There are a few gunshots followed by a lot of screaming. Sloan freezes in her spot as everyone else in the room ducks behind chairs or whatever happened to be closest. Just like at the school, Sloan feels her adrenaline pumping and she starts looking around for the shooter.
"Sloan!" Grayson yells, pulling her to the floor just as a bullet cuts through the air, right where her head just was. "Are you okay?" Sloan nods and the two stand up, their hands staying locked as Grayson leads the way off the stage.
They run to the side of the stage, bullets whizzing behind Sloan after every step. When they're close enough, the two dive to get to the little hallway. Just as Sloan dives, she feels a pain her calf. She lands on the ground with a thud and Jensen pulls her farther away from her stage by her arm as the shooting stops. The panic finally sets in and Sloan starts thrashing around, swinging her legs at whoever's closest to her.
"Sloan!" Jensen yells before stepping in front of her. "It's just me." Sloan sits up and looks around, slightly dazed. "You're okay." She looks down at her left calf and sees the blood pouring from it.
"Maybe not." She says, pointing the wound.
Jensen follows her finger with his eyes and his own widen. He starts calling out a bunch of commands but Sloan can't hear him, just staring at the blood pouring from her leg as she waits for the explosion that never comes, her mind blurring reality with flashes of the school. After a few seconds, she starts to laugh as she goes into a shock.
"I just had to say he wouldn't shoot me in a room full of witnesses, didn't I? What are the odds of someone getting shot twice in four months?" She asks rhetorically. "Three times if you're counting each wound.
"That's not funny." Jensen tells her as he secures the tourniquet made of his flannel and the pocket knife he always carries.
"Never said it was." She says, still laughing.
"Then why are you laughing?" Rob asks the girl.
"I think I'm going into shock." She says just before passing out.
Sloan wakes up to a familiar annoying beeping sound. She groans as she slowly blinks her eyes open and looks around, seeing the room full of people, either asleep or talking quietly.
"Well aren't you just a rowdy bunch." She says sarcastically, alerting them that she was awake. Jensen's head shoots up from the side of her bed and he smiles at her, glad to see she's awake.
"How are you feeling?" He asks.
"I'm fine." She says before smirking. "Hey, does this mean I'm bulletproof?"
"More like bullet magnet." Grayson tells her.
"Well, they haven't killed me yet." She says with a chuckle before looking at Jensen. "Did they catch the shooter?" He shakes his head and Sloan sighs. "It was him wasn't it? The stalker?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out." A new, unfamiliar voice says.
Sloan looks to the door, seeing a man dressed in a suit walk in. He walks over to the left side of her bed and she instinctively leans to the right, trying to get as much space between her and the mystery man as possible. Although it had been four months since the shooting, Sloan still didn't trust people easily and it took her a while to get completely comfortable around new people
"Who the hell are you?" She asks, eyeing the man up and down.
"Detective King. I've been assigned to the shooting." He answers, extending his hand. Sloan simple eyes it then looks at his face, raising a brow.
"No offense, Detective, but I don't know you so I'm not shaking your hand." She tells him. "You see, I have this thing where I don't trust people, especially new people." She shrugs a bit and smirks a little. "It comes with getting shot by someone you considered a friend."
"I would like to ask you some questions." He tells the teenager.
"Well, duh, why else would you be here?" She asks.
"Sloan." Jensen chastises, thumping Sloan's head.
"Look, I don't know what I could tell you that nobody else here could." She tells the detective.
"Witnesses say that the shooter was gunning for you." He says. Sloan shrugs.
"Dunno." She says, keeping her face and voice void of emotion. "I heard someone yell gun then some shots went off. One happened to go where I was standing a few seconds before, but I don't know anything other than that."
"So the bullets weren't following you as you ran?" He questions.
"Maybe they were, maybe they weren't. My adrenaline was pumping and it's all kind of a blur." She tells him with another shrug. "Look, I don't know anything. Don't you think if I knew something, I would've said it by now." Sloan then narrows her eyes at him as a completely irrational thought invades her mind. "Or are you trying to pin this shooting on my like everyone seemed to want to do with the last one?"
"Sloan." Jensen reprimands again. "Calm down."
