Secret Diary Of A Winchester

Chapter Two: Lies Can Only Cover You For So Long

Ronnie followed her dad into the small diner on the edge of town, the first one that they had come across driving around in search of somewhere to eat. In a panic she had claimed to have no knowledge of the local eating establishments, since she was only supposed to have been there a few days, a snap decision she had a bad feeling was soon going to backfire on her. It was, after all, only a small town. She tried not to let on that everyone there knew who she was, she looked away when she saw someone she knew out of fear they would let on that she spent more time there than she had said. But neither Dean or Sam seemed to have noticed the small nods people would give her as she passed, far too concerned with their own discussion of the case.

Dean wasn't discrete when it came to him shamelessly checking out the young blonde haired waitress behind the counter. She flashed him a bright smile as he approached and then noticed who was standing behind him.

"Hey, Ronnie." she said cheerfully as she pulled out her pad and paper. "Usual?"

Ronnie closed her eyes for a second, inwardly groaning. Her dad wasn't stupid, eventually he was going to sense on that more people knew her around there than was normal. And that would be when he started asking questions, ones she wasn't sure she would be able to answer for him. At least, not truthfully.

"Uh, yeah, please." she smiled, somewhat awkwardly, and nodded, completely avoiding looking up at her dad.

The waitress nodded at her as she scribbled the order down on her pad and turned her attention towards Dean. "And what can I get for you?"

Dean contemplated his answer for a moment, the way he always did, before he came out with the same thing he always ordered. "Double bacon cheeseburger," he glanced back over his shoulder at where Sam was outside on the phone, still talking to the coroners tech, before he turned back to her. "And a salad as well."

She nodded at him and added it to the order. "Sure thing. I'll bring it over for you."

He pushed up a smile and turned from the counter, heading over to one of the booths towards the back of the room. Ronnie dropped down opposite him in the booth with a sigh and looked up at him. There was a small frown furrowed at his brow as he obviously thought hard about something. He was heavy in thought, she could see that just by looking at him, and she didn't have a good feeling about whatever it was swimming around in his head.

"So," Dean cleared his throat and straightened himself up a little. "Let me get this straight, you've been here, what, three days?" Ronnie looked away from him, because she knew what was coming. "Twenty minutes ago you said you hadn't been here long enough to know anywhere to eat and now we're here you already have a usual and the waitress knows your name?" he frowned a little, genuinely confused by her, quite frankly, strange behaviour.

It wasn't like Ronnie to lie about anything, especially to him. There wasn't anything he could imagine her not telling him about. Anytime there had been an issue, something important in her life, he had been the first to know about it. And that was the way they had always been. Honestly, the way she was acting, seemingly trying to hide things from him, the little white lies here and there, it confused him.

Ronnie shifted a little in her seat and played with the ends of her sleeves. She opened her mouth to answer, not sure herself on what she was going to say, but her words stopped as someone called her name from the other side of the diner. Recognising the voice immediately she felt as though she could just crawl into a hole and hide away right there, but instead she turned towards the sound and pushed up a tight smile, shooting the girl bouncing her way towards them a warning glare, something that was obviously completely missed.

Dean looked the girl up and down slowly as she approached them. She appeared to be around the same age as his daughter, wearing a short denim skirt and a cropped vest beneath a tight fitted jacket. Something in the back of his mind told him that if that had been his daughter she would never have been allowed to leave the house without covering herself up, but he pushed the thoughts aside. She headed towards their table wearing a bright smile on her face before she even seemed to notice that Dean was sitting there.

"Kayla." Ronnie all but sighed her name, almost exasperated, and shook her head slowly.

"Sorry," Her blue eyes fell to Dean for a moment before she looked back to Ronnie. "Didn't realise you were work—"

"Uh, what are you doing here?" Ronnie cut her off before she had a chance to finish the sentence.

