Evangeline Millie Winchester (Evie, to everyone who doesn't want to get shot) is the third Winchester sibling. She's the middle child, the one who keeps the brothers together. Or, she was. Until Sam bailed and left her and Dean to pick up the pieces...
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November 24, 2008
Atlanta, Georgia
The Camp
"You want to do what now?" Shane growled, standing in front of Dean, Cas, Merle, Daryl and I with his shotgun up on his shoulder, his stupid baseball cap on his head, his sleeves rolled up, and his hip cocked like an angry woman.
"It's not 'we want to do this' it's 'we are going to do this'." I hissed back, placing my right hand delicately on my machete, letting him know that I knew what he was doing, and it wasn't going to work on me.
"What did you just say?" Shane growled lowly, glaring at me and hunching so he was at my eye level, and then Dean stepped in, body blocking the man so he couldn't get any closer to me, and then using one hand on his chest to shove him back.
"She said that we weren't asking permission. We were informing you that in the morning, Merle, Daryl, Castiel, my sister and I will be leaving to collect our car. Which has valuable information, weapons, and equipment that will help in this war against the undead. Now, if you have a problem with that, you can take it up with me. But you will stay away from my sister, do you understand me." Dean hissed, his voice low, and I recognized it as the same voice he had used to kick the trickster out of my bed, the same voice he used when he caught me making out with Castiel, and the same voice I had heard a million times when he was defending me. It was a scary voice, but it was one I found comforting.
Obviously, Shane didn't like anything we had to say, but before he could do anything else, Rick came running over to where we were standing next to the campfire, looking anxious to diffuse the building conflict.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's going on here?" Rick asked calmly, gently placing a hand on Shane's shoulder to try and calm him down, but to me he just looked more pissed as he shook the hand off.
"These assholes are going back to get their car tomorrow." Shane growled, and Rick looked pretty surprised.
"Why? It's just a car." He said, and I instantly, grabbed Dean's elbow before he could yell.
"It's not. It's special to us. And besides that, Bobby left a book in there that he thinks could help end this. Also, it has our weapons. The ones that kill the other monsters. If we come across any, we won't have time to run to an occult shop to get the stuff. We will need it on hand, or we will die. Thankfully for all of you, it's in our car." I explained, moving forward so I was next to Dean again.
"This is dangerous." Rick tried to argue, but I cut him off.
"It's not. Well, it is, but not very. Cas is going to port us in, and Merle and Daryl and going to help us start a distraction. Cas is going to wait until the zombies are gone from the car, and then he's going to port Dean and I into it. Once we are far enough away, he'll get Merle and Daryl, and put them in the car with us, and we'll be on our way back. It should be pretty simple. But we need that stuff Rick. And we aren't asking permission. We were simply doing the polite thing by letting you know where we were going. Sam, Bobby and Ruby will stay here to help protect the group if need be. But we won't be gone long. And now, this conversation is over." I said, ending harshly, and I turned away from the conversation before he could continue it, walking off into the woods. I could hear footsteps behind me, but I didn't turn around to look.
When I reached the lake, it was quiet and serene, and I took the opportunity. I had let my hair down, removed my weapons, my shoes, and was working on the buttons of my shirt when a throat cleared from behind me, and I turned to see Daryl awkwardly standing there, staring at me.
"Uhm..." He said, cutting himself off to clear his throat as he stared at the ground, wringing his hands in front of him, and then moving one up to bite the edge of his thumb. I rolled my eyes, and moved the few feet towards him, not bothering to fix the half-undone buttons of my shirt, and instead extremely focused on getting his thumb out of his mouth.
When I reached him, I jerked my hand up, and pulled his hand down before he had the chance to look up at me. He ripped his hand away like I had burned him.
"What are you doing?" He growled, his blue eyes turning an icy color with his glare, boring coldly into my face.
"You shouldn't chew your thumb. We don't know how else the disease is transmitted, besides a bite or scratch, and you don't know what you've touched. You shouldn't bite your thumb." I explained calmly, and when I was done, he had apparently lessened in his anger, because he was shifting his face to stare at the ground again, when his eyes caught on my exposed chest, and I watched, amused as a dark red blush began overtaking his face.
"Oh... uh, sorry. I'll leave." He said gruffly, spinning to turn around and head back, but I caught his elbow gently before he could leave, and when he stopped, I let go. Realizing based on his reaction to me touching his hand that he probably didn't like being touched.
"No, what is it that you wanted?" I said gently, and he didn't turn to look at me, but I could see his shoulders tense beneath his shirt.
"Nothing. I just didn't think you should be out here by yourself."
"I can handle myself."
"I know. But when people are pissed they don't think straight. Accidents happen." He said quietly, and I had a feeling that he knew based on experience.
"Well... I'm not angry anymore. I just need a bath. It's been two weeks since I could even wash my face so... you can stay if you want. I won't get naked. But I need a bath." I didn't wait for a response, I just turned away from him and went back to where my pile was, and finished the buttons, removed the shirt, and quickly shucked my pants and walked into the cool water of the lake.
When I glanced back, he was still standing there, body facing away from me, but his head was turned over his shoulder, and he was staring at me, with something in his eyes I didn't recognize, but it seemed familiar, and it didn't seem unpleasant.
A/N: JUST AN FYI! This is going to be a bit of a slower burn than my other books and I'm sorry about that, BUT since Merle is still in the story, and he is going to be an active participant in it (unlike in Fight, Love, Live where he was just kind of... there) it is going to keep Daryl in his ass-face mode for longer than in the shows or in my other books. So bear with me! I promise, they will get together at some point! But not right now, so get ready for some serious sexual tension!
