Our Baggage

Ashley shoots up in bed at the sound of a commotion from somewhere else in the house. Just as she's about to flee the bed, the door blasts open as a screeching woman flies through it, headed straight for Ashley. She screams and throws herself backward to get away, but suddenly the woman is gone, and Bobby stands in the doorway, his clothes and his flesh both ripped up. His mouth opens, and he falls to the floor with a terrible thud.

"Bobby!" Ashley cries and runs to the man.

~~~

Ashley is so relieved when Bobby opens his eyes. "Hey, Bobby...."
He blinks and clears his throat. "Ashley?" He feels the bed beneath him and asks, "Wasn't I on the floor? Did the boys come back and put me here?"

"No.... Um, I did."

"You did? How'd you lift me by yourself, girl?"

"I don't know, sir. Adrenaline, I guess. I just, um, dragged you over and pulled you up. It was hard...." She realizes that sounded rude, so she quickly adds, "Not because you're heavy, because I'm way smaller than you."

He rolls his eyes. "No need to protect this old out-a-shape man's feelings, girl."

She laughs softly and asks, "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. Lost some blood, fightin' them witches."

"Witches?"

"Mmmhm."

"How many were there?"

"Seven."

"Seven?! Sir, if they outnumbered you by so much, why didn't you hide and call Sam and Dean?"

He frowns deeply, looking completely offended. "Are you stupid, girl? Hide and leave them to get you? What the hell do you take me for?"

She blinks. "You fought them alone for me?"

"You're a good kid," is all he says in reply.

She hugs him, not caring about getting covered in blood, and hears him mutter under his breath.

"Idjit."

~~~

When Ashley prays to Cas, as the Winchesters taught her, he appears and heals Bobby. Once that is done, Bobby takes Ashley to his library and sits with her all day, teaching her as Sam did yesterday. She tells him over and over how grateful she is to him, and he shushes her everytime. At around two a.m., she inquires on where the brothers are.
"They haven't called," Bobby tells her. "Sometimes hunts take awhile, hun. More often than not, these days."

"So...what if they don't come back for days?"

"Your welcome here doesn't have a time limit. And I'm sure they'll call when they can. Don't worry."

"Okay," Ashley sighs. "Thanks, Bobby."

He nods and shuts the book he's been reading from. "I'll be hittin' the sack, now."

"Bobby?" she says, as he gets up to leave. "I can't sit around while they go on hunts for who knows how long. I need to learn as much as possible. I wanna do what they do, what you all do."

He looks at her with slightly widened eyes. "You don't know what you're sayin', girl. You don't know the dangers of what we do."

"Then teach me the dangers. Teach me to fight."

He stares at her for a very long time before rubbing his face tiredly. "Tomorrow. We'll start then. If the boys do come back, tell them you all can't leave yet."

Relief floods her. "Thank you, Bobby."

"Go to bed," he says over his shoulder, heading for his bedroom.

~~~

Ashley wakes in the morning to screaming men.

"The hell she is!" roars the voice she recognizes as Sam.

"Boy, sit your ass down!" Bobby orders, and then the voices lower to a volume she can't hear. She gets up and hurries across the room to press an ear to the door.

"Bobby, don't do this to Sam," says Dean. "He really cares about the girl."

"If you really care about her, you'll want her to learn how to protect herself."

"I'll protect her," Sam says, making Ashley's heart swell.

"You know damn well how foolish that is, Sam," Bobby chastises him. "People who get involved in our lives rarely live long. Do you want her defenseless if somethin' gets past us?" There is a long silence, until Sam must have made a silent show of agreement, because Bobby says, "Right. We'll start her training today." Then he mutters, "Bunch a idjits."