Dean wasn't so much pissed as he was confused. All he had thought about for the past few hours was her. How had she managed to convince him to leave his brother behind? And why had she screamed when he took the dagger? It would've made since if she had been looking at the dagger itself, but she had been looking him dead in the eyes when her face drained of color.
Dean shook his head irritably. "Find Sammy, worry about the girl later," he muttered for probably the thousandth time.
He punched the gas, passing a tractor. The sun was just beginning to rise on his left.
"Why did she scream?" he questioned yet again.
He drove like this for another hour or so, arguing with himself and fearing the worse for Sammy, when he heard the sound of flapping wings. He looked in his rearview mirror and slammed on the brakes, throwing Baby in park.
"Sam! Cas!"
Dean hopped out of Baby and ran around to the back. Sam and Castiel clamored out as well, grinning ear to ear. Dean crushed Sam to him. He felt his brother chuckle under his hands, but he didn't care. He was solid, real, alive. He had promised himself a long time ago that he wouldn't let Sammy out of his sight, and it felt like he was being ripped to shreds whenever he couldn't keep that promise.
He finally released his brother after a few back-thumps, then turned to his best friend. "Hey man, thanks for- what the fuck happened to your eyes?!"
Castiel's normally blue eyes were red, with blood spilling down his cheeks. Dean remembered seeing something similar a few months ago on an ex-showgirl.
"Rowena cursed me," Cas muttered, looking distraught.
Dean narrowed his eyes. "We'll take care of her, but first we gotta get you cured."
"Hey, Dean?"
"Yeah Sam?"
Sam was standing by the front passenger door, a confused look on his face.
"Where's Midi?" he asked, and Dean felt something start to burn in his stomach, something akin to guilt. But I'm not guilty of a thing! She's the one who tricked me!
Cas looked back and forth between the brothers, looking perplexed. "What's a 'Midi'?"
"Midi's a girl, Charlie's sister to be exact," Sam explained, coming back around Baby. Dean noticed that he was bruised and battered, but Sam didn't seem to notice. "And she's supposed to be with Dean."
Castiel looked sick. "Charlie had a sister?" he whispered. Dean recalled that Charlie and Castiel had become close friends over the past few months, and Cas was still taking her death badly.
Dean eyed his friend warily, praying that the angel wouldn't break down. "Yeah, we just met her yesterday. Look," he continued, glancing back at Sam, "she's fine. She's safe and sound at the bunker."
Cas groaned and slid to the ground. Dean was quickly by his side, lightly slapping the angel's cheeks. "Cas! Come on, Cas, wake up!" he yelled, trying to shake his best friend back into consciousness.
Cas's eyes cracked open, full of misery. "She's in the bunker? In Kansas?"
Dean frowned. "Yeah, I dropped her off about six hours ago. Why?"
Cas groaned again. "The bunker was attacked almost four hours ago by two dozen demons." He met Dean's eyes, red tears welling up. "I didn't think it important because I knew you weren't there."
Dean froze, staring at Cas. No, that's impossible. The bunker was demon-proof!
He was suddenly being hauled up by his jacket, and came face to face with Sam.
"Dean, how could you leave her alone?!" he shouted, his fists shaking with rage.
Dean couldn't help it. He snapped. He shoved Sam off him, sending his baby brother backwards. Sam stumbled and almost fell. "I had to come back for you!" Dean shouted back, letting the rage build. "Dammit Sam, I almost lost you! What were you thinking?!"
Sam simply stared at Dean, his lips curved in disbelief. "I was thinking of someone else besides us two for a change!"
Dean stormed forward, getting in his brother's face. "Do NOT ask me to base my actions on some kid we don't even know! Someone we're not sure if we can trust!"
His baby brother stood up to his full height, glaring down his nose at his flesh and blood. "I'm not defenseless. For all we know, she is. And she could be dead because of you." Sam whispered the statement with a sort of finality that made it real.
It pulled the elder Winchester up short. Sam didn't know that Dean had locked the girl away in her bedroom, or that he had taken away the one demon-killing weapon that might have protected her. It would be his fault if she were dead. And as much as he hated to admit it, the girl had been starting to grow on him. He reluctantly turned to Cas.
"Are you in any shape to teleport us to the bunker?"
