[AU]
"You can't choose your family."
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Willa Routh never knew her father. Her mother rarely talked about him, and when Willa went asking questions, she got shut down. She never even got a name...
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Even at Sam and Dean's insistence against it, Mom wanted to stay at the bunker to help me through detox.
It took a few days before I was allowed to be released back out into the wild.
When we get back to the familiar bunker, I see Mom's car parked. I wonder how long she's been here with Sam and Dean following the situation at our house. Did they recommend her coming back with them, or did she choose that herself? A question for another time.
Slowly, with my body still aching, I get out of the Impala. There's a sense of comfort at seeing the bunker. It's not quite like home with Mom, but it's grown on me. It's one of the safer places I'd been in recent months.
Mom keeps close to me as the brothers lead the way inside. She puts an arm around my shoulders lightly, allowing me to lean on her for support if needed. We haven't spoken much since I've been out of Hell. There's got to be a lot she wants to say, surely. Maybe she wants me to have my space.
"Are you hungry?" Mom asks when we touch down from the last steps, landing in the open room.
"I can eat," I say. "Lead the way."
She and I part ways from the brothers. Like a pro, she navigates to the kitchen with ease. She's had to be here long enough to know this.
"I've made sure they have food here, since I'm going to be hanging around as well," Mom says nonchalantly as we enter the kitchen.
I sit on one of the stools while she rummages around for ingredients for a sandwich. I'm glad she's not doing anything fancy. It won't be too rich on a stomach that hasn't known what a sandwich tastes like for some time. "So, you've been chilling here," I say quietly, playing with my fingers.
Mom takes out more slices of bread, probably for a sandwich for herself. "For some time, yes."
"What about the house?"
"Sam and Dean didn't want to take the risk of them coming after me."
"But the demons didn't want you."
"Still wasn't worth the risk. I got some schooling once I got here. I had to take some aspirin to stop the serious headaches I got." She methodically makes our food.
"How'd you convince them to let you go into...Hell, with them? I mean..."
"Stubbornness." Mom offers me a small smile. "I did trust them to get you back, Willa, but...I was kept out of the dark, from all of this. I had to be sure they were going to get you back. Dean was dead-set against it, because he saw me as a liability. You know, feet barely wet in hunting and all."
"And Dad?"
Mom pauses. "He understood how much it meant that I join them."
