Welcome to the Club

A mirror is a negative space
With a frame and a place for your face
It reveals what the rest of us see
It conceals what you'd like it to be

Mirrors, Blue Oyster Cult

The next order of business was to clean out the cuts and scrapes and bandage Kole up. Their biggest concern, of course, was the set of matching slashes she had across both of her palms. But, she also had a busted lip from where the robed man hit her, a large gash on her right temple and the beginnings of what could be a black eye, and numerous small cuts along her left arm and the left side of her face. As far as they could see, all of the injuries had stopped bleeding.

"Those look like they may need stitches," Sam said hesitantly, indicating Kole's hands.

"I think they'll be fine," Kole said. "Sam, could you grab my backpack?"

Sam picked up the bag from where he had left it on the bed while Dean continued to make sure the cuts were free of all lint and sock fuzz. Sam placed the bag on the counter. Kole took her hands back from Dean, opened one of the front pockets of her backpack, and retrieved a small cylinder with purplish liquid inside.

"What's that?" Dean asked.

"Liquid stitches," Kole told him while she patted her hands dry on a towel, then blew on them.

"I thought that only doctors could get that stuff," Sam said. "How… and where did you get them?"

"Ask me no questions, I'll tell you no lies," Kole said absent-mindedly and without looking up them. She was busy prepping the stitches. "OK," she said when she finally looked at them, "I can't do this on my own. I need one of you to apply the liquid and the other to push the cut closed as much as possible."

Without responding or even looking at each other, Dean and Sam each knew which task they would perform. Sam took the stitches and Dean took hold of one of Kole's hands.

"Should we put some antibiotics on this first?" Sam asked.

"No, the stitches won't stick," Kole told him, then gave Sam a sincere smile. "It will be all right. Don't worry so much."

After the initial weirdness of it, Sam felt much more confident when applying the stitches to Kole's other hand. Once her hands were cleaned off and the stitches dry, Kole was able to help with the rest of her injuries. She splashed some water on her face to wash off the blood and dirt and used a washcloth on her split lip and temple.

"Where did that come from anyway?" Sam asked when she gingerly touched the spot a few time. Kole looked up at Dean through the mirror and gave him a quick eyebrow arch.

"Uh…" Dean said, "I'll tell you later." He was still a little embarrassed that he had been caught off guard so easily. "You have a bunch of glass in your hair. Is that from the front window?"

"Yeah," it was Kole's turn to blush a bit, "I was paying too much attention to the phone and calling you guys and… well, I was too close when the kids threw bricks through it." She was rummaging around in the front pocket of her backpack again. She pulled out another small tube, looking a little different from the last, and started painting over her damaged temple.

"I thought you needed help with the stitches," Dean said, pausing momentarily from tweezing bits of glass from her hair.

"This is only a bandage, not stitches."

"Liquid stitches, liquid bandages," Sam said with a laugh, "don't you believe in the old tried and true adhesives?"

"I hate those," she told him. "They make my skin itch and I can never get all the glue off. Hey," she grabbed Dean's hand as he was above to tweeze a bit of glass from her eyebrow, "I can do it now. Besides, you guys should probably start working on cleaning yourselves up."

Dean and Sam looked down at themselves and then at each other, then nodded their agreement.

"Oh," Kole stopped them, "I don't suppose one of you has something I can sleep in? I have an extra outfit in my bag, but I was hoping to wear it tomorrow… when I get some new clothes… I just don't want to wear this," she indicated the dirty and bloodied clothing she was wearing, "any longer than necessary."

The boys left for their room, Sam coming back long enough to hand Kole a large flannel shirt. Then, he joined Dean at the sink and surveyed his own various bumps and bruises. Nothing had broken the skin, so the damage was slight. He looked at his brother through the mirror and saw for the first time that Dean had a cut on his shoulder.

"Where did that come from?" Sam asked as he tried to get a better look. He couldn't be sure how deep the cut was because Dean had a good deal of blood on him that wasn't his.

