Hello all! Here is the next update! I hope you enjoy it!

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Dean

I waited while Erin showered and got dressed. We tossed our gear in the car and checked out, then the two of us walked across the street together towards the small diner. I was starving.

I opened the door of the diner and put a hand on her low back, encouraging her to step ahead of me. She didn't tense when I touched her and I tried not to be too pleased about that. As usual Sammy and Bobby had horrible timing. All I wanted to do was drag Erin back to that hotel room and finish what we started, but there was work to be done.

I quickly scanned the room. Now that we were outside of the lines of salt it wouldn't be hard for the demons to find her if they wanted. I needed to get my head back in the game and pay attention. My dad woulda slapped me upside the head for all the careless mistakes I'd made lately. Erin spotted Sam and Bobby sitting in the back corner, and made her way over to their table with a warm smile. Jack may have trained her, but there was something soft about her still. Something that made me feel like I needed to protect her. I guided Erin to the chair in the corner so no one would accidentally touch her.

I picked up the menu and the waitress appeared. She hesitated for a moment when she saw me and a slow, flirty smile spread across her face. "What can I get you?" She asked. She was hot too, with too much make up and a uniform just a little too tight. Normally she would have been exactly my type; easy.

I glanced towards Erin guiltily, but she must have turned her radar off because she just ordered a cup of coffee with a friendly smile. I did the same.

"I'll have that right up," the waitress said with a wink.

I normally wouldn't have let that kind of opportunity slip by but I looked back towards Erin. She was something special. There was something there and I didn't want to screw it up, but I really had no clue how to not screw up. It was sort of my specialty. But instead of looking annoyed or jealous about the waitress like any other girl, she was studying her menu a small wrinkle of concentration between her eyes. I frowned a little, wondering if it was possible she had somehow missed the obvious flirting.

I turned to find Sammy looking at me with his eyebrows raised. I shot him a warning look and he snorted looking like this was about the funniest thing he had ever seen. He leaned back in his chair, stretching his legs out. He and Bobby must have driven straight through from St. Louis. They both looked exhausted.

"So what did you find?" I asked gruffly.

Erin peaked over the top of her menu. She must not have been using her mojo because she looked surprised by my tone. She looked back and forth between my brother and I an adorable expression on her face before she slowly raised it up again hiding her face. I smirked, shaking my head.

The waitress came back and leaned against my arm as she set my coffee down. "Are you ready to order?" She asked pouting her red lips.

"Beckett?" I asked turning to Erin.

Erin smiled politely at the waitress. "I'll take the Early Bird special please with bacon."

The waitress wrote down the order without acknowledging her presence and turned her full attention to me. She rested her hand on the back of my chair the backs of her fingers grazing my shoulders. "And for you?"

"Short stack, side of bacon," I said handing her the menu with a friendly smile. There was no reason to make her feel bad, there was nothing wrong with flirting.

She glided her fingers over mine as she took it. "You got it," she said with a seductive smile.

I turned back to the table and Sam was rolling his eyes. "You done?" Bobby asked sharply.

"What?" I asked defensively. "I didn't-" I stammered, but Bobby had already waved me off.

Erin leaned forward in her chair. "What did you guys find?" She asked.

Bobby turned to her. "The stiff in St Louis was definitely a psychic and it looks like the same MO as the others."

Erin pressed her lips together thoughtfully. "Same blood?"

"Eyes, nose and ears," Bobby said with a nod. "Coroner didn't quite know what to make of it beyond saying there was massive Cerebral hemorrhaging."

Sam took a bite of his sandwich. "He said it looked like sinuses, ears drums and tear ducts all ruptured under massive pressure. Capillaries and blood vessels also burst. But nothing accounts for what would have caused it."

"The demon," Erin replied in a low tone. She shivered and crossed her arms over her chest.

The waitress brought us our food. She dropped Erin's in front of her with a clatter and leaned into me. "If you need anything else," she said, her voice dropping an octave. "Anything at all, my name is Amy."

