Well, who are you
I really wanna know
Tell me, who are you
'Cause I really wanna know
"Shower's free," Dean informed Sam as he walked out of the bathroom.
"Thanks," Sam said, glancing up at him and then grimacing. "Dude. Put some clothes on."
"No one said you had to look," Dean replied.
"It's a natural instinct, Dean, someone talks to you and you look at them," Sam told him.
"If you haven't learned by now not to look when I walk out of the shower, that's your own fault," Dean commented.
Sam rolled his eyes and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind him. Dean grinned and pulled on a pair of boxer briefs and a tee-shirt. He switched off the overhead light, but turned on a smaller lamp on a nightstand between their two beds so the geek wouldn't kill himself trying to get to bed in a dark room. Dean plugged in his phone charger and set his cell on the nightstand, then collapsed onto his bed. Rolling over on his side, he closed his eyes and willed sleep to come.
But, unfortunately, it didn't. And he was pretty damn sure it had everything to do with the four women staying in the motel room next door. Okay, maybe not everything, but a hell of a lot. Dean had driven all day and half into the night with no real destination in mind. Maybe he had just been hoping the witches would change their minds and take off somewhere else. Of course, they hadn't. When Sam had finally told him to stop for the night, they had been right behind him.
Dean had managed to avoid any conversation about where they were going or what his plan was, probably because everyone was tired, but he had no idea what he was going to tell them in the morning. At the moment, he was leaning towards just saying he was going to drive around until they stopped following him. He doubted Sam would go for that, though. Not with his new and really stupid plan.
After Dean had told Sam what the demon had said about trying to weasel out of the deal, Sam had stopped talking about it. Dean hadn't been sure why, except maybe to think that Sam wasn't finding anything. He had almost hoped that Sam had given up, though he knew that was unlikely. Dean didn't know what to think about it. On the one hand, he didn't really want to go to hell. But on the other hand, he didn't see a way out of it and he didn't regret it. He'd do still do it again.
It didn't seem important at the moment. Didn't even seem real, actually. Dean knew how long a year really was, how much could happen in it. But he also knew how fast it would go, and he was certain that less than a year from now, he'd be sitting in another motel room wondering how the hell time had gotten away from him like that. It just didn't seem to matter much right then. Maybe it was some kind of shock or a form of denial.
Whatever. Dean knew why Sam had dropped the subject now. If Dean didn't know about anything Sam was doing, the demon couldn't say that Dean himself had been trying to get out of the deal. Maybe. That's what lawyers were good at, right? Finding those little loopholes that could get you out of just about anything. Dean, well, he was happier just pretending things were back to the way they were before. Of course, it had been easier without the little reminders next door.
Dean rolled over on his stomach, his right hand sliding under the pillow and resting on the hilt of his knife. The movement was instinctive now, even without a visible threat. It was just comforting. Enough that he was just drifting off to sleep when the bathroom door opened and Sam emerged.
"So, I was thinking," Sam said quietly as crossed the room to his bed.
"Shocking," Dean mumbled.
Sam ignored him. "We should stop by the Roadhouse tomorrow."
Dean cracked open one eye. "Why?"
Sam shrugged. "See how it's coming, how Ellen's doing, if she's met the girls."
Dean opened the other eye and sat up a little. "You don't trust them either."
Sam didn't disagree. "I don't know them. They say they're hunters, but." He shrugged again. "Gordon was a hunter, too."
"So let's ditch them," Dean said, not voicing the fact that he doubted witches would start hunting Sam if they found out about his psychic power.
Sam resisted the urge to sigh and instead reached over and turned off the light. "We can see if Ellen's heard of them, and if she'll vouch for them. She was right about Gordon."
"Whatever," Dean said. "Now shut up and let me sleep."
"Hey," Pru said suddenly. "I know where we're going."
"Really?" Paige asked, glancing out the passenger side window. "Where?"
