OKAY! It's been so long, I'm SO sorry. Here is an extra long chapter to say sorry and please keep reviewing! I've found my muse again. Also check out my other new story if you're looking for something much darker.
Two very different women were parked inside the small bedroom now.
Emily, sore but basking in the glorious afterglow of her love making with Dean, sat on the bed with a plastic hairbrush in her hand, pulling it soothingly through the very angry, very tense Claire's tangled blonde locks, the latter seated on the floor in front of her. Sam had knocked on the door shortly after they'd finished and Emily had begrudgingly gotten up from Dean's arms, pulling on some pajama bottoms and a tank top before Sam came in, pointedly ignoring Dean's boxer clad form.
"I think I messed up, man," he'd ran a hand through his hair and Dean had frowned at his brother's defeated demeanor, pulling his jeans back on as Sam continued, "I don't know how to handle her, I think we may be in way over our head's here. She's just so….angry."
Dean had sternly told Emily to leave Claire alone as he had left with Sam, and of course Emily had promptly ignored that once the boys were out of sight and entered the Hunter's room, finding her sobbing bitterly on the bed. It was so familiar to Emily, exactly how she'd behaved and felt after her first spanking here, but Claire wasn't Emily and she could see that this was much, much harder on Claire then it had ever been on her. She had gently coaxed the young woman into a hug and allowed her to rant about the barbarism of the Winchester's until she was spent emotionally, going quiet while Emily had moved her to the floor and gone to get a few hair ties and her hairbrush and gotten to work on brushing her hair. Claire had told Emily a story once about how her mama had used to brush her hair when she was stressed out and now she found it comforting, a reminder. She hadn't said anything when Emily had started, just gave a little sniffle of appreciation, both women quiet until Claire's voice cut back through the silence.
"Why do you let them treat you like this?" She had asked, not bothering to mask the low disgust in her voice with the implication. "You're a Nephilim, they should be fallin' all over themselves to please you, but they don't. And you let them." The tone turned slightly accusatory and Emily sighed, putting the brush down as she parted Claire's hair and got to work on twin dutch braids.
"It's not really about letting them, Claire," she spoke thoughtfully, for the first time in a long time realizing that she was having to face and confront the mixed feelings she had about the boy's brand of discipline. "Listen, I was just like you when I got here. I was angry, I was vicious to them, all I thought about was escape, revenge, and taking them for all they were worth. I know you think I'm weak because I let it happen, but I don't think you understand how I grew up." Claire didn't interrupt as Emily spoke, telling her about her father, about how he'd never trained her, never shown her any kind of true love or affection, using her solely for his benefit, how he'd died alone and she'd blamed herself for it, how she'd come to be with the Winchester's. She told Claire about her first spanking, about the first time she'd tried to escape, how they'd tracked her across the country and then helped her get closure on her father's death, even with the worst spanking of her life hanging over her head.
"So you see, I never had what you had. I never had a mom or dad who cared enough about me that they'd do anything in their power to make sure I stayed safe or who'd discipline me if I fucked something up, or who even cared to acknowledge when I made mistakes. I know this sounds so crazy and so…weird, but Dean spanking me makes me feel loved. It makes me feel safe, and cared about. And I know you don't think so, and I know that you just had the worst introduction in the world to Sam, but honestly if he spanked you? It means he cares about you too, Claire."
Claire was quiet still as Emily finished talking the same time she finished braiding, and Emily was about to stand to leave her alone when Claire turned suddenly, kneeling in front of Emily with her hands on Emily's legs, keeping her in place. "You're right, you do sound crazy," she cracked a small smile, which made Emily dissolve into giggles until both girls were caught up in the silliness of the moment, then Claire's grin faded and she grew serious again. "I don't want to stay here, Em. And honest to god, I don't think you should be stayin' here neither. This ain't healthy, none of it."
Emily's smile had also faded and she cocked a cool brow at Claire, feeling insulted and hurt at the insinuation. But Claire noticed and hurried on, "I don't really think you're crazy, I just think this ain't for me. I know you said you left once…how? Would you help me?"
Claire's face was eager and hopeful, her hands had come to clasp Emily's and Emily felt a tug of something in her heart, something like dread. "Claire…." She stood, helping Claire to her feet too as she went to set the hairbrush down on Claire's dresser, deep in thought. "I don't think you understand what you're asking. I don't think you're thinking about what you're asking. Did you hear me when I said that they tracked me down? Like I'm talking about the same day, Claire. They're better Hunter's then either of us will ever be, and they won't just let you go. And it's not because they're nuts or stalkers, Claire, it's cause they were told to keep you safe and they take that very, very seriously. You know that, right?"
