Bloodlust
Dean was restless and Rian had to say that she wasn't surprised. It had been five days since the trio had given John Winchester a proper hunter's burial. Rian understood Dean's need to move on, really she did, but she wasn't quite physically able.
"Y'know what." Rian said loudly, the fifth time Dean turned to look at her, as if assessing her physical condition, "Why don't you two go on a hunt or something. I'm perfectly okay with sitting in a motel room on my own."
"Bu-" Sam started to protest but Rian interrupted him.
"No ifs, ands, or buts. You two are getting on my nerves with your pacing and your hopeful looks like my body is going to grow sudden healing abilities or some shit like that." Rian said with a glare, "You two are going to find yourselves a hunt and give me some peace and quiet."
Honestly, Rian was surprised when the two complied. The day after they had burned John's body no one had spoken. Then she and Dean had gotten into an argument about something insignificant. After that everything had gone back to almost normal. But Rian knew that Dean was going to blow.
"Alright," Dean said, quickly exiting the room. He came back with a phone in hand, Rian recognized it as John's phone. "He's got a voicemail."
"From who?" Sam asked, standing up and walking over to listen to the message.
"Someone called Ellen?" Dean said, looking up at Rian, "You know about this chick?"
"Ellen Harvelle," Rian said, standing up and walking over to the boys, "Owns a roadhouse somewhere in Nebraska, should be in Jo- John's journal."
Dean nodded and went to retrieve the journal. After flipping through a few pages he seemed to find something. He wrote down an address then gently put the journal away.
"Let's hit the road then." Dean said, grabbing both his own bag and Rian's. Normally Rian would have protested but she had to worry about getting her own ass out to the car before Dean drove off without it.
Rian had opted to stay with the Harvelle's rather than spend her time alone in a grimy motel room. For most of the hunt that Sam and Dean went on, a hunt she vaguely remembered being called Everyone Loves a Clown, Rian had sat around the bar impatiently. Sometimes she'd talk to Jo or Ash but most of the time was spent in a corner with a journal in front of her and a pen in her hands.
She was taking a break from writing when her phone rang, it was Sam.
"Hey, we're on our way back now," Sam told her, "how you holding up?"
"Did you know there are more ways to say boring than bored in the English language?" Rian said with a small smile, "I'm fine Sam, I've been writing down what I can remember from the show. Who knows, it might actually be helpful at some point."
"Probably," Sam agreed, "how're your injuries?"
"Almost good as new," Rian said, it was true, she could walk normally and her stitches were gone. Her arm was still in a cast but that would heal in the next few weeks.
"Good, good." Sam said distractedly.
"How you doing, Sammy?" Rian asked, "How was the hunt? Run into any clowns?"
"Not you too," Sam groaned, Rian could hear a thump that indicated he had thrown his head back against the seat, "I am not going to deal with you and Dean making fun of me for this."
Rian grinned, "Fine, I'll find something else then, Samantha."
"Fin." Sam warned
"Alright, alright," Rian conceded with a chuckle, "How far out are you guys?"
"Just a couple hours, should be there by seven." Sam told her.
"Alright, well, I'm gonna go talk to Jo, see you two soon then." Rian said before hanging up.
The first thing they did after leaving was go to Bobby's. Dean needed a little time to work on getting Baby back into better shape and Sam just needed a little time. This time it was Rian that suffered from cabin fever.
"What has got you so anxious?" Sam asked on Rian's fifth lap around the house.
"I don't know," Rian said, coming to a stop in front of Sam, "I just feel anxious, I need something to do."
"Like what?" Dean asked, looking up from his spot at Bobby's desk where he was taking a break from working on Baby.
"If I knew I wouldn't be so damned anxious." Rian nearly whined, flopping on the couch next to Sam but immediately standing up again.
The brothers shared a look that went unnoticed by Rian. She was pacing around the house again, tidying up things as she walked by. Bobby had learned quickly not to get in her way. When he'd tried to stop her she had nearly backhanded him.
"That's it." Dean said, standing from Bobby's chair with a grunt, "we're going on a hunt."
"Finally!" Rian yelled before running to get her bag. The brothers exchanged another look but neither of them commented on Rian's strange behavior.
"What's on your mind Fin?" Sam asked after they had been driving for an hour. He noticed that as soon as they were in the impala Rian had relaxed significantly.
"Well, unless you guys want a mystery I can fill you in on this case. No one dies, Dean learns things. You guys fight. Nothing unusual." Rian smiled, "So you wanna know?"