"The Roadhouse," Pru replied. "Okay, so it's still a little bit off, but this is the way. They say they have to visit friends and we're taking the route to the Roadhouse? Gotta be it."
"You think they wanna see if Ellen knows us?" Piper asked.
"Probably," Pru said. "Ellen knows a hell of a lot of hunters. And she's at least heard of a bunch more."
"Well, if that's where we're going, it means she knows them," Piper said.
"Which means she can tell us whether or not they're gonna strangle us in our sleep," Phoebe commented.
Pru grinned and gave a slight laugh.
"What?" Phoebe asked.
"'Crawler," Pru said. "He expressed his disbelief that they could sneak in on us at night. I don't know, baby, they seem good at what they do."
"Just because they're more experienced hunters than we are doesn't mean they're gonna get into our hotel room without us knowing," Piper commented.
"More experience doesn't meant better," Phoebe said cheerfully.
"In this case, sugar, I think it does," Pru told her. "They're like, what, mid-twenties? If they've been doing this their whole lives, that's a whole lot of experience. If they're legit, man. I can't wait to see what they can do."
"I bet," Phoebe said with a snicker. "I wouldn't mind seeing that myself."
Pru rolled her eyes. "Not everything is about sex, Pheebes."
"It's Phoebe," Paige said. "Of course it is."
Phoebe grinned. "Like I'm going to deny it."
"Well, anyway," Piper said. "I know what you meant. And you're right."
"Thank you," Pru teased.
"Plus, this going to the Roadhouse thing is a lot better idea than our internet search on people named Dean and Sam," Piper added.
"I know," Paige said. "Why didn't we think of this?"
"Hold up, guys," Pru said. She switched off the car stereo and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a number one handed. After a few moments, she sighed and said, "Hey, Bill, it's me. Sorry I missed you. Call me back if you need anything or want to talk, otherwise I'll talk to you in a week. Tá grá agam duit." She hung up.
"Sorry sweetie," Paige told her.
"Yeah. Well, maybe next week," Pru said as she made a left turn onto a dirt road. "Okay, we are definitely going to the Roadhouse."
"Good," Phoebe commented. "We haven't been there for awhile. And I could use a drink."
"They do have good whiskey," Pru said with a grin.
"Hey," Piper said, leaning forward between Pru and Paige's seats. "Looks like they're remodeling."
Paige frowned. "That's a lot more than remodeling. That's rebuilding."
"What, bar fight gone bad?" Phoebe asked. "Or do you think there was an attack?"
"Dunno," Pru replied as she parked the bus next to Dean's car. "Let's ask." She opened the door and climbed out. "Do you guys have any idea what happened?"
"What happened?" Dean repeated, walking around the hood of the car to stand next to Sam.
"To the Roadhouse," Piper said as she, Paige, and Phoebe got out of the bus.
Sam waited for them to walk over before saying, "There was a fire."
Paige's eyes widened. "What?"
"Is everyone okay?" Pru asked. "Ellen and A –"
"Ellen's fine," Ellen commented from behind them.
The two groups turned to face her and she smiled. "Welcome back."
Pru stepped over to hug her. "Hey, Ellen. Glad to see you're okay. What about Ash? Jo?"
"Jo's fine, she was still away when it happened," Ellen told her. "Ash, he gave us a scare for awhile, but he's okay, too."
Sam shot Dean a look that almost said 'I told you so' as Dean said, "So I'm guessing you know each other."
"That would be a yes," Phoebe commented.
Ellen stood back and looked between the two groups. "So you're not both just here to buy drinks and help us finish painting. You guys meet on a hunt?" There was a round of nods, and Ellen turned to head back into the Roadhouse. "Well, come on. Let's go get you all some drinks."
"And I need to steal the restroom," Phoebe said.
"Me too," Paige agreed.
They followed Ellen inside, where Ash was working on his laptop. Phoebe and Paige headed to the restroom, while Pru and Piper broke off and went to hug Ash. Sam and Dean went up to the bar with Ellen.
