IT'S WEDNESDAY MY DUDES  

(that's a vine)

anna is sixteen

(and also i love you guys)

Just Another Weekend

Anna groaned and closed the fridge. "Since when do we celebrate random Christian holidays, Dean?"

"Since Jody invited us," Dean replied. He took a slow sip of hot coffee and leaned back against the counter. He was eyeing her over the edge of his coffee mug, which meant he was waiting for her to keep complaining.

Anna obliged, whirling around and putting her hands on her hips. "I don't want to celebrate a holiday that can't be construed as non-Christian."

"So try harder," Dean encouraged lightly, eyes bright with way too much cheer. "Make it all about bunnies. I'll get you one of those headbands with the ears on it. You'll look adorable."

Anna fixed her brother with a glare. "I'm serious, Dean."

Dean half-smiled at her but set his coffee down on the counter and tried to look more serious. "What do you have against Easter, Rugrat? It's no different than Christmas."

"Well, that's completely untrue. Christmas is about, like, family or whatever. Easter is about some guy who probably existed but was definitely not raised from the dead. It's, like, the difference between cherry pie and lemon meringue." She and Dean made disgusted faces at the same moment. They both fucking hated meringue. "Completely different," she confirmed one more time.

"Anna, lighten up," Dean told her, giving her nose a playful tap with his knuckle. "It doesn't have to be about Easter, alright? Pretend it's just another weekend."

Anna threw her head back in frustration and groaned again. "But Jody's all religious."

"Watch your tone, little girl," Dean warned her with a sharp look. "Jody's our friend, and she's been nothin' but good to you."

That wasn't how she'd intended her argument to sound, and Anna huffed indignantly. "She can be whatever she wants. That's not what I meant. I just mean I don't want to hear about God and Jesus and the stupid Disciples. And I definitely don't want to say grace before we eat. It's so dumb and awkward." She followed Dean as he went for the table, but she didn't sit down and neither did he.

"Part of respecting Jody is respecting her rules while we're in her house," Dean said sternly. He picked his coffee up again and sipped on it. Then, as an afterthought, he said, "Besides, she's not in your face about any of that crap. Probably won't even come up more than once. You can handle listening to it for a few minutes before dinner."

Anna looked away and shook her head. "I don't want to," she complained one last time.

"Tough," Dean told her. "We're goin' this weekend, so you better lose the attitude by Saturday."

"Can't I just stay here?"

"And what do we tell Jody when she asks about you? That you didn't want to come? That's a little harsh, don't you think?"

"It's not about Jody!" Anna snapped. "I don't want to celebrate Easter! It's a stupid holiday, and the whole story is unrealistic. And don't even get me started on the-"

"Anna." Dean's tone made it clear he was running short on patience. She dared to look at him with a pouty expression, and he raised one eyebrow at her. "What's the real problem?"

"Nothing," Anna denied. "I just don't like Easter."

"Uh-huh. Well, we're going to Jody's this weekend, and that means all of us. So, unless you can come up with a more convincing argument, this discussion is over."

Anna grit her teeth. "Dean-" she started but was cut off with a single look. She grumbled to herself as she stormed out of the kitchen, nearly running Sam over in the process.

Sam lifted his coffee cup over her head to avoid any spills and watched her go for a minute. "What's wrong with Anna?" he asked, settling at the table.

"She doesn't wanna go to Jody's this weekend," Dean replied.

Sam frowned in bewilderment, "What's actually wrong with Anna?"

Dean snorted, "Wish I knew." He took a deep breath and sat across from his little brother. "She just went on this whole spiel about Easter being a bullshit holiday," he said, then gave a small smile. "It was kinda cute, actually. She's such a friggin' nerd, and she'd never admit it."

"Oh yeah?" Sam asked with a smirk. "Who's that remind you of?" He looked pointedly at Dean. He took a smug sip of coffee and grinned at Dean's annoyed face.

"Shut up."

()()()

Sam sighed and closed his eyes. He still couldn't hear any sounds coming from behind Anna's door. If she didn't get up this time, he would have to sicc Dean on her. And he didn't want to do that.

He rapped his knuckles against the door one last time. "Anna, it's after six. We should have been on the road ten minutes ago." She didn't answer him, and he said, "Do I have to come in there?"

