Chapter 2

Dean's POV:

I was pretty sure my brother was going to kill me.

It'd been a week since our last hunt, and I was going absolutely fucking nuts. Sam, being the only one who was actually around, was admittedly probably getting the worst of an angry Dean. Currently we were in the car: me driving, Sam pointedly trying to ignore me and read his book. He had some huge tome on his lap with letters so small that his nose was literally in the damn book. I think it was more like he was hiding in his book, because to be honest I hadn't been a ray of sunshine lately. Even though we were on our way to a case, we hadn't had been on one in a while, and it had been driving me crazy. If I were the sentimental type I'd say that I was so hell bent on getting a case because that's what my dad would have wanted me to do, or because doing what he wanted us to do would keep my mind off of how he wasn't around anymore.

Good thing I've never been the sentimental type.

"So where are we going again?" I asked Sam, attempting to break some of the awkward tension. Sam answered tersely, his eyes never leaving his book.

"Knoxville".

"Okay. Why?" I followed up.

"There's been some murders that I wanna check out" he replied as he flipped a page. I rolled my eyes; I know I'd been difficult to be around lately, and being the girl he was he was probably ignoring me. I'd play along with this little angsty thing that he was doing for a while, but if he didn't look up soon I'd be forced to send his book on a one way trip down the highway.

"What kind of murders?" I asked, curiously.

"3 families, all dead in house fires", he answered. I huffed.

"Well if you wanna share with the class why that's any of our damn business, I'd love to hear it". He sighed dramatically, but looked up from his book anyways. I mean he glared at me, but he looked up.

"In each house the fires came from in one of the rooms, and all the doors and windows were boarded up from the inside. So either Knoxville has got some seriously deranged, suicidal family members, or…"

"Or we've got ourselves a ghost", I said, grinning at Sam before turning my eyes back to the road. He shook his head and chuckled.

"Careful. Being this excited about a murderous ghost is borderline sadistic", he remarked dryly.

"Can't help it man. We haven't had a case in forever, and I'm starting to feel way too civilian for my comfort", I said honestly.

"Uh huh. I'm sure that's what's been bugging you", he said sarcastically. I raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah it is. But if you've got some better insight on my own damn feelings I'd love to hear it", I replied with a small smirk, daring him to say something. He shook his head.

"Forget it".

"Oh come on Sammy. No emotional intuition from you today?" I questioned hotly. I knew exactly where he was about to go with that, and I would be damned if I was gonna get all touchy feely and start talking about dad. Instead, I decided to do what I do best: go on the offensive. "I mean I know the fact that we haven't run into that chick again is hurting your little girl feelings, but come on Oprah, please share". His head snapped towards the window.

"Shut up", he grumbled. Ah, there we go, I'd struck a nerve. I smirked. I knew he was still hung up on that other hunter we'd met a few weeks back in the Midwest. He was pining after her like a dog, and I would've found it funny if I didn't find it so pathetic.

I mean the girl was good, but she was irritating as hell. I personally wouldn't mind if we never ran into her again, but clearly Sam was still hoping she'd magically appear again. Regardless, he didn't say anything after that and we rode out the last few miles in silence.

After we got into town we headed to the police station to do the whole 'FBI investigation, give us the files and don't ask questions' routine. Problem was, none of the fires had left any survivors so finding people to talk to was gonna be a bitch. Getting the case files was gonna be a start though. I felt a smile on my face as we walked up the steps to the police station. It felt good to be working and doing what I do again; good to be back to normal. So good that I damn near had a skip in my step. Sam eyed me questioningly, grabbing my arm and pulling me aside as we walked through the doors.