"So they really are hunters?" Dean asked, sounding slightly disappointed.
"Near as I can tell," Ellen replied. "Met 'em about a year ago. A regular was working the same job as them and brought 'em back here."
"Same thing we did," Sam said. "Well, sort of."
"You two wanted to see if they were legit?" Ellen grinned a bit. "They're good girls. Not in your league, but good at what they do. Why do you want to know?" She frowned a bit. "You working with 'em?"
"Sam thinks it's a good idea," Dean said in one of his many 'Sam's an idiot' tones.
Sam shrugged. "They wanted the experience. It seemed like a good thing to have, especially with what we let out."
"Like I said, they're good girls, not just good hunters," Ellen said. "But I don't know if you're the ones that should be working with 'em. Might be better than a lot of people, but…"
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked.
"They, uh," Ellen said. "Well, that's not really something I can tell you, hon."
"No, it's okay," Paige said as they came back from the bathroom. "They saw us with our familiars."
"Oh," Ellen said, looking back at Dean. "Well that explains it."
"Explains what?" Dean asked.
"Why you're not all over these girls," Ellen said with a grin.
"Funny," Dean muttered.
"And true," Sam commented.
"Shut up," Dean said, then looked over at Paige and Phoebe. "It's not true."
"Right," Phoebe said with a wink, then glanced over at Ash, Piper, and Pru. "Stop flirting, you two."
"It's so funny hearing that from you instead of one of us," Piper teased.
"I'm not the only one who flirts with people," Phoebe protested.
"No, you're just the one who does it the most," Pru replied as she and Piper joined them.
"Hey, Ellen, is Jo here?" Piper asked.
"Uh, no, she headed back out," Ellen said. "She was here for awhile, to help rebuild, but she needed to head back. Much as I would have loved the excuse to make her stay, I wasn't gonna hold her like that."
"Hey Sam, Dean," Ash greeted as he finally moved away from his laptop.
"Hey Ash," Sam replied, then did a small double-take when he saw Ash drape his arms over Piper and Pru's shoulders. Pru slid her arm around Ash's waist, while Piper grinned and reached up to grab his hand with hers.
Ash caught him looking and gave him a knowing grin. "Oh, yeah. Girls dig the smart dudes."
"Guess you're in luck then, Sam," Dean said.
"All right you three," Ellen commented with an amused shake of her head. "Ash, you hear back from the Walkers?"
"Ayup," Ash replied. "Mikey says they're still taking out that nest."
"Damn," Ellen said. "He say how much longer it'd take?"
"Awhile yet," Ash told her. "Don't think they're gonna get here to take a look any time soon."
"Guess we should pass it off, then," Ellen said, then looked at the two groups. "You guys looking for a job?"
"Always," Dean said.
"What is it?" Pru asked.
"We think it might be a possession. Or, actually, several possessions," Ellen told them. "But we're pretty sure it's the same demon."
"It's got a nice little pattern that's easy to follow," Ash said. "It likes to get in on one of those murder mystery deals. You know, you pay money to mingle with actors and other guests until someone dies. Then you play amateur detective and figure out who did it."
"I've been to one of those," Pru said. "In high school. It was a dinner thing."
"Well, this one likes the bed and breakfasts," Ellen said. "Weekend and week long getaways. It possesses someone and, at the end of the whole thing, uses them to kill someone."
"Ends everyone's vacation with a bang," Ash commented.
"Why?" Phoebe asked. "I mean, what's it want?"
"Not sure," Ellen said.
"Any pattern to the people possessed or the victims?" Pru asked.
"Nope. Sometimes it's an actor, sometimes a guest. Seems random," Ellen replied.
"What about locations?" Sam asked.
"Now there, we've got a pattern," Ash said. "There've been four so far. The next one's gonna be at the Allenberry Resort Inn in Boiling Springs, Pennsylvania. The Mystery Theatre starts Monday."
