This is the second part to The Family Winchester. If you haven't read it then that's fine, if you have questions then I'll be more than happy to sum everything up for you :) Hope you enjoy it! If you'd like to leave a review then thank you! I appreciate it.
Get out of here. Change your name…Go to the suburbs and get that apple-pie life you've always dreamed of. Just don't come back.
Where do you want me to go, Dean?
I don't care where you go, Max. Just don't let me watch you die.
I opened my sleep induced eyes to see a large German shepherd sitting at my bedside, his tail wagging and his rough tongue sticking out. His wet nose leaned forward and nudged my face as I propped myself up on my elbow so I could put my hand out to massage his ear.
"Good morning to you too, puppy." I cooed collapsing back into the sheets, and looking at the year old canine from my pillow. If my brothers could see me now, I chuckled to myself. I knew Dean would never let me live it down. The dog nibbled gently on the hand I had pet him with. "Go wake Mr. Grumpy up, Ches." Chester rushed to the other side of the bed and I bit my lip to keep from laughing when Chris jolted up.
"Dammit Ches!" He wiped his wet face with the back of his hand. Now, Chester, in his fit of early morning ecstasy, jumped onto the bed and settled between Chris and me.
"He didn't mean it, Ches." I buried my face in the dog's neck before sitting up straight.
"You told him to do that, didn't you?"
"I did nothing of the sort." I tried but the guilty smile on my mouth gave it away and Chris groaned, falling back into his pillows.
"Get your fat ass outta here, Ches." He tried pushing the Shepherd out of the bed with no avail.
"Chester," I yawned, poking the dog's neck gently. "get down." Chester readily obeyed, carefully stepping over my stomach before jumping off of the gray comforter and sitting neatly on the wooden floor. Chris threw an arm around my waist, placing his head against my chest. Ches charged forward once again, wanting in on part of the action.
"Get lost, Chester." Chris pushed the dog away. "She's mine."
"Man, Ches, you're getting shot down left and right," I laughed, entwining my fingers through Chris' hair. Chester barked like he understood every word I had said then whined as he put his heavy head on my lap.
"It's Saturday, right?" Chris mumbled, absently playing with a lock of my loose hair.
"Yeah," I whispered, running my fingers over the stitches in his upper arm. The vamps we had tracked down last night were some relentless bastards but we managed to get heads to roll nonetheless. I stretched out my sore legs and kicked off my hot socks.
"I have to go to loony town today." Chris rubbed his eyes with the side of his hand.
"Sociology major," I scoffed playfully, smiling down at his mocha colored face. "Did you sleep?"
"Yeah," He sat up just to pull me closer against him. Suddenly, Chester jumped up, sprinting toward the front door just as there was three abrupt knocks. I ran behind the dog, pulling at his collar to answer the FedEx delivery man who I spied through the peep hole. There was a shrill whistle from the bedroom that sent Chester tearing back.
"Miss Campbell?" The man dressed in a brown delivery jacket peered through the half open door.
"Yes?" I glanced at the box in his hands but was handed a clipboard to sign. Quickly scribbling my name on the dotted line, I cocked my head with curiosity when I was handed the package.
Closing the door with my heel once the man had turned his back to me, I weighed the box in my hands.
It wasn't heavy to say the least. There was a swishing sound within as I shook it from side to side. Nearly falling over Chester as he dashed into the kitchen, I stood trying to slice the packing tape with my fingernails before Chris handed me a penknife. Eagerly folding back the ears of the box, I pushed away the bubble wrap and pulled out a CD, John Paul Jones' rune was elegantly drawn with permanent marker on the front of the disc. Chris looked inquisitively over my shoulder.
"Hey, Winchester," Ash grinned on the computer screen after I had slid the CD in. "heard that your last name was Campbell now. How'd I know that, you ask? Well, I did this whole fancy thing with coding I stole from Zuckerburg—who is an asshole, by the way—and I found your beautiful face in some security cameras in Nebraska. I also saw you exchanging some sweet words with Chris Fenley. So, I tracked down all his license plates and voila! Heard you two were a couple now. Best of luck to ya." Ash's face spontaneously darkened as he glanced over the camera, his eyes filled fear and a bit of paranoia. I swore I heard distant barking in the audio. "Max, babe, we've had some good times but if you're watching this then that probably means I'm dead. But, don't worry, baby, I'll be fine. Whatever you do, stay under the radar. This is not the time to be showing that pretty face of yours. Oh, yeah, Fenley, take care of her. 'Cause I think she's the only thing that I had. I'll see you on the other side, Max." The screen went blank as the replay button appeared. The room was dead silent as I ejected the CD quickly and snapped it into two. If Ash warned me to maintain a low profile then I'd leave no track of it. Chris watched quietly as I burned the disc over the fireplace.
