A couple of days later we were at Bobby's again. I had been doing some research to find us a case. I was bored without the demon thing to work on. Ash had that covered for us. Now I sat looking through the weird section of newspapers and websites.
Dean walked in the house with a slight smile on his face and covered in grease and dirt.
"You need a shower. You look disgusting," I said snarling at him.
"Oh yeah?" he said and walked over to me pulling me up from my chair and wrapping my in his nasty arms.
"Dean!" I said trying to push him away.
"You wanna join me? Cause you look pretty disgusting yourself," he said with a wink.
"What's gotten into you?" I asked once he released me.
"Is that a yes?"
"No. It's not."
"My baby is all finished except for the paint. She's looking good."
"Good. We're gonna need her for our next job," I said holding up the article I had decided on. Dean took it from me and looked it over.
"Decapitation. I like it."
"Figured you would. When will the car be ready?"
"We'll leave tomorrow," Dean said and hurried off I assume to finish the car.
The next day I was in the back seat of the Impala again. Dean had fixed her up to be good as new. I was impressed. It was shiny and the metal was smooth again like it had never been wrecked in the first place.
"Whoo! Listen to her purr! Have you ever heard anything so sweet?" Dean said over ACDC playing through the speakers.
"You know, if you two wanna get a room, just let us know, Dean," Sam said.
"Oh, don't listen to him, baby. He doesn't understand us."
"You're in a good mood."
"Why should't I be?"
"No reason."
"Got my car, got a case, things are looking up."
"Wow. Give you a couple of severed heads and a pile of dead cows and you're Mister Sunshine."
"How far to Red Lodge?"
"Uh, about another three hundred miles," Sam said looking at the map.
"Good," Dean said and floored the Impala. I leaned my head back and let the open windows wrap my hair in the wind.
Once we arrived in Red Lodge, Montana we started investigating. We asked the police chief questions and then went to a local bar to see what we could find.
Sam and Dean went up to the bartender and I walked in a moment later taking a seat at a table as if I was alone. I watched the occupants of the bar while Sam and Dean questioned the bartender to see if anyone acted strange as they listened to the conversation.
Sure enough a man sitting at one of the tables was listening in and when he'd heard what he needed to hear he got up and left the bar just before the boys turned to leave also. I followed them out and saw the man duck behind a truck watching them. I caught up to them.
"Five o'clock," I muttered indicating that the man was behind us and to our right. "Behind the truck." Sam and Dean kept walking but I knew they heard me.
The boys headed down an alley and I walked down the front of a building keeping tabs on their follower. He snuck down the alley a little after them. A moment later I could hear them talking.
"What do you know about vampires?" I heard Sam ask him.
"How to kill them. Now seriously, bro. That knife is making me itch," the man said and I turned the corner to see Sam had him pinned to the wall and Dean had a knife to his throat. When he saw me walk up he tried to turn but Sam pushed him harder into the wall.
"Hey," Dean snapped bringing his attention back to them.
"Whoa. Easy there, Chachi," the guy said and slowly brought his hand up to pull his lip back. "See? Fangless. Happy?"
The boys looked at each other and let up on the man who looked between all three of us.
"Now," he said, "who the hell are you?"
"We're hunters," Sam said backing away.
"Alright. Me too. Names Gordon Walker. And you are?"
"Dean Winchester. This is my brother Sam and our friend Red," Dean said gesturing to me and Sam in turn.
"Well, I'll be damned," the man said smiling. The man led us to his car he had parked out back. He pulled out a rolling shelf from behind the seat in his car that held his weapons.
"Sam and Dean Winchester. I can't believe it. You know I met your old man once? Hell of a guy. Great hunter. I heard he passed. I'm sorry. It's big shoes. But from what I hear you guys fill 'em. Great trackers, good in a high spot. Your girl here seems to be quite sneaky herself." Gordon gave me a smile that made my skin crawl and my eyes narrowed.
"You seem to know a lot about our family," Dean remarked.
"Word travels fast. You know how hunters talk."
"No, we don't actually."
"I guess there's a lot your dad never told you, huh?" This statement seemed to bother Dean.
