcome in mind – ganking the twisted son of a bitch. "Yeah, well, clearly the house likes rigging the game, and I say they're not winning crap. So call my bluff, because this time, I'm not asking. Leave them alone, Zachariah," he warned in a cold, serious tone. "And since you're Michael's bitch, I'm gonna tell you right here and right now that if I ever do let your boss wear my meat, the first thing we're doing is smiting your ass."

"Yes, well, good luck with trying to get Michael to do that. Now let's see… Mom, Dad, are you having a boy?" Zachariah searched their faces and then a wicked grin crossed his lips, his eyes widening with delight. "Oh. No, not a boy. A girl. Pink it is then."

Manda was suddenly completely fine, standing beside Dean again instead of being hunched over with a toddler wrapped around her leg.

"Mommy," the little girl happily squealed, looking up at Manda. "I found you, Mommy."

Manda let out a silent gasp and just reacted, picking the child up and holding her tightly against her. Her eyes welled up as she just held her and took a good look at her. In the dream Castiel had caught a glimpse of, Zachariah had only let her hold a baby in her arms and she hadn't known whether it was a boy or a girl. She'd just simply been holding a baby wrapped in a blanket in that dream, but here was an adorable little girl of about three or four who looked quite similar to how she had at that age herself. The small differences were there though, like the head of blonde hair to indicate she had some traces of Dean. It took her breath away and broke her heart to see her, because this little girl was everything and way more than she had let herself imagine in the last few months. And all she felt towards this child was an overwhelming amount of love. So if this was really their daughter and not just some conjured up imaginative version courtesy of the angel, she longed to protect her now with every fibre of her being. She turned her head and looked at Dean over the little girl's head.

Dean's eyes had widened with complete surprise and awe at hearing and then seeing the child he knew instantly was his daughter.

"Hi, Daddy," she gushed at Dean from her mother's arms. With a cute smile plastered on her face, she held out her arms to him then, clearly wanting him to take her into his. "I missed you."

He just stared at her, amazed and somewhat curious. He knew he'd joked their child would get good looks from both of them, and seeing this conjured up version of her didn't disprove that theory for him. So if this was actually their daughter, she was nothing short of adorable. She obviously held more of Manda than him in her physical traits, but that didn't matter much to him at all. Her hair was as blonde as his was at that age, that smile reminded him a lot of how he remembered his mom's, and those deep brown eyes of hers looked somewhat like Sam's, especially when he made the puppy eyes as Dean liked to call them. All those things were undeniably Winchester instead of Chambers, and to him, she was beautiful. So his jawed dropped as he looked at her for a minute or more. Her face and that smile, and hearing her call him daddy with such joy at just seeing him hit some deep hole inside of him he never imagined was possible. Unable to help it now, the corners of his lips curled with a grin. Looking at her in Manda's arms, feeling how right this felt with them, knowing deep down that this – his own family, made of this woman and this little girl – was what he wanted without any doubt or fear at all now. He reached out with a hand and touched her then, his fingers gently stroking his daughter's cheek as he just stared at her, taking in the sight, fearing he might never get to actually do this for real.

The child vanished from Manda's arms then, disappearing as quickly as she had appeared. Dean looked at Manda, Manda looked at Dean, and the devastation in both of them was clear.

"What a cute little family moment. Unfortunately it'll never happen for real. So I hope you enjoyed it while you could."

Whipping his head around to look at the angel, Dean's colder than ice look said it all for him. "Oh," he scoffed. "See, I think you just made sure it will happen, you son of a bitch." The resolve in his voice didn't waver, and neither did the harshness he said it with. He wanted nothing more than for their child to be born and to actually get to be her dad now.

Manda was breathing hard, fuming with anger at the angel. She felt like she'd just had a piece of her ripped away when their daughter had vanished. She also knew of a way to help stop this dream before it got worse. "Screw it," she muttered, getting ready to run so she could throw all her weight behind a punch at Zachariah.

"Easy there, kiddo. Don't want to hurt yourself or your baby," Zachariah warned. He barely moved a finger, and Manda was frozen where she was. "Where were we?" he asked, looking back at Dean. "Ah, that's it… right on schedule for discussing how you can save your soul mate and your child."

Dean didn't get a chance to even respond.

Manda went flying backwards. She hit a wall, and then she was being dragged up it by an invisible force. Her eyes frantically searched for Dean's, and when they met all she saw in his was fear. She knew his family history, knew what happened to his mom, and she knew she was now on the ceiling above him. All she thought then was that Zachariah really was a bastard.

"Get her down now," Dean growled, his eyes not leaving her. He watched her struggle uselessly against the force that held her there. Worry and panic were written all over her face, and he knew she was desperately trying to reach her for her slightly swollen stomach, nothing else. The protector in him was about to lose it, because he needed to do something to help them.

"I could, but…" Zachariah snapped again, and then he looked up and gave Manda a wry grin. "Why should I?"

Pinned against the ceiling, Manda's eyes widened she just became heavily pregnant now. A tear rolled down her cheek, because she knew what was coming and what it was going to do to Dean.

