Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural, I'm just borrowing them.
Chapter 2: Truth be Told
The ride to Aria's place was quiet. Without Aria having to tell him where to go, John pulled into the driveway and started down it at a steady pace, being as quiet as he possibly could. It didn't help them much though, because Markus was waiting on the porch for his daughter. The cocked rifle lay across his lap. Aria gripped Sam tighter.
"Stay in the car kids," John instructed and got out of the car, his pistol in hand. "Hello Markus, you son of a bitch."
"John Winchester. Everybody in Lawrence thinks you're dead," Markus laughed. "Course, I never did. Nah, you Winchesters are oh so stubborn. So are the Campbells. I suppose all hunters are stubborn as hell." John froze up and Markus started laughing harder. "You may have had to discover about the world of supernatural, but Mary grew up in it John." John was suddenly happy none of the children could hear what Markus was saying. Markus crossed the yard.
"You're an evil son of a bitch, you know that?" John growls.
"I know I am. I'm a demon after all." Markus's eyes turned black and he smiled sinisterly. John shot him point blank in the heart and bolted for the trunk.
"Dean, demon!" John barked as John grabbed a bag of salt from the trunk and opened it up. Dean leapt out of the car and shot Markus full of rock salt. John meanwhile was surrounding the whole car with salt to protect Aria and Sam. Aria gripped Sam tighter as Sam pulled out his own gun. He handed a long knife to Aria.
"You use that if he gets through to you," Sam instructed her.
"Okay Sammy. Be careful." Sam climbed out of the car with a salt gun in his hand.
"You're killing Markus, John," the demon taunted.
"How long have you been in his body?" John demanded as he grabbed a shotgun from the trunk.
"Oh, since the night Mary died I suppose. The boss wanted me to keep an eye on you, then you skipped town. But I knew you might try to contact Anita again, so I stuck around. Anita caught on, she knew about hunters and I didn't know she did. She tried to exorcise me. So, I killed her. She left me with that snot nosed little brat. So, I decided to make her life a living hell for kicks. Seems like I succeeded," Markus chuckled looking through the glass at Aria. Aria clutched the knife closer in her hand. It was a good six inches or longer. "I'll get you my pretty."
"Go to hell!" she roared. Aria had put it together. That definitely was not her father.
"Seems like your friends are going to send me there. If they can pin me down long enough to exorcise me that is," he cackled. John nodded to his oldest son who shot the demon again. The demon went down for a time and John pulled Aria from the car.
"Sam, Dean, take her in the house and get what she needs. Now, go," John ordered. Dean picked the twelve-year-old up and carried her into the house. Aria led them to her room and Dean pulled a duffle bag out of her closet. Sam and Aria piled her clothes in there along with anything she may need before Dean shouldered it and Sam grabbed hold of Aria's hand.
They ran back outside just in time to see John fly through the air. Dean shot at the demon but he flashed away and sent Dean flying into a wall. The demon flung his arm out, sending Aria flying into a post of the porch, her body hitting the porch with a resounding thud. She forced herself to her feet and walked toward him. She had to get to Sammy. The edges of her vision seemed black and her body was working robotically. Aria glanced at the knife in her hand as she neared Markus and Sammy. The demon grabbed Sammy by his throat and lifted him in the air. He looked at Aria.
"I'll deal with your scrawny ass in a minute," he growled. He turned away from Aria, the one thing he shouldn't have done. Sam struggled to breathe. Aria watched him try to pull a knife on Marcus. Then, Aria did something that no one expected. Aria raised both hands above her head and drove the knife into Markus's back, severing his spinal cord instantly. He dropped Sam and fell to the ground dead as a doornail. Aria stood there stunned even as black smoke poured out of Markus's mouth and streamed upward. John looked up at that time as Sam pushed himself off the muddy ground. Dean sat up from his place on the porch. They all stared at Aria.
"Nobody messes with Sammy," Aria whispered and Sam took hold of the dirty blonde. Aria cried on his shoulder and the elder Winchesters walked over. Dean took the knife out of Markus's back as the rain stopped pouring. Dean cleaned the knife off on the ground before handing it back to Sam who shoved it in his boot.
"Get her in the car Sammy," John ordered. Sam did just that as Dean hauled the duffle bag to the trunk of the Impala. John pulled the gas can out and went to hand it to Dean. Dean shook his head.
