Chapter 4 - Inner Lara Croft

Nikki

Nikki was sitting in the front seat of the impala in silent awe. This was the most surreal day she had ever had and it was not even afternoon.

She had left with Dean (Winchester) earlier that morning in the impala, and they had thus far been pretty much all over town on errands, shopping, and actually some sightseeing, with Dean-the-tour-guide.

There had been some noteworthy moments. Like this moment right now. She had started to get used to the fact that she was spending the day with Dean Winchester, and was starting to think of him as just Dean.

But right in this moment, he was Dean Winchester to the core. They were in the impala, and 'Carry on Wayward Son' had just started playing, causing Dean to drum the steering-wheel and hum. Nikki watched in silent awe.

Another noteworthy event that day was that Dean had bought guns for her and Jenny. Which she utterly hated, but understood the necessity. She had shakily accepted the gun and Dean had laughed when she said "This is terrifying. Thank you very much, Dean. Honestly."

-o-

She was following Dean into a grocery store when her phone vibrated. It was a text from Jenny.

J: How's your mini-roadtrip going?

She quickly typed back.

N: It's great. I just got to watch Dean Winchester drum the steering wheel to Carry on my Wayward Son. SURREAL! Other than that, he bought us guns. I'm not completely comfortable with that. But if we're going to be hunters, well.. We will probably need guns. How are things at home?

J: His Snarkyness, The King of Hell was here. I yelled at him and he didn't kill me. I'll tell you more later. Don't tell Dean because I don't know what to think of it yet. And guns? Really? I'm excited and terrified. And OMG Carry on my Wayward Son!

N:I think The King of Hell rather likes you, my friend. I won't tell Dean. And yes, I'm terrified as well. But intrigued. We'll be home in a while.

So, the King of Hell had stopped by, huh? Nikki had her suspicions that the demon had a thing for her friend. And it bothered her much less than she thought it would. Maybe the King of Hell had a weak-spot after all.

Nikki glanced over Dean's shoulder to look at his shopping list. It was a short list. Beer, pie, meat, bread, and a few more completely non-vegetable things. "This is what you eat? This is it?"

Dean looked pleased when he nodded matter-of-factly. "Yeh."

She glanced at the list one more time before looking at the man. "We need carrots."

Ten minutes later, Nikki had a realisation that she was currently ordering Dean around, and he complied seemingly without thinking. Surreal. Surreal. She was ordering Dean Winchester around, making him shop for carrots. She felt like laughing hysterically.

He was walking towards her with a heavy bag of potatoes with a questioning look. "Do we really need this many potatoes?"

Nikki laughed. "Yes, we do. Now, would you go get cheese? Oh, and bacon."

Dean's whole face lit up. "Now we're talking." He didn't move anywhere; he just smiled at her, and his expression was so pleased that she ended up smiling like a fool as well.

Nikki had no idea how long they stood like that before Dean finally snapped out of it. "Uh, yeah. Bacon. I'll get bacon." She didn't have time to answer him before he was behind a shelf, headed for the bacon.

They got to the cash register and Nikki smiled at the man behind it. The man gave her a slightly too wide smile back. "Would the lovely lady like a bag?"

Nikki realised she was the lovely lady. "Uh, yeah, sure."

The man kept on smiling as he quickly scribbled something on a piece of paper. He gave her a playful smile as he handed her the bag and the piece of paper. "Call me if you want to-"

"She will not be calling anyone." Dean looked severely displeased, to Nikki's confusion.

The man behind the register didn't smile anymore. "Oh, I'm sorry man; I didn't know she was your girl."

Dean looked a little flustered. "Well, she..what does that have to do with anything! She just won't be calling anyone! Alright?"

They headed out of the shop, and Nikki almost had to run to keep up with Dean. He was several meters ahead of her, and with the speed they were holding, none of them saw the demon stepping out from the shadows.

The demon had his focus on Dean, but seemed a little too strong for Nikki's comfort, and she desperately tried to think. What do I have? What can I do? Salt. SALT! No wait, gun! With iron bullets! But shit, shit, shitshit! It's not loaded. Why did I refuse to let Dean load it!

Luckily, she had the bullets, so she threw down the groceries and started roaming through her purse. Gun, check. Bullets, check. Now she just had to figure out how to get the bullets into the gun. Ohgodohgodohgod! Stop shaking! You're supposed to be a hunter, this isn't helping! She glanced briefly at Dean. OHGODOHGOD! Frikkin demon!

Dean was on the ground. He was not knocked out, but the demon had obviously gotten in a well-placed hit, because Dean seemed a bit dizzy.

Nikki finally got the bullets in the gun, and when the demon sat up, seemingly to get his gun, Nikki pulled the trigger.

-o-

Dean

Dean knew he had to get hold of the situation like right now. His mind had been somewhere else, and of course there had to be a demon behind every frikkin corner just when he was distracted. But he had his demonblade. He just had to get to it.

The demon sat up and put his hand inside his coat, and Dean realised this was his chance to get the blade. He threw a glance to Nikki to see how she was doing, quickly realising that the girl was doing just fine.

