Title: When Winchester Met Sullivan (2/2)

Fandom: Smallville/Supernatural

Genre: Drama/Friendship

Spoilers: Season 9/10 Smallville, season 5 Supernatural

Author Note: All comments and reviews are appreciated. This was going to be one mega multi-chaptered fic, but with so many elements it will work better as a series. This is the first story in that series.

Dedicated to robnzgrlwonder, because despite writing some great Chlean, it simply isn't getting the attention it deserves.

THE NEXT DAY

The night hadn't gone exactly to plan. The four hunters had expected the murderous ghost to appear while they dug for bones, but they hadn't expected his girlfriend to show up at the graveyard and start shooting.

On one hand, Chloe found it comforting that some loves could last through anything, including death. On the other, she found it just plain creepy.

Elizabeth Wood had known all about her boyfriend Ray's violent tendencies in life. He had been arrested for the murder of an old work friend, and her alibi and conveniently missing evidence had kept him from going to trial.

Ray had died when his victim's brother had sought vengeance. Only Elizabeth had mourned.

Now, five years after his death, all of those associated with his temporary incarceration and eventual death were dying in mysterious circumstances.

Sam and Josie attempted several times to burn his bones, but even as his corpse eventually went up in flames, he had continued to throw them around the graveyard like rag dolls.

Elizabeth's appearance had been the final piece of the puzzle for Chloe. While the crazed woman was busy shooting at Dean, Chloe charged her from behind and tackled her to the floor.

She had seen a charm bag hanging around Elizabeth's neck. Dean helped to pin the crazed, thrashing woman to the ground as Chloe snapped the thin leather cord. She then got to her feet and ran to the burning grave before hurling the small bag into the fire.

Elizabeth had screamed when she saw her lover's spirit engulfed in flames. She even managed to pull herself from Dean's grip, and ran towards the open grave.

Chloe had watched in horror as the woman threw herself into the fire, hoping in a vain attempt to save the man she loved.

The smell of burned flesh still lingered in her nostrils as they made their way back to the motel. It was enough for her to seriously consider becoming a vegetarian.

Sam helped support Josie as the four hunters walked into the girls' motel room. She had landed awkwardly on a gravestone, and couldn't weight bear on her left foot.

Chloe watched the tall man ease her friend down onto a bed, before heading to the bathroom to look for a first aid kit.

Knowing how hard the night had been, and Josie's post hunt rituals, Chloe headed straight to their cool box and grabbed a pack of beers. She handed the first to Josie, and then one to each of the brothers.

As the others silently opened their drinks, she removed her jacket, and admired the large, purple bruise blossoming across her arm and shoulder. She really hated being hurled into concrete.

"That arm's going to be a bitch to move tomorrow." Came a gruff voice from the door.

Dean had obviously been digging through their cool box, as he handed her one of the ice packs she kept in there for after a hunt.

"A bit of ice and a little exercise, and I'll be fine." She gave him a small smile as she accepted the ice.

Chloe gingerly laid the pack over her shoulder, wincing at the intense cold, then took a seat in the kitchenette. She watched as Sam attempted to strap Josie's ankle, and fought the urge to laugh.

There was a reason she hadn't volunteered to help her partner. Josie had never been the best patient, and she had first hand experience of how volatile it could be.

Sam, it seemed, was being let off lightly - despite being called a few obscenities, he only received the odd kick to his gut.

"That the only first aid kit you've got?"

Chloe looked across to Dean, who had sat next to her and removed his own jacket and overshirt. Blood was slowly trickling from his arm - to Chloe it looked like a graze from a bullet.

"That's Josie's. I think you need mine." Setting down her ice pack, Chloe rushed over to her bed and pulled out a large backpack from beneath it.

Dean's eyebrows raised at the sight of the bag. "That's your first aid kit? What, did you steal it from a paramedic?"

Chloe smirked, "An old friend of mine is a doctor. He gave this to me as a christmas gift two years ago."

"Useful."

Chloe pulled out supplies and laid them out on the table next to them, ""Yeah. He's always been practical."

"Still, it's gotta be handy having a doc on call. He willing to treat other hunters?"

