Disclaimer: As always.

Warning: As always.


A week had passed and the brothers had nothing more than suspicions and worry. Adam seemed like he were ready to give up and Sam didn't seem very far behind. Dean was the only one who was consistently working on figuring out what had happened. Perhaps that was because he had a bit more distraction than the others. He had work and he could call Ben whenever he wanted. Today was one of those days. Emerald gaze shifted to the clock briefly before turning back to the socket wrench in his hand to work on replacing the spark plugs in a '89 Pontiac Firebird.

"Everything get figured out yet, man?" A voice rang beside him. Had it been any other and Dean might have jumped, but after a half glance to his right he shrugged.

"Nah, I keep feeling like we're missing something. I don't know, Benny.." Dean responded and shook his head faintly. Benjamin LaFitte was his long standing friend.. pretty much like a brother to the male. Benny had moved up to Lawrence almost 15 years ago now from New Orleans and had come looking for work. John had hired him after a short interview and the two had been close since.

"Maybe you are missin' somethin'? Wanna run everything through me?" He asked while leaning over to straighten the distributor cap.

"I don't wanna drag you into all this, man."

"Dean." The older man said his name simply, but with force that caused the young mechanic to shift his gaze over. "I'm your friend. I'm askin' to help. Let me help."

The eldest Winchester looked at his friend for a moment or two before offering a faint smirk and a nod of his head. "Alright, alright. Let's get to work on that head replacement and I'll fill you in." He stated while finishing up everything with the Firebird. The owner would be around at some point soon to collect it anyway.

As the two men worked, Dean filled Benny in on everything that happened at the reading of the wills, then everything he could remember from the bank that day. "So we've been digging through everything, reading through dad's journals and trying to make sense of it all. It seemed like.. I don't know, this last year, maybe, he's gotten paranoid."

"Did you notice it?" Benny asked.

"No! I don't think mom did either, or she would have said something. I guess he's been really worried about a lot of stuff, but hasn't said anything to anyone. You would think if he were really that worried about someone coming after him he might have told someone.."

"Unless he wasn't sure who to trust?" Benny suggested with a frown lingering on his lips.

Dean shook his head quickly, "dad always knew he could trust me, with anything.." he sighed heavily, then focused his attention on breaking loose a difficult bolt before continuing. "So, anyway we've been digging and I think... I think there's a reason Dad didn't leave any part of the shop to me.."

"And what reason would that be?" Benny asked in his Southern drawl.

"I haven't quite worked that out yet.." he murmured and shook his head.

The two worked in silence for nearly an hour before Benny finally pipped up with a question that he'd been burning to ask for a couple days. "Say, did they ever figure out who it was?"

"Who what was?" Dean asked in confusion, glancing up for a moment before his gaze shifted back to the gasket he was peeling off of the heads.

"The other driver."

Dean froze for only a second before nodding gently. "Yeah.. Some college girl named Meg Masters. They said she was pretty drunk and didn't hit the brakes in time to not hit dad's car." He stated and shook his head. "They also said Dad ran the stop sign.. Don't know if I believe that."

Once more the two fell into silence while they worked on the car in front of them. Finally Benny glanced up at the clock. "Hey, man, it's goin' on 8. Your girl'll want you home."

Dean shook himself from his thoughts. "Hmm? Oh, right, yeah.. Guess we'll finish this tomorrow.."

"It ain't goin' nowhere." The man said with a quick chuckle. "So, we work for Bobby, now, huh?"

"Yeah, suppose so."

"Where'd he go, anyway?"

"He'll be back and forth.. he's got the other shop in Sioux Falls to look after." Dean stated as they washed up. Benny waved before grabbing his jacket out of his locker and heading out the door. A few minutes later and Dean had locked up the shop so that he could make his own way home.

"I don't know mom.. I'm just.. I'm worried about him, you know?" Jo mumbled into the phone while she stretched out on the couch. Dean had told her he'd be home for dinner and now his was sitting in the microwave for whenever he managed to show up. "He's obsessing over something and I don't even know what."

"Well, honey, maybe this is just one of those times when you gotta support him and not ask too many questions." Ellen's voice rang into Jo's ear, causing the blonde to frown. "Look, Joanna. Your daddy and I wouldn't have been married as long as we were if I didn't learn to brush a few things off. Men just need time to think some things through.. sometimes you just gotta let go and hope to God they know what they're doin'."

"And when they don't?" Jo asked with a faint smile tugging on her lips.

"Then we get to go in and clean up the mess." Her mother stated bluntly before laughing gently. "Alright baby, I gotta go. I gotta finish cleanin' up before Ash falls asleep."

"Why do you let him sleep in the bar mama?" She asked, feigning exasperation. The blonde knew her mother had one of those gentle souls, the kind who wanted to help everyone out, no matter what. It didn't help that her elder brother was a college drop out who clung to their mother like a newborn pup. And her mother babied him still.

"Because he ain't got anywhere else to go." Ellen stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Jo had to bite back the retort that Ash would have somewhere.. if he'd get a job. "I love you, Jo."

"I love you too, mom. Talk to you later."

A sigh fell from her lips as she leaned turned her eyes to the ceiling, dropping the phone on her stomach. She lay there for what felt like a half an hour just staring at the design in the ceiling panels but a quick glance to the clock told her she'd been there less than ten minutes. A groan escaped the girl as she pulled herself back to her feet in time to hear the familiar roar of the Impala's engine. Her teeth sank into her lower lip, wondering if he were going to stumble through the door intoxicated.

What greeted her instead was a work-weary man who offered a gentle smile from the doorway. "Hey."

"Hi." She said softly, stepping a little closer to him. "How was work?"

"Eh, Benny and I got caught up in working on replacing some heads and gaskets, would'a been home sooner, but just.. lost track of time."

"It's fine, dinner's in the microwave." She told him and his eyes shot wide instantly.

"Oh my god, Jo. I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, Dean. Really." She told him, trying to wipe the apologetic look from his face.

"No, I told you I'd be here.."

The blonde laughed gently as she walked closer, her arms winding around his neck so that she could lean into him. Jo loved the smell of him when he got off work.. she wasn't sure why, but the smell of sweat, engine fluids and the subtle sweet scent of his cologne was.. absolutely mesmerizing. "It's.. fine.." she mumbled while leaning in close and pressing a kiss against his lips.

His hands carefully touched her waist, trying to avoid staining her pretty pink top with the black oil that clung to his fingers. She obviously didn't care about stains as she pulled herself closer to kiss him harder.

A dark room housed a creamy skinned male with dark hair and eyes. He stared at a computer screen in silence, just waiting for.. something. It was obvious he was becoming impatient, but he was managing to distract himself by his daily work. The ring of a phone brought his attention and without hesitating he reached out and turned on the speaker on his desk phone.

"Hey boss.. we're here." A female voice echoed through the speaker.

"And Singer?" The male asked in return without looking away from the computer.

"He's heading for Lawrence first thing in the morning."

"You and your crew are to act quickly. No one is to know you were there and if you are caught..?" He allowed his voice to drift off, opening it for the girl to finish his sentence.

"I don't know you." She stated with a nod of her head.

"Good. Call me when it's done."


Reviews?