Sam frowned for a moment. "Ellen, you think this is something that we let out?"
"I don't know, sweetie, it could be," Ellen said, then frowned at the look on his face. "Sam, that was not your fault. We're the ones that got it closed, remember?"
"Uh, what closed?" Piper asked.
"You mean you haven't heard?" Ash asked. "It's been everywhere."
"We haven't talk to any hunters in, what, a month?" Paige asked.
"Not since Haley in Redwood City, so yeah. A month, month and a half," Pru agreed.
"A gate to Hell," Ellen said. "It was open for a little while."
"Are you serious?" Phoebe asked.
"For how long?" Piper questioned.
"Long enough to let a bunch of those sons of bitches out," Dean said.
"But we got it closed," Ellen said. "And there may be an army, but the leader's dead. That's probably why the Apocalypse hasn't started yet."
"Great," Pru said. "So you think this thing might be one of them? Then let's go get it."
"If it is something that crawled out, it's gonna be tough. Powerful," Ellen told them. "Be careful. Don't let it know you're on its tail."
"So we just have to go there, figure out what the demon is, what it wants, who it's possessing, and who it wants to kill?" Paige asked.
Piper shrugged. "We figure out who it's possessing and we'll find out the rest."
"We'll take it," Dean said.
"Great. Thanks guys," Ellen said. "We booked three spaces at the thing, but there were others left last I checked. I'll call and get three more."
"Awesome," Dean said. "Until then, how about those drinks?"
"How about you help me with some painting and then I'll give you them on the house?" Ellen asked.
Pru grinned. "Works for me.
They didn't leave the Roadhouse until after nine PM, and it was nearly three AM before they finally pulled off into a random town for the night. They checked into a motel, then walked to their rooms in silence.
"What time are we leaving tomorrow?" Pru asked when they got to their rooms.
"Whatever time we wake up," Dean replied.
Piper shrugged. "'Kay. Come knock on our door."
"We'll see you then," Phoebe said sleepily, ducking inside her motel room.
"Uh-huh," Paige agreed, following after her.
Piper and Pru said their good nights as well, then Dean and Sam headed into their own room.
"You hungry?" Dean asked as he dropped his duffel bag in a chair next to one of the beds. "I saw an all night diner down the street."
"Sounds good," Sam agreed. "Can I grab a shower first?"
"Yeah, sure," Dean said. "But hurry your ass up, I'm starving."
"Okay," Sam replied, shrugging out of his hoodie, then tugged off his shirt and chucked them both on his bed. He shut himself in the bathroom and showered as quickly as possible. Quicker than he usually would have, even with Dean's warning to move his ass. Mainly because he knew Dean wasn't going to like Sam's next suggestion. Sam figured maybe the prospect of getting to eat sooner would soften Dean up. Or make him more suspicious. But Sam was hoping for the first one.
When Sam was out of the shower and putting on a clean shirt in under ten minutes, Dean raised an eyebrow. "Decide not to use your pink coral flower Herbal Essence conditioner this time, Bambi?"
Sam rolled his eyes. "I got that once, Dean, because they were out of everything else." Actually, he had gotten it because it had been Jess's favorite, and after…well, it made him feel closer to her. He suspected that if he told Dean that, he'd shut up about it, but it wasn't something Sam really wanted his brother to know. He also didn't want to admit that yeah, he had forgone the conditioner that time. "You said to hurry; I hurried."
Dean shrugged. "All right then. Let's go."
Sam headed out the door, waiting while Dean checked to make sure it was locked. Then, he suggested in a deliberately casual tone, "We should check and see if they want to come with us."
Dean stared at him. "I'm sorry, who?"
Sam frowned. "You know who, Dean."
"And you know what my response is," Dean replied, starting for the car.
"Fine. You be an ass, and I'll go ask," Sam told him. "They'll probably be sleeping, anyway."
"I'm not being an ass. You're the one who wants to wake them up," Dean grumbled.
