I've Paid The Price:

I paused with my hand raised mid-air and just stared at the door wondering how I had ended up here. It wasn't the house or its owner that caused me to question my actions, it was merely the fact that I had to go to someone for help and that I wasn't just able to take care of this on my own. I had already had someone tend to these wounds when I had first been hurt, so I was feeling even more frustrated that I had to have them looked at again because of possible complications.

"You might want to work on your X-Ray vision there Koala Bear, I shouldn't be able to sneak up on you like that," Bobby joked as he opened the door. I was just about to reply with my own sarcastic comment but was stopped by Bobby grabbing my chin rougher than I'm sure he had intended. "Addy what the hell happened to you?"

I raised my hand slowly, trying not to wince from the pull of the stitches on my back and the pain radiating from my bruised rib cage as I simply replied, "Wendigo."

"Please tell me you weren't stupid enough to go after one of those on your own," he good-naturedly berated me as he led me into his study and sat me down on the couch. When I didn't reply he shook his head sighed out an exasperated, "Adelaide" knowing that my silence meant that I had.

"Hey it's dead now and I'm not, so I don't think it's that bad," I tried to retort flippantly to ease his mind.

Bobby moved my head by my chin and I finally did hiss out a breath when his shirt inadvertently brushed against a fresh burn on my arm. He then lifted my arm into the light and before he could ask any questions about it, I answered, "I got a little too close to it while it was burning. But I swear that it's dead."

"Well this looks a hell of a lot newer than your eye… And someone's already worked on your eye too… So what aren't you telling me?" He questioned with a slight hint of anger as he left the room to retrieve his first aid kit.

While he was out of the room, I quickly went through the different scenarios I had come up with to explain away the damage in question. As Bobby laid out all of his supplies at my side, he randomly made eye contact with me and I could tell that he was FAR from impressed. I had a feeling that the cut above my eye was starting to get an infection and I knew that I needed Bobby to take care of it before it got worse, so I pouted slightly to try to get him to soften his facial features before I spoke.

"I… I got into fight with a guy at a bar," I explained as he started to apply Aloe Vera to the burn on my arm. "He didn't really take too kindly to losing a hundred bucks to me during a poker game after I turned him down for a one night stand."

"You probably should have gotten a couple of stitches… Who fixed you up?" Bobby questioned curtly. He took a closer look at my eye then muttered an annoyed, "Balls!"

"I didn't think it was all that bad so I just had Auntie Mo take care of it."

"Damn it Addy! She wouldn't have been able to tell that it needed to be stitched," Bobby chastised me. "Why didn't you get your dad to look at it?"

I swallowed hard and pretended that the pain caused by his re-opening my wound had made it nearly impossible for me to speak. "Well? I know your parents trained you better than this Adelaide. Now you've gone and gotten yourself an infection while your body's still trying to heal those damn claw marks. You know sometimes…"

"He was out of town on a job, so I couldn't get to him." I interrupted before timidly asking, "Did…? Did Mo really do that bad of a job? I… I didn't think it was that bad, but is it?"

Bobby paused to look me in the eye and slumped slightly as he somewhat dejectedly replied, "Oh Hell Koala Bear, I ain't mad at you but… But you've got to start taking better care of yourself or you'll be seeing your Mom a hell of a lot sooner than you're supposed to, you hear?"

I bit my upper lip, willing my tears away, and nodded softly. Bobby then petted my cheek and softened his tone even more to ask, "Speaking of… How are the stitches doing?"

"Pretty good… I'm overdue to get them taken out because I… I wanted to wait a bit since the last time I had stitches they took longer to heal than the doctor had said they would," I explained just over a whisper as I idly scratched the palm of my left hand.

"That actually sounds pretty smart. Okay… You sit tight, I just have to grab a few more things and then I'll get you all fixed up," Bobby said while still holding my face in both of his hands. "And you know where the whiskey is kept… I'll even overlook the fact that you're still a few months shy of being legal." He finished with a playful wink that I'd grown used to while visiting with my parents.

I just nodded again, but I made no move to get up. Once I was alone I sunk down further on the couch. I hadn't had to lie to anyone about how my eye got damaged yet, so I tried to go over everything in my head to make sure that I had the story straight in case I had to repeat it. At the time Maureen had been too shaken up by my injuries that she hadn't bothered to interrogated me, but Bill seemed to have instinctively known that it was my dad who had beaten me up because I hadn't volunteered the information like I normally had in the past. Bill also knew how heavily my dad was drinking these day and had his suspicions that the tension between my father and I would come to a head sooner or later.

"I couldn't stitch it up again, so I taped it closed the best that I could," Bobby explained. "Now come on… Up with you… Let's take a look at that back of yours."

I tried standing up on my own, but my muscles had stiffened up so much while Bobby cleaned and redressed my wound that I could barely move. Bobby gripped me by my uninjured arm and eased me to a standing position without saying a word out loud. The look in his eyes was yelling his thoughts at me louder than anything that he could have said out loud to me right now.

Our hands met at the hem of my shirt and Bobby retracted his so quickly that neither of us was able to issue an apology. I rolled up the fabric of my shirt as I pulled it up as high as I could comfortably hold it.

"A little higher Koala Bear," Bobby instructed softly as he gently pushed my shirt further up my back. Once it was at the height he needed it, I shifted my grip so that his hands would be free to work. "Well it's good to see that you've taken care of these. Now… I think there's too many to do this with you standing…"

"Would it work if I sat straddling a kitchen chair?" I asked in a small, unsure voice.

Bobby was already leading me to the kitchen as he answered, "That would be perfect. You go and get settled while I grab the supplies."

I hugged my arms around the back of the chair I was seated on and with all the shifting I had to do my shirt fell down back into place. I tried bunching it up a few different ways, but I couldn't wrap my arms around the chair back comfortably with the cotton creating a cushion between my body and the chair's back. It still hurt to raise my hands over my head, so I told myself that that was the reason I hesitated to strip it off and not my squeamishness to be partially naked around Bobby. He was still in the other room bundling things together and I could practically hear my Mum's voice telling me not to be so silly and daft by making the situation unnecessarily uncomfortable while having someone help me by tending to my wounds.

I had been jumping from job to job in an effort to keep myself from having any time to think about anything but work, so this was the first time in a long while that I had allowed myself to take a moment to think about my Mum. By the time Bobby got back into the kitchen, I had bunched up my shirt and was using it to stifle the sound of my uncontrollable sobs. Bobby could tell that I was crying by the way that my shoulders were shaking, so he placed the glass of whiskey he had poured for me down on the table and pulled a chair up to sit beside me.

