A/N: I've met so many nice people on here. Thank you for your kind comments. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Happy New Year!
"I have no idea what I'm doing Sammy," Dean sighed. He took a sip of his water and fidgeted with the picture in his hands. "It's obvious she hates me."
"Dean, stop beating yourself up, she doesn't hate you," Sam replied, "We're doing the best we can and I really think we'll be able to get through to her." Dean wished he had his brother's optimism. As the waitress dropped off a basket of rolls, a commotion near the bathroom caught their attention.
"She's bleeding! She's bleeding!" gasped an elderly woman as she emerged with her arm around Brinley. Brinley held a paper towel against her arm. Horrified, the brothers jumped from the table and made their way to their sister.
"M'am, we can take this from here, thank you," Dean stated, "She's with us."
"Your daughter was playing with a knife!" the woman snapped in Dean's face. Dean flinched and wiped spit droplets from his face. "Sheesh, the parents these days keep getting younger and younger. You should really keep a closer eye on her." She removed her arm from around Brinley and Sam led her away from the commotion. He immediately lifted the paper towel and examined the wound.
"This is a bad one," he commented to Brinley. Her eyes were focused on the floor in front of her. "Are you ok?" he asked.
"I'm fine," she replied quietly. "I didn't…," she began to say, but stopped as she scanned the restaurant. "Why are they all staring at us?" she questioned angrily when she realized all eyes were on them. Her voice was loud and the people who heard her pretended to refocus their attention away from her.
"Don't worry about them," Sam replied.
Meanwhile, the elderly woman kept digging into Dean. "Parents these day, they just don't care what their kids are up to," she growled at Dean. Dean fought to keep his temper under control with the woman.
"Thank you m'am for helping our sister," he replied with emphasis on sister. He watched as she shuffled away mumbling under her breath, and he took a deep breath. He hurried over to his brother and sister, when he finally saw what Brinley had done to herself, it angered him. It wasn't just a scratch like the others. It looked deep and deliberate, and it made him mad. Dean exchanged a "wth" glance with Sam.
"I'll take her out to the car," Sam suggested, "Why don't you get our order to go?"
"Yeah," Dean agreed. Once they were outside, Sam grabbed the first aid kit from the trunk while Brinley climbed into the backseat. He thought she seemed unphased by the situation as he slid in beside her.
"What happened?" he asked gently as he soaked a cotton ball with peroxide. Brinley shrugged her shoulders in response. She flinched as he placed it on her arm. "This one is deep," he commented. "I think it may need some butterfly strips." Brinley didn't reply, she just stared down at her arm in disbelief. She was ashamed and embarrassed, and was worried what her brothers really thought about it. "Come on Brinley, talk to me," Sam urged. "I'm not mad. Just worried. I want to help you." Dean opened his door and tossed the take-out bags on the seat next to his.
"It's Dean's fault for taking my knife away," she snapped.
"Whoa, excuse me?" Dean questioned as he sat behind the wheel. He cranked his head around so he could see them.
"I had to use a stupid steak knife and it was sharper than I thought," she whined. "I…I…guess I pushed too hard and that stupid woman kept asking me stupid questions when I came out of the stupid bathroom stall. I tried to hide it but I was bleeding too much."
"She was just worried," Sam commented.
"Yeah well people should really learn to mind their own business," she snapped. Still upset and confused, Dean wanted to rip into her, but he decided to follow Sam's lead. His problem was that he tended to react first, and think later, but this was a complicated and sensitive situation.
"Can we just stop talking about this?" she questioned. Sam put a butterfly band aid on the wound, thinking if it was just a little deeper she would've needed stitches. Brinley grabbed her dog blanket and covered herself.
"We can talk when you're ready," Sam said gently. He climbed out of the backseat and took a seat next to Dean. He placed the take-out bags on his lap and handed out the food. Brinley took her wrapped burger and placed it on the seat beside her. Her stomach felt queasy and food was the last thing she wanted.
