*Donovan "Van" Lancaster belongs to the ever so lovely Andi (Selah25), . I recommend you read her fic "Thirty Days or Less" on here!*

Chapter 9:

You Like Me Too Much

That night was odd. Good, but odd. Sam and Dean chose not to discuss any of their issues, which was more than fine with Andie, and instead all three took to drinking, a past time they hadn't indulged in quite a while. Perhaps it was because of the trip to the future, her fate or lack thereof, or maybe it was Sam being back... or maybe it was because Van was in trouble. Whatever it was; Andie took up the challenge to try and drink it away. It was tomorrow's problem; she'd deal with Van tomorrow.

Van was quite the genius when it came to demonology; she even had a degree in it and, last Andie knew, became a professor. They'd lost touch years ago, she just fell behind in Andie's life, became one of those people she'd connected with, but didn't keep in touch with. Cass had been like that, but Cass had staying power. It was more annoying than anything else, that no matter how many times Andie shut her out, she managed to claw her way back in. Andie eventually stopped trying to get rid of her, it made more sense to keep her around anyway. Never at all did she think she'd grow to love the crazy bitch like family.

As much as Andie did love Cass, she was the last person she wanted to see the morning after downing almost two six-packs of cheap beer. "Ugh..." She groaned as the door-knock thundered through her inebriated skull. As she got to her feet, she realized the massive weight across her middle was actually Dean passed out on her. He woke up when she shoved him off.

"What?" He grumbled into the bed sheets.

"Someone's at the door," Andie shuffled out of bed trying to ignore her migraine.

"Why did I let you trick me into a drinking contest?" Dean growled as he sat up, disturbing a pile of empty beer cans on the end of the bed.

"You're just pissed 'cos you lost," Andie replied as she peered through the keyhole. "Speaking of alcohol..."

"Morgan, this dump smells like cat piss." Cassidy greeted her as the door opened.

"It's good to see you, too." Andie yawned. "Where's the boyfriend?"

"Parking the car," She came in and tossed her bag on the table.

"Medusa." Dean greeted her with a tired wave.

"Derwood." Cass replied. Her eyes then fell on Sam who had fallen asleep in his clothes on the sofa. "And there's Boy Wonder, huh? All that power and he still can't hold his liquor."

"Hello?" Luka called from the front door, knocking twice as he nervously entered.

"You remember Luka." Cass grinned broadly.

Andie smiled at him. "Yes, the hottie who smells like rope."

"Good to see you again, Andie." He stuck his hand out to Dean as he approached him. "You must be Dean; I've heard a lot about you."

"Luka, hey," Dean shook his hand, getting a quick flash of the future as he did so... he and Luka friends, him changed by demon hunting, married to Cass... "Good to finally meet you. That's Sam," He pointed at his brother. "Heavy sleeper on the booze."

"I can hear you." Sam groaned.

"Good, you're up." Andie knocked his legs off the couch to retrieve her bag that he was lying on. "Take off your drunk wig and slap on your nerd toupee; you got research to do."

Dean got on the phone to Bobby while Sam begrudgingly got to work at his laptop with Luka close by reading out of textbooks. Cass and Andie took to the small balcony with a couple of old texts Cass had brought along. Andie was impressed at Luka's ability to merge into the admittedly dangerous world of hunting, a sentiment she passed along to Cass.

"I know, wait til you see him with a shotgun," Cass replied proudly. "It's funny, I was all gung-ho about getting back to Iowa, giving up all this for awhile... but hell; it suckered me back in." She frowned. "Is that totally sad?"

"Kinda." Andie said as she flicked through useless pages of the book in her lap. "So, Van?" She said a minute later.

"Yes." Cass repeated through tight lips. "Van."

Andie smirked. "Why the tone?"

"There was no tone." Cass snapped defensively. "Why aren't you two still friends? Did you scare her off with your big boobies and your weird bisexual vibe?"

"No." Andie narrowed her eyes. "She just... her life was going one way, mine was going another..." A moment passed. "Cass, you know you're my favourite."

"Shut up." Though Cass couldn't help but take the compliment. "Look, she came through town really flustered. Said she'd just come from Montana and had to go back, and that you were the only one who could help her."

