"Finally, peace and quiet. Silence is golden, you know."

"Yeah, but duck tape's silver."

Sam shut the laptop and sighed. It had been over an hour since they had left the diner. After getting rooms at the local inn (separate rooms, of course), the four of them had headed out to the site to scope it out. True to their jesting, he had shared the Jeep with Erin while Jo took the Impala with Dean. He had to admit; it was a nice change from riding with Dean's bitching and loud mullet-rock.

Erin cracked a one-sided smiled at his remark.

"Hilarious. So, what are the details on this case we're working? Because all Jo gave me were directions." She wrenched the wheel as Dean took a hard right in front of them. Sam was unceremoniously slammed into the console as the Jeep struggled to regain traction on the muddy trail.

"Damn! I'm glad I grew up on dirt tracks; otherwise I couldn't keep up with your brother." She gave him a sidelong glance.

"Sorry about that…"

He straightened his position in the seat and laughed. "Don't worry about it. Believe me; I've been through worse riding with Dean."

"I believe you. What does he think he's doing, the Indy 500?" She sped up and rounded the next curve around 60, causing Sam to be slammed into the door. Erin kept her eyes locked on the vehicle in front of them, biting her lip both in concentration and apologetically.

"Damn it! I'm so sorry, Sammy."

There was a sudden silence as the vehicle straightened itself on the road. Instinctively, Sam opened his mouth to reply with his usual retort to that particular nickname. He was beaten to the punch by Erin, who had developed a strange expression.

"I meant Sam. Sorry."

Slightly taken aback, he just nodded. "It's ok; it's not a big deal."

"I know you don't like anyone to call you that. Not even Dean. So, I'm sorry."

She focused on the Impala's bumper and fell into an uncomfortable silence. Sam joined her in silence, unable to think of anything to say. She was right; he hated that name, even when his brother called him that.

So why didn't it bother him when she said it?

Normally, the name 'Sammy' sounded immature and childish. It sounded like whoever called him that was talking down to him. But when Erin said it, it was different.

She made it sound……intimate. Sam shifted uncomfortably in his seat, although his uneasiness wasn't exactly caused by negative thoughts.

"Sam…. Your mom used to call you Sammy, didn't she?"

The sound of her voice snapped him out of his self-induced reverie. Clearing his throat in an effort to focus on other things beside what had just run through his mind, he hesitantly answered her.

"I…wouldn't know. I can't remember much about my mom but…Dean said that she did. She called me that all the time." He lowered his eyes to the computer in his lap, mulling things over in his head.

"My dad called me that too. I don't know, I guess that name just reminds me of…everything I've lost."

She gave a slight nod, taking a left behind Dean.

Having answered her, Sam lapsed back into silence. He couldn't tell what was on her mind, but he suspected it had something to do with the mention of John. Even though he hadn't said his father's name, Erin was wearing the same expression she had every time she talked about him.

Someone else might be offended or confused at the amount of mourning Erin was exhibiting for John Winchester, but Sam felt sympathy for her. Granted, he had lost his father. But he was starting to suspect that John was the only person that had ever seen Erin for who she truly was.

He was the only person that saw the Erin that Sam had seen: the broken, insecure little girl that had survived an emotionally broken home only to fall into the underworld of hunters. He knew that he had only seen a glimpse of the events that had made Erin who she was today, but judging by that he was still amazed at how well-adjusted she was.

"Um….what about the case, Sam?"

"Oh, right." Grateful for anything that would the suffocating silence in the Jeep; he opened the laptop back up and pulled up the local newspaper. Scanning the headlines briefly, he soon found the article he was searching for.

"Right. Uh, it says here that in the past two months there have been over 20 homicides in this county, 6 of those in this particular area alone. All of them are unsolved, and all of them show the same MO." A few more clicks brought up another headline, this one from the previous month.

"The paper says that the first three were considered freak accidents. It wasn't until the fourth that an official investigation was called." The accompanying photos and information made Sam's blood run cold.

Beside him, Erin navigated through the mud and water in relative silence. She was contemplating, building a case file in her head and reviewing the new information. Something wasn't adding up.

"That's strange. Why would they think that three homicides were just freak accidents?"

Sam cleared his throat uneasily and read from the article. "'The bodies were found in a severe state of disintegration due to conflagration. No obvious cause of death has been determined. Medical examiners are suggesting a freak storm, which caused property damage, to be the culprit.'"

"They thought that lightning caused the first three deaths. Erin, these bodies…..they were cooked from the inside out."

Erin slowed down long enough to take her eye of the road and catch his eye. She looked confused, but he could read the same suspicion in her face.

"Erin, a few months ago Gordon Walker tried to kill me. He wanted to get rid of the children like us before we turned. Dean and I stopped him, but not before he killed another guy: Scott Carey."

He looked down at the newspaper article on the screen, trying to keep up with his own train of thought.

"Scott had the power to electrify living things. Now, I know he's dead. But I also know that there's more than one of us out there with the same power. Erin……"

He looked back to her, fear and grim realization overcoming his expression.

"I think whoever did this…is one of us."

She bit her lip in concentration, trying to determine the best course of action. Silence followed his remark as she furiously processed the information.

