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You were humming to yourself as you entered the bunker, unaware that your phone had died over an hour ago. You’d managed to find and eliminate a ghost, all without the help of your older brother’s Sam and Dean. In fact, you were so confident after your solo salt and burn that you were absolutely certain they would be so proud of you they wouldn’t care that you had snuck out four days ago. Sure, they’d sounded angry on the phone and demanded you tell them where you were, but you got through it with barely a scratch. You looked down at the large bruise that ran up your arm, knowing they wouldn’t like the black and blue that covered the left side of your body, but they had had a lot worse done to them. All you did was get thrown against a wall; nothing big.
But as you skipped your way down the bunker stairs you came to a halt at the bottom, finding two sets of green eyes glaring at you. Dean was sitting at the oak table, glass of whiskey in hand while Sam stood, arms crossed.
“Hey,” you said, giving them a wave. You smiled wide before realizing they could see the bruise. You quickly slid your arm behind your back. “What’s up? Got any good leftovers to celebrate your kid siblings successful solo hunt?”
“Celebrate?” Dean scoffed. He took a drink of whiskey. “You think we’re going to celebrate you running off on your own like that?”
“I did just fine,” you stated. You held your ground, thrusting your chin in the air.
“Fine?” Sam asked. He came forward and grabbed your arm, pulling it from behind your back and exposing the bruise. “You call this fine?”
You yanked out of his grip and dropped your duffle bag to the ground. “Yeah, I do. Heart’s still beating and I didn’t even bleed.” You shrugged. “Sounds like a damn good hunt to me!”
“Yeah, because that’s much better.” Dean nodded at the bruise.
“You didn’t even tell us where you were,” Sam said.
“Because you would have come to help me,” you replied. You furrowed your brow and started to walk past Dean when he caught your wrist.
“Sit,” he ordered.
With a huff you did exactly as he said, knowing they would only follow you if you went to your room. You winced as you relaxed into the wooden chair, feeling the ache in your side.
“Yeah, you’re just peachy,” Dean said. “And yes, we would have come to help you because that’s what family does.”
“You have bigger things to worry about than a ghost.” You crossed your arms, the pain of the hit really starting to sink in. That high you’d had only minutes ago was gone, replaced with the harsh reality that your brothers were about to lay on you.
“We have you to worry about,” Sam interjected before Dean could say another word. He stepped towards you. “It’s not just a ghost out there, Y/N; there’s demons and angels around every corner and you what? Thought they would just leave you alone because we’re not there?”
You wrinkled your nose. “I was watching my back.”
“That’s our job!” Dean said. He stood, chair clattering backwards. Having them standing over you made you feel incredibly small, so you stood. You did it quickly, ensuring that you didn’t wince from the pain.
“I found the case,” you said, voice low, “I tracked down the ghost. I talked to witnesses. I talked to the cops as an FBI agent. I dug up the grave. I did the salt and burn. I did the work. I don’t need you two breathing down my neck all the time and—”
“We’re not questioning if you need us or not, Y/N,” Sam interrupted. His arms dropped to his sides before he ran one hand through his hair. “We’re saying we want to help you.”
“We know you can hunt on your own,” Dean added. “But we don’t want you to just like you don’t want us going off by ourselves.”
You opened your mouth to argue but you knew he was only using your own words against you. They often went off together to hunt something, sometimes it was as small as a ghost and other times it was something much bigger and badder. But every time they tried to leave you behind you managed to get into the Impala first. You bit your lip, understanding.
You looked to your feet, shuffling your weight back and forth. “I’m…sorry I didn’t tell you where I was…I guess.”
You heard Dean give a small huff of a laugh. When you looked up at him he was smirking. “Sounds like you mean it.”
“You would know, they apologize as well as you do,” Sam said. A smile had crept onto his face and you knew then that you weren’t in too much trouble.
“Very funny, Sammy.”
You raised your head. “So, about those leftovers…”
Sam rolled his eyes while Dean headed for the kitchen. “No, your first solo hunt calls for something better than leftovers—I’m making burgers.”