Cas nodded, placing one hand on Baby and holding the other out to Dean. He felt Sam lay a stiff hand on his shoulder, his presence both a comfort and a warning. He would not forgive Dean if anything had happened to Midi. With a sigh, Dean took Cas's hand.
The sound of a thousand bird wings flapping filled the air, and Dean found himself momentarily blinded. But the sound and the blindness passed as quickly as they had came. The sight that greeted, the trio, however, was enough to make Dean want to retreat into the deafening sound and crippling blindness once more.
The door to the bunker was ripped off its hinges, laying several feet away in the grass. It was so twisted that Dean was positive they would need a new one.
"Midi..." Sam gasped next to him, and Dean cursed himself.
He rushed to the trunk, pulling out rock salt guns, iron bars, and a set of angel blades. He heard Cas unsheathing his own angel blade behind him.
He had just shut the trunk when he heard Cas shout something.
"Sam, wait!"
Dean looked over to see Sam rush into the bunker, something flashing from the weak light of the morning sun in his hand. Dean swore again, this time out loud. Sam had grabbed Ruby's knife from the front seat.
Dean ran into the bunker, with Castiel hot on his heels. He pulled up short once he got inside, taking in the scene before him.
The room below had almost two dozen demons gathered in a loose semi-circle around the table. Next to the table stood a man, an angel blade raised in one hand. His other hand held a chair forward, it's occupant obscured from Dean's view by the man himself. But Dean wasn't stupid. He knew who the occupant was without thinking. He tried his best to ignore the amount of blood that was on the floor surrounding the chair and the number of torture devices on the table. But he couldn't ignore one thing: this was all his fault.
"Prepare for endless death!" The demon announced, pressing the blade against Midi's throat. The whole room roared with approval that was quickly cut short.
Dean saw Sam running down the stairs when he heard the thunk of the knife. Sam must have thrown it right before setting off. Dean turned to see the demon drop Midi's chair, his skin flashing red. Midi landed on her side, then screamed into the duct tape that covered her mouth. The sound of her fear jolted Dean and Cas into action.
Sam ran towards Midi, cutting her free, while Dean did his best to cover from above, firing off salt rounds at any demon stupid enough to get close to his brother. Cas was picking off the stragglers on the edges with his own demon blade.
Suddenly, Sam rose up in the sea of demons, wielding an angel blade of his own, his eyes fierce and determined. Dean saw Midi disappear through the doorway leading to the library. Good, she was clear.
The trio fought as a team for the next 20 minutes, slowly but surely killing off all the demons. In the end, they were left breathless and uninjured.
"Dean?"
He turned to see Cas holding his arms up, like he was supposed to be holding something. He looked very excited though.
"Yeah Cas?" he asked cautiously.
"Can I keep her?"
Dean paused, looking at Cas's arms carefully. "Keep what?"
Castiel smiled, which was very off-putting with his bloody eyes. "This puppy hellhound, of course!"
Dean did a double take. Sure enough, the nothingness did a small whine and Cas began petting the air.
"Cas, I don't know..." Dean began, but was saved by Sam.
"Dean, I need your help to find Midi." Sam announced, setting down his blood soaked angel blade. Dean realized that the kid hadn't resurfaced after the battle.
"Where is she?" he asked, setting his own blade aside. He noticed that his hands had stopped shaking since the car ride.
Sam shrugged. "I told her to hide and we'd find her when it was safe."
Dean sighed. "Alright, let's find the kid. I have a few questions for her."
Where the fuck was this kid hiding? Is she like a world champ at hide-and-go-seek? He had checked under her bed (finding the backpack, which he left behind), the other bedrooms, the bathrooms (mens included), and the library (twice!). Now, Dean was about to strike the supply room off his list. Right as he took one step out, he heard something.
It was faint, but it sounded like someone in pain. And it was coming from the hidden demon holding chamber.
Dean pulled out his gun, slowly making his way over to the hidden entrance. It was open. When Dean clearly remembered making sure it was closed when he left almost seven hours ago. He took one deep, calming breath, before whipping his gun into the chamber.
But there was no demon. Not a single living being, in fact. Confused, Dean holstered his weapon and turned to leave.
