I pulled into the motel parking lot, climbing out and heading in to secure a room. Once I had the room key in hand, I headed straight up with my bag of supplies. I flung the tote onto the queen sized bed and tossed the room key and my car keys on the dresser. Proceeding into the bathroom, I ran a hot shower, waiting until steam filled the tiny space before stripping down and getting under the water.

My mind raced as I scrubbed the days old grime off my skin and hair. I had been on back to back hunts for nearly three weeks now. From ghosts, to vamps to a ghoul, I had barely paused longer than a few hours between each one. I would've kept going, but I was starting to stink from all the monster guts and blood caked on my skin and clothes and I was pretty sure I was getting close to hallucinating from the lack of sleep.

Which was why I had forced myself to stop at the first semi-decent motel I could find to freshen up a bit and hopefully get more than my usual one to two hours of sleep that had become the norm over the past month. Once the water finally began to run clear again instead of muddy reddish-brown, I shut off the flow and climbed out, wrapping one of the fluffy white towels that came with the room around my body and another on my hair.

Steam escaped out the door and I shivered slightly underneath the towel from the contrast in temperatures between the bathroom and the room itself. Padding over to the bed, I dug through my bag for a fresh outfit. I definitely had to do laundry while I was staying here. I only had one clean outfit left: a faded pair of blue jeans and a light pink and white flannel. Once I was changed, I gathered up the rest of my clothes and grabbed my keys, both for the room and car.

I drove the short way to a laundromat, starting everything in one of the machines. I leaned against the wall as I waited. As I was removing my clean clothes from the dryer, the door to the laundromat opened and shut and suddenly I was no longer the only one in the building. Looking up, I was surprised to see the man in the trench coat who had instructed Becca and I to move all those years ago.

His face and clothes were covered in blood and I watched as he stripped down to his boxers and put everything else in a machine. He began to insert coins into the machine and then paused as his gaze fell on a vending machine. His eyes moved over to a basket of discarded clothes nearby and then back to the vending machine as he removed the coins from the washing machine. Making up his mind, he left the bloody clothes behind, gathering the clean ones from the basket and putting those on before heading over to the vending machine.

He inserted the money in the vending machine, getting a granola bar and a bottle of water. I watched him scarf down the granola bar quickly before opening the water, drinking from it as he headed to the door. I walked over to the discarded items he had left behind, deciding to clean them myself. Once the clothes had finished, I put it with the rest of my stuff and headed out to my car. I had gotten to town late, and it was now dark.

As I drove back to the motel, I kept an eye out for the man, hoping to return his clothes to him. I had no luck, and decided I would continue to look in the morning in the daylight when it would be easier to see. Back in my room, I stripped down to my usual tank and panties and slipped under the covers to get some well-needed rest.

---

I woke to sunlight streaming through the window through the curtains. Groaning slightly, I opened one eye to check the time on the digital clock beside the bed. 11:30. I slept for nearly twelve hours. It had to be a record for me. Even before I had cut down to only one-two hours every few nights, the most I ever slept since getting into hunting was four-five hours tops.

Dragging myself out of the comfort of the bed, I dug through my freshly laundered clothes for an outfit. Once changed I studied my reflection in the mirror. I looked nothing like the woman who was stabbed by the demon possessing her three years previously. I had chopped my hair short and dyed the auburn locks to jet black. The lines and contours of my face had hardened and become more defined over the years. My blue-green eyes had also become cold and calculating, losing basically all of their warmth.

Making my way outside, I decided I would take a walk, instead of driving given that it was so nice outside. So I headed in the direction of the main street, keeping my gaze focused on the area of the sidewalk directly in front of me. As I walked, my mind wandered, thinking about everything that had been going on the past few weeks. Although I had been going on simple milk-run hunts, I knew from whispers in the Hunter's Network that something big was going on.

What appeared to be a world-wide meteor shower had occurred a few weeks earlier, but those in the hunting world knew it was no ordinary meteor shower. The angels had fallen from Heaven. Heaven's gates were closed and thousands of celestial beings now walked among us. I was so engrossed in my thoughts, that I didn't realize there was someone else walking on the sidewalk until I had quite literally run into them.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I-"

I cut myself off as I stared into the piercing blue eyes of the trench-coated man. Granted, he wasn't wearing said trench coat at the moment, since it was sitting clean and folded back in my motel room.

"Do not worry about it. I was not paying attention to where I was going."

"Oh. Okay..."

"Good day to you," he nodded his head, making to continue off.

"Hey, uh, I cleaned your other outfit for you. The trench coat and stuff. It's back in my motel room if you want them back."

The man paused, turning back to me.

"You cleaned my clothes?"

"Well, yeah... I was there when you left them behind and I had some extra coins so I figured I'd help you out and clean them for you. Do you, uh, want to come pick them up?"

