Panacea to Loneliness

Wendy loved stories, she loved tragedies, suspense, fantasy and even the occasional mystery. Her new room that she finally could call home was littered with books; stacked neatly by spine in bookcases or laying half-opened on her desk and sometimes floor. She was the little girl that had her nose in a book while the other kids played with each other at school. While others thought of friends as family, Wendy thought of books as home; it was her abditory, her own purgatory. She could be a great and courageous heroine, or lone wanderer doing humble acts as she passed through villages. In books she had a purpose, a storyline, but in reality she wasn't so sure; it was much more confusing and tricky. There wasn't always the archetypes she had grown up with, or the 12 clock formula explained in A Hero With a Thousand Faces, it was just her. No sidekick to encourage her when all seems lost, no wise wizard to mentor her into greatness, not even a set villain with plans that went against her belief. It was just her, trying to solve a very tricky puzzle with no end or deserved break.

Wendy loved a good book, she adored a inspiring hero or two.

But heroes only came around if you asked a shooting star or clock that read 11:11 everyday.

Only once, never twice.

It was a wall that society had placed in Wendy's head unknowingly. Because she was wrong, and yet she refused to believe that. Because heroes did come around more than once, they were everywhere; in the coffee shop, the local drugstore, and even walking their dog. Everybody was a hero in some way, and Wendy was about to find out.

2 years and 8 months later, since that late August day in the clearing of that memorable park Wendy wasn't even a sliver close to forgetting, she had an encounter. It was just after her and her brother had finished hosting a home party. Close friends that the siblings had made in the short time of living in South Dakota had all left their cozy house, waving goodbye slightly tipsy. They had all gotten in their set taxes and drove off as Alec shouted a goodbye.

Alec shut the bright royal blue door with a relaxing sigh, leaning against the back of it. Wendy looked up from the sink overflowing with dirty dishes that she had started. "You okay?" She asked, curious about her brothers expression. Alec gave a smug smile and made his way around the marble counter, sitting down beside the kitchen island.

"I asked Lauren out on a date," He said happily. Wendy put the dish plate she was holding on the counter in disbelief and joy.

"No way!" She breathed in excitement. Alec smiled bobbing his head equally happy- probably more. Wendy nudged his shoulder proudly. "Atta boy, big brother's finally got a girl!"

"Let's hope." Alec grinned. "I don't know if it will work out, or that if she likes me the same amount I do for her."

"Of course she does, why would you think that? You're super cool, so nice and is great with kids!" Wendy prompted viberantly. "What's not there to like? You're the whole package!"

Alec ducked his head sheepishly, his cheeks flaming bright pink at all the compliments. Wendy had meant all those things, he had cleaned himself up a lot these past couple of years. He had cut his hair to a respectable length that worked for his curls, decided to stop drinking (not like he drank a lot anyways), joined a couple of clubs and even set up his own personal office in their house or his drawings and blueprints. Saying Wendy was proud would be an understatement. Alec propped his elbows on the counter, resting his chin on them. "So what about you, I saw Tucker eying you today, think there's anything good there?"

Wendy shrugged causally. Tucker was nice, it was a lie to say that she didn't fancy or enjoy him. He was kind, caring, respectable and smart; he was everything a girl like Wendy would want in a guy. So when she had shrugged, Wendy didn't know why; she should have said yes. "Maybe." Was all that came out of her mouth. Alec straightened up, flicking his hand dismissively and walked to the fridge. He opened it up as Wendy rolled her eyes and went back to scrubbing at the dishes.

"Dang, no milk." Alec complained. He shut the fridge door and grabbed his keys. "I'm going to run out to the convenient store and pick some up, that good with you?"

Wendy nodded absently. "Go ahead, but if you see a guy in a white van offering you candy don't follow him."

"Ha ha very funny." Alec said dryly, rolling his eyes. The younger sibling craned her neck around to make eye contact and winked mockingly. Alec threw on his jacket, trekking to the door and put on his boots. She heard the door shut closed, defining her as the lone human being in the house. Or so she thought.

Five minutes into scrubbing away at the pasta sauce glued to the plate, she heard the undeniable sound of a window opening. Wendy paused, mid scrub glancing around the kitchen and living room suspiciously. No windows were open that she could remember. She had closed them a couple of hours before went it started to rain. She placed the plate down on the counter, letting the water drip onto marble, sinking to the tile floor below.

