Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or its characters. It will never be mine even if I want it to be.
Tomorrow We'll Know
So, Dick Roman was dead.
The news took America by surprise and people did not know how to react to such an unexpected event. Some were led to believe that it was a cruel joke, especially since there was no body to claim his death – it seemed as though Dick Roman just disappeared – and some believed he just fled to a remote island to escape from the 'stress' the economy was bringing on him. But everyone knew that Dick Roman was not that kind of character. He was confident, he was sure, he was fearless and he sure was not a man that runs. So they knew deep inside their minds that Dick Roman was truly dead.
And once people started realizing the effects the death of one Dick Roman can have on his enterprise, the stocks started to crash instantly in what is now referred to as the Stock Market Crash of 2011.
The collapse of Dick Roman's so-called empire was bigger news than his mysterious death itself, and the man, who was once dubbed as 'the emperor' and other clichés like 'founder of the empire' by the press, was now a symbol for loss and defeat.
Within a few days after his death, Richard Roman Enterprises collapsed and officially went bankrupt. Thousands lost their jobs all over America, their pensions, and anything they invested in the company. The sympathy of those who devoted their lives working and serving for Dick Roman slowly started to turn into anger and bitterness. They figured they didn't want to work for a company that doesn't know how to pick up the pieces and run itself without one man's authority.
Gemma Rosemond was one of them.
She considered herself a lucky person, being handed an internship for RRE during college and offered a paid position upon completion of the internship, even though she managed to make a few mistakes here and there. She liked her co-workers well enough and she had a managing boss that didn't breathe all over her and let her finish her work in peace.
Sometimes, she would even have the chance to see Dick Roman in person, like that one time he happened to pass by her as he made his way over to the IT department to talk to someone named Charlie, which Gemma later found out through the latest gossip during that time, that Dick Roman was secretly seeing this quirky red-head girl. Gemma didn't know much about both of them, but she had to appreciate his charismatic stare and confident steps. She also had a thing for authority figures in suits.
But it didn't matter anymore, because Dick Roman was dead, and she was out of a job.
She applied for other jobs and painfully managed through interviews, but the positions she was applying for were already full, or they've been getting an influx of applicants due to those thousands that lost their jobs, which officially meant that they had somebody better in mind that was more suited for the job than her.
In need of immediate money, she figured she might as well start from below and filled out an application at a local restaurant she would have lunch at with her co-workers.
"How can I help you?"
Gemma reached into her purse and took out her application, "Yeah, hi, I'm here to turn in this job…" She stopped when she looked up to find it was Kathy Bates, fellow ex-employee from RRE, looking equally embarrassed as Gemma.
"Hi," Gemma greeted out of courtesy. She really needed to get out of here.
"Hi," She replied back, taking her application. "Listen, I'm only telling you this because I know you, but we've had twenty applications just from the past three days, almost all of them from RRE, and there aren't any open positions here. I heard that the diner across the block is looking for a server."
And that was the last time Gemma saw her.
But she did go across to the shady part of the block to fill out a job application at a place called Lou's Diner. The owner gave her the creeps and the customers were friendlier than they needed to be, but at least she was earning money and she tried hard to stay thankful.
After a month, as luck would have it, when she finally grew tired of all the accidental touches and old men calling her "sugar", she received a call from her aunt in Kansas asking her if she's willing to fill a position at her Randy Raccoon Preschool.
So, Gemma packed her bags, got on a plane to Kansas, and landed on a small city called Salina, where schools have names like Randy Raccoon. She figured it would mark another beginning to her life, even though it was hard to adjust to kids calling her ma'am and the lack of people and life overall.
But, one thing she appreciated was the stability that Salina brought to her, and she was hoping that it really marked a new beginning in her 25-year-old life.
"You zoning out in front of the T.V. again?"
Gemma turned to her roommate Emily coming out of her room and shrugged, "Just thinking."
"About Dick?" Emily questioned as she took a seat next to Gemma, focusing her attention to some news presents talking about how it's almost been a year since Dick Roman's death. "'Cause you know it's been a long time since you got any."
"Oh, that's funny," Gemma smiled as she rolled her eyes. "I still can't believe he's dead."
"I know. I miss his creepy stares too."
"Okay," Gemma shook her head at Emily as she stood up. One thing she loved about her friend was her blatant sense of humor. "I got to get to work."
"No breakfast?"
"You know I'm not a breakfast person."
