Two months passed and Sloan felt like she was doing much better. She started eating again without having to be forced and she only had two more breakdowns, one at New Year's Eve when the Padalecki and Ackles families started shooting fireworks and another the next day when someone down the street shot their fireworks. Bandit helped significantly with both attacks, not having enough time to calm the girl before they started but calming her down quickly after they passed. Jensen tried to get Sloan to see a therapist but the teenager just sat on the couch and stared at the man for an hour so her father decided that wasn't the best course of action at the moment.
Sloan started filming on Captain America: The Winter Soldier a month ago and quickly found a second family away from her Supernatural family. Sloan found that she would sometimes be exhausted from having to travel from Cleveland to Vancouver twice a week but determined it was nothing she couldn't handle. There was a Supernatural convention this weekend in Cleveland so Sloan wouldn't have to fly back to Vancouver until Sunday night.
"You're sure you'll be here tonight?" Grayson asks over the phone for the millionth time. Sloan rolls her eyes at her friend. It's now Friday and Grayson was worried that Sloan wouldn't be at the convention in time for their rehearsal.
"Yes, Gray." She says, nodding hello to Anthony Mackie as she passes him on the way to her trailer, Bandit hot on her heels. She walks up the steps to her trailer, holding her phone between her shoulder and cheek as she fishes the key out of her pocket. "I'll be there. If I'm late, just play the set like we planned and have someone stand in for me and I'll take over when I get there." Sloan tries sliding the key into the lock but drops it, her fingers numb from the cold. "Son of a bitch." She mutters as she watches the key fall between the cracks in the wood of the platform she was standing on.
"What?" Grayson asks. Sloan sighs and wraps her hand around her phone.
"I'll call you back." She says before hanging up. "Hey, Mackie?" She says, turning around. "Can you help me move this? I dropped my key."
The man walks over as Sloan descends the stairs. They both stand on one side of the wooden structure and push it far enough that Sloan can slip her arm through the holes and grab the key before pushing it back.
"Your little boyfriend worried about you making it to your convention on time?" He asks, making Sloan roll her eyes.
"He's not my boyfriend." She says. "And he always needs something to worry about. Plus, he knows me. I'm always late." Anthony lets out a laugh as Sloan walks up the stairs and unlocks the door, inviting the actor into the warm trailer. She walks to the kitchen area as he shuts the door behind him.
"You want some hot chocolate?" She asks, looking over her shoulder at him as she gets a mug out of the cabinet.
"Sure." Anthony shrugs, moving into the kitchen.
He sits down at the table as Sloan gets another mug and sets it on the counter next to hers. She gets two packets of hot chocolate out before getting the milk out of the refrigerator, cursing when she realizes the seal on the lid hasn't been broken yet. Sloan sets the milk on the counter and tries to open it, only causing the jug to turn when she does.
"Need help?" Anthony asks after a few moments.
"I got it." Sloan tells him stubbornly. She hops up on the counter and wraps her legs around the jug, holding it in place before twisting the cap off. "Got it!" She exclaims, holding the lid up triumphantly.
She pours the milk in the jugs and heats it up. When she's mixed the hot chocolate, she sets one mug on the table in front of her costar before grabbing hers and sitting down at the table. As soon as she sits down, Sloan's phone rings and she runs across the trailer to answer it.
"Hello?" She answers, walking back to the kitchen and returning to her seat.
"Just checking in." Jared says on the other end, making Sloan roll her eyes. Jared doesn't just "check in".
"No you're not." She tells him. "Your brother's worried that I won't be able to make it tonight so he told you to call me and pretend to be a spy and pull answers out of me." There's silence on the other end and Sloan smirks, knowing she's right.
"Well, you're gonna make it right?" He asks after a few more moments just as there's a knock on the door.
"Look, Jar, I gotta go." Sloan says, rising from her seat to answer the door. "Tell Grayson that I'll be there and if he calls me again, I'll kill him." She hangs up before the man can respond and sets her phone on the table. "Sometimes I really hate my family." She says to no one in particular before she reaches the door, opening it to see Sebastian and Chris on the other side.
"Is Mackie in here?" Chris asks. Sloan looks into the kitchen to see Anthony frantically shaking his head 'no' before she turns back to the two men.
"Yep." She says, smirking when she hears the man's head hit the table. "Come on in, boys." The males follow her into the kitchen and sit at the table. "Want some hot chocolate?"
"Sure." They say in unison.
"Not you." Sloan says, pointing to Sebastian, who gives her an offended look.
"What? Why?" He asks.
"Because last time I let you have a cup of hot chocolate, you ended up drinking every pack." She says.
