Reunion

By

Ava Brett

Disclaimer

The characters of Sam, Dean, Amy and Rachel do not belong to me; they belong to the creator of supernatural because they were the characters in this particular scene during the pilot.

The characters of Tansy and James however do belong to me so please do not use them without permission.

As usual I am only using the characters for my own entertainment purposes not for anything else

Author Note

So here we have the first real chapter done from Tansy's point of view. I thought it was important to see through her eyes occasionally to give some depth to the story but also so we can see a third person's view of how Sam and Dean interact with each other.

It's been highly fun writing this entire story, I can't explain to you how much I look forward to writing it and how much it means to me that you guys are reading it. Not only reading it but leaving me reviews and PMs over it, or adding it as a favourite or following it. It's just amazing! I've never written a story which I've loved quite as much as this one.

So enjoy the newest offering from me to you

Overall Summary

When Sam left for Stanford it never occurred to him that life would go on without him, now his brother is back, needing his help in locating their father but he isn't alone. Sam needs to figure out where he stands now and decide once and for all whether he is a Winchester of not.

Chapter Summary

After finding Amy the Winchesters receive their first lead in the case.

Overall Romances

Dean Winchester/Tansy Winchester (OFC), Sam Winchester/Jessica Moore and Troy Squire/Amy Hein

Romance for this chapter

Dean Winchester / Tansy Winchester (OFC) and Troy Squire/Amy Hein, Brief mention of Sam Winchester/Jessica Moore

Chapter Eleven

1st November 2005

12:25 PM

Down Town

Jericho

California

Tansy Winchester Point of View

"So this is Downtown Jericho then" Tansy remarked casually, wrinkling her nose up in distaste as she looked behind her. "Is it just me or does it pretty much looks exactly the same as both the Upper and mid town portion of the town? Do you think they have a tiny little lines painted on the ground which indicates the change in which part of Jericho you're now in?" She looked back towards her husband and brother in law, tilted her head to the side as she continued to scan the street they were on with a curious, watchful expression on her face.

Downtown Jericho looked the same as every other small town which she and Dean had encountered over the past few years during their various hunting trips. There was absolutely nothing about it which she could see which made it stand out from the others in her mind.

Shaking her head, she reached down and adjusted the strap on James's baby bag so it rested more comfortably on her shoulder before her attention turned away from the street and the buildings which had clearly all seen better days, to focus on the people who were milling around them, people who could easily be a threat to her family and one which she would have no problem eliminating if it came down to it. She had always been pretty observant when it came to picking out slight differences in human behaviour, if there was anything even slightly off then she would notice it and use it for her advantage.

She was good but her talent paled in comparison to Dean's. It had taken her exactly two days of hunting with Dean to realise that the other man could look at a person for a second and know exactly how to work them to gain what he wanted. She had watched him use the skill with various victims, witnesses, law enforcement officers, hell she had even seen him use it against the people they were hunting and always with the same effect. Regardless of who or what they were, they would always end up telling Dean exactly what he wanted to know whether that had been their originally intention or not.

There were only a few people walking about the street, most of them as far as she could tell were heading into the small delis and restaurants littered around the area to pick up some lunch, either talking away on their mobile phone, or chatting casually to the person walking next to them or failing that merely staring straight ahead of them with a glum expression on their faces. Tansy often referred to the look in her head as the 'small town blues' expression. She had seen it all over the country and always felt the same slight flicker of pity towards the individual. She knew that the majority of them would never leave the small town they had been born and raised in, they would never realise what fantastic things were out there which they were missing out on because they refused to do something which wasn't considered completely safe.

None of them turned to look at her or the two men with her; it was as though their eyes simply moved past them as if they weren't standing there blocking part of the sidewalk. It was slightly disconcerting and yet Tansy couldn't detect anything which sent her internal Hunter warning system into action. As far as she could tell they were all merely bored individuals getting on with their everyday boring existence.

It was quite sad overall.

Shaking her head, Tansy pushed the sleeve of her duffle coat back so she could glance at the watch on her wrist.

