The Runt of the Litter

gone

note: you know what i imagine is nice? sleep.

alas, i am exhausted at all times and people keep expecting me to exist. my sincere condolences to anyone else who is perpetually tired/depressed and being forced to do life things.

so anyway i wrote this little story for all my sweethearts who are suckers for sammy (as i am). here's a one shot featuring sam and anna in the hiatus between seasons 7-8. it's a bit angsty, but what do you expect to get out of these two characters? sunshine and rainbows?

plus tbh i've been rewatching bojack horseman, so my brain is a dark dark place rn

thank you to everyone who's taken the time to vote/comment/read. i appreciate all of you. you make me feel like i don't suck at something, and it means a lot to me <3 i hope you all know you're cool and sweet and beautiful and you deserve all the good things in this world

anna is thirteen

gone

"Your daughter is so quiet," Mrs. Harborman remarked with awe as she ushered Sam Winchester into her parlor. "My girls will both just talk your ears off."

That wasn't actually as much of a compliment as she might have thought. "Yeah," Sam murmured. Not that Anna was actually his daughter, but he would go with the story if it meant she wouldn't question their family dynamics.

"Anna's so polite, though, too. Such a sweet girl you have there. I'd love to know how you did it," she said with a chuckle. It was clear she loved her kids, doted on them even. Sam doubted she would have traded their rambling for the world.

"Yeah, she's a sweetheart," Sam agreed, then heard scrambling from the next room. He knew Anna was coming even before she barreled around the corner. She must have heard his voice. "Hey, Ladybug." She hugged him tightly, and Sam squeezed her back.

"I missed you," Anna offered quietly.

"I know," Sam said gently. "I didn't mean to be gone so long. I really didn't."

"Is Kevin okay?" she asked, voice low again. This time it seemed to be for the sake of Mrs. Harborman and her two kids more than for herself or Sam.

"Yeah," Sam promised. "He's okay. For now. We need to get going, though. We're due in Arkansas tomorrow morning."

"What for?" Anna asked, but Sam was already looking at Mrs. Harborman again.

She'd rounded up her daughters, ages 11 and 14. "Say goodbye, girls," she prompted, nudging her oldest toward Anna.

She didn't want to be hugged, but Anna let the other two do it anyway. She felt better when she was able to wrap her own arms around herself and step back behind Sam.

"Thank you, Mrs. Harborman, really," Sam said sweetly. "I know it was short notice. I appreciate you letting her stay with you."

"After what you did for my husband, Sam, I'd say I more than owed it to you. Besides, she's a sweet kid, like I said."

Anna was not a sweet kid. Not anymore. Since Dean's passing she oscillated between pissed off, overwhelmingly sad, and numbly compliant. There was nothing sweet about any of it. But people liked to say that about her, because people didn't know her. So, Anna smiled her thanks and grabbed Sam's wrist in a gentle plea to get going.

"Still," Sam repeated, "Thank you."

Judging by the smile he received in return, Anna would say Mrs. Harborman actually did appreciate his manners. "You take care of yourselves," she requested.