"Shh… It's okay Koala Bear… Shh… Let it out," he whispered as he rubbed soothing circles on my shoulder. "Shh… I promise it'll get easier… I promise it will… You've got all of us to help you, it ain't gonna get worse, I swear."

It had been so long since I had spent time with anyone who genuinely cared about me that his kind words just made me cry harder. Completely forgetting my lack of clothing on the upper half of my body, I whipped around and threw my arms around his neck. He caught a quick glimpse of the bruises that were finally fading on my torso around my black cotton bra before I slammed my chest against his. He stole a quick glance down my back where more bruises were scattered from my neck to the small of my back. His hands ghosted over the skin of my back before one finally landed on the back of my head and the other on one of my hips to avoid touching any of my injured flesh.

I continued to cry so hard that I could barely breathe while Bobby rocked me gently from side to side and just let me sob hysterically. Once I was completely out of breath, Bobby kissed the side of my head then quietly asked, "Did the bastard that worked over your eye do the rest of this to you?"

I kept my face pressed against his chest while I tried to catch my breath and nodded. "Koala Bear… How…? Why…? Why didn't anyone stop him? He could have broken your ribs or worse."

"Oh… Umm…" The thing about lying is that lies are sort of like a wild fire. They can start off small, but then they grow and grow until they've consumed everything in their wake. I dried my face on my shirt while I tried to come up with a plausible explanation. Thankfully Bobby just thought I was trying to calm myself down enough to speak and remained silent as he leaned over to retrieve the glass from the table and held it in front of my face. I drank down the tumbler's contents in just a couple of swallows then took in another deep breath. "He… Uhh… He was waiting outside for me and pulled me behind some cars so that no one could actually see him kicking me."

"Sounds about right for a coward that would beat up a woman," Bobby said with anger slipping back into his tone. "Alright let's see about getting those things out of you."

As Bobby carefully extracted each knot of thread from my skin, I couldn't help but think about how I was going to have scars that would forever serve as a reminder of the day my Mum had died. The werewolf had easily knocked me to the ground the moment I walked through the door and could have just as easily ripped me to shreds because my knife ended up on the other side of the room when I fell. As it started to dig into my back, my Mum found a way to attract its attention. By the time I came to she was screaming in agony and then was quickly silenced when it ripped her throat out. While it was preoccupied with devouring her flesh, I managed to crawl over to where they were and I plucked one of her silver knives out of her hand. I must have made more noise than I thought I had because the next thing I knew, I was flat on my back while it tried to make me its dessert. I could never have brought myself to say this out loud, but it truly was dumb luck and chance that I had thrust the knife up at just the right time as it lunged forward and practically impaled itself on the silver blade.

I started to shiver as Bobby traced his finger over a few bruises and mused to himself, "The bastard deserves to have his balls cut off for this… Kicking you with boots on… Could have killed you…"

"Bobby," I stated with the strongest voice that I could conjure up while I tried to put my shirt back on as fast as I could.

Bobby shook his head then gazed up at my face with a more focused look in his eye. "Alright the cuts seemed to have healed well. You should probably give them a good scrub tonight so we can double check on them… But first I think I have some antibiotics somewhere… And no you don't want to know why I have them. So what do you want to do first? Food or shower?"

He didn't stop moving from cleaning up his supplies to pulling out some food to start dinner to searching through a drawer to dig out a prescription pill bottle. When he handed it to me, I grabbed his wrist in both of my hands. He scowled then looked like he was going to protest my stopping his near perpetual motion so I smiled sadly and pulled him closer so that I could stand up and give him a hug.

"Sorry I just needed you to stop for like a second so I could say thank you. I think that you've gone above and beyond this time Bobby," I said as I hugged him again.

I felt him move to squeeze me tight but he hesitated, so I crushed him even harder to my chest as I chuckled and said, "I'm not made of glass Bobby. A firm hug isn't going to break me."

"Yeah… Well…" He pushed me out of his arms so that he could hold my cheek in the cup of his hand. He smiled softly then kissed my temple next to my newly bandaged eye. "You need to start taking it easy and let your body heal… At least for a little while."

I nodded then stared at my feet and whispered, "Yes sir."

"And you didn't answer my question…" I looked up at him through my lashes to which he smirked and clarified. "Eating or cleaning up? Which one's first?"

I laughed self-consciously then answered, "Food first would be best because I'll probably just crash after finally having a nice hot shower… I… Uhh… I haven't really bathed in a few days with being… You know… In the woods and all…"

Bobby petted my head then kissed my forehead before teasingly saying, "Don't think that I didn't notice." I stared at him in wide-eyed disbelief causing Bobby to let out a hearty laugh. "Dinner won't take long. Why don't you go out and get your bags and get settled? You know which room to use."

Before he could get too far away, I snatched Bobby into another strong hug and said another heartfelt thank you into his chest.

After I finished showering, which turned into a prolonged affair of me lingering under the hot spray of water, I found that I could move more easily so getting dressed was no longer a chore. Surprisingly enough, the relaxing shower had the opposite effect that I had anticipated and I now found myself feeling completely wide awake. Since Bobby was commonly known as the 'Go To' guy for information for most hunters, I figured he'd be deep in research mode once again and I figured that there was no better way to tire myself out again than to try to decipher the ramblings in some ancient text or to try to translate some dead language for someone else.

As I started down the stairs I stopped abruptly mid-step when I overheard Bobby talking to someone. He was the only person I was still talking to that might accidentally reconnect me with the Winchesters, so I didn't want to show my face until I knew if I was going to have to find a way to sneak out of the house or not.

"Hey Sydney it's Bobby. You don't have to worry about calling me back… I just wanted you to know that Addy's safe here with me. She's looking pretty rough so I'm going to try to force her to rest for at least a day. But in any case, I just thought you should know that she made it here alive. Don't forget to call if you need anything."

Oh shit! Sydney knows where I am! I thought to myself as I rushed back to one of Bobby's guest rooms. I hadn't seen my father since the night he had beaten me because I was worried he might try to finish the job. I was tossing the few items I had unpacked back into my bag so that I could sneak away when I heard a knock at the door.

"Addy? Before you pass out on me, let me check on those claw marks… Okay? Koala Bear…? Did you hear me?"

I stared down at my bag and jumped when Bobby knocked louder nearly shouting, "Addy? I hope you're decent…"

Before I could answer he opened the door and caught me as I was zipping up my bag. His eyes moved from my bag to my face and then back again. We stared at each other in silence and then he started to shake his head slowly, so I unzipped my bag and plucked out a makeup kit.

