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❪ 17 ／ the wolf in sheeps clothing ❫
━━━━ ❛ teach you a thing or
two about poker ❜
volume 1 , season 6

────── ▎Olive stares up at the ceiling with a deep frown, the thin sheets tangled at her feet while she watched the sunrise come up leaving streaks of light around the room. Her hazel eyes strained tiredly to focus, her sleepless nights were visible under her eyes, all of her late-night thoughts leading to the same jarring question. 

What's wrong with me?

Sam, Dean, and Bobby were most likely awake downstairs, busying themselves by reading lore or working on cars outback. 

They assumed she was sleeping, but Olive can't remember a time she had. Whenever she tries, her dreams were plunged with negative thoughts and traumatic memories.

She couldn't tell Dean.

Not because he wouldn't understand what she was going through; it was because Olive didn't know how to put what she felt into words. Besides, Sam was the priority. Finding his soul was important to everyone and Olive didn't want to be the cause of their sidetracking.

Olive could easily slip in a few more hours of silence, just staring at the ceiling and purposely avoiding the journal under her bed. 

It was ironic, Olive was so excited to learn about her past, to figure out her powers and help people like Sam and Dean did, but now she wanted to bury that part of her deep inside. 

Unfortunately, the odds of Dean coming upstairs just to jump on her as a wake-up call were too high.

With a sigh, she sits up and tries her best to stretch. Now that the Winchesters have been staying at Bobby Singer's house for the last two weeks on an unspoken break, Olive spends her time in the guest bedroom or following Bobby around the house asking him silly questions as he taught her how to play card games and clean weapons correctly.

Dean had been acting weird recently, walking around with a deep frown on his face whenever he thought no one was around to see his distraught state, Olive always was. Sam on the other hand, was ignoring everyone like the plague, he had no reason to talk to anyone outside of hunting.

With a nod to herself, Olive slips out of the bedroom, giving a soft, cat-like yawn as she makes her way downstairs. The smell of burnt eggs filled her nose, the clanking on pans and plates making her head pound as she popped her head into the kitchen.

Her eyes brightened at the sight of Dean, his back turned away from her as he tried his best to maintain the eggs and the bacon at the same time. He didn't seem to be in the right headspace to do both, his mind raced with all the things that could go wrong today.

Olive was never oblivious to his worry, but a large grin taking over her face as she ran up behind him and hugging his waist, knocking him forward slightly. 

Dean lets out a surprised yelp, looking down paranoid before taking notice of the small hands around him. "Mornin', O." He greets, letting out a chuckle and patting her arms. She removes them just in time to see him frowning at how dark the eggs have gotten.

Olive stands beside him, looking at the pan on her tippy-toes. "I think you burned the eggs." She states innocently.

Dean scoffs. "They're supposed to look like that." He defends. He flips them over, the black edges mocking him as he blinks back. "Yeah oh-kay." He sighs in defeat, turning off the stove with a frown. "Cereal it is, again." He pulls the plain cereal out of the cabinet with a distasteful scold, like it had personally wound him just by being plain.

Olive grabs the box from his hand with a smile, walking over to the table and sitting down. Dean grabs the bowls, and together they sit beside each other, comically take the first bite at the same time. Sam had commented before on how weirdly in sync they were sometimes, and Bobby had internally groaned at the realization that Olive had copied Dean of all people for a persona.

"Crossing states later." He says through a mouthful.

Olive nods. "When are we leaving?"

Dean chews more slowly, his eyes casting down to his bowl as he swishes the milk around in attempts to calm his nerves. "I'm leaving after breakfast. . .you're not coming, you're staying with Sam and Bobby."

She frowns, slowly placing her spoon on the table. "Why?"

"There's just some things I gotta do over there, that's all, it won't even take a day. I'll be back." His last words sounded strained and forced; not even he believed what he was saying, but he maintained his smile.

Her frown deepens. "Why are you lying?" She asked genuinely.

Dean sighed, leaving his spoon to float in his bowl as he leaned back. "I just. . .It's complicated, alright? You just gotta trust me on this." He manages. 

How do you tell your daughter that you're planning to kill yourself to ask Death a question? Especially when he didn't want Sam to know, he would come to Olive with questions, and she was terrible at keeping secrets. 

Not to mention the odds of him dying permanently are higher than coming back.

He wanted what was best for Olive. In fact, everything he did was for her. However, before her, everything he did was for Sam. It was hard to balance both now that Sam was back in their life; especially when both of their needs were the exact opposites of each other's.

He wanted to get his brother's soul back. He wanted Olive to be around people that loved her.

So, his conclusion was; if Dean could get Sam's soul, even if it meant dying in the process, at least Olive would have the good Sam. The little brother Dean knew that could raise Olive just right.

Olive had been working on her issues. She learns not to panic when Dean leaves the room or when he's gone for days. She learns to count on her fingers and describe objects when she wants to distract herself from the constant feeling of abandonment.

But that's different when the person who says they're coming back doesn't believe it themselves. 

It's different when she knows the person is lying to her face and can't even make the eye-contact to admit it. 

It's different when all those come from Dean.

