Author's Note: I hope all of my readers are staying safe and healthy. Thank you to everyone who posted a review or favorited or followed this story. It made me excited to keep working on it. If you like this chapter, please post a comment or send me a PM. I also accept constructive criticism. After all, that's how I improve as a writer.
I changed Krissy's age in the first Chapter from seventeen to fifteen. After I thought about it a little while, I felt like it made more sense.
Warning: This chapter contains curse words and threats of spanking and a few single swats. If this bothers you, turn back now.
CHAPTER 2
"Thanks, Charlie. We really appreciate your help with this," Sam said as he ended the phone call with the woman who had become their go-to for IT help. He paused to listen to what she had to say before continuing. "Yeah, give us some time to get settled, then we'll see what we can work out. Dean and I'd love to see you." He glanced over at his brother, whose face wore a stoney expression. "I'll talk to you later." He ended the call and slipped his cellphone into his shirt pocket.
"Charlie hacked into the Brown County Family Court and set up a case for Krissy, naming both of us as her legal guardians."
"That's good," Dean responded a bit distractedly. "She get the guardianship papers?"
"Yeah, we're listed as Sam and Dean Abrams, Krissy Chambers's maternal uncles."
Dean nodded.
"Everything okay?" Sam asked, studying his brother.
"I don't know, Sammy. I haven't been able to get a hold of Garth, and we're on our way to God knows what involving Krissy. I mean, exactly what do we plan on doing with her? I don't know if you've noticed, but neither of us are exactly Mr. Mom."
Sam sighed. He'd expected his brother to circle back around to this self-doubt. "We do what we can for her. You know yourself, if we turn her loose or take her to her aunt, she's just going to go back to hunting. She'll be dead before she's eighteen."
"Yeah, I get that, Sammy. But our lives aren't exactly stable, you know. Maybe we could find another hunting family to take her in. Give her some structure and training, teach her that hunting ain't the only thing she has to look forward to in life?" Dean shrugged. He wasn't sure what they were considering was really a good idea. Sure, they now had the bunker, but it was more of a place to crash and do research between hunts than a true home.
"And she'll just run the first chance she gets. We take her back to the bunker with us. Get her back in school, teach her some discipline, and train her. Maybe take her on a hunt every now and then. Give her the best hunting background we can - then let her make the choice when she's of age. It's not going to be easy, but we've overcome harder challenges." Sam studied the passing scenery for a moment before continuing. "Charlie also hacked into Krissy's school records and will be emailing them to me. It seems like she had good grades while her dad was alive and during the time she would have been with Victor. After he was killed, her grades slipped drastically, and she dropped out totally about six months ago. She's listed as truant, as she just stopped going. There are warrants out for her and Lee related to that."
"They're going to have a helluva time serving that one," Dean said a bit sarcastically, thinking of the now deceased hunter.
"Do you honestly have any better ideas?" Sammy asked his brother, growing serious. He'd given a lot of thought to their predicament, and he couldn't think of any better solution. Not for the first time, he wished that Bobby Singer was still alive. Bobby would have known what to do, and would have called them damn idjits for failing to see the solution for themselves.
He sighed as he watched Dean pull his cell phone out and hit redial - once again trying to reach Garth Fitzgerald to find out what he knew about Krissy. When the other man didn't answer, yet again, Dean had to resist the urge to throw his phone out of the car window in frustration. Where was that asshole, he wondered to himself.
Dean jumped and nearly steered his car off the road when his phone rang unexpectedly. He'd been lost in his thoughts and not really paying that much attention to his driving. Getting the vehicle back under control, he glanced down at the caller ID. He didn't recognize the number, but it was listed as originating from Kansas. "Hello?" he snapped shortly.
"Is this Dean Winchester?"
"Who's this?" he demanded, not answering the question.
"This is Josephine Barnes. I don't know if you remember me or not."
