The next morning, Ellie woke up and stumbled down the hall to the bathroom, rubbing her eyes. When she brought her hands down she came around the corner and ran into a tall body. She made a startled noise and put her hands back up, prepared to fight off whoever it was.

Garrett grabbed her wrists, his eyes wide, "Whoa, it's me."

Ellie allowed her eyes to adjust to the light, then moaned and yanked her hands away from him. She shook her head and tried to step around him, only to have him purposely block her path.

"What are you doing?" she growled sleepily.

"Why do you hate me?" he crossed his arms and remained in front of her.

"What?" Ellie looked up at him, making eye contact.

"You seem to hate me," Garrett tilted his head, "And both of your uncles do too."

"I'm not talking about this," she turned to walk away, only for him to reach out and gently grab her upper arm. She whipped her head back to look at him, her eyes narrowed. His face was soft, almost concerned as his light blue eyes stared at her hazel ones.

"What's going on here?"

They both turned and looked down the hall, Garrett's hand falling from Ellie's arm as they realized it was Cass, standing with his arms crossed and an angry look on his face.

"Nothing," Ellie turned her head and glanced at Garrett. He nodded and sheepishly looked back at Dean.

"It doesn't look like nothing," Cass marched forward, his glare burning into Garrett.

"Uncle Cass, stop," Ellie shot her hand out to his chest, making his gaze snap down to her. "Can you make me your famous poached eggs for breakfast?"

Cass sighed, rolling his eyes before jabbing a finger at Garrett, "Fine. But you're coming with me."

Garrett nodded and followed the older man down the hall, sneaking a quick look back at Ellie. She stood with her arms wrapped around herself for a moment before she shook her head and again headed for the bathroom.

"Hey Dad?"

Sam looked over the top of his laptop at Ellie, who was walking towards the library table he sat at. He smiled at her and closed his computer, resting his arms on top of it.

"What's up, El?"

She took a deep breath before plopping down on a chair across the table from him, leaning back in it and resting her feet on the chair next to her.

"I think that since I have an entire nest of vampires after me, I shouldn't have to do my schoolwork for a while."

Sam snorted, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "Ellie."

"What? I'm traumatized," she threw a hand on her forehead dramatically, allowing her head to fall back.

"Nice try," Sam stood up and walked around the table.

"It's not fair, Garrett is missing school to be here," she dropped her feet onto the floor and turned to glare up at her father.

"I'm actually homeschooled," Garrett spoke up from the doorway that he had suddenly materialized in.

Ellie glared at him, "So? You still have homework."

"I'm ahead in all of my classes," he shrugged, leaning against the door frame. "So no, I don't."

Ellie rolled her eyes and stood up from the chair, looking up at Sam, "I'm going to the gym."

"Not by yourself you're not," Sam grabbed the back of her hoodie, pulling her towards him.

"It's just as safe as anywhere else in here, Dad," she moaned, trying to pull his hand off of her hood.

"And right now, nowhere is completely safe," he pulled harder so her head was right next to him. "So pick someone to go with you."

"I'll go," Garrett piped up, and Ellie's head whipped around as she stared at him with narrowed eyes.

"Perfect," Sam finally released her, making her fall to the ground. She scrambled back to her feet and glared at her father, then stuck her tongue out. "Remember, no weapons."

Ellie blushed as she shoved past Garrett and walked down the hall towards the gym. She had already changed before talking to her father, so she was in her workout clothes.

"Why did he say 'no weapons'?" Garrett asked as they walked down the hall together.

"Because I'm grounded," Ellie mumbled in reply.

"From using weapons?" Garrett scoffed, "That's a weird thing to be grounded from."

"From all hunting stuff," Ellie moaned, pushing open the door to the gym.

"Dang, what'd you do?"

"None of your business," she said quietly as she walked over and started wrapping her hands.

"Oh come on, you had to do something pretty bad," Garrett continued, walking around the room and inspecting the many pieces of equipment.

"I'm not telling you, so you can give up."

"Nope, I'm gonna figure it out."

"I'm serious, Garrett," she moaned, tucking the last piece of wrap on her hands. She stood up and removed her hoodie, a Lynrd Skynrd shirt on underneath. She walked over to the punching bag and began going to town when Garrett walked over and grabbed the other side of it, holding it steady for her.