"Easier way this time around Dad," Dean said and motioned to the cigars on the porch. "I think the old stove on and lit cigar will work this time around." John nodded, his son was smart, John would give him that. John hauled Markus's body to his bedroom, lit the cigar, and put it in the ashtray next to the bed. The house was old, one flame and the whole place would catch fire. Dean made sure the pilot light of anything in the house was off before going to the kitchen. The cigar lit, it with some paper under it, the gas would ignite once it became the right mixture. He made sure John was out of the house and turned the gas on high. The old-fashioned stove had to be manually lit. Dean put a kettle of water on the stove and ran out of the house.
John backed the car off a good distance from the house and they waited. The resulting fire bursting out the window surprised none of them. The house was on fire, every inch of it, and nothing would remain. John pulled out of the drive and stopped halfway down the drive. It was dark out and John didn't have the lights running. John took a large rock and heaved it in the air, striking a tree that wanted to fall. The tree fell in the middle of the road and John climbed back in the car. He drove out of the drive and waited until they were a good distance from the drive before turning the headlights on. He glanced in the back seat. Aria was asleep with her head on Sam's shoulder.
"Dean, when we get in the motel room, prep the couch as a bed for Aria."
"Sure Dad."
"Dad, what's going to happen to her now?" Sam asked from the back seat.
"We're going to see Uncle Bobby and then I have a friend that will take care of her," John answered his son. Sam pulled a blanket up from the floor of the Impala and covered Aria with it. Aria was sitting on his lap with her head on his shoulder. They hit a bump and Aria turned her face into Sam's shoulder. She was obviously confused. Nobody could really blame the kid. John pulled the car up in front of the motel room and Dean entered the motel room to get it prepared for the dirty blonde. John walked around to Sam's side of the car as Sam wrapped the blanket around the blonde.
"All right Sam, help me get her into my arms." Sam eased Aria into John's arms and John easily moved her out of the Impala. Sam pulled her duffle bag out of the trunk as John walked into the motel room. Dean set a pillow down along with a blanket over top of that. John eased Aria onto the couch and he pulled the preteen's shoes off. Sam watched as John tucked her underneath the warm blanket.
"Sam, Dean, get some sleep. You have to go to school tomorrow. Sam, take your project in, say that she left her things with you if anyone asks. Do not let anyone know you know she's still alive. That fire should have burned everything enough that they won't fight but a few fragments of Markus's bones. They'll think her bones were destroyed in the fire," John said.
"What about you, Dad?" Dean asked.
"I'll get some sleep in a bit and keep an eye on the kid tomorrow." The boys went to their rooms but John didn't. He sat down in the chair across from the couch and waited. He would stay by the kid's side the whole time if he had to. And he was right to stay by her side. At half past midnight, the soft sound of whimpering woke him up. He opened his eyes and saw Aria curled up in a little ball on her side, clutching her ribs, and crying. Her eyes were half-open in pain. John thought back to the fight.
"Shit." John moved across the room quickly and put his hands on her shoulders. Aria looked up at him as John moved her into a sitting position. "Aria, is it your ribs?"
"They hurt. They burn," she whimpered with tears brimming in her eyes. John glanced at the boys' door when he heard the floor creak. Dean stood there, rubbing the tiredness from his eyes, and he looked at John and Aria.
"You all right Aria?" Dean asked.
"I think she broke more ribs," John answered. "I forgot she had been thrown into the porch."
"And those cuts are probably open again too," Dean commented. Dean put his hand where he knew the bandages were and his hand came away with blood on it.
"Aria," John said catching her attention again. She looked up at him with painful eyes. "I need to change your bandages and take care of these ribs again, okay kiddo? I need to take the bandages off I put on earlier."
"Okay."
"Aria, do you think you can stand being taken to a bed? That way we don't have to keep moving you to help with the bandages?" John asked her. Aria nodded and started to get to her feet. That didn't end too well she fell into John. Dean gingerly picked the twelve-year-old up and carried her toward his father's room. Dean set Aria on the edge of the bed as John turned on the light and brought the medical kit. Now they had a less likely chance of waking Sam up too. Dean helped Aria take off her shirt. She didn't bother to hold the shirt to her chest, she was wearing a sports bra in the first place, and she was steadily getting more comfortable with John and Dean. Dean started to unwrap her ribs as John removed the bandages on her cuts. Aria's fists were balled up at the pain. Dean pulled the last round of bandages off her ribs and offered her a hand.
