Home Is Where My Baby Is

By: DemonClowSorceress

Blanket disclaimer: I don't Supernatural or any of the hot, sexy, badass men who traipse across that screen. I'm merely playing with them for a time. Valence is a town I've created for this story.

First time fandom writer, but long time lover of the series. Enjoy!

Dean Winchester leaned against the Impala's driver side door and perused the newspaper as he waited for Sam to emerge from the gas station mart. His stomach had been demanding food for almost half an hour, but he'd managed to ignore it due to sheer boredom.

It had been some time since their last case, almost three months, and all the demons had surprisingly let the brothers be for just as long. By now he was willing to take on anything, even a Woman in White, single-handedly. Anything to break the mind-numbing boredom.

C'mon, something supernatural HAS to be happening somewhere. He turned a page and sighed. Demons aren't just taking a vacation while we figure out how to seal the gates of Hell. There has to be some - Ah-HA!

A small headline buried in the local news caught his eye. SUSPICIOUS JANE DOE DEATHS DISTURB VALENCE.

Intrigued, Dean read through the short article. A series of strange deaths in a small Missouri town, all female, and all Jane Does. Cause of death the same for them all - catastrophic organ failure for no apparent reason. It didn't read like typical demonic activity, but then again, the evil bastards had been known for changing their game up. His hunter's sense was beating against his skull like a jackhammer. This was definitely something worth investigating.

"Anything good?" came Sam's query as he returned from the store with lunch.

"Bunch of Jane Does have been popping up dead in Missouri from organ failure without cause. Found in garages, the middle of roads, parking lots. Nine in total over the last four months. Cops don't know what to make of it."

Handing over a sandwich, Sam munched on his own wrap. "So what're you thinking? Possession gone wrong?"

"Doesn't seem like it."

"So what? Ritual? Vengeful spirits?"

Dean shook his head. "It just feels wrong to me. We should check it out."

"Valence isn't too far out of our way," Sam admitted. "Let's go."

Dean folded up the newspaper, got inside the Impala, and tossed the paper in the backseat. "Alright Baby," he said, patting the dash fondly. "Ready for another adventure?"

Valence, Missouri was a normal suburban town by any standard. Big enough for chain stores but not large enough to be classified as a city, nothing really struck the Winchester brothers as "off" as they cruised down Main Street and turned into the police station parking lot. Fixing their suits, they checked IDs and effortlessly slipped into FBI character as they entered the building.

Getting into the morgue wasn't very difficult; the M.E. was a pretty woman who was clearly smitten with Dean at first flirt. They were able to get access to all the autopsy files and the bodies in storage. Nothing really stood out about the women at first glance except that all of them had gray eyes, their feet were all cut up as if they'd been running barefoot across a field of glass shards, and -

"Apparently all the dead girls have tattoos," Dean remarked as he flipped through files.

"Of what?"

"Random things, but they've all got a tramp stamp."

Sam threw him a doubtful look. But habit meant he still had to ask, "Anything in Latin or Enochian? Locks? Sigils? Runes? Odd-looking symbols?"

"Nope."

Without another clue to go on, the brothers left the morgue. "I don't get it," Sam said. "If this was demon possession, why just girls? And why the hell does nobody have any record of their lives? No missing persons, fingerprints or DNA on file in any database. It's like they never existed before they dropped dead in Valence."

"Maybe it's some kind of cult," Dean guessed.

"Then there would have been matching tattoos on the girls. Something identical to identify them to other members."

"Sorority girls hazing gone wrong." Sam gave him a bitch look. "What? They were hot enough."

"They're dead."

"I said were."

When they returned to the parking lot, Dean couldn't immediately see his beloved car. His jaw started working when a closer look around the lot yielded no sign of the Impala. "Sam, where's my car? Where's Baby?"

"I dunno." Sam looked around, but like his brother, he couldn't see the Winchesters' classic car. "We parked it right here."

"Someone stole Baby? Again?!"

The strangled yelp made Sam quickly look over to see Dean double over and start to hyperventilate. "Dean, calm down, calm down," said the younger Winchester in a soothing voice, grabbing his brother's elbow glancing around to make sure nobody saw his panic attack. "Deep breaths, c'mon man."

"Baby - someone - gonna kill - whoever - "

"Just breathe, dude. We'll find her."

After several seconds of sputtering, Dean managed to regain some control of himself. But he was still shaking and spitting acid as they walked back to their motel. "Swear to God, if whatever we're hunting has anything to do with Baby missing, I'll gank this bastard five ways from Sunday!" he swore.

"Okay Dean, just chill out and keep breathing."

Sam knew his words went in one ear and out the other. Once his brother got this worked up, only a salt-and-burn or a tussle could calm him down. Sam was worried about the Impala's sudden disappearance too - hell, it was their armory on wheels and the only home he's had really ever known - but that car really was Dean's. In a weird way, it was like she was his girlfriend - he doted on her, kept her running smooth and looking good, and he was always surly and uncomfortable when forced to drive another car, as if he felt guilty about cheating on her. It was the only thing the eldest Winchester could ever hold on to for any amount of time, and he treasured her more than anything on Earth, above or below it.

When they returned to their room, the first thing they noticed was that the door was slightly ajar. Immediately drawing their weapons, Dean and Sam shared a look as Sam reached for the doorknob. With silent nods they burst inside and trained their guns on the figure curled up on Dean's bed. It appeared to be wearing Dean's leather jacket, showcasing a pair of long, shapely, definitively female legs.

"The hell?" Dean squeaked. He looked over at Sam and said, "The hell's a girl doing on my bed?"

The younger man blinked. "You mean you don't know her?"

"I don't know anyone in this one-horse town!"

"So why's she wearing your jacket and lying on your bed?"

"I don't friggin' know!"

"Dean! Sammy!" A female's throaty alto drew both brothers' attention back to their unexpected guest as she sat up on Dean's bed. "Oh thank God, you're back!"

They couldn't help staring at this strange girl who spoke with such familiarity. While it wasn't odd for them to encounter weird people who knew their names, usually those "people" were demons or some other supernatural creature trying to gank the brothers before they were ganked themselves. This girl wasn't showing signs of power or magic, or even holding a weapon. In fact, to Sam, she appeared to be...normal.

And she called him Sammy. Nobody but Dean called him Sammy.

Just a couple inches shorter than Dean, she looked to be in her mid- to late twenties. Long charcoal hair hung in waves around an oval face that was, in Sam's opinion, classically beautiful. Her eyes were a peculiar shade of gray, almost silver, and her dark lips formed a perfect O as she stared at the gun-toting Winchesters, not in fear, but in relief. "I've been waiting for hours. What kept you?" she exclaimed, scrambling to her feet. "I got worried that something had happened to y - "

Dean regained his voice first. "Who the hell are you to break in here and wear my jacket like some sort of weirdo Goldilocks?"

Her face flushed. "Hey, it's not my fault," she growled, her throaty voice dropping an octave in anger. "This was the biggest thing you owned that could cover my chassis."

"Who the hell are you?"

She blinked. "Are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm joking?"

"It's me." Her eyes glanced from him, to Sam, and then back. "I'm your Impala. I'm Baby."

And...commercial break!

Review please!

I'm real nervous about this first attempt, so I hope it does the fandom justice. Stay tuned!