LEXI

Seeing Dean's reaction to her comeback made her internally glad that he took her joke well. She had been so used to Nate knowing her sense of humour and knowing exactly when she was joking and when she was being serious, that she had almost forgotten Dean may not know her tells at the moment. Even Sam was learning to tell the difference with her humour after this time, but Dean was still new to it. The fact he feigned heartache just made her chuckle and feel more relieved that he was understanding her, even at this early stage of them finding each other and learning about each other.

Then came a question that threw her off guard for a moment. She was not expecting him to bring up the 'us' topic so soon and in this particular moment in time. Though she had to admit to herself she wasn't even sure if he was fully trying to ask that. She remained silent momentarily as he then began rambling and making things sound so much more confusing than he was probably intending it to sound. Was he asking her if they wanted to be an item or a hunting duo? Or was he asking if they were gonna be friends with benefits? She wasn't entirely sure, but whatever it was he was trying to get at, he clearly thought it important enough to get this flustered over.

"I uhh..." she began to reply only to come to the conclusion that she really didn't have any words computed in her head to put together into a understandable sentence. "I guess... I'm trying to figure this all out and how to reply, so bare with me" she said, showing him that she wanted to reply but she didn't want to mess this up either. There was no denying that she found him incredibly attractive and if she remotely had a shot with him, she would take it. Nate would want her to have someone again, she knew that deep down. But was that really what he was trying to say? Or was she just hoping for some good for herself that wasn't even there.

She paused walking and stood in front him, looking up at his green eyes, seeing the defeated look on his face. "I don't know how to fully understand what you're getting at but I want to know. I don't want to go anywhere and I definitely like you. A lot. To be honest I think...no, I know...I like you significantly more in a different way to how I like Sam." she awkwardly rambled her reply. "Shit, this is going terribly..." she scoffed a snigger, running her hand through her hair, tucking a bit behind her ear.

"I'm so out of touch with this.But if I think what you're asking is indeed what you're asking then....I wanna see where things take us...together." she finally managed to get out of her mouth with a soft smile, one hand slowly grabbing for his.

----

SAM

Sam watched her get clearly taken aback by him trying to work out what words to say next to her question and didn't realise his reaction would so surprising. Clearly he was wrong, but watching her take back the notepad yet again and write her response to his eventual reply, he wondered what her take from his words was going to be. She seemed to be writing a lot more than before and he hoped he hadn't said anything that would frighten her off or make her suspicious of his own wording. She was cute and he got the feeling from her that she was a super interesting person to be around. All he could do now was wait until she was done writing and was ready to show him her response and explanation.

When he saw the notepad, he took it into his hands to read it slowly and thoroughly so he didn't accidentally take what she was getting at badly. The words 'a deal I was offered' piqued his interest greatly but it also concerned him as usually deals meant demons. The end sentence did make him smirk and chuckle at the same time. Not only that it was close to making him blush and feel a little awkward at himself. He was used to girls flirting with Dean, very rarely did he get the flirting done onto him. "You're in the right place" he began saying to her, the smile not leaving his lips fully just yet.

In fact, it only left his lips as he forced himself to go back to the question plaguing his mind. The deal. "What deal was you offered?" he asked her quietly. "Truth is... I'm a Winchester. Your contact was getting you to find me and my brother" he admitted to her. "And I'd like to try and help you" he finished his reply, handing her back the notepad.

Dean’s heart hammered away in his chest as Lexi tried to find a way to answer him. He honestly wanted to lift a hand and wave her off to tell her that it was no big deal, and that he didn’t really want to talk about it. The conversation made his stomach hurt, if he was honest. But as she spoke up again, he couldn’t move. He was honestly too afraid of what she was getting ready to say.

As she stepped in front of him, he couldn’t help but scan her eyes, looking for some sign of hope or at least a sign that he hadn’t just completely wrecked whatever it was that they had. But instead, he saw a mixture of peace and nervousness, just as he felt in his own mind.

Her words pulled an honest smirk from the corners of his mouth, and he let out a sigh he didn’t even know he was holding, echoing her chuckle, “Not as bad as you think. Liking me better than Sam is a good start…”

He linked his fingers with hers quickly, and ran his thumb over the tops of her fingers, “I like seeing where things go. I’m just glad you’re better at saying what’s on your mind than I am…I’m a mess. We are a mess…”

He chuckled again, and brought her hand up to his lips, kissing the backs of her knuckles, “We should probably check out and go check on Sam. I would hate to see the bitch fit he throws if we’re not back when he’s ready to go…”



Anya waited for Sam to finish reading her words, not lifting her gaze until she heard his voice ring out, and she quickly raised her eyes to meet his. She was in the right place. She found them. And she found Sam.

