After the Toledo, Ohio bloody Mary case, Dean had decided to take a short break. He figured they deserved it; Sam had been put through the wringer, both emotionally and physically by the case and needed to decompress. Even though it was obvious the guilt was eating at him, and had drawn bloody Mary to that stupid mirror, Sam still hadn't said a thing about it. Dean hadn't shared his guilt either, but he was not a talker ... well he was, he talked a lot, he just wasn't the 'bare my soul' type. He did not need heart to hearts to ease his mind, the way Sam did and that's why it troubled him to no ends that his baby brother had been close-lipped since Jessica's death. Sam's silence was disconcerting, and his nightmares were concerning.
So Dean had driven them an hour to Sandusky, to see whether they could find and participate in one of those themed festivals that the place was famous for. They were in time to catch the last three days of the Rock on the Dock affair.
They were having a great time, though it had taken Sam a whole evening to get out of his post-case funk. It had been a while since Dean had seen his brother so happy and carefree, and last night, Sam had slept the whole night through without a nightmare. Dean knew the nightmare-less nights would not last and Sam's smile would eventually dim but for now he was okay and Dean he was taking what he could when he could. He was glad they had taken the time off.
Today was the last day. They had gone their separate ways because they wanted to do different things. Dean was alternating his attention between two busty bottle blondes, and a beer while idly wondering what his dork of a brother was doing.
Sam, the dork, was at the Follett House Museum having a great geeky time. He could accurately picture what his horn dog brother was doing, and was thankful for the time apart. The two were due to meet back at the motel in three hours.
When Bobby called, Dean had just come to the sudden and sad realisation that he was not enjoying himself as much as he would have if his brother had been at hand casting disapproving looks his way. So the call was the perfect excuse for him to extricate himself from the clutches of the two women, and he couldn't help thinking 'saved by the bell' as he walked outside to receive the call.
"Hey Bobby," he answered, leaning against the wall.
"Emily is in the hospital!" Bobby said without preamble.
"What?" Dean shot off the wall. "What happened?"
"Slit wrists, but get this, it's supernatural related."
"What? How?"
"The only explanation I can come up with is possession."
"You've got to be shitting me!"
"I wish."
"So you exorcised her?"
"It wasn't a demon. And whatever it was, it's gone. For now anyway."
"Jesus, Bobby, just tell me everything from the beginning!" Dean commanded. He was already stalking to the motel, having not driven.
"I got a phone call about 10, yesterday morning from the hospital because mine was the last number she had called. She was found by a neighbour in the basement garage of the apartment she was living in, with her wrists slit." Bobby began the condensed version of the events.
"And you're just calling now?" Dean interrupted, his voice livid.
"Frankly, boy, calling you was the last thing on my mind! This whole thing has really messed the kid up and I don't just mean physically. She needed support and I was it. Now will you pipe down and let me finish? She was out all day yesterday and when she first woke up, this morning, she wasn't quite eloquent, but I got the gist of the tale, and when she came around the second time, I got her to give me details. The short of it is, some invisible, substance-less creature drilled an invisible hole in her neck, got inside her and compelled her to slit her wrists."
"Do you know what it was?"
"No, not yet, haven't exactly got time to go home and hit the books!" the worry and fear Bobby was feeling were coming off as sarcastic irritation.
"Shit!" Dean exclaimed. He run his left hand through his short hair, "This is my fault."
"What?" Bobby was incredulous. "How do you figure that?"
"This happened because I was not there to protect her!"
"You don't even know the details of what happened. What makes you think you being here would have made a difference? You and that brother of yours just enjoy lugging blame and guilt around with you, don't you. This was not your fault!"
On the other side of the line, Dean inhaled sharply and Bobby could just imagine the shattered look in his eyes. On a sigh, Bobby shook his head. He might as well be preaching to a brick wall! "So, anyway, the main reason I called is to find out how you want me to handle this. I can call her guardians, I'm sure she's got their numbers on her phone."
