A/N: Thank you all so much for reading. I really hope you're enjoying this. Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks! Also, points to whoever recognizes who Tyler and Brandon are based on ;)

Chapter 35: A Couple of Snipes

"If you wait to do everything until you're sure it's right,
you'll probably never do much of anything."
– Win Borden

I got ready quickly. I was trying not to overthink it. There was too much that could go wrong. Kelly was right though. We had back up. Remy could literally explode people if he had to while Eric moved faster than the eye could see. It would be fine.

I put on the one pair of jeans I had and a sweater before heading downstairs. It was weirdly uncomfortable. I had gotten used to mainly wearing leggings. Sam was talking quietly to Klaus and Chloe. He looked up as I got to the bottom. He said something to the others before he stood up and walked towards me.

"Ready?" he asked.

Nerves were bubbling up in my chest. "Not really," I admitted.

"It'll be okay." He stepped closer and put a hand on my waist. "We don't have to go if you don't want to."

"If I don't go, I'll never hear the end of it." I sighed. "Maybe she's right. I need to get used to people again." I was tempted to take him up on the offer though. To just stay behind. But I had a feeling that if I didn't go now, I'd continue to avoid it.

"Well bitches, you ready?" I turned around at the voice. Lafayette was walking towards us. "I'm ready to get down…" he started grinding the air.

"You're coming?" I asked.

"Course I'm coming!" He looked a little offended. "If it weren't for you, hooker, we'd already be there."

"Sorry," I looked at Sam. There was definitely no backing down now. It was one thing if it was just us, but now others were involved. "Let's go."

Remy joined us once we went outside. We climbed into the car. Sam directed me to the passenger seat before he went to the driver's side.

"Do you know where we're going?" I asked.

"Yeah, uh, Dean texted me the address." He reached over and grabbed my hand. "It's not far."

Lafayette leaned forward, putting his arms on the seat. He looked at me. "What type of bar we goin' to? Matter of fact, this some podunk town or what?"

"Um," I paused, thinking about what I knew. "I have no idea," I said. "I've never gone into town, outside of the arrest."

"Yous tellin' me that you been here months and ain't explored the place?"

I shrugged. "I didn't leave the house unless it was to pick you guys up. There was a warrant out for me."

"And now?"

"Apparently it's gone," I said. The thought of it was making me anxious again. Eric had said he wiped everything to do with me. I had to trust that.

"Michelle?" I looked over at Sam. He glanced down at the hand that was holding mine. I was squeezing it tightly without realizing.

"Sorry," I muttered, loosening my grip. I tried to pull it away but he held on.

"It a small town, mon ami," Remy chimed in. "Ain't no problems to be had though."

"We're going to a place called Chevelle's. It's about five minutes away," Sam said.

"I know that place. Won a game of poker there last month," Remy mused.

I fell silent and tuned them out. There was a growing pressure in my chest that I wasn't certain would go away. I knew it was fear, anxiety about being out of the house and into a public space that I couldn't control. I tried to remind myself that I did this before. We had gone to a bar near Bobby's and everything was fine. This would be too.

I got out of the car slowly. The bar looked busy. I had no idea what day it was but judging from the state of the parking lot it must have been a Friday or Saturday.

Remy reached out and touched my arm. "It'll be alright, cher."

"I know," I forced myself to smile at him. "Go on, I'll be in in a minute."

"Come on, bitches, let's have some fun!" Lafayette headed for the bar. I leaned against the car and waited. I just wanted to get this under control.

"Hey," Sam stepped in front of me. "You alright?"

I looked up at him and nodded. "Yeah," I said. "Just give me a minute."

"Come here." He grabbed my arm and pulled me forward into him. He wrapped his arms around me. I rested my head on his chest and took a deep breath. Sam's arms tightened as I wrapped mine around him. I did this before, I could do it again.

I looked up at Sam. "Okay, let's do this."

"You sure?"

"Yup, right now before I change my mind. Come on." I motioned for him to let go. He did, moving aside and letting me lead. I took a deep breath. Nothing bad was going to happen. It would be okay.

The bouncer took one look at both of us and waved us in.

"Do you see them?" I asked Sam, considering he had the advantage of his height.

"Yeah, come on," he grabbed my hand and pulled me through the crowd. The others were seated in a u-shaped booth. It looked big enough to fit all of us, though only Kelly, Dean and Lafayette were sitting down. Kelly seemed to be in the middle of a conversation with Lafayette but she looked up as we approached and grinned widely at me.