But as he asked about the deal she was offered, she furrowed her brow, a bit confused. If he wasn’t a hunter, why would he care about her deal? She was told to give that information directly to the Winchesters…not some cute stranger in a coffee shop.

But before she could pull the pad back, her fingers stopped close to his, holding the pen as he clarified why he wanted to know. A wave of relief washed over her and she outwardly sighed with a small smile teasing her lips. He was a Winchester. Sam Winchester. Biting her bottom lip, she fought the urge to get up and dance, as it seemed like this stupid goose chase had taken years off her life, only for her to accidentally stumble across a random computer nerd that happened to be an elite hunter. What were the odds?

She quickly pulled the pad back toward her and began writing:
“This man offered me my voice. He said I could speak for the first time in my life, and I could be basically normal, and all I had to do was give him something after ten years. Obviously I know this is a demon. I’m not stupid.”

She paused, glancing to the side to decide how to word the next bit of her sentence. Finally, she decided to just be blunt, “When I called him out on the whole thing, he said he would give it back to me for something else. Something my dad had.”

She turned the pad back to Sam, for him to read but reached into her pocket for a piece of folded paper. She unfolded the paper and laid it flat in front of Sam, showing an image of the Colt.

LEXI

When Dean reassured her that she wasn't as terrible at this whole expressing her thoughts and feelings as she was thinking she was, she felt a sense of validation. Feeling him link their fingers quickly made her glance down at their hands and then back up at him and smile.

She couldn't help but chuckle all over again when he called himself a mess, then changing it to they were both a mess. It made her laugh because she knew deep down that he wasn't wrong in the slightest. "you're not wrong there" she agreed with an amused smile on her lips as she continued to feel his thumb rubbing against her hand, before he lifted her hand and kissed her knuckles. "Yeah you're probably right" she nodded, reluctantly letting go of his hands and going back to pushing the trolley down the aisle they were in and toward the till points.

The whole admitting she did really like him, despite them barely knowing each other gave her butterflies in her stomach. It made her feel like she did when she first saw Nate, which she could only imagine was a sign that she should follow what this feeling was and go with the flow. Maybe letting herself after a year, be involved with someone else wouldn't be too bad after all, she thought to herself.

As the two of them walked Mika's spirit stood off at a distance watching the two of them bring each other out their shells and smiled. He was finally learning to open up to someone and be the man she always loved. "I'm proud of you Dean" she spoke, confident that no one would see her, not even him, but she had to witness this for herself and still be there for him.

SAM

He was glad that Anya stopped grabbing for the notepad so he could have given more of a reason to why he wanted to know about her demon deal. He could see in her face that him admitting who he truly was was making her elated for whatever reason and if she was holding back her happiness at finding a Winchester then it must be pretty big of a deal for her to seek his help.

He let her take back the notepad to write down exactly what the deal was, sipping his coffee as he waited patiently for her to finish writing it all down. As she finished and pushed the pad back to him, he read it carefully, glanced very briefly to her then read what she put again. The demon was playing a little mermaid game card with this girl? That did not sit right with him in the slightest, and he was also glad that Dean wasn't around right now because if he knew what he was thinking, Dean wouldn't let him hear the end of it.

When he was done reading, he rose an eyebrow as if to question her what it was that her dad supposedly had a long time ago. It seemed that she understood his query from his look, as she pulled out another piece of paper and unfolded it before passing it over to her. What he saw on that paper shocked him as he didn't think he would see the Colt ever again, in any form.

"I hate to tell you Anya, but this gun hasn't been seen in a long time. We used it once but then got rid of it soon after." he told her truthfully. The memories of using that gun on that male phoenix just brought back horrific memories of how Mika died and he was now glad that it was him Anya found, and not Dean. He could easily imagine just how badly Dean would take this news.

Dean felt a warmth in his chest after he and Lexi finished part of their conversation enough to go and check out to keep Sam from killing them. It was almost as if something in the universe validated everything he was feeling, all at once, but he couldn’t place what that could be.

He glanced around, as if he would find the answer, until the time came to pay. Jumping in front of Lexi before she even had a chance to pull out her wallet, he quickly threw some cash to the cashier and gathered up the items to place them back in the cart with a cheeky smile toward Lexi.

“I got you. I might…MIGHT let you buy me a beer when I take you out next time.”, he teased, nearly flinching at the words ‘next time’, as it sounded so strange coming off his lips after all this time. But he honestly meant it. He wanted to take her out, on a real date, without his brother being nosey or asking him a million questions.

He turned the cart around and began pushing it out the door as the cashier held out the receipt to Lexi with a smile, as if she found them to be absolutely adorable. As soon as they stepped outside, Dean thought for a moment and then turned to Lexi, “You know what I just realized? Sam hasn’t texted me a single time. Normally he’s more hovery than an angry girlfriend, but he hasn’t…he hasn’t even checked in. Maybe he’s lost in a library somewhere or something.”



