It was a Thursday in October and it was fucking cold. Alice wrapped the comforter around her as she got out of bed even though she didn't think to put any socks on. She moved quickly down the hallway past Dean's room and the bathroom into the kitchen. The bunker was quiet. She peeked down the opposite hallway to where Sam's room was and still heard nothing. And she thought she had slept in.

Shivering a little, she started a pot of coffee and sat at the island listening to it percolate a bit. The trees outside were changing colors and Alice found herself marveling in it. This was the best time of year. As she heard the coffee drip slow, she scratched at the back of her neck, her short hair itched as it grew. She poured herself a cup and put a little sugar in. She grabbed two more mugs and filled them, kept one of them black, for Dean, and poured a dash of milk in the other, for Sam. She figured she'd make breakfast for the lot of them since she was up and they had just gotten back from a job last night. She could really only cook a couple things and those things were all breakfast related. She decided to fry up a few eggs, bacon, and toast; keep it simple. There were some strawberries in the fridge that would go bad in a few days too that she pulled out.

After a little, she warmed up and the blanket got in the way of cooking the bacon, so she shed it and tossed it on the couch. She stood in the kitchen in a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt as she cooked and the sun rose a little higher outside. She heard scratching on the door as she walked into the living room and she froze. No one could just find the bunker, it didn't make any sense. She heard the scratching again and she had to investigate. She walked slowly towards the door and peeked out the window next to it. She didn't see anything so she exhaled. It was then that she saw a cat jump in front of her face. It was a small gray cat, yellow eyes with a glimmer of curiosity. Alice looked beyond to cat to see if anything else was out there and saw nothing. She always had a soft spot for animals, all instinct and exploration. So she opened the door. The cat sauntered in, smelling the walls and Alice's feet. She bent down to let it smell her fingers. The cat's nose was cold as it sniffed her and then rubbed against her knuckles. Alice stood and walked back to the kitchen.

A minute later, Sam walked from his room already dressed for the day but still had sleep in his eyes.

"Good morning, Sam! I have a plate for ya," Alice said, setting aside one of everything for Sam.

"Hey, thanks. How'd you sleep?" Sam said, reaching for the plate and walking around the island.

"Good, same as every night, Sam." Alice took a sip of her coffee and watched as Sam ate. His face changed when he felt something rub up against his leg, freaked him out so much that he scooted off the stool.

"Whoa, what the hell?" he exclaimed. He looked down and saw the small cat.

Alice tried to hold in her laugh as she said, "Yeah, found the poor thing outside scratching at the door. I think it smelled the food. I didn't know anything could find this place."

"They can't. At least, they shouldn't," Sam said, looking cautious. He looked at Alice and she nodded down to the cat, nudging him to let it get used to him.

"Can we keep it?" Alice asked.

"I uh, I don't know, we should probably talk to Dean."

"C'mon Sam, it's just a cat."

"Still."

"Well, fine, let's wake the kid up, yeah?" Alice said, with a smirk. She scooped the cat up in her arms and scratched behind it's ear as she walked to Dean's room. Sam followed with his brother's cup of coffee and to see the look on his face.

Alice made sure to open the door to Dean's room slow and quiet and tip toed up to Dean's bed. Dean was flat on his stomach asleep. She knelt down and let the cat sniff the sheets before climbing onto the bed and onto Dean's back. He flinched a bit and then woke up and turned on his side and went for his knife before he heard Alice and Sam start laughing. He stopped and felt little paws stepping on his chest. He was face to face with the cat.

"What the hell?"

"Aw Dean, I think he likes you," Alice exclaimed, still laughing. Dean's face was still contorted with vague anger and Sam walked further into the room.

"If it's a he," Sam said. The cat turned around on Dean's chest when Alice started petting it. It stuck its tail up in the air in front of Dean's face.

"Oh, it's a boy," Dean said, irritated. The cat settled in a ball on his chest. "Can ya get it off of me?"

Alice cooed the cat as she picked it up and Sam put Dean's coffee on his bed side table as dean sat up. "Where'd that thing even come from?" he asked.

"Alice said he was scratching at the door this morning," Sam said.

"How it that-"

"We don't know."

"Guys," Alice interrupted, "it's just a damn cat, I think we're fine. Maybe animals can get past the spell or whatever is over this place. Now, Dean, get up, breakfast is getting cold."

"Breakfast?" Dean asked, "I thought that bacon smell was just a dream."

The three of them, or well, the four of them, walked into the kitchen and Dean sat next to Sam at the table, a fork and knife in each hand and an expectant smile on his face.

"I'm not going to serve you, Dean," Alice said, sipping her coffee.

"C'mon, Al," Dean whined, "what if I promised we'd train today?"

"Seriously?" Alice asked, interested.

Dean just nodded vigorously like a little kid.

"Fine," Alice said. She turned and grabbed Dean two eggs, extra bacon, and buttered toast, leaving the fruit for her and Sam. "Eat up, Mister Miyagi."

Sam had gone into the library to read up on what could be their next case. Alice had been told to meet Dean in the basement after breakfast and to "wear something tight." Alice had rolled her eyes, but she was smart enough to know jeans wouldn't be the best thing to practice in, not yet anyway.

