Four months later

Sam sat quietly in the Impala, staring at the cabin in the woods, sunlight permeating from the trees. It had been almost a year since he'd last been here. He hadn't thought he'd ever return... until last night. One phone call, and he was thrown right back into the family business. He still couldn't believe it. Part of him didn't want to believe it. That part urged him to go back to Amelia and fight for her. But with her not-so-deceased husband showing up after having been reported KIA in Afghanistan, Sam knew there was no place for him in that cozy house in Kermit, Texas. There was no place for him anywhere. Except maybe with the one person who kept on coming back, too stubborn to die and stay dead. And thank God for that.
Sam took a deep breath and nodded to himself before he opened the door. The dirt road crunched underneath his shoes as he traipsed to the cabin. The door creaked on its hinges as he opened it. A musty air wafted into Sam's nose. Didn't seem like anyone had been here in quite some time. If this was going to be their base again, they'd have to air it out for a few days. He stepped inside, letting the door fall shut behind him. His eyes scanned the room, hoping to find any trace of the person he was meeting. Just as he was about to call out, a pair of hands hustled him down onto the ground. Water splashed into his face.

"What the —? I'm not a demon!" he exclaimed before getting doused with another liquid from a white bottle. "Or a Leviathan. What—OW!"

"Or a shifter," said Dean as he got off Sam with a bloodied silver knife in hand. "Good. My turn. Come on, let's go."

"I don't need to," rebuffed Sam, staring at his older brother. "I know it's you."

Dean huffed in annoyance and splashed the holy water and Borax over himself. He then cut his own arm. Both Winchesters watched the blood trickle from the wound.

"All right," said Dean with an approving smile as bound his arm. "Well... let's do this."

Sam uttered a chuckled scoff. "I don't know whether to give you a hug or take a shower."

He opted for the first and fell into Dean's arms, hugging him with all his might. His mind still tried to convince him it could be a trick, but Sam couldn't deny it any longer. Dean was really back!

"Dude. You're... freakin' alive." He walked a few steps away with his hands in his hair to size his brother up. "I mean, what the hell happened?"

"Well, I guess standing too close to exploding Dick sends your ass straight to Purgatory," said Dean with a grin.

"You were in Purgatory? For the whole year? How'd you get out? And what about Cas? Was he there with you?"

The smirk fell from Dean's lips. A sudden moroseness crossed his expression as he retreated, increasing the distance with Sam.

"Yeah, Cas didn't make it," he said. "Something happened to him down there. Things got pretty hairy towards the end, and he... just let go."

"So Cas is dead? You saw him die?"

"I saw enough."

"Right... I'm sorry."

"Me too." Dean walked to the refrigerator to take out two beers. He sat at the table, putting one bottle opposite him for Sam, but the latter didn't move. "You know that half your numbers are out of service? Felt like I was leaving messages in the wind."

Sam gulped. "Yeah, I-I-I didn't get your messages."

"How come?"

"Probably because I ditched the phones."

"Because...?"

Oh boy... This was going to be a tough one to explain. Sam ran a hand through his hair. He really should get a haircut soon. It was growing a bit too wild. But then he recalled how Amelia liked to... Nope, not going there right now. Wait, what had he and Dean been talking about again? Oh right, the phones.

"I guess, um... I guess something happened to me this year, too." Sam shrugged and smiled tentatively. "I don't hunt anymore."

"You quit?" Dean's voice went up a few octaves.

"I... You were gone, Dean. Cas was gone, Bobby was dead. I mean, Crowley even shipped off Kevin and Meg to parts unknown."

"So you just turned tail on the family business. You left Kevin to the King of Hell."

Sam winced at the accusatory tone in his brother's voice. Yep, this definitely wasn't going well.

"Nothing says 'family' quite like the whole family being dead," he mumbled.

"But I wasn't dead," remarked Dean angrily. "And last time I checked, we don't leave the people we're responsible for behind. I'd at least expected you'd have stuck around Allegra."

There it was. The name Sam had been afraid to hear since getting Dean's unexpected phone call. How the hell was he supposed to explain to Dean he walked out on Allegra because she'd been hell-bend on finding a way to get to him and he hadn't?

"She went off on her own after three weeks," said Sam, dropping his lanky body onto the kitchen chair, "in which we tried to look for you and Kevin. I haven't heard from her since."

He dared to peer through his lashes and a streak of wayward hair to gauge his brother's reaction. Dean's fist lay clenched on the table's surface, and his eyes were slightly narrowed and... not so green anymore? Wait, what was that golden ring Dean had in his irises? That hadn't been there a year ago, had it?

"So, who gave up first?"

Dean's impromptu question caught Sam by surprise. "Gave up? I-I don't —"

"Don't act like you don't know what I mean, Sam. Tell me who gave up looking for me and Kevin first, you or Allegra?"