"Sorry Bobby, I was just grabbing some lotion because my back still feels tight when I move," I explained, hating that I was once again lying to Bobby.

He ignored my uneasiness and after he had checked me over and had confirmed that everything looked as good as he thought, he forced me to try to rest. As soon as my head hit the pillow, the exhaustion I had been ignoring since I had left Minnesota hit me hard and I fell into a deep dreamless sleep.

While it was still semi-dark outside, I was awoken by the sound of a truck screeching to a halt in Bobby's front yard. By the time I made it to the window, I could hear two loud male voices and more than one pair of heavy boots on Bobby's hardwood floor. It took me seeing the truck in the dim light of the early morning light before I could place the voice of the second man and then panic completely set in.

I quickly slipped on my boots and tied them just enough to make sure that they wouldn't fall off when I walked and then slipped my bag on my shoulder before I ran out to the stairs. Bobby and the newcomer seemed to be arguing in the study about something, so I made it to the kitchen easily without being noticed. Once I made it there, I stared at the door to the back yard longingly, trying to decide if I could make it out or not without the men seeing me.

"Well then let's go out to the truck and get him," Bobby finally said as they both moved to the front door.

I said a quick prayer of thanks to God and went out the back door when I heard the front door open. With them at the front of the house I knew they wouldn't hear me start my car and I tried to time my departure so that I would pass by the front of the house while they while they were dealing with whomever it was that was being carried form the truck to the house.

John and Bobby dumped Dean's dead weight onto the couch in the study and then Bobby got to work on the gash on the back of Dean's head. John was beyond surprised that Bobby already had everything they needed in the study and then he noticed the used medical supplies and two soiled glasses on the kitchen table.

"Have you turned this place into an Emergency Room?" John asked as he moved closer to the kitchen door.

Bobby scoffed softly then light heartedly replied, "I probably should so I can start charging you all expensive user fees like they do… But no, just had to take care of a few gashes and scrapes for Addy. Stupid kid got into a bar fight and then took on a Wendigo, ALL with her back still stitched up… So I helped her out with that, no big deal."

"Addy?" John asked uneasily without turning to face Bobby. "Do you mean Addy Jones?"

"She's the only Addy I know," Bobby answered with a humorous tone, not noticing John's demeanor because he kept his eyes focused on the task of mending Dean's head. "She's resting upstairs as we speak."

"She is? I… I didn't see her car," John commented as he uncharacteristically stumbled over his words.

"She parked out back," Bobby explained in an uninterested tone.

John moved to the kitchen window that overlooked the back yard before flatly stating, "I don't see her GTO."

Bobby dumped the packaging and other odds and ends in his hands in the garbage then moved to John's side and cursed out a loud, "Balls!"

Before John could respond, Bobby ran up the stairs to check the room I had been staying in. When he had his suspicions confirmed, he made his way slowly back down the stairs cursing and grumbling under his breath.

"Damn stupid… Reckless…" He looked up at John with an angry scowl on his face then told him, "She must have slipped out when we were bringing Dean in."

John clamped a hand on Bobby's shoulder and laughed softly saying, "She's a tough kid… I'm sure she'll be fine. You shouldn't worry so much Old Man."

"No… John you didn't see her. Ever since… Ever since Vicky died she's been going non-stop… If she keeps this pace up…" Bobby just threw his hands up and shook his head as if he didn't know what else to say.

Bobby turned to walk away but was stopped by John grabbing him by the arm and pulling him deeper into the kitchen. "What did you say about Vicky?"

Bobby stared at John mirroring his confused look as he answered, "You don't… Shit… Damn it! Sorry… I thought… I figured one of them would have called you by now. Okay… Well a few months back, Vicky was killed by a werewolf. It tore into Addy pretty bad and Maureen called me to go and check on her in the hospital. The stupid kid's been on the road non-stop for about three weeks now and I swear she's getting more and more careless."

"Shit… How's Syd taking it?" John questioned, seemingly ignoring all of the other facts that Bobby had just told him.

Bobby shrugged then poured them each a cup of coffee replying, "Haven't been able to get a hold of him since I found out. But Addy said that he's still working on jobs, so I'm guessing he's doing as well as she is… Whatever that means."

John nodded then sipped his coffee thoughtfully. Bobby moved to check in on Dean then laughed to himself and somewhat flippantly commented, "Huh… If Addy and Dean had of stayed together… Can you imagine what it would have been like if they had kids? Damn stubborn lot y'all are that damn kid'd be more than a handful for…" he trailed off as he disappeared into the study.

John's eyes wandered out into the backyard as he went over everything Bobby had told him. He tried calling Sydney on his cell and then at home, but he just reached his voicemail at both numbers. He stared down the cell phone in his hands and then he had a terrifying thought. He knew that Sydney had threatened Dean and that his son was still unaware as to why Sydney had done so, which left John wondering if Sydney was trying to avoid him too. At first he had attributed my hasty retreat to the fact that Dean was possibly there, but now he was wondering if I too was trying to avoid all of the members of the Winchester clan like my father was.

I made it to town safely and decided that Bobby probably had a point about me resting, so I pulled into the parking lot of the first motel I came across. Just after I had cut the engine, my phone started ringing. I checked the Caller ID and swallowed down the bile rising up in the back of my throat. At least this time I could take some solace in the fact that I didn't really have to lie to Bobby because he would most likely understand my aversion to being around my ex-boyfriend without having to go into any further detail, but I still didn't want to admit that to him right now.

As soon as I answered and before I could speak I heard, "This isn't Bobby, it's John."

I swallowed hard and forced myself not to react to my nervousness as I said in an almost light-hearted tone, "Hey John. How ya going? When'd you get to Bobby's?"

"Addy don't give me that line of bullshit, you and I both know you were at Bobby's when we first got here," he answered with an annoyed, angry growl. "What the hell are you thinking taking off like that when you're so badly hurt?"

"John," I nearly pleaded, so I stopped myself and took a deep breath. "You know why I left and… And it all looks worse than it is, I swear. Plus… Bobby fixed up my eye pretty good, so I can actually see better now."

John let out a loud sigh before he said somewhat dejectedly, "Yeah I do understand Addy. And Bobby told me about your Mom. I'm sorry to hear about her. I assume you took care of everything?"

Since he had posed his last statement as a question, I quickly replied, "Yes sir. I took care of everything just like I was supposed to."

"Good girl. Now the Wendigo, it's…?"