12.27 In the afternoon. They needed to find the girl who the Deputies had mentioned and talk to her before James realised how hungry he was and began screaming his woes to the world at large. Her son was the sweetest tempered boy normally but the minute he was hungry that was it, he became a little demon.

"It wouldn't surprise me if they do but I'm guessing that's small towns for you Tans, when do they ever look different from each other? I think they only separate the place into sections to make themselves think that the town is bigger then it actually is" Dean replied, throwing her a smirk over his shoulder before he glanced around again, a slight frown coming to his face. "I doubt she's going to be hard to find, there can't be too many girls hanging around here, plastering missing poster to the wall unless she's got a whole army of friends helping her." He shifted his grip on James, moving the boy in his arms so he was resting against his hip.

"The way the Winchester luck seems to work that's probably what she's done." Tansy remarked, wrapping her coat around her tighter and shivering in the cold breeze, she should have put her scarf on that morning instead of packing it away and believing that California would live up to its hype and actually become warm and sunny.

Her attention moved away from her husband to focus on her brother in law instead. Sam stood behind Dean, his hands stuck in his jacket pockets as he stared up at the overcast sky with a thoughtful frown, seemingly trapped within his own thoughts. Tansy wondered briefly what he was thinking about. Was it the case? Was he thinking about Jessica? Maybe he was thinking about the interview on Monday and what he was going to say to them. She sighed quietly looking away from him. She had more important things to think of at the moment without trying to puzzle out what Sam was thinking about. Dean needed her full attention on the case and that was what he was going to get. She just hoped that when they solved it, it would lead them straight to John because she dreaded to think what it would do to Dean if it didn't.

"I bet you a slice of good old apple pie that, that's our girl right there" Dean suddenly said, lifting up his free hand and pointing down the street. Tansy followed his gaze before nodding her agreement. There was a young girl of about seventeen or eighteen standing in front of a large building sticking a sheet of paper to the wall. The building still looked fairly grand even though it was clearly in bad condition. It was almost a shame because it would have looked amazing if they had simply fixed it up.

"Yeah I'm thinking that would be a bet you'd win hands down Dean" Sam remarked, breaking his silence. He looked at Dean with a small smile on his face as he lifted a questioning eyebrow. "Still willing to do anything for a slice of pie then?" he asked, a fond note slipping into his voice. Dean glanced over at him and grinned.

"Well just about anything Sammy, I wouldn't sell my family for a slice for example; I've still got a few standards left after all" Dean responded, he took his eyes off Sam, focusing them on James instead as he reached up and forced their son's hat back onto his head when the small boy tried to rip it off. "Leave it on Jago" he remarked sternly before looking back at Sam.

"What about for the whole pie?" Sam answered, his smile growing into a grin when Dean chuckled at the remark.

"Well that would depend on what kind of pie it was and whether it had come fresh out of the oven wouldn't it" he teased back, Tansy watched as he ran his hand though his short hair before he dropped it, resting it on James's back as he spoke. "Let's get this over and done with, all this talk of pie is making me hungry, I could do with some lunch." He remarked, his look of determination belying his casual tone as he turned and walked down the street towards the building and the girl.

Tansy followed him, rolling her eyes when Sam automatically took the spot next to Dean forcing her to walk slightly behind them. She smiled when Dean glanced back at her to make sure she was following them but she remained where she was watching the two of them carefully. They were beginning to fit back together like two jigsaw pieces which belonged but which had become warped over time making it hard to piece them back together. She just hoped that Dean wouldn't be disappointed when Sam went back to his normal life after this hunt because it was extremely clear to Tansy that, that was what Sam was going to do.

The two brothers shared a quick speaking look with each other clearly decided who would take the lead in the conversation before they stopped by the girl. Dean spoke, his voice soft and friendly, easily carrying over the cool air.

"So you've gotta be Amy right?" he asked.

