Two days. It had been two days.
They'd managed to get Bobby home without incident along the way. Vala asked the boys to get Bobby undressed and tucked into bed while she took a moment to gather herself. She sat with the shower running and had a meltdown before deciding to actually have a shower. She was fine after that.
Except that no one was speaking to her. She fully expected Dean to either scream at her for not sharing her secret or ignore her over it. Quite frankly, she'd hoped he'd of tore her a new one before shutting her out. Aislin hadn't said more than two words to her since they'd arrived back, Bobby in toe. The younger Aquene spent most of her time with the bigger Winchester, secluded together in corners of the house, or outside on the porch. It was something else Vala didn't want to have to deal with right now.
The silence gave her more time to think about it all. Two days of silent thinking was wearing on Vala. She found herself sitting at Bobby's bedside in a different uncomfortable chair, legs crossed and arms folded tight around her stomach, tears forming while watching Bobby sleep when Aislin entered.
They didn't speak for a moment. The younger sister pulled the other chair from against the wall and placed it next to Vala, leaving a cosy distance between them before taking her place in it. Aislin noticed Bobby, how peaceful he looked.
"Can we talk Val?" Aislin asked her sister, neither of them taking their eyes off Bobby.
Vala cleared her throat.
"What about?"
"Sam?"
Dean sat on the front porch of Bobby's house, in the rocking chair Bobby usually occupied. He let the warm breeze barely rock him as he thought over the last few days.
He felt bad, not knowing what to say to Vala about what had happened. It broke him that she didn't feel she could confide in him her secret, especially when she knew he'd done the same thing, but he wasn't mad at her about it. He kind of understood. She obviously didn't want her sister finding out. He could relate to that. So he kept her secret to himself, not speaking of it to anyone. Even Vala.
He'd been trying to sort out his feelings for her, if that's what he was feeling. Dean had spent the last few days alone, away from the others, thinking. Which, in most cases, included thinking about Sam and Vala's sister. Aislin.
Dean probably wouldn't have noticed as quickly as he did had he not been constantly reminding himself. Sam and Aislin did a pretty good job of keeping their relationship hidden from their siblings, but with the situation at the house being what it was, Dean found himself constantly wondering where Sam was – then reminding himself that his brother was most likely making out in a corner somewhere with Aislin. In any other circumstances, Sam would have been on Dean's case about the constant moping-around-sitting-alone-not-speaking-to-anyone he had been doing for the past few days. And to be honest, Dean kind of missed Sam harassing him about it.
Needless to say Dean was taken slightly aback when the front door opened and Sam's massive frame worked his way through it.
"Hey." Sam offered, taking a seat on the small side table Bobby had next to the rocker.
"Hey." Dean responded back. "Any change?"
Sam shook his head, knowing he was referring to the old man asleep upstairs.
Dean looked back to the salvage yard and the cars stacked all around him. He found the sight oddly calming.
"I was hoping I could talk to you about something." Sam began, drawing his brother's attention once more.
"About?" though he didn't have to ask.
"Linney."
"I know you don't like them—"
"It's not that I don't like them," Vala interrupted her sister before she even had a chance to begin. "It's that I didn't trust them."
"Past tense?" Aislin noticed immediately.
Vala thought.
"Mostly past tense." She barely agreed. "I don't trust them completely, I still hardly know them. But, after the last few days I have to admit they aren't as bad as I had made them out to be."
Aislin smiled to herself, hoping her sister didn't notice. Vala was slowing coming around. Maybe there was a chance at her plan working after all.
Vala noticed the smile, but said nothing of it.
"So you don't hate Sam?"
"Of course not." Vala looked to her sister. "Even before I never hated him. I put all the blame on Dean."
"You know it's not anyone's fault. We're all to blame."
"I get it Linney."
"Did you know those billboards were Sam's idea?"
Vala's eyes went wide. Aislin continued.
"He told me yesterday. Payback for the Chicago fiasco."
"The rugaru?"
"The rugaru."
Vala turned her attention back to Bobby. He remained motionless. Vala thought.
"I really like him."
"I know you do."
"I mean it Val."
Aislin was being wholly serious. She was never really the jokester type, but Vala had never seen her little sister so blank faced and honest.
Vala still didn't make eye contact with her.
"I know you do." She responded just as dryly, making her sister aware.
"And I'm not prepared to leave him just yet."
"I know you care about her." Dean told his brother as he looked out to the organized disaster that was the salvage yard.
"A lot."
"I just don't understand why. I get that they saved our asses, but still."
"I mean, I know you have this burning hatred for them."
"I might have, before all this, but I don't anymore Sammy."
"So they aren't our mortal enemies anymore?"
Dean smiled.
"No, but I'm not going to sleep with them to say thank you for dragging us out of the vampire hangout." Though he'd thought about it.
Sam let a small chuckle escape, but he didn't comment on Dean's response. The older Winchester continued on, cutting Sam off before he could even speak.
"Vala told me she knew that stripper in Reno."
Sam was silent for a moment as he thought.
