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Ch. 10 Memory Loss

"So what's this thing look like again?" Sam asked as he scanned the area around him for some sign of the demon he and Dean were hunting.

"Ugly." Dean paused, glancing down an alley. When he saw nothing, he kept going. "And it's a giant."

Sam rolled his eyes. "That's helpful, Dean."

"What do you expect me to say, Sam? It likes long walks on the beach and bubble baths so we'll probably find it at the drug store?"

"Well, that'd give us a place to start. Come on, I know you've got some idea on what it looks like."

"Tall, sharp claws, grey and in serious need of some anti-wrinkle cream." He raised an eyebrow. "Better?"

Rather than answer, Sam tensed. "Dean," he said, breaking into a run. Dean didn't hesitate, double checking his shotgun as he ran after him. The sounds of a fight could be heard up ahead and judging by the sounds, at least one of the fighters wasn't human. The sound of a woman crying out, followed by a dull thud cut off any other thoughts Dean might have had about the situation. Adrenaline surged through him as he pushed himself to go faster.

"Hey," he shouted as he slid to a stop to find the demon standing over Vanessa. The demon paused at the sound and Dean took advantage of the moment, pulling the trigger and watching with satisfaction as the demon staggered back a couple steps. His eyes darted to Vanessa and then to Sam. "You got this?"

Sam nodded, gesturing to the machete he carried before lifting his own gun. "Yeah," was all he said before he fired another shot, pushing the demon back a few more steps.

Dean moved forward, picking Vanessa up and moving her out of range of the demon, just as Sam shot the demon once more, this time in the head. Guess we didn't need that machete after all, he thought before he glanced down at Vanessa, studying her. Blood flowed from a cut high on her forehead and he knew without a doubt that that had been the thud they'd heard. Her clothes were dirty and he wondered if she'd tried to fight it or if she'd tried to run.

"We left the first aid kit in the car," he said with a frown as he brushed a strand of her hair back. Sam's eyebrow rose at the move but he didn't say anything, choosing to nod instead.

"Yeah. Come on, let's get her cleaned up." He paused and glanced around, a frown on his face. Dean shifted his grip on her, gaze skimming over the area.

"What is it?"

"I don't know. I've just…I've got a bad feeling about this place, that's all. Let's get out of here."

Jaw clenched, Dean nodded. He didn't know what the hell Sam was sensing but he'd learned not to argue with him when he got like this. Especially since the last time he'd argued, they'd almost gotten eaten.

"Come on, sweetheart, open your eyes," a low voice encouraged. She turned her head, felt the gentle swipe of a wet towel and fought to hold onto the memories swirling through her mind. She moaned, a frown appearing on her face as she turned her head in the opposite direction. Above her, the voice made calming noises and she felt the cool pressure of the towel again. She gasped and opened her eyes. Dean sat on the bed next to her, looking down at her with concern in his eyes.

"Here," he said, reaching out for a glass of water. She smiled lightly as she pushed herself up to take a drink. Neither of them said anything as she took the glass and took a drink, letting the water soothe her throat. Once she had done that, he grinned a bit. "How are you feeling?"

She nodded. "Okay…" He glanced back at the door and then turned back to her, stroking a thumb over the back of her hand. Vanessa opened her mouth to speak and stopped, frowning. She thought back over what she knew and sucked in a breath, fingers curling into a fist. There was nothing there. Nothing, just a big black hole where she knew memories should be. Her eyes, when they met Dean's, were confused and afraid. "I don't remember anything," she breathed.

"Last name?" Sam asked.

Dean shook his head and glanced in the direction of the closed bathroom door, listening to the sound of the shower running. "She doesn't remember that either." He turned back to his brother, raising an eyebrow when he sighed. "What?"

"I'm just wondering why that demon was going after her in the first place. I mean first the Incubus and now this?"

"Not sure." He frowned. "And it's not like she can exactly tell us anything," he added. Dean's voice was frustrated. "One of us should have stayed with her."