Kayla frowned, appearing somewhat confused by the strange question, and gestured towards the counter at the other side of the busy room. "I just finished up with a client, I was about to grab some lunch." she said simply, frowning a little.

"Huh." Ronnie nodded, because her friend clearly wasn't getting the silent hints. "This is my dad." she informed her bluntly, pointing to Dean.

"Oh." Her eyes went wide for a moment, as if she had been suddenly slapped with a sense of realisation, before she composed herself and smiled at him. "Hey, nice to meet you." Dean just nodded at her. There was a small frown furrowed at his brows as he watched the two of them, he had a feeling that they were having a conversation between themselves without speaking. "Anyway, I'll, uh, I'll leave you to it." she added, giving a half-hearted wave as she backed away from the table. "See you around."

Dean watched her go curiously. If he didn't know better he could have sworn his daughter wore an expression that meant she had somehow just dodged a bullet. "Who's that?" he asked, genuinely interested.

Ronnie shook her head, brushing it off. "Just a friend." she said simply, as if it wasn't a big deal.

"Just a friend?" repeated Dean, skeptical.

She nodded. "Uh-huh. She, uh, she's a, you know, a beautition. Probably just finished doing a client's nails or something, I don't know." she fumbled over her answer, shaking her head slowly.

"Since when do you know anyone here?" he asked, she didn't miss the slight accusation in his tone. "I thought you were just passing through."

"I am." she answered, almost too quickly. "She went to college with me, but then she moved here. Transferred, actually."

"Huh," Dean simply nodded, he wasn't sure what he made of what she was telling him. She had never given him reason to doubt her before, but the way she was acting, nervous as though she was on trial, it bothered him. "Are you okay, Ronnie? You seem a little, I don't know.. off."

Ronnie shook her head, unsure of what to say. And for a moment, with the way her brows furrowed and her eyes fell to the table, Dean thought that she was going to tell him that something really was wrong. She had a serious look on her face that she only got when she was contemplating telling him something bad. But the sound of her phone ringing from the pocket of her jeans distracted them both. She pulled it out and gave a small sigh at the name on the caller ID.

"Hold on," she muttered. "I've gotta take this."

And without another word she pushed herself up from the table and walked out of the diner with the phone ringing in her left hand.

Dean watched out of the window at where his daughter paced the parking lot as she spoke to whoever had called her. It hadn't seemed that long since he had seen her, but the more he thought about it, he realised it had been over three months since his last visit. Something was definitely different about her. She seemed a lot more defensive, more closed up and to herself. A part of him was starting to think that she even looked different. Truthfully, he hadn't completely recognised her at first, and he'd put it down to the amount of make up and different clothes she had been wearing at the time. But now, with her back in her own clothes and looking herself again, something still wasn't right. Her skin was paler, her eyes seemed shallower, her cheekbones gaunt. She looked exhausted, like she hadn't slept properly in weeks. And a part of him hope that it was just a little stress down to her college work, but he had a feeling that it was something that went deeper than that this time.

Something was wrong with her.

It hadn't been until after Ronnie had turned sixteen that Dean even knew he had a daughter, the outcome of a one night stand he'd had at the young age of seventeen. After her mom had died she had found out the true identity of her real father and, after having nowhere else to turn, she had managed to track him down. At first, Dean had been skeptical, he hadn't been sure what to think. The initial reaction had been demon, some kind of monster of supernatural creature playing mind games with him, but that was before Sam had laid eyes on her. He had taken one look at her and almost just known that it was his niece. The resemblance she had to Dean was far too much to ignore. And so she had stayed on the road with them.

But by the time she had turned nineteen, just after she had gotten hurt on a hunt to the point it had almost cost her life, Dean had decided that he wanted her away from danger. He had all but forced her into college and refused to listen to her protests of not wanting to be there. Somewhere in the back of his mind he just wanted her to have the chance neither he or his brother had been able to have with life. He wanted more for her.

"Dean!"

