Chapter Text
Alice’s cell rings. It’s early morning and the distinctive tone is bright a cheery. She checks the screen before she answers. “Hey, Garth!”
She balances the phone between her shoulder and her ear while she finishes whisking eggs and milk for her breakfast. French Toast and crispy bacon for her and bacon drippings on dry dog food for Duke.
“Hey, Alice.” Garth sounds like his usual sweet self, a little tired maybe, but very Garth just the same.
“What’s up?”
“I’ve got couple of kids who need a place to stay for a few weeks.” Garth tells her. “Can you take them?”
“Of course.” Alice stops whisking and sets the bowl down on the counter. “You know me always ready to help out.”
Garth heaves a grateful sigh on the other end of the phone line.
“What’s the scoop?” Alice prods.
“There are two kids. A girl named Marta age…fifteen and her brother Danny age…five.”
“All right. Fifteen and five. I can handle them.” Alice begins running a mental list of what they might need. “Do they have anything or are we starting from scratch?”
“They’ll need everything.” Garth pauses in hesitation. “Can you swing that or do you need some cash?”
“No. I’ve got it, but thanks for asking.” Alice has her military retirement and with no one but herself to spend it on she usually has plenty to spare when needed. “What happened?”
“I don’t have all the details, but it sounds like Demons got the parents.”
“Shit.” Alice sighs in sympathy. “Damn Demons. Any other family?”
“Not that we know of.” Garth replies. “Listen Alice. I’ve got a safe house closer, but I think your place is better.”
“Yah?” Alice’s interest is certainly peaked.
“There’s something about this one.” Garth hums for a second. “Like it isn’t the usual random Demon thing. You know?”
“I get it.” Alice readily replies. “Not a problem, but thanks for the heads up.”
Garth goes silent.
“Garth?” Alice frowns. “Is there something else?”
“Ya…”
Alice can almost hear Garth reaching for the right words.
“This time the Hunters want to stay with kids and they’ll…” Garth clears his throat. “They’ll probably be around for a while. They like to see things through.”
“Garth you know I don’t like to deal with Hunters any longer then I have too.” Alice is surprised and a little annoyed by the request. “What? They think I can’t take care of myself and a couple of kids?”
“No! No, no, no, no…” Garth scrambles to explain. “It’s just…these guys they’re well…” He huffs. “They’re the best at what they do and they think there’s something weird about this one too. So, they need somewhere safe to sort it out. You know, so they don’t have to worry about the kids while they figure it out.”
Alice listens to Garth trail off. “Okay, okay Garth.” She concedes. “I have plenty of room is this old place and I can handle a couple of Hunters if I have to.”
Garth blows out a relieved breath.
“Anything else?”
Garth snorts.
Alice rolls her eyes. “What now?”
“These guys they kind of do their own thing.” Garth tells her. “You know, like you. So just be patient. Okay?”
“Garth.” Alice narrows her eyes. “What the Hell have you gotten me into?”
“They’re legit Alice I promise.” Garth hurries to explain.
“They better not give me any trouble or they’re out of here. Okay?” Alice waits a beat. “You know I don’t put up with tough guy Hunter Bullshit.”
“They…they aren’t like that.” Garth barks a nervous little laugh. “They won’t give you any Bullshit. I swear.”
Alice doesn’t buy it, but she lets it go.
“They’re just the take charge type and stubborn.” Garth laughs. “And I mean stubborn, but they’ve saved a lot of folks and when I say they’re the best I mean the best!”
Alice pinches her lips together in annoyance.
“So…” Garth goes on. “Like I said be patient. Please?”
Alice can’t shake the feeling that something big might be happening. Still, she’s Damn good at taking care of her charges. There’s no way she was going to let a couple of pain-in-the-Ass Hunters keep her from her mission. “Okay Garth. But, I reserve the right to boot them if they don’t follow my rules.”
“Thanks Alice.” Garth sounds pleased. “I’m sure they’ll be fine. If they get too bossy give them the benefit of the doubt and if they don’t shape up boot them. Okay?”
“When do they plan on arriving?”
“They should be there…oh…probably mid-afternoon.”
“Good. That’ll give me plenty of time to get set up for the kids.” Alice can get a lot done between now and then. “How do I confirm them?”
Alice rarely asks anything about the Hunters who bring kids to her home. She usually only needs enough information to recognize them when they show. In turn, the Hunters know nothing about her. It keeps her and her charges safer in the long run. She’s as anonymous to the rest of the Hunter community as they are to her and she likes it that way.
“Sorry, almost forgot.” Garth apologizes. “Let’s see…do your usual drill but, just to be on the safe side they drive a classic muscle car. A Black Chevy Impala. Very cherry. You can’t miss her and the guys are both big. You know. Tall and good looking.”
