Into an Alley the Hidden Valley:
"Hey this is Sam, leave a message."
Toni slowly reattached her phone with the cord connected to an outlet in the kitchen without leaving a message and gently placed it onto the counter. Her dad watched her with a concerned eye and almost didn't comment, but he couldn't help himself when he saw the sad look on her face. "He still not answering your calls Toni?"
She just sat down at the table shaking her head dejectedly as her response. The Colonel reached across the table and squeezed her hand offering a kind and remorseful, "I'm so sorry Angel."
"It's alright Dad," she replied holding his gaze with a small smile on her face. "I didn't really expect him to be able to answer. I mean the three of them are dealing with some pretty unbelievably crazy sh- Stuff… So I'm guessing that he can't answer his phone whenever he wants… And to be honest, I think it's actually more that he can't answer my calls as opposed to him not wanting to answer, so I'm sure that it's nothing to be overly worried about."
"That does sound like a reasonable explanation," her father conceded distrustfully. "But a good boyfriend at least calls his girlfriend back when he's afforded a free moment… Remind me that I need to have a little chat with that boy about how he should properly treat a lady if he wants to keep her in his life the next time that I get a hold of him."
Toni laughed softly then walked over and kissed her Dad's head then gave him a tight squeeze. "I'll be sure to warn him that you're about ready to put his face up on the dartboard… I'm going to go hide in my room for a bit to do some more research… Umm… If any of them call…? Could…? Would you come up and let me know?"
Her Dad held one of her hands with a very melancholic look clouding the expression on his face, but he just simply replied in a loving tone, "Of course I will Angel."
"Dad…" Toni squeezed his hand with an easier smile on her face. "If anything really bad happened to him, Bobby or Dean would have called by now… I'm more than certain of that. You shouldn't worry so much."
As she left the room, he chuckled sadly then quietly said to himself, "I should be the one telling you that Antonia."
Even though Toni had put on a brave face for her Dad, she was absolutely terrified that something truly horrible had actually transpired during her time away from Sam and that that was the real reason behind his lack of communication with her. That feeling coupled with the fact that Bobby and Dean had been missing in action as well made her start to regret her decision to return home to spend some quality time with her Dad. She knew that things were getting more than serious and uncomfortable than she had ever encountered in both her romantic and hunting life, so she had felt that she needed to regroup by spending time with her father away from the chaos. He had been extremely excited to see her on his doorstep, but he too questioned the soundness of her timing. However, he never expressed that sentiment out loud.
This past year had been one full of new beginnings and transformations for the Colonel as well and he was more than determined not to allow either of them to fall back into any of their old habits and destructive coping mechanisms. Toni had explained her reasons for not only wanting, but needing to spend time with him right now, although he couldn't help but wonder if she was just making excuses for running away from any unfamiliar situations with Sam due to the new direction that their relationship had recently taken. He absolutely hated that he felt any amount of doubts about his daughter's truthfulness, but he was a realist and didn't put it past her to keep some things to herself. He was her father after all and he knew that that meant that there were some topics of discussion that any daughter would keep from talking about with their father no matter how close they were. His only hope was that she would find someone else that she could confide in and he very nearly called Vanessa to try to recruit her to help him by playing that role.
"Oh my God! Shut up Vanessa!" The Colonel overheard as he passed Toni's room one day.
"What? I'm just saying that something pretty major must have happened after you two left here," Vanessa replied with an exaggerated innocence in her tease. "I mean he's now your… I'm sorry, what was it that you called him…?"
Toni groaned then interrupted with a slight whine, "'Boyfriend'… I called Sam my boyfriend… Happy? Here I'll say it again… Sam Winchester is my BOYFRIEND, so can we move on from that? Seriously can't we have an adult conversation about this since we're both fully grown women now?"
"That we are good friend. I'm just glad that you finally caught up with the rest of us," Vanessa answered as one final tease. "But in all seriousness… You were saying that he hasn't been answering his phone? Are you sure that you left things off on good terms with him before heading home?"
"Yeah… Everything seemed fine… I mean, I fucked his brains out before saying our goodbyes just like we both always have," Toni replied with easy nonchalance. "Plus you know how our jobs are… It's not like he can just drop everything if he's in the middle of saving someone's life to pick up a call on his cell phone… That is if he's even in cell range. I'm sure he'll call once he gets a chance."
Vanessa listened in a stunned silence and couldn't respond right away. Toni then heard her friend close a door before Vanessa scolded her in a hushed, motherly tone, "Toni! You do not say that you 'fucked' your boyfriend! You say something like 'made love' or… I don't know just not… No that word." She paused and took a breath before more pleasantly adding, "But you might just have a point about the whole saving lives deal. Do you know where this last job was taking him?"