"Yeah, I remember you," Dean shared a look with Sam before pulling the Impala to the side of the road so he could give the conversation his full attention. "What can I do for you?" he asked, his voice only slightly more gentle.
"You gave us your number in case there was a problem. Well, I'm not sure, but there might be a problem."
"What kind of problem, Josephine?" He was pretty sure he knew where this was going, but he held his breath anyway waiting on her reply.
"It's Krissy. She left on a hunt and she hasn't checked in like she was supposed to," Josephine said quickly. Concern and fear was evident in her voice.
"Sam and I are on our way to pick her up now." Dean didn't miss her sigh of relief. "Listen, Josephine, what's been going on with her? How long has she been hunting solo?"
Josephine debated a moment. She barely knew the Winchester brothers, but it was evident that they weren't men to be crossed and that they actually cared about what happened to them. She was torn between protecting her friend and the danger her friend was getting herself into.
Sensing her hesitancy, Dean continued. "Look, we know she's been hunting. She got caught doing it early this morning by a sheriff, who just happens to be a hunter herself and a friend of ours. The sheriff was the one who contacted us. Krissy was going off bad intel and could have gotten herself or an innocent seriously hurt or killed."
Josephine had been afraid something like that had happened. She was glad the Winchesters were involved again. Deciding it was in her friend's best interest she said, "Krissy began hunting by herself about seven or eight months ago. At first, she'd just do local stuff, but about six months ago she started staying gone longer. I don't know how she got around, but I think she was stealing cars. She'd always show back up when Garth was due, then she'd take off again. She would call a couple of times a week to check in and let me know she was okay. It's been a week since I've talked to her, and I was scared. That's why I called you."
"I'm glad you did, Josephine," Dean said gently. He was seething, but his anger wasn't for the young woman on the other end of the call, and he didn't see the need to take it out on her. Krissy would have a lot to answer for when he got his hands on her. "You've answered a lot of questions Sam and I had about what Krissy is doing." He glanced over at his brother and raised an eyebrow at the question he quietly mouthed. "Other than Krissy's disappearing act, have you and Aiden had any problems?"
Josephine was a little surprised at the question. "No, everything is fine."
"Well, if anything comes up, you call us, okay. I mean it, Josephine. Call us for any reason." He shared a silent look with Sam to ask his brother if he was satisfied.
"Okay, thanks," she responded.
"Just so you know, Krissy won't be coming back there - at least for a while. She's going to be staying with us, and we'll be making sure she stays safe."
"That's good. I'm glad."
Dean quickly ended the call and pulled the Impala back onto the road. He was quiet for a moment before commenting, "this just keeps getting better and better."
"I'm not going to argue with you on that one," Sammy responded.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
A ding sounded, notifying Dean that he had received a text message. Pulling his phone from his shirt pocket, he handed it to Sam. "See who that is," he directed, not taking his eyes from the road.
Sam accepted the device and thumbed it open. Neither he nor Dean kept their cell phones locked. They often had to access them in a hurry and having to key in a pin or use any other security protocol would only slow them down. "It's Jody. She said that she thinks it would be safer for everyone if we act like there's no connection between us." He considered that for a moment. "She's probably right." Dean grunted, and Sam took that as agreement. He texted Jody back. "This is Sam. Dean and I agree. We're using the names Dean Abrams and Samuel Abrams and are listed in the guardianship order as Krissy's maternal uncles." A moment later he sent another text: "We're about half an hour out." He received a thumbs up emoji in response, followed by another text from Jody. "After you leave the office with Krissy, take her to my house. The spare key to the backdoor is underneath a concrete statue by the shed. I'll be there 45 minutes after you head over. We can talk in more detail then. I will expect answers."
Sam read the text message to Dean.
"Sounds like a good plan to me," Dean responded. He turned his attention back to the road and the thoughts running through his mind.
