⌜ chapter eighteen ⌟

Dean knocks on the door to Isla's room, but he doesn't get a response. "Hey, we gotta go!" He calls into the room as he opens the door and peaks inside.

"I hate you!"

His eyebrows furrow when he doesn't see her, and he shuts the door behind him before walking further into the room. He makes his way over to the bathroom and sees her sitting on the floor with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders. "Uh-oh." He mumbles as he walks over and kneels down in front of her.

"This is what I get for taking pity on you." She looks at him through red-rimmed eyes.

After they left New York, Dean got sick. He was throwing up and he had a low fever, so Sam refused to share a room with him because he didn't want to get sick too. Instead, the oldest got his own room while the other two shared, but Isla started taking care of him because she felt bad leaving him like his brother seemed content to do. Honestly, Sam only left him the way that he did because he knew that Isla wouldn't.

"I should've just been like Sam and told you to suck it up and get over it." The blonde says, and he shakes his head.

"No, you're a much better person than my pain in the ass little brother." He says as he takes her hands in his. "Come on, up you go."

Dean pulls her to her feet, and she groans as she clutches his flannel and rests her forehead on his chest. "Can you make the world stop spinning, please?"

"No, I think that'd kill all of mankind."

"Oh, you're funny." She mutters as he rubs her back.

"Dean! Isla!" Sam calls from the main area as he walks into the room.

"You're gonna have to drive the truck." The oldest says as his brother walks over to them.

"Oh, look, you killed her." He shakes his head. "I told you kindness kills, Isla."

The blonde tries to hit him, but only accomplishes almost falling into the wall next to him. Dean pulls her back to him, and she closes her eyes as she leans into his side. "Where are the keys to the truck?" He asks as he looks down at her.

"I don't know, I think I heard Minx playing with them last night." She tells him as he guides her out of the bathroom.

"You didn't sleep in there, did you?"

"Sleep? Who's she? Never met her."

"Okay." Dean has her sit down on the foot of her bed as he walks around her room and packs up her stuff, then he has Sam carry it out to the truck along with Minx's stuff.

"Do you still have any of the Saltines that I bought you last week?" Isla asks as Dean walks back over to her.

"I think they're in the car." He says as he puts his hand over her forehead. "You don't have a fever."

"I'm cold."

"Yeah, well, you also didn't sleep last night." He mumbles. "Stay here, I'll be right back."

"I can't see straight. Where am I gonna go?" She questions as he walks out of the room.

He walks back in a couple minutes later and drops his dark gray sweater into her lap, telling her to put it on as he tries to capture Minx. The kitten loves him, sure, but she's not generally a fan of her carrier. When he turns back, he sees Isla struggling with the zipper of his sweater.

"It's like trying to help a toddler." He mutters as he walks over to do the zipper for her. "The blanket stays, we don't need that on the road with us."

"But I'm cold."

"You can use my jacket as a blanket."

"The blue one?" 

"Sure."

"Yes." She smiles and then lets out a scream when he suddenly picks her up, one arm behind her back and the other under her knees. "Oh, I'm gonna throw up." The blonde grumbles as she holds onto his flannel.

"Not in the Impala, please." He says as he starts out of her room. "Do you wanna sit up front?"

"Mhm." She nods. "Can we listen to one of my CD's?"

"Can it be in English?"

"Mm... Okay."

"Which one?"

"Nickelback."

"Which one?"

"Uh... Silver Side Up." She tells him, and he nods as he sets her back on her feet by the passenger side door.

"Alright. Get in, I'm gonna get the CD and pull my jacket out of my bag." He says as he opens the door for her, and she ducks down into the car.

They're on the road half an hour later, Sam following behind the Impala in the truck, and Isla's not a happy camper as she lays on the bench with her head resting on Dean's thigh. Isla has his jacket over her shoulders, and her knees are bent and resting against the back of the seat as the kitten curls up on her stomach, which isn't liking being on the road...at all.

"Am I dying?"

"Mhm."

"You're mean."

"Mhm."

Isla takes a deep breath as she closes her eyes, hoping to get some sleep. "Where are we going?"

"Colorado." Dean tells her. "This guy — Elkins — was killed in some shady home invasion, and I think he might've known my dad. We're going to check it out."

"Have you called your dad?"

"You think that'd do any good?"

"Probably not." She sighs.

It's quiet between them for awhile as Dean drives — right hand on the steering wheel while his left arm rests on the door by the window. Isla's stomach isn't feeling any better; she has no idea how long they've been on the road, but she knows that it can't have been that long because the CD still hasn't ended. She takes a deep breath as she tries to adjust her position, but then Minx meows in protest, and she settles back into the seat.

