'It's not the goodbye that hurts, but the flashbacks that follow.'
- Unknown
"Adam!" Beth called, chasing after her twin.
It was two weeks after they had turned 7 and the two of them were playing tag in the back yard. Beth was the catcher once again, simply because Adam was faster and always caught her quickly, meaning the game ended sooner than they would both like.
"You can't catch me!" Adam yelled back, grinning as he darted around a large oak tree. Beth let out a tired whine as she followed his footsteps, circling the tree with as much speed as she could muster.
"You're not playing fair! You know I can't run as fast as you!"
"That's exactly why you're the catcher; because you can't catch me as easily as I can catch you."
"You suck!" Beth insulted, though she couldn't restrain the smile that spread across her face as he tripped over his shoe lace, and landed heavily on the ground.
She rushed over and pounced, knocking him back to the ground as he attempted to get up. She sat on his back and beamed proudly.
"I win."
"Yeah—this time," Adam snorted and tried to shove her off. "Don't think it'll happen again, loser."
"Hi Sam," Beth greeted quietly, pulled from her flashback as the tall man walked into her room.
"Hey, Beth." Sam took the seat by her bed and handed the jug of pineapple juice to her as she reached for it. "What'd the doctors say?"
"I'm getting released this afternoon. They said I'll have to apply antiseptic ointment to my cuts every morning and night for a couple weeks."
"That's good news," Sam told her with a silly face, attempting to encourage her to smile. He succeed, but only because she thought he was an idiot.
"I don't know what I'm gonna do," she whispered. Her eyes lowering and gazing intently at the fluffy grey blanket Dean had taken from her house at her request. "I can't go back to that house."
"Do you have any other relatives you can stay with?" he asked gently, pity on his face.
"I have some cousins in Montauk," she answered thoughtfully, "but I doubt they'll welcome me there."
"Why'd you say that?" Dean asked from the doorway.
"Mom's brother—my uncle, he… he didn't exactly approve of the fact that mom had me and Adam out of wedlock," she explained. Shivers ran down her spine at the thought of her tough, intimidating uncle who made her freeze whenever he so much as looked at her. "And he made sure we all knew it."
Sam frowned at that, turning his eyes onto Dean, who seemed to see something in his baby brother's eyes that immediately had him shaking his head in disagreement. Sam ignored him, returning to his previous position.
"Beth, we, uh… we have something we need to tell you."
"Sammy, no," Dean warned softly. Beth glanced between them in confusion.
"What is it?"
"We're your brothers," Sam admitted. He paid no attention to Dean as he exhaled harshly and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "John Winchester was our father too."
(15 minutes later)
Beth continued to stare out of the window, her eyes locked on the rain that continued to fall without stopping. Dean and Sam shared an equally concerned look before their gazes were drawn back to Beth as she roughly dragged a hand through her messy hair.
"Why didn't you tell me? Before; when I first woke up—you could've told me." She sent an accusing look at Dean. He simply raised an eyebrow in response, not willing to enter into a fight with her.
"We didn't think you'd believe us," Sam admitted, and he shrugged.
"Y-you didn't think I'd believe you?" she asked incredulously. "I was kidnapped by ghouls and then forced to watch as they tore my family apart. I think I'd believe anything right now."
"Oh really?" Dean said sarcastically. "I doubt it princess. You don't know jack squat about what's really out there and you certainly wouldn't believe us."
Beth stared at him in shock, wondering why he gone from being incredibly kind to her to treating her like she was something disgusting on the bottom of his shoe.
"What the hell is your problem?" she demanded as she pushed herself up against the pillows behind her.
"If you really knew what was out there, you would be hiding under your bed," Dean answered sharply. "There are worse things out there than ghouls. Those three creeps were just the beginning of a long list of monsters."
"Like what?" she challenged, raising her head and sticking her chin out defiantly.
"You really wanna know?" Dean's eyebrow rose in disbelief but he acquiesced without protest. "There are demons, werewolves, vampires, witches, tricksters, angels…"
"Wait, angels?" she barked in amusement. "Why are angels on your list of bad guys?"
"Because they're emotionless dicks who follow orders without question," Dean said dismissively. "Especially the couple we've seen in the last few weeks."