Alice snorts. She’s sure she’s ever heard Garth use the words good looking to describe a Hunter before.
“The taller one’s name is Sam and he has this long floppy brown hair with sideburns.”
Alice grins and listens patiently while Garth struggles along.
“The other one’s name is Dean and he has short blond hair. Keeps it spiked up. You know?” Garth clears his throat. “They both wear work boots, jeans, and too many layers. Like bikers, but not.”
Alice laughs at the mental image Garth has painted. Something about their names sounds familiar, but she can’t place it. “Okay, Garth I think that will do. Thanks.”
“Let me know when they get there.”
“Roger that.” Alice hangs up and looks down at Duke.
Duke gives her a patient look. He’s a giant something crossed with something else mutt who’s leaning casually against the fridge.
Alice pats the big dog on the noggin. “Our day is certainly looking up Buddy.”
Duke grins at her and woofs in agreement.
Alice spends the next few hours checking over the house. It’s a large two-story wood structure with an attic, basement, and a wrap-around porch. A simple square with a large pitched roof, the place had been a Boarding House at some point in the past and now it serves as a Safe House for children and others who have lost everything to the Supernatural.
The main floor has a living room, dining room, sitting room, office, kitchen, pantry, and master bedroom with a bath. The second floor has another master bedroom with bath, three guest rooms, and a spare bath. The ceilings are high and the hallways wide. She’d fallen in love with it the moment she laid eyes on it.
The old place has been her home now for almost ten years and she keeps it in a constant state of readiness. She never knows if there will be one guest or ten and what shape they’ll be in when they arrive. It makes everything less stressful for all involved if the house is clean, comfortable, and secure at a Moment’s notice. Today is no exception.
She decides she might as well give the place a good once over. Especially if she’s going to house kids and Hunters for longer then a few days. She cleans the bathrooms and takes stock of the toiletries. She adds a few items to her shopping list and sets out fresh towels, soaps, and new tooth brushes for everyone. She dusts, vacuums, shakes out the rugs, puts new sheets on all the beds, and opens all the windows. The house will have to be sealed up tight as a drum soon enough and she wants the rooms to be as aired out as possible before then.
The Hunters can choose whatever rooms suit them, but she decides to put the kids upstairs in the large guest room nearest the bath. It has a queen bed and she adds a smaller rollaway twin under the assumption the kids would rather not be apart. She gives the rest of the house a quick clean, including her own room which she’s been neglecting for far too long.
Satisfied the house is as spanking clean and as welcoming as it can be she heads to her room. When she’s at home she wears comfortable jeans or maybe a long skirt and T-shirts. She goes bare foot more often than not and she maintains a nice tan from working in the yard. In her forties now she looks like any other woman of an indeterminate age and most people don’t look beyond her harmless appearance. She’s okay with that under normal circumstances, but since she established the Safe House she’s taken pains to give anyone interested enough to give her a once over the wrong impression.
She quickly ruffles her blond hair and pins it up in a haphazard bun. She sprays it with a can of grey hair paint from the Halloween store that leaves it looking brittle and lifeless. She throws on some heavy blue eye shadow and some off color lipstick. She swaps her jeans for a long ugly skirt with a pattern that might give someone a seizure if they stare at it too long. She adds a hideously pink and baggy button up sweater and completes the look with ratty leather sandals. She adds a few plastic bracelets, miss-matched clip on earrings, and huge plastic 1970’s glasses for good measure.
She checks on Duke and finds him deep in the midst of his usual mid-morning snooze, grabs her phone, and a plastic flowered monstrosity of a handbag. She goes out the back door and climbs into her boring little four-door economy car for the 10-mile round trip.
She doesn’t mind the drive. It’s short enough to be convenient and far enough to provide her the kind of privacy she needs. Her guests can come and go at all hours without inviting too many questions and she’s still close enough to shopping to make short supply runs if needed.
Her first stop is the big box store at the edge of town. It services a few of the surrounding communities and it’s large enough for her to purchase children’s things without a raised eyebrow. She doesn’t need nosy neighbors to wonder why she suddenly needs several variety packs of kid’s underwear and socks in a range of sizes or question her stocking up on kid friendly snacks. As far as the locals know, she lives alone and doesn’t welcome company. The weird hermit label they’ve given her suits her purposes just fine.
She gets what she needs in the kids section and swings by the personal hygiene aisle to pick up the rest of the items on her list. She also picks up two friendly looking stuffed animals she finds on super-sale in the toy section. She’s always been a sucker for kids and she’s sure the gifts will bring a smile or two and some comfort when needed most. She finishes with the big box store, loads her little car, and moves onto her next stop.
