Anna

She's glad Dean avoided New York City. It's too close to Camp for comfort. Too close to Olympus.

The closer to Massachusetts she got, the looser the tension in her chest got. The clearer the world became. By the time Dean and Sam left the big white house and she was clean, Anna nearly felt herself again. Earth or Tartarus, she isn't too sure which she's at, but either way she's clearer than she's been in a long time. She was dressed in clean clothes again, fresh jeans and a t-shirt. She has no idea where the boys seemed to find their endless supply of clothes, especially ones in her size, but she's grateful.

New clothes, not covered in blood or dirt or dust or grime, along with her clean hair makes her feel almost human again.

Her damp hair stuck to the back of her neck as she slid out of the car behind the boys, and the wind gusted around her. The cold seeped into her and Anna shivered. Dean draped his coat around her shoulders, tugging the front closer together so it was securely wrapped around her. He sighed, gripping her shoulders as he held onto her for a second longer than he needed too. The bell above the door rang cheerily as Sam held it open for them, and she let Dean gently tug her inside. The smell of fried oils and cooking meat washed over her in a wave of painful familiarity. Her stomach instantly clenched at the hopes of food besides the burning water of the Acheron, or cardboard breakfast sandwiches.

She managed a small smile as Dean sat her down in the booth across from Sam. She folded her hands neatly on the table in front of her. Sam pulled out the laptop and Anna fought the urge to recoil from the machine. She wanted french fries, and she wasn't going to spook the boys because technology makes her nervous. She's not the one using the computer, it shouldn't attract any monsters to her location.

Or so Anna hoped.

"Sammy what do you want?" Dean asked, standing up again. Anna examined her hands closely. Everything had been scrubbed clean, even her nails. Nothing of the hellhound's blood remained. It's as if the attack never happened. At least if she ignored the bandage on her right arm where the hellhound had gotten in a good blow. But that would heal quickly enough as it is. It hadn't even needed stitches. And if she could get herself to one of her safe houses, she would have access to nectar and ambrosia.

But to get there, she'd need the boys to believe she's lucid again. To trust her. And if this was just a hallucination? Then nothing she did would matter anyways. She looked up at Dean.

"Can I have fries?" He blinked at her, eyes wide.

"Uh, yeah Anna. Sure. One order of fries coming right up." He assured her, stumbling over his words. She smiled at him and pulled his coat closer around her. She liked the familiar feeling of the soft buttery leather. Anna missed her own jacket. But that had been destroyed a long time ago, back when Dean had still been in Hell and she'd been trying to break them out.

The smell of brimstone filled her nose and Anna shuddered, firmly pushing thoughts of Tartarus out of her mind. instead Anna focused on the case the boys had landed. The case Zoe had steered her towards; although why the huntress would do that Anna has no idea.

It's a poltergeist. That's what the boys had talked about in the car. She can do that. Ghosts are easy.

Salt. Bones. Flame.

The boys hardly trust her anymore, but they aren't going to kill her. Not yet. And they won't as long as they never find out that she's a demigod. Mortal hunters, even the Winchester boys, don't see enough grey to allow anything non-human to live.

She needs to get to a safe house. She might be crazy, but her safe houses could protect her and Anna can recover. Once she recovers, after she rebuilds her defenses, gets her story straight then she can be with the boys again. Her boys. Dean and Sam. Her friends.

"Uh, I'll get the HealthQuake Salad Shake. Thanks Dean." Sam muttered as he stated tapping away on the computer. Dean rolled his eyes, muttering about rabbit food as he went up to the counter to order. Anna picked at her fingernails, staring at the table.

The boys will never buy her just suddenly being sane again. She hardly believes it. Besides, she can see the the craggy cliffs in Tartarus flickering over Sam's shoulder, superimposed over the beige paneled walls against the back of the diner.

No she isn't sane. But every day she spends away from the hospital, the clearer her head feels. Anna is growing more and more convinced that the asylum wasn't a hallucination, but a real institution she's spent months trapped inside of. That her revelation with the boys not even three days earlier was accurate.

But holding onto her here and now is hard. The past and present blended in her mind and she's only partially certain that what she's experiencing is not only real but happening to her now, rather than years ago, before her fall into Tartarus.

Anna doesn't even know what city they're in currently. She has no money, no ride, no weapons. The boys took Eleos, and she willingly gave up her rings. If she just took off they'd catch her in a day, and even if they didn't, she'd be at the mercy of monsters and demons and worst of all, mortals. She needs to bide her time a little. Gather some resources, collect information.

Plus she's hungry. And by her count, even if she hadn't really aged in Tartarus, she'd spent something like a thousand years trapped in the pit. She hasn't had fried, greasy, potatoey goodness is a sinfully long time.

Sliding into the seat next to her, Dean unloaded his tray of goodies. Anna couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she took in the warm salty smell of french fries. Dean passed Sam a tall cup filled with vegetables. Without looking up from the computer screen the younger Winchester brother poured his dressing, recapped the cup and began shaking the entire concoction. His forehead wrinkled as he chewed on the fork he was holding in his mouth while he typed one handed.

Both her and Dean stared at him, the rattling filling the empty air between them. Sam glanced up at them, the shaking stopping.

"Oh you shake it up baby." Sarcasm dripped from Dean's tone, near visceral rebellion to his brother's choices clear on the elder brother's expression. Anna just raised her eyebrows. She liked salads, but that was plain weird. Sam sighed, but other than that he ignored them both. The corners of his mouth twitched up into the beginning of a smile, even as the shaking resumed. Anna just rolled her eyes again as she contemplated the food in front of her. It smelled too good to be true. Like the Pit was lying to her in order to break her down more. After all, Tantalus was sentenced to standing in the River Acheron, near the edge of Tartarus for all eternity yearning towards food and water. For all she knew this could be a cruel trick.

She really hoped it wasn't.

"You know, poltergeist aside. Donna looked pretty good, don't you think?" Dean asked his brother, picking up his own food. The expression on his face was one eyebrow waggle away from a suggestion.

"Dude." Sam groaned, "Don't tell me you've still got the hots for our old babysitter." Anna poured ketchup into the corner of the cardboard container her fries had come in.

"What? No! That's weird." Dean denied, laughing awkwardly as he glanced towards Anna. She just shrugged at him and took a bite of her fries. She froze, and the world fell away as she looked down at her plate in wonder.

"Ketchup." It was like heaven in her mouth. Anna literally could not remember the last time she ate something that tasted not bad, let alone something that tasted as amazing as these warm, perfectly salted fries did. She moaned softly and busied herself with her food. Dean huffed a laugh, nudging her side gently. She looked up at them both, widening her eyes as if she could impress on her friends how good the food was just based on how big she could make her eyes.

French fries are the best thing ever.

"I dunno Anna, I mean... there's also things like ice cream and pancakes and whiskey. But french fries are pretty high up there." Anna flinched back from Sam's joke. She hadn't realized that she'd spoken out loud. Dean glared at Sam and wrapped his arm around her shoulders gently. Sam opened his mouth to apologize.

Anna flicked a fry at him.

"Hey!" She let out a peal of laughter at the glob of ketchup that was slowly sliding down Sam's cheek. The fry has fallen into his lap after it bounced off his face.

Dean burst into laughter, deep chuckles bubbling up and his joy took up an almost physical space. At least, it did until Anna dropped second ketchup laden french fry down the open collar on the back of his shirt. Then it was Sam's turn to laugh as Dean leapt out of his chair and hopped in place to get the wayward potato out of his shirt. Anna just grinned as she serenely kept eating her little slice of heaven.

French fries are the best thing ever.