Two days after John's burning Rian had talked with Sam, Dean, and Bobby and they decided that it was Rian's call on whether or not to tell the boys something and if she didn't then she'd have permission to punch them if they got mad at her.
"You're choice Fin." Dean reminded her, looking at her in the rearview.
"Yeah, I know," She sighed dramatically, "It's just that Dean's gonna make some mistakes but I think they're important ones"
"Why am I gonna make mistakes?" Dean asked, "Why not Sam?"
"You're gonna discuss right and wrong with an asshole." Rian said, smirking. She didn't remember the exact details of the hunt but she remembered the gist of it.
"Ok, but why?" Dean emphasized the 'why' in his question.
"Because." Rian said, "I mean, who knows, the show could be entirely wrong."
"Fine," Dean said with a grunt "be that way."
"I will"
Sam sighed, "Anything else on your mind?"
"Yeah," Rian said leaning over the front seat and looking sideways at first Sam and then Dean, "I wanna learn how to hunt." Dean looked at Rian and she continued before he can interrupt, "I'm not going to be a burden to you guys forever. I can do the research stuff just fine but I need to actually learn how to hunt so that I can protect myself in the event of us getting separated. I also want to be better able to actually help you guys. You're all the family I got."
Dean looked like he was about to argue and then sighed, "Fine, whatever." Rian leaned back, grinning at her triumph.
They were quiet for the next hundred miles and then Dean broke the silence.
"Listen to her purr." Dean cooed, "You ever heard anything so sweet?"
"If you two want to get a room, just let me know, Dean." Sam said with a scoff
"Oh, don't listen to him, baby." Dean said, petting the dashboard of the car. "He doesn't understand."
"You're in a good mood." Rian commented,
"Why shouldn't I be?" Dean asked
"No reason." Rian said, looking out the
"I got my car, I got a case." Dean smiled "Things are looking up."
"You hear of a couple of severed heads and a pile of dead cows, and you're Mr.
Sunshine." Sam joked
"How far to Red Lodge?" Rian asked shifting in her seat.
"Uh, about another 300 miles." Sam replied
"Good." Rian said, leaning back in her seat and closing her eyes.
After a stop at a diner for a late breakfast the trio decide that their best course is to interrogate the sheriff of Red Lodge. Before doing that they checked into a motel so that they could store their belongings and get changed.
Rian donned a black pantsuit with a white blouse. She considered wearing heels then thought better of it. She'd probably end up falling and breaking her other arm. Instead she put her boots back on and covered them with her pant legs, hoping that no one would notice.
She'd gotten Jo to fix her hair so that it looked more natural. The sides were shaved into an undercut, leaving the top longer and curly. It was a hairstyle that was more popular in the next decade but she figured it wouldn't be too out of style.
"The murder investigation is ongoing, and that's all I can share with the press at this time." The sheriff said glaring at the three of them. The sheriff was old, he had black hair speckled with gray, gray sideburns, and a mustache that looked like someone pulled it right off of one of the popular mustache merchandise. His head was round and he looked like every moment of his day is spent in an angry mood.
"Sure, sure, we understand that." Dean said with a smile "But just for the record, you found the first uh dead last week, correht?" The sheriff nodded "Okay, and the other, a Christina Flannigan?"
"That was two days ago." The sheriff confirmed
"Excuse me, Sir." A secretary with long blond hair said popping her head into the room. She pointed at her watch, indicating that he was late for something.
"Thank you." The sheriff said to the woman sitting up straight. "Sorry, boys, time's up.
We're done here."
"One last question." Rian said, panicking when neither Sam nor Dean moved to say anything "What about the cattle?"
"Excuse me?" The sheriff asked, eyeing Rian with disapproval. It was probably the hair, though Rian found she felt more badass with the new do.
"You know, the cows found dead, Split open, drained over a dozen cases." Rian continued calmer now that she knew he wasn't going to bolt.
"What about them?"
"So, you don't think there's a connection?" Sam asked, understanding the connection that Rian had made.
"Connection with" The sheriff asked, prolonging the question with a wave of his hand.
"First, Cattle mutilations now, two murders?" Rian continued "Kind of sounds like ritual stuff. You know, like satanic cult ritual stuff."
"You're not kidding." The sheriff asked, "Are you even old enough to be a reporter? You look like you're 15?"
"I'm an intern, sir. They told me I'd get paid extra for asking these questions." Rian shrugged, "If you could answer them?"
"Those cows aren't being mutilated." the Sheriff said vehemently and Rian raised an eyebrow, "You want to know how I know?"
"How?" Rian said, almost as a challenge. She did not appreciate the way she was being spoken to.