At the Human Society Thrift Shop she fills an all-you-can-stuff-in-the-bag-for-five-bucks paper sack full of little boy shorts, t-shirts, and PJs. She finds a couple of pairs of good play sneakers she thinks might fit and can’t resist a kid sized baseball hat with a gold star on it. She fills another bag with some soft sleep shorts, sweat pants, a few oversized cotton Ts, and a couple of pairs of flip-flops for the girl.
She’ll verify the kid’s sizes tonight and drop back in tomorrow to pick up jeans and other outerwear. She likes to pick things up at the second hand store because they never snoop through her purchases and the money goes to a good cause. The kids always move on eventually so the clothes end up being temporary at best and she can always re-donates what they leave behind.
She hits the grocery store and stocks up on all the staples. She plans for at least a week’s worth of meals and adds a few more kid friendly items. Mostly, she tries for tasty over healthy. It’s much more critical to get the kids to eat something than it is to worry over sugar and fat content so she plans for meals guaranteed to get eaten. There’ll be plenty of time for health conscious meals after things settle a bit and the kids are on their way to recovery.
For tonight she buys all the fixings for Pot Roast. No one ever turns down her Pot Roast and nothing smells more like a warm and inviting home then a slow cooked meal. Add some homemade chocolate chip cookies to the mix and hopefully she’ll have the kids fed and feeling better in no time. Good food will also go a long way toward peace with the Hunters if it looks like they’re going to bump heads. By noon, Alice is back at home.
Duke greets her at the door.
Alice gives him a pat and goes to her room to ditch her disguise. She scrubs her face, rinses her hair, and starts unloading the car.
Duke stands on the porch and proceeds to inspect every purchase with deliberate care. He quickly makes himself a complete pain-in-the-Ass.
Alice grumps at him to go lay down.
Duke huffs and collapses in the middle of the back hall.
She heaves a sigh and spends the rest of the unloading process stepping over the giant brown dog doormat on the way to the kitchen. As annoying as it is, she stops twice to bend down and scratch his tummy on the way through. She’s such a sucker.
Alice gets the Pot Roast and vegetables in the cooker first thing. Then she runs all the clothing items she purchased for the kids through the wash. She likes everything to be clean and unscented. It’s best to keep things neutral, no strong scents or overwhelming patterns if she can help it, and the Lilac Blossom soap they use at the Thrift Store is just nauseating.
While the wash runs she goes through her safety and security checks. She digs a couple of baby gates out of one of the upstairs closets and snaps one in place at the top of the stairs and one at the bottom. The youngest is five so it’s probably overkill, but her old wood stairs offer a straight shot down to an unforgiving hardwood floor and a fall like that would do anyone damage. She resolves to leave the gates up until she’s sure everyone can negotiate the stairs on their own and there won’t be any sleep wondering in the dark.
She resolutely closes and locks all the windows in the house. She checks to make sure her handcrafted interlocking salt bricks are in place along each windowsill and in a perfect line just inside the door at the base of the attic stairs. She locks the attic door and adds the key to the ring she keeps on a hook in the kitchen.
She checks to make sure her custom iron screens are in place over each inlet, outlet, and vent in the house. She verifies the iron inserts in the fireplace are secure and her salt blocks are once again lined up at the hearth like little soldiers prepared for a siege.
She goes outside and walks around the porch to ensure the thin iron strip that forms a continuous band along the outside edge of the house is intact. She busts out a black light and confirms all of the fluorescent paint Devil’s Traps are unbroken. She taps the walls in every corner of the house and listens for the tingling sound of the silver bells she attached to the Protective Spell Bags before they were sealed inside.
The last thing she does is unlock the heavy iron door which leads from the kitchen to the basement and props it open with a easy to kick loose door stop. She’ll leave it that way for the duration in case they need to bail into the Safe Room. She slips down the spiral staircase and runs a quick check through the emergency supplies. Her stores should cover five people for at least a week if necessary. She runs the water, checks the toilet, and runs the hidden generator for a few minutes to ensure it’s still in working order
She makes her way back upstairs and sends a text to Garth. She waits for his acknowledgement before she tests the panic button located just inside the door at the top of the stairs. A few seconds later Garth calls to confirm his receipt of the automated distress call. She heaves a satisfied sigh and checks the Pot Roast, before taking Duke outside to play fetch.
Duke chases the ball until he collapses on the porch in a heap. He’s just under a year old, smart, capable, and has picked up training better than any dog she’s ever partnered with. They haven’t sheltered any kids since Duke joined her, but she’s certain Duke is going to love having kids in the house.
There isn’t much else to do so she takes a seat in one of her porch chairs and listens to Duke pant and eventually snore. From her perch she can see the only road approaching the house and nearly all of the front lawn and surrounding area. She relaxes and settles down with a book to wait.