Late Night Talks and Walks

Hours later, Bobby had laid down in the spare room for some much needed rest, while Dean and Sam went out for a few hours. Emma was coming to terms with everything she'd learned, only believing it because Chris had promised her it was the truth. Not that she thought that Bobby or the others would lie to her, she just trusted her little brother's judgment.

Chris placed a slightly burnt grilled cheese in front of her, then took a seat across from her at the table. He was being uncharacteristically helpful to her, making her wonder how bad the situation had been.

She was starved but wasn't sure she could stomach anything. For his sake she took a small bit out of the sandwich.

"You lied." Chris stared at her, accusation written across his face. "You told me you hadn't seen him since we came to live with Sally and Derek. You said you were asleep the night it happened."

Yea, she defiantly wasn't going to be able to eat anything. Emma lowered the sandwich back down to her plate, trying to think of how to answer.

"When you asked about him, that was the truth. I just recently got in touch with him." She frowned, thinking. "And as for that night, I didn't want you to know about it. I didn't want to talk about or remember it."

"You have nightmares over it." He stated flatly.

She narrowed her eyes on him. "How do you know that?"

Chris leveled her with a look. "You used to scream when you were a kid, Em, it was pretty hard to not know. I asked Sally why you had them; she told me it was because of what happened. I mean, hell, you still use a night light."

She looked down guilt and embarrassed, and after a moment asked. "How did you know to call Bobby?"

He shrugged. "I had heard Derek and Sally talking about him when I was a kid a couple times. They said he was some kind of Ghostbuster. When I looked through your phone contacts I saw his name and it had a North Dakota area code."

"Oh." That was all she could come up with.

"How long have you been talking to him?"

She sighed and pushed her plate away. "Over the summer I went up to North Dakota looking for him. I spent a week there."

"Were you just not going to tell me?" Chris asked angrily, but she saw the hurt he was trying not to show.

"I was, just not right away. I wanted to make sure he wasn't some lunatic before I told you."

"God , Emma, I'm not some kid you need to protect all the time." He snapped, frustrated. "If anything you're the one that needs it."

That stung. She smiled bitterly. "Thanks."

It was his turn to look guilty. "It's just you've always tried to buffer me from the world, always cautioning me, telling me about how dangerous it could be."

She didn't respond, knowing he was right. She didn't know how to explain that after that night, her world had been ripped apart and smashed back together; that she'd needed to make sure that he stayed safe because he was all she had left.

"Tell me what really happened that night." He demanded, looking her straight in the eye.

Emma wished she kept something stronger than coffee in her apartment. A couple shots of bourbon would go along away at a time like this. She took a deep breath. "I woke up because I'd heard you screaming. I found Mama trying to drown you in the bathtub. I tried to stop her and I guess that woke Daddy up." Because that's what Bobby had been back then, her Daddy. "He got her to let you go, I got you out of the tub and we went and hide." She didn't tell him that she had almost drowned at their mothers hands too, or that Bobby had to stab their mother in front of her to save them. Chris didn't need to know everything, despite what he thought.

Chris studied his sister through new eyes. She was small, dark haired and scared of her own shadow most of the time. He'd never understood her; she'd always been so well behaved, so serious. She'd barely dated through school, not that she wasn't pretty enough to have her pick because he'd seen how guys looked at her, but she'd been too focused on her career goals to pay attention. Now he saw what he'd been missing all this time, the fear. She'd let it shape her life.

When he didn't say anything for a long time she gave up. "I'm going to bed." Emma said as she stood and left the room.

Minutes ticked passed as he thought and finished off the grilled cheese she'd left behind. He'd been up for days with no real sleep, and it didn't seem like he was going to be getting much that night. He threw on his coat on and went out for a walk.

The night was cool and it was late; he could hear Emma's voice in his head warning him from walking around New Orleans so late at night by himself, but after what had happened a regular human just paled incomparison. His head was spinning with new knowledge and unanswered questions as he tried to sort everything out.

By the time he made it back to the apartment, Sam was leading an inebriated Dean up the stairs. Chris lent Sam a hand as he held the apartment door open for the brothers. Dean got the couch, Sam took the recliner and Chris made himself a pallet on the floor. He fell to sleep with the even breathing and soft snores of the Winchester brothers.