Alex walked over to Sam and Dean, the mud covering her small frame; her clothes sticking to her in the rain.
"How was that?" she panted.
"Three minutes; not bad." Dean approved. "C'mon, we'll go get you cleaned up, and then we'll work on some of the weapons stuff."
Sam made a face. "Dude, she's a little girl; don't you think we should... I dunno... not teach her the weapons stuff?"
"Sammy, she's 11. She's in training. You know this." Dean said, a bit annoyed. "In four months, she'll be old enough to actually come with us, and I need her to be decent backup."
Sam balked. "That's the same kind of shit Dad used to say."
"Sam, you know the life we lead!" Dean said gruffly. "We have to make sure that she's gonna be okay, especially if something comes and we're not there! Training you, training her--- that's a reassurance that you're safe. Alive. By the time you were that age, you could've taken on two senior football players in a fight. Not really more than that, but..."
Sam sighed, keeping in step with Alex, who was racing back to the motel. Dean had set up an obstacle course in the woods about three blocks behind it, and she'd been going through it for the past hour. Dean was right, he knew, but part of him wished she didn't have to hunt at all. She was still little, sweet... just not as innocent as Sam would have liked. She knew what was out there in the dark as much as they did, and had been on one hunt with them before, not just waiting in the hotel.
Of course, the one hunt turned out to be a Wendigo, which made Sam insist to Dean that she have to wait till she's 12 at least for the next one. When Alex went into the shower, Dean started laying all sorts of weapons on one of the beds in the room.
"Sammy, how about go get some ice-cream?"
"Ice-cream?" Sam asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Yeah, it's about lunchtime, and there's a Cold Stone Creamery right up the street." he said, throwing him the keys. "Oooh, and a pie."
Sam grinned, he could accuse Dean all he wanted to; Dean was not that much like his father...
"What kind?"
"She likes white chocolate with the butterfinger bits in it, and I like the mint choco-chip with heath bars in it. And... blueberry pie. Or Apple... no, lemon."
"I'll get what I can find." Sam chuckled, walking out the door.
When Alex came out, Dean was sitting in front of some disassembled weapons.
"Okay, puzzle time." he said, grabbing his stopwatch.
Alex smiled. This was the fun part. She hadn't been allowed to shoot yet, but, she knew that was coming soon, because they'd expect her to be a crack shot by the time they took her hunting. And, she wanted to go. She wanted to go to be with them, not worrying in the hotel, wondering if they'd come back. At least she could back them up; help.
"All right. Good job." Dean said, ruffling her hair a bit, when she was done. "We'll get a little faster, don't worry. Right now precision is a little more important."
Alex nodded, leaning against Dean. Whenever that first hunt came... she was definately ready.