AN: Once again, thanks so much to those who reviewed! Unfortunately, quiet time is over. Things are going to start "heating up," and not even in a good way. Please let me know what you thought!

Do You Recall

XXI: World Gone Wild

"Did you hear that?" Elena asked, and surveyed the packed restaurant.

"Someone called you," said Sarah. Sam and Dean looked to one another in confusion, until Elena's face lit up with an incredulous, but broad smile.

"Val?" she laughed, and got up from the table. Dean's expression fell.

"Oh no…"

"Who's Val?" Sam asked, but was interrupted by the girlish squeals that came from behind him as Elena and Val enthusiastically greeted one another. It earned a lot of eyes and annoyed looks from around the room, but the two didn't seem to care.

"What're you doing here?"

"What am I doing here? I live here. What're you doing here? How come you didn't tell me?"

"It's a long story, but I'm back home for a few days," Elena said, and bent down to the boy who stood close to Val. "Hey, Mattie, I haven't seen you in so long! Come 'ere, buddy."

Matt smiled and hugged Elena, laughing when she squeezed him tight and swayed them from side to side. She smoothed his hair out of his face affectionately and introduced Val and Matt to Sam and Sarah, who stood along with Dean from the table.

"And you probably remember—"

"Hey, Cupcake, I knew it was you!" Val said, and despite his nervous smile, she hugged him tightly. Dean grunted as his eyes popped open comically. She was a bit strong for someone so small.

"Hey, Val," he managed.

"Don't break him," Elena warned, and her friend let go reluctantly.

"Finally I get the chance to meet the semi-mysterious Winchester brothers," she said with a grin. "The things I've heard…"

"Well, Elena's told us a bit about you too," Sam said, smiling in amusement.

"Nothing embarrassing, I hope," she winked. "But I don't want to disrupt your dinner…"

"Sorry I haven't been able to call," said Elena, who glanced at Dean before turning back to her friend. "Why don't you come over tonight? We'll talk for a bit. I'm not sure how long we're staying town."

Val thought about it. Matt was more than okay with the idea of staying up later than usual and hanging out with his favorite honorary "aunt."

"Yeah, all right. You've got a lot of explaining to do, anyway."

"It's a long story," Elena sighed.

"My growth is being entertained. I've got time," said Val, gesturing with a thumb behind her to where Sam and Dean were teaching Matt how to play poker in the living room. They were just playing for Oreos, but it was enough to occupy the kid.

At the restaurant they'd said their goodbyes to Sarah before she and Sam went back to the gallery, so he could pick up his rental car. Sam arrived at Elena's house an hour or so after the rest of them did, and they'd broken out sodas (for Matt's sake; Val had already had one beer in front of the kid that night).

"We had some trouble with a job," Elena eventually confessed. "We finished it all right, but I needed some time off…"

"Why's that?" Val asked pointedly. Elena was silent for a while, debating how much she could actually say without…it was difficult maintaining friendships with people who weren't hunters, let alone people who didn't know the truth about the supernatural.

She couldn't exactly say that they got caught between a standoff of angels versus demons for a fallen angel that lost her Grace, now could she? Elena couldn't say that she and Dean had gotten in the biggest fight they'd ever had just as they were starting to cross boundary lines, because he refused to talk about how he was tortured in Hell and she'd pressured him just a bit too much.

"Dean and I…we had a fight." Val's expression became even more serious, but she remained quiet, waiting expectantly for her to continue. Elena started again. "I pushed things I shouldn't have pushed, and we both said a lot of things."

She sipped at her Coke and ran a hand through her hair in a nervous habit.

"When he finally told me everything that he was going through, I couldn't handle it like I thought I could," she sighed. "I tried. But still…he still wouldn't let me help, so…I walked away. I shouldn't have, but came back here. Bobby told me to take it easy for a few days, so I did."

"But Dean's here now," said Val. "Him and Sam."

Elena nodded.

"Sam called me the day after it happened, told me they were going on another job. Next day, he sent me a text that they were coming to stay at Bobby's for a couple days, and asked me if I was okay with it. I guess he thought I would be there," she said. "But Dean showed up on my doorstep…and we worked it out."

"Worked it out, like…" Val raised suggestive brows. Elena bit her lower lip and didn't answer.

The effect was immediate.

Val's eyes, wide as saucers, flicked from Elena to the man sitting beside her brother and pretending to cheat and glance over at Matt's cards. Val pointed at her friend, and then at him, and then back.

Elena nodded sheepishly, still biting her lip.

Val slapped her own hand over her mouth but the shrill scream could still be heard from where they were in the kitchen.

"What's wrong?" Dean said quickly as both he and his brother stood from the table, but both women waved them off. Matt dismissed it as nothing and turned back around in his chair.

"Nothing, nothing," Elena said, a little too quickly for Dean's liking. Val shook her head.