The man cocked his head to the side, studying me with those impossibly blue eyes.

"You seem familiar. Have we met?"

"Um... kind of. It's a long story. So, your things?"

"Oh, yes. Yes, I believe I will accompany you back to your room to pick them up. Thank you."

"Y-you're welcome. Before we do that, I was going to grab something to eat. Care to join me?"

As if in response, the man's stomach let out a low gurgling sound.

"It seems my stomach has made up my mind for me," he stated.

I smiled, chuckling softly.

"It seems so," I agreed, mimicking his overly formal way of speaking.

---

The man loved peanut butter and grape jelly. Like, was obsessed with it. I had never seen someone, child or otherwise, scarf down sandwiches that fast. By the time I had finished my burger, he had already eaten three and was working on his fourth.

"Slow down, man, it's not going anywhere, I promise."

"I never realized food could taste so good. Normally, this would just taste like individual particles. I wouldn't be able to taste all the components as a whole. But this is amazing."

"You're an angel, aren't you?"

He swallowed, before shaking his head.

"I was. But I no longer have my grace. It was taken from me by Metatron. He used it to cast everyone out."

"Your grace is what was used to close the gates to Heaven?"

"Metatron tricked me," he took another bite, "tricked all of us."

"Us?"

"Dean, Sam and I. Of course, I was the one who informed Sam and Dean that Metatron could be trusted, so I suppose ultimately, it is all my fault."

I swallowed, biting my lip at the mention of the Winchester brothers. I hadn't thought about or acknowledged their existence in years. Of course, I knew from my previous interaction with the former angel that he was a friend of the brothers. He had informed me as such when he told me that I had to move with Rebecca.

"Metatron is another angel?"

He nodded his head, finishing off the last bite of the sandwich.

"He's the scribe of God," he explained.

"And that somehow justifies him acting as God?"

"He certainly seems to believe it does," the former angel shrugged.

"Okie dokie. Well, this has certainly been an enlightening talk. I think it's time for me to move on from this town. Do you need a ride somewhere before I skip town, or are you staying a while?"

"May I get a ride? I am traveling back to Kansas, but seem to be running low on money for transportation."

"Kansas, huh? What's in Kansas that's so important you get to?"

"The bunker. It's where Sam and Dean have been staying. It's quite possibly the safest place on earth for hunters."

"You're meeting back up with your friends, then?"

"Dean told me to head back there, yes."

"Alrighty, then. To Kansas we go," I stood up.

We both gathered our things, I my bag and he his outfit that I cleaned for him, and headed to my car after I checked out of my motel room.

"I don't think I ever got your name," I said once we were on the road.

"Castiel," he said, "and I don't think you told me yours."

"Alexandra," I replied after a moment, "but you can call me Lexi."

"Then you can call me Cass."

---

It took nearly a week to reach the bunker in Lebanon, Kansas. Cass and I kept ourselves entertained either singing along with the radio or exchanging stories about hunting over the years. I was careful not to reveal enough information for him to realize exactly who I was. As we drove, the closer we got to our destination the more anxious I became. With every mile, I got closer and closer to the man I had sworn to forget. I probably shouldn't be that worried, because I had so far successfully spent almost a week with a former angel without him recognizing me, which meant the chances my ex-boyfriend and father of my dead daughter would most likely not recognize me either.

However, I decided I wouldn't be sticking around long enough to find out if he would. It would just complicate things further, and I really didn't want to deal with that kind of drama. My resolve began to deteriorate once we had entered the secret base, though. Cass led the way, rambling the whole way about how they had come to find the bunker and made it their own. I had to admit, the place was impressive.

I didn't see much, but the little I did before all hell broke loose was amazing. When we entered, we headed from a landing down an iron set of stairs to what appeared to be the "crow's nest" so to speak. In the center of the room was a giant table covered in a world map with little light bulbs all over it. Through the biggest archway was what appeared to be a library while to both the left and right of it were hallways that led deeper into the place.

"Sam! Dean! Anyone home?" Cass called, heading down the hall to the right of the staircase we had just come down.

I followed him tentatively, worried what would happen if the brothers did happen to be there. The possibility of one or both of them recognizing me, especially Dean, terrified me.

"Guys? Hello?"

"Cass? Is that you?" a familiar voice called.

"Dean?"

"We're in the kitchen."

Cass and I rounded a corner into said kitchen where the brothers Winchester both stood leaning against an island. They both had beers in their hands and appeared to have been in the middle of talking when we interrupted them.

"Cass, you finally made it. Thank god."

"God had nothing to do with it, Dean. I got a ride."

Cass gestured to where I was hovering in the doorway. Three pairs of eyes found mine as I shifted my weight from foot to foot.

"I, uh... I should probably go. I was just making sure Cass made it here safely and he has, so... yeah," I rambled slightly, turning to make my way back toward the entrance.

