XI

Wishful Thinking

"…it just doesn't make any sense, Dean. I mean, why would Uriel tell me you remembered Hell if you didn't?" Sam questioned his brother as Dean tossed back another round of shots.

"Maybe because he's a dick," Dean retorted. "Maybe that's got something to do with it," he finished.

"Maybe, but he's still an angel," Sam pressed.

"yeah an angel who was ready to level an entire town, look I don't know what— "Dean was cut off by the approach of their enthusiastic waiter, and Lee rolled her eyes from where she was seated beside the eldest Winchester. Rachel sat across from her friend, next to Sam.

"Radical! What else can I get you guys?" the waiter asked, clearing off the plates.

The Winchesters and the girls were about two towns over from their last case, seated in some dirty roadhouse. Lee picked at some old food stuck to the table in disgust.

"Uh, I think we're good," Sam replied gruffly.

"Yeah? Do you wanna try a couple of fryer bombs or a chipotle chimichanga?" the man asked excitedly.

"No, no we're still good." Dean answered.

"Okay awesome," the man replied, slinking away.

Dean watched him go, eyes widening at the man's strange behavior.

"That dude needs to chill," Lee muttered and Dean grunted in agreement.

"Sam, honestly, I have no idea why Uriel told you what he did, okay?" he lied, tossing back another shot.

Lee shoved away from the table suddenly, stomping towards the ladies' room, muttering an excuse under her breath.

Sam watched her leave, sighing.

"Right," he dryly remarked. Rachel took a long sip of beer.

"what?" Dean asked.

"Okay, fine. Then look me in the eye and tell me you don't remember a thing from your time down under," Sam demanded.

Dean paused, steeling himself before leaning forward to look his brother in the eye.

"I don't remember a thing from my time down under," he told him, and Sam looked away angrily.

"I don't remember, Sam!" Dean repeated urgently.

"Look, Dean, I just wanna help," Sam said quietly.

"You know everything I do, okay? That's all there is," Dean stated, pulling away as the waiter approached again.

Rachel scooted away from the table, hurrying towards the ladies' room to talk to Lee.

Rachel peered inside the dimly lit restroom, taking in the grime-covered walls and rust-ridden stalls. She grimaced before stepping inside.

"Hey, Lee, you okay?" she called, and Lee stepped out of the handicap stall, drying her hands.

"Yeah, I'm good, let's go, this place gives me the creeps" she told her friend, leading her outside to where the Winchesters had the cars waiting.

"I'll take the Chevelle with Sam, Dean said he wanted to talk to you," Rachel told Lee, skipping off before she could protest.

Lee shrugged, sliding into the front of the impala and shutting the door behind her as Dean started the engine.

"So! Where are we off to next?" she asked excitedly, turning towards him.

"We aren't 'off to' anywhere," Dean replied coldly, voice laced with anger. Lee shrunk back into the leather seats in surprise.

"…okay, what did I do?" Lee inquired in a quiet voice.

"Oh, I don't know, how about when you ran headfirst into danger like an idiot, lied straight to my face, and didn't tell me about Sam?" Dean sarcastically explained.

Lee looked down at her hands guiltily.

"What the Hell were you thinking? You could have gotten yourself killed! What, you think you're some kind of hero because you know the future? News flash: you're not a hero, and you're not a hunter. You're just a kid who's in too far over her head and the sooner you get that through your mind, the sooner I can stop worrying about you and your friend playing bizarre world and start worrying about the fact that there's a damn apocalypse looming over our heads," Dean snapped, running a hand through his hair angrily.

"You don't think I know all that?" Lee asked after a long pause, and his emerald eyes turned to her.

"A few months ago, none of this was real. Angels, demons, you? All fictional. And now?" she clenched her jaw, looking away sharply. "I don't know what the hell I'm doing, man. All I know is that, for some reason, I'm here. And I don't know what it means or why this is happening and honestly? I don't care. Because I am here, and this is real. And I'll be damned if I'm just going to sit by and watch innocent people die. So yeah, maybe… maybe I'm not thinking straight, maybe I don't make the best decisions, but I'm still going to do what I can. I'm going to do what's right, and you should, too." She turned her gaze to his.

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" he challenged, defiance in his eyes.

"You have to open up to someone. I can see it in your eyes, Dean, you're broken. I can't imagine what you saw down there, or what you did... but you have to stop lying to yourself, stop lying to Sam— "

"Okay, you know what? Enough Dr. Phil. We're done," Dean interrupted her, and she grabbed the dashboard as the car lurched forward.