That's when he saw her. Midi. She was hiding behind the door. God, she looked terrible. Her hair was hanging in wet, red locks around her face. Her blue eyes kept flitting back and forth, wide, almost as if waiting for an attack. Her cheek was marred by three lines, one of which was still bleeding, fueled by the tears that had stained her cheeks as well. One of her legs was stuck out in front of her at an odd angle. Dean could see bones, flesh, and denim from her ruined jeans all ground together, most likely making the leg useless. Dean got a bad feeling he knew the cause of damage, thinking of Cas's new friend. She was curled protectively around herself, hiding behind the knee of her good leg. Dean noticed that she was clutching something tightly to her chest.
All of these observations happened in the blink of an eye, before Dean found himself rushing towards the kid.
"Midi!"
He only made it a few steps before her eyes met his. And she screamed. Her scream stopped Dean short. He watched perplexed, as she tried to cower further into the corner.
"Go away!" she cried, rocking back and forth.
"Midi?" he said again, cautiously creeping forward, hands raised in peace. "Midi, it's me, Dean. It's okay." He reached a hand out, only to have it almost sliced off. He scrambled backwards, noticing Ruby's knife in Midi's hand, her eyes full of terror. Belatedly, Dean figured out what Midi had been clutching to her chest.
"No it's not! Get away from me!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face once more, mixing with the blood on her cheek.
Dean was in utter shock. What had brought this on? And how in the world was he supposed to help her get to the MedBay if she kept trying to cut his hand off?
His eyes zeroed in on the solution that was wrapped around her skinny shoulders.
"Midi, do you want me to call Sam?" Dean asked, backing up slowly. She lowered the knife slightly before nodding, her eyes never leaving his. He got the impression that she was waiting for something to happen.
"SAM!" he hollered, almost instantly hearing the heavy footsteps of his brother pound through the bunker. Dean was still unnerved by the acoustics in this place.
He stood up fully, doing it slowly so he didn't startle the kid. She had curled back up into her original position, rocking slightly.
"Dean? Did you find her?" Sam ran into the chamber, out of breath. He turned and saw Midi, curled up and afraid.
"Midi? Are you okay?" he questioned gently, crouching down to be at eye level. Sam was always the one better suited to calm down any kids caught up in the mess they were constantly in.
Midi shook her head, still gazing at Dean. "Make him leave."
Sam sighed, before turning to give Dean a look he knew all too well. It was the look Sam usually gave him if the former felt more info could be obtained if Dean made himself scarce. Dean shrugged, before leaving to go find Cas.
The moment he was out of the room, he heard something clatter to the floor. Ruby's knife probably. He was so focused on the kid that he almost trampled over Cas, who was laying on the ground in the library, rolling a ball towards the foyer.
"Hi Dean. Did you find the Midi?" Cas asked, looking up.
Dean plopped down next to him, sighing. "Yeah. But I got the feeling that wasn't wanted pretty quickly."
"Oh." Cas frowned, before shrugging. "I'm naming her Meg," he reported happily. Dean was about to explain that Midi was her name, when he saw the ball start floating back to his friend. Suddenly, Dean realized that he didn't mean the kid.
"You're naming your pet hellhound after Meg the demon?" Dean asked, scooting backwards slightly. Hellhounds still gave him the chills.
Cas tossed the ball as hard as he could. It froze in midair. Dean grunted in appreciation. It was a nice catch.
The angel beside him sighed. "Yeah. The hellhound reminds me a lot of her, with it's temper and all." Dean had to hold back a laugh.
"As long as that thing stays away from me, I'm okay with-"
"CASTIEL!"
Sam came running into the library, carrying Midi in his arms, his eyes frantic. Midi's arm flopped out of her lap, and Dean realized why Sam was freaked out. Her arm was covered in burns and fresh cuts. Blood slowly trailed down her arm, dripping off her fingertips onto the ground.
Cas scrambled up, his red eyes wide with horror. "I'll try to heal her."
Dean recalled seeing Midi with her arms tucked against her chest. She had been hiding her injuries. But why?
All the color had left Midi's face. Her breathing had slowed, and her eyes were lazily drifting back and forth under her eyelids. If they didn't hurry, they might lose the kid within the next minute.
Castiel laid a hand on Midi's forehead, scrunching his eyes in concentration. It should've only taken seconds, and her arm injuries and her cheek disappeared. But Cas opened his eyes. They were blue. Dean saw the veins starting to pop on Cas's arm, almost as if he were struggling. Too late, Dean made the connection.
"Cas!" Dean rushed forward, trying to remove the angel's hand from the kid's head, to no avail.
Midi's eyes flew open, bright red with blood.