"The leader guy," Dean sighed. "When I caught up with Kole, we broke into her office so she could grab some things, and when we were leaving… I just wasn't paying attention. The leader and I bumped into each other in the doorway. We both fell backwards. I bumped into Kole and she fell, which caused her to bump her head. I didn't even notice the guy's knife…"

"Dean Winchester not paying attention?" Sam ask incredulously. "Dean Winchester not noticing a knife? What's going on, man?"

"Gee, Sam, I don't know. I guess it's been a rough couple of days." He was immediately sorry for inadvertantly bringing the subject up again, and Sam didn't miss the cue.

"Dean, I really am sorry, man. If there was something I could say to make you believe that, something better than a lame apology, I would. I just… I don't know what to do to show you… to let you know…"

"Sammy," but Dean quickly cleared his throat and started over. "Sam, look, what's done is done. We don't have to talk about it anymore."

"But, I think we need to. I think…" but Sam was cut off mid-sentence.

"What the…?" Dean sputtered as he quickly turned from the mirror, walked to the front of the room, and opened the door to the adjoining room. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked, almost running into Kole, who gasped and jumped a foot or two backwards.

She had taken a quicker shower than either Winchester knew was possible. Her hair was still wet, but pulled back with a plastic clip. She had slipped on a pair of shoes and was wearing Sam's flannel shirt, which reached her knees in the front but only halfway down her thigh on the sides.

"How did you do that?" she asked when her heartbeat slowed back to normal. "There's no doorknob on your side." Dean swung the door back towards himself a little so that Kole saw the tape he had placed over the lock. Her eyes grew wide with surprise.

"Now answer my question," Dean demanded. "Where are you going?"

"I was just going down the hall to get a drink from the machine." She was to stunned to give him any attitude with her answer.

"No," he said, shaking his head, "I'll get it. You stay here. Safety precaution." He started to walk out of her door, but then stuck his head back in. "What kind?"

"Uh, diet." And Dean walked out again. Kole blinked away her amazement. She turned to Sam, who was standing in the adjoining doorway smiling at her.

"Just what was that?" she asked, pointing her thumb in the direction that Dean left.

"Oh that," Sam grinned, "that was just Dean being Dean."

"Which means what, exactly," she glared.

"Dean is at his best when he is taking care of his family," Sam explained. She game him a puzzled look. "It's your own fault, you know," he laughed. "He thinks you're our cousin, which you are in a way, but I think Dean missed the part about our uncle being your step-dad. And I would suggest you don't explain it to him because, as much as I love my brother, I have to tell you that he is a relentless flirt."

Kole just shook her head again. Sam laughed and continued.

"I have to thank you, though. It's usually me being told to sit, stay, and shut up."

Before Kole could respond, Dean was back and knocking at her door. She opened the curtain to see him give her a little smile and eyebrow raise.

"Sorry," she called to him through the window, "that isn't the secret knock."

Sam laughed out loud at the frown on his brother's face. But, Kole just gave him a smirk.

"Safety precaution," she explained over-sweetly and shrugged, then let the curtain fall back into place.

But it was going to take more than that to keep Dean out. He simply took a step to his left and unlocked his own door. He stepped in and scowled at Kole through the adjoining door. He took a step closer and shoved a can in her hand.

"Here," he said with an edge. "I got the caffeine-free because it's late and you could use the sleep."

"Thanks," she said in a thankless tone, tilting her head and looking him in the eye. The stare-down lasted a couple of minutes, with Sam looking back and forth like he was watching a tennis match. Finally, Dean broke the silence.

"You're welcome," he said, walking away from her and into his own room.

"Goodnight Sam," she smiled, then called past him to Dean. "Goodnight Nana!" Then she closed the adjoining door with a slam.

"What was that all about?" Dean asked Sam.

"I was going to ask you the same thing," Sam said. When Dean looked at him without understanding, he continued. "Dean, this is a girl who has pretty much lived on her own since she was 16. And she was doing fine. Now, suddenly, we drop in on her and everything gets turned upside-down and you're telling her she can't walk 20 feet to get her own can of soda."

