A/N: Thank you all for reading! Go check out my Tumblr asirensrage for a whole bunch of mood boards and maybe some art for this story and these characters. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter: Found

"You have within you, right now,
everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you."
— Unknown

I needed to search the car for anything that might help me. I was half hoping Kelly had stashed an extra phone in case of an emergency. I knew she kept go bags in the trunk, but I needed a way out...or a weapon. I had been alone in the dark before. Last time I ran and avoided people. This time I needed help and I needed to be prepared if I was going to get some.

I looked out the window. It was some kind of tall plants growing in the fields around me. I hated fields. There was something super creepy about them. It might have been remnant fears from watching Children of the Corn as a kid with my sister, but it never faded. I made an easy decision to stay in the car. If I was lucky, someone would pass by, but there was no way in hell I was walking around some creepy fields in the dead of the night. That was asking for something bad to happen.

There was a nail file in the cupholder. I had been hoping for a pen at least. With a pen, I could at least draw up some of the protection runes and sigils I had memorized from the notebook Sam gave us. The same ones I had done on the house. I checked the glove compartment and found something a little more useful than a pen. Right on top of the napkins and car info was a gun. I took it out, checking first that the safety was on before slowly going through the process of checking the ammo. It was fully loaded. I made a mental note to thank Kelly. I didn't use guns very much, my only training had been with Sam, but I remembered enough. It was just in case of an emergency, something that I couldn't fight.

I put it down on the passenger seat. Under the napkins were a couple of pens. I checked the ink levels on a napkin before I started scrawling on the fabric on the ceiling of the car. It took forever. By the time I was finished, there were a series of sigils on the roof and various protection symbols etched into the doors. It would have been easier with a knife on the plastic. I would find one when I got back and hide it in the car as well. Nothing big, but at least a penknife. And maybe some silver. Just in case.

The panic and adrenaline finally subsided and left me feeling nauseous and exhausted. I closed my eyes. I had to start figuring out how to get back. I had no idea where I was, but it was a straight shot back, for the most part. I would just find a house or store on the way back and call Kelly. She'd know what to do. I passed out without meaning to.

I woke up to the sun in my eyes.

I blinked, trying to adjust to the light. It was brighter than it should have been for sunrise. The sun had already risen.

"Damn it," I muttered. I got out and stretched before thinking of my options. There wasn't much of a choice. I got back in the car and started it. The fuel light blinked at me, reminding me there was little left. I took my chances. It was already later than it should have been. I didn't intend to fall asleep or actually sleep. I would have thought my paranoia would have kept me awake. Exhaustion won out.

The car got a few kilometres before it fully died on me. I sighed. I hadn't made it away from the stupid fields. On the other hand, the road looked busier up ahead. I wasn't looking to stop a car and hitchhike, but there had to be a store or something closer than the way I came. I tried to memorize the area around me so I could get the car back. I tucked the gun into the back of my pants for lack of a better place, covered it with my shirt, and started walking. I hated walking.

I was getting flashbacks of running from Gainesboro. The only difference was that I was prepared this time. Cars had passed me multiple times. I could have flagged one down, but the idea of it made me anxious. I had no idea who was in them or what they'd want. I wasn't naive enough to think that some men didn't believe in quid pro quo. I probably could have taken them, but I didn't want to risk it. It was easier not to get into a scrap if I could avoid it.

"Hey there! Hey!" I looked over at the tractor that slowed down in the field next to me. The man sitting on it looked down at me. "I saw you walking from down the way. You alright?"

I had been so worried about cars I hadn't considered people coming from the field. I looked over at the man. He didn't seem to have any intention of getting down but he did cut the engine so we could hear each other.

"Yeah," I called out. "My car died down the road. You know where I am?" I didn't move closer. I was loud enough.

The man lifted his hat and wiped the sweat off of his brow. "Yeah, you're on 361st avenue in Miller. You need some help?"

"I'm good." I looked around. It looked like it was all field. "Can you give me directions to the nearest town or store?"

"You need a ride?" he asked.

I shook my head. "Just directions."

