I'm beginning to edit this! Her name is now Athena! Thank you for the patience!

Epigraph

"Being brave doesn't mean you aren't scared. Being brave means you are scared, really scared, badly scared, and you do the right thing anyway."
—Neil Gaiman

ONE.

It was just after sunset, where only the faint glow of light remained, the cold winds blowing over the treetops, adding to the eerie rustle of the oncoming dark. Clouds blocked the moon, but the sky was full of stars.

There was a shaggy looking, homeless dog trotting down the side of the road. Barely anyone was driving down the road and no one even noticed the stray. Perhaps no one was even missing her, she hoped however that someone was.

As she jogged passed a house, there was an unsettling feeling in her stomach. She stopped, perked up her large German Shepherd ears and turned towards the noise.

There was a brief scream, a yell and then the door swung open and a man ran out. She noticed he was tall, but nothing over average and he had a shaved head and a slender face. His eyes went one full color, presumably black, before rerunning to regular irises.

He sprinted passed her and to the other side of the street when two other men raced out of the house, shotguns in hand. The taller one had longer hair and almost boyish features, but it was hardened by his angry expression. The other had shorter hair and a chiseled-like face; however both looked young despite their frustrations.

The one they were chasing stopped at the side of the road and turned to the two, ready for a fight. The two raised their guns but the man — demon — ran forward in attack.

He was able to gain the upper hand quite quickly and disarmed both men. He grabbed the shorter one's throat while the other was groaning on the ground, trying to get to his feet.

The dog's ears flattened against her skull and she growled before running forward. She jumped and clamped her jaws down on the demon's forearm, which made him release his grip on the man.

The demon tried to shake the dog off but she seemed to bite harder. When he finally got the dog off, he opened his mouth wide and a stream of black smoke erupted from within him. The man, now free of the demon, fell to the ground, unconscious.

Both men got to their feet and looked at the dog. The dog's ears raised as she looked at them before she sat and watched them, curious.

Sam, the taller one, stepped forward but his brother grabbed his arm.

"It's just a dog, Dean." said Sam calmly.

Dean shook his head and practically shouted, "It probably has rabies, Sam! That shit's like Cujo, don't touch it!"

Sam rolled his eyes and kneeled down to get eye level with the dog. He smiled, reaching out and scratching the dog's head. "Hey, buddy."

The dog leaned into his touch and let out a sigh. No one had given her any contact in what had to be months.

Dean raised his eyebrows at the dirty German Shepherd, watching it go from vicious to gentle in a matter of seconds.

Sam reached for the red collar around its neck and searched for a dog tag while using his other hand to scratch its neck. When he felt the cool metal of a tag, he pulled it slightly so he could read it.

"It just says Athena, there's no numbers to call or an address. Nothing, just her name." Sam told Dean, looking up at him.

"That's great, really." said Dean sarcastically. "Now leave it alone before it attacks one of us."

Sam frowned, standing up. "I think she was just protecting us. Must've been a guard dog or something."

"Look how dirty it is," Dean said, gesturing to the tan coat that was darkened slightly by mud. "And it probably has fleas."

Athena cocked her head to the side, looking up at him. She looked insulted, if a dog could feel such a thing.

"I say we let her tag along. What harm could she bring?" Sam wondered with a shrug. "Besides, if we bring her to a pound, she'll probably be put down. And if we just leave her, she'll starve; look at her now, you can see her ribs."

"Harm? Oh, I dunno, she could attack us, give us fleas. Dirty up my baby." Dean grumbled the last part.

"Come on, Dean. She helped us—"

"She helped the demon get away." mumbled Dean with a frown.

Sam sighed, "If she hadn't attacked, we could'v—"

"We've had worse."

"Oh, come on." Sam complained.

"Fine." Dean groaned. "But you're taking care of it."

Dean turned, grabbed his gun from the ground and started towards the Impala, which was parked just down the street. He had noticed that the man was waking up and figured to just leave him be. He was too tired to do anything.

Meanwhile, Sam smiled down at the dog, who returned his gaze. "Come on, Athena."

Athena followed after Sam as he walked towards the Impala. Sam was surprised, briefly, at how trained she was and he figured she'd been a type of working dog or just trained well; but then again, what person — who cared enough to train her — would abandon her? Or give her tags with just her name?

