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They move in with Lisa and Ben after the world doesn’t end. Lisa’s okay, Ramona guesses, but Ben…He’s eleven.And the worst. “Did I ever mention wanting a little brother?” Ramona asks as they sit outside of Lisa’s house the night they show up. “No,” Dean says, glancing at her.“Yeah,” Ramona nods. “There’s a reason for that.” ***** “Ramona had a boy over when nobody was home,” Ben snaps at dinner one night after they’ve been driving each other crazy all day. “I saw him leaving when Mrs. Crandal dropped me off from practice.” Running on instinct, Ramona lifts a fist, but catches sight of the look on her father’s face and lowers it. She settles for calling him a rat, and storming off to her room, slamming the door. ***** She has a little box where she keeps her things from Before. A couple of her uncle’s old fake ID’s. Her dad’s old ring and his old mala bead bracelet. “Can I have this?” he asks, holding up the mala beads after going through her things without asking. She grabs him by the back of the head and slams it down against her desk. In her room. Where he isn’t supposed to be. “OW!” “I hope that was a clear enough answer,” she tells him. “Get the hell out of my room, ratboy.” ***** “You can’t stay in there forever,” Ben comments. She’s doing her homework in the Impala’s backseat, where it’s quiet, and comfortable, and feels actually safe. “God, you’re such a weirdo.” Ramona rolls down the window and looks out at him. “Hey. Ben. C’mere.” He moves closer. A little closer.A little…And she reaches out and punches him in the gut. “Go away.” She rolls the window back up, and goes back to her homework.***** She hears Daddy and Lisa fighting. “She’s a little out of control, Dean,” Lisa snaps. “She’s adjusting, and she’s grieving,” her father says. “It’s not easy to transition out of the life. And Sam was basically a co-parent. Add the raging hormones of a fourteen-year-old, and you get…” “Punching Ben, carving weird symbols into the floor in her room, and bringing boys home when we’re not here?” “Yeah, I’m not real thrilled about that one either.” “Have you talked to her?” “She’s been pretty radio silent,” he says. “It’s been like pulling teeth to get two words out of her.” And he’s right. Ramona’s barely said two words to any of them in a month.She doesn't know what to say. ***** “Ramona, it’s dinner time.” Daddy’s working late or out for a beer with a friend or whatever, and Ramona is reading in the Impala. “Not hungry.” Lisa takes a breath. “Ramona. Please come to the dinner table.” She takes a moment to respond. “No.” “Then you don’t eat.” “Poor me,” Ramona responds, her voice dead. Three hours later, her father shows up with a plate of food. He gets into the back seat with her and sighs, setting the plate down between them.“Princess, you gotta start being nicer to Lisa and Ben,” he says gently. “I know this is weird, and hard, and scary. But...You gotta cut them, and me some slack here.” She doesn’t respond. ***** “What are you doing in there?” Ben whirls around from the Impala’s trunk. He’s holding her father’s sawed off in a way that will 100% get his own face blown off. “I...I was just looking.” Ramona sighs heavily and takes the gun, making sure it’s not loaded, before replacing it. “You shouldn’t go snooping around in here. It’s one thing to pick through my room, but if Daddy catches you in Baby’s trunk, he’s gonna get pissed.” “I could hunt, if I wanted to,” Ben says suddenly.Ramona freezes, and turns to him, closing up the trunk. “You could, huh?” “I mean...yeah. If your dad would teach me.” “That’s cute,” Ramona says slowly. “But also total BS.” “No it’s not,” Ben snaps. “I could-” “When I was your age,” Ramona cuts him off. “I opened up this trunk, and found Daddy’s gored, dead body lying inside.” They stare at each other, Ramona calmly, and Ben in shocked silence before she starts talking again.“You don’t know anything about what it’s like to live that way. And you don’t want to. And if I ever catch you going through this trunk again? I’ll tell Daddy that you almost shot your own face off because you’re an idiot. Now go away.”***** Lisa finds her an hour later, doing homework in the Impala’s backseat again. “Hey.” Ramona’s got the door open, because it’s warm, and she looks up and takes a breath. “Uh. Hey.” Lisa leans on the outside of the car, glancing in at her. “Ben’s been locked in his room for a while. What happened?” “No offense to you or anything, Lisa, but I think your kid might be a dumb-ass,” Ramona responds. Lisa snorts softly and grins. “All kids are. Especially boys. What’d he do?” “He was rooting around in the trunk,” Ramona admits quietly. “Playing with one of the guns.” Lisa freezes for a moment, not saying anything. “Was it loaded?” “No,” Ramona says. “But Daddy and Uncle Sammy used to forget sometimes, so it coulda been. I told him I’d tell Daddy if I caught him in there again.” “Well...Thanks,” Lisa says softly. “I’m sure Ben was just curious.” Ramona grins wryly and sits up, her legs hanging out of the car so she can see Lisa. “He got all tough. Said he could hunt.” “Gave him the business?” “Kinda.” Lisa nods. “Look, Ramona. I know that…” “This hasn’t been easy?” Ramona asks, repeating her father’s words. “And that I’m confused and scared and angry and sad?” Lisa goes quiet. “I’ll live,” Ramona tells her. “But mostly, I kinda just wanna be left alone.” “Fair enough,” Lisa says. “But if you ever need to talk? To someone who maybe has some lady parts and knows what it’s like to get kicked in the teeth by life? I’m around.” Ramona nods. “Noted.” ***** “When did you stop believing in Santa?” Ben asks her as they all decorate the Christmas tree that year. “We didn’t have Santa,” Dean admits. Ramona grins wryly and does her best imitation of her grandfather. “‘Okay, Blondie, something comes down the chimney at night you shoot first and ask questions never.’” Dean chuckles, but when Ramona looks at Ben and Lisa, they’re not really laughing. Screw ‘em.***** Ramona finds out that Uncle Sammy is back and proceeds to punch him hard in the gut.He doubles over, and gives her father a confused look.Dean shrugs. “She’s been doin that a lot lately.” Sa, glowers and huffs out a breath. And things finally start to feel normal again.