Chapter 10

Two Princes

The Winchester brothers had stayed outside for while, to try to figure out what they would say to Mei. Her spirits had been higher than expected, and they had seen her when she was down. She had hope that they would find her family, but it seemed like the few threads that they had had were being pulled away.

"We need to get to California to see what the hell is happening. The cops don't know what to look for and I didn't get to investigate while I was there." Dean finally announced after he had paced the porch for a short while. Sam nodded.

"So, what are we going to tell her?" Dean didn't seem to know what to say. Sam thought a while and smiled a little "If they aren't investigating anymore we don't need to take her phone away or have Jody get them off the trail." His elder brother nodded at this but still didn't seem pleased in the slightest. "We still probably shouldn't let her use it. We need to figure out what the hell is going on first. We'll still get her a new one to use with us."

"Let's wait until we figure out what's going on before we tell her anything," Dean peered into the house through the window they were near, they could see Mei as she made her way to where the TV was, a DVD in hand. He wondered if Bobby even had a DVD player. They had watched TV here before but had never been in a situation where they wanted to watch something off a disk. They would usually use Sam's laptop for that. "Let's let her do her thing and we'll let her know what's going on when we actually have something to tell her."

Sam reluctantly nodded, he wasn't sure any time would be a good time to tell her bad news. He knew that she would be upset to find out that the police weren't going to be looking for her family anymore. The brothers, Bobby, and Mei herself were the only ones that they knew of that would be looking for them.

They had a big net to cast and little help outside of the resources they had available to them to get any information. If they didn't find anything at Mei's house. Sam shook his thoughts away. No. He didn't want to think that way. They would find something. He hoped they would.

They were both looking inside through the window, deep in thought when Mei noticed them from inside. She waved at them to come in, showing them the DVD that she had gotten. They couldn't quite see what it was from where they were. Sam tried to smile back and returned the wave, to show her that he had seen her.

Sam looked to his brother, noticing that he too had waved back. A somewhat strained smirk on his face. He could tell he wasn't comfortable with what they might have to tell her either. It was odd but at that moment Sam thought back to what Bobby had asked him earlier. If he were smitten with her. He wondered if he was, and now, with the look he saw in his brother's eyes, he wondered if Dean was too and it made him uncomfortable.

"Let's get inside and get this over with. I hope it's not a chick flick." Sam half scoffed half laughed at his brother's comment as they made their way back inside. Bobby was coming up from the basement, with what they assumed was a DVD player in his hands. At least they wouldn't have to try to watch it on Sam's laptop.

Bobby quirked a brow, having seen their expressions when he came into the room. "What's got your panties in a bunch?" He gruffly asked as he handed Mei the DVD player. She quickly went to work on connecting the device to the old beat up TV. "Huh? O-oh don't worry about it, we can talk about it after we watch the movie." Sam stammered a little reaching for case the movie they would be watching. It was obviously an older movie, with Police Academy in bold font printed on the top, above a lineup of characters that screamed comedy.

"Police Academy?" He read it out loud and showed it to his brother. Dean took it and looked slightly intrigued. Before he got the chance to flip it over to read the synopsis Mei seemingly came from out of nowhere and snatched it from his grasp. Giving him, or his brother, no time to react as she somewhat forcefully guided them to the couch to sit. "Okay, okay, okay." Dean half chuckled plopping himself near an armrest, Sam taking the other. Mei smiled to them both and hurried to pop in the DVD, having to navigate the menu from the player itself since Bobby had lost the remote.

As soon as it started playing she practically ran and hopped up onto the couch, like a sprinting gazelle. Tucking her legs up and half spinning midair so when she landed she would be facing the TV with her feet tucked in front of her between the Winchesters. "Somebody's excited." Dean muttered. Promptly and playfully shushed afterwards by Mei. This caused Sam to chuckle quietly, in turn Dean gave him a sarcastic mock laugh.

The rest of the movie was watched with this kind of atmosphere. Mei's head whipping back and forth to try to see the men's reactions to the movie, until she, like them got pulled into it. Distracted only when they noticed Mei's intense stare to gage their expressions. About halfway through she noted that Dean had taken a personal liking to Tackleberry and Mahoney, while Sam seemed to like Hightower. Dean had made a comment about Sam being like Hightower in Mei's Smart. It was Sam's turn to sarcastically laugh. It was obvious that Larvell Jones was Mei's favorite, and why. Even Bobby had seemed to take a liking to the movie.