"The fact that you're grounded from hunting and not anything else means that it probably has to do with a hunt," Garrett said loudly over the sound of her grunts and punches.

"Shut up," she hissed, continuing her assault on the bag.

"So it is," he chuckled, ducking when she tried to throw a punch near his head. "Hey, if you wanted to fight you just had to ask."

"I wouldn't want to hurt you," she smirked, holding her hands out before turning and kicking the bag with enough force to send Garrett backwards against the wall. When he looked at her, she smiled widely and put one hand out, beckoning him to come closer to her. She knew that while he easily had almost a foot of height on her, she had been training with her uncle since she was seven years old, and her strategy would be more than enough to knock him back a peg or two.

"Alright, but don't go crying to your daddy when you get your ass kicked," Garrett got up and shook his head, walking around the bag towards Ellie. She stood in a fighting stance, her hands up in loose fists and her weight on the balls of her feet.

"Come on," she teased as they walked in a circle.

Garrett stopped for a moment, holding his hands up, "I don't know if I can do this, you're like half my size."

"I sure am," she said before lunging forward and landing a quick punch to his ribs. Garrett winced briefly, before shaking his head.

"Ellie, this isn't right, if I—"

She took the opportunity and spun around, kicking his other side. He grunted and placed a hand on his ribs, his mouth tightened and his eyes closed. When he opened them, he saw Ellie smirking with her head tilted to the side.

"You know, you're right," she sighed dramatically, "I wouldn't want you to get hurt so badly you have to go home crying to your daddy."

Garrett groaned and straightened his body, turning his back swiftly and cracking a few bones. He then took a small step towards her, his hands up.

"Let's do this."

Ellie cocked an eyebrow before she lunged forward, extending her arm out to try and meet his chin. Garrett moved just enough for her to miss, and he grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her, kicking the backs of her knees and making her fall to the ground. She grunted as her face came into contact with the mat, and she could hear Garrett snickering from behind her head. She took a deep breath and bent her elbow, slipping out of his grip and twisting her body so she could use her opposite arm to grab the back of his neck, slamming his head onto the ground. She quickly crawled over to sit on his legs, and began pretend punching at his face, not wanting to actually injure him. He held his arms up in a defensive stance, his face flinching.

"Alright alright, you win," he reached forward and pushed her off of him, shaking his head.

"Told you," she jumped back onto her feet, smiling sweetly as she gave a small bow.

"Whatever," he muttered, getting up and brushing the dirt off of his shirt. He reached up to touch his lip, wincing when he felt a small drop of blood from where Ellie had smashed his face onto the mat. She stopped laughing and took a small step towards him, biting her lip to hide her amusement.

"I got ya, didn't I?"

"It's fine," he pulled his lip into his mouth and sucked the blood off, shaking his head.

"I warned you," she shrugged, a smug little smile playing on her face.

"Shut up," he scoffed, reaching out and pushing her back. "Brat."

"Ass," she quipped, then chuckled.

"What?" Garrett asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Nothing," she shook her head, reaching up to tighten her ponytail, "That just reminds me of something my dad and Uncle Dean do."

Garrett tilted his head in confusion, "Call each other names?"

"Well yeah," she chuckled softly, nodding, "My dad calls Dean 'jerk' and then Dean calls him 'bitch' and that's kind of their thing."

"So what you're saying," Garrett pushed his shoulders back, stretching his arms above his head, "Is we have a weird thing now too?"

"Apparently," Ellie muttered as Garrett smiled down at her.

"I'm glad you don't hate me anymore."

"Who says I don't?"

"Come on, El," he reached out and poked her forehead, "You can admit it. We're friends."

"Yeah," she shrugged, turning to walk towards the door of the gym, "That'll happen after someone kicks your ass, I guess."

Just as Garrett opened his mouth to argue, the lights all turned off, only to be replaced with a red hue and a loud whining sound. Ellie froze in her steps, and turned to look at Garrett with wide and frightened eyes.

"What's happening?" He yelled above the alarm, hurrying towards her.

"That's the bunker alarm, someone or something must have set it off," she replied, breathing heavily. She looked up at Garrett, "We need to go find my dad."

He reached out and grabbed her upper arm, stopping her from opening the door. "Wait, we need to be prepared. Where are the weapons?"