Andie chewed the inside of her lip. "I haven't seen her in years, why would she think to call me?"

"You got me; desperate people do desperate things." She grinned. "She seemed sick or something, really on edge, rambling about the seven deadly sins."

"Seven Deadly Sins?" Andie repeated sceptically. "You're kidding."

"I wish. I would have laughed if she wasn't so freaked, but before I could say "Hey, Crazy!", she was out the door. So," She tossed her book aside. "What do you wanna do about it?"

Andie sighed and groaned simultaneously. "I guess we're going to Montana."

"What about Dean?"

"Dean!" Andie bellowed over her shoulder. "We're going to Montana!"

"Okay!" Dean called back.

"Done."

"Coolio."

"Hey, how's your electro-mania going?" Andie asked.

"I can't really control it yet, it kinda comes out on its own when I'm angry or... otherwise." She flushed slightly. "One time during sex I gave Luka second degree burns; I didn't even know I was shocking him!"

"Huh... it's like your own warped form of S&M."

Both of them laughed as Dean wandered onto the porch. "Bobby seems to think the threat is legit," He informed them as he hung up his cell. "Lots of omens floating around central Montana lately. And check out what Sam found..." He handed Andie a printout. "Record number of arrests for murders and theft."

"Greed and Wrath," Andie clucked her tongue as she listed the Sins.

"Also an increase in divorces," Dean handed Cassidy another printout. "So that's Lust covered."

"Is it centred anywhere in particular?"

"Actually; yeah. And they're already jumping on the Seven Deadly Sins bandwagon." He slapped a third printout down on the table between them. "Great Falls Church Declares Apocalypse, Now." He read the headline.

"Aw, religion and sins..." Cass smiled offhandedly. "They're really pushing the social boundaries aren't they?"

Sighing, Andie sat up in her chair. "I still don't get how Van might be involved in this..."

"Maybe she followed the omens and wound up there?" Cass offered. "From the looks of all this it's like the whole town is infected or something."

"Smells like another Horseman to me." Dean muttered.

Andie was thinking the same thing. "Great." She mumbled.

"Still up for Montana?" He asked with a half smile.

"Hells yeh."

xxx

By late morning, the Impala and Luka's army green jeep had crossed over the Montana state line and were making a beeline for Great Falls. They were slightly without a plan... no one knew what to expect. If the town was infected with the Seven Deadly Sins somehow, they were running a risk of getting infected themselves. But seeing as it wasn't ever member of the population being struck down, Andie was pretty confident there was some sort of leader, a trigger who set each Sin upon a victim. Finding said trigger was not going to be so easy, finding Van was the first step.

Andie rode with Dean and Sam with Cass and Luka close behind. It was late afternoon when they arrived in Great Falls, and the trio in the Impala had already decided where they were headed. Andie was going to do some grunt work on the ground with Cass and look for Van, Dean and Sam were going to chase up the church mentioned in the article and see if there was any weight to their claims.

"Alright, we'll get us rooms, you check out the church," Andie said as she climbed out of the Impala in front of Cyprus Falls Motel. "Meet us back here in a couple of hours?"

"Yes, ma'am." Dean pretended to tip his hat to her before driving off with his brother beside him.

Almost just like old times... she thought as she watched them leave.

"Morgan, snap out of it," Cass tugged on her friends arm. "Put your game-face on, will you? These people are hopped up on sin, we gotta be careful."

"You're very offensive today." Andie noted.

Cass blushed. "You flatter me." She waved at Luka who was reversing his jeep. "He's going to stock up on supplies."

"By supplies, you mean food?"

"Yes." Cass held the door to the motel for her friend. "The man knows what I like." She had to force herself not to stare at the strange woman sitting by the door in a hot pink windbreaker and yellow rain boots, tearing up a newspaper into small, even strips.

There was an old man sitting behind the front desk in a blue checked shirt and tan suspenders. He was balding with tinted glasses abridge his nose, and he was flicking through a newspaper screaming the same headline about the Seven Deadly Sins. "Room for two?" He asked as he saw the women approach.

