Chapter 10 – Test of mettle

Vicious Rumors – Faith

Beep. Beep. Beep. BEEP. BEEP!

Ugh. Freaking 5 AM alarm, Alla groaned internally.

It was way too early to get up, especially given that they hadn't done much sleeping between all the talking, emotional drama, and subsequent comforting that they had both needed at different times during all of that. She couldn't come to regret staying up late though, not with getting to know Sam better and waking up in his arms in the morning. Also, they needed to head out within the hour if they wanted to make it to their destination in time. The blonde was curious to find out whom the brothers had sought out for help with the curse. She had her suspicions. Who would know enough about spells and witchcraft if not another witch? She just hoped – whoever this person was – they were trustworthy enough.

Sam stirred not even a second later too, his right arm shooting out automatically to shut the obnoxiously loud beeping off.

"Mhm, good morning," the younger Winchester muttered as he turned back towards the girl with a groggy smile, his voice deeper than usual and still thick with sleep. It was definitely doing things to the blonde. She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep "taking it slow."

"Morning, Sam," Alla echoed just as he pressed a kiss to her forehead and clambered out of bed, searching for a pair of shorts and running shoes in his bag. In all honesty, the fact that Sam was a runner seemed so in character for the younger Winchester, it didn't even faze her when he started getting ready as if she had always known that little detail about him.

The blonde propped herself up on her elbows, just enjoying the view of his firm ass as he got dressed. She knew she could easily get used to early mornings like these, lazily watching the hunter go through his usual routine. There was a practiced efficiency to all his movements, the way his muscles tightened, not an ounce of extra energy spent on anything unnecessary. It was mesmerizing.

"Wanna join me?" Sam asked out of the blue, turning suddenly toward her. His grin grew wide when he noticed her staring, making her blush a bit.

"Sweet of you to ask, but I'll pass. I don't think you'll get much running done if you try and match your pace to mine," the girl's mouth pulled into a self-deprecating half frown. Yeah, it was a no-brainer, you just had to look at the two of them side by side, and you'd be able to tell instantly who had the better endurance.

"You sure? I don't mind," the hunter checked once more invitingly. Truth be told, he wasn't too comfortable with leaving her all alone in the motel room while he was out, and would have gladly sacrificed the effectiveness of the day's work out if it meant he could keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe.

"Yeah, I'll go get us breakfast in the meantime. Or pack our bags," Alla offered as she sat up fully, rubbing her face with her hands, trying to get the cobwebs of sleep out of her eyes.

Her plan was not helping with Sam's peace of mind at all. Actually made him even more anxious. A million scenarios of things going wrong while she went out for food flooded his thoughts, each worse than the one before. Anti-possession tattoo notwithstanding, since half of the horrors weren't even supernatural related.

"Uhm, just leave mine, okay? I'll pack it when I get back," he said finally, deciding that being overprotective and trying to limit her mobility wouldn't go over well, knowing her issues with confines.

"Sure," the blonde nodded a bit dejectedly. Though, realistically speaking it wasn't a shocker that he didn't want her going through his things. They were just so comfortable with each other that she had forgotten that barely more than a day and a half had passed since they had met.

"It's not that I don't trust you, but there are some knives in there, and another gun too, I think," Sam elaborated, noticing her change in demeanor, then went and retrieved the handgun from under his pillow, stuffing it into the back of his pants.

Alla's eyes followed him around, slightly widening for a moment at the realization that yes indeed, Sam Winchester slept with a gun under his pillow. That fact put a whole other spin on last night's close encounter. Fuck broken bones, she could have ended up with a bullet in her brain! She quickly schooled the shock off of her face before he looked back at her, not wanting to retrigger the guilt and terror Sam must have felt over his overreaction last night. The blonde knew on a rational level of course that those reflexes very well could mean life or death for him in any other situation, so she couldn't really blame him. She briefly wondered just when exactly had he stashed the gun there, though she supposed he had plenty of time to do that while she was in the shower.

"Okay," she conceded amiably with his request, but couldn't stop the amused little smirk to tug at the corners of her mouth. The subtle – or sometimes not so subtle – ways he expressed his concern and care for her well-being was the most adorable thing in the whole world.