Olive manages a nod, her throat squeezing tight as she tries to swallow the rising pit in her stomach. "Okay, I trust you." She squeaks out, grabbing her half-eaten bowl, and his discarded one before dumping it into the sink.

She then wraps her arms around his side, not giving him a chance to hug back as she pulled away.

"See you when you come back." Her smile doesn't reach far.

Dean's eyes stung as he watched her slip out of the kitchen and back up the stairs. He knows that something isn't right with her, she wasn't the same cheerful child she was before. It was bound to happen, he knew that he just wished she had more time to just be a kid, God knows he needed it when he was her age.

Dean let out a deep shaky breath just as Bobby walked through the sitting room and into the kitchen for a beer. 

He notices his distraught face, looking between Dean and the fridge awkwardly before sighing and plopping down in Olive's chair.

"What's got you lookin' like a ditched prom date?" He asked.

Dean scoffs a laugh before suddenly growing more serious. "Bobby, I'm gonna need you to do something for me. . .no questions asked."

He shifts. "It's too early in the morning to be hiding bodies."

"No, no, I. ." He pulls out two letters from his jacket, looking down at them before slowly sliding them across the table to Bobby. "Look, if you don't hear from me in two days. . .can you give these to Olly and Sam?"

Bobby takes the letters sorely. "What are you planning to do, boy?" He gives him a serious look.

Dean clenches his jaw, looking away. "I think I know a way to get Sam's soul back. . .but there's something I gotta do." He looks back at him. "I just need you to give them the letters, alright?"

Bobby gives a hesitant nod, "I don't know what you're planning, but I'll kill you twice if I have to spend eighteen years taking care of another Winchester."

Dean gives a lighthearted grin, living the way Bobby used his surname to refer to Olive. It seemed like forever ago when he asked her to be a part of his family. 

Maybe if he wasn't wanted by the FBI he would've done it legally but being honorary was good enough for both of them. 

The feeling of dread grows deeper as the soft-core memory in his head played, seeming more distorted as the days dragged on.

His lighthearted smile drops quicker than it came.

Olive knocks on Sam's bedroom door, her pocketknife opened in her pocket as she waited for his response.

Sam opens the door with annoyance, looking straight up before his eyes drifted down to Olive's little form, "What?" 

Olive swallows thickly, "I think Daddy has a plan to do something bad." She admits, not knowing who to turn to in this situation.

Sam clenched his jaw, "You'd be surprised of all the bad your daddy's done." He drawls out in a mock. 

Olive shakes her head, "I think he's gonna hurt himself. Don't you care?" 

"Frankly, no." Sam mirrors her headshake, "In fact, it'll get him off my back." He goes to close the door.

Olive reaches her hand out to stop it, her face scrunching up in anger, "You're his brother! You gotta care!" 

Sam frowns, "Haven't you been paying attention? I don't care about anything. I can't." 

She falters, "But. . .I-I need you to care." 

Sam doesn't falter, "Then you'll be waiting a long time." He closes the door.

Olive stands there for a moment, her eyes shining with tears. She doesn't let them fall, instead, she rubs under her eyes and goes back to her room.

Dean thought it was best not to say goodbye. 

He couldn't bring himself to look in Olive's eyes and lie. 

Olive watched him leave from her bedroom window, a sad frown on her face when he speeds off and doesn't turn back. 

She knew something was going to happen, but there was nothing she could do about it.

Whatever Dean was planning was to help Sam get his soul back.

Even if Sam didn't want it.

The next day, Olive sat across from Bobby in the living room, playing an intense game of uno. 

The Hunter frowns deeply when Olive changes it to another color he didn't have, causing him to pick up another large amount. She smiles smugly into her last card, trying to appear humble and nonchalant.

Carefully, Bobby puts a blue card down, and with a proud smile Olive placed her last card.

"Uno." She announced. "Seven to one."

Bobby throws the cards on the table. "Balls!" She couldn't help but let out a series of giggles. "How do you keep doin' that?" Olive points to the mirror on the wall behind him, where Bobby can clearly be seen. "Balls!" He repeats.

Olive swipes the cheese balls off the table and into her bowl, which they had been using as collateral, "It's alright, Bobby, I'll share." She said genuinely through her giggles.

Bobby scoffs. "Might as well teach you a thing or two about Poker."

Olive stands up, heading into the living room to grab her blanket. She didn't see that Bobby's jacket was on it, so when she lifted the blanket up, Bobby's jacket fell on the floor.

Olive scrambles to pick it up, seeing a thick piece of paper in his jacket pocket.

They were letters; one had her name on it in cursive.

Olive looked back to the kitchen where Bobby was setting up the poker cards, too distracted to notice her. 

She swallows nervously, her little hands peeling off the top as quiet as she could. 

          ────── ▎Dear O,
Every part of me hopes that you never have to read this letter; but I couldn't go without knowing that you knew how much I love you. 

Olive freezes, not wanting to read on. Her heart is sinking, and a part of her had a good idea as to why.