"Dead," I replied dutifully before more heatedly saying, "Seriously John I know how to do the job! I killed the Wendigo, I took out the werewolf that… That… That killed Mum. I made sure she got a proper hunter's funeral. Not to mention that Bobby doesn't know about me vanquishing two… Wait no THREE spirits; I have a lead on a vampire coven that's trying to expand by munching on people in my age group and I've heard some whispers about Kelpie down in the Bayou that turns out to be true… Did I miss anything?"

He cleared his throat purposefully then replied, "Yes you did… You missed the fact that I'm still your elder and that I deserve to be spoken to with a bit more respect than that young lady."

"John…" I started apologetically as I looked out to the motel and wished that I had ignored my phone to find a somewhat comfortable bed to fall asleep in. "I'm sorry if you feel like that, but I'm not a little girl so you don't get to just boss me around like you can with Dean and Sam. You're not my… I… I've been doing this job my whole life, so I'm fine."

If anyone asked, I would have blamed my boldness on my sleep deprivation because I hadn't slept long the night before, but in reality John was just receiving the tone I had always wanted to use with my own father. Of course the one time I had used it with Sydney he had beaten me nearly to death, so using it on the phone with John seemed like a safe bet, which probably gave me this false sense of confidence.

I'm sure that I could hear John gritting his teeth as he replied, "Oh really? You're so grown, strong and seasoned that you just let some bar bum beat the shit out of you in the parking lot of some seedy bar? You think that that proves you've made it Little Girl?"

"No," I nearly sobbed out. I hated that John could make me feel so small, so I opted to use my anger against him instead. "I didn't… I didn't 'just let' him John. He… He caught me off guard and… And I thought I stopped him before he went too far… But then… Well Bobby told me that my eye might be infected, so I should take some time off to heal… But hey! I'm human! I made a mistake! Sue me!"

"Yeah he told me something like that too," John stated in his patented tone of superiority. "So? Are you? And by that I mean are you giving your body the rest it craves and deserves after everything you've done to it?"

Even though I hated it more than anything else I answered with a weak and somewhat whiney, "Why do you even care?"

The phone line went so quiet that I thought John had hung up. I pulled my phone away to check the screen and then I heard him clear his throat again.

"Addy I care because… Well you're family and I always look out for my family," he explained in a much more tender tone.

"John, no I'm…"

He lowered his voice then interrupted, "That baby you gave birth to made you a part of my family… No matter what you think or say, you're kin to us. So I'll ask you again, since you took off from here, are you going somewhere else where you can rest?"

"Yes sir," I nearly whispered trying not to let him hear how much his words had affected me.

"Good. Now where was the bar where you were jumped? I just need the name and State."

"What?" I asked genuinely confused.

His voice hardened again as he replied, "Like I said, I look out for my family Adelaide and I want to see how that coward will do up against someone his own size. Now name and State?"

"John I told you I took care of it, so I'm hanging up now," I answered feeling even more exhausted.

"Addy… Addy! Wait… Wait just one second… Please?"

Even though he couldn't see it, my face contorted into a suspicious scowl at hearing him say 'Please' as I said, "Okay… Go ahead."

"Like I said before, I understand why you're avoiding Dean and that's your choice… But I can't be sure that you really are okay unless I see you with my own two eyes, so… So next time you see my truck just make sure you come and find me before you take off okay?"

"John… I… I don't… I just really…" I tried to explain while stumbling over my words.

"I'm just saying come see me… Forget about Dean… Keep avoiding him if that makes you happy... He's not in the equation… Just make sure you see me in person. Deal?"

I swallowed hard, not really sure what I was going to answer until I whispered, "Deal."

"Good… Good. Now, where was this bar and what was it called?"

I sputtered out a loud laugh then said, "Goodbye John."

He thankfully chuckled too saying, "I'll see you soon Addy."

I once again had a dreamless sleep and woke up the next morning feeling a bit more rested (mostly because I had actually slept for nearly 24 hours this time around). My game plan was to grab some groceries and to hide out at the motel for a few days. Since I had spoken with John, I figured I didn't need to call Bobby to let him know that I was okay, but I still did want to apologize to him. While I poked my head out the curtains to check the weather, I dialed his number to do just that.

"Yeah?" A very groggy male's voice answered. I wasn't sure if Dean would recognize my voice or not so I remained silent causing him to say angrily, "What the hell do you want? Who the fuck are you and why are you calling this early?"

I quickly terminated the call and stared at my phone stupidly wondering if they might have anyway to find out it was me even though I knew that Bobby didn't have Caller ID. While I reminded myself that I was just being silly, I finally did check the sky to decide what I should wear. Out in the parking lot I saw what I thought was a bit of a commotion that turned out to be a tow truck next to a car that looked an awful lot like Dean's Impala.

As I continued to scan the parking lot, my eyes landed on John's truck. I couldn't help but laugh because he had just made me promise to call him and I hadn't anticipated having to make good on that promise so soon.

"Hello?"

"Hey John. So where are you towing Dean's car to?"

"Addy? How'd…?" He questioned as he turned to look around the parking lot. "How do you know that I'm having his car towed?"

I laughed from my open door where I was watching him then replied, "Turn around again, I'm in room seven." He turned and smiled then looked slightly confused. "Hey! You made me promise to call you…"

"That I did. Let me finish up here and I'll be right over."

While I waited for him, I pulled out a change of clothes but John was knocking on my door before I got a chance to change out of my pajamas. John had known me long enough to have seen me in worse than an oversized men's t-shirt and flannel boxers, but for some reason I really wanted to be dressed in my street clothes right then. I opened the door for him and somewhat hid behind it in a futile attempt to delay the inevitable.

As soon as I turned to face him, John captured my chin in his hand much like Bobby had the night before last. "Huh… Doesn't look as bad as Bobby said it was…"

"Oh… Well I've iced it and been taking the antibiotics Bobby gave me and some anti-inflammatories, so I guess all of that's working," I replied as I removed his hand from my face and tried to side step around him.

He completely blocked my path then said, "That's good to hear. Now… Let's take a look at the damage on your body."

John took the hem of my shirt into both of his hands and started to pull it up. I quickly grabbed him by the wrists nearly shrieking out a surprised, "John! What are you doing?"

"Bobby said that the asshole at the bar worked you over pretty good while you had stitches, so I want to check on that too."

Because this was John Winchester I knew that it wasn't a request, but I still tried to stop him saying, "Everything's fine. Bobby already triple checked all of it."

