~*****~

I awake with a gasp and reach for my gun as someone grabs me. "Lottie, no--" Dean says quickly as I grasp onto my gun, my breathing beginning to huff out lightly. "Calm down. We need to leave."

I nod, urgently asking him to explain what happened. We're in the car, and Mary is fast asleep in the back seat. "So, Zachariah showed you what would happen if you didn't say yes to Michael and let him ride your meat suit?" Dean nods. "And you decided that you're more hell bent than ever to kill Lucifer?"

"What part of this aren't you getting?" Dean asks.

"The part where I'm Lucifer's concubine." I retort dryly. "Y'know, since we're technically siblings. It's all kinds of Sweet Home Alabama."

Dean glances at me, then his head tilts back with a laugh, his tense demeanor suddenly melting.

"So, we're going to meet Sam now? Cause I know there's one thing that'll keep Lucifer out of him, and it'll be us." I hum as I lean over to him and kiss his cheek. "So long as we douse ourselves in holy oil wards every now and again."

Dean nods and kisses my cheek. I give a squeal as the Impala swerves, grasp the wheel and correct us before kissing him again. "One more thing." Dean hums happily. I tilt my head and furrow my brows. "We're never opening the door for Jehovah's Witnesses again, got it?" I roll my eyes and nod.

It's morning when we stop at a bridge, waiting for Sam to arrive. An old beaten car drives down the road, coming to a creaking halt behind us. Sam steps out and smiles fondly as we approach each other.

"Sam." Dean sighs. He tugs out the knife and holds it out for his brother. "If you're serious and you want back in..." Dean says. "You should hang onto this. I'm sure you're rusty." Sam glances down at it before slowly taking the blade. "Look, man, I'm sorry. I don't know. I'm... whatever I need to be. But I was, uh... wrong."

"What made you change your mind?" Sam asks.

"Long story," Dean sighs. "The point it.... Maybe we are each other's Achilles' Heel. Maybe they'll find a way to use us against each other. I don't know. I just know we're all we've got. More than that. We keep each other human. All three of us."

Sam's lower lip trembles for a moment before he nods. "Thank you. Really, thank you. I won't let you down."

"Oh, I know it. I mean, you are the second-best hunter on the planet." Dean teases.

I held up my finger and hummed. "Third. You're second-best." I mention to Dean. Dean tilts his head at me before chuckling.

"So," Sam sighs. "What do we do now?"

Dean glances at him and sighs. "We make our own future."

Sam nods. "Guess we have no choice."

I glance between the two, roll my eyes and gesture to the car. "Can we get going, then? I may have got us a case." I mention. "So, Sammy, get out of Siesta Mode and back into work."

Sam smiles and nods before following us into the car.

~*****~

"No, Sam, she doesn't need it tilted anymore, she can hold it." I laugh as Sam holds the bottle away from Mary's little hands.

"You sure?" Sam says uncertainly before letting her grasp it. The infant just holds the bottle up and drinks heartily. "Wow." Dean and I chuckle as Sam watches her eat. "So, what's up with this job?"

"Dude suffers a head-on collision in a parked car?" I chuckle. "I'd say that's worth checking out."

"Yeah, definitely," Sam laughs. "But uh, don't we have bigger problems?" Sam asks.

Dean snorts. "I'm sure the Apocalypse will still be there when we get back." Dean states.

"Right, yeah, but I mean, if the Colt is really out there somewhere--" Sam trails off.

"Yeah, we've been looking for three weeks. We got Bupkus." I huff. "I even debated on contacting a demon I knew who wanted an uprising in hell or something, but I'm sure now that the big boss is out, his tune is different."

Dean chuckled. "Yeah, and we're definitely not going down Demon Trust Lane anymore."

"Okay, but guys... I mean, if we're gonna Ice the Devil--"

"This is what we're doing, okay?" Dean exclaimed. "End of discussion." Mary cries out indignantly and throws her bottle into the front seat. "All right, sorry, angel." Dean huffs. "Look, Sam, this is our first, real case together. You know, I think we ought to ease into it, put the training wheels back on."

"So you think I need training wheels?" Sam asks.

"No, we. We need training wheels." Dean corrects him. "You, me, and Lottie, as a team. Okay?"

Sam nods after a moment. "Okay."

Dean sighs. "I mean, I really want this to be a fresh start, you know? For all three of us."

Sam gazes at Dean for a long time before nodding. "Okay." He says firmly. "So, you're really having Zack meet us in town just to watch the baby?"