"No, no, don't call them. Sam and I are on our way!"
"I thought you wanted nothing to do with her?" Bobby said mildly.
"That was before she was attacked by something supernatural! How much do you think those guardians know about such things? They'll have her committed or medicated!"
"Okay. How far out are you?"
"We're in Ohio."
Bobby consulted his watch. It was just after 5 pm, so given the one hour time difference, and regardless of how many lights they ran or speed limits they breached, the brothers wouldn't be here until the early hours of tomorrow.
"We'll hit the road as soon as we can. Bobby ... please, please keep her safe." Dean rarely begged, but when it came to a sibling, even a sibling he'd never met, he was not completely averse to it.
"You know I will. And you two knuckleheads better drive safe." Bobby hang up.
Dean called his brother. "Damn it Sam, call me back when you get this!" was the curt message he left when Sam's phone went to voicemail.
He got to the motel and haphazardly packed his duffle and Sam's, and hauled everything to the car. If he'd known exactly where Sam was at, he would have driven there and picked him up.
It was thirty minutes before Sam called back. "What's up?"
"Get your ass to the motel right now. We have to leave!"
"What? What happened?"
"Just get here."
Dean was practically vibrating when Sam arrived.
"It's about damn time. What did you do? Street dance your way here?"
"What crawled up your ass and died?" Sam asked mildly as Dean started the car and peeled out of the motel parking.
"Bobby called. We need to get to Brandon, to Emily. Something happened."
Sam turned to look at his brother with huge eyes, "What?"
Dean relayed his conversation with Bobby.
"We should have been there." Sam said quietly after the tale.
"I know." Dean said just as softly.
Both boys lapsed into silence, each lost in his own thoughts.
Emily was out for the count when Bobby returned to the room and he wondered how long she'd lasted before succumbing to sleep. He smiled, and settled into his chair with a book, nodding off himself less than an hour later. She woke up at ten, inevitably waking him too, and within thirty minutes, she was stir crazy. She was all slept out, and full of energy, and her latest dose of pain killers had dulled the pain of the wounds. The TV was boring, and Bobby had a headache from all her questions and was ignoring her. Finally she asked him if she could just go for a walk, give him time to rest.
He couldn't hear of it. It was just yesterday that she'd almost died, that her heart had stopped beating. Besides, he had only protected this one room in the hospital and there was no way she was leaving it unless she had her protection ring, which she didn't. He really needed to go get that bloody ring. "No! No prancing about yet for you," he groused.
"It's my arms that are hurt, you know, not my legs!" she pointed out.
"I know that, but what if you pass out? You lost a lot of blood."
"I will not pass out!" she declared. "I ate solid food for lunch, that should count for something!" His cap shifted a little upwards and she knew he had raised his eyebrows. "Okay, it was semi-solid food, but that's a step up."
Bobby still looked skeptical.
"Please, can I at least walk around the room," she begged.
With a grumble about damn idjits and dominant genes of stubbornness, Bobby caved in and let her circle the room, all the while watching her like a hawk.
He was glad he had given in because she tired herself out pretty soon and got back into bed without any argument. She asked him for one of his books. There was blessed silence in the room as they both read; well, she read, and he watched her reading over his own book, amazed by how expressive her face was, how easily she accepted what she was reading and how fascinating she found it. She fell asleep two and a half hours later, still clutching the tome.
"Visiting hours aren't until nine. You cannot just come in any time you please and demand to see a patient."
"Why not? She's our sister!" Dean was angry, not at this woman but at himself. Plus he was tired after the gruelling drive. He had needed the distraction and had therefore only let Sam drive four of the twelve hours. Having to concentrate on the road kept him out of his head.
"Well, she's our patient. And we have rules. And the rules don't allow visits after and before visiting hours."
"Lady, we would have been here sooner if we could. Our uncle will vouch for us. He should be here."