"You need to eat something kid," Dean said as he looked at her though his mirror.
"I'm not hungry," she replied. Dean sighed and looked toward his brother.
"Let it go," Sam suggested. "We have bigger fish to fry right now." Dean reluctantly agreed. Silence filled the Impala for the next ten minutes while they ate. Sam glanced back at Brinley before they headed out to find her asleep again or at least pretending to be asleep to avoid talking to them. "She's asleep," he mentioned to Dean as the Impala's engine roared to a start.
Dean sighed. "What now?" he questioned as he clenched his fists on the steering wheel. "She can't be unsupervised at all anymore. I don't trust her. And what the hell Sam, a goddamn steak knife? That was so dangerous and that woman could've easily called the police on us."
"I know Dean," Sam agreed. "We were talking about her Mom before it happened. It must of set her off." Dean nodded in agreement. "Maybe we should call Dad?"
"Nah," Dean replied. "He doesn't need to worry about this too." They drove for a few more hours and stopped at another motel. The Impala roared to a stop in front of the office. "We're almost outta money," Dean said as he motioned to a bar next door to the motel. "I wonder if they have pool tables." Brinley woke to their voices.
"I like pool," she mumbled, still half asleep.
"Sorry kid but that doesn't look like a place I want to bring you," Dean replied.
"You and I can find a movie to watch on tv," Sam suggested.
"Sounds like fun," she replied sarcastically. "I've only been sitting all day."
"It looks like they have an indoor pool," Dean mentioned.
"I don't have a bathing suit and I can't swim," Brinley replied.
"It's still light out, we could find a playground to go to," Sam offered.
"I'm too old for playgrounds," she replied with a roll of her eyes. "You guys keep thinking I'm a little girl."
"Tell us Brinley, what would you like to do?" Dean replied with frustration. "And you are a little girl," he added. He didn't care how angry it made her. He decided that he would keep reminding her that was a little girl.
"Shopping?" she questioned.
"Sure, I'll take you shopping," Sam replied.
"You're such a girl," Dean joked to his brother. He hopped out and headed into the office to check in. He came out a few minutes later with a key and a pamphlet. "Looks like there's a mall about a mile down the road," he said as he tossed the pamphlet onto his brother's lap. "Do you have any money on you?"
"I have a twenty," Sam replied.
"I think I have about $100 left," Dean replied as he pulled out his wallet. "I'll keep half and try to hustle some more, and you can have the rest."
"What happens if you lose?" Brinley asked.
"I don't lose," Dean replied confidently. Brinley rolled her eyes. They unloaded the car and then went their separate ways.
Brinley was excited to go shopping but felt bad that her brothers didn't have much money. The mall was crowded as they made their way through the halls. An arcade caught her attention. "Could we play a couple of games Sam?" she asked excitedly. "I love Pac Man."
"Yeah, sure, I always enjoyed a good game of Pac-Man," he replied. Brinley grabbed his hand and dragged him inside. One game turned into twenty, but Sam didn't have the heart to make her stop. It was the first time he had actually seen her enjoying himself. He decided to try his luck at one of the claw games and won a blue, stuffed bear. "For you," he offered to Brinley. She smiled and took it from him.
"Thanks Sam," she smiled. "I could eat something," she mentioned.
"I saw a food court on our way in," Sam replied. They headed back the way they had come and Brinley decided on a piece of pizza and a coke.
"How much do you think Dean will win?" she questioned as they said down at a vacant table.
"Hopefully enough for the week," Sam replied.
"Doug used to take me to the bar around the corner from our house and I would play pool while he drank," she mentioned. "I used to beat grown men." She laughed to herself. "It was fun."
"Sounds like you take after Dean," Sam replied, "I'm horrible at pool."
"Ya know, you're a lot nicer than Dean," she commented to Sam. He smiled at her comment, but also felt bad that she had the wrong impression of her brother.
