"Dean, come on!" Sam raced through the trees, ducking under branches, his eight-year-old legs carrying him effortlessly over the small obstacles in his path, his laughter trailing behind him. He broke through into the clearing where what was left of a long-abandoned farm stood under the gray November sky. "Dean!"
"I'm coming, Sammy, chill!" Dean ran up beside him, and they stood there for a moment, then Dean gave his brother a crooked grin and slapped him on the back, taking off again to where the run-down, weather-beaten barn still stood, even though it had a decided lean to the right.
"It's still here, Dean!" Sam went to the corner where the remnants of a makeshift fire pit stood, a couple of cobbled-together benches nearby. There were a pair of old water guns on the floor and an ax with a broken handle stood against the wall. A beat-up old wire spool stood on its side, and held several ragged and dusty old Batman comics and a package of Oreos that made even Dean turn up his nose.
"Man, those can't be any good."
"Yeah, but our hideout is still here. Cool." Sam plopped down on one of the benches, looking wistfully up at his older brother. "Can we start a fire, Dean? Can we stay for a while?"
"Sammy, it's almost dark already. Dad'll be pissed if he finds out we went outside of the fence, you know that. Maybe if he leaves us here with Bobby for a while, we can come back. Okay?"
Sam hung his head, disappointed, and finally nodded. "Okay."
They walked out of the barn, the joy sucked out of their little excursion. Dean turned to head back toward Bobby's, but Sam grabbed his arm to stop him. "Sam, what?" he said impatiently, and turned to see what the problem was. Sam was pointing back towards the barn where a little girl, about Sam's size, sat huddled against the side of the building.
Dean approached her, noticing that she was wearing a t-shirt, but no jacket in the November chill. She was shivering, her arms wrapped around her legs, and he could see that her feet were tucked into a pair of ragged tennis shoes with no socks, and her jeans were well-worn, with holes in the knees. She looked up at them, her big, blue eyes frightened, but she didn't move from her spot.
"Hey. I'm Dean, this is my brother, Sam. What's your name?" The girl looked up at him, but didn't answer, and he tried again. "Are you okay? Do you need some help?"
She shook her head emphatically back and forth, her dark hair falling into her face. Her breathing had quickened, and Dean hunkered down in front of her, moving slowly to avoid frightening her any more than she already was. "Do you live out here?" he asked quietly, and she pointed to the west, then brushed her rather wild hair out of her face before hugging her knees tight again. "Do you want us to take you home?"
"No!" Her voice was on the edge of panic, and Dean held up a hand, trying to calm her down.
"Okay, okay! You don't want to go home. But you're gonna freeze out here. Don't you have a coat?"
She stared back at him for a moment, then looked down, speaking in a quiet, timid voice. "It's at home. I didn't have time to get it. Dad said to get out, and when he says to get out, I have to go right away."
Dean's brows drew together in a frown. "Why does he make you leave? It's cold out here."
"He gets mad, and then I have to leave. And when he goes to sleep, then I can go back inside." Her eyes were big and frightened, and Dean's twelve-year-old sense of injustice was firing up inside him.
"Sounds like a real asshole, your dad." He stood up and turned to where Sam was standing, watching the exchange. "Sammy, I want you to go back to Bobby's. Grab my rifle and set it outside the fence, and if Dad asks where I am, tell him I saw a deer and I'm tracking it. Got that?" Sam nodded, looking at the trembling girl, still huddled by the barn.
"What are you gonna do, Dean?"
"I'm gonna build a fire so she doesn't freeze to death, okay? Now go, Sam, before we both get caught." Sam turned to do as his brother said, but turned back again, unzipping his jacket and pulling it off. He walked the few steps to where the girl sat shivering, handing it to her.
"Here. I have another one. You can give it back later." Then he turned, glancing at his big brother before taking off on a dead run back towards the salvage yard.
"Put that on. I'm gonna get some wood, build a fire. That should help you stay warm until you can go home." The little girl stood up, putting Sam's still-warm jacket on and zipping it up, closing her eyes at the pleasant warmth, then looking up at Dean. "So, if I'm gonna build you a fire, at least you could tell me your name."
