It had been a week.
A whole week.
Sam groaned, brushing back his hair in the dining room.
It was mid morning and only a few people were here. Most were either sleeping, training or out hunting.
Hunting the Charonmites.
Sam shook his head.
They had caught small groups of them, all in surrounding towns, causing havoc, but no Charon yet. No one had even been able to find a way to kill him so it hardly mattered.
Sam heaved and walked out of the dining room to go train with Eri.
Eri.
He had looked into her, taking both her files she offered and researching her on the internet.
There had been no demon signs when she was 6 months old. There had been no freak house fire and her parents as well as her sister all lived normal lives in a decent sized town near L.A. her mom was store clerk, her dad a mechanic and her sister a cheerleader.
Of course in 2010, everything had changed. The family had been on a road trip when a truck had slammed into them at over 70 miles an hour, killing Eri, her parents and nearly her sister. However her sister had somehow made a deal somewhere and traded places with her sister.
Eri had woken up outside the car just in time to see it explode.
There had been demonic signs all over that. A herd of cattle had died and busted open, a freak thunderstorm had happened in the middle of summer the day before and sulfur covered the road after the explosion.
She had a funeral and moved, being 21 and had tried to go back to normal. However normal wouldn't last long as a black eyed man attacked her. Another hunter had come and battled the demon, killing it. She explained to Eri all about the supernatural world and Eri had agreed to come along, for vengeance for her family.
Eri had run off as soon as she learned about crossroads demons and tried to cut a deal. The hunter came to her rescue when Eri hadn't drawn the trap right and fought the demon. When the demon snapped the veteran hunter's neck, Eri had screamed and unleashed her abilities, flinging a dozen knives into it's host body.
After putting the hunter to rest, Eri traveled alone, hunting, learning more and getting better when she met Teresa and had come to the hunters base in California.
She had been on her own for a year, and now she was working here, training, teaching and hunting.
Sam paused in the doorway to the training section of the Base, watching Dean.
His brother was angry, punching a bag repeatedly and Sam wondered to himself why he acted so strangely. Cas had left shortly after they had been researching Charon, claiming he had to check on something. Dean had been angry, demanding what was more important then killing a powerful reaper. Sam knew Dean considered Cas as their family, like Bobby, like Jo and Ellen and it hurt Dean for Cas to leave.
He felt guilty, seeing Dean grow silent and angry. Did he behave like this when Sam left him all those times? Did he become unnervingly quiet and drink himself to sleep? Did he punch things until his fingers bled and begged quietly in his room for Cas to come back?
Dean looked up and nodded at Sam gruffly and back at the punching bag. Sam winced as he saw blood drip from his knuckles. He shook his head and walked away, knowing it was best for Dean to simply work out his rage.
He walked back to a private training room and stared in shock.
Eri was dressed in her typical sports bra and shorts, waving her fingers delicately in the air. She was levitating 3 bags of rock salt, 2 jugs of holy water and target dummy.
"Hey," She smiled, turning her head to him.
"Hey," Sam said softly, "Whatever happened to working traditional methods?"
"I could," She nodded, her fingers drumming the air happily, "But you turned this curse into a gift, so can I."
"I unleashed Lucifer, started the Apocalypse," Sam countered, "I went dark."
"True," She said, "But as long as I don't drink demon blood I'll be good."
"I don't want you going dark," He said grabbing her other hand by her side, "I didn't want to but i still did."
"I forgive you," She said, turning completely to him, "We know that the knife kills demons, the Colt too, even though you lost it, nice job by the way. If I can use this to fight them at least, that's something."
"I just don't want you hurt," He insisted.
Eri smiled, lowering her hand, the items she floated, landing on the ground.
"I won't be," She said, putting a hand on his cheek.
He closed his eyes, inhaling her signature scent of sweat and strength. It was the same as any other hunter, the air of danger, but there was a spark that made it her own, made her different.
He pressed his lips to her softly and she melted.
It had started after they had come back from saving that town.
Dean and Teresa had challenged each other to karaoke, arguing over the Beach Boys. Cas had wandered over the rec room, amazed by a juke box and Sam and Eri had enjoyed their drinks, chatting about the base.
Sam had suddenly spilled a shot of tequila on her shirt and insisted on giving her a spare shirt since his room was closer.
She obliged and in his room, Sam saw she had the same anti possession tattoo he did. She asked to show his and he obliged. For some reason he had taken his shirt off completely and she had asked about his scars.
Soon they were on his bed, trailing their fingers over each others scars, trading stories. The more they talked, the more comfortable they became when Sam suddenly showed her his handprint from Castiel. It was on his waist and in her drunken state she had smiled and kissed it.
Too make it hurt less she claimed. Sam had said it throbbed when he moved a certain way.
Sam had countered with a kiss on the nasty cut she had received from Charon.
The next morning, their clothes were abandoned and Eri and Sam had seen truly every scar the other had.
They had both been cursed.
Both at a lost for what was out of their control.
Sam had sensed it was only natural for them to bond as they did.
Sam broke away from the passionate kiss and memory with a smile.
"We should be training," He said.
"Only if you stop distracting me," She winked, stepping back.
He settled into a defensive stance, intending to tackle her. And maybe kiss her again when a horn sounded three times.
They looked at each other, nodding, racing out of the room.