He stared down at me for a moment, squinting in the sun. "Go back the way you were coming from. It'll take you to 196 where it ends. Turn right, continue until you hit the first road on your left. Take it. You'll reach the vet clinics first. They're open now and should have a phone if you need to call someone." He glanced towards the sky for a moment before looking back at me. "You sure I can't offer you a ride? It'll take you about an hour if not more to walk it."

I grabbed the pen I kept from the car out of my pocket and wrote down the basics. I made a note to underline the road I was on. I nodded at him and waved. "Thanks!"

"Take care now," he said before starting up the tractor again.

I felt something release in my chest as he drove off. I didn't realize I had tensed up during the interaction. I took a deep breath, trying to calm down before I turned back the way I came. More walking.

The sun was high in the sky as I headed down the last street. I wasn't sure about the directions but there was a little more traffic this way. That alone was encouraging. I was walking by a large building when I heard someone catcall. I ignored it. It wasn't the first time and likely wouldn't be the last. The building looked like something industrial. There were a few cars parked in the parking lot. It did not look welcoming so I kept walking. I forced myself not to pick up my pace. If it had been night, I would have been running just to get through this faster.

I finally found the vet. Thankfully there was a sign because it looked like any other farm building that was around. There were a bunch of empty vehicles in the area before I reached it. They were creepier than the fields.

I headed to the front door and entered. The inside was painted in warm tones to match the wood that was everywhere. The whole place smelt like animals though.

The woman behind the desk looked up and then looked surprised as she saw me.

"Can I help you?" she asked. She certainly looked nice enough.

I tried to hide a "christo" in a cough. She didn't react so I smiled. "Sorry about that, country air," I tried to be flippant about it.

"You're not from around here, are ya?"

"Nope," I agreed. "My car broke down on…" I checked the writing on my arm. "On 361st. I was looking for town, hoping to find a phone I could use to call home, let them know where I am. Would it be alright…" I didn't even get to finish before she was waving me forward, lifting a phone up on the desk and moving it closer.

"Of course, come on in. It just died now? You need me to call triple A?"

"I'll be okay. Just gotta call...my sister," I said, thinking of Kelly.

"Have at it," she smiled and motioned to the phone.

"Thanks." I picked up the receiver and went to dial before I stopped. I had no idea what her number was. I had no idea what anyone's numbers were. They had always been saved into the phone and I never needed to dial them. The only numbers I knew were for my world. I hung up and looked at the woman. "I am so sorry, but do you happen to have a phone book or yellow pages...for Aberdeen?"

"Aberdeen?"

"Yeah, that's where I was headed. My sister lives up there. Can't remember her number for the life of me and...my cell died in the night," I said, thinking quickly. "She works at a diner up there. Skyline."

The woman nodded before getting up. She headed to a shelf and pulled out a book. "You're in luck," she said. "We serve all of central South Dakota." She flipped through before she finally stopped and pointed at something. "Here. This it?"

I looked down at the page she showed me and nodded. "Yeah, looks right." I picked up the phone and dialled quickly. As it rang, I prayed Greta would help. She had fired Kelly after all.

"Skyline Diner," the voice said as someone picked up. "Open 'til midnight." I had never spoken to Greta before, never even met her. I had no idea what she sounded like.

"Is Greta there please?"

"This is," the woman sounded tired.

"Hi Greta, this is Michelle, Kelly's sister."

"Kelly's not-"

"I know," I cut her off. "Look, I got stranded and I don't have her new number memorized. Can you give it or pass on a message or something for me? Please," I begged. "I am in the middle of nowhere," I looked over at the woman behind the counter. "No offence," I said quietly. She just smiled.

There was a sigh. "Hold on." I dug the pen back out. She rattled off the number quickly. I wrote it down on my arm, making a mental note to memorize everyone's number after this.

"Thank you!" I said, trying to convey how much I meant it. "Thank you so much."

"Yeah, you're welcome." She hung up.

I looked over at the woman. "Do you mind if I make another call?"

"Of course not, sweetie, go ahead!" I tried not to react to the endearment and instead picked up the phone and dialled the new number on my arm.

"Hello?" Kelly's voice answered.

"Oh thank god!" I didn't realize how much I needed to hear it.

"Michelle! Where are you? Are you okay? What happened?" she said quickly. "Shut up!" she shouted at someone, I assumed near her. "Michelle?"