"I'm Tiara."
-
"Dean?" Jody Mills shouted out her window, pulling up across the road from where the Impala was parked. She got out and walked towards him, a big smile lighting up her eyes as he turned around, surprise on his face.
"Jody." She walked into his arms and they hugged each other affectionately. Dean looked down at her, his eyes as green as ever, crinkling at the corners as he smiled, and Jody shook her head.
"How is it fair that you just keep getting better-looking every year?" she teased, laughing at his shrug and the smirk on his face that brought back memories of a much younger Dean. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"
"I don't know. Sammy and I used to come over here, sneak out of Bobby's place. We had our own hideout in that barn. Can't believe it's still standing."
"Yeah." Jody sobered, looking towards the salvage yard. "Are you here for the estate business?"
Dean's eyes followed the same path, and he nodded. "Yeah, Bobby's affairs are finally all settled. The property's up for sale. We thought we should be here, you know?" Dean kicked at a rock, looking back up towards the fence, which was badly in need of repair.
"Doesn't seem right, Jody."
She laid a hand on his arm, giving it a squeeze. "I know, hon. It doesn't. But what can you do? Unless you and Sam want to build a house there. I suppose you could put a modular in, at least you'd have a home base."
Dean sighed. "We've kind of got a home base now, in Kansas. I guess we'll see what happens." They strolled slowly towards their cars, and Dean stopped as an all-but-collapsed little house came into view. "Hey, Jody. Do you know what ever happened to the girl that lived in that house?"
Jody looked that way, her brow furrowed in thought. "The Denning house?" She closed her eyes, trying to recall. "That's the one whose daddy ran off, abandoned her, right?"
Dean stared towards the house. "Yeah. That's what I heard."
"Not sure. He was as worthless as they come, that's all I remember." She hugged Dean again as they reached the Impala, then smiled up at him once more. "Well, tell Sam hello. Don't be a stranger, okay? Call me sometime before you leave, maybe we can have a couple of beers."
Dean nodded, smiling. "We'll do that, Jody. Catch you later." Jody waved as she drove off, leaving Dean standing with his hand on the door handle. He turned one more time, looking towards the dilapidated little house for a moment before getting in and firing up the engine, heading back to the Sioux Falls motel where Sam was waiting for him.
-
"What are we gonna do with this stuff, Dean?" Sam asked softly. They stood inside the cavernous garage, looking over the huge collection of tools and equipment there, and it was overwhelming.
"I don't know, Sammy. Have a sale, I guess, what else do people do? Unless you want to keep the place. It's just, we have the bunker now, and it's two states away from here. I don't know, man." Dean looked over the building, still picturing Bobby working on a car, or standing with his coffee cup in hand as Dean worked on Baby's engine. There was just too much of the man here, the man who had practically been a father to them.
Sam turned towards him, his mouth open to speak, when they both heard a voice from outside. "Anybody here? Hello!" Dean opened his jacket, reassuring himself that the demon blade was in its place, then walked to the door, looking around the frame to see a woman standing in the middle of the yard, near where the Impala was parked.
"Can I help you?" he called out, stepping out into the partial sunshine, and she turned around, eyes a little wide with surprise. Then she smiled, coming towards him with her hand out.
"Hi! I was hoping someone was here that knew about the sale of the property. Are you the owners?" she asked, looking from him to Sam, who was now standing behind him, and back to him as he shook her hand.
"Umm, yeah, I guess we are. You interested in buying it?"
Her smile brightened. "Well, see, that's the deal. I'm very interested in it. But I don't have a lot of money. I'm looking for a spot to build a...well, a kind of homeless shelter. But with this garage and salvage operation out here, I figure we could put a few people to work as well."
Dean nodded, then looked at her, a frown forming between his brows. "Do I know you from somewhere?" She had the biggest, bluest eyes he'd ever seen, and somewhere in the back of his mind, his memory was nagging at him.
