I wake up to sunlight peeking through the curtains. "Shit," I mumble, realizing that Sam and Dean were probably up hours ago, and have probably left me here. I start to get up, but I hear the shower running in my bathroom.

Then I remember.

I laugh, for multiple reasons, but the most prevalent being all of the things I learned last night. The best thing I learned? Dean Winchester likes to cuddle after sex.

The shower stops. Realizing that I'm still naked, I quickly grab a hotel robe out of the closet and throw it on, tying it tightly around my waist. I reminisce on the feeling of Dean's hands gripping my waist, and smile broadly.

I try to tame my hair down some as Dean emerges from the bathroom. He's buttoning up his shirt when we make eye contact, and he stops. I watch him intently, no longer scared of openly staring at him.

"Good morning," he greets me smugly. "You've got about...30 minutes to be ready."

I feel a little taken down by his lack of sensitivity, but I get myself in gear anyway. I take a quick shower and throw on an outfit identical to yesterday's. While I'm brushing my wet hair out and drying it with a towel, Dean comes into the bathroom and stands next to me, fixing his own hair. I smile, finding an idea.

"Can I?" I ask, taking the styling product from him. I laugh at the fact that Dean uses products on his hair, but gives Sam so much shit for his hair.

Dean faces me, watching me with a small grin as I comb the cream through his hair with my fingers. When I'm finished, I make eye contact with him.

"What?" I challenge him.

"Nothing," he muses.

I cock an eyebrow at him. "Okay weirdo."

I move to walk around him, but he places a hand on my shoulder, catching my attention. Dean plants a quick kiss on my lips. "Last night was great."

"It was," I agree, winking at him with a smirk.

Snapping us from our little bubble, Sam knocks on the door and hollers at us. "Any day now, guys! We kind of have a case to work!"

"Unfortunately," Dean grumbles.

I follow him out into the hallway, where Sam waits, looking utterly unimpressed. "Next time we get a hotel, you two get a room that isn't next to mine."

"You're no fun, Sammy," Dean jokes.

I laugh at them, keeping myself out of the banter. Sam leads the way while Dean stays beside me.

"Hey," he mutters, "once we start getting into the case, I need you to be careful. Djinn are nasty creatures, alright, the last thing you need is djinn poison."

"I'll be careful," I vow.

Dean drives us to the site of the most recent killing, where he and Sam do the talking, like usual. I stand to the side, minding my own business, until I'm brought into the conversation.

"Who are you?" The police officer asks. "We don't let just anyone on the scene, you know."

"Yes, I know," I reply curtly. "I'm Agent Black, I work in evidence attainment. I'm supposed to try to find weapons or possible traces of substances left at the scenes."

The officer nods. "Alright, do what you need to."

Sam and Dean both release their breath they were holding. Sam eyeballs me nervously.

"Where did you get that from?" He asks.

"Thin air," I shrug. "It would've looked weird if you guys answered for me, so I covered myself."

"Fair enough," Sam nods.

The three of us look around the scene for a little while. I take the liberty of going through the dead person's room, finding out personal information. Her name was Leah, and she was a trainer at a gym here in St. Louis. Took classes at a community college. Lots of friends.

I go back downstairs and give Sam all the information I learned. He stops me mid sentence.

"Did you say she worked at a gym?" He asks. I nod. "What gym?"

"Smith's Strength and Training," I respond.

"That's where the other two worked," he says.

"Do you think the djinn is hunting people at that gym specifically?"

"It's possible. They feed off human blood, so maybe they prefer healthy victims."

"So maybe we should go look around there?" I propose.

"Yeah, I think so."

We grab Dean and head to the gym. As we enter, we're greeted by a cheery and exceptionally fit receptionist.

"Hi!" She greets us. "Welcome to Smith's Strength and Training Center, how can I help you all today?"

The boys flash their badges, and she becomes visibly nervous.

"We're here to investigate some recent murders, we were wondering if we could take a look around, maybe speak to a manager or owner," Dean says.

"Sure, I can point you to the boss's office," she agrees. Dean follows her down a hallway. They return shortly with a bulky, but aged man in tow.

"Doug Smith, I'm the owner here. I'm happy to help you all," he introduces himself and goes down the line, shaking our hands and giving us all a warm smile through wrinkled eyes.

"We'd just like to take a look at your security footage, if that's okay," Sam asks.

"Sure, sure! Follow me."

All three of us file down the same hallway and into a room with a bunch of screens and buttons. Doug holds the door for us. He gives me a firm pat on the shoulder as I walk past him.