"Just one. Promise." He says. Sloan rolls her eyes before fixing two more mugs of hot chocolate.
"So what did Mackie do now?" She asks, sitting back down at the table, getting an offended look from the man in question.
"Hey!" He exclaims.
"Nothing this time." Chris says. "They pushed filming back a few hours so we were going to go on a run." Sloan nods.
"Can I come?" She asks. The men look at each other a moment before Chris shrugs.
"If you think you can keep up." He says with a smirk.
"You clearly haven't met me." She tells him, quickly finishing her hot chocolate before going into the bedroom to change.
She pulls on a black tank top that was sheer on the top, a blue strip of fabric separating the sheer chest from the solid body. She steps into a pair of black leggings with white designs going up them and slips on a pair of white and blue running shoes. She hears her phone ringing from the kitchen as she tries to tie her shoes.
"Your dad's calling!" Sebastian calls from the table.
"Ignore it!" She tells him. "Son of a bitch!"
"Everything okay?" Anthony asks.
"Uh, yeah." She says, stepping out of the room and walking back to the table. "I, uh, I'm just having trouble with the laces." She admits.
"Sit down. Let me help." Sebastian tells her. Sloan sits in her seat and sets her feet in his lap. He quickly ties the shoes and Sloan lowers her feet, her cheeks a light pink from embarrassment of having to ask someone else to tie her shoes for her.
"Thanks." She says quietly. She stands up and starts looking for the dog's leash, unable to find it in the trailer.
"What are you looking for?" Chris asks, watching as Sloan pulls the cushions off the couch.
"Bandit's leash." She says.
"I think you left it in the hair and makeup trailer last night." Anthony tells her.
"Great." She says, moving to the door before turning back to face the men. "Wait here. Don't break anything. Don't let Seb have any more hot chocolate. And don't answer my phone." She walks out the door and runs to the hair and makeup trailer, walking in and seeing the green leash hanging on the back of the makeup chair where she left it the night before. She quickly grabs it before running back to the trailer.
Halfway to the trailer, Sloan steps on a patch of ice and slips, falling on her butt. Today is not her day. Sloan can't help but start laughing hysterically at the accident before standing up and dusting herself off then continuing her run to the trailer. She opens the door and practically falls into the structure, still laughing.
"What the hell happened to you?" Chris asks.
"I fell on a patch of ice!" The girl answers, still laughing. "I think I might've broken my ass!" Sloan takes a minute to calm down before sitting down at the table. Sloan puts the leash on the dog as her phone rings again, making the girl groan.
"You've reached the voice recording of Sloan Ackles." She answers with a smirk, putting the phone on speaker. "Leave your message at the beep."
"Sloan, this is important." He says, irritation in his voice.
"Then leave it importantly." Sloan says, grabbing a hair tie from the bathroom before returning to her seat.
"Sloan Walker." Jensen says and Sloan grimaces. She knows he means business when he uses her middle name.
"Alright. What is it?" She asks, trying to manipulate her hair into a ponytail. "And if it's Grayson freaking out wondering if I'm going to be there on time, I swear I will kill him."
"How are you getting here?" He asks.
"I assumed you would come get me?" She says as a question before groaning when her hair doesn't cooperate with her, trying again.
"I can't. We're all going to be busy prepping for the convention and Jared's tasked me with making sure Grayson doesn't have a stroke because you're gonna be late." Jensen tells her. Sloan rolls her eyes.
"I'm not gonna be late." She tells him.
"You're always late." He says in a deadpan tone.
"That's just not true." Sloan says in an offended voice.
"Yes it is." Anthony agrees.
"Shut up Mackie." Sloan says. "I'll figure something out."
"Okay." Jensen says. "Call Grayson back, please. He's going to have a stroke if you don't call him and let him know you're going to be late."
"I'm not going to be late." Sloan tells him in annoyance, tossing her hair tie on the table after yet another failed attempt. "Look, dad, I have to go. I'll see you tonight and I'm not gonna be late."
"Have fun, stay safe, love you." He says, using the two's usual goodbye. Sloan smiles slightly.
"Always do, always am, love you too." She says before hanging up.
"You're gonna be late." Sebastian tells her with a smirk. Sloan glares at him.
"Don't you start." She warns. "Do any of you know how to do a ponytail?"
"How hard can it be?" Sebastian asks with a shrug, standing up and moving behind Sloan.
"If you tie my hair in a knot, I swear to God I'll kill you." She tells him, handing him the hair tie.
"You're such an angry child." Anthony remarks. Sloan gives him a sarcastic smile.
"You haven't seen me angry." She tells him.
