AN: Hey there everyone! Well, this is part two. We hope you enjoy. Thanks to all the reviews and especially to Wurd-God for the encouragement! We hope you enjoy it!
Tria and Steph
xxx
The light hurt their eyes as they struggled to see where they were. Groaning, Dean Winchester could see his brother, Sam, lying a few meters away. Beside him were the brothers' best friends, Jemima Smith and Leila Altoft. Ever since they had met around 5 months ago they had been inseparable. As the girls began to come to, a deep ringing sound broke the silence. Standing up, the four could now see where they were. The dust was blowing past them – they were in the desert, if it had been a cartoon, a tumble weed would have passed them moments later. The dust caught in their clothing as they lay there and they stared at a small town off into the distance. How someone could ever have lived out there in the dust and heat of of the desert, was one of the numerous questions flowing through their minds. The most prominent, however, was: How did they get there? As the bell in the nearby bell-tower stopped tolling, a flock of vultures landed in the rafters.
"So..." Dean said slowly as he stood, "where the hell are we?"
"Definitely not in Kansas anymore," Jem said as Dean helped her up. Leila chuckled, "No, seriously, we were around the border of Kansas – then a white flash, and that's all I remember... What about you lot?" She asked as she dusted her black shorts and re-adjusted her tight AC/DC shirt.
"Nope. Nothing," Sam squinted his gaze toward the sun. "I'd say it's about 2pm...? Does anyone remember checking what the time was?"
"Erm... I checked my watch at about 9am... Then I fell asleep..." Leila shrugged.
"Well, I thought we should have been in Kansas about 10..." Dean said.
"GREAT!" Jem flung her arms up in the air, "We've lost 4 hours!"
"If not days..." Sam suggested, "Shall we walk? I mean, if there's a bell tower over there, then there's surely gotta be a town past it." Sam grabbed Leila's hand and they walked ahead of Dean and Jem.
Both Dean and Jem had noticed Sam and Leila getting closer over the past four months. Leila seemed happier and Sam smiled a lot more, which was what mattered to Dean and Jem. Sam and Leila's 'relationship' was growing faster each day, that they even shared a motel room when they traveled – most times they shared a bed. This was much to Jem's dismay as this meant she had to share a bed with Dean – who smelt. A lot. Like "hairy, sweaty man" as she put it. Despite Leila and Sam's relationship growing, Dean and Jem's was becoming more tested. Spending almost 24/7 was wearing on the pair and they were beginning to realise that they were a hell of a lot like each other – and it sucked. One of Jem's positives, however, was that she got a chance to wear his shirts to bed. They were so comfortable and she liked the smell of them. Dean's positive was that occasionally, if he played his cards right, he could catch Jem in her underwear...
Dean watched as Leila and Sam walked hand in hand.
"Aw, feeling lonely Dean?" She read his emotions and walking to catch up with him, "Wanna skip and hold hands?" she smiled sarcastically. She wasn't going to tell him that she wouldn't mind holding his hand occasionally, but he was too uptight to do that, she'd decided a long time ago. Dean sneered and blew her a kiss, she pretended to pluck it out of the air and put it in the pocket of her jeans.
They walked for what seemed like ages, but that was mainly due to the heat – everything seemed to take twice as long. They finally reached a 'town'... but it was run-down and empty –
"Ghost town?" Leila said turning to Jem, "Oooh, spooky!" she grimaced. Jem laughed.
Dean smiled as they walked underneath the 'Redland Shire' town sign, "Redland shire – how incredibly creepy!"
They stood under the sign for a moment, Jem and Leila felt some odd pull to walk away, but they continued. When they walked further into the town they once again saw a white flash.
"Whoa," Leila said when her sight returned, "What –"
"The fuck?" Jem finished for her.
The town had come alive. The streets were clean, the pain was fresh on all of the signs and people were inhabiting the shops nearby. They could see a few horses tied up outside a place called 'Madam Clara's'.
Sam suddenly gasped, "Look!" he cried, the other three stared at him – confusion and horror etched on their faces.
Sam no longer had his worn jeans and t-shirt on. Instead, he had on tall cowboy boots that a dirty pair of brown khaki pants were tucked into. His shirt was replaced with a long v-necked calico one, also tucked into his pants. Where his leather belt once sat, a thick gun holster now sat and 5-o'clock shadow had somehow appeared on his face. There was a brown bandana covering his exposed chest from the v-neck from the sun.
Looking at each other, the four attempted to take in what they were wearing. Dean wore practically the same as Sam, except his pants were a khaki blue and his leather was dark brown, unlike Sam's whose was tan.
Leila and Jem, however, wore next to nothing...
Jem wore a tight black and red laced corset and a matching skirt that flaired dramatically at her belly button. She had a black choker round her neck and she wore black fishnet stockings on her legs with black high heels that should barely walk in on her feet.
"HA!" Dean cackled, looking at Jem, "You look like a hooker!"
"YOU'RE A HOOKER!" She yelled at him. She hated showing off any part of her body to Dean, Sam or Leila – let alone anyone in public.
Leila's out fit was the same as Jem's – only black and green. Unlike Jem, Leila could comfortably walk in her heels.
"Why Mr Winchester," Leila faked a southern accent, "How on earth do you know what a hooker looks like?" Leila laughed as Dean blushed.
Jem walked back the way they had come and fell flat on her ass. She'd walked straight into an invisible wall. That infuriated her more.
"Isn't that handy?" Sam said, nudging Dean to help her up, "Looks like we're here whether we want to or not..."
