── ❂ ──

Standing in the elevator like the night before as darkness falls is unnerving. Cleo doesn't know what to think, an earpiece hooked up and her body equipped with weapons. Charlie's next to her, the nervousness apparent in her stance.

"It's going to be okay." Cleo whispers to Charlie, so the Winchester's who are listening in won't hear. She smiles back, tilting her head slightly.

"I would love for that to be true but... what hero's story ever ends well?" Cleo purses her lips, the truth of Charlie's words ringing through her ears. She shakes her head and moves on.

"Despite that... are you ready?" Charlie leans from foot to foot.

"Yes." They step out onto the eleventh floor, and Cleo notices a security guard. She shoves Charlie to the side and they tuck themselves behind a wall. The redhead quickly looks around Cleo at him, and then darts back out of sight.

"Hey, there's a big-ass guard up here blocking the door. What do I do?" She asks the Winchesters but sort of Cleo too as she makes eye contact.

"The footage up here is stable, right?"
"Yeah." Sam responds from the other line.
"I'm gonna take him out." Charlie furrows her eyebrows.

"No killing!"
"No, no, I just mean I'm going to knock him out. Give me a minute." Cleo emerges from the side of the wall.

"Hey, Bill! How's it going?" He looks up from his newspaper and nods at Cleo.
"Good, boring as usual." She nods and steps forward.

"Yeah, I bet." She swings behind his desk and grabs him in a choke hold, covering his mouth. He struggles, kicking the desk before his eyes roll up into his head and he stops moving. Cleo puts him down to the floor gently.
"Sorry about that, Bill," she walks over him and back around the desk. "Hey, Charlie, you can come out now." Her mouth gapes open.

"You just- you just, like, knocked him out? Like full on just-" She gestures with her hands. Cleo laughs.
"Yeah."

"Hey, chuckles, you're on a deadline." Helpful commentary from the oldest Winchester.
"Got it, we're moving."

Charlie sits down at her desk, and puts the thumb drive in the slot. Cleo sighs, and leans against the opposite wall.

"Sending you all the flagged dig files now."

"Charlie, you are a genius!" Sam says over the coms, and Cleo smiles at the compliment. She knows it's not for her but it still makes her feel all warm and fuzzy.
"I know, it's a problem." Cleo laughs slightly, and Charlie calls over the cubicle.

"I can still hear you, you know." Calling back, Cleo raises an eyebrow.
"I know, Neo. Keep working."

"Yeah, yeah." Charlie laughs lightheartedly and for a moment it almost feels as if they're not breaking into a building... and that maybe their lives aren't in danger. Cleo feels as though she can breathe, but her breath catches sharply in her mouth as a door swings open. Out comes their boss, and in an effort to look normal Cleo addresses him.

"Hey, Pete!" She says, and he turns to them. He makes brief eye contact with Cleo and then walks towards Charlie.

"How's it going?" He asks her, and she nods.
"Good, good. I'll give you a full progress report in a few hours."

"Great. Hit that deadline, right?" He squeezes Charlie's arm and looks at Cleo as she comes around the cubicle. "Well, holler if you need anything." He finishes and walks out of the building, down the elevator. Cleo lets out a relieved breath as he leaves.

"You got this, we're almost done." She says reassuringly, and Charlie smiles the slightest bit.

"This all- is awful, for sure, but you make it a little better. Sorry if that's cheesy or anything." Cleo laughs lightly, "No, it's not too cheesy. Thanks, Charlie." A flurry of feelings fill Cleo's chest cavity, but before she can do anything about it, Charlie opens up an email and continues to ignore Cleo.

"Are you seeing this?" Cleo takes a look at what Charlie's doing, and it seems like the digs had been suspended.

"It looks like Dick stopped digging days ago." Sam states over the coms, and Charlie bites her lip as she continues scrolling.

"Why?" She asks, and makes continued moves and types furiously at the computer, the screen changing so often Cleo can't keep track.

"Guess he found what he was looking for." Dean says, and Cleo swallows, her mouth starting to get dry. "Can you check?" He continues.

"Way ahead of you. Looking at travel reports, expenses..." Charlie pauses, and Cleo watches her change her screen and scroll. "Here we go. Something in his suitcase left Iran last week. Spent the last 72 hours in armored cars and private planes. Whatever it is, it's coming here for Dick tonight." Charlie looks up at Cleo, her eyes wide and her body frozen like Cleo when she learned her dad was never coming home again.
"So, w-what the hell is it?"

"I don't know." Cleo answers, and she sighs, putting her hand on the back of Charlie's chair and leaning in to inspect her screen.

"Whatever it is, he wants it bad, which means we got to grab it, end of story." The eldest Winchester states firmly, and Cleo straightens up.

"Well, it's landing at a private airport near here- crap- right about now. A courier's set to pick it up." Cleo swallows, her mouth once again going dry. She thought if she took this job, she would be in the action, you know? But she's sitting here, the stress coming up in her throat.

