Chapter Text
Mildred looked at her phone, thumbing through to recent calls. Somehow part of her hoped to find something that wasn’t there before, but... Nothing. Just a handful of unanswered calls, all to the same number. She didn’t bother to scroll down, knowing she would only find weeks’ worth more of the same, and her message records didn’t look much different.
The girl placed the phone back unto her desk, the screen facing downward. It didn’t matter. Dean could ignore her for as long as he wanted, she’d be just fine.
Resolutely, Mildred returned to her reading, but before she even reached the third line, a soft ping broke her concentration. The girl’s attention shifted to a small notification window popping up at the top of her screen. Sammy.
The corners of her mouth curved up involuntarily. As much as she hadn’t been prepared for the sting of Dean ghosting her, she hadn’t anticipated Sammy’s enthusiasm to include her either. With Dean, their communication had always been brief and to the point - texting and one-sided phone calls had that effect - but with Sammy…The boy apparently carried his laptop along wherever he went, and it hadn’t been long before they had switched to email. Sam’s email correspondence, though, wasn’t like anything she had experienced before.
At first, they had been awkward and short. Neither of them really knew what to talk about. Finally, grasping at straws in her attempts to connect with a sibling she had only ever watched from a distance, Milly had started to ask about her brothers’ hunts.
It had started much like most of her communication with clients: polite, removed, simply requesting facts. No client of hers, however, had ever responded to such questions with the level of detail her little brother supplied. He was observant and meticulous, reporting each step in his thought process as if he were writing up a research paper for uni, and his emails were peppered with thoughtful theoretical questions about lore and hunting methods. Milly loved it.
As their emails grew longer, more and more of her little brother’s emotional side started to trickle through as well. That, unlike the intellectual discussion, was not something Mildred could return in equal measure. Still, she read and listened, and she learned.
Dean hadn’t ever talked much about Sam’s difficulties with their dad and the family dynamic. On occasion, things would slip through of course, but it was territory they mostly steered clear from to avoid falling back into the arguments that had driven them apart in the first place. Once her little brother appeared to be feeling more comfortable in their email correspondence, however, he had no such reservations. Half the time, Milly wondered if Sammy even really remembered that there was someone on the other side reading his emails and that she wasn’t just some kind of sentient journal.
She silently snorted at the thought. Mildred was just one letter off from ‘Riddle’ she supposed, but somehow she didn’t think Sammy would be slaughtering chickens or opening the chamber of secrets just yet.
Grinning in anticipation, Milly clicked to open her brother’s latest missive. It did not take long for her smile to start fading. The message was shorter than she had grown used to. A warning note more than a letter. Lawrence… Home. She couldn’t imagine that Dean would be okay with that. He’d promised, no, they had promised, that they would never go back there. She had never told him that she had had no choice but to break that promise. John wouldn’t take no for an answer, especially not from his nine-year-old daughter.
Her fingers rushed over the keys, and as soon as they hit enter, the laptop was closed. In minutes, Milly had thrown enough clothes for a couple of days into her mostly pre-packed hunting duffel. Now her eternally-out-of-place car keys and a note… She was nearly ready to leave when a pair of warm hands curled themselves around hers.
Milly looked up. Her hands started to move, but the girl in front of her gestured for her to wait. So Milly waited.
Her roommate plucked the note out of Mildred’s fingers. Her eyes moved quickly, and yet to Milly, the silence seemed to last for hours. When Josie put the note back down on the counter, she wasn’t sure what she was expecting.
“This isn’t just a normal job.” Milly looked down, only barely keeping her friend’s hands within her line of sight as she shifted her weight a little uncomfortably. She was itching to leave, but at the same time, that felt like the last thing she wanted to do. “Your brothers?”
Curse that girl’s insight. Milly offered a hesitant nod, unsure of what to do. There wasn’t any obvious judgement to be read in her roommate’s signs or expressions, but she felt bad, leaving again when Josie had only been back for a handful of days from her work trip. The girl had been amazing about Milly letting Sam stay in her room and everything too, never pressed when her friend didn’t want to talk. She deserved better than her but…
Soft fingers pushed a strand of hair behind Milly’s ear. “Be safe.”
