Skip to the End

Rating: M

Summary: Cass sends Dean to recruit a certain Slayer into the war against Lucifer, only problem is, the two have their own battle to resolve...

Timeline: Just after Episode "When the Levee Breaks" and several years after post season 7 "Chosen"

Disclaimers: Characters and settings belong to Eric Kripke and Joss Whedon. "My Life Would Suck Without You" music and lyrics belong to artist and recording label. I own none of these.

Ch. 1 Revising the Ending

Dean stared in horror and disappointment as Sam turned his back and walked out the door. After a serious confrontation and fist fight, Sam had made it clear whose side he was on.

Dean swiped the blood from the corner of his mouth as he got to his feet. He heaved a deep breath as fury boiled through his veins. Feeling a presence in the room, he swung around and saw Cass in the corner, looking as brooding as ever.

"It's time Dean," he said succinctly.

Dean shrouded a frown of impatience and irritation.

"Time for what? Tea and cookies?"

Cass moved swiftly forward and deepened his brooding glare.

"Remember what I told you to do if you couldn't stop Sam."

Dean stared at Cass for a long minute before his frown hardened.

"Yeah and you can forget it Cass," he groaned.

Dean examined himself in the mirror as Cass hovered near him. He released another long sigh and shook his head.

"I said forget it Cass. I don't need help."

Cass gave him a doubtful stare.

"You do, it has been written."

Cass removed a folded up stack of paper from the inner pocket of his trench coat and tossed it to him.

"Chuck had a vision?"

Dean leaned against the dresser and started to rub out a painful knot in the back of his neck as he skimmed over the first page.

"The Prophet has foretold of your alliance with the Slayer in stopping Lucifer, you must seek her out now."

Dean quickly scanned over the pages until he stopped at the last sentence.

"This thing is incomplete," he grumbled. "It just says I...shift uncomfortably on the porch as the door swung open'...what happens after that?"

Cass remained silent as Dean shook his head.

"I think Chuck needs to do a rewrite," he grunted. "Or I'll rewrite it myself."

Dean pushed off the dresser and headed out of the room.

"You cannot fight what is written Dean," Cass replied flatly.

Dean paused at the foot of the parking lot and glared at Cass.

"That may be, but I sure as hell am walking into one," he snapped lightly.

Dean waved the pages of Chuck's story.

"Did Chuck give any indication on how this little tale ends? Do I get clocked in the face or thrown across a room?"

Cass remained characteristically silent. Dean frowned with annoyance as he wandered over to his car.

"I'll figure something out, like I always have. I'm not doing whatever Chuck has put in the cards."

As Dean unlocked the car, Cass hurled him against the hood and glared at him.

"If Lucifer is freed, there is more at stake than your pride Dean," he snapped.

After they stared at each other for a long minute, Cass released his hold on Dean and stepped back.

"Seek out the Slayer now," Cass replied sharply.

Dean straightened and shifted in his stance several times before he gave a disgruntled frown.

"Even if I wanted to, I wouldn't know where to look. The last number I had on her is out of service. We're not exactly on speaking terms. What makes you think she wants to hear anything I have to say?"

"You must get her to listen," Cass replied flatly.

Dean scoffed. "Yeah right, like she ever listened to me in the past."

"You are wasting time."

"Look Cass, I told you I have no idea where to go..."

Dean squinted as a sharp white light blanketed over him. When the light dissipated, he found himself standing on a strange driveway in the middle of the woods. At the end of the driveway was a small, grayish blue cottage style house. He shifted his eyes to the mailbox and noticed the flag was angled up. He popped the lid of the mailbox and fished out a stack of letters. After seeing the name on the letters, he frowned, shook his head and looked up at the Heavens.

"Cass, you cheater," he grumbled.

Dean crept down the short driveway and spied a look through the front window. The inside of the house was faintly lit by a few lamps through out the living room. He stumbled back from the window when he heard a voice echoing behind the door.

"Aw crap," he groaned.

When his feet inadvertently led him over to the porch, he found himself shifting in his stance...uncomfortably.

"God dammit," he muttered.

As the door swung open, he drew a deep breath in anticipation of what was about to unfold. He looked up at the sky.