"Oh my! What a nasty fall!" A lady who was dresses as finely as Leila and Jem called out to them, "Are you ok?"
Jem winced as Dean helped her walk over to the woman with Leila and Sam, "Uh... Yeah... I'll be ok, can you help us?"
"Sure can! Are you looking for work? Haven't seen you around here before." She smiled widely at then, her eyes were mesmerising – one green and one blue.
Leila stared wide-eyed at Jem for a moment.
L: That's her!
J: I know! So... we gotta work with her, huh?
L: Yeah, you know the deal. Two weeks...
Three months ago, Sam and Leila had come across a string of road-trippers who had suddenly disappeared then reappeared two weeks later, strangled to death in Colonial clothes. Dean and Jem were outside the motel room practicing hand to hand combat when Leila and Sam explained it to them.
"Her name's Madam Clara," Sam had told them, "She takes travelers back to her time and relives the same 2 weeks over and over – once every year. That's in three months."
"Yeah," Leila nodded, "So what we need to do is find where her grave is and salt and burn her bones before she kills us?"
Dean scoffed, "Yeah – it's sooo simple!" He placed his forearm over Jem's neck and applied pressure.
"So how are we supposed to spot her?" Jem said, hitting Dean over the head with her elbow, "I mean, she might change her name..."
"Easy," Leila answered, "She had two different colored eyes."
"Well?" The woman said again after a moment of the four friends looking at each other in silence, "Do you need work?"
"I reckon I could give those two a – ahem – job... to do, hey Clara?" a voice came from the saloon just behind Clara. A large sweaty man came waltzing out of the doors and grinned an almost toothless grin, "I'd pay them for their services, if you know what I mean..."
Jem suddenly got angry, "You son of a –" she went to walk over to him, but Sam interveaned and Dean held her from behind so she couldn't move much.
"They're alreaday spoken for..." Sam said placing a hand on Leila's shoulder. Dean changed his expression so it looked like he was hugging Jem, not restraining her. He playfully rested his head on her shoulder.
"Told you you look like a hooker," Dean whispered through the corner of his mouth. Jem stood on his foot with her sharp heel. He winced through his smile.
"Any other work?" Leila asked ignoring the hairy man.
"Well, that depends, can you tend a saloon?" Clara asked, hands on her hips.
"Tend?" Dean raised an eyebrow, "As in serve drinks?"
"Yes, that is what 'tend' means young man," Clara laughed at him.
"I can do that!" Jem said before Dean had a chance.
Clara laughed even more, "Oh my dear – no! That's a man's job! You two would be my servers and the entertainment!"
"We'll do it!" Sam said holding his hand out for her to shake, "I'm Sam."
"They call me Madam Clara. You look like a fit young man," She directed at Sam, "You can be my buildin aide. We're adding a few more rooms out the back as extra entertainment areas." She smiled seductively.
"Well, I'm Leila – I'm a great waitress and this is Jem – she's a fine entertainer!" Leila rushed. Once again, Jem's eyes narrowed to look at her, "That's Dean. He's good with alcohol."
Dean smiled as he took the statement as a compliment, "So, when do we start?"
Clara smiled, "I like you kids, you're hired! Come on into my little business and I'll get y'all sorted." She led them into the largest of the wooden businesses and introduced them to the rest of the workers.
"Everyone, as of today, we have four extra workers. What with business constantly growing, the more people the better. This is Sam, Dean, Jem and Leila. Make sure you make them feel welcome, they're new in town," Clara said as a group of men at the back of the room breathed comments of We'll make then feel welcome alright and It's about time we got some new ones – I as starting to think I'd have to go back to my wife!
Meanwhile, a group of scantily clad women were gathering around Sam and Dean. Sam was nervously trying to her back to the girls, while Dean joked, "Hey! I could get used to this!" Which was immediately regretted, seeing the look on Jem's face.
"When all introductions have been made, I'd ask you to follow me," Madam Clara said, before whisking away behind a curtained door.
After struggling through the crowds to follow her, Sam with his arm around Leila to ward off the gathering men and Dean with clenched fists silently daring any man to go near Jem, they entered a corridor in which Clara was patiently waiting.
"All of my workers live on the premises, so you shall do the same," Madam Clara said, trailing off as she strolled down the corridor.
The corridor was lined with many curtained doors, from behind which a mixture of sounds could be clearly heard, making the girls wish that this building joined onto one with solid, sound proof doors and walls. Unfortunately, it didn't.
"So, here are your rooms," Clara said as they reached the end of the corridor, motioning to four curtains across from each other.
Leila latched onto Jem's arm.
L: Do NOT leave me alone.
J: Did you hear all the...
L: YES I HEARD!
"Um, is it possible to, ah, share a room?" Leila asked hopefully. Sam and Dean both grinned.
"Oh, absolutely!" Clara smiled.
"Ok, great!" Jem said hurriedly, holding Leila's arm and turning quickly to enter the nearest room.
"But," Clara said, stopping the girls from opening the curtain, "if it's two girls, then you must have one of the front rooms. That that kind of thing is very popular with my clients."
As the girls went to protest, they were shocked but pleased when Dean spoke, "Hold on! How about... Just hold on! How about I bunk with Jem and Sammy and Leila can... um... you know, do what ever they do." Leila glared at him while Sam hid a grin. Jem also glared at him, as she had read his mind and seen that one of the reasons he was protesting was because he knew nothing could happen if the girls were together.
"Excellent!" Clara said, "So you shall have these two rooms then," she pointed to two opposite each other, "Excuse me, I must get back to my duties," she hurried off, back down the 'moaning' corridor.