Roads Untraveled ~ Sam Winchester

Chapter One Hundred and Forty-Two - Weight of the World

The Bunker had never looked so full as people filled almost every available space; laughing, joking and drinking beer.
Eden watched from the corridor to the kitchen as Dean and Castiel talked in the library archway and Sam and Rowena spoke in the far corner of the War room.
"Are you okay?" She heard Willow's small voice from behind her.
She turned her head, giving the girl a faint smile.
"No." She replied. "I lost one of my oldest friends today. We lost Tobias and Nala. I almost lost Sam. Hell, I'm even a little down-heartened that Lucifer didn't get out."
"I'm so sorry, Eden. I should've fought. It's my fault Tobias and Nala are dead." Willow sniffed, looking down at her feet.
"No, it's not. If you hadn't have ran and hidden, I would've lost you too and I don't know what that would've done to me." Eden replied. "You've become a daughter to me, Willow. I'm just glad you're safe."
The girl tucked herself under Eden's arm, hugging her waist as she looked out at all of the other-world survivors enjoying their taste of freedom.
"Is it okay if I call you mom?" She asked in a hushed tone. "Mine never cared about me. And I see you as one."
"If that's what you want. Then, yes." Eden nodded, squeezing her side a little.

"Alright, listen up." Bobby grabbed everyone's attention as he stood on a plinth by the Bunker stairs, holding up his whiskey glass. "We made it. Don't know much about this place, but it's a place without Michael, so that's a turn for the better. I don't want none of you going soft on me because we are gunna get ourselves ready and go back home and set our people free."
"Yeah!" The survivors chanted, charging their glasses and beer bottles.
"While we're celebrating, let's not forget our brothers and sisters who didn't make it." Bobby continued. "They will never be forgotten and we will do right by them." Another round of chants ensued, as Eden glanced over at the Winchesters, making eye contact with Sam, who gave her a gentle nod. "And now, a toast to our new brothers; Sam and Dean Winchester. And our new sister; Eden. Thanks to all o' you. Welcome to the family."
"To Sam, Dean and Eden!" A man called out, toasting them with his half empty beer.
"Welcome!" Another shouted as the rest clapped and cheered for them.
Eden forced a short-lived smile, tipping the glass of blood she had in the hand that wasn't holding Willow, her eyes bloodshot and watery.
"Excuse me. I need some air." She mumbled, releasing Willow before disappearing.
Sam looked over from his place in the library, seeing the girl looking a little lost.
He walked over with a frown.
"You okay, Willow?" He asked. "Where's Eden?"
"I think she's taking all these losses a lot harder than we thought." Willow sighed. "She said she was going to get some air and she just winged on out of here."
Sam's frown deepened as he looked around the War room, as though the dozens of faces enjoying themselves would supply him with an answer to an unknown question.
He pulled his phone from his jeans pocket and dialed her number. When it went straight to voicemail, he began to worry.
"Baby, it's me. Call me when you get this. I just need to know you're alright." He said, sighing heavily as he hung up. "I'm gunna go check outside, just in case. Could you let Dean know for me?"
Willow nodded, watching as he ascended the stairs before she made her way over to the library.
"Hey, there she is." Dean smiled, wrapping an arm over the girl's shoulder. "How you doing, kiddo?"
"You know..." Willow shrugged. "Sam wanted me to tell you that he's gone out. Eden's kinda... Overwhelmed by all this and he's gone to see if he can find her."
"What do you mean 'find her?'" Cas spoke up, approaching the pair with Jack, Mary and Bobby.
"She zapped out of here a minute ago. Losing Tobias, Nala and Gabriel, plus the thing with Sam in the other world all in such a short amount of time... It got to her." Willow uttered, looking down at the floor in shame, as though she were somehow to blame.
"I'll go." Jack nodded. When he didn't disappear, everyone looked rather inquisitive. Jack just looked confused. "She's warded herself against me."
"She never does that." Dean observed. "Never would unless it was something really bad."
"Everyone has a breaking point. Maybe we just found hers." Mary suggested, her brows furrowing with concern.
"This could be worse than we can imagine." Castiel said. "What do we do?"
Dean gave a breathy, humourless chuckle as he tried to wrack his brain.
"She could literally be anywhere on Earth." He thought aloud.
"Howland Island?" Jack frowned.
"No. If she's warded herself against you, it'd be pretty pointless to go to the one spot you'd end up." Dean shook his head as Sam returned. "Anything?"
"It was a long shot, anyway..." He sighed.
"Anything we can do to help?" Bobby asked.
"Na. Eden's a force to be reckoned with at the best of times and her and Jack have this... I dunno, bond, I guess. If she's beat up enough by all this to ward herself against him, we got no friggin' hope of getting through to her. She needs to come back on her own and then we'll just have to pick up the pieces." Dean replied.