"Because there's no such thing as cattle mutilation. Cow drops, leave it in the sun, Within 48 hours the bloat will split it open so clean It's just about surgical. The bodily fluids fall down into the ground, get soaked up, because that's what gravity does." The man shrugged "But, hey, it could be Satan."
The three of them shared a look before turning their attention back to the sheriff. Rian hadn't quite gotten his name.
"What newspaper did you say you worked for?" The sheriff asked.
"World Weekly News." Dean said at the same time that Sam says, "Weekly World News."
"World" Dean glanced at Sam
"Weekly world." Rian said finally
"Get out of my office." The sheriff yelled at them.
They complied, sharing smirks that went unnoticed by the sheriff.
"How'd you know what to ask, Fin?" Sam asked when they'd made it to the impala.
"I've seen this all before, Sam. You guys weren't fast enough so I panicked." Rian shrugged, "The guy's a dick anyway. Kinda fun to watch him squirm."
Sam looked at Dean, "You're rubbing off on her." He accused with furrowed brows.
"Good." Dean replied with a smirk.
They head to the morgue of the local hospital next and Rian can't help but shudder. At least she was not going have to look at the head. They didn't know how to get all three of them in as reporters but Rian came up with the plan that after remembering that the doctor was out for awhile.
Dean opened a door to reveal an intern. He looked at the name tag and guessed what the man's first name was.
"John."
"Jeff." The man corrected
"Jeff, I know that." Dean smiled as he continued "Dr. Dorkin needs to see you in his office right away."
"But Dr. Dorkin's on vacation." Jeff informed the group, confused.
"He's back, and he's pissed, and he's screaming for you, man." Dean said with a helpless shrug "So, if I were you, I would" Dean gestured out the door.
Jeff scrambled out the door. The trio made their way to the morgue and the brothers walked in while Rian stayed by the door. She was interested in seeing the head but the brothers didn't believe her when she had said she would be fine.
"Hey, those Satanists in Florida, they marked their victims, didn't they?" Dean asked pulling the tray out of its spot.
"Yeah, reverse pentacle on the forehead." Sam said removing the container with the head from the tray and placing it on a table. Rian looked on with interest but did not leave her spot.
"So much of that crap happens in Florida." Dean grumbled
"All right." Dean said looking at the container, "Open it."
"You open it." Sam said, looking squeamish and so much unlike the 6'6 giant he was that Rian had to laugh.
"Wuss." Dean grumbled, he didn't move to open the container.
"If you guys were going to be so squeamish about this you should have just told me." Rian said, finally leaving her post. She picked up a pair of unused gloves as she passed a box of them and slipped them on. Rian grabbed the container and opened it up revealing a brunette with a missing body.
The smell was putrid but it was nothing that Rian wasn't used to from her time at the police station. On a few occasions she had been allowed down in the morgue after a homicide to look at the victim. Her co-workers had known, and understood, Rian's interest in those particular victims.
"Well, no pentagram." Dean said after a moment.
"Poor girl." Sam added
"Maybe we should, uh, look in her mouth, see if this wacko stuffed anything down her throat," Dean suggested, looking between Rian and Sam "you know, kind of like the moth in "Silence of the Lambs"."
"I can tell you what you'll find." Rian said, crossing her arms, the men look at her gratefully, "I could also not."
"Please, Fin," Dean begged, "I don't wanna touch that thing."
"That's a person, Dean." Sam scolded, he also looked relieved.
Rian smirked, "You guys do this for a living, it's not even that bad." They both gave her their best puppy-dog eyes. "Fine, she's a vamp."
Both Sam and Dean looked at the head then back to Rian, "What?" Dean asked, trying to make sure he heard Rian correctly.
"A vampire. You know, retractable fangs, sucks blood." Rian said lazily waving her hand, "As good of hunters as you two were I'd assumed you'd know what vampires were."
"Yeah, we know what a vampire is," Dean said, slightly offended, "Are you sure she's a vampire?"
"Positive." She replied, she picked up the head and showed them the teeth. "Now you don't have to stick your hand down her throat Sammy."
"Thank god for that." Sam muttered, covering the head back up after Rian had set it down.
"Well, this changes things." Dean grumbled.
"You think?" Sam scoffed.
"Well now we know someone's killing vamps." Rian said, removing her gloves and tossing them in the trash before washing her hands in the available faucet.
On the way back to their motel Sam and Dean decide to go to a local pub, Rian decides that she'd rather spend her time at the motel then at a bar. She wasn't much for drinking or crowded places and a pub in a place like this was bound to get some evening traffic.
