A/N: I feel like it's been a while since I did author's notes... And since I've updated! It's been a VERY distracted last few weeks... Went through the death of my grandfather on the Eve of Christmas Eve, so there's that.
Anyway, so here's this chapter. It was actually kinda fun to write... :D
OH, and before I forget, I FINALLY got around to watching Supernatural again, and I noticed that I had previously believed the Impala to be only a two-door... *slaps own hand* nope, it's not a two-door, it's a four-door. Bad. *slaps own hand* My bad. xD
I fixed that and rewrote that hiccup.
I've actually gone through pretty much all the chapters and ironed out dumb sentences and stuff, so feel free to reread!
The moment she slammed the door to her room, however, she felt like she should just hop out of the window and leave as fast as she could.
What the hell was Sam Winchester doing here? Would Dean be here with him? Had they followed her?
Too many questions needed to be answered, she decided. She pulled on her pants and went downstairs.
The moment her foot landed on the first floor's floor, she saw Sam and Dean in Bobby's living room.
"What the hell are you doing here?"
Annoyed silence answered this question, as Dean and Ophelia had spoken simultaneously.
"I've known Bobby since I was a kid," they defended simultaneously once again.
Ophelia was getting more and more agitated at this cliché moment and to interrupt it, she stormed to the kitchen.
Allowing herself time to cool off, she got herself a beer from Bobby's fridge.
"What about Fitchburg?" She asked, ignoring Dean's amused gaze and looking directly at Sam. "Thought you guys had a case there."
"We - uh - we did. We finished it yesterday," he responded hesitantly, avoiding long eye contact.
Bobby walked in from his den suddenly. "You've been lights-out for at least three days, sweetheart," he murmured kindly, approaching her in the kitchen. "... Before you go paranoid-hunter She-Hulk on us."
Ophelia blinked slightly. Good thing she knew now...
"Thanks, Bobby," she murmured, numbly turning to rummage for food.
"You needed it," he replied grimly. "Where'd you meet these boys?"
"Wisconsin," Dean answered for her before she could even open her mouth.
Bobby nodded and looked between Sam and Dean, and Ophelia.
"You need to tell me what happened when these boys pass through, Ope," Bobby murmured only to her when Dean turned around to sit with Sam on the couch.
Ophelia didn't feel like responding, so she merely threw some bread in the toaster and aggressively swigged her beer.
Turns out the Winchesters had known Bobby since childhood; possibly a little better than she did, too.
She hadn't really known Bobby outside of Church until she was eleven, whereas Bobby was pretty much Uncle Bobby to Sam and Dean, and they had almost grown up in that house when they were younger.
She almost felt offended that they knew Bobby better... But she decided to shut that jealousy up by shoving toast in her face.
She still felt heat creep up her cheeks when she glanced at Sam, and that bugged her too.
It wasn't long after that the Winchester's left, towards upstate New York.
She dreaded retelling her story, but Bobby deserved to know.
"So," he began, sitting across from her place on the couch. "What happened, kid."
She wanted to deliver and not overthink, to get it over and done with and have it off her chest, minimal emotions attached... but as soon as she started explaining, she wept. She grieved, and she explained. She couldn't stop herself, the moment she opened her mouth, truth, emotions, and sorrow poured out.
That usually never happened to her. She could usually bottle it up. She could usually play it off as though she was fine.
Not today, apparently.
It was a few hours of comfort and consoling before Bobby convinced her to go back to bed, and she wholeheartedly agreed and gave the man the biggest hug she'd ever given anybody.
It was a nice night, she decided, to cry herself empty into a pillow.
It was a little after six in the morning when Ophelia woke up to her phone rattling away on her nightstand.
Hurriedly, she scrambled to it, her groggy mind fooling her, telling her it must be her dad.
The contact on the screen - of course - was not her father's, but one of his old friends from the neighborhood... before hunting. Ophelia's old babysitter...
Shocked at seeing the number, she answered and immediately was bombarded by loud barking and a shouted hello.
"Hello?" Ophelia answered, confused and groggily twisted on her stomach from how she had been sleeping, her elbow holding her weight.
There was a muffled barking now, and a panting woman.
"Gertrude?" Ophelia ventured, confused and halfway to having her guard up.
"Opie!" The woman exclaimed, seeming very exhausted. "Darling, I tried getting a hold of your father, but his phone kept booting me straight to voicemail!"
As Ophelia opened her mouth to apologize, instead she winced.
"Now, I hate to be a bother, really I do, especially to you and your father.. But this dog has been relentless in his need for the two of you! Honestly, I've had to keep him in his kennel to prevent further damage to my yard! And that causes the neighbors to fuss about the racket and that causes me to feel awful, so I put him back inside and THAT makes a mess of the house... Endless cycle these past few days!" she chuckled. "He really has been such an angel until this past two days or so... I have no idea what's gotten into him, but what do you say you come and take him back, hm?"
Ophelia blinked at how Gertrude seemed to say all those things in one breath and stammered, "Uh-um, I-I mean... yeah!"
She turned her body so that she was sitting on her ass and not her elbow. Shaking the numb feeling out of her arm, she adjusted her grip on her phone. "I'll be there in an hour or two."
