CHAPTER THIRTEEN

There's a knock at the motel room door, and Nyx goes to answer it — she sees a man standing there. "Oh, you must be Travis." She says after a moment of confusion. "Sam said that you might show up before they got back."

"You must be Nycole — Dean's girl, right?"

"That'd be me." She nods, a small smile playing at her lips. "Come on in."

"You've got friends. And little ones." He says as Alex runs past him.

"No escape." Nyx says as she picks him up before he can run out the door.

"Out!" The toddler yells.

"Tomorrow, you little terror." She closes the door. "Travis, this is Alex and that's his sister, Everly — they're mine and Dean's little rugrats. And those are my friends, Jess and Vicki." She introduces them.

"You're the hunter Sam was telling us about." Jess says as she shakes his hand.

"Hey, Vic, can you take the twins into yours and Jess' room? I don't want them in here if the boys are gonna be talking about the case." Nyx asks, and she nods. "I'll be in as soon as they're back."

"Yeah, no problem." Vicki says as she picks up Everly and then Jess takes Alex. She goes with Vicki to help her get the toddlers to the room.

Nyx gets Travis a beer, and they talk for a little bit before the door opens again, and the boys walk in. "Travis." Dean smiles. "See, Sam. Told you we should've hid the beer."

"Shut up, your girl offered." Travis says with a smile as he stands up. "Get over here!" He then hugs the boys.

They do their greeting while Nyx leans against the counter. She looks down as she waits for them to finish.

"It's been too long, boys. I mean, look at you — grown men." Travis lightly smacks Dean's arm as he smiles at him. "And you're a father now. With a beautiful, young girlfriend. Cute kids too."

"Yeah. Yeah, they're great." He walks over to her and wraps his arm around her. "She's not too bad either." He says, and she forces a smile. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Nyx nods. "But I told Vic that I'd watch the kids after you guys got here. So, I'm gonna head over to their room."

"Hey." He catches her arm before she can walk away. "I do something wrong?"

"Uh-oh. Looks like someone's in the doghouse." Travis says, and Nyx shakes her head.

"No. No doghouse. It's just been a long few days, that's all." She says. "Let me know if I need to put the twins to bed in the girls' room." Nyx tells Dean and then walks out of the room.

Dean looks at his brother. "When did I piss her off, and why don't I remember?" He asks.

"I don't know, man." Sam shakes his head.

The next night, Dean goes to the girls' room to talk to Nyx. It's pretty obvious that she doesn't want to talk to him, but he's determined.

"What the hell did I do?" He questions.

"You mean besides vanishing in the middle of the night?" She asks. "And you still haven't told me why, by the way."

"It's complicated." He says, and she nods.

"Right. So, I guess that's the only answer that I'm gonna get on why I saw you punch Sam twice before Travis called." She says, and he stammers over what to say next. "I forgot my jacket in the room and went back for it, but right when I started to open the door, I saw you hit him. And then again."

"How much did you hear?" He asks.

"Do you even realize how far off the reservation you've gone? How far from normal? From human?" Her voice cracks over the last word. "That one hurt me, so I can't even imagine how that must've felt to your brother. So, yeah, Dean, I'm a little pissed."

"You don't know the whole story."

"No, actually, I do." She says. "Because unlike you, Sam actually talks to me. I know all about the demon blood, and about Ruby, and his ability. I know that you've been talking to an angel named Castiel, and that he's the one who pulled you from hell. Sam told us everything." She tells him, and he looks at the other two girls.

"Look, I admit that I should've talked to you." He sighs. "But come on, you know me."

"I know what I heard you say next." She tells him. "If I didn't know you, I would want to hunt you." She says, and he looks down. "I was a vampire, Dean, and nobody outside of you, Sam, and Bobby would've looked the other way because I hadn't hurt anyone. I mean, look at Connor and Tripp." She shakes her head. "Most of my friends are still vampires, Elena is a vampire. So, what you said... And seeing you look at him the way you looked at me after I first turned... I just need some time, alright? Focus on working things out with Sam." She tells him and then walks over to the twins.

Dean clenches his teeth and then walks out of the girls' room, slamming the door shut behind him. Nyx jumps slightly, and the other two girls look at each other.

The boys finished the case that they were working, it was something called a Rugaru, and Nyx didn't want the details. Sam started to fill her in, but it sounded like the guy they were hunting started off pretty decent, and what happened wasn't really his fault.

Travis died, and they took care of that before ditching town. Pretty quickly after that, Dean found a new case in Pennsylvania. So, now they're in the middle of Oktoberfest, and the girls are actually a little excited about the festival. They think it'll be fun.

"So, what are we gonna do for their birthday?" Jess asks as she looks at the twins across from her.

They're sitting in one side of the booth with Nyx, both of them coloring separately. The restaurant that they're in gave them those kids menus that comes with a few crayons.

"Something at whatever motel we're at. I'll work it out a little more when I know where we'll be." Nyx says, and then Sam walks over and sits down next to her.