"Yea yea yea," Rian scoffed when the boys were ready to leave the room, "You've gone over this twenty times in the last two minutes I'm surprised you guys can breathe still. I'll be fine. Go enjoy your boy's night I wanna catch up on a few things."
She was referring to the books she had borrowed from Bobby before they had left for the case. Sure, she knew a lot, but it wasn't going to be enough in the coming how ever long she was stuck there. She didn't know where to start to find her way back home but she figured Bobby's books were as good as anything to find some sort of lead. Even if she found nothing then at least she knew more than she did before she started reading.
When the boys had finally left Rian took out one of the books and skimmed through it for a bit before pulling out the journal and her laptop. She plugged the thing in then pulls out her phone to check the messages. The phone that had travelled with her across the worlds was tucked into a secret compartment in her backpack that Sam had sewn in while they were on a hunt a few months back.
She had one message from Bobby, one from Ellen, and two from Jo. Rian was surprised that Bobby had messaged her. She was sure that the man didn't actually like her.
Update me on the hunts, Fin. Was the message she got from Bobby.
Rian smiled and sent a quick text to them explaining what they knew so far and a little of what was gonna happen, nothing about the little hunter friend that Dean was going to make. That was for Dean to tell when all this was over.
Let me know if I can help. Don't let those boys get you killed. -Ellen
Rian smirked, she understood why Ellen disliked the boys a little even if she didn't agree with it. Everyone makes mistakes and a dead man's mistakes should be forgiven. And they definitely shouldn't be taken up by his sons.
I can handle myself fine. They aren't as bad as you seem to think- Rian
Come back. My mom's been insufferable and worried since you left. -Jo
It's really bad. Please come back soon. - Jo
Rian grinned at those. She and Jo had gotten pretty close in the three days that Rian had been there. The friendship that had formed had surprised Rian but she welcomed it. Rian frowned a little when she remembers the fate that awaits all three of them and she sighed. Her life here was getting more complicated and they were barely into season two.
You'll be fine, Jo. I promise to visit when I can. You'll be seeing more of me than the boys tho. -Rian
Rian did some research to cross check some websites with the books. She spent three hours on an interactive website about vampires. While very little of the information was actually accurate she did find it childishly entertaining.
She spent two more hours cross referencing her own journal, one that she had gotten from Bobby, with John's journal and the books. She was just finishing up writing about wendigos when Sam walked in.
"How'd it go?" She asked when Sam sat down at the table with her.
"We met another hunter, Gordon Walker. We followed him to a warehouse and Dean beheaded a vamp." Sam sighed folding his hands together in front of himself on the table and Rian looked up at him, "I know it's our job to kill monsters, but the ones that look human have always been hard for me."
Rian laid one of her hands on his and smiled when Sam looked at him, "Gordon Walker is a shitty person," Rian said, "Call Ellen and she'd confirm. You're allowed to not like parts of your job, Sam. Just remember that part of the family business is the saving people, it's not all killing things."
Sam did just that, pulling out his phone and standing up to pace at the same time.
"Hey, Ellen." Sam said, somewhat nervously, like he was expecting Ellen to bite his head off. "Sam Winchester." pause "Yeah, yeah, everything's fine. "Got a question." pause "You ever run across a guy named Gordon Walker?" Pause "And?" pause "We ran into him on a job. We're kind of working with him." Pause "I thought you said he was a good hunter." Sam glanced at Rian, his eyebrows raised "Ellen" pause "Right, okay."
"So?" Rian asked when Sam said nothing.
"You were right." Sam said, "He's not safe."
Rian watched as Sam walked to the door with a raised eyebrow.
"Where you goin'?" She asked curiously, with a tilt to her head.
"To get something to drink." Sam said, "you want anything?"
"I've been in here for five hours, I'll come with." Rian offered, standing up and following Sam to the vending machine.
"What exactly were you doing for these five hours?" Sam asked when they reached the vending machine.
Rian blushed a little, "I was supposed to be cross checking stuff that I got from the show with actual information."
"And what did you actually do?" Sam asked, grabbing his drink and then moving aside so that Rian could get her own.
"I found an interactive website about vampires and spent three hours on it." Rian muttered as she bent down to get her own cola.
"You what?" Sam asked, having not caught what she said.
"I found an interactive website on vampires and spent three hours on it." Rian repeated, this time so that Sam could hear.
He didn't stop laughing for five minutes. Rian was hoping that he'd get hiccups but apparently the hunter was immune.
"I can't believe you." Sam guffawed when he was finally able to talk, "Was any of it accurate?"
"Only if vampires are afraid of garlic." Rian told him as they started towards the room.