"There you are! I was worried you'd skip out on me."

"I was tempted," I admitted. Dean stood up and motioned for me to take the spot next to Kelly. "Thanks."

"I'm gonna grab a drink," Sam said. "Want anything?"

"A coke?" I asked. He nodded and both of the brothers walked off.

"Mmm," Lafayette watched them go. "Yous bitches are blessed havin' all that coming to your bed," he motioned after them.

"Oh I know," Kelly said. She turned to me. "Watch for the death glares when Sam touches you." She nodded ahead of her. I looked over and saw a table of women talking to each other and looking in the direction the boys went off in.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"Spike and Remy are playing pool. Eric went to check the bar or something. He didn't really say and I did not ask."

I nodded and looked around. The place wasn't half bad. I made a note of where the exits were while I searched out the others. I could see Spike's hair at the pool tables as people walked by. Eric was easier to spot considering he was around Sam's height.

The boys were the easiest to see as they were walking towards us. Sam put the drink down in front of me. I smiled up at him.

"Thanks." I took a sip and tried not to wince. I hadn't had a carbonated drink in months. It felt like it burned my throat.

"We're gonna go play some pool," Dean said, looking down at us. "Wanna join?"

"Sure!" Kelly said. "I'll come kick your ass!" She looked over at Lafayette. "You wanna come with?"

"You hookers have fun, I can entertain myself," he was looking at something behind me. He grinned at us.

"Call us if you need us," Kelly said before pushing me to get out of the booth. I grabbed my drink and followed as Dean led the way.

The brothers teamed up to play against Spike and Remy. I wasn't sure who would win, though I had a feeling it would be the Winchesters. They might have had more experience. I kept looking around at the other people. I couldn't stop myself from being on guard.

"How you feeling?" Kelly asked from next to me. We were leaning against a post, watching the boys play. Sam looked like he was having a good time. They all were. They looked like they were teasing one another.

"Okay, I think," I said. I took another sip of my drink and regretted it. It wasn't as bad as before but it was almost sickly sweet.

"I'm glad you're here," Kelly nudged me. "Really."

"I know. It feels...weird, being out like this." I didn't go into further detail. It felt like I didn't belong here but that would fade. It had to. I looked around the room again before I realized something. "Um...are most of the women in this bar standing around watching this game?" I nodded towards the men.

Kelly looked around. "Yup," she took a sip of her beer. "Can't say I blame them though."

"Let them enjoy the show," Lafayette said as he walked up to us. He turned to look at the game. "I knows I am."

"Who's winning?" I asked. I hadn't been paying much attention to the actual game.

"Our boys...wow, that's weird to say out loud. Anyways I think Spike's going to start cheating."

"Can you cheat at pool?" I didn't think it was possible. She just shrugged in response. I turned back and watched as Spike said something just as Sam went to shoot. He sunk the white ball and glared over at Spike. Spike just grinned back.

Kelly pulled out her phone. I saw her text something out of the corner of my eye and grin. A few seconds later, Dean took out his phone. He looked down at it before looking over at us. His eyebrows rose and I caught the "seriously" he mouthed. Kelly just grinned.

"Hey girls!" I looked up in surprise as two guys stepped in front of us. They were dressed pretty similarly. One had a vest on over his hoodie. They were both wearing flip-flops. "I'm Tyler, this is Brandon. Couldn't help but notice you two are a couple of snipes." My eyebrows rose at the term.

"We're in town for a hockey turney," Brandon said.

"What kind of tournament is out here? Not exactly a big town…" Kelly said.

"Yeah no," he agreed. "There's a few triple As out here though. Gotta wreck a few 'fore we celly."

"What's the stats?" I asked, curious to know if they were actually any good. The two of them looked at each other before grinning.

"What? You a couple puck bunnies? Where you girls from?" Tyler asked with a grin. He was the one with the stupid vest.

Kelly and I looked at each other before we answered at the same time. "Canada."

"Do we look like puck bunnies? She asked for the stats, you don't give 'em and we're going to think you're telling tales." Kelly replied before taking another sip of her beer.

"No shit," Brandon said. "Where 'bouts in Canada?"

"We got a streak of Ws," Tyler said. "Brandsy here got the most goals of the team."

"Couldn't do it without the assist," Brandon replied. "Tyler's a pro at going coast to coast." The two of them fist-bumped. "But what's a couple of fine Canadians like yourself doing down here?"

