October, 1997 – Mistbank, Louisiana
Sam took a seat near the front of the auditorium to watch the town's high school Mathlete team (Up-arrow IQ, he was sure it was funny but he didn't get it) prepare for their Mathletic's match next week, while he waited for Dean to get out of detention; they'd only been here a week but of course he had detention already.
The team wasn't really comprised of the typical math geeks (braces, glasses etc.), just fairly average kids, except one girl who had Sam's attention from the beginning. Her hair was scraggly and scruffy, her nails were pained black, she wore tight pants with ratty high-tops and a Van Halen t-shirt with a plaid shirt that was a few sizes too big, and she quite simply kicked ass.
The math teacher – the team's coach – cleared his throat. He was quite a young teacher in an ill-fitting suit, he was clearly enthusiastic about maths "Now, the penultimate question before I let you all go. If all the angles of similar triangles are equal, corresponding sides need not be equal and sides are proportional as given by this equation: AB/DE = AC/DF = BC/EF
Then if, on a bright sunny day, you decide to calculate the height of the CN Tower. You measure the length of the CN Tower's shadow on a flat ground to be 258.1 meters. At the same location and time you find that the shadow cast by a 3 meter high lamp post is 1.4 meters. Can you approximately calculate the height of the CN Tower? I want the method and the answer for two points, you have two minuets" he clicked a button on the stop-watch he held.
There was only a brief moment of silence where each Mathlete took on their 'working out the equation' face and started scribbling on their notepads, and the girl – Kate, according to the sign on her podium – chewed her painted lip for a moment, making Sam squirm in his seat, and scribbled something on her note pad before she brought a hand down on her buzzer, her lips pulled back into what Sam considered to be her signature smirk.
"Yes, Kate?" he said, in the same tone he used every time she answered a question, like he'd been expecting it, but with a strange sense of pride too.
"Well Steve" she smirked playfully, the teacher had only half-heartedly told her off for that earlier in the evening for using his first name "My method: Using the principle of similar triangles you so kindly supplied us with, you would divide 258.1 meters (the height of the tower's shadow) by 1.4 meters (the height of the lamp-post), which would equal the height of the CN Tower divided by 3" she said proudly "Giving you an answer of 553 meters"
The teacher tried and failed to hide his grin as he awarded her the two points, bringing her score out of the first-place tie and into a leading '36' points. Kate wrote something down on her notepad as the teacher rattled off the scores and talked about how each team member was going. Just as he was about to start the question she held up her A4 notepad, on which she'd written 'I *heart* Steve' in black marker, with a little arrow through the heart. She topped it off with a deliberate, cheeky wink towards the teacher. He let out a shaky laugh and tugged at his collar as subtly as he could manage, trying to explain the final question.
Dean watched his younger brother curiously. The kid looked kinda... spaced, like he was day dreaming or something. Before he could tease him about it, their dad pulled up in the Impala, then started telling him about tonight's hunt
Kate went over the papers in the folder her dad – Bill – had handed her as they set off from the school in their black pick-up. She pushed on her glasses and hummed as she read.
"Think you're right Bill," she said, pushing her glasses back up her nose "it does look like a Crocotta... nasty little nest of 'em" she frowned as she checked over the pages again "Looks a bit old fashioned though... they're really working out of the forest? I thought they used technology now, like phones and stuff?"
He shrugged, "Sweetie, I could spend every hour o'the day tryin' to understand why they do what they do, but sometimes it's just best to accept it and move on"
"Guess you're right... probably nesting in a swamp, which makes sense. You should call round to see if you can get a partner on this though, I want you back in one piece" she started filing the papers away as they got closer to their home "And take Jack with you too, I'll keep the Colonel with me" Jack was the Wolf Shepherd that they'd had since Kate was a baby (probably not the best idea Bill had ever had), and the Colonel (actually named Blackwell) was the Great Dane they'd bought as a puppy on Kate's sixteenth.
"I've already called in a favor, guy I met back when you were still a kid, remember the call I got on your tenth birthday? He owes me big from then" The corner of his mouth twitched "and actually sweetie, you're nearly eighteen now, and I think that this'd be good for your first hunt" he said as he pulled into the long dirt-track drive-way to their house.
Kate barely contained her excitement "But I thought you said you were going to wait until you found a standard vengeful?"
He cut the engine "Well I lied, and who better to have on your back than family?"
She burst into a grin "Imma find out where the nest is" she said brightly, all but racing into the house, leaving all the doors she passed through wide-open.
Dean tucked a back-up knife into his boot as John loaded a shotgun. Of course there wasn't any kind of bullet that could kill a Crocotta, but it would slow it down for long enough to stab it in the spine. They were on a dis-used dirt-track waiting for this other hunter John owed a favor to.