"Dean— "she began, but her voice was drowned out as he cranked the stereo up high. She growled to herself, flinging herself back against the passenger seat.

The phone rang, piercing the deafening silence, causing Lee to jump up. "I'll get it, she called through the old house, setting down the weathered old lore book she'd been reading and running to the kitchen.

"Singer residence, how may I help you?" She sarcastically drawled in her perfected customer service tone.

"Where's Bobby?" a gruff voice answered, and Lee frowned. "Good to hear your voice, too, Dean. Especially after you ditched me and Rachel at Bobby's like we needed a babysitter."

"You do need a babysitter," he replied defensively.

"Oh, come on! You have to admit; I make a damn good hunter."

"I don't have to admit anything," he replied playfully. Lee smiled, glad that he was back to not hating her.

"So, how's the case?" she probed, curious. The Winchesters, before dropping the girls off at the Sioux Falls 'Casa de Bobby,' had caught wind of a case in Concrete, Washington; where a possible vengeful spirit had been haunting a women's gym shower, to which Dean had been ecstatic.

She heard him grunt over the line.

"Weird," he described shortly, as Bobby came up behind Lee.

"You gonna hog the handset all day, princess, or can use my own phone?" Bobby asked, holding out his hand, and Lee rolled her eyes, handing it to him. He chuckled softly, ruffling her hair as she walked by.

Rachel yawned, exhausted, as she stood to stretch. She'd been holed up in Bobby's study all day, poring through his research to find anything useful on angel-proofing the mind. Bobby entered then, opening his mouth to say something before Rachel shushed him, pointing to the couch where Lee lay asleep. She grinned at her friend's peaceful form, gently covering her with a thick blanket before quickly tiptoeing out of the room to where Bobby stood, arms crossed, waiting patiently.

"So… you mind tellin' me just what it is you've been looking for in that study of mine?" he questioned, raising his eyebrows. Rachel sighed, going to lean against the wall across from him.

"… I think… maybe the angels have been trying to get information out of me," she blurted.

"…poking around my mind, and then erasing my memories. I'm trying to find some way to keep them out... some way to maybe block them from reaching my thoughts—who knows what they could do with the information I've got up there," She explained breathily.

Bobby took a deep breath. "…are you sure it's them? I mean, I wouldn't put it past a low life demon to try and scrounge some information, but an angel?"

"I'm sure," Rachel told him with conviction. "The last time I was around an angel, I got this searing pain in my head, and then I passed out," she frowned. Bobby nodded gravely, pushing away from the wall.

"Well, let's get some answers, then," he declared.

Lee's phone dinged, and she groaned, fumbling awkwardly for her mobile until she finally grasped it, flinching as the bright light blinded her momentarily.

Text from Moose, the home screen read, and she squinted, unlocking it and reading his message. "Hey," it read.

"What," she typed back, hitting send.

Moose: Sorry, were you asleep?

Lee sighed and rolled her eyes, blinking the last sleep from her eyes and sitting up.

Lee: No, what's up? She wrote, biting her lip as she awaited his response.

Nothing much, working that weird vengeful spirit case, only—get this—it's not a vengeful spirit. Some idiot decided to toss this Babylonian coin into a wishing well and now everyone's wishes are coming true, Sam replied, and Lee bit back a laugh.

Oh did you guys have to pose as teddy bear doctors? She responded, laughing aloud when he messaged back,

You knew about this?

I don't remember anything else. Trust me, that was the most memorable part of the case. Besides. Even if I did remember, you're on your own. I'm still mad at you, Lee texted.

Moose: What! Why are you mad at me?

Lee: Oh please. I know it was your idea to ditch us at Bobby's.

Moose: …

Lee: WOW! Not even gonna deny it! Screw you and your ellipses

Moose: it was for your own protection

Lee: Bite me.

She hesitated for a moment before adding, :P

Lee: Goodnight Winchester

Moose: Goodnight Rylee

Lee settled back into the couch cushions, falling into a dreamless sleep.

"It's too early to exist," Lee groaned, shuffling into the kitchen in one of Dean's oversized flannels. She entered the kitchen to find Rachel already pouring herself a mug of coffee. Lee sniffed dramatically. "Oh… smells… so good..." she sniffed again, and Rachel rolled her eyes, pouring Lee a mug as well.