"Go away," Anna groaned, voice muffled by the door.

"You can't stay in there all morning, Anna," Sam said reasonably. "You're just putting off the inevitable."

She didn't answer him.

"I can only buy you so much time before Dean comes down here, Ladybug," he admitted. "Last warning. We have to go."

Anna made a frustrated sound on the other side of the door. But she eventually said, "Fine, I'm fucking coming!"

Sam bit his tongue so he wouldn't scold her for swearing at him. He trekked back to the kitchen with a pit in his stomach. There was something seriously bothering Anna. That kid was good at avoiding people when she wanted to, but she was almost always quick to get out of bed the first time they woke her. Well, not for school. But for hunting trips and visits with family, it was just weird that she'd be so resistant.

"Is she up yet?" Dean asked, tossing his duffel on the table with a thud.

"Just got out of bed," Sam replied and went for the half-drained coffee pot. "I had to call her three times."

Dean made an irritated face, closing his eyes and shaking his head, and said, "You're kidding me."

"Nope." Sam poured steaming black coffee into his travel mug, watching the steam furl upward and inward all at once. "I don't know what she's so mad about, but she seriously doesn't want to go on this trip." He put the pot back into the machine and screwed the lid onto his cup. No way was this coffee going to last through even half the drive to Sioux Falls, especially if Anna and Dean were going to be mad at one another the whole time. Sam could feel the headache starting already.

"She's got three minutes, and I'm draggin' her out to the car myself."

Dean shook his head again, trying his very best to look angry. But Sam knew better. Judging by the way his brother's eyes kept darting toward the hallway, it was obvious what Dean was really feeling– Worry. He was worried about Anna, because this wasn't like her. And they both knew there was no way Dean would lay a hand on the kid unless she was in some kind of danger.

"Come on, man. Go easy on her. She's worn out, and there's clearly something else bugging her." Sam lifted his own duffel off one of the kitchen chairs and set it on the table. He unzipped it as he listened to Dean's response.

"Well, what am I supposed to do if she won't talk to me?"

Sam looked sideways at his brother, "Give her a little space." That's what I always do with you, he was careful not to say.

Dean snorted, "Yeah, that's easy to do on a three-hour car ride." He shouldered his duffel as Sam was shoving the laptop into his own. "Gimme your bag, I'll load the car."

Sam complied, zipping the bag and passing it to Dean by the strap. The second Dean had both duffels on his shoulders, Anna appeared in the kitchen doorway. Her hair was a mess, her eyes were bloodshot, and she was still wearing pajamas. Sam could feel Dean's frustration coming off the guy in waves, which made it all the more impressive when Dean spoke cheerfully to their sister.

"Hop to it, Rugrat, I told Jody we'd be there by ten."

Anna sighed but kept her thoughts to herself, shuffling toward the coffee pot.

"I'll get you coffee, Ladybug. Get dressed," Sam told her, already pulling her favorite travel mug out of the cupboard. It was covered in little cartoon dinosaurs, and Anna always said it reminded her of The Land Before Time, a show she'd loved as a little girl.

For some reason, Anna seemed even more annoyed by this. Maybe she'd been wanting to stall as long as possible and Sam was botching her plans. "Kay," was all she said, though, as she dragged her feet back out of the kitchen.

It was another five minutes before she reappeared with her duffel. She was wearing ripped jeans now, and a purple flannel layered with her leather jacket. It reminded Sam of the way Dean used to dress, back when he still had that old leather jacket of their dad's.

"Trade you," Sam offered, and exchanged Anna's coffee for her duffel. "Come on, Dean's got the car pulled around." He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and felt Anna lean into him just slightly. "You know, I don't think I said good morning to you yet," he said softly, affectionately as they walked through the map room together. "Good morning, Anna."

He felt Anna's head move against his shoulder as she looked up at him. "Good morning," she said begrudgingly and then moved ahead of him up the stairs.

It was chilly outside, being only March, and the bite to the morning air had Anna shivering when she first stepped outside.

Dean was leaning against the driver's side of the Impala, hands in his pockets, body tense to fend off the cold. "I was startin' to think you forgot me out here," he quipped and watched Sam put Anna's duffel in the trunk. "Hey," he said gently as Anna opened the back door next to him. She looked up at him with a question in her eyes, but Dean didn't really know what to say now that he had her attention. "You warm enough?" he asked and put a hand on her shoulder.

