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It felt like we hadn't heard from Dean for a while so I thought we would start there ;)

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Dean

I didn't sleep much that night. I was too wired. The short nap I had when I was supposed to be doing research was just enough it made me restless. Instead of tossing and turning all night I poured myself a bourbon, opened Sammy's laptop and started looking for evidence of other psychic deaths across the country.

I didn't like the idea of waiting around for Clara, but I didn't have a better idea. So far all we knew for sure was that Yellow Eyes had killed a bunch of empaths and made a play for Erin. We had no idea if he would come back for her or move on to the next name on the list.

I scrubbed a hand over my face and threw back the last of my bourbon. I didn't have a clue how to keep Erin safe and it was bothering me more than I wanted to admit. Just sitting back and doing nothing like Clara said wasn't an option.

Sam and Bobby were up at dawn. Sam took the list I had assembled and started calling the morgues to see if we could still get in to see any of the vics. Most were older cases and the vics had already been planted but there were a couple we might get lucky on if some lazy coroner dragged their ass. It wasn't much, but if we could figure out how the empaths were dying we would be able to protect Erin that much better.

I made coffee and silently handed Bobby a mug.

"You sleep at all kid?" Bobby asked looking over the mountain of research I had stacked on the kitchen table.

I shook my head taking a sip of the warm liquid. "Naw, got us a list of names though."

Bobby moved over to the pad and flipped through the paper. "Like finding a needle in a stack of needles."

"It's not like the coroners labeled them 'potential psychics'. These were the ones that sounded like demon kills or fit the profile." I cleared my throat and took another sip of coffee. "Gotta do something man."

Bobby pressed his lips together and turned back to me. "Look, I wanna help Clara and the girl, I do, but we gotta accept at some point there isn't much we can do past playing defense."

I sighed tiredly and shook my head. He didn't get it. "I promised her I would get her out of this and she could go back to her normal life. I can't just sit around and wait for the asshole to take another shot at her. He's wrecked too many lives."

Bobby shot me the look he used when he thought I was being extra stupid. "You know you can't fix her. She is what she is, and yeah, we might be able to get rid of the demon target on her back but she will always be what she is."

I scowled at him. I didn't appreciate him talking down to me like I was an idiot. I understood exactly what she was and was not. "She isn't a monster Bobby," I said tightly.

Sometimes Bobby liked to act like he was my old man, normally I didn't mind, I had grown up with the guy and considered him family, but today it rubbed me the wrong way. It was probably just me being overtired, but I was feeling especially defensive when it came to Erin.

"No," Bobby said. "she's a psychic, and believe me. They are nothing but trouble."

I tightened my jaw.

"Know that from experience, love?" I asked sarcastically, doing my best impersonation of Clara's southern accent.

Bobby's face shut down into an angry scowl and I knew I had stepped over the line. I pinched my lips together and took a long drink of coffee. Bobby and I didn't talk about shit, not like this and I was getting real sick of feeling like he was trying to warn me off of Erin like I was still wet behind the ears.

I scowled at him. "She's just another job," I told him.

He nodded but didn't look like he believed me. Screw him, that was his problem. "See that you keep it that way."

About a dozen smart ass responses flashed through my brain before I came up with something that wouldn't lead to Bobby and I yelling at each other before we finished our morning coffee."I keep thinking about Jack you know? He was dads best friend, and he fought to protect her."

Bobby snorted and shook his head. "No he didn't. He hid her in a house out in the middle of nowhere Montana. I think it's time we accept he may have known something we didn't."

"Like what?" I asked.

"Like why every other psychic Yellow-Eyes got his hands on popped like a cork and she is still standing..." Bobby hesitated and I could tell he was trying not to have us get pissed before eight A.M. but he couldn't seem to help himself. "Just make sure you ain't being blinded by that pretty face on this one kid."

I snorted. "Come on Bobby, you know me."

Bobby's eyes were serious as he stared me down over the rim of his coffee mug. "Yeah, I do."

"Find anything?" Erin's tired voice called from behind us. I turned to face her. She looked exhausted still, dark circles under her eyes stood out against her pale skin. It made me wonder if she was sleeping well. Her dark hair was still a mess from sleep, curling around her face and she was still wearing her pajamas. I tried not to notice the line of skin between the edge of her tank top and the top of her shorts.

Sam closed his phone and stepped back into the room. "Two of the psychics bodies are still in the morgues. They are holding them pending the arrival of federal agents."