"G-Go back to whatever it was you were doing, teaching my brother how to hustle or whatever," she said. Dean raised a brow and looked over at Sam, who shrugged. So they joined Matt back at the table.

"Are you serious?" Val hissed.

"Are you fucking kidding?" Elena whispered furiously.

"Well, how serious is it?"

Elena paused and glanced over at the table. Both Sam and Dean were trying to explain a rule at the same time and kept cutting one another off. It eventually got to the point where Dean was crossing his arms, with a look on his face that usually meant Sam was starting to grate on his nerves. Elena had experienced the look before, usually accompanied by an eye roll.

A-a-and there it is, she thought, after Dean rolled his eyes. Catching her stare, he smirked a little and winked at her. Stupid as it was, it made her smile back with a faint blush.

"Oh," said Val. "That serious."

Elena turned to her in annoyance.

"It's almost sickening," Val smirked. Elena rolled her eyes.

"Oh, eat me."

"Looks like he's already got the job covered, but thanks."

Elena shoved Val's arm and shook her head, despite the mortified grin on her face.

"Oh my God."

"Now you can't deny anything, it's refreshing," said Val. Elena sighed.

"Is this what it's going to be like from now on?"

"You bet your ass it is."

"Just my fucking luck."

By midnight, Val declared it was time for her and Matt to go, but neither of them left without a parting hug from each of them. Dean was surprised when Val's hug was less crushing and flirtatious as it was sincere.

Elena watched as Val whispered something in Dean's ear though, and from how his eyes widened marginally, it wasn't something pleasant. He even seemed relieved when the front door closed behind her.

"What happened?" Elena asked him in amusement. The evasive look he gave her was only slightly suspicious.

"Nothing."

"Didn't look like nothing," Sam remarked as he cleaned up the cards from the table.

"Come on," she said. "Val talks a lot of shit. It couldn't have been that bad."

Dean gave her a dry look.

"She said I can't tell you upon pain of…things." And then with a look that was more teasing, "But let's just say I think Sam and I should run a background check on your friend."

Sam could tell it would be another night where he wasn't going to get much sleep. He was in Elena's old room that was mostly empty of her stuff, save for her bed and desk and some storage bins, and that was okay. He was pretty sure Dean was with Elena in the master bedroom, and that was okay too. They hadn't come out and said anything, but he was pretty sure they were together. And now they knew he and Sarah were talking again, which was also okay.

Then why did things still feel…wrong?

The threat of the Apocalypse hanging over their heads, probably.

Sam sighed and rubbed his face, and pulled out a book from his backpack. He read until he couldn't focus on the pages and then finally got up, wandered into the kitchen where the light was already on. It was weird, because he knew for a fact that he and Dean locked all the doors and turned off all the lights before heading to bed at two in the morning.

Elena was rummaging in the pantry, straining for the top shelf that was inches out of reach.

"Bit late for a midnight snack," he commented. She jumped and stumbled against the shelf door, turned around quick and sighed when she saw him.

"For someone so massive you walk like a fucking mouse, you know that?" she said. It wasn't the first time he'd snuck up on her without meaning to.

His answering bitchface was priceless, in her opinion. But she crossed her arms as he easily got the box of Cheez-Its from the shelf and set it down in front of her.

"Any other requests?" he said dryly.

"You ought to have a bell around your neck."

He rolled his eyes and got a glass from the cupboards and a jug of water out of the refrigerator.

"What are you doing up?" he asked while pouring in the cup.

"Same as you, probably. Just needed a drink," she said, grabbing a cup for herself. "Dean's dead as a rock."

Sam smiled at that, hearing the playful jealousy in her tone. He poured water into her glass for her before returning the jug in the fridge.

"I couldn't sleep," he admitted, after a while of relative silence between them. The only sounds came from the light rain hitting the roof outside.

"Something on your mind?" she asked.

"Probably too much."

Elena nodded and started munching on some crackers from the box.

"How was Sarah," she asked, "when you had to say goodbye?"

"It was okay," Sam replied. Another smile played on his face.

Sarah parked in front of the building next to the rental car. The lot was long deserted.

"Well…" she said, looking over at him. She wore a smile, but there was the hint of sadness behind it that made him feel both reluctant and guilty. He probably wouldn't get the chance to see her for a while, and she knew that.

"It's not goodbye," Sam reminded her. Just like the first time.

Sarah nodded and cut the engine. They both walked the few feet to his car that he would probably turn in tomorrow. Sam stopped in front of the passenger side and turned to face her, hands in his pockets and at a loss of what to say.

"It's not goodbye," she repeated. He shook his head.

"No. Course it's not."

Sarah bit her lip, then looked up at him with those honest eyes.

"I missed you," she said, "And I'm glad we got to spend the day together."

It got him to smile.

"Yeah…me too."

