An Offer

Seated upon an old wooden chair with her legs pulled up to her chest as if shielding herself from the group of men unable to take their eyes off of her, (y/n) clears her throat quietly. Her mouth still coated in a layer of the strong tasting salt from before. Dean, upon seeing her uncomfortable form shifting in her seat, takes it upon himself to fill the thick silence hanging in the air. Moving his body towards the old looking fridge in the corner of the kitchen area, he pulls out 4 bottles of beer and makes his way over to the table. Handing one over to Bobby and placing two more in front of the pair at the table, he cracks open his own.

"So..." he begins awkwardly, unsure how to continue, but does anyways ,"A phoenix, huh? We met one of you guy's a while back-"

"Elias Finch" She interrupts him, (e/c) eyes meeting his surprised gaze. Sam leans forward in his chair, opening up his own beer bottle to take a sip. His hazel eyes filled with curiosity. Bobby leans back against the counter, staring at the girl through furrowed brows

"You knew him?" Bobby asks the girl who smiles awkwardly in response.

"In a way-" She runs her exposed hands through her (h/c) locks ,"-I was him"

Choking on his beer, Dean's green eyes widen when hearing this. Nervously glancing towards his brother as if asking for help. Sam chuckles lightly into his own drink upon seeing the distressed look in Dean's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Bobby presses further, his need for more information to add to his collection evident in his dark eyes. Turning to Dean, avoiding her gaze awkwardly, she raises a playful eyebrow.

"You killed Elias, right?"

"...yeah..." the man's voice comes out quiet, almost as if afraid to speak.

"When a Phoenix is killed, it's body burns up and leaves behind a pile of ashes-" (y/n) explains ,"-from those ashes, no matter the amount left, will grow another Phoenix"

"So is that how you...reproduce?" Sam asks almost cautiously and she chuckles lightly in response

"Only one Phoenix can exist on Earth at a time. When Elias was killed, I was born into the world through the small pile of ashes Samuel Colt left behind."

Upon hearing the name and details of the story they didn't know she knew, they all look at each other nervously.

"So you know about us stealing your ashes?" Sam asks her through an anxious smile. She nods, trying to understand the reasoning for their discomfort.

"Sorry about...you know...killing your mom" Dean apologizes quietly, avoiding her gaze. She furrows her eyebrows in response, confusion written across her face as she tries to read their expressions

"You really don't know anything about Phoenix's, do you?"

"Nobody's ever written about you except Colt, so...no" Bobby explains with a sigh

"Do you think you could...enlighten us?" Sam offers a kind smile, (y/n) surprised at herself for trusting the man so easily. It was a strange feeling, but she figured she shouldn't be worried.

"You know about Eve, right?" She asks the group. They all nod

"Mother of all monsters" Sam replies

"Well, all monsters except one" (y/n) explains, pointing a finger at her own form as she continues ,"When Mother dearest was creating her first creatures, she realized that one of her children was like a cancer. Born from her body, but toxic to her, she cast out the first and only Phoenix from the family. The cousin races turned against it, vowed to hurt the Phoenix for the pain it could cause Eve."

"That's why only one can exist at a time-" Bobby nods along in understanding, voicing out the rest of her thoughts ,"-Eve never made any more because they could hurt her"

"Is that why you were taken by those vampires?" Dean asks the girl, his voice softer than before. She swears she can hear a hint of pity behind his words. (y/n) nods sadly, (e/c) eyes cast down towards the table

"The Phoenix and it's ashes are the one thing that can kill Eve" she sighs ,"When mother died, the monsters saw the opportunity to seek out the direct cause. They wanted to use me as a punching bag when they couldn't get their revenge against you."

The room falls into a strange silence, the group of men sharing knowing glances towards each other as (y/n) tries to figure out what's going on through their minds. Sam grabs her attention, clearing his throat before speaking hesitantly

"You must hate us for putting that on you" Sam's voice is filled with an unwavering sincerity. She shakes her head

"You did what had to be done. I don't hate you for that...I don't hate you at all, really"

"How could you not!" Dean scoffs, his voice cold as he continues ,"I mean, we pretty much ruined your life because of what we did-"

"You trying to get us turnt to ashes, idjit?" Bobby hisses the words next to him. Dean completely ignores the older man, angrily sipping at his beer. Sam stares at his brother incredulously

"Since when did you ever care about what happens to a monster? Aren't you always 'shoot first, ask questions later'?"

"I don't know man, I mean look at her!" The group of men all turn to stare at the girl who shrinks slightly in her chair, (e/c) eyes holding an innocence they haven't seen in a long time ,"I'm just having a hard time seeing her as a monster in the first place."

"You ever kill anybody?" Bobby's question comes out suddenly, his arms folded against his chest.