The younger girl couldn’t help but smile. Strong arms enveloped her, and the subtle smell of coconuts filled her nose.
Milly was the first to let go.
“I’ll be back,” she tried to reassure the dark-haired girl in front of her. "It will be just a couple of days."
Josie nodded, reaching for something behind her on the counter. She rummaged through the fruit bowl for a few moments before pulling out something shiny with a grin so smug you’d think she had just solved a major mystery.
“Good hunting.” The signs came out a little awkward, seeing as the girl had her hands full, but that didn't reduce the impact of their familiarity. Milly's heart glowed warm in her chest, grateful for her friend's understanding and safe in the knowledge that she needn't attempt to express that. Josie knew.
So with a grin, Milly rolled her eyes and accepted the clementine her friend held out to her, together with the lost car keys. She signed a quick thanks and goodbye, before hoisting one bag onto her shoulder and grabbing hold of the other. Then, she was out the door.
Lawrence, Kansas
“I’m Sam Winchester, and this is my brother Dean.”
Dean blinked at his little brother’s interruption. He had been just in the middle of giving the woman who had opened the door to their childhood home his usual spiel since Mr Creepy Dreams was staring at the lady as if he had never seen another human being in his entire life, when Sammy decided to change directions and tell the woman the truth. The older Winchester was curious just how far the kid was planning to take that. Somehow he didn’t think this woman would be terribly impressed by “I had a bad dream, and now I think the demon who killed our mum might be hanging about in your house and be after your family” as justification for their interference. Not to mention that they were supposed to treat this as a normal job. Just another woman in just another house, nothing personal. Dean needed to pretend, no believe that to be the case. How else was he supposed to just deal with all this crap?
Seemingly unaware of his brother’s inner turmoil, Sammy continued his little chat, working that innocent smile of his. Still, Dean highly doubted the woman was just going to let them-
“That’s so funny! You know, I…” the woman’s soft stammer as she appeared to be searching her recollection caught the older man’s attention. “… I think I found some of your photos the other night.”
“You did?” The question slipped out before he had a chance to think about it. Despite his concerns, Dean couldn’t help feeling curious. Curious, and worried. He had figured that there wouldn’t be anything left, all their belongings burnt with the rest of the house. Had something latched on to them, was there more of their childhood still trapped between those walls?
“Yeah. You and a sister, right?” the woman smiled politely. It was all Dean could do to maintain a stiff grin and hope that Sam would deal with the mess he had already created.
Judging by the woman’s reaction, his brother must have given her some sign of confirmation, because after a second of silence she seemed to make up her mind and stepped back, inviting them in. Sammy seemed excited about it more than anything, but it was not without a healthy dose of trepidation that Dean crossed that threshold. He had sworn he wouldn’t set foot there ever again, but… he couldn’t let Sammy do this alone.
The moment he entered the hall memories bombarded his mind. Vague impressions, voices, all those things he had tried to push aside. Mess. Not all of it was bad, but it was loud.
If there was one thing Dean had learned over the years though, it was that keeping busy, focussing on the present, was the best way to keep that trash heap of memories at bay. The questions came easily, asking about the reason for the move, experiences with the house… Dean let habit take over.
Things went smoothly from there. Dean was nearly starting to believe that they could treat this like a normal hunt after all when the woman’s - Jenny’s - kid started talking about a burning monster in her closet. Although they finished up the conversation the same they would for any other hunt, it took all the older man had to keep his head cool. Meanwhile, it became clear that Sam was wound tighter than a two-dollar watch, and the kid took off the second they got out the door, ranting his way through all the evidence and the obvious conclusions that Dean did not want to think about. Did he want to finish the son of a bitch that murdered his mother and fucked up his family? Hell yeah. Did he think he would be confronting that thing now? Without Dad? Without-
His eyes caught sight of a slender figure near his baby, and Dean stopped dead in his tracks.
“For fuck’s sake…” he growled through gritted teeth. Beside him, Sam stilled, but before the kid could open his mouth Dean had gotten back in motion and was halfway across the street. He planted himself in front of his little sister who appeared to be fiddling with a clementine, of all things, and dropping the peals on his freshly lacquered Baby.
“What the hell do you think you are doing…”