"Dean thinks he's a virgin." He tells them, and the three girls start laughing.

"Well, I can give you two reasons I know he's not." She says as Everly turns to her. "Aw, my example number one." She smiles when her daughter wraps her arms around her neck and starts kissing her cheek.

"He says he's been re-hymenated." He explains. "That he has none of his old scars from before he went to hell, so he thinks that means his virginity is intact too."

"Yeah, well, your brother's also a little bit of an idiot." She says as she hugs Everly.

"Yeah, I know. He's flirting with the waitress to try and make you jealous."

"Alex, don't color on the table." Nyx says as she swats at his hand.

"Come here, princess." Sam says as he reaches for Everly, she's trying to climb over her mom.

"Alex!" She takes the crayon from him, and he looks at her, narrowing his green eyes. "I said no coloring on the table."

"Bad Mommy." He says as he tries to take the crayon back from her.

"No." She moves it away from him and then taps on the paper in front of him. "You can color on the page. Only on the paper. Do you understand me?"

"Mine." Dean walks over to the back of the booth and picks up Alex. He takes him and then walks out of the restaurant.

"Sam." Nyx looks at him. "I'm gonna kill your brother." She says, and he nods.

—

"Wait... So, you've got a Dracula, a Wolf Man, and a mummy?" Nyx questions, and Sam nods.

"At first we were thinking the vampire could've been like..." He motions between her and Vicki, and she nods. "Because the bite on the neck was just two puncture marks. We figured our vamp was just a little wacko with the whole get-up, but now..."

"Yeah, monsters don't typically tag-team, and even if they did... There's no Wolf Man, and the mummy? I-I don't get it." She shakes her head.

Sam's phone rings, and he answers it when he sees his brother's caller ID. Dean is apparently on a date and he was attacked by Dracula. And he's being very specific about leaving Nyx at the motel with the kids. So, Sam very reluctantly takes Jessica.

Nyx's phone rings a little over a couple hours later, and it's Jess calling to tell her that Dean's been kidnapped by a shapeshifter — a skinwalker. So, Nyx grabs a silver knife, a gun, and some silver bullets, then leaves the twins with Vicki. She goes to meet Sam and Jessica.

They end up at a house, and Sam picks the lock. The three of them make their way inside, careful not to make too much noise.

"This way." Nyx leads the way down to some weird dungeon, and they find Dean strapped to some huge, wooden table.

"Dude, I told you not to call her." Dean says as he looks at his brother.

"I didn't. Jess did."

"Yeah, because you're both idiots." The blonde tells the brothers.

Nyx grabs a piece of metal and quickly lets Dean out of his restraints. "It's a skinwalker, go home." Dean tells her, and she looks at him.

"Shut up." Nyx says and then walks away from him. "So, you're on a date, huh? I guess that means we're broken up."

"Aren't we?"

"Well, we weren't. We just had a fight, you idiot. People in relationships tend to do that from time to time." She shakes her head at him. "But​ you know what, you have fun on your date after we save her. And I'll go back to the twins, because, yeah, now we're broken up. Have fun losing your virginity, Casanova."

Sam shakes his head and then leads the way down a long hall. They all follow after him, guns drawn. Sam's the first one through the next door, and then someone grabs him and throws him through a wall.

"You will never be Van Helsing!" A man yells in a Hungarian accent and then he starts beating the crap out of Dean. "And you, Harker, now you die." He says, but Nyx rushes over and stabs him in the side.

The shifter screams as the silver hurts it, and she kicks the back of his knee, causing it to buckle underneath him. He goes down, and Jess shoots him twice in the chest.

"Skinwalker — silver to the heart." The blonde says, and Nyx chuckles as she looks at her.

"Alright, you win." Nyx nods, but her smile disappears when she sees the other blonde girl waking up on the bed. "And that's my cue to leave. Come on, if I don't get Vic's truck back soon, she'll probably kill me."

"Yeah." Jess nods, and then the two girls walk out together. Dean sighs as he watches her leave.

—

"No, Alex." Nyx grabs his hand. "Don't touch the fire. Blow it out. Blow out the candle."

"Like Daddy." He says as he reaches for the candle again.

"Not like Daddy." She chuckles as she holds his hands at his sides. "I know Daddy's like a super hero, but you're gonna hurt yourself. Blow out the candles like I showed you. Like this." She blows on the side of his face, and he laughs as he looks at her.

"No, Mommy."

"Well, the candles are gonna melt at this rate." Dean says beside her. He has Everly in his lap, and she's facing him with her head on his shoulder, she's not in a good mood.

"It's not my fault that you decided to show him that you could pinch the flame to make it go out." She says, and he smirks as he looks at her and their son. "I know, do you wanna blow out the candles with Daddy?"

"Yes!" Alex yells, and Everly makes a grunting nose, causing them all to laugh.

Dean and Alex blow out the two candles, and then Nyx smiles. "Hey, Alex. You wanna see me make Aunt Caroline mad?" She whispers, and he nods.