Ellie turned and pointed across the room and watched as Garrett walked over to the tall metal cabinet. He opened it and pulled out a machete, as well as a few smaller blades that he tucked into his waistband. He walked back over to her and took a deep breath as he stepped in front of her, his hand on the doorknob.

"I don't get a blade?" Ellie hissed.

Garrett cranked his head around and glared down at her, "You just need to stay by me."

"No, I'm the one they're after, I need a knife too," she growled before running over to the cabinet and pulling out another machete.

Garrett rolled his eyes as she moved to stand directly next to him, the machete heavy in her hands. As he slowly opened the door, he whispered, "Just stay behind me, please."

As they started walking down the hall, Garrett leading the way with Ellie walking backwards to cover their flank, the loud alarm stopped. The red lights were still flashing, but it became eerily quiet.

"Something's wrong," Ellie whispered, trying desperately to keep any hint of a whine out of her voice.

"Keep moving," Garrett mumbled as they continued down the hall.

"No, something's wrong, my dad should've come to check on me by now," Ellie stopped mid step, the arm that was holding her blade dropping as her other hand came up to her throat. Garrett heard her breathing erratically and turned his head, hurrying back to her.

"Hey hey," he grabbed her shoulder, "I'm sure everything is fine, you gotta calm down."

"I can't," she tried to suck in a large breath, "I can't calm down there's a vampire in my home and it probably already killed my dad and—"

Garrett looked around as she rambled and yanked her forward a few steps, sighing with relief when the random door they were in front of opened. He shoved her inside before joining her, pulling the door shut behind him. He turned to look at her and realized they were just in a supply closet.

"Listen, you have to breathe," he placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't," she sniffed, holding her eyes shut tightly to try and stop her tears from falling. She did not want him to see her cry, damn it.

"Ellie, look at me," he said quietly. Ellie kept her eyes clamped shut, feeling a little dizzy from hyperventilating when she felt a hand on her cheek. She finally opened her eyes and saw Garrett looking down at her with a hardened look. "Slow down your breathing."

"I...I can't," she choked out.

"Yes you can," Garrett dropped his hand, looking straight into her eyes, "Match my breathing, okay? Inhale, exhale."

She hated how vulnerable she felt, but found that by watching his chest rise and fall, she was finally able to calm down. Her eyes fluttered closed as she focused on keeping her breathes slow and even.

"Ellie!"

Her eyes flew open at the sound of her dad's voice yelling in the hallway, and she tried to move around Garrett to open the door.

"Just wait a second," he muttered, holding up his blade before he slowly opened the door and peeked outside. The red lights were off, and the normal electricity was back on in the bunker. When Garrett looked down the opposite hallway, he saw Sam smiling at them. Ellie poked her head out of the door, her eyes brightening when she made eye contact with her father. She was confused as to why he wasn't more excited to see her as she ran to him and threw her arms around his waist.

"What happened?" she asked, stuffing her face into his chest.

"It was a test," Sam held her tightly to him, knowing she was going to freak out as soon as she realized what he did.

"What?" she shrieked, trying to push against his chest. Sam squeezed her tighter, trying not to laugh.

"I just wanted to make sure you knew what to do," Sam said quietly, grabbing Ellie's cheeks and pulling her face back so he could look at her.

"Of course I know what to do," she reached up and shoved his hands away, backing up a few feet. "I've known what to do since I was seven years old, Dad."

"I know that," Sam sighed, tightening his jaw, "But now all those times we practiced simulations are reality."

"I can't believe you," she mumbled, wrapping her arms around herself. She turned and looked at Garrett, her face scrunched up in anger, "Did you know he was going to do this?"

Garrett's face began to blush, and he looked down at his feet, "I, um…"

"Oh my god," she moaned, shaking her head, "You both suck."

"Ellie, don't blame Garrett, it was my—"

"Oh, I'm not blaming Garrett," she interrupted, turning to glare at him with a hardened expression. Sam opened his mouth to reply, then huffed a breath out of his nose and put his hands on his hips. Ellie continued to stare at him for a moment before rolling her eyes and walking down the hall, pushing Sam out of the way in the process.

"She's…something else," Garrett whispered as he moved to stand next to Sam in the hallway as they watched her walk away.

"Yeah," Sam sighed, shaking his head, "Yeah she is."