          ────── ▎I never had much going for me in life. I knew it would end bloody; I knew that I'd probably die with a gun in my hands. Never having a normal life, never getting to be the person my mom wanted me to be. Truth is, I knew I was blessed with something good the moment I saw you. It was destiny. The world knew that you were everything I needed. You made me finally see myself as a good man. Raising you has been the single most important job I've ever had. Out of every life I've ever saved, being your father was the thing that gave me the most fulfillment.

          ────── ▎You made my life mean something. You gave me hope that one day it wouldn't end so bloody, that maybe it could end with me seeing you off to college or walking you down the aisle. But I can't leave Sam this way. Before you, he was my everything, he came first before anything. The only person I first learned to care for. So, I have to be a good brother now. I have to see this through, I just have to.

          ────── ▎I love you, Olive. Please understand that you were never abandoned. Know that even now I am doing everything I can to ensure you a good future. In the end this is all for you. Sammy will take good care of you, I know it. And please, don't waste your life on revenge. Don't repeat the cycle. 

Olive didn't realize she was crying until her tears stained the ink on the page. She wipes them away, realizing exactly what Dean planned to do.

As if the universe wanted to remind her of that too. She started to feel a part of her soul start to dim. It was an uncomfortable feeling, like the sizzle of a soda in your stomach, or watching a flower wilt before your very eyes.

Suddenly, Olive felt a pang in her chest. She pauses, gripping her heart with a painful wince. For a moment, it felt like a slight heartburn, but then, it felt like all the happiness in the world was sucked away. It felt like she was dying.

"Olive?" Bobby asked, concerned. He turns to see her standing in the middle of the living room, her back turned to him. "Olive?" 

Olive slowly turns at the sound of her name, one little hand on her chest, the other gripping the letter so hard in crumbled in her fist.

"Hey," Bobby says softly, eyeing the letter, "You ain't supposed to have that." He takes a step forward.

Olive's eyes roll to the back of her head. It felt like time was slowing for Bobby as Olive started to drop full force to the ground. He rushes forward, dropping on his knees and shaking her shoulder.

"Hey! What's gotten into ya!" Bobby yells in panic, throwing the letter across the room as if that was the source. 

"I-It hurts," Olive stammers over the feeling, shaking in her spot. "Dean, I-I think I can feel him dying!" She sobs, not having a full understanding of her own words. 

She's crying her lungs out. It felt like a hot dagger straight through the heart, splitting it in two. 

"Help him, Bobby! Help him!" Olive whiles out through sobs, "Help him, Bobby!" 

"I gotta help you first, damnit!" Bobby snaps, dragging her up into his arms as he rocked back and forth, trying to sooth her somehow, "Y-You just gotta calm down, kid. Come on." 

Seven minutes. That was how long Bobby sat there in complete panic, holding Olive on the ground. It was the longest seven minutes they ever spent, and when Olive suddenly stopped crying, he knew something was very wrong.

"Olive?" He frowns, sounding cautious. 

She sits up slow, her cheeks red and puffy, her tears staining her face. Olive lets out an eased breath, the pain stopping. 

In a daze, she looks around.

"You alright?" Bobby reels at her expression. "What happened?"

"I'm fine." She chokes out. "I'm fine." She repeated firmly, but the action made her eyes welled up in tears. She hugs her knees tighter. "I don't know." She admits.

"Whatever was in that letter-" 

"I'm fine," Olive repeats, "He's fine." She couldn't explain how she knew, but when the pain subsided everything was right again. She could feel Dean's presence on Earth still linger, "He's alive."

"Well, ain't that peachy," Bobby grumbles, helping her stand up, "The question still stands. What the hell just happened?" 

It was then Olive's youth showed. She was too naive to understand the gravity of Dean's choice. Being an adult wasn't easy, it meant making the hard calls; it meant sometimes sacrificing everything to save everything.  

She couldn't wrap her head around it. So, Olive's eyebrows tightened in controlled anger. Her hands balling into fists at her sides. 

"He didn't choose me." She mutters.

"Come again?" 

Olive grabs her blanket, wraps it around herself. "Sam comes first." She answers again.

Bobby watched in confusion as Olive ran up the staircase, flinching when her bedroom door slammed. 

Sam walks into the living room with a beer, unaware of the events that unfolded as he leaned against the door confused. "Why are you on the floor?"

Bobby replied with a heated glare.

-

Olive throws all her things off of her desk, yelling out in frustration as she slammed her hands down on her mattress, hitting it with all her little force could muster; unaware just how much she acted like her father in that moment. 

"I hate you! I hate you! I hate you!" She screams into the sheets. She was screaming at the universe, damming the concept of a soulbound with everything she had. 

Olive drops to her knees at the foot of her bed, reaching in between the mattress and pulling out her mother's journal. Her hands shook with anticipation, her back pressed against the frame as she stared down at the haunting symbol that she once found memorizing.

Cora had written about many events during the war between Michael and Lucifer, she had talked about the The Elders and the Soul Warriors in great detail. Maybe secrets laid between the paragraphs, things that people would kill to know, but Olive on the other hand, was always too scared to read on.