He'd communicated what he needed her to know apparently, because Anna's eyes looked softer as she nodded. Dean gave her a pat on the side of the face, then used that hand to pull her close enough that he could kiss her forehead real quick.

"No more stalling," he requested and tugged his own door open.

()()()

Anna slept away most of the drive and woke up only ten minutes from Sioux Falls. She blinked tiredly at the nude ceiling and rolled her head sideways. There was a nondescript classic rock song playing on the radio, and it was comforting in a way that made her stomach feel settled and warm. Her eyes tracked slowly up toward the rear view mirror, and she watched Dean's eyes for a minute before he glanced up at the mirror and caught her.

"Hey," he said quietly. "Caffeinate, we're almost there."

Sam turned when he heard Dean speak, and she caught eyes with him for a brief moment.

Anna pushed wordlessly upward into a sitting position and grabbed her coffee from the cupholder. When she sipped it, she expected it to be lukewarm or cold, but it was still warm enough to taste good to her. She rubbed her eyes with the side of one finger and sighed.

"Got snacks if you're hungry," Sam offered, holding a bag of chips and a poptart.

Anna shook her head, but thought about how weird it was that she hadn't woken up when they stopped for gas. She'd really needed that nap apparently.

"You okay?" Dean asked her with no precedent.

"Yeah, I'm fine," Anna told him easily and took another sip of coffee. "Still wakin' up."

Dean smiled this sweet little half-smile that made Anna think briefly of being five years old and watching cartoons early in the morning. She used to attack her brother with a good-morning-hug before they settled into whatever couch or bed they had available and tuned the TV to any passable childrens' programming offered. And Dean would smile at her sleepy comments and giggles, looking just like he did now.

The memories made Anna feel uneasy, her throat tightening and going dry.

"What is it?" Sam asked her, and to Anna the question felt sudden while to Sam it was probably a longtime coming.

"Nothing," she said and pressed the rim of her mug to her mouth again. The coffee's scent was bitter and muted as it crawled up her nose.

"You have a total of five or six minutes left to spill your guts, Runt," Dean told her. It wasn't scolding or even cautionary. He was just giving her fair warning, extending an arm in invitation. "After that, you have to play nice." That part was a little more sternly put.

Anna sighed again and leaned back in her seat, gazing out the window. "Claire's super mad at me," she finally admitted. She shifted in her seat, watching both her brothers make surprised faces. "Like, the I think she's gonna deck me the second I walk through the door kind of mad. Don't get me wrong, I think Easter is stupid too. The whole resurrection thing brings up bad memories, and I really hope it's not gonna be a topic of conversation tomorrow. But mostly I don't want to deal with Claire. I'm too tired, you know? And she's always so angry."

"Why's she mad at you?" Sam asked patiently, swiveling in his seat.

Anna looked into his eyes, a muddy shade of bluish green, and bit the inside of her lip to keep from talking. She blurted after a minute, "I feel like if I tell you guys too, she's gonna be exponentially more angry."

"Oh, so you ratted on her," Dean gathered. "What'd she do? Sneak out or something? Hunt down a nest of vamp's by herself?"

"That all sounds like Claire," Sam admitted in a mumble. It wasn't judgmental, wasn't even exasperated. It was just an observation, though it sure sounded like a weary one.

Anna pursed her lips, half-tempted to defend her friend– well, frenemy– from the off-brand criticism. Instead she answered, "Yeah. She called me at school and she was, like, freaking out. She said her arm was broken and she couldn't call an ambulance cause there were bodies everywhere. I didn't ask," she said with raised hands when both boys looked at her in concern. "I told her to call Jody, and she wanted me to just come and help her. But I was like, dude I don't have a car and I'm at school. And I offered to call you guys, but then she just said you would call Jody. And she was totally right."

"She was totally right," Dean acknowledged, nodding along from the driver's seat. He pulled onto the exit ramp for Sioux Falls, checking his mirrors as he did so. "And I'm guessing you called Jody yourself?"

Anna nodded, "I didn't want to but, like, what was I supposed to do? Felt more like helping her than snitching on her at that point. Except then Jody grounded her, and now she wants me dead."