"Yes, our records show a Bobby Singer, maternal uncle. He's with her right now. Has been the whole time."
"So go get him!"
"At this time? The gentleman is probably asleep. Disturbing him would be objectionable."
"For fuck's sake, he's our uncle, he will not object! Plus I bet he's awake. He's an early riser."
"Dean, go sit over there, let me handle this!" Sam hissed, pointing to the chair furthest from the nurses' station.
It was a testament of how distressed Dean was feeling, that he did as he was asked without grumbling about bossy little brothers.
"I'm sorry about my brother, but please cut him some slack, he's under a lot of pressure ... we both are. Only he's the oldest so he feels more responsible. We would have been here earlier if we could but this is the best we could do; we've driven twelve hours to be here. We really have to see our baby sister, assure ourselves that she's fine. Even if it's only for a minute, we'll take it. Please." He unleashed his patented puppy dog look.
It worked, of course. She led them to the room. "Just don't wake them!" she admonished in a loud whisper, walking away before they entered the room.
"The puppy eyes superpower!" Dean joked.
Even though it was half hearted, Sam was glad his brother was trying to lighten the moment.
The room was dark but they could see the silhouette of the man in the reclining chair. He appeared to be asleep but they knew he was completely aware of his surroundings. All hunters were wired the same way; they never really relaxed when on watch duty.
Bobby heard the door open and he became alert immediately.
Just earlier, Emily had had a nightmare. It had been a whopper that had made him curse giving her the book, and had precipitated a visit from the night nurse who had checked the wounds, and then restrained Emily, worried that the thrashing would open the stitches. The nurse had also used the unscheduled visit to check Emily's temperature and add more drugs to the IV, and she was therefore not scheduled to return until after eight in the morning.
So who the hell was this? And now there was a second shadow.
"Balls!" he thought. Not that he couldn't take on two whatever or whoever these were, he just didn't want to do it in a hospital room.
"Hey Bobby!" Sam whispered.
"They let you chuckleheads in?" Bobby asked, a relieved smile evident in his voice.
"What can I say, I'm charming!" Dean boasted.
Bobby got up and hugged the boys. "Good to see ya."
"How'ya holding up?" Sam asked.
Bobby knew he wasn't asking about just him, "Got a kink in my shoulder and Emily is still running a low grade fever, but she's kicking the infection's ass and the wounds are healing really well. Everything considered, I think I can convince her doctor to release her today. Of course I might need to call Jim up, and ask him to act as her quote, post hospitalisation therapist."
"That's great."
Bobby sat back in his chair. Sam sat in the other available chair and Dean sat on its arm.
"So, we know the condensed version of what happened, how about we get the details now?" Dean started.
In terse whispers, Bobby told them about the garage attack as Emily had narrated it, and the boys in turn told him about Cece Deco, Emily's grandmother.
"Sounds like quite a woman!" Bobby said.
"She is." Sam agreed.
"Kinda freaky if you ask me!" Dean said. He waved at the bed in which Emily lay. "Think this has to do with Gale, whatever he was?"
"It's possible." Bobby conceded. "I can do some research based on how Cece described him, try to figure out what he was."
"Umm, can you do research on Cece too?"
"The grandmother?"
"Yeah! She could be supernatural too. I mean this thing could have been after Emily because of that side of her parentage, and not because of dad."
"She's probably some kind of psychic, Dean, but okay, I'll look into it."
"So this protection ring is really the real deal?" Sam asked.
It always amazed Bobby how differently the brothers' minds worked, yet completely in sync and with a similar goal. In this case Emily's safety. "The ring works, if that's what you're asking."
"Do you think it was the force that Cece felt when Emily visited?"
"That's a lot of speculation, but I suppose it's possible. I tested that kid in every way imaginable, and she's just a kid. I haven't felt any force off of her."
"Well, you're not psychic!" Dean pointed out.
"Missouri is, and she didn't feel any force either."
"She met Missouri?"
"Yeah. Missouri is the one who sent her to me."
