"Can't a man just get his breakfast in peace?" Dean asked mournfully but he didn't have any sympathetic ears. Of course, Sammy probably can't hear through that massive mop of hair on his head, and the new chick was the spawn of Satan, Dean thought spitefully, pulling his baby into a parking spot away from the other cars. It was turning out to be the kind of day that some idiot scratched the paint and he would have to kick his hillbilly ass. He watched the girl, Alida she had told Sam, practically tumble out as soon as it was stopped and he glared at her retreating back.
He was a great driver, and his baby was completely safe. He had watched her face though, seen the way she froze. She had been terrified, absolutely distraught at the thought of getting into the backseat and he wondered if she had been in some kind of car accident. It was a shame she couldn't appreciate the Impala though, she was a classic. If she didn't turn out to be some kind of monster freak he would have to convince her to overcome her fear. There was no reason good enough to miss out at the thrill of driving a piece of beauty down the highway listening to Metallica.
Sam had extricated himself from the backseat with minimal difficulty although Dean would usually taunt him about it. Now they watched as Alida nearly abandoned them, nose in the air as she strode towards the diner. It was a small private affair and Dean would have worried about the quality and consider finding a different diner if she hadn't basically run at the sight of it. The brothers followed after her, a little amused as she pushed through the doors without a second look back. She had long legs, clad in tight jeans tucked into boots. She was dressed the same as he remembered actually, except now she was wearing a faded black shirt that had seen better days in under her leather jacket.
Her hair was a tangled mess, and he remembered the dark circles in under her eyes. Was she always that pale or was it because she was tired? She was a redhead, it could just be natural. Her hair seemed a shocking shade too, not quite orange and not quite dark red either. It depended on the light whether or not she was a flame or a ruby. Dean nearly rolled his eyes at his unconscious failings at poetry or some crap. She was sexy as hell, there, that was more in Dean's range. She looked young though, in a way that would usually lead Dean to just wink at her and move on. The mouth on her would definitely make him second guess any thoughts he had if he had gotten to flirting, not to mention the fact that she had effortlessly stabbed a werewolf in the chest and now refused to admit that werewolves existed. And then there was the fact that she followed them. She was obviously up to something. Didn't make her look any less appealing as she strode up to the counter, leaning her head back with a small moan at the smells permeating the diner. Dean swallowed at the unexpected noise, shifting uncomfortably.
"You should have heard her stomach growl, I don't know the last time she ate," Sam whispered to him and Dean found himself frowning. And then gaping at the sheer amount of food she was ordering.
"…eggs, pancakes, of course, basically one of everything," she wrapped up. To the older man behind the counter's credit he didn't even blink. He wrote down her order, fingers steady if slow before holding it up for her to look over instead of attempting to read it back to her.
"Yep, that's it. Here's my card," she told him sweetly, handing him a sleek black credit card with a killer smile. The man returned it with one of his own, handing back her card with a grin as she gave him a small wave.
"Thank you very much, sir," she told him, and Dean thought she was really laying it on thick, but the gentleman grinned at her as she bounced away obviously enamored. She moved to the booth in the far corner, sitting on the outside of the one facing them. Dean noticed her eyes trailed over the front door, and the back door before she settled back comfortably.
"I'll just have a muffin, and do you have yogurt? Then yeah, thanks," Sam was ordering, ignoring the gagging sound Dean was making behind his back. He flipped Dean off before moving to sit with their new 'friend'. He slid in on the other side, taking the window so that he could stretch his legs out and not have to face the heathen. Dean sighed, before ordering himself a substantial breakfast, although it didn't quite compare with hers. Dean wondered if he was going to have to warn her not to get sick. He remembered a time when he hadn't eaten in a week, the money Dad had left them having been spent on an emergency broken arm and the rest on Sam. When his dad had gotten back, Dean had stuffed himself on the pizza, before spending a miserable time puking it all back up. His dad had simply told him to get cleaned up, and warned him not to do it again.
Dean moved to sit in front of her, elbowing Sam to get him to give him more room. It wasn't Dean's fault Sam was gigantic. Alida sipped her orange juice, brought by an overly enthusiastic waitress considering the hour, and Dean gratefully gulped at the coffee Sam had ordered for him before peering at their newest companion. She sat with her back straight, making him overly conscious of the way he slumped against the seat. He hunched over more in defiance, watching the way her eyes roved over the empty diner, methodically checking to see if anyone had come in. Sam elbowed him before barely nodding in her direction to which Dean punched him in the ribs.
"Alida, let's cut the crap. We're hunters, we aren't crazy, werewolves are real, you killed one yourself, and you need to explain how you did that. Is that everything? Oh, yeah, are you sure you can eat all that?" Dean asked apprehensively as their food started coming out, and three plates were places in front of her. Her eyes practically devoured the food being sat before her, and she only paused to thank their waiters before digging in. She started with the bacon, which Dean appreciated, but he could almost swear she wasn't chewing. She took a breath before he could interrupt, taking a sip of juice.