I wasn't sure how to answer so I took another sip of my drink.

Kelly spoke up. "Just some...uh, family business." I snorted into the glass and tried not to laugh. She grinned at me.

"We're playing in the town over," Tyler said. "You should come support the boys, fellow Canadians and all."

"Yeah," Brandon grinned at him. "Watch us snipe before we celly. It's going to be a real fucking gong show."

"I don't know," I said. I wasn't taking any of this seriously, but it was weirdly nice to hear the hockey talk. Felt familiar. "Town like this? Doesn't sound like it'd be."

"Sounds like she's chirping us," Brandon said to Tyler.

"That's not chirping," Tyler said. "You'll hear real chirping at the game. And you know, if you're looking for a taste of home…"

Someone cleared their throat. I looked up to see Sam and Dean standing behind the hockey players. Dean looked like he was glaring.

"Are these Abercrombie douches bugging you?" Dean asked.

"Nope," Kelly smiled at him. "Just some fellow Canadian's saying hello. Tyler, Brandon, these are our boys. Only ones we celly for."

Both of their eyes widened before they smiled and nodded at us. "Alright, no foul." Tyler turned to the brothers and clapped a hand on Dean's shoulder. "Mad respect broskis. You got some grade A snipes here!" The two of them walked away without any fuss.

Dean turned to look at us. "What the hell does that mean?" I couldn't help but laugh.

We were all shoved into the booth.

I sat in between Sam and Kelly. Dean was on her other side. It then went: Spike, Lafayette, and Remy. Eric was standing next to the booth, looking down at us. Dean had his arm around Kelly, having pulled her close against him. Sam rested his hand on my thigh and I was trying to ignore the heat of it through my jeans.

"What happens when this apocalypse shit is over?" Lafayette asked, looking at Kelly and me. I looked at her to see if she had an answer.

"I don't know. We gotta figure it out. Like, what are we going to do if we can't get you back home? We'll have to set something up."

I tensed at her words without meaning to. While I knew I likely wasn't returning, I still wanted the option. At least, I wanted something from home to hold on to. Sam's grip tightened on my thigh for a second. I put my hand over his automatically, trying to convey that it was okay.

"We'll adapt, cher. That's what we do." Remy nodded to her. There was a tightness around his eyes that betrayed him.

"It's more a matter of identity," I spoke up. "And money. We can't just keep having you scam people in poker."

"I'm sure we can work something out," Eric said. I looked up at him. "Some of us have the ability to help."

"Oi!" Spike called out.

"Was it something I said?" Eric raised an eyebrow.

"Don't go flaunting your bloody abilities," Spike made a face. "Wanker."

"Okay!" Kelly cut in. "Like I said, we'll figure it out. We don't have to stick together when it's all over."

"And I thought you enjoyed my company," Eric seemed to tease. I looked over at Kelly and I could see Dean's jaw clench.

Sam cleared his throat. "Kelly's right. We'll help you all get settled best we can." He squeezed my leg and smiled down at me.

"Here you go!" The waitress showed up at the table with a tray. She slowly handed over the plates of food. My mouth started watering as the burger and fries were put in front of me. How long had it been since I ate?

I bit into it. "Oh my god," I muttered with my mouth full. It had been ages since I had a burger. The table was silent. I looked up to see everyone staring at me.

"Do you two need a room?" Dean asked, nodding towards the burger. Kelly hit Dean on the chest and I heard and felt Sam laugh next to me.

I swallowed the bite. "Shut up," I scowled. "I'm starving."

"I can see that."

I made a face at him before turning my attention back to the burger. He could say what he wanted. This was delicious.

"Bitch, this is not good enough to make you sound like that," Lafayette said as he put down his burger. "I make better shit than this."

I waited until my mouth wasn't full. "Like what?" I took a sip of the water I had ordered before we sat down. Sam shifted in his seat beside me.

"Like you're on the verge of a fucking orgasm. I don't want to hear that shit."

The water went slightly down the wrong throat and I started coughing. Whatever I had been expecting, it wasn't that. Sam's hand went to my back, patting it hard. My eyes watered. It took a few seconds before I felt like I was okay. I waved him off.

Kelly was laughing at me. I glared over at her. She just laughed harder.

"Shut up," I muttered, pushing her. "Sorry," I said to Lafayette. "Been a while since I had a burger. Didn't realize I was making noise."

Sam leaned down and whispered in my ear. "I wasn't complaining." I felt myself blush and jabbed him in the side again.

[tbc]