FOUR: Loveless

Thorn had awoken to the sound of songbirds chirping just outside her motel window. It was almost comical and 'Disneyish'. Her eyelids fluttered open and her gaze rested upon the open window, a breeze kicking in and making the white flimsy curtains waver like ghosts. The gentle wind brushed up against Thorn's cheeks and she sighed peacefully, sitting upright and stretching her arms skyward, making small noises that she would describe as 'baby dino calls.'

She scooted herself from underneath the sheets, brushing her tousled hair behind her shoulder and walking up to the window. She couldn't imagine a less likely day for songbirds to be singing. The sky was coated in a morose, dense spread of gray clouds where a slight sprinkle was already emitting. She didn't mind, though. This was her favorite weather opposed to sunny and bright. It made her feel safe, concealed—hidden. That was something Thorn had had do her entire life.

The wind howled angrily and eventually made its way through the window where it hit Thorn square in the face. She closed her eyes, hummed softly in time with the wind, then opened them to look at the parking lot.

Her gaze lingered on Sam who was reaching into the passenger side of the Impala and reaching for something. As if sensing someone's stare on him, his eyes scanned upward and found Thorn watching him from the window. He looked a little surprised but smiled and gave a small wave. Thorn returned it and Sam pointed towards the other end of the motel where the bar and diner sat, and Thorn nodded.

She turned her back on the window and bent down to collect her jeans and her white button down shirt that were both sprawled on the floor. The shirt had belonged to a man from a few month's back so it was a little big on her. She wished she could have remembered the man's name for she recalled he was nice, had an Australian accent, and had the most wonderful brown eyes.

She ignored any attempt of vanity in the bathroom mirror and simply let her hair fall in the mess it always was. Not that she didn't care of how she looked; she simply thought that the disheveled look fit her best.

She exited the room, trotting down the stairs two at a time and making her way towards the diner. Sam and Dean were already waiting for her at the table seated by the large window. Dean was pawning over a large breakfast burrito whilst Sam's eyes scanned up and down a newspaper that lay flat in front of him. They looked up as she approached and she offered them a small smile as she pulled up a chair from one of the other tables.

"Good morning," she said.

"Morneng," said Dean through a mouthful of food. Thorn's amused gaze wavered on him momentarily before glancing at Sam.

"Morning," said Sam, slightly dismissively.

The waiter came to take Thorn's order where she promptly asked for what Dean was having along with a large mug of coffee. She caught hold of the white napkin placed in front of her and began absentmindedly folding it, feeling the brothers' stare comb over her.

'. . . Winchesters last seen in Minnesota . . .'

'Think Castiel is still with them?'

'You don't rebel from the laws of heaven only to abandon those you rebelled for.'

'Do you wonder if they know of the Nephilim?'

That was a question that was most often asked in the Heaven realm. The angels always wondering if Dean and Sam had found Thorn yet, or quite possibly the demons.

She closed her eyes, rising the imaginary walls that proved to have some protection from the angels' talk. She looked back up at the boys with a nonchalant smile, leaning her chin on her elbow.

"Can I confess something?" she asked suddenly.

The brothers exchanged a look.

"Confess away," said Dean after giving an enormous swallow of food.

"I knew I was Nephilim. For a very long time I've known."

Dean and Sam fixed her with a confused look.

"Then why'd you say otherwise?" inquired Dean.

"I didn't know you."

"Yeah, I call bullshit," snickered Dean. "You've known us since you were eight."

"I've heard about you since I was eight. My definition of knowing someone is sitting face to face and exchanging conversation, getting a feel for their vibe. Nowadays many of the angels are fuming about you, expressing how idiotic and cowardly you are, but I both like and trust you. I think that the angels are wrong on many levels."

"I thought it would be a little weird if you were a hot topic up there and not once hearing them say you were Nephilim," said Sam thoughtfully.

Dean casted his gaze from Sam back onto Thorn.

"Another question," she said as the waiter arrived with her order. "Who is Castiel?"

At first, the brothers looked a little surprised at the mention of the name, but then seemed to remember her little insight.

"Upstairs kind of guy," explained Dean.

"An angel?" Thorn asked in surprise as she added generous tablespoons of sugar to her coffee. Dean frowned slightly at her mug.

"The one who told us where to find you," added Sam.

"I can't imagine."

"He's the rebelling kind," said Dean. "Turned away from Heaven because he thinks it smells a little fishy up there."

"And thought you two were more reliable?" she asked. She realized that her tone sounded a little too skeptic and hastened to correct herself. "It's just—with angels it almost seems to be all work and no play. Their beliefs are nearly unbendable. I just don't see how you managed to convince an 'angel of the Lord' to see things your way."

"Took 'im a while, I'll admit," said Dean, chewing on his cheek and sitting back in his seat, arms crossed. "But I can vouch for him. Cas is a good dude."

"Speaking of which, we should probably contact him soon and tell him we found you," said Sam.

Thorn shifted a little uncomfortably in her seat which did not go unnoticed by either of the two.

"What, you're afraid of seeing an angel? I'd have thought that after so long of hearing them it'd be no biggie?" questioned Dean. Thorn looked at him.

"Maybe, maybe not. I've never actually met one before. Like I said; I only know of what I hear but I don't like to pass judgment unless I can see it with my own eyes."

There was a small pause as Thorn continued to add liberal amounts of cane sugar to her drink.

"You want some coffee with that sugar?" Dean asked.

"What I don't understand is," said Sam, ignoring his brother and looking at Thorn intently. "Why they would go through so much trouble for us to say yes to Michael and Lucifer, when they've had you at their fingertips. I mean, you're the one is supposedly able to stop the Devil. Why bother with us?"

