Author's Note: Once again, thank you to everyone who took the time to post a review, or who have favorited or followed this story. It's always satisfying to know other people are enjoying my efforts.

CHAPTER 5

"Could you turn that crap down?" Krissy demanded from the back seat of the Impala. "I can't hear myself think."

Dean scowled at her in the rearview mirror. "Driver picks the music, passenger shuts her pie hole." Secretly Dean realized that the music was a little loud, but he wasn't going to turn it down just because the brat had demanded it, especially after the argument they'd had not even an hour before over going to Carson Springs to get her things from the house she'd shared with Aiden and Josephine. If she'd asked nicely, then he would have considered it. As it was, he was tempted to reach over and turn the volume up a little more.

In response, Krissy just turned her music up louder. She was listening through earphones, but the music playing in the car was loud enough to bleed through. She sighed and closed her eyes. The music was blaring in her ears, but she couldn't hear anything else but the sounds of Justin Beiber. That suited her just fine at the moment.

Sam had a headache from the noise and lack of sleep. They'd been in the car for almost five hours, and they still had at least another hour to go before they got to the bunker. In short, he was done. "Enough," he said sharply and loudly enough to cut through the music. Dean raised an eyebrow in question as he glanced over at him, but Krissy either didn't hear him or was ignoring him.

Realizing he wasn't going to get the response he wanted from either of them, Sam reached over and turned the Impala's sound system off.

"What the hell, Sam?" Dean demanded.

Sam gave him a hard look that clearly told his brother he was not in a mood to be ignored or questioned. The younger Winchester didn't reach that point often, but Dean had learned that when it did happen it was best to just go along with it. Raising one hand in a conciliatory gesture, he said, "okay, fine, have it your way."

"I will," Sam replied as he shifted in his seat to look back at Krissy. She had her eyes closed, and given the volume of the music was so loud he could clearly hear it through her earphones, he knew she likely hadn't heard him. Taking advantage of his long reach and the fact that she was sitting in the middle of the backseat, Sam reached out and grabbed the cord of the earphones and yanked, causing the ear pieces to pop out of her ears.

"What the fuck?" she demanded as she opened her eyes to glare at Sam.

Sam glared back at her and was slightly pleased to see her shrink back in her seat a little. "Watch your language," he said sternly. "Turn the music down to an acceptable level so that we can't hear it."

Krissy glared at him as she turned the volume down then reinserted the ear pieces into her ears. She muttered something under her breath that Sam couldn't quite make out, but chose to ignore.

He gave her another hard look before he turned back around in his seat. He'd no sooner settled again and closed his eyes in hopes of alleviating his headache when the volume increased. It wasn't as loud as before, but he could distinctly hear the music coming from the backseat.

Turning back around, he again yanked the earphone cord, removing the buds from her ears. "Turn it down and leave it turned down, or I will take your phone. Understood?"

Krissy didn't respond, but pulled on the earphone cord, trying to remove it from Sam's hand. Sam was having none of it. He reached out and grabbed her phone, pulling it out of her grasp.

"Hey, give that back!" she demanded.

"I asked you a question, young lady. I want an answer."

"Yes," Krissy said between her teeth. She was seething, and she didn't care if Sam knew it.

"Yes, what?"

"Yes, sir," came her snide response.

Sam eyed her for a moment, causing her to squirm in her seat. She was starting to wonder if she'd pushed the more laid back Winchester brother too far and just what he would do about it.

"Lose the attitude and do as you're told. If I have to turn around again for any reason I'm taking your phone, got it?" Sam's eyes bored into Krissy's with a hard look that clearly told her he was serious.

"Yes, sir," Krissy answered more quietly, a little cowed by Sam's suddenly stern demeanor. For a reason she really couldn't explain, his scowl and stern voice had affected her much more than Dean's ever had - maybe because it wasn't his default setting, like it seemed to be for the older Winchester.

Sam nodded and turned back around to resume his previous position. Dean looked over at his younger brother in surprise. That sternness and temper wasn't a side of Sam he saw very often, and he approved.

Silence filled the car for the next few minutes. Dean was almost reluctant to break it, but he spoke up. "We're coming up on Blue Hill. What do you say we stop at the diner there and get something to eat. I bet we could all use a break."

Sam opened his eyes and turned his head to look at his brother. "Yeah, that sounds good to me."

"Krissy?" Dean asked, wanting her input as well. When she didn't respond, he called her name again, a little sharper and louder this time.

"What?"

"You good with stopping to get some dinner and taking a break?" he asked, growing impatient at having to repeat himself.

"Yeah, whatever," Krissy responded.

