"Gering, Nebraska," Sam said, explaining the case in detail to Dean as he drove, "several people have died in their sleep, having been crushed to death."
"Anything else?" Dean questioned.
"Most of the vics were women," Sam said, struggling to comprehend what he was about to say, "there were two men though. When they were found… well, the report said they were bleeding from their nipples."
"Gross."
"It's an Alp," Mary interjected from the back seat of the Impala. Dean looked at her through the rearview mirror, "it's like a type of vampire."
"A vampire that drinks blood from a dude's nipple?" Dean asked in disbelief. He shook his head at the thought, "how do we kill it?"
"The lore's not really clear on that," Sam admitted, "none of the stories tell of a hunter actually managing to kill one of these guys."
"Great," Dean sighed, "a nipple sucking vampire that we can't kill."
The three stayed silent for a moment, not knowing what to say next. It was rare that they came across creatures they had absolutely no idea how to kill. Usually, when that happened, Castiel or Crowley was around to give them some sort of an answer. As it was, they still hadn't heard from Cas since before Mary moved in. Without saying anything, Dean pulled out his phone and dialed his number.
"Who are you calling?" Sam asked, knowing more than likely it would be their angel friend.
"Cas."
"Who?" Mary interrupted, unaware of anyone with that name.
"Castiel," Sam began to explain as Dean waited for an answer, "he's a friend of ours. He's… um, well he's an angel."
"Angel-" Mary started to ask before Dean's voice interrupted her.
"Cas," Dean grunted into the phone, being met by Cas' voicemail yet again, "where are you? It's been weeks. We're working a case in, uh… Gering, Nebraska. What do you know about alps? Just uh, give me a call."
"Still no answer?" Sam gave Dean a regretful look.
"An angel?" Mary asked before Dean could respond to his brother, "like, wings, messengers of God, angels?"
"Sort of," Sam said, looking over his shoulder at her, "they're not exactly what you'd expect-"
"They're dicks," Dean interjected, eyes still focused on the road, "mostly."
"And Castiel?" Mary questioned.
"He's cool," Sam assured, "he helps us out with cases."
Mary nodded, leaning back against the seat, "cool."
"Really? That's it?" Dean furrowed his eyebrows, "no more questions?"
"Weirder things exist, Dean," she said, arranging herself in the back seat of the Impala so she could get a little shut-eye.
Dean looked at her in the rearview mirror, still wondering why she came into their lives when she did. For someone who had begun so secretive about herself and her life, she revealed herself rather bluntly to them. Mary was in a deep sleep within minutes.
"We got like, six hours, so you might as well settle in," Dean said, glancing at Sam.
Sam rolled his eyes, "I know, Dean."
Dean sighed, recognizing the way the dynamic between him and his brother had already changed. Dean had a habit of taking over a fatherly role when he met young hunters, particularly young female hunters. He could already see that, though they fought, he was going to do the same with Mary. His attitude toward Mary would, in turn, bring him back to the way he was when he had to raise Sam. He looked again at the sleeping girl in his backseat, wishing he had a way to stop her from hunting.
"You're never going to get her to stop," Sam said, without looking up from his research, knowing exactly what his brother was thinking, "it's personal for her, same as it was for us."
"You stopped," Dean commented, "when you went to school. Maybe she can do the same in the fall."
Sam looked up at him, "and I came back. I've never been able to stay away, not really. Dean, normal life isn't an option for hunters, you know that."
"Yeah, but she doesn't have to be a hunter."
"There's a demon after her," Sam reminded, "she doesn't have an option to not be a hunter at this point."
Dean glanced back at Mary and sighed, "you're right. I know, you're right."
Sam and Dean sat quietly again for a moment. Sam went back to his book on Alps, Dean focused on the road ahead. Once Sam felt like he had exhausted the book, he closed it and set it at his feet. He stretched his arms in front of him and let out a deep sigh, settling in for the six hours ahead of them.
"Did you talk to her?" Sam said after checking to make sure Mary was still asleep in the back seat, "Apologize?"
"Yeah," Dean nodded, "Apparently she always knew Dad was an asshole." Sam let out a short chuckle, "seriously, she said that."
"Well, she's not wrong," Sam cracked a smile, "I just can't believe he never mentioned her."
"Well, he never mentioned Adam," Dean reminded. They paused thinking about their brother they'd never truly known.
"Do you think…" Sam's voice trailed off a moment, "do you think Dad named her?"
Dean glanced at Mary in the rearview mirror before answering, "Maybe it was one of the foster homes. I mean, does 'Mary Josephine' really sound like Dad?"
"Kinda does," Sam shrugged, "maybe he picked 'Mary' because of Mom…"
The brothers sat in silence again. Pauses in the conversation weren't awkward anymore on their long car rides, they were moments to think. Sam and Dean were familiar with each other's silent company.
"Hey, how long have her nightmares been going on?" Dean suddenly asked.
Sam furrowed his eyebrows, "I'm not actually sure. She had one on the way to the bunker when we first brought her home, but I'm not sure how long they've been going on. Why?"
"The nightmares, the fire started by a demon," Dean started.
"Oh..." Sam finally understood.
"Maybe it's time you had a talk with her," Dean suggested, mirroring the talk Sam had previously had with him, "I mean, it's not just some coincidence, is it? What if it's Azazel all over again?"
"Azazel is dead."
"Yeah, but what if it's a different Prince of Hell?" Dean asked, "What if these nightmares are premonitions like yours were?"
"You think she'd tell us?" Sam asked, looking back at his sister again, "Do you think she'd even know she needed to tell us?"
"I don't know," Dean he shook his head, "we gotta figure out what the hell is coming after her though. There's a ten-year difference between the fires."
"Yeah, I know," Sam sighed.
Dean once again glanced at Mary through the mirror. He sighed and pulled his phone out again. "Cas," he grunted, "call me."
The rest of the car ride was nearly silent. Mary woke up when they stopped to fill the Impala with gas, but she stayed quiet for the majority of the car ride. The three or four hours of sleep she'd gotten while on the road was the most sleep she'd gotten in days. She found, more often than not, she would rather absent-mindedly watch trees pass out the window than talk with her brothers. Dean and Sam exchanged concerned glances when she was awake, and while she slept they continued to discuss what could be coming after their younger sister.
After the long drive, the three Winchesters pulled into a small motel in Gering, Nebraska. Out of habit, Dean only booked one room, so the three dumped their bags in the room and began prepping for their latest case.
"Still no word from Cas?" Sam asked, scrolling through search results on his computer, still hunting for a way to kill an alp.
"No," Dean sighed, taking a sip from the beer bottle in his hand. Mary sat on the opposite bed, reading the book Sam had dissected in the car.
"If it's a type of vampire," Mary concluded, still not looking up from the book, "maybe we can just decapitate it."
"It's worth a shot, I guess," Sam said, leaning back from his computer.
Dean looked over at Mary, "you ever hunted a vampire before?"
"Sure," she shrugged, looking up. Dean looked at her in disbelief, forgetting for a moment how she too was raised studying lore. Mary saw that he was struggling to wrap his head around the idea of her hunting a vampire, so she continued, "only once though. After I got rid of the nest in Peoria, not many vampires showed their faces in the city again."
Dead nodded, beginning to understand, "well, we've never hunted an alp, so this is new territory. I'm not sure how aggressive this thing will be."
"With three of us though," Sam interrupted, stopping Dean from voicing the way he underestimated Mary, "we should be okay."
Dean looked back at Sam, "right. Well, let's get to work."