A/N: Hello again and welcome to another Lark story. I hope you are enjoying this character I have been developing in several other stories. I hope you will decide to come along for the journey. This one is picking up right after Lost In My Dreams and thank you Trucklady53 for the idea. Enjoy and would love to know your thoughts, please review. NC
Chapter 1
The sun was starting to set and dust was chasing away the day as Lark drove down the lonely highway. She was heading for Sioux Falls but before stopping at Bobby's she was going to call to be sure he didn't have company. It had been almost five months since she was sent into a dream world by a Djinn she was tracking and she had been flying under the radar trying to avoid the Winchesters and everyone else until she came to terms with everything. When she left Bobby's that day she had drove around aimlessly for a number of days until finally settling at a hunter friend's cabin to get her head back in the game. The place was isolated and she spent some time hiking, meditating, training and sorting through the memories from the dream world. She came to terms with seeing her dead parents alive and actually spending time with them. Supposedly she had been living with Sam for a number of years and the intimacy that entailed. What really left her puzzled was she never learned what had happened between her and Dean. It just wasn't there in her memories from the dream world and she could only guess at the reasons. She was embarrassed about being with Sam in the dream world because if she really had to choose one of the brothers it would be the older one not the younger. From their first meeting, she could feel the attraction toward him. This puzzled her why it happened that way, but she remembered the real Sam telling her it wouldn't all be good times. Lark allowed herself to grieve for the loss of her parents all over again, then worked on boxing up those emotions to let herself move forward. She knew the dream world was not real, no matter how much it seemed to be, but she had lived it in her mind and that was enough. She had stayed at the cabin nearly a month before deciding it was time to get back in the hunt. She found several hunts that she took care of and helped a couple of other hunters with theirs cases. She needed a place to crash for a couple of days to let her bruised and sore body heal after this last hunt and hoped to stay with Bobby since she was nearby.
"H'llo." Bobby said answering his cell. He didn't recognize the number and wondered how this person got his personal cell number. "Who is this and how'd you get the number?"
"Hi Bobby, its Lark." she greeted him trying not to sound too nervous.
"It's 'bout damn time you called me lass." Bobby fussed at her. "Was yer fingers broken or evidently ya didn't lose my number? I thought I taught ya better 'an that."
"I'm sorry Bobby." she said guiltily. "I didn't mean to worry you, honestly I didn't. I didn't have cell service where I stayed and I started back hunting and I honestly didn't think about it and I wasn't sure you'd want to hear from me..."
"'Course I wanted to know if ya were okay." he growled back at her. "Well don't let it ha'pen again ya hear me or I'll jerk a knot in yer ass. Where are you?"
"That's why I was calling, you don't have company do you?" she asked cautiously trying no to be too obvious.
"Naw, the boys are working a job in Kentucky, should be there a couple more days at least. They usually call when they're heading my way to make sure I'm home."
"Mind if I crash for a day or two at your place. My last hunt didn't go quite like it was supposed to. Gotta a little banged up."
"You know ya don't have to ask, yer're always welcome here. I told ya think of my place as your home too. Now get on over here."
"Thanks Bobby I owe you big time. I'm less than an hour away, I'll see you shortly." she said with a sigh knowing she was going have to face the brothers eventually and clear the air. Lark knew how she left it with the guys was not all that good. There were questions left unanswered that they deserved an answer to, and some she would answer but others, well...They would just have to remain questions with no answers.
"I'll leave the porch light on an' have some coffee ready."
"Don't go to any trouble for me. I'll see you in a few." Lark said ending the call and putting the truck back on the road toward Bobby's. It would be nice to be in a familiar place even if it was only for a few days.
spn
Pulling up to the house brought a sense of comfort and peace to Lark as she sat in the truck for a moment just looking to the front porch where Bobby, true to his word, had left the light on for her. She eased carefully out of the truck and went around to the back for her bag, being careful of her injuries. She locked the truck and headed for the front door to knock and waited for Bobby to answer.
"C'mon in lass it's good to see you." Bobby greeted her when he opened the door. "You made good time getting here."
"Good to see you too Bobby, thanks for letting me crash here." she replied smiling warmly to the older hunter as he gave her a brief hug pulling her inside.
"Got coffee in the kitchen and I heated some supper for you."
"You didn't have to do that Bobby, I could've made do with whatever's in the fridge."
"Ain't no trouble for ya. Now get in here an' sit yerself down." Bobby told her steering her to the kitchen after she dropped her bag at the stairs. He pulled a chair out from the table for her to sit down and went to the stove to pull a plate from the oven and pour a cup of coffee for her. "Here ya go, now eat up but be careful the plate is a little hot." he told her noticing she was favoring her left side and grimaced as she moved. "How bad ya injured? Do ya need some pain killers?"
"No I'm good, took some about four hours ago and its minor stuff, nothing to worry 'bout." she replied. "Man, I've missed this." she mumbled blowing across the rim of the cup before sipping a small amount. She picked up a fork to begin eating off the plate. "Not bad Bobby, new recipe?"
