Just a Little Pain
Sam fell asleep as the sun rose above the horizons. It wasn't restful, but it was enough to recharge his battery. The song Castiel had sung to Tara continued to play on loop in Sam's dreams- this was big and Dean expected to do this alone. It didn't sit well with Sam; this has been known since before the first fish crawled out of the ocean, before Castiel was even able to hold up his issued weapon.
The ill-feelings Sam felt must have also translated to how he slept. His movements woke Ashley up soon after the sunlight was coming into the dark room. She was relieved to see Dean was still asleep when she glanced over to make sure Tara was still alright. Upon seeing her baby girl was still asleep for now, Ashley dragged herself out of bed to the shower.
As she removed her shirt, her eyes caught on the lines littering her stomach, sides, and chest. Each one had a story of their own and each was still clear in mind, but none clearer than the new gash on her thigh. While Ashley removed her shorts, her mind went right back to what happened. It was almost right after Sam left to go back and talk to Dean; her back started to hurt, it was almost right away. The pain was as intense as when she first woke up in the hospital and as quickly as pain could possibly manifest. The quickest way to fix the sudden pain sending her to her knees was to create a new pain. Sam is going to be pissed, I could have easily called out and he would have heard me, but then I would be forced to go back to my exercises which mean I'd be stuck depending on Dean again.
When she finally came back to the realization she was standing naked in the bathroom, Ashley couldn't help but feel ashamed again. She was completely flawed, everything was wrong with her- from head to toe. "I'm me" she sighed as she pulled out the hair dye she put under the sink. "Time to show it."
Sam woke up to find the room completely empty except for him and the shower running. "Ash?" he called out, forcing his vocal cords to also wake up.
"Yeah, everything okay, Sammy?" she called out from the steamed bathroom.
"Yeah, just checking" Sam yawned. "You feeling okay?"
"I'm fine" she answered as she came out in a towel.
Sam couldn't remember the last time he saw the scars all over Ashley's body. He had fixed up most of her injuries with the help of Dean, but even still the marks shocked Sam. "Why'd you do it, Ash?" he sighed as he turned so Ashley could get dressed.
"My back started hurting, still is actually" she admitted sheepishly.
"What, are you okay?" Sam said snapping his head around to look at his sister.
"Do I look okay?" she whimpered as she tried to straighten up again.
"Got a case!" Ben said coming into the room. "Whoa, you okay?" he asked once he saw the tears running down Ashley's face and the look of fear on Sam's.
"Fine, hun" Ashley managed to get out "we'll be out in a bit to look at the file."
Sam glanced over the file Ben put together, while he gave Ashley a cliff notes version of what he dug up in Nevada. It was a clear demon case, but it seemed to be a large scale operation. "So these people are found dead, ripped to shreds?" she clarified while she cooked for Justin and Tara.
"Yeah, 10 years after hitting the happiness lotto" Ben mumbled around his full mouth.
"One guy, complete loser, got head cheerleader. Another went from panhandler to millionaire in two seconds flat-"
"Alright, I get the idea" Ashley snapped as another pain shot up her spine and down her arm. "How many dumbasses total?"
"Around 50" Ben replied curtly as he looked Ashely up and down for a clue to her behavior.
"This is big, we're gonna need help" Sam spoke up from behind Ben. "This has to be more than one demon making deals."
"It's called Sin City for a reason" Ben laughed as he turned to look at his uncle. "So, we in?"
"Yup. I'll call a couple hunters, see who wants to road trip to Vegas" Ashley answered before Sam could say she was staying home on this one.
"Where's Dean?" Sam realized once the room was silent. "He'd be jumping up and down to hear we had a possible job in Vegas."
"He was still asleep when I got up" Ashley shrugged as she sat down to feed Tara her stewed apples and small bites of Ego Waffles.
"He was gone when I got up. Car was here still and Tara was still chilling with Justin in our room."
"Hm" Sam shrugged "couldn't have gone far."
Ben secretly hoped Sam was right. As much as Dean was being a dick right now, he was still his dad. He had spent most of his life hoping for a father, he wasn't ready to just let him walk off again. "Should we go find him?" The question more so was Ben's own sanity then anyone else's. He knew Sam and Ashley wouldn't want anything to do with him right now.
"He'll come back soon, if not we'll find him tomorrow" Sam said getting up from the side table in Ben and Justin's room.
Ashley slowly followed Sam back to their room and lowered herself down on the edge of their bed.
"It's hurting again, Sammy" she whispered as he sat down next to her.
"Go take a bath, and then we'll start working your back. How about a walk instead" Sam smiled.
"Sure" she replied standing up. "Did you even notice?"
"Yup, you went brown this time, my shade" he said closing the door to their room behind him.
AN: Sorry it took so long, I came home for the holiday, which meant I had to actually appear to be part of the family! Here is the next part, tell me what you think, if you liked it, and anything else you want to tell me! ~Ash