"Hey Bobby," Lee grunted, plopping down into the chair next to him at the kitchen table, and he raised his glass of scotch in greeting. Lee grimaced.

"Your poor liver," she joked, and he kicked her under the table. She glared at him, rubbing her leg, as Rachel sat across from her, sliding her a mug of steaming caffeine.

"So! Bobby and I may have found something on the whole 'make my mind impenetrable' front," Rachel declared, and Lee raised her eyebrows expectantly, sipping on her coffee.

"Okay, so there aren't any spells or runes or anything that can actually one hundred percent keep anything out of your mind," Rachel began, and Lee widened her eyes.

"No shit, Sherlock. If there was, we'd've found it by now," she retorted, and Rachel continued.

"All you need is the power of your mind. Basically, you focus the energy of your mind and visualize this barrier around your thoughts, and you take that energy and make the barrier stronger and stronger until it's virtually impossible to penetrate," she excitedly explained.

Lee sighed. "Okay maybe that zen crap might have worked in our universe, but this is Kripke's world. And in Kripke's universe, there's spells and anti-possession tattoos and stuff that can prevent that. Don't you think that there's anything? You know, like a charm or something?" Lee questioned, and Bobby grunted, holding something up.

"This is an iron locket, filled with holy oil. It's supposedly got sigils carved into it, supposed to hide you from anything wanting to do you harm," he explained, tossing it to Rachel.

"Made the twine myself, outta sage and lavender," he finished. "That should do the trick for now, until we can figure something more permanent out," he added.

"Bobby, this is amazing! How did you get this?" Rachel cried, tying it around her wrist, and admiring it.

He shrugged, "I've got my ways."

"Bobby, you're amazing," Rachel grinned, hugging him, and Lee clapped him on the back.

He chuckled, turning bright red. "I'm just doin' my job," he grumbled. The three were interrupted by the sound of an engine pulling into the driveway, and Bobby rose, going to greet the visitors. A few minutes later, the Winchesters entered, followed by Bobby.

"Hey, hey," Dean greeted, and Rachel smiled, going to grab some beers from the fridge.

"Man, you are not gonna believe the case we just solved," Dean began, and Rachel looked intrigued, sitting across from him as Bobby took the seat next to him.

"Oh, yeah?" she pressed, and Dean launched into the story, Bobby and Rachel hanging onto his every word.

Sam hung back, hesitating in the doorway. Lee glanced over at him, mouthing, you okay?

Sam just frowned, motioning for her to follow him as he went into the other room. Lee glanced back at the other three before slipping away, unnoticed, to talk to the younger Winchester.

She slid into the study, taking in Sam's tall form as he faced away from her, staring out the window.

She grimaced, cautiously moving towards him before stopping a few feet away, crossing her arms and rocking back and forth on her heels nervously.

"Heyy… wanna taco 'bout it?" she punned, smiling lamely at him. He turned, brows furrowed.

"Dean… uh, Dean told me the truth," he explained in a low voice.

"Ah," she sighed, sitting down on the edge of the couch and gesturing for him to sit next to her.

He did, shoulders drooping.

"…and how do you feel about that?" she joked, doing her best impression of a therapist. He cracked a smile, which faded quickly.

"I… I don't know, I guess… I mean, I'm glad he told me, I am, but… what's the point? I mean, he's right. I wouldn't understand. There's no way to make me understand—I just… wish I could be there for him," he shrugged, looking down.

"Hey, look at me," she commanded, turning his head to face her. She looked into his eyes, not breaking his gaze.

"Your presence alone, is enough. Sooner or later… he's going to need to talk about it to someone. And you? You need to be there when he does. And you will be." She told him. He nodded, eyes glassy.

"Trust me, I'm an expert," she added in a silly voice, and he chuckled, breaking eye contact.

"Thanks," he expressed, before clearing his throat and rising.

"Come on, we're going to miss Dean explaining how he got his ass handed to him by some kid," Sam told her, holding his hand out to help her up, and she laughed, taking it.

"Oh, I can't wait to hear that part," she announced.

A/N: Please Don't forget… follow, favorite, review… all that jazz :D Sorry about the short chapter, but better a short chapter than no chapter, am I right? Okay, sorry, I'll go now. But seriously, reviews would be great… do you want more Rachel, do you want more Lee? Do you want more Winchesters? IDK!