you shook me all night long.

A soft sigh heaved slender shoulders, a pout appearing on Jenna’s lips as she gazed at the man that was currently occupying her bed. The rage she’d felt earlier started to bubble up to the surface, but she suppressed it. Every second that she and Dean had now was precious, so why waste them being mad? Even though she was downright fucking furious at what he did. Jenna understood it, of course. Dean’s fierce loyalty to his family was one of the infinite reasons that Jenna loved him. And to be honest, she’d even thought of doing the same thing. But now that it was all said and done? The gravity of the situation was like a punch to the gut.

As soon as the words fell from Dean’s lips, Jenna felt as if she were going to vomit. He’d sold his soul to some crossroads demon—not for the standard deal, which was a decade. Nope. One year. Three hundred and sixty-five days until Dean was ripped away from her. Part of Jenna felt a little bit of animosity towards Sam. But she quickly dismissed that feeling. Sam was just as hurt and just as angry at Dean as she was.

--

“Couldn’t sleep either?” Sam spoke, sitting up when he noticed that Jenna wasn’t in bed—instead leaning against the open window and smoking a cigarette. She chuckled dryly, stubbing out the cigarette and putting it in the ash tray. The taller Winchester brother swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, walking over to his opposite. “Yeah, I get that. Hard to get any kind of sleep with all the snoring he does. Ever try rolling him on his stomach?” Sam joked, running a hand through his unruly hair.

Jenna laughed as well before sighing again. Sam could see it in how she carried herself. Just how…defeated that she looked. “Hey,” Sam spoke, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder. “Listen to me, Jen. I don’t know exactly how, but I’m gonna make you a promise. We will figure this out. Whatever it takes. Dean is gonna be a pain in your ass for much, much longer than a year. I swear.” Sam gave her shoulder a soft squeeze before turning on his heel and heading toward the bathroom.

“Try to get some sleep, okay?” He whispered as he grabbed the door handle. “You look exhausted.”

Carly ran a hand over her face as she made her way towards the vending machine she'd spotted when she first arrived at the motel. She'd seen a lot of things over the years, but the last case she'd dealt with had shaken her up enough to cause sleep to evade her very easily despite the late, or maybe the better word was early, hour. After tossing and turning in the creaky motel bed for a couple of hours, she finally gave up attempting to sleep and scrounged a few quarters from the bottom of her duffle bag. She'd been hunting on her own for a couple of years now. She never really hunted with anyone else after she lost her dad, and she found it even more difficult than she had before to bring herself to get close to anyone since then. She still had a few acquittances and contacts should she need help, but she preferred being a lone wolf for the most part. It was easier that way. She never had to worry about losing someone she cared about if she hardly let anyone in anymore.

---

Dean had woken up the moment he felt the bed shift as Jenna got out of the bed they shared. He was fairly good at faking sleep though, and chose to remain where he was instead of checking on her. It wasn't the first time she'd gotten up in the middle of the night to smoke a cigarette, and he knew that, more often than not, it was a stress smoke than anything else. He also knew that he was the reason the petite blonde was stressing out as much as she was lately. He felt pretty damn guilty for causing her said stress, though there wasn't really much he could do about it. He'd made his bed already, and it was only a matter of time before he had to lay in it. He knew that his brother was determined to find a way to save him, but they had been searching for a way for a while now with no luck thus far. He was starting to really accept the fact that his time was running out. His year would be up in no time at all, and there was likely nothing that could be done to stop his life from coming to an end.

Sam stood there for a moment, looking at himself in the mirror. He looked like absolute hell—hair all over the place, bags under his eyes from lack of sleep, hell, he even had some stubble starting to dust his jaw. “Might as well look how I feel,” The younger Winchester spoke bitterly, splashing some water on his face. He heaved a sigh and flicked the light off before heading back into the hotel room proper. A quick glance at the bed on the opposite end of the room told him that both Jenna and Dean were asleep now, or at least appeared to be. His stomach growled, signaling that he was hungry. When was the last time he ate? Was there even anything open? Sam quickly scribbled a note down on the hotel stationary, telling Jenna and Dean that he had headed to the vending machine for a snack in case they should wake up.
--
Jenna watched as Sam shut the door behind him, biting her bottom lip. She threw her hair up in a bun and shuffled across the room, climbing back in bed. The blonde highly doubted she would get any sleep at all, but it really didn’t hurt to try. Jenna peeked over at Dean again, running a hand through his hair as a soft smile appeared on her face. In her humble opinion, Dean looked amazing all the time—but she thought he looked best like this. When he wasn’t worried or focused on something. Just relaxed. Without a visible care in the world. Jenna gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before laying down and shutting her eyes, deciding to give sleep an actual try.