"No one's blaming you for anything, Miss Ackles." The detective tells the girl calmly.
"Well, I don't know anything other than I have a stalker and I got shot. Again." She says. The detective nods and hands her a card with his name and number on it. Sloan doesn't reach to grab it, just stares at him with a set jaw. So, he hands the card to Jensen instead.
"In case you remember anything later." He tells her.
"I won't." She says. The detective walks out and Jensen thumps Sloan in the head again. "Ow!" She exclaims, turning to her father, holding her hand to her head. "What was that for?"
"You were being rude." He says.
"He was pissing me off." She says with a shrug.
"He was just doing his job."
"I don't trust him."
"You don't trust anybody." Grayson mumbles. Sloan glares at him before grabbing her pillow and throwing it at him, nailing him in the face before turning to Jensen.
"When can I get out of here?" She asks. Grayson takes the moment to chuck the pillow back at her, hitting her face. She glares at him and prepares to launch the pillow back when Jensen quickly snatches it from her.
"Enough." Jared says, deciding to step in.
"Doc wants to keep you for two days." Jensen says.
"Two days?" She repeats. Jensen nods. "Screw that. I'm going home today."
"You got shot and had to have surgery to get the bullet out. Not to mention that you won't be able to walk for a while because the bullet severed a muscle in your calf." He tells her. "You're staying two days."
"I'm fine. It doesn't even hurt." She tells him.
"Yeah, it helps when you're on the heavy-duty pain meds." Sebastian speaks up. Sloan turns her head and glares at him.
"You're not helping." She says before turning back to her guardian, deciding to try a different approach. "I'm a sitting duck here."
"There are cops outside your door." He tells her with a raised brow. "But nice try."
"Fine." She huffs, giving up. "But if I'm staying here, I get to eat real food, not hospital food."
"Deal." He agrees.
"We were about to head out and get some food. Do you want anything now?" Jared asks.
"Japanese?" She asks with a hopeful smile. He gives her a thumbs up and walks out of the room with a few other people. "Thank you!" Sloan looks at Jensen. She feels a dull pain in her leg but chooses to ignore it. "How long was I out?"
"Well, you passed out at the hotel and just woke up so about four hours." He answers.
"Was anyone else hurt?" Jensen quickly shakes his head but Sloan can tell he's hiding something. "What is it?"
"Nothing. No one else got hurt." He says. Sloan looks from him to each of the people left in the room, taking a moment to study each of their faces. She knows immediately that there's something they aren't telling her.
"Guys? What happened?" She questions. "Who got hurt?" Despite her constant questioning, Sloan wasn't sure she wanted to know the answer but she had to know. She looks back to Jensen, who was avoiding eye contact. "Dad? Who got hurt?" Jensen sighs before looking to the other people in the room.
"Could y'all give us a minute?" He asks, making Sloan immediately know something was wrong. They quietly leave the room and close the door behind them. Sloan turns back to Jensen to see him still avoiding her gaze.
"How many?" She asks.
"Two." He says after a moment of hesitation, knowing that she would blame herself for this.
"Who?"
"A girl and her mom."
"How old was the girl?" Sloan asks.
"Seven." Sloan feels like she's choking but there's nothing for her to choke on, tears filling her eyes.
"How are they?" She croaks out. Jensen shakes his head, looking down. "Are they-" Jensen nods and takes a deep breath before looking back up, his own eyes brimming with tears.
"The little girl was shot in the head and her mom was shot in the chest." He says. "Neither of them suffered." Sloan puts her hand to her mouth and a sob escapes her lips. "Some people nearby told the cops that the mom was the one who saw the gun and yelled."
"What did I do?" Sloan mumbles against her hand. "What the hell did I do?"
"You didn't do anything, Sloan." Jensen tells her.
"I shouldn't have gone out there. I should've asked someone to sub in and stayed in the green room." She says, shaking her head and lowering her hand. "I was taunting him. I wanted him to know that I wouldn't stop doing the things I love because of him and he killed two innocent people. He killed a child."
"It wasn't your fault." He says, sitting on the edge of Sloan's bed and taking her hand in his.
"I shouldn't have gone out there." She repeats before breaking down.