Taking a couple of steps forward she heard the new, terrifying sound of one of the windows shutting. Fear filled Wendy's stomach, Alec wasn't fucking with her, he wouldn't do that. Was she going to be robbed? Wendy slowly followed where the sound had come from directing herself to Alec's design room. Shutting her eyes just outside the menacing room she took a deep breath, gripping each arm tightly.

"Please don't be a person, please be the wind." She repeated to herself in a rushed panicked whisper. Finding enough courage, Wendy took a turtle-like step into the room, her eyes shooting towards the window, ready to face whoever had come in.

Instead to her relief the window was shut and she visibly sighed in relief, choking a dumb grin. How could she think that she was being robbed? It was such a stupid thought that her paranoia had been allow to take over. Robberies only happened to people that were important, like in the books; Wendy wasn't important.

Wendy ignoring her paranoia and gut screaming desperately at her turned around and started to walk. Only she hurried straight into a sturdy wall that was oddly close and soft. Said wall shot out an arm, grabbing her shoulder tightly keeping her in place. She followed the arm that was wrapped around her shoulder with her eyes and dreadingly found it belonged to a person. That person having long brown hair, wise yet hurt eyes, and a unmistakeable sharp jawline. If Wendy wasn't scared shitless she'd might find herself saying the robber was fairly attractive. Instead Wendy let out a short-lived high pitched scream. The robber shot another large hand out, cupping it over her mouth, canceling her scream.

"Wendy I'm not going to hurt you." The man said carefully. Wendy's eyes widened at the mention of her name. The robber knew her name! She squirmed more roughly attempting to break out of the man's invincible grip. The robber noticing that she wasn't going to stop trying to escape, sighed. He let go of her shoulder and reached out to her collarbone with the hand. Wendy was pinned against a wall and a stranger. No way could she run, the man could do whatever he desired to her in her own house, whether sexual or just plain out physical. She struggled more desperately as if being caged in a scary yet real situation. The man was going to do something perverted to her, why else would he go for her collarbone and below. The man's eyes studied her confusingly before widening in realization, his hand dropping from near her collarbone back to his side. Her nerves sighed slightly in relief but she didn't show the man that. "No, no I'm not trying to do that- I was just going to-" He stopped himself, seeing that his nervous rambling was getting him nowhere. He exhaled stressfully, he wasn't trying to scare Wendy- things were just not working for him today.

"Just... your amulet, take it out for me."

At first Wendy was confused, why the heck did a robber want some worn out amulet she wore everyday? Was it because it was her own personal anchor? Or because it was very important to her? Before she could think up anymore questions it dawned on her, the thought slamming into the backside of her head. She stopped her struggling and looked up at the man, really looked. She knew him- well briefly talked to him- but she'd seen him. It was the breadcrumb man! How could she even remotely forget his appearance?

Just as Wendy was about to say something through his hand clamped to her mouth, the man's- her hero's- eyes rolled back into his head. His grasp loosened and he released her, collapsing to the floor in a bundle of long legs and plaid. It took a second for Wendy to recover, but when she did she flew down beside him hovering her hand just below his nose to check if he was alive. It was then had Wendy noticed the blood covering his torso and staining his shirt. If this was his blood than no wonder he had fainted, it was a ton- and scary ton.

Hesitantly she pinched the bloody fabric lifting it carefully up to expose the man's torso. He was buff, like what she had predicted close to 3 years ago, but instead of seeing the clear pale skin of his torso all she saw was an oozing red. Three darker slashes went down his chest to just close to his hip that were the senders of the blood. Wendy hitched her breath, instantly shooting up from the floor and towards the first-aid kit. She might not be a doctor but she was an coroner, and dead bodies were once alive at some point; this would be a piece of cake... maybe. The young lady looped the kit around her shoulder and bent down back beside the man. She took his arms gently, partially heaving- more so dragging him to the closest couch. Boy was he heavy, 6,4 all muscle-no fat, but she had tussled with horses more wild back in Clearwater. Wendy heaved him onto the couch, dropping the first aid and opening it up.

She did everything she usually would when cleaning a dead body at work, first wiping away blood as best as she could, then disinfecting the wounds, wrapping the man in a gauss to stop the bleeding. Normally she wouldn't disinfect the body since the corpse was already dead, but he was an alive- he was living and breathing.

