The Runt of the Litter

Ten and Two

Note: Hey, my loves <3 I'm alive.

I know it's once again been forever, and I'm sorry I can't give you more than this.

Every time I think things are starting to get better, I get hit in the neck with a curveball. I have some medical stuff going on now on top of the mental health stuff I've been dealing with. And I'm meant to start school soon. It's just really hard to get anything written right now, even with the hundred million ideas floating around in my brain. 

That being said, I miss this story as much as you do. I'm gonna write all your requests in due time, I swear. For now, all I can give you is the little stories my brain is willing to produce. This one at least turned out less depressing than the last one :) I'm calling that a win. I'd call anything a win right now.

Thank you x1000000000 for all the support. You're all kinder than I deserve, and I love you for it. I hope you enjoy this one shot, and I hope I don't have to go missing for so long again... but who knows.

In this one, Anna is ten.

Ten and Two

Fog clung to the treetops, but through its thinner patches, the sky's gray-blue could be seen. Anna leaned back against the door to the Impala and craned her neck so she was looking straight up. She could feel the water droplets that were stuck to the car being absorbed into her clothes, making them stick to her back. It was chilly outside already, and the water gave the cold access to her spine so that she shivered. But while she did feel cold, Anna wasn't feeling bothered.

The world was a strange kind of pretty today. She always liked mornings like this-- when the sky didn't look too blue, the fog drowned out all the brighter colors, and the trees' branches hung heavy under the weight of their wet leaves. It was easy to feel calm when the world was so at ease.

Hearing a door on the other side of the car creak open, Anna turned her head, stepping away from the car to see who it was. Dean stepped out of the driver's door, and Anna watched him stretch a few kinks out of his back before closing his door. She looked back at the sloppy line of tree tops stretching into the cushion of foggy sky. Then she walked around the car and ducked in under Dean's arm just as he was finishing stretching his shoulders.

"Hey, kiddo," he murmured against her hair. Even if she hadn't seen him asleep on the seat when she'd gotten out of the car a few minutes ago, Anna would have known just by his voice that he'd just woken up. It was quieter, a little lower in tone, and rough from lack of use. He kissed the side of her head and rubbed her arm for a minute before letting her go. "Sleep alright?"

"Yeah," Anna told him. "I just woke up," she added. She'd been having nightmares a lot more than usual for the past month or so, and often that meant waking up in the middle of the night and taking a while to go back to sleep. Other times it meant waking up for good at 3am. She didn't want Dean to think it had been one of those nights for her.

"Any dreams?" he asked.

The answer was yes, but Anna just shrugged. She tucked herself back under his arm, though, seeking body heat. Dean's arms went around her in response, hugging her warmly against his chest. The warmth was enough to make Anna feel drowsy again despite the fact that she'd just woken up.

"You're cold," Dean grumbled. He let her cling to him for another couple seconds, the two of them and the whole world at ease. Then he pulled back again and opened the driver's door. "You get shotgun, Rugrat."

Anna's face split into a tired grin. It was so so rare that she got to ride in the passenger seat. Sam had let her ride in it on her tenth birthday, but he normally was adamant that she was still too young. Dean didn't care so much about her being only ten and too young. He just normally told her it was a perk of being older that you got dibs on the front seat. Mostly, she just accepted that. But on the rare occasion she got to ride shotgun, Anna was always thrilled.