Sam seemed to be counting on the idea that possibly Thorn had heard something from Heaven, but in this case, it was a no go.

"I don't hear what I want to hear up there," she said. "It's not like a radio I can tune to the channel of my choice. I hear only occasionally what they're talking about. Don't get me wrong; I've heard high and low of their plans for you but surprisingly enough they don't talk a lot about me—not their plans for me, anyway. Maybe I missed something, I don't know. I've spent a lot of time trying to learn to block it all out. It gives me a killer headache."

There was a short pause in which Sam looked thoughtfully down at the newspaper in front of him and Dean eyed Thorn gradually.

"Don't think there's much we can do until we get Cas over here, so why don't we soothe into a lighter topic?" suggested Dean.

Sam and Thorn glanced at him.

"Such as?" Sam said, lifting an eyebrow.

"Such as what can Thorn tell us about herself? If we're gonna be kickin' some demon ass side by side I want to at least know a little bit about you."

The smile on Dean's face was a little too flirty. Sam seemed to think so too because he was eying his brother with a warning look, to which Dean promptly ignored.

Thorn straightened in her seat, returning Dean's smile only mildly.

"I'm game," she played back. "What do you want to know?"

"I dunno," Dean replied unhelpfully. He gave a small shrug. "Where you're from, habits, traits, likes, dislikes, hobbies, your taste in guys—ow!"

Evidently Sam had stomped down on his brother's foot because he was delivering a innocent smile to Thorn and Dean winced in sudden pain, edging a glare towards Sam.

Thorn shrugged.

"Grew up in Western Missouri with my human parents and little brother. Stayed there 'till I was seventeen because the demon attacks were becoming too much on all of us. I like a lot of things. Such as apple tarts, rainy days, candy, hot coco, roller coasters and skinny dipping."

She paused to enjoy the effect her words had on the brothers—or more specifically Dean. She watched his eyes momentarily flicker over her body and knew he was envisioning her swimming in a lake, naked. She held back a chuckle.

"I don't have a taste in guys and I don't have any hobbies. My good traits are that I can be resourceful, I'm not useless, I'm pretty good in a battle, and I play a fair game of poker."

Her words earned another little smile from Dean, and an eye roll from Sam who kept on glancing at his brother.

"My bad traits are that I'm kinda impulsive, a little mistrusting, and I can't love."

The last part caught the boys particularly off guard. They both frowned, watching Thorn smile at them slightly. She wondered if they knew it was a sad smile, one that made her insides ache. She didn't bother to add that she was also good at hiding things—preferably her feelings.

"Love as in . . . ?" Dean persisted.

"It's what it sounds like," she said slowly, leaning back in her chair slightly and watching him intently. She saw him stiffen slightly under her stare but was relentless with it. "I can never love. Family love, boyfriend love, friend love—whatever the definition of the word is, I can't do it."

A silence followed her words but she didn't regret being so open about it. She took a small sip from her coffee, satisfied by the sweet tang on her taste buds.

"Did I answer your question?" she asked.

Dean raised his eyebrows as if to say 'well, whatever you say' and glanced out the window.

"All of that aside," said Sam, breaking another silence and Thorn glanced at him. "We need to know if you're completely in on this with us. That you'll help us take down Lucifer."

"Are you kidding?" Thorn said with a small laugh. "And save mankind? I said I was loveless, not heartless. 'Sides, I've been doing nothing but sitting on my ass for eight years. Think I have anything better to do?"

Sam seemed to be taken slightly off guard by her eager acceptance, but seemed relieved.

"Great," said Dean flatly. "Now we just need to work away around how that's going to happen."

"I suppose stabbing him wouldn't work, would it?" Thorn suggested half-heartedly.

Sam smiled slightly.

"Well, that's not generally how it would go. At least, I don't think so," said Sam.

"Nah. For something like this you usually have to undergo some all powerful ritual, sacrifice a baby doe, dance naked under the full moon, or something along those lines," said Dean, raising his eyebrows slightly with a smile at Thorn. "These days everyone is so damn picky of how to kill someone."

"I can't imagine why," said Sam sardonically.

"For the record, I'd be down for dancing naked under the moon," said Thorn, her lips tugging upward into a mischievous grin, locking her gaze with Dean as she played with the spoon in her drink. Dean looked back at her with a lopsided smile, his olive green eyes flickering with something Thorn was yet to place her finger on.

Sam eyed Thorn for a single moment, and unlike Dean, she was able to place exactly his emotion of exasperation in his eyes.

She was being a bit impulsive, she knew. But it was in Thorn's nature to look for a good time. And if she wasn't mistaken, she was sure Dean was reading along the same lines as her; he obviously wasn't looking for anything long term and in Thorn's book, that was a plus.

"In the meantime," said Sam with a defiant tone that ended the conversation. "I'm going to call up Cas and get him over here. He might know what to do from here."

Sam scooted himself away from the table, shooting a warning glance towards his brother as he placed his cell to his ear and walked out of the restaurant.

Thorn brushed a stray hair behind her ear, leaning forward to take hold of the massive breakfast burrito into her hands. She strained to fit her mouth around it, but it was absolutely delicious. She was enjoying herself until a bit of green chili dribbled down her chin and let out a small squeak, cupping a hand beneath the burrito and towering over the plate so none would get on the floor.

Dean laughed his ass off.

Hiya! Hope you're enjoying the story so far. I know I'm enjoying writing it :D want to thank those who have left their amazing reviews on the previous chapters. Next chapter I'll bring back Castiel and you'll get to see his first interactions with Thorn ^-^ what do you think is going to happen?

Anyway, if it's not too much trouble, I'd be forever grateful if you left a review telling me what you think! Reading them makes me so happy and they're incredibly motivational :3

Thanks for reading!