"You better be right about this," he muttered under his breath.

Buffy bounded through her house collecting her purse and coat when her cell phone hummed softly. She ran through the living room and into her bedroom to snatch up her phone. She heaved a deep sigh as Dawn immediately began complaining without so much of a friendly greeting. She shuffled toward the door and cradled the phone against her ear. When she turned the knob and pulled the door open, she froze in her step.

"...and then you wouldn't believe what he said to me..." Dawn lamented.

Buffy completely tuned out her sister's rants over her boyfriend when she saw a ghost from her past. After staring for a very long minute, she blinked out of her astonishment.

"Uh Dawnie, I need to call you back."

"What? But why?"

Buffy abruptly hung up as her congenial mood shifted into a black one. Her brows furrowed into a frown as her heart stirred with a mixture of anger, pain and resentment.

Guess this means you're sorry
You're standing at my door

Dean stared back at Buffy as she shot him an icy glare. Though her hands hadn't curled into fists in preparation for a whopping punch to the face, he knew he was dangling towards one. What the hell was he supposed to say after all these years? As a tense silence lingered in the air, Dean shifted his eyes over the deep lines of irritation in her face, it was an expression he was very acquainted with, a reaction she had bestowed upon him often in the past when he pissed her off, which was more times than he could stand to count.

Buffy narrowed her eyes on Dean and racked her brain for a response. She couldn't even fathom the last time she had seen him and now he was on her doorstep, looking at her with those steely eyes and a brooding look, an expression he had shot her often in the past, an expression that had royally pissed her off, an expression that always ended up in a heated argument. What on earth would have brought him here? What could he possibly have to say that he hadn't already?

Guess this means you take back
All you said before

Buffy leaned in the doorway and stamped back the glimmer of hope that he had sought her out to make amends. After all these years of mutual silence, of moving on, of staying out of each other's lives, she had believed the scab on her broken heart had finally healed and faded. But now, as he shifted his stance on the porch, just the sight of him made her mind flash with memories, the good, the bad and the ugly.

Like how much you wanted
Anyone but me

Said you'd never come back
But here you are again

Buffy blew out a long breath as she drummed up the words to speak after several minutes of being dumbfounded.

"What are you doing here? HOW did you know where I was?"

Dean absorbed the harsh tone of her voice as her frown deepened. He could have tried to charm her with a dashing smile and a compliment but knowing their deep seated history and how he had burned many bridges with her, he decided to tread these waters very cautiously.

"I got a referral from a...higher authority," he said dryly.

Dean blew out a breath as she dipped her head down briefly, causing ringlets of blonde hair to fall around her face. Despite trying to wash away her memory over the past year and a half since he had been freed from Hell, he couldn't help but soak up the sight of her. She was still so damn beautiful, like a wine that got better with age. As he thought for a long minute, he had trouble remembering how things had gotten so bad between them until she hitched her head up to meet his eyes.

Deep beyond the scars guarding his heart, he felt a very distinct ripple of regret as he noticed her lips starting to quiver and her eyes looming with tears. As the ripples of regret grew into waves, he felt his rigid composure crumbling as a large dose of longing swept through his heart. Although his first instinct was to walk away, to maintain their agreement to stay out of sight and out of mind, to move forward and never look back, he had to admit, deep down inside, he had missed her more than anything in the world and he was relishing in her presence again. His second instinct was to throw his arms around her and kiss her like crazy.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah

Buffy blew out a long breath and roped in her composure as she felt her heart shaking with pain. She bit down on her lip and fought the tears that threatened to pour out. She had cried a thousand tears over Dean in the past and she vowed never to shed any more. She summoned all her Slayer strength to beat back the cloud of emotions that wanted to rain furiously down on him. She shook her head several times before she drew another deep breath.

"I'm so not in the mood for your vague and secretive crap," she said sharply. "So just get to the point where you tell me why you're here."

Dean saw the exasperation thickening over her face as she crossed her arms and stood tall despite her small frame. She narrowed her eyes even deeper and glared at him for a long moment. His mind flashed back in time when she had displayed that hostile look after disapproving of some plan or action he took without much regard for her feelings or insight. It was a look that, despite the blatant meaning behind it, still turned him on in his sick mind.