He snapped from his heavy thoughts at the sound of his younger brother's loud voice. His vision left Ronnie and focused to Sam's face, right in front of his, leaning forward over the table with a concerned frown set in his features. Dean hadn't even seen him come back into the diner.

"What's wrong with you?" Sam asked him seriously. "You're like a billion miles away."

Dean shook his head slowly, he didn't know what it was. "Does something seem, I don't know.." he trailed off and looked back to Ronnie for a moment. "Does something seem different about her to you?"

Sam narrowed his eyes a little. "With Ronnie?"

Dean nodded. "I don't know what it is, it's like she knows something, or she's hiding something. There's something she isn't telling us, Sam. I know it."

Sam gave a shrug, not seeming too concerned about it. "You know what teenage girls are like." he said lightly, more in an attempt to calm Dean's clear worry.

"She's not a teenager anymore." Dean countered. "As you keep reminding me."

Sam couldn't help but roll his eyes at that. "Look, I'm sure she'd say if something was up. There's no way she'd keep anything important from us on a hunt, she's not like that."

"No, I know, I just," he paused, for a second Sam was sure he was about to tell him he was worried about her, but nothing came out. "Why isn't she at college? You don't just take a week off for a hunt because there's nothing to do. I mean, she shouldn't be hunting at all. And, why here? A couple of suicides isn't really a lead to follow, is it? Hell, if we hadn't been passing through town we probably would've put it down to nothing and left it alone. And then there's the lying. One minute she doesn't know her way around this town and the next everyone here knows her name."

Sam thought through what he was saying, and the more he thought it over the more he realised, her behaviour had been a little strange. "So, what?" he raised his eyebrows. "You think she's up to something else here?"

"I don't know, maybe." he pondered. "But I'm gonna find out."


Meanwhile - outside.

Ronnie released a groan and held her phone to her ear, she knew it wasn't a conversation she was going to be able to have in front of her dad or her uncle. No chance.

"Hello?" she answered.

"Amber." A familiar deep voice greeted her through the phone, and she could tell that it wasn't pleased. "Quick question, what happened with your client today? I haven't heard anything back from you, and you know the rules, call before and after every meeting. I want my cut."

She closed her eyes for a second, she hadn't even thought up an excuse to give. What was she supposed to say? She hadn't done her job because it turned out to be her dad and her uncle in the motel room waiting for her, oh and that they were only there because they were hunters, meaning she was one, too. No chance. She'd be dead before the call was ended.

"I, uh, I don't have your cut. It didn't get done." she told him simply. "The guy was a creep and I didn't trust him, alright? Don't let him book again."

"Did you drug him, Amber?" she sighed, saying nothing for a moment. "Amber." he pushed. "Did you, or did you not, do your job properly?"

"No," she replied, pulling a hand down her face. "No, I didn't drug him. He left clean."

"Right." she could hear that he wasn't happy with her, not at all, but she remained quiet. "Well, you can use the blood you didn't use on him with your client tonight. You're booked in with one of our regulars for nine."

"Um, actually, I'm gonna need a few days off. You know, women's problems, that time of the month and everything." she shook her head to herself, knowing it was a terrible excuse to give. "I'll call you in a few days."

At that, she hung up without waiting for an answer, and she knew she'd have to pay for that. But she couldn't afford to be around any of that work while her dad was in town, it was far too risky. The last thing she could take was them finding out about what was really going on around there, and what part she played in it. A part of her just wanted to come clean and tell them, but she couldn't. She knew that they would probably be able to take care of it in no time, but it wasn't worth the grief of explaining everything to them. After everything she had done, there was no going back, and she knew her dad would never forgive her. It was easier to lie enough to get them out of the way and then finish it all alone.

Just as she was about to turn and head back to the diner she heard the familiar voice from earlier calling her name.

"Hey." Kayla smiled, a little sheepishly, as she approached. "Listen, I'm sorry about that, I didn't realise it was your dad."

