***Supernatural nor any of it's characters belong to me*** MORGAN KNOWS SHE HAS TO MAKE UP FOR LYING TO DEAN, BUT PUSHES HERSELF TOO FAR WITH PAINFUL CONSEQUENCES, AND LATER IS LESS THAN THRILLED WHEN SHE REALIZES SHE'LL BE SHARING THE BACKSEAT HOME...
Dean landed hard in the driver's seat and had the Impala reversing barely after he'd cranked the engine back over. Silently, they followed the Sherriff truck, Dean didn't even turn the radio on and stared angrily out at the road. A few times, Morgan almost opened her mouth to explain herself, but bit her lips together knowing it was fruitless and just stayed quiet in the dark backseat. Jody pulled into a large parking lot not long after they'd been on the road and Morgan recognized the buildings from the brief glance she'd gotten of the man carrying Alex at an inhuman speed across the parking lot.
"Dean," she pipped up timidly and while he didn't turn around she heard him grunt and nod his head that he was listening, "He went that way," Morgan pointed ahead of them to the left and he was suddenly accelerating next to the truck and waving Jody down.
"Morgan said he went that way," Sam cranked the window down and pointed the direction Morgan had when Jody was parallel to them.
"Hasn't been a nest around here I know of," Jody sounded defeated, but her face was stone, "Can she try and look again? I don't even know where to start, boys."
"Morgan?" Sam turned to her, "Can you scry her again?"
"I'll try," Morgan said quietly, "Can I- I have to-"
"What?" Dean barked impatiently and again Morgan felt tears sting her eyes.
"I d-don't have r-room. C-can I g-get out?" she did her best to hide the breaking sound from her tightening throat.
She saw Sam level Dean with an angry scowl before getting out and opening her door for her. Morgan stood up and found herself wrapped in one of Sam's compassionate hugs.
"Thank you for your help, Morgan," Sam smiled down and let her go, "We need you."
She smiled weakly at him, feeling a little better and was absolutely determined to find Alex to remedy her mistake. Morgan knelt on the hard asphalt of the mall parking lot and quickly, but meticulously, placed her crystals on the ground in front of her. Ok, Alex, where are you? Morgan muttered the memorized incantation, pulling every bit of energy she had left to hold her focus on finding Alex.
She didn't hear anything at first, the sounds of the parking lot had vanished, replaced with nothing for a moment and then distant grumbling laughter made Morgan turn, trying to find a source. Pale light barely lit the room enough for her to see wooden beams and wide planks laid crudely for a floor, a strangely familiar rancid smell filled her nostrils. A soft whimpering came from behind her and Morgan turned her gaze around, peering into the shadowy corner, she finally saw the outline of a mattress with a girl duck taped to the rusted bed frame, Alex bound with tight silver binds. In the faint moonlight, Morgan saw shiny liquid staining streams down her arms and legs, some fresh blood running over spots of dried clumps and deep cuts. A creaking sound tore her attention from Alex's nearly unconscious form, someone was walking upstairs into the room, Morgan watched helplessly as a figure appear from the floor, growing taller. It was not the same man from the mall, this man was much larger and he loomed closer to the bed Alex was restrained on. Morgan heard Alex try to scream, clearly so drained of energy and blood there was no fight left. Turning back to watch over Alex, Morgan caught sight again of the ceiling's high rafters and patches of missing roof, realizing the awful smell was cow manure. Feeling the little energy she had draining fast, Morgan tried to muster every bit of emotion she could to attack the man the way she had the ghost going after Sam, but felt weak and her head began to throb, she heard the men laugh below them again. His dirty face became clear as he stepped out of a shadow, smiling menacingly at Alex, his fangs gleaming in the moonlight.
Morgan felt fear flood her, a renewed energy of sorts took over with a muddled understanding of what she must do, her power now entirely controlled by emotion. I have to help Alex! Dean can't hate me! Her brother's disappointment plus her own guilt and fear mixed into an instinctual animalistic anger as the giant, fanged man took another step towards Alex. His gaze faltered and he tried to concentrate on the air between them, where Morgan's raging gaze was growing stronger. His eyes grew wide and he took a step back, fists raised and fangs bared, as if he could fight the strange purple storm cloud forming between himself and his victim. Morgan's head pounded and she felt herself losing grip. The only spell that made sense burst from her with the last bit of energy she had left, "DORMIRESTRICTA!" Just as she felt her head on the verge of explosion, nausea rushing from the pit of her stomach, Morgan saw the giant man snap to attention on his feet despite being fast asleep.
The cool rush bringing her back to herself was accompanied by hot vomit purging all over her crystals. Morgan clutched her pounding head not realizing her hands were keeping her from falling face first onto the ground. Before she hit, however, strong arms gathered around her and she was pulled back into Dean's crouched lap, squeezing her aching head and sobbing.
"B-barn – l-loft-t – AHH – Alex is t-tied uuuuUUUUU," her skull was wracked with pain and more vomit was threatening in the back of her throat, "an-and he he h-h-has f-fANGS – OW – it's not the s-same g-guy! It HURTS!" Morgan couldn't say anything else, talking had increased the already unbearable beating in her head.
Morgan felt more vomit travelling up her throat and threw herself forward to avoid getting any on Dean. Her knee crunched painfully on something as she layered the asphalt again with puke, adding a gush of tears with her screams of pain. Her head and now her knee stabbed Morgan with such unbelievable agony her vision began to blur and suddenly she felt weightless as darkness engulfed her.
