"Excuse us," Sam said, dragging his brother with him to a nearby lampost. It was just far enough so that Ricky couldn't hear them.

"Dude. What's this about?" he asked.

"What do you mean?"

"A friend from way back? Really?"

Dean shrugged. "I didn't lie." And he was right. Technically, he did know her from a long time ago.

He could tell that his brother didn't believe him. "Look, you don't remember her because you never saw her. And neither did Dad. You were probably 2 or 3 years old at the time. She got lost and I helped her find her dad. That's all."

Sam couldn't help but wonder, was that really all? He clearly trusted her, but why?

"She was the first person I saved, without any help," Dean said in a sigh, his face softening. His brother didn't understand, but Ricky was hope that maybe he wasn't just Daddy's Little Soldier.

He narrowed his eyes and clenched his teeth. "So, what are you going to do. Are you just gonna live some normal, apple-pie life? Is that it?"

He was dying to change the subject.

"No, not normal. Safe."

"And that's why you ran away?"

"I was just going to college. It was Dad who said if I was going to go, I should stay gone. And that's what I'm doing."

So much for changing the subject.

"Yeah well, Dad's in real trouble right now, if he's not dead already. I can feel it."

Sam stared him down, but Dean spoke anyways.

"I can't do this without you."

"Yes, you can."

"Yeah," he looked away. "Well I don't want to."

"Look, you've got this Ricky chick to keep you company."

"Still," Dean pleaded.

After a long silence, Sam sighed. "What was he hunting?"
----------
"Alright, I'll go," Sam said, after his brother explained the case. Ricky, Dean noticed, had been keeping her distance.

"But I have to get back first thing Monday. Just, wait here."

"What's first thing Monday?" Ricky asked, then immediately regretted speaking. It wasn't her place to ask these things. Either way, Sam responded:

"I have an interview."

"What, a job interview? Skip it." Dean intervened.

"It's a lawschool interview, and its my whole future on a plate."

She said nothing, but thoughts swirled in her brain. Lawschool? He's going to lawschool?!

After what she felt was a minute, she realized she had missed part of the conversation. Sam had gone back inside already, most likely to pack his things.

Dean approached her. "I noticed you didn't talk a lot."

"Well, he doesn't seem to trust me very much. He's got a reason too, and so do you. The two of you know nothing about me, and I don't know nothing about you."

She bit her lip.

"All I know is that I have to find my dad, and then I'll go back to my own crappy life, and you'll go to yours. And Dean?"

"Yeah?"

"Thank you, just, for every thing okay?"

"Alright," he responded, a smile playing at his lips. "But we have something we need to talk about..."