Dean and Sam scanned the aisles of the small general store for something more substantial to eat. Dean looked through the boxes of crackers, picking them up one by one and then putting them back. Sam eyed the soups, longing for an can opener. The boys had been on the road for over 9 hours and were in dire need of something to eat. Outside the store there was a storm brewing. The boys could hear the wind as it whipped through the trees, and slammed against the windows. Sam gazed out of the window for a minute wondering if the storm was worse than they had originally anticipated. The walls of the store began to shake. Dean looked over to his brother Sam with a look of concern on his face. Dean shook his head disapprovingly at Sam's nervousness.

'Y'all going to be driving through the storm?' The old woman behind the counter spoke to the young men.
'Yes Ma'am.' Dean the older of the two spoke up.
'Are you sure that's such a good idea. They say it's going to get worse before it gets better. This here is twister county you know.'
'Twister county?' Sam repeated the words back with an undertone of fear in his voice.
'It's just a saying.' Dean scoffed at his brother. 'Don't freak out about it.' He turned back to the old woman who was looking skeptically at the boys. 'I appreciate the concern Ma'am, but we're on a schedule here. Just going to grab something to eat and keep on driving.'
'Can't outrun a twister.' She quipped.' It don't care what kind of schedule you're on.' The brothers walked to the counter and laid a few food items down. She studied their faces with concern and began to punch numbers into the cash register. 'I have a right mind to head to the cellar after this here transaction. You boys are more than welcome to join me, just until the storm passes.'
'That's awfully kind of you.' Sam looked at his brother with hope in his eyes.
'It would be a shame to lose such handsome young men.' She smiled at them.
'What do you say Dean?' Sam looked to his brother. He wasn't as sure of himself as Dean was.
'That's very nice of you, but I really think we will be okay.' Dean smiled knowingly at his brother in an attempt to ease his worry.
'Okay.' She took out an old paper bag and placed their items inside. 'That'll be $7.86.'
'Thanks.' Sam said as he handed her a ten dollar bill. Sam was used to trusting his brother, but for some reason he felt uneasy about it today. The boys headed outside into the afternoon. In the ten minutes they were in the store the sky outside had turned black. The two stood silently watching the dark clouds race across the sky. Sam shivered with fear and apprehension, he looked at his brother again. 'Maybe that old woman is right. Should we really be driving in this? It looks like the apocalypse out here.'
'Just a little rain, that's all.' Dean felt anxious to get back on the road.
'I don't know. Remember what that lady said, twister county.'
'Well, if she's right and we decide to stay here not only do we risk losing time, but the car could be damaged and then were stuck out in the middle of no where.' Dean opened the car door and climbed in. 'We should go.' He ushered his brother to get into the car. 'If it gets really bad we can always stop somewhere.'

'Where? The general store was the first sign of civilization we saw for miles.'
'Just get in.' Dean motioned his brother to sit in the car. He shook his head tired of his brothers constant questions. He put his keys in the ignition and the car of his '67 Chevy Impala, it started up with a roar. Sam climbed into the passengers seat. Both boys buckled their seat belts. Deans foot pressed hard into the gas pedal, out his rearview mirror he watched the sky as the storm continued to move closer to them. He was driving faster than normal, which was normally very fast. He turned up the volume on the car stereo in an attempt to ease his brothers worried mind. The wind pushed hard against their car causing the vehicle to slide across the old road. Sam watched as Dean gripped the steering wheel harder, his knuckles white. Sam's eyes scanned the road ahead of them. He kept looking around hoping to see some sign of civilization so they could pull over. The wind blew harder and buckets of rain began pouring onto the car. Dean struggled to peer through the windshield. The wipers moved faster and faster across the glass.
'Can you even see?' Sam questioned his brother. 'Cause I can't.'
'I can see. You know, basically.' Dean laughed uneasily.
'This is crazy.' Sam sighed, he pressed his face closer to the windshield to struggle to see. 'Dean there is a sign up ahead. Maybe it's somewhere we can stop.'
'What does it say?'
'I can't make it out. Drive slower would you?' He squinted harder. 'It says Cafe, coffee house. It's a coffee house! That's perfect.'