"So, um, so those two vampires, they were yours, huh?" Sam said talking about the decapitations.
"Yep. Been here two weeks."
"Did you check out that Barker farm?" Dean asked.
"It's a bust. Just a bunch of hippie freaks. Though they could kill you with that patchouli smell alone."
"Where's the nest then?"
"I got this one covered. Look, don't get me wrong. It's a real pleasure meetin' you fellas. But I've been on this thing over a year. I killed a fang back in Austin, tracked the nest all the way up here. I'll finish it."
"We could help."
"Thanks, but uh, I'm kind of a go-it-alone type of guy."
"Come on, man, I've been itching for a hunt."
"Sorry. But hey, I hear there's a Chupacabra two states over. You go ahead and knock yourselves out." Gordon got into his car and shut the door before turning to speak to us again. "It was real good meeting you, though. I'll buy you a drink on the flip side."
We watched Gordon drive off.
"He's a dick," I said simply.
"You just met him," Dean argued.
"We going after him?" Sam asked.
"Yeah. Let's go."
We followed Gordon to an old mill in the industrial part of town. He hadn't noticed us and I'm not sure if that meant he wasn't observant enough to notice a tail or if Dean was just really good at following people.
We got there in time to see Gordon fighting a vampire on an upper deck of the mill. We ran up some stairs and Sam barely pulled Gordon out from under a saw before the vampire cut him in half.
I picked up a metal pike and threw it to Dean who was now fighting with the vampire. He caught it and knocked the vampire back onto the saw table before stabbing him with it. Then Dean reached up and grabbed the saw bringing it down on the vampires neck and severing his head from his shoulders spraying blood onto Dean's face.
I winced at the gruesome scene but honestly I'd seen worse. Dean cut the saw off and turned towards us.
"So, uh, I guess I gotta buy you that drink," Gordon said still catching his breath.
We followed Gordon back to the bar we had originally met him at. I pulled a bandana out of my bag and handed it to Dean. He wiped at his face to get the blood off.
"That it?" he asked turning for me to look. I grabbed the bandana from him and wiped what he'd missed from his neck. "Thank, Red."
"You okay, Sammy?" I asked Sam who sat in the passenger seat quiet.
"Yeah. I'm fine."
"Relax, Sammy," Dean said slapping Sam on his chest. "We're taking a night off. Enjoy it."
We sat around a table in the smokey bar. I knew Sam didn't exactly trust Gordon and I completely agreed. On top of that he would have died if we hadn't showed up. I sat close to Sam drinking my beer.
"So you two a hunting couple?" Gordon said gesturing between me and Sam.
"Hell no," Dean answered for us. Me and Sam both looked at him with a raised eyebrow at his quick answer. "We've known Red since we were kids. She's like family."
"Oh really?" Gordon asked smiling at me.
"I'm gonna go pee," I said and left the table.
Dean's POV
Robin and Sam sat across the table from me. Neither seemed to trust this new Gordon guy much. I hadn't found any reason not to trust him yet besides the fact that he'd been stupid going in on that hunt alone. He had said he knew dad and he seemed to have respect for him so that was enough for me.
"So you two a hunting couple?" I heard Gordon ask Sam and Red.
"Hell no," I answered for them before taking a drink of my beer. Sam and Red both sent me curious looks. "We've known Red since we were kids. She's like family." I explained with a shrug.
"Oh really?" Gordon gave Red a smile and my eyes narrowed slightly.
"I'm gonna go pee," Red said unaffected by Gordon and stood and left. I watched her ass as she left but when I looked up I noticed Gordon was too. I set my beer down and my smile faded as I glared at him.
"So, uh, I guess since neither of you guys have a claim on little Red Riding Hood, you think I could-," Sam and I didn't let Gordon finish.
"No!" we both said. Sam had said it almost disgusted that someone would talk about Robin that way but there had been anger in my voice.
"Okay, then," Gordon said with a short laugh raising his hands in surrender. "You're protective. I get it."
Robin's POV
I sat down right as the waitress was setting down another round of shots. Dean started to pull his wallet out but Gordon stopped him.
