Pilot.

CHAPTER TWO , PILOT

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"This is breaking and entering."

Dean sputters, "No...he's our brother."

Athena tilts her head, "Just because Sam's our brother, doesn't mean we're not breaking and entering."

Dean opens the window and steps through it.

"There's no screen?" Athena questions. "And it's unlocked. If this isn't an announcement to break in. I don't know what is."

Dean holds his hands out to the girl and Athena grabs his hands, stepping into the window. Athena steps onto the counter and hops onto the floor with a huff.

"What do we have here...?" Dean walks over to the refrigerator and opens it.

Athena slumps her shoulders, watching Dean rummage through the refrigerator.

"No beer. Why is there no beer?" Dean lets out a scoff.

"Not everyone enjoys the taste of bitterness in a bottle," Athena states, following Dean through the house.

"You really shouldn't know what beer tastes like." Dean says.

Now he wants to care about you?

Athena rolls her eyes, "Oh, now you wanna lecture me?"

She didn't say the exact words that popped into her head. They seemed too harsh.

Dean enters the next room and a figure emerges from beside him, grabbing the older Winchester. Dean turns and grabs the person's arms, shoving him to the side.

Athena quickly catches on. She sits on the couch and turns her Gameboy on. As soon as the sounds of punches and grunts came to a quick stop, the sound of slamming is heard on the hardwood floors.

"Whoa, easy, tiger."

"Dean?"

Dean lets out a satisfied chuckle.

"You scared the crap out of me." Sam voices.

"That's 'cause you're out of practice." Dean states.

Sam quickly twists Dean's wrist and knees him in his side. He slams Dean to the ground. "Or not." Dean chuckles. But his smile quickly drops. "Get off of me."

Sam stands up and helps Dean onto his feet.

"Dean, what the hell are you doing here?" Sam asks.

Dean grips Sam's arms, noticing the height difference has dramatically changed. "I was looking for a beer."

"He didn't find any, hence his crankiness."

Sam looks to the side and notices the young girl in the corner, colors reflecting from the screen of her game onto her face. He pulls his brows together. For a second, the girl looked unfamiliar, until he noticed her curly auburn hair was in a messy ponytail with loose strands hanging out. That usually happened when the girl was in a hurry and just tied her hair up.

"Athy?"

"I still don't understand that nickname, y'know?" Athena turns her game off and slips it into her jacket pocket. "I mean, there's 'Thena' or even 'A'. Why Athy?"

Sam hugs Athena and she quietly yelps.

"You've gotten so big." Sam laughs.

Athena frowns, "Yep, that's what happens when you haven't seen someone in 3 years." She states in a matter of fact tone.

"Looks like someone's playing favorites," Dean grumbles, jealous he didn't receive a hug.

Athena gives Dean a smug smirk and he rolls his eyes.

"It's good to see you, Sammy." she pats his back with both her hands.

"Sam?" The light flicks on.

The siblings all turn to the girl. Athena's eyes widen and quickly looks away from the woman in revealing pajamas.

"Jess, hey." Sam looks at his siblings. "Athena, Dean, this is my girlfriend, Jessica."

"Wait, your brother and sister?" Jessica asks.

"I love the Smurfs," Dean says, pointing at Jessica's shirt. "You know, I got to tell you, you are completely out of my brother's league." he starts to walk closer to her, like Athena suspected him to do. Luckily, she already had her hand latched onto the leather coat he was wearing, forcing Dean to stop in his tracks.

"Just let me put something on," Jessica says.

"No, no, no. I wouldn't dream of it, seriously." Dean breathes.

Athena wrinkles her nose, "Do you have no self control?"

The eldest Winchester looks at the auburn-haired girl, noticing her peeved expression. Dean clears his throat, "Anyway, we got to borrow your boyfriend here, talk about some private family business, but nice meeting you."

Sam looks at his girlfriend, "No..." he walks over to her. "No, whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of her."

Dean looks at Athena and she shrugs her shoulders.

"Okay." Dean sighs. "Um, dad hasn't been home in a few days."

"So he's working overtime on a 'Miller Time' shift." Sam shrugs. "He'll stumble back in sooner or later."

Athena purses her lips before speaking,

"Dad's on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a few days."

And that was what made Sam's expression drop. Dean looks at the auburn-haired girl, his reaction was that he was impressed. Athena shrugs a shoulder saying, "No big deal."

"Don't get too cocky," Dean murmurs. "He still hasn't--"

"Jess, excuse us."