At the appearance of a demon, it seemed like Nikki had found her inner Lara Croft. As he watched, Nikki lifted her gun, making him briefly panic over the fact that it wasn't loaded, but then she fired.

As it turns out, iron lodged in the brain will immobilize demons, and Dean just watched as the demon slumped over. Pushing the demon away, he got up from the ground and stared at it for a moment.

"You should probably stab it…or something.." Dean realised Nikki was talking to him and turned to her.

He blinked at her for a moment. "You shot him in the head. You just..shot him in the head."

She nodded with wide eyes, and he could see her hands were shaking as she looked at the demon. "I know. It worked, though, didn't it?"

Dean shook his head in amused disbelief. "Yep. And it was totally awesome. You were awesome. Nice job!"

He had had some doubts about this. If this was a good idea and if they could be hunters. If they could be trusted at all, to be honest. But so far, he had been given no reason not to trust them, and Nikki's reaction to a dangerous situation was not to freeze or panic. It was to learn, on the spot, how to load a gun, and then shoot the enemy in the head. And that was just badass.

-o-

They were back in the impala, with Dean drumming the steering wheel and humming. Today had been a good day. Maybe this will work out, he thought. We should start training as fast as possible. She needs to start training with guns.

A snort of laughter from Nikki snapped him out of his thoughts. "What?"

Nikki looked at him with laughter in her eyes. "Dean?" He nodded expectantly at her, and she continued. "We have a demon in the trunk. There is a dead demon in the trunk, and that is definitely on the top-ten weird things to have happened in my life.

He raised an eyebrow at her and gave her a teasing smile. "Where does it rank compared to shooting a demon in the head?"

The genuine laughter this earned him had him straighten his back, making him feel like he just accomplished something great.

-o-

Nikki

Nikki felt all jelly-legged when they returned to the house. Jenny came out to the front porch, and her expression turned worried the instant she looked at Nikki. "What happened?"

Nikki looked at her. "I shoot a demon in the head. And now we have a dead demon in the trunk."

Jenny's eyes widened. "Oh my god! Are you okay?"

Nikki nodded. "Yes, I'm fine, I'm just shaken. I need to go to my room for a bit I think."

"Do you want me to come with you?"

Nikki smiled at her friend. "No, it's okay, I just need to sort my head. I'll be back in a little while."

-o-

She was sitting in one of the chairs in her room when a knock came at the door. "Nikki? Can I come in?"

To her surprise, the voice did not belong to Jenny. It was Dean. She hastily un-braided her hair, and combed her hands through it. "Yeah. It's not locked, just come in."

He opened the door, and her heart leaped in her chest when she looked at him. Goodness, the man was a sight. He was wearing blue jeans and a grey t-shirt, which was quite regular by any standards, but Dean Winchester looked drop-dead-gorgeous in it.

He crossed his arms over his chest and gazed at her as he leaned on the doorframe. "Are you alright?"

Nikki looked into his marvellously green eyes, and found that, yes she was in fact alright. "Considering how I shot a human being in the head today?" She waved her hand dismissible when Dean was about to interrupt. "I know, I know. It was a demon. But it was a demon inside a human host. It's disturbing." She sighed. "But the thing is; I am feeling surprisingly alright."

She turned her eyes to look at him. "Is it weird to feel bad because I feel alright?"

Dean chuckled as he came over to sit down. "No, it's not. Believe me. As a hunter, nothing is weird. You go through all kinds of crazy feelings and notions, and your world gets turned upside-down on a regular basis. You'll get used to it."

Nikki rolled her eyes. "I'll get used to it? Lovely." She had a rush of adrenaline, and her heart skipped a beat when Dean laughed. If this was how she felt from making the man laugh, it was going to be her new life's mission to do so.

And when she thought about it, Dean needed to laugh more. He wasn't exactly having the time of his life these days.

-o-

A little while later, Dean left and was shortly replaced by Jenny. "You killed a demon? Seriously?"

Nikki smiled at her friend's eagerness. "Dean killed it. I just shot it in the head."

Jenny threw her head back and laughed. "Oh my God, that has to be the most absurd thing I have ever heard you say."

Nikki grinned. "I know!"

Jenny's expression sobered as she looked at her friend. "Honestly though, are you okay?" Nikki nodded and Jenny sighed with relief before she continued. "I'm so glad you are." She looked thoughtful for a bit before looking at Nikki. "A demon, huh? Wonder if Crowley knows anything about this."

"Know anything about what, love?"

Nikki was almost amused from the furious expression on her friend's face. "I swear to god, Crowley, King of Hell or not, I will start carrying around a salt-spray if you don't stop doing that."

It seemed The King of Hell was amused as well, because his lips tipped upwards as he spoke. "And I'm sure that would be a learning experience for both of us, my dear. Now, what is it that you are wondering if I know about?"

"Nikki and Dean were attacked by a demon today."

Crowley's expression instantly sobered. "Were they now? Hm." And then he was gone.