"No, no, I got it."
"Come on," Dean said.
"I insist. Another one bites the dust," Gordon said raising his shot glass. I picked mine up but only hit it against Dean's glass. Sam didn't take his. "Dean. You gave that big-ass fang one hell of a haircut, my friend."
"Thank you," Dean said smiling.
"That was beautiful. Absolutely beautiful," Gordon said with a creepy laugh.
"Yep," Dean said bringing his beer to his lips but paused when he noticed Sam sitting back with his arms crossed bored. "You all right, Sammy?"
"I'm fine," Sam answered.
"Well, lighten up a little, Sammy," Gordon teased.
"They're the only ones that get to call me that," Sam said sternly.
"Okay. No offense meant. Just celebrating a little. Job well done."
"Right. Well, decapitations aren't my idea of a good time, I guess."
"Oh, come on, man. It's not like it was human. You've gotta have a little more fun with your job."
"See?" Dean said. "That's what I've been trying to tell him. You could learn a thing or two from this guy." I rolled my eyes.
"Yeah, I bet I could," Sam said and sat up. "Look, I'm not gonna bring you guys down. I'm just gonna go back to the motel."
"I'll go with you," I said standing with Sam.
"You sure?" Dean asked almost annoyed.
"Yeah," Sam answered walking towards the door. Dean stopped us.
"Sammy? Remind me to beat that buzzkill out of you later, all right?" Dean tossed Sam the keys to the Impala and we left.
"You not a fan of Gordon either then?" I asked Sam once we were in the car.
"Something's off with him."
"Yeah. He gives me the creeps."
"He should."
"What's that mean?"
"Nothing," Sam said shaking his head. "So, Gordon said he knew dad. You think Bobby knows anything about him?"
"I'll call and see," I said picking up my cell phone and calling Bobby.
"Yeah?" Bobby asked sounding annoyed. It was then I realized how late it was.
"Did I wake you up?"
"Red? What do you need?" Bobby said a little softer.
"Have you ever heard of a hunter named Gordon Walker?" I asked.
"Not that I can remember but I did just wake up."
"Right. Well if anything comes to you when your conscious will you give me a call?"
"Yeah. Why?"
"We just met him on this hunt. Just seeing what kind of guy he is."
"I'd try Ellen. She knows a lot of hunters that come through that bar. She may know something."
"Yeah. Thanks. Goodnight Bobby." He didn't answer and just hung up. I smiled at the grumpy old drunk.
"Well?" Sam asked.
"Nothing. He suggested we call Ellen. You got her number?"
"Yeah. Back at the room."
Once we were back Sam called up Ellen.
"Hey, Ellen, uh, Sam Winchester…. Yeah. Yeah, everything's fine. Got a question… You ever run across a guy named Gordon Walker? …. And? …. Well, we ran into him on a job and we're kinda working with him, I guess…. I- I thought you said he was a good hunter… Ellen-… Right, okay." Sam hung up.
"What'd she say?"
"She knew him. Said he was a good hunter but we shouldn't be working with him."
"Why?"
"She said he was dangerous."
"Great. Well, I trust Ellen a whole hell of a lot more than Gordon Walker so let's call Dean and get the hell out of here."
"I dunno. I kinda want to see what Gordon is really doing here. Dean can take care of himself. Let's wait a day."
"Seriously?"
"Robin, we fight the supernatural. I think we can handle one hunter."
"I guess."
"I'm going for a walk and to get a drink. You want anything?"
"Nah. I'm fine."
"Alright. See ya later."
Sam left and I flopped onto a bed and turned on the TV. I popped me some popcorn and laid back with my boots still on. A little while later a key turned in the door and I expected it to be Sam but it was Dean and Gordon instead.
"Hey, Red," Dean said walking in. "Where's Sam?"
"He went for a walk," I said shoving more popcorn in my mouth. I tried not to glare at Gordon but after what Ellen told us it was hard not to.
"Nice to see you again, Red," Gordon said smiling.
"It's literally only been an hour, Gordon," I said not removing my eyes from the episode of Friends that was on.