She didn't want to know her mother's secrets, she didn't want to carry her burdens. Olive was scared of herself, her power, but if there was one thing that could explain what just happened downstairs; it was this journal. With a deep sigh, Olive thumbs through the pages of the journal.

The Guardians were created to heal. They were helpers, peacemakers. I was once like them, I cared humans, I loved them. But meeting Sylas changed that, the love I felt for humanity slowly dying with him. I loved him like a son. A little orphan boy on the streets of Greece, before it was even Greece, begging for a scrap of bread. We had become bound the second I saw him in danger, stealing food from the stands, it was foolish to intervene, but I knew I couldn't let him die.

Sylas had fallen ill as time passed into his teen years. Cora thought she could fix him, but it wasn't his soul that needed healing, it was his mind. Sylas grew more unstable as the days dragged, and it broke Cora's heart as his mind crumbled around him.

Olive frowns at the revelation and reads on.

I decided that the only way to help Sylas is to take him to the Elders. They are wise and just. They would know what to do. The Elders had turned me way, the war among Michael and Lucifer taking too much of their time. I shamelessly reminded them what Guardians' purpose was in life. To help people. They reluctantly agreed. 

No human had stepped foot in the Fountain, not even I had seen it up close. The Guardians had warned me about the effects it would have on Sylas, but I admit, at the time I selfishly didn't care. I would rather have Sylas unpredictable and alive, then dead and ripped away from me. I wouldn't let anything happen to him.

The feeling of losing someone you love truly feels like a hot dagger to the heart.

The sound of shouting caused Olive's eyes to snap away from the journal. It came from downstairs, muffled from the distance. Olive drops the book like a flame, fumbling to stand up as she raced down the stairs.

"I'm trying to save your life!"

"Exactly, Dean! It's my life. It's my life! It's my soul, and it sure as hell isn't your head that's gonna explode when this whole scheme of yours goes sideways!"

Olive freezes in the hall, her back pressed against the wall as she listened to Sam yell. Dean was home. Although, most of Olive felt relieved, an angry rage bubbled in her chest. 

"Just curious." Bobby pipes up. "I presume Death's not doing this out of the goodness of his heart." Death? "So, what's your half of the deal?"

Olive's heart dropped. He made a deal? He went as far as making a deal? 

Dean hesitates, causing Bobby to narrow his eyes. "Sorry, didn't catch that." He says sarcastically.

"I have to wear the ring for the day."

"Why the hell would he want you to do that?"

"Get his rocks off. I don't know, but I'm doing it." Dean states instantly.

The feeling of losing someone you love truly feels like a hot dagger to the heart. Is that what happened? Is that how he spoke to Death?

"Killing yourself?" Olive chokes out, standing in the doorway with watery eyes, the attention was drawn to her instantly. "Was that your plan? You died on purpose?"

Dean deflates, a wave of guilt washing over him. "I knew I would come back, O." He reassures.

"No. You didn't." Her hands shake at her sides, "You didn't know!"

Dean steps forward, Olive steps back. She grabs a random object off Bobby's table, throwing it in Dean's direction. He narrowly missed it; his eyes widen in shock.

"Olive!" 

"You were just gonna leave!" She yells. 

Dean chokes on his words, unable to form any type of apology or defense. Sam begins to walk away, "Where are you going?" He asked, trying to keep his nerves in check.

Sam turns around with a deep sigh, "Look. I hear you, all right? I get it. Just need a minute to wrap my head around it." He turns away and out the front door without another word.

Dean looks back to Olive instantly. "Olly—" She inhaled sharply, running back up the stairs. Dean flinches at the slam of the door. "Damnit."

"Dean, we need to talk."

"Save the lecture, Bobby." He sighs.

"This ain't about you, it's about Olive." Bobby snaps. Dean turns to face him with a worried frown. "I-I don't know much about that kid, but something happened to her earlier. Panic attack or something. She was shaking on the floor, holding her heart. Hell, she was like that for seven minutes. Screamin' for ya." 

Dean freezes, eyes widening slightly. "Seven minutes?"

Bobby knits his eyebrows in confusion. "Yeah? Has that happened before?"

Dean shakes his head, turning away in thought. Dr. Robert stopped his heart in order to talk to Death, he said that Dean was gone for seven minutes. "Was this around noon?"

"I think so. Yeah, it was." Bobby says slowly. Dean faces him with a set jaw, not another word exchanged.

-

Sam tried to take the ring, but Dean was always one step ahead of him. 

Sam shut down his own weak attempt, reluctantly agreeing to Dean's plan but Bobby wasn't convinced. 

Dean says his goodbyes to everyone. His hand hovers on Olive's door handle. He takes a breath before opening it. Olive shoves the journal under her pillow when she saw him, glaring heavy as she grabbed a stuffed animal instead, chucking it at him. 

Dean caught it with his left hand, clenching his jaw slightly, "Olly—"

She stands on her bed, flinging the letter in his direction. It smacks against his chest; Dean watched it sway to the floorboard, his heart clenching at the realization that Olive got to her letter before he had a chance to change fate. 

"Stop throwin' things at me!" Dean's voice raised, crushing the letter in his fist as he waved his hand around, "You weren't even supposed to see this! It was just a precaution!" 