Sam snorted at that. "Anna, Claire's all bark, you know that."

"I don't know, man, she's hit me before."

Dean's frown in the rearview was intense and sudden. "Are you serious?" he demanded. "That little shit-"

"Dean," Sam scolded. He turned back to Anna, "Did she really hit you?"

"Yeah, but it didn't hurt that much," Anna said. "And I didn't hit her back." She raised her right hand, "I solemnly swear."

"You should've," Dean grouched, shaking his head at the road ahead.

"No, she shouldn't," Sam argued, then turned toward the backseat again, "You shouldn't. I'm proud of you for showing some self-restraint."

"What the hell did she hit you for in the first place?" Dean asked then, giving her a stern look in the mirror.

Anna shrugged one shoulder, "I called her a bitch." She watched both her brothers' hands go to their faces. "Well, she deserved it."

"Anna Grace," Dean ground out. "Don't call her a bitch, alright? I don't know where you even get this shit."

Anna raised one eyebrow, "You don't know where I get it?" she challenged. "Dean, you call Sam a bitch, like, every day."

"Hey, I'm an adult."

Anna rolled her eyes so hard it almost hurt. "Well, what am I supposed to do? She was acting like a bitch, and I told her to stop acting like a bitch. That's not even today's problem, okay?"

"Just-" Sam started and then stopped to take a deep breath. "Just don't call her a bitch anymore, alright?"

"Whatever," Anna gave in. She slouched grumpily in her seat and drank more coffee.

"No, not whatever," Dean scolded, stealing glances at her in the rearview mirror. Anna recognized the scenery outside the window. They were turning onto Jody's street. "Quit startin' fights with people, I mean it. Not just Claire either– I mean at school too."

Anna was left wondering how this conversation had turned into a lecture about her behavior. "I don't start fights, I finish them," she said.

"Did you just quote Aristocats?" Dean asked her indignantly.

"Did you just recognize an Aristocats reference?" Anna countered.

"Not the point," Dean snapped. They were in Jody's driveway now, and he turned the car off so he could turn to face her with a parental look about him. By this point Sam had given up on getting a word in. But he was giving her an equally disapproving look.

"Okay, I'll try," Anna said in surrender. "But Claire's still totally gonna punch me in the face today."

"So stick with us, Anna. Sam makes a great middle man between two teenagers." He smirked at their brother in the passenger seat, and Sam was wearing the mother of all bitchfaces.

"You're a jerk," he said simply.

Dean opened his mouth, looked at Anna, and closed it. "You know what you are," he said after another second.

This time it was Sam who wore a shit-eating grin.

()()()

Claire's eyes were piercing even from across the room. Anna stood behind her brothers and tried not to look right at those eyes. She was caught by surprise when Jody pulled her into a hug, too distracted by Claire's anger to see Jody coming closer.

"I swear, you get taller every time I see you," Jody told her with a sweet smile. Anna highly doubted that– She was pretty sure she'd stopped growing a year ago. But, hey, if somebody wanted to call her anything other than a shortie, she would take the compliment. She got plenty of teasing from her ginormous family members. "I missed you, kiddo."

"I missed you too," Anna said, glancing over Jody's shoulder to the very angry Claire.

"But I think you might be imagining the height difference," Dean said, resting his forearm on the top of her head. "Yeah, still armrest height," he teased, making Anna wrinkled her nose and pushed his arm away.

Jody looked so pleased, watching them interact. She gave Dean a pat on the side of his shoulder and turned toward the kitchen. "Alright, I've got chips, salsa, and plenty of leftovers in the fridge. If I know you kids, you didn't eat a thing before you got on the road."

She heard Jody's voice fading, her brothers following toward the kitchen. But Anna just looked at Claire, feeling braver than she had a minute ago.

"Look, I didn't want to be a snitch, I just-"

"Don't even start with me," Claire said in warning. And that was all she said before storming past Anna, ramming her shoulder as she passed.

"Ow," Anna complained softly and turned to watch Claire go. She sulked on her way to the kitchen and stood quietly behind Sam. Claire could be a jerk sometimes, but Anna knew her well enough to know there was usually a reason.