Her smile faded a little as she gazed back at him, and a strange look crossed her face. "You're not..." She backed up a step. "You're not Dean, are you?"
He looked back at her, a little wary. "Yeah. Dean Winchester, and this is my brother, Sam. And you are..."
Her bottom lip caught in her teeth for a moment, and she ran her hand nervously through her dark hair, the sun giving a glint of auburn to the shining strands. "I'm Tiara. Tiara Denning. You saved my life." Dean stared back at her, his eyes widening a little, and she looked down for a moment. "You know, the night you found me by the barn? It was so cold, and Sam gave me his jacket, and you started a fire to keep me warm until I could go home." She looked into Dean's eyes again, and he nodded slowly, breathing a small sigh of relief.
"Yeah, yeah, I do remember. Wow, I never would have guessed it was you. You, uh...you look great."
"Thanks. You guys, too." She blew out a nervous breath before continuing. "So, can we go get some food, maybe talk a little? Catch up? And then maybe we could talk about how much you're willing to take for this place?"
Dean nodded. "Yeah. Sure. We've gotta lock up here, then we could meet you. The cafe on the way into town okay?"
She smiled, nodding in reply. "Yes, great. I'll meet you there."
-
They chatted over burgers and fries, and Tiara told them she had just returned to Sioux Falls from out in Indiana where she helped run a place like the one she wanted to build. She had inherited some money from an uncle, not a lot of money, but enough to hopefully make her dream of helping down and out people come true. Sam took care of most of their side of the conversation, and Dean caught himself watching her smile, the way her eyes lit up when she was excited about something, trying to reconcile that with the little girl from years ago.
Sam got up and headed to the restroom, and Tiara leaned in towards Dean, putting a hand on his arm. "He doesn't know, does he?"
Dean's jaw clenched as he looked down at the table, then back into her eyes. "No. Nobody knows. It was just us and Bobby, and now Bobby's gone."
"I've wanted to thank you for so long..."
"Don't thank me."
"Dean, you saved my life." He pulled his arm back from her touch, picking up his soda and draining it, and she sat back in her chair.
"Okay. You don't want to talk about it. I understand." She watched his face, the set of his jaw, the way his lips were pressed together, and she wished she could put her hand on his cheek, soothe away the guilt she had seen in his eyes for the second he had actually looked at her. "Whatever's going on in that head of yours, Dean...you're a good man."
He looked up at her, snorting softly. "You don't know me, Tiara. You never knew me. We just happened to run into each other a couple times when we were kids."
She shook her head. "Nope. You don't just 'run into' people in your life, Dean. And I read people pretty well. My life started off pretty rough, but it's helped me with that gift. You were put into my life, and you've been my hero since that day you found me by the barn. I'm sorry, you can't change my mind." Sam came walking back to the table then, shoving his wallet into the back pocket of his jeans.
"And there's my other hero. I never got to thank you for giving me your coat that night, Sam. So thank you."
Sam ducked his head, an embarrassed smile making his dimples wink. "Hey, you were freezing." He looked to Dean, gesturing towards the clock. "I almost forgot, but we have to meet the realtor in ten minutes, Dean."
"Oh, yeah." He stood up, and Tiara followed suit, grabbing her wallet from her purse, but Sam stopped her.
"I got it."
She smiled, and put a hand on Sam's arm. "Thank you, Sam. You really didn't have to buy my lunch."
"No problem."
She stood on tiptoe, kissing his cheek, and another little boy grin played across his lips. Then she came to Dean's side and did the same, giving his hand a brief squeeze before she backed away. "And thank you, Dean." She stared into his eyes, and he finally gave her a half-smile in return before she turned away. She reached the diner door and turned to look at them again. "I'll be in touch about the property."
They watched her leave, and Sam smiled again. "Well, didn't expect to run into her again. Ever."
Dean threw money for the tip on the table, then shoved his wallet back into his pocket. "Yeah. Well, let's see what the realtor has to say, get this over with." They headed out the door, the little bell above signalling their departure.