Dean stops talking and Athena smiles. She stands on her toes on grips Dean's shoulder. "You were...saying?" she pats his shoulder and follows Sam out of the apartment.

As soon as they started walking down the stairs, Athena and Dean got an earful.

"I mean--come on, you guys can't just break in—middle of the night and expect me to hit the road with you."

Athena opens her mouth, but Dean holds a finger up. "Don't."

Athena closes her mouth.

"You're not hearing me, Sammy." Dean makes it to the last step. "Dad's missing. And I need you to help me find him."

"You remember the Poltergeist in Amherst or the Devil's Gates in Clifton?" Sam jogs their memories. "He was missing then too, he's always missing, and he's always fine."

"Not for this long." Athena sighs, gripping the straps of her Hello Kitty Bag.

"See, even Little Miss Sunshine thinks something's wrong." Dean points at the girl. "Now, are you gonna come with us or not?"

"I'm not."

"Why not?" Athena and Dean chorus.

"I swore I was done hunting for good." Sam answers.

Athena shrugs, "We tried." she turns to walk away, but Dean grabs the back of her bag, stopping her.

"Come on, it wasn't easy, but it wasn't that bad." Dean scoffs.

Athena's chest tightens and she presses her lips together. She loved her father and she loved Dean. But for him to say that it wasn't 'that bad' made her want to pull her hair out of her head. She touches her chest and inhales a quiet breath.

Dean starts walking again, pulling Athena along. Sam follows them. "Yeah?"

"When Athena told dad she was scared of the thing in her closet, he gave her a .45." Sam states.

Athena nods her head, "He has a point, Dean."

"The grown-ups are talking, Athena."

"You say grown-ups. I say two men who don't know their timetables." Athena grumbles.

"I know the necessary ones!" Dean snaps.

"And I know all of them...now!" Sam answers.

Athena rolls her eyes.

Dean looks back at Sam, stopping at the door. "What was he supposed to do?"

"She was 5 years old!" Sam states. "He was supposed to say, 'Don't be afraid of the dark."

"Don't be afraid of the dark? What are you kidding me?" Dean lets out a chuckle of disbelief. "Of course you should be afraid of the dark. You know what's out there!"

"Yeah, I know. Still--the way we grew up after mom was killed and dad's obsession to find the thing that killed her, but we still haven't found the damn thing." Sam explains.

"So we kill everything we can find," Athena adds.

Sam points at the young girl, whose back was still turned to them because Dean still had her bag in his hand.

Sam quietly huffs, he grabs Dean's wrist and pulls it off of Athena's bag. He grips Athena's shoulders and turns her, so she was now facing her brothers.

"Thank you." Athena smiles.

"We save a lot of people doing it, too." Dean pronounces.

"You think mom would have wanted this for us?" Sam asks.

Dean rolls his eyes, he pushes the door open and walks out. Sam follows him with Athena behind. The youngest decided against saying anything. I mean, Mary was always a sensitive subject. She doesn't remember her actual mother, so she would ask Dean what Mary was like. When they were younger Dean would snap and shut Athena down, leaving her in tears. Nowadays, he would let out a deep sigh and Athena would close her mouth and apologize.

The one time Athena asked John...that was etched into her brain. She learned her lesson to never speak about Mary again. Athena still hasn't recovered from her time trapped in the small motel closet.

"The weapon training and melting the silver into bullets? Man, we were raised like warriors." Sam states.

"So, what are you gonna do?" Dean asks. "Are you gonna live some normal, Apple-pie life? Is that it?"

Athena scrunched her face. Why did Dean say it like it was a bad thing?

"No, not normal." Sam retorts. "Safe."

"And that's why you ran away."

There it was.

Sam scoffs, "I was just going to college." he states. "It was dad who said if I was gonna go, I should stay gone."

Athena looks down at her shoes. She was always happy Sam was able to get away. But there was also always a pain that he broke his promise to take her with him. That argument between John and Sam was one of the worst.

"And that's what I'm doing."

"Yeah, well, dad's in real trouble right now if he's not dead already," Dean says. "I can feel it."

Sam stays silent, unconvinced.

"He can't do it alone," Athena speaks for the stubborn Dean.

Sam looks at his little sister who gives him a tight-lipped smile.

"He has you," Sam says.

Athena pulls her brows together, "I research and stay in the car...I'm not much help." she looks away.

Sam looks at Dean, "You can."