As soon as Sam saw the image, Anya knew he recognized the gun, but the disappointed look on his face echoed on her own before he even spoke up. Taking a deep breath, she braced herself for the let down she knew was coming, letting the breath out through her nose as he explained that he didn’t have the gun…but that he had heard of it. Great. Another goose chase.

She turned her face away from his gaze, and stared out the window of the coffee shop for a moment, pulling her cup up to take a drink of her coffee. She scanned the scene outside, as if reading it like a book, as she tried to decide how to proceed from here.

Should she lie to him, and just leave, like she hadn’t been looking for them to get her closer to the demon that she was now obsessed with? Or did she admit to him that she wasn’t only looking for them for the gun…but rather, to become a hunter herself. She had nothing to lose. She had no one. It’s not like she had anywhere to go.

Thinking for a few more moments, she straightened herself, the corners of her eyes full of tears from concentration…not sadness. She then pulled the notepad toward her, and wrote down, “Can I be honest with you?”

Without waiting for him to answer, she simply pulled it back, writing, “I had a feeling the gun was gone. I didn’t just come here for the gun. I would like to…”

She quickly scribbled the last part out, and simply wrote, “Sorry I bothered you with it.”

LEXI

Lexi thought nothing of Dean looking around as they headed to the till points, but the moment they got there and he playfully pushed in front of her and slapped the cash on the counter to the cashier before she barely even got her fingers gripped round her wallet in her jeans pocket. "Dean!" she said in surprise, but an amused look was on her face. It was such a playful and innocent moment for her to witness that just made her feel so normal. "You damn well will let me buy you a beer next time!" she said determined to not let him back out of that statement.

She took the receipt from the cashier with a smile and thanks before jogging to catch up to Dean once again, so they could exit the store to get back to the impala and put the shopping in the car. When Dean pointed out that Sam hadn't text him once since they've been out, she even laughed when he described just how clingy Sam was normally. It even made her check her own phone in case she missed anything from Sam herself. "Likewise, I haven't had anything either" she replied.

"It's gotta be a library or compute somewhere no doubt. I swear that guy has some kind comic book super power when it comes to finding wifi" she chuckled, taking out the shopping from the cart and placing them into the trunk of the impala, once they got there and unlocked the car. "He's gotta be alright though, he knows to check in if he's in any kind of problem" she reassured him.

SAM

Sam wished he had better information for her, but even then he was certain that she wouldn't like what he'd say even if they did have the Colt still. That gun couldn't get in the hands of demons, no matter what and it's one reason he was glad it was well and truly gone for good. He watched her body language and all the facial expressions she was possibly giving to try and read her but he couldn't, so he just let her take the notepad back and write once more.

He waited for it to be passed back to him and when it was, he read it carefully once more. He saw the scribbled out word and just knew what it was she was now asking. He sighed, he didn't exactly ever approved of getting into the hunting world as there was quite literally no getting out of it. He knew that more than anyone after getting out for a short period throughout the years and it always brought him back.

"I'm not sure you really wanna get into this job lifestyle Anya. There's backing out once you're in and it's a lot more dangerous than you probably think it is. Even the most seasoned hunters d--" he sighed as he stopped himself from completing that sentence due to instantly thinking of Mika as an example.

"You'd be safer not in this world and not getting tied with demons. Myself and Dean... that's my brother and other colleague, we can try and help you in some way to get this deal broken to no danger to yourself, but at the moment, that's all I wanna offer you" he told her truthfully. He just didn't wanna see another decent innocent person die in the lifestyle he and others lived.

Dean popped the trunk of the Impala as soon as they reached it, still laughing at the fact that Lexi actually believed he would let her buy him a beer when they went out. As she approached, and began putting the groceries in the car, he raised an eyebrow. Sam hadn’t texted either of them. Odd. Maybe he was talking to someone.

“That’s weird. But also not weird.”, he grumbled and then closed the tunk as Lexi made a joke about Sam’s ability to research on the road. She was right. Somehow Sam’s wifi always seemed strong, whether or not they had cell service, “Eh. It’s those nerd powers he was blessed with. Dude can read a book in two hours, and can research almost anything in the middle of the woods. Nerd. Power.”

He laughed out loud, and walked around to the passenger side, opening the door for her. Once she was inside, he shut the door and jogged around to the drivers side, “But I do think he’s fine. He probably found some old lady to have a compelling conversation with about gardening…or whatever my brother reads about when he’s alone. On the other hand, you wanna grab some coffee?”