'You know Sam they had coffee back at the General store. If you were so thirsty we could have just gotten coffee there.'
'No, you dick. We need shelter.' There was a loud thud against the car as a large branch hit the windshield. Both Sam and Dean yelled out in surprise. 'We're going to get killed. Why are you so dead set on not stopping!?'
'I just don't think we need to.' He kept his cool as they rolled forward, the car skidding around more violently on the road.
'Seriously Dean were going to die in this car!'
'Well, at least we'll die happy, isn't that right baby.' He said speaking to the car.
'You're gross you know that.' He shook his head. 'Really though stop being pigheaded for a minute and just pull over at the coffee shop.'
'I'm not being pigheaded.' He chuckled at his brothers panic.
'Yes you are, please just pull the goddamned car over!'

'Okay, Okay. Don't get so upset about it.' The car drove faster as they passed the sign 'Coffee 1.5 Miles.' Dean turned the radio up louder to drown out the sounds of the storm, he was trying his hardest not to alarm his brother, but he was beginning to realize they were in real danger. The car roared ahead and a small shop began coming into focus up ahead. He sighed a relieved breath as they came closer and closer to the cafe. He just hoped that there would be someone inside who would take them in.
'Dean, look behind us.' Sam gasped. Dean looked in the rear view mirror and as clear as day he saw a tornado coming up behind them. It was a few miles away. His blood turned ice cold and his breath halted. 'Dean there's the coffee shop!' Sam yelled out as Dean was about to drive by it. He slammed on the breaks and both brothers held on tightly. Dean threw the car into park and both boys jumped out. 'What if there is no one here.' Sam cried out.
'Go around back. If they're here, they're in a underground shelter it would be around back.' The boys ran to the back and began pounding on the basement door. They yelled repeatedly, but there was no answer. 'We've got to get in there. That thing is coming right for us.' Dean yelled at his brother who was sheet white. 'Maybe there is an entrance through the coffee shop.' As soon as the words escaped his mouth the cellar door creaked and the handle moved. Both boys eyes were wide with anticipation. A young man's face peeked out at them between the crack in the door.
'What are you doing out there!?' He asked them with great concern.
'Let us in!' Dean yelled too overzealously. 'The tornado is right behind us.'
'Now hold on a minute.' The man peered into the cellar behind him.
'We have to get in there, please.' Dean pulled the door open without an invitation.
'Wait!' The man yelled as a big black lab pushed past the two of them. 'The dog!'
'Oh, shit.' The words escaped Deans lips as he watched the dog bound past them and out into the yard. He shook his head in disbelief. 'You've got to be kidding me.'
'No!' A girls voice screamed out behind them. She pushed open the other and looked at the boys. 'Did he run!?'
'He did.' Dean shook his head. 'I didn't know, I'm sorry.'
'Stop being sorry and get out of my way.' She pushed past Dean and Sam and began to run out side after the dog. 'Bowie, please stop boy!'
'Wait a minute!' Dean yelled after her. He looked to the man who had opened the door. He stood shivering with a cane in his hand and a bewildered look on his face. 'She can't be out there in the storm.' He told the man.
'I know. She loves that dog.' He wiped a bead of sweat off his forehead. 'I don't know what to do.' he looked at Dean.
'What's her name?'
'It's Olivia.' He put his hands up to his mouth and made a funnel shape. 'Olivia, honey come back!' The man yelled out into the storm. 'Olivia, where are you!?'
'She can't hear you.' Sam shook his head looking out after the girl.
'I can't go after her.' The man motioned to the cane. 'I'm sorry.'
'Shit, Sam get inside.' Dean shook his head furiously. 'I'll get her.'
'Dean, you can't go out there.' Sam protested.
'Sam shut up and go inside. She's going to die if I don't get her.' He took a deep breath preparing himself for the run outside in the storm. Sam looked into his brothers dark brown eyes, he knew that Dean was going to do what he wanted no matter what Sam said.
'Just be careful please.' Sam pleaded with his brother.
'I will, just close the door until you hear me knock. It'll be fine. I'll bring her back.'