Sam frowned sadly down at the dog who was walking next to him. She was dirty and hungry, so obviously she had been on her own for awhile and Sam could only hope she would warm up to him after all her time alone.

At the Impala, Dean was putting his shotgun in the trunk compartment and was making his way to the driver's seat. He watched Sam and Athena approach.

Just as Sam opened the back door to let Athena in, Dean spoke up, "Woah, woah, woah. You put something down or you both walk."

Sam sighed, knowing they didn't exactly have any type of blanket on them to put down at the moment. Sam took off his jacket and laid it down on the back seat and patted the seat to signal for Athena to jump in. She did and immediately laid down on his jacket and put her head down.

Her brown eyes watched Sam, with no hint of aggression but surprisingly, a glint of intelligence and knowing.

Smiling, Sam closed the door and got in the passenger side. He knew he would have to wash his jacket but he didn't really mind. He was going to wash Athena when they got back to the motel anyways, hoping Dean would ease up on his attitude towards her.

Back at their cheap motel, Sam snuck Athena into their room, not entirely knowing if dogs were allowed or not.

Upon entering, Dean collapsed on one of the double beds and passed out. Sam let Athena in and then ran an errand to the next door, all-night shop. He bought a small bottle of dog shampoo, which he was surprised he had found, a brush and decent, store-brand dog food. He bought two bowls too, all on a stolen credit card which made him feel a bit guilty.

But if he was going to keep Athena, he was going to need to take care of her; and wash her, if Dean was ever going to warm up to her.

Back at the motel room, Sam filled up the bathtub with warm water and let Athena jump in. He removed her collar and set it on the toilet seat, where a towel also laid.

He used a cup he had gotten earlier that once held coffee and wet her coat before using the shampoo and washing her. Athena seemed to enjoy it, which was a relief — Sam was partly worried she'd hate it and try to escape.

Perhaps Sam wanted the dog so bad because it was a sliver of normalcy — normal people had dogs, not hunters. Plus, she seemed like a good guard dog, which didn't really have a bad side and she, like most dogs, were good companions; man's best friend.

Once she was washed, Sam dried her with the towel, drained the water from the tub and cleaned up her collar. He also brushed her, since he knew medium-haired dogs needed to be brushed, not often but frequently.

Sam gave her some water before going to bed. Athena drank all of her water before laying down at the foot of Sam's bed and going to sleep.

In the early morning, while Dean was still asleep and Athena was watching him lazily, Sam did a bit of research of German Shepherds; finding that he'd need to take her to a vet, which was unfortunate but necessary if he was to guarantee her a safe "home" and healthy life with him.

If he ever returned to California to finish college, maybe then it'd be easier. But for right now, he was just going to have to deal with it.

Sam also read about what food would be good, that she'd need adequate training and playtime to burn up stored energy. So when Sam went out to get coffee and breakfast, he called to make an appointment at a vet for Athena and bought a bone, a chew toy, a leash (which he doubted he'd need), and a frisbee.

When he returned, Athena was by the door and wagging her tail, practically jumping up at him in welcome.

"Easy." Sam chuckled, setting his things on the small table in the motel room.

Dean emerged from the bathroom, hair still wet and he smiled. "Finally, I was starving."

Sam rolled his eyes and fed a cup of food to Athena. She ate gratefully and Sam started eating his own breakfast. His now clean jacket was resting on his bed, one of the first things he did that morning.

"I see you cleaned the dog." said Dean, with a mouthful of a bacon and egg breakfast sandwich.

She glanced up at him, almost insulted again, before returning to her breakfast.

Sam frowned, "She has a name, Dean."

"It's a dog!" Dean swallowed.

Sam rolled his eyes, picked up a sausage (something he requested strictly for her) from his plate and looked down at Athena, who had finished her breakfast. "Hey, Athena."

She looked up at Sam, noticed the sausage and sat down, tail wagging. Sam smiled and fed it to her. She took it and chewed it quickly, swallowing thankfully before laying down.

"I scheduled an appointment for her in an hour—"

Dean groaned in annoyance, "I can't believe you're actually keeping that thing."

"She's friendly and so far, I like having her around." Sam told Dean.

Dean sighed, "Right, well, we leave as soon as you're done."

"Fine with me."