Sam

She sat quietly on the motel room bed, her back pressed against the wall. She glanced at Sam, her sharp grey eyes more lucid than he'd ever seen her. In the hospital, as soon as the wraith died, he had felt the influence of the monster vanish instantly. But Anna had been under its thrall for months; on top of having escaped Hell. Who knew how long it would take before she returned to any semblance of normal.

It didn't help that Dean had vanished almost as soon as they'd paid for their room, leaving Sam alone to deal with the crazy hunter. His brother seemed to have a calming influence on Anna. Now that Dean was gone (probably to a bar Sam thought bitterly) she'd grown agitated again.

He sat down slowly on the edge of the bed, her hospital chart in his hand. He was no doctor, but he knew enough to understand the chart inside. Reading it would help him figure out exactly what cocktail of mood stabilizers, anti-anxiety medication and other medications that he didn't even know what they were for, she should take. But he didn't want look at it without her knowledge unless he absolutely had too. Anna has always been intensely private, often to the point of paranoia. Now that she was back, Sam didn't want to deny her that privacy when she was in no place to defend it herself.

"Anna?" He broached quietly. The other hunter didn't move, just watched him through wary eyes. But he noticed her tense when he reached towards the bag containing the pilfered medication. Knowing how deadly she could be, and having no clue how stable she was at the moment, he backed up slowly. He didn't know how much of her crazy came from her time in Hell and how much was the residual effect of a wraith screwing with her mind for months on end.

Sam moved slowly, not unlike how he would approach a skittish animal, his hands spread wide to prove he was unarmed and harmless.

"Anna, do you know where you are?" He asked her softly. The only sign that she was listening was that her eyes followed his movements, otherwise she remained still and silent.

"Anna it's Sam. Do you remember me?" He asked her quietly. Still nothing. He'd moved up close enough that he could touch her if he wanted to. He didn't.

"Anna can I sit?" He asked her quietly. She blinked slowly, eyes flicking from his face to the chair next to the bed. He lowered himself down slowly, watching her every move. When he was fully seated he leaned forward a little, keeping his hands firmly over his knees. Sam never broke eye contact. He was at a loss for what to do, but he knew he had to keep trying.

"Anna, do you know where you are?" He asked her again, watching as her eyes finally moved away from him, flitting around the room. There was an odd lack of depth to her expression. Anna had always been hard to read, her expressions carefully guarded. But calling her hard to read wasn't right anymore, she was simply blank. Empty. Taking in information but she had no idea how to put the pieces together to form a conclusion. She was nothing like the Anna he used to know.

"Anna-" She interrupted him, her voice toneless and flat.

"Motel. Somewhere in Oklahoma, USA. Not Hell." She immediately lapsed back into silence. Her gaze fixed on the wall in front of her. Sam straightened up suddenly. According to absolutely everyone in that damned hospital, Anna hadn't spoken a word in months. Not since she'd been found. But she was perfectly coherent. At least she seemed like it. As he paid her closer attention, he noticed her hands were gripping each other so tightly that her knuckles were white. Even though she looked relaxed, he noticed small signs of tension running through her body as she shook with light tremors. She was ready to move in a heartbeat. Her eyes were determinedly fixed on a stretch of wall slightly to the left, avoiding looking at Sam or the mirror that hung directly in front of her. She might be pretending to be calm, but Anna was even more tense now than she'd been at the hospital.

"Anna, you're safe. Not in Hell. I promise." Sam told her quietly. Anna went stock still and so did he. Sam hadn't realized that he'd been shifting closer to her. He settled back in his seat and she relaxed. The movement was so small that he nearly didn't notice.

"Anna, I'm going to move off the chair ok? I'm not going to hurt you." He told her as he started to move. Anna looked stressed but didn't do anything else, watching him out the corner of her eye, but never at him directly. He knelt on the floor next to the bed, making himself smaller; or as much smaller as he could. He was now just about eye level with her.

"Anna, can I hold your hand?" He asked her quietly. He lifted his hand onto the bed, palm up, leaving her the choice to initiate contact. Anna tensed but Sam refused to move. She reached out a shaking hand, lowering it slowly until her hand hovered just above his own. Her palm was so close to his that he could feel her body heat. But as soon as he shifted to take her hand, something in her changed. Her once lucid eyes emptied and she let out a feral snarl.