'Okay. Knock four times when you get back.' The man stuttered.

'Great, four times.' He took another deep breath and looked out to the field where the girl had ran to. 'Hey!' He yelled out after the girl. He ran as fast as he could into the woods that surrounded the house. His feet pounded the grass that was already turning muddy from the rain. He looked ahead and kept running. The torrential rain was blinding to Dean especially as he ran. He bobbed and weaved through the trees and shrubs. His shoulders grazed the branches. He winced as his shirt sleeve tore. He could barely see straight. All of his clothes were completely soaked through. He shivered and struggled to keep moving forward. The girl ran fast in front of him, but he was catching up to her. She ran yelling the dogs name over and over. He attempted to yell but the storm was too loud. He yelled out again getting closer and closer to her. She turned around quickly to look at Dean. He slowed down as he approached her. She stopped moving and looked up into the sky. Dean stopped next to her and looked into her frightened eyes . She raised her eyebrows nervously at him. Her long red hair was whipping around wildly. She looked ahead again and Dean followed her gaze up to the sky. The sky grew blacker as he observed funnel of the tornado coming closer. He gripped onto her shoulder. She was silent, the only sound was a long gasp for air as she looked up into the wild storm.
'What are you doing!?' He yelled. 'Were going to get killed out here. Look at that thing!' The dark black clouds loomed faster and faster in a circular motion as they approached them.
'I know but...' She turned around to face Dean. 'I can't leave my dog!'
'What are you crazy!?' He yelled at her through the wind. 'In about one minute that tornado is going to swallow you up.'
'I can't leave my dog. Why did you let him out!?' She cried out.
'How was I supposto know there was a dog inside!?'
'I have to get him.'
'Listen, we have to go back. Come on' He pulled her by the shoulder.
'I'm not going.' She yelled pulling her arm away from him.
'This is ridiculous.' He shook his head. He put his arms around the girls waist and clasped his fingers together.
'What the hell are you doing?' She demanded trying to pry his fingers apart.
'I'm not going to let you die out here.' He hoisted her up against his shoulder until her legs were far off the ground.
'You can't do this. Put me down.' She yelled. Dean ignored her pleas and began running back to the basement. Her words became more intense as she cursed him out. They inched closer to the building and Dean realized he had never been spoken to with such hatred before. The girls voice began to break up as she screamed and pounded on his back with her hands. Dean felt his arms beginning to tire as they approached the house. He kicked hard on the door four times and waited for the man to let them in. The door suddenly flung open. The wind blew hard into the basement and the water poured in with them. Dean climbed inside with the girl still in his arms.
'Close the door!' He yelled to the man. The basement door slammed hard. The girl stopped speaking as Dean placed her onto the ground. He took a step backwards away from her, she was eerily silent. Her chest heaved up and down from being out of breath. He looked to the door as the man put a large beam of wood against it. He hoped that maybe now they were inside she would calm down.
'Don't you feel better now that were inside?' He asked her as he turned back towards her he was greeted with a hard fist. The blow knocked him backwards an inch or two. His mind swirled as he tried to understand what had just happened. He turned back in shock to look at the girl.
'How dare you.' She snarled at him.
'How dare me!? You just punched me in the face!' He shot back at her. His hands cradled his wounded cheek.
'Dale? Do you have a shotgun down here?' She asked the man with the cane.
'I'm not sure Miss Olivia, why do you ask?'
'Because I'm going to blow this guys goddamned head off.'
'Whoa, whoa. Before you go blowing my head off, maybe you should be thinking about how I just saved your life.'
'You've got to be kidding me.' She shook her head.
'Does it look like I'm kidding?' He took a step closer to her.
'Dean, maybe that's not the most helpful thing to say right now.' Sam interjected from behind him.
'Shut up Sam.' Dean yelled.
'You had no right to do what you did.' She fumed.
'Save your life?'
'My dog is out there, because of you. And now he's going to die in the storm!' Her voice began to crack.
'I told you I didn't know he was in there. It's not like I did it on purpose!'
'Maybe if you listened first instead of just pulling open the door.'
'Maybe if you had more control over your dog.'