A little over half an hour later the Impala pulled into the parking lot of the Sioux Falls Sheriff's Department. Both men got out of the vehicle and stood looking at the building. "Well," Dean says. "Here goes nothing." Sam nodded in understanding and agreement. Their lives as they knew them were about to change.
"May I help you," the lady sitting at the front counter asked as Sam and Dean approached.
"Sam Abrahms and Dean Abrahms here to see Sheriff Mills about our niece, Krissy Chambers," Sam stated, smiling slightly in greeting.
The receptionist gestured to a row of chairs lining the nearby wall. "If you'll have a seat, I'll let Sheriff Mills know you're here."
Dean hadn't missed the look of relief that had flashed over the woman's face at Sam's pronouncement before she could school her features. He had a bad feeling about what that had meant.
"Mr. Abrahms?" Dean and Sam looked up at the question that came from a doorway on the far side of the room. The two men rose to their feet and nodded at Jody.
"Please, call me Dean," he said as he stepped forward and extended his hand in greeting. "This is my brother, Sam," he said gesturing at the other man, who stepped forward to do the same. "It will get rather confusing if you keep calling us Mr. Abrams."
Jody nearly grinned at the man's charming smile. She knew him well enough to know that it was ingrained in his DNA. She fully understood why he often had women falling at his feet. "If you gentlemen would follow me to my office. We have some things to discuss and some paperwork to complete before I turn your niece over to you."
They followed as Jody led them to an office mid-way down the long hallway. They immediately took seats in front of the wooden desk that was piled high with stacks of papers. Jody moved to sit on the other side. Turning to her computer, she quickly pulled up a file.
"Could I get your full names and addresses?" she asked without preamble.
The two men exchanged a glance. It was a good thing Jody had sent them that text message, or they would have been worried at her demeanor. Turning back to her, they gave her the information.
"Do you have an order or other document granting you custody or naming you as the legal guardian of the minor known as Krissy Chambers?"
"Um," Sam stated. "We do, but we don't have a copy of it with us. I misplaced our copy and couldn't find it before we had to leave. I had the court email me a copy. If I could get access to a computer, I could print it out for you." He held up his phone, indicating that he could readily access the document.
Jody gave him a hard look that clearly told him he was full of shit, but she continued. "Email it to my secretary. She can print it out," she said, giving him the email address before picking up the phone and telling her secretary to expect to receive the document.
A few minutes passed in awkward silence before there was a knock on the closed door. "Come in," Jody directed. She watched the reactions of the men in front of her at the appearance of her very pregnant secretary. Despite her size, Dean was assessing her attractiveness, while Sam rose to his feet to take the documents from her.
"Thank you," he said with an appreciative nod as he accepted the papers from her.
Jody dismissed her with an appreciative, "thanks, Sonja." She wanted to tell the other woman to go home and put her feet up, but Sonja had insisted she was still more than capable of performing her job and wasn't going anywhere until her baby decided to make its appearance.
Turning her attention back to the matter at hand, Jody flipped through the papers Sam had handed to her. She didn't know how they'd gotten them on such short notice, and she wasn't going to ask. The guardianship order clearly named Dean Abrams and Samuel Abrams as legal guardians of Krissy Chambers. That was good enough for her, and would pass muster if her file ever got audited.
"I have to ask, gentlemen," she said, folding her hands on top of her desk. "Do you have any idea how Krissy ended up trespassing on private property in my town?"
Once again, the two men shared a glance. This time it was Dean who spoke. "We both travel for work. But usually one of us is always home with Krissy. It so happened that a few days ago, Sam had to leave a couple of hours before I got home. We figured at fifteen Krissy was old enough to be left alone for a few hours." The story they'd rehearsed flowed easily. "We've been looking for her ever since, and neither of us have any idea how or why she ended up here. Nor do we have any idea why she would have been at that house."