His jaw set into a stubborn line as he shook his head. He tried to move my shirt again and I struggled with all my might to get him to stop as he angrily said, "Adelaide, I already told you that I want to see it all for myself. You didn't mind showing Bobby."

"Okay… Okay… But just slow down a second," I nearly pleaded. "I wasn't in my pajamas then so there was no chance of me flashing him…"

John was just short of rolling his eyes as he reluctantly let go of my shirt. I turned and snatched up my change of clothes and nearly ran to the bathroom while John tersely ordered, "Fine go get changed… But hurry up!"

I slammed the door to the bathroom then stood with my back against it hyperventilating through my annoyance. In the back of my mind I knew he was just looking out for me, but I had been on my own for long enough now that I instantly felt resentful about his treatment of me. My resentment instantly turned into defiance as I stripped my sleep shirt off at such a slow pace that it barely looked like I was moving. When I was naked from the waist up, I contemplated walking out into the other room just like that, but then my gaze focused on the bruises that were scattered across the span of my torso.

I stepped closer to the mirror and choked back a sob at how dark some of them still looked despite them having had had weeks to heal. I must have stood there in a stunned silence for longer than was acceptable to John because I was brought out of my thoughts by the sound of him pounding on the door while rattling the door knob.

Without answering his shouts, I put on just my black cotton bra and threw the door open. John's face had flushed red with anger and he looked like he was going to yell at me, but the sight of my injuries rendered him completely mute.

His hands landed on my waist before they slowly travelled up to my ribcage as he said, "Damn… How old are these?"

"A couple of weeks," I replied quietly.

His eyes finally moved up to my face then as he asked, "What the hell did he use? A metal pipe?"

I shook my head whispering, "Steel toed boots."

"Shit… He really did want to hurt you," he commented almost absentmindedly. He then pressed down hard on my ribs causing me to squeeze my eyes shut and issued a pain filled moan. "They don't feel broken… You lucked out there Kiddo." Before I could respond, he roughly turned me around then hissed out a breath. "Shit… Addy…"

I just bit my lip and gripped the sink edge tightly to keep myself from reacting to anything John was saying or doing. He lightly traced the three matching scars on my lower back before running both hands up my sides to my ribs. Once again he applied firm pressure to the bones under his hands. I bit my lip so hard that I nearly drew blood until I gasped in a breath at feeling him move one of my bra straps off my shoulder.

"Shit… He broke the skin here…" I knew all of this already but I still nodded as John continued to itemize some more of the injuries he found.

When he had had his fill, John draped a button down blouse over my back and shoulders. After I had the majority of the buttons done up, I turned back to face John, but kept my eyes on my hands to avoid looking at his face.

"So looks like nothing's broken, but you most likely have a couple of bruised ribs. The lacerations look clean and so do the claw marks… They've actually healed nicely," John reported very matter-of-factly. "And even though the other bruises are pretty deep, I don't think you'll have any complications." I nodded in understanding, but kept my face tilted down until he forced my chin up with a bent finger as he gently asked, "All of this was over you turning him down and hustling him out of a hundred bucks?"

"Yes," I whispered guiltily with my eyes closed again to help hide that I was lying.

"You should have just slept with him Kiddo, I'm sure it would have hurt less," he stated somewhat humorously.

My eyes flew open and I shoved John away as I angrily retorted, "Sorry but that seemed a little too whorish for my tastes."

"Because this…" He paused and waved his hand up and down vaguely in the direction of my torso. "This is a better solution."

I scoffed then tried to leave the bathroom but John stopped me by grabbing my upper arm tightly. My free hand flew up and shoved against John's chest, but he wouldn't budge so I stopped then glared at him nearly spitting as I spoke, "At least I got to keep my dignity."

"Dignity?" He snorted out with a laugh. "Right because any self-respecting hunter is okay with having their ass handed to them by a human."

"Yeah… Well… You weren't there," I replied as I gave his torso another violent shove. This one must have caught him off guard because he stumbled back a step. While he was still off balance, I pushed him again growling out, "So don't you fucking judge me Winchester."

He stared at me for a breath before he opened his mouth to speak. I had already made it to the main room where his cell phone was ringing in the pocket of his jacket and before he could say anything else I tossed it in his direction saying, "You might want to get that."

He caught it and glared at me but did actually answer it. From his side of the conversation I could tell that he was talking to Dean so I scooped up my phone and quickly dialed Bobby's number.

I apologized to Bobby for running out on him and he of course instantly forgave me. I then told him about the jobs that I had found and he was more than happy to help me fill in some of the holes that I had in my research, after making me promise that I would wait at least a couple of days before heading out. By the time John was finished with his conversation, I was seated at the table near the door feverishly scribbling down practically everything that Bobby was telling me.

I knew that John had expected me to end my call to finish my 'conversation' with him, so I pointedly ignored him while Bobby gave me the information that I needed.

"That's awesome Bobby. Thanks for the help. I'll talk to you soon… No I won't be leaving for a few days at least… Yes I promise I'll call if I need any backup… Yes I promise! I swear… Yeah… Okay… Alright… Thanks again."

I continued to write a few more thoughts and said without looking up, "I thought that you would have let yourself out. Was there something else you wanted to yell at me about?"

John grabbed my chair and yanked it out about a foot from the table in one easy movement. I tossed the pen I was holding onto the table, crossed my arms over my chest and tried my best not to let my face shift out of an unhappy frown. He leaned in dangerously close causing me to swallow nervously while I continued to try not to flinch.

"I know there's something you aren't telling me Adelaide Jones," he informed me once our noses were almost touching.

"What makes you think you're so special that I would lie to you?" I countered with a strong, confident (albeit defiant) tone, happy with myself that I stood my ground and didn't move in my seat.

He took in a deep breath then stood up straight so that he was towering over me. I had to force myself not to squirm but I couldn't help but squeeze my eyes shut when he raised his hand up while I waited for him to backhand me across the face. I felt air rush past my cheek then jumped when his knuckles brushed gently across my skin.

"Why? Yeah… That's a good question because I don't know either." Tears trickled down my cheeks when I opened my eyes to continue to glare at him. You could see that he was still annoyed, but he forced himself to keep his voice soft as he continued, "But I do know that you would never let a stranger do this to you. So I'll ask you just one more time… Who did this to you Addy?"

"John…" I tearfully pleaded. "I… I can't… I… I just…"

He nodded then made his way to the door. Before exiting he paused briefly and without turning around to look at me announced, "When you're ready to talk about it, I'll have a bottle of Jack and an open ear." Then he abruptly left me alone in the room to contemplate my next move.