Though Wendy feared he really wasn't.

It wasn't the old scars that littered his upper body, or the purple bruises that looked like someone had swung a metal bat at the man multiple times; it was the sickly pale skin tone that Wendy dreadingly knew didn't originate from the blood loss. Because even now he grew even more paler by the second, looking a scary sheet of white.

It was something else, he was skinner then she had remembered, not by a lot but enough for her to notice. His jeans hung loosely, despite having a belt put on the tightest hole and the bags under his eyes showed signs of insomnia. She had seen this before, a sight that everytime she did, made her look away with remorse. A man who was brave enough to save a girl from a big scary black dog, a man who was courageous enough to save multiple people from being eaten alive by crazy cannibals. Yet here he was, the brave, strong man Wendy had the fortunate to meet once, laying knocked out on her couch, looking like a corpse of his own.

Yes, Wendy had seen this before, but whenever she did see it, the people experiencing what the man was, was always laying on her coroners table staring up at the ceiling motionless, with the words; SUICIDE bolded and labeled on their folders.

For the first time in a long time, in close to three years, Wendy cried.

She weeped for the man who was her hero, but here he was looking anything but one. The man she believed once to have saved the world. This wasn't like in the books, heroes didn't turn out this way, they had happily ever afters. Where was his?

But this was the reality, a reality that had not be learnt by Wendy yet. Heroes didn't always get happy endings, in most cases not- they never did. Heroes suffered afterwards, whether physically or mentally. They were never quite the same as they were before; changed for the worst, scared in the most fragile of places.

"My brave stranger," She whispered, trailing her fingers through his messy hair softly. Her sad eyes skipped from his shut eyelids to painful deep wounds. "Where did you go?"

Alec had been gone a long time, roughly over an hour. Wendy was fairly positive- 90% certain- that milk did not take an hour to buy. Although Alec was a big boy, he was a grown man even though he sometimes had the maturity of a 8 year old. Wendy peered out the kitchen window once, staring at the setting sun. It felt like only a click later before she looked out it again to see the dark night that was lit with millions of stars. As her hero- who's name was still not known- slept, recovering from his gashes, Wendy finished cleaning the house from their prior party. She was humming an old tune her Pa would whisper to her when things were rough at night, whilst putting away the last of the dishes. Wendy was to caught up in cleaning the kitchen, that she hadn't even noticed the man with silent feet, tread in and lean heavily against the kitchen wall. She shuffled by oblivious, opening the last pine cabinet on the right shelf not before doing a little skip when the humming hit a tune.

"Crowded House, Don't Dream It's Over." The man mused speaking up from his observation. Wendy jumped, almost dropping the plate and spun around. She placed her freehand on her heart, taking a deep breath from the jump-scare.

"Pardon?" She sputtered out of breath rather quickly. The man shifted his shoulder where he was leaning, wincing at the pain, before settling back against the wall gripping his left arm with his right hand.

"The song you're humming, it's from Crowded House."

Out of all the proper conversations she had dreamed constantly of having with this man- 80's rock songs weren't one of them. She dropped her hand, falling to her sides. "Yes, my Dad use to hum it to me when I was younger." Wendy vividly remembered her Dad humming the lyrics one by one so clearly it was as if she could hear him at that exact moment. She smiled to herself. "Actually, he did it up until I was twenty; kinda lame but it was home. I guess you know a lot about that type of music, huh?"

The man, for the first time in a long time- despite Wendy not knowing that- smiled. He smiled to himself in a reserved and tortured manner, as if the memories that were brought with that smile haunted him with stories about legendary road trips, endless skies and the loss of someone dear. "My brother," He paused, before continuing. "my brother would blast them when he drove, stupidly loud. I use to hate it y'know? Now it's..."

"It's like a part of you missing?" Wendy finished quietly. The man looked down at his feet, before nodding shortly. Wendy wasn't a people person, she observed. She saw how a pair's arms would brush against each other, not their relation with each other. She saw how others nodded and said the two words everybody just wanted to hear 'I'm fine' even though they weren't, not how the person trying to lyingly reassure that they were okay was just doing it to please the other. She didn't have to be a people person to tell that she was right. "What's your name?"

