2007 – January

Part 3

South Dakota – Sioux Falls

Charlotte was looking through a series of books for the description of a monster that somebody had come across. Bobby was looking through another series of books in between answering phone calls and the like. Some creature was feeding on the blood of people yet it didn't scream Vampire attack.

Which made their work a little harder. Lots of creatures liked the taste of human blood.

She had her laptop open on the couch next to her. Quiet music always did help to pass the time. Not to mention the criminal nationwide police database made it easy to know if any Hunters needed a little 'get out of jail' help. Sam had help program the system to beep whenever a name from an inputted list were put into a police database anywhere within the States.

It beeped and she looked up.

A sigh left her mouth. "Who is it?"

"Winchesters."

Bobby frowned. "The hell they gotten themselves into this time?"

He moved to peer over her screen as she brought up the charges. "Oh, that St Louis Shapeshifter Dean thing and Sam, just cause. The usual stuff, grave desecrations, assault, breaking and entering…. Oooh." She frowned.

"What?"

"Dean's being charged with murder. Again." She frowned and read the lines. "Something about being found over the body of a lawyer's wife."

"They're on their own for that one."

Charlotte nodded with a bite to her lower lip. This could be bad. Dean would be charged with murder and Sam would be an accomplice. Some days she hated the justice system. After another few looks into what was happening, she decided to wait it out. Somehow they would find a way out of it. Most hunters did.

She got back to the reading of the books.

Three hours later and between them Bobby and her had narrowed down the list to three potential creatures. Another hour had the phone ringing for a call out. "I'll take it," Charlotte offered and she happily dumped the books on the couch. She grabbed her bag, jacket and the keys to the truck and left.

As she climbed into the truck she gave Sam a call. Thankfully he answered. "Hey, heard you two got arrested."

"Oh, yeah well, we're working on it."

"Uh huh. Define working on it."

"Well I'm out. But Dean's still in custody."

"Well he has supposedly murdered a few people right?"

Sam gave a light chuckle. "I guess. Anything you or Bobby could do?"

She laughed. "Dean was caught standing over the dead body. I don't think the best lawyer could get him out of that one."

"I was hoping for something a little more optimistic."

She couldn't help the smile. "Yeah well sometimes, it's just too funny. It'll work out. It always does for people like us. Oh, hey, how's your headaches and nightmares going?"

He sighed. She rolled her eyes. Dean had let her in months ago that Sam was having some "hoodoo psychic visions of children like him." And the guy had barely brought it up. In fact it had been mentioned in passing maybe twice, and neither times did Sam elaborate. Dean was the one to fill her and Bobby in on the news.

"It's fine. Look, I gotta find a way to get Dean out of jail."

"Okay, proof it wasn't him."

"Yeah." She heard the sarcasm. "I'll just point the Police to the ghost we've been following around shall I?"

She shrugged and started the engine. "Seeing is believing. Let me know what happens anyway. Good luck."

"Yeah, thanks."

She hung up and pulled the truck out of the Singer Salvage. The person who'd broken down was someone who was passing through to get to North Dakota. When she pulled up the guy in his business suit was pacing and seemed ready to tell her to hurry up. She bit her tongue as she turned off the engine. One look at the car told her that he'd blown a tyre and didn't have a spare.

She sighed and climbed out. Her phone rang and she eyed the item. Alex. "Hey, can I call you back? I'm in the middle of a fix?"

"Yeah, sure, sorry."

"Thanks." She hung up and took a look at the wheel. "Does anything else seem to be the problem?"

"Aren't you supposed to tell me that?" She glared at him and refrained from biting back a remark. After a moment the man just waved a dismissive hand in her direction as his phone rang. "I don't know. It's been a while since I had it serviced."

"All right look, I'll take it, replace the wheel and take a look around for you. You got anywhere you're gonna be staying?"

He nodded absently to a small diner. "I assume it won't take long."

"Just an hour or two."

"And how much will it be?"

"I'll let you know when I'm done." She managed to get the car onto the back of the truck and towed it back to the salvage yard. Before she started work on it she gave Alex a call. "Hey, is everything okay?"

"Oh, yeah I was just wondering if I could come and see you."

She eyed the car. "Sure. You're welcome to come round now if you want."

"Right, well, I'll be there in about twenty."

"Okay, well, feel free to just come round the back. I'll be working on a car."