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Before Morgan opened her eyes, she could tell the room was bright. Her head was still throbbing lightly, but nothing to what she remembered experiencing. Longing for water to soothe her burning throat, Morgan opened her eyes and found Dean asleep in the arm chair next to her in a clean hospital room. Blinking a few times, Morgan put a hand gently over an IV in her forearm. Moving her eyes down the hospital sheets covering her, she inclined her head at the abnormally large lump where her left knee was and suddenly felt a knife stabbing the exact spot.
Morgan cried out and Dean woke with a snort, immediately looking at her with concern.
"Nurse!" Dean called towards the door, barely taking his eyes off her as he banged the red button on the bed.
"Dean," Morgan croaked as the pain dulled in her leg, "I'm fine."
He all but ignored her as a heavy-set woman with short gray hair and pink scrubs hurried into the room.
"She's awake," Dean stood, but stayed next to Morgan's bed, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder, "but she's in a lot of pain."
"I'm not-" but before Morgan could finish her protest, another jab of sharp pain shot up her leg and she shoved her hand in her mouth to stifle the cry. Dean squeezed her shoulder and looked at her sympathetically.
The nurse shook her head and glared at Dean, squeezing between him and Morgan's bed, sending a twinge of anger through Morgan and she narrowed her eyes at the woman speaking to her, "Your brother told me what happened, but I want to hear it from you."
"Whad'ya wanna hear?" Morgan bit through gritted teeth, "I'm sure he did a great job."
The nurse fixed her with a familiar, kind stare trying to coax her into feeling comfortable with an understanding tilt of her head. She wasn't the first medical professional to pry into whether Morgan was being abused, but she was the first that was wrong.
"My brother told you," Morgan softened her gaze at the nurse, "honestly, ma'am, I've been so sick lately I'm not even sure what happened," she took a shot and internally sighed with relief when Dean's quick thumbs up flashed over her gray head.
"Alright," the nurse gave her an unsure smile and shook her head, "you're pretty banged up, sprained knee and took a while to get you to stop throwing up," Morgan blushed and the nurse patted her hand, "Just checking you know," Morgan nodded and the plump nurse added a little more pain medication to her IV before leaving the room.
"How'ya doin'?" Dean sat back down and scooted the chair closer to the bed.
"Sore, I guess, just – ALEX!?" Morgan suddenly remembered, sitting up so fast her head throbbed painfully again and she clasped both hands over her skull as Dean gently forced her to lay back down.
"She's fine," he said in a hushed tone, "thanks to you, Morgan. She just got here, few floors down. Because of you, they found her in time and took out an entire nest of vampires."
"Vampires?" Morgan stared at him, slowly lowering her arms.
"Alex used to work for a nest, more like their slave really," Dean explained, "one of 'em apparently made it through the first purge, but they took care of him."
"They?" Morgan inclined her head at him.
"Sam, Jody and Claire," Dean looked at her quizzically, "Cas showed up fashionably late to kill the last two I guess."
"You guess? Weren't you there?" Morgan shook her head and asked with a little edge in her tone.
"Sweetie," Dean chuckled lightly and brushed a few stray strands of hair from her face, "you collapsed in your own puke and it sounded like you broke a knee cap. I rushed here with you and Sam went with the girls to get Alex. Convenient there's two of us, huh?"
He winked and Morgan stared at him in awe, feeling tears well again in her eyes.
"Stop it, kid," Dean smirked and pointed a jokingly stern finger at her, "Don't even be surprised."
Morgan just grinned at him with misty eyes and her smile spread wide across her face as Sam hurried into the room.
"Hey, look who's up," he smiled at her, striding quickly to her bed and leaning in to kiss her forehead, "you were incredible, Morgan."
She couldn't help but smirk and roll her eyes at his patronizing compliments.
"What?" Sam inclined his head, "you don't remember?"
"Remember what?" she shrugged.
"Well," Sam smiled, "why don't you tell me who's idea it was to put that vamp in a standing sleep spell," she returned his encouraging look with a grin, "It was genius, Morgan, a really smart move and Alex is safe because you thought fast and made the right call."
Morgan couldn't help the growing smile from Sam's praise, humbly explaining her hurried thought process, "I'd heard them laughing and knew if he hit the ground or a wall they'd all rush up there and I couldn't hold on anymore."
"You held on just long enough," Sam nodded, "So, how are you doin'?"
"M'ok," she shrugged sorely, but felt a satisfying dullness tingle through her veins and knew the drugs were kicking in, her eyelids suddenly heavy, "M'tired, but Alex is ok?"
"She will be," Sam nodded.
Dean brushed her hair back again, seeing her eyelids flutter, "Go back to sleep, little girl, I'll be right here."
Knowing that was true, Morgan nodded, happy to close her eyes and fell back into darkness.
Her head ache had completely subsided by the time she woke up again, the room was even brighter with sunlight streaming through the blinds. Morgan blinked her eyes into focus with her head turned towards the chair Dean had been in, but her heart sank when it was empty. Glancing around the room she realized quickly she was alone and felt that familiar lonely dread feeling pang her gut.
"Thanks, doc," Morgan's ears perked up at the low, growling voice, "she's good to go then? Yea, she'll be stayin' off that leg for a while, don't worry."
Dean walked back into the room and smiled seeing Morgan awake, "Hey, kiddo, you're getting' outta here in a bit. Lotsa fun pain meds and all."
Morgan giggled, "Great. Can we go home please?"
"Soon," he nodded with an understanding raise of his eyebrows that said he'd like to be nowhere better.
"Hey," two soft knocks came on the door and Morgan saw Jody standing in the door way.
"Come in," Dean waved Jody into the room and she slowly approached the end of Morgan's bed with a funny grimace.