"And you spent three hours on it?" Sam questioned with a smirk.
"Yes, now would you shut up about it." Rian grumbled, shoving Sam out of the way so that she could let them back in the room.
Neither of them were expecting anyone to jump out of their room at them. They were prepared for something from the side and back at all times but there was no reason to worry about anyone coming in from their room.
Which was how the vamps had gotten the jump on Sam and Rian.
Rian woke with the beginnings of a massive headache. She had definitely been knocked out and she was going to pay for it.
"Sam," Rian grumbled, not quite able to control her speech, "Sam?"
She heard a Sam-esque grunt and felt Sam's long hair brush the top of her head and let out a sigh of relief.
"Can someone get this blindfold off?" Rian asked when she was sure that Sam was alright, "I'm gettin' a li'l bit claustrophobic here."
She jumped a little when cool hands ghosted past her face but relaxed when the blindfold was off. Rian looked around to see three people standing around the room. One of them was removing Sam's blindfold but they were getting too close and personal for either of the human's personal taste.
"Wait! Step back, Eli." Another vampire, one with longer dark hair and a slim figure, said when she saw what Eli was doing.
"My name's Lenore." The vampire said walking over to Sam and removing his gag. "I'm not gonna hurt you. We just need to talk."
"Talk?" Sam asked sarcastically, "Yeah, okay. But I might have a tough time paying attention to much besides Eli's teeth."
"He won't hurt you, either." Lenore said, "You have my word."
"Your word? Oh, yeah, great, thanks." Sam glared at Lenore "Listen, lady, no offense, but you're not the first vampire I've met."
"We're not like the others." Lenore said, "We don't kill humans, and we don't drink their blood.
We haven't for a long time."
"What is this? Some kinda joke?" Sam scoffed
"Notice you're still alive." Lenora said sarcastically.
"Okay, uh, correct me if I'm wrong here, but shouldn't you be starving to death?" Sam asked, after checking to make sure Rian was actually okay.
"We found other ways." Lenora said. She continued at Sam's obvious confusion, "Cattle blood."
"You're telling me you're responsible for all the-" Sam started
"It's not ideal." Lenora interrupted, "In fact, it's disgusting. But it allows us to get by."
"Okay." Sam acknowledged, "Uh, why?"
"Survival." Lenora stated simply "No deaths, no missing locals, no Reason for people like you to come looking for people like us. And we blend in. Our kind is practically extinct. It turns out we weren't as high up the food chain as we imagined."
"Why are we explaining ourselves to this killer?" Eli growled, showing his fangs.
"Eli." Lenora scolded, silencing the other vampire, "We choke on cow's blood so that none of them suffer."
"Tonight, they murdered Conrad, and they celebrated." Eli told Lenora, as if the woman didn't already know that.
"Eli, that's enough." Lenora ordered, scowling at Eli.
"Yeah, Eli, that's enough." Sam mocked, much to Eli's anger.
"What's done is done." Lenora told Eli before turning back to Sam "We're leaving this town tonight."
"Then, why did you bring us here?" Sam asked "Why are you even talking to us?"
"Believe me, I'd rather not." Lenora said, "But I know your kind. Once you have the scent, you'll keep tracking us. It doesn't matter where we go. Hunters will find us."
"So you're asking us not to follow you." Sam
"We have a right to live." Lenora said, turning intelligent eyes on Rian who just shrugged, "We're not hurting anyone."
"Right, so you keep saying." Sam said, not believing a word they were saying, "But give me one good reason why I should believe you."
"Fine. You know what I'm going to do?" Lenora leaned over Sam, Rian was a little afraid that this night might not go as she had hoped when Lenora leaned back and said, "I'm going to let you go." She turned to Eli, "Take him back. Not a mark on him."
"What about her?" Sam asked, nodding his head to Rian.
"Her too," Lenore assured before moving to untie Rian herself.
Rian and Sam both heave a sigh of relief when they are out of the vampire's house, blindfolded as they may be. Rian tried to pay attention to the twists and turns they make on the way back but she lost track of both that and the amount of time it took. Her only hope was that Sam was actually able to remember the way back.
The bonds were removed for them when they reached the motel but Rian and Sam had to remove the blindfolds and gags themselves. Rian rubbed her wrists and looked at Sam who looked as uncertain as she was feeling.
"We need to convince Dean to let them go," Sam told her. "They haven't done anything."
He spoke as though he was trying to convince himself. Sam looked at Rian and Rian grinned back.
"Let's go then." Rian lead the way to their room and stepped aside so that Sam could unlock the door and be a potential buffer for anything that might pop out at them.