Sam nodded in agreement. "Yeah." Dean looked over to find Sam staring out the window with a frown on his face. Dean tensed, ready to make a move for the nearest weapon. "Sam?"

Sam turned back to him, brows drawn together. "I think she's still in danger, Dean."

"What?"

He glanced towards the bathroom. "I don't think that's the only demon that's going to go after her."

"How do you know?"

"It's just a feeling I have, that's all."

Dean frowned. "Is this one of your freaky ESP feelings?"

"Dean," he groaned, rolling his eyes. "I do nothave ESP."

"Whatever, Miss Cleo, I was just askin'."

"Look, all I know is that when I think about her and demons, I get the same feeling I got earlier."

"The one that meant get our asses out of the cemetery?"

"Yeah, that's the one." Sam paused. "And, hey, we could even teach her how to fight that way she could defend herself if she has to."

Dean thought about that for another moment. It was a good idea. If one of them couldn't be there, he wanted her to be able to defend herself. "Yeah, okay."

Sam grinned and opened his mouth to say something, stopping when the bathroom door opened, steam flowing out as Vanessa walked into the room. Dean turned and grinned at the sight of her. The shirt she wore hung down to mid-thigh on her so that the shorts she wore were just barely visible.

"Better?" he asked. She smiled and nodded.

"Much." She paused and then lifted her clothes. "I didn't know what to do with these. I mean, the shirt's ruined and the jeans are kind of gross so…"

"Well, actually, we've got to go to the laundry mat so we could wash your jeans for you," Sam offered. Vanessa bit her lip.

"You wouldn't mind?"

He shook his head. "Nah. Not at all."

"Okay then." Her smile from before returned. "Thanks." She glanced around and then dropped the jeans near the pile that Sam had started earlier that day. For a moment, she stared at the shirt. She turned around and sent him a small smile before dropping it in the trash. Dean glanced over at Sam and raised an eyebrow, waiting until he got a nod to step forward. "Actually, Vanessa, Sam and I were talking and we wanted to know if you wanted to come with us." He felt his lips twitch at the look of shock that crossed her face.

"Go with you?" she repeated. "And do…what?"

Here it was. This was the moment where she either decided to go with them or decided they were crazy and she'd rather risk staying in town on her own. He had already made it through this talk once before, and she was more than unsurprised.
Sam took a deep breath. "Vanessa, do you know what it was that attacked you?"

There was a pause as Vanessa looked at the floor and began playing with the bottom of her shirt. "I think…it was a demon." She looked back up. "It was a demon, right? I'm not crazy?"

Dean shook his head. "No, you're not." He gestured towards Sam. "Me and Sam, that's what we do."

"Fight demons?"

"Well, usually, it's angry spirits but yeah, sometimes we go after demons too."

"You wouldn't have to fight or anything, if you didn't want to," Sam added quickly.

"But we'd teach you how. Just in case."

Vanessa looked between the two. The fact that she was even considering it probably meant she was crazy. She didn't know anything about them. Or at least remember anything about them. Of course, she didn't exactly know anything about herself either.

Slowly she nodded. "Okay."

Sam grinned. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, I'll go with you." She let out a breath. "But, um, I don't have any clothes."
Dean looked over at Sam and smirked. "Actually…" he walked over to the table and pulled out her duffel bag." Here, if you can wait a couple of hours, Sammy here will do the laundry and we can watch a movie or something." He turned back to Vanessa. He moved back and dropped on the bed and waved a hand at Sam. "Okay Sammy. Go get started," he said, grinning at the fact that it wasn't his turn to do laundry. He switched on the TV and began flipping through channels.

Sam rolled his eyes. "It's Sam." The correction came automatically, even as he picked up the bag of dirty clothes.

"Thanks, Sam," she said as she sat by Dean. He nodded at her and had to fight off a laugh when he heard Dean start talking as he closed the door.

"All right, let's see how you feel about Back to the Future. It's a classic." Vanessa laughed. As Dean put on the movie, all he could think about was how they were going to help her. She didn't remember anything. Not even him. Would she ever remember? The thought scared him.