"You mean Miss VD 2008?"
Dean closed his eyes and nodded.
Sam laughed out loud, clutching his stomach as he did. Dean shook his head.
"Dude, not funny."
"She totally won. No contest Dean."
"Still not funny."
Vala sighed, leaning forward to rest her elbows on her thighs. Aislin kept watch over her sister's expression, trying to gage what she was going to say from it. Vala kept her emotions in check, mulling over Aislin's words before she spoke her own.
"Do you really know him well enough to say that?"
"I know myself well enough. I know what I feel, and what I feel for him Vala."
"That's not what I meant."
"No, I know. I know what you're saying."
"I trust your judgement Linney. If you say he's a good guy, I believe it. You say you have feelings for him, that's great."
"I do."
"I know we're having this awkward conversation for a reason, why don't you shot-put it to the point."
"We talked about it, Sam and me. I can tell you're getting restless here, and you want to take off."
"I told you I wasn't going to leave until Bobby was better. I meant it."
"I know. But when he does wake up, then what?"
Vala shrugged. She'd been thinking about that too.
"Sam suggested a few scenarios." Aislin eased into it.
"Which are what exactly?"
"I swear Dean; I didn't just come out here to laugh at you." Sam spoke once he'd calmed down.
"Could've fooled me."
"Okay, I'm being serious now."
"Get to it then."
Dean was in a mood now, still upset from the last few days' events and now angry at Sam for laughing – again – about the stripper in Reno.
Sam figured he might as well dive right in. There was no real pussyfooting around it.
"I want her to come with us when we leave here."
Dean shook his head and said nothing.
"Then I'm going with them."
Dean laughed.
"Vala has agreed to let you go with her?"
Sam made a face.
"No, not yet anyway. Linney's talking to her."
"So, when Vala says 'No' – "
"Aislin and I are going to go on our own."
Dean stopped rocking in his chair and leaned forward, turning himself towards Sam as much as possible, staring him in the eye, raising his voice.
"Absolutely not. You hardly know this girl. A week ago they were our enemies."
"And even though they hated us, they pulled us out of that coven's house. Linney sat with me while I was unconscious. Vala used connections to get your ass into a hospital without bringing the cops down, she stayed with you the whole time you were there Dean. She saved your ass from Alastair. They aren't our enemies Dean. If they were we'd of been dead days ago."
Sam was right, but Dean didn't want to admit it.
"Doesn't matter Sammy. You've known her less than a week. What kind of person chooses a girl he's known for four days over their brother?"
"I knew you'd see it that way." Sam threw his hands up half heartedly.
"How else am I supposed to see it? You come out here, telling me that I have to either let some girl we barely know tag along with us or you're gonna ditch me for her?"
Dean was angry. He seemed to be losing everything the last few days. He lost his greatest enemies when the girls saved him and Sam during the hunt, he lost his hatred of Vala when she agreed to stay at the hospital with him without questioning him over it, he nearly lost Bobby to Alastair, and now he was going to lose his brother. All that loss, and the only thing he was gaining were butterflies in his stomach.
Dean heaved a sigh and was about to speak when Vala beat him to it, screaming at her sister from inside the house.
"I CAN'T BELIEVE I'M HEARING THIS!"
Vala yelled at Aislin, at full volume in front of an unconscious Bobby. He didn't flinch or startle in the slightest. Aislin gave her a look of worry, concern and sadness. Vala calmed down enough to lower her voice.
"You barely know him and you're willing to just run away with him."
Aislin had explained the three scenarios she and Sam had talked about. Vala wasn't game for any of them.
"I know we spent a long time rebuilding our relationship and I love you, I do. I love hunting with you, traveling with you. But I love Sam too. I want to continue what I've started with him. I was hoping you'd understand that."
Vala felt that was a reference to her long dead fiancée and left it alone. She didn't want to talk about him right now.
"You've known him for four days. One of which I might add, he slept through. Can we be realistic here?"
"I thought I was."
Aislin sat back in her chair, dejected from the conversation. She was expecting Vala to be upset, angry even. But now she was just unreasonable.
"Let's say Dean agrees to let you go with him. You're going to end up feeling like a third wheel. You've heard how Bobby talks about them. The bond they have... you'll end up either breaking them or hurting yourself. And if you and Sam head off into the wild sunset together, how long do you think that'll last? Forever? What."
Vala couldn't look at her sister anymore. She was furious. Aislin turned her head to Vala and caught her older sister wiping a tear from her eye. There was more to this than what Vala was letting on.
"Vala." Aislin spoke softly. "What's the real problem here?"
The girls had quieted, and Dean turned to Sam again.
"I don't know what you feel for this girl Sammy, but I can't imagine it'll turn out well. No offense, I don't mean it as a hit to Jessica or Madison or anything."
"I love her Dean."
Dean rolled his eyes.
"Awesome."