"Why don't you show me what you've got," Dean said with amusement in his voice. They sat at the table by the window and Gordon pulled out a map.
"This is the best pattern I can establish. It's stretch at best." I considered going over and listening but decided Joey and Ross arguing was more important.
"Looks like it's all coming from this side of town," Dean was saying. "Which means the best would be around here someplace, right?"
"Yep, that's what I'm thinking. Problem is, there's thirty-five, forty farms out there. I've searched about half of them already, but nothing yet. They're covering their tracks real good."
"Well, I guess we'll just have to search the other half. How long ago did Sam leave, Red?"
"Bout half an hour ago," I said worried about him.
"He seems like the long walk type," Gordon said unconcerned.
"Yeah, he is, but…" the door opened before Dean could finish and Sam walked in. He looked between Dean and Gordon then over to me. I shrugged eating the remaining popcorn. "Where you been?"
"Can I talk to you and Robin alone?" Sam asked. I slid off the bed and moved over to Sam.
"You mind chillin' out for a couple minutes?" Dean asked Gordon. Gordon shook his head and we walked outside.
"Dean, maybe we've got to rethink this hunt," Sam said and I assumed he was going to tell him about what Ellen said.
"What are you talking about? Where were you?" Dean asked as we walked down by the car.
"In the nest." My head jerked around to look at Sam
"You found it?"
"They found me."
"How'd you get out? How many'd you kill?" Dean asked.
"None."
"Well Sam, they didn't just let you go."
"That's exactly what they did."
"All right, well, where is it?"
"I was blindfolded, I don't know."
"Well, you've got to know something."
"We went over that bridge outside of town, but guys, listen. Maybe we shouldn't go after them."
"Why?" I asked. "Besides the obvious Gordon problem." Dean raised an eyebrow at me.
"I don't think they're like other vampires. I don't think they're killing people."
"You're joking," Dean said. "Then how do they stay alive? Or undead, or whatever the hell they are."
"The cattle mutilations. They said they live off of animal blood."
"And you believed them?"
"That could actually work," I chimed in remembering reading something about it in Elkins's journal.
"Look at me, Dean. They let me go without a scratch."
"Wait, so you're saying… No, man, no way. I don't know why they let you go. I don't really care. We find 'em, we waste 'em."
"Why?"
"What part of 'vampires' don't you understand, Sam? If it's supernatural, we kill it, end of story. That's our job."
"No, Dean, that is not our job. Our job is hunting evil. And if these things aren't killing people, they're not evil."
"Of course they're killing people, 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? Not this time."
"Gordon's been on those vamps for a year, man, he knows."
"Gordon?"
"Yes."
"You're taking his word for it?"
"That's right."
"Ellen says he's bad news," I said.
"You called Ellen?" I nodded. "And I'm supposed to listen to her? We barely know her. No thanks, I'll go with Gordon."
"Right, cause Gordon's such an old friend. You don't think I can see what this is?" Sam said.
"What are you talking about?"
"He's a substitute for Dad, isn't he? A poor one."
"Shut up, Sam," Dean said and turned to walk away.
"He's not even close, Dean. Not on his best day."
"You know what? I'm not even going to talk about this."
"You know, you slap on this big fake smile but I can see right through it," Sam said raising his voice. "Because I know how you feel, Dean. Dad's dead. And he left a hole, and it hurts so bad you can't take it, but you can't just fill up that hole with whoever you want to. It's an insult to his memory."
"Okay," Dean said and started to turn around. Suddenly he whipped around and punched Sam across the cheek.
"Dean!" I snapped stepping between them. "Stop it!" I pushed him back away from Sam who was straightening himself. Dean didn't look at me but only glared at Sam.
"You hit me all you want. It won't change anything," Sam said.
"I'm going to that nest. You don't want to tell me where it is, fine. I'll find it myself," Dean said and walked back to the room.
Sam and I followed knowing we had to stop him from going anywhere with Gordon. We walked in the room to find it empty. Dean called out for Gordon but there was no answer.
"Do you think he went after them?" Sam asked.
"Probably," Dean snapped back.
"Dean, we have to stop him."