She made her way down to the basement where there was a sort of gymnastics pad in the middle of the room and two big mirrors leaned on the north and east walls. A punching bag was in the corner and a few weights were off to the side. Dean was facing away from Alice as she walked down, velcroing fingerless gloves on.

"Is this where you practice ballet, Dean?" Alice asked, but Dean wasn't smiling when he turned around. He just threw her a pair of gloves that looked like his, only smaller.

"Listen, this isn't like your little yoga crap, okay? This is important."

"Oh, don't be a pig. Just because I do yoga doesn't mean I'm weak. I'm a woman, too, is that going to be a problem?"

"Please, woman can do this. You, my friend, have little to no experience and if I'm even going to consider letting you come along, you better keep up," Dean said, "I'm not going easy on ya." They were face to face at that point, each fuming just a bit. Dean taught her how to stand to shift her weight and keep strong. He looked in her eyes and asked, "You ready?"

"For what?" Alice asked. Dean threw a punch her way and she blocked it. They went in circles for a while as Dean advanced on Alice and she kept blocking all his attacks.

"Okay, okay, so your defense is," Dean said and held up his thumb and index finger in an "OK."

Alice was breathing heavier than he was and rested her hands on her hips, a little proud of herself.

"It's your attack that we have to work on," Dean went on.

Cue montage music:

For the next few weeks, Alice would wake up early, do a little yoga just to warm up and took to the basement, not only to practice with Dean, but to work out on her own too. She kept remembering the people she encountered on her road trips, the not so friendly ones, she thought about her parents, how they chose to leave her, she thought about the slimy bastards who called her to made deals, how they lingered just too long when they kissed her. The stronger she became, the more her mind turned to the good people, Dean and Sam, the forgiveness for her parents. Instead of anger, she wanted to protect. And she was learning to. She and Dean moved in near choreographed circles of combat and there was no going easy.

Alice and Dean were toe to toe. Alice caught their reflections in the mirrors and smirked at how she looked, stronger and prepared. In the beginning, she was anxious to look away from Dean, worried he would take a shot at her, but now, she could measure her surroundings, trust her peripheral vision, even use it. She saw something quick move in the corner of her eye as Dean advanced. Alice looked over her shoulder and dodged Dean, a little freaked out until she saw the cat sitting by the stairs.

"Alice," Dean said, getting her attention back. She felt pulled in too many directions and whipped her leg around and kicked Dean in the jaw. By the time she saw how she reacted, Dean was clutching his face.

"Oh shit, Dean," Alice said rushing to him, "I'm sorry, I didn't-" She laughed a little bit, feeling awkward.

"No, no, that was good uh," Dean said, "shit."

"Here, let's get upstairs," Alice said, lending an arm for dean to hold onto as they went back upstairs into the kitchen.

"Sit," Alice said, nodding to the stool, and Dean followed. She opened the freezer. "What, you're hunters and you don't own any ice packs?"

"Things we fight usually require more than ice packs, Al," Dean said.

"Yeah, I guess," Alice said, looking for a substitute. She grabbed a bag of frozen peas and mumbled to herself, "this should do. She walked back to Dean and pulled his hand off of his face and replaced it with the frozen peas.

"Man, I feel like Rocky."

"Yeah, well, we don't need you looking like him," Alice said, "here, hold that still."

"That was pretty good, ya know," Dean said, looking Alice in the eye. Her eyes were wandering his face making sure he was okay, which he thought was pretty cute. She stepped a little bit away once she found that the rest of him was okay.

"Just pretty good?" Alice mused, "I've been working my ass off."

"Yeah, I know, kid," Dean said. Alice lifted herself to sit on the island, looking sideways at Dean. She still looked guilty. "I probably deserved that anyway," he finished.

"Probably," she said with a laugh. She looked at him and lingered for a few moments. They had gotten pretty close over the last few days. He had softened around her and she'd become probably the healthiest version of herself than she ever had been. She didn't know how long the two of them just sat there, looking at each other. It was weird. But it was weirder that it really wasn't at all awkward.

"You want a drink?" Alice asked, finally saying something.

"Uh, sure," Dean said, straightening his back, "yeah."

The two of them settled in on the couch. The Exorcist was playing on TV to ring in the Halloween season and Dean went to change it before Alice stopped him.

"It's cool. We can make fun of it or something," Alice said. About halfway through, Sam came home from getting groceries, including more beer and cat food. Dean still had a hand on the bag of peas on his face.

"What happened here?" Sam asked.

"I clocked him," Alice said, full of pride.

Sam started laughing and Dean just nodded his head, "Yeah, yeah," he said, "get it all out now."

"Good work, Alice," he said as he walked down the hall into his room.

"Here," Alice said when Sam was gone, "let me see it."

Dean turned to face her and stuck his jaw out a bit as he removed the peas. Alice reached out a little and tapped it. It was already swollen and dark purple. Dean winced a little bit but sat still.

"How bad is it?" he asked.

"Well," Alice started, "it's not good for you, but it's good for me." She sat back into the couch and turned to watch the credits start to roll.

Dean stretched his arm over the back of the couch and laughed, "Maybe you are ready," he said.

"Really?" Alice looked over smiling wide at Dean. He just pulled her into his side so that she was leaning into him.

"Yeah, well don't let it go to your head," Dean said, taking another sip, "I said, 'maybe.'"