"No, no, we're not together." Cass laughed. "I mean, there was a time when I considered being a lesbian but it just seemed like a lot of extra work-"

"Two rooms." Andie cut in. "We got two people in one, three in the other."

"Sure, sure, just I need some ID." The old man pulled out a scheduling book. "We're pretty much empty lately." He muttered. "And all this crazy Sins nonsense is really kicking me outta business."

"Oh... sad." Cass muttered. "What's your name, Sir, I'll whack it in a prayer tonight."

Andie rolled her eyes, Cass never prayed.

The man just laughed. "No thanks, darlin'." He chuckled. "Since I lost my wife I guess I'm more atheist than anything else. But my name's Eddie."

"Bingo! I win!" Hot Pink Windbreaker suddenly cried out, tossing her torn up shreds of paper into the air.

"That's Rita; she's harmless." Eddie assured them as he wrote down their names off of the licences they'd handed over. "So, what brings you to town? Most people are headed out, these days."

"I'm looking for someone actually, Donovan Lancaster?" Andie asked. "Brown hair, a little taller than me, body of a Korean gymnast..."

"The Professor?"

Andie widened her eyes. "Professor? Wait, does she work here?"

"Past month or so; doing some interstate teaching at the college, staying on campus." Eddie explained. "My daughter's a Professor there, too. Said Lancaster was very good for the students... but I haven't seen her since the East Wing of the school burned down. Not sure where she is now; but my Trisha would know. I could give you her phone number?"

"Thanks," Andie smiled. "You said burned down?"

"Arson." Eddie shook his head in disgust. "Rotten kids. They were all proud of themselves..." He sighed. "I'll get you that number."

"Pride?" Cass hissed in Andie's ear.

"Well, at least we're in the right place." Andie pointed out.

"So? We're still five hunters without a plan!"

"Would you dial down the insanity, please? We're in public."

"You think I care what these freaks think?" Cass yelled so loud Hot Pink Windbreaker at the door heard her and swivelled in her seat. "Not you, honey, you are perfection." She winked.

xxx

Eddie's daughter, Trisha Yearwood, did have Van's whereabouts. She was living in off-campus student housing at the White Rocks village. The place was pretty much deserted by the time Cass and Andie made their way there, but then again the whole town looked like the population all just decided to pack up and move on one day.

Andie spied the '76 emerald green camaro with white racing stripes down the side. "She's here." Andie jabbed her thumb at the vehicle. "That's her car."

Cass let Andie drag her across the road as they approached room 212 in front of the vintage car. "This is the chick who slashed Jeremy's tyres, isn't it?" She recalled.

"Yep, that's her." Andie paused. "God, I miss that bike. Cars just suck in comparison."

"Let's get this over with, can we?" Cass knocked sharply on the motel door. There was no answer. She tried again and waited. Same result. She sighed and glanced at Andie. "You ready?"

"Yep."

Cassidy let out a loud, fake couch to muffle the sound of Andie using her power to smash open the door. "Van?" She ventured as she crept into the room.

Almost immediately, she and Cass stopped dead when they saw Van, rushing back and forth across her room, her normally tame hair a frantic, knotted mess, and she was wringing her fingers together.

"Evil... everywhere..." She muttered as she paced. "I can't stop it; it can't be stopped. Tried... failed... can't be stopped."

"Great, she's nuts too!" Cass exclaimed in exasperation.

"Dammit." Andie clapped her hands together. "Van!" She shouted. "Look alive!" The frantic brunette turned to her. "Remember me?"

"Two little ducks come out to play..." She answered. "Play away... go away... Andie says go away..."

"Yeh, that's it... I'm Andie." She wasn't good with slightly crazy people. "God, what Sin infected her...?"

"By the looks of this?" Cass picked up a stack of trashy magazines with thin models faces circled and less attractive women crossed out. "Envy."

"Envy?" Andie repeated. "Envy-down-a-shame-spiral...?" She turned so Van wouldn't hear her. "It wouldn't make her nuts like this."

"We're talking demons here, Morgan," Cass reminded her. "Nothing they won't do for a bit of torture. Hell, she seems like she's got some Wrath in her as well... maybe the ringleader of this whole shemozzle is mixing cuisines? Letting everyone double dip in the Sin pool?"