The girl started, turning around and looking at them, her eyes widening. Tansy couldn't blame her reaction to the brothers really, finding your self blocked in by two six foot plus men must have been fairly intimidating if you weren't expecting it. She noted the instant tension which came to her girl's face as her shoulders hunched up. She looked ready to bolt or to open her mouth and scream for some assistance from someone when she suddenly relaxed.

Tansy frowned slightly, stepped to the side of Dean so she could see past his back to what was actually happening, curious about what had caused the change in the girl's attitude. The girl's gaze was fixed on James with a look of relief; the small boy was snuggled against his father's chest looking peaceful and content if slightly sleepy and clearly felt extremely safe. Tansy understood instantly. Amy had clearly decided in her head that if a child was involved then it meant that they were more likely to be friends rather then a threat to her. Murderers and psychopaths didn't tend to have small children with them.

"Yeah I'm Amy" she replied slowly, her eyes moving up to meet their eyes with a careful, uneasy expression. "Who are you exactly? I haven't seen you around town before."

"We're visiting from Modesto" Dean answered, a comforting smile coming to his face which further placed her at ease "We're here about Troy, Amy. He's mentioned you a few times over the phone to us. We're his Uncles, I'm Dean and this here is Sam. This" he said reaching over and wrapping his arm around Tansy's shoulder. "Is my wife Tansy and this little trouble maker is our son James" he bounced James in his arms, smiling when the small boy giggled, wrapping his small arms around Dean's neck.

"Silly Daddy" James stated before he snuggled his face into Dean's neck.

Amy watched them for a moment, a look of indecision on her face as she clearly tried to figure out whether Troy had mentioned them to her before. She was actually a pretty girl, Tansy noticed with light brown-red hair and pale blue eyes which were heavily lined with thick black eye liner. She was dressed all in black as well pointing to her following the Goth style of fashion which Tansy had seen recently in some fashion magazines.

"Troy never mentioned having any Uncles to me" she finally said, a suspicious note coming to her voice as her eyes moved over their faces again. She turned and walked quickly away from them heading towards the wall on the other side of the doorway. Tansy shared a quick look with Dean who nodded in response and followed her, Sam right behind him.

"Well that doesn't surprise me greatly, I mean you know Troy, his mind was always elsewhere. As I said, we're up in Modesto most of the time and-"

"So we're looking for him to" Sam interrupted, walking around Dean so he was standing in front of Amy, his hands slightly to the side of him so she could see them. Tansy waited to see what would happen curious to see what Sam had to say. Dean had always said in the past that Sam had a talent when it came to putting witnesses at ease. Now she had seen him in the flesh she could understand why that was, Sam had the whole kicked puppy look around him which people, especially women, would instantly respond to before they even realised they were. "And we're kinda asking around the place trying to find out what could have happened to him-"

"Hey is everything okay here Amy?"

Tansy glanced round at the interruption watching as a young woman about the same age as Amy came up to them. She touched Amy's arm with a concerned look on her face before she turned to look at Dean and Sam, her concerned look morphing into a glance of surprised appreciation before she frowned at them. Tansy resisted rolling her eyes at the blatant snub the other girl gave her.

"Yeah everything is fine here" Amy reassured the other girl, her eyes moving in-between their face. She looked incredibly worn out, her shoulders slumping down as though she was being crushed by an invisible weight, Tansy supposed she was.

"I understand this is hard for you but all we want to do is ask you a few questions Amy, nothing more I swear it" Sam assured her ignoring the other girl. Amy looked unconvinced, taking a slight step back clearly retreating from them and the situation.

"I don't know what-"her voice trailed off leaving her looking distressed for a moment. She glanced towards her friend clearly about to refuse them. If she did that then they would have to leave her be and that would complicate matters. Amy was the only solid lead they had at the moment and that was only assuming that she actually had something to tell them. Still a maybe was better then having nothing.

Tansy gently shrugged off Dean's arm and took a step forward, a gentle sympathetic smile coming to her face. Amy's eyes moved to her, searching her face carefully before more tension left her body in a pained sigh; clearly she didn't view Tansy as any sort of threat to her.