"No… Uhh… He was working on all of the travel arrangements when we last talked, but he really didn't know anything concrete… It's sort of the nature of the biz and all," Toni replied sound slightly shy. "Uhh… Vee…? Err Vanessa? Are…? Did I…? Umm… Look I'm really sorry if I offended you."
"Oh... Darn… No... No, it's fine Toni. I guess that's just the 'Mom' in me coming out a little heavy handed. I really didn't mean to lecture you… Sorry… Okay, well… Now that I've made both of us completely uncomfortable how…?"
"Don't worry about it Vanessa," Toni interrupted remorsefully. "I forget that I'm not a teenager anymore sometimes. And of course I love you all the more for reminding me of that and setting me straight. You shouldn't be apologizing when I should be thanking you for listening to me bitch and moan about my stupid boy troubles."
Vanessa issued a relieved sigh then replied, "You know you can call on me anytime Sweets. Make sure you pass on any updates to me soon, okay?"
"Of course," Toni concluded with an undeniable smile in her voice.
After she hung up the phone, Toni stared at it feeling oddly unfamiliar with her emotions. She couldn't help but question when she had become 'that' girl? She had always scoffed and rolled her eyes at girls who wanted to do nothing but to talk to their girlfriends about their frivolous problems with their boyfriends. And yet now she had just spent the last hour and a half doing just that with Vanessa. Toni had called her with the unconscious hope that Vanessa would ease her mind about the 'Sam situation', but instead her best friend had left Toni asking even more questions. Had she misread the current state of her relationship with Sam? Had she reverted back to old destructive habits when she should have been embracing new ones with him? Did he think that she had abandoned him when she really just wanted to spend a brief amount of time with her Dad so that she could rest and be at the top of her game for when things got even worse on the job?
The Colonel had heard Toni talking on the phone, so he had intended to carry on down the hall or back downstairs and let Toni talk with Vanessa in private, but his feet completely refused to move from this spot on the floor. He justified standing in the hallway, eavesdropping, to himself because Toni had left her bedroom door wide open. He reasoned that his daughter would have no expectations for absolute privacy by doing so and couldn't get overly upset with him if she did catch him. Although, if he was being completely honest with himself, Tom would have admitted that he would have been standing behind her closed door as well so that he would have been able to hear the information that she was confessing to Vanessa.
He partially caught her eye during her staring contest with her phone and thought that she looked like she might start to cry at any minute so he held back his more probing questions to ask as light-heartedly as he possibly could, "Toni? Are you ready for a meal break Sweetheart?"
Toni continued staring at the cell phone until she felt her Dad place a soft hand on her shoulder. As she slowly turned to face him, she shook her head slowly. The Colonel squeezed her shoulder then quietly and somewhat hoarsely joked, "You're wasting away on me Angel."
"Actually…" She started slowly with a heartbreakingly sad frown on her face. "I'm feeling kind of wiped out, so I think I'm just going to head to bed."
Her Dad held her face, searching her eyes for the truth even though deep down he already knew it. "I still think that you should eat some dinner first, but I won't force you." He kissed her forehead slowly then added, "Sweet dreams Angel. I'll have breakfast ready for you in the morning."
Toni quickly fell asleep sobbing silently into her pillow while still dressed in the clothes she had worn that day because she was feeling too weak to move, let alone get off the bed and change.
Two arms wrapping themselves over her back woke Toni from her brief slumber. She rubbed her cheek on Sam's chest then raised her head slightly to look up at his face, even if it was at a completely uncomfortable angle.
Sam smoothed down her hair on the back of her head sleepily saying, "I almost thought that I was still dreaming for a minute there."
Toni tried to push herself off Sam's chest as she answered, "No, I'm really here. But… I'm probably crushing your chest… Sorry."
"Nope, not crushing me at all," Sam said somewhat dazedly as he tightened his grip around her torso to pull her back down to his body.
"Sam… Sam…" Toni protested vigorously. "You're hurt… I shouldn't be laying on top of you like this."
She somehow managed to maneuver her body so that she was tucked in against his right side without falling off the mattress. Sam just watched in silence as she gingerly picked up his left hand and kissed his bandaged palm a couple times.
"It's no big deal," he commented with a forced calmness. The truth of the matter was that he didn't immediately remember how he had manage to injure his hand, so he had no idea how bad the cut was that was now under the off-white colored bandage.
Toni carefully placed his hand on his stomach then stroked the back of it with two fingers sorrowfully saying, "Dean told me that he had to stitch up your hand… That doesn't sound like nothing to me."
Sam raised his left hand to her head then turned his entire body so that he could give her a strong, reassuring kiss. "You're right, it might be something… But it isn't life threatening."
"Alright, I'll give you that much," she conceded with a mildly relieved sigh.