Knives, admittedly, she wasn't a fan of. She generally avoided even touching one if she could help it. The most significant reason why she never cooked. She wouldn't call it a phobia, it was nowhere near debilitating, but after what she had done to herself there was always this tiny voice inside her head that made her a bit wary of herself around sharp-edged objects. Even after all these years, despite the fact that she had never cut herself on purpose since then. Of course, that didn't mean she wouldn't pick up a silver knife for example when needed to test someone or defend herself, she would just rather not if it were up to her.

But guns… well, those were sort of a neutral category. Even though she never had much practice with them, it was all just mathematics and physics to her, estimating range, the angle of descent, trajectory, and the wind. Boy, she almost wished he knew what she could do with a rifle.

"What?" the hunter's mouth quirked into a small puzzled smile of his own at her expression.

"You realize I'm from Ukraine, the only country in Europe where firearms are not regulated by statute, right?" Alla brought her knees up to her chest to prop her elbows on them as she watched him quirk his brows at her questioningly, not quite understanding what she was getting at.

"Meaning, even though we inherited vast quantities of Soviet-era small arms and ammunition, the country lacks cohesive gun laws. The amount of unregistered, illicit firearms is just insane. Authorities can't even give you an accurate enough estimate on it. Official statistics would make you believe that we are well below the world average with numbers like guns per capita and that those figures are mostly made up of hunter's rifles and shotguns, but actually, handguns are almost as common there as in the US. Same with Russia by the way," the Ukrainian girl ranted on.

"Huh," he huffed, not even trying to hide his astonishment. Not really by the facts Alla had rattled off, even though those were news to him too, but just by the sheer amount of seemingly random data and knowledge that she had accumulated. It was almost as if she had an answer to or comment on everything. With the way things were going, he allowed himself to entertain the idea of having Alla around for the long term, letting her loose on all their lore books back at the Bunker. No doubt, she would be a valuable asset with research. Sam bet that she would be able to piece clues together about cases faster than any of them, himself included.

"So, yeah. Even though we personally didn't own any, there was always one kid or another around the neighborhood who would come showing off their dad's rifle, egging everyone on to shoot cans and stuff. Believe me, I know my gun safety. I'm a pretty decent shot too," the blonde finished off, trying to play it cool, but there was just a hint of spark to her words as if she itched for Sam to challenge her on her claims so that she could brandish her skills.

"Well, we'll have to put that to the test once we get back to the Bunker then," the younger Winchester grinned indulgingly, leaning down and pressing a peck to her lips as he was heading out without even realizing what he was doing until it was too late.

Sam pulled back, eyes wide, looking embarrassed. Definitely not how he had envisioned their first kiss – so casual and familiar as if it was no big deal at all. She was just so comfortable to be around that he had literally forgotten that they barely knew each other. Alla blinked in surprise, which had him worried for a second, but then she beamed at him with a flirtatious smile so bright it was hard to resist returning it.

"Let's do that again properly once you get back, what do you say?" she murmured, peeking up at him through her lashes.

One of the many things he loved about her was that she was tough to catch off guard, and even if he did manage to do it, she would bounce right back, making it almost impossible to feel ill-at-ease around her. She just knew how to take everything in stride, even if the other person had done something incredibly awkward or possibly out of line.

"Yeah, let's," Sam agreed with a small huff of a laugh, still a bit embarrassed, which was evident to see from the way he rubbed the back of his neck as headed out the door.

As the door clicked shut behind him, Alla lifted her fingers to her lips, which were still tingling with the warmth of his, no matter how briefly they had touched. She wanted to squeal and giggle like a teenaged girl who had just been graced by the attention of her crush. Sam Winchester was making her feel things she wasn't sure she had ever felt for a man before. Such pure joy and excitement at the smallest things, like the random unexpected touches of their skin. She had never experienced the level of attention he gave her from anyone before. The way he seemed captivated by everything that left her mouth was honestly intoxicating.

Like so many times before she was brought back from her musings by a knock on the door. She shook her head with a quiet laugh. She probably got to stop getting so immersed in her thoughts.

"Did you leave your key…" the blonde called out with a small laugh but faltered for just a split second when she realized the pattern didn't exactly match their agreed upon secret code. "Or something, Sam?"

She quickly grabbed the holy water and the silver knife from the side pocket of Sam's bag where she knew he had stashed them, tiptoeing to the window as quietly as she could, and peered out through the blinds inconspicuously. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously when for all intents and purposes it seemed to be Dean. Or someone with his appearance.