Erin perked up, her eyes widening. "The feds have picked up on this. Is that going to be a problem?"

Sam chuckled, stepping over to the coffee pot. "No, sorry. Uh, we're the feds who want to look at the bodies. It's just a convenient way of getting in to see a body. Most local PD won't question a fed wanting to investigate."

Erin frowned in disbelief. "And they just believe you?" She asked sarcastically.

"We can be pretty convincing," I said with a confident smile as I handed Erin a mug.

One of the phones on the wall in the kitchen rang. "Must not have been that convincing," Bobby muttered, stomping over and picking up the phone that was labeled 'Winchester'. "Deputy Director Johnson, here."

Erin watched in fascination as Bobby confirmed that two agents would be coming to look at a body in the morgue and that it was imperative to his investigation.

"So this is how you manage it all," she said with grudging respect.

Last night I had been a total douche about her powers. She was just getting the hang of using them and I had totally shut her down. I was pretty sure she was going to ignore me today, I certainly would have deserved it, but instead she leaned her hip against the counter next to me and took a sip of her coffee.

Bobby finished up and hung up the phone. "The coroner in St. Louis is a real piece of work. He'll only hold the body for twenty-four hours. If he doesn't see paper work before that, he's releasing it to the family for burial."

"Where's the other body?" Erin asked.

"Small town outside of Kansas City," Sam replied looking down at his list.

Erin finished her coffee. "Well, sounds like a busy day. I'll grab a shower."

By the time Clara called I was going stir crazy. Erin was doing her best to stay out of our way, quietly reading an old hunters journal in the den. She seemed fascinated to learn all she could about psychics. It would be shitty to have power like hers and never learning anything about it. I glanced guiltily towards Sam who was reading with her.

Bobby's phone rang and Erin turned toward it, a relieved look on her face. Looked like she was getting sick of waiting too.

"Hello," Bobby answered. He moved to his desk and quickly scribbled on a notepad. "Got it. Thanks...You sure? Well watch yourself." There was a pause and his eyes went to me before he looked back at the pad. "Will do." He snapped his phone shut and tore the page off the pad of paper. "I have the address. Clara's contacts told her if our little
theory is correct this kid will be the next stop."

I frowned at the look on Bobby's face. It wasn't like Bobby to worry. "What else did she say?"

Bobby face turned grim and Erin's head snapped towards him like he had said something. She was looking at him expectantly but it wasn't exactly the look she had when she was using her mojo.

"She said she thinks her clock is running out."

Erin frowned and took a step closer to Bobby like she wanted to console him. It made me wonder what she was picking up that Sammy and I were missing.

"She go into detail?" I asked.

Bobby shook his head. "Just said it was coming. She's good at what she does. She ain't likely to be wrong."

I didn't know what to say to make it better. There really wasn't much to say. "Wow," I said shaking my head. "That would really suck."

Erin shot me a disgruntled look and I shrugged helplessly. I wasn't good at this shit. She rolled her eyes and rested a comforting hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Where is Clara? Maybe we could go check on her."

"Just outside of Chicago."

I took the paper from Bobby's hand. "Brandon Michaels. Madison? It's what? Seven hours away? We can be there by dinner. It's only another couple hours to Chicago."

"We need to get to that body in St. Louis by tomorrow," Sam reminded me.

I nodded. "Okay, so Sammy and I will go after psychic boy and you two check out the body."

Everyone immediately started arguing with me all at once.

"What? That doesn't make sense," Sam said.

"Huh?" Erin's face was pinched up in confusion.

"Did you fall off the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down?" Bobby snarled.

"Dean," Erin said gently. I turned to face her because she was the least likely to jump down my throat. "No offense, but you both look like hunters. He is going to take one look at you and run."

"Not to mention I don't think Erin has a suit in that backpack and she doesn't have any fakes set up," Sam said.

I exhaled. I didn't like the idea of Bobby and Erin going after the psychic alone. Sam as usual seemed to know exactly what I was getting hung up on. "How about if I go with Bobby to the morgues and you and Erin head to Madison?"

I hated that he could see through me so easily so I forced a casual smirk on my face. "You get the stiffs and I get the girl?" I asked, winking at Erin. She rolled her eyes exasperatedly. "You got it Sammy."

I went to change and grab my stuff. Erin met me at the top of the stairs with her backpack slung over her shoulder. I hesitated a step when I saw her. Her hair was still damp from her shower and pulled back from her face in a messy pony tail. She wore a plain black t-shirt and skinny jeans that hugged her curves. Being in such close proximity wasn't helping me forget about that kiss.