Clearly though, Claire had made her mind up, her face hadn't changed one bit as Emily had spoken, and Emily cringed inwardly when her voice cut through between them, low and intense and excited, "Listen I ain't telling you you gotta come with me, I'm just telling you that this life ain't for me and I ain't staying here. I can't stay here, Em, I'm meant to be hunting down that son of a bitch who murdered my friends, not sittin' in this bunker watchin' the Winchester's thumb their own asses. All I'm askin' for is help. That's it. Just tell me what I gotta do and what got you caught."
Emily stared at Claire, hard, her stomach rolling with unspoken fears and doubt, and the biggest part of her wanted to tell Claire, in no uncertain terms, to fuck off and leave her out of the hairbrained scheme, but another, bigger, part of her understood where Claire was coming from and why she felt the way she did. Besides, Claire was much more trained then Emily had ever been. She could survive on her own without the boys, and she wasn't under the same orders as she was either. Technically, they had just been asked to keep Claire for a little while, to lay low, and they had done that. Taking a deep breath, Emily steadied herself and then quietly began to tell her what she'd need to do in order to leave the bunker without alerting the overly protective men down the hall.
That night, Emily barely slept. Every noise she heard she was sure was Claire, making a mistake and awaking the boys, and even Dean's arms around her didn't help her ever really settle down. The clock on his desk blinked at her warily, 1 am, 2 am, 3 am. Around 3:30 she had finally felt her eyelids getting heavy and before she knew it, she was out.
They awoke the next morning to the sounds of pounding on the bedroom door. "SHE'S GONE DEAN!" Sam's voice cut through the silence so harshly that Emily had sprang awake without even knowing it. Behind her, Dean had sat up abruptly, nudging her off the bed so he could drowsily get to the door. Emily took a second to get her bearings straight before she glanced to the clock—7 am. So, she'd done it after all. Emily's heart was heavy as she followed behind Dean who'd went with Sam out to the front to see if the car was gone. It wasn't, Emily already knew it wouldn't be, she'd warned Claire about how loud the engine was and urged her to leave on foot and then hitchhike or steal a car once she got out of the permitters of the bunker.
"How far could she have gotten without a ride?" Dean's voice was slightly panicked, and the worry in Sam's eyes as he started pacing in front of the door made the guilt bubble even heavier in Emily's stomach as she tried her best to adopt her own expression of concern without seeming too suspicious.
"Did she say anything to you, Emily?" Sam turned to look at her and she gulped only slightly, before conjuring the best acting skills she could muster on so little sleep and shook her head, not quite trusting her voice yet. Dean turned to her then too, and his eyes bore into hers so intensely that she had trouble maintaining the eye contact he held. Normally, this wasn't an issue for her, lying was like a second language and she spoke it fluently, but for some reason…She was worried too. How stupid to let Claire go knowing that Ezreil still posed a threat to her, how stupid she was to think the boys wouldn't be immediately suspicious of her.
"Emily…." Dean's tone held a dangerous note of warning in it as he took a step closer to her and she instinctively took a step back. That was all he needed to know, and he growled, a deep, guttural sound that she'd only heard a few times before. "GodDAMNIT! Where? Where is she going? Why didn't you tell us? Emily, you know Ezreil's out there looking for her, for us!"
"Dean, we don't have time for this. We've gotta find her. Emily, I mean it, if she told you anything about where she'd gone off to, you need to tell us and tell us now. She's in danger, whether she wants to admit it or not. By this time, he could've already gotten to her."
The worry in Sam's voice broke her resolve and Emily gave a quiet nod, not meeting either boy's faces as she finally spoke, "She went to find him, she's heading down to Georgia to see if any of her old contacts are still around and then she….she wants to lure him out."
"DAMNIT!" Dean roared again, and slamming his fist down on the side table next to him so hard that the whole thing fell over, making her flinch, and this time there was no objections as the boys sent her to get dressed and began to make preparations. They called Bobby and told him to contact as many Hunter's as he could to meet them down in Ashton, Georgia which was where they were fairly certain Claire had taken off too, and then they were at the Impala, placing bags of weapons in the trunk. Emily found herself next to Dean, his body still tense and the anger still palpable and as Dean backed up to shut the trunk, he muttered quietly, "When we get back, you're going to be getting reacquainted with every single object in the house that can be used to bust your ass, I can promise you that. I've never been so goddamn pissed off before in my life, Emily Parker, save for maybe the time you took off with Baby. I promise that spanking is going to look like a vacation compared to what you and that blonde bitch from hell have earned."
Emily didn't answer, defeat slumped in her shoulders as she dejectedly, silently, climbed into the backseat of the car and put her earbuds in, wallowing in her own misery. She didn't know what was worse, the disappointment from the brothers, the betrayal of Claire, or the anger of Dean. All she knew was that Claire had better hope Ezreil caught her first, cause even Sam wasn't going to be talking Dean out of the whooping she had coming.