Buffy waited expectantly for an answer. After a minute, she noticed a very familiar spark in his eyes that made her blood boil with fury. It was the same spark that had flared in his eyes the first time they ran into each other in Browndell, Texas. She and Faith had tracked a

While Faith had been all too eager to work with the Winchester brothers on a vampire case, Buffy had her reservations, especially since the elder sibling had made constant passes at her throughout the investigation with cheesy one liners and innuendos. But as the four of them traveled around the country, investigating cases, seeing the havoc caused by a new big bad with Yellow Eyes, she had began to soften when Sam candidly shared the Winchester family history, against Dean's protests. After seeing the deep sadness and pain that had darkened his life, Buffy had developed a better understanding about the elder Winchester, relating to the hardships and sacrifices involved in protecting a younger sibling at all costs. Needless to say, she had succumbed to the attraction that had been brewing beneath the surface for quite some time.

So she traveled for nearly a year with the boys, seeking out the Big Bad until Dean had pushed her away in the only way he knew how, by lying and cheating instead of admitting his gravest concerns. He very rarely ever opened up to her voluntarily which was why they always ended up arguing and walking away from each other, swearing never to return.

When another minute passed by without a response, Buffy drew out an exasperated breath and shook her head.

"You know what, I don't care," she growled. "Whatever it is, I'm not interested so just get back in your precious baby and..."

Buffy briefly shifted her eyes past Dean and noticed a glaring absence in the driveway.

"Where's the Impala? Where's...Sam? What's going on?"

Buffy stumbled back slightly and shook her head again.

"No, no, no, forget I asked," she said.

She rubbed her face with her hands and drew out another breath. She had spent the better part of the year trying to overcome yet another volatile encounter with the notoriously distant and non communicative Dean Winchester. It had been horrible and shocking enough to grasp the reality that Dean had been torn apart by Hellhounds one year after he made that stupid deal, and it had been even more astonishing when nearly four months later, he had been mysteriously resurrected. Both of those revelations had come from one short phone call from Sam, as a personal courtesy. She had wrestled with the desire to pop into his life just to see how he was dealing with being back on earth. She had imagined he was coping in his own, silent and repressed way. After a few weeks, Dawn's teenage angst had served as a distraction and as time passed, a year and a half to be exact, thoughts of Dean had gradually drifted away. She never expected to see him ever again.

Buffy blew out a long breath of frustration as she struggled to get her muscles moving. She should have slammed the door in his face, or punched him in the face, which were her first instincts, but the longer he stood there, the more she studied him. The grating tension in her muscles started to dissipate when she caught a flicker of intense turmoil and pain in his eyes. She screamed at herself to walk away, to close the door, to move on but she found herself completely immobile at that moment, as if she were powerless in his presence, even after all the heartache he had blasted into her life.

You got a piece of me

Buffy stamped down on her quavering lips as her heart threatened to overpower the bitterness stabbing her mind as she stole a glance at Dean. For all the bad times they had been through there had been just as many, maybe even more, amazingly good times. In the rare moments when they were getting along, she had basked in the blissful feeling of being curled up in his arms, of swimming in the hope that she had found her kindred spirit, the one she wanted to be with in the end. She had believed she had moved on but the longer the silence lingered, the deeper her heart rumbled with the reality that the months without Dean had not compared to life with him.

And honestly,
My life would suck without you

Buffy forced air through her lungs as she felt the walls of her throat constricting.

"Just go away Dean," she snapped softly as she retreated into her house.

As she batted the door shut, Dean propped a hand out and held it open before he let himself inside.

"I need to talk to you."

Buffy flashed him a sour look.

"You've said enough," she replied caustically. "Now get out before I throw you out."

Dean heaved a breath as he saw the fury pooling in her eyes. As he edged a little closer to her, he saw the agony swirling behind the fury. She looked away from him and glanced out the window as a clap of thunder struck through the tense silence. As she stared out the window, Dean sunk his eyes to the floor for a minute. When he shifted his sights back on her, he sighed, feeling the beads of remorse stitching together in his heart when he noticed a single set of tears had rolled down her cheeks.