Dean glanced over at her, after putting the key in the ignition. Without pausing, he leaned across the seat, and placed a quick and tight kiss to her lips, pulling back to scan her eyes for a yes or a no.



Anya nearly rolled her eyes as Sam began to explain why she shouldn’t be a hunter. She had heard it before, from her father and from hunters. But after being involved, she was marked, right? Knowing what she knew, she was already doomed. Why not be equipped to handle what was coming for her, if something was coming for her.

She began to sign her frustration to him, trying to cut his words off with an argument, but she remembered almost immediately that he didn’t understand fluent sign language. So, instead, she pulled the notepad over as he finished speaking with a huffy sigh.

“I’m already in this world, and I don’t appreciate being spoken to like some weak little girl. Everyone that I’ve ever watched die treated me that way, and guess who survived.

ME.

You don’t know anything about me, and if I made a mistake by coming to you, then fine. But I have reasons I don’t want to discuss on a piece of paper for why I want to learn.”

And with that, she punctuated her sentence aggressively, and slid the paper back toward him, sitting back and crossing her arms with a huff. It was the same song and dance that she dealt with the last time she was around hunters. And although Sam didn’t seem to treat her like an object at least, she still wanted to plead her case.

LEXI

She had to agree that not hearing from Sam was equal amounts of weird and not weird. Dean continuing on from her little wifi quip made her glad that she wasn't the only one who noticed that about Sam. Him calling it 'nerd power' just made her chuckle all the more. "Oh my god right?! I've only witnessed the connection to wifi in the middle of nowhere once with him but it was so freaky. Whereas I could only get connection on my phone if I need emergency services." she told him whilst showing that she was jealous of his brother in that occasion.

With the car unlocked and Dean opening the passenger door for her once again, she smiled and got into the car, sitting back and being comfortable once again. In her mind, a car this old shouldn't be this comfortable but it was. With Dean now in the driver's side, she found herself smirking and sniggering at the gardening comment as she couldn't even picture Sam doing such an activity.

At his suggestion of grabbing a coffee before heading back to the bunker, she was about to reply to him when he planted a strong kiss on her lips. A kiss that she gladly returned just as tightly before reopening her eyes and smiling at him, "coffee sounds good" she replied finally.

SAM

Anya rolling her eyes at him made Sam see that she clearly had been told this sort of spiel a few times before and she took great offence to his words. 'good going Sam, offend a pretty woman in less two hours of meeting her' he thought to himself, rubbing his hands nervously on his thighs, wondering how he can dig himself out of this situation as she angrily wrote on the notepad and made it very clear, she was not taking his current advice for an answer.

When she was done writing and showed him what she put, he read it and visibly flinched at her words. He didn't need to hear her voice to tell that she was practically yelling these words at him to make a point. "I'm sorry I offended you, that wasn't my intention" he began to explain, holding up a hand to show her he wasn't done talking just yet.

"I'm sorry for everything that's happened to you- whatever that may be. I recognise that those moments in your life have brought you into this world to a certain extent. It's just..." he sighed, "I guess I'm just concerned for bringing someone else into this life after I've not long lost my sister in law..for good this time by her being a hunter. Which is a crazy ass long story I won't get into. What I'm trying to get at is that....I guess I wanna know just how much you've thought this through" he explained to the best of his ability.

He also knew if he just brought this girl back to the bunker and declared she's a hunter in training, Dean would absolutely have his head on a pike. So he had to play it safe...for now.

Dean smiled widely at her agreement to coffee and turned back to the steering wheel, bringing the Impala to life with a roar. He peeled out of the parking lot, but slowed once he was on the road, driving slowly while looking around for the coffee shop he had picked Sam up from time and time again.

“Hopefully…hopefully, the bunker will be a little more comfortable with all these creature comforts. I mean, having other people around might help Sam. I’m fine…most of the time. But Sam, he gets lonely…”, he rambled, before parallel parking in front of the coffee shop, and putting the car into park.

“Although. I vote that you stay, if not just for sanity. I’ve been ready to kill Sam and his hovering nature for months.”, he quipped with a chuckle, opening the door quickly and stepping out. Before Lexi even opened the door, he glanced over the roof of the car at the window of the coffee shop and huffed another chuckle, “Well, will you look at that. Sam…is with a girl.”



Anya held her frustrated face for a moment, while Sam attempted to talk his way out of her anger. She couldn’t help but soften her face as he spoke, turning her eyes down from his face to the table. It was obvious he had seen people like her before, and apparently had lost people because of it. The thought hurt her heart, but she couldn’t back down.

Truthfully, she had also lost people, but for the opposite reason. She lost them because they weren’t prepared. They didn’t know what little she knew. They didn’t know what they were getting themselves into and were slaughtered like ants because of it.

