"How do you guys know Harper?" Alec asked as soon as they were all in the car. Harper was in her old truck and was following them back to their motel. Sam knew Alec had been itching to ask them a million questions and he was surprised that he'd waited that long.
Sam hadn't seen Harper since before he'd left for Stanford, but he knew Dean had seen her more recently than that. He suspected that they had worked a few jobs together while he was in college, but he was afraid to bring up the past. Dean didn't like talking about Sam leaving or the years he'd been gone and Sam didn't want to disrupt the peace they had right now.
"She's a hunter," Dean answered.
"Surprisingly enough, I already figured that part out," Alec sarcastically replied.
Sam chuckled, "We've known her since we were kids. Our Dad's used to work together and we'd all be grouped together while they were on a hunt."
"Sometimes they'd send us on our own hunt so we'd stay out of their way," Dean cut in.
"Dad used to get so pissed at us," Sam said with a smile. "Remember that time we accidently burned down the motel?"
Dean laughed, "Harper talked me into that one! How was I supposed to know bottle rockets wouldn't work as a replacement for candles?"
"It's common sense, Dean! It was a séance; it was as easy as tying your shoes!"
"Harper thought it would work! She can be very persuasive…"
"You burned down a motel with bottle rockets?" Alec asked.
"It wasn't the whole motel…" Dean mumbled.
"Still…that's awesome!" Alec exclaimed.
"Don't even think about it Alec…" Sam quickly ordered.
"Hey, you're the one who put the idea out there," Alec said with a smile.
Sam groaned and Dean lightly hit him on the chest with the back of his hand, "Relax Sammy, Alec's not gonna burn down a motel…"
"Not yet…" Alec threatened.
"I'm gonna regret this conversation…" Sam muttered. He was relieved when the motel came into view a moment later, effectively putting an end to accidently giving Alec any more bad ideas.
Dean parked the car and they all piled out to grab their things. Dean quickly grabbed his duffle and then walked over to where Harper was waiting by her truck. Sam shot Alec a look and rolled his eyes, but they followed Dean into the room a moment later.
"Where do you guys find these places?" Harper asked in amusement as she looked around the room.
Sam looked around; he never really noticed where they stayed anymore since they all looked the same. Dean usually picked where they stayed anyway and he tried to go with the cheapest place he could find.
This one was decked out with a bunch of asymmetrical shapes and bright colors to try and look more modern. It just looked tacky to Sam, but it didn't matter what the room looked like, as long as it was relatively clean and there was a bed to sleep on he was good.
Usually Dean tried to get them a room with three beds, but they weren't always that lucky. This time they were stuck with two beds, but Alec didn't mind sharing and Sam and Dean were both used to it.
Dean looked at Harper in confusion, "What's wrong with it?"
Harper's eyebrows rose, "Dean, look around! One minute in this place is enough to make you feel like you're trippin'!"
"Alright so the colors are weird…" Dean admitted. "But this place is cheap and we were only going to be here a couple days…"
Harper dropped her bag onto Dean's bed and sat down. She started digging through her bag, but stopped once she realized they were all staring at her. She looked up and frowned, "What?"
Dean smiled, "Nothin'…it's just good to see you…"
Harper smiled and then motioned for him to sit down, "C'mere so I can doctor you up."
Dean sat, but Alec looked over at Sam with a question all over his face. "Harper sometimes works as a paramedic," Sam quickly explained and Alec looked back over at her. He sat down on the opposite bed and Sam sat next to him.
"When I'm runnin' low on money I try to get a job, my Mom was a well-known doctor before she died, so hospital people have usually heard of me. Makes it easier to get short-term jobs," Harper threw in as she looked over the bruises on Dean's face.
"You don't hustle pool or something like that?" Alec asked curiously.
Harper smiled, "Not very often."
Alec scowled, "How come?"
"I usually can't get anyone to play against me. Guys don't like playing girls; they don't think it's challenging enough. But if I do get someone to play, I can make a lot in one night." Alec still looked confused so Harper explained, "Guys don't like to lose, especially against a girl. So they'll keep playing, hoping that they'll win their money back."
"Which just makes it worse," Dean threw in.
Harper laughed, "True. Ok, let's see the ribs." Dean looked at her in surprise and she rolled her eyes, "Don't give me that look! I can tell they're hurta mile away!"
Dean grumbled, but slowly did what she said.
"How'd you get into hunting?" Alec asked after a moment.
Harper lightly laughed, "You ask a lot of questions."
"You have no idea," Dean muttered.
Dean sucked in a sharp breath as Harper lightly ran her fingers down his side, "Sorry…Long story short, my Dad was a hunter until he met my Mom. She died in a car accident when I was 11 and Dad didn't know what else to do, so he started hunting again. He had to teach me after we had a bad run in with a ghost; which is actually when I met Sam and Dean."
Sam chuckled, "You thought we were all crazy!"
"I didn't know ghosts were real! All I knew, was the jerk from my class was breaking into my house with a shotgun in his hand and his little brother right behind him," Harper said with a smile.
"I was not a jerk!" Dean said with mock hurt.
Harper patted Dean's knee, "Dean, you sat behind me and tied my hair in knots."