Hunts didn't really shake Carly up anymore, she'd seen a lot over the years, but there were a few more severe ones that did get to her. This last one had been a tough one, and though she wouldn't openly admit to any other hunters she came across, she was definitely shaken up enough to the point that sleep was currently evading her. She stuffed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie as she walked towards the vending machine. The early hour of the morning left an almost eery silence settling across the motel and the parking lot. Normal people are usually asleep at 3AM, Baggins She thought to herself as she reached the vending machine. She fed her quarters in and scanned the contents before settling on a package of Reese's peanut butter cups. She frowned when the orange package got stuck. "You've got to freaking be kidding." She mumbled to herself as she tried smacking the glass, hoping to jostle the package of candy down.

---

Dean felt the mattress dip lightly when Jenna climbed back into bed. He resisted the urge to smile when he felt fingers card through his hair. He was going to miss little things like that. He was going to miss a lot of things actually, but it was little things like the feeling of her hands running through his hair or how easily he could get under his brother's skin that he was going to miss the most. He wanted to continue hunting and acting like nothing was going to happen within a short amount of time but he didn't really know if he could anymore. His time was really starting to run out, and he didn't think they were going to find a way out of this one.

Sam heard her before he saw her—there was no way he would ever be able to forget that voice. But he had to look, just to be sure that he wasn’t going insane. He rounded the corner and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her familiar chestnut hair. No fucking way, Sam thought to himself. “Carly?” He asked, stepping closer so he was standing next to the vending machine. Any skepticism that was in the younger Winchester’s brain left as soon as he saw those sea glass colored eyes of hers. Yep, that was his Carly alright. “Here, let me.” Sam’s eyes flitted down to the stuck candy, and with one hard elbow it clattered downward.

--

Jenna sighed once again, letting her eyes fall shut. There really wasn’t a chance of her falling asleep—too many thoughts swirling around her brain. So, she decided to give just relaxing a shot. Jenna could always take a nap later in the day or in the back of the car whenever they decided to leave. The petite blonde rolled over so she was now facing Dean, always able to relax better when she could hear his heartbeat. She flung her arm around him, resting her head in the crook of his neck.

Carly froze when she heard an all too familiar voice say her name from behind her. Her eyes widened and she turned to look and see for herself, not believing her ears at first. "Sam?" It really was him. He'd gotten taller, way taller, but he still had that adorable puppy dog look about him. She didn't know what to say after that, instead choosing to watch silently as he elbowed the glass. She couldn't believe it was him. It had been years since she had last seen him. They hadn't run into each other oddly enough since she and her dad hunted with him, John and Dean that one summer, but she still heard about him from Bobby Singer on occasion when her paths would cross with the older hunter. "Thank you." She said quietly when her candy clattered down. "It's been a really long time."

---

Dean didn't know how much longer he could keep up with the sleeping facade. He knew that Jenna wasn't asleep, that much was fairly obvious, but he had honestly been avoiding spending time alone with her as of late. There were just certain conversations he'd been avoiding having with her ever since he took the deal with that crossroads demon. Maybe it was a bit childish for him to avoid being alone with her, he knew she wouldn't bring anything up with Sam around, but, despite starting to accept his fate, he didn't want her to do the same either. He didn't want her to lose hope because she'd always been the more optimistic of the two. And if she lost faith, that really meant there was no saving him.

"You're welcome," Sam spoke, waving it away with his hand. He swallowed the lump in his throat before running a hand through the mess of hair on top of his head. "Yeah-- you could say that again." He whispered before biting his bottom lip. Exactly how long had it been? Sam lost count after six or seven years, but it felt as if he were fourteen again. God, his problems them seemed so huge. But compared to what he was going through now? Small potatoes. "What brings you around here?" Sam asked, putting his quarters into the machine and selecting some kit kats. He opened the package and broke one off before taking a bite, feeling his hunger start to ebb away.

--

"You know, you're really not as good at faking being asleep as you think you are." Jenna spoke, finally deciding to just say fuck it. There was no chance of her getting any quality sleep-- and she didn't want to waste time that could be spent talking to Dean just doing nothing. The petite blonde sighed, deciding to just travel down memory lane as Dean 'woke' up. "Remember when we broke into Sam's apartment? We all got involved in that scuffle and I ended up smacking him in the face with a frying pan?" Jenna busted out laughing, remembering the confusion that was that night.

Carly didn't really know how long it had been since she last saw the younger Winchester. "You're way taller now." She said, a soft laugh escaping her lips as she pulled one of the peanut butter cups out of the wrapper and took a bite out of it. Time clearly didn't change how he acted around her. He'd always been a little shy and awkward around her, but she always thought that was adorable. It was just as adorable now as it had been back then. "I ganked a wendigo two towns over." She told him with a small shrug of her shoulders. "Bobby mentioned you'd gotten back into hunting last time I saw him."