They both remained quiet just holding each other somewhat awkwardly until Sam inhaled deeply and exhaled slowly. Toni felt her stomach do a somersault in nervous anticipation of Sam's impending question because all of his muscles had tensed under her embrace which had never been the prelude to anything pleasant in the past.
"So…? You're here… Uhh… Last I heard you and Dean weren't… Umm… Too happy with each other."
Toni rolled over onto his chest once again so that she could properly look down at him and then she kissed him until they both were completely breathless. When she backed off to smile at him she was met with a hard scowl, so she pursed her lips then answered, "Yeah… I kind of snapped at him and put up a wall, but we're okay now."
Sam looked up at her somewhat skeptically causing her to kiss him again before tucking her head under his chin repeating, "We're okay Sam…Honestly it's all good."
He ran his hands up and down her arms and back then more playfully questioned, "Oh yeah? So how did he manage to get back into your good books Girlfriend?"
****************
Flashback
****************
Toni had resolved not to call Sam again and to just be patient and wait for him to get back to her, but for some unknown reason she couldn't resist making one last attempt to get a hold of him before she gave into her desire to panic.
"Toni?"
She stopped pacing the length of her bedroom floor and stood completely frozen. She heard him repeat her name a few times before answering, "Oh… Hey Bobby… I… Uhh… I meant to call Sam… Sorry for…"
"This is Sam's phone Toni," Bobby interrupted with gentle firmness. "I take from your reaction that it means that Dean never got a hold of you…" Bobby cursed under his breath, but Toni couldn't hear any of it over the thoughts that started running through her mind.
"Oh God… Oh God… OH…" Toni mumbled almost frantically. "He…? He isn't…?"
"No Toni, it isn't like that. He just got hurt and has been out of commission for a while," Bobby cut in tersely because he was still so annoyed with Dean's behavior.
"Oh? How…? How bad is it? What happened to him?" She questioned in a calmer voice.
Bobby took a deep breath in an attempt to focus on Toni and getting all of the pertinent information to her. "We have no idea how severe it is… Toni? How much did Sam tell you about what happened to him over this past year?"
Toni swallowed hard while sitting down on her bed, but she did find some measure of comfort in Bobby's straight forward manner of speaking so she was able to reply evenly, "He… He told me everything… I think. After Castiel spilled the beans about him being the one that pulled Sam out of Hell, Sam filled in some of the blanks that he had left out before that… Basically that when we met up in Mississippi he had no soul, Dean made some kind of a deal with… Uhh… Death and… Umm… Death… Uhh… Did something to… Uhh… Block Sam's memories because of what had happened to his soul while he was here on Earth. He didn't really get into the gory details of what could happen if he did have those memories back, but I'm guessing that it would be pretty bad."
"Wow, I didn't know that he had told you all of that… But I'm glad that you've pretty much been brought up to speed," Bobby commented with genuine relief. "And well… You're right… It is pretty not good."
"What happened Bobby? Sam promised me that he wouldn't push too much… He promised that he'd just look to the future and let the past be… What…? What changed that?"
"Castiel happened. He broke the wall in Sam's brain to incapacitate him to try to get Dean to back down. Then he popped Purgatory and after the three of us put up at pretty good fight to stop him, Sam finally succumbed to his… Again… He's been in a coma for over a week this time."
"This time? He… He was in a coma before this?" She was just barely able to ask around the tearful lump forming in her throat.
"He didn't…? Damn it!" Bobby nearly shouted as his anger towards Dean resurfaced.
"Bobby? Please don't be upset with Dean. I uhh… I kind of told him off… You know kind of forcefully before I left your place, so he… Umm… He probably thought it would turn out badly for him if he did call me," Toni reasoned with absolute, albeit timid, honesty.
"Toni… Sweetheart, that don't change the fact that he could have asked me to call you to let you know," Bobby countered still sounding quite incensed.
Toni was desperate to get both of them back on track, so she made sure that she lost practically all emotion form her voice before continuing her reasoning. "That may be so Bobby, but we can't change the past. Now… Obviously I've missed a whole hell of a lot, so would you rather fill me in about all of it now or would you be more comfortable waiting until I get there so you can tell me in person?"
"Oh… Uhh… I guess… I could give you a quick rundown now and then I could give you the full details in person… Sound good?" He asked almost as if he needed her permission before he proceeded.
Toni had already started packing, so getting a quick synopsis of the situation sounded more than alright to her so she happily replied, "Perfect Bobby… That would be perfect. Thanks."
"Okay… So… The long and the short of it…? Castiel popped the cap off Purgatory, sucked down all of the souls and now he thinks he's God…"
Toni stopped all movement then thoughtfully inquired, "The creepy priests and… The not so holy ministers that have mysteriously died…? That…? That was the Angel? Uhh… Castiel?"