"You've met angels?" She looked to Sam with wide, excited eyes.
"Three of them actually," Sam smiled at her amazement. "Only two of them were decent though."
"What are their names?" She ignored Dean's disgruntled look in favour of shifting closer to Sam.
"Castiel, Uriel and Anna," he replied. "Or as she was once known as; Anael."
"So you've met the angel of Thursday, an archangel and the angel of love?" Beth nodded slowly. "That is so cool."
"You are one weird kid," Dean scoffed and sat back in his chair, not even bothering to tell her that Uriel wasn't actually an archangel, that the books had gotten it wrong.
"Whatever." She stuck her tongue out at him.
"We should go back to the motel," Sam said to Dean as he stood up.
"Good idea. I need to pick up some pie," Dean agreed and headed out the door.
"When will you be back?" Beth asked hesitantly.
"We'll come back this afternoon to pick you up," Sam assured her, squeezing her shoulder gently. Beth set her hand over his, holding it tightly.
"Thanks Sam."
"I'll see you later, princess," he teased, using Dean's nickname for her.
"Get outta here!" she laughed and tossed a pillow at him.
Sam chuckled and set the pillow back on the bed before leaving, waving once as he disappeared out the door. Beth smiled as she leaned back and closed her eyes, feeling rather tired. She was out like a light, breathing softly as she slowly began dreaming about the happy memories she had with her mom and twin.
Beth was jerked awake by a hand shaking her shoulder roughly. She opened her eyes slowly and turned her head to the right, her gaze landing on a reasonably tall woman with deep red hair and wide hazel eyes that were a shade darker than her own.
"Who the hell are you?" Beth demanded, before reaching out for the call button next to her. The stranger grasped her wrist tightly, preventing her from calling for a nurse.
"You won't be needing that—I won't hurt you."
"Look lady, I won't ask again, you better give a name now."
"Anna. My name is Anna," the red head answered with an amused raising of her eyebrows.
"…You're the angel Sam and Dean protected," Beth said in realization. She released her hold on the call button and Anna finally removed her hand from Beth's wrist.
"That I am."
"Why are you in my room?"
"I need you to come with me," Anna explained simply as she headed to the window and peeked out of the closed blinds.
"And why would I do that?"
"Because you're in danger and I can't let them take you."
"I'm in danger?" Beth asked dubiously. "From who?"
"I can't tell you… not right now, anyway." Anna turned back to her, allowing a gentle smile to cross her face. "Will you come with me willingly?"
"I don't have much of a choice, do I?" Beth countered. Anna shook her head.
"You do not. But I would prefer it if you were willing."
"What about Sam and Dean? What will I tell them?"
"It's better if you don't tell them anything, they'll be safer if they have no knowledge of your whereabouts," Anna replied and she watched as Beth jumped as a pile of clothes appeared on her lap.
"I'll just go get dressed." Beth shrugged and removed the wires that attached her to the heart monitor. She shoved her blanket aside and slowly slipped out of the bed, feeling the bandaged gash on her stomach ache at the movement, she held a hand against the wound, using her other hand to cradle the clothes to her chest as she shuffled to the bathroom and closed the door quietly.
Anna waited patiently, sitting in a chair and watching the doorway with intense eyes as doctors and nurses walked by every couple of seconds. Beth reappeared about five minutes later, wearing a deep blue coloured tank top, a loose grey coloured sweater, a pair of boot cut jeans and her doc martens. A dark grey jacket covered the sweater she wore.
"I'm ready," Beth said as she grabbed her locket, clasping it around her neck and taking her fluffy blanket into her arms. "Can we stop past my house first? I need clothes and stuff if I'm to be accompanying you on a road trip."
"Sure," Anna set a hand on Beth's shoulders and led her out of the room, stopping at the reception desk to get the human discharged. As soon as Beth had signed the discharge papers, they left the hospital and Anna guided her to a nearby alleyway before teleporting away from the hospital, leaving the sound of fluttering wings behind.
Sam led the way through the corridors, a cup of pineapple juice in one hand and a bag of Beth's clothes and various belongings in the other. Dean followed after him, winking at a dark haired nurse with stormy grey eyes as he passed her.