"Call your brother and tell them. If you're right, then Dean and Jo could be in danger when we find whoever did this. I mean, they can't possibly go up against a psychic alone. Without abilities, they'd be sitting ducks."

Without a word, Sam hit Dean's number on speed dial and put the phone to his ear. Despite his brother's bad-ass demeanor, Erin had a point.

Two rings sounded before someone came on the line.

"Yeah?"

Sam took the phone away from his ear and stared at it for a moment, perplexed. After a second, he brought it back.

"Jo? Why are you answering Dean's phone?"

He could a popping sound on the other end which sounded a like tape being slid into the tape player.

"Because your brother is too busying driving with one hand and playing air guitar to Metallica with the other to answer the phone."

Dean's voice echoed other the other end, although the music prevented Sam from hearing him.

"Dean says----That's not funny; you have a sick sense of humor! Sam, your brother is seriously deranged. I think he's come unhinged." The sound of Jo's laughter hit Sam's ear, followed by Dean's snickering. Apparently, Dean was being his charmingly witty self.

"Jo? Jo, listen to me. I need to talk to Dean."

"All right, hang on just a minute." There was a rustling sound, after which everything became muffled as if Jo had her hand over the speaker.

"Dean? Sam---no, don't start singing again! You're tone-deaf and it's just pathetic. Here; talk to your brother, you moron." The sound of the phone being moved through the speaker followed by Dean's voice.

"Yeah?"

Sam exhaled. "Dean, listen to me. I did some research on these murders. All of the victims were fried from the inside out. Now, I don't know for sure but Erin and I both seem to think that one of us did it."

"'One of us' as in the two of you?" Dean sounded puzzled.

"No, I mean it's a psychic like us. Scott Carey, the guy Gordon killed before he came after me? He had the same ability: to electrify people and animals. Whoever killed these people must have the same ability."

"All right, thanks for warning me. I'll keep it in mind. Listen, we're almost to the site. Just another couple of miles, so tell your girlfriend. I'll see you there."

The sound of a dial tone hit Sam's ear. He took the phone away and stared at the screen for a minute. Dean was occupied with something else, he could tell. Either it was the case that was bothering Dean, or Sam's teasing about Jo wasn't exactly off target. His older brother's last comment had pushed Sam's 'baby brother' button, and he gave the phone one last obstinate look.

"She's not my girlfriend….."

"Did you say something, Sam?" Erin gave him a sidelong stare.

He sat back in his seat and willed the heat in his face to go away.

"Nope. Not a word." He adjusted his position and slipped the phone back into his pocket.

"Well, what did they say?"

He shrugged. "I told Dean; he said they keep it in mind. The site's just a few miles ahead, so it shouldn't be too much longer."

Erin nodded and sighed. Not that she had a problem with driving, but this dirt road was starting to make her back hurt. She'd be happy when she could get out and stretch her legs for a while.

Sam let out a small chuckle that soon developed into a snort, causing her to raise an eyebrow. The sound of his laugh brought a smile to her face as well.

"That's the first time you laughed since my apartment. What's so funny?"

He shook his head and sighed. "Nothing. It's just the odd couple up there sounded suspiciously chummy on the phone." He scrutinized the figures in the vehicle ahead carefully.

"They were actually having a good time. Of course, I don't know what happened after Jo told Dean he was tone-deaf. It might have gotten ugly then…"

Erin leaned forward and squinted to see. "You know, if they get together it's a sign of the apocalypse."

Sam shot her an amused look. "The world as we know it would end."

"They'd have to name their kid Damien."

"Day would become night; clocks would run backwards, it would rain split-pea soup…."

"Locusts would eat the first born of the world. Beer would turn red with the blood of the innocents. And worst of all: toast would fall jelly-side up."

Sam broke out in laughter. "Toast jelly-side up? You think that's worse than baby-eating locusts?"

She shrugged innocently. "Sure. I mean, if the jelly is facing up, somebody could step in it. Have you ever had jelly between your toes? It's not fun."

That earned her a strange look from her passenger. Sam regarded her with a mixture of amusement and interest. "And when have you had jelly between your toes?"

Erin's face turned a peculiar shade of scarlet. Something told him the story behind it was rather…intimate one.

"You don't want to know."

Her answer confirmed his guess, and Sam's eyes widened in amazement. Strangely enough, he was now intrigued by the jelly story. Or rather, he was intrigued by the fact that Erin had a jelly story.

"O…….k. Now, I'm going to have to wonder…."

"Yeah, you do that. Because I'm not telling."

Feeling unusually confident and relaxed with Erin, he gave her a shifty look and did his best Russian accent. He held up his hands menacingly.

"Ve have vays of making vou talk."

He received an equally devious look from his counterpart.

"As long as it doesn't involve jelly."


Author's Note: And we're back to the SamxErincentric chapters! Not much going on in this chapter, except a hunch about the hunt. And it seems that Sammy having some dirty thoughts (Dean has corrupted him!). Anyway, you guys know the drill. Thanks for so many nice reviews! Either I'm really good, or you people are really nice... Either way, A BIG THANK YOU!