Mei guessed that they didn't do this often, and she wondered why. Were people in peril so often they had no time to just enjoy each other's company? Towards the end of the movie Mei started to realize that she was too tired to try to see how they were reacting to anything. She hadn't realized how tired until she started nodding off. She was determined to stay with them though.

As the credits started to roll Dean checked his watch and saw that it was late. He and Sam still wanted to talk to Bobby about what they had found out. Bobby himself had stood up a while ago to let Sebastian outside. Sam was talking to a semi-conscious Mei about her favorite character and if that was where she had gotten the idea for her unusual talent. Dean took advantage that she was distracted and muttered something about needing to use the bathroom as an excuse to talk to Bobby outside.

"So, yer saying that they have no records of her or her family even existing in the town?" Bobby's gruff voice was baffled after Dean explained. "I don't know about the records. Those might have been harder to get rid of. We would have to see for ourselves. What I am saying is that he had no recollection of even meeting me." He motioned to his face as if to say, who could forget this mug? "There's either some weird mojo going on or I met a shifter, or something, I don't know. I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out what and why." Bobby could see the frustration etched on the younger hunter's expression. Sebastian ran too them after doing whatever he had done in the yard, he was ready to get back inside. Bobby thought a moment. "What if he was lyin? We don't know how many people or things are involved in this." Dean sighed deeply. "We have no way of knowing unless we go and investigate." He sighed again, this time it turned into a yawn. He was tired. "So much for getting her home soon."

"I'll see what hunters there are around there to look for us before more evidence goes disappearing." Bobby grunted opening the door to let the dog in. Dean looked at him wondering why he hadn't thought of that. He remembered why, a lot of other hunters didn't trust him or his brother. They had nearly brought on the end of the world multiple times now. Sure, they saved it just as many, but they had usually been right in the middle of it when it all came down. It made sense that they were blamed for a lot of it. They seemed to trust Bobby though.

"Thanks Bobby." He said quietly as he followed the elder hunter through the door. Inside Mei and Sam were still talking about the movie. Mei scribbling groggily into her notebook, telling his younger brother who knew what. Sam was smiling at whatever it was, Dean was glad that Sam wasn't still wallowing about how his memories were locked behind a wall in his mind. He hoped that he would just forget about it and focus on helping Mei. Knowing Sam like he did though, he doubted it would stay that way.

Sam had been aware of Bobby and Dean speaking outside, and he knew why. He hoped he would be enough of a distraction to Mei to keep her from finding out what they were talking about. When they had come back in he waved to Dean to join them. "So, I was thinking." Sam started somewhat seriously. "We should get Mei a megaphone." He tried to keep his expression serious but cracked a little towards the end, giving away his poorly executed joke. Mei shoved his shoulder playfully shaking her head. 'I don't like doing this in front of people I don't know. They don't usually get why or how I can do it.' She wrote down after.

"I don't get how or why you can do it." Dean admitted sitting next to her again. Sam smiled and took a look at his watch. "Hey, we should get some sleep. We have a lot to do tomorrow." He announced after stretching. Mei reached groggily for his arm to get a look at his watch too, it was nearly midnight now. She nodded and whistled for Sebastian to follow her upstairs. She was tired and was glad to have her puppy back with her. She was a little sad she would probably have to leave him behind with Bobby. So, she was going to get her doggy cuddles while she could. She reminded herself that Sam had said that they would be leaving early to get her a new cell phone. She wasn't sure how she got back into the room Bobby had offered her, but she managed to and changed back into her pajama's.

The bed was squeaky and a little uncomfortable, but her blanket and pillow were there, Bobby must have gotten her things out while they were at the grocers. She hadn't noticed if he had gotten up during the movie. She had nearly nodded off once or twice, the sound of the men chuckling had been what kept her conscious. She had gotten her second wind around the time the credits showed up and was just now feeling it wear off. Sebastian seemed glad to have her with him too. He excitedly licked her face before calming and settling beside her.

Dean had watched from his spot on the couch as Sam and Bobby discussed what they had earlier, whispering because they were not sure if Mei was going to come back downstairs for anything. Sam was the one doing most of the talking, Bobby still seemed bitter about the younger Winchester having tried to kill him not too long ago. The DVD case was near him on a table, he reached over and took it, realizing that she hadn't taken the disk out to put it back with her things. He stood up and groggily put the disk away. Bobby and Sam stopped talking when they saw he was doing something. "Just going to put this with her things, so she doesn't forget it." He half gestured to the movie, making his way to the stairs. He didn't notice but Bobby was narrowing his eyes at his back. Dean may not have noticed but Sam had.