"I don't care!" She yells back, still standing on her bed, "You're about to leave to do Death's dumb dirty work and for what? Sam doesn't even care!" Olive screamed at the top of her lungs, her face going red. 

"Deep down he does care! I need to do everything I can to help him!" Dean yells back in frustration.

"Even if that means destroying our family!" Olive bellows, tears forming in her eyes as she shook in place, "Admit it, we're never going to see Lisa and Ben again, we're never going to get out of this, and you don't care about what happens to you anymore! Which means you don't care what happens to me!" 

"That's not true," Dean cuts in, his expression faltering. He steps forward until he was at the end of the bed, placing her teddy bear back on the sheet, "I care about what happens to you. Damnit, kid, you're one of the only things I care about. You have no idea how bad I want to just drop it all and go back, but I can't. I never want to be the person that hurts you, O. It would tear me up inside." 

Olive's shoulders sag, "If you die, I die." She tells him gently, "Maybe not really, but in my heart." She holds her little chest, "I can feel it, don't you know? I can't lose you, dad. I can't, it'll destroy me." 

Dean holds his arms out. Olive runs over, even on the mattress she couldn't reach his shoulders as Dean wrapped his arms around her and tugged her close. Her rubbed soothing circles on her back. Olive makes sure to memorize the smell of his cologne. 

"I know. You just gotta trust me on this, O. It'll be over before we know it," He tries to reassure her, "You're stuck with me." He whispers, closing his eyes to savor the moment. "You were the only person I knew that would convince me not to make that deal," He pulls away. 

Olive sniffles, "Because I'm the smartest."

Dean grins, "Yeah, you are. When I said that I would've known if you died. . .that wasn't just father's intuition, was it?"

She shakes her head. "Toula says that we're bounded, but I don't really understand what it means. ." She sighs in defeat. "She said that my mom was bounded to someone too, she loved him like a son. . .I don't know what happened to him, but it was really bad. ." Her eyes sting with tears, "I'm scared that we're going to end up like them."

"No way." He said instantly. "We're nothing like them. . .I won't let anything happen to you, kid."

She frowns, looking up at him. "I think that's the problem."

Dean smiles, trying to lighten the mood, "Your aim is getting better."

-

"So is this the part where you pull a gun on me and lock me in the panic room?" Sam asked, annoyed. Olive hops down the stairs.

"Do I have to?" Bobby responds.

He knits his eyebrows together. "No. I guess Dean's gotta do what he's gotta do."

Bobby looks at him with a knowing frown. "I guess we all do, kid."

Olive sighs, pulling Bobby's sleeve towards the kitchen table. "Come on, Bobby. You gotta teach me how to play poker."

Bobby grumbled under his breath and grabbed the cards from the counter. They played together for a bit, Sam rumbling around the small library. Night came crashing and Bobby left the kitchen to take a well needed nap. Olive spent the remaining hour making a house of cards, using her mind to stack them just the way she liked.

"What are ya doing?" Bobby asked bewiled from the doorway, causing the girl to lose her focus and drop all of the floating cards.

"Ah, man." She whined. Bobby gave an amused scoff, rubbing his tired eyes before disappearing into the living room.

The front door opens, and Sam steps into the house silently, looking around before spotting Olive, he moves towards her suddenly, but stepped back when Bobby came into the kitchen. "Woke up and you were gone. Where you been?"

"Uh, just driving around. No biggie." He says. Olive frowns at his obvious lie, shifting uncomfortably when he glanced at her. He was going to do something before Bobby walked in, Olive could feel it. She wasn't quick enough to see Sam put his knife back in his jacket.

Bobby nods, raising a bottle. "Drink?"

"Yeah, sure." Sam sits in the chair beside Olive, who visibly moved her chair.

Bobby pours Sam a shot glass before opening the fridge and pulling out a capri sun for Olive, which Dean had gone out of his way to buy and putting it in a shot glass, too. He slides it over to her, and she catches it.

Olive could instantly feel the tension that followed, sitting in between Sam and Bobby was like mentally playing referee as she watched them play Poker. Bobby would follow Sam's every move, like he was waiting for the right signs. Sam on the other hand was looking around, calculating something as they played. 

It seemed like none of them could maintain a poker face.

"Pair of aces." Sam puts down his cards. Bobby offers him another drink, which he accepts. With Bobby's back turned, Sam turns to Olive. "Hey, I think you left your teddy bear on the porch earlier." He says lowly. Olive frowns, knowing that she hadn't been outside all day. "You should go get it."

It was more of a command than a suggestion, and Olive nervously slid out of her chair, maintaining eye contact with a stone-faced Sam as she walked backwards out of the room.

She saw her teddy bear at the step of the staircase. It was once in her room, which meant Sam must've gotten to it. She jumps at the sound of mental hitting skin and runs back into the kitchen to see Sam drop to the ground.

"May have been born at night, boy, but it wasn't last night." Bobby says over him. He then looks to Olive, who stood panicked at the doorway. "Get me that rope." He points to the counter.

Olive instantly runs to the counter and grabs the rope, turning back around only to drop it. "Um, Bobby?" She chokes out, pointing behind him.