"You can thank Sam, thought I wasn't eatin' right an' made up some meals he froze for me. I swear that boy has too much time on his hands sometimes."
"Well thank you Sam." she said saluting the air in front of her. "So...How are the brothers doing?"
"You know how it is with hunters, always looking for the next hunt or laying low so they can heal from a previous hunt. They always asked 'bout you when they stop by or talk to me by phone." he said staring hard at her. "You ready to see them again?"
"Yeah, it's time." Lark nodded. "Can't dodge them forever, especially in our line of work. I kind of liked their backup."
"Good to hear that, thought I was gonna have to get rough with ya."
"No, I've accepted what happened and what I had to do. I've finally put it to rest and can move on now."
"Well I'm just glad ya finally came back around. I got an early run in the morning so I'm heading for bed. Just make yerself at home you know where things are. I won't be back 'til mid afternoon."
"Alright, I look forward to a little down time. Good night Bobby."
"'night lass." he said before heading off to his bedroom on the first floor leaving her alone in the kitchen.
Lark finished the food and took her dishes to the sink to wash and put away. She found a bottle of water in the fridge to take with her and headed upstairs. She saw Bobby had put fresh sheets on the bed in the spare room she used and was grateful. Lark sat her duffle down and rummaged around for some sleep clothes deciding she might feel better after a hot shower.
spn
The hot water hit her bruised body and Lark winced in pain at first, drawing in a deep breath as she stood under the spray letting it loosen her stiff and bruised muscles and joints. She pushed her hair back out of her face as the water washed over it. Taking her shampoo, she washed her hair and then soaped down her body carefully cleansing the scraps she had on her legs and back to be sure they were clean. Once she was done and towel dried herself, Lark stepped from the tub and looked in her bathroom bag for the salve she had made to go on her scraps and bruises. Lark had perfected this mixture over the years making it very useful for this type of injuries. She had trained herself in first aid by reading, online research and taking a number of day classes on the subject. She could treat just about any injury that didn't involve major surgery. Lark had set up two kits for herself, one for minor first aid and another, her surgical kit, for the more serious injuries that needed stitches or worse. After taking a few pain pills, she headed for bed thinking it never felt so good to be in familiar surroundings again and not having to worry about other guests making noises or having a check out time. She settled into the mattress and listened to the familiar sounds of the house settling around her as she let her mind drift away into sleep.
spn
The next two days went by faster than Lark could imagine. She slept in and was lazy the first day at Bobby's doing some laundry for both of them and cleaning out the fridge. They threw together leftovers for supper that night and talked about hunts and any new information that would be useful for both of them. The next day Lark made a run into town to restock Bobby's supplies to pay him back for letting her stay there. She cleaned the kitchen and living room and made a nice casserole with a salad for their supper. Bobby was delighted to have someone else cooking and enjoyed the meal and company immensely. He insisted that she didn't have to do all that, but that didn't stop her. They watched a little television that night before heading on to bed.
The next morning dawned cool and dry as Bobby and Lark ate breakfast before heading out to the garage to work on some cars. Bobby found she knew as much about cars as she did about hunting. He took advantage of that and let her help him work on the cars he had in the garage, getting them ready for be picked up. His garage gave him another resource for income along with the salvage business since hunting didn't pay for itself. They had been out in the garage all morning working and he paused to look over at the young woman who had found a special place in his heart and watched her put in a water pump. She had streaks of grease down one cheek and sprigs of hair hung from the pony tail she had carelessly pulled up out of the way. She was the third kid that he adopted over the years, the two Winchester brothers being the first. They may not be related by blood, but that didn't mean they weren't family. Those three young hunters were the closest thing to family that he had and he did his best to look after them.
"You 'bout done over there?" Bobby called to her as he wiped his hands on a rag.
"Give me five more minutes and I should have her running." Lark answered back looking over at him with a smile.
"I wanna thank you lass for your help on these cars. Why don't we clean up and go have a late lunch in town my treat for payment?"
"Awe Bobby, you know I don't expect any pay. Hell you're letting me stay in your home for free. This is the least I can do for you."
"I'll not take no for an answer we're going. Besides, I've enjoyed the company and we deserve a break."
"Oh alright you talked me into it." she said giving him a sweet smile. "It'll give me a chance to go to the thrift store and used bookstore while we're in town."
"Sounds good to me, I got some westerns to trade at the bookstore anyway."
"Alright, I'm done." she said straightening up and wiping her hands on the butt of her coveralls. "I'm gonna hit the shower and I'll be ready in say thirty-forty minutes."
"Right behind ya lass. I'll be ready." Bobby told her following her toward the house. He watched her walking in front of him and thought to himself, just by looking at her you would never guess she was a top notch hunter. Lark had turned into one of the best in his mind, right up there with his boys for that matter. He was glad she finally decided to come home and had come to terms with what happened to her.