"Why? Not hungry for Di–"
"Bye!" Gemma interrupted, quickly shutting the door on her way out. It only took a couple of weeks for Gemma to settle into the city, to find a roommate, and she even made friends with the few staff at Randy Raccoon.
As she stepped into the school, she found Linda Hagar taping new pictures and posters on the hallways like she always did every morning. Linda had a strange obsession with cleaning and reorganizing and would always remind the staff to wash their hands before eating which put Gemma off at first but one thing she realized from working with kids is that it's always good to have somebody that loves to clean around you.
"Hey Linda. How are you today?" Gemma asked, looking at all the different paintings the kids made.
"I'm doing great as usual. How about you? I bet you're feeling great this morning like I am," And it's always good to have positive people around you. "If not, just wait till you see what I have in store for today during playtime."
"Something fun for the kids?" Gemma gave her a quick smile before going into the classroom to help prepare what the other teachers were setting up. Before she closed the door she caught Linda laughing to herself and murmuring, "Something fun for everybody."
Gemma enjoyed playtime as much as the children did. She loved being outside in fresh air; it wasn't something she could find back in her old city. The day was sunny and the children were playing nice for once, and it seemed as though the nice weather was bringing everyone's mood up.
As usual, Linda was watching over the kids, making sure they don't get too dirty. The special surprise that Linda was talking about earlier seemed to be finger painting for the kids. "It's finger painting, Aaron, not body painting. Let's get you cleaned up."
Gemma smiled as she watched Linda take Aaron to the outdoor restroom to clean him up. For someone that's all about being clean, Linda seemed to be really asking for it this time.
"Ms. Rosemond, look at this sand castle I built!"
Gemma walked over to the young boy and was amused to find a tall pile of sand in front of him. The other kids also came over to brag about their different sand castles and houses and moats, and she encouraged them to keep up the creative work. She was so distracted that she didn't realize the sudden change in temperature.
"Everyone, take the kids and take cover!" Somebody cried out.
Gemma looked around her and realized that dark clouds were appearing in the sky. The sun disappeared above the clouds and the winds were suddenly blowing so strong that easels and chairs were being knocked over.
She and the other teachers tried to make sure all the children were taking cover. They were crying and screaming and before Gemma had the chance to register what was happening she heard some children cry out, "Tornado! It's a tornado!"
Gemma turned around and saw a tornado forming from the sky. She froze. She's never witnessed or been in a situation like this before and all she could think about was that witch that got crushed by a house in that old movie she couldn't quite remember the name of.
"Ms. Rosemond, don't just stand there! Come here and take cover!" She distantly heard somebody call her but she couldn't move. For once in her life, her mind was completely blank, not having any thoughts or distractions.
"Ms. Rosemond!"
Then all of a sudden her thoughts came all rushing back to her.
What was the name of that movie again? I have sand in my shoes. Is Linda and Aaron still in the restroom? Is this how I'm going to die? My skirt, it's blowing in the wind. Dick Roman. Oh right, Wizard of Oz, that's the name of the movie. How could I forget? Is that a real tornado? What do I do? Oh, it's disappearing. What? Is it supposed to—
"Oh for heaven's sake," Gemma felt somebody tug on her arm and take her to shelter. "Seriously Ms. Rosemond, we live in Kansas, we've been trained for these type of situations."
"No, wait. Look," Gemma stopped whoever it was and pointed to the tornado, "It's gone. It's over."
"Are you out of your mind? Hurry up and follow—" The person, who Gemma later realized to be Mrs. Harding stopped dragging her when she realized the winds weren't blowing as strong anymore. "What in the world?"
Everyone stopped taking shelter and some came out to witness what just happened. Just as fast as the tornado formed, it disappeared.
"Hey, has anyone seen Mrs. Hagar or Aaron?"
Gemma couldn't hear anything that was happening around her. She just had a strange feeling irking up inside of her, like it was trying to tell her, warn her? of something. But right now, all she could register was that she just survived a natural disaster.
"They're missing, Mrs. Harding! They're missing!"
Gemma slowly turned around to look at the mess around her. She closed her eyes, feeling a bit nauseated.
Oh, if she only knew then what one single tornado would bring into her life, she just might have quit on the spot and returned back to her old job at Lou's Diner.
A/N: I've returned from a super long break of writing, and I'm glad to have returned with a Supernatural fic. I finally caught up to season 8 and hope to finish it before the new season starts. Please read/review!