"Dude. I'm happy you're so excited, but tone back the giddiness. It's creepy, and no cop is gonna be this damn eager over some people dying. Alright? ", he said giving me a downright parental look. I shrugged, putting my hands up in surrender. I wiped the grin off my face, realizing Sam was right, and we headed towards the desk. It was manned by a younger, doe-y eyed cop who was currently gazing at some woman talking to him. Girl was wearing some kinda professional looking get up: one of those tight business-type black skirts and a matching jacket. The skirt was shorter than I guessed was allowed in most offices, but the young cop didn't seem to mind much. I scoffed and started to walk forward anyway, until I felt Sam grab my arm once more and pull me back.

"Dean. Don't you know who that is?" he said, gesturing at the woman and looking about as doe-y eyed as the cop. I scrunched my face before looking again. The woman was tallish, with long black hair that hung, wavy, to the small of her back. She had a bunch of rings adoring almost all of her fingers, and I thought I saw the ghost of a tattoo where her shirt began to fall from her shoulder. I frowned as I turned back to Sam. He rolled his eyes.

"Don't strain yourself", he said condescendingly. "It's' that chick' you've been on my ass about for the last week. That's Cecilia".

As realization dawned on me, I felt my face turn into what could only be described as a pout (though I would never describe it as such). Now I understood why the girl had seemed so unprofessional towards the cop at the desk. Why she was shamelessly twirling a piece of her hair in front of the dopey looking kid. Annoyance welled in my chest as I crossed my arms. Sam chuckled in wonder and gazed at the girl, who was now grabbing some manila folders from the young cop. Poor dude looked like he was about to faint. I huffed and started to walk over. Girl had already beaten me to a pack of bloodsuckers, and I'd be damned if she was gonna beat me to a rampaging, arsonist ghost.

As I Sam and I reached the desk neither the chick, Cecilia I guess, nor the sweaty cop even glanced our way. So I cleared my throat loudly until they turned to face us, each with a wildly different expression. The kid looked pissed to have been interrupted in what I'm sure he thought was some great flirting. (Honestly though, the poor guy was in way over his head; I mean I'd seen Sammy flirt better than him, and Sam had never flirted a day in his life). Cecilia had a brief flash of recognition pass her face before it snapped back into a cool, smiling facade. Anyone watching wouldn't have even noticed anything off, which was almost impressive.

Almost.

"Sorry to interrupt, but we need the case files for all the recent fires", I said showing my fake FBI badge. "It's kind of urgent".

The cop at the desk finally tore his eyes away from staring at Cecelia's chest just long enough to furrow his brow at me.

"Well I would've be happy to have given them to you, uh, sir, but..."

"But it looks like I've beaten you to it Agent...Osbourne", Cecilia interrupted, sneaking a look at the fake badge I wore on my coat pocket. "Maybe my car's just a little bit faster than yours, but don't worry about it I was going to bring these files to you as soon as you motored your way into town", she finished with what probably looked like an honest and endearing expression, but what I knew to be a smirk aimed straight for me.

I gritted my teeth at the mention of my car; somehow this bitch knew that insulting the Impala was like insulting me, and boy did I feel insulted. But her smirk was soon replaced by a pointed look sent my way as she filled the silence left by my lack of a response.

"Don't you remember? Our supervior asked us to work together on this one. What with the scale of it, and all the publicity and whatnot I guess she figured that three heads are better than one", she said throwing stabs with her eyes, daring Sam or I to contradict her. I got the message: play along, blow my cover and there will be hell to pay (it was a looked I'd also perfected throughout the years). And as much fun as blowing her cover sounded, I just knew that this chick would take us down with her and I didn't much feel like trying to break out of another jail cell tonight. So I nodded and politely smiled.

"Mhm ah", I agreed. Sam cleared his throat.

"So if you've gotten the files Agent...Cobain", he said glancing at her badge. "We can go discuss them elsewhere". I looked at her with an amused expression.

"Cobain huh?" I said lightly. "I forgot that was your name". She smiled genuinely this time and even giggled a little.

"Well with a first name like Francis no one really remembers your last name", she said lightheartedly. I laughed out loud; this girl may be a pain in the ass, but she sure did know how to pick a name. I could respect that.