"Yeah…" Bobby couldn't help but laugh nervously because Toni's brain fascinated him so much. "Yeah that would be him. Of course, before he went on the war path, Sam tried to kill him with this nifty little angel killing sword that we know about, but it didn't work… Then surprise, surprise… Cas refused to fix Sam's noggin', so Sam crumbled under his memories. Dean and I got him back to my place and made him as comfortable as we could, but we don't really know how long it could last or if we've really been able to ward off Castiel from coming into this house or not so he can finish the job and what not… But we've done our best…"
Again Toni started to feel somewhat overwhelmed, but she was pacified by Bobby's bluntness. "Okay, so that means that running into Castiel is not an ideal prospect. I'll inform the Colonel about that Intel… Now… Bobby, I need to request your assistance with a very important matter…"
"Ten-four… I copy… Go ahead," Bobby replied curiously perplexed by Toni's overly formal manner and the shift of choice of her words and diction.
She couldn't help but laugh softly at Bobby's reply because she hadn't realized that she had reverted to using her Father's stand-offish manner of speech that he had used to order his children to do their chores and such during Toni's youth. "Shit… Sorry Bobby… I didn't mean… Anyway… To put it bluntly, I fucked up with Dean. He was upset about that situation with his son and… Umm… Addy… So when he was sort of rude to me, I kind of pounced on him… And tore him a new one… So, I'm guessing… Okay… Shit… If the books have taught me anything it's that Dean can hold a grudge and since I'm all about personal growth right now… Fuck… I can't… Bobby, I need an olive branch. Could you maybe help me out with something that I can do to get him to forgive me? Or at least talk to me again?"
Bobby had started laughing too hard to reply, so Toni somewhat childishly whined, "Oh come on Bobby… I could really use your help… Please? It's not like I can ask Sam…"
He laughed a little while longer while Toni chewed her bottom lip raw, desperately trying not to react to his laughter this time. Once he had sobered up, the veteran hunter finally replied (albeit through a soft tumble of laughter), "Oh Toni, where have you been all of this time darling? You're right… That kid sure did inherit the Winchester stubbornness from his Daddy… Okay… But are you sure that you want to be the one to break first?"
"Yes Bobby… I… I need to be there for Sam," she answered with a serene tone that would be unnerving to anyone that didn't know her. "And I can't do that if Dean and I are at odds with each other. When Sam does finally wake up, I NEED Dean and I to be at least on speaking terms or I can completely forget about any kind of relationship with Sam. We both know that they realized a long time ago that the only constant in their life would be each other and have depended on that since… Well… Forever, so I know that I have to be the one to fix this. Dean will always be Sam's first choice, I… I have to take that choice off the table before it has a chance to bite me in the ass."
Bobby laughed despite himself commenting, "Damn, you are just too smart for…"
Before he could continue to distract them from the way Toni wanted this conversation to go, she quickly added, "I would be the exact same way if my brothers were still alive… Way back when… If Alex or Will didn't like a guy, that guy really had no chance with me."
Toni's subdued tone sobered Bobby up quickly and he seriously asked, "Alright, so how much do you know about cars…? And by that I mean rebuilding one basically from scratch?"
"Me? Nothing… I can fill a gas tank or change…"
"How 'bout cooking?" Bobby offered before she could completely finish her thought. "How are you at baking a pie?"
"About as good as I am at building a car from scratch… What the hell…?" Toni started before she cut herself off in realization of Bobby's train of thought. "Fuck… FUCK! Those are… Damn…"
"Yeah…" Bobby agreed unhelpfully.
Toni had pretty much packed everything that she needed at this point, so she once again sat on her bed then said, "Alright, I totally get where you're coming from now. Well… I don't know all that much about fixing cars, but Alex did force me to help he when he was working on his truck so I kinda of know at least the parts of a car, but more importantly I inherited a tool box full of tools that are in more than perfect condition for working on any vehicles that Chevy has rolled off the line… Do you think that could be helpful in anyway?"
Bobby tried not to chuckle this time as he replied, "Well, to be honest Toni, it couldn't hurt you in any way."
"Okay, good… I know that it isn't ideal…"She commented dejectedly.
"But it's a start," Bobby cut in encouragingly. "Make sure that you drive safe and we'll see you when you get here."
Toni had worried about the awkwardness that she thought would exist between her and Dean during her drive to South Dakota, but he spent the majority of the first day out in the garage, so she was able to completely avoid the confrontation, even if it was just for a short while. When she first arrived at Bobby's, the older hunter gave Toni a few more details about the "Castiel situation" and then she spent a couple of hours sitting with Sam in the hopes that he might awake. On her drive in, she had stopped to buy groceries and sincerely hoped that her making a delicious dinner would help to mask her complete inability to bake a pie from scratch. (Although Toni did have the foresight to buy a pie that she could reheat for dessert after dinner.)