"Yeah, whatever," Dean repeated under his breath. They hadn't been together a full day and her attitude was already grating on his nerves. He sincerely hoped she'd lose it once she settled in at the bunker, or she was going to be in for a hard time because he wasn't going to put up with it much longer.

Twenty minutes later, the three were sitting in a corner booth at Lucille's, a diner the brothers frequently stopped at on their way back to the bunker from any trip that took them north along Highway 281. Krissy slid into the booth first as Sam sat opposite her. She'd expected Dean to sit beside his brother and glared at him as he gestured for her to move over.

"Scoot," he said. When she refused to move from where she sat in the middle of the long seat, Dean merely shrugged his shoulders. "Fine, have it your way," he commented as he slid into the padded seat to sit beside her, making himself comfortable and allowing his muscular frame to crowd her.

"Asshole," she said under her breath as she slid closer to the wall, putting space between herself and Dean. He chose to ignore it. Now wasn't the time or the place to call her on her language or attitude. He'd reserve that for when they had a bit more privacy.

"Well, I haven't seen you boys in a while," a middle-aged woman wearing a pink stereotypical diner waitress's uniform and white apron with a name tag that read "Bessie" greeted as she approached the table and laid menus on the table in front of them.

"We've been busy, Bessie," Sam responded as he treated her to a friendly smile that showed off his dimples.

"Who's your young friend?" Bessie asked curiously, earning a scowl from Krissy. She's waited on the Winchester brothers enough times to consider them to be at least semi-regulars, and she'd never seen them in the diner with anyone else, not to mention a teenage girl.

"She's our niece," Sam answered. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dean elbow Krissy lightly, reminding her of her manners. "We're taking her home with us for a while," he continued, sticking to the story they were using to explain Krissy's presence.

"Well, that will be nice," Bessie responded. Her intuition told her there was more to it than that, but she knew better than to pry. "What can I get you folks to drink?"

"Coffee," both Dean and Sam answered.

Krissy glanced at the drink options listed on the back of the menu. "Mountain Dew."

Sam nearly cringed at the thought of the bright yellow, syrupy, highly caffeinated drink, but he didn't say anything regarding her choice.

"I'll go get you those drinks while you decide what you want," Bessie said as she walked away from the table.

Dean nodded his thanks, and the three were silent as they looked through the menu. The food offered was standard diner fare - leaning heavily toward fried meats and burgers. Dean, for one, was in Heaven and anticipated finishing his meal with a big slice of pie. He hoped they had cherry.

Bessie returned a few minutes later to deliver their drinks. "Everyone ready to order?" Everyone nodded, and one by one gave their orders. Dean, of course, ordered a double cheeseburger with extra onions and fries. He was delighted to learn that they did, in fact, have a freshly baked cherry pie. That bit of news lightened his mood slightly.

After Bessie left to put their orders in with the kitchen, Krissy pulled out her cell phone, completely ignoring the two brothers who sat staring into their respective cups of coffee. No one said a word until their food was delivered.

After the food was delivered and eaten, Krissy gave Dean's shoulder a hard shove, trying to dislodge him from his seat. "Move, I have to go to the restroom, and you're blocking the way."

"First of all," Dean said as he turned to glare at her. "Is that how you ask nicely? I know you've been taught manners. Use them. Second, are you going to try to pull the same disappearing act you did earlier?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Winchester, would you please exit the booth so that I can leave it as well to go to the restroom," Krissy responded in a sarcastically sweet voice. She shrugged and sat back in her seat when he didn't move immediately. "I guess I'll just end up peeing all over the back seat of your precious car when I can't hold it any longer. It's a bit embarrassing, not to mention uncomfortable, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

Dean glared at her a moment before moving to stand up. As she slid past him, Dean grabbed her arm to keep her from walking off and leaned down to speak softly in her ear. "You have 5 minutes, then we're going to come looking for you. If you know what's good for you, you'll take care of your business and come straight out. Don't try to run." Letting go of her arm, he stepped back and allowed her to go on her way.

Sam rose as well. "We might as well go ahead and pay. We can wait for her by the door," he said. That they would have a better view of the restroom area went unspoken. He went and paid for their food before moving to join Dean by the diner's entrance.

Dean glanced down at his watch. By his reckoning, Krissie had been in the restroom a good ten minutes. "You think one of us should go in after her?" he asked Sam.

Sam shook his head as he looked around the diner. "Not yet, there's no reason to embarrass her at this point." He spotted who he was looking for. "Be back in a minute," he said over his shoulder as he walked off.

"Bessie, could you do my brother and me a favor," he asked as he approached the waitress.