Dean lets out a breath, "Yeah, well, I don't want to."

Sam looks at Athena who was waiting patiently, her puppy dog eyes on him. He lets out a defeated sigh. She perfected it.

"What was he hunting?"

Athena smiles.

☆

Athena didn't think it was real. I mean, she was staring at her big brother. She never thought she would see him again, especially since he changed his number after ignoring her calls. The auburn-haired girl slowly lifts her finger up and pokes Sam's cheek.

Sam pulls his brows together and slowly turns his head to Athena, who was staring at him intently with squinted eyes.

"Hi...?"

"I can't believe you're here right now." Athena slowly shakes her head, taking her finger off his face. She then leans back in her seat.

Sam turns to the girl who was staring off into space. He opens his mouth to speak, but Athena talks first.

"I mean--I know I was there when the whole conversation happened, but it's still...odd that we convinced you. Dean did all the talking, but I got you with the puppy eyes--you don't have to lie I know I--"

"Athy?"

"Yeah?" She inhales and focuses on her brother, who had a small smile on his mouth.

"I've missed you too," Sam says.

"I didn't say that." Athena folds her arms and looks out the window.

"You didn't have to say it." Sam shrugs a shoulder. "I know you."

Athena presses her lips into a smile. "Stanford, huh? That's pretty cool."

Sam chuckles, "Yeah--thanks." His eyes shift to the bright pink Gameboy. "You've still got that old thing?"

Athena sputters, "Of course." she grabs it. "I decorated it now."

Athena holds the Gameboy out to Sam. He raises his brows and accepts it, he examines the Gameboy and smiles as Athena explains every single one. Athena could always talk to someone for an inhuman amount of time. She was never awkward with anyone. Even her smile could warm the coldest hearts.

"You've still got that crazy imagination, huh?" Sam looks at Athena.

The auburn-haired girl blinks and slightly tilts her head. "Uh--what?"

"Hey!"

Sam and Athena look out the car and see Dean carrying arms full of junk food. Athena's jaw clenches while Sam grimaces.

"You guys want breakfast?"

"No thanks," Sam answers, handing Athena her game back.

She quickly turns the game on and practically presses her face against the screen, making sure it was known she didn't want to be interrupted.

Dean walks over to Athena's side of the window. "Athy, you want..." he trails off his question when he sees Athena's eyes glued to the screen of her game.

"All right..." he goes back to filling the car with gas.

"So how'd you pay for that stuff?" Sam asks. "You guys still forcing Athena to run those credit-card scams?"

"Yeah, well, hunting ain't exactly a pro-ball career." Dean states. "Besides, all we do is apply. It's not our fault they send us the cards."

"I'm just glad you guys aren't making her go into bars anymore." Sam scoffs, the anger evident in his voice.

Athena swallows, her mind going back to those nights at the bar. She still had nightmares.

"What names did you write on the application this time?" Sam asks his younger sister, hoping to distract her from the awful memories.

Athena blinks and meets Sam's eyes in the rearview mirror. She clears her throat and pulls her brows together, thinking.

"Uh--Bert Aframian and his two kids, Hector and Daisy." Athena forces out a chuckle. "We scored three cards out of the deal."

Sam quietly chuckles and a smile forms on Athena's lips. "Sounds about right." he nods.

Dean gets back in the car, just in time to hear Sam start to speak once again. "I swear, man, you got to update your cassette tape collection," Sam advises.

"Why?" Dean asks.

"Well, for one--they're cassette tapes..."

Athena quietly snickers.

"...and two--Black Sabbath, Motorhead, Metallica?"

Dean rolls his eyes and grabs the cassette tape in Sam's hand.

"It's the greatest hits of Mullet Rock." Sam rolls his eyes.

Athena giggles and Dean points at her. "Don't you listen to Pop?"

Sam chuckles softly and Athena pulls her brows together.

"What's so funny about Pop?" Athena inquires.

Sam looks at the girl and clears his throat, "Oh, uh—nothing, nothing. Pop is...nice."

Athena smiles, but she furrows her eyebrows, noticing the way Sam said that.

"Besides, House Rules, Sammy--Driver picks the music, shotgun shuts his or her cakehole." Dean inserts a cassette tape, the music playing.

"You know Sammy is a chubby 12-year old. It's Sam, okay?"

Dean turns the volume up and Athena presses her lips together.

Typical.

"Sorry, I can't hear you. The Music's too loud."

Dean speeds away from the gas station and starts down the road.