Dean still hadn't come back into the house by the time that Toni and Bobby had finished eating their meals, so Toni put a plate together for him and took it out to the garage. She found him under the Impala, grunting in frustration which impeded his ability to hear her entering the makeshift building. Toni soundlessly placed the dish she was carrying onto a counter then plucked a wrench out of Alex's toolbox.
"I think that you need a 3/16ths for that," she offered politely.
"No shit Sherlock," Dean retorted sounding more frustrated at his situation than angry at Toni's inference of his ineptness. "And if I had one I'd be using it and not be making my life that much harder right now."
She knelt down and snaked the wrench in towards Dean's hand and face replying, "Or you could just use this one."
Dean rolled out from under the car with a wrench in each hand and stared at Toni with a perplexed scowl. She took the tool that was the inappropriate size for the job explaining, "My brother didn't trust anyone with to work on his bah—His truck… And then Bobby mentioned that you were having to do a complete overhaul on your… On the Impala, so…" She nodded towards the large blue toolbox adding, "I figured that you could probably put his tools to better use than I could ever try to… And you know they should be used." Dean's eyes followed her gaze to the over-sized metal box and then landed on the food that she had piled up on a plate causing Toni to laugh softly and say, "And I also figured that you'd probably be hungry since you've been working such long hours… There's uhh… The pie's still warming in the oven right now."
"I can't say that I wasn't starting to feel a few hunger pangs," Dean admitted with a soft smile on his face.
While Dean ate in the garage, he and Toni shared a brief amount of small talk. She asked Dean about the repairs he was having to do on the Impala and was able to sound like she knew what she walk talking about when discussing the different parts of the car. Since Toni seemed to be trying to make some sort of amends, Dean courteously asked her about her Dad and Wisconsin. When he had finished eating Toni took his plate from his hands with the promise of bringing him out some warm pie.
Before she exited the garage, Toni silently scolded herself then turned back to shyly call out, "Hey Dean? Look about what umm… I'm… You know…?"
Dean smiled warmly then jumped in over her stumble of words saying, "Forget about it." She tried to mirror his easy smile then turned to leave again but stopped when she heard, "Hey Toni…? I'm…" Dean hesitated slightly then finished his thought saying, "I think that I'm ready to call it a night, so I'll just have my pie inside."
Toni smiled then nodded and continued into Bobby's house without another word. She sighed loudly as she crossed the junk yard because she had some confirmation that things between her and Dean were actually okay. He didn't need to have a long drawn out conversation about the heated words they had said to each other and then get into how their curt words had made each other 'feel', much to Toni's relief because that was always her way of thinking. He just needed to know that she was willing to leave what had happened between them in the past and that she too was willing to move on without over thinking it. That had always been Toni's preferred method of conflict resolution, but it was a rarity to find a like-minded individual who wasn't offended by her preference not to have to go through a heart to heart to get past everything. The first time that Sam had noticed this trait in her back at Stanford he had teased her that he thought that he had felt so comfortable with her because she reminded him of his brother. When Toni seemed to be unnerved by the comparison, Sam was quick to add that she really didn't share all that many traits with his brother, but that he knew not to push her if she didn't want to talk out any of their issues. Toni in turn tried to open up to Sam to prove to him that she actually didn't mind compromising once in a while, especially with a fine specimen like himself. She later learned on her own that she was more like Dean than she had thought was possible, but didn't hold it against Sam for finding comfort in that when he was first away from his family.
**********************
End Flashback
**********************
"So… How are you feeling?" Toni asked without moving a muscle for fear that me might hurt Sam inadvertently.
Sam wrapped his arms tightly around her body then replied, "I'm okay…"
Toni placed her palms on the bed's mattress to push herself up to look down at him with a disapproving frown on her face causing Sam to quickly add, "Okay… I AM a little hungry."
She leaned down, pecked his lips and then got up off the bed. "Well we can't have a hungry Winchester on our hands, now can we? I'll go up and fix you something to eat… But take your time coming upstairs, okay? I really don't want you to pull a muscle or anything."
Sam was now sitting upright on the bed and he pulled Toni closer by a finger wrapped around one of the belt loops on her jeans. She didn't even pretend to want to hesitate as she moved between his legs to kiss him softly once again. Toni then brushed Sam's hair off of his face and just stared at him with a strange faraway look in her eyes that he had never encountered before. Sam kept his hands on her hips and let her run her fingers through his hair affectionately while completely lost in her own thoughts.
What would I do if I lost you again? She questioned in her head, but simply said aloud, "There's a change of clothes for you over on the desk… When you're ready to come up that is."
"Thanks," Sam replied gratefully. He could tell that she had something else on her mind, but he kept his commentary to himself… At least for now.
The backdoor opened and closed loudly, but Toni remained totally focused on the task at hand until she heard the soft thump of boots approaching her spot in the kitchen. As she finished she spared a quick sideways glance to see who was joining her just before she added her last loving touches to the meal.
