Sophia stood in the rain that had begun an hour before. She looked cold and miserable, holding her bags in her outstretched arms. She dropped them when the door open and collapsed against Sam.
"Sohphia, what are you doing here? What about the hospital?" Sam patted her wet hair down as Dean grabbed her bags and shut the door.
"I left. They were going to send me back to her, but I looked in the phone book for the nearest motels."
Sam was walking her to a bed where she sat down.
"How many motels did you go to?"
"I went to three before this one. I told myself I would give up after the fifth one, but thank God you were here. I couldn't walk to two more, and-"
"Wait, pause. You walked here?" Dean asked. He had on a paternal look that had usually been reserved for Ben.
"I tried to hike it. It didn't work..."
"No one picked you up?"
"No, that wasn't the issue."
Dean surveyed the state she was in. He thought she looked miserable because of the rain, but now he saw her torn sleeve and stretched neckline. A scrape rested at the juncture of her neck.
"Why don't you go and get cleaned up? Warm shower should help you." Dean smiled warmly and pulled her up by the hand. She limped to the bathroom, and the men waited until they could hear water running before they began talking.
"Dean, don't get too attached. She's going back to the hospital tomorrow," Sam was clenching his teeth.
"I don't know, Sam. Maybe... we should keep her around. I mean, we can't just leave her somewhere. She could stay in the bunker." Dean gestured to the room.
"Can you hear yourself, Dean? She's not staying! She can't. It's too dangerous." Sam was raising his voice more as he spoke.
"Cas, what do you think?" Dean swung towards the former angel, who had been silent.
"I think we should keep her around. Dean may be good at cooking, but cleaning is an issue. Some things can't get done before we leave, and she could be there to handle it."
"Cas, you sure about this?" Sam looked as though he was hoping that Cas would say no.
"Sophia... Doesn't have anyone to care for her. Now that we've been associated, she could be in danger-"
"Why would I be in danger?" Sophia asked, swinging the bathroom door open.
The men jumped. She was in pajamas, with her damp hair hanging at her shoulders.
"The shower is amazing, by the way. But back to my question. Why would I be in danger?"
"You see, Sophia... we aren't FBI agents." Sam began.
"Well, duh. You can tell. I'm pretty sure FBI has hair length requirements. So, what are you?"
"We're hunters. We deal with the evil crap in the world, and sometimes... we are the evil crap in the world." Dean was making unshaken eye contact.
"Should I be scared of you?"
"I think you should be... we were wondering why you weren't." Dean said, almost half smiling.
"I think I'm going to stay more towards Sam." She shifted over a bit, trying to escape the prolonged eye contact.
"Don't look at me, I'm against you staying with us. You could get seriously hurt." Sam rested a hand on her shoulder. "Are you sure you don't want to go back to the hospital? There's no 'maybe' in this, Sophia. I cannot guarantee your safety."
"You realize you just quoted The Hobbit, right?" Sophia smiled widely.
Sophia watched Dean's calm and serious facade evaporate over Sam's shoulder as he burst into laughter.
"Where'd your beard go, Gandalf?" He wheezed out.
Sam smiled. "I think you might actually fit in."
Cas had been watching this transpire before he spoke up.
"Sophia, we may not be able to ensure your safety, but I guarantee that we will protect you. The bunker is warded against anything, and virtually indetectable."
"Why would it need to be warded?"
"The things that would be trying to hurt you wouldn't be human."
"So... like vampires and stuff?"
Dean came forward a bit. "Yeah, like vampires and stuff. In fact, the reason we were here in the first place was because of a nest. I think we'll just have to get Garth to take care of it now, though. It was basically a milk run."
"You do this all the time?" Sophia's eyes were wide, but not with fear. "Get some training and put on some weight, kid, and you'll be doing it too."
-
Dean picked up the couch cushion and tossed it at Sam, who failed to catch it before it bounced off of his face.
"Go get some food, Sam. You were supposed to almost an hour ago."
"Alright, dick. Cake, pie, and... Sophia, what do you want other than a burger?"
"I actually haven't eaten pie before. Is it good?"
Dean's eyes widened.
"It's the best, kid. Get three pies, Sammy. We need to teach this kid about food."
Dean tossed Cas' keys to him and this time, Sam caught them flawlessly.
"Cas, Sophie, we're gonna get some snacks. We've got thirty pounds gone to make up for."
They pulled into the convenience store parking lot and Dean sent the other two in as he pumped gas.
"If it looks good, get it. Don't worry about cost, I'm getting more tomorrow anyway."
Dean handed her a fifty dollar bill and her eyes became the size of saucers.
"I wouldn't even know what to get with this much money," she breathed.
"I just told you. Whatever looks good."
She walked into the supermarket and Cas grabbed a basket. He immediately loaded instant coffee, gum, toothpaste, and a six pack of the first beer he could grab.
"We were running low, and Sam isn't even a person before his first cup of coffee," Cas explained. Sophia nodded, remembering how unbearable Cheryl could be without coffee. Sophia had never had it.
"How about you go pick out some snacks? I can handle the grocery shopping," he patted her shoulder gently, as if he would hurt her. She stifled a flinch and smiled at him.
She walked towards the candy and chip aisle hesitantly, then marveled at all of the colorful packaging. She wouldn't have told any of the men, but she had never been snack shopping. In fact, between school and home, she didnt go anywhere. But now she grabbed a bag of skittles and gummy worms, which caught her eyes first. She saw a bag of beef jerky and small figurines and toys beside it. Something in her said that the reason they were so prominitely displayed was so she would fall for it. She still grabbed a small stuffed horse and put it in Cas' basket. He seemed confused, but he didn't comment. Silently, she thanked him for that.