This whole calling Jody thing had gotten to Claire more than expected, and for some reason that made Anna start to feel seriously pissed off too. Because what in the hell had Claire wanted from her? She was sixteen. She had no car, no license even. She couldn't have gone after Claire on her own if she'd wanted to. And honestly she had sort of wanted to.

"What crawled up your butt and died?"

Anna turned just her head to look at Alex and gave a weak half-smile. "Dude, those are really the first words you wanted to say to me? I haven't seen you in, like, forever," Anna complained and went in for a hug.

"My bad," Alex said and produced her usual guarded smile. "Did you want me to ask about Ian in present company?"

Anna's eyes went wide and dangerous as she looked pointedly at Alex. "Dude."

Alex's smile got a little bigger. "Claire makes that face," she observed and then looked at Dean while all amusement fell from Anna's face.

"Hey, Alex," he and Sam said at nearly the exact same second.

Dean made some remark about how Alex looked like an actual adult now. Anna just stood back and mulled over what she wanted to tell Claire. You know, assuming Claire didn't have a sniper rifle aimed at her head this very minute. Suddenly itching to move, Anna grabbed her duffel off the kitchen floor and muttered something about settling in.

"Be nice," Dean called after her. Yeah, they knew exactly what she was really going to do.

"Is Claire still mad at her?" Jody asked as Anna trekked down the hallway toward the guest room.

Anna sat down on the sofa inside and dropped her duffel heavily at her feet. In all honesty, she didn't have the energy for this whole fiasco. That was why she'd wanted to stay home in the first place. She still felt a hint of bitterness over the fact Dean had made her come here. But, hey, if she was gonna be in the same house as Claire for the weekend, it would be best to try and make peace.

It took only a couple knocks on Claire's bedroom door before the thing swung open rapidly. Claire just stared at her, waiting.

Anna sighed. "I was trying to help you, Claire."

"Fuck you," was all Claire had to say in return. But Anna looked at the cast on her friend's arm and felt a surge of anger.

"No, you know what? Fuck you," she clapped back, eyes alight with her feelings. Dean's order to play nice had gone ignored, but Anna had no regrets. "You called me in the middle of the day, and you needed help. I helped you, Claire. And if this is how you treat people who help you, I'd hate to see you when someone picks a fight."

Claire gave Anna a shove, and the force of it put them both on the hallway floor with a crash.

"What the fuck is your problem?" Anna asked, pushing Claire off of her. "I'm not gonna fight you, dude, your arm is broken!" She stood up and ran a restless hand through her hair just in time to see three adults rounding the corner. "It went very well," she said sardonically and shouldered her way between Sam and Dean.

It wasn't all too surprising when she sat down on the porch and heard someone follow her outside. "Come on, Sam," she said, recognizing the footfalls. "I don't wanna deal with this right now."

"I just want to know what happened," Sam told her gently and settled beside her on the porch. "Claire looked pretty... unhappy," he finished after a brief pause. "And so do you."

Anna made an irritated sound and let her head drop to her knees. "I started talking to her, and the first thing she said is fuck you. And I don't know, man, that usually doesn't bother me. But Claire is just so good at pushing my buttons, you know?"

"I know," Sam said with real understanding. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "Anna, you're not gonna get anywhere if you can't keep a level head."

"I planned to, Sammy. I always plan to. But she opens her mouth, and my brain just short-circuits. It's wild." She shook her head in exasperation with herself.

"Well, maybe you need a middle man."

"Is that a serious offer?" Anna asked skeptically. "Cause Dean said that earlier, and you didn't look happy about it."

"I'm less happy about you and Claire wrestling in Jody's hallway, Ladybug."

"Dude, it was not a wrestling match. She pushed me, I pushed her. That was it."

"Still more fighting than I wanna see," Sam insisted. "Look, I'm not suggesting a talking stick or anything, okay? Just, you know, talk within earshot," he suggested lightly. "We don't need you guys coming to blows again, alright?"

Anna shrugged. "I guess," she said. "I don't know."

Sam nudged her with his elbow, and when she looked at him he had a knowing glint in his eyes. "What?" he asked.

Anna shrugged one more time. But then she rubbed her face with her hands and explained, "Sometimes I think Claire and I are just destined to hate each other. Like, I swear if it's not one thing it's another. Half the time we try to get along and one of us still ends up shouting."