Maybe I was stupid for telling you goodbye

Maybe I was wrong for tryin' to pick a fight

Dean felt his eyes blurring with moisture and released a long breath to cap the turmoil raging in his heart. He inhaled another deep breath as he swallowed the dampness gathering in his throat.

"Look, I didn't come here to fight," he said. "I need...your help."

Buffy shifted her eyes from the window and stared at him in shock for a long minute before she scoffed.

"My god, do my ears deceive me? You're asking ME for help?"

She drifted back into her living room as thick sheets of rain began to pound against the window. All the muscles in her body became wrangled with stress as she perched on the window seat on the opposite side of the room and heaved a frustrated sigh. Her mind raced with a thousand different words all darkened with emotion. When she couldn't sort out her thoughts, her mouth opened and spoke from the rumblings in her heart.

"You never ask me for help," she noted with a deeply bitter tone. "You had the chance but you killed yourself instead."

I know that I've got issues

Dean blinked in surprise then sighed in disappointment, knowing he should have expected such a statement. She had probably been waiting years for this moment to rip him a new one. He watched the lines on her face harden into that 'I'm gonna kick your ass' expression before he glanced up to the Heavens and wondered if God and all his devoted Angels were rolling on the floor having a gigantic laugh right now.

He heaved another huge sigh as the moment he had avoided all this time had finally arrived. He ambled over to the couch a few feet from her and angled himself down on the arm. He returned her antagonizing glare.

"You killed yourself," he remarked flatly.

But you're pretty messed up too

Buffy scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"I didn't know you at the time," she pointed. "And it was a spur of the moment to save Dawn."

"Yeah well, I was saving Sam."

"But you had a YEAR to try and do something and you didn't," she said.

"You told me to stay out of your life."

"No, as I recall, you told ME to stay out of your life," she barked. "You pushed me away."

"I had to because I knew you would try to do something to save me and Sam would have ended up dead instead," he reasoned sharply.

Buffy drew out a sigh of aggravation as she gripped the bench seat.

"I told you that no matter what happened between us, I would always be willing to help you but you had to ask, I didn't want your brother to ask for you."

Dean swallowed back the bitter memory of swearing Sam to secrecy over the deal he had made with the Demon. Despite his request, Sam had divulged the information to Buffy in a desperate attempt to get him out of the deal.

"But you never did," she growled softly. "You never have. You would rather piss me off by picking a fight or making out with some bar whore rather than admit what you were so afraid of."

"What would have been the point in that? You would have just rubbed it in my face that I had no clue what I was doing."

"You NEVER do," she said pointedly. "You're a fly by the seat of your pants guy. You don't plan something for months. You bullshit your way through it most of the time and what does it leave you with? A MESS, a big stinking mess that I have to clean up without so much of an ounce of gratitude from you. Even when Faith and I swept across the West side trying to clean up the mess you made after Jake unleashed the Devil's Gate, you didn't say anything to me."

Dean shook his head in disbelief as frustration flooded his face.

"That's because we weren't speaking to each other in ANY capacity."

Buffy shot him a sharp look.

"That wasn't my choice or my demand," she snapped. You shut me out of your life – professionally and personally because you didn't want anything from me. So tell me just why in the hell should I help you now?"

Another tense silence dipped between them as Dean regarded her for a long moment. For a brief second, he didn't even recognize her. When she was happy, her eyes shined with excitement and her mouth curved into a smile that used to warm him to the core. As she caught his eyes, he saw an intense flicker of anguish that made his heart tremble at the emotional damage he had inflicted upon her.

She shot her eyes away as he noticed another single set of tears escaping. Dean heaved a deep sigh at the mess he had made in her life. With the destruction of the last seal looming in the near future, with his trust in Sam slipping further away every day, with the weight of his responsibility breaking his back, all he wanted in that moment was to take comfort in the one thing he wished he still had, because without her, he really had no hope in anything.