"What is it, sweetie," she asked. Of the two brothers she preferred him, with his calm, quiet manner, over the more brash Dean.

"Well, our niece went to the restroom, and she's been in there for a long time. We're afraid there's something going on. To be honest with you, Bessie, she's coming to live with us because she got into some trouble at home, and she's not all that happy about it. My brother and I are concerned that she may have tried to take off. Could you step into the ladies' room and check on her for us? Please."

Bessie studied Sam for a moment and, deciding he was being sincere and not trying to play her, nodded. "I'll check on her for you." She'd known there was something more going on those three than met the eye, she thought to herself as she headed toward the door to the women's restroom. She was glad to see her instincts were still as accurate as they'd always been.

She entered the restroom and looked around. It was small, with only two stalls and a single sink. A baby changing station was situated underneath a small, high set window. It was easy for her to see that Krissy wasn't in the room. The doors to both stalls were open. The changing station was lowered, and the window was open.

Frowning, Bessie quickly turned and left the room. She nearly ran into Sam who was standing just outside the door. "She's not in there, and the window is open."

"Dammit," Dean said harshly at the same time that Sam thanked Bessie for checking the restroom for him.

"Do you need me to call the police or something?" Bessie asked, now concerned about the teenage girl. Neither of her uncles looked very happy at the moment, and who knew where she had gone.

"No," answered Sam. "We can track her down ourselves. It's sorta what we do for a living."

"Good luck, then," Bessie said as she moved back toward the counter to wait on the customer sitting there. She watched the two men leave the dinner and walk to a classic black Impala sitting in the parking lot.

"You still have your keys?" Sam asked as they exited the dinner. "She didn't lift them did she?"

"No," Dean said as he pulled them out of his front jeans pocket. "I definitely would have felt her going after them." When he reached the vehicle he immediately unlocked the trunk and scanned its contents. "Her stuff's still here. I don't think she tried to run," he said as he slammed the lid and moved around to open the driver's door. "She doesn't seem the type to leave her things behind."

Sam pulled the backpack out of the footwell of the front passenger seat and withdrew his laptop. He booted it up and linked it to the mobile hotspot on his cell phone. "You have her cell number?" he asked as he pulled up the program he intended to use to track her.

When Dean rattled it off, Sam began searching. "Found her," he said triumphantly less than ten minutes later. "She's in a Dollar General about two blocks east." He sent the information to his phone, so he could continue to track her, and closed his laptop. "Let's go."

Dean started the engine and pulled out of his parking spot. He was going to kill Krissy when he got his hands on her. He didn't know what kind of stunt she was trying to pull, but he was far from amused by it.

It took less than five minutes for Dean and Sam to arrive at the Dollar General. Dean easily found a parking space near the door, and both brothers quickly entered the store.

There was no one at the register when they entered. Both brothers stood just inside the entrance scanning the interior to see if they could spot Krissy. When they didn't see her, Dean headed into the interior of the store, moving toward the aisles on the left, while Sam took the ones on the right.

Dean had passed two aisles before he spotted Krissy. He watched as she glanced around before plucking a candy bar from the shelf and sliding it into her jacket pocket. She jumped when Dean, moving silently, stepped up behind her and ordered, "put it back, now."

She turned to face him. "I don't know what you're talking about, Dean."

"Yes, you do. Put it back, little girl, along with anything else you've helped yourself to a five finger discount on." When she didn't obey him, he leaned in closer. "I told you once I would frisk you. I'd have done it then, and I'll do it now - and I won't be gentle about it."

By this time, Sam had found them and had come to stand behind Krissy, effectively sandwiching her between them. He'd heard enough of their conversation to know what was happening. "Kristina Leigh Chambers, I suggest you do as you are told. You are in enough trouble already, you don't want to add to it," he said. His voice was low and stern, clearly telling her he meant business.

Dean smirked at Sam's use of her full name. He supposed his younger brother had gotten it from her school records. Regardless, he approved and mentally filed the information away for later use.

Krissy stepped back and repositioned herself so that she could see both brothers. She then studied Sam's sternly set face for a moment before looking away. Reaching into her jacket pocket, she withdrew a candy bar and a tube of lipstick. She placed both on the shelf in front of her.

"Is that everything?" Sam asked, not bothering to hide the disappointment and suspicion in his voice.

Krissy sighed heavily and reached into her other jacket pocket and pulled out a bottle of nail polish and tossed it on the shelf in front of her. "That's everything." She hadn't really been intending to steal anything. In fact, she had planned to put everything back before she left the store - well, except the candy bar. She had a little money in her pocket and was going to buy the candy bar. She'd just wanted to check to see if her skills had gotten rusty. What else was she supposed to do while she waited to see how long it took her two jailers to show up?