Wendy needed to know the man's name, she had become so clouded in recent events to forget to ask it. Names were important, a person's name meant that they existed, that they were human and that they had something they only owned. The man hesitated, as if telling her his name could lead to a tragic downfall. Wendy could see the gears in his head working, mapping out every possible outcome to saying his name. The good outweighed the bad though, because he looked up.

"Sam."

Sam, it rolled off her tongue smoothly, settling a smile on her lips. Sam, the stranger who saved dozens of people, the man who never asked for any recognition or possession in return. But that man wasn't a lone wanderer, he had come with another package- someone who had taught him those virtues. One didn't come without the other, it was like everything in life- the sun and the moon, fire and water, love and hate, light and the dark, water and blood; they were inseparable.

"Where is your brother Sam?

He looked up from the tile floor, eyes so close in resemblance to a child- lost and alone.

"Gone."

It had taken some coaxing, but Wendy had finally managed to settle Sam down on the couch again. Sam, she just couldn't not stop thinking or speaking his name. It was as if all the puzzles she had unsuccessfully left incomplete as a child was finally put back together. The young lady trailed over to where Sam was sitting quietly and placed a tray of chicken noodle soup, a small cup of tea in front of him. Sam looked up from studying his palms intently in surprise, he opened his mouth to protest but Wendy shot him a glare.

"Don't even think about it." She spoke commandingly. "You are going to eat that soup and you are not going to complain." Her tone in no means was harsh, it was motherly- despite her being roughly around the same age as Sam she had felt obligated to nurse them like a mother. His brows shot up in surprise but didn't argue any further. Sam took the tea cup, wrapping his fingers around it and brought it to his lips. Wendy sat down on the edge of the loveseat parallel to him, watching every movement he made.

"What happened?" She asked quietly as he set the cup down. The bags under his eyes seemed to darken, and he suddenly looked more frail and pale than usual.

"It's not a happy story." He said.

"I know." She told him.

So he told her. At first she had thought that the gauss's were wrapped a little to tight, but then slowly things started to piece together. He told her all the things that had happened in the past years. How basically doomsday was planned, how people were dropping like flies. He talked about the day after meeting Wendy where he jumped into a dark endless hole that lead him to Hell on earth. It did make a little sense to Wendy. She did remember how after their meeting for the first time in the park clearing, all the natural disasters and unusual behavior happening around the world came to a sudden stop as if someone had punched the STOP button on a high-speed train. He told her about coming back from said Hell on earth, being like a robot and having no emotions- then getting them back. About how these lizard-like humanoids were released set on world domination. Sam didn't go fully into saying how they were released, all he had said was "Mistakes were made and good intentions turned sour." Told how said humanoid lizards dressed up as his brother and him going guns'n'blazing and shooting up any poor sucker that walked past them. He went on explaining how him, his brother who's name was Dean and another man -a tax accountant?- defeated the leader of said evil lizards who's name was surprisingly Richard Roman. Wendy had to be truthfully honest, she had never liked that Roman guy to begin with. Every sign on her town always had that smug face of his on it. Everything about his company just screamed LIES! So when he had shockingly 'disappeared into thin air' on the media, Wendy couldn't help but relax her shoulders a bit.

And finally Sam told Wendy about the 'incident' as he recalled it. How after defeating the monster that was Richard Roman, Sam's brother and the tax accountant man had disappeared along with Dick; into literal thin air, leaving just Sam.

Alone.

"You told me to fight for my brother, and I did," Sam whispered brokenly, his eyes looked up to Wendy's, shining with tears. "but he isn't here anymore, and I don't know what to fight for... what do I fight for when I just want to-" The words stuck in his throat, not allowing anymore from leaving. The man sitting in front of her had literally no one. His parents were gone, his present fatherly figure and friends, and his brother- all gone. In a world filled brimming with over 6 billion people, he had no one. Sure Wendy had lost her parents, but she had had her brother to support her. She had a job that didn't require her life to be put on the line everytime she woke up and was able to make friends. This man didn't. As far as the world was concerned he along with her brother were dead, but to the select few who knew he was still alive they only saw a lone nomad carrying a heavy, lonely burden, with only a black car to keep him moving.