"Yes, I can eat all of this, now just give me a minute," she told him snappily before once more diving into her food. Dean was somewhere between disgusted and impressed at the food she put away, and he took his time to slowly eat his as she made her way through the biscuits and gravy and on to the pancakes. He could practically hear poor Sam's health minded heart breaking as he took in all of the grease she was eating. It would have been horrific to watch if she wasn't so neat. She barely made any mess, and all of her bites were small. But they were quick and efficient, and she didn't even start slowing down until she more than halfway through. She was spearing a hash brown when the wide eyed waitress came to clear away her empty plates.
"Why I'll be, I didn't think a gal as small as you was actually gonna eat all that, my word, you might pop! Do y'all need anything else, sugar?" she asked cheerfully and Alida waved her fork for them to answer, her mouth full at the moment.
"Um, no Ma'am I think we're good," Sam replied with a smile, and the waitress, whose name was Sherry the name tag on her yellow uniform told them, gave them a cheerful grin that caused small crows feet at the corner of her brown eyes before refilling Dean's coffee. She left with the order to just ask if they needed anything else and by that time Alida was simply taking small bites of her eggs, making sure it didn't drip with her little triangles of toast.
"Are you going to die?" Dean finally asked, and she chuckled darkly at the question. She looked over to her remaining pieces of toast, she still had some jam left… but then decided to sit down her silverware to talk to them. She sighed, taking another sip of her juice before looking between the startled brown eyes and the awed green eyes before her. Although they were so different, they had nearly identical looks on their faces, and you could certainly tell they were brothers.
"No, I think I'm good for now," Alida answered Dean's question before nibbling on the corner of her toast. She could eat and talk at the same time she decided, borrowing some jam from Dean's plate, which he glared at even though he wasn't using it, and smearing it on her remaining toast.
"So, you say that you hunt monsters? What kinds other than werewolves," Alida asked, and Dean nearly stole her toast our from in between her pink lips in annoyance. She was supposed to be answering their questions, not the other way around.
"Ghosts, vampires, witches, skin walkers, we've got a couple of wendigos but those are rare, demons, demons all the time, I'm sick of it really," Dean listed, before leaning towards Sam as if to get him to agree. Sam merely glared at him, almost pouting and Alida sat down the remnants of her breakfast.
"You expect me to believe. That you fight these… what, supernatural creatures? That they really exist?" Alida asked pointedly, not even trying to hide her disbelief.
"You saw one last night," Sam offered and Alida's eyes narrowed in a way that made Dean lean forward to catch her attention.
"I've seen lots of monsters. Believe me, I've experienced it, but those have all been men, Sam. Or something caused by men," Alida answered him gravely and Sam hesitated at the look on her face. This was no child, pretending to have seen some bad things, she was scarred by something in her past. This was someone whose eyes reminded Sam of the way Dean looked when he got back from Hell. Dean must have recognized it too because his hands clenched into fists. Alida's eyes flickered to where they were sitting on the table back to his face and he leaned back with a groan, rubbing his forehead.
"What are you?" he asked wearily, knowing without a doubt that there was no way she was human. She had unbelievable strength, she just ate twice what he could on a good day, she was obviously trained to watch her exits and to use her knives, and there was no way that look in her eyes was just from some tragic accident. That hardened, broken, absolutely bare twisted look of someone who had seen the worst in the world and couldn't see through the blood to see the good anymore.
"You just expect me to tell you? You just bragged about your hunting history," Alida told them softly, her voice so low Dean could barely hear it but her eyes weren't scared, but gentle as she watched him. He wondered if she could see the same things he could read on hers on his face. He was captured by the complex look in her light blue eyes, so much deeper than just amused, and hurt, and all too understanding.
"So you aren't human," Sam said firmly and Dean almost punched him for the way she sighed, sitting back and building a barrier to whatever had just happened.
"I'm mostly human," she answered with a shrug and Dean realized he had been hoping she was just a human with a really big appetite when his stomach sank. For some reason he would be a bit disappointed when he had to kill her.
"Mostly human, but what's the rest?" Dean urged harshly and she rolled her eyes, standing up and arching her back as her fingers reached for the sky. Dean jumped at the movement, reaching for his gun before he realized she was only stretching. She raised an eyebrow at him condescendingly. He glared, standing up to face her and smoothing his jacket back down over his gun.
"Look, how can we convince you?" Dean asked, and Alida bit her lip as she stared out the window in thought. Dean watched the way the nibble turned into a gnaw, as her brows furrowed and he fought the urge to reach out and stroke the skin and make her stop. She would probably break his hand if he even tried.
"Show me," she finally answered and Dean shared a look with Sam.
"Oh, come on. I can obviously handle myself. And if I can't and I die, well, then I'm not your problem anymore," she told them, way too cheerful for someone who just planned her death and that made Dean watch her even more warily. She sighed, looking to Sam for help.
"We do have a werewolf to find," Sam admitted and Dean raised his eyebrows at his weak little brother. Sam just shrugged helplessly.
"Fine, let's go hunt us a werewolf. Then you can tell us exactly what you are, Alida," Dean told her, not moving until she agreed.
"We have ourselves a deal, Dean Winchester."