Sam leaned forward. "Thanks Amy, but we're good."

The waitress shot him a miffed look but walked away.

"So, what happened with Clara?" Bobby demanded.

Erin's eyes dropped to her plate and her shoulders hunched forward. She was still blaming herself for the shit that prick did. Her hands trembled slightly as she cut into her eggs.

"She sent us to get that kid and we all got played," I said like it was all that simple.

"You wanna explain to me how some half-bit empath not even as strong as our girl here got the best of you and somehow Clara ended up dead?" Bobby demanded. There was some history there with Bobby and Clara I just wasn't sure what it was, but it had Bobby edgier than normal. I blamed myself, Clara was Bobby's friend and he trusted me with her. I failed him.

Erin's chin jerked in my direction but I didn't react. If she decided to eavesdrop that was her choice, I wasn't going to apologize for it. "He made a deal," I said taking a sip of coffee.

"With the demons?" Sam asked in disbelief.

"He wanted power, they wanted Beckett."

"I'm sorry about Clara, Bobby," Erin said suddenly. My eyes flickered over to her, she was for sure using her powers now. Her face was pale and her eyes were pleading as she stared at his face with a strange intensity. It pissed me off to no end to know she was torturing herself over this and tapping into my and Bobby's emotions was just going to make it worse.

Bobby looked back and forth between us. "It's not your fault," he said simply.

Erin nodded a few too many times but she didn't look like she believed him. She sniffled once, pushed her plate away, and dropped her napkin on the untouched food. "Excuse me, I need to use the bathroom," she said and she pushed away from the table.

I watched as Erin made her way through the crowded restaurant towards the bathroom. Part of me felt like I should go after her, but I didn't know what to say. I was terrible at this crap. I'd probably just end up making her feel worse. I scrubbed a tired hand over my eyes and when I dropped it Bobby and Sam were watching me.

Bobby took a sip of his coffee, his sharp eyes watching me over the rim. "You wanna tell me what in the hell happened?"

I sighed. "Piece of shit sold us out. He knew he wasn't strong enough for whatever Yellow Eyes had planned so he made a deal with the demons to lure Beckett out into the open. Worked too."

"Skinny little shit like him got the drop on a hunter, an empath and the best damn psychic in the Midwest? May she rest in piece." Bobby added. Now that he was good and pissed off he didn't seem so broken up about Clara's death.

I nodded and scrubbed a hand over my face.

"How?" Sam asked. "At the very least Erin should have felt his betrayal."

"That's what Beckett keeps saying. But they gave him all kinds of super psychic power. Neither Beckett or Clara sensed a thing. He threw me across the room with his mind. Then he did something to her..." I tightened my jaw and closed my hands into fists as I thought about that assholes hands on her.

Sam glanced worriedly at me. "What did he do?" he asked cautiously.

I glanced back towards the bathroom to make sure she wasn't back yet. "He put thoughts into her head. Said really powerful empaths could do that. He made her..." I dragged off tightening my jaw as rage burned through me. I didn't want to even think about the way he had made her look at him. How complacent she had become to anything he wanted. I wished I could kill him again.

Sam frowned thoughtfully. "I've never heard of something like that," he said quickly focusing the conversation away from my anger. My baby brother knew me all too well.

"Me either," I agreed scrubbing at my face. "This bastard was bad news. I shoulda known."

"Is Erin okay?" Sam asked glancing back towards the bathrooms.

I shrugged. "I don't know," I said honestly. "She stopped him before..." I took a long swig of hot coffee and wished it was whiskey. "...before anything else happened, she put a knife in his back."

"She killed him?" Sam asked in disbelief, turning towards the bathroom, like he wanted to go check on Beckett too.

"No," I said with a shake of my head. "She got away from his mind control thing, and stabbed him when he was about to kill me. She's strong," I said appreciatively. "I pulled the trigger."

"Good," Bobby said with a nod and I could tell neither he or Sam thought Beckett would have been able to do it. I wasn't so sure. She was sweet and sensitive but there was a strength to her below all that and I didn't think she would break as easily as they thought.