"Do monsters count?" She turns so that she is no longer facing the group, afraid of what they'd think.

"You kill monsters?" Dean's voice almost sounds excited when it passes his lips. (y/n) turns back, eyebrows furrowed as she stares at them

"I have to!" She tries to defend herself ,"Every supernatural being has it out for me"

"See?" Dean motions towards the girl with raised eyebrows ,"How am I supposed to be mad at that? If she's killing monsters, she's helping us out with our own job! Phoenix or not, I gotta respect that"

"How do the monsters know you're a Phoenix anyways?" Sam asks. She shrugs her shoulders, fidgeting with her fingers. Sam notes how human she looks to him, how normal. He smiles lightly

"When Eve created the Phoenix, she wanted them to be immortal and almost impossible to kill. This was before she knew that they were toxic to her. Making Elias Finch, he was expected to be the first and last of his kind. When Eve died, every monster on Earth knew that Elias must have died too to make it happen."

"They knew he would be reborn again..." Bobby finishes her thoughts a second time and she nods

"Dear old mom hated that she had a weakness. For some type of sick revenge, she made it easy for monsters to be able to sniff the Phoenix out. I've been hiding from them ever since I popped out of those ashes..."

"What a bitch-" Dean chuckles bitterly, glancing over at the girl almost as if checking to see if it was okay for him to say that ,"-I-I mean..."

"It's okay, you're right-" She smiles at the relieved look washing over his face ,"-she was a nasty bitch that liked to play favorites. Thanks for getting rid of her."

"Just trying to save the world" Bobby sighs, bearded lips turning up into a small smile when they meet eyes. It's then that (y/n) realizes that that was the first time the man had tried to be friendly towards her. Getting lost in her own thoughts, she doesn't notice Sam calling her name from across the table until the second time he speaks

"I'm sorry, what did you say?"

"I asked what you were going to do now"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure all of us agree that you aren't a threat to anybody-" he glances over to the two men leaning against the counter, they both shrug their shoulders as if indifferent about what happens to her ,"-so what are you going to do now?"

"Well...I guess I'll just go back to doing what I was doing before" She sighs tiredly, leaning her body back against the chair. Bobby raises a curious eyebrow at her

"And what does that mean?"

"It means I go back into hiding. Blending in as a face in the crowd and pray to god that I won't be attacked again"

"Don't count on God, the dudes a no-show bastard-" Dean's grumbling is quickly interrupted by Sam

"What if-" he begins, lips pulling up into a crooked smile as he continues ,"-you stayed with us for a while?"

"What?" She stares at him through wide eyes, (e/c) orbs observing his form suspiciously as he tries to explain. Dean and Bobby watch the scene with unconcerned expressions, apparently not opposed to the idea to her surprise

"Do you really want to spend the rest of your life hiding from the monsters when you could be hunting them down with us?" Sam tries to conceal the growing excitement in his voice, but it seeps between his words ,"With a team, you'd be more protected too."

"I-I don't know-"

"Sam's right, (y/n)-" Bobby cuts in, surprising everybody in the room ,"-we could really use all hands on deck, Phoenix or not. You'd be one hell of a threat on the battlefield"

"Would you all really be comfortable having a monster like me on your team?" She looks each man in the eye, not believing anything they're saying for a second ,"I mean, honestly..."

"Look, tweety bird-" Dean strides over to the oak wood table, placing his hands onto its surface to lean down next to the girl ,"You haven't done anything yet to consider you a threat-"

"I almost burnt down your bunker-" (y/n) is quickly interrupted by Dean

"Counting that as self defense...you haven't given us any reason to dislike you. If that day ever comes, I'll be the one to shoot you full of iron. For now...I'd say that you're okay in our books."

"You'd really be okay with me staying with you?" She asks, voice gentle as she begins to relax in their presence.

"There'd be conditions, but yeah. We want you on the team" Bobby answers for all of them, their heads turning to stare at the girl. They patiently wait for her answer.

Avoiding their intense gazes, she turns to stare out of the window behind her. The world around the rundown home is painted grey, clouds overhead blocking out the warmth of the sun as they roll across the sky. A part of her screamed to leave the place, dig a hole underground and never leave it, but another part of her ached to stay. This was an offer she felt like she couldn't pass up. From the second she popped into existence, she spent her time running from the creatures out to get her as if she had a bounty of a billion dollars over her head. Free time never existed, fun was never an option, and friends were out of the question. In front of her, right now, laid everything she'd ever wanted in life. The chance to get to know people, build relationships, and hunt down the sons of bitches that made her cower in fear at night. This was it. Her time to step up to the plate and stop being a coward. Turning back to face the 3 men, a smile tugs at her soft lips

"I'll join"