Jody nodded and typed the information into the report she was preparing. The story sounded plausible enough to pass muster. She finished the paperwork and printed it out. She handed it to Sam to read. Once he'd perused it and passed on to Dean for his review, she held out a pen. "Sign it, and I'll have one of my deputies bring Krissy in."
Dean looked up from scrawling his alias on the document. "She give you any trouble?"
Jody hung up the phone she'd used to contact the deputy supervising Krissy and sat back in her chair. "I initially had her in one of our holding cells, but I had her moved to a spare office under constant supervision of one of my deputies. She expressed her displeasure at being held here by throwing her breakfast tray at the wall. She was moved so the mess could be cleaned. I decided to leave her there as the cell was needed for someone else. She hasn't been left alone at any time."
"Anything else," Sam asked, almost reluctantly. Based on his limited prior interactions with one Krissy Chambers, he couldn't imagine her taking her present situation lightly, despite Dean's earlier warning to behave.
"Let's just say she's been very," Jody hesitated, searching for the right word to adequately describe Krissy's behavior. "Vocal about her present circumstances," she continued. She watched as Dean's face hardened in anger. The man's emotions were easy to read. Sam, on the other hand, was almost an enigma. His facial expression hadn't changed, but she knew him well enough to read the change in his body language. He was angry, too.
"We'll be discussing that with Krissy in great detail later. I can promise you that," Dean said, meeting Jody's eyes. She had no doubt the man meant what he said. Given the look on his face when he said it, she almost - almost - felt sorry for the girl. She's seen Dean when he'd been angry, and she'd faced monsters less scary. But, given Krissy's behavior that day, Jody couldn't help the sense of satisfaction she felt at knowing the teenager was going to get her comeuppance at the hands of Dean Winchester.
A knock on the door prevented any further discussion. "Enter," Jody directed. She and the two men with her stood and watched as the door opened and a deputy led a handcuffed Krissy Chambers into the room.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
Krissy was still seething over Dean's statements during their telephone conversation. As far as she was concerned, Dean had already given her permission to hunt by leaving her with Aiden and Josephine - not that his permission was needed to begin with. After all, he really had no authority over her. He was just someone who had interfered at the wrong time. She couldn't understand why he was refusing to just spring her from this place so she could go back to doing what she was meant to do. Plus, in her opinion, vampires were the scourge of the earth and were to be exterminated at all costs, regardless of who was injured in the process. Really, she was providing a service to humanity. She just had to somehow get Dean to see that. It shouldn't be that hard for him to understand. After all, he and Sam provided the same service.
But, instead of fixing it so that bitch of a sheriff would let her go, he'd left her here. First, Sheriff Mills had locked her in a holding cell, then they'd moved her into a spare office with the man she mentally referred to as Deputy Asshole watching her every move. She hadn't even been allowed to go to the bathroom by herself. A female deputy had accompanied her. She'd been watching for a chance to escape, but one hadn't presented itself.
Krissy looked up as Deputy Asshole (whose name she hadn't bothered to learn) came to stand beside her. "Come on," he said as he grasped her by the upper arm. "Your uncles are here to get you." Uncles? Krissy was momentarily confused. Then, it dawned on her. Sam and Dean must be masquerading as her uncles in order to get her out of this place. She grinned at the possibilities that presented - especially the possibility that she could be back out on the hunt as soon as tonight.
XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX
"I believe those are unnecessary now, Deputy Blevins," Jody said, indicating the handcuffs that secured Krissy's wrists at the front of her body.
"Yeah, Deputy Blevins, these aren't necessary," Krissy smirked as she held her arms out for the deputy to unfasten and remove the handcuffs. She was oblivious to the hard glare Dean was sending her way.
"Thank you," Jody said kindly toward the deputy. "You are relieved of duty. Take the rest of the day off, you've earned it." She knew his duty that day hadn't been pleasant, and she wanted to reward him for having to put up with the spoiled brat. She waited until he had nodded his thanks and appreciation and stepped out of the room and closed the door behind himself before turning to study Krissy.