Sam let out this amused snort that had Anna looking at him in annoyance. "I'm gonna say something that you're probably gonna hate," he warned her. But he didn't give her time to answer before continuing on, "You and Claire have a lot in common."

Anna rolled her eyes and shook her head. She didn't understand why people said that so much. She and Claire were nothing alike.

"I know you don't believe me, Anna. Trust me, I know. But it's true. You're both so friggin' stubborn you don't know how stubborn you are. You're both really pissed at the world but only let it out when you can't take it anymore. Honestly, I think anger is the one thing you should be able to understand about Claire."

Anna mulled that one over for a minute. Her sneakers scraped along the wood of Jody's front steps as she squirmed. "Okay, so we have like two things in common. That doesn't mean anything."

"That's all it takes," Sam told her. "You both know each other well enough to let the anger out, and you're both too stubborn to give up the fight. Kind of a recipe for bumping heads."

"Whatever," Anna grumbled. It was about as close to acceptance as she could get.

Sam just gave her a pat on the shoulder and a knowing smile, then stood to go inside.

()()()

One more try, Anna told herself. And if Claire wanted to keep fighting at that point, Anna would comply. As Sam had suggested, she waited until she and Claire were within earshot of Jody before starting anything.

"Can we talk?"

Anna's eyebrows went up in surprise. She'd been prepared to initiate this whole thing. But, hey, if Claire wanted to talk, she was going to listen. "Yeah," she said. "That's why I came in here." She sat on the couch, Claire beside her.

Claire was shifting in discomfort. She was no better at this crap than Anna was, and she seemed like she was feeling just as bad about the whole thing. "I shouldn't have pushed you," she said first.

Anna shrugged, "I was expecting you to punch me again. All in all, I'd say you took it easy on me." When Claire just smiled that hate you, love you smile of hers, Anna spoke again. "I get why you were mad at me," she said. "I would have been mad too if you'd ratted on me."

"Well, like you said," Claire trailed off. They both knew the end of her sentence. Anna hadn't known what else to do. Claire shouldn't have expected a miracle from her. "I'm still angry," Claire admitted, though her tone implied she didn't want to be. She was messing with a loose thread on her sweater, a sure sign she was vulnerable and nervous as hell.

"I get it," Anna said softly. She felt like an older sister now, though Claire was younger than her. Claire had gone it alone for a while. She'd missed out on a lot of the love a traumatized kid needed. Anna knew, because she'd had the love and still come out all kinds of broken.

"I know you do," Claire answered quietly, frowns ghosting one after another across her face. "Thing is, I'm not you. Jody's family, but she's not my mom." She bit her lip briefly, "My mom is dead."

"I know," Anna murmured, gentle again. "Mine is too. I was just lucky enough to have Sam and Dean."

"I'm lucky too," Claire insisted, though the words seemed to come out like a popcorn kernel stuck between her teeth. "I have Jody and Alex. I have Sam and Dean. I have you," she added, mouth twisting to the side in what seemed like embarrassment.

Anna smiled slowly, then it quickly turned into a shit eating grin.

"Shut up," Claire said, then again a little louder, "Shut up."

"I love you too, Claire."

"I said 'shut up,'" Claire warned her again as Anna stood up and opened her arms.

Anna wasn't usually big on hugs, but hell if she wasn't about to force one on Claire. To her surprise, Claire actually hugged her willingly– and tightly. As they pulled back again, Claire said one more time, "Shut up."

Anna just kept smiling.

()()()

Easter Sunday, and Anna still felt like crap. This time it probably wasn't Claire, though, she had to acknowledge. This was just her usual nihilistic, I hate the holidays mood.

Jody's kitchen was already filled with laughter and enticing smells when Anna walked in. It was almost too much for her to take in at 8am. But she pushed through it all toward the coffee pot before making eye contact with anyone. When she turned around, hunched grumpily over a cup of coffee, she caught Claire snickering at her. "What?"

Claire laughed a little harder, "You look like a gremlin."

"Oh, you're a comedian now?" Anna asked brightly, then let her face fall back to an unimpressed look.

Dean snorted and came to stand beside her so he could wrap an arm around her. "Excuse the Rugrat, Jody, she's always like this in the morning."