"Morgan," she sighed, "You didn't meet me under the best circumstances and I'm sorry if I was- unwelcoming," Jody offered an apologetic smile and Morgan returned it with a nod, "You saved Alex and I don't know how to thank you for that," she laughed briefly, "You really are a Winchester."
Dean placed a hand gently on her shoulder, looking down proudly at Morgan, "Sure is," leaving his hand on her shoulder, Dean looked at Jody, "How's Alex?"
"She's ok, considering," Jody nodded, "They said she'll be out later today."
"How 'bout Claire?" Dean asked and Jody immediately put her hands up and shook her head.
"I'm done, Dean," she pleaded, "I'm sorry, but she's twenty-years-old and I'm not her parent, if she doesn't want to stay I'm tired of forcing her and I've long since forgotten why I even have!"
Morgan glanced at Dean as he removed his hand from her shoulder and crossed his arms, looking like he was about to start one of his stern lectures. Suddenly, he sighed, shaking his head and threw his arms up in defeat.
"I can't blame ya," he agreed bitterly, "Where's she now?"
"With Castiel," Jody responded, "he seems to think he can get through to her. Dean, I'm really sorry its just-"
"Jody, I can't blame you," Dean held up a hand to interrupt her, "and it's not your job, we appreciate what you've done for her even if Claire doesn't."
"I'm sorry, Dean," Jody glanced down with a disheartened tone.
He just nodded and glanced at Morgan quickly before saying to Jody, "We'll figure it out, Jody, it's not on you anymore."
Jody looked slightly chided and nodded at him, before silently exiting the room without another word.
"What's up with Jody?" Sam asked, walking back in the room holding his coat together in front of him.
"Claire," Dean shook his head in clear indication he did not want to discuss it right then.
"Ok, kid," Sam approached Morgan's bed and looked sneakily around him before opening his jacket, dumping packages of cookies and chips on her right side, "Shh."
Morgan giggled, quickly picking through the crinkling bags and ripping open a package of chocolate chip cookies, "Thanks, Sam, I'm starving!"
"And that's the best decision?" Dean scoffed, giving his brother and sister a dissatisfied eyebrow raise.
Noticing Dean was only feigning his disappointment, Morgan stared at him with an audacious smile and popped an entire cookie into her mouth. Slowly chewing with a satisfying grin and her eyes locked with Dean's, who could no longer hold his straight face and broke into a laughing smile.
"Gimme one," he dug his thick fingers into her bag of cookies and the three of them laughed for a moment together.
A little while later, after the three Winchesters had devoured the last crumb of junk food, a young nurse came in with a clipboard of paperwork, both Sam and Dean stood as she entered.
"Which of you is," she peeked at the clipboard, "Morgan's legal guardian?"
"I am," Dean stepped forward immediately and Morgan felt that warm bubble rise in her chest again.
"I just need you to sign a few things," she handed Dean the clipboard and dug a prescription bottle from her scrubs pocket, "Make sure these get taken as directed for pain management and she needs to stay off her leg as much as possible for at least a week or two."
Dean pocketed the bottle of pills and started signing and flipping pages on the clipboard, "Yes, ma'am, that's the plan."
"Ok, Nolans," she smiled at Dean more than the rest of them, "an orderly will be in with a chair in a few minutes and you're good to go."
"Nolan?" Morgan giggled quietly after the nurse had left the room.
"Y'know what, kid," Dean eyed her with a teasingly stern glare, "next time, you can choose the fake name for insurance."
Morgan giggled so hard her knee started to ache from the shaking and she tenderly placed a hand over the blanket on the heavily bandaged joint. Feeling the blankets skim against the skin that wasn't wrapped tightly, she suddenly felt very vulnerable and blushed a deep red. Under the thin hospital gown, she had nothing but a t-shirt and underwear covering her and they were about to leave. Whipping her head around, Morgan scanned the room for her tattered jeans.
"What's up?" Sam asked, noticing the change in her demeanor.
She gave him a sideways glance and waved him to come closer, Sam obliged and leaned in for her to whisper, "I don't have pants on."
Sam chuckled and stood up, facing Dean who looked quizzically from one to the other, "Girl needs pants."
An amused look of understanding took over Dean's face as he nodded and grabbed a bag off the floor from next to the bed, "After landing in your own puke, your jeans were considered a biohazard and I sent Sammy here to get y'some stuff, seein' as he's the fashion guru," he pulled a brand new pair of sweatpants from the very full bag, tore the tag off and tossed the soft cotton pants on her bed, "these'll go over that wrap on your knee."
Morgan stared at the full bag Dean was peering into, not even hearing the things he was listing off that were inside, "Is that for me?"
Dean paused and inclined his head at her and chuckled, "I don't think Sam or I are gonna fit'in any of it."
Morgan felt her throat tighten again and smiled graciously at him and Sam with wet eyes, they nodded back and the thank you was understood.
Dean adamantly refused to leave her alone and insisted one of the nurses help her with the sweatpants, to Morgan's great embarrassment. Sam and Dean returned from the hallway when the nurse left to a slightly pouty teenager, sitting straight legged on the bed with her arms crossed. Dean smiled, amused at her frustration towards his over-protectiveness, she turned away in a small huff. A burly man with tattoos rolled a wheelchair into the room a few minutes later and Morgan slowly tried to swing her legs off the bed, wincing with the sharp pain in her left knee as it moved.
"Hey!" Both her brothers yelled in outrage and she shot them an incredulous look.
"I got it," she insisted and tried to push off the bed again, only to find a hand on each shoulder holding her down.