Shaking her head lightly, she pulled the pad back one more time, as the door opened and Dean stepped in, “I’m going to find a way to learn. If you don’t want to help me, I understand. But I have to do this.”

She stood up, pushing her chair back and straightened her jacket, before digging in her pocket for a couple of bills to tip the waitresses. She laid them on the table and pushed her chair back in behind her, before turning to him and signing, “See you around, Sam.”

LEXI

Seeing Dean's bright and wide grin at her agreement to coffee made Lexi smile just as widely back. His smile just feeling incredibly contagious and considering how he was when she first showed up at the bunker, it was so refreshing that he looked brighter. She let him drive to the coffee shop he had in mind and glanced at him as he spoke about the home comforts that they got for the bunker.

Something told her not to believe him when he said he was mostly fine being alone in the bunker and that it was Sam who got lonely, but she wasn't going to call him out on it...yet. As he finished parallel parking, then continued rambling. The next thing he said made her chuckle back, as it did amuse him but she also wasn't surprised that that's how Sam had been the last few months. She knew how worried he had been about Dean over these last few months and she was still slightly convinced that Sam had wanted to bring her to the bunker for a while to meet Dean, but she would never say that out loud.

"He's just been worried about you, that's all" she countered, trying to give Sam the benefit of the doubt to a certain degree, just as he got out the car and looked over the roof and into the coffee shop window. She opened the door, but didn't fully exit the car as she was curious what Dean meant by Sam was with a girl. He certainly hadn't mentioned to her about anyone being on the scene for him, so she was confused about who this girl would even be.

Stepping out of the car and closing the door, she looked in and smiled, "well well, that's a surprising turn of events" she replied before walking into the coffee shop with Dean and when they were close enough, she couldn't help but try and eavesdrop on the conversation but noticed she could only hear Sam talking.

Intrigued, she watched more then saw the signing and it clicked into place.

SAM

Sam hated that Anya was telling him she was going to learn no matter what and that worried him greatly. He didn't trust many hunters and he certainly didn't like the idea of someone like Anya learning all on her own about the ways of being a hunter. His eyes flicked toward the door when it opened, and noticed Dean and Lexi walk in and he wondered if this moment could get any more complicated.

"Anya wait" he requested of her as she signed her farewell, standing up to try and stop her from leaving so soon. "If I agree to try and help you in some areas, will you stay?" he asked of her, his eyes pleading almost as he really didn't want her to get into serious trouble with anyone, especially demons. "Look...my brother and friend have just walked in, maybe we can discuss this all together or something? I can't guarantee you much but I can at least try and help you stay safe" he reasoned with her, hoping it would be enough to begin with.

Dean frowned as they approached the table, and he noticed that not only was the girl signing, meaning she was deaf? He assumed? But also, it looked as if she was leaving in a hurry. What had Sam done to deserve this kind of attention?

Anya glanced up at Dean and Lexi, assuming they were waiting on the table at first, but then Sam stood and asked for a compromise and her head whipped back to face him in shock. She honestly didn’t expect him to concede so easily, but the look on his face was hard to ignore.

She sighed through her nose, her shoulders dropping as she folded her arms across her chest, a sign she wasn’t willing to discuss this any further, but then he mentioned his brother, and she turned to scan over the two people she thought were waiting for a table. Pulling her hands from their pretzel, she slowly signed, “Fine. But I’m not dumb, just because I can’t speak.”

She hoped he would at least understand that small sentence enough to respect her, and then Dean spoke up, “So, this isn’t how I expected to find you. Who’s your friend?”

“Anya.”, she sighed quickly, barely looking at Dean before turning her eyes back to Sam for confirmation. Dean flinched and his face scrunched in confusion as he turned to Lexi and held his hand out.

“Am I supposed to know what that means?”

LEXI AND SAM

Lexi found herself watching on as it seemed whatever this girl had been communicating with Sam over, it clearly was weighing heavy on him. She clearly seemed rather angry at him and wondered how on earth Sam could make any pissed off, he was such a sweet giant of a man who couldn't intentionally hurt anyone who didn't deserve it.

She let Dean take the lead and when Anya signed her name, Lexi tried to catch on, which luckily she did. She didn't know much sign but she somehow remembered the basic alphabet in ASL, something she didn't think would ever come in handy until now. Sam was about to confirm what her name was, when Dean turned to face Lexi with such a look that got him a slap on the arm.

"Dean that's rude! Don't be a dick or albelist." she told him before looking back at Anya with an apologetic look on her face. She then turned back to Dean, "if my very vague memory of ASL is correct, she said her name is Anya" she explained, looking toward both Anya and Sam for confirmation on if she was right or not.

