Lightning Crashes 𖤐 Sam Winchester

Chapter Thirteen

TWO DAYS LATER, they were back in Kansas. And although it had only been her safe spot for a short period of time, it was home to Astra.

Sam pulled into the garage and turned the Impala off before glancing over at Astra. "Welcome home."

She laughed. "Thank God."

They got out of the car, and Miracle was the first out of all of them to reach the door to the house. Sam chuckled, unlocking it and opening it. They walked inside, and Sam tossed the keys onto the counter.

"Power's back on."

Astra nodded. "That's good."

Sam took a deep breath. "Astra, I don't want you to think that I'm keeping you here because I don't trust you. . . I trust you, but there's a lot of crazy people in this world, and I guess that it comes off that way, when I'm just trying to protect you."

"I know you're trying to protect me, but I don't want to take your life away from you, Sam." She said. "I can only hope it doesn't, but one day, when I learn about my past, it might change your preference about me."

He shook his head. "No, it won't. Because that was then, and this is now. Okay? You have a new life."

Astra smiled. "I could have been a murderous strike of lightning, and you don't care."

"I can tell you, no one was worse than your father in your past world." Sam told her. Astra laughed, wincing in pain.

"Let's get you some new bandages, yeah?" He walked her towards the couch, where she sat down. Miracle jumped onto the couch beside her and dropped his head into her lap, licking her hand. Astra smiled as she pet the dog.

"I missed you, too." She told him.

Sam came back into the living-room with a medical kit in his hand. He opened it as he walked towards her, and he pulled out different gauze patches and a thin wrap for her burns. He kneeled before her and looked up at her.

He reached out and brushed her hair away from her shoulder before pushing her flannel off of her shoulder, revealing the bandaged laceration on her collarbone. Carefully, he pulled it off and stared at the wound. It was stitched and shut, but he knew it hurt due to the length and the location of it.

Astra winced as he cleaned around the wound carefully. "It hurts just to breathe."

Sam pursed his lips, placing the patch over the wound. "What else did you and Claire talk about that night?"

Astra sighed as he pulled her flannel back over her shoulder. "She said that I was letting you keep me as a prisoner, and she tried to tell me that I'm my own person. . . She wanted me to prove that by going out with them to the bar. She said it was a common human experience, like going out to a movie, or learning how to drive, having your first kiss, and sex. . ."

Sam sighed. "Astra, you've been here for a little bit, but you need to realize, you have a lot of time to do all of those things. An entire life time. And you can do those things safely."

Astra watched as Sam unwrapped her hands and examined her burns. They had healed over mostly, but the scarring intensified from the first and second time.

"Have you ever been in love?" She asked him.
Sam nodded. "Yeah, I have."

"And does love. . . hurt?"

Sam continued wrapping her hands. "Love hurts in a lot of ways, but sometimes, it's a good pain. . . The pain just reminds you of how real it was, of much they meant to you."