Dean remained concentrated only on wiping the grease off of his hands and didn't seem to notice Toni until she asked, "The beer's definitely cold… Did you want a little something to eat to go with it?"
"No, but thanks anyway… This is just a short… Uhh… Beverage break," Dean replied as he pulled open the refrigerator door.
Toni was just about to offer Dean some advice that she knew he wouldn't want or like when they both heard a couple of footsteps approaching them. Dean quickly turned around and couldn't mask his surprise if had tried at seeing Sam in the doorway to Bobby's study. Toni had somewhat taken for granted that she had been with Sam when he had awoken from his slumber and immediately felt guilty that she hadn't made that the primary topic of conversation when Dean had joined her in the kitchen.
"Hey Dean," Sam greeted his brother with a casual familiarity in his tone that an outsider would have never imagined that he had been laid up in a coma due to anything supernatural.
The elder Winchester flashed his brother a warm smile then smirked in Toni's direction as he replied, "Ah… You're walking and talking."
"Yeah," Sam answered with an uneasy chuckle. "I… Uhh… Put on my own socks… The whole nine…"
Sam sat perched himself on the edge of the kitchen table as Toni smiled uneasily apologizing, "Sorry Dean, I know… I should have given you the heads up." She left the plate on the counter to step up beside Sam so that she could place a comforting kiss on his cheek before quietly telling him, "I'm going to grab a quick shower while you two catch up. Do NOT forget to eat, okay?"
Dean's face didn't change much from when he last looked at Toni, but his smirk did seem to be a lot less smug as he nodded towards Ton's path saying, "Well that's uh…" He paused and seemed to change his train of thought mid-sentence to continue just as assuredly, "I mean you… Uhh… You sure you're okay?"
When she first returned to Bobby's house, Toni was given a brief tour of the house and description of the grounds with the explicate instructions to make herself at home here. Bobby had explained to her that if they were out in the open, no books or rooms were off limits… Although he had also reminded her to be careful when she read any books with an incantation aloud and that any boxes she found with a heavy lock on them because some things shouldn't be 'played with', no matter anyone's experience according to the veteran hunter.
"If it ain't accessible, it's for your safety Toni." Bobby had cautioned her with a stern tone of voice while also throwing her a playful wink. Toni completely understood that that was Bobby's subtle way of reminding her that she was (relatively) new to the job and that he was more than willing to teach her, but only if she was willing to listen to his words of wisdom and advice.
Toni had been somewhat hesitant about 'snooping' around Bobby's house, but soon enough her boredom fell victim to her curiosity. After that point in time, she divided her time between helping Dean with the Impala and picking Bobby's brain about his latest theory about Castiel and the former Angel's plan. She even tried her hand at manning Bobby's wall of phones when he had been tied up helping Dean find some spare car parts out in the yard with some measure of success. By this point she had made herself more than comfortable and was able to ease her own irregular routing with Bobby and Dean that she hope would continue once Sam was working with them again.
After showering, Toni lingered in the bedroom and wondered if she was going to be 'forced' to share this room with Sam once again. Not that she truly found that prospect to be all that distasteful because she had tried to move or unpack some of Sam's things in this space so that he would know that she wanted to be here with him. So now she found herself cleaning and organizing the room in order to make sure that Sam would feel at ease with her here.
The four of them kept their eyes and ears open for any other strange happenings throughout the world in an effort to try to track any of Castiel's movements within their country. Bobby was convinced that they would be safe and completely in the clear if Castiel kept his attention on destroying religious leaders one by one. Dean seemed to be completely disinterested and frustrated by any talk of their former friend, but the three others knew better than to believe what he was telling them. They knew that Dean was throwing himself into rebuilding the Impala simply because he could. When his world was crumbling around him, Dean survived by finding a project that he could complete to make his world feel right. Once the Impala was restored, Sam worried where his brother's head would be if they hadn't already been able to find a way to stop Castiel.
Although Toni tried to follow everyone's lead, she couldn't help but fall back into some of her routines which were actually her healthier coping mechanisms. As she prepared for her daily run one morning just at the bottom of Bobby's front steps Sam silently started stretching with her. He effortlessly fell into stride with Toni out on the road, but she still remained stubbornly convinced that he wasn't completely serious about this becoming a part of his everyday routine because he had teased her once or twice about it in the past. But no matter how earnest she thought Sam was or wasn't, Toni was determined to have some fun testing him and pushing him to his limits while he ran with her.
As they neared the end of their route, Toni started to vigorously pick up her pace until she was easily sprinting at top speed. Sam pumped his limbs faster and faster to keep up with the pace that she had set and somehow managed to stay by her side all of the way down Bobby's driveway. Toni only stopped once she reached the side of Bobby's car with a bright smile on her face as she watched Sam double over while breathing so hard that she knew it had to hurt him.