Bobby spins around to find Sam gone. "Oh. Not good." He grabs the shotgun behind the microwave, "Come on, Olly." He holds his other hand out to her, which she grabs nervously.

They walk slowly down the hallway, looking every direction for any signs of Sam. "What is he doing?" Olive asked quietly.

"I don't know, but he aint here for a tea party." Bobby responds. "Let's not do anything hasty here, Sam." He calls out.

Bobby rushes forward to lock a door. They both panic when the floorboard creaks and Bobby ushers Olive into the closet, locking it behind them. Olive begins to hyperventilate at the small space inside the dark closet. Bobby tries to shush her, but Olive panics faster when the doorknob rattles. 

Olive lets out a pitched scream when Sam starts hacking at the door with an axe.

"Don't say Here's Johnny." Bobby snapped sarcastically.

"I gotta do this, Bobby. I'm sorry. You shouldn't have cornered yourself." Sam says breathlessly.

"I didn't." Bobby responds. Olive notices the lever inside the closet and rushes forward, pulling it down. A trapdoor opens under Sam, causing him to fall straight down into the basement. Bobby looks at her with wide eyes.

"What?" She asked out of breath. "I thought that was the plan."

"Come on." Bobby opens the door and runs over to the basement door, making sure it was locked properly. Olive jumps back when Sam slams his crowbar into it. "Reinforced steel core. Titanium kick plates. Get comfy." He says. "You wanna explain what this is about?"

"I just, uh. . .I gotta do this, Bobby."

"Says who?"

Sam sighs. "If Dean shoves that soul back in me, think how bad that could really be. I can't let that happen, Bobby." He explains, unapologetic. "It's not like I wanna kill you guys. You've been nothing but good to me. Olive's just in the way of the plan."

Olive frowns sadly. Bobby grips his gun tighter, "So, what, demon deal or something?"

"Spell."

"You're making a mistake, Sam."

He scoffs. "I'm trying to survive."

"Dad will have a way to make it safe!" Olive shakes her head.

"Oh, yeah? What, some wall inside my head that maybe stays up? Come on." He snaps.

"If it works--"

"Yeah, well what if it doesn't, Bobby?" Sam cuts off. "Dean doesn't care about me. He just cares about his little brother, Sammy, burning in Hell. He'll kill me to get that other guy back."

"That's because you're a jerk and he's actually a good person." Olive grumbles.

"Look, I. . .I know how scary it is." Bobby sympathized. "But you know what's scarier? You. Right now." He says. "You're not in the right head, Sam, and you're not giving us much of a choice here." Silence follows. "Sam? Balls!" Bobby leans away from the door and reaches for the handle.

Olive grabs his wrist softly. "It could be a trap, Bobby."

"Stay up stairs then." He huffed, cocking his gun. "Ain't nobody killing me in my house but me."

Olive swallows thickly, watching Bobby disappear down the stairs. She looks around the hallway, paranoid. Hoping that she wouldn't have to use her powers on Sam. Bobby comes up the stairs, causing her heart to leap out of her chest.

"He's gone."

"What?!" She squeaks. "What do you mean, gone?" She rushes after him.

Bobby throws open the front door, turning to face her. "I mean Sam's gonna get us if we don't get him first, so you can either come with me or stay here." Olive sobers, raising her chin high. It was her way of saying she wasn't afraid. Bobby nodded proudly, "Good. Come on, he could've gone far."

They followed Sam's bloody trail all the way to the scrapyard. Olive couldn't help but feel that tracking Sam around the property seemed too easy. Olive knew that Sam was smart, so smart that it honestly scared her. 

Whatever Sam needed for his spell; Olive didn't think one shotgun and a six-year-old could do anything to stop him at this point. She follows behind Bobby closely, looking around with raised fists. Bobby pauses in front of his shed, swallowing thickly before kicking the shed open. 

It was empty.

Sam comes up behind Bobby, hitting him in the back of the head with a metal pipe. Olive screams as Bobby drops to the ground unconscious, "I'm sorry, Olive. Don't take this too personal." She raises her hands, shielding her face but Sam goes straight for her legs.

Olive cries out when the pipe connects to her left leg, a sickening crunch follows. She falls backwards, crashing onto the ground, cradling her leg. Sam wastes no time pulling Bobby's body into the shed, tying him up on a chair. Olive straightens to crawl away from the shed, letting out multiple whines and sobs as she moves towards the house.

Sam walks back out, sighing at her attempts and grabbing her by her good leg. Olive screams, kicking him away. "Get off me! I hate you! I hate you!" She bellows, her face red with rage.

"Olive, stop fighting me." He grunts out, trying to grab at her. He picks her up by the waist, but Olive continues to kick her good leg and pound against his back.

"You're a horrible horrible person!" She screams, kicking and punching as Sam walks into the shed. "Dean is gonna get Sam's soul back and you'll be long gone! Forever!"

Annoyed, Sam throws her down to the floor, not bothering to tie her up. "Dean won't get the chance." He holds up his knife, inspecting it just as Bobby groans. Sam crouching down in front of Olive with a smile, "And when I'm done with Bobby, we can have a little tea party." He says lowly, sarcastically.