Anna shot a dirty look up at him from behind her coffee cup. But Dean was unfazed, immune to her glares. He pressed his luck and gave her a kiss on the head. Anna shook her head at him and sipped on her coffee.

"You want something to eat?" Jody offered, opening the fridge.

"I'm good," Anna said politely and sipped again.

Jody glanced at Dean before closing the fridge. If Anna had noticed it would have annoyed her to no end.

"Oh, she can skip breakfast but when I do it, it's the end of the world," Claire complained, though it sounded like she was mostly teasing.

"Don't be annoying," Anna goaded and hid one more time in her coffee cup.

"Oh, I'm annoying?" she asked good-naturedly. "Oh, maybe you didn't want that Fall Out Boy shirt after all."

"That is so not fair," Anna said, perking up. "That's, like, blackmail or something."

Sam snorted from the other side of the room. "More like off-brand love bombing," he corrected.

"Nasty," Anna reacted at the same time Claire said, "Fucking gross."

Dean gave Claire a stern look for the curse word. "So you taught her all those words?"

"That was you, Dean," Sam deadpanned.

"It was you," Anna confirmed more quietly, nodding seriously up at her brother. She smirked when he dragged her over into a headlock. "My coffee!" she protested as her cup threatened to spill over.

Dean released her with a smirk.

Anna had a feeling this day was going to be a little better than she'd expected.

()()()

"What the hell is that?" Dean groaned, leaning over Anna's shoulder as she purchased a new firearm in a video game. "That's not where the reflex sight should go on a hand cannon. It should be on the back sight, not the front-"

"Dean, it's just a game," Anna complained, shaking him off her shoulder.

He leaned back, still grumbling about unrealistic games, and took a sip of his beer. "So, you're fightin' a creepy cult, huh?"

"Yep," Anna replied. "I just got off the first island, so I have to go to a new region. They're all controlled by a member of this creepy cult family. And they're all messed up in different ways."

"How so?" Dean asked with genuine interest.

"Do you want me to replay the start?" Anna offered. It was so exciting to have Dean actually be interested in something she thought was cool. Usually he hated everything released after 1989. That included non-mobile video games and all the best rock music on Spotify.

"No, just fill me in. You're not that far, right?"

Anna hit pause, watching her character idle as she explained. "Okay, so this cult took over a county in Montana. I'm a Rookie who went in with two deputies, a federal marshall, and the sheriff. We were supposed to arrest the leader, Joseph Seed. But he starts talking about, like, armageddon and whatever. Super creepy, all his cult followers like hijack the chopper we were in. So, it crashes. Long story short, the whole team has been taken by the other members of the family, and I'm the one who escaped. So, now I have to go through every region and clear it to get to the leader. Then at the end I get to kill Joseph Seed."

"Okay," Dean said, appearing thoughtful. He leaned forward again, forearms on his knees, beer dangling from one hand. "Okay, kick some ass. Let's do this."

Anna unpaused and climbed a ladder until she found a good sniper perch.

"There aren't that many, you could go guns blazing."

"Shut up," she said quietly. "I gotta headshot everyone or it takes them like a million hits to go down."

Dean raised his hands in surrender and took another swig of beer. Anna popped a couple cultists in the head before an alarm went off, and a warning on screen said reinforcements were coming. "How the hell'd they see me?" she asked in frustration, already climbing back down the tower.

"They have a sniper too," Dean informed her casually.

"What? Where?"

He pointed lazily. "Top of the barn."

"Oh sweet, I'll takedown him."

"Hey, guys," Sam said, stepping in from the kitchen.

Anna flinched nearly out of her skin. "Dude, not nice. I'm about to get sniped."

Sam looked incredibly confused but came to sit on Anna's other side, forcing her to scoot over until she was squished between him and Dean. She fought to get her elbows free so she could keep playing. "He's not here, Dean," Anna said when she made it onto the barn roof. She took damage twice in a row before she realized the sniper had found her. "Frick," she muttered and slid right off the edge of the roof. "Dude, where is he?"

"I think he's on top of the water tower," Sam said, pointing toward the screen. "Turn around."

"I gotta heal, gimme two seconds."