Nyx puts her finger on the cake and gets a little bit of frosting, then she wipes it on her son's nose. "Hey!" He yells, and she laughs. "Bad Mommy!"

"That's right, bad Mommy." Caroline says as she walks over and takes the cake from them.

"Take it off your nose and eat it, silly." Nyx tells him and then sticks her tongue out at her blonde friend.

"Come here, bud. Let's see if Caroline will cut us a big slice." Jeremy says as he walks over and takes the toddler.

"You're sharing with him?" Nyx asks her brother, and he nods.

"How's she doing?" Dean asks, and Nyx turns back to him and Everly. "She's not getting sick, is she?"

She reaches over and touches the toddler's forehead. The little one makes a noise and then buries her face in Dean's chest. Nyx smiles as she shakes her head.

"No, she's just grumpy." She tells him. "They don't call it the terrible twos for nothing. I think she just needs a nap."

"I'll take her into mine and Sam's room."

"Don't you want to hang out in here?"

"I'm okay." He nods. "But maybe bring me some cake." He says, and she smiles.

"Yeah, you got it." She nods, and he takes the sleepy toddler into the other room.

"Trouble in paradise?" Damon asks as he sits down next to her, taking Dean's place. "I may have overheard a conversation on the drive over here."

"Well, nosey, Dean and I are...taking a break." She tells him.

"Why? Is he stupid?"

"No, but you are." She says and then starts to stand up.

"Hey. Four months of solitude — best friends, remember?" He makes her sit back down. "Talk to me."

"Damon, I'm not discussing my love life with you." She tells him.

"Why not?"

"Out of respect for him."

"Wha— Actually, yeah." He nods. "Fair enough." Damon agrees, and she gets up to walk over to Caroline.

"Do I need to kick his ass?" Ric asks when she walks over to where they're serving the cake.

"Who, Damon?" She shrugs. "Probably."

"Hey!" Damon yells.

"I meant Dean." Ric tells her, and she sighs.

"I know." She shakes her head. "No, it'll be fine. We're just going through a bit of a...a rough patch. Don't worry about me. Care, can I get a piece of cake to take over to him?"

"Yeah." The blonde cuts her a big slice, and she takes it to the boys' room.

"Hey. I was starting to wonder if you were actually gonna come over here." Dean says as she closes the door behind her.

"Yeah, Damon came to talk to me. He likes to harass me and Jess now, calling us his best friends." She tells him, and he nods​ as she hands him the slice of cake. "Which is definitely a step up from his last best friend, who I generally want to stab with a sharp stick."

"That's Enzo, right?" He asks, and she nods, now sitting on Sam's bed. "Look, I want to apologize for everything."

"Sam already explained a lot of it." She tells him. "You weren't excluding me from the last hunt because of the pretty blonde, but because of the skinwalker. Which I understand that that's still a sore spot for you, but that still kind of annoys me too, if I'm being completely honest with you here. Especially paired with why you didn't tell me about the angel."

"I was just trying to protect you."

"And I appreciate that, but that's part of the problem here, Dean. You are so focused on trying to protect me, that it's like you forget that I am capable of taking care of myself. I get that I died, and it was hell for you. It wasn't fun for me either." She tells him.

"Living without you was the hardest thing that I ever had to do." He says, and she scoffs as she looks down. "What?"

"You think it was hard here? Imagine what it was like for me over there. I could see you and I could talk to you, but you couldn't see me. You couldn't hear me. And I could touch you...but you couldn't feel me. You had no idea that I was standing right next to you. You had no idea that I was hurting. What do you think that's like? To watch everyone else move on with their lives? To be nothing more than a memory to the people that I grew up with, the people that I've loved my whole life? To be nothing more than a story to my children, a picture that you kept tucked in your jacket pocket?" She shakes her head with tears in her eyes. "It wasn't easy for me either, and I didn't come back from the dead just to be coddled. You're supposed to trust me, Dean, but you clearly don't. And that hurts more than anything."

"What do you mean I don't trust you?" He questions as she stands up.

"You didn't want me on that last case because you were afraid that I'd get hurt again. And if you think that the same thing is gonna happen as what happened to me three years ago, you can't possibly trust me as a hunter." She says. "You get hurt all the time, and you died too. But I don't ask you not to hunt because I know that you're more than capable of taking care of yourself."

"That's not fair."

"No, what's not fair is you making me feel like crap about myself. Because I trust your judgement more than anyone else's, and if you don't want me hunting — the person who trained me to be a hunter... What's that supposed to say about my capabilities?" She shakes her head. "You know, I used to like that you still see the girl that you were training that summer, but now I see that it's not sweet. It's what's holding us back. Because she needed to be protected, but I don't. And you can't see that because you see me past her."

"You're right." He nods. "Maybe it is better if we take a step back...as a couple, at least for right now." He says, and she nods.

"I love you, Dean, and I don't see a point where that's ever gonna change." She tells him. "But right now, we're not good together. We need to work on being better apart so that we can actually have a successful relationship in the future." She says, and he just nods in agreement.