Toni patted Sam a couple of times on the back with an open palm, but wasn't able to issue her teasing commentary before they heard, "When you two are done trying to kill each other…"
"Exercising Bobby… I'm pretty sure that kids these days call that 'exercising'… Even though it probably should be classified as torture in my books," Dean cut in playfully. He looked over at Toni and winked in her direction while continuing his banter with Bobby. "Now come on Old Man, we've got some errands to run while they youngins recover."
Bobby glared at Dean then turned to Sam and Toni saying, "After you both get cleaned up I could really use your help Sam… I left out a few things that I'd like you to take a look at for you… You know fresh eyes and all?"
Sam nodded because he still hadn't caught his breath enough in order to reply verbally. Bobby then refocused on Toni and suddenly sounded somewhat repentant as he added, "We're heading into town to get a few supplies that Dean needs to finish the… Impala… Would…? Did you need us to pick up anything uhh…? Personal for you?"
Sam shook his head not noticing the question wasn't directed at him, but Toni immediately perked up answering, "Actually… Could you pick up some Coke and…? Uhh…? Limes? Oh… And… Umm… Rum?"
The three men chuckled at her trepidation, and then Bobby replied, "Of course we can Toni. We'll be back with it all soon."
Toni and Sam stood and watched as Bobby's car moved down the driveway while Sam wrapped his arms tighter and tighter around Toni's waist so that he could stoop to put his chin on her shoulder. Before he could speak, Toni made sure the car had faded from view and stepped out of his embrace before turning to face him and announce, "Sorry but I'm feeling all gross and sweaty… And you… You kind of smell."
Sam smirked then took one of her hands to lead her up the stairs playfully replying, "I guess we should go and get changed then… Did you want to take the first shower?"
Toni scurried up a couple of stairs ahead of him so that she was closer to Sam's height and then lunged forward to kiss him on the lips. "Why choose? We'd save a lot of water if we just took a shower together."
He stood in his place, temporarily frozen until Toni quirked an eyebrow to challenge him and took a step away as if she was going to run away from him. Before she could take a step away from Sam, he grabbed her arm then scooped her up into his arms so that he could easily carry her into the house while she giggled playfully all the while.
The three men came into the kitchen still chatting about the 'current events' while Toni watched the TV looking absolutely shelled shocked. Sam gently grasped her shoulder which finally caused Toni to turn and face all of them, even if she only fixated on Sam's face. After she quickly brushed a lone tear away, Toni commented just over a whisper, "They're up to sixty bodies and they expect to find even more bodies once they put all the fires out at the publishing house. Sam… All those people… They were just… They were working and Castiel…"
"Maybe we should turn this off now," Sam proposed as he reached around Toni's body so that he could reach and turn off the TV.
Toni nodded and after her eyes landed on Dean and Bobby, she quickly wiped her dry cheeks while mumbling an apology. Both of them wanted to make her feel any more uncomfortable than they all did already, so they tried their best to just ignore what they had witnessed and move on. Dean retrieved a beer for each of them while Bobby swiftly moved into his study and then started opening drawers so that he could start to gather some of the supplies that they would need.
"Dean made a suggestion that Bobby and I think could work pretty well," Sam explained as the three of them joined Bobby in the study while drinking nervously out of their bottles.
Still feeling quite overwhelmed, Toni just nodded and listened while the men continued talking to finalize their plans. They continued with everything that they were doing and soon enough the four of them found themselves huddled into a hallway in Bobby's basement. Bobby took over while the three other hunters watched in a stunned and amazed silence. Toni found herself peeking over Sam's shoulder as she tried to figure out what Bobby was doing and very nearly asked Sam to explain when none of what Bobby was doing made any immediate sense to her.
After he seemed to be satisfied with his handiwork, Bobby tossed a lit match into a bowl in front of him Toni somehow managed not to flinch when the powder burst into a huge flame in front of Bobby's face, but she did press her body closer to Sam's back. Sam reached back and squeezed her thigh to reassure her but didn't offer any words of comfort because their 'guest' had already arrived.
"No… No! No! Come on!" Crowley shouted once he had turned around to look at all of them watching him in the basement hallway.
Bobby crossed his arms over his chest and everyone in the room could practically hear him rolling his eyes as he replied, "Don't act so surprised."
"My new boss is going to kill me for even talking to you lads," Crowley snapped in Bobby's direction. He slightly craned his neck then courteously bowed his head at the neck and more politely added, "Please do excuse my rudeness… You lads and LADY… Hello Antonia."
Toni gasped softly then tried to hide herself behind Sam's bulky frame as he tightened his awkward but protective hold around her waist. Realizing that she was letting this stranger get the best of her, Toni quickly whispered to Sam that she was fine and side stepped away from his protective grasp to prove her strength to the men in the room as well as herself.
