How Wonderful Life Is

chapter ten- CRUSHES AND GRUDGES

here comes the next bit- who's on the phone do you think?

Dean smiled awkwardly as he dug through his pocket for his singing phone. He recognized the the number instantly and hurriedly flipped it open to answer. "Hey Buffy - I've got some big new. It turns out that-"

"Oh my god, Dean! I know who that Hunter is, and you do to. It's Grace! This weird thing happened where all of my memories returned of her. Dawn's too. We've got to find her Dean. Something bad is going on, I can feel it in my gut." She spoke so quickly, Dean could barely understand what she was saying.

But since Grace spoke the same weird language as the blonde Slayer, she snatched the phone from his hand.

"Buff? Is that really you? Do you remember me now?" Tears filled her eyes as she listened to her best friends 'Buffy Babble.'

Dean smiled affectionately at his twin. He still couldn't believe his sister had been in Hell. For nine years. Sunny, happy, giggling Gracie in Hell. He could just kill his son of a bitch father for doing this to her.

It still shocked him that their father, the man he looked up to for years, had traded his twin sister's life for a gun.

The girls continued their fast-paced jabber. Grace's mouth was moving so fast, Dean couldn't tell if what she was saying were actual words or simply meaningless noises.

Finally, her words began to slow down. "Indiana. A little city called Munster. A few hours? Great, I'll tell the the boys. See you soon." Grace also hung up without saying goodbye, her old habits coming to the surface.

"Buffy and Dawn will be here in a bit." Grace caught the way both of her brothers reacted when she mentioned the Summers sisters. A wry smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. There were years of sisterly teasing to make up for. This would be fun.

"So..." She started, leaning against Cas; his arms instantly slid around her waist and rested on her stomach. "Have you seen the girls recently?"

They shifted uncomfortably, not meeting her eyes. "A few months ago, but we've stayed in contact." Sam mumbled, watching his feet in fascination.

"How often do you and Dawn email each other?" Grace asked casually, playing with Cas' fingers. Sam's eye's widened in surprise. "Yes, I know that you are completely devoted to Dawn."

Dean snickered, coughing "Whipped."

"Aaand that you are besotted with Buffy." Sam smirked right back at his big brother. "So, what are you gonna do about it?" They just kept on looking at her. She sighed, rolling her eyes in exasperation. "It's obvious that there's something there, so what are you gonna do about it?"

"Are you trying to set us up?" Dean asked, incredulous.

"I've been trying to set you two up since we were 10 years old." It looked like Grace had a ton of work ahead of her. She just hoped the girls would be easier to work with.

"So," Sam coughed, eager to change the subject. "You said something about a lead on the demon?"

"Oh, he's long gone by now." Grace admitted. "That bastard never stays in one position for long." Seeing how Sam's face fell, she added. "But now you remember me and that Buffy and Dawn are coming, it'll be a lot easier to track him down. But, as a side effect, he might go underground and vanish for a long period of time." Sam nodded, completely absorbed in the information his sister was giving. She was surprised he didn't whip out a notebook and start to take notes.

"I'm curious Sam, why are you so... obsessed with catching him?" Sam looked away, his face filled with emotion.

"Um, two years ago my girlfriend Jess- Jessica was killed in the exact same way Mom died." His voice was constricted.

Grace's heart broke for him. Her first instinct was to hug him - she'd raised him and her inner mother wanted to coddle and nurture him. But that's not what Sam needed now. Enough time had passed, and now he had a thing for Dawn.

But that's not what worried Grace. She watched John go through the exact same thing. She did not want her baby brother to end up like John. Her and Dean's lives were already been ruined by her father's crusade. She didn't want the same thing to happen to Sammy.

"Sam." Grace said slowly. "Dean." She also added. "Have you ever thought about settling down, trimming down the hunts to only near areas?" 'Starting a family' was on the tip of her tongue, but was left unsaid.

Both boys looked away, proving her theory that they had thought about it - both of them.

"Let's go meet the girls." Dean said gruffly, ending the conversation in the classic Winchester way: avoidance.

Grace simply nodded, knowing her twin well enough that he'd tell her when Sam wasn't there to worry about it. 'Watch out for Sam.' Those four simple words were Grace and Dean's entire world. One of them was always in front of Sam, behind Sam. They took the hotel bed closest to the door and entered every building before their little brother. Protecting him above anything else, even their own lives, was hardwired in their brains.

They headed back the way they came, Dean leading, then Sam, and finally Grace and Cas. The twins fell back into their usual routine. Sam always in the middle: the safest position in the pack.

"Dean? Sam? Is that you?"

Grace latched onto Cas' hand like it was her lifeline.

Her brother's frames instantly tensed. Dean slid over a fraction in front of her, his protective instincts picking out his own father as the threat.

If she wasn't working so hard to keep her savage side under control, she would've smiled to see how easily Dean's faith in her was restored.

John was leaning against his black truck, one hand resting on his gun in case it wasn't his sons, the other hovering over the place where Grace had shot him. Now that Dean knew the truth, he thought that a salt round wasn't nearly enough. Dean said nothing, but John could see by his son's body language that something had changed.

As if something in him had snapped, John sagged, almost falling down. None of his children stepped forward to help him.

Grace and Cas were relying on each other to stop one another from attacking the eldest Winchester. God knows, they both wanted to.

"So" John said hoarsely. "Now you know."

"How could you?" Dean asked, voice breaking. "We were 15 years old, dammit. You sent a 15 year old to Hell, over a gun?" John looked away. "Don't you DARE ask for forgiveness. You took her away from me - and I didn't even know it. What gave you the goddamn right, you son of a bitch?" Grace looked on with sad eyes, knowing that Dean needed to say this. "How could you do that to her - to us? We followed your every command like the good little toy soldiers we were, and this is how you thank us?" Dean's lip curled in disgust. "Oh, if Mom could see you now." John flinched, head ducked in shame. "What do you think she'd say if she discovered that you traded her only daughter's soul for a gun. That you chose a demon over your own family?"

John hobbled forward, hands outstretched, pleading. "Please, if you could just let me explain-"

"I want nothing from you. You're dead to me - a disgrace to Mom's name." Dean snapped, striding past their father and into the Impala, Sam started to follow, but then doubled back and grabbed the Colt from his father's slack hand. Grace made brief eye contact with John before looking away and following her brothers, never loosening her iron grip on Cas' hand.

there ya go- Buffy/Dean and Dawn/Sam (just a teeny bit) more will come in time! :D

~Blackbird