"Just squeeze my hand when it hurts," Dean offered. Aria wrapped her thin fingers around Dean's hand. She squeezed in moderate pain and Dean put his other hand on her leg to offer comfort. He had enough of parental instinct in him from practically raising Sammy. Girls were a little different but nothing he couldn't handle. Dean was slightly surprised when Aria set her head on his shoulder. John was working as fast as he could but the pain still hurt like hell. Dean was contemplating waking Sammy up so he would be her shoulder to cry on but decided against it. John taped on the last bandage at that moment and Aria squeezed his hand tightly know that she wouldn't have that hand when John started to take care of her ribs.
"All right Aria, this is going to hurt probably worse than last time," John told her as he pulled out a fresh wrap from the medical bag. Aria held her arms up as John and Dean started to pass the wrap between them. They were both trying to do it as fast and as gently as they could. But it still didn't help much. She flinched periodically. A few gasps escaped her lips even though she tried to hold them in. John and Dean made eye contact. She was strong willed, her pain tolerance similar to that of a hunter's, but she was still a child. The last round around her ribs, John brushed her spine and she went rigid for a moment, the pain spasm sending her deathly still for a moment.
"Aria?" John questioned. She shook it off.
"I'm fine."
"The hell you are." John pulled the wrap away from the skin and saw the bruising on the kid's spine. It looked pretty painful. "We can't let you lay down on your back, or your sides for that matter."
"I'm awake. I'll watch TV."
"You need sleep," John said. "Dean, grab one of her shirts, the biggest one she has if you can. I don't want to constrict her breathing at all. I'll stay up with her and make sure she doesn't get any more hurt." Dean left the room for a moment and then returned with a large shirt that had to be her father's by the look of it. John smirked, he had given this shirt to Markus years ago, and Markus in turn gave it to his wife. John helped Aria slip on the shirt and picked her up in his strong arms.
"Where are we going?" Aria asked.
"The couch. I'll keep you from hurting your ribs and you can get some sleep," John said. Dean opened the door and John walked straight to the couch and sat down. He used the pillow to support his arm and keep Aria's back from connecting with the furniture. The kid fit on John's lap perfectly, her legs across his and her head resting on his shoulder. He pulled the blanket up over her and turned the TV on low. Dean pulled out a bottle and gave Aria two pills and she swallowed them with water to chase them down.
"Thanks Dean," she said and Dean nodded.
"Night Dad. Holler if you need me." Dean walked into his bedroom and plopped down on the bed. He was asleep within minutes.
"John, why are you so nice to me?" Aria asked him. John looked down at the 12-year-old. She seemed so much younger right now. Maybe it was the pain, maybe it was the fact it was so late at night, or maybe it was the fact that she was a girl and needed just a bit more babying than his boys did, but John's heart warmed and he could have sworn her face was six years old and in serious need of parental comfort.
"Aria, did your parents ever tell you about godparents?"
"No. What are they?" Aria asked pulling the blanket up to her neck. John felt a shiver run down the twelve-year-old. He thought about turning the temperature in the motel room up but decided getting up was a bad idea. He didn't want to jostle the kid's ribs anymore than they already were.
"They're people that parents trust to look after their kids with them. If something happens to the parents, the godparents are supposed to help take care of the kid. See, I knew your mother and father back in Lawrence," John said and Aria's eyes widen.
"You did?"
"Yep. They lived just across the street from us. Your mother, Anita, she was a close friend of my wife's. You were born a few months after Sammy and my wife, her name was Mary, she was there with Anita when she gave birth. I brought your real dad to see you at the hospital. Anita asked us to be your godparents. We knew that if your parents could no longer take care of you then we would." Aria looked at John.
"Will you take care of me now?" Aria asked.
"For a little bit. We're going to go see a man called Bobby and then, I know of some people that would love to have a little girl around. I'll warn you though; you're going to be babied some. They have three older boys," John chuckled and Aria grinned.
"I'd have brothers?"
"Yeah you would. Maybe you should get some sleep kiddo. I'll be here in the morning. I'll watch you while the boys are off at school."
"Okay, Uncle John." John looked soberly at the kid as she snuggled into his shirt. Her face buried into his shoulder and he put a hand on her head. He knew Mary had always wanted a daughter. Truth be told, John had too, but he still didn't want to bring Aria into this life. She was safer with Amara and Jimmy than with him and the boys. John soon fell asleep with the kid on his lap.