As they finished arming themselves, a black pick-up pulled up behind the Impala. The moment the engine cut, what Dean was convinced was a wolf jumped out the back, and instantly started sniffing round the car. The wolf caught the Winchesters scent and started approaching them, Dean started to back away from it just as two people got out the pick-up. The man who got out the driver's side was the first speak.
"Don't run from 'im boy, he'll chew your leg off before he let's you get away" he said in a gruff voice. His dark hair was going grey, he had a horse-shoe mustache and was easily taller than John by at least six or seven inches; he was the kind of guy you'd expect to see on a Harley followed by a gang of equally tough bikers, he was definitely not the kind of guy you wanted to mess with. He whistled sharply, and the wolf reluctantly retreated back to his master.
When the wolf was gone, Dean got a good look at the girl who'd gotten out the passenger side. She was long-legged and gorgeous.
She tossed back her hair and straightened out her Van Halen t-shirt, and when she caught sight of Dean checking her out, she winked and smirked cheekily. When Dean smiled back John smacked him over the back of the head
"Pay attention" he said sternly, only making Dean pull his eyes away from her for a moment. When he looked back she was giggling at him, retrieving a rucksack out the back of the truck. And then she was making her way over to them, holding a folded-up map, which she spread out on the hood of the Impala, smoothing it out with her goddamn near perfect hands.
"John, thanks for coming" said the man, who had followed her over, carrying an identical rucksack and shaking John's hand.
"No problem Bill," he said, there was an odd tension between the two men, like they were holding back from beating the crap out of each other "Bill, this is my son Dean, you said we were probably looking at a nest so I brought him along."
The man, 'Bill', gave Dean a long, hard, scrutinizing stare and a knuckle crunching handshake. "Dean" he said gruffly, like it was some kind of warning. Behind them, the girl cleared her throat "And this is my daughter Kate"
Kate smiled sweetly and shook John's hand "Nice to meet you Mr Winchester" she said, flawlessly charming. She didn't shake Dean's hand, or even greet him with more than a flirtatious look when their dads were looking the other way.
Now - Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Dean watched the laptop screen intently, he'd never been quite so interested in the news.
They only got back from a hunt yesterday, but the recent disappearances in Minnesota were getting out of hand, people had been disappearing for over two months now, but Bobby had assured them there were already two hunters on the job; it looked like the work of a Wendigo, but there were twice as many people missing than there should be for the standard Wendigo, and it was getting way out of hand.
"Bobby, are you sure there's people on this?" asked Sam, looking up at Bobby, who was on the phone
"I thought there were, but I can't get hold of 'em" he said, slamming the phone down after having no answer for the fifth time in a row. He'd been ringing round since he'd seen the same news story yesterday. "And no one's heard from them in weeks either"
"Do you think their-" Sam started to say, but Dean cut him off
"Bobby, are the McCarthy's on this?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the Minnesota news report
Bobby squinted at him "Yeah, how d'you know?"
Dean pointed at the laptop screen "That's their dog"
"What?" exclaimed Bobby, rushing over to get a look. Sam wound the report back a few seconds and turned the volume up.
"...and the Great Dane, nick-named 'Scooby-Doo' found on Tuesday by search and rescue team member Harry Green has been treated at Reynolds Veterinary Center for wounds caused by an unidentified wild animal, dubbed a 'monster' by local residents and eye-witness accounts. It is suspected the 'Monster' is behind recent attacks and disappearances." said the news reader, as clips of the Great Dane and his rescuer, and of the 'monster', were shown of the opposite half of the screen, she went on to list the people missing so far, at which point Dean muted the laptop.
"Are you sure that's Blackwell, Dean?" asked Bobby, unsure "It could be any old dog" Sam looked secptical too
"It's not like they're the only people in the world that have a Great Dane, Dean"
"It's not just that, didn't you see the bikes being towed in the background?" Dean pointed out, already putting on his jacked and picking up the keys to the Impala.
Sam thought for a moment, before winding back through the news footage and freezing the picture when he found the bikes Dean was talking about "One's got that alligator insignia on the side of the gas tank" he asked, "means Bill's probably there at least"
Dean hesitated opening the door "What about the other bike?"
Sam checked the footage again, going through quickly, frame-by-frame "Sorry Dean, there's never a good shot of the other bike" Dean stormed out the door, slamming it behind him. "Dean...!" before Sam could follow him, Bobby called him back.
"Hey, don't let him do anything stupid" he said
Sam gave a half-hearted smile "I'll try Bobby"