Dean gulped to see her that pregnant and that helpless. Rage twitched in his face even if inside his heart was breaking at this scene. And then he saw the blood slowing spreading across the middle of her shirt.

"You could stop this from happening, Dean. Keep them both alive. Come on, be a team player. All it takes is a simple word, one even you can understand – yes." Zachariah peered curiously at Dean.

The female hunter shook her head. "Winchester, don't you dare," she ordered in a firm tone. Tears streamed down her face. Her midsection was being ripped open and there wasn't a damn thing she could do to stop it from happening.

Looking at her, searching her eyes, Dean knew this was just a dream, but her reaction was nothing short of realistic. She never wanted him to say yes, didn't want him to do anything to save her and their daughter. Then she mouthed "It's okay" at him, and he shook his head. "Never, sweetheart," he said, looking her straight in the eye, hoping she realized he'd never say yes, and that this, watching this happen to her would never be okay, not with him. He smiled at her a little sadly, unable to stop the single tear that escaped in defiance because he knew what was coming next. A lifetime ago it happened to his mother, five years ago it had happened to Sam's girlfriend Jessica, and now Dean was watching it happen to the woman he loved and their unborn child. Still, even if he knew this wasn't really happening right now, it just broke him, and yet he couldn't let it show.

Manda knew this was the moment she was dying. She and Zachariah had been through a bunch of these scenarios in her own dreams like this one before, and each time never made the next one any less real feeling. She screamed, scrunching her eyes shut as flames shot out from behind and engulfed her.

Dean shot Zachariah a look that could kill. "You'll pay for that one day."

The fire on the ceiling disappeared, and then Manda was standing there right next to Dean again.

"I highly doubt I will," Zachariah replied. He smiled, wiggled his fingers in a wave at her. "I'm pretty certain that soon enough I'm going to find Manda, all while you…" the angel shrugged. "Keep digging in your heels like a dim-witted mule that refuses to move when he's kicked."

Feeling the back of her hand brush against his then, Dean just let out a hard breath.

"Zachariah, I'd say it's been grand…" Manda moved quickly, grabbing the angel blade from behind her and then pointing it at the angel. Zachariah might have been controlling this nightmare, but there always came a point where that control slipped. It was something she had learned during all her research about learning how to control your own dreams. It wasn't easy, and it took time, but they had now reached that point. "But as always, you boast a five star rating and yet it's a no star event."

"Where did you get that?" Zachariah uttered with surprise.

"Family heirloom." She smirked sweetly. "And if one Chambers was good enough to take one of you angels out years ago, well… between a Winchester and me, there shouldn't be a problem doing it again now. Ain't that right, Dean?"

Smirking, and so goddamn grateful to see that blade, Dean basically grabbed it out of her hand. "Damn right, Chambers. But it's like I told you, I called dibs."

Sighing, Zachariah somewhat chuckled as well. "It's a dream, you morons. You can't kill me in here with that."

Manda chortled. "Maybe. But who knows. It's quite obvious you're worried about…" her voice suddenly stopped as she vanished.

Dean's eyes widened and it took everything in him not to jump as she simply disappeared mid-sentence. He hoped she'd been put back into her own dream, or at least was now awake in bed.

"Her not shutting up? Because nag, nag, nag. How do you stand that?" Zachariah chuckled. "Oh, don't worry, Dean. She's wherever you left her before you went to sleep. Unless she's not…"

And with that, the angel snapped his fingers and the dream ended as Dean's eyes shot open.

Notes: Did you see this coming? While it started out soft and fluffy, it went somewhere a little more intense.

Dean and Manda definitely needed to have some more softer moments and get tangled a little more up as usual. That was always my plan at this part. So was having Dean do a typical him apology since he didn't quite do one earlier. Same goes with Manda getting a little more emotional on him because time is running out on what time they do have left together here before she has to go ahead and do that spell.

And then Zachariah had to make an appearance. He was never in my original plan, (an angel nobody has seen before was supposed to end up visiting Manda and convince her to make Dean forget her) but with how the story has shaped up while coming back to finish it this many years later, Zachariah coming in now just made sense. Even if it only happened in a dream, but the stakes had to be upped at this point. Talk about a challenge to write, so I hope I managed to keep Zachariah in line here.
Poor Dean had to watch all that in his interrupted dream. He might have thought Manda was safe with him, but this kinds showed him otherwise.
And what about having him actually meet/see his daughter? Did it fit in nicely to let him have that in this dream? Giving them that one brief family moment together... and then taking it away. Am I a totally evil writer for that?

You may have been able to guess that Dean would end up watching Manda die the same way his mom did, and here it was even if it was only in this shared dream they were put through. And obviously it had to hurt. But he also got a taste of what Manda has been going through with Zachariah considering she hasn't been too clear on the details. He needed the eye opener, and so did the readers.
As for Manda, well, we knew she wasn't having a good time in those dreams, didn't we? And she's still hanging in... she even had a little trick up her sleeve at the end there.

So what happens next? We'll see. This story is going to be longer than I ever thought it was, but I hope it's not lacking on quality. And I hope this chapter flowed well, made sense.

Feedback and your thoughts are always welcome! Hope you enjoyed it! Thanks for reading!