Chapter Three
Light trickled into the shitty motel room Dean shared with his brother. As his eyes focused, he saw Sam awake and clicking away on his laptop with two cups of coffee beside him.
"That for me?" Dean gruffed, pulling himself up into a sitting position. He had watched Elizabeth relive their greatest hits for hours before dozing off. He could feel her driving to work now, safe but heart broken. It made him shake, but he couldn't rid the emotion coming from their bond.
"Uh, Yeah. Hey, listen to this, last night a teacher from Lizz- Elizabeth's school was found dead in her home."
"Where?" Dean shot toward his pants on the chair, but Sam calmed him.
"The other side of town, but it says here it was just a heart attack. It only made the news because she was supposed to retire this year. She was old, Dean. It's probably nothing."
"Probably, sure. I still wanna check it out. You coming?" He pushed his second leg into his pants and up around his waist, zipping them and moving quickly to his jacket. Sam looked up with sympathy pooling behind his eyes. Pity even.
"Sam." Dean warned, grabbing the keys and the coffee cup.
"Yeah, I'm coming." Sam sighed and followed him out the door as he hung the do-not-disturb lanyard by the knob and pulled the door shut behind him. By the time he turned to the impala Dean had already started her up. Sam understood, he really did, but he didn't understand why he just wouldn't let himself be happy. He remembered the hours and months Dean put into this spell, the amount of love you must have for someone to rip off a piece of your own soul just to attach it to theirs. If it wasn't so twisted, it would have been romantic.
Dean fumbled with the keys but got the engine to turn over. As soon as Sam shut the door he sped away, straight to the dead teacher's house. It was a long shot, but he had to investigate. He had to make sure she was safe, or else the pain in his chest would be for nothing.
Dean and Sam walked into the small school building with haste, there had been sulfur and broken furniture all over that old lady's house. Dean went in optimistic, but it was obvious she had been attacked. He had tried calling Elizabeth's new phone, but she didn't answer. He knew she wouldn't, but it had been worth a shot.
The small woman at the reception desk smiled sweetly at them when Sam asked where Mrs. Winchester was, but Dean already knew and didn't waste the minute it would take her to look it up. His steps were urgent but nonchalant as he navigated the school easily from the bond between them.
Why are you here? Her thoughts injected into his mind, harsh and angry.
That teacher was attacked by a demon, I'm here to protect you. We need to get you out of here.
I don't need you, Dean. Remember? You're only going to get me hurt. LEAVE.
Lizzie, SHUT UP.
He sighed because she did. He didn't mean to order her around, but it slipped. He decided he would have to work on it later when she wasn't in danger. He could feel the anger in her rising, but suddenly it disappeared. Dean quickened his pace terrified of what happened and as he turned the corner to her classroom, he froze.
There was a little girl, 8 or 9 years old, wrapped around Elizabeth's waist. Her face was buried in her stomach and Elizabeth had a hand rested on the back of her head. Dean and Sam walked into the room quietly and stood back while Elizabeth soothed the young girl.
"Lisa, what happened?" Mrs. Winchester asked, running her fingers through the blond locks of the little girl. Lisa sniffled and pointed a finger at a boy across the room.
"Gabe hit me!" Mrs. Winchester pulled the little girl back from her a bit and got down on her level.
"Gabe? Come over here please." Dean thought her teacher voice was incredibly sexy, and she glared at him as a shaggy boy around the same age as Lisa walked over with his shoulders slumped. "Why did you hit Lisa, Gabe? I thought you guys were friends." Gabe looked anxious, and Mrs. Winchester felt that it was something cliché.
"You know if you like Lisa, you don't hit her. When you grow up I hope you learn that when you love someone you spend your time making sure they're happy and taken care of instead of causing them pain." Her words were pointed and not at all koi, when Gabe nodded at her words, she dismissed the children and he and Lisa went back to their desks. Elizabeth stood to greet the unwelcome men in her doorway.