I nod. "Yeah, he seemed oddly into it." I shrug. "Must be kinda lonely, after his dad said if he came back he'd fill him with buckshot."

"Damn, what?" Dean quickly said.

I just shrug. "I dunno. Something about wasting all that money on med school or something. He's just been wandering now, hopping place to place to try and find himself." I shrug again. "Look, the kid offered when I mentioned it to him during his weekly phone call."

"Weekly phone call." Dean echoes almost inaudibly.

Sam begins to laugh. "Oh, man, I know what's going on." Sam laughed. I furrow my brows and I glance back at him. "He's in love with you."

Dean grumbled irritably. "Do you gotta save every sorry schmuck we run across? I swear, the hero complex they get is downright annoying."

I rub at my face and sigh. "It's kinda sad that Sam noticed the signs before you did, Dean." I mention dryly.

Dean began to beam. "Well, Sammy's been after your tail for years." Dean comments and laughs. "He got a taste and had to be denied!"

"Dean!" Sam and I complain, our faces flushing bright red.

He begins to cackle wildly, his hands slapping against the steering wheel.

~*****~

"Agents Bonham, Copeland, and Jones." Dean introduces once we meet with one of the officers of Canton, Ohio.

"Rick Carnegie. Good to know you." Officer Carnegie hummed as he shook our hands. "So, you're here on account of Cal Hopkins' death?"

"That's right," Sam nods.

"Well, afraid you came a long way for nothing." Officer Carnegie sighed. "We already booked the guy that did it."

"I'm sorry. Who do you think did it?" I ask skeptically. Carnegie took us to his office before showing us the tape that had been taken by the other party.

Carnegie shook his head and turned it off. "Sicko taped his own handiwork."

"I... don't follow." Sam and I trail off.

"It was Jim Grossman that killed Cal." Carnegie hummed.

"What?" Dean asks.

"Well, he was the only one on the scene for miles." Carnegie explained.

"They were best friends," Sam reminded him.

"Most violent crimes are committed by someone close to the victim." Carnegie shrugged.

"Officer Carnegie, can you do me a favor?" I hum politely as I stand up. "Grasp onto my hand as hard as you can."

"Yes, ma'am," He nods as I hold out my hand. He grasps it tightly.

I don't flinch as he turns red in the face, squeezing and squeezing as hard as he can muster. "You've got a strong grip, but that's not the force of an eight-miles-per-hour car crash. You've got, what, maybe fifty pounds on Grossman?" I reiterate. "How the hell would someone like Jim Grossman kill Cal the way you say he did?"

The officer huffed tiredly before shrugging. "Drugs, maybe." I glance at Sam and Dean, my hand already coming up to pinch the bridge of my nose. "Look, you know, this ain't brain surgery, guys. Whatever it looks like, that's what it usually is. It's simple.

"Simple. Right." Dean comments.

"Right." Sam echoes irritably. "Um, if you don't mind, we'd like to speak to Jim Grossman, anyway."

~*****~

Jim was frantic. He was in the right mind to be, anyway. His best friend had been killed, and he was getting blamed for it. "I was in the house when it happened. I didn't even see it."

"For arguement's sake, say we believe you." Dean hums.

"Why would you? The cops didn't." Jim mentioned.

"We're not your typical cops." I retort. "Just tell us what you saw."

"It's not what I saw. It's what I heard." Jim explained. My brows quirked up. "Tires squealing, glass breaking." Jim gave a shuddering sigh. "It was the car that did it."

"The... car?" Sam echoes.

"I mean, I heard about the curse, but I thought it was a load of crap." Jim continues.

"Whoa, whoa, Curse? What do you mean, Curse?" I ask.

"The car. Little Bastard." Jim explains.

My insides quiver with excitement. "Little Bastard?" Dean and I echo. "As in The Little Bastard?" Dean continues.

"Wait, wait. What's little bastard?" Sam asks.

"God, you're such a geek, and you don't know about Little Bastard?" I say in offense. Sure I might have been ruining the whole FED thing, but damn, this was a once in a life time chance. "It's James Dean's car. It's the one he was killed in!"

"Yeah, that's the one," Jim nodded. "Cal had been looking for it for years. I mean, hell, we both had. But he found it first."

I grasp onto Sam's coat tightly and leaned into him. "We are definitely checking this out." I hiss. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Grossman." I hum before getting up, sharing an excited giggle with Dean and hurried out with him. I hear Sam's muffled apology before following after us.