With a huge heaved sigh of obvious relief, Gertrude thanked her kindly and hung up.
With a long sigh, Ophelia pressed the phone against her right eyebrow, where a headache was already forming, squeezing her eyes shut.
"I should put some pants on," she muttered to herself.
So she did.
She threw on her discarded jeans, her oldest surviving pair - unsoiled by blood, and subject to many rips - and threw on her jacket - a fancy-ass thing that was pretty much a leather jacket on the outside, and a warm hoodie inside with holes for her thumbs at the ends of the sleeves and a hood peaking from the collar of the leather part of the jacket. It had been a birthday gift a few years ago from her father.
She pulled on her brown boots, and stomped once on each foot to allow her foot to settle right on the insole. They were the most comfortable shoe she'd ever worn for the job. They were basically a feminine version of the typical work boot you'd see on men who worked construction.
Steel toe came in handy for defensive kicking.
She opened her door and wandered downstairs looking for Bobby. He was up, and making coffee.
"Hey there, kid," he greeted, his back still turned.
"Hey," she replied walking forward to grab some coffee before she headed out. "I'm gonna leave in a few to go and grab Teagan, and then I'll be back."
Bobby looked up and to her with a smile in his gaze. "Ol' Teag's still kickin'?"
Ophelia chuckled in response. "Ah course 'e is," she felt her accent accidently slipping to emulate Bobby's. Clearing her throat inconspicuously, she smiled at Bobby. "That ol' hound'll outlive all of us."
A quiet coffee-for-breakfast later, she bid Bobby farewell and went to Wanda, boots crunching the gravel at her feet.
Walking up the steps of her old neighbor's house in her hometown was painful, and she accidentally wobbled while marching up the bungalow's porch steps when she caught sight of her old house. Shaking her head clear, she could hear Teagan's noble barks coming from the back.
The door was thrown open before she even could knock, and she was given a savage hug by her elderly former neighbor.
Gertrude looked elated to see her, but Ophelia realized the moment the old woman's eyes peered over her shoulder to the car that she'd have to break the news.
"Where's your-"
"Gertrude," she interrupted quietly.
The old woman's warm brown eyes flitted back to Ophelia's exhausted ones.
Ophelia felt as though her eyes were puffy and dry, and she could almost physically feel how deep the bags under her eyes probably looked.
Gertrude's eyebrows furrowed as she ushered in the young woman.
"Your father," Gertrude inquired gently, wringing her hands like a doting grandmother.
"He..." Ophelia bit her tongue, clenched her jaw, and cleared her throat.
"I'm here," she feebly answered instead. "I just want my dog, Nana Gertie."
Gertrude stared wide-eyed at the woman before her.
Clearing her throat again, Ophelia tried once more to let the foreign words fall from her mouth. "He passed, Gertie. Just a few days ago."
Gertrude's hand shot to her mouth, covering a gasp.
Ophelia didn't need to see her old friend's reaction to the news... She turned and forced her feet to carry her to the backyard.
She opened the slider and heard Teagan's attention-seeking whines. He was pacing back and forth in the rather large kennel when he saw Ophelia. The whine he was in the middle of turned into a sharp, shrill bark. It sounded like a yelp.
With tears in her eyes, she swiftly made her way to her dog.
The old graying Tamaskan whined again and licked at her fingers as they unlocked the large kennel, his triangular ears lowered slightly.
Teagan nudged the door open for her and immediately knocked her over from her crouch, onto her ass.
It was then that Ophelia grabbed the Tamaskan by his full neck and buried her face into the bush of fur, hysterically sobbing into the dog's strong chest, hugging herself to him.
Teagan's chin wrapped around her neck in his own version of an embrace and his near invisible brows were drawn upward making him look sorrowful, his sand colored eyes flicking back and forth.
He was making soft, quick sounds in the back of his throat, not quite a bark or growl, but not a whine either. But she guessed it was to comfort her. It worked.
Releasing herself from him, she moved her hands to the sides of his neck, near his jaw.
Tearfully she smiled at him as she stared into his soft sandy eyes. Gently, she scratched him behind the ears. "Let's get outta here, huh, boy?"
With a single flick of his tail, she knew he was ready.
Swiftly wiping her face of her tears, she walked back inside to bid Gertrude goodbye.
When they approached the slider, Ophelia spotted Gertrude retreating from her spot by the window. The old woman gave Ophelia a watery smile.
"You're a wonderful girl, Ophelia," she murmured with an embrace. "I'll see you around sometime?"
Ophelia was silent for a moment, looking down Gertrude's back and at her companion.
"Yeah," she lied. "I'll see you soon, Nana Gertie."
With a final squeeze, they broke the hug and Ophelia and Teagan left.
Opening Wanda's passenger door, Ophelia murmured affectionately to Tegan, "You get my spot now, Teag."
With a whine and a hesitant glance, Teagan hopped in the car and sat nobly on the aged white leather.
A/N: Who doesn't love dogs? :D
I just HAD to add a badass huntin' dog... And Tamaskan wolf dogs looks startlingly like wolves - HENCE THE NAME - so I thought who WOULDN'T want a wolf defending their six against supernatural shit? Haha