"So you haven't talked about it?" Sam pushed.

I shot him a look of disbelief. "I don't know how to ask her about it. I'm crappy at this kind a thing, you're the one who talks about feelings and shit."

Sam snorted and looked like he was about to argue, but eventually just nodded, probably decided it wasn't worth the effort to fight about it.

Bobby cleared his throat. "Right, well belly aching and point'in fingers isn't going to help. We still got another stiff to look at and she needs another set of hex bags before that Yellow-Eyed bastard finds her."

I blew out a frustrated sigh. "Right, Nodak here we come." I muttered and turned to Sam. "How much cash you got?"

"Why?" he asked suspiciously.

"Because I'm low."

Sam pulled out his wallet and frowned. "Not enough for that witch."

"Shit," I muttered. "All right, I'll deal with it. You guys head down to Kansas City and Erin and I will get the hex bags. We'll meet back up at your place?" I asked turning to Bobby.

"Sounds like a plan," Bobby agreed.

I heard the bathroom door open and close and I turned to watch as Erin moved back towards us. She paused as a family piled out of their booth, waiting instead of risking touching one of them.

"So..." Sam started to say.

"What?" I asked pulling my gaze away from Beckett.

"Are you two like-" he dragged off, glancing meaningfully in her direction.

"Shut up," I snapped throwing my balled up napkin at his head.

"I mean you're really...attentive," he said carefully.

Bobby coughed over a laugh and I scowled at the two of them.

"I'll pay." I snapped and I grabbed the bill off the table and made my way to the register.

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Erin

I followed Sam and Bobby out of the diner while Dean settled the tab. I had mostly closed off my abilities but I could feel the low hum of exhaustion coming off the two of them. They must have driven through the night to get to us. I glanced at Bobby's beat up Camero and down at Sam's long legs. It couldn't have been the easiest road trip for them.

"I really am sorry about Clara, Bobby," I said in a low voice.

Bobby glanced back towards me and I felt a slice of pain run through him. They may have come because Dean called, but Bobby cared more than the boys knew for Clara.

"I'm sorry that I brought my troubles to her door," I continued. It was hard to say the words, but I felt like it would be doing Bobby a disservice to not at the very least acknowledge that it was my fault Clara was gone.

Bobby cleared his throat uncomfortably but it was Sam who spoke. "None of this is your fault Erin," he said gently. His eyes got that wide, soft puppy dog look to them as he implored me to believe him.

"Clara was always going to help the psychics this asshole is going after," Bobby said a little gruffly. I could feel the blame hanging in the air around us, but I didn't know who he blamed.

I glanced over my shoulder to the diner. Dean blamed himself, I knew that. The soul deep guilt, blame and self-loathing he felt when he told Bobby about Clara made something in my own chest hurt.

We stopped near the cars. Bobby shoved his hands into his pockets. I had made him uncomfortable again. I quickly reviewed everything I had said, but none of it had anything to do with my abilities. Sometimes I just couldn't win. I was about to apologize again and instead just decided to keep it to myself. Bobby was cut from the same cloth as Jack, and Jack wouldn't have appreciated me talking about his feelings if he lost someone he cared about.

"Sam and I will continue on to Kansas City while you and Dean get new hex bags," Bobby explained, clearly changing the subject.

I nodded. "I know Dean's feeling really guilty, are you sure it's not better for him and Sam to go to the coroners?"

"Guilty?" Bobby asked in disbelief. "That boy?" he snorted. "Sister you don't-"

"Empath," Sam interrupted quickly. He turned to look back down at me with interest. "Do you think that would make him feel better?" he asked curiously.

I thought for a moment and shook my head. "The protective vibes I'm getting, I doubt he's going to want me out of his sight."

Sam nodded. "That's what I thought too," he agreed.

Bobby was looking back and forth between us. "An empath," he said with a shake of his head. He turned to look at me suspiciously. "What in the hell would an empath want with Dean of all people?"