It's told that when a person is dying, sight is the first sense they lose- the last being hearing. Sam had been wandering aimlessly- blindly around America with no set destination for the past couple of months. Even the blind had a destination, they had somewhere to go and someone or something to aid them- a cane, a service animal, a another person. But Sam, Sam didn't. He didn't have a dream place, Wendy doubted he ever had one. Sooner or later the words people thanked him with would be nothing, he wouldn't hear them. He'd be totally alone, reserved to just his inner voice. People didn't want to hear negative things, they wanted to hear positive ones; but how could that be if that person had none who loved them?

A thought that made Wendy's skin crawl formed in her saddened mind, the man was a walking corpse.

3 years ago the man sitting in front of her unknowingly saved her life, now it was time for Wendy to return the favor.

She was going to give life to the Tin Man.

Wendy got up from the loveseat, a new idea forming in her mind. She trailed out the living room into the front hall where she took out her phone. Dialing her brother, he picked up finally on the first ring.

"Where have you been?" She questioned tightly skipping the intro. There was a brief pause followed by the phone's static.

"Yeah, I got sidetracked." Alec's voice spoke from the line.

"Doing what?" No answer came and Wendy sighed. "Please don't tell me you're at work..."

"What!" Alec protested. "You know when I'm happy I get good ideas!"

She rolled her eyes. Unlike other guys, Alec would be at work in the middle of the night drawing up some blueprints. Although on the other hand, at least he didn't have a bloody and beaten stranger on their couch. "Alec." She mumbled innocently, her voice pitching.

"What did you do." Alec commanded from the line. Whenever Wendy was guilty of something her voice would always go an octave higher and she'd sound like a little kid who kicked a puppy. "Wendy what did you do."

Wendy rocked back and forth on her feet, she took a deep breath and explained the unexpected meeting and story. After roughly around 3 minutes of her rambling on, the line went silent from the other end. She glanced anxiously at the phone. "Alec you still there?"

Nothing, then-

"I'm gone a hour and you stumble upon some bleeding man that's now on our couch!" He erupted. Wendy winced at his volume, pushing the phone away from her ear.

"It's not that bad Alec I swear." She tried fruitlessly to explain.

"You just told me that a bunch of lizards tried to take over the world!" He argued.

Wendy sighed, rubbing her forehead with her free hand. "Is that seriously all you got from the story?"

"When I get back home- oh man are you going to be in some deep shit. I'm coming home right no-"

"No!" Wendy blurted out. "I need you to do me something, it's really important."

"What call the cops on the man bleeding on MY couch?" He snarked sassily.

"No, I need you to do me a favor."

And Wendy got to explaining.

The sun was officially rising and Wendy had been up for more than 15 hours straight now. She was surviving on a rotation of 2 cups of coffee doubled with sugar every hour. Sam had unsurprisingly stayed awake as well. Wendy wouldn't doubt for a second it was because of the insomnia and ache. In that time Wendy had told Sam every possible embarrassing story of herself that she could think of- even the ones she most repressed into herself. Attempting desperately to crack a smile out of the broken man. Wendy wanted to speak words of encouragement to Sam, but she couldn't. Because she didn't have experience in what he was going through. Full blown hopelessness, and that wasn't something words could heal.

She needed to remind him why he was alive.

And she prayed to the absent God that it would work.

When the royal blue front door to the house creaked open, Wendy jumped up from her spot; the plan had arrived, and it was coming full force. She warmly smiled widely at Sam who's frown only grew with the confusion. The smaller lady helped Sam up, allowing him to put some of his weight on her. She assisted Sam to front hall, bearing his heavy weight where suddenly Sam froze in his tracks, shoulders tensing in surprise.

There standing beside the grumpy and somewhat flabbergasted Alec, was Margo Fuller.

All 4 feet, 11 inches of brown eyed, brown hair girl.

As both the little girl's and tall man's eyes meet, the air grew thick. Margo's eyes were the size of saucers, all she saw in front of her was her hero. Not Alec and not Wendy, just her hero. The little girl didn't seem to care that Sam was very pale, or was leaning on Wendy for support. All she cared about was that he was there, breathing- standing- in the same room as her. A thought that only could have been a dream to some.

"D-do y-y-you rem-m-member me?" The little girl squeaked.