'That dog was all I had in the world. You ruined my life.' She collapsed onto the hard cement floor. She pulled off her drenched sweater and threw it directly at Dean. She put her head down into her lap and covered her face with her hands. Dean watched as her body shivered in the cold wet dress she wore. He looked to his brother for guidance. Dean was never good with emotions. Sam motioned for Dean to continue talking to her.
'Hold on.' Dean's face softened as he looked down to the girl on the ground. Her big green eyes welled up with tears. He felt an awful stabbing pain in his chest as her eyes met with his. 'I didn't mean it.'
'Bowie was the only family I had left.' She whispered. Dean observed the color of her lips were slightly blue. The impulse to press his lips against hers to warm then entered his head. He shook the thought away quickly.
'Hey, your freezing.' He said.
'I'm just fine.'
'No you're not. I didn't save your life for you to go and die of hypothermia in this dingy basement.'
'I don't really care right now.'
'Come on, stop that. Dale, is there a blanket or something down here?'
'Sure we've got a bunch of old stuff in boxes.' Dale hobbled close to Dean and handed him some dry clothes and a blanket. Dean wrapped the blanket around her. 'Here try and dry off.'
'Thanks.' She shivered under the blanket. Her fingers rang out the excess moisture in her hair.
'Hey, I'm sorry I didn't let you chase after the dog.' Dean felt compelled to explain himself. 'I just couldn't leave you out there.'
'I know.' She exhaled. 'It's not really your fault, I'm just upset.'
'Maybe, he found a safe place. You never know.' Dean attempted to cheer her up.
'I don't think so.' She wrapped the blanket around her and pulled the dress over her head. 'Turn around for a second please.' Dean did as instructed. When he turned around she was wearing the long oversized t-shirt. 'I loved that dog.' She shook her head in disappointment. Dean sat down next to her on the cement.
'I'm really sorry.' He genuinely apologize. He took her hand and squeezed it tightly in his. He felt the chill in her fingertips and tried to warm them. The skin on her hands was soft. Dean felt captivated by her touch. He stared at their hands. 'Listen, after the storm has subsided I'll help you find the dog.'
'I appreciate it, but you don't have to. It's not your fault, I'm cursed.'
'No, you were right, I let him out. It's my fault. Right Sam?' Dean looked over to his brother who was watching them intently from across the room. 'Me and my brother will help you. Won't we?'
'Of course.' Sam smiled awkwardly. His eyes fixated on them. He was surprised at how affectionate Dean was towards the girl. He walked towards them and put his hand out to the girl. 'I'm Sam by the way.'
'Hi Sam.' She smiled warmly. She pulled her hands away from Dean and shook Sam's hand with enthusiasm. 'I'm Olivia.'
'Olivia.' Dean smiled at her. 'I'm Dean.'
'Nice to meet you.' She shook her head at him. She lifted her hand to Deans cheek bone. 'It's starting to bruise.' She said fighting back a smile.
'Great, there go my handsome good looks.'
'Don't worry, your looks weren't that good to begin with. This may actually be an improvement.' Olivia teased him.
'Yeah, you find this funny?' Dean pretended to be angry with Olivia.
'I do.' She smiled. The wind continued to howl outside and the house shook.
'Okay everyone.' The man with the cane spoke. 'We should all stay away from the door.'
'Okay.' everyone agreed.
'Were going to move everyone into the far room on the South side of the basement.' He said directing his speech to the boys. Dean stood up and shook his head. 'Dean, this is my wife Laura and my boy Smitty.' He said pointing to a mousy looking woman with a young child on her lap sitting on a pile of boxes.
'It's nice to meet you.' Dean spoke. 'Sorry about all the excitement.'
'It's no problem. As long as you are all okay now.' Laura smiled. 'Olivia?'
'I'm fine Laura, thank you.' She said standing up.
'I'll fix some dinner for us.' Laura announced to the room. 'We just have a few cans of soup and a small hot plate but you are welcome to join us boys.'
'Thank you.' Sam replied.
'Laura, do you need any help?' Olivia asked her.
'No, no I'm fine.' She put the child on a small blanket next to her. 'Maybe if you and Dean could pull out the extra folding chairs, they are somewhere behind the boxes of Christmas decorations.'