Rian saw Gordon and grimaced. She decided to stay behind Sam while he spoke with Dean.
"Where you been?" Dean asked when he saw Sam. He looked suspicious, as if they'd been out doing dirty deeds.
"Can we talk to you alone?" Rian asked, gesturing towards the door.
Dean stood nodding, "You mind chilling out for a couple of minutes?" Gordon nodded while eyeing Rian curiously. Dean followed Sam and Rian out the door.
"Dean, maybe we got to rethink this hunt." Sam said before he could lose what courage he had to confront Dean.
"What are you talking about?" Dean demanded, looking stunned, "Where were you?"
"In the nest." Rian informed Dean with her arms crossed, not caring much for his attitude at the moment.
"You found it?" Dean asked, looking mildly impressed
"They found us, man." Sam told him before explaining what had happened.
"How did you get out?" Dean asked, even more impressed "How many did you kill?"
"None." Sam said.
"Sam, they didn't just let you go." Dean informed Sam, like Sam himself hadn't been there.
"That's exactly what they did." Rian told Dean
"All right, well, where is it?" Dean said, crossing his arms like a fifteen year old girl in an argument with her parents.
"I was blindfolded." Sam told him, "I don't know."
"You got to know something."
"We went over that bridge outside of town," Rian informed them, as though she had figured that out on her own. Ha. Honestly, she had just remembered that.
"But Dean, listen, maybe we shouldn't go after them." Sam said, continuing from the line that he was supposed to say.
"Why not?" Dean asked, his eyes narrowing
"I don't think they're like other vampires." Sam explained "I don't think they're killing people."
"You're joking." Dean scoffed, "Then, how do they stay alive or undead or whatever the hell they are?"
"The cattle mutilations." Rian said, "practically vegetarian vampires."
"They said they live off of animal blood." Sam explained.
"And you believed them?" Dean scoffed.
"Look at us, Dean." Sam said throwing his arms out the way he does every time he's annoyed, "They let us go without a scratch."
"Wait, so you're saying," Dean paused "No, man. No way. I don't know why they let you go. I don't really care. We find them, and we waste them."
"Why?" Sam asked
"What part of vampires don't you understand, Sam?" Dean replied, "If it's supernatural, we kill it. End of story. That's our job."
"No, Dean that is not our job." Sam informed his older brother, "Our job is hunting evil. And if these things aren't killing people, they're not evil."
"Of course, they're killing people." Dean yelled, making Rian jump, "That's what they do. They're all the same, Sam. They're not human, okay? We have to exterminate every last one of them."
"No, Dean, I don't think so, all right?" Sam said, his arms out again, "Not this time."
"Gordon's been on those vamps for a year." Dean informed them, "He knows."
"Gordon?" Sam exclaimed "You're taking his word for it?"
"That's right." Dean said
"Ellen says he's bad news." Sam informed Dean.
"I say he's bad news," Rian added, but she was ignored.
"You called Ellen? And I'm supposed to listen to her?" Dean said incredulously, "We barely know her, Sam. No thanks. I'll go with Gordon."
"Would you listen to me?" Rian asked as Sam grumbled "Right, 'cause Gordon's such an old friend."
"You don't think I can see what this is?" Sam said, ignoring Rian, just as Dean had done.
"What are you talking about?" Dean asked
"He's a substitute for dad." Sam yelled "A poor one."
"Shut up, Sam." Dean demanded
Instead of being ignored Rian went to check on Gordon. She remembered that he went to the vampires lair ahead of them but she wasn't sure when he left. She returned to the room to find that he was already gone.
With a sigh Rian gathered the brother's belongings. Her things were already packed. She was gathering Dean's laundry when the man himself walked in, calling for Gordon.
"You think he went after them?" Dean asked, not looking at Rian.
"Yes." Rian said, standing up and shouldering her bag.
"Dean, we have to stop him." Sam said also lifting his back onto his shoulders.
"Really?" Dean asked "Cause I say we lend a hand."
"Well I say you're an idiot." Rian said pushing past Dean and out the door, Sam chuckled. "The least you could do is listen to your brother. For a man so bent on having people trust you, you sure have a difficult time trusting people back."
"She's got a point Dean," Sam said, "the least you could do is give me a chance."
"Yeah, we'll see." Dean told Sam, ignoring Rian's comment about trust.
"I'll drive." Sam said reaching his hand out , "Give me the keys."
"He snaked the keys." Dean told them after searching the room for the keys.
"I'm sure you know how to hotwire your own car." Rian said with a smirk as she waited for Dean to do so.
