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25

I felt like I had been pacing by the gateway to Hell for days when we heard a stone shift. Benny and I had run out of things to distract ourselves with long ago, I had even described exactly what my wedding would be like if both Sam and I survived long enough to have it.
When the first stone tumbled free I started pulling the others away as fast as I could.
I get to see her again!
I was not prepared at all for what I saw.
Hooks the size of my head were tearing through her flesh and there were obvious places where there had been hooks earlier. Her face was sunken and bruised and her hair was long and tangled. What really sent me over the edge was that she was still clinging to Sam; even with all the effort it must have taken to command her muscles to grip his shirt in her fist, she refused to let go.
Tears streamed down my face as Sam laid her down wincing when she screamed and I rushed over to her, attempting to triage the wounds that would start to bleed profusely once we got back to earth.
I couldn't say anything. I was barely able to look at her without breaking down and sobbing uncontrollably.
One step at a time. Cmon self. Get it together.
As Sam worked the other hooks out of her legs and out from around a rib I repaired arteries and fused parts of her lungs back together. It took a good hour to remove all the hooks and make sure bleeding wouldn't be a huge issue.
When I finally finished closing up a gaping hole in her lung Harper gasped and started coughing with a look of complete terror shadowing her features.
"Hey! It's okay now Harpie. I've got you. Don't you worry. We're going to get you home now." I comforted as I gingerly hugged her, trying my best not to get tears in her wounds.
"Where's Cas?" She whispered, pushing me back in order to search for him.
"Cas?" I asked in confusion, still crying.
I followed Harper's gaze to where Dean was splinting Cas' leg with some tree branches and pieces of tunic.
"Hello Evelynn. You're looking more yourself than last time I saw you." Cas greeted as he stood up with a little help from Dean.
I laid Harper back down and practically knocked Cas over with a hug.
"I'm so sorry I couldn't break it earlier! I missed you so much! I'm so so so so so sorry Cas!" I exclaimed, trying even harder to keep my tears in check.
"It's alright Evelynn. I knew it wasn't you." Cas comforted returning my hug and patting my back.

It had taken us a while but we finally got our two gimps back home. Cas fared far better than Harper had. He only had minor wounds and a broken leg while Harper had innumerable lacerations and deep tissue bruises along with broken bones and plenty of mental scars. We got Cas a pair of crutches and he was set, but I worked until I almost passed out trying to heal Harper.
I gave up for the day and doped her up on whatever Dean had to make her comfortable and give her the opportunity to sleep. Sam and I just watched her, holding her hand until her grip went slack.
Her face was so calm, so much different than the panic I had seen earlier.
She's safe. You can feel again.
Feeling was a mistake. Once the first tear dropped it became an unstoppable tidal wave full of sobs.
"She's only 17 Samson..." I choked out folding my arms and hugging myself, "Why didn't we drop her off with Social Services?"
Sam wrapped his arm around me and guided me out of her room so I didn't wake her up, "She's back now. She is going to be safe." He reminded as he quietly shut the door.
"But look what happened to her! That was because of me! Sam why did I think this was a good idea?!" I wailed running my hands through my hair in frustration and anger as I began pacing the hall.
"Ehvs... Sunshine don't do this to yourself. Please?" He begged just watching me come close to ripping my hair out.
"Why did I let myself get attached and feel and pull another person in? Close friends of the Winchesters get hurt or killed end of story! What was I thinking?!" I continued, raising my volume as the tears just kept going.
All the fear and guilt and worry I had been suppressing was bubbling over in what resembled a small child's tantrum.
"You were protecting and that's totally natural. Just take a breath Sunshine." Sam said cautiously as he approached me and untangled my hands from my hair.
"But what am I protecting her from? Her dead step dad? Monsters? Demons? I'm not exactly doing a great job!" I whined letting my arms hang from his grasp noticing a tear forming in his eye.
"We are trying Sunshine. That's the point. Now do the breathing thing you tell Harper to do and level out, okay?" He soothed.
I breathed deep for a bit but then it all went out the window, "She isn't going to be able to move without panicking!" I exclaimed through my tears.
Sam just sighed and drew me into his chest, "I know. It's not going to be pretty."
"How can we make her live like this?"
"We will figure something out." He comforted as he moved so he was guiding me to our room.
"I was so scared Samson..." I whispered.
"Scared of what?" He mumbled into my hair as he kissed my head.
"Failing. And you two getting stuck in Hell. Or not getting her back whole. Everything." I confessed after I had flopped down onto the bed.
"You didn't seem very scared. You kept it together pretty well actually." He noted as he pulled me up and helped me out of my blood covered jacket.
"I didn't allow myself to feel until she fell asleep." I muttered as I finished dressing for bed.
"It's okay to show things Sunshine." He stated, sitting down on the bed and patting my spot, "If you don't get it out it just festers."
I stood by the bed in his old ridiculous purple t-shirt with tears streaming down my face and just stared at him.
How am I supposed to tell him I kept it together for his sake? It would make him feel guilty.
"You're beautiful you know that?" He asked laying back on his pillow with his hands behind his head and a large, satisfied grin on his face.
I giggle grotesquely, thankful for the topic change, and dropped down next to him, "Shut up! You're making me giggle-cry!"
He shifted into his side and draped an arm over me, "And it's adorable." He whispered before kissing my forehead and laying his head back on the pillow, "now let yourself sleep."
I smiled and nodded but I knew sleep wouldn't come. I laid there staring at the ceiling and listening to Sam's light snoring until around three in the morning.
My wandering, self pitying thoughts were interrupted by a shuffle from Harper's room and the sound of a door opening. I heard her feet slap down the hall just like after Geoffery when she came to our room, except her footsteps didn't stop at our door.
I waited for them to stop at Dean's door but the kept on going.
Concerned, I got out of bed without waking Sam and poked my head out the door right as the door to Cas' room closed.
I tiptoed down the hall and pressed my ear to the door.
Cas' muffled voice barely made it through the wood but I could just make out his words, "...not real Harper."
I heard Harper sigh, "But how did he get their voices if it was fake? Why else would it take them so long?"
"Crowley has a vast array of magical capabilities, manipulating voices is not hard for him in the slightest. As far as time, it didn't take them as long as I thought it would."
"I waited a year for them! It took them a whole year!"
"Time passes differently in Hell-" Cas attempted to remind her.
"Is what he said about Sam true? And Evelynn? And Dean being a demon?" She demanded.
Cas stuttered into his sentence, "Well, you see, there were circumstances..."
"Don't give me circumstances! Do you think they really want to send me back to social services?"
Oh my god she heard me.