"That was more than 20 feet…" when Sam raised his eyebrows, Dean rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm getting a shower."

Taking his cue from Kole, Dean's shower was quick. When Sam had finished his equally speedy shower, Dean was already asleep on his bed. Sam sighed, realizing that tonight would be the same as the last. Was that just last night? Just yesterday, they went to the Asylum; just last evening, Sam shot Dean; just last night, Dean slept harder than Sam knew was possible and Sam woke up from the horrible nightmare of beating his brother mercilessly.

The thought made Sam shiver. He was suddenly wide awake and didn't even want to try and sleep. He was just looking around the dark room wondering what to do with his time, when he heard movement in the adjoining room. It wasn't in-bed, tossing-and-turning movement, it was walking-back-and-forth across the floor movement.

Sam moved to the connecting door and knocked lightly, trying not to wake up Dean or, if he had been wrong about the movement, Kole. Though she didn't answer the knock, Sam heard Kole bump into something and curse quietly. He knocked lightly again, this time opening the door at the same time.

"Kole?"

Kole gasped and jumped as she turned around at the sound of her name.

"Oh, Sam," she whisper, holding her hand to her heart. "You surprised… what are you doing? Did I wake you up?"

"No," he smiled. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said, smiling back.

Sam tiptoed into the room and closed the door slowly, until there was only a sliver of an opening. Then, he seemed to relax and walk into the room normally. He sniffed and noticed a familiar smell. He looked at Kole curiously.

"OK, OK," she said, raising her hands in mock surrender, "you caught me. I made coffee. But you can report back to Dean that it's decaf. Sorry, the soda wasn't cold enough and I didn't think I should risk going out for ice."

"Hey, it's your business," Sam laughed. He looked at one of the beds in her room and saw she had emptied her backpack. "What is all this stuff?" He couldn't believe it had all fit into her bag.

"Oh, this? Just the contents of my Mary Poppins carpet bag," she said, as if reading his mind. "I'm just an experienced packer. When you only travel by bus or train or plane, you learn the finer art of packing light but well. It's part of the fun. It's like a puzzle."

"A-ha," Sam smiled. He had never really thought of it that way. He walked closer to the bed and saw a very well stocked array of essentials for a world traveler, with the exception of only including one outfit. "So, you kept all this in your office?"

"Yeah," she said, turning away. "I was just doing an inventory to see if there was anything else I will need to buy tomorrow. But, I think just the clothing…" her voice trailed off as she started packing up the backpack again, keeping her eyes down.

"Kole, what's wrong?" But comprehension started sinking in. "Did you have a reason to keep an emergency bag in your office? Did you know something was going to happen?"

She finished packing, but still didn't look up. When she busied herself refolding her extra set of clothes, Sam came around to her side of the bed and turned her by the shoulders to face him.

"Kole, did you know…" he asked softly.

"No," she sighed, then sat on the bed and Sam followed. "I feel so stupid. No, I didn't know something… or anything was going to happen. It's just… I started getting a weird feeling. Weird feelings. I couldn't even pinpoint them. There were stupid little things. An odd question from my department head, a book from my office going missing, strange looks from students when I walked by… I just thought I was being paranoid." She looked up at him with misery in her eyes.

"But you were smart enough to do something," he said, trying to reassure her. "You made an escape plan."

"I can't exactly take all the credit," she said with an unhappy laugh, shaking her head. "In all the extra moments that I spent packing my backpack, I never gave much thought to contacting anyone to help. I didn't plan or even anticipate the arrival of the Winchester Calvary."

After a few moments, Sam realized that Kole was finished talking. She sat on the bed, quiet and disheartened.

"Hey," Sam said, "you want to watch a movie?"

"It's 2:00 in the morning, Sam. This place doesn't seem the type to have the movie channels. I think all you'll find on at this time of the morning are infomercials and scrambled porn. And I don't really care if we aren't technically cousins…"

"No," Sam stopped her before she could finish. "I meant one of those." She looked over to where he pointed. It was her leather case of DVD-Rs.

"Oh. Sam, those aren't movies."