Thermopolis, Wyoming

8:54 PM

The waitress came and set the plate of grilled chicken and potatoes in front of her, the ceramic making a soft clunking noise. She smiled weakly, and thanked the waitress girl. The bar/diner was low-lit and quiet, just the soft murmur of the few customers to be heard. There was a faint haze about the place, to match the slight cigarette smell in the air. People ignored one another, and talked quietly. There was the faintest hint of classic rock music coming from the old juke-box across the room from her table, and soft sounds of silver clicking against plates like hers. She half-heartedly cut the chicken into small pieces, then poked through her baked potato. Then she - and nearly everyone else in the small diner - looked to the door at the bell-chime of someone entering.

Two someones, actually. Two men, one tall and thin, with shaggy dark brown hair and a cute face (in a very serious expression for his apparent age); the other shorter by a few inches, handsome, with short, spiky brown hair, a squarer jaw, and also a serious expression. Nothing special, and she went back to tearing the already small pieces of chicken into shreds with her fork. The food looked good, and smelled good, but just didn't sound good. It was hard to eat, she'd discovered, with so much on her mind. Worry, fear, and guilt had it's effects on people. Instead she tried to take a light drink of her beer, but found that wasn't very satisfying either. It all tasted the same anymore. So with a sigh, she rested her forehead on her palm and closed her eyes for a few seconds, trying to clear out her mind.

He was missing, that's honestly all she knew. He'd been missing for days now, and she had nothing, had no idea where she was going. One moment he was in the same hotel room as her, sleeping in the bed opposite, then he's gone. There was no sound, no sign of anything. It was like he had disappeared into thin air. And it was driving her crazy. Since that morning she'd slept a total of maybe five hours, if that. She'd hardly eaten, hardly communicated with anyone other than trying to figure if anyone had seen him. Because people don't just disappear, something always had to happen.

She was shocked out of her thoughts by a man clearing his throat. She looked up emotionlessly and raised an eyebrow. "That didn't take long."

The man smiled a crooked, white flash of teeth. "You're just that eye-catching." He winked and she rolled her eyes. "Can I sit?"

"Suit yourself." She sighed, honestly not caring what the man wanted.

"I'm Dean." He smiled handsomely again, and held out a hand.

She shook it hesitantly. "Nicole." She let go of his rough grip and looked around the small diner for a moment. "You sure don't waste time, do you? You and your friend just got here a couple minutes ago."

"Nah, why waste time just lookin' at ya when talking is so much more interesting?" His baritone voice was practically dripping with flirtation, and it was aggravating.

"What's your friend's name?" Nicole couldn't hold back the small smile on her face, when his faltered at her words. Oh yeah, he could flirt all he wanted but she could mess with him.

Dean looked over his shoulder at the taller man that had arrived with him. "Uh that's Sam. My brother."

"Brother, really? Older or younger?"

"Younger." The smile was back.

"I see."

"You got any siblings?"

Innocent question, but not harmless. She looked down at the beer bottle she was cradling. "Uh, yeah. I've got a younger brother too."

"Is yours as much of a pain in the ass as mine?" The man joked, but she wasn't sharing it.

"He was."

"Was?"

She shook her head. "It's a long story." She took another drink of her beer. "So is that why you're here? To discuss siblings with me?"

His charming white smile was even bigger now. "Oh no. I'm pretty sure you can guess what I'm here for." He winked again, olive-colored eyes reflecting his grin.

For his entertainment, Nicole forced a strained smile of her own. "No thanks."

The confident grin faltered again. "...huh?"

"I said 'no thanks'." She took another drink while he tried to process what she meant. "I take it you don't get that answer often."

"Uh...uh no. Not often..at all.."

"Well there's a first for everything, ain't there?"

"But c'mon, just let me get you a beer."

Nicole stood and raised the bottle she was drinking from. "I think I've got that covered, thanks."

"One more won't hurt, c'mon. Humor me."

Now her smile wasn't as forced, but it held no amusement. "Why would I ever do that? Go score elsewhere, I'm sure you can."

"Aw, now that's not fair. I just wanna t-"

"Is your skull that thick? I said no, got it? Now leave me the hell alone." She threw down a couple bills on the table for the waitress to clean up food that hadn't been touched, and stalked away. Surprisingly not out of the diner, just to the bar. Simply, away from him. And when she sneakily glanced over a few seconds later, the man was still recovering from being turned down. Nicole couldn't help but smile, and ordered herself another drink. The unwelcome arrival had interrupted her thinking.

