It's been three days since they spoke to their guest.

Out on the open road for as long as their tank would take them, and not once did he stir. Once, while Sam was on a snack run, Dean tried to throw the boy out again.

He was greeted by a giant white tiger for the attempt.

"We can't just keep driving around Miss Daisy—would you knock it off?!" The tiger had poked its head out from the tarp over the back and growled lowly at the window. They haven't been on the best of terms since their first encounter.

"When's the last time you fed him?" Sam reached for the grease- stained bag at his ankles and dug around for some spare, stale fries. Holding as close to the opposite end as he could without dropping one, he offered it through the tiny window for the big cat. Byakko's rough tongue lead the bit of potato into its mouth. It chewed, accepted a few more fries, then retreated to the darkness beside its master. "See? He just wanted something to eat—what's with that look?"

"Is this some kind of game to you? When did you and Shere Khan become such good friends?" Dean's hands forget the steering wheel to gesture to the general area of the back of the pickup truck. "I can barely pump gas with him tryna take a swipe at me any time I get near the back, and you're feeding him from the palm of your hand? Are you kidding me?"

"You did try to drag the kid out of the truck—"

"We don't know anything about him, Sam!" Dean takes a deep breath, tries to collect himself. Of all the things going on in their life right now, this particular situation was not his brother's fault and he tried to remember that. "Look. There's a lot going on right now and I'm not exactly keen to the idea of some weird kid that summons a bunch of weird shit in his sleep hanging around. We don't have time to waste on trying to figure out what he wants with us."

"What if he's here to help us?" He can already feel the impending argument, Dean's body coiling with a list of oppositions. "Hear me out… if he wanted to kill us, wouldn't he have done it the night he showed up? All he's been doing is sleeping, and whatever… … being he's conjured up, they don't do anything unless they think you're trying to leave him behind, which he asked us not to do. What if his appearance is a good thing?"

"What, you think he's some kind of guardian angel? Because that's been going real great so far."

There's a thick, uncomfortable pause, but Sam supposes this is better than the yelling spell he expected.

Miles crossed, the conversation falls far behind them and they continue in silence.

"Could we stop somewhere to eat?"

"JESUS!"

The Winchesters haven't had this sort of jump scare in a long while. Between them, Minato appeared as suddenly as Castiel would, and it took everything Dean had to not swerve off the road completely. The young man was slammed into Sam and he latched on immediately to keep himself from being thrown from the vehicle once Dean righted himself in the proper lane again.

"Is this going to be a habit of yours?!"

"I'm sorry for frightening you, I didn't… think you didn't see me." He releases Sam's arm and buckles himself in. "We don't have to stop."

"Great, because I wasn't exactly plannin' on it. In case you didn't notice, we're not exactly within city limits." Someone was crabby. Minato just nods, and looks out the passenger window. They glance to each other, but Sam is the first to speak since Dean has made it clear he wanted to be Bad Cop.

"You've been asleep for a couple of days now… We never got your name."

His tired, bright blue eyes never leave the window.

"You can call me Tatsuya."

A/N: Hello hello, I never realized just how much time has passed but I am so,
so grateful to everyone that has followed and reviewed this story in the years!
Thank you to everyone and I hope I can give you a story you will continue to look forward to. :