Prologue.

PROLOGUE

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"What is his problem?!"

The man paces the room breathing heavily. "Sorry excuse for a..." he stops talking when he sees the auburn-haired brunette staring at her bruised wrist.

"It's not as bad as last time, Bobby." The 6 year-old manages a small smile.

Bobby slightly slumps his shoulders. He walks over to the young girl and crouches in front of her. Athena always had a light to her, no matter how much John would yell or put her down; she always smiled.

Soft footsteps are heard coming down the stairs. Bobby and Athena look at the 16 year old Sam who was cowering on the steps, his head peaking between the railing. He walks over to his little sister and hands her the ice pack.

Athena presses her lips into a small smile, accepting it. She places the ice pack against her wrist.

"Thank you." Athena whispers, looking down at the floor. 

An uncomfortable silence settles in the living room. Sam looks at Bobby. Both of them knew what question Athena was gonna ask next. They just waited patiently.

"Is he still mad?"

Sam looks back at his little sister and quietly sighs. Athena always cared about what others thought about her. Especially her father and brothers. Anytime any of them got John pissed, he would send them off to Bobby's so he would have time to himself. This time, Athena spilled juice over his journal. Dean and Sam tried to clean it before John got back, but sadly they failed.

Athena wasn't worried about her bruised wrist. She was worried about how long Dean and John were going to stay mad at her. Dean wanted to go hunting with his dad, not sit around all day.

Athena didn't know why that journal meant so much to to her father. And she hated being left out of things. But if not knowing meant her father was happy, then she would just suck it up.

Hurried footsteps are heard coming down the stairs, drawing everyone's attention.

Sam knits his brows together.

"And what are you cheesing about?" Bobby questions the smiling Dean.

Dean holds up his flip phone. "Dad's outside."

Athena felt her chest tighten and her back straightens. A small breath leaves Sam's lips and he walks into the kitchen.

Dean squints his eyes, Sam's attitude not going unnoticed. He looks at Bobby, hoping for an explanation. Bobby just holds his hands up and makes his way outside. Athena stands up and walks over to her older brother. He looks at the young girl, his eyes shift to the ice pack on her wrist.

"I'm sorry."

Dean looks into Athena's timid eyes. Every time he looked at Athena, it would sometimes slip his mind that they were related. Her eyes were blue, while Sam and Dean's were hazel green. He always wondered if her mom's eyes were also blue.

Dean inhales a deep breath, "It wasn't your fault."

Athena's guilt spreads through her chest. "You're a terrible liar." She walks into the kitchen.

Dean quietly sighs, not even surprised that she could tell. How does she do that?

"Athy, come on." Dean follows her into the kitchen.

The front door swings open, slamming into the wall. The three siblings fall silent. Bobby walks into the kitchen, his face was red.

"Another screaming match?" Sam asks, taking a bite into his sandwich. "I don't know why you try with him."

"It's not like you're going to." Dean scoffs.

Sam sets his sandwich down, "I could say the same about you."

Dean opens his mouth, but Athena speaks.

"Fighting isn't going to solve anything." She voices. "It never has."

Athena walks over to Bobby and wraps her arms around him.

"Thank you for having us."

Bobby touches the back of Athena's head. "Yeah, anytime, kid." He crouches in front of her. "Call me if you ever need anything, all right? Anything."

Athena smiles softly and nods her head. Bobby smirks and lightly taps her chin. "Go on, get your stuff. I'll see you later."

Athena walks into the living room and grabs her bag.

Bobby looks at the two teens. Their stances spoke volumes. They both were still in the mood to argue with one another.

"You two could learn a lot from her." Bobby pronounces.

Dean quietly scoffs.

"What the hell was that?" Sam looks at his brother.

"Language, boy." Bobby speaks.

Sam closes his mouth and takes a deep breath. "Why do you treat her like that?" He asks.

"Like what?" Dean looks at Sam.

"Like she's some kind of burden." Sam clarifies.

Dean looks off to the side, not saying anything; almost like he was saying she was a burden. Sam's eyes widen.

"She's our sister!" Sam snaps.

"Half."

Sam couldn't even find any words for that. Whether Athena was their half sister or not. Did it matter? Sam would still do anything for her. Why wouldn't Dean do the same?

"I knew you were still mad."

Everyone looks at the girl. Dean's jaw goes slack when he sees the tears in Athena's eyes.

"Still...lying..."

Her face wasn't filled with sadness or anger. She didn't even look surprised. Athena grips the straps of her backpack and walks away.

"Dean for the win." Sam sighs. "Nice going." He lets out a scoff before grabbing his bag and following Athena out of the house.

Bobby looks at Dean. The boy crosses his arms, noticing Bobby glaring at him.

"I don't need anymore judgement, all right?" Dean huffs.

"She's your sister, Dean." Bobby says. "She looks up to you. And she looks up to John--I don't know why, but she does." He walks toward Dean.

Dean slightly steps away from Bobby, intimidated.

"And I expect you to watch after her! To protect her. Half-blood be damned, got it?!" Bobby shouts. "You got benched from going on a case--boohoo! If you have a problem with that, talk to your father about going with him. You're twenty. Grow up."

Dean swallows and looks at the ground. "Sorry, Bobby." He says.

"Don't apologize to me, ya Idjit." Bobby scoffs. "Get your things and scram."

Dean nods his head, he walks past Bobby, and grabs his things. Sometimes, well--most of the time, Dean speaks without thinking. And when he does think it's usually with his anger first. Athena would sometimes receive the worst of it.

As soon as Dean made it outside, he was greeted with Athena hugging John. Usually Athena would just give him a small smile and stay out of his way when he comes to pick them up.

Why was today so different?

"He bought her a Game boy."

Dean looks at his younger brother, anger is read all over Sam's face.

"He hurts her and the way he gets her to forget is by buying her a video game." Sam scoffs and shakes his head.

Athena didn't have toys. When she got bored, she would explore. So what better way to distract her better than a video game? But Dean knew the real reason why John gave her that. Dean remembers the day John bought him a G.I. Joe action figure. He did the same thing with Sam, buying him a new issue of his favorite comic book.

John was going to tell Athena about all the things that go bump in the night.

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