"You've gotta be off that leg for two weeks," Dean reproached her, "you gonna start the independent crap already?" she said nothing but didn't change the glower she was giving him, "Wanna see where that'll getcha?"
At his vague threat, Morgan lowered her eyes in defeat and tossed her hands up, letting them fall on the bed at her sides, "What're you gonna freakin' carry me everywhere?"
"Yup," Sam and Dean nodded, smiling at each other, Morgan even heard the orderly snicker as he pushed the chair closer and shot him an angry glare.
"Seriously," Morgan whined at them and crossed her arms, "my right leg is fine, I can just hop there," pointing at the wheelchair, her groaning trailed into another pout as her brothers shook their heads, both had way more amusement on their faces than she appreciated.
"Come on, sweetheart," the orderly patted the chair with a tattooed hand, but his smirk quickly faded as he was met with three pairs of glaring Winchester eyes.
"Do I look like I need your help?" Dean asked the man coldly and the bearded orderly took a respectful step back, leaving the wheelchair next to Dean, who shifted his gaze to Morgan, "C'mere."
She didn't argue further and let Dean gingerly lift her in a cradle hold, her left leg dangling comfortably as he easily set her in the wheelchair. Morgan caught him shoot the orderly a similarly dirty look to the one she had and smirked when Dean grabbed the handles from the man and pushed her chair out of the room himself. Sam followed them with the bag full of new clothes and the orderly completed their parade, looking lost without a chair to push.
The backseat of the Impala was already set up for Morgan to lean against her pillow on the driver's side door with her legs up on the leather, the cooler in perfect reach behind Dean's seat with Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire sitting on top. She let them help her in without complaint, but couldn't help squeezing her eyes closed, mortified, while people walked passed as she was picked up from the chair again. Sam went to put the bag of clothes on the floor behind his seat, but Morgan motioned excitedly for him to hand to her.
"Thanks," she smiled, eagerly taking it from him.
Morgan tried to gently shuffle through the articles of clothing, but the bag was so stuffed there was no getting passed the first layer of tightly packed fabric. She took out a black t-shirt, shaking it out and holding it by the shoulders in front of her, a smile crept across her face as she gave the back of Dean's head a sideways glance. Morgan wasn't sure if he'd sought out a One-X shirt or if had just coincidently been there, but she held it close, smelling the freshness of a brand-new shirt and let it rest in her lap before pulling another piece of clothing from the bag. The bag was still more than half stuffed after she'd extracted two more shirts and a pair of jeans without holes or dirt. Morgan had never had clothes with tags on them and kept caressing her finger tips over the few things in her lap with a strange sensation of excitement and guilt. She didn't deserve all of this, she didn't deserve any of it and slowly started putting the jeans and shirts away.
"We're gonna stay in town for the night," Dean said, glancing in the rear view mirror even though she wasn't in his sight, "You can dump that whole bag on the bed and we can laugh at how terrible Sam's fashion sense is."
Morgan smirked to herself sadly and didn't reply.
"That bad, huh?" Sam turned and smiled at her, lifting a small bit of t-shirt from the bag in her lap.
Morgan shook her head adamantly, "It's great, really, it's just-," she shifted her eyes to the bag, "it's a lot, thank you, thank you both, it's just, way more than I've ever had."
"It's nothin'," Sam smiled and with a slight raise in his eyebrows, "wait till you see what I gotcha in the trunk."
Dean and Morgan both shot Sam questioning looks, but he laughed to himself and didn't continue. Shortly after, Dean pulled the Impala into a motel parking lot and the younger two stayed in the car while he went in to get them a room. Morgan had enjoyed the times her and her Mother had stayed at motels, there had always been other kids around and she'd occasionally stolen opportunities to play with them when her Mother was gone. Dean drove the Impala a building away from the office and handed Sam the key for the room before opening the rear driver's door, cradled Morgan easily and carrying her into the dank room.
Sam started unloading the car as Dean settled Morgan on one of the two large beds. On his second trip, Sam tossed her duffel and new wardrobe next to her, but held onto a hanger from where a black bag dangled, his face showing his eagerness to reveal the surprise.
"Alright," Dean shook his head with a smile, "what's that?"
"I couldn't resist," Sam smiled and tore the black bag from the hanger, a steely blue canvas jacket identical to the one Dean was wearing hung from Sam's hand and looked perfect sized for Morgan.
Dean laughed out loud and took the jacket from his brother, examining it against his own, "Awesome, Sam!"
"Now you're really his mini me," Sam smiled at Morgan who tried to return it, but the grimace on her face wasn't missed by either of them, "What's up?"
"It's just so much," she implored, "I really don't deserve it."
Sam and Dean looked at each other with sad expressions before they both sat on the bed with her and Dean spoke, "That's not true at all, and I'm sorry you feel like it is, but it's not. I wanted you to be excited, maybe we went a little overboard, but I think bein' our little sister you're justs gonna have to get used to that."
Morgan tried to smile, "I'm sorry I lied to you about Alex."
"Yeah," Dean nodded with a prying gaze, "about that. I heard a rumor that Alex tried to get you to go with her, but you wouldn't because I told you to stay at Jody's. S'that true?" Morgan nodded at him, feeling a bit of her guilt ease at his satisfied expression, "I'm really proud of you," at these words Morgan smiled at Dean with wet eyes, "I understand why you didn't mention she'd left when I called and I'm not gonna hold you accountable for her actions, she knows she screwed up, but you did what you were supposed to and I couldn't be happier with you. Now, can you please start ripping through that bag?"