"Yeah," I let out a sigh of relief. "I'm okay. I am." I reassured her. It was true, despite how panicked I had been, I was okay. "I…" I stopped myself from giving her an explanation. The woman could still hear me and I doubted she'd appreciate the fact that I felt I needed to run from cops. "The car ran out of gas and I got stranded."

"Where the fuck are you?" she demanded. "Where were you going? I thought you went to see Sam?"

"I was!" I exclaimed, trying to convince her. "Swear to god. I just...I'll explain when I see you. I'm…" I paused. I looked over at the woman. "What town is this again?"

"Miller, South Dakota," she said with a smile. I smiled back and nodded.

"I'm in a vet clinic in Miller. No idea how far it is." I heard Kelly say something to someone else but it was muffled like she was covering the mic.

"Michelle," Dean's voice was suddenly in my ear. She must have handed the phone off to him. "Where the hell are you?"

"Town called Miller," I said. "I'm in a vet clinic."

"What's the address?" he asked. He sounded serious, which was not surprising. We hadn't left on the best foot and now this happened.

"Uh…hold on." I covered the receiver and looked at the woman. "What's the address to this place? My sister's….boyfriend is asking." I explained. She motioned for me to give her the phone. "Dean, hold on, I'm passing you over." I handed it to her.

"Hello?" She spoke into it. "Yes, no it's okay. She's fine," the woman laughed slightly. She gave the address and then proceeded to give him directions all the way from Aberdeen. That was handy. She handed me back the phone when she was done and I mouthed thank you to her.

"Hello?" I asked as I put it back to my ear.

"You stay there, you hear me?" Dean said. "Don't you dare move until we get there."

"I will," I nodded. "Trust me, I got nowhere to go around here."

"Good. We'll be there in an hour." He hung up.

The woman, who introduced herself as Susan, offered to let me stay in the office while I waited. I appreciated the thought but I preferred the outdoors. More space to move, and run, if I needed to. It also gave less of an opportunity for her to see the gun I still had tucked into the back of my pants.

I heard the Impala before I saw it. It came nearly tearing into the parking lot before it stopped. Kelly practically leaped out and tackled me. I clung to her tightly.

"I was so fucking worried," she said before she pulled back and punched me in the arm "Don't ever fucking do that again!"

"I'm sorry!" I looked at her and Dean. "I'm so sorry."

"Come on," Dean motioned us to get into the car.

I climbed into the backseat and told him where I had left the car. I took out the gun, checked the safety before I put it on the seat. Kelly turned to face me.

"Alright, so what the fuck happened? When you left you were headed to Sam. How the hell did you end up out here? You sent everyone into a fucking panic when we realized you weren't there."

"I stopped for directions," I said, looking between her and Dean. "I've only ever driven to Bobby's, I don't know the town, okay?" I explained when I caught the look Dean gave Kelly. "I stopped at a gas station and a cop came in. It was the same one that arrested me. I know Eric went to mindwipe everyone at the station, but I didn't know if they had been there and they were looking at me, okay? I just panicked. I didn't want to lead them to the house, I didn't want to cause more problems so I drove, trying to make sure they weren't following. I wasn't...I didn't realize how far I'd gone until the fuel light was blinking at me. I didn't have a phone and I sure as hell wasn't going to wander some cornfields at night, so I waited. I passed out and went for help as soon as I woke up."

"How the hell did you not notice you were running out of gas?" Dean asked.

"I was in the middle of a panic attack!"

We pulled up next to the car. It looked like it was in the same condition that I left it. We all got out. Dean went to the trunk of the Impala while Kelly and I headed for our car. She looked inside and paused.

"Sorry," I said, knowing she was looking at the modifications I did in the night.

"Honestly, I'm just surprised it took you this long. Here." She handed over the phone I had left at the house. "If you ever leave without this again, I will shoot you myself." She motioned for me to give her something. "Keys."

I dug them out of my pocket and handed them over. Dean stepped up to us with a canister of gas. He opened the tank and filled it.

"Thanks," I said, watching him. He looked up at me and raised his eyebrows. "For coming."

"I didn't do it for you," he said before he glanced at Kelly behind me.

"I know."