Sam swallowed the lump forming in his throat. "I didn't give up, Dean. I got my heart broken. Allegra made it plenty clear she... didn't want to be with me. I deserved better than to be the rebound, so yeah, when she left, I didn't go after her. She said she was going back to the house in Kansas, so I'm assuming she's still there."

Dean's expression softened. He licked his lips and sighed. "You're right. You deserved better. I'm sorry for getting on your case like that."

"It's okay," said Sam. "Did... you reach out to her already?"

Something crossed Dean's expression then. Something Sam could only describe as heartache. His brother rakes a hand through his short hand, dragging it across his face. He seemed so tired all of a sudden. As if asking about Allegra had drained the energy and life straight out of him.

"I'm going to tell you something," said Dean then, his voice beyond serious. "And I need you to let me talk to the end of the story, 'cause if I don't do this in one go..."

He dropped his head. Sam's heart stopped beating for a horrendous second. Dear God, surely not.

"Did something happen to her?" he asked fearfully. "Dean, did something happen to Allegra? Is she —?"

"No," answered Dean with a shake of his head. "No, she's still alive."

He cleared his throat and took a big gulp of his beer. Sam watched the tears glazing his older brother's eyes with growing dismay. The first question he needed an immediate answer to was, "Dean, how long have you been back?"

"A little over six months."

"Six months? Dude, why didn't you call me sooner?"

"Because I didn't want to," Dean said, meeting Sam's wide-eyed gaze. "I wanted to be alone with Allegra."

Even though he hadn't even thought about the redhead in months, Sam's heart still plummeted. "You've been with her all this time?"

"We've been living together in the house in Kansas, solving cases in nearby states. Kevin came to live with us four months ago, after being on the run from Crowley. Allegra'd been helping him out, but the douchebag of Hell reached out to make a deal with them. That's when... I made a mistake. And I ruined everything."

***

Two months ago

The last rays of sun tainted the sky above in a quaint vermillion, hues of coral clashing with the descending indigo of night. A shiver ran up Dean's spine as he clambered over a tree root, while Trixie gracefully jumped over it. Usually, taking a walk with the dog he'd come to consider his pet brought him some peace, but not tonight. There was too much at stake to consider this a relaxing stroll through the grove.
Dean neared the clearing that had been the center stage for his covert meetings. For his plotting. For his betrayal of both Allegra and Kevin. He'd told himself he was doing this for them because no good came from dealing with the likes of Crowley. But now that it was five to twelve, he was hit by a daunting reflection — what good had ever come from dealing with the angels?

"You came," greeted the crystal voice of his Cupid.

"I almost didn't," admitted Dean in all honesty, as he tied Trixie to her leash and to a low-hanging branch.

"Understandable." Amore shot him a sympathetic smile. "We've talked about this, though. You know it's the only way to save her. To save both of them."

"Do I?"

Dean realized that probably came out way coarser than he'd meant, but he couldn't help but voice his sentiment on this. After two months of looking for a way to stick it to Crowley, without it having any repercussions on Allegra and Kevin, he'd become desperate enough to reach out to the one person who'd seemingly always stood on their side. But Turiel hadn't shown up when Dean prayed to him a week ago. Nor the next day, nor the day after that. He'd almost given up, when on day four, Amore appeared.
At first, Dean had been reluctant to tell her anything, considering how Allegra had broken things off between her and the other angels, but the situation had grown dire enough for him to at least ask her advice. She was their Cupid, after all. She'd listened to his concerns and had asked for his permission to speak to another. Yesterday, she'd come down with said other.

He'd allowed Amore some leeway because she'd helped him reunite with Allegra, but the moment she appeared with Naomi, Dean had been ready to walk. All he knew about the current leader of the biggest faction within Team Heaven, he knew from Allegra. And she'd been bang on the money with her descriptions. Naomi was a stuck-up bitch with an attitude, easily recognized by the French twist in her dark-brown hair and her striped gray two-piece pantsuit, who knew just what to say to make someone second-guess everything.
Naomi had correctly guessed he didn't want to do this. But Allegra and Kevin's deal with Crowley was forcing his hand enough to even consider a temporary truce with the angels. Dean knew Allegra would kill him if she found out about this, but what choice did he have? It was either this or giving Crowley enough ammo to potentially trigger another Apocalypse. The Winchesters had worked too damn hard to give the demons a win.

"Where's Naomi?" asked Dean, eyes darting across the clearing in search of the angel.

"She needs to stay up top to trigger the device," explained Amore. "I'll act as a conduit to ensure it gathers enough energy."

The Cupid held out the small rectangular clay tablet, allowing Dean to grab hold of the other end. At that first touch, it lit up, and the Hunter instantly felt the awesome power hidden inside. Perhaps they had a chance after all.

"You're sure this little doohickey will work, right?"