After hours of driving, Dean finally slowed down before getting to the bridge; noticing the cop cars parked ahead of them.

"I.D.'s ready?"

Athena looks over at Dean, holding up his Federal Marshall badge to Sam. The auburn-haired brunette searches through her bag and grabs her badge. Before she could get out of the car with her brothers, Dean closes the door. Athena raises her brows, "Dean--"

"Stay in the car." Dean points at her. "You always stay in the car."

"I don't wanna stay in the car anymore," Athena says.

"Oh, well in that case..."

Dean locks the car doors.

Athena's mouth hangs open and she turns to Sam who shrugs.

"Maybe next time...?" Sam walks away with Dean.

Athena folds her arms and leans back in her seat.

Nothing ever changes. They still don't need you.

"They need me just...not with interviewing," Athena speaks under her breath. "I'm good at other stuff."

Where are brains supposed to get you in the life of hunting?

Athena chews on the inside of her cheek. "Just because I'm not strong doesn't mean I'm not a good hunter." she quietly scoffs. "I'm a great hunter. I help."

Did John think you were useful?

Athena's chest starts to gradually tighten with every word the voice in her head spoke. The girl never had friends and the only way she could cope with a lot of the things that happened to her was by talking things out with herself. But one day someone started talking back to her. At first, it freaked her out. But then, the voice made sense and comforted her. But sometimes the voice would get mean and say things she hated.

"He never did," Athena admits. "So why did he keep me after my mom abandoned me?"

I'm your subconscious. If you're clueless then so am I.

Athena rubs the corner of her eye and sighs.

Maybe that's a question for your brothers.

☆

As soon as the Winchesters made it to the library, Sam and Dean sat to the side while Athena went to work; finding out that Constance Welch committed Suicide by jumping off the Sylvania Bridge.

"So this is where Constance took the swan dive."

Atena grips the railing and looks over it. She swallows thickly from the height of the bridge to the water.

"So you think dad would have been here?" Athena asks.

"Well, he's chasing the same story, and we're chasing him." Dean states.

"Okay, so now what?" Sam asks, following after Dean.

Out of the corner of her eye, Athena notices her brothers starting to walk away so she quickly follows after them.

"Now we keep digging till we find him," Dean says. "It might take a while."

"Dean, I told you I've got to get back by--"

"Monday. Right. The interview." Dean slightly turns to Sam.

Athena knew just by the expression on Dean's face that he had a bone to pick with Sam about him leaving.

"Yeah, I forgot." Dean pulls his brows together. "You're really serious about this, aren't you? You think you're just gonna become some lawyer, marry your girl?"

"Maybe. Why not?" Sam questions.

"Does Jessica know the truth about you?" Dean inquires. "I mean, does she know about the things you've done?"

Sam steps closer to Dean, "No, and she's not ever going to know."

"Well, that's healthy." Dean quips.

Athena inhales a small breath, "Yeah, maybe we could have this conversation in the ca--"

"You can pretend all you want, Sammy, but you're gonna have to face up to who you really are." Dean cuts off the young girl, continuing down the bridge with Sam trailing behind.

Athena lets out a quiet breath. She places a hand on her forehead, a familiar wave of dizziness washing over her. Athena knew she hadn't eaten for a few days. But that's normal for her and so was her becoming lightheaded.

"Well, you have a responsibility," Dean says.

Sam stands in front of Dean, stopping him in his tracks. "To dad and his crusade?" he lets out a dry chuckle. "If it weren't for pictures, I wouldn't even know what mom looks like. And Athena can never get the truth out of anyone about her mom. She has nothing and we all know why--"

"Keep it down." Dean snaps.

Sam shakes his head in disbelief, "And what difference would it make?" he questions. "Even if we do find the thing that killed her, mom's gone, and she isn't coming back."

Athena flinches when she hears a loud thud. Her breathing gets caught in her throat and she looks at Dean pinning Sam against the metal pillar. She opens her mouth to speak but stops.

"Don't talk about her like that." Dean's voice was filled with pain. It was a familiar pain that Athena recognized.

They were talking about Mary..

Athena keeps her feet planted against the bridge and she shoves her hands into her jacket. She didn't want to get in the middle. Anytime she did, she would be the one to get in trouble. Athena turns to continue down the bridge, but she stops. Her jaw clenches when she sees the woman in a white silk dress standing on the railing of the bridge.