"So Bobby never questioned you…? He just believed your story all along?" Toby asked as he rolled his head one his pillow to look at me.

I moved just my eyes to look back at him and managed to keep my voice even as I asked, "Believed…? What do you mean Toby? That's how it happened."

Toby scoffed then resumed looking at his ceiling replying, "Sure… Yeah… Of course it is." Before I could try to defend myself again he added, "I'm not a little kid anymore Addy. I remember the night you came to our house all bloody. Dad had me stay with you because you were afraid to sleep alone and he was trying to calm Mom down without me knowing she was hysterical… You were hurt bad and you whimpered, 'No Daddy, please? Don't' over and over during the night."

I laid perfectly still with my eyes closed cursing myself for not making sure that Castiel had whitewashed that memory from the Connors minds. Toby turned his eye to check on my reaction and smiled sadly when he saw that he had managed to shock me into silence. "And then Mom and Dad suddenly stopped talking to Uncle Sydney. When I was like nine or ten, Uncle Sydney did actually come over to our house, I think he was scared and wanted to find out if you were okay… I didn't really see much, but I heard Dad yelling at him from my room, so I knew that that night wasn't a nightmare… I don't think I saw Uncle Sydney after that."

Tears rolled out of my eyes into my hairline, so I started breathing through my mouth so that Toby wouldn't hear my sniffling. I wasn't crying because I knew that that was when Sydney had been killed during the Rising of the Witnesses, I was crying because it broke my heart that Toby had had to take care of me at such a young age.

"Please Addy? I just really want to know more about Bobby…"

"Yeah," I finally answered, still not taking my eyes off of the new mural of outer space that Toby had painted on his ceiling. "Yeah… Well no… He didn't believe BELIEVE me, but he figured that I'd tell him the truth in my own time. He didn't want to press too much and risk me freezing him out, so he pretended to believe it so that I would be sure to go back to him to get fixed up and stuff like that."

Toby shifted in his place slightly then said in a flat, even tone, "Yeah, sounds like he knew you pretty well… So how long did you freeze John out for?"

Since Toby's tone of voice and body language hadn't changed, it took me a couple of seconds to realize that he had made a joke. We remained in our places in silence until I felt him start to move, so I reached over and pinched his side replying, "He sure did… And I didn't freeze John out all that long… Just… Umm… Three or four years."

"Shit…" he whispered under his breath thinking I wouldn't hear him. I was going to reprimand him for his cussing but he swiftly followed up with an astonished, "Remind me never to piss you off, okay Addy?"

"Toby," I stated sternly. "Make sure you mind your parents and behave or you'll have me to deal with."

He was laughing as he rolled onto his side then propped his head on his hand with his elbow digging into his pillow so that he was looking down at me. "Will you tell me another story about Bobby that I haven't heard before? Please?"

I closed my eyes and folded my hands over my stomach while I tried to find another story that wasn't too salacious to tell Toby. (Or at least on that I could edit to be PG-13 like the last one, even though I had relived it in my mind in all of its Non-PG glory.)Toby misunderstood my actions and thought that I was trying to fall asleep on him, so he lowered his head to his pillow and settled in closer to my side quietly pleading, "Please Addy? I was just getting to know him and I'm finally old enough to hear some of the details you wouldn't tell me before. Please?"

All of that was true, but we both knew that I had cried a lot less when I was telling him stories about Bobby, so I was sure he was using the stories as a way to keep me distracted. He pressed up to my side then somewhat awkwardly placed his head on my shoulder forcing me to move my left arm to hook it around his neck so that we would both be more comfortable.

"Okay… So back when Sam and Dean first met Meg… Well the demon we call Meg…" I started slowly and paused when I felt Toby shiver. "Oh shh… Crap. Sorry Buddy I almost forgot."

"No," he replied quickly while shaking his head to stop my apology. "It wasn't really her and… Well… It was the job that brought you and Dean back together so I'm okay with hearing her name. I swear Addy I really am, so you can go on."

It'd been weeks since I had heard from Dean and I had even turned down a few jobs from my contacts so that he would know where to find me while I was spending time with the Connors. I hadn't really told Toby or his parents that I hadn't talked to Dean (despite my numerous phone messages) because I didn't want them to take his silence the wrong way. I had heard about his single-mindedness after John passed and then lived through it after we lost Sam and Castiel, so I was willing to give him the space he thought he needed right now. That being said, I still made sure to call him periodically to extend well wishes from our son. I knew that even though he would see through the ruse that he wouldn't find it in his heart to get mad at me because he missed spending time with Toby too.

"Okay," I replied quietly. "But if anything seems like it's… Too much… Just let me know, alright?"

He draped an arm over my stomach then hugged me answering, "Promise."

"Alright… So I know that I told you all about what happened to Sam when he was possessed so that you'd know how bad it is…" He nodded then instinctively pulled out his anti-possession medallion he wore around his neck. "Well after I heard a few whispers about some hunters being hurt, I rushed over to Bobby's house to check on him."

By the time I got to Sioux Falls, it was still light out so I sat at the end of Bobby's driveway debating if I should wait until it was dark before I continued on. I had only been hearing rumors about what had happened and that a group of hunters were offering a bounty for the head of Steve Wandell's murderer, but for some reason I couldn't shake the feeling that I had to make sure Bobby was okay.

Most rational people would have just called their old family friend on the phone to check on them, but any hunter worth their salt would have been embarrassed to do that. There were too many ways to imitate someone's voice or to cover up a possession over the phone, so here I sat in my car. Admittedly I would feel more comfortable going after the unknown under the cover of night, but Bobby was too important to me not to venture out of my comfort zone to do what needed to be done.

When I pulled into his yard, I instinctively checked the cars that were parked near the house. A couple of the cars that Bobby regularly used were there and then my brain finally rang an alarm bell as I slammed on the breaks hard enough to give me whiplash. My eyes darted over every inch of the yard and then I slowly made my way to the back of the house, still scanning every inch of land my eyes could see.

Thank you God I silently praised when I didn't see the familiar black 1967 Impala that would have been a sign that Dean was here too.

After I had parked my car, I stuffed my pockets with two flasks of Holy Water, a silver switchblade, an iron knife and a syringe filled with Dead Man's blood while still frantically surveying the yard periodically. My plan was to do a little break and enter action through a window in the basement in order to sneak up on Bobby or anything that was using Bobby's face right now and even though it was daylight I was going to stick to that plan. I figured that if I could do this easily at night, then doing it during the day should be that much easier.