Her shoulders sagged. She could see where he'd get the impression that she had access to medical assistance. A discreet medic was hard to come by, so it was a shame to disappoint him.

"Uh...no. I'm not in contact with him anymore. But, he did give me a crash course in advanced first aid.; which, lucky for you, means that I can stitch that wound better than you can."

It hurt to think of Emil, and just why he had taught her some basic skills. She needed to distract herself from thinking about old friends.

"You're going to have to take your t-shirt off too."

Dean pulled off the garment without question. It surprised her that there had been no argument - there normally was whenever she reached for a suture needle.

He continued to drink his beer with his good hand as she began to clean the wound. From first look, it didn't seem too bad. It wouldn't take more than ten stitches to close the laceration.

Chloe tried to focus on opening her sterile kit and keeping it that way, but it was hard not to admire how Dean looked.

His arms weren't as gym defined as Oliver's had been, but they were still strong and muscular. The kind that came with fighting for your life on a regular basis. Years on the job had given Dean this body, not a private gym and protein shakes.

She caught herself staring.

It had been so long since she had been around an attractive man, all this warm flesh was obviously getting to her. Shaking her head to shake away the thoughts, she refocused on the task at hand.

With the background noise of Josie swearing at Sam, she slipped on her sterile gloves.

"So, how long have you been hunting?" Dean asked as she began to inject the area with local anaesthetic.

"Long enough that you shouldn't doubt my skill in leaving you scar free here." she said as she prepared to make the first stitch.

"Nicely avoided." Dean smirked and raised the can to his lips. "Do you at least have a last name.?"

"No. Just Chloe."

Dean looked at his arm while she worked on it. "You're hiding from someone?"

The corner of her mouth raised in a half smile as she continued the graceful dance of the needle, thread and tweezers. "Aren't we all?"

"Touche."

"Just be glad I'm not giving you twenty questions, Winchester."

The idea was tempting. She was pretty sure it would be amusing to see how fast she could have him turning in circles with her words. He wasn't dumb, by any means, but she was rusty. As much as she loved Josie, it had been a long time since she'd had a taxing conversation. It almost made her miss the verbal judo she had with Lex Luthor.

"There's not much to know."

"Now, you see, that's where I know you're lying. Josie doesn't like to hang around other hunters. Bobby is the only exception to the rule, so the fact that she knows enough about you to invite you on a hunt speaks volumes."

"It was only because you asked."

"And normally my asking gets me nowhere. She's a gossip, so I won't hear from her. That leaves me you to tell me your story."

"All hunters have their stories, mine's no different."

"Touche." She smirked as she tied off the last stitch.

A soft knocking woke Dean from his sleep. Looking across the room, he saw that Sam's bed was empty and already made. Chances were that his baby brother had forgotten his key, or had so much food in his hands he couldn't open the door.

Either way, Dean's stomach knew that he was awake, and it demanded sustenance.

"Please God, don't let it be fruit."

A big, fat greasy bacon sandwich with coffee sounded good right about now.

He opened the door, and squinted his eyes at the bright light. Instead of being greeted with his brother's pouting face, a small blonde stood in front of him, offering a paper bag and a flask of coffee.

"Peace offering."

"Were we at war?"

"No, but we did act like assholes the other day. I wanted to make it up to you before we head back out today." Chloe pushed the coffee at him, and grabbed hold of it, "It's my personal stash. I might live on the road, but there are a few home comforts I refuse to give up. Quality coffee being one of them."

"Come in." Dean pulled the door open further and let her in.

He couldn't work her out. He'd spent the better part of last night trying to figure her place in a hunter's world, but he was still coming up with squat.

And now here she was, turning up with freshly filtered coffee, where most hunters would be happy to just down anything with caffeine.

"I know Josie played it cool, but I'm glad that we had your help there last night. I'm not sure we could have handled the gruesome twosome on our own."

Dean watched as she took a seat at the table and made herself comfortable. He took a seat next to her and opened the bag she left on the table.

"Where's Sam?" She asked.

Dean shrugged, pulling out a pastry "Getting food?"

"Well, I'm sure you can give this to him for me." She pulled out a small piece of paper and slid it along the table.