"You take your time, let me know if you need anything," he says, then dismisses himself.

Sam and Dean sit down and start to sift through the video footage. After a while of standing over their shoulders, I start to feel a little tired and woozy.

"Hey, I'm going to go find some water, I'll be back," I excuse myself.

I find a small bay down the corridor with restrooms and water fountains. I'm not sure why I feel so tired, but maybe I didn't get enough sleep last night. After drinking some water, I start to feel a little better.

"Hey," Sam says from behind me.

"Hey, are you guys done?" I ask.

"You know, I'm starting to think there might not be a case," he says. "I can't find anything on the security tapes and I didn't really find anything at the scenes either. No blue goo or anything."

"Are you sure? Don't you think we should try a little harder? I mean, you saw the articles, blue handprints and liquid insides. That says djinn to me, Sam."

"Listen, Dean and I both agree that we should just call it and go home. Come on."

I frown, unsure of him, but I follow anyway. As I walk, Dean catches up to me and grabs my hand.

"I say we get back to the bunker so we can spend some more quality time together," he mutters.

I smile, blushing furiously. "Dean! Jeez, calm down."

He laughs and kisses me on the cheek. "If you want, Sam can drive home and I can keep you company in the back."

"If you want to," I shrug. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Just glad we don't have to hunt down a djinn, baby."

On the way home, I fall asleep in Dean's arms. It makes for a quick and comfy trip. Once we get there, Dean follows me to my room, like a puppy on my heels.

I stand in front of my bathroom mirror, brushing my hair, when he appears behind me and traps me in his arms. "Hi gorgeous."

"Hi Dean," I laugh. "What's with you? Why are you being so clingy?"

He places a kiss on my neck. "Just happy, that's all." Another kiss. And another.

"Dean," I stop him. "Take it easy."

Dean respects my wishes and steps back a little. He watches me in the mirror for a few minutes. I turn red under his gaze. He looks so fine when he focuses, especially on me.

"Mal," he muses.

"Hmm?"

"I love you."

I snap my head up, startled by his words. "What?"

"I love you."

"W-why?" I stutter. "Not, why, but why would you say that?"

"Just because," he shrugs.

Before I can question him more, a loud snap resonates in my ears. Everything — my bathroom, Dean, everything — starts to dissolve away.

"What the hell?" I whisper. Then I wake up with a start. I'm in a dim room. Strapped down to a chair. "Oh, Jesus Christ."

"Quite the opposite."

I freeze. I haven't heard that voice in months. Fear takes a vice grip on my throat. My words escape me. My father rounds the chair and stands in front of me.

"Hello, dear," he greets me.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I ask.

"The better question would be to ask what you're doing here," he says. "See, I've been keeping an eye on you for some time now. My dear daughter, betraying her own blood, for mortals. Even worse, the Winchesters." He sighs deeply. "I waited to see whether you'd come to your senses. I've been in your head this whole time, watching your internal conflict, waiting for the guilt to eat you alive. But it never quite did, did it?"

"Where are Sam and Dean?" I ask, trying to mask my terror.

"On a wild goose chase," my dad replies with a hint of humor lacing his voice. Doug walks around me to stand next to my father. "Having a few djinn on a leash really does wonders. This was the easiest trap I've ever sprung. Don't worry, I haven't hurt them. Yet."

Before I know it, my dad snaps his fingers, and Doug disintegrates.

"You leave them alone," I snap. "You've already got me. They don't deserve to be dragged into this."

"You dragged them into this the day you said yes."

Now the guilt starts to eat at me. "What do you want?"

"I wanted you to come back and fulfill your duties, but it's clear you won't be doing that willfully. So, I'm going to take you somewhere that you won't escape. You'll be the best example the veil has ever seen."

"Why can't you just let me go?" I ask. My voice begins to break; just when I was finding hope.

"You don't belong here. You have a rightful place, but you abandoned it. Now you pay for that. Earth is no place for someone like you." He pauses. "You know, I snuck into the Winchesters' minds a few times, too. You were quite the nuisance."

"Shut up."

"Truly, when you were sick? Dean wanted to put you out of your misery right there. Sam was tired of trying to force the horse to drink."

I don't reply. Part of me knows that it's just mind games, but part of me is worried that it's true.

By another snap of his fingers, my dad has relocated us. I'm in what seems to be a jail cell, and he's on the outside of the bars.

"Get comfortable, you'll be here a while."