A Little Big Surprise

Chapter 16 ~Part Three~

The personality change sent the four of them reeling. Kevin who was already awkward around nudity covered his eyes quickly and tried to stutter out a response as Dean scratched the back of his head,

"Ari-"

"Nikita. My name is Nikita,  at least when I'm like this." her voice came out harshly but softened at the end, her eyes falling to the floor as she touched a scar on her thigh. Everything about this felt...wrong to her. Not being in her head space made her feel extremely uncomfortable, even more so than being naked in front of four men. 

Dean was taken aback so it was Sam who answered "Oh...well..it's nice to meet you Nikita. We've been waiting for this." he laughed in a very unconvincing way seeing as how her eyes had gone dim the moment she said her name. 

She stayed quiet as Castiel walked toward her and offered her his hand, which she didn't take. Her eyes remained downcast as Dean followed Castiel and placed his hand onto her hair and smiled softly. He didn't want her to feel out of place no matter what state of mind she was in. They still cared about her and that wouldn't change whether or not she went by Aria or Nikita. Nothing would change that. 

"You're still Aria to us. Okay?" he lifted her chin up before poking her nose lightly.

This made her face flush slightly and she squirmed away from his touch, in turn bumping into Castiel who wrapped her in his arms and kissed her head lightly, Dean moving in to pinch her cheek as Sam came and took her hand. Her immediate reaction was to try and move away from them all but she couldn't bring herself to do it. After all the time she spent with them the simple touches calmed her down so that even if her brain was telling her to avoid the affection her heart wouldn't let her. It soothed her anxiety so that her shoulders lost their stiffness and she allowed herself to lean back into Castiel, who gave her an encouraging smile that brought her confidence up as she looked to Kevin.

"Read these runes so that we can go home."

Sam gave her a look and she added

"Uhm. Please."

Kevin gave her a nod and walked to the group, prying her away from Castiel in order to fully see everything. Aria was perfectly still during the process except for her pinky that stayed intertwined with Castiel's as the boys began to ask her various questions. They wanted to know if she remembered everything, which she said she did. As long as they kept talking Aria remained calm and even offered them a few smiles while Kevin scanned each part of her body, sometimes asking her to move an arm up or turn on her side. When they asked her how she felt about anything she responded with an earth shattering 'I've been through worse' that made her three protectors stiffen but also made them afraid to ask for details. But Aria didn't mind, and when Kevin had all he needed and went to start working she slipped on her shirt and settled them all with a calm gaze

Her voice was even calmer "Before I was bought by Carlise I was a prostitute. Not by choice, my aunt kidnapped me from Russia when I was a little girl and later put me to work."

A horrified silence fell over them for a while. None of them really knew what to say, so Aria stayed quiet and let them take it in.

"How long?" Dean said quietly with his eyes strictly focused on the floor.

Aria shrugged, a monotone taking over her voice "I started working at eleven. My virginity went for a good money. Then we started..we started to.." her eyes closed "We killed the men who bought us. It was all a hustle and I-"

"I'm sorry." Sam interrupted with his eyes pinched closed.

None of them could say that they had a good childhood. But Aria reminded them that it could've been worse. Castiel was absolutely disgusted and could feel the bile rising in his throat as Aria looked at them all in concern and confusion. Had she said too much? Would they not want her around anymore? She was a murderer after all.

The thought has panic welling up inside of her and she began to fidget with her sleeves, her eyes downcast "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to...I mean at the time I had to. I killed people so I'm a bad person and I know that, just don't..." tears started to drip down her cheeks and she shook her head "Don't throw me away. Please...please don't."

After she stopped talking it was silent once more and she couldn't bear to look at them. She didn't want to see the disappointment in their eyes or the anger. But instead she felt a pair of arms around her and looked up to see Sam's flannel shirt in front of her face as he hugged her tightly. He was joined by Dean and then Castiel, all three of them hugging onto her for dear life. They knew that nothing they could do or say could possibly take the pain away, but now she was with them. Nothing like that would ever happen to her again, and God help anyone who tried it.

Aria gave a relieved sigh and snuggled into them all, feeling warmth fill her chest as her face flushed a pretty pink color.

Sam broke away to lift Aria's face to him "You don't have to be that anymore. You never have to be that again." 

She nodded and clutched Castiel's hand, leaning closer to Dean's chest as she further relaxed and gave a yawn. Her head space was creeping in on her quickly and they could all tell, so Sam lifted her up and let her lay her head against his shoulder. Aria gave a small huff and closed her eyes with a small smile on her cheeks, knotting her hand into his shirt as she felt his hand rubbing gently against her back.

Dean kissed her forehead so she opened her eyes again and gave her a playful smile "We'll be seeing you again soon Nikita. I promise."

Aria smiled wider and closed her eyes again, slipping further into her head space as she slipped further into sleep.