A/N: Thank you for your comments, reviews, and kind words. You're all so nice! I'm sorry I haven't been consistent. I had a heard time earning my wifi back!
Brinley woke up to John's scanner on the nightstand beside them. "Unit 22 let me confirm. Mile marker 41, abandoned car. You need a workup?" said the woman's voice on the scanner. Brinley searched the room quickly to find John sitting at the small, circular table with a cup of coffee in front of him.
"Copy that. Possible 207. Better get forensics out here," a man's voice responded. She watched as John got up from the table, grabbed his jacket from behind the chair, and headed into the room with her brothers. Filled with curiosity, she jumped out of bed and followed after him. She watched as he slapped Dean's feet, and then Sam's.
"Sam, Dean, let's go," he stated.
"Mm-hmm," Dean replied as he sat up, rubbing his eyes. Sam sat up in the bed next to him.
"I picked up a police call," John said.
"What happened?" Sam asked.
"A couple called 911, found a body in the street. Cops got there everyone was missing. It's the vampires," John replied. Brinley found herself terrified.
"How do you know?" Sam asked.
"Just follow me, ok?" John ordered. Sam walked across the room, and put his jacket on.
"Huh, vampires. Gets funnier every time I hear it," Dean commented, still half asleep.
"What about me?" Brinley asked from the doorway. They all turned to face her. She folded her hands in front of her and she could feel them shaking against her waist.
"You stay here," John replied firmly.
"Can I please just stay in the car?" she asked, her voice shaking.
"No," John replied firmly.
Dean and Sam could see she was scared. "Dad," Dean intervened, "Maybe it's better if she comes with us."
"I said no," John replied firmly.
"Then I'll stay here with her," Sam replied as he nodded in Brinley's direction.
"Dammit Sam, I need all hands on deck and we don't have time for this nonsense," John growled with frustration.
"Dad, you just told an 11-year-old kid that vampires are real, and you expect her to feel safe here alone," Sam replied adamantly. John sighed with frustration as he glared in Sam's direction They never did see eye to eye on anything.
"Fine," John stated as he turned toward his daughter. "But you stay in the car? You hear?" he demanded as he pointed a finger in her direction. Relieved, Brinley nodded her head in agreement. She hurried and grabbed her blanket and her sneakers, and followed them out to the cars. John headed for his truck, and Brinley hurried for the Impala before John made her ride with him.
"Thanks guys," she said once they were safely inside the car.
"Just please stay in the car," Sam pleaded.
"I will, I promise," she replied. Dean was focused on keeping up with his Dad as they sped to find mile marker 41. "Do you think the vampires will be there?" Brinley asked worriedly.
"Nah, I'm sure they're long gone," Dean replied. John's truck suddenly rumbled to the side of the road in front of them, and Dean pulled in behind him. "Stay put," Dean stated firmly as he turned and looked at his sister before getting out of the car. "My wrath is nothing compared to Dad's."
"I know," Brinley grumbled as she crossed her arms against her chest.
Sam and Dean hopped out of the car. "You boys stay here," John said as he rushed past them. Sam and Dean exchanged annoyed glances. Brinley rolled down her window and attempted to peer around John's truck to see what was going on, but could only see an ambulance blocking the way.
"I don't see why we couldn't have gone over with him," Sam said with annoyance.
"Oh don't tell me it's already starting," Dean grumbled as he wandered to the front of John's truck to get away from his brother.
"Sam?" Brinley questioned through her open window. Sam went to her window and peered inside. "Could I come out there and wait with you guys?"
"It's not a good idea," Sam replied with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Fine," Brinley sighed. "Why does he have to be so bossy all the time?" she questioned.
"That's just it, he wants us to know HE IS THE BOSS," Sam replied with frustration to his voice.
"Yeah, well, I don't like it," she huffed. Sam smiled and reached into the window and pat her head while Dean made his way back to them.
"Dad's on his way back," Dean said. Brinley waited eagerly as John arrived. Although she was terrified at the thought of vampires, she was intrigued and wanted to know more.
"What have you got?" Dean asked. Brinley listened intently.
"It was them all right. Looks like they're heading west. We'll have to double back to get around that detour," John replied.
"How can you be so sure?" Sam asked with frustration.
"Sam...," Dean sighed.
"I just wanna know we're going in the right direction," Sam snapped at his brother.
"We are," John stated.
"How do you know?" Sam demanded.
"I found this," John replied as he handed something to Dean. Brinley stuck her head out to window to see what it was.
"It's a...a vampire fang," Dean replied.
"Not fangs, teeth. The second set descends when they attack," John replied. He looked toward Sam. "Any more questions?" Sam looked away and stayed silent. "All right, let's get out of here, we're losing daylight," John urged. They started to get into their cars. "Hey Dean, why don't you touch up your car before you get rust? I wouldn't have given you the damn thing if I thought you were going to ruin it," John grumbled. Dean and Sam exchanged annoyed glances. "And Brinley, I want you to ride with me." Brinley rolled her eyes with dismay, but made sure no one saw. Realizing it wasn't a good time to challenge him, she reluctantly gathered her blanket and climbed out of the car.
They drove in silence for a while until John started talking. "Did your Mom ever tell you why she named you Brinley?" he asked.
"No," she replied. Brinley had no desire to talk to him, but she didn't want to make things worse for herself by ignoring him.