That revelation gave Dean pause. Bobby had not told them how Emily had ended up at the yard and they hadn't asked. That it was Missouri who had directed Emily to Bobby was telling, because Missouri knew John relatively well, had known him for years, and she would have sent Emily away if she hadn't thought there was merit to her claims. Dean had not really believed Cece Deco's assertion that Emily was John's daughter, but he couldn't ignore Missouri's supposition.
"Thanks Bobby." Sam said quietly.
"For what?"
"For being here for her."
"It was no trouble! Like I keep telling you and yer daddy, family don't stop at blood!"
"Shit! Dad! We haven't told him!" Dean remembered.
"I called him, and left a message. When he digs himself out of whatever hole he dug himself into, he'll get back to me, and I'll loop him in. Now if you boys want, you can crash. Rounds begin at six, but Emily won't be disturbed until about eight because she had an episode earlier and a nurse came in." Bobby glanced at his watch, "You'll have about three hours, give or take."
At seven, Bobby got up and popped his shoulders. "I'm going to hunt down the doctor, see if Emily can go home today or maybe tomorrow. I'll return with breakfast, and coffee." he explained to the boys who had stirred awake at his movement and were staring blearily at him.
"kay," Dean said and promptly dropped back to sleep.
"Need company?" Sam offered. He usually couldn't go back to sleep once he woke up.
"Nah, I'll be fine. Keep an eye on them."
And Sam took the suggestion literally.
He looked at his sleeping siblings with an indulgent smile. He wondered how Dean could fall asleep in that position was a mystery. His brother was surely a contortionist. And it always amazed him how young Dean looked when he was asleep. When he closed his eyes, eyes that spoke of a missed childhood and told the horrors of a hunter's life, he looked almost innocent, completely defenceless.
Then there was Emily. This was the first time Sam was seeing her. From the time he had learnt she was their sister, he had imagined what she looked like. His imagination would never have come up with this girl in a million years. Even in sleep and illness, he could tell she was beautiful; she had high cheekbones and a narrow chin and even though they were closed, he could tell her eyes were almond shaped. The eyelashes were long and her lips were full. Her hair however, was a tangled mess! Sam chuckled softly, and on a sudden impulse, he leaned forward and lightly caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.
She was really pretty, but it wasn't her looks that had affected him. It was how fragile and vulnerable and young she looked as she slept. That someone or something would try to hurt her, enraged him so much, and he could feel his heart beat increase in tempo. He would do everything in his power to protect this girl. He drew his hand back, marvelling at his reaction.
Wow, was this how Dean felt about him? Willing to give and do anything to keep him safe? With a jolt, Sam realised that premature as it was, he already loved this girl, a girl he didn't even know yet! Was this how Dean had felt when Sam, as a newborn, had been placed in his arms 21 years ago? A fierce, unquestioning love born of shared blood. Sam had no way of knowing whether he would even like Emily when he got to know her, it could go either way, but whether he liked her or not, he would always love her, that was for sure. He idly wondered what Dean would think of her. How he would feel about her. Would he love her? Or would he feel burdened by her addition to their family? After all, she was now another responsibility for him.
"I think your thoughts might set the curtains on fire!" Dean yawned and stretched luxuriantly.
Sam startled but recovered quickly, "About time, Sleeping Beauty!" he teased his brother.
"All this sleep is why I'm the handsome one!" Dean quipped. "But, you're the princess not me. I could kill for a cup of coffee!" he added.
"You'll have to wait for Bobby to return. But I think you need a shower more than the coffee."
"Dude, don't go there. You don't smell like roses either! So, that's her, uh?"
"Yep."
"What d'ya think?"
"I hope her inside matches her outside."
Dean knew exactly what Sam meant, that he hoped Emily was as nice as she was pretty. He too felt the same, but he couldn't help teasing Sam. "You're such a girl!"
"Eeer, considering this development, you might want to come up with a different insult!"