They had fallen into a routine.

A weird routine.

But a routine none the less.

Over the two weeks after the truth came out, it was Sam who pushed them to try and maintain as much structure as was possible to maintain in a life like theirs. His reasoning was two fold.

One- Curse or no curse Zoe had three years of trauma on her shoulders. He remembered reading somewhere once that structure could help people get back some semblance of a normal life.

Two- he figured that in some ways, Zoe's curse might be something like living with being a werewolf and it was possible for people to do that if they could keep some modicum of control in their lives.

Their funny little routine went as follows...

Dean and Sam would wake up first, usually because Zoe would be exhausted from nightmares waking her every half an hour through the night. One of the brothers would go to the nearest diner or deli and pick up breakfast. Sam would then gently wake Zoe from slumber and the three of them would eat, while Sam scoured the papers for any potential cases.

Then they would pile into the impala and head to whatever town needed saving from whatever monster, spirit or demon that was terrorising it, sometimes joined there by Castiel. They would book into a new motel room and then start investigating. Or rather, two out of the three or four of them would start investigating.

It would alternate between:

Sam and Dean.

Dean and Cas.

Sam and Cas.

Sometimes, when Castiel was not around, Dean or Sam would go out investigating alone.

This was because it was decided right at the beginning of the new arrangement that someone should stay with Zoe at all times, until she was in a fit state to join them in the field, which, given the amount they didn't know about her curse, could be a long time away. Whoever wasn't out interviewing witnesses, conning their way into crime scenes and generally breaking a lot of laws, would be back at the motel with Zoe, who had insisted that she be allowed to help in any way she could, which meant a lot of research.

She had thrown herself into it with such vigour (desperate for something to focus on instead of becoming absorbed in memories of her past traumas) that Dean had christened her with a few new nicknames to go along with Zo-bird. These included but weren't not limited to.

"Dork in training"

"Sam with boobs"

"Nerd bird"

But Zoe didn't mind. Dean's teasing made her feel more like a normal person and less... damaged.

Sam helped to of course. He treated her normally, but he also knew when normal wasn't what she needed, like when she needed bringing out of a nightmare, waking or sleeping. Thankfully, the night she offered to 'thank him' was the first and last time that happened, which made Zoe feel a little bit better about herself. She liked Sam and didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

Sam was sweet to her it was true but that didn't stop him from joining in Dean's teasing every now and then.

"Nice to know I might not be the biggest nerd in the room with you around Zoe!"

In fact the only person - I mean angel - who still sometimes treated her like an unexploded bomb was Castiel.

But she knew why.

On one of the nights when Castiel was left on baby sitting duty while Sam and Dean were out hunting a vengeful spirit, Zoe had, for the first time, broached a conversation with Castiel.

"Why do you hate me?"

Castiel had looked at her slightly surprised.

"I do not hate you Zoe." He said in his low gravelly voice "I do not. I am simply concerned for both your safety and the safety of those around you, immediately or otherwise."

She knew who he was talking about.

"I wont hurt them. I wont hurt anyone."

"And I want to believe that. But my belief in your ability to do so is not as strong as I wish it were."

"B-before he took me, I was getting better. Better at controlling it. I-I wasn't quite there but now? Now I have three very compelling reasons not to lose my cool."

It was the most words that Zoe had ever said in Castiel's presence let alone directly to him, and the angel appraised her.

"You have faith in that fact? That you can keep them safe?"

"I..." Zoe paused like she was considering her words carefully "I have faith in you. And Sam and Dean. I have faith that you all wont let me hurt anyone." she swallowed like she was steeling herself for what she was going to say next "Even if you have to put me down."

Since that point, there had been a kind of mutual respect between Zoe and Castiel. It wasn't quite a friendship, not yet, but there was an understanding there.

And that was their life now.

Weird.

Sometimes scary.

Definitely unconventional.

But most importantly to Zoe, safe.

She felt safe for the first time in a long time.