Sam ignored him and went to knock on their door.
"You take too long and I'm leaving you with the witches," Dean called as he reached his car and leaned against the driver's side door.
Sam waited for another few moments and was about to conclude that they were indeed sleeping when the door opened.
Pru stood there, wearing a black tanktop with a red X inside a circle across her chest and a pair of black Led Zeppelin boxers. "Hey, Sam," she greeted sleepily, though she looked wide awake.
"Sorry. Were you sleeping?" Sam asked.
She shook her head. "Nah. You need something?"
"Not really," Sam replied. "We're going to go grab something to eat. You want to come along?"
"I heard something about food," Piper commented, coming up behind Pru in a blue sports bra and a pair of Happy Bunny pajama bottoms.
Pru absently draped her arm over Piper's shoulders. "Do we wanna go eat with them?"
"Of course!" Piper replied, then poked her head out the door and frowned. "It's cold. Give us a minute to get dressed?"
"Sure," Sam replied. "But, uh, make it quick. Dean's impatient."
"No problem. Be right back," Pru said, closing the door.
Sam glanced back at Dean, who gestured for him to hurry up. Sam held up his right hand, lifting his index finger and mouthing, "one minute." Dean fumed, but fortunately it was less than a minute before the door opened again. Pru and Piper slipped out, shutting it behind them. Piper was now wearing a gray hoodie and Pru had pulled on a pair of jeans, but other than that they were still in their pajamas. Which was probably why they had managed to change so quickly.
"Got a place in mind?" Pru asked as they started walking towards Dean.
"Yeah, there's a diner down the street," Sam replied. "It's close, so we don't have to drive."
"Sounds good," Piper said.
Dean remained leaning against his car as the three of them stopped in front of him. "Where're your sisters?"
"Sleeping," Piper told him. "We asked if they wanted to go, but we just got vague mumblings."
There was a moment of silence, then Sam said, "I figured since the place is just down the street, we might as well walk and save gas."
Dean shrugged. "Whatever. Let's move it."
There was more awkward silence as they walked towards the diner. Dean put himself between Sam and the two women, although he maintained his distance. Pru walked in between him and Piper, her left arm threaded loosely through Piper's right. They looked more or less at ease, but Dean knew when he was being watched.
Piper shoved her hands into her sweatshirt pockets and shivered. "I knew I should have grabbed a jacket. It's freezing."
"It's June, Piper. Almost August," Pru commented.
"Yes, but it's June in Iowa at four AM, which means it's cold," Piper replied. "You should have brought a sweatshirt."
"Why?" Pru asked. "It's almost sixty degrees, I'm not cold."
"Because then I could have it," Piper said.
Pru grinned. "We're gonna be there in, like, thirty seconds." She peered at the restaurant across the street. "Assuming that's it."
"That's it," Dean said.
They jaywalked across to the diner in silence, which continued as they sat down at a table and looked at their menus.
"So," Piper spoke up. "You guys have any ideas on how to figure out who's the demon?"
"Can't think of any on your own?" Dean asked.
"Dean," Sam protested.
"You have more experience than us," Pru replied. "That's why we wanted to work with you, remember? Plus, trying to accidentally spill holy water on everyone would be annoying. And blow our cover."
"And supposedly there are demons that are immune to holy water," Piper added. "Although we've never come across one of those."
There was a pause for a moment, then Sam said quietly, "We have."
"Oh," Pru said. "Guess we should take that off the theoretical list." For a moment, she wanted to ask them for details, but it was pretty obvious they didn't want to talk about it. So she dropped the subject and instead said, "We could say the Lord's name to everyone, but that would alert the demon to our presence, too."
"So we narrow it down, then try one of the tests," Sam said.
The waiter came to take their orders and they waited for him to leave before picking up the conversation.
"We could draw a couple of Devil's Traps and lure people into them," Dean said.
"As long as we do it later into the thing," Sam said. "Give us time to narrow the list. And less likely that the demon'll notice the traps."