I shouldn't have survived this attack, she thinks. She doesn't understand how it was fair for a little girl and her mother to die while she survived. Jensen pulls her into a sitting position and pulls her into his chest, careful of the IV's in her arm.
"This isn't your fault, sweetheart." He repeats, stroking her hair. "You couldn't have know. You didn't know." Sloan shakes her head, her hand clinging to the back of his shirt as he holds her head tightly to his chest, her tears quickly soaking his shirt.
Eventually, Sloan runs out of tears and just sniffles, ignoring the pain in her leg that was steadily worsening. Jensen helps her lay back down before pressing the button to elevate the top of the bed some so she was sitting up a bit before he starts getting off of the bed. Sloan reaches out quickly, her fingers wrapping around his wrist.
"Can you lay with me?" She asks, feeling like a little kid again asking him to lay with her because she was afraid off a storm. Jensen smiles and nods.
Sloan scoots over carefully and Jensen lays down in the spot next to her. She scoots back towards him, laying her head on his shoulder, his right arm wrapping under her shoulders and his left hand stroking her hair. It doesn't take long for the girl to fall asleep, feeling safe in her dad's embrace.
Sloan walks down the hall of the school, stopping when she sees the four people at the end of the hallway. She furrows her brow, recognizing Liam and Billy, but not the woman and little girl. She slowly approaches and notices that the two new people don't have faces, just bodies.
"Why did you let us die Sloan?" Liam, the woman, and the little girl ask.
"I'm so sorry. I tried to save you." She says, looking at Liam before turning to the other two. "And I never meant for you to die because of me."
"What about me, Sloan?" Billy asks. "You killed me. You aimed your rifle and shot at me."
"I was trying to stop you." She says, shaking her head. "I couldn't let you hurt anymore people."
"You shouldn't have survived either of the attacks." Liam tells her.
"I know." Sloan whispers.
"Why did you live instead of us?" The woman asks. "Why did you get to survive?"
"I'm so sorry." She repeats, tears streaming down her face. "I didn't mean for this to happen. If I could go back and change it, I would."
"But you can't." The little girl says. Billy steps forward and Sloan notices the gun in his hands for the first time.
"Now you'll know what it feels like to die." He says.
Without thinking, Sloan turns and runs the opposite direction but the four people appear in front of her. She starts to back away, shaking her head. Billy aims the rifle one more time and this time, Liam appears behind her, holing her still. Sloan thrashes about in his grip before Billy fires the gun, the bullet racing towards her slow motion.
Sloan sits up, a scream ripping out of her throat. She takes a few deep breaths and tries to calm her racing heart when she feels someone wrap their arms around her. She opens her eyes to see Jared and Grayson watching with wide eyes. She clutches the front of Jensen's shirt as he tries to soothe the girl.
"You're okay." He tells her. "I'm here. You're okay." He runs a hand through her hair a few times. "It was a dream."
"No it wasn't." She mumbles into his shoulder, squeezing her eyes shut. "It was real."
Jensen feels his heart clench and he holds her tighter to him, calming her down within minutes. Sloan pushes herself away, pushing her shaking hand through her hair. She tries to scoot back up to the top of the bed but the pain in her leg gets worse, the pain finally fully setting in, and she winces.
"What is it?" Jensen asks worriedly.
"It hurts." She says, pained tears escaping her eyes. "My legs hurts."
"Jar, get a nurse." Jensen says before helping Sloan sit back as Jared rushes out of the room. "What can I do to help?"
"Talk to me." She says. "About anything. Distract me."
"Everyone went to the hotel and your friends from Marvel went back to the apartments." He says. "They'll be back tomorrow if you're feeling up to it. Sebastian said they'll bring the Russos too. They want to see you. But I'm not sure that's the best idea." Sloan shakes her head.
"It'll be fine." She tells him. "I want to see people other than the three of you. No offense." Jared returns with a nurse who pushes some more morphine into the IV, telling them that it should kick in soon before taking Sloan vitals and leaving.
"Still hungry?" Jared asks.
"Not really." She answers. "But I have to eat." Jensen rolls the little table over and lets it hover over her bed before pressing the button to elevate the top of the bed. "I can do that, ya know. My arm isn't broken."