With his encouraging smile, Morgan carefully pulled out the t-shirts she'd already examined and set them next to her, giving exceptional thanks to the Three Days Grace album tee, but before she could grab the jeans, Sam jokingly sighed and flipped the bag upside down, shaking the contents out over her and the bed. Morgan giggled as the clothes rained down, leaving a large pile of freshly tagged apparel, twice the size of her ragged wardrobe. Immediately, both brothers started pulling their personal favorite choices and Morgan's attention was pulled between them, her inhibitions from their generosity fading as she saw almost recognizable excitement.
Morgan was happily unsurprised to find several more rock band t-shirts in the mix, along with a few plain shirts and several pairs of jeans. At one point, Sam mentioned he almost grabbed a skirt and laughed at her squinty-eyed head shake, admitting he'd rightfully thought better of it. There was even packages of socks and underwear, though neither of them brought any attention to the essentials, Morgan was simply impressed Sam had not only made it through an entire juniors department section, he'd even braved the confusing wall of underwear packages. Tears of gratification and joy slipped down her cheeks as she thanked them both and received two hugs and forehead kisses in return.
A knock on the door made all three heads turn as Sam and Dean rose from the bed. Sam stood between Morgan and the door as Dean approached and peered through the peep hole before opening the door for Castiel and Claire. Both of them looked frustrated and exhausted, clearly they hadn't had a chance to wash up from last night's attack and still had stains of blood and dirt on their sleeves.
"C'mon in," Dean gestured for the angel and young woman to enter.
Claire set her eyes immediately on Morgan, tossed her own duffel bag on the floor carelessly and plopped herself on the opposite bed, "So, you're the witch?"
"Claire," Dean growled warningly.
"What?" the blonde girl snapped at him, "She is isn't she? The witch Winchester," settling her eyes back on Morgan, Morgan smiled at her final words.
"Sure am," she retorted, fixing her eyes hard at Claire with a smirk, "Nice to see you with clothes on."
Morgan didn't waiver her eyes watching the satisfying rise of color in Claire's cheeks and heard Sam and Dean making choking sounds.
"Dean," Castiel interrupted the tension, "Can we speak for a moment? In private."
"Yea," he nodded and Castiel walked out the door, looking at Sam before he followed, Dean rolled his eyes, "can't imagine what this is about," and after a quick scowl at Claire he shut the door.
Sam was obviously uncomfortable having been left in the room with two young women who continued shooting each other dirty looks, but sighed, accepting he was stuck, and grabbed a beer from the green cooler.
"Hey, I'll take one'a those," Claire smirked.
"We've got soda and lemonade," Sam smiled at her with a raised eyebrow, "pick your poison."
"I don't wanna take Mickey Mouse Club here's drinks," Claire motioned to Morgan with a mean sneer.
"Then you're gonna be thirsty," Sam grinned at her.
Then he smiled at his sister and silently held out his beer, Claire made an incredulous face at him that immediately changed to shock as the cap hissed off the bottle and flew at her face, but turned just before smacking into her eye, dropping softly into the waste basket. Sam gave her an attempt at a scolding look, but couldn't hide his amusement and sipped his beer a bit longer than usual.
"Bitch," Claire snapped.
"Witch, actually," Morgan smirked and blindly caught a can of pop flying towards her from the cooler, her eyes locked on Claire's.
"Y'know your brothers and I kill witches," the blonde sneered.
"I'm sure they have," Morgan nodded towards Sam, who'd taken a step forward, but remained silent, "you, I seriously doubt it."
"Screw this," Morgan felt satisfied seeing Claire throw her hands up and stalk angrily towards the door, only to be blocked by Sam, "Get outta my way, Sam, I'm an adult! I'm sick of tryin' to convince you, your brother and especially Castiel that I can take care of myself, just let me go and leave me alone!"
She got louder until she was screaming the last few words in Sam's face and the motel door flew open behind him. Claire tried to push passed them and managed to elude Sam's grasp, she was not, however, so lucky with Dean, who carried her back into the room with one arm and tossed her on the bed. Castiel closed the door, standing guard against it, as Dean characteristically crossed his arms, widened his stance and set his sternest glower on Claire.
"What is goin' on with you, Claire?" He began and immediately received an eyeroll in response.
"I'm an adult, Dean! You can't keep me here!" she beat her fists against the mattress in emphasis, her angry glare filled with tears.
"You sure as hell aren't actin' like one right now," Dean said calmly, "and I'll keep you here as long as I have to. You've gotta figure out your next move now that you lost your chance at Jody's and like it or not the people in this room actually give a damn about you and aren't about to let you dive head first into the hunter world without a plan."
"I had a plan!" Claire implored angrily, still fighting the tears that had started streaming down her face.
"That punk?" Dean scoffed, "That is not a plan, Claire, you don't know him, not well enough to trust him with your life anyway. He made that pretty clear last night, didn't he? If this is the road you want to take, we're not gonna fight you on it, but if you think that any one of us is gonna let you run full speed ahead to your death unprepared, you've got another thing comin'."
Claire opened her mouth to retort, but didn't speak, she stared at Dean for a moment before bursting into tears and burying her head in her hands. Dean looked at Castiel, and the angel stepped away from the door, taking a seat on the bed next to the crying young woman. Slightly awkwardly, he put an arm around her shoulders, but it was all Claire needed to turn her head to his chest and sob into the tan trench coat. Strangely, Castiel seemed to understand how to comfort her quickly and, for a moment, almost looked like a father calming his daughter's cries. Morgan felt a stab of sadness for Claire, she understood what it was like to be alone, angry and scared. Focusing on the box of tissues across the room, that none of the men were reaching for, Morgan floated it inconspicuously on the bed next to Claire and caught a wink from Sam.