Sam smiled honestly, maybe the first in what Wendy predicted in awhile. He smiled with his eyes and lips. Lips being the natural gesture most knew while eyes being the real conveyor of emotion. "Of course, how could I forget?" He spoke softly. "Margo Fuller." The name slipped of his lips smoothly, and Margo visibly relaxed. Margo's hero shrugged out of Wendy's support, standing on his own two feet independently. He took a wobbly step forward, before kneeling on the ground to level with Margo. Her eyes grew wider in awe and fascination like a child being given a big olde gob of ice-cream.

Wendy held back tears of joy at the silent sight. She bit her lip, leaning back restfully against the wall. Parallel to her, Alec unknowingly did the same. His recent grumpy expression was quickly replaced, unable to hold back his smile and risk his manliness. There was a moment when nothing happened. Nobody said a thing, not a peep in any mouths nor the creak of a doors. Breathes were held and smiles were permanent. Then just as the moment was possibly going away, Margo plunged into Sam, wrapping her thin arms around his neck and bringing a whole new wave of emotion. Sam openly accepted the hug, wrapping his arms around Margo. Hands fisted tightly into Margo's coat attached like glue. He pressed the side of his head against the little girl's, both sharing each other's shoulder with one another. Margo was the first to take her head off his shoulder, she lifted it and angled his lips towards his ear and in a hushed, grateful, slow voice spoke.

"Y-you sa-saved me."

Sam's grip on the little girl tightened almost protectively, and he buried his face into her small shoulder.

Wendy was in desperate need of a tissue box. Sooner or later her tears would start flowing like Niagara Falls, and once they started there was no stopping. To her luck but not relief, the two broke off, Sam standing back up. He wobbled a bit but remained standing staring down at Margo with a look of love. It got Wendy thinking. Most of the people Sam and his brother had saved throughout their life only got to see the pair once. It was a negative for both sides, the victims never got to give their thanks to them, and the brothers never got to receive any recognition- whether they wanted to or not. They were never fully given the entitlement of importance. Never really credited with what they had done to protect people. But even so they kept on going, and kept on doing what they did, without people's approval or knowledge what so ever. Some heroes to people were singers and or artist of any kind. Most of them got recognition for what they did, through media or just socially, but here was this guy, who the world only knew as a supposedly dead serial killer, a man of hidden respect and importance, so far under the radar that nobody actually knew if they were bad or not. A man and his brother's act of bravery never being told as a deserved story to little kids that empowered and inspired them like superheroes did.

Though as Wendy watched Margo stare up at her hero in total awe and joy, Wendy realized that there was still a chance that could happen. Margo could still allow those deserved stories and secret legacy to flourish. After all everything always started with one person, even a child.

She realized, that if anything were to happen- Wendy would willingly take a bullet for the man. She didn't doubt for a second that all the people he saved would do the same.

"We've.. uh, got leftover pasta in the fridge if you guys want some..." Alec said slowly, as everybody's heads turned in his direction.

And that was how the four of them found themselves sat in the dining room -at 6am- eating nuked pasta- one dead serial killer, one possibly kidnapped little girl, one grumpy architect and lastly one coffee-away-from-overdose believer.

With the presence of Margo around, Sam had looked a lot healthier and alive than Wendy had seen throughout the whole experience. He was talking more, dazing off less and actually eating fully amounts, not nimble tiny bites from before. It was amazing as to what one person can do by just being present.

"S-s-so wh-what was i-in that c-c-cave?" Margo asked, setting down her fork. After 3 years she still hadn't known what was close to killing her and that lady. The thought bugged her every night, not because of what her parents were trying to convince her it was, but because out of everybody she had been the unlucky soul to fall victim.

"A Tarasque." Sam explained casually. Alec raised an interesting eyebrow. The man acted as what he had said was completely, 100% normally and sane. Margo still looked lost as to what had taken her. Sam noticed her confusion and pursed his lips with another small grin. "It's got the body of a fish, the head of a lion, bat wings and a serpent's tail; but most of the time it's just a black shadow with red eyes."

"Huh." Both Alec and Wendy mumbled.

"You can basically kill it with holy water and a cross. It likes to lure people- in that case being Margo, out into the forest where it then steals them away."

"That sounds like a bad porno." Alec added pointlessly. Sam's eyes snapped to his at the perverted comment as if searching for something. Wendy slapped her brother upside the head in disapproval. There was a kid here and Alec was just spewing out gross comments everywhere.

"You're such an idiot." She scolded, receiving an eye roll from Alec.