Either way, I found out I'm nothing without you

As he felt the shell around his heart fissuring rapidly, he reflected upon their rocky relationship. He admitted to provoking arguments and pushing her away when he couldn't handle the gloom of the fight against the Demon, but beyond the madness, beyond the dark clouds in his life, were moments he had touched true happiness, simple moments he treasured, like when she flashed him an appreciative smile after he went out and got her a meal at a godforsaken hour because she was starving, or when he, in very rare times, saved her ass instead of vice versa. He saddened at the reality that he would never create more moments like those, and he only had himself to blame.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah

Buffy deepened her agitated glare when Dean fell into that brooding silence that always drove her crazy.

"Will you answer me before I seriously hurt you?" she growled.

Dean struggled to rope in his composure but found he was sinking fast into the depths of longing. He had missed everything about her; from the crinkle in her eyes when she glared at him, to the little crease in the corner of her neck that he used to attack with his mouth, to the way her golden hair fell over her face.

You got a piece of me

And honestly,

He heaved another deep breath as he felt the weight of her glare. Despite all his efforts to push her out of his life and his heart, she remained in the deepest part of what was left of his soul, beaming strength and love as she always had when he had the privilege of being with her. And though he had convinced himself that he didn't care, that his life was better off without her, his heart ached at the sight of her. He shifted in his seat as he grasped the knowledge that after a year and a half of shutting her out, he desperately wanted to let her back in.

My life would suck without you

Buffy blew out a loud breath and rolled her eyes.

"Just go then," she remarked harshly.

Dean pulled his wandering thoughts into focus as he settled his sights on her.

"You're right," he said softly. "I've never asked you for help and we don't need to get into the reasons unless you want to hash it out for hours. So you know that if I'm coming to you for help, it's gotta be pretty damn important."

Buffy studied him for a minute before she got to her feet.

"I don't know if I can help you."

She slowly turned toward a hallway as her heart swelled with misery. Her lips quivered violently as she twisted around to regard him.

"I can't even look at you and think straight."

Being with you
Is so dysfunctional

Dean sniffed back the emotions threatening to assault his system.

"Right, I guess you're still mad," he replied coarsely. "I knew this was a bad idea."

He straightened and slowly crossed to the door.

"Answer me one question," she commanded softly.

Dean paused as he reached the door and turned around. Her eyes were darkened with a swarm of gloomy emotions as she stared at him.

"Why couldn't you give me one day, one hour, one MINUTE, just to say goodbye to you?"

Dean absorbed the kick to his heart as he saw the tears pooling in her eyes.

"Does it really matter now?"

Buffy rolled her eyes and growled, "Do you always have to dodge my questions? Can't you for once in your life tell me the honest to god truth or have you gotten so good at lying you don't know what the truth IS anymore?"

Buffy dropped her face in her hands and sighed in exasperation.

"Sometimes I wish I never met you," she groaned.

She had been such an idiot in letting her heart carry her into the positive moments of the past when pain was always the final act in her relationship with Dean.

Dean swallowed the sting as he yanked the door open. Thunder roared continuously in the black sky as sheets of rain hammered down on the ground. He paused just before he passed through the door and swung back around.

"I wanted you to hate me rather than waste your time mourning me," he admitted. "Because I didn't deserve you, not then probably not ever. That's why I pushed you away. So you could find a better man than me."

Dean flipped the collar up on his jacket before he pushed off into the rain. Buffy inhaled a deep gasp of disbelief and wonder as the door swung shut. As the rain pelted furiously down on him, he felt his emotional restraint unwinding with every drop. He quickened his pace as he ambled away from the house. When he reached the foot of the driveway, a bright bolt of lightning shot down from the sky and cracked a large tree in half, blocking his path.

Startled, Dean jumped back and widened his eyes before he frowned with suspicion. He looked up at Heaven.

"Cass, did you do that?"

Only thunder answered him as rain continued to bombard him.

"I can't just drag her into this!"

Buffy blinked out of her astonishment after several minutes. Her eyes slowly drifted to the door as her mind played back Dean's poignant parting words. A part of her thought he was just dishing her what he felt she wanted her to hear like he had tried many times in the past in his attempts to evade a sore subject of discussion.

I really shouldn't miss you

But another part of her, a larger part of her heard the rare honesty behind his words.

But I can't let you go

Buffy glanced at the door and gasped in panic before she bolted out of her house.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah

She squinted as rain clouded her vision. She scanned her driveway and saw only a large section of a tree seared in half. Her heart sunk with regret until she caught sight of Dean straightening on the other side of the tree carcass.

