Dean woke up, hearing the twittering of birds. He blinked his eyes a couple of times, surprised at hearing such an oddly happy sound in Purgatory. Then, he recalled that he wasn't in that hellhole anymore but in a nice, warm bed with soft pillows, in a cozy house, in the real world. He was safe and sound and with... Allegra!
Dean spun around. Allegra was sitting up in bed, covers pulled up to her breasts, fiddling with a lock of hair. She looked down at him when he moved. A smile crept up the corner of Dean's mouth as their eyes met. He pushed himself up to kiss her lips. Her response was surprisingly hesitant. Dean wondered at that, but when Allegra began to kiss him back, he dispelled it quickly. 

When they parted, Dean took a quick scan and recognized the guest room he stayed in with his brother when he was last here. Their clothes lay scattered all over the floor, with the exception of their underwear, which they still wore. He felt slightly embarrassed upon realizing they hadn't even made it to Allegra's room last night. Getting upstairs, stumbling against everything that stood in their way since their lips had practically been glued together, had been... challenging, to say the least. 
Dean remembered the hunger and the passion between them. All those months apart, the fighting, the pain... Last night, none of it had mattered anymore. It had all been forgotten. It had been just like before. Just like when all was good between them. It had strengthened Dean's hope that it could be that good again. But... maybe this time... they could have more.
He looked back at Allegra. She had her eyes down and was biting her lower lip as if she wanted to say something but didn't really know how to.

"Hey, you okay?" asked Dean.

"Yeah, fine, just... Last night... Dean, it... it shouldn't have happened. Not right away, I mean. I just saw you, and then, I touched you, and everything I hoped for these past months was suddenly coming true, and I... I just... Before we go on, I-I wanna... God, I'm actually afraid to ask you this because of what happened last time."

Dean took her hand in his, believing he knew what this was all about.

"Last time was on me," he said. "I was an idiot and a jerk. But you don't ever have to be afraid to talk to me, Alley. I'll listen, I promise."

"It wouldn't be the first promise you broke."

"I won't this time."

"Won't you?" Allegra finally looked up at Dean. "Nothing's changed, Dean. I'm still the cursed virgin. I'm no closer to finding something that'll make this, us, happen. You told me once you were willing to wait as long as it took. That you were in it with me. And then we started fighting. You blamed me for every bad thing that happened; Castiel, Bobby, Sam... You shot me down, and then you..."

Her breath choked.

"I've already forgiven you for her, Dean," she continued with a trembling voice. "But I would be lying if I said it didn't hurt anymore. Because it still does. Just... not as much as before. Missing you these past months and not knowing if you were still alive was agonizing. And last night, I let my emotions get the better of me because I was so happy that you're back, that you're here with me, and that you're safe. But... I can't afford to get my heart broken again."

Dean felt a lump in his throat. He opened his mouth, but Allegra put her fingers against his lips.

"Don't. Please just think about what I said first. I'll... I'll go and make breakfast for us. You take your time and have a shower. I brought some of your clothes with me; they're in the closet."

"Allegra, I..."

"Dean... please."

He nodded, conceding to her request. What else could he do?

***

When Dean emerged from the bathroom after about an hour (the hot water felt so good, and it helped clear his mind to think about Allegra's words), he found Trixie sitting at the top of the stairs, waiting for him with a happy wagging tail. He greeted the dog with a smile.

"Looks like I'm not the only one who's back, huh?"

As a general rule, Dean Winchester was not a fan of dogs, but he was warming up to this one (and the dog got bonus points for clearly liking him more than Sam). The Australian Shepherd barked and jumped up against him. Dean stumbled back but managed to stay upright. He patted the dog on the head and then gently pushed her down. Trixie led the way down the stairs, going straight towards the kitchen. He followed her in and was immediately greeted by the most amazing aroma.
His eyes widened at the breakfast spread Allegra prepared. A little basket filled with freshly baked bread rolls, a mushroom omelet with crispy bacon on the side, a plate with bits of cheese and ham, and, to top it all off, a jug of fresh orange juice, standing next to the coffee machine, fresh ground coffee ready at the press of a button.

Why the hell did I ever let this woman go?!

Dean looked around and called out to Allegra, but she didn't answer. Then, he saw the note stuck to his plate.

'I got a call from a Sheriff a few towns over. He had news on a case I'm working on, so I'm just gonna pop over. I'll be right back. You go ahead and eat.'