"Dad," Dean said coming out of the bedroom at six o'clock in the morning. John looked up at Dean who was dressed for school. "You want me to fix breakfast or take the kid?"
"You sit with her a bit; I'll wake up Sammy and help him cook up some breakfast."
"She stay up long after I went to bed?" Dean asked transferring the sleeping kid to his lap as John stood up.
"A little bit. Wanted to know why I was so nice to her, so I told her about being her godfather. She seemed happy to know that someone gave a damn about her. I'll go wake up Sammy. Oh, you might want to ease her head on your shoulder, she seems pained in any other position." Dean did as his father suggested and John walked into the boys' bedroom. Sam was lying on his stomach still sleeping some. John smirked, half of him wishing he could just let his son sleep for a few more hours and be peaceful. John knelt next to his youngest son and put a hand on Sam's shoulder.
"Hey, Sammy, bud you need to wake up."
"Fi'm more minutes," Sam moaned out tiredly. John chuckled.
"Sammy, you have school today. Only two more days. Come on bud," John chuckled shaking his son's shoulder slightly.
"Pwease Dad," Sam said through the pillow. "Fi'm more minutes."
"Sam, I need help with cooking breakfast. Your brother is taking care of your girlfriend," John teased and jumped back as he got the reaction he expected. Sam was up and wide-awake, and also on the defensive.
"She is not my girlfriend!"
"You sure were cuddly with her yesterday in the Impala." Sam tackled his father playfully and John laughed at his son's feeble attempts. "Get dressed and help me with breakfast. Pancakes." Sam jumped away from his father and started to get dressed. Sometimes he hated the man. Other times, he was just like any other dad. John walked out into the kitchen and mixed the ingredients for Sam. The boys were better cooks than he was, but John could still get everything ready for them.
Sam walked out of his bedroom to see Aria fast asleep on Dean's lap. She looked peaceful and worry-free. He didn't even suspect that there had been an issue last night. He figured she had woken up with a nightmare and John or Dean had sat with her in their lap until she drifted off to sleep. He went to the kitchen and started producing hot pancakes by the batch load. The smell seemed to arouse Aria because Sam heard a soft feminine moan and glanced out of the kitchenette to see her stirring in Dean's arms.
"Hey, Aria, not to fast now," Dean coaxed. Aria opened her eyes and looked up at Dean. "Morning sunshine. How'd you sleep?"
"Good. Thanks Dean. Where's Uncle John?" Dean smirked at the name Aria had given their father.
"Right here sweetheart. Sammy's making breakfast."
"Pancakes," Sam announced bringing a large platter full of pancakes out and setting them down on the table. "Breakfast is served." Dean helped Aria to her feet and steadied her. The kid was still a bit off balanced but she was determined to get to the table on her own power. Sam sat down next to her and shoveled a healthy serving of pancakes onto her plate.
"Eat up," John laughed and all three children dug into their stacks of pancakes. Aria seemed to naturally fit in around the boys, like it was how she was raised. Dean cracked jokes and Aria was giggling while Sam laughed loudly. It was almost as if she had been with them since Mary's death. Thinking back, John remembered one of the "play dates" they had with Sam and Aria when they were infants.
"Daddy, who's this?" a little Dean asked as he looked down at infant in the playpen in a little basket.
"That's Aria, she's Anita's daughter."
"She's so small, like Sammy," Dean said and John chuckled.
"Yeah, I suppose she is. But she's younger than Sammy. Come on, let's play a little ball with Markus," John said. Dean raced over to where Markus was waiting with a small foam football. Mary and Anita sat down on the porch to watch the infants. They smiled as the two infants blindly touched each other's hands.
"They'll be great friends when they get older," Anita chuckled.
"Maybe we'll be family in twenty years or so," Mary laughed in return.
"I don't want to be a grandfather just yet," John yelled from the yard and both wives burst out laughing. John and his super hearing.
"Dad, whatcha thinking about?" Sam asked as he saw his dad's distant expression. "You seem a little lost."
"Just remembering a play date you kids had as infants is all," John said.
"Oh. Was it a good memory?" Sam pressed.
"Yeah it was. We played ball with the good Markus. Your mothers, they sat on the porch while watching Sam and Aria sleep in the playpen. I remember they were commenting how you two touched hands. Mary jokingly said we'd be family in twenty years," John said.