"Uh, Dean," Sam said as he reached Beth's hospital room.
"What?" Dean asked.
"Beth—she's not here," Sam answered, eyes flickering around the empty room in surprise.
"What d'you mean she's not here?" Dean demanded, barging past Sam. "Where the hell is she?"
"Maybe a nurse has seen her," Sam suggested and left the room, Dean hot on his heels as he headed for the reception desk. "Excuse me?"
The middle aged receptionist looked up and smiled politely, recognising them from when they would come in to visit one of the patients. "How can I help you, boys?"
"Have you seen Beth Milligan?" Dean questioned, leaning against the desk. "She's not in her room."
"The patient from room 506?" she asked and began searching through a pile of files when they nodded in unison. "…It says she was discharged about an hour ago."
"What—a doctor discharged her?"
"No. She discharged herself," the blonde woman replied. "Her and her friend seemed in a hurry when they left."
"Her friend?" Sam repeated, glancing at Dean. "What friend?"
"Um… I'm not actually sure. I'll get Nurse Stevens; she was the one to discharge her." The woman left quickly, striding down the corridor and disappearing around the corner.
"She left with a friend?" Dean turned to Sam, his expression suspicious. "And never bothered calling to tell us?"
"It does seem odd, she never mentioned that a friend would be coming to get her," Sam frowned. "Especially when she knew we were gonna pick her up."
"Dean," Nurse Stevens—Elena—smiled deeply at the sight of the dark blonde male. "I'm told you need some information. What can I help you with?"
"You discharged Beth, right?" Dean asked immediately.
"Yeah, I did, at about one o'clock," Elena replied, crossing her arms over her chest.
"The receptionist said she was with someone, what did the person look like?" Sam input.
"Well, it was a woman, a couple of years older than Beth, I think," Elena recalled, guiding them towards the chairs lined up against the wall so they weren't in the way. "She had deep red hair and hazel eyes."
"What was she wearing?"
"Uh… a white blouse and a pair of boot cut jeans and a green jacket." Elena looked between the two males with narrowed eyes. "Why are you asking?"
"…Beth failed to mention that a friend would be picking her up," Sam explained.
"You think she was being forced to leave?" Elena asked. "Because the red head looked strong, but not that strong. Even against an injured Beth."
"We don't know what to think," Dean admitted with a shrug. "We just wanna find Beth."
"If it helps, I did hear Beth tell the other woman that she wanted to go back to her house—to get clothes and such," Elena offered as she stood up. "I think I heard her mention something about a road trip."
"Thanks for your time," Sam said genuinely before she walked off.
"Looks like we're going back to the house," Dean decided. He stormed off towards the door and Sam was quick to follow.
"This is a nice place," Anna admitted, walking back into Beth's room.
"Thank you," Beth replied quietly. She sent one glance at Anna before going back to packing.
"I, uh, I heard what happened to your mom and brother—I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing? It's not your fault."
"If I could bring them back, I would," Anna said honestly.
"I don't want you to," Beth answered immediately.
"Why not?" Anna frowned, folding another shirt and placing it in the duffel bag.
"Because as much as I want them back, I know they're in heaven," Beth exhaled deeply. "Why would I want to bring them back? Why would I allow my selfish need to be around them again control me? I know that where they are now, it's… it's a better place than earth. I know they're happy up there and I would only cause pain on them—and myself—if I were to destroy that happiness."
Anna was silent, taking in her words with surprised eyes. "You… are a very selfless person," she said finally. "Most people would want a loved one back, no matter what."
"I'm not selfless," Beth scoffed, zipping up the bag. "I just lay there, sobbing while my family were torn apart—I did nothing to save them. So don't call me selfless."
"It wasn't your fault," Anna told her gently, resting her hand on the brunette's shoulder.
Beth's lips twitched into a sad, half smile at the angel's words and she shook her head, picking the bag up with one hand and reaching out for her photo album of her, Adam, her mom and her dad and cradling it to her chest.
"Let's go."
Anna pursed her lips but nodded, taking a hold of her shoulder and teleporting them from the house just as Sam and Dean picked the lock on the front door and hurried inside, closing it behind them.
The two of them were unaware that they were already too late and Beth was gone.