Forever united here somehow, yeah

Buffy pitched off the porch and took off running toward him.

You got a piece of me

When she reached the tree stump, she lunged into the air and jumped over the barrier. Dean swung around at the sound of a splash behind him and blinked in surprise as Buffy edged toward him.

And honestly,
My life would suck without you

"I said I was mad at you," she said.

She stopped a few short steps away from him as she finally let the tears flow.

"But I never hated you," she confessed. "I tried. I tried to hate you, to stay angry at you for leaving me like that but the more I thought about you, the more I missed you, and then when you came back, there were moments I wished I could be there to help you cope, wished you would let me in. I was mad that you didn't want me around when you knew, you KNEW that I was the one person who would understand what you were going through. As mad as I was at you, I never stopped caring about you. I never stopped loving you no matter what I did to try and move on and forget you, my heart wouldn't let me. It still won't let me."

When he saw a glimmer in her eyes, he hitched an eyebrow in doubt.

"What are you saying? That you want to...try this again?"

"No..."

Her eyes drifted to the muddy ground for a minute before she glanced up at him.

"...Do you?..."

After exchanging a long stare, Dean released a short breath.

"No," he lied. "Because you know it always ends badly."

"Yeah, I know...but...maybe now...maybe it can be different..."

Dean shined a perplexed expression. "So...you do?"

"No...maybe...I...I don't know."

Her eyes glistened with tears as conflict riddled her face.

"You're right it always ends badly...it does...it's just...oh screw it."

Dean blinked in surprise when Buffy suddenly jumped up into his arms. He instinctively caught her as she wrapped her legs around his waist and gazed down at him. After a very brief exchange of amorous looks, they kissed each other hard and fervently for a long minute.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah

Buffy parted from Dean very briefly to steady her breath. She swept a finger across his cheek to catch a tear as it flowed down his face. For the first time in a long time, she had seen the guy she had fallen for all those years ago. As she gasped softly in relief, Dean caught her mouth and kissed her for what seemed like an endless moment.

You got a piece of me
And honestly,
My life would suck without you

Buffy pulled away for a second and heaved a breath.

"Let's get out of the rain."

She dropped to her feet and snatched up his hand to guide him back to the house. Once inside the house, Buffy shuffled over to the fireplace and picked up a fresh log from a basket. She tossed it in and started to get a fire going when she felt a distinct sensation tingling through her neck. Dean pushed away the locks of her matted hair from her face and swiftly started to feast on the piece of flesh between her neck and collarbone.

Buffy felt her eyes rolling back in her head as her lower body tightened with arousal.

"Hey, will you quit that? We really should talk a little more..."

Dean answered by peeling off the cardigan sweater that had been plastered to her body. She shivered with pleasure as he continued his assault on her neck.

"Dean...we really do need to...talk..." she said breathlessly.

Dean answered again by snaking his hands over her shoulders and down the front of her soggy shelf tank. Buffy let out a soft gasp when his hands traveled beneath the waistband of her khaki slacks. Her eyelids fluttered shut as his fingers danced over her hips. She let out another soft gasp as her body tingled with desire and her senses began to dull.

"We should ttttalk...later..." she moaned softly as she swung around to face him.

As he worked his mouth up her neck, he planted a hungry kiss on her lips. Buffy moaned through her teeth as she yanked off his rain soaked jacket. Dean hooked an arm around her waist and gently settled her down on the rug next to the fireplace. After they pushed each other's clothes away, they exchanged a long, deep gaze before they began to make love by the crackling fire.

Shortly after he bonded with Buffy, Dean drank in the feeling of all that he had missed about her. He closed his eyes as she affectionately stroked his face before taking his mouth in a tender kiss. The cold, empty void in his heart quickly filled with her love and warmth. When he opened his eyes, he looked down at her and treasured the reality of being with her again.

'Cause we belong together now, yeah
Forever united here somehow, yeah

You got a piece of me
And honestly,
My life would suck without you

While the thunderstorm raged outside, Buffy and Dean completely lost themselves in each other. It felt like time had never passed, no harsh words had ever been said, no pain had ever been inflicted; they were just two lovers, two friends who were drifting and climbing toward the peak of happiness.