After two failed attempts, Sebastian finally gets Sloan's hair into a ponytail and the four leave the trailer. They start out at a jog, keeping that pace for about a mile before they start running, the four staying in step with each other the whole time, Bandit running right by Sloan. As they run, Sloan ignores the two calls from Grayson as they do.
An hour later, the group arrives back at the set, panting and sweating. They begin walking back to the trailers as Sloan's phone rings with another call from Grayson. Knowing he won't stop until she answers, Sloan pulls the phone out of the pocket of her leggings and puts it to her ear.
"Grayson, I swear to God if you don't stop calling me about this, I will slather you in honey, string you up, and let Winnie the Pooh gnaw your junk off." She threatens, making the men beside her let out loud bursts of laughter.
"Sorry." Grayson says defensively. "I just wanted to let you know that I'll be picking you up when you're done."
"Liar." She says. "You don't have a car here to drive and I know for a fact that you left your wallet, with your license, in Vancouver because you were complaining about it this morning."
"Yeah." The boy says slowly. He takes a moment to think of another excuse, sighing when he can't think of one. "Okay. You got me. I just need to know that you'll be on time."
"Grayson. I told you I'll be on time so I'll be on time." She tells him as the group disperses, each going to their own trailers.
"Well, the sound guys want to know if you would prefer a handheld mic or one that goes around your head." He says. Sloan thinks for a minutes.
"I guess the one around my head." She answers. "That way I can move my hand when I talk."
"Alright." He says, repeating the information to someone on the other end.
"Dad grabbed my ear-ins, right?"
"Yep." He confims. "How's it going?"
"Well, filming got pushed back a couple hours so we went on a run. Now I have an hour to shower before going to hair and makeup." She says.
"I'll let you go then." He says. "Don't forget you need to be here by six so we can practice before karaoke."
"I know, Grayson." She says, annoyance lacing her voice. "I just have a few short scenes to do. Unless we have to reshoot something, I'll be there."
Sloan quickly gets a shower, ridding herself of the layer of sweat on her body. She dries off and pulls on a Cowboys sweatshirt she stole from Grayson and a pair of sweatpants before brushing through her damp hair. She slips on a pair of flip flops before she and Bandit walk out of the trailer.
Sloan walks to the wardrobe trailer, ordering Bandit to wait outside before going in. She grabs her costume, which consisted of a leather top with the right sleeve long and no left sleeve and a pair of leather pants. She grabs the belt and the harness that goes around her chest before walking back to her trailer. She changes quickly, leaving the belt and harness off until she can get someone to help her with them, and goes to the props trailer to retrieve the metal prosthetic she uses.
The prosthetic had a chip that goes on the back of her neck and registers brain waves that allows her to move the arm as though it were real. She was still trying to convince the Russos to let her take it home after they wrap. So far, she's had no luck.
The woman in the props trailer helps Sloan put the arm on, connecting the straps that go across her chest and back after it was fitting comfortably, a black sleeve helping it not to rub on her shoulder. Sloan zips her vest back up and the woman assists her with the belt and harness, handing her the prop weapons and the teenager puts them in the proper holsters and hiding places in her outfit.
Sloan walks into the hair and makeup trailer, sitting on the hair side while they do Scarlett's makeup, Bandit laying on the ground between the two chairs. The hair artist twists Sloan's hair into a dutch braid that started above her left ear and wrapped around the back of her head, hanging over her right shoulder.
The actresses switch seats and Sloan puts in the color contacts that turn her eyes from dark green to an icy blue. She had to die her hair black as well, which she wasn't sure how she was going to explain to the fans at the convention, having not yet made the announcement of her role in the movie. The makeup artist does Sloan's makeup dark, the smokey eyeshadow making her now blue eyes pop.
Filming ended up taking longer than Sloan thought because they kept having to redo scenes due to her and Sebastian goofing off or Anthony interrupting scenes. When they finally finished, it was 5:55, meaning Sloan had five minutes to get to the hotel that was thirty minutes away. Sloan looks around for someone to give her a ride, spotting Sebastian first.
"Bash!" She shouts, jogging up to him. "Do you mind giving me a ride to the hotel?"
"Sure." He says with a shrug.
The two go to their trailers to change before taking their outfits back to wardrobe. Sloan slips back into her sweatpants and sweatshirt and a pair of high tops, knowing she's going to change at the hotel anyway. She tucks the laces into the shoes and grabs her phone, walking out of the trailer and locking it behind her.
Sebastian lets Bandit into the backseat and the dog lays down as the two actors get into the front seat. Sloan tells him where to go before buckling up. She pulls her phone out and calls Grayson, putting the phone up to her ear just as he answers.
"So, I'm gonna be a little late."