"Yeah, sure. See you."

"Bye." She quirked one brow at the oddness of his voice. There was something on his mind. With a frown she shook it away and set to work on finding a replacement tyre. She'd just managed to take the wheel off when Alex appeared, his hands in his pockets and a weary half smile on his face. She narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah I was wondering if, well, my Dad has this old cottage next to a lake in Wisconsin and I've still got a week before I go back to work. I was wondering if we could go up there for a few days."

The smile that curled the corner of her lips attached itself to his face too. A few days of nothing but her and Alex. Oh her mind ran wild with ideas of sex, cuddling, laying about, doing nothing and worrying about nothing. No monsters. Ghosts. Phone calls. Engine grease smell or stains. Peace and quiet.

Her phone buzzed and she eyed the caller. Sam. Her mind worked its way round to Dean. Although… she let the smile grow wider. She knew his eyes strayed to other women, knew he in fact did touch other women. Hell she didn't hide the fact that other men also gathered her interest.

"That would be awesome. When do you want to leave?"

Alex grinned. "Well, I was thinking of sometime tomorrow. Maybe around twelve so that when we get there we can just rest the night and do whatever we wanted to the next two days."

She pulled him flush against herself and grinned up at him. The guy had the same height as Sam and sometimes it was wonderful. Other days it amazed her he was that tall. "That," she grinned as she wrapped her hands around his neck, "sound fantastic." And she kissed him. Let herself fall into the touches and the deepness with a satisfied yet discomforting knot in her stomach. When she released him she kept the grin on her face. "I'll see you tomorrow then?"

He nodded. Pecked her lips once. "Tomorrow. And I promise you you will not regret this."

When he left she turned back to the car with furrowed brows. There was some odd feeling in the back of her throat. Bad? Guilty? Was she? Did she feel guilty for not ending it with him? No. For not telling him about Dean? Did she feel bad for that?

A lump started in the back of her throat and she tried to swallow it, unsuccessfully. Maybe she should tell Dean. Maybe. She frowned and decided to put her focus into putting the new wheel onto the car and doing a quick check over of it. It took her only an hour and she was able to take it back, round up a number and get back in time for her mind to start working up the guilt train again.

She rolled her eyes at herself.

Bobby was on the phones and she settled on putting some of the books back onto the shelves when her phone rang. Dean. With a sigh she moved up stairs as she answered it, "Hey. No longer in custody I hope?"

"I thought you liked the bad ones."

"Uh huh," she said. A smirk curled her mouth. "Charges dropped?"

"Oh yeah. Thankfully one of the detectives killed the ghost and it kind of helped us out in the end."

She frowned. "Right."

"Hey, listen, me and Sammy were thinking of stopping by for a couple of days."

The lump and guilt was back. "Well, feel free to but I won't be here."

"Okay?"

She rolled her eyes. "Alex invited me to a few days away in Wisconsin. Just him and me."

"Oh. You going?"

"Yeah." She swallowed. "Problem?"

There was a slight pause. "Nope. You two have all the fun in the world."

"Oh we will. So are two catching a few drinks before you head over or what?"

"Oh, we were just gonna catch some sleep and check in but erm, Sammy might've caught a case in Mississippi. We'll probably have another look in the morning at it." Her stomach twisted. She couldn't tell if Dean was being honest or lying about it. But they both slept with other people. They didn't try to hide it.

She sighed internally. "Okay, well I'm sure Bobby would love to see you two."

"Yeah no I'm sure he would. I should probably get some sleep. See you around." And he hung up. She closed her eyes and released the silent sigh. After a moment she opened them again and dropped her phone onto the night stand in her room. Screw him. If he was going to deflect then whatever. She could live with that. She grabbed a duffle bag and threw in a few pairs of clothes and anything she would need to live a few days away from home. Maybe having a few days away would do her well. She glared at her clothes. When the hell was the last time she took some time to herself away from anyone and anything? Whenever they dropped by that was their break, but then she had to humour them in some way at least. Then there was the towing, Jo, Ellen and Ash, Bobby. Hunting.

Screw everything.

She needed a break and if he was going to be a grouchy kid about it then fine. She could deal with that. Screw him. She needed time away from him too.

That thought stopped her in her actions and she bit on her bottom lip. "Fuck you Dean Winchester," she muttered before she continued with her packing.