"Hello, Agents. How can I help you today?" She said, the sarcasm dripping from her voice. Her thoughts were angry, but Dean spoke anyway, still taking in her advice to Gabe.
"There's been another incident and we feel it's in your best interest to come with us."
"What if I don't want to?"
"Well, we can do this the easy way, or the hard way." Elizabeth huffed. She didn't want her students to see her following orders and she didn't necessarily want to be ordered around.
"Okay, students! This is a great opportunity to learn about civic duty. As citizens of the United States of America we have certain duties and one of those is complying with Government agents! I will be going to aid in an investigation and I hope maybe one day it will inspire you guys into becoming real FBI agents yourselves." She didn't emphasize the word real, but it still stung when it hit Dean in the face. Sam chuckled a little but turned it into a cough when Dean turned his glare at him.
Since she had already filled out the form for a replacement when she felt the impala pull into the parking lot, the sub walked in just as she finished gathering her bags. "Hey, Karen, thanks again for watching the class. I hope this will be the last time it'll happen, but you know how much of a pain in the neck dealing with the government can be." Mrs. Winchester handed her sub a few hand outs and smiled as she laughed at her joke. "Goodbye, everyone!"
The students all yelled their replies, and she walked out of the room with her bags in tow.
They made their way out of the building and Elizabeth headed to her car. "No, I think we should all go in the impala," Dean said, and Elizabeth didn't stop.
"I'm taking my car home and if you don't want me to go alone you can come with me. Or I guess you could just tell me to get in your car." She dared him, but he didn't fight.
"Fine but I'm driving, and don't try to stop me." Her lips sealed shut and though she fought to resist, her hand automatically reached out to hand him the keys. He smiled, "Hey, that's pretty convenient."
Elizabeth thought some choice words in his direction. "We'll meet you back at the motel, Sammy."
The taller brother nodded, hoping into the impala and driving away. Dean rested his hand on the hood of the beat-up Buick he helped Bobby fix up years ago. "This old thing, man." His eyes softened as he opened the door and slid in to the driver's side, pushing the seat back and turning the key in the ignition. It stalled. "Oh, come on, baby. We built you better than that." He gently turned the key again, giving the engine some gas and she sputtered to life. Elizabeth sighed in relief. Every time that old car started she was relieved. It was her last remanence of her dad, and unless he was alive somewhere, too, she wouldn't be getting anymore.
"What are we doing?" Elizabeth asked softly as she watched the love of her life navigate her car out of the parking lot.
"I don't want to fight about this, Lizzie. I don't want to order you around; I just want you to listen." Dean started, and she nodded. She didn't really want to fight either, she just always wanted things to go her way. Dean thought at her and she rolled her eyes.
"I'm listening, okay?"
"We can't just leave you here, it's not safe. I know you have a house and a life here. I know you want to come with us, but I just don't think you understand what that means." She looked out of the window at the passing town of Granbury, Texas. She memorized its features, her way home, she knew it would be the last time she ever took the route and it excited her. And that scared him.
"You shouldn't be so ready to drop everything you have here and run head first back into danger, Lizzie!" He hit the steering wheel as he scolded her.
"Dean, I know you don't understand. I know you were forced out of your little piece of heaven when Sam came back from the pit and you think you're doing that to me, but you're not. I'm not happy. I am a hunter, Dean! I've been a hunter since I was 5 years old and the demon possessed my mother! I've been a hunter with you and Sam and my dad and John. The only difference between you and me is my vagina and I'm sick of it!" She yelled. She yelled that and about every cuss word he'd ever heard. She may be right. "I AM right," she yelled at him and they grew quiet.
They were still quiet as she walked through her house, pulling hidden guns and supplies from cabinets and floor boards. Dean was impressed by the sheer number of hiding places she managed to find in 1000 square feet. He carried her bag out to her car and she looked at the house for a long moment.
"We'll come back." He said with a determined authority, and he meant it. She locked the door and climbed into the passenger seat of the car she loved for close to 10 years not sure it'd be around much longer either.