"I can't believe this. I just fixed her up, too." Dean said, smashing in the back window after several attempts to pick the lock had failed.
They were almost to the bridge when Dean spoke from the back where he had been banished by Rian.
"So, the bridge, is that all you got?" He asked.
"The bridge was 4 and 1/2 minutes from their farm." Sam said, looking at Dean in the rearview
"How do you know?" Dean asked, "I thought Rian was the one who knew about the bridge."
"I counted." Sam explained, "Took a left out of the farm, then turned right onto a dirt road, followed that for two minutes slightly uphill Then took another quick right, and we hit the bridge."
"You're good." Dean shook his head "You're a monster pain in the ass but you're good."
"Sam, Dean, come on in." Gordon said when they make it to the house, he turned to Rian with a leering expression that makes her shudder, "and who is this lovely lady."
"None of your business," Sam said, steering Rian away from Gordon and standing protectively between them. He also hadn't liked the way that Gordon had been looking at Rian.
"Gordon, what's going on?" Dean asked when he saw Lenore tied to a chair. Rian shuddered and glared a Gordon, leaning into Sam a little bit.
"Just poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood." Gordon stated, "She's gonna tell us where all her little friends are, aren't you?" He picked up a knife and traced it along Lenore's jaw before turning back to Dean, "Want to help?" No one moved, "Look, man grab a knife. I was just about to start in on the fingers."
"Let's all just chill out, huh?" Sam suggested, moving so that he was better shielding Rian from Gordon.
"I'm completely chill." Gordon said sounding remarkably calm considering he was torturing a living creature.
"Gordon, put the knife down." Sam said, worried about the man's stability.
"It sounds like it's Sam here needs to chill." Gordon said
"Just step away from her, all right?" Sam said
"You're right." Gordon said thoughtfully, picking up a silver knife, "I'm wasting my time here. This bitch will never talk. Might as well put her out of her misery. I just sharpened it, so it's completely humane."
"Gordon, I'm letting her go." Sam told him, taking a cautious step forward.
"You're not doing a damn thing." Gordon said, swinging the knife to point it at Sam, something that no one else in the room appreciated.
"Gordon, let's talk about this." Dean bargained.
"What's there to talk about?" Gordon asked, getting closer to Lenore, "It's like I said, Dean. No shades of gray."
"Yeah, I hear you." Dean said, "And I know how you feel."
"Do you?" Gordon asked
"The vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but this-" Dean said with a shake of his head.
"Killed my sister." Gordon interrupted, "That filthy fang didn't kill my sister. It turned her, made her one of them. So I hunted her down and I killed her myself."
"You did what?" Dean asked, shocked. If it were Sam that was turned he wasn't sure if he'd be able to kill his own brother.
"It wasn't my sister anymore." Gordon stated, "It wasn't human. I didn't blink. And neither would you."
"So you knew all along, then." Sam said, figuring it out, "You knew the vampires weren't killing anyone. You knew about the cattle, and you just didn't care."
"Care about what?" Gordon asked, "A nest of vampires suddenly acting nice, taking a little time out from sucking innocent people, And we're supposed to buy that? Trust me. It doesn't change what they are. And I can prove it"
Gordon lunged for Sam and cut his arm. He grabbed Sam's arm and held it right over Lenore. The trio watch in horror as Lenore's fangs start to grow.
Without even realizing that she was moving Rian grabbed Dean's gun from his waistband and leveled it at Gordon.
"If you don't let Sam go I will shoot." Rian said, turning off the safety, "I don't give a damn that Lenore won't kill him. I don't give a damn that he's had worse. Do not touch Sam."
"Relax, buttercup." Gordon said, "I'm just proving that they're all bloodthirsty monsters."
"Really?" Rian snarled, "Because as far as I can tell, the only one spilling blood here is you."
Lenore gained control of herself and was moaning, rolling her head on the back of the chair. Rian could see the sweat pouring down her face as she tried to get control.
"Drop the knife, Gordon." Rian hissed, "I'm not afraid to shoot."
"Have you ever shot someone before, darling?" Gordon teased, "Do you know what it's like?"
"As a matter of fact I have," Rian told him, "now drop the goddamned knife before shatter your knees so that you can never walk again."
She shifted the aim with her gun and tightened her grip on the trigger. Slowly Gordon lowered the knife. Rian kept the gun aimed until Dean had moved the knife away.
"We're done here." Rian said handing the gun back to Dean.
"Sam, get her out of here." Dean ordered, pointing to Lenore. Sam obeyed and Rian followed him out, not wanting to be in the same house as Gordon anymore.