"You're right. This is Anya, she's mute, not deaf so watch what you say Dean and she needs our help" Sam explained, looking them both in the eyes. He also wanted to quickly make it clear that Anya wasn't deaf and if Dean opened his mouth without thinking again, she would hear everything he says and would no doubt get on the wrong side of her personality, like he sort of has already.

"Help with what?" Lexi asked.

"Getting into the business and breaking a certain deal with her old....aquaintances" Sam said, using the old code for hunting and demon deals whilst they were in public.

Dean flinched and frowned even deeper when Lexi slapped his arm and scolded him, “It was an honest question! For all I know, she’s hexing me or something with those hand skills.”, he grumbled, rubbing his arm. But as soon as they had an actual name, he raised his eyebrows and nodded, “Anya! Small angry woman’s name is Anya. Good to know.”

Anya was just about to turn to Dean and let him know that she could hear him fine, when Sam spoke up, and she breathed a sigh of relief. She honestly didn’t want to have to pass another language barrier with a stranger. It was getting to be exhausting in this town.

She looked down at the floor, crossing her arms again, to show that she was verbally disarmed, and shifted her weight from one foot to the other as Sam explained what she needed. She half expected yet another lecture, but instead, Dean simply huffed.

“You always seem to find them, don’t you?”, he muttered with a chuckle, causing Anya to look up at him, so she could judge his face. He seemed relaxed, and not as worried as she expected, which was both concerning and a relief. What if he just said they couldn’t help?, “By aquaintances we’re talking about the kind with…not so normal eyes, right?”
Anya simply nodded, bringing out one of her hands to sign to him, but deciding against it. Dean was already waving off her attempt to speak.

“We don’t train hunters.”, he said simply, and Anya’s eyes widened and she looked back at Sam, begging him for an answer to what that meant, “But I guess we have to help…”

LEXI AND SAM

Lexi found herself rolling her eyes at Dean calling Anya a small angry woman. She was thankful for not smirking as Sam explained that this woman could hear everything and was just simply mute and why she was conversing with Sam in whatever way she was able to. Seeing her cross her arms, Lexi knew Dean hadn't helped matters when it came to calming her down.

She also decided this was something she was mostly going to try and stay out of it and let Dean and Sam figure this one out. Even if the idea of demons coming after a mute girl didn't sit well with her in the slightest. She let the brothers discuss the situation between them, when Dean surprised both Sam and Lexi in agreeing to help Anya, albeit not via training her to become a hunter.

"Then I guess we're helping her out. What do the "aquaintances" want anyway in this deal?" she asked, making air quotes with her hands.

"......the Colt" Sam hesitated in replying for a moment before he dropped the verbal bomb, imagining how Dean was going to take that news. "And before you say anything, I've already told her its not retrievable anymore" he added, looking his brother in his eyes. He was dreading telling Dean, but when Lexi asked the question, he couldn't exactly not say anything.

"Even if it was, that's a big ask that would never happen" Lexi remarked after widening her eyes for a split moment hearing the legendary gun be mentioned. Of all the things to be said, she was not expecting that to be one.

Dean waved as Lexi asked what the demons wanted from Anya. He was genuinely curious to know how a girl like her could end up in such a mess. But the mention of the Colt instantly caused his eyes to practically pop out of his head.

“The Colt. Like…THE Colt?”, he asked incredulously as Sam explained that Anya knew they couldn’t get the gun back. His excitement wained a bit, having a brief moment of thinking that maybe this girl was some sort of key to finding it. But alas, she didn’t seem to even know what they were talking about, judging by her face, “Even if we had the gun, we would never give it to a d-…to an aquaintance. That would be stupid.”

Anya didn’t even know how to respond to any of them, but she picked up the pad of paper she had used to communicate with Sam, and wrote down, “My father had it just a few years ago. But when he was killed, it disappeared.”

“What? He what?!”, Dean asked, as she turned the pad around, causing her to flinch visibly. She tapped aggressively at the word ‘killed’, and then spelled out ‘because of the gun’ in sign. Rolling her eyes after Dean stared at her for a moment, she made a gun with her fingers, and pulled it up to her temple, pretending to kill herself with it, and then held it up.

“He was killed for the Colt.”, he asked slowly, and Anya nodded, putting the paper pad back onto the table, “Well…then I guess we have work to do. I’m not making the mistake I want to make right now. So, back to the bunker?”

Anya wondered what mistake that could be. Leaving her alone? Teaching her stuff? Was Dean more of the answer here than Sam? She didn’t know, but as soon as Dean got the words out of his mouth, she smiled, feeling accomplished and signed to Sam, “Let’s go.”

LEXI AND SAM

Lexi only knew of the colt, but she certainly never had come cross it herself. She remembered hearing the stories about it however from Sam and judging by Dean reacted to the news, it was still very much a big deal. As Dean spoke with Anya and Sam, she continued to keep quiet, just taking in the information being relayed to them all, observing the whole situation.