Dean spoke before Jody could say anything. "Sit," he ordered, pointing to the chair he'd just vacated. He watched Krissy expectantly, waiting for her to comply. "Now," he barked when she didn't move quickly enough to suit him. The command in his voice was very apparent, and Jody approved.
Dean counted to ten, gaining only marginal control of his temper, before he stalked to where Krissy leaned nonchalantly against the closed door. Sam just shook his head. Jody didn't know if it was in disbelief at Krissy's audacity or in pity for the girl. For herself, she schooled her features to conceal the satisfaction she was feeling at the idea that the brat was about to be brought to task in a way Jody and her deputies could not.
Grasping Krissy by the upper arm, he pulled her forward and landed a hard swat to her backside.
"Ow, you motherfucker!"
Dean landed another swat that brought Krissy to her toes just before he forced her to sit in his previously vacated chair. "Watch your mouth." He leaned over her shoulder and said quietly in her ear, "you want to play games? Let's play one I like to call three strikes. The rules are very simple - you lose the attitude and behave like the polite young lady I know you can be, or three strikes and I bust your ass. Got it?" His voice was hard, clearly telling Krissy he meant business. She nodded her understanding, and he gave her shoulder a hard squeeze to emphasize the seriousness of his threat.
Jody watched the interaction between Dean and Krissy and understood immediately why Dean had refused her offer of having another chair brought in for him as she and Sam had resumed their seats. While she didn't know what he had whispered in the girl's ear, based on the swats he'd already landed she had a pretty good idea what it entailed. Given the girl's behavior, she couldn't say she disagreed.
"I have spoken to the people residing at the Michaelson house. They have declined to press charges at this time. They do, however, reserve the right to do so in future if there should be a repeat of this morning's incident. While I am less than pleased with your behavior while in this office, I believe that is a matter to be addressed by your uncles rather through legal process, and I have no doubt they will do so. Therefore, you are free to go." Jody stood. "Young lady, I do not expect to ever see you in my office again. If I do, the consequences will be much more serious. Am I understood?
"Yeah," Krissy said as she slumped in her seat. Dean shook his head in disbelief at her blatant disrespect and pulled her to her feet with an iron grip on her upper arm. "Strike one," he said. "You want to try that again?"
"Nope," the teenager responded.
"Strike two," Dean replied and the hard swat he landed on her backside again brought Krissy to her toes and could clearly be heard throughout the room.
"What the fuck, Dean?" she demanded, turning to look at him. She couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't the way she'd expected this to go, and she was having a hard time accepting it.
"Answer Sheriff Mills properly, or do you want to go for strike three? I'm sure Sheriff Mills wouldn't mind letting us borrow her office for a few minutes."
Jody schooled her features and didn't allow a smirk to show. Yes, she thought, Dean was more than willing and capable of addressing Krissy's behavior.
Krissy sensed the man standing behind her was deadly serious. Gritting her teeth against the idea of having to comply with his orders, she turned to face Jody. "I apologize for my actions while here. They were inappropriate, and I do know better. It won't happen again."
"You made that a lot harder than it had to be," Dean said a few minutes later as he escorted Krissy from Jody's office toward the front of the building. Once they reached the Impala, he opened the back passenger door and waited for her to climb inside. Leaning down so that he was at eye level with her, he continued, "I didn't know your dad well enough to know whether or not he would have let you get away with acting like that. But I'm warning you right now, Sammy and I won't. I seriously advise you to lose that attitude you're sporting or those swats I delivered inside will feel like love pats." He didn't wait for her response before straightening and closing the door. Nothing else was said as he slid behind the wheel and started the vehicle's powerful engine.
As the Impala pulled out of the parking lot, Sam's cell phone dinged. He opened it to see a text message from Jody. "My house. See you in 45." He sighed in resignation. He had a feeling that Krissy wasn't the only one who would have some explaining to do.
TBC