Dean's jaw was clenched so tightly that Toni could barely hear him threaten to the demon in a low voice, "Well you're lucky we're not stabbing you in your scuzzy face, you little piece…"
"Whoa! Wait! What new boss?" Sam interrupted with overwhelming curiosity.
Crowley looked towards Sam disdainfully as he replied, "Castiel, you giraffe."
Toni felt her nails dig into the palms of her hands as she clenched her fists angrily. She had to work really hard at keeping herself calm, but she found that the more that the unknown Scotsman in front of her spoke, the more that she wanted to acquaint her fists with his face. But she knew that that wouldn't be her smartest move. They had summoned him to Bobby's house, so she knew that that meant that he was far from being human, so any fight between them would most definitely end in his favor, which meant that her steely had to suffice for now.
Then the demon made another snide remark to a Winchester and all that she could think was, What I wouldn't give to have a filled flask of Holy Water right now.
"That's Lucifer," Crowley replied condescendingly.
When she hear the name of the fallen Arc Angel, Toni's knees almost completely gave out on her, but Sam was quick to retort, "A spell's a spell" which helped her to keep from completely succumbing to her fears.
"You really think you can handle that kind of horsepower?" Crowley questioned heatedly. "You're delusional."
Dean hadn't move at all from his place and Toni marveled at his seemingly calm demeanor. It was one thing to read about him having a verbal showdown with a foe, but it was something completely different to witness this back and forth in person.
"Death is the only player on the board left that has the kind of juice to take Cas," Dean explained in the same incensed tone he had already used with the demon.
"They'll both mash us like peas," Crowley replied looking like he was having to explain an obviously dangerous situation to children. "Why should I help with a suicide mission?"
Bobby took a step forward while trying to maintain some sense of composure within himself as he shot back, "Look! Do you really want Cas running the universe?"
Crowley gave Bobby's question a moment of thought then poured himself a drink and slowly sipped it. "There are worse prospects still out there."
Dean pushed his weight off of the stair rail that he had been leaning on to take a step forward, but Sam grabbed his right arm before Dean could raise a fist to the demon as the elder brother yelled, "Quit dicking us around! Will you help us or not?"
"I'll have to give it some thought," the demon replied nonchalantly before sipping from his glass again.
Dean shrugged out of Sam's holed and punched the wood he had been leaning on shouting a loud and frustrated, "FUCK!"
Everyone stood in their place watching Dean in a stunned silence as he snatched the whiskey bottle out of Crowley's hand before stomping up the stairs drinking its contents down. Sam stole a quick glance at Toni and nearly moved towards her but Bobby gave him a reassuring nod so he instead followed his brother up the stairs to check on him. Toni remained cemented to her spot still trying to process everything while Bobby searched for something on the bench that he had been sitting on.
Crowley swallowed the liquid in his mouth then stated almost kindly in Toni's direction, "I'm sorry that you had to witness that ugliness Love. Neither of them ever did learn how to behave when in the presence of a Lady, but…"
"Don't you dare try to mess with her right now," Bobby cut in while holding up the knife he had finally retrieved from the bench.
Toni wasn't sure what to do until she caught a glimpse of a bottle of holy water just to her right. She quickly snatched it up then slowly walked up to Crowley and smiled at him as sweetly as she knew how. At first she thought that she could just toss the bottle's contents in his face, but right now that didn't seem to satisfy her appetite for retribution.
"What Bobby…?" The demon questioned innocently as he smiled at her. "I was just going to tell this beautiful young lady that her brothers are absolutely fine and that she should be proud of the high pain tolerance they both possess in the afterlife."
Bobby's eyes snapped to Toni's face, but before he could attempt to comfort her, Toni unscrewed the lid from the bottle of Holy Water. Both men fell completely silent and still like a statue as they watched her and tried to anticipate her next move. Crowley almost flinched when Toni's hand moved, but her smile just grew wider and more sincere so he became transfixed with her eyes and forgot about her hands.
Toni slowly and deliberately emptied the contents of the bottle into the demon's glass then very sweetly said, "Except that I'm no fucking 'Lady'… Demon scum."
She dropped the bottle at his feet without paying any mind to the fact that a few drops of water hit his skin as she forced herself to calmly make her way up the stairs. Crowley looked between his drink and Bobby's laughing form completely at a loss for words for once. Bobby was still laughing as he knelt down to scrape away some of the paint of the Devil's Trap so that the demon could easily see his way out of Bobby's house.
"She… She ruined my drink Bobby," Crowley commented as if Bobby would care to do something in order to remedy the situation.
Bobby's laughter nearly caused him to shake violently as he held onto the banister and replied, "Yeah she did… It might be best for you to just go and make yourself scarce before you really piss Toni off."