"Yeah well, you're a dumbass." He shot back childishly. As the two bickered like kids back and forth, Margo couldn't help but notice the faint sad frown on Sam as the two watched the siblings fight.

"Y-y-you o-o-oka-ay?" She asked quietly to him. Her hero turned surprised by the question, swiveled his head down to Margo nodding lightly. She pouted unconvinced, it didn't take a mastermind to figure out he was lying. "L-liar." Margo announced to him.

Her hero's brows shot up taken back. He never expected a little girl like her to be so assertive. "He reminds me of my brother." Sam informed slowly to Margo. "Always was able to conjured up something with his perverted mind. You remember him, don't you?"

Margo nodded. "I-I re-re-remember everyb-body. H-he had h-her am-amulet on," Margo explained gesturing to Wendy's amulet that hung from her neck comfortably. "a-and a lea-leather jacket, it w-was w-warm a-and sm-smelled l-like g-gas."

Sam nodded, the girl had pretty much summed up his brother in just a few repeated sentences. "W-where is h-he?" She asked innocently. Sam ducked his head instinctively down to his plate, staring intently at the half-eaten pasta. He missed him so much, never would have he thought he'd be thinking that but in truth he really did miss him. "My brother- Dean, he... uh... he's gone."

Margo tilted her head in a innocent confusion. "W-what ha-happened?"

"He did his job." Sam whispered. The siblings parallel to the two stopped arguing and listened in, slowly the room being filled with a dread silence once again. The horrible reality being that some people's jobs require the constant sacrifice of their life.

"I thought you were a figment of my sister's imagination, y'know." Alec stated quietly, breaking the silence. Both Sam and Wendy swiveled their heads in his direction confused. "What?" They spoke in unison. Alec shifted in his seat sheepishly. "At first I thought my sister was just making up some fake adventure to go on, so I agreed because I knew it would make her happy. She talked so highly about two men that went around the country saving people, and... and I thought it was so absurd that she was talking about people she had never even met; she didn't even know your names. She'd always been like that, y'know? putting faith and trust in someone she doesn't know, I thought it was ridiculous, that maybe she was just reciting a bunch of characters from a book and mixing it with reality. Because there was no possible way that people could save others like in the books. But one thing lead to another, with all the people like Margo we talked to, to the car-accident and even the lady in plaid that smelt like whiskey wherever we went..."

"Lady in plaid?" Sam questioned, knitting his eyebrows tensely. Alec nodded. "Yeah, this lady would follow us around- like appear out of thin air. It was creepy at first, with those cold chills and odd rotten egg and whiskey smell, but then at the car crash she, well... she helped me."

"What did she look like?" Sam asked leaning in, against the table interested. Alec shifted again under scrutiny, and rubbed his neck.

"She was like, uh a blond lady- probably middle age wearing this faded plaid. Kinda had a bartender vibe to her, y'know?" He explained. "There was also these really nasty burns on her sometimes- they'd like disappear and reappear. Everytime we were stuck or in trouble she'd be there."

Eyes followed the tall man as he relaxed visibly and leaned back against the chair. His critical and worried eyes softened with comfort, almost like knowing who the lady was. His mind trailed off, staring at the plate below him in deep thought.

They didn't pester him anymore.

Wendy checked Sam's wounds one last time, replacing the soaked gauss with fresh ivory dry ones. As she gently cleaned his wounds, trying to avoid causing him pain Wendy looked up. "Y'know you can stay as long as you want. Alec might be hesitant at first, but he'll cave in, he always does." Wendy offered quietly. Alec and Margo had went on an adventure of their own trying to find something of Sam's. Sam had handed them a little metallic thing that Wendy couldn't see and told them where to go.

Before she had the option of asking Alec what the object was, the pair was out the door sprinting as quickly as they could off the property. Sam shifted under her delicate fingers, twisting his torso slightly.

"It's okay, I'll be find. I don't get hurt that often." He explained.

"That's not what I meant." She whispered tenderly. His eyes looked down to hers, then to the floor unable to hide the expertly hidden broken eyes this time.

"I use to get so annoyed with him sometimes. He was always blasting his music too loudly, picking up girls, making dumb references, putting himself in front of me, giving everything he had left just to keep me going. He was so stupid, so fucking- if he had only just thought of himself for once, then maybe, maybe he'd still be here." Sam hissed to himself in self-loath and misery.