"Are you thinking he's smitten with her too." Sam asked sarcastically, Bobby didn't even look at him and walked toward the stairs to get to his own room to sleep as he grunted his all too familiar "Uh-huh." Sam stood there for a few minutes, mouth slightly agape. It hadn't been the response she was expecting. He wasn't sure how he felt about it. He had thought about it earlier. In the end he shook it off and quietly followed the other two hunters upstairs.

Dean had put her movie back on top of the pile of what she had, tucked away in the corner of her room. It was a bit of a mess since she had had to dig through it to find the film in the first place. It seemed she hadn't bothered to put it all back together. He had started to pick some of it up for her but got distracted by Sebastian, who was whining a little to get his attention. Dean went to him and tried to hush him to keep from waking Mei up. He reluctantly pets the dog and tried to cover his excited little eyes. "Go to sleep." He whispers somewhat agitated.

It was about this time that Sam peeked into the door and Sebastian noticed, hopping off the bed and trotting to the taller of the Winchesters. After pulling Mei's blanket higher up to cover her up properly Dean followed. Sam was walking with Sebastian further down the hallway to where they usually spent the night when they stayed. "What are you the dog whisperer?" Dean grunted when they sat on their beds, the dog sitting by Sam's feet waiting for attention. Dean was about to bend over to take off his shoes but stopped when he saw Sam's face.

"What?" he asked, Sam looked like he was thinking about something intently. "We should go." He said after a moment. "What?" Dean asked again, this time confused. "We should go. We need to figure out what we're doing and keep Mei out of it. She can't go with us…" He let his words that seemed sure turn into a plea. Dean was tired, but he hadn't had nearly enough to drink to pretend he hadn't heard. Worried and watching his younger brother intently, he was trying to understand what it was he wanted to do. "She can stay here with Bobby, they aren't looking for her anymore. She'll be safe here." He abruptly stood up and started to gather his things.

"Woah, woah, Sammy, wait." Dean stood up with him and tried get his brother to calm down. "What's going on? We told her we were going to help her out." Dean protested as quietly as he could manage. "And we will, while she's safe here." Sam was determined, picking up Dean's duffle and holding it out to him. Dean reluctantly took it and frowned. He hadn't been expecting this at all. "We agreed before even bringing her here that we were going to leave her here." Sam continued. "Yeah, but…" Dean tried to protest but Sam's expression was still somewhat pleading. He sighed and nodded motioning that he would follow. He followed his brother. "They aren't going to be happy about this. You sure you want to leave?" Dean asked as they got to the back door.

"Damn right they aren't gonna be happy." It was Bobby, he had been at the kitchen table, they hadn't noticed. Sebastian whined and sat by the Bobby's feet. Probably sensing the tension in the room. "Bobby, we," Sam started but the hunter raised his hand from the table to stop him, a beer in his other. "She ain't gonna be happy about it, and she won't want to stay next time you come round. Won't be as easy to ditch her if she's expecting it." He sighed, imagining what he would have to deal with when she woke up.

"I'll teach her what I can and get Jody up to speed on what's going on. But," Bobby emphasized but. "Yer taking her with you next time. I aint no baby sitter." He frowned at the two of them. "And she ain't no baby." He could see Sam begin to purse his lips the way he did when he started to get upset. "Remember that." He narrowed his eyes and motioned to the door. "Now git before she wakes up."

Dean was sure there was some kind of exchange that he must have missed. Sam had seemed unusually protective. He also seemed hurt by something, he just wasn't sure what it was. Bobby seemed to be in on it though and it kind of annoyed him. What had he missed?

He had missed Sam's expression when he had seen him leaning over Mei's bed, reading too much into the posture and what it meant. His brother hadn't missed how he tucked her in either. He was hurt at the thought that his older brother might have feelings for her. He wasn't quite sure how he felt himself, but the pain he had felt was clear.

"You sure about this?" Dean asked again as he unlocked the trunk to the Impala. Sam put his things in. "I'm not sure Dean, but if we don't leave her now we won't want to later. How many friends have we had that survived being around us? We promised we would get her home, keeping her alive is part of that." Dean sighed and put his own bag in. He hated to admit it, but his little brother had a point. "Alright Sammy, let's get out of here."