Athena opens and closes her mouth, trying to speak. But her fear was stopping her. She digs her nails into her thigh and quietly winces, snapping herself out of her fear.

"G-Guys?"

Sam and Dean look at the girl, who was staring ahead. They both turn to the woman on the bridge and stand next to their sister. The woman turns her head to the three hunters, before falling forward.

The Winchesters all run toward the spot the ghost was previously at. They look over the railing and don't see her at the bottom.

"Where'd she go?" Dean asks.

"I don't know--"

The engine for the Impala starts, forcing each of them to look over at the car that was shining its headlights onto them.

"Oh, fiddlesticks..."

"What the...?"

"Who's driving your car?"

Dean holds up the keys and Athena gulps. The car starts to speed toward them and Athena freezes.

Sam grips Athena's arm, forcing her to start to run with them. Athena's lungs quickly ran out of air and her vision started to fade out.

Not now. Not now. Please. Don't do this.

Sam looks off to the side, he picks Athena up and jumps over the railing with Dean. Sam quickly grabs onto the pole, Athena screams as she slips from Sam's grip. He grips her wrist before she could fall any further.

"Hey, hey, it's okay. I've got you." Sam whispers.

Athena keeps her eyes shut, shaking her head.

"Athy, come on. You've gotta work with me here." Sam says, slowly pulling her up.

Athena inhales a deep breath and exhales a sharp one. A small whimper leaves her lips when she opens her eyes, she watches her feet dangle over the water and Athena felt like she was gonna hurl.

"I'm gonna die."

Sam chuckles softly and Athena's eyes widen. "Stop laughing! Wh-Why are you laughing?!"

"Because you're not gonna die, Athy. I won't let you. Now...climb onto my back, all right--"

"No."

Sam lets out a breath. Athena was scared of a lot of things. Sloths, heights, Ostriches, bugs, Sloths.

"Athena, you've gotta trust me."

Trust the guy who promised to take you with him only for him to ditch you? I would rather you fall to your death.

"Athy, hey..."

Athena's blue wide eyes meet Sam's calm soft hazel green ones. "Do you trust me?" he asks.

Athena's lips quiver, she sniffles and furiously nods her head. "Yes, of course, I do."

Sam gives her a smile, "Okay, then...I'm gonna pull you up."

Athena inhales and nods. "O-Okay..."

Sam slowly starts to pull Athena up and she starts to shake.

I'm too heavy. I'm too heavy...

Sam places Athena's arm over his shoulder. Athena quickly wraps herself around her brother, her breathing quickens. "Fiddlesticks..." she whispers.

Sam laughs, "I still don't know how you come up with those words."

Athena lets out a breath and looks down into the water. "Dean?!"

She spots Dean slowly crawling out of the water, covered in mud.

"Are you okay?!" Athena shouts.

"I'm super!" Dean exhales.

Athena manages a small smile of relief. "He's covered in mud," she informs Sam who lets out a laugh, with enough heart for the both of them; causing Athena's anxiety and fear to slowly decline.

Sam climbs over the railing. As soon as his feet touch the pavement, Athena hops off his back and falls to her knees. She slowly lays flat on the ground. Sam frowns, "Uh, you all right?"

"Me? Oh, yeah--no--yeah. I-I'm good. I just..." she inhales. "I just wanna lay here for a while. You know, stay on the ground?"

Sam quietly snickers and turns to Dean who has finally made his way onto the bridge. "Took you long enough."

"Haha." Dean rolls his eyes, his eyes stop on Athena who was trying to catch her breath, on the ground. "She okay?"

"Yeah, she just...wants to never leave the ground again," Sam says, motioning to the railing.

Dean slowly nods his head, "Yeah, well, I never want to be near water again." he walks over to the Impala and checks on it.

"Car, all right?" Sam asks.

"Yeah, whatever she did to it, it seems all right now." Dean closes the hood of the car. "That Constance chick--what a bitch!"

Athena slightly jumps, "Why antagonize her?" she questions softly.

"Well, she doesn't want us digging around, that's for sure." Sam states.

"Yeah, no kidding..."

Sam and Dean lean against the Impala. "So, where's the trail go from here, genius?"

Dean throws his arms into the air, clueless.

"You smell like a toilet." Sam wrinkles his nose.

"Y-Yeah, I didn't want to say anything," Athena says. "But now since Sam did. You totally do."

Dean presses his lips together.

"And I'm all the way over here." Athena raises her hand from the ground.

"Okay--I got it. Thanks."

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