"What's the exact landing time?" Dean's fuzzy voice comes over the intercom, and Charlie answers.

"42 minutes. Can you make it?" Cleo squints her eyes shut in anticipation, and Charlie fidgets her fingers across the keyboard.

"We can try. Uh- All right, Charlie, one more favor, and then Cleo- get her the hell out of there."
"What do you need?" Charlie asks, and Cleo stretches out her hand.
"More time."

"Then let's get you some." She states, her voice firm. Cleo didn't know if Charlie could do this, but turns out, she's made for it.

"Travel department's e-mailing Dick. Suitcase still en route, but diverted by weather and will be 30 minutes late." Cleo smiles widely at her cleverness, and Charlie looks at Cleo. "Check the office." She whispers, and Cleo steps out of the cubicle and does a quick check. No one's there, it seems like Pete isn't due out here for a while.

"I'll finish mopping you guys off the drive and get the hell out of Dodge."
"Call us when you're clear, Cleo." She bites her lip and responds.

"I will." Cleo turns back to the cubicle, and Charlie begins typing away again.

"Let's go." Charlie says, and in the dim lighting, her fiery red hair reminds Cleo of the eye of a storm. But before they can leave, Cleo gasps as Dick Roman starts walking down the aisle. Charlie quickly clicks a few more buttons and swivels her chair around to face the head Leviathan.

"Hey, you two. I was hoping I would find you here."

It had gotten cold after Dick had tried to have Charlie search up the Winchesters, but at this point their cover was blown so they were dashing down the stairs, trying to get out of the building before Dick could get to them. Cleo was out of breath, but as her hair bounces off of her shoulders, she feels a rush in her chest. She missed this. They reach the doors and tug at them to no avail. Cleo looks at Charlie, and then they look back inside and Dick and Pete are descending in the elevator. Cleo looks at the doors, and knows they're bulletproof glass. She can't break them. She can't save Charlie. She starts to breathe in and out, trying to look for a solution when she hears the glass start to crack. She jumps up backwards as the glass forms a spiderweb-like pattern. Then Dick and Pete reach the ground, and Cleo pulls out the container of borax she'd been keeping in her boot.

"Hold on there, girls."

"Not if I can help it." Cleo says, and holds her stance. Then suddenly Dick flies backwards and Charlie's thrown into a pillar.

"Charlie!" Cleo calls out, and rushes over to her. Charlie shakes her head.
"Don't worry about me, go get Pete!" Cleo stands up, and just then Sam and Dean crash through the glass.

"Well, if I had known I could've done that earlier I would've." Cleo mutters.
"Not the time, Cleo!" Sam shouts, and Charlie shouts at everyone.

"Cleo, Pete!" Nodding, Cleo dashes towards their former boss and tosses borax on him. He sizzles down in pain, and she runs back to Charlie.

"That would explain it. You're hanging with the wrong crowd, kiddo." He says to Charlie, a smarmy smile on his face. Cleo ignores him, and starts trying to help Charlie up. She groans in pain when Cleo touches her arm, so the Robinson decides to try to just hold her bridal style. She picks Charlie up, and readjusts so Charlie's okay.

"All right, enough! Show yourself. Let's do this like real monsters." Dick keeps getting thrown around by an invisible force, and at this point Cleo figures it's a ghost. He's thrown down once again, and Cleo tries to make her way to the shattered doors.

"You got to do that again. That tickled!" Dick taunts the ghost, and Cleo steps out through the doors. Sam notices them, and calls to Dean, who's still engaged with Pete.

"Dean, come on!" He calls, and Cleo adds.
"Come on!" She shouts to him, and starts making her way to their van, which is just parked by the curb. They pile in, and for the first time today, Cleo lets out a relieved breath.

Charlie's lying on the couch asleep in Cleo's apartment, and the Winchesters are sitting down at Cleo's round table. They sit in silence until she becomes fed up with their lack of communication.

"What the hell was that? Was that a ghost?" Sam looks over at Charlie, then back to Cleo.

"Yes. It was Bobby." Cleo shakes her head, blinking out of shock. She leans back into her chair, sheer disbelief flowing through her body.

"What do you mean it was Bobby? He shouldn't have stayed but..." She remembers Bobby then, he would never have left with a reaper. And she had asked him to stay.

"I guess it makes sense."

"But... problem is, he's started to lose control. He's been getting vengeful." Cleo closes her eyes shut, trying to come to terms with it all.

"Is that- Is that what happened back there? With Dick?" She bites her lip. "Did he hurt Charlie?" She looks back at the redhead's calm form on her couch, Cleo's blanket draped over her body.

"Yes. And we're afraid something worse might happen. Do you think we could have you travel with us for a while? We need back up, and Bobby's fairly difficult to deal with." Cleo snorts.

"You have enough space for that?"
"Eh, we'll try. You're not that insufferable." Cleo laughs.

"Thanks for that, Dean." He nods, and sits back in his chair.
"You're welcome."