After the basket was full of snack cakes (for Cas), single serve pies (take a guess) and dried apple crisps for Sam, they rung up the items. The teenage boy at the register looked about her age and they made small tall as he scanned the items. Dean walked in while seven things still sat at the register, done with filling up the Impala. He spotted the stuffed horse and turned to Cas, who gave him a look that Sophia could not see. Dean found the area of toys and perused it. Seemingly, he decided on three and wordlessly tossed them on the counter along with a hot pink toothbrush. The boy at the register smiled, glad to spend more time with the girl.
Cas and Dean walked around, picking out anything Dean saw fit, keeping Sophia in their line of sight.
"The boy at the register. He's flirting with her." Cas looked wildly uncomfortable.
"The kid?" Dean peeked around an aisle, locating the acne-ridden teen who seemed very interested in Sophia.
"Yeah, looks like it. Can you hear them?"
"I can't make out words, but I know that they're speaking. Or he is, rather. She can barely get a word in."
Dean smiled, and saw Sophia fidget. That little firecracker was probably busting at the seams to speak.
He glanced back at Cas, who's eyes were locked on the two of them.
"Dean," it seemed almost like a warning. He didn't even have time to register it before Sophia yelled.
"Stop! Get away from me!"
Cas and Dean were at the front of the small store in seconds. The boy had Sophia's wrist in his hand, and she was pulling away. Dean tore his hand from her and picked him up by the collar, throwing him up against a nearby wall.
Sophia backed into Cas' arms.
"Sorry, is there a problem here?" His voice was low.
Though he was pinned against the wall, the kid stared blankly at him.
"So, Winchester. Seems like you've got a new weakness. Sure are prone to those, huh?" His eyes melted into inky black pools.
"God, she's a loud one. If she hadn't screamed, I could've taken her off your hands. Poor thing flinches so much. She'd only weigh you down."
A manic smile spread across the demon's face. Dean allowed him to finish his spiel before he pulled the angel blade from his pocket and shifted his hands from it's collar to its throat.
"Make your choice. Smoke out and explain to Crowley why you got caught, or die here. This may be less painful."
"I'm sure His Majesty would be delighted to hear about your new ward. It's not often the Winchester's friends last more than a little while anyway."
"Then I guess it's a shame that you never had a choice."
He pulled his arm back and slammed it into the demon's throat, temporarily pinning it to the wall. An orange light flickered once, twice, then the demon went limp. Dean turned back to the other two.
"What was that? Why did he try- why did his eyes change color?" Sophia scrambled for a question to ask.
"He was a demon. This is what we meant about your safety." Cas was softly talking her through it.
"A demon. So, he was trying to... kill me?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"We have certain people who would much rather see us suffer than see us dead," Dean said, wiping the blade on his pant leg.
"We can give you The Talk when we get home. We can stay at the motel tonight and leave in the morning."
"Alright... I can handle that."
"Great. You hungry?"
She mustered up a smile, holding her bruised wrist.
"Starving."
They ate at the motel, watching reruns of The Twilight Zone until 2:00 a.m. Cas and Dean sat on their bed, and Sam noticed just how little space was between them. Sam and Sophia sat on the other, Sophia close to the TV and Sam resting his back against the headboard. It wasn't until Sophia was softly snoring in time with Dean that the other two noticed the time.
Sam poked at the young girl.
"Sophia... go get on the foldout," Sam whispered, trying not to wake Dean up. Cas had changed into a Metallica shirt and dark pajama bottoms and slipped under the thin sheet of the bed.
Sophia stirred, but held fast to sleep. He was picking her up to toss her onto the couch when she grabbed his shirt and curled into herself.
"Hey, stop leeching my body heat. It's mine." He softly laughed before setting her down onto the foldout bed. He pulled the covers over her and flicked a brown hair from her face.
He was asleep when the crying started. At 3 a.m., he heard the kicking of feet under a blanket and frantic muttering. Panicked, he sat up and swung his legs off of the bed. Dean and Cas were fine, though much closer than when they had fallen asleep. So that left...
Sophia.
She had thrown her blanket off and was kicking the air frantically. Her head turned side to side as she gasped for air, her sleep shirt twisted around her neck. Sam walked over and untied it gently, yet she continued to thrash. Before he could step away, her eyes popped open, tears running down her face. The TV light made her eyes a burning emerald, and she threw herself at him. She buried her face in his shirt, and he wrapped his arms around her. Her shoulders shook as she hid, back turned to the rest of the room. Sam awkwardly patted her back, not understanding but willing to help. Maybe this girl was just as broken as them, who drank themselves to sleep to avoid their nightmares.
"I know. It's okay, Sophie. Don't be scared," he thought of everything he wished his father would have said to him and repeated it to her. She was hiding her face, and he knew why. Because crying is weakness, and weakness was something punished.
"Sorry, Sam. This is normal, sorry to bother you," Her voice was shaking, but she tried to scrub away the tears.
"It sucks. I know it does. I won't tell you that it'll be okay, but it'll get easier." Sam patted her arm. Sophia shifted beside him and laid her head on his arm, and Sam knew that took a lot of trust. She fell asleep during Come Wander With Me, her head getting heavier on his shoulder. Sam leaned against the back of the couch as he drifted off, the song following him into sleep.