Dean glared at Gordon until Sam and Rian had left the room. Rian glanced back to see that the two were locked in a staring contest.
"Gordon, I think you and I got some things to talk about." Dean said walking closer to Gordon who backed away.
Gordon lunged for his knife at the same time the Dean lunged for him. Dean knocked the knife away and punched Gordon twice before Gordon managed to sock Dean in the jaw.
"Get out of my way." Gordon ordered, trying to push Dean back.
"Sorry." Dean said, punching Gordon again
"You're not serious." Gordon scoffed
"I'm having a hard time believing it, too, but I know what I saw." Dean said, "If you want those vampires, you got to go through me."
"Fine." Gordon said tackling Dean and forcing him into the wall, "What are you doing, man? You doing this for a fang? Come on, Dean, we're on the same side here."
"I don't think so, you sadistic bastard." Dean said socking Gordon in the face again
"You're not like your brother." Gordon sneered, "You're a killer like me."
"Oh, sorry." Dean faux-apologized as he knocked Gordon to the ground "You know, I might be like you. I might not."
Dean punched Gordon in the jaw knocking the man unconscious. He moved Gordon to a chair and proceeded to tie him up before Gordon woke up
"But you're the one tied up right now." Dean said, finishing his earlier statement.
"I miss anything?" Sam asked entering the room.
"Eh, not much." Dean said watching Gordon closely "Lenore get out okay?"
"Yeah, all of them did." Rian said entering the room and glaring at Gordon
"Then, I guess our work here is done." Dean said, smirking.
"We'll call someone in two or three days, have them come out and untie you." Dean informed Gordon, "that is, if we remember."
"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam asked, watching Rian in case she decided that Gordon needed a beating from her too.
"Not yet." Dean said "I guess this is goodbye. Well, it's been real." Dean kicked out and knocked Gordon's chair to the floor, smirking. "Okay. I'm good now. We can go."
They were at the impala when, Dean having gotten his keys back from Gordon, when Dean turned to Sam.
"Sam." Dean said, getting his brother's attention.
"Yeah?" Sam asked, turning to give Dean his full attention.
"Clock me one." Dean ordered
"What?" Sam asked, looking confused
"Come on." Dean urged, "I won't even hit you back."
"Let's go." Sam said, shaking his head
"You get a freebie." Rian said, watching Sam closely with a smirk, "how often does Dean Winchester give out freebies like that?"
"Hit me" Dean urged again, "Come on."
"You look like you just went 12 rounds with a block of cement, Dean." Sam informed his brother "I'll take a rain check."
"I wish we never took this job." Dean said, giving up on having Sam hit him "It just jacked everything up."
"What do you mean?" Sam wanted to know
"Think about all the hunts we went on, our whole lives." Dean said "What if we killed things that didn't deserve killing? You know? I mean, the way dad raised us..."
"Dean, after what happened to mom Dad did the best he could." Sam reminded him.
"I know he did." Dean assured, "But maybe he wasn't perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things and, man, I hate them. I do. When I killed that vampire at the mill, I didn't even think about it. Hell, I even enjoyed it."
"You didn't kill Lenore." Rian pointed out.
"No, but every instinct told me to." Dean said, looking at Rian "I was gonna kill her. I was gonna kill them all."
"Yeah, Dean, but you didn't, and that's what matters." Sam said as Rian walked up to Dean.
Rian raised her hand as if to slap Dean and Dean flinched when she swings. She stopped right before making contact and then pat Dean's cheek gently . "Dean Winchester. You seem to be under the impression that we don't understand. That we don't know the moral struggle that comes with this job. You have to understand that you'll learn from every decision that you make. This right here, this is a very important lesson. Do you understand me Dean?"
"Yeah." Dean sighed as Rian backed away from him. He looked from Rian to Sam "cause you guys are a pain in my ass."
"I guess I might have to stick around to be a pain in the ass, then." Sam said as he got into the impala"
"Thanks." Dean said, genuinely meaning it.
"Don't mention it." Sam replied, knowing about his brother's 'chick flick' rule.
The three of them piled into the impala. Dean and Sam in front and Rian in the back, having brushed the glass off her seat.
"You actually gonna call someone?" Rian asked Dean, sticking her head between the brothers.
"Maybe." Dean replied, grinning, as he threw the impala into drive.
A/N:
Hello! Just wanted to let you guys know that the next update is going to be awhile. This goes for my other stories too. I have some things going on and I won't be able to work on the stories for a little bit.
Let me know what you think and don't be afraid to point out any inconsistencies or mistakes! I am always looking to improve :)
-Ryn
