Just 20 minutes in, Dean is disappointed to feel their drive coming to an end, enjoying the ride as a passenger more than he could ever remember. Aura parks at what appears like a trailhead parking lot. She doesn't appear the least bit nervous at the edge of the dark, looming forest floor, slamming her door and popping the trunk. It looks quite cute in comparison to Baby's, but Dean is still impressed with her old school collection. Typical handguns, a sawed off shotgun...really? He wonders.
Spray paint, rope, matches, salt... a crossbow? Dean picks it up, looking at it, then back at Aura. This chick is pretty bad-ass, he hates admitting to himself. "Silver arrows really come in handy, and it's pretty fucking fun to use in a hunt," she winks, shining her flashlight in the trunk for Dean to peruse. "But all we need is a candle, I've got a lighter." Dean grabs a tall, white candle in a glass jar, which happens to have an angel on the front. Dean holds it up and looked at Aura questioningly. She shrugs, "Come on!"
Dean has his gun in hand as they hike, Aura manning the flashlight, tromping along with ease. "Hey Aura, what exactly did you mean when you said I'd be helping you too? You can't do this alone? This vision thing?" Dean wonders aloud. "Yeah, I need someone who believes in, ya know, the shit we deal with?" "Right." Dean replies. "But you're not the only one who's lost their partner, Dean. Lyla and I met when we both nearly got killed on one of my first hunts, she ended up becoming like my best friend, we've been hunting together for 3 years.
When things stopped being so bad... I went back to teaching, and she was bored as hell. She went off on a hunt by herself a few weeks ago, I told her she shouldn't go off alone. It was so stupid!" Dean can hear Aura getting choked up, trying to keep his own anxiety levels regarding his brother to a minimum while feeling new concern for this stranger. "I told her, school gets out in a month! I'd have the whole summer to hunt again, if she wanted to."
They come to a clearing and Aura sits down on a log. Dean feels like he's shit with consoling women but he's had his fair share of experience with it, so he puts his gun away. He sits down next to her, slowly reaching his arm around her, squeezing her shoulder gently. He feels the tingles spread up his arm, into his brain, and down his spine. He tries to steady his breathing, it just feels so amazing to touch her.
He has never experienced anything like this before. At this point, he decides to just go with anything because nothing feels remotely real. "Dean, if I don't see her, she's gone. Shit. I know she's dead. It's been two weeks. She's gone. I just don't want to know for sure, I... I don't know if I can do this," Aura's voice wavers unsteadily. Dean squeezes her tightly, smoothing her hair, not knowing what else to say.
"Will you please hold this Dean?" Aura sighs, handing him the flashlight. "And light this candle?" She gets up and tosses him a silver zippo with an Ouija planchet on the front, with the words Yes and No on either side. She grabs a stick and he watches her as she draws a circle in the dirt large enough for both of them to fit inside. She takes the candle out of Dean's hand and twists her fingers through his, pulling him off the log and into the circle.
She sits cross legged on the forest floor, she seems unnaturally comfortable with sitting in dirt, for a chick, Dean thinks. "Do we need to hold hands?" He asks, standing. "No, but... will you sit next to me Dean?" They sit with their knees touching. "Leaves room for the um... apparitions? and the candle." She places the candle in front of them. They breathe in deeply, the musk of the forest and the earth beneath and around them.
"Dean, just think about Sam. If he's passed over, you'll see him. If you don't see him, try thinking of someone who could help." "Someone who's a ghost? Are you kidding me?" Dean is clearly amped up. "No, just someone who's died. Someone who can help, they're not really a ghost Dean. Just a vision of someone on the other side." Dean can feel his heart pounding, he wonders if Aura can hear. He glances over at her beautiful, serene face with her eyes closed. He decides to close his own and think about his Sammy. He'd given up so much, everything he had including his own life, over and over again, for his brother. There's no way he can lose him now, in a world so much less dangerous than it had been their whole lives.
No fucking way! No damn way in hell he could let something happen to him now, after all the shit they'd been through. He opens his eyes, no Sam. He lets out a deep sigh. He looks over to Aura, tears streaming down her face, eyes wide open in terror. He can't see what she sees, undoubtedly her dead partner, or at least a vision of her. He grips her knee tightly, and it elicits no response. Dean shuts his eyes tightly. He takes a deep breath, a tightness in his chest, a hard lump in his throat, aching for this girl he just met. Worrying about Sam and everything they've been through, everyone they've lost. "Your brother's not dead, ya Idjit!"
Dean's eyes fly open, to see what looks like a slightly misty, exactly and almost holographic looking replica of his surrogate Dad. "Bobby?" Dean whispers incredulously. "Don't worry boy, I'm not a ghost. You just thought me up." "I did?" Dean whispers, not believing his eyes. The candle light seems to dance on the exact face he remembers looking up to for so many years. "Yeah, what do ya think, I'm just hanging out in these woods waiting for some dumbass to come find me? I'm missing a pretty kick ass concert in Heaven right now for this!" Bobby hisses. "Yeah, I miss you too man. Is...Can you tell if Sam's okay?" "He's fine as far as I can tell. But I can see him... in a forest, next to a cemetery outside Memphis...In a couple days, and things might not be so good for him then, he'll need ya. BOTH of ya," the bearded dead guy in the worn baseball cap smiles. "Both? You mean me and her?"
"This isn't no blind date from the internet, Dean. Aura is special." "I mean, I know she's—" Dean iswas cut off, the apparition of Bobby somehow gripping tightly on his shoulder. "Things don't often happen by mistake, boy. This is not another one of your floozies to wham and bam, do you know what I mean? She is special." Bobby matchmaking from Heaven, Dean really wishes Sam was here to see this. Dean can faintly hear Aura's voice, talking and then pleading with her dead best friend, but he can't seem to make out any words. The vision of Bobby starts to flicker and become transparent. "I'm sorry boy, John and George are about to play this amazing duet." I love you, man," Dean manages to get out. "Love you, too," he faintly hears Bobby reply as the image in front of him fades to darkness.
Dean watches the shadows and the candle light dance across Aura's face. Giant, noiseless tears are rolling down her cheeks and there's that lump in Dean's throat again. "Aura?" Dean rubs her back, making a swirling pattern on the black leather. "Aura?" Dean attempts to dry her face, staring into her blank eyes, determining that she must be in shock. Dean blows out the candle, shoves it in the pocket of his leather jacket, and scoops the girl up in his arms. "Dean, she's gone," Aura whispers to him as they near the car. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, baby girl," Dean soothes.
"Dean, will you take me home now?" "Of course... of course I will, beautiful," Dean says, setting her gently in the passenger seat. He's not sure what's happening to him but all of his typical bravado has dissipated, and all he wants is to take care of her. Aura wraps her arms around Dean's neck, kissing him gently on the lips, as he can feel her lips and cheeks dewy with fresh tears. "Thank you, I'm sorry, thank you," she breathes. "Thank you for coming home with me. I just can't be alone right now," she says quietly with her eyes closed, curling into the seat.