"I-I know," Claire spoke with a shaky voice as she calmed her cries into small sniffles, "I thought I knew him, at least I thought he was a hunter, but he's just a bitch."
"In all fairness," Dean smirked, "he's pro'bly heard stories about us," with a quick glance at the glares coming at him from all directions, Dean shook his head, returning to a serious glower, "Look, Claire, you're not goin' at this alone, at least not until we've seen you can hold your own, ok," Claire shot him a livid glare, wiping her nose with a tissue, and he put his hands up defensively, "I will teach you, we will teach you, what you need to know before you take on this life you are so freakishly desperate to lead."
"Claire," Castiel had sat back, but kept his arm around her thin, denim wrapped shoulders, "I know you're angry, but I hope you understand you have an opportunity to learn from the best in the world. Many hunters would give anything for a chance to work with Sam and Dean," Morgan was starting to feel a little unsure about the conversation, pretending to pick through her new clothes, but continued listening to Castiel, "When it seems you're at the level of hunting independence we won't stop you from going out on your own. I promise."
Morgan met Dean's eyes with a concerned wide eyed look and he gave her a very tiny head nod with an expression that said they'd discuss this soon. At least, she and Sam briefly shared a panicky glance before stoically returning their attention to the conversation they had no part in.
"W-wait," Claire scooted back from Castiel and shifted her incredulous glare between Dean and the angel, "I'm finally free of Jody's and now what, I'm gettin' shoved in the back of that crappy car twenty-four seven?"
"Woah," Dean said in a very stern voice Morgan recognized, "first of all, don't ever call my Baby crappy and b, we don't live in the Impala."
"So, just one crappy motel room after another," Claire scoffed, wiping her nose again, "no, thanks."
"You'd be surprised, kid," Dean retorted, Morgan felt a rush of jealous anger hearing him call her 'kid' and realizing the full scale of what was happening, "and right now, you don't have a choice."
"I'm twenty-years-old Dean!" she screamed so loud Sam and Morgan leaned back a bit, but Dean and Castiel remained unaffected.
"Be, eighty-seven," Dean shrugged, clearly nearing the end of his rope, "'till you prove you can hold your own, to me, suck it up buttercup and enjoy the free lessons, complete with a complimentary angel and witch."
"Can I practice on the witch?" Claire's mean question was barely finished before she'd cowered to the head of the bed and Castiel stood, holding Dean back from a quick advance.
Dean was shaking with rage, Castiel not wavering from his position between the angry man and terrified girl. Sam was alert, stepping forward, but it was only a moment before Dean laughed strangely, shook his head with a smirk and regained his composure.
"Y'think I'm gonna hit'er Cas?" Dean scoffed meanly and Castiel released his grip with a little shame in his expression, "Naw, but if I scare'ya Claire, y'got another thing comin' if you wanna be a real hunter."
Morgan saw Claire hang her head, but Dean blocked her view as he approached the bed she was on and leaned down to whisper in her ear, "Y'ok if I move you?"
She nodded eagerly, wanting nothing more at that moment than to leave the room and without any more prompting Dean scooped her into his arms carefully, nodding at Sam to open the door.
"Where are you going?" Castiel asked, Claire slowly regaining herself behind him peered apologetically at the departing pair.
"I'm takin' my little sister out for ice cream or somethin'," Dean sneered angrily in the direction of Claire while answering Castiel, "Sammy, y'commin?"
"Yeah," Sam nodded, setting his beer on the dresser and hastened to follow his brother's lead, "right behind'ja."
"Claire," Dean turned his head on their exit, Morgan couldn't help glancing the blonde's chastised expression as he spoke, "we'll be back, if your still here, I'm gonna take it that you're ready to fall in line with the entire Winchester company, if you're not, then I wish you the best of luck on the short time you've got left to live."
"Dean, wait," Castiel called as they turned to leave and, despite his obvious anger, Dean stopped as he approached them, "let me," and at these words Morgan saw the angel's hand touch her injured knee and felt an immense pressure that was not painful or pleasant, hearing a loud yell, the feeling vanished as quick as it'd come and she snapped her lips together realizing the yelling was coming from her.
Staring first at Dean with a surprised smirk, Morgan nudged out of his arms and hopped onto both functioning legs, smiling widely at Castiel, "Hey, thanks, Cas, I gotta learn how'da do that."
"We don't have the same kind of magic," he inclined his head at her, his eyebrows close in confusion, and Morgan just shook her head with amused pleasure at him.
"Thank you," she said again without further elaboration and he nodded curtly, turning to her brothers with a little bounce in her newly healed step and followed Dean's gesture out the door.
The beautiful black sedan waited right outside the motel door and, in apology of the slur the Impala hadn't heard, Morgan ran a gentle finger over the curve of the rear fender before opening the back door and noticed Dean did the same on the front. She slid into the middle of the backseat and rolled up the left leg of her sweatpants to remove the bandages wrapped around her knee. Unfortunately, it wasn't that easy, there seemed to be no end to the wrap and her tugging at random areas did nothing, even to loosen its hold. Morgan heard Sam and Dean chuckling at her and smirked at them in the rearview mirror.
"Sorry, kid," Dean accelerated powerfully unto the road, "I needed to get outta there, I'll cut that off when we stop."
"We are getting' ice cream, right?" Morgan held onto the middle of the front seat to avoid flying behind Sam on the hard turn out of the parking lot.
"Oh, yeah," Dean nodded in the rearview mirror, "and maybe a bar," Sam gave Dean a disapproving head shake, "Yeah, fine, mom."