"Excuse me," Nicole was interrupted again by a softer male voice. She looked up and saw the taller, younger guy, Sam. "Do you mind if I sit here?" He gestured to the stool beside her. Nicole sighed heavily, already beyond tired of these guys' game.

"Why not."

"Thanks." He settled down, ordered his own beer and then turned to face her. He took a breath, a nervous, cute smile on his face, and extended his large hand. "I'm Sam Winchester."

"Nicole." She shook his hand quickly, then went back to her beer. Sam took another breath, but she cut him off. "I already told your brother no, so don't expect me to change for you."

"What? Oh, uh, no that's not what I was gonna say."

She raised an eyebrow. "No, eh? Than what?"

"I wanted to apologize for him, actually." His cute, bright grin was practically an apology in itself. "He was out of line. I just don't think he's used to being turned down." He chuckled softly and she faintly smiled.

"Yeah, didn't really seem like it."

"Yeah. So anyway, that's all really. Dean just thinks he can roll around and get whoever he wants all the time. Probably a good thing someone proved him wrong." He just smiled now and she did back.

"So, uh, Sam, do you and Dean live here?"

"Nah, we're just passing through. Got some business to do, then we're done."

"Yeah? What kinda business in this little town?"

"Uhm, just family stuff really." He played with his beer bottle while speaking. "What about you?"

"I'm here on family stuff too, I guess you could say."

"Business, or just to see family?"

"I'm, uh, actually looking for part of my family. My little brother, actually."

"He live here?" Sam's dark, soft-hazel eyes were studying her.

"No, he and I were visiting some family down in Casper. He, uh, wandered off I guess."

"Wandered off?" Sam's brown eyebrows were furrowed in curiousity now. "How do you mean?"

Nicole sighed and shrugged. "I don't know, it's nothing."

"No, it might be something. Maybe I can help."

She stared at him for a long while, carefully observing the young man. He seemed honestly interested and maybe concerned. Would he think she was overreacting, like everyone else did? She sighed. "My brother has..disappeared. That's really the only way to explain it. One moment he was there, the next, gone."

"Disappeared? Did you see him suddenly vanish or did it happen when you weren't there?"

Nicole was surprised by the intensity of Sam's question, but took advantage of it. "When we were checking out from the hotel, I had him go wait outside. I came out, and he was gone."

"Gone? Did he say he was going to go somewhere, or-"

She shook her head. "No."

"How long were you checking out?"

"Uh, maybe..two minutes? It was a short line."

Sam nodded slowly, dark eyes thinking. "You didn't hear anything? See anything?"

"No, nothing."

"Was there any sign of struggle maybe?"

"No. His bags were still sitting there. Even his coat. I asked around the entire hotel, but no one had seen anything." Nicole's blue eyes were showing some of the fear she'd been holding onto. "He was just gone."

"How did you wind up here?"

"Thomas had some friends living here that I thought he might come to see, or who might know where he would be. I came up here to talk with them." She sighed. "I've been here the whole day and found absolutely nothing."

"How long ago did Thomas disappear?"

"About three days."

Sam nodded again, thinking.

"Sam, do you know what might have happened to my brother?"

"I don't know yet, but I might be able to help you figure it out."

Nicole paused, watching him. "Why would you offer to help me find Thomas? You don't know either of us, and for all you know, I might be crazy."

Sam smiled faintly, glancing down before meeting her eyes. "It's sort of my job."

With perfect timing, Sam's older and rather overly-confident brother sauntered up to them both. He looked between them, with that shit-eating grin of his flashing broadly. "Hey you two. How are things goin'?"

Nicole smirked, his obvious jealousness of Sam radiating off of him. "Good, actually." She cut in before Sam could, oddly enjoying tormenting the older man. "Sam here was just offering to help me out with something."

"Oh?" Dean raised his eyebrows and turned to Sam, silently demanding an answer.

Sam looked uncomfortable, glancing between Dean and Nicole with his mouth open in hesitation to reply. "Uh..uh, yeah. She was telling me about this thing with her brother, and I thought..well, it might be our kinda thing." He shrugged slightly and made eye contact with Dean, as if to hint at something.

"Our kind of thing?" Dean repeated and Sam nodded. The green eyes turned to Nicole now. "So what's the deal with your brother?"

She sighed again, having to quickly detach herself from the now serious olive-gaze and took a swig of her beer. "Sit."