"What?" She asked, a small smile stilling on her face when she caught me staring.

I ran a hand over the back of my neck and tried to act like I wasn't a seventh grader with a crush. "You sure about this? You can stay. I can go pick up one empath by myself."

She snorted. "You're not gonna get rid of me that easy," she teased.

"Let's go." I said holding a hand out for her to lead the way down the stairs.

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Erin

The drive across southern Minnesota and Wisconsin should have been incredibly boring. But I found the car ride with Dean soothing. He turned up the music and tapped out the rhythm on the steering wheel as he sang along under his breath. He had been reserved at Bobby's, almost wary, this morning but out here on the road he seemed more like himself.

I didn't allow myself to delve any deeper into his emotions beyond those on the surface, but if I didn't know better, I would have thought he expected me to be mad at him. I felt badly. He hadn't actually done anything wrong. I was the one who pushed, using what I learned of his emotions with my powers rather than what he gave up willingly. It wasn't fair, and I felt guilty. I tangled my hands together in my lap as I stared out the window.

After a few long miles he leaned forward and turned down the music. "All right, spill," he ordered.

I looked up at him in surprise.

"Come on," he encouraged. "I don't have super powers. You have to pretend I'm like every other idiot who has no clue what a pretty girl is thinking."

I couldn't help smiling, I looked down at my hands as a blush crept up my neck. It felt silly and girly to be pleased he thought I was pretty. I had known he was attracted to me, but having him say it out loud willingly was different.

"There it is," Dean said, sounding entirely too pleased with himself.

I shot a scowl his way, he could be so cocky. He threw his head back and laughed and it was impossible for me to keep a straight face. We laughed together and I shook my head. Dean constantly surprised me. Without using my powers it was impossible to guess what he was going to do or say next.

"I'm sorry," I said suddenly, peaking up at him from under my lashes. I realized belatedly he wouldn't have followed my train of thought. He didn't take his eyes off the road, but his brows pulled down in confusion.

I drew my legs up under me. "When I lived with Jack he made it clear I shouldn't use my powers. He considered it an invasion of privacy, and I respected that. I've sort of let them run rampant the last few days and I feel like I owe you an apology."

Dean cleared his throat uncomfortably, "Didn't we already do this last night? I told you, no big deal."

"Don't believe me?" He asked raising his eyebrows. "Thought you could feel a lie."

I snorted humorlessly. "I haven't used them since last night. I've kept them as locked away as I can."

He raised eyebrows in surprise. "'As you can?' What does that mean?"

"It means there will always be a certain amount of emotions that get through, especially when I'm close to someone. Like when Bobby heard about Clara, and when we were laughing...but I haven't done it on purpose. And I won't," I promised quickly.

I couldn't help feeling like I had made a mess of this thing that had been growing between us. I liked Dean,  but it was obvious my powers made him uncomfortable. I couldn't say I blamed him, they made everyone uncomfortable. I just needed to be better at controlling them.

"Look, they are part of you. Like I said last night, they are literally one of your senses. It's not like you're a pyro lighting shit on fire, or reading people's minds and using it to steal from them or something. They can just be a little-"

"Intrusive," I filled in bitterly.

"Surprising," he added casting a look towards me. "...but damn useful from time to time."

I nodded, but his words didn't reassure me. I was different, always had been, and no matter how hard I tried it was impossible to hide. The last few days had been the most freeing of my life. For the first time feeling like I didn't need to hide who I was, but I needed to figure out how to balance it.

"So what was it?" Dean asked out of the blue.

"What?" I asked, not following his line of thought.

"Last night, Clara said to trust yourself more and that you made the right decision. What was the decision?"

I worried my lip between my teeth as I debated whether or not to fess up to it. It felt incredibly personal. And yet, looking at Dean part of me wanted him to understand how difficult the decision to trust him had been. I felt like I had such insight into him, but I hadn't returned the favor. His emotions were an open book for me to read, but I was terrified of making myself vulnerable. It wasn't fair.

"She meant my decision to trust a hunter...specifically, to trust you," my voice sounded smaller than I wanted and I gripped my hands into fists.

Dean glanced towards me. His surprise was so profound I felt it enough though I was shielding. I was holding my breath as I waited for his reaction. More emotions than I could follow played across his face and I wanted to drop the wall between us more than anything, just for a second to know.

He glanced at me out of the corner of his eye. "Are you shielding right now?"