"What do you mean?" I asked innocently. I could feel exactly what he meant, but I was curious if he would actually say it.

"Bobby!" Sam exclaimed, outraged.

"What?" Bobby asked defensively. "Do you want to know what Dean is feeling all the time?" Bobby asked, turning to Sam. 

Sam shuddered as though he had never considered it. "Not for all the money in the world," he confessed.

I followed their gaze to see Dean leaning against the counter next to the register. The waitress was running her eyes greedily over him and I could practically feel her lust from here. Dean flashed her his most charming smile and continued flirting with her. He was still close enough for me to feel his amusement, confidence and that he was flattered by her attention. None of it was serious. Instead he flashed her a smile and made sure she wasn't embarrassed for her aggressive flirting.

"Trapped in Dean's head," Sam shook his head again.

"I can't read minds," I said for probably the hundredth time. I tilted my head to the side as I watched Dean slide his money into his pocket and leave the diner. "But have either of you considered the fact that I can feel when he's lying? When he's being sincere? I can feel everything."

They both stopped and stared at one another. I could feel that they hadn't. Surprise and shock was quickly followed by patient consideration from Sam and a begrudging admiration from Bobby.

"Hey," Dean said walking up to us. "What's up?"

Sam cleared his throat and looked away as his guilt washed over me. "Nothing," he said quickly.

Dean stepped up next to me and surprised me when he rested his hand against my low back. I pulled my walls back up so I didn't have to feel anyone else. I could feel the warmth from his hand through my thin t-shirt. I wanted to lean into him, but it felt too personal in front of Bobby and Sam. His palm widened across my back as though he knew what I was thinking. His fingers found the edge of my shirt and the very tips of his fingers touched my skin. I shivered, but forced my face to remain impassive in front of the others.

"Well, let's get a move on," Bobby called to Sam. "We're burning daylight and that corpse isn't going to check itself."

Sam hesitated halfway to Bobbby's Camero. "You guys be safe okay," he called to us. "The demons will be able to find you now." I could feel the swirl of worry rising off of Sam. He didn't like separating from his brother.

Dean stared at his brother for a moment then shrugged. "Always careful," he promised and he opened my door to the Impala and held it for me.

"Hey Erin," I hesitated and both Dean and I turned back to face Bobby. "Try and keep him out of trouble," Bobby called goodnaturedly.

I snort and shook my head knowing this was Bobby's way of reaching out. "No promises!"

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Erin

Dean drove several hours outside of Madison. We listened to music and I had my legs folded up under me on the seat while I studied the map.

"It looks like it's about nine hours back to Kulm," I said glancing towards Dean.

He was tapping out the beat of the song on the steering wheel, his lips quietly mouthing the words while his eyes were locked on the road. Dean never seemed out of his element but now that it was just the two of us I couldn't help feeling a little self-conscious about what had almost happened between us. Not that I didn't want him, but the waitress today had proved I was just one of many who threw themselves at him.

Dean glanced at the clock on the dash. "We'll stop for the night in the cities," he said. "We could both use some more sleep and I don't think the witch would appreciate us pounding on her door in the middle of the night."

"Probably not," I agreed. I turned the page of the map to a smaller one of the twin cities area. "Do you have somewhere in mind?"

"Well..." he dragged off. "There's a bar near the U of M campus we are going to check out."

"A bar?" I asked in surprise.

"Remember when I said you needed to be my lucky charm at poker some time?"

I arched a brow at him as a mischievous smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. "That witch ain't cheap. And I'm running low on funds."

"So you want me to help you cheat at poker?"

"Well," Dean said defensively. "When you say it like that it sounds so seedy."

"Yes because a backroom poker game in a bar sounds so classy," I snorted out a laugh but nodded. "Just let me know what you want me to do."

The mischievous smirk was back along with a single pulse of heat that made me blush. "Oh I will sweetheart," he promised.

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Thank you all for your amazing support! I hope you're enjoying the story! This update ended up being a little shorter than the others but the next one will be longer.