"I can't imagine how you must feel right now" Tansy remarked softly, taking another step forward so she was within touching distance of Amy. "All the worry and confusion about Troy must be eating you up inside not to mention all the questions going around your head. I mean you want answers right? Who wouldn't but there's always that nagging thought of whether you'll get the answers you crave. If it was Dean who was missing then I'd be doing exactly the same thing you're doing now" she stated indicating the missing posters which Amy still held tightly in her hand. "Anything is better then sitting at home doing nothing right?"

Amy nodded slowly.

"I have to do something" she said looking down at the paper as though she had forgotten she was holding them. "I mean I know they say that a person is technically missing until twenty four hours have passed or something and it's only been like eight but this isn't like Troy, he wouldn't just disappear and he would have rang or texted me to tell me where he was going. He always would, we were gonna leave this place together and-" she stopped, biting down on her lip hard, her eyes sliding past them as she blinked quickly, obviously holding back her tears.

"I know we're strangers to you but all we want to do is help Amy. As soon as Troy' parents rang us early this morning we came but to be honest with you we don't know the area too well so if there's anything you can tell us, whether you think it means nothing or not then that can make the different. All we want to do if find Troy and bring him back to where he belongs. I figure you want the same thing as well so why don't we help each other out?"

Amy looked at her before she nodded, a look of determination coming to her face.

"I- I can do that. We know quite a lot of stuff about the place, I mean if you really think it will help find Troy then-"

"It will" Sam stated quietly. Amy started as though she had forgotten about the other two even being there. Before she could say anything Dean spoke.

"Look it's cold out here and I don't really want to hang out here to talk in case little man gets cold" he stated indicating James who was beginning to look cold and grouchy. "Why don't we go into the diner across the street where it's warm and get a drink or something. We can talk there" he suggested.

Amy looked at her friend who nodded.

"Follow me" she said slipping past them and leading the way across the road towards the brightly lit diner. Tansy glanced at both Sam and Dean, shooting the pair of them a pleased look before she turned and followed the two girls, her smile growing when Dean moved to her side, winking at her when she glanced over to him.

The diner was surprisingly empty considering the time so they had no problem in getting a booth big enough for all of them and ordering their drinks which were delivered before they even had a chance to fully settle into their chairs. Tansy slipped off her gloves and wrapped her hand around her warm mug with a thankful sigh. She noticed Amy's friend glance down at her wedding band and engagement ring before they flickered over to Dean's and Sam's left hand clearly trying to determine who she was married to if either of them, a look of disappointment came to her face when she noticed Dean's ring. Tansy dropped her eyes to her coffee, shaking her head slightly, she was more then use to that look.

"So did anything happen the last time you spoke to Troy Amy? Anything which seemed sorta… I don't know off at all? You know with him or maybe he had said something which you thought was weird at the time?" Tansy asked softly.

"I was on the phone with Troy last night around two in the morning" Amy said shakily. "He was driving home after his shift at the bar and grill. I often ring him you know to keep him company because the roads are always empty and he gets bored easily. I – I asked him to come round but he said he couldn't because he had work in the morning; he was saving to buy a new car so he was always working as many shifts as he could. He said he had to go and that he would call me right back and- and I waited up for a bit and then I fell asleep, I didn't mean to but I was just so frigging tired and then when I woke up this morning I noticed he hadn't called me back and he always does normally. He's great like that you know?"

"What happened then?" Sam asked. Amy looked at him and shrugged, brushing a stray piece of hair off her face before she set her shoulders and continued with her story.

"I rang his parents asking if he was there and they checked and he wasn't home so they rang the bar and grill and when they said he hadn't turned up for work that morning they rang the sheriff's office" she said, nervously licking at her lips, one hand tightening on her coke glass while she aimlessly stirred it with her straw with the other.

"And other then telling you that he was going to call you back did he say anything else which was out of the ordinary to you?" Sam pressed gently, a caring look on his face as he watched Amy. Tansy was impressed despite her self. Dean hadn't been lying when he said Sam was good with witnesses.