Meanwhile, Mei slept soundly. Having looked forward to spending more time with the brothers just before bed. Little did she know that she slept through them leaving. Her life had changed so much, and it had only been a week since she had woken up on Dean's bed. She was hopeful now though. They had saved her from dragons and taken her to what she assumed was the closest thing that resembled a home to them. She was so thankful to them and everything they had done for her. Things they hadn't had to. She wanted to tell them when she saw them again. In the morning.

Bobby on the other hand finished his beer and started to make his calls. Any hunters near or in California would have to do the investigating for them. If there was anything left to investigate. He called the police station that had handled the investigation when Dean had been there. He found it was odd that the property was abandoned and well-known. From what he was told, it seemed to be a popular spot for the homeless and teens that got into trouble. It was confusing since he had investigated the area himself online when the boys had first told him about it and there had been nothing at all like that.

But now, it was all online. Everything the officer had told him was there, plain as day. On a website that was created well toward the end of the 90's. It was even rumored to be haunted. That would be easy to explain why it needed to be investigated to any other hunter that had questions. It didn't answer the questions that they had though. How had this happened? Why? He peeked into the room where Mei was sleeping, Sebastian resuming his spot next to her on the bed. They weren't imagining that she was here. Or her dog. He had stashed her phone in one of his pockets, he took a chance and dialed one of the numbers. One of the only family contacts that she had.

"We're sorry; you have reached a number that has been disconnected or is no longer in service. If you feel you have reached this recording in error, please check the number and try your call again." He tried the other number with the same results. How was he going to explain this to her when she woke up?

He wasn't sure and let out an agitated sigh. He would have to try to explain this to Jody when she came in the morning too. He wondered if he should give the phone back to Mei, not that she needed it with him being able to understand her sign. He decided not to. She would try to contact the boys and those two already had enough between the two of them to work out. He would have to lie to her he wasn't sure if it was really his place to tell her what was going on. Tell her the men had to leave, to an emergency.

Sometimes, okay most of the time, manipulation was necessary in their line of work. It wasn't ideal, but it would give her time to learn what she needed to. He didn't know how fast she would absorb it but it was quite a bit to cover and who knew how long it would be before the brothers came back. It would also give the Winchester's time to figure out what exactly they were going to do with her. Her family had disappeared in the wind. The last trace of them, from the sound of it, being Mei, her phone, and her memories of them.

Bobby was downstairs in the basement, finding a spot to put her phone away. If he was lucky Jody would get here before Mei woke up, so he would only have to lie to one of them. He signed again sitting at his workbench. The photo they had all taken a few years ago to his right. The brothers, Castiel, Himself when he had been in that damned wheelchair, Jo and Ellen. His heart ached at the memory. It was back when they were going to face Lucifer himself, Sam destined to be the devil's vessel.

Mei kind of reminded him of Jo. She was young and had so much ahead of her. He hadn't known her for very long, hardly a minute. But, from what he had seen she seemed to have a good heart. She was addicted to seeing smiles and tried what she could to keep them around her. She seemed to get anxious when they weren't there. She hadn't been hardened by what it meant to be a hunter yet. He was going to be the one responsible for introducing her to what could be considered the beginner's course of hunting.

Bobby wasn't given any more time to ponder it, it seemed Sebastian had gotten out of bed again and was scratching at the door to the basement. The elder hunter grunted getting up from his work stool and made his way to bed. Sebastian close behind him. "What would you do? Huh mut?" He knew he wouldn't get a reply but asked anyways.

While Bobby lead her dog back to her, Mei dreamed. She was somewhere strange, it was cold and dark. She could see her breath as it came out of her mouth. There was a solitary street lamp illuminating an area before her. She rubbed her arms, trying to get warmth where she could. She couldn't help but approach the light, it was the only beacon for as far as she could see. It wasn't until she was near it that she heard and saw something that sent her running in the opposite direction.

A small illuminated window. One she could never forget, she had decorated it as a child. Her makeshift mosaic made of a multicolor of tissue and hodgepodge. She had thought it was a dreadful work of art now that she was older and was more coordinated. She didn't care now, just as her uncles hadn't when she had offered to redo it. It was familiar. It was family. It was home! She thought as she felt her legs in her dream pump fruitlessly.

