Chapter Seven
a/n Holy cow, this story is going fast. And they are finally gonna take on some vamps! I think...
The next morning came far too early. But Sam was glad when the light peeked through the curtains.
It was seven a.m. when Lizzy waltzed into the boys' room. Gabrielle followed at a more sedate pace, eyes squinting against the light, one hand massaging her forehead, and the other clutching a cup of coffee. Bringing the styrofoam edge to her lips, she sucked at it as though it held the antidote to a poison that was killing her.
"You ready to hit the road?" Lizzy chirped.
Sam laughed. "Me, sure. But Dean is another story." He pointed over at the other bed, where his brother lay face forward, sprawled halfway off the mattress, still wearing the clothes from the previous night.
"I've tried everything I can think of, but Dean is not getting up."
As Sam and Lizzy considered the stretched out mess that was Dean, Gabrielle stomped past them both. She set down her coffee, then reached out, yanking Dean up by the neck of his jacket and slapping him on the back of the head.
That brought Dean fully awake, and the next thing everyone knew, Dean was holding Gabrielle down on the bed, body over hers, a knife at her throat. The wild panic in his eyes disappeared when he finally recognized his "attacker".
For a long minute, he remained on top of her, smirking. She glared. "If I really wanted to, I could easily get you off me."
"Which suggests you're not opposed to me being on top."
They all heard the click of a gun being cocked. And the muzzle was pointed into Dean's stomach.
"You might wanna move away before I pull the trigger, Winchester."
Instead of immediately backing off, he grinned down at her for a few seconds, then pushed himself up off the bed. He reached out a hand to pull Gabs to her feet, but she shoved it aside, getting to her feet and uncocking the tiny, two shot Derringer, before returning it to the concealed holster in her pocket.
She glared, but her eyes were returning Dean's smile. And she handed him her own cup of coffee.
Dean gave her a grateful little nod, and then took a long swallow. Then his face twisted and he coughed. "Holy crap, woman. How much sugar did you put in here?"
She simply shrugged. As they all stood staring at each other, Dean smugly mocked Gabrielle. "Are you gonna look away so I can get dressed? 'cause if you want the full show, you're gonna have to pay for it."
Gabs simply walked back into the girls' room, slamming the door behind her.
Lizzy and Sam had stood to the side, watching all of this in shock, ready to jump in and get between the older hunters if they decided to kill each other. But the way the two reacted to one another suggested they were friends, rather then two people who they assumed had tried to slaughter one another only the night before.
Matter-of-factly, Dean pulled off his jacket and t-shirt, wiggling his eyebrows at Lizzy, who sighed and walked back to the room she and Gabrielle were sharing, shutting the door firmly behind her.
Sam turned to glare at his big brother, "You shouldn't-" Then he shook his head and sighed. "Just hurry up."
Dean was feeling quite pleased about the whole thing and took another swig of the coffee, before nearly choking. "Way too much sugar, Gabs."
This time when they met up outside, there was no argument over which car to take. The girls slipped into the Shelby, and the boys hopped in the Impala. There was a low, harmonious roar as the two cars started at the same time.
The Shelby led the way, and it only took two minutes for Sam to turn to Dean. "Dude, what the hell happened with you and Gabrielle last night? You both got back totally wasted, and cut up and bruised like you'd been in some kind of fight."
His big brother grinned. "She's awesome, dude."
"Care to give details, Dean?"
"Nah."
Sam pulled out his cellphone and sent Lizzy a text.
Dean's not telling me anything about last night.
neither iz gabs. she just said deans a better guy then she thought. whats up w/that?
Dean called Gabrielle awesome.
super weird.
Agreed.
Dean cleared his throat and Sam looked up from the phone and over at his brother. When Dean didn't say anything, Sam simply raised an eyebrow. "What? Dude, if you wanna say something, say it."
"What'd you and Lizzy do while Gabs and me were out? Anything fun?" Here, Dean wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.
Sam shook his head, watching Dean in mild annoyance. "Dude - mind, gutter. Get. It. Out."
"Whatever, man. She totally told me she was gonna give you a try yesterday."
Sam straightened in surprise, "What? What did she say?"
Dean shrugged, "I don't remember exactly, dude, but she said something about getting you to go after her." Glancing sideways at his tall brother, Dean snorted.
Sammy looked like he was trying to cover up excitement, like a puppy with its ears down but a wildly wagging tail.
"Bitch."
"Jerk!"
The traditional exchange finished, Dean cranked up the volume, singing boisterously along to Black Sabbath. The sounds filled the Impala's space, and the boys sunk into a state of calm, almost excited, expectation and preparation. Which lasted until the shining red car ahead of them swerved wildly.
Dean slammed on the brakes, but didn't see the man standing in the road until too late. With a powerful bang, the nose of the Impala hit the man, who went flying forward to crash into the windshield, the force of the hit sending cracks shooting through the glass.
The boys jerked back in shock. "What the hell?"
Jumping out of the car, they rushed to the hood and reached out, carefully dragging the injured guy to the asphalt road.
Sam knelt and surveyed his chest, checked for broken neck or bones, running his hands over the stranger's limbs with the medical expertise that came from having Dean as a brother.
Dean bent down beside Sam, and started pulling off the man's jacket. "Is he okay? Or is he dead? 'Cause that would just seriously suck."