Amore nodded in response, her gaze never leaving the tablet. "This was left behind by the original scribe of the tablets as a failsafe in case anyone attempted to misuse the Prophet and the Word of God."

"Left behind?" Dean furrowed his brow. "You mean he doesn't live in Heaven?"

"Last I heard, he was somewhere on Earth, though nobody knows where. The scribe doesn't quite stand equal to the Archangels, but he has a similar reserve of powers. He's hidden himself well, even from us."

"Sounds like a coward."

"Not everyone who lives incognito does so because they're afraid, Dean. Would you call Kevin a coward for all he did the past year?"

"Kevin doesn't have angelic powers or grace. He's human. Barely an adult. I don't blame him for running from Crowley, nor for hiding to keep his loved ones safe."

"Exactly. So why would you say the scribe is a coward when he and Kevin have done the same thing?"

Dean narrowed his eyes. "Who is he running from?"

Amore finally glanced up. There lay something sinister in her half-lidded expression, and for the second time in just ten minutes, Dean felt an icy shiver traveling down his spine. Every instinct in his body was urging him not to trust the angels, but his heart pleaded to give them a chance. For Allegra and Kevin. For the sake of the entire human race, even.
The tablet's white glow faded until all that remained was a warm aura. Somehow, it weighed heavier than before. Dean tucked it away in his jacket's inside pocket, hoping the heat radiating from the tablet would help against the cold permeating from inside him. He sighed and asked, "Okay, so I just gotta get it as close to the Demon Tablet as I can, right?"

"Yes, but not just once. It has to stay within a three-feet radius for it to work."

Great, groaned Dean inwardly. That means I gotta plant it on the kid somehow, 'cause neither me nor Allegra are allowed to stay with him while he does his translating.

"I'll find a way," he said. "Thank you."

"Of course. Oh, and Dean," Amore called out as he'd already started to walk away, "one last thing. I realize you'd rather not tell Allegra about any of this, but I urge you to do so. She's been through enough betrayal in her life, largely because of us, and it will destroy her if she learns what you've been doing behind her back. Don't break her trust in you again."

The Cupid disappeared with a flutter of her wings, leaving Dean alone in the clearing. He heard a growl and soft whimpering from Trixie, but the loud tattoo of his clashing heart and mind overpowered all other sounds. This was a mistake. He knew it with every fiber of his being. But for once, the end had to justify the means. If this was what it took to save the woman he loved and the kid... so be it.

***

"You were quiet at dinner tonight. Is something wrong?"

Dean glimpsed up, meeting Allegra's gaze in the mirror's reflection. She was leaning against the doorframe of the bathroom, fingers twirling with a lock of hair. The way she stood there, wearing her black PJ shorts and that fitting red shirt that detailed her peaked nipples, would've been enough to arouse Dean instantly. But both her concerned expression and voice kept him from fully feeling the effect of her enchantment.

"There's nothing," said Dean, as he dried his hands.

"You sure? You know you can talk to me, right?"

"Yeah, I know. But there's nothing. Really."

He turned around, lips turned up into a smile. Allegra's eyes narrowed at him. The most unnerving sensation washed over Dean then. His girlfriend had this way of reading him, like she was expecting a plot twist on the next page. He blamed himself for it. Cheating on Allegra with the Amazon over a year ago had instilled this natural suspicion in her.
Oh, hang on... Was that what was going on? Did she think he was cheating on her again? He had been going to the grove almost every night. Trixie had always been with him, though, so he had a valid excuse of walking the dog. Scratch that, it wasn't an excuse — he had been walking the dog. But from some books Allegra read or the movies she watched with Kevin sometimes, Dean knew people could go to extremes when going behind someone's back.

For a second, Dean considered prodding at Allegra's mind to take a peak, but he knew that would only make things worse. In the last months, Allegra had become better at closing off her thoughts for him, the same way he had often done to her. They'd both agreed to only throw communications open when they were apart or on a case, while respecting privacy in daily life. If she felt him poking at her mind, she'd never forgive him. But Dean couldn't allow Allegra to think he'd reverted to old habits. Yes, he was going behind her back, but not in the way she assumed. God, she was leaving him no choice. 

"Actually... there is something," he began. "I just don't really know how to do this."

"Okay." Allegra's body visibly tensed at his words. "Do you want to sit down? Or should I?"

"Sure," said Dean, not specifying one or the other.

They both walked to the bed, but Dean swerved to the nightstand at the last moment and pulled the drawer open. His heart drummed in his throat. He wiped his clammy hands on his shirt before taking out the little box, and then went to stand before Allegra. Her dark-brown eyes didn't have their usual bright golden flicker. Clearly, she was on edge. And her anxiety was only adding to his. Damn it, why was this so hard?

Come on, Winchester, man up!

"Alley," Dean sank to one knee and opened the box, "will you marry me?"