"So you put some solvent on the brush, then brush all the parts. Like this, slow and steady. After that, wipe them clean with this." Sam held up a piece of cloth that seemed to be cut out from one of his many flannel shirts. "Don't forget to lubricate, just a little bit goes a long way so you don't need a lot. Then wipe down the rest with some more lubes, using this clean rag, and you're done! Now show me how you do it with this one." Sam pointed to another gun on the table. "You remember everything, right?"

He stepped back after Kye nodded. Sam folded his arms and watched Kye disassemble the gun with a proud smile on his face. The girl did it well considering this was only her second time ever touching a gun.

Every time Sam was off duty—which was not very often—he made sure to provide Kye with some needed self-defense knowledge. Even when everything seemed fine around the camp, nothing was ever guaranteed in this time and age. It was always good to know the way around weapons.

No one had taken the time to teach Kye these things, and it made Sam uneasy. People were either too busy or didn't care. Frankly, it was not anyone's responsibility. Everyone had their own set of problems to deal with and being an ex-domesticated companion—for the archangel Michael no less— didn't help Kye's case. People wanted to stay as far away from her as possible. It was a stigma that would stay with Kye for as long as she lived.

Kye always seemed lost when she was not with Ruby. The camp could be terribly boring when you didn't have a job to do or friends to hang out with. Everyone needed a purpose, and as noble as it was, taking care of Ruby shouldn't be Kye's whole life.

Sam hoped Ruby would get back on her feet soon and wouldn't need her sister's help anymore, but he knew it wouldn't happen today or tomorrow. Acting as a parent for an adult was exhausting, and it showed on Kye. It was painful to watch how neglectful the girl was to herself sometimes.

Sam glanced at Kye, who was now staring out at nothing while wiping the gun. Her hair was a messy brown rope, and she wore the same shirt Ruby had poured soup on last night.

Sam cleared his throat, "Remember to clean it regularly, especially after you use it, and always make sure that it is not loaded."

"Noted, Dad."

They both chuckled at what Kye said. Kye turned to Sam. His dimples deepened, and his hazel eyes twinkled as he smiled. Even with the ridiculous yellow-framed safety glasses covering half of his face, Sam was a good-looking guy. More importantly, he had the personality to match.

Sam could brighten any room he walked into. It was easy to spend time with him, and Kye realized she had done so more and more often in the past two or three months when Sam didn't have to go on as many assignments as before. Their relationship started out as a necessity when Kye desperately needed someone's help and guidance around the unfamiliar environment of the camp—one she had been thrown into—but it quickly turned into a genuine friendship.

Ruby had not been 'there' even when, physically, she lived in the same cabin as Kye. Ruby had been busy fighting her demons while trying to adjust to life without Gadreel. It was tough for Kye to see how broken her strong sister had become. Ruby had struggled with her drinking habit a great deal, and the nightmares from her old trauma had come back in full force. They reduced Ruby to a ghost of her old self. She lost a lot of weight and refused the treatment from the camp healer—an angel from what Kye heard—stating she didn't want anyone to go "poking around" in her mind. She even threatened to disappear if Bobby pushed her too much. The poor old guy was frankly up to his neck in the organization's business and also not too hot with the angelic treatment, so he let her be, on one condition that Ruby went with the traditional route instead, taking medications and meeting with the camp counselor once a week, to which Ruby half-heartedly agreed.

What made it so hard was Ruby constantly tried to push Kye away with her hurtful words and actions. Kye knew her sister could be notoriously hard to deal with, especially when she was not herself, so Kye refused to believe Ruby meant any of that.

She stayed right where she was supposed to. Kye had no other choice after all. Ruby needed help, and no matter how close Bobby and his adoptive sons were to her, they couldn't be there 24/7 the way Kye could. That was the reason she asked to be moved to this camp in the first place.

Kye always joked that her sister was her baby, and that was true. Nothing could make her lose patience when it came to Ruby. The girl could call her all kinds of names and kick her out of their shared cabin in the middle of the night for no particular reason, but Kye would come back the next morning, with a smile on her face and coffee in her hand. She made sure Ruby's stash of alcohol stayed empty, and the girl ate and took her medicines on time. The only person who could match that level of devotion to Ruby was Gadreel, but the guy didn't really count. He was not a person, so to speak. Angels were obsessive, Kye knew that all too well. Gadreel was just another creature who saw something in a human and decided to stick with that human.

Like he did at one point. Until she ruined it.

Gadreel was also not here, but things would be different when he was back. Kye believed so. Ruby would agree to let him heal her, so Kye prayed day and night to an absent God for Gadreel's return.