'Sure, we will find them.' Olivia smiled.
'Sam can you help Dale set up the table in the other room?'
'Absolutely.' Sam agreed.
'Okay, well lets find these chairs.' Dean smiled at Olivia. She shook her head and walked to the other side of the room, Dean followed. She took a deep breath and forced out a smile. Dean tried to think of something funny to say, he felt that it was his job to try and cheer her up.
'So, did you name your dog after the singer?' He asked her. 'Bowie? Like David Bowie?'
'Yeah, what else would he be named after?' She had an attitude to her speech that bordered on flirtatious.
'I don't know, you could be some kind of knife enthusiast.'
'Do I look like a knife enthusiast?' She rolled her eyes at him.
'I don't know, maybe. I mean you sure are violent so, it's not that far off.'
'I am not violent.' She retorted.
'You punched me in the face.'
'You deserved it.'
'Fine.' He put his hands up to his face in defense. Olivia pulled a dusty box away from the wall. There were many more stacked up behind it.
'Well, are you going to help me?' She asked him.
'Yeah. Move over.' He said pulling another box out. Olivia took a step to the side and watched as he began moving all the boxes around.
'You like taking charge don't you?' She baited him.
'What? You asked me to help?' He stared back at her with amazement.
'I didn't ask you to take over. Are you always like this?'
'Like what?' He shook his head. She stared back at him with a mischievous smile on her face. He dropped a box on the ground. 'Forget it, you can do it all yourself.'
'Oh, come on.' She teased him. 'Are you really mad?'
'No.' He replied defensively. 'Man, people around here are crazy.'
'I'm not actually from here.' She revealed as Dean had suspected. 'I'm from Philadelphia.'
'I knew you weren't from the sticks.'
'Oh you did? Wow, your so observant.' She replied sarcastically. 'Listen, just because I called you on your bullshit domineering tendencies doesn't make me crazy.'
'Oh, I know, I don't really think your not crazy. Your just sore because it's you that likes to take charge and be in control. You can't handle someone else who's assertive.'
'What?' She gasped at him.
'I bet everyone just goes along with whatever you say. Isn't that right?'
'No.'
'I bet you can't stand someone who's not going to kiss your butt. That scares you doesn't it?'
'You are so wrong.' She narrowed her eyes at him taking a step closer.
'I don't think so.' He kept his eyes glued on hers.
'Are you always this obnoxious?'
'Pretty much.' He smiled at her wider.
'Alright then smarty, you think you have me figured out? Tell me more.'
'Well, lets see.' He stared at her for a minute trying to figure her out. There was something overwhelmingly attractive about her. Besides her physical appearance she was smart and bold. Dean wasn't used to being around women with those characteristics.
'Times up.' She said taking a step back. 'You've got nothing.'
'Hold on a minute.' He exhaled audibly. 'Okay. Well first of all you're different.'
'Wow.'
'Your intelligent and creative. I bet your some kind of artist.'
'Sort of. I'm a writer.'
'Close enough.' He shook his head in affirmation.' A writer.' He smiled as he walked back towards the boxes. 'Do you mind if I continue or do you want to pull out the boxes?' He asked pointing to the dust pile.
'Please, go ahead.'
'Thanks.' He moved a few more boxes away from the wall causing dust to float up into the air. They both began to cough as the dust hit them in the face. 'Let me guess, you write thick existential novels? About how society is evil. Or maybe feminist theory. That's it! You write books like 'Why men are the weaker sex' and 'Sisterhood is Sacred' He smiled at her.
'You are such an idiot.' She shook her head at him.' Men are the weaker sex though. Your right about that.'
'Of course.'
'I don't write feminist theory books. Though after meeting you I might start.'
'Well, what do you write then?'
'I'm actually a travel writer.'
'No way.' He shook his head with surprise. 'That's actually kind of cool.'
'Yup. That's why I'm out here in the middle of no where. I'm working on a book about small town diners and coffee shops. I've been staying with the Thompson's for a week or so.'
'That's interesting. You spend that long in each shop.'