"Dean's a good guy," Sam replied. "Having a little sister is new for him….new for both of us, and he's figuring it out, but trust me when I say, he would do anything for you…for us. His heart is bigger than his head sometimes." Brinley smiled slightly and bit into her piece of pizza.
"Thank you for spending time with me Sam, I had fun," Brinley commented as they cleaned up their garbage from the table.
"Me too," Sam replied. He felt good about their evening together. He knew bonding with her was important and he was confident she was feeling more comfortable with him.
Before heading out, they stopped at a little convenience store so Sam could get batteries for their flashlights. Brinley wandered ahead as Sam dug through the rack of batteries searching for a size D. She rounded the corner and noticed an area with multipurpose tools which had a knife as one of the tools. She squeezed her stuffed bear tightly, closed her eyes, and tried to walk on. But….she couldn't help herself. Knowing it was wrong, she glanced around quickly and then stuffed one into her jeans' pocket.
Seconds later, Sam rounded the corner. "There you are," he sighed. "I just have to cash out." With her heart racing and filled with guilt, she followed him to the register. Once Sam cashed out, they headed out of the store.
"Excuse me sir?" interrupted a voice. Brinley and Sam looked behind them to find a mall security officer. Brinley felt a lump in her throat and immediately regretted her actions. She was scared. It wasn't the same fear as facing the scarecrow. It was a different fear. The fear of disappointing Sam.
"Can I help you?" Sam asked.
"Yeah, I need you both to come with me," he stated.
"You need to tell me what the problem is first," Sam stated.
"Is this your daughter?" the man asked. Brinley looked away uncomfortably as they both stared down at her. Her first instinct was to run but she knew her little legs were no match for them.
"My sister," Sam replied. "Is there a problem?" he demanded.
"Your sister stole something from the store," the man replied. Brinley felt her cheeks get hot and still couldn't look at Sam.
"Brinley?" Sam questioned, shocked that she was being accused of stealing. He had only taken his eyes off of her for a few seconds and they had had such a fun evening together, he couldn't imagine that she would want to ruin in.
"Prove it," Brinley snapped back at the man. "This is harassment."
"Then empty your pockets," the man ordered.
"No," she replied. "Sam," she whined, "Let's just go." Sam sensed that she wasn't acting right. She seemed highly anxious and her breathing was fast.
"Give me a second, will you?" Sam said to the security officer. He grabbed her arm firmly, without hurting her, and led her a few feet away. "Did you steal something?" he asked sternly. She wanted to lie to him, but she couldn't. Ashamed, she looked to the floor. Her silence told him everything he needed to know. "Hand it over, now," he ordered. Sam had never taken that tone with her. She swallowed hard and reached into her pocket. She pulled out the tool and placed it in his hand. Sam examined it quickly, and then motioned for the security guard to come over to them and he handed him the tool. "I'm really sorry sir, it won't happen again," Sam said. "Think you could let her off with a warning? She's only 11 and well, little kids do stupid things."
"Make sure it doesn't happen again," the security guard replied kindly, and strode off.
Sam stared down at his sister for a moment. He couldn't even ask her why she did it because he knew why. Brinley raised her eyes to meet his. "I'm sorry Sam," she pouted.
"I know," he replied. "But this is bad Brinley, stealing is so wrong."
"You stole a car," she replied defensively. Sam sighed.
"That was for a good reason and you know it," he replied, "You and Dean were in danger."
"This was for a good reason too," she replied. Sam's phone rang and it was Dean.
"Hey Dean," Sam answered, "Yeah, we're headed back now." Sam hung up and refocused his attention back to Brinley. "We should go."
"Do we have to tell him?" Brinley asked worriedly as they made their way out to the car.
"Sorry little sister, but I'm not keeping secrets from Dean," Sam replied with a frown. "You need to own up to this." Brinley was worried. Facing Dean was even scarier than disappointing Sam.