"Well, they found each other again," Dean commented and his father rolled his eyes. "Come on Sam. We should get to school. Take your project stuff out to the car." John tossed Dean the keys as Sam took the stuff out to the car. John pulled a book out of his bag and handed it to Aria.
"Why don't you go sit down on the couch and read that?" John suggested. Aria looked at the book. It was a myths and legends book. "Maybe you'll learn something useful."
"Okay, Uncle John!" Aria sped over to the couch and plopped down. John started doing dishes and heard the Impala roar out of the motel lot. His mind turned back to the comment demon Markus had said about Anita and Mary. Anita knew about hunters. Mary's family was full of hunters. That explained some of the things the uncles had said at her funeral. He looked back at their past. That's how Mary's family died, killed by the supernatural. Now that John thought back, there had been a bracelet Mary wore; it had a pentacle on it. He thought back further to when he had bought the Impala. He proceeded to swear loudly. Aria looked at him but quickly went back to reading.
"Damn it Dean. What the hell do you get yourself into in a few years," John muttered. He remembered the man. He wore a brown leather jacket, just like the one John carried. He had dirty blond hair, just like Dean. And he had tried to help Mary. He had convinced him to buy the Impala. John knew his son would be all right, but it still didn't calm his nerves completely.
John didn't hear Aria come up behind him. However, he did notice when she took a towel and started to dry the dishes. John looked down at her while she worked quietly.
"I thought I told you to read."
"I wanted to help. You do a lot of work." John quirked an eyebrow but let the kid keep working. She wanted to help, she could, he wasn't going to stop her. John noticed how the kid was taking shallow breaths. Her ribs must be hurting her again.
"Your ribs hurt again?" John asked.
"Some."
"Want me to take a look at them, maybe readjust the bandages?" John suggested.
"Maybe in a little." She didn't want to stop working. Seemed like the kid wanted to keep busy. Maybe her mind was wandering just like his was. John thought back to last night. She had stood there over her father's body with her hands still in the raised position. The knife was buried deep into his back. A kid shouldn't have that strength. Sure, his boys did but that's because he had trained them to. But she didn't have training. Then that one sentence she had said. Nobody messes with Sammy. God, she had sounded like Dean at that moment. John looked down at Aria.
"Aria, you said on Sammy's first day he stuck up for you," John recalled. His attempt to start a conversation was apparently working.
"Yeah. He almost punched a kid for me." John smirked. Sam must have been pretty pissed off for that to happen.
"What's the story?" John asked.
"Nothing special. There's a boy in my grade, Jamie Jackson, he's a dick. He's been trying to get me to kiss him since like second grade. Then last year he found out about my bruises and he started picking on me. I was crying and he shoved me to the ground. Sammy leapt in front of me and told him to leave me alone. Jamie went to hit him but Sam dodged and pulled me from the ground in one movement. Needless to say, Jamie was a little intimidated," Aria chuckled. John smirked as Aria dried the last dish. Aria put the towel up and walked back to the couch with the book in her hands. John turned on the TV without a second thought and wanted to turn it off the next second.
"Twelve year old Aria Smith and her father Markus Smith were discovered dead in their home this morning after a house fire started. Authorities speculate that Aria was sleeping when her father's lit cigar ignited a gas leak in the house. Only fragments of their remains were found. A vigil will be held for them on Friday at Founder's Park." John changed the channel to music the second he got the remote to function properly. Aria had stopped reading next to him. Tears streamed down her face.
"Uncle John, I killed my dad," Aria choked out and looked up at John. "I killed him!"
"No honey, you didn't kill him," John insisted and put his hands on her knees. "You killed a man that looked like your father. He wasn't him. He never has been, not since you were a baby."
"I killed a person."
"You killed a demon." Aria cried loudly and John wrapped the child in his arms again. She was distraught and obviously confused.
"Uncle John, I don't even know how I did it. I just felt this presence in me and I couldn't control my body. I had to help Sammy. How did I do it? I shouldn't have that strength." John didn't answer the child. He didn't know either.
"Aria, was your mom cremated?"
"Yeah."
"Do you have anything of hers?" John pried and Aria pointed to the bracelet on her wrist. John saw the spot of blood. John had little doubt that Anita was at rest now. She had stuck around to protect her daughter. At least, that's what John hoped had happened. John held Aria close for half an hour until she stopped crying. John separated from Aria and looked her in the face.