"Bad analogies aside, I think you have a point... can you watch her for a second?" She pushed passed Cass. "I'll call Ellie and see if she can help."

Cass yanked her back by her elbow. "No, you can't leave me here alone with her."

With an exasperated grunt, Andie snatched back her arm, "She seems harmless enough. If she comes to close, shock her away." Andie flicked out her fingertips; miming an electro-shocking gesture.

Drifting off into a daydream, Cass relented. "Oh, I like that."

Though prepared to stand out in the cold for the hours it sometimes took for her grandmother to show up, Andie was surprised when after only a few moments she came to her. "Grams!" Andie screamed as she walked around the parking lot. "Come on, don't make me wait!"

"What is it, Andie, I have a million things going on right now." Ellie strode towards her, as if she'd popped up mid-walk.

Andie sure had no trouble with getting straight to the point. "I need you to help Van."

Ellie furrowed her brown. "A van?"

"No, Van." Andie corrected her. "Girl I used to know, she's drugged-way-out on some Deadly Sins, I need you to zap her clean so we can figure out how to stop the son of a bitch that started all of this."

Ellie sighed. "A grandmother's works is never done..." She allowed Andie to usher her into the motel room where they saw Van playing with Cassidy's hair.

"Crazy or not, the girl can French braid." Cass explained as they came in.

"Oh," Ellie clutched her chest, taking in the sense of the room. "This girl is plagued, that's for sure." She walked towards her and knelt down. "Awful business... unfortunately she'll remember everything." Ellie pressed her middle and forefinger against Van's forehead. "How are you, dear?"

"Wha...?" Van blinked her eyes repeatedly, staring from Ellie, to Andie and down to Cassidy, whose hair was still tangled up in her fingers. "Crap; this isn't a dream is it?"

"Sadly, no." Andie sighed with relief. "Thanks, Ellie- Grams."

"You're welcome, love. Find whoever is doing this...this whole town is in jeopardy... and the angels won't help. They're not even watching this area." She looked gravely to each of the young women. "Be strong, girls." And with a blink, she was gone.

Van sprang to her feet. "Whoa! What was that?"

"She's an angel. And my grandmother." Andie cleared a space on the couch and sat down. "You always wondered where my telekinesis came from, right?"

Confused, but going with the flow, Van sat herself back down. "Huh... so I guess my theory of it stemming from your PMS rage wasn't exactly on the money?"

Cass slapped Van excitedly on the thigh. "Oh my God, that's exactly what I said!"

Van gave her an odd look. "Who are you?"

"Cassidy."

The name rang a bell in Van's memory. "Ah, yeh, I remember... Andie called you 'the bitch that won't leave me alone'."

Cass beamed. "I love when my reputation precedes me."

"I'll give you the heads up," Andie said, gesturing to Cass. "She's running with some electrokinesis ever since I brought her back from the dead. Don't piss her off - or have sex with her - and you'll remain unshocked."

Van didn't question a word of this bizarre statement. "Noted." She smirked. "So, you're here. I guess that means you got my message?"

"I passed it along." Cass spoke up. "Do you not remember bursting into my room screeching for Andie Morgan?"

"Vaguely... I didn't intend to be here this long... but I got the offer to teach her for a bit and thought it was a good opportunity." Van let out an exasperated sigh. "Only after I got here did all this Deadly Sins stuff start happening; and by the time I'd researched it I was in the thick of it."

"Did you make any headway?"

"Ah, yeah..." Van strode to her satchel bag and yanked out a couple of pages of notepad paper. "It all traces back to one place. All the people who started getting infected were members of the church. Then it was their families who got infected, and then their friends. Anyone with a bond to someone who was contaminated with a Sin became infected themselves. And in some cases, two or three sins." She handed her notes to Cassidy. "I got it from two students I tutored... both are now serving time for setting the college on fire." She couldn't help but roll her eyes. "This town is going to pot."

As Andie read, she felt a familiar niggling in her stomach, she grew very nervous. "The Great Falls church?"

"Yeah." Van cast a troubled look between the two women. "Why? What's wrong?"

Andie cursed her own stupidity. "I sent Sam and Dean there."

xxx