She spits in his face.

"Listen to me." Bobby panics. "You don't wanna do this. Sam?" Sam stood up, his face lacking emotion, as he wiped the spit away. "I've been like a father to you, boy! Somewhere inside you gotta know that."

Sam shrugs in agreement. "Well, that's just it." He grabs the back of Bobby's head, pulling it back. "I'm sorry." He repeats. Bobby winces, and when Sam raises his knife high, Olive screams.

Before he could complete the act, Sam's arm is grabbed by Dean, who looks at his brother with a deep rage. Sam's face flashed with fear for barely a second. "Hiya, Sam. I'm back." He states, punching him straight in his face as hard as he could.

Sam drops unconscious and both Bobby and Olive let out collective sighs of relief. Olive's eyes welled up in tears when the pain of her legs settled in, a soft cry escaping her lips. Dean cuts Bobby loose before dropping to his knees beside Olive, panicked.

"Olive? Where does it hurt? What happened?" He rapidly questions, picking her up bridal style.

She presses her face into his chest, crying. "H-He broke m-my leg. It hurts." She sniffled.

Dean clenched his jaw, turning to Bobby, who sighs tiredly. "Put him into the panic room before I kill him myself." Bobby manages a nod, purposely grabbing Sam by the feet and bumping his head with every step. "Come on, let's get you back to the house." He mutters.

-

Dean was visited by Death, who Olive didn't have the pleasure of meeting due to Dean's paranoia of them being in the same room, so he forced her into the living room, on the sofa where he knew she couldn't move before rushing back into the kitchen where Death sat patiently. He had come unexpectedly and spoke to Dean with a void of emotion that made his skin crawl. 

Olive hobbles over to the kitchen door, falling against it and sliding down against the wall, poking her head inside.

". . .Yeah, well don't get too excited. I would've saved the nurse. Okay? That's it." Dean huffs.

"I think it's a little more than that." Death's voice rang out, causing Olive to shutter. She didn't get a good look at him from her spot, yet he still made her uncomfortable. "Today, you got a hard look behind the curtain. Wrecking the natural order is not quite such fun when you have to mop up the mess. Is it?" He speaks. "This is hard for you, Dean. You throw away your life because you've come to assume that it'll bounce back into your lap. Don't you realize that you have so much more to lose now? The human soul is not a rubber ball."

The last part seemed directed to Olive too, his head turning slightly in her direction causing her to straighten away behind the door.

"The soul is vulnerable, impermanent, but stronger than you know. And more valuable than you can imagine." He explains slowly. Dean doesn't maintain eye contact. "I think you've learned something today."

"Wanna know what I think? I think you knew that I wouldn't last a day." Dean says bitterly.

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"But at least I have the balls to admit that it was rigged from the jump." He snaps. Olive freezes up.

"Most people speak to me with more respect." Death says calmly, the type of calm that made both Olive and Dean shift.

"I didn't mean--"

"We're done here. It's been lovely." Death stands up, Olive pops her head back into the room. "But now I'm going to go to hell to get your brother's soul."

Olive's gasp was overthrown by Dean's chair scraping against the floor. "Why would you do that for me?"

"I wouldn't do it for you. You and your brother keep coming back, you're an affront to the balance of the universe and you cause disruption on a global scale." Death says bitterly.

"I-I apologize for that." Dean stammers.

"But you have use. Right now, you're digging at something. The Intrepid Detective. I want you to keep digging, Dean."

"So, you just gonna be cryptic, or--?"

"It's about the souls. It's about Olivia Grace. You'll understand when you need to." Death responds, grabbing the ring off of the table.

"Wait, wait! With Sam, is this wall thing really gonna work? A-And is Olive in danger?"

"Call it seventy-five precent. . .as for Olive, you might want to call her trainer. . .you might even want to look some things up yourself." And with that, Death slips on the ring and disappears. Leaving a discouraged Dean and a worried Olive behind the door.

He pushes his chair back. "Jesus." He breathes out, going for the door. "Olive?!" 

He finds her on the floor, pretending to inspect the carpet as if she wasn't listening in. Dean sighed, "We'll talk about your snooping later." He mutters, picking her up around the waist and running downstairs, "Bobby, open the door!"

Bobby turns to them with wide eyes. "What happened?"

Dean places Olive gently on a chair. "Now!" He ordered. Bobby opens the panic room just as Sam begins to scream.

Olive tried to look from her chair, but they blocked the doorway.

With a grunt, Olive stands, using the wall to hold herself up as she looks through the crack of the door. She couldn't see much but she saw a tall figure loom over Sam as he trashed around.

"Get away from me! Don't! Don't!" He screams.

"Now, Sam. I'm going to put up a barrier inside your mind." Death says, opening his case. Olive had never seen a soul up close before, it made her head spin, her eyes blur. 

It was bright, like a big ball of white light that could be harnessed by the right hand. except it wasn't pure. Olive can see that it was ripped to shreds, barely held together in Death's fingertips, as if he had scraped together extra pieces of a puzzle and mashed them together.