To date I had only needed to sneak out of Bobby's house a couple of times and each of those times I had just used one of the doors while Bobby was distracted. But over the past six years, I had become and expert at breaking into my childhood home undetected in case Sydney had parked his truck in the garage while he was at home. I could even get in and out of my second floor bedroom window without Sydney noticing, but Bobby wasn't polite enough to have any lattice work on the side of his house to make that possible, so I started circling the house to find a window I could pry open.

Almost as soon as I bent down to check one of the basement windows that looked like it was partially open, I felt something smack me in the middle of my back. Although it winded me, I didn't fall down, so they took another swing, causing me to fall hard onto my stomach. I was still gasping in mouthfuls of air laced with dirt when I felt the metal blade of a shovel being shoved into my neck at the base of my skull.

"It ain't very nice to break into someone's house," Bobby cautioned with a painfully strained voice.

I got my hands out from under me to show him they were empty and he eased up just a bit. When I started to roll over, he pulled the shovel back enough for me to land on my back. I kept my hands raised over my head and tried to smile, but then I started to cough which elicited a confused frown from my 'attacker'.

"Addy?" He questioned before he looked at the shovel in his hands and tossed it to one side. "Is that really you Koala Bear?"

I remained flat on my back and didn't move except to nod until Bobby extended a hand down towards me. After I stared at it for a heartbeat, he waved it towards me more insistently until I finally took it in mine. Even though he noticeably winced, Bobby did most of the work to get me to my feet. I doubled over and coughed out some dirt that was still in my mouth so Bobby gave my back a few hard smacks to help me regain my breath.

"I'm sorry Sweetheart, I didn't recognize you with the new coif," he explained apologetically as he wrapped an arm around my waist.

I hugged his waist then replied with a gravelly voice, "Yeah it's new. I had a run in with a barber's ghost who thought he was Sweeney Todd." I ran my fingers through my hair that now ended just above my shoulders, but I kept moving as if they continued to the more familiar length of the small of my back. "When I finally got into a salon she had to cut it this short to make sure it was even. I always thought I looked stupid with a bob."

Once we helped each other through the back door, Bobby stepped in front of me and gave me a long, considering look. After he ran his fingers through each side of my hair as if he was checking that the lengths on each side matched, he gently patted my head then said, "Well you wear it well... And you look cute… Alright, why don't you go get cleaned up in the bathroom and I'll grab you a drink?"

I just smiled, nodded and then followed his instructions without actually saying a word. After I had 99.9% of the dirt washed off my face and out of my mouth, I took my jacket off and shook it vigorously to knock some of the dirt off of it. When I got to the kitchen, Bobby passed me a bottle of beer, but before he could say his 'toast' out loud, I continued past him to drape my jacket over the back of a chair by a table covered in piles and piles of books.

Still ignoring Bobby to some degree, I took a long swig from my beer bottle as I approached his study. No one would ever accuse Bobby of being a neat freak, but what I saw caused my eyebrows to tilt down and my forehead to scrunch together as I thought What the fuck happened here?

I was pulling my bottle away from my lips after another generous drink of beer as I turned back towards him and sarcastically commented, "So you're still watering down your beer, eh Bobby? You know… I'm not nineteen anymore."

He shared a knowing smile with me as he exchanged the beer bottle laced with Holy Water for a glass half filled with straight up whiskey. "And not to nit-pick, but uhh… The study's looking a little worse… Well worser for wear… What the hell have you been up to?"

Bobby gestured towards one of the chairs in the kitchen and as I sat down he took a seat explaining, "You don't slow down for a minute, do you?" I was mid-drink so I couldn't reply and he snickered before continuing, "I'm guessing you're here because of what happened to Steve Wandell, right?"

I sputtered slightly before swallowing the liquid in my mouth then answered, "Yeah… I heard something was going after hunters and I… I was worried about you."

"Aww… Ain't you sweet," Bobby said trying to joke away my concern. I had already told him a condensed version of what Sydney had done to me and why (of course Bobby had seen the bruises so I didn't have to go into too much detail), so I hadn't expected him to be surprised that I hadn't rushed home to see if the man everyone called my dad was okay. "But I'm fine Koala Bear. It did come after me thinking I was as dumb as a newbie on their first job, but you know I ain't going down that easy."

"So the plaster on the floor, the glass, the blood, the crack in the ceiling…? That's from you what? Fighting a psychopath?" I questioned as I exchanged the glass of whiskey for the beer bottle.

Bobby moved to stop me saying, "Addy you already passed the test, you don't have to drink that."

"I know," I replied shrugging nonchalantly. "But I think I'd rather be sober for this story. I owe Sarah that much because she's going to want details about what killed her dad."

Bobby gave me a knowing nod then replied, "No, it wasn't a psychopath. Just a well-meaning hunter that was dumb enough to get himself possessed."

We exchanged a look which caused me to ask, "Hunter? Who's arrogant enough to…?" I stopped then watched Bobby sip his drink. "No… Bobby… Please tell me it wasn't…"

"Dean?" He questioned flatly. "No Koala bear, he got hit just as hard as me… Well actually worse than me."

"Really? Because you're looking like you're still in pain… What did you guys do?"

Bobby smirked then said as he poured himself another drink, "Well I ain't as young as I used to be… But yeah… Dean and I had to exorcise the demon out of Sam after it had some fun busting up the study with… Well us."

"Sam…" I sighed with some relief. "Really… Shit… SHIT! Did he…?"

Bobby just nodded so I bit my lip then said, "Don't worry Bobby… Steve… He had everything set up for Sarah so her school is more than covered." Bobby just gave me a wide-eyed look so I teasingly added, "What? Do you think she'll want to do more than one Doctorate?"

"How do you know all of that Addy?" Bobby asked almost suspiciously.

"He asked me to talk to her before she went off to school. He had all of the money stuff set up but he still wanted to be sure that she had all of the protecting herself stuff down too, so I sat down with her to do a double check as her concerned friend before she settled down in her dorm."

Bobby was shaking his head in disbelief then replied, "Alright, so Sarah's good… Well as good as it gets. So that would bring me to my next area of concern."

I watched Bobby as he moved quickly to the desk in his study then he produced a small leather pouch for me to take. I opened it up and slowly pulled out the pendant inside out as Bobby explained, "That's an anti-possession charm… I know you know what you're doing, but right now it couldn't hurt for all of us to take extra precautions."

I replaced the charm in the bag then passed it back to Bobbly pleasantly saying, "No, you're totally right… It doesn't hurt for us to be prepared but…" I stood up and placed my left foot on a chair so he could see my inner left ankle. "But Mum already made sure that I was covered."