The girl took a big breath, counted to three as she pressed herself against the wall by the door, and with a quick twist of her wrist she turned the knob, yanking the door open.

"And boom, you are…" Dean couldn't finish his sentence because he was splashed in the face with holy water from the side, and the silver knife had already nicked his finger by the time he realized that he hadn't caught Alla unawares as he had initially assumed. "Ow!" he exclaimed but otherwise didn't react to either of the tests, no burn or shizzle, much to the girl's relief.

"Don't ever do this to me… AH!" she began admonishingly, assuming that this little prank was over already, and was caught off guard and tackled to the floor with a thud, pinned under the older Winchester faster than she could twist out of his hold. At least the motel room was carpeted because otherwise, this would have hurt like a motherfucker. The wind was knocked out of the girl nonetheless as she landed.

"Aw, too bad. I almost gave you a passing grade," the hunter smirked triumphantly as he held her hands down firmly – and thus the knife, her only weapon, too.

He was heavy and quickly making her feel trapped. She felt like she couldn't get another breath back into her lungs. Before the panic could fully set in, the blonde realized she had a tiny bit of wiggle room for her legs between his. He was underestimating her, thinking that he already had her beat. She brought up her right knee as fast and hard as she could, kicking him right in the nuts from below and behind. That got to hurt.

"Ah… fuck," Dean groaned in pain, finally rolling off of her and pressing his palms to his jewels as he fought the stars that burst into his vision. Definitely not how he had imagined this little exercise going.

The blonde was pissed alright. Alla wasn't one for revenge under normal circumstances, but right at this moment she really wanted to give the hunter a taste of his own medicine. Maybe teach him a lesson to not fuck around with her next time.

Alla wasted no time in getting on top of him while he was distracted, holding the knife right to his throat, just shy of drawing blood. Externally she might have looked like a fearless Amazon, strong and fierce, but internally she hated every second she still had the knife in her grasp.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, it's me!" his eyes widened in fear for a moment, thinking that he might have taken this experiment a little too far. He tried to get his arm free to reach for her wrist to prevent her from slicing his throat, but his arms were pinned by her thighs. She was able to exert a surprising amount of force with them, despite her small frame. If worst came to worst, he knew he could easily buck her off, but that would risk her landing badly and hurting herself so he would have liked to avoid that.

"I know, you asshole! Don't fucking do this to me again!" the girl huffed furiously without hesitation, knowing that she was probably moments away from being thrown. She wasn't stupid, she knew he was much stronger and more experienced than her. In any case, she punched him in the shoulder just to show him how upset she was before she finally got off of him.

"Where did you learn that move?" Dean asked, thoroughly impressed, checking his neck for bleeding.

Though he was fairly sure that the girl was aware that if he had gone full out, she wouldn't have stood a chance against him, he was actually very proud of the way she handled herself. Definitely not a complete rookie in hand to hand combat. He wouldn't be making the mistake of holding back if they were to spar again that was for sure.

"Self-defense class," Alla snapped, taking big, deep breaths to try and calm herself back down. Her heart was racing still with the adrenaline, and the fact that he was sitting there on the floor infuriatingly grinning at her while she paced wasn't helping with that at all either.

"Nice outfit, by the way," the older Winchester teased, trying to lighten the mood.

"It's Sam's," the blonde remarked sharply, glancing down quickly and noting that yes indeed she was still in his boxers and T-shirt, but she was way too agitated to feel embarrassed about being so scantily clad in front of Dean at the moment.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," he snorted, earning himself a glare that easily rivaled Sam's. They were indeed made for each other, the hunter remarked internally with amusement. King and queen of the bitchface. Though he supposed calling her that would be more on the offensive than banter side of things.

"Why on Earth would you do this to me?" she cried out a few moments later, still peeved and unable to get over the fact that Dean had just practically attacked her. Perhaps this was something the brothers did? To keep each other on their toes? Sparring, testing each other to make sure they stay sharp? "If you were looking for Sam, he went for a run five minutes ago."

"I know. We ran into each other in the hallway as he was heading out," Dean said nonchalantly, which honestly just pissed the blonde off even more. So she had been the target all along.

"And scaring the living daylight out of me since he isn't around to be my knight in shining armor seemed like the best course of action so early in the morning?" Alla inquired further incredulously.