---

Dean knew better than to keep up with the act. He chuckled softly at her words and shifted so he was laying on his side, facing her. "How long have you known I've been awake?" He asked curiously. He wouldn't be at all surprised if she'd known this entire time. Her later words caused him to smile, the smile widening when she busted out laughing right after. Fuck, he was going to miss hearing her laugh like that. He was also going to miss the way her face lit up when she laughed too. "Sammy wasn't your biggest fan for a while after that." he chuckled.

Of course, Bobby kept Carly filled in on what Dean and Sam were doing. He didn't expect anything less. For such a gruff man who kept to himself, Bobby sure loved to gossip about his fellow hunters. "Yeah, I did... it wasn't supposed to be a full time thing, but here I am." Sam shrugged, taking another bite from his kit kat. There was so much to fill Carly in on, all of the hell he'd been through in the last year alone. "Dad, he... he passed away, last year. That demon finally fucking got him." He swallowed the lump in his throat, balling up one hand in a fist to keep from crying. Despite all that he and John had been through, he would do anything to see his father alive again. "Spend his entire life chasing the damn thing, and that's what ends up doing him in."

--

"I've known ever since you started 'snoring'." Jenna rolled her eyes, a soft smile settling on her face when she finally was able to look Dean in the eye. She rested a gentle hand on his cheek, gently running over her thumb as she did so. "Well, what the hell else was I supposed to do? He was choking you, for god's sake! And we both know my punches don't hurt. So he got a frying pan to the face!" She remembered how sore Sam had been after that altercation. Any time the pair got into an argument, Sam brought up how she almost broke his nose.

Carly kept to herself for the most part now, but she did go to Bobby on occasion when she reached a roadblock with a case. He was much better at research than she was, and could easily cut research time in half than if she were to look into things herself. "Getting out of the life is never easy." She said, taking another bite out of her peanut butter cup. She opened her mouth to say something else when he spoke once more. "Shit, I'm sorry, Sam." She frowned. She knew that he and John never really saw eye-to-eye, but that didn't necessarily mean he didn't care about his father and she knew that. "I know you two didn't get on too well at times, but John was still a good man."

---

Dean chuckled softly. "I'll be sure to keep that in mind next time I pretend to be asleep to avoid doing something for you." He joked. He smiled when she rested a hand on his cheek, shutting his eyes briefly when she ran her thumb over it. "You definitely caught him off guard, that's for sure. I doubt he expected to get hit in the face with a frying pan that night." He laughed once more. "He held that against you for so freaking long too." He shook his head slightly as he thought back to that time. Although things had been a little hairy back then, they were nowhere near as complicated as they were now.

Sam nodded his head. Carly was right-- despite his (numerous) faults, John was a good man who only wanted the best for his family. Sure-- he went about it the wrong way. That much was obvious. But that was beside the point. John was his father. Surely he would know how to get Dean out of this mess they were in. "But yeah, you're right. Even when I was away at school, it was pretty much all I thought about. Can take the boy out of the hunt, but you can't take the hunt out of the boy." Sam remembered when every fluttering breeze meant something was lurking around, when he made sure he had salt before anything when shopping at the grocery store. This wasn't a life you could take on and off like a jacket.

---

"Well, if someone I hardly knew clocked me in the face with a frying pan, then introduced herself as my brother's girlfriend, I would be a little less than accepting of her for a bit." Jenna spoke, nostalgia lacing her voice as she smiled. That altercation had been one of the most chaotic moments of her life. "And to think I almost stayed in the car for that moment-- any backup is better than no backup, right babe?" Jenna's hand moved from Dean's jaw to his back, gently dragging her fingers along it.

"When you're raised in the life, it's hard to see anything differently." Carly said. She knew exactly what Sam was talking about. Her dad had pretty much raised her a hunter too, and that was something that they ended up bonding over that summer all those years ago. At the time, she'd thought that she would get out of the life too, but things change, and they certainly had. "You got out for a little while though, Bobby said you were at Stanford. That's pretty damn impressive." She never got to college, and barely finished high school, but she was glad that Sam had.

---

Dean chuckled. "Yea, I guess you're right. You kind of did deserve how he treated you for a little while." He agreed. He'd been pretty pissed off at the time though when he saw how his little brother was treating his girlfriend, but Sam had come around like he always eventually ended up doing. "Of course, sweetheart. And I wouldn't have wanted anyone else backing me up that night either." He smiled down at her. "Even if the only defense tactic you could think of using was a frying pan."

