Warnings: Language, mentions of a minor character's death
AN: So I probably should have mentioned a while ago that this fic was already written out and I'm just cross-posting it from my AO3 account. I really don't write this fast, but I wanted to get this over here because I really loved this fic!
They got their stashed supplies and their guns, getting ready to head back to the woods when Dean stopped. Sam looked at his brother, a little worried about what was going through his head. They couldn't turn back and go to town, not now.
"Cain's house is over there." Dean said. "He always said if we ever needed anything, just stop on by."
"Do you think that's a good idea?" Lisa asked. "Shouldn't we head back to camp?"
"I'm hoping he has some things he can spare for us." He said. "Come on." Sam and Lisa exchanged another look before following Dean to the house. Dean raised his hand to knock when the door was flung open and a gun was pointed at his face.
"Dean Winchester?" Cain asked.
"Girl Scouts. Wanna buy some cookies?" Dean said with a laugh. The gun lowered and Cain motioned the three inside.
"Boy, it's good to see you." Cain said, patting Dean on the back. "Samuel. And mystery lady."
"That's Lisa." Dean explained. "She ended up with us out in the mountains." Cain nodded and led them into the house.
"So that's where you've been." Cain said. A woman in Cain's living room stood up then. Sam's eyes lit up and he ran to her, giving her a hug.
"Ellen!" He said. Ellen wrapped her arms around him, giving him a big hug.
"Sam." She said. She pulled back from him. "Have you seen Jo?" Sam shook his head sadly. "Well, I'm just glad that you're okay." She looked up. "This must be Dean."
"Yeah. Dean, this is Ellen. Jo's mom. I used to mow her lawn for her and shovel her sidewalk." Sam explained. Cain motioned for the three of them to sit down. Sam and Dean set on the couch by Ellen, Lisa took one chair and Cain took the other.
"How many did you save?" Cain asked.
"Uh, Caleb Padalecki, Fergus Crowley, Jimmy Murphy, Cas Novak, Bobby Singer, Rufus Turner, and us three." Dean explained. Cain smiled. "We're hiding out. We had to get supplies. We were low on everything."
"We thought you boys would've hightailed it to Free America by now." Ellen said. "You're still in occupied territory."
"We didn't know." Sam said. The batteries had died in the radio a week or two before, and they didn't have any to replace it. There was so much going on around the group that they didn't know.
"Like I said, we just came into town for supplies." Dean added. "We haven't talked or seen anybody from town up until today. Do you have any information that you give us to pass along to the guys." Lisa listened carefully, wrapping her head around everything.
"You said you have Caleb Padalecki?" Ellen asked. Sam nodded. "Well, I'm afraid his daddy is dead. They killed him due to all the missing inventory from his store. He was in the camp for about two weeks before they killed him and Martin Robinson."
"Oh my god." Lisa gasped. Sam stared down at the floor. Dean wrapped an arm around his brother.
"It wasn't your fault Sammy. I'm the one that listened to Rick and took all that stuff." Dean looked over at Lisa. "It's not either of your faults."
"What are we going to tell Caleb?" Lisa asked, her voice barely a whisper. Dean set there quietly. He was going to have to pull Caleb aside and tell him that his dad was dead because of them.
"I'll figure it out." Dean said softly. He couldn't believe that Rick was gone. So was Martin. How many other people had they killed while the boys had been gone? And how easy would it be to get Sam out of Calumet and into Free America?
The room stayed silent for a while, each person trying to think of what to do next, what to say, where to turn. Finally, Cain spoke up.
"Well, I could spare some extra things. But I need something in exchange." Cain told them. Sam looked at Dean, wondering what he meant. Dean knew Cain better than Sam did. He had spent a lot of time there helping Cain with the horses on the farm and doing random maintenance when he needed a break from John.
"And what's that?" Dean asked. Cain stood up and Ellen's eyes widened.
"Cain, I know what you're thinking. Are you sure this is a good idea?" She asked. Cain just waved her off and headed into another room, Dean following along behind him. Sam and Lisa trailed behind Dean, with Ellen standing back some.
Cain went to a door in the floor, made out of wooden planks. He opened the door to show two girls. Both girls had a headful of blonde hair, but it was obviously dyed due to the dark roots coming through. They blinked at the bright light coming through into their hiding hole. Sam gasped softly. He knew these girls from school. They were both younger than him but he knew them.
"These are my nieces." Cain explained. "They spent two days sneaking through enemy territory to get here. Now I want you to take them to your hideout." He looked down into their spot. "Ruby. Meg. This is Sam and Dean Winchester. They are good guys. They'll keep you safe."
Sam offered a hand to Ruby to help her out of their hiding spot while Dean helped Meg. Both girls looked tired and scared, but angry as hell at the world. Not that either of the boys could blame them. They didn't know what kind of hell the two girls had been through. Meg was the older of the two, just a year behind Dean, and he could tell by the way that she stood in front of Ruby, that she was just as protective as Dean was of Sam.
"Are you sure?" Meg asked, looking Dean and Sam up and down. She looked over at Lisa. "Who's that?"
"I'm Lisa." The older woman said softly. "You'll be safe with us, I promise." Meg looked back at Ruby, who nodded.
"Fine." She said. "But be warned, we're really good with knives." Dean had to smirk some. She was spunky, that was for sure.
"We need to get going." Dean said. Ruby looked back at Cain. He pulled her into a tight hug.
"You be safe out there Ruby." Cain said, hugging his niece.
"You too Uncle Cain." Ruby mumbled. Cain hugged Meg next, telling her the same that he had told Ruby. Finally, he let his nieces go, having them walk over to the Winchester's and Lisa.
"I don't want to know where they are, just in case." Cain explained.
"Understood." Dean said, nodding.
"Sam?" Ellen said softly. Sam looked up at her. "If you find Jo, tell her I love her, okay?" Sam nodded.
"Of course Ellen." She pulled Sam in for a hug. Cain went into the house and came back out with a few backpacks full of supplies. Meg, Ruby, and Lisa slipped them on while Sam and Dean grabbed their stashed boxes.
"If you need anything at all, you come here." Cain explained. "But hopefully, you'll get the hell out of dodge soon enough." Ellen stood beside him, nodding. She was there because she had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She couldn't run, especially not without Jo, but these kids could and they needed to leave.
"Come on, let's go." Dean said, leading Sam and the girls away from Cain's place. Ellen waved goodbye to them as they walked, Cain watching silently as his family escaped towards freedom.
They made their way back into camp. Crowley stood up, gun pointed at them. He was ready for a fight, until he saw it was only the Winchester's. He was about to lower the gun when he noticed the two girls trailing behind the boys.
"Who are they?" Crowley asked. The other boys stood behind him, watching the girls. They had a fire going and had been telling good old day stories, but now that was all forgotten. Dean looked back at the girls. Sam and Lisa took the supplies over to their storeroom.
"This is Meg and Ruby." Dean explained. "Sam said you guys went to school with them. They're nieces of a friend of mine. He asked me to bring them here. To keep them safe." Crowley lowered his gun and sighed.
"Just more mouths to feed." Rufus grumbled to himself as he went to help take inventory. Dean looked at Ruby and Meg.
"Make yourselves at home. It's not the Hilton, but it's safe." Dean explained. Meg nodded and led Ruby over to where Lisa was. Dean sighed and ran a hand down his face.
"So, did you find anything out while you were out?" Bobby asked. "Anything new?"
"Yeah, quite a bit." Dean said. He looked over at Caleb. "Hey Caleb, can I talk to you for a second?"