"Really, Sam? Because I say we lend a hand."
"Just give me the benefit of the doubt, would you? You owe me that."
"Yeah, we'll see. I'll drive. Give me the keys." Sam pointed to the table where he laid them earlier.
"He snaked the keys," Sam said throwing his hands up.
Dean had to hot-wire the Impala without the keys. We headed towards the nest with the directions Sam had figured out. We pulled up at the house and Gordon's car was already parked outside. We jumped out and when we got in Gordon had a vampire strapped to a chair torturing her.
"Boys, Red. Come on in," Gordon said cheerfully.
"Hey, Gordon. What's going on?" Dean said warily.
"Just poisoning Lenore here with some dead man's blood." Gordon seemed to be enjoying the torture too much. "She's going to tell us where all her little friends are, aren't you?" He turned to us. "Wanna help?"
"Look, man-" Dean started.
"Grab a knife. I was just about to start in on the fingers." He sliced the knife across the vampires arm causing her to whimper.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey, let's all just chill out, huh?" Dean said.
"I'm completely chill." It was scary because the man was completely comfortable and happy slicing this vampire up.
"Gordon, put the knife down," Sam demanded.
"Sounds like it's Sam here needs to chill."
"Cut it out," I sneered.
"Just step away from her, all right?" Sam asked.
"You're right," Gordon said setting the knife down. "I'm wasting my time here. This bitch will never talk. Might as well put her out of her misery." Gordon pulled out a larger knife. "I just sharpened it, so it's completely humane."
"Gordon I'm letting her go," Sam said walking towards the vampire. Gordon threw his arm up pointing the knife at Sam's chest.
"You're not doing a damn thing."
"Hey, hey, hey, Gordon, let's talk about this," Dean said slowly. I could feel my gun in the waistband on my pants and itched to grab it.
"What's there to talk about? It's like I said, Dean. No shades of gray."
"Yeah. I hear ya, and I know how you feel."
"Do you?"
"That vampire that killed your sister deserved to die, but this one…" Gordon stopped Dean with an evil chuckle.
"Killed my sister? That filthy fang didn't kill my sister. It turned her. It made her one of them. So I hunted her down, and I killed her myself."
I didn't need to hear this story to know Gordon was nuts but it still surprised me to hear it. I glanced at Dean and saw that he was beginning to understand what me and Sam saw in this hunter.
"You did what?"
"It wasn't my sister anymore, it wasn't human. I didn't blink. And neither would you."
"So you knew all along, then? You knew about the vampires, you knew they weren't killing anyone. You knew about the cattle. And you just didn't care," Sam said disgusted.
"Care about what? 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. Doesn't change what they are. And I can prove it."
Gordon grabbed Sam by the arm and cut him with the knife before he put the knife to his throat and pulled him over to the vampire. Dean and I had our guns drawn and pointed at Gordon. I held it with my left hand since the cast was on the right so I didn't want to shoot out of fear of hitting Sam.
"Let him go. Now!" Dean demanded.
"Relax. If I wanted to kill him he'd already be on the floor." I shook my head knowing that wasn't true. "Just making a little point."
Gordon squeezed Sam's arm over the vampire causing blood to drip out onto her face. The vampire hissed and her fangs extended.
"Hey!" Dean yelled.
"You think she's so different? Still want to save her?"
"Now I just really want to kill you," I told him gritting my teeth.
"I'm just making a point. Look at her. They're all the same. Evil, bloodthirsty."
The vampire took a breath and retracted her fangs turning her face away from the blood.
"No. No," the vampire repeated.
"You hear her, Gordon?" Sam spat.
"No, No."
Sam pushed the knife away from him before he pushed Gordon away. Gordon lowered his knife watching the vampire.
"We're done here," Sam said.
"Sam, get her out of here," Dean said.
"Yeah."
Sam picked the vampire up out of the chair and started to leave with her. Gordon gritted his teeth and took a step towards them.
"Uh-uh! Uh-uh!" Dean said keeping his gun trained on Gordon. I lowered my gun stuffing it back against my back and helped Sam out to the car.
I opened the door to the car so he could put her in and heard a thud from inside.