"Are you sure?"

"Yes," she answered sharply.

"Yes, what?" demanded Sam. Normally, he wasn't as demanding about that sort of thing as Dean, but at the moment he was pissed and didn't appreciate the tone of voice she was using at the moment any more than he had appreciated the one she'd used earlier in the car.

"Yes, sir." Her voice was, again, too sharp for Sam's liking, but Dean interrupted him before he could say anything further.

Dean had seen and heard enough. He grabbed Krissy by the wrist. "Come on," he said, as he turned and started toward the front of the store, pulling Krissy behind him.

She had no choice but to follow, having to nearly run to keep up with his long, angry strides. With Sam following close behind her, she felt like a prisoner being escorted to her cell. Dean and Sam were both so intent on getting her out of there and to the car that neither of them acknowledged the "good night" from the clerk who had returned to his station at the checkout register.

Dean opened the back driver's side door to the Impala and practically shoved Krissy into the vehicle. As he braced one hand on the roof of the car and the other on the door and leaned down so he was face to face with her, it struck him that this was the second time that day he'd been in this position. He hadn't expected everything with Krissy to be sunshine and rainbows. He knew her enough to know that. But, he hadn't expected her to be this defiant and bratty, and he was at a bit of a loss as to how to handle it other than the tried and true Winchester way - whooping ass.

"I don't know what's going through your head or why you're acting this way, but it stops now," he said, his voice hard. "We will discuss this when we get to the bunker and have some privacy. In the meantime, you'd better be a perfect angel the rest of the way there, or I swear to God I will pull off the road at the next secluded spot I find and blister your ass right then and there." Dean didn't wait for a response before sharply closing the car door. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly in an attempt to calm himself down a bit. He shook his head in disbelief at his current situation before opening the driver's door and sliding behind the wheel. He shared a look with Sam before reversing out of the space and peeling out of the parking lot like the hounds of Hell were after him.

XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX

Sam stopped Dean as he started down the stairs from the entry to the lower level of the bunker by placing a hand on his shoulder. At the same time he gestured with his other hand for Krissy to precede them down the stairs. "You go on down and wait for us. We'll be there in a minute. I need to speak to Dean privately for a moment."

Krissy glared at Sam as she passed. She was curious about what they were going to talk about. They're probably going to argue over which one of them is going to beat me, she thought with a huff. Given what had happened earlier in the day, Krissy had been well aware of the potential outcome of her actions. The threat of another spanking hadn't kept her from doing what she'd done. Oh well, it was what it was. No regrets, she reminded herself as she stepped off the bottom of the stairs into the strangest room she'd seen outside of a museum.

Dean watched as Krissy descended the staircase then turned to look at his younger brother. Irritation was clear on his face. "What is it, Sammy?" he asked gruffly.

"We're all tired and cranky," Sam started, but was interrupted by Dean's harsh laugh.

"Cranky? You make us sound like a bunch of two year old who missed their nap," Dean countered. "Try pissed."

Sam acknowledged his brother's statement with a nod of his head. "Yeah, I get that. I'm pissed, too. Regardless, none of us are really in any shape to deal with all this rationally tonight. Let's send Krissy to bed, and get some rest ourselves. We can deal with her behavior today and what living here with us will entail tomorrow after breakfast," he said quietly so that his voice wouldn't carry into the room below.

Dean ran his hand over his face. He had to admit, at least to himself, the lack of sleep and the day's events were catching up to him. He was exhausted, physically and mentally. "Yeah, you're probably right," he conceded. He paused to look over the railing at the young woman in the room below. She'd dumped her bags on the map table and was wandering around the room. From his vantage point, she looked exactly like what she was - a teenage girl with a too heavy load on her shoulders. "Okay, Sammy, we'll do it your way." He thought for a moment before continuing. "Let's put her in the room next to mine. That way I can keep an ear out for any attempts she might make to run." He scowled. "I gotta bad feeling that we ain't seen the last of that shit.

Sam nodded in agreement. Things weren't going to be easy on any of them for a while. He nodded as he started down the stairs.

"Come have a seat," Dean ordered moments later as he pulled out a chair and sat at the map table. "We need to talk." He eyed Krissy expectantly.

She eyed him skeptically, not sure she could trust him.

"We're just going to talk, Krissy," Sam said as he took a seat beside Dean. "Please, just do as he asked," he said, his voice betraying his exhaustion.

She huffed out a breath and moved to pull out the chair across from Dean. She plopped down into the seat and crossed her arms over her chest. "What?" she demanded.

