"Ava, darlin', I need you to wake up now. I can see the power plant. Where am I turnin'?" Jacks is shaking my arm with extreme caution, as if he is scared he'll hurt me. I help him find the road once I manage to open my eyes. Before long, I'm pointing out the garage.

"Come on in with me. Let's see if we can't get someone to take you home." I lead the way through the bunker. Now that I'm in comfortable surroundings, I feel better and safer. Jacks still insists on holding my arm 'just to be safe.'

The sound of a gun cocking behind us brings me to a halt. Guess we've found Dean.

"Who are you?" he demands. I slowly turn around. Jacks remains facing the other way, seeing as the gun is aimed at his head.

"Dean, calm down. This is Jacks, my friend from the hospital. You need to put the gun down." He makes no sign of moving. The gun never wavers from its place at Jacks' skull. "Now." He looks away from Jacks and to me. Then, he lowers the gun. He doesn't put it away, however, which is a bit concerning. There is a tension in his shoulders I haven't seen before.

"Dean, what's wrong?"

"Cas left. Trouble back home." Dean is this upset over Cas leaving? I mean, yeah, he spends a lot of time with the angel, but I didn't think they were this close. Just how close are they?

"He said he'd come back, though, right?"

"Yes."

"Then why are you upset?" Dean looks down and there is no response.

He takes a slow breath and asks, "why is he here?" So I explain the situation to him, with Jacks interjecting here and there to give a bit more detail. When we finish telling him, I can't decide if he's angry or distraught.

"I knew this was a bad idea." His hands scrub across his face. "I shouldn't have let you go."

"Dean, there was no way we could predicted this. It was more crowded than a typical game and my anxiety flared."

"Mr. Winchester, I know you're concerned about her, but this was an accident. Protecting her is one thing, but keeping her from living is different," Jacks adds. Dean just glares at him, refusing to believe there are things he can't protect me from.

"Can we argue about this later? My throat is sore and Jacks needs a ride home." I give Dean my puppy eyes and he sighs.

"One minute, I'll have Sam take him back." Dean marches away.

"You didn't tell me he has a gun," Jacks says with a joking glare.

"Sorry," I croak, "didn't think he'd do that."

"It's alright, darlin'. He's just protectin' you." Jacks gives me an understanding smile. "Now, I didn't realize we lived this close to each other."

"We didn't before. I lived two towns over, before. I was wondering why I knew the initials LHS."

"You're feelin' better, right? You'll be okay if I leave?"

"I'll be fine," I assure him. "My brothers are here. Plus, this is my safe place."

"Good. Well, since we live so near each other, I'd like to meet up with you and make sure you're alright, okay?" His hands rest on my shoulder. "And, you're a friend. We don't just have to be hospital buddies anymore." He puts his number in my phone and we agree to meet up sometime over the weekend. Sam appears sometime during this exchange.

"You're the boy from the hospital. Jacks, isn't it?" Jacks nods and shakes Sam's hand. "Do you live far?"

"Only about fifteen minutes' drive, Mr. Winchester." He looks back at me. "I'll see you around, Ava." I give a little wave and then he's gone.

"Alright," Dean orders, "take your meds then go to bed. You've had a rough night. I'll excuse the homework just this once. I figure it can't hurt you to miss one assignment for each class." I smile up at my brother. It's hard to imagine that it was just August that I didn't know him. Now it's November, I'm seventeen, and I'm living with blood relatives. I do as he asks, taking my throat medication, but I don't take the sleeping pill just yet.

"Dean? I do need to talk to you guys about what's wrong with me. You should know the full story."

"We read the report the doctor gave us." He looks down and one foot shuffles guiltily. "We made sure to this time. Didn't want to make the same mistake we did before, waiting for you to talk to us."

"That's good, but that's not all of it. Actually, that's just the tip of the iceberg. The packet they gave you was a medical report. That only has what happened just before they found me. It doesn't have the worst of it."

"There's more?" His heart breaking is almost audible.

"Isn't there always?"

This chapter was really short, but I thought I'd stop there so I could post and then write out Ava's whole story in the next chapter. It might take a while to write and it's already been a while since I've posted, so this is how I'm breaking it up.

Thanks to everyone who's left me a review. They really mean a lot to me! I can't wait to hear what you think about this chapter! Best wishes until I write again!