"Figuring you'd be sticking around for a while, I had to get a feel for just how far into basics we would have to go in training. You know, to make sure you could handle yourself in case something happened and we weren't around to stop it," Dean shrugged, still not seeing anything wrong with what he had done. Especially since she took care of him like a pro. No blood, no foul, right? Actually, it was him who was bleeding he realized, sucking the little cut on his pinkie finger. Not to mention his still throbbing crotch. He believed he should be the one whining.

Alla froze in her place hearing that. Right, he had been rambling on about her almost passing or something. So he was testing her. In a way, his intentions were sweet, his heart in the right place. Preparing her for their world, out of concern for her safety. But geez, this was so not the way to do it.

What's more, she was starting to get fed up with the way the brothers were able to pass on so much information between themselves with barely any words or none at all. They couldn't have had more than a minute to talk before he decided to ambush her, but apparently, that was enough for Sam to hint at parts of their conversation from last night. Like her not wanting to go home. Also, if Sam had been aware of what Dean was planning to do, he was going to get a piece of her mind shortly too.

"Hey, you okay?" the hunter asked suddenly, noticing the bags under her eyes, and that she was a bit too pale for his liking. Which could have been from the fright that he had given her for all he knew, but he just genuinely wanted to make sure she was all right. On second thought, tackling her probably had taken this a step too far, considering everything she had been through in the last couple of days. Checking to see if she actually paid attention to their secret knocks should have been enough as a first quiz regarding the hunter life.

"Yeah…" Alla sighed as her anger started to evaporate. She ran her hand through her hair, attempting to comb the knots caused by their tousle out before she elaborated. "Just didn't get too much sleep last night."

"Good for you guys. It was time Sammy finally saw some action," Dean laughed as he clambered up off the floor. As far he knew, Sam's last time to let off steam was probably last year, in the back of the Impala with that waitress chick named Piper. Oh, the irony.

"We didn't have sex, Dean, not that it's any of your business," the girl gave him a scathing look.

"Then what could have possibly kept you guys up all night?" Dean looked at her, clearly puzzled.

"Talked. Mostly. There might have been some hugging too. We kinda needed it after the 3 AM nightmare situation we had," she admitted shyly, making sure to keep her phrasing neutral to not reveal which one of them had the nightmare and needed comforting, just in case Sam didn't want to share it with Dean. Though she highly doubted that.

"Girls," the older Winchester huffed with a roll his eyes. Sometimes he really wondered if Sam did indeed stand for Samantha. "Come on, get dressed, you deserve some pancakes after all this."

Even with two shirts and two sweaters layered on, Alla shivered when she joined Dean outside. She had absolutely no freaking idea how Sam wasn't freezing to death as he did his laps in just a T-shirt and pedal pushers. Though the activity in itself and his muscly build probably helped to keep him warm, she supposed.

Unfortunately, his apparent immunity to cold in no way prevented her from sneezing in the barely forty-degree weather.

"Bless," Dean grunted as he pushed himself off the Impala that had been parked right in front Sam and Alla's room, observing the blonde and her distinct lack of a jacket with a frown. "Aren't you dressed a bit lightly?"

He was comically brotherly in a way, and it made the girl smile to herself while her back was to Dean as she locked the room up.

"All my warm clothes are in Virginia. Didn't think a quick trip to Florida warranted my winter coat, November or not," Alla explained, rubbing her arms for friction and warmth.

"Could've taken Sam's, he obviously doesn't need it right now," the older Winchester winked with humor as he took off his own to lay across her shoulders.

"I didn't want to be presumptuous," the blonde shrugged her arms into the offered jacket, pulling it closer around herself as they started walking. Just like his brother, Dean didn't seem to be bothered by the cold, but he had a thick plaid flannel and at least two shirts on underneath.

"Right, because colds are so much more fun than apologizing," he teased with a roll of his eyes, bringing her to the crook of his arm, squeezing her to his side.

"Ow, ow, ow…" the blonde hissed in pain as Dean rubbed the material of her clothes into where her skin was still tender from being worked on with an armada of needles last night.

"Did you get hurt when I tackled you?" the hunter eased up on his hold immediately, frowning with guilt and concern as he checked her over.