St Ives Park Town, Nashville, 5 months after Zoe's rescue

"It's a siren."

"Damn" Sam sighed, dropping his book as Dean swore under his breath and flopped down onto the couch. Zoe frowned at their reactions.

"Have you met one before?" she asked, closing her own book.

"Yeah, a while back." Sam said, running his hands through his mop of hair. "It erm… it could have gone better."

"But we got the bastard in the end" Dean supplied from the couch. Sam suddenly sat bolt upright and turned to his brother.

"Dean, that journalist! What was her name Kathy? Katie something?"

"Blonde? Nice rack?" Dean said and Sam rolled his eyes, while Zoe looked away, her cheeks slightly tinged pink.

"Yeah, her. Think about it, she's new to town, she's been at every crime scene..."

Dean got to his feet, seemingly newly invigorated at the idea of taking out a monster that had claimed four innocent lives.

"Let's go get the bitch then!"

"One of us has to stay" Sam reminded him quietly, and Zoe felt her blush darken even further, but this time with shame.

"Sammy, solo hunting a siren? Not a good idea dude, you know that."

"Castiel is off doing Chuck knows what, we cant just-"

"I'll be fine."

Both Sam and Dean turned to look at Zoe, who was still avoiding eye contact. Finally she looked hesitantly up at the two of them.

"If I can't manage one night on my own, then Gasrette might as well have killed me." she said bluntly and she didn't miss the way that Dean clenched his fist and a muscle twitched in Sam's jaw at the mention of her captor and abusers name.

Sam and Dean looked at each other for a long moment.

"You don't open the door to anyone but us" Dean said sternly and Zoe nodded.

"I'll keep the door locked, I'll text you every hour, I'll keep the-the cuffs close in case I even think I'm going to... change." she spoke the last word in a small voice, before saying in a voice of slight shame but forced control

"I can't keep feeling like a burden to you. And you can't base your lives around making sure I'm not a risk."

And although they weren't happy about it, neither Sam nor Dean could see a way around it that didn't end with one of them getting hurt. They tooled up, preparing to take on the siren and then headed towards the door.

"Every hour Zo-bird" Dean said and Zoe nodded.

"If we don't get a text from you on the hour, every hour we abandon the hunt and come straight back." Sam promised and Zoe gave him what she hoped was a confident smile.

"I'll be fine."

And with that the two boys left, hearing the sound of Zoe locking and bolting the door behind them.

"Let's just get this bitch so we don't have to leave her alone any longer than we have to yeah?" Dean said upon seeing the look on Sam's face.

"Yeah. Let's just get it done."

It was nearly 3am when a knock at the door made Zoe nearly jump out of her skin.

"Zoe? Zoe it's me."

She sighed in relief at the sound of Sam's voice and went over to open the door. Sam walked into the room alone and squeezed her shoulder as he passed.

"Where's Dean?"

"Getting pie." Sam said with a tired chuckle "He says it's celebratory pie for getting the job done."

"You got her then?"

"Yeah we got it."

"Good."

The two of them sat down beside each other on the couch and Sam flicked on the crappy tv in the corner of the room. Zoe happily lost herself in the episode of Doctor Who that was playing, T.V being one of the little things she hadn't realised she had missed during her captivity.

After a little while she became aware of a tingling sensation on the side of her face.

Turning slightly, she saw that it was due to the fact Sam was watching her intently.

She ducked her head, unable to maintain the eye contact.

Suddenly Sam's warm fingers had taken her gently by the chin and turned her face back towards him, his eyes seeming to stare straight into her soul.

"What- what are you doing Sam?" Zoe all but whispered.

"I don't know." Sam muttered, eyes darting to her lips.

Then he closed the distance between them.

And kissed her.

Ta da!

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOH SAMMY AND ZOE SITTIN IN A TREE!

What do you guys think? I love to hear your likes and thoughts and ideas and what you want to see!

More soon.

Geronimo xx