She grinned a bit, then lightly pulled him down by the lapels of his jacket and kissed him. It didn't take him long to react, carding his hands through her long hair and down her arms, pulling her closer. The way she moaned a little into his mouth when his hands found the curve of her waist sent a pleasant chill up his spine. But eventually, it slowed down to gentle kisses and touches, and he rested his forehead against hers.

"Sam," she said once she'd caught her breath.

"Yeah?" he asked.

"This time…call me."

Sam set down his glass on the countertop.

"I promised to call her."

Elena smiled, but it soon faded.

"Sam…you probably won't want to answer this," she began hesitantly. "But…what about Ruby?"

That caught him off guard.

"What about Ruby?"

"I mean…after what you told us, about what happened…" Elena trailed, but she felt it was a valid question. He had been getting pretty chummy with the demon as of late, and not just because they'd slept together.

Sam sighed.

"That's passed, Lena," he said. "Looking back…there wasn't anything romantic about it."

He was out of his fucking mind, under a whole new level of grief and anger, and she'd helped curb it. And underneath all that…yeah, it was lust.

"Okay," she said slowly. "So…why Sarah?"

"She…" Sam stopped and had to laugh a little. He was opening himself up like a teenage girl. Then again, if he had to pick between Dean and Elena in talking about women, Elena was probably the better choice this time. There was a greater chance she wouldn't tease him like his brother would.

"There's a lot she doesn't know," he acknowledged, "but she understands the important stuff. She gets it—why we have to move around, why we take on case after case."

"And she understands you," Elena finished for him, and by the look on his face, she'd guessed correctly.

"I just…I don't know how it could work," he said. "Because it's not just the moving around. It's the danger I put her in just by knowing her. We don't deal with things like shitty coworkers. We deal with angels and demons out to start the Apocalypse."

It was some time before Elena said anything, but she met his eyes when she said, "If you care about her, just be honest."

Sam looked down at the liquid swirling in his glass, and for once wished it was from a bottle of whiskey. If Sarah knew everything, what he really was…she would never want to see him again.

"I guess that means Dean finally talked to you," he said. Elena nodded and sipped from her glass.

"Yeah. Showed up on my doorstep and wouldn't leave until he'd said his piece," she said, cracking a smile. Sam returned it.

"Sounds like him." And then his expression turned more serious. "When my brother thinks he's doing the right thing…there's little he won't do if he thinks he's protecting us."

Elena caught his meaning, and she sighed.

"I know…he just has a bad habit of shutting us out."

Sam scoffed.

"Believe me, I know." He shook his head. After a moment, he gave her a soft smile. "You'll be good for him."

She looked away, but he spotted her blush.

"Are you okay with it," she asked tentatively. "Me dating your brother?"

He gave her a long look.

"Honestly, I can't think of anyone better."

The morning brought Dunkin' Donuts and questions. Specifically, the question of if they were going to hit the road and take on a case. There was nothing stopping them, now that they were all in the same place. So they all more or less agreed.

Dean flipped through a few articles online and found Stratton, Nebraska, where a man appeared to be murdered in his bedroom, though the room was locked without any sign of forced entry. Sounded like a ghost, at the very least. An angry one.

It was a six and a half hour drive that Elena and Sam mostly snoozed through, not having gotten much sleep the night before. By the time they got there to check the place out, it was afternoon.

The house itself was now for sale, but Dean could hardly think of anyone who would buy it, old as it was. Just the story of how it had come to be on the market was enough to put anyone off.

"What a piece of shit," Elena commented, eyeing the leak stains on the ceiling and the peeling paint.

"I wouldn't knock it too much," Dean said, sliding his gaze over to her. "Even the walls have ears."

"Maybe they'll do something about the bloodstains," she remarked. Most of it was already taken care of. There were still some stains, faded, but visible on some of the floorboards.

Dean found a hollow spot on a wall in the kitchen, and the outline of a square that had been painted over.

"Huh," said Sam. "Probably a dumbwaiter. All these old houses had one."

He walked away to inspect the other side of the kitchen, and Dean looked over his shoulder.

"Know it all," he muttered.

"What?" Sam asked.

"What."

"You just…"

Dean looked at him expectantly.

"What?"

"…Never mind." Sam turned away and went back into the living room, and Dean looked quite proud of himself, until he noticed Elena still standing there with her arms crossed, an amused expression on her face.

"What?" he repeated. She rolled her eyes.

They ran the EMF meter throughout the second floor, especially in the room where Bill Gibson had died. Apparently the room had been freshly painted with a soft gray color.

"The needle is all over the place," said Sam.

"You got power lines right there," said Dean, pointing out the window. They were pretty close to the house and would distort the EMF. As far as he was concerned, there was not much here to find. Sam opened the closet door, and the old, chewed up doll's head staring back at him was a bit disconcerting.