It was the back window of the RV and it was getting further away. She was crying out to it, reaching. She could have sworn she saw the curtain drawback and a familiar head peek through, bobbing as it moved further away. It just made her heart hurt more. They were there! Just out of reach! Why couldn't they see her? Didn't they love her anymore? Why had they left? She knew she was sobbing, and she could feel the familiar burn of tears in her eyes.

The window was getting smaller in the distance and now she was alone, running in the dark. Not even the lamp from before anywhere in sight. She didn't want to give up but the pain her heart was nearly choking her. She fell to her knees and tried to get up again, ran a few more paces before falling again, this time the world swallowing her as she continued to fall into seeming nothingness. There was a rush of something, she couldn't quite explain, something cold and empty seeming to pass through her very being.

"Mei Mei" it was a cold soft voice, like ice it stabbed her chest. There had been nothing threatening about how her name had been said but all the same she felt an unexplainable fear. "Mei Mei" it called again, like a whisper in her ear but far away. "Where are you?" It asked, and Mei heard her inner voice, the one she usually heard in her thoughts, the only part of her that she felt could speak, answer. "I don't know." "You don't know?" It seemed interested that there was an answer. Like it had been asking before but had had no reply before.

"Why don't you know where you are?" it hissed. "It's dark." She replied noticing she no longer felt like she was falling, she wasn't sure when that had happened. She felt vulnerable, like an unknown predator was stalking her. "Why is it dark?" it pressed, this time sounding more eager and making her heart pound in her chest. "I ran away from the light. I was trying to get home." She couldn't seem to stop her mind from answering. "Run away? Why are you running away?" it asked, she could feel it's smile in its words. It was pleased for some reason and it made her breath come quicker. It sounded closer. She couldn't see anything. "Scared," was all her thoughts could manage.

"Scared… scared…. scared…" it chanted, and continued to chant. Seeming to get closer with each word as if it were using the word like a rope to climb or crawl its way toward her. There was a glee, there that nearly made her heart burst out of her chest. It was ecstatic that she was scared. "What do you want?!" She finally burst, and it paused it's chanting to complete silence.

She tried to look around her and could hear something moving around… something scraping against a surface she couldn't feel or see. It sounded like claws and feet. Whatever it was, it wasn't human, she was sure of that. "What do you want?!" She tried again, her inner voice quivering as she sobbed. The scraping and scampering grew more erratic at this. There were more of them now… whatever they were. It sounded as if they were clawing, trying to get in. "No." She heard a different voice. This one familiar, stern. It was her uncle Ai. She felt some of the tenseness in her chest melt, searching for him. "Mei Mei, where are you?" The icy voice tried to sooth with strained effort. "No." It was uncle Ai again, his word more forceful than before. A demand.

"Mei Mei." The voice hissed as if stretched, as if through a clenched and gleeful smile. "What do you want!? Leave me alone! Where is my family?!" "We have your family, Mei Mei." It responded. "You do? Where? Why did you take them?" Her inner voice demanded, hopeful. "Princess no!" her uncle shouted and there was a bright light before her, blinding her and making whatever had been coaxing her to scream and vanish. She blinked and tried to shade her eyes with her arm. When her eyes regained focus she could see her uncle before her. He was glowing?

"They did not take us Mei." He looked stressed, the lines heavy on his face, more than his age should have allowed. "Uncle Ai!" She leaped to her feet and embraced him tightly. "I know princess, I am sorry. We had no time to explain. We have no time, even now." He reluctantly pulled her away. "Where are your protectors?" Mei gaped not sure what he meant. "The hunters. The brothers. Why are they not here with you?" She didn't know how to respond. "Go to them, we can no longer…" he paused tensing, focusing on something to his left. "Mei Mei." It was the voice, it was back, far away again but back.

"What do you want?!" She was angry now. "No Mei!" her uncle shouted. "Do not acknowledge them! GACK" He managed to say and when she looked up to see why he had made such an odd noise she cried out. There was a black and blood-soaked arm protruding from his chest. It was a clawed, thorny and grotesque arm. She covered her mouth as her heart fell to the floor, her uncles mouth was gaping and reaching for her, pleading something, something she couldn't hear. It slowly pulled itself back and out of his back, letting his body fall to the floor, his outstretched hand landing on her foot. The light he had been emitting dimming until complete darkness surrounded her again.

"We want you Mei Mei!" It was a loud shout right into her face so forceful and loud it made her bolt up from her sleep clenching her chest to make sure it wouldn't dislodge itself from her ribs. Tears running down her face in puddles.

Chapter Song: Two Princes – Spin Doctors