'No, I knew the Thompson's from before. I did a book of photography a few years back. They were a big part of it. A picture of their shop even won an award.'
'That's impressive. So, your a writer and a photographer.'
'I suppose so.' She twitched her fingers.
'I knew you were a creative type.'
'Right. So, now that you know all about me. What about you? What are you doing around here? You and your brother looking for the best cup of coffee in South Dakota?'
'Well, were sort of traveling around the country.'
'That's cool. For any particular reason?'
'Well technically we're working.' Dean revealed accidentally. He immediately bit his lip for letting that piece of information slip out.
'What do you do for work?'
'Well...' He scrambled his brain to think of a good lie to tell her. His mind drew a blank. He had lied a million different times to a million different people about why he and his brother were on the road. 'It's just...' He stopped mid sentence again, for some reason he felt as though he almost couldn't lie to Olivia.
'It's what?'
'Well, actually Sam is running from the cops.' He could not believe the words as they came out of his mouth. He closed his eyes tightly embarrassed by his bad attempt to lie.
'Sam?' She laughed. 'I don't believe it. He doesn't really look like the criminal type.'
'He doesn't?'
'No, he looks like he could be a college baseball player. Not a criminal.'
'That's pretty good.' Dean chuckled. 'He actually did play baseball in college.'
'If you had said it was you, running from the cops I would have believed that.'
'Me?' Dean shook his head.
'Come on.' She smiled. 'Tell me the truth. Sam's no criminal.'
'No, he's not.' Dean shook his head.
'Well, tell me why you guys are really doing on the road.'
'The thing is we're...' Dean trailed off trying to think of anything but the truth. For some reason it seemed like the truth was trying its hardest to leak through. 'Were looking for.' He stopped himself from continuing his sentence. His eyes darted around the room in a panic.
'Antiques.' Sam interjected.
'Antiques?' Dean repeated.
'We're specialty antique dealers.' Sam continued. 'Dean's just a little embarrassed, he thinks Antique dealer doesn't sound manly enough.'
'What?' Dean scoffed.
'I'm surprised.' She laughed
'Yeah. We've been doing it for a while.' Sam continued to speak. He gazed quickly over to his brother observing the look of desperation in his eyes begin to dissipate.
'How did you get into that line of work?'
'You see, our dad died about a year ago and we were left to take charge of the family business. We own a pretty respectable antique store back in Maine. Part of the job is investigating rare antique buys. We spend about half the year going to people's houses to find rare things that would be good in the shop. If we can sell it back home we buy it, and either ship it back or take it back ourselves.'
'That's interesting.' She said turning back to look at Dean.
'Yeah, we enjoy it.' Dean shook his head in agreement.
'Why didn't you just tell me that from the beginning?' She asked
'I don't know. I thought maybe you would think it was lame.'
'Why do you care?' She asked smiling at him. He shrugged his shoulders and looked at his brother out of the corner of his eye. He knew Sam was watching them cautiously. He looked back to the pile of boxes and saw the top of one of the folding chairs peeking out. He took a step quickly towards the pile.
'Look, there they are.' He pulled out one of the chairs.
'Great.' Olivia smiled. 'I'll bring these to the Thompson's, can you get the rest?'
'Sure can.' Dean smiled.
'Thanks Dean.' She walked away with a folding chair tucked under each of her arms. Sam took a step closer to his brother.
'Um... Dean?' He spoke as soon as they were alone. He took another step closer.
'Don't even say it Sam.' Dean looked back to make sure Olivia was out of sight. He pulled two more chairs out and dusted them off. Sam stared back at his brother with a big smile on his face.
'Running from the cops?' He blurted out.
'It was a weak moment.' Dean replied quickly trying to brush off the incident.
'I'll say.'
'What do you want me to say?' Dean turned around to see Sam still smiling.' You saved the day. Okay?'
'I wasn't saying that. It's just what if I hadn't walked up at that moment.'
'Well you did.'
'You should be more careful Dean.'
'Don't.' Dean gave his brother a stern look. 'I don't even want to hear it from you.' He took a few steps away from him 'Are you going to come eat or not?
'Yeah, I'm coming.' Sam snickered.