"If he's on the tower, he can still-" Dramatic music played over a shot of the player character dying on the ground. "See you," Sam finished.

"I can't tell if you guys are helpful or not," Anna admitted.

Jody came in with a wine glass in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. She watched as Anna used throwing knives to sneak attack the base this time. "Is this Fall's End?"

Anna jumped halfway out of her skin again, "Yeah," she answered after a second. "You know this game?"

"I downloaded it," Jody said. "Sounded interesting. And I'm a sheriff, so I thought it would be easy for me."

"Was it?" Anna asked while freeing a prisoner in the middle of town.

"Nope," Jody admitted. "Dinner's ready," she announced. "Just gotta round up Claire and Alex."

"Come on," Sam said, standing and nudging Anna.

"One second," Anna requested, ducking into a building.

"Put it away."

"Come on-"

"Anna."

She sighed but paused the game and turned the console off. Back to the real world where heroes didn't get do-overs and the dead stayed dead... most of the time.

()()()

Dean was giving her an offended look as Anna sat down beside him with a plate of apple pie and vanilla ice cream. She looked innocently at him, pretending not to understand his expression. "What?"

"You got pie, and you didn't bring me any?" Dean asked in total agony.

Anna laughed evilly. "Yes," she admitted. "That's what you get for taking over my Far Cry file."

"Hey, that game is addictive," Dean defended and stood to go to the kitchen. "Traitor."

"Rook," Anna tossed back, and caught Dean's poorly hidden smile. He grabbed a throw pillow from the other end of the couch and nearly threw it at her, but Anna said, "My pie!" and he surrendered.

"You're lucky I love pie," he warned her, waving a finger at her.

Anna smirked and said, "You love me more."

Dean chuckled and shook his head. At Anna's indignant scoff, he said, "Fine. A little bit."

"You're so mean," Anna complained as her brother disappeared into the kitchen.

"Here."

Anna looked up in surprise as something landed on the armrest beside her. She set her pie on the coffee table to pick up the object. She smiled brightly, "Thanks, Claire." It was just about the coolest t-shirt she owned. Probably the coolest shirt anyone had ever owned in the history of the world. "Dude, look at the lettering, I'm gonna die," she said, leaning back against the couch. She was definitely not fangirling in front of Claire.

But to her surprise, Claire just gave her the usual subdued smile. No teasing, no judgment. "You're welcome," she said softly.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked, forgetting the shirt in her own hands.

Claire's mouth thinned, and she shook her head the slightest bit. "It's holidays, you know? They're weird."

Anna felt suddenly guilty. "Yeah," she said. "I know."

"I remember Easter," Claire continued in a petal-soft tone. "When I was a little girl. My parents were religious, that's why my dad said-"

"Said 'yes' to Cas," Anna finished when she realized how hard the words were becoming for Claire.

Claire nodded, long hair touching the tops of her knees. "We hid these stupid plastic eggs with candy inside," she said, a smile haunting her face now. Her expression opened for just a second before falling back to misery. "I got a sugar high and pissed my dad off and I wound up in bed at, like, seven." Her laugh was so small it almost didn't exist. "And I thought he was a total jerk."

"That's what kids are supposed to think," Anna said with uncertainty. "I mean, I guess they are. I don't really know."

"Yeah," Claire said. "I guess Easter didn't even exist to you."

Anna shook her head, feeling wistful. "Sam tried once," she said into her own lap. "Got a carton of eggs and some egg-dye kit from the dollar store. My fingers were like little rainbows, but the eggs didn't take the color." She chuckled at the memory, and it hurt like hell. "I think I was eight."

She and Claire looked at each other for a minute. They were trapped on the island of lost things, Anna guessed. But how lost could she be if Claire was lost with her?

"Life really sucks," Anna said through a wet laugh.

Claire laughed out loud and nodded. "Yeah," she said. "It's a shitshow."

Dean came through the doorway from the kitchen with a forkful of pie headed to his mouth. "This is so good," he said with his mouthful.

"Dean, don't be gross," Sam said, voice muffled by the wall.

Anna didn't mind any of it, whether it was Easter Sunday or just another weekend. There were no egg hunts or dollar store colors anymore. It was a terrible loss but– Anna looked at Claire– an incredible gain.

La Fin