Amy considered his question carefully for a moment before she shook her head sadly.

"No, it was all just normal boring stuff you know? He said he was tired but he had just worked a crazy shift at the Bar and Grill so that's nothing unusual. It was like he was always tired at the moment; he even slept through some of his lectures at college because he couldn't keep awake." She remarked, her voice cracking a bit at the end.

Tansy's heart went out to her. There was no doubt in her mind that Troy was already dead, she severely doubted whatever it was which had taken him was keeping him alive. Amy would never know what had happened to him. She would always have questions which would never be answered and it was always those questions which tended to scar people, often changing them for the worst or sending them down the path towards becoming a Hunter. She just hoped that Amy was one of the lucky few who managed to come out of the situation stronger then they had been before.

She swallowed, scooting over on the seat so she was pressed against Dean's side, she closed her eyes briefly allowing the heat from his body to warm and comfort her. Man she hated interviews like this one.

Dean turned to her, searching her face for a moment before he reached down and rested his hand on her thigh, squeezing it gently. James was on his lap, ignoring them all as he scribbled away with his crayons on the paper which the waitress had provided them the minutes she had seen the small boy enter. It was a common reaction to James she had noticed, the minutes people saw him was the minute they began fussing over him.

"I like your necklace Amy" Sam suddenly said causing Tansy to look up from her coffee mug, her eyes fixing on the small silver pentagram fixed within a circle which Amy was casually twirling around in her fingers. She glanced down at it with a surprised look as though she had forgotten she was wearing it in the first place.

"Troy gave it to me on our anniversary. I think he did it mostly to scare my parents, you know with all the devil worship stuff" she laughed slightly, the sound sad. Sam made a small sound of amusement attracting both Tansy's and Dean's attention to him. He glanced at them before looking back at Amy and her friend and speaking.

"You know it's actually the opposite of that. A pentagram is used as protection against evil, not for summoning it. It's really powerful; I mean it is if you believe in that kind of thing."

"Why thank you unsolved mysteries for that" Dean remarked, rolling his eyes as he ran a gentle hand over James's curls. He leaned forwards, fixing both girls with a long searching look which caused Amy's friend to blush, Tansy rolled her eyes. "Here's the deal Amy and-"Dean stopped looking over at the other girl with a questioning look.

"Rachel" she supplied with a flirty smile which Dean ignored.

"Amy and Rachel, everyone at this table knows that the way Troy had just disappeared without a trace isn't right so if you've heard something… anything at all then telling us would be pretty good right about now."

"It seriously doesn't matter how farfetched it sounds either" Sam added.

"Because we have heard more weird shit in our lives then you can imagine" Dean finished, leaning back in his chair. He grunted slightly when James suddenly twisted round on his lap and stood up, clutching at Dean's hair to support him self as he looked around him with a look of wide eyed fascination.

The two girls turned and shared a long look with each other.

"What is it?" Tansy asked. "Have you heard something?" The girl Rachel made a small shrugging motion, playing randomly with a packet of sugar before she spoke, looking up at them all with an embarrassed look on her face.

"Well it's just… I mean with all these guys going missing and stuff people tend to talk."

"What do they talk about?" Tansy blinked when she realised that all three of them had spoken at exactly the same time using the same questioning tone. Amy and Rachel shared another quick look.

"Well there's kinda this local legend which had been around for years" Rachel said. "There's this one girl who got murdered out on Centennial like decades ago or something and well the legend says that she never died or you know went away, she's meant to still be out there somewhere" Tansy glanced over sharing a quick look with Sam while Dean tried to stop James from ripping his hair out.

"And what is this girl meant to do exactly?" Tansy asked. Rachel looked over at her.

"Well they say that she stands at the edge of the road and she waits until a car comes and then she hitchhikes and whoever stops to pick her up are never seen again. They just disappear forever" Rachel stated.

Tansy turned to look at the two boys with wide eyes.

They had their lead.

Author note

Thanks for taking the time to read.

Next chapter is already in the process of being worked on.