Bobby leaned in close to check my tattoo of a pentagram inside a sun burst before looking up at me with a questioning frown.

"Mum had been possessed once and she always told me that it was a miracle that it was exorcised before she died, so she looked into it and found this," I explained almost shyly.

"Oh…" Bobby replied slightly stunned. "I didn't know."

Without missing a beat I said, "Well now you do. So…? You're upper floor is beyond fucked… Do you have a good, non-crooked contractor?" Bobby just shook his head with an annoyed scowl on his face. "Okay. You don't… Well I'll call Bill. I'm sure he knows someone who won't skip out on mid-job."

Bobby grabbed my hand as I dialed then mouthed, "Thanks Koala Bear."

Bill told me that while the repairs were being done that someone should be there to pay the foreman every day. Bobby had hoped that he could just give someone a lump sum and let it be, so when I told him that wasn't a good idea he told me that I was now in charge. Most of the workers had seen our heated debate and when I came out as the victor, they just avoided my gaze to work as hard as they could.

As the job neared the finishing stages, I idly mused to Bobby that I found it funny that none of the workers had tried to hit on me. While we were eating our dinner, he told me that it was because they thought I was his much younger mistress and that they had seen his gun collection as well. I just laughed at that explanation because I could tell that the repairs were done better than well and I surmised that it was the guys way of trying to impress me.

"Well it's taking more than a bit of work, but the study's ceiling is almost fixed, but your… Umm… Key of Solomon… Yeah that's completely screwed."

"Yeah," Bobby agreed as he looked up at the newly patched ceiling and nodded for me to follow him into the kitchen. "Addy? Do you think you could help me out by staying here alone while you keep an eye on this to the end of this for me?"

I pulled him down the back stairs to the back yard before I answered, "Sure I can… But… Uhh… Where are you going and what are you going to be taking care of?"

Bobby sighed then said, "I… I don't really know how many details you would want Koala Bear… But… Ah hell… Dean and Sam are working on something weird in Ohio, but neither of them…"

Before he could finish I gently placed my fingers over his lips saying, "Go on Bobby. Go and make sure they don't die. I'll paint the ceiling myself and I'll make sure that they get everything fixed up properly."

Bobby just held my face so I pushed against his stomach saying more insistently, "I mean it Bobby. Your house will be good as new and just as demon proof as it was before the demon screwed it up."

Bobby finally leaned in to kiss my cheek and replied, "Thanks Addy. I'll check in with you soon."

"Call if you need any help," I offered automatically.

Bobby knew that I really did mean it and that I would have gone to Ohio even though I had been working so hard to stay away from Dean. If Bobby needed my help I'd be there, so he smiled softly and said, "I'll call you later."

"So Bobby's the reason you knew about what Dean was doing with his brother?" Toby asked as he shifted in my arms so that he could see my face.

We both then rolled onto our side and I nodded my head saying, "Yeah… Well after Mum died he was. Anytime I worked with John, we avoided talking about Dean or Sam for that matter because Sam had taken off to school."

Suddenly tears started spilling down Toby's cheeks, so I snatched him into a hug. With his face pressed to my shoulder, he shuddered slightly then let out a small sob. I tried to hug him tighter, but he quickly pushed back and out of my arms.

He didn't make any attempt to dry his face before he frantically said, "I don't want you to die… Please don't go…"

"Toby," I started with a tone of soft concern. "What…? What do you mean?"

He abruptly sat up then swiped his palms against his cheeks and explained, "All of your stories… Every one of them… Someone died. Every hunter you've talked about has died. Even Dean and Sam have died at least once…"

"Oh Toby it's…" I tried to interrupt him.

"No! I mean it Addy! We just spent months thinking that a monster had killed you at Bobby's house and now one of them has actually killed Bobby. If… If… If you love us, you'll stay here with us so it doesn't happen to you. Please?"

I sat up and brushed a tear off of his chin then tried to reply, "Tobs you know that I love you guys like you're my own flesh and blood, but… But I… I can't just stay here and not try to find the thing that killed Bobby."

"Dean and Sam are working on it, so just let them take care of it," he countered as he took my hands in his. "Then you can stay here and be a part of our family forever."

"Buddy, that… That's not how it works. That's not how I work," I explained extracting one of my hands to hold his cheek. "I've tried the domestic routine before, remember? And I still…"

"Still felt the need to hunt," he finished sounding defeated.

"It's not just a job, it's who I am Toby," I stated in a soft, loving tone. He nodded but still had a pleading look in his eye so I tried to think of something else I could say to get him to understand what I was saying without me breaking his heart. "Tobs… Toby… What if I told you that you could never play baseball ever again, just because I said so?"

"I would hate it and probably hate you for not letting me play." I gave him a look as if to say "See?" to which he replied, "But I won't get killed playing baseball."

"That's true and even thought your argument is valid…"

"If I force you to stay here then you'll stop loving us," he finished almost shyly.

I held his cheeks to force eye contact as I replied, "I will ALWAYS love you, ALWAYS. But yes… I might start to resent you and I'd probably become pretty miserable to live with… Especially when I know that I could be out helping people."

He nodded again then whispered, "But I don't want you to die."

"And I don't want that to happen to me either… But with everything's that happened over the last few years there's less and less of us that know about all of this weird stuff…"

He leaned forward to hug me then rested himself against my body quietly saying, "Tell me a story about someone who isn't dead."

I petted the back of his head and tried to ask a question but he then sat back to look into my face, "I know… I do… I know that you have to go, just… Not yet, okay?"

"Okay," I whispered as I let him pull be down onto the bed again. As we got comfortable I said, "About nine years ago, give or take, I was working this weird case. On the surface it looked like an easy haunting, but I couldn't find the grave of our spirit no matter what I did. After taking longer than normal, I finally found it… Then I saw Sydney with Dean and John at the same motel as me…" Toby pushed out of my arms looking annoyed but before he could say anything I yanked him back to my side. "Hey… Trust me; this is a good story… Now where was I? Right… So I managed to dump the job off on John because I had somewhere important I had to be the next day..."

I felt Toby relax against me as he nuzzled his head against my shoulder and whispered, "Where did you have to be?"

I smiled to myself then continued, "And Luckily I made it there in time too because there was this stubborn little boy who was refusing to leave his room to go to school until I got there…" I had expected Toby to protest at hearing a story about himself, but he remained silent so I carefully checked on him. When I saw that he was sleeping I kissed his head and whispered, "I will always love you my Toby, nothing and no one will change that."