"No… uhm… there's just a fresh tattoo on there," Alla admitted embarrassedly, suddenly worried if Dean would take the fact that she had an anti-possession tattoo now the wrong way. Sam hadn't been too keen on the idea at first yesterday. Though she guessed if he was already planning training routines, then Dean wouldn't be upset with her.

"When…? Wait a minute…" puzzlement and shock bloomed on his face before he put the picture together. "You didn't, did you?"

"As a precaution. I had a feeling that with being around you guys, it wouldn't hurt," she smirked teasingly.

There was just a flicker of dark emotion across Dean's face – he didn't need a reminder of the dangers associated with the Winchesters – before he pushed it down and returned her jive.

"Now who's not getting presumptuous, huh?" the hunter ruffled the girl's hair, trying hard not to think of the fact that she was quickly becoming like a little sister to him. The last time he had let anyone form such a bond with him it ended with tragedy. Charlie was dead because of them.

"Says the guy who tackled me to the floor on the presumption that I'd be sticking around," Alla returned the banter with ease, giggling. In hindsight that hadn't been so bad, just the initial shock of it.

"I wasn't wrong though, was I?" Dean laughed out. It was tough to stay somber around the Ukrainian girl when she was in her element, joking around and bantering.

"Oh, shut up," the girl playfully shoved him in the side. Not even two days ago she had found the brothers intimidating, and although there wasn't a shadow of doubt in her mind that they were indeed deadly – to monsters, that is – Sam and Dean were also very comfortable to be around once they let their defenses down just a tiny bit.

They walked past reception and Dean gently guided her towards the exit of the lot, much to her surprise. What about Ivy? Alla got worried when she realized they would be leaving her behind in the other room.

"Hey, how's Ivy? Are you sure it's fine to leave her?" she asked with a quick glance up at the hunter's face.

"Yeah, her fever broke during the night, and she wanted to sleep a bit more until she could. I don't think Mr. Husband-of-the-year is able to torture her when he is asleep, so she got a little bit of a breather," Dean told her. From his demeanor, the Ukrainian girl could tell that the temporary improvement in her friend's condition did nothing to alleviate his concerns for what was to come. It was evident that he took everything to heart, especially his duty – saving people from the supernatural – and times when those he cared about were in danger. Somehow Ivy managed to wriggle herself into both categories in his mind.

"How are we going to make it to Kansas though?" Alla asked softly as if reading his mind.

"I don't know, Allie, I don't know," the older Winchester shook his head.

He was hoping they could get at least a hundred or two miles behind them before Aaron started noticing the growing distance again, and deal with the rest as they crossed those bridges. He knew Ivy would insist on sticking to their original plan anyway.

There was a diner just across the street from the motel, so they didn't have to go far, fortunately. Dean had them sit down in the booth in the far corner of the room from where he had a good view of the main entrance, but they were also relatively close to the kitchen and thus the back exit, their backs protected.

The blonde recognized the tactical advantage of their seating arrangement and also that yesterday when he had Sam by his side to watch his back he had been much more relaxed with something as simple as getting food. With just her around, he was alone essentially. She wouldn't be of help if someone or something were to attack them right now. She hated this feeling of being useless and a liability.

"Allie?" Dean called her name, snapping her back to reality.

"Sorry, was just thinking," Alla cleared her mind with a slight shake of her head, realizing that the waitress was already there looking to take their order.

"What do you wanna eat?" the older Winchester repeated his question.

"Uhm, just coffee with milk, please. Thank you," Alla said with a small smile to the plump, middle-aged woman who was on the clock this morning, called Mable.

"Are you sure, sweetie?" the lady asked, smiling at her kindly, probably noticing the dark circles under her eyes. "Joe, back in the kitchen, makes some mean waffles if you ask me."

"No, thank you. My stomach hasn't quite woken up yet," she replied just as cordially, noting Dean's disapproving frown from the corner of her eyes. He didn't say anything though. At least not until they were alone.

"Alright, let me know if you change your mind," Mable nodded nonchalantly.

"I'd like some scrambled eggs with bacon and sausages on the side. Coffee, black. Plus we'd like an omelet, coffee and a short stack to go. Also, brownies if you have any," he rattled off the impressive list.

Alla smiled to herself at the fact that he remembered Ivy's choice of comfort food. She would have given anything to be a fly on their wall to witness as they sorted out their issues because apparently, they were both very much into each other. Ivy's feverish ramblings were proof enough, just as his tender caring too.