Sam didn't even know that Anya's father was killed because of the Colt, hearing that bit of information made him understand why Anya was earlier getting so defensive over his previous reluctance to train her as a hunter. Seeing his brother trying to understand Anya made Sam feel a little embarrassed by him, but he did his best to not show it outwardly on his face.

"It feels like it'd be the safest place to go for this." Lexi finally spoke up in agreement. A coffee shop was not the place for this kind of topic and although she was genuinely looking forward to a proper coffee, this was far more important.

Sam nodded in agreement to both Lexi and Anya, grabbing his bag from the IT store and standing up. "Better now than never" he replied.

Dean sighed, and gave his brother a look as Anya turned to him and apparently had been expecting him to say ‘yes’. He shrugged his shoulders, “Then let’s go. You guys head out and I’m gonna get Lexi some coffee, like I promised.”

He gave Lexi a mixture of an apologetic and a hopeful smile, and guided her to the counter as Anya, stepped up to Sam. She didn’t even bother saying anything to him, but led he way outside.



“Don’t touch anything that’s isn’t clearly labeled. If I can’t hear you scream, I don’t know you’re hurt.”, Dean ordered to Anya as they decended the stairs. Dean had circled the Impala around to her hotel room, to grab her things, which were now slung over both shoulders.

She looked around the expanse of the room, as everything came into view, and stopped at the bottom of the stairs, turning in a circle.

“And we’re gonna have to get one of the white boards for you or something, some way for you to talk. I don’t know any other way for this to work.”

Anya frowned, snapping her fingers at Dean, before patting her bag, to let him know she already had it covered. She then pulled her fingers across her throat to tell him to stop giving her orders. She would be fine.

“Fine. Sam…keep an eye on her.”

LEXI AND SAM

Still clutching her takeout coffee, something she was very much grateful for from Dean, she re-entered the bunker with the others, the size of the place still amazing her even now. So to see Anya do a 360 degree circle as she gazed around the place, she could fully understand how and what she must be thinking. She also understood why Dean told Anya about not touching anything that wasn't labelled, something she really didn't want to witness if something went drastically wrong.

She did however roll her eyes at Dean saying about getting her a whiteboard, guessing that Anya would have that covered as it wouldn't be her first rodeo staying somewhere and needed a form of communication. Anya snapping her fingers at Dean and pointing at her bags did make Lexi smirk and stifle a chuckle, already deciding that she was liking this girl.

Sam too found Anya's snapping her fingers at Dean rather amusing, just he was better at hiding it than Lexi was. "I will, don't worry" he said back to his brother, then turning to Anya he gave a warm smile. "Let me show you to a room where you can put your bags down. Then I can give you a tour of the place if you want before we decide on where to go with helping you?" he suggested, hoping it would be a start at least in making up for his earlier blunder with her.

"Dean why don't we start doing some kind of research or call around to see if anybody knows what happened to the colt?" Lexi then suggested, not really know where to start other than figuring out some kind of timeline. Then she remembered, she didn't know Anya's father's name. "Oh! Before you two go, Anya, what was your dad's name and when was he killed over the colt? Me and Dean can start from there to create a timeline to help us all out" she explained to her. In her eyes, she didn't see any other way to start on this situation. She was tired of people having loved ones dying because of this job or world. If her dad wasn't a hunter, then why did he even have a hold of the gun? Was he a collector of antiques or firearms? She just didn't understand any of it.

Sam thought it could all wait, but it seemed Lexi had other ideas. "At least let her put her bags down somewhere first" he countered, wanting to show he was somewhat on Anya's side. Lexi sighed and nodded, "Okay..sorry Anya. Sam's right, if you wanna put your bags down first by all means do." she apologised.

Dean watched the way Sam acted around Anya. So warm, which was his nature, but he could tell that Sam had either stepped in it and was trying to make up for something he had said, or he was a bit fascinated by Anya. Both ideas made him smirk a bit as they stepped away.

Anya however, couldn’t help but return his smile. She wasn’t sure she was his biggest fan after the way he wrote her off, especially when Dean pretty much jumped on helping her immediately. But as he agreed to settle her in, she nodded with a smile, stepping in close to him in case the dangerous stuff Dean had talked about was somehow attached to the walls.

“Um yeah. We should probably get ahold of some people from wherever she’s from…see what we can find out about the people her dad hung out with. That might be the best place to start.”, he agreed, walking around the war room table to clear some books. As he stacked them, he noticed that Sam took up for Anya as if they were somehow asking too much of her, and he narrowed his eyes, “Sam we just…”

Holding his hands up in surrender, he continued stacking books with a sigh, but Anya shook her head with a frown, glancing up at Sam before walking back over toward the table, as if to say ‘it’s no problem at all’. She pulled the paper she had shown Sam from her pocket, and unfolded it with one hand. Turning it over, she tapped her finger against it, showing that she had been down this road before. Her dad’s name was written on the paper, along with his date of birth, the last person he was seen with, and the day he died. Taped to the paper was a photo of him, from a few months before he died.