"You just got here. At least stay and eat something before you hurry off again," Sam insisted, stopping me in my tracks.

I tried not to give away my disappointment as I turned back around, a large and very fake smile plastered on my face.

"Well, I guess I could stay and eat something if it's not too much trouble..."

"Of course, not," Sam shook his head. "Besides, we would love to hear how you and Cass met."

"Alrighty then," I replied, faux smile still on my face.

And that's how I found myself sitting beside Cass across from Dean at a table in the library as we had dinner together.

"So, I was standing there, watching as he left behind this bloody mess and got himself a granola bar and a bottle of water. And after he walked out, I decided to wash the clothes he left. Then, the next day we happened to run into each other and he came back to pick up his things. I was leaving town, so I offered to give him a ride, and now here we are."

"What were you in town for?"

"I just needed somewhere to crash for a few hours and clean up. I had been on back to back hunts up until then, and had gotten maybe four hours total over the past three weeks. Plus I was covered in blood and monster, so I figured it was time to recuperate."

"What were you hunting?"

"A few different things... A couple ghosts, a nest or two of vamps... a ghoul."

"A ghoul?"

"Yeah, it was kind of a spur-of-the-moment thing. I happened to be in the area and I figured, what the hell? Why not gank one more thing while I was still running on adrenaline and caffeine?"

Sam nodded in understanding as he heard my explanation. I noticed the entire time we talked, Dean hadn't said a word, just studied my face while his brother asked all the questions. It wasn't helping alleviate my fears as I finished eating the frozen burrito. They were the only things they had readily available at the moment without running to the store to buy more supplies and delaying my departure even more.

"Well, thanks for bringing Cass back. We really appreciate it."

"Of course. Happy to help."

As we stood and I started to take my leave, a faint glimmer of hope that I would be able to get away without telling them who exactly I was starting to blossom, Dean finally spoke for the first time since he greeted Cass in the kitchen.

"What was your name? I don't think we caught it."

"Oh... Um, Alexandra."

"Alexandra?"

"Mmhm."

My heart pounded as I prayed silently that he wouldn't make the connection. There was absolutely no reason for him to. I had a new look and was a whole different person from the one he left behind in that hospital.

"Your last name doesn't happen to be Turner, does it?"

"T-Turner?"

"Yeah. You just seem really familiar, and I used to know an Alexandra Turner, so I figured that maybe..."

"I... I really have to go," I muttered lamely, hurrying through the wide archway back into the room with the map table and up the stairs.

"Lexi, wait!" Cass's voice called, but I was already out the door.

---

Can we take a break now? I'm starving. A double bacon burger with extra onions sounds heavenly. With fries on the side. Oh, and a Dr. Pepper. No to the food? Come on, I'm hungry. Ugh. Fine. Then can I use the restroom at least? Thank you.

---

Alright. Where were we?

---

"Come on, I wanna hear you beg," I whispered in the vampire's ear.

"And why would I give you that satisfaction?"

I gave a low chuckle, moving around the front of the chair and straddling his lap. His arms and legs were bound tight and I had continued administering doses of dead man's blood into his system. I wrapped my arms around his neck, spinning my blade in my hands behind his back as I leaned forward to speak into his ear.

"Because if you don't, I can make this last nice and long."

I decided to tease him, just a bit, as I pulled back and took his earlobe in my teeth, biting down just slightly before releasing and climbing back off his lap to get another syringe of blood. Turning back, I plunged the needle in the side of his neck, causing him to scream as the blood entered his system.

"Beg."

"In. Your. Dreams. Darling."

Tsking softly, I dipped the tip of my blade in the container of dead man's blood before running it across the vampire's chest. Another scream left his lips as the cut burned his skin due to the effects of the blood.

"Beg," I repeated.

"No."

My hand fisted his hair, pulling his head back as I forced him to drink a bit of the poisonous fluid.

"Do it."

"Make me," he spat a bit of blood back at me.

"You're the last one. I already killed the rest of your nest. Don't you want to join them?"

"If you're going to allow me to join them, then go ahead. But I'm not going to beg you to do it."

I licked my lips, setting my jaw as I glared at the monster before me. I had resumed my back to back hunting, staying as far away from Lebanon, Kansas as I possibly could. I no longer cared about taking a break to rest and recuperate in between things. I didn't want a repeat of what happened the first time I bothered to stop. Finally deciding I had had enough, I beheaded the creature in one clean swing. I barely paused to pack up my things before I was climbing behind the wheel of my car and driving off to find another thing to hunt.

---

That continued for several months. I'll spare you any more details because honestly, it's mostly like that and you aren't here to listen to that boring stuff. You want to get to the good stuff. How I got to where you found me... Alrighty, let me think...

What was that? Did I ever see Dean again? Yes, actually, I did. Yet he wasn't exactly... Dean...