"I don't know. I guess after we get Charlie out of here, I'll think about it." Sam and Dean look at Charlie, and Cleo notices her arm.

"Okay. Thanks."
"And... we should probably get Charlie's arm looked at."

After a trip to the hospital (Cleo and Charlie), and bus tickets purchased (Sam and Dean), Charlie's all packed up, her arm in a sling.

"I left your dumb flask on the back seat, by the way. Worst good luck charm ever." The three of them exchange a look, then look at Charlie.

"Yeah." Cleo laughs, and then turns back to Charlie. Dean hands the hacker her bag and nods.

"Here you go."
"Thanks." Charlie says, and fidgets a little, her glasses slipping down her face a bit.

"So listen, um, we can't thank you enough." Charlie looks at Cleo again, and bites her lip. Then she closes her eyes and turns back to the Winchesters.

"Actually... you can." Cleo quirks an eyebrow. "Never contact me again, like, ever. I can't do this whole- monster thing. Deal?" Cleo swallows, and feels tears well up in her eyes. She blinks them away, and tries her best to push her emotions down as Sam shakes Charlie's hand.

"Deal." Sam says, and then Charlie turns to Cleo.
"So, I guess this is it." She says softly, and Cleo runs her fingers through the tips of her hair.

"Yeah, I guess it is." Cleo steps forwards, and Charlie does too. They hug, and as every inch of Cleo touches Charlie, she never wants to let go. But then Charlie pulls away, and shifts her weight from foot to foot. Then she nods at Cleo, and turns to Dean

"Keep your head down out there, okay?" He says after they shake hands too, and Charlie laughs.

"This ain't the first time I've disappeared. You think my name is really Charlie Bradbury? Please." Cleo tilts her head in surprise. "So, good luck saving the world." She steps towards the bus.

"Peace out, bitches." She says with a smile, her hand in a Vulcan salute from Star Trek. Then finally she turns away, hands her bag to the bus driver, and disappears behind the windows.

"She's kind of like the little sister I never wanted." Cleo laughs.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Dean looks at her.

"She's like it. You are the little sister I never wanted." He hugs her from the side, and they start towards the car.

They're back outside Cleo's apartment building, the sun falling in the sky, the colors splayed across Chicago's horizon. She's sitting on a bench between the Winchester boys, and their cars are parked in front.

"I don't think I can go with you." She says finally, and they both turn to face her.
"Why not?"
"I just- after Charlie... and Bobby- I just think I need to be alone." Sam shakes his head.

"Cleo, what?" She swallows.
"I just mean that I don't think I'm going to be the most fun person to be around."

"No- no, you can't just shut down like this. I know we sent you away, but we need you to be a part of this family now." Dean states, his eyes fiery. Cleo stands up out of her seat, and faces him.

"That's ridiculous. What did you do when Bobby died? Oh, I don't know, shut down?" Dean opens up his mouth to defend himself, but Cleo keeps going.

"No, no, don't even. You haven't told me shit the past few weeks, you came here and I learned from you telling Charlie- Charlie, that Dick was digging crap up, and now, you want me to be a part of this 'family'? That's bullshit. I'm not your family, Dean Winchester. You broke my sister's heart." She says, breathing heavily, already starting to regret what she said, her bile and her pride coming up.

"Of course you're our family. Who did you spend more time with the last six years? Us or your sister?" Cleo swallows. Dean's right, even though she doesn't want him to be. She turns away, tears pricking her eyes. She just feels so much right now, and she's taking it all out on Sam and Dean. Her family.

"I'm sorry. I just- I can't do this right now. I'll see you around." She starts towards the door.

"Wait, Cleo, why can't you come with us?" Sam says, and she turns one last time to look at the two of them standing there.

"I don't know." She says finally, and steps inside the apartment building. She makes the trek up the stairs, because she knows she won't see anyone there. Walking down the empty hallway, the tears start to fall. She unlocks her door, her vision blurring, and closes it behind her. Stepping into her apartment, she clenches her keys in her hands and starts to sob, the pain crescending through her body like knives in her side. The keys start to hurt her hand, so she drops them to the ground. The high rattle resounds through her empty apartment, and something possesses her hands. She opens her phone, and hovers her thumb over her sister's contact. As the tears pool at the tips of her eyelashes, she clicks it and brings it to her ear.

"Cleo?"
"Cassie, I-" Cleo hears Cassie breathe out a shaky breath, of relief it sounds like.

"I thought something happened to you. Are you all right?" Cleo nods to herself.
"Yes, but I- I'm not doing so well with the Winchesters. Could I- do you think I could come stay with you for a bit?"

"Of course. Call me when you get on the road." She pauses. "That is what you're doing, right?" Cleo swallows the snot pooling in the back of her throat, and reaches for the tissue box on her counter.

"Yeah, it is. I'll see you soon." 

── ❂ ──

AUTHOR'S NOTE

too dramatic for the third chapter? yes, yes it is. do I care? no, absolutely not.