"Let us do whatever we can. You just relax so you can heal." He instructs.
Jared places the food in front of Sloan and she takes slow, small bites, not really feeling very hungry but knowing if she doesn't eat, Jensen will fuss at her. She manages to eat about half of the food and tells him she'll save the rest for dinner.
"Do you think he heard what we said at the meeting last night?" Sloan asks after a few minutes of silence.
"I don't know." Jensen answers honestly.
"What if he heard and finds out where we live? Or where Jared lives?" She asks. "He could already be headed there and be waiting for us." She has a sudden thought and her eyes widen. "Oh God. What if he's already at the house? Mom's there all alone. And Gen and Tom-"
"Sloan, calm down." Jensen says, taking her hand in both of his. "I called your mom, she's okay. She's going to stay with Gen and Tom until we get home. They're all fine."
"But what if he shows up there before we get there?"
"Why don't you let us worry about all that." Jared suggests. "You just focus on getting better."
"There is a place we can go that no one knows about." She says, looking at Jensen. "We still have the lake house. It's secluded, no one's around for miles, and no one knows about it but us."
"I didn't think about that." He says.
"I know, you don't have to tell me. I'm a genius." Sloan says, feigning arrogance.
"Yeah, you're like Sherlock freakin' Holmes with brain damage." Grayson tells her. Sloan gives him an offended look.
"That's my line." She says, making the brunette roll his eyes. She then turns to Jensen, brows furrowed in confusion. "So, if I can't walk, and I can't use crutches, how am I supposed to get around?"
"They're giving us a wheelchair." He tells her. Sloan groans and throws her head back on the pillow.
"How long?"
"At least twelve weeks."
"Twelve weeks?!" She repeats. "Dad, I can't be in a wheelchair for twelve weeks. I have a new job, I can't just drop everything and go home. What about the show? What about the movie? What am I supposed to do?"
"We've already talked to everyone. Marvel said they can push back filming until you're able to come back. And Kripke said to make sure you take as long as you need to heal."
"I only have one arm." She realizes. "How am I supposed to get around in a wheelchair? I would just be going in circles all the time."
"Someone's going to push you." Jensen tells her.
"Great." She says sarcastically. "One sarcastic comment and I'm getting pushed down a hill."
"It's not that bad, Sloan." Jared says. Sloan glares at him.
"I don't like needing help." She reminds him.
"You're too stubborn for your own good." Grayson tells her and Sloan nods.
"And I'm proud of it." She says with a smile.
A few hours later, a nurse came in and told Jared and Grayson that visiting hours were over. The two say goodbye to Jensen and Sloan and tell her they'll be back in the morning. She looks over as Jensen puts his feet up on her bed and scoots down in his chair, a thin blanket covering his body.
"There's a couch right there you can sleep on." She tells him, pointing to the couch behind him.
"I'm good right here." He says. "Kinda reminds me of when you were born."
"You slept in a chair for three months?" She asks, a brow raised. Jensen nods.
"Granted, I didn't sleep much. Maybe two or three hours a night." He says. "You had a tendency to flatline randomly until you were about a month and a half old. It's like you were playing a game to keep everyone on their toes." Sloan nods, a smirk on her face.
"Sounds like me." She says.
"You know, when I could finally take you home from the hospital, I slept in the rocking chair in your nursery for two months." He reminisces with a laugh. "I had gotten so used to being right there next to you that I couldn't sleep in my own room. Eventually, I just put you in my bed and put a pillow between you and the edge of the bed so wouldn't you fall off." Sloan laughs, shaking her head slightly before sighing when she sees how uncomfortable the chair he's in looks.
"Well if you're not gonna sleep on the couch, you can sleep up here." She says, scooting to the right some.
Jensen hesitates before walking around the bed and carefully laying on Sloan's left side, being careful not to touch her leg. He puts one arm under her head and the other pulls her into his side like he's trying to protect her with his own body, making Sloan smile slightly. Jensen places a kiss to her forehead and she closes her eyes as he reaches over her and turns off the lamp.
"Goodnight, daddy. Love you." Sloan says quietly, burrowing closer to him.
"I love you too, sweetheart." He whispers as Sloan drifts off to sleep.