Ronnie shook her head, brushing it off. "It's fine, don't worry about it." she said lightly. "Just, you know, keep the hooker talk to a minimum around him."

That brought a small frown to her face. "He doesn't know?"

"No, course not." Just the thought of him knowing about it made her go slightly cold. "He almost caught me this morning, though. I swear, Kayla, I feel like a complete bitch lying to him about everything. He thinks I'm still in college."

Kayla gave a soft sigh and shrugged. "Ron, look, he's your dad. I'm sure he'd understand eventually."

Ronnie scoffed. "Nah, I don't think so." They were talking about a man who had once put a guy in hospital for just looking at his daughter the wrong way, there was no way in hell he'd be okay with her sleeping with guys for money. Hell, he barely gave her room to even speak to men while she was around him. He was far too overprotective. "Did you ever tell your parents?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah, my mom said she never wanted to see me again, my dad asked me if he could get a discount with the other girls." she said with a bitter chuckle. "But your dad seems nice."

"Yeah, well, let's see just how nice he is when he finds out his daughter sells herself for sex, shall we?" she muttered darkly. "He can't know."

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that but, sure, it'd probably upset him but he doesn't look the type to turn his back on his kids." Kayla said seriously. "And besides, for you it's different. You're not here to sell yourself for sex, are you? Maybe if you told him what you were really working here for he'd understand."

Ronnie thought about that for a moment, she really wasn't sure what he would do. All she knew was that, if he did find out anything, the outcome wouldn't be pretty for anyone involved. It wasn't worth risking. She would rather lie to her dad's face than watch him turn his back on her for good.

"Hm, maybe." she shrugged. "Look, I better get back. I'll see you around."

Kayla nodded before she turned and headed back towards the diner. "Oh, and I meant to tell you," Ronnie turned back to her, there was now a completely serious look on her face, one somewhat uncharacteristic of her usually upbeat attitude. "He knows, Ronnie."

She raised her eyebrows, completely confused. "Who knows what?"

"The boss. He knows about those guys, the suicides, and he's pissed. He's looking for answers." Ronnie narrowed her eyes, as if to ask what she was being accused of. "All I'm saying is just.. watch yourself, alright? You know what he does to people who screw with his plans."

Ronnie nodded. "Yeah, thanks." she said as she turned away from her and headed back to where Dean and Sam were still sitting in the booth, talking between themselves.

They seemed to fall quiet as she approached, giving her the feeling that they had been talking about her while she had been outside. She wasn't sure she liked the idea of what they had been discussing. Her dad had already been asking questions, if he was telling Sam the same thing that only meant between them they were going to come up with a bunch of possibilities of what she could be up to.

"Everything alright?" Sam asked as he moved over in the booth to give her room to sit beside him.

"Yeah," she nodded. "Everything's fine."

"Well, I just spoke to the coroner's tech, he said everything was completely normal with the bodies, seems like they're all just legit suicides." he said calmly. He could almost feel the tension between her and Dean, they both knew he was just waiting to drop a few questions into conversation with her.

"Huh, so what now? You guys hitting the road?" she asked, he didn't miss the smallest hint of hope in her tone, and that's when he knew, Dean was actually onto something. There was something different about her. She didn't want them in town, but they couldn't leave town until they knew what it was she was hiding.

"No, actually." Dean replied bluntly. "You see, we still think that something's going on around here, and we're gonna find out what that is. We're going to find out everything."

Ronnie narrowed her eyes at him. She wasn't sure if that had been a comment directed at her, like a warning that they were going to discover whatever they knew she was keeping from them. She wanted to tell herself that it was just her own paranoia making her think that but she knew her dad and her uncle better than anyone else in the world did, and they didn't let things slide. If they were curious about her, they were going to make damn sure they weren't leaving that town without knowing what she was doing there. She wasn't sure she could face them knowing everything.

There was too much to try and explain. Really, things could not have been more complicated with her.