"Why don't I help you get these bandages off and you can go take a shower?" John offered. Aria nodded and lifted her shirt off. John peeled the gauze bandages off Aria and removed the wrap from her ribs. She kissed his cheek before running off with her clothes to the bathroom. John heard the water start running and put his head in his hands. Bobby chose that moment to call.
"Hello Bobby," John said answering the phone.
"John Winchester, what have you done?" Amara demanded and John flinched. Apparently, Amara had marched down to Bobby's after talking to him.
"What do you mean Amara?" John asked.
"Where did you suddenly find a little girl that needed to be taken care of?" Amara demanded.
"I found my goddaughter, Amara. Her father was possessed by a demon and abusing her. He died in the struggle. People around here think she's dead," John explained. "I already covered out tracks."
"What else aren't you telling us John?" Bobby demanded. John now guessed he was on speakerphone. Great.
"Aria's mom was following her around I think. Markus had Sammy by the throat; neither Dean nor I could help him. Aria should have been down for the count with those broken ribs but she got up. Sam had given her a knife and she severed Markus's spinal cord and hit his heart. There's not a way in hell she had that strength on her own. I think Anita gave her a helping hand because Aria wanted to protect Sam," John explained. "The kid's pretty broken up about it."
"That's understandable John! How long until you get here?" Amara demanded.
"Two days or so. The boys have to finish school tomorrow and then we'll leave the day after. Aria's in pain, several broken ribs and knife wounds. She's mending Amara so this will be a slow process. She needs some TLC at Bobby's before you can take her home," John stated.
"All right John. I'll tell Jimmy and the boys to expect a twelve year old," Amara said and John heard her storm away.
"A warning would have been nice Bobby."
"She took the phone from me."
"I doubt that. Listen, the kid is having issues sleeping with her ribs, any suggestions?" John inquired.
"Put blankets instead of pillows behind her back and keep her in a semi sitting up position. That should help. How'd she sleep last night?"
"Uh, she started on her back, until she woke up crying. I checked her ribs and she hurt more than she had originally. I suppose that would happen when you're launched into a porch post. Then she slept in my lap most of the night and in Dean's lap for a little this morning."
"John, you're getting soft," Bobby commented.
"She's a girl, Bobby. I can't be as strict with her as I am with the boys. She needs someone to trust right now, not a drill sergeant," John snapped.
"I know she does. Where's the kid now?" Bobby asked.
"Showering. I'll rewrap her ribs and puts some more bandages on her when she gets back out here."
"All right John. I'll get some rooms cleaned up. See you in a few days. Call if you need anything."
"Thanks Bobby." John hung up the phone just as the shower turned off. He could hear her breathing shallowly and had no doubt she was in pain. Water could do that to wounds after all. After a few minutes, Aria came back out wearing jeans and her sports bra. John had pulled out the medical supplies he needed while she redressed. Her short hair he now saw had likely been cut by a knife. It was ragged and shaggy, like the hair had been sheered away.
"So how bad was the shower?" John asked her.
"It stung."
"Figured. Take a seat. You can help me today if you want," John offered motioning to the bandages for her ribs.
"Okay, Uncle John!" she said happily. Aria seemed to take comfort in the fact that John's view of her hadn't changed because of the previous night. John applies taped gauze to her healing cuts. The bleeding had stopped so John might not have to put any on the wounds in a day or two. She barely flinched today; John figured it was the pain medication that Dean had given her. John unrolled the bandage and had Aria hold the one side in place as he started to wrap up her ribs. She'd pull the bandage around her front and hand it to John in turn. She was a real trooper today.
"On a scale of one to ten, how's the pain?" John asked her.
"Well, if one is the low number about a three or four," Aria answered.
"You sure?" John questioned and Aria nodded. "All right, if you say so. In a few hours I'll give you some more of those pills Dean picked you up."
"Uncle John, can I take another nap? I'm still tired."
"Sure Aria. Let me help you with your shirt first." John helped her slip on the shirt and she ended up setting her tired head on his shoulder. John smiled as he situated some blankets on the couch and laid her down again. He pulled the lightest weight one up around her and she drifted off to sleep. The kid was sure tired. At lunch, John sat at the kitchen table playing cards. Aria woke up about then and walked over to see the solitaire deck out in front of him. She grabbed one line of cards, moved it over, pulled the top card out of his hand, and set it down.