I nodded.

He pressed his lips together determinedly and reached across the seat towards me. He closed his large hand over the top of mine and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You can trust me, and I'm glad you did."

It was the absolute truth.

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Dean

I had been to Madison a handful of times on jobs. The address was for a small apartment building on the edge of the industrial side of town. It was a rough section of town. Seemed Erin was right about being an empath not paying well. I parked the car and we got out. Erin stood on the sidewalk staring up at the building. Her face was screwed up in concentration.

"Beckett," I called getting her attention, she flinched and looked towards me as though she were surprised to find me standing there.

I held out a shot gun. It wouldn't take down a demon, but it had the most stopping power of everything we had. She took the gun from me, checked the chamber and pumped it. I had no doubt Jack had made sure she was trained, and the way she handled the gun made it clear she didn't need me to tell her what to do.

"You getting anything?" I asked. I reached into the trunk and pulled out a flask of holy water, holding it out to her. She took it, sliding it into her back pocket as she frowned up at the dark windows.

Her face twisted up as she focused on using her mojo. "Fear," She said in a low voice. She frowned. "A lot of fear." She shivered and her eyes ran up and down the dark street.

I didn't like this one bit. We were supposed to just be checking up on the kid, not going head to head against Yellow Eyes, but we were here now and I couldn't just leave Erin in the car. She was safest when I could keep my eyes on her.

I went in first. We jogged up the stairs to the second floor apartment. There was a shout and I grabbed the door handle but it was locked. I had my lock pick but not enough time to use it. Instead I kicked the door open. The smell of sulfur was overpowering. Erin staggered beside me gagging on it.

Two demons stood in the middle of the crappy apartment holding a guy up between them. Their black eyes locked on me. "Winchester," one of them snarled.

I took a step into the room and they flung the guy away from them. He hit the ground at my feet. Erin ran forward, the shotgun tucked into her shoulder as she covered him.

One of them snapped their head towards Erin, cocking it to the side. "Erin Beckett," it rasped.

"Shit," I muttered. Before I could take another step both demons flung their heads back and baled. Their black smoke disappeared out a vent. The two bodies collapsed, either unconscious or dead.

"Who the hell are you?!" the guy yelled. He looked down at the bodies on the floor. "Who the hell are they?!" He whirled back to us. "What the hell is going on?!" He looked like a typical frat douche, complete with popped collar and blonde tipped hair.

Erin lowered the shotgun, setting it aside so she could hold her hands up for him to see. Like she needed any help looking non-threatening. "It's okay," she promised him. She crouched down beside him like he was a wounded animal. "You're okay. We're here to help you."

He looked back and forth between us fearfully. "What did those assholes want?" he asked, turning away from me towards Erin.

The lights overhead started flickering and the radio went to static.

Erin turned to me, her eyes widening in fear. I took a half a step towards her. "Lets get the hell out of here!" I called. I grabbed Erin's arm pulling her towards the door. "You coming?" I hollered over my shoulder to Brandon. At this point I didn't give two shits if he came with us or not. I needed to get Erin out of here before the demons showed back up.

We got him down to the car and he looked back and forth between us. "Where are we going?"

The wind kicked up and the glass blew out of the apartment windows, raining down on the dark street.

"Anywhere but here," I snapped, moving towards the driver's door.

Erin glanced from me to him and stuck her hand out to him. "Hi, I'm Erin."

"Brandon." He shook her hand and her face went blank for a second before she pulled her hand back.

Goddamnit she had done it on purpose, using her power to make sure he was okay. "Beckett, we okay?" I asked suspiciously.

She nodded a few too many times as she worked to pull herself back. She turned to catch my eye. "Yeah, all good."

"All right let's load up," they climbed into the car and I put the car in gear. The tires squealed as I pulled out of the lot.

Erin turned in her seat to look at Brandon. "Are you okay?" she asked. "Did they hurt you?"

I looked in the rearview mirror to see him shake his head. "N-no, I'm okay," he stammered.

"You were lucky," she said and she smiled warmly at him.

I scowled. 

I pulled out my cell. It was a little under three hours to Clara's place. I got on the interstate as she picked up.

"Clara," I greeted.

"Winchester," she snapped. "I was hoping it was your far more charming brother."

"Sorry to disappoint," I said sardonically. "I got your psychic. We're a couple hours out. Think you'll be able to hang on that long?"

There was a brief pause and I couldn't help thinking she was using her mojo. "I'll leave the light on."

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