After a couple more rounds throughout the house, Buffy snuggled against Dean as they burrowed under the covers of her bed. She rested her chin on his shoulder and regarded him with a loving, dreamy smile.

"I almost forgot why I actually didn't mind breaking up so often," she said softly.

Dean blinked in awe when he felt the corners of his mouth turning into a distinct expression that had been long absent from his life – a smile - brought on by a genuine feeling of contentment.

"Yeah, me too," he conceded.

As they caught eyes to exchange a long look of appreciation, they shared a deep kiss. After a very long moment, they broke away and shifted deeper under the covers. Buffy brushed her index finger along his jaw and chin as she drank in the sight of him. When she saw several cuts on his face, she shrouded a look of concern.

"Who did this to your face?"

Dean blew out a long breath as his contented mood started to lift away at the thought of Sam. Buffy studied his quiet reflection and began to wonder if he had learned from his mistakes. After another long bout of silence, he heaved another breath and pushed himself up against the headboard.

"Sam," he answered softly.

Buffy blinked with shock. "What? Why?"

"I told you earlier if I was showing up here after all this time, it was for a pretty important reason."

Dean inhaled a deep breath before he began to update her on all the events leading up to the present day, including the warring Angels and Demons, Sam's relationship with Ruby and the sixty six seals. After almost forty-five minutes of summarizing, Dean reached the circumstances which brought him to Buffy's doorstep. When he finished imparting the gritty details, he watched as Buffy shined her shock. She sat up against the headboard as the shock thickened on her face.

"My god Dean...you really do make a mess of things," she remarked softly.

She shook her head in amazement.

"So this Chuck the Prophet had a vision that you and I..."

She flashed him a knowing look.

"No, all he saw was me standing on your doorstep. I guess the rest just wrote itself."

"Oh. So you came here to try and seduce me into kicking the devil's ass?"

"Uh, you kissed me first," he replied.

"...Yeah, I guess I did. Old habits die hard, huh?"

Her eyes drifted over him and stopped on the celestial handprint. When he saw the look in her eyes, he let out a breath.

"Are you going to ask me about Hell? Because I really don't want to think about it."

Buffy pulled her knees into her chest and drew an empathetic look.

"You were gone four months...so that's about forty years...you don't have to tell me now but I hope that you'll talk to me, especially when things get bad I mean, you shut me out of your life and look what happened, Lucifer's hovering on Earth's doorstep."

She raked a hand through his damp hair.

"You see? This is what I've been telling you all along, never let a guy do a Slayer's job," she teased lightly.

He drew a faint smile as the cordless phone on her bedside table rang. Buffy picked up the receiver and winced when she saw the caller ID.

"Oh god, it's Dawnie, I hung up on her earlier...she's going to be pissed."

"Gee, I wonder where she gets that from."

Buffy stuck her tongue out at him as she put the receiver back on the unit.

"I'll let the machine pick it up. This is more important right now. You have a plan?"

"Do I ever?"

Buffy drew an amused grin as she rolled her eyes.

"So, are you in?"

Buffy settled back down onto the bed and curled up against him.

"I kicked the First evil's ass, Lucifer should be a piece of cake," she cracked.

"I wasn't really asking about that, but that's good to know," he said.

Buffy shot her eyes up to Dean and studied the expression on his face.

"Oh."

She heaved a deep breath.

"As long as you talk to me, as long as there are no more secrets, no more lies, than...yeah, I'm all in. So, what now?"

"Well, we didn't christen that back office yet."

Buffy looked at him in wonder before she giggled.

"You know that is not what I was asking. Still have a one track mind huh?"

Dean shrugged.

"Have we finished making up? Because I think the storm is dying out."

Buffy clutched him tightly and feigned an intimidating glare.

"You walk out that door again Dean and I swear I will make my exception of no killing humans."

"I meant, I'm starving and I need to fuel up before we go for another ride."

Buffy blinked a few times before she burst out laughing.

"God I missed you," she said.

Buffy climbed up on top of him and kissed him madly.