"You okay?" Dean asks as he glances down at her.

"No, and I blame you." She says, and he nods. "This is what I get for being nice."

"Yeah, that really isn't the best quality for you, is it?" He muses, and her eyebrows furrow, but she doesn't say anything in response to his comment.

"Maybe if we talk for awhile, it'll get my mind off of the nausea, and I'll be able to fall asleep."

"Talk about what?" He asks, and she shrugs.

"I don't know, anything."

"Your family?"

"I'm gonna get better for the sole purpose of kicking your ass." She says, and he chuckles.

"You're from California, right? Where at?" He asks as he watches the long stretch of road ahead of them.

"Venice." She tells him. "I love the beach. It's probably one of my favorite places."

"Sure as hell beats the motel rooms we spend most of our time in." He says, and she smirks.

"I love the ocean, the sound of the waves crashing on the shore..."

"Do you still talk to any of your old high school friends?"

"No... Well, there is one that I call every now and then, but not often. And never from my phone, I use a payphone to call her." She tells him. "She was my best friend for years, since we were kids, but... I don't know."

"You seen her since you left?"

"No. I don't see anyone."

"You just left everyone from your hometown?" He asks, but she doesn't answer. He knows that she's still awake, but her breathing is starting to get heavier, like she's drifting off. "What about any boyfriends? What were the guys you dated like?"

"I've never had a boyfriend." She tells him, and his eyebrows furrow as he glances down at her.

"What?"

"Hm-m." She hums as she turns her head toward the flannel that he's wearing, trying to push herself up to get more comfortable. "The guys that I liked always liked my prettier and skinnier friends. Or other girls that I'd never seen before they started dating them, then I never saw them again after they broke up."

"You're seriously telling me that no guy ever asked you out?"

"Mhm. I was always the one they came to when they wanted advice asking out other girls, they didn't want to date me." She tells him, her voice getting softer. "One guy expressed some interest in me once. Of course, all he wanted was someone to screw around with. I didn't want to sleep with him, so he quickly lost interest."

"So, you only knew hormonal perverts?"

"No, most of my guy friends were really sweet; and would've kicked that guys ass if I ever told any of them about him... They put a lot of thought into asking out the girl that they liked — bought candy and flowers, wanted to sit with her at lunch or talk to her during break and between classes; they'd walk them to their classes. They just weren't interested in me. I wasn't as thin in high school, wore baggy clothes to hide my body 'cause I was so self-conscious. I didn't wear make-up back then like all of the other girls did, and I didn't really do anything with my hair either. I was always the best friend, never anything more."

"That doesn't..." He shakes his head.

"S'fine." She yawns. "I was used to not being skinny enough, or pretty enough, er..." The blonde shrugs, taking a deep breath.

"You are enough, angel face, no matter what you look like. Alright?" Dean says as he looks down at her, having stopped at a red light. "You're beautiful even when you're wearing sweats and one of Sam's sweaters, with no make-up and your hair in one of those buns on top of your head."

"Wasn't enough...to make you stay." She barely manages, and his eyebrows furrow as he shakes his head.

"N— I..." He sighs as he closes his eyes and grits his teeth.

Isla's finally asleep, and he takes a deep breath as he looks out of the front windshield just in time to see the light turn green. Now he's left alone with his thoughts, questioning what exactly she meant, as well as what happened that morning when he heard her crying in the bathroom.

—

Isla opens the door to the boys' motel room and immediately gains the attention of the two men sitting inside. "Hey, looky here, it's my favorite old man." She smiles when she sees John at the desk across from Sam.

"Oh, you're real funny, Isla Jane." He says as he gets to his feet, and she shrugs as he walks over to hug her. "Sam says that you've been sick."

"I caught a bug from your oldest. Guess I should've adopted Sam's philosophy of staying away from him. Oh, well." She takes a deep breath as she pulls back and looks up at him. "I've rested a couple days, and I'm feelin' alright."

"Alright enough to kill some vampires?"

"Oh, hell yeah." She nods. "Let's kill them nasty sons 'a bitches."

John chuckles as the door opens again, and Dean walks in. "That's my girl." The oldest of the men muses, and she laughs as she shakes her head.

"Whoo, man, some heavy security to protect a bunch of dead guys." Dean says as he shuts the door and walks over to them. "What'd I miss?"

"Just Isla displaying why she fits in around here a little too well." Sam tells his brother, and the blonde smiles as she looks over at the older boy.

