Abandoned, But Not Alone

6 - Love

Dean was still up in the main room. "Hey. You ok?" I asked.

"Yeah. Just thinking about how horrible things must have been for her." Dean replied. "If what we saw from her dad today was any indication, I don't know how she's even remotely ok emotionally.

"I don't know either. If you ask me, I don't think she is. I think she's trying to avoid thinking about it as much as she can. I have a feeling it's gonna come out more as time goes on."

"Yeah. That's probably true." He replied. There was a long silence.

"Dean, I know you "don't do chick flick moments," but how are you so good with Hannah? You just seem so good with kids. I can't say I'm surprised, but I didn't know you were this good." I spoke up.

"I'm good with Hannah because of you." I gave him a look of surprise. I didn't quite know what he was getting at. "I took care of you as a kid. I took care of you pretty much since mom died. I had to figure out what to do when you were upset and when you were scared, everything because dad did nothing. That man did almost nothing as a father for us. I did a horrible job too, but I did it." Dean explained.

"What do you mean a horrible job? I remember some of you taking care of me. You were amazing. I still remember when you first told me about monsters and how I felt like you kept it from me for so long because you cared, not because dad probably told you not to tell me..... That's a horrible example of my point, but you did so much for me as a kid, Dean. You never got that normal life, but you made sure I had one, for a while anyways. You were so good at taking care of me, heck, you were practically more of a dad than John." I replied. I had never told him any of this before and I didn't know how he'd react.

"Where's this suddenly coming from?" He asked.

"I've always wanted you to know that you did a better job than you give yourself credit for. You have no idea how much it meant to me that you were there and have been there when our very own dad wasn't. I know he took everything out on you, but it wasn't ever your fault. I've wanted to tell you this, I just didn't want to bring it up. Dad made you grow up faster than you should have, but you were the best. Especially because we all know you're batman." I said with a chuckle. Dean chuckled back.

"Thanks, Sammy. Now, I'm heading to bed." He didn't really give much of a response, but that was expected from Dean.

"You're welcome. Goodnight, Dean." I replied before heading to bed myself. I woke up in the morning and went to check on Hannah because she didn't appear to be up yet.

"Dean? Where's Hannah?" I asked him.

"She's not in her room?" He asked, concerned. "She better not have run away again."

"No. She's not there." We went around the bunker looking for her. After a thorough search, she turned up in the kitchen eating some toast. I let out a sigh of relief. "Thank God you're ok."

"I'm fine. Why do you sound scared?" She asked curiously.

"We didn't know where you were. We were worried. But at least you're ok. We see you found breakfast." I replied.

"Yep. So, I have a question."

"Yeah. Go for it."

"So if you guys have a case to work on, what are you gonna do with me?" She asked. She started to get that tone in her voice that conveyed that she was terrified.

"I think we can split up on our cases. One of us will go and the other will stay unless we need help. We'll take it a case at a time." Dean suggested. I nodded.

"That works." I added.

"Ok. I just don't want to be alone again." She replied softly.

"You won't be alone again. I promise." Dean stated gently. She nodded then went back to her toast. We pulled up a couple seats and had some breakfast too.

"So how are you doing kiddo?" I asked gently. She gave a shake of her hand telling me she was ok but not great. I nodded. "Just know if you wanna talk about anything that's going on or anything that happened in the past or anything at all, you can talk to either of us anytime." I added. I wanted her to know she had us to count on. She never had someone in her life who did anything to help her, let alone love her and listen to her.

"I know. Thanks." She replied quietly. Dean and I spent the day hanging out with Hannah when we had the chance and researching the rest of the time. We were pretty sure we had a couple demons on our hands. "Dean. I think we have a case." I showed him on the computer since Hannah didn't know about hunting and I couldn't outright say it was a demon. He came over and agreed with me on what it was. "Do you think you can handle it and I can stay here, or do you need my help?" I asked him.

"I think I got it. My shoulder's still a little sore, but if I need help I'll call." I nodded.

"Sounds like a plan. Guess I'm staying with you, kiddo." She nodded happily. Dean left that night.

"Hannah, are you ok to sleep by yourself, or do you need me? I know you've been having nightmares and stuff." I asked gently before we headed to bed. She eyed me cautiously. I think she just didn't want to inconvenience me. "If you need me, I'll gladly stay." She nodded sadly.

"Will you?" She asked in almost a whisper.

"Of course. I know everything is scary right now. I'm here for you and you can always talk to me." I replied. She climbed in bed and I laid on the floor. I gathered up some blankets to lay on, so it wasn't that bad.

"Sammy?" She asked after a while.

"Yeah, Hannah?" I wondered what she wanted.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course. Ask away." I reassured.

"Why is my life so bad?" She asked sadly. Tears were in the edges of her eyes.

"Come here, kiddo." She got down off of her bed and sat down in front of me. I sat up and continued. "I don't know the answer to that exactly. Sometimes bad things happen. Dean and I have these cases and sometimes we get really hurt and I think the same thing. I know things are so bad for you. You've had to deal with this your whole life, but I can promise you, it will get better. You have me and you have Dean. If there's anything we can do to make you feel better, let me know. I'm sorry I don't have a better answer." I didn't really know what else to say. Bad things just happen. She just nodded. "You know we love you right? I know you aren't ours, but we love you and we care about you. I know you haven't really been loved much, but I mean it. We do."

"I know you guys love me. Just my dad did so much to me that it's hard to remember that." She replied. "I'm sorry." She said as a single tear fell down her face.

"Hey. Don't apologize. It's ok. I know your dad did some horrible things. I know that you're upset that he shot Dean and I. Just know that it's going to be ok." I said. I wiped the tear off of her face gently before scooping her up in a hug. "Now, let's get some sleep unless you have anything else you need to say." I replied.

"Ok. That's all I had to say." She said before getting up then leaning down and kissing my forehead in an adorable little kid kiss. "Goodnight, Sammy. Love you." I wanted to aww out loud, but I didn't.

"Love you too, kiddo." We both laid down and went to sleep.