A Supernatural Experience

Chapter 10

"Alright, Sammy," Dean said as they all walked around the large table in the lobby from the weight room. "Did you feed the lady yet?"

"Oh, he fed me something called... "

"Salad," Sam offered.

"Yes, salad. And it didn't taste like ass, as I recall," the woman beamed at Dean as he froze and stared at her for a second.

"Did it come with a side of sailor language?" Dean shifted his gaze to Sam, who shook his head at his brother.

"She was like that before she ate the spinach, I swear," he said defensively.

"Ugh, Sam, really? With the rabbit food? On her first day with us? Are you trying to leave a bad impression here?" Dean's voice boomed and echoed against the cavernous walls and the woman covered her mouth to hide the grin at the brother who yelled and the one who rolled his eyes in return.

"You were right," the woman said to Sam. "He also calls it rabbit food."

"Ha, what? You too?" Dean asked, his smile genuinely filled with glee at the embarrassment of her brother as the woman shook her head in agreement. "Well what do ya know?"

Dean grabbed at a brown paper bag that sat closed in the middle of the table and tossed it across from him to the woman's waiting hands.

"Here," he said, as she opened up and reached inside. "See what you think of some good old real food." Dean winked at his younger brother while Castiel sat beside him, watching the woman's violet eyes glitter with curiosity as she peeled back the bundle in her hands and revealed the greasy cheeseburger, well done and with all the trimmings.

They all watched as she stared at the food in her hands, her eyes took on a slight inward glow. Nothing so bright as when she tried to call out to Castiel, but it was noticeable. For a moment, all three men exchanged nervous glances but then the light in her eyes faded as they closed and she smelled the burger before speaking.

"Her name was Ellie. Not original, but she didn't mind. She gave birth to three sons, four daughters and one stillborn. The stillborn saddened her deeply, she wouldn't give milk for over two weeks for the stress that put her in. The farmer sold her after that, thinking she was dried up. He made her leave her youngest daughter, who had just given birth.

"She hated the hay given to her in the winter. It was scratchy in her throat most of the time, but it was better than starving. Her summers were her best memories, when she lived with the first farmer. There she was allowed to roam as she pleased, come in twice for milking after her babies were born and right back out again, rain or shine."

The woman glanced up from the burger in her hand to find the three men staring at her, strangely. She smiled sheepishly and took a big bite from the burger, much to the dismay of her audience. Even Dean flinched and cried out "whoa," putting his hands up in front of his face so he couldn't see anymore. Sam looked a little sick to his stomach while Castiel looked as though he was torn between throwing up or taking a bite himself.

The woman looked at the men, confused at their reaction.

"What's the matter?" she asked all three, swallowing her bite and reaching to take a napkin for the grease that dripped from her chin.

"You're seriously going to tell us the life story of the cow that is in that burger and then eat it??" Dean exclaimed.

"Well... you... you gave it to me to eat, right? I just thought you'd like to know she lived a full life before they loaded her in the truck and butchered her. She was a happy cow. This," she looked upon the burger in her hand, "this is a happy burger."

Silence filled the room.

"Perhaps next time you're offered something to eat, do not explain the life of the animal from which it came?" offered Castiel, leaning forward.

"Seriously, man, that's almost enough to put me out of meat-eating," Dean exclaimed. Castiel looked at him with amused shock. He knew that would never happen with Dean. Sam, on the other hand...

Castiel walked over to Sam, who had gotten up and excused himself to the kitchen to get a breath of air, away from the woman still consuming the burger.

"As a being who has lived as long as she has, she doesn't view life and death as we do," Castiel explained gently. Sam looked over to him, waiting to see if he would say anything more. He did not.

"I had a good couple of hours with her and almost forgot that... but that was weird. That was beyond strange, Cass. She can get into the mind of an animal dead and cooked, does that mean she could get into people's minds like that, too; know all about their lives, their secrets, what their favorite seasons are?" Castiel remained quiet while Sam voiced his worry to the angel.

"It certainly seems as though it is a possibility. She's unlike anything I've come across, Sam, and I've been around for a very long time. Her powers are as foreign to me as they are to you. But again, this is a harmless power, something she was demonstrating out of innocence. You can see she meant no negative reaction to it."

"Ok, Cass, I'll give you that. And in a fight, that's a power that can come in handy, for sure. But," Sam rubbed his hand against his head before looking back at his friend. "What happens if the next power she demonstrates out of innocents does more than kill our appetite?"

Castiel sighed, then glanced up at the towering Winchester.

"I'm by your side. Yours and Dean's, no matter what. And if she does something dangerous, I will help you stop her, come what may."