"How're we gonna narrow the list, Sam?" Dean asked. "Could be any of them."
"I don't know, talk to people? Follow them, find out everything about them?" Sam suggested.
"Question," Pru commented. "What's a devil's trap?"
"Just what it sounds like," Dean replied.
"It's a symbol," Sam said. "Demons step inside it and they can't get out."
"Ah," Pru said. "'Kay. I like it."
"Me, too," Piper agreed. "Plus, we've got our familiars. They've got great perception about people."
Pru grinned. "It's how we knew you two were okay to hitchhike with."
"Oh, good. You have little moral compasses that follow you around. That'll be helpful," Dean commented.
"Your words are good and yet your tone is sarcastic," Pru said. "I think I'll just ignore the sarcasm part."
Sam smiled a bit and Dean grabbed his water, gulping it down.
"I wonder how the hell Ash and Ellen put this together," Piper said absently.
"Ash is good," Sam replied.
"Speaking of Ash, what's with him and you two?" Dean asked.
"Nothing," Piper replied with a grin. "Just all around harmless flirting."
"Ash is a good guy," Pru agreed. "We like him."
The waiter came back to give them their food and for awhile they ate in silence.
Then, Pru commented, "You don't like witches."
"Not really, no," Dean informed her.
"Dean," Sam said.
"How many times you gonna say my name, Sam? You think it's gonna change my mind or something?" Dean asked.
"It's okay," Piper said. "Well, no, it's not okay, but we get it all the time. We're used to it."
"I don't trust witches," Dean said. "They're usually evil."
"Yeah, well, we're not," Piper said.
"So you say," Dean pointed out. "I'm waiting to see."
"You're paranoid," Pru informed him. "Not saying that's a bad thing. I kinda am, too. But this job's gonna be about finding out who's deceiving us. We're probably going to have to at least trust that we're not out to get each other."
"That's a lot to ask," Dean said.
"We're after the same thing," Sam interjected. "That's enough, right?"
Piper shrugged. "Good enough for me."
Pru nodded. "Me too. Hey, anyone wanna try this omelet? It's amazing."
"You know I'm always up for food," Piper said, leaning over to snatch some of the offered omelet.
"You can have the rest, I'm done," Pru said, passing her the omelet and starting in on her pancakes.
"You need the syrup?" Sam asked.
"No, thanks, I'm not a big fan of syrup." Pru replied.
Dean stared at her. "Okay, forget the witch thing. What kind of freak doesn't like syrup?"
"Thank you," Piper said. "That's what I'm always telling her."
"I like it on waffles. And French toast," Pru protested.
"Whatever. You're weird, sis," Piper told her.
"Pancakes are what syrup was made for," Dean said.
"Yeah, but if I don't eat the syrup, then you guys can have it," Pru said.
"If I was eating pancakes, that'd work," Dean said.
"Fine, make sense," Pru commented. "You want it, Sam?"
Sam blinked, then shrugged. "Sure. Thanks."
"No problem," Pru replied.
They finished the rest of their food and paid, the women insisting on splitting this time. They walked back to the motel, then paused in front of their doors.
"I really hope you're planning on sleeping late tomorrow," Pru commented. "I can drive for ten hours or so on no sleep, but it's not nearly as fun."
"We're not in any hurry," Sam replied. "Sleep does sound great right now."
"Great," Piper said. "Night."
"See you later today," Pru added as they disappeared into their motel room.
"They're not evil," Sam commented in an 'I've told you this before' tone.
"Probably not," Dean admitted. "Like I said, not saying they are. Just saying I don't want to work with them." He shrugged. "Well, we'll see how they handle themselves."
Author's Note: I own nothing! There is really a Allenberry Resort and Inn, but as far as I know, there is no demon killing people there, so I'm not trying to discourage anyone from staying there. Also, the lyrics at the beginning of this chapter are from The Who's Who Are You.