He furrowed his brow at the note. Ditched for a case... Now he knew what that felt like. He resolved himself to wait for Allegra, but the smell of the food was just too tempting. Dean sat down at the kitchen counter, not knowing where to start first. He was about to grab a bread roll 'cause they just looked too damn good when his eye suddenly fell on something in the dining room - a whiteboard. Several, in fact.
He got back up from the counter and walked into the other room. Photos, maps, papers, books, a laptop... It was like Bobby's place but organized. Way more organized. 

This must be the case Alley's been working on, he thought. And this? This is all about... My God, Alley...

Amore told Dean that Allegra had been trying to get him back from Purgatory but had failed to mention to what extent. The things she'd done... Dean saw names of demons crossed off a list. Old documents, scrolls, hastily written notes in several languages, all of which had either been crossed out or crumpled up. And then, he saw the same ritual Castiel and Crowley had used, pinned to the board with a post-it saying 'last resort,' underlined thickly. It scared Dean to think that Allegra had even considered doing that.
When he heard something falling behind him, Dean whirled around, expecting a demon or other monster. But it was only Trixie. He remembered then that demons couldn't come in here. Nor could any of the angels. He was completely alone here with Allegra (and the dog, too, obviously).

"What's that, Trix?"

The dog tapped her paw on what appeared to be a sketchpad. Dean picked it up and flipped through it. His breath choked a little more at every page he turned. There were just dozens of sketches of him, which Allegra must have drawn from memory, considering he never took a photo with her or even saw her take one of him (though, to be fair, he took one of Allegra without her knowing it, so it could be possible she had one).
Dean halted halfway through the pad, staring at the only sketch Allegra had drawn of the two of them together. It was a drawing of their first night in Oregon, the one in the park. It showed them seated at that picnic table, holding each other. And four words, written at the bottom; you jump, I jump.
Tears stung Dean's eyes. He pressed his lips together to keep himself from crying like a big baby over something as silly as a drawing. Only... it wasn't silly. Not to him.

"Dean? You in the kitchen?"

Dean's head jerked up when he heard Allegra's voice. He left the sketchbook open on the table and hurried back to the kitchen. She looked up as he entered.

"Hey, I told you to go ahead and..."

Dean smothered Allegra's words when he crossed the distance between them in less than a second and grabbed her face to kiss her. Allegra fell back against the counter, surprised at Dean's sudden action. But she overcame it quickly, and despite what she said before, Allegra parted her lips so that their tongues could meet. Their kiss deepened. Allegra's hands moved up Dean's chest, her fingers clawing at his shirt, keeping him from moving away from her. But that was the last thing Dean wanted.
Minutes felt like hours by the time they finally broke apart. Both were panting, trying to catch their breath. Dean cupped Allegra's face lovingly. His nose touched the tip of hers. And the tears he had tried so hard to hold back now rolled down his cheeks.

"I don't deserve you. I've never deserved you. You're so good and pure and perfect and... I'm me. I'm broken and a huge idiot, and... and I know you have absolutely no reason to take me back. But... Alley, I need you. I held on in Purgatory because I wanted to get back to you. Because I got it into my head that maybe you were waiting for me. And you were... You... You've been trying to get me back all this time and... You've been doing everything... for me... T-The sketches, I... I... Alley, I'm so sorry for everything I did to you. I... I l-..."

Allegra placed two fingers over Dean's mouth to silence him. He gazed into her eyes - her golden eyes. She moved her hand away and brushed her lips against Dean's.

"You jump, I jump?" she whispered against them.

"Yes," breathed Dean. "Yes, you jump, I jump. Nothing is getting between us again, Alley, I swear."

And thus, the deal was sealed with a kiss. Passionate. Promising. And absolutely perfect.

***

Allegra sat down at the kitchen counter with Dean. She enjoyed watching him eat her food, remembering his reaction to the blueberry pie she made him that day at Bobby's. She promised him back then that the next one would be cherry and chocolate. The perfect occasion to bake that pie was coming up in just a few days. She just needed to keep Dean busy until then.

Whilst he ate, Dean told Allegra what happened in Purgatory and how he finally escaped. Bringing a vampire back to life probably hadn't been the best idea, but if Dean trusted this Benny, she was willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt. After all, if it hadn't been for Fangs, Dean wouldn't be here now, drinking fresh coffee and eating bread rolls.
She heard the sadness in Dean's voice when he mentioned Castiel, but honestly, she couldn't care less what happened to that two-faced son of a bitch. This whole mess with the Leviathans had been his fault in the first place. No big loss there. Yet, being the good girlfriend (wow, it felt good to say that word again), she still put a comforting hand on Dean's arm.