Dean sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. He was a hair's breadth away from losing his temper. "Sammy," he said, indicating to his younger brother that he needed to start off this discussion.

Understanding exactly what Dean meant, Sam took a deep breath. After letting it out in a long exhale, he said, "Krissy, I know you understand that your behavior when we stopped for dinner was unacceptable." He held up his hand to stop Krissy when she started to speak. He wasn't in the mood for interruptions. "We aren't going to discuss it tonight. We're all tired, and we all need some rest. Instead, we're going to table this until in the morning. But, Krissy, we will be discussing your actions and what you can expect living here with us."

Dean, having gained at least a tenuous hold on his temper, stepped in. "Between now and then, though, you'd best think about what you did and why you did it. I'm going to want answers, young lady. I'm warning you right now, a shrug and I don't know won't cut it."

"Yeah, whatever," Krissy said as she slumped in her chair. She eyed both Winchester brothers. She'd expected either or both of them to call her on her disrespectful response. She wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed when neither of them reacted.

Sam pulled his chair back and stood. "I'll give you a grand tour of the bunker tomorrow. For now," he said, gesturing for Krissy to join him. "I'll show you where your room and the bathroom are. I think we could all use a good night's sleep."

Krissy grabbed her bags from where she'd dropped them and moved to follow Sam. She was tired, but she wasn't sure she'd be able to sleep. There was just too much on her mind at the moment.

"Good night, Krissy," Dean said almost pleasantly as she passed by where he was sitting.

"Good night," she responded automatically.

Dean waited until both Krissy and Sam were out of the room. Then, eying the bag he'd dropped in the middle of the floor, he shrugged his shoulders to try and relieve some of the tightness that had set up in his muscles. He sighed in a combination of resignation, frustration, and exhaustion, as he stood and headed toward the library and the liquor cabinet they kept there.

XxxxxX XxxxxX XxxxxX

Sam waited for Krissy to catch up to him. When she was close enough, he dropped a companionable hand on her shoulder. "Come on," he said, his voice having regained its friendlier tone. "Let's get you to bed." He was still upset with her, but at the moment showing his anger and frustration wouldn't help matters. So, he'd made a concerted effort to push those feelings aside for the time being. He'd be ready to call upon them again in the morning.

Krissy eyed Sam, a little suspicious at the sudden change in his manner, but she allowed him to lead her through the bunker to the corridor where the living quarters were located and stopped in front of Room 12. "Dean's in Room 11, and I'm in Room 21 down the hall. Bathrooms are across the hall. There's a kitchen down the hall in Room 23." He opened the door to Room 12 and stepped back, allowing Krissy to enter first. "The rooms are pretty basic. We'll go get your stuff from Carson Springs in the next few days, and if there's anything more you need to make the room your own, we'll go shopping for it. Dean and I want you to be comfortable here."

"It's fine," Krissy responded. The room held a double bed with a nightstand on either side, dresser and a desk. To her surprise, there was also a sink along one wall. She'd never seen that before. She dropped her bags on the desk and sat down on the bed, testing the mattress. It was a little on the firm side, but it would do. "Thanks, Sam," she said quietly.

Sam nodded. "If you need anything, let me or Dean know. Come to the kitchen in the morning when you wake up," he said before leaving the room and closing the door behind him.

Once the door was closed, Krissy flopped back on the bed. She laid there for a few minutes before sitting up to unlace and remove her heavy boots. Moving up on the bed, she curled up on her side, hugging the extra pillow to her chest. She didn't try to stop the tears that began running down her cheeks.

Out in the corridor Sam leaned against the closed door. He hung his head and closed his eyes for a moment, saying a silent prayer to whoever might be listening that they were doing the right thing. After a moment or two he sighed and straightened and started down the hallway, intent on visiting the liquor cabinet in the library before going to bed.

When he entered the library Sam immediately spotted Dean slouched in an armchair, a glass of bourbon dangling from his hand. His head was back and his eyes were closed. For a moment, Sam thought Dean was asleep, but his brother raised his head as Sam made his way through the room to the liquor cabinet.

Dean took a sip of his bourbon and waited while Sam fixed his own drink and moved to sit in a nearby armchair.

"Do you think we're doing the right thing here, Sammy?" he asked.

Sam took a sip of his drink before responding. "What other choice do we have, Dean? I'm sure part of what we saw today was her acting out and testing us. But the hunting? That tells us just how little she cares about the rules and her personal safety. If we can do something about that, I don't think we can ignore it."

Dean nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, I get that. But, are we the right people to do it? I mean, I have no idea what I'm doing here."

Sam took another sip. "Most parents don't. Dad sure didn't. We'll figure it out as we go along, and do the best we can."