At the mention of Stanford, a feeling of pride swelled up in Sam's chest almost immediately followed by a gut wrenching heartbreak as Jessica's face flashed in his mind. "Don't mention it," Sam shrugged, biting his bottom lip. Truth be told, he would be completely fine living the rest of his life without every thinking of Stanford again. Too much heartbreak in those memories. "Not like knowing California's laws against tax evasion help with hunting demons, but hey. It'll be useful if I ever end up on Jeopardy."

--

Jenna rolled her eyes. "It was either that or a vase. And I didn't want to smash a giant glass thing over his head and kill him. Just stun him so I could pull him off you. And it worked!" She spoke, a satisfactory grin on her face. Jenna didn't look very intimidating-- five foot three, and a hundred and two pounds soaking wet. But when adrenaline started coursing through her system, especially when it came to protecting someone that she loved? You better watch the fuck out. "And I wasn't about to break my hand punching someone again just for it to barely hurt."

Two very different emotions seemed to flash across the youngest Winchester's face though Carly didn't mention it, or press too much for information. "It's an Ivy League school, Sam, that's still pretty damn impressive whether you actually use what you went to school for or not." She told him. It was clear that there were quite a few things that had changed about him, though some still remained the same. Like Sam making himself out to be something less than he actually was. "I see you still don't like receiving compliments." There was a slight, teasing lilt to her words.

---

"The vase definitely would have been a lot messier, though Sam's got a pretty thick skull, I'm not so sure that you would have killed him." Dean chuckled softly as he pictured her attempting to hit his brother over the head with a vase. "I think you'll have to remind him of that moment sometime in the near future. He'll love being reminded of it." He knew that Sam wouldn't be at all amused if the incident was brought up, but it sure as hell would provide him with the opportunity for a good laugh.

Sam felt his face get hot, and he just knew that he was blushing. God dammit, why did he feel like he was fourteen again? "Well, you know me." He shrugged. One of the effects of being raised by John Winchester was the aversion to compliments. They were so few and far between growing up that whenever Sam got them now, he actually got really uncomfortable. "And I see you still grab Reese's before anything else." Sam teased as he finished the rest of his kit kat. He ran a hand through his hair again, fumbling for something else to say. "If you're still in town in the morning, I'm sure Dean would love to see you. And you can meet his girlfriend, Jenna. I think this is the longest relationship that hes ever had."

--

"You know, I think I'm gonna do that in the morning. It's been a minute since I've brought up the Great Frying Pan Incident." Jenna mused, imagining the younger Winchester's reaction when she did so. She and Sam teased each other, more often than not driving Dean crazy, but at the end of the day the two would go to war for each other. He was her best friend, save for Dean obviously. Jenna's eyes flitted over to Sam's bed, and she raised a brow. "Huh. Wonder where he went?" The blonde got up and shuffled across the room, raising a brow once more when she saw the note. "Moose boy went to the vending machine. He better bring me back some pretzels."

Carly knew without even having to look at him that the younger Winchester's face was probably tinged pink. He clearly hadn't changed nearly as much as he could have since she had last seen him, and it was honestly kind of a comfort knowing that. The hunting life wasn't an easy one, and she knew plenty of hunters who had gotten pretty damn messed up because of it. She was glad that Sam still seemed to be just as sweet and even a little shy as he had been when they were kids. She let out a quiet laugh in response to his words. "What can I say? I'm a creature of habit." She said, punctuating her words with a slight shrug of her shoulders. "Dean in a long-term relationship? I think that this might be something that I have to see for myself to believe."

---

Dean chuckled softly. "I would do it after we've grabbed breakfast and he's had some coffee. He won't be as pissy when you bring it up if you do it that way." He said. The blonde and his brother constantly went back and fourth with each other, harmless banter really, and it drove him up the freaking wall sometimes. He shrugged his shoulders at her words when she noticed Sam wasn't in his bed. He'd noticed earlier, but hadn't been all that phased by his brother's absence truth be told. "He better bring me back some damn peanut M&M's too."

"I know, right? When we were... 'introduced'," Sam spoke, fighting back a chuckle at the memory. It still bugged him a lot, but enough time had passed to where he could laugh about what was called the 'frying pan incident', at least to himself. "When we were introduced and Dean told me how long they'd been together, I couldn't believe it. This girl has to be magic." He shrugged, tossing his empty kit-kat wrapper into the nearby garbage can. "I think you two would get a long pretty good. You have similar personalities." The taller Winchester brother ran a hand through his hair, trying fruitlessly to tame it.

--

Jenna rolled her eyes before tossing the note into the nearby wastebasket. "You and those damn peanut M&M's. I should just buy like a dozen of those big bulk bags and be done with it." She said before laying back down, a yawn leaving her lips. "You know, with as shitty as you eat it's a miracle your body is as perfect as it is right now." Jenna winked, reaching over to squeeze Dean's bicep. "Throwing me over your shoulder's actually quite a workout, huh?"