Dean smirked, "I forgot about that…"
Sam looked over at Alec, "Harper's Dad and our Dad were hunting the same ghost. We both knew that Harper didn't know anything about ghosts but Dean thought she needed protection."
"Good thing too; if you two hadn't followed me home, I'd probably be dead," Harper said with warmth in her voice and Dean looked up to meet her gaze.
Sam's phone suddenly vibrated in his pocket and he took it out and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Sam, its Bobby, did you guys get it?" Bobby's gruff voice greeted him.
"Yeah, we got it thanks to Harper. She came in just in time," Sam answered.
"Knew she would. Listen, I've got something else, I know you boys are tired, but I think this one's big…"
"What is it?"
"There're rumors that one of the demons is recruiting the others and building an army. I don't have any more than that, except the area this might be happening in."
"Where?"
"A little north of Missoula, Montana."
"Alright, we'll go check it out."
"One more thing, tell Alec when he says he'll call back he needs to remember to do it so the person that called doesn't think they're dead!"
Alec looked over at Sam with wide eyes and Sam chuckled, "I think he got the message."
"Good. I'll call again if I find anything else."
"Thanks Bobby." Sam hung up and saw that Dean and Harper were both looking at him expectantly. He knew Alec could hear the whole conversation so he kind of forgot that Dean and Harper couldn't.
"Bobby thinks there's something big going on in Montana," Sam quickly explained.
"How big?" Dean asked.
"Demon army big," Sam stated.
It was silent after he said that until Harper finally spoke, "Demon army?"
"We kinda accidently released a demon army a little over a month ago…" Alec quickly muttered.
Harper's mouth popped open in realization, "That's why there are so many more demons…"
"We've been trying to get rid of them all, but it's harder than we thought it was going to be…" Dean said.
"You're just three guys! No one expects you to kill all those demons!" Harper defended.
"It's my fault," Sam admitted with his head down. Dean and Alec kept telling him it wasn't his fault, but he was the one who did what Yellow-Eyes wanted. He couldn't get rid of the guilt and it was all he could do to keep killing each and every demon.
Alec lightly knocked into him, "Hey, I think you're forgetting a few things…"
"Yeah, weren't you savin' my ass?" Dean asked and Sam looked up to see that he was being serious.
Sam couldn't take their forgiveness so he looked away and changed the subject, "I think Alec needs some doctoring once you're done with Dean.
"Hey, you're in line before me!" Alec immediately argued.
"Alec you can't even see straight with all that blood in your eye!" Sam replied.
"Well it doesn't matter since you're both getting looked at," Harper said with a smile. The she patted Dean's knee and said, "Hop up or scoot over so I can check on one of them."
Dean scooted over until he was sitting in the middle of the bed with his legs crossed. Sam pushed Alec to his feet and Alec glared at him but stumbled his way over to sit in front of Harper.
"So, what's your story?" Harper asked as she started cleaning the blood out of Alec's eye.
Alec winced and then stated, "I'm Dean's clone."
Harper's eyes widened, "Really?"
"Yup. It's kinda complicated, but I've got some funky DNA with a lot of perks," Alec mumbled and Sam could tell he was a little uncomfortable explaining it all.
Harper nodded, "Well, you'll have to tell me more about it sometime. How in the world did you get a lump this big on your head?"
"Demon smacked it against the floor!" Alec replied, his smile widening.
Harper rolled her eyes, "You're just as bad as those two…" Her comment only made Alec's smile grow even bigger.
It was quiet as Harper finished patching up Alec and it continued as she moved on to Sam. Once she was done she sat back and asked, "So, when are we going to Montana?"
Sam and Alec both looked at Dean who replied softly, "Harper, you can't go with us on this one…"
Harper took a breath and looked up at the ceiling, "Why not? And don't even think about saying it's too dangerous."
Dean was quiet. He stood up and started for the door, "Harper, can I talk to you outside."
Harper rolled her eyes, but followed Dean. "Can you hear them?" Sam asked Alec once the door was closed.
Alec nodded, "It's really quiet, Dean's getting better at finding places to talk where I can't hear," Alec raised his eyebrows at Sam and he was tempted to smack him on the head, but he knew Alec's head was hurting and he didn't want to make it worse.
"…He wants her to stay safe…She thinks he's an idiot…He says something I can't really hear…" Alec chuckled, "She said she knows where we're going which is enough to go on…they're coming back."
Sam smiled, "I knew he wouldn't win."
"I'm glad he didn't," Alec said and Sam looked over at him and he shrugged, "He seems happy."
Sam didn't get a chance to reply because Dean and Harper came back in the room. Harper had a smirk on her face and Dean looked grumpy. Sam leaned over to Alec and barely whispered, "You think he still seems happy?"
Alec just rolled his eyes and walked over to the bed furthest from the door and lay down. Sam knew Dean would be happy that Harper was with them, but he also knew that his brother would be twice as worried as he usually was.
"Get some sleep Sam, we're leaving in the morning," Dean said after a moment and then he turned and sat next to Harper on his bed.
Sam nodded and lay next to Alec. He was glad Harper was going with them; they had a better chance with her than without her.
More soon...