"Coming right up," the waitress jotted down the order, leaving them with a small smile as she turned around.

"What?" Dean asked as he noticed Alla's grin.

"Nothing," she shook her head fondly. She didn't think her intervention was needed.

"You really should eat something, we won't be stopping early just to get food into you since you skipped breakfast," he said. The mild admonishing tone in his voice was almost amusing.

"I know," she replied quietly, looking out the window on the busy street. She never really ate in the mornings, that wouldn't be changing now either whether Dean was pestering her about it or not.

Silence sat upon them for a few minutes, under which Dean kept watching the blond girl. He realized that she hadn't eaten much till lunch the day before either, which now he assumed might not be a fluke. In either case, something was bothering her right now for sure, maybe whatever nightmare had kept them up during the night.

"So what was it this time? Jess or Lucifer?" Dean inquired out of the blue after their breakfast had arrived and they were left to their privacy again.

"What was what?" the blonde played dumb. Mostly to mask her astonishment at Dean's two main guesses over what Sam's dream could have been about. Lucifer? Seriously? The Devil himself? Just what the hell the brothers had been through? She had an inkling of a feeling that they might have been through Hell quite literally too.

"The nightmare," he clarified with a knowing look between big mouthfuls of food.

Alla watched in amazement as he practically inhaled those eggs. Not that she was one to talk, she was a very fast eater herself, courtesy of her three years in a slave camp. They never had enough time to eat between having to go over to an entirely different building – by buses nonetheless since they weren't allowed to walk even that short distance – and waiting in lines to the buffet carts.

"How do you know it wasn't me who had the nightmare?" she challenged as she carefully sipped on her coffee, grimacing at the bitter taste and dumping a packet of sugar into it.

"Wild guess. You look more exhausted than distraught," the hunter shrugged. Of course, based on the minute glimpses he had gotten regarding her past, he knew that it could have very well been her with the scary dreams, but he just had a gut feeling that this time that wasn't it.

Alla thought her options over. Dean wasn't wrong. And he knew that he wasn't wrong, so there wasn't fooling him. Also, he was obviously concerned for Sam. She just didn't want to break any unspoken promises of confidentiality she might have given by getting Sam to open to her. She didn't know what the brothers did or did not like to talk about with each other. Or when for that matter. If Sam was anything like her, then he liked to keep his problems mostly to himself until he had enough time to process them.

"If I'd have to pick, I'd put my money on Jess," he elaborated minutely to prompt her to talk.

"Why is that?" the Ukrainian girl asked, genuinely interested what would make the older Winchester jump to that conclusion, no matter its validity. How was a dead lover more haunting than Lucifer, if whatever their dealings with him made Sam have nightmares?

"You kinda look like her," Dean casually revealed.

Well, that was a shocker. The surprise was evident as daylight on her face, and that was all the confirmation Dean needed to know what was going on with Sammy. He was aware that his brother must have told her at least something about Jess for Allie to react with such recognition at that piece of information. Why would he have done that voluntarily if not for an overheard nightmare?

Alla looked down at her coffee and took a big breath once the initial confusion at the possible implications of that revelation wore down. The girl refused to let self-doubt or insecurities crawl their way into her head. Her resemblance to Sam's long dead girlfriend had nothing to with his current interest in her. She wasn't sure what Dean's purpose was exactly with this, but she didn't really want to hear more of it.

"Dean, I know you guys are close, and you are merely trying to look out for him, but just talk to him instead of trying to get information out of me behind his back by revealing things he might not want to share yet. He will tell me when he wants to. And I don't need the warnings if this was an attempt at that either," Alla said levelly, looking into Dean's green eyes to make sure he knew she was serious.

"Huh," he huffed with a small smile, obviously pleased, though she didn't know with what. "Definitely not the response I expected. We gotta work on your poker face a bit though."

The blonde's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"If this was another test, so help me God…" she gritted her teeth. And her poker face was just fine, thank you very much, she just didn't know she was supposed to keep her guard up with the older Winchester.

Dean put his hands up in surrender, trying to placate her.

"No more tests, promise," the hunter laughed, shoving the last piece of sausage into his mouth. He approved of her feisty spirit. "Let's bring these back. I'm sure Sam is starving by now."

He grabbed the bag with the Styrofoam containers of their take-out, leaving the payment for their meal on the table as he ushered the seething girl towards the exit.