Morgan could feel Dean's frustration in his heavy-footed acceleration, and the Impala seemed to thrive on the aggression. They tore down an open road away from town, neither Sam or Morgan asked where he was going as Dean cranked Hells Bells and pushed the Impala harder, the fifty-year-old car growled loudly at the challenge. After a mile or two, Dean spun the Impala around and headed back towards the town with slightly less hostility on the throttle.
"Better?" Sam scoffed, turning down the radio and shaking his head with amusement.
"Much," Dean nodded, glancing in the rearview mirror with raised eyebrows, "Y'ok back there?"
"That was awesome," Morgan giggled, "How fast did we go?"
Dean chuckled, and Sam attempted one more disapproving head shake before turning in the passenger seat, "Too fast," Morgan and Dean expelled identical scoffs and Sam threw his head back laughing.
Dean pulled the rumbling black sedan into a small parking lot with a blue shack in the center, a peeling sign read Cream King and a happy ice cream cone sat between the words wearing a gold crown. Morgan wasn't sure why Sam and Dean shared a quiet snicker before pushing the front doors open, but she shrugged and stiffly followed them to the menu board as her knee was still tightly wrapped. A huge list of flavors sat next to pictures of shakes, bowls and cone sizes, considering her limited experience with treats, Morgan wasn't surprised that most of the options were unfamiliar.
"Whatcha thinkin'?" Dean asked, pulling his wallet from his back pocket.
Morgan shrugged at him with an overwhelmed expression, "That chocolate shake was really good."
"Gotta expand your horizons, kid," Dean smiled down at her, "D'ya like peanut butter?"
"On a sandwich," she giggled.
"Two peanut butters, large," Dean told the girl waiting behind the window and turned to his brother, "Rocky road, Sammy?"
"Jus' like my life," Sam smirked, but Dean ignored him, putting in the final order.
"C'mere," Dean gestured Morgan back to the Impala after paying and gently patted the hood in invitation for her to climb up, which she did with an unsure glance and he flicked his five-inch pocket knife out, "let's see that leg."
Morgan rolled her left pant leg up to her skinny thigh and instinctually winced as Dean expertly sliced through the bandage on her knee. Surprised when she felt nothing but relief from the tightly wrapped constraint releasing her joint and gave Dean an impressed nod. Sam approached, managing to carry two large ice cream cones in one hand, already devouring his in the few feet between the shack and the car. He held out his left hand to them both before hopping up on the hood next to Morgan, giving her a quick nod and turning with narrowed eyes on their older brother.
"So," Sam began, "wanna involved the rest of the Winchester company in your plans with Claire?"
Morgan was relieved to hear Sam ask the question that had been screaming in her head since the motel room and turned to Dean with the same unamused expression as Sam.
Dean shifted his eyes between both siblings, hung his head for a moment before sighing and looking at them both as he spoke, "Cas asked if we'd train her, she's hell bent on being a hunter and let's face it with daddy issues that reach to the freakin' moon and back she's gonna trust the wrong people, as she just proved, and on her own she's got about as much chance of survivin' out there as a mouse in a snake cage," focusing his gaze on Morgan, "but I'm not gonna tolerate anybody givin' my family crap, so if she's gonna be like that, plan ain't happenin'," Morgan nodded at him, still feeling resentful, "Claire is not a bad person, Morgan, she's also had a pretty hard time in life, I really hope she can stop tryin' to be someone she's not and show you that, but understand," he leaned in a little, holding eye contact with her matching set of emerald greens, "my top priority, our top priority, is this family."
Morgan felt a bubble of warmth overtake the resentment still lingering, against everything she'd ever been taught or shown, she trusted Sam and Dean unconditionally, as terrifying as that realization was for her, she knew it was true. Feeling Sam's hand touched hers, Morgan noticed him lifting her ice cream cone in front of her face and giggled at his silly expression as he took a large bite of his own. Just before the drips reached her fingers, she licked around the top of the cone and was astounded at the flavor hitting her tongue. First, she stared in disbelief at the stacked scoops, then at Dean before diving whole hog into the top.
"Dude," she sighed with delight at Dean, "peanut butter ice cream."
"No joke," he chuckled and took a huge chunk of his own as the familiar guitar riff blared from his pocket.
Digging his phone out, he checked the screen and rolled his eyes before swiping the screen, "Yeah? Is she? Ok, but Cas, she better understand this is a favor to you and if she starts any, and I mean the tiniest bit of crap, she's out. Ok. Yeah, we'll be back soon," a moment later he shoved the phone back in his pocket without comment on the conversation.
"Claire better?" Sam asked snidely.
"Guess so," Dean nodded, but didn't elaborate.
The Winchesters finished their ice cream and piled back into the Impala a little while later, Dean seemed to be in no rush to get back to the motel. The sun was starting to set when they pulled back in front of the room. Claire was sitting on the same bed, flipping through channels on the TV, and Castiel sat at a small table by the window, seemingly doing nothing, when they walked through the door. Morgan purposefully avoided Clarie's eyes and beelined for the bed covered in her new wardrobe, grabbing a fresh pair of jeans, black t-shirt and discreetly tucking a package of underwear between them she quickly closed herself in the bathroom.
Washing the hospital and parking lot off her felt more cleansing than just rinsing her skin of grime and, silently, Morgan let a few tears slip down her cheeks, disguised by the water and hidden from the small crowd beyond the bathroom door. She did not want Claire to go with them, she did not want to share her brothers and felt guilty knowing all they were trying to do was help the mean blonde to survive in a world she was willingly choosing to join. Morgan would never have chosen this life if given a choice.