Sam and the cop looked confused, and before long Cecilia cleared her throat and turned to the kid at the desk.

"Well Jack you've been a doll, but like Agent...Hetfield said", she said glancing at Sam's badge. "We've gotta start discussing these cases. See ya round". She linked arms with Sam and started out the door.

"Wait!"

The poor kid looked even more flustered, and began to shuffle his papers around frantically. "Well, uh, here let me give you this number. It goes directly to the front desk, which I've been assigned to all night tonight", he said with what I'm sure he thought to be a suave look sent Cecilia's way. I saw Sam's jaw tighten, and he grabbed the post-it from the man with a self-assured smirk.

"Thanks. We'll be in touch", he said, tossing it in his pocket and steering Cecilia out the door. I chuckled at the expression on his face before following my brother out the door.

Score one for Sammy.

When we got outside I crossed my arms and faced Cecilia.

"So. Our supervisor wants us to work together huh?" I smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Don't feel so flattered Ozzie", she said playfully. "I just didn't want your big mouth to ruin everything". I frowned.

"Whaddya mean my big mouth? I'm a professional", I said, pushing out my chest. Sam snickered and Cecilia looked at him before smirking at me and shrugging.

"Can't be too careful. Besides I was trying to get out of there without that poor guy's number. So thanks for taking care of that", she turned to Sam, who's ears turned a shade of pink I was almost ashamed to admit had adorned someone I was related to. He just cleared his throat and nodded politely.

"Yeah sure anytime", he muttered. It was my turn to roll my eyes.

"So the files. You gonna let us see 'em or what?" I broke Sam's awkward tension with my usual bluntness. She exhaled.

"Tell you what. How bout we work together on this one? I think I've just about got it figured out, but I just need the files to confirm some things I've guessed", she said. I tightened my arms across my chest. Sam threw me a challenging look before looking down at Cecilia.

"Of course we can work together", he said, smiling at her like a dope. I groaned loudly and he turned to frown at me. "Excuse us a second", he told her before dragging me off to the side to speak. She just nodded and opened up one of the files. I glared at Sam hotly before talking.

"What? I hate working with other hunters, and this girl's done nothing but push my buttons since we've met her", I pushed. He crossed his arms as well.

"Only because you've been a baby the entire time we've known her. Face it Dean, you don't like that she might actually be good at what we do too, and you really don't like that for once someone beat you to a case", he fired back.

"Oh that is not it", I bluffed. He shot me a disbelieving look.

"Oh really? Cause by all accounts you and this girl should be freaking bff's. You both like the same kind of music far as I can tell, you pick the same stupid references for your fake names, and you're both the biggest flirts on the face of the Earth", he listed sardonically. I shrugged.

"So the girl has decent taste in music. Big deal. Doesn't mean I have to be all happy to work with her", I shot. Truth be told, I wasn't as angry to work with Cecilia as I let on; the girl had style, that much was undeniable. Besides, Sam was clearly gunning to work with her, and I had been a pill lately, so the least I could do was give the kid a break. He rolled his eyes at me, and we walked back to where she was still standing, reading through the files. She looked up to acknowledge us with a questioning look.

"Everything sorted?" she asked plainly. I nodded once before clearing my throat.

"So what'd you find in those files?" I asked. Her eyes brightened.

"Everything I needed. In fact I know where the ghost will be tonight", she stated proudly. Sam and I glanced at each other before looking at her again. She nodded. "Fires all take place around midnight, which means we haven't got unlimited time", she said shoving a post-it in my face and heading towards the same hunk of junk truck she'd taken from the vampires a few weeks ago. "That's the address, I've got some stuff to do before this whole thing goes down, so I'll meet you there at dusk and explain then". She hopped into the truck and drove off, waving as she left. Sam turned to look at me, his expression one of pure bewilderment. I shrugged and began walking to the Impala.

"Starting to see why you're so obsessed with her" I said as we climbed in. "She's got some serious style".