Babysitting - A Dean Winchester Love Story

Chapter 21

Cora's hand began to tremble; she brought the other up to the base of the gun to steady it.  She didn't know what to think as the two most important people in her life forced their way back in.  She had only just started to stop mourning Dean's death, and now he was standing in front of her as though nothing had ever happened.
Her eyes flickered between the two men and ultimately fell on Dean.  They roamed his face as she attempted to find answers buried in the depths of his eyes.  Dean displayed a range of emotion, finding it difficult to settle on just one as his brain went into overdrive: the confusion made his mouth twitch into a downward position as the anger forced him to furrow his eyebrows, subsequently completing his frown.  Dean's eyes, however, began to form a translucent veil as he gazed at the one he thought he had lost.  Cora immediately understood that this Dean had been through more hardships, in the past few years, than she could ever imagine.  She closed her eyes and shook her head in protest as she felt the warm, salty tear trickle down the ridge of her nose, before dripping into the cracks of her lips.

Dean began to silently shuffle towards the delicate woman but came to an abrupt halt when he unintentionally walked into the coffee table.  He scolded himself as Cora's senses were alerted once more.  She was about to order him to stop making his way towards her, when she noticed where he was standing.  Cora lowered her gun slightly when she realised Dean was no longer residing on the rug.  After she had moved to Chicago, Cora had decided to protect herself from the demons who she thought had killed Dean.  As a result, a Devil's Trap had been carved into the wooden floor, and Cora had bought a reasonable sized rug in order to disguise it.  This was not the only anti-demon item in her home: Cora had drawn symbols on the walls and doors; they were hidden by either wallpaper, or picture frames - this simply aided her ability to hide from any demons attempting to pursue her.

"What are you?"  Cora repositioned her gun so that it was aiming at Dean's heart.

"Cora, it's me: Dean." He had taken a step closer to her, with his hands raised in surrender, "Come on, Cora.  Put the gun down."

"Stay exactly where you are.  Come closer, and I. Will. Shoot. You.  You are not Dean - it's impossible - you're not him!"  More tears escaped their prison, finally able to express their pain.  "You died. Cas told me you died."

"What?"  The betrayal could be heard dripping off the single word.  This disbelief and pain took control over his face as the emotion that he truly wanted to show, began to fade.

"Did I stutter?"  Cora narrowed her eyes at him all too easily.  She felt too comfortable around him for this 'person' to be someone other than Dean.

"Cora," Sam had stepped forward and stared at her intently.  "It's us.  Trust me, ok?"

She slowly drew a breath so deep that she seemed to straighten and grow in height.  A cackle rose from Cora's mouth as she applauded them.  Then, with absolute certainty she stated, "I am beyond impressed with your acting.  Who knew shifters were so gifted in the theatrical arts?"

Dean let out a sigh that screamed his annoyance.  Trying to compose himself, he said, "Cora, we are not shifters.  We're humans.  You know us."

Cora noticed the armchairs out of the corner of her eye and came up with an idea: "Empty your pockets."  Before they could question her, she repeated the order in a tone that actually scared them.  So they did as they were told; they emptied their pockets and placed all of the items, including their guns, onto the coffee table.  Then, they were instructed to sit on each of the armchairs.  Both brothers had a vague idea of what she was going to do, so they played along; she was in a vulnerable state, and it was obvious to them that she was dangerous like this.  It turns out, the Winchesters were correct: Cora retrieved duct tape from her kitchen and proceeded to tie them up.  Neither brother struggled. They just let her be more comfortable.

Reaching into her pocket, Cora retrieved her phone.  
"Smile,"  She said in a belittling tone.  She laughed as she stared at the picture because, although from this it was evident that they were human, so were telling the truth, Dean was actually smiling whereas Sam looked as though he had just been told off for stealing cookies from the jar. 
"Well that's embarrassing," Cora muttered to herself as she picked up one of their knives from the coffee table.  First she cut the tape that was around Sam with no issue, yet when she went over to Dean, being near him was difficult.  Almost immediately, her feelings for him had reappeared as though she had never gotten over him.  His scent brought back memories of the times they had been alone together; how they had nearly spent the night together.  She had missed him and the teasing they shared.  She had missed him.  As the blade sliced through the tape, she paused as she stared at him, trying to remember what he looked like.  Dean smiled awkwardly as he had no idea what she was thinking.

"I'd like you both to leave please."

The two brothers exchanged a look of disbelief, "Are you kidding me?  You just tied us up, and you expect us to just leave?"  Dean couldn't empathise with her.  In fact, he wanted things to be how they were before she left - the flirting, the friendship, the developing feelings; he wanted that and didn't like it now that he couldn't have it, "We're not leaving.  Anyway, how do we know you won't walk away again?"

The woman let out a breath in amusement.  "Did you actually just say that?"  A calm voice escaped her frantic looking self.  Dean cockily said that he did, and Sam could see that this wasn't going to be pretty.  The taller brother felt as though the couple needed to be alone so he said that he would wait by the car, and left.
As soon as Sam was out of the house, her bravado diminished and the shouting began: "Don't you ever say that I walked away - whether that's from you, or your brother - I didn't do that."  She didn't care about appearances now, she just let the tears fall despite her voice being timid, "I thought you were dead.  How do you expect me to act, Dean?"

He couldn't stand seeing her like this, so he did the only thing he thought he could do.  He steadily embraced her and she naturally relaxed into his arms.  It felt so right when they were together. Even after all these years apart, it still felt right.  It was obvious that no matter how hard they had tried to hide it in the past, their feelings for one another were strong and there was no way of getting over that.

"I need time, Dean.  I haven't seen either of you for three years.  I need some time to get my head around this."  Her tears were seeping through Dean's black shirt and causing his skin to become damp.  The itchy sensation of wet clothes was bothering him so he ended the hug, but kissed her softly to show that he was still there.  However, Cora was the one to end this kiss almost as soon as it had begun.

Gazing into his beautiful green eyes she whispered, "I need time, Dean.  I need time."