Finally, having dried her hair with the wall dryer and dressed proudly in her brand new outfit, Morgan smiled at herself in the mirror, determined to own her place in her family and not be intimidated by Claire. With a deep sigh, she pulled the bathroom door open, feeling the rush of cool air in the main room. Dean eyed her when the door opened and returned his gaze to Claire briefly before gesturing with his head towards his sister, Claire said nothing, but got up and approached Morgan, her stomach twisted as the blonde got closer.
"Thanks for the Kleenex, you're okay," she said nodding, "I'm sorry I was a bitch, I've had some crap lately and I took it out on you 'n I shouldn't've."
Morgan nodded at her in a mild outward acceptance, "Yeah, okay," she had no intention of befriending this girl and certainly she would never trust her, edging around the blonde to the bed for a pair of socks.
She ignored the next few minutes of their planning and explanations to Claire, folding her new clothes in neat stacks and packing all of them into her duffel as slowly as possible. At one point, Sam flipped the bedside lamps on as the room darkened while the sky outside became pitch black. Morgan stuffed her duffel bag next to Sam's and Dean's on the floor between the dresser and the bathroom, turning slowly back to the others having nothing else to distract herself, but glanced Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire on the nightstand.
"Morgan," Dean halted her sneaky approach towards the book and she turned towards him obediently, "we're gonna get some grub, put your boots on."
She gave him a curt nod and grabbed them from the corner, sitting on the bed to pull the old army boots over her new jeans. Claire and Castiel left the room before she'd finished lacing her second boot, Sam slumped next to her on the bed and Morgan glanced up to see Dean staring at her with an eyebrow raised, head tilt. She stared at him blankly, determined to not express her displeasure at the situation ahead, realizing Claire would be returning with them to the bunker and the only place that'd ever felt like home would now be invaded by a bitter blonde who made Morgan uneasy.
"What?" she asked to break the awkward few moments of silence.
"Where's your head at?" Dean asked, ignoring Sam's glare.
"I'm fine," she shrugged, narrowing her eyes as he narrowed his in disbelief at her.
"I'm not," Sam offered with a disheartened shrug before glaring at Dean again.
"What'da want me t'do Sammy?" Dean implored with frustration, "Cas asked a favor, how'd'ya want me to refuse Cas after everything he's done for us?"
Sam shrugged again without reply, Morgan shifted her gaze to the worn toes of her black boots.
"It's very temporary," Dean assured both siblings, neither of which was looking at him, "C'mon guys, I just don't see another option 'n if you do, please, I'm all ears."
Sam and Morgan glanced at each other, he was starting to look understanding and Morgan knew there was no hope for them to go home alone.
"I want to take a lot of precautions," Sam stated.
"All the precautions," Dean nodded in eager agreement.
"I know Claire," Sam looked at Morgan now, "and this isn't normally her, but we're not taking chances this is just a single outburst," setting his eyes on this brother now, "I don't like it, but I'll give her one chance to prove herself."
Dean nodded and looked at Morgan, "How'bout you, kid?"
She shrugged and tried to meet his eyes, "I dunno, you guys know'er not me."
"And she hasn't exactly made the best first impression," Sam added.
"No kidding," Dean rolled his eyes, "One chance, that's all she's gettin', I promise."
Morgan shrugged again with a small nod, trying to hide the sadness overwhelming her, "Yeah, okay."
"Yeah, okay, shut up and leave me alone, yeah okay, or you're willin' to give her a shot, yeah okay?" Dean asked and Morgan again shifted her eyes away from his.
"Does it matter?" she mumbled and felt Sam's arm around her shoulders.
"Yeah," Sam nodded, "it really does. Morgan, I'm only okay with this if you are, you're the deciding vote here. Just understand Claire doesn't have another option besides being alone and with her skill level currently, she's not gonna survive long," Morgan looked away from Sam guiltily, "I'm not a fan of this plan either, but if you will, I'll give her one chance."
Morgan shifted surprised eyes between them as it dawned on her that her opinion was not only being taken into consideration, but the tie breaking vote. Claire made her uncomfortable, but she did feel bad for her despite the mean exterior the blonde had impressed upon her, understanding the motive to sometimes hide true feelings behind a wall of anger. Slowly she nodded at Sam first, feeling him squeeze her shoulder with a smile, then turned to Dean who grinned with relief.
"We good?" Dean asked and she nodded at him, "Good, I'm starvin'. Cas texted me, they already got a table and he keeps sending me emojis of food with question marks."
Morgan slipped on her new blue canvas jacket, a perfect fit, and shoved her hands in the pockets, feeling something cold and hard against her right fingers and pulled out the seventeen-year-old witch killing bullet from John to her Mother. Sam smiled and gave her a nod when she looked up at him, then slipped it back in her pocket with a small grin in return. Dean threw on his jacket and chuckled when he turned to see her, from their black boots to their green eyes, the oldest and youngest were identical. After gesturing her out the door, Dean put his arm around Morgan and pulled her into a side hug while Sam locked the room.
"You're a good kid," he smiled and kissed the top of her head, "thank you for understanding, or tryin' to, I 'ppreciate it."
She nodded at him in response and climbed into the backseat after he opened the rear driver's door for her, sliding into her spot in the middle. While Sam and Dean landed in their usual places in the front seat, Morgan wondered what the drive home would be like having to share the back and felt another pang of resentment, but tried to swallow it, she'd promised to give Claire a chance. Although secretly, Morgan planned to protect her bedroom with a fire line spell as soon as they returned to the bunker.