"That stuff made him who he was. Keeping you safe- I think that was his mission. I don't know your brother, not like you do, but I'm pretty sure he loved you more than anything in this entire world. And with everything you've told me about what you and your brother have done: defied destiny, saved the world countless times, did the unthinkable and put a broken man back together- well all I can really wrap my head around is that, it was all for family. If your brother loves you that much, then don't think he's gone- because a person who loves as much as him will never, ever give up. He isn't gone." Wendy coaxed softly, finishing up her cleaning and setting the cotton down.

"I miss him." Sam whispered.

"He's coming back." Wendy got up from her knees and stood to full height, looking up at her hero. He did not look like a hero to the common eye, but that's why heroes were great. They could be anybody, they didn't have to be strong, or smart, or charismatic. They just had to be: loyal, caring, brave, willing. They had to have a purpose, something to fight for, whether a family member, a lover, money, or the world; something so great it was not worth giving up. Wendy stood in front of a hero who was lost, but Argonauts always made a comeback. That's what made them heroes.

"You are always welcome here, Sam." Wendy mumbled. "You told me once, that you were going to take care of your family. Well my brother is the only family I've got left. But family isn't just blood and when people with little to no family comes around, their friends are their next family. I might not know a lick about you, but don't think for a second that I don't consider you my friend. Friends are my family, and I will do anything for my family."

Sam nodded and Wendy pulled Sam into a soft embrace. Burying her face in his warm plaid, she dug her thumbs into his back, scrunching her nose up against his chest.

Heroes didn't always escape a battle unharmed, they were sccared and burnt, broken and alone; it was reality. But every hero had the mysterious stranger that kept them going a little bit longer, then another and another. They'd come and go like rain, but they always had an impact.

The pair broke off when a low faint humming voiced itself from outside the house. It roared like a lion but also purred as one. Wendy knew that rumble, she dreamt about it every night. It had become a signal for hope for the hopeful lady. The pair made their way to the front door, opening it up. There at the end of the driveway was a purring black beast that shimmered brightly from the sun's rays. Inside waving happily from the backseat was Margo, a smile as big as the Grand Canyon evident on her face. Alec was sat in the driver's comfortable and relaxed. Alec got out of the car, followed by Margo who skipped towards the pair. They walked up, all meeting in the middle of the driveway. Alec extended his hand, opening up his hand to present the metal key to the car.

"Man, does she run." Alec praised appreciatively. Sam smiled taking the keys back and tucked them into his jean pocket. Alec stepped aside beside Margo and Wendy. Sam kneeled down to Margo, who flew at him in a hug. They didn't say anything, but the little girl and her hero didn't need too. They communicated by heartbeat; because when there was a heartbeat, there was life. Margo's heart was beating, 3 years ago it might have not.

Sam kissed the top of Margo's head and broke off. The little girl, shuffled next to Alec, who pulled her close to his side warmly. Sam turned lastly to Wendy, who was holding back brimming tears of joy.

"Next time you're here, you owe me a drive." Wendy joked, attempting to distract the tears. Sam laughed, bobbing his head up and down. "I sure do."

"Goodbye Sam." She smiled, warmly at him. "This time next year, I expect you to be bleeding at my front door- got it?"

Sam nodded and with the strength he had reserved for that moment, pulled Wendy into a tight hug. "Thank you." He whispered, in her fiery red hair.

They broke off, despite Wendy wanting to hold him a tiny bit longer. If he needed them, he'd be back. The two always found themselves in each others presence when needed. Sam smiled encouragingly at the trio before, turning and making his way down the driveway over to the black beast he grew up in and called home. Sam paused just beside the driver door and turned his heel back towards the house. Standing side by side were 3 people who were once strangers, but in a time of only a day, have learned to love as family. He didn't have much of a family, but in front of him were three people who loved him. He had broken into her house empty, but left a grateful man. His brother wasn't the only one to care for him.

And so the question still stood; surround a lonely man with love, and what do you get?

There was a solution to loneliness,

It was love.

"There is freedom within, there is freedom without, try to catch the deluge in a paper cup.
There's a battle ahead, many battles are lost, but you'll never see the end of the road, while you're traveling with me."
Crowded House - Don't Dream It's Over