Anna vaulted over the bed and made a break for the door. Sam lunged after her. It wasn't safe for her to be out and about on her own, and he knew that if she wanted to lose him, Sam would never catch her; no matter how crazy she was. He beat her to the door, slamming his body in front of it. Anna backed away as Sam approached, her eyes darting all over the place; frantic. She skittered backwards but Sam stayed far back, letting her gain the space she needed. He held his hands out in front of him, trying to calm her down again.

"Anna, do you know where we are? Anna you're in a motel room, in Oklahoma remember? Anna?" He asked her softly, trying to ground her in reality. She was panicking, and based on the violent twitching, she was terrified. Anna scuttled backwards into a corner, another vicious snarl emerging from her lips. All semblance of humanity had faded from her, leaving nothing but a cornered animal behind. He stayed far back, not wanting to spook her into attacking him. He crouched down to her level, trying to show her that he was safe. That she could trust him, that she was safe.

"Anna you're safe. You aren't there anymore. Anna, come back." He pleaded with her even as she whipped her body around and slashed out with her hands to battle an invisible attacker. She whirled around the room fluidly, shifting from one battle style to another to another to another, eventually evolving into something he didn't recognize at all. Sam felt entirely helpless, because he had no idea how to reach her. Then something in the back of his mind sparked.

"Anna." He called, approaching at an angle so that she would see him coming. She didn't even flinch, instead maneuvering him into a defensive position as she crouched at the ready for monsters that only existed in her mind. But she never fully turned her back to him, alway keeping him in the peripherals of her vision. Sam tried again.

"Anna." He said forcefully. She stiffened, her eyes flicking to him.

"You're safe now. You saved us. You even managed to save Dean from his deal. Now you're home. You can go home to the junkyard in Sioux Falls to see Bobby or go to New York and see Nico if you want. Anna, you're home. It's over." Lucidity bled back into her eyes. She stood up straight, shaking slightly.

"Sam?" She asked shakily. He nodded encouragingly.

"Yeah Anna. It's me."

"Sam? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no…. You can't be here. I saved you. You can't be here." Tears welled up in her eyes, as she reached out to him, hands running over his face, shoulders and sides as though trying to deny to herself that he was real.

"Anna, I'm here. But you aren't in Hell anymore. You got out." He insisted. Anna shook as tears rolled down her face.

"No, no it can't be. There's no way out. The Doors are gone and I can't access the tunnels. I'm not a monster you see, Sam, I'm not allowed to leave that way. Oh, Sam you aren't really here are you? I'm just crazy and Mr. D isn't here to fix me anymore. No, no no no no no no no no. I climbed and climbed and climbed Sammy, up and up and up but no one escapes Tartarus through Hades domain. You have to be a monster to go without the Doors. I'm a half blood with nowhere to turn." She started to ramble, and Sam sat her back down on the bed letting her talk. He didn't understand any of what she was talking about, but she had realized that he was real, or at least, that he wasn't a threat to her. He glanced down at the pile of medications. She needed them, desperately, and he didn't have the time or the energy to gain her permission anymore. He opened the file.

Sam's eyes widened as he took in the pages and pages of notes the doctors had made. On her physical condition, on the little they were able to judge of her mental state. The speculations on what had happened to her. He felt a little sick as he catalogued the injuries the institution had found on her. The faded scars and the damaged muscles and the signs of torture.

Dean had come back practically pristine. The only mark on his body upon his return from Hell was the glowing red hand print seared into his sick where Cas had held onto his soul. Anna was not. Sam swallowed hard and flipped to the back, and checked the medicine schedule. He quickly shook out the requisite pills into his palm and slowly slowly cajoled her into taking them. Not to long after, Anna fell asleep, the medication taking affect.

He settled back into his chair. He remembered that Anna had violent nightmares, and that at the hospital they'd strapped her to the bed. Sam wasn't about to do that. Anna was a better fighter than him, smarter and faster. And she was strong for her size. But Sam was six foot four inches of muscle, and he had the brute strength to stop her from hurting herself if he had too.

It was going to be a long night.