"Thanks for the help," John chuckled.
"I'm good at card games." Aria walked into the kitchen and fished out the makings of a sandwich. "You want me to make you lunch?" Aria asked him.
"Let me fix ours for us. What type of sandwich do you want?" John asked taking the supplies from the twelve-year-old.
"Ham and cheese." John put together the sandwich and Aria pointed at a bag of chips. He poured the chips out on the paper plate and handed her the plate. She went to the kitchen table and started eating quietly. John fixed his sandwich and grabbed Aria's unfinished Pepsi from the fridge and another cup of coffee for himself. Seemed like he was living off the stuff right now. Aria took the bottle from him without any fuss and John smiled. She was getting used to having more freedom already.
"Uncle John, what was my mom like?" Aria asked. John smirked as he remembered the dirty blonde that Mary had been friends with for as long as he could remember.
"She was innocent, like you. I'm sure if I had a picture of her from when she was younger the two of you could pass for twins. I remember one time my wife thought she had gone into labor. Your mom rushed over to help. Calmed her down until I could get there. No matter what your mother was doing, she would come over to help my Mary with anything. She helped Mary with Dean and Sam before she had you. Then Mary helped your mother with you. You and Sammy were friends back then. We used to tease that the two of you would end up marrying," John chuckled.
"Maybe that's why Sammy and me get along so much."
"Maybe." John smirked at Aria's finished plate. He took care of it for her and she went back to reading her book from earlier. John looked over to see Aria nodding off with the book in her hands. John walked over and took the book from her hands, book marking it, and set it down within arm's reach. Aria looked tiredly up at him as he plopped down next to her and went to pull the blanket up over her.
"Uncle John, can I sit on your lap again?" John smirked. This was the type of thing he had wished he could have given the boys growing up. He had really screwed up with his boys.
"Yeah. Sure kiddo. Maybe we can find something funny on TV." John pulled the preteen onto his lap and pulled the blankets over them. John kicked the TV onto the channel he knew there were cartoons on. He saw Sammy watch the channel a few times. Aria giggled as the roadrunner tricked the coyote and the coyote fell off a cliff. It wasn't long before the kid was asleep again. John didn't question the amount of sleep she needed. He had no doubt she was catching up from months of little sleep.
The motel room door opened a little past three o'clock to reveal an impatient Dean and an agitated Sam. They both froze at the sight of the sleeping preteen on John's lap.
"What has gotten into you lately?" Dean questioned after a moment of silence.
"She was tired Dean. I screwed up with you boys. I'm not going to screw up with her. She needs a shoulder to cry on and a parental figure. I feel just a little bit guilty, I should have been able to protect her mother, and I didn't," John muttered.
"It's okay Dad. I understand. Dean's just jealous," Sam joked and Dean messed with his brother's hair.
"What's wrong with you two?" John questioned.
"Just the stupidity of the school system. They think we needed counselor's today," Dean answered. "I came really close from punching one that wouldn't let me leave. And that was after all my exams for today were done."
"They tried to get me to sit in the counselor's office all day and explain to me what happened! I wanted to throttle them. And then I found out I won't be giving my presentation. The teacher just took the board because we finished it. Said that I was 'distraught and shouldn't do it without my partner.'" John knew his youngest pretty well, and for Sam to this pissed off, it wasn't good.
"Just one more day boys. One more at school and we leave the next day. I promise."
"I can't wait to put this town in the rearview mirror," Sam growled and sat down at the kitchen table with his head to the table. Dean and John exchanged a look. That comment was definitely not like Sammy. He was always the one that wanted to stay at one school. John wished it was Wednesday already, so they could leave.
Like I said, first Supernatural fic I've put up. And I have some positive reviews from the first chapter, so thanks to those who reviewed. Hopefully an update soon. It's a short story, hopefully. Um, what was I going to mention... Oh yeah, sorry if John or the boys seem OOC. I think they would be different around a girl, especially one that went through that. And I don't know why I made Markus a demon, just felt right, like a little something to throw in there. And I figured John probably found out about Mary's family before he died. I mean, he's a well known hunter and someone that knows the Campbells didn't tell him? Yeah, right. And then I remembered how Ruby said that all of Mary's friends were killed of, so there went one. Um, please reviews, they are appreciated. I gauge how I'm doing by reviews.