The vampire knight all sorted, dusted, and buried, the trio walked back to the Impala.

"I think lunch is definitely next in the schedule," Dean tossed out nonchalantly, attempting to bring some levity to the group. He opened the trunk and tossed his machete in before moving to the driver's side door. He held the door open, having pushed the driver's seat forward to let Nell climb in.

He could tell she was looking for an escape. Sam picked up on it too, conveniently finding himself tucked close behind her and tossing his machete into the trunk. She didn't really have any place to go, with the minivan parked next to them. So she reluctantly climbed into the car's back seat. The brothers shared a knowing look before climbing into their respective seats.

There wasn't any real struggle to get her in the diner, but the guys could tell she was just gearing up for a later escape. They'd just have to take it one step at a time.

Lunch ordered - a couple of lobster rolls and a salad. Sam wanted to make a comment at Nell wanting a lobster roll but wasn't sure how well it would go down. Dean didn't have as much of a problem with that but settled with just a cocky smirk at her once the waitress got her order and started walking off.

"What?" she tossed back to him.

"Aren't you afraid you might know him?"

She rolled her eyes. "I have never had a friend who was a crab, or a flounder, or even a seagull. Thought we covered this already."

He just laughed.

They settled back into a friendly silence. Each of them took their phones out and browsed at random things, which Sam couldn't help but smirk at. He never imagined the scene ever happening for his brother and himself. The added siren just made it even weirder.

He glanced over to Nell and noticed a bit on her phone that seemed to be showing the weather. But then he thought about it more.

"You were checking the tides," he said, slightly embarrassed when he immediately realized he had said it out loud. She looked at him, and he added, "Earlier when we were here. Before you said you'd go with us. You were checking the tides."

She put her phone back in her pocket. "Yes... Just in case, you know."

Friendly silence turned a bit awkward as their meals arrived. Sam saw Dean just kind of poking at his lobster roll and knew his brother was internally beating himself up. Probably even more, after that last note. He didn't blame him. He also couldn't help but blame himself as well - he had only half-heartedly attempted to give her an out earlier. But he was happy to have her along. And now...

"So...how long...before...what- whoever shows up?" Dean asked quietly.

Nell set her roll down. "I don't know. It depends on where the pod is... Not like I've kept in touch."

"Not even with your sister?" Sam asked, poking at the last bits of his salad.

"Whenever our paths cross. Without anyone noticing." She shrugged, playing with a chip before tossing it in her mouth. "Sirens...we have something like telepathy. With family members primarily. It can extend or adapt, you know, if you marry into a different pod or whatever. Depends. But it never really did with us. I think just because we were alone for so long."

"So she knows where you are?" Dean wasn't sure how he felt about that. That cuts the time down for sure, right?

"No no. Not all the time. We have to be somewhat close to even really register it. She would come a bit toward shore, and if she sensed me she would call out. And if I heard her, I would drop a little message in a bottle, so she could surreptitiously get it. But that was only every so often."

"You'd have to be near the water..." Sam added. When she nodded, he continued, "That has to be hard."

"I was gonna say - why stick to the shore? Plenty of land...in land," Dean said before finishing off half his roll.

"True..." she started. "I had a buddy, once. Pack a day smoker." The brothers shared a confused look, but let her continue. "He eventually had to quit. Doctor's orders and all that. So he did. Kicked the habit. And he was doing great. But he always had a full, sealed pack tucked up on top of one of his bookcases. I asked him once - why keep that temptation around? He said it wasn't a temptation. It was a reminder. Whenever he had a bad day and thought he wasn't doing all he could for his health, he would look up and see that pack. Still sealed. Untouched and dusty. And he would know - this was just one day. He was still fighting. Still succeeding."

"And how's he doing? Never cracked?" Dean asked curiously.

"He's dead." That had them shocked. She gave a small laugh. "Got hit by a bus walking to work. There was an ER nurse on the bus, and he swore that his last words were 'Should've kept smoking'." She shook her head and reached for another chip. "He saw the irony."

"Well...who's to say the smoking wouldn't have killed him sooner," Sam commented with a verbal shrug.

"Nah, not that irony." She laughed again. "Only reason he was walking to work was because he could. He felt better than he had in years and was walking all over the place. The irony was the bus that hit him. It was the bus he used to take to work."

After lunch was eventually snarfed down as much as willing, the trio made their way back to the Impala. This time, of course, Nell was fully ready to make her escape. But Dean was ready for it.

"We never really pinned down when the family was coming," he said, standing next to her in front of the car. Sam had angled towards the passenger seat but didn't open the door just yet. Just leaned on the roof.

"No, we didn't," Nell stated flatly. "But it doesn't really matter does it? It's not your problem. It's mine. Your job is done here." Dean started to argue, but she waved a hand at him. "No, really. I do appreciate it." This comment was to both of them, as she turned to nod at Sam and then back to Dean. "But there's nothing you can do."

Dean just stood there, eager for the fight but not sure how to go about it. And then it hit him. "We have at least the rest of today, right? Maybe even into tomorrow?" She nodded, not really seeing his point. "Ok. So - get in. We drive." He nodded, looking to his brother for backup. "We live in Kansas - gotta be the most land-locked state in the country. Not to mention - magic bunker!" This had him trip up. "Think there's wards against sirens on the bunker?"

Sam couldn't help but laugh. "Land-lock state, remember." Dean just shrugged.

Nell looked flabbergastedly between the two of them. "That's not the point. I'm not leaving."

"Why the hell would you want to stay?" Now Dean had his fight.

"What do you think they will do when they show up and I'm not here? Just 'Oh well. Missed her I guess.' and leave?"

Sam could see the point she was making. "Would they really attack the town?"

"As far as they would be concerned, the folks here are as good as aiding and abetting."

Dean glanced at his brother and knew he'd lost his backup. He'd also lost the fight if he was honest with himself. It was obvious she would want to protect the people in the town. She was willing to take on a nest of vampires for them, what were a couple of her own people.

He was pulled out of his thoughts when a hand reached up to stroke his arm. Nell was staring at him - steadfast and decided.

"It's ok. Really."

"It's not." He couldn't say it out loud. The whole thing was so ridiculous and frustrating.

"Dean..." his brother called out. He could hear it in Sam's voice too. The annoyed defeat.

Nell leaned up on the balls of her feet to give him a peck of a kiss on his cheek. Then walked around to give Sam a hug. "Thank you. Both."

And then she was walking off through the parking lot, not a single look back. And the Winchesters watched her go. Before long, she had blended in with the small crowd of folks meandering between shops and cars.

"I'm going to guess we are not leaving," came the quiet questioning statement from the passenger side of the car.

Dean walked to the driver's side, yanking the door open. "Hell no."