"Get her out of here," I told Sam running back to the house. I ran in in time to see Gordon kick Dean into a table. The table crumbled under him.
I looked up at Gordon and ran tackling him backwards. We hit the dinning table and I punched him across the face with my casted hand. He grabbed me by the throat and threw me onto the floor. I kicked at him while he choked me. I tried reaching for the knife in my boot but he was thrown off of me before I could get to it.
Dean threw Gordon into a wall and pinned him there. Gordon raised his arm to punch Dean but between fighting me and Dean he was out of breath and Dean grabbed his hand and pushed his fist away before elbowing Gordon in the face twice.
I got to my feet catching my breath. Dean hooked Gordons head under his arm and walked him towards the room I was in. He knocked Gordon's head against the doorframe and apologized sarcastically. I smiled at him and pulled the chair out the vampire had been in.
Dean sat Gordon down in the chair and I handed him some rope from a bag on the table. Dean started tying Gordon up and I leaned against the table absently rubbing my neck as I watched.
"You know, I might be like you, and I might not. But you're the one tied up right now," Dean hissed in Gordon's ear. Dean walked over to me and leaned against the table beside me. "You okay?"
"Just fine. Was like fighting a handicapped child," I said as Gordon glared at us.
"He's tied up. You could punch him all you wanted to now," Dean shrugged.
"I'd hate to bruise his ego more." Dean smiled at me and wrapped an arm around me.
The sun was rising by the time Sam got back. Dean had been pacing the room with a knife in his hand. I moved to the next room over and sat on the couch beside the broken table Dean had fallen on. The door squeaked open and Sam walked in. I stood and followed him into the room where Dean was with Gordon.
"Did I miss anything?" Sam asked looking at Gordon tied up.
"Eh, not much," Dean said offhandedly. "Lenore get out okay?"
"Yeah. All of 'em did."
"Then I guess our work here is done. How you doin', Gordy? Gotta tinkle yet?" Gordon shot Dean a nasty look. "All right. Well, get comfy. We'll call someone in two or three days, have them come out, untie you."
Dean took the knife he was holding and jammed it into the table behind Gordon.
"Ready to go, Dean?" Sam asked.
"Not yet," Dean said and stepped back in front of Gordon. "I guess this is goodbye. Well, it's been real."
Dean jerked forwards and punched Gordon sending his chair tipping over backwards and the tied man to groan in pain. Dean calmly turned back to me and Sam.
"Okay. I'm good now. We can go."
I shared a smile with Sam and we followed him out of the house. We walked down the front porch and towards the Impala and Dean stopped us.
"Sam?" Dean said taking a sturdy stance. "Clock me one."
"What?" Sam asked confused.
"Come on. I won't even hit you back. Let's go."
"No."
"Let's go, you get a freebie. Hit me, come on."
"You look like you just went twelve round with a block of cement, Dean. I'll take a raincheck," Sam said turning and walking to the car.
"Can I do it for him?" I teased. Dean repeated my words in a mumble mocking me and ruffled my hair.
"No you can't."
I rolled my eyes and grinned and opened the door to the Impala.
"I wish we never took this job. It's jacked everything up," Dean complained.
"What do you mean?" Sam asked.
"Think about all the hunts we went on, Sammy, our whole lives."
"Okay."
"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."
"I know he did. But the man wasn't perfect. And the way he raised us, to hate those things. And man, I hate 'em. I do. When I killed that vampire at the mill I didn't even think about. Hell, I even enjoyed it."
"You didn't kill Lenore," I added.
"No, but every instinct told me to. I was gonna kill her. I was gonna kill 'em all."
"Yeah, Dean, but you didn't," Sam said. "And that's what matters."
"Yeah. Well, cause you're a pain in my ass."
"Guess I might have to stick around to be a pain in the ass, then."
"Thanks."
"Don't mention it."
"Let's go," I groaned. "I want to get as far away from Gordon as possible. He makes my skin crawl." Sam laughed and Dean smiled at me and Sam ducked into the car. Dean joined us a moment later and we drove away from the house. Out of Montana and onto our next journey.