Allegra, in turn, told Dean what had happened after he disappeared. What happened with Sam (he got angry), with Kevin and Crowley (he got angry), and with the angels (less angry, but still pissed off). She expected him to give some comment to her now calling the shots in Heaven, but the look Dean gave Allegra wasn't one of surprise or disbelief or reservation. It was of pride. No one had looked at her like that since... well, a long time.

"So you still got no clue what Crowley needs Kevin for?" asked Dean when she was done.

"No." Allegra sighed. "But whatever it is, it can't be good. And I'm not the only one who thinks so. I keep regular contact with Garth since he basically took over Bobby's job, and I call Jody every Friday. They both report minimal activity. Demons have been keeping too low a profile for something not to be up. Crowley's keeping his dogs on a tight leash, and I'm no closer to finding out why."

"Well, you got me now." Dean reached for her hand. "We'll figure it out together."

Allegra returned his smile and felt her heart flutter. God, she had missed him so much. No amount of drawing Dean Winchester would ever top the actual sight and touch of him. And even though she had been initially reluctant to jump into it with him again, she was thrilled to be alone with him. Maybe this time, things really could be different. No angels, no demons... and no Sam Winchester.

"So, if Crowley is keeping his goonies on the low, what's this case you're working on?"

Dean nodded toward the dining room.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," said Allegra. "I'm thinking witches, but it's just so random and over the top. And this is only the latest in a whole string of weird cases. Here, I'll show you."

She beckoned Dean to follow her to the other room and opened a drawer to pull out a couple of folders. He raised a brow at the carefully organized files. She blushed at his questioning and curious expression.

"I may have watched too many episodes of Criminal Minds to brush up on FBI stuff and keep up pretenses. I told everyone around here that you're an agent away on a case in another state and I a consultant, and it kinda took a life from there."

"Hey, whatever works," he said with a chuckle.

He opened each file to look at the content, eyes widening more with every new folder he picked up.

"Back up here, a sphinx? Like the head of a human and the body of a lion? Seriously? How did you gank that monster?"

"I didn't. I solved the riddle, and it left."

"Euhm... okay... And it was just standing in the park?"

"Smack center of it. People thought it was a publicity stunt. It came alive at night, asked the riddle, and whoever didn't know the answer got eaten. I'm good at riddles because da- Gabriel made puzzles for me to solve when I was a kid. Treasure hunts mostly. Solve the riddle, get to the next and then win the prize at the end. So I solved the riddle, and the sphinx said I was worthy, whatever the heck that meant, and then disappeared."

"Well, that definitely qualifies as weirder than weird. And this one, what's a ch... chev...?"

"Cheval Gauvin. Like a kelpie, but French. You get on its back, and you can't get off. Most kelpies drown their victims in the sea and then eat them, but there are a couple, like the Cheval Gauvin, that stay more inland in woods and mountains and throw their riders off cliffs or into crevices."

"Right. Do I wanna know how you got rid of that one?"

"Not really. It got bloody. I actually needed stitches. Damn horse had teeth like a shark."

Dean threw Allegra a concerned look, but she smiled reassuringly. The way he worried about her... she'd missed that.

"Right, so tell me about what you're working on now," he said, clearing his throat. "What have we got?"

"First body," answered Allegra. "I went over to the crime scene after the Sheriff called me. It's just as messed up as the other ones, only now someone actually died. Mom came home from a business trip to find her two kids playing next to their grandmother's body in the kitchen. She was severely burned like someone poured gasoline over her and set her on fire. The kids were both fine, eating candy."

"You checked for hex bags? Symbols? Sigils?"

"The entire house, top to bottom. I even checked the kids before the EMTs took them to the hospital. I thought maybe a possession mark or something, but there was nothing."

"You said this was the first body? What happened to the others?"

Allegra showed him the newspaper articles and records from the Sheriff's department and the hospital. Dean rummaged through them and glanced up at the whiteboard.

"Okay, so, how the hell do things go from pumpkin smashing to making birds attack people to killing a granny?"

"I got no idea. But the thing is, all of this sounds very familiar to me. Like I've seen or heard about this before somewhere."

"What, like, in another town?"

"Mm, maybe..."

Dean nudged Allegra so she would face him. She looked up at his warm smile.

"You need a break," he said. "Step away from this for a while and then look at it from a new angle. Refocus your... focus."

"Not exactly Mr. Miyagi, but sure." Allegra chuckled. "I guess you're right."

"Of course I am. We'll go out, have some fun, and then we can figure out whose ass we need to kick."

Allegra drew back a little.

"Go out as in... a date?" she wondered aloud.

Dean's expression changed when he came to realize the same thing she had. They'd been together, but they had never actually gone out like a normal couple. Something had always gotten in the way. Was this the first sign that things were really going to be different this time around?