Sam was ready to give up. He was getting nowhere talking to Dean. His brother was being irrational and Sam wasn't prepared to deal with him anymore. He knew dean had been upset, slouching around the house, but he's assumed it was over Bobby being hurt. Dean blamed himself for everything. Sam had thought that's what this was all about. He went out on a limb.
"It's not your fault Bobby got hurt you know." He said solemnly, hanging his head slighting and looking up.
"It's not that." Dean didn't argue.
"What then."
Dean didn't speak for a moment, as his emotions were getting the best of him. He refused to shed tears over it. He held his breath a second and exhaled deeply. Sam turned to him to speak.
"Seriously, what's wrong Dean?"
"I wish we'd of never come here." Vala finally let out, wrapping her broken arm around her stomach as she continued to clear the tears that were coming.
"Because of me and Sam?" Aislin asked, unsure of whether to be upset of offended.
Vala shook her head.
"No. It's not that. Not really. These last few days have been completely messed up."
Aislin hadn't seen her sister this upset in years. Even when their grandfather died she was well composed. Now she was breaking down. Over what?
"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I've been so preoccupied. I'm sorry it all worked out this way."
"Don't apologise Linney, I'm happy if you're happy."
"But you're not happy."
There was silence between them again as Vala refused to talk about her feelings and Aislin thought about nothing else. Vala was really upset, and if it wasn't about her and Sam, it was either about Bobby or Dean. Aislin went with the latter.
"I miss him you know."
Vala looked up at Aislin, unsure of what she was talking about.
"Who?" she asked, wiping her eyes.
"I don't want to talk about it."
Dean crossed his arms and turned back to the junkyard.
Sam didn't say anything, he just watched his brother sulk in silence. Dean picked at his fingers without looking at his hands, a nervous habit of his he'd picked up a few months ago, when the bulk of the pranking started.
Dean mulled over the emotions running through him. He was worried about losing Sam. He believed his brother when he said he would leave with Aislin if that's what it took, and he didn't want that, though he also didn't want the younger Aquene tagging along with them. It would remind him of her sister too much He really cared for Vala, and he realized now how much of a problem that was. He wasn't sure how to tell her, or if he even should. He didn't want her to leave. He didn't want to be without her.
Sam saw how much the last few days had taken out of Dean. He knew, without words, that his brother was trying to come to terms with how he felt about everything. He wasn't going to bring it up, but he also wasn't going to sit there and watch his brother suffer of his own accord.
He stood, drawing Dean's attention up to the gargantuan man.
"I didn't mean you had to leave."
Sam smiled, but he wasn't going to stay. He put his hand on Dean's shoulder.
"I think you need some time alone. To think."
"Maybe."
Sam headed for the front door, thinking about a sandwich and how maybe he should check in on Bobby and see if there's been any change when he turned back to Dean, holding one last thought.
"Promise me something?"
Dean looked to his brother and raised an eyebrow in question.
"Do whatever is going to make you happy, no matter what anyone else is going to think about it."
"What the fuck is that supposed to mean?"
Sam smiled to Dean. He decided on the sandwich and went inside, leaving his brother to ponder his confusion alone in silence.
"Jonas."
Vala shook with a silent sob at the name of her former fiancée. No one had spoken it in quite some time. So long she'd nearly forgotten how it sounded.
"I never said anything because I didn't want to upset you. I understand why you'd never told Dad you two were engaged, but I was really upset you never said anything to me. I'd known him my whole life too, and I'd always thought of him as my other older brother. I was crushed when Uncle Ash told me what happened, and then for you to leave right afterwards Vala, it left a big hole. I missed the two of you terribly, and I still find myself missing Jonas now and again, more so when I see you upset. I always assume you're thinking about him when you're upset."
Vala was taken by surprise at the turn in conversation. Everyone was upset over Jonas' passing, he was family to all those lucky enough to know him, but Aislin had never mentioned how she felt about Jonas before or after he'd died. This was the first they'd talked of him.
"To be honest, I really don't think about him or what happened very often. I try hard not to." Vala admitted, wiping a final tear from her eye so she could look at her sister.
Aislin was visibly upset, having shed a few salty teardrops herself. She really did miss Jonas.
"He wouldn't want this for you."
Vala rolled her eyes at her sister.
"You're going to have to stop being vague and start just saying what you mean."
"I mean this life. Hunting evil, living out of your car, never seeing your family. This is what you two were trying to avoid, wasn't it?"
Vala didn't answer Aislin's rhetorical question. Her sister knew she was right.
"Jonas would want you to be happy."
"I know."
Aislin stood from her seat and patted Vala on the back as she walked past, stopping at the door to speak once more.
"I think you know Vala. I think you know what you feel, but you're just scared to admit it."
Vala threw her arms in the air and turned her sister, raising her voice again but not enough to draw attention from anyone but her sister.
"Again with the vagueness Linney."
Aislin smiled.
"I'm not being vague Val. You know what I'm talking about."
She didn't turn around to catch the look on Vala's face, which the older Aquene was grateful for. Had Linney turned around she would have seen that her sister did know exactly what she was talking about, and also that she had no clue what to do about it.