"You dated Ash?" He asked skeptically.
'Yeah," I muttered darkly, keeping my eyes glued to the burning plastic. "in college." Chester, sensing the low morale in the room, sat beside me as I squatted over the fire and snuggled against my forearm with his warm head.
"I should get going," Chris began for the shower.
"I'm sorry." I said standing and turning to look back at him. "You shouldn't have found out like that." He just gave me a smile that would make a lesbian fan herself.
"I'm looking after you, Winchester."
I found it quite ironic that Chris was a shrink. He spent hours six days a week listening to other people complain about their lives when their problems where nothing compared to the hell we went through. Saving people, hunting things…getting to shoot weird-ass creatures in the face. We hunters had a lot to complain about but most of us didn't.
Dressing in dirty jeans and one of Chris' old shirts, I headed down to where the Camaro was parked, Chester trotting close behind me. After I had opened the hood, I slid underneath the frame of the muscle car, fiddling around with the plug and loving the feeling of grease and carburetor oil on my fingers. Ches sat on the side of the vehicle, peering under the door to keep a watchful eye on my face as I basked in my childhood memories.
Taking a deep breath I turned to my side under the low frame, adjusting the pan beside my body so it would catch the drips of oil as I removed the filter. The black oil seeped out of the engine and landed loudly on the plastic pan. I remembered the day John Winchester taught me how to change the oil to the Impala. I remember the way my father taught me to check the filter to make sure the rubber gasket had come off or else it would stick to the engine and oil would leak. I missed my brothers then. I missed the way that Dean had always found a way to rub off some of the grimy, black oil on my face. I missed the way that Sam was always worried about me.
Through my reminiscing, I looked up hoping to see Chester but I didn't see his paws trotting around the back of the cars. Straining my neck forward, I saw that silly dog lying on his back at the front of Camaro, a large hand rubbing his chest and two pairs of large boots standing beside him. I rolled out from under the car frame, sitting up to squint at the mammoth figures standing in front of me, My eyes immediately met Dean's, who stood with his hands stuffed in jacket pockets and his mouth set in a firm line. Chester jumped onto all fours as Sam stood up straight, offering a hand to me. Ignoring my youngest brother, I stood and wiped my dirty, oily fingers on the old dish rag I had tucked into my back pocket. There was an awkward, strained silence before Sam began.
"Look, Max,"
"What do you want?" I hissed, catching myself at the last minute to remind myself that I really did miss them.
"We need the box you got this morning."
"Well, looks like you came here for nothing. I burned the disc Ash sent me." I disregarded the proud smirk that passed Dean's mouth. Sam continued,
"We don't want the disc." I started walking up to my condo, the last thing I wanted from Sam was small talk and sympathy. My brothers began following but stopped short under the irritated look I shot past my shoulder.
"Just Sam," I said quietly. A quick flutter of hurt passed over Dean's eyes before he started backing up to stand beside the Camaro with Chester. Sam looked between us, the wheels in his head starting to generate the hard understanding that it wouldn't be easy this time around to make Dean and I sympathico again.
I let Sam stand in the main room to soak in my new life to spew to Dean in the Impala while I secretly tried finding anything on the box that may be what my brothers were looking for. When I couldn't find any minute markings, I walked out of the kitchen and handed it to Sam.
"What are you planning on doing with an empty box, Sam?" Without a word, Sam pulled out the bubble wrap and opened the interior cardboard flap to pull out a silver coin. Taking it carefully from his fingers, I turned the thin mintage between my fingers and inspecting the double-headed women on one side and odd cuneiform on the other.
"Have fun with it then," I flicked the coin back to him.
"It'd have been too dangerous if you stayed with us, Max." Sam finally said when he was halfway to the door. His face was pained and I saw glimmers of tears in his green eyes.
"Sam, I'm in more danger without you." I whispered taken aback when Sam rushed forward and held me in a tight embrace, his chin resting forcefully on my shoulder. I could almost feel the imaginary teardrops falling against my back.
"You can take care of yourself, Max," He pulled away, walking toward the door but stopping once again to finish. "And as much as I hate to say it, I know Chris will take care of you too."
Then he was gone.
The Road So Far...