"That's where we met…..Brinley, Ohio," he replied. It was a small town, and your Mom loved it there. We were hunting werewolves."
"I never knew, but then again, everyone seems to think they need to keep secrets from me," she sighed with annoyance.
"No secrets here," John replied. "I promise to be up front and honest with you."
"Ok…..then what did you and my Mom fight about? Why did you leave? And why didn't you ever tell Sam and Dean about me?" Brinley questioned, grasping at her chance for answers. John sighed.
"I made some poor choices, I know that," he replied. "I didn't tell your brothers because….well….I didn't want them to think I was replacing their mother. My relationship with them has always been fragile, especially with Sam. And your Mom had every reason to leave me. She said I wanted revenge for my wife's death more than I wanted to be a Dad or a husband, and she was right. Even when I was around, I was never completely there…always preoccupied with something else. She deserved more and so did you." Brinley was silent as she processed everything he had said. "With all that being said, that's why I suggested you may be better off with a real family."
"How come I don't have a choice in any of this?" she demanded.
"First, watch your tone, I am your father," he warned. "And second, well….let's see, maybe because you're 11." John suddenly became preoccupied. "I think we're almost there." He picked up his phone and called Dean.
Meanwhile, in the impala. "Yeah Dad. All right, got it," Dean said as he hung up the phone. "Pull off at the next exit," he said to Sam whom driving.
"Why?" Sam demanded angrily.
"Cause Dad thinks we've got the vampire's trail," Dean replied.
"How?" Sam questioned angrily.
"I don't know, he didn't say," Dean replied. Sam suddenly gunned the engine, and Dean looked at him like he was crazy. Dean turned to look at John's truck as Sam passed it. Once in front of the truck, Sam slammed on the brakes, causing the Impala to swerve sideways in front of John's truck. They both stopped.
"Oh crap. Here we go," Dean sighed as Sam got out of the car. "Sam!" Dean yelled as he followed after him. John hopped out of the truck angrily and approached them with Brinley trailing behind.
"What the hell was that?" John demanded as he got in Sam's face. Brinley hurried to stand by Dean.
"We need to talk," Sam stated.
"About what?" John demanded.
"About everything. Where we going Dad? What's the big deal about this gun? Why didn't you ever tell us we had a sister? What's with all the secrets?" Sam questioned
"Sammy, come on, we can Q and A after we kill all the vampires," Dean urged.
"Your brother's right, we don't have time for this," John snapped.
"Last time we saw you, you said it was too dangerous for us to be together. You couldn't come when we found Brinley. You knew about her and never told us! And now out of the blue you need our help!" Sam yelled. Dean put his arm around Brinley's shoulders worried that Sam's reaction would upset her. "Now obviously something big is going down, and we wanna know what!"
"Get back in the car," John ordered.
"No," Sam stated firmly.
"I said get back in the damn car!" John yelled.
"Yeah, and I said no," Sam stated.
Dean released his arm from around Brinley and stepped closer to Sam. "Ok you made your point tough guy. Look we're all tired, we can talk about this later. Sammy, I mean it, come on," Dean urged as he grabbed his brother and pushed him toward the car. Sam glared at John the whole time. Brinley stood between John and her brothers, unsure of what to do next. She was shocked at the way Sam stood up to John, and realized what John meant when he said they had a fragile relationship.
"This is why I left in the first place," Sam mumbled.
"What'd you say?" John demanded.
Sam stepped back toward John. "You heard me," he snapped.
"Yeah. You left. Your brother and me, we needed you. You walked away, Sam!" John yelled.
"Sam...," Dean urged.
"You walked away!" John yelled as he stepped closer to Sam's face. Tears filled Brinley's eyes. It was no doubt that Sam was her favorite, and she hated to see John treating him so harshly.
"You're the one who said don't come back Dad, you closed that door not me. You were just pissed off that you couldn't control me anymore!" Sam yelled.
"Stop it, both of you!" Brinley cried out. They all looked in her direction. "I may only be 11, but you two are acting more immature than I ever have. I can't wait to move to Florida if this is what I have to look forward to!"
"Florida?" questioned Dean.
"Yeah, Dad thinks I'll be better off with my estranged uncle and his family that I never met," she replied. "Now I know why….this family is beyond dysfunctional….a bunch of asshats!"
"Hey!" John yelled as he grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. "Do you really want to test me right now? We can take a trip to the truck and adjust that attitude." He glared down her.
"No, sir," she pouted. "I just want you to stop being so mean," she said as she looked up at him. He released the grip he had on her and sighed. He knew he was taking his frustration with Sam out on her and it wasn't fair. Brinley immediately went to Dean's side and wiped the tears that fell from her eyes.
"Really Dad?!" Sam said accusingly, "And now this?"
"Dad, is this true?" Dean questioned. "Are you sending her away?"
"I was planning on talking to you boys about it," John replied defensively. Sam paced angrily back and forth behind them, and then made his way to the Impala.
"I think we all need some time to cool down," Dean suggested as he started toward the car after his brother. Brinley attempted to follow after him.
"Brinley, I want you with me," John stated from behind her. Brinley figured she had two choices…..pretend she didn't hear him or do what she was told. "Brinley," John's voice boomed when she didn't respond. She stopped and turned toward him. "Let's go," he ordered. She reluctantly followed after him to the truck. She was really starting to dread their "bonding" time together.