She looked up at Lexi’s eyes, and smiled softly, doing her best to sign with her one hand, “A place to start at least.”, before backing toward Sam to follow him to her room.

SAM AND LEXI

Sam continued to smile when Anya smiled back at him. "this is a good start" he thought to himself, but did notice out the corner of his eyes how Dean was smirking at the sight before him.

Lexi nodded, glad that Dean was in agreement with her even if Sam wasn't at first. It just seemed the most logical thing to do and she also had a habit of the moment a job dropped in her lap, she had to focus on it straight away. So when Sam wanted to give Anya a break first, she felt a bit surprised, especially as they usually were on the same wave length on the odd times they've worked together before she met Dean.

Both her and Sam looked at Anya when she shook her head and atepped up to the table. Lexi felt she understood Anya without her even needing to attempt to communicate with words. She looked down at the paper that Anya unfolded with one hand and pushed toward them after turning it over to the other side. She couldn't help herself by pulling it closer to her and looking at the information written on it.

"This really isn't your first rodeo...this is a great start. Thank you" she said to her before signing 'thank you' to her as she said it. Another bit of ASL she always remembered, even if she didn't know much else. Which she decided, if Anya was going to stick around she definitely wanted to change that. She felt like she just wanted Anya to feel like she was an equal despite not being a hunter and they were willing to try and communicate with her in any way possible.

Sam found it endearing that Lexi knew what thank you was in ASL, a tidbit of information he never knew about her. Another reason in his eyes for Dean to keep Lexi around. So much so he glanced at Dean with a 'shes a keeper' smile on his face.

Lexi was oblivious to the signal Sam gave his brother as she was reading the information that was on the paper, whilst Sam then looked back down at Anya and smiled again. "Let's get you a room" he said, escorting her casually to where all the spare rooms were, letting her know where the bathrooms were and such as they walked.

"He's being so good with her" Lexi commented when Sam was out of earshot, looking up at Dean. "She also seems like a real firecracker" she chuckled softly, lifting her coffee cup to her lips and sipping it, before lowering it again onto the table.

Anya couldn’t help a smile that stayed on her face at the fact that even though Lexi didn’t need to sign to her in order to speak, she did anyway. It could be useful, in the future, considering neither of the boys seemed to know any ASL, especially Dean. As she turned back to Sam, she could feel Dean’s eyes on her, but decided that at least for a while, she would have to ignore Dean. He seemed to see her as some sort of alien, or at least he still treated her as if she was deaf, which would likely complicate things for him later.

As Sam escorted her down the long corridor, she couldn’t help marvel in the fact that the place looked ancient, and it was built like a fortress. The floors all the way to the ceilings had a feeling of safety underneath them, and she touched each brick as they passed them. Each room that they passed made her smile, as they appeared almost like dorm rooms.

She turned to Sam and tapped his arm gently, bringing her hand to her chest, where she signed, “Sorry.” Before bringing her free hand up to her head to signal that she was feeling crazy, and stressed. She then signed a simple, “Thank you for helping me.”



Dean glanced down at the paper as Lexi looked it over as well. He was surprised by the amount of work that Anya seemed to have done, meaning this was not the first dead end she had found. The thought of her going from hunter to hunter, trying to learn more about her dad’s death felt familiar, and made his stomach wrench with sadness. He let out a sigh, watching her walk away with Sam.

He couldn’t help the bright smile that tried to spread across his face as Lexi commented on Sam being good with Anya, “Yeah. He has a thing for the misfit types, especially the monsters.”

He scrunched his face, “I didn’t mean it like that. I mean he always seems to gravitate toward people he feels like he can relate to. She’s just a girl…who can’t speak. But there’s something about her. Trust me, they’ll be joined at the hip before she leaves. IF she leaves. And you would know about spitfires.”

As Dean teased, he elbowed her playfully, pulling the paper closer to his gaze, looking closer at the photo. He imagined the guy in the photo holding the Colt, and who could have come for him. They had to have had it, or have just lost it right as he was killed, he assumed…or maybe her father was killed BECAUSE they ended up with the Colt.

“I just hope we didn’t get her father killed…”, he mumbled, with a deep sigh, glancing up again as Anya and Sam disappeared down the hall. This research could take them somewhere that could destroy her, and it wasn’t something he was sure was a good idea, “I’m going to need whiskey for this…”