"What's that?" Dean asked around a mouthful of food.

"My number."

He raised his eyebrows at that. Sure, the blondie and her brother seemed to have had a few geek moments yesterday, but he didn't pick up any sexual vibes from either of them. To be honest, he was sure she'd been checking him out while he stitched up his arm.

"Really?"

"He mentioned that you've had trouble with the law in the past, and I can help with that. I also know how to obtain IDs that will stand up to scrutiny."

Dean smiled and relaxed back in the chair.

"That makes sense."

He felt a change in atmosphere in the room, and looked up mid-bite to see a pair of bright green eyes boring into him.

"Wow. I think I'm kind of offended by that."

Dean swallowed his food, all the while wondering if he would be wearing her coffee in the near future. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

She settled back into her chair and took a sip of her coffee, waiting for an explanation.

"I just...don't think Sam's your type."

"Tall, handsome, brooding and heroic? Yeah, what's a girl to like." She said sarcastically.

"Hey, I'm just saying-"

"Don't worry, you can take your foot out of your mouth any time now."

"I don't think he's your type."

Chloe smirked over the top of her cup, "For a man who's known me for fewer than forty-eight hours, you have amazing insight."

Conceding that they were actually talking about this, he put down his food. "You're not like most other hunters I've met."

"Well, that's probably true. I'd like to think of that as a positive."

"I can't figure you out, and I don't like it."

"I'm not some puzzle to be solved. Hell, after today, you'll probably never see me again, so your brain can rest easy. I just wanted Sam to know that if you ran into trouble, I could create some computer miracles for you. As great as Bobby is, there are somethings a phone call can't fix."

"So you really just came here to give us your number and breakfast?"

"Yeah; and you've managed to make it incredibly awkward." She got to her feet and made her way to the door. "Just for the record? Once upon a time, your brother would have been just the kind of guy I would have fallen for."

"And now?"

"Relationships aren't meant for people like me; even brief ones." She said with a sad smile, and closed the door gently behind her.

Dean looked at the closed door for a few seconds before returning to his breakfast. All that he needed was some cheesy background music, and he'd swear he was in a soap opera.

He reached for the pastry meant for Sam, and dug in. As he licked the last drops of sugar from his fingers, the door opened.

"Hey, was that Chloe I saw leaving?"

"Yeah. She left you her number; but don't get too excited. She said she doesn't sleep with giants."

Sam groaned and shook his head. "Please tell me you were at least nice to her."

Dean shrugged his shoulders, "Dude, I'm always nice."

Sam sat himself down in the chair Chloe had vacated not long ago, and pulled a bottle of orange juice from his bag. "Just tell me you didn't scare her off, it might be useful knowing her in the future."

"Yeah, she's some whizz with IDs, right?"

"Not just IDs. Did you know that she and Josie have only had to switch credit cards once in the last year?"

Dean's eyebrows lifted in surprise. Anything that could relieve the burden of frequent credit card scams would take away one worry. "How?"

"She wouldn't tell me, but she can do it. Josie told me that before she started hunting, Chloe was some kind of computer genius."

"I think you should ditch the number."

"Why?"

"I don't trust her."

"Friends are running thin on the ground. Why's she got you so spooked?"

"I can't get a read on her."

"You can't get a read on her?" Sam snorted, before crossing his arms and leaning back in his chair. "This I gotta hear."

"I know women, okay? But her? Something's not right."

"You mean she didn't respond to your flirting?"

Dean wanted to wipe that smug look from his brother's face.

"She's hiding something. I bet that not even Josie knows everything about her."

Sam just shrugged. "Maybe; but aren't we all entitled to a few secrets? She didn't get us killed last night, so until proven otherwise, she's okay in my book."

Sam picked up the small piece of paper from the table, and began putting the numbers into his phone.

"Besides, Bobby trusts both her and Josie. His opinion's gotta count for something, right?"

"Yeah." Dean grudgingly admitted.

What was it about this small blonde that made him give her so much thought? Dean mentally shrugged and shook it off. Chances of meeting her again were slim to none, and he and his brother had a job to do.