Once the canister was empty, I was told to get in the car. Kelly was driving. We were going to follow the Impala back. The drive was silent until Kelly started talking.

"You really scared me."

"I know," I nodded.

"I thought...I thought something happened or someone took you, Mish. I thought..." her voice cracked and she stopped.

"I'm sorry," I said softly. "I didn't mean to, I just...reacted. I don't know, I can't…" I sighed. "It feels like I can't control it sometimes."

She glanced at me. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. I mean, the fear, I guess? I was okay before, not great but okay, and then I got arrested and it all just... spiralled. I don't know. I don't know how to stop feeling like this. Like nothing is going to be okay and that no matter what I do, I'm never going to feel safe."

"Jesus Christ, Mish." Kelly glanced at me again. It was the most I had ever said, at least truthfully, about what I was feeling. I didn't like admitting something was wrong. I wanted to be okay, not...damaged like I felt I was. I turned to stare out the window, trying to ignore the slight regret at the admission.

"You know that's not true, right?" I looked over at Kelly as she spoke. "No matter what happens, you'll be okay. I mean, come on, you had a panic attack that sent you in the middle of nowhere surrounded by fields of wheat or some shit, I don't know but I know you hate them. You spent the night in a car surrounded by things you're afraid of and you survived. Hell, you scratched out protection sigils, felt safe enough to pass out and then managed to reach me. You scared the hell out of everyone but you took care of yourself."

"Huh." I didn't think about it like that. I just did what I needed to do.

"Yeah, so you'll be fine. We just gotta get you out of the house more. You're becoming a hermit or...what's the thing where you're afraid to go out."

"Agoraphobic."

"That's it!" she pointed to me. "You're too close to that. You proved today that you can handle this shit, even whatever your own mind throws at you, so you can handle everything else. Like going out. Maybe we should go to a bar again…"

I tried not to shudder. It was the thought of all of those people that I didn't know surrounding us.

"Come on," she said. "We already fought off actual demons. We'll be fine."

"I feel like you just jinxed us," I muttered.

"Nope. You're the jinx, not me. You and your juju brownies."

I sighed. "I wish I had brownies. I'm starving."

"Yeah well, you can get food when we get home."

I considered that. I had left the house originally with a goal in mind. I just got sidetracked...by myself. Unintentionally. "I think I need to go to the motel."

She looked at me in surprise. "What?"

"I never said sorry to Sam," I explained. "That was the whole point of me leaving in the first place. I have to apologize to everyone for this now, but I should see him first. Get that over with. Do it in order. Right?"

She was silent for a moment before she slowly smiled. "Right," she nodded. She glanced at me again. "You know how panicked he was this morning? When we realized you never got there?"

I sighed. "No."

"Michelle, he came up with a plan to try to find you in like a minute." I didn't know how to react to that. "He's going to be happy to see you."

I scrunched up my nose at the thought of it. "Maybe not. We didn't part ways on good terms."

"And whose fault is that?"

"I know."

"Hand me my phone," she motioned towards the cup holder. "Dial Dean and put it on speaker." I did as she asked. "Hey," she said as soon as he answered. "Head to the motel. We're going to drop Michelle off and then you can take me home, okay?"

There was a pause before Dean replied. "You sure that's a good idea?"

"Yup," she said. "Trust me."

"Okay," he said. "Keep following me." He hung up and I did the same.

"Can't back down now," Kelly said.

"I wasn't planning to." I looked out the window. I just hoped this was the right thing. I prayed inwardly that whatever courage Kelly had passed on to me so I could do this.

The motel was cheap-looking but it seemed standard from what I remembered from the show. I had never stayed at a motel before, not that I was planning to now.

Kelly gave me back the keys when we got out of the car and hugged me. "Room nine. Good luck!"

"Thanks," I huffed. I appreciated it though. I felt like I was going to need it. Dean got out of the car and headed to me. I wasn't expecting that. I figured he would leave with Kelly without saying anything.

"Don't hurt him," Dean said, staring down at me. "Or I will shoot you." Kelly hit him in the side.

"I'm not trying to." He didn't look impressed by that but let Kelly drag him away. They waited until I found the right door. They were likely making sure that I actually went through with it. I tried to push down the nerves, the sudden anxiousness building in my chest and knocked.

[tbc]