"No! Don't touch me!"

"It might feel a little itchy." He continues. "Do me a favor. Don't scratch the wall. . .because trust me, you're not gonna like what happens." He pulls the soul out, inspecting it with a knowing frown.

"Please, don't do this." Sam begs Dean, the hunter turns his head in defeat, trying to hold himself together. "No. No. You don't know! You don't know what'll happen to me. Dean please!" He lets out an agonizing scream. Olive's eyes stung with tears as Death continued.

It felt like hours, but in just a few short minutes Sam stopped screaming and Death was long gone.

Dean panicked when Sam didn't wake up, running into the room and tapping the sides of his face. "Sam? Sammy!?"

"Come on, Olive." Bobby grabs her shoulder, trying to lead her away. Olive doesn't move, her wide eyes locked on Sam's unconscious figure. He was alive, but barely.

Olive couldn't believe it. Death had come through and returned Sam's soul, just like they wanted. But what if Sam was right? What if they did more damage than good? Olive allowed Bobby to pick her up and lead her away from the basement. She said nothing when he dropped her off in the room.

"Dean'll be up in a second. . .alright?" Bobby said softly. Olive barely managed a nod, staring at the wall with a deep frown. Bobby sighs at her state, sympathizing. Six years old and already been through more than even he could imagine. "You can't help everyone, kid. . .It's time to focus on you. ." He didn't wait for a reply, closing the door behind him.

Olive lets out a shaky breath, tears streaming down her cheeks silently. It was an overwhelming day.

-

Dean crashed onto the bed beside Olive, letting out a tired sigh and pressing a pillow into his face. Olive glanced at him. "Was it scary?" Olive asked in a whisper, resting her head on his chest as they laid, her eyes drooping from lack of sleep.

"Was what scary?"

"Being Death."

Dean's breath hitched, rubbing her arm as he stared up at the ceiling. "At first? No. A robber, a guy with a cheese pizza, it was pretty easy."

"But. .?"

He sighs. "But then I had to make the tough calls. . .I had to take people who didn't deserve to go. . ." He glanced down at her. "And one of them reminded me of you."

Olive raises her head, "Did she like to color?"

"I don't know. .maybe. But she was young, like you, and she was really sick." He closed his eyes at the memory. His heart hurt for the father who cried over his daughter's body in that hospital. He had to take the girl at only thirteen, and the father was left alone with no one else. Dean had tried to bend the rules, the thought of Olive in the same situation made him panic. "Bad things happened when I tried to let her live. . .so I had to take her. ."

"It's not your fault, dad." Olive says lightly, "She's not suffering anymore."

"But her father is. . .and he will be for the rest of his life. His wife and now his daughter, it was sick." Dean grows hoarse. He understood now, the burdens of being a parent. Sure, it was all a part of growing up, a part of taking on the responsibility of another life. 

But it scared him more than any monster ever could.

Olive shifts up in a sitting position, wincing at the pain of her leg that was wrapped up tight by Dean, at least until Cas was done with Sam downstairs. She turned to him, but he continued to stare at the ceiling. "But he doesn't have to watch her suffer anymore. . .at least she went to heaven to be with her mommy."

He looks back at her, "Why are you wiser than me? Stop that."

Olive smiles softly, shrugging her shoulders. "Is Sam awake yet?" He shakes his head. "It's okay, he'll be fine."

She lets out a yawn, causing Dean to sigh and sit up.

"Come on, you need to rest." He tells her gently. Olive blinks to stay awake, sinking into the mattress and smiling when Dean tucked her in, tucking the corners into her sides dramatically. He kisses her cheek, "Cas will come up when he's done. Night, O."

"Wait." She blurts out. He turns with concern. "I-I know the real Sam wouldn't hurt me, and I-I know that he'll wake up fine, maybe, but. . ." She looks up at the ceiling. "He scares me, daddy. . .he reminds me of the bad people."

Dean deflated, "I'm sorry he's not the hero that I told you about in the stories. .truth is, I kinda fibbed most of it. ."

"I kinda figured that out after you said a talking bumblebee helped you defeat Lucifer." Olive forces a smile.

Dean scoffs a bitter laugh. "Yeah well. . .Cas is sorta like a talking bumblebee." He pauses, giving her a sad smile, "He'll be fine." He repeats. Olive manages a light smile and turns away, her body relaxing instantly in sleep.

Dean walks forward, to give her a kiss on her forehead, but his hand slips under her pillow swiftly, pulling out the journal. He stands up and slides it behind his back, under his belt. 

Death said he needed to look things up, Dean knew what he meant by it, and the hunter had tried his best not to intervene with whatever Olive was reading in that journal. . .but he needed to know what he was getting himself into, he needed to understand what was coming, and how she was involved in it.

His smile drops instantly, his eyes glazing over as he looks at her. Sometimes he wished, deep down, that someone else had saved Olive in the woods. Someone normal, someone who could take care of her in a way that Dean clearly lacked. It was a selfish thought, and he hated himself for thinking that way.

But maybe it would hurt less. . .knowing that he wasn't the cause of her pain.