As if he had heard Dean's words, the man's eyes flashed open and, in an unexpected move, shot upright, digging his fingers into Dean's shoulder. His other arm he flung out to strike Sam, who didn't have time to process what was happening. The blow sent the taller brother hurtling six feet back to slam into a tree.
And then the man bared his teeth in a growl, as an entire set of crooked, ripping fangs descended over his gums.
"Oh shit," Dean muttered. He struggled, but the vampire grabbed the hunter's neck and began to drag him closer.
Then the vampire's head disappeared and a sheet of dark blood splashed across Dean's chest.
Looking up in shock, he found Gabs watching him from behind the headless body, a heavy machete dripping crimson liquid held loosely in both hands. "Having fun, Winchester?"
The whole set of events had happened in less than a minute. It took only seconds for Dean to pull himself back together, straightening and spinning. "Sammy!"
When his eyes finally found his baby brother, Sam was grimacing as Lizzy stood leaning over him, poking at the cut across his cheek. The skin had been split when the vampire smacked him.
The vampire.
Dean turned to Gabs, leveling his famous death glare. His voice was rough with fury. "How did you know he was-"
"A vamp?" Gabs cut in. "I didn't. But this near a nest, I make it a point to always keep a cutting weapon close. It's common sense, Winchester. You know you don't let your guard down while you're on a hunt."
He rolled his eyes. "Shut up, Gabs."
Crouching down beside the body, she ignored him, and began riffling through the vamp's clothes.
A snort, and Dean commented, "And people think I'm a scumbag grave robber with no morals.You're the one stealing from a dead guy. I just burn 'em."
"He was already dead, ass. I'm just looking for clues," she responded in an annoyed monotone.
"In his wallet?"
Gabs didn't dignify this with a response, all the while pulling cash out of the newly deceased's wallet. She thumbed through the stack of bills, then tucked them away in her jacket pocket, before going back to searching through the clothes.
Rolling his eyes again, and trying not to laugh, Dean walked back towards the car to grab a different shirt. Until he stopped still, finally seeing the full damage done to the glass on the front window.
Wheeling back around, he pounded over and kicked the corpse a half dozen times.
"Freaking bloodsucker!You hurt my car! You son of a bitch!"
When he stepped back, breath unsteady, he pretended Gabs wasn't watching him, waiting for him to stop so she could continue rummaging through the corpse's pockets. His walk back to the Impala was hurried, and when he reached it, he spent several moments just staring.
Stepping closer, Dean brushed his hand softly over the car's roof, and spoke in an adorable, affectionate tone some women would kill to hear from his lips. "I am so sorry, baby. I will fix you up perfectly. I promise. First we've gotta gank the rest of these damn vamps, but then I will give you a full work over. I swear."
Lizzy and Sam watched this in confusion and amusement. They just didn't understand why the harm to a car would practically bring tears to the tough hunter's eyes.
Sure, the two knew how much Dean and Gabs loved their cars. They doted on the vehicles like they were their lovers, or something. But the obsession with a pair of cars, even very pretty, classic cars, never made sense to the younger pair.
Shaking her head, Lizzy reached down and attempted to help Sam to his feet. After a series of struggling noises, and a few grunts, Sam stood smiling down at the girl. "Thanks for the help," he teased.
She lightly punched his ribs. "Come on, B.F.G. I've got a bunch of bandaids that say "sexy" with your name on them."
Sam blinked a few times, trying to decide which of her words to respond to, or take offense at. Curiosity won out. "What the hell's a B.F.G.?"
Lizzy stared up in fake shock. "Don't tell me you've never read Roald Dahl."
That got a laugh. "I've never read Roald Dahl."
A huff escaped her pouting lips. "He's a famous children's author! He wrote a book about a Big Friendly Giant. Thus, B.F.G."
Sam cracked up. Whenever Dean called Sam "Sasquatch", or made fun of his height, it bugged him. But something about the little blonde made it possible for her to get away with saying and doing things that would be annoying or inappropriate for anyone else.
"Guys."
They all turned at Gabrielle's quiet call, Sam and Lizzy half-way to the Shelby, Dean bare chested and scrubbing at the blood on his skin with the balled up wad of his original shirt.
Gabrielle still stooped beside the body, held up a keyring, which glinted in the light. "Bus keys."
"How far are we from the nest?" Dean demanded.
Sam looked at his brother, a predatory smile on his face. "Five minutes walking."
"Which means they either dumped the bus nearby," Liz continued, blue eyes wide with anger and hope. "Or they did separate the kids and just brought them all back to the barn."
Gabs stood, brushing off her pants. "We need to burn the body, conceal the cars, split up what's left of the Dead Man's Blood, and scope out the area."
They all nodded.
Gabrielle headed to her car, calling over her shoulder, "And put on a shirt, Winchester. Exhibitionists aren't welcome on this hunt."
Dean responded, "It's just wrong to cover up anything this amazing, Gabs." He gestured smugly at the defined musculature and golden flesh of his torso.
Sam groaned, Lizzy giggled, and Gabrielle walked back over with a gas can and matchbox in hand. Busying herself pouring the gasoline over the cadaver, she didn't even glance at the half-naked Dean. Instead, she dropped a lit match, and the fire burst up, with a loud "fwump" of displaced air. The body had burned down to ashes in minutes.
Dean purposefully pulled on a button-up shirt, leaving it open, and swung into the Impala. "Let's move, kids."
"Finally," Sam and Lizzy muttered at the same time.