"Did you get it?" John asks, causing Dean to pull his attention away from Isla.

He pulls a brown paper bag out of his jacket pocket and then a bottle out of that. Isla scrunches her nose when she sees the dark red liquid inside the clear bottle. "That is disgusting." She mutters as she turns away from them.

"You know what to do." The oldest of the four says as he sets the container down on the desk.

After setting a trap for some of the vampires and taking one hostage, the hunters are now on the side of the road to continue with the next part of their plan. Isla's building up a fire as the boys get other things ready for what they're doing, as this next part of the plan is gonna be tricky.

"Toss this on the fire." John says as he passes a bag to his oldest. "Saffron, skunks, cabbage, and trillium — it'll block our scents and hers until we're ready."

Dean coughs after having caught a whiff of it. "This stuff stinks."

"Yeah, that's kinda the point, Dean." Isla muses as she looks up at him from where she's crouched down by the fire, then she stands up straight. "We have to dust our clothes with the ashes — it's our best chance at them not catching our scent. Well, you three anyway... They don't have my scent."

"Shut up." He grumbles, not liking this, and she chuckles. "How do you know so much about vampires when I didn't even know that they existed?"

"You're not the only hunters I know."

"And what have I said about that?" John questions, and she rolls her eyes.

"That wasn't my fault." She argues. "And that son of a bitch is dead if I ever come across him again." She mumbles, making John laugh as he looks over at her.

"You sure they'll come after her?" Sam questions as he looks at his father.

"Yeah." He nods. "Vampires mate for life. She means more to the leader than the gun."

"If she has a mate, then what's she doing shoving her tongue down other people's throats?" Isla asks as she looks over at the vampire that they have tied to a tree.

"He likes it..." The woman says as she tries to lift her head. "He likes to watch."

The blonde raises her eyebrows as she nods. "Sorry I asked." She shakes her head as she turns away from her, and Dean smirks as he looks at Isla.

"The blood sickness is gonna wear off soon." John tells the boys. "So, you don't have a lot of time." He says as Dean and Isla walk over to him and Sam.

"Half-hour ought to do it." Sam says.

"And then I want you out of the area as fast as you can."

"But—"

"Whoa, Dad, you can't take care of them all yourself." Dean argues.

"I'll have her, and the Colt." John reasons, his gaze flickering toward the vampire.

"But after, we're gonna meet up, right? Use the gun together, right?" Sam asks as Dean looks down at Isla, and the blonde shakes her head. John looks down, and they all know what his silence means. "You're leaving again, aren't you? You still wanna go after the demon alone?" He questions, and his father looks back at him. "You know, I don't get you. You can't treat us like this."

"Like what?"

"Like children."

"You are my children." John argues. "I'm trying to keep you safe."

"Dad, all due respect, but, uh, that's a bunch of crap." Dean says, and Sam and Isla both look over at him in shock and mild disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"You know what Sammy, Isla, and I have been hunting. Hell, you sent us on a few hunting trips yourself. You can't be that worried about keeping us safe."

"It's not the same thing, Dean."

"Then what is it?" He questions. "Why do you want us out of the big fight?"

"This demon... It's a bad son of a bitch." John tells them. "I can't make the same moves if I'm worried about keeping you alive."

"You can't be as reckless." Isla corrects.

"Look... I don't expect to make it out of this fight in one piece."

"No. You don't expect or want to make it out alive." The blonde corrects, and they all look at her.

"You have no idea what you're—"

"Don't I?" She questions. "You know damn well that I've watched it happen. Maybe I don't understand it from your side, but from this side — the side left standing to deal with the consequences in your wake..." She shakes her head. "You wanna go and get yourself killed trying to get your revenge, nobody can stop you. But stop hiding behind your excuses and half-truths, because you have seen what's left behind when revenge gets people killed."

Isla walks away from the three men, heading toward the Impala to wait for Sam and Dean to finish talking to their father. John tells them to do their part of the job and then to get out of the area, then he looks at Dean and tells him that that's an order.

The boys walk over to the Impala then, and Isla climbs into the backseat so that the three of them can head to the rundown barn that the vampire nest has been hiding out in for who knows how long. They kill what few vampires stayed behind, free the many hostages they've been feeding on, and then the three of them look around at each other.

"Can I see the car keys?" Isla asks, and Dean narrows his eyes before taking them out of his jacket pocket and tossing them to her. She heads out and grabs a few things from the trunk before slamming it shut. "I'm driving." The blonde says, and then the boys get back into the car.