"Rachel! It's ok. It's ok. It was just a dream. Breathe. Thats it."
Rachel hadn't realized she had been sobbing quietly until Dean spoke. Dean enveloped Rachel in a hug and Rachel held on to him as if her life depended on it. Rachel had been having nightmares the last couple days. But the odd thing was that every time she woke up she had no recollection of the dream. After several minutes Rachel's sobs ceased and she removed herself from Dean's arms. She moved forward and sat at the end of the bed and put her head in her hands. "Are you ok?" He asked. Rachel cleared her throat and nodded. "Ya...ya I am. I am just going to go outside and get a breath of fresh air," she said.
As Rachel stood up and moved towards the door Dean spoke. "Rachel wait. Listen if you ever want to talk you do know you can come to m...us right?" Rachel smiled softly. She knew Dean had been having nightmare issues as well. That was probably why it was him that had woke her up and not Ruby. Rachel grinned suddenly. If Ruby found out Dean had touched her...he'd be in for a beating. Dean frowned. When Rachel got that look on her face it usually meant she was going to do something that would get him in trouble.
Rachel's smile widened when she saw the frown on Dean's face. "I would hate to be you when Ruby wakes up," Rachel said as she walked out the door but not before missing the look of horror on Dean's face. As Rachel closed the door behind her the smile dissipated. What Rachel hadn't told anyone was that with each nightmare a burning sensation had been growing in it's intensity in between her shoulder blades.
Several hours later
As the group finally came to a stop after hours of traveling and got out of the car, arguing could be heard.
"No Dean you can not call me Smurfette."
"But whhhyyyy Rachel. It describes you almost to a tee."
Rachel stopped moving and slowly turned around, face blank. Then she smiled. "Ok you can call me Smurfette...Short Bus." And with that she turned and left a gaping Dean behind. As Rachel walked away Ruby walked beside her. "I am glad you and Dean have found common ground and don't just argue anymore," she said. Rachel frowned. "What common ground do we have?" She asked.
"You both are afraid of what the future holds and of what you will become. I don't think either of you would ever admit but you are a lot alike and that's why you guys butt heads so often." Ruby sighed. "We should wait for them," she said. As Dean approached Rachel thought about what Ruby said and how true it was. The two where alike in so many ways it was scary. Rachel train of thought stopped. The pain in between her shoulder blades was back. Rachel tensed and tried to see past the stars in her vision. She shut her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. The pain had never been this bad before and it was so sudden that she had no time to prepare her self. "Rach are you ok?" Someone asked as they put a hand on her back. Rachel leapt away from the hand and turned to face them. Ruby looked at Rachel with an expression mixed between confusion and a little bit of hurt. Rachel blinked several times as the pain dissipated. "Sorry Ruby you just startled me," she lied. Ruby frowned and nodded. "Well come on Dean and Sam are going to introduce you to the people that are going to look after you while we are gone," she said.
Rachel rubbed her hands nervously on her jeans as she nodded. As they walked into the building they where greeted by two women. Both where of medium height but one was a brunette and the other was blonde. The brunette approached her first. "Hey there sweetie I am Ellen and this is my daughter Jo," she said. Rachel smiled. She liked the lady. "Hi I'm Rachel nice to meet you," she replied.
"Likewise," Ellen replied.
"Ellen can I talk to you for a second," said Dean. As Ellen walked away Jo approached Rachel. "So I thought you guys where suppose to be here weeks ago. What happened?" Jo asked. Rachel focused on the the others for a moment before turning to Jo. "On the way here there was a couple jobs so we figured why not," she said.
"How do you know those three," Jo asked. Rachel looked at Jo and tried not to think about how much she reminded her of Quinn. "I saved Ruby and in return they saved me," she replied. Jo nodded and turned to watch the others. Rachel grinned when she realized Jo was staring at Dean. "So you got a thing for brunettes huh?" She asked. Jo started to walk away but before she got far she turned back to Rachel and said with a wink, "Only the short ones." Rachel watched her go with a stunned expression.