"Well that's super disturbing," Dean commented from his brother's side. Elena pulled a face.

"Think it got left behind?" she said.

"By who?" he asked. "Unless Bill Gibson likes to play with doll heads."

There was a distant rumble of trucks nearby, which was odd, considering this place was literally in the middle of nowhere. They looked out the window and spotted a large moving van following an SUV.

"Uh oh," said Sam.

"I thought you said this place was still for sale," said Dean.

"Apparently not."

They hurried downstairs and out the front door, but couldn't help being spotted by the family that were unloading from the car. It looked to be a married couple, their two kids and a dog, plus another man that might or might not have been related to them.

"Can I help you?" asked the husband.

"Yeah, are you the new owners of the house?" Dean asked.

"Brian Carter," he supplied. "And you are?"

"This is Mr. Stanwick and Miss Gail," said Dean. They each held up similar badges with their aliases on them. "I'm Mr. Babar. County Code Enforcement."

"We had the building inspected last week," said Brian, a confused look on his face. He glanced back at his waiting family before asking, "Is there a problem?"

"We've found asbestos in the walls, and a gas leak," said Sam. "I'd say we've got a problem that needs to be taken care of."

"Asbestos, what does that mean?" said the woman, most likely the man's wife.

"Until this house is up to code, it's uninhabitable," Sam said.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," said Brian, "You mean we can't stay here?"

"It's a health hazard. You don't want to," said Dean.

"Hold up," said the second man, "We just drove four hundred miles—"

"There's a motel just down the street. Until this gets cleaned up, I suggest you stay there."

"And what if we don't?" asked Brian.

"You can get a fine or you could go to jail, pick your poison," said Dean. Brian looked back at his family and eventually shrugged. He wasn't about to go to jail for something like this.

"One night, and I'm getting this worked out in the morning," he said. His daughter was less than thrilled at the prospect of staying at another motel, and was quite vocal about it.

The hunters felt bad about having to inconvenience them, but they'd rather put the family through one night of discomfort versus the possibility of them getting killed.

They donned their FBI garb and visited Gibson's former housekeeper of five years, who initially found his body. She couldn't say much about him, only that he was a private man, kept to himself.

"Not that I blame him," she added.

"What do you mean?" asked Sam.

"His wife dies in childbirth, daughter hangs herself in the attic twenty years later, I'd be bitter too," she said. And after a moment, "…I think I've got some pictures."

She left and came back with two photos: one of a young girl, and another of a younger version of Gibson and his daughter.

"Thanks," said Dean. "Can we keep these?"

"Suit yourself."

"Do you know why the daughter killed herself?" Elena asked.

"Oh, I don't know. That was before my time," the woman admitted.

"Did you ever notice anything odd in the house when you were cleaning it?" asked Dean, who slid the pictures into the pocket of his business jacket.

"Like what?"

"Like, you know, lights going on and off, things not being where you left 'em…"

She shook her head, but then paused.

"Well, sometimes I heard some noises. Like…rustling in the walls."

"Like a rat?" Dean asked.

"Yeah."

"Must've been some big sons of guns."

"Wouldn't know, never saw any."

"Would you happen to know where his daughter and Mrs. Gibson were buried?" Sam asked.

"Nah, they were both cremated."

So they could eliminate that it wasn't the mom or daughter, but who else could it have been? They left the woman's house with the intention of giving the Gibson house a good once-over and finding out. But by the time they got there that night, they could see that the family had already started moving in.

"Shit," said Dean. "Not what?"

"…We could tell them the truth," said Sam. Dean turned to his brother.

"Really?"

"No, not really."

"Well, we can't just sit here," said Elena. Dean sighed heavily.

"Great."

But they did sit, until they heard screams coming from inside. They hurried to the door and Dean knocked loudly. When Brian opened the door, they were understandably suspicious, but they weren't expecting him to ask if either of the brothers touched his daughter.

"What? No!" Dean exclaimed incredulously.

"You've got a ghost," said Sam, to which his daughter Kate agreed, while her brother Danny claimed it was "the girl in the wall." Their exasperated father wasn't having it though, and tried in vain to calm down his frantic kids. His wife hugged them to her while the second man stood with his arms crossed.

"What are you guys playing at?" asked Brian.

"You're all in serious danger," said Dean. "You need to get out of the house now."

And then the power went out, startling the family.

"Nobody move!" he ordered, on edge for whatever came. But they heard the whimpering of a dog, and Danny immediately called out for him, taking off to look. They eventually found a trail of blood outside that led across the yard, and written in blood on the outside of the moving van were the words, "TOO LATE."

Brian directed his wife and kids to go back inside, while his brother-in-law Ted stood next to him. They both looked like they were at a loss.

"We are not the bad guys here," said Dean. "But you're in trouble."

"You've got to get your family out," Sam added. "Now."