"You know the rules." He said, raising an eyebrow in question, silently asking her to recite the rules.
"Stay close and stay alert." She recited carefully, hope sparking up in her eyes.
"And most importantly?" He urged, leaning his head toward his...
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||CHAPTER THREE // SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT||
After everyone is ready to go, Dean helped Dakota pack her things while Sam packed his. A couple of times Dean would ask Dakota where she got some of the new clothes. Every time she would answer with, "Ruby got it for me." Dean asked if she'd been around often but Dakota wouldn't answer him clearly. She'd mumble an answer or ramble incoherently.
"She's about four hours down the interstate." Bobby tells the boys as they walk down the stairs outside to the parking lot. Dean holds Dakota's hand as they walk, occasionally squeezing it gently as if to remind himself that she's real, not a hallucination from Hell. "Try to keep up." Bobby teases as he unlocks his car.
"I assume you'll want to drive." Sam says, digging the keys out of his pocket and tossing them over to his brother. Dakota skips beside Dean as they walk, her hand still held firmly in his.
Dean laughs with a grin on his face, pure giddiness taking over his expression. "Oh, I almost forgot." He walks forward, dropping Dakota's hand to stroke the loved impala. "Hey, sweetheart, did you miss me?"
"Yes." Dakota answers with a grin, knowing that he's not talking to her. Dean looks over at her with a grin before rolling his eyes playfully, he gets in the car. The other two follow him, Dakota sliding into the back with a sullen face.
Dean practically glares at the thing hooked up to his dashboard. Sam slides into the impala with a sigh. "What the hell is that?"
"It's an iPod jack." Sam answers.
"You were supposed to take care of her, not douche her up." Dean says.
"It's plays terrible music, daddy, I hate it." Dakota says from the back seat, the pout still firmly on her face. Dean looks back when she speaks up and notices the sad look.
"What's with the pout?" He asks, turning around to see her better. She looks up at him.
"I hate sitting in the back. Sammy let me sit up front with him." She says, leaning forward slightly to lean against the back of the front bench. Dean glares up at Sam.
"You let her sit up front? She's a kid! She could've gotten hurt, are you insane?" Dean explodes angrily. He never let Dakota sit up front, saying it was too dangerous for her because she's so small. "She's seven, Sam! It's not safe for her to be in the front seat, especially since there's no seat-belts going around your chest."
"Relax Dean." Sam says trying to calm his brother. "Is your goal to get me in trouble?" Sam mutters to his niece who looks at him in confusion.
"No? Why?" She asks in return, truly not understanding what Sam's getting at.
Sam sighs and shakes his head as Dean continues to rant about the dangers of letting Dakota in the front. He doesn't understand how Sam could do something so reckless with his child. It takes a good five minutes before Dean calms down after hitting his brother's shoulder several times, he realizes he has to follow after Bobby before he loses him.
Dean starts the car and the iPod starts playing music from the speakers. The older Winchester stares at the thing with disgust. "Make it stop!" Dakota complains from the back, she hates Sam's taste it music, it being so drastically different than she's used to.
"Really?" Dean questions Sam, who just shrugs with a puppy look plastered on his face. Dean rips the iPod jack free from his car. He tosses the iPod in the back, Dakota makes a noise and dodges it. Dean forgot his daughter was back there. "Sorry, baby." He apologizes before they tear out of the parking lot to race after Bobby.
<><><><><><><><><><><><>
After sometime driving, Dakota falls a sleep and Dean sheds his jacket to cover her. "There's something still bothering me." Dean says to Sam quietly, careful not to wake the youngest Winchester.
"Yeah?" Sam responds, looking over at his brother.
"Yeah. The night that I bit it--or got bit." Dean jokes, chuckling. "How'd you make it out? I thought Lilith was gonna kill you. Dakota, too."
"Well, she tried. She couldn't." Sam informs. "Dakota wasn't in the house yet."
"What do you mean she couldn't?" Dean questions, looking over at his brother. He's relieved that Lilith didn't kill him or his daughter.
"She fired this, like burning light at me, and...it didn't leave a scratch, like I was immune or something."
Dean's head it turned slightly towards Sam but his eyes on the road. "Immune?"
"Yeah." Sam chuckles confused. "I don't know who was more surprised--her or me. Dakota came running in, and Lilith left pretty fast after that."
"Dakota said something about Ruby, where is she?" Dean looks over at Sam.
"Dead or in Hell." Sam shrugs, he looks back at Dakota. "Don't know where Kota got that."
"So, you been using your, uh, freaky E.S.P. stuff?" Dean asks, letting go of the Ruby thing for the moment. Brushing off Dakota's words as confusion, it was uncommon for Dakota to get names confused with faces.
"No." Sam's quick to answer.
"Sure about that?" Dean presses, looking over at Sam. Sam gives him a look. "Ah, well, I mean, now that you got immunity--whatever the hell that is--just wondering what other kind of weirdo crap you got going on."
"Nothing, Dean." Sam assures, "Look you didn't want me to go down that road, so I didn't go down that road. And you sure as hell didn't want Dakota around it, I mean, it was practically your dying wish."
"Speaking of Dakota. How was she?" Dean asks timidly, a new side of him for Sam to see. He almost shied before bringing it up. They both cast looks at the sleeping child, making sure she's asleep.
"Uh...she took it really hard, man. I mean she saw you, it messed her up. She has nightmares about it, crying for you in her sleep. She wakes up screaming, it would usually take me a while to calm her down but she didn't go back to sleep. She would never tell me what it was about exactly, but it's not hard to piece it together."
Dean sighs and looks down as his eyes start burning. He clears his throat a couple times before speaking. "What else?" His voice cracks, thick with emotion.
"She wasn't Dakota anymore, she didn't play, laugh, or smile. It was like a completely different kid." Sam says reluctantly. "She didn't speak much. Today was the most I've heard from her in four months." He didn't like hurting his older brother, but Sam knew that Dean wouldn't stop pushing until he was told.
"Oh, God." Is all Dean is able to get out, he wipes a hand down his face as he stares out the windshield. Dean changes the subject slightly, unable to handle all the thoughts of how hurt and broken he made Dakota feel, the one person he's suppose to love and never hurt. "What's with the 'swear' thing she does?" He says, his eyes still teary when he glances over at Sam.
"Oh, uh, she swore once so we had a long conversation and decided that swearing was off limits for both of us." Sam informs.
"What did you do to my daughter?" Dean shakes his head, not really meaning the question in a negative way and Sam knew that.
"She's just like you man, I mean her eating habits and music taste is